USA > New York > Genealogical and family history of northern New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume II > Part 42
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He married (first ) in 1871, Grace E .. who died in 1873. daughter of James and Mary Hill: ( second), in INSI, Frances E. daughter of Hollis and Hannah Davis, of Ogdensburg. He had one son by the first wife. Walter Gohring, born in Ogdensburg in 1873: now assistant physician at the state hospital at Ogden-burg: married Isabel. daughter of William Hall, of Ogdensburg : children, William Hall. George Ludlow and Walter Gohring. Jr.
Daniel McCann was born in McCANN county Tyrone. Ireland. 1797. died in Canada. 1806. He came to Canada when about twenty-
one year's old and was one of the first set- tlers at Huntington county. Canada. "He cleared a farm and eventually owned nearly three hundred acres of land. He married Sarah Lavery. a native of county Armagh. Children : 1. Peter, died young. 2. Hugh. died in 1909. 3. Bernard J .. see forward. 4. Arthur, lives in Paso Robles, California. 5. Daniel, lives on the homestead in Canada. 6. Mary ( deceased ), married William Haley. 7. Susan ( deceased ), married Pat- rick Mooney. 8. Margaret ( deceased ), mar- ried (first ) Patrick Mooney, aforemen- tioned as the husband of Susan; married ( second ). James O'Neil. 9. Catherine, married Patrick Farley, of Plattsburg; their son, James Farley, has an international reputation as a strike-breaker and horseman. ( II) Bernard James, son of Daniel Mc- Cann, was born in Hinchinbrook, Hunting- ton county, Canada. April 12, 1835. died there July 19. 1909. He received a com- mon school education, and during his youth worked at home on his father's farm. Later he went to work in the railroad shops at Rutland. Vermont : in 1854 he went to Cali- fornia in quest of gold, by way of the Isth- mus of Panama, and remained in the gold country mining and prospecting until 1858. On his return he bought a farm adjoining that of his father and followed farming there the rest of his life. He was a Liberal in politics and served on the town com- cil. He married. July 3. 1860, Catherine McCann, bern at Peru. New York. April 23. 1835. now living at Chateaugay. New York. She was a daughter of Bernard Mc- cann, whose other children were: Mary Ann. Elizabeth. Ellen, Margaret and Sarah McCann. Children of Bernard J. and Catherine McCann: 1. Dr. Arthur H., a dentist of Glens Falls. New York : married Julia Haley : one child. Arthur James Byron. 2. Margaret. lives at Winnipeg, Canada : married Owen Sandiford. of Ellensburg. New York, railroad engineer: son, Lyndon Sandiford. 3. Mary, married Michae! Cross, hardware merchant of St. Chrysos-
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tom, Canada : children : Lyall. Iolene, Lorne and Harold Cross. 4. Susie, married Den- nis Cross, dry goods merchant at Winni- peg : children: Harold (deceased ) and Beryle Cross. 5. Daniel Bernard, mentioned below. 6. Eva, married James Rowan, mer- chant of Winnipeg. 7. Clair. lives in Cha- teangay, New York.
( III) Daniel Bernard, son of Bernard James McCann, was born in Hinchinbrook. Huntington county. Canada. September 3. 1874. He attended the public schools of Glens Falls, the Chateaugay high school. He studied his profession in the Dental School of the University of Maryland. in Baltimore. and was graduated in 1900. He spent a year in practice in the office of his brother at Glens Falls, and in 1901 opened an office at Chateaugay where he has since practiced dentistry with notable success. He is one of the owners and managers of the Chasm Water Power Company, of Chateau- gay. He is a member of Wadhams Coun- cil. No. 460. Knights of Columbus, of Cha- teaugay : of the Independent Order of For- esters and of the Modern Woodmen of America., He is a Democrat in politics. He married. September 7, 1907. Mary Louise Simpson, of Chateaugay, daughter of Rob- ert Simpson, a native of the north of Ire- land. of Scotch ancestry. Her mother. Eliza- beth ( Douglass) Simpson, was also of Scotch ancestry. being a direct descendant of the two noted Scottish clans of Scotland. Douglass and Brewster. John Douglass and Isabell Brewster being Mrs. Simpson's father's and mother's names, grandparents of Daniel Bernard McCann's wife. John Douglass enlisted in the civil war and died a prisoner of war at Andersonville.
TRENHAM John Trenham was born in England. in 1782, and died at Lee, Oneida coun- ty. New York. May 20, 1857. He came to this country in 1825, landing at New York City and locating immediately at Oriskany. Oneida county, where he followed farming
the rest of his life. The monument in com- memoration of the battle of Oriskany stands on his homestead. He married Mary Thompson, born in England, died at Lee. in January. 1857. They had fourteen children. twelve of whom came to this country with their parents and two died young in Eng- land.
