USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 56
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102
398
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
no such word as fail, cut down the forests, subdued the wild beasts, and overcame every obstacle. They were illustrious examples of a hardy race of pioneers, and seemed to pos- sess the requirements demanded by the situa- tion. They excelled also in hunting, and it was an unlucky day for any ferocious beasts or game when coming within the range of their guns. Besides, they would tackle single-handed, with club or axe, whenever occasion required, either bears or panthers. On this occasion, having collected a consider- able number of logs, made their raft, and started it on its journey, they began to figure the probable proceeds to be secured when it should arrive at the Philadelphia mills. This proved a vain calculation ; for the venture was unfortunate, the raft being broken up and lost. After so much hard work amid such surroundings this outcome was a discourag- ing feature of the undertaking, and with men of less pluck would have ended the effort; but these men were not easily turned from their purpose. They went to work with renewed energy, and soon had another raft ready for transportation, which was safely piloted by William to its destination at Philadelphia. Of these remarkable brothers, Ebenezer, in point of strength and agility, excelled, and was widely known as a great wrestler - one who never found his equal in that athletic sport. William Wheeler continued engaged in rafting and lumbering from 1795 until 1804, when he returned to Blandford, and soon after took to himself a wife, as before stated. She was a daughter of Captain Will- iam Knox, whose father emigrated from Bel- fast, Ireland, in 1737. He was a member of the Colonial Assembly of Massachusetts, and was a prominent man both in military and civic affairs of that time. Mr. and Mrs. Will- iam Wheeler removed to Delaware County, New York, in 1805. They became the par- ents of seven children, namely: Malina, who became the wife of Elijah S. Knapp, and after his death was married to Henry Smith, a part- ner of William B. Ogden, of Chicago -- she died in Deposit in 1892, at the age of eighty- eight years; Nelson K., who became Judge of Delaware County, and served two terms in the Assembly - he was also one of the District
Judges in New York City, and died in 1880 at the age of seventy-three years; Betsey, un- married, who resides at the old Wheeler homestead at Deposit, well advanced in years; William French, who was born in 1811, and died in 1892 - he was also a member of the Assembly; Truman Hubbell, who was ap- pointed one of the Judges of the court for Delaware County - he practised law in Delhi and in Chicago, Il1 .- he married Anna Rob- erts, a sister of the wife of Judge Amasa J. Parker, of Albany, and died in 1860; Addison Justin, who died in 1892, was a merchant and lumberman, and was also engaged in the oil business in Western Pennsylvania - he died in 1892, leaving one son; the youngest of these children is the one whose name heads this sketch. Their mother lived to the age of eighty-eight years. Their father died when seventy-seven years old. He was a remarkable man, and had -a reputation for honesty and integrity wherever he was known. He was a Deacon of the Presbyterian church, and one of the original members of that or- ganization in Deposit. He was usually known as Captain Wheeler, having his title from his position in the State militia.
The birthplace of George D. Wheeler was the old Wheeler homestead in Deposit, which at that time contained only twenty-five houses, so that he has witnessed its development from a very small beginning. The lad attended the district school, receiving a fair education, which was supplemented by a course in the Delaware Academy at Delhi. While not in school during the years of his boyhood, he assisted his father in the lumbering business and on the farm. After leaving the academy, he engaged with his brother, Addison J., in mercantile business at Deposit, the style of the firm being A. J. & G. D. Wheeler. They dealt in dry goods and general supplies; and Mr. Wheeler was thus engaged in trade at the time of the building of the Erie Railway, and was present to see the first shovelful of earth placed which initiated that great enter- prise. Like his illustrious ancestors, he has been noted for his agility, strength, and courage, having been a particularly fine horse- man, being equally at home whether sitting, standing, or lying down on the back of a
399
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
horse, regardless of the rate of speed. In his younger days he could mount a horse of six- teen hands in height by merely placing his left hand on the withers -a feat which he actually accomplished on his sixty-first birth- day.
