Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890, Part 57

Author: Beers, F. W. (Frederick W.), ed. 1n; Vose, J.W., and Co
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : J.W. Vose & Co.
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Genesee County > Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890 > Part 57

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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He was a son of Isaac and Sophia (Lincoln) Albee, natives of Vermont, who, after marriage, came to St. Lawrence County. Mr. Albee was a contractor and builder, a farmer, and a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He reared seven children. In 1852 he came to Wyo- ming County. His first wife died in 1876. He then married Nancy (Gris- wold) Dimock, and is now 84 years of age. Elias O. Albee was reared on the farm. When II years of age he earned $1.50 per day, and at the age of 16 finished his first house alone. He went to Buffalo and worked three years in Dart Brothers' planing-mill, and later was three years on the Erie Railroad as brakeman. Hewas foreman for one year for Holmes Brothers, was contractor and builder eight years in Buffalo, lived at Attica and Da- rien three years each, spent five years in Batavia, and came to Le Roy in 1880, where he has since resided. He married for his first wife Jennie Austin, and for his second wife Anna E., daughter of Francis and Mary (Seymour) Pinder, of English descent, who settled in Le Roy in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Albee had six children, three of whom are now living. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Rev. James A. Anderson was born in Ohio County, W. Va., March I, 1854, a son of James and Rhoda (Thomas) Anderson, who were natives of North Ireland and Washington County, rspectively. James Anderson came to West Virginia with his parents in 1820, was a farmer, and reared two sons and five daughters. James A., the youngest, was raised on the farm, was educated at the district schools, and at 16 years of age went to the West Alexander Academy, preparing for the Westminster College at New Wilmington, Pa., where he graduated as A. B. in the class of 1877. He then entered the United Presbyterian Seminary at Allegheny, graduat- ing in the class of 1880. He was ordained by the Mansfield Presbytery, November 9, 1880. He taught at Atwood Academy, Armstrong County, Pa. His first charge was at Mansfield, Ohio, where he remained over six years, and was in Beulah, Monroe County, for two years. In May, 1889, he came to Le Roy. December 30, 1879, he married Julia M., daughter of Hon. William M. Francis, of Wilmington, Pa. He has three children, James F , Joseph Junkin, and William.

James Annin was born July 29, 1828, in Le Roy. His parents, Joseph and Melinda (Wells) Annin, were born in New Jersey and Milford, Conn., respectively. Joseph Annin came to Cayuga County, thence to Le Roy, and engaged in the mercantile business, being one of the earliest in the village. They had children as follows : William Le Roy, the first male child born in the town after the name was changed from Bellona to Le Roy, George W., Joseph W., Catharine, James, Charles, and Sarah. Joseph Annin died in 1835, aged 45 years. He was a son of William Annin, who was an early pioneer of Cayuga County, and was one of the earliest pioneer teachers of that section. James Annin, son of Joseph, was reared in Le Roy village. After his mother's death, and at the age of II years, he began to earn his own livelihood. He entered a dry goods store at Mount Morris. In the fall of 1840 he returned to Le Roy,

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and with Russels & Sampson began the trade of jeweler. After three years' experience he went to Boston and finished his trade. Six years later he returned to Le Roy and opened a store near the Eagle Hotel, where he remained one year, after which he carried on business at various places until the Lampson House was complete, when he entered the room he now occupies. Mr. Annin is the oldest merhant now doing business in Le Roy. He has since beginning business repaired over 65,000 watches, engraved over 4,000 coffin plates, and has made over $80,000. He married, August 30, 1849, Priscilla W., daughter of William Keith, of Boston, by whom he had seven children, viz .: James, Jr., Charles H., of Grand Rapids, Mich .; Elizabeth W., Hattie K., also of Grand Rapids ; Frank, of Toledo, O .; Herbert E., of Grand Rapids; and Lillian G. Mrs. Annin died in September, 1879.

