Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 68

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 68
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 68

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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of Sparta; and she reared three children, two of whom are now deceased, she herself dying at the age of fifty-five years. John Crossett was a member and a Deacon of the Presbyte- rian church.

The boyhood of Lloyd W. Crossett was passed at the parental home. He learned his carly lessons at the district school, pursued the higher branches at Temple Hill Academy, and between terms assisted his father in the work of the farm. Later he continued his studies for a time at Ann Arbor, Mich., but on account of failing health was obliged shortly to return to his home.

After a season of rest, his health having improved, he purchased a drug store in Gen- eseo, and went into business, taking as partner a gentleman who had worked under the former proprietor as a clerk, the firm being known as Crossett & Knowles. About four years later the firm was changed to Crossett & Sherwood ; and they continued to successfully conduct the store until 1880, when Mr. Sherwood disposed of his interest to Mr. Crossett, who remained in business alone for a period of ten years, re- tiring in 1890.

In 1880 Mr. Crossett married Miss Cath- erine Doty, daughter of William Doty, a dry- goods merchant, and a very prominent busi- ness man in Geneseo. Mr. and Mrs. Crossett have one child - Mary Emma. Mr. Crossett is a member of Geneseo Lodge, No. 214, A. F. &. A. M., and takes much interest in Masonic affairs. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, though liberal in his political views. He attends the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is a member.

As a business man, Mr. Crossett has been active and painstaking, and very successful, serving the public with a carefulness and promptness that could not fail to give satisfac- tion.

The family has been well and favorably known in the locality since 1794; and Mr. Crossett is naturally much interested in the preservation of its record, as was also his late father, a fine portrait and authentic sketch of whose career may be found on page 404 of the "Livingston County History," issued in 1880.

A NDREW KUDER, a volunteer in the late war, who rose to the rank of Cap- tain, now a thriving farmer of the border town of Conesus, Livingston County, N. Y., was born in Groveland, near the centre of the county, on November II, 1838. His paternal grandfather, George, came from Germany, and settled in Pennsyl- vania, where his father, John, was born in 1802. John Kuder, who was a farmer, came to Sparta, N. Y., and from there to Groveland, where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he lived dur- ing the remainder of his life. He married Miss Catherine Lorish, of Pennsylvania; and six children were born to them, all of whom are still living. The mother has completed her eighty-eighth year.

Andrew Kuder, who was the fourth child, was educated in the district schools at Grove- land and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary of I.ima. After completing his education, he taught school for one term in Michigan, and then returned to New York. In 1862 he en- listed in the Eighth New York Volunteer Cavalry as a private, and was in the Federal service until the close of the Civil War. An- drew Kuder's military record was a brilliant one, in which his descendants may feel just pride. He fought through many of the most important battles of the war, and was promoted successively to be Corporal, Sergeant, First Lieutenant, and Captain. With the last com- mission he was discharged, June 27, 1865, at Rochester. He was presented by Congress with a medal of honor for distinguished brav- ery during the war. The occasion was his capture of a standard of colors from a division of Jubal Early's raiders in the Shenandoah Valley. The medal specifies the valorous deed for which it was awarded, and is es- teemed a family treasure, one to be cherished as an heirloom by future generations of patri- otic Kuders.

In the autumn of 1865 Captain Kuder bought the Hitchcock homestead, and married Miss Mary I. Hitchcock, the daughter of Hector and Mary (Loomis) Hitchcock, the former owners of the property. The Hitch- cocks are descended from three brothers, who

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came from Wales to America in 1635, and founded the town of East Haven, Conn. To Captain and Mrs. Kuder three children have been born - Haleyone, Dwight H., and Kath- erine.

Captain Kuder is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 778, of Livonia Station. He is also a member of Post 382, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been Com- mander. He has always been a Democrat in political creed, and cast his first Presidential vote in 1860 for Stephen A. Douglas. He has held the office of Assessor of this town, and was President of the Hemlock Agricult- ural Society for two years. Shortly after he returned from the stirring scenes of warfare, with the memories of drum-beat and bugle- call, bivouac and march, still fresh in his mind, he engaged in the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, to which he has since continued to devote himself with intelligent and unwearied activity. A portrait of this true-hearted son of the soil, whose spurs were nobly won in defending the Union, will attract the attention of the reader on another page of the "Re- view. "

ILBERT MELVEN, who resides upon a fine farm situated four miles west of Attica, in the town of Bennington, was born in New Hampshire, August 3, 1818, son of Andrew B. Melven, who was born at the town of Groton, in the same State, De- cember 13, 1782. Mr. Melven's paternal grandparents, Ebenezer and Joanna (Bailey) Melven, were New Hampshire farmers, and reared a very large family, dying at a ripe old age.

