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 48
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(111) William, son of Edward Greenman, was of Kingston, Westerly and Newport, Rhode Island. He married Ann Clarke, born 1675, daughter of Jeremiah and Ann ( Audley ) Clarke. He and wife Ann sold land at Westerly, March 2, 1706, and he was one of the grantees of the church property of the Second Baptist Church, Newport, January 23, 1707. Children : Ann, William, Jeremiah, James, Elisha, Mary, Eliz- abeth and Amey.
(V) Benjamin Greenman, grandson of Will- iam (III) or Thomas Greenman (III), was born about 1730. He married, at South Kings- ton, Rhode Island, January 23, 1755, Ruth Shef- field (by Samuel Tefft, justice of the peace ). Deborah, presumably his sister. married, at South Kingston, November 15, 1753. In the census of 1790 we find as heads of families, in Rhode Island, only Gideon (2), of South Kings- ton : James, of Portsmouth ; Jeremiah, of Provi- dence; John (3), of South Kingston; Silas (3), of South and North Kingston, and Will-
iam, of Newport. We find no record of the family at all at New Shoreham, otherwise called Block Island, and it is not likely that any of them made a permanent home there. A branch of the family located at Stonington, Connecticut, and a few families of the name were in Connecticut as early as 1790.
(VI) Benjamin (2), son of Benjamin ( I ) Greenman, was born in Rhode Island, at New Shoreham, or Block Island, according to fam- ily records, March 9, 1757, died September 19, 1841, at Middletown, Rensselaer county, New York. He taught school in his younger days; was a farmer and practiced law in a small way in his later years. He married Lydia Brown, born in Lyme, Connecticut, Oc- tober 23, 1760, died March 28, 1835. Chil- dren : 1. Benjamin Jr., born at Lyme, Decem- ber 30, 1783, died March 16, 1793. 2. William, born February 27, 1786, at Nassau, Rensselaer county. 3. Homer B., mentioned below. 4. Lester, born October 26, 1789. 5. Lydia, Sep- tember 3, 1791, married Bateman. 6. Abigail, August 27, 1793, married --- Cross. 7. Russell D., September 14, 1795. 8. Sub- mittance, born June 10, 1797. 9. Amanda,
twin of Submittance, married Doty. IO. Elizabeth, August 9, 1799, married
Casey. 11. Electa, February 5, 1802, married - Turner, of Elmira, New York. 12. Elmira, born April 12, 1804, married -
Benjamin.
(VII) Homer Benjamin, son of Benjamin (2) Greenman, was born at Stephentown, Rens- selaer county, New York, January 21, 1788, died in Cortlandville, Cortland county, New York, November 10, 1872. He came with his brothers, Lester and William, to the town of Solon, Cortland county, soon after the year 1800, and cleared a farm, built a house of logs and became a prosperous farmer. For some years he was a justice of the peace. In relig- ion he was a Presbyterian and trustee of the society, and member of the building committee, in charge of erecting the Presbyterian church, at McGrawville. He married (first) Rachel Waterbury, born January 21, 1791, at Nassau, Rensselaer county, New York. She died Feb- ruary 20. 1839, and he married ( second) Spoor, widow, who had six children by her first husband. Children of first wife: 1. Ben- jamin, mentioned below. 2. David W., No- vember 28, 1812, died March 19, 1857. 3. Laura, born October 23, 1814, died November 9. 1873; married Lyman Jones. 4. Sophia,
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born February 13, 1816, died April 10, 1894; married Byington Graves. 5. Elmira, born April 22, 1818; married Raymond Wickwire. 6. Homer L., born April 2, 1820, died Decem- ber 28, 1856. 7. John M., born December 5. I821, died November 19, 1866 (q. v.). 8. Julia, February 29, 1824, died July 24, 1876; married Orson A. Kinney. 9. Fanny, born March 13, 1826, died July 31, 1830. 10. Henry, April 16, 1828, died July 31, 1830. II. Harvey Herbert, September 17, 1832, died June 2, 1888 (q. v.). 12. Charles D., February II, 1834, died June 25, 1897 (q. v.).
