USA > New York > Chenango County > Book of biographies : this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Chenango County, New York > Part 42
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Adrian Van Woert, the grandfather of our sketch, was born in Albany, N. Y., and was a
boy of twelve years, when he went to Otsego with his father. He made farming a life- long occupation, and accumulated consider- able wealth, being an energetic worker, and a shrewd manager. He owned a farm of 200 acres and raised large quantities of grain. In 1850, he moved to Michigan and located near Kalamazoo, remaining there until his death. His wife, Elizabeth Young, was a daughter of David Young, who lived near Otsego, and their union was blessed by the birth of ten children, as follows: Mary, who died at an early age; Jacob, the father of our subject; David, deceased; Sarah, the wife of Edward Chidester, lives in Kalama- zoo, Mich .; Mary, deccased, was the wife of James Scrambling; Rachel, relict of Artemis Gamet, lives in Kalamazoo County, Mich .; Margaret, deccascd; Andrew lives near Jackson, Mich .; Cornelia, deceased; and Joseph, also deceased.
Jacob Van Woert was born May 13, 1817, in Delaware County, just across the river from the old homestead in Otsego County. When he was four years of age, his father moved to Otsego, and there he grew to man- hood. After his marriage, he located in the town of Milford, where he engaged in farm- ing. In 1848, he moved to Chenango County. and settled in what was then South Bain- bridge, but now the town of Afton. After twenty-eight years of active work on the farm, he retired to the village of Afton, where he is now enjoying a well carned rest. His companion and helpmeet in life was Sarah Gile, to whom he was married Decem- ber 19, 1839. She was a daughter of Andrew and Ruth (Knott) Gile, who lived near One-
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onta, N. Y. Three children were born to them : Delos, the subject of this personal sketch ; Mary, who was born in the town of Milford, October 9, 1846, and died at Afton, May 21, 1884,- she was the wife of James H. Nickerson, an extensive milk shipper, whose biography will be found elsewhere in this book; Egbert was born in the town of Afton, December 15, 1852, and died there, July 17, -1871. Jacob Van Woert is one of the oldest citizens of Afton, and during his residence there has ever identified himself with its interests, and has done much to promote the public welfare. In political views, he is a Republican, and has held a number of im- portant offices; he has been town collector, commissioner of highways, and served one year as county poormaster. In religious affairs, he takes an active interest, and for the past twenty years has been an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Afton. Although he is now past eighty years of age, Mr. Van Woert is remarkably hearty, and has the ap- pearance of one many years younger.
Delos Van Woert was four years of age when his father moved to Afton, and it has since been his home. He went through the public schools, took a two years' course in the academy at Norwich, and graduated from the State Normal School at Albany, in 1866. As a young man he was ambitious and energetic, devoting his whole time to business. For eight years he taught school in the winters and farmed in the summers. He then devoted his time exclusively to farming, and carried it on successfully, until 1889, when he moved to the village of Afton, where he was appointed postmaster, under
President Harrison. He served from 1889 to 1893, and was pronounced the best post- master Afton ever had. At the expiration of his term of office, he clerked for two years, and then engaged in his present business, that of fire insurance agent. He is industri- ous and has the necessary tact for a success- ful insurance inan. He is well educated, and well informed on all subjects of the day, and is a pleasing conversationalist. He is very popular in Afton, and does a large amount of business. He takes an active interest in political affairs, and has served the Republi- can party in a number of offices. He is looked upon as a party leader in Afton, and has been a delegate to many county conven- tions. He has served in an official capacity as town assessor for thirteen successive years, and in 1896, was appointed justice of the peace to fill a vacancy. A great deal of his time has been devoted to the educational interests of the village, and he is president of the board of education. Mr. Van Woert was joined in Hymen's bonds, November 1, 1868, with Esther P. Greene, a daughter of Truman L. Greene of Afton. One child, Anna Mary, was born to make their home happy.
R EV. JOHN A. HART, pastor of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church of the village of Norwich, this state, was born in Albany, N. Y., September 29, 1851. He graduated from the Christian Brothers' Academy of Albany, N. Y., in 1870;
NEWTON D. BARTLE.
