USA > New York > Madison County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Madison County, New York > Part 29
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At the age of fourteen Lee Bush com- menced to work on the farm of Asa Carter, of Sangerfield, where he stayed until twenty-one years old, then rented a farm from him for a few years, afterward purchasing it, and re- sided on it until the age of fifty-five, when he removed to Whitesboro, N. Y., making his permanent home there until his death, at seventy-six years. His wife was the daughter of Elnathan Wells, and came from Rhode Island. She died in Milton, Wis., while visiting there with her husband. They were the parents of three children; namely, E. G., Eloise M., and Sarah E. Eloise married James A. Douglass, of Oriskany Falls, and resided there until her death. Sarah E. be- came the wife of a Mr. Owens, and their home is in Central City, Col.
E. G. Bush was educated in the public schools, and also at Watertown and Cazenovia Seminaries. When he was twenty-one years
of age, he went to work for his father by the month, and thus continued for two years. At this age he married Miss Adele Stearnes, daughter of F. W. and Betsey Stearnes. They were from Plainfield, Otsego County, N. Y. After his marriage our subject took his father's farm, and worked it for twelve years. In 1874 his wife died. The maiden name of his second wife was Eunice A. Conger; and she is a daughter of John E. and Jerusha (Williams) Conger, of Waterville, N. Y. Of this union there is one son, Lee.
For the past twenty-five years Mr. Bush has been a prominent member of the Masonic fra- ternity, and has moulded his life on its be- nevolent principles. He belongs to Sanger Lodge, No. 129, of Waterville, N.Y. He is a thoroughly respected and well-known man in his town, and is among the number of its citizens who have had to struggle from youth to earn their fortunes; but his industry and thrift have made him to-day one of the most successful as well as influential residents of the county. In his career he has been ably assisted by his capable wife, who, not only in their domestic, but also in their religious life, has worked by his side for many years.
In his political belief Mr. Bush is a con- firmed Democrat, and is thoroughly in sym- pathy with the principles of that party. He is a public-spirited man, not only in the com- mon acceptation of the term, as applied to those who are willing to follow where others lead, but in the fullest sense, as one whose energy and far-sightedness enable him to see and point out the things needed for the prog-
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ress and good of his town. Such a man is an honor and a help to his community, and as such Mr. Bush is truly an example.
J OSIAH LOBDELL, a prominent farmer of District No. II of the town of Lenox, Madison County, was born in Herkimer County in 1836, and is a son of Joel Lobdell, who was born in the same county in 1809. Joel Lobdell was a son of James Lobdell, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, who was captured by the Indians while in the performance of his duty, and bound with strings or ropes made of moose-wood bark. Having a flask of gin in his pocket, however, he gave it to the small guard left over him, and, while they were under its in- fluence, rolled himself to the fire, burned off the bands that bound his wrists, burning his hands badly thereby, and succeeded in making his escape with a comrade, also a prisoner. By occupation he was a farmer, and an hon- orable, successful, and influential man. His death occurred in Herkimer County about 1840, when he was ninety-three years old. His widow died two years later, aged eighty- four. Both were interred near Little Falls, N.Y. Their family consisted of four sons and two daughters.
About 1833 Joel Lobdell married Margaret Achor, of Montgomery County. She was born about 1812, and was a daughter of Lud- wick Achor. Mr. Lobdell was a farmer of Oneida County, and afterward of Madison County. He and his wife reared a family of
seven children, five sons and two daughters. Four of the sons were loyal soldiers in the Civil War, and all were wounded during their term of service. One of them, Abel Lobdell, was a prisoner in different Southern prisons for an aggregate of twenty-two months, twelve months of which he spent in the horrible prison pen at Andersonville. Being there for so long a time, his sufferings were of course intense; and he barely escaped death from starvation and the peculiarly cruel treatment accorded there to Union soldiers. Mr. Lob- dell was in the Second New York Artillery two years as a private soldier, was wounded in the ankle at Spottsylvania and in the hip before Petersburg. At the time of his enlist- ment he was twenty-five years of age, and on his departure for the seat of war he left his young wife at home. She was Miss Matilda French, a daughter of Jonathan French, of Hamilton, Madison County, who was born near Sylvan Junction in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Lobdell reared two sons and two daughters, all adopted children. The daughters were : Anna Phillips, of Montgomery County, who died in her fifteenth year, when a bride of but a few months; and Clara Lobdell, a daughter of Mr. Lobdell's brother.
