USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 72
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Martin Kelly married Alvira Stewart, who lived in Pennsylvania. She bore him eight children - Edmond, Julia Ann, Syrenus, Stewart, Anna, Ezekiel, George G., and Abigail. As he had become very well-to-do, Martin sold the farm to his son, Edmond L., and nioved to Griffin's Corners, where he lived a quiet life. He was a Republican, and held the offices of Supervisor and Constable of the town of Roxbury. Both Mr. and Mrs. Martin Kelly followed their early training, and were loyal members of the old-school Baptist church.
George G. Kelly was born March 18, 1836, at Red Kill, on the farm now owned by E. L.
Kelly. He received a good education at the Red Kill district school, and worked at home till he was of age. Then he worked for vari- ous people for six years. When he was twenty-seven, he purchased two hundred and seventy acres of land in Middletown. When he had owned this place but a short time, he was offered a price much higher than what he had paid for it, and accordingly he sold out and bought one hundred and ninety-six acres near Griffin's Corners, owned by John Book- hout. Here he lived twenty years and ten months, putting up substantial buildings and making wise improvements. Finally he sold. that estate, and bought his present splendid farm of five hundred acres on Batavia Kill, near the post-office of Denver. He has greatly improved this farm since it came into his possession, and it is an interesting place to visit. It is well stocked, well watered, and well cultivated. Mr. Kelly keeps seventy-five milch cows, and has large and roomy barns and several other buildings. His house is beautifully located, facing the valley, commanding a wide vista of the neigh- boring farm lands.
At the age of twenty-seven Mr. Kelly was united in marriage with Susan Carman, daughter of Richard and Sally (Covell) Car- man, who came from Fishkill on the Hudson. The Carmans were of English descent. Mrs. Carman was a daughter of Samuel and Eleanor Covell. Samuel Covell was born on Cape Cod, October 15, 1779. He died April 15, 1852. His wife Eleanor was born March I, 1783, and died August 4, 1859. They had seven children - Edwin, Electa, Caroline, Priscilla, Amanda, Mary, and Sally. Mr. and Mrs. George Kelly have four sons, as fol- lows: Derwood B. Kelly married Ida John- son, lives at Griffin's Corners, and has one child. Delvern H., a farmer, married Nettie Hinckley, and lives in Middletown. Ward Kelly lives at home, is a wide-awake, capable young man, and a great help to his father. Cornelius, named for his mother's brother, also lives at home, and is still in school.
Mr. George G. Kelly is a Republican. He is an Assessor of the town, and has always been active in politics, and interested in the welfare of the community. He is hale and
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hearty, and, as he has inherited a sound consti- tution, will no doubt live to a good old age, respected and bcloved by his friends and fellow-citizens.
PHRAIM DANIEL McKENNA, M.D., a successful medical practitioner of Walton, is a man of strong mental calibre, well endowed by nature with the tal- ents requisite to make him a leader among men. He was born and reared among the picturesque scenery of the Green Mountain State, his birth having occurred in the town of Goshen, Addison County, Vt., April 8, 1860. He is the scion of an ancient Scotch family, and the son of John McKenna, who was born in Canada in 1825.
John McKenna left his Canadian home when a small boy, and grew to manhood in Brandon, Vt., receiving his education in the public schools. In 1851 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Hooker, a daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Joy) Hooker, the latter being a life-long resident of Vermont. Mr. Hooker was born in Massachusetts; and when a young man he removed to Goshen, Vt., where he was one of the very carliest settlers, and built the first framed house erected within the town limits. Thirteen children were born to him and his wife; and eleven of these grew to maturity, the following being their record : Daniel, who settled in Goshen, married a dis- tant relative, Fannie Hooker, of Cattaraugus County, New York. Thomas, who remained single, died in Goshen. Joseph, now a resi- dent of Goshen, married a Michigan lady. Heman, who enlisted as a soldier in the late Rebellion, is supposed to have been killed in battle. Rebecca, the wife of Nathan Capen, who has held the office of Town Clerk in Goshen for the past fifty years, died in that place. Sally is the wife of Noah Bisbee, of Brandon, Vt. Levina married Stillman Jones, for many years a hotel-kecper in West Roch- ester, Vt., but now a resident of LeRoy, Mo. Janc is the wife of Riley Blodgett, of Roches- ter, Vt. Susan, the wife of James Washburn, a farmer, lives in Goshen. Laura died in early womanhood, unmarried. Mary is the wife of Mr. McKenna.
