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 65
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He married, June 30, 1887, Florence Bowen, born at Sennett, daughter of J. M. Bowen, of Weedsport. They have one daughter, Modena, born October 17, 1889.
The surname Whitaker is WHITAKER variously spelled Whittier, Whitehair, Whiteyear, Whit- yeare, Whittaker. It has been an English sur- name, originally a place name, meaning White- acre. Whitakers settled in Virginia among the first. Rev. Alexander Whitaker, the Apostle, accompanied Sir Thomas Dale to Virginia in 1611, baptized Pocahontas in 1614, and mar- ried her to Rolfe; was drowned in the James river in 1616. Edward Whitaker was grantee of land in Virginia in 1638. Captain William Whitaker and Richard Whitaker appear to be his sons. Descendants of Richard Whitaker are numerous in Enfield, North Carolina. George Whitacre was on shipboard on his way to Vir- ginia in May, 1654. The fact that some pioneers went from Virginia to Haverhill and others from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Virginia may be remembered in investigating the rela- tionship of the Virginia and Massachusetts families, and the fact also that the name Ed- ward was found in both families.
(1) Abraham Whitaker, the immigrant an- cestor of this family, was born in England, 1590-95, died in Haverhill, "Abraham the old man," May 5, 1674. He settled first in Salem and was a carpenter by trade. He was taxed as a resident of Marblehead in 1637; was one of the parties to a lawsuit in 1637. He removed to Manchester, Massachusetts, and finally to Haverhill where his son settled. He made an oral will, August 6, 1674, and it was proved November 26, 1674. The date of deatlı as given here must be incorrect or the date of the will as given by Pope. He undoubtedly died in 1674, however. He bequeathed to his son Edward one-half the land; the other half to wife for the bringing up of the children he had by her ; five shillings apiece to the two children of the first wife ; five pounds debt due to son John above his share of the estate, to be paid to him when twenty-one years old. The son, Edward Whitaker, of Beverly, sold his share of the land January 2, 1675. Children: Ed- ward, of Amesbury ; Abraham, mentioned be- low : John ; others.
(II) Abraham (2), son of Abraham (1) Whitaker. was born about 1626, in England. probably by his father's first wife. He de- posed in 1666 that he was forty years old. This deposition could not have been his father's, for the first Abraham was a taxpayer in 1637 and over twenty-one. He married, March 19, 1655. Elizabeth Simonds, at Haverhill. She
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died there November 5, 1683. He built his house about 1660, surely before 1668, on the common, as did many others. At the end of thirteen years his land was taken from him by the town because he failed to pay six pence a year rent to the town. Unless it was some quibble, Abraham was in financial trouble, for he had paid no rent in thirteen years and de- clared himself unable to do so. Chase says : "He must have been poor indeed, as he candid- ly told the town when he was called on to know when he would pay his rent." That was in 1673. Children, born at Haverhill: Abra- ham, February 28, 1656; William, December 21. 1658; Isaac, July 30, 1661 ; Hannah, April 15. 1664, died 1664; Elizabeth, January 26, 1669: Henry, September 24, 1672; Hannah, March 19, 1674-75; John, August 27, 1679.
(VII) James Whitaker, a descendant of Abraham ( t) Whitaker, in the sixth or seventh generation, was born, according to family rec- ords, January 6, 1796, at Keene, New Hamp- shire, died November 17, 1870. In 1816 he came to Syracuse, New York, where he work- ed at his trade of carriage making for a year. In 1817 he came to Fulton, New York, and built a shop on the present site of the mill of True Brothers. He built a house with his own hands after his regular working hours, furnish- ed it, and bought a barrel of flour costing twenty-five dollars. Having prepared his home, he walked to Swanzey, New Hampshire, to get married. His wife came to Fulton by stage alone, while he returned on foot, but he made the trip in record time, arriving two days be- fore his bride and in one day he covered a distance of eighty miles. He worked at his trade until 1830, when he built the first brick block in Fulton and established a general store which he conducted for twenty-five years. He also owned six canal boats. After he sold his store he bought a farm and carried it on the remainder of his life. He married Lucretia Holbrook (see Ilolbrook VI). She died De- cember 20. 1887. Both were members of the Methodist church of which he was a class leader for forty years. Children : James H., born January 24, 1820; Mary M., December IT, 1822; James H., September 22, 1824; Mar- tha, February 19, 1827; John, July 13, 1829; Elizabeth, April 5. 1831 ; Samuel B., July 17, 1834: Charles. December 28, 1837; Edward C., November 27, 1840; George G., mentioned below : Francis L., August 24, 1846.
