Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 38

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 38
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 38

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Mr. Bennett's business experience in differ- ent parts of the country not only quickened his natural abilities, but has served to enable him to conduct either public or private affairs with care and precision. A life-long Democrat, he has been a Justice of the Peace for twelve years in a strong Republican town, and has recently been elected for four years more. He is a Mason, and is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Hunt's Hollow. He holds the office of Warden, and has been lay reader for twenty years. St. Mark's Church was built in 1828, mainly through the work and influence of Walter Bennett, Sr., and Sanford Hunt, Sr. Together they held the office of Warden until their death. In the fifties a handsome triple memorial window was placed in the newly added recess chancel. In 1888, a general repairing being necessary, Mr. J. Yates Bennett, as committee of one, pro- ceeded to gather means for the work. The result was handsome, high, mullioned stained- glass windows, six of them being memorial, containing twelve names inscribed in panel scrolls of cathedral glass. Other repairs and ornamentation are in perfect keeping with such windows. In 1892 was completed the patient labor of love that had made St. Mark's Church one of the neatest country churches in the dio- cese of Western New York.

R EV. FRANCIS SULLIVAN, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Perry, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in Niagara County, De- cember 13, 1857. He is a son of Timothy Sullivan, a native of County Cork, Ireland, born in 1820, who came to America, and set- tled in Niagara County, New York, in 1847. The Sullivan family is an ancient race, and has won distinction in the Old World and the New. Timothy Sullivan had been trained to agricultural pursuits ; and on coming to Niag- ara County he purchased about two hundred acres of land, and became a very prosperous farmer. He was progressive as well as indus- trious, and to-day owns several farms aside from the one upon which he now resides. He married Mary Maher, daughter of William Maher, who was also born in Ireland, but emigrated and settled in Middleport, N. Y., where he became a well-to-do farmer.

Timothy and Mary Sullivan raised a family of five children, three sons and two daughters. John, who married Margaret Dacey, is a farmer residing in Niagara County, and has three children. The Rev. Francis Sullivan is the subject of this sketch. William, the third son, who resides in Hartland, Niagara County, married Catherine Khoe, and has one child. One daughter, Mrs. B. Gitty, of Lockport, has five children. The other, Mrs. P. J. Hal- lon, of Hartland, has three children. Timothy Sullivan is still actively engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, and is considered one of the very best grain cultivators in Western New York.

Francis Sullivan was educated at Niagara University, and received his bachelor's de- gree in 1879. In 1881 he received the degree of A.M., and his ordination to priesthood occurred May 19, 1883. On January 19, 1884, he assumed charge of St. Joseph's Church, Perry, where his labors have been productive of very beneficial results. St. Joseph's Church was erected in 1871, the Rev. John Fitzpatrick being its first pastor. He was succeeded in 1873 by the Rev. M. Dwyer, who officiated for six years, and was followed by the Rev. P. Burkney, who re- mained until 1884, when the Rev. Father Sullivan was placed in charge of the parish.

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This gentleman is as progressive in church work as was his father in agriculture. He has laid a new foundation to the church, and in 1890 he erected a beautiful parochial resi- dence. He has also graded the grounds, set out shade trees, and purchased a new ceme- tery, besides making many other needed im- provements.

Father Sullivan, besides attending to his duties at Perry, also officiates at St. Mary's Church at Silver Springs, and holds services in both of these churches every Sabbath. He administers to the spiritual needs of over seven hundred souls. He takes a live inter- est in all matters of importance relative to the general welfare of the community, and has twice been elected a Trustee of the union school at Perry, where he is held in the very highest esteem by all classes. The church and parochial residence are located at the cor- ner of Lester, Clark, and Park Streets, Grove Street being in the rear, one of the finest sites in the village.

Father Sullivan takes a great interest in the schools, the library, and all educational improvements in Perry, Castile, and Silver Springs. He has always faithfully and zeal- ously performed his pastoral duties, and by his many kindly acts has endeared himself to the hearts of his parishioners. Although he is comparatively a young man, he occupies an influential position as the senior Catholic pas- tor in Wyoming County. A scholarly and eloquent speaker, he has delivered a number of public addresses on various subjects throughout Western New York.

