USA > New York > Madison County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Madison County, New York > Part 65
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congratulated that the passing years have left so few marks upon him, and that his nature has remained unspoiled with his accumulated wealth. Among the many souvenirs of his life he counts among the most treasured an autograph album, which was dedicated to him by his most beloved friend, James A. Gar- field, who expressed in a characteristic, warm, and friendly manner his appreciation of the man he was proud to call his comrade.
In the light of Mr. Coe's past career and high standing in his community as a man and citizen, the publication of his portrait in con- nection with this sketch is peculiarly appro- priate, and will be viewed with pleasure and interest by his many friends and acquaint- ances as that of one who has well earned the respect, esteem, and admiration of his fellow- townsmen, and deservedly ranks among the noble, high-minded, and prominent citizens of his county.
YMAN WELLS, a retired farmer of Hamilton, who has been one of the most progressive and successful of that large class of useful and honorable citi- zens, was born in the town of Nelson, Madi- son County, in November, 1821. His father, Joshua Wells, son of Joshua, was born in Rhode Island, July 17, 1771. Joshua Wells, Sr., was a Rhode Island farmer who emi- grated to Madison County, settling in the town of Brookfield on a farm, where he lived until his death, in 1831, when he was ninety years old. He was one of the hard-working, typical pioneers, who cleared his land of its
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timber, cultivated his fields, built his fences, erected his house and his barns, and per- formed his full share of the work necessary to convert the wilderness into a place fit for the habitation of civilized man. He was twice married, and reared three sons by his first wife, their names being Joshua, Gardner, and Robert.
Joshua, Jr., came to this new country with his wife, Cassandra Collins, in 1792, when he was but twenty-one years old, and she was nineteen. A year or two previously he had been out to this county, making his first journey most of the way on foot, and bring- ing with him four hundred dollars in gold. Upon this first trip he bargained for a farm in Deerfield, Oneida County. But, being in- formed by one of the settlers that the title thereto was defective, he gave up the pur- chase, and selected eighty acres in the town of Nelson, Madison County, upon which he erected a log cabin ; and it was to this farm and to this abode that in 1792 he brought his bride. His second journey was made with an ox-team, and for a considerable distance he cut his own way through the woods. Upon this eighty-acre farm he and his family lived for many years, at first his nearest grist-mill being north of Utica and about forty miles distant from his home, the journey hither and thither requiring two full days. When he began to sell his pork and wheat, he hauled these products of his farm to Albany with his team of horses. During his earlier residence in this new country the woods contained all kinds of wild beasts and game that were
indigenous to this climate and this country, such as wolves, deer, bears, and so forth, of which Mr. Wells was one of the successful hunters, the killing of wild beasts being necessary in order to protect domestic ani- mals, and that of game being needful for the replenishing of the family larder.
Being a strong and rugged man, full of energy and industry, of good habits and of sound judgment, Mr. Wells accumulated prop- erty: and soon his eighty - acre farm upon which he first settled was enlarged to one hundred and fifty acres. His first child, Palmer, born June 12, 1796, was the first white child born in the town of Nelson. He died of consumption, March 12, 1823. Joshua and Cassandra Wells had in all eleven chil- dren, of whom these grew to mature years : Lydia, George, Clark, Amanda, Eunice, Hen- ricetta, Joshua, and Betsey. The youngest died in infancy with its mother. The two still living are: Eunice, born December 12. 1808; and Joshua, born in 1811, now a re- tired farmer of West Eaton. Eunice is the widow of George Warren, of Richmond, Mo. The father was married a second time to Mrs. Mary Wellington, nee Fletcher, by whom he had five children, two sons and three daugh- ters, namely: Mary, who was a teacher for several years, and who died a single lady, aged forty-two; Jonathan, who was a farmer, and died in 1867, aged forty-eight, leaving one son; Lyman, the subject of this sketch; Emily, who married Thomas Medbury, of Madison County, and died in October, 1867, aged forty-four, leaving a family: and Ruth.
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who died February 2, 1893, aged sixty-seven. The mother of these children died August 6, 1839, aged fifty-five years. Mr. Wells died January 27, 1864, aged ninety-three, leaving a valuable estate, besides having assisted his children largely when they desired to begin life for themselves. He was a devoted mem- ber of the Baptist church, and his home was for many years headquarters in these parts for members and ministers of that denomination.
