USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 12
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 12
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).
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been an esteemed resident of the village of Warsaw all his life; Huldah, the wife of J. O. McClure, also a resident of Warsaw ; and Mrs. Marietta Bingham Older, with whose name this brief sketch begins.
MERSON JOHNSON was born August 11, 1812, in the town of Sturbridge, Mass., and comes of an ancestry of which he may be proud. His grandfather, James Johnson, was a New Englander, who served with distinction during the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, and fought gallantly at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. James Johnson married Miss Hannah Hard- ing, who bore him three children, one of whom, James, Jr., became the possessor of the family estate upon the death of his father.
The wife of James Johnson, Jr., was Miss Ursula Belknap, a daughter of Peter Belknap, a farmer of Sturbridge, and of this union seven children were born, namely: Harding; Emeline, who married Mr. Darius Shaw, of Brimfield, Mass .; Peter and James, twins; Ursula, who married Gordis May, of Stur- bridge; Harriet, who married the Rev. Dr. Robert M. Loughridge; and Emerson. Only the two youngest of the group, Harriet and Emerson, are now living. Harriet is a grad- uate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, of which she was at one time Acting Principal; but this position she gave up to take charge of an institution in the South for the education of Indian girls. She and her husband have been largely engaged in missionary work, and are now living in Texas, where Mr. Lough- ridge is preaching. Mrs. Ursula Johnson died in the prime of her life and usefulness, at the early age of thirty-seven, in Sturbridge, Mass.
Emerson Johnson, at seven years of age bereft of that incomparable blessing, a mother's love, did not fail to receive from his father an extra share of tenderness. His educational privileges were not limited to the common schools; but he pursued a higher course of study in the Wesleyan Seminary at Wilbraham and in Monson, so that at the age of eighteen he was entirely competent to take in charge the district school, engaging in the
" Delightful task, to rear the tender thought. To teach the young idea to shoot."
an occupation he pursued for some years, after which he returned to the old homestead, and remained there until 1866. In 1861 Mr. Johnson was elected to the House of Repre- sentatives of Massachusetts, and in 1865 was elected a member of the Senate. Before these honors were conferred upon him he had held several offices in his immediate locality, having served six years as Assessor, for ten years on the School Committee as examiner of teachers. In 1866 he came to Brightside, the beautiful home of his son-in-law, Dr. James II. Jackson, in Dansville. Here he purchased a house, and after a time he be- came Steward. While the new sanatorium was in process of building, he went abroad and spent some months travelling in Great Britain and on the continent.
Mr. Johnson married in 1838 Miss Hannah Arnold, a daughter of Richard Arnold, of Sturbridge. Three children were born to him by this marriage - James A., Catharine, and Hannah. James A. enlisted in 1861 in Company G, Fifty-sixth Massachusetts In- fantry. After the battle of Newbern in North Carolina, being seriously ill, he was discharged, and came home to die, as he thought, but recovered, again enlisted, and was killed in the battle of Spottsylvania Court-house, while in temporary command of his company. Catharine married Dr. James H. Jackson (see sketch of James HI. Jackson, M.D., on another page of this volume). She is a graduate of the New York Woman's College, and is in active practice, assisting her husband at the sanatorium. They have one son, Dr. James Arthur Jackson, who is business manager of his father's establish- ment. Hannah Johnson married F. W. Hurd, and has two children - Fanny and Anna. Mrs. Hannah Johnson died in 1844 at twenty-eight years of age. Mr. Johnson married for his second wife Fanny L. Brown, a graduate of Holyoke, who had been a teacher, and was a daughter of Benjamin Brown, of Bloomfield, Conn. Two children were born of this union, one of whom, a
EMERSON JOHNSON.
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daughter, Lucy, lived to maturity. She mar- ried Mr. Smalley, of Atchison, Kan., and is the mother of six children - Orton, Cath- erine, Sarah, Emerson, Mary, and Merwin. The grand-daughter, Fanny Hurd, married Hugh Brown, and went with her husband as a medical missionary to Corea, but returned to Southern California, where they are now practising medicine. They have two chil- dren - Donald and Agnes.
