USA > New York > Broome County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Broome County, New York. > Part 31
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of Fourth Corps from June, 1863; in the Second Brigade, First Division, Eleventh Corps, from July, 1863; in the Second Brig- ade, Gordon's Division, Tenth Corps, on Folly Island, S.C., from August 12, 1863; in Shimmelpfenning's Division, Tenth Corps, from January, 1864; in First Brigade, Ames's Division, Tenth Corps, from February, 1864; in the District of Florida, Department of the South, from April, 1864; at Hilton Head, S.C., from June, 1864; in the First (Potter's) Brigade, Coast Division, Department Gulf, from November, 1864; in the Third Separate Brigade, District of Hilton Head, Depart- ment of the South, from January, 1865; and, commanded by Colonel James Lewis, it was honorably discharged and mustered out at Hilton Head, S.C., June 25, 1865. During its service the regiment lost by death as fol- lows: killed in action, one officer, twenty enlisted men; of wounds received in action, one officer, eighteen enlisted men; of disease and other causes, four officers, one hundred and seventy-four men; total, six officers, two hundred and twelve men; aggregate, two hun- dred and eighteen, of whom one enlisted man died in the hands of the enemy. Being on detached service at the time his regiment was mustered out, Mr. Radeker received his honor- able discharge at Fortress Monroe, Va.
After the war he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was appointed Receiving Clerk of the Merchants' Express Company of that city, but only served in this capacity for one year, when, on account of ill health, he was obliged to give it up, and returned to Colchester,
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where in company with his brothers he en- gaged in the lumber trade, and built large steam mills, which were the first in that vicinity, as previously they had all been run by water power. The brothers operated the mill, doing an extensive and lucrative busi- ness until 1878, when Charles l'. sold out his interest, and came to Binghamton, N. Y. He engaged here in the grocery business with Messrs. Conine & Gleason on Front Street, remaining with them as clerk until 1889, when the Ilome Mutual Loan Association of Binghamton was established, and Mr. Rade- ker received the appointment of book-keeper. Hle filled this position satisfactorily, and only left the company when he was appointed by the Board of Aldermen to the important posi- tion of City Treasurer in February, 1893. Mr. Radeker was Supervisor for the Fourth Ward of Binghamton in 1892, and served acceptably on the Committees of l'oor Ac- counts and Printing.
In June, 1870, Mr. Charles P. Radeker was married to Miss Sarah E. Terry, daughter of Lorenzo D. Terry, her family being among the first settlers of Massachusetts, having come over soon after the landing of the Pil- grims on the shores of Plymouth. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Radeker; namely, Josephine and Ellie J. The family are members of the West Presby- terian Church, and Mrs. Radeker and daugh- ters are earnest and active workers in the charities of their church. The election and appointment of Mr. Radeker to these impor- tant municipal positions proves that his fel-
low-citizens have a high estimation of his integrity, judgment, and ability. The por- trait accompanying the present sketch will be appreciated by the many friends of this effi- cient and trustworthy city official, who know him in private and in public life as a most estimable and deserving gentleman.
ENRY II. DEVOE, grocer, having a good trade at No. 23 Floral Avenue, Binghamton, was born March 9,
1834, at Ludlowville, Tompkins County,
N. Y. He is a descendant of an old New Eng- land family, his paternal grandfather having settled in Tompkins County early in the cen- tury. His parents, John and Rachel (De- Witt) DeVoe, moved to Binghamton, living near Port Dickinson, a suburb of this city. The father was a cloth-presser and wool- carder, and carried on the business at that place for a few years, but in 1859 moved.to the town of Union, N. Y., where he bought and cultivated a farm. The mother was a native of Cayuga County, and she and her husband died on their farm near Union. They were members of the Congregational church. Two sons were born to them, . Henry H. and Benjamin, both residents of Binghamton.
Henry DeVoe was educated in the public schools of the city of Binghamton, and when of age, having meanwhile assisted his father on the farm, purchased a place for himself, and started on his own account. Having made a home, he naturally thought of provid-
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ing a mistress for it and a helpmate for him- self; and on November 27, 1868, he was married to Miss Augusta Swartout, daughter of Joel and Margaret Swartout, residents of Union, but formerly from New Jersey. The farm purchased by Mr. DeVoe was in Union, and while he resided there he was for many years Overseer of the Poor and Constable of the town. October 6, 1890, having sold the farm, he removed to the Fourth Ward of Binghamton, N. Y., where he bought out an excellent grocery building, No. 23 Floral Avenue, with residence attached, and has continued here ever since, doing a good pay- ing business. The store is twenty-four by forty feet, well stocked, containing an assort- ment of the best staple and fancy groceries.