( II) Octavius F., son of John Trenham, was born at Wompleton, England, October 31. 1824. He was educated in the common schools. He followed farming for an occu- pation at Lee. New York. He married. May 28 .. 1848. Mary Shepherd, born at Turin, in 1825, daughter of Noble and Theodocia (Smith ) Shepherd, of Turin. Her parents were natives of Westfield, Ma>- sachusetts, and her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Children: I. Noble S .. born May 14. 1850: married Jennie Ashton : resides in South Dakota. 2. John T., men- tioned below. 3. Octavius F., born Febru- ary 14. 1858: married Martha Warren, at Rome, New York. 4. Elizabeth, born April 8. 1861: died September. 1863. 5. Mary, born February 8, 1865 : died April 22, 1860. 6. Anna, born December 24. 1868: died April 19. 1882.
( III ) John T., son of Octavius F. Tren- ham, was born at Lee. April 21. 1853. He was educated in the public schools. He worked on his father's farm during boyhood. and naturally turned to agriculture for a vo- cation in life. In 1874 he came to Leyden. New York. He has an excellent farm, with a fine view of the picturesque Black River valley in the village of Talcottville. He has a handsome herd of Holstein cattle and a number of well-bred horses of the Pagan strain. His is a most comfortable and at- tractive home. In politics he is a Republi- can, and he attend the Methodist church. He married Cora E. Spencer, born October 28. 1854. daughter of David B. and Esther Ann ( Arthur) Spencer. December 24. 1875. Her father was born at Leyden, New York, July 23. 1833: her mother in December. IN37. died March 1. 1890. David B. was
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son of Eleazer and Lena (Coe) Spencer. Eleazer Spencer came of an old Connecticut family, and was born at Higanum. Con- necticut, July 16, 1803. died in May. ISSO: Lena Coe was born June 2. 1804. at Ley- den, and died March 21. 1837. The Tren- hams have in their possession a family Bible of the date 1606. Children : 1. Archie. born October 17, 1876. 2. Frank B. November 15. 1878. 3. Carrie E .. November 1. 1880. 4. Grace B., May 9. 1883. 5. Ethel. May 25, 1888; married. October 29. 1909. Clin- ton H. Seymour. 6. Bonnibel, July 17. 1890. 7. Spencer, June 22, 1892. 8. Dewey R., December 22. 1896.
Gillies is a Scotch surname, MCGILLIS meaning servant, or fol- lower of Jesus. The Mc- Gillis family is of the MacPherson clan. which was established in Invernesshire be- fore the year 1200.
(I) Neil McGillis was born at Portree. Isle of Skye. Scotland. in 1;gy and died in 1858. In 1828 he came from Scotland to Dundee county, Canada, and there he fol- lowed farming the rest of his days. He married Mary McCleod. also a native of Scotland. She died in Canada April 19. 1873. aged seventy-three years. Children : I. Mary, born in Scotland in 1824. 2. John. in Scotland, 1826. 3. Rachel, in Canada, 1828. 4. Neil. 1832. 5. Norman. 1835. 6. Lauchlin, 1836: mentioned below. 7. Isabella, 1838. 8. Mary, 1840. 9. Angus. 1843. 10. Donald. 1845.
( II) Lauchlin, son of Neil McGillis. was born in Dundee county. Canada. May 10. 1836. He was educated in the public schools of Fort Covington and vicinity. In 1859 he came to Watertown. New York. and engaged in the furniture business there until 1876. in the service of George & McGillis. After the death of Henry Rock- well, of Ogdensburg, in 18-6. Mr. McGillis, with the late A. M. Herriman, bought the Rockwell furniture store and conducted it in the stores now occupied by the O'Callaghan
estate. 16 and 18 Lake street. Upon the death of Calvin Gibbs. Mr. MeGillis bought the store located at 30 Ford street. and con- tinted in business there until he died. Mr. Herriman, his partner. retired from the firm. and Mr. MeGillis was in business alone in the later years of his life. He was active. . capable and enterprising in business and de- veloped one of the largest furniture stores of northern New York and an extensive undertaking business. He was a prominent member of the First Methodist church of Ogdensburg. in which he served on the of- ficial board and held other offices of trust. He was a member of Acacian Lodge. No. 705. F. M., of Ogdensburg, of which he was treasurer for twenty-five years : of the Og- densburg Chapter. No. 63. Royal Arch Ma- sons : of the Ogdensburg Commandery. No. 54. Knights Templar; of Media Temple. Mystic Shrine; and of Ogdensburg Lodge. No. 98. Odd Fellows. He died from pneu- monia, having had a stroke of paralysis a year previous, at his home in Ogdensburg. September 23. 1906. He was an earnest, upright Christian citizen, kindly and char- itable, helping the poor and unfortunate, giving freely of his substance in worthy causes and joining with public spirit in every movement to better the city in which he lived. He was held in the highest re- spect and commanded the fullest confidence of his townsmen.
