Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 87

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 87
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 87

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Moses Osgood married Hannah Sargent, whose birth occurred on the day following that of her husband. They were married about the year 1807, and moved to Lewis County, New York, in 1820, when Virling was twelve years old. There they resided for six years, mov- ing from the latter county to Alden, in Eric

County, and in 1831 settled in Bennington, Wyoming County. He was a man of slender means, and met with severe losses, but was very industrious. He reared ten of eleven children, one child having died in infancy. Six sons and four daughters grew to maturity, married, had children, and have all passed away except the subject of this sketch. Moses Osgood died at Lorain, Ohio, in 1854, aged seventy-five years ; and his widow died there in 1868, aged eighty-nine.

Virling Osgood was the fourth son and the fifth child of his parents, and received a lim- ited common-school education. He became familiar with the duties of farm life in his youth, and in early manhood owned a farm of forty acres near Bennington. In 1835 he moved to Chautauqua, where he rented a farm for two years, working meanwhile for Dr. Henry Wilcox, at a salary of three hundred and sixty-five dollars per year, as general superintendent of his large farm. While there Mr. Osgood purchased a farm of fifty acres, situated directly opposite his present home, which he sold about ten years since, at that time buying the farm upon which he now resides. This comprises fifty acres, and at the time of purchase was valued at eight hundred dollars. Under Mr. Osgood's man- agement the estate has been greatly increased in value, and he has been offered twenty-eight hundred dollars for the same piece of property. Some years ago Mr. Osgood injured his hip by a fall, and since then he has been obliged to use crutches. This misfortune and the added infirmity of increasing years debar him from active pursuits; but he has not lost his inter- est in public affairs. He votes the Republi- can ticket, and has been Highway Commis- sioner for a year; and he still retains his con- nection with the Baptist church.

On September 12, 1830, he married Lucinda Adams, who was about his own age; and they lived together as husband and wife fifty-eight years, she dying in 1890, January 21. Their only son, who was born in 1837, died at the age of seven months. He was a very pre- cocious child, and was a great loss to his par- ents, who subsequently adopted Virling D. Osgood, the son of Mrs. Osgood's sister, who

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was born in 1840. Virling D. Osgood was a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting from Ben- nington in Company HI, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Infantry. He served as a musician three years, at one time nar- rowly escaping death at the hands of a captain in the navy, who threw a knife at him, inflict- ing an ugly wound upon his forehead, the scar of which is plainly visible to this day. Vir- ling D. Osgood is a Democrat in politics, has been Highway Commissioner one year, and is now serving as Justice of the Peace. He is large of stature, and has the appearance of a typical soldier.

On January 10, 1867, Virling D. Osgood was married to Julia Ann Whitney, daughter of Zelotus and Cornelia (Johnson) Whitney, the former from Massachusetts, and the latter from New Hampshire. Mrs. Virling Osgood was born in Morley, St. Lawrence County, September 26, 1849. She had four children, namely: Orange D., who was married May 10, 1893, to Miss Emma G. Griswold, and re- sides with his parents; Millie L., wife of Charles Meisner, a farmer in the vicinity of Bennington; Elmo B., a youth of sixteen, residing with his parents; and Edith, a daugh- ter of nine years, now attending school at Alden.

ILSON WOODRUFF HAMILTON, an industrious farmer of Livonia, Livingston County, N. Y., was born there March 8, 1821, the year in which Spain ceded Florida to the United States. His father, George Hamilton, was born in the north of Ireland, but came to America at an carly period, settling first in Pennsylvania, and afterward in Livingston County, New York, where he took up a hundred and six acres of wild land in a place remote from any town or large settlement, so that at first he was obliged to draw grain and all other farm produce to Rochester. Building a log house, he spent all the rest of his days there, wearing homespun clothing, his peaceful life uninterrupted by embarrassing conventionalities or hollow shams. His wife was Sarah Geddes; and they reared several children - William, Joseph,

Samuel, George, Paul, John, James, Wilson, Margaret, Mary, and Betsy Hamilton. Wil- son, our subject, is the only surviving member of this large and flourishing family. Mr. George Hamilton died in 1828, the year when the new Whig tariff, imposing duties on im- ports, was enacted.