In political faith Mr. Emerson Johnson is a Republican, an evolution from the "old line " Whig. It is the lot of few men to see so many of his children occupying honorable and enviable positions as he has done. An- other page presents to view a portrait of this gentleman, who, like Tennyson's King Arthur, "has worn through all the track of years the white flower of a blameless life," and may here be set down as an example of our American nobility.
AMUEL R. NICHOLS, who has long been identified with the farm- ing interests of Wyoming County, has resided at his present home for seventy years, and has gained an excellent reputation as an honest, upright business man and a true and loyal citizen. His farm is lo- cated in the south-eastern part of the town of Attica, being the homestead property which his father, Zadock Nichols, Jr., wrested from the wilderness. Mr. Nichols was born in Oneida County, N. Y., August 3, 1820, and is the worthy descendant of a hero of the Revolu- tionary War.
Zadock Nichols, Sr., his paternal grand- father, was born in Ireland, and, having emi- grated from there to Boston prior to the Revolution, assisted at the memorable Tea Party in the harbor, on the evening of Decem- ber 16, 1773. He was an active participant in the battle of Bunker Hill, and served through- out the subsequent seven years' struggle for independence under the command of General Washington. He had a family of six children, four sons and two daughters. Luther, a mer- chant in Massachusetts, reared a family of thirteen children. Stephen, a laboring man,
who spent his life in the old Bay State, was the father of twelve children. David, also a laboring man, reared nine children. Zadock, Jr., was the father of Samuel R. Calista, a spinster, who lived to the age of ninety years, was a silk weaver, and used to raise the silk- worms, hiring people to pick the leaves for them to eat. Her sister Basha died at the age of sixteen years. The elder Zadock Nichols lived to celebrate his one hundred and first birthday, and only six months prior to his decease cut cord wood, on the mountain side, in Brimfield, Mass., where he had made his home for many years. His wife died at the age of fourscore.
Zadock Nichols, Jr., was born in Brimfield, June 8, 1785, and, on leaving the parental roof-tree, went to the Mohawk valley in this State, where on the first day of the year 1815 he married Melinda Marvin. Seven years later, accompanied by his wife and two chil- dren, he moved from Rome, N. Y., where he had lived for a year, to Middleburgh, Scho- harie County, the journey thither being made on an old-fashioned ox sled. In February, 1824, he bought one hundred and fifty acres of wild land, which is now included in the pres- ent farm of his son Samuel, paying five dollars per acre. He was in humble circumstances, unable to pay cash; and Mr. Nichols of whom we write can remember walking to Batavia, barefooted, on two different occasions, to carry the interest money, the entire twenty- five dollars at one time being in silver, and proving a heavy load. The produce of the land was then very cheap; and he once drew seventeen bushels of wheat seven miles on an ox sled, over bare ground, and, selling it, re- ceived in payment a pair of stoga boots. Pre- daceous animals still prowled dangerously near the forest-girdled home, and in one night of 1828 seventy sheep on this farm were killed by wolves. Here the father spent the remainder of his life, which was suddenly terminated in 1849, the accidental upsetting of his sleigh causing fatal injuries. His widow lived until August 16, 1863, when her remains also were laid to rest in the rural cemetery at Dale. Of the children born to them several died in in- fancy, and the following grew to mature years :
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Alonzo; Samuel R .; Calista; Zadock, the third, who was accidentally killed December 22, 1893 ; and Henry.
Samuel R. was five years old when his par- ents brought him to the farm where, with the exception of five months, he has since lived. He received his education in the typical pio- neer school-house, his seat being the flat side of a slab. On October 26, 1848, he was united in marriage to Fidelia D. Scribner, who was brought from the place of her nativ- ity, Granville, Washington County, to Genesee County, at the age of twelve years, by her par- ents, Mr. and Mrs. Jay Scribner. They sub- sequently removed to Attica, where Mrs. Scribner departed this life in 1873, and her husband on the 9th of September, 1875. Their other children are as follows: Mrs. Bet- sey Rich, of Trumbull, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Silas Norton, of the same place; Alonzo, a farmer in Eagle; Mary Brakeman ; and Thomas Scribner, an officer in the army during the late Civil War.
