Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 56

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 56
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 56

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eleven dollars and a half each. Stephen Jenks was the grandfather of Eri, the subject of the present sketch. He died in Rhode Island at the age of ninety-four.

David Jenks, son of Stephen Jenks and his wife Ruth, was, of course, a native of Rhode Island. He there received his education, and, having grown to manhood, was there engaged in business for a number of years. In 1812, while the last war with England was in prog- ress, he was associated with his father and brother in the manufacture of muskets. Later on he became a cotton manufacturer, and was thus employed until 1829, when he went to Wrentham, Norfolk County, Mass., and bought a farm. His wife was Clarissa Ballou, and they spent the rest of their lives on this farm. Their children were Nelson, Eri S., David, Henry, and Darius. The last-named died February 9, 1894. Henry Jenks lives in Franklin, Mass.

Eri S. Jenks was educated in the common and high schools near his home, in what was then Rhode Island, now Massachusetts, after which he served six years as a clerk. In 1842 he came to Lima, N. Y., and bought a farm of a hundred and seventy-five acres, where he has ever since resided. He married Elizabeth Egert, and they had six children - Frances E., George Stephen, Hannah Duffield, Mary Eliza, Eri N., and Edward C. Jenks. Frances Jenks married J. P. Very, and has one son, Samuel S. T. Very. George Jenks married Nettie McLauren, and has one child, Flora Jenks. Hannah Jenks married George Sterling, and has one boy, Roy Sterling. Mary Jenks mar- ried Charles Egert, and has no children. Eri N. Jenks married Amelia Kinney, and has five children, four sons and one daughter - Ed- ward, Mary, Willie, Herbert, and Freddie.

Mr. Eri S. Jenks is a supporter of the Presbyterian church, which he helped to build. Such men are an honor to their day and gener- ation. As was said by the great preacher, Dr. Hooker, "By the knowledge of truth and exer- cise of virtue, man, among the creatures of this world, aspireth to the greatest conformity with God." In politics Mr. Jenks has always been a Democrat, having cast his first vote for James K. Polk, of Tennessee, in 1844.

A BEL CLIFTON BARRON, a success- ful business man of Livingston County, is a well-known contractor, and is also the owner of a large landed estate. He proudly claims Livingston as the county of his birth, which occurred on the farm where he now resides, June 17, 1847, being a son of Abel Barron, who was born in Bellows Falls, Vt., in 1801.

His grandfather, Jonathan Barron, was for many years a resident of Vermont, and in 1823 emigrated to this State with his family, mak- ing the entire journey with ox teams. He was a man of property, and, after making his first purchase of land in the southern part of Mount Morris, bought a still larger tract of land in the town of Nunda.

Abel Barron was a young man of twenty-two years when he came with his parents to this county. His father assisted him in the pur- chase of eighty acres of land bordering on the Creek Road, extending from Mount Morris to Nunda. In the small clearing that had been already made on the place stood a frame house which had formerly been used as a tavern. After settling there Mr. Barron began the work of clearing the land and tilling the soil, and ere his death had a valuable and well-cul- tivated farm, on which the improvements ranked with the best in the vicinity. He married Margaret Norton, a native of Hawley, N. Y., who was of New England ancestry, her parents, Daniel and Catherine (Burlew) Nor- ton, having been of Connecticut birth. They were pioneers of Mount Morris, where Mr. Norton reclaimed a farm from the wilderness, and there passed the declining years of his life. His widow, the mother of our subject, now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Catherine Reed. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Abel Barron. Harriet L. Bar- ron married Michael Dowling, of Nunda. A. Clifton is the subject of this brief sketch. Thornton M. resides in Mount Morris. Cath- erine A. is the wife of Herbert Reed.

A. Clifton Barron first pursued the path of knowledge in the district school of his native town, and at the age of seventeen years began teaching, continuing his pedagogical career three years, his last year being spent as an

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instructor in the Weston Military Institute at Weston, near Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Barron then matriculated at Cornell University, en- tering with the class of 1869, and remaining as a student of that institution three years. The following year he resumed his position as a teacher in the Military Institute, going thence to the Rocky Mountains as a book- keeper for a firm of contractors on the Union Pacific Railway. It was there that Mr. Bar- ron obtained his first insight into his present business ; and he soon after became a contrac- tor on his own account, continuing this busi- ness until the present time, his ability fitting him for his position; and his operations ex- tend over a large territory, included in many different States. Succeeding his father in the ownership of the old homestead property, Mr. Barron has added to its acreage, so that it now contains three hundred acres. He has im- proved the buildings and grounds, thus adding much to their beauty, and has now one of the finest country seats in Livingston County.

