USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 23
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EORGE WEBSTER. The thriving village of Walton has a full quota of live, energetic, and persevering business men, among whom is the subject of this sketch, who, in company with Mr. Frank Clark, has recently embarked in the market business. He is a man of sound judgment
and keen foresight, and has met with uniform success in the various transactions in which he has engaged. He is a native of the Em- pire State, appearing upon the scenes of life in 1841, in the town of Milford, Otsego County, at the homestead of his parents, David and Ruth ( Worden) Webster.
David Webster was born on the green sod of the Emerald Isle, in the year 1796, in Armagh, County Down, and was named for his father. When fifteen years old, he accom- panied his parents to America. They had an unusually tempestuous voyage, their seven weeks of ocean travel being weeks of terror and danger: After landing in New York City, they proceeded at once to the town of Westford, near Schenevus, Otsego County, where they bought a tract of timbered land, on which they reared their large family of eighteen children, all of whom were born in Ireland. Many of these sons and daughters were old enough to be of great assistance in clearing and improving the land; and in a few years they had a good farm, entirely free from debt. On this homestead, which they reclaimed from the forest, David Webster, Sr., and his wife spent their remaining years, rearing their large family to habits of indus- try and economy; and all became honored and trustworthy men and women, and most of them well-to-do farmers. They were Protes- tant in religion, and held in high respect throughout their neighborhood.
David Webster, Jr., the father of George Webster, was an earnest and honest tiller of the soil, and after his marriage bought a farm in Otsego County, on which he resided until 1849, prosperously engaged in mixed husban- dry. During that year he removed to Dela- ware County, buying a farm in the town of Tompkins. After living there eight years, he exchanged that two hundred acres of land for a farm near by, and was there a resident until the spring of 1866, conducting his agri- cultural interests very successfully. Selling that at an advance, he purchased another farm, which was finely situated on the Delaware River, between Cannonsville and Deposit. In 1869, feeling the infirmities of years com- ing on apace, and having performed his full share of manual labor, he sold his property to
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his son, with whom he and his faithful wife afterward made their home, both dying in Cannonsville, at the age of eighty-six years, his death occurring in 1882, and hers in 1884. Of eleven children born to them nine grew to maturity, four sons and five daughters ; and of these the following are now living: John, a farmer, who lives in Sanford, Broome County ; Mary Ann, the widow of Stutely Sherman, who resides near Cooperstown Junction, in Otsego County; Ebenezer, who likewise lives near Cooperstown Junction, and owns, in com- pany with his son-in-law, a valuable farm of six hundred acres, on which they carry on an extensive business in dairying and hop-grow- ing; Ruth Ann, the wife of N. S. Boyd, a farmer, who lives in Downsville; and George, of whom we write.
George Webster received a limited educa- tion in the district school, and at the early age of eight years began working on the farm, his first employment being to drive the team for his father to plough. From this time until the year 1890 Mr. Webster was steadily engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was a farmer of more than average skill and ability, his early experience in that line being of in- estimable value to him. His first purchase of land was near Cannonsville, and contained one hundred and fifty acres of rich and pro- ductive land, from which he received a good annual income. In 1890 he sold that farm for the consideration of six thousand five hun- dred dollars, and, coming to the village of Walton, bought a small tract within the cor- poration limits. This he divided into town lots, all of which he has sold with the excep- tion of five. In 1893 he and his son bought the Walton bakery, which is now under the management of his two elder sons, Eugene and Arthur.
The marriage of Mr. Webster and Miss Hulda Pomeroy was celebrated September 30, 1863. Mrs. Webster was born in Hamden, Delaware County, and is a daughter of Orange D. and Sally (Montfort) Pomeroy, the former of whom was born in Massachusetts, and the latter in Delaware County. This union has been blessed with three children: Eugene, who married Emma Tiffany, and has one daughter, now a few months old; Arthur, who
married Florence Walworth, and also has one child, a bright boy of fourteen months; and George L., a young man of eighteen years, who is now attending the Walton High School. Mr. and Mrs. Webster occupy a very pleasant home on Park Street, which they bought from William Woodin, who had built it for his own use.
In politics Mr. Webster is an uncompromis- ing Republican, ever interested in local mat- ters, and now serving as Village Trustee. While in Tompkins he was for one year As- sessor. In his religious views he coincides with the tenets of the Baptist church, of which he and his wife and two children are faithful and worthy members, he being a Trustee and Deacon.