Lyman Wells received a good education in the district school, and was married February 12, 1850, to Miss Ambrosia Turner, of Erie- ville, Madison County, a daughter of Captain Benjamin and Esther (Medbury) Turner. Mr. and Mrs. Wells immediately began life for themselves on a one-hundred-and-sixty- acre farm in the town of Georgetown, upon which they continued to live and labor for sixteen years. April 1, 1866, they removed to Hamilton, and bought for one thousand two hundred dollars their present fine lot, con- taining a modest dwelling, in which they lived until 1876, commencing in 1874 to build their present large mansion, moving into it in 1876. Mrs. Wells died April 22, 1887, at the age of sixty-one; and Mr. Wells was married the second time November 25, 1890, to Mrs. Amanda Hall, nee Smith, daughter of David D. and Althea (Preston) Smith and widow of William J. Hall, the latter of whom died in 1876, at the age of forty-two, leaving one son, Fred. R., now of Chicago, married, and has one daughter. Mr. Wells still owns his fine farm in George- town, but is practically retired from active
business, and is living in his pleasant home, which occupies half a block in the charming village of Hamilton, enjoying the companion- ship of his most estimable wife, both being among the most highly respected and honored people of the place.
Mr. Wells is independent in regard to poli- tics, voting always for the man rather than the party. Mrs. Wells is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Hamilton.
LBRIDGE E. CUMMINGS, a worthy representative of the farming and stock-raising industries of Stockbridge, Madi- son County, is prosperously engaged in his chosen occupation on his homestead in Dis- trict No. 3 of that town. He is a native of this town, where he was born in April, 1839, a son of Nichols and Amelia Cummings. For biography of parents and grandparents, see sketch of Lincoln L. Cummings, which appears on another page of this "Review."
The subject of this brief memoir was edu- cated in the district and high schools of his native town, and, being brought up on a farm, became familiar in early life with the labor attendant upon an agricultural career. Hav- ing been most successful in his early under- takings, in 1885 he was enabled to buy the old home farm where he now resides and carries on a good business as a stock-grower and general farmer. He pays special atten- tion to the culture of hops, that being a very profitable crop to raise, returning sure divi- dends. He is a man of excellent reputation,
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his sterling integrity fully entitling him to the position which he holds in the estimation of the community. He is a single man ; and besides himself his household consists of his brother, Henry N., who was born in Augusta, Oneida County, November 19, 1827, and his sister, Electa A., who was born in Stock- bridge, March 8, 1835. None of them is married; but, living together in a cheerful home endeared by the recollections of child- hood, they enjoy all the comforts of domestic- ity, and cordially reciprocate the hospitality of friends and neighbors. They have one brother, Cyrus Cummings, who served in the late Civil War. He enlisted September 1, 1861, in Company G, Second Illinois Light Artillery, under command of Captain Stahl- bind, and participated in the battles of Coffey- ville and Vicksburg, besides taking an active part in many skirmishes. He was honorably discharged October 4, 1864, at Springfield, Ill. In politics Mr. Elbridge E. Cummings is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party, supporting them by all the means in his power.
LBERT H. BONNEY, a valuable citi- zen of the village of Eaton, was born February 2, 1849, in the town of Eaton, a son of Orrin and Irene (Warren) Bonney. The father of Orrin, Levi Bonney, emigrated from Connecticut, and settled in the town of Eaton in 1790, making the jour- ney from his native to his adopted State with ox-teams. He was one of the first settlers
in that town, where he selected about two hundred acres of land, erected a log house thereon, and reared a family of thirteen chil- dren, twelve of whom grew to mature years, and one of whom, Mrs. Rhoda P. Storrs, the only survivor, still lives in the village of Eaton. Levi Bonney died on his farm in January, 1855, at the age of eighty years. He was always a hard-working, honest, and peaceful citizen, a good neighbor and friend, and had many striking personal characteris- tics. He was of a sound and vigorous consti- tution; and his strength was of great use to him in pioneer days, as, when he first settled in this State, he was obliged to carry his grist to mill on his back - a distance of twenty-six miles.
