Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 18

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256

USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 18
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 18

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Artemus L., second son of Aaron and Lucy Hunt, as named above, spent his early life in Springwater, attending the district school and assisting his father till he was of age, when he went to work on a farm about four miles from the village. This farm he was able finally to purchase; and he lived on it for several years, following the carpenter's trade. But unwilling to settle down to that occupa- tion, and having a longing for higher educa- tional advantages, he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and took a full course of study, was graduated, and began practising medicine in Springwater, where he now is successfully established.

Dr. Hunt married in 1844 Miss Lydia Ann Rix, daughter of Samuel Rix, a well-to-do farmer, and member of one of the old families of this town. Their only child, Joseph A. Hunt, is a commercial traveller. In 1886 this wife died at the age of fifty-four years; and in 1888 Dr. Hunt married for his second wife Miss Emma S. Hickok, a daughter of Samuel R. Hickok, a farmer and resident of Canadice, Ontario County, in which place Mrs. Hunt was born. Mrs. Hunt's mother, Eliza Wiley, was a daughter of the Rev. John Wiley, and a native of Springwater, where his people were among the earliest settlers. She brought up a family of eight children - Hora- tio H., a pastor of the Advent church at Stephens's Mills, Steuben County; George W .; Mary E .; Samuel R., who is no longer living; Hattie E .; Emma S .; Jennie S., who

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also died; and John W. Samuel R. Hickok, Mrs. Hunt's father, was a son of Dr. Henry Pell Hickok, of Ontario County. He died in 1877, at the age of fifty-nine years. His widow, Mrs. E. Wiley Hickok, is still living, and is a member of the Methodist church at Hemlock Lake.

Dr. Artemus L. Hunt is a member of the Eclectic Society of Geneseo valley, holds a diploma from the State society, and has been voted into the national society. He is a Free Mason, a member of the Phoenix Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M., of Dansville, and has also been one of the coroners of Living- ston County. Politically, he is and has always been a firm believer in the Republican principles. Both Dr. and Mrs. Hunt are con- nected with the Advent church, of which Dr. Hunt is a Trustee.

R OBERT WEEKS BOGART, a native- born citizen of Livingston County, has grown with its growth, and since attaining the estate of manhood has done no unimportant part in the great work that has resulted in making it the heart of one of the richest farming centres of the Em- pire State. He worthily represents one of the oldest settled families of Mount Morris, his father, Andrew Van Middlesworth Bogart, a native of New York City, and the son of a practising physician, having come here as early as 1815, removing from Cayuga County after living there a short time.

Mount Morris was then included in Gene- sec County, and was very sparsely settled, being in fact but a wilderness, through which the traveller found his way by means of blazed trees. Andrew V. M. Bogart, then a young man, bought a tract of wild land, which is included in the farm now owned by the sub- ject of this sketch. Building a log cabin for himself and wife, he began the clearing of the land; and the ringing blows of his axe did good execution among the giants of the forest. With his other industries he kept sheep and raised flax; and his good wife used to card, spin, and weave the material for the garments in which her family were dressed, being as

busy with domestic duties as he was in his agricultural labors. He improved an excel- lent farm, and here resided until his decease in 1846. His wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Weeks, was a daughter of Robert Weeks, one of the earliest pioneers of West Sparta. At the time Mr. Weeks settled there, railways and canals were unheard of ; and he had to take his grist on horseback to Avon, the nearest milling point, being two days on the trip. Bread-stuffs were often- times scarce; but deer, bears, pheasants, and smaller game were plentiful, and supplied the family larder with meat. Mr. Weeks re- claimed a good farm from the wilderness, and remained there during his declining years. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bogart, two of whom are now living. Eliza- beth, now deceased, married Marcus Dun- ning; Jacob Henry resides in Greenfield, Ind .; Robert W. is the subject of this brief record; Andrew died in childhood. The mother survived her husband many years, making her home with her son on the old homestead property, and passed away in 1884, at the age of seventy-seven years.

Robert Weeks Bogart was but ten years old when his father died; and he continued to live with his mother, who trained him to habits of usefulness and industry, and in- stilled into his mind the lessons of truth and honesty that have guided his course through life. He succeeded to the ownership of the home farm, which he has managed with excel- lent judgment, and has since bought adjoini. g land, being now the proprietor of one of the best and most finely equipped farms in th: neighborhood, containing one hundred and seventy-eight acres of rich and well-tilled land.

In 1866 Mr. Bogart was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Belle Snyde', a native of West Sparta, and the daughter of Henry and Anna Snyder. After a happy wedded life of twenty-five years death st.n- dered the silver chain that bound the twain, Mrs. Bogart passing to the world beyond on January 1, 1891. In January, 1894, Mr. Bogart was married to Miss Grace Perrine, a native of this county, daughter of one of the

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Benefit Association and President of the St. Patrick's Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society. He has been Town Clerk, an officer of the Union Hose Company, and a village Trustee, and a member of the Board of Edu- cation. In politics he is a firm supporter of the Democratic party.

R ICHARD M. JONES, an able mem- ber of the County Board of Super- visors, representing the town of Geneseo, was born in Springwater, March 13, 1836. The native place of his father, Richard Jones, was Pittsfield, N.H .; and his grandfather, Joseph Jones, was a life- long resident of New England.

Mr. Jones's father learned in his youth the trade of clock-making; and after he reached maturity he left his home and went out to On- tario County in New York State, where he followed that calling, and also conducted a foundry. After his marriage he removed to Springwater in Livingston County, where he continued to work at his trade until his death, which occurred in 1846. Richard Jones's wife, mother of Richard M., whose life story is here narrated, was Lucy A. Hickock. She was born in West Bloomfield, Ontario County, N. Y., and was a daughter of William Hick- ock, a well-known farmer of Ontario County. She died in 1890, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. She was the mother of a family of twelve children, who all grew to maturity - Joseph, Carlos, Lucinda, John H., Caroline, Catherine, Myron R., Richard M., Henry C., Emily, James S., and Lucy.

Richard M., the eighth in the above-named group, was but ten years old when his father died; and, as his mother was left with four younger than he and in very limited circum- stances, the boy was early obliged not only to earn his own living, but also to assist in the support of the family. He found work on a farm, and continued in that occupation until he enlisted, June 13, 1861, in Company A, Third New York Cavalry, the first volunteer company of cavalry mustered in the United States service. Mr. Jones was with the Union army in all its various campaigns and

battles. He twice had a horse shot from under him. Once he shed blood for his coun- try, when wounded by a ball, which grazed his forehead but spared his eyesight. He was honorably discharged at Jones's Landing on the James River, July 17, 1864. After that he returned home, and for a time worked land on shares. Then he rented land of Mr. Wadsworth for almost twelve years. In 1884 he purchased the farm of one hundred and twenty acres, situated two miles out from Geneseo, where he is now happily and pros- perously settled. The estate is well man- aged, and yields considerable fruit, as well as general farm produce.

In 1865 Mr. Richard M. Jones was married to Miss Amanda A. Jennings, a native of Springwater, a daughter of John Jennings. Her mother before marriage was Miss Mary Frost. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have two children -Caroline E. and Richard. Mr. Jones is a member of A. A. Curtis Post, No. 392, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been Commander. He is a Republican in political opinions, and was elected Supervisor in 1894.

A portrait of this patriotic, useful, and highly esteemed citizen may be found on an- other page of the " Review.'

R EV. ALFRED KELLEY BATES, the Presbyterian clergyman in Lima, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in the city of Columbus, Ohio, De- cember 14, 1 1853. His great-grandfather, Phineas Bates, was a Massachusetts man; and his grandfather, Stephen Bates, was born in Granville, in the western part of that State.

Stephen Bates came to Canandaigua, On- tario County, N. Y., when only eighteen years of age, working as a farmer and miller. He was one of the pioneers who cleared the tim- ber off what is now Main Street in that vil- lage. He owned a grist-mill at Littleville, which he operated from 1832 till 1845, when he removed to Wisconsin, where he died in the fall of the same year. In the trying years from 1813 to 1815, during the progress of the last war with Great Britain, he was a member of the State Assembly; and later,

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under Governor Clinton, he was in the State Senate. During a great part of his active life his home was near Canandaigua. His wife bore the sweet name of Naomi and the prac- tical name of Handy.

