USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 39
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
Lewis Newell Thomas, youngest son of Ira A. and Lucy Thomas, attended the Cazenovia Academy, and after his graduation turned his attention to farming, purchasing from the heirs the old farm, to which he added from time to time until he was the owner of four hundred and twenty-five acres. For a number of years he served as captain of the militia : was a Whig and Republican in politics, taking an active interest in the affairs of his party ; and a zealous and efficient member of the Methodist Episcopal church. On January 1, 1838, he married Abbie Searles, daughter of James and Abbie (Thurston) Searles, the former
377
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
named having been a resident of Ellisburgh and Lorraine, New York, coming thence from Providence, Rhode Island. Two sons were the issue of this marriage, as follows: Sanford S., a sketch of whom follows in this work; and William H. S., mentioned at length in the following paragraph. On August 24, 1863, Lewis N. Thomas was killed by the wind blowing a barn door to the cross-bar, striking him with force enough to cause his death.
William Henry Seward Thomas, youngest son of Lewis N. and Abbie Thomas, was born March 10, 1840. He received a liberal edu- cation at Union Academy, and his active career has been devoted to agricultural pursuits which were pursued on the old homestead, of which he is the owner. He is an active and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a Republican in politics, and a member of Union Grange at Belleville. He married (first) October 6, 1869, Annie J. Searles, daughter of the Rev. John M. and Philomela A. (Stoddard) Searles, whose death occurred October 5. 1876. Philomela Stoddard was a daughter of Rev. Eliakin and Lois A. (Matthews) Stoddard. Mr. Thomas married (second) February 26, 1880, Mary A. Gregg, who was born July 24. 1858, and she bore him the following named children: Lewis N., born February 1, 1881, employed on the home farm; Ira A., born June 30, 1882. a florist, residing at Syracuse ; Cynthia J., born November 2. 1885, a graduate of Union Academy, now fitting for a teacher; Harrison M., born June 23. 1888, a student at Adams; William S., born January 22. 1892: and Whieldon Newton, born July 19, 1894. Mrs. Thomas, the mother of these children, is a member of the Episcopal church.
The Searles family trace its ancestry to (1) Edward Searles, born in Warwick, England. about the year 1616, who came to Boston, Massa- chusetts, in 1634, and died about the year 1679. He married the widow, Joan White, who was the sister of Edmund Caverly. Their son Ed- ward (2), born in 1646, married Ann Lippet, February 21, 1671, and they were the parents of four sons, namely : Benjamin, who married Hannah Holden: Richard, who married Widow Burton; Solomon, who lived in Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1723; and James, a resident of Con- necticut. Solomon Searles (3). mentioned above, was the father of Nathaniel Searles (4) of Rhode Island, who married Elizabeth H. Little, and their son, Constant Searles (5), was killed at the battle of Wyoming in the revolutionary war by the Indians, in the year 1778. In 1748 Constant Searles married Hannah . and they were the
375
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
parents of James Searles (6), aforementioned as the father of Abbie Searles. James Searles was born August 4, 1769, in Stonington, Con- necticut. He was a tailor by trade, and continued in that avocation during his active life. He died April 30. 1847, in Ellisburgh. His children were: Mary Ann, Lucia, Fannie, John M., Priscilla, James H., William T., Betsey, Moses T., Bernard D., and Abbie.
SANFORD SUMMERVILLE THOMAS. AAmong the practical and progressive agriculturists of Adams, Jefferson county, which town received its name in honor of John Adams, the second president and the first vice-president of the United States, who was born in Braintree (now Quincy). Massachusetts, October 19, 1735. may be mentioned the name of Sanford S. Thomas, a son of Lewis N. and Abby (Searles) Thomas, who was born on the old homestead of the Thomas Settlement ( see W. H. S. Thomas for genealogy), October 1. 1838.