DWARD AUGUSTUS SHAFFER is leading citizen of Margarettville,
a where he has a large store in the very centre of the village. He was born May 27, 1869, in the town of Andes; and his an- tecedents are worth considering.
The great-grandparents were Adam and Laura (Shoefelt) Shaffer. Adam Shaffer was born in Dutchess County, and there married. With his wife and older children he came to Delaware County, and settled in the village of Shavertown, in Andes, on the banks of the Delaware River, on a farm now owned by W. H. Terry. He brought cattle and horses from his old home, and built almost the first log house and barn in this part of the town. On Beach Hill Creek he built subsequently the only saw-mill to be found for many miles ; and, as there were as yet no roads to Kings- ton, the nearest settlement, only trails through the woods, it was no easy task to get together the proper materials. As there was great need of a grist-mill, he contrived a rude machine for corn-grinding, much like an old- fashioned well-sweep; only, in place of a bucket, was a heavy stone that was pounded up and down upon the grain, which was placed in a hollow log by way of a hopper. So in- dispensable was this pounder that farmers came from near and far to use it. Then Mr. Shaffer began to raft lumber down the river, and in the course of years was able to erect a
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frame house and barn, the first in this part of the county. It need hardly be said that a farmer so enterprising and inventive soon wanted more than the two hundred acres at first bought. In the woods were wolves, bears, panthers, and wild-cats, as well as deer. Like the father of the human race, this Adam could call the beasts by name, and in later life could narrate to a younger generation many an adventure of the wilderness. Six boys helped him in his work - George, Henry, Philip, Peter, William, and John. The pioneer was a Whig in his latter days, but earlier in life was a Federalist; and the family belonged to the Dutch Reformed church. Adam Shaffer died in middle life, at fifty-two; but his wife lived to be a dozen years older.
Adam Shaffer's son William, on attaining manhood, bought part of his father's farm. He married Hannah Vail, daughter of Joseph and Ruby (Wilson) Vail, who came from the South, settled on the banks of the Delaware, reared a large family, and lived to be old people, though the descendants are no longer found in this region. Like his father, Will- iam Shaffer not only farmed, but dealt largely in lumber, owning at one time three saw- mills. Like his parents, William and Han- nah Shaffer had six children. Alfred, born January 5, 1815, married Mary Jessup; and they had one child, who now lives in Andes. Delancey Shaffer was born in the last month of the year 1817. He was twice married, first to the Widow Bambardt, and second to Anne Knapp, and had in all seven children. Edwin Shaffer was born October 1, 1823. George R. Shaffer was born November 10, 1825, married Sarah Radecker, has two chil- dren, and lives at Shavertown. Sylvester Shaffer, born January 29, 1830, married De- lotte Fuller, and lives in Downsville. Sallie C. Shaffer, born in August, 1839, married Dr. Oliver Carroll, lives in Port Jervis, and has one child. William Shaffer was a soldier in the War of 1812, and received for his ser- vice a thousand acres of land, divided into farms and woodland. He died March 3 1835, and his wife on July 22, 1840.
William Shaffer's son Edwin, father of the subject of this sketch, studied in the district
school, and worked at home, where he re- mained till he was thirty years old. His father gave him a saw-mill and land, and nat- urally Edwin took to the lumber business; but in 1864 he turned drover, taking cattle at first as far as Dutchess County, and later to New York City and New Jersey. November 29, 1863, amid the Civil War, he married, his wife being Agnes Boyce, daughter of James, Jr., and Barbara (Gordon) Boyce. James Boyce, Jr., was the son of James, Sr., and Agnes (Currie) Boyce, of Dumfries, Scot- land. James Boyce the younger came to America when twenty-two years old, and here met and married Barbara Gordon, daughter of James and Mary (Hay) Gordon. Her brothers and sisters were Peter, Jane Ann, Owen, and Jeanette. At first James Boyce and his wife lived in New York City, but later in Delhi and Andes. The names of their children were: James; Joshlynn, who married Laura Caulk- ins, and has two children; Mary; Peter, who married Mary E. Davis, and has one boy; Fannie; Agnes, who was born March 28, 1849, and married Edwin Shaffer, as already related; John, who is dead; Thomas, who married Maggie Bell, has four children, and lives in Hartford, Conn .; William A., who inarried Anna Burhaus, lives in Margarett- ville, and is a merchant; David, who lives in Michigan; Annie, who married C. J. Dick- son, of whom a special sketch may be found. James Boyce lived in Andes when his wife died, in 1882, December 20, a member of the Presbyterian church; and then he moved to Margarettville, where he now lives, at the extreme age of eighty-five. Edwin and Agnes Shaffer had only two children. Edward Au- gustus Shaffer was born May 27, 1869, and was married June 28, 1893. Laura Anna Shaffer was born February 28, 1877, and lives at home. Their father is a Republican, and his wife is a Presbyterian.
