Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York, Part 74

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 74

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).

HARLES G. MEEKER, one of the prosperous farmers of the town of Roxbury, was born at the old Meeker homestead, June 27, 1855, being the son of Hiram and Sarah (Mont- gomery) Meeker, and grandson of Lyman

Meeker. The grandfather came from Fair- field, where he was giving his attention to farming, to Delaware County, and settled on Ross's Brook. The whole place was then a wilderness; and, in looking back, one can but wonder at the courage which so bravely faced the hardships and privations incident to such an undertaking. Nevertheless, he prospered, and cleared the way to a home for himself and a heritage for his children. Lyman Meeker had ten children - Hiram, Abraham, Edwin, Gorham, Philo, Ahaz, Adad, Pauline, Olive, and Deborah.

These all lived to grow up.

Hiram Meeker, son of Lyman, received his education at the district school in his native town of Roxbury, and commeneed farming as an occupation by working for his brother-in- law, Jeremiah G. Benton. At the age of twenty-one he bought one hundred and eighty

acres of partially cleared land, and, taking hold of the laborious task, finished clearing the whole tract, laying it out in fields, gar- dens, and hay-producing meadows. Later in life he took down the old farm-house which had served him and his wife in their first labo- rious days, and erected a large and attractive new one, with modern conveniences. He also built two barns and a wagon-house, partly of stone. Thus, commencing slowly at first, and steadily progressing, he developed a very fine estate. This energetic and enterprising man lived to be eighty years old.

His widow, Mrs. Sarah M. Meeker, is still living, at seventy-six years of age. She re- sides with her son, Charles G. Meeker. Her other children were: Mary, who married C. O. Kilpatrick, lives in town, and has one child; and Emma, deceased at the age of nineteen. Mr. Hiram Meeker was a Demo- crat. He was Supervisor and Justice of the Peace a long time, and also served as an As -. sessor. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Charles G. Meeker was educated in the dis- trict school and at the Roxbury Academy. After leaving school, he employed himself about the farm until he was of age. Then he took entire charge of it, and has since been steadily going on with improvements and de- veloping its various resources. Mr. Meeker's farm is a specimen of a fine type of American agriculture. It supports an attractive dairy, and a carefully selected herd of thirty cows, twenty-six of which are pure Guernseys. The farm, being partly in the corporation of Rox- bury, is distinguished by the convenient walks which lead all about it. Mr. Meeker deserves commendation for his earnest endeavor to beautify and improve his place, and is an example to those who, having estates, are indifferent to their appearance, or to the im- provement of that which they must pass on, as they finally leave them, to their descendants.

Charles G. Meeker married Miss Isabella Cartwright, who was born November 24. 1860, daughter of Almarion and Hannah (Cowen) Cartwright. Mr. and Mrs. Cart- wright had two children - Eber and Isabella. The father lived to be sixty-four years old. The mother makes her home with the son and

522

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

daughter. Mr. Cartwright was a Republican, but at the time when Horace Greeley was so active in politics he changed to the Democratic side. He was a man of use in town affairs. At one time he held the office of Provost Mar- shal. He was also Justice of the Peace three years, and Supervisor the same length of time.

Mr. and Mrs. Meeker have one child, a daughter named Jennie, born September 16, 1878. Mr. Meeker is a Democrat in politics, and he has been a Trustee of the village. He is a member of the Roxbury Lodge, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 608. He and his wife are both attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church.

HOMAS H. SCOTT, who owns and occupies a fine farm about four miles from the village of Walton, is by trade a carpenter and builder, and has erected many fine buildings in this vicinity, among others being the United Presbyterian church and parsonage at Walton. He was born in Bovina, June 23, 1852, son of James R. Scott, who was a native of the same town, born there in 1824. His paternal grandfather, Adam Scott, who was born in Deenburnhaugh, Roxburgh County, Scotland, in 1795, emigrated to this country in 1818, and was among the original settlers of Bovina. His marriage with Nancy Russell, which was performed by Squire Maynard, the grandfather of Judge Maynard, was the first marriage in Bovina. He took up a tract of wild land, and began to clear a farm; but, while yet in the vigor of manhood, he was accidentally killed, the pair of horses which he was driving taking fright and running away, and he, being thrown from the sleigh, struck on his head and went through the ice. He left a widow and eight children, the eldest of whom was a boy twelve years old. A year afterward the mother of these children was likewise taken away by death, leaving the family orphans indeed.

