USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 16
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Mr. Moffatt married Rachael, daughter of Samuel and Effie (Car- son) Knapp. The former was born in 1800, in Mayfield. but spent the
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greater part of his life in Brownville. He and his wife ( who was born in ISO1, were the parents of the following children: Solomon, John, Benjamin, David, Jacob, Hiram, Rachael, who was born in 1825, in Mayfield, and became the wife of David Moffatt, as mentioned above ; Sarah, Hannah. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp, who were both respected mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, are now deceased.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Moffatt : Frances, who married W. Timmerman, of Dexter, and is now deceased ; Jay, who is also deceased; Wells, who resides in Watertown; Ida, John and Austin, all of whom are deceased; Ella, who became the wife of John Jackson; Willis, who lives in Black River; Kate, who married Charles Swartoutt; Mary, who is deceased; and Edwin, mentioned at length hereinafter. Mr. Moffatt, the father, a man respected by all, died in 1872, while yet in the prime of life. His widow, who is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is still living at an advanced age. She resides with her daughter in Dexter.
(VII) Edwin Moffatt, son of David and Rachael (Knapp) Moffatt, was born November 13, 1847, in Brownville, where he received his edu- cation. He assisted his father on the farm until the death of the latter, when the entire management of the estate passed into the hands of Mr. Moffatt, who completed the purchase of the farm, buying out the interest of the other heirs, thus becoming sole owner of the property. Under his energetic and highly competent management the farm, which is the largest in the town of Brownville, was rendered extremely productive and profitable, having attached to it a dairy of forty-six cows, by means of which the owner engaged extensively in the business of butter making. He was appointed a member of the Produce Exchange, and for five years acted as salesman of Pillar Point Union factory, selling, each year, about one thousand two hundred boxes of cheese of seventy pounds each. In 1901 Mr. Moffatt resigned the management of the farm into the hands of his sons, by whom its deservedly high reputation has been most ably maintained, the broad acres being thoroughly cultivated, and the dairy having increased to the number of fifty cows. Mr. Moffatt is a member of Chaumont Grange. He takes an active interest in the affairs of the township, and his neighbors have frequently testified in a pleasing man- ner to the confidence which they repose in him. For two years he served as assessor, and in 1901 was elected supervisor. In 1903 he was re- elected to serve until 1995. In politics he adheres to the doctrines and principles of the Republicans. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Dexter, and a constant attendant upon public worship.
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church of Dexter, and a constant attendant upon public worship.
Mr. Moffatt married, in 1871, Alice G. Collins, and the following children were born to them: 1. Horace, who died at the age of eighteen months. 2. Harry, who was one year old at the time of his death. 3. Sarah, who married Charles Adams and is the mother of two chil- dren, Niles and Irene. Mr. and Mrs. Adams reside on one of Mr. Moffatt's farms. 4. Susy, who resides at home. 5. Daniel, who also lives on one of the farms owned by Mr. Moffatt. Since his retirement from the active labors of the farm Mr. Moffatt has made his home in Limerick. Mrs. Moffatt died March 10, 1904, at her home there. She was held in the highest esteem by all who knew her and her friends were legion. She had been ill but one week with typhoid pneumonia.
Mrs. Moffatt was a daughter of Thomas and Martha ( Hamblin) Collins, the former a farmer of Orleans. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Alice G., who was born in 1850, in Orleans, and became the wife of Edwin Moffatt, as mentioned above; Addie, who married Rodolphus Hoover; Charles, who is a resident of Clayton ; and Elizabeth, who lives with her mother at Stone Mills. In addition to these children who are living there was another who is now deceased. Mr. Collins, the father, died in 1901, in Brownville, where his whole life had been passed, and where he left behind him the name of an upright man and a good citizen.
Thomas Collins was a son of John B. Collins, an early resident of what is now Orleans, and an active and prominent citizen, who was supervisor of the town in 1838-9. John B. was a son of William Collins, who settled in Orleans in 1820, or earlier (see Collins, IV).