(VIII) Captain Benjamin (3) Greenman, son of Homer Benjamin Greenman, was born in Solon, New York, July 5, 1811, died in the town of Cortlandville, New York, March 23. 1883. He attended the district schools, but comparatively little, and, during his boyhood and until he was married, he worked on his father's farm. Afterward he bought timber land, adjoining the homestead, and cleared a farm for himself. He built a log house at first. The country was still partly wild, bears and deer were numerous and wild game plenti- ful. Even the Indians were still living in the vicinity. From time to time he added to his holdings, until he had a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres. With the help of his son he erected all the buildings on the farm with his own hands. He continued in active life until 1866, when he left the homestead and spent his last years in Cortlandville. He was observing, well balanced, of sound judg- ment and broad general information, and was deemed an expert in estimating the value of stock and real estate. In politics he was a Whig, until the party went to pieces, and after- ward a Republican. For two terms he was county superintendent of the poor. He fur- nished timber for the building of the Presby- terian church, at McGrawville, of which he was a member and trustee. He was captain of a company in the state militia. He married Lucy Ann Graves, of Chazy, New York, born in 1819, died in March, 1871, daughter of Rufus Graves. Children : 1. Lucy Ann Ostran- der (adopted), born at Spofford, New York, 1837. 2. Henry Benjamin, mentioned below. 3. Mary Jane, born May 25, 1841 ; married Al- fred Atkins. 4. Laura Lavinia, born April 27, 1846, died March 18, 1898; married Wesley Walker. 5. Lucian M., born 1849, died 1864. 6. Frank R., born 1859, died May 5, 1905.
(IX ) Henry Benjamin, son of Captain
Benjamin (3) Greenman, was born in Solon. Cortland county, New York, April 1, 1839, and was educated in the public schools there, and at the New York Central College, at McGrawville, which he attended for two terms. While a student he worked on the farm in summer. He taught various district schools in the vicin- ity. In 1859 he entered the State Normal School, at Albany, and afterward taught school at Stephentown, Rensselaer county, the same school which his grandfather had taught. He taught school also in Union Springs, Cayuga county, and, while living in that town, he en- listed, in the fall of 1862, in Battery B, Third New York Light Artillery. He served in the Union army until his company was mustered out, July 13, 1865, after the close of the war. During the entire period of his enlistment he was in active service, and took part in many engagements, among which were the battles
of Kinston, North Carolina, Whitehall and Goldsborough. He was on duty at St. Helena Island from February to April, in 1863; was at Charleston Harbor, April 7: at Seabrook Island, June 18; Morris Island, July 10, and afterward under fire from Fort Sumter and the other forts, while stationed on Morris Island. His was the first regiment to reach Charleston after the evacuation, and it fired the salute in honor of the fall of Petersburg. He was promoted to the rank of corporal, and was acting sergeant for a time.
Returning home after the war he soon locat- ed at McGrawville, where he bought a boot and shoe store. After three years he sold out, and, for two years, followed farming, having an excellent dairy, with fifty cows. From 1871 to 1873 he was traveling salesman for an Al- bany house. During the next nine years he was traveling for coffee and spice concerns of Albany, New York, six years of which he was with Walter McCuen and three years with Boardman Brothers. He took charge of the farm of Dr. I. D. Warner, at McGrawville, in 1882, and engaged in business extensively, buy- ing and selling produce, baling and selling hay. Afterward he was in business on his own ac- count, dealing in hay and baling hay, etc. Since 1888 he has been an inspector of wire cloth, in the employ of the Wickwire Brothers, of Cort- land. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and has been a deacon since 1898. He is a member of Grover Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Cortland, and was its quarter- master for four years ; junior vice-commander ;
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for twelve years its adjutant; commander in 1900, and sergeant-major at the present time, and member of the Memorial Day committee. In politics he is a Republican, and has served on the board of health of Cortland.
He married, March 25, 1862, Catherine Mc- Graw, born at McGrawville, New York, July 27, 1841, daughter of Marcus and Louisa (Eaton) McGraw. Children : I. Lucian M .. born July 8, 1866, died December 12, 1870. 2. Anna Louise, June 1, 1869, died December 13. 1891. 3. Emma, born October 26, 1870, died in infancy. 4. Herbert Nason, born July 20. 1872, died May 10, 1873. 5. Harry Benjamin, mentioned below. 6. Ruth E., born March 3. 1880, died August 27, 1880.
(IX) Harry Benjamin, son of Henry Ben- jamin Greenman, was born in Albany, New York, August 1, 1877. He attended the public schools, the State Normal School, at Cortland, and the College of Pharmacy, in Albany. He is in the drug trade in Rochester, New York. He married, September 3, 1902, Perle M. Blair, of Cortland, and has one son, Roger Benjamin, born April 29. 1905.
