Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 67

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 67

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He was married in 1878 to Miss Cleghorn, a daughter of James and Anna (Steele) Cleg- horn, both of whom are natives of Scotland, Mrs. Park having come to this country at the age of three years. Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Park have six children; namely, Anna, Mary, William J., Ada, Andrew, and Emma, all of whom are now attending the Walton Acad-

emy. Mr. Park is an ardent supporter of the principles of prohibition. He is a man of genial manners and liberal views, his personal popularity, as well as the sincerity and effec- tiveness of his pulpit utterances, being at- tested by the largely increased membership in both his charges. A true shepherd, he leads his flock.

B ERRY S. MILLER, though of Scot- tish descent, was born in the town of Bovina on February 28, 1837. His father, William Miller, was a farmer and shepherd in Scotland, who came to America in 1831 with a wife and three chil- dren. They were on the Atlantic for seven weeks, and were travel-worn and weary when they arrived at New York City. Coming to Delaware County, Mr. Miller purchased land near Bovina, which he at once began to clear of the dense growth of timber with which it was covered. This work required patient in- dustry, and hardships were to be endured; but the bold emigrant who had dared to try his fortune in a strange land was no weakling, and the task was at length accomplished and a log cabin built. As the young farmer grew more prosperous, this modest dwelling gave place to a more ambitious structure of stone. Another farm had been purchased before a great while; and, when William Miller died at seventy-eight years of life, he left a com- fortable competence for those who came after him. His wife, Isabella (Dickson) Miller, attained to an age one year greater than that of her husband, whom she did not long sur- vive. Despite Mr. Miller's busy, hard-work- ing life, he did not fail in the duties of a citizen, but discharged faithfully the respon- sibilities of the office intrusted to him by the people of the county, being Road Commis- sioner for some time. In politics he was a Republican ; and both husband and wife were members of the United Presbyterian church, in which organization he was earnestly inter- ested. Of the seven sons and one daughter born to them six sons are now living, namely : Thomas and Michael, in Bovina; William, in Walton; Walter, in Delhi; Berry S., in Bo- vina; Gilbert D., in Bovina Centre. Janette

472

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

J., the only daughter, died in her thirty- second year, and David in infancy.

Berry S. Miller grew up and was educated in his native school district. With the com- mon sense and inherent industry that charac- terize his nationality, he turned his attention toward practical farming, and worked out by the month. The modest stipend he earned was scarcely an equivalent for the labor ex- pended; but, in spite of this fact, at the age of twenty-five years, so saving had he been that he was able to buy the farm upon which he now lives. In 1866 he won the heart and hand of Miss Catharine E. Oliver, daughter of John and Margaret Oliver, who have since died in Delhi, to whom he was married on December 20 of the same year. The lady was Scotch born; and so he followed the advice given by Nokomis to Hiawatha, -

" Wed a maiden of your people.

Go not eastward. go not westward."

The farm now owned by Mr. Miller consists of one hundred and forty-six acres of land, and to its cultivation and improvement his en- tire energies are devoted. A herd of twenty Jerseys supply the dairy, which is noted for its cream and butter.

When in 1864 the call for soldiers to fight for the preservation of the Union sounded throughout the boundaries of the Northland, Berry S. Miller promptly put aside the pacific implements of agriculture, to gird on the weapons of warfare, enlisting under John Clark, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regi- ment, New York Volunteers, Company E. He was in the battles of Honey Hill, Devoes Neck, Coosawhatchie, and several other en- gagements. On the 18th of July, 1865, he was honorably discharged; but the hardships of campaigning had left their marks upon him, and he never fully recovered from the ill effects of the exposures and privations of the Civil War.

To Mr. and Mrs. Miller one son was born on the Ioth of August, 1869, who bears the name of Thomas W. Miller, and has now an honored and respected position among his contemporaries. This young man received his early education in the same district in which his father went to school, though,

unlike his father, he did not finish his studies here, but continued them in the academy at Delhi, where he was graduated in June, 1893. Having taught one term of school, he is now the editor of the Andes Recorder, and is a fearless advocate and defender of the princi- ples he espouses.

Mr. Berry S. Miller is a Republican and a member of the United Presbyterian church. He attributes the success of his married life to his wife's industry and frugality, together with her careful oversight of everything he had ; and her death, on July 22, 1892, he is sensible has left a void that can never be filled.