He married. August 13. 1861. Almira Mi- randa, born 1842. daughter of James and Catherine ( Smith ) Peters, of Ernesttown. Canada. Children: 1. Catherine Isabelle, married Robert F. Baker. undertaker. in the employ of the estate of Mr. McGillis in the furniture and undertaking business at Og- densburg. 2. Neil, died in infancy. 3 James A., born in February. 186 ;: men- tioned below. 4. John. 5. Norman Peter -. 6. Mary, lives with her mother in Ogden -- burg. 7. Joseph Leslie, associated with his brother in their father's furniture busine ... 8. Henry Lauchlin, civil engineer in Seattle. Washington. 9. Alice J .. nurse, practic:"
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in New York City. 10. Charles Stewart, as- sociated with his brothers in the furniture store. II. Flora Louise.
(III) James A., son of Lauchlin McGil- lis, was born in Watertown, New York, February II, 1867. He came to Ogdens- burg with his parents in 1876 and was educated there in the public schools. He became a clerk in his father's store and has continued in the business in various posi- tions of responsibility to the present time. He and his brother, Charles S., have con- ducted the business as executors of their father's will since his death. In addition to the undertaking and furniture business of the estate he conducts a farm and has im- portant real estate investments in the city. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Business Men's Association ; of Acacian Lodge, No. 705. Free and Ac- cepted Masons: of Ogdensburg Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, No. 63: of Maple City Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, No. 71. He is a charter member of Eliza White Lodge, No. 590. Odd Fellows. of Ogdens- burg, and member of Ogdensburg Encamp- ment. No. 32, and Canton Amaranth, No. 12, Patriarchs Militant. He is also a char- ter member of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, No. 772, of Ogdensburg. He is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters, of the National Union, Or- der of Maccabees and of the national and international union of Maccabees. He is a member of St. John's Protestant Episcopal church.
Mr. MeGillis married. in 1885. Harriet Judson. daughter of Daniel and Harriet ( Bean ) Judson, of Ogdensburg. Mrs. Mc- Gillis is active in the work of St. John's church, of which she is a member. and has served as president of St. Agnes' Society. She is an active member of the patriotic society. Daughters of the American Revo- lution, and is treasurer of the local chapter of that order. They have had one child. Harriet Marjorie, who died at the age of ten years.
The Mooneys are of ancient MOONEY Irish origin and the name is derived from the Celtic word Maoin, signifying wealth. Their an- cestry can be traced backward to Enghan (Owen) son of Feig. of the ninety-third generation on the O'Gorman pedigree. It is said that an ancient Irish monarch gave to his nephew. O'Maoinagh, ( meaning Mooney's descendant) who was a great- grandson of Enghan. the name of Feara Maoinaigh, anglicized Fermanagh. The chief seat of the family in Ireland was at Ballaghmooney, in Kings county. The Beek- mantown Mooneys, mentioned below, are de- scended from Colonel Hercules Mooney. who was an officer of distinction in the French and Indian war, and the struggle for national independence. He was an edu- cated Irish Protestant who, prior to his emi- gration, is said to have been employed as a tutor in the family of a nobleman. Arriving at Dover. New Hampshire. in 1733. he immediately made himself useful as a school- master, and the greater part of his life was devoted to that honorable calling. The rec- ords of Dover state that he was engaged to teach school in that part of the town which is now Somersworth, and he resided within the limits of the old "Cocheco parish." near "Barbadoes." a locality near the present boundary line near Dover and Madbury. for the setting off of which as a separate parish he was one of the petitioners in 1743.
Removing to Durham in 1750-51 he taught there until 1756, and in the following year began his military career as a captain in Colonel Meserve's regiment, which he ac- companied to Crown Point. A part of this regiment, including Captain Mooney's com- pany, was ordered to reinforce Colonel Monroe at Fort William Henry, and when that stronghold, owing to lack of ammuni- tion, was forced to capitulate, the French General Montcalm extended to its brave de- fenders the honors of war, the terms stipu- lating that they should retain their private baggage, march under escort of the French
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to Fort Edward and refrain from serving against the French for a period of eigh- teen months. The Indians, enraged at the terms granted the garrison by Montcalmn, fell upon them as they marched out unarmed. and the New Hampshire troops, who were in the rear, suffered most severely, eighty out of the two hundred being killed or cap- tured. Captain Mooney and his son. Ben- jamin. lost all their private baggage. and were afterward partially recompensed by the provincial government. In April. 1758. Cap- tain Mooney recruited forty men from Dur- ham and vicinity, and in 1761 petitioned for an "allowance for care of getting home his son Jonathan," who while serving at Crown Point had contracted a fever and was re- moved to Albany, where he had smallpox.
