USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 19
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Into the household of Mr. and Mrs. Hanford were born six children - William L., Eliza
M., Samuel I., Platt Mead, Henry C., and Lucia C. Henry C. died at the tender age of one year. William L. married Anna Tib- bals. Eliza M., who married William T. Moore, a clerk in a general store in Walton, has three children - Annie H., Henry S., and Charles W. Samuel I., who married Ro- setta Ritsher, is a graduate of the Theological Seminary in Chicago, and the pastor of a Congregational church in Aurora, Neb. Platt Mead married Emily Ogden, the daughter of Edward and Margaret Ogden; and of their union three children were born, only one of whom, Bessie E. Hanford, is now living. George, the only son, died in 1884, and the youngest daughter, Mabel, and her mother passed away in 1887. Mrs. Cordelia Bene- dict Hanford and her family are worthy of the high respect accorded them by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. They are con- scientious members of the Congregational church, in which her son William has served with fidelity for many years as Trustee and Deacon.
HOMAS D. MIDDLEMAST, a promi- nent farmer residing on the old home- stead near Delhi, was born May 18, 1860, and is a son of Thomas and Jane (Douglass) Middlemast. The paternal grand- father, Thomas Middlemast, was a native of Scotland, residing there until his marriage, when he came to this country, and settled on a farm on the Little Delaware River. He made his home with his children during the latter years of his life. The names of his children were as follows: Thomas, John, William, James, Ellen, Elizabeth, and Anne.
Thomas Middlemast, the father of the sub- ject of this biographical notice, was educated in the district schools, and assisted his father on the farm. He rented a farm for three years, afterward purchasing the one where his son now lives. Mrs. Middlemast is a native of Meredith, her father having been a well- known farmer of that locality. The family were originally from Scotland, in which coun- try her father was engaged in the occupation of a shepherd. Mrs. Middlemast was one of six children, as follows: Margaret, who re-
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sides in Delhi; Jane; James; Elizabeth; Isa- bella; and William H. Mr. Middlemast died September 27, 1887, at the age of sixty-five. He left a family of five children : Margaret, the wife of Joseph S. McMurdy, of Delhi; Thomas D .; William J .; Belle W., the wife of William J. Hoag, a farmer of Sullivan County ; and Ebenezer R. John died when an infant.
Thomas D. Middlemast was educated at the district schools; and since his father's death he, with one of his brothers, has managed the farm, which consists of about two hundred and fifty acres, devoting a large portion of his time to the dairy, and keeping from fifty to seventy head of cattle. Mr. Middlemast is a prominent member of Delhi Lodge, No. 439, A. F. & A. M., in which he has held several important offices. In politics he is a Repub- lican. He has been Collector of Taxes for the town, and is President of the Delaware County Agricultural Society, a position he has filled with honor and dignity for two years. He is an attendant of the Presbyterian church, of which his mother is a member. That Mr. Middlemast possesses progressive ideas is clearly demonstrated by the model farm which he so ably conducts, a fine ex- ample of careful and prudent management.
ICHARD B. ROBINSON, son of Dinghee A. and Roxy A. (Benjamin) Robinson, was born on September II, 1841, in the town of Roxbury. His maternal grandfather was born in 1778. When a young man he came to Delaware County, where he plied his trade of masonry, undertaking work by contract, paving the way, and laying the foundation, in both a literal and figurative sense, to prosperity and happi- ness; for it was here that he met and won his wife.
Mr. Dinghee A. Robinson was also a native of Roxbury, and received a practical education in the district school. He was a farmer and teamster until 1866, when he exchanged plough and spade for counter and scales, and established a grocery store, in which his son Richard held a partnership, and in which he took an active interest until the day of his
death. He was a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, and a consistent member of the old school Baptist church. He mar- ried Miss Benjamin, whose father has been before mentioned, and died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, leaving a widow and three children: Henry C., who married Miss Sarah Dart, and is now a merchant in Camden, N.J .; a daughter Betsey, who died young; and Richard B. Robinson, the original of the present outline portrait.
Richard was educated at the Roxbury Academy, and at the age of twenty-three went into the drug business in Prattsville, Greene County, but sold out later, and returned to Roxbury, where he joined his father in the grocery. Ten years afterward he sold out his interest in this to Burhans & Lauren. In 1885 he was appointed Postmaster under Grover Cleveland's first administration. At the end of the Democratic Presidential term he resigned his office and became clerk for W. M. Banker, in whose employment he re- mained until President Cleveland's second term in the White House, when he again re- ceived the appointment as Postmaster, having proved his fitness for the work and his efficacy.
