Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Volume I, Part 66

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 66

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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Benjamin, November 17, 1710; married Mrs. Elizabeth Jenness; lived at Hampton Falls. 9. Jonathan, see forward. 10. David, Decem- ber 13, 1716; married Dorothy Currier ; lived at Hampton Falls.

(IV) Captain Jonathan Swett, son of Cap- tain Joseph Swett, was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, November 17, 1712. There is no record of his death, and nothing in probate records to indicate it. He may have moved out of town and died elsewhere. He married (first), July 19, 1733, Deborah Tilton; (second), October 26, 1738, Jane, daughter of Robert and Mehitable (Leavitt) Rowe, or Row. The inscription on her tomb- stone, in the oldest cemetery of Hampton Falls, reads: "Here lies buried the body of Mrs. Jean Swett, Late wife of Capt. Jonathan Swett, who departed this life January 5th, 1751, in the 33rd year of her age." Dow's "History of Hampton" says she was born De- cember 9, 1717. Near her grave is a long row of mounds without tombstones, where prob- ably rest several generations of the Swett fam- ily. Robert Row's will, 1757, names grand- children, children of his daughter Jane: Jo- seph, Josiah, Jonathan, Mehitable and Sarah Swett. Captain Swett married (third) Mary Stevens. The town records assign seven chil- dren to his second marriage and three to his third, but this is manifestly an error. Chil- dren : 1. Joseph, born August 16, 1739; mar- ried Jemima -; probably settled in Wa- terborough, Maine. 2. Josiah, see forward. 3. Mehitable, February 6, 1744; married, Octo- ber 29, 1771, David Perkins, in Newington, New Hampshire. 4. Sarah, February 3, 1746. 5. Jonathan, August 27, 1748; married, No- vember 8, 1774, Lydia Huntress, of Newing- ton; he settled in Campbell's Grove, after- ward called Windsor, New Hampshire. Chil- dren by third marriage : 6. David, born April 8, 1753; married, October 30, 1786, Sarah Batchelder, and had two daughters and a son, the last-named died unmarried; lived in Hampton Falls. 7. James, April 8, 1755; per- haps settled in Vermont. 8. Lydia, September 5, 1757. 9. Elizabeth, May 5, 1759. 10. Abigail, August 3, 1760.

(V) Josiah, son of Captain Jonathan Swett, was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, December 20, 1741, died in Claremont, New Hampshire, December 26, 1808. He lived for some years in Wenham, Massachusetts, thence moved to Campbell's Gore (Windsor),

New Hampshire, and finally settled in Clare- mont. He was a revolutionary soldier from Wenham. He married, January 10, 1765, Prudence, born September 28, 1747, died August 8, 1831, daughter of Skipper and Sarah (Cogswell) Dodge, of Wenham, Mas- sachusetts. All his children except James are recorded in Wenham. Children : I. Prudence, born August 20, 1766; married, 1783, Joel Richards; settled in Claremont, New Hamp- shire. 2. Josiah, October 2, 1768, died in Claremont, December 18, 1843; married, Feb- ruary 18, 1791, Hannah Healey, of Washing- ton, New Hampshire; ten children; she died December 3, 1854. 3. Benjamin, January 22, 1771 ; married (first), March 17, 1790, Polly Healey ; (second), October 12, 1813, Marcia Dodge, of Wenham, Massachusetts ; he is said to have removed to Mount Morris, New York. 4. Sarah, May 28, 1773, died June 26, 1774. 5. Mehitable, May 27, 1775 ; married, May 23, 1794, Ichabod Dodge. 6. Jonathan, February 19, 1778, died July 27, 1779. 7. Jonathan, see forward. 8. James, died April 23, 1804, aged twenty-two years.

The above lineage was compiled by Rev. Everett S. Stackpole, of Bradford, Massachu- setts, in February, 1908. He has worked sev- eral years on the history of the Swett family, and has searched town, church and county records, military lists and cemeteries, and every other known source of information.

