Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 77

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 77
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 77

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John H. Burtis received his early education at Rochester, and when a lad of thirteen went to Bloomington, Ill., to join his uncle, and while there attended for a time the normal school at Normal, Ill. He soon afterward began to learn the printer's trade in the office of the National Flag, but after remaining there three years entered the employ of H. Warner, a horse dealer, with whom he went South, where he was at the breaking out of the war. At the first call for troops he enlisted in Company C, Twentieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for three months, but was finally mustered in for three years, remaining with the regiment till February 15, 1862, when he was wounded at Fort Donelson. He still car- ries the ball in his head. Being for a long time incapacitated from duty, he was hon- orably discharged May 10 of the same year, when he went to Lockport, N. Y., where he learned the trade of moulder, and followed it till 1889. In that year he engaged in the livery business, which he carries on at the present time.

In 1872 he married Julia H. Bush, of Union Springs, Cayuga County, N. Y .; and they have two children - William H. and

George E. Mr. Burtis is very popular among his many friends in the different lodges to which he belongs. He is Past Commander of J. E. Lee Post, No. 281, Grand Army of the Republic, is Past Master of Mount Morris Lodge, No. 122, A. F. & A. M., and Mount Morris Chapter, No. 137, is Past Grand of Bellewood Lodge, No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is ex-Secretary of the Select Knights, and a member of Maccabee Tent, No. 143. He was the first President of Mount Morris Lodge, E. A. U., No. 151. In all these offices he performs his duty to the best of his ability, thus gaining much credit and honor.

ENRY C. LATHROP, a druggist at Pike, Wyoming County, N. Y., was born in this town, December 4, 1836. His paternal grandfather, Simon Lathrop, was of English descent and originally from Massachusetts, born July 23, 1772. September 15, 1796, he married Molly Buckman, and removed to Bethel, Vt., where he raised a family of five sons and four daugh- ters. In 1832 he removed with them to Pike, N. Y., where he purchased an improved farm of one hundred acres, paying cash down, he being a man of considerable wealth for a farmer at that time.

Oel Lathrop, son of Simon, the father of the subject of this sketch, being then twenty- five years of age, bought one-half the farm, and contracted to conduct the entire place during the life of his parents. After their demise he bought the other half, and con- tinued to occupy it till his death, July 16, 1872, at the age of sixty-five years. February 4, 1836, he was married to Eliza Slusser (orig- inal spelling Schlossar), a daughter of Nicho- las Slusser, of Dutch descent, an early settler in Pike, and originally from the town of Esopus, on the Hudson River. She bore him eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- ters. Five sons and one daughter are now living, namely: Henry C., of whom this biographical memoir is written; Joshua; C. Columbus; Simon Alvarado; Jerome E .; and Rosina A. Mrs. Eliza Lathrop spent the last

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years of her life with her daughter, Rosina A., at the village of Pike, where she died, having lived eighty-one years. Both parents were members of the Universalist church.

Henry C. Lathrop, whose boyhood and youth were passed on the farm, and whose dis- trict-school education was supplemented by a full course of study in the Genesee Valley Seminary at Belfast, N. Y., was for several years a teacher in the district schools of Alle- gany County. Going West in 1862, he be- came principal of the public schools at Rich- mond, Ill., and soon after of the Walworth County Institute in Wisconsin, where his wife was an instructor, she having previously taught in the schools of New York State.

Mr. Lathrop afterward engaged in the pat- ent medicine business for two years, travelling over a large part of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan. He next embarked in the boot and shoe business at Rushford, N. Y., where he remained for three years, and then returned to Pike, and purchased the drug store which he now conducts. This pharmacy is an old and reliable house, having been established in 1844 by James W. Lloyd, and subsequently conducted by A. C. Thompson, who sold it to Mr. Lathrop. Both Henry C. and his brother, who are now joint owners of the business, have been licensed by the New York State Board of Pharmacy, and have proved them- selves to be competent and reliable phar- macists.