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graduated in 1874 from the Joliette College, Canada; and then entered St. Joseph's Theo- logical Provincial Seminary of Troy, N. Y., from which institution he was ordained a priest in December, 1877. He was then placed in charge of the Catholic Church, at Coopers- town, N. Y., and remained there one year, when he was sent to take charge of St. Pat- rick's Church in Troy, during the absence of the regular pastor. In all, he had charge of five different parishes before he became assistant of the church at Amsterdam, N. Y ; later he became assistant of the church at Sar- atoga, where he remained two years, and then was sent back to Troy to take charge of St. Mary's Church. His first regular pastorate was Boonville, N. Y., where he was situated five years. January 22, 1888, he was ap- pointed to St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church of Norwich, N. Y., a position he has acceptably filled up to the present time. Shortly after he took charge of his new church, it suffered from fire, which spread rapidly, and despite the hard work done by the fire department, the building was a com- plete loss. Although a stranger to his con- gregation, he soon had money enough sub- scribed for the erection of a new church, and the parish not only has a very handsome structure, but one of the finest choirs in the county.
Father Hart is a genial, whole-souled gentleman, who is sure to create a favorable impression in whatever surroundings he is placed as a true Christian, who thoroughly believes in the brotherhood of man. He is a man of much more than ordinary ability, and we feel that we are but conservative in at-
tributing the present condition of the Catholic Society and its position among the other religious bodies of Chenango County to his efforts.
EWTON D. BARTLE. The history of every community of progress and enterprise always includes the bi- ographies of certain of its enterprising citi- zens, who have made themselves especially prominent in forwarding the growth and development of the place; these men of in- domitable will and unconquerable energy almost invariably have arisen from honorable though humble walks of life, and have sur- mounted the ladder of success step by step till they reach a position that is the cynosure of the eyes of their fellow-citizens. To this class of citizens, whom the people denomi- nate as self-made, we must surely include Mr. Bartle, who conducts a mercantile store in Guilford, N. Y., and whose portrait we take pleasure in presenting on the opposite page. His record offers a splendid example of what may be accomplished in an uphill struggle by one to whom no discouraging obstacle offers a complete barrier to progress.
The subject of this sketch was born in the village of Oxford, N. Y., May 10, 1842, and is a son of John W. and Arvilla ( Hill ) Bartle. John Bartle, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Connecticut ; in 1803 he came to Oxford and located on a tract of land con- sisting of 100 acres, which he purchased from the government. Hle erected a large public house, which he continued to run until the
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time of his death. He was the father of a large family of children, all of whom lived to an advanced age. They were as follows: John W., the father of our subject ; Phillip, deceased, was a merchant of Union, N. Y .; Andrew, deceased, was a farmer in Tioga County, N. Y .; Alanson F., deceased, was a merchant a short time in the village of Ox- ford, then went to New York City, where he ran a commission store, but spent his later days in the village of Oxford; Rosanna, the wife of David Lyons of Greene, N. Y .; Eme- line, deceased ; and Hannah, deceased.
John W. Bartle was born on the old home- stead, and lived there all his life, following the vocation of a farmer. Beginning as a farm renter, he demonstrated the possibilities af- forded our American youths, and is to-day in the enjoyment of a well-earned competency. He has succeeded in paying off the other heirs, and, besides owning the old home- stead, also possesses additional land to the amount of 400 acres. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat. He was united in marriage with Ar- villa Hill, daughter of Chauncey Hill, a farmer in the town of Smithville, N. Y. To Mr. and Mrs. Bartle were born the following children : Ranford D., a well-to-do farmer in Delmar, N. Y .; Edwin D., deceased, was a farmer on the old homestead ; John S, late of Binghamton, N. Y .; David W., late of Ox- ford; and Newton D., the subject of this personal history. Our subject's father, to whom an exceedingly old age has come, and yet who lives with as bright an eye and with faculties as clear and unimpaired as in the days of yore, is one of the most widely known and highly respected residents of Che-
nango County. He is a man of character and refinement. His share of the work of this busy world was well and carefully per- formed to the best of his ability. The suc- cess which attended his efforts was deserving, and came to him as a natural result of his methods of life.
