USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 14
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On June 15, 1871, Mr. Wilson married Deborah Austin, daughter of William and Harriet (Darling) Austin. William Austin was born in Middletown, Delaware County. His great-grandfather was Pardon Austin, of Putnam County, who cleared a tract of land on the Delaware River, and erected a log cabin. He and Alden Peckham were the first settlers in this district, and they kept their sheep and cows close to their cabins to protect them from the wolves which infested the neighborhood. One night, as Peckham was leaving the Austin farm for his own, two miles distant, he heard the screech of a panther, and only saved his own life by rais- ing his gun quickly and shooting the animal. Experiences of this kind were common occur- rences; and Great-grandmother Austin, who was Rhoda Stanton, of Dutchess County, had to be continually on her guard against the wild animals, who made frequent visits upon her in her doorless cabin. It is related of her that once, when her husband was on a four days' journey to the nearest market, she was attacked by wolves in great numbers, and all night long fought them off with blazing brands from the fire, and was well-nigh ex- hausted when help arrived. Pardon Austin started the first tannery in that section; and the farm in Middletown is still in the family,
always descending to the youngest child. Alexander Austin, son of Pardon and Rhoda, was one of ten children, and worked on the home farm, going forty-five miles to the near- est market, carrying with him the cloth which his wife had spun from the flax and wool of their own raising. His wife was Deborah Dean, of Middletown. Their children were Alfred, William, Adaline, Henry, Theopho- lis, Julia, Clarinda, Huldah, and Polly.
William Austin, father of Mrs. Wilson, came to Trout Creek when young, and built the house now occupied by Mr. Wilson as a hotel; and there he kept the first store of the village. He married Harriet Darling, daugh- ter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Drake) Dar- ling, of Broome, Schoharie County. Joseph Darling, her grandfather, and his wife, Abi- gail Bull, were natives of Blenheim; and he was a blacksmith and farmer. Jeremiah was at one time a schoolmaster. He spent his last days in Trout Creek, and left the follow- ing children: Harriet, Aaron, Moses, An- drew, Charles, Elizabeth, and Mary. The Drake family came from Massachusetts early in the century. Joshua Drake, great-grand- father of Mrs. Wilson, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He settled at Harpersfield, and later in Loomis. William Austin after his marriage went to Canada, and engaged in horse-trading, and, returning, first bought a farm on Knickerbocker Hill, and then bought the one where he now lives, the L. L. Teed place. He had three children - Deborah, George H., and Bessie.
Deborah, wife of James S. Wilson, was born at Osbrook, Canada, in 1853, and was educated at Trout Creek. She is the mother of four children : Eunice L., born January 27, 1872, who married Roma Wakeman, a farmer in Walton; William A., born July 29, 1873; Hattie L., born August 17, 1876; Florence H., born February 27, 1878.
James S. Wilson has a large circle of friends and acquaintances, who look to him with the respect due to a man of his character, a citizen that so nobly served his country in the time of its greatest need. His brother Daniel is a farmer in Tompkins; and William is a prominent citizen of Masonville, having been Supervisor and Justice of the Peace.
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ILLIAM J. THOMPSON, a repre- sentative farmer of the town of Delhi, has a fine estate of two hun- dred and seventy acres lying on the Little Delaware, which, with its handsome resi- dence, commodious barn, and other suitable out-buildings, constitutes one of the most at- tractive homesteads in this part of Delaware County. Mr. Thompson was born on April 6, 1856, in Middletown in this county. He comes of stanch Scotch ancestry, his father, James M. Thompson, having been born and bred among the Grampian Hills, in Perth- shire, Scotland. He was a farmer by occupa- tion, and resided for thirty years in the land which gave him birth. Being then desirous of bettering his financial condition, he sailed for America, a country of great possibilities for a poor man, and after his arrival came directly to this part of the Empire State, set- tling in Middletown. He bought a tract of forest land, and for twenty years he was en- gaged in its improvement. Then, selling that property, he came to Delhi, where he purchased the farm now owned and occupied by his son William, and resided here until his departure from this life, at the age of seventy- two years.
