USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 6
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Henry A. Combs acquired his early educa- tion at the district school, and pursued his. advanced studies at the Delaware Literary Institute. He began mercantile life in 1867 in company with his uncle, Daniel S. Combs ; and when, after five years, his uncle's health failed, Mr. Combs continued the business for a while, and then was joined by his brother Marshall, who had been a clerk with him since 1878. They now carry on a leading trade in general merchandise, and supply goods to a large section of territory. In the winter of 1869 Mr. Combs married Mary Robinson, daughter of Francis Robinson. Mrs. Combs's mother, whose maiden name was Barlow, died in the prime of life, leaving this one daughter and a son Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Combs have one son, George E. Combs, a young man of twenty-one years, who is with his father in the store.
Mr. Combs is a stanch Republican in poli- tics, and is now serving his seventh year as Supervisor of the town. He is a very ca- pable man of affairs, and under his skilful management his business has rapidly grown to wide dimensions. He has in all his under- takings cast lustre on a name already claim- ing for its own an unsullied reputation.
DOUGLAS BURNS, one of the self- made men and well-to-do farmers of the town of Bovina, is actively engaged in general agricultural pur- suits, and operates a large dairy, keeping from twenty to twenty-five head of graded Jersey cattle, and milking about eighteen cows, his sales of butter for the past three years averaging two hundred and seventy-five pounds each year. He is a native of Bovina, and was born August 9, 1858, of Irish and Scotch antecedents.
His paternal grandfather, Moses Burns, was born in Ireland, and, after coming to this country, was married to Catherine St. Clair, a native of Orange County, New York, and the daughter of John St. Clair, who emigrated here from Scotland. After his arrival in this State, Moses Burns settled in Bovina, in 1802, and here bought a farm, on which a log house and small clearings constituted the only improvements. The country was then in its primitive wildness; but, laboring with ener- getic perseverance, he reclaimed a large por- tion of it, although he was called from the scenes of this earth when a young man, hav- ing received injuries while assisting in the erection of the first frame house built in Bo- vina, from the effects of which he died, being then but thirty years old. He was the owner of one hundred and five acres of land, which he carried on in an able manner. He was a Federalist in politics, and he and his good wife were esteemed members of the Presbyte- rian church of South Kortright. They had a family of five children, of whom John Burns, the father of the subject of this sketch, and his sister Elizabeth, who resides in Brod- head, Wis., being the widow of James Kirkpatrick, are the only ones now living.
John Burns was born in Bovina, March 7,
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1807, on the farm where he now resides, and received his education in the district school known as the Maynard School. During the early years of his life much of the pioneer labor of clearing away the forests devolved upon him, the old homestead of his parents being at that time heavily timbered. Game abounded ; and he remembers once chasing a wolf, although he was not fortunate enough to kill it. He was reared to farming pursuits and to habits of industry and honesty, and has followed agriculture the whole of his life. In April, 1832, he was united in marriage with Nancy Ormiston, a native of Bovina; and they began housekeeping on the parental homestead, which he had previously bought. He carried on a thriving business in general agriculture and dairying, and in course of time added to the original acreage of the place, and now has a fine farm of one hundred and fifty- five acres. His improvements have been of an excellent character, his residence being substantial and comfortable, and the necessary farm buildings convenient and commodious. He has been a hard-working man, and, al- though now crippled by rheumatism, is enjoy- ing life, surrounded by hosts of friends and neighbors, of whose respect and good will he is assured. Both he and his wife, who crossed the river of death November 6, 1877, in the sixty-fourth year of her age, were mem- bers of the United Presbyterian church at Bo- vina Centre, with which he is still connected. In politics he was a Whig until the abandon- ment of that party and the formation of the Republican, when he joined the latter, and has since been one of its most faithful adhe- rents. He has always taken an active part in local affairs, and has served as Highway Com- missioner and Assessor, besides filling various minor offices. His family circle included seven children, of whom five are now living, the record being as follows: Moses E., born August 18, 1833, is a farmer in Brodhead, Wis. William, born November 28, 1834, is engaged in farming in Delhi. James, born January 6, 1845, is a farmer, living in Mere- dith Hollow. Alexander, born December 8, 1848, resides on the old homestead. J. Douglas lives in Bovina. Janette, born Sep- tember 3, 1839, married Francis C. Arm-
strong, and died February 15, 1885. John C., born August 2, 1841, enlisted during the late Rebellion in Company E, One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infan- try, and was killed while in service in 1863.
