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 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
The day before commencing work I made my first trip to Buffalo. It was then a small city and there were no buildings except shanties below the present Mansion House. I went down to see the old "Su- perior." the great lake steamboat of that time.
After finishing with Mr. Huntington I went to work for Mr. Carpenter and earned enough in the fall to get my clothes, still keeping the $18.00 note. During the time I was at Mr. Carpenter's he bought the first stove that I had ever seen. It was a curiosity and a great many people came to his house to see it. That winter I went to school at Clarence and the following summer I worked for Mr. Thomas on his farm at $8.00 a month.
The first event attracting public attention that I attended was the hanging of the three Thayers. I went to Buffalo that day in June, 1825. There were a great many there, thousands of people from
726
NEW YORK.
all through the country, many passing through Clar- ence several days before. The hanging took place in the large field opposite the Courthouse.
The next event that took me to Buffalo was the starting of the first boat on the Erie canal. I got my colt up the night before and on the 25th of October, 1825, by the time the sun was up, I was over half way to Buffalo, which was twelve or thirteen miles from Clarence. I hitched the colt in a shed somewhere near the present Genesee House and ran my best down to where the crowd was gathering around the boat. As it started, the first of the signal cannons was fired. There were several superintending the starting and at almost the first move the bowsprit struck a bridge abut- ment and flew in pieces. However, there was little damage or delay. I think there were not over two or three hundred people there to see that great event.
My ambition was to become a merchant and I had secured a position in a store at Ransom's Grove but wanted to take further schooling before com- mencing, so I studied three months with Mr. Gross and after finishing went to take the position, but found that the store had been closed by the sheriff the same day.
My sister Sarah had married Wheaton Mason of Batavia, and as there was no chance for me at Ransom's Grove, I continued on to Batavia, hoping to find a position in a store there. A gentleman going through on horseback suggested that I ride his horse and save my stage fare and he would take the stage. I saved my fare, but had a very cold night's ride.
I found Mr. Mason with a great many things on hand and quite a number of people about him. He had a shoeshop employing five or six hands, a brick yard, some farming and a grocery, aside from loan- ing money. They had a great many fires to build and I commenced by making myself useful. During the year and a little over that I was with them I worked some about the grocery, put in and har- vested potatoes three miles away, and learned enough of the shoe trade so that I was able to start for myself the following year. During that summer it became general talk that a Mr. Morgan, living there, and whom I often saw, had written and pro- posed to publish an exposure of Free Masonry. In the autumn of that year, 1826, he disappeared. Aside from the great interest all through that section, I was particularly interested in the subject, as Mor- gan's disappearance created intense feeling against all members of the Batavia Lodge, of which my father had been and my employer was then a mem- ber. This agitation resulted in the organization of a new political party, the Anti-Masonic. Since that time I have been an interested participant in the political movements of the day.
On February 2, 1827, Mr. Mason and I started for Panama, N. Y., to make our home there. As we passed through Silver Creek, I was particularly impressed with the beauty of its location, its busi- ness prospects, with a fine harbor on Lake Erie, and with the people we met. At Panama Mr. Mason bought a hotel at the top of the hill above the vil- lage. A short time after locating there, he sent me back to Batavia on business. Stopping at Silver Creek, I made up my mind to make it my home and
soon moved there; commenced a shoe and leather jobbing business, which I conducted for thirteen years and until I formed a partnership with George Farnham, having bought a half interest in his hard- ware store.
When I was twenty years old I went to Westfield and worked in the Aaron Rumsey tannery to learn what I could, intending to start in that business for myself the following year. There were several young men working in the tannery and we had the usual time that young fellows do. I recall that we at- tended the revival meetings held in the schoolhouse for the fun of seeing the girls have the "power." The practice of the converts and the people in the meeting was not unlike that I have recently seen among the southern negroes. Sunday afternoon we boys in the tannery used to play cards out under the trees by the creek. Through the influence of Mrs. Rumsey I became interested in the Sunday School and used to attend with her, where she was one of the teachers. This was my first real interest in the Sunday School, and when I became a mem- ber of the church several years later I became a Sunday School teacher and have been either a Bible class teacher or a superintendent nearly all the time since.