Mr. and Mrs. McKenna have spent their many years of wedded life in the towns of Goshen and Sudbury, Vt., and are highly esteemed citizens. Five children besides the Doctor have been born to them, as follows: Mary J., the wife of Albert Sumner, a pros- perous farmer, rcsides in Brandon, Vt. Annis R. is the wife of the Rev. M. M. Mills, a Baptist minister in South Otselic, N. Y. Rev. Erwin J., pastor of the Union Square Baptist Church, Somerville, Mass., marricd Frankie Jordan, of Newburg, N.Y. Frank J., a railway postal clerk, running from Kan- sas City to Council Grove, Kan., married Alice Smith, of Iola, Kan. Thomas J., a graduate of the Boston School of Pharmacy, is at present in the drug business with C. E. Browne at Beverly, Mass.
Dr. McKenna received his collegiate educa- tion at Colgate University, in Hamilton, N. Y. Having decided to adopt the profes- sion of medicine, when twenty-two years of agc he became a student in the office of Dr. L. Haseltine, of Brandon, Vt. In 1885 and 1886 he attended two courses of lectures at the Albany Medical College, and subsequently continued his studies in the University of Vermont, at Burlington, receiving his di- ploma from that institution in 1887. Dr. McKenna then took an examination at Belle- vue Hospital Medical College, in New York City, and there received a diploma. He very soon after began his professional career in the town of Hamden, in this county, where he remained until September, 1893, when he came to Walton. He has here gained an extensive patronage, and has earned a reputa- tion for professional skill of which a much older physician might well be proud. He is a man much estecmed in the medical frater- nity, and is a valued member of the Delaware County Medical Society. He is a prominent member of the First Baptist Church of Wal- ton. In politics the Doctor is a stanch sup- portcr of Grover Cleveland, for whom hc cast his first Presidential vote. He is a member of the Walton Lodge of A. F. & A. M. In 1891 he was a candidate for the office of County Coroner, running against a Republican majority of one thousand five hundred, and in the unequal contest went so far ahead of his
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ticket that he cut down the majority to one hundred and forty-three votes, showing in a most emphatic manner his popularity in this section of the county. He is now Health Officer of Walton.
Dr. McKenna was married on February 23, 1887, to Miss Mary Travcr, the daughter of Alvah Traver, a well-known attorney of Troy, N. Y. Their pleasant home has been bright- ened and cheered by the birth of two win- some children, namely: Florence, born September 29, 1888; and Jessie, born August 12, 1890.
AVID G. JENKINS, a prosperous and well-known farmer of Union Grove in the town of Andes, was born in Roxbury, in the eastern part of Delaware County, March 26, 1845, son of James and Mary (Garrison) Jenkins. He was born on the old home farm, and removed when four years of age to Andes, where he grew to manhood, and was educated in the common schools of the town. When twenty years of age he began lumbering, cutting timber for the manufacturers. He subsequently bought a farm located one mile from the river on Barkerboom Creek, where he erected build- ings, cleared his land, and engaged in dairy- ing. He now keeps thirteen fine Jersey cows, his dairy being one of the best in the vicinity.
In 1863 he married Julia M. Hanmer, by whom he has had nine children, namely : Elmer R., who was born January 17, 1865; Egbert I'., who was born May 29, 1867, and died April 27, 1871; Ada I., who was born January 15, 1870, and married George P. Doolittle, of Fleischmanns, Middletown; Eva C., who was born October 15, 1872; Maggie M., who was born February 11, 1875; Mary E., who was born May 5, 1879; J. Garfield, who was born August 14, 1881; Laura B., who was born December 15, 1884; and Bertha V., who was born October 3, 1887. Mrs. Jenkins is a daughter of Robert M. Hanmer, whose sketch is given elsewhere in this vol- ume. She and her husband are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Jenkins is a Repub- lican in politics, and was Collector of the town for one term, and has also held the office
of Postmaster for four years. He is energetic and industrious, and enjoys well-deserved prosperity, being held in high regard by all who know him.
