USA > New York > Madison County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Madison County, New York > Part 30
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The subject of this biography was reared and educated in Hamilton, and, being an ambitious boy, with good business talent, began life as a clerk when sixteen years old, remaining in that position for five years. As soon as he attained his majority he engaged in business on his own account in Earlville, where he had formerly been employed as a clerk, purchasing a store, which he stocked with general merchandise, and has since car- ried on continuously. He has enlarged his operations from time to time, and, winning the confidence of his patrons, has been deservedly popular in all his undertakings. In addition to this, Mr. Nash has also engaged exten- sively in agricultural pursuits, and at the present time is successfully managing four different farms, following the most approved methods of the progressive modern farmer, and does a large business in general farming, hop-raising, and dairying.
Mr. Nash was united in marriage in 1866 to Louisa E. Hecox. She is a native of Che- nango County, born in the town of Sherburne, being a daughter of Jacob and Caroline (Hart- well) Hecox. Of this marriage two children have been born - Ella and Roy. Mr. Nash is an important factor in the agricultural and business interests of Earlville, straightfor- ward in his dealings, and regarded as one of
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the leading spirits of the community. Po- litically, he is a Republican, and a stanch supporter of the principles of that party, and has served as a delegate to different county and district conventions. He has been a member of the Madison County Republican Committee for a number of years. His first Presidential vote was cast for Gencral U. S. Grant. So- cially, he is a member of Earlville Lodge, No. 622, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and of Hamilton Lodge, No. 120, A. F. & A. M. Both he and his wife are estecmed members of the Episcopal church, having been one of the organizers of this so- ciety in Hamilton, and a Trustee since its formation.
DWIN RANSOM. This enterprising citizen of the town of Fenner, N. Y., was born April 8, 1848, the son of Loren and Lydia (Whipple) Ransom, both natives of the town of Fenner. We have already, in the sketch of Mrs. William Hamblin, given an account of her father, and the grand- father of our subject. He was Russell Ransom, born in Connecticut, who went to the town of Fenncr in the early days of the century, and endured all the hardships of pionecr life. His family consisted of four sons and two daughters, of whom Mrs. Ham- blin, in the town of Fenner, and Mrs. Hiram Hodge, in the town of Cazenovia, alone sur- vive. He died on his farm at the age of eighty-one years. He had been a brave sol- dier in the War of 1812. His son Loren, father of our subject, carried on general farm-
ing in the town where he was born. He was a very prominent and well-known man, and was a stanch supporter of the Republican party. In religious belief he was a Baptist, and died in that faith at Perryville, aged sixty-nine ycars. His widow still rcsides there. Of the five children born to them four are living: Edwin, our subject, who is the eldest; Dr. Charles H. Ransom, living in Syracuse; Henrietta, Mrs. L. Hamilton, liv- ing in the town of Nelson; and Marietta, wife of Dr. Miles, residing at Oneida, N.Y. Frank died at the age of five years.
Edwin Ransom spent all his boyhood days on the home farm, which he now possesses. As did all the boys of his time, he received his first education in the district schools of his village, afterward attending the Cazenovia Seminary. He was a good and dutiful son, assisting his father in the farm work, caring for him in his last days, and is now doing the same filial work for his mother. He has fifty- two acres of land, and, besides raising the different cereals, has also a dairy of nine head of full-blooded Holstein cattle, of which hc is very proud.
Mr. Ransom was married October 22, 1873, to Miss Emma Hamblin, daughter of Lewis Hamblin. She was one of a family of thir- teen children, of whom six are now living. Her parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her father was a Re- publican in politics. After his marriage our subject took his wife home to the old farm, where he has lived ever since. One child, Jessie May, born August 14, 1874, is the
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loving and affectionate daughter of the household.
Mr. Ransom is a firm believer in the poli- tics of the Republican party, and invariably supports its candidates. He is no aspirant for political office, finding in the delights of his home life and the duties of his farm more pleasure than in the turmoil of civic affairs. lle is a gentleman of unblemished integrity, and in his relations, both in religious and social life, holds, with his family, a superior and enviable position. In their religious views he and his wife are of the Methodist Episcopal belief, Mrs. Ransom being espe- cially a devoted member. In this happy household we find filial love and reverence, intelligence and culture, making a bouquet of graces that is worthy of the highest admiration.