(VIH) Dr. George Gary Whitaker, son
of James Whitaker, was born in Fulton, New York, April 5, 1842. He attended the public schools of his native town and Falley Seminary. He began to study medicine in the office of Dr. C. G. Bacon, September 1, 1863, and he entered the University of Vermont, in February, 1864, but in 1865 went to the Al- bany Medical College, from which he was graduated in December, 1865. with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. On January 5, 1866, he began to practice medicine at New Haven, Oswego county, New York, and continued until 1880 when he came to Rodman. In March, 1884, four years later, he moved from Rodman to Oswego Falls, New York, estab- lished the first drug store in that town and conducted it for ten years. In November, 1800, he located at Bowens Corners, New York, and after practicing there for four years came to Fulton where he has a large practice. In 1876-77 he took a post-graduate course at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Oswego County Medical Society, the Jefferson County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion. He is a member of Rodman Lodge, No. 136, Free and Accepted Masons; a charter member of Beacon Light Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and its first noble grand : member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In religion he is a Universalist ; in politics a Republican.
He married (first), February, 1867, Ella M., born in New Haven, New York, daugh- ter of U. M. Barker. She died in September, 1880, and he married (second), October, 1884. Louise A. Dean. He had one son by his first wife, who died in December, 1877. Children of second wife: Fordyce E., born March 4, 1887; Ellen L., born August 16, 1888, died at three years of age: Gertrude, born September 15. 1890.
(The Holbrook Line ).
The family of Holbrook is ancient and dis- tinguished in England. The ancient coat-of- arms is: A chevron between three martlets. Several other coats-of-arms were borne by different branches of the family in England.
(I) Thomas Holbrook or Holbrooke, the immigrant ancestor, aged thirty-four, of Broad- way. England, with wife Jane, aged thirty- four, and children John, aged eleven, Thomas, aged ten, Anne, aged five, and Elizabeth, aged one, came from Weymouth, England, about
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1628. He settled at Weymouth, Massachu- setts, in 1640, and was on the committee to lay out the way from Braintree to Dorchester. He was admitted a freeman in May, 1645. He was selectman for several years. His will was dated December 31, 1669, with codicil, De- cember 31, 1673. He died 1674-76. His widow Jane died before April 24, 1677, when admin- istration of the estate was granted to his son John. Children: John, born 1617; Thomas, mentioned below; Captain William, died 1699, lived at Scituate; Ann, married Rey- nolds; Elizabeth, married Walter Hatch ; Jane, married Drake.
(II) Thomas (2), son of Thomas ( 1) Hol- brook, lived at Scituate, Weymouth and Brain- tree, Massachusetts. In 1653 he bought a farm of fifty-three acres in Braintree, and later be- came the owner of much real estate. He mar- ried Joanna , who survived him. He made his will July 25, 1695, and administra- tion on his estate was granted his widow, Au- gust 19, 1697, and his eldest son Thomas. In the will he mentions Thomas as his eldest son, and Peter, to whom he gives "all that estate of lands and meadows in Mendon which he had formerly purchased of his brother William." Children : Thomas, buried at Braintree, De- cember 20, 1728; John, born October 15, 1653. at Braintree ; Peter, mentioned below ; Joanna, October 30, 1656; Susanna, married Andrew Willet, of Boston; Joseph, born February 12, 1660, died young.
(III) Deacon Peter Holbrook, son of Thomas (2) Holbrook, was born September 6, 1655, died 1712-13. He married (first) Alice -, who died April 29, 1705. He married ( sec- ond) Elizabeth Pool, who survived him and married (second) Robert Ware, of Wenham, and died 1724. He settled in Mendon, where he inherited lands from his father, most of which were afterwards included in Bellingham. He was an important man in his time. His will was made January 16, 1711-12, and proved May 29, 1713. Children : John, born Septem- ber 24, 1679, at Braintree; Peter, October 16, 1681, at Mendon ; Silvanus, August 15, 1685; Joanah, March 7, 1686-87 ; Richard, May 30, 1690; Eliphalet, mentioned below ; William, March 28, 1693-94; Samuel, February 27. 1695-96; Mary, October 14, 1702.
