USA > New York > Madison County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Madison County, New York > Part 14
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HOMPSON E. BARNES, Notary Public and Conveyancer, resident of Oneida, Madison County, N. Y., was born in the town of Trenton, Oneida County, N. Y., March II, 1820. His father, Calvin W. Barnes, was born in the town of Blenheim, N. Y., in 1792, a son of pioneers in that section. Calvin was brought up to agricultural pursuits, and lived in the towns of Floyd and Trenton until 1824, then moved across the town line to Floyd, where he lived two years, going from there to Durhamville, where he engaged in farming, and at the same time worked a saw- mill. He resided there until his death, at the age of eighty, in 1872. He was a deacon in the Baptist church for many years, and was a good and exemplary man. His wife was Miss Anna Frazee, born in Schoharie County, New York, daughter of Eliphalet Frazee. She was eighty-three years old at her death. Of her twelve children seven reached ma- turity; namely, Mindwell, Sarah, Thompson E., Allen, Wilson, Austin, and Ransom D.
Our subject received his early education in the public school at Durhamville, and later in the academy at Holland Patent. As has been the case with so many of our prominent men in this country, he made his first step for himself as a school-teacher. He taught two terms, one at Florence, the other at Dur- hamville. His compensation was but fif- teen dollars per month and the experience of "boarding around " in the neighborhood. Finding that, while this occupation tended to keep his intellect bright and his wits sharp, his physical strength could scarcely stand the strain of poor living and still poorer pay, he gave up teaching, and at twenty years of age became a clerk in a grocery store in Durham- ville. A few months later he bought his em- ployer's stock of goods, and continued the business until 1847, when he sold it out, and went to Syracuse, where he stayed one year. Returning to Oneida County, he bought a farm in Verona, which he managed for a year, and then sold it, and went to Durhamville, where in 1850 he opened a grocery business, which he contiuned until 1864. He remained in Durhamville until 1870, when he settled in Oneida, and went into business as the senior member of the firm of Barnes, Stark & Monroe, bankers. This partnership lasted for five years. Since its dissolution Mr. Barnes has been mainly occupied as a conveyancer of real estate and manager of estates, having a great many of them intrusted to his care.
Mr. Barnes married Miss Betsey Van Deu- sen in 1864. She died in 1884, leaving one son, named Page. His second wife was Miss
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Eliza Garling, to whom he was united in mar- riage May 2, 1886. He served as Justice of the Peace in Durhamville from 1850 to 1870, and has been a Notary since coming to Oncida. Shrewd and capable, having sound judgment and much knowledge of affairs, Thompson E. Barnes is a successful man of business. The fact of having so many valu- able trusts committed to his care is a proof that his honesty and his ability are equally unquestioned. He is a Republican in politics.
ALTER MORSE. This gentleman, the only surviving member of the celebrated firm of Wood, Taber & Morse of Eaton, was born February 25, 1835. His family and ancestry have been fully given in another part of this book. (See sketch of Gardiner Morse.)
Our subject had few advantages for a fin- ished education, his studies being limited to the rudimentary branches taught in the vil- lage academy ; and even those he gave up at the age of fifteen, beginning then a life of hard work as clerk in a country store. In this situation he remained until twenty-four years old, when he organized and established the well-known engine manufacturing com- pany, of which Mr. A. N. Wood and Mr. L. C. Taber were the senior members. Their plant, which is situated in the village of Eaton, Madison County, N. Y., is at once the pride and profit of the place; for in all parts of the country the Wood, Taber & Morse Port- able and Agricultural Steam Engines are
renowned for their perfection of work and finish. They employ from fifty to seventy- five men constantly, and the output is about one hundred and fifty engines a year.
Until the year 1892 the firm remained un- broken; but in that year Mr. A. N. Wood died, at the age of seventy-four. He was a prominent man in the village, and highly re- spected. L. C. Taber, the second partner, was the master mechanic and steam engineer, and stood among the foremost in the trade. He died also in 1892, his age being sixty years. Mr. Morse now carries on the busi- ness alone, and manages it with the same phenomenal success and energy which have characterized his whole life. When he reached his thirty-seventh year, he wooed and won for his bride Miss H. Celeste Davis, who was born in the town of Eaton, and was a daughter of Richard M. and Rowena Davis.
