Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 62

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 62
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 62

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Their son, Edmond Bosley, was but a lad

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sixteen years of age when he came with his parents from Maryland. He succeeded his father in the ownership and management of the farm, erected a new mill in place of the old one, which had been burned, and besides operating this engaged in mercantile business, continuing this busy employment until 1834, when he sold out and moved to Ohio. After farming a few years in that State, he finally settled in Council Bluffs, Ia., where he died December 15, 1846. His wife, Ann Kelley Bosley, died May 12, 1849. She was born in Pennsylvania, October 29, 1778. Her father was Daniel Kelley, a native of Penn- sylvania, who located about the year 1792 in what is now the town of Geneseo, N. Y., where he became a farmer, and passed the remainder of his life.

Daniel Bosley, son of Edmond and Ann, was born in what is now the town of Li- vonia, January 9, 1805. He was educated in his native town, and at the age of fifteen com- menced life as a clerk in his father's store. Later he served in the same capacity at Avon, and in 1831 became a member of the firm of Ferman & Hosmer, of Avon. He also ran a store in Millville. In 1834 he purchased the interest of his partners, and continued to con- duct the business until his decease, which occurred in 1884. His wife, Lucia, daughter of Brightman Richmond, was born in Livo- nia, April 27, 1811. Her grandfather, Peris Richmond, according to the most authentic information obtainable, was born in England, came to America in Colonial days, and settled in New England.

He married Hannah, daughter of George Brightman. Their son, Brightman Rich- mond, came to New York State from Connect- icut while yet a young man, and visited the locality now occupied by the prosperous city of Rochester, which then contained but three buildings. Considering that situation un- healthful, he penetrated the wilderness to Li- vonia, and purchasing a tract of timber land prepared to clear a farm by first cutting away trees enough to make room for a log house, which he erected. He resided with a married sister for a time, then went back to Connecti- cut, where he in May, 1808, married Lucy

Caldwell Woodruff, daughter of the Rev. Hezekiah and Sarah (Caldwell) Woodruff. Her father was a Presbyterian minister, who preached in different parts of Connecticut and New York. Brightman Richmond had been educated at Newport, R. I., and was a lawyer by profession. Returning with his bride to the new home, he immediately entered into the practice of law, and at the same time superintended the improvement of his farm, erecting well-appointed buildings, and resided there until his death, which occurred in his eighty-fifth year. His wife died at the age of sixty-eight. She reared five children.

Daniel and Hannah (Brightman) Bosley reared six children; namely, B. Richmond, D. Bradford, William E., George H., Lucia, and Ella E. Mrs. Bosley had become a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church previous to her marriage, and her husband united with that church at the age of thirty-three years. He was formerly a Whig, but later a Republican. It will be seen by the above that the ancestors of both himself and his wife were among the very first settlers in Livingston County. They were people of marked ability, unusual intelligence, forethought, and courage.

B. Richmond Bosley was educated in the town of his birth, and at a very early age began to assist on the farm and in the store. Having reached his majority, he began the life of an independent farmer upon the prop- erty he now owns and occupies. Through his untiring exertions this farm, which consists of one hundred and fifty-eight acres, has been brought to a high state of cultivation. It is situated about five miles from Geneseo, six from Avon, and five from Livonia. On Octo- ber 22, 1868, Mr. B. Richmond Bosley mar- ried Jennie Douglas, a most estimable lady, and a native of Caledonia.

Her father was Alexander Douglas, who was born in Cortland County, New York, June 9, 1813. His father, Daniel Douglas, was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, and was, as far as known, the only member of the family that came to America. He resided in Cort- land County for a number of years, then went to LeRoy, Genesee County, where he stayed until about the year 1844, when he finally