He obtained a thorough and practical education in the common schools of his native town, at Union Academy, Belleville, which he attended one term, and a select school at Adams Center, under Horace Otis as principal, which he attended two terms. He began his active career as teacher in the district school, in which capacity he served for several terms, and in 1866 he purchased the Stickney farm, consisting of fifty-six acres, which he cultivated and improved, and erected thereon a fine, commodious house on the bank of the north branch of Sandy Creek. His general farm and dairy products are of a fine quality, and therefore find a ready sale in the nearby markets, and the proceeds therefrom provide his family with the necessaries and many of the comforts of life, besides providing a competence for his declining years. At the breaking out of the civil war, when his country required the services of her loyal and faithful sons, he enlisted in a New York regiment, but was rejected on account of a physical disability. Mr. Thomas has ever been a stanch adherent of Republican principles, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, one of our martyred presidents. He is a member of Rising Sun Masonic Lodge, No. 234, and of Adams Chapter, Royal Arch Masons.
In 1860 Mr. Thomas married Phila N. Spencer, who was born in Depauville, New York. March 8. 1843, and their children are as follows : Jennie E., born September 30, 1862, died August 12, 1895. Newel S., born September 20, 1864. is an engineer on the West Shore Railroad; he married Hattie E. Robbins, and resides in Syracuse, New York.
379
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
Bernard S., born January 22, 1866, is now engaged in farming at Adams Center; he married (first) Cora B. Turner, and (second) Mabel Green. Fannie died at the age of ten years : George C., born February 7, 1868, resides at home ; he married May Wiley, January II, 1894; Frank, born July 26, 1873, is a farmer, residing in Adams, and was united in mar- riage to Nellie M. Archer ; James C., born April 3, 1875, married Nellie Reed, and resides in Little Falls, New York. Ruth, born October 22, 188I, was educated at Union Academy, is now engaged in teaching, and resides at home with her parents.
WILLARD DURLIN MCKINSTRY, who since 1886 has been connected with the "Watertown Daily Times," of which he is now editor and president of the Brockway Company, publishers, was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, October 1, 1850. His father, Willard Mckinstry, was for more than half a century connected with the "Fredonia Censor," of which he became proprietor and editor, and thus from his early boyhood days W. D. Mckinstry was more or less actively connected with newspaper work.
He began his education in the public schools of his native town, continued his studies in the Fredonia Academy, and then entered the State Normal School. He learned the printing business in the office of the "Fredonia Censor," of which his father was the publisher and editor, and embarked upon an independent journalistic venture in 1872, when he purchased the "Dunkirk Journal," of Dunkirk, New York, continuing its publication until 1884.
Mr. Mckinstry came to Watertown in 1886, and soon afterward accepted a position as news editor on the "Watertown Times." Later he was made assistant editor under Beman Brockway, and acted in that capacity until the death of Mr. Brockway, to whose position he succeeded, and has since served in that connection. The "Watertown Times" is the oldest paper of the city. Under the name of the "Daily News" the first issue of the paper was given to the public in January, 1861. On the 20th of January, 1862, this was sold to the owners of the "Daily Reformer," and on the 4th of January, 1870, the name of the paper was changed to the "Watertown Times." It was then a small paper, having a limited circulation, but a fair advertising patron- age. This paper developed into the "Watertown Daily Times," now one of the leading daily journals of this part of the state. Mr. Mc- Kinstry has exerted considerable influence in local political circles, both
380
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
through the columns of the "Times," and through individual effort in other directions, and he was appointed as the Republican member of the civil service commission by Governor Flower, and also served for one year under Governor Morton's administration.
WILLIAMS. This name, of undoubted Welsh origin. has been represented from the earliest beginnings of New England, as well as from the pioneer settlement of Jefferson county. Some of the most prominent divines, jurists, soldiers, and other noted men of the country have borne the name, and Jefferson county has no cause to blush for its representatives in the present and past generations.
(I) Robert Williams was born in England about the vear 1593, perhaps in Norwich, county of Norfolk, and was married before com- ing to America to Elizabeth Stratton. He disembarked at Boston. with his wife and several children, in the year 1637. Before the close of that year he had joined the neighboring settlement at Roxbury, and this early his name and that of his wife are found upon the records of Roxbury church, to which the Rev. John Eliot then minis- tered. He was there made a freeman, May 2d, of the following year.
