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 41
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He married, December 2, 1896, Mary A., daughter of William A. and Cecelia E. (Brownell) McIntyre, of Junius, Seneca county, New York; born February 14, 1874. Children: Gertrude E., born June 16, 1899; Maurice W., March 29. 1903 : Marion C., twin of Maurice W .; P. Carlyle, born May 2, 1904 : George P., October 30, 1906: Owen T., April 2, 19II.
(The McIntyre Line).
Samuel McIntyre, grandfather of Mary A. (McIntyre) Landy, was born in 1819 and
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died in 1896. He married (first) Mary Jane Hathaway, about 1844 or 1845, and settled in Junius, New York. She was born in 1820, died in 1866, at Hastings, Michigan, where they lived for a few years. Her mother lived with them until her death at the age of one hundred and four years. Children: William A., of whom further; Irvin, born January, 1848; Delia, March 3, 1851 ; Elizabeth, 1853; John, 1855, died young; Samuel, born 1858, died in infancy; Katherine, born 1860; Jen- nie B., February 28, 1863. After the death of his first wife, Samuel McIntyre with his family returned to New York state, and in 1868 he married (second) Nancy Crysler Dean, who died in 1888 or 1889. She had one son, Edward Dean.
William A., son of Samuel and Mary Jane (Hathaway) McIntyre, was born September 7, 1846. When he was nineteen years old he went to Nashville, Tennessee, to work for the government. He was a Christian young man, being the only one in camp who carried a Bible. Shortly before the war closed he was sent home on account of serious illness. He became a brick-maker and worked at that for several years. At the age of twenty-seven, November 28, 1873, he married Cecelia E. Brownell, daughter of Philip F. and Almira C. Brownell. Children: 1. Mary A., born February 14, 1874, at Junius, Seneca county, New York ; moved with her parents to Michi- gan in 1882, and lived on a farm in town of Locke, Ingham county, for a short time, and then moved to Belding, Michigan, about 1885, where she was educated in Belding high school ; her parents were among the founders of the First Baptist Church of Belding, of which she became a member at the age of twelve years; she was an active worker in the church and Sunday school, being a teacher and junior superintendent until she was married and went to New York state to make her future home as wife of Peter P. Landy. She was united with the West Som- erset Baptist church by letter, where she is still a member, although she is also a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church so- ciety. She is a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and has held offices in that organization; a member of Miller Bible class, and at one time was presi- dent of same; a charter member of Town- send Chapter, No. 305, Order of the Eastern Star; also an officer and charter member of
the Ladies' Auxiliary. Mrs. Landy has some natural talent as a reader. She is a great- great-great-granddaughter of Rev. Smith and wife, who came from Scotland to New York, about 1770, and settled in Tarrytown, New York. Rev. Smith . was a very learned man, a noted preacher of the Dutch Reformed Church, and owned a large religious library in his native language. One child, born 1781, a girl, married a man by the name of Bur- nett. They lived at Lyons, Wayne county, New York, and had one child: Sarah B., born October 15, 1797, married March 8, 1813, Rev. William Brown, died March 14, 1846. They had eleven children, among whom was Almira C., of whom further. Rev. William Brown was born in Vermont, April 23, 1793, of English descent, and died July 25, 1870. He moved to Lyons, New York, in 1796. For several years he lived in Junius, New York, where he was ordained, at the age of nineteen, as a Baptist minister. He was well known through Central New York for his probity and honor. He owned and worked a two hundred acre farm, and did not preach for a salary. He was among the citizens called out to defend Sodus Point during the war of 1812-1814. They were soon disbanded and sent home, and that same night the British burned the town. He was the possessor of two original copies of Ulster County Gazette, printed in 1800, and giving a full account of the death and burial of George Washington. One of these copies is now owned by Mary A. Landy.