Rev. Samuel Bowden, A. M., S. T. D., was born in the city of New York, August 26, 1822. His parents, Andrew Bowden and Rose With- erspoon, were both Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, a race from which our country has derived so many of its most valued and useful citizens. His mother was a relative of John Witherspoon, the well-known signer of the Declaration of Independence. She came to New York city with her parents when she was a young child, and always remained a resident of that city. His father was born January 12, 1786. When 26 years of age he left his father's house and sailed for America, expecting a pios- perous passage ; but while he was on the ocean war was declared between Great Britain and the United States. In those days news traveled slowly. As the ship neared the American shores a British war vessel approached, stopped, and boarded the merchantman. The able-bodied men were taken away and pressed into the British service. A few days afterward they were landed at Halifax. Mr. Bowden was offered a good position in the British cavalry, as he was a man of unusual power and a superior horseman.

But it was not his object in leaving his native land to become a British soldier. His mind was made up from the first to become a merchant in the city of New York, and that object he lost not sight of for a moment. At the earliest opportunity he escaped from Halifax, boarded a smug- gling boat, with the captain of which he had made the necessary arrange- ments, crossed the Bay of Fundy, narrowly escaping death by drown- ing, and landed in Maine, then a part of Massachusetts, and almost entirely a trackless wilderness. Ignorant of the country. with nothing to sustain him but his unfaltering trust in God and a stout heart, he started on his long journey. It was nearly all prosecuted on foot, through the most of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Yet with all these hardships he used to say, " Within a little over three months after leav- ing my father's house I was seated at a communion table, in Dr. Mc- Leod's church, in the city of New York." His long journey had almost exhausted his means; still, in about three years, he commenced business as a merchant in the same building where he and his sons prosecuted it

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for nearly half a century. He retired from active mercantile life at the age of 62, and devoted himself to the care of his invalid wife, and to works of active beneficence. In 1876 came his great sorrow, the death of his wife, after a singularly happy union of 62 years. After her death he lived six years, and died August 17, 1882, at the advanced age of nearly 97 years. ' To the last he was strong of body, and his mental powers were absolutely unimpaired ; with scarcely a day's illness he quietly closed his eyes and passed within the vail.

Samuel Bowden, the subject of this sketcli, was the fifth child in a family of six sons and one daughter. Four of his five brothers still sur- vive. All the family attended private schools in the city, and the sons with one exception went into the father's business. Samuel Bowden en- tered Columbia College, N. Y., and graduated in 1840, with the degree of A. B. In 1843 he received the degree of A. M. from his Alma Ma- ter. Meanwhile he had devoted himself to the work of the Christian ministry, and after a four years' course of theological study, chiefly pros- ecuted in the city of Allegheny, Pa., he was licensed to preach October 29, 1844. His health having become impaired by so long and constant study he then spent one year in European travel, and another year in travel through our own country. While he was traveling he was called to the pastorate of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of York, Living- ston County, N. Y. This call he accepted, and he was ordained and in- stalled as pastor December 31, 1846. In this pastorate he remained until 1876, when his health again broke down through excessive study and labor. He was obliged again, as in 1844, to obtain relief in travel ; after spending some months in Florida and South Carolina he spent the summer among the mountains of Switzerland. Upon his return, not finding his health sufficiently reestablished, he resigned his pastoral charge. For three or four years he preached occasionally as strength permitted.

In 1882 he removed to Le Roy, for the purpose of educating his daughters in Ingham University. Finding that his health would proba- bly permit the resumption of regular work he has now been for seven years the stated supply of the Tonawanda Valley Presbyterian Church at Johnsonsburg, Wyoming County, making his home, however, in Le Roy.

