USA > New York > Madison County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Madison County, New York > Part 48
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Mr. Marsh takes great interest in the prog- ress of education, and was Secretary of the Board of Education for six years. He is a member of that branch of the Baptist society
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called the First-day Baptists. In his politi- cal affiliations he is a Republican, and votes conscientiously for the candidates of his party. He takes especial delight in his well- filled library ; and, being a man of refinement and excellent literary taste, the best works are found there. He has labored industri- ously, and acquired a fine property, and is now enjoying the fruits of his early toil amid hosts of friends, who value and appreciate him.
AMES SIMS, a retired farmer and teacher of Cazenovia, now onc of its oldest inhabitants, was born in this town, July 9, 1802. He comes of a long- lived race, said to be of Scotch origin. So far as known, the first of the family in Amer- ica was John Sims, born September 14, 1675, at Jamestown, Va., whence he migrated to Andover, Conn., where he died March 6, 1763. The next in line, William Sims, son of John, was born in Connecticut in Febru- ary, 1706, and died in 1796. Edward, son of William, also a native and a lifelong resident of that State, was born June 19, 1745, and died March 20, 1844. He married Mary S. Clark. She was born in 1744, and died in 1771.
William Sims, the second of that name, born in Andover, Conn., January 9, 1770, son of Edward and Mary S. (Clark) Sims, came to New York, when a young man, in 1793, and was one of the first settlers in Madison County. Buying of Colonel Linck- laen in Cazenovia, at one dollar and fifty
cents per acre, a tract of land, much of it covered with forests, and abounding with game, as deer and bcars - wolves also being objectionably near and numerous - he felled trees, put up a log house, and proceeded to clear and cultivate the soil. Here was his home till his death, December 13, 1864, at the venerable age of ninety-five years, lack- ing twenty-seven days. His wife, Deborah Weaver, was born in Pownal, Vt., April 26, 1779, and died February 19, 1859. She was the mother of four children, of whom James, the subject of this sketch, was the first-born, his brother John W. the latest. The others were daughters, Louisa and Phebe.
The pioneer schools in which James Sims received his primary education were taught in log houses, the furniture of which was of the most primitive kind, and the course of study limited to a few branches. Happily, his school privileges went beyond these. He attended an academy at Pompey Hill, and later one at Hamilton, and at the age of eighteen assumed the functions of a teacher. For the next ten years his time was divided between the school-room and his father's farm, on which he worked during planting and har- vesting. He taught two years in Onondaga County, and afterward in Cazenovia and Nel- son. During his youth and young manhood, in the early part of the century, Albany, one hundred miles distant, was the market for farm produce and the place to buy household supplies, the round trip requiring eight or nine days. There being many hotels along the route, the farmers used to carry their pro-
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visions with them, and only pay for their lodging and feed for their teams. James Sims made frequent trips to Albany while helping on his father's farm. The children were clothed in homespun of the mother's own spinning and weaving.
James Sims was married March 22, 1829, to Sabra Blodgett, of Penfield, Monroe County, where she was born December 28, 1803. She died March 9. 1859, leaving eight children - Caroline, Louisa, Daniel, Eliza- beth, Sarah, Harriet, Helen, and Josephine. Mr. Sims has one grandson living bearing his name - James Edward, son of Daniel. At the time of his marriage Mr. Sims bought a farm in School District No. 9, town of Cazenovia. A practical farmer, he was here actively engaged in various branches of agri- culture till 1860, when he moved into the village, where he has since lived in well- earned, leisurely retirement. He cast his first vote for John Quincy Adams. His politi- cal principles are those of the Republican party, which he joined at the time of its formation. The family attend the Baptist church.
ARVIN E. MILLIKIN, attorney- at-law, residing in Earlville, Madi- e son County, and holding a fine position among his professional brethren, is a native of Otsego County, his birth having taken place at Burlington. His grandfather, William Millikin, was born on the wave- washed coast of Block Island, where, in com- mon with the natives of the isle, he first
began earning his living as a fisherman. Finding this a precarious business, he deter- mined to leave the sea, and seek some new occupation. Turning his face westward, he journeyed on until he reached Burlington, where he secured a tract of wild timber land, from which after years of toil he cleared a farm. Being a sturdy, industrious man, frugal in his ways, possessing good manage- ment, and blessed with a capable wife, he prospered well, and accumulated a goodly sum of money. To him and his wife were born seven children - Benjamin, Hannah, Polly, Rebecca, Elector, John L., and Philinda.