In politics Mr. Lobdell is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Presby- terian church. They purchased the farm on which they now live in 1883, paying twenty- six hundred dollars for forty-three acres and seven hundred dollars for twenty acres. Upon this farm Mr. Lobdell carries on general farming, and raises strawberries and onions,
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raising about four hundred bushels of the latter to the acre. Both he and his wife are still healthy and active, notwithstanding their years of toil. They are among the most highly respected people of the community in which they live, and are in favor of whatever tends to promote human progress in educa- tional, religious, and material matters.
UY H. CLARK, Cashier of the First National Bank of Earlville, a finan- cier of exceptional ability, older in judg- ment than in years, was born in Guilford, Chenango County, May 20, 1869. His father, John A. Clark, is a native of the same town. Arvine Clark, father of John A., hav- ing spent his early life in Chenango and Otsego Counties, later owned and occupied a large farm about six miles from Elmira, in Chemung County. He was a lumberman, and came to his death by an accident which occurred while he was engaged in "shooting " logs down a mountain not far from his home, a stone set in motion by a swiftly falling stick of timber, which had swerved from the track, striking and killing him instantly.
John Clark, made fatherless at the tender age of six years, lived with his mother on the farm until he was twelve, when he entered the employ of the Erie Railroad Company, as driver of a team used in the construction of the railroad. This place he held but as a stepping-stone to something higher. Improv- ing his opportunities for education while winning his way onward, he at length reached
the city of Chicago, where for about eight years he held a position as clerk in the office of the City Recorder. Returning to New York, he entered upon a business career of several years as a dealer in general merchan- dise, first at Rockdale, Chenango County, and later at Guilford. Selling his store at the last-named place, his next venture was in the cattle trade, which as usual brought him in good returns. The position now held by him, that of President of the Sidney Bank, is one for which he is eminently adapted.
A youth of excellent natural abilities, Guy H. Clark received a good business education in the academies of Sidney and Oxford. He took to banking somewhat precociously as his hereditary occupation, being early called from school to the post of Assistant Cashier of the bank at Sidney. At the age of eighteen cir- cumstances forced him to assume the duties of Cashier of a national bank, he being then one of the youngest persons ever placed in that position. Three years ago, having attained his majority, he was appointed Cashier of the First National Bank at Earlville, where he remains at the present day, enjoying an envi- able, well-won reputation for integrity, accu- racy, and skill in the management of monetary matters, and all at an age when the majority of educated men have scarcely done more than take the first step in life. The Directors, who know him best, place in him the utmost confi- dence, regarding him as a model Cashier. Like father, like son. Energy, probity, faithful and continued application, are quali- ties that tell in the long run.
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In 1892 Mr. Clark married Miss Lora Win- sor, daughter of C. A. and Frances Winsor. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are regular attendants at the Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is connected with the Masons, being a member of Sidney Lodge, No. 601, and with the Knights of Pythias as a member of Earlville Lodge, No. 124.
HARLES H. MAXSON, one of the most prominent and influential citi- zens of De Ruyter, where he has been a resident for many years, was born in the town of Hopkinton, R. I., February 28, 1816. The founder of the Maxson family in America was Richard Maxson, a native of England, who, early joining the tide of emi- gration to Massachusetts, first settled in Boston, and from there in 1638 removed to Portsmouth, R.I., making his permanent ยท home in that State. John Maxson, son of Richard, who was born in 1639 and died December 17, 1720, married Mary Mosher, daughter of Hugh Mosher, who was born in 1639, and whose death took place February 2, 1718. Jonathan Maxson, son of John, was born in Westerly, R.I., in 1680, and died November 20, 1732. He married Content, daughter of Jonathan and Naomi (Burdick) Rogers, and had a son John, who was born in Westerly, March 2, 1714, and who became a preacher. of the Seventh-day Baptists, and spent his life in Rhode Island. Rev. John Maxson married Tacy Rogers, of Waterford, Conn., and was the father of Caleb Maxson,
who was born in Newport, R.I., November 2, 1752.
