Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 42

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

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RS. AMELIA (BUELL) CHAM- BERLAIN, widow of Elijah B. Chamberlain, has resided in her present home for upward of forty years, and has performed with fidelity her duties as wife, mother, neighbor, and friend, winning the esteem and confidence of all with whom she comes in contact. Since her marriage to Mr. Chamberlain, which was celebrated in 1850, she has led a domestic life, attending to the duties involved in the - care of home and children, and proved her- self an able coadjutor of her husband in his efforts to secure a home.

In 1852 Mr. Chamberlain bought two hun- dred acres of the present home farm, paying three thousand five hundred dollars for it, but being obliged to run in debt two thousand five hundred dollars. He was eminently skilful and shrewd as a farmer and as a business man, and, after freeing himself from his indebted- ness, bought eighty-five acres of adjoining land, and continued his profitable labors in general farming and dairying. He placed his land under an excellent state of cultivation, and further improved it by the erection of the necessary buildings, and in 1878 built the fine barn which ornaments the place. He

usually kept from twenty to thirty cows, and manufactured butter, selling it during the first year for thirteen cents per pound. His son-in-law now owns and manages the farm, and has enlarged the dairy to forty cows, but, instead of making butter, sends his milk to the creamery.

Mr. Chamberlain was a native-born citizen, his birth occurring in 1822; and his life of sixty-seven years was spent within the limits of the town of Franklin, the date of his death being December 28, 1889. His parents, William and Sally (Bemis) Chamberlain, were of Connecticut birth, and after their marriage migrated to this county, where the father worked at the trade of carpenter until disabled by rheumatism. The mother died when a little over threescore years of age, the father surviving her, and dying at the home of his son Elijah in 1864, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. They reared five sons, only two of whom are now living. Enos and Re- becca (Chamberlain) Bemis, the maternal grandparents of Mr. Chamberlain, were na- tives of Connecticut; and both lived beyond the allotted threescore and ten years, he de- parting this life in 1848, and she passing to the better world September 3, 1853.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain was brightened by the birth of seven children, one of whom, Mariette, died June 6, 1854, at the tender age of three years. The record of the remaining children is as follows: Alice Maria is the wife of Charles Eveland, a farmer in the town of Franklin. William Henry, a widower, resides in Binghamton. Clarence Augustus, a farmer residing in Franklin, has a wife and three daughters. Mary, the wife of George Sanley, the owner of the homestead property, has two children: Grace, four years old; and Dwight, a little boy of three years. Minnie, the wife of Morris Hallock, of Mer- rickville, has two sons. Charles E., a farmer living in Franklin, has two children, a son and daughter.

Mr. Sanley has continued the improvements already begun on the home farm, and in 1891 built a new wagon-house. He keeps a winter dairy, having from fifty to sixty head of de- horned cattle, grade Jerseys, Holsteins, and some pure bloods, and feeds them on ensilage

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from his large silo. He is an enterprising and energetic farmer, carrying on his agricult- ural labors with an enthusiasm and earnest- ness that insure his unquestioned success. Mrs. Chamberlain is a valued member of the Congregational church, of which her husband was a Trustee.

ILLIAM COBBE, one of Delaware County's energetic and exceedingly prosperous farmers, is the owner of a finely improved estate in the town of Ham- den. The worldly goods of which he is pos- sessed have been accumulated by the work of his hands and the sweat of his brow, and the confidence and esteem in which he is held by his neighbors are the result of his upright course in life. He was born in King's County, Ireland, in 1839, being the son of Joseph Cobbe, who was a native of Queen's County, and a life-long resident of the Emerald Isle, dying there in 1887, aged eighty-three years. Joseph was three times married, and had eight children by his first wife, Mary Short, the mother of William, three by his second wife, and fourteen children by his third wife.

