Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Volume I, Part 38

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: New York : Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 680

USA > New York > Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Volume I > Part 38

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).

(VII) Nathan Porter, son of Colonel Ab- ner (2) and Susanna (Porter) Currier, was born at Holland, Erie county, New York, August 4, 1818, died at Lockport, New York, October 14, 1880. He was educated in the public schools and Aurora Academy. Early in life he engaged in business as a merchant at Java Lake, Wyoming county, New York, where he also was prominent in public affairs, and in 1852 was elected county clerk on the Whig ticket. In 1856 he removed to Perry, New York, where he also engaged in merchan- dising. In 1864, at the earnest request of his friend, Governor Washington Hunt, he re-

moved to Lockport, New York, to become manager of the flax and cotton mills there, in which the governor was interested, and re- mained in charge of the mills until the business was discontinued. He then became interested in the Lockport Hydraulic Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer, also secretary of the Franklin Mill Company, and closely identified with other interests of the city. His friendship with Governor Hunt was only sev- ered by the death of the latter, who in his will appointed Mr. Currier executor of his es- tate. He became an ardent Democrat after the dissolution of the Whig party, and for sev- eral years was justice of the peace. He was a most capable man of business and strictly scrupulous in his ideas of business honor. He was held in high esteem among his business as- sociates and his wide circle of friends. He married (first), May 11, 1842, Frances Cook, who died in Lockport, May 30, 1873, daughter of Philander Cook. He married (second), June 22, 1876, Mrs. Olive D. Hall, of Rich- mond Hill, Canada, died January 15, 1892. Children of first marriage: 1. Adelaide, of further mention. 2. Carrie A., born in Perry, New York, July 27, 1851 ; married, June 7, 1877, at Lockport, New York, Judge George D. Keeney. 3. Edward N., born at Perry, New York, July 4, 1858, died at Cleveland, Ohio, June 20, 1902. He was six years of age when his parents removed to Lockport, where he was educated in the common and high school, later attending the state normal school at Brockport. He later went west, finally set- tling in Cleveland, where he died. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Order of Elks. He married, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1882, Margaret C. Canavan, died August 2, 1907. Children : Wil- liam E., born October 24, 1883; Arthur B., December 2, 1887, died July 15, 1902; Harold T., born November 7, 1889; Carl N., July 25. 1891 ; Francis P., May 13, 1895.

(VIII) Adelaide, eldest child of Nathan Porter and his first wife, Frances (Cook) Currier, was born in Java Lake, New York, May 16, 1846. She married, October 19, 1871, Ambrose S. Beverly, born at Syracuse, New York, August 23, 1826, died at Lockport, New York, June 24, 1896, youngest son of Captain Charles S. and Prudence (Larned) Beverly. He learned the trade of tinner at Lockport, where he removed in 1847, and in 1854 pur- chased a tinware store. He soon extended his

Nathan P. Courrier Ouvrier

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business so as to include a full hardware line, and erected a three-story building at Market and Exchange streets. This business he con- ducted with marked success until 1888. In 1879 he became a member of the Niagara White Grape Company, of which he was pres- ident. He was also treasurer of the Lockport Pulp Company; president and treasurer of the Lockport Hydraulic Company; president and treasurer of the Franklin Mills Company ; treasurer of the Lockport Felt Company ; pres- ident of the Boston and Lockport Block Com- pany, and interested in several other business enterprises. He was mayor of Lockport in 1881-82, and later president of the board of police commissioners. During the war of the rebellion he was one of the committee ap- pointed to raise forces and funds. He was a member of Grace Episcopal Church of Lock- port, and was an Independent Democrat in politics.

Mrs. Beverly survives her husband. She is a resident of Lockport, New York. She is a member of Grace Episcopal Church and of the social and benevolent societies of the town.

