USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 33
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 33
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
In 1890 Mr. Solomon G. Woodruff was married to Miss Flora D. Bosley, a daughter of Bradford Bosley, of Livonia. Mr. Wood- ruff has been for two terms Supervisor of his town, and has been a zealous Republican since that party came into existence. His first Presidential vote was cast for Zachary Taylor in 1848. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
m ARCUS W. WILNER, at one time a merchant and lumberman, and at present a well-to-do farmer of the town of Portage, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in this town, January 4, 1825. His father, George Wilner, was a native of Berkshire County, Massachusetts; and his grandfather was a soldier in the Baron Von Driscol Brigade, which came through from Canada to join forces with General Bur- goyne in the Revolutionary War, and was in the detachment commanded by Lieutenant
lo swot ods of mollige data odt zam ban
tot brode in
£
theoff osis aux om nobir x smn
241
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Colonel Baum. He was made prisoner of war during a fight with the American forces under the celebrated General Stark, and was given his choice of, settling in Massachusetts and becoming an American citizen or being con- fined upon the prison ships in Boston Harbor. He chose the former, taking up land and set- tling in Berkshire County, where he resided the remainder of his life. George Wilner be- came a farmer in his native State, later mov- ing to Connecticut, and then joining the American army in the War of 1812. His brother also joined the army, and was killed at the battle of Plattsburg, in 1814. George Wilner was present at the battle of Stoning- ton. The captain of his company was a man named Perkins, and at the conclusion of hos- tilities induced many of his command to ac- company him to New York for the purpose of taking up land. Mr. Wilner came to Living- ston County from Connecticut, making the entire journey by wagon, and took up eighty acres of land situated in the then town of Nunda, now Portage, on the Genesee River, which at that time was very heavily covered with pine timber. Cutting the timber, he had it sawed into lumber and rafted it down the Genesee River to Rochester. This property Mr. Wilner at length sold, and then removed to Indiana, going there by the way of the Ohio River. About three years later he returned to Portage, and, settling upon a land grant, here remained during the rest of his life. At the time he came to New York State, land at Rochester was offered at seventeen dollars per lot, but was refused, as there was no timber upon it, and consequently it was considered about worthless. Mr. Wilner engaged in the cutting and hauling of timber, and furnished the New York Central Railroad Company with the materials for constructing the first bridge over the Genesee River, cutting most of it upon his own farm, rolling the timber down the hills to the river, and then floating it to Rochester.
His wife was Betsey Moses, daughter of Elijah Moses, a pioneer of Livingston County, who was a blacksmith by trade. The Moses family, according to tradition, were Jews, who came to this country from England about 1640.
They were blacksmiths, and some of their tools are now in the possession of the families. Six children were the result of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. George Wilner; namely, Han- nah, Flavia, Marcus W., Malcolm, Merriman J., and Mortimer Wilner. The father and mother spent their latter days with Marcus W. and Merriman J., who are the only survivors.
Marcus W. Wilner, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the district schools, and for twenty-five years of his early life was a merchant in Portageville, where he was also engaged in the lumber business. In 1850 he married Susan A. Adams, daughter of Gaylord Adams, who removed from Massachusetts to the town of Granville, Ohio, and was one of the first settlers there, all his family being born in that State. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marcus W. Wilner; namely, Frank A., Fred M., Gaylord, and Nellie. Frank A. is a Lieutenant in the United States navy, and is inspector of steel plate for government war vessels at the Car- negie Steel Works in Pittsburg. Fred is mar- ried, and lives on the farm with his parents. Gaylord is a Warden in the State Lunatic Asylum of Michigan.
Mr. Wilner was Supervisor at Genesee Falls, Wyoming County, for two terms, and was also Assessor for several years. He cast his first Presidential vote, as a Whig, for Zachary Taylor, and has always been a Repub- lican in politics since that party was formed. With an honorable and useful record to look back upon, Mr. Wilner now enjoys that reward which is dear to all, the hearty esteem and confidence of his fellow-men.
ARLOS L. STEBBINS, a portrait painter of exceptional excellence in Pike, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in the town of York, in Liv- ingston County, January 11, 1824. His paternal grandfather, Sylvester Stebbins, was a native of Conway, Mass., from which State he came to Pike, N. Y., where the last years of his life were spent. He was a farmer in both States, and died at eighty-four years of age, having reared eleven children.
