Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 43

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 43
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 43

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He married Miss Mary I .. Sheldon in 1866, but no children have blessed the union. Mrs. Dann is the daughter of Benjamin and Mary Sheldon, and comes from one of the oldest and best-known families in this part of the State. Mr. Dann has had neither the incli- nation nor the time to hold public office to any extert, but has shirked none of his duties as a citizen, and at the present writing is a member of the Excise Board. In politics he is a Republican; and he cast his first Presi- dential vote for John C. Fremont in 1856.

There are doubtless some residents of Avon that have more friends than the subject of this brief record, for he has not been so active as some in public affairs, and has not carried on a business which brought him in contact with a great many people; but it is safe to say that there is not a man who has fewer enemies, for the disposition shown by Mr. Dann to deal

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justly by all and the kindly spirit which has actuated him in his intercourse with his fel- low-men have combined to prevent the forma- tion of bitter or revengeful feelings on the part of those with whom he has had anything to do.

m RS. CORNELIA C. BEACH, widow of the late Charles O. Beach, a deservedly esteemed lady residing at Geneseo, N. Y., was born in Groveland, being the daughter of William Doty and grand-daughter of William A. Doty, a native of New Jersey, who came to Groveland as a pioneer during the carly settlement of the county, and cleared a tract of land, upon which he resided for many years, or until his decease, having been a very prominent man in his locality. The paternal grandmother of Mrs. Beach was also well known for her kind and charitable dis- position and her active benevolence. She reared eleven children, only two of whom are now living.

William Doty was the fourth child of the family. He was trained to agricultural pur- suits, remaining with his parents until his marriage. at which time he rented a farm, and began life for himself. He later relinquished agriculture, and came to Geneseo, where he served efficiently for a number of years as Constable and Collector, gaining the unquali- fied respect and esteem of his fellow-towns- people, and faithfully performing the duties of his offices up to the time of his decease, at fifty-nine years of age.

The maiden name of his wife, who was a native of Groveland, was Mary Harrison. Her family was distantly related to that of President Harrison. Mrs. Mary Doty became the mother of nine children, as follows : Lockwood I ..; John O .; Charles F .; Cornelia C. (Mrs. Beach); Elizabeth; William Harri- son; Nancy C., who married a Mr. Crook, of Bath; Helen Augusta, who married William A. Steavens, a hardware dealer in Geneseo; and Edward Eugene Doty. The mother died in Geneseo at the age of sixty-two years, both she and her husband having been members of the Presbyterian church.

Cornelia C. Doty received her early educa- tion in the district schools, after graduating from which she attended Temple Hill Acad- emy. On September 5, 1853, she married Mr. Charles O. Beach, a son of John M. Beach, of South Dansville. Mr. Beach had received a college education, and after com- pleting his studies had entered mercantile life. He conducted a successful business as a dry-goods merchant in Geneseo for a period of forty-four years, after which he retired. He died at the age of seventy, on December 25, 1893. As a business man he was well and favorably known throughout the county, and as a citizen occupied a prominent posi- tion. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he was for some time a Trustee.

Mr. and Mrs. Beach became the parents of four children, three of whom are now living. Ella M. Beach married David Pearson, of New Castle, and has one daughter, Cornelia, a girl of fifteen years; Charles, who was edu- cated at the normal school, died at the age of nineteen, loved and respected by all; Cornelia married David Boyles, of New Castle; Louise is the wife of Edward HI. Chapin, a builder of engines, of Rochester, and they have one child, Elizabeth M. Chapin.

Mrs. Cornelia C. Beach is a lady of much worth to the community, being of superior intelligence, with a thoroughly Christian character. Her daughters are highly accom- plished, the result of a mother's careful fore- thought, and possess much of the amiability, genial courtesy, and noble-mindedness of their late father, together with the highly- developed womanly qualities of their mother.

Mrs. Beach and daughters are members of the Presbyterian church.

AMES B. FRAZER, a well-known farmer and carriage dealer in Living- ston County, New York, was born in Springwater, the same county, Febru- ary 26, 1849. His grandfather, David Frazer, a farmer, was a resident of Spring- water for many years, coming there from Pennsylvania among the first settlers. He

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had a large family, and died in the town of West Sparta at the house of his son David, our subject's father.

