Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 88

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 88
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 88

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Captain Williams's son, Erastus C. Will- iams, was born in Alexander, and there reared and educated. In 1850 he was joined in mar- riage to Rebecca Frazer, also a native of Alex- ander, and the daughter of a pioneer settler from the Green Mountain State. Soon after his marriage he abandoned farming, and, open- ing a livery stable in Batavia, remained there two years. He subsequently established him- self in the same business in Attica, continuing thus employed until the time of his death, in August, 1880. He also managed the West- ern Hotel for some three years, and was quite popular as a host. His widow survived him several years, passing away March 9, 1894, at the age of sixty-six years. They were the par- ents of two children - Charles F. and John C. The latter, who is the proprietor of the Edwards House of . Attica, married Alice Blakeley ; and they have one child.

Charles F. Williams received a good com- mon-school education, and began when young to make himself useful in the livery stable, and ably assisted his father in carrying on the business. In 1882 Mr. Williams established his present manufacturing business, beginning on a small scale to bottle and manufacture ginger ale and other soft drinks; and this he has gradually enlarged until now he ranks with the foremost manufacturers of the county. In 1881 he erected the fine Opera House Block, which in its architecture is a credit to his taste and an ornament to the town. It is built

of red brick, the front being of pressed brick ; and the block is one hundred and ten feet by sixty-three feet, and sixty feet in height. The auditorium, which will comfortably seat seven hundred people, is seventy-five feet by fifty- three feet, with ceilings twenty-five feet high. On the lower floor are three stores, and the office and bottling works of Mr. Williams are in the rear. This capacious and substantial block was built at a cost of thirty-three thou- sand dollars, and is one of the handsomest and most conspicuous buildings in the place.

On October 17, 1879, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Madi- son. An extended sketch of the Madison fam- ily, of which she is a member, will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Williams is a keen, far-sighted man of business, well known for his integrity and ability, and per- forms to the utmost his obligations as a man and a citizen. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the fire department, and Treasurer of that company.

RS. CAROLINE ROYCE BEEBE was born in the town of Leicester, Livingston County, N. Y., Feb- ruary 28, 1821, daughter of Sam- uel Royce. Samuel Royce was born in the town of Lyme, Conn., and with his bride, Betsy Reed, of that State, came to Western New York, making the journey in wagons through what was then a vast wilderness. He bought a tract of eighty acres of land, erected the log cabin in which Mrs. Beebe was born; and a few years later, as a good opportunity for trade occurred, he exchanged this farm for another in the same locality, upon which he resided until his death, when sixty-two years of age. He and his wife reared a family of ten children, six of whom are now living. Mrs. Betsy Royce lived to be seventy-six years of age.

Caroline Royce received her education in the town of Leicester, in her girlhood assist- ing in the work of the household, which in those days was indeed arduous, as all the clothing of the family and even the material

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thereof was home-made. All the daughters were taught to spin and weave by their mother. There were then no railroads or canals; and the farmers were obliged to team their grain to the Genesee River, and from there it was sent in flatboats to Rochester.

Miss Royce resided with her parents until she was twenty years old, when she was mar- ried to James Beebe. He was born in Leices- ter, August 1, 1816, and was the son of Russell and Orilla (Bell) Beebe, who were among the early pioncers of this town. James Beebe engaged in farming throughout his life, and for a few years after his marriage resided on his father's farm, but finally bought the place upon which Mrs. Beebe now resides. Mr. Beebe possessed exceptionally good judgment, and showed great ability in all his undertakings, owning at his death a fine farm of two hundred acres, located about. one mile from the Genesee River, from which an extensive view may be had. Mrs. Beebe has three children - Emily, who married Charles Beckmits, and is the mother of two children - Edward and Milly; Sarah, who married Augustus Burt, and has three children - Monte, Lula, and Julia; and Ruth.

OHN D. HILLMAN was born in Low- ville, Lewis County, N. Y., November 16, 1816. He has long resided in Avon, and is a representative citizen who is generally known and highly respected. His father, David Hillman, was born on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts; and his grandfather was also a native of Eastern Massachusetts, he having been a New Bedford man by birth.