Mr. Robinson won for his wife Miss Phœbe White, of Prattsville. Miss White was a daughter of Hiram and Maria (Bate) White, whose married lives extended over such an expanse of years -their deaths occurring within the space of five days, both caused by pneumonia - as to deserve more than a pass- ing notice. There is a halo of beauty and pathos surrounding the aged couple who had lived, sorrowed, and rejoiced together for the greater part of eighty-five years of shadow and sunshine, and whose earthly separation was so mercifully short.
Mrs. Robinson died in the spring of 1894, at the age of fifty-two years. She was a con- sistent and faithful member of the Presbyte- rian church. She left one child, a daughter, Anna M., who lives at home, the only solace of a desolated fireside and a bereaved husband. Richard B. Robinson is a clear exponent and stanch adherent of the Democratic party, in whose services his energies have always been enlisted. He is a notary public, and a mem-
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ber of the Masonic Order, belonging to Cœur de Lion Lodge, No. 571, at Roxbury, N. Y.
INER MUNSON, whose post-office ad- dress is Ouleout, is a fine repre- sentative of the prosperous and intelligent agriculturists of Dela- ware County. He was born on the farm where he now resides, in the town of Frank- lin, December 21, 1843, being the son of John H. Munson, who was born in Meredith in 1817, and died in Oneonta in 1889.
Mr. Munson is of honored English ancestry on both sides of his family, his great-great- grandfather on his mother's side having been the Duke of Northumberland. His paternal grandfather, Heman Munson, was born in Watertown, Litchfield County, Conn., in 1784, and was a resident of that place for many years. He married Sarah Hecock, a native of Connecticut, and afterward re- moved to this State, and was numbered among the well-to-do farmers. He reared six sons and one daughter. One of these, Peter Mun- son, is now a bright and active man of eighty-
two years, having the full use of his mental and physical powers. The grandfather lived to celebrate his seventy-sixth birthday, dying in the town of Davenport, and being buried beside his wife and son John H. in the Oule- out cemetery.
The father of the subject was from boy- hood a tiller of the soil. He bought the nucleus of the present homestead of the sub- ject in 1842, paying twelve dollars an acre for the first thirty acres of it. He cleared and improved this, and added somewhat to its acreage, having before his decease a good- sized and well-appointed farm. His widow, who has passed the seventy-fifth milestone of life, is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Josephine McMinn, in Oneonta. Her other living children are as follows: Milton D., a farmer, lives in Franklin. Albert H., a commercial traveller, resides in Chautauqua County ; John A., a physician, in Sulli- van County; Ainer in Franklin; and Mrs. T. K. Walker lives at Downsville. One son, William A., formerly a cattle dealer, died in 1885, at the age of thirty years.
Ainer Munson was reared to farm life, and obtained a firm foundation for his education in the district school, this being supplemented by a year's attendance at a select school in Oneonta, and another year at the Delaware Literary Institute in Franklin. During the progress of the late Civil War he enlisted in September, 1864, as a Union soldier in Com- pany A, Thirteenth New York Heavy Artil- lery, serving as a private until the close of the war, being honorably discharged June 24, 1865. He participated bravely in several en- gagements and skirmishes. After his return from the army Mr. Munson resumed his farm- ing operations on the old homestead, upon which he has since resided, being now the possessor of one hundred and eighty acres of land, the larger part of which is under culti- vation, well fenced, and improved, he having built two thousand five hundred rods of fenc- ing, and amply supplied the place with con- venient buildings. The barn is very ca- pacious and well arranged, being one hun- dred and twenty-four feet by forty-eight feet, with a basement having accommodations for fifty or sixty head of cattle. Mr. Munson has a fine dairy, containing twenty-five grade Jer- sey cows ; and to the care of this he devotes a good deal of his attention, finding it a very profitable branch of industry.
On October 30, 1866, Mr. Munson married Adelaide Ward, of Davenport Centre, where her birth occurred in 1849, her parents, Daniel and Emily (Brewer) Ward, being prosperous members of the farming commu- nity. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Munson, one of whom died when an infant, and another, Eva W., when eight years old. Alberta G. is the wife of John M. Hotaling, a farmer in Franklin, and has one daughter. Berenice B., a young lady, lives at home. Edith Lyle lives at Oneonta. Walter H., an active youth of seventeen years, and John H., eleven years, live with their parents.
