Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 52

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 52

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John S. Eells acquired a good education in the district schools and academy of Walton, and then began his business career with his father, learning first the tinsmith's trade, finally taking his father's interest in the firm of Eells & Wood. He subsequently disposed of his business, selling out to L. S. and J. W. St. John, and was for several years there- after in their employ as a clerk. In Febru- ary, 1891, he purchased an interest in the business, the firm then being changed to St. John, Eells & Reynolds. Subsequently the two latter mentioned members of the firm bought out the interest of the senior partner, J. W. St. John, of whom an extended sketch may be found on another page of this volume;

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and the new firm, Eells & Reynolds, are now ably conducting the business. The marriage of Mr. Eells and Miss Hettie Wilson, the daughter of Alanson and Elizabeth (Duggan) Wilson, formerly of Michigan, was solemnized December 10, 1873. Their pleasant union has been blessed by the birth of three children : Henry Wilson, Kate Gay, and John Dwight.

Politically Mr. Eells affiliates with the Re- publican party, giving full adherence to its principles, and, although having little or no aspirations for the duties and emoluments of public office, has nevertheless served as mem- ber of the Board of Education for several years, has also been Clerk of the Corporation, and since 1877 has filled the position of Town Clerk, having been re-elected to the office every year but one. He and his family are all communicants of the Episcopal church, of which he has been Vestryman for twenty years, being now Clerk of the Vestry; and Mrs. Eells, who is active in church work, has been for many years a teacher in the Sunday- school.

OHN W. WINTER, of Middletown, is a descendant of one of the early pio- neers of this part of the State of New York. His grandfather, John Winter, was born in England, and there married. After his wife's death he came to America with three of his children, and made his first abode in Bovina. A little later Mr. Winter took up ninety-six acres of land in the New Kingston Valley, purchasing a squatter's claim. His tract was uncleared, and lay in the midst of dense forest land, where the fero- cious wild animals had full sway, and the only roads were a few paths cleared through the woods and over the mountains by the Ind- ians. To place a family in such a home was a hazardous undertaking, as the howling wolves and blood-thirsty panthers were ready to fall on the hapless settler or his children and devour them. Yet, undaunted, he erected a log cabin for a temporary dwelling, and went to work to hew down the forest trees and clear the thick undergrowth, that the land might be made fit for cultivation.

The three children who lived on the farm

and assisted so materially in this hard labor were Thomas, Robert, and Margaret. Their father died at the age of eighty-two years. Mr. Robert Winter bought the old homestead, finished the task of clearing and breaking the land, and put up substantial buildings. He stayed on the farm, developing it and put- ting his whole interest in it, until he was grown to manhood, unlike many boys, who leave the old place to find something better, and often make a flat failure. At this time Robert met and married Sally Dumond, the daughter of Captain William Dumond, one of the early settlers of New Kingston, whose family is of Dutch extraction, and can be traced back as far as 1661. Robert and Sally (Dumond) Winter had thirteen children, of whom only five grew up; namely, Rachel, John W., William, Thomas, and Jane. They all received a common-school education, and were well started in life when their parents died. Robert lived to be seventy-two years old, but his wife reached the age of eighty- three.

John W. Winter was born on the old home- stead, April 29, 1839. He worked on the place until he was thirty-one years of age. When he was married, he bought a farm in the neighborhood, and exchanged it for the old homestead where he now lives. He put great labor into the further improvement of his farm, which, as a result, is now one of the best in the neighborhood, and bears the marks of sagacious care and thrift. It is situated about three miles from New Kingston, and eight miles from Roxbury. The town line between Bovina and Middletown runs through it. Mr. Winter enlarged his barn, and re- modelled it, and in 1886 built a fine two-story house, in which his family at present make their home. Mr. Winter married Elizabeth Scott, the daughter of Adam Scott, and a de- scendant of one of the earliest settlers of Bovina, Delaware County. They have two children, namely: Robert Winter, who lives at home; and Nancy, who married Mr. H. M. Colter, a furniture dealer of Margarettville. Mr. Winter is a Republican, and both he and his wife are members of the United Presbyte- rian church. He is well known as a progres- sive farmer, and a good neighbor and citizen.

