Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 41

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 744

USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 41

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Warren G. Willis grew up on the farm, went to the district school and to a select school in the same town, and then studied two years in the Delaware Literary Institute, after which he taught school in this and other - counties. As the youngest son, he then re- turned to the homestead, which he finally owncd, adding thereto, till at one period he had over seven hundred acres, the largest farm in the town, devoted to general agricult- ure and especially to dairy products. In 1850, when only twenty-three years old, Mr. Willis went to California. Being detained on the Isthmus seven or eight weeks, the expos- ure deprived him of his good health to such an extent that he was unable to remain in the diggings over four months, though he still has one of the golden nuggets he dug straight from the earth. On his return he went to farming until 1874. In 1877 he removed to Albany, in order to study at the law school. He was graduated, receiving his diploma

from Union University in 1878. Returning to Masonville, he remained here till 1882, when he once more went to Albany for a year. Then he tried Minnesota for four years, on land still belonging to him; but in 1887 he came back to Masonville, where he continues to reside, practising law and caring for his real estate both in this town and in Albany. He has not remained on the homestead, how- ever, having sold it in 1880.

His marriage took place September 2, 1856. His wife, Mary Parker, was born in Mason- ville, August 15, 1835, and is therefore eight years his junior. She was the daughter of Erasmus and Matilda (Humphrey) Parker. Her father was born in North Brookfield, Mass., on June 4, 1808, and her mother in 1806, two years earlier, in Duanesburg, not far from Albany. Mr. Parker was a farmer for a few years in Masonville and Bainbridge, and then went to Minnesota, where he died August 17, 1871. His wife died in Bain- bridge, Chenango County, June 24, 1857. They were Presbyterians, and reared seven children, of whom five survive. Alexander Parker died when only two years old. Mary Parker married the subject of this sketch. William Haskell Parker, born in 1840, now resides in Otego, Otsego County. Ruth M. Parker married Hunttress Ross, and lives in Florida. Elizabeth Parker married James N. Crandall, and died at the age of forty-six in her Chicago home. George H. Parker and Sarah Newhart Parker reside in Minnesota.

Mr. and Mrs. Warren G. Willis are among the most respected people of the town, have a lovely home, and are surrounded by troops of friends, but have no children. Mr. Willis is an active Republican, and helped organize that party. He was nine years Justice of Peace and three terms Supervisor, and in 1875 was sent to the State Assembly at Albany. Like his father, he is thoroughly alive to whatever concerns the town's welfare, and is a Trustee of the Presbyterian church, which the family attend. It has been said by Horace Greeley, a publicist whom Mr. Willis always admired, that "men who have great riches and little culture rush into business, because they are weary of themselves." Mr. Willis, however, is not open to this implied

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blame; for he believes in culture, and has pursued it.

While in Minnesota, he and his wife joined the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and successfully pursued a four years' course, graduating and receiving their diplomas from Dr. Vincent at Chautauqua August 15, 1887.

This interesting biographical sketch, which is accompanied by a portrait of its principal subject, brings to remembrance the saying of a wise essayist : -

"Wealth brings noble opportunities, and competence is a proper object of pursuit; but wealth, and even competence, may be bought at too high a price. Wealth itself has no moral attribute. It is not money, but love of money, which is the root of all evil. It is the relation between wealth and the mind and the character of its possessor which is the essential thing."

NDREW THOMAS DOIG, a promi- nent citizen of Bovina, was born in the same town on May 10, 1867, his father being Walter L. Doig, a son of William Doig, and a grandson of Walter Andrew Doig, whose history will be found elsewhere in this volume.

William Doig, the grandfather of Andrew Thomas, was born in Bovina, and owned the Doig homestead of a hundred and eighty-five acres, where he lived for many years, a most prosperous and energetic farmer. He mar- ried Jane Forest, who was born in Scotland in 1811 or 1812, and spent the last of his life in Bovina Centre, where his family attended the United Presbyterian church. He died on April 7, 1871, at sixty-three years of age. His son, Walter L. Doig, was born on March 26, 1837. Growing to manhood, he continued the cultivation of the old farm, and was considered one of the most practical men in the vicinity. His wife was Jane McNair, who was born in the town of Andes, August 20, 1839, a daughter of Archibald and Martha McNair. Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Doig were both members of the United Presby- terian church. He held several public offices, was a Republican and an active poli- tician. He died at the age of fifty-seven at