Orrin Bonney, like his father before him, was a general farmer. He owned a portion of the old home farm, and lived there for many years. He reared a family of six children, four of whom are now living, namely : Char- lotte, wife of J. N. Wheeler, of the town of Eaton; Joseph W., living in Bradford County, Pa .; Melvin Orrin, also of that county ; and Albert H., the subject of this sketch. Orrin Bonney, who was an Aboli- tionist, died on his farm, at the age of eighty-four. His widow, a member of the Baptist church, lives with her daughter, Mrs. Wheeler.
Albert H. Bonney was reared and edu- cated in the town of Eaton, and at the age of twenty-two began life on his own account by purchasing a farm of forty acres. This farm he still owns, but is princi-
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pally engaged in teaming in the village of Eaton. For a period of five years he was engaged in the coal business in this place, but retired therefrom some years ago. He married in 1871 Elizabeth C. Wright, a native of the town of Fenner. They have three children, namely: Walter, born August 4, 1883 ; Charles, born May 28, 1887; and Irene, born June 11, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Bonney are members of the Baptist church, and live consistent Christian lives, being well known and highly esteemed. In politics Mr. Bonney is a good Republican. He feels the necessity of putting the best men in office, and uses his influence to this end. The Bonney family is one of the oldest and best in this part of the county; and Mr. Albert H. Bonney, the subject of this brief memoir, is a most worthy descendant of the pioneers who settled here in the early days.
ERRY WILLARD, a man of up- ward of threescore years and ten, who has worked diligently at sev- eral trades, and has now for some years suc- cessfully managed a farm in Canastota, where he lives, was born near Paris Hill, Oneida County, in 1819. The recital of changes that he has observed during his long and useful life, if made with strict and literal fidelity, would read like a fairy tale. Mr. Willard was born in the same year that the first steamship crossed the Atlantic Ocean, before the Erie Canal was constructed, and ten years before the first trip of the first locomotive in
the United States - the Stourbridge Lion, at Honesdale, Pa., August 8, 1829. He was twenty-five years old when Professor Morse successfully established telegraphic communi- cation between Baltimore and Washington in 1844 - the first telegraph line in the United States, if not in the world.
Anson Willard, father of Perry, a native of the same county, was born about 1784, and died when seventy years of age. The father of Anson Willard was Lewis Willard, a farmer by occupation, and prosperous, who died in Madison County, near South Bay, Oneida Lake, in 1828, when seventy years of age. Anson Willard, who was the only child of his parents, married Lucretia Baker, of Oneida County, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to mature years; and all married except two of the daughters. Those of this family who are still living are as follows: Jane, widow of John Palmer, of Kansas; Dubartus, a farmer of Kansas; and the subject of this sketch, who is the eldest of the three. Anson Willard died in Wisconsin about the year 1854. His widow survived him until 1886, retaining her mental faculties to a remarkable degree, dying at the home of her daughter in Kansas, at the age of ninety-one. She and her husband were of the "plain people," es- timable, useful citizens, and were consistent members of the Universalist church.
Perry Willard was reared on the home farm until he reached his fifteenth year, when he was bound out to a Mr. Knowles, of Chit- tenango, to learn the trade of carding and
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dressing cloth and the manufacture of lead pipe, serving an apprenticeship of five years. At the end of this period he became en- gaged in a large cloth manufactory, remaining there five years. Being a natural mechanical genius, very handy with tools, he has done a great deal of carpenter work, one of his last jobs being the erection of his own fine farm residence, which he built in 1889 and 1890. The farm on which he now lives he purchased in 1881, paying therefor fifty dollars per acre. His principal crop on this farm is hay, of which he cuts annually from seventy-five to one hundred tons, the yield averaging two tons per acre, though some acres yield as high as three tons. He also raises from two to four acres of onions, his rich, reclaimed swamp lands being especially well adapted to this vegetable and to celery. Of onions he has raised in one year as many as one thou- sand two hundred bushels; and he has re- cently built a house, eighteen by thirty-two feet in size, in which to cure his onions, the house having a capacity of two thousand bushels. Mr. Willard is as thorough and neat a farmer as is often seen, though on account of his age he is now practically re- tired. The butter made on his farm is sold directly to the consumers.