He was twice married. His first wife, Rachel Cairns, daughter of William Cairns, a life-long resident of Roxburyshire, Scotland, lived but a short time after her marriage, dying in the land of her birth, and leaving one son, John M. Thompson. Her sister, Beatrice Cairns, became his second wife, their nuptials being celebrated in Scotland; and of their union were born five children, three daughters and two sons. Betsey, the eldest, is the widow of William Thompson, a farmer, and resides in Delhi. Jessie, who married William Aiken, lives in Andes. Annie mar- ried Robert Blair, of Delhi. The sons are William J. and Melville E. Thompson. Both the father and mother were respected members of the Presbyterian church, having made a public profession of their faith while in Scot- land, and from the Perthshire church bringing letters to the church in Middletown, and afterward being received into the church at Delhi by letter.
William J. Thompson received a good prac-
tical education in the days of his youth, and from his earliest remembrance has been en- gaged in agricultural labor. Until twenty- four years of age he assisted his father in clearing and tilling the old home farm, and then in company with his brother bought the entire property. After taking possession, the brothers at once began making extensive improvements, both in the land and buildings, erecting a large and convenient barn, sixty- four feet by forty-six feet, and thirty-three feet in height, besides other buildings need- ful for their increased work. They enlarged their dairy from twenty-three cows to sixty, and in addition thereto keep forty head of young stock and six fine horses. His cows are Jersey grades, which produce large quanti- ties of rich milk; and this is sent direct to New York City. Five years ago the partner- ship between the brothers was dissolved; and since that time Mr. William Thompson has continued the business alone, meeting with the same success as in previous days. He is a thorough business man and agriculturist, honest and upright in all of his transactions, and fully entitled to the high respect accorded him by all.
Mr. Thompson was married November I, 1884, to Isabella J. Mabel, a grand-daughter of Robert Mabel, one of Delaware County's most honored pioneers, who emigrated from Scotland with a large family in 1822, and set- tled in Delhi. He bought a farm on the Little Delaware, and there he and his good wife spent their remaining years. They reared a family of five children - Robert, James, Alexander, Jeannette, and Mary. The third son, Alexander Mabel, was the father of Mrs. Thompson. He was bred to a farmer's life, and became one of the influential men of this part of the county, holding many of the local offices of the town, and also of the Agri- cultural Society of the county. He married Isabella Middlemas; and they became the parents ot seven children, as follows: Thomas, a ranchman, resides in California; Robert A., a farmer, lives in Delhi; James D., a farmer, lives on the old homestead; .Samuel W., deceased; Isabella J., Mrs. Thompson; Agnes, the wife of Charles Mc- Gregor; and Lizzie, who lives on the old
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homestead with her brother James. Mr. and Mrs. Mabel spent the first forty years of their married life on the old homestead, but subse- quently removed to a farm in the town, where they spent their last years.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson has been brightened by the birth of two smart and active boys - Edward H. and Samuel W. Politically, Mr. Thompson is a steadfast Republican; and, although no aspirant for official honors, he takes a warm interest in local affairs. The pleasant home of the fam- ily is the resort of a host of friends, whom they delight to entertain.
ENRY W. HOLMES, Postmaster and Justice of the Peace in the town of Hamden, is a resident of De- Lancey and a citizen of high standing in Delaware County. He was born in Delhi, June 14, 1859, but has resided in DeLancey since the age of one year. He was educated in the public school of DeLancey and at Dela- ware Academy at Delhi, which he attended during the years 1876, 1877, and 1878. He commenced teaching at the age of seventeen, and for eleven years pursued that vocation, being employed in all the larger public schools in the towns of Hamden and Delhi. In 1887 he was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, and, at the expiration of his term in I891, was re-elected, and still holds that office, doing a large share of the justice court business of the town.