A lifelike portrait of the Rev. Francis Sullivan accompanies this brief sketch of his beneficent career.

AVID STEELE, a retired farmer liv- ing in the village of Arcade, Wyo- ming County, N. Y., a man who has held many important offices, and has won the respect and esteem of the community, was born in Yorkshire, Cattaraugus County, March 19, 1825. His grandfather, Thomas Steele, who was a native of Derry, N. H., made all preparations to move from that State

to the western part of New York, and had started on the journey thither, when he was stricken with an illness, and died at Albany. His father, Hugh Steele, was fourteen years old when he first came from New Hampshire to New York, where he did not remain very long. He returned to New Hampshire, and a short time afterward went to Boston, where he secured work on one of the numerous piers. In 1821 he came back to New York, and took possession of a tract of one hundred and fifty acres of timbered land in Cattaraugus County, which he cleared and improved, and upon which he erected a comfortable dwelling and out-buildings. He married Miss Lucinda Day, a native of Worcester, Mass., whose parents late in life moved to New York, liv- ing in Otsego and Steuben Counties, but afterward went West, where they both died. Hugh Steele was the father of eight children, who were born in the following order: David; Lovice; Lucinda, who died young; John ; Elizabeth; Chauncey; Ira; and Hiram, who is now the popular and efficient Postmaster of Arcade. Both of the parents were conscien- tious members of the Baptist church, and the father held the offices of Assessor and Over- seer of the Poor.

After the death of his parents David took possession of the farm where his life had been spent, he having been an infant of three months when his father moved on the place. Mr. Steele was a farmer by natural as well as inherited taste, and his youthful experience of tilling the soil and cattle-raising was of un- questionable worth to him when he became manager of the estate. This place he still owns, and would be reluctant to give up, for it has been in the possession of the Steele family for over seventy years, and many tender associations cling about it. In 1866 Mr. Steele was married to Miss Augusta Pin- ney, a native of Veteran, Chemung County, a daughter of Mr. Smith Pinney. Mrs. Steele's father died in Steuben County. Her mother, whose maiden name was Julia A. Van Hozer, was a native of Norwalk, Conn., but died in Antrim County, Mich.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. David Steele was crowned by the birth of a son and daugh-

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ter. Ira Day Steele, the son, was educated in Arcade, and was a telegraph operator and later a clerk in the hotel in that village. At the age of twenty-seven he died in the youth- ful vigor of manly strength, April 6, 1894, leaving a void in the hearts and home of his parents which cannot be filled. The daugh- ter, Bertha, is still at home with her father and mother in Arcade, the family having re- moved to this village in 1893. Mr. Steele is a regular attendant of the Baptist church, of which his family are members, and in which his wife has been a devout communicant since her childhood. He is a Democrat, and has held the office of Inspector of Elections. He has also been an Assessor, and has five times filled the office of Town Supervisor.

ILLIAM A. GREEN, a leading and distinguished citizen of West

Sparta, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in the same town on the farm near his present residence, on October 26, 1837, in the very heat of the financial difficulties which created distress throughout the nation, and made the administration of President Van Buren exceedingly unpopular.

His father, Bradford Green, was born in Mayfield, Fulton County, N. Y., where he lived till manhood, coming to West Sparta in 1830, over sixty years ago, when he was twenty-two years old. Here he purchased a hundred and thirty-seven acres, and later he bought another tract near by of two hundred acres. Afterward he sold the first farm, but lived on the second till his death in 1849, at the age of forty-three, having been born in 1806, just as Madison was elected President. His wife was Rebecca McMaster, daughter of Ebenezer McMaster, a pioneer settler in Sparta, where she was born, one of twelve children. Mrs. Bradford Green had two chil- dren. The eldest is William A., of West Sparta. His brother, Harlow B. Green, also lives in this town. Their mother was born in 1815, was married while very young, and lived to be seventy-eight, dying in 1894, a faithful adherent of the Presbyterian church, though her husband was a Methodist.