The grandfather's name was Benjamin ; and, as he came from old New England stock, and was born in New Bedford during the period when many vessels were sent out from that port, it is hardly necessary to say that he followed the sea. He began before the mast, worked his way up to a master's berth, and for years was in command of a whaling-vessel hailing from New Bedford. But he did not wish to have his sons go to sea, for he knew by experience that there was a good deal of

hard work and danger and very little romance or profit in a seafaring life; but he also knew that his sons would take to the sea as naturally as a duck takes to the water if he remained in New Bedford, so he and his family migrated to Lewis County, New York, in wagons, and he passed the rest of his life there.

David Hillman was educated in Massachu- setts, removed with his parents to New York, and bought a farm near the homestead farm in Lewis County. The land was in a wild state; and after he had cleared it he sold it, and bought another farm. He married Lucinda Cole, daughter of Bethuel Cole, of Lewis County ; and they reared eleven children -- Mary, Aaron, David, Mary A., Lucinda, Emily, John D., Silas, Charles, Hannah, and James. There are now but two survivors of that large family, the subject of our sketch, John D., and Hannah. David died in Michi- gan; and the remainder of those who have been removed by death, in Avon. Silas and Han- nah never were married; and she still resides on the old homestead farm, to which the fam- ily removed from Lewis County in February, 1833. It is located a mile on the road to East Avon, and is an excellent farm of two hundred and twenty acres with good buildings. It was the home of the father and mother until the end of their days; and their days were far beyond the "threescore years and ten " mentioned in the Scriptures, for ninety- two years had passed over the heads of each of them before they were called to their final rest.

John D., seventh child of David and Lu- cinda Hillman, as named above, received his early education in the Lewis County schools, and completed it with a course at the Avon schools and one year at the academy. He has always been a farmer; and before the death of his father he bought a farm near the home- stead, and worked it for some thirty-five years. He also owned a farm near Conesus. In 1884 he bought the place where he now re- sides, in the village of Avon.

Hle was married in 1839 to Louisa, the daughter of James and Nancy Austin. Their only child, James D., died in 1886, at the age of forty-four.

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As a hard-working farmer who has had his own way to make in the world, and has always preferred to do what he wanted done himself instead of depending upon somebody else to do it, the subject of this sketch has not had time to hold public office to any extent, even were he so disposed. But, as a matter of fact, it is doubtful if he would have accepted many public offices even if he had much more time at his disposal; for, although he has his full share of public spirit, and takes keen interest in questions of public policy, still he prefers to have the administration of govern- ment performed by other hands. Not a resi- dent of Avon has a higher reputation as a conscientious, fair-minded citizen, or has done more in a private capacity to promote. the best interests of the town. John D. Hill- man has been a Republican from the organ- ization of that party. He cast his first Presidential vote in 1840 for William Henry Harrison, and has voted the Whig or Repub- lican ticket ever since.

HARLES H. ROWE, an energetic young lawyer and rising politician of Dansville, N.Y., where he is Justice of the Peace, was born in Springwater, May 17, 1856. Both his father, George, and his grandfather, Erhard, were natives of Pennsylvania, from which State the latter after marriage moved to Dansville, where he kept a hotel for some little time. He then purchased a farm in the town of Sparta, where he followed agricultural pur- suits with much success, becoming an exten- sive real estate owner.

Erhard Rowe was the father of seventeen children, twelve sons and five daughters, George being the sixth son. He was reared to a farmer's life, and resided with his par- ents until reaching his majority, when he learned the trade of a carpenter, and worked at that for some time. He later purchased a farm in Springwater, which he successfully conducted for many years. In 1869 he retired from active labor, and removed to Dansville, purchasing a residence in this village, in which he still resides. He and his wife, a

native of Pennsylvania, whose maiden name was Sarah Johns, have reared a family of chil- dren, four of whom are now deceased. The four still living are: Lile; Emma; Frank E., a druggist in Rochester; and Charles. One son, Orville, who was a graduate of the Mich- igan university, died while practising medi- cine in Tuscarora, at the age of twenty-eight years. Emma married James Kingsley. The parents are members of the Methodist church.