That he was a stanch and typical Puritan, whose scruples forbade his conformity with the tenets of the Established Church in England during the intolerant reign of the first Charles, and encouraged his departure thence for Massachusetts Bay, where he could the more freely exercise his individual rights of conscience. may readily be believed from the single glimpse had of him as signer of the petition to the governor of the colony, in 1672, in censure of Harvard College. He was one of the five townsmen or selectmen in 1647 and 1653. and was interested in the early founding of schools in Roxbury. Ellis speaks of him as "one of the most influential men in the town affairs," and Farmer calls him "the common ancestor of the divines, civilians and warriors of the name who have honored the country of their birth." His wife Eliza- beth died July 28, 1674, aged eighty years. He married. November 3, 1675, for his second wife, Margaret, widow of John Fearing, and upon her death he married. according to tradition, a Martha Strong, who died December 22. 1707, aged ninety-two. His last will and testament is dated November 26, 1685. and was probated September 29, 1693. He died at Roxbury. September 1. 1693. aged one hundred years.
(II) Captain Isaac Williams, born September 1, 1638, baptized in September. 1638, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, married, in 1660, for
381
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
his first wife, Martha Park, born March 2, baptized March 13, 1643, the third daughter of Deacon William and Martha ( Holgrave) Park, of Roxbury. In 1661 he settled in Cambridge village, now Newton, Massachusetts, and was there made freeman in 1685. He and his wife were among the earliest members of the first church instituted at Cam- bridge village, and he was afterward deacon therein. He served as captain of a military company and was selectman, 1691-93, and deputy to the general court, 1692, 1695, 1697, 1699, 1701 and 1705. In 1706 he was chosen with two others on the first school committee. His wife died October 24, about the year 1676, aged thirty-four. He married, November 13, 1677, for his second wife, Judith Cooper, of Taunton, Massachusetts, who died in 1724, aged seventy-six. He died February II, 1707, aged sixty-eight, and was buried under arms by the Company of Foot, at Newton, February 14, 1707. His last will and testament bears date of January 31, 1704, but was set aside by the court for undue influence, July 27, 1708, on petition of disaffected heirs.
(III) Isaac Williams, born December II, 1661, baptized March II. 1662, in Cambridge village, Massachusetts, married, about 1685, for his first wife. Elizabeth Hyde, born September 4, 1659, the eldest daughter of Jonathan and Mary (French) Hyde, of Cambridge village. They were both early members of the church in Cambridge village, in which settlement he continued to reside until within a few years of his decease. He was captain of the military company at Newton, and select- man for that town, 1734. His wife Elizabeth died June 26, 1699, aged thirty-nine years. He married, in 1709, for his second wife, Mary, widow of Nathaniel Hammond, Jr., and, upon her death, a third wife, Hannah. He soon afterward removed to Roxbury, where he died June 27, 1739, aged seventy-seven. His last will and testament is dated December 12, 1738.
(IV) Ebenezer Williams was horn October 16, 1691, in Newton, whence he early removed to settle in Lebanon, Connecticut, soon after its organization as a town. The deed for his first purchase of land is dated November 17, 1718. He was married there on July 27, 1721, to Mary, eldest daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Veach, of Lebanon. His name is found on the records of Lebanon (Goshen) church as a " member thereof, April 2, 1732, and upon the records of the town as a lieutenant and selectman, 1736 and 1738. His last will and testament is dated March 5. 1740, and he died August 6, 1740, aged forty-eight years. His widow died prior to March 25, 1782, at which date letters
382
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
of administration were granted upon her estate to Jonathan, the eldest SOI].
(\') Veach Williams, born April 23, 1727, baptized April 29. 1727. in Lebanon, was married October 12, 1753, to Lucy Walsworth, born December 3, 1732, fourth daughter of William and Mary (Avery) Walsworth, of Groton, Connecticut. He resided in Lebanon from birth until death, and the names of both himself and wife appear on the records of the Third (or Goshen) church as admitted to membership November 24. 1776. He was captain of a company of Connecticut colonial militia, and for the fourteen consecutive years from 1765 to 1778, inclusive, was townsman or selectman, together with Jonathan Trumbull, governor of the colony, William Williams, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hon. Joshua West, Captain Seth Wright, and one or two others, who constituted the remaining members of that board during the greater part of this period. Here, at the home of the governor of the colony and of the speaker of the colