Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 53

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 53

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Viola, wife of Alfred Sutton, in Otego; and Henry Christian, of Sidney, N. Y.

D. Jerome Manzer was born at Hancock, Delaware County, July 14, 1855, and grew up on the farm with his mother until his seven- teenth year. After engaging temporarily in various employments, he formed a partnership with his brother Bernard, and in 1887 re- moved to Franklin, where they made them- selves possessors of a provision establishment, which they operated successfully for two years. They have since then added from time to time groceries, boots and shoes, hats and caps, gentlemen's furnishing goods, and, later, ready-made clothing, to their former stock. In 1890 this prosperous firm pur- chased the building which it now occupies, in the basement being the market, which they disposed of in 1892, Mr. Root being the purchaser.

The Manzer Brothers carry about seven thousand dollars' worth of stock, and do a strictly cash business, this latter fact being the great secret of their success, enabling them to buy from the best manufacturers at the lowest possible prices. The firm is a reliable one, prompt and honest in all deal- ings, and is most popular among the residents of Franklin. Mr. Bernard Manzer is mar- ried, and has two daughters and two sons. Both brothers are Democrats, as was their father, firmly supporting that party's prin- ciples and platform. Mr. Manzer is a con- scientious man, who has won for himself his present position by his good business ability and earnest endeavors to please his patrons, in which he seldom fails.

AJOR GEORGE C. GIBBS, a suc- cessful builder and contractor of Stamford, and a veteran of the late war, was born in the town of Harpersfield, January 6, 1832, son of John W. and Dortha L. (Merriam) Gibbs. His great-grandfather, Deacon Caleb Gibbs, was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, en- tered the medical profession, and married Margary Stewart, removing to Delaware County, New York, in 1783. He settled in Harpersfield on what is now known as Smith

Street, purchasing from his brother-in-law, Colonel Judd, two hundred and twenty acres of land which had been obtained by him from the Harper family. He built a log house and cleared part of his land, dying in 1801 at the age of seventy-two years. His wife passed away in her seventy-fifth year, a member of the Presbyterian church. Both were buried in the Harpersfield Rural Cemetery.

Their son, Cyrenius Gibbs, grandfather of the subject of this biography, was born in Connecticut, and removed with his father to Delaware County when nineteen years of age. After his father's death he man - aged the farm, and married Abigail Hub- bard, daughter of Joel and Anna (Clark) Hubbard. Joel Hubbard was born in Had- dam, Conn., and removed to Harpersfield in the early days of this century. The Hubbard family is descended from George Hubbard, who was born in England in 1595, and emi- grated to America early in the seventeenth century.

Cyrenius Gibbs was a progressive farmer, and cleared many acres of land. He was a Whig and held the office of Judge of Commis- sioners, was County Supervisor for ten years, Clerk of Supervisors for five years, Justice of the Peace for fifteen years, and was a promi- nent Methodist and Abolitionist.

John Wesley Gibbs, son of Cyrenius and father of Major Gibbs, seems in his early life to have disliked farming pursuits. He ob- tained for those days a good common-school education, supplemented by about two terms at the Jefferson Academy, then (1826 to 1828) one of the best educational institutions in Central New York, taught school a few years, and on May 20, 1829, married Dortha L. Merriam, daughter of Peter Merriam and Roxanna Dayton, both of old Puritan stock, of Watertown, Conn., and settled down in business at North Harpersfield, N. Y., then as now known as Middlebrook, where he pur- sued the business of wool-carding and cloth- dressing and land-surveying until the spring of 1840, when he removed to a farm in the town of Jefferson, Schoharie County, N. Y., where he remained until the time of his death, in 1871. His children were as fol- lows: George Clinton Gibbs (so named by his

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grandfather in patriotic remembrance of his intimate friend George Clinton, the Revolu- tionary War governor of New York), Cyrenius A., Charles W., Asenath M., Albert D., and Richard M. Gibbs. George C., Cyrenius A., and Richard M., only, are now living. The others, as also the father, John W., and Dortha L., the mother, are deceased. Their mortal reinains rest in the Rural Cemetery near the old Baptist church site, in the south- east part of the town of Harpersfield and near the old Stoddard Stevens Hotel.