On November 11, 1889, Mr. Barron was united in marriage with Harriet Jeanette Row- land, who was born in Southport, Conn. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Rowland, was an extensive farmer of Weston, Fairfield County, Conn., where he spent the entire period of his life. He was twice married, the maiden name of his first wife being Rachel Coley. After her death he married Harriet Sherwood, who bore him one son, Samuel S. Rowland, the father of Mrs. Barron. Samuel S. inher- ited his father's estate, and was for many years engaged in general farming. He was an enterprising and able business man, and at one time was one of the Directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company. The later years of his life were passed in retirement at South- port, Conn., where he died in 1885. Mr. Rowland married Emily Colethorpe, a native of Southport, and the daughter of Walter and Hattie (Sherwood) Colethorpe. She was an accomplished woman, having received her edu- cation at the Holyoke Seminary, from which she was graduated in her twentieth year. She bore her husband five children - Harriet J., Edith S., Henry L., Herbert S., and Mary E. The two elder daughters were educated at

Abbott Academy, at Andover, Mass. ; Henry, at Yale College; Herbert, at Professor Yates's school, in Saratoga; and Mary, in New Haven.

AYNE J. WOODRUFF belongs to a well-known, influential, and es- teemed pioneer family of Living- ston County, its progenitor, Solomon Wood- ruff, from Connecticut, having settled in Livonia more than one hundred years ago. (For ancestral history see sketch of Buell D. Woodruff. ) The subject of this biographical notice was born in Livonia on the 29th of March, 1824. He was educated in the dis- trict schools and academy, after which he taught school three terms; namely, two terms in the adjoining town of Conesus, and one at Canadice, Ontario County. Since that time he has been a farmer and stockdealer. Mr. Woodruff first bought a farm in Conesus, which he cultivated for ten years. Selling the property at the expiration of that period, he returned to Livonia, where he purchased the Augustus Gibbs place, upon which he has ever since resided. He married Miss Calista Chapin, and is the father by that union of two children - Fred and Charles. Fred married Josie Devenger. They have five children, and live in Livonia. Charles married Miss Helen Kellogg, of Rochester, and they have two children. Mr. Woodruff's first wife died, and he formed a second marriage with Miss Mary Sherwood. Their one daughter, Ger- trude, is the wife of Mr. E. C. Brainard, for- merly of Iowa, now living in Utah. For nine years Mr. Wayne J. Woodruff served efficiently as Justice of the Peace in Conesus. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. His first vote was cast for Zachary Taylor in 1848. He has been a loyal adherent of the Republican party since its formation.

FITCH DENTON, of Genesee Falls, Wyoming County, now residing on the old Bigelow tarm, was born in Can- andaigua, Ontario County, N. Y., February 17, 1847. His father, Ezra F. Denton, was born February 14, 1816, and was a native of

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Goshen, Orange County, where his grand- father, Nehemiah, was a resident, belonging to the agricultural class.

Ezra F. Denton was but six weeks old when his father died; and the boy thus early left fatherless remained with his mother till the age of eight years, when he was placed in the care of a neighbor. In his new home he was expected to make himself useful, but was allowed to attend school until the age of sixteen, at which time he began to learn the carpenter's trade. This he followed for thirty- five years, varying it or combining it with farming a part of the time. After remaining ten years in Canandaigua, where he was mar- ried, he removed to Allegany County, where he stayed two years. Leaving his family there, he went to Illinois, and worked at his trade for two years. Returning at the end of that time, he then took his family to Oil City, Venango County, Pa., remaining there ten years. In 1881 he came to the town of Genesee Falls, Wyoming County, N. Y., and settled in the village of Silver Springs, where he is now living retired from active life. His wife, Polly R. Fitch, was born March 16, 1826, daughter of Joshua Fitch, a native of Ontario County. Their one child is Ezra Fitch Denton, the special subject of this sketch.

