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 II > Part 14
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"This is a debt to nature due
Which I have paid and so must vou."
He married, December 26, 1645, Mary, born 1626, died March 21, 1714, in her eighty- eighth year (she is buried in the same burying ground as her husband), daughter of Francis Cooke, a Pilgrim Father, who came in the "Mayflower," in 1620. Her mother was Han- nah - -, whom Francis Cooke married in Holland. She followed her husband to Amer- ica in the ship "Ann," 1623. Francis Cooke was a very old man in 1650, "Saw his chil- dren's children have children." He died April 7, 1663. Children of Lieutenant John and Mary (Cooke) Thompson: I. Adam, died young. 2. John, born 1648, a carpenter by trade ; married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Tinkham, the emigrant. He died November 25, 1725; his wife in 1731. 3. Mary, born 1650, married a Mr. Taber and settled near New Bedford. 4. Esther, born July 28, 1652, married Jonathan Reed. 5. Elizabeth, born January 28, 1654, married Thomas Swift and settled at Nobscusset. 6. Sarah, born April 7, 1657, died unmarried. 7. Lydia, born October 5, 1659, married James Soule. 8. Jacob, born April 24, 1662, a justice of the peace for many years; married Abigail Wadsworth.
Thomas, born October 19, 1664, a farmer and glazier and the wealthiest man in Middlebor- ough; married Mary Morton when he was fifty years old and she twenty-five. 10. Peter, of further mention. II. Mercy, born 1671, died April 19, 1756.
(II) Peter, son of Lieutenant John and Mary (Cooke) Thompson, was born in Mid- dleborough, Massachusetts. Married Rebecca Sturtevant. · Children: I. Peter (2), born 1700, died November 2, 1791 ; married (first) Hannah Bolton, (second) Lydia Cowin. 2. Joseph, of further mention. 3. James, died November 23, 1737, drowned in Crossman's pond in Kingston. 4. Hannah, married Nehemiah Bosworth.
(III) Joseph, son of Peter and Rebecca (Sturtevant) Thompson, died July 1, 1778. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Ruth (Hooper) Bolton. Children: I. Betty, mar- ried, 1762. Nicholas Wade and lived in Hali- fax. 2. Joseph, died August, 1778, of small- pox, at Cambridge, while serving in the revo- lutionary army. 3. John, of further mention. 4. Sarah, born April 17, 1744, married, 1767, Luther Keith, of Bridgewater, son of Ebenezer Keith. 5. Hannah, died in childhood.
(IV) John (2), son of Joseph and Eliza- beth ( Bolton) Thompson, was born October
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14, 1737, died January 19, 1776. He resided for a time at Halifax, Massachusetts, then re- moved to Springfield, Vermont, thence to the town of Kingsboro, Fulton county, New York. He married Elizabeth Bisbee, born September 20, 1741, daughter of John and Abiah (Bon- ney) Bisbee, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, a lineal descendant of Thomas Bisbee, who came to Scituate, Massachusetts, as early as 1634. Children: 1. John Bisbee, died in Vermont after the removal of his parents to New York state. 2. Peter, died unmarried ; a member of the Society of Friends. 3. Cynthia, died un- married. 4. James, died in middle age, unmar- ried. 5. William, of whom further. 6. Bar- zillai, went west. 7. Calvin, settled in Western New York. 8. Joseph. 9. Sarah, married Elijah Foster, and settled in Sherburne, New York. 10. Elizabeth, married Peletiah Shep- ard, of Kingsboro, Fulton county, New York. II. Lucinda, married Jacob Mead and settled in Palatine, New York. 12. Chloe, married Richard Horth, removed to Cattaraugus county, New York, after the death of her husband.
(V) William, son of John (2) and Eliza- beth (Bisbee) Thompson, removed with his father to Kingsboro, Fulton county, New York, where he died. He married Belinda Reeve, a relative of Topping Reeve, of Litch- field, Connecticut, chief justice of the supreme court of Connecticut. Children: 1. Sarah, married a Mr. Rowe and removed to the Black River country in Northern New York, where she died soon after. 2. William, removed to the far west. 3. John, of whom further. 4. Abner, died in the town of Florida, Mont- gomery county, New York. 5. Belinda, mar- ried Abner Smith. 6. Mary, removed to Ohio. 7. Eliza, married Josiah Houghton and settled in Ohio. 8. David, removed to Ohio.
