USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 51
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He selected from among his schoolmates Orpah Holmes to be his partner for life, and they were married July 8, 1847. Miss Holmes was born April 16, 1826, and was the daughter of John A. Holmes, who lived in the same neighborhood. Five sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Combs, as follows: Leslie S., born April 22, 1848; Williard F., February 5, 1853, died November 2, 1882; John A., March 5, 1855; William Ellsworth, February 2, 1861; Newton E., May 24, 1864. Leslie S. Combs was married November 11, 1874, to Phebe J. Husted, of Bloomville, Delaware
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County, N. Y .; and they have one daughter, Minnie E., born March 22, 1878. Williard F. Combs was married in September, 1880, to Angelina Hofele, of Colchester, N. Y: they had one daughter, Mary E., who was born October 22, 1881. John A. Combs was mar- ried in October, 1880, to Hattie Shaver, of Shavertown, N. Y., and four children have been born to them; namely, Walter H., Mabel A., Celia, Grace L. Combs. Will- iam Ellsworth Combs was married October 17, 1882, to Hettie Dumond, of Walton, N. Y. They have five children - Marian E., Edith S., Cecile H., Hazel O., Arras P. Combs. Leslie is a teacher, John is a farmer and car- penter, William Ellsworth is a farmer and manufacturer of lumber and various articles in that line, and Newton remains with his father to assist him in his declining years.
Land brought up from a low state of culti- vation to the production of bountiful crops, a beautiful orchard bearing the finest of fruit, and comfortable and commodious buildings are evidence of the untiring energy which has ever been characteristic of Mr. Combs. In politics he is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party. He holds to no par- ticular religious crced, but is liberal in his views. His wife, Mrs. Orpah Combs, who died May 6, 1882, was a Presbyterian.
ILLIAM A. TEN BROECK is a well-known resident of the village of Griffin's Corners, in Middle- town, Delaware County, where since 1848 he has prosperously pursued the arduous profes- sion of law. He was born in Columbia County, November 20, 1823, the very year when President Monroe announced the impor- tant view in regard to the position of nation- alities in North America, which has since been known as the Monroe Doctrine.
His paternal grandfather was Samuel Ten Brocck; and the grandmother belonged to the family by blood as well as law, her maiden name being Christina Ten Broeck. They owned two hundred and fifty acres of land and a beautiful residence in Columbia County, near Mellenville; and thereon Samuel Ten Broeck died at fourscore, after a specially
prosperous life. His wife lived to be a cen- tury old. They belongcd to the Dutch Re- formed church, and had only two children. Wessel Ten Broeck married into the Van Rensselaer family, and lived at Claverack in the same county, but died young.
The other son, William, was born on the homestead, where he grew to manhood. He married Margaret Becker, the daughter of an enterprising Columbia County farmer. After their marriage they took the homestead, which they greatly improved; and there they raised a family of six boys, whose record is as fol- lows: David Samuel Ten Broeck, now de- ceased, married Elida Van Deusen, who has five children, and lives in Albany County. Walter Van Ten Broeck married Elizabeth Clum, daughter of Philip Clum; and both are dead, leaving two children, well endowed by their father's successful career. Peter Van Rensselaer Ten Broeck also died, leaving two children. Jacob L. Ten Broeck married Eliz- abeth Clum, daughter of William Clum; and both he and his wife are deceased, leaving two children. The fifth son is the subject of the present sketch. The youngest boy, Jeremiah Ten Broeck, married Maria Keifer, is a Sau- gerties farmer, and has six children. The father of all these boys, William S. Ten Broeck, lived to be only thirty-five years old; but his wife survived him many years, living to be seventy-fivc. Like his father, he be- longed to the historic Dutch Reformed church; and he was a Democrat in political opinion.
William A. Ten Broeck was educated at the schools in Hudson, N. Y., and at Lenox, in the western part of Massachusetts. Then he entered the law office of Monell & Hogeboom in Hudson. At the expiration of two years he changed to the office of Adams & Watson in Catskill, where he finished his studies, and met his matrimonial fate. On October 19, 1847, he was admitted to the bar, at the ses- sion of the court in Utica. In 1846 he came to Griffin's Corners, where he has ever since remained, greatly to the advantage of both himself and the town. He had been married one year before, in 1845, when he was twenty- two years old, to a lady who merited her name, Mary Ann Comfort, the eldest daughter of
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Hiram and Julia (Ludington) Comfort, of Catskill. Mr. Comfort was the thriving owner of a sash and blind factory, and died when only forty years of age, leaving five girls, almost a match for the six Ten Broeck boys already mentioned. These girls were : Mary, who became Mrs. Ten Broeck; Julia, named for her mother; Helen; Charlotte; Caroline. Their mother lived to be seventy- three years old, and was an earnest member of the Episcopal church, as was also her much respected husband.