EORGE S. ANDREWS, an enter- prising and highly intelligent farmer, has resided for fifty-four years on Hamden Hill, in the town of Hamden, Dela- ware County, N. Y. He comes of good old New England stock, being a grandson of Sam- uel Andrews, who was born in Fairfield, Conn., about 1766, and married Elizabeth Marion, also of Connecticut. Thirteen chil- dren, eleven sons and two daughters, were the fruit of their union. One daughter died at the age of twelve; but all the other members of this large family lived to marry and have children of their own. One son, in fact, still survives, Benjamin Andrews, aged seventy- two, a coal dealer in Brooklyn, N.Y. Sam- uel Andrews was a small boy at the time of the Revolution; and in his old age he de- lighted the hearts of his children and grand- children with exciting tales of those stirring days, the burning of his native town by the British, his escape from the redcoats, and many equally thrilling adventures which he and his parents could vividly remember. He died at his farm home in Stamford, N. Y., where he had been successfully engaged in clearing and cultivating the land; but his wife lived to reach the advanced age of ninety-six.
Andrew Andrews, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth, and the father of the subject of this biography, was born in Stamford, April 9, 1802, and in 1830 married Maria Peak, of Hamden, who became the mother of six chil- dren, thrce sons and three daughters, all of whom, with the exception of George S., have passed away. One of the daughters, Docia Ann, lived until her thirty-sixth year. Joseph, a son, dicd unmarried in 1872, aged forty years. Daniel B., also unmarried, served one year as a soldier in the Civil War. and passed away when forty-five years of age, in 1884. Delia A., wife of William F. Close, died July 23, 1884, in her forty-first year. Hannah, the third daughter, lived to
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reach her sixty-second year, dying March 3, 1893. Mrs. Andrews died January 29, 1859, when fifty-five years of age, her husband out- living her many years and dying in Hamden, May 23, 1894, at the advanced age of ninety- two. Parents and children sleep side by side in the cemetery at Hamden Hill, resting in peace after lives of faithful toil.
George S. Andrews was born in Hamden in 1835, and here attended the district school, which he afterward taught for four terms. He enlisted in 1864 in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteers, Company C, and served until the close of the war, when he was discharged from the general hospital at Hilton Head, S.C., June 15, 1865. On April 25, 1865, Mr. Andrews married Miss Eunice Ellis, of Hamden, daughter of Milcs and Ann (Van Akin) Ellis, both of Middle- town, Delaware County. Mrs. Andrews was one of nine children, of whom all have passed away except herself and her brother, Elijah Ellis, of Harpursville, Broome County. Miles Ellis was a volunteer in the Civil War, during which he died of fever, in 1864, aged forty-five years, his death being followed by that of his wife three months later. Mr. An- drews's first farm consisted of one hundred and thirty acres, which he bought in 1866 of Ely Kent. Besides that he now owns the old home farm of two hundred and ten acres. He carries on a finely appointed dairy, keeping fifty cows, grade Jerseys, and manufacturing superior butter for the market.
Mr. Andrews is a Republican of firm party principles, and has held the position of Asses- sor for nine years. He is an active member of Bryce Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Hamden, of which organization he is now serving his second term as Commander. Judicious in the outlay of money for improve- ments, energetic and industrious, he deserves the success won by his unwearied labors and strictly honorable dealings.
IRAM H. SILLIMAN, who owns the Silliman homestead in West settle- ment, is the grandson of Eben Silliman, who came in 1810 from Fairfield, Conn., to Delaware County, and
settled in the town of Stamford, where he bought a tract of some hundred and fifty or two hundred acres, and laid it out for a farm. The neighbors among whom Mr. Silliman cast his lot proved very pleasant, and the best of feeling and the most cordial relations were kept up. Mr. Silliman used to tell how he became acquainted with Seth Lyon. He lost his pocket-book while surveying his new land; and Mr. Lyon, finding it, immediately hunted him up, and in a pleasant, cordial manner restored it to him. This little incident was the beginning of a firm friendship. Mr. Sil-
liman lived prosperously and well on his Stam- ford farm all his life. His wife, whose name was Anna Gould, bore him ten children Eben, Jonathan, Abraham, Benjamin, Daniel, Alexander, Anna, Catherine, Caroline, and Ellen. Mr. Eben Silliman's death was a great shock to his people. It occurred in this manner. He was painting a building, when he lost his balance and fell, striking on a picket fence. He was so . lacerated and bruised by the paling that the accident was fatal. Mr. Silliman was a Whig, and a mcm- ber of the Presbyterian church.