PETERSON This branch of the Peter- sons in the United States came by an ancestor from Holland who settled in New Amsterdam at an early date. The name appears on the rec- ord as early as 1646, when Barent and Casper Pietersen, with others, petitioned for leave to form a village and for salt meadows. Chris- tian Peterson owned lands in Brooklyn in 1660. Christian Peterson married Tryntje Cornelise, and had several children, baptized in 1658 and 1669.

(II) Garret, son of Christian and Tryntje (Cornelise) Peterson, removed in 1694 to New Jersey. He married and had issue.

(III) William, son of Garret Peterson, married Mary Valentine and had issue that settled in Somerset county, New Jersey, on the banks of the Raritan. They were owners of the land they tilled, and rendered good ser- vice to their state, several of the name appear- ing on New Jersey revolutionary rolls.

(IV) Cornelius, son of William Peterson, was a farmer of the town of Hillsborough, Somerset county, New Jersey. He took an active part in town affairs, and when the free- holders of Neshanic (a village in the town- ship) met, May 3, 1775, to choose officers for the Hillsborough battalion of militia he was 13-W

elected second lieutenant, his brother Roelof being chosen first lieutenant. The battalion saw service during the revolution, and Lieu- tenant Cornelius Peterson was with his com- pany. He married, in Neshanic, Hannah Pur- cell (or Parscell) and had children, all bap- tized in the Dutch Reformed church. After the war was over Cornelius removed to New York state, probably during his military ser- vice, having heard of some locality that suited him. He loaded such goods as he could move into covered wagons, and with wife, family, and some negro slaves, made his way to Cay- uga county, New York, where he cleared a farm and lived the remainder of his days. Chil- dren : Cornelius (2), Jerome, George, Garret, of further mention; Roelof, Richard, Anna and Atlje.

(V) Garret (2), son of Cornelius and Han- nah (Purcell or Parscell) Peterson, was-born in Neshanic, Hillsborough township, Somerset county, New Jersey, died at Nunda, New York, November 1, 1843. He came to Cayuga county, New York, with his father, between the years 1785 and 1800, marrying in the town of Scipio, the latter year, Rebecca Babcock, whose parents removed to Cayuga county from New Bedford, Massachusetts.

(VI) Gilbert, son of Garret (2) and Re- becca (Babcock) Peterson, was born in the town of Owasco, Cayuga county, New York, August 5, 1824, died November 14, 1890. He was educated in the district schools, and at an early age became a lumberman, a business he followed for several years. Later he engaged in contracting as a member of the firm of Hunt, Peterson & Kinsley. They carried on several large operations, among them being a contract from the state of New York, enlarg- ing the canals between Middleport and Gas- port, New York, in 1855. In 1858 he removed his residence to Lockport, New York, having been appointed superintendent of the western division of the Erie Canal. Later he assumed the contract for canal repairs on the Albany section, later the section between Frankfort and Little Falls. At about this time he built the Kilburn Hill water works plant and sys- tem at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The old con- tracting firm then dissolved. Mr. Peterson admitted his sons Charles and Jesse to a part- nership, and as Peterson & Sons they built the water works at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a similar plant at Toledo, Ohio. Another im- portant contract was the erection, for the

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United States government, of the Trumbull street reservoir at Washington, D. C. Mr. Peterson, Sr., continued actively in business until his death in 1890. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Episcopal church. He was a man of forceful character, upright and honorable.

He married, in 1847, Elizabeth Parker, born 1823, died 1905, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine (Snyder) Parker, and granddaugh- ter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Rettie) Parker, of Somerset county, New Jersey. Cap- tain John Parker served in the revolutionary war with the First Battalion, Somerset County militia; was engaged at the battle of Mon- mouth under command of General Washing- ton, and died soon after the battle, from apo- plexy. Benjamin Parker came from Somer- set county, New Jersey, to Livingston county, New York, in 1797. He served in the war of 1812-14, losing a leg at the battle of Queens- town Heights. Elizabeth Parker descended in direct lines from three "Mayflower" passen- gers and signers of the "Compact;" Francis Cooke, Richard Warren and John Cooke. Chil- dren of Gilbert and Elizabeth (Parker) Peter- son: Charles, born 1848; Jesse, of further mention; Elizabeth, born in Lockport, New York.