J. Douglas Burns has been a life-long resi- dent of Bovina, gleaning his education in its public schools, and growing to man's estate within its precincts. When starting in life for himself, he began as a farm laborer at fif- teen dollars a month. Being prudent and economical, he saved money, and in 1880 bought the farm where he now resides, con- taining one hundred acres of land. This he has brought under cultivation, and has equipped it with a good set of farm buildings which are both tasteful and substantial. He devotes a good share of his attention to his dairy and to stock-raising, and is numbered among the most progressive and enterprising farmers of this vicinity.
An important step in the career of Mr. Burns was his marriage with Maggie S. Doig, the daughter of William S. and Elizabeth (Doig) Doig, the latter of whom died at the age of fifty-three years. Mr. Doig is a re- spected member of the agricultural community of the town of Andes, where he still resides. To him and his wife three children were born, namely: Belle, who died at the age of thir- teen years; Maggie S., Mrs. Burns; and An- drew, a resident of Kansas. The union of Mr. Burns and his wife has been blessed by the birth of four bright and interesting chil- dren; namely, James A., Lizzie M., Eva J., and Willie C. Burns.
R UFUS SYLVESTER WOOD, a
highly esteemed citizen of the village of Franklin, where he has lived in retirement from active life for the last ten years, was born in the same town in 1832. His grandfather, John Wood, came when a young man from Ireland to Boston, Mass., with two brothers, one of whom was named Henry; but the three soon became separated. John married Mary Sarles, and settled on a farm in Newfield, Tompkins County, N. Y., where were born their three boys and four girls, all of whom grew to ma-
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turity. One lived to be over eighty; but two died much earlier, of consumption. Their father died in the prime of life; but the widow married again, and did not pass away till she had left behind her the milestone of threescore and ten. Among the children of John and Mary Wood was Charles Jefferson Wood, who was born in Newfield in 1804, and died in Franklin in 1893, aged eighty-nine. He married Eliza Wheat, born in Franklin, a daughter of Captain William Wheat, who came from Marlboro, Conn.
The Wheat family derive their lineage from Thomas Wheat, who came from Wales to Bos- ton in 1692. In the genealogy it is possible to go back fully through four generations, to Solomon Wheat, of Connecticut, a graduate of Yale College, a Surgeon in the Revolution, and a Baptist clergyman, who was born in 1753; so that he was twenty-two when the struggle for independence began. He lived through the War of 1812, and died, at a great age, about the time when Vice-President John Tyler had succeeded to the Presidency by the untimely death of General William Henry Harrison, and was disturbing the equanimity of the Whig party, which had elected him. Dr. Wheat had nine sons and four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. Samuel Wheat settled in the South, and had a son, Robert Wheat, who fought in three wars -first in the Mexican War, second under Garibaldi in Italy, and third in our Civil War, dying during the siege of Petersburg, with the title of Major. Another son of Solomon Wheat was Thomas, who lived and died on the old Connecticut farm. Still an- other son was the junior Solomon, a man whose great strength, immense stature, and surgical proficiency did not prevent his capt- ure, and who died on board his father's ship soon after his liberation from a French prison. Aaron, the youngest son of Grand- father Wheat, lived in Sackett's Harbor, L.I .; while his brother Benjamin settled either in Chemung or Steuben County, New York. Solomon Wheat's son William fol- lowed in the nautical rather than the theolog- ical or medical lead of his father, and was a marine merchant and commander for thirty years. He was born on January 19, 1772, and
began life as a sailor when only thirteen. At nineteen he was mate with a Captain Smith, bound for the West Indies with a cargo which included much live stock. In the midst of a gale the captain ordered his mate to free the horses, and try to make for the shore. William Wheat disobeyed. Instead of driving the horses overboard, he gave the pigs that opportunity, and so succeeded in righting the ship and keeping out of danger. The marine rule, "Obey orders or break owners," did not work in young Wheat's case; for he was promoted for his disobedient bra- very, and placed in command of the brig "Buck," and thereafter made voyages not only to the West Indies, but to South America, Italy, and Africa. The valorous captain died, full of days, in Franklin, N.Y., in March, 1868, lacking less than four years of his century.