Mr. and Mrs. DeVoe have a family of two children, namely: George W., who married Miss Louise Butler; and Miss Maggie, an accomplished young lady, living at home. Mr. DeVoe and family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lester Shire, N. Y., and are consistent and ardent sup- porters of that faith. Mr. De Voe was elected Supervisor for the Fourth Ward in 1891, and was Chairman of Assessment Rolls and a member of Committee on Sheriff's Account.
lle is an enterprising and worthy citizen of Binghamton, and has wielded considerable influence toward the improvement and prog- ress of the ward in which he lives; and there is no doubt, if his life is spared, of his hav- ing years of yet greater usefulness. The office he held was faithfully and conscien- tiously filled; and he has always favored
everything which he thought would tend to improve the county and advance its progress.
ICHAEL MCBRIDE, a prosperous farmer of the town of Conklin, N. Y., widely known as a former Superintendent of Railroad Construction, was born in Tyrone County, Ireland, May 8, 1819. His parents, Felix and Margaret (Bradley) McBride, were both born in that county. Felix McBride came to America the same year that his son was born, seeking a home in this land of freedom for his wife and little one. After a perilous voyage of three months he landed at Philadelphia, Pa., and came immediately to the town of Conk- lin, Broome County, N. Y., where he engaged as a laborer with a Captain Thurston, who was a noted bridge-builder of that day. After remaining with him for some years, he finally bought a farm of one hundred and thirty acres located in the town of Conklin. It was all' wooded land, with plenty of bear, deer, wolves, and other wild animals roaming through it. Here Mr. McBride erected his first humble cabin, cleared a farm, and in 1824 brought his family from Ireland. He afterward built a good frame house and farm buildings. In those days there were long distances to travel in carrying the grist to mill, and he had to endure all the hardships that fell to the lot of the pioneer farmer. He was a hard-working, self-respecting, and hon- est man, and always held in the highest esteem by his fellow-men. He lived to see
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the city of Binghamton grow from a small hamlet of a few hundred inhabitants to the beautiful city which to-day counts its thou- sands. He was a stanch Roman Catholic, and was one of the first of that faith to settle in that vicinity. In politics he invariably voted the Democratic ticket. He was ninety- eight years of age at the time of his death.
Mrs. McBride came to this country five years after her husband emigrated. She was twelve weeks and four days on the voyage, and after landing in Philadelphia went to the home in Conklin which Mr. McBride had pro- vided. Here she bore her share in the priva- tions and hard work of the pioneer wives and mothers, and her son points with pride to-day to the little flax-wheel which his mother used in spinning. Mr. and Mrs. McBride rcared a family of five children, of whom three are now living: Michael; Rebecca, Mrs. James Redden, residing in Susquehanna County, Pa .; and Ann, wife of James Donley, living in Binghamton, N.Y. The two deceased children were: Rosanna, wife of Mr. Burns, who died at the age of sixty; and Isabella, wife of James Ward, of Steuben County, who died at the age of fifty-eight years. Mrs. McBride was seventy-two years of age at the time of her death.
Young Michael was but five years of age when he came to America with his mother. lle spent his boyhood days on the home farm in Conklin. Educational advantages in those days were very meagre; and Michael, being the only son, had to divide his time between school and the farm work, the larger share
being given to the latter. Until he was twenty-two years of age, he helped at home, and then, starting out for himself, engaged in railroad building. He began as a common laborer; but, being intelligent and skilful as well as faithful and industrious, he was soon promoted to the position of section boss, and had a large force of men under his charge. For twenty years he continued in this line of work, and gained a wide-spread reputation for efficiency. He has aided in the construction of railroads in the States of New York, Mis- souri, and Kentucky, in the latter having been employed on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.
He finally returned to the old home farm in the town of Conklin, which he purchased in 1853, and, having given up the railroad busi- ness, has since devoted his time and attention to farming ; but he has so extended a reputa- tion for thorough knowledge of his former employment that he is often called on by various railroad companies for assistance where difficult work is to be done. Ile had a farm of one hundred and ten acres, but has sold off a portion, and has now about seventy acres of good land, on which he carries on mixed farming, and has a dairy of several fine. head of cattle. lle is one of the most suc- cessful and practical farmers of the town of Conklin.