George C. Gibbs, of whom this sketch is written, spent his boyhood in Jefferson, Scho- harie County, and, after being educated in the district schools and the old Stamford Acad- emy, taught school for some years during the winter term, assisting on the farm in the sum- mer. When twenty-one, he was elected super- intendent of schools in Jefferson; but he later turned his attention to the study of architect- ure, and began business as a contractor and builder in Stamford, Delaware County, re- maining here until the War of the Rebellion. He enlisted in August, 1861, accompanied by his brother Charles and six other young men of the vicinity of Stamford, in Company E, Third New York Cavalry Volunteers, raised by Ferris Jacobs, Jr .; and, when the company was mustered into the United States service at Elmira, Mr. Gibbs was chosen Quarter- master Sergeant, and was later made First Sergeant. Early in 1863 he was promoted to the position of First Lieutenant, the regiment being stationed at Newbern, N.C. In Sep- tember and October, 1864, he served as Acting Assistant Inspector, general on the staff of Colonel R. M. West, commanding the Second Brigade of General Kautz's cavalry division. In the following January he was made a Cap- tain, and served on the staff of Colonel George W. Lewis, commanding the district of the Nansemond, as Inspector until the Third Cavalry was consolidated with the First New York Mounted Rifles, thus forming the Fourth New York Provisional Cavalry. He was finally mustered out near Richmond, Va., November 30, 1865.

While in the army, he participated in al- most every battle and skirmish in which his regiment was engaged during its whole period

of service. On all these occasions he be- haved with conspicuous gallantry. The cour- age and address with which he led the advance into the entrenched camp of the rebels near Kinston, and his coolness when, under the command of Major Hall, his squadron of cav- alry covered the retreat of General Wilson after the raid upon the communications of General Lee, in 1864, were especially ad- mired by his brother officers. On the latter occasion the whole rebel column was kept at bay for more than an hour, until the bridge over Stony Creek was burned, and our cavalry finally escaped by swimming the stream. Lieutenant Gibbs spurred his horse off a high rock into the river, and barely escaped in safety. In the battle of Goldsboro he was slightly wounded by a musket ball in the arm and side, his life being saved by a package of papers in his coat pocket ; and in an engage- ment on the Darbytown road, before Rich- mond, he was severely wounded through the left leg by a minie ball. In 1866 he received a commission as Brevet Major of the New York Volunteers for "gallant and meritorious services in the late war," and as a testimonial to his worth and fidelity as an officer.

In 1866 Major Gibbs was nominated for member of Assembly by the Republican party, and received a majority of two hundred and seventy-four votes over his competitor. When the Speaker made his appointments, he placed Mr. Gibbs on the Committees on State Prisons and Charitable and Religious Socie- ties. Major Gibbs is a successful architect, and has constructed some of the finest build- ings in Stamford, among which are Churchill Hall, New Grant House, Gray Court Inn, Mountain View House, the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, and the Catholic rectory. He also built the sheriff's residence and jail at Delhi, the county seat, and many other of the best buildings of his village and vicinity. In 1871 he erected his own beautiful resi- dence on Main Street. About 1880 he built a temporary tower on Mount Utsayantha, near Stamford, crected by Colonel R. W. Ruliffson, which, being blown down, he later replaced by a still more attractive and substantial one. which is still standing, being, as we believe, the highest observatory in the State.

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Major Gibbs married in 1871 Mrs. Laura Lockwood Denne, of Franklin, Ohio. Her only daughter, Annie, is now the widow of Willis B. Brownell, of Seneca, Kan. Mrs. Gibbs is the daughter of Ransom S. Lock- wood, who was born at Shaker Village, Ohio, February 13, 1810, and married Hannah M. Ross. The Lockwoods trace their ancestry to Robert Lockwood, who came from England to this country in 1630. Major and Mrs. Gibbs have one son, Ransom Lockwood Gibbs, who was born April 2, 1873, at Stamford, N. Y. He is a post-graduate of Stamford Seminary, and was graduated from the Cornell Univer- sity School of Law, class of 1894, receiving the degree of LL.B., and is now completing his studies with Charles L. Andrus, Esq., in Stamford.

Major Gibbs is a member of St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 289, A. F. & A. M., of Hobart, N. Y., and for many years has been High- priest of Delta Chapter, No. 185, Royal Arch Masons, at Stamford. He is also now Justice of the Peace of Harpersfield, the town in which he was born, and a Trustee of the vil- lage of Stamford, in which he now resides. He is an upright, honorable, and respected citizen, who won an enviable reputation dur- ing his service in the Northern cause, and is universally esteemed throughout the community.