Newton D. Bartle spent his younger days in school after the usual manner of American youths, and after his home education had been completed, he attended Oxford Acad- emy. When he grew to manhood he engaged in the tilling of the soil, which he followed in the town of Oxford. In 1870 he came to the village of Guilford and started in to conduct a dry goods store, which has been his sole occupation up to the present day. Born of a family that has had much to do with public affairs, he is a sturdy exponent of true Dem- ocracy. He has served as justice of the peace almost continually to the present time since 1878, the only break being one year, when a Republican candidate was elected in the township by not more than 100 votes ; this is the usual Republican majority, which Mr. Bartle failed only once in overcoming. Socially, he is a member of the A. O. U. W., and takes an active part toward the advance- ment of that order. He was married Janu- ary 1, 1863, to Elexey S. Jacobs, daughter of Harvey Jacobs of Oxford, N. Y. They are the parents of one child, Nettie A., who mar- ried John Rowley, foreman of the Stillwater Creamery of Greene, N. Y., and has one son, Earl B. Mrs. Bartle departed from this life, January 3, 1897. She was a member of the Christ Episcopal Church of Guilford.
Mr. Bartle has built the home where he
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lives and dispenses hospitality and good cheer to his many friends and acquaintances, and is altogether a very public-spirited citizen, and one who is deeply interested in the growth and development of the township, and the county at large. He is one of the oldest and most reliable and enterprising citizens resi- dent within the borders of Guilford town- ship. He is popular, both socially and from a business point of view, his genial politeness and sterling integrity and worth winning him a hearty patronage and a large circle of friends. No merchant has been so long in the business in the township, or understands better the fundamental principles of the mer- cantile vocation.
ROF. FRED WAITE CRUMB, the efficient principal of the Bainbridge High School, is a man of superior intellectual attainments and since acting in that eapacity, has done much to promote the cducational interests of the village and to elevate the moral tone of the pupils coming under his supervision. He is a son of Benja- min Waite and Mary Elizabeth (Maxson) Crumb, and was born August 22, 1861, in the town of De Ruyter, Madison County, N. Y.
His great - grandfather, Joseph Waite Crumb, was a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and a son of William Crumb, born in 1696, in Southern Germany, whose wife was of French descent and bore the name of Lc Face. They emigrated to this country and located at Providence, where Mr. Crumb be-
came one of the leading merchants. Joseph Waite Crumb moved from Rhode Island in 1796, and came to Madison County, N. Y., bringing his seven sons and one daughter with him. He settled on a farm in the vicinity of De Ruyter and engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. Among his sons was onc. Hosca Waite, the grandfather of our subject. who was born in Providence in 1794, and came with his father to De Ruyter in 1796. There he remained all his life and in connec- tion with farming followed the trade of a cooper. Hc formed a matrimonial alliance with Martha Irish, and they became the parents of three children: Sarah, who died when an infant ; Benjamin Waite, the father of our subject : and Sarah J., who became the wife of Giles D. Johnson, who still sur- vives her and is living at Cazenovia, N. Y.
Benjamin Waite Crumb was educated in the common schools and at De Ruyter Insti- tute, which was the leading school in Central New York from 1836 to 1860. After leaving school, his vocation was that of a farmer and he engaged in tilling the soil on the old homestead farm. He also dealt extensively in horses, and was a breeder of fine horses. He was engaged in this line of business until his death, which occurred February 10, 1891. Hc was a Republican in politics, and took an active interest in all political cvents of the day. He was twice bound in the holy bonds of wedlock, his first wife being Janet Coon, by whom he had two children : Janet : and Phineas B. His second union was with Mary Elizabeth Maxson, a daughter of John Maxson, a direct descendant of the first white child born in Rhode Island, who came to the
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town of Preston in middle life, having fol- lowed the trade of a ship earpenter in early life. This union was blessed by the birth of four children, who are as follows: Herbert Frank, who is a resident of the town of Ox- ford, and has been town assessor for many years ; John Maxson, an enterprising and progressive farmer, who has been very suc- eessfully engaged in dairying for the past few years, is also a resident of the town of Oxford ; Prof. Fred Waite, in whom the in- terest of this sketeh eenters, and Owen Lovejoy.