J MILO GRAHAM, an enterprising merchant of the village of Meredith, was born at this place, August 4, 1852, and is the son of John G. and Alma (Bouton) Graham. The paternal grand- father, James, was a native of Scotland, and came to this county about 1809, among the early settlers of the town. He farmed his land here for a number of years, afterward moving to Meredith Hollow, where he lived until the time of his death, aged seventy-eight. His wife was Jane Rice, a native of Ireland, and the mother of eleven children; namely, John G., Henry R., James H., William H., Samuel T., Thomas, Nancy H., Jane G., Martha M., Charles, and Isabella A. Mrs. Graham died at Meredith Hollow, aged seventy-seven.

John G. Graham, eldest son of James, was educated in his boyhood at the district schools, and thereafter continued for some time to reside with his father, of whom he learned the cabinet-making trade. He also followed farming to some extent. Besides this he owned and operated for a number of years a woollen-mill, and after its destruc- tion by fire he continued to conduct his farm at Meredith Hollow. He was Supervisor for many years, and during the time of the war was enrolling officer, and was also Census Enumerator for the towns of Kortright, Delhi, and Meredith in 1870. He was a Justice of the Peace for twenty-one years, and a very active and influential man in the affairs of the village. He was married to Alma Bouton, a

J. MILO GRAHAM

475

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

daughter of William Bouton, a carpenter of Meredith; and they reared five children; namely, Mary, James, Minerva E., William, and J. Milo. Minerva E. is the wife of Mar- shall Jackson, a farmer of Meredith. Mary married Ezra Gates, a farmer; and she and her husband both are deceased. Mr. John G. Graham died at Meredith, in 1875, aged sixty-six.

J. Milo Graham was educated at the district schools, and began teaching at the age of nineteen. Having taught school winters for seven terms, in 1879 he went into partnership with F. H. Munson, which business connec- tion lasted one ycar, when he purchased Mr. Munson's interest in the firm. Mr. Graham has now one of the largest and most com- pletely stocked stores in Meredith, doing a lucrative business. He was appointed Post- master in 1879, and continues to hold that position.

In 1885 Mr. Graham was married to Mrs. Jennie M. Munson, a daughter of Maxon Har- low, a farmer of this vicinity. Mrs. Jennie M. Graham dying after seven years of happy wedlock, Mr. Graham married for his second wife Miss Cora J. Scott, a daughter of Alex- ander Scott, of Franklin. Mrs. Graham is a member of the Methodist church, Mr. Graham occupying the position of Treasurer of the Baptist church. He is a member of Delhi Lodge of Free Masons, No. 439, Royal Chap- ter, No. 249, and Norwich Commandery, No. 46, and has held several important offices in these organizations. For cighteen years he has been Justice of the Pcace, having been elected at the early age of twenty-two, and for one term was Justice of the Sessions. He is a Republican, and one who has always taken an active part in political affairs.

Mr. Graham is an exceedingly capable busi- ness man, enjoying a high reputation as an intelligent and honorable merchant. IIe takes a deep interest in the affairs of his native place, filling with honor and credit many posi- tions of trust and reponsibility. His portrait herewith annexed shows him to be just in the prime of manhood, and, as to his carthly pros- pects, a citizen who may be counted on to contribute to the common weal for many a ycar to come.

IEUTENANT GEORGE C. ROBIN- SON, a practical and progressive farmer and dairyman of Walton, has an honorable record for brave and gallant conduct as a soldier in the late Civil War, and good reputation as a faithful citizen in time of peace. He was born in the town of Tompkins, March 24, 1838, and is a descendant of a pioneer of this county, his grandfather, John Robinson, who was of Con- necticut birth, having been one of the early settlers. He was a wagon-maker by trade, and was one of the first, if not the very first, to open a wagon-shop in Walton. At the time he came here there were no saw-mills in the vicinity ; and he was obliged not only to fell the trees, but to hew out his own lumber, carrying it from the woods on his back. He reared a large family of children.

