USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 61
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Mr. Eels is a firm supporter of the princi- ples promulgated by the Republican party. He takes an active interest in local matters, and has served as Inspector of Elections for many years. He is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has been Commander and Officer of the Day.
ENNIS W. EARL, a merchant in Griffin's Corners, and a man of good business tact and energy, was born in the town of Halcott, Greene County, on December 7, 1850. The name of Earl has been known in Delaware County since 1813, when David K. Earl, a native of Putnam County, who married Elizabeth Palmer, came thither, bought a tract of the wild waste of uncultivated land in this region, and engaged in farming. The brave young couple made a home for themselves and their family; and, as they grew more prosperous, they added to their earthly store, and were happy in their simple, busy lives. Eleven children were born to tax their energy and care, yet to gladden and beautify their lives of homcly toil - Clarissa, Esther, Deborah, Orrie, Dennis, Susan, Adelia, Mary, Will- iam, Matthew, and Eliza.
Dennis Earl, the fifth child named above, was born in Putnam County, and came with his parents to Delaware County. He married Miss Lydia Todd, and settled on a farm at Batavia Kill. They raised a family of four
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children -- Robert, Wright, Eliza, and David. Mr. Earl was a member of the old-school Bap- tist church, and died in middle age. His widow survived him for many years, living to be seventy-four years of age.
David, the youngest son of Dennis and Lydia Earl, was born at Batavia Kill. He began farming at twenty-two years of age on an estate of one hundred acres in the town of Halcott, Greene County. In 1865 he pur- chased of Hezekiah Van Valkenburgh an ad- joining farm of two hundred acres, which by careful management and judicious expenditure in various improvements became one of the most valuable farms in the neighborhood. He married Amelia A. Faulkner, and had four children, namely: Dennis W., of Griffin's Corners; William; Luther; and Emma J. William married Louisa Valkenburgh. Luther married Ida W. Peck, and, being left a widower, married a second wife, Miss Almeda Low. They live at Halcott, Greene County, and have two children. Emma J. married a Mr. Eli Meed, and has two children. In 1885 David sold the farm in the town of Hal- cott, and moved to Griffin's Corners, where the residue of his life was spent in the min- istry, he being an old-school Baptist, and having been ordained in the year 1880.
Dennis W. Earl received a plain education in the district school of Halcott; and, upon arriving at his majority, he began life as a farmer. As seems usually the case with men who follow agricultural pursuits, he married in his youth. The young woman who joined her life and fate with his was Miss Emeline A. Streeter, daughter of Thomas and Sarah A. (Miller) Streeter. Her paternal grand- parents, John and Belinda (Betts) Streeter, were among the early settlers of Halcott. They had eight children; namely, Thomas, Levi, Nicholas, Orlando, William, Romain, Alma, and Julia.
Thomas Streeter, Mrs. Earl's father, is a most successful farmer in Halcott. As a young man he went to California; and, al- though he was on the road to success in the "Land of the Golden Gate," he eventually returned to his native State, where he is now living, a useful and prosperous citizen. He is a Democrat, a member of the old-school
Baptist church, and holds the office of Over- seer of the Poor. He and his wife are the parents of three children, namely: Emeline, Mrs. Earl; Mary E., the wife of G. A. Gordan, now a widow with two children; and Charles M., who lives in Scranton, Pa.
Dennis W. Earl, like his father, sought other fields wherein to labor, and, selling out his interests in Halcott, went to Catskill. He remained there for two years, and then returned to Griffin's Corners, and entered mercantile life, in which he has since been engaged. In his last enterprise there is rather a wide field of interests, since he sells, besides general merchandise, drugs, agricult- ural implements, and patent medicines. In his political proclivities Mr. Earl is a Demo- crat, and in his religious views is liberal, while not attached to any of the sects or churches. He has earned by an honorable and upright life the respect of his contempo- raries, and has among other offices held that of Justice of the Peace in his native town. His family circle is as yet unbroken, the three sons - Wright, William, and Herbert D .- having not yet left the paternal shelter.