(VI) Rev. John (3) Thompson, son of Wil- liam and Belinda (Reeve) Thompson, was born in Kingsboro, Fulton county, New York, where he was educated in the public schools and prepared for college under the tutorship of Rev. Elijah Yale, D.D., his pastor. In 1826 he was graduated from Middlebury Col- lege (Vermont). Having chosen the holy call- ing of a minister, he spent two years in prep- aration at Princeton (New Jersey) Theologi- cal Seminary. He was ordained a minister of the Gospel in September, 1828, and chose as his field of labor the missionary field. He was engaged in home missionary work and
spent several years in Georgia among the In- dians of that state. Quitting the missionary field, he was engaged during his latter years in regular pastoral work, spending the last six years of his life as pastor of the Congre- gational Church at Winchester, New Hamp- shire, where he died April 3, 1846. He was a faithful servant of God and did much good for the cause he loved. He married, at Shore- ham, Vermont, November 28, 1828, Ruth Bateman Fosdick, born 1805, died August 3, 1854, daughter of Mary (Bateman) Fosdick, and step-daughter of William Johnson, whose name she took. Children: I. Mary Eliza, born December 1, 1829, married, Sep- tember 1, 1852, Solomon Burt Saxton, of Troy, New York, born January 31, 1827, in Willbraham, Massachusetts, son of Gordon Bliss and Philena Fletcher (Severance) Sax- ton, a lineal descendant of George Saxton, of Windsor and Westfield, Massachusetts, 1690. Children: Mary Lena and John Gordon. 2. William Johnson, born October 7, 1831, in Georgia, died in infancy. 3. Edwin J., born October 7, 1833, in Middlebury, Ohio. He was highly educated; was for a number of years professor in the University of Minne- sota ; became a home missionary in Dakota; removed to Salem, Oregon, and in 1887 was settled pastor of a church near Albany, Ore- gon ; married, December 29, 1857, Ella Phelps Armstrong, of Shoreham, Vermont. Children : George Burt, Clara Ella, John, Mary Saxton, Anson Wingate, Annetta, Nellie and Edith. 4. George Bates, of further mention.
(VII) George Bates, youngest child of Rev. John (3) and Ruth Bateman (Fosdick) (Johnson) Thompson, was born in Middle Granville, Washington county, New York, January 12, 1839. He was educated in the public schools, and began business life as book- keeper for the firm of Hamlin & Saxton, flour merchants, of Troy, New York, and pro- prietors of the Mt. Vernon Flour Mills. In a few years he purchased an interest in the company from Mr. Hamlin, the new firm be- ing Saxton & Thompson. The firm prospered and in 1867 purchased the Douglas Mills at Lockport, New York, Mr. Thompson settling in that city as manager of the firm's business and mills. He remained there until the death of his senior partner, Mr. Gordon B. Saxton, when he returned to Troy and continued the business until 1890, in association with his brother-in-law, Solomon Burt Saxton, under
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the firm name of Saxton & Thompson. On December 8, 1889, their mills were destroyed by fire. They did not rebuild but Mr. Thomp- son returned to Lockport where in February, 1890, he organized The Thompson Milling Company with mills at Lockport. He was elected the first president of the corporation and has continued at the head of this very successful company until the present time (1911). His natural business capacity, de- veloped by long years of experience, render him a most valuable head and while the en- thusiasm of youth has departed, in its stead is the matured mind and ripened judgment. His life has not been devoted solely to busi- ness, but a large share of it has been given to the cause of church and Christianity. He has always been an active worker in Sunday school and in all forms of church, educational and benevolent work. His membership is with the First Presbyterian Congregation of Lockport. In politics he is an Independent Republican. All forms of civic progress have been aided by him and a share of Lockport's progress may be credited to his efforts.