Edward Augustus Shaffer went to school winters and worked on the farm summers. Four years he worked for T. R. McFarland, and then, at the age of seventeen, was em- ployed as clerk by C. J. Dickson, of Mar- garettville, his kinsman by marriage. Being then of age, he formed a partnership with Fred. S. Tobey; and they continued three
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years in the hardware business, till 1883, when Mr. Shaffer sold out, and worked a year with his old employer, and then went into business elsewhere for himself, adding to his plumbing an extensive traffic in all sorts of farming tools. His place of business is on Bridge Street. He was married in 1893, at the age of twenty-four. His wife, Cora M. Terpenning, is the only daughter of H. H. and Susa (Myles) Terpenning. He was born in Ulster County, near Esopus, and first did business in New York City, but later came to Margarettville, where he purchased of C. B. Schoonmaker the Riverside Hotel, and does a large business in entertaining summer boarders. Mr. E. A. Shaffer is a Republican, very liberal in his religious views.
EWIS B. STRONG, a well-to-do farmer, residing on the Franklin road in the town of Meredith, is a man of much energy and ability, and has attained success by his untiring industry, combined with a careful and wise manage- ment of his business interests. He is a na- tive of Delaware County, having been born on September 23, 1828, in that part of the town of Meredith lying between Delhi and Mere- dith Square. He comes of Colonial stock, and traces his ancestry back to one Caleb Strong, his great-grandfather, who was born in Connecticut, in the town of Colchester, February 20, 1713. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and spent his last years in Sharon, Conn. His son, Caleb Strong, Jr., was also of Connecticut birth, born June 20, 1749. He carried on farming in Sharon until 1797, when he came to this county and cleared off a tract of land now included in the site of Meredith Square, remaining there until his decease. He married and reared thirteen children.
William, the youngest, was born February 29, 1797, in the Connecticut home of his par- ents, and was brought here by them when an infant. He was bred a farmer, and remained with his father, helping in the farm work until of age. He then began working by the month for Judge Law, and subsequently bought a farm on Honest Brook, where he lived a few years. Selling that property, he
removed to Taylor, Cortland County, residing there three years. In 1834 he returned to this county, and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by his son, Lewis B., the subject of this sketch. He labored diligently in clearing and improving the land, and in course of time waving fields of grain and green pasture lands occupied the tract where formerly stood the primeval forest. On this snug homestead he and his good wife passed their remaining years, she crossing the dark river of death in 1867, he dying in 1876, at the venerable age of seventy-nine years. The maiden name of Mrs. William Strong was Charlotte Whitney. She was a native of Walton, and was one of a large family of children born to David and Nancy (Raymond) Whitney, the date of her birth being February 15, 1800. Her parents were natives of New England; but after their marriage they settled in Walton, where Mr. Whitney followed the trade of a blacksmith for many years. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Strong: Mary Ann, who married Thomas Bartlett; Marietta, who married William H. Gates; Maria, who married Thomas Graham, a butter dealer of Croton; James W .; Lewis B .; William M .; and Milton M. Mrs. Strong was a noble type of the pioneer women of her day, a faithful coadjutor of her husband in all of his labors, and a sincere member of the Presbyterian church of Meredith.