In 1892 he was appointed Postmaster at DeLancey by the Harrison administration, and, although an ardent Republican, has not been removed by the Cleveland administration. He was one of fourteen postmasters out of ninety-six in Delaware County whose conduct of their offices was, after an examination by special inspectors in 1893, officially declared by the Postmaster-General to be excellent or first-class. He was United States Census Enumerator in 1880, and again in 1890, tak- ing the census of the entire town each time, being the first enumerator in Delaware County to receive his compensation in 1890, and- being honored with a special letter of com- mendation from the superintendent of the
census for the efficiency and accuracy of his work.
For the past six years Mr. Holmes has been a regularly employed correspondent for vari- ous local papers, and has written during that time an immense amount of local, general, and editorial matter. He is at present on the staff of the Delaware Express, published at Delhi, N.Y.
Mr. Holmes is an only son. His father, Henry Holmes, a native of Paisley, Scotland, came to this country in 1829, at the age of nine years, and settled in Holmes Hollow in Delhi, where he resided till his removal to DeLancey. In 1850 he married Lucinda Peake, a grand-daughter of Roswell Peake, one of the early pioneers. At the time of her mar- riage Miss Peake was a popular school-teacher, and she still takes an active interest in educa - tional affairs. Mr. Holmes, the senior, was a lumberman and farmer in Holmes Hollow, own- ing a saw-mill, manufacturing his own lumber, and rafting it down the Delaware River to Philadelphia every spring. After selling his farm and removing to DeLancey, he continued his lumbering business until about 1873, when the depletion of the hemlock forests put an end to that industry in this vicinity. He has ever been prominent in public affairs, and has held almost every town office from Supervisor down to Inspector of Elections, and was Post- master at DeLancey from 1889 until 1892, when he resigned because of failing health.
ISS LAURA GAY, a retired teacher of the town of Walton, who was for the last six years of her life an efficient member of the Board of Education, died here a short time since, July 28, 1894, deeply lamented by a large circle of friends. She was one of the early graduates of Vassar College, of the class of June 20, 1869; and, possessing much native force of character, her influence as a woman of culture was widely felt. In relig- ion she was an Episcopalian. Miss Gay was the daughter of David Hyde and Susan (Gar- diner) Gay, and a grand-daughter of William Gay, who was a pioneer settler on the banks of East Brook.
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The progenitor of the family in America was John Gay, who came over in the ship "Mary and John," landing in Boston in 1630, and first settling in Watertown, Mass., but be- coming a founder of the neighboring town of Dedham before 1636. He died there, on March 4, 1688 (the very year when William of Orange and Mary Stuart were jointly estab- lished on the English throne), his wife Jo- anna surviving till August 14, 1691. Among their ten children was one Samuel, born in Dedham, March 10, 1639, married to Mary Bridge, November 23, 1661, and died in his native place on April 5, 1718, aged seventy- nine, two days after the death of his wife, with whom he had lived happily for fifty-six years, rearing five sons and three daughters. Their third son was John, born June 25, 1668. He married Mary Fisher, of Dedham, on May 24, 1692, and died on the first day of June, 1758, aged ninety, having outlived by a dec- ade his wife, who died May 18, 1748, having borne seven children. John, Jr., their second son, was born in Dedham on July 8, 1699, and died in Sharon, Conn., on August 6, 1792, aged ninety-three, having lived through the Revolution, which began when he was six years past his threescore and ten, too old to take part in the patriotic contest. His wife was Lydia Culver. They were married in 1721, and reared eleven children.