Maria, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Cobbe, was the first of the family to come to America. She emigrated with her husband in 1847, and settled in Ulster County, New York. When her brother, William Cobbe, was twenty years old, resolving to seek his fortune in the New World, he took passage in a sailing-vessel, and for seven dreary weeks was tossed on the broad Atlantic. He had barely enough money to pay his fare to New York, and long ere reaching his sister's home in West Hurley ran out of funds. He was fortunate enough to find kind friends, how- ever; and, after reaching his destination, he secured work in a stone quarry, where he re- mained two years. He next hired himself out on a farm, receiving one hundred and twenty-five dollars for his first year's work. Mr. Cobbe was a very industrious, steady young man, and continued to work out for eight years, his wages being increased from time to time, until they amounted to four hundred dollars annually. On January 26, 1864, Mr. Cobbe was united in marriage to

Miss Harriet Goodenough, who was born in the Black River country, in the town of Low- ville, being a daughter of William and Maria (Martin) Goodenough, both natives of New York. Mrs. Goodenough, 1 now an aged woman, having lived nearly eighty-four years on this earth, is a resident of Oneonta, and has been a widow for ten years, her husband having died in 1884, at the age of fourscore and three years. They reared a family of three sons and eight daughters, and of these children seven are now living.

Mr. and Mrs. Cobbe began their wedded life in a humble way, hiring a small house, in which they lived for some years, both laboring diligently. In 1870 Mr. Cobbe made his first purchase of land, buying one hundred acres, for which he paid four thousand dol- lars, going into debt to the extent of three thousand five hundred dollars on his farm and the stock which he put on it. He labored with heroic toil in his endeavors to meet his expenses, and his efforts were crowned with success. Four years later he bought another tract of one hundred acres, paying for it three thousand two hundred dollars; and in 1882 he bought still another one hundred acres, for which he gave one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. On this valuable estate of three hundred acres he has placed many important improvements. The large barn which he built in 1887, at a cost of three thousand dollars, is a handsome and conven- iently arranged structure, eighty feet by forty feet, with a wing forty feet by twenty-six feet, and a basement, with twenty-four-feet posts above. It has accommodations for seventy head of cattle and seven horses, and space for one hundred and fifty tons of hay. Not hav- ing sufficient room for all of his cattle, Mr. Cobbe built another stock barn in 1894, and now keeps on his farm eighty head of de- horned cattle and grade Jerseys, and milks from forty-eight to fifty cows, manufacturing a superior quality of butter, which he sells in New York. He cuts about two hundred tons of hay each year on this farm, which, when he bought it, would not yield sufficient hay to keep twenty cows.

Six children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Cobbe, two of whom, a son

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and a daughter, died in infancy. Four grew to mature life, as follows: Justus, a farm laborer, lives near Delhi. Willie died in 1890, at the age of twenty-three years. Charles and John are both living with their parents, and assist in the care of the home farm. In his political views Mr. Cobbe is a decided Democrat, and religiously both he and his excellent wife are valued members of the United Presbyterian church at Mundale.

IRAM MCFARLAND belongs to the well-known agricultural firm of Mc- Farland Brothers, of Bovina, Delaware County, N. Y., where several members of the family reside on the old McFarland estate. Their grandparents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Thompson) Mc- Farland. Thomas McFarland was born in 1769, six years before the commencement of the war which emancipated the American colonies from British tyranny; but probably the McFarland family were not interested in this event, for they lived in Ireland, and Thomas did not come to America till 1785, when he was sixteen years old. Though a weaver by trade, he did not pursue the craft in this country. He married a Pennsylvania lady ; and about the beginning of this century he came to that part of Delaware County now known as Bovina, and bought eighty-five acres of land, in the midst of which was a small clearing for a log housc. The rest of the ground he had to clear for himself. Being a man of good education, he became one of the earliest school-masters in this region ; but his chief attention was given to his land. He belonged to the Presbyterian church in South Kortright, was a Jeffersonian Democrat, lived to be nearly ninety years old, and died on April 11, 1858. He had ten children, of whom two only survive; namely, Mrs. Martha Boylan and Mrs. Rebecca Ormis- ton, both widows, one living in the State of Iowa, and the other in the town of Delhi.

Thomas McFarland's son, Andrew T., was born on the homestead, November 15, 1805. He grew up on the farm, which he subse- quently inherited ; and on January 19, 1832, was married to Jane Russell, who was born

April 19, 1806, and was the daughter of James Russell, one of the carliest Bovina pio- neers, whose marriage to Nancy Ritchie, in 1799, was the first in the new settlement. Mr. Russell was a stone-mason as well as a farmer, occupied the land where Archibald Erkson now lives, was a sturdy Democrat and an Elder in the Bovina Presbyterian church, and died in Delhi at fourscore years of age. Of his ten children the only one now living is Mrs. Helen Murray, of Hamden. Their mother died in our centennial year, having reached her threescore and ten.