As we have already seen, William A. Green was a lad only a dozen years old when his father died. He continued to live with his widowed mother till he was twenty-four. Be- sides attending the district school, he went to the academy in Lima; but of course his time was mostly engrossed by the demands of the farm. In 1861 he came into possession of a portion of the home farm, where he still re- sides; and he also has the oversight of another farm, belonging to his wife, whom he married in 1861, at the age of twenty-four, just as the election of Abraham Lincoln was made an excuse for the secession of Southern States. Mrs. William A. Green's maiden name was Mary Van Doren. Her father, William Van Doren, was a native of West Sparta; but the Van Doren family removed to Nunda, and were there at the time of Mary's birth, she being one of their two children. Father Van Doren, however, returned to West Sparta, where he died in 1889. From this marriage have come four children. William B. Green, born in 1863, lives in the same town with his parents. He married Minnie Strivings, of Mount Morris, and has three children . - May, Marion, and Chester Green. Cora May Green, born in 1865, became the wife of William Murphy, a West Spartan farmer, and has two children - Ethlyn and Eleanor. Don V. Green, the third child and second son, born in the year 1869, is unmarried, and lives with his parents, a very manly young man, respected very much by all who make his ac- quaintance. Leo Green, born in 1884, is the youngest of the family, and still remains on the farm. The three elder children were all normal school students at Geneseo, and were very successful teachers in district schools.

Mr. Green has been Road Commissioner several years and a Justice of Peace. In 1886 he was elected Supervisor, and again in 1894 for a term of two years. He has always been a consistent supporter of the Republican party. In religion he, with his excellent com- panion, has followed his father's and her father's excellent Methodist footsteps; and since 1879 he has been the faithful and effi- cient superintendent of the Sunday-school, from which he has received many tokens of

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high regard. In both politics and the church Mr. Green is prominent and influential, and would indorse the declaration of the great essayist, Addison -

"There is nothing which favors and falls in with the natural greatness and dignity of human nature so much as religion, which does not only promise the entire refinement of the mind, but the glorifying of the body and the immortality of both."

ARTIN P. ANDREWS, an influ- ential and esteemed resident of Perry, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in that town in August, 1817. He is a son of Mark and Dolly (Mc- Intyre) Andrews, and grandson of Major Mark and Ruth (Parris) Andrews. His grandfather was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1760, and when a young man removed to Au- gusta, Me., where he was a merchant for some years. While there he was united in mar- riage to Ruth Parris, a native of Maine, whose brother, Albion K. Parris, was Gov- ernor from 1822 to 1827, and was the Comp- troller of the United States Treasury under President Jackson. Major Mark Andrews was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. In 1816 he came to Wyoming County, New York, and purchased for his son Mark one hundred and twenty acres of land in the town of Perry, situated two miles west of Perry Centre. The farm is now owned by C. Wat- rous. Major Andrews with his wife went back to Maine, but after a number of years returned to Perry, bought thirty acres of land north of the village, and built a house, which he occupied till his death, May 16, 1848. He reared six children.

Ilis son Mark was born in Turner, Me., November 13, 1786. He was a pioneer in Perry, where he improved his farm, and be- came a citizen of prominence. He and his wife reared a family of three children - Mar- tin P., Samuel M., and Joseph C. Mark Andrews died May 19, 1856, and his wife, Dolly, February 23, 1863.

Martin P. Andrews received a limited edu- cation, but, being fond of reading, has be-

come a well-informed man. He purchased sixty-two and one-half acres of improved land at West Perry, and on November 8, 1843, married Mary Hunt, who was born in Grove- land, Livingston County, April 28, 1824, daughter of Elijah and Mary ( Ogden) Hunt. She died July 21, 1866, leaving one child, Parris, two others, Helen and Charles, having died previously. On March 21, 1867, Mr. Andrews was married for the second time to Mrs. Diana (Ogden) Norton, who was born April 21, 1816, and died February 27, 1888. On July LI of the same year he married his present wife, Abigail Bathrick, born in Perry, June 9, 1839, daughter of Elias and Clarissa (Ward) Bathrick. Elias Bathrick was born in Litchfield, Herkimer County, N. Y., April 26, 1800, and Clarissa Ward in New Marl- boro, Mass., April 3, 1803. They were mar- ried on January 3, 1828, and reared six children - Charlotte, born August 25, 1829; Linus, born September 2, 1832, who married Sarah E. Fitch; Lorain, born July 7, 1834, who married for her first husband William Corner, now deceased; Martha, who died at the age of four years; Abigail, born June 9, 1839; and William R., born June 9, 1842, who married Mancie Bratt. Martin P. An- drews moved to Perry in 1884, and now lives in retirement. He has been a member of the Methodist church for sixty-two years, and takes an active interest in church affairs, also in schools and all matters relating to cdu- cation.

