Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 63

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 63

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R OBERT LIDDLE was born on No- vember 23, 1821, in the town of Bo- vina, and was the son of Thomas and Margaret (Archibald) Liddle. Thomas Liddle was a native of Scotland, who emigrated to this country in his youth, and settled in Bovina, where hc bought a tract of about four hundred acres of land. He here married Miss Archibald; and a family of eight children were born to the couple - Andrew, Alexander, James, John, Christa, Robert, Barbara, and Isabella. The father was a pros- perous farmer and a dairyman, and did not neglect civic duties while devoting himself to his own affairs, as he was for some time Over- seer of the Poor. He was a Republican in politics, and, like his wife, a United Presby- terian in religion. Both lived to be quite old.

Robert, the son of the emigrant, and the original of this sketch, grew up at Bovina, the town of his birth, and was cducated in the common schools of the neighborhood. He began his business life as a farmer, owning a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, to which he afterward added one hundred and twenty more. This farm, which was a dairy farm, he sold after a time, and came to Downsville, where he purchased a small estate on the outskirts of the village. This tract of land belonged formerly to the old Downs estate, and Mr. Liddle's spacious mansion faces the old homestead of the Downs family. Besides a finc breed of cows, he owns a goodly number of sheep, and has bred some of the fincst horses in the county. For grazing pur- poses his farm is especially adapted. At twenty-three he married Catherine McGregor, the daughter of John and Jane McGregor, who lived in Andes. The wife's father owned a farm on the State road. Of the McGregor family there were nine - Daniel, Mary, Cath- erine, Alexander, Nancy, Jane, Margaret, Isa- bella, and John. The parents are both dead. To Robert and Catherine Liddle seven chil- dren were born: Jane, born in 1845, is the

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wifc of George K. Gladstone, and has six children. Margaret is the widow of George Gladstone. Mary is the wife of the Hon. Bryson Bruce, a member of the legislature of Iowa; and they have a family of seven chil- dren. Thomas C. married Miss Carrie Garri- son. Agnes is the wife of Mr. E. Shaver, and the mother of four children. Isabella married Myers Hitt, and has four children. Elizabeth is the wife of Edward Allen. Mr. Liddle, being left a widower, took to himself a second wife, marrying Miss Angenette Shaver, a daughter of Peter Shaver. The one child of this marriage grew up and married Mr. O. B. Purdy, a gentleman of Downsville.

Again Mr. Liddle was widowed, his wife Angenette dying in 1864. His third wife was Miss Harriet Beates, a daughter of Rob- ert and Mary (Wilson) Beates, who bore him eight sons and daughters, whose births came in this order: Emma A .; Katharine B. ; Edna May; Leila; Nellie; Robert Beates and Edith, twins; and Augustus Dwight. The Hon. Robert Beates, the father of Mrs. Lid- dle, was of Scotch origin, being the son of James Beates, whose father came from Scot- land, and settled on a farm at Delhi, where he passed the remaining years of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Liddle are both mem- bers of the Presbyterian church; and their children, which have been like the "quiver full of arrows" in his household, have been brought up in the admonition of the Lord. The father is an adherent of the Republican party, and has been Overscer of the Poor for a year.

DGAR P. HOYT, who is engaged in the manufacture of harnesses at No. 142 Delaware Street, in the village of Walton, is a man of good business princi- ples and excellent judgment, and a fine repre- sentative of the industrial interests of the town. His entire life has been spent in this locality, where he is justly esteemed for his many worthy qualities of heart and mind. He was born in the year 1841, on the moun- tain then known as Dunk Hill, which is about four miles north-east of Walton, that having been also the birthplace of his father, Ga-

briel A. Hoyt, who was born in 1810, and died in the village of Walton in 1878.

Mr. Hoyt comes of honored New England ancestry, his grandparents, Amasa and Eliza- beth (Seymour) Hoyt, having been natives of Connecticut. They removed to this section of New York about the time of the settlement of the North family, coming with a pair of oxen and a two-wheeled cart as far as the head of the west branch of the Delaware River, thence down the river in a flat-boat to the vil- lage of Walton. Instead of taking up land on the fertile flats, they went to Dunk Hill, where they bought two hundred acres of heav- ily wooded land, from which they improved a good farm, he having one hundred and sixty acres of it cleared before his death, which occurred just prior to 1870. His good wife survived him nearly eight years; and their bodies are now resting side by side in the old family burying-ground on the home farm. Three of their family of children were born after they came to this county. They were devout Christians, very strict in religious observances; and he served a large part of his life as a Deacon of the church.