He married (first ) April 23, 1863, Mary Elizabeth, born August 14, 1842, in Troy, New York, died September 17, 1892, daughter of Lyman Avery, of Troy. He married (second) September 21, 1893, Helen Frances, daughter of Edwin C. and Mary Catherine (Gooding) Williamson. Children by first marriage: I. George Lyman, born in Troy, December 9, 1864, died June 23. 1866. 2. Mary Ruth, born June 16, 1867, in Troy, married Andrew L. Draper, of Troy, where they reside. 3. Ger- trude Elizabeth, born in Troy, August 10, 1869, married Howard M. Whitbeck. 4. Grace Elizabeth, born November II, 1871, in Troy, died March 8, 1872. 5. Annie Sophia, born in Lansingburgh, August 21, 1873, married Arthur T. Poole. 6. Christine, born Decem- ber 25, 1874, in Lansingburgh, married Will- iam B. Smith. The married daughters all re- side in Lockport except Mary Ruth. Child of second marriage: 7. Helen Catherine, born August 19, 1903.
(The Williamson Line).
There are two separate lines of descent to the Williamsons of to-day, one Eng- lish, the other Dutch. Of the Dutch line Willem Willemsen, the American ances- tor, was born in Amsterdam, Holland, about the year 1637. He came to New Am-
sterdam in 1657; settled at Gravesend, Long Island. He married Mayke Peterse Wychoff, of Gravesend, daughter of Pieter Claas Wychoff, who came in 1636. In the third generation this name became Williamson. A distinguished member of the fifth generation was Douw Ditmars Williamson, a militiaman during the war of 1812, as his father Nicholas had been a minute man during the revolution. Douw Ditmars Williamson was comptroller of New York City under several administrations ; for many years was president of the Farmers' Loan & Trust Company of New York and was an elder in the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church. The English family descends from Timothy of Marshfield, Massachusetts, died in 1676, soldier of King Philip's war, and is sup- posed to have been killed in either the Bridge- water or "Swamp Fight", July 31 or August I, 1676. Paul Williamson was of Ipswich, 1635: Michael, of Ipswich, came in the "Planter," 1635; William came in the "De- fence" in 1635, but their records are not to be found. Timothy was made a freeman of Plymouth Colony in 1647, but when he came is not recorded. He married, in Plymouth, June 6, 1653, Mary, daughter of the first Ar- thur Howland. Children: Mary, born 1654; Timothy, born 1655, died at age of twenty- seven years; Joanna, born 1657; Experience, Martha, Abigail, George, Nathan. Timothy Williamson died in Plymouth and was buried August 6, 1676. His wife survived him and married (second) January 22, 1680, Robert Stanford.
(II) George, son of Timothy and Mary (Howland) Williamson, was born at Marsh- field, Masachusetts, about 1675, died at Mid- dleboro, Massachusetts, 1744: married Mary Crisp.
(III) Caleb, son of George and Mary (Crisp) Williamson, was born at Harwich, Massachusetts, 1715, died at Canterbury, Con- necticut, August 9. 1795 ; married, 1737, Sarah Ransom.
(IV) George (2), son of Caleb and Sarah (Ransom) Williamson, was born January 15, 1754, died October 10, 1882; farmer; soldier of the revolution ; married, July 9, 1778, Mary Foster, born November 17, 1758, daughter of William and Hannah (Durkee) Foster. Her great-great-grandfather came from Exeter, England, to Ipswich, Massachusetts.
(V) George (3), son of George (2), and Mary (Foster) Williamson. was born in Can-
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terbury, Connecticut, 1780, settled in New York state. He married - and had issue. (VI) James N., son of George (3) Will- iamson, was born in Stafford, Genesee county, New York. He first settled in Lockport, New York, from thence going to Paris, a town near Brantford, Province of Ontario, Canada, where he owned and operated a tannery. After several years in Canada, he returned to the states, locating in Chicago where he engaged in business, a wholesale fruit commission mer- chant. He remained in Chicago until after the death of his wife when he returned to Brant- ford, Canada, where he died about 1880. He married Sarah Walker, born in Vermont, died in Chicago, Illinois. Children who grew to years of maturity: 1. Edwin C., of further mention ; Frank, of Chicago; Helen, married Frank C. Mather, of Chicago; Frances, mar- ried Julius Waltrous, of Brantford.