the old home where he was born, and- where his widow is still living. They had four sons : William James, Archibald, Andrew T., and Milton A. Doig. William James Doig was born December 19, 1862, was educated in the district schools, and is still living on the homestead, having married on January 27, 1890, Clara M. Sloan, who was born Oc- tober 4, 1868, at Bovina Centre. Her par- ents were David Sloan, now living in Colorado, and Margaret (Hillson) Sloan, who died in her thirtieth year. Archibald M. Doig was born on March 16, 1865, and died February 5, 1894. Milton A. Doig was born December 12, 1871, and resides in Bovina Centre, where he is a clerk in his brother Andrew's store.

Andrew T. Doig, the third son of Walter L., was educated in the district schools, and lived on the old homestead until 1893, when he opened a store at Bovina Centre. His stock is estimated as worth about seven thou- sand dollars, and includes a large assortment of goods; for Mr. Doig aims to give his cus- tomers the best articles at the lowest prices, and he has built up a large trade. Strict attention to business and his good reputation make him one of the rising young men of the town. He is a Republican, and a member of the United Presbyterian church at Bovina. On June 20, 1894, he married Carrie E. Thompson, a daughter of Andrew and Mar- garet (Scott) Thompson. Mrs. Doig is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, and a further account of the family may be found in the sketch of William S. Thompson. Andrew T. Doig has won the admiration of his townsmen, not only as a man of intrinsic worth and social tact, but as one who, in the words of the poet Saxe, is "always doing his very best."

R. HARKNESS, junior member of the firm of Oliver & Harkness, dealers in staple and fancy groceries, provi- sions, canned goods, and crockery, is a man of superior business ability, and an influential citizen of Delhi. He was born in Kortright on August 27, 1845. He is descended from good old pioneer stock, and is of excellent

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Irish extraction, the Harkness family having originated in Ireland, whence they emigrated to the United States, settling in Kortright about the year 1800, being among the original settlers of that town. His parents, though both bearing the surname of Harkness, were not related by ties of blood. His father, James Harkness, married Lettie Harkness, and was for many years one of the most ex- tensive land-owners of Delaware County, hav- ing a good farm in Kortright, and another in the town of Davenport. He was very suc- cessful, financially and otherwise, and a man much respected by all. He was born in Kort- right in 1800, and his eighty-five years of life were years of activity and usefulness. Of the twelve children born to him and his wife, seven are now living; namely, Charles, James, George, Ebenezer R., Margaret, Eliza, and Frances.

Ebenezer R. Harkness, fourth son of James, was reared to manhood beneath the parental roof, the major part of the time being spent on the Davenport farm. He was graduated from the Franklin Literary Institute when quite young, and then engaged in teaching, beginning in New Jersey, where he taught school for a year. The following two years Mr. Harkness taught in the town of Daven- port, coming from there to Delhi, and for four years thereafter being one of its most success- ful teachers. He relinquished his position as instructor in the public schools to accept that of School Commissioner of the Second Dis- trict, Delaware County, an office to which he was elected for a term of three years. The duties of that responsible position were ful- filled so satisfactorily that he was subse- quently re-elected to that office for another three years' term. The succeeding year Mr. Harkness was special State agent for the Equitable Life Insurance Company, the agency of which he resigned to embark in a mercantile career, forming a partnership with Mr. Oliver. The firm have since carried on an extensive and lucrative trade, their stock being one of the most complete in every de- partment of any similar store in the county.

A man of Mr. Harkness's intelligence and push necessarily occupies an important place among the citizens of any community, and is

often called to positions of trust. Thus he was elected Supervisor of the town of Delhi in 1892, and re-elected to the same office in 1893. He is a man of good judgment and strong convictions, never hesitating to express them freely and frankly, and with all the vigor he can command; and, whatever course he pursues in business or political matters, he is actuated by conscientious motives. When, after mature deliberation, he has found it to be his duty to do or refrain from doing a certain thing for the benefit of his constitu- ents, he has never swerved from his chosen path, as was clearly shown in the recent con- test for a new court-house in Delhi. Know- ing that his people were already laboring under the weight of a heavy railway tax, and that there was then no imperative need for a new building, he would not impose on them a further burden. Mr. Harkness was somewhat severely criticised at the time for not voting in favor of said new court-house; but that the soundness of his judgment and the wisdom of his action have since been admitted is shown by the outspoken expressions of many of his constituents. That he is a loyal citizen, of true public spirit, is never doubted. These strong points in his character, combined with his many allied commendable qualities, have rendered him very popular and successful in all circles of life, either business, social, or political.