October 4, 1829, I married Freelove, the daughter of Wheaton Mason and Octavia Belden, when I was twenty-one years old. Mr. Mason, who had married my sister Sarah, was then keeping the hotel in Silver Creek where I boarded. The Mason fam- ily and our family had been intimate from the time we came to Genesee County, Mr. Mason keeping "The Brick Tavern," the most important house in that country. He was a man of genial tempera- ment, maintained himself and his family in a gen- erous way and was in excellent credit and commer- cial standing during his entire life. He died in 1850 and was buried in Ellicottville. As soon as I was married, we commenced keeping house in my own house, which was paid for, and I have maintained my own home ever since. With this first home there were twenty-five acres of land, and since that time I have never been without land of my own within easy access of my home.
During most of the years that I was in Silver Creek, before going into the hardware and stove business, I held town offices; was collector, con- stable or justice of the peace, and was more or less interested in politics. Those were Anti-Masonic times and I was a Democrat. While I was acting as collector, constable and justice, I had many prac- tical lessons as to those things which make for suc- cess or failure and give credit or discredit in busi- ness. I also had the evil of intemperance impressed upon me through the misfortune of a dear friend, and I have remembered those lessons.
During my time as constable, a large amount of the work was collecting debts and many debtors were taken to the county seat at Mayville up to 1831 when the imprisonment for debt was abolished. Debtors were not confined in the jail, but were on "the limits" and boarding houses were maintained for their accommodation. They could give bail and if they were found off the limits during week days the bondsmen were obliged to pay the debt for which they were imprisoned. Sundays they could go home or wherever they chose.
727
NEW YORK.
Later when I was justice of the peace, Judge Ward had an office with me. He was an excellent judge of the common law and during that time I took a great interest in law study. The Judge wanted to admit me to the bar, but I felt that if I were admitted, I would do more or less petti- fogging which would interfere with my business as a merchant.
Soon after I went to Silver Creek a miniature railroad train was exhibited in the hotel ballroom and created much interest. The first talk regard- ing the practical operation of railroads was that the railroads were to be public highways used by individuals who would operate their own vehicles under the same plan as canal boats were operated, pay tolls and be under state regulation, but that did not materialize. Private corporations built the roads, but their rates were fixed so as not to com- pete to the disadvantage of the canals.
My first railroad trip was taken in 1840 and to make better time I took the stage to Bushnell's Basin; from there a canal boat to Syracuse, where I took the train. The track was of strap-iron laid on timbers. The train was off the track two or three times before we got to Albany and the pas- sengers assisted in putting it on. We were helped up and down the hill west of Albany by a stationary engine to which our train was attached by a rope. The station in Albany where we stopped was near the capitol on the left hand side of State Street looking down. From Albany we took a boat down the river to New York City.
That year, 1840, I became a partner of Mr. Farn- ham in the hardware business and succeeded to the business a year later. During the next few years I had established a dry goods store in Randolph, had a store one year in Sinclairville and had filled that country up with stoves, and in 1845 I moved my family to Randolph and established a hardware store there. I moved my dry goods store to East Randolph in 1848 and soon after sold it to my brother Amos, who conducted it for many years.
The Erie Railroad had been abandoned in 1842, business was stagnant in Randolph, and the prin- cipal merchants had been obliged to suspend, but they had a large and good tributary country. From the time we started the business in Silver Creek we sent peddling wagons through Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, selling our tinware and stoves at wholesale or retail and often placing them on commission. I continued that business in Randolph, extending the territory farther and into Pennsyl- vania. Our teams often brought home large amounts of furs and bales of buffalo skins, they having been carried on the backs of raftsmen returning from the Ohio River country. My business there was good from the start. I sold a large amount of goods and both bought and sold on long credit. Soon after moving to Randolph, I established a store in Ellicottville and started a nephew in one at Brad- ford, Pa.
My wife died at Randolph August 21, 1847. Our children were James, Warren, Sarah, Mary and Albert.