Gabriel A. Hoyt was reared to the occupa- tion of his parents, and after his marriage bought a farm on the turnpike, where he car- ried on general agriculture for some thirty years. Then, being afflicted with rhcuma- tism, he removed to the village of Walton, where he lived retired from active pursuits about seven years before relieved from his sufferings by the hand of death. His mar- riage with Delia Guild, the sister of Truman Guild, was celebrated in the village of Wal- ton in 1839; and of the five sons and three daughters born to them all are living except one son, Sherman, who was a volunteer in the late Rebellion. He enlisted in Com- pany B, One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, and after three months' service died of typhoid fever. His remains were brought to Walton, and interred in the cemetery. The seven children now living are: Edgar P., Charles P., Augusta, Hannah, Arthur, Seymour, and Elizabeth. Edgar is the subject of this sketch. Charles P. Hoyt, junior member of the large wholesale and retail dry-goods firm of Tur-

SAMUEL KORN.

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land & Hoyt, in Philadelphia, left home at the early age of nine years, on board a raft, with a horse, en route to Elwood, N.J., where he was to make his home with his uncle Griswold, who had married a sister of his mother. He remained there five years, going thence to Philadelphia, where he worked for two years at the jeweller's trade. Being strongly imbued with Christian princi- ples, he became an active worker in religious circles, and while there formed the acquaint- ance of Hattie Turland, the daughter of a merchant. The acquaintance thus begun, ripening into love, culminated in their happy marriage. Augusta, the widow of Dr. H. E. Ogden, resides in Walton. Hannah, the wifc of Ransom Evans, lives in Oneonta. Arthur, who marricd Emma Fanchen, lives in Walton. Seymour, a hardware clerk in Walton, mar- ried Miss Lily Miller. Elizabeth, the wife of John A. Woodburn, lives in Delhi.

Edgar P. Hoyt grew to man's estate on the home farm, and acquired a good education in the district school and the village academy. At the age of fifteen years he began working at the harness-maker's trade with his uncle, E. Guild, serving a four years' apprentice- ship, and four years as a journeyman. He soon after established himself in Walton, at his present place of business, where, for more than thirty years he has been industriously and profitably engaged, being the leading man in his line of work in this vicinity. On October 19, 1864, Mr. Hoyt was united in wedlock with Miss Jennie Wright, a daughter of Malcom and Margaret (Shaw) Wright. Two children, Hattie and Sherman, came to brighton their home. Hattie married John A. Heckroth, who is of German ancestry ; and they arc the parents of one child, Clar- ence. Sherman, a harness-maker, working with his father, married Mary A. Jamieson ; and they have one child, Walter, a finc boy of two ycars. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt rented a house for a few years, but subsequently built the pleasant residence at No. 161 Delaware Street, which is now the home of their son Sherman, while they oc- cupy a most comfortable home at No. 3 Bruce Street.

Mr. Hoyt is an active, public-spirited man,

ever ready and willing to do his utmost to ad- vance the interests of his community, and has served as village Trustec. He was born and reared to the principles of the Republican party, and from them has never departed. He is quite prominent in Masonic circles, being a Master Mason and Senior Master of Ceremonies in his lodge.

AMUEL KORN lives in the village of Arkville, in Middletown, where he is a leading merchant. His parents were Emanucl and N. L. (Kutner) Korn; and Samuel was born in Ger- many, January 5, 1857, and educated in the Fatherland. At about fourteen he began earning his living as a clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house, where he worked nearly six years. In our centennial year, at the age of nineteen, he came to America, and found em- ployment for two years on Jersey City Heights, as overseer for Kutner & Co., manu- facturcrs of jewelry, the senior partner of the firm being a kinsman of his mother. Then Samuel started on the road as a pedler of general merchandise, first going afoot, and afterward with a team. After four years of this wandering life he came to Arkville, Delaware County, and started a general store in company with Patrick Galliger, an arrange- ment which continued two years. Then he bought out his partner, and has ever since continued alone in the business, his store being the largest in the neighborhood, with an annex establishment on the other side of the street. In fact, you can hardly mention anything in ordinary demand Mr. Korn cannot supply, drugs not excepted.