Mr. Harkness was united in marriage in 1876 to Miss Libbie Sexsmith, of Kortright Centre, who is the presiding genius of his hospitable home. Both are consistent and valued members of the Second Presbyterian Church of Delhi, wherein Mr. Harkness has served for many years as Elder.

AMUEL I. BROWN, an enterprising resident of Stamford, was born in this town on September 1, 1850, son of James J. and Lucina (Warren) Brown. His grandfather, Samuel I. Brown, for whom he was named, was born July 28, 1788, and married Mary Hair, who was born in Rhode Island, March 7, 1792. Her family came by boat up the Hudson River to Albany, and then by ox team through the forest, cut-

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ting their way part of the distance. She was married to Mr. Brown on October 23, 1806, when he was only eighteen and she fourteen ; and they lived awhile in the hopeful town of Esperance, in Schoharie County. The hus- band held a commission in the War of 1812, which came when he was about twenty-five years old. He did not survive it many years, but died on June 17, 1819. His wife lived over fifty years longer, till December 18, 1870. They had five children: Bet- sey Brown, born February 20, 1808; Dorcas Brown, born December 14, 1810; James J. Brown, born January 29, 1813; Mary Brown, born July 24, 1815; Nancy Elizabeth Brown, who did not come into the world till Septem- ber 20, 1819, when her mother had been three months a sad widow.

James J. Brown's birthplace was Salone- ville, Schoharie County. Being only six when his father died, the child was bound out as an apprentice when only nine, to learn the trade of wool carding and dressing, his master being Mr. Harrington, of the town of Bethle- hem, on Norman's Kill, in Albany County. With Mr. Harrington the boy remained till he was a man of twenty-one, in 1834. He worked in the same place at his trade eight years longer, till 1842, when he moved to Stamford, and took charge of the clothing works. His next change was to Hobart, as superintendent in a cashmere factory; but after some years he went to Prattsville, where he held a similar position for some years. Coming to Stamford, he bought a factory, which he carried on three years, and then sold, in order to take up farming. But his attachment to his old trade was too strong for him to enjoy being out of it; and in 1857, when nearly forty-five, he bought land on River Street, where he erected what is known as Brown's mills. This was his last business change. He was an Odd Fellow, belonging to Hobart Lodge; and in politics he was a Republican. His death took place on New Year's Day, 1875, when he was sixty-two; but he had already been a widower eighteen years, his wife, Lucina Warren Brown, dying August 14, 1857. They had four children : Maria Brown married Mr. Merrill for her first husband, and Charles Parridie for her second,

and has borne six children, of whom four are living. The second is Samuel I., of this sketch. The third, Adam G. Brown, married Adeline Smith, now deceased, and lives in Detroit with his one child. The other child of James J. Brown died in babyhood.

Samuel I. Brown was educated in Stamford Seminary, but began learning the trade of a clothier when only ten years old. At sixteen he decided to do farm work. Three years later, in 1869, he became clerk in a dry-goods store in Stamford, where he remained till 1874, when he bought a woollen factory near his father's, which he conducted till 1881, seven years. His next change was into a partnership with H. S. Preston, keeping a provision market in Stamford. In 1883 he bought out his partner's interest, and began running the business on his own account, meanwhile moving his family into the semi- nary building, where he conducted the boarding department for seven years. Sub- sequently, he bought the Presbyterian church property, and remodelled the building into a tenement house and a meat market. In 1890 he bought the Widow Foote estate, and there built a large boarding-house, called Grey- court, a building measuring thirty-six feet by eighty, five stories high, with accommodations for seventy-five boarders.