GREENMAN (VIII ) John M. Greenman. son of Homer Benjamin Greenman, was born in Cort- landville, Cortland county, New York, Decem- ber 5, 1821, died at Cortland, November 19. 1866. He was educated in the public schools. and followed farming until two years before his death. He had established a very promis- ing business as a general merchant, when his life was cut short before he reached the age of forty-five years. He married Hannah H .. daughter of Judge James Cowan. She spent her later years in the family of her son. Judge Cowan came to this country when a boy of seven years, with his parents, and settled in Delaware county, New York, afterward, in 1848, coming to Cortland county, and locating between the towns of McGrawville and Cort- land, where Judge Cowan lived the remainder of his life, a successful farmer, owning two hundred and fifty-five acres of land ; he was a soldier in the war of .1812, and for his services received a valuable grant of western land, to which, however, he gave little attention ; he was active in politics, and was judge of the surrogate's court ; he married a sister of the father of Judge Maynard, of Delaware county, and they had nine children.
(IX) W. J., son of John M. Greenman, 17
was born in the town of Cortlandville, Decem- ber 13, 1858. He received his education in the public schools, and at the State Normal School, at Cortland. His first experience in business was as traveling salesman for a clothing house. During the first term of President Cleveland he was deputy postmaster of Cortland, but re- signed this office to engage in business as treas- urer and vice-president of the Cortland Door & Window Screen Company, incorporated in 1885. Harvey H. Greenman, his uncle, was the first president of the concern, and Ernest M. Hulbert was secretary. Mr. Greenman succeeded his uncle as president, in 1887, and has continued at the head of the company, and its general manager, to the present time. Ed- ward Keator was elected treasurer ; Ernest M. Hulbert, secretary, and Theodore H. Wick- wire, vice-president. The company has grown steadily and finds a market for its product in all parts of this country and in Canada. To the energy, resourcefulness and business ability of the president the success of the company is due in large measure. It is one of the most prosperous and substantial industries of the town. Mr. Greenman is treasurer of the Little York Ice Company, secretary of the Cortland County Agricultural Society, and served thir- teen years on the board of education, two years of which he was president, retiring from that office February 15, 1911, For five years he served on the board of water commissioners. as the treasurer of the Cortland Water Com- pany (an independent company). This com- pany was purchased by the city April, 1910. He was also secretary of the Central Associa- tion of Agricultural Societies of the State of New York, and member of the executive com- mittee of the sixth judicial district, and one of the directors of the Second National Bank of Cortland, New York, for a number of years, and represented the New York State Associa- tion of County Agricultural Societies. In poli- tics Mr. Greenman is a Democrat, and he has been chairman of the Democratic county com- mittee.
He married. April 3. 1882, Mary White, of Jersey City, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Green- man are active in social and church circles, and have a host of friends in the community in which they have lived. Children: Elizabeth C., born January 26, 1883: John H., June I. 1886, married, April 12, 1909, Theodora Aber, of Bath, New York: Marion, August 16. 1899.
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(VIII ) Charles Delos. young-
GREENMAN est child of Homer Benjamin (q. v.) and Rachel ( Water-
bury ) Gr enman, was born February 11, 1834, in Solon, and died in McGrawville, June 25, 1897. He was reared on the paternal farm, attending the common schools and assisting in the labors of the homestead. He learned the carpenter trade, and, when a young man, settled in Mc- Grawville, where most of his life was spent. In 1879 he built a sawmill there, and was actively engaged in the lumber business there- after. until his retirement from active life. Ile was much interested in political matters ; was much in the public service, and was highway commissioner of the town of Cortlandville for several years. He was a member of the village board, was president of the school board, and served on the committee which managed the construction of the schoolhouse, at McGraw. HIe was a steadfast Republican ; was a member of the Presbyterian church, and active in all the work of that society. He married, Octo- ber 29, 1856, Juliette McGraw, born April 25. 1835. died July 26, 1905, daughter of William and Sally ( Barnum ) McGraw. Children : De- witt Charles and Herbert Ray, both mentioned below.
( 1X) Dewitt Charles, elder son of Charles Delos and Juliette ( McGraw ) Greenman, was born May 23, 1863, in McGrawville, and edu- cated in the schools of his native village. He engaged in teaching school, and remained with his father several years, working upon the farm and in the sawmill. In 1886 he settled in Cortland, where he has since made his home. l Iere he engaged with the Wickwire Brothers. as shipping clerk, and has continuously filled that position to the present. He is a member of the Presbyterian congregation, an exemplary citizen and widely esteemed in the community. He married, January 7, 1886, Mary B. Van Buskirk, of North Lansing, Tompkins coun- ty, New York, daughter of Calvin and Susan (Townley ) Van Buskirk, the former family came from Coxsackie, New York, to Lansing. Calvin Van Buskirk was a native of Virgil. Cortland county. Mr. and Mrs. Greenman have a son, Arthur Dewitt, born August 8, 1891, in Cortland.