Colonel Wheeler was first married Septem- ber 17, 1845, to Antoinette Downs, who was born in Colchester, Delaware County, May 4, 1820. By this union there was one daughter, also named Antoinette, who is the wife of Robert M. Cannon, of Buffalo, and the mother of four children - Antoinette, Eleanor, Bessie, and Margaret. Colonel Wheeler's second wife was Mary Waterbury, of Middle- town, Conn., a daughter of the Rev. Daniel Waterbury, the founder of the Delaware In- stitute, and a graduate of Union College and of Princeton Theological Seminary, and a sister of the Hon. Daniel Waterbury, of Mar- garettville, Delaware County. She died, leaving one son, George W., who married Mary Fisher, daughter of the Rev. James Fisher, a Presbyterian minister, now de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Wheeler have three children - Francis Addison, Eveline F., and Mary Foster.
The Colonel continued in business with his brother for about six years, and then sold out to a Mr. Finch, and took up farming. He subsequently went to Vermilion County, Illinois, and engaged in coal-mining at that place, remaining two years, meanwhile keep- ing up his farm at Deposit. Returning to this place, he has remained here since that time. He now owns eight hundred acres, and is successfully engaged in dairying and gen- eral farming. The principal farm is now under the title of George D. Wheeler & Son, and is called the "Laurel Bank Farm." They do quite a business shipping their milk to New York City. This farm has something of an early Indian history. It is said to have been the council place of the Lenni Lenapc tribe of Indians, and was their camping, danc- ing, and feasting ground in all the last years of their stay on the banks of the Delaware River. The settlement of the Indians in this vicinity was called by them "Kookose," which name, Anglicized, bccame "Cook House," the original name of Deposit.
Colonel Wheeler was prominent in military circles in Broome County and throughout the State, having a fine physique and attractive military bearing. He joined the State in- fantry of the State militia under the appoint- ment of Quartermaster of the Two Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment, by Governor Will- iam H. Seward, August 7, 1839. He was appointed Adjutant on June 24, 1840, by the same Governor, who, realizing his ability, commissioned him Lieutenant Colonel on April 10, 1841; and on April 18, 1844, he was commissioned Colonel by Governor Will- iam C. Bauck. He continued as Colonel of that regiment until the militia was disbanded. He was active in raising the first company of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, which was the first com- pany organized in Broome and Delaware Coun- ties for service in the Civil War of 1861-65. He has been Supervisor of the town of Tomp- kins for three or four terms, and of the town of Deposit once. He was in the legislature in 1876, and spent a good deal of time on the bill relating to assessment and taxation, which measure he championed and brought to the third reading, although finally defeated. He was a very successful legislator, and worked hard for the benefit of his constituency. He got a bill through from Binghamton, authoriz- ing the discharge of an inefficient and irre- sponsible county official by the Executive of the State, and another for the city of New York, exempting to a certain extent firemen from taxation. He has been a member of the Presbyterian church since he was sixteen years old, and has for thirty-five ycars been Sunday-school superintendent, and is now one of the most competent and interesting teachers of the school. Being at once devout and social, and of a genial disposition, he is hon- ored and respected by all. He is a life mem- ber of the New York State Dairymen's Association, and has been a frequent and able contributor to the leading agricultural jour- nals, including the American Agriculturist, Country Gentleman, Breeders' Gasette, and Orange County Farmer. Hc is the Vice- President of the Delaware County Dairymen's Association and the First Vice-President of the Holstein Friesian Association of America.
400
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Thus it will be seen that Colonel Wheeler is a man of excellent endowments, the holder of many talents, which it is evident that he has faithfully improved.
AMES KNOX POLK JACKSON is naturally a prominent citizen of Mar- garetville village, in Middletown township, Delaware County, being a lawyer, and also publisher of the local paper, the Utilitarian ; but he is a gentleman who would be a marked member of the community, whatever his calling. He was born in Frank- lin, in the same county, on January 10, 1843, the very year Daniel Webster concluded the famous Ashburton Treaty, and resigned his position as Secretary of State in President Tyler's cabinet, and the year before James K. Polk was elected Tyler's successor.
The grandfather was Zerah Jackson, whose wife was Mary Munger, a descendant, on the maternal side, of the Marcy family, being a distant relative of Governor William L. Marcy.
Zerah Jackson was born in Litchfield, Conn., but located in Franklin, Delaware County, in 1810, during Madison's adminis- tration. His farm was near the Meredith line, one mile east of Croton; and thither came he, driving an ox team attached to the proverbial wood-shod sled.
Three brothers, Eldad, Medad, and Zerah, came in the same party and settled near each other. Zerah Jackson became a fairly suc- cessful farmer for those days, and reared a useful and persevering cluster of seven chil- dren - Erastus, Elias, Amos, James Hervey, George W., Aurelia, and Eliza -who all lived to maturity. Their father took part in the War of 1812 for three months, and lived to be sixty-six years old. His widow outlived him many years, and reached the ripe age of eighty-four, and departed this life confident of the saving efficacy of her Baptist faith, hav- ing been a real mother in Israel for many years.
Our subject's father, James H. Jackson, was born May 8, 1812, just as the last war with the mother country broke out. He grew to manhood on the home farm, with such
school advantages as the old-time district school afforded. Notwithstanding his meagre advantages, his retentive memory, inherited from his mother, and his love of books, which he read at every opportunity, made him one of the best-informed men in his vicinity.
Self-support began by going to New Jersey, and engaging as a notion pedler for about a year successfully. He gave up this occupa- tion at the earnest solicitation of his parents, who needed his strong right arm on which to lean, and so induced him to assume charge of the old homestead. For the next twenty years he was a successful farmer and cattle- broker. He married Annis M. Terry, and had a patriarchal brood of a dozen capable children, minus one, all but two reaching use- ful maturity.
Among the grandfather's children Bible names abounded; but James H. Jackson's children had more modern titles, though not conferred at the christening font, as the par- ents did not approve of infant baptism. These children were: Mary, born May II, 1841; our subject, born January 10, 1843; Huldah C .; Francis; Julia M .; Annis A .; Linus D .; Emily A .; Orle V .; Amanda E .; and Laura.
In 1850 the excitement of the gold discov- eries in California induced James H. to sell out his farm, intending, like so many others of that day, to visit the gold fields. His love of home and family finally caused him to re- linquish his purpose, and he resumed his old occupation of cattle dealer with varying suc- cess. Heavy losses caused by the failure of others whom he trusted took away the savings of a life of toil, and his declining years were spent in a modest home provided by his chil- dren. He died in 1891, as he had lived, an honest man, a kind neighbor, a loving hus- band and father - aged seventy-nine years. His widow still lives in Franklin. His polit- ical proclivities are shown by the fact that he named his son James after the successful Presidential opponent of Henry Clay in the election of 1844, and he held several local offices as a Democrat.
At an exceedingly early period of his youth J. K. P. Jackson began to be the architect of his own fortunes. Not only did he support
40I
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
himself, but assisted in the support of his parents and younger brothers and sisters, and obtained a fair education in the district schools and at the Delaware Literary Insti- tute. In school he always stood well in his classes, and was never known to fail of having his lessons. At eight years of age he began assisting his father in the matter of driving stock, and at twelve years of age also assisted in buying and selling. A portion of each year was devoted to this business until the age of twenty-five years.
He read law with Robert T. Johnson, Esq., of Franklin, and was admitted to practice, after eleven months' study, in June of 1870. In February of 1870 he bought a half-interest in the Franklin Register and Walton Chron- icle. Later he disposed of his interest in the Chronicle, and became sole proprietor of the Register. In the fall of 1871 he established another journal in Sidney, called by the very appropriate name of Jackson's Democrat. Re- moving to Oneonta in the fall of 1872, he published the Oneonta Liberal, from that date to 1875 taking a very active part in the Grant- Greeley campaign. In 1876, during the Hayes-Tilden campaign, he published a cam- paign paper at Oneonta, and stumped Otsego County for Mr. Tilden.
In 1877 he returned to Franklin, and prac- tised law until the fall of 1879, when he removed to Margaretville, and bought the Utilitarian, a weekly paper, which he still controls, though he is an active and success- ful lawyer and dealer in real estate.
In 1871, on his twenty-eighth birthday, he married J. Alice Grant, daughter of Alexan- der Haswell Grant, of Franklin, who married Julia Merrick, the eldest daughter of Joseph H. Merrick. Mr. Grant began life as a clerk while still a young lad, and continued in mercantile life for a quarter of a century, then, like Cincinnatus, retired to the quiet of a farm, where he spent his declining years at active labor as a successful tiller of the soil. He died in January, 1892. His widow is still a resident of Franklin, occupying the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Grant reared three children. The oldest, Julia Alicc, became Mrs. Jackson; the others were Powell M. and Mary, who both reside in Franklin.
Mr. and Mrs. J. K. P. Jackson have three living children: Alexander Grant Jackson was born in Oneonta, March 2, 1873, and now holds a position in the custom service under the appraiser of the port of New York. Mary L. Jackson was born in Oneonta, No- vember 27, 1875. Fanny Myra Jackson was born April 9, 1889, in Margaretville. Mr. Jackson is a Democrat, and has always taken a deep interest in politics, although never an office-scekcr. In 1871 he was the candidate of his party for the Assembly in the then Second Assembly District of Delaware County, but placed in nomination by his party to complete a ticket, and lead a forlorn hope in a district always Republican. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace two terms, and served one term as Police Justice of his village. In the line of his profession he is attorney for the People's Bank, and has been since the organization of that institution. He is an easy, fluent, and forcible speaker, and has taken part, from the platform, in the dis- cussion of political questions in each Presi- dential campaign beginning with that of 1864.
He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, an active worker in the Sunday- school, and has been a church Trustee.
Mr. Jackson was one of the first advocates of an agricultural society for his locality, and called the first meeting that was held to organize the Catskill Mountain Agricultural Society, was elected the first Secretary of that association, and is now its President. As a military man he held the office of Captain in the One Hundredth Regiment of Infantry in the Eighteenth Brigade of the Fifth Division of the National Guard of the State of New York. His commission was signed by Gov- ernor Reuben E. Fenton.
Mr. Jackson cares nothing for money except to usc for the advancement of some laudable object or the comfort of his family, has no pride so far as dress or show is concerned, but only in his integrity and his family, every member of which is more dear to him than the apple of his eye, and to all of whom he has given the best advantages within his means. He is a liberal giver, and kecps open house to his many friends. He is abstemious in his habits, using neither tobacco nor liquor; and.
402
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
while he enjoys sitting at a good table, he chooseth only the plainest of food for his own plate. He works all the week-days in the year, including the holidays. While so many in these days take vacations for longer or shorter periods, he has never taken a full week from his business since he began for himself. Among his clients are many quite poor; but their cases are taken, and the work performed with the same care and fidelity as though they were able to pay large fees. He has probably done more work for which he has received no pay, during the past ten years, than any other member of his profession in the county of Delaware. A frequent remark of his, showing how well he knows himself, is, "If I were as good a collector for myself as for my clients, I should have been rich long ago." Another pet expression is, "Having the luck to be born poor, I have escaped those temptations that have destroyed many who deemed themselves more fortunate than I." Another, and the key-note to his character, is, "I never deemed myself beneath any man because of his wealth, nor above any because of his poverty."
HARLES E. HITT, a well-known en- terprising and prosperous merchant of the village of Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y., was born in Sullivan County, February 22, 1841. His father, Le- ander, was a native of Colchester, this county. The grandfather, Abijah Hitt, came from Devereux County, Pennsylvania, and, pur- chasing a large tract of timbered land near Colchester, engaged in the pursuits of farming and lumbering. He was the father of seven children by his first wife, of whom Leander was the youngest.
After being educated at the district schools, Leander Hitt worked for his father until he purchased a farm of his own in Colchester. This he conducted for some time, and then bought a hotel in the same town, which he managed until his death in middle life. Mr. Hitt was married to Elizabeth Ann Wright, of Colchester, by whom he had five children, only four, however, arriving at maturity - Charles E., William H., Myers, and Elbridge.
Charles E. Hitt was educated at the Eng- lish High School of his native town, and until the age of seventeen assisted his father on the farm. Not being desirous of leading the life of an agriculturist, his bent being more toward mercantile pursuits, he engaged as a clerk in a hardware store in Andes, where he remained three years. He then came to Delhi, and worked in a large general store for another three years. At the age of twenty-three he entered into partnership with Mr. J. H. Gould, opening a general dry-goods and furnishing store. Having continued in this connection four years, Mr. Hitt sold his interest in the business, and went to Albany, where he was employed for three years as salesman for Douglas, Shepard & Co. Again returning to Delhi, he associated in business with Mr. John Russell in a general store. This partnership continued four years, when it was dissolved; and Mr. Hitt has continued in business alone ever since, having a fine general store and conducting a large and in- creasing trade. Charles E. Hitt was married July 13, 1868, to Miss Mary A. Elwood, a daughter of James and Mary J. Johnson El- wood, her father having been a successful business man in Delhi for many years. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hitt, only one of whom is now living - Irene Elwood Hitt.