Mr. Bowden has been twice married, first, to Maria, daughter of James Beattie, of Orange County, N. Y., her surviving children being Charlotte Jane and Margaret I. His first wife died in 1858. In 1864 he married his second wife, Mary E., daughter of John Donnan, of York. She died in 1873, leaving three daughters, Mary R., Elizabeth D, and Emma S. The trustees of Columbia College, New York, this year conferred on Mr. Bowden the honorary degree of S. T. D.

D. R. Bacon, an old resident of Le Roy, came here in 1839, and formed a law partnership with the Hon. Seth M. Gates, then member of Congress from this distirct. This partnership was continued through Mr. Gates's

Eng. by J.R.Ruce & Sons. Phila.

Samuel Bowden

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second term in Congress, and until the latter's permanent removal from the village to Warsaw, N. Y. Mr. Bacon was born in Hamilton, Madi- son County, N. Y., April 19, 1812. His residence here had been preceded by his father, Rufus Bacon, and his brother, L. S. Bacon, in 1831. His father purchased a farm at the west end of the village, ad- joining that of Capt. Lent, where he built his home and occupied it as a family mansion until his removal to Rochester in 1850. D. R. Bacon's early education was at Hamilton Academy, where he prepared for col- lege, and was graduated at Union College in 1831. His law studies were pursued in the offices of Hon. Joshua A. Spencer, of Utica, and . Judge Philo Gridley, and he was admitted to the bar in 1835. For a brief period after his admission he was engaged in the office of Stephen G. Austin, of Buffalo. In 1836 the N. Y. & E. Railroad Co. was con- structing the western division of its road, and Mr. Bacon was employed by the company in obtaining the right of way from Olean to Dunkirk. In consequence of this employment he removed to Olean, where he remained until, from want of State aid, the work was temporarily sus- pended, when he removed to and settled in Le Roy. Mr. Bacon mar- ried, in 1844, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Israel Rathbone, of Le Roy, and Lucy Anderson, nee Ganson. He was elected secretary of the Genesee Mutual Insurance Co., which he held until his temporary removal to New York city. He also formed a law partnership with James Summerfield. His residence in New York was but for two or three years, when, by a sudden affliction in the family of his brother, L. S. Bacon, (resulting in the death of his children,) he returned to Le Roy to engage in his brother's extensive stove manufacturing business, in which he became a partner, and resulted in the relinquishment of his law busi- ness, which was never afterwards fully resumed. On the removal of his brother to Rochester Mr. Bacon continued the business in company with Harry Backus until its final discontinuance in 1853. His father also re- moved to Rochester, where he died in 1854, at the age of 74 years, and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. Mr. Bacon purchased the home- stead, which was destroyed by fire in 1854, and rebuilt by him. He sold it to the late Rufus Palmer, and it is now owned by Gen. Bissell. Mr. Bacon's present residence is on Trigon Prak, the former residence of Stewart Chamberlin.

In politics Mr. Bacon was an earnest and active supporter, by pen and otherwise, of the Whig party, and of the Republican party from its or- ganization, but was no seeker for political honors. He was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln, which office he held during the war. Liberal and public spirited, Mr. Bacon is always ready to promote social order and morality, contributing within his means to churches and schools. His tastes and .pursuits are essentially literary, and contributions from his pen in the public press for the past 30 years unfold a style that is concise and vigorous, the result of careful study and preparation. Mr. Bacon early united with the Episcopal Church in the village, and from

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his first residence here, except at brief intervals, has been chosen one of its officers, and is at present one of its wardens. He has a family of four sons and one daughter. His eldest son, Walter, has for the last 10 years been a resident of London, Eng., where he is president of one of the tramway railroad companies. Edward is a leading railroad lawyer of New York city, and is the recently elected president of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad. His son Lathrop is a stock broker, and John is at the head of the Meriden Brittania Co's house in New York city. His daughter Mary married Oliver Allen, Jr., of the woolen manufacturing firm of O. Allen & Son, of Mumford, N. Y. It is with his daughter that Mr. Bacon and his wife have their residence in Le Roy.

Frank W. Ball, an enterprising young merchant of Le Roy, was born November 7, 1862, in Le Roy village, a son of Samuel A. and Falla M. - (Sherman) Ball, who were born in Bloomfield and Ogden, N. Y., respec- tively. Samuel A. Ball was reared on a farm and received a common English education. He came from Adams Basin to Le Roy in 1852. About 1863 he entered the grocery store of A. T. Drake as a salesman, and later formed a partnership with Mr. Estee, and afterwards with Mr. Pratt. He was in Churchville two years, and in 1873 returned to Le Roy and engaged in business alone, which he continued until his death in 1887. He was a successful business man, and had the largest trade of any grocer in Le Roy. He reared a family of three children, viz .: Jennie M., Frank W., and Charles H. Mr. Ball was an active and con- sistent member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife were lead- ing members of the Presbyterian Church. He was a son of Isaac Ball, who came from Massachusetts to Bloomfield, and died at Adams Basin. He had been twice married. By his first wife he had two sons and four daughters. His second wife was Lucinda Adams, by whom he had one child, Samuel A., father of Frank W., the subject of this sketch. Frank W. Ball received a good English education, and at the age of 16 entered his father's store. Since the death of his father he has had sole charge of the large business, and has succeeded in managing it with excellent results. He married Mary R., daughter of Samuel B. Gillett, and they have one child, Helen. He and his wife are members of the Presbyte- rian Church.

Alexander Baxter was born in Dundee, Scotland, July 6, 1832. He came to the United States, and after reaching his majority he settled in Le Roy. He worked for 21 years for Mrs. Lent (now Mrs. Bissell) as a florist, and at the same time managed a garden of his own for 28 years. He died in November, 1882. He married Mary, daughter of Patrick and Ellen (Donavan) Elwood, who came from County Tipperary, Ire- land, in November, 1847, and settled in Batavia. His children were John, who enlisted in the army from Michigan and died in Minnesota, from the effects of two wounds received in the war, and William, who served in the 6th U. S. Cav., and was killed at Brandy Station. Mr. and Mrs ..

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Elwood died in Batavia. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter had nine children, viz .: Ellen (Mrs. Blair), George (deceased), Jennie (Mrs. Rogers), William, John (deceased), Mary, Maggie, Annie, and Robert. Mrs. A. Baxter has a beautiful house in Le Roy, and deals in all kinds of flowers

Frank J. Bissell was born at Montville, Conn., October 4, 1828, a son of Abel and Mary (Vallett) Bissell, of Hebron and Montville, Conn., respectively. Abel Bissell, born in 1785, was a clothier by trade. In early life he run a carding and woolen factory. In 1848 he came to Bergen being 18 days coming by canal from New York. He reared children as follows: John, Calvin, Jeremiah, Frank, Lucy A, Phebe, and Rachel. He died August 30, 1861, aged 75 years. His wife was born April I, 1786, and died January 14, 1879, and was a daughter of Jeremiah Val- lett, a farmer of Connecticut, whose children were John, William, Jere- miah, Mary, and Nancy. Frank J. Bissell was reared in Connecticut, worked in a carding-mill and a tannery, and after coming to Genesee County became a farmer. He came to Le Roy in April, 1863, locating where he now resides, and where he owns a fine farm. He married, April 18, 1854, Mary Ann Constantine, a native of Java, Wyoming County, and a daughter of Dennis and Honora (Gilligan) Constantine, who were born in Ennis and Durah, County Clare, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1811, with two sons and a daughter, locating first in Rochester, and finally in Java, where he settled on a farm of 100 acres. His chil- dren were John, Patrick, Bridget, Margaret, Mary A., Ellen, Catharine, and Elizabeth. Mr. Constantine died in 1861, aged 74 years. He was a son of Dennis Constantine, of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Bissell's children are Mary L., now of Wichita, Kan., Francis E., and Catharine G. They have liberally contributed to the erection of the Roman Catholic Church for which he purchased the bell at a cost of $500.

