USA > New York > Delaware County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Delaware County, New York > Part 84
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Ransom Palmateer worked at home until he was twenty-five years old, gaining a practical experience and knowledge of farm life. He then bought three hundred acres of land from Hizer & Liddle, and began to think, as most
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young farmers do, that it was not wise for him to live alone. So he wooed and married Anna Simmons, the daughter of John V. and Har- riett (Beers) Simmons. The bride's paternal grandparents were Noble and Sarah (Randall) Simmons, the former a native of Massachu- setts, though of English parentage, and a soldier of the War of 1812. Mr. Noble Sim- mons's estate was located in what is now known as North Roxbury, at that time an absolute wilderness. He and his wife reared seven children : Hiram, George, Eliza, Daniel, Emeline, Lydia, and John V. John V. Sim- mons, the "Benjamin " of his father's old age, received a good education, and began teaching at seventeen years. At twenty-six he married Miss Harriett Beers, a daughter of David and Polly (Gould) Beers. To them seven chil- dren were born. Sarah E. married a Mr. Scudder, W. Porter married C. Deyo, Nathie died young, Jennette married the Rev. C. Artman, Emma married G. Graham, M. Agusta married H. L. Kelly, and Anna is the wife of Mr. R. Palmateer. Mr. Simmons was left a widower, and married for his second wife Miss Eliza Gleason, who bore him two chil- dren, Gleason and John. She died; and he married thirdly Miss Addie Palmater, by whom he has one child. Mr. and Mrs. Sim- mons sold their estate to their son, and are now living a quiet life.
Ransom Palmateer's marriage has been blessed by the advent of five children, four of whom are now living; namely, Arthur, May, Everett, Edith, and Howard. He has re- modelled the buildings on his farm, and is preparing timber for the construction of a capacious overshot barn. He has one of the largest dairies in Andes, keeping a herd of fifty graded Jersey cows, averaging two hun- dred and fifty pounds of butter per head. Mr. and Mrs. Palmateer are happily allied in the bond of a common religious faith, both being members of the Methodist Episcopal church ; and in politics he is a Democrat.
EORGE H. KEATOR, a successful farmer of Roxbury, N. Y., was born in West settlement in this town on March 11, 1837. He belongs to a family that
has been in Delaware County for three genera- tions, being a grandson of Gideon Keator, who was a native of Esopus, Ulster County, and thence came here with his family and settled in Brookdale, near the village of Rox- bury.
The wilderness still hid the most fertile lands under its veil of dense underbrush and mighty trees. But Gideon Keator threw him- self with a will into the work of reclaiming his six hundred acres, and soon the fruitful fields were beginning to crowd out the forests. The earth yielded up its increase, and Mr. and Mrs. Keator were very prosperous in their new home. Barns and other necessary buildings were put up as fast as they were needed; and the estate came in time to be very valuable, so that Mr. Keator had no difficulty in selling it for a good price when he decided to make a change. Benjamin Scudder was the purchaser, and he lived on the place all his life. Mr. Keator and his wife Mary had eight children -- John G., Charity, George, Harriet, Hiram, Katie, Peter, and Henry.
George Keator, second son of Gideon Kea- tor, was born in Ulster County, came with his father to Delaware County, and was educated in the district school of Roxbury. When he came to man's estate, he contracted marriage with Betsy Benjamin, a daughter of Jesse and Katherine Benjamin, who were early settlers in Roxbury. He purchased sixty-nine acres of cleared land in West settlement, and then, as soon as opportunity offered, secured one hundred acres more of partly reclaimed new land. These two purchases made a fine farm when Mr. Keator had put on the improvements that he saw were desirable - new houses and barns. He lived on this farm until his death, at the age of eighty-four. Mr. Keator was a Democrat, and an old-school Baptist. Mrs. Betsy Keator lived to the age of eighty-six. She had six children, but three of these died. The three who lived became well-known men in the community. Jacob P. married Jennie Van Kuren, but she died, leaving one daugh- ter, Millie; and he married again, this time May Douglass. By his second marriage he had one son, John, who lives at Rondout, and is a palace-car conductor. John B. married Eleanor Bartram, and died, leaving one daugh-
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ter, Mary, who is now the wife of John P. Ganoung.