E. Fitch Denton spent his early years with his father in Oil City on the Alleghany River, Pennsylvania. He attended the schools of that place, and when old enough learned his father's trade of carpenter, being associated with his father in that business and also that of farming after the removal of the family to Genesee Falls and until his father retired. He now carries on successfully two farms, aggregating two hundred and ninety-seven acres of land, which is in a good state of cul- tivation, and is very productive.

In 1881 Mr. Denton was married to Miss Lillian B. Bigelow, born April 15, 1861, daughter of Anson Bigelow, a native of Mas- sachusetts. Mr. Bigelow was born August II, 1792, and at the age of eight years was brought by his parents to Montgomery County, New York, where he remained until his mar- riage to Miss Marian M. Leggett. He came

to Wyoming County in 1817, and settled on the farm now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Den- ton, and here remained until his death, Sep- tember 11, 1879, at the age of eighty-seven years. He was twice married, having five children by his first wife, Marian. His second marriage, to Olive E. Royce, the mother of Mrs. Denton, occurred July 6, 1859. Mrs. Olive E. Bigelow was born in Darien, Gen- esee County, N. Y., May 4, 1826, and now lives with Mr. and Mrs. Denton. Mr. and Mrs. E. Fitch Denton have three children; namely, Harold A., Ruhama, and Lois E. Mrs. Denton's father was one of the original founders of the Baptist church of Castile, N. Y. Mrs. Denton is a member of the Free Will Baptist church in Pike.

Mr. Denton is a Republican in politics, and is a man who takes a keen interest in questions of good government, both local and national. He possesses a large share of the success-compelling qualities of perseverance and industry, for which he finds ample scope in the management of his farms and other business interests. He and his family are among the most respected residents of Genesee Falls.

D WIGHT C. WELLER, a native of Livingston County, New York, was born July 20, 1826. His paternal grandfather, Enoch Weller, went from Massachusetts to New York before the War of 1812, but returning to the old Bay State remained there until after the close of the war. In 1815 he collected his household effects, and moved his wife and children to York, Livingston County, and built a frame house, which is still standing. There he passed the remainder of his life. His wife was Rhoda Cadwell. She was of Scotch de- scent, and survived her husband some years.

Their son, Perry D., was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where he received his education, and as soon as able assisted in the work on the Livingston County farm, of which he became entire owner by purchasing the interests of the other heirs after his father's death. The homestead consisted of

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fifty acres; and, as he had previously bought a tract of the same extent, he thus became the owner of one hundred acres. At that time Rochester was the market to which all farm produce was taken and from which provisions were obtained, and thither the lumber was drifted down by rafts.

Perry D. Weller was twice married, his first wife being Miss Delia Crosby, of York, who became the mother of four children -- Dwight C., Nancy, Addison, and Eliza. The second Mrs. Weller was Melinda Colf. There were three children of this marriage, two of whom are living -- Henry and Ellen. Mr. Weller died on the old homestead in the fifty-fifth year of his age.

Dwight C. Weller, who represents the third generation of the Weller family in this local- ity, was educated in the district schools of York, and has always been a farmer. In 1861 he married Miss Electa Lindsley, a daughter of Solomon Lindsley, of Lakeville. Of the three children born to this union, but one is now living. Willie and Ella died young, the latter when a maiden of fourteen years. The surviving son, Charles, resides at the old home, which was the birthplace of his father, and manages the farm. He married Miss Ida Dimmick, of Dansville, and has a family of four children --- Don, Huylar, Mary, and Nel- lie. These children are the fifth generation of the old and honored name of Weller who have lived here, setting a worthy example of steadfast thrift and honest worth.

The present residence of Mr. and Mrs. Weller, which adjoins the old place, was built by Mr. Weller in 1883. Both he and his wife are members of the York Centre Bap- tist church, and in his political faith he is a Republican.

OSIAH C. SHORT, a prosperous agri- culturist of Livingston County, New York, residing at Hemlock Lake, in the town of Livonia, was born in Rich- mond, Ontario County, February 8, 1825. His paternal grandfather, Manasseh Short, was a native of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Mass. ; and the farm upon which he lived and

died is still in the possession of the family, who have held this estate for seven gen- erations.

