Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 81

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 81
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 81

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James Rafferty attended the district school in his boyhood, and between school terms worked on his father's farm until he was twenty. He then served a three and a half years' apprenticeship in Scottsville, Monroe County, under a wagon-maker, receiving only thirty dollars the first year. In 1850 he went to Rahway, N.J., where he followed his trade for nearly three years, at the end of which time he came to Rochester, where he re- mained for ten or a dozen years. Titusville in Pennsylvania was at that time making won- derful strides in development; and James Rafferty and a friend, whose name was Sey- mour, decided to try their fortunes in the em- bryo metropolis. So, taking their earnings thither, they bought an old disused mill-shed there, and opened a wagon-shop, under the firm name of Rafferty & Seymour. Notwith- standing the evil prognostications of certain sceptical friends, the enterprise prospered be- yond the brightest anticipations of the young men themselves. They soon had established a good business at paying prices. Mr. Raf- ferty hired a team and driver, and had freight transported between Titusville and Pithole; and so successful was this enterprise that as much as forty dollars was sometimes earned

in one day in this way. In eight months the shop was sold at a clear profit of five thousand dollars. Returning to Java Mr. Rafferty im- mediately invested some of his earnings in a five-hundred-acre farm in Java, and put the remaining out at interest.

It was just after the purchase of this farm that he began his railroad career, commencing at first as a laborer on the Erie & Pittsburg Road, and gradually working his way up until his present position was attained. His first work was under the Casemans, who were after- ward connected with the Union Pacific route. A few years later he became a contractor and one of the firm of Craigie, Rafferty & Yeo- mans, who built the Narrow Gauge Road in Potter and Mckean Counties, Pennsylvania, the elevated road in Rochester, the double track in Erie County from Hornellsville to Buffalo, besides various lines in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The value of the public works built by these gentlemen would not be overestimated if counted in the millions. In 1881 they built the T. V. & C. line, now known as the B. A. & O .; and to Mr. Rafferty, who advanced most of the capi- tal for its construction, the honor of its origin is due.

The beautiful Lake Java, which is the source of Buffalo and Cattaraugus Creeks, is situated on one of Mr. Rafferty's three farms near Java. The reservoir is a half mile wide and three- quarters of a mile in length. It is owned by Mr. Rafferty and Mr. Daniel O. Day; and its value can scarcely be estimated when one reflects upon its future capacities as a fishery or ice and water supply of Warsaw or some neighboring town. Mr. Rafferty lives on one of his farms in East Java, where he dispenses the generous hospitality of his bachelor quarters to his friends. He is a famous hunter and angler, and may often be seen armed with gun or rod, footing it over hill and dale in quest of his favorite sport. He is in political faith a Democrat and in re- ligious belief a Roman Catholic. He has contributed to the erection of three of Java's churches, one of which is the largest of any rural town in the county, if not in the State. The modest home near Lake Java is very pop-

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DANIEL MCMILLAN.

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ular, although as yet no mistress has been in- stalled therein to enhance or perchance dispel the charm of masculine freedom.

EORGE HARRINGTON, a former esteemed resident of Wyoming County, resided in Gainesville, N. Y., from March 31, 1828, to 1885, in which year he removed to Warsaw, where he died November 1, 1888. His father, Eleazer Harrington, and his mother, Dimeras, daugh- ter of George King, were born in Smithfield, R.I., about 1770. George was the seventh of their eight children. He was born in Nor- wich, N.Y., September 14, 1806. His schooling was ended carly by the accidental death of his father; but he made the most of his opportunities, and acquired a considerable fund of knowledge by means of a quick per- ception, a keen intelligence, and a naturally strong memory. Ile was eminently a man of

common sense. Ile knew grammar without having learned its technical rules, and he used the vernacular with a precision and force which many learned men do not attain. He devoted himself to mechanical pursuits, and had a good general information and technical skill in his chosen calling. At the age of twenty-one he was a master mechanic, and for thirty years was a prominent builder. The summer he was twenty he spent in Provi- dence, R.I. ; and he also visited Albany and New York City, coming to the Genesee coun- try at the age of twenty-one. His first Presi- dential vote was cast for Jackson. He voted for Van Buren in 1840 and in 1848, for Fremont in 1856, and for the candidates of the Republican party afterward. His shrewd common sense and practical knowl- edge were appreciated by his fellow-towns- men; and he served as School Trustee for twelve years, the exceptional excellence of the schools during his occupancy of this position showing his zealous and intelligent work in their behalf.