(VII) Jesse, son of Gilbert and Elizabeth (Parker ) Peterson, was born at Belfast, Alle- gany county, New York, October 1, 1850. He was educated in the public schools at Lock- port, attended the high school, and later was a student at Bryant and Stratton's Business College, at Buffalo. In 1868 he became asso- ciated with his father in the contracting busi- ness and was in charge of many of the large operations mentioned in the preceding gen- eration. The firm of Peterson & Sons con- ducted a large and profitable business, being well known as a capable, responsible firm. He continued in business with Peterson & Sons until the dissolution of the firm through the death of the senior partner. In 1885 he was one of the organizers of the Indurated Fibre Company, which was incorporated in that year with Jesse Peterson, president and general manager. He has other important business interests: Is president of the Buffalo Ware- house & Distributing Company, sole owner of the Cascade Pulp Mills, and otherwise inter- ested in Lockport and Buffalo enterprises. His life has been an active, useful one, and the reward that has followed has been fairly

earned and wisely used. He is a Democrat in politics; in 1892 was presidential elector and is influential in his party. He served his city as police commissioner and also as railroad commissioner. Through his patriotic ancestors he has gained membership in the Sons of the American Revolution; is a member of the Electrical Engineers Club, of New York City, and the Social Club, Buffalo and Ellicott, of Buffalo.

He married, January 29, 1873, Arabella A., daughter of former Mayor Albert F. Brown, of Lockport. Children : Clara, married Henry M. Nichols ; Jesse Dudley.

The remote origin of this fam- RANSOM ily across the sea is veiled with the doubt and uncertainty that surround most ancestral records, made up as they are largely from tradition. The his- torian of the Ransoms of America, Willys C. Ransom, A. M., states there is little doubt that the family is of Danish stock, the first landing in Brittainy being coincident with the Danish invasion and the overthrow of the Anglo- Saxon rule in that country, 1017-1042. It is said that for many years after the Danish in- cursions they were called by the Britons, Ran- somes, as in their early raids they seized and carried away notable men and women, holding them in captivity until the ransom demanded for their release was paid. After the restora- tion of Saxon rule, it is likely that Danish families continued to live in England and were still known and called by the old name. Old records and registers generally spelled the name with a final "e." Occasionally it was written Ransomme and Ransom. but since the sixteenth century the name has usually been spelled as it is pro- nounced. There is also a prevalent impression that the American branch is of Celtic or Welsh descent, and again it is claimed that they came into England with William the Conqueror, but these statements are extremely hard to verify and difficult to accept. All efforts to connect the American family with English progenitors of definite date and localities have been un- successful. The passenger lists at the differ- ent ports from which the emigration to Amer- ica departed during the seventeenth century fails to show a single passenger by the name of Ransom, although it is beyond question that one of that name landed in Plymouth, Massa- chusetts, previous to 1650. The municipal and

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church records show that for many centuries families of Ransoms have lived and been prominent in affairs in Kent, Ipswich, Sussex, and principal towns in Eastern England.

