USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 78
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He married Sarah C. Harter, of Herkimer County, where her father was a well-to-do farmer, who has since retired. Mrs. Sarah C. Newkirk died at the age of thirty-four, leaving five children, namely : Frank H. Newkirk, who
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is a train-dispatcher on the West Shore Rail- road; William, who lives in Nebraska, where he is engaged in a prosperous insurance business ; Jane, who married Mr. H. C. Longyear, and now lives at Pine Hill, in Ulster County ; and Minnie and Margaret, who live at home. Mr. Newkirk has three grandchildren: John Jacob Newkirk, son of Frank H. Newkirk, who mar- ried Florence Fisher; and Frank H. and Sarah D. Longyear, the children of his daugh- ter Jane.
Since the death of his first wife Mr. New- kirk has married again, his second wife being Josephine McGregor, the daughter of John McGregor, formerly of Hobart, N. Y. Mr. Newkirk is a life-long Democrat, and has held the offices of Supervisor and Town Clerk in Roxbury. He belongs to several orders and lodges, is a prominent Mason, and is one of the most popular and respected citizens of =
the town. Mrs. Newkirk is a communicant of St. Peter's Church (Episcopal) in Hobart.
ALMON HARRISON MATHEW- SON is a highly intelligent farmer of the town of Masonville, a man who reads the papers and takes a keen interest in matters and events of the day, especially in things that make for social progress and individual improvement. His native place was McDonough, Chenango County, N. Y., where he was born September 22, 1826. His parents, Daniel and Sarah (Darling) Mathewson, were born in Rhode Island, in the town of Gloucester, since called Burrillsville. Joshua Mathewson, his pater- nal grandfather, was the son of an early settler of Rhode Island, who lived to the rare old age of one hundred and three years and nine months. Joshua was a farmer, and owned seven hundred acres of "Little Rhody's" few thousands, and was accounted a man of wealth in his day. His homestead was in Burrills- ville, where he died at an advanced age, hav- ing reared six children. In religion he was liberal.
Daniel Mathewson owned a small farm in Burrillsville, where he married and had a family before he decided to move westward. He came with his wife and children to
Chenango County, New York, about eighty- eight years ago, making the trip with a cov- ered wagon, a pair of horses, and a yoke of oxen, bringing their household goods and pro- visions, and driving a cow. They tarried a little while at Norwich before coming to McDonough, where they settled. Mr. Ma- thewson bought about two hundred acres. About one-tenth was cleared, the rest in a wild state and for the most part thickly wooded, and abounding in bears, deer, and smaller animals, also wolves, which were far too numerous for the comfort and safety of domestic fowls and animals without the greatest precaution. The nearest market was Norwich and Oxford. Mr. Mathewson was a thrifty woodsman, and used his axe to good purpose, clearing his land, disposing of the timber by burning it in piles and manufactur- ing potash of the ashes, which he bartered for merchandise. The stores as well as the mill to which the grain must be carried to be ground were at a great distance from the home.
Mr. Mathewson died in 1852, at sixty-eight years of age. His wife, surviving him nine years, died in 1861, at seventy-eight. She was in early life in Rhode Island, and also in New York, a member of the Free Will Baptist church ; while her husband was a Universalist in religious belief. In politics he was a Whig. Their ten children grew to manhood and womanhood. Three of them are now liv- ing, namely: Mestapha Mathewson, a retired farmer in the town of Cortland, Cortland County, N. Y. ; S. Harrison Mathewson, a farmer in Masonville ; Edilda Freeman, widow of the late Fitz Henry Freeman, lives in Montague, Mass. Julia E. Baldwin died in 1872; Hope died at thirty-four years of age; Daniel P. died at sixty-four years ; Mary Franklin died at thirty-nine; Thomas J. died at sixty-seven years ; Windsor died July 3, 1873; and Russell R. was killed while lumbering in Cameron, Steuben County, aged thirty-six years.