Stephen Bates's son, James Lawrence, the father of our special subject, was born in Canandaigua in 1815, and attended the local schools besides the Canandaigua Academy and Hobart College. For a while he worked in his father's mill; but in 1832 he went to Ohio, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar, pursuing his profession the rest of his days in Columbus, holding the office of District Circuit Judge for fifteen years. His wife was Maria Kelley, a native of Cleveland, Ohio; and they had six children, the first of whom, Julia, died in infancy. Edward Bates died at the early age of eighteen. Then came a sister, Mary Bates. Lucy Bates married Colonel J. T. Holmes, a leading attorney in Columbus, Ohio; and they have four children - Mabel, Constance, Lawrence, and Eleanor Holmes. Fanny Bates married William P. Little, of Columbus; and they have three children - Helen, Evelyn, and Robert Little.

Their fifth child, Alfred Kelley Bates, was named for his mother's father. He was edu- cated in the schools of his native State and at Princeton College, where he was graduated in 1874, when twenty years of age. Later he was also graduated from the Chicago Theo- logical Seminary, and at once, in 1878, ordained a Presbyterian clergyman in Spring- field, Ill., the home of the martyred President Lincoln. After a year's experience there he went to Mount Vernon, Ohio, and then came to Lima. A few years later he went to Coun- cil Bluffs, Ia., and then successively to Cedar Rapids in the same State, to Cadiz, Ohio, and to Scranton, Pa., whence in 1893 he came again to Lima, where he is still pastor of the Presbyterian church.

His marriage took place about the time of his ordination, in 1878, the bride being Louise Strong, daughter of the Rev. Addison K. and Medorah (Elder) Strong, now settled near Syracuse. From this marriage have come eight children - James, born in 1879, and named for his paternal grandfather;

Ethel, born in 1880; Janet, born in 1882; Naomi, born in 1884, and named for her great-grandmother Bates; Alfred, born in 1889, and named for his father; Edward, born in 1889, and named for an uncle; Mary, born in 1891; Gertrude, born in 1893. Their

father is unusually fond of children, and might ask with the sage, Marcus Aurelius, "Who is there whom bright and agreeable children do not attract to play and creep and prattle with them?" and this trait is espe- cially attractive in a gentleman of his pro- fession.

" Of such the kingdom !" . . . And truly " We need love's tender lessons taught As only weakness can. God hath his small interpreters : The child must teach the man."

A® SA A. LUTHER, a highly esteemed citizen of Warsaw, was born in Cas- tile, November 21, 1842. He was the son of Lymus C. and Caroline P. (Dudley) Luther. Asa Luther, father of Lymus C., was one of the early settlers of Wyoming County and a pioneer Baptist min- ister, an earnest preacher of the gospel, well known in his day, when churches in this region were few and far between. It is said of him that he had many times preached in a barn. He died in Castile, when forty years of age. His wife outlived him, and married again. The Rev. Asa Luther had three chil- dren, one son and two daughters, all of whom lived to grow up; and one, Mrs. Mary Hunt, is still living, her home being in Iowa. The other daughter was Savina, who became the wife of Mr. Holden.

The son, Lymus C., grew into manhood in Castile, his native town, and there learned the carriage-maker's trade, which he followed in later years. During the earlier part of his life he was interested in farming, but after- ward removed to Wisconsin, and there estab- lished a carriage-making business, in which he was highly successful. He was a member of the Congregational church, and in politics a Republican. He served as Deputy Sheriff in Wisconsin, and all through his life was an

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active business man. He died in Wisconsin at the age of sixty years. He was twice mar- ried, and had three children by his first mar- riage and two by the second, all of whom grew up, and four of whom are now living, their names being: Asa A., Laura, Helen, Clara, and Carrie. Laura is the wife of J. Thomson. Helen, who married Ira Vail, of Wisconsin, died at the age of twenty-six, in California, where she had gone for her health. The other two daughters, twins, are both married.