The first of the family in America of whom there is clear and continuous record is Rob- ert Ransom, of Plymouth, although there are others mentioned at as early a date-Matthew, of Lyme, Connecticut, who is believed to have been a son of Robert; and Peter Ransome, who settled in Virginia, and was a member of the house of burgesses from Elizabeth county in 1654, who may have been a brother of Robert. In 1654 Robert Ransom was com- plainant in Plymouth court against his mas- ter, Thomas Dexter, Jr., to whom he was ap- prenticed. Where he came from and how long he had been in the colony is unknown. He seems to have been a lonely, friendless lad. Certain it is that he had no parents in Ply- mouth and grew up a wayward boy and young man, although in maturer years he became wiser and held positions of trust. From Freeman's "History of Cape Cod" it appears that Robert was a resident of Sandwich in 1654, and that he complained to the court of Thomas Dexter, Jr., but was himself repri- manded .. The date is August 4, 1654, and at this time Thomas Clark, of Plymouth, bought out this remaining time of Dexter. Robert's offense was stubbornness, and he seems to have continued in offending, as on March I, 1663, he was fined ten shillings for his "turbu- lent and clamorous carriage in the court." December 2, 1665, he was admonished for call- ing William Hawkins a "rogue" and insulting him. In 1669 Robert Ransom and wife ap- peared, and were bound to answer for their "contentions and unworthy carryages" each to the other. March 1, 1690, he appeared to answer his presentment for speaking wicked and reproachful words against the governor and magistrates. The jury cleared him legally, although they were persuaded that the lan- guage spake "like unto the said Ransom's lan- guage." He seems to have had a good deal of trouble, and to have been both sinning and sinned against. June 1, 1675, he was appointed one of the four surveyors of highways of Ply- mouth. July 7, 1681, John Doter, "late con- stable of Plymouth," complained against him to the damage of five pounds, for his putting the said Doter "to much unnecessary trouble, expense of time and losses in the execution of his late office of constable." Jury found for

the plaintiff. July 7, 1685, Robert Ransom was one of the jury at the court of His Maj- esty, "holden at Plymouth." Some time pre- vious to his death he was one of the committee to receive funds for the increase of the min- ister's salary. He married young, although Plymouth records bear no record of his mar- riage. His home was at Lakenham, now Lakeville, the town south of Middleboro, merged in 1708 with the town of Plympton. He reared a large family of sons and daugh- ters who appear to have been respected peo- ple, who intermarried with the best families of the colony. Robert owned a home and land on which he lived and farmed, purchased from Samuel Ryder, Jr. His wife Hannah is sometimes called Susannah, and it is possible he may have been married a second time. He died December 14, 1697, leaving a comfort- able estate for his day. His is the first death recorded in the Ransom family. Children : I. Matthew, of Saybrook, Connecticut; mar- ried, March 7, 1683, Hannah Jones. 2. Joshua, of Plymouth, Massachusetts ; married (first) Mary Clifford, February 1, 1686; (sec- ond), Susanna Garner, March 10, 1692. 3. Robert, of further mention. 4. Hannah, of Plymouth ; married, 1691, Ebenezer Jackson. 5. Mercy, of Plymouth; married, 1692, Sam- uel Waterman. 6. Mary, of Plymouth ; mar- ried Nehemiah Besse. 7. Samuel, of Ply- mouth ; married, 1706, Mercy Dunham ..

(II) Robert (2), son of Robert (1) and Hannah Ransom, died April 27, 1723. There is no record of the place or date of his birth, but the records show him to have been the third son of Robert, and born probably about 1669, at Lakenham, afterward Plympton, county of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Plymouth county records show that June 17, 1686, Rob- ert Ransom (1) gave by deed of trust, which took the place of a will, certain real estate holdings, "To Robert Ransom, Junior, my be- loved son". Robert Ransom (2) married, about 1689, Anna, believed to have been the daughter of Deacon Waterman, of Halifax, Massachusetts. Children: 1. Samuel, born 1693; married, December 12, 1717, Abigail Richard. 2. Abigail, born June 7, 1695; mar- ried Nathaniel Thomas. 3. Lydia, born Feb- ruary 26, 1700; married January 8, 1724, Sam- uel Barrows. 4. Ebenezer, born September 6, 1702; married, 1722, Jerusha 5. Mary, born June 9, 1705. 6. Robert (3), of further mention. 7. Joseph, of further men-

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tion. 8. Anna, born November 18, 1711. 9. Deborah, born May 3, 1714, died 1723.