On July 5, 1864, Henry C. Lathrop was married to Miss Ann Lapham, born April 13, 1843, a daughter of Abraham Lapham, a lum- ber dealer of Allegany County, and at one time Superintendent of Canals. Mr. Lapham was of excellent Quaker stock, and was raised at Macedon, Wayne County, where many of the Laphams now live and exert a large influence in the general affairs of the place.

Of this union two children were born --- Helen B., October 2, 1867, and Henry Willis, October 11, 1870. Helen B. Lathrop, a graduate of Pike Seminary and also of the Geneseo Normal School, is at this time a teacher in Pike Seminary. Henry Willis Lathrop, a telegrapher and railway agent,

married Miss Carrie Stanton, of Castile, and has one child, Hawthorne Willis Lathrop.

Henry C. Lathrop has been prominently identified with everything appertaining to Pike's prosperity, particularly its common schools, has several times been elected Presi- dent of the village, and was Postmaster during the Garfield and Arthur administration. He has ever been a stanch Republican in politics, and he is an attendant of the Presbyterian church. He is a leading Free Mason, being a member of Triluminar Lodge, in which he served as Master six years, and is its present Secretary. He served three years as High Priest of Wyoming Chapter, of which he is a member, and is also a member of Batavia Commandery. His devotion to Masonry has been rewarded by several appointments to places of trust, he having held the office of Grand Steward and District Deputy Grand Master, and being now Assistant Grand Lecturer.

ERRICK SHELDON, an extensive land owner in Livingston County, now living in Geneseo, is a na- tive of the town of Perry, Wyo- ming County, N. Y., having been born there, May 13, 1823. His paternal grandfather, Ezra Sheldon, was a native of England, being one of two brothers who came to America in Colonial times. He settled in New Marl- boro, Berkshire County, Mass., where he spent the rest of his life on his farm. He was the father of thirteen children, all of whom married and settled in different States. One of the pleasantest recollections of the family is that of the reunion of these thirteen children at the old homestead many years after they had left the paternal home, and when the youngest was fifty-two years of age.

Oren Sheldon, father of Merrick, was reared to agricultural pursuits, and resided at the old home in New Marlboro until 1811, when he migrated to New York with his wife and one child, the journey being made, according to the custom of the day, with a pair of oxen and a wagon. Ile settled in the town of Perry, then in Genesee, now in Wyoming County ;

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and there he bought a tract of timber land of the Holland Land Company. He built a log house, and having no sawed lumber split the logs for boards, taking the bark from the bass- wood trees for the roof, and hanging a blanket in the doorway to keep out wild beasts. No railroads or canals brought to the inhabitants of that region the necessities and comforts of our day ; and in the primeval forest they lived upon the products of their land, together with venison, bear meat, and other game which abounded. He had a practical knowledge of surveying, and was employed by the State in laying out roads in different sections, which kept him away from home a great deal of the time, and left his brave wife to contend with the dangers and hardships. After twenty-two years he removed to Mount Morris, and purchased two farms, and resided there twenty-eight years, moving from there to the village of Mos- cow, where he spent the remainder of his life.

The wife of Oren Sheldon was Sally Tay- lor, a native of New Marlboro, Mass. Her grandfather, a native of England, was the founder of the family in America. Just before sailing he and his wife were presented with a curious piece of china in the form of a cow, which was intended to be used as a milk pitcher; and since that time, 1738, it has been passed down from generation to genera- tion, being now in the possession of Mr. Sheldon. Mrs. Oren Sheldon survived her husband several years, and died when over eighty years of age, having had seven children - Clarissa, John, Rosie, Tempy, Pomeroy, Merrick, and Julia.

Merrick Sheldon attended the district school, giving his assistance to his father until he was twenty-one, when he started out, even with the world, and bought a farm in the town of Leicester, which he afterward ex- changed for one in Mount Morris. This he improved, and to it added other tracts, as his means increased, and now has about eleven hundred acres in the towns of Leicester and Mount Morris. In 1887 he removed to Gen- esco, where he has since resided. His son- in-law occupies the old homestead, while much of his land is given over to thrifty and industrious tenants.