Mr. Hitt is a member of the Zeta Phi, a literary society of Delhi. He has also been Trustee of the village, and for many years was a Trustee of the Delhi Academy. In politics he is a strong supporter of the Democratic party. Mr. and Mrs. Hitt are communicants of St. John's (Episcopal) Church, of which Mr. Hitt is Senior Warden. Mr. Hitt is one of the most successful and highly respected merchants in Delhi, his genial manners and kindly and generous impulses making him beloved by all.
LIVER E. MINER is one of the most industrious and progressive farmers of Andes, Delaware County, N.Y. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Miner, was a native of England and an early settler of Connecticut, where he was employed as a
403
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
farmer and miller. He was a Revolutionary soldier, taking part in the battle of Bunker Hill, and having his house destroyed during the war. He died in the State where he was born, at the good old age of ninety-two years. His son, Oliver, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Connecticut in Janu- ary, 1780, and on January 1, 1800, married Miss Amy Bishop, of the same State, who was born September 14, 1783. Her father, Thomas Bishop, was a native of France, but came with his parents to Connecticut, and fought for his country's freedom at Bunker Hill. He was a successful farmer, and lived to reach his ninety-fifth year. After the mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Miner they lived for some years in Connecticut, and then removed to this State with their ten children, settling in the town of Andes in 1826. The journey was made in a sloop from New London to New York City, and in the same way from New York to Kingston Point, the rest of the dis- tance to Pine Hill being covered in wagons, the whole journey occupying ten days. Mr. Miner here purchased two hundred acres of woodland, which he cleared, and then built a log house and cultivated his farm. Game animals abounded in this country at that time; and this furnished the greater portion of the food for the pioneer settler and his family, as the market was seldom visited, the distance to it being sixty miles. The nearest mill was at Bovina, where they carried their grist by means of a yoke of oxen and a rude dray which was fashioned from a log of wood and was an extremely primitive contrivance.
Oliver Miner was a very industrious man, and lived to see the results of his hard work, his last days being spent in Colchester, where he owned a farm of two hundred acres, which he purchased of William Downs, having sold his other two farms to his son. His death occurred November 10, 1846, and that of his wife July 30, 1876, she being ninety-three years of age. He was a Democrat; and both were devoted members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and were highly respected. They were the parents of fourteen children, ten of whom were born in Connecticut and four in New York. Eleven of their children grew to maturity; and five are now living,
namely: Erastus, a farmer in Colchester; Harriet, widow of William Murphy, of Red Oak, Ia .; Almavina, widow of James Lord, a resident of Pennsylvania; Oliver E., the sub- ject of this biography; Lorenzo D., a farmer and carpenter in Colchester.
Oliver E. Miner, son of Oliver and Amy (Bishop) Miner, was born in Montville, New London County, Conn., February 3, 1821, but removed with his parents to Andes, where he grew to manhood, and received his edu- cation in the schools of the town. Until twenty-two years of age he remained at home, and assisted his father in the care of the farm. Mr. Miner's first purchase was a tract of wild land in Colchester, containing one hundred acres; and here he began to build his log house in the middle of February, when the snow covered the country in deep drifts. He worked on his house by day, and made the shingles by night, moving into his new home in April. For two years he resided there, and then in 1844 exchanged it for his present property, which was at that time a large tract of woodland containing fifty acres. From time to time Mr. Miner purchased land until he was the possessor of eight hundred acres, part of which he sold, but now owns four hun- dred and eighty acres. Besides his farm in Andes he is the owner of a fine residence in Middletown, where his son is located. He has been an energetic worker, and his remark- able success is due to his ceaseless efforts combined with practical business ability. He is constantly improving his property ; and his farm is one of the finest in the town, con- taining a large dairy, which he carries on in connection with husbandry. Mr. Miner has also engaged quite extensively in the lumber business, having built at different times three saw-mills, one of which is now in operation on his farm. He deals also in bark, the sale of which has enabled him to pay for his val- uable property.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.