Wilson Woodruff Hamilton was educated in the district school of Livonia, and remained at home until he was sixteen years of age. In 1837, the year of the great "panic," he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and in 1839 joined his fortunes in matrimony with Miss Sarah Decker. In 1840, while Martin Van Buren served as President, Mr. Hamilton moved to the farm he now occupies, and in 1852 the Erie Railroad cut through the old homestead. Although the march of civiliza- tion has spoiled the primitive beauty of the estate, it greatly enhanced the financial value of the land; and Mr. Hamilton is by no means a poor man. Always taking a lively interest in the welfare of his country, Mr. Hamilton has been a Republican since the formation of the party, being a Whig previous to that time. He cast his first Presidential vote in 1844 for Henry Clay; and, though his candidate was defeated, he had the pleasure of voting for the next President of the United States, General Zachary Taylor, a man who knew not what defeat meant.

Mrs. Hamilton is the daughter of Henry and Martha Decker, of Livonia, and is a member of an old family in the town of Lima. Mrs. Decker's parents had four children as follows : Myron H. ; John C., deceased; Wallace T. ; and Martha E., mother-in-law of our subject.

Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have four children - Martha May, Myron H., Hazel I., and Frederick Woodruff Hamilton. Martha Ham- ilton married C. H. Armstead, of Avon, but has no children. Myron H. Hamilton married Emma Aldrich; and they had a family, of which one child, John B., survives.

We cannot doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Hamil- ton were fitly mated, as they have lived to- gether fifty years, celebrating their golden wedding with appropriate ceremonies Decem- ber 31, 1889. As has been said by Madame

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de Staël : "However old a conjugal union, it still garners some sweetness. Winter has some cloudless days, and under the snow a few flowers still bloom.'

m RS. EDNA S. HATHAWAY, an artist and teacher of painting in the town of Silver Springs, Wy- oming County, N. Y., was born in Sidney, Delaware County. Her father's name was Dellan Lee Beckwith. He was a black- smith, and was a native of Windsor, Broome County, where he lived as a young man and learned his trade. After marriage he moved to Sidney, and began business there for him- self, and continued to make it his home for many years. Later he went to Cochecton, Sullivan County, with his daughter, Mrs. Hathaway, and her husband. Mr. Beckwith lived to be ninety-three years old, and was blind in the latter part of his life; but this great trial was made easier to bear by the constant care of his daughter and Mr. Hatha- way. He became a member of the Methodist church at the age of eighteen, and retained his connection with it during his life. Mr. Beck- with's wife was Miss Sally Ann Bebce, a native of Windsor. She was also a member of the Methodist church, and died at the age of fifty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith were the parents of eight children, four of whom are still living --- Daniel R. ; Jane, the wife of Myron Hathaway, of Sidney; Sarah, who has been twice married, her first husband being Samuel Hathaway (deceased), and her second husband Milor Phelps, also of Sidney ; and Edna S., wife of William B. Hathaway. In this family three sisters married three Hathaway brothers.

Mrs. Hathaway spent her life at home until her marriage, which took place July 8, 1860. Her husband at that time was a clerk in a store in Sidney. Later he was employed by a railroad company as telegraph operator, and afterward was station agent at Cochecton, on the Erie Railroad, where he remained eigh- teen years. At the end of that time he went to Faribault, Minn., and was there two years and a half as proprietor of the Arlington House.

His death occurred there in 1888, when he was forty-nine years old. Mr. Hathaway was a member of the Knights of Honor, and of sev- eral other organizations. In politics he was a firm supporter of the Republican ticket.

Mrs. Hathaway came to Silver Springs after the death of her husband; and she and her son built the pleasant home in that village which they now occupy. She received her art educa- tion at the well-known Silver Lake Art School; and, after completing the course of instruction in drawing and in painting in oils and water-colors, she received her diploma. She has a wide reputation throughout this sec- tion of the country for her skilful and pleasing work. The country, with its varied hills and valleys, furnishes all that an artist could de- sire in the way of scenery; and Mrs. Hatha- way inspires her pupils to a fine appreciation of the beautiful in nature. Mrs. Hathaway is an active member of the Methodist church.

Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway were blessed with one child, a son, Harry D., at the present time an active, enterprising young business man. He was educated at the Granville Mili- tary School, and, on leaving there, took the position of telegraph operator at New Bruns- wick, on the New Jersey Central Railroad. After working there six months, he took his father's former position at Cochecton, Sullivan County; and later he went West, remaining six months. On his return he located at Lockport as telegraph operator, and afterward came to Silver Springs as agent, acting in that capacity for some time. He subsequently went into the wholesale cigar manufacturing business, selling on the railroad for about three years. At the end of that time he trans- ferred his interest to the Buffalo Scale Com- pany, and has remained with them up to the present time. Harry Hathaway married Miss Susan O'Reiley, of Cochecton, a daughter of Thomas O'Reiley.

A URORA D. NEWTON, a well-known and influential citizen of York, Liv- ingston County, N. Y., son of a pioneer settler, was born in this town sixty-seven years ago, on March 12,

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1828. His father, Dudley Newton, belonged to the New England family of Newtons, being a native of Colchester, Conn., and of English ancestry. When about twenty years of age, he left the scenes of his childhood and youth, and with a stout heart and hands inured to labor set forth to seek a new home in the dis- tant wilds of Western New York. He first settled, about the year 1800, in the town of Avon, then called Hartford, in what is now Livingston County, but was then a part of Ontario County. A little later he took up a tract of land now included in the town of York, Livingston County. He built a sub- stantial log house, and, engaging in farming in this fertile and productive region, here spent the remainder of his long, industrious, and useful life. He married Miss Hannah Deitz, a native of Hagerstown, Md., and of German descent. They became parents of eight children, the youngest of whom was Au- rora D., the subject of this brief narrative. The others were Daniel B., Jeremiah, Cor- delia, Orrille H., Alonzo, Newell, and Susan Amanda. The father died in 1862, aged eighty-two years. The mother died the same year, aged seventy-five years.

Aurora D. Newton grew up with his brothers and sisters on the homestead, and, attending District School No. 10 in York, obtained an education sufficient for practical, every-day purposes. When but a little lad, he began to do his part in the lighter labors of husbandry, and naturally was led to adopt this calling for a livelihood. His years have all been spent in the place where he was born, and for which he has a strong attachment. The farm has an area of one hundred and fifty acres, and is thoroughly cultivated. In the early half of the century it yielded abundant crops of wheat of excellent quality; but in later years it has been devoted to a greater variety of products, including large fields of beans. This portion of the yearly harvest, it is to be trusted, eventually finds its way to Boston markets.

In 1851 Mr. Newton was married to Miss Elizabeth Fraser, daughter of Donald G. and Margaret (Ferguson) Fraser, and a descendant of one of the intelligent and thrifty Scotch

families who were among the carly settlers in the north part of the town. Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser Newton died in 1853, leaving a son, Walton A., now a resident of Lansing, Mich. On March 17, 1864, Mr. Newton married for his second wife Miss Henrietta Clark, of Caledonia, by whom he has one daughter, Stella HI. Newton. The mother died Septem- ber 22, 1868. Her parents were Charles and Amanda Clark. The people of York have evinced their regard for Mr. Newton and their confidence in his ability, integrity, and public spirit by electing him from time to time to various town offices, notably those of As- sessor, Highway Commissioner, and Super- visor, which last he held for seven consecutive years, two years of which he ably served the board as its chairman. His first Presidential vote was cast for General Winfield Scott in 1852, but he has been a Republican since the formation of that party. Rev. William Ar- thur, father of the late President Arthur, was at one time settled as pastor of the Baptist church at York, and was an intimate friend of the Newton family.

Mr. Newton has long been a leading mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fowlerville, which he has liberally helped to support. In it he has held all the offices as a layman, and he has been a delegate a num- ber of times to the Lay Electoral Conventions of the Genesee Conference. Both of his wives were also faithful and esteemed mem- bers of this church. Such a life as is here briefly portrayed may well call to mind the poets' lines : - 1.00 010

" If man aspires to reach the Mount of God, O'er the dull plains of earth must lie the road. He who best does his lowly duty here Shall soar the farthest in that loftier sphere."