Almira C., daughter of Rev. William and Sarah B. (Burnett) Brown, was born August 6, 1827, and died July 19, 1900. She was educated in private schools, and was herself a teacher for a number of years. She was married to Philip F. Brownell, about 1848. She was a devoted member of the Baptist church, a very intelligent, well-read person, honored and beloved by all who knew her. Philip F. Brownell was born April 5, 1825, in Dutchess county, New York. His parents were born in Pennsylvania ; his mother, Jan- uary 5, 1801. Philip F. was a carpenter by trade, and lived on a farm in Junius, New York. In 1864 or 1865 he enlisted in the army, remaining in active service until the close of the war. In 1879 he removed with his family to Michigan and settled in the town of Locke, Ingham county. He was dis- abled and contracted a disease in the army
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from which he never recovered, and conse- quently was a pensioner for many years. In church affiliations he was a Methodist, and died August 22, 1892. Children of Philip F. and Almira C. Brownell: Cecelia E., born March 2, 1851; William E., May 10, 1852, died young; Frank A., born March 4, 1854; Martha H., July 29, 1855; Myron E., June 11, 1860; John W., July 13, 1861 ; Allie M., May 27, 1864; Cecelia E. lived with her grandparents (the Browns) from the time she was a child. She was educated in the public schools and married William Augustas Mc- Intyre, November 28, 1872, at McGees Cor- ners, Junius, New York, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Plasky Smith. She was a member of the Baptist church, and al- ways lived a consecrated, Christian life. She died December 5, 1907, after a long illness.
Other children of William A. McIntyre: 2. Minerva B., born January 9, 1878; she was educated in the Belding high school; married Jesse B. Brown, great-great-grandson of Rev. William Brown, described elsewhere in this work, about the year 1900. They have two children: Carlton, aged nine years, and Car- mine, one year. The family are members of the Baptist church. 3. Almira C., born Feb- ruary 18, 1889; she was educated in the Beld- ing high school, and business college at Grand Rapids, Michigan; she follows the profession of stenography, and resides at Detroit, Michi- gan. 4. Buelah B., born October 9, 1892 ; educated in Belding high school, member of Baptist church; married James Banks, of Greenville, Michigan, July 11, 1910, and re- sides in Belding.
ROBBINS The Robbins family, represen- tatives of which reside in Me- dina, New York, bear the fol- lowing arms : Gules, two fleur-de-lis; each divided paleways, and fastened to the sides of the escutcheon, the points following each other or. Crest: A talbot's head or.
(I) Richard Robbins, the first member of this family of whom we have definite infor- mation, came from England to New England, about 1639. He settled first at Charlestown, afterwards removing to Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, where he shared in the division of the Church lands in 1652. He married Re- becca and among their children was Nathaniel, see forward.
(II) Nathaniel, son of Richard Robbins,
was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1649, died there in 1719. He married, August 7, 1669, Mary Brazier, who bore him eight children, among whom was Nathaniel, see forward.
(III) Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (1) Robbins, was born in Cambridge, Massachu- setts, February 28, 1678, died January 26, 1761. He married Hannah Chandler, who bore him nine children, among whom was Philemon, see forward.
(IV) Philemon, son of Nathaniel (2) Rob- bins, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, September 19, 1709, died in Branford, Con- necticut, August 3, 1781. He married (first), December 27, 1735, Hannah Foot, who died June 16, 1776; she bore him three sons and six daughters, among whom was Ammi Ruhamah, see forward. He married (second) October 28, 1778, Mrs. Jane Mills, who died July 30, 1788.
(V) Ammi Ruhamah, son of Philemon Robbins, was born in Branford, Connecticut, September, 1740, died in Norfolk, Connecti- cut, October 31, 1813. He was a graduate of Yale College, was installed pastor at Norfolk, October 28, 1761, and remained as minister for fifty-two years, and was a trustee of Wil- liams College. He married, May 13, 1762, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Lazarus and Lydia (Bradford) Le Baron, and granddaughter of Dr. Francis Le Baron. Among their children was Samuel, see forward.
(VI) Samuel, son of Ammi Ruhamah Rob- bins, was born in Norfolk, Connecticut, Au- gust 29, 1784, died in Penn Yan, New York, April 6, 1860. He also resided in Woodbury, Connecticut. He married, May 27, 1817, Fanny, daughter of Jeremiah and Anna (Sherwood) Osborne. Among their children was Thomas Burr, see forward.
(VII) Thomas Burr, son of Samuel Rob- bins, was born in Camillus, New York, Jan- uary 4, 1828. In early life he went to Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, where he became man- ager of large coal mines, along the line of the Panhandle railroad, and was one of the most extensive coal operators in western Pennsyl- vania. He retired in 1873. In the winters he resided in Pittsburg, and during the summers at Midway, Washington county, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Presbyterian church in Pittsburg, and a Republican in politics. He married (first), in 1851, Alice Brockaway, who bore him three children: William, Frank
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Le Baron and Edward. He married (sec- ond), in 1861, Mary, born at Penn Yan, New York, October 2, 1836, daughter of Judge Henry and Margaret (Haight) Welles, and granddaughter of Dr. Welles, of General Washington's staff. Mr. Robbins had two children by his second wife: I. Harry Welles, born July 30, 1870; he is the proprietor of a machine stamping works, which makes auto- mobile supplies, and is also president of the Bignell Foundry Company, both of which con- cerns are in Medina. He married Bessie Rut- ton, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; they have one child, Thomas Burr Robbins. 2. Bertine.