Mrs. Ten Broeck died in 1866, aged thirty- seven, though she had already passed twenty- one happy Christmases in wedlock, being married when only sixteen. She left three boys and a girl: Charles C. Ten Broeck, born in 1846, married Martha Godkins, is a drug- gist in Kingston, and has buried his only child. William B. Ten Broeck, born in 1848, lives in Utah, where he owns a large ranch. Helen Ten Broeck, born in 1851, be- came the wife of W. H. Swart, of Ulster County, New York, and died in 1890, leaving four children, who are with their father in Saugerties. Henry H. Ten Broeck, born in 1855, married Ella Wilson, who died in 1893. He is a book-keeper in Lycoming County, with one child, another having died young. In 1867 Mr. Ten Broeck was again married, this time to Mrs. Mary Ann Person, the widow of John A. Person, and the eldest daughter of Solomon Osterhout and his wife, whose maiden name was Bookhout. Mr. Os- terhout lived at Griffin's Corners, where he was an early settler, carried on his farm in the most progressive fashion, and lived to be eighty years old. Politically he was a Demo- crat. Though he lost his wife while still a young woman, she left nine children: Mary Ann, afterward Mrs. Ten Broeck; Catherine; Elizabeth; George; William; Charles; James ; Augustus ; and Nancy Osterhout.
Mr. Ten Broeck is a Democrat, and has been for sixteen years a Justice of the Peace, and for a dozen years has been Pension No- tary. As a Free Mason, he belongs to Mar- garettville Lodge, No. 389, and is a member of the Episcopal church. In everything of a public nature taking place in the village, he is sure to have a prominent part; though of
course, when a man passes the milestone of threescore and ten, he is less active in general affairs. Mr. Ten Broeck rendered valuable aid in the erection of the two churches at Griffin's Corners, one Methodist, the other Episcopal. Well is it said by Lord Eldon, himself a distinguished member of the bar, "To succeed as a lawyer a man must work like a horse and live like a hermit."
HARLES H. GEROME, a farmer and marketman of the town of Sidney,
Delaware County, N. Y., was born in the town of Kortright in this county, March 1, 1850, and is the son of Jesse and Lois (Hobbs) Gerome. The father was born July 13, 1803, in Kortright, and the mother August 13, 1811, in the town of Andes.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Gerome was born in Dutchess County, of French par- entage. Removing to Delaware County in its early and primitive days, he settled in the town of Kortright; and, building a rude but comfortable house, he engaged in clearing up his land. He reared a family of eight chil- dren, five sons and three daughters, five of whom are still living, the eldest, Benjamin, now residing in the State of Delaware in his ninety-fifth year. The grandfather died in Kortright at the age of sixty years, but the grandmother lived to see her ninetieth birthday.
Jesse Gerome was reared in the town of Kortright, where he was engaged in farming until 1854, when he removed with his family to the town of Sidney, where he purchased a farm, and continued farming until the death of his wife, which occurred December 15, 1862, at the age of fifty-one years. He was a kind husband and father, upright in his deal- ings with all, and generous even to a fault. For a number of years before his death he was a confined invalid, being kindly cared for at the home of his son Horace, where he died August 1, 1888, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Gerome had seven children, five sons and two daughters, four of whom are now living. Hiram, the eldest, a farmer, died in February, 1883, in the fifty- first year of his age; he left, surviving him,
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two children - Seymour H. and Susie V. Horace Gerome is a farmer now residing in Sidney Centre. Mary E., wife of George F. Rifenbark, resides at Oneonta, N.Y. James died December 2, 1864, at the age of twenty- two years, from a gunshot wound received while making a charge with his regiment, the One Hundred and Forty - fourth New York Volunteers, at the battle of Honey Hill, S.C. Nancy A. resides at Sidney Centre, N. Y. Charles H. is the subject of this sketch. George E., a graduate of the Dela- ware Literary Institute of Franklin, N. Y., was afterward a teacher for some time in the same institution. During President Cleve- land's first administration he received the appointment of superintendent of an Indian school in North Dakota, where he remained four years. Afterward he became the Prin- cipal of the Union High School at Davenport, Neb., which position he held when he died, May 30, 1893, aged forty-one years.