LIJAH YOUNGS, a retired merchant of Geneseo, Livingston County, N. Y., ex- Sheriff and sometime farmer, was born at West Sparta, in this county, October 27, 1825. His father, Elijah Youngs, Sr., a native of Connecticut, after marriage removed about the year 1815 to Cayuga County, New York, and there resided until 1818, when he

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again moved to that part of Ontario County now included in Livingston, purchasing a tract of timbered land in the town of West Sparta, which he proceeded to clear for cultivation. In the log house that he built on his farm, and in which his children were born, Elijah Youngs, Sr., continued to live until his death, which occurred in 1832. The maiden name of his wife was Martha Palmer. Her parents, James and Pamelia Palmer, were pio- neers of Cayuga County, having moved there from Connecticut. Mrs. Martha Youngs died at the home of her son George W. Youngs, in Liberty, Jackson County, Mich., in 1860. She had reared three sons - Elijah, William Morgan, and George W. The latter now re- sides in Jackson, Mich., and William M. in Jones County. The first-born, Elijah, named for his father, pursued his studies in the dis- trict school at Union Corners, in West Sparta, until 1836, when he went to Grass Lake, Mich., where he continued to attend school. Means of travel in those early days were, of course, exceedingly primitive ; and his journey to the West was necessarily tedious. A team was the conveyance to Buffalo; thence he went by way of the Lakes to Detroit, and again by team to his destination. At this time nearly the entire State of Michigan was an unbroken wilderness, the land being owned by the gov- ernment. Deer were abundant, and wolves and other wild animals roamed at will through the virgin forests. After residing in Grass Lake for three years, young Elijah, aged four- teen, returned to Union Corners, and learned the shoe trade. In 1848 he moved to Tusca- rora, and engaged in the manufacture and sale of shoes, continuing in this enterprise until 1866, when he decided to try farming, and for that purpose settled upon a place situated two miles south-west of Tuscarora. After chang- ing farms two or three times, his last venture as a farmer being at Nunda, in 1874 he was elected Sheriff and removed to Geneseo. Here in 1877 he built a block, and embarked in the hardware business, which he continued to carry on until 1889, when he sold the busi- ness to his sons, and he went into retirement. In 1882 Mr. Youngs erected a summer cottage on the west side of Conesus Lake, one mile

south of Long Point. This was the first sum- mer residence erected upon the shore of the lake, and at present there are from one hun- dred to one hundred and fifty cottages already completed.

In 1848 Mr. Youngs married Miss Jane Suydam, daughter of Daniel P. and Cynthia Suydam of Mount Morris, she being twenty- one years of age at the time of her marriage. Their five children are as follows: Charles A., Clarence, Ella Jane, E. Fred, and Frank E. Mr. Youngs cast his first Presidential vote for General Taylor, and has been a Re- publican in politics ever since the party was formed. He was State Superintendent of Canals four years, and was appointed commis- sioner of recruits for the army in 1864. He was elected Sheriff in 1874, and also Super- visor of Nunda. He is a member of Mount Morris Lodge, No. 122, A. F. & A. M., and of Mount Morris Chapter, R. A. M., and is also a life member of Livingston County A. S. Society. Both himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Youngs, besides being a successful manufacturer, merchant, and farmer, and fill- ing with signal ability many positions of pub- lic trust, has also shown himself a competent and trustworthy auctioneer, finding time amid his many other duties to transact a great deal of business, and effect many important sales. He is a man of marked intelligence, both in business and other directions; and his faithful adherence to honest principles has given him a high place in the esteem of his fellow-citi- zens of Livingston County. His portrait, which graces this collection of Livingston and Wyoming County worthies, is an unmistakable likeness of the original, and will be highly appreciated by many who know him.