In politics Mr. Munson is a stanch sup- porter of the Republican party, and has held various offices of trust, among others that of Justice of the Peace, which he is now filling most creditably and acceptably. Socially, he is a Chapter Mason, and a member of the
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Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to the E. D. Farmer Post, No. 116, of Oneonta.
HEOPHILUS G. AUSTIN, whose bi- ography is herein given among those of the prosperous men of Delaware County, was born on January 30, 1830, on the family estate where he now lives. His grand- father, Pardon Austin, was of English descent and a native of Rhode Island, where he was a skilled tanner and shoemaker. Purchasing a tract of one hundred and forty-seven and one- half acres of land in Delaware County, he established a tannery near Arkville, still fol- lowing also for about twenty years his other trade of shoemaking. He bought the frame of a grist-mill on White Brook, and built a house, and also put up the first frame barn in Middletown. He afterward moved to the Carter farm, and eventually to Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he died, in his eighty- third year. He was a Whig, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, Jane Stanton, lived to be eighty-three years old, and was the mother of eight chil- dren - Pardon, Alexander, Jane, Laura, Ma- linda, Rhoda, Henrietta, and Freeman.
Alexander Austin was born at the old homestead on April 5, 1798. Having grown to manhood, he bought the farm, and, drop- ping the tannery, went on with the improve- ment of the place. He also bought and cleared one hundred and thirty acres more, making his home here till his death, when sixty-three years old. At the age of twenty- one, December 19, 1819, he married Deborah Dean, who was born August 16, 1804, a daughter of William and Mary (Mott) Dean. Mr. Dean was a Delaware farmer, and con- ducted a carding factory. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Austin, namely: Alfred L., February 11, 1822; William D., August 16, 1823; Adaline, De- cember 23, 1826; Henry M., December 1, 1828; Julia, August 12, 1832; Clarinda, Oc- tober 6, 1835; Huldah Austin, born February 5, 1838; Polly D., March 4, 1843; Theoph- ilus G., January 30, 1830. Mr. Austin was a Republican, and served his town as Poormas- ter. His wife, who was a member of the
Baptist church, lived to the age of seventy- two years.
Theophilus G. Austin was educated in the district schools, and continued during his youth and early manhood to work with his father, putting the farm into a high state of cultivation, and was thirty years of age when the estate came into his possession. He won the heart and hand of Miss Huldah Allison, one of Middletown's maidens, and the child of Jefferson T. and Margaret (Paul) Allison. Mr. Allison was a mason and farmer in pros- perous circumstances, on the stream known as Platter Kill. Mrs. Austin had five brothers - James P., William T., Andrew B., Hiram H., and Amos. The children of the marriage of Theophilus Austin and Miss Allison were : Margaret, born December 1, 1870; Deborah, March 19, 1873; William T., born March 23, 1879; and Alfred L., born on August 8, I882.
The old house of his ancestors has been en- tirely remodelled since Mr. Theophilus Aus- tin came into possession of it; and he has built a new barn, wagon-house, and other out- buildings. Five thousand rods of stone wall lately built have greatly enhanced the value of the farm, which has an exceptionally fine location, being on the U. & D. Railroad, within two miles of Margarettville, and one mile distant from Arkville. Mr. Austin is liberal in his religious views, believing that Christianity is embodied in the practical ap- plication of the Golden Rule rather than in formulated theology. His wife is a mem- ber of the Methodist church. He is a Repub- lican in politics. A beautiful home, happy domestic relations, and the esteem of his contemporaries are the rewards of his well- spent years.
J DUNCAN LAWRENCE, a successful farmer and leading citizen of Kort- right, where he is engaged in dairying, is a son of Jacob W. Lawrence, a na- tive of Middletown, who carried on an exten- sive lumber business in that town, where he erected a saw-mill. Removing to Sullivan County, he engaged in farming, and by unit- ing energy and toil became the possessor of a
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comfortable fortune. At the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted in Sickles's Brigade in the Ninety-first New York Volunteer In- fantry, and died in 1862 from injuries re- ceived while in service. He was a Whig, and later a Republican. The Methodist Episcopal church found in him a consistent member. His widow, Margaret Monroe, a native of Scotland, and five children survived him. The latter are as follows: J. Duncan, the subject of this sketch; Jacob H., a resi- dent of Massachusetts; George E., a carpen- ter residing in Omaha, Neb .; Mary, the wife of William Tuttle, of Curtisville, Mass .; and Addison E., who also resides in Curtisville. Mrs. Margaret Monroe Lawrence is still liv- ing, and resides in Curtisville.
J. Duncan Lawrence was born in Colches- ter, January 29, 1846, and received his educa- tion in Sullivan County. When fifteen years of age he enlisted in Company H, Fifty-sixth New York Volunteers, Captain William Jos- lyn, and saw much hard service, taking part in sixteen battles, among which were those of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Fair Oaks. He was honorably discharged in 1865, and went to Andes, Delaware County, where he attended the Andes Collegiate Institute. He then spent about two years travelling through the States, and then settled in Binghamton, where he was employed as a clerk for five years, then engaged in buying and selling stock in Andes.
October 30, 1880, Mr. Lawrence married Miss Kate Keator, who was born in Kingston, a daughter of Harvey and Elliff Keator. Mrs. Lawrence's father has passed away; but her mother still survives, and is a resident of Kingston. After his marriage Mr. Lawrence moved to Kingston, and for a year and a half managed the farm of his mother-in-law. In 1882 he purchased the farm where he now re- sides, removing to it the following year .. This comprises two hundred and thirty acres of land, with a fine residence. All the build- ings have been remodelled and improved; and a productive dairy is operated, over forty head of cattle being cared for on the place, Mr. Lawrence devoting his entire time to the man - agement of his farm, and being eminently successful.
Mr. Lawrence is liberal in religious mat- ters, while his wife is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. He is a Republican, and is serving his second term as a member of the Board of Supervisors. For three years he was Superintendent of the Poor. Frater- nally, he is a member of Delaware Valley Lodge, No. 612, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is an excellent business man, and interested in all matters concerning the welfare of the town, and has won well-de- served success in his chosen occupation.
TEPHEN DECATUR EELS, one of the oldest native-born citizens of Delaware County, was born in the town of Walton, November 3, 1815, and during nearly fourscore years has watched the wonderful metamorphosis of an originally wild and wooded tract of land into fertile fields and blooming gardens, which yield abundance and to spare. In the days of his boyhood the surrounding country was largely covered with timber, through which bears, deer, and other wild game roamed at will, fur- nishing the principal meat for the pioneer families.
Mr. Eels comes of distinguished English stock, the first of the name to locate on Amer- ican soil having been one John Eels, who emigrated from England to Dorchester, Mass., in 1628. To him and his wife there was born on June 25, 1629, a son, Samuel Eels, who afterward removed to Hingham, Mass., and on August 1, 1663, married Anna, a daughter of the Rev. Robert Lenthal, of Wey- mouth, Mass. Soon after his marriage he re- moved from Hingham to Milford, Conn., where seven children were born into his household. The first two died in infancy. The third child, Samuel, was born September 2, 1666. His first wife, Martha, died in 1700, he subsequently marrying the Widow Bayard, nee Russell. Of this union there was one son, John Eels, who was born in 1702, and was baptized April 11, 1703. He re- ceived a liberal education, was graduated from Yale College in 1724, and died in New Ca- naan, Conn., October 15, 1785. He married Anna Baird; and they became the parents of
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two children : Anna Baird, born May 1, 1729; and Jeremiah Baird, December 21, 1732. The latter married Lois Benedict, a grand- daughter of Dr. Bouton, of Norwalk, Conn., a French Huguenot, and a man of note. They had a family of ten children, the eldest of whom, named John, was born in New Canaan, Conn., November 16, 1755, and married Anna Mead, a twin daughter of General John Mead, of Greenwich, Conn. General Mead had command of the Continental troops adja- cent to the neutral grounds between Horse Neck and New York; and it was on his farm that General Israel Putnam made his perilous ride down the rocky hill and escaped the Tory light horse, so famous in Revolutionary history.
John and Anna Mead Eels removed from New Canaan to the town of Walton in 1785, and were numbered among its most honored and valued pioneer settlers. They reared the following children: Anna, born in New Ca- naan, Conn., December 20, 1784; John J., born in Walton, February 24, 1786; Benja- min B., born March 8, 1788; Mead, July 3, 1790; Samuel, March 12, 1793; Mary, May I, 1795; and Baird, October 10, 1797. Mead Eels, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Philena Johnson, a daughter of Dor- man and Rebecca (Church) Johnson, of Ver- mont, and reared seven children.