In 1888, when about thirty years old, Sam- uel Korn was married to Clara First. She also was born in Germany, and came to Amer- ica at about the same time her husband came. They have four children. The oldest, Marcus Korn, was born in 1889, Scvern Korn in 1891, Leo Korn in 1893, and Nita Korn in September, 1894.

Patient, painstaking. persevering, attentive to detail, Mr. Korn is a systematic, thorough- going man of business. He is an exceedingly uscful and respected member of the commu-

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nity, and in politics belongs to the Republi- can party. His portrait, which accompanies this brief bit of biography, has the air of a man who is accustomed boldly to "look for- ward, and not back," and calls to mind this sentence of the great poet of his native land, Schiller, -

"Whoever fails to turn aside the ills of life by prudent forethought must submit to fulfil the course of destiny."

AMES BALLANTINE, a prosperous and highly respected farmer of Ham- den, is one of the best representatives of the Scottish race in this county, and one who is honored by all. His grandfather, Robert Ballantine, was a sturdy Scotch shep- herd, who lived to be nearly one hundred years old, his wife also living to a great age. They were the parents of a large family. Their son John, also a shepherd, married Agnes Henderson, and came to America with his family, comprising five children, crossing the ocean in a sailing-vessel, the voyage occu- pying thirty days. They settled in Hamden, on a farm of two hundred acres, where their children were educated.

James Ballantine was born in Scotland in 1826, and, like his father and grandfather, was reared to the life of a shepherd, taking charge of a flock when seventeen years of age. He, however, received an excellent education .- In March, 1860, he married Miss Catherine Whyte, who was born in Andes, Delaware County, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Darling) Whyte. Mr. and Mrs. Whyte were both natives of Perth, Scotland, and were married about sixty years ago, after coming to this country. They were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters. One son, James, died when sixteen years of age. Three of the children are still living : Margaret, who is the wife of James Darling, of Andes; William D., who has been for thirty years a farmer and fruit-grower in Cali- fornia; and Catherine, Mrs. Ballantine. Mrs. Whyte died in 1873, at the age of sixty-three years, her husband dying in February, 1893, aged eighty-four. Mr. Whyte was a Republi- can, and served as Assessor. He was a suc-

cessful farmer, and greatly interested in all educational matters, giving his children the best instruction that could be obtained. His daughters became teachers. Both Mr. and Mrs. Whyte were earnest members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. and Mrs. Ballantine have been blessed with seven children: Elizabeth; John W., a minister of Winfield, Ia., who was graduated from Delaware Academy, and later from the Theological Seminary, and was ordained in the fall of 1892, being recently settled in his present position; Agnes, a successful teacher; James, a farmer; Christina; Robert ; and Jennie. All have been well educated, and are highly intellectual.

Mr. Ballantine has a fine farm of one hun- dred and eighty acres, upon which he keeps over thirty grade Jersey cows, making choice butter, which he ships to market. His pleas- ant home was erected in 1887, the valley where it is situated being known as Cham- ber's Hollow, through which a beautiful, clear brook flows, abounding in the speckled trout dear to the heart of the fisherman. In 1870 a large barn was built, fifty-six by forty feet, with a wing thirty-six by twenty. Mr. Ballantine is a stanch Republican, and has held many offices of responsibility and trust in the town, among them being those of Highway Commissioner and Collector. He is held in the highest regard by his many friends, and respected for his superior intel- lect and noble, manly character.

TEPHEN ELIJAH CHURCHILL, M.D., is one of the most thor- oughly established citizens in the village of Stamford, Delaware County, N. Y., where he has passed the best part of his life. He was born in Harpers-

field, near the village of Stamford, on Sep- tember 7, 1841. His great-grandfather in the middle of the eighteenth century settled on the Delaware River, at the junction of the East and West Branches. Like other hardy pioneers of his time, he began clearing the wilderness, and erected a log house; but in 1765 he was driven out by the Indians, and he and his family went back to Massachusetts,

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where the parents spent the rest of their days. Their son, Stephen Churchill, was born on April 15, 1758. In 1780, while the Revolu- tion was in progress, Stephen Churchill was married to Esther Lloyd. After a few years' residence in the old Bay State, Mr. Churchill went back to the home of his early childhood in Delaware County, and settled on land now owned by Judge Gilbert, near the village of Stamford. There he put up a log house and a rough barn. The nearest grist-mills were at least thirty miles away; and the Churchills had to pound up corn in a hollow stone to pre- pare food for their nine children - Mary, Phebe, Giles, Esther, Samuel, Stephen, Eli- jah, Joseph, and Melinda. The father found the hardships of pioneer life too great for his endurance, and died during the War of 1812, at the age of fifty-four.

