Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 65

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 65

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business there until the fall of 1881, when he came to Delhi, and engaged at his trade of contractor and builder. He has erected some of the largest and finest buildings in Delhi, which are monuments of his skill as a builder. In 1891 he formed a partnership with Mr. Churchill, the owner of a large general store at Delhi. A year later Mr. Churchill sold out his interest to Mr. Armstrong; and in a few months Mr. Ferguson purchased Mr. Armstrong's interest in the store, which he continued alone for a time, then took Mr. Groat into the business. The store is fitted up with a large and varied stock of ready- made clothing, dry goods, and groceries, which is second to none in the village.

In 1872 Mr. Ferguson married Miss Mar- garet M. Bunnell, a daughter of Mrs. Mary Bunnell, of Delhi; and they have one child, Lillie M. Mr. Ferguson is Junior Warden of Delhi Lodge, A. F. & A. M., a member of Royal Arch Chapter, No. 249, and Past Com- mander of Post No. 142, Grand Army of the Republic. He is also an active member of the fire department, having been foreman of Hook and Ladder No. 3. Politically, he is a supporter of the Republican party, and has filled the position of Tax Collector. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they take great interest, Mr. Ferguson being a teacher in the Sunday-school, and his wife a member of the choir for many years. Mr. Ferguson is a man of the strictest probity and honor, progressive in his ideas, and active in business, thus giving life and spirit to the town, and making it one of enterprise and continuous growth.

NDREW M. RUSSELL, of New Kingston, in Middletown, N. Y., was born in Bovina, on August 12, 1852. His grandfather, Matthew Russell, was born in Roxburghshire, Scot- land, and, upon coming to America, sojourned for a time at Bovina, where he plied his mil- ler's trade. From Bovina he removed to Middletown, bought a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, and built thereon a log dwell- ing-house and out-buildings. He cleared and

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improved the land; and, having carried out the injunction of the couplet which warns,

" Before you marry, Be sure of a home Wherein to tarry,"

he was joined in holy wedlock to Betsey Cum- mings. They had four sons and one daughter, namely: James C., who married Eliza Du- mond; Matthew G., who married Margaret Winters; Alexander, who married Mary Du- mond; and John G .; and their sister, Mar- garet A., who died in early youth. Mrs. Betsey Russell died; and Matthew was again married to Miss Esther Blackman, by whom he had three children, whose brief record fol- lows: Stephen married Hannah Wooden, Mar- garet Ann married Andrew Glendening, and Roswell married Betsey Russell.

Matthew Russell lived to be seventy-five years old, and his wife Esther reached the age of fifty-five or sixty. Both were members of the Presbyterian church, and the husband was a Democrat.

John G. Russell, a son of Matthew by his first wife, was born in Bovina, April 25, 1822. Having learned the milling trade, he found employment as a miller for six years here before he began farming on a tract of one hundred acres of land, which he purchased near New Kingston, and which is now owned by his son Oscar. He remained on the farm for thirty-two years; and then, abandoning its active cares, he came to New Kingston, where he now lives, at nearly seventy-three years of age, quietly enjoying the reward of his long- continued toil. On Christmas Day of 1845 he was married to Miss Jane Chisholm, who was a daughter of Andrew and Elsie Chis- holm, and who became the mother of six chil- dren. She died at the age of sixty-nine, survived by five children, namely: Alice Jane, who married William Boggs, of Bovina, and has one child; Elizabeth E., wife of Sloan Archibald, a farmer in Bovina, they having two children; Margaret A., who died young; Andrew M., of New Kingston; John Oscar, a farmer, who married Miss Belle Thompson, and lives near New Kingston; and Mary Adelia, the wife of Arthur H. Russell, of Unionville, Mich., who has one child. Mr.

John G. Russell married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth S. Miller, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Scott) Cowens, and a member of the United Presbyterian church.

Andrew M., son of John G. and Jane (Chis- holm) Russell, pursued his elementary studies in the schools of New Kingston, and finished his education at Stamford Academy. As a young man he worked on his father's farm, and taught school for seven terms. He then began selling farming implements for the firm of Wheeler & Mellet. He is now Postmaster of New Kingston, to which place he came in 1884. Here he met and married Miss Anna Winters, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Chisholm) Winters. Mr. A. M. Russell is a Democrat in politics, and has held several . of the minor public offices in the town. His wife is a member of the United Presbyterian church of New Kingston, where they reside.