ORRIS OMANS, a representative of one of the pioneer families of Madison County, and a practical farmer, was born in the town of Eaton, January 4, 1821, and is a son of Job and Sally (Fisk) Omans, the former of whom was born in New England, and came to the State of New York at an early day, settling in the town of Eaton upon a farm, where he died in 1829 at the age of forty-five. He and his wife had three children: Morris, the subject of this sketch; Betsey, born in 1824; and Riley, who was born in 1830, and died at the home of his brother Morris, when twenty-one years old. Mrs. Sally Omans. the wife and mother, died at the age of eighty-seven.
Morris Omans was but eight years old when his father died, and was thus compelled, while yet in his boyhood, to begin life on his own account, though he had received some little education in the district school. He worked by the month until he was twenty-three years old, then married, and began farming for him- self, his first purchase consisting of twenty- three acres of land. Since then he has from time to time added to this, until at the pres- ent time he has a farm of about fifty acres, with good improvements, his beautiful resi- dence having been built in 1860. June 9, 1844, he married Nancy Foster, who was born in Herkimer County, and is a daughter of Samuel and Mary Foster, the former of whom was a farmer, and spent his last days in the town of Eaton, dying at the age of sixty-one, his wife having died in Herkimer County at the age of thirty-nine. They were the pa- rents of seven children, all of whom are liv- ing with the exception of one. Their names are as follows: Louisa, Mary, Margaret, Nancy, Cornelia, and Elizabeth. Asa, the eldest, died at the age of seventy-two.
Mr. and Mrs. Omans have had three chil- dren, namely: Merrill died at the age of forty-three. He married Aurelia Hopkins, who bore him two children, Cassius and Clar- ence, both of whom, with their mother, reside in Cortland, N. Y. Sarah is living at home. Elsie is the wife of Leverett I .. Hamilton, a general merchant of West Eaton, and has one child. Lorenzo L. Mr. and Mrs. Omans are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a Republican. Both are
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highly respected by all who know them, and are very pleasant, genial people. Though now quite well advanced in years, and not able to perform much labor of any kind, they are still healthy and active, and are enjoying their declining years in comfort and peace, possessing the consciousness of lives spent in doing good and in bringing up their children to true and noble principles.
OBERT J. STEWART, deceased, was during his long life of usefulness a man whose influence was always on the side of right; and it is not too much to say that his community was, and is, the better for his having lived therein. He was born in Johnstown, N. Y., January 1, 1814, and was a son of John and Grace (Stewart) Stewart, the former of whom was a blacksmith by occu- pation, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died when Robert J., our subject, was but eight months old.
Robert J. Stewart secured his education in the common schools, working on the farm and attending school until he was twelve years old. Afterward he divided his time in the main between attending school and teach- ing, until he was twenty-one years old. By his own efforts he secured a good practical education, and his success in teaching is indicated by the fact that he taught six years in one school. His success lay in part in his ability to govern children, and in part in his peculiar faculty of imparting knowledge in such a way that it was not only understood,
but also easily remembered. In 1849 he removed to Oneida, where for many years he was one of the leading business men. After locating here, he was at first engaged in the drug business, being thus occupied until 1861, and afterward for two years was clerk in a drug store. Later he was for a time en- gaged as travelling salesman for a hat and cap firm, and in 1866 as a salesman for E. W. Jones, the undertaker. Then for one year he was with Chappell, Chase & Maxwell, and later travelled for Hard Brothers, manufact- urers of spring-beds and cots. He was thus engaged until the time of his death, which occurred November 20, 1882. Upon his re- moval to Oneida he united with the Presby- terian church, and on the IIth of April, 1854, was elected to the board of elders, remaining an active member of the board so long as he lived. He was at the time of his death one of the oldest members of the church, and had always labored zealously for its welfare.
Mr. Stewart was married in 1846 to Eliza- beth Stewart, a daughter of George and Mercy (Grose) Stewart, the former of whom was married twice, and was the father of eight children, three by his first wife, Mercy Grose, and five by the second, - Elizabeth the widow of our subject, being the only one now living of those by the first wife. George Stewart was a native of Scotland, and lived to be eighty-four years old. Robert J. Stewart and his wife became the parents of nine chil- dren, namely: John R., who in 1862, though scarcely sixteen years old, filled with patriotic ardor and enthusiasm, enlisted in the Union
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A. A. STODDARD.