(IV) Eliphalet, son of Deacon Peter Hol- brook, was born January 27, 1691-92, died October 19, 1775, at Bellingham. He is called yeoman. He married, November 17, 1716,
Hannah Rockwood, born August 15, 1692. Children : Ebenezer, born June 3, 1718, at Mendon; Seth, February 26, 1721, at Belling- ham; Eliphalet, mentioned below; Noah, De- cember 6, 1727 ; Caleb, January 14, 1731; Eli- jah, May 6, 1736, died May 2, 1740; Joanna, July 21, 1738.
(V) Eliphalet (2), son of Eliphalet (1) Holbrook, was born October 25, 1725. He died intestate, and administration was granted to his son Henry, on whom the homestead was settled, April 10, 1778. He married, Novem- ber 26, 1753, Abigail Wight, who died Sep- tember 3, 1808. Children : Olive, born April 4, 1755; Henry, August 27, 1756; Martha, Oc- tober 11, 1758; Caleb, November 1, 1760; Peter, November 23, 1762; Seth, mentioned below ; Nathan, July 24, 1768; Peruda, March 24, 1770 ; Elias, February 20, 1772, died Octo- ber 16, 1775 ; Eliphalet, February 9, 1774, died October 15, 1775; Abigail, June 9, 1776, died aged six weeks; Abigail.
(VI) Seth, son of Eliphalet (2) Holbrook, was born July 19, 1765, died December II, 1833. Ile married Hannah Bates, who was born in April, 1776, died November 19, 1868, of Mendon, sister of Mrs. Peter Holbrook. They settled in Swanzey in 1800. Children : Lucretia, born April 14, 1800, married James Whitaker, of New York state (see Whitaker VII) : Chiron, born April 11, 1803.
The late Judge Maurice 1 .. WRIGIIT Wright, an accomplished law- yer and able jurist, was born in the town of Scriba, Oswego county, New York, November 27, 1845, son of David Parks and Betsey (Woodworth) Wright, members of pioneer families. He was a lineal descend- ant of Samuel Wright, who emigrated from England with the Winthrop colony to Massa- chusetts in 1630, and of Walter Woodworth, a native of Kent, England, who settled in Massa- chusetts prior to 1635. He was also of revolu- tionary ancestry on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides.
Judge Wright received his education at Fal- ley Seminary, Fulton, New York, and at Mex- ico (New York) Academy, from which he was graduated in 1864, in his nineteenth year. In August of the same year he enlisted in the United States navy for service in the civil war, and was assigned to the gunboat "Valley City," and was engaged in some of the most notable naval operations of the war period, acquitting
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himself with fidelity and courage. His vessel be- longed to the North Atlantic Squadron, under command of Admiral Porter, and took part in the famous Roanoke expedition following the sinking of the rebel ram, "Albemarle," by the heroic Cushing. Being honorably discharged at the close of the war, Judge Wright returned home and read law in the office of the Hon. John C. Churchill, of Oswego, member of con- gress. He completed his professional studies in the Columbian Law School, Washington, District of Columbia, from which he was grad- uated in 1870, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the same year he was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. In 1871 he was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, and located in Mexico, where he formed a partnership with Hon. T. W. Skinner, under the firm name of Skinner & Wright, and fol- lowed his profession with usefulness and suc- cess for a period of twenty years, removing to Oswego in 1892.
Judge Wright became engaged in public life soon after locating in Mexico. He was elected village president, and his administration was so successful that he was twice reelected. His abilities attracted the attention of the entire county, and in 1883 he was elected county judge and was reelected in 1889. During this period (in 1890) he was appointed by Gov- ernor Hill to membership on the commission charged with the revision of the judiciary sec- tions of the state constitution. This last term was cut short hy well-deserved promotion. His record on the bench brought him into general notice so widely and favorably that his name was brought before the nominating convention for a supreme court justiceship, at Utica, Sep- tember 22, 1891. His nomination featured the most prolonged contest known in the judicial history of the state. The opposing candidates were the late Judge Watson M. Rogers, of Watertown; former Supreme Court Justice W. E. Scripture, of Rome; C. . 1. Mareness, of Lewis county, and A. M. Mills, of Herkimer county. The convention balloted for three days without a choice. and an adjournment was then taken to Syracuse, where the convention reconvened on October 1, when Judge Wright was nominated on the one hundred and thirty- sixth ballot, and at the ensuing election he was elected for a term of fourteen years.