His son, Hiram Robinson, was born in the town of Walton, and here grew to manhood. He settled on a tract of wild land, from which he evolved a good homestead, sharing with his neighbors the trials and discomforts of life in a new country. He married Lavinia Husted, by whom he had fifteen children, seven of whom are living to-day. John, the eldest son, enlisted in the Seventy-second New York Volunteer Infantry, and was sc- verely wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House. George C. is the subject of this sketch. Emily J. is the wife of William Holley, of Walton. Will- iam H. enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, serving with honor, and is now a resident of Lanesboro, Pa. Frank is the wife of J. Boyer, of Broome County. Charles is a resi- dent of Walton. And Nancy M. is the wife of J. R. Kilpatrick, of Newburg, N. Y. At the age of fifty-six years the father enlisted in the service of his country, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Regiment, and serving with his company for a year, when he was discharged for physical disability. In politics he was in his carly years a member of the Whig party: but on the disbandment of that organization he joined the Republican forces, and thereafter supported the principles of that party. Both he and his wife departed this life in 1866.

476

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

George C., second son of Hiram Robinson, was reared in the place of his nativity, obtain- ing a good common-school education. At the breaking out of the late Rebellion he was among the very first of Walton's chivalric youth to respond to his country's call, joining the Seventy-second New York Volunteer In- fantry. He enlisted in Sickles's Excelsior Brigade, May 1, 1861, and was mustered into the United States service at Staten Island. The day following the first battle of Bull Run the regiment was ordered to the front, going to Washington, and remaining in Camp Cadwell till spring, when it was ordered to Liverpool Point, Camp Wool. It was actively engaged in the siege of Yorktown and subsequently in the battle of Williamsburg, where the brigade to which it belonged lost seventeen hundred men, the commanders of the forces being General George B. McClellan on the Union side, and General Joseph E. Johnston on the Confederate side. The brigade then marched toward Richmond, reaching first the Chicka- hominy Swamp, remaining there until Mc- Clellan's retreat, taking part in the principal battles of those seven memorable days.

Mr. Robinson was taken sick at the second battle of Malvern Hill, and was ordered to the hospital at Fortress Monroe, where he re- mained two months, rejoining his regiment at Warrenton Junction, going thence to Freder- icksburg, where he was again at the front in a hard-fought battle. The following winter his regiment was encamped at Falmouth, and in the early part of May, 1863, fought bravely at Chancellorsville, where Mr. Robinson was unfortunately taken prisoner. He was sent to Libby Prison, and after a short stay there was sent to Camp Parole, at Annapolis, thence to Camp Destruction, near Alexandria, where he was confined for five months. He rejoined his regiment again at Culpeper Court House, and afterward went into winter quarters at Brandy Station. In the spring of 1864 he fought in all the battles of the exciting cam- paign leading to Richmond, and was at one of them wounded in the leg, but not sufficiently to cause him to leave his regiment. While in the front at Petersburg, the time of service of his regiment expired; and it was consoli- dated with the One Hundred and Twentieth

New York Volunteer Infantry. On an order discharging all non-commissioned officers, Mr. Robinson was mustered out of service, in October, 1864, as Orderly Sergeant.

While home on his veteran furlough, Mr. Robinson was married to Miss Sarah C. Eels, a daughter of Samuel Eels, the third; and of this happy union five children have been born, namely: Elmer E., born in July, 1866; Bertie L., born in February, 1872; Seymour B., born in August, 1874; Samuel E., born in August, 1876; and Clara H., born in July, 1879.

In his political views Lieutenant Robinson is a decided Republican; and, socially, he is an influential member of the Ben Marvin Post, in which he has served as Vice-Commander. Much credit is due him for the deep interest he has ever taken in the militia company of Walton. He assisted in raising the company, of which he was one of the first members, and was appointed Second Lieutenant of the com- pany, a position which he held for ten years, when he resigned it. He was also an important member of the Walton Rifle Team, in the organization of which he took an active part. As one of the leading citizens of the town of Walton, he is held in high respect, and is widely known as a man of sterling character and worth.

ELSON CRANE, a highly intelligent and wealthy farmer and dairyman liv- ing in the town of Sanford, Broome County, is the only representative left of his father's family. He is one of the most favorably known men in the county, has served his town repeatedly on the Board of Supervisors, and in all public matters has been an effective worker for the best interests of the people. A man of excellent natural and acquired abilities, he is competent to fill leading positions in public life or in the world of business, and has had before him a broad field from which to make choice of a calling; and his decision to settle down on a farm was creditable to his judgment.