The father of Mrs. Morse, Richard Mowry Davis, was born in Vermont, son of Nathaniel and Sophronia Davis, natives of New Eng- land, who emigrated from Vermont to Madi- son County, and settled in the town of Nelson. Here Nathaniel bought a farm, upon which he and his wife resided until their deaths. Their son, Richard, was young when his par- ents came to the town of Nelson, and was there reared and educated, afterward learning the trade of carpenter and millwright, and be- coming a master builder. His natural talent for the use of tools led him to turn his atten- tion to different branches of mechanical work. He was a member of the well-known firm of Payson, Burch & Davis, proprietors of the
WALTER MORSE.
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Eaton Foundry, and also manufacturers of the famous Excelsior cooking-stove, which took the first premium at the first World's Fair, which was held in London in 1851. It was Mr. Davis who designed and made the pat- tern for this stove. At the time of his mar- riage he took up his abode in the town of Eaton.
The wife of Richard Davis was Miss Row- ena Wells. She was born in the town of Nelson, January 9, 1815, and was the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Barker Wells, natives of New England and pioneers in Madison County, New York. Her death occurred in 1872. She reared three children, namely : Frances (Mrs. J. P. Marsh), residing in Chi- cago, Ill. ; George M., who married Miss Etta Dales, their home being in Austin, Cook County, Ill .; and Mrs. Morse. Mrs. Davis was a member of the Congregational church, where her husband was chorister for a num- ber of years. He was a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. Marrying a second wife, Mr. Davis moved to Hamilton, N. Y., where he died a few years afterward.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Morse have had their happy alliance crowned with the blessing of two children, a son and a daughter. Ellis W., the son, is married and resides in Bing- hamton, N. Y., holding the responsible posi- tion of Treasurer of the Binghamton Wagon Company. The daughter, Ada R., resides at home. The family are members of the Con- gregational church, Mr. and Mrs. Morse being active workers therein, and cordially lending their aid and sympathy to everything pertain-
ing to its interests. Politically, Mr. Morse is a stalwart Republican, an old and tried member of the party. He has made a large fortune by well-directed industry and enter- prise, and in his beautiful home in the village of Eaton enjoys the comforts and luxuries which his own exertions have brought within his reach.
R. ARTHUR ELLERY BROGA, of Stockbridge, was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, October 12, 1858, son of Kindsman and Demaris Broga. The grandfather of our subject was born in Massachusetts, where he died at the age of sixty.
He was a farmer, and his ancestors were Scotch. Of his family of four sons and three daughters, six are now living. His son, Kindsman D., was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and his wife in Verona, Oneida County, N. Y. He grew to manhood in Mas- sachusetts, and early in life turned his atten- tion to the study of medicine. He removed from his native State to Oneida County, New York, where he lived for some years, going from there to North Bay, N.Y., re- maining there for eighteen years. He finally settled in Oneida, which has been his home ever since. Dr. Kindsman D. Broga is a graduate of the Syracuse Medical Institute, and is one of the pioneer physicians of Oneida County. He was twice married. His first wife, Demaris, died in 1879, leaving four children, of whom three survive, - Franklin D. of North Bay, Arthur Ellery, and a daugh-
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ter, Susan Ella. His second marriage was to Mrs. Ellen Dolbey, of Constantia. Of this union one son, Dwight C., was born. His political affiliations are with the Demo- cratic party.
Arthur, of whom we write, was brought by his parents, when he was four years old, from Massachusetts to Oneida County. He at- tended the schools of the village, and later studied at Hamilton. He remained with his father until his twenty-second year, assisting him in his professional duties, also study- ing medicine with him. At that age he went to the Eclectic Medical College in New York City, where he took a complete course in surgery and medicine, graduating March I, 1882, after two years of hard study and prac- tical experience at Bellevue Hospital. He then returned to his home in North Bay, re- maining but a short time, when he located himself permanently in Stockbridge, Septem- ber, 1882.
On the 24th of June, 1891, he married Miss Nellie C. Beard, by whom he has one child, Hazel Beard, born June 27, 1892. Mrs. Broga is a daughter of Seymour and Susan Beard, of Redlands, Cal., one of three surviv- ing children of a family of five, the others being Charlie, residing in Chicago, and Susan, at home with her parents at Redlands. Mrs. Broga's father and mother are members of the Congregational church. Mr. Beard's business calling is that of a contractor and builder. Politically, he is a Republican.