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army as a member of Company D, Eighth New York Cavalry. His regiment was in reality one of the hardest fighting regiments of the war, taking part in many battles, among them Winchester, Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Philomont, Barbara Cross Roads, Amosville, Jefferson, Chancellorsville, Bev- erly Ford, Middleboro, Gettysburg, Will- iam's Post, Boonesboro, Funkstown, Falling Water, Brandy Station, Rappahannock, Cul- peper Court House, Raccoon Ford, Madison, Germany Ford, Oak Hill, Stephensburg, Bealeton Station, Culpeper (second), and the battles of the Wilderness. At Stony Creek Station he was taken prisoner, taken to Andersonville, and soon afterward died. It was after him that John R. Stewart Post, No. 174, Grand Army of the Republic, was named. The second and third children of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were Adelia and Adel- bert, twins. Adelia is the wife of A. R. Davis, of Oneida, and has two children, Robert and Guy Irving. Adelbert died in infancy. The fourth child is Alvin D. Stew- art, M.D., a practising physician at Port Byron. He married Emma Johnson, and has two children - Alvin and Jennie. The fifth child, Hattie Grace, is the wife of A. J. Hatch, has one child, Elizabeth Stewart, and is living with her mother. The sixth, Ella G., is living at home. The seventh, Irving Fuller, died when eleven years old. The eighth and ninth, Mary Gregory and Matilda H., twins, are both dead. Mrs. Stewart, the mother of these children, is living in her pleasant home in Oneida. She is a lady of
more than ordinary intelligence and refine- ment, and is highly esteemed by her friends and acquaintances, of whom she has a large number.
LBERT A. STODDARD, an influen- tial, well-to-do citizen of George- town, was born in Otselic, Chenango County, March 9, 1828. William Patterson's genealogy of the Stoddard family in America, to which we are indebted for the following particulars, shows him to be a descendant, in the eighth generation, of John Stoddard, the emigrant ancestor, who is known to have been a large land-holder in Wethersfield, Conn., as early as 1639. This is the line: John Stod- dard (Ist) married in 1642 Mary Foote, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Demming) Foote. He died in 1664. John Stoddard (2d), son of John (Ist), born in Wethersfield, Conn., April 12, 1636, died in 1703 or 1704, married Elizabeth Curtis. John Stoddard (3d), son of the last-named, born February 22, 1674 or 1675, married November 19, 1696, Sarah Camp, a native of Hartford, Conn., daughter of John and Mary (Sanford) Camp. Moses, son of John Stoddard (3d), was born in Wethersfield, Conn., March 20, 1700 or 1701. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Newington as a sepa- rate ecclesiastical society. His marriage in Hartford, May 18, 1732, with Ruth Goodwin, is recorded in Litchfield, Conn., whither he went as a pioneer, and where he was a Deacon in the church and a Captain in the militia. He died September 2, 1777. Aaron, son of
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Moses, was born in Litchfield, July 15, 1739. He served in the Revolutionary War, was captured by the British, and died a prisoner. A sketch of his life is contained in Kil- bourn's History of Litchfield.
David Stoddard, son of Aaron and grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Litchfield, Conn., November 15, 1773. In 1803, a few years after his marriage, he came to New York, bringing his wife and children, with household goods and other movables, in a farm-wagon drawn by oxen, and was the second settler in what is now included in Otselic, then a part of the town of German. Buying an extensive tract of land mostly covered with a heavy growth of timber, he built a house of rough logs in this sylvan solitude, and set to work, with sinewy muscles and a stout heart, to clear and cul- tivate the land. After many toilsome years he removed to Groton, and there passed the remainder of his life. His first wife, Dorcas Kent before marriage, was a daughter of Seth and Lois (Blodgett) Kent. She died on the home farm, having reared four children -- Aaron, David, Harman, and John.