After his marriage Andrew T. McFarland continued to live on the homestead, which grew under his fostering care till he owned nearly a hundred and eighty acres. He was active in town affairs, was Supervisor for two terms, and held minor offices. Like his father-in-law Russell, he was an elder in the United Presbyterian church at Bovina. In early life he was a Democrat, but joined the Republicans when he believed his old party faithless to solid Jeffersonian antislavery principles. In 1881 he passed away on Feb- ruary 27, aged seventy-six; but his widow lingered till the first day of August, 1889, when she was eighty-three. Of their four boys and as many girls six survive.

Hiram McFarland is the oldest son, and was born March 5, 1833. He was educated in the district school and worked at home, finally obtaining a joint proprietorship in the homestead where he still lives. When nearly forty, on October 5, 1871, he married Rachel Winter, who was somewhat his senior, having been born in Middletown, February 24, 1827. She died December 29, 1891, aged sixty-four, leaving no children, though they had adopted a son, Chauncy McFarland. Hiram McFar- land is like his father both in religion and politics, being a Presbyterian and a Republi- can. His sister, Emily Jane McFarland, born October 14, 1836, is now Mrs. William Burns, of Delhi. The next son, Madison Mc- Farland, born October 2, 1839, is a carpenter and a Republican, and resides in Kansas City, Mo. Louisa McFarland was born March 21, 1841, and is still gracing the home, of which she is the attractive centre, having a proprietary interest in the homestead

ERASTUS D. DOOLITTLE.

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and a religious interest in the family church. Andrew McFarland was named for his father, and born December 12, 1842. He is a Re- publican in politics, but is liberal in his re- ligious views. In his name the agricultural business is carried on; for he remains on the old home farm, and is unmarried. Thomas Russell McFarland, who was born March 25, 1845, also retains an interest in the home- stead, and is like his brother Andrew in po- litical and religious opinions; but he is a jeweller by trade. Two daughters have passed away. Elizabeth McFarland, born September 11, 1834, died on the last day of May, 1882, on the homestead and unmarried. Indeed, it can hardly be said the McFarlands are given to marrying; for her sister Anna Maria, born December 9, 1847, died single, in Missouri, on February 15, 1890.

The McFarland brothers have a large dairy, owning twenty-six cows, besides attending to general farming. They have a good herd of full-blooded and grade Jerseys, with a capital pedigree and record for milk production. For many years the old farm-house has served its purpose, but now a more modern and showy residence is in process of construction. In reading the records of such a family as the McFarlands one is impressed with the pros- perous diversities of American life.

RASTUS DODGE DOOLITTLE is a sagacious and enterprising miller in Fleischmanns village, in Middle- town, Delaware County, and was born in the same town in the village of Clovesville, Janu- ary 10, 1847. His grandparents were Joseph and Lorena (Dunham) Doolittle. He was born in Connecticut, and was trained a miller there, but in March, 1824, at the age of thirty-three, brought his knowledge to Dela- ware County, where first he ran a mill at Rose Brook. The country being newly opened and Mr. Doolittle being a man of experience as a millwright, he was summoned to many places to assist in building and starting mills. Among others he built the mill at Fleisch- manns village, now carried on by his grand- son Erastus, though it was put up for Noah Ellis. Grandfather Doolittle also bought a

carding-mill at Clovesville, which he man- aged for nineteen years; and in that village he died, on October 8, 1859, not long before the Civil War. He was then sixty-eight years old, having been born in 1791, during Washington's first Presidential term. He was politically a Democrat. His wife lived to be eighty-five, and both were Methodists. They brought into the world six children, namely: Allen Doolittle, who died young ; George, of whom more is presently to be writ- ten ; Mary" Doolittle, no longer living; Martha Doolittle, who came next in order; then William Dunham and Allen Cook Doo- little, the latter living in Massachusetts.