FRED YOUNGS, one of the most suc- cessful and progressive young business men of Geneseo, and President of the village, was born at Mount Morris, Livingston County, N. Y., February 9, 1857. He is the son of Elijah and Jane (Suydam) Youngs, an extended sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Youngs commenced his edu-

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cation at the public schools, and afterward attended the Nunda Academy. At the age of eighteen he entered his brother's hardware store as a clerk, and continued there until 1881, when he engaged in the shoe business, which he has successfully conducted up to the present time. In addition to this, he is agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company, and also does a general insurance business.

Mr. Youngs possesses many sterling traits of character, and is noted for his intelligent understanding of public affairs and his lively interest in all important matters pertaining to the welfare of the community in which he lives. He is never slow to appreciate efforts to increase the advantages and enhance the at- tractiveness of Geneseo, and his progressive ideas have placed him in a prominent position among its citizens. He was one of the most earnest promoters of the scheme to introduce electricity as a means of lighting the village, and was elected its President solely upon that issue, being nominated by the Republicans, of which party he is a stanch adherent, and in- dorsed by the Democrats. Mr. Youngs is a member of Geneseo Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M., being Senior Warden. He is also a member of the Wadsworth Hose Company, and has been Chief Engineer of the fire de- partment.

In 1881 Mr. Youngs married Miss Martha A. Doty, of Geneseo, daughter of Colonel L. L. Doty, of whom a sketch is elsewhere given in this work. They have three children -- Sara E., Lockwood F., and E. Bruce Youngs. Mr. and Mrs. E. Fred Youngs are communicants of the Episcopal church. Such, in brief, is the career, thus far, of one of the brightest and most promising young business men of Living- ston County. He has started well, being as yet on the sunny side of forty; and it is safe to say that his influence in counsel and in action will more and more be felt as the years go on.

ARREN G. AUSTIN, Postmaster at Cowlesville, in the town of Ben- nington, Wyoming County, is a promising young man, of good business abil-

ity, popular among his associates, and occupy- ing a good social position in the community. He is a native citizen, his birth having occurred the first day of March, 1871.

The Austin family was among the earliest settlers of this part of Wyoming County, and numerically is still one of the strongest. John P. Austin, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Massa- chusetts in the early part of the present cen- tury, and migrated to Wyoming County, New York, when a young man, attracted hither by In the cheapness of the unimproved lands. 1826 he married Nancy Pearce, who was born in Genesee County in 1806; and they became the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to adult life. Ten of these children are yet living, the youngest being fifty-two years old, and the eldest sixty-six years.

James R. S. Austin, one of the sons of John P. and Nancy (Pearce) Austin, was born Au- gust 12, 1839, in the town of Bennington, and was here reared to maturity. He was a man of much enterprise and energy, and, as land- lord of the village hotel for a period of four- teen years, won a large circle of friends. Two years he was proprietor and manager of a hotel in Depew. He married Helen E. Pettingill, a native of this town, being the daughter of Frederic and Melinda (Cole) Pettingill; and of their union three children have been born, as follows : Warren G., whose name opens the present sketch; Carrie, the wife of Frank Castle; and Barnett, who lives at home, and is a clerk in the store.

Warren G. Austin was but twenty-one years of age when he received his appointment as Postmaster in 1893; and since that time he has attended to the duties of his position with fidelity and promptness, and to the entire sat- isfaction of all concerned. Besides loyally serving Uncle Sam as a dexterous distributor and expeditious forwarder of mail matter, Mr. Austin is also engaged in business on his own account, being the proprietor and active man- ager of a store of general merchandise and a meat market at Cowlesville, and unques- tionably a diligent, energetic, and useful citizen.

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HARLES F. WILLIAMS, proprietor of the Opera House Block, Attica, is intimately connected with the man- ufacturing interests of Wyoming County, and is one of the leading men in his line of business. He is a native of New York State, and was born August 28, 1853, in

Batavia. His grandfather, John Williams, was born in Vermont, and with his parents removed from that State to Genesee County, being one of the earliest settlers in the town of Alexander. He assisted in cutting the road through the woods, and after their settlement aided in clearing and improving a farm. He subsequently became a Captain in the State militia, and was familiarly known as Captain Williams.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 87

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

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