In 1876, the centennial year, Mr. Brown married Mary Mackey, of Stamford, of whose family a few particulars should be here set down. She was born in Denning, Ulster County, but brought up in Gilboa, Albany County. Her parents were Albert and Sarah (Kingsley) Mackey. Albert Mackey was born the first day of July, 1824, and was the son of Daniel Mackey and Mary Wicks. Daniel Mackey was bred a farmer in Albany County, and continued in that pursuit all his life. He lived to be seventy-eight, and his wife seventy-five. They reared six children - Marilla, Orin, Elizabeth, Albert Aaron, Nancy Elizabeth, and Louisa Mackey, of whom five survive. Albert Mackey, the sec- ond son and third child, was born in Albany County, like his father, and has followed agri- culture in that county, and also in Schoharie and Ulster Counties, though at present he lives with his wife in Stamford. Of their

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three children, J. Irwin Mackey lives in Maine, Emily Mackey, wife of Orin Edwards, lives in Massachusetts, and Mary Mackey is Mrs. Samuel I. Brown.

From this union have come two children : M. Louise Brown, born October 3, 1877; and Roy S. Brown, on November 21, 1884. The father is a Republican, holding for several years a place on the local Board of Education ; and he and his wife belong to the Baptist church, though the daughter Louise is a Pres- byterian. Mr. Brown has a large business patronage, both from city boarders and provi- sion customers, his market being the largest in Stamford. It is such men as Mr. Brown who can say, with Oliver Goldsmith, -

"The fortunate circumstances of our lives are generally found at last to be of our own producing."

AMUEL CURTIS PETTINGILL, M.D., is a retired physician of Hancock, Delaware County. His grandfather, Edmund Pettingill, was born in Massachusetts, of old Puritan an- cestry, and fought in the Revolution, after which he resumed the occupation of farming, and about 1785 moved to Butternuts, Otsego County, N. Y. A pioneer settler there, he cleared the land and erected buildings. He married a Miss Curtis, of Massachusetts, and both lived to be over ninety years of age. Their mortal remains were laid to rest in the old burial-ground at Butternuts. They were the parents of six children, their two sons, Edmund and Josiah, being born before the family moved to New York.

Josiah Pettingill was educated in Massa- chusetts, and after the removal of the family from that State assisted his father on the home farm. Starting out in life for himself, he purchased land in Butternuts, which he cleared, and there built his home. His wife was Lydia Hawkins, of Rhode Island; and she became the mother of eleven children, namely : Fanny, who married Guile Bump, of Otsego County; Abigail, who married Jacob Bump, a brother of Guile; Lyman, whose wife was Phœbe Morgan, of Bennington, Vt .; Alanson, who married Almira Sawyer, of But-

ternuts; Alonzo, who became the husband of Lucy Davis, of Butternuts; Josiah, who died in childhood; Josiah, the second; Edmund; Samuel; Lydia, wife of Lewis Millard, of Butternuts; Sarah, who married and settled in Ohio. About 1835 the family moved to Ohio in teams overland, and settled in Kirt- land, Lake County; and there the venerable parents of this large family passed the even- ing of their lives, dying at an advanced age.

Samuel Curtis Pettingill was born May 18, ISII, at Butternuts, and received his early education at the district school, later at- tending the Gilbertsville Academy. Until twenty-three years of age he remained at home, and assisted about the farm work. He commenced to practise as a physician in Masonville, where he lived for four years, and then located his office in Hancock. The country there being almost unsettled at that time, the roads were little better than deer paths, and accordingly the Doctor was obliged to make his visits on horseback, by canoe, or on foot. The town of Hancock then boasted of but one store, a hotel, a grist-mill, and a few scattered houses, whose inliabitants de- pended on the products of the land and the little money they could get from their lumber, which they rafted down the river to Phila- delphia, returning on foot.

October 14, 1840, Dr. Pettingill married Miss Salome Hoag, daughter of Ezra and Charlotte (White) Hoag, of Massachusetts. They were married in Cannonsville, and had four children : Lucius L., born July 26, 1842; Edmund L .; Samuel C., Jr .; and Warner, who was born November 19, 1846, and died May 22, 1853. Lucius L. married Fanny D. Frazier, and had four children: Alonzo, born November 29, 1868; Jennie L., born August 19, 1870; Alice Edna, born January 4, 1873 ; and Samuel C., born December 31, 1874. He established himself in Hancock in a drug store, where he remained until his death, February 8, 1882. He is buried at River- view. His brother Edmund was a physician, a graduate of Yale in the year of 1871, and located his office in Hancock, marrying Miss Ida Allison, of that town. He died August 16, 1881, aged thirty-one years, and is buried at Riverview.