Among his sons was Cyrus Howell Wheat, who was born in Franklin, March 19, 1813, and followed an agricultural career. He mar- ried Amanda Rogers, of Sidney, Delaware County, on February 7, 1836. Their first child was Watson Wheat, who died, not of wounds, but of disease, at Harper's Ferry, at the age of twenty-four, a member of Company G, of the Sixth Regiment of New York Vol- unteers. Another son, Leroy Wheat, died in Croton, aged sixteen. Herbert Wheat died in Franklin, of typhoid fever, when only twenty. Of the living children, Marion Wheat married Manzer Smith, of Meredith, Hartson Leroy Wheat is a Franklin farmer, and Orton Wheat is a carpenter in Croton. Their brother, Porter Alton Wheat, is a noted resident of the village of Croton, where he was born March 24, 1845, on the place pur- chased by his grandfather after retirement from a seafaring life, and where Porter's father also was born. Besides attending the district school, Porter Wheat was educated at the Delaware Literary Institute. He began teaching in 1861, when only sixteen, and just as the Civil War began; and he continued to teach in district schools till 1877, when he was thirty-two years old. In 1866, three days before Christmas, he married Lydia Maria Southworth, of Masonville, daughter of the Rev. Nelson and Jennie (Finch) Southworth.
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Lydia was born in Schoharie County; and her father was one of four brothers, two others being, like himself, Methodist clergymen. Mrs. Wheat had not only these two uncles in this profession and denomination, but also two brothers.
The Porter Wheats have five children: Cora Wheat married Leroy Evans, a Franklin farmer. Homer Wheat resides still at home. Bertha Wheat is her father's assistant in the post-office. Seymour Wheat is an agricultur- ist. The youngest son, born in 1881, Roscoe Wheat, is still a boy at home. Mr. Wheat is a Democrat. For sixteen years he has been a Justice of Peace, and in Cleveland's first administration was appointed Postmaster, a place he still holds. The surname recalls what was said by an early historian, that God had sifted three nations to give New Eng- land's colonies the finest of wheat.
It will be remembered that Charles J. Wood married into the Wheat family, his wife being an aunt of Postmaster Wheat. They had three sons and a daughter. . One of the boys died in 1848, at the early age of eleven. Of the three living, Rufus Sylvester is the eldest. Henry W. Wood is a resident of Franklin, and a separate sketch of him may be found elsewhere in this volume. Jane Wood, the youngest, married Daniel Colby Dibble, of Dakota, Neb.
Rufus S. Wood grew up on a farm, attended the district school, and also the Delaware Literary Institute, but afterward felt it his duty to remain at home with his parents. There his mother died in 1883, aged seventy- two, a decade before her husband, who sur- vived till 1893, dying at his son Rufus's, and lying beside his wife in the Ouleout Valley cemetery. In 1855, September 16, at the age of twenty-three, Rufus Wood married Susan Maria Mann, daughter of Horace and So- phronia (Fitch) Mann. Father Mann was a native of Connecticut, but his wife belonged in Franklin. Her paternal grandfather was Abijah Mann, whose wife was Chloe Clark; and they were pioneers in Delaware County, coming thither in an ox cart, and settling in the woods in 1803, when John Adams was growing unpopular as President of the United States. Mrs. Wood's maternal grandfather
was Colonel Silas Fitch, who was another early settler on Ouleout Creek. Mrs. Wood's mother, Sophronia Mann, was one of nine children, having two brothers and six sisters, all refined and intelligent people.
Grandfather Fitch was a Colonel in the militia; and his wife was Clara Howell, a daughter of Isaac Howell, belonging to a New England family that camc early into this region. His two sons, Mrs. Wood's uncles, were both professional men. Almiron Fitch was a college graduate of powerful physique, and became a physician at Delhi, where he died. Silas Fitch went to college, and be- came a Methodist preacher. He died sud- denly, in 1872, at Irvington, N.Y., while engaged in animated conversation with a visi- tor. Mrs. Wood has three brothers living, one having died in childhood: George W. Mann is a farmer in Franklin. Silas Fitch Mann is a merchant in Warsaw, Wyoming County. Almiron Howell Mann studied at the Delaware Literary Institute, but was reared a farmer, and now lives a retired life at Franklin.
In 1884 Mr. Wood sold his inherited farm, and removed to the village, where he has a small estate of fourteen acres. He and his wife had the misfortune of losing one son, Edson Stanley Wood, when only thirteen months old; but they have two living chil- dren. Their son, Irving C. Wood was grad- uated at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and is now a physician in the town of Logan, Harrison County, Iowa. His wife, Florence Bolter, was a daughter of Senator Bolter of that place. Carrie J. Wood is the wife of Frank C. Daniels, of Franklin.