Asa A., the eldest child of Lymus C. Luther, received his education partly in Cas- tile and partly in Wisconsin. At the age of fourteen he commenced work at the carpen- ter and joiner's trade in the factory of James B. Bradish, remaining with him for two years. At this time the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted August 31, 1861, in Company F, Fifth New York Cavalry, commanded by Captain Wheeler. His war experiences were particularly active, he being in thirteen engagements, including the battles of Bull Run, Chantilly, Manassas Junction, and Fredericksburg, besides many skirmishes. In Kilpatrick's raid, in March, 1864, he was capt- ured, and was detained in Libby and Ander- sonville Prisons for nine months. He was paroled in November of that year, but did not reach the Union lines until some time in De- cember. Before he was taken prisoner he was said to have weighed one hundred and fifty- seven pounds, and on his release his weight was but sixty-eight pounds. He was honor- ably discharged in February, 1865. When Mr. Luther returned to Warsaw at the close of the war, he took up the occupation of carpenter, contractor, and builder, and was foreman of the Warsaw Manufacturing Company for about seven years. In 1876 he bought a farm, which he has cultivated and upon which he has re- sided until the present day, this farm consist- ing of ninety-four acres of land. He is a hard worker, and has made what he has by his own industry and perseverance.

Mr. Luther has been twice married. In 1867 he was united in marriage to Calista Keeney, who died in 1869. Two years later he married Mary E. Keeney, daughter of

Sheldon C. and Ann H. Keeney. Five chil- dren were born to them - Kendrick A., now attending a medical school; Ralph E., hold- ing a position in A. B. Bishop's drug store at Warsaw; Anna B. and Guy S., who reside at home; and Elmer D., who died at the age of seven years.

Mr. Luther has held the office of Highway Commissioner for nine years, and is now one of the directors of the Wyoming County Agri- cultural Society and superintendent of horses for the society. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Congregational church at Warsaw, and in politics Mr. Luther is a Republican. He is also a member of the Gibbs Post, No. 130, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, No. 110. He occupies a high position among his fellow- townsmen, having a good record as a patriotic, useful citizen both in war and in peace.

ILLIOTT W. HORTON, the signally successful editor of the Livingston Democrat, was born in Batavia, Gen- esee County, N. Y., November 3, 1858, and was but a lad when his father, Samuel Hor- ton, a farmer, died in that town. Elliott was cared for by his mother, who removed to Phelps, Ontario County, where she gave him such education as she could afford.

He commenced the work of life by laboring on a farm; but the next season he and his mother moved to Sodus, and later he went to Palmyra Union School. At Palmyra he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Wayne County fournal, and advancing rap- idly was made associate editor. From here he went to Washington, D.C., where, after being employed one year in the government printing-office, he conducted a job office for a year. In the fall of 1885 he came to Gene- seo, and during the ensuing year worked as foreman in the office of the Livingston Demo- crat, of which he has ever since been editor and manager. This paper was started in Au- gust, 1885, with a very small list of sub- scribers, but soon increased in popularity. and in the course of two years attained the largest circulation of any paper in the county. Mr.

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Horton is a newspaper man of much ability, and has always advocated such enterprises as were calculated to benefit Geneseo and Liv- ingston County, the Livingston Democrat being the first paper to favor a system of water-works, electric lights, and many other improvements of this progressive age.

In June, 1890, Elliott W. Horton married Emma Argue, daughter of William Argue, of Canada; and they have one child, Elliott A. Horton. Mr. Horton is foreman of the Wads- worth Hose Company, the most noted fire company in Western New York, and in 1889 was presented with a beautiful silver, gold- lined fireman's trumpet as an expression of appreciation for his services as drill-master, showing the esteem in which he is held by his associates. It is evident from what has been said that he is a man who is ever ready to take his stand on the side of the greatest good to the greatest number.

AJOR MARK J. BUNNELL, a gallant officer of the New York Volunteer Infantry in the late war, now living in retirement at Dansville, was born in the adjacent town of Lima, December 25, 1837. Major Bunnell's paternal grandfather, Jehiel, was a native of Cheshire, Conn., where he was a mechanic. From Cheshire he went to Whitehall, and from thence to Poultney, Vt., where he re- sided until just before the War of 1812 broke over the country. At this time he removed to Lima, where he passed the remaining years of his life, dying there in his eighty-fifth year. He served in the War of the Revolution, en- listing in 1780, and re-enlisting in 1781, ander Captain Hotchkiss at Waterbury, Conn.