Caleb Maxson, father of the subject of this sketch, followed the trade of a weaver, work- ing at a hand-loom in his native State till 1825, when, acompanied by his wife and one child, he came, via Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, to Albany, thence by canal to Jordan, Onondaga County, and from there by team to Homer, where he joined one of his elder sons, who had preceded him. Eleven years later he took up his abode in De Ruyter, where he died April 6, 1841. He had been twice married. His first wife, Mary, daughter of Elder William Bliss, was born in Rhode Island in 1757. She died March 16, 1798. His second wife, another Mary Bliss, daughter of Henry Bliss, was born in Rhode Island, March 6, 1770, and died July 6, 1852.
The early boyhood of Charles H. Maxson was passed in Rhode Island, where he re- ceived his first schooling. Coming to New York at the age of about ten years, he at- tended school in Homer during two terms. In 1831, a lad of fifteen, he entered the office of the Protestant Sentinel, to learn the printer's trade, at which he continued to work for the next six or seven years, going to Schenectady in 1834, on the removal of the office to that place, and to De Ruyter in 1836, when he became half-owner of the business and a part- ner of his brother John, the founder of the paper. The following year, selling out his interest in the printing-office, he opened a wagon-shop, and did business there till 1855,
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when he moved on to the farm of his father- in-law. For the next thirty years he was engaged in farming. In 1885 he came to De Ruyter, where he has since lived, exempt from active toil.
September 24, 1839, he married Sena Ann Enos, who was born in De Ruyter, February 17, 1818, a daughter of Benjamin Enos, who was born in Richmond, R. I., February 13, 1788. Her grandfather, Joseph Enos, the second of that name, and his father, an earlier Benjamin, are supposed also to have been natives of that State, within whose borders was probably the home of Joseph Enos, Ist, father of the last-named Benjamin, of whose history nothing is known. Joseph Enos, 2d, grandfather of Mrs. Maxson, was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Parks) Enos, natives of Rhode Island. He came from that State in 1789, and settled for life in Stephentown, Rensselaer County. The maiden name of his wife was Thankful Coon. Benjamin Enos, son of Joseph Enos, 2d, and father of Mrs. Maxson, was very well educated in the schools of Stephentown, and became a teacher. Com- ing to De Ruyter in 1813, he bought a tract of partly improved land, and, clearing a farm, made his home here, with the exception of four years passed at Homer, until his death, February 4, 1868. He was prominent in public affairs, and served as State Treasurer one term, as Canal Commissioner three terms, and three terms as Member of the Assembly. April 8, 1810, he married Sarah Doty, a native of Canaan, Columbia County, who was born September 21, 1788.
Mrs. Enos was a direct descendant of Ed- ward Doty, who was born in England in 1600, and came to America in the "Mayflower " on her first voyage. He died at Plymouth, Mass., in 1655. His son, Joseph Doty, was born at Plymouth, April 30, 1651, and lived to be over eighty years of age. John Doty, a son of Joseph, was born at Rochester, Plym- outh County, Mass., March 1, 1688, and, as far as known, spent his entire life there. Simeon Doty, a son of John, who was born in 1727, moved in 1747 to Sharon, Conn., and in 1760 came to Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y., where he died in 1807. A son of Sim- eon Doty, Samuel, a mechanic, who was born June 4, 1756, four years before his parents moved to Canaan, henceforth to be his home, married Anna Shepard, and was the father of Sarah Doty, who became the wife of Benja- min Enos. Mrs. Maxson had one brother, Samuel Doty Enos, Esq., who was educated at Hamilton College, and became a member of the bar. He died in 1854, aged thirty- three years. At the time of his death he was a clerk in the office of the State Comptroller at Albany, N. Y.
Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Maxson two grew to manhood -- Charles B. and Henry Doty. The first-named was born November 10, 1850, and is President of the Babcock Printing Press Manufacturing Com- pany of New London, Conn. He married Julia A. Wells, and has two children - ans, Charles D. and Julia. W. The second, Rev. Henry Doty Maxson, who died November 23, 1891, was born September 6, 1852. A stu-
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dent from his early years, although doing his part on the home farm. he was graduated suc- cessively from the De Ruyter Institute and Amherst College, Massachusetts, where he was valedictorian and class orator in 1877. After graduation he taught school for some years, first in Milton College, Wisconsin, the institution being known as the Seventh-day Baptist College. then in Markham Academy, Milwaukee, and later at the State Normal School at White Water, Wis. He was brought up as a Seventh-day Baptist. but began to break away from that faith while studying in a denominational school at Alfred University, Allegany County. New York. Eventually becoming a Unitarian, he was ordained to the ministry. now indeed having found his true calling. and continued active in his work dur- ing the brief remainder of his earthly life. He was a valued member of the Board of Directors of the Western Unitarian Confer- ence. His sudden and early death while pastor of a Unitarian church at Menomonee, Wis., was deeply and widely mourned. He married Ada A. Wells, who with one daugh- ter, Julia W., still survives, and resides at Menomonee, Wis.