AMES S. MINOR is a well-known and highly esteemed business man of De- posit, proprietor and manager of Mi- nor's Manufacturing Company of that place, one of the prominent and representa- tive enterprises of Deposit, and contributing not a little to its prosperity and importance. Mr. Minor's paternal grandfather, Philo Minor, was a native of Connecticut, being born in that State, May 3, 1781. He became one of the pioneers of Chenango County, New York, where he followed the useful and time -. honored occupation of farming, and became a popular and highly respected citizen of his locality. His wife, whose maiden name was Polly Stilson, was born March 26, 1783, and died February 6, 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Philo Minor had a large family, six of whom, three boys and three girls, attained maturity.

George Minor, one of their sons, was born November 3, 1803, was reared on the farm, and when a young man came to Deposit, where he obtained employment with Martial R. Hulce, a well-known citizen, who was then engaged in the lumber business at that place. After remaining here for some time Mr. Minor returned to Chenango County, built a store, engaged in mercantile business, and dealt to some extent in pine lumber. The

JAMES S. MINOR.

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lumber was hauled across country by team to Deposit, where it was made into rafts on the river, and thus floated down to the Philadel- phia market. The business increased in ex- tent and importance; and Mr. Minor, finding his financial prospects improving so rapidly, made an especial effort, and invested the bulk of his profits in a large supply of this useful product of the forests, which he had on the river in rafts, when a freshet occurred which swept away the lumber and his fortune at the same time. This would have discouraged most men; but Mr. Minor met his bad luck with fortitude, and went to work anew. Re- ceiving an inheritance from his father, he used it to apply on his debts, and by dint of industry and economy finally succeeded in clearing off all his indebtedness and meeting every obligation, paying one hundred cents on the dollar - an example of business honor and fidelity that might be copied to advantage by firms and individuals of to-day. Mr. George Minor died September 18, 1880. He was twice married, first to Miss Maria L. Wattles, who died, leaving two children, and second to the mother of the subject of this sketch, Miss Ann Eliza Smith, who was born in Delaware County, and was a daughter of Ralph Smith. The latter was a native of Connecticut, where he was born, in Chatham, Middlesex County, March 2, 1780. He died in Deposit, N. Y., January 17, 1850.

James S. Minor was born in Deposit, Janu- ary 19, 1840; and it was in the following year that his parents removed to Chenango County. He laid the foundations of a good and substantial education in the district schools of his locality, which were of a high degree of cxcellence. He later attended the seminary at Deposit, and spent two terms at the Delaware Literary Institute. He im- proved his opportunities, became an cxcellent scholar, and was engaged in teaching in the town of Deposit, Delaware County, during onc winter, and during another in Chenango County. The moncy he earned in the latter place he turned over to his father to be applied upon the latter's debts. Hc was at this time about twenty years old; and, mak- ing up his mind to obtain some regular em- ployment, he came to Deposit that year with

a cash capital of just one dollar. He first obtained a situation as clerk in a store, re- ceiving for his services for the first year seventy dollars and his board, and for the second year ten dollars per month. He was industrious, and applied himself earnestly to business and to obtaining a close insight into business methods. During this time he be- came acquainted with C. M. Putnam, of this place, who had some capital; and an agree- ment was reached between them by which a partnership was formed under the name of Putnam & Minor. They bought out the store of N. A. Eggleston, which they conducted, and where Mr. Minor was engaged in taking care of the business in 1862. They were very prosperous, and continued the partner- ship until 1886, when they dissolved. The attention of Mr. Minor was then directed to manufacturing interests, and, after looking over the ground, he established a plant for the manufacture of shirts, overalls, and other articles in the line of men's furnishing goods, putting in machinery and stock to the amount of five thousand dollars; and thus the Minor's Manufacturing Company was inaugurated. The first three years of the firm's existence were not very successful ones, and the out- look was rather discouraging; but Mr. Minor was not a man to give up easily, and simply renewed his efforts, his persistence being finally rewarded by larger sales and a rapidly increasing demand for the goods manufactured by the firm. At the present time the busi- ness done amounts to about eighteen thousand dollars per year, and furnishes employment to about fiftcen hands. It is one of the sound and substantial business enterprises of De- posit, and has done much to advance the pros- perity and enhance the progress of the village. Mr. Minor is also closely connected with other flourishing business enterprises. Among them he owns, in company with his brother, A. P. Minor, the Deposit Marble Works, which they purchased together in 1884. He also owns two farms, which come under his management, and is besides the administra- tor of quite a large cstatc. Hc is also a stock-holder and present Treasurer of the Deposit Water Works, and takes an active interest in most of the matters that concern

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the welfare of the village and the surrounding country.

