Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 30

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 30
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 30

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AMUEL L. WHITLOCK, of Spring- water, Livingston County, the effi- cient School Commissioner of the Second District, is the only son of the late Ira Whitlock and his wife Amelia, who were prominent among the earlier resi- dents of the town. Ira Whitlock was born in Granville, Washington County, N. Y., where he passed the early years of his life. He was educated at the old Granville Academy ; and, after attaining his majority, he spent some time in teaching and in surveying. Subse- quently he went to New York City, and for several years was employed as engineer on the Hudson and East Rivers. In 1836 he came to Springwater ; and in the following year he was married to Miss Amelia Shuart, of Conesus, who still survives him.

Mr. Ira Whitlock was a man of more than average intellectual ability, and from the first commanded the respect and confidence of the people. As early as 1839 he was elected Commissioner of Highways; and afterward, as Assessor and Justice of the Peace, and in vari- ous positions of public trust, he faithfully served the interests of the community until prevented from further cares by the infirmities of advancing age. As a surveyor, his skill and accuracy were proverbial. He probably surveyed more land, determined more ancient boundaries, and settled more disputed ques-

tions in that line than any other man in the county. Bold, fearless, and outspoken in his convictions of right, he was for many years one of the master spirits of the community in which he lived.

His son, Samuel L. Whitlock, was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College. While pursuing his studies, he taught several terms in the schools of his na- tive town. He then went to St. Louis, and soon afterward to Arcadia, where, as principal of Arcadia High School, he remained until called to Cincinnati, in which city he taught for several years in the public schools. While there he availed himself of the superior edu- cational advantages which that place afforded, taking several courses of study, and finally graduating in the law department of the Col- lege of Cincinnati. After taking his degree he was elected Vice-President of Arcadia Col- lege. There, as Professor of Mathematics and Civil Engineering, and finally as acting Presi- dent of the college, he remained until ill health necessitated a temporary abandonment of his profession. Returning to Springwater, he engaged in the mercantile business, becom- ing a member of the firm of Allen & Whitlock. He was married to Miss Almira Capron, a daughter of Sylvester Capron, a prominent and well-known resident of the town. She is a graduate of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and has always been an active and influential worker in school, church, and society. As teacher and superintendent of Sabbath-school, and member of various organizations tending to improve the moral and intellectual condition of humanity, her influence for good has been felt and acknowledged far beyond the immedi- ate circle in which she moves.

Mr. Whitlock has always been identified with the Republican party, and for two years he was the representative of his town in the Board of Supervisors of the county. For sev- eral years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the village schools, and took an active part in their organization and general management. He has always been deeply in- terested in the progress and development of the public school; and, being in full sympathy with the most advanced thought of the age in

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educational matters, he is peculiarly qualified to supervise the work of both teachers and school officers. In recognition of this fact, in 1893 he was elected School Commissioner of the Second District of Livingston County, a position which he still holds.

ILLIAM GUY MARKHAM, of Avon, Livingston County, N. Y., is a representative of one of the oldest families in the Northern States. His ances- tors originally emigrated from England about forty years after the arrival of the Pilgrims in the " Mayflower, " in 1620. The family set- tled, with others, in Cambridge, Mass. ; but in course of time their descendants married and settled elsewhere. They count back, how- ever, in a direct line, six generations in America.

Mr. Markham's great-grandfather, William Markham, married in June, 1761, Miss Abigail Cone Wiley, of East Haddam, Conn. ; and they removed to the western part of New York State, where they settled as pioneers in what was then the town of Hartford, now the town of Rush, situated just north of Avon, and in the fertile valley of the Genesee River. Their children were eight in number. Mr. and Mrs. William Markham both died in or about 1790. Colonel William Markham, the eldest son, married Miss Phoebe Dexter in 1775. They had ten children, of whom Guy Markham, the eighth child, was afterward the father of the subject of this narrative, William Guy Mark- ham. Colonel Markham built the old family residence in the year 1804. There were none but log houses in the town at the time; and, now that modern dwellings have taken their places, this is pointed out as one of the land- marks of a former period. Guy Markham, son of Colonel Markham, married Miss Eliza Will- iams, a daughter of John and Mercy (Weeks) Williams, who were of an old New England family. They remained through life residents of the town of Rush.