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removed to the then Territory of Wisconsin. Alexander Douglas was well educated. In early manhood he engaged in the arduous pro- fession of school teaching, and later was su- perintendent of schools in Caledonia. After marriage he there purchased a farm, which he occupied till 1863, when he disposed of his property, and removing to the town of Cali- fornia, Branch County, Mich., resided there until his death, January 13, 1892, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife, who be- fore marriage was Christie McCall, was born in Caledonia, May 23, 1818. She now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Bosley. Daniel Mc- Call, father of Mrs. Douglas, was born in Scotland, and was a son of Duncan McCall. He was reared to agriculture, and purchased a tract of land in the above-named town, built a log-house, and proceeded to clear a farm in the wilderness. He lived there until his death, at eighty-four years of age. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Mc- Call. Mr. and Mrs. Bosley have three chil- dren - Edward Richmond, a graduate of Yale, class of 1894; Louis Douglas, a grad- uate of the Geneseo Normal School, and now a teacher; and Mary C., who lives at home, and is attending the Geneseo Normal School. In poli- tics Mr. Bosley is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

OHN E. MASON, a prosperous mer- chant in North Java, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in the neighboring town of Wethersfield on October 25, 1842. His father, Thomas Mason, was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, in 1807, and emigrated to America in 1837. He worked in the lead mines of Galena, Ill., for two years, and then returned to Ireland for his bride, Mary A. Kavanah, who came back with him, and to whom he was married in New York in the spring of 1840.

The young couple settled in Wethersfield on a farm of a hundred acres, for which they paid nine dollars an acre. More land was added as they grew more prosperous, and Mr. Mason became a leading farmer of that section before many years had elapsed. Mrs. Mason, who

was a native of County Wexford, Ireland, was as faithful to her husband as she had been loyal to her absent lover. Seven children were born to gladden the home and hearts of the parents, and all grew to maturity; but the subsequent brevity of the lives of most of this family was pathetic. Thomas, the first-born, who was a man of musical intelligence, and a very popular teacher in the neighborhood, died at thirty-two years of age. James died at twenty-one. Mary A., the wife of John Nor- ton, died at twenty-two years of age, and was buried with the infant daughter whose birth had cost her life. Catherine A. died of brain fever, aged twenty-two. Elizabeth, wife of James Gillespie, was a victim of consumption, and died at twenty-two. The youngest-born, Charles, who is a merchant and Postmaster in Java Centre, and the second child, John E., of this sketch, are the only survivors. Charles has a wife, three sons, and two daughters. Mr. Thomas Mason died in 1861, aged fifty- four years. His widow lived to be sixty-three years old, dying in 1873. They were both members of the Catholic church.

John E. Mason's education was somewhat meagre, as he had no other opportunities than those the district schools of that period af- forded. He remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-two years of age, when he went to Saginaw, Mich., where he secured work in a saw-mill. After sixteen months he returned to Java, in which place he remained until 1869, when he went to Chicago. He there worked as a carpenter and painter for a while, and was for a time employed in the fancy bakery and confectionery of R. H. Fish & Co. in that city. He was married on April 20, 1876, to Miss Eva K. Bald, of Chi- cago, and in the following month left the city for his native place. Seven years later, in 1883, he was bereft of his wife, who died, leaving three children - Nellie B., Charles Edwin, and Catherine. Their respective ages now are seventeen, fourteen, and twelve. Mr. Mason was married again, the second Mrs. Mason being Mary Ann Flattery, a daughter of James and Eliza (Glaby) Flattery. The offspring of this union are Elizabeth, James, and Genevieve.

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Mr. Mason began mercantile business in Java in 1877. His first partner in the hard- ware store was A. M. Smith, who after three years sold his interest to the present firm of Mason & Crahan. These gentlemen have es- tablished a large and prosperous trade, and keep a complete and well-selected assortment of all articles in their line. Mr. and Mrs. Mason live in their pleasant home, built in 1884, which is tastefully appointed and well ordered. Mr. Mason is a Democrat. He served as Postmaster during President Cleve- land's first administration. He has been Ex- cise Commissioner, and was Supervisor for two terms. He is a member of the Catholic church, and the erection of the handsome new church in Java is largely due to his efforts.

EVI PARSONS, D. D., a scholarly and cultured man, was the recipient of an excellent education; and this has been broadened and increased by years of reading and study. For thirty-nine consecutive years he has retained the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Mount Morris, and during that time has exerted a marked beneficial influence over the entire community, administering not only to the spiritual needs of his flock, but taking an intelligent interest in everything tending to elevate the social, educational, and moral status of the town or county. His strong personality, innate kind- ness of heart, and tender sympathy for all who are in affliction or trouble have won for him the lasting regard of both old and young, by whom he is held in the highest esteem.