-- god ni von bis afoot
noff bus | byblest od story ,adana) svideshoff mi gniff
gur ut bogague | is buffid and one wants odt bottiot bele radford
A arte jant al | Food & abreutonos odt in ben peniche't bomen
L'un avril bra bott botevos yfizeed gray wow omit dass is doisin
Dodatcasi bus podat to author ban galthis.
nwob radice pdf grillos amist two aid noqu
242
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Elijah, one of the sons of Sylvester Steb- bins, was for some time a woollen manufact- urer in Manlius, Otsego County, N. Y., having previously worked in the first broadeloth fac- tory in Northampton, Mass., where the first broadcloth ever manufactured in America was produced. After giving up this line of busi- ness, he became a farmer, owning farms in Livingston and Wyoming Counties succes- sively. His wife was Harriet Lenardo, who was of Italian birth, and one of several chil- dren. She was born on the Coon River near the birthplace of her husband. Two children were of this marriage - Carlos L. ; and Sylves- ter, who died in Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins both died at their son's home in Pike, aged respectively sixty-nine and seventy-one years.
Carlos L. Stebbins, whose artistic nature, like his Italian Christian name, was an inheri- tance from his mother, remained at home with his parents until he became of age. The nat- ural instinct of talent began to assert itself ; and the young man, in whose veins ran the blood of a people in whom love of color and harmony and beauty is inherent, decided to take up portrait painting as a profession. This vocation he has followed since 1844, and the keen pleasure he takes in his work is a warrant of its success. The villagers are justly proud of their native artist, and many specimens of his skill adorn their homes. Mr. Stebbins also possesses a genius for mechanics, and has patented a sewing machine of his own invention, and has a shop and tools in his house, where he amuses himself with cunning handiwork.
In 1843 he was married to Miss Elenor Griggs, a daughter of Philip Griggs. Miss Griggs was born in Pike, where her father was an early settler. She was one of a family of ten children; and both of her parents died in the village where the years of her childhood, girlhood, and married life have been passed. Mr. Carlos L. Stebbins is an Odd Fellow and a Mason, having filled high offices in both orders. He is a teacher of painting in the Pike Seminary, and was, until his recent resignation, President of the State Bank of Pike, of which he still is a Director. His home is about one mile south of the village
where he has lived for almost sixty years. A gentleman of superior mental endowments, blameless morals, and pleasing social quali- ties, Mr. Stebbins stands high in the estima- tion of his fellow-citizens.
ILLIAM P. LOW, a thriving farmer in the Genesee valley, was born in Ovid, Seneca County, N. Y., on the fifteenth day of October, 1823. His father, Garret Low, was born in Middlesex County, New Jersey, to which State his grandfather, Abraham Low, came from Germany. It is supposed, however, that the Low family is of English descent; for tradition says that its an- cestors fled from England to Germany in order to secure religious liberty. Two or three generations of the Low family were born in Germany before Abraham Low emigrated to America. About the time of the opening of the present century he removed with his family from New Jersey to the town of Ovid, N. Y. The journey was made overland, and was a long and toilsome one, the roads being poor and the teams not being capable of furnishing rapid transit. Mr. Low bought an extensive tract of unimproved land in Ovid, and resided there for the rest of his days, dying at the good old age of ninety. Abraham Low was twice married, and reared five sons and one daughter.
One of the sons, Garret, above named, was very young when his parents came to this State. He received what was deemed a good education in those early days, and he intended to adopt the tailor's trade; but, although he learned it, he found it inexpedient to follow it, on account of failing health. He went to Allegany County in 1824, bought a tract of wild land, and set earnestly to work to render it fit for cultivation. Of course that was no light task. The timber was of positively no value, and the felled trees were destroyed by fire as soon as they were dry enough to burn. Their size was so great and the mechanical aids were so few that no man could do much of anything alone after he had felled the timber ; so the neighbors used to co-operate, and make practical application of the principle, "In union is strength."
atrong a to bould
nollo't bbO us wi aciddos? AT gofind All fred si esatto Agid bofla gaivar moasMi » 219/10
20/19
diansite et nottu
243
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Garret Low lived in Allegany County seven years. Then he came to Geneseo, and rented land till 1849. He then went to Delavan, Wis., and resided there for the rest of his days, reaching the good old age of eighty- eight. The maiden name of his wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, was Lana Post. She was a native of Virginia, and was a daugh- ter of Cornelius and Jane (Quick) Post. Mrs. Garret Low was almost as long-lived as her husband, she dying at the age of eighty.
