USA > New York > Chenango County > Smyrna > Early years in Smyrna and our first Old home week > Part 9
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GEORGE HUMPHREY was born at Canton, Ct., July 23, 1782, and in 1803 married Candace Case, of Canton, a most ex- cellent woman, highly esteemed for her many good qualities, who lived but a few years after their marriage. His second wife was Avis L. Woodford, of Burlington, Ct., who survived her husband but a few years. When Mr. Humphrey was a young man he went on a voyage to the West Indies, where he was taken prisoner in the Algerian war, but liberated in a few months after peace was declared. He served in the War of 1812, and was in the New London campaign. Like other members of the family he was of large stature, and had good intellectual abili- ties, and a remarkable memory, being able to repeat any lengthy article in prose or poetry, after hearing it read once. He was also an excellent musician, composing several pieces of music. He died in New Hartford, Ct., where he had resided, December 6, 1836, in his 54th year. George Humphrey, his son, came to Smyrna in February, 1839, on foot, and was eight days on the road from Canton, staying here long enough to purchase the
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present Humphrey farm and then returned to his native town for his family, which he moved at once to the new home with a team of horses, bringing his household goods. His wife was a sister of Rev. Sidney Mills, a former popular preacher at the Congregational Church in Smyrna. She died in 1839, leaving four small children, and in October of the same year he married Louise M. Webb, of Otselic, by whom six children were born, as follows: Estella, Theron, Henry, Edwin, Francis and Solon, the latter remaining on the old homestead with his son, Charles, who married Francis Tuttle. They have a young daughter, Ruth, the pride of the whole family. Mr. Humphrey, 2d, was said to have retained many of the father's characteristics. He resided at New Hartford, Ct., and also at Canton, that state, be- fore he moved to Smyrna. His death occurred in Smyrna, at the homestead, August 13, 1883, in his 79th year.
CHARLES PENTECOST, eldest son of Philip and Mary Pente- cost, was born in Westbury, Summersetshire, England, in 1794, and lived there until he was twenty-one, when he married Jane Carter, of Pennard, England, and soon after moved to Bristol, where they lived for fifteen years. In December, 1830, with his wife and seven children he sailed for America, reaching New York March 31, 1831, having been three months on the ocean. Thence they went to Albany, where they resided one year, and selling his farm came to Smyrna in 1843, and purchased the old Sutliff farm. Here he lived till September, 1867, when he was called to his final reward, his wife surviving him some five years. Among his numerous family of sons and daughters were William, of Seattle, Wash .; Edwin, of Los Angeles, Cal .; John, of Norwich; Mrs. Ann Pier, of Conneaut, Ohio; Mrs. Matilda Turner, of Oneida; Mrs. Ellen Kenyon, the first wife of our respected townsman, Deloss Kenyon; Charlotte, the es- teemed wife of Warren Stanton, and Miss Jane Pentecost. The latter two are the only survivors of the family. Mr. Pentecost was reared a devoted Quaker and was much interested in the welfare of that church.
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AMOS STANTON, born near Stonington, Ct., in 1773, mar- ried Sabra Palmer, of Penobscot, Me., and moved to Brookfield, N. Y., in 1795, where they raised a family of nine children. They later moved to Otselic, becoming a leading family in the town, also devoted members of the Methodist Church of that place. In politics Mr. Stanton and all his sons allied themselves to the Whig party, the former living to see the birth of the Re- publican party but not to vote the ticket, the latter all becoming active members of the party. Of this large family two of the sons became residents of Smyrna, Edward A., and Gilbert C. Both were born in Brookfield, the former moving to Otselic in 1834 and thence to Smyrna early in the forties. He settled near the site of the present Free Will Baptist Church, afterwards buying land farther east and, building the house in which Isaac Ballou now lives. In 1851 he moved to Union City, Pa., with his family, excepting the two older sons, James and Warren, the former marrying Abigail, the daughter of the late Hon. Demas Hubbard, both now deceased, the only remaining descendant of the family being Frank J. Stanton, the oldest-son, well and fa- vorably known, most especially as "Stanley - Starr," an elocu- tionist of no ordinary ability, and a dramatic actor who has ad- vanced far beyond the most sanguine expectations of his many friends. Edward J. Stanton, the younger brother, was a good natured young man, free hearted and friendly with all, meeting