Dr. Parsons is of New England ancestry, but a native of York State, his birth having occurred in the town of Marcellus, Onondaga County, January 2, 1829. His father, the Rev. Levi Parsons, was born in Northampton, Mass., August 20, 1779; and his progenitors could be traced in the Parsons line to the first settlers of that place. He was a young boy when his parents removed from Northampton to Westhampton, in the same State, where he was bred and educated. After completing his academical education he entered Williams

College, from which he was graduated in 1801, being class orator on that occasion. After two years of teaching in Cornwall, Conn., and two years more as a tutor of Williams College, he began the study of theology with the Rev. Alvin Hyde, D. D., of Lee, Mass., and on the completion of his studies was licensed to preach at Stockbridge in 1806. He then came to Western New York as a missionary, and preached in different parts of the State, making the journey from place to place on horseback, that mode of travelling being in wide contrast to the luxurious and expeditious means employed at the present day. He finally located at Marcellus, N. Y., and, being or- dained as pastor of the Presbyterian church of that town, September 16, 1807, there preached the gospel for thirty-two years, and remained a respected resident of that place until his death, November 20, 1864, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. The maiden name of his wife, to whom he was married October 19, 1809, was Almira Rice. She was a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of Samuel Rice, who also was born in Connecticut, the date of his birth being October 23, 1751. Mr. Rice was an early pioneer of Marcellus, Onondaga County, going there in 1795, and purchasing a tract of heavily timbered land, by dint of steady and persevering labor succeeding in hewing out a farm from the primeval forest. On the homestead which he improved he and his faithful wife passed their remaining days, he living to the ripe old age of fourscore and four years, while she survived him, living to the age of eighty-eight years. Her maiden name was Hannah Beach, and she was a native of Connecticut. The thrilling scenes through which they passed during their years of pio- neer life can scarce be imagined by the present generation. On their arrival in the county the land was little more than a dense wilderness, with here and there a clearing, from which the smoke from some pioneer's cabin might be seen issuing. In subduing the forest and watching the growth of the county to a pros- perous and wealthy agricultural and manufact- uring community, Mr. and Mrs. Rice took great delight, and performed their full share. Mrs. Parsons died in 1859, at the age of sev-

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enty-two years, leaving six children ; namely, Edward, Almira R., Mary A., Israel, Mar- garet, and Levi.

The subject of this brief sketch received his early education in the public schools of Marcellus, and afterward pursued his studies at Moravia Academy. Subsequently, under the tutelage of his father, Mr. Parsons was prepared for college, and at the age of sixteen years entered Hamilton College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1849. During his college life Mr. Parsons had taught school one term; and after graduation he re- sumed his professional career as a teacher at East Bloomfield and in the pioneer schools of Flint, Mich. In 1851 he entered Auburn Theological Seminary, and was graduated from that institution in 1854, having been licensed by the Presbytery of Cayuga, June 21, 1853. His first settlement as a minister was in Otisco, Onondaga County, where he labored with zeal and earnestness for a year and a half. At the expiration of that time he came to Mount Morris, preaching his first sermon in February, 1856, and on the 10th of July following was ordained by the Ontario Presby- tery as pastor of the church, a position which he has since retained.

Mr. Parsons has been twice married. His union with Miss Mary Wadsworth, a daughter of the Rev. Charles Wadsworth, of Richfield Springs, N. Y., was solemnized in 1854. After a brief life of wedded happiness she passed to the higher existence, her death oc- curring August 2, 1856. She left one son, Stoyell C. Parsons. In 1858 Mr. Parsons married Miss Harriet M. Pease, of Auburn, N. Y. She was born November 5, 1838, on the island of Cyprus, where her father, the Rev. Lorenzo W. Pease, a Presbyterian mis- sionary under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, was stationed for several years, dying in Au- gust, 1839. Of this second union nine chil- dren have been born; namely, Elizabeth L., Frederick L., Mary A., Levi E., Harriet M., Henry T., Arthur L., Gertrude W., and Anna C.