Mr. Maxson has always been a Democrat in politics, and has filled various positions of public trust. He has served four terms as Supervisor. and as Deputy Clerk in the As- sembly three sessions. He is a Notary Pub- lic. was Justice of the Peace eight years, Town Clerk one year, and Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue. He was for some years a member of the State militia, and has a com-
mission as Ensign, signed by William H. Seward, Governor. He has also for some time been an active member of the Board of Education, of which he is now President.
R EV. AMOS CROCKER. of Hamilton, N. V .. is a fine representative of two useful and honorable professions, that of the law and that of the ministry. He was born in 1815, and is a son of Amos Crocker, who is believed to have been born in Albany County. and who married Polly Owen of that county. Amos Crocker and his wife soon after their marriage removed to Lebanon, Madison County, in which town they settled down on a fine two-hundred-acre farm. Mr. Crocker was much more than ordinarily suc- cessful, and was certainly one of the best. if not the best, farmer in the county, receiving more premiums for the excellent products of his farm and his superior animals than any other man in the county. His family at the present time have in their possession a prize he received, in the shape of a solid silver cup, for being the best farmer in the county. which cup was awarded by the County Agricultural Society. When about forty years of age, on account of failing health. he retired from the farm, and engaged in. general merchandising in the village of Hamilton, where he carried on a very large business, being, in fact, the leading merchant of the place. Besides being a complete success both as a farmer and a merchant, which is very rare, he was one of the kindest and most humane of men, one
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whose honor and integrity were beyond ques- tion, and whose judgment was frequently sought and freely given. He died at Hamil- ton, when seventy-seven years old, leaving a handsome property and a splendid reputa- tion. His wife had passed away some years previously. They were the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters, one of the daughters marrying Joseph Addison Mott, whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this work.
Rev. Amos Crocker prepared for college at Hamilton, N. Y., went to Yale College in 1832, when seventeen years old, and was graduated in 1834. Immediately afterward he entered the law office of Stoner & Gridley, and read law with them three years, was examined with a large class at Utica, passed a creditable examination before a committee, one of whom was Joshua Spencer, was ad- mitted to the bar, and practised some years. Being converted to Christianity under the preaching of Joshua Spencer's brother, he united with the Congregational church, and was engaged in the ministry until 1885, hav- ing but three pastorates during his entire ministry, which fact is a most eloquent and convincing argument in favor of his zeal, ability, and success.
Rev. Amos Crocker was married in 1838 to Sarah Pierce, daughter of Jonathan O. Pierce; and they have one daughter, who is the wife of S. T. Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have one son. Osgood C. Martin, of Chicago, and two daughters, Sarah and Rosamond, both young ladies, at home. Mr. Crocker has al-
ways been an unswerving Republican. He has ever been true to every obligation in life, as lawyer, minister of the gospel, husband, father, and citizen. Ile is now living a retired life, with a conscience void of offence, surrounded by an affectionate family, and by many respecting and admiring neighbors and friends.
HARLES A. ALLEN, residing on his one-hundred-and-forty-acre farm, where he was born forty-four years ago, is a son of Charles Allen, who was born in Greenwich, R.I., in 1792, and died in the town of Lenox, Madison County, N.Y., in 1872, at the age of eighty. His father was Joseph Allen, also of Greenwich, R.I., who married Sarah Tillinghast, of that State. They reared a family of nine sons and one daughter, of whom Charles was the sixth child and fifth son. All these children arrived at maturity, and married. They were as follows : Sarah, born in 1781, became the wife of John Tillinghast, of Rhode Island, and died in 1852, at the age of sixty-one; Benjamin T., born in 1783, died in 1830; John, born in 1785, died in 1855; Stephen, born in 1787, died in 1858, at Batavia, N.Y .; Joseph, born in 1790, died in 1870, at Orleans, N.Y .; Charles, the father of our subject; James, born in 1794, died in the West in 1854; Center, born in 1796, died at Cassville, N. Y., in 1863; Eason, born in 1799, died at Clayville in 1875; and George, born in 1801, died in the town of Lenox in 1851. The father of these children was a farmer in
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moderate circumstances. He and his wife were Baptists in religious faith. Both ar- rived at old age, Mrs. Allen dying at a very advanced age in Cassville, Oneida County.