David Frazer, Jr., was also a farmer, re- maining at home until twenty-one years of age, then going to Sparta, where he purchased a farm, which he carried on successfully for many years, being a prominent Republican toward the end of his life, and dying in 1876, at the age of fifty-three. His wife was Maria Reamer, a daughter of John Reamer, a blacksmith, who came from Connecticut, and settled in Cayuga County, where she was born. David and Maria ( Reamer) Frazer had six children --- Warren B., of Wayland; James B., of this sketch; Mary, married to Byron Blank, of Michigan, and deceased; Alice, who was married to Dr. Green, of Geneseo, and is now deceased; John, deceased; and Erwin D. Mrs. Frazer died at the age of sixty-nine, in May, 1892. She was a member of the Methodist church.

James B. Frazer was brought by his parents to West Sparta when he was four months old, and resided here until 1895. After the death of his father, in the centennial year, he took possession of the old homestead. Twelve years later he purchased another farm, near by, successfully managing both. He has also been engaged in selling farming implements and wagons since 1888. In 1893 he formed a mercantile partnership with his brother, and conducted the implement and wagon business in Dansville. He married August 20, 1874, Sarah Van Middlesworth, a daughter of John Van Middlesworth, of Cayuga County, New York, who settled in West Sparta among the pioneers. Sarah Van Middlesworth was one of her parents' three children. Her father spent. his declining years in West Sparta and her mother is still living in that town. Mr. Frazer has seven children - Nellie, Mary, Julia, Ethel, John, Grace, and Mabel. He is a Republican in politics, and is an Odd Fel- low, belonging to Canaseraga Lodge, No. 123, in Dansville.

From the fact that Mr. Frazer has twice held the offices of Collector, and for ten years was Supervisor of the town of West Sparta, it is evident that he possesses the confidence of

the people. He is a leader in political mat- ters in his town and county. In the fall of 1894 he was nominated for the office of Su- perintendent of the Poor, was elected, and was inducted into the office January 1, 1895, the term expiring December 31, 1897. He and his family attend the Presbyterian church at West Sparta. Perhaps Mr. Frazer's suc- cess in political and social life is largely due to the fact that he is a great reader and thinker, and keeps abreast of his age and time. Says Lord Bacon --

" Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man."

Mr. James B. Frazer is further represented in this volume by his portrait, which the reader will be pleased to turn his attention to on another page.

RS. CORDELIA W. MORRILL, of Java, N. Y., is the widow of Henry E. Morrill, M.D., who was born in the city of Boston, and was educated at Phillips Academy and Amherst College. At the latter institution he was a fellow-student of Henry Ward Beecher; and between the two young colle- gians a warm and close friendship developed, which was in later years cemented by inti- mate association in Cincinnati and in Brook- lyn, where, soon after Mr. Beecher took the pastorate of Plymouth Church, Dr. Morrill was Deacon and Sunday-school superintend- ent. Dr. Morrill was an allopathic practi- tioner for some years, but latterly adopted the homeopathic theory. He practised his pro- fession for seventeen years in Cincinnati, and removed in 1846 to Brooklyn, where he re- mained until his death. He was three times married. His first wife died of yellow fever in the first month of her married life, and he came very near death also by the very same dread disease. His second wife was Miss Cynthia Langdon before her marriage. She died in 1861 in the city of Brooklyn, leaving one daughter and a foster-daughter.

His third wife was Miss Cordelia Warner, who is the original of this biographical me- moir. Her parents, Milo and Lucina (Sykes)

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Warner, were both of Vermont, where they were married in November, 1812. The father was born June 11, 1791, the mother on Jan- uary 4, 1790, in Pawlet, Rutland County, Vt. They came to Java, then known as Sheldon, in the winter of 1813-14, having just buried their first-born infant. The journey to Wyo- ming County was made on a sled drawn by two yokes of oxen; and the travelling party consisted of a family by the name of Paul, a maiden aunt of Mrs. Morrill, and the young married couple. The wayfarers were well provided with a chest of provisions, household goods, and clothing, and upon their arrival at their intended goal purchased a "claim " from a man named Cisco, who had built a log cabin in the depths of the virgin forest. Mr. Warner was one of the minute-men of the Revolutionary War, and in the later years of his life was a sufferer from rheumatism, which was the result of the exposure endured at that time. There were then only two or three houses this side of Strykersville, and the set- tlers suffered many hardships. Mr. Warner made potash, and carried it to market in Troy and New York by team. He cleared of its forest growth the farm, which at one time consisted of two hundred and fifty acres. Mrs. Morrill now owns one hundred acres of the original tract, having purchased it from her brother Myron in 1884; and in 1885 she built a handsome dwelling on the ancestral estate.