Mr. and Mrs. Willard have one child, a daughter, Fidelia, Mrs. David Bender. She and her husband and their two sons. Willard, sixteen years of age, and Freddie, fourteen, live at the parental home, and now take the principal charge of the farm, the boys work- ing on the farm in summer and attending
school in the winter. Mrs. Willard is a daughter of Stephen and Marmora Root Her- rick, the former of Dutchess County, and the latter of Delaware County. Mrs. Her- rick died in 1877, aged sixty-three years, her husband having died in 1871, at the age of ninety-one years. Mrs. Willard has three brothers living, namely : Alanson Herrick, a farmer of the town of Lenox, aged eighty; Henry, of Canaseraga, who served his coun- try three years during the Civil War, is now seventy-four years old, and has two daughters and one son ; and Dennison, a mechanic, who has one daughter. Mr. Willard built his present fine barns - one thirty by seventy-two feet in size, the other thirty by fifty-six -- himself. In politics Mr. Willard is a Repub- lican, and in religion a member of the Uni- versalist church. He has always been an active, hard-working man. honest and upright in his dealings with his fellow-men, and is passing the declining years of his long and useful life in the consciousness of having been true to all his obligations, so far as has lain in his power, which is as much as any man need wish to say when his life is drawing near its close.
A NDREW WHIPPLE, a deserving and well-to-do citizen of Cazenovia, born January 14. 1839, in the town of Fenner, N.Y., a son of John and Lucy (Dryer) Whipple. John Whipple, Jr., the father of Andrew, was born in the town of Fenner, was reared in this vicinity, and became the owner of two hundred and twenty-
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six acres of land. He was a prominent and influential man of his day, serving as Road Commissioner and holding other offices under Democratic administrations. He married Miss Lucy Dryer, a native of Cazenovia, by whom he had seven children, of whom six are living: Lydia, widow of Loren Ransom, of Perryville, N.Y .; Louisa, Mrs. O. Allen, of Cazenovia; Mariette, Mrs. W. D. Brown, of the town of Nelson; Helen, widow of L. D. Know, of the town of Nelson; An- drew; and Charlotte, wife of Deloss Barpus, of Wayne County. The seventh one, John Whipple, enlisted as a member of the Oneida Cavalry, and died during the late war. The father died at the age of eighty-six years in the town of Nelson, and his wife at the age of eighty-three. They were Presbyterians in religious views.
The grandfather, John Whipple, was born and grew to manhood in Rhode Island. He came with his wife to the town of Fenner, Madison County, in 1797, having the same experience as did all the pioneers of bringing their families and household effects by ox- team, and finding the land covered with forest trees, and wild game and Indians plentiful. Of course, coming into a country which had been a hunting-ground of the Six Nations of Indians, it appeared hazardous work to try to make a home or till the land among them. But the Indians were friendly; and the pio- neers were brave, attending strictly to their own affairs, cutting trees, and laying out a little farm which they had to call home. Of his two hundred acres of land John Whipple
soon made a fine farm. Seven of his fifteen children grew up to be of assistance to him in his work. He died at the age of seventy- six, and his wife at the age of seventy-two. In politics he was a Federalist, and a man who stood high in the community by reason of his sterling character and unremitting industry.
Andrew Whipple was born on his farm that he now owns, and the only education he was able to obtain was that of the district school of his town. He remained on his father's farm to work until he was able to purchase and manage it for himself. He was married December 29, 1867, to Miss Carrie Carter, who was born November 5, 1844, in the town of Sullivan, daughter of Hiram and Mary Carter. Hiram Carter was a farmer, and died when a young man. His widow resides with her son Frank in the town of Sullivan. Four children were born to them, all of whom are now living.
After his marriage our subject settled on the old home farm, living there for twenty- three years, until 1890. He was very suc- cessful in farming, having excellent crops of oats, wheat, barley, and corn, besides dealing in sheep, horses, and cows. His two hundred and twenty-six acres of land are all tillable and productive. He has good barns and stables and a fine farm-house, but for the last three years he has lived comfortably as a retired farmer in Cazenovia.
Mr. and Mrs. Whipple have had but one child, Frank, who with his wife, Mary Bur- ton, now occupies the old home farm.
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Mr. Andrew Whipple is an active and ener- getic supporter of the Democratic party, and has held the office of Supervisor for seven years. He has led an industrious and useful life, and is fully deserving of the competency he now enjoys in his days of retired ease. He has every reason to be interested in the growth and prosperity of the county in which four generations of his family have found a home. Judicious and prudent, he has made good use of his opportunities for advance- ment. He has been successful in his finan- cial undertakings, and has merited and won the esteem of his fellow-citizens.