Mr. Melven's mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Heath, was born in New Hamp- shire, December 20, 1782. His parents were married September 17, 1806, and came to Wayne County with a family of seven chil- dren about the year 1823, making the journey by canal and team. Three years later they moved to Attica Centre, where they resided three years, and then moved to Bennington in 1829, where Andrew B. Melven acquired a piece of timber land. He was a hatter by

trade, and followed that calling in his native State. His first wife died May 8, 1836; and he was married on April 22, 1837, to his sec- ond, Lydia Parish, daughter of John Howe, a wealthy pioneer. There are now two living children by this marriage - John E. Melven, a farmer, residing at Ferry, Mich. ; and Charles Wellington Melven, living in the vicinity of Bennington.

Mr. Melven has but two sisters living - Nancy, wife of Elkanah Brown, of Attica; and Susan, widow of Harlow Dudley, a volunteer soldier in the Civil War, who, after serving about eighteen months and passing through several battles, died of disease at Chattanooga, and fills an unknown grave. He was a true patriot, having at the call of country left his wife and three children, who now receive the very meagre sum of one hundred dollars per year in return for a life which otherwise would have been devoted to their support. Mr. Mel- ven had one other brother, Rodney, a carriage- maker, blacksmith, and hotel-keeper at Howell, Mich., who died March 30, 1872. Their father, Andrew B. Melven, successfully conducted a farm of fifty acres, and died June 5, 1850, at the age of sixty-eight years.

Gilbert Melven attended the district schools, and at the age of twenty years commenced life for himself by working at the cooper's trade and farming. A year or two later he pur- chased a part of his present farm, consisting of one hundred and thirty-three acres, with a small clearing and a log house. On July 4, 1854, he married Miss Emeline Fenton, daughter of Stephen Fenton, of Delaware County. She died about two years after mar- riage, leaving one daughter, Lillie Amanda, who also died, at the age of eight years. Mr. Melven married for his second wife Phebe Ann Fenton, a sister of his first wife. Mr. and Mrs. Melven lost their first two children - Willie G., at the age of six; and Emeline A., at the age of three years. Their living children are as follows: Andrew B., now a farmer, residing near his parents, having a wife and five children; Ida, wife of George Frounick, a farmer in the vicinity, and having three children; Darwin S., a farmer in Ben- nington, who has a wife and two children ; and

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Ora Luella, a young lady, residing at home, who is an accomplished and skilful music- teacher.

Mr. Melven is an extensive land-holder, owning four fine farms, aggregating five hun- dred acres, which are occupied by himself and his children. When he purchased his first farm in 1840, one hundred and thirty acres, he started with five dollars. His home farm consists of about one hundred and ninety acres, all of which is tillable with the exception of about thirty acres. When he came into pos- session of it, there were but ten acres cleared. Mr. Melven erected his large and well-ap- pointed barn, which is forty by eighty feet, with twenty-foot posts and stone basement, in 1893. The fine new residence occupied by his son Andrew was built in 1884; and in 1886 was put up a new and commodious barn, forty by seventy feet. The buildings upon all his farms have been erected by himself, and are substantial and in good repair. Mr. Mel- ven pays special attention to dairy farming. From ten to twelve cows are kept at his home farm, and a like number at the others. He has been extensively engaged in sheep-raising, having as many as five or six hundred at one time.

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Mr. Melven is thoroughly acquainted with agriculture in all its branches, and has made it a pronounced success. He is small in stature, but strong and active, having worked hard during his whole life. Hle has owned other farms, and dealt considerably in real estate, but has realized the most of his wealth by steady and unceasing toil. In politics he is a Re- publican, but has not sought official notoriety, being a resident of a Democratic town. He is not a member of any church, but attends and assists in the support of the Methodists.