Much of the above personal history, espe- cially that part relating to services rendered during the war of the Rebellion, is taken from "Life Sketches of the Members of the New York State Assembly," compiled and pub- lished by Weed, Parsons & Co. in 1867.

ON. TIMOTHY SANDERSON, edi- tor of the Walton Chronicle of Dela- ware County, New York, was born in the town of Meredith, in the year 1848, and is of excellent Scotch-Irish

ancestry. He is a man of marked ability and sterling character, impressing his individual- ity upon all with whom he comes in contact. He spent his early days on the farm of his father, tilling the soil in season, and attend- ing the district school when it was in session. He subsequently pursued his studies at the

Delaware and Walton Academies, and in 1868 entered Cornell University, being a member of the first Freshman class of that now famous institution of learning. He was graduated from Cornell in 1872, with the degree of A.B.

During the following two years he was principal of the Red Creek Union School, at Red Creek, Wayne County, going thence to Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, where he re- mained three years as principal of the union school of the place. Returning to Ithaca,

N. Y., he became a student in the law office of Frank E. Tibbets, and, being admitted to the bar in 1879, very soon after began the prac- tice of his profession at Sidney Centre in this county. In 1883 he was elected to the As- sembly from Delaware County, and served with distinction on the Judiciary Commit- tee and on the Committee of Public Edu- cation. Mr. Sanderson has ever taken an active and intelligent part in politics, and has a wide reputation as a public orator. During the campaign of 1892 he spoke under the di- rection of the State committee, giving his hearers the benefit of his study of the politi- cal, social, and economic problems of the day, and wielding a wide influence for good throughout this section of the State. He has made the tariff question the subject of thor- ough investigation, and is a Protectionist from conviction.

In 1892 Mr. Sanderson was called to the editorial chair of the Chronicle, a weekly paper published by the Childs Association at Walton, a position which he accepted and has since filled with signal ability. In 1894 he was appointed, by the Comptroller, Attorney for the State in cases pertaining to the col- lateral inheritance tax. Mr. Sanderson is conversant with the leading questions of the times, and expresses his opinions, which are the result of careful inquiry, in a forcible and logical manner.

OHN MARTIN CRONK is a promi- nent citizen of Roxbury, Delaware County, N.Y. His birthplace was on the turnpike, about two miles from Grand Gorge; and he was born on May-day, 1847, only four months before General Win-

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field Scott captured the city of Mexico; and there has always been victory in his bones.

In our sketch of H. B. Cronk may be found further particulars of the Cronk ancestry. The great-grandfather, Lawrence Cronk, was born in Germany, but early emigrated to America, and was a Revolutionary private, dying with small-pox then contracted. His

son, Lawrence Cronk, who grew up in Tarry- town on the Hudson, in early manhood came to Delaware County, and kept a hotel in Roxbury. Afterward he went to Dutchess County, married Nancy Crary, and worked a few years at his trade of carpentry, which he had before learned. Coming to Roxbury again, he worked for J. C. Hardenburgh. Then he bought the farm of a hundred acres now owned by Merritt Davis, and, devoting his energies, put that into excellent condition. Making another move, he bought the farm still known by his name. His last years were spent with his son, Edward Cronk. He was a firm Whig, though he lived to see the Repub- lican party come into power; for he was ninety-three years old at the time of his death, in 1863. His wife also lived to be very old; and they had ten children - John, Sally, Nathan, Nathaniel, Polly, Hannah, Betsey, Phebe, Rosetta, Edward.

Edward Cronk received some education at the district school, and worked both on his father's farm and for the neighbors till he was of age. Then he hired a farm for himself, and at the age of twenty-five, in 1830, mar- ried Elizabeth Haner, the daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Shoemaker) Haner. Mr. Haner was born in Dutchess County, but be- came an early pioneer in Greene County, clearing an estate of a hundred and thirty acres, where he spent the most of his life. Edward Cronk bought a farm of two hundred acres, which had been settled by Edward Jump. Thereon he built a new wagon-house and barns, and greatly improved the place, keeping at one time twenty-five cows. He had six children - Sarah, John Martin, Cor- nelia, Lawrence, Elizabeth, and George Washington Cronk. Their mother died in 1887, at the age of fifty-seven, in the Presby- terian faith; and Mr. Cronk then retired to the village where, in his declining years, he

quietly enjoys his Republican opinions, and needs no glasses to read the papers.