John L., father of our subject, was a native of Burlington, born in March, 1821. His boyhood and youth were spent on his father's farm, where he became familiar with agricult- ure in all its branches, but did not decide to adopt farming as his life occupation. When a young man, he began to deal in real estate in a small way, and, meeting with good suc- cess, enlarged his operations until he became one of the most extensive dealers in realty in the county, and is now one of the largest land-holders in Central New York. In early life he married a most estimable woman, Rowella Rowland, who was born in Sher- burne, Chenango County, being a daughter of Eli Rowland. While yet a comparatively young woman, with many years of usefulness and happiness before her, she was called to her heavenly home, her death occurring in IS78.
To Mr. and Mrs. Millikin was born one
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child only, Marvin, the subject of our sketch. Much attention was paid to his early educa- tion; and, after leaving the public schools of his native town, he attended the seminary at Whitestown. At the early age of seventeen years he began the duties of a teacher, and while still engaged in that profession com- menced the study of law. Mr. Millikin afterward entered the office of Delos Atkyns, a prominent lawyer of Sherburne, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1867. He con- tinued practising in that village until 1870, when he removed to Camden in Oneida County, remaining there a period of five years. In 1892, seeing a fine opening for one of his profession, he came to Earlville, where he is meeting with a success that fully justified his expectations. He is already in possession of a good practice, and is held in high esteem professionally and socially.
TENRY S. PHELPS, deceased, was of English origin, and was born in the town of Eaton, Madison County, N. Y., September 16, 1819. He was a son of John Phelps, who was born in Wilbraham, Mass. Elijah Phelps, the father of John, was a native of Lyme, Conn., and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was at Valley Forge with Washington, and was a brave soldier and a true patriot. He never failed to observe the anniversary of Indepen- dence, and, if in no other way, by firing off his old war musket and relating to his grand- children stories of the war, inspiring them
with his own ardent love of country. He and his wife, Mary Gibbs, also a native of Lyme, Conn., spent their last days with their chil- dren in the town of Eaton, this county. John Phelps was born in Massachusetts, and came to Eaton in 1811, where he followed his trade of carpentry. He was a man of great energy, erected many buildings in his town and vicin- ity, and also carried on farming. He died at the age of forty-six. His wife, Betsy Ayer, was a native of New England, and died in Chautauqua County, New York.
Henry S. Phelps at the age of twelve was called upon by the death of his father to make his own way in the world, an equipment of industrious habits enabling him to do so successfully. At the age of seventeen he began the trade of harness-making, which he followed until 1848, when he returned to his native town, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Morrisville, continuing thus em- ployed until 1880. He was a man of sterling integrity, an active and useful citizen, and occupied many positions of public trust in his community. His death occurred May 16, 1891. He was married in Tennessee, June 29, 1854, to Mary Austin, who was of Eng- lish and Scotch ancestry. She was born in the town of Homer, Cortland County, N. Y., .November 18, 1823. Her father, Asa Aus- tin, was the son of Joab and Eleanor (Kel- logg) Austin, of Sheffield, Berkshire County, Mass. Joab Austin died in Sheffield, and his wife, Eleanor (Kellogg) Austin, in Homer, N. Y. Asa Austin came to the State of New York in 1801, to practise surveying and to
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seek a home. His choice was in the town of Homer, where he purchased land, erected a saw-mill, and later a flouring and grist mill, which he operated many years. He removed to McGrawville, in the same county, ten years previous to his death. The maiden name of Mrs. Phelps's mother was Susannah Stewart.
She was born in Colerain, Mass. Her father was Charles Stewart, who married Mary Hulbert in 1783, and came to Truxton, Cortland County, N. Y., in 1795. The win- ter after her husband had located a new home Mrs. Stewart, a gentle, refined woman, with five children, the oldest of whom was Susan- nah, aged nine years, made the journey with an ox - team. They were six weeks on the way. Mr. Stewart bought a large tract of land, and in a few years built mills, and fur- nished transportation for his own and adjoin- ing towns, sending their products to Albany, to Salt Point (now Salina), and to other new settlements, his line of teams returning laden with merchandise. In his later years he removed to Michigan, where he died.