James R. Scott resided with an uncle after the death of his parents, and, on leaving school, learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which he carried on in Middletown and Bovina. For seven years he was also engaged in general farming, but never entirely relin-

quished his trade. He lived until sixty-five years of age, departing from the scenes of his earthly labors in 1889. His wife was Mary Winter, a native of New Kingston, and one of ten children born to Thomas and Isabelle Winter, who emigrated to New York from England, and, settling in New Kingston, there engaged in agricultural pursuits. They reared eight children, four sons and four daughters, namely: James A. ; Thomas H. ; Gilbert T. ; Andrew; Annabelle, deceased; Mary E., the wife of Jacob N. Thompson, of New Kingston ; Fanny, deceased; and Elizabeth. The mother spent her last years in the place of her birth, passing on to the higher life at the age of threescore years. Both parents were conscien- tious members of the United Presbyterian church.

Thomas H., the second son of James R. and Mary Scott, lived on a farm in New Kingston until sixteen years old, acquiring a good com- mon-school education, and, after completing his studies, taught school in the winter for several seasons. He learned the carpenter's trade of his father, as did each of his brothers, and subsequently entered into partnership with him, continuing thus to work until 1884. He then established himself in the village of Walton, where his reputation as a skilled mechanic had preceded him. Many of the finest residences and other buildings of this locality have been built under his supervision, and are standing monuments of his skill and industry. For ten years he conducted the business, being the leading carpenter of the town; but early in the present year, 1894, he removed to his farm, which contains one hundred acres of choice land. He carries on mixed farming and dairying, his specialty being butter-making; and in this business, as in every other in which he has engaged, he is meeting with unqualified success.

The marriage of Mr. Scott to Jennie Ormis- ton took place in 1880, when he was about twenty-eight years of age. Miss Ormiston was one of seven children born to her parents, James and Rebecca (McFarland) Ormiston, who were natives of Broome County, and were pioneer settlers of Bovina. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have had their family circle enlarged by the birth of six children, of whom the follow-

523

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ing are living: Mary; Ralph and Rebecca, twins; and Helen. Mr. Scott is a straight- forward business man, highly esteemed among his friends and fellow-citizens, and in politics is an influential member of the Prohibition party. He and his estimable wife are both members of the United Presbyterian church, in which he has been an Elder for many years, having been elected previous to his removal to Walton. He was superintendent of the Sunday-school for seven years, and Mrs. Scott was one of its most efficient teachers.

EORGE G. DECKER, one of the shrewd, energetic business men of Middletown, and President of the People's Bank at Margarettville, is a native of Delaware County, having been born in the town of Roxbury, February 15, 1824. His parents were William and Jane (More) Decker, at one time residents of Taghkanick, Colum- bia County, N. Y., the former of whom was born January 1, 1795, and was the son of Law- rence Decker, whose wife was by maiden name Caroline Hollenbeck. The latter died before her husband; and Lawrence Decker married again, his second wife being Lucretia Fowler. He was of Dutch ancestry, and came from Co- lumbia to Greene County, buying a small farm near Prattsville, which he cultivated with that untiring industry characteristic of the race from which he sprang. He and his wife Caro- line were the parents of five children, one son and four daughters, whose names, reversing the order of sex, were Caroline, Ann, Christina, Phebe, and William.

The last named, the date of whose birth is given above, was on the death of his parents adopted into the Hardenburgh family, and acquired a practical education in the common schools of Prattsville. His strong commercial instincts prompted him to seek the avenues of trade as the road to fortune; and with but a slender capital he started in the mercantile business, opening the first general store in Roxbury. For some time all went well with the youthful merchant; but his good fortune did not last long, his store being destroyed by fire, with all its contents. Not relishing this experience, he turned aside from the paths of

commerce to those of agriculture, and pur- chased a farm in the town of Andes, the prop- erty being known at the time as the Chapman farm, and now forming a part of the site of the village of Andes. Here he resided, engaged in agricultural pursuits, from 1832 to 1843. About the latter year he sold his farm, and, feeling inclined for a change, became the pro- prietor of the Andes Hotel, which he conducted for some. three years. In 1846 he removed to Hancock, and conducted a hotel there for one year, but at the end of that time returned to farming, and died on his son's farm, February 27, 1852. He was an old-time Democrat, and had served in the War of 1812. He held the office of Deputy Sheriff of his county. His wife, formerly Jane More, was born June 8, 1805, and attained the ripe age of eighty years, dying May 28, 1885.