William Guy Markham, who perpetuates the names of father and grandfather, was born at "Elm Place," the family homestead, in the town of Rush, September 2, 1836. He was

educated at the Lima Seminary, and afterward engaged in farming, having been largely occu- pied since 1858 in breeding fine stock, princi- pally "short-horns. " In 1872 he commenced making a specialty of American merinos ; and in 1876 he designed and prepared for pub- lication the American Merino Register, the first register of individual pedigrees of sheep ever published. The rolling country of West- ern New York affords fine pasturage for sheep, and the production of wool has been an indus- try of this part of the country ever since the settlement of farmers and the cultivation of the land. By authorized reports the produc- tion of wool increased in the United States from thirty-five million, eight hundred and two thousand, one hundred and fourteen pounds in the year 1840, to fifty-nine million, nine hun- dred and thirty-two thousand, three hundred and twenty-eight pounds in 1860. It should be noted that Mr. Markham's aim has been to raise chiefly fine grades.

In 1877 he was elected President of the New York State Sheep Breeders' and Wool Growers' Association, to succeed Dr. Henry S. Randall, which position he continues to hold. In 1879 he was elected first President of the American Merino Sheep Breeders' As- sociation, and held the office till 1884. In 1876 he was elected Secretary of the National Wool Growers' Association, holding that office until 1883, and was re-elected in 1894. These associations are all important ones; and, as representing the interests of the wool growers of the country, Mr. Markham conducted the argument for them before the Tariff Commis- sion in 1883. Before this time, however, the interests of other countries in the way of ex- portation had engaged his attention. In 1879 he selected two hundred thoroughbred sheep for the Japanese government, and delivered them in person; and in connection with this trip, at the suggestion of General Grant, whom he met in Japan, and from whom he re- ceived letters of introduction to the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang, he visited China, India, Italy, France, Germany, England, and Aus- tralia, in the interests of sheep husbandry.

Mr. Markham, from his long and excep- tional experience, has frequently been ap-

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JAMES E. CRISFIELD.

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pointed to act as judge of cattle and sheep at the principal fairs of the country, and was the judge of American merino sheep in the class of delaine merinos, at the Columbian Fair in Chicago in 1893. His exhibition of Ram- bouillet sheep from Prussia was regarded as the principal feature of the merino sheep exhi- bition at that fair. The introduction of new varieties is a stimulant in any market, and the sheep grower is wise who has found the truth of this.

William Guy Markham was married in 1880 to Miss Josephine Foote, the daughter of War- ren Foote, of Rush, and late of Brooklyn, Long Island. Their one child is named Mary. Mr. Markham is a member of the Masonic Order, the Knights Templars. He has always been a member of the Republican party in politics.

ERLETT C. BEEBE, a resident of Arcade, is an extensive buyer of but- ter and cheese for the New York

markets. He was born in Freedom, February 4, 1851, his father, Charles Beebe, Jr., hav- ing been one of the early pioneers of that

town. Having made the best of his opportu- nities for obtaining an education at both the district schools and the Arcade Academy, at the age of nineteen young Beebe accepted a position as clerk in the grocery store of J. D. Nichols at Arcade, where he remained but six months. Going from there to Sardinia, he entered the dry-goods business with Myers & Beebe, a connection which continued two years, after which he returned to Arcade, and engaged in buying butter and cheese for the New York markets. This has since been his business, with the exception of one year, when he filled the position of foreman and book- keeper for Smith & Wilson.

Mr. Beebe was united in marriage on Jan- uary 20, 1885, to Miss Libbie McKerrow, of Arcade. Mr. Beebe is a Republican in poli- tics, and has served as a Trustee of the village and as a member of the County Committee for several years. Hle is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge of Arcade.