This brings us to their son, Colonel Eben- ezer Gay, born in Litchfield, Conn., on the day after Christinas, 1725. He was twenty- five years old when he came to Sharon, and married Anna Cole, who bore him four sons and two daughters. The Colonel was a mili- tia officer, and served in the Revolution with distinguished bravery at Danbury and other places. He died at Sharon, July 16, 1781, at the age of fifty-six; and his resting-place is marked by a headstone, now one hundred and seven years old. Colonel Ebenezer had a son, David Gay, born March 24, 1756, who married Keziah Merchant, and reared two sons and one daughter. One of these, William Gay, who was born in Sharon on September 21, 1776, came to Walton in 1804, and settled on a farm on East Brook. He married Anna Seymour; and their son, David Hyde Gay, was born in 1815. William Gay died on
March 25, 1854, just nine days after the death of his wife.
David Hyde Gay was the only son of his parents living to maturity, one other son hav- ing died young; and of his sisters only one outlived him, Ann, who became Mrs. William Henry Eells, of Walton. Like his father and sisters he was a teacher in early life, and later he was a merchant for thirty years. He inherited property from his parents, and also received it through his wife. His death oc- curred in Walton on October 14, 1893, at the age of seventy-eight years and two months. Though no politician, he was a de- cided patriot, being a war Democrat. For over half a century Mr. Gay was connected with the Episcopal church, and was for a quarter-century Senior Warden of the parish. He was a liberal supporter of educational in- stitutions; and, being a thoughtful and care- ful reader, he collected a fine library, including the ninth edition of the Encyclo- pædia Britannica.
The wife of David H. Gay was Susan Gar- diner, the third daughter of Jetur and Susanna (Johnson) Gardiner, and was born on the old family farm, on the west branch of the Dela- ware River, January 4, 1811, four years before her husband. They were married October 21, 1839; and she died June 12, 1887, aged seventy-six, six years before her husband, with whom she had lived forty-eight years. Her father, Jetur Gardiner, died in Walton, November 11, 1811, of pleurisy, before she was a year old. He was descended in the seventh generation from Lion Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island, off the east end of Long Island. The place was known as "Gardi- ner's Manor," and Lion Gardiner was called the Lord of the manor. In the early part of the seventeenth century he was in Holland in military service with William of Orange. On July 10, 1635, he took his bride to Lon- don, and on August 16 sailed for New Eng- land, arriving on November 28. At first, under the commission of Lords Say and Brook, he built a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River, called Saybrook, where he remained four years. There was born his son. David Gardiner, April 29, 1636, the first white child born in the Connecticut colony,
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though he afterward had two sisters. On the death of his mother in 1665, David Gardiner became proprietor of the island. He married Mary Leringman, and died in Hartford on July 10, 1689, very suddenly, while attending the General Assembly. One of his descend- ants, another David, was born in 1705, mar- ried Elizabeth Wickham in 1725, and died in South Hole, L.I., March 2, 1743, leaving four children. John Gardiner, son of the sec- ond David, was born in 1727, married Mary Reaves in 1.749, and died in 1795. In the sixth generation from Lion Gardiner was John's son, a third David Gardiner, who was born September 1I, 1750, married Jerusha Strong, August 3, 1771, and died at South Hole in 1784, after which, in 1799, his widow moved to Walton with her oldest son, Jetur, and there died, aged ninety-four, in Decem- ber, 1843.
The father of Mrs. Jetur Gardiner, Laura Gay's great-grandfather, was Captain Samuel Johnson, a Revolutionary soldier, who came to Walton from the village of Northeast, Dutchess County, April 17, 1787, with his wife, Sarah Pennoyer, and ten chidren, three more being born after their arrival. In all there were seven boys and six girls, with the following alliterative names: Sabra; Siles; Solomon; Sylvia; Samuel; Sarah; Shubael ; Schuyler; Simeon; Susanna, who became Mrs. Gardiner; Sybil; Sylvester; and Susan Elizabeth. Well it is said by Lord Bacon : "It is a revered thing to see an ancient castle not in decay; how much more to be- hold an ancient family which have stood against the waves and weathers of time! "
MITH W. REED, M.D., is among the best-known residents of the vil- lage of Margarettville, in the town of Middletown, where he has for many years pursued his profession, alike with profit to himself and benefit to others. His grand- father, William Reed, came from New Eng- land, and settled in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, where he bought a farm, upon which he worked as a pioneer. He served in the War of 1812, was a Democrat in politics, and lived to be eighty-five. His eight children
were Oliver, William, Amos, Aaron, Eben- ezer, Henry, Lydia, and Esther Reed.