HARLES BURTON MARSHALL, an alert and active farmer of the town of Smithfield, holds a promi- nent place among the enterprising agricult- urists of Madison County. He was born in Stockbridge, August 6, 1868, being a son of James and Susanna (Tackaberry) Marshall, natives, respectively, of Southbridge and Eaton. (For history of his paternal grand- father, see sketch of Charles Marshall, of Pratt's Hollow, which appears elsewhere in this volume.) The father of Mrs. Marshall, James Tackaberry, was born in Ireland, and emigrated thence to the United States when a young man, settling in Madison County, where he purchased and improved a farm. His last days were spent on the homestead in Pratt's Hollow.
James Marshall grew to manhood in the town of Stockbridge, residing on the home-
stead of his father, where he early became familiar with the necessary labor involved in the art of agriculture. After attaining his majority, he bought a farm, which he carried on successfully for several years. He was industrious, ambitious, and thrifty, and, as he accumulated money, invested it in other land, being at different times the owner of several farms. He did business on an extensive scale, managing affairs judiciously, and was one of the largest hop-growers in this section of the county. Having accumulated a compe- tency, he is now living, retired from the active labors of life, in the village of Oneida, well meriting the prosperity he now enjoys. Politically, he is an uncompromising Dem- ocrat. His wife died some years ago on their homestead in Stockbridge, being but fifty- two years of age when called from earthly scenes. Of the children born to them four are now living: Anna, who is the wife of F. J. Stringer, of Canastota; Melville, who is a stenographer and typewriter in New York City; Fred, who lives in Stockbridge; and Charles B.
The subject of this brief narrative grew to maturity in his native town, receiving his ele- mentary education in the public school of his district, and afterward taking a course of study at Colgate University in llamilton. In the mean while he assisted his father on the farm, there gaining the experience which fitted him for conducting successfully in later life his own agricultural operations. Desir- ing more extended acquaintance with his country, when eighteen years of age he took
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a trip through some of the Western States, but was not sufficiently attracted by anything that he saw to invest any money there. Re- turning to his native State, Mr. Marshall then purchased a farm of ninety-four acres near Oneida Castle, where he lived for some time. He subsequently bought the place he now owns and occupies, which consists of one hundred and thirty acres of excellent land, all under good cultivation. He makes a spe- cialty of raising hops, having about twenty acres growing, from which he realizes hand- some profits.
Mr. Marshall was united in marriage Feb- ruary 6, 1889, with Eunice Gill, who was born in Smithfield in 1867, a daughter of Sumner Gill. (For further parental history, see sketch of Sumner Gill, to be found on another page of this "Review.") His home- stead is a most attractive place, furnished with a convenient and commodious house and all the buildings necessary to the completion of a first-class modern country estate. The fireside of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall has been brightened by the birth of one child, Harold Gill Marshall, who was born June 22, 1892. Politically, Charles B. Marshall is a stanch Republican.
ILLIAM C. JENNINGS, an indus- trious, intelligent, and esteemed citizen of the town of Brookfield, Madison County, was born of English and American parents in Smyrna, Chenango County, N. Y., May 29, 1855. His grandfather and father emigrated from England to New York State,
and were among the pioneers of the town of Brookfield. The father lived at Smyrna a few years after his marriage, and was there engaged in running a saw-mill and cheese- box factory. Later he removed to Brookfield, and bought a farm, where he resided for about twenty years. He afterward rented a house in the village, near the store of Oliver B. York. He married Miss Mariette Stanbro, a sister of the well-known "Uncle" Peleg Stanbro, the kind-hearted, beneficent, al- ways friendly man, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume. They reared two children : William C., our subject ; and Peleg. The mother died in the town of Brookfield, the father at the house in the village above mentioned. After being educated in the dis- trict schools of Smyrna, and working in the factory there, William Jennings came with his father to Brookfield, but continued for some time working in cheese or cheese-box factories located in different parts of the Chenango Valley. He was married at the age of twenty to Miss Frances Crumb, daugh- ter of James and Eunice Crumb. They have one child, named Harley. Mrs. Jennings is a native of the town of Brookfield, and her- self and husband are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Having had no daughters of their own, they have taken into their home a young lady, to whom they have given a mother's and father's loving care.
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