Stephen Decatur Eels received his educa- tion in the typical log school-house of early days, and on the home farm was trained to habits of industry and thrift. He learned the painter's trade, and for fifty-four years made that his principal occupation. During the progress of the late Civil War he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, and served until the ces- sation of hostilitics, being then discharged with an honorable record.
Mr. Eels and his wife, formerly Mary Wood Marvin, have passed a happy wedded life of more than half a century, having been married fifty-three years ago, and have occupied their present home forty-eight years of this time. Four children have blessed their union. John, born December 31, 1843, married Anna Kneer; and they are residents of this county. He was a volunteer in the late war, being a
member of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, which was sta- tioned at Hilton Head, S.C. Ellen M., born January 27, 1846, married J. Q. Barlow, a farmer of Delaware County; and they have three sons - William Marvin, Joseph, and John Alan - and also an adopted daughter, Daisy L. Emma Isabel, born May 6, 1848, married Robert L. Eels, and died in Norwalk, Conn. William H., born April 16, 1853, is proprietor of the Walton Times, of Walton, Delaware County. He has been twice mar- ried, his first wife having been Huldah H. Stoddard, who died in New Haven, Conn. He subsequently married Eleanor Place; and this union has been blessed by the birth of two children - Hamilton Chace and Martha D.
In early life, and during the existence of the Free Soil party, Mr. Eels was one of its warmest adherents, and cast his first Presi- dential vote for James G. Birney. On the organization of the Republican party he cor- dially indorsed its principles, and has since sustained them at the polls. For many years both he and his wife have been honorcd mcm- bers of the First Congregational Church. As a man and citizen, his record is without spot or blemish; and he is held in high esteem throughout the community.
EWITT CLINTON SHARPE, one of the thriving farmers of Stamford, was born in New York City, July 19, 1844, being a son of Alexander Y. and Clarissa (Palmer) Sharpe, the former born in Brooklyn, March 29, 1817, and the latter in Connecticut, January 19, 1822. The grandfather, Peter Sharpe, was a respected and successful business man of New York City. He was born in Holland, coming to America when comparatively a young man, and settling in New York City, where he re- sided until his death. Being an early settler of that city, he numbercd among his friends many of the substantial old Knickerbocker familics. He carried on very successfully a whip manufactory, owned considerable real estate, and at his death left a large property. On the 12th of April, 1792, he married Chris- tina Notrand, who was born March 4, 1771.
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Of this union there were four children, namely: Fanny, born January 2, 1801; Har- riett, February 22, 1806; John H., December 4, 1809; and Alexander Y., March 29, 1817. Of these children but one is living, Mrs. Whetmore, who now resides in Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Christina Sharpe died in New York City in June, 1839, her husband surviv- ing her but a few years, and dying August 2, 1842.
Alexander Y. Sharpe was a life-long resi- dent of New York City. He inherited a large share of his father's estate, and passed the greater part of his time in travel, but finally located in Stamford, Conn., where he spent his last days. He died in the prime of life, when but thirty-nine years of age, on the 14th of November, 1856. He was a Presby- terian in his religious views, and in politics a Whig. He had but one child, DeWitt Clinton Sharpe, the subject of this sketch. On September 29, 1861, Mrs. Alexander Y. Sharpe was again married, her second hus- band being Daniel Andrews, a successful farmer of Stamford; and they moved to the farm upon which Mr. Andrews was born May 17, 1813. Daniel Andrews was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Marriam) Andrews, the former of whom was born in Fairfield County, Conn., August 2, 1770, and the lat- ter in Connecticut, September 7, 1775. They were the parents of fourteen children, twelve sons and two daughters. In 1794 they moved to Delaware County, and settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. DeWitt Sharpe. The country around was rough and unculti- vated; and wild game, which is now almost a thing of the past, abounded. Samuel An- drews was a sturdy pioneer, and, nothing daunted by his surroundings, began to make a home for his family. He erected a log cabin; but with hard work came success, and this rude building was replaced by a frame house, which was one of the first in this town. His farm was a good one, and comprised a large tract of land located in the Delaware River Valley; and here he lived until his death, Oc- tober 10, 1838. His wife passed away Octo- ber 12, 1865. Of their fourteen children but one is now living, the youngest, Benjamin, who resides in Brooklyn.
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