Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 37

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 37
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 37

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Mr. Adams has been Supervisor for four years, and is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 778, of Livonia Station. He always manifests interest in the political issues, and is a stanch Republican. His first Presidential vote was cast for James A. Garfield in 1880.

RANK MCELROY, School Commis- sioner of the Second District of Wy- oming County, was born in the town of Eagle, July 16, 1856, son of James and Serena (Beach) McElroy. His paternal grandfather, John McElroy, was a native of Greene County. Of his family of three sons and three daughters, James, born in Albany County, June 22, 1820, was the third child.

As a small boy, James McElroy lived in a farmer's family, where he was brought up with a practical knowledge of agricultural life; and as a lad of fourteen years he came to this sec- tion, where his son now holds a prominent position, and began working out by the month. The accumulation of his patient earnings year by year steadily increased, until the young

farm hand was a landholder near the village of Eagle, where his youthful labors had begun. This property was afterward sold, and a farm purchased in or near Bliss, in Wyoming County. Of the three hundred acres of land included in this tract two hundred were unim- proved, and had to be cleared. With an en- ergy that no obstacle daunted, he fell to work, and in a short time had it almost ready for the plough. The first four years of his life here were spent in an humble little log cabin; but the occupants were not less happy, perhaps, than when in more prosperous times they lived in the more pretentious home he afterward built.

Mr. James McElroy's wife, Serena, was a daughter of Daniel Beach, who came from Connecticut, and was one of the earliest set- tlers in these parts. Mr. Beach's log cabin was in the midst of a forest. The nearest mill was twelve miles distant, and the nearest village thirty-five miles away. Coming with the limited capital of one hundred and four dollars, an axe, a shovel, and a hoe, and an indomitable courage, the young pioneer began his career, and within eight years had paid for the farm, and was the possessor of a comfort- able home. Mr. Beach died not long after the accomplishment of his life work. His widow died at eighty-four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. McElroy reared four children - Ellen A. ; Frank, of whom this is written; Libbey C. ; and Fred B. She died in the sixty-sixth year of her age.

Mr. Frank McElroy was educated in the district schools and the Pike Seminary, after which, at the age of twenty-two years, he began teaching -an avocation he continued for five years. On October 13, 1879, he was wedded to Miss Beulah E. Joiner, a daughter of Mr. Andrew Joiner, of Wethersfield. Her death, on the 16th of March, 1884, in the twenty-seventh year of her age, was a great and grievous bereavement to her husband, whose life has been since overshadowed by the sorrow.

In 1891 he was elected to the office of School Commissioner of the Second District of the county, and proved himself so efficient in this capacity that in 1893 he was re-elected

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for three years. In political faith Mr. Mc- Elroy is a Republican, and in religious con- nections is a Free Will Baptist. He is a member of Blue Lodge, of Pike, in which organization he has officiated as Chaplain. Mr. McElroy is a man of uncommon intelli- gence, and has the entire confidence of the community in which his lot has been cast.

A LBERT G. BRISTOL, a successful farmer of Avon, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in Canaan, Colum- bia County, January 6, 1812. His grandfather, Eliphalet Bristol, who was born in Connecticut, April 7, 1751, removed to Canaan when a young man, making the jour- ney on foot, and bringing an axe. He secured land covered with a heavy growth of timber. He cleared a farm, and lived there with his wife, Sarah (Scovil) Bristol, until his death in 1833. They had six children, one son and five daughters, all of whom married and settled in Lima, Livingston County, N. Y. The father of Albert G. Bristol, Eliphalet Bristol, Jr., was born in Canaan, January 5, 1784, and, having inherited a part of the old homestead, afterward bought the rest from the heirs, and, adding more to it, made this place his home for life, dying in 1869, at the age of eighty-five years. His first wife was Lucy Crippen, of Columbia County, New York, daughter of Benjamin and Deborah (Foote) Crippen. She died in 1826, at the age of forty-six years, leaving seven children ; namely, Sarah, Albert G., Benjamin, Debo- rah, Lucy, Lydia, and Scovil. Mr. Bristol then married Laura Crocker, of Chatham, who had two sons - Horace and Abel.