Mr. James S. Minor married Miss Mary E. Burrows, daughter of Henry Burrows, whose father was Hubbard Burrows, a native of Con- necticut, and a pioneer of Delaware County. Henry Burrows was a life-long resident of Deposit. The maiden name of his wife, mother of Mrs. Minor, was Cynthia Smith. She was a daughter of James Smith, and was born in April, 1811, in Cortland County, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Minor are the par- ents of eight children now living, namely : George H., a graduate of Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., and now Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the North-western Univer- sity at Evanston, Ill .; William B., a graduate of the Philadelphia Dental College, practis- ing in Deposit; Henrietta J., a graduate of the normal school at New Paltz, N. Y., and now a teacher in Deposit; James A., a Senior at Hamilton College; Harriet M., now in her second year at Smith College, Northampton, Mass .; Ralph, a graduate of Deposit Union School, who will enter college in the fall of 1894; Clark and Edith, now attending the Deposit Union School. Mr. Minor takes a deep interest in educational matters, and, as will be seen, is taking pains to secure to his children that advanced cultivation of the in- tellectual faculties that will place them in a position to grasp the best of life's opportuni- ties, and fit them for taking a part and per- forming good service in the highest spheres of human activity. He has been largely instru- mental in raising the standard of the schools in Deposit and in the establishment of the present admirable system.

Politically, Mr. Minor is a Republican, and indorses the national platform of that party. In religion he is a Presbyterian of broad and liberal views. He is one of the most influential members of that church in Deposit, is very active in church work, and is at present Deacon and Treasurer in the church of his choice, toward the building of which he contributed liberally of his means. He has also assisted in the construction and establish- ment of other Protestant churches, and has not been found wanting when called upon to give both moral and financial aid to benevo-

lent and Christian enterprises of various kinds. His life has been one of industry. and active exertion; and all his labors have been directed by a high moral sense of responsibil- ity to himself, to humanity, and to God. He has ever borne the Golden Rule in mind in his dealings with his fellow-men, and has so won their confidence and esteem. In connec- tion with this sketch there appears a more graphic representation of Mr. Minor's person- ality, as depicted in the accompanying portrait.

ANSOM A. GRANT, Deputy County Clerk of Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y., was born November 20, 1847, in the town of Middletown. His father, W. Ward Grant, was born in the same town and in the same house, on April 12, 1824, the homestead having been in pos- session of the family for many years. The Grants are of Scotch descent, and come from the same stock to which the late General Grant belonged. The paternal grandfather had but two sons who grew to maturity, namely: John, who was a lawyer by profes- sion, and died October 5, 1869, aged forty- two years; and W. Ward. The latter, who was the second son, assisted his father in the management of the farm, and spent his entire life on the old homestead. He took an active part in the politics of his day, serving very acceptably for two terms as County Clerk, to which position he was nominated by the Re- publican party. He married Malinda Wol- cott, who was born June 29, 1825, a daughter of Ransom Wolcott. Mr. and Mrs. Grant reared the following-named children: Ran- som, Newman, William W., and G. Chaun- cey. One son, John, died at the age of six years. Mrs. Grant died at Margarettville, aged sixty-one.

Ransom A. Grant was educated in the dis- trict school, and, until he arrived at the age of eighteen, assisted his father on the farm. He afterward went to Delhi, where he took a course in the academy, and in 1867 was ap- pointed clerk in the County Clerk's office, under his father. In 1877 he. was elected to the position of County Clerk, serving two

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terms of three years each, at the termination of which he engaged in the lumber business, and in the manufacture of sash, blinds, and doors, and general building materials. In 1883 his plant and machinery at Delhi were destroyed by fire; and he then moved his business to Brooklyn, continuing there until 1885, when he returned to Delhi, and entered the County Clerk's office, under Mr. George T. Warner. He was appointed Deputy Clerk under Mr. Crawford, which position he has retained ever since.