Dr. Parsons is President of the Board of Trustees of the Auburn Theological Seminary,

and has belonged to the Rochester Presbytery twenty-five years, during which he has been its stated Clerk. He was Moderator of the Synod of New York from October, 1892, 10 October, 1893.

MMI H. HOSKINS, a retired mer- chant and capitalist of Cowlesville, a village in Bennington, N. Y., was born in this town, October 21, 1826, being a son of George Hoskins, who was a native of the State of Connecticut, born at Windsor in the month of February, 1784.

George was the son of Augustus Hoskins, an humble resident of the town of Windsor, Conn., and his wife, Lovisa Parsons Hoskins, a native of the same town, born about the year 1790. Some four years previous to his mar- riage George Hoskins came to Bennington for the purpose of locating. He journeyed on foot, carrying a pack on his back, and acquired a tract of about one hundred and fifteen acres of wild land, which he commenced to improve ; and, after cutting down trees and preparing the materials, he erected a small frame house, thus becoming one of the early settlers of the town.

After remaining two years he returned to his former home in New England, and imme- diately following his marriage, which occurred in 1810, moved with his wife to the new home which he had commenced to establish. They journeyed to their destination with a horse and wagon, the property of Mrs. Hoskins's father. The house which George Hoskins erected, which is the one in which his son Ammi was born, is still standing on the old farm, one mile west of Bennington. This farm, which had been increased to one hundred and ninety- two acres, was sold by the subject in 1871 for forty dollars per acre. George Hoskins be- came a prosperous farmer and a thoroughly up- right citizen, dying at the home of his son in 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, having survived his wife, who died in 1864, at the age of seventy-four years.

Ammi H. Hoskins is the youngest of five children, two sons and three daughters, of whom he is now the only survivor, two sisters

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having died about the year 1823 or 1824, one at the age of four years, and the other ten months. His elder sister, Louisa, wife of Caleb H. King, died at Cowlesville in 1887, aged seventy-five years, leaving one son, George H. King, now a resident of Cowles- ville. The only brother of Ammi H. was George G. Hoskins, born December 13, 1824, and died June 12, 1893. He was a well- known and highly respected gentleman, and an able politician, who served both the State and the nation. He resided in Attica, having moved from Bennington Centre in 1865. He was a Justice of the Peace at Bennington four- teen years in succession, and Supervisor two terms, although the Republican party was in the minority. He was appointed United States Internal Revenue Collector, which office he resigned when elected a representa- tive to Congress in 1870, being re-elected in 1872. In 1880 he was elected Lieutenant Governor. He was a man of means, having been very successful in business as well as in politics, and scrupulously honest in both. He left an estate of fifty thousand dollars. His wife, whose maiden name was Hollenback, survives him, with one child, with whom she resides - Elvira Georgia, now the wife of R. P. Scalt, an attorney at Butler, Pa. Mr. Hoskins's parents were Presbyterians, his mother having been a devoted member of that church.

Ammi H. Hoskins received his education at the district school of Bennington Centre, which was supplemented by one year's attend- ance at the seminary in Alexander. He was trained to farm work, and remained at home assisting his father until his marriage, which occurred June 2, 1852, to Lodema A. Hollen- back, of Darien, daughter of Derrick Hollen- back. His wife's father was a farmer, who came from Massachusetts, and who died at the above-named village in 1866, aged about sev- enty years, having reared a family of ten chil- dren. Mr. Hoskins commenced mercantile pursuits when a young man, at Bennington Centre, with his brother, under the firm name of B. G. & A. H. Hoskins. He was engaged in this, at the same time taking charge of his father's farm and business affairs, until

1864, when he removed to Cowlesville, where he became a member of the firm of Hoskins & Howes. Ten years later his partner retired, and he conducted the business alone two years.