Charles passed his early life in Spring- water, obtaining his elementary education in the schools of that place, and between terms assisting his father on the home farm. Later he pursued his more advanced studies at the Dansville Seminary and at Cook Acad- emy in this State, where he took a year's course. He then studied law with the late Judge Vanderlip, of Dansville, and afterward with Messrs. Noyes and Hedges, who are also now deceased. In 1879 Mr. Rowe was admitted to the bar at Utica, and immediately began the practice of his profession in Dans- ville, where he has attained an enviable repu- tation as a careful and reliable attorney. His many attainments making him a possible candidate for various positions of public trust, he rapidly sprang into popularity. He has been three times elected a Justice of the Peace, in which capacity he is still serving, and was elected a Trustee of the village, but failed to qualify on account of being ap- pointed Postmaster on May 7, 1890. In this office he remained until July 31, 1894. Ile has filled all the offices in the fire depart- ment, and is still an active member of the Protective Company, which he joined in 1876. In 1883 he married Miss Adina Krein, daugh- ter of James Krein, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work; and they have one child, Marguerite. Mrs. Rowe is a communicant of St. Peter's Church, which Mr. Rowe also attends; and she is socially a great favorite.

Mr. Rowe is a Director of the Merchants' and Farmers' National Bank of Dansville, and is the bank's attorney, being also at- torney for the Dansville Loan Association, which he assisted in organizing. Although a Republican, Mr. Rowe was elected a Jus-

CHARLES H. ROWE.

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tice of the Peace, running six hundred and sixty-two votes ahead of his ticket, while the Democratic Supervisor received only three hundred and fifty-eight majority. At his second election for Justice, he ran two hun- dred and thirty-four ahead of his ticket, against Fred W. Noyes, a popular Democrat and attorney of the town. In the third election, in opposition to Frederick D. Knowlton, he ran about the same number of votes ahead of his ticket. Mr. Rowe is now counsel to the corporation of Dansville. Dansville being a Democratic town, this is a flattering display of the confidence in which he is held by his fellow-citizens. The op- posing candidate in 1890 for the office of post- master was the Hon. J. B. Morey, a very pop- ular man in the town; but the friends and po- litical associates of Mr. Rowe stood by him, working in his behalf, and secured for him the appointment. He has been a delegate to the State Convention several times, and his political reputation extends beyond his own locality. Aside from his legal and political at- tainments, Mr. Rowe possesses agreeable social qualities, which make him a favorite among a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

OLONEL ABRAM B. LAWRENCE, who was born in Warsaw, N. Y., May 18, 1834, is a descendant of an old and noble English ancestry. The name, which is derived from the Latin Lau- rentius, and signifies "a flourishing green bay- tree," seems to have been first borne by Saint Laurence, chief deacon to Sextus, Bishop of Rome. The family, now so numerous in the United States, is traced to an ancestor, Rob- ert Lawrence, of Lancashire, England, born in 1150, an attendant of King Richard Cœur de Lion on his crusade to the Holy Land, and knighted by that sovereign as "Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ashton Hall." The American branch of the Lawrence family has for eight generations been distinguished in business, professional, and public life at home, and in the United States diplomatic service at for- eign courts.

The grandparents of Colonel Lawrence,

Nathaniel and Sarah (Stephens) Lawrence, reared two sons and one daughter - Albert, Lyman, and Phebe. Lyman died in Canaan, Conn., without male issue. Mrs. Nathaniel Lawrence was a native of Canaan, where her husband farmed, and where he died at sixty- eight years of age and she at the age of sixty- six. Albert Lawrence, the father of Colonel Lawrence, was married on September 28, 1822, in Albany, N. Y., to Miss Mahala Burtt, who was born in Canaan, Conn., Octo- ber 29, 1796. In 1826 they moved from Ca- naan to Warsaw, making the journey with a horse and wagon into the wilds of "the Gen- esee country." Here their infant daughter, Phebe, grew up, and married on June 14, 1849, Horace E. Lyman, of Orangeville, N.Y., in which place she died April 15, 1862. Mr. Lawrence was a man of literary ability, a teacher and writer before he went into mercantile life. His wife was a daugh- ter of Colonel Abram and Nancy (Wetherell) Burtt. The former, a native of Taunton, Mass., was a man of military distinction and an ironmonger.