AMES E. CRISFIELD, M.D., of Dansville, a leading physician of Liv- ingston County, was born at Lodi, Seneca County, N. Y., August 6, 1851, son of John Crisfield, a native of Queen Anne's County, Maryland. John Crisfield was born March 4, 1805; and he and his brother Edward were quite young when after the death of their father, who was an exten- sive slave owner, their widowed mother lib- crated the slaves, and came North, and settled on a farm in Seneca County.

John Crisfield married Lovina Wamsley, who was born in Seneca County, where her father, William .A., was a pioneer and farmer, and remained a resident there until his de- cease. She was one of a large family; and she and her husband reared five children - Gilbert, Philip, Louisa, Henrietta, and James E. Dr. Crisfield's parents possessed many rare qualities, being high-minded and consci- entious people, whose active lives were produc- tive of much good. They were both members of the Methodist church, of which Mr. Cris- field was a Trustee for many years. He was seventy-six at the time of his death, and his wife reached the same age.

The boyhood of James E. Crisfield was passed upon his father's farm, during which time he attended the district schools. At the age of fourteen he went to Lima, and attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, where he prepared for college, which he entered later, remaining through his Junior year. The col- lege being then removed to Syracuse, he began the study of medicine with Dr. John W. Gray, of Avon, N. Y., later entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, and was graduated from this famous medical school in 1873. He began the practice of his profession the same year at York, but, after remaining there three months, came directly from that place to Dansville, where he has attained a large and lucrative practice. He is next to the oldest practitioner in Livingston County, Dr. Pennie, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere, being the senior.

Dr. Crisfield is a member of the New York State Medical Society and of the Livingston County Medical Society, of which he has been

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President. He is also a member of Dansville Lodge of Odd Fellows, and has held all of the different offices. He has been Warden, and is

now Senior Deacon of Phoenix Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, in which he is King. He is financially interested in many of Dansville's industries, being a director of the chair factory and of the Fair Association, President of the E. M. Parmelee Medical Com- pany, and also connected with several land companies. He manifests a lively interest in political matters, being a strong Democrat, having been a member of the County Commit- tee many years, and having served as a dele- gate to the State Convention. He has served several terms as Trustee of the village, Presi- dent of the board, and four years as Supervisor of the town. He was Presidential elector from this district in 1892, and not long ago received the appointment of Postmaster of Dansville for four years, having assumed his duties Octo- ber 1, 1894. The office requires one deputy, a money order clerk, and three assistants.

Dr. Crisfield married Miss Elizabeth Gray ; and they have two children - Abbie and Louise. Dr. and Mrs. Crisfield are members of the Presbyterian church. Having always faithfully discharged his arduous duties, both professional and public, Dr. Crisfield enjoys a well-earned reputation as an experienced and skilful physician, while his kindness and never-failing courtesy have contributed to win for him the esteem and good will of his fellow- townspeople.

The accompanying portrait of James E. Crisfield, M.D., will be recognized and ap- preciated by many warm friends.

LONZO B. COOLEY, notary public, is and has been for some years a use- ful and influential citizen and officer-holder in Leicester, Living- ston County, N. Y. ; but he has lived in other places, and was born in Covington, Wyoming County, on April 28, 1821. His grandfather, Jonathan Cooley, Sr., was born in Springfield, Mass., and came as a pioneer to Lewis County, New York, settling there for life.

Jonathan Cooley, Jr., son of the elder, was born in Springfield, Mass., February 11, 1784, and moved with his parents to Turin, Lewis County, when very young. There he grew up and married ; and in 18H he came to the Gen- esee country with ox teams, when Rochester was but a hamlet. They settled in Greigsville, now in the town of York, Livingston County, and built a log cabin in the wilderness. In 1816 Mr. Cooley sold out, and cut a road through the woods to Covington, where he bought a tract of land heavily timbered, and there erected another cabin, wherein the sub- ject of this sketch was born. In due time Mr. Cooley's success transformed his log buildings into frame houses ; and on that estate he lived until his death, on December 15, 1855. His wife, Zerviah Nimocks, was born in Westfield, Mass., September 11, 1782. She joined the Methodist Episcopal church when only fifteen years old, and was a faithful member for eighty-eight years, dying January 16, 1886. Her father, Richard Nimocks, who was a cousin of her husband, was born in Scot- land, but emigrated to Massachusetts, and died in Westfield. His wife's maiden name was Fowler. She came from Massachusetts to Leicester, and finally died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Cooley. Mr. and Mrs. Jona- than Cooley reared eight children - Freder- ick, Gilbert M., Lucinda, James A., Carleton, Alonzo B., Almon O., and Nancy Jane Coo- ley. Frederick Cooley died in his thirty- fourth year, May 21, 1847; but all the others are living.