The other son, George H. Keator, was edu- cated at Roxbury Academy and at Syracuse. At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Frances B. Walker, daughter of Daniel and Eliza Walker. Mr. Walker owned a large farm, and in addition owned and operated a fulling-mill. He also did some work as a contractor and builder. He had seven other children - five by his first wife, the mother of Mrs. Keator, and two by his second wife. Mr. Walker was a Democrat, and lived to the age of seventy-one years. After his marriage Mr. Keator took charge of his father's farm, he being unable to manage it on account of ill health. This he continued until 1867, when he went to Dover, Del., and took up a farm there. After one year's trial his father, find- ing the home work too much of an under- taking, sent for him to come back to the old place. So he took up the affairs of the estate anew ; and there he lives to-day, about five miles out from the village.
Mr. and Mrs. Keator have had three chil- dren, of whom one is now living. Bessie M., who was born January 23, 1865, married Adel- bert Carroll, and is now dead. Alice M. was born September 3, 1866, married H. G. V. White, of East Branch, and died at twenty- seven. Maud M. was born March 15, 1880, and still lives at home with her father. Mr. Keator is a Democrat, and has held the office of Assessor for four terms. He is a member of the Methodist Episocal church, and of Hobart Lodge, No. 62, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
AVID FOOTE is an influential citizen of Franklin, Delaware County, in which town he was many years an active and progressive farmer, though of late years living a some- what retired life.
Looking backward, we find that all the Footes of the country, for nine generations or more, are descended from Nathaniel Foote, who came early to Wethersfield, Conn., and had two sons - Nathaniel and Robert. Many facts concerning the family are set forth in
the Foote genealogy, published in 1849, and in the sketch in this volume of Mrs. S. E. Foote.
The grandfather of David Foote, Charles Foote, was a tanner, currier, and shoemaker in Colchester, Conn. ; and his wife was Jerusha Chamberlain. He was also a surveyor, and went to Wyoming, Pa., in pursuance of his calling, expecting to remain there; but, the Revolution coming on, both he and his son Charles enlisted as soldiers. He had five boys and four girls, all of whom lived to be married except the youngest daughter and one son. The fourth child and second son was Elias, the father of Mr. David Foote.
Elias Foote was born in Colchester, New London County, Conn., on October 4, 1766, ten years before the Revolution, but died in Franklin, July 5, 1855, when nearly ninety years old. His wife was Sally Tracy, born in Lenox, April 13, 1780, and therefore four- teen years her husband's junior. She was the daughter of Ezekiel and Patience (Kimball) Tracy, both from Massachusetts; but she was married in Otsego County, in the town of Oneonta, in 1809, though later they lived in Otsego, on a farm of forty acres, afterward increased to twenty more. Mr. Foote sold this land in 1844, and ended his life in the home of his son David in North Franklin, and was buried in the graveyard near the Baptist church, where his wife also was placed at the age of seventy-six, both being firm Baptists. They had four boys and three girls, and two sons and one daughter are still living. One of the sons is David, the subject of this sketch ; and the other is Ezekiel, a retired blacksmith in the same town. Their sister Esther never married, but has a home with her brother David, though she and her sister Jane had a home together in the same town, till it was broken by death in 1889.
David Foote was born March 24, 1812, at the beginning of the last war with England ; and his birthplace was on the banks of the Susquehanna, in what was then a part of the town of Franklin, but is now within the limits of Otsego. Though a farmer, he was for sev- eral winters a teacher also. Like his father, he married somewhat late in life, October I, 1857, when he was forty-five. His wife was Mary Parsons, of Franklin, a daughter of
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Thomas and Anna Parsons, who came from Connecticut in 1800. Mr. and Mrs. Foote have no children, though they have given a home to the children of others, thus blessing their fellow-men. In politics Mr. Foote was a Republican until 1884, when his regard for temperance led to his union with the Pro- hibitory party, though he has held no public office. He has, however, been appointed ex- ecutor for several estates. He owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres in North Frank- lin, purchased in 1844, and on which he has resided ever since. He has also another estate of one hundred and twelve acres of bottom land along the Susquehanna, once the property of his brother Asa, who died at the age of seventy-six, leaving a son and daughter. The son, George H. Foote, has been a teacher dur- ing seventeen winters.
L. MURRAY, an enterprising business man, who combines the practice of the tonsorial art with the duties of Postmaster of Arkville, to which latter office he was appointed in 1893, was born in Middletown, January 10, 1866, son of George and Lucinda (Blish) Murray, and the grandson, on the paternal side, of James and Mary (Ebanathus) Murray, both natives of Scotland, and who came to America about the opening year of this century, settling in New York City. The former was a seafaring man, holding a position as second mate, and was lost at sea when about forty-two years of age, leaving a wife and two children - Robert and George. His wife survived him six years, and died at the age of forty-six years in New York City.