(VI) Dr. Jonathan Swett, son of Josiah Swett, was born at Wenham, Massachusetts, June 22 or 23, 1780, baptized July 2, 1780, ac- cording to published records of Wenham. He attended school in Deerfield. He later studied medicine in Dartmouth College, but probably did not graduate. He practiced his profession in Maine for some time; later went to North- field, Massachusetts; from there returned to Deerfield; later removed to Elbridge, New York; then to Weedsport, New York, where he resided about four years, during which time he built two canal boats, with the help of an old ship carpenter, and also built a house ; from there removed to Rochester, New York; from there removed to a place near the present village of Brockport, New York, where he remained until he purchased a farm at Ridgeway, New York, from the Holland Land Company. The records of the Holland Land Company show that the east part of lot 38 was articled to Jonathan Swett in the year 1830; this land was deeded to him October

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13, 1832. This land was on the famous Ridge road, which was then and always has been a highway from Rochester to Buffalo and Lew- iston. On this land a tavern was situated, and the only way Dr. Swett was able to secure possession was by entering the tavern as a guest and by getting some of his baggage in. If this had not been done the man who occu- pied the tavern could not have been legally dispossessed. While a resident of Ridgeway, Dr. Swett was noted as one of the most famous surgeons in Western New York. He used to prophesy that people would talk through the air, and also that the air would some day be navigated, both of which have come to pass. In 1856, after the death of his wife, Dr. Swett removed to Champaign county, Illinois, with his son, Joel R., and family, and his daughter Charissa, the latter remaining with him until his death, which oc- curred September 14, 1865, in Sidney, Illi- nois, where his remains were interred. His health remained good and his strength un- impaired until shortly before his death. He was a Democrat in politics, but voted for Abraham Lincoln for his second term.

Dr. Swett married, at Deerfield, Massachu- setts, October 23, 1803, Charissa, born Janu- ary 13, 1781, died at Ridgeway, New York, June 1, 1855, daughter of Justin and Mercy (Hoyt) Hitchcock, of Deerfield. Children : I. Camilla, born at Deerfield, September I, 1805, died September 4, 1805. 2. James, De- cember 10, 1806; he left home while the family lived in Ridgeway, New York; never heard from again. 3. Barbarack, died young. 4. Joel Richards, see forward. 5. Jonathan, born at Deerfield, May 18, 1809, died about 1882, at Medina, New York ; married a Miss Knick- erbocker, of Ridgeway, New York. 6. Char- issa Hoyt, born at Elbridge, April 7, 1814, died May 22, 1910, at Medina, New York, aged ninety-six years. 7. Charles, born at Weedsport, about 1822, lived nine months.

(VII) Joel Richards, son of Dr. Jonathan Swett, was born at Northfield, Massachusetts, January 19, 1808, died at Medina, New York, September 28, 1890. He was named for his uncle, Joel Richards, of Claremont, New Hampshire, who married Prudence Swett. While the family resided at Elbridge, New York, the above-named uncle and aunt made the family a visit and took Joel R. Swett back to New Hampshire to live with them as his uncle's heir. He, however, did not like the