Mr. Wood is a Blue Lodge Mason. He was formerly a Democrat in politics, but left the ranks to join the Prohibitionists. His wife is a Baptist. They live in a pleasant home, and are highly respected. Though prosperous in his undertakings, Mr. Wood is not a rich man, but has chosen that better part, a good name. He has been always a total abstainer from liquor and tobacco, and therefore finds a congenial abiding-place in a community where no licenses are granted for the sale of that which stupefies men's brains. He is more than satisfied with his children,
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and in both these sentiments his wife heartily shares. With the practical sage for whom his town was named, Ben Franklin, Mr. Wood might say, "Temperance puts wood on the fire, meal in the barrel, flour in the tub, money in the purse, credit in the country, contentment in the house, clothes on the back, and vigor in the body." Concerning the weed he would adopt the opinion of the old dramatist, whose first name was like Franklin's, Ben Jonson, "It is good for noth- ing but to choke a man and fill him full of smoke and embers."
EWIS MARVIN, who worthily repre- sents important industrial interests of the town of Walton, where he owns and operates a stone quarry, is a na- tive of this State and county, his birth having occurred in Walton, March 13, 1831. He is the son of Jared Marvin, a native of Hoosick, Rensselaer County, N. Y., whose father, Mat- thew Marvin, was a native of Connecticut and a veteran of the Revolutionary War, having served in the ranks for seven years.
In 1799 Matthew Marvin came to this county, and, settling in the town of Walton, on Mount Holly farm, which he cleared from the wilderness, resided there until he had rounded out a full life of ninety-six years. The worthy descendant of one of the Puritan fathers, he was very strong in his religious convictions, and very strict in observances. He married Mary Weed, the daughter of Thomas Weed, who was born in Simsbury, Conn., June 7, 1754. He was a Revolution- ary soldier, and one of the sixty-eight who were pickets for Lafayette's regiment, and stormed the redoubt near Yorktown. He served with distinction throughout that war, participating in the most prominent battles, coming forth with an untarnished war record. The children of Matthew and Mary Weed Marvin were as follows: Joseph, Abigail, Jared, Thomas, William, and Lewis.
Jared Marvin was reared to the carpenter's trade, which he followed for several years in the town of Walton, in which place he after- ward operated a woollen-mill, remaining there until his death, in 1865, at the age of seventy-
six years. He married Fanny Rodgers, a native of Greenville, Worcester County, Mass., and a daughter of Asa and Catherine (Hamilton) Rodgers. (For further parental history see sketch of George W. Marvin, which appears on another page of this work.)
Lewis Marvin received a substantial educa- tion in the public schools of his native town, and at the age of eighteen years began teach- ing, a profession in which he engaged for several terms. He was appointed Postmaster in 1868, and retained the position eighteen years. Purchasing the stone quarry about the time he left the office, he assumed its manage- ment, and has since carried on the business.
On September 3, 1862, Mr. Marvin was united in marriage with L. Vesta Beard, the daughter of Ezra and Lois (Gaylord) Beard. Mrs. Marvin's ancestors were from Massachu- setts, that State having been the birthplace of her grandfather, Ezra Beard, Sr., who was born May 2, 1764, and, after spending the earlier years of his life there, moved to Jeffer- son, Schoharie County, N.Y. His children were Julia, Annis, Russell, Ezra Lusk, and Ezra Gibbs. He and his wife lived to a good old age, he dying at the age of seventy-eight years, and she at the age of seventy-five years. The father of Mrs. Marvin was born in 1804, and was very young when he came with them to this State. He was a successful tiller of the soil on the old homestead for more than a quarter of a century, during which time he buried his wife, the mother of his children, and married her sister Ruthala. When the shadows began to lengthen, he left the large farm, and moved to Harpersfield, Delaware County; and here they lived until the time of their respective deaths, May 30 and June II, 1888, having numbered fourscore and four years. They were people of genuine worth, and were members of the Congregational church, of which he was Deacon. Their children all survived them, namely: Mary, who married the Rev. L. M. Purington; Lydia, the wife of M. S. Wilcox; Mrs. Mar- vin; and Ezra. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin have one child, a son, Robert B. Marvin, who is a young man of superior mental ability and at- tainments, a graduate of Hamilton College, and is now a Professor in the Blair Presbyte-
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rial Academy at Blairstown, N.J., occupying the Chair of German Language and Litera- ture. Mrs. Marvin is herself a woman of much cultivation, being a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, Mass., in the class of 1859.