Mr. McBride married when he was thirty- two years of age Miss Mary Ann Lyons, of . Rochester, N.Y., daughter of Cornelius and Julia Lyons. Her father was a moulder by trade, and resided in Rochester for many
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years, but spent his last days in Geneva, N. Y., where he died at the age of seventy- five. Mr. and Mrs. McBride are among the oldest residents of the town of Conklin. They have two daughters, Julia and Lucy, living at home, unmarried. Mr. McBride is one of the few men residing in Broome County who remembers Binghamton since it was a village, and has killed deer where some of its most pretentious mansions now stand.
Mr. McBride has held the office of Assessor for twenty-four years in his town. In his politics he votes the Democratic ticket. While devoted to the country of his adop- tion, he has always a tender affection for Ireland, the land of his birth. He and his wife are faithful members of the Catholic church, regular in their duties, and warm sup- porters of its interests. This aged couple have the respect of all their townspeople.
ILLIAM II. COOK, of the firm of Sullivan & Cook, prominent con- tractors and builders of Binghamton, N. Y., was born at Norwich, Chenango County, N.Y., April 1, 1858. His father, James C., was also a native of that plice, and followed the trade of carpenter and builder. His grandfather, Abram Cook, was a pioneer set- tler of Norwich, going there when it was little else than a hamlet. James C. Cook married Miss Mary Hobbs, who was born in Pennsylvania, but, with her parents, went while she was yet young to reside in Norwich. She died September, 1888, in the full faith
and communion of the Baptist church. The father died December of 1892.
After having received his education in the public schools of Norwich, William H. Cook learned the trade of carpenter and builder with his father, starting in business for him- self at Norwich in 1883. In 1890 he added the profession of architect, having an office in his native town, which he has made his home, although taking contracts and engaging in work elsewhere. In 1887 he formed a part- nership with Mr. James Sullivan, and they have since filled a large number of contracts in different parts of the country. At present they are erecting the beautiful new Catholic church on the corner of Court and Fayette Streets in Binghamton, N.Y. It is a fifty thousand dollar contract, and gives employ- ment to between forty and fifty men. This elegant structure is of stone and brick and of Romanesque architecture, and is a creditable piece of work to Mr. Cook and his partner.
He married Miss Martha Port, daughter of George Port, of Norwich, the ceremony tak- ing place on November 5, 1879. Mr. Cook was Justice of the village of Norwich for the years 1892-93, and, besides his other busi- ness, is interested in real estate. In the fra- ternal orders he is a member of Norwich Lodge, No. 308, A. F. & A. M., and has served honorably in the Fire Department in his native town for twelve years, and thus earned his position among the members of the Exempt Association. Although a non-resi- dent of Binghamton, Mr. Cook has made many warm friends in the city, and is as uni-
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versally respected here as in his home in Norwich. In all the work that he has done in his various contracts the same excellent judgment and painstaking efforts are shown; and his business, in its rapid increase, proves his success in meeting the wants of the people.
HAUNCY W. THELEMAN, the pres- ent proprietor of Hotel Dudley, of the town of Lisle, is a man well adapted to this calling, although brought up on a farm. The business in which he is en- gaged requires a person who not only appreci- ates the necessity of properly entertaining the general public, but of performing all these cluties in a manner calculated to please and satisfy his guests. Some one has said that good hotel men are born, not made, which observation emphasizes the excellent system and the genial hospitality characterizing the management of Hotel Dudley. Mr. Thele- man was born in Caroline, Tompkins County, N.Y., March 15, 1843.
His father, Henry F. Theleman, of Han- over, Germany, was born in 1803, a son of Frederick Theleman, and came to this country when nineteen years old, being the sole repre- sentative here of the family, consisting of eight children, all the rest remaining in their native land. After a voyage of many days he landed at New York; and there, a stranger in a strange land, without money, he sought for work. Having learned the trade of miller, he found employment in a mill at Coopers- town, where he remained for six years, by
which time he had learned the language and become familiar with the customs of the country. He formed many pleasant acquaint- ances, and made many friends; but, having no family or relatives here, to enable him to feel fully at home, he took to himself a wife, Elizabeth Oliver, of Cooperstown, and soon after moved to Union, Broome County. They remained at that place for a few years, and subsequently lived at Slaterville, Millville, and Berkshire; about the year 1846 settled on a piece of new land five miles south-west of Lisle, where they cleared up a place, made a home, and eventually owned two hundred acres. They were the parents of seven chil- dren, four of whom reached maturity, namely: Mary L., wife of Morris Councilman, who died at Richford, Tompkins County, in March, 1886, when fifty-five years old; Henry C., a farmer of Harford, Cortland County, who has two sons and two daughters; H. W., a hotel-keeper in Richford, Tioga County; and Chauncy W., of Lisle.