Alexander Silliman, whose name is sixth in the above list of the children of Eben, was born in Fairfield, Conn., April 29, 1806, and came to Delaware County when he was but four years of age. He received a scanty edu- cation at school, though he afterward became a well-informed man by proper use of his opportunities. At maturity he came into possession of the Silliman estate; but after a short period he decided to sell this property, and move away. This he accomplished Feb- ruary 5, 1837. He worked farming for a little while, and then went to Michigan, pros- pecting. He soon returned and bought a farm of one hundred acres in the town of Jefferson, Schoharie County. Here he lived for ten years, working on the land and getting good crops. Then he came back to Roxbury, and bought the present homestead of two hundred acres, one hundred acres of which he pur- chased of J. Collins, and the other hundred of E. D. Hunter. This land under a system of skilful and thorough cultivation has yielded very gratifying results. The place has been improved by additional buildings and altera-
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tions in those already standing. A part of the present dwelling-house was built in 1795, and is still in good condition. Here Mr. Sil- liman lived until shortly before his death, which occurred on August 11, 1882, at the age of seventy-six.
Mr. Alexander Silliman was in his early days a Whig, but later he became a Democrat. He married Lucy Montgomery, who died August 13, 1854, at the age of forty-five. Like his father, Alexander had ten children. His daughter Louise was born December 22, 1832, and died November 27, 1865, at the age of thirty-two. Mary, who is still living, was born December 24, 1834; and Angeline (de- ceased) was born March 18, 1837. Roxanna was born May 18, 1839, and died February 26, 1872. Hiram, the subject of this history, was born October 27, 1841. William was born January 6, 1844. Betty was born July 25, 1846, and lived till November 7, 1874. Ella L. was born March 13, 1848, and died in her thirty-fifth year. Harriet was born on the 13th of April, 1850. Emma J. was born July 24, 1854.
Hiram H. Silliman was born in Jefferson, Schoharie County, in the same year in which his father came to Roxbury. The family had been left behind until the new home should be in readiness, and it was while they were waiting that Hiram was born. He received a good education in the district school. At twenty-five he bought the old homestead from his father, and began the management of the farm, which has steadily grown in value and productiveness, year by year the abundant crops bearing testimony to intelligent and faithful work. On January 5, 1869, Mr. Sil- liman was united in matrimony with Ruth Keator, a daughter of Daniel and Mary Kea- tor, who lived at Batavia Kill. Mr. Keator was born in 1800, and lived to the age of sixty-nine years. His father was one of the earliest settlers. Mrs. Silliman had twelve brothers and sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Silliman have two sons. The elder, Charles H., born June 25, 1871, married Carrie Conrow, daugh- ter of Stephen Conrow, of Gilboa, Schoharie County, and is a Congregational minister in Friendship, Allegany County. The younger, Norman K., was born April 21, 1875.
Mr. and Mrs. Silliman have a very pleasant home, situated at the very head of the valley in the West settlement. He is a Democrat in politics, and has been Assessor of the town for two terms, and Trustee of Schools for about twenty years, besides holding other public positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Silliman is a member of Cœur de Lion Lodge. No. 571, A. F. & A. M., which he joined on January 6, 1866, being one of the first members. He is widely and favorably known as a practical and successful farmer.
OHN S. WHITE, a successful business man and popular citizen of Downsville, was born in the town of Colchester, June 28, 1834, a son of Peter V. G. and Charlotte (Sutton) White. He is a grandson of Benjamin and Lovince Sutton, whose genealogy may be found in the biog- raphy of Benjamin Sutton, Jr., of Trout Creek. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, and was educated in the public schools of the town. When a young man, he visited his uncle, John White, in Ohio, and there engaged in agricultural pursuits, later taking charge of his uncle's farm of one hundred and thirty-two acres, on which new buildings were being erected. In 1860 he made a visit to his native town, and was there united in marriage to Mary E. Radeker. Returning with his wife to Ohio, Mr. White again as- sumed the management of the farm of his uncle John, and cared for him and his aunt until they died, when he sold their farm and removed to Delaware County, settling in Downsville. Here he purchased property in the village, one hundred and seventy-seven acres of farm land outside the town, and eighty acres of timber land.
Mrs. John S. White is a daughter of Will- iam H. and Jane (Campbell) Radeker, biog- raphies of whom are given elsewhere in this volume. She and her husband have one son, Horton V. G. White, who was born March 28, 1868. He received his elementary edu- cation in the schools of Downsville, and later attended Walton Academy, and graduated at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie. He married Alice Kater. In company with
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his son, Mr. White started a hardware store at East Branch, Delaware County, of which they are still the proprietors, Horton taking charge and doing the active business of the firm. They deal extensively in hardware and agricultural implements, and their store is one of the best in the town.
Mr. John S. White has been Town Clerk for three terms. He is liberal in religious views, and is highly esteemed throughout the community for his business ability, integrity, and sound judgment.