The descendants of Robert multiplied rap- idly, and many of them settled in Plympton and adjacent towns, making their way in course of time to various localities in Massa- chusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. A num- ber located in the valley of the Hudson in New York state, at Saguerties and Poughkeepsie, from whom descendants spread to western New York and throughout even the far west. (III) Robert (3), third son and sixth child of Robert (2) and Anna (Waterman) Ran- som, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, September 15, 1707, and passed his entire life there. He married (first) August 30, 1719, Sarah Thomas; (second) 1729, Sarah Chyles. A distinguished member of his family was Captain Samuel Ransom, of Wyoming, Penn- sylvania, born April 10, 1738, at Middleboro, Massachusetts. When of age he went with his brother John to Connecticut, where he married and lived until the outbreak of the revolu- tionary war, when he removed with his family to the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, then a part of Litchfield county, Connecticut. He joined the American army and was commis- sioned captain in the Pennsylvania Continen- tal Line. He fought in many battles.and then returned to his home to defend the valley against the Indians, sent by British generals to burn, kill and destroy. He was slain at the head of his little force in a vain attempt to turn the tide of the bloody battle, known in history as the Wyoming Massacre.

(III) Joseph, fourth son and seventh child of Robert (2) and Anna (Waterman) Ran- som, was born December 22, 1709. He set- tled in Ulster county, New York, where he died. He married, March 24, 1730, Mary Pin- chon. Children : James, born April 16, 1732; Peleg, of further mention; Ruth, born Jan- uary 20, 1736; Mary, July 4, 1740; Joseph, 1744. He is said to have been drowned in the Hudson river.

(IV) Peleg, second son of Joseph and Mary (Pinchon) Ransom, was born in Ply- mouth, Massachusetts, August 5, 1735. He re- moved to Ulster county with his father prior to the revolution, and ever after made that his home. He was a devoted patriot, signer of the Ulster county revolutionary pledge, was captain of a company of the Third Regiment, Ulster county militia, and rendered efficient service. He married, October 15, 1760, Su-

sanna Griffin. Children: Mary Jane, married Elijah Lester; Ruth, married Reuben Miller ; Griffin, of further mention; Joseph, a signer of the Ulster county pledge, and a soldier of the Third Regiment, Ulster county militia ; Jacob, Peleg (2).

(V) Griffin, eldest son and third child of Peleg and Susanna (Griffin) Ransom, was born at New Paltz, Ulster county, New York, April 22, 1768. He became a farmer, and fol- lowed that occupation until a short time be- fore his death, when he came to Lockport, New York, where he died September 19, 1848. He married, September 29, 1788, Sarah Smith, born in Ulster county, New York, January 15, 1770, and died at Ransomville, Niagara county, New York, March 2, 1861, daughter of Ann- ing and Eleanor (Clark) Smith. Children: 1. Lydia, born September 30, 1789. 2. Susanna, born March 16, 1791 ; married Stephen War- ing ; she died in New York City, October, 1855. 3. Peleg, born March 27, 1793, died Octo- ber 25, 1884, at Wilson, Niagara county, New York; married Letty Lewis. 4. Anning Smith, born February 5, 1795, died July 26, 1883, at Babcock's Grove, Illinois. 5. Jehiel Clark Smith, born in New Paltz, Ulster county, New York, January 15, 1803. He was well edu- cated in the Ulster schools and academy, re- maining in New Paltz until 1823, when he re- moved to Niagara county, settling in the vil- lage of Ransomville, founded by and named after him. He was first postmaster of the village, and for some years taught school in the town of Newfane. He held many of the town offices and was a man of considerable prominence. He was the organizer of the Ransomville Horse Owners' Protective Asso- ciation that had a long and useful existence. 6. Aurelia Maria, born March 8, 1805; married, February 22, 1829, William Tarbell; she lived to the great age of one hundred years, dying in Washington county, Iowa. 7. Eleanor Be- linda, born August 26, 1807. 8. Jerome Bonaparte, of further mention.