Charles H. Gerome was educated in the common schools of the town of Sidney and the Delaware Literary Institute of Franklin, N. Y. He was at an early age impressed with the importance of self-reliance and indepen- dence, which have been characteristic of him since. He gained a good business education, paying for 'his own tuition while at school by work during the vacations on the farm. He engaged in farm work and teaching in the winter season until his marriage, which took place October 26, 1875, to Miss Frances L. Hess. Mrs. Gerome was born in Baraboo, WVis., September 4, 1856, a daughter of John and Margaret (Crawford) Hess. She also was a teacher in the common schools until her marriage. Mr. Gerome continued farming for a number of years after his marriage, but finally removed from the farm to Sidney Cen- tre, where he now resides. He first engaged in the mercantile business by himself. Afterward, taking in a partner, he was for three years a senior member of the firm of Gerome & Whitman. At length, retiring from the firm, he engaged in general specula- tion, also conducting a meat market, which he still continues, as a member of the firm of S. L. Bennett & Co., running his farm in connection with his business.
Mr. Gerome has always taken an active part in politics, and in 1879 was elected Justice of the Peace of his town, serving continuously until 1892, during which time he served as Justice of Sessions of the county three terms. In 1886 he was elected Supervisor, serving in that capacity until 1891. While in office, he refunded the public debt of the town to such an advantage that the interest theretofore annually paid by the town would in twenty years pay up and discharge the whole in- debtedness, principal and interest. He was also instrumental in settling controversies concerning the old bonds and their validity, to the general satisfaction of his townsmen. In politics he is a Democrat, believing that the principles of that party carried out would better serve the masses of the people than any other -- that a low tariff, or even none at all, would be more beneficial than an unjust and unnecessary one collected from the people. He does not believe that a public servant should be hampered or governed by any law or rule of action in the appointment to positions of trust, but that such should be given to those most capable, always keeping in view the principle that "to the victor belongs the spoils "; and therefore he is not an admirer of the civil service law.
In religious views he may be described as liberal, not in the sense of believing that one will not be held accountable for his life and acts, but holding that all will receive their reward or punishment according to the light and understanding given them. Mr. Gerome has two children - Margaret L., born Decem- ber 4, 1878; and J. Clark, born December 22, 1893. He is one of the active and progres- sive men in Sidney, ever filling the public positions to which he has been elected with credit to himself and his town.
ENAS FARRINGTON is a prosper- ous and practical farmer of Delhi, ranking among its most respected citizens. The homestead which he now owns and occupies is the place of his birth, which occurred June 10, 1831. His grandfather, March Farrington, who was of English antecedents, was born in this State
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in October, 1762. He had an honorable record as a soldier in the Revolution and the War of 1812, and as a pioneer of Dela- ware County. On first arriving in this re- gion, having followed a route marked by blazed trees, he located his home in that part of the town of Meredith now known as Mere- dith Square; and, when he built his humble log cabin, his nearest neighbor was in Delhi, some six miles away. He and his family subsisted mainly for a time on the game and fish to be found in the vicinity. He subse- quently removed to Delhi, where he and his cherished wife spent their declining years, she passing to her eternal rest November 10, 1841, in the seventy-eighth year of her age, having been born April 17, 1764, and he dying April 1, 1849. Her maiden name was Betsey Colton; and by her and her husband five children were reared -- Morris L., Pau- lina, Betsy Ann, Florella, and Polly.
Morris L. Farrington was but two years old when he came with his parents to this county, and at that early day educational ad- vantages were here very limited. He began early to assist in the labors of the farm, grow- ing more and more useful each year, remain- ing with his parents until he attained his majority, and afterward taking care of them in their latter years. In 1830 he bought the farm which is now included in the homestead of his son Zenas, of which he cleared a large portion, further improving it by erecting the present substantial set of frame buildings. Here he spent a long period of useful activity, living to the venerable age of ninety years. He was a very intelligent man, taking part in the management of local affairs, and serving in many. of the minor offices of the town. He
married Ruth Frisbie, the daughter of Judge Gideon Frisbie, one of the original settlers of Delhi, and the first Judge of Delaware County, the first circuit of the county being held in his house. Judge Frisbie came here on horseback, long ere the time of public highways, and was for many years one of the most prominent men in this section of the county. He reared a family of six children by his first wife - namely, Gideon, Daniel, William, Freelove, Huldah, and Ruth; and five by his second wife - namely, Milton,
Portor, Phillip, Angeline, and Anzolette. Ruth, who married Morris L. Farrington, was born in Delhi, and spent her declining years at the home of her son Zenas, dying in 1876, at the age of seventy-eight years. She bore her husband three children; namely, Anzo- lette, Zenas, and Maurice.