Our subject attended the De Ruyter Union School and Academy of Madison County, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1881. He then entered Yates Academy of Chitte- nango, taking a full eourse and graduating in 1883. He was then thoroughly prepared to enter Alfred University of Alfred, Allegany County, N. Y., where he took a full classical course, and graduated in 1887. One year later he received the degree of Master of Arts. Upon completing his college eduea- tion, he became principal of the Union School and Academy at North Brookfield, Madison County, and filled that position in a highly satisfactory manner for four years. He then eame to Bainbridge and assumed the greater duties as principal of the Bain- bridge Union Sehool and Academy, which has sinee been changed to the Bainbridge High School. Prof. Crumb is an energetie and enterprising man and he immediately set about to improve the sehool in every manner possible. The eitizens of the village heartily co-operate with him in his plans and do not hesitate to plaee their children under his
care. He possesses the entire confidence of the people and the attendance has rapidly inereased under his capable management, making it necessary to build an addition to the sehool at a eost of $7,000.00. In addition to this $500.00 was appropriated with which seientifie apparatus was bought. The grounds about the building have been graded and many other substantial improvements have been made which add greatly to the sehool's appearanee. The teachers of this institution are all well edueated and competent to teach the various branches of study. The studies taught are of the most advanced order of high school work, and are divided into three courses, namely : English, Classical, and Sei- entifie ; a student who has completed one of these courses is ready for entrance upon eol- lege work. Prof. Crumb is a thoroughly wide-awake educator, popular alike with pu- pils, teachers, and eitizens, and has proven that he is the right man in the right place. He is still a young man, just in the prime of life, and has a brilliant future in educational work before him.
Our subjeet was joined in matrimony with Marie L. Birdsall, July 30, 1890, and they are the parents of one daughter, Helen Marie, who was born September 9, 1896. Mrs. Crumb is a daughter of Dr. Gilbert Birdsall, of North Brookfield, a native of Otsego County, N. Y., who is now praetieing medi- eine in that village. Dr. Birdsall served dur- ing the Civil War in Co. H., 2nd N. Y. Heavy Artillery ; he is a prominent member of the Republican party, and has served in an offi- eial capacity as pension examiner, and post master at North Brookfield. Soeially, our
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subject is a member of Sanger Lodge, No. 129, F. & A. M .; Valonia Chapter No. 80; and Norwich Commandery, No. 46, K. T. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Susquehanna Tribe, No. 274.
AVID LEWIS TAYLOR, M. D., is a young physician of ability and skill who, in the few years of his residence in Bainbridge, has made for him- self many friends, and secured a good prac- tice. He was educated in the Oneonta Union School, where he won the approba- tion of his instructors by his close application to his work. After leaving school, he ac- cepted a position as bookkeeper with D. M. Miller & Son, hop dealers of Onconta, where he worked for eighteen months, when he re- signed to accept a position as foreman and bookkeeper in the Conrad Yagle Clothing Manufactory of the same place. It had always been his wish to enter professional ranks, and he now took up the study of med- icine with Dr. J. H. Van Rensselaer of One- onta. He set about this work with his usual diligence, and in a short time was prepared to enter the Albany Medical College, from which he graduated in 1892. Hc at once came to Bainbridge and opened an office, giving to his practice the care and attention that mark the successful physician. He is a member of the Albany Medical Alumni, and feels deeply interested in the affairs of his alma mater. He is a member of Susquehanna Tribe, No. 274, Improved Order of Red Men. Dr. Taylor is a wide-awake, enterprising
young man, whose successful practice at this time predicts a brilliant future. Our subject chose Miss Nettie Jenks, a daughter of Har- rison Jenks of Gilbertsville, Otsego County, as his bride, the ceremony occurring June 13, 1889. Dr. Taylor was born December 25, 1867, in Oneonta, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (McClerman) Taylor.
William Taylor was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1827, his father, William Taylor, having permanently located in that city, when he arrived in America, after the long voyage from his native hills of Scotland. William Taylor, Jr., grew to manhood in Albany, and remained there until 1862, when he moved to Oneonta, and engaged in the commission business, at the same time buying and selling large quantities of stock ; he dealt in stock on an extensive scale, shipping to the New York City markets. Perhaps more exten- sively than any man of the section, he was engaged in that work, and it contributed in no small degree to the wealth which he was enabled to accumulate. He was a Democrat, and no man was better posted on current events than he; the same intelligent judg- ment was observed in politics that was em- ployed in business life. He died in 1883. leaving a large family to perpetuate his name, as follows: William, who resides in White- side County, Illinois, and expert judge of like stock, and a large wholesale dealer, for- merly with the P. D. Armour Co. of Chicago, Ill., but now in the employ of a Philadelphia house : Jerome, a farmer of Onconta ; James, proprietor of a large plant for making butter in Whiteside County, IN .; John S., for eight years a teacher, but at present bookkeeper
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and superintendent of the Crawford Wagon Works at Delhi; Charles, a teacher in the town of Laurens, Otsego County ; and David Lewis, the subject of this biography. Three children died in infancy. The lady whom Mr. Taylor married was Miss Elizabeth Mc- Clerman, whose parents were natives of the southern part of Scotland, where they passed their lives ; the daughter left the land of the thistle when quite young, and came to this country to make her home. Here she met Mr. Taylor and became his wife, rearing her six sons to lives of honor and usefulness.