Oliver Reed, William's eldest son, was born in New London, Conn. He came early to Delaware County, and hired a farm in Rox- bury, where he married Eunice Dulong, daughter of John Dulong, a Delaware County farmer, who lived till the latter part of the nineteenth century. During the War of 1812 Oliver Reed did military duty for three months at Sackett's Harbor. Later he re- moved to Cortland County, where he died at the age of eighty-four, his wife living to be three years older. Both were members of the Presbyterian church. He was at first a Dem- ocrat, but later became a Republican. They had a large family of thirteen children, ten living to maturity. Esther Reed married a farmer named Abram Blumberg, and had four children. William Reed died in our Civil War, fighting bravely in the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth New York Regiment of Vol- unteers. John Dulong Reed lives with his family in Michigan. Aaron D. Reed became a physician, married Marian Hubbell, and died in Cortland County, New York, leaving two children. Lydia Reed married Peter Baljea, lives in Cortland County, and has two children. Phebe Reed is the wife of Loren Cole, a Michigan farmer. Dr. S. W. Reed is the subject of this sketch. Polly Reed is married to Chapman Grinnell, a Tompkins County farmer. Orin C. Reed married Mary Ann Russell, and was killed in the Rebellion of 1861-65, leaving one child. Sherman S. Reed married Miss Fanny Pierce, and lives in Tioga County.
Smith W. Reed was born in Roxbury, June 21, 1830. He was educated in the Rox- bury common schools, and in the Delaware Institute at Franklin. In the fall of 1850, when twenty years of age, he came to Margar- ettville, in order to study medicine with his elder brother Aaron, and subsequently received a diploma at the Vermont Medical College in 1854. After practising in the same town with his brother for a year, the young man went to the town of Liberty in Sullivan County, but did not stay there long, for he found a stronger attraction in his old field, where he was already so well and kindly
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known; and there he has ever since remained, having the largest practice in the neighbor- hood. In 1890 he opened a drug store, one of the finest business places in the village; and in 1867 he built a very large house on Walnut Street, where he has since resided. In fact, he built this residence in consequence of his marriage, which had taken place in 1865. The bride was Harriett A. Dumond; but, she dying at the early age of nineteen, the Doctor was again married, the bride being Frances A. Dumond, an aunt of his first wife, and the daughter of Cornelius and Sylvia (Wood) Dumond. Of this union have come four children, namely: Harriett Amanda Reed, who died young; Randolph R. Reed, Emma Dumond Reed, and Smith W. Reed, Jr., who are all at home. The doctor is a Democrat, and has thirteen times filled the office of Supervisor of the town.
The present Mrs. Reed was born December 8, 1846. Her grandfather was Egnos Du- mond; and from him the genealogy runs back lineally through Peter, Egnos, and John, to Waldron Dumond, a native of France, who was exiled in the religious troubles, and mar- ried his wife in Holland. At first the name was spelled de Mont, then Du Mond, and finally Dumond. Waldron Dumond settled on Long Island as a farmer. His first ap- pearance in the records was on March 28, 1660, as a soldier in Netherlandish service, in the company of his noble honor, the Direc- tor-General, Peter Stuyvesant, then stationed at Esopus (Kingston), N.Y. Waldron was one of the Military Council, December 1, 1663. On January 13, 1664, he married Margaret Hendrix, widow of Arentsen Hendrix. His son John married Nelltye Van Vegden. Egnos, son of John, married November 13, 1725, Catherine Schuyler, daughter of David Schuyler and Eliza Rutgers. David Schuyler was Mayor of Albany in 1706 and 1707. His son Peter, born about 1730, married Elsie Van Waggenen. Their son, Egnos Dumond, was born in Shandaken village, and married Harriett Winnie. Their children were Will- iam, Egnos, James, Cornelius, Christian, Abraham, Harriet, Mary, Sally, and Anna. The parents were among the early settlers of New Kingston, Mr. Egnos Dumond receiving
a tract of land in recompense for his Kingston house burned during the Revolution, in which he patriotically fought. Both he and his wife lived to a good old age in Middletown, and belonged to the Dutch Reformed church.