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DWIN L. HITT, son of the late Myers Hitt, was born at the family homestead in the town of Colchester, Delaware County, N. Y., on December 27, 1864, and is of the sixth generation of the Hitt family in America. His great-grandfather, Jared Hitt, the first of whom record is here given, was a native of Westchester County, New York. He married Miss Betsey Barker first; and, upon being left a widower, he married Miss Martha Stevens, and raised a family of seven- teen children, all of whom are now dead. These children were: Oliver, William, Es- ther, Elizabeth, Samuel, Hannah, Henry, Jane, Ray, Electa, Ann Eliza, Richard E., Arvilla, Catherine, Leonard, James, and Hiram.

Abijah Hitt, a son of Jared by his first marriage, was born October 14, 1787. He was a farmer, and twice married, first to Miss Sally Shaver, who died June 20, 1821, having been the mother of these children - William, Elizabeth, George, Leander, Eleanor, Kath- arine, and Jared, all of whom are now dead. His second wife was Miss Mary Conklin, born October 1, 1799, married January 31, 1822, to whom five boys were born; namely, Rich- ard E., Myers, Elisha C., Charles W., and Albert. Mrs. Mary Hitt died May 11, 1878, after a long and painful illness caused by a broken hip; and at the present writing only two children are living - Charles W. and Al- bert. Abijah Hitt was a man of remarkable energy. He owned four farms, all of which were under his own personal control and supervision. He was drafted for the War of 1812, but sent a substitute. He and his wife left behind them the records of industrious, patient, Christian lives; and their descend- ants may well be proud of such progenitors as these.

It fell to the lot of Myers, the second son of Abijah and Mary (Conklin) Hitt, to begin at an early age to earn his own living, as he was very young when his father died, and there was a large family to be provided for. He went to live with his uncle, John Greg- ory, a farmer at Union Grove, N. Y. When- ever he could be spared, the little Myers went to school, a distance of about three miles; but there seems always something for the

small boy on a farm to do, so his opportuni- ties for education were very meagre. Later on he began lumbering and farming in partner- ship with two of his brothers, Charles W. and Albert. In 1863 he sold out his share to his brothers, and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Telford Hollow, about three miles from the village of Downsville.

In 1852 Myers Hitt married Miss Lavina A. White, a daughter of Richard L. and Elizabeth (Washburn) White. Her grand- father, Benjamin White, who served in the Revolutionary War, was of a Welsh family on one side. Mr. and Mrs. Myers Hitt became the parents of four children - Elsie, Emo- genie, Mary E., and Edwin L. Elsie, born September 24, 1854, is now the wife of Charles S. Elwood, who owns an acid factory at Horton; and they have two children - Frank and Walter. Emogenie, born Feb- ruary 25, 1856, married Edwin A. Fuller, carpenter and contractor in Scranton, Pa., and has one child, Maude. Mary E., born Janu- ary 8, 1859, died September 29, 1861.

Myers Hitt died in the last month of the year that has just drawn to a close, December 19, 1894, aged sixty-nine years, nine months, and one day, after an illness of two years, in which he had been a patient sufferer. Those who lived near him bear testimony to his worth as a man, his kindness as a neighbor and friend.

Edwin L. Hitt lives at the homestead with his mother. The farm is one of the finest grass farms in this region, and has been kept in fine condition, being well equipped with all the most modern implements of agricult- ure, and furnished with convenient barns and out-buildings, neatly kept.

m RS. JANE E. MERRICK, who is the widow of Cornelius J. Mer- rick, and a resident of the town of Franklin, where she is well and favorably known, is the daughter of John A. and Mary (More) Grant. The former was a native of Stamford, this county, and died at his farm in Gilboa, Schoharie County, in 1861, when nearly sixty-two years of age. His widow, who was a native of Roxbury, was

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left with five children ; and in 1868, at the age of sixty-seven, she, too, passed away. Her children were: Jane E .; Robert, who died at St. Augustine, Fla., in middle life, leaving three children, who inherited the large prop- erty he had amassed in the South; A. H., who died in January, 1892, at the age of seventy- two years, leaving a widow and three children ; John T., who is unmarried, and lives with his sister, Mrs. Merrick; and Cornelia, who is the widow of Alfred L. Austin.

After receiving a liberal education, Miss Jane E. Grant taught school for some six terms, and was married January 29, 1867, to Cornelius J. Merrick, a son of Joseph H. Merrick, who was one of the early settlers of the town. Cornelius Merrick was reared on the farm where the family had dwelt since its first settlement in the State. After marriage he carried on the farm for about two years, and then removed to that which is now occu- pied by the family, and which contains about six hundred acres, being part of the prop- erty which he had inherited from his father. Here Mr. Merrick died July 29, 1874, at the age of forty-two, after a long illness. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Merrick, with the assistance of her brother and son, has con- ducted the affairs of the estate, and, besides making other improvements, in 1886 built a handsome residence.