The father of our subject, Charles Allen, married for his first wife Catherine N. Allen, a cousin. She had one daughter, Lydia A., who became the wife of Rev. W. S. Mikels, a Baptist minister. Mrs. Mikels died in November, 1892, leaving two children. For his second wife Charles Allen married Har- riet M. Greene, of Bridgewater, Oneida County. Her only child was Charles A. Allen, the subject of this biographical notice. She died at the home of her son in March, 1893. Athough eighty years of age, she was bright and active until within two days of her death.
Charles A. Allen attended school until his twentieth year, first in the district school at Lenox Furnace, and later at Bergen, N.J., and in New York City and Oneida. On the 7th of February, 1872, he was united in mar- riage to Clara J. Hubbard, daughter of S. J. and Alma J. (Tanner) Hubbard. Mr. Hub- bard died in 1888, at the age of sixty-one, leaving his widow and four children, two sons and two daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have become the parents of five children, one of whom, a son, died in infancy. The living are: Hattie A., a bright and intelligent young lady of nineteen, residing at home; Cora A., seventeen, who is a teacher; Charles A., a youth of fifteen; and Marion E., a bright young miss of ten. Hattie has taught school one year, and given such satisfaction
that her services are again in request in the same district. All these children have been well brought up, and taught to be honest, self-reliant, and conscientious in the perform- ance of the duties and obligations of life.
Mr. Allen is a direct descendant of Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame. He is a stanch Republican in politics, as was his father; and both he and his wife are Baptists in religious faith, Mr. Allen being an official member of that church. He is engaged in general farming, the production of cereals, and keeps a number of cattle. With his wife and family he is looked upon as occupying a high place among the substantial farmers and useful citizens of Madison County.
E ROY NASH. Among the most active, alert, and successful business men of Madison County we find the subject of this sketch, who is extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, owns and carries on a good mercantile business, and at this writing (January 1, 1894) still fills the office of Postmaster at Earlville, to which position he was appointed in June, 1889. He is the descendant of an honored pioneer of Hamilton, his grandfather, Elijah Nash, a native of Connecticut, having emigrated from there to Madison County in the early days of its settlement, when few, if any, evidences of civilization existed, and took an active part in the transformation of a wilderness into a beautiful country, rich in valuable farms and thriving villages. The long and wearisome
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journey from New England was made overland with teams, a part of the way following a path made by blazed trees. He bought three hundred acres of heavily timbered land in Hamilton, and at once began improving a farm. There were neither railways nor canals spanning the country; and, there being no markets near, the family had to subsist on the products of the soil or on such game as could be found in the forests. Deer, wolves, and other animals were abundant; and the native Indians roamed through the pathless woods. The wife did well her part in those early times, and worked as busily as those of the sterner sex. Her deft hands spun, wove, and fashioned the garments in which the family were clothed; and she kept the cabin table supplied with food well cooked over the large open fireplace, though oftentimes the fare was simple and homely. After many years of unceasing labor Mr. Nash improved a good homestead, where he and his worthy wife spent their declining days in comfort.
Jacob Nash, father of our subject, was born in Hamilton. He was reared on the old homestead, and received his education in the early pioneer schools, but, not content with a farmer's life, in early manhood learned the trade of a stone-mason, and followed the busi- ness for many years, there being plenty for him to do in those days of building and im- proving. He was industrious and thrifty, and spent his entire life in his native town, dying at the venerable age of eighty years. His wife, formerly Abby Ann Willie, was also a native of Hamilton, and now lives in Earl-
ville at the advanced age of eighty-five years, spending the last days of her life in comfort and contentment at the home of her son. To her and her husband were born two children --- Le Roy and a daughter who died when quite young.
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