Harman Stoddard, father of Albert A., having been born in Litchfield, Conn., June 27, 1797, was six years old when he was brought to the new home in Chenango County, where he grew to manhood, doing brave work in the task of making a farm out of the wooded wilds. Standing timber having then no market value, it was customary in clearing the land to roll the logs together and burn them. Carefully saving the ashes and
extracting from them by some simple process the alkali known as black salt, which met with a ready sale, they had one sure source of income even before the land could be made to yield any surplus produce. In due course of time, coming into possession of a part of the paternal acres, he built thereon a superior log house of hewn timber. Taking to him- self a wife, he made this his home till his death, in May, 1873, when he left to his heirs one of the best improved farms in the county. He married Harriet Maria Brown, daughter of Miner and Clarissa (Hayes) Brown, who was born in Stephentown, Rens- selaer County, N.Y. She died in 1888. The eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Harman Stoddard were Albert A., Clarissa Maria, Cordelia, Sarah, Mary L., Noyes W., Elvira M., and Dever.
While Albert A. Stoddard as a boy did not shirk his share of the labor on the home farm, he made the best of his opportunities for acquiring an education, attending the district school in his younger years, and later a select school for more advanced studies. His prog- ress was such that at the age of seventeen he was qualified to teach. Being a youth of energy and decision, he started forth to seek a situation in a neighboring district. The trustees to whom he applied inquired what salary he expected. He answered, "Ten dol- lars a month and board," thinking that a suffi- ciently low price. Refusing their offer of nine dollars a month, he went on to the next district. With the intention of coming down a little if need be, he here asked for fifteen
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dollars a month and board. Two of the trus- tees were willing to pay thirteen dollars, in case the third, who was not present, should agree. The applicant was not one to stand still and wait on an uncertainty. He passed on to another district, and engaged himself for eleven dollars a month. Here he had the rich and varied experience of "boarding 'round." With money earned in teaching he paid his expenses for several terms at De Ruyter Institute and Norwich Academy. At the time of his marriage he worked at farm- ing, and kept a public house in Otselic. At length purchasing a part of his grandfather's farm, he devoted himself, with his accustomed energy, intelligence, and skill, to agriculture, in various branches of which he was success- fully engaged until 1870, when he removed to his present home in Georgetown. In 1851 he married Julia A. Hare, a native of George- town, daughter of William P. and Betsey (Bartlett) Hare. Their only child, J. Floyd, is now engaged in mercantile business in Georgetown. He married Nettie Whitmore, and has two children, Lonnelle and Winni- fred Marie.
In politics Mr. Stoddard has always been a Democrat, and faithful to the principles of that party as he interprets them. He cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852. He was a strong Union man during the late war. The accompanying lines, evi- dently struck off at a white heat, show his ardent patriotism, his loyalty to the princi- ples of freedom, his intense abhorrence of the high crime of treason : -
OTSELIC, JUNE 10, 1861.
Our flag is insulted by traitorous kindred, Our proud constellation is rended in twain : Our banner divided by madmen now misled Shall yet be united in triumph again.
We fight for our country, our nation, our honor ; We strike but for Union, our freedom and laws. Our country -the eyes of the world are upon her : We'll strike in our strength, for just is our cause.
That banner shall yet blaze in its full glory O'er each rebel city America bears ; And traitors shall tremble while reading the story, The just execration their foul treason wears.
Let freedom proclaim to the world that her minions Are countless as the leaves of the forest, all told ; And Union, though scouted, still holds her dominions, And bids mad defiance to treason so bold.
For each traitorous neck we have woven a halter, We'll hang them as high as Haman of old; While our fortunes, our lives, our all, on the altar Of Union, we pledge from the depths of the soul.
Mr. Stoddard has ably filled various offices of public trust. He served as Supervisor in Otselic in 1860 and 1861, and represented Georgetown two years as a member of the Madison County Board of Supervisors. He has also served a number of years as Town Superintendent of Schools and as Justice of the Peace, being first elected to the last- named office in 1873. He was also Notary Public for ten years. He was Postmaster from 1884 to 1888. In 1866 he joined the Masonic fraternity, and was a prime mover in the organization of Georgetown Lodge, No. 726, and was elected its first Master.