Mr. Hoskins has been favored with a fair degree of prosperity, and, although he has seen the ups and downs of life, has gradually ad- vanced to a position which, on the whole, amounts to a successful and satisfactory busi- ness career. He is a radical Republican in politics, and has served as Postmaster both at Bennington and Cowlesville. He was Super- visor at the latter place in 1865-66, handling a large amount of funds, and clearing the county from its bonded debt of four thousand dollars. He was Major and afterward Lieu- tenant Colonel of the First Regiment, Na- tional Guards, and held the latter rank until the regiment was disbanded.

They reside at their pleasant home in Cowlesville, which he erected in 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins have not been blessed with children. Of late Mr. Hoskins has been in failing health, but still attends to business. For the past nineteen years his office has been located near his residence; and, although he does not claim to be a banker, he acts in that capacity, together with the usual business of a general capitalist.

ANIEL LACY is a native of Cale- donia, has resided in the State of New York all his life and in the town of Avon for about thirty years. His father, Ephraim, was also a native of this State. he having been born at Goshen, Orange County; but his grandfather, William, was born in Connecticut, town of Danbury, and yet was one of the earliest settlers in Orange County, New York. He was a farmer, and he cleared and otherwise improved a good deal of land in that section.

Ephraim Lacy removed from Orange County with an ox team, coming first to Monroe County, and from there to Livingston, where he took up a farm in Caledonia. It was part of the Holland Purchase, was entirely wild land, and had an area of about two hundred acres. It is very difficult for the present

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generation to realize that peaceful, prosper- ous, and highly civilized New York State was the home of "wild" Indians comparatively few years ago. Yet the history of the State shows such to be the fact, and what brings it still nearer home to us is the history of old families whom we all know -for instance, that of the Lacy family; for, when the father of the subject of this sketch took up the farm on the Holland Purchase, there were Indians in that section. He built a log house; and, shortly after he had fairly begun improvement of the property, he married Mary Dickinson, of Vermont. The sparsely settled nature of the country at that time is indicated by the fact that the nearest market that Ephraim Lacy could find for his wheat was at Han- ford's Landing, below Rochester. He and his wife had four children - Charlotte, who died in 1840; Volney, who died in 1890; Mary A .; and Daniel, the subject of this sketch.

Daniel began his education in the district schools, and finished it at Canandaigua Acad- emy. To the city people of to-day most of the district school-houses of the present time look small, bare, and inconvenient; but, compared with those of Daniel Lacy's boy- hood days, they are almost palaces. The school-houses he attended were built of logs, were equipped with slab seats; and the other furnishings were equally crude. But the value of a school depends more upon the kind of teachers it has than it does upon the kind of furnishings it is supplied with ; and, judg- ing by the record made by those who got all their schooling in the old district schools, they had many good teachers in those days. Our subject chose farming in those days; and, when his father divided up his lands among his boys, Daniel got the original farm. He remained on it until 1865, when he sold out to his brother, came to Avon, bought a farm of about fifty acres, and now has another farm located on the river front.

Born in 1827, Daniel Lacy was thirty-eight years old in 1865, when he came to Avon, where he has resided ever since. In October, 1850, he married Frances Sackett, daughter of Colonel Orange Sackett and Amanda

(Sheldon) Sackett. They have had five chil- dren - Harriet H., Samuel S., John J., Frances V. Z., and Harry D. Lacy. Harriet HI. married George W. Carman, of Marine City, Mich. ; and they have five children - Ruth, Frances L., John L., Henry M. Stan- ley, Florence. Samuel S. married Lillian Stone, of Lima; and they live in Rochester. John J. married Emma E. Wallace, of Catta- raugus. Frances and Harry D. are at home.

During his long residence in Avon Mr. Lacy has found time to devote to public ser- vice, and has held various reponsible public offices. He was Highway Commissioner at the building of the big bridge at Spencerport in 1877, has been Assessor five years in Cale- donia and three years in the town of Avon. He was School Trustee at the time of the organization of the union free school, and held that position for eighteen years. Dan- iel Lacy cast his first Presidential vote in 1848 for Zachary Taylor, and has been a member of the Republican party from its for- mation. He is as consistent in his friend- ships as he is in his political views, and is a "good neighbor " as well as a public-spirited citizen.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 62

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

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