Robert Murray died in the South during the late Civil War; while his brother George, born in 1810, in New York City, was brought up there, but later went to Hyde Park, Dutchess County, where he learned the tan- ner's trade. In 1833 he enlisted in the navy as a United States marine on United States ship "Peacock," and served for over three years, visiting many foreign countries and most of the principal seaports of the world. In the pursuit of his calling he contracted rheumatism, and, receiving his discharge from
the navy, resumed his trade of tanner, coming to Delaware County in 1842, and the follow- ing year marrying Lucinda, daughter of John and Lucinda (Townsend) Blish. A family of twelve children was born to them, namely : Robert A. married Mary Beadle, and resides in Middletown. Norman J. died at the age of thirteen. Oliver L. married Sarah Parker, and resides at Griffin's Corners. Eliza died at the age of eleven years. Artemesia, now de- ceased, became the wife of John A. Jones, and at her death left one child. Celia I. married Frederick J. Elmore, and resides in Syracuse, N. Y. Mary E. became the wife of John H. Depew, of Walton. James G. chose for his wife Lydia Kelly, and settled at Griffin's Cor- ners. George died in infancy. A. L. is the subject of this sketch. Dorleskie and Lodus- kie were twins, the first of whom died at the age of sixteen years, and the latter became the wife of Walter L. Elwood, and resides in Wal- ton, N. Y. Soon after his marriage George Murray bought a farm of one hundred acres situated on the Kingston and Delhi turnpike near Arkville and along the bank of the Dela- ware River. Here he resided for thirty-two years, dying at the age of seventy-three. He was a Democrat in politics, and was Overseer of the Poor in his town. His wife still sur- vives him, and is now seventy-two years of age.
A. L. Murray was educated at Clousville, and learned the tonsorial trade, which he prac- tised at Griffin's Corners, later buying a shop at Margarettville. After staying in the latter place some thirteen months he sold out to E. J. Eastman, and came to Arkville, where he opened a shop and soon met with good patronage. He was appointed Postmaster in July, 1893, and has satisfactorily performed the duties of the office to the present time. Mr. Murray chose for his wife Miss Anna Conklin, daughter of Arthur and Emma A. (Osterhoudt) Conklin, of Margarettville. They have one son, Harry W., born May 15, 1893. Mr. Murray has so far in his career shown good business ability. and is the sort of man who knows how to make the most of opportunities. He is interested in the affairs of his town, and contributes his share toward its material welfare. His wife is a member of the new-school Baptist church, and is a lady of many pleasing qualities.
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HOMAS D. KINGSTON, proprietor of the Kingston Hotel, Delhi, is well known as one of the best hotel men in Delaware County. He made his first start as a landlord in this village, purchasing his present house, which he has rebuilt and re- furnished in the most approved modern style, and has since conducted with marked success, winning popularity as a host who understands how to cater to the wants of the public, one who well knows that "fine words butter no parsnips."
T HADDEUS S. HOYT, a highly re- spected farmer, residing about five miles north of the village of Walton, was born about three miles below his pres- ent residence, October 28, 1821. His father, Amasa, was also born at the same place. The grandfather, Thaddeus Hoyt, came origi- nally from New Canaan, Conn., and was one of the pioneer farmers of Delaware County. He reared a family of four sons, Amasa being the third in order of birth. He and his elder brother, Thaddeus, were farmers. The second son, John Benedict Hoyt, was a graduate of Yale College, and a well-known minister of the Presbyterian Church. Amasa resided on the old homestead until the time of his death. His children were all prominent mem- bers of the community, several of his sons being Deacons of the church. The family have always been among the foremost in church matters, the grandfather having been instru- mental in building first a log and afterward a frame church about one mile from the village of Walton. Amasa Hoyt was married to Eliza H. Seymour, a daughter of Samuel and Anna (Whitney) Seymour. Her parents reared the following family : Samuel, Lewis, Thaddeus, Andrew, Annie, Pollie, Sallie, Hannah, Eliza, and Emma Seymour. To Mr. and Mrs. Amasa Hoyt were born nine children; namely, Ga- briel, Amasa, Thaddeus, Frederick, Edward, Edwin, William S., Julia, and Whitney.