The portrait of Mr. Stoddard, which accom- panies this article, shows him as he is, a man
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of strong and resolute character and firm dis- position, but, withal, of a kindly heart. He and his amiable wife are never so happy as when enjoying the society of their two little grandchildren, whose bright and interesting personalities have made them favorites with all who know them; and among the happy American homes of Madison County may well be classed that of Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard.
PRANCIS T. PIERCE. Among the enterprising and progressive agricultu- rists of Madison County the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch easily occupies a leading position. He is a descendant of one of the original settlers of Hamilton, where he was born March 4, 1837, on the farm where he now lives, and which was also the birthplace of his father. His paternal great-grandfather was a resident of New York, and served in the French and Ind- ian War, dying soon after from disease con- tracted while in the army, leaving a widow, in limited circumstances, with five children. His eldest son, Theophilus Pierce, grand- father of our subject, was born in Canaan, Columbia County, and was but seventeen years of age when his father died, and the care of the family devolved on him. He was faithful to his duty, and found a home for each before he settled in life. He married Sarah Beach, who was also a native of Colum- bia County; and they continued to reside in Canaan for several years thereafter. In 1794 a little band of people, consisting of five
families from Columbia, one of them being that of Theophilus Pierce, journeyed with teams across the country to Hamilton, which was then included in Herkimer County, and was a howling wilderness, Deacon Payne and his family being the only residents of the place. Mr. Pierce selected five hundred acres of land belonging to Dominick Lynch, of New York City, going there to make his pay- ment. He went as far as Albany on horse- back, thence, by sloop, down the picturesque Hudson River to the city. The deed which he received was written on parchment, bear- ing date of October 28, 1794, and is now in the possession of our subject. One-half of the land he sold to his brother Benjamin, and on the other half erected a log house, which the family occupied for several years, and in which the father of our subject was born. He cleared a good farm, and in later years built a frame house and convenient farm buildings, residing there until his death, in 1841. His wife died in 1838. They reared a family of five children - William, Lucinda, Alanson, Sally, and Alvah. The three eldest were born in Canaan, and Sally was the first white child born in Hamilton.
Alvah Pierce, father of our subject, was born on the home farm in Hamilton, July 20, 1800. He was educated in the pioneer schools, and when a young man was employed as a teacher two terms. He always took great interest in educational matters, and was for fifty years Treasurer of the Baptist Educa- tional Society of New York, being also a member of the Board of University Trustees.
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He succeeded his father in the ownership of the homestead, and here spent his entire life, with the exception of three years in Fabius, where he was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness and milling. He was a man of marked business ability, and one of the organizers of the Hamilton Bank in 1853, being Vice- President of the same till 1875, and President from that time until the year preceding his death, which occurred December 26, 1891, he being probably the oldest bank President in the United States. In politics he was for- merly a Whig, but a Republican from the formation of the party. Both he and his estimable wife were valued members of the Baptist church, which he served as Deacon for fifty consecutive years. The maiden name of his wife was Caroline Whitmore. She was born in Wilbraham, Mass., June 26, 1804, and died January 7, 1892. She was the daughter of Francis and Sally (Stebbins) Whitmore, early pioneers of Madison County. To Alvah Pierce and his wife were born two children : Harriet L., who married Henry O. Wheeler, and died in 1882; and Francis T.
The latter, the subject of this brief biog- raphy, received his education in his native town, attending the district school, the acad- emy, and Hamilton College, ranking well in his studies in each. He succeeded his father in the ownership of the old homestead, which has always been his place of abode. In 1863 he was united in marriage to Miss Louise Burchard, daughter of Sylvester and Anna (Platt) Burchard. She was born in Remsen, Oneida County, and died at the family home-
stead in October, 1876, leaving an only child, Frank, whose birth occurred February 28, 1868. He was a studious, ambitious boy, and, after being graduated from the public schools, pursued his studies in Colgate Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in the class of 1888. He was a young man of rare personal merit, a general favorite among his fellow-students; and his death, January 4, 1892, after four years of invalidism, was a sad blow to his father and friends.
Mr. Pierce is a worthy representative of the pioneer family whose name is honored throughout this section, the Pierces having taken an active part in the development of the county, and contributed materially to the advancement and welfare of Hamilton. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the Baptist church, with which he united in 1868, his wife having been a mem- ber of the same denomination from her early youth ; and to its support he has always given liberally and cheerfully.
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