Mrs. Merrick has lost one daughter, Lizzie J., who died at the age of twenty months; and within a year a dearly loved son, Joseph Has- well, has been called to join those who have passcd from earth. The death of this young man cast a gloom over the whole community, in which he was much beloved. He had read law, and was about to enter upon its practice when his health failed, and he realized that the only chance of regaining his lost strength lay in the clear air and high altitude of Den- ver, Col. He journeyed thither; but disease had made too great inroads, and in the winter of 1893-94 his mother joined him in his West- ern homc, and spent with him the last days of his short life. He died March 11, 1894, at the age of twenty-four, and was buried in Ouleout Valley Cemetery. Mrs. Merrick has one child living, John C., a young man of great promise, who is associated in the man-

agement of the estate, and during the winter carries on a flourishing business in buying furs. Mrs. Merrick is a woman of great en- ergy and ability, and is respected by all who know her, both for her uprightness of char- acter and business tact.

T. GREGORY, a representative of one of the earliest families that set- tled in the Empire State west of the Hudson River, was born in the town of Colchester, Delaware County, N. Y., June 17, 1824, the son of Josiah and Viletta (Sut- ton) Gregory, the mother being the daughter of Caleb and Sally Sutton, of 'Hancock.

Josiah Gregory was the son of Josiah Greg- ory, Sr., of Colchester, whose father came from New England in 1775, and was num- bered among the first settlers of Delaware County. The country in those early days was a perfect wilderness; and the immigrant, with only his wife for company, lived there two years, until at the uprising of the Indians he was obliged to leave his home, burning his field of grain that it might not be of benefit to the savage foe. He and his wife, with what effects they could carry with them, left the town on horseback, that being the only means of travel in those early days. He imme- diately engaged in the Revolutionary War, which was then being waged, and fought until peace was declared, when he returned to Dela- ware County, made for himself a comfortable home, and lived here until his death.

Josiah Gregory, Sr., the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Colchester, and lived at the home of his parents during his younger days. Upon at- taining man's estate, he bought a tract of land known as Gregory Town, and there engaged in farming. He married Sally Fuller, of Colchester; and they lived on this farm dur- ing the remainder of their lives.

Josiah Gregory, Jr., the father of J. T. Gregory, was brought up on his father's farm, and throughout his life gave his whole atten- tion to farming and lumbering. In those early years there were no railroads or canals, and very little, if any, communication be- tween the cities and towns. The people lived

J. T. GREGORY.

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on the produce raised by themselves and on the game, including bear and deer, which at that time abounded in this region. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory had a family of nine children. In 1840 they removed to the town of Tomp- kins, where he died when eighty-nine years old, his wife being seventy-five years old when she passed away.

J. T. Gregory came with his parents to Tompkins, and resided at home until twenty- two years of age, then taking an active part in business life. He erected a saw-mill, which he carried on for one' year. At the end of that time he rented it, and bought a tract of land, upon which he engaged in farming and lumbering, sending the lumber down the Delaware River, a business which he continues to follow at the present day.

Mr. Gregory has been twice married. His first wife, Esther Alverson, who was born in Tompkins, and died in 1883, was the daughter of John and Jenny (Frazier) Alverson. He has by his first marriage one child, Loomis, who now resides in Walton. Mr. Gregory married for his second wife Sally (Durfee) Wakeman, and has a pleasant home in the village. Mr. Gregory is a Republican, and has served eight years as Poor Master. He is also a member of the Baptist church. A por- trait of this enterprising and highly respected citizen enhances the interest and value of the foregoing summary of his personal and family history.

AMES WILLAS CHISHOLM resides in the village of New Kingston, in the town of Middletown, where he was born June 26, 1859, and has become a very influential citizen. His paternal grand- father, Andrew Chisholm, was owner of the Vanbenschoten farm, which he cleared, erect- ing the first buildings thereon. There he lived till his death, a prosperous farmer, Democratic in politics, and Presbyterian in religion, raising a family of three children --- William, James, and Jane Chisholm, all of whom grew to adult life, married, and had large families. James and Jane are deceased. Grandfather Chisholm lived to the ripe age of eighty-four.