ENRY S. EDWARDS died at his beautiful country home, near his birthplace in the town of Franklin, N. Y., on October 10, 1894, and was buried with Masonic honors by Franklin Lodge, assisted by Oneonta and Otego Lodges. He was born on December 5, 1815, and was the son of Josiah and grandson of Jonathan Edwards. The family is of English ancestry. In the latter half of last century Jonathan Edwards was an able farmer in his native town, East Hampton, on Long Island. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Miller, reared a large family, three daughters and seven sons, all of whom grew to maturity, and had families of their own, and lived to a good old age. After the excitement of the Revolution much interest began to be taken in the wild land in the central part of the State of New York, which was found to have such excellent advantages for farming and lum- bering that many of the younger men of East Hampton were induced to migrate. Among
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HENRY S, EDWARDS.
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these were five of the sturdy sons of Jonathan Edwards, who came hither with small means, but full of youthful vigor and a determination which forecast success to their venturc. These five sons were: Jonathan, a farmer; Daniel, a carpenter by trade, who returned to Long Island, and went to coasting; Thomas, a shoemaker; Josiah, the father of the sub- ject of this biography; and Henry, who lived to be eighty-eight years old, but left no fam- ily. Thomas and Jonathan came about 1800, followed by the others four or five years later.
In 1813, at the age of thirty-two, Josiah married Mary Davis, a native of Vermont, born in 1787, daughter of Dyer Davis, who came to Otego, Otsego County, when Mary was but thirteen years old. Mr. Davis was a soldier during the entire war of the Revolu- tion, enlisting when he was but sixteen, and going to the front with his father, who after- ward received a pension for his services, and died in Ohio, leaving a family of three daughters and four sons. Mrs. Josiah Ed- wards died in 1869, at the age of eighty-two, having been the mother of five children. One son died at the age of one year. A daughter, Mary, wife of George Jackson, died childless when fifty years of age. Henry S. was the eldest son. Temperance is the widow of Sherman Barnes, of Worcester, Otsego County. Lucretia is the wife of David Beardslee, and, with her family, lives on the farm of her late brother, Henry S. Josiah Edwards and his wife sleep in the old ceme- tery here.
Henry S. Edwards was brought up on his father's farm, attended the district school, and from his tenth year was constantly at work, at thirteen being so strong and rugged that his labor was equal to that of any man on the place. On Christmas, 1839, he was mar- ried to Laura M. Beardslee, whose brother David married Lucretia Edwards. Previous to this time, in company with his father he had owned some two hundred acres of new land near this place; and in 1842 they made the first purchase of land here, a lot of eighty- four acres in extent, and costing three thou- sand and four hundred dollars. He bought and sold much real estate, and at the close of his life owned over three hundred acres of ex-
cellent farm land, and had several barns which are models of convenience and improve- ment. The house in which he resided was built in 1840 by Mr. Abell, of whom he bought the farm; and he rebuilt and added to it until one now finds a fine large farm-house standing on an eminence above the road, sur- rounded and embowered by beautiful shade- trees which Mr. Edwards took much delight in planting and training. Much attention has been given to the dairy department on this farm, it having been started with six cows and increasing to over fifty, the stock being excellent Durham, Holstein, and Guern- seys. Mr. Edwards kept six horses and seventy or eighty head of cattle, fattening yearly twelve to fifteen hogs. The farm is on the west side of the valley through which the Ouleout Creek flows; and the fertile flat land is three-quarters of a mile long.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards had no children born to them; but their hearts have ever been open to the children of others, and no less than five young people have received their schooling at the hands of this benevolent couple. They adopted a daughter, Mariette Baldwin, a very bright girl, who at the age of sixteen became the wife of George L. Williams. She died at an early age, leaving one daughter, Laura, and a son, Arthur O., who taught for a year in the little school-house which for forty years has nestled snugly under the hill near the farm. In this same school-house George L. Williams taught years ago, before his mar- riage and before his entrance into the min- istry, in which profession his son Arthur has followed him. Arthur Williams is a member of Wyoming Conference, and is now attending Drew Theological School. Mr. Edwards always had a care over Laura Beards- lee, his youngest sister's child, who is now the wife of Levi Stilson, and who lives on the Edwards farm, which he helps to conduct. Mr. and Mrs. Stilson have two children : Agnes, fourteen years old; and William Henry, nine. Morgan Edwards, adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, was the son of Sherman Barnes and his wife Temperance Edwards, a sister of Henry. From the time he was fourteen months old until his marriage he lived with his foster-parents, and by them
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he was educated at the Franklin Institute. He and his wife now live on a farm adjoining the Edwards farm.