Levi Bissell was born in Hebron, Tolland County, Conn., April 12, 1819, and was a son of Ira and Aseneth (Mann) Bissell, natives of Hebron, Conn. Ira Bissell, son of Levi, was a leading and prominent farmer of Connecticut. ' He served in the State Senate, as did also his son and grandson, and in the Assembly. He reared two sons and two daughters. Levi Bissell, the subject of this sketch, came to Bergen, where he purchased 167 acres of land which his widow now owns. In May, 1868, he moved to Le Roy, where he resided until his death. He married Bellona A. Anderson, daughter of Seneca and Lucy (Webb) Anderson, who were born respectively July 17, 1798, and February 12, 1804, in Massachusetts. Seneca Anderson came with his parents to Middlebury, Wyoming County, N. Y., in 1805. About 1807 or '08 he came to Le Roy and settled about one mile southwest of the vil- lage. He reared eight children, viz .: Bellona A., who was named after the village before it became Le Roy ; Col. David, of Van Buren County, Mich .; Harmony Whelan, of Rochester; Lucy Whelan, of Brockport ; Orphana Wilbur, of Oklahoma Territory; Holton D., of Belle Plaine, Kan .; Galusha, of Granville, O .; and Dell H. Whelan, of Hillsdale, Mich.

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Seneca Anderson died March 27, 1882. He was a son of David, who came from Westchester, Mass., and who was a farmer, a deacon of the Presbyterian Church for 25 years, one of the organizers of the Presby- terian Church at Le Roy, served as justice of his town, and married Sarah Ewell, who bore him three sons and six daughters. David An- derson was a son of Jonathan, of Ingham, Mass., who came from Edin- burgh, Scotland. Levi Bissell and his wife had one daughter, who died at the age of 22. They have an adopted daughter, Bell Bissell.

Fordyce Bannister, born November 8, 1800, in Windsor, Mass., is a son of Versal and Hannah (Packard) Bannister, of Windsor and Goshen, Mass., respectively. His parents came to Genesee County in 1816, with two yoke of oxen and one horse and wagon. Their family consisted of one son and three daughters. He erected a log house (20x36) on lot 156. A roof was put on one end. Fire was built in the center on the ground, and the cabin had neither door nor window. He lived here until his death. He arrived at his new home March 12th with only $1.37 in money. Being in want of bread for his family he went to Mr. McPherson, who had considerable wheat, and arranged to cut one acre of heavy tim- ber, piling brush and cutting rails, and for seven days' work received in pay one and a half bushels of wheat, which he carried on his back to Stanley's mill and returned home with flour. Mr. Bannister reared one son and four daughters. He was a plain, practical man, and died in 1852, aged 87 ; his wife died in May, 1851, aged 54. He was a son of Christopher Bannister, of Massachusetts. Fordyce Bannister married Charlotte, daughter of Alvah and Hannah (Case) Utley. They had children as follows: Gaston D., of Dakota; Ellen M .; Cora (Mrs. Wright), of Michigan (deceased). who left two children, Versal B. and Harry M .; Evans, of Dakota ; Mary ; and Jasper, of Dakota. Fordyce Bannister died in 1883, and his wife in 1852.