George G. Decker acquired a fair amount of elementary knowledge in the common schools of his native town of Roxbury and Andes, and added to his mental equipment by a course in the Delaware Academy at Delhi. He then took a position as clerk in the general store of the Hon. E. J. Burhaus, remaining so employed for eight years, at the end of which time he became a partner in the business, the firm being known as E. J. Burhaus & Co. Not long after, obtaining an interest in the business, he came to Margarettville, in 1849, and opened a branch store, of which he took personal charge for six years, it being one of the first stores in the village. He then built a store for himself, and continued in the mercantile business until 1876, when he sold out the stock to Mr. Swart, about this time being made Postmaster of the village, an office which he resigned in 1884. The Western loan business occupied his attention from 1889 to 1891, in which latter year he organized and became President of the People's Bank of Margarettville. He was elected President, April 10, 1891 ; and the bank building was erected in the following year. The bank is a prosperous institution, much patronized by the business men and citizens of Middletown ; and Mr. Decker ably fills the office of President. That he has the good will and confidence of his fellow-townsmen is attested by the fact that he has served a term as member of Assembly, and

524

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

has held the town offices of Supervisor and Commissioner of Schools.

Mr. Decker was married in 1849 to Cathe- rine H. More, daughter of Alexander and Sarah (Church) More. The father of Mrs. Decker was a thriving and well-known farmer of Rox- bury, and was later a dealer in farm produce. He was the son of Robert and Susannah (Fel- lows) More, and was born in Roxbury in 1799. His paternal grandparents were John and Bessie (Tyler) More. Robert More, father of Alexander, was a Revolutionary soldier serving in the patriot army, and later becoming one of Delaware County's first settlers. He took up wild land, which he cleared, and became a thriving and substantial farmer, surviving to a good old age. He and his wife reared the fol- lowing children: William C., who married Sarah Newkirk; Susan A., who became the wife of O. A. Preston; Catherine, now Mrs. Decker; Abigail C., who married A. A. Crosby, of Rondout ; and David F., who mar- ried Sarah Hubble, and now resides in New- ark, N. J.

Mr. and Mrs. George G. Decker are the parents of three children: Susie M., who became the wife of S. W. Marvin, a publisher of New York City, and has four children, whose names are George Q., Alexander B., Elenor, and Samuel W .; Augusta A., who married O. A. Ewart, and died October 22, 1893, leaving three children - Howard D., Fred. . M., and Katherine; William M., who married Bessie Smith, is now a prominent physician in Kingston, and has two children -- Dorothy and William.

Mr. Decker, although engaged in active business, is not unmindful of the things per- taining to the higher life, and exemplifies a practical Christianity in his dealings with his fellow-men. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and is a power for good in the community in which he dwells.

ATHANIEL CURTIS MARVIN, at- torney-at-law of the town of Walton, is a lineal descendant of Reginald Marvin, who sailed from England for America early in the seventeenth century. The emigrant chose New Haven as the place

best adapted for his new enterprise; and hither he was soon followed by his brother Matthew, whose permit to cross the Atlantic was dated April 15, 1635. Here Reginald Marvin reared his family; and his son Regi- nald, who lived at Lyme, and was known in the Indian wars as Lyme's Captain, became the father of Samuel Marvin, who was born in 1671. Thomas, son of Samuel Marvin, and the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born March 4, 1703, resided at Simsbury, Conn., and died in 1754, having amassed a comfortable fortune.

His son Matthew was born at Simsbury, June 7, 1754. When the Revolutionary War broke out, and so many were ready and anxious . to fight for their freedom, Matthew was too young to be accepted as an active soldier ; but, with praiseworthy longing to take a part in the struggle, he persuaded his uncle to take him as Orderly. And thus he participated in several battles, among which were Long Island, Tren- ton, Red Bank, Princeton, and Germantown. He was also one of those brave, daring fellows who followed Lafayette in the memorable storming of the fort at Yorktown. He was married at New Canaan, Conn., in 1784, to Mary Weed, of that town. In 1799 they re- moved with a yoke of oxen and a horse to Walton, N. Y., where he took a grant of one thousand acres of timber land in company with his brother-in-law. This they cleared and im- proved, transforming it into fine, fertile farms, which continued in the possession of the family until 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Marvin buried an infant daughter, but reared five sons- Joseph, Jared, Thomas, the father of the subject of this sketch, William, and Lewis.