One by one the sons and daughters married and moved away from the homestead except Elijah Churchill, who, to please his mother, bought out the other heirs, and devoted him- self to agricultural improvements. For a man of his position and pursuits he was ex- ceedingly fond of study, and so steadfastly improved his limited means and opportunities for education that he was able to teach school during the long winters. His decision of character and dignified bearing made him a leader in the community, and he was chosen Captain of the militia company, an organ- ization required by the State in those days for defence in time of war. In religious affairs he exerted a great influence, and took an active part in the organization of the Pres- byterian church in Stamford. The society elected him to the office of Deacon, which title followed him through life. On May 12, 1830, he was united in marriage with Sarah Benedict, a daughter of Ezra Benedict, one of the early settlers in the town of Andes. A more amiable and devoted wife never adorned a home. She possessed in rare degree the qualities of a true wife and mother, and the sweetness of her life permeated the entire household. The effect of her wise training and benign influence on the life and character of the subject of this sketch cannot be meas- ured. She still survives, at the advanced age of eighty-five, retaining vigor of mind and

body with the charming manner of her youth- ful days.

Around the hospitable board of Elijah Churchill and his wife grew seven children, by name Calvin, Epenetus, Sarah, Stephen Elijah, Frances, Esther, and Vesta Churchill. Their father was born on February 3, 1797 ; and he died March 24, 1878, a little over fourscore. Deacon Churchill was beloved by his family as a model husband and father, and was honored and respected by all who knew him for his uprightness and a life fragrant with good deeds. As a man of broad and liberal ideas he was deeply interested in the education of his children, and was one of the first subscribers toward a fund for the establishment of an academic school in Stamford.

Stephen, the subject of our sketch, was the youngest son, and named for his grandfather Churchill. His education began at the Stam- ford Seminary, and he finished his academic course of study under Dr. Kerr, of Coopers- town. In 1865, aged twenty-four, Mr. Churchill became a teacher in the Stamford Seminary, then under the direction of the Rev. John Wilde, taking charge of the de- partment of mathematics. The next year he bought the school buildings, and became prin- cipal as well as proprietor of the institution. Under former management the school had been only fairly prosperous ; but, as the result of Professor Churchill's assiduous labor and executive ability, the seminary entered upon an era of prosperity never before attained. In 1869 the accommodations for students were enlarged by the erection of a new building. From the excellent classical department of the school young men were sent yearly to the best colleges in the land. Believing it to be to his pecuniary advantage, in 1873 Professor Churchill sold two of his buildings, retaining the ladies' hall as his residence. Not yet satisfied with his scholastic attainments, he entered the Sheffield Scientific Department of Yale College with a view to medical study thereafter; and in our centennial year he was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He began prac- tice in Scranton, Pa., in 1876; but a fondness for his native hills impelled him to return

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the next year to Stamford, where he has since been a highly successful practitioner.

But not in the field of professional life alone has Dr. Churchill directed his energy. In various enterprises he has been uniformly successful, displaying much business sagacity and ability as a financier. In 1883 he erected Churchill Hall, which was the pioneer sum- mer hotel in Stamford. This business has been exceedingly prosperous, and Stamford to-day is one of the most popular resorts in the Catskills. Four times he has enlarged his hotel, until it has reached its present mas- sive proportions, and accommodates more than three hundred guests. He is also the owner of one of the largest and most valuable farms in the county. The accumulation of his wealth has been the result of his unaided efforts. Dr. Churchill has been an indefati- gable worker for the development of Stamford. On his return to Stamford from college he found the seminary had closed its doors, and no academic school in existence. With his former zeal in educational affairs he. urged upon the people the establishment of a union free school. This project met with an oppo- sition in the community that was pronounced and bitter; but Dr. Churchill, after two years of persistent work for the success of the meas- ure, aided by other public-spirited men, so influenced public opinion that a victory was won, and Stamford Seminary was re-estab- lished. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Education, which position he has held almost continuously for thirteen years. In the organization of the Judson Library Association, the Stamford Water Company, the Electric Light Company, Athletic Asso- ciation, Telephone Exchange, and all other village improvements, he has been the leading spirit. In 1891 he proposed the construction of a system of sewerage, which he thought was demanded by the sanitary condition of the growing town. This was strenuously opposed by the conservative portion of the community, but Dr. Churchill's perseverance won its cus- tomary triumph. By conversation, newspaper articles, and personal appeals to the voters, he so enlightened the people on the health ques- tion that in 1893 the work was begun and the sewers were completed. There is no better