Albert G. Bristol was educated in his native town, where he resided till February, 1836, when he came to Livingston County, making the eight days' journey in a sleigh. He had visited this section in the fall of the previous year, and bought one hundred acres of land in the town of Avon, which then consisted of only one uncompleted house, sixteen by eighteen. This he finished, and, making it comforta- ble, commenced his career as an independent farmer. He soon built another house and

frame barn, and otherwise improved the prop- erty, residing there until 1852, when he sold that farm and purchased the place on which he now resides. Here he erected a number of buildings, with modern improvements, which rank among the best in the town. The farm consists of one hundred and twenty-five acres, which he has managed very successfully.

April 14, 1835, he married Miranda Lock- wood, who was born in Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y., September 6, 1813, daughter of Abijah and Talatha (Elmor) Lockwood. Mrs. Bristol died in 1890, leaving five chil- dren - George W., Lucy L., James L., Mar- tin HI., and Albert M. George W. married Mary Stilson, February 14, 1866, and after her death, July 23, 1866, was again married to Nellie Williams, December 25, 1867. The latter died July 26, 1879; and he was subse- quently married for the third time to Helen Burdette. He now resides at Grand Rapids, and has one son, Frank. Lucy L. lives at home with her father. James L. married March 3, 1864, Emma Huntington, who died July 30, 1876, leaving six children - Louis, Gertrude, Fred, Miranda, Harry, and Grace. James then married, November 2, 1881, Jessie Hallock. Martin H. married Helen Warner, June 8, 1881, and has three children -- Roie, Jay, and Harriet. Albert M. married Minnie Remington, June 7, 1888, and has one son, Benjamin Clifford.

Mr. Bristol has been a Republican for some years, and has done a great deal for the prog- ress of the town in which he lives. He is a man of broad views, and is well read, spending much of his spare time with his books and the papers, thereby being able to converse readily on all the affairs of the day.

HARLES M. JOHNSON, a retired farmer and a highly respected citizen of Castile, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in the town of Galway, Saratoga County, September 3, 1840. His father, Henry B., was the eldest son of Jacob and Nancy Johnson, who were of English and Scotch descent. Not very much is known of Jacob's career; but he was a progressive

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farmer, and was in the service of the country in the War of 1812. His death occurred at Saratoga Springs in his eighty-fourth year. His wife, Nancy, died at about eighty. They were the parents of seven children - Henry, Alfred, William, Joseph, Guy, Rhoda, and Harriet.

Henry B. Johnson was born in Saratoga County, June 19, 1812, and when he was old enough began to look into the work of farm- ing and to put into practice the waking ideas of his young brain. In 1849 he removed with his family to Genesee Falls, Wyoming County, and later to the adjoining town of Castile, where he set to work in his chosen occupation, and was known in that region as one of the truly progressive farmers of the locality. His death took place in the course of time, at the age of seventy-seven. His wife's maiden name was Polly Shields. Her age at the close of her life was seventy years. She had been the mother of four children, the second of whom, Henry, named for his father, married Eliza Lee, and lives on the old home- stead in Castile. The only daughter, Martha J. Johnson, died in youth. The third son, Porter M., born July 19, 1857, and now mar- ried to Ellen Sowerby, is a miller by occupa- tion, in Castile; and they have five children.

Charles M. Johnson, the eldest of the four, and the subject of this narrative, was in his ninth year when his father and mother left the eastern part of the State for the western town of Castile; and he was thus able to use the advantages which the well-developed schools of this neighborhood afforded. When he had finished his education, he began farming. In 1862 Mr. Johnson enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment, New York Volunteers, under Captain Augustus Harrington, and soon found himself on the scene of action, such as his country had never before beheld nor his twenty-two years ever conceived of in his most ardent moments of school-boy patriotism. At length the cruel war was over, and his discharge took place. This was on June 20, 1865. He had been in many fierce battles, including the terrible encounter at Gettysburg; but in them all he escaped injury, and he returned in safety to

his home. Soon after he went to New York City, taking a position as clerk in a dry-goods store, and remained in that capacity three years. He then came to Castile, and went into the business of cheese manufacture, which he carried on for seven years at West Perry with John Thomson. At the end of this period he took hold of a new branch of indus- try, with his kit of tools and a fresh spirit beginning work as a carpenter, shortly becom- ing a builder and jobber. In 1882 he went back to Castile, and continuing his same line of work became very successful. In 1884 he built the large and beautiful house which he now owns at No. 19 Liberty Street. Mr. Johnson also owns a fine summer cottage at Silver Lake.