Their son Thomas was born at Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., April 20, 1791, and died March 25, 1891. In 1813 he married Dency Tiffany, who was born September 5, 1795, in the town now known as Hamden. She passed away in 1846, leaving eight chil- dren : William, born November 28, 1814, who died March 30, 1889; Thomas Edwin, born in 1816, who resides in Walton; Andrew J., who was born in 1819, and died in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1877; Joseph Tiffany, who was born in 1822 and now lives in Kansas; Nathaniel

525

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Curtis, the subject of this sketch; Frederick Foote, born in 1828, at present also in Kan- sas; Elizabeth Crane, born in 1830, who is the widow of the Rev. J. P. Root, of Boston, and has two daughters, both of whom are mis- sionaries in India; and Matthew W., of Walton.

Nathaniel Curtis Marvin was born March 3, 1826, in Walton, and grew up on his father's farm, receiving his education in the district school and in the academy of Franklin. When but twelve years of age, he began to read law with Judge Isaac Ogden, and at sixteen entered the law office of N. K. and T. H. Wheeler. He lived at home, and his time was fully occu- pied with farming and reading law. He was deeply interested in the State militia, and in 1849 was elected Captain of Company A, Sixty-ninth Regiment, being made Colonel in 1851. November 7, 1850, he married Miss Julia A. Fitch, who was born in Walton on Christmas Day, 1831, daughter of Nathaniel and Sally (Benedict) Fitch, both of whom were natives of Connecticut, but removed to New York when very young.

Nathaniel Fitch was born in 1797, and brought to Walton when but five years of age. The Benedicts had moved here in 1797, and Sally was born in 1799; and here both Mr. and Mrs. Fitch died - she, February 16, 1879; and he, August 12, 1872. They were the parents of five children, namely: Sarah, wife of Dr. E. Southard, of Franklin; Julia, Mrs. Marvin; Lyman M. Fitch, of Kansas City, Mo .; George and Augustus, both of Walton. The ancestors of the Fitch family were silk manufacturers in France, who at the time of the Huguenot persecution fled to Germany, and thence to Holland and England.

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin buried their only son, Nathaniel Curtis, Jr., aged two and one-half years, on October 20, 1869. They have living four daughters: Alice Augusta, widow of T. Porter Lanfield, who has one daughter, Ella ; Eliza Flora, wife of Charles B. Bassett ; Julia Fitch, wife of Benjamin G. North ; and Cora Belle, who married Mr. J. Terknile, and resides in New Jersey, being the mother of two sons and one daughter.

Mr. Marvin was a radical Democrat of the old Jackson and. Jefferson school, voting for

Martin Van Buren and Fremont; but on the organization of the Republican party he es- poused its cause as that of true Democracy, and has ever since been its stanch defender. Although he never aspired to be an office- holder, he reluctantly consented to serve as a candidate for State legislature, taking the field only nine days before the election, and was elected in a Democratic district. He served in this position during 1878 and 1879, his in- fluence for good being felt throughout that body. Mr. Marvin is an honor to the worthy name he bears -generous, manly, judicious, and conscientious; a devoted husband and father, and a faithful friend; a citizen whose life is an example of integrity and uprightness which young men might be commended in fol- lowing.

AY GOULD was born at West settle- ment, Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., May 27, 1836, son of John Burr and Mary (More) Gould. The Gould family is of English extraction, its founder in this country, Major Nathan Gold, having left St. Edmundsbury, County Suffolk, England, in 1646, to settle in Fairfield, Conn., where he soon made his influence felt as a fore- most citizen. He was one of the signers of the petition for the charter of the Connecticut Colony, 1654, which petition "was signed by no gentleman unless he had sustained a high reputation in England before he came to New England." From 1651 until his death in 1694 he was a member of the Connecticut Colonial Council, which corresponded to the State Senate of to-day.