Lewis B., the second son of William and Charlotte Strong, was two years of age when his parents went to Cortland County, where they lived three years, and was five years old when they removed to the farm he now occu- pies. He shortly began his education in the district school, and, completing it at the Franklin Literary Institute, was subsequently engaged one term in teaching. His assist- ance being then needed on the home farm, he gave his attention to that until 1853, when he purchased a farm in the western part of the town, where he resided ten years, successfully engaged in general husbandry. Returning in 1863 to the home of his boyhood, he bought the place, which he has since carried on with satisfactory pecuniary results. During the lifetime of his honored parents they re- mained inmates of his home, and were ten-
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derly cared for by himself and family. His farm contains one hundred and twenty acres of good land, on which, besides raising grain of all kinds and cutting a good deal of hay, he keeps a dairy of graded Jerseys, which yield him a profitable income, his sweet, pure but- ter finding a ready market.
Mr. Strong has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united in 1850, was Jeanette Hymers, one of ten children born to John and Elizabeth (Ormiston) Hymers, the former of whom was a native of Scotland and the latter of Bovina. Three children were born of this union, namely : Henry M., who married Anna McCormick, of Meredith, and died at the age of thirty-two years; Alfred D., a butcher in Delhi, who married Sarah Thompson, and has one child, James Madison; Frank M., who married Adelia Osborne, of Croton, and has one child, Lewis Ranson. Mrs. Strong, a sweet, lov- able woman, passed to the higher life in 1878, at the age of forty-six years. She was a true Christian, and a devout member of the Presby- terian church. Mr. Strong subsequently wedded Miss Eugenia L. Covell, a native of Wisconsin, and the daughter of Peter and Jane (Moscrip) Covell, natives of Delaware County. Peter Covell died in Wisconsin; and his wife returned with her family to Delaware County, and married James Sloane, who was for many years a well-known farmer in the town of Kortright.
Politically, Mr. Lewis B. Strong is a true- blue Republican, and in the affairs of his town and county takes an intelligent interest. He has filled the office of Supervisor four terms, and for eleven years was a Justice of the Peace. Six years he was employed as Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. Re- ligiously, he is a believer in the tenets of the Methodist church, to which his wife belongs.
ILTON H. MAYNARD, a promi- nent lumber merchant at Fish's Eddy, was born October 26, 1829, in Delhi, Delaware County. His earliest ancestors in this country came from England and settled in Massachusetts. Thomas Maynard, his grandfather, was born
in Deerfield, on the Maynard farm, which is one of the oldest in that part of the State. He married Elizabeth Choat, of Deerfield, and, with a colony of Eastern people, com- prising members of the Maynard, Choat, and Parsons families, migrated to Schoharie County, New York, late in last century, set- tling in that part of Blenheim now called Gilboa. They came as far as Newburg, N. Y., by water, and then were conveyed by ox carts to Blenheim, where they built their log cabins on the highest hills they could find. Here they lived a most primitive life, depending mainly upon the game, deer, and fish for their daily food. They built strong enclosures for their sheep and cattle as protec- tion against the wolves, panthers, and bears, which were abundant. The women spun, carded, and wove the wool and flax, and manu- factured all the garments worn by the family. Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Maynard, was a descendant of the Choat family of Massachu- setts, her father having a family of thirteen children, nine of whom lived to be over eighty years of age. He himself died after more than fourscore years, and was buried on the Choat farm in Gilboa, having with his wife been a faithful member of the Baptist church.
A. S. Maynard, father of the subject of this biography, was educated in his native town, and assisted his parents on the home farm until he became of age. He married Ophelia Reekie, daughter of Andrew Reekie, of Stam- ford, Delaware County. Her father was a supporter of the last Stuart pretender to the British crown, and came to this country as a political refugee with a price upon his head. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and first met at Newburg, after Burgoyne's surrender, the lady who became his wife. He served until the close of the war, then married and settled in Stamford, where he resided until his death, at the age of ninety-four years. His wife survived him ten years. A. S. Maynard was the father of eleven chil- dren, seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. He was a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and died at the age of seventy-six.
Milton H. Maynard was educated in the Stamford Academy, and then went to Frank-
MILTON H. MAYNARD.
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lin, after which he began the study of medi- cine, but soon gave that up and taught school for a number of terms. About the year 1853, in company with A. B. Stimpson, he started a store, which he sold to his partner in 1857; and he has since been engaged in the lumber- ing business.