Mr. Warner and his wife had twelve chil- dren. One son, Hiram Warner, died in his eighteenth year, January 14, 1843: and an infant made but a brief tarrying of nine months between the dates of birth and death. All the rest reached maturity. Philetus Warner died in 1881, aged sixty-one; he left a family, of whom the eldest son, Wen- dell Chapin Warner, is United States Consul to Burslem, England. The eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Milo Warner, Adnah, who was a volunteer in the Civil War, died in Salisbury Prison, and fills an unknown grave; the only souvenir the parents have of him is a battered, old, worn tin cup, which with tender affection they have had mounted on a handsome silver memorial plate, engraved with an inscription

that tells the story of the boy soldier. Myron Warner is a widower of eighty years, living on the old farm. Mary, the widow of Carson Bryant, in Java, is in her eightieth year. Cordelia, Mrs. Morrill, though seventy-seven, is in appearance many years younger. Phile- mon Warner, in Springville, Erie County, aged seventy-two. Pliny F. is a retired pub- lisher and minister in Havana, Ill. Jacob Warner died on the shores of Seneca Lake in 1885, at sixty-two years of age. Orpha, the wife of Philo Potter, died July 2, 1890. Frances T., the wife of A. U. Thompson, died in Connecticut, January 5, 1893, aged sixty-four. The mother of this family died on July 20, 1843, at fifty-three years of age; and Mr. Warner married again. The second wife was a widow, a Mrs. Patterson.

Cordelia Warner was educated in the public schools of Java and at Strykersville and at LeRoy Seminary. She was a teacher for many years, beginning the career in which she was so successful at the early age of six- teen, first teaching in district schools and boarding around. She taught a select school in Ellicottsville two years, and then going to Brooklyn taught for eleven years in Packer Institute. She was married July 30, 1863, in Brooklyn by her brother, the Rev. Pliny F. Warner, to Dr. Morrill, of that city; and there they lived for eleven years, until her husband's death, March 6, 1874. Mrs. Mor- rill, in company with her step-daughter, Anna, now wife of Hugh M. Smith, M.D., an eminent physician of Brooklyn, made an ex- tended European trip in 1878 and 1879. They saw London, Naples, and Sorrento, not to mention many other places of interest: and they were in the "Eternal City" during the time that Pius IX.'s dead body lay in state, and witnessed the legal pomp of Leo XIII.'s coronation. From thence they came to Flor- ence, the "city of lilies," and up by the lakes to the famous Brenner Pass, Munich, Vienna, Leipsic, Berlin, with a trip up the Rhine to Switzerland. Six months were spent in Paris on the return journey, and Holland and the field of Waterloo were also visited. Mrs. Morrill belongs to a family noted for physical strength as well as intellectual vigor; and she

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bears the burden of years as few women do, showing that it is possible to "grow old gracefully."

AJOR HENRY V. COLT, a law- yer and an efficient officer in the Civil War, now living in retire- ment at his pleasantly situated home in Geneseo, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in this town, May 16, 1826. Major Colt's grandfather, James Donaldson Colt, was a native of Connecticut, but removed from there to Pittsfield, Mass., while a young man. He married for his second wife Sylvia Will- iams, of that place; and they continued to reside in Pittsfield for the remainder of their lives, their son Charles, Major Colt's father, being born January 23, 1792.

Charles Colt, after receiving his education in the town of his birth, turned his face west- ward for the purpose of commencing life for himself, and came to Geneseo in 1814, mak- ing the long journey on horseback. At that time the present thriving village was but a mere hamlet, and the surrounding country a dense wilderness.

Upon his arrival in Geneseo Mr. Colt imme- diately engaged in mercantile business, which he was necessarily obliged to carrry on under great disadvantage, owing to the long distance from the source of supply and the meagre facilities then afforded for transportation. His goods were purchased in New York, car- ried up the Hudson River in sloops to Al- bany, and thence hauled to Geneseo by team. He conducted a general mercantile trade for a few years, after which he engaged very ex- tensively in the produce business, continuing the same for more than forty years. He resided in Geneseo until his death, which oc- curred at the age of seventy-four years. His wife, whose maiden name was Ann Smith, was a native of Pittsfield, Mass. She died at the age of sixty-one, having reared three chil- dren. The only daughter, Mrs. Mary Ann Walker, now a widow, resides with her sur- viving brother, Henry V. The other son, Charles Colt, Jr., died in 1860.