Mrs. Phelps received her education in the district school and in the academies of Homer and Cortland. She began teaching while yet in her teens, and taught in the towns of Homer and Owasco and in the vil- lages of Skaneateles and Cortland, and for seven years in the State of Tennessee. She and her husband reared two children, Susan- nah and Henry. The latter attended Cornell University, and adopted dentistry as his pro- fession, but on account of ill-health was
obliged to relinquish his studies, and died in 1886, at the age of twenty-six. Susannah prepared for college at Morrisville and at Cazenovia Seminary, and graduated at Cornell University with the class of 1880. She is the wife of Professor Simon Henry Gage, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Physiol- ogy in that university. They have one son, Henry Phelps Gage.
R. H. CLIFT BROWN, a well- known medical practitioner of the town of Brookfield, N. Y., was born in that place February 14, 1857. In 1791 Elder Simeon Brown, the great-grandfather of our subject, came to Madison County from Stonington, Conn., and purchased a tract of land near the town of Brookfield. He girded the trees around the place to mark it out, and then returned to Connecticut for his family. In the fall of 1792 he returned, his wife riding horseback all the way, the rest of the family, with the household goods, travelling in ox-carts. He cleared the land and made a farm; and here the grandfather, Justus H., was born. He was the youngest son, and was brought up on the farm, where he remained until his death. The eldest son located in the western part of the town on another tract of land.
The father of our subject was named Stephen, and, like all the boys of that day, divided his time between the log school-house - where he received the rudiments of educa- tion - and work on the farm. His son, H.
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Clift, of whom we write, was reared at home until the age of twenty-five, and during this time attended the district schools of his town and the Brookfield Academy, going from there to the Alfred University in Allegany County. After leaving the latter institution, he taught for some time, and prepared him- self to enter the University of Syracuse, from which he was graduated in 1881 as Doctor of Medicine. In August of that year he began practising in South Brookfield, and remained there for four years, after which he removed to Brookfield, where, by reason of his excep- tional skill, intimate knowledge of his profes- sion, and upright personal character, he has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice.
He was married at the age of twenty-one to Miss Caroline Babcock, daughter of Gideon H. and Lydia Babcock. The Doctor and his wife are the parents of one child, a bright, intelligent, and interesting boy, in whom their hearts and hopes are centred. Dr. Brown is an honored member of the Madison County Medical Society, having served it both as President and Vice-President. He is also one of its Board of Censors. The family attend the Seventh-day Baptist church, and are among its active and influential work- ers. In political belief the Doctor is affili- ated with the Republican party, having an accurate knowledge of its past history, and believing that its doctrines and principles, when properly applied, are conducive to the best interests of the nation. His profes- sional practice is not confined to his own
vicinity, but extends into surrounding towns ; and he is often called in consultation in complicated and difficult cases. He is untir- ing in his attention to the needs of his patients, and has the affectionate regard of many a former sufferer whom, by his skill and with divine blessing, he has raised from a bed of pain to an active participation in life's duties once more. Counting back to an ancestry in which are found the pioneer settlers of his town, and still farther back the sturdy yeomen of New England, one can easily understand those well-balanced quali- ties of stability, energy, and high intelli- gence that characterize our subject, and obtain for him that prominence in medical and social circles which he holds.
Dr. Brown has a clean and honorable record as a citizen; and the genial qualities of him- self and wife, who is a lovely, refined, and accomplished lady, make their pleasant home an attractive centre for their hosts of friends.
FRANK D. SEYMOUR was born May P 27, 1857, in the town of Lebanon, N. Y., and from very early years showed him- self to be of a studious disposition. He had been already some time at school, when at the age of ten his parents removed to Hamil- ton, N.Y., in which place he attended the union graded schools for five years; but his too close application to study caused his health to break down, and he was obliged to leave school. About that time his father's family moved back to the old homestead farm
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in Lebanon. Here he adopted farming as his profession, also commencing to teach at the age of seventeen, following the latter occupa- tion during the winter, and working on the farm in the summer.
