Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 19

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 19
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 19

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ILLIAM BRISTOL, a well-known and leading citizen of Warsaw, Wyoming County, N. Y., is a hale and hearty man of more than threescore and ten, as vigorous in intellect as if in the prime of life. His birth occurred in Gainesville, May 7, 1821. He comes of Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Benjamin Bristol, hav- ing served in the war for American indepen- dence. Prior to that time he had married Abigail Warner, of Canaan, Columbia County; and of this union the following chil- dren were born: William, Richard, Charles, Josiah, Henry, George, Hannah, Chloe, and Rebecca.

William Bristol, Sr., son of Benjamin, was born in the town of Canaan, August 19, 1775, and there lived until twenty years old. In 1806 he removed to the part of Genesee County that is now Wyoming County, and helped to survey the present town of Gaines- ville. He located sixteen hundred acres of land, and cleared and improved a good home- stead from the wild domain on which he felled the first tree. On February 22, 1807, he was wedded to Martha Stevens, who was born in Worcester, Mass., September 1, 1785, but who subsequently removed with her parents to Lima, N. Y. Six children came to glad- den their home, namely: Francis S., who died in 1845; Benjamin F., now living at the age of eighty-four; Mary, who married John M. Lawrence, and died in 1876; Lamira, who married George Harrington, and died in 1848; Laura, who married Corydon Doolittle, and died in 1851; and William Bristol, Jr., the subject of the present sketch, whose career has been closely outlined by the pen of a local

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journalist in words that follow, copied from the County History : -

"With a common-school education he began life for himself at the old family home in Gainesville; and to his business as a farmer he added that of wool buying, which he fol- lowed for over twenty years. A man of quick feeling, of fine address, of business ability and integrity and great energy, Mr. Bristol early became a man of mark in his town and county. As a business man large interests have been at different times committed to him. He has hardly been what would be called a politician, though a man with his characteristics could not be left out of public affairs during the stormy period in which he has lived. He was born and bred a Demo- crat ; but, becoming dissatisfied with the posi- tion his party assumed in regard to certain moral questions, particularly slavery, he aban- doned it, and became one of the founders of the Republican party, being a delegate to the historical 'Anti-Nebraska ' Convention held at Saratoga in 1854 and one of the five represent- atives from this part of the State to the famous 'Barnburner ' Convention at Syracuse in 1856, which indorsed Fremont. He was Supervisor of his town in 1855 and again four years during the war, was Under Sheriff of the county in 1842, was Presidential elector and secretary of the electoral colleges in 1864, and member of Assembly in 1867 and 1868. He contributed materially to establish and · sustain Gainesville Female Seminary. As a member of the committee appointed by Gov- ernor Morgan to promote enlistments in the Thirtieth Senatorial District, Mr. Bristol did efficient service. His patriotic course, his careful zeal, and his expenditure of time and money in those years made him a central figure in the local history of the county dur- ing the war period. A considerable portion of his large income was devoted to this work; an 1 by and through his efforts, sustained by the loyal sentiment of his townsmen, Gaines- ville filled every quota promptly, and came out of the war without a debt. A Director of the Rochester & State Line Railway Company (now Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg) from its organization, no one had a larger share in

the responsibility of its location and construc- tion than Mr. Bristol. He was one of the first directors of the Warsaw Salt Company, the pioneer company of the great salt industry in the town. He moved to Warsaw in 1867."

Mr. Bristol has been twice married, his first wife having been Adelia M. Lockwood, whose mother, Clara ( Hoag) Lockwood, be- longed to a family quite prominent in relig- ious circles, many of its members being ministers of the Methodist denomination. The maiden name of his second wife was Martha J. Jewett. She is a native of Ontario County, being a daughter of Major S. S. and Jemima Ross Jewett and a niece of Free- born G. Jewett, a well-known resident of Skaneateles, one of the first judges of the Court of Appeals under the elective judiciary. Mr. Bristol has reared six children - Laura B., Belle B., Caroline B., William, Millie J., and Henry R. Laura B. married Major John P. Robinson, who served throughout the late Civil War, and was brevetted Colonel. He was County Clerk until the time of his decease, in the spring of 1873. Mrs. Robin- son, who still resides in this town, is a cult- ured woman, and a writer of much ability, being a regular contributor to four papers. The second daughter, Belle B., the wife of M. A. Kurtz, a prominent business man of Nampa, Idaho, removed there in 1888. Caro- line B. is the wife of Nathan S. Beardslee, who lives in Warsaw, is President of the Empire Duiz Salt Company and President of the village. William, of Warsaw, has been in the employ of the Erie Railway Company for some years. Millie J. is pursuing the study of vocal music at Rochester. Henry R., a graduate of Rutgers College, read law with M. E. & E. M. Bartlett, of Warsaw, and was admitted to practice in all courts of record in the State.

