USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 2 > Part 23
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soldier passing was required to hrow a stone upon it. Some years ago the spot was excavated for a railway and human remains were found, great wonder was caused as to whom they belonged to, until the family was consultei and the secret explained. One workman received twenty-five dollars for a skull with every tooth perfect in it. Colonel Sterling, Lady Sterling, and two of the officers of the Royal Highland Forty-second oc- cupied a portion of the house.
On the occasion of his leaving, the inhabitants of Newtown drew up an address to Colonel Sterling, and his officers, thanking them "for their very equitable polite, and friendly conduct dur- ing their winter's stay "at the Leverich home. It was returned by Colonel Ster- ling in the same spirit and courtesy.
John Leverich, son of John Leverich, Jr., as aforesaid, left three children : Sacket, Amy and Richard, of whom the first two died single. Amy was be- trothed to a British officer, but he died in England whither he had gone to settle his affairs. John Leverich died at New- town, September 18, 1780. Richard, his son, "best known as Deacon Leverich was highly esteemed in his time." He was a great reader, theologian, mathe- matician, and deacon of the Presbyterian church at Newtown for nearly fifty years. In his lifetime the Colonial customs were still retained. The crops were planted, and harvested by his staff of blacks, who were in return schooled and treated al- most as one of the family; the girls were also sent to school, taught needlework, sewing, etc. Deacon Leverich was a strict Calvinist like his Puritan ancestor, and would quote for his youthful blacks the couplet :
You must not work, you must not play Upon God's Holy Sabbath Day.
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Deacon Richard Leverich married (first) Amy Titus, with whom he lived nearly fifty years. At her death he mar- ried Nancy Lane, by whom he had two daughters, Amy E. Leverich, and Susan M. Leverich. He died at a ripe old age in 1836, at his residence in Trains Meadow, Newtown, Long Island. His widow died in New York in 1874.
Amy E. Leverich married Charles E. Cannon, of New York, to whom were born two daughters: Ada Cannon, and Elizabeth Leverich Cannon. She died September 27, 1911.
Ada Cannon married Henry W. Lyon, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. They have one daughter, Ada Willis Lyon, who married Harold C. Rood, of Hartford, Connecticut. They also have one daugh- ter, Henrietta Lyon Rood, born Septem- ber 6, 1913.
BARNETT, George F., Strong and Useful Character.
It sometimes happens that true great- ness lies fully as much in living a clean, sturdy life, performing well each day's duties, and lending a helping hand to a fellow traveler on the road, as it does in mighty deeds of valor. The man who can live through more than the allotted three score years and ten of the wear and tear of everyday life, and when the final summons comes can go before his Maker with a clear conscience and perfect faith, to receive his reward, leaving a memory cherished and beloved for all that goes to make life worth living for those around us, is a truly great man. Such an one was George F. Barnett, who died in Brock- port, at the age of ninety-three, having spent nearly all of his long, busy life in that place since attaining his majority. He was called "one of the strongest and most useful characters in the com- munity," and from the time he arrived in
Brockport, in 1826, until his death in 1897 he was classed among its most respected and worthy residents, his in- fluence increasing as his opportunities widened.
George F. Barnett was born in Bridge- water, Oneida county, New York, in the year 1804, and it was there he spent his boyhood and received his educational training, attaining early manhood. He came to Brockport, as stated above, in 1826, and his first occupation was as architect and builder. In 1840 he formed business relations with the McCormick Harvester Company, and was largely in- strumental in making the reaper manu- factured by that firm a success. After five years he severed his connection with that company and entered the employ of Seymour & Morgan, with whom he re- mained until the dissolution of the firm. He then entered the business field on his own account, and in 1850 established agricultural works in Brockport, and from that time until his retirement in 1886 he was an active factor in the com- mercial life of the city, earning a well de- served and much needed rest, which he enjoyed the remaining years of his life.