sewerage system in the State, and to-day the inhabitants recognize the great service of the Doctor in leading their thoughts and votes in this direction.

His keen perception, accurate judgment, wonderful force of character, and extraordinary intelligence have won for him the high posi- tion he occupies in commercial and public affairs. Truly has it becn said : -

"Instead of saying that man is the creat- ure of circumstances, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of cir- cumstances. It is character which builds an existence out of circumstances. Our strength is measured by our plastic power. From the same material one man builds palaces, another hovels, one warehouses, another villas."

EORGE E. BALLARD, a successful farmer in Roxbury, Delaware County, son of John T. Ballard, was born on the present homestead at Batavia Kill, January 7, 1863. He was educated first in the district school, and later in the State normal school at Albany. At twenty- three years of age he came to his present farm in Roxbury, married, and settled down. Mr. George Ballard has an interesting ancestry to refer to. His great-grandfather, Peleg Bal- lard, came and settled in Delaware County, taking up ninety acres of land about the year 1794, when the country beyond the eastern portion was still wild and unsettled; and here he had those hardships to endure which are the lot of all pioneers. The team which brought the family could only proceed part way. The rest of the journey had to be per- formed on foot by following an Indian trail. Having secured ninety acres of land for his farm, he proceeded to clear the forest, build a substantial house of logs, and plant fields and gardens. The wife of Peleg Ballard was Martha Haines before she was married. They had six children : James, Benjamin, Je- duthun, Asa, Lizzie, and Zillah. They both lived to an advanced age, Peleg being eighty years old when he died, and his wife surviv- ing till she was one hundred and three years old.

James Ballard, son of Peleg and grandfather

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of George E. Ballard, was born in Putnam County, and was nine years old when his father came to Roxbury. At the age of thir- teen years he entered the employ of John T. More, at Moresville, in whose service he re- mained only one year, with but poor remun- eration for his labor, and then went home and took hold of the farm interests, clearing more land and helping to improve the place, to which he added land until the farm comprised about one hundred and eighty acres. The country was still primitive. He used to buy the flour for the family and carry it a distance of twelve miles on his back over a mountain- ous road, steep and dangerous on either side. After a while he married, settled down, and bought the farm for his own, erected several frame buildings; and about the year 1842 he put up the present fine large house. The wife of James Ballard was Miss Mary Strat- ton, a daughter of Samuel Stratton, who was the first settler at Stratton Falls. Mr. Strat- ton took some land in that neighborhood, laid out a farm, and so cleared up and · beautified the locality about the Falls that it became a noted resort for tourists and pleasure-seekers. Mr. and Mrs. James Ballard brought up seven children : Jonathan, Benjamin, John T., Jes- sie, Elizabeth, Louiza, and Polly Ann. James Ballard lived to be eighty-eight years old. Politically, he was an old-fashioned Whig; and he 'and his wife were both mem- bers of the old-school Baptist church in Rox- bury.

John T., son of James Ballard and father of George E. Ballard, was born March 7, 1809, at the old home. He grew to manhood there, attended the district school; and, when fifty years of age, he took the farm from his father by usual sale, and built several barns, and added more land to his father's one hun- dred and eighty acres, making two hundred acres in all. He has since owned different farms, comprising about seven hundred acres. To show the privations of those who locate their homes in undeveloped parts of the coun- try, Mr. George E. Ballard relates that his father, John T. Ballard, never wore a shoe till he was eleven years old, and that his father made the first shoes worn in the neigh- borhood. Mr. John T. Ballard and his wife

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 63

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