Henry V. Colt received his education at

Temple Hill Academy, and at the age of seventeen began the study of law with the Hon. John Young. He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-two, but did not enter at once into practice. He went to Ohio, where he became interested in railway construction, and also forwarded the introduc- tion of a patent excavator, which was operated by horse power. In 1857 he began the prac- tice of law in Geneseo, and was actively engaged in his professional duties until 1861, when the great national crisis and impending struggle called him to duty in another direc- tion; and he joined the One Hundred and Fourth Infantry, New York Volunteers, as Quartermaster. In 1863 he was promoted to the rank of Major, and subsequently was placed in command of the Elmira Prison, con- tinuing in service until 1865, when he became connected with the Elmira Advertiser, and was engaged in journalism until 1873. He then returned to Geneseo, where he now lives in the enjoyment of a well-earned retirement.

In 1849 Major Colt married Miss Sarah Shepard, a native of Geneseo, born in 1826. She was the daughter of David Shepard, a na- tive of Connecticut, whose father, Cornelius Shepard, was born in East Haddam, in the same State. Mrs. Colt's grandfather Shepard was a blacksmith by trade, and also kept a public house in Hebron. He came to Liv- ingston County in 1832, and settled in Grove- land, where he purchased a farm. He married Sarah Skinner, a native of Marlboro, Conn., and they reared thirteen children. Their son David, father of Mrs. Colt, was bred to agri- cultural pursuits, and resided in Connecticut until 1817, when, accompanied by his bride, he emigrated to Western New York, journey- ing by team, and settling in the town of Gen- eseo. David Shepard was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and possessed an ad- vanced education. He divided his time be- tween farming and teaching school. He also dealt largely in real estate, being very suc- cessful in all his ventures, and at one time owned extensive tracts of land in Michigan. He resided in Geneseo until his death, in 1851, at the age of fifty-nine years. The maiden name of his wife, Mrs. Colt's mother,

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was Sally Olmstead Foote. She was a native of Marlboro, Conn., and daughter of Roger and Elmira (Bulkly) Foote. She died in 1889, aged eighty-nine years.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry V. Colt have two sons - James V. and Henry V., Jr. Major Colt is a representative of that highly intelligent and progressive class of Americans who are an honor to the nation, the State, and the community in which they reside. Possessed of a strong and upright character, embracing many sterling qualities, he unhesitatingly laid aside all his ambitions and possibilities to respond to his country's call in her press- ing need, prepared, if necessary, to sacrifice his life in defence of those humane and patri- otic principles which the true American citi- zen considers it his paramount duty to support.

Major Colt is and always has been a Repub- lican in politics, and both himself and wife are communicants of the Episcopal church.

EORGE S. ELLICOTT, editor and proprietor of the Mount Morris Union, was born in Lockport, Niag- ara County, N. Y., November 3, 1857, and was the son of George M. Ellicott, born in Batavia, Genesee County, N.Y. His grand- father, who was for a number of years a resi- dent of Batavia, was a brother of Joseph Ellicott, surveyor in chief and local agent for nearly a quarter of a century of the Holland Land Company, a man of unusual ability and powerful influence.

George M. Ellicott was a young boy when he lost his father. He continued to reside with his widowed mother, and obtained a good education in the schools of the town. A few years after his marriage he enlisted in the Civil War, and for gallant conduct was pro- moted to the rank of Major. He was with the Army of the Potomac, and participated in its many engagements, remaining in the service till the close of the conflict. Resuming then the pursuits of peace, he purchased a farm in Middletown, Montgomery County, Mo., but later engaged in the mercantile business in Middletown, removing from that place to Wellsville, where he resided until his death,

in 1892. He was twice married, his first wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, being Maria T. Sears. She was born in Mas- sachusetts, the daughter of Simon and Hannah Sears, and died in Missouri. Four of her children grew up - Loverne, George, Annie, and Edward. Mrs. Ellicott was a member of the Episcopal church, and her children were reared in that faith. In young manhood Mr. Ellicott was an extensive traveller on the Western continent, visiting South America and the Pacific coast of North America.