Mr. Barnett was at first a Whig in his political inclination, and later a Repub- lican, being a staunch supporter of the principles of his party. He never sought nor held public office, preferring to help fill the rank and file of good citizen- ship, of which there is always so much need, his life conforming at all times to a true Christian standard. A friend of long standing, and therefore well able to speak, said of him :
As a man he was a representative of that ster- ling class of early settlers whose uprightness, truth and honesty, whose appreciation of educa- tional and church privileges and devotion to our free institutions have imparted special and distin- guished character to Western New York and made it a great factor in the history of our coun-
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try during a most eventful period. Mr. Barnett, while of a genial, kindly disposition, was level- headed, true and sturdy, and had the happy fac- ulty of getting on the right side of questions and issues that demanded his decision and quietly but firmly maintaining the ground he had taken. He was a man who trained his children to love and honor the principles he maintained and exempli- fied. He had a sympathetic eye for struggling integrity and merit, and there are many hearts that have warmed with gratitude at the remem- brance of his helping hand.
Another has said of him :
No man had wielded a more powerful influence for good in this whole region than he. Simple honesty, unvarying gentleness, combined with ex- ecutive ability of a high order, were especially prominent traits in his character and gave him such a standing among business men of Western New York that his advice was constantly sought by them. It was in his home, however, that the brightness and cheerfulness of his disposition par- ticularly shone.
Mr. Barnett was married in 1828 to Catherine Lyell Thorpe, of Montgomery county, New York. Mr. Barnett pur- chased land on which he built the house which was their pleasant abode for so many years, Mrs. Barnett proving a true helpmate to her husband and a faithful and loving mother to her children, of whom there were five, two surviving: Mary H. and Frances C., who made their home with their father through his de- clining years. James M. Barnett, one of their children, now deceased, was a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, president of the Old National Bank. Mrs. Barnett passed away in 1883, beloved and mourned by all who had ever had the privilege of her acquaintance.
Mr. Barnett was one who participated in life with a sincere enjoyment, and had a peculiarly reciprocative nature, appre- ciating to the fullest extent a favor shown him. As the evening of his days gradu- ally closed around him his mind became more firmly fixed on spiritual things and
he experienced a great spirit of thankful- ness to his Maker for the many hours of happiness and the blessings bestowed upon him, evidencing it by a fondness for the comforting, old-fashioned hymns of his earlier days, which he was often heard softly singing to himself in the twilight. His was never a solemn religion, for he shed around him the sun- shine of a hopeful spirit, a kindly con- sideration, and the desire that everyone should have the most advancement pos- sible for them to attain. Well may his friends sum up his eulogy in these few words-"He was one of nature's noble- men."
JONES, Frank Adelbert,
Prominent Physician.
In presenting to the public sketches of the lives of our prominent citizens, we have endeavored to choose those men who, by their superior attainments in some particular walk of life, have risen to prominence among their fellows, and whose characteristics and individuality have raised them above the ordinary run of mortals. In every profession and in every line of business it is the few and not the many who rise to eminence, and it is these few who give tone and char- acter to our society, and shape the destiny of the communities in which they reside. The late Dr. Frank Adelbert Jones, of Rochester, New York, was a representa- tive of a family distinguished both in public service and in the learned profes- sions. A close student of his profession, thoroughness was, perhaps, his most dis- tinguishing characteristic, and while he was ever on the alert for any improve- ment of a scientific nature that would advance the cause of medicine or surgery, before adopting it he made himself master of every detail connected with the subject, and his comments and conclusions were
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in consequence interesting and illumina- tive. Dignified in appearance, and at the same time intensely active, quick and sure in movement, his face and manı .. while giving assurance of strong will and inflexible purpose, indicated also that sincere geniality which never failed to inspire cheerfulness and courage. Above all, he may truly be said to have radiated optimism, a quality indispensable to the successful physician. His father, Dr. Ambrose Jones, was a physician in Char- lotte, New York, as was also a brother, who is now deceased.
Dr. Frank Adelbert Jones was born in Charlotte, New York, October 23, 1849, and died at his home, No. 309 Lake ave- nue, Rochester, New York, March 9, 1913, after an illness of one week's duration. His elementary education was acquired in the public schools in the vicinity of his home, after which he attended the local academies, from which he was graduated, and then matriculated at the Buffalo Medical College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1869, the degree of Doctor of Medicine being conferred upon him. He at once established him- self in the practice of his profession, his first location being on Buffalo street, now Main street west, Rochester; he next went to Charlotte, New York, where he was associated in practice with his father for a time, leaving there to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan, which town had just had a "boom," and remained there for a period of three years. In 1874 he re- turned to Charlotte, New York, where he practiced until 1893, when he returned to Rochester, which was the scene of his medical practice until he passed away. So conscientious was Dr. Jones in the discharge of the duties connected with his professional work, that it may in truth be said that it brought about his death, for the attending physicians were all agreed that he might readily have thrown
off the attack of pneumonia to which he succumbed had not his vitality been sapped by overwork and overstudy. Al- though naturally of a fine constitution, he made greater demands upon it than nature would permit. He excelled in surgical work, although the larger part of his practice was a general one. Throughout his career he followed the rule of paying as great and undivided attention to the calls of the poor as he did to those of his wealthy class of patients, and in attending the former class, it was frequently done without a fee being demanded or accepted. None but those who now feel the loss of his charitable ministrations are aware of the extent of his benevolence, for he was un- ostentatious in the extreme. He was president of the Monroe County Medical Society; a member of the Rochester Academy of Medicine; New York State Medical Society; American Medical As- sociation ; Rochester Pathological Soci- ety and Central New York Medical As- sociation, and of the Masonic fraternity. His religious affiliation was with the Central Presbyterian Church of Roches- ter, of which he was a member. He was a charter member of the One Dozen and One Club, an organization composed of physicians and their wives, and formed in defiance of the old superstition ascribing ill luck to the number thirteen. Dr. Jones was the first member of this asso- ciation to be called to the hereafter, after meeting for twenty-six years. His per- sonal appearance was far more youthful than the number of his years would war- rant, but this was probably the result of his optimistic disposition, and of his fond- ness for the society of the young, with all of whom, big and small, he was a favorite. "A man of deeds and not of words" was one of the comments made concerning him by Dr. Albertson, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church.
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Dr. Jones married, November 25, 1869, Elizabeth R. Welles, daughter of Ran- dolph and Mary E. (Vandemark) Welles, of Seneca county, New York, formerly of Connecticut. Mrs. Jones survives him with their only daughter, Grace L. There was a son, Welles, born in 1875, who died in 1876.
BROWNING, John Hull, Financier, Manufacturer.
John Hull Browning was descended from Anglo-Saxon ancestors through a long line, resident in New England, and typified those qualities of industrious application, sound judgment and energy which conquered a wilderness upon our New England coast, at the same time conquering savage foes, and established firmly a modern civilization. The oldest form of the name bears the German spell- ing Bruning, and it later came to be rendered in various ways. According to the poet, Robert Browning, the earliest form of the name was de Bruni, which was the Norman-French name of one of the ancient German tribes which in- habited the shores of the Baltic Sea, in Northern Germany. In high German the form of the name is Brauning. The Brunings are supposed to have migrated from Germany to England, where the Anglo-Saxons changed the spelling to Browning, to suit their own tongue. The termination "ing" in the German lan- guage means a meadow or low pasture- land, and hence the origin of the name as applied to inhabitants of the low ·meadows.
Nathaniel Browning, son of Mrs. Eliza- beth Browning, was born in London about 1618, and died at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, when about fifty-two years old. Mrs. Browning and her husband appear to have been non-Conformists, and the persecution that followed them
was probably the cause which led Na- thaniel Browning to embark for America soon after he came of age, in the year 1640. Landing at Boston he proceeded to Portsmouth, where he was made a freeman in 1654. This means that he was of good standing in the church, and that he was eligible to participate in the councils and government of the colony. He married, about 1650, Sarah, second daughter of William and Mary Freeborn, who sailed from Ipswich, England, in 1634.
Their son, William Browning, born about 1651, at Portsmouth, lived to be nearly eighty years of age, a farmer at North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He was made freeman in 1684, and was twice married, (first) in 1687 to Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Porter) Wilbur, granddaughter of Samuel Wilbur and John Porter, both of whom were original settlers at Portsmouth. His second wife's name was Sarah.
John Browning, youngest son of Wil- liam and Rebecca (Wilbur) Browning, was born March 4, 1696, at South Kings- town, Rhode Island, and died in 1777, at Exeter, same state, in his eighty-first year. He was made a freeman in 1744, and was a farmer, residing near the coast in South Kingstown, where he had large landed possessions. He married, April 21, 1721, Ann, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah (Smith) Hazard, granddaughter of Thom- as Hazard, the immigrant progenitor of a notable American family.
