USA > New York > Genealogical and family history of central New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, Volume I > Part 21
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
107
NEW YORK.
ferred to the One Hundred and Forty-seventh New York, thence to the Ninety-first New York, from which he was discharged, July 3, 1865, by reason of the close of the war. Thus he served nearly four years, first in the First Army Corps, under Reynolds and Doubleday, until that corps was destroyed at Gettysburg, where the Seventy-sixth New York, leading the Corps, opened the battle with the First Infantry fire. After that he served in the Fifth Corps, of which the remnant of the old First Corps formed the Third Division, and he was present at the surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865. During his army service, and particularly while in winter quarters, Mr. Mantanye continued his study and reading, and he also kept a diary which has since been used by writers on army life. On his return from the army, in 1865, Mr. Mantanye came to Cortland, his father having that year removed to Cortland. He entered on the study of law with Hon. Arthur Holmes, then one of the leading lawyers of "the county. In May, 1867, he was admitted to the bar at Binghamton, and soon after com- menced the practice of law, which he has ever since continued. Before his admission he had committed the code of procedure to memory, and he has always been an authority on prac- tice, frequently consulted by other lawyers. In May, 1869, he removed to Marathon and open- ed an office, continuing practice there until 1888, when he removed to Cortland, which has since been his residence.
Mr. Mantanye has been a prominent Repub- lican all his life, casting his first vote for Lin- coln, in 1864, at the age of twenty-one, send- ing it from the front. He supported Horace Greeley, in 1872, as a Republican and one of the founders of the party, still holding to that party, and refusing to pass over to the opposite side, as so many did. His father was of the "Free Soil" party that supported Birney, in 1848, and John P. Hale, in 1852, and which, by the accession of Whigs in 1854-55, became the Republican party. In the first Republican cam- paign, in 1856, though only thirteen years of age, he was a leader in a band of boys at Free- town, organized into a "Fremont and Dayton" marching club, having a liberty pole and flag of its own in front of his father's wagon works. The flag is still retained as an interesting relic. After the war he was active in the party, fre- quently a delegate to state conventions, and a member of the Republican county committee,
and a popular leader. In 1882-83 he was a member of the Republican state committee from the Onondaga, Cortland district, and of the executive committee of the state organiza- tion. He was never a seeker for office for himself, and never was a candidate until 1893, when, without any previous canvass, he was nominated as a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1894, from the twenty-fifth sen- ate district, then composed of Cortland, Broome, Tioga, Chenango and Delaware counties, and was elected. In that convention he was promi- nent as a speaker and worker, and was a mem- ber of the important committee on powers and duties of the legislature, and on county and town officers. He introduced some amend- ments which were adopted and two that were not finally adopted, but eventually will be a part of the organic law. One of these was to make the term of office of governor and lieu- tenant-governor four years, and make them ineligible to election for the next succeeding term. This was at first agreed to in committee, but later on was defeated. The other was a provision for biennial sessions of the legis- lature-No. 83 on the file. It was at first adopted by the committee, as appears by con- vention document No. 22, but later a rally of the politicians caused its defeat. In 1897 it was, on the suggestion of Governor Black, in- troduced in the legislature and passed, but failed in the legislature of 1898. He also advo- cated the amendment as to employment of convicts in penal institutions, forbidding their labor being sold out to contractors, and it was adopted. In June, 1895, Mr. Mantanye was appointed, by Governor Morton, as a member of the state commission of prisons, created by the constitution of 1894, with jurisdiction over all penal institutions, and having the duty of reporting a system for the employment of con- victs under the revised constitution. Mr. Man- tanye was at once elected vice-president of the commission, and reelected in 1896. As he was the only member who had given the subject previous study he was made chairman of the committee on annual report to formulate the new system. This he did in such a careful and reasonable way that the report was adopted by the commission and handed to the legislature of 1896. He was then put upon the committee on legislation, and had charge of the drafting and introduction of the proposed laws in ac- cordance with the report. These laws chang-
108
NEW YORK.