His second son, James Chisholm, was born on the home farm, where he grew up, being educated in the district school. In due time he was wedded to Rachel Delameter, daugh- ter of Abraham Delameter, who fought in the Revolutionary War, and whose wife be- longed to the Brink family. In compensation for the fiery destruction, by the British, of his house and barn in old Kingston, Mr. Dela- meter received a tract of land in New Kings- ton, where he farmed until his death, at threescore and ten. James Chisholm bought this farm of his father-in-law, and there were raised the four children which adorned the Chisholm fireside. Andrew Chisholm is a Croton farmer, and has three children. Sarah Chisholm married James Archibald, a farmer, and has one child. Margaret Chisholm mar- ried Robert Winter, and they live in the vil- lage with their three children. James is the special subject of this sketch. Their father lived to the age of only fifty-two.

James W. Chisholm grew up on the farm, where he remained till the age of twenty- three, when he married Ella J. Dickson, daughter of John Dickson, a mechanic in the same town, whose wife was Isabella Frazier. Even after the marriage the Chis- holms remained a year on the home farm, till he bought the wagon and blacksmith shop of Walter A. Elliott, which has been very pros- perous. Mr. Chisholm is a Republican, and held the office of Postmaster under President Harrison, between 1888 and 1892. His wife is a member of the United Presbyterian church. Mrs. Chisholm's maternal grand- father was Alexander Frazier, and the grand- mother was Christina Cowan. Mr. Frazier's father was Glerander Frazier, who married Isabella Colter. The old man was a Scotch weaver, and taught the trade to his son, Alex- ander Frazier, who came to America in 1820, and settled in Roxbury, Delaware County, where he lived to be seventy-seven years old, and reared two daughters - Elizabeth and Ellen. Mrs. Chisholm's mother was the daughter of Gilbert and Ellen (Irving) Dick- son. The grandfather, Gilbert Dickson, Sr., came from Scotland, and settled, like so many of his compatriots, in Bovina, where he raised six boys and three girls - Michael, Mary,

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Jennie, John, Isabella, Walter, Gilbert, Oliver, and Theodore Dickson. Their father lived to be over fourscore, but their grand- father Dickson lived to be eighty-nine. In this biography the repetition of Scottish names is most noticeable. They belong to an admirable class of people, who are an honor to America; and to them might be applied the pithy words of the essayist Tuckerman, -

"It has been said that self-respect is the gate of Heaven ; and the most cursory observa- tion shows that a degree of reserve adds vastly to the latent force of character."

EORGE H. REYNOLDS, M.D., is a rising young physician of Delhi, whose office is pleasantly located at No. 502 Main Street, nearly opposite the American House. He has received a thor- ough education, and is already well and favor- ably known in the town and in the adjacent country, and is fast winning his way to a large and successful practice. He is a native of Delaware County, Roxbury being the place of his birth, which occurred June 21, 1865. His father, Cornelius D. Reynolds, was born in this county, at New Kingston; and that village was also the birthplace of his grand- father, James Reynolds, who late in life re- moved to Michigan, where he spent his last years.

Cornelius D. Reynolds was bred a farmer, and for many years engaged in tilling the soil in the place of his nativity. Desiring a change of location, he removed to Roxbury, where he purchased a farm, which he is still conducting with marked success. In the early years of his life he married Mary Tyler, who was also a native of New Kingston, where her parents lived for many years. They subse- quently removed to Plattsville, where they both departed this life. The only child born to Cornelius D. and Mary Reynolds was a son, George H., the subject of this sketch. The mother lived but a few years after her marriage, dying in Plattsville, at the early age of twenty-nine years. She was a woman of fine character, and, like her husband, a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church. After her death Mr. Reynolds mar-

ried Amanda Craft, of Roxbury; and she has borne him two children - Charles and William.

George H. Reynolds spent the first years of his life in Roxbury on the homestead of his father, and, after attending the district school, entered the Stamford Seminary, where he pur- sued his studies for some time. Leaving the seminary, he began his active career as a teacher in the district school, continuing in the pedagogical profession two years. He then entered upon the study of medicine with Dr. E. W. Gallup, of Stamford, with whom he remained one year. Going thence to Al- bany, he took a course of study at the Medical College, and was graduated from the univer- sity in 1891. Having secured his diploma, Dr. Reynolds began the practice of medicine at Trout Creek, where he remained two years. Coming thence to Delhi, to take the place of Dr. Thompson, who had removed to Kings- ton, he has since continued in the arduous work of his profession, and bids fair to take a position among the leading physicians of this vicinity. The Doctor is a member of the Delaware County Medical Society, and in pol- itics is a steadfast Republican. He is an active worker in the Methodist church, of which he is a consistent member.