Judge Henry Welles, father of Mrs. Rob- bins, was born at Kinderhook, Columbia county, New York. During his boyhood his father removed to the east bank of Lake Keuka. He read law with Vincent Mathews, at Bath, Steuben county, New York, and there he commenced his professional life. About 1829 he came to Penn Yan and resided there until his death, in March, 1868. He became district attorney of Yates county ; in June, 1847, he was appointed an assistant justice of the court of common pleas ; later he was made a justice of the state supreme court, for the seventh judicial district, and this position he held until his death. He married Margaret, daughter of Samuel S. and Sarah (Mathews) Haight, who was born in Elmira, New York, August 15, 1801 (see Haight III). Children of Judge Henry and Margaret (Haight) Welles; Samuel H., died in October, 1867; Mary, referred to herein.
(The Haight Line).
(I) Jonathan Haight, the first member of this family of whom we have definite infor- mation, died at Cortlandt, Westchester county, New York, before 1780. He had formerly lived at Rye, Westchester county, New York. According to tradition, he and his son Jona- than were Englishmen; but this may mean nothing more than that they were not Dutch descent. Children, as far as known: Jona- than, died about 1780, married Elizabeth Man- deville; Stephen, referred to below; Ben- jamin.
(II) Stephen, son of Jonathan Haight, re- moved from Rye to Loonenburg, now Athens, Greene county, New York. He married Mar- garet, daughter of John Cooke, of Loonen- burg. Children: Jonathan T .; John, bap- tized May 16, 1775; Samuel S., referred to
below ; Stephen; Hannah, died in 1814, mar- ried Leon Van Husen ; Elizabeth, married Joel Collier ; Mary, married Richard Collier; Mar- garet, married John Houk.
(III) General Samuel S. Haight, son of Stephen and Margaret (Cooke) Haight, was born at Athens, September 17, 1778, died in Cuba, Allegany county, New York, April 20, 1863. He studied law with his father-in-law at Newtown, now Elmira, New York. He re- moved to Bath. As major-general of the state militia, he was on the march toward the fron- tier when peace was declared after the war of 1812. He practiced law at Angelica, Alle- gany county, New York, from about 1818, and was judge of the county court. From 1833 he lived for six years at Rochester, New York, and afterward settled at Cuba, where he owned wild land. For many years he was a Presbyterian elder. His benevolence pre- vented the accumulation of great property. He married (first) January 26, 1799, Sarah, daughter of James and Hannah (Strong) Mathews, who died at Angelica in 1831 ; (sec- ond) April 2, 1839, Maria W. Chesseman. Children, all except last two by first marriage : I. Fletcher Mathews, born November 28, 1799, died February 23, 1866; married (first) Octo- her 3, 1822, Elizabeth Stewart Mclachlan, and (second) September 20, 1829, Mary Ann Brown. 2. Margaret, born at Newtown, now Elmira, New York, August 15, 1801 ; mar- ried Judge Henry Welles, referred to above. 3. Henry, born January 19, 1804, died August 26, 1820. 4. Hannah, born June 2, 1805, died in 1836; married, in 1832, W. R. Bunnell. 5. Robert, born June 17, 1815, died in 1868; married, about 1858, Caroline Mason. 6. Ju- liana, born October 12, 1818, died in 1845; married, in 1842, George W. Hart. 7. Henry, born October 18, 1820, died March 24, 1869; married, October 22, 1845, Weltha Buel. 8. Samuel W., born June 13, J822, died about 1858; married, January 14, 1852, Juliette Cros- well. 9. George W., born December 19, 1842. 10. Juliana, born October 17, 1846.
DOW Albert Gallatin Dow was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, August 16, 1808, and died in Randolph, New York, May 21, 1908. He was the son of Captain Solomon Dow and Elizabeth (Buz- zell) Dow, was the grandson of Richard Dow, who served as captain in the revolutionary war, and Elizabeth (Clough) Dow, and great-
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grandson of Solomon Dow and Mary (Saun- ders) Dow. The family are in direct descent from the Dows of Hampton, Massachusetts, who came to America from Renham, county of Norfolk, England, in 1637.