Mr. Edwards was a Master Mason of twenty years' standing, and in politics a Democrat ; and, although in a Republican town, he was never defeated as Supervisor. He was for many years Senior Warden of the Episcopal church, of which his wife is also a communi- cant; and he assisted greatly toward the building of the church in 1865. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of his native town, and was much beloved and respected by his neighbors and friends. His life was full of beneficent hospitality, his large heart being always open to those who were left without the care and protection of their natural guardians.
The excellent likeness of Mr. Edwards on another page will serve to perpetuate the memory of the features of this good man, who has left a name that will long be held in honored remembrance.
ANFIELD BOYD is a retired farmer of Cannonsville, Delaware County, N.Y., who has made for himself a delightful home and comfortable fortune, and, what is of far greater value, a reputation as an upright man, strictly honor- able in his dealings. His great-grandfather, who came to America from Scotland, and made his home in Massachusetts, had two brothers, one of whom settled in New York, on the Hudson River, and the other in Ver- mont. William Boyd, a son of the Bay State settler, was born in Cambridge, Mass., March 15, 1750, served as a patriot soldier in the Revolution, and married in January, 1777, Margery Taylor, of Newington, Conn., who was born March 7, 1758. A number of years after marriage they removed to West Spring- field, Mass., where they died, she in 1833, and he in 1839.
Their son, Elisha Boyd, was born at Cam- bridge in 1795, and until 1815 followed the life of a farmer there. He then moved to Franklin, Delaware County, N. Y., making the journey on horseback and in an ox cart, and here leading the life of a sturdy pioneer.
In 1818 Elisha Boyd married Patty Reming- ton, of Meredith, whose father served as a Revolutionary soldier for seven years. His constant companion during that time was his pet dog, who, displaying wonderful sagacity, more than once saved his life. At one sta- tion on the frontier the sentinels were almost nightly killed while on duty, but the perpe- trators of the crime could not be discovered. It soon became difficult to obtain a sentinel from the ranks; but Mr. Remington volun- teered for the duty, and, accompanied by his faithful dog, began his solitary walk. Soon the dog began to bark and dig at the roots of a dead tree; and, accordingly, Mr. Reming- ton fired at what appeared to be a black ball among the branches. Down fell the body of the Indian who had waited in ambush to take the life of the man whose victini he himself proved to be. At another time, when on guard, Mr. Remington saw what he supposed to be a wild hog, but, disliking to needlessly alarm the camp, refrained from firing for a time. At length his dog again became fran- tic; and, noticing the peculiar gait of the supposed hog, he fired, and, hastening to the spot, discovered that he had killed an Indian, who was cleverly disguised that he might attack the sentinels. At the close of the war Mr. Remington settled in West Meredith, where he engaged extensively in farming and lumbering, and also operated a saw and grist mill, in all of which industries he was emi- nently successful.
Canfield Boyd, son of Elisha and Patty (Remington) Boyd, was born in Franklin, February 28, 1819. His childhood was spent in attending the district school, and working on his father's farm, and he also learned the shoemaker's trade. When about thirty years of age, he purchased the land on which he now resides in Tompkins, which at that time was a desolate wilderness. His first purchase consisted of fifty acres; and, with the assist- ance of his neighbors, he erected a board house, which he and his wife occupied on the third night after the first tree had been felled for its frame. Martha Neff, whom he mar- ried October 6, 1839, was the daughter of Silas and Polly (Watts) Neff, and was born in Butternuts, Otsego County. When about
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seventeen years of age, she left home to learn the tailor's trade, and went to work in what is now Morris. At the age of twenty-five she married Mr. Boyd, and, like the faithful wife she was, insisted upon sharing his hard- ships in the little cabin, comforting and en- couraging him, and refusing the offers of more comfortable quarters for the first few weeks with her neighbors. At the expiration of eight years Mr. Boyd purchased another fifty acres, and later, in 1882, a frame house, which he now occupies, it being of commo- dious proportions, and delightfully situated.