ing the prison labor system, with some amend- ments to the county law and penal code, were explained to the legislature by Mr. Mantanye and were enacted. By these laws the taking of convicts from without the state by peniten- tiaries to board was ended and the different institutions were relegated to their original pur- poses by requiring felons to be sent to the reformatory and state prisons, and misdemean- ants to the jails, penitentiaries and houses of refuge. The labor of convicts is also to be utilized in producing supplies for the public institutions, so that the state has the full value of the labor in reduction of taxation, instead of selling it out to syndicates for small prices and thus enabling them to carry on a ruinous competition with industries of free labor. The system has proved successful, and is being adopted in other states. Great improvement was made in jails, penitentiaries and other prisons. The prisoners were classified and graded as required by the law of 1889, with a view of introducing the reformatory system in the state prisons, which makes good citizens of law breakers, instead of putting them into a permanent criminal class, as under the old sys- tem. Mr. Mantanye continued as chairman of the committee on annual report of the com- mission, and drew the report for 1898, pre- sented to the legislature of 1899. It was an interesting document, giving a retrospect of the conditions existing when the commission was appointed and of the many improvements and economies since inaugurated and carried on at the instance of the commission. To Mr. Mantanye, more than to any other one person, is owing the great reforms put in successful oper- ation in the prison system of the state, and which are being copied in other states and countries. Yet he is modest and unassuming. claiming no special credit or honor for himself, but giving it all to the commission.
Since 1901, when he retired from the com- mission of prisons, he has devoted his time to his law practice, which is large, particularly in caring for and settling estates. While often consulted in party matters and having large influence he has retired from more active polit- ical work, feeling that forty years of activity has earned for him a rest. Mr. Mantanye is a member of the Tioughnioga Club ; secretary of the Association of the Seventy-sixth Regiment. New York Volunteers, and was the first colonel of the Cortland Encampment of the Union Veteran Legion, of which he is still a member,
and a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public, Grover Post, No. 98, Cortland, New York.
Thomas Sherwood, immi- SHERWOOD grant ancestor, was born in Ipswich, Suffolk county, England, in 1593; died in October, 1655, at Fairfield, Connecticut. He came to Boston in the ship "Frances," in 1634, giving his age as forty-eight, and accompanied by his wife Alice, aged forty-seven, and children : Ann, aged four- teen ; Rose, aged eleven : Thomas, ten ; Re- becca, nine. They resided for several years in Massachusetts, but settled in Fairfield as early as 1645, and owned land there before 1650. In his will, dated July 21, 1655, he mentions all his children. He married (first) Alice Sea- brook, (second) Mary Fitch. Children : Ann, born 1620; Rose, 1623; Thomas, 1624: Re- becca, 1625; Stephen ; Matthew. 1633; Tanı- sen : Margery ; Ruth ; Abigail ; Mary; Isaac.
(II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas (1) Sher- wood, was born in England, in 1623-24, and came with his parents in 1634. He went from Boston to Wethersfield, and thence to Fair- field, where he settled. He was admitted a freeman, at Hartford, October 13, 1664. He was the first miller on Mill Run, Fairfield. He married (first ) Sarah Wheeler, who died be- fore August 21, 1669, daughter of Thomas and Ann Wheeler. He married ( second) Ann, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Turney. He married (third) Elizabeth, widow of John Cable Jr. He married ( fourth) Sarah Coley, widow of Peter Coley, and daughter of Humph- rey Hyde. Children of first wife: Thomas, born 1654, of Eastchester, New York ; Sarah, married John Whitlock. Children of second wife: Mary, married David Whitlock; Benja- min ; Samuel ; Ruth ; Hannah; Abigail. Chil- dren of third wife: Isaac, mentioned below; Phebe, married Samuel Bradley.