Charles M. Johnson was married in 1870 to Miss Martha Sowerby, who died July 17, 1892. (See sketch of John Sowerby on an- other page.) Mrs. Martha S. Johnson was the mother of three children, who all survived her, namely : Clara M., born May 14, 1873, married to Frank Dunbar, a farmer in the town of Castile, and who has two children --- M. Matilda and Bennett; Estella C., born September 14, 1872, who lives with her father; and William Elmer, born February IO, 1882, also under the home roof. In 1894 Mr. Johnson married for his second wife Miss Ella Johnson, who was born at Caledonia, Livingston County, May 15, 1867, daughter of Lewis and Clara (Beckwith) Johnson. Her father is of English descent, and was born in Wyoming County, January, 1836. He has been twice married, and Mrs. Charles M. Johnson is a daughter by the first marriage. Lewis Johnson is still living, and doing a prosperous business as a contractor and car- penter, living in the comfortable house which he built himself on Water Street. He be- lieves in Prohibition, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Charles M. Johnson is a member of the Baptist church. He is a Republican in poli- tics; and, as a man of probity and reliability in business affairs, he has been called to minor offices in the interests of the town. Now that the fever of ambition which possesses the mind of all youth has given place to the cool-

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ness of maturer years, Mr. Johnson has settled down to enjoy more fully than in previous days the well-earned serenity which results from a worthy and intelligent activity.

LLEN W. PECK, a well-known and esteemed resident of Arcade, Wyo- ming County, formerly a conductor on the Erie Railroad, was born in Java in the same county, January 26, 1852. His father was a native of Berlin, Hartford County, Conn., born December 19, 1821. He bore the name of Lucius, and was a son of James Peck, a native of the State of Vermont. The grandfather came to Steuben County, New York, in 1822, and settled on a farm, which he cleared, and on which he resided till his death, February 28, 1845. His wife, the grandmother, was Miss Franklin, with the good old-fashioned prefix of Sally. Her death occurred on the 19th of February, 1839, pre- ceding that of her husband by six years.

Lucius Peck, the father of Allen, early manifested an intellectual bent, being "fond of his book," and making such good use of his opportunities for study that he was quali- fied quite early for occupying the teacher's desk. He began to teach at the age of seven- teen, and kept at the work for nine years, when he passed on his wand of office to his successor, and entered the Geneva Medical College. He took the prescribed course, and was duly graduated in 1847, and then com- menced practice as a physician in good stand- ing in the town of Eagle, Wyoming County. After a time he went to a new field in Steu- ben County, where he remained a few years ; and then he moved to Java, remaining there nineteen years, at the end of which time he changed again to Arcade, his home being in that place during the rest of his life. He died on the 5th of May, 1893. Dr. Lucius Peck was a man who deserves more than a mere passing mention, being widely known and appreciated both as a physician and a citi- zen. It was no small part of his business to look after the interests of the community. He was Supervisor of the town nine years, and was Chairman of the board five years, was

a member of the State Assembly in 1863, also a Justice. of the Peace, and filled the office of Postmaster of the town of Java eighteen suc- cessive years. He always cast a Republican vote. In the Masonic Order, to which he belonged for many years, he passed all the degrees. These records show the character of the man to have been of the happiest type, and noteworthy from its helpful activity. The wife of Lucius Peck was Miss Mary J. Day, daughter of Paul E. Day, a native of York. Her father was a clothier by occupa- tion, in the town of Haskinville, Steuben County, where he ended his days.

Lucius and Mary Peck were the parents of two children - Lucien W., a regular physi- cian in the town of Arcade; and Allen, of this sketch. The parents were inclined to the Congregational belief, and promoted its cause in their neighborhood. Mrs. Peck lived to the age of eighty-two years, and died in Arcade.

Allen W. Peck came to man's estate in the town of Arcade. He had been going through a school course, and now began his active career as an employee on the Erie Railroad. He remained on the line for three years; and after an interval of about two years he re- sumed that occupation, and was engaged in railroad service till the year 1891. At that time he made a change by going into the large establishment of A. J. Davis as clerk, a position which he occupies at the present time.