( IX) Herbert Ray, younger son of Charles Delos and Juliette (McGraw ) Greenman, was born September 7. 1873. in McGraw, and edu- cated in the schools of his native village. He owns and operates a sawmill in McGraw, estab-
lished by his father, in 1879, and, in addition to the lumbering and manufacturing interests, he is extensively engaged in farming. He is the owner of two hundred acres of land in Solon, upon part of which the first Greenman settled, in 1807. Mr. Greenman is an earnest Republican, and is a member of the board of village trustees at McGraw (1911), a position which he also filled in 1907. He is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Presbyterian church, and is regarded as a useful citizen, upright and respected. He married, September 23, 1896, Ann Adelia Suter, of Danville, Pennsylvania. daughter of John Henry and Jemima (Taylor) Suter. John Henry Suter was born in Switzer- land, came to America as a young man and served as a Union soldier in the civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Greenman have a daughter and son- Dorothy, born July 8, 1899, and Leslie Suter, March 22. 1907.
GREENMAN (VIII) Harvey Herbert Greenman, fifth son of Homer Benjamin (q. v.) and Rachael ( Waterbury ) Greenman, was born September 17, 1832, in South Solon, and died in his home. on Greenbush street, Cortland. June 2, 1888. His early education was obtained in the district school. near his home, and at the old Union School, in McGrawville, where he became proficient in the English branches, then taught, and especially in penmanship, which he taught, for several terms, to classes in his home county and adjoining counties. He had an especial gift for music, and, under the in- struction of Henry Huntly, an early teacher in the section, he became a ready reader of music, and, for many years, was tenor of the Presbyterian church choir, at McGrawville. He took up the study of dental surgery with Dr. D. C. McGraw, and practiced this from 1853 to 1860, in that town, and then removed to Whitewater, Wisconsin, where he continued to practice until 1879. In the latter year he removed to Cortland, and, being of an ingen- ious turn of mind, excelled as a fine worker on gold and rubber. As an operating dentist he ranked among the first. While in White- water he was a member of the firm of Green- man, McGraw & Day, who conducted a large nursery for several years. For seventeen years he was chorister of the Congregational church choir there, and, for a period of five years, taught music in the State Normal School. Upon
Harvey If. Greenman
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his return to Cortland he became associated with his nephews, the Wickwire Brothers, and so continued in the manufacturing business until the spring of 1887. He then founded the Cortland Door & Window Screen Company. which was made a stock company in the fall of that year, with Mr. Greenman as president. He was the inventor of valuable machinery used in the construction of screens, and, through
his skill and wise management, the business increased and became one of the large manti- facturing interests of Cortland. For two years he was president of the State Fair Association. As a lover of good horses he was instrumental in developing some fine specimens of horse flesh, in both Whitewater and Cortland. For seven years he was tenor of the Presbyterian church choir, of Cortland, and served as a member of the board of village trustees. Mr. Greenman was a man of high moral character. gentlemanly in deportment, possessed of prac- tical ideas and good common sense, with am- bition greater than his strength, resolute in all his work and resigned when the call came to summon him from this earth. He was highly esteemed by the best people in both White- water and Cortland, and was ever active in any movement calculated to improve the moral and material welfare of the community.
He married, May 27. 1855, Elizabeth M., daughter of John and Minerva ( Graves ) Mc- Graw, and granddaughter of Samuel MeGraw, who settled in the town of Cortlandville, in 1803 ( see McGraw II). Mrs. Greenman was born November 5, 1836, in McGrawville, and survives her husband. She resides in Cortland.
(The McGraw Line).
( II) John, fifth son of Samuel (q. v. ) and Elizabeth ( Whitcomb ) MeGraw, was born May 30. 1804. at Blodgetts Mills, died June 27, 1848, at MeGrawville. He married Minerva Graves, born August 15, 1804, died November II, 1882, daughter of Asher and Elizabeth ( Spellman) Graves. Children : Minerva, born February 10. 1825. married Hiram C. Blod- gett, died May 6, 1906; Charlotte. August 12. 1827, married James Sanderson, died October 7. 1907 : Martin. July 28. 1829, died May 31. 1862 ; Sally, December 26, 1831, married Leroy Palmer ; Elizabeth M., November 5, 1836, be- came the wife of Harvey Herbert Greenman, of Cortland ( see Greenman VII ) ; Henry, men- tioned below.