Parris Andrews, his only surviving child, was born in Perry, February 23, 1845, and educated in the schools of Perry and Lima Seminary. At the age of twenty-three years he married Elida A. Abell, a native of the same town, born August 23, 1843, daughter of Alfred and Abigail (Kent) Abell, and grand-daughter of Benjamin and Lydia (Thatcher) Abell, who came from Connecticut to Canandaigua County, New York, and from thence to Perry, where they were among the early settlers. They passed through the usual vicissitudes of a pioneer's life, clearing their land and residing in a log house until cir- cumstances enabled them to provide a more comfortable home. They reared ten children

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- Asa, Lindon, Maria, Elizabeth, Lorenzo, Alfred, Lydia, Mary A., Benjamin, and Eras- tus. Grandfather Abell died at the age of eighty-three, and the grandmother at eighty- five.

Alfred Abell, father of Mrs. Parris An- drews, was born in Vermont, June 7, 1808, and came to New York State with his father. On coming into possession of the old home- stead, he renovated the buildings, and made many general improvements. At the age of thirty-two he married Abigail Kent, who was born in Boston, Mass., October 23, 1821. Of their seven children only two are now liv- ing - Elida and Merrit. The latter married Myrtle B. Mason, and resides at Bliss, Wy- oming County. Alfred Abell died at the age of eighty-three. Mr. and Mrs. Parris An- drews have one daughter, Florence M., born December 28, 1874. He owns a farm of ninety-three acres at West Perry, with large and well-appointed barns and other buildings, and has twelve acres, upon which he culti- vates Niagara grapes. He is a Republican in politics, and both himself and wife are mem- bers of the Methodist church.

OHN OTIS BAILEY, a farmer residing in the town of Leicester, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in Yorkshire, England, July 16, 1830, and was the son of John Bailey, and Mary Mays Bailey, both natives of England. Mr. John Bailey resided in his native land till 1832, when with his wife and only child he came to America, crossing the ocean in a small sail- ing-vessel, and landing in Canada. He lived in Toronto for one year, and then coming from there to Buffalo, N. Y., for a time fol- lowed his trade of bricklayer and stone-mason, and then formed a partnership with a plas- terer and paper-hanger. These two branches of business were conducted by the firm until 1842, when Mr. Bailey's death occurred.

John Otis Bailey was but seven years old when his mother died and but twelve when his father passed away, and so was left thus early in life to the care of strangers. He first made his home with Dr. Lee, with whom he

went to Clay County, Illinois, making the journey with a wagon and two horses, as this was before railroads extended to the West. Ile remained with Dr. Lee one year, and then entered the employ of Mr. Virden at Hen- derson Cross-roads, Macoupin County, Ill., where he remained until nineteen years of age, when he went to Ohio, and was employed on a farm at Middletown, afterward holding a position on the Toledo and Cincinnati Canal. He was in Ohio for about two years, at the end of which time he returned to Illi- nois, drove the stage for two years between Springfield, Peoria, and other points, and then entered the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railroad as fireman. Having remained in this capacity for two years, he resigned to accept the position of engineer on the Alton & Terre Haute Railroad, later known as the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, and now as the "Big Four." He ran an engine on that road between St. Louis and Litchfield until 1860, when he resigned his position, came to Leicester, N. Y., and settled on the farm upon which he has since resided.

In December, 1859, Mr. Bailey married Cornelia S. Dunham, adopted daughter of Daniel and Jane McKee. They have six chil- dren - Frank, Henry, Mary, William, Cora, and Nettie. The varied experiences of Mr. Bailey have given him a wide knowledge of men, and he is all the more capable of enjoy- ing the rest and quiet afforded by life on a farm.