R. WINFIELD SCOTT FISH, who for twenty-one years was the leading dentist of the village and town of Sherburne, is now engaged with his wife, Helen M. Fish, in catering to the wants of the traveling public in the popular Hotel Daniels, of which he and his wife are pro- prietors. He is well known in Sherburne and the vicinity, and has an unassailable reputation for integrity, and straight-forward dealing. Dr. Fish was born in Herkimer village, N. Y., July 19, 1839, and was a son of Almanzor Denslow and Julia Ann (Howell) Fish, and grandson of Samuel and Mary (West) Fish.
Samuel Fish emigrated from the town where he was born in Connecticut, to Herki- mer County, N. Y., in 1806, with his broth- ers, Walter and Joseph, and located on the site of the present village of Frankport. In 1839, he changed his residence to Litchfield, Herkimer County, and lived for several
years on a farm he purchased some two miles from the Mohawk River. He then moved to a farm near by in the same town- ship, where our subject's father was born. Samuel Fish attained the age of about sixty years, while his wife was well along in her eighty-fourth year, when overtaken by death. Their children were: Elias L .; Alonzo L .; Almanzor Denslow; Mary ; and Nancy.
Our subject's father was born in the town of Litchfield, Herkimer County, December 10, 1813, and there grew to manhood. In his early youth he spent some time in the private school of J. C. Underwood of Otsego County, and then went one spring to Canada with the intention of going on a fishing voy- age, but failed to carry out his plans, being held back by fear of the cholera that was then raging there. He next went to Clinton, to complete his education under the direc- tion of George R. Perkins, since professor of mathematics in the State Normal School, but he fell sick with an intermittent fever, and returned to his home in Litchfield to recuperate his strength. During the follow- ing winter and summer he was an attendant of the Clinton Liberal Institute, and in the next year went to Sauquoit. When he was nineteen years of age, he began the study of law in the office of Griffin & Allen of Clinton, with whom he remained one summer. He then went to Utica, N. Y., to study in the office of Cooper & Hunt, and was for a time a student in the office of Aaron Huckley of Herkimer. His next removal was to Water- town, N. Y., but he soon returned to Herki- mer County, and continued his studies under the direction of J. C. Underwood, who was
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then in practice with Judge Michael Hoff- man, until his admission to the bar. He practiced in Herkimer County until his health failed him, when he bought a farm in the town of Litchfield, Herkimer County, removed his family thither, and followed agricultural pursuits the rest of his life; he retired from active labor at last, and at the age of sixty two years departed from this life, February 27, 1875, being then a resident of Sherburne, making his home with his younger son, Dr. M. Hoffman Fish. He was a man of fine educational attainments, and was a trenchant as well as a brilliant prose writer on various subjects; he was also a happy versifier, and composed a number of short poems, that reflect credit on his ability. He married Julia A. Howell, a daughter of Capt. William Howell, who served at Sack- ett's Harbor, in the War of 1812. They were married in Herkimer, in 1837, and had a family of two sons and one daughter, as follows: Winfield Scott, the subject of this sketch ; Hattie A., born in Litchfield, Decem- ber 8, 1841, who married William H. Round, and died at Richfield, N. Y., November 24, 1868; and M. Hoffman, the leading dentist of the village of New Berlin. Mrs. Fish lived to be eighty-four years old. Our subject's father supported the Democratic party from the time the Whig party broke up until his death.
Dr. Winfield S. Fish attended the Winfield Academy, and then followed the machinist's trade at Ilion, N. Y., for five years, and then for a like period was engaged in selling sew- ing machines, until he commenced to study dentistry at Sherburne, N. Y., with his
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