During his term upon the bench Judge Wright tried many important cases, and presided with dignity, ability and tact, preserving the esteem
and confidence of the entire bar. During his incumbency he was appointed by Governor Morton to hold a term of the supreme court in the city of New York, and there adjudicated many notable cases, winning the admiration of the bar and receiving many encomiums from the public press. After the expiration of his judicial term he resumed law practice in part- nership with his son, Avery S. Wright. He entered largely into the business and social life of his town, and was known as one of the most courteous and companionable of men. He was a member of the Oswego Bar Asso- ciation : the Frontier City Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Fortnightly Club. In politics he was a Republican.
Judge Wright married. November 3. 1869, Mary Grace, daughter of Judge Avery Skinner, of Union Square. Judge Wright died October 14, 1911, and is survived by his widow and their only son, Avery S. Wright, a well-estab- lished lawyer, who has succeeded to the father's practice. Avery S. Wright married Jessie Skin- ner, of Ilion, New York, and has one child. Dorothy.
WORTS Manister Worts was born in Lon- don, England, October 10, 1825. In 1830 he came with his parents to America. The family located in Detroit, Michigan, and five years later came to Oswego,
New York. He was educated in the public schools, and learned his father's trade of baker. In 1853 Mr. Worts and Charles T. Radcliff bought the business established by the father of Mr. Worts. Three years later Mr. Worts bought the interest of his partner and after- ward incorporated the business under its pres- ent name of The Worts Company, of which he was president until he died, March 21, 1909 He was an able and successful business man, and was also prominent in public and social life, holding many positions of trust and honor in the community.
He became a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in 1850. He was elected a member of the board of trustees in 1854 and became president of the board in 1862 and con- tinned in that office as long as he lived. His record in the church and Sunday school was probably unequalled in the entire state. He served as superintendent of the Sunday school from 1864 until he died. He was for many years active and prominent in all the depart- ments of the church, and was a liberal con-
1
Manmister. Morto
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tributor to all the church benevolences and activities. In 1840 he joined the old volunteer fire department and at one time was foreman of Hose Company, No. 5, and member of the Volunteer Firemen's Association from the time of its organization in 1887. He was supervisor of the town, and an influential member of the board of supervisors from 1859 to 1867 and its chairman in 1866. He was county clerk of Oswego county for three years. From 1882 to 1886 he was fire commissioner of Oswego, and from April 12, 1886, to January 1, 1896, chief assessor of the city. In 1900 he was appointed a member of the fire council and held that office until the time of his death.
Mr. Worts was made a Free Mason in 1856 and was the oldest Mason in point of member- ship in Oswego Lodge when he died. He join- ed the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in February, 1847, and was a member of Oswe- gatchie Lodge, No. 156, until the time of his death. He was a trustee of the Oswego Coun- ty Savings Bank from June, 1875, to August, 1895, and from May, 1900, until he died, and at one time was vice-president. He was a trustee of the Home for Homeless from the time of its organization in 1872, and a trustee of the Oswego Orphan Asylum from 1872; a member of the chamber of commerce from the time of its organization ; trustee and treasurer of the Dempster Camp Grounds from the be- ginning ; honorary member of the Oswego Yacht Club from 1884; lay delegate for more than thirty years to the annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1880 delegate to the general conference which met at Cincinnati, Ohio, representing the Northern New York Conference. He was one of the organizers of the Thousand Island Park Asso- ciation and for several years was trustee and treasurer. At the time of his death, one who knew him wrote:
In the death of Manister Worts, Northern New York has lost a strong and useful citizen, a man who had been active along many and varied lines since he came to Oswego and whose name will be remember long in the history of the city. A Meth- odist, he was from the early days and for many years he was considered the strongest representative of his faith in this part of the state. He was inter- ested in his home, his home church and did much for it and the Sunday School. He was interested in the work of the Camp Meeting at Dempster and when the Methodists started their annual meetings at Thousand Island Park, he at once became greatly interested in that association. As a business man he worked up from a small bakery until the names
of Worts and Worts bread were known throughout Northern New York. His word was taken as his bond and he made the products of his business as good as his word. He was of the finest type of a clean upright business man. With all his activities in church and business he always found time to serve the people of the city and the county in his many official capacities, and like everything else that he was connected with performed his duties as a public servant honorably and well. He was also a man who liked close associations with his fellowmen, as is proven by his fraternal affiliations. It is truly said about Mr. Worts that he lived well his life and his character was such that while a man of strength he died without a single enemy, a man whom everyone loved and honored.
lle married (first ) Sarah A. Dofferty, of Sterling, in 1846. He married (second), in 1857, Mary A. Dofferty, sister of his first wife. He married (third) Ann Parkinson, in 1866. She died in July, 1898. Children : 1. Manister C. 2. R. Fred, resides at Toledo, Ohio. 3. George, deceased. 4. Charles A., died in Sep- tember, 1910. 5. Albert K., mentioned below. 6. Anna, married Charles Allen, secretary of the Oswego Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. Four other children died in infancy. Mr. Worts left two brothers, John J. Worts, of Toledo, Ohio, and George, also of Toledo, Ohio, also one sister. Mrs. Albert Kirk, of Toledo, who died in December, 1907.