a sad death on the Ontario & Western railroad some ten years ago, leaving a wife and young son to mourn his loss. Warren Stanton, the younger brother of James, is still a worthy resident of our town his home being the well known Pentecost farm and his wife a daughter of its former owner. Gilbert C. Stan- ton was born in Brookfield in 1808, and settled in Otselic in 1834, where he raised a large family. His first wife was Susan- nah Dutton, of Otselic; his second, Serena Ferris, of Smyrna. Among the children were Francis G., who was born in Otselic in 1838 and married to Jerusha Hills of Smyrna. He held va- rious offices of trust, standing high in the community in which he has so long resided. A. Palmer Stanton moved to the town
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of Smyrna, but remained only a few years. Edwin F. moved to Smyrna in 1869, and after a few years residence here moved to Plymouth with his family, where he still resides. He was a member of Company 1, 114th Regiment, N. Y. S. V., and served until the close of the war. He was wounded by one of General Early's pickets, at the beginning of the battle of Cedar Creek. Charles H. Stanton, best known perhaps of all the family, was born at Otselic in 1837, rising rapidly after reaching his ad- vanced boyhood, an ambitious scholar, becoming exceedingly popular. In 1861 he enlisted in the 61st Regiment, N. Y. S. V., but was discharged after only a year's service on account of poor health. In 1863 he married Lucy, a daughter of Franklin Glazier, of Pharsalia, moving soon after into the town of Smyrna, near Ireland's Mills. Here he held various offices, among which was Supervisor, and in 1884 moved with his fam- ily to Plymouth, where he has since resided. He represented Chenango County as Member of Assembly in the New York Legislature of 1892-3.
ALFRED WILLCOX was the son of Henry and Eunice Will- cox who came from Rhode Island. He had two sisters and a brother named Hamilton, a Baptist minister stationed at West Smyrna in 1842-3. He married Louisa A., a daughter of Peleg and Anna Brown, who came from Stonington, Ct., with a fam- ily of six children, all once well known here. They were as fol- lows: Lorenzo, Orlando, Andrew, Julia A., who married Sam- uel Tefft, the well known stage driver, spoken of elsewhere in this volume; Louisa, the wife of Mr. Willcox as before stated, and Adaline, who was the first wife of the late William Wilbur. Alfred had a family of eight children, five boys and three girls, among them Devolson, the oldest, who was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion, and in later years became the husband of Be- thia Willcox, whose first husband was Ensign Briggs. DeForest A. married Sylvia T., a daughter of James Scarritt, and a sister of Nelson J. Scarritt, learning the miller's trade at the Munson Mill, residing here for several years, removing to Sherburne, en- gaging for a while with the old firm of White, Gridley & Co.,
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of that village, and later to Earlville, purchasing the old Felt mill, which he remodeled into a first class and up-to-date flour- ing mill and where he became a prominent citizen. He was Su- pervisor of his town for several years and held several other im- portant offices. After the fire of 1887 in that village he was instrumental with many others in helping to remodel that vil- lage into its present up-to-date appearance. His health failed a few years later and his death occurred at Wayland, Steuben Co., in the winter of 1901, his wife surviving him but two years when she also passed away at the same place. Delano, the old- est, was exceedingly fond of music and began playing a small drum when only nine years of age. His father, an excellent musician, and one of the best fifers in Central New York in his day, noticing the musical ability of his son, helped with his fife, and with the help of other boys in the neighborhood, marshalled a boy band, five drummers and one tifer, all about the same age. That boy organization, with its organizer, will be pleasantly re- membered by citizens of forty years ago, and they were called far and near to furnish music on many different occasions. The fifer was Willie Enos, a brother of Leonard S., now of this vil- lage, and Franklin Bonney, now deceased, was also a member of the band. In the summer of 1861, the dread disease diphthe- ria, entered that neighborhood and two of the little band were taken away the same day, Willie Enos, the fifer, and Delano Willcox, the little drummer. At the funerals the bearers were the living members of the band, dressed in their white and red uniforms, and it was a sad and not easily forgotten day when their little forms where borne away to be seen no more. Three of those boys are still living and members of the Coy martial band, Franklin D. and George F. Coy, and Solon Humphrey.