Alonzo B., the sixth child of Jonathan and Zerviah Cooley, attended the scantily furnished pioneer school in a log cabin at Covington, and afterward graduated with honor at the Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. He lived with his parents until he came of age, when he bought a farm at Covington, where he resided until 1859. Then he sold this farm, and went to the town of Perry, where he remained till 1864, removing then to a farm in Leicester, one mile north of Moscow. After living there six years, he moved into the village, at the time of the completion of the Delaware, Lack- awanna & Western Railroad, and became the first station agent, holding the position eight

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years, after which he retired from active life. He has been thrice married. His first mar- riage, to Eliza Ann Partridge, of Covington, a daughter of Ora and Betsey Partridge, natives of New Hampshire, and pioneers in Wyoming County, took place in 1848, when he was twenty-seven. Mrs. Eliza A. Cooley died in 1863, after fifteen years of wedlock. In the month of March, 1865, Mr. Cooley married Hannah Emma Beebe, who was born in Leicester, and was a daughter of Russell and Orrilla Beebe, carly settlers of the town. Mrs. Hannah E. Cooley died July 3, 1871. On August 2, 1874, Mr. Cooley married Eme- line Elizabeth White, who was born in Mos- cow, Livingston County, a daughter of Lewis B. and Hannah S. (Peirson) White, natives respectively of Bath, Steuben County, and Cazenovia, Madison County.

By his first wife Mr. Cooley had one daugh- ter, Helen E. Cooley, born July 3, 1852, who married Addison P. Weisner, and died on. March 5, 1889, leaving three children - Ar- thur P., Harry, and Bertha Weisner. By his second marriage there were three children. Russell B. Cooley, born February 14, 1866, died February 17, 1883, aged seventeen. Mabel Cooley was born on June 29, 1870, married Charles E. Burns, of Howell, Mich., October 11, 1889, and died December 21, the same year, aged nineteen. William Jonathan Cooley, the only living child of Mr. Cooley, was born on May 8, 1868, married Fannie Kennish, and has three children - Elmer, Russell, and Mabel Kennish Cooley. Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo B. Cooley are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as were his former wives.

Mr. Cooley was one of the organizers of the Republican party in the neighborhood, and has been a stanch supporter of its tenets. He was Justice of Peace in Covington for twenty-three years, but resigned this office on coming to Perry, where he served as both Coroner and Justice of Peace four years. He has been ap- pointed Notary Public successively by Gov- ernors Cornell, Hall, and Flower; and, after coming to Moscow, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he still holds. He is one of those men who believe, with Plato, that

"justice is, in the mind, a condition analo- gous to good health and strength in the body."

YMAN C. BROUGHTON, M.D., a practising physician of the town of Castile, N. Y., was born in the neighboring town of Covington ; and, though settled in one locality, he is so eminent in his profession that he may rather be said to belong to the whole county of Wy- oming than to any one part of it. Dr. Broughton is the son of Oscar L. and Mary (Barrett) Broughton, grandson of Lyman and Isabel (Webster) Broughton, and great-grand- son of John Broughton, who was a farmer and a hotel-keeper in very early times, and lived to a good old age.