Seven children have been reared by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. Nichols, all but one of whom are married. Sarah Althea, the wife of Joseph Macauley, has eight children. Calista is at home with her parents. Lucy is the wife of Edward Warner, of Corning. Eugene, who carries on the home farm, married Mary Put- ney; and they are the parents of three chil- dren. Mary, wife of Rollin E. Thompson, has one daughter. Lillian, wife of William Smith, of Perry, has five children. Ida, wife of Franklin Matteson, has one daughter. Re- ligiously, Mr. Nichols is a member of the Free Baptist church. In politics both he and his son are active members of the Republican party, and take an intelligent interest in every- thing pertaining to the highest interests of the town and county of which they are esteemed citizens.
ILLIAM TOUSEY, a well - to - do farmer of the highest respectability in the town of Portage, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in Genesee County, July 16, 1818. He is of New England an- cestry, his grandfather, John Tousey, having
been a native of Connecticut, as was also his father, Alonzo Tousey.
John Tousey removed to Genesee County, New York, bringing all his earthly possessions with him, and worked out until able to settle himself in life, which he very soon did upon a small farm in the town of Stafford, where he continued to reside until his death. Alonzo Tousey, son of John, received his education in Genesee County, and followed agriculture as a means of livelihood all his life. He came to Livingston County in 1835, and settled upon a farm of one hundred acres in the town of Por- tage. He was untiring in his efforts to suc- ceed, and ere long was in circumstances which enabled him to erect a very comfortable frame house. This house is still standing, and is now occupied by his son. The maiden name of his first wife was Sally Adams, and the fol - lowing children were born to them : Hiram, Jane E., George T., and William. Mrs. Sally Adams Tousey died when her youngest son, William, of this sketch, was quite young ; and her widowed husband married a second time, the lady being Betsy Curran. They reared three children -- Thomas, Martha, and Alvin. . Alonzo Tousey was about fifty-six years of age at the time of his death. He was a Deacon and a Trustee of the Methodist church, his first wife also being a member of that church.
Their son William was educated as well as was possible at the district schools, and, like his father, preferred above everything else the independent life of a farmer. At the decease of his father he purchased the several interests of the other heirs, and continues to reside at the old homestead. He married in 1845 Sarah Bennett, daughter of Thomas T. and Betsy A. (Shern,an) Bennett, who came to Livingston County in 1818, and were pioneers. They settled in the town then called Nunda, and, building a plank house, carried on the clothing business, and also operated a saw-mill. They made all of their own clothing, the wheel on which the women spun and wove the material still being in the possession of the family. Thomas T. Bennett died in Portage; and his wife went to Michigan, where she passed the remainder of her days. Mr. and Mrs. Tousey
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have reared four children - Cornelia, Emma J., Caroline A., and Lucius C. Charles B. and William C. died in infancy. Cornelia married Augustine Godwin; and they have two daughters - Edith G. and Grace T. Caroline married John J. Williams, and resides in Michigan. Emma J. is still at home. Lu- cius C., the much loved son and brother, was taken from the family circle on October 20, 1894, while residing in Michigan. His re- mains were brought home and interred in Hunt's cemetery.
William Tousey has served the community faithfully in positions of trust and responsi- bility, having been Collector and Poor Master for many years, and also School Trustee. He has been a Republican since the formation of the party, casting his first Presidential ballot for General William H. Harrison, and his lat- est Presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison. Mr. Tousey is a worthy representative of the prosperous and intelligent farming population of Western New York, whose ancestors in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties made possible the grand results which are so plainly visible throughout the State.
J OHN KLEIN, an energetic, industrious, and prosperous farmer, owning one hun- dred and eighty-five acres of land lying in District No. 13 in the town of Sheldon, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born on the other side of the broad Atlantic, being a native of the town of Dehachy, Belgium, six miles from the city of Arlon, where his birth occurred in 1833, on the 24th of March.
His parents, Francis and Catherine (Leffer- ing) Klein, came to this country with their two children, Charles and John, leaving Havre, France, in a sailing-vessel, and being forty- four days on the water. From New York City they came by canal to Buffalo, and thence to Sheldon, where the father bought thirty acres of woodland, paying six dollars per acre. Having but nine dollars in money when he reached Sheldon, he had to run in debt for the property ; but with the assistance of his two sons he cleared and improved the land, paid off the indebtedness, and bought another thirty
acres, for which he gave nine dollars an acre. On the farm which he redeemed from the wil- derness Francis Klein lived until called to the brighter world, April 12, 1859. His widow, Catherine Klein, who outlived him a quarter of a century, retained her faculties to the last, and died at the advanced age of ninety-one years.