S. Harrison Mathewson received his ele- mentary education in the district school at McDonough, and afterward pursued more ad- vanced studies in select schools, and in the Norwich Academy. He lived at home with
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his parents, assisting his father in farm work when not attending school, till nineteen years old, when he began life on his own account by working out on the farm of Mrs. Batchelor, of McDonough, for four months at nine dollars per month. After a year of work as a farm laborer, he went to Rhode Island and engaged himself to Messrs. Eddy and Jesse Potter, con- tractors and builders, to learn the carpenter's trade. He remained with them six years, re- ceiving for the first year seven dollars per month and board, and in the latter part of the time having full wages of a skilled mechanic. Returning to McDonough, he there followed his trade for five years. He also in that time took to himself a wife. The following year, in the spring of 1857, they removed to Dela- ware County, and on April 3 took up their abode on the farm in Masonville, where he has continued to live to the present day. To his original purchase of one hundred and twenty-six acres he has added fifty-six, making one hundred and eighty-two in his home farm. Besides this he owns fifty acres in Tompkins. That Mr. Mathewson has been unwearied in his improvements in the thirty-seven years in which he has occupied his homestead is evident from the fact that he has summoned his neigh- bors no less than twelve times to assist in "raisings." The number and excellence of his buildings abundantly attest his skill in- carpentry. He keeps a dairy of about twenty head of native cattle, and is a shareholder in the O. K. Creamery, in which he has one- fourth interest.
Mr. Mathewson was married on January 29, 1856, to Susan F. Randall, who was born in Masonville, March 13, 1837, daughter of Hezekiah A. and Eliza A. (Moody) Randall. Her grandfather, Ichabod Randall, was an early settler of the town, who lived on the farm which is the home of Mr. Mathewson. Ornan Randall, brother of Ichabod, was the first settler here, and built the original log house on the farm. Mrs. Mathewson's father was a representative farmer of his day. His wife died in McDonough, at forty-eight years of age. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mathewson, May 24, 1877, at sixty-six years of age. They were Presbyterian in re- ligion, and Mr. Randall was a Democrat in
politics. Of their eight children, four are now living.
Mr. Mathewson and his wife Susan reared four children, namely : Russell R., born Sep- tember 29, 1858, was a teacher in early man- hood, now lives in Binghamton; Flora Austin, born January 16, 1857, was also a teacher, now wife of Alexander Austin, of Masonville ; Homer Mathewson, born July 26, 1870, a former teacher, now a farmer on the home farm; Jessie, formerly a teacher, born Novem- ber 7, 1871, also lives at home. Mrs. Susan Mathewson died in Masonville, September 15, 1884. On January 9, 1886, Mr. Mathewson was married to Mrs. Eliza Case, whose maiden name was De Forest, who was born in Una- dilla, N. Y., and who died September 19, 1893. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Mathewson has been a member for thirty-five years, hold- ing various offices, as class leader, Steward, and Trustee. He was also Sunday-school superintendent for five years. He is of a deeply religious nature, and leads an exem- plary Christian life.
Industrious, sagacious, and prudent, Mr. Mathewson has been financially successful in his various undertakings. His residence is a comely dwelling, fronted by a beautiful lawn sloping to the highway, conveniently and taste- fully furnished and arranged as to home com- forts and the exercise of generous hospitality. In politics Mr. Mathewson is a stanch Re- publican.
RANK GRAHAM is a retired dairy farmer in comfortable circumstances, now living at Bovina Centre. He was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, and came to America in 1845 with his parents, James and Charlotte (Armstrong) Graham. He has in his veins some of the gallant blood of the Scotch Highlanders of the olden days, inherit- ing it from his grandfather, Thomas Graham. James Graham held an important position in his native land of thistle and heather, having charge of a large landed estate. Four weeks from the day that he left Scotland he moved into his own home in Bovina, whither he had come and purchased a farm. The following
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spring he bought a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of brush-covered land near Delhi, and it was a work of time and patience to get it into a state of productiveness. This farm was bought on credit, and by dint of good manage- ment the elder Graham met his payments as they became due, until there was no further debt, and he was sole and undisputed posses- sor.
He was a Republican in politics, and an active worker and generous supporter of the First Presbyterian Church in Delhi, of which his wife was also a member. He died at the age of sixty-five years, his wife living to be seventy-four. Of their eight children, two sons, James and Thomas, are dead. The six living are Frank, the central figure of this family group portrait; Robert, a grocer in Canada; Beatrice, the widow of Robert Gow, in Bovina Centre; Walter, who lives at the home place in Delhi; Margaret, who married John Middlemast, and is a widow in Delhi; and Elliot, a farmer in Andes.
Frank was a lad of sixteen when his father came to America, and had received his school- ing in Scotland. For several years he worked out by the month, his first month's earnings amounting to only four dollars ; and his largest yearly payment was one hundred and fifty dollars. In spite of his poor wages, he prac- tised such close economy and self-denial that he was able after some years to buy a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres near Delhi. Here he made dairy-farming a specialty. Be- sides some thirty head of cattle, he had some very fine full-blooded sheep. He had a good farm, and was a practical and successful farmer.
In 1858 he was joined in wedlock to Mary Wight, a daughter of Matthew and Mary Elliot Wight. The parents of Mrs. Graham were among the early settlers of Delhi, and were also Scotch. Only one child crowned this marriage of Frank and Mary Graham, a rosebud born to bloom in heaven; for the daughter whose coming had awakened such joyful anticipation died in infancy. In 1890 Mr. Graham moved to Bovina Centre, where he now has a handsome residence in progress of erection. He has been an efficient worker in the Presbyterian church, to which communion
his wife also belonged; and he has always been a loyal Republican. Mrs. Graham died at her home in Bovina Centre, September 14, 1894. With the accumulation of worldly possessions, official cares have come; and Frank Graham has been for some years Asses- sor and member of the Excise Board, and is now Justice of the Peace in Bovina, where he is held in high regard as an upright man and a useful citizen.
ENRY W. HUNT, a popular resident of Hancock, N. Y., was born in Thompson, Sullivan County, De- cember 19, 1828. His grandfather, John Hunt, who was of Irish descent on the paternal side, and Dutch on the maternal, was born in Woodstock, Ulster County, where the family were early pioneers. He married a daughter of Captain Cortright, one of the most prominent men in Ulster County, who com- manded the company in the Revolutionary War in which Henry Hunt's great-grandfather served. John Hunt resided at Woodstock when the Indians and Tories raided that sec- tion of the country, leaving desolation and ruin behind. The family had just time to flee to the block-house in the village before their house was destroyed. At the close of the war John Hunt resumed his former occupa- tion of farming in his native town, remaining there until the latter part of the century, when he removed to Sullivan County and became a pioneer settler of Thompson, dying there at an advanced age. He was a stanch Whig. His wife lived to be over ninety years of age, retaining all her faculties until the last, and remembering many interesting anecdotes of the Indian wars, which she related to her children and grandchildren.
Jacob Hunt, son of John and father of the subject of this biography, was also born in Woodstock, the date of his birth being Febru- ary 1, 1802. He was but seven years of age when he removed with his parents to Sullivan County, where he assisted his parents on the home farm. There were four children, of whom he was the eldest, namely: Jacob ; Abraham ; Allsop; and Jane, who married a German miller, Henry Dalmetch, of Bingham-
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ton. Jacob Hunt was a carpenter and farmer, and married Nellie Wynkoop, who was de- scended from an old Dutch family of New York State, and owned a farm in Sullivan County adjoining that of John Hunt. Jacob Hunt was a large man of wonderful strength and indomitable courage, who was always called upon to settle disputes in the town where he was a prominent and much respected citizen. He later purchased a farm in Galilee, Pa., and there passed his last days, dying when over eighty years of age. He was three times married, the result of his first union being eleven children, as follows: Henry, David, Hulda, Mary, Ennace, Nancy J., Jacob, John, Abraham, Reuben, and Francis -all of whom are now living except David, who died in 1884 in Wisconsin. Hulda married Addison Pullis, a lumberman of Galilee, Pa. ; Mary is the wife of George Ralston, a farmer in Jackson County, Wis. ; Ennace married Wesley Wil- cox, of Galilee; and Nancy is the wife of Charles Weeks, of Thompson, Sullivan County.
Henry W. Hunt was educated in his native town, and learned . the blacksmith's and car- penter's trades, which he followed for fifteen years. August 12, 1855, he married Rachel Tyler, daughter of Smith and Polly (Baxter) Tyler. The Tyler family was one of the first to settle in Hancock, and gave the name to- several localities of this section. The Baxters were also pioneers here, Jesse Baxter, grand- father of Mrs. Hunt, being one of the original settlers of Harvard in the town of Hancock. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have had four children, namely: Ophelia, born June 28, 1856, who died May 29, 1858; Polly E., who was born March 1, 1858, married George W. Pine, of Thompson, Sullivan County, and was the mother of three children - Blanche, Frederick M., and Floy L. ; Marshall, born February 27, 1860, a contractor in New York City; and Carrie, who was born December 13, 1866, and married Frank Verdon, a telegraph operator at Maybrook, Orange County.
Mr. Hunt was Justice of the Peace for two terms in Thompson, and is a member of the East Branch Camache Tribe of Red Men. He is a Republican in politics, having cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, and has
supported the party since that time. Mrs. Hunt is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the family is universally esteemed throughout the town where they reside.
R EV. JACOB B. VAN HOUSEN, a venerated and much beloved clergy- man of Roxbury, N. Y., was born in the town of Fulton, Schoharie County, November 21, 1817. His grandfather, Francis Van Housen, of Dutch ancestry, was born in Hudson, Columbia County, and was a private and Sergeant in the Revolutionary army. He married Hannah Daniels, and soon after came to Schoharie County, in 1795, and built a log cabin in the wilderness near West Fulton. He cleared five acres of land, raising a little grain, which he was obliged to take on a sled drawn by an ox team sixteen miles through the forest to be ground. The road that was cut by this travel may still be seen. He died at the age of seventy. He was a member of the Baptist church, and was a Democrat in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Van Housen had a family of seven children : Levi, Asa, Lemuel, Elizabeth, Louisa, Polly, and Hannah.
Levi Van Housen, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Columbia County, working with his father until he took posses- sion of the farm, which he afterward sold. Moving to Richmondville, he purchased a farm of one hundred and eighteen acres, and re- mained thereon about eight years. He then changed his abode to Summit, and from there to Worcester, Otsego County. While in the forest after wood, a falling tree struck him, breaking his back. This occurred in the prime of his life, he being but fifty-nine years of age at the time of his death. He married Hannah Baird, to whom fourteen children were born; namely, Jacob Baird, Lemuel P., Erastus R., Leroy B., Levi Y., John F., Jason B., Harriet, Elizabeth, Mary, Sarinda, Lydia Ann, Melissa, and Emeline. Mr. Levi Van Housen, like his father, was a member of the Baptist church and a Democrat in poli- tics, and held many offices in the town.
Jacob Baird Van Housen was educated in Fulton Academy, and afterward learned the
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WILLIAM WAKEFIELD.
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blacksmith's trade. At the age of twenty- four he gave up this occupation, and, having studied for the ministry, was ordained pastor of the Second Summit Church. Here he officiated for three years, and then moved to Flat Creek, Schoharie County, where he re- mained seven years, then removed to Stamford, Delaware County, preaching also at other places. He came to Roxbury in October, 1892. He married Rachel M. Brazie, daugh- ter of Peter and Ann (Noonan) Brazie, her father being a farmer of Summit, Schoharie County. Mr. and Mrs. Van Housen have had three children: Mary S., who married Dr. E. Cowles, of Fishkill, Dutchess County, N. Y., and has two children - Hattie M. and Frank J. ; Levi J., who was born December 25, 1857, and married Jennie A. Grant, daughter of James and Hannah (Curr) Grant, and has seven children - Carrie May, Emma C., Mary Inez, Charles G., Frank C., Ed- ward J., and Maudie A. (deceased) ; Charles K., who was born July 16, 1859, and died July 26, 1864.
The Rev. Mr. Van Housen bought the Carter estate in the town of Roxbury, on the Windham turnpike. His son Levi J. takes charge of it, carrying on a large dairy, and is a very progressive farmer. Levi J. is a Demo- crat, his father a Prohibitionist. In his fifty- three years of ministerial labor Mr. Van Housen has preached eight thousand sermons and baptized about four hundred people. To- day, at the age of seventy-seven, he is an active man, still preaching the gospel, and doing good wherever he goes. Many are the hearts that he has brought to the light and made glad by his teachings.
ILLIAM WAKEFIELD, a man who began life in the most humble circumstances, by ardent energy, untiring industry, and strict adherence to honorable business principles, has made for himself a reputation and acquired a competency, which he now enjoys in his beautiful home in Walton. His father, Hiram Wakefield, was the son of Jesse Wakefield, of Connecticut, and one of a family of five children, all of whom married and lived to a good old age.
He was born in 1812, in Middletown, Dela- ware County, where he married Miss Elmira Kittle, the result of this union being six chil- dren, one of whom, named Josephine, was drowned in early childhood. Another, Peter Wakefield, who was a most successful farmer in Franklin, died November 13, 1893, in his fifty-seventh year, leaving a goodly fortune to his wife and two daughters. Amanda, widow of Horatio Pomeroy, lives in North Walton. Sophronia and Lydia Jane are single, and live in Franklin. Hiram Wakefield was a hum- ble farmer, and after many years of ceaseless toil died in Franklin, in 1885, his wife two years later following him to the eternal home.
William Wakefield was born in Middle- town, Delaware County, in 1833, and was reared in the daily drudgery of farm life, re- ceiving only the limited education which the district schools of the town could furnish. When but twenty-one, he married, in 1854, Miss Rachel Russell, of Hamden, who died childless in 1856. In 1858 he again married, his second wife being Margaret Davidson, of Delhi, daughter of George and Margaret (Dunn) Davidson, who were both natives of England. Mr. Davidson died at his home in Delhi in 1886, in his eighty-third year. He had a family of fourteen children. His widow
and nine children survive him. Mrs. David- son lives in Hamden, a feeble lady of eighty- seven years. Thomas Davidson, a brother of Mrs. Wakefield, and a volunteer in the late Civil War, was killed in the battle of Honey Hill, when but twenty years old. A brave young man, just starting out on life's career, there he lies buried among his comrades who died for their country's freedom and the honor of their nation's flag. John Davidson, an- other brother, also fought in his country's service, being wounded in battle, and, dying from the effects of that wound, now sleeps in the old cemetery at West Delhi. Other mem- bers of the family are the following: Grace, now deceased, who left four children by her first marriage, with Richard Thompson, her second husband being John Scott; Isabella, wife of Henry Scott, who lives in Delhi, and has four children; Mrs. Wakefield; George W. ; Eleanor J., widow of Peter Wakefield ; Allon, living in California ; Mary A., wife of
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John B. Mable, living in DeLancey ; James P., in Mundale; Douglas, in Bovina. Two died unnamed, and George when but a few months old.
Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield have one son, Charles W. Wakefield, who married Dora Goldsmith, and lives in Oneonta. Mr. Wake- field is a carpenter, whose work is always faithfully and carefully performed, and who has built many of the finest houses in Walton. He erected his present residence, at No. 4 Bruce Street, in the summer of 1892 ; and both the exterior and interior of the house exhibit the artistic taste and thorough workmanship of the owner, making it one of the most attractive dwellings in the town.
Mr. Wakefield was formerly a Republican, and is now a Prohibitionist ; and both he and his admirable helpmate are valued members of the Congregational church. In these days of discontent, when so many complaints are being made, on the one hand of poor work, and on the other of scant remuneration, it is a special pleasure to hear of a man who has received a suitable reward for his honest labor. Mr. Wakefield is a man of this type, meritoriously successful, whose prosperity has been won by vigorous efforts and rigid conformity to the principles of honor and noble-mindedness.
A portrait of this worthy citizen may be seen on an adjoining page.
AMES COULTER, an influential resi- dent of Bovina Centre, was born in the same town in 1808. His parents were Francis Coulter and Nancy Glenden- ning; and both were born in Scotland, where they were married. They came to this coun- try in 1800, and stayed a year in Albany, whence they removed to Delaware County for a two years' residence in Stamford. Then they came to Bovina, and hired some land. In order to reach New York City, which was the main market, it was necessary to go to Catskill by team, and thence to the metropolis in a sloop. The primeval forest had not yet been cleared away, and was full of game. Wolves, bears, and even panthers, occasion- ally visited the yards of the log houses scat- tered here and there in the wood clearings.
Francis Coulter soon had a log house of his own, where he lived many years, working hard and successfully, till he was able to own nearly two hundred acres of land, which he bequeathed to his family when he died, at the age of seventy-six. He and his wife were a unit in their religious opinions, belonging to the United Presbyterian Church in Bovina Centre; and she died at about the same time and age as her husband. Of their nine chil- dren five grew up, and two still survive: our subject, the elder; and his brother, William Coulter, living in Wisconsin.
James Coulter went to school and grew up in his native town, where he learned carpen- try, blacksmithing, and stone-masonry, having a natural turn for these trades, though his main business was always agriculture. On January 5, 1832, James was married to Nancy Thompson, who was born in Bovina on the first day of December, 1811, just before the last war with Great Britain. She was a daughter of Andrew Thompson, another early Scotch settler of Bovina, in 1802; though he and his wife have long ago passed into the undiscovered country, followed by their seven sons and daughters. Grandfather Thompson was a hard-working farmer, and won both riches and respect. James Coulter bought the land where he now lives in 1833, the year after his marriage. At first they had only a small clearing and a log hut; but his farm has now grown to three hundred and twenty acres, one of the largest in the vicinity. Mrs. Coulter died the day after the Fourth of July, 1891, when nearly eighty years old. Her husband has been a member of the United Presbyterian Church in Bovina Centre since he was a lad of eighteen, and his wife also was a communicant. They had no less than thirteen children, and the six named below are now living. James William Coulter oversees the Commodore Gerry estate at Lake Delevan. Francis R. Coulter, born August I, 1840, is a prosperous Bovina farmer and milk-raiser, and was married in January, 1871, to Jane Nancy Scott, born in Bovina, a daughter of Robert C. Scott, a pioneer in this region; but they have no children, and live a somewhat retired life, the farm which they occupied for a score of years having been
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