life with them, and returned to his father's home, walking the greater part of the way. He was given command of one of the early packet boats built by his father on the Erie canal at Weedsport, and his brother James was given command of the other. He moved with his father to Ridgeway, New York, in 1830, and after his marriage again worked on the Erie canal, this time as master of a boat run by the New Clinton line. In 1856 he moved to Rantoul, Champaign county, Illi- nois. He enlisted in the Eighth Indiana Bat- tery at Terre Haute, February 27, 1862, and was in the Army of the Cumberland thirteen months. He was ordered by Captain Cochran to ride back about four miles from where the battery was in camp, and rode bareback to assist in getting a commissary wagon out of a ditch. On this ride he was captured at Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862. While on the way to prison he spiked seven cannon in the rebel baggage train; this would have meant instant death had his act been detected. During the war he was in the battle of Pitts- burg Landing, and doubtless others. He was confined in Libby prison, but was paroled at City Point, Virginia, February 3, 1863, and sent to Parole Camp at Annapolis, Maryland, from which he was discharged for disability, March 18, 1863, and returned home. Imme- diately after the war closed he returned to Medina, New York, with his family, and re- mained there until his death, but was unable to perform heavy work, due to an accident in the plant of the Bignall Manufacturing Company. He was employed as night watchman, and in order to save the factory carried a box of burning sawdust soaked with oil and naptha in his bare hands and threw it out of the door- way. As a result of this his hands were burned so the flesh hung in shreds. He was unable to use his hands for a long time, and never could perform much work thereafter. He was a member of the Baptist church, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Swett married, October 2, 1836, at Ridgeway, New York, Minerva Bates, of Ridgeway. She was born at Palmyra, New York, November 22, 1818, died January 20. 1901, at Medina, New York, daughter of Ben- net and Abigail (Conant) Bates, who formerly lived at Macedon, New York, moving there from New England. Mr. and Mrs. Swett were the parents of fourteen children, eight

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of whom died in early infancy. Those who survived were: I. Joel Bates, born July 10, 1841, at Ridgeway, New York; he was a mem- ber of the Eighth New York Cavalry in the civil war; he participated in fifty-two engage- ments, had three horses killed under him in battle; was editor of the Medina Register from 1877 till 1881 ; living (1912) at Rochester, New York ; he married (first), November 28, 1866, Sarah Janet Spaulding, of Ridgeway, born September 10, 1842, died December 8, 1881, in Manistee, Michigan; married (sec- ond), November 1, 1882, Ella Maloria Graff Sanderson, a widow, living in Manistee, Mich- igan. Child by first wife, Minerva Jeanette, born February 15, 1871, married Mort Tan- ner; children by second wife: Nina Josephine, born October 31, 1883; Lawrence G., born April 17, 1885, married Clara May Peacock, of Sodus Point, New York, May 29, 1907; Winifred Ella, born August 18, 1888, married Frederick Vills, of Rochester, New York. 2. Albert Louis, see forward. 3. Cora Estelle, born July 20, 1852, at Ridgeway, New York ; married, January 3, 1877, at Medina, New York, Ephraim Loke, of Medina, born at Lin- colnshire, England, September 6, 1841; chil- dren, all born in Medina : Louis Ephraim, born August 14, 1878, married, October 18, 1906, Harriet Newbegin, of South Carolina; Min- erva Frances, September 18, 1883; Cora Es- telle, September 8, 1886, married, in October, 1910, Samuel Cooke; Marshall Swett, April 23, 1893. 4. Emily Frances, born in Royalton, New York, September 9, 1854; educated at Medina Academy, and later took a medical course at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Chicago, Illinois ; she has been prac- ticing medicine in Medina since 1885. 5. Ly- man Richards, born at Rantoul, Illinois, July 19, 1859; is a graduate of Medina high school, later studied theology, and is a regularly or- dained minister, his pastorates including churches at Vineland, New Jersey ; Cambridge and Dorchester, Massachusetts ; living ( 1912) in Boston, Massachusetts; he married (first), July 29, 1891, at Port Jervis, New York, Martha Almira Washington, born at Alle- gheny City, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1865, died June 27, 1894, at Vineland, New Jersey, daughter of Rev. Shadrack and Lucy H. (Walker) Washington, of Port Jervis, New York : child, Trevor W. H., born July 22, 1893, at Vineland, New Jersey; he entered Harvard, September, 1911 ; Lyman R. married

