USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 27
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At the age of twenty-seven George I. Treyz was married to Amanda, daughter of David and Sarah (Frisbee) Minkler. Mr. and Mrs. Minkler live at Fremont Centre, where they have a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Besides Mrs. Vreyz they have one other daugh- ter, Martha, wife of Milton Crandall, and mother of two sons. Mr. and Mrs. Treyz have one child, Frank M., born June 16, 1893.
Mr. Treyz is a tradesman with whom his customers are glad to deal, being characterized by uprightness in all his business transac- tions, and keeping a class of goods that give satisfaction. He is a self-made man, having since his early youth made his own way in the world. He is well worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow- citizens.
EANDER H. MAXWELL, senior member of the firm of Maxwell & Son, liverymen of Delhi, is notice- able for his business capacity and enterprise. He has been a life-long resident of this town, where his birth occurred on De- cember 17, 1837, and is especially worthy of representation in this biographical work as being the descendant of one of the honored pioneers of the place.
His grandfather, Joshua Maxwell, emi- grated from Connecticut to Delaware County, and was among the earliest settlers of Delhi. He bought a tract of land; and amid the giant trees of the forest he reared his humble log cabin, and began from the wilderness to wrest a farm. He labored untiringly, being encouraged and assisted by his brave pioneer wife, and in the course of time was able to harvest fields of golden grain. A few years later and the improvements on the place were still more marked, the log cabin, in which many of his children were born and reared, having given place to a substantial frame house, flanked by a capacious barn and good out-buildings. On the homestead which he cleared he spent his remaining years; and there his first wife, too, closed her eyes upon the scenes of earthly life. Three children were born of his first union, the second being a son, Gurdon P., who became the father of the subject of the present sketch. His sec- ond wife bore him five children.
Gurdon P. Maxwell was born in Delhi, and in its pioneer schools gleaned his early knowl - edge of books. As soon as he was old enough to handle a hoe or drive oxen, he naturally found plenty of work on the home farm, where he remained until of age, when, following the example of his father, he bought a tract of land which was still in its virgin wildness. In the first space that he cleared he erected a small log house, and in this began his married life. As time sped on, he became the owner of a well-cultivated farm, with a substantial set of frame buildings, and had a fine family of girls and boys growing up about him. On this homestead he and his beloved companion spent their many years of wedded life, he passing away at the age of seventy-two years, and she at seventy years. His wife, known
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in her girlhood days as Elizabeth Hall, was a native of the Empire State, and the daughter of Adam Hall, who some years after his mar- riage became one of the first settlers of Delhi. Eight children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gurdon P. Maxwell, as follows : Robert C., George H., Leander H., Joshua G., William H., Prudence E., Aranetta, and Hannah M. Both parents were sincere and faithful members of the Christian church.
Leander H. Maxwell was born and reared on the parental homestead, and in the schools of his neighborhood received a practical drill in the three R's, the fundamental studies. He afterward worked on the farm with his father until he was nearly thirty years of age, then rented a farm, which he carried on for three years with excellent results. Not making up his mind to follow agricultural work for lifc, he then went to work for Mr. Roberts, in the village of Delhi, as foreman in a livery stable. In 1870 Mr. Maxwell bought his present liv- ery, boarding, feeding, and sale stable, which he has since managed with satisfactory finan- cial success. In 1890 he admitted his son to an interest in the establishment, and business is now carried on under the firm name of Max- well & Son.
The union of Mr. Maxwell and Miss Sarah Roberts was solemnized in 1865. Mrs. Max- well is a native of Andes, being the daughter of William Roberts, who came from England to Andes, where he carricd on the shoemaker's trade for many years. His wife's maiden name was Moss, and she bore him three chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are the parents of two children, Fanny and Clark. Fanny married Albert Robinson, foreman in Ar- buckle's mills; and they have one child, Grace. Clark, who is now in partnership with his father, was educated in the district school and academy, and began his business career as a clerk in the grocery store of George McMur- ray, remaining in his employ about a year. He then began working for his father; and in 1890 he bought an interest in the business. On February 28, 1892, he was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Carrie Thomp- son, the daughter of William and Lydia Thompson. Mr. Thompson, who was engaged in business in Delhi for nearly twenty years,
is now the leading tailor of Walton, where his daughter Carrie was born. She is popular in social circles, and is a communicant of Saint John's Episcopal Church.