J EREMIAH A. HARRINGTON, a

thriving business man of Colchester, the well-known proprietor of the Har- rington House, was born December 16, 1870, and is the son of Cornelius J. and Elizabeth (Gahon) Harrington. The father of Cornelius J. was Cornelius Harrington, who was born in Ireland, but came to Amer- ica when a young man, and carried on for a number of years the Exchange Hotel in Du- shore, Sullivan County, Pa. He afterward sold out, and bought a farm of one hundred acres in the same county, near Dushore, which he and his wife enjoyed in their old age. They reared a family of seven children - Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Kate, Emma, Cor- nelius J., Joseph, and James. Grandfather Harrington was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary War, that sternly waged conflict in which our country won her independence.

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He was a Democrat, and held to his principles throughout his long life of over seventy-eight years.

Cornelius J. Harrington lived with his par- ents until old enough to go out into the world and struggle for himself. He first engaged in lumbering, but after a few years returned to the paternal homestead to assist his father on the farm, and has continued to live on the old place until the present day. Here he has a selected stock and an excellent dairy, and has raised some fine horses. Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Harrington had a family of eight children -- Thomas, Jerome, John, Julia, Alice, Nora, Jeremiah, and Mary. He is a public-spirited man, is a Democrat, has held the office of Road Commissioner, and has been on the school committee.

Jeremiah A. Harrington was born on the old homestead in Sullivan County, Pa., and was educated in the town of his birth. He began active business life as head clerk at the Dushore House, and continued in this capac- ity for three years, after which he went to Lestershire, and engaged in the grocery busi- ness with J. A. Farrell, where he remained for one year, at the end of that time selling out to Mr. Farrell. He then went to Sidney, and bought a billiard parlor, which he carried on for a year and a half, but gave it up for his present business of inn-keeping, having bought a fine hotel, three stories high, beautifully located on the Beaver Kill in Colchester. The house has accommodations for many guests. It has fine rooms facing the water, and is much patronized by city people. The river abounds in trout ; and that the neighbor- hood is a fine hunting-ground is evidenced by the fact that two wild bears were killed last winter in sight of the hotel, which is only a step from the depot on the O. & W. R.R.

On March 31, 1894, Mr. Harrington mar- ried Anna Walls, daughter of Patrick Walls, a farmer of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, and the father of two children. Mr. J. A. Harrington is a free-thinker, a man who is not hampered by traditions, not controlled by political bosses, but who prefers to be led by his own reason and conscience. From his varied experience he has a good knowledge of business and business men, making him admi-

rably fitted for his present work. He is a most genial host, which alone is enough to insure success in the future.

JEROME MANZER, one of the enterprising firm of Manzer Brothers, dealers in general merchandise in Franklin, N. Y., is recognized as one of the foremost business men of the place, holding an enviable position in the esteem of his townspeople as one who is ever ready to perform a generous act, and who has the wel- fare of the community closely at heart. Mr. Manzer's grandfather, Daniel Manzer, was a prosperous farmer of Greene County, where he died at an advanced age, in 1860, leaving six children. Four of his daughters married; but one, Christina, remained in single blessed- ness, beloved by everybody; and all still reside in Greene County.

The only son of Daniel, David Manzer, was born in 1820, in Ashland, Greene County, where he adopted a farmer's life, and married Sarah Christian, of Ashland, who became the mother of seven sons. Two of these sons received the name Jerome, the first dying when an infant; the second is the subject of this sketch. The other children were: Daniel, who died in infancy; George E., at present a merchant at Sidney Centre; Sanford, who died at the age of seven years; Frank E., the owner of a large farm and creamery at North Norwich; Bernard, the able partner of his brother Jerome in Frank- lin. David Manzer enlisted in his country's service in the Civil War, served for seven months as a private, and died while in the army, though he was never called upon to engage in active battle. He was a man of strong Christian faith, and an active member of the Methodist church. It was in camp at City Point in 1864 that his comrades discov- ered him one morning dead in his bed, he having been in perfect health on the previous evening when he attended a prayer-meeting. His death resulted from heart disease. He had lived an upright, godly life, doing the best in his power, faithful to his duty to the end. His widow, Mrs. Sarah Manzer, was married a second time, and had two children :

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 52

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