Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 72

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 72
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 72

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he was wounded by an ounce minie ball, which Mr. Plumley has preserved, it having entered the corner of his left eye, by the bridge of his nose, and lodged in the back of the neck, whence it was extracted. He was sent to the hospital at Portsmouth Grove, R.I., from which he was discharged December 27, 1864. After leaving the hospital he at- tended to his wound by bathing it several times in every twenty-four hours with spring water, holding his head beneath a faucet, and allowing the water to flow through the cavity made by the bullet, which was nine years in healing. He received a pension of twenty- four dollars per month, and his case is said to be the only one on record where such a wound has not proved fatal.

On December 11, 1865, Mr. Eugene Plum- ley married Miss Mina R. Owen, of Benning- ton, daughter of James and Sarah Ann (Miller) Owen, her mother having been a native of Middlebury, and her father of Wyo- ming. The former died in 1856 at the age of thirty years, leaving two daughters, Mrs. Plumley and her sister, Allie J. Owen. Her father is a retired commercial traveller, resid- ing at Niagara Falls, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Plumley have lost two daughters, their first- born, Anna, having died at three years of age, and Allie E. at sixteen. The latter, who was full of youthful strength and promise, became a victim of typhoid fever. The only surviv- ing daughter, Addie Patti, was married on April 1, 1892, to Dr. William M. Haynes, a practising physician of Sherman, Chautauqua County, New York. She is an accomplished young lady, having been thoroughly educated at Bennington, and being a very fine pianist.

Mr. Plumley is a comrade of Rowley P. Taylor Post, No. 219, and has held some of the minor offices. He is an attendant of the Baptist church, of which Mrs. Plumley is a member. On his farm of one hundred and thirty acres he makes a specialty of sheep- raising, having an average flock of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Shropshire sheep, and also raises superior draft horses. He has served the village as Postmaster eight years, Justice of the Peace four years, Notary twelve years, and Deputy Sheriff three years

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J OHN NESMITH DAVIDSON, farmer and sometime teacher, a well-known public-spirited citizen of Genesee Falls, was born April 14, 1833, in Windham, N. H., son of William and Annis (Nesmith) Davidson. His earliest ancestors in this country, both paternal and maternal, were Scotch-Irish. The genealogy of the two families for several generations is given in Mr. Morrison's History of the town of Wind- ham, N. H., which was formerly a part of Londonderry. From this it appears that a William Davidson, who was of Scotch de- scent, but born in Ireland, came to America with his wife Mary and children, and settled in Woburn, Mass., in 1728.

John, their sixth child, born in 1720, re- moved to Windham, N. H., in 1752. Deacon William, son of John, born in 1761, married Jane Barnet. Their son William, born in Windham in 1802, married December 27, 1827, Annis Nesmith, a great-grand-daughter of Deacon James Nesmith, one of the sixteen original proprietors of Londonderry, N.H., the date of whose settlement by a band of intelligent, religious, liberty loving Scotch- Irish colonists was April 22, 1719. The Nesmiths had previously migrated, in 1690, from Scotland to Ireland, where in 1714 James married Elizabeth McKeen. The fam- ily has from the first held high rank in New Hampshire and Massachusetts among the pos- terity of the Pilgrim and Puritan pioneers.

Annis Nesmith, born in 1801, was a daugh- ter of John Nesmith, Sr., a farmer and store- keeper of Windham. Her brother John (born in 1793 and died in 1869), who with an older brother, Thomas, settled in Lowell, Mass., in 1831, was one of the most enterprising and successful of New England manufacturers, being largely interested in mills in that city and in other places. A liberal helper of the antislavery cause, a friend of temperance, and a stanch patriot, his influence was widely felt for good. He was Lieutenant Governor of the State in 1862, when John A. Andrew

was Governor. One of his daughters is the wife of the present Governor Greenhalge.