He was first married at Gainesville, N. Y., to Lamira, daughter of the Hon. William Bris- tol. Lamira Bristol was born in Gainesville, June 27, 1815, and died September 14, 1849.

There were four sons of this marriage - Au- gustus, a lawyer at Warsaw; George Sherman, born July 21, 1837; Charles Herbert, born March 3, 1844, who resides in Chicago; and Francis Bristol, born December 21, 1845, who has resided in Nebraska since 1874. Francis B. was under eighteen at the outbreak of the Rebellion. Augustus was Captain in the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Volunteers. George S. was Sergeant in Com- pany A, One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Volunteers, afterward known as First New York Dragoons, and was wounded in the battle of Deserted House, Va. Charles HI., after two years' gallant service in the Fifth New York Cavalry, was commissioned Lieu- tenant by Governor Morgan.

Mr. Harrington's second marriage occurred June 17, 1851, to Sarah A. Johnson, who died December 4, 1884. The four children of this marriage are all deceased.

Mr. Harrington was a man of symmetrical character. His life was without stain, and he was upright and faithful in all the duties of citizenship. He was an early, carnest, and practical worker in the cause of temperance. Probably few men with opinions as pro- nounced and convictions equally decided cher- ished fewer animosities. He felt manly in- dignation at wrong, while he had a broad mantle of charity for the wrong-doer. He was a good citizen, a kind neighbor, a devoted parent, a man who did his duty as he saw it, in every walk of life.

ANIEL MCMILLAN, 1801-1895.

.. Like a river of water in a dry place. Like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

No other words could more fitly describe the life and character of Daniel McMillan in the community where he resided.

Scotland bred his father at a time when Covenanters and Puritans were made, men of iron consciences hammered out upon the anvil of adversity. The noble characteristics of a sterling ancestry were transmitted and indel ibly stamped upon the son. He was a man

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of deep religious conviction, an exacting con- science, stern probity, and indomitable will. No one could justly say of him that he ever countenanced or did an unjust act. He loved truth and disdained wrong. The stricken- hearted found in him a friend, and the needy a helping hand. His heart, when moved by sympathy, was as tender as a woman's; but, when duty called him, he was fearless. He had an eye and an iron nerve which few men could withstand whenever he was moved to action in any matter.

Large-hearted and fearless, he was foremost among the few men who first openly stood up against the field of opposition to the freedom of the slaves. He organized the antislavery movement in the Genesee valley in the face of an opposition that burned the buildings in which they met above his head. Smooth- shaven until Sumter was fired upon, he per- mitted no razor to touch his face until every slave was free; and ever after he wore his beard as the white badge of freedom.

His father, John McMillan, came from Perthshire, Scotland, during the latter part of the last century, and settled in the Mohawk valley at Johnstown. He had three sons - Duncan, Hugh, and Daniel; and, as the two eldest came to manhood, they chafed within the narrow limits of their first home, and longed for the freedom of a wider range. The fame of the valley of the Genesee had reached them; and in 1812 the family moved into their forest home, and settled at York, on the western slope of that most beautiful of all the fertile valleys of this or any other country. The first journey from Johnstown to this fron- tier home was made in eleven days. Ten years later the trip was made by carriage over the new State road in five days. The last visit made by Daniel to his birthplace was during his ninetieth year, when the run was made from Buffalo to Fonda, a distance of two hundred and fifty-four miles, by the "Empire Express " in five hours.