Mr. Peck was married in 1873 to Miss Lucy Darling, one of four children of Kendall Darling, of Gaysville, Vt., where her father was a foreman in a woollen-mill. Her death occurred at the age of forty, December 10, 1894. Her parents reside in the town of Pike. Mr. Peck is in politics a Democrat. He has passed all the degrees of Masonry, and is now a Master Mason. He is also a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Arcade, is also a member of the Maccabees, and has held several of the minor offices. He is in addition to these a member of the Fra- ternity of Railway Conductors. The physical and mental strain which belongs to the life of the manager of a railroad train is hardly

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paralleled in any stationary employment, and Mr. Peck's fifteen years of personal risk and personal responsibility for the safety of others entitle him to the gratitude of the community at large. Mr. Peck has the regard of his many friends both for his own sake and for his father's sake, whom "to name is to praise."

J OSEPH YATES BENNETT, a native of the prosperous town of Portage, Livingston County, N. Y., an influen- tial business man of great experience, was born November 30, 1822. His ancestors were a thrifty, industrious New England people, possessed of a high order of intelli- gence. Ephraim Bennett, the first emigrant of the family to this country, came from Eng- land and settled in Newtown, Conn., where he died in 1780. One of his three sons, our subject's grandfather, Thomas, was born in 1752, and died in the old home in New- town in 1836, aged eighty-four.

Thomas Bennett had eight sons and three daughters. Seven of the sons settled in the town of Portage. Of the eight sons, Walter, the father of our subject, was the sixth son. He was the pioneer of the family to the town of Portage, then Nunda, in 1817. His first settlement in New York State was made in 1808, in Scipio, Cayuga County, where he married Huldah Coe in 1809. While travel- ling to his new home, he was obliged to cut his way for many miles through primeval for- ests. Besides attending to his farm, Mr. Ben- nett engaged extensively in lumber business, felling trees, and rafting the lumber to Rochester, on the Genesee River. His crops of grain were teamed to the same city for mar- ket, it requiring three days for one trip. But step by step, with the blessing of God, whom he devoutly worshipped, he was enabled to es- tablish a firm and agreeable foothold in his new home. His young wife, gifted in capabil- ity and management of affairs, was an unfail- ing assistant and support. All the wearing apparel was made by the family. The old spinning wheel is still preserved in the home, a cherished relic. While living in Scipio, Mr.

Bennett, in company with his father-in-law, went to New England, and there purchased, at a cost of two thousand dollars, two merino sheep, for the purpose of introducing the fine wool into Western New York. Of the first shearing, Huldah and her step-mother, Mrs. Joel Coe, spun and wove fine cloth, of which her father, Joel Coe, presented a suit to the Governor of the State. The Governor in re- turn sent a large, richly chased silver bowl to Mr. Coe and two sets of silver teaspoons to the spinners. Mr. Coe lived to his ninetieth year. Late in life he had his silver bowl melted and made into sets of large tablespoons for his wife and three daughters. These spoons are held in deep veneration by the sev- eral families.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bennett had eleven children - Emily Coe, Alma Jane, Thomas Ford, Walter, Flora, Joseph Yates, John Henry Hobart, Maria Louise, Mary Ellen, Heber Coe, and Heber Coe second, six of whom survive at this present. A seventh, Walter, Jr., lived past threescore and ten. Thomas F. is a retired farmer, residing in Missouri. He had nine children, seven of whom survive. Of quick intelligence, a close and deep thinker, he carries on continued correspond- ence with men of note on governmental sub- jects, giving his mind and pen busy work for his ripe old age. Walter, Jr., possessed keen perception of art and skill, and was an in- ventor. He practised medicine in Providence, R. I., and died in that city in 1892. His brother Yates was with him the last few days of his life, and brought his remains home, where his funeral was attended; and his grave is beside his father's and mother's in the Hunt cemetery.