ALFRED EASTMAN, who in later years attained prominence in our community as a most excellent citizen and a leader and influential member of the Methodist Church, was born near Clinton, Oneida County, July 3, 1832, his father's name being Amasa, his mother's Catherine. Of the family were seven boys
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and one girl, the last two being twins, of whom Alfred was one. Both are still living, the only remaining members af the family. At three years of age his parents moved to Morrisville, Madi- son County, and shortly before his seventeenth birthday he came to Smyrna, and began to learn the tailor's trade of William Kel- logg, with whom he remained four years and then formed a partnership with the late James O. Ransom and entered the clothing business. The same year he married Jane A., a daugh- ter of Henry Keller, who came here from Montgomery County. In 1853 he moved to Augusta, where he conducted a temper- ance hotel for eight months, and then moved to West Eaton where he again engaged in the clothing business. It is stated that during his residence at Augusta the proprietor of the hotel offered to stock the same with a full supply of liquors and give him one-half the proceeds, but Mr. Eastman's reply was "No, sir, I will not sell liquor if you will give me the hotel and your farm besides," an answer characteristic of the man through his whole life. In 1857 he returned to Smyrna moving into the Congregational parsonage and opened a tailor shop over the Kin- yon store, the next spring moving into the house so long known as the Eastman home, where they remained over thirty years. In 1851 during a revival of religion conducted by Rev. Ephraim Brown there were two converts of which Mr. Eastman was one, and the same year he united with the Methodist Church and has ever since been a most faithful member, serving as class leader for over thirty-one years and superintendent of the Sunday School for eighteen years. He was greatly missed when he took up a new field of labor as a preacher in the spring of 1887. In that year he preached in the Free Will Baptist Church at West Smyrna, and the year following supplied that church and also the church at Otselic Center. Since then he has supplied the following Methodist churches: Oakland, Pa., 1889-'93; Haw- leyton, N. Y., '95-'97; Uniondale, Pa., '98-'01; South Canaan, Pa., '02-'04. He retired from the work at the close of the pres- ent conference year on account of age and failing health, and is living in a home of his own in the ยท village of Lestershire. Mr.
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Eastman and his most excellent wife and family will always be welcome among the people of Smyrna, with whom they have spent the most of their lives and where their influence has al- ways been on the side of right and humanity. Two children were born to them; Nettie A. who became the wife of Rev. Fred P. Taylor, and Clarence, an infant son, who died at the age of one year, and is buried in the East Burial Ground, his grave a tender spot, where the affections of the family will never cease to be drawn. Lottie Warner Eastman, an adopted daughter of thirty years ago, whose mother was Miss Lottie Wilbur once a resident here, makes her home with the family and has become like one of them.
JOSHUA HEMENWAY was born in New Salem, Mass., Octo- ber 17, 1780, and was married to Rebecca Harrington in 1802, coming to Sherburne the same year. They had six children, among them Delia H., who married John Kershaw, of Sherburne. Amanda and Alexis L., with the parents moved to the northwest- ern part of Smyrna about the year 1840. Alexis taught the dis- trict schools for several years, both before and after his marriage to Harriet Smith in 1842. In 1847 he bought the farm owned by a Mr. Wood, which was ever after their home and where they always resided till their death, the former passing away January 22, 1895, the latter on April 22, 1896. They were honored and respected in the town where they were well and fa- vorably known and had many friends among every class. Both were consistent and worthy members of the Free Baptist Church of West Smyrna. To them were born six children, all sharing in the respect and good will of their parents, and they were as follows: Lucinda, now deceased, who married Richard A. Har- rington; Arzelia, the respected wife of A. L. York of Brookfield, N. Y .; Esther, the wife of the late Bertillian Healy of Sherburne; John A., who lived with his parents upon the farm and was an honest and industrious young farmer, whose death occurred in the prime of his manhood at the age of thirty-one years; and Mary who became the esteemed wife of John D. Frair, present
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postmaster of Bonney at West Smyrna, their home being the old Hemenway homestead, where Mr. and Mrs. Frair moved to care for her aged parents in their declining years.