The grandfather, Lyman Broughton, was born January 6, 1808, in Washington County, New York. He was also a farmer; and after his marriage he removed his family, in April, 1844, to Covington, where he bought one hundred and forty acres of land, and built a substantial set of buildings. Deciding at length to make a change, he sold that place and purchased the adjoining estate, where he settled down, and has continued to live until the present time. Although eighty-seven years old, he is still quite an active and ener- getic gentleman, and, with his wife of seventy- eight years, unites in lending to their neighborhood the charming personality which belongs only to serene old age. They have been blessed with three children, namely : Isa- bella, who is the wife of John Thomson, and lives in Castile with their one child; Oscar L. ; and John, whose first wife, Stella Lewis, died, leaving two children, who married for a second wife Cornelia Chute, and lives in Cov- ington. Lyman Broughton was Justice of the Peace for over twenty-five years. He has always been a Democrat in his political prin- ciples, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Oscar L., father of the chief character of this sketch, was born in Washington County, and received his education at the Wyoming Academy. At twenty-one years of age he

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bought one hundred and twenty-five acres of land, and remained on the place, cultivating it for several years, when he concluded to marry, and took for a wife Mary Barrett, who was a native of Ridgeway, Orleans County, N. Y. She was a daughter of a Methodist minister, the Rev. William Barrett, and Han- nah Tanner Barrett, his wife, who are no longer living.

After his marriage Mr. Oscar L. Broughton sold the farm and went to Buffalo, where he prosecuted the study of dentistry to such good purpose that he was able to enter that impor- tant field of work for himself, and opened an office in the town of Wilson, Niagara County. He built up a very successful practice in that place, and continued in Wilson for several years, moving from there to Kendall, in Or- leans County. His stay in that town was ten years; and at the expiration of these he came in 1892 to Castile, where he has an office over the bank, his pleasant residence being on Liberty Street. Oscar L. Broughton is, like his father, a Democrat in his party prefer-

ences. Always interested in local matters and in the acquaintances made professionally, he takes part in the organizations which have a common bond of unity, and may be mentioned as a member of the Lodge Maccabee of Castile, Tent 151. He attends with his wife the Methodist Episcopal church.

Lyman C., only child of Oscar L. and Mary Broughton, received his early education at the Wilson Academy. His first business experi- ence was as a clerk in a drug store in Buffalo. This occupation served to supply his material wants, and was indirectly an aid to the medical studies which he carried on in the evenings and at all other odd hours. His diligent ap- plication resulted in due time in his graduation from the Buffalo Medical University, in 1888. Having received his diploma, he at once began the practice of medicine. Dr. Broughton's first location was at Middleport, where he re- mained three years. Then, as Dr. Smith, of Castile, had been called to his well-earned rest, leaving a large practice, Dr. Broughton came here in 1892, and purchased the residence on Main Street, with a valuable library and other furnishings, constituting a desirable

equipment for a physician's work. His prac- tice has steadily increased, and his work is considered to be after the advanced methods which have resulted from long continued in- vestigations in the medical profession.

In 1890 Dr. Broughton was married to Minnie C. Warner, a native of Middleport, N. Y., who was born on April 12, 1873. Her parents are James R. and Alice C. (Shippen) Warner. Her father was born in Orleans County, and for a time was a farmer there ; but later he engaged in the hardware business, and at the present time is in the custom-house at Suspension Bridge. Of his two children, Minnie, wife of Dr. Broughton, is the elder; and the other is a brother living at home. In defence of his country's tag in the late Civil War, Mr. Warner enlisted, in 1862, in Com- pany I, New York Light Artillery, Battery E, Fifth Army Corps. He was wounded in 1864 and soon after discharged. He is a Re- publican in politics.

Dr. Broughton is likewise a Republican, and takes a loyal part in local public enterprises. His mission of healing being one that meets a general need, he has found a distinction in the practice of his profession which will cause his name to be long perpetuated.

AMES W. JONES, a noted citizen of Leicester, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in this town December 2, 1831, and died at his ancestral home- stead, the Pine Tavern farm, on August II, 1894. The Jones family is perhaps the most important in the history of the neighborhood ; and of it might be quoted the lines of John Quincy Adams, written toward the end of his distinguished career --

" This hand. to tyrants ever sworn the foe. For freedom only deals the deadly blow. Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade. For gentle peace in freedom's hallowed shade."

Captain Horatio Jones, the grandfather of the special subject of this sketch, was born on February 7, 1763, in Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, and at an early age was taken by his parents to Bedford County in the same State.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 30

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

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