The father of Mr. Josiah C. Short, who also bore the name of Josiah, came in 1822 to On- tario County, New York, where he located a farm, and returned to Massachusetts on foot. Two years later he came back to Ontario County with his young wife and their earthly possessions. The journey was made in a wagon, and occupied ten days. This farm in Richmond was sold by him in 1832; and one was bought in Livonia, a border town in the adjoining county of Livingston, to which place he and his family moved. A frame house was erected at the time of the purchase, in which the last days of his life were spent. He died here at the age of seventy-four years. His wife before her marriage was Miss Sarah P. Carpenter, of Bristol County, Massachusetts. They reared six children, all of whom are liv- ing with the exception of one daughter, Mary. The order of their birth is as follows: Josiah C., Orren L., S. T., Anna, Mary, and Lu- rana N.

Josiah C., the first-born and the original of this pen sketch, was educated in the district schools, which afforded a good plain education to those who were able and willing to study intelligently, and at the age of twenty-one began to work on a neighboring farm by the month. There is a due need of praise ac- corded to honest practical effort that does not disdain small beginnings and works on through the discouragements of apparently small returns. This commendation belongs justly to Mr. Short, who from a young farm laborer has risen to his present place among the landed proprietors of his county. In 1855 he bought the farm on which he now re- sides, and is the owner of three hundred and twenty broad acres of fertile land in Living- ston County, besides a farm in Cass County, Michigan.

Josiah C. Short married Miss Esther E. Weller, the daughter of Henry Weller, of Pittsfield, Mass .; and the farm upon which he now lives was once the property of his father- in-law, who settled upon it in 1809. The old log house which he built here in the early

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JOSIAH C. SHORT.

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years of the century was located near a grand old elm-tree, that was associated with the Colonial history, and whose historic branches cast grateful shadows about the door of the humble abode of the newly arrived inhabi- tants. To Mr. and Mrs. Short three children were born -- Amelia E., Weller J., and Mary. Weller married Miss Silva McCrossen, and lives on his father's farm in Michigan. He has one child, Ruth. Mary married J. D. Sullivan. They live at Livonia Station, and have two children --- Gilbert and Mary.

Mr. Short has not neglected that first duty of citizenship, the exercise of the franchise in behalf of good government, and is interested in the vital political issues of the times. His first Presidential vote was cast in 1848 for the hero of Buena Vista, Zachary Taylor; but from 1856 he has been a member of the party which in that year nominated John C. Fre- mont for the Presidency, the Republican.

A portrait of this worthy rural New Yorker of New England ancestry graces another page of the "Review," adding unquestionably to the interest and value of the foregoing record.

OEL W. BRISTOL, dealer in general merchandise at Gainesville, was born in that town, December 2, 1835. His grandfather, William Bristol, whose parents came to this State from Connecticut, was born in Canaan, Columbia County. In 1805, while in the employ of the Holland Purchase Company, he located about fifteen hundred acres of land, and built a log house near the site now occupied by the store of his grandson. As the settlement grew, he pre- sented the town with the land for cemetery, churches, and school-house sites. He was the first Supervisor, one of the first School Com- missioners, and in 1823 the representative of his district in the State Assembly, being a very prominent leader in his day. His wife, who before her marriage was Martha Stevens, became the mother of a large family, of whom but two are now living -- Benjamin F. ; and William, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.

Benjamin F. Bristol, father of Joel W., was

born June 11, 1811. His present residence, overlooking the beautiful valley of Gainesville, stands out with pleasant prominence against the rolling background of green and fertile farm lands. From the piazza he can look upon the house where his grandfather lived and died ; while just beyond is the home of his childhood, where lived his father for more than half of a century. From pioneer stock of Puritan com- position and characteristics he has by a vigor- ous, busy, and most honorable life fulfilled the promise of his inheritance. Well equipped with undoubted patriotism and sound educa- tional requirements, he entered the political arena, being an earnest advocate of the princi- ples of the Republican party.