Mrs. Albert Lawrence was at the date of her death, December 25, 1887, in her ninety- second year, the oldest person in Warsaw. She had been the witness of two great mili- tary struggles, being a girl of sixteen at the breaking out of the War of 1812, in which her father, Colonel Burtt, was a participant, and being an aged mother when the fury of the Civil War broke over the Union, in which her son, Colonel Abram B. Lawrence, so worthily sustained the family reputation for military talent. Mrs. Lawrence's longevity was undoubtedly due to her early habits of industry and frugality, learned in the pioneer life of her young wifehood. Her force of character, kindness of heart, and sympathetic nature were not less notable than her strength of intellect. She had inherited an aptitude for letters, and had devoted much of her early life to literary pursuits, often delighting her friends even in her later years with her pro- ductions. She was held in grateful recogni- tion by the generation she outlived, and will long be remembered by that which survives her. One son, the subject of this sketch, and

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six grandchildren - Hermon, Burtt, Ward, and Phebe Lyman, of Iowa, George M. and Sarah Virginia Lawrence, of Warsaw - survive her.

Their son Abram, who was an advanced stu- dent in the Warsaw High School, at twelve years old was placed in a book-store in War- saw, and when nineteen was an accountant in a publishing house in Buffalo, where he was efficient in the discharge of his duties. In 1856 he purchased a drug store at Niagara Falls, where he established himself as an apothecary. In 1858 he returned to Warsaw. He was engaged in mercantile, foundry, and machinery business, and with some others projected, built, and was operating the War- saw Gas Works when the Civil War broke out, by which his course of life was com- pletely changed. He was active in placing the regiment later known as the First New York Dragoons in the field, of which he was Quartermaster. Arriving in Virginia, how- ever, he was in addition placed on detached service in the Commissary Department, Peck's Division, Seventh Army Corps, and sub- sequently assigned to duty in Sheridan's Cavalry Corps, later, with commission by President Abraham Lincoln of Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, United States Vol- unteers, ordered to report to General Grant. Later he was assigned to the headquarters of the Eighteenth Army Corps, and made Chief Quartermaster, being soon after promoted to the rank of Major in the Quartermaster De- partment, Eighteenth Army Corps, and sub- sequently Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Quar- termaster, Twenty-fourth Army Corps and Army of the James. It was he who by order of General Grant at Appomattox Court-house, Va., bore the compliments of that com- mander to defeated Confederate General Lee, to whom he presented the thirty thousand rations for the Southern soldiers, who for many days had assuaged the pangs of hunger by eating shelled corn, foraged for man and beast from the impoverished inhabitants. In gathering the fruits of that great victory Colo- nel Lawrence was by orders of General Grant made Chief Quartermaster of the United States forces at Appomattox Court-house, and directed to receive and make disposition of

the surrendered property of General Lee's army of Northern Virginia, furnish supplies and transportation by rail and wagons, etc., to their homes, also to distribute to the de- serving poor of that vicinity the unserviceable public property, which the commendable fore- sight of General Grant saw would be, as it was, a bond of peace and good will. In 1865 Colonel Lawrence was sent on duty to the Rocky Mountain regions by Secretary Stanton, in making transfers from volunteer to regu- lar troops, and in 1866 was mustered out upon his own application, and discharged with life brevets by nomination of the Presi- dent, and confirmed by the Senate "for faithful and meritorious services during the war."

Since the war he has been a prominent figure in the business life of his locality and vicinity, as well as in all military manifesta- tions. On the 26th of March, 1857, Colonel Lawrence was married to Miss Elizabeth Faulkner, of Wheatland, Monroe County, N. Y. Two children came of this union - George M., born at Niagara Falls, and Sarah Virginia, born at Warsaw. The Colonel is an earnest member of the Congregational church, to which his entire family belongs, and has for forty years been active in church and Sunday-school work, in which latter branch of religious training he has been deeply interested.

Colonel Lawrence is on the paternal side a lineal descendant of that John Lawrence who landed in New England with Governor Win- throp in 1630, and has through his mother's side a distinct strain of Welsh and French blood. This combination has produced a rare result, in which gallantry, coolness, and steadfastness conjoin in the formation of a character to be admired and imitated.