In September, 1880, he was married to Miss Nettie L. Gates, daughter of Samuel C. Gates. The latter was born, brought up, and resided on the farm now owned by our sub- ject. He moved to Hamilton in the spring of 1881, and died there in 1888. His widow, Celia (Billings) Gates, is still living, and resides in Hamilton. Mr. and Mrs. Seymour have one son and three daughters, who brighten the domestic fireside with their affection and cheerfulness. They are Her- bert G., Bessie A., Bertha L., and Blanche C. After his marriage Mr. Seymour taught for two or three winters, but has since de- voted himself exclusively to agricultural pur- suits. He is a strong and ardent Republican in politics, and has held many local offices. He was for a time Poor-master of his town, and then for two terms held the office of Assessor, serving with much satisfaction to his party and fellow-citizens. He has also been Inspector of Elections for several terms. and has always taken a lively interest in the public affairs of his town.
Mr. Seymour is a man of unusual intelli- gence and of deep thought, passing much of his time in his library, well stocked with standard works, which are his choicest friends and companions. His profession as a teacher, which he followed for so many years, served to broaden his views of life; and in his capac-
ity of teacher he made a favorable and last- ing impression on the minds of those so fortu- nate as to be his pupils. Always interested in the cause of temperance, and clearly seeing the dreadful evils resulting from the sale of intoxicating liquors, he has ever been devoted to the noble work of rescuing his fellow-men from the pitiful condition into which they have fallen from becoming slaves to their acquired appetites, and has long been an active member of the Rechabites, a temper- ance organization of his town. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars, and is identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, occupying a prominent social position among them. Mr. Seymour is a liberal and public-spirited citi- zen, doing all in his power to promote the welfare of his town and county, and one who naturally takes a deep and absorbing interest in the invaluable educational privileges which are open to every child in America.
OHN W. TORPY was born March 19, 1833, in Cazenovia, N.Y. His father, J. F. Torpy, who now resides with his son, at the age of ninety-three, was born May 12, 1802, also in Cazenovia. The ear- liest member of the family to settle in the State of New York was John Torpy, who took up forest land, which he cleared, built his home, and carried on farming. He married Miss Polly White, daughter of Joel White, of Cazenovia. During the War of 1812 he was pressed into service by the United States
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government to carry supplies with his team to Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. Later in life he moved from the home which he had built to Sandy Creek, on Lake Ontario, where he passed the remainder of his days. After his death the family returned to Cazenovia. The father of our subject married Miss Polly Moore, daughter of William Moore, of the town of Nelson, N. Y .; and their union was graced by two children, Daniel M. and John W.
Although John W. Torpy was born in Caze- novia, he early removed to Manlius, N. Y., and attended the district schools. The fam- ily afterward going to Georgetown, N.Y., he finished his studies in the schools of that town, and received a plain but solid educa- tion. Believing that in the profession of farming the most independent life and peace- ful existence could be found, Mr. Torpy adopted it as his vocation; and on his beauti- ful farm of one hundred and twenty acres of fine, rolling land, with its handsome barns, stables, and commodious dwelling-house, he finds a contentment and happiness to which few denizens of the city can attain. He has an additional source of contentment in his rural home in the person of his pleasant and amiable wife, who was formerly Miss Abigail Barrett, daughter of Joseph and Clarissa (Barber) Barrett, of Amsterdam, N.Y. As into all lives some shadows must come, Mr. and Mrs. Torpy have experienced theirs in losing one of their children, who died in infancy. They have reared three sons and one daughter; namely, Willis E., Francis,
Homer, and Cora. Willis married Miss Lou- isa Jones, daughter of Morey Jones, of Nel- son ; and they have one son, Ray. Francis resides in Syracuse, N.Y. Homer, a young man of great charm of character and person, resides at home, and with his sister Cora con- tributes in every way to the happiness of his parents.
Mr. Torpy has on many occasions fulfilled his duties as a citizen by acting with judg- ment and decision in the grand juries of the courts of his place. He has also served as District Trustee, and has held other local offices. As a voter, he casts his ballot with the Democratic party, believes in its princi- ples, and strongly supports its candidates. In their religious proclivities Mr. Torpy and family are Methodists, and attend the church of that denomination at Erieville, giving evi- dence in their lives of the sincerity of their belief. Socially, Mr. Torpy is connected with organizations pertaining to agricultural interests, and has closely identified himself with the Grange Lodge, No. 605, of Erie- ville, N.Y. He is a wide-awake and patri- otic American, and in all his duties as a citizen has always proved himself the "right man in the right place."