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Dr. Pettingill is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Free Masons. He has been on the Board of Edu- cation, and has also served as Justice of the Peace. About 1892 he retired from active practice, having been an energetic and faith- ful worker in his time; and now, honored and respected, lie enjoys the comfort and peace deserved by a man who has spent so many years in useful service to his fellow-beings.

AMES TOWNSEND is an influential resident of Middletown, Delaware County, N. Y., though his post-office address is Pine Hill, Ulster County. A proper sketch of this gentleman involves the history of the Townsend family, so we may begin with James's great-grandfather, Robert, who married Sarah Morehouse. Rob- ert Townsend was born in Bridgeport, Conn., whence he came to Middletown in 1817. Here Mr. Townsend bought a grist-mill where the one now owned by Mr. Doolittle stands. For this he paid cight hundred dol- lars in gold; but, as the property was under the cloud of a small mortgage, the new pur- chaser lost it by foreclosure. Then he went into the mountains, and bought a hundred and thirty acres in the valley ever since known as Townsend's Hollow, where he cleared land, at once cutting enough timber for a log house. There were wild animals to be faced, as well as domestic hardships. Careful watch had to be kept over the stock by night as well as day, to guard from prowlers both two- legged and four-legged. Nevertheless, pluck and perseverance overcame all obstacles; and Pioneer Townsend established a reputation not to be forgotten in many generations. He raised three boys and a girl. Morris Town- send married Anna Johnson. Alfred Town- send married Kattic Blish, and with this line we are more especially concerned. Seth Townsend married Hannah Johnson, a sister of his brother Morris's wife. Their sister, Abbie Townsend, married Floyd Smith. Their father died at fourscore, and so did his wife, dying, as they had lived, in the Metho- dist faith. Politically, Mr. Townsend grew up a Democrat; but he lived to see the rise

and growth of the Republican party, whose ranks he joined in his latter years.

Robert Townsend's son Alfred was born in Connecticut in 1805, eleven years before the removal of the Townsends to Delaware County. On attaining his majority, he bought the paternal farm from the other heirs; and he added more land thereto, till he owned some six hundred acres. Of course, the new land had to be cleared, and this involved plenty of hard work; and he also gave much attention to pulling bark, an article greatly in demand for use in tanneries, as well as for other purposes. His wife was a daughter of Silas Blish, and they raised four children. Sylvanus Townsend married Jane Barrett, and had five children. His widow now lives on Pine Hill. Of Isaac Townsend more will presently be recorded. Jane Townsend mar- ried Philip Lasher, whose family descent is elsewhere sketched in another volume; and one of his three children is still on the earth. Grandfather Alfred Townsend lived to be seventy-eight, and the grandmother seventy- six. Both were Methodists, and the husband was a Democrat. They continued on the farm till the end, though during the last nine years it was in the hands of their son Isaac.

Isaac Townsend was born in Greene County on September 13, 1836, and went to school in a log cabin. At twenty-two he married Han- nah Woolheater, the sixth child and third daughter of Ezekiel and Betsey (Avery) Wool- heater. The Woolheaters were among the early settlers, and Father Woolheater was a very enterprising man. He and his wife reared eight children -- Margaret, John, Cath- erine, James, Noah, Hannah, Orrison, and Anthony Woolheater. Their father lived to be eighty, and their mother seventy-five; and they both were adherents of the Baptist church. Only one child has come to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Townsend. This son, James Townsend, was born June 13, 1859, and on November 29, 1879, married Alice Winchell, daughter of John L. and Rebecca A. Win- chell, of Brown Station, Ulster County ; and they have four children, as follows: Henry A., Granville, Willobell, Rebecca A.

On coming into possession of the home- stead, Mr. Isaac Townsend greatly improved

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it, putting up new buildings; and he and his son James have room for twenty-five city boarders in their spacious residence, known far and wide as the Townsend Farmhouse. Father and son own twin farms, about a quar- ter of a mile apart. On one are kept as many cows as there are boarders, twenty-five; and on the other there are the same number of sheep, but only ten cows. Both father and son follow Grandfather Alfred Townsend in their Democratic politics, but in religion they pride themselves on their liberality. Both belong to the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 233, and also to the Masonic lodge in Marga- rettville, No. 389. In fact they are one in sentiment and social tastes, more like brothers than like father and son. Their estates are in first-class condition, and are situated three miles from Pine Hill, and a half-mile farther from Griffin's Corners. It is delightful to be in such a home as the one here noted.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 41

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 744

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 744