Mr. Grant was married in 1869 to Miss Augusta Covert, a daughter of Thomas and Jane (Graham) Covert. Of this union there is one son, who is now attending the academy at Delhi. Mr. Grant has served as village Trustee, which position he filled with entire satisfaction. In his religious views he is a Presbyterian, and the Second Presbyterian Church finds in him an active supporter. During his long tenure of public office he has filled his position to the entire satisfaction of all; and, being the possessor of those quali- ties which go to make a true and loyal man, he is esteemed and respected by all.

EWIS SEYMOUR ST. JOHN, a lead- ing citizen of Walton, N. Y., was born in this town on Independence Day, 1845. The St. John geneal- ogy is directly traceable back to 1634; and sixteen years afterward, in 1650, Matthias St. John came to Norwalk, Conn. The

family is of ancient French origin. Some of its members cast in their fortunes with Will- iam the Conqueror as far back as the eleventh century, while others at a much later period became Huguenots in the Protestant Reforma- tion. In the nineteenth century the family interest has largely centred in the grandfather of our special subject, Cook St. John, who was born on June 1, 1773, and died on Octo- ber 11, 1876. He was a man to make one think of the words of a distinguished lady : " Age, when it does not harden the heart and sour the temper, naturally returns to the milky disposition of infancy. Time has the same effect upon the mind as on the face. The predominant passion, the strongest feat-

ure, becomes more conspicuous from the others' retiring." The New York Herald of May 3, 1876, apropos to our centennial year, published a three-column account of an inter- view with this gentleman, which had been granted a few days before; and these were its headlines: "A Wonderful Career. Thrilling Chat with Cook St. John, One Hundred and Three Years Old. Recollections that almost antedate American Independence. Romantic Incidents from Washington to Grant." He was born in Wilton, Conn., and remembered the burning of Norwalk by the British forces when he was six years old, in 1779. Four of his elder brothers - Justin, Adonijah, Gideon, and Peter - were in the Revolutionary army. Their father was Peter St. John, who after- ward came to Walton, where he died in 1811, just before the War of 1812, and far into the eighties in age. Though a Yale graduate, Peter St. John was able to give his children but a meagre education. Cook was taught little beyond spelling and ciphering, and had to begin self-support at the tender age of seven. He afterward spent one year as ap- prentice with a carpenter and joiner, and learned the trade so thoroughly that he is the reputed inventor of the dove-tail joint, so in- dispensable to every wood-worker. In his youth he had employment in New York City, and there he helped to build the first dock on the Hudson River. He first settled in New Canaan, where he owned a grist-mill.

At the age of thirty-five, in 1807, Cook St. John came to Walton, bringing with him his wife and two boys, and laboriously cleared a farm in what was then a wild region with a few scattered dwellings. Here he remained nearly three-quarters of a century, achieving that measure of success which must ever accompany tact, energy, and a vigorous intel- lect, though physically he was strong rather than large. His memory was phenomenal, even in old age; and his narratives sounded like romances, though strictly true. He may justly be called the most notable man of his locality; for his career extended into two cent- uries, and he lived to see forty descendants, growing from eleven branches, and represent- ing five generations, all living within gunshot of the old home. Toward the close of his life

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he became nearly blind, but never lost his grip on the interests and joys of humanity. In politics he was a Whig till the Republican party was formed; and in religion he became a Universalist, when it cost something to cleave to an unpopular and liberal faith. His hundredth anniversary took place on June 3, 1873, and was a most unique occasion. It was indeed a beautiful sight to see the white- haired veteran surrounded by one hundred and eleven friends, of whom scores had his blood circulating in their veins, and varied in age from two to eighty-three. The gathering was at the house of his son, Thaddeus Seymour St. John. On the lawn the tables were spread in a temporary refectory, adorned with laurel and the national flag. Though some- what careworn, the patriarch's face beamed with smiles of satisfaction. On his right and left were his nearest kinsmen, and on the table was the birthday cake, three and a half feet high, arranged in a hundred layers, and graced with as many varieties of flowers. After the banquet our old friend retired for his usual nap. In a felicitous speech the family pastor, the Rev. Mr. Purrington, re- ferred to the venerable man's declaration that for seven years he lived with his first wife, fifty with his second, and twenty with his daughter-in-law, with never an unkind word from either - a fact which speaks volumes for the man himself.