Daniel was the youngest son. He attended school at Caledonia, and at one time planned to take up the study of medicine; but in 1828 he married Margaret, daughter of Malcolm McNaughton, and settled on a portion of the

tract taken up by his father. In this same year he associated with others, and founded the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation of York, of which for more than sixty years he has been a Ruling Elder. He was active in the Presbyteries, and as late as his ninetieth year he was a delegate to the synods of the Re- formed church.

Born two years after the death of Washing- ton, he lacked less than seven years of span- ning the entire century. His first vote was cast for General Jackson in 1824, and he lived under every President save two. He knew Red Jacket, and sat with him and talked with him about the camp fires seventy years ago in the forests both east and west of the Genesee. He was fond of social companionship, and had marked conversational powers. A sincere lover of nature and of wide range in travel, he had put some of Europe and much of our own country under his feet.

Of his ten children seven lived to maturity ; but none survive him save his son, the Hon. Daniel H. McMillan, of Buffalo, and Mrs. John Ackroyd West, of Peoria, Ill. His sons, . the Hon. Malcolm M. McMillan and Duncan A. McMillan, died in Boonville, Mo., in 1880. John D. died in early manhood, in 1854. Anna F., wife of A. F. Mckean, of York, died in 1871; and Mary C., wife of the Hon. John B. Hamilton, of Rush, died in 1876.

Although his physical strength was depleted, his intellectual vigor continued with him to the end. His life was grand, his death was peaceful. God touched him as he sat at the table dining with his children and grandchil- dren, and the wing of death spread over him and he passed to rest.

As he sleeps in the quiet old churchyard at York, the beautiful words of his namesake and kinsman seem most appropriate :

" The wind, among the gravestones softly creeping. Breathes in low sighs the grief it fears to tell ; The clouds in sable garb bend o'er him weeping. Sent by the hand of Him he loved so well."

The portrait of this "grand old man," which appears on an adjoining page, is a fitting accompaniment to this brief memoir.

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R. ROBERT J. MENZIE is one of the best-known citizens of Living- ston County, not only on account of his old-established and very exten- sive medical practice, but also by reason of the interest he has shown in public affairs.

As his name indicates, Dr. Menzie is of Scotch descent, his grandfather, Robert Men- zie, coming to this country from "the land o' cakes" in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He had a long and stormy passage ; and many weeks elapsed before he, his wife, and his two children landed at New York City. They set forth from that place for Johnstown, N. Y., in a wagon; and some idea of the task the family had before them in pre- paring a home in this country may be gained from the fact that by far the most valuable of their earthly possessions at that time was an ox.

About ISHI the family removed to Riga; and Robert Menzie took up five hundred acres of land, so heavily wooded that he had to clear a site for the erection of the log cabin in which they began housekeeping. The dangers incidental to setting up housekeeping in a virgin country in those days are illus- trated by the fact that the family found it advisable to leave the cabin and stand at a safe distance from it on many occasions dur- ing the first period of clearing the land, for fear that the huge tree which was being felled would fall on the house and crush it.

In the progress of time the father of the family died, and was succeeded by his son John, the father of the subject of this sketch, who was born at Johnstown in 1803. He re- ceived his education at the district schools of Riga, and remained a farmer all his life, which was passed entirely on the homestead farm, with the exception of the few years which had passed between the time of his birth and the family's removal there.

He married Mary Anderson, the daughter of Peter Anderson, who was of Scotch de- scent; and they reared nine children, whose names were: Peter, Ann, Jeanette, Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, Christie, John, and Robert J.

He received the rudiments of his education at the district schools of Riga, entered upon the higher branches at the old Riga Academy, and then, after passing a few years on the farm, attended a medical school at Pittsfield, Mass., and later entered the Buffalo Univer- sity, from which he received a diploma in 1866. Dr. Menzie began the practice of his profession at Caledonia in the same year; and, as he has remained there ever since, he has nearly completed thirty years of active service in that town and vicinity in the hon- ored capacity of family physician. That he perceives the advantages gained by the com- munion of those engaged in the same profes- sion is indicated by the fact that he is a member of the American Medical Associa- tion, the New York State Medical Associa- tion, the Central New York Association, and the Livingston County Medical Society. He is interested in educational matters, and has been a School Trustee for fifteen years. Dr. Menzie is a man of fixed principles and firm opinions. He is an earnest believer in the Democratic party, cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and has voted the Democratic ticket ever since. He holds a high position in the esteem of the residents of Caledonia and vicinity as a physician, as an individual, and as a public-spirited citizen who is closely identified with the advance- ment of the best interests of the community, and who spares neither study nor personal effort in the furtherance of causes which have to do with the present or future welfare of the people.