YRUS ALLEN, M.D., a native of South Bristol, Ontario County, N. Y., was born on the second day of October, 1837. He has long re- sided in Avon, and has many friends in this beautiful town and its vicinity; but his

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friends are by no means confined to residents of this section, for as head of the Avon Sani- tarium Dr. Allen is very widely and favorably known, he having been identified with this popular establishment for many years.

His father, Miles Allen, was born in New Hampshire, whence he removed to South Bris- tol, where he resided until fifty-two years of age, when he died of typhoid fever. He mar- ried Mrs. Marcia (Hills) Wilder, of South Bristol, a native of Vermont, by whom he had five children, the subject of our sketch being the youngest. They were named as follows : Erastus H., Lucy F., Rosina M., Elias, and Cyrus. Erastus married Miss Mary Ingraham of Bristol, where he passed his entire life as a farmer, dying suddenly of apoplexy in Febru- ary, 1895, leaving two daughters - Mary and Edna. Rosina makes her home at the old homestead of Erastus, having never married. Lucy F. married Dr. Charles T. Stroud, and removed to Sandusky, Ohio; she died at the age of sixty-two, leaving two sons and one daughter. Elias married Miss Rosetta Shel- don, and removed to Rochester, where he died at the age of fifty-four. He had one son, Edward I .. , associate editor of the Rochester Morning Herald.

Cyrus Allen pursued his elementary studies in the common schools of Bristol and in the Canandaigua Academy, going from there to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He entered upon his medical studies with Dr. Durfey Chase, of Palmyra, and received the degree of M.D. at both the Homoeopathic Medical College of New York and at the Berkshire (old school) Medical College of Massachusetts.

Beginning the practice of medicine at Palmyra, Dr. Allen remained there about three years. Then he accepted the position of physician at the Clifton Springs Sanita- rium, where he remained for four years, at the end of which time he came to Avon, and established a sanitarium of his own, the in- auguration of this enterprise occurring about 1872. This sanitarium was known as the Avon Cure; and it soon attracted the favor- able attention of the public, and rapidly built up a high reputation. The virtues of the

mineral springs at Avon were very extensively known and universally acknowledged long before Dr. Allen made use of them; but, until he established a sanitarium, these springs could not be utilized excepting during the warmer months.

By intelligently directed and liberal ex- penditure he so arranged it that baths were available as easily and comfortably in winter as in summer, and the results attained at the sanitarium soon gave it a national reputation. About eleven years later, in 1883, Dr. Allen removed to a spacious and finely equipped edi- fice, located in the centre of the village of Avon; and the present sanitarium is carried on by the firm of Allen & Carson, who are also proprietors of a prosperous banking house, which is connected with the sanitarium.

Any eulogy of the Avon Sanitarium would be looked upon as entirely unnecessary, for the simple reason that it is well-known, and is universally considered to be the model of what such an institution should be. There is never any lack of guests, and those who are most familiar with the methods followed and with the results attained at this establishment are the most earnest in its praise.

The subject of our sketch married Miss Harriet L. Reed, daughter of the late Alan- son Reed, of Bristol, Ontario County, N. Y. Three children were born of this union - Ir- ving Cyrus, Marcia Reed, and Jessie Reed. The son will undoubtedly be the successor to the father as the head of the Avon Sanita- rium. At all events he is engaged in the study of medicine. Marcia died at the age of eight years.

Dr. Allen and his wife are both members of Zion Episcopal Church, the Doctor having held the position of Warden for the past score of years. He is connected with the Free Masons, being a member of the lodge located at Avon.