By his thorough mastery of medicine and surgery Dr. Arthur E. Broga has taken his
stand among the highest in the profession in the county. His high attainments and uni- form good nature make him a favorite and successful physician, his practice increasing every year. Realizing the evils of that mon- ster, intemperance, he has sternly set his face against the use of liquor, and is an uncompro- mising and an ardent Prohibitionist. He is equally consistent in his religious views, being a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Broga adheres to the faith of her fathers, who were Congregation- alists. In the medical fraternities Dr. Broga is President of the Central New York Medical Society and a member of the New York State Medical Society. Returning from the daily round of professional calls, the Doctor finds rest from anxieties and fatigues in the de- lights of a pleasant home. Both he and his accomplished wife are deservedly popular in social circles.
ILLIAM R. WILLIAMS is a promi- nent citizen and a leading con- tractor and builder of Oneida. He was born in the town of Trenton, Oneida County, March 26, 1828, being of Welsh origin.
His father, Robert Z. Williams, was born in Wales, and was the son of William and Margaret Williams, who were also natives of that country, William being a contractor, and, among other works, building the Queen's Dock -over one mile long - at Holyhead.
Leaving Wales in 1802, our subject's grandfather, with his wife and four children,
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emigrated to America, and settled in Phila- delphia, l'a., where he made the acquaintance of Baron Steuben, who induced him to move to Oneida County, New York, whither he went in 1816, being obliged to travel all the way by team, taking his family and all their household goods. He purchased a tract of land in the town of Steuben, and engaged in farming, residing on it until his death, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife died when she was ninety years old. They had four children, namely, William, John, Bet- sey, Robert Z.
Robert Z. Williams was about two years old when he came to America. He was first educated in Philadelphia and afterward at Hamilton Theological Seminary, later known as Madison University, and now Colgate Uni- versity. He commenced teaching when quite a young man,' and at twenty-four years of age entered upon a course of study for the min- istry. He was ordained at the Baptist church in Steuben, Oneida County, and was pastor in different places in that county, remaining in the ministry until his death, at the age of seventy-three years. When he was twenty- seven years old, he was married to Miss Eliza Guthrie, March 25, 1826. She was a native of Connecticut, and the daughter of Simeon Guthrie, who was a Revolutionary soldier. She died at the age of forty-five, being mother of five children; namely, William R., Oliver C., Robert, Sarah, and Judson, who was scalded to death when five years of age.
William R. Williams attended successively the school known as Hobart Hall at Holland
Patent, the Oneida Castle Seminary, and Whitestown Seminary. At eighteen he com- menced teaching school, and taught a part of each winter until he was twenty-five years old, employing the time when not engaged in this occupation in learning the carpenter's trade. In 1865 he went to Oneida, and started in business for himself as contractor and builder, and has continued in that work until the pres- ent time. He has built the town school- houses and many private residences and stores. He married Miss Mary L. Kings- bury, a native of Hartford, Conn., the daugh- ter of Flavel Kingsbury, September 15, 1851. She died September 2, 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams reared four chil- dren; namely, Henry J., George S., Frank P., and Della T. Henry is an express mes- senger in the employment of the National Express Company. He married Miss Alice Hemans; and they have two children, Edith and Robert. George S. was educated at Oneida and Cazenovia, N.Y. He studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Oliver C. Will- iams, and was graduated from Rush Medical College of Chicago, Ill. He is settled at Muskegon, Mich. Frank P. was a student in the law office of James Jenkins, Esq., and later at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He practised his profession for a time at Springfield, Ill., and later at Aber- deen, Dak. He is now editor and proprietor of a newspaper at Rapid City, So. Dak. Della T. is the wife of Dr. Otto Pfaff, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
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Mr. Williams has led an active business life, but has found time with it all to keep himself well informed on current events, be- sides having a thorough knowledge of the early history of his county and being a close student of our best literature of the present times. He has acquired a handsome compe- tency, and, as a foremost man in his town, is naturally deeply interested in its welfare.