In politics both the father and son are zeal- ous advocates of the principles of the Repub- lican party. Mrs. Sarah Maxwell is an earnest Christian woman and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
OLONEL SAMUEL F. MILLER, who died on March 16, 1894, at his home in Franklin, was born on May 27, 1827, on the same farm which has been in the family for many years and was also the birthplace of his father. The Miller family came from East Hampton, L.I., and settled in this part of the State when it was a boundless wilderness. They owned vast tracts of unbroken forest; and in the days of William Miller, father of the late Colonel, their estate consisted of about one thousand acres of land, and included several large mills for the manufacture of pine lum- ber, which business increased rapidly, and is still carried on by the family. Much of the land is excellent for pasturage, keeping about one hundred cows; and the dairy products of the Miller farm are noted throughout the sur- rounding country. Somc may still remember William Miller, whosc commanding figure and pleasant facc were familiar to every one half a century ago.
His son Samuel was also a fine represent- ative of an old and noble race. He was the only surviving child of William and Mary (Mills) Miller, and in him were centred all the hopes of the family. In him were real- ized, too, not only their expectations, but honor and distinction far beyond their fondest dreams. After graduating, in 1852, from Hamilton Collegc, he returned to his Alma Mater, and studied law for a year, when he was admitted to the bar in 1853. He then engaged in business with his father, and under their unitcd efforts the farming and lumbering interests grew to large dimensions. In 1854 he was elected to the New York leg- islature, and in 1855 and 1856 was Supervisor of the town of Franklin. His service in
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these capacities proved so plainly his ability and principles that he was sent to Congress in 1862. This was the noted Congress under Lincoln's administration, when the country was in a state of turmoil, and those who served her had much need of firm hands and earnest hearts to rightly administer the affairs of the nation.
In 1867 Colonel Miller was a member of the Constitutional Convention, in 1869 a member of the State Board of Charities, to which position he was reappointed in 1873; in 1869 he was Collector of Revenues, resign- ing this post in 1873; and in 1874 he was elected Representative to the Forty-fourth Congress. Colonel Miller was a stanch Re- publican, and in behalf of that party exerted a strong influence. Although a man of mod- est bearing, his speeches were very effective; and his voice was never silent when he saw that by speaking he might serve his country and his cause. Long to be remembered is a speech which Mr. Miller delivered at the Constitutional Convention, when he was dis- abled by rheumatism, and was obliged to seek the platform with the assistance of a pair of crutches. Coming slowly forward in this manner, he faced his audience and expounded to them in a most concise and masterly way the principles for which he stood.
Colonel Miller was twice married, his first wife being Miss Laura Cadwell, who died while still in the prime of life, May 29, 1865. He afterward received in marriage the hand of Maria M. Sherrill, daughter of Lewis and Clarissa (Burgess) Sherrill. The father was a native of East Hampton, and the mother of Colchester; and they were among the early settlers of New Hartford, Oneida County, N. Y. Mr. Sherrill was formerly a manufact- urer of woollen goods, a clothier, as he was called in those days, and, together with his brother, carried on a mill on the Sequoit Creek. Mrs. Miller was one of four children, two girls and two boys. Her father died in 1871, being over ninety years old; and after his death Mrs. Sherrill made her home here with her daughter until the time of her death in 1891, when she, too, had reached her nine- tieth year.
The only surviving children of Mrs. Miller
are Samuel Jacob and William Lewis Miller, who are twins, and who were born on Septem- ber 28, 1870. They live in the beautiful mansion built by their father in 1875, and to- gether they carry on the long-established business of farming and lumbering. They are active and energetic young men, using the most intelligent methods of carrying on their business, and showing in all their undertak- ings the characteristic qualities of the line from which they have descended.
The father of these promising young men has been called away from his work and his life on this side of the unknown. He had done his duty in his day and generation, as it is not the privilege of all men to do; and, when he passed hence, it was amid the mourn- ing and regrets of all who knew him, and whose admiration and reverence for his noble traits, lofty principles, and virtuous deeds will for many years keep his memory green.