(VII) Edwin C., son of James N. and Sarah (Walker) Williamson, was born at Can- ning, Oxford county, Canada, August 15, 1838, died in New York, October 23, 1897. He was educated in Lockport, New York, where he also studied pharmacy under Lock- port's most prominent pharmacist, Dr. Green. He later joined his father in Chicago and as- sociated with him in the wholesale fruit busi- ness. Later he became a traveling salesman ; retired from active business in 1887 ; died 1897. He married September 16, 1863, Mary Catherine Gooding, born in Lockport, August 4, 1843, died April 29, 1895, in Buffalo, New York.
'VIII) Helen Frances, daughter of Edwin C. and Mary Catherine (Gooding) Williamson, was born December 7, 1869, in Chicago, Illi- nois. She married, September 21, 1893, George B. Thompson. Child, Helen Cather- ine, born August 19, 1903, at Lockport, New York.
There are few names more THOMPSON common among the early settlers of New England than that of Thompson, most of whom came from London and Herefordshire, England, al- though others were of Scotch and Irish birth. The English Thompsons were probably re- lated. The principal early families were head- ed by David Thompson, who settled in Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, in 1622, and in 1623 removed to an island in Boston Harbor that yet bears his name. Others of the name were:
James Thompson, one of the first settlers of Woburn, Massachusetts, 1634; Major Robert Thompson, who resided in Boston in 1639, a man of great wealth and respectability ; Mau- rice Thompson, a merchant of London, gov- ernor of the East India Company, who es- tablished fisheries at Cape Ann, in 1639; Rev. William Thompson, who settled in Maine in 1637; and Anthony Thompson, of New Haven, Connecticut, believed to be the ancestor of the Buffalo branch herein recorded.
Anthony Thompson, with his wife, two chil- dren and two brothers, John and William, em- barked at London, on board the ship "Hector," in company with Theophilus Eaton, Rev. Mr. Davenport, and others, from Coventry, Eng- land. They arrived in Boston, June 26, 1637. They were Dissenters from the Church of England, and left home to enjoy quietly here the principles of their faith, as well as to avoid the constant persecutions, taxes and exactions which were so frequent during the reign of Charles I. The Davenport colony finally set- tled in Quinnipiac (New Haven). Anthony signed the colony constitution June 4, 1639. The Thompson brothers each secured grants of land. John lived in East Haven, where he died December 11, 1674. William and Anthony resided in New Haven all their lives, and died there. Anthony died March 23, 1647, at which time he made a nuncupative will in pres- ence of Rev. John Davenport and Robert New- man, who afterward committed his instructions to writing and appeared before the proper officer to prove it, May 27, 1650. He be- queathed the lands which were set off to him originally, and the house he had built there- on, to his second son, John, other lands to his son Anthony (2), a certain sum to Bridget, daughter of his first wife, provided she mar- ried in accordance with the wishes of the dea- cons of the church, and the remainder of the estate to his second wife, Catherine, and to his three daughters by her, her share to con- tinue during her widowhood only, but as she married Nicholas Camp, July 14, 1652, the property reverted to the estate. John, son of Anthony, seems to have been a sea captain. He had a son Samuel who married, November 14, 1695, Rebecca, daughter of Lieutenant- Governor Bishop. They lived at Beaver Ponds, now Westville, about two miles from New Haven. He was captain of the military in New Haven, and a healthy, active man when aged eighty-two years. He had eight chil-
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dren, all of whom lived to an advanced age except one who died in childhood. Some of them settled in Amenia, Dutchess county, New York, some in Goshen, and others in Derby, Connecticut. The sons of Samuel and Eliza- beth Bishop were Samuel (2), James, Amos, Gideon, Judah (died young), Judah (2), and Enos. Their daughter was Rebecca. One of these sons was the father of Captain and Major Jabez Thompson, of further mention.