William P. Low was but an infant when his parents removed to Allegany County. His education, which was there begun in the pio- neer schools, was subsequently advanced by attendance at the schools in Livingston County. He was married at twenty-two years of age, on November 13, 1845, his bride being Miss Prudence A. Fuller, who was born in Avon, on the farm on which she now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Low began their married life in the central part of Groveland, where he rented a farm of about four hundred acres. Then he operated the Fuller homestead farm one year, and next carried on a three-hundred-acre farm for a year. After that he went on what may be called a sort of "exploring expedition "; for he occupied some seven months in the in- spection of lands in the States of Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri. Returning to Avon, he rented lands for a period, and finally pur- chased the Fuller homestead, a farm of thirty- eight acres, where he has since remained. This farm is located in the Genesee valley, three miles from Avon and five miles from Geneseo. Since adopting it as his permanent home Mr. Low has bought one hundred and seven acres of adjoining territory.
He and his wife are nearly of the same age, she having been born October 29th of the year following his birth. Her father, Joel Fuller, was born in Connecticut ; and her grandfather, Elijah Fuller, was born in the same State, but finally came to Geneseo, from whence he removed to Avon, where he died at a ripe old age. The maiden name of his wife was Abi- gail Kellogg. Joel Fuller, father of Mrs. Low, was reared and married in Connecticut, and came to New York State, accompanied by his wife, three children, and his parents.
They made the journey overland with an ox team and a horse, bringing with them all their worldly goods.
Joel Fuller bought a tract of partially cleared land in Avon, and the family took up their abode in the log house in which Mrs. Low was born. There were then no railroads and no canals, and but very poor country roads. Carriages were conspicuous by their absence, and women as well as men did their travelling on horseback and in lumber teams. Mrs. Low's mother used to card and spin, and not only that, but also to weave the fabric out of which she made her children's clothing. Joel Fuller died in 1829, at the age of forty-nine. His wife survived him many years, and passed away at the age of eighty-two. Her maiden name was Mehitable Spinks, and she was by birth a daughter of Connecticut.
In William P. Low and Prudence A. Low may be found a " happy couple " in the truest sense of the term. They have lived together nearly half a century, cheered and strengthened by that mutual respect and mutual affection which betoken a true "union"; and it scarcely needs to be added that they have a high standing in the community of which they are members.
OHN L: SCOTT, a most estimable citi- zen of Geneseo, Livingston County, N. Y., and a self-made man, was born of Scotch ancestry in County Antrim, Ireland. His great-grandfather, George Scott, was a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and a follower of William III., Prince of Orange. He served the prince through his memorable campaign in Ireland, and was the recipient of a farm in County Antrim, where he passed the remainder of his life. The maiden name of his wife was Maria Crawford.
William Scott, son of George, inherited his father's estate, and was a life-long resident of County Antrim. He married Mary Kyle, who was also of Scotch ancestry, but a native of County Antrim. They were both members of the Presbyterian church. James Scott, their son, succeeded his father in the ownership of the estate, and remained at the place of his
Tion! PRET WOLI
oril bis noz Armnoit asfim sordi
sitoand
blido bordt oliw aid
244
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
birth during his entire life. He married Ann Laughlin, who was born in County An- trim, of which her father, John Laughlin, was a native; but his father, John Laughlin, Sr., was a Scotchman, who removed to Ireland, and there became an extensive land owner, at one time possessing the entire town of Gara Vaghy. He spent his last years in Ireland. His wife, whose maiden name was McFadden, was a na- tive of Scotland. Their son John succeeded to the ownership of one-half of the estate, and continued to reside upon it until his decease. The estate is still in possession of his descend- ants. James Scott and his wife were both life-long residents of County Antrim, and they reared nine children. Of these the only ones who came to America were John L. and his sister Ann. The latter married Mr. Jennings, and settled in Michigan, where she died.
John I. Scott abandoned the parental roof at the age of seventeen years for the purpose of embracing the many advantages offered by the broad and rapidly growing republic of the West to the young men of his native land. He had been carefully reared by his loving parents ; and, with the principles of morality firmly instilled in his nature, he started out for himself, fully determined to win the battle of life. He sailed from Belfast to Liverpool, and there embarked upon the ship "Onward. " He. landed at New York, June 11, 1852, and from there came direct to Geneseo. In the month of August he commenced to learn the trade of a miller; and, after serving an ap- prenticeship of four years, during which time he attended school at York Centre two months, he was placed in charge of a mill. In 1860 he went to York, and operated a mill there until 1866, and then returned to Geneseo and opened a mill on his own account. He con- tinued to conduct a successful business until 1885, when he was elected Superintendent of the Livingston County Home for the Poor. He was re-elected in 1888, and again in 1891, after which he declined to stand for another re-election.