John Klein, the second of the two sons named above, obtained a good practical educa- tion in the country of his nativity; and, after leaving the parental roof, he worked out as a farm laborer by the year, being four years in the employ of Ephraim Durfee, of Orangeville, receiving thirty-six dollars wages the first year, fifty dollars the second, seventy-five dol- lars the third, and the fourth year he was given one hundred dollars and a pair of boots. Ile afterward worked for his former employer's son, Burton Durfee, nine months, receiving nine dollars a month. He continued thus laboring until the death of his father, the highest compensation he ever received having been one hundred and forty dollars per year. Forty-five acres of the paternal homestead fell to his share. He paid his brother for one- half of it, and farmed on this for twelve years before buying the farm where he now resides, which forms a portion of his one hundred and eighty-five acres. This he bought in 1870, and the following year moved on to it with his family. Mr. Klein carries on mixed husbandry, raising the staple grains of the county, and keeping a dairy of twenty cows, sending the milk to the factory. Diligent in his calling, honorable and upright in his deal- ings with others, he is held in high respect throughout the entire community, and is one of the valued citizens of the town. In poli- tics he is a stanch Democrat ; and, religiously, he and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. John Klein was united in marriage in 1859 with Catherine Redding, a native of Bel- gium. Of the ten children born to them, one, Lucy, died October 26, 1889, at the age of eight years. The record of the others is as follows: Lany, the wife of Michael D. George, of Sheldon, has four children. Frank, a single man, resides in Batavia. Fd-
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ward lives at home. Mary lives in Batavia. Eva is at home. Albert is a farm laborer. John resides on the home farm. Henry works in Batavia. Willis, a boy of fourteen, lives at home with his parents.
FORGE S. EWART, a highly suc- cessful farmer of Groveland, Living- ston County, and Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, was born in the above-named town, January 12, 1835. His father, William Ewart, was a native of County Armagh, Ireland, and was the son of George and Sarah (Smith) Ewart, a sketch of whom appears also in this work.
William Ewart came to America with his parents when he was very young, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. After attain- ing his majority, he became associated with his brothers in farming, and with them suc- ceeded to the ownership of the old homestead. By careful and prudent living he acquired pos- session of one hundred and forty-four acres of land, adjoining the old homestead on the south ; and here he resided until his decease, which occurred in 1851. His wife was El- vira Stevens, a daughter of Walter Stevens, and a native of Vermont. Her father, who was born in New England, was a pioneer in the town of Richmond, Ontario County, N. Y., where she was reared. Mrs. William Ewart lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years, and had six children, as follows: Catherine S., George S., Mary C., Anna, Jennie M., and Elizabeth.
George S., the only son of his parents, was educated at Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, and, after finishing his course there, attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. Having completed his education, he returned to the old homestead, resumed farming, and finally inherited the property. He has from time to time added purchases to his farm, and at the present time is owner of nearly four hundred acres of highly cultivated land. Aside from farming, he has for a number of years been in the wool business, and for the past six years has successfully conducted a brisk trade in grain at Groveland Station. In 1861
Mr. Ewart married Marilla P. Merrell, of Richmond, Ontario County, N. Y, daughter of Nelson and Polly (Goodwin) Merrell; and they have two children - Helen M. and Fannie E. Helen M. is the wife of Orrin C. Lake. Fan- nie E. married Murray L. Gamble, and has three children - Roxy M., Mary L., and Helen E.
Mr. Ewart has always been a Democrat in politics, and cast his first Presidential vote for James Buchanan. He has held various offices of public trust, has been Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Livingston County since 1880, and served nine years as a member of the County Board of Supervisors, two years of which he was its Chairman. He was also Justice of the Peace for twelve years. He is Loan Commissioner, having been ap- pointed by Governor Hill, and at present is the sole commissioner in Livingston County. Mr. Ewart is also Treasurer of the Craig Epi- leptic Colony. Socially, he is a most amiable companion, sympathetic and liberal. He is a devoted brother of the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Geneseo Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M.