In many respects Mr. Dow was one of the most remarkable men of his time. As a cen- tenarian, he took the same active interest in public affairs that had always characterized him. In his hundredth year he was still the man of affairs, his eye was bright, his faculties keen, and his mental vision clear. Within a few weeks before his death he had written, at the request of members of his family, to be distributed to his guests at his anticipated hundredth anniversary, his personal reminis- cences, which abound in interesting incidents of the pioneer life of Western New York. The personality of the man speaks through them. His interest in political movements, in business, educational and social affairs, his pen-pictures of old friends and relatives, with here and there a touch of humor or a fine phrase descriptive of some spot hallowed to him by early association, together with its lit- erary qualities, all combine to make this, the autobiography of Western New York's most distinguished citizen, a work of rare interest which we here reproduce in full :
TO MY SON, CHARLES M. DOWN'
At your request I give you some reminiscences of my life. Now that we are well within the year af my one hundredth anniversary, I will confine myself particularly to those incidents that I think have some bearing on my longevity, only deviating to add interest for the younger members of our family .- A. G. D.
My first recollection of anything, is of the ferry- boat crossing the Connecticut river when my father moved his family from Plainfield, N. H., to Hart- land, Vt. I was born August 16, 1808, and we moved in May before I was three years old.
1 recollect many things of our home in Hartland -the large meadow running down to the Connec- ticut river ; the house, a large white colonial build- ing; the great room upstairs with its fireplace, and my sisters spinning by the light of pine knots while some one of the family read; the Masonic Lodge meeting in that room, where my father was the master. I remember of his going off to Indiana to look for a new home, and of his return; that on that trip he rode a very fine black mare of ours; she would not let any boy on her back, but my mother used to ride her. I remember my father's saddle and saddlebags and my mother's side-saddle; the large table around which the ten children sat: the brick bake oven; and that at Thanksgiving time when we children got up we found pumpkin pies
around on the wood-piles and fences. One day some slaves passed our house; I think there were seven of them chained together with two white men attending them. We thought they were run- away slaves being taken back to their masters.
I heard of the failure of Mr. Pulcifer, a mer- chant of Plainfield, and that at the time of his fail- ure he owed my father $1,600, which was an entire loss.
My brother Richard enlisted in the war of 1812 and I remember my father going to the army at Sackett's Harbor with a sleigh-load of provisions, gotten together by the friends of the boys who were serving from our neighborhood, and that later one morning the mail coach carried a flag and we knew the war was over. Richard came home soon after that.
As I look back to that Vermont home, it seems to me that we were a very thrifty, healthy, happy family and its fireside recollections are very vivid in my memory.
In September, 1816, when I was eight years old, we left Hartland for our western home. We had two horses, a yoke of oxen and two cows. One horse was hitched before the yoke of oxen draw- ing the wagon that carried our effects. In a cov- ered carriage drawn by one horse were my mother and the children. The morning we started, as we passed through the village of Hartland, my teacher came out and kissed me good-bye. I remember going through the village of Windsor, three or four miles from our home, but recollect none of the other towns through which we passed except Utica and Rochester. On our way through Utica, which was a small place, we heard music from a house and we stopped to enjoy it. I also remem- ber walking across the Cayuga Bridge and that it was one mile and eight rods long. My only recol- lection of Rochester was of some sawmills, a great many logs and piles of lumber. During our journey we had all the comforts that were possible at that time. We stopped nights at hotels and I remember well the bread and milk we had at our noon meal. It was baker's bread and sometimes now when I eat baker's bread with milk it tastes just as that did. We had thirty days of travel, no sickness and all stood the journey well.
When we got to Genesee county, New York, where father had friends and among them some old Vermont families who had settled there just before, we concluded to stop for the winter and then go on the next spring to Indiana. My father leased a log house south of the Buffalo Road and made some board additions to it. It was comfort- able enough, but as I think of it, life there was a stern reality. The country at that time was all woods with but few clearings except on the main road. Small game was in abundance and some deer were killed.