(second), at Washington, D. C., November 25, 1896, Elizabeth Wilson Horner, of Brook- lyn, New York, born near Heightstown, March 21, 1867, daughter of Charles C. and Mereder (Haines) Horner, of Washington, D. C .; child of second marriage : Lois Helene, born August 25, 1899, at Boston, Massachu- setts. 6. Lena Amanda, born at Rantoul, Illi- nois, October 12, 1864; married, at Medina, New York, June 30, 1892, Emmet Jay Poler, born at Shelby, New York, September 16, 1863; children, born at Medina, New York; Frances Dorliska, May 17, 1893; Carrol Em- met, September 13, 1894; Donald Swett, June 21, 1896; Justin, May 10, 1898, died March 22, 1901 ; Norman Richards, January 23, 1905. (VIII) Albert Louis, son of Joel Richards Swett, was born at Ridgeway, New York, April 27, 1850, in the second house north of the Ridge on the west side of the Swett road, which was named for his grandfather, Dr. Jonathan Swett. He lived in early childhood on the Bates road, near Medina, and later in the town of Royalton, a few miles west of his birthplace. In 1856 he accompanied his par- ents and grandfather to Rantoul, Champaign county, Illinois, and there spent nine years of his life on the farm which his father had pur- chased. During the civil war his father and brother, Joel B. Swett, were in the army, and consequently on him devolved much of the work of the farm, as he was the eldest child of the family at home, and he was obliged to assist his mother in the care of seven cows and other arduous farm labor. In September, 1865, he accompanied his family to Medina, New York. For four months he worked as clerk in the grocery store of E. & T. Swan, and at the expiration of that period secured a position in Lina Beecher's printing office, where he remained four months, and then ac- cepted a position in the grocery store of H. O. Bates, where he remained for one year at a salary of $20 a month and board. After leav- ing this position he assisted Paul Davis in building a house on Mr. Davis' farm; this was in the year 1867, and he worked there dur- ing the summer. In the fall of the same year he entered the Medina Academy, which was then under the preceptorship of Professor Charles Fairman. Being obliged later to give up his studies for lack of funds, he secured work as a painter and helper in the Bignall Manufacturing Company. After spending some time in this occupation he was promoted

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to the position of shipping clerk for the firm, which position he retained until July 30, 1873, when he entered into partnership with William H. Samson, who was a foreman in the machine shop of the Bignall Manufacturing Company, and they founded the firm known as The Me- dina Manufacturing Company, for the manu- facture of hardware specialties. Both part- ners agreed to invest $1,200 apiece; $500 of Mr. Swett's capital, however, was invested in a Northern Pacific bond, which he was obliged to sell later under the stress of financial diffi- culties for only $100, thus receiving a severe handicap at the outset. The partners first started business in a little foundry located south of the railroad where Mahar Brothers' furniture factory now stands. They remained there until 1880. In the beginning one boy was employed to assist in the business. Each partner held his personal expenses down to the lowest margin possible, contributing every cent possible to the enterprise. The lack of money was so great that Mr. Swett, while on the road looking for trade, frequently walked between stations to save car fare. After seven years had passed the business had grown so that the firm employed about twenty men. They then purchased a piece of prop- erty on Oak Orchard creek, north of the Erie canal, and erected a shop of their own. Here they constructed a dam of loose stones which gave about eight feet head of water, and de- veloped for them about twenty-five horse power. In 1890 Mr. Swett purchased the in- terest of his partner, Mr. Samson, and hence- forth conducted the plant under the name of the A. L. Swett Iron Works.