Dennis Bunnell, son of Jehiel, was born in Whitehall, N. Y. He accompanied his father to Lima, and remained with him until he be- came of age. Having acquired a common education in the district school, he equipped himself for the battle of life by learning a trade. This trade was wagon-making, which he followed until 1850, after which he came to Dansville, and entered the grocery busi- ness. In a few years his health failed so en-

tirely that he was obliged to retire from active pursuits. He was born in 1806, and died in 1885, having almost, by "reason of strength," reached his "fourscore years." Mr. Dennis Bunnell lived for five years in Livonia after leaving Lima. His wife, Mary Baker, be- longed to a fine old family, which boasted four Methodist ministers among its number. Mrs. Bunnell reared four of the five children to which she gave birth - Dem. B., who lives in Dansville, N. Y .; Mary, who married F. A. Willard, a professor in a school in Brooklyn; a son, Asahel O., whose sketch appears else- where in this volume; and Major Mark J., of whom this memoir is written. A daughter, Sarah C., died in 1846, aged eleven years. The mother's last years were spent in Dans- ville, where she died in 1881, aged sixty-nine years. Both parents were members of the Methodist church.

Major Bunnell lived in Lima and Livonia until his thirteenth year. He was instructed in the district school, and assisted his father in the grocery store, after which he found employment as a farm hand in the neighbor- hood. As he grew older, he entered the hard- ware establishment of Brown & Grant, where, besides working in the store, he learned the trade of coppersmith and tinner. In 1861, on April 17, five days after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Thirteenth New York Volunteer Infantry; but, immediately after the company was attached to the regiment, he was made First Sergeant. This was just before the memorable battle of Bull Run. After Bull Run he was promoted to be Second Lieuten- ant, which post he held until January 8, 1862. During the Peninsular campaign, he was promoted to a Captaincy.

At the second battle of Bull Run, on Au- gust 30, 1862, he was wounded, and after lying on the field ten days was picked up by a burial party, and was sent to a hospital, where he remained until February 1, 1863, when he came home on sick leave. The wound which he had received was well-nigh a mortal one, a minie ball having passed through both lungs from his left to his right side; and it was some time before he recovered from its terri-

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ble effects. When able to re-enter the ser- vice, he was appointed Captain of the Veteran Reserve by the President, and ordered to Washington, where he was given charge of a company of men who did patrol duty in the city. He was afterward a member of the general court martial, and was on duty in Washington, D.C., when he was finally mus- tered out by a general order on the 30th of June, 1866. He was discharged as Captain, and brevetted Major, after which he returned to Dansville; but his health was broken, and he was unable for some time to do any work. He was appointed Canal Collector, a position he held until the canal was abandoned. In 1872 he held an appointment in the House of Representatives at Washington, and was after- ward made Superintendent of the folding- room of the House. In 1874 he was made Assistant Sergeant-at-arms in the United States Senate, in which position he remained until 1880, when he was elected Clerk of Livingston County. To this office he was re-elected, and served a second time. In 1889 he was appointed Chief of the Military Division of the Third Auditor's office, the Treasury Department, in Washington, having thirty clerks in his office, which audited an- nually between thirty and forty millions of dollars.

Major Bunnell returned to Dansville at the expiration of four years, and has since lived in retirement. In 1893 he was obliged to have one of his limbs amputated on account of the injuries it had sustained during his ser- vices in the army.

Major Bunnell was married in 1863 to Miss Josephine Bottume, a daughter of Charles L. Bottume, a merchant. To Mrs. Bunnell three children were born, namely: Alice E., who was educated in Rochester, and married George L. Fielder, Manager of the Evening Post in New York; George M., who received his education at the River View Academy at Poughkeepsie; and Belle I. The family are regular attendants at the Presbyterian church.

Major Bunnell is a member of Canaseraga Lodge, No. 123, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Phoenix Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M. In both orders he has attained high

office, being Past Grand Master in the one and Master Mason in the other. He is a member of S. N. Hedges Post, No. 216, Grand Army of the Republic, of Dansville, and its present Commander. He is also on the staff of the Department Commander of New York. Scorning to be a drone in the human hive, ever by "new occasions " taught "new duties," he has proved faithful to his trust, whether in military or in civil service.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 18

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Number of Pages: 1256

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256