Mr. Sheldon was first married, when twenty- four years of age, to Alviza Star, a native of Leicester, and a daughter of Martin and Amanda Star. Mrs. Alviza Sheldon died in 1884, leaving one daughter, Mary, who is the wife of Chester D. White, and has a daughter, Mabel. In 1888 Mr. Sheldon married Har- riet Gladding, who was born at Mount Morris, and was daughter of Hiram and Lydia ( Lake) Gladding. Mr. Sheldon is a member of the Presbyterian church, his wife being an adhe- rent to the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a Republican, and may safely be set down as a believer in a strong central government, just laws, and a pure administration.

· BENEDICT WHITLOCK, a salt manufacturer in Warsaw, where he was born on September 29, 1852, belongs to a family which has for several generations been known in New York State. His great-grandfather, Samuel Whit- lock, who is the senior Samuel of this record, although there had been other Samuels in earlier generations of the family, was born in 1739, and died in 1799. He was married twice, and left four sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to rear families of their own. One son, Joseph, died in Michigan ; and another, who bore the name of Julius, died near Warsaw, having attained the age of eighty-three years.

Samuel Whitlock, son of the elder Samuel, and grandfather of Mr. S. Benedict Whitlock, was born in Warren, Litchfield County, in 1789. He came to Warsaw in 1810 with his brother Julius, and settled on a tract of fifty acres of land situated one and a half miles north of the village. The land was in the woods; and the young men, who were both as yet unmarried and of scant means, must have had a very lonesome and toilsome life in their little log cabin. Their father having died when Samuel was a boy of twelve years, both lads were thrown upon themselves for their support. They were employed as raftsmen on the St. Lawrence River, at twelve dollars a month, and early manifested a steadfast and

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conscientious adherence to religious principle that is rarely seen in youth. The occasion was a demand on the part of their employers for their services on Sunday; but the boys, who had been brought up by Christian par- ents, firmly refused to do what they had been taught to believe was a sacrilegious profana- tion of God's command to "keep holy the Sabbath day."

Samuel's son, S. Norris Whitlock, whose birth date was February 25, 1826, and whose place of birth was Warsaw, where he has lived for the past thirty years, received a fair edu- cation in the district and select schools of his native village, supplemented later by a two years' course in the union school. Indeed, he was prepared to teach, having studied with that intention, but came to a different deci- sion after reaching his majority, and remained with his parents until his marriage to Miss Emily L. Benedict, of Perry, on January 8, 1851. This lady was a daughter of Samuel and Julia (Otis) Benedict, her father being a native of the State of Vermont, her mother of Connecticut. Mrs. Whitlock's parents were among the early settlers of Perry. They reared a family of four sons and as many daughters, and enjoyed more than a half-cen- tury of wedded life. The family was noted for longevity; and the first death in this branch was that of old Mr. Benedict, who died in the eighty-third year of his age, in 1883. His widow, who lives in Warsaw, is now eighty-nine; and all of her children are still living, three sons residing in Chicago and one in Milwaukee.

For five years Mr. S. Norris Whitlock cul- tivated his father's farms, and two hundred and thirteen acres of the original estate is still in possession of the family. He after- ward became a merchant in Linden, Genesee County, and lived there for six years before coming to Warsaw, where he engaged in the grocery and crockery trade, to which his son succeeded him. He was for about a year in the coal and lumber traffic, and then gave it up to enter the insurance business, in which he was eminently successful for seventeen years. Mr. S. Norris Whitlock has now retired from active cares; and he and his

wife, who has been in verity a helpmate as well as companion to him, are spending the afternoon of their lives in their pleasant home at No. 9 Brooklyn Street. For thirty-eight years Mr. Whitlock has been a faithful worker in the Methodist church, of which both he and his wife are members, and has done much toward the moral as well as practical support of the organization in his village. The fam- ily circle has been broken by the death of one child, Charles E., who died at six years of age. The surviving children are: Benedict, of whom this memoir is written; and George N., who at present resides in Warsaw.