Thaddeus S. Hoyt received his education at the district and .a select school at Walton, afterward teaching school for one winter. At the age of twenty-two he purchased from his father-in-law, Thaddeus Fitch, the farm ad-
joining the one upon which he now resides. Mr. Hoyt was married September 12, 1843, to Letitia Fitch, a daughter of Thaddeus and Hannah (Mead) Fitch. The family originally came from Connecticut, Mr. Fitch coming to the farm upon which the subject of this sketch now resides in 1808. He died in 1879, at the advanced age of ninety-five years, being an extremely active man until the time of his death. He was Deacon of the Congregational church for many years. He was a man of much influence, and held in the highest re- spect by all throughout the town. Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus S. Hoyt have ever been active in religious matters, leaving the church at Walton to assist in building one at Westbrook. This church was organized in 1857, Mr. Hoyt being elected Deacon, and serving as Trustee for many years. He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for thirty years, Mrs. Hoyt having been engaged in teaching in the school for nearly that length of time. In poli- tics Mr. Hoyt is a supporter of the Republican party. He has always been known as a saga- cious and prudent farmer, his good judgment having brought his farm up to its present state of productiveness. He is held in the highest esteem by his neighbors, as a man of rare moral and intellectual worth. Mr. Hoyt served as Registrar of the Delaware Congre- gational Association for ten years. A portrait of Mr. Thaddeus S. Hoyt finds an appropri- ate place in this gallery of Delaware County worthies.
HARLES P. MOFFATT, one of the most extensive and enterprising farmers of Delaware County, and a citizen of Grand Gorge, Roxbury, was born October 12, 1827, son of Isaac and Mary (Poppino) Moffatt. He owns and occu- pies the farm on which his paternal grand- father settled nearly a hundred years ago.
Isaac Moffatt, Sr., was born May 6, 1750, and married Anna Scott, who was born Au- gust 27, 1752. He came from the north of Ireland, and settled in Washingtonville, Orange County, where he worked at the shoe- maker's trade. In 1799 he accompanied an exploring party to Delaware County, and,
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THADDEUS S. HOYT.
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finding here a suitable place for a home, re- turned for his wife and child. He erected a log house, cleared his land, and worked a little at shoemaking. He and his wife had nine children, namely: Jane, born March 18, 1782; Francis, born May 17, 1783; Nathan, born September 27, 1784; William, born February 8, 1786; Mary, born October 5, 1787; Isaac, born May 10, 1789; David, born March 29, 1791; Elmer, born February 15, 1793; George, born January 5, 1795. The father of this family died in January, 1825; and his wife passed away March 21, 1820. He was a Democrat in politics, and was a member of the Presbyterian church, as was also his wife.
Their son Isaac, the father of Charles P., was born in Orange County, May 10, 1789, and was but ten years old when his parents moved to Delaware County. His school days were extremely limited; but by improving his leisure at home he became a well-read man, and continued working on the farm, of which he assumed the management after his father's death. He married Mary, daughter of Jonas and Eleanor Poppino, who was born September 12, 1796. Mr. and Mrs. Poppino settled on the farm now owned by Charles Mayhand; and they reared the following chil- dren: Temperance, Mary, Eliza, Amanda, John G., Thomas J., and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Moffatt, Jr., had ten children - Cornelia, Eliza J., Adeline, Ellen, Charles P., Sally Ann, Amanda, Mary, Samuel, and Harriet. Mr. Moffatt improved his farm and crected new buildings, living to be sixty-eight years of age. He was a Whig, and with his wife was a member of the Presbyterian church.
Charles P. Moffatt received a district-school education, and at the age of twenty-five mar- ried Mary J. Rickey, daughter of John M. and Hannah (Judson) Rickcy, of Jefferson, Scho- haric County. Mr. Rickey's father owned a farm near Stamford, which was then in an unsettled condition. He was a Captain in the Revolutionary War, and was the father of cight daughters and threc sons. John, the father of Mrs. Moffatt, purchased a tract of one hundred acres of timbercd land, which he cleared, crccting substantial buildings. He
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died when thirty-three years of age, the father of two children: Caroline, who married William Moore, and died, leaving three sons; and Mary, the wife of Mr. Mof- fatt. His widow married Mr. Vandyke, and became the mother of three sons.
Mr. and Mrs. Moffatt have had three chil- dren, two of whom are now living. The other, Ella F., who married Melvin Parsons, died when thirty-seven years of age, leaving one daughter, Carrie A. Moffatt, who married Mr. Brown, of Oneonta, and has one child. Charles W., the only son, and a merchant in Stamford, married Belle Talmadge, and has one child. After his marriage Mr. Moffatt purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres now owned by Mr. Holcside, and there he lived for four years. He then sold that property, and purchased the old homestcad where he now resides, having remodelled the house, the frame of which is nearly one hun- dred years old. He has erected commodious barns, and keeps fifty or sixty cows and six horses. One hundred acres have been added to the original land, and the farm of three hundred acres is now one of the finest in this part of the country.