Dr. Menzie became a benedict some nine years before he received the title of M.D., when in 1857 he was married to Anna, the daughter of John and Margaret McPherson. One child was born to them -- Robert A., who is engaged in a manufacturing business at Caledonia, and who married Jennie Car- ruthers, of Bergen. Mrs. Anna (McPherson) Menzie was removed by death; and Dr. Men- zie took for a second wife Catherine Cameron, daughter of Alexander and Lydia (McNaugh- ton) Cameron. They have had two children - Alexander E. and William D .; but Will-

Dr. Robert Menzie was born May 21, 1833. | iam died May 5, 1893, at the age of fourteen.

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UGUSTUS HARRINGTON was born at Gainesville, Genesee (now Wyo- ming) County, N. Y., August 14, 1835. The boy grew up accus- tomed to outdoor life, to the woods and fields. He could row, swim, skate, ride on horseback, walk long distances. Blue eyes, light hair, brawn, vigor, love of sport, indicated Anglo- Saxon blood. On his father's side his family may be traced to seventeenth century Eng- lishmen, "forgotten worthies," who followed Roger Williams to Rhode Island, and some of whose descendants in the last half of the eighteenth century settled in Chenango County, New York. His maternal ancestry is of English stock, transplanted, generations back, into Massachusetts and Connecticut soil, and removed to Columbia County, New York, before the Revolutionary War.

At ten years of age he went, barefooted, to a neighboring hamlet, to borrow a dog-eared "Arabian Nights." Then he found "Don Quixote " on the book-shelf of a country phy- sician. He also read Dick's "Philosophy of a Future State," and soon after "Ivanhoe." A volume of " American Military and Naval Biography " interested him; and before he was thirteen he was a juvenile collaborator in a drama founded on the exploits of Marion's men, written for a school exhibition.

At fifteen he attended Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y., pursued preparatory classical studies, and entered Genesee College in 1851. The following winter he taught a school of seventy pupils at Wiscoy, N. Y. Returning to Genesee College in the autumn of 1852, he remained four terms, and then entered Amherst College the second term, Sophomore year, where he received the degree of A.B., August 14, 1856, and A.M. some years later. He wrote his declamations Fresh- man year. His recitations at Amherst were creditable. He spent the long vacations in labors that bore fruit which the routine of lecture and recitation rooms could not de- velop. Amherst Collegiate Magasine, 1855- 56, shows his literary work on a wide range of subjects. The Sweetzer (rhetorical) prizes were offered to the Junior class for essays on subjects selected by the writers. The first

prize was awarded young Harrington for his essay on "The Philosophy and Character of Franklin." The following year George Mon- tague, of Montgomery, Ala., offered (meta- physical) prizes to the Senior class for essays on assigned subjects. Dr. Field, who had the chair of Rhetoric at Amherst, said Har- rington would take this prize if he wrote for it. The prediction was verified, and he again received the first prize for his essay on "The Imagination: Its Nature and Province, with its Influence on Life and Character." This essay appeared August, 1856, in the American Journal of Education and College Review, published in New York. A footnote by Dr. Peters, the editor, called attention to the "surpassing excellence and maturity of this youthful production." The second prize was awarded to William H. Ward, now editor of the New York Independent.

Mr. Harrington's industry and force of character gave him position in a class many of whose members are positive forces in soci- ety - leaders in pulpit, press, law, politics, and affairs. He was valedictorian of his societies, Psi Upsilon and Athena, and re- ceived the honors of an "oration" at com- mencement and an election to Phi Beta Kappa. Ilis oration on "Enthusiasm" at commencement received complimentary notice in the Springfield Republican by Dr. Holland. It was an impassioned plea for earnest men in literature, politics, and the church. This ap- peared November, 1856, in the Student, pub- lished in New York, as the selection of that magazine from the speeches of the time.