ACOB STULL GALENTINE is a prominent citizen of Lima, Livingston County, N. Y., but was born in Rush township, Monroe County, on August 12, 1835, not long before the Seminole War in Florida. His father, John Galentine, a native of Monroe County, then Ontario County, born 1803, during the war with Tri-

poli, was a leading man in Monroe County for many years, serving as Justice of Peace and Deputy Sheriff. In early life he worked on a farm, but later helped to construct the Eric Canal. His wife was Isabel Stull, daughter of Jacob Stull, one of the earliest settlers of Western New York. Her brother, John P. Stull, was distinguished as being the first white child born east of the Genesee River, in what was then Ontario County. Mr. and Mrs. John Galentine had four children . Edwin J., Augusta Jane, Mary, and Jacob S., our subject. Edwin Galentine resides in Rochester, N. Y. Mary Galentine is the widow of the Rev. Frank Fenner, and resides at Jordan, Onondaga County. Augusta Gal- entine married General H. S. Hall, who lost an arm in the service of his country at the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War; and they now reside at Lawrence, Kan.

Jacob Stull Galentine was educated at the district school in Rush and at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary of Lima. He became a teacher in Michigan at the age of seventeen, and taught in Rush two terms. In 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Infantry as a private, but was pro- moted to be Quartermaster of the regiment, and detached from field service to take charge of the transportation of troops at Nashville, Tenn. He was discharged September 16, 1865, at Rochester, having served in a num- ber of battles, including second Fredericks- burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, Resaca, and Atlanta. John Galentine died, aged sixty- eight, in 1871. In 1854 Mr. Jacob S. Galen- tine married for his first wife Anna Calligan, of Toledo, Ohio. She died in 1870; and two children, Isabel and John, both died at the age of eighteen. His second wife was Mary Couch, a native of Steuben County, New York, who died in 1886.

Mr. Galentine certainly has the entire con- fidence of the people, having been an office- holder for twenty-four years, serving as Justice of Peace, Assessor, and Supervisor. He is a member of Union Masonic Lodge, No. 45, and also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, Lewis Gates Post, of Hon-

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eoye Falls. In politics Mr. Galentine was a Democrat until Cleveland's second term, when he became a Republican, and has since voted with that party. He cast his first Presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Our subject's prosperity has partly arisen from his appreciation of what the great Roman philosopher and emperor, Marcus Au- relius, has said : -

"Forward, as occasion offers. Never look around to see whether any shall note it. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle."

AMES W. IVES, a miller and at one time merchant of the village of Java, N. Y., was born at Strykersville in 1837. Dr. James Ives, the father of James W., was born in Vermont in 1810, from which State his father moved about the year 1820 to Aurora, Erie County, N. Y., where he was a prominent business man. The grandparents, James and Lucy (Brewer) Ives, reared three sons and as many daugh- ters, who all grew to maturity, and became heads of families in turn. Neither the grand- father nor the grandmother lived to be old, the former dying in the vigor of manhood in 1828, and the latter following in 1830. Dr. Ives married Miss Mary Metcalf Woods. This lady was left an orphan in her early childhood, and was adopted by the Rev. Whit- man Metcalf, by whom she was educated in Massachusetts. She became a teacher after- ward, as her husband was also, so that Mr. James W. Ives may lay claim to a double heredity of intelligence. Dr. Ives died in 1879, and his widow in 1884. They left three children - James W. Ives, of this biog- raphy, and two daughters - Amelia, now Mrs. A. Pease, of Strykersville; and Loraine, the wife of Mr. E. Fox, of North Java.

James W. Ives received his education in the old Middlebury Academy and at the Uni- versity of Rochester, and taught school for a year after finishing his collegiate course. His natural tastes inclined him to the free- dom and independence of country life, so he

became a farmer and miller, which double vocation he has followed for thirty years. In 1861 and in 1863 he was drafted for army ser- vice, but failed to pass the medical examina- tion to which all recruits were subjected. In 1861 he was married to Miss Helen Richard- son, a daughter of Mr. Charles Richardson, of Strykersville. In 1871 he was left a widower with three children ---- Glenna, who married Mr. Charles Lewis, of Rochester, and is the mother of one son; Charles Ives, as yet un- married, and living in Rochester; and Wini- fred, whose life lasted only sixteen years. Two years after the death of his first wife Mr. Ives was married to her niece, Miss Frances Richardson. Five children were born of this union, all but one of whom died in infancy; and the father was a second time bereaved of his eldest daughter, Mary, whose brief course of fifteen years was the pathetic repetition of the story of a short life, her death on June 20, 1892, recalling the similar bereavement of his first marriage.