In 1762 Captain Mooney was chosen an assessor in Durham, and in 1765 was elected a selectman. The same year he signed a petition for the division of the town into two parishes, which resulted in the incor- poration of the parish of Lee in 1766, and as the major portion of his farm was lo- cated in the new parish he continued to reside there for nearly twenty years, teach- ing school and taking an active part in pub- lic affairs. For many years he served as a selectman and representative to the legisla- ture, and was a member of the fifth provin- cial congress at Exeter in 1775. The break- ing-out of the revolutionary war found him an enthusiastic patriot ready for the strife. and on March 14. 1776, he was commis- sioned major in Colonel David Gilman's regiment, which was stationed at Newcastle or vicinity. September 20. 1776, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the con- tinental battalion then being raised in New Hampshire. This regiment was under Pierce Long. and stationed at Newcastle until ordered by General Ward to march to Ticonderoga, New York, in February. 1777. Upon the approach of the British army un- der General Burgoyne, Ticonderoga was evacuated July 6, 1777, and the New Hamp- shire troops were ordered to help cover the
retreat, during which a few were killed and about one hundred men wounded. During this retreat Lieutenant-Colonel Hercules Mooney lost his horse. most of his clothes. and all his camp equipage to a very con- siderable value, and was allowed partial compensation. From May 23. 1778, to Au- gust 12. 1778, he was a member of the com- mittee of safety, and again from December 23. 1778. to March 10, 1779. June 23. 1779, he was appointed colonel of a regiment or- dered for continental service in Rhode Island. The regiment was raised in June, and remained in service until the month of January. 1780.
Upon his retirement from the army he returned to the farm and schoolroom. For nine years, from 1776, he was a justice of the peace for Strafford county, and remor- ing to Holderness in 1785 he subsequently served in the same capacity for Gratten county. Having been one of the original grantees of Holderness, he took an active part in opening it to settlers, and during its infancy devoted much of his time to its civic affairs, serving as a selectman and represent- ing the district in the state legislature for the years 1786-87-89-90. A recent biographer states that "Colonel Mooney was one of those men whom circumstances develop into leaders almost instantly when the exigencies of the case demand them, and that his rec- ord, together with his sons as schoolmasters, officers in the Seven Years' and revolution- ary wars, and in civil positions was a re- markable one." His death occurred in Holderness in April, 1800. Like the mythi- cal hero whose name he bore he was a tower of strength, standing forth pre-eminently in the history of his time, and considering the fact that his mental faculties were fully in keeping with his superior physical capacity. his record will always be a source of price to the people of the Granite state.
Colonel Mooney's first wife, whom he married prior to 1738, was Elizabeth Ex- ans, born January 19. 1716. daughter of Benjamin and Mary Evans, of Dover. Her
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father was born February 2, 1687, and was months later, commissioned first lieutenant killed by the Indians September 15, 1725. of Company H. Ninety-sixth regiment. Colonel Mooney's second wife was Mary. daughter of Lieutenant Joseph Jones. His children were: Benjamin, Elizabeth, Jona- than, John, Susanna. The two last named were probably of his second marriage, and there is some evidence that he also had a son Obadiah. Early in the last century Stephen, Obadiah and John Mooney, who were brothers, come from New Hampshire to Clinton county, New York, and pur- chased farms in Beekmantown. Stephen later removed to Champlain township. They were undoubtedly descendants, and probably grandsons of Colonel Hercules Mooney. New York Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was quartered in Washington, District of Columbia, until April 1. 1862, when it was ordered to join General Mcclellan's army at Fortress Monrce, and he immediately entered into active service in the field, par- ticipating in the siege of Yorktown, the bat- tle of Williamsburgh and several other en- gagements. On May 20, 1862, his health failed and, receiving an honorable dis- charge on account of physical disability the following September 4. he returned to his home in Beekmantown. Recovering his health during the coming winter he re- enlisted in March, 1863, and was commis- sioned captain of Company A, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, which was assigned to the first battalion and ordered to the Army of the Potomac. After participating in the battle of Fredericksburg he was detailed to the second battalion at Alexandria, Virginia, and in the fall of 1863 was ordered to Cen- terville, same state. for the purpose of pre- venting further depredations by Colonel Mosby's Rangers. In January, 1864. the second battalion under the command of Cap- tain Mooney, was detailed to report to Gen- eral R. O. Tyler at Fairfax Court House, and on April 16 the captain started for Washington, thirty miles away, accompanied by an orderly. William Carney. He had pro- ceeded but a short distance when he was captured by the Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry and placed in the custody of a guard named Davis. At the first favorable opportunity he made a determined effort to escape by knocking his guard down, and would have succeeded but for the timely arrival of other Confederate soldiers. In a fit of anger Davis swore vengeance and after telling his pris- oner to say his prayers he aimed his musket directly at his heart and pulled the trigger. The weapon missed fire, however, and the captain was saved from further harm through the kindly interference of the other guards. He was in Libby prisen, Richmond.