OSEPH HILLIS is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Stamford, of which town he is an industrious and successful farmer. His father, Adam Hillis, was a native of Ireland, and came to America when twenty-five years of age. He had received a very good education in his native land, and had taught school fourteen terms. He learned the trade of a weaver, but concluded to follow agricultural pursuits, and purchased an improved farm of ninety-six aeres in Kortright, Delaware County, to which he added from time to time until he be- came the possessor of two hundred and twenty- seven acres. A hard worker and good man- ager, he accumulated a comfortable fortune, and died on his farm at the age of seventy-six. His wife was Elizabeth McMurdy, who was born in Kortright, a daughter of an old pio- neer settler of that town, Benjamin McMurdy, who was a native of Ireland, and married Elizabeth Shanks, a native of the same coun- try. Benjamin McMurdy was a farmer of progressive habits and much industry, and succeeded in his chosen occupation, residing on his farm until his death, which occurred when he was about eighty years of age. He was a Whig, and, with his wife, a member of
ALEXANDER STORIE.
MRS ESTHER A. STORIE.
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the Presbyterian church. They were the par- ents of three children: David, who died at the age of seventy-seven; Jonathan, at the age of eighty-six; and Elizabeth, who passed away when seventy-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Hillis were devoted members of the Presbyterian church at South Kortright. He was a supporter of the Democratic party. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom reached maturity; and three still survive, as follows: Joseph, of whom this sketch is written; David B., a stone-mason in Stamford; and George M., a farmer in Daven- port. Jonathan, William, Benjamin, Clark, Sara Jane, Ellen, and Elizabeth have passed away.
Joseph Hillis was born in Kortright, May 28, 1828, and was educated in the district school. Until he was twenty-five years of age he lived at home, but worked for Squire McGillavery, near Blooniville, receiving for his services eight dollars per month, which money he gave to his father. January 12, 1853, he married Miss Margaret D. Barnett, who was born in Roxbury, May 6, 1826, a daughter of John and Eleanor ( Voorhis) Bar- nett. John Barnett was born in Lexington, Greene County, September 22, 1786, and, re- moving to Delaware County, located in Stamford, where he resided throughout the remainder of his life. He died January 5, 1863. He was a supporter of the Republican party. His wife, Eleanor Voorhis, was born in Schoharie County, January 8, 1793, and died June 16, 1879. Both were faithful mem- bers of the Presbyterian church at Hobart. They were the parents of five children, two of whom - Sarah M. McNaught, widow of Will- iam McNaught, and Mrs. Hillis - still sur- vive. Those who passed away are Christo- pher, Charity, and David.
After marriage Joseph Hillis purchased his first farm in Stamford, consisting of one hun- dred and fifty-nine acres ; and here he resided for some years, then sold, and in 1860 bought his present home, removing to it in 1865. This farm contains two hundred and thirty acres. It has been cultivated and improved under Mr. Hillis's supervision, and is now one of the best farms in the vicinity. Fivc children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hillis, two of whom are living, namely: John O., born May 30, 1865, who is a farmer, mak- ing his home with his parents, and who married in October, 1886, Miss Belle Kil- patrick, and has one child, Blanche J., born September 15, 1890; Christopher J., a physi- cian in Kingston, born November 30, 1866, who married June 14, 1893, Miss Ella Meeker. The following children have passed away : Sarah E., born October 12, 1853, died June 25, 1865; Barnett A., born April 3 1857, died July 6, 1865; Ogden B., born Jan- uary 25, 1862, died September 5, 1865.
Mr. and Mrs. Hillis are members of the Presbyterian church at Hobart, in the affairs of which they take a prominent part, Mr. Hillis holding the office of Trustee. Politi- cally, he is a Republican, supporting the principles of that party.
LEXANDER STORIE was born on March 20, 1814, on the very farm in Bovina where he now lives; and he is rightly regarded as its foremost citizen, as well as one of its highest tax- payers. His parents were William and Mary (McCune) Storie. The father was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, and the mother in Ireland.
Coming to this country about the beginning of the nineteenth century, William Storie settled in Bovina, and there pursued his trade of stone-mason a part of the time. In 1802 he married, and in 1804 bought the seventy- seven and a half acres of land now known as the Storie homestead. He died a decade later, in 1815, before he had finally passed the noontide of life, though not before he had borne the heat and burden of the day, and left the impress of his industry upon the little community surrounding him. His wife out- lived him many years, not breathing her last till she had reached her ninety-first year, in the old homestead. She came from the old country when only fourteen with her parents, who at first settled in Washington County, but came later to Bovina, and bought the farm now in the hands of Michael Miller. The Stories were members of the United Pres- byterian church in South Kortright. Mr.