The last-named was brought up on the farm, received an education in the common schools, and, when only seventeen years old, was married to Caroline Walter, a daughter of Horace and Phebe (Morse) Walter, natives of New England, and farmers of Nanticoke, to* which place they moved, and where Caroline was born. Chauncy W. Theleman and his young wife of sixteen commenced life to- gether on his father's farm, where they con- tinued most of the time till April 1, 1882, when they came to their present place, and purchased the hotel at the low figure of two
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thousand dollars. They have improved it until it is now well worth five thousand dol- lars. Their child, a young man of excellent character and good abilities, who was well educated, died August 10, 1891. He married Minnie Oliver, and was engaged in farming until his death at thirty years of age. Ile left a widow and three children: Herman, twelve years old, and Walter, ten years old, who live with the subject of this sketch; and a daughter, Uarda, of four years, who lives with her mother. Mr. Theleman is a Master Mason, and politically a Democrat. He has a pleasant home, and his hotel deservedly re- ceives a good share of public patronage.
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HERMAN P. TRACY, the subject of this sketch, is one of a family of six children, grandchildren of sturdy pioneers of Broome County on both the father's and the mother's side. He is engaged in farming in the town of Triangle on the identical place, situated on the Otselic River, where he was born.
llis father, Thomas Tracy, was born in Lenox, Mass., and was a son of Ebenezer Tracy, a direct descendant of General Thomas Tracy, of Boston, who occupied an important position in the War of the Revolution. Ebenezer and his wife, whose maiden name was Polly Howard, came to the State of New York early in the nineteenth century. 1Ie left two sisters in Connecticut : Lurana, who married a Grant; the other, a Yale in llart- ford, Conn., a relative of the founders of
Yale College. Elihu and Jesse, sons of Mrs. Grant, eventually came to York State, the former being a Methodist preacher. The grandfather, Ebenezer Tracy, was a farmer in Chenango County the first few. years. Ile - moved to Broome County about the year ISIO, and settled on a farm near Binghamton. Subsequently they settled near Ottawa, La Salle County, 111., where they died, leaving a family of six daughters and four sons, the greater number of whom settled in the West- ern country. The son Hiram ultimately lived in Buffalo, N. Y. Ebenezer E. and his estimable wife came to Binghamton; and he died there in middle life, leaving five sons and a daughter. Two of his sons are settled in the West, one in Oregon on a farm, the other near Sterling, Il1. 1Ie has quite a literary family, liberally educated. He is extensively engaged as a blacksmith. The youngest two sons, Franklin M. and George H., who are living in Hornellsville, N. Y., are railroad engineers - among the best and safest. The former, though he was very young, was in the War of the Rebellion.
Thomas Tracy, the father of Sherman, was married to Anna l'age, of Triangle, Broome County, in 1813. Her parents, Asa and Hannah (Faulkner) Page, were from Con- necticut. Hannah Faulkner was of Scotch ancestry, and was reared among the farms on the seacoast near Guilford, Conn. She re- membered hearing her parents talk over some of the scenes in the Revolution - of the Brit- ish sailing up the coast, and, in the absence of the farmers, robbing their well-filled tills,
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taking their silverwares, and even the gold beads from the necks of their wives, and everything valuable convenient of transit, then piling their rich clothing on the floor in the middle of their best rooms, pouring oil over them, and setting them on fire. But it was a happy home she left in about the year 1793, to come to the wilds of Broome County, York State, with her husband, Asa Page. He drove a fine horse team from Connecticut over the Catskills across a wild country, settling in the woods. They were without means other than a bare sufficiency to reach the chosen spot for a home, where with his brother John they pitched their tent, and with characteristic fortitude braved the ter- rors of a wilderness.