He early took a warm interest in local gov- ernment, and his town and county have hon- ored him and shown their appreciation of his worth by choosing him to many offices of trust and importance, among them the following : Supervisor, Constable, Highway Commis- sioner, Railroad Commissioner; and, although a Whig in a Democratic town, he was the first no-license candidate ever elected Justice of the Peace, which office he held for twenty-four years. He was also Supervisor of the Poor for the County of Wyoming twenty-eight years, his sensible views and sound judgment giving the most satisfactory results to both the people and the dependents. While attending a State convention, he introduced the resolution for the removal of children from county houses throughout the State, which was met with approval. He still resides on the old farm in Gainesville, now at the advanced age of eighty-four years, a well-preserved and active- brained old gentleman; and around him, or near by, live his sons and grandchildren, all of whom do him honor. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Bristol are both members of the Congrega- tional church, and for many years have taken a very prominent part in promoting its prosper- ity and usefulness. He married Margaret A. Davis, daughter of Joel Davis, a native of Preble, Onondaga County, N. Y. None in the community are more respected than "Uncle Ben"-as he is familiarly called -and his estimable wite. To Benjamin F. Bristol and his wife were born six children - Joel W. ;

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James, a prominent citizen of the town; Cory- don D., deceased; Theodore, deceased; Mar- tin F., at present residing at Rochester; and Benjamin F., Jr., who remains with the aged couple on the old homestead.

Joel W. Bristol received his education in the district and select schools of Gainesville, and at an early age began the mercantile busi- ness by entering the store of A. B. Webster at Warsaw, where he remained two years. He then engaged with Mr. Brownell at East Gainesville, with whom he remained two years more, and in 1859 went to Minnesota. Upon his return East he commenced business on his own account, moving in 1866 into the store which he now occupies. In 1888 he took in partnership Fred M., his eldest son, a bright and capable young man. They have a very large and prosperous business; and the firm of J. W. Bristol & Son stands as one of the most reliable in the county. Mr. Bristol, like his father, is a Republican in politics. He was for eighteen years Postmaster, having been appointed by Montgomery Blair, First Assist- ant Postmaster General under Lincoln's ad- ministration, and continuing in the office until 1882. He was Town Clerk for several years, was elected Supervisor in 1894 for two years, and has for fifteen years been Notary Public. He has been a member of the Republican County Committee several years, and is also one of the Congressional Committee for the Thirty-first District. He is Secretary and chairman of the Gainesville Salt Company, has been Secretary and Trustee of Maple Grove Cemetery since its incorporation, and has always been a most earnest worker for every- thing which had for its object the general advancement of his town, the interests of education, and the aid of his fellow-men. Mr. Bristol was for many years a School Trustee, and, while in office, was mainly instrumental in having the school changed to a union school. He was also chairman of the Execu- tive Committee which secured Regents' super- vision for the school, the State Board of Regents later conferring upon him the honor of being Regents' Examiner for the school.

On May 11, 1864, Mr. Bristol was united in marriage to Mary E. Merrill, daughter of

Cyrus Merrill, a merchant of Perry. They then moved into the house which they now occupy, having improved and beautified their home as time has blessed them with prosper- ity. Of this union four children were born - Fred M., in business with his father; Clara A., a graduate of the Geneseo Normal School, and now teaching in the high school at War- saw; Cyrus W., who is in the boot and shoe business at Gainesville; and Mary E., the youngest, who is yet in school. Mr. Bristol has a family of which he is and may well be proud, and is a worthy descendant of an old and honorable ancestry.

B ERNARD HAMSHER OBER- DORF, Secretary and Manager of Our Home Granula Company and the active member of Oberdorf & Ed- wards, Insurance and Real Estate Agents, was born in the town of Sparta, N. Y., February 3, 1855. His father, Peter J. Oberdorf, was born in the same town; but his grand- father, Joseph Oberdorf, was a native of Sun- bury, Pa., who settled as a pioneer in the early days of Sparta, and cleared up a tract of land one mile south of Scottsburg. He fol- lowed agricultural pursuits here until he pur- chased a farm on what is known as Chestnut Ridge, where he died in 1851, at the age of forty-nine years.

Peter J. Oberdorf, third of six children, was born November 24, 1828. He passed his early days at the homestead of his parents, and afterward became an independent farmer, occupying and owning several different farms in Sparta and West Sparta until 1860. At the opening of the Rebellion his home was in Dansville. Patriotism prompted him to re- spond to his country's need, and he enrolled as a musician in Company I of the old Thir- teenth Regiment of Volunteers. After serv- ing three months, the period required by his first enlistment, he joined the Twenty-seventh New York Infantry in the fall of 1861, and served until after the Peninsular campaign in 1862, when he re-enlisted, this time in the Twenty-first New York Cavalry, with which he continued until the close of the war. On

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 56

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

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