ROWLAND B. CRUMB was born in Rhode Island, near Ston- ington, and like many others in that vicinity as he advanced in years, became desirous of improving his surroundings and better- ing himself in this world's affairs, and not having room in that section, which was not the best for farming, and having heard of the increased facilities offered in the state of New York, then a great wilderness and considered a western country, moved out to the new country, coming first to Preston, Chenango County, later moving to Pharsalia, and on March 1, 1844, reaching Smyrna Hill and locating on the Bliven farm. He remained there four years and then moved to the Conkey farm where he resided nineteen years, then moving to Lebanon, where he spent nearly all the remainder of his life. He became the head of a large and successful family, a frugal and industrious people, and his descendants are some of our best citizens. He was married three times, his first wife was Sally Lanphere, by whom five children were born. Harriet, who married Garritt Brown of Pharsalia; William, who became a member of the 10th New York Cavalry in the War of the Rebellion, and later moved to LeSeur, Minn .; Sally, who married Captain William C. Bliven, so long and so well known in Smyrna, later the proprietor of the Noyes House, now the American Hotel at Norwich, still later marrying Orange Booth of Candor, N. Y., where her death occurred; Lucretia, who moved to Osage, lowa, and Rhoda, who married Charles Wood of Pony, Neb., a former respected resident of our town having been brought up on Smyrna Hill. (Mr. Wood's former name was Higgins, but when he became of age he adopted the name of Wood.)
Mr. Crumb's second wife was Alzina, a daughter of Deacon Elisha Crandall, who had previously married Justin Skinner, by whom three children were born to her: Charles, who was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg; Hiram, whose whereabouts
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have not recently been known, and Sarah, now the esteemed wife of J. Warren Hitchcock, still residing in the town. They have four sons and two daughters. Among them Frank J., now a successful physician at Masonville, Delaware County, and Bert and Edwin now prosperous pharmacists in Jersey City, N. J. Mr. Crumb's children by this marriage were George W., who married Maria Haskell, by which union there were three sons and three daughters all now living except Hattie, who was an invalid for eleven years, most kindly cared for by her parents, passing away in her twenty-fifth year. The three sons are pros- perous farmers, Arthur J., owning the Hartwell farm west of Upperville; Clayton R., whose home is now the old Barber farm at Upperville, and Charles, who has charge of the old Parker farm just beyond the old homestead. Alzina became the wife of Clayton S. Widger, our present Highway Commissioner, and Ida C. became the wife of Algernon B., a son of the late Lysan- der B. Cleveland, their home being the old Bennett-Cleveland homestead. George has held various offices to the satisfaction of his townsmen and is a leading member of Stephen Weaver Post, G. A. R., having served faithfully in the War of the Rebel- lion as a member of Company C., in the 114th Regiment. His sister, Jennie Crumb, married Hiram H. Tucker, late of Sher- burne, N. Y., where she now resides. Rollin B. Crumb's third wife was Mary A. Kenyon, by whom eight children were born, among them Dora, who married William R. Borden; Ida, who became the wife of C. J. Etson of Lebanon; Fernando, a physi- cian, also of Lebanon; Charles, a resident of South Dakota, and Simeon, well and most favorably known, whose home is at Norwich, but who has a prosperous wholesale coal business in Boston.
MICHAEL STACK, a son of Edmund and Nellie Stack, (whose maiden name was Downs,) was born in September, 1816, near Mal Bay, Clare County, Ireland, and came to America in the latter part of the forties, locating at Sherburne, and a few months later moving to Smyrna. He married Mary White of Sherburne, in
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1850, a lady who came from the same place in Ireland as Mr. Stack, though they had never met till she came to Sherburne a year or two previous. Mr. Stack became a prosperous farmer, and an excellent citizen, his wife being very highly esteemed by all who made her acquaintance. There were born to them three children, as follows: Ella, now the wife of Timothy J. Sulli- van, who with their young son, Harry, reside at the Stack home- stead, occupied by the family some forty years or more; Edmund J., who was born on Sherburne West Hill some fifty years ago, and married Ella A. Noonan of Schenevus, N. Y., by whom was born one son, M. Leo, a graduate last year of the Clarkson Me- morial Polytechnic Institute at Potsdam, N. Y. After the de- cease of his first wife, Mr. Stack married Miss Marcia Lamb, and they still reside at South Otselic. Mr. Stack owned and con- ducted the Gothic House many years, making it one of the best hostelries in the county, but a few years since sold the same, and now carries on a successful wagon and harness business in that village. As an evidence of his prosperity, we are pleased to note the fact that he was chosen a Director of the Otselic Valley National Bank, which has recently been organized in that wide- awake hamlet.