RENSSELAER ALLSTON OAKES. (By J. A. Ellis.) In the death of R. A. Oakes, which occurred at his home in Watertown, April 23, 1904, Jefferson county lost one of its most learned, and exemplary men, and many lost a most esteemed personal friend. To all the reading public of this and other states his name was well known, as that of a scholar and searcher after the truths of history and science. He was born of true New England stock, and his daily life was an exposition of the traits and virtues which have made the native "Yankee" pre- eminent in accomplishment and development. The ancestral line is one to be proud of, and is here given :
(I) Nathaniel Oak, the immigrant ancestor. was, traditionally. from Wales, but of English stock. He was born about 1645, and came
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to America about 1660, being the only survivor of those on an English vessel wrecked on the Massachusetts coast, on which lie sailed as cabin boy. As a minor, he was bound out to earn his living, and was em- ployed in gathering pine knots. While thus engaged he killed a wildcat, and was given the bounty paid by the commonwealth, with which he bought a sheep or two, the foundation of his fortune. These facts are found in his own account, handed down to his grandchildren, and written in the family Bible. From 1686 to his death, February 17, 1721, he appears in various town and county records of land trans- actions. He served in garrison and took part in a fight with Indians, in defense of the borders. He acquired considerable land through his first wife, and was in fairly prosperous circumstances. His farm is the locally famous "Peter Whitney Place," in Northiboro, Massachu- setts, which town is a part of what was originally Marlborough, and subsequently Westboro. The place has been occupied for the last forty years and more by Samuel McClure. The original house was burned, and the present one built in 1780. His body was buried in an old burying ground near by, now abandoned. His children, as they grew up, married and settled on farms in the same town (then Westboro), and only one ever left the county. He was married December 14, 1686, to Mehetabel Radiat, daughter of John and Ann Radiat, born 1646, and died 1702, leaving no children. Mr. Oak married second, May 20, 1703, Mary Hollaway, daughter of Adam and Hannah (Hayward) Hollaway, and widow of Jacob Farrar, who was killed in Philip's war, 1675. She was born 1682, and married (third) Thomas Rice, 1722. She died after 1733. Nathaniel and Mary Oak were the parents of eight children. Nathaniel, the first, is mentioned further below. William was burned to death, with five others, at Shrewsbury, in 1723. Hannah married Gershom May, had eight children, and died in 1807, in her one-hundredth year. Mary married Dan Maynard, had seven children and died at the age of ninety-five years, in 1805. Ann was (probably the first) wife of Dan Maynard, and had eight children. John, who died in 1752, had five children and twelve hundred descendants. All in this line, and a few in others, retain the original spelling of the name, "Oak." John served with Wolfe at Quebec, and was the only one of the family who left Massachusetts. He settled in Skowhegan, Maine, and wrote his name, "Oaks," in later life. He was four times married, and had sixteen children who grew up. His descendants number about five thousand. George served in both colonial and Revolutionary wars,
10
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and died after 1777. He had two wives, eight children, and seven hund- red of his descendants have been registered.
( 11) Nathaniel, eldest child of Nathaniel and Mary Oak, was born June 7. 1704, in Marlborough, and died in 1783. He lived on the paternal farm until 1745. and all but one of his children were born there. In that year he bought a farm on Long Hill, in the town of Bol- ton, where he spent the rest of his life. He held some minor offices, such as highway surveyor and tithing man. According to his will, made in 1781, he and his wife "being aged and poor." the income of the youngest son's estate was left to the widow for their support. Both died before 1795. when the estate was distributed. He was first mar- ried February 20, 1727. to Tabitha, daughter of Edward and Lydia ( Fairbanks) Rice. She was born 1706, and died before 1736, and was the mother of two children. Mr. Oak married ( second ) June 7, 1736, Keziah Maynard, daughter of David and Hannah Maynard. She was born 1703, and died about 1797, being the mother of four children. The children were: William. Seth. Tabitha. Nathaniel, Beriah and Mind- well.
(III) Seth, second son and child of Nathaniel and Tabitha Oak, was born April 8, 1733, and died .April 24, 1810 (possibly, 1814). Cap- tain Seth Oak, as he was known-though he never held a commission- served in the colonial war, 1755-60, and settled in Winchendon, Massa- chusetts, in 1764. At the Lexington Alarm, 1775, he served as sergeant, and at Winter Hill as quartermaster-sergeant. In 1763 he was one of a company to which Lunenburg. Vermont, was chartered, but (by tradition) sold out his interest before arrival there, for a glass of grog.