Mr. Scott was married in 1861 to Miss Mary Jane Jamison, who was born in the town of York, daughter of Hugh and Jane Jamison. They have reared eight children - Helen J.,
Mary B., James A., Ann E., George G., S. Clara, John J., and Walter E. The two youngest are students, all the others being graduates, of the normal school. Mary was a teacher for five years previous to her marriage to Dr. George Cutter. She died at the age of twenty-five.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott and their children are all members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Scott's career again reminds us of the value of the sturdy Scotch element in the population of our country. His fixed determination to suc- ceed, which he entertained at the time of his advent in America, has been fully realized ; and, though his native soil loses an upright, high-minded, and intelligent citizen, the Em- pire State has won the same, and is proud of its acquisition. Mr. Scott is a Republican in politics, and a stanch supporter of the prin- ciples upheld by that party.
LOCKWOOD THAYER, attorney- at-law in Warsaw, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in this village on April 28, 1842. He is a descend- ant of Ferdinando Thayer, who emigrated from England to America about 1630 or 1635, and settled, with other English colonists, in Braintree, Mass. On January 14, 1652, he was married to Huldah Hayward, of Braintree. He moved after his father's death to a new plantation called Mendon; and, being pos- sessed of considerable wealth for that period, he was able to give each of his sons a farm. Several of them became extensive land owners. Ferdinando Thayer lived to be nearly ninety years old, and died in 1713.
Mr. L. Lockwood Thayer's great-grand- father, Gideon Thayer, a great-grandson of Captain Thomas, son of Ferdinando and Hul- dah Thayer, was born in 1753, in Smithfield, R. I., in which place he married Miss Meribah Wilcox, January 10, 1776. He was a soldier during the Revolutionary War, and was one of the first who received a pension. His hatred to the Tories was very bitter; and it is related of him that, when eighty years old, he administered a caning to one of the obnoxious party. After peace was declared, he settled
1
sade some of Lox & andy ost rot omoff zimbroO nosegnivi I - off
245
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
in Oswego, N. Y., and from there came to Lima, where he died aged eighty-four years. Willard Thayer, son of Gideon, was born in 1784, and came to Wyoming County, New York, in 1807. He was married twice, his first wife being Miss Phobe Harris, who was the mother of four children -- Isaac; Linus W. ; Mary; and Israel, who was accidentally drowned in the Mississippi River in early youth. The second Mrs. Thayer was, before marriage, Rebecca Thomas. Of the seven children she bore her husband, only one, Will- iam F., is now living. Mrs. Rebecca Thayer died March 12, 1817, aged twenty-eight. Her husband lived to the age of seventy-nine, dying on March 23, 1862. He was an arbiter and counsellor among the farmers of the neigh- borhood, who had great faith in his judgment and impartiality.
His son, General Linus W. Thayer, was born in Gainesville, Wyoming County, May 23, 1811, and married October 28, 1840, Miss Caroline Matilda Lockwood, whose birth date was the twelfth day of January, 1823. There were seven children born of this mar- riage, all of whom were daughters except Linus Lockwood, the subject of this sketch ; and he and his sister Florence, who lives with him, are the only survivors. General Linus W. Thayer was admitted to practise law in 1839, and moved to Warsaw in 1841, winning and holding a position among the lawyers of his county and of Western New York, working in his chosen profession, the peer of his ablest associates, for fifty-three years, the last week of his life preparing for an argument in the Court of Appeals, and dying in the harness, August 6, 1892, at the age of eighty-one Years. He had an unfailing fund of humor. He was direct and earnest, sometimes blunt in expression, but kind at heart. His success in his profession is explained by his love for it, and in the last analysis it appears to have been largely due to his rare common sense. No one of his ancestors, in a direct line for five generations, died under the age of seventy- six years. His father died at seventy-eight, his grandfather at eighty-four, a more remote ancestor at ninety. He was commissioned in 1838 by Governor Marcy as Major in the
Twenty-sixth Regiment of New York Cavalry, and in 1839 commissioned as Colonel by Gov- ernor Seward, who in 1841 commissioned him as Brigadier general. When the physician at his bedside, near the end, inquired, "How do you feel, General?" he replied, "I feel like an honest man.