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Storie was a Federalist in politics, holding opinions which would to-day make him a firm Republican. Of six children all grew to ma- turity, and two are now living: the son who bears the good Scotch ancestral name of Alex- ander; and his elder sister, Mary Ann, who makes her home in Bovina Centre. Their sister, Nellie Storie, married George Stott, and lived to be eighty-five; while Margaret Storie married Walter Coulter, and died at the age of threescore. Jane Storie became the wife of Alexander Brush, a son of the sec- ond settler of the town, and died at the earlier age of fifty. Their brother, Samuel Storie, died at fifty-five, on the home farm.
The subject of this sketch was an apt pupil in the district school, where at the age of eighteen he became himself a teacher, a post he subsequently held many terms. The earli- est school-house was a frame building, with slab benches and writing-desks around the sides of the room, heated by an open fire. His mother used to card and spin the wool, which was woven among the neighbors; and in this homespun cloth Alexander was clad till he reached manhood. The family boots and shoes were made by a journeyman crispin, who came that way two or three times a year, and whose presence afforded the youngsters the greatest delight. The chief market for the farm produce was seventy miles away among the Catskills, and the trip thither re- quired several days. The nearest grist-mill was at Brushland. People carried their luncheon to meeting on Sundays, and stayed through both the long services. Father Storie cleared his farm slowly, depending upon his boys for help. Alexander did his part ; and in later years, after he bought the old place from the other heirs, he added nearly two hundred acres to its area. Beginning as a poor man, he has become by hard work and frugality, backed by the natural shrewdness inherited from his progenitors, one of the most prosperous in town.
He was not married till January 23, 1851, when he was thirty-seven years old, and Mil- lard Fillmore, a New Yorker, was President of the United States. His wife was Esther A. Cowan, born in Bovina, November I, 1821, the daughter of James and Mariam B.
(Maynard) Cowan. Her mother was born on the old Maynard farm in Bovina in 1801, and her father in 1794, in Roxburghshire, Scot- land, the birthplace of William Storie. Mr. Cowan was twenty-five years a merchant in Brushland village, but afterward owned a farm in Cortland County, where he died on January 6, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-two. His wife died twenty years be- fore, April 14, 1856, when fifty-five years old. They belonged to the Stamford Presbyterian Society, and had eleven children, six of whom are now living. Elizabeth Cowan still lives at the old Cortland home. Hannah is now the widow of John Greenman, and lives in Cortland village. Rebecca is the wife of Delos Stevens, of De Ruyter, Madison County. Nancy is Mrs. George Stevens, and lives on the old Cortland farm. Hector Cowan is also a Cort- land farmer. The five deceased Cowan children were Mary, William, John, Elisha, and Jane.
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Storie are among the oldest couples in their part of the town, and have had five children, two of whom have passed from earth. James C. Storie, the eld- est now living, was born January 12, 1855, and is a physician in Walton village. Alex- ander F. Storie, bearing his father's name, was born November 28, 1856, and is a farmer in Newburg, Orange County. John W. Storie, born December 2, 1863, lives on the home farm. The eldest, Mariam Elizabeth Storie, was born December 12, 1851, and died October 29, 1862, in childhood. William Storie was born on Independence Day, 1853, and died October 21, 1862, a week before the little sister, only eighteen months' his elder.
The family are actively connected with the United Presbyterian church in Bovina Centre. Mr. Storie is a Republican, and has always been prominent in town affairs. When a young man, he was Assessor one term, and also for many years a Supervisor. Though now withdrawn from office-holding, he never fails to be at the polls on election day, nor has he ever missed but one town meeting. With the assistance of his son John, he is still able to carry on the farm, and they keep twenty or thirty head of Jersey cattle. Not only is the farm the best in the neighborhood, but both the house and out-buildings are in
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the finest order. Mr. Storie is also the his- torian of the town, and takes a great interest in literary work of this description, feeling the inherent truth of President Garfield's saying, "The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word."
Turning over a leaf or two, the reader will be gratified to see the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Storie.
ENRY FINCH, a well-to-do, retired farmer of Sidney, Delaware County, N. Y., was born in Greene County, June 22, 1823, son of Jonas and Henrietta (Leonard) Finch. His father was a native of Greene County, and his mother of Dutchess County. Amos Finch, father of Jonas, served as a soldier in the Revolution; he was a farmer, and lived to the advanced age of ninety years. Jonas Finch was brought up in the county of his birth, whence he moved in 1833 to Delaware County, and took up one hundred acres of land. By hard work and energy he added to this until he had one hundred and sixty acres, and owned one of the finest farms in the neighborhood. He was the father of eleven children, of whom the following survive: Henrietta, widow of Alex- ander Bryan, residing in East Sidney; Will- iam and Jonas, at Masonville; Henry, the subject of this sketch; John, located in Ten- nessee; and Amos in Sidney Centre. Mr. Jonas Finch died at the age of seventy-three, and his wife aged eighty-one.