Senior year he occasionally accepted invita- tions to address literary societies in neighbor- ing towns. Returning from Amherst after graduation, young Harrington heard his own magazine article given as a declamation at the closing exercises of the academy at Nor- wich, N. Y. The unconscious tribute touched him, as he was encouraged in undergraduate days when his fugitive article appeared in a Boston literary weekly. Lowell wrote of an appreciative notice, "It makes one feel as though the daisies were growing over him."

In 1856 he was at the head of a scientific and classical academy at Millville, N. Y.,

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which he conducted successfully three terms. Here he wrote for various publications, con- tributing the leading article in the College Review for April, 1857, on " The Prospects of American Literature." In 1857 he resigned his position, and began the study of law at Warsaw, in the office of General L. W. Thayer. While pursuing his law study, he was for a time a regular contributor to the Wyoming County Mirror. He formed an edi- torial connection with the Western New Yorker in 1858. Whig at first, it had lapsed into Americanism. He became its editor the following May. Elbert E. Farman, late United States Consul-general at Cairo, and Mr. Harrington were joint proprietors. In assuming editorial charge he said: "Our aim is to make this, as a newspaper, as a literary journal, as a fearless and outspoken supporter of good morals and sound policy in public affairs, inferior to none. . .. We are thor- oughly Republican. The success of the cause in 1860 is dear to us, and we shall labor to secure a Republican triumph in the ensuing struggle."

Introducing its twentieth volume, he said : " We have striven to be faithful to the obli- gations which lie upon every journalist, to work as the faithful ally of healthy public sentiment and the conscientious advocate of the public interest. We scorn to prostitute our position to the ministry of a 'party, right or wrong'; and we hope we shall never so far forget ourselves as to follow the lure of politi- cal tricksters, where obligations to you and proper respect for ourselves would confront us. . . . We shall endeavor to make the New Yorker a complete family newspaper, . . . a judicious digest of the occurrences of the day, and a frank, fearless, and independent journal."

Mr. Harrington wrote much in every de- partment. Current events, literature, poli- tics, all received attention. The demands of party journalism were not neglected. Ear- nest and timely political articles appeared. Local interests were carefully written up. Literary and book notices were prepared. The social interests had a place; and a corps of local correspondents was organized, then an unusual feature of country journalism.

Mr. Harrington came into the Republican party with the sympathies of a Free Soil Democrat. His first Presidential vote was cast for Lincoln electors. The New Yorker gave no uncertain sound in the political strife which culminated in the Rebellion. In its first issue after the State convention of 1860 he says : -

"The ticket presented to the electors of New York deserves the best service of every Republican. .. . A hostile party is ringing changes on the 'jobbing, robbery, and corrup- tion of the Republican legislation of the State.' That party could have defeated every corrupt measure in both houses; so its rebuke of legislative corruption is wretched charla- tanry. But the Republican party was in power. Judas and Esau were both in our camp. If we indorse the legislation of last winter as a party, we are responsible for the abomination. Shall the party thus debase it- self? . . . If a man can show a clean record, all honor to him; but the sentence of politi- cal death should be pronounced against every man who sold himself at Albany. If nomi- nating conventions disregard this, we do not say the Republican party will be defeated, but we do say its triumph would no longer be desirable." The convention did not disregard this warning.

A public demand in an emergency called Mr. Harrington to this work. When the opportunity came, he gladly left it, after three years' service, and resumed his law stud- ies. William Henry Merrill, now editor of the New York World, followed him as editor of the Western New Yorker till 1875. When Mr. Harrington retired from this newspaper in 1861, its prospects had never been better. Its circulation had quadrupled, and it had become the leading Republican journal of its section of the State. Warsaw has grown nearly threefold, and the paper has been published more than half a century with- out going beyond the circulation or influence it then had.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 81

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

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