His first wife, Polly Seymour, died July 2, 1804, at the early age of twenty-seven, after the removal to Walton, leaving three chil- dren, of whom Thaddeus Seymour, our sub- ject's father, was the eldest. The other boy, William St. John, was an early California pioneer, but died in Walton, at the age of seventy-five, leaving four sons and two daugh- ters, of whom three are still living. The sister, Betty St. John, born in 1800, married Nathaniel Gray Eells, a brother of her brother Seymour's wife; but she also died in Walton. Grandfather Cook St. John's second wife, to whom he was married in Walton, January 7, 1805, was Anna Benedict, of Norwalk, Conn. ; and she bore two sons and one daughter - John, Polly, and Giles. She died in 1850, aged seventy-six; and none of her children now survive. In fact, they died before their

father, who did not pass away till the centen- nial year, when he was nearly four years past his century, his funeral being attended by the first-born offspring of four generations -- that is, his eldest son, grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson.

Thaddeus Seymour St. John, commonly known as Uncle Seymour, was born in New Canaan, Conn., November 25, 1797, and be- fore the family removed to Walton, where he died September 16, 1887, his body lying be- neath a granite shaft in the cemetery, whither his wife's body was borne eleven days later. She was over eighty-seven years old, and her maiden name was Hannah Gray Eells. Of their seven children three lived to maturity; and two sons - Lewis Seymour and William Seymour, both of Walton - are now living. Mary St. John married David Peabody, and died in Walton in 1864, at the age of forty- four. Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Seymour St. John were married in 1818, and lived together sixty-five years. He became a Republican when the party was formed, like his father, and was prominent in public affairs, as Jus- tice of Peace and President of the village. In earlier years he traded largely in grain and lumber, which he rafted to Philadelphia.

His son, Lewis S. St. John, our subject, was educated partly in Walton Academy. After being for a while a clerk for his elder brother William, he went into business on his own account. In 1870, when he was twenty- five years old, and ill health made it advisable to be more out of doors, he found employment in a civil engineer corps, on the New York & Oswego Midland Railroad, and worked there till its completion one year later. For five more years he held other positions with the company. From 1876 to 1885 he was con- ductor on the main line. He then embarked in the hardware business with his nephew, Julius W. St. John; but after four years in the store, he went back to the road as con- ductor of the passenger train running between Delhi and Walton, a place he still holds. As a Free Mason, he belongs to Delaware Chap- ter, has taken the Scottish rites, has been Master of the Blue Lodge seven years, was two years District Deputy Grand Master, under Grand Master John W. Vrooman, and

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is now Master of a Lodge of Perfection, and holds the position of Assistant Grand Lect- urer for the eleventh Masonic district, with Grand Lecturer George H. Raymond.

His marriage took place on October 30, 1866, soon after he attained his majority; and his bride was Mary Launt, born in Hamden, the daughter of Frederick and Marietta (Chase) Launt. Her father died August 4, 1876, aged sixty-four, ten years after her mar- riage; though her mother still lives in Wal- ton, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Seymour St. John have two children living, a daughter and a son, and have buried one daughter, Edna, at the age of three. Helen B. St. John is now the wife of John H. Smith, of Norwich, N. Y .; and they have a fine boy, Harold Horton Smith, two and a half years old. Harold Launt St. John, born in 1875, is a graduate of the high school, and still lives at home. The St. John family may well enjoy the saying of the great Universal- ist preacher, Hosea Ballou, about home, --

"In family government let this be always remembered, that no reproof or denunciation is so potent as the silent influence of a good example."

ILLIAM R. BECKLEY, an enter- prising resident of Stamford, N. Y., who has done much to promote the growth of the place, was born June 24, 1820, at New Britain, Hartford County, Conn., and was the son of Moses W. and Mary (Corn- well) Beckley. Moses W. Beckley was born at Berlin, Conn., and in his youth learned the harness-maker's trade, which he followed for some years, but later bought a farm, upon which he died when seventy-six years old, and where his wife passed away at the age of cighty-four. She was a member of the Bap- tist church, and had seven children - Sarah, William R., Henry, George, Eunice, Caro- line, and Moses -- all except two of whom grew to maturity.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 65

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