OLOMON KLOCK, of whom this in- teresting sketch is written, was born in 1803, in St. Johnsville, Mont- gomery County, N.Y. This town was also the birthplace of his father, John Klock, whose date was August 17, 1776, and of his grandfather, George, who was born in 1742. Henry Klock, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was born in Prussia, came over to America, and settled in St. Johnsville in 1704, when a very young man. This ances- tor of the family was four times married, and had children by three wives, nine of them being sons. He was a farmer, and, being a very large land-owner, often remarked that he was "land poor." A firm Presby- terian, deeply religious, bringing up his chil- dren in that faith, he died in 1760, when quite an old man, in the confident hope of a glorious resurrection. George Klock mar- ried Catherine Bellenger, by whom he had twelve children, five sons and seven daugh- ters, who all reached maturity and had large families.
John Klock, the father of Solomon, married
Eve Timmerman. Sixteen children were born of this marriage, twelve of them reaching adult age. Only four sons and four daughters are now living: Solomon was the first born; Simeon, just eighty-five, August 10, 1893, a wealthy farmer of Minden, Montgomery County, N.Y .; Margaret, born in 1812, un- married; Nancy (Mrs. Charles Walrath), of Oneida, born 1814; Reuben, born August 10, 1818, a very wealthy farmer, living in Dan- ube, Herkimer County; Hiram, born in St. Johnsville, 1820, a farmer, and has two sons; Eva Ann, born 1821, wife of Henry Elwood, a farmer of Florentine, Montgomery County, has one son; Lucy, Mrs. Henry Bellenger, aged sixty-five years, whose family consists of . three children. The mother died in 1852, aged sixty-eight, and the father ten years later, in 1862, when eighty-five years old. They were buried in their family graveyard with their ancestors.
Our subject was reared to habits of industry and thrift, and, like many of the finest minds of our country, received his early education in the primitive, unpainted log cabin, with the regulation slab seats, and the writing-desk a plank attached to the wall, resting on pegs. But, while the comforts and conveniences so familiar to the modern student were not theirs, the elementary education was thor- ough; and it is a matter of common remark that the "old field " schools have turned out some of the greatest statesmen of the land. When the lad was old enough to work, he had only the opportunity which the winters afforded of attending school; but his natural
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NILES HIGINBOTHAM.
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abilities aided him, and, being observant, Mr. Klock has stored his mind with a fund of in- formation, and even in his advanced age can hold his own with our most skilful mathema- ticians. He has always been a great reader, keeping himself thoroughly posted in the cur- rent events of the day, and is especially fond of newspapers, having been a subscriber for the Albany Argus for over twenty years. His memory for incidents and occurrences is something truly wonderful, recalling readily at a moment's thought the dates of births, deaths, and marriages in his large family con- nection, and also in those of his neighbors and friends for over a generation.
Solomon Klock married Elizabeth Bel- lenger, June 16, 1831. Their only child, Irvin, died at the age of fifty-four, having married, and leaving two daughters and one son. Mrs. Elizabeth Klock died in 1833; and Mr. Klock married second Miss Larry Ann Flanders, daughter of Peter Flanders. Four children were the fruit of this marriage, namely: Myron, of Canastota, married, and has one daughter; Nancy, widow of James Weaver, mother of two daughters, at present travelling in Germany, but has her home at East Saginaw, Mich .; Theron, living at home; and Iantha, wife of Gideon Stephens, a contractor and farmer, of South Bay, Oneida Lake, who has two children, one son and one daughter. Mrs. Larry Ann Klock died in 1875, at the age of sixty-two, and is buried in that beautiful place of the dead, Mount Hope Cemetery, at Canastota, N.Y. Mr. Klock has lived for some years with his son
Theron on the farm, and for the last five years has enjoyed with him his present beau- tiful home.
Theron Klock, son of Solomon, was born in the town of Stockbridge in 1837, and, when he was eleven years of age, removed with his father to the excellent farm of one hundred and eighty-six acres near Wampsville, now his home. He was married December 3, 1862, to Mary E. Stebbins, daughter of John and Fanny (Leach) Stebbins, both of Augusta, Oneida County. Mr. and Mrs. Klock have one daughter, Laura, wife of James A. Gregg, of Oneida. One daughter, Mabel, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gregg. Mrs. Klock's aged mother of seventy-seven years is a widow in Oneida, having buried her husband in October, 1881, at the age of seventy-five years. Democratic in politics, and Presbyte- rian in religion, Mr. Solomon Klock and his son preserve the traditions and faith of their ancestors in party and church.