The father of the special subject of this sketch was George Washington Doolittle, who was born in Burlington, Conn., before his father's removal to the Empire State, and at the age of twelve was bound out as apprentice to a wool spinner and dyer, Charles W. Booth, in Hobart, Delaware County. At twenty he was able to work for himself in the town of Walpole, Norfolk County, Mass .; but after a time he came to Griffin's Corners, to be in business with his father. Here he re- mained till his retirement from active life. In 1841, February 4, he was married to Sally Jane, the daughter of an enterprising farmer, Joseph Dodge, whose wife was Sally Burgin. George and Sally J. Doolittle had children, whose record in brief is as follows: Mary Doolittle married Allen L. Myers, agent of the Kingston granite quarry, and has one child. Erastus D. is the miller at Fleischmanns. Clara Doolittle is the wife of Fletcher Hill, of Prattville, and has borne seven children, of whom four are living. Allen Sanford Doo- little lives at Griffin's Corners, and has one child by his wife, Clara Todd. Loretta Doo- little is the wife of C. H. Vermilya, sketched in another section, the station agent at Griffin's Corners, but has no children. Martha Frances and Olive Burgin Doolittle have passed into the better land. Their father was the Republi- can Postmaster in Clovesville fourteen years, and in religious matters was a free-thinker.

Erastus Dodge Doolittle bears his mother's family name. He went to the district school awhile, and then began carving out his own fortune. In 1871, at the age of twenty-four.

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he began working for his father in the carding- mills. Subsequently he purchased of John Vandermark the site of the old mill which Grandfather Doolittle had built long before; and then he began grinding corn, wheat, buckwheat, and fertilizers on his own account, besides doing a great deal of custom work. The products are shipped to many places, but mostly to Maryland and Washington. In the decade from 1875 to 1885 Mr. Doolittle did an immense business, and is still shipping a hundred tons of buckwheat flour southward every winter. In addition to his mill he owns the store on the opposite side of the street, and a blacksmithy and cooper's shop near by. His wife, Elizabeth Jane Person, was born January 11, 1842. She was the daughter of John A. and Mary (Osterhoudt) Person, of Clovesville, where the father, a Democrat, kept a store and hotel, and was foremost in all local affairs. He died in mid- dle life, aged forty-eight, leaving three chil- dren - Charles, George, and Elizabeth. His widow was married the second time to Judge W. A. Ten Broeck, of whom a separate sketch may be found in this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Erastus D. Doolittle have been blessed with nine children, of whom six are still on the earth. George Person Doo- little was born February 29, 1870, married Ada Jenkins, has one child, and has lived at Fleischmanns and in Stamford. Mary Doo- little was born December 19, 1874; Kate Doolittle on February 28, 1878; Anna on January 22, 1880; Frank on April 9, 1882; Joseph on January 11, 1889. Charles, Allen, and Freddy died in childhood. In politics their father is a Republican, and his religion is practical rather than theological.

The life-like portrait of Mr. Doolittle on a preceding page shows a vigorous scion of good New England stock, a man yet in the prime of life, whose career has been characterized by industry, growth, and prosperity.

AMUEL TERRY, a substantial farmer and highly respected citizen of Walton, has spent the major part of his existence within the limits of that town, watching the growth and develop-

ment of this section of the county with a deep and personal interest, and contributing his share toward bringing the town to its present prosperous condition. He was born in Terry Clove, in the town of Hamden, July 19, 1829, and is a son of Samuel Terry, a native of the same place. Mr. Terry is of New Eng- land stock, and the descendant of a pioneer of Delaware County, his paternal grandfather, Urbane Terry, having removed from Connecti- cut, the State of his nativity, to Hamden, when this portion of the county was in its virgin wildness. He was accompanied by Gilbert Townsend, and each took up a tract of land in that part of the town afterward known as Terry Clove. There he built a log house, into which he moved with his wife and two children, and in which the remaining children of his family were born. In the course of time he cleared and improved a farm from the forest, remaining there until his death, in September, 1840, at the ripe old age of four- score years. At the time of his settlement in Hamden his nearest neighbors were some dis- tance away, the new settlement of DeLancey being five miles distant, and Pepacton eight miles in another direction. He married Hul- dah Tiff; and they reared eight children - Nathan, Elihu, Darius, Samuel, Bane, Ovanda, Loretta, and Lucinda.