In 1779, he went with two others to Athens. Vermont, and built a log cabin, to which they moved their families in the spring of 1780. He and two sons were original grantees of the town, and his daughter Polly was the first child born in Athens. The farm was occupied in 1900 by Daniel Wilcox. Seth spent his last days at the home of his daughter, in Townshend, Vermont. His descendants number about eight hundred, and in some lines the original name. Oak. is retained. He was married May 25. 1759. to Elizabeth Shevally, of Stow, Massachu- setts, and they were the parents of seven children, namely: Calvin. Nathaniel, Saloma, John, Thomas. Ebenezer and Polly.
(1V) Nathaniel, second son and child of Seth and Elizabeth Oak, was born 1762, in Templeton or Harvard, Massachusetts, and died March 25, 1830, in Athens, where he was a farmer. Like his father.
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he served in the Revolutionary war, probably enlisting several times, certainly on July 13, 1780, being eighteen years old, and five feet seven inches in height. He was one of the proprietors of Athens. According to one "History of Vermont," "Nathaniel Oak wanted a certain bewitch- ing beauty ; Amaziah Rockham wanted the b. b. too." In a fight between them, Oak got a sound whipping, but-he also got the girl. He was married about 1787 to Susannah Evans, who died October 12, 1842, aged seventy-two years. Their children were: Sally, Clarissa, Willard, Ebenezer, Sarah, Clarissa (2), Simeon, Nathaniel, William and Lucius.
(V) Simeon, third son and seventh child of Nathaniel and Su- sannahı Oakes, was born September 27, 1803, in Athens, Vermont, and died October 1, 1862, on his farm in South Rutland, this county. He was a very active man of business, as farmer, hotel-owner, merchant, miller, and manufacturer. Soon after attaining his majority he moved to Mayville, New York, whence he removed to this county in the late fall of 1836. Here he purchased land, largely upon credit, and in a few years became prosperous, being the largest business man of his section. He opened a store and conducted a large ashery and a grist mill, was an extensive dealer in cattle for many years, and at the time of his death was considered a rich man for his time. He was a lifelong Democrat, but refused to be a candidate for office. His wife was a member of the Methodist church, and he was a liberal contributor in support of and faithful attendant upon the preaching of the gospel, but never united with any religious organization.
He was married (first), March 4, 1823, to Florilla Davis, who was the mother of his children. She was born January 20, 1806, in Ver- mont, and died May 12, 1846, in South Rutland. Mr. Oakes married (second) Rosetta Crosby, February 22, 1847. The children are noted as follows: Oscar Simeon was a merchant at South Rutland, where he died in 1875. Jane Maria died, unmarried, in 1845. Harriet Minerva married Allen Waldo, was the mother of two children, and died in 1866 (see Waldo). Nathaniel Davis died in San Francisco in 1894. (VI) Rensselaer Allston Oakes, fifth and youngest child of Simeon and Florilla Oakes, was born May 17, 1835, in Mayville, New York, and was eighteen months old when his parents moved to Rutland. He grew up in the village known as Tylerville (South Rutland postoffice), where his primary education was received. He was subsequently a student at Black River Institute, a Watertown institution, and finished at Cazenovia Seminary. Always a student, after leaving the seminary
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lie began a course of study at home, with a view to entering the min- istry of the Universalist church. His early marriage turned his atten- tion to the need of an immediate and remunerative occupation, and he entered upon a business career in 1856, opening a grocery store on the north side of "The Square," in Watertown. Subsequently, he was em- ployed by H. P. Cooke, in the dry-goods business and, for a year, covering parts of 1865 and 1866, was editor of the Jefferson County Union. He was again an editor in 1873-4, upon the Watertown Post and. a little later, was city editor of the Times. He was engaged in the dry-goods trade at Middletown, New York, about three years, and conducted a crockery store in Watertown in partnership with the late Leonard Murray, under the title of Murray & Oakes, for eighteen months, and from 1872 to 1876 he continued the business alone, when he retired from active business and gave his attention wholly to research. During the last forty-nine years of his life he resided at No. 64 State street. For eighteen years he was manager of the Watertown Book Club, and was a charter member of the Jefferson County Historical Society, of which he was corresponding secretary and custodian during the last ten years of his life. His enthusiasm and ability were recognized as the staying elements which kept up the organization, and his death was a severe blow to the society's life and usefulness. He was a contributor to the "Independent," the "Century," and other publications, and published a volume of poems in 1859.