John Martin Cronk worked at home, and went to the district school after the manner of other farmers' sons; but in 1861, just at the outbreak of our Civil War, when he was only fourteen years old, he went to work as a farm hand for David Smith, from whom for half a year he received as wages his board and four dollars a month. Thereafter he kept on in the same line, but with other farmers, till he passed his majority. In 1870, at the age of twenty-three, he was married to Mary Selleck, daughter of Solomon Selleck, a suc- cessful farmer in Gilboa, Schoharie County, who married Mercy Richtmyre, and who lives a retired life in the same town, though he lost his wife when she was fifty-eight. They had but two children. One was Pratt Selleck, who first married Cora Becker, and then Anna Burhance, and is a Gilboa farmer. The other child, Mary Selleck, became the wife of the subject of this biography, and has two children - Ina and Selleck Cronk, born in 1873 and 1875, and both still gladdening the home.

In 1887 Mr. Cronk bought the old More place of two hundred acres; and here in 1891 he built a fine new mansion in the vil- lage of Grand Gorge, where he has accommo- dation for nearly forty city boarders. He attends also to general farming, and has a dairy of sixty cows. Besides his own pro- duction, Mr. Cronk buys the milk from fifteen other farmers, shipping it to New York. This business he has personally attended to for the past eight years. In politics he is a Republican, like his father, and, like him also, is a Presbyterian in his religious convictions. In his life and character he illustrates what that great preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, once said, -

"Vigilance is not only the price of liberty, but of success of any sort."

OSEPH M. PIERSON, son of Jeremiah Pierson, was born in Saratoga County, New York, August 29, 1821, and is now living in the village of Walton, retired from active pursuits, enjoying the rich reward of his many years of toil and enforced

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economy, his life being an excellent illustra- tion of what may be accomplished in this country by an honest, hard-working, and en- terprising man.

Jeremiah Pierson, whose birth occurred in Saratoga County, March 22, 1784, was a blacksmith by trade, and gave most of his at- tention to that business until the time of his decease, in the year 1850. He was twice married, his first wife, Eliza Gilbert, bearing him nine children, of whom three are now liv- ing, namely: Charles Pierson, born June 18, 1807, a retired mason and builder, an active and hearty man of eighty-seven years; Thomas B., born in 1823, a mason; and Joseph M., the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children died September 23, 1834, in the fiftieth year of her age; and Jeremiah Pierson subsequently married again, his sec- ond wife bearing him three children.

Joseph M. Pierson left the home of his par- ents at the tender age of seven years to be- come an inmate of the household of his uncle, Benjamin Morehouse, with whom he lived until attaining his majority. He received a fair education in the district schools, and, after leaving his uncle's, attended a select school at Ballston Springs. He began his independent career as a farm laborer, having been furnished by his uncle with two suits of clothes and one dollar; and in the first year he received five dollars a month wages. Dur- ing the summer of 1843 this sum was in- creased to eight dollars a month, which was then regarded as quite munificent pay. The following year Mr. Pierson began working at the mason's trade, and during the time he was learning he received but five dollars a month ; but even with that small sum he always dressed respectably, and never ran in debt. In 1850 he came to Walton, and, purchasing a farm of about thirty acres within the corpo- ration, was engaged in farming and masonry for upward of twoscore years, accumulating in the mean time a competency. His success has been entirely due to his own thrift and good management; and, in spite of the fact that he has lost about one thousand five hun- dred dollars, he can look the world fairly in the face, for he owes no man a penny. In 1888 Mr. Pierson sold his farm; and, buying

the pleasant house at No. 21 Union Street, he and his faithful life companion have since lived here as happy and cosey as need be.

Probably the most important event in his life occurred on the 2d of February, 1848, when he was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla R. Lyon, who was born in Stamford, Delaware County, in 1825. Her father, Levi Lyon, was the second son of Walter Lyon, an early settler of this county, who died in Stam- ford in 1830. Levi Lyon was born on Rose Brook, in Stamford, March 27, 1793, and lived to be almost one hundred years of age, dying in the town of his birth, May 25, 1890. He married Eleanor Morehouse, who was born in Fairfield, Conn., February 16, 1794, the date of their wedding being February 21, 1815, the ceremony being performed at Malta, Saratoga County, by the Rev. T. Swain. Mrs. Lyon died September 4, 1866, in the seventy-third year of her age. Four children were born to her and her husband, the follow- ing being their record: Mary Ann, who mar- ried Byron Burgin, died May 1, 1891, about two years after the celebration of their golden wedding in 1889, leaving three sons and two daughters; her husband, who was five years her senior, and was a very tall man, being six feet and four inches in height, and well pro- portioned, lived until October 3, 1893, dying at the age of eighty-two years. Angeline, the widow of Harry Barlow, who died in 1881, at the age of seventy-onc years, lives in the town of Hobart, and is a smart and active woman of seventy-five years. George B., a farmer, owning and occupying the home farm, which contains over two hundred acres of land, was married in 1849 to Sarah Pa- melia Peck. Priscilla R., the youngest child, is the wife of Mr. Pierson. Mrs. Pierson has among her possessions a sampler which she worked in her tenth year, containing the let- ters of the alphabet embroidered in various forms, and also the initials of her parents and grandparents. This sampler, which is ten inches by twenty inches, is made from linen which was spun and woven by her mother from flax grown on their own farm. She has also a piece of home-made linen thread lace, which has been in use a good deal of the time the past fifty years.