His first marriage was in 1854 to Marie A. Fletcher, of Davenport, by whom he had four children, namely: Augustus, now a resident of Hancock village; Lasael A., editor of the Christian at Work, a paper edited in the inter- est of the Christian religion in New York City; Ida P., wife of James M. Driver, of Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, who died in July, 1894; Dewhurst F., who died in 1874, when seventeen years old. The mother of these children died in 1863; and Mr. Maynard afterward married Elizabeth F. Sparks, daugh- ter of Robert and Eleanor (Sniffin) Sparks, of Fremont, Sullivan County. Mrs. Maynard is the mother of four sons - Edwin L., Arthur H., Carlisle M., Manton H .-. all of whom live at home and assist in the manage- ment of their father's farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Maynard are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fish's Eddy, and politically he is a Democrat. He has been a Justice of Peace since 1858, and has been Justice of Sessions for two terms, still holding the position. A portrait of this use- ful and honored citizen, who is well known as a man of good business ability and of upright life, graces an adjoining page.
OHN H. BAUMES, one of Delaware County's enterprising farmers, proprie- tor and manager for several years of the first stcam saw-mill in Masonville, was born in Bethlehem, Albany County, N. Y., May 24, 1835, son of David and Maria (McKnab) Baumes. His parents were both natives of the county, where they began life almost with the close of that century, the date of his father's birth being February 22, 1799, and of his mother January 3, 1800.
John Baumes, father of David, was of Ger- man descent, but was born in New York State. In early manhood he owned land in Albany County, and was engaged in its cul-
tivation. Later he removed to Schoharie County, where he died at the age of seventy- two years. Mr. John Baumes was industrious and thrifty, and was a man of substance. In politics he was a Democrat, or States' Rights man. Hc and his wife, Hannah Moshier, who lived to be of middle age, had a large family of children, some of whom died when young ; but eight studious sons grew to man- hood, and married before they went the way of all the earth.
One of these, David, named above, learned the carpenter's trade, and was a contractor and builder in the city of Albany for a number of years. He afterward spent a year or two in Cayuga County, and about five years in Scho- harie County, when in 1848 he removed to Masonville, where he bought land and carried on general farming. In 1856 he and his son, John H., who was then twenty-one years of age, bought the farm of one hundred and eighty acres where the latter now lives; and here he made his home during the latter part of his life. He died, however, during a visit to Schoharie County, March 8, 1867, his wife having died the previous year, on February 19, 1866. She was a Methodist, and he a liberal in religion. In politics, like his father, he was a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. David Baumes had eight children, six of whom grew to maturity. Five are now liv- ing, as follows: Margaret Seely, residing in Sidney; Angelina Bowman, in Masonville; Louise Smith, in Hamilton, Madison County ; John H., in Masonville; and James R. Baumes, a former Judge, in Sidney.
John H. Baumes received most of his schooling in Schoharie County, but had also the advantage of one term in Hamilton Acad- emy. He was thirteen years old when the family removed to Masonville; and he con- tinued to live with his parents and work for his father till he attaincd his majority, when he began farming for himself on the land of which he was part owner. After the death of his father he bought out the other heirs, and thus acquired sole possession of his present farm of one hundred and thirty acres. When he first began to work on the land, all but about five acres was covered with woods. To the task of clearing and improving hc devoted
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himself with energy, sagacity, and success. Instead of preparing his land for the plough and his timber for market by the wasteful process of reducing the trees to ashes, he built a steam saw-mill; and he and his brother, buying two hundred and eighty acres more of woodland in the vicinity, were en- gaged profitably for about fifteen years in the manufacture of lumber, in which they did a more extensive business than any other men in the town, the product of the mill being over three hundred thousand feet hemlock. Having since disposed of both the mill and the land, he now devotes himself to the care of his original homestead, where he car- ries on general husbandry and dairying. He keeps twenty cows, grade Ayrshires, and has an average of twelve thousand pounds of milk a month for eight months of the year. He has a good farm, which is well managed and productive.
On New Year's Day, 1867, Mr. Baumes married Mary Burnside, who was born in the town of Butternuts, Otsego County, January 13, 1847, daughter of James and Louise Burn- side. Her father was a farmer. He died at the age of seventy-two, and her mother at forty-seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Baumes have one child, a daughter, Nellie Baumes, who was born March 6, 1868, and is a cultivated and accomplished young lady, a graduate of Oxford Academy in the class of 1888. Miss Baumes has already taught fifteen terms of school, including one year in the high school.
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