RS. ELIZA HIGINBOTHAM, widow of Niles Higinbotham, lives in a beautiful home on Main Street, Oneida, N.Y., built by her husband at the time of their marriage, where she has seen the magnificent trees which flourish around the mansion, giving an abundant shade, grow from small beginnings to their present grand proportions. She was married to Mr. Higin- botham in 1849, and was the daughter of Judge Nicholas P. and Sybil (Dyer) Randall, of Manlius, N.Y. Her father was the emi-
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nent lawyer, well known all through Onondaga County; and her ancestry was celebrated among the New England pioneers.
She is a direct descendant of Mary Dyer, who was executed in Boston for her religious opinions. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Higinbotham are Julia, Louise, and Lily, - all at home with their mother.
Although this article is more particularly devoted to the memoir of Mr. Niles Higin- botham, we will commence with a history of his father, Sands Higinbotham, who was of English extraction, and the founder, and one might say the father, of the village of Oneida. He acquired all the land on which the village is situated by purchases made in 1829 and 1830, and in 1834 removed to Oneida from Vernon, and, discerning the value of railroad traffic, offered the company which is now the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad free right of way across his property, on con- dition that a station be erected, and that every train be stopped for at least ten minutes for the refreshment of passengers. The terms were cheerfully accepted by the company, and the station was called Oneida Depot. In the mean time Sands Higinbotham prepared to reap the harvest which his foresight had sown, and, assisted by Ira Hitchcock, erected an eating-house which was highly successful. When he arrived in Oneida in 1834, a settle- ment was commenced; and, stimulated by his liberal offers, many other settlers came. At this time the place was new and unattractive, except to the far-seeing eye of such men as Mr. Higinbotham. The country was almost
a dead level, a complete cedar swamp. Ind- ians were prowling in all directions, and the outlook was not very bright. The canal- feeder was constructed in 1835, and this brought many men to this region for a time. He seized this opportunity to make permanent citizens of them by offering lots at low terms and advancing lumber at liberal agreements from his mill at Vernon, that the new settlers might build their homes.
Thus the village was started, and its pres- ent condition and prosperity are largely due to his generosity and energetic spirit. He was a man of strong character, enthusiastic and sanguine, full of resources, politic and judicious in his business affairs. He lived to see the village flourish and the "waste places made glad," dying, full of years and honor, at the age of seventy-eight, in 1868. He had been a merchant in Vernon, and was associ- ated with a Mr. Granger in a large glass fac- tory in that place. Of his five children four grew to maturity. Mr. Sands Higinbotham was a man of considerable influence, and was intimately connected with the public men of his day, counting as one of his strongest friends the late William F. Seward, Governor of the State of New York.
Niles Higinbotham, the true subject of this article, was the son of Sands Higinbotham, born in Vernon, Oneida County, March 9, 1813. In 1827 he attended the well-known school of Mr. Morse in Hamilton, N.Y. ; and, among the many friendships formed there, was a lifelong one with Henry B. Paine, of Cleve- land, Ohio. At nineteen he entered the store
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of his father's old fellow-clerk and friend, Mr. Alexander Seymour, in Utica; and here was laid the foundation of his excellent busi- ness qualities. His salary was only fifty dol- lars per year and his board, but he was often heard to say in later life that he never spent a year to better advantage. At the age of twenty-onc he went into the store of his uncle, Isaac Carpenter, of Ithaca, receiving two hundred and fifty dollars for the first year, and the second three hundred dollars, saving one-half of his salary each year. At this time his father presented him with eighteen hundred and fifty dollars; and, with the money he had saved, he started a limited partnership with Mr. Carpenter. With the exception of his early education and boyhood expenses, this was all the direct aid Mr. Higinbotham ever received from his father. When he was about twenty-four years old, he gathered up his little fortune of twenty-seven hundred dollars, and with his dear friend, Mr. Samuel Breese, went West, where they bought large tracts of land, which afterward became very valuable.
In 1840 Mr. Higinbotham and J. P. Man- row took a contract on the old Erie Railroad from Owego to Corning. In less than two years the railroad company failed, owing the young men one hundred thousand dollars, of which they received only thirty thousand dol- lars. With this money they paid off their men as far as it would go, giving each man a note to pay the balance due whenever the rail- road company would pay the contractors. Fortunately, this payment was made in 1849;
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