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are the parents of four children : Henry L., Thomas W., Gilbert E., and Elbert A. Henry, a blacksmith by trade, married Miss Lydia Smith, of Tomp- kins; and they have six children now living: Hattie, Edwin, Mary, Willis, Lavina, and Ella; one daughter, Lizzie, having died of diphtheria at the age of seventeen. Thomas, a farmer in Tompkins, married Miss Nellie Mains; and they have four children : Edith, Etta, Lena, and Kenneth. Gilbert E. Boyd, also a Tompkins farmer, married Miss Jemima Mains, a sister of Mrs. Thomas Boyd. Elbert A. works the home farm, and at present has one hundred and twenty-five acres of land in a state of high cultivation, the farm contain- ing two hundred and thirty acres in all. Here are kept fifty head of fine cattle; and a large dairy is operated, the butter from which finds a ready market at an advanced price in the large cities of New York and New Jersey. A large quantity of honey, the product of an extensive apiary, is yearly shipped to market.
Elbert A. Boyd married Louisa M. Brown, daughter of Simeon and Lucia (Evarts) Brown; and they have one son, Emory Reed, born in 1884. Mrs. Elbert Boyd's great- grandfather, Collins Brown, came from the Eastern States in the latter part of the cigh- teenth century, and settled in Masonville, in this county. His wife was Margaret Chapin, a member of one of the oldest New England families. Their son, Collins Brown, Jr., who was born in Masonville, was educated in the district school, and later received an academic training. He was three times married, his first wife being Louisa Griswold, who became the mother of Simeon P'. Brown, the father of
Mrs. Boyd. His second wife was Mary Neff, and his third Sarah K. Wood, who died at the age of seventy-five.
Simeon P. Brown, having received his early education in the district school of Masonville, attended the academy at Franklin, and then entered Madison University, at Hamilton, Madison County, N. Y., where he was grad- uated from both the classical and theological courses, after which he was ordained as a Baptist minister. His first parish was at Sherman, Pa .; but later he went to Bennetts- ville, N. Y., where he remained one year. His next call was to Sidney Centre, and from there he came to Cannonsville. In 1864 he enlisted from the town of Sanford in the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery as a private, and served for eleven months. He partici- pated in the battle of Cedar Creek, and Octo- ber 19, 1864, at Winchester, was shot through the thigh, lying on the field for twenty-four hours before assistance reached him. He died from the effects of his wound six weeks later, faithful to the end, a true patriot, a be- loved and loving husband, father, and friend; and his loss was keenly felt, not only by his immediate family, but by all who were fortu - nate enough to possess his acquaintance. His wife was Lucia E. Evarts, of Coventry, Vt., a daughter of the Rev. M. M. Evarts, a Bap- tist minister of that town. Mr. Evarts was a descendant of the illustrious family of that name which has given to this country minis- ters, statesmen, and lawyers of national repute. His wife was Lavina Reed, daughter of Boah Reed, one of the pioneers of Lisle, Broome County, N. Y., who passed the even- ing of his life in Masonville, dying at the age of eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Brown were the parents of three children: Louisa M., who married Elbert A. Boyd; Ernest W .; and Marcus S., a physician at Walton, who died in December, 1892.
Mr. Canfield Boyd and his wife are both de- voted members of the Cannonsville Baptist church, which organization they joined at the age of seventeen; and they are the acknowl- edged leaders in all church affairs, Mr. Boyd being a Deacon at the present time. In poli- tics he is and always has been a Republican, a prominent man in all matters concerning
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the welfare of the town where he resides. His farm is one of the finest in the country, and its excellence is due entirely to his energy, strengthened by the courage and patience of his loving wife. This worthy couple are now drifting down, hand in hand, toward the close of life, looking back upon a past well spent, and forward to a future of everlasting peace.
RANK PECK, one of the most enter- prising young agriculturists of Dela- ware County, was born July 25, 1868. His great-grandfather Peck was born in Dutchess County, and in 1790 removed to Delaware County, which was then a wilder- ness. Here in the woods, with few neigh- bors, he built, as soon as possible, a log house, not only to shelter his family from cold and storms, but to protect them from the wild beasts which abounded in that section. He cleared a small tract of land, and raised enough wheat and corn to supply his house- hold, being obliged to carry it many miles through the forest to be ground. His eldest son, David, was born December 3, 1794, on the farm now owned by G. Dart. David Peck always lived at home, helping his father with the farm work. On December 4; 1817, he married Clarissa Ferris, who was born June 4, 1800. They had a family of eight chil- dren, and lived to a very old age.