After all that may be said of his attain- ments, of his ability, of his courage, of his power, of his success, it also deserves to be said of Linus Warner Thayer that he was, and he might feel like, that "noblest work of God," an honest man. His motives and his methods of political work were always manly and free from hypocrisy or indirection. What he did to assure the nomination of Grover Cleveland for the office of Governor of New York is well known. The newspapers and many sagacious observers at the time recog- nized the efficient work which he did in mak- ing that nomination possible. In a letter received from Mr. Cleveland to the chairman of the memorial meeting of the Wyoming County bar, he says, "His death cannot but be a very great loss to the community in which he lived, and cannot but be sincerely mourned by all those who are fortunate enough to claim his friendship."
Mr. L. Lockwood Thayer, who, like his father, has followed the legal profession, grad- uated from the Warsaw Academy at twenty. He had been reading law previously in his father's office; but, after leaving school, he put himself under the tuition of Mr. A. D. Ditmars, of New York, No. 61 Williams Street. This gentleman, who is still in prac- tice there, must have been a competent in- structor ; for in 1866 Mr. Thayer was admitted to the bar after standing a rigid examination from Judges Grover, Davis, and Marvin. Mr. Thayer entered partnership with his father, which was dissolved only with the death of the latter.
On the 13th of October, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Hurlburt, a daughter of Julius C. and Dorothy (Ames) Hurlburt, both deceased. Mrs. Thayer has two own and two half-brothers living, one of whom, Mr. Herschel Hurlburt, is foreman of the printing-office of the Wyoming County
... .
246
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
Times. Three children were born to bless and sanctify this union: Blanche L., "a fair girl graduate," one of the most popular and attractive young women in Warsaw, just re- turned with high honors from Wellesley College; L. Clinton, a student at Rochester Business College; and Maud, a winsome little maiden of thirteen. Mr. Thayer is a Democrat in politics. He was appointed Postmaster in 1888 under President Cleveland, and filled the office under Harrison. He is a Master Mason, and also an Odd Fellow, belonging to Crystal Salt Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ILLIAM KRAMER, a veteran of the Civil War, merchant tailor, and dealer in ready-made clothing and gentlemen's furnishings in Dansville, was born in Gettersbach, province Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, July 31, 1842. Bernhardt Kramer, father of William, received his education at the schools of Germany, and learned the trade of a cooper, which he followed in his native country until 1847, when he came to America, bringing his eldest son, Adam, with him. He settled for a time in Dansville, and worked at his trade in the shop of his brother John on Perine Street. In 1849 he and his son Adam went to New Orleans. While there his sight became impaired, and he decided to return to his family in Germany for treatment. eventually recovered his sight, and in 1856 came with his wife and children to Dansville, where he followed his trade to the time of his death, which occurred in April, 1872, at the age of seventy-two.
He
The maiden name of the wife of Bernhardt Kramer was Eva Elizabeth Freidel. She was a native of Germany, and she and her husband had five children, as follows: Adam, who left his father at New Orleans and went to Cali- fornia, and there died in 1858; Catherine, who married Louis Hess, of Ottawa, Ill. ; Fred; George; and William, the subject of this sketch. The mother died at Dansville, at the age of seventy-three. Both she and her husband were members of the German Lutheran church.
William Kramer came to Dansville at the age of fourteen. His education had ended in Germany, and he therefore commenced work- ing with his father in the cooper-shop. In 1857 he entered the employ of James Krein, a grocer, as clerk, remaining three years, and then filled a like position in the employ of Milton J. Puffer, the clothier. Messrs. Kel- logg & Nares purchased the stock of Mr. Puffer in 1861, and Mr. Kramer remained with them until August, 1862. His patriotism and love for his adopted country made him enlist as private in Company K, One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment of New York Infantry, serving as such until the summer of 1863, when the regiment, through influence of its colonel, Alfred Gibs, were mounted and united with the cavalry forces of the Potomac, and thereafter known as the First New York Dragoons. Mr. Kramer was promoted to Corporal in 1862, to Sergeant in 1863, and to Sergeant-major in 1865. He was wounded on the 10th of May, 1864, at Beaver Dam Sta- tion, Va., by a minie ball, which necessitated his confinement in hospital for six weeks.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.