( I) Obadiah Mooney, born in New Hampshire about the year 1795, is said to have come from the vicinity of Concord, and that his father was a judge, but no record of him can be found in that vicinity. Obadiah Mooney went first to South Hero Islet, Vermont, and thence to Beekman- town, settling on a farm at Point Au-Roche. He became a prosperous tiller of the soil and resided there until his death, which occurred May 8. 1870, at the age of seventy- five years. In his later years he acted with the Republican party in politics, and his citizenship was of a type well worthy of emulation by future generations. He mar- ried Nancy Conner, and she lived to be eiglity-six years old. Children: Alson, Benjamin F., Charles, Electa, Nathan H .. Eleanor. With the exception of the eldest, all were born in Beekmantown.
(II) Captain Nathan H .. third son and fifth child of Obadiah and Nancy ( Conner ) Mooney, was born in Beekmantown, May 28. 1839. He was educated in the public schools and at the Plattsburgh . Academy, and when seventeen years old engaged in busi- ness as a general produce dealer. The seces- sion of the slave states, which precipitated the civil war in the spring of 1861. aroused his patriotism. and enrolling himself as a private among the defenders of the Union on October 16 of that year, he was. three
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and at Danville, Macon, Savannah, Charles- ton and Charlotte, altogether about eleven months. While a prisoner in the last-named place he was, on September 18, 1864. under fire of the guns of the Union army, which hurled one hundred and eighty shells into the city. In October he was removed to Co- lumbia, South Carolina, and November 3, he, with one other prisoner escaped, but found it advisable to return. On the 28thi of the same month he availed himself of another opportunity for regaining his free- dom, traveling through the enemy's coun- try twenty-seven nights and hiding days, during which time he was provided with food by the colored people. After traveling three hundred and fifty miles, and when within twenty miles of the Federal lines, he was recaptured, sent back to Columbia, and in the latter part of January. 1865. was again taken to Charlotte. But to remain quietly in the hands of the enemy was not in keeping with his energetic character, and while at Charlotte he made his escape for the third time, but was captured by the aid of bloodhounds. He was finally paroled, sent to Wilmington. North Carolina, thence to Annapolis, Maryland, and in August, 1865. was honorably discharged from the service with three months' additional pay. Captain Mooney returned to the peaceful seclusion of his country home in Beekman- town, where he has ever since resided. and for the past thirty-five years has been en- gaged in the produce business. In 1881 he was elected sheriff of Clinton county and retained that office for the full term of three years. Politically, he is a Republican. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and active in the interests of that great order, and also of the Patrons of Husbandry.
He married. October 28. 1868. Elizabeth E., born in Chazy, New York, daughter of John and Lavina ( Aldrich ) Dann. Child. W. Grant Mooney, born October 27, 1869; married Annie Marsh: children: Elizabeth and Marsh.
MORSE In early New England records there are many of the name of Moss, Morss and Morse, with many variations of spelling, the most proini- nent being William, Anthony, Joseph, Sam- uel and John, who emigrated early in the seventeenth century, and their descendants. The name Moss was early found among the Jews, the Celtic Irish and the Saxon na- tions of the Continent, and the name De Mors was known in Germany as early as the vear 1200. Hugo de Mors, who lived in England in 1358. and was honored by George III. with a diplomatic commission, was probably descended from the German family. The name appeared in the records of Suffolk county, England, in 1589. about the same time in Essex county, and also be- came common in Norfolk county. Of those who emigrated to New England in early days none were more highly honored by their fellows than John Moss, who is be- lieved to have been a member of a family of high standing in England, on account of his high attainments and evident culture. The family has included many educators, ministers and men of the learned profes- sions, and the name has always stood for good citizenship.
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