Before long the problem of lighting the fac- tory became important, and here began his first experience with electric lighting, which was later to become fully as important as the iron business. At first a small twenty-light arc dynamo was installed to furnish light for the shop. In 1896 a better type of machine of perhaps thirty horse-power was installed to furnish incandescent lights in the factory. From this circuit a private line was also ex- tended to Mr. Swett's house, about three blocks away. In 1897 the contract of the company then furnishing the village with electricity expired, and Mr. Swett was re- quested by certain influential men of the vil- lage to bid for the contract. He thought the matter over and decided to do so, with the re- sult that he was given the franchise and con-

tract to light the village for five years. He built a small wooden power-house back of the foundry and installed a water wheel below, which was capable of developing about seventy horse-power. For emergencies, when water would be low, a one-hundred and twenty-five horse-power engine was purchased and ade- quate electrical machinery installed. This plant was sufficient for only a short time. Then find- ing that the business was growing faster than he could handle it, he purchased the old Weld & Hill flouring mill property, which had re- cently burned, formed a corporation known as the A. L. Swett Electric Light and Power Company, and erected a modern electrical plant at Medina Falls, where a fall of some thirty feet made it possible to develop about four hundred horse-power. In course of time this plant also became too small, and in 1903 the company began to build a large dam one mile north of Medina, on Oak Orchard creek. which would back the water up stream for nearly a mile. This dam gives fifty-five feet head and furnishes power for three eight-hun- dred horse-power units. In 1906 a contract was made with the Niagara, Lockport & On- tario Power Company to furnish whatever ad- ditional power might be needed whenever the company's water power should not be suffi- cient to meet the demands of a rapidly growing business. On September 8, 1909, the company purchased the interests of the Albion Power Company, which had a water-power plant at Waterport, and supplied power to Albion, Brockport and Carlton. Since then the lines of the old Albion Company have been com- pletely rebuilt by the Swett Company and modern equipment installed throughout. In 1909 a transmission line was run to Lyndon- ville. In 1910 another line was extended to Gasport, and in 1911 the village of Barker was added to the system. The company now (1912) has over seventy miles of transmis- sion line and supplies power and light to Me- dina, Albion, Brockport, Middleport, Gasport, Lyndonville, Barker, Waterport and Carlton, as well as to a number of smaller places.

In addition to this electrical development, the A. L. Swett Iron Works has not stood still. In 1898 the soil pipe and fittings branch of the business was taken over by the Central Foundry Company, of New York, and the A. L. Swett Iron Works built a new plant on Glenwood avenue, which began to manufac- ture hardware specialties with a force of about

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sixty men, which has increased until it num- bers about one hundred and forty. This plant is doing a good business, and growing steadily under the efficient management of A. S. Braughton and F. M. Poler, who have been with the firm for many years.

In addition to his business activities, Mr. Swett has always been an efficient citizen and a leader in his community. He is an active member of the Baptist church of Medina, serving as president of the board of trustees, treasurer, and in other official positions. He has also taken a deep interest in the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is a director. He is a Republican in politics, served for nine years on the board of educa- tion, and also as commissioner of Boxwood Cemetery. He has been a director of the Me- dina Savings and Loan Association for many years, and has been an active participant in all local politics and other matters affecting the interests of the village.

Mr. Swett married, at Medina, New York, September 18, 1872, Lucinda Maria Fuller, of Medina, born at Factory Village, near Ball- ston Spa, New York, December 29, 1849, daughter of James Harvey and Jerusha (Davis) Fuller, the former of whom was born March 14, 1811, died November, 1856, near Hagadorn's Mills, Saratoga county, New York, and the latter was born June 13, 1810, died November, 1854, at Fort Edward, New York. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Swett: I. Alice Abigail, born November 10, 1873, died February 12, 1884. 2. Charles Sumner, born March 7, 1879, at Medina ; is now treasurer of the A. L. Swett Electric Light and Power Company ; married, February 27, 1906, at Me- dina, Anna Viola, born February 6, 1879, daughter of Joseph and Hartley (Welch) Brooks, of Medina; one child, Alice Brooks Swett, born July 7, 1909, at Medina. 3. Ray- mond Fuller, born November 13, 1885, at Me- dina; graduated from Yale College, class of 1909, and now associated with the A. L. Swett Iron Works.