William and Annis Nesmith Davidson re- moved to New York State about sixty years ago, settling in 1836 on the farm of two hun- dred and eighty acres now occupied by the subject of this sketch. Mr. Davidson con- tinued to clear and improve the land until his death, February 6, 1855, at the age of fifty- two years. He and his wife had eight sons who grew to manhood, namely: William E., of Buffalo, an inspector in the interest of the Erie Railroad Company; John N .; Thomas A. (deceased); George H. (deceased); Fran- cis J .; Albert O., a large woollen manufact- urer in Massachusetts; Jacob M .; and Irving H. Mrs. Annis Nesmith Davidson was one of nine children, all of whom are now dead. She spent her last years with her sons, and died March 31, 1877, at the age of seventy-six. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian church, the father having the office of Elder.

John N. Davidson came to the present home when he was three years old, and remained with his father till he was nineteen. He at- tended the district school and later the Alfred Academy in Alfred, Allegany County, where he graduated in 1854. After this he began teaching in the neighborhood, and taught ser- eral years in the district and union schools, carrying on some farm work at the same time. In later years he has been active in public matters, and is a strong supporter of the Re- publican ticket. He has been elected to vari- ous offices, and has been Supervisor three terms. He was elected to the Assembly in 1871-72, and at present is a Director of the State Bank of Pike. Of late he has been liv- ing a retired life on the old homestead. He attends to the interests of the town and neigh- borhood as a good citizen, with the composure and serenity which belong only to maturer life and the consciousness of duty done.

ON. GREENLEAF S. VAN- GORDER, a prominent resident and able lawyer of the town of Pike, N. Y., was born in York, Living- ston County, June 2, 1855. He is the son of

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Simon VanGorder, whose native place was Tioga Point, N. Y., and grandson of John Van- Gorder, who was born in Ulster County, as were most of his ancestors whose record in this county is known. They were originally from Holland; and it is known that the pro- genitors of the family ten generations back, about 1648, left Albany, and went to the present city of Kingston, being among the primitive settlers there. The grandfather of Mr. VanGorder lived in that locality, and later moved to Geneseo, Livingston County, where he was a hotel-keeper as well as farmer, and where he spent his later years. His son Simon was engaged with him in the hotel business, but died at the comparatively early age of thirty-six years. Simon VanGorder married Elizabeth, daughter of Peter More- house, of Bethany, Washington County, N. Y., her birthplace being Argyle, N. Y. By a previous marriage she had one son, James C. Parmenter, who served in the late war as a member of the First New York Cavalry, and was shot in a skirmish with Moseby's gueril- las at Snickersville, in the Shenandoah val- ley, Virginia. The mother is still living, and resides with her son, John E., in the town of West Almond, N. Y.

Mr. VanGorder, the subject of this sketch, resided with his parents in Geneseo until eleven years of age, when they removed to West Almond, Allegany County; and here he attended school, as he had before done in Livingston County. Later he was a student in the academic department of Alfred Univer- sity, after which he studied law with Sanford & Bowen, of Angelica, and was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, June 15, 1877, being then twenty-two years of age. In August of that year Mr. VanGorder went to the town of Pike, and began the practice of his profession, going on steadily in the way of success. Legal work requires, among other qualities, perceptive ability and a logically trained mind; and, as Mr. VanGorder possesses these in a marked degree, he has attained high rank among his brother lawyers. He was elected Town Clerk in February, 1878, and served five years, and then served five years as Su- pervisor of the town, was a member of the

New York State Assembly from the County of Wyoming for the years 1888-89, represented the Thirtieth Senatorial District (counties of Genesee, Livingston, Niagara, and Wyoming) in the State Senate of 1890-91 and again in 1892-93, with credit to his office. He has also taken an active interest in Masonic mat- ters, and is a member and Past Master of Triluminar Lodge, No. 543, a member of Wyoming Chapter, No. 181, R. A. M., Batavia Commandery, No. 34, Knights Templars, Key- stone Council, No. 20, of Buffalo, and Cyprus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Al- bany, N. Y. He is also a member of the Hol- land Society of New York. Mr. VanGorder is interested in educational matters, and has served as one of the Trustees of Pike Semi- nary since December, 1882. At the organ- ization of the State Bank of Pike, in April, 1892, he was made one of its Directors; and at its second annual meeting he was elected President, which office he now holds.

Mr. VanGorder was married in August, 1878, to Miss Eva E. Lyon, youngest daugh- ter of Josephus and Elmyriet (Gilchrist) Lyon. Mr. Lyon was a native of Vermont, and spent his early life in the town of Eagle, to which place his father had removed among the early settlers. Later Mr. Lyon removed to Pike. He was a man of many fine quali- ties, and was highly appreciated in the town, holding the office of Assessor for many years. His death occurred there at the age of sixty- nine. Mrs. Lyon followed her husband four weeks later, dying at the age of sixty-four years. She was a member of the Presbyterian church.

Mrs. VanGorder was one of six children, all of whom are still living. Her only sister is the wife of the Hon. W. M. Smith, ex- health officer of the port of New York. The other children are: Frank, Edwin D., Or- ville D., and Fred H. Mr. and Mrs. Van- Gorder reside on the old Lyon homestead, and have one child, a daughter, Mary E., now fif- teen years of age. In reviewing the events of Mr. Van Gorder's life, as given above, it will be seen that his present high position is due mainly to his own exertions, his father having died in March, 1855, three months before the

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

birth of the subject of this sketch. His ca- reer has been marked by persevering industry, guided by a quick intelligence and singular accuracy in his impressions and measurement of men - qualities potential for success in almost every walk of life.

ILLIAM AND ALEXANDER W. STEWART were born in York, Livingston County, New York State, on the land now owned and occupied

by them. William, the eldest, was born in 1823, and his brother Alexander W. in the year 1833. Their father was also named William, and was a native of Perthshire, Scotland. Their grandfather was Mr. Will- iam Stewart, who came to this country with his family about the year 1800. He landed in the port of New York, and made the jour- ney from that city to Fulton County with wife and six children in the only way possible in those days -- by covered wagons.

William Stewart, the father of William and Alexander, settled in the west part of the town of York, then called Caledonia. He took up a tract of land, comprising about one hundred and twenty-four acres, and later added forty-four more, making one hundred and sixty-eight in all. The place was a wilder- ness; but he built a log house and barn, cleared out the land, and proceeded to sow and reap and gather in the fruits of his toil. His market for produce was a long distance away; but the necessary expeditions to Roch- ester to exchange his harvests for the necessa- ries of life were of other benefit, for they brought him into contact again with the out- side world, and kept him and his family cog- nizant of the events of the day, and by such contact riveted anew the links which bind men of one blood together. Mr. Stewart died at the age of fifty-six, January 5, 1845. He had cleared all of the land he possessed, and left it in good condition for his heirs.

Mr. Stewart married Miss Catherine McIn- tire; and they brought up a family of four boys and two girls, whose names are as fol- lows: William; John W .; Daniel, who died at the age of eighteen; Alexander W; Isabel;

and Catherine. Catherine, William, and Alexander W. are yet living

Alexander and William Stewart have al- ways been farmers by occupation, and have passed their lives on their present place, the old homestead, where they were born. Their farm comprises at the present time two hun- dred and sixty acres of land under cultivation. This fact concerning their long residence on the farm is a very interesting circumstance and one uncommon in the general run of things. Change of house and land is de- sirable to some natures, simply from love of change, association with locality having often no influence over the mind; but, when two brothers are wholly content to live their nat - ural lives in the home of their fathers, it shows a quality of peace and contentment as rare as it is praiseworthy. No doubt this may be in part traced back to the Scotch ancestry, for that nationality add to their sterling traits a love of home, however "humble," and of the native woods and hills which bound the daily horizon and share equally with kindred and friends in their love.

Both William and Alexander Stewart have been always decided Republicans in politics.

Mr. William Stewart has held the office of Highway Commissioner and Assessor for two terms. He married Miss Sarah C. Willis, of the town of York; and they have two children - William W. and Jeanette.

L" ENRY SMITH, an enterprising and practical farmer in Orangeville, N. Y., was born in the town of Sheldon, in 1846. His grandfather, Michael Schmidt, as the name was then spelled, was born in Brumath, Alsace, in 1788. He was a soldier under Napoleon at the time of the Emperor's defeat, and was wont to relate graphically his reminiscences of the last fatal engagements, where the French soldiers lay frozen upon the battlefield. Michael mar- ried Margaret Goets; and in 1832 they came to New York State, bringing with them a family of five children. They came to Roch- ester by canal soon after arriving upon the shores of the great Western world. From

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New York City the voyage was enjoyable and peaceful; and the new-comers, who were in moderate circumstances, but full of hope and energy, and anxious to make a home as soon as possible, settled at once upon a farm of fifty acres, most of which was covered with timber. Here they spent their lives, accumulating property each year, until the boundaries of the fifty-acre farm had extended to an area of one hundred and ninety acres. Michael Schmidt, or Smith, and his wife were earnest and devout members of the Evangelical church. Mrs. Smith died in 1860, aged sixty-seven. Her husband survived her eight years, and reached the age of eighty.

Philip Smith, the father of Henry, was born in 1818, at Brumath, Alsace, and came to this country with his parents, as stated above. He was an ambitious farmer ; and, in order to pur- chase and stock a dairy farm, he assumed a debt of nearly twelve thousand dollars, which he liquidated during the past twenty-five years by economy, industry, and good management. The principal product of this farm was cheese. It was made from the milk of fifty cows, and sometimes brought an annual income of over two thousand dollars. The firm of Ball & Pratt, in LeRoy, consume large quantities of this cheese, the excellent quality of which finds ready market. Mr. Smith's long and useful life came to a close on December 12, 1893. His wife's maiden name was Philip- pine Dick, and she also was a native of Ger- many. Her father was a cooper and farmer in Sheldon, near Strykersville; and her mother was, before her marriage, Miss Catherine Lat- terner. Both lived to be over eighty. Their only son died, and of the five daughters three are now living. Their six children were all born in Germany. Mrs. Smith is now living with her youngest son, J. P. Smith, and, though seventy-five years old, is still bright and active. The children born of the mar- riage of Philip and Philippine (Dick) Smith were: Charles Smith, born May 30, 1844, a farmer in Warsaw, who has two sons; Henry, whose name heads this biography ; .Catherine, who died at five months of age; Abraham, who died March 20, 1887, aged thirty-two years, leaving a widow and one son ;

J. Philip, who owns the farm formerly owned by his father ; Phoebe J., the oldest daughter, who married William Werner, and is living in Orangeville; Caroline, the wife of William Miller, a farmer and cooper; and Sarah M., who married Charles Sergel, a farmer of Warsaw.

During the Civil War the family did not lack a representative in the Federal army; for Charles Smith, the eldest son, who was at the time only eighteen years old, enlisted in the ranks of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and received a gunshot wound in his side which almost proved fatal.

Henry Smith was reared on his father's farm, and attended the district school, which was a mile distant from his home. When his school days were finished, he took up the voca- tion that had brought prosperity to his grand- father and his father, and now has a fine farm in his own right, including over one hundred acres of the property owned by his grandfather. The new home, the vast barn, measuring sixty-four feet by thirty, the old barn, shed, cheese-house, and other out-buildings cover a large area of ground, and present quite the appearance of a village.

Mr. Smith was a supporter of the Republi- can party until 1893, when he expoused the cause of the Prohibitionists, with which party he is now strongly identified. The citizens of Orangeville have attested their confidence in him by electing him to important offices in the town. He was Supervisor of Orangeville in 1887 and 1888, and is at present Justice of the Peace.

On March 30, 1868, he was married to Miss Newinger, who was a native of France. Her parents, Michael and Barbara (Engle) New- inger, came to America in 1845, when she was only a year old. So that, in point of fact, Mrs. Smith is very much an American in feel- ing and education. The Newinger family consisted of ten children, all of whom are living save two daughters. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are in the communion of the Evangelical church, of which he is a Trustee, and in whose meetings he is class leader.

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His brothers and sisters - Charles, Henry, Catharine, Abraham, J. Philip, Phoebe J., Caroline, and Sarah M. - all belong to one church, and all attend services in the same church building.

R. FREDERICK A. STRASEN- BURGH is now a prominent citizen and physician in the town of Lima, Livingston County, N. Y. ; but he was born November 7, 1862, in the time of our Civil War, in Port Sarnia, Canada. George Strasenburgh, his father, was born in Scotland; but the grandfather, Robert Stras- enburgh, was by birth a Prussian.