ENRY HARRISON, a carriage man- ufacturer of North Centre Street, Geneseo, N. Y., was born in Eng- land, October 9, 1844. His parents, John and Margaret ( Latham) Harrison, were also natives of England, and worthy repre- sentatives of that distinguished people, who, with some faults, "have, " it has been well said, "many virtues, many advantages, and the proudest history of the world." Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had three children, namely : two sons, John and Henry, and a daughter Elizabeth, who died in youth.
Henry was but six years old when his father died, and he went to live with his maternal grandfather, who was a tailor and carried on the business. The lad attended school until he was fourteen, when he began to work as an apprentice, to learn the trade of gas-pipe manufacturing, which was then a hand prod- uct. He was employed in that business seven years; and then, having attained his majority,
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his mother having passed away some time pre- viously, he came to America. After working for some time in Geneseo at the machinist's trade, which he had learned in connection with the gas-pipe manufacture, he bought up the property, and went into the carriage business on a small scale at first, but making his own designs, and later developing a more extensive establishment. Here he manufactures all kinds of carriage fittings, and fine grades of the lat- est patterns in road wagons, brakes, tops, four- in-hands, besides a great variety of fancy carriages and other travelling equipages. Mr. Harrison's work, which is done by hand, the materials being of the choicest kinds, has now become celebrated for its superior qualities, in all the large cities of the Union.
This is a narrative of more than ordinary in- terest, as it shows what may be accomplished by an intelligent apprehension of the laws which control mechanical design, coupled with patient perseverance and a thoroughness with- out which perfection cannot be attained in any work. From being a poor boy in England, destined eventually to shift for himself, Mr. Harrison has gone steadily onward until at length he has achieved a deserved recognition of his work and its value. Perhaps a word might be said in passing as to the advantage to be gained by apprenticeship, which is more common in England than in the United States. The boy who enters a factory generally learns but one part of the work, as in the mills are found spinners, weavers, binders, and the like ; but the boy apprenticed to a trade, if he has intelligence, learns the whole business, and becomes equipped by a varied knowledge which is valuable in any trade in which the same principles are applied. To such advantages may, perhaps, he attributed, in a degree, the business success of Henry Harrison.
Mr. Harrison was married on February 23, 1871, to Miss Margaret Thompson, of Gen- eseo, whose father, Irwell Thompson, has long been a prominent resident of this town. Their children are two in number - William II., who has been through the college at Roches- ter, and is now studying law with Hubbard & Coyne; and Elizabeth, who is in a normal school, preparing to become a teacher. Mr.
Harrison is a member of the Geneseo Masonic Grand Lodge, No. 214. He is a trustee of the village, advocates Republican principles, and is a member of the Episcopal denomina- tion.
R EV. GEORGE KEMP WARD, who has been for more than twenty years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Dansville, was born in the city of Rochester, N. Y., January 9, 1848. His father, Levi A. Ward, and his grandfather, also named Levi, were natives of Connecticut, where the latter was a physician in the town of Lyme. Dr. Levi Ward removed to Bergen, Monroe County, N. Y., and later to Rochester, where he was a pioneer in the practice of medicine, and continued his professional ca- reer up to the time of his decease. He reared a large family.
Levi A. Ward, son of Dr. Ward, was edu- cated in the public schools of Rochester. When he was still a very young man, and Rochester was but a small town, he and his brother William started in trade. In 1838 they dissolved partnership, and Levi A. ac- cepted a position as agent of the Etna Insur- ance Co., of Hartford, Conn., having the very first insurance office established in Rochester. He continued to represent this well-known company until his decease, a son assisting him during his latter years; and the business is still carried on by a grandson of its original promoter. Levi A. Ward was a very promi- nent man in Rochester, highly successful in business, and was Mayor of that city about the year 1855. He died at the age of eighty years, esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and associates, leaving a widow, whose maiden name was Harriet Kemp. Mrs. Ward's father was George Kemp, who had been a whaleship-owner at the Isle of Wight, England, and who, while emigrating to Mich- igan, stopped at Rochester, and, meeting some old friends, was finally induced to go up the Genesee valley to Groveland, where he pur- chased a farm known at the present time as the Kemp farm, upon which he resided for some time. Later he removed to Michigan, where
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