HEOPHILUS F. McINTOSH, editor and proprietor of the Delaware Repub- lican, one of the leading papers of the county, has exercised a marked influence on the affairs of this section of New York as a progressive, public-spirited citizen, having aided in guiding its political destiny as well as in promoting its interests materially, so- cially, and morally. Mr. McIntosh is the representative of a well-known family, and comes of sterling Scotch ancestry. He was born in the town of Kortright, near Bloom- ville, November 30, 1829. His father, George McIntosh, was born in the same town, and was a son of Simon McIntosh, whose father emigrated from Scotland, and was a pioneer of Dutchess County. After attain- ing manhood, Simon McIntosh served as a militia man in the war of the Revolution, and, subsequently coming to this county as a pioneer, leased land from the Kortright Patent, and made this his permanent abiding- place.
George McIntosh was a life-long resident of this county, and held a good position among its successful agriculturists. He married Sarah Jaquish, daughter of John Jaquish, a native of New Jersey, and the son of a French sailor who made visits to the United States, but never settled in America. Mr. Jaquish spent the early years of his life in New York City, but afterward became an honored resi- dent of Delaware County. In the Revolution- ary War he served seven years nine months and a day, being Orderly Sergeant in General Poor's brigade, and an active participant in the battles of Monmouth, Saratoga, and York-
town, besides being in many minor engage- ments. He also served with General Sullivan in his campaign against the Indians. Six children were born to George and Sarah (Ja- quish) McIntosh, the following being a brief mention : Theophilus Fletcher, the subject of this sketch; Perry H., a resident of Chico, Cal., unmarried; Delia, who married A. L. Hagar, of Hobart, N.Y., and died in 1889, leaving no children; Sophronia, the widow of Joel B. Carpenter, who resides in Walton, and has two children; Walter, who died at the age of twenty-five years, twin brother of Olive, who married Reuben H. Dart, and now lives in Albany, N. Y., with her daughter.
Theophilus F. McIntosh acquired his edu- cation in the district schools and the printing- office, in the latter place gleaning a vast fund of general information. In February, 1843, being then a sturdy lad of thirteen years, and thrown somewhat upon his own re- sources, he came to the village of Delhi, where he secured the position of "devil" in the Gazette printing-office. He worked for his board, with an allowance of twenty-five dollars a year for clothes, for a period of seven years, becoming well versed in the various duties of a newspaper office, and an expert in the art of printing. With a view to establish- ing himself permanently in journalism, he next attended school awhile, and then entered the Express office as a compositor, remaining there four years, during that time serving also as Assistant Postmaster of Delhi. The suc- ceeding five years Mr. McIntosh spent in Bloomville, working with Mr. Champion on the Mirror. While there he met with gratify- ing success, and made many warm friends. Among other prominent men of the time with whom he was brought in contact was the late Jay Gould, who was there surveying for a rail- road, and who spent most of his leisure time in the office of the Mirror.
In September, 1858, the Rev. C. B. Smyth established a paper at Delhi, called Star of Delaware; and this was published in the Mir- ror office, Mr. McIntosh being engaged to do the typesetting. In May following he and Mr. Smyth purchased a press and material at Walton, and, moving it to Delhi, established a plant which was the nucleus of the present
ALBERT P. MINOR.
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Republican office, Mr. Smyth being editor and Mr. McIntosh the publisher of the Star of Delaware, which was a small, five-column, four-page weekly paper. In the spring of 1860 Alvin Sturtevant and Mr. McIntosh forming a copartnership, purchased the plant and interest of that paper, and started the Delaware Republican, issuing the first number May 14, 1860. From the first the paper has been strongly Republican in its politics, and during the Lincoln campaign of that year was largely instrumental in arousing the people to a realizing sense of their duties, and spurring on its party to victory, its influence being felt throughout this section of the county. It was then a seven-column, four-page weekly, and the third Republican paper of the county. In 1864 the Franklin Visitor was purchased and merged into the Republican. The firm of Sturtevant & McIntosh continued until 1868, when the senior member of the firm disposed of his interest to Mr. Joseph Eveland, now proprietor of the Franklin Dairyman. In January, 1869, Mr. McIntosh became the sole proprietor of the Republican, which under his management has lost none of its former pres- tige, but has steadily gained in strength and popularity. Soon after taking possession of the paper, he enlarged it by one column; and in the spring of 1893 it was changed to a nine-column, four-page wcekly, beginning with the first number of the present volume (xxxiv.).
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