Samuel Terry, Sr., was reared to agricult- ural pursuits, assisting his father in uproot- ing the giant trees and clearing the land for tillage purposes, remaining beneath the pa- rental roof until becoming of age. He then bought a tract of land, and for many years thereafter worked hard to improve it. He subsequently sold his first farm, and, buying another, on Mallory Brook, there carried on general farming for some time, meeting with varied success until his demise, which oc- curred when he was fifty-six years old. His wife was in her maiden days known as Abigail Signor, being a daughter of Jacob Signor. Her parents were of German origin, and reared nine children - Susan, Catherine, Albert, John, Jane, Thomas, Mary, Theodorus, and Abigail. Mr. Signor was a farmer by occupa- tion, but spent the last years of his life retired, in Terry Clove. The parental household of our subject included twelve children : Abigail ;

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Jane; Julia, who died when three years old; Theodore; Catherine; Dow; Marcus; Harri- son ; Samuel; Calder; Ferris; and Wesley. The mother was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. She spent her declining years in Hamden, living in ease and comfort, and died at the venerable age of eighty-eight.

Samuel Terry attended the district school of his native town, and in common with other farmers' sons early became familiar with the general labors of a farm. He assisted his father until the death of the latter, and then went to Colchester, where he engaged in farming for nearly twenty years, in addition to the lumber business. On April 5, 1869, Mr. Terry took possession of his present farm, and industriously and energetically set about its improvement, in the course of time receiv- ing due reward for his labors. He rebuilt the house, erected a new barn, and established a fine dairy, which now consists of forty-nine Holstein and Jersey cattle. The milk is sent to the creamery at Walton.

The union of Mr. Terry with Agnes C. Holmes was solemnized April 9, 1863. Mrs. Terry is of Scotch descent, and is a daughter of Walter and Elizabeth (Blair) Holmes, who were prosperous farmers in Delhi. Walter Holmes was born in Paisley, Scotland, and at the age of seventeen years came to this county with his father, John Holmes, who, bringing his wife and two children, located on Scotch Mountain, in Delhi, being one of the earliest settlers. His son Walter succeeded him in the possession of the homestead, which he improved, there spending his remaining days. He and his wife reared eight children; namely, Mary, William, Thomas, John, Eliza- beth, Archibald, Ebenezer, and Agnes. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Terry has been bright- ened by the birth of three children: Lizzie Abbie, who married W. D. Burns, of Walton, and who is the mother of two children - Mil- dred and Aubrey; Samuel T., formerly a clerk, but now engaged in farming on the homestead; Walter L., a young man of fine mental ability, is taking the scientific course at Schenectady College. Before her mar- riage Mrs. Burns was a very successful teacher in the public school.

Mr. Terry, who is warmly interested in the

temperance cause, uniformly casts his vote with the Prohibition party. Religiously, he is a very active and esteemed member of the Presbyterian church.

OHN BROWN, an honored citizen and successful farmer, was born in Dum- friesshire, Scotland, September 9, 1832, a son of Robert and Agnes ( Mc- Cheyne) Brown, both natives of the same shire. Robert Brown came to America in 1835, and first settled in Prattsville, working in Colonel Pratt's family. He lived there about three years, and then moved to Meredith, where he bought a farm of two hundred acres, upon which he spent the last years of his life, dying at the age of eighty-six years. His widow died November 24, 1894, on the same farm, at the age of ninety years. They were both members of the United Presbyterian church, and he was a Republican in politics. Their family comprised eight children, but four of whom are now living: John, the sub- ject of this sketch; Marion, the wife of James Ainslee, a resident of the town of Delhi ; Jane, the wife of James Murdock, a farmer residing in Kortright; and William M. Brown, who resides in the town of Meredith, and is engaged in farming on the old home- stead.

John Brown received his education at the district schools of Meredith and Delhi. He assisted on the farm, and lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age. December IO, 1857, he married Sarah A. Griffin, of Kortright, a daughter of William Griffin, who was an early settler of the town, but who is now deceased, as is also his wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born three children : Martha Jane, who died when six years old; Cora A., the wife of E. M. Powell, a hard- ware dealer in Bloomville; and Robert Will- iam, who is a farmer.

Since becoming the owner of the farm where he now resides, Mr. Brown has added to it, and made extensive improvements. At first there were but one hundred and sixteen acres; but he has purchased land until he now owns one hundred and fifty-six acres. The dairy comprises thirty head of grade Jerseys,

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and averages two hundred and twenty-five pounds of butter per head per year. For ten years Mr. Brown lived in the log house which was on the place when he came, but by en- ergy and hard work, combined with skill and foresight, has achieved success, and has erected all the buildings and his spacious residence. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bloom- ville. Politically, hc is a stanch adherent of the Republican party.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 42

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