John B. Stack spent his boyhood days in Smyrna, attend- ing the village school where he proved himself an earnest stu- dent and excellent scholar. He entered the State Normal School at Brockport in 1876, where he graduated with honor in June, 1880. A few years after his graduation he was a very success- ful teacher at the High School at Macedon, N. Y., and in 1887 married Ella F. Hickey of that village, and they now have three children, Vincent, Clara and Fred. Mr. Stack and family are now residents of Washington, D. C., where he holds a lucrative government position. Marguerite, the youngest of the family, was also an excellent scholar attending our village school and later graduating at the State Normal School at Oneonta. She is now a successful teacher in one of the public schools of Greater New York.
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JAMES and THOMAS STACK, cousins of Michael Stack, natives of Clare County, Ireland, were once residents of Smyrna, com- ing from Sherburne in the fifties, the former and his family locating in a small house on a portion of the site of the Dr. Lawrence place, and later moving to the present Sprague place. James was a blacksmith by trade, a good workman, and occu- pied several years the building now used by Leonard Towner. He married Bridget O'Rourke and there was a large family of children, nearly all by perseverance and persistent effort becom- ing exceedingly prosperous, far beyond the average self-made family. The family moved to Sherburne in the seventies, but have always held the highest regard for their old Smyrna neigh- bors. James and his brother, and excellent wife are now de- ceased, as well as his eldest son, James E. Stack, who died at Oneonta some ten years ago, leaving a widow and four chil- dren. Among the rest were Bartholomew A., now a respected clergyman of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Camillus, where he has been stationed a number of years and has many warm friends; Thomas, a successful manager of a milk shipping sta- tion at Chenango Forks; Edward, of Brooklyn, foreman of the Lupton Publishing Company; George E., born here and named after the late Dr. George E. Lawrence, at one time Assistant Train Dispatcher of the D., L. & W. R. R. at. Utica, and now Treasurer of the Utica Gas and Electric Company of that city; John, now holding an excellent position on the Louisville (Ky.,) Courier Journal; Mary, who married John Macksey of Sher- burne, and to whom we are indebted for the facts in connection with this sketch; Lizzie, who married Wilmer J. Colbourne, now of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, N. Y., and her sister Ella, residing with her; Catherine married Dr. W. F. Gregg, of Camillus, N. Y., where they now reside, and Lucy, is now a successful teacher in one of the High Schools at New York City. -
APPLEBY KING was born in Rhode Island about one hundred years ago, and when a young man came to Norwich, where he married Clarissa Franklin. From Norwich he moved to Pres- ton, and in the spring of 1849 moved to the farm on Smyrna
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Hill, ever since known as the King homestead. Almon and Hiram, the two older sons, lived nearly all their lives in this town, and James the only remaining son still resides here. Almon held several offices in the town and was a prominent member of the Baptist Church. Elvira King married Benjamin Conkey, and for many years they were residents of our village, winning the esteem and respect of all with whom they became acquainted. Calvin was perhaps best and most widely known, becoming a successful teacher and later a School Commissioner of the County. He was also at one time a general agent for school books for a New York City firm, and was interested in various ways in many other business enterprises, accumulating at one time a considerable fortune. He was very much interested in church and temperance work, a fluent speaker, and very popular wherever known. His death as well as that of his excellent wife occurred but a few months since at their home at Otselic.
JAMES CHAPMAN and wife came from Providence, R. I., to Troy, N. Y., where they lived until 1808, when with a family of four children, of whom Simon S. was the youngest, they moved to Plymouth, N. Y. On the second day out from Troy, a foot- stove containing live coals set the straw on fire, and the whole outfit was in danger of being burned when James discovered the situation and threw the stove out leaving it to its fate. Hav- ing two brothers at Paris, Oneida County, he called on them, but was not satisfied to remain there and kept on till he reached Chenango County. His first home here was a log house near the Smyrna line, since known as the Wilson Young farm, but he afterwards bought forty acres in the town of Smyrna and built a log house on the direct road from Plymouth to Smyrna. He was a potter by trade and to help in paying for the farm went to Rome to work in a pottery; leaving home at an early hour on Monday morning accompanied by his son, both on horseback, until they reached Hamilton, when the boy would return home with the horses, and the father finished the journey on foot. James Chapman was a member of the Friends Society and helped in building the first meeting house, and with his wife
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