JAMES MC DONALD.

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Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Pierson are the parents of three children : Ellen E., the only daughter, is the wife of Edson Dann, and has two children : George J., a student in Union College; and Florence E., a pupil in the Walton High School. Charles H. Pierson, a farmer, living near Walton, was united in marriage February 14, 1882, to Elma S. Alexander, who died in 1891, leaving one daughter; and he subsequently married Cor- nelia Proper. George J. Pierson, who is in the Walton Novelty Works, married Rose Berry; and they have two children - Fred R. and Edith R. In politics Mr. Joseph M. Pierson is a stanch supporter of the Republi- can party. Religiously, he and his wife are members of the Methodist church, of which he has been much of the time for several years a Trustee and Steward.

OSEPH A. SMITH, a well-known and prominent farmer of Holmes Brook, was born in Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y., December 27, 1860. His par- ents were James H. and Helen (Calhoun) Smith, residents of Delhi. The paternal grandfather, James Smith, was born in Ire- land, and, coming to this country in 1820, purchased a farm near Delhi, where he resided until his death. He reared a family of five children - Joseph, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Belle, and James H.

James H. Smith was educated at the dis- trict schools, and resided with his father until he was twenty-two years of age, when he de- parted for the gold-fields of California, in which locality he remained four years. He afterward returned to his native place, and purchased the old homestead, taking up the pursuit of farming. Mr. Smith married Miss Helen Calhoun, a daughter of Peter Calhoun, of Bovina; and six children were born to them, namely: James P .; Joseph A .; Edwin C., deceased; Helen M .; Malcolm J .; and Margaret E. Mr. Smith died February 6, 1887, at the age of fifty-six. Mrs. Smith makes her home at the present time with the subject of this sketch. She is of Scotch an- cestry, her family coming from the town of Helensburgh, near Glasgow. Mr. Calhoun

came to America in 1834, and settled in Bo- vina. His family consisted of ten children : John, who was a practising physician in Delhi, and is now deceased; Peter; Mary ; Jea- nette; Archibald; Helen; Malcolm; James ; Daniel; and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Cal- houn died at Bovina. Mr. Calhoun was an Elder and prominent member of the Presbyte- rian church, with which his family were also connected.

Joseph A. Smith was educated at the dis- trict schools, and at Delaware Academy at Delhi. During his father's lifetime, he was of material assistance to him on the farm, and since his death has helped his mother on the- homestead. Like his father before him, he supports the Republican party. In his relig- ious views he, like the rest of the family, affiliates with the Presbyterian church. He has never aspired to any public office, devot- ing his whole attention to the farm and the care of his mother, a most estimable lady, of whom her son may be justly proud.

AMES McDONALD, a highly intelli- gent and successful farmer and dairy- man of the town of Kortright, Dela- ware County, was born July 24, 1826, on the farm where he now resides. He be- longs to a good old Scotch family, the mem- bers of which were among the first settlers of Kortright, where they have always been re- spected for their integrity and industry. His grandfather, John McDonald, was a native of Scotland. He came to America to seek a fort- une, staying at first for a while in New York City, and marrying there soon after his ar- rival. About the year 1786 he removed to Delaware County, buying a tract of one hun- dred and eighty acres, uncleared and unculti- vated. This he proceeded to clear; and here he built his log house, making his home in the Delaware Valley among the Catskill Mountains. Game of all kinds, . large and small, was plentiful; and many were the ad- ventures of the sturdy pioneers with wolves and panthers. The nearest market was at Catskill; and he was obliged to carry his grist on horseback into Schoharie County to have it ground, finding his way by means of

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 53

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