Dr. Allen has always been a Republican; and, before he became of age, he had sufficient interest in politics to carry a lantern during the Fremont campaign. His first Presidential vote was cast in 1860; and of course it was cast in favor of one whose name will be cher- ished as long as this republic endures as that of the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln.

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ELLS E. KNIBLOE, a well-to-do and highly respected farmer of the town of Portage, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn., September 2, 1827. He is descended from sturdy Scotch ancestry, whose sterling qualities served to engender within the nature of their posterity the fundamental principles of thrift and industry, which insure success in every calling. His great-grandfather, Ebenezer Knibloe, who was a minister of the gospel in Scotland, emigrated to America, and settled in Dutchess County, New York. William Knibloe, son of the Rev. Ebenezer, was an early settler in the State of Connecti- cut, where he owned a large farm, and spent his entire life in the laborious but independent pur- suits of agriculture. Ilis wife's maiden name was Parnell Clark. William Knibloe, Jr., father of Wells E. Knibloe, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the district schools of his native State, and continued in his father's calling, that of a farmer. He came to Living- ston County, New York, about the year 1857, and was for a short time located at Mount Mor- ris, after which he purchased a farm at Por- tage, where he passed the remainder of his life.

Wells E. Knibloe received his education at the district schools of Connecticut. He in- herited from his father the farm adjoining the one upon which he now resides, and he still carries it on with that degree of success which is only to be gained through the possession of varied knowledge and experience. In 1848 he married Hila W. Hill, daughter of Eliph- alet and Lucy Hill, of Orange County. They have reared ten children, eight of whom are living, their names being as follows: Ed- ward F., Mary R., Zada F., Sarah E., Will- iam E., Frederick C., Mabel H., and Bert W. Charles N. and Lucy P. died, aged respec- tively eight years and fourteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Knibloe also have seven grandchil- dren. Mr. Knibloe now enjoys the fruits of his labors, and evidences of a substantial prosperity are plainly visible in and about his home. Although he cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852, he has always acted with the Republican party ever since its formation.

EBSTER B. VAN NUYS, an exten- sive landholder, and one of the most prosperous agriculturists of Livingston County, is the owner of a finely equipped farm in the town of West Sparta, where he was born in February, 1846. His grandfather, John I. Van Nuys, was of excel- lent Holland stock and a native of New Jersey, where he spent many years. He subsequently became a pioneer settler of Sen- eca County in this State, and there made his home till death.

His son, Peter Van Nuys, father of Web- ster, was likewise a native of New Jersey, where when a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade. In 1822 he settled in Livingston County, establishing a black- smith's shop in the town of West Sparta, and here carried on a brisk business for four years. He then decided to take advantage of the low price of the unimproved land in this vicinity, and, buying the farm now owned by the sub- ject of this brief biography, began clearing and cultivating it. Energetic and industri- ous, he met with eminent success, and carried on mixed husbandry on the homestead which he had redeemed from the forest until 1871, when he retired from active labor. He re- moved then to the village of Dansville, re- maining there until his departure to the world beyond, being but sixty-two years of age when he closed his eyes to earthly scenes. He was deeply respected on account of his moral worth and integrity, and, taking a great inter- est in local affairs, served as Supervisor of West Sparta three terms and as a magistrate for many years. His estimable wife, whose maiden name was Harriet Carr, was a native of Ohio. She bore him seven children, as follows: Melissa, deceased, married Augustus Hamilton; Isaac; Amos B .; Emily, de- ceased; Webster B .; H. K., deceased; and one that died in infancy. Mrs. Harriet Van Nuys survived her husband many years, and died in Dansville, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. She was imbued with a fervent spirit of piety, and with her beloved husband was a consistent member of the Pres- byterian church.

Webster B. Van Nuys, the fourth child as

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named above, was educated in the district schools of the place of his nativity, and dur- ing his minority was well drilled in agricult- ural labors. After his father retired from active life, he took charge of the home farm, where he has since resided, and has managed it in a most practical and progressive manner, devoting his energies to its improvement. Besides the farm of five hundred acres which he occupies, Mr. Van Nuys is the owner of another valuable estate of two hundred and ten acres; and he has the personal supervision of both places, which he devotes to general farming purposes. The improvements which he has made are of the most substantial char- acter, reflecting great credit on his industry, sound sense, and good taste. He affiliates with the Republican party in his political views, and enjoys in a marked degree the con- fidence and esteem of his neighbors and friends. Mr. Van Nuys has never joined the ranks of the benedicts, but is still laboring under the delusion that a bachelor's life is one of happiness.