Politically, Mr. Marvin is a strong Repub- lican, and for the past twenty-five years has served as Justice of the Peace, an office which he has filled to the satisfaction of all con- cerned. He and his family are members of the Congregational church, of which he has been a Trustee for a quarter of a century; and in the Sunday-school connected with it he and his wife are faithful teachers. Mr. Mar- vin, who has labored for the educational and moral advancement of the town, served on the Board of Education for twenty years, several of which he was Secretary of the Board. Mrs. Marvin has also served as President of the Foreign Missionary Society of the Con- gregational church.
MERY JENKINS, of Union Grove, town of Andes, farmer, stock-raiser, and dealer in butter, is one of the best-known and most progressive men in his line of business in Delaware County. He is quite a young man, having been born October 24, 1868, son of Anson and Sarah (Mekeel) Jenkins, the former of whom was a native of the town of Roxbury, his birth having oc- curred there December 3, 1833. The pa- ternal grandparents of Mr. Jenkins were James and Polly (White) Jenkins. James Jenkins followed agriculture as his occupa- tion, and with his wife reared a large fam- ily, his other children besides Anson being named Alonzo, Nathan, David, Egbert, Deli- lah Elephan, Lucinda, Ella, and Angelina. He bought one hundred and thirty acres of land in the town of Andes, built a saw-mill, and in company with John Mekeel & Son engaged in lumbering, floating their lumber down the river in rafts to Philadelphia. He afterward bought other land to the amount of two hundred and seventy acres. He died at the age of seventy-two, after an industrious and well-spent life. His wife still survives, and resides with her son Nathan in Union Grove.
Anson Jenkins, father of Emery, early ac- quired habits of industry, and assisted his father on the farm and in the work of lumber- ing. He married Sarah Mekeel, daughter of John Mekeel, his father's partner. This gentleman came to Delaware County among the early settlers. He took up three hundred acres of land, and built a log house, later constructing a saw-mill and engaging with Mr. Jenkins in the lumber business as above narrated. His son-in-law, Anson Jenkins, afterward bought the farm in an improved condition, and still further improved the property by erecting new buildings, one of the barns being the largest and most substan- tial in that part of the county. The children of Anson Jenkins were as follows: John W., deceased; James H. ; and Emery.
The latter, the subject of this notice, came into possession of his father's farm, which he has improved and cultivated to a high degree. He is far-sighted, and is ever on the alert to take advantage of new inventions and the latest methods. His farm is provided with every convenience for getting the most out of the soil; and in addition to his reputation as an agriculturist he has achieved fame for the excellence of his butter, which finds a ready market at all times, and is considered the best produced in his part of the county. Mr. Jen- kins married Eliza Lynn, daughter of John and Margaret (Fellows) Lynn, the former of whom was born in Jen Capen, Sweden, April 28, 1840, and was the son of Frederick Lynn. The grandfather was born in 1782, and spent his whole life in Sweden, where he died at the age of eighty-two.
John Lynn left home at the age of fifteen, and went to sea as cabin boy. He followed a sailor's life for fifteen years, visiting most of the great seaports of the world. With the intention of bidding farewell to salt water, he landed in England, but soon after decided to seek his fortunes in the New World, and emigrated to America. Arriving in the land of promise, he went first to Suspension Bridge, where he found employment in a freight-house; but, after remaining there a while, he removed to Greene County, New York, where he met and married Margaret E. Fellows, daughter of Philip and Hannah
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(Kelly) Fellows, residents of Albany County, the former being a lumberman by occupation and of German ancestry. John Lynn then purchased a farm in Ulster County, where he resided six years, after which he sold the farm and bought another in Delaware County. Here he stayed some time, and finally pur- chased a farm on Barkerboom Creek. This he retained, and resides thereon at the present time. He is the father of three children: Eliza, born November 21, 1874; Charles, September 6, 1876; and Inez, July 21, 1880.
Mr. Jenkins, as already mentioned, is a wide-awake and progressive agriculturalist. Possessing every modern convenience for suc- cessfully pursuing his chosen occupation, he makes the most of his advantages; and, in a community where farming is carried on with exceptional skill, he is renowned for the thor- oughness of his methods and the excellent quality of his produce. He is the owner of some forty Jersey grade and young stock, has good water power on his premises, and pos- sesses the most improved farm machinery. In the fraternal orders he stands high, being a member of Margarettville Lodge, No. 389, A. F. & A. M., and of Arena Lodge, No. 589, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Republican in his political views, true to the principles of his party, and is esteemed by his fellow-townsmen as a man whose word can be relied upon and whose judgment is of value in all town affairs.
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