RS. LUCY WOODRUFF FISHER was born in Farmington, Conn., July 23, 1816. Her father, Ozem Woodruff, was born on the same estate upon which his father, Timothy, was born and lived. He was a lineal descend- ant of Timothy Woodruff, one of ten men

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who came to this country in 1638, and pur- chased from the Indians the large tract of which Farmington (Tunxis) is the centre. The paternal grandmother of Mrs. Fisher, Lucy Treadwell, was a sister of Governor Treadwell. Her mother's mother was Lois North, from England, who was married in 1768 to Samuel Scott. He was a soldier of the Revolution, was wounded in the battle of Saratoga, and reached home to die.

Lucy Woodruff was educated for a teacher, and in 1836 went with her brother to New Orleans to engage in that profession. She taught there for a time, after which she went to Baton Rouge, where she established the Baton Rouge Female Seminary, one of the first Protestant institutions of learning in Louisiana. Miss Woodruff was married De- cember 25, 1838, to Phineas D. Fisher, a native of Londonderry, N.H., by whom she had two sons - John P. Fisher and George Albert Fisher. Mr. Fisher studied for the ministry, but taught with his wife until his death in 1843. In 1848 Mrs. Lucy Woodruff Fisher was married to John Phillips, who died of yellow fever in November, 1853; and in 1855 she was married to her third husband, Samuel Fisher, of Warsaw, where she has since been a resident. A sketch of Mr. Sam- uel Fisher, who was a brother of her first hus- band, may be found on another page of this volume. He died May 30, 1885. Mrs. Fisher has two daughters by her second hus- band, Mr. Phillips; namely, Mary Isett and Lucy Matilda. The latter is the wife of James Vick, of Rochester, N. Y. They have three children - Ethel Phillips, Albert Fisher, and Dorothea Louise. Mrs. Lucy Woodruff Fisher is a woman whose mind has been broadened by liberal education, earnest thought, and varied experience; and her influ- ence is notably felt in the town of her birth, where she is known and loved.

HARLES R. MASON, who conducts a general mercantile business at Sil- ver Springs, carrying a large and varied stock, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., February 12, 1863. His father, An-

drew S. Mason, was born in that city, Sep- tember 12, 1819. Ilis paternal grandmother, who was of German descent, was also a native of Buffalo; but his grandfather Mason was born in Scotland.

Andrew S. Mason was one of a family of three sons and two daughters. When a young man he began to work for the firm of Bidwell & Carrick, ship builders at Black Rock, Buf- falo; and he continued in the ship-building business up to the time of his decease. The firm changed to Bidwell & Banty, with Mr. Mason as foreman, continuing thus till 1857, when he became a partner, the firm being Mason & Bidwell. They did business under that name till September, 1870, when they sold out to the present owners, the Union Dry Dock Company, or the Erie Railroad Company. In 1861 Mr. Mason bought a farm at East Hamburg; and the family lived for six years at that place, the daughter being born there. This farm Mr. Mason sold; but, on his retirement from business on account of failing health, he bought a second farm at East Hamburg, which was the home of the family till the death of the father, December 24, 1870. The wife of Andrew S. Mason was Mary Elizabeth Rosa, who was one of a family of six sons and three daughters. Her father, who fought in the War of 1812, was born in Albany, N. Y., and died in Buffalo in 1873. Her mother was born in Cornwall, N. Y., and died in Steward, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Rosa were living in Niagara, Canada, at the time of their daughter's marriage at that place in 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew S. Mason had nine children, all of whom are liv- ing except Jacob W., the fourth, who died young. They are as follows: Andrew S., George W., Arthur C., Jacob B., William J., Jennie A., Charles R., and Joseph R.

The family remained on the farm until the mother's death in 1874, after which they removed to East Aurora, where they lived three years, and then went back to Buffalo. Charles R. Mason received his education in the public schools of the city, and at about eighteen years of age served his apprentice- ship with John C. Harvey, of Buffalo, to learn the carriage manufacturing trade. He con-

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 88

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

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