On April 25, 1850, I married Lydia Ann Mason at Schenectady, N. Y. She was the daughter of Wheaton and Octavia Belden Mason and was born June 9, 1814, at Pembroke, N. Y. Our only child
was Charles Mason. My wife died at Randolph June 11, 1891.
In 1863 I discontinued merchandising, having es- tablished a banking business in Randolph three years before. I was active in the banking business until 1891. As in my merchandising, my field of opera- tion was not confined to Randolph, where the de- mand for money was limited. My discounts and paper covered quite a large territory. Lumber was being manufactured both above and below on the Allegheny river, with the result that my banking operations extended from the head-waters and the upper tributaries of the Allegheny to Pittsburg and below.
Since 1891 I have held interests in several other banking institutions in western New York and have in a way kept in touch with that business. I have kept my Randolph office open daily when at home, have given my personal attention to my affairs and have retained control of my investments. Since coming to Randolph I have varied my activities somewhat, serving in several official positions locally and in the state assembly and senate, and have al- ways been actively interested in political, educational and religious affairs.
A few years ago I went back to my old home in Vermont and my birthplace in New Hampshire. I found the Hartland house well preserved and it has evidently been a prosperous and well kept place. The house is on the slope above the bottomlands and looks over the Connecticut Valley. This, the Cornish Artists' Colony section, is where the first eight years of my life were spent. I cannot but feel that the beauty of my surroundings during those years has had a marked influence on my life.
The scenery of all that country is picturesque rather than grand, but old Ascutney Mountain that my parents used to talk so much about when we were in our new home in Genesee county looked to me just as it did when a child. Along the road near the house is a row of handsome shade trees. The meadow is not as, large and the river not as wide as my memory had pictured. It is a section untouched by commerce and manufacturing. The farms on that road all look well cared for, the buildings are large and general thrift prevails. We crossed the ferry over to Plainfield, a little village now, as then, called "The Plain." The house where I was born is still standing and is said to be the oldest house in the village. It is a one and a half- story building with a veranda and pillars in front. The village now has a deserted appearance. The main street is broad and is lined with old elms, so much a part of New England beauty. At both places I found people who knew the young people of our family when we lived there. One very old lady told us that it is one of the traditions of her family that the first time she was taken to church when a baby, Captain Dow carried her in his arms from the carriage to the pew. Another remembered of my brother Richard going to the War of 1812 and coming back afterward. We drove back to Windsor through Cornish.
I afterwards spent an afternoon at Bow, N. H. I knew very little of Bow except my recollection of my father's and mother's talk of their early home. Mother once told us of the first time she saw father ; that he came on horseback and hitched his horse
728
NEW YORK.
on the green before their house, and that he was then a tall lad. I went to her father's farm, saw the old house where she passed her childhood, the green, the old meeting house, the center of their social life, where my grandfather, James Buzzell, was a deacon, and all that section that was familiar to father and mother when they were young. Where they lived is a high plateau and extremely rocky and is about two miles back from the Merrimac River.
A matter of no small interest to me was what I learned of the part my grandfather, Captain Richard Dow, took in the public affairs of his time; of his Revolutionary service, of his being selectman of his town and captain of the local militia.
I could clearly see the early surroundings of my father and mother, which added to the traits trans- mitted to them by their ancestors, gave them their sturdy character, which I hope may carry through generations.
As to my personal habits and practices: In my early business life I ate and worked quite irregularly as I was pushing my business in every direction pos- sible. Since soon after discontinuing merchandising and for something over forty years I have been regular in my meals and have not eaten rapidly. Early, my stomach would reject both liquid and solid food if taken too hastily. The habit I formed of deliberation in eating naturally led to modera- tion with little craving for rich sauces. My sense of taste is now and has been delicate and definite. I have always humored it and eaten anything that I desired.
I never cultivated the desire for liquor and have been an abstainer from alcoholic drinks. I at one time enjoyed cigars, but have not used tobacco dur- ing the last seventy-five years.
It has been my custom to rise early and take a sponge bath, sometimes in cold and at others in lepid water, but never in a cold room. After my bath I have read from books and studied until the family breakfast was served. I have learned much from reading and I think the desire to learn is as strong with me now as ever. After breakfast all members of the family united in the morning de- votion before taking up the business of the day. I have never spared myself on account of inclement weather if business demanded. Except for some business or social engagement, I have retired early and have slept well.