Mr. Ives's popularity in the county has been manifested by the large majority of votes he has received when he has been candidate for office. In 1874 and 1875 he held the office of Supervisor, and is now serving a fourth term as County Superintendent of the Poor. His majority at the election of 1894 was twenty- four hundred, one of the largest ever carried in the county. He is now a member of the Baptist church of Java, formerly of the Bap- tist church of Strykersville, and was clerk of it for twenty years. He is also serving as Secretary and Treasurer of the State Conven- tion of County Superintendents of the Poor, to which office he has been unanimously elected for five successive years.

EORGE GILL FOWLER, of Dans- ville, an enterprising and successful dealer in dry goods, is a native of Livingston County, having been born in Springwater, September 4, 1857. His father, Thomas M. Fowler, was born in 1823 at Gor- ham, where his grandfather, who was a native of Connecticut, had come as a pioneer. He settled upon a tract of land, where he re-

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mained for a time, and then went with his son, Thomas M., to Springwater, in which place they erected a Hour and saw mill, which he operated until his decease, at the age of eighty. Ile reared a family of four children, all of whom are now dead.

Thomas M. Fowler was educated at the dis- trict schools and the seminary at Lima. At the age of twenty-three he entered the mill- ing business at Springwater, where he became a very prominent man, continuing to reside there, carrying on a mill and a foundry until 1867. He then went to Wayland, and en- gaged in the produce business, and later conducted a milling business at Perkinsville, N.Y. In 1875 he came to Dansville, and, with his son, the subject of this sketch, to assist him, bought out the mercantile business of M. O. Austin. Here he remained- until he died. In 1871 and 1872 he was one of the representatives from Steuben County to the legislature, and held the office of Supervisor of Springwater during the war. He was a stanch Republican and a member of the Pres- byterian church. The maiden name of his wife was Harriet Everett. She was a daugh- ter of Boughton Everett, of Herkimer County, who was a county judge for many years and a very prominent man in that section, being very popular and a leader among the people. His time, when not required by his office, was passed upon his farm. Harriet, Mrs. Fordes, was one of three daughters. One of her sis- ters, who became Mrs. J. G. Day, of Ilion, is now living. The other, Mrs. John Sanders, of Portland, Ore., died some years ago.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Fowler reared seven children, all but one of whom are liv- ing, namely: Charles. H., a commission mer- chant of Paterson, N.J .; Thomas B., a physician at Cohocton, N.Y .; George Gill, the subject of this sketch; M. H. Fowler, of the Dansville Breese; Mrs. B. J. Smith, of Salamanca; and Helen M., who married Dr. George H. Cutter, a dentist, of Victor. The mother is still living, and resides with her son George, having reached the age of seventy. She is a member of the Presby- terian church.

George Gill Fowler received his elementary

education in the district schools, and after- ward attended successively the Lima Semi- nary, the Dansville Seminary. He was engaged as clerk with his father for five years, and was then admitted as partner. After his father's death he purchased in September, 1894, his mother's interest; and now the business is conducted under the name of G. G. Fowler. The present store was for- merly occupied by W. T. Spinnig, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Fowler carries one of the largest, most varied, and complete line of goods in the county.

In 1894 Mr. Fowler married Ada Prentiss, daughter of Harvey Prentiss, of Hornellsville. Her father is an extensive farmer and a very prominent man in the above-named town, where he has been Supervisor for several terms. Mrs. Ada P. Fowler is a most esti- mable lady, and a member of the Presbyterian church, which her husband attends. Mr. Fowler is a supporter of the Republican party. He is in every way a leader among the young business men of Dansville, enterprising, ener- getic, far-sighted, and exceedingly popular, with a bright outlook before him.

LARENCE E. GRIGGS, M.D., phy- sician and surgeon at Strykersville for the past fourteen years, was born at Concordia, Mead County, Ky., February 6, 1847. His father, David Griggs, was born in Vermont in 1797, and was taken while an infant by his parents, Ichabod and Jerusha Griggs, to Otsego County, New York, the journey being made with an ox team.