Cornelius Dumond was born in Shandaken, came with his father Egnos to Delaware County, and settled in New Kingston, where he bought a new farm of three hundred acres. His first wife was born in New Kingston. Her name was Mary Yaple, and she bore eight children: Harriett, Jane, John Yaple, Catherine, Mary, Phebe, Prudence, and Mi- nerva Dumond. After her death, in middle life, he was again married to Sylvia Wood, daughter of Christian Wood, by whom he had one child, Frances A. Dumond, who became, as mentioned above, the second wife of Dr. Reed. Mr. Dumond continued nearly all his life on the farm now owned by John T. Archi- bald. He built first a log cabin, and then a frame house in place of the old building. He lived to be eighty-two, but his wife died ten years younger. In politics he was a Demo- crat, and both husband and wife were Presby- terians. Among their children still living are Jane, Mary, Catherine, and Prudence. Harriett Dumond married W. Sanford, and, dying, left five children. Jane Dumond mar- ried William Reynolds, and had ten children. John Yaple Dumond married Priscilla Hilton, and had six children. Catherine Dumond married Cornelius Vansiclen, and had nine children. Mary Dumond married William Palmateer, and had ten children. Phebe Du- mond married Caleb Travis, and had three children. Prudence Dumond married Charles Macomber, and had ten children. Minerva Dumond married Peter F. Swart, and had six children. Both Doctor and Mrs. Reed have reason to be proud of their progenitors. The great English physician, Sir Benjamin Brodie, has well said, and it is a sentiment embodied in such lives as are commemorated in this sketch :
"Nothing in this world is so good as use- fulness. It binds your fellow-creatures to you, and you to them; it tends to the im- provement of your own character, and it gives you a real importance in society, much beyond what any artificial station can bestow."
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RSON J. BUTTS, the enterprising proprietor of an extensive milk farm in the south part of Kortright, N. Y., was born in this town on December 21, 1845, son of Jeremiah and Emma (Dart) Butts. His eminent ancestor, Major Jere- miah Butts, was also a native of Delaware County, the family being among the early set- tlers of Kortright. The Major, after an early life spent on the farm, became an officer in the War of 1812, and afterward was promi- nent in the affairs of the town. The excel- lent farm which he owned was known as the Major Butts farm. Here he reared a family of twelve children, five sons and seven daugh- ters, only one of whom is now living - Mrs. Loranda Barlow, of Binghamton. Major Butts spent his last days on his farm, dying at the age of eighty-four; and his wife, who was Beulah Sheldon, of Dutchess County, died at the same place at the age of seventy- eight. They were members of the Baptist church, and he was a Democrat. The grand- father of Orson J. Butts was Wilson Butts, who spent most of his life in Kortright, hav- ing come from Harpersfield, where he first settled. He was a hard-working farmer, and one whose success was due to his own efforts. His first wife, Lucy Smith, died at the age of thirty-six, leaving five children, the only one now surviving being Mrs. Mariette Banks, wife of Henry D. Banks, of Kortright. Wil- son Butts afterward married Amy Reynolds, by whom he had two children, the one now living being Mrs. Candace S. Murdock, wife of Matthew Murdock, of Kortright Centre. Wilson Butts was a member of the Baptist church. When he died, he had attained the age of sixty-seven years.
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