Luther Bannister was born November 20, 1819, four miles northwest of Le Roy village, on the Stafford line. His parents, Nathan and Thank- ful (Thwing) Bannister, came from Massachusetts to Genesee County with an ox-team about 1811, and settled on 50 acres. Nathan Bannister served in the War of 1812. He reared a family of five children, namely: Christopher C., Nahum, Luther, Lucinda, and Cordelia. He died in Yates, Orleans County, and his wife in Le Roy. Nathan was a son of William Banister, who was twice married, his wives dying in Massachu - setts and he in Roanoke. Luther Bannister was reared on a farm, and at the age of 14 began life for himself, working by the month. He located in Byron, afterwards in Bergen, and settled where he now resides in 1873. He married Mary L., daughter of Uri and Mahala (Utley) Kelsey, natives of Killingworth, Conn., and Bridgewater, N. Y., respectively. Uri Kelsey was one of the earliest shoemakers of Le Roy. His latter days were spent on a farm. His children were Charles D., Mary L., Lodoiska S., and Dorliska A. Luther Bannister has 10 children, as follows : Alice G. (Mrs. Rapp), Carrie M., Adolphus D., Myran N., Mary C. (Mrs. Critten-

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den), E. Lucinda (Mrs. Brodie), Effice M. (Mrs. Coffey), Carl L., Dwight N., and Delia G. Adolphus Bannister was born June 15, 1853, three and a half miles northwest of Le Roy village.

William Le Roy Bishop, son of William and Laura (Castle) Bishop, was born June 15, 1814, in the town of Le Roy. William Bishop was born in Schoharie County, and his wife in Oneida County, N. Y. He came to Genesee County in 1812, with an ox-team, and settled on 50 acres where his son William L. now resides He served in the War of 1812. He reared three children, Leman C., Harriet, and William L., and was a son of John Bishop, who raised a large family of children. William L. Bishop, having received a fair English education, engaged a few terms in teaching. He has taken great interest in farming. is ener- getic and ambitious, and has done much to improve the stock of the farmers in his locality. He has been especially interested in breeding and improving Merino sheep, Shorthorn cattle, and Wilkes horses, and is now breeding Holstein cattle. He married Juline, daughter of Abner Ward, of Bergen, and they have had four children : Theron C., Wilber (deceased), Ella (deceased), and Florence. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are ac- tive and prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

W. S. Brown, a prominent manufacturer and long a resident of Le Roy, was born in Palmyra, Wayne County, June 22, 1828. In 1857 he came to Le Roy and commenced manufacturing wagons and carriages, in which business he is still engaged. In 1866 he located at 60 Main street, where he employs from 12 to 15 hands. He was married to Harriet E. Thomp- son, of Bethany, and their only child, Louise D., is the wife of Prof. F. M. Comstock, of the Le Roy Academy. Mr. Brown has been super- visor of the town one term, was corporation assessor, and is a worthy member of Olive Branch Lodge, having served as its master in 1868 and 1870. The latter year was the semi-centennial of the lodge, upon the anniversary of which Mr. Brown delivered an historical sketch.

Chauncy E. Bowen, an only child, was born July 25, 1833, in Sara- toga County, N. Y. His parents dying when he was but a child, he lived with his grandfather Bowen, on a farm. At the age of 10 years he came to Le Roy and lived with an uncle. He received a common school education, and was a painter by trade. December 24, 1861, he enlisted in the 105th N. Y. Regt, which afterward became the 94th Regiment, and participated in the battles of Bull Run, Fredricksburg, Antietam, Get- tysburg, and others, and was discharged in December, 1864. He mar- ried, January 1, 1856, Emeline J. M , daughter of Julius C. and Hannah M. (Widdifield) Kellogg. Julius C. Kellogg, born in 1811, came with his parents to Le Roy when young. He was a good swordsnian, and dur- ing the Patriot war in 1837 received a commission as lieutenant for the purpose of drilling troops. He was a regimental drill master, and a prominent Mason. In 1870 he moved to Iowa, where he remained two years, when he returned to New York, but in 1878 went again to Iowa and located in Cedar County, where he died January 21, 1882. He

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Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890, Part 57

Author: Beers, F. W. (Frederick W.), ed. 1n; Vose, J.W., and Co Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : J.W. Vose & Co. Number of Pages: 920

Author: Beers, F. W. (Frederick W.), ed. 1n; Vose, J.W., and Co
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : J.W. Vose & Co.
Number of Pages: 920