Thomas Browning, the eldest son of this marriage, born in 1722, in Kings- town, died there in 1770. During his ac- tive life he was a farmer in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, and was made a freeman in 1742. Like his parents, he was a Quaker, served as justice of the peace at Little Compton, and was captain of the local militia company. His first wife, Mary, was a daughter of William and
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Mary (Wilkinson) Browning, and they were the parents of William Thomas.
William Thomas Browning, born May II, 1765, in South Kingstown, was a farmer in Preston, Connecticut, where he built a farm house, standing half in Pres- ton and half in North Stonington, which is still standing in good preservation. He married Catherine, daughter of Robert and Catherine (Guinedeau) Morey, of New- port, Rhode Island.
Their fifth son, John Hazard Browning, was born July 28, 1801, at the Browning homestead in Preston, where he was reared. He became a merchant in Mill- town, Connecticut, and later in New Lon- don. In 1833 he moved to New York City, and engaged in the dry goods busi- ness, at the corner of Fulton and Water streets, as senior member of the firm of Browning & Hull. This business was greatly extended, and in 1849 was closed out, and in association with two others, Mr. Browning engaged in the general merchandise trade in California, his part- ners removing thither. Mr. Browning re- mained in New York, where he manu- factured and purchased goods which were shipped to California for sale. Three times the store was burned, without in- surance, resulting in a total loss. In 1857 Mr. Browning withdrew from all activity, except as a special partner with his son, who conducted a clothing store under the firm name of Hanford & Browning. This subsequently became Browning, King & Company, which now has stores in the principal cities of the United States. Mr. Browning mar- ried, September 21, 1829, Eliza Smith Hull, of Stonington, daughter of Colo- nel John W. and Elizabeth (Smith) Hull, and they were the parents of four sons and a daughter. The Hull family is also of ancient origin, and springs from Rev. Joseph Hull, who was born in Somer- setshire, England, about 1594, and was
rector of Northleigh, Devonshire, Eng- land, about fourteen years. With his wife, Agnes, he embarked for America in 1635, and shortly afterward became pastor of the church at Weymouth, Masachusetts. He was prominent in local affairs, and presided over several churches in Massa- chusetts, and subsequently, for nine years, at York, Maine. After ten years in Europe he became pastor at Dover, New Hamp- shire, where he died. He was the father of Captain Tristram Hull, born in Eng- land, in 1626, who joined the Society of Friends, and resided at Yarmouth and Barnstable, Massachusetts. His son, Joseph Hull, born at Barnstable, 1652, was governor's assistant in Rhode Island four years, and suffered much persecution because of his affiliation with the Friends, in which society he became a minister. His son, Tristram Hull, lived in Westerly, Rhode Island, and was the father of Ste- phen Hull, whose son, Latham Hull, died in North Stonington, Connecticut. His son, John W. Hull, resided in that town, and was a colonel of the local militia. He married Elizabeth Smith, of Waterford, Connecticut, and they were the parents of Eliza Smith Hull, born May 26, 1812, died April 21, 1875. She was married, Septem- ber 21, 1829, to John Hazard Browning, and became the mother of John Hull Browning, of further mention.