(III) Henry, youngest child of John and
Minerva (Graves ) McGraw, was born March 30, 1839, at McGraw, died April 20, 1909, at Whitewater, Wisconsin. When fifteen years of age he removed to Whitewater, and there made his home until his death. For many years he was engaged in the nursery business, as a member of the firm of Greenman, Mc- Graw & Day. He was an industrious and highly respected citizen, widely known and esteemed : he was somewhat active in politics. being a Republican in principle, and served several years as assessor of the town of White- water, and also served as a clerk to the Wis- consin legislature. In 1880 he was appointed by President Arthur as postmaster of White- water, and held that position seven years. Ile married, in December, 1869, Sarah, daughter of William DeWolf, a pioncer citizen of Wal- worth county, Wisconsin, many years the lead- ing hardware dealer of Whitewater, and a manufacturer of woven wire screen. Chil- dren : William, mentioned below : Elizabeth, became the wife of Charles W. Tratt, and has two sons, Francis and Elliott ; Arthur : Retta.
( IV) William, eldest son of Henry and Sarah ( De Wolf ) McGraw, was born July 4. 1871. in Whitewater, where his early years were spent. He accompanied his uncle, Harvey H. Greenman, to Cortland, before attaining manhood, and there engaged in business, being now a member of the firm of MeGraw & Elliott, which operates drug stores in Cortland and McGraw. He married, in 1902, Bessie Benedict, of Cortland, daughter of Byron A. and Anna T. Benedict, of that town. Mr. and Mrs. McGraw have a son, Harvey Benedict. born June 20, 1904.
This is one of the early New WILLIAMS Jersey families. Ralph Hor- ton Williams, the subject of the present sketch, was born October 18, 1863. at Bloomfield, New Jersey. He was the son of John Kline Williams, who was born on "The Ridge," near Whitehouse, New Jersey, whose father, John Williams, was a farmer near Whitehouse, New Jersey, although probably born on "The Ridge," which he left when a young man, moving to Whitehouse, and dying at eighty-five years of age. The grandmother of John Kline Williams and mother of John Williams was Lorretta --. who lived to be one hundred and seven years of age. John Williams married Fanny Horton, who was in
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the direct line from Barnabas Horton, the first settler of the name in this country, who locat- ed at Southhold, Long Island, 1684. Mr. and Mrs. John Horton Williams were the parents of four children: George, Jason, Samuel and John Kline. The mother of these children died at eighty-five years of age. They were members of the Reformed church, at White- house.
John Kline Williams was reared and edu- cated in the schools at "The Ridge," and, in early life, he learned the painter's trade, which he followed for a time. He then moved to Brooklyn, where he was engaged, for some years, in the insurance business, after which he took a position as a traveling salesman for a concern dealing in groceries and bakers' sup- plies, which he held up to his death, October 19, 1909, at seventy-eight years of age. He removed from Brooklyn to Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he made his home for the last twenty-five years of his life, and where he took an active part in the affairs of the Pres- byterian church, of which he was an elder for a number of years. He was also interested in the Sunday school, in which he taught a class of young men for over twenty years and up to within a few months of his death. He was a man of deep religious convictions and a great student of the Bible. His long years of serv- ice in the church are remembered with a great amount of pleasure by its various members and by the young men who sat under his teachings for more than a quarter of a century and who were deeply attached to him. He mar- ried, December 5, 1859, Jennie Conover, born in Pluckemin, Somerset county, New Jersey, daughter of Ruliff V. Conover, who was born in Philadelphia. He was the son of Jeremiah Conover, who was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where his father was an early pioneer. Jeremiah Conover, the grandfather of Jennie Conover, was a shoemaker and shoe dealer in l'luckemin, where he spent most of his life, but died at the home of a daughter in Jersey City, at eighty-five years of age. He married Margaret Voorhes. They had three children: Ruliff V., Garrett and Catherine. The mother of these children died in Jersey City, at eighty-five years of age. Mrs. John Kline Williams was reared and educated in Pluckemin, where she made her home until her marriage. She is the mother of four children : Ralph Horton, mentioned in the next para- graph ; Susie Conover, born July 1, 1866, died
May 29, 1887; Frederick Ballard, born in Brooklyn, October 21, 1871, educated in Mont- clair and Bloomfield public schools, and com- ing to New York began the study of painting, in which he has been eminently successful, being to-day one of the leading artists of the United States, a member of the National Acad- emy of Art. He married, October 16, 1901. Marion Duncan. They have two children : Duncan and Frederick Ballard Jr. Mrs. John Kline Williams has also taken an active inter- est in the affairs of the Presbyterian church, and was, for many years, a teacher. She is a woman of a rare degree of intelligence, having been a great reader, and being thoroughly versed upon all the topics of the day, in which she takes an active interest.
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