(V) Jabez, grandson of Samuel and Eliza- beth (Bishop) Thompson, was born in Con- necticut, settled in the town of Derby, and became a man of prominence. He was an offi- cer in the French war of 1655-63, serving with the colonial troops from Connecticut. He was selectman of Derby 1763-64, 1774-75. At a town meeting held at Derby, November 29, 1774, after the "Boston Tea Party," to con- sider the proceedings of the Continental Con- gress held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, the plan of association recommended by that congress was approved and a committee of fourteen was appointed to see the same car- ried into execution. On this list the name of Major Jabez Thompson stands third. He was in command of the first troops sent from Derby immediately after the battle of Lexing- ton, and this company no doubt was engaged at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. His commis- sion, dated May 1, 1775, "in the fifteenth year of the reign of his Majesty King George the Third," from Jonathan Trumbull, captain gen- eral, etc., appointed him: "First major of the First Regiment of the Inhabitants inlisted and assembled for the special Defense and Safety of His Majesty's said Colony." He served on the "committee of inspection" of Derby, ap- pointed December II, 1775 ; his name again ap- pears third in the list, but this time with the rank of colonel. Tradition says that he was kill- ed while in command of his troops on Long Isl- and, on the retreat of Washington's army, and that his body was buried with honor by the English officers who had been his companions in arms during the French war. Captain Ja- bez married, October 25, 1748, Sarah Gunn, of Waterbury, Connecticut. Children of rec- ord in Derby : Lois, born December 29, 1749; Anne, March 5, 1753; Sarah, February 21, 1756; Jabez, of further mention ; Eunice, Jan- uary 5, 1762. His grandson, Sheldon, wrote during his lifetime, "My grandfather Jabez Thompson, had two sons, Jabez and Abel, and six daughters."
(VI) Jabez (2) son of Major Jabez (1), and Sarah (Gunn) Thompson, was born in Derby, Connecticut, January 7, 1759. He early began a seafaring life, which he continued un- til 1794, when he was lost at sea, with his eldest son. He was also a ship owner, and sailed his last voyage in command of his own vessel. He was engaged in the West Indies trade, and after sailing on his last trip neither he nor his vessel were ever heard of again. He was a man of high character, and held in universal esteem, as is attested by an oration delivered December 23, 1794, on his life and service, delivered before King Hiram Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Derby, of which he was a member. He married · Cur- tiss, daughter of Oliver and Hannah (Clark) Curtiss. Hannah was a daughter of William and Hannah Clark, who came to Derby about 1735, from Lyme, Connecticut. Hannah, wife of William Clark, died September, 1801, aged
ninety-one years. Her lineal descendants, at the time of her death, were three hundred and thirty-three, viz. : ten children, sixty-two grand- children, two hundred and forty-two great- grandchildren and nineteen great-great-grand- children. Children of Jabez Thompson (2) : Jabez, lost at sea; William; Sheldon, of fur- ther mention; Curtiss, Polly, Sally, Betsey, Harry.