I have had little use for medicine or medical at- tendance and do not recall that I ever used physic except possibly during the cholera times in 1832, when I was under the care of a physician and do not know what medicines were given me.
I am five feet, four inches tall. My weight has varied from 130 to 140 pounds and is now about 135 pounds and I am without a pimple, blemish or scar of any kind, which, considering all my long continued activities, is quite remarkable.
I do not recall that I have ever taken any sys- tematic exercise for the sake of exercise, except possibly this winter and spring I have walked a little with that end in view, but I have never taken any of the exercises prescribed by the gymnasiums. In my early business life I did a great deal of horse- back riding, being in the saddle as often as possible, and while the saddling was all done in the transac-
tion of business, I found great pleasure and ex- hileration in it. In later life. however, driving has taken the place of saddling.
I have enjoyed my home, my neighbors and my surroundings and have always been in touch with the spirit of the country. There has seemed in and about Randolph something of the serenity that in my mind has always been associated with my New England home.
Of Mr. Dow's children: 1. James, was born July 1, 1830, died February 15, 1859; mar- ried Lucy O. Stevens, of Rochester. 2. War- ren, of whom further. 3. Sarah, born Janu- ary 22, 1837, died February 6, 1840. 4. Mary, born June 14, 1842; married James G. John- son: children: Mark Dow, married Ora Thorpe: Ruth Dow, married Carl S. Tomp- kins. 5. Albert G. Jr., of whom further. 6. Charles Mason, only child of second wife, of whom further.
Warren, second son of Albert Gallatin, and his first wife, Freelove (Mason) Dow, was born at Silver Creek, Chautauqua county, New York, January 15, 1833. He attended the public schools, and when Randolph Academy was opened he was the first pupil to register. After leaving school he entered his father's hardware store as clerk, remaining in that capacity five years, being then admitted a partner under the firm name of A. G. Dow & Son, which continued until 1863, he alone being its manager after his father began his banking business in 1860. He continued mer- chandizing in Randolph until about 1870, when he established the same business in De- troit, Michigan, and a few years afterward become one of the firm of Dow & Co., bankers of Bradford, Pennsylvania. Since which time he was also first cashier of the Salamanca Na- tional Bank, now the Salamanca Trust Com- pany, and for succeeding years has been in- terested in banking, real estate and farming. He is past master of Randolph Lodge, No. 359, and is a Democrat in politics. He mar- ried, September 1, 1858, Josephine, daughter of John J. and Susan (Thorne) Guernsey. Children: I. Louise, born March 13, 1864; married George E. Allen, of New York City; children: Josephine and Louise. 2. Jennie, born May 1, 1867; married Allen Falconer ; children : Eleanor and Janet.
Albert Gallatin (2), son and fifth child of Albert Gallatin (1) and his first wife, Free- love (Mason) Dow, was born at Silver Creek, Chautauqua county, New York. April 17, 1844. He was educated in the public schools,
729
NEW YORK.
Randolph Academy and Homer Academy. He began business life as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Amos Dow, at East Randolph. In February, 1865, he enlisted in Company B, Sixty-fourth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Jones and Colonel William Glenny. His regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was pro- moted sergeant, April 2, 1865, sergeant-major, June 1, 1865, and later first lieutenant and ad- jutant, but did not muster in. He was hon- orably discharged July 14, 1865. On return- ing from the war he engaged in the dry goods business in Randolphı under firm name of Swan & Dow, for some years, and then lo- cated in Louisville, Kentucky, where he estab- lished and successfully conducted the well- known manufacturing concern, Dow's Wire Works Company. After disposing of his in- terests in Louisville, he undertook farming operations in Randolph, which he has contin- ued extensively. He is president of the board of Water Commissioners of Randolph, presi- dent of the Merchants & Manufacturers Asso- ciation, treasurer of Chamberlain Institute, and member of the Masonic Order, and of D. T. Wiggins Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, and is interested in all that pertains to the welfare and prosperity of his home village. He has recently established and equipped a public library with lecture hall, reading rooms and all that goes to make a well-equipped library, known as the A. G. Dow Free Li- brary. This was built and maintained at his personal expense.