(III) Isaac, son of Thomas (2) Sherwood, was born in Fairfield, died in 1748. Hle settled in Norwalk, Connecticut, as early as 1690. He married Mary -. Children : Isaac, men- tioned below : Rebecca, Elizabeth and John.
(IV) Isaac (2), son of Isaac ( I ) Sherwood, was born about 1720, or earlier, in Norwalk. He married Mary Hayes. His three sons, Jon- athan, Isaac and Samuel, settled in Williams- town, Massachusetts. Some of the sons of Samuel and Isaac were soldiers in the revolu- tion. Jonathan Jr., evidently called thus to
NEW YORK.
distinguish him from his uncle Jonathan, men- tioned below, died at Williamstown, August 7, 1825, in his sixty-ninth year, and his wife Martha died there, September 24, 1824, in her sixty-second year ; their gravestones are stand- ing: also the gravestone of their daughter Anne, who died October 19, 1813, in her twen- ty-seventh year. Stephen, Timothy and Sam- uel were soldiers in the revolution from Williamstown, grandsons of Isaac and Mary (Hayes) Sherwood. Another grandson, James, married, June 1, 1789, at Williamstown, Hul- dah Stratton, and the marriages of four grand- daughters are recorded : Mary 3d, married, at Williamstown, February 25, 1785, John Mc- Nichols; Polly, married, March 22, 1789, Iz- bund Gregory; Betty Sherwood, married, De- cember 14, 1786, Thomas Fowler ; Rhoda Sher- wood, married, November 22, 1787, at Pownal, Vermont, Stephen Pratt. In 1790, according to the first federal census, the following sons and grandsons were of Williamstown: James Sherwood, with two males over sixteen, one male under sixteen and three females; Jona- than, two males over sixteen, two under, two females; Jonathan Jr., one over sixteen, one under and three females : Stephen, two males over sixteen and seven females; Samuel, one over sixteen, one under and two females. Tim- othy, of the adjoining town of West Stock- bridge, and Benjamin, of New Ashford, also having families at the time of the census, were doubtless of this family. Children : Isaac, born 1742, died at Williamstown, August 19, 1814, wife Mary died October 2, 1808, aged seventy- one : Jonathan, mentioned below ; Samuel, died at Williamstown, April 12, 1801, aged sixty- two. Probably others.
(V) Jonathan, son of Isaac (2) Sherwood, was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, in June, 1746. He settled before the revolution at Williamstown, Massachusetts. Jonathan was a soldier in the revolution, a private in Cap- tain Samuel Clark's company, Colonel Benja- min Simond's regiment, of Berkshire county, and took part in the battle near Bennington, Vermont, August 16, 1777, and was engaged in conveying prisoners to Pittsfield, Massachu- setts. He was corporal of the same company and regiment, September 7 to 30, marching to Pawlet, Vermont, by order of Major-General Lincoln. He removed from Williamstown, in 1798, to Fairfield, Herkimer county, New York. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Sally (Bradley) Leach. Her father was
descended from Lawrence Leach, born 1589, surgeon to Edward III., of England. Jona- than Sherwood died January 17, 1799.
(VI) Henry, son of Jonathan Sherwood, was born in Williamstown, May 16, 1777 ; died July 8, 1831. He was a farmer in Fairfield, New York. He married Abigail Evans. Chil- dren, born at Fairfield, New York : Henry J., mentioned below : Gaylord N. and Elizabeth.
(VII) Henry J., son of Henry Sherwood, was born in Fairfield, New York, November II, 1817; died February 9, 1866, in Memphis, New York. He was a general merchant at Memphis and Elbridge, New York. He mar- ried, August 10, 1841, Ann Benham, born in Cohocton, Steuben county, New York, July 6, 1820, died August 14, 1883. Children : Gay- lord : Isabel ; James D., lives in Cortland, mar- ried Anna Rice, and has a daughter, Sarah Emily ; Silas William, mentioned below.
(VIII ) Silas William, son of Henry J. Sher- wood, was born in Memphis, New York, Sep- tember 27, 1859. He received a common school education, and was for a time in the wholesale boot and shoe business in Syracuse, New York. He came to Cortland, New York, in 1878, and engaged in the retail grocery business, in part- nership with his brother James D., under the firm name of Sherwood Brothers. They car- ried on this business for ten years, when he retired from the firm and accepted a position in the business office of H. F. Benton, who conducted a lumber business. When the H. F. Benton Lumber Company was incorporated, in 1899, he was elected treasurer of the com- pany, and has held that office since. He is active in public affairs in Cortland, and is presi- dent of the board of trade. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married, August 22, 1883, Jeannette Cleve- land, daughter of Henry F. and Caroline Lu- cretia (Putnam) Benton (see Benton VIII). Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood have no children.
(The Benton Line).
(I) John Benton was of the parish of Epp- ing, county Essex, England, and was married there, May 25, 1618, to Mary Southernwood. He was probably the son of Andrew and Maria Benton. Children : Andrew, baptized October 15, 1620, mentioned below; Thomas, baptized August 25, 1622; Marie, baptized June 29, 1625: Elizabeth, baptized August 31, 1628; John, baptized March 10, 1639.
(II) Andrew Benton, immigrant ancestor,.
110
NEW YORK.
was the son of John Benton, of Epping, coun- ty Essex, England, and was baptized at Epping, October 15, 1620. In the apportionment of land at Milford, Connecticut, in November. 1639, he was allotted parcel No. 64. It con- tained three acres, and was situated on the west side of Half Mile Brook. To this there was afterwards added several other parcels of land. He married (first), about 1649, Han- nah, daughter of George Stocking, of Hart- ford, a first settler there, in 1636. They united with the church in Milford, he on March 5. 1648, and she on October 13. 1650, and were dismissed to Hartford, March, 1666. They had removed to the latter town as early as 1662. She died about 1672, and he married ( second ), probably in 1673. Anne, daughter of John Cole, "a godly man of some public trust." She was the "bewitched maid" on whose ac- count, chicfly, Nathaniel Greensmith and his wife were hanged for witchcraft, on January 25, 1663. Goffe, the regicide, who was then in hiding at Milford, writes in his diary, Feb- ruary 24, that after the hanging "the maid was well," and Cotton Mather's "Magnalia," in 1684. says of her, that "she is restored to health, united with the church, and living in good repute." She died April 19, 1685.
Andrew Benton held various public offices in Hartford; fence viewer in 1663-64, juror in 1664-67, freeman in May, 1665, and sup- pressor of "disorders during public worship" and collector of minister's rates in 1667. In February, 1670, he separated to the Second Church, with his wife, daughter llannah, and his fathers-in-law, Stocking and Cole. He died July 31, 1683, and was buried in Center Church cemetery, where his gravestone may still be scen. Children, all except the youngest born in Milford : John, April 9. 1650, died May 24. 1650: Hannah, baptized November 23, 1651 ; Andrew, baptized August 12, 1653; Mary, April 14, 1655: John, October 7, 1656; Sam- uel, August 15, 1658; Joseph, 1660; Dorothy, probably 1662. Children of second wife, born in Hartford: Ebenezer, baptized January 4. 1674: Lydia, baptized February 13, 1676; llan- nah, baptized January 26, 1679 ; John, baptized May 30, 1680, died young.
(1II) Samuel, son of Andrew Benton, was born August 15, 1658, in Milford, and lived in Milford and Hartford, and for a time in Tol- land, Connecticut, where he and his son were first proprietors in 1716. 11e married, prob- ably in 1679, Sarah, daughter of William and
Sarah Chatterton, of New Haven, born there, July 19, 1661. He died testate, in Hartford, April 10, 1746. Children, born in Hartford: Samuel, August 8, 1680; Sarah, September 28, 1685; Hannah, March 14, 1688; Abigail, De- cember 9, 1691 ; Caleb, March 1, 1694 ; Daniel, June 25. 1696, mentioned below; Jacob, Sep- tember 21, 1698; Moses, April 26, 1702 ; Lydia, April 26, 1705. His son Daniel's name appears in a petition respecting lands in Coventry, in 1718. Samuel Benton, then living in Hart- ford, gave a deed of Tolland lands, in 1719, to Daniel Benton, of Hartford, "his living son."
(IV) Daniel, son of Samuel Benton, was born June 25, 1696, lived in Hartford and Tol- land, died in Tolland. He united with the Second Church, September 21, 1718. He mar- ried, January 3, 1722, Mary, daughter of John Skinner, of Hartford. Children, born in Tol- land : Mary, October 17, 1722, died March 16. 1723; Daniel, January 6, 1724, mentioned below ; William, November 12, 1725; Mary. April 9, 1727, died October 4, 1745: Elijah, June 30. 1728 ; Sarah, May 8, 1730, died young ; Hannah, July 12, 1731, died young ; John, June 17, 1732. died young ; Siloam, December II, 1733, died young ; Lydia, May 2, 1735; Abi- gail, November 25. 1736.
(\') Daniel (2), son of Daniel (1) Benton. was born in Tolland, January 6, 1724, and spent his life there. He married, November 3, 1747, Mary Wheeler. Children: Elisha, born August 9, 1748, a revolutionary soldier ; Mary, August 31. 1750 ; Daniel, April 29, 1752 : Azariah, March 39, 1754, a revolutionary sol- dier ; Hannah, May 3, 1756, died October 18, 1757 ; Hannah, February 18, 1758: Jacob, April 22, 1760, mentioned below : Nathan. May 3. 1764: Silas, June 6, 1766.
(VI) Jacob, son of Daniel (2) Benton, was born April 22, 1760, and lived in Tolland. He was a revolutionary soldier at the age of seven- teen and saw four years' service. He was a dragoon at the battle of Saratoga, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, October, 1777. He was pensioned in 1818, and the wit- nesses in his pension say : "A man of veracity, a fine, honorable, honest man." He married ( first). March 14. 1782, Sarah Weston, of Willington, Connecticut. She died September 23, 1787. He married (second), July 1, 1789, Sarah Ladd, of Tolland, who survived him. He died July 9, 1843. Children of first wife : Ann, born February 1. 1783 ; William, August 20. 1785. Children of second wife: Azariah.
H. r. Benton
III
NEW YORK.
June 8, 1790; Ruth, December 8, 1791 ; Daniel, May 3, 1794; Susanna, February 19, 1796; Chester, February 5, 1798, mentioned below ; Jacob, June 1, 1802.
(VII) Chester, son of Jacob Benton, was born at Tolland, Connecticut, February 5, 1798, died at Cortland, New York, November 23, 1875. He moved to Cortland and was a pros- perous farmer. He married, February 9, 1826, Tirzah Porter Loomis, born March 27, 1804, died July 18, 1887. Children, born at Cort- land: George C., born February 7, 1827; Al- phonzo L., November 9, 1831 ; Henry Francis, mentioned below : Melvin P., March 5, 1841.
(VIII) Henry Francis, son of Chester Ben- ton, was born at Cortland, New York, Febru- ary 3, 1837, died there, April 20, 1910. He spent his youth on the homestead on South Hill, in Cortland, and he attended the public schools of his native town. When he came of age he followed his brother George C., who had gone west and was a lumber merchant in Chicago, and located at Bloomington, Illinois, where he engaged in business, but after a year or two he was induced to return home by his parents, who had been left alone on the farm. He then engaged in the hardware business in Cortland, in the firm of Chamberlain & Ben- ton, in partnership with Norman Chamber- Jain. In 1866 he sold his interest in that firm and bought the lumber yard of John Barnes and during the remainder of his active life continued in the lumber trade. His business grew to large proportions. In January, 1899, the business was incorporated as the H. F. Benton Lumber Company. The other stock- holders and directors were his son-in-law, Silas W. Sherwood, who had been associated in business with him for many years, and Orson A. Kinney. Mr. Benton became president of the corporation and retained that office as long as he lived, though he withdrew from the active management of the business to a large extent.