They had many experiences incident to such a life, many narrow escapes. He was a fleet and skilful hunter. Furs and skins were a source of means quite remunerative, and this with the lumber trade furnished money for needed expenditure. Saw-mills were built on a small scale. Strong teams of . horses hauled nice pine lumber from this locality over the hills many miles east to some point on the larger rivers, Chenango or Susquehanna, where it could be formed into rafts, and floated to places where towns were being built. They made canoes, in which they took grain down the Otselic River to the nearest grist-mill, which was at Chenango Point, now Binghamton, twenty miles below, for family use, always taking their flint-lock guns for defenee against attacks from wild beasts of the bordering forest. Before a
grist-mill could be thus conveniently reached, they made deep hollows in the top of the great pine stumps near by, and would fill them with corn or wheat, and operate a weight upon it from the end of a strong pole, which was attached to a high shaft like the pioneer well-sweeps, and really on the prin- ciple of the present driving-dredge. Grain thus pounded could be cooked so as to be a very wholesome food in place of bread.
Amid these wild, rough scenes their chil- dren were born; and, while they were being reared to manhood and womanhood, the for- ests and marauding wild beasts were disap- pearing from fields made beautiful with waving grain or blooming fruit orchards. So, when new dwellings were built, and barns in which to store increasing harvests, they had children to look out upon those changed scenes, and enjoy it with them. Three sons and two daughters grew up to be men and women. Besides these they lost an . infant, Irene, and a young girl, Clara, at the age of fifteen. The names of their children were: Lucy, who married Increase Thurston, who took up a farm that forms a portion of the site upon which the city of Rochester is built; Rufus, who lived in Mansfield, Pa., and died there, leaving a fine family; Lewis. and Sherman Page, who lived and died in Broome County, leaving families; and Anna, the mother of the subject of this sketch.
She was but seventeen when Thomas Tracy came to claim her as his bride. A fairer young girl had not graced the wedding ser- vice in this new-found valley than stood be-
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fore the altar when the good pastor, Priest Ford, of Lisle, enjoined upon this young pair their mutual duties, and pronounced them "husband and wife." A few months later Thomas Tracy enlisted in the army of the War of 1812 for five years; was given the office of Captain. At the close of the war he re- mained in the standing army, and served out his time of- enlistment. He then returned home, and moved to a farm in Berkshire, Tioga County, N. Y., that was little less than dense woods. He cleared the forest, and built a pleasant home. A four-horse stage passed every day, it being on the line of the central mail and passenger route to New York City. This much travelled highway was a great relief to the settlers on its route through these timbered lands that were full of prowl- ing wolves. Their cattle and sheep had to be shut in for protection against these ma- rauding intruders. Thus twelve years passed,
1 when "Captain Tracy," as he was called, found himself the parent of four children - Ann M., Clara C., Julia F., and Thomas R. Ilis wife's parents died somewhat past middle life; and subsequently he sold the farm in the woods, so carefully cultivated, and moved to the older farm of his father-in-law. Here his sons, Sherman P. and Melville M., were born, making up the family of six. They were reared to young men and women. Sev- cral acres of land were added to the mother's inheritance, a house was built, and this has been the homestead. Thomas R., who was a sturdy farmer in Pennsylvania, enlisted and served through the late war, the "great
American conflict." He is now settled on his farm in Pennsylvania; and, being rather disabled by hardships incident to the war, of many battles and hair-breadth escapes, he has a pension. His two sons and two daughters are married, and live near him.
Melville M., who commenced teaching at sixteen and struck out for an education, at- tended the best schools Binghamton afforded, entered Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1856, from which he graduated after a full course in 1860. He then entered a theologi- cal school in the State of Maine, was selected as chaplain of a New England regiment, and sent to war by the Christian Commission. After his return he married Mrs. Abbie Wes- ton Clark in Massachusetts, and settled in Springfield. He engaged as Principal in the Elm Street School of six hundred pupils and thirteen assistant teachers for three years, and then finished his theological studies in Hart- ford, Conn., and was ordained a preacher of the gospel in the Congregational church. Ile moved to Minnesota, and continued to preach there and in Kansas and Colorado, in which last-named State he died suddenly four years ago in the midst of his labors, leaving one son and two daughters. The eldest, Frances Maude, who was educated at Wash- burn College, Topeka, Kan., married and settled in Colorado. Edward Holman, the son, was graduated at Yale College last year, and is now there, taking a course of study in law. Abbie. Ruth, now in her teens, lives with her grandparents in Leicester, Mass., and is preparing for college.
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