(VI) Jerome Bonaparte, youngest son of Griffin and Sarah (Smith) Ransom, was born in the town of New Paltz, Ulster county, New York, September 1, 1810, died at Buffalo, August 17, 1889, and is buried at Lockport, New York. He was educated in the public schools and lived on the farm in New Paltz. He was a hardy, well developed boy, and at the age of twelve years drove a stage in Sulli- van county, New York, some of the Ransoms

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having settled in that county. In 1831 he re- moved to Niagara county, where he settled in the town of Newfane. He became interested in a general store at Olcott, Niagara county. Closing out his mercantile business, he re- moved to the state of Michigan, where he re- mained until 1836. In that year he returned to Niagara county, and in 1840 had become a conductor on the Lockport & Niagara Falls railroad. In 1842 he removed his residence to Niagara Falls, where he resided until 1845. He returned to Lockport in 1847. He became engaged in heavy contracting and executed several well-known construction jobs. He was overseer of the building of the section of the Welland canal at St. Catherine's, Ontario; the stone towers for the first suspension bridge at Niagara Falls; Deveaux College, and a section of the Hamburg canal, besides other important contracts at Buffalo and elsewhere. He was an energetic, capable man of business, and was highly regarded among his fellows. He married, March 5, 1834, Elvira Albright, born April 14, 1815, died June 14, 1901, daugh- ter of Jacob and Submit Albright, of New- fane, Niagara county, New York. Children : 1. James F., born July 4, 1835; died in in- fancy. 2. Sarah Ellen, born October 11, 1836; married Vincent Riefsnider at Lockport, Sep- tember 11, 1860; she died at Chicago, Illinois, March 24, 1863, and is buried in that city. 3. Frank Albright, born March 5, 1838, at Olcott, New York; died September 3, 1889, and is buried at Lockport, New York; married, De- cember 1, 1863, Lucy Fraetas, of New York ; died July 6, 1864. 4. Cherrill Wells, born June 21, 1840, at Olcott; died April 15, 1886, at Arkansas City, Arkansas, and is buried in Lockport; she married, November 2, 1859, at Lockport, Edward E. Newhall. 5. Washing- ton H., of further mention.

(VII) Washington Hunt, youngest child of Jerome Bonaparte and Elvira ( Albright) Ran- som, was born in Lockport, New York, March 9, 1842. He was educated in the public schools, and having decided on the profession of law entered the offices of Murray & Greene, of Lockport, under whose preceptorship he re- mained until his entrance to Albany Law School, where he was graduated in 1867 and admitted to the bar the same year. He at once opened offices at Lockport, and has been con- tinuously in the successful practice of his pro- fession until the present date (1911). He holds high position in the legal fraternity as a learned

and skillful lawyer, and as a man of probity and honor. Aside from his profession he has important interests : is president of the Niagara Guaranty Search Company ; president and trustee of the Cold Spring Cemetery As- sociation, and was formerly secretary and a director of the old Buffalo & Lockport Rail- way Company. In politics he is a Democrat, and has held several county and town offices. In religious belief he is an Episcopalian.

He married, October 5, 1870, Kate F. Stick- ney, born June 20, 1842, died November 18, 1908, at Lockport, daughter of Washington and Sarah Stickney, of that city. Children: I. Francis Albright, born October 9, 1871 ; edu- cated in the Lockport schools; studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar, January 4, 1894. He began practice in Lock- port, continuing until September 13, 1902, when he abandoned his profession and engaged in mercantile life until October 1, 1905, when he retired and began the study of divinity. In March, 1910, he was ordained to the priest- hood of the Protestant Episcopal church, by Bishop Walker, of Buffalo, and is now (1911) rector of the Episcopal church in Gowanda, New York. He married, in 1903, Bessie A., daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Ford, of Lockport; children: i. Francis Ford, born July 24, 1905, died August 28, 1908. ii. Thomas C., born March 19, 1909. iii. George, June 2, 1910. 2. Mary Elizabeth, born November 9, 1875; now a teacher in the Lockport high school. 3. Kate Stickney, born July 24, 1877; resides at home.

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Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Volume I, Part 38

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918 Publication date: 1912 Publisher: New York : Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 680

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: New York : Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 680