Benedict Whitlock was educated in the Warsaw Union School, and has been engaged in salt manufacturing since 1883. He is Sec- retary and Treasurer of the Empire Dairy Salt Company, and is largely interested in the Warsaw Bluestone Company, being Presi- dent of the company and one of the incorpora- tors. In 1889 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hume, a daughter of Nelson Hume. Two lovely children, Margherita and Donald Benedict, crown the happiness of this union. Mr. Benedict Whitlock is, like his father, a stanch Republican. Both he and his wife are in the fold of Christian faith, being members of the Presbyterian church.

1 SAAC A. CLARK, an eminent teacher and mathematician of Livingston County, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1816. Ilis great-grandfather, an early settler of Pennsyl- vania, is thought to have been of English birth, and to have resided for a time in the north of Ireland before coming thence to America in Colonial times. He located on the banks of the Susquehanna, and there spent the rest of his days. He kept a ferry boat, and carried passengers and freight across the river. It is supposed that his son, William Clark, a soldier of the Revolutionary War and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born at Clark's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania. In 1805 he made a journey on horseback to New York State, where he bought a tract of land in what is

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now Geneseo, Livingston County, and return- ing for his family moved hither in 1806. He died in 1815, five years before his wife, who was Sarah Templeton, of Pennsylvania.

Robert Clark, son of William and Sarah, was born in Northumberland County, Penn- sylvania, and lived there till he was thirteen years of age, when he removed to Geneseo with his parents. A few years later he went back to Pennsylvania, where he married Re- becca Ringlar, of Berks County. After a prolonged absence he returned to New York State with his family, and settled on his father's homestead, where he lived till his death, at the age of seventy-three years, his wife dying at the age of seventy-two. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark had ten children, the eldest of whom was Isaac, the subject of this biography.

Isaac A. Clark was but two years old when he removed with his parents to Geneseo, so that he had no recollection of his birthplace. When they came to New York, this section of the country was sparsely settled, and deer and other game abounded in the forests. As there were no railroads or canals until a num- ber of years afterward, the people marketed their products at Charlotte; and a great part of the merchandise was brought from Albany on teams. Isaac attended the pioneer school, then kept in a log house, with furniture made of slabs, the seats having wooden pins for legs. Like most country lads at that time, he began when quite young to make him- self useful as a chore boy, doing light work on the farm; but at the age of twenty-two he engaged in teaching, for which he was better adapted. He taught one year in a dis- trict school and a year in a high school in Geneseo, afterward going to Pennsylvania, where he taught select schools for a year. He then travelled, and for a time made a spe- cialty of teaching mathematics. He was the author and publisher of two well-known text- books, the "Prussian Calendar " and "Clark's Mental Arithmetic."

In 1849 Mr. Clark married Sarah Durfee, of Palmyra, Wayne County, N. Y., and three children were the result of this union; namely, Oliver, Elizabeth, and Lucy D.

Clark. At the time of his marriage Mr. Clark bought land in Wayne County; and he was subsequently there engaged in farming for eighteen years, at the end of which period he returned to the old homestead in Geneseo, post-office Lakeville, his present residence, which has been in the family since 1806. Mr. Clark was always an apt pupil, from his youth caring more for study than other pur- suits. His life as a teacher was a pleasure to himself as well as a great benefit to the many with whom he came in contact ; and he is con- sidered a man of much intellectual ability.

ADOLPHUS GARDNER, familiarly known as "'Dolph Gardner " in Wyo- ming County, New York, and as "Old Honesty" at the Golden Gate, is one of the solid farmers of Attica on the Tonawanda Creek. He was born in this town on February 12, 1827. His father was Adolphus Gardner, born in Brimfield, Mass., in 1785. His grandfather, Major Josiah Gardner, who was on Washington's staff, was a pensioner of the Revolution. The Major's wife was Catherine Fenton; and they were the happy parents of four sons and two daugh- ters, the sons being Asher, Adolphus, Ros- well, and Parley. Asher and Adolphus were the first to migrate from Massachusetts to this town, coming about 1808, and being among the pioneers who settled on the Tonawanda, in the northern part of Attica. Like most of the carly comers they had very limited means, barely enough for subsistence. These two brothers in coming had but one saddled horse between them, and took turns in riding the animal, the one who rode leaving the horse tied when he dismounted and walking ahead till the other came up, the brother doing the same in turn.