When the Second National Bank was estab- lished, in 1882, Mr. Benton became one of the first board of directors and continued a di- rector as long as he lived. He was elected vice- president in January, 1901, and held the office at the time of his death. From time to time he was interested financially in various busi- ness enterprises in Cortland. He was presi- dent of the incorporated village of Cortland one year. He took an active part in all the movements designed to better conditions and
improve the town. He held the esteem and confidence of all his townsmen and took rank among the most substantial and reliable men of the community. Through almost his whole life he was a member of the Cortland Presby- terian Church, and he was influential and be- loved in that society. For many years he was superintendent of the Sunday school, which he had attended from boyhood. For nearly forty-two years he had been a member of the church session, the longest service of any man in the church, and during all those years he was the faithful clerk of the body. He was elected clerk for the first time, October 31. 1868. "He has been the deeply consecrated member, the wise, discreet and conservative counselor, and the active and energetic worker in all that pertained to the welfare of the church. Throughout his whole life he has been liberal in beneficence. Wherever there was a person in need he was sure to find a hearty sympathizer and a ready helper in Mr. Benton, though it was all so quietly done that few ever heard of it. In every way Mr. Benton will be sadly missed in this community."
He married. June II, 1861, Caroline Put- nam, of Cortland, who died June 19, 1899. She was born November 27. 1839, daughter of Hamilton and Jeannette (Cleveland) Putnam. Children : 1. Jeannette Cleveland, married Silas W. Sherwood ( see Sherwood VIII). 2. Mary Putnam, married Charles Wickham Parker, of Chicago ; children : Henry Benton Parker, born June 15, 1890; Charles Grosvenor Parker, March 14, 1896; Caroline Putnam Parker, De- cember 24, 1898. 3. Carrie Louise, married Arthur Ford Stilson ; children: Chester Ben- ton, born January 16. 1896, in Cortland. and one child who died aged fourteen months, Ray- mond Putnam.
PERKINS The Perkins family is an an- cient one in England. The first of the name of whom there is record, and from whom the family is descend- ed, is "Peter Morley, alias Perkins," who lived in the time of Richard II., and was an officer in the household, or steward of the court of Sir Hugh Despenser, about 1300. The name is spelled variously Peterkins, Parkins, Perk- ings and Perkins. Several of the name lived in the neighborhood of Newent, county Glou- cester, England, and the immigrant John is sai 1 to have come from that part of England. (I) John Perkins, the immigrant ancestor,
112
NEW YORK.
was born in 1590, probably in Newent, county Gloucester, England. He sailed from Bristol, December 1, 1630, in the ship "Lion," William Pierce, master, with his wife and five children. He was in the company with Rev. Roger Will- iams, and after a stormy voyage of sixty-seven days, they landed at Boston, February 6, 1631. He settled first in Boston, and was admitted a freeman, May 18, 1631. He was one of a committee of four to settle the bounds between Roxbury and Dorchester, November 7, 1632. He removed, in 1633, to Ipswich, and had sev- eral grants of land. His house was near the river, at the entrance to Jeffries Neck, on what is now East street. He was deputy to the gen- eral court in 1636, and on the grand jury in 1648 and 1652. His will was dated March 28, 1654. He married Judith Children : John, mentioned below ; Thomas, born in 1616; Elizabeth, 1618; Mary, 1620; Jacob, 1624; Lydia, 1632, baptized at First Church, Boston, June 3, 1632.
(II) John (2), son of John (1) Perkins, was born in England, in 1614, and came to New England with his parents. He had a grant of land in Ipswich, in 1634, and other grants, and owned an island called Hog Island. He married, about 1635, Elizabeth
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.