Henry Finch was educated in the district schools of Sidney, living with his parents and helping on the farm until he attained the age of twenty-one, when he hired himself out by the month. He followed this for several years, and, being of a frugal turn of mind, saved his money, which enabled him to buy his first land in the town of Masonville, a farm of fifty acres. He lived there for one year, when he sold out and moved to Lycom- ing County, Pennsylvania, where he bought an uncultivated tract of land of about one hundred and fifty acres, which he occupied for some time, bringing it into a good state of cultivation. At the end of about fourteen
years he moved to Masonville, and there car- ried on the business of a general farmer for twenty-two years. In 1886 he moved to Sid- ney village, where he now lives retired. Mr. Finch is a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in 1862 in the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, Company A. He was in the service ten months, when his health gave way, and he was honorably discharged from the army at Harrisburg, Pa., August 5, 1863.
Mr. Finch was married March 1, 1849, to Mary J. Carr, who died August, 1880, aged fifty-one. By this union twelve children were born, eleven of whom are living, namely : Zaeuch, a farmer of Sidney; Sarah, wife of E. Teed, of Pennsylvania; Henrietta, wife of Duane Hand, of Otsego County; Louisa, wife of Robert Stewart, of Sidney; Anna, wife of Warren Hodge, also residing in Sidney; Maggie, wife of Edward House, of Tompkins; Henry Finch, of Franklin; Allie, wife of James Hodge, of Sidney; Norman and James, residents of Sidney; Nora, wife of E. Wheat, of Sidney.
On February 7, 1883, Mr. Finch married for his second wife Mrs. Hannah Crounse, the widow of Abram Crounse, a farmer of Albany County, and mother of one child, Mary, wife of John Armstrong, of Unadilla. Mrs. Finch was born in Guilford, Chenango County, Oc- tober 20, 1827, her parents being James and Catherine Lewis. They reared twelve chil- dren, six of whom are now living, namely : Mrs. Finch; Rensselaer Lewis, in Pennsyl- vania; Joseph Lewis, in Michigan; Sally Ann, wife of David Loomis, of Sidney; Abiel Lewis, of Pennsylvania; Julia, wife of Nor- man White, of Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Finch is a man of quiet and refined tastes, and in his old age enjoys a mental vigor which years have not impaired, his gen- erous, kindly nature endearing him to neigh- bors and friends.
R EV. WILLIAM N. ALLABEN, a minister and dentist in Margarett- ville, was born in Roxbury, Dela- ware County, on the 20th of June, 1816. His grandparents, Jonathan and Martha
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(Bouton) Allaben, were residents of Blue Point, L.I., where the grandfather was drowned in 1787. He was long survived by his wife, who died in 1828, leaving five chil- dren - Sally, Polly, John, James, and Esther. John, the first son of Jonathan, was born in Blue Point. He married, and raised a family of seven children, namely: Orson, a physi- cian; William N .; Abigail; James; Sarah; Wilson ; and Jonathan. Besides these were two who died in infancy and Orpah and Nel- son, who died young.
William N., son of John Allaben, was one of a family who seemed to drift into educa- tional work; and it is a noteworthy fact that each of the brothers and sisters at some period of his or her life was a teacher. William was a teacher at eighteen; and Abi- gail at the early age of fourteen years, herself a mere child, taught in the neighborhood. William, who was of a studious turn of mind, proved the theory of self-culture by practical demonstration in his own life; for, having no advantages besides those offered in the com- mon schools of his native village, he acquired a good education, storing his mind with much general information by studying and reading at home. After some years he took up the profession of dentistry, which he practised in West Colesville, Broome County, during a period of eight years. Here he entered the Baptist ministry, and preached for six years. His next charge was in Windsor, where he was pastor for three years, after which, com- ing to Margarettville, he bought property and remained for eighteen months. He then took charge of the Baptist church in West Kill, Greene County, for eight years. A longing to return to his place in Margarettville now began to possess him; so he came back and built a church in this town, where he has since continued to follow jointly his two pro- fessions.
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