Zenas Farrington remained on the parental homestead until he was twenty-one years of age, in the mean time receiving a good prac- tical education in the district school and acad- emy. Desiring to become better acquainted with his native country, he travelled as far West as Michigan, where he worked for a year as a farm laborer. Returning to Delhi, he took charge of the home farm, which he bought in 1865, and has since carried on a thriving business in general agriculture, of late years making a specialty of dairying, keeping a valuable herd of Guernsey cows, and making a superior article of butter, which finds a ready market in New York City.
On December 28, 1875, Mr. Farrington was united in marriage with Mary R. Fitch, a daughter of Dr. Thomas Fitch, and a grand- daughter of Dr. Cornelius R. Fitch, one of the first practising physicians in Delhi. Dr. Fitch was one of a family of eight children, being the third son. He was educated in the Delaware Academy, subsequently attending Girard College, Philadelphia, from which he was graduated, afterward beginning his medi- cal career in Prattsville, Greene County. He married Sarah J. L. Beattie, the daughter of Dr. Francis S. Beattie, who was one of a fam- ily of seven sons, all of whom settled in Orange County. Dr. Francis Beattie studied medicine, and began practising in Philadel- phia. During the time of the Seminole War he went to Florida as a surgeon in the army, accompanied by his wife: and both became victims of the yellow fever. Their daughter, Sarah Beattie, was then a brilliant young lady of sixteen years, highly educated and accom- plished, having studied with a governess; and she was subsequently engaged in teaching in Delhi, making a specialty of the French lan- guage, in which she was proficient. At the age of nineteen she married the promising young physician, Dr. Thomas Fitch : and they reared five children, namely: Walter C .;
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Mary R., Mrs. Farrington; Paulina; William Beattie; and Anna. Both Dr. Fitch and his wife died in Prattsville, where he had had an extensive practice, and was for so many years its most prominent physician. They were communicants of the Episcopal church.
Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Farrington five children have been born, namely: Louisa Ruth, Walter, Paul, and March, who are now living; and one, Morris L., who passed to the life beyond when an infant of sixteen months. In his political views Mr. Farrington coin- cides with the Republican party, and so- cially he is a member of the Grange. Mr. Farrington is an attendant of the Presbyterian church, while his wife is an Episcopalian. They are somewhat related by ties of consan- guinity, having had one common ancestor in the person of March Farrington, who was the grandfather of Mr. Farrington, and great- grandfather of his wife.
AVID WOOSTER STEARNS, an extensive lumber merchant of Han- cock, was born at Mount Pleasant, Wayne County, Pa., March 21, 1826. The Stearns family, whose ancestors came over in the same ship with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and settled in Massa- chusetts, are of English descent. Joseph Stearns, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, was born at Attleboro, Mass., and from there moved to Connecticut. He was of a company called the "Nine Partners " that intended to settle in Harford, Susquehanna County, Pa .; but Joseph came only as far as Mount Pleasant, where he cleared a tract of land and cultivated a farm. He was the father of nine children when he arrived at Mount Pleasant; and it was here that his son, Jabez Stearns, was born, June 18, 1793. The wife of Joseph Stearns was Rhoda Tingley, a native of Attleboro, Mass., whose brothers were early settlers in Susquehanna County, and whose descendants are still very numerous there. Mrs. Stearns was a devout member of the Baptist church at Mount Pleasant, in which town Joseph died, June 2, 1829, at an advanced age. His widow survived him six years, and during that time received a pension
on account of her husband's services in the Revolutionary War. They left ten children, who grew to manhood and womanhood.
Jabez Stearns was a natural mechanic, and, besides farming, worked at other trades. He was ambitious to secure a good education, in which he succeeded by dint of earnest effort. He married Rowena Wooster, daughter of David and Polly (Church) Wooster, the former of whom was a pioneer of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and a nephew of Gen- eral David Wooster, of Revolutionary fame. Jabez Stearns had six children, namely: Har- riet E., who lives in Hancock, and was for forty years a school-teacher in Wayne County, Pennsylvania; David Wooster; Polly Church, who married Ira Steinback, of Gibson, Sus- quehanna County; Laura, an artist, who lived in Scranton for a number of years, but now resides with her sister, Harriet E .; Irene, who died in 1872; Frances, who married G. S. Ames, of Gibson, Susquehanna County, and lived only a year or two thereafter. Jabez Stearns and his wife moved to Damas- cus, Wayne County, Pa., in November, 1838, and lived for thirty-five years on the farm that he there laid out and cultivated. He died in Damascus in 1874, two years after the death of his wife. In early life they were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, but in later life both became believers in the Universalist faith ; and he was a strong tem- perance man, having a rooted aversion to in- toxicating liquors. He was formerly a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and was always loyal to his party.
The early days of David Wooster Stearns were passed at Mount Pleasant, his native town; and there he received his education. From there he moved with his parents to Damascus, entering upon an active life of farming and lumbering. His time was always utilized to the best advantage, so that in 1871 he sold the four hundred acres gained by his own industry, and came to Hancock, where he purchased twenty-one hundred acres of land, and engaged in an extensive lumbering busi- ness, the place and buildings being known as Stearns's Mills. This business he still con- ducts, and besides this he carries on a grocery and dry-goods store.
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February 12, 1866, he married Gertrude Pratt, of Johnstown, Ohio, daughter of Dr. B. W. Pratt, a noted physician of that State, who went there from Vermont in 1840. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stearns are: Ben- jamin Walter, a physician at Long Eddy; and David Wooster, Jr., now manager of his father's successful lumber business. Another child, Laura Maria, died in infancy. Frederic Waters, now sixteen years of age, is a promis- ing student. Mrs. Stearns is a member of the Episcopal church, and has many times lent a helping hand in good work. Mr. Stearns voted with the Republican party till 1874, when he changed his views to some ex- tent, and has since voted with the Prohibition party. He has never aspired to political honors, being fully occupied with his busi- ness, which he carries on with marked ability and success. He is regarded as a man of good business capacity, and is personally pop- ular among his fellow-townsmen.
OHN S. EELLS is the senior member of the firm of Eells & Reynolds, which ably represents the hardware interests of Walton, in which department of business they are the leading men. He has not yet crossed the meridian which marks the noontide of life, having been born December 17, 1850, in the town of Walton. He is lin- eally descended from an honored family of New England, his great-grandfather, John Eells, having been a native of Connecticut. John Eells was a pioneer of Delaware County, having journeyed here on horseback in com- pany with Samuel Benjamin and John Morey. All these men took up land from the gov- ernment, and erected log houses for them- selves and families. John Eells, the emi- grant, had a son, also namcd John Eells, who, after living in Walton many years, removed to Unadilla. He reared fourteen children.
Henry Eells, one of this large family, was reared and educated in Unadilla, and at an early age had the misfortune to lose his mother, from whom he had inherited so many of his sterling qualities. . He learned the trade of tinsmith, and in 1840 came to the village of Walton, where he opened a stove
and tin store. He subsequently worked as a journeyman in Elmira, then in Little Falls, from there coming to Walton, where he en- tered into business with Colonel Samuel North, continuing thus for a while, when he purchased the Colonel's interest, and con- ducted the business alone for about fifteen years. Admitting S. B. Fitch as a partner, they carried on a thriving trade for six years, after which W. S. Hanford became a partner, the firm name being changed to Eells, Han- ford & Fitch. After the death of Mr. Han ford, whose interest was purchased by N. C. Wood, the firm was known as Eells, Fitch & Wood, and then as Eells & Wood, Mr. Fitch retiring. Finally, Mr. Eells, selling out his interest to his son, John S., the subject of this sketch, retired from the active cares of business, and during the remainder of his life enjoyed the leisure to which his many years of labor entitled him. He married Anna Gay, one of four children born to William and Anna Gay, who were natives of Connecti- cutt, and pioneer settlers of Walton. They be- came the parents of three children: Herbert E. resides in Philadelphia; Henry Gay died in 1865; and John S. Mrs. Anna Eells is still living. She is a consistent and sincere member of the Congregational church, to which her husband also belonged, and is ever active in the good works of that denomination. Mr. Henry Eells died at the age of sixty- three years, and his loss was deeply deplored by the community in which he had so long resided.
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