In the opinion of many thoughtful people the rural home has the advantage of all other places for the broadest and deepest and most

477

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lasting degree of satisfaction and happiness. The pure air, the open field, the running brook, are ever-fruitful sources of delight. The field of ripening grain spread like a sheet of gold upon the hillside, with the shadows of the clouds chasing each other over it as it bends and swells in soft undulations to the will of the wandering wind, is certainly a thing of beauty beyond the artificial splendor of gilded city palace or the constant tramp of busy thousands hurrying to and fro amid the marts of trade. As Mr. Emerson has well said, "Whatever events in progress shall go to disgust men with cities and infuse into them the passion for country life and country pleasures will render a service to the whole face of this continent, and will further the most poetic of all the occupations of real life, the bringing out by art the native but hidden graces of the landscape." Mr. Crane does not make the life of a farmer one of mere drudg- ery, but uses brains as well as hands; for agriculture, as he rightly views it, is a sci- ence and an art, and he brings to it that intel- ligence which it demands, having his papers, his library, his workshop, all at his command, and making of them useful servants.

Mr. Nelson Crane traces his ancestry back to the early settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the progenitors of the Crane family in America came over from England. Several of this name have won dis- tinction in civil and in military life. Gen- eral William Crane, of the Revolutionary army, was wounded at Quebec. His son, Captain William Montgomery Crane, was a noted naval officer in the war with Tripoli and the War of 1812. Charles Henry Crane, late Surgeon-general of the United States Army, was born at Newport, R.I., in 1825, and died at Washington, D.C., in 1883. He was a son of Colonel Ichabod Crane, of New Jersey, and was a graduate of Yale College and the Harvard Medical School.

Simeon Crane, a Revolutionary soldier, moved from Connecticut to Delaware County, New York, in 1796, and brought with him his son Simeon, who was at that time two years old, having been born in Connecticut in 1794. It was this younger Simcon who became the father of Nelson. He married Charlotte An-

thony, a native of Delaware County; and the family moved to the town of Sanford in Broome County in 1844, and settled on the place where their son, Nelson Crane, now lives. Simeon Crane, Jr., was a soldier in the War of 1812, and subsequently an Ensign of the Seventieth New York Infantry, his commission bearing date of March 16, 1822, and signed by Governor De Witt Clinton. He was a man of industrious habits, fixity of purpose, strong and active mental powers, and high moral principles. He was a successful farmer, and died in Broome County, March 20, 1879. The mother died August 27, 1884, at the age of eighty-two. They were the par- ents of four children, namely: Erastus, whose death occurred at the age of twenty-four years, occasioned by being injured by the falling of a tree; Nelson; Laura A., who died at the age of sixty-four years; and Marietta, who was born in 1830, became the wife of Aaron Lathrop, a mechanic at Oxford, and died in 1889.

Nelson Crane was born near Delhi, in Delaware County, January 26, 1828; and his youth was spent on his father's farm. When he was sixteen years old, the family moved to their new home in Broome County, where he continued with them. He was a remarkable boy for learning; and, while having but the advantages afforded by the common schools, he made rapid progress in his studies, and took up the higher branches by himself. When nineteen years old, he had mastered algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and thus fitted himself to become a surveyor. He has done a good deal of work in this line since in Delaware and Broome Counties and in Penn- sylvania. His principal occupation, however, has been that of farming; and he has a nicely improved place, consisting of two hundred and twenty-seven acres, having a dairy, good farmhouse, commodious barns, and other out- buildings conveniently arranged and in good condition. His counsel and help have been much sought, and he has filled many places of trust and honor in the town. He was town Superintendent of Schools in 1856, and in 1862 was appointed by Judge Kattell, of Binghamton (then Provost Marshal, stationed at Owego), Enrolling Officer of the town of

478

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Sanford, with rank of Assistant or Census Marshal. He served in that capacity until the close of the war. He taught school two terms in Broome County, and was entirely up with the times in educational matters. He was also elected Justice of the Peace, but re- signed the office. He filled the office of Assessor three terms, and was elected Super- visor four terms, three of them consecutively. He has served on the grand jury, and, in short, has been one of the principal men of the town. Six or seven years ago, when the New York Central Telephone Company pro- jected their line through from Oneonta to Deposit, he was one of the prime movers in the enterprise, and assisted materially by way of subscription. There is a station in his house, of which he has charge. He was one of the organizers of the Broome County Farmers' Fire Relief Association, incorpo- rated in 1887. He was a Director, and its first Secretary.