The late Orlo B. Rhodes, editor of the Watertown Standard, was : lifelong friend of Mr. Oakes, and his tribute to the character of his friend, written the day following his death, is given as the closing para- graph of this notice, summing up fairly the work of his lifetime.
R. A. Oakes was married September IT, 1855, to Miss Myra Mooar, who was born December 28, 1834, in Hollis, New Hampshire, a daugh- ter of Jason and Martha (Crombie) Mooar, the former a native of Hollis and the latter of Rindge, New Hampshire. Mrs. Oakes died August 13, 1887, leaving an only child, who is mentioned in a later paragraph.
The Watertown Standard, of April 25. 1904, said of Mr. Oakes : "He was a man of extensive learning, an omnivorous reader and a deep student of metaphysics and psychology. Among his papers are em- bodied the result of much thought and scholarly appreciation of many abstruse mental problems, which have never been published. Coming here when Watertown was but a village, and having been all his life
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identified with the best business and intellectual interests of the city, he possessed an extensive acquaintance, and kept firm hold upon the esteem of all who knew him. His reputation as a student and finely educated thinker brought to his home many of the ministers and public men of the city, who found in him a wise counselor and an able critic. A lifelong Democrat, while never a politician, he exercised considerable influence in the councils of his party, and his opinion carried much weight. He was very quiet and unassuming, an interesting talker, positive of con- viction and able to express himself forcibly and with elegance. Had he been more self-assertive, he would have been far more widely known, but he enjoyed books too fully to care to leave his quiet study for the hurry and clamor of public life."
"Mr. Oakes was quick to appreciate favors and to return them in the matter of books, and the mutual exchange of such favors has been with us one of the delights of our ten years' of editorial work in this city. Mr. Oakes was a charming writer, and he was as fond of flowers as he was of books. His delight was in his garden and among his books. For him the painful riddle of existence is solved, which still stares us in the face. May the earth rest lightly upon him of a restless mind. who should naturally have been spared another decade of life and service in his own peculiar way."
(VII) Robert Paul Oakes, only child of R. A. and Myra Oakes, was born March 9, 1857, in Watertown, in whose public schools he pursued his earlier studies, finishing at St. John's school, Manlius, New York. Upon leaving school his business career was begun in assisting in his father's store. After a short period in Boston he entered the dry-goods establishment in which his father was formerly engaged. now conducted by O. B. Cadwell. After spending fourteen years in that store, he engaged with A. Bushnell & Company, where he has been occupied during the last eight years, being now in charge of the silk department. He was married March 21, 1888, to Miss Cora Campbell, who was born March 14, 1868, at Central Square, New York, daughter of Lorenzo and Ida (Breed) Campbell, both natives of that place. The only child of Robert P. and Cora Oakes is Harold Robert, born May 13, 1889, now a student of the Watertown high school.
JOHN N. CARLISLE. a prominent attorney of Watertown and secretary of the Democratic state committee, is a representative of one of the oldest families of Jefferson county, and descended from early
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residents ot this country. There can be no doubt that the name came from Scotland and has been borne by leaders in that country as well as in this.
il) The first of whom record is now found, among the progen- itors of the subject of this sketch, was David Carlisle, whose wife was Abigail Stowell, residing in Freehold, Monmouth county, New Jersey.
(II) William, fourth son of David and Abigail (Stowell) Car- lisle, was born September 29, 1767, in Freehold, and married ( March 23. 1789) Elizabeth Anderson, of Reading, Somerset county, same state. They were the parents of two children.
( III) Dr. William Carlisle, son of William and Elizabeth (An -. (lerson) Carlisle, was born October 20, 1793, at South Amboy, New Jersey, and was married December 31, 1818, to Lydia Schuler. Soon after his marriage he came to this state, and finally settled at Three Mile Bay in 1830. His active years were passed there in the practice of his profession, and when old age overtook him he removed to Elgin, Illinois, where he resided with his son, James Carlisle, until his death, March 24. 1868. While he was a resident of Jefferson county he was at one time its representative in the state legislature, and served as supervisor of the town of Lyme during the years 1842, 1853 and 1854. He left six children.