They took up land, and made a clearing in the woods for their rude log house, and then went back for their families. Their settle- ment was on the farm now occupied by Parley Gardner, the son of Asher. Fodder being scarce for their stock, they were compelled to fell the young trees for the cow to browse upon ; but in so doing they had the ill luck

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to let a tree fall upon her, and so lost one very necessary source of table supply. Find- ing that their first crop of corn was being de- stroyed in some mysterious way, the brothers watched one night with a loaded musket, and succeeded in shooting a large bear, who proved to have been the marauder. This was consid- ered to be a famous exploit by the neighbors, and brought them honor, aside from a good supply of bear's meat and a fine rug for the floor. These simple rehearsals indicate the straits the early settler was sometimes put to and also the guard he was obliged to con- stantly exercise in so wild and unprotected a locality.

Adolphus Gardner married Miss Mehetebel Moulton. They brought up seven of their eight children, and five are still living, as follows: F. M. Gardner, now seventy-five years old, an able farmer of Alexander, Gen- esee County; Mary, widow of L. P. Harris, in Batavia; N. Adolphus; Cutler, a farmer three miles south of Attica; James F., a man of prominence and ability living near Denver, Col. The deceased are: Truxton, a little child of four years; Lovisa, wife of E. T. Maxon, who died at the home of her brother in 1877, aged sixty-two years, leaving four children; and Catherine, wife of H. G. Vin- cent, who died in Attica, in January, 1892, and whose daughter, Cora Vincent, is the wife of Joseph Burke. The four children of Lovisa are: Marion Maxon, living at Varysburg; Ella M., who has resided with her uncle since his return from California; George Maxon, whose home is in Michigan; and Hattie, the wife of F. Ramsey, who died in Nebraska.

N. Adolphus Gardner had a very good dis- trict-school education; for it was one of the first principles of the people of the newly formed towns to furnish educational facilities for their children in their immediate neigh- borhood, that they might be as well equipped as possible for future undertakings in life. After the school days were over, young Gard- ner became a boatman on the Erie Canal, and kept at this work for seven successive seasons. In January, 1854, he set out for California by way of the Isthmus, making a so-called quick trip of twenty-three days from New York.

He turned his attention to the gold mines, and taking his chance with others he kept at the work in the diggings for over two years and a half, meeting with a fair amount of suc- cess; but he finally left the locality, and be- came a stage-driver from Stockton to Sonora and Columbia, driving teams of four, five, and sometimes six horses. Mr. Gardner was in California about twenty years, accumulat- ing considerable property; and he still owns city lots in Stockton. In April, 1873, the longing for home and friends moving him to return to the scenes of his early life, he came back to Attica, and purchased about eighty acres of land, which is now a part of his well- cultivated farm of one hundred and forty acres. Ilis present attractive and comfortable home was built by him in 1874. He occupies his time in farming and general oversight, and has a dairy of sixteen cows.

In the summer of 1882 Mr. Gardner re- visited the scenes of his old-time stage-coach experiences in California, accompanied by his niece, making it a pleasure trip for them both, and taking in the Yosemite valley, the big trees of Calaveras, and the awe-inspiring passes and canyons of the Sierras. There were friends with warm welcomes to greet their arrival, and the old neighbors and townsmen furnished free transportation for their pleasure trips. He was still known by the title of "Honesty " or "Old Honesty," given him as a mark of appreciation in former days. Hav- ing returned to his farm, Mr. Gardner has settled down to his ordinary pursuits, his capable niece, Miss Maxon, presiding over his household, and serving by her presence to keep away dulness and any sense of bachelor solitude.

RVILLE N. RICHARDSON, the popular merchant and Postmaster of Groveland, Livingston County, N. Y., was born October 14, 1848, in Inde- pendence, Allegany County, where his grand- father, Jonathan Richardson, who had been a pioneer of Livonia, was among the first set- tlers. He purchased a farm, and resided there for some years, after which he sold his

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 77

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

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