OHN MARSHALL TUFTS was born in Ava, Oneida County, N. Y., March 18, 1847. Hs grandfather was Sam- uel Tufts, of Boston, Mass .; and his father, John Marshall Tufts, Sr., was born in Can- ada, and moved to Verona, N.Y., where he
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pursued the occupation of farming for many years. His wife was by maiden name Miss Maria Franklin, of Remsen. Oneida County, N. Y., whom he married September 20, 1838. He died November 30, 1886, at the age of sixty-nine years. Our subject was one of nine children, of whom five are now living, namely: Helen M., the widow of S. W. Cheever, and residing in Clarksville, Ia .; Martha Ann, wife of W. B. Osgood, of Verona; James Franklin, a graduate of the class of 1872, Hamilton College, and now an eminent lawyer of Atchison, Kan., where he has lived for seventeen years; Charles Iler- bert, a farmer, living at Vernon, Oneida County ; and John Marshall.
The latter, of whom we write, was reared to farm work, and also received a liberal educa- tion at the Vernon Academy. He started in life for himself at the early age of nineteen, hiring his father's farm for two years. He was married December 13, 1870, to Miss Lydia A. Fish, of Vernon, who was born in Augusta, N. Y., December 13. 1848, and is the daughter of David and Catherine Fish, both of Oneida County. Her father died Sep- tember 30, 1857, leaving his widow with five children, of whom two daughters and one son survive, namely: R. J. Fish, a prominent lawyer of Oneida; Mary, wife of Henry Jacobs, of Vernon ; and Lydia, wife of the subject of this sketch. The mother still lives at Vernon.
Mr. and Mrs. Tufts moved from Vernon to Stockbridge in 1873. and in the latter place carried on general farming on a place of fifty
acres for fifteen years. In February, 1888, they came to Wampsville, where they now live on a magnificent farm of two hundred and fourteen acres, the property of Mrs. Marion Moore, of Clinton, Oneida County, to whom they pay a rent of nine hundred dollars per year. This farm is considered one of the finest in the town, it being all good and highly productive land. Mr. Tufts has re- cently erected on this place a splendid barn, which cost about two thousand dollars. It is fifty by ninety-five feet, with stone basement, and room for stabling fifty-seven cows. He carries on an extensive milk business, sell- ing over three hundred quarts per day to the citizens of Oneida. His farming is also on a similarly large scale, he having forty acres of sweet corn alone for canning, and using the stalks for ensilage in his silo, the latter being twenty by twenty feet, thus showing his provident nature in providing for his cattle in winter. He also keeps six fine horses, which are splendid specimens of equine strength and endurance. Mr. Tufts has improved this property very much since he rented it, and Mrs. Moore is fortunate in possessing such an enterprising tenant.
Mr. and Mrs. Tufts have been blessed with five children, namely: Robert James, a far- mer and milk-dealer near Wampsville, who married Miss Delia Stisser - they have one son, Myron; Arthur John, residing in Utica; Mary Louise, a graduate of the class of 1892, Oneida High School, who is now a teacher; Kate M .. aged fifteen, a student at the Oneida High School; and Ernest Marshall, aged nine
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years. Mrs. Tufts began teaching school at the age of sixteen years, and was a successful teacher up to the time of her marriage, and has since kept herself in touch with the intel- lectual progress of the day. In politics Mr. Tufts is a Republican, and a very firm ad- vocate of the principles of his party. The family are Presbyterian in religion, and give evidence in their lives of the sincerity of their Christian belief. Mr. and Mrs. Tufts have many warm friends, who rejoice in their prosperity and wish for them increased success.
D ERALZMAN HASKELL, a lead- ing citizen of Cazenovia, a man of affairs, and especially interested in educational matters, was born in the town of Nelson, December 31, 1819. He comes from a line of Haskells of English ancestry, sev- eral generations of whom lived in Massachu- setts. His great-grandfather Haskell was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and died from disease contracted in the service. His grandfather, Simeon Haskell, was one of four brothers who served in the War of the Revolution. He was on Long Island at one period, and at the time of the evacuation was on picket duty, when General Lafayette rode up, and, informing him of the departure of the British troops, took him on his horse to the boat. He was a mason by trade. The removal of his family from Massachusetts to New York State, about the year 1800, was made by team.
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