George S. Ellicott, being a mere child when his mother died, came East, and went to live with his maternal grandparents in Batavia. He was there educated, and there resided until July 21, 1875, when he went to Mount Mor- ris, and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Mount Morris Enterprise. He remained here for a period of two years, and then went to Dansville to accept the position of foreman in the office of the Dansville Ex- press, but at the end of eleven months re- turned to the office of the Enterprise. In 1881 he bought out the business and the good will of the Mount Morris Union and Constitution, and had for a partner John C. Dickey. The paper was Democratic; but they changed the politics, and named the paper the Mount Morris Union. Mr. Dickey was associated with Mr. Ellicott until the fall of 1893, when Mr. Ellicott purchased the entire business; and has since conducted the paper alone. In connection with this he runs a job office, and is also interested in the in- surance business, representing a number of the leading companies, including Springfield, Hartford, Lancashire, German American, and others.

In June, 1880, Mr. Ellicott married Jennie E. Sargent, who was born in Mount Morris, daughter of George and Aurelia Sargent. They have two children - Harry and Ralph. Mr. and Mrs. Ellicott are communicants of the Episcopal church; and he is a stanch Republican, as his paper most forcibly indi- cates. He is a member of the Mount Morris Lodge, No. 122, A. F. & A. M., of the An- cient Order of United Workmen of Mount Morris, and of the Active Hose Company.

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He holds the office of Loan Commissioner for Livingston County, having been appointed by Governor Morton. Unswerving in his alle- giance to principle, an carnest champion of the cause that he deems just and right, he commands the respect of the community at large.

® OYAL WHITNEY is a leading farmer and lumberman in the town of Ossian, Livingston County, N. Y., having a large estate about six miles from Dansville, on the main road to Canaseraga. He was born in the town of Burns, Allegany County, on the 22d of March, 1847. His grandfather, Ezra Whitney, was a Vermont farmer, who came to Allegany County, accom- panied by his wife and children, with an ox team. They brought with them four cows, the milk being placed in receptacles in the wagon, and, as they drove along, the cream was churned by the motion of the wagon into ex- cellent butter, which was sold as opportunity offered. They settled in a locality which later was named Whitney's Valley, a title it still bears. Everywhere stretched the forest, which soon furnished logs for a cabin and saw-mill, his sons conducting the mill. As fast as the land was cleared, the lumber was sold. This led to an extensive trade and the purchase of additional land, so that at his death, at an advanced age, he left a large es- tate. His wife was a Vermont woman, and belonged to a family of Hookers, who settled that section of Allegany County which has since been known as Angelica, and is the county seat. At their decease Mrs. Whit- ney's parents owned a large amount of land. By her marriage with Mr. Whitney she be- came the mother of nine children - Horace, Esau, Jacob, Erastus, Seva, Royal, Andrew, Patty, and Sally. The mother died on the homestead.

Their sixth child and fifth son, Royal Whit- ney, Sr., was born in Rutland, Vt., but early came with his parents to York State, where he grew up a lumberman and farmer, staying on the home place, which he aided in clear- ing, till he was thirty years old. Having an

intense love of books, he read whatever came in his way, and was a diligent pupil in the log school-house, so that he became a man of more than usual intelligence. He followed the profession of teaching for many years. For fifteen years he kept a store in Canase- raga, and was very prominent in village affairs. At the time of his marriage he went . West, but after a short time returned, and settled in Livingston (then Allegany County), where he bought the tract of land still occu- pied by his widow and three of their sons, one of the latter being Royal Whitney of this sketch. In all, Mr. Whitney came to be the owner of nearly twelve hundred acres, whereof a thousand were in a single piece. Thereon he owned grist, flour, and saw mills, but did not confine himself to either agriculture or mill work, and for eight or ten years had a store in connection with the late Robert Faulkner, at Dansville. He died on his farm at the age of eighty-four. His wife was Mary Elsie Boylan, a daughter of Samuel and Betsy Boylan, who were among the earliest pioneers of the county, and owned a tract of a thousand acres. They settled in this region when it was fifteen miles from the nearest mill; and Mr. Boylan at one time carried a bushel of wheat on his shoulder to Canandaigua, to have it ground into flour. Mrs. Whitney was the youngest of the Boylan children, the others being Harris, John, Firman, Isaac, Christo- pher, Samuel, and Fanny.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 43

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

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