David Griggs was the third of thirteen chil- dren, nine of whom, three sons and six daugh- ters, attained full age. One of these, Mrs. Marilla Rathburn, is now living at Spring- field, Otsego County.

David was educated at Fairfield College, and studied medicine with old Dr. White, whose Christian name was James. At the age of twenty-one he started on horseback for the South, making his first stop at Fredonia, Ind., and while there represented the district at the State legislature two terms. He mar-

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ried the widow Atkinson (born Staples), of Petersburg, Va., with whom he went to Con- cordia, Ky., where she owned a plantation and . few slaves. Seven children were born to them, five sons and two daughters, as fol- lows: Albert, who died in his youth; Mi- randa, who also died young; Alonzo, a carpenter by trade and a Captain in the Fed- eral army, dying March 4, 1861, on his twenty-first birthday; Nathan, a farmer in Mississippi County, Missouri, who has a fam- ily, served in the Confederate army as recruit- ing officer; Clarence E., the subject of this sketch; Levantia, wife of Stephen Smith, a farmer in Java, N. Y, having nine children ; and James, who died in infancy. The father died at Concordia, Ky., in 1855, and the mother in 1860, past middle life. The Kentucky property depreciated in value during the war.

Clarence E. Griggs passed his boyhood on the plantation, his only playmates being young colored children. He was educated at Beech Grove Academy, and at the age of twenty-one entered the Louisville University, having been appointed to a scholarship in the medical department by J. Proctor Nott. In 1863, on account of the war, he was sent North to Concord, Erie County, N. Y. In 1865 he returned to Beech Grove Academy in Kentucky. He taught school one term in Concordia, and also practised medicine in Kentucky and Indiana, part of the time with his father's old partner, Dr. Hawn, who was a surgeon under General Benjamin Butler at New Orleans. At the time of his death, in 1876, Dr. Hawn was Secretary of State in Indiana. Having completed his studies in 188o, Dr. Griggs with his wife and two chil- dren came to Strykersville, where he formed a partnership with Dr. John Wockner, which continued for eight years, or till the death of Dr. Wockner. In 1893 Dr. Griggs formed another partnership with Dr. Fromholzer, of Germany, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Dr. Griggs was a patient of his partner, suffering from an abscess upon the liver, complicated with pneumonia, from March until May, 1893. During this time his life hung in the balance, and his case was under a council of physicians from Buffalo.

In June, 1872, he married in Mead County, Kentucky, Miss Eliska R. Fullinwider, of that county, and daughter of Rice Fullinwider, of Meade County, Kentucky, son of Henry Ful- linwider, of Germany. Dr. and Mrs. Griggs have five children living, and mourn the loss of a son, who died in infancy. Martha E., the eldest daughter, who is a professional nurse in Dr. Mann's hospital, a private in- stitution at Buffalo, was educated at the Fredonia Normal School. Nannie, a very bright and intelligent young lady, possessing more than ordinary talent, is at the Buffalo Mute Institute. The others are: David R., an intelligent, interesting little man of nine years; Nellie, aged six years; and Carlisle C., aged four years.

Dr. Griggs is a Chapter Mason, and his father was far advanced in the order. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served one term as Supervisor.

Hle purchased his fine residence and office of his former partner, who died a short time after completing its erection. He owns the land and buildings situated opposite his resi- dence and occupied as a hardware store and post-office, being himself proprietor of the former. He also owns property at Tona- wanda. The medical firm of Griggs & From- holzer have a large practice in Wyoming and adjoining counties; and this, in connection with his private business, occupies his time completely, causing Dr. Griggs to be a very busy man.

HAYDEN HUMPHREY, a banker in Warsaw, N. Y., was born in Shel- don, January 22, 1850, son of Les- ter HI. and Hannah ( Blakeley) Humphrey. His grandfather, Theophilus Humphrey, a native of Connecticut, came to Sheldon from that State in 1818, moving his family and goods by team. His wife, Cynthia Hayden, was the mother of seventeen children, all of whom, with one exception, grew up to maturity. Theophilus Humphrey was by trade a tanner and currier; and, as his sons grew up, he took them into part- nership with him, establishing quite an ex-

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 68

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

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