(VII) Sheldon, son of Jabez (2) Thomp- son, was born at Derby, Connecticut, July 2, 1785. By the sudden death of his father his mother was left with a large family of chil- dren, most of them small. The greater part of the property was lost by the sinking of the ship and cargo, only a small farm being left. The eldest surviving son was a sailor, and it became necessary for the boys to shift for themselves, leaving the farm for the mother and daughters. Hence Sheldon, at the age of ten years, went to sea as a cabin boy under the charge of his brother William, then master of a vessel. In 1798, during our difficulties with France, he was in the West Indies, where he was taken prisoner, conveyed to Guadaloupe, and confined for several months. He rose rapidly from a sailor, before the mast to the command of a fine ship, the "Keziah," in the West Indies trade, at the age of twenty-four years. In 1810 he abandoned the sea and came to Lewiston, New York, with Jacob Townsend and Alvin Bronson. The British orders in council, with Bonaparte's Berlin and Milan Decrees, make the high seas unsafe for
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merchantmen, neutral rights not being re- spected by either England or France. These three men, all sea captains, decided to abandon the sea and take to the Great Lakes. Co- partnership articles were drawn up, providing that the firm should be Townsend, Bronson & Company; that it should continue four years ; that each should contribute all his capi- tal and his whole time, and that the purpose of the copartnership should be transacting busi- ness in the state of New York and elsewhere of a mercantile nature, in the various branches of vending goods, shipbuilding and coasting on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and any other business in which the partners collectively might judge best to engage. In March, 1810, Bronson cut the frame for a schooner of one hundred tons, and had the vessel built at Os- wego Falls. She was called the "Charles and Ann," and in the fall of 1810 was running un- der command of John Hull. Mr. Thomp- son took the carpenters, as soon as the first vessel was finished, to the Niagara River, above the Falls, built the schooner "Catherine," at Cayuga creek, the same spot where La Salle had built the "Griffin," the first vessel that ever navigated Lake Erie, one hundred and thirty-two years before. The "Catherine" was completed and in commission in June, 18II. * Both vessels figured as United States gunboats during the war of 1812. In addition to the coasting trade of the Lakes, the firm established two stores, one at Lewiston, con- ducted by Townsend & Thompson, and one at Oswego, conducted by Bronson. Their princi- pal trade for two years preceeding the war was the transportation of Onondaga salt for the lake and Pittsburgh markets. In addition to this they transported stores for the military posts, the Indian annuities, the American Fur Company's goods and peltries, and provisions for the frontier settlements. In this day of rapid transit the route these goods took is full of interest. They came by sloops up the Hudson to Albany, thence by portage to Schenectady, then shipped on the Mohawk river boats to Rome, thence by canal into Wood Creek, through Oneida Lake and down Oswego river to the Falls of the Oswego, where there was a portage of one mile, and fin- ally taking a smaller class of boats to Oswego. Here goods destined for the upper coun- try took schooners for Lewiston, where they were transported by teams to Schlosser, where they again took flatboats to Black Rock, there
took vessel, and aided by what Mr. Thompson called a "horn breeze" (a team of several yoke of oxen) stemmed the current of the Niagara river to Lake Erie.
Sheldon Thompson married, April 6, 1811, a daughter of Benjamin Barton, of Lewiston. Barton was born in Sussex county, New Jer- sey, in 1771, went to Geneva, New York, in 1788, was married at Canandaigua, New York, in 1729, and removed to Lewiston in 1807. He was a surveyor by profession, and surveyed much of the "mile" frontier. In 1805 he at- tended the sale of the "Mile Strip" on the Niagara river, held in the surveyor general's office at Albany. Here he met Judge and Gen- eral Porter on the same errand, and continued with them in the purchase of several farm lots, including the property around the Falls, and bid off at public auction the landing places at Lewiston and Schlosser, for which they re- ceived a lease for twelve or thirteen years. In 1806, under the firm name of Porter, Bar- ton & Company, they commenced the carry- ing trade around Niagara Falls, and formed the first regular line of forwarders that ever did business from tidewater to Lake Erie. Benjamin Barton died at Lewiston in 1842, aged seventy-two years. The two firms be- ing now connected by marriage, formed a more or less intimate connection in business. They co-operated in their undertakings, harmonized in the main, and conducted almost the entire commerce of the lakes. Townsend, Bronson & Company did the carrying trade to Lewis- ton; Porter, Barton & Company received the profits for the portage from Lewiston to Schlosser, and both firms were interested in the development of the business beyond that point. The war of 1812 now came on, spread- ing desolation and ruin along the northern frontier. The letters of Sheldon Thompson to his partners give a graphic picture of the anxieties and perplexities of the times. It was necessary to again and again remove goods to places of safety, sickness was prevalent, deaths were frequent, there was dissension among our own troops, and no one felt safe. The culminating point was in December, 1813, when the British advanced on Fort Niagara, destroyed Lewiston, and devastated the border as far as Buffalo, which was burnt. Two let- ters announce these events :
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