The next spring, instead of going to Indiana, father bought a cleared farm on the Buffalo Road nine miles and a half from Batavia. He built a log house on a slightly elevated plateau overlook- ing a broad stretch of fine country to the west. The house was large, had a brick chimney, which was an exception, the logs were hewn inside, and the house was better than any other around there. As soon as he had his house finished, he went about
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a project to build a schoolhouse and it was com- pleted without delay. I remember among the chil- dren in that school Mr. Mason's little daughters, Nancy and 'Lydia Ann. Nancy's toes touched the floor when she sat on the benches, but Lydia Ann's did not. A Sunday School was a new institution and one was opened in a private house near our home. . We recited verses selected by our parents, had some singing and the teacher, Mr. Stewart, talked to us.
About that time we heard that a circus was to pass through at night and we children built a line of fires along the road and scattered potatoes for the elephant, so he would stop and eat them and we get a good look at him.
I went to Batavia for my first Fourth of July cele- bration. They had an address, and martial music was made by some of the Revolutionary soldiers while others of the veterans were seated on the platform.
The old Buffalo Road was the main New York State thoroughfare between the east and the west. Two stages passed every day and there was a con- stant stream of emigrants on their way to the Holland Purchase and Western Reserve which were then being rapidly filled up, and eastern people and foreigners in their private carriages passed on their way to and from Niagara Falls, then as great a wonder as now, so we saw much of the activities of life.
Father had a large family to provide for; was also active in the building of roads and bridges and all those things that go to help establish social or- der. Axes were swinging on all sides and the coun- try was being rapidly settled, the forests giving way to farms. On our farm' we produced almost everything that necessity or rude comfort would demand. Our cellar from which we lived in winter was well filled. We raised flax and my sisters made our shirts and handkerchiefs, and made "homespun" for the boys of the family. We kept a hired man, a Vermonter, to whom we paid $8.00 a month and board.
Our first summer there was very cold, but I think we never felt any anxiety for the ordinary necessi- ties. My father had some ready money and I recall that he loaned $100 to one of the Vermont families who were near neighbors. I was the one to go to mill. We went to Pembroke, although it was far- ther away than the mill toward Batavia. We went there as our old friends had settled in that direc- tion.
Soon after we settled in Genesee county, a man who was a cooper came along ori horseback. He had no money to continue his journey and wanted to stay and go to work at his trade. Father bought a set of cooper's tools, fixed up a place for him, and he went to coopering, and after that father conducted a cooper business until about the time of his death, making pork barrels, firkins, sap-buckets, etc.
From the time we came West until our family broke up, I attended school near home and helped about the farm, as boys generally do.
My sisters and brothers were Sarah, Mary, Rich- ard, Eliza, Caroline, Nancy, Hannah, Amos and Phoebe. I was next younger than Hannah.
Genesee county at that time was an unhealthy
section. My father had the ague and died in 1822 at fifty-six years of age. As I recollect him, he was a tall and large man, I should think weighing upwards of one hundred eighty pounds; was aus- tere in manner, a man of strong common sense, and a leader among men in a way; not in politics, however; was high in Masonry and was, I think, a member of Batavia Lodge. He was not a church member, but was a Universalist in belief, prized education and virtue, and was a great lover of books. He governed his household well, was a true friend, and honest in all of his transactions. As I think of him, it seems as though he was serious minded, particularly after we came West; the prob- lems of life confronting a man with a large family in a new country would naturally make him so.
My mother was rather small of stature. I remem- ber her light-blue eyes, light complexion, her ex- pression of goodness, and her interest in everything that tended toward our happiness and prosperity. There was an air of refinement about our home. My sisters were all women of culture, had prepared themselves for teaching, and all at one time or an- other taught school. In the winter we had spelling schools and straw rides from one district to another, and good times all together. Our family stayed to- gether on the farm until mother married the Rev. Mr. Gross something over a year after father's death. That winter I went to school at Attica, and Amos, who was three years younger than I, went with my sister Mary. My mother went to Clarence to Mr. Gross's home, where she died in the autumn of 1826 when fifty-four years of age. Mr. Gross was a Universalist preacher and an excellent man. He was then the editor of a religious paper in Buffalo, also conducted a school for lads at his home and prepared young men for college.
The summer I was sixteen I earned the first money for myself, working for Mr. Huntington 011 his farm. My first work was chopping a great pile of wood and it was pretty hard business. The Huntingtons were newly married people and Mrs. Huntington flattered me somewhat by commending me for not sending my plate back for more food. It worked out as a matter of economy for the Hunt- ingtons and left me sometimes pretty hungry, but I was probably just as well off for it afterward. 1 worked there six months at $6.00 a month; used $18.00 of my wages and at the end of the time took his note for the remaining $18.00.
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