This is the record of an MATTHEWS English family transplant- ed to American soil, where it has taken deep root and produced descend- ants worthy of more than passing notice. One claim the family has to special distinction is the fact that the present day representative in Buffalo, Charles Benedict Matthews, had

the courage to enter the lists against the powerful Standard Oil Company, and was the first man to successfully fight it through the courts and obtain verdicts in both criminal ,and civil suits. So important was this battle fought by Mr. Matthews that Henry Demar- est Lloyd, in his great book, "Wealth Against Commonwealth," devotes several chapters to a history of the events leading up to the fight and the resultant trials. Miss Ida Tarbell, in her "History of the Standard Oil Company," also gives the trial a full report.

The James Matthews family originally came from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, Eng- land. James came to Yarmouth, Massachu- setts, in 1639 (according to Freeman's his- tory, "Cape Cod Annals"). His children were Samuel, Benjamin, Thomas, William and John. John was born in 1643 and was killed at the Rehoboth fight. His son John was born in 1683, and died at the age of eighty years. His son John was the father of Isaac, who was born September 4, 1712; he married Sarah Howes. One of his sons was Barna- bas, who continues the line.

(I) Barnabas Matthews, born in Massachu- setts, July 15, 1749, settled on Cape Cod, Mas- sachusetts. He followed the sea, and was in- terested in the fisheries of that section and time. He passed his active years in this busi- ness, and when advancing years drove him from his lifelong occupation, went far inland to Washington county, New York. He did not locate away from a large body of water, however, but settled in Whitehall, at the foot of Lake Champlain, in 1810. Here he spent his last years. He died in December, 1821, and is buried in Whitehall cemetery. He married Desire Rider. Children : Isaac B., of whom further; Leonard, a graduate of Mid- dlebury College, Vermont, and a Congrega- tional minister ; a daughter.

(II) Isaac B., son of Barnabas and Desire (Rider) Matthews, was born at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, near Polland Pond, August 1, 1784, and died at Warsaw, New York, June 24, 1866. He came to New York state when he was about eighteen years of age, settling on a tract of wild land near Whitehall, Wash- ington county. " He cleared this tract, brought it under cultivation and resided there his en- tire after life. It was to this farm and home of his son that Barnabas Matthews came in his old age. Isaac B. was a devoted member of the Congregational church and lived a con-

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sistent Christian life. He was a Whig in pol- itics, later a Republican. He married (first) Ann Leonard, born about 1784, died December II, 1819. Children: 1. Solomon Leonard, born November, 1808, lived and died Septem- ber 17, 1835, at Pavilion, Genesee county, New York. 2. Isaac Vincent, of further mention. 3. Laura, born 1812, married Alonzo May, and removed to Iowa, where she died Febru- ary 5, 1882. 4. George L., born October 13, 1818, died in Chicago, Illinois, February II, 1890, after a residence in Iowa. Isaac B. Matthews married (second) a widow, Mrs. Savage. Children : Josiah, John, a resident of Chicago, and Mary.

(III) Isaac Vincent, son of Isaac B. and Ann (Leonard) Matthews, was born at White- hall, New York, August 17, 1810, died August 2, 1890, at Genesee Falls, Wyoming county, New York. He grew up on the Whitehall farm and followed agriculture and merchan- dising all his life. He had a general store at Mt. Clemens, and also at Pavilion, New York, closing out his business at the latter place in 1864 and moving to Genesee Falls. He fol- lowed farming exclusively at the latter place, and became a prominent public official of Wy- oming county. He represented his town on the county board of supervisors and was also county loan commissioner. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church for many years, and a very active church worker. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican. He married (first), January 12, 1837, Effie E. Bliss, who died in October, 1838. He married (second), March 5, 1840, Phoebe Ann, who died January 31, 1859, daughter of Benedict Brooks, born in Connecticut, and a prominent citizen of Wyoming county.

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Genealogical and Family History of Western New York, Volume I, Part 66

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