ILLIAM RUSSELL, a prominent citizen of Gainesville, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in this town, January 31, 1829, being a son of James Russell, who was born in the State of Ver- mont, September 24, 1791, and grandson of James Russell, of the same State. The grand- father was one of the sturdy stock of farmers who did so much to make the Green Mountain State renowned as the home of upright, hon- est, law-abiding citizens. In his later years he came West to this locality, his eldest son, James, having preceded him with wife and three children in a covered sleigh, with a span of horses and a yoke of cattle, making the long journey in the winter of 1817. The grandfather had been the father of a large family of children, who had grown to manhood and womanhood; but his later years were passed with his son James, and he died in the new home at the age of eighty-three.

James Russell, father of William, of this. sketch, had grown up on his father's farm in Vermont, and followed the occupation of

farmer, with the exception of one year in the War of 1812, in which, having enlisted, he was using his strength and energy in the ser- vice of his country. The journey to Gaines- ville, made two years after the close of the war, was safely accomplished in twenty days; and a hospitable settler, Mr. Smith, threw open the doors of his capacious log house on their arrival, and made the weary travellers welcome on their first night in the strange country. The place was destined in after years to be known as Delhi and to be incor- porated in a farm owned by his son, the land lying about one and a half miles west of the town of Gainesville. James Russell began his career here at once by purchasing three hundred and sixty acres of land of the Hol- land Land Company and of a Mr. Hammond of that place, and, putting up a log house without chimney or many comforts, carried on the engrossing business of general farming till later years, when he gradually relin- quished its active care. His death occurred while on a visit to one of his daughters in the town of Java, at the age of seventy-six.

The wife of James Russell was Miss Rachel Winslow, who was born in 1789, and was a direct descendant of the distinguished New England family of that name, whose earliest representatives in America came over in the "Mayflower," and were numbered among the most influential men in the Plymouth Colony. Mrs. Russell spent her later years in Gaines- ville, and went to her rest October 4, 1865, at the age of seventy-six years. She and her husband were members of the Methodist church. Their children were nine in num- ber, and six are still living --- Chauncey ; John (deceased); Rachel (deceased July 4, 1818); Delilah, who married Martin Buck, of Java; Stephen, who died; James; Clarissa, wife of Philander Brainerd; Harriet, wife of Alverda Cox; and William. Mr. Russell was a man highly esteemed in the town, in which he lived the life of a good citizen, setting an example of worth and integrity to his neigh- bors. He was a magistrate for many years.

William, the youngest child, grew up on his father's farm in Gainesville, getting his education' in the district school, and carly

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learning the use of farming implements. After coming to years of independence he purchased for himself a part of his father's farm; but later on he sold it, and bought an- other, which was originally settled by his father's brother. He has since engaged in other real estate transactions, and is now in possession of a part of the old homestead. He built a new farm-house, which he occupied for a time with his family; but in 1889 he erected a more commodious and modern dwell- ing in the village of Gainesville, one and one- half miles from the farm, which has in connection with it a little enclosure of about eight acres. On the opposite side of the roadway he has also purchased a house and barn; and the two homesteads, with their sur- roundings of green fields and fruit and shade trees, make an attractive picture of substantial comfort and enviable prosperity.

William Russell was married September 30, 1856, to Miss Betsey S. Knapp, of Gainesville. Her father, William S. Knapp, of Vermont, with his parents moved to War- saw, where in later years he carried on the business of dressing cloth. His father, Dan- iel Knapp, one of the veterans of the War of 1812, died in Gainesville. Mrs. Russell's father, William S. Knapp, sold out his busi- ness at Warsaw, and bought the woollen fac- tory at Gainesville, which he finally sold; and settled on a farm. His health failing, he then bought a house and lot in the village, where he lived with his second wife, formerly Mary A. Brainerd, until his death, which oc- curred in the year 1889, at the age of eighty- two. Mrs. Knapp, the mother of Mrs. Russell, was before her marriage Miss Amy Pike. She was a daughter of James like, and she became the mother of six children. One daughter, Huldah J., married John Leffing- well, of Gainesville; Betsey married William Russell; Sarah is the wife of Myron Evans; and Amelia was united in marriage to George Reynolds, a son of Judge Reynolds. Mrs. Knapp's life was not a very long one, as she finished her course at the age of forty- seven.

Mr. and Mrs. Russell have been the parents of seven children, five of whom grew to matu-

rity, and four are still alive. William J. was called away at the age of four years. Latimer J. also died at the age of ten months. Will- iam D., the next son, formerly taught school, but at present attends to two farms of his own besides his father's. He married Miss Jennie Reaves; and they have three children Ethel G., Fannie E., and Bessie. Clara Dell was married to Alvin P. Wolcott, October 24, 1887, and died at the age of twenty-six years. Carrie Bell, who seems to have had linked with her own attractive personality the graces and beauty of her lost twin sister, devotes her time with unselfish affection to the care and comfort of her bereaved parents. Seymour James, the next child, married Miss Fannie H. McCarthy, and has one child - Lillian. A. Leona, who was formerly and for many years a school teacher, married Burt C. Bel- den, at the present time a farmer in Gaines- ville.

Mr. Russell is a Republican in his political principles. He has filled the office of town Magistrate, but on account of poor health re- signed, and has been Highway Commissioner many years. In the Methodist church, of which his family are also members, he has held the office of superintendent for twenty years, being class leader for thirty years, and taking a very active part at all times in the affairs of the society, being also the first superintendent of the Sunday-school who has continued to conduct its sessions in the win- ter time. Mrs. Russell was also a Sunday- school teacher, and is a personal force in the working organizations of the parish, where her aid and encouragement are a constant ben- efit. Mr. and Mrs. Russell may well claim their carly ancestry, feeling themselves by their Christian influence as doing honor to those God-fearing men who sought in life's great issues of sorrow and joy the blessing of heaven.

UGUSTUS MARKHAM, a well-known Excise Commissioner of Lima, Liv- ingston County, was born in Avon in the same county, July 6, 1821, the year that Missouri was admitted into the

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Union. His grandfather, Joseph Markham, was a Revolutionary soldier and a life-long resident of New Hampshire. His father, Joseph Markham second, was twenty years old when he came with Colonel William Mark- ham on foot to Avon. They took up land; and Mr. Markham built first a log house, but later frame buildings. The land was all un- cleared, and the travellers were obliged to fol- low Indian trails to their destination. His wife was Hepsibeth Peabody ; and they reared eleven children - Diana, Milantha, Willard, Spencer, Mindwell, Joseph, Betsy, Lorinda, Guy, Augustus, and Mehitable. The father and mother of this flourishing family lived to be ninety-four and seventy-two years old re- spectively.

The subject of this sketch received his edu- cation in the district school at Avon, and worked at the old homestead until the fall of 1858, when he came to Lima, and bought a farm of a hundred and twenty acres. Such has been the owner's prosperity that this farm now covers four hundred acres, the family residence being a substantial cobblestone house. Mr. Markham married Olive Louise Parmalee, daughter of Baldwin and Catherine Parmalee, of Avon; and she has been the happy mother of nine fine children - Jennie ; Frances; Milantha; Charles, deceased, aged twenty-two; Clara H., who died in infancy ; Minnie; Lottie; Joseph; and Guy. Jennie Markham married John Dennis, telegraph edi- tor of the Democrat and Chronicle of Roches- ter, and resides in that city. Frances married Leonard Farnsworth, and died, leaving two children. Milantha married Edwin Watkins, of Lima village. Minnie married Schuyler Gillett, of Lima. Lottie married James Quinn, of Rochester. Guy married Nellie Fleming; and he and his brother Joseph, who is unmarried, live on the farm. Mr. Mark- ham has been elected Excise Commissioner for three terms, and also served as Supervisor in 1891. He is a member of the Lima Ma- sonic Lodge, and belongs to the Methodist church at Honcoye Falls. A Democrat in politics, he cast his first Presidential vote in 1844 for James K. Polk, of Tennessee.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 19

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

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