In 1850 Mr. Nelson Crane married Harriet M. Van Horne, of Delaware County, daughter of Hubbard Van Horne, a prominent citizen of Sanford. She died in 1871, after twenty- one years of married life. Politically, Mr. Crane is a Republican, and is able to give a good reason for upholding the measures of that party. Socially, he is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, thoroughly conversant with the best thought of the day, entertaining and instructive in conversation, and fully alive to the best interests of a common humanity the world over.

· LINCOLN MOWBRAY, M.D., phy- sician and surgeon, Walton, Delaware County, N. Y., is eminently qualified for the duties of his profession; and during the short time he has been a resident of this county he has enjoyed a good practice, and has won in a large measure the confidence and esteem of the community. He was born in New York City, on December 20, 1866.

He is of French descent on the paternal side. His grandfather, Thomas De Mowbra, who was born in France, in early life went to England, thence to the north of Ireland, where he was married, and where the Doctor's

father was born. When the latter was a boy of nine years, the family emigrated to Amer- ica, and located in New York City. There the lad was educated, and grew to man's es- tate, and subsequently embarked in the whole- sale grocery business, in Fulton Street, where by good business management he accumulated considerable money. He was afterward con- nected with the well-known firm of Thurber, Whyland & Co., in the wholesale grocery trade, and, having acquired a competency, is now retired from active pursuits, living in Bergen County, New Jersey. In his political views he was formerly a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, but is now an active worker in the ranks of the Prohibitionists, and recently received the nomination for the Lower House. He was reared to the faith of the Episcopal church, but later joined the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a consistent member. His wife, Mary B. Hyberger, was born in Pennsylvania of German antecedents. The ceremony that united their destinies was solemnized in Brooklyn, N. Y.

J. Lincoln Mowbray was reared and edu- cated in the city of New York, and, after being graduated from the Brooklyn High School, took a private course of instruction under Professor Winter. Deciding to prepare himself for the practice of medicine, he en- tered the New York Homoeopathic College, in New York City, from which he was grad- uated in April, 1888, immediately beginning the work of his profession in the dispensary connected with the college. The following year Dr. Mowbray continued his chosen voca- tion as an assistant in the office of Dr. T. C. Williams, gaining, while serving in that ca- pacity, experience of inestimable value. He next opened an office in New Haven, Conn .; and during the three years of his stay in that city he built up a fine practice, but was obliged to abandon it, his health not being good in that locality. Coming then to this county, he settled in the village of Walton, where he is meeting with gratifying success, and bids fair to become one of the leading practitioners in these parts. Dr. Mowbray was united in marriage, June 28, 1893, to Miss Louise M. Reif, of New Haven, who

479

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

shares with her husband the respect and regard of the community.

OHN W. MAYNARD, one of the pro- gressive farmers of Delaware County, and a descendant of one of the oldest families of Stamford, was born here January 25, 1836, son of Samuel B. and Mary (Judson) Maynard. His grandfather, Stephen Maynard, was the only child of Thomas, who came to America from England, and settled in Dutchess County.

The death of Thomas Maynard left Stephen an orphan at an early age. He married and came to Delaware County while this region was yet a complete wilderness. Here he set- tled on the farm now occupied by the subject of this sketch. Taking up a large tract of land, he built a log cabin, cleared a portion of the farm, and here lived until his death at sixty-three years of age. He had six children, four of whom grew to maturity - Thomas, Coley, Orin, and Samuel. Stephen Maynard was a Democrat, and a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Samuel was born on November 12, 1804, and was married Sep- tember 26, 1826, to Mary Judson, who was born July 10, 1806. He bought out his brothers and sisters, and took possession of the old homestead, where he built a new house and barns and made various other im- provements, living to be nearly seventy-six years of age, his wife dying at about the same age. They had six children - Rebecca H., Charles M., Mary L., John W., Harriet H., Arunah A.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 67

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