George Strasenburgh came to America in 1855, when twenty-three years old, and settled in Kingston, Canada. He was educated at Toronto University, and is both a physician and preacher. He now lives in Kendall, N. Y., where he is practising his profession. His wife was Elizabeth Tucker, and her par- ents were John and Elizabeth (Coombs) Tucker. She had four sons - Frederick, John, George, and Sidney. John Strasenburgh is a Rochester druggist; he married Stella Grif- fin, and has two sons - Edwin and Harold Strasenburgh. The younger George Strasen- burgh is in the same city, on the staff of the city surveyor. Sidney Strasenburgh is a postal clerk on the railroad between Syracuse and New York City.

Frederick Strasenburgh received his prepar- atory education at Henrietta, N. Y., in the Monroe County Academy, and then went to Toronto University, where he was graduated in 1882, afterward winning the degree of M. D. from Buffalo University in February of 1886, graduating with the highest honors of his class. He began practice at East Avon in 1886, and remained there one year, thereafter coming, in 1887, to Lima, where he has since resided. Dr. Strasenburgh is a member of the Livingston County Medical Association, is President of the village, and was appointed one of the County Coroners in 1888. Hle has also been President of the Fire Department, and one of the Village Trustees. In politics he has always been a Republican, casting his

first vote for James G. Blaine, who was de- feated by Grover Cleveland in 1884; and he is in religion a Presbyterian.

"Aspiration, worthy ambition, desires for higher good for good ends - all these indicate a soul that recognizes the beckoning hand of the good Father, who would call us homeward toward himself. " Thus speaks the novelist and poet, Dr. J. G. Holland; and his words indicate the spirit of such a man as our sub- ject, who has the endowments for a long and successful career both in citizenship and his profession.

ESLEY RANGER, a prominent architect, contractor, and builder of the town of Attica, was born in Woodstock, Ulster County, N. Y., August 26, 1856. His father was a native of the same

town. His mother before her marriage was Miss Margaret Lowery, of Canada. Wesley Ranger is the eldest of six sons and two daughters. In the year 1865, when he was nine years old, his parents moved to the town of Batavia, in Genesee County. He attended the district school for several years, getting the groundwork of a good education. He was not able to put himself through a full scien- tific course in architectural training. Free education, such as is now found in many of the great centres, was not within reach; and therefore Wesley Ranger at the age of seven- teen found a place with Mr. Morgan, where he remained for six years, getting a good understanding of the business and enough ex- perience to justify his branching out for himself.

Accordingly in 1879 he came to Attica, Wyoming County, where he proceeded to set- tle down to make a name for himself in his chosen profession. Mr. Ranger's success has fully justified the experiment. He has gone steadily on, keeping up with the improve- ments made year by year in architectural con- struction, and building on the most approved scientific plans; and, while cultivating his own taste, he has also done much to improve the taste of the community in which he lives. He stands at the head of his profession in At-

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tica, where he began contracting and building in 1883. The house he built in 1892-93 for himself and family stands as a sample of his work. It is two and a half stories in height and thirty by forty-seven feet in size. The architecture is modern and quite a departure from the old-fashioned and uncomfortable, al- though sometimes stately, dwellings of a past generation. Mr. Ranger has built the Free Stevens Memorial Library in Attica, a fine structure, admirably suited to the purposes for which it exists, and has also erected some fine residences, among which may be mentioned the one for Mr. A. A. Smith and one for Mr. John Krauss, these being but samples among many in Attica.

Mr. Ranger was married in the town of Darien in 1878 to Miss Mary Danley, of the town of Bennington, Wyoming County. She was a daughter of Oscar Danley. Mr. and Mrs. Ranger have had four children. One, a son named Ray, died at the age of nine months. The three now living are: Glen- wood D., a boy in his thirteenth year; Daisy Margaret, a daughter of eight; and Mary Wesley, aged two years.

Mr. Ranger is a Master Mason, and in poli- tics is in the Republican ranks. He is not an office-seeker, but devotes his time to the business he has in hand, whose interests are of general as well as personal importance, furnishing plans and specifications to outside parties not connected with his own private establishment. Having begun in life "even with the world," and happily chosen a calling to which he was naturally adapted, he has gone on with a perseverance and enthusiasm which have given him continued prosperity ; and, being still young, there is much of prom- ise in the prospect of his future.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 72

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

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