One of their sons was Hiram Peck, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born December 22, 1824, and lived at home, working with his father, clearing and improv- ing the land. December 21, 1853, he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Isaac and Rhoda (Webster) Mabey. The father, Isaac Mabey, a tanner by trade, was a Whig in politics, and was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. In his youth he worked on Staten Island, and later went to Cairo, Greene County. He died at the age of eighty-eight, in Schoharie County, his wife passing away at the age of eighty-six. They had a family of nine chil- dren - George, Alonzo, Stephen, Jeannette, Mary, Isaac, Sarah, Martha, and William Mabey. After his marriage Hiram Peck bought two hundred and thirty acres of mostly
new land near the old Windham turnpike, now known as Peck Street. This he cleared, and on it put new buildings. He and his wife had nine children, namely: Munroe, who died at the age of seven years; Albert, who married Elizabeth Christian; David; Ella; Eda, who died young; Minnie, who was mar- ried to J. Cook; Mary; Frank, who lives at home; and John L. Peck. Hiram Peck lived to be fifty-seven years of age. He was a Re- publican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, who now lives at the old homestead with her son Frank, is also a member of that church.
Frank Peck received a good district-school education. He was scarcely fourteen years of age at the time of his father's death, but he soon took charge of the farm. Within the last few years he has built a new dwelling- house, remodelled the barns and wagon-house, and greatly improved the farm, now having a dairy that ranks among the best in this vicin- ity. He has raised some fine "Wilkes breed " horses, and in all matters pertaining to agricultural pursuits shows great progress. He is a stanch Republican, and takes an active interest in politics and town improve- ments. By taking the responsibility of so large a farm, and carrying it on with such suc- cess, he has displayed great ability, and has won well-deserved prosperity.
ILLIAM H. ROSA, senior member of the mercantile firm of Rosa & Co., of Walton, N.Y., is an ener- getic, industrious man, of high moral princi- ples and deep religious fervor, who, by his examples and teachings has had no little influence in raising the moral standard of the community of which he is a prominent and valued member. He was born on November II, 1829, in Kingston, Ulster County, which town was also the birthplace of his father, James Rosa, in 1804.
James Rosa was the son of Benjamin Rosa, who married a Connecticut lady, and removed from Ulster County to Delaware County in 1834. Of the eight children born to them but one is now living - William H. Rosa, an octogenarian, who resides on Beaver Hill.
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The grandparents of the subject of this sketch were humble farmers in moderate circum- stances, living and dying in the Methodist faith, the wife outliving the husband by about ten years. They were buried in the family lot on the farm belonging to Samuel Terry, it being the custom of the times to bury the loved ones near the old homesteads instead of selecting a large tract of land for a public cemetery.
James Rosa married Polly Brink, of Ulster County, and adopted the occupation of a farmer, moving to Delaware County in 1836, bringing with him a part of his family of eight children, two others having died in in- fancy. Benjamin, the eldest child, was a volunteer in the One Hundred and Forty- fourth New York Infantry, and died of fever at Folly Island while in the service of his country, in 1864, at the age of thirty-seven years. He left a widow and four children, one of whom, James O. Rosa, in partnership with his uncle William, now carries on an extensive business in general merchandise in Walton. James Rosa died in 1876, at the age of seventy-two years, his wife having been taken away ten years previously by an attack of apoplexy. Of the children whom they left, one daughter resides in Salt Lake City, one in Troy, N. Y., and two in Walton, all having families of their own; while the two sons - Nelson, in the railroad business, and William H .- still live in their homes in Walton.
William H. Rosa, the second son of James, was educated in the district school until eigh- teen years of age, after which he remained at home, working upon the farm and making himself generally useful. On his twenty- eighth birthday, November II, 1857, he mar- ried Miss Delia Sawyer, of Walton, daughter of Milton and Priscilla (Beers) Sawyer; and they have had four children: Edward, who died August 11, 1872, when thirteen years old; Everett, who died on September 17, 1888, aged twenty-four; Milton, who died October 19, 1894; and Althea, a school girl fifteen years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Rosa resided in Tompkins, and later in Masonville, where in 1887 they sold their farm of one hundred acres, and then
'removed to their new home which Mr. Rosa erected on Williams Street in Walton. In March, 1894, Mr. Rosa embarked in mercan- tile life with his nephew, opening a two-thou- sand-dollar stock of general merchandise; and they are now carrying on a thriving and daily increasing business. Although neither of these men has had any experience in trade, with the assistance of the practical young wife of James O. Rosa, Clara Bell Bennett, daughter of Jesse Bennett, they are able to personally conduct all their business, under the name of Rosa & Co.
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