FORGE F. LUCAS, an enterprising surveyor and civil engineer of the town of Castile, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in that pleasant locality, April 9, 1834. He is a son of Francis Lucas and Susan (Center) Lucas, grandson of Joseph and Hannah (Van Ness) Lucas, and great- grandson of Francis Lucas, a farmer who lived and died at White Creek, Washington County. Joseph Lucas, son of Francis, grew up and married in his native town. At the close of the Revolutionary War he was the driver of a supply wagon. He was a Whig in politics, and both he and his wife were members of the

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Methodist church at its formation in Castile. In their later years they came to East Gaines- ville, Wyoming County, and purchased their son's farm, the family residence, now known as the Walker House. Joseph Lucas lived to be seventy-two years old, and his wife to the age of eighty years. Their children were twelve in number; and all grew to mature years, being named respectively Benjamin, Francis, Peter, Hamilton, Alexander, Almond D., James Il., Alida M., Sophronia, Eliza, Evelyn, and Effie.

Francis, the second son, and father of George F., the chief character of this narra- tive, was born at White Creek, Washington County, in December, 1801. He attended the district school, and later learned the trade of dressing cloth, carrying on this industry independently till the year 1827, when he left the north-eastern part of the State and came to East Gainesville, now known as Silver Springs, where he bought a farm of sixty acres, and built a house, barn, and store. In 1829 he came to Castile, purchased a farm in this town, and took charge of the clothing business here one season, being associated with Mr. Hurd, who was one of the first two settlers of Castile village. Mr. Hurd built the Sayre House, which Francis Lucas and his wife opened, and carried on for a year as a hotel, in 1839. Mr. Lucas then returned to his farm, where he resided till 1853, when he retired from business altogether. He was a decided Whig in politics, and held the office of Overseer of the Poor, and was also Highway Commissioner. He was married to Susan Center, who was born in the vicinity of White Creek, October 12, 1806, her par- ents having been early settlers of that section. Her father was a farmer of advanced ideas for those times, and was a sturdy patriot. He was in the battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War, that famous field being not far distant from White Creek. Of course, it was inevitable that every true-hearted farmer in that neighborhood - Mr. Center among them - who could carry arms should take part in so memorable an engagement, and win a share of the glory of that day's victory. Both Mr. Center and his wife lived to ad-

vanced age. The children of Francis and Susan Lucas were four in number, one daugh- ter and three sons - Mary E., born August 23, 1826, whose marriage was to John M. Chace, who died June 27, 1851, leaving one child, J. Wilbur Chace, who died at Red Oak, Ia., in August, 1890, leaving three chil- dren; Henry S., born July 22, 1829, who married Jennie Onderdonk, and makes his home in Castile, they having no children; and George F., of whom this account 's given.

Having been educated at Macedon Academy and at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Mr. George F. Lucas on attaining his majority bought ninety acres of land in the town of Genesee Falls, and began the life of a farmer. He lived on the farm five years, remodelled the entire buildings connected with it, then sold out and bought two farms of one hundred and forty acres, adjoining the Castile station. The house and barns on this place he im- proved in like manner, and erected on the land a blacksmith-shop and a wagon-shop, both of which he rented. Besides these he built a warehouse, and he was the first resi- dent of the locality to open a general market for the sale of produce in the town. Mr. Lucas continued in his various undertakings for the improvement of the place till 1867, when he bought the home he at present occu- pies, and at the same time engaged in the hardware business in Castile, which he con- tinued for thirteen years. Since then he has been mainly occupied as a civil engineer and surveyor, and for the past five years has been manufacturing surveyors' steel tapes, an in- vention of his own. He is much interested in the growth and development of the country, and has a large collection of maps of different villages.

Mr. Lucas was married March 1, 1855, to Miss Amanda Wallace, who was born May 25, 1839, in the town of Pike, daughter of Noah and Mary (Grimes) Wallace. They have two children - Minnie E., born February 6, 1860, who resides with her parents, and is a teacher in the Castile Union School; and Thomas W., born February 22, 1870, now married to Mer- tie M. Dreutlien, and living at Meadville, Mr. Lucas, as a man of progressive Pa.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 38

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

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