Flora Bennett, born September 26, 1820, began teaching in 1841, and taught successively in Oakland, Hunt's Hollow, Nunda, Portage- ville, and Pike, Wyoming County. In 1845 she was awarded a State certificate. Subse- quently she taught the village school of Ches- ter, Morris County, N. J., four years. She was for twenty-eight years a prominent teacher in institutions of note in the States of Tennessee and Mississippi. One of many souvenirs of this period is a beautiful silver water set and

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tray. Four of the concluding years she was principal of the Peabody public school of Sum- mit, Miss., which school had five departments. She resigned her position in the Peabody to assist in the care of her mother, then ninety years old. At her resignation the Board of Education presented her a gold medal, beauti- fully wrought, as a token of appreciation of faithful labor among them. J. H. Hobart is a dealer in musical instruments, and resides in Springfield, Ill. He was born in 1825, and has never married. His first day in that city was the day of the funeral of the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln. He is a faithful and efficient worker in the Episcopal church, and it was through his labor and influence that the parish of Christ's Church was established. Two rich men (Ridgleys) built the church as a memorial to their sainted parents. Maria Louise Bennett married John W. Johnson, of Baltimore, Md., and resides in that city. She has no children. Mary Ellen was for many years a successful music teacher in the South, for the most part in the same institutions with her sister Flora. She was educated in music in Boston, under Professor J. C. Johnson. The father, Walter Bennett, Sr., died May 26, 1843, aged fifty-seven - just in waning manhood's prime. He was greatly lamented.

The venerable mother's home was with her son, J. Yates Bennett. Centennial year the three sisters attended the Exposition in Phila- delphia, and paid a visit to the homestead. Mrs. J. Yates Bennett died in May of that year; and, because of the increasing infirmi- ties of their mother, Mary E. remained at home to care for her. Mrs. Huldah Coe Bennett survived until her ninety-third year, dying February 8, 1886. A few years she had im- perfect sight, a great regret ; but up to the close of her life she was an interested listener to reading, and kept the run of passing events. It was said of her: "She was happy in having lived through such an eventful era, happy in her family and friends, happy in a long and eventful life, happy in the decline that led to an almost painless, but conscious close, but above all happy in unfaltering faith of a future life of unending happiness. "" Among her last

words were, "I am nothing: Jesus is all in all." She raised four sons, all of whom sur- vived her. Their lots have been varied, as they have lived in different States, and much within the charmed circle of city attractions. She would remark with pride and congratula- tion : "Not one of my four sons is a drunkard, and not one of them uses tobacco. I can trust them wherever they may go." For nearly twenty years Mary E. has been the manager of her brother's household, aided since 1883 by her sister Flora.

Joseph Yates Bennett, the principal subject of this sketch, received the rudiments of his education in the public school. His studies were completed in Le Roy and Nunda Acad- emies. When twenty-one, he went to Louis- iana for one winter's stay, but remained seven years, teaching private schools. He was ap- pointed Postmaster of the town of Thibo- deaux, and held the office five years. At this time he was engaged in the book and station- ery business. After resigning his office, in the years 1856-57 he passed some months in San Antonio, Tex., and on the frontier. On leaving Texas, he crossed that State and Louisiana alone on horseback. There were no hotels except in villages, which were far apart ; but the traveller found a kind welcome at every house where he asked for entertain- ment. Ilis pistol was an annoyance in his belt, so he carried it stored away in his saddle- bags. The next few years he divided the time between the North and South, spending two years in New Orleans, in business with his brother Walter. In 1860 he returned to the North permanently, and has ever since resided in the town of Portage.

In 1862 ne married Mariette Galusha, of Wayne County. One son was born to them, whose death at seven months was soon followed by that of the mother. Mr. Bennett's sec- ond wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Branch Smith, a daughter of the late Dr. G. W. Branch. She had one son, George Branch Smith, two years old at the time she became Mrs. Ben- nett. Two sons were born of the second union Arthur Yates and Guy Percy. The mother died in 1876, and the infant. Guy Percy; a few months later. George and Arthur grew

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up together, studying at home, George under the tuition of Mary E., until they entered classes in high schools, George in Mount Mor- ris, Arthur three years later in Nunda. The State Regent's report gave George the highest standard, in some respects, of any boy in the State. On leaving school, he worked in a machine-shop in Buffalo, where he mastered engineering, geometrical drawing, and draft- ing, and became experienced in the making of steam-engines. He is now, at twenty-four, sub-engineer on a lake steamboat. George has always cherished the warmest affection for his step-father and his brother Arthur. Ar- thur Yates graduated from the high school in Nunda after three years of study. He then took a commercial course in a business col- lege in Elmira, N. Y. At this present he is twenty-one, and is a partner in the grain and milling business with his father.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 37

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

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