John Hull Browning, youngest child of John Hazard and Eliza Smith (Hull) Browning, was born December 25, 1842, in Orange, New Jersey, where the family has been for some time established. After pursuing a course in the New York Academy, he embarked upon a business career in his twentieth year, entering the wholesale clothing firm of William C. Browning & Company, which business was very successful, and John H. Brown- ing ultimately became interested in vari- ous financial and business enterprises. Soon after 1883 he succeeded the late
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Charles G. Sisson as president of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, which position he occupied twenty-two years. He was secretary and treasurer of the East & West Railroad of Alabama, and for twenty years was president of the Richmond County Gas Company, in what is now Greater New York. For some time he was treasurer of the Cherokee Iron Company of Cedartown, Georgia, and he was a director in the Citizens' National Bank of Englewood, New Jersey. Mr. Browning made his home in New York City, but maintained an attractive sum- mer home at Tenafly, New Jersey. He was deeply interested in organized char- itable work, both in New York and New Jersey, and in association with his wife erected a fresh air children's home at Tenafly. While he was essentially a busi- ness man, a director in many profitable enterprises, Mr. Browning always had time for a reasonable amount of recrea- tion, and devoted much thought and care to benevolent work in the interest of man- kind in general. He died suddenly in the Erie ferry-house at the foot of Chambers street, New York, October 26, 1914. He married, October 19, 1871, Eva B. Sisson, daughter of Charles Grandison and Mary Elizabeth (Garrabrant) Sisson. Mr. Sis- son was a projector, contractor and rail- road president, one of the most useful citizens of New Jersey during more than a quarter of a century's residence in that State. He was a grandson of William Sisson, one of five brothers, from Sois- sons, in Normandy, France, all of whom settled in Rhode Island, a majority of them participating in the American Revo- lution. One, Nathan Sisson, endured terrible hardships on board British prison ships in New York Harbor. Major Gilbert Sisson, son of William Sisson, was a native of North Stonington, Connecticut, where he was a merchant, and married Desire Maine, a woman of unusual talent,
the seventh daughter of a large family, of French descent. They were the parents of Charles G. Sisson. Mr. and Mrs. John Hull Browning were the parents of a son, John Hull Browning, born October 6, 1874.
SEYMOUR, William H., Manufacturer, Inventor.
The town of Brockport, Monroe county, New York, is justly noted for its manu- facturing interests, and not the least noted of these is the one with which the late William H. Seymour was connected for so many years, greatly to the advance- ment and development of the interests of the town. It is not often given to man to attain the age of more than a century, and to have had during the greater portion of his life an important place in the business life of the community, yet this was the case with Mr. Seymour, whose mental- ity was apparently unaffected and un- weakened almost to the last. The history of business in the United States is full of instances of men who, by dint of their peculiarly constructive ability as born leaders of men, have out of modest begin- nings built up colossal fortunes, and have put into operation enterprises that have furnished work to many others. These are generally men whose native resource- fulness and indomitable energy would in any circumstances inevitably have brought them into the leadership of civic growth and development. An invaluable example of a man of this type was the late Mr. Seymour. The admirable traits possessed by him were inherited from a long line of distinguished ancestry, the family being one of great antiquity in England, and among the earliest settlers in New Eng- land.
Richard Seymour, the American pro- genitor of the family, was one of the early settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. The
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seal on the will of Thomas Seymour, eldest son of Richard Seymour, bears the impress of two wings conjoined in lure, the device of the English Seymours from the time of William de St. Maur of Pen- how. A "Bishop's Bible," printed in 1584, in the possession of Hon. Morris Wood- ruff Seymour, has on one of the fly-leaves a drawing of the arms of the Seymours of Berry Pomeroy, viz .: Two wings con- joined in lure, quartered with the Royal Arms as granted by Henry VIII. to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and the leg- end: "Richard Seymour, of Berry Pom- ery, heytor hund. in ye Com. Devon, his Booke, Hartford, in ye Collony of Con- necticut in Newe England, Annoque Domini 1640." Among the many distin- guished descendants of Richard Seymour may be mentioned: Major Moses Sey- mour, of Litchfield, a Revolutionary officer of distinction, and Sheriff Ozias Seymour, his son; the Hon. Thomas Seymour, first mayor of Hartford; Cap- tain Thomas Youngs Seymour, a gallant soldier of the Revolutionary War; Gen- eral Truman Seymour, who served with distinction in the Mexican War ("Hero of Chapultepec") ; Thomas H. Seymour, grandson of Mayor Seymour, was United States minister to Russia, and governor of Connecticut; Judge Origen Storrs Seymour, of Litchfield, chief justice of Connecticut, son of Sheriff Ozias Sey- mour; Hon. Edward W., Hon. Morris W. and Rev. Dr. Storrs O. Seymour, sons of Chief Justice Seymour; Hon. Henry Seymour, of Pompey, New York, one of the commissioners who built the first Erie Canal; his son, Governor Horatio Seymour, of New York, and his sisters : Julia Chenevard Seymour, who married Roscoe Conkling, and Helen Clarissa Seymour, who married Ledyard Link- laen; Major-General Truman Seymour, United States army; Hon. Horatio Sey- mour, for many years United States sen-
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