( II) Albert K., son of Manister Worts, was born January 1, 1860. He was educated in the public schools. He is now president and manager of The Worts Company and is con- ducting with much success the bakery that his father established, in the same building which has been occupied by the concern since 1874. This company has the largest plant and the greatest product of any concern in this line of business in the city of Oswego, consuming two thousand five hundred barrels of flour annually and employing a score of bakers regularly, con- ducting a wholesale and retail business. He is a member of Oswego Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and Oswegatchie Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion he is a Methodist, and in politics a Republican.
HART William Hart, of an old New Eng- land family, was born near Clinton, Oneida county, New York, Janu- ary 6, 1786, died at Adams, November 7, 1833. He came from Oneida county, to Adams, Jef- ferson county, New York, in 1810, and made his home there. lle was one of the first mer- chants of the town, and was one of the found-
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ers and incorporators of the Jefferson County Bank in 1824. He married Delia Willis. Among their children were: William Dwight, born June 7, 1819; George, died in 1893; Henry, who lived to be a young man ; John J., men- tioned below.
(II) John J., son of William Ilart, was born in Adams, New York, March 4, 1830. He commenced his business life as clerk in a dry goods store in his native town, and was a dry goods merchant practically all of his active life. In politics he was a Republican ; in relig- ion a Congregationalist. He died in 1896. He married Mary E. Gidley, born January 1, 1840. She is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Smith Mott Bostick, in Syracuse, New York. Mrs. Hart's mother married a Mr. Mathews for her second husband and Mrs. John J. Hart was known as Mary E. Mathews. Children : George D., resides in Detroit, Michigan ; Mary E., married Smith Mott Bostick, of Syracuse, New York ; James M., mentioned below ; Fred- erick M., lives in Oswego, New York.
(III) James M., son of John J. Hart, was born in Oswego, New York, September 18, 1862. He attended the public schools of his native town, the Oswego high school and the Hamilton Boys' and Classical College of Os- wego. His first business experience was gain- ed in the employ of his father as clerk in his dry goods and carpet store in Oswego. In 1895 he became secretary of the Sanitary Moss Company and continued in that business until 1900, and since then has been engaged in the wholesale and retail ice business in the city of Oswego, conducting business under the name of the Peerless Ice Company and having con- trol of the entire ice business of the city. In addition to the business of supplying the ice to consumers in the city and vicinity he ships large quantities to other points. In politics he is an Independent.
He married, October 20, 1886, Sophia, born in Oswego, January 26, 1863, daughter of John and Susan (Shepard) Ould. Children, born in Oswego: 1. John J., born July 25, 1887 ; educated in the Oswego high school and the State Normal School in Oswego; began his business career in the employ of his father ; spent a year in New York City and in New Haven, Connecticut, and since then has been associated with his father. 2. James Shepard, born June 15, 1889; educated in the Oswego high school and the Culver Cavalry Military School in Indiana. 3. Susan C., born February
10, 1890; educated in the public schools, the State Normal School at Oswego and the Wheaton Seminary, at Wheaton, Massachu- setts.
SCHULER John M. Schuler, son of Julius Schuler, was born in Oswego, New York, May 15, 1857. He received his early education in the public schools. At the age of twelve years he began to work on the coal dock. A year later he became an apprentice of R. J. Oliphant, a printer and book binder. Thirty years later he bought the book bindery of his employer and engaged in business on his own account, adding a stationery department to the business two years later in the store at 217 West Fourth street, Oswego. Ilis trade has grown rapidly and in eight years has attained a most prosper- ous condition, being the largest book bindery in the city of Oswego. Mr. Schuler is a thor- ough and painstaking craftsman, an energetic and industrious business man, fully deserving the success he has achieved in life. He is a self-made man, starting in life without capital, never borrowing nor asking for credit. In politics he is a Republican : in religion a Luth- eran.
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