(IV) Jolin C. Carlisle, son of Dr. William and Lydia (Schuler) Carlisle, was born February 24, 1820, at Charleston, New Jersey, and was married to Pamelia Waffle March 31, 1842. He was a farmer by occupation, and died June 28, 1866, at Preble, Cortland county, this state. His children were named as follows: William S., Victoria Ade- laide, Ann F. (married Perry S. Haynes of Preble, New York), Lewis F., and Sarah Ella (now Mrs. Wayne W. Burdick of Watertown), and James . 1.
(V) William S. Carlisle, eldest child of John C. and Pamelia (Waffle) Carlisle, was born July 16, 1843, in the town of Lyme, this county, and now resides at Dayton, Ohio. He commenced the study of law in Senator Starbuck's law office at the city of Watertown, but abandoned his books to enlist in the service of his country. He served as a private in Company M, Tenth New York Heavy Artillery, until the close of the Civil war, after which he turned his attention to me- chanical pursuits. He is an expert mechanic in the service of the Davis Sewing Machine Company, which began business in Watertown, and removed with it to Dayton. He was supervisor of the first ward of
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this city during the year 1887, was chief of the fire department in 1874-5, and Democratic candidate for mayor of the city in 1884. In the same year he was vice grand of Watertown City Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married September 20, 1865, to Catherine Rose Burdick, daughter of Hon. Nelson Burdick (see Burdick). She died September 24, 1885. A brief account of her children follows : John N. is the subject of later paragraphs. Wayne B., the second, was born June 6, 1868, in Watertown, and died at Miles City, Montana,
whither he had gone in search of health, November 10, 1897. During the administrations of Governors Flower and Black, he was a clerk in the executive department at Albany. Lewis W., born March 12, 1878, in Watertown, was educated in the public schools of Dayton, Ohio. While a law student at Watertown he was a member of the Thirty-ninth Separate Company, and enlisted at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, as a member of Company M, Seventy-first New York Volunteers. He was wounded at the battle of Santiago, Cuba, July 5, 1898. and died as a result, at St. Peter's Hospital, Brooklyn, July 29, 1902, and was buried with military honors in Brookside Cemetery, Watertown. Previous to his injury he was war correspondent of the Watertown Daily Times. Floyd L., born March 5, 1881, was educated at Dayton, Ohio, graduated in 1903 at Cornell University, where he was president of the sophomore and senior classes and leader of Cornell debating teams in 1902-3, and is now studying law at Watertown, New York.
(VI) John N. Carlisle was born August 24, 1866, in Preble, New York, and has resided in Watertown since he was two years of age. He was educated in the city public schools, graduating from the high school in 1884. He then took up the study of law in the office of Hon. Henry Purcell, and was admitted an attorney at law February 15, 1889. For some years he was a partner of his former preceptor, under the style of Purcell and Carlisle, and is now a member of the well known firm of Brown, Carlisle & Hugo, with a handsome suite of offices on Stone street, and enjoying a large and most lucrative practice.
Mr. Carlisle has taken an active part in political movements since attaining his majority, and has been the recipient of honors in his home town, though his party has usually been in the minority. He was city attorney in 1892 and 1893. From 1888 to 1890 he was secretary of the Jefferson county Democratic committee, and its chairman from 1891 to 1896. Since the last named year he has been a member of the state central committee, and its secretary since 1898. He was made chairman
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of the Democratic state executive committee in 1902, and had charge of the Coler campaign, and was a delegate to the national convention at St. Louis in 1904. He was president of the Jeffersonian Club, a political organization, in 1892-3, and is a member of the Union Club, the leading social organization of the city. Mr. Carlisle is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and was elected president of the Watertown High School Alumni in 1904. On January 17, 1902, he was elected captain of Company C, Fourth Battalion (Thirty-ninth Separate Com- pany), National Guard of New York.
Mr. Carlisle was married January 17, 1894, to Miss Carrie C. Brown, a daughter of Edmond Brown, of Pulaski, New York, and has one child. Catherine Caroline.
Of genial and social nature, Mr. Carlisle makes and retains friends, and is popular with his associates everywhere. He is one of the youngest men entrusted with the direction of large political movements in this country, and has always been found faithful and competent, either as an attorney or political leader.
BURDICK. This name is found among the pioneers of Jefferson county, and is traced through New England ancestors, who settled early in Rhode Island and were conspicuous in the civil and religious life of the colony.
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