He married, September 16, 1868, Frances A. Sheldon, daughter of George A. and Mar- gery M. (Sample) Sheldon.
Charles Mason Dow, a resident of James- town, Chautauqua county, New York, born at Randolph, August 1, 1854; educated at Randolph Academy and Oberlin College ; pre- pared for the law with Johnson & Crowley, attorneys, of Randolph; became a member of the banking firm of A. G. Dow & Son, Ran- dolph, New York, in 1876. He continued the same association at Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1879, under the firm name of Dow & Co. He discontinued the business in 1884 and de- voted three years to leisure and travel. In 1888 he established the Jamestown National Bank at Jamestown, and was its president un- til the consolidation with the Chautauqua County Trust Co., now the National Chautau- qua County Bank, in 1899, he having been
previously elected president of that institution, and has since continuously held that position. He is director of several financial institutions, among them the American Surety Co. of New York City. In 1903, as a special work, he organized the banking department of the Title Guarantee & Trust Co. of New York City, and was vice-president of that institution for two years. He has varied his activities, and, aside from interests in philanthropic associa- tions, he has been for fourteen years a com- missioner of the State Reservation at Niagara, and for the last eight years president of that commission. He was active in the establish- ment of the park system of Jamestown, was the first president of the Park Board, one of the parks of Jamestown being named in his honor in recognition of his services. He is a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of the Adirondacks ; is a trustee of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, and chairman of the Letchworth Park Committee of that Society. He is director of Letchworth Park and Arboretum, and has inaugurated and established at Letchworth Park, the first timber arboretum in the world, where the tim- ber trees of the known world are gathered together. The function of the arboretum as laid down by the director is as follows :
The principle upon which the Letchworth Park Arboretum is established is that it shall consist of a permanent collection of the various species of the world's timber trees likely to thrive in this northern climate, planted scientifically, to test their value and illustrate the processes of development, so supplying not only knowledge for knowledge's sake, but also knowledge for practical use.
The establishment of this arboretum will lead to results of far-reaching importance to the State of New York, and also to the Na- tional welfare, extending through the cen- turies.
Mr. Dow is a member of the University Club of Jamestown, the Jamestown Club, the National Arts Club of New York City, the Lawyers' Club of New York City, the Cham- ber of Commerce of New York City, and other associations and scientific societies. He has been an extensive traveller, and is a frequent contributor to magazines. He is a member of the First Congregational Church at Randolph.
He married, January 12, 1876, Eleanor, daughter of Elisha L. Jones and Emily (Sib ley) Jones. Children: I. Alberta Gallatin, born April 29, 1877; married Fletcher Good-
730
NEW YORK.
will, October 10, 1907; children: Eleanor, born August 7, 1908; Charlotte, born Sep- tember 6, 1910. 2. Charles Mason Jr., born September 25, 1878, a graduate of Yale Col- lege and Harvard Law School; died Decem- ber 27, 1907. 3. Howard, born August 15, 1880. 4. Paul Livingstone, born March 15, 1884, died September 9, 1884.
NICHOLS Thomas Nichols, immigrant ancestor of this family, was born in England and came to America before 1655, as he was married at Malden that year. He was doubtless a rela- tive of Thomas Nichols, who was a planter in the adjoining town of Cambridge before 1638, when he removed to Hingham. Thomas had a brother George in England, who was executor of the estate of their father. Walter Nichols, a clothier of Coggeshall, county Es- sex, England. James Nichols, perhaps another brother, married, April, 1660, at Malden, Mary, daughter of George Felt. Thomas Nichols removed as early as 1665 to Ames- bury, and had a seat in the meeting house there in 1667; he belonged to the train band in 1680, and died before 1720. He married, in Malden, Massachusetts, in September, 1655, Mary Moulton. Children : Thomas, died young; Josiah, twin of Thomas, died young ; Ebenezer (a daughter), married Benoni Tucker; Thomas, of whom further; Samuel; Rachel; John, married Abigail Sar- gent ; Sarah, married Roger Stevens.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.