A grandson of Major Gold, Colonel Abraham Gold, married Elizabeth Burr, thus connecting the Gold family with another of equal promi- nence. Abraham Gold was Colonel of the Fifth Regiment in the Revolutionary army, receiving his commission from Governor Trum- bull. Early in the war he was killed while leading an attack against the English under General Tryon. His sword is still preserved, now being in the possession of his namesake, Abraham Gould Jennings. The Colonel's fourth son, Abraham, was commissioned as Captain. At the close of the war, when New

526

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

York was in the " West," and sturdy men from Connecticut were pushing their way across the border, this Captain Gold led a party from Fairfield into Delaware County, where he took upland in what is now known as West settle- ment, Roxbury. Here was born his eldest son, John Burr Gould, the father of the subject of this sketch. The wife of John Burr Gould was a grand-daughter of John More, a Scotch- man of Ayrshire, who emigrated in 1772, and of whom a sketch is to be found elsewhere ill this volume.

Almost all of Jay Gould's school education was received before he was fifteen at the schools of the district, the private school sup- ported by his father, and a few other progres- sive men of the settlement, and at the Hobart Academy, where he partially paid his own expense by keeping books outside of school hours. As John Burr Gould had succeeded Captain Gold in the ownership and care of the farm, so it was expected that Jay would, in turn, succeed his father; but he showed such a distaste for farm life that his father exchanged the farm for a store in the village of Roxbury. At the age of fifteen Jay not only kept the books, but did all the buying ; and he was soon taken into partnership. His extra time was spent in the study of surveying ; and before he was sixteen he was doing practical work, at first as an assistant, then as a projector and leader of expeditions. He made several maps, the most important being that of Delaware County, which is still a standard.

While travelling over the country as a sur- veyor, he became interested in the reminis- cences of the old settlers. He took notes, followed up lines of investigation, and in an incredibly short time he had ready the first History of Delaware County. To state that the manuscript was burned at the printers, and that nearly all of it had to be rewritten from memory, is to give but one instance of those remarkable traits of energy and persever- ance and power of concentration and memory which were key-notes to Mr. Gould's character. Before this book had been returned from the printers, Mr. Gould had met Colonel Zadock Pratt, of Prattsville, who, recognizing at once the young man's ability, did not hesitate to enter with him into a large tannery enter-

prise in Pennsylvania. With almost the quickness of thought, a village sprang up in the forest, with its tannery, church, school- house, and post-office, with a plank-road lead- ing to the nearest town, and a stage route connecting with the outside world.

The prosperity of the business soon enabled Mr. Gould to purchase Colonel Pratt's interest, and enter into partnership with a New York firm. The partnership and the necessary deal- ing with wholesale houses led Mr. Gould frequently to New York. Here he met men of larger interests, one of whom, who had watched Mr. Gould's astuteness and quickness in deal- ing with difficult situations, asked his assist- ance in extricating from financial embarrass- ment a small railroad in Vermont. The accomplishment of this undertaking gave evidence of Mr. Gould's peculiar ability to build up a flagging enterprise, and it launched him on his life work. Henceforth his interests were centred in railroads and kindred enter- prises, as steamship and telegraph lines. To enumerate in order the railroads that gradually came under his management would be to trace the development of those parts of our country through which those railroads run, especially of the great West and South-west.

The Vermont railroad on a firm footing, Mr. Gould became interested in the Cleveland & Pittsburg road, which he built up in the same way. The Erie next engaged his attention, then the Union Pacific. At the time of his death Mr. Gould was a director in numerous railroad and other companies. But his greatest enterprises, familiar to all, were the Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the Texas & Pacific, the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany, and the Manhattan Railway. He amal- gamated rival telegraph companies, and became the head of the Western Union Telegraph system. He obtained control of the Union Pacific and the Manhattan when they were on the verge of bankruptcy, and soon made of them paying companies. And he laid the foundation of the great Missouri Pacific system.

Mr. Gould amassed a colossal fortune, and died at an age when many men are but begin- ning to reap the fruit of their labors. But into his first twenty-one years had been

527

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

crowded the work and experience of many an average man's lifetime. Denied the longed- for educational advantages, and busy all day, he grasped every opportunity to learn, spending the early hours of the night in reading and study. He had a remarkable knowledge of human nature, gained by his business contact with men of all classes. And, aside from the practical use of his knowledge of surveying, his work in that line had quickened his natural capacity for detail.

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 74

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