Mr. Moffatt is a Democrat in politics, and for nine terms, or twenty-seven years, held the office of Assessor, to which he was three times more elected, but declined to serve ; and for six years he was Excise Commis- sioner. He was drafted in the Civil War, but paid three hundred dollars for a substi- tute. Mr. Moffatt is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and is identified with all the good works of that organization, as well as with those of the town in which he resides.
ORACE G. PHELPS is a plain and unassuming but influential farmer and trader, living in Unadilla, two miles from the village of Sidney, Delaware County. Hc was born in Dutchess County in November, 1834. His father, B. W. Phelps, the second of two sons, was born in the same county in 1797, and dicd in Afton, Chenango County, in our centennial
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year, his age lacking only one year of four- score.
B. W. Phelps's wife was Anna Crandle, of Middlefield, Otsego County, the daughter of Isaac Crandle. They were married about the year 1819, and during nearly all their lives carried on a farm in Guilford, Chenango County. They had eleven children, of whom seven sons and three daughters are still liv- ing, Mr. Horace Phelps being the fourth in the order of birth. The one deceased daughter was Octavia, the wife of George Brightman, and died in March, 1888, about fifty-seven years old, leaving a son, Eugene Brightman. Of these ten surviving children the youngest is now, at the close of 1894, fifty-one, and the oldest over seventy; and all are married. Their mother died in 1865, five years before her husband; and their bodies rest in the East Guilford cemetery, amid the rural scenes wherewith their memories are affectionately and respectfully cherished.
Their son Horace grew up like the sons of other farmers, attending the district school, and working on the land. With dawning manhood, at the age of seventeen, he began to be greatly interested in live stock, which he purchased for his father, who was every inch a farmer. On reaching his majority, Horace bought sheep and cattle on his own account, subsequently hiring three or four farms for stock-raising; and to this business he devoted the most of his time for two years, when he began to trade in lumber with Charles G. Brooks, of Mount Upton, buying and clearing timber land, and getting the lumber ready for the general market, but chiefly for railroads and mines, having contracts for the supply of the Delaware and Hudson Mining Depart- ment. This of course involves an immense traffic throughout Delaware and other coun- ties, to the extent of a hundred thousand dollars a year. In all Mr. Phelps personally owns some twelve hundred acres, and the firm holds still larger tracts of land. He is a vigorous man, but finds himself physically well taxed, as one of the busiest men in the county, looking after his numerous interests. In politics he is independent, and has never held any public office; but as a financier he is interested in six national banks as stockholder
and director. In Sidney and other towns he has monetary ventures in several different en- terprises, for he is a tower of strength in every line of work.
Mr. Phelps married in 1861, at the age of twenty-seven, just at the beginning of our great Civil War. His wife was Isabelle Tal- cott, of Guilford, the daughter of Adna and Eliza (Wright) Talcott, natives of the State of Connecticut. Lena, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, is the wife of Edgar Beal, of East Guilford; and they have one son, Horace Beale, named for his affectionate grandfather. An eminent preacher has well said, in words which apply to our subject : "Remember you have not a sinew whose law of strength is not action. You have not a faculty of body, mind, or soul, whose law of improvement is not energy."
OHN D. VAN AKEN is a well-to-do and prosperous agriculturist, whose val- uable farm is located about seven miles from Walton village, near Loomis. Mr. Van Aken is a native of the Empire State, having been born in Middletown, No- vember 17, 1823. His father, Albert R. Van Aken, and his grandfather, Gideon Van Aken, were both natives of this State, the latter having been a prosperous farmer of Plattner Brook, in the town of Delhi, both he and his wife spending their last years on the farm which they wrested from the forest.
Albert R. Van Aken was one of a large family of children born to his parents. He spent his early life in the manner common to farmers' sons, assisting on the farm until at- taining his majority. His first purchase of land was in Walton, being the farm on which the subject of this sketch now resides. The land was then in its primitive wildness, scarcely a tree having been cut. He erected a log house and barn, and by dint of zealous industry succeeded in placing much of the land in a yielding condition. During his residence here he saw great changes in the aspect of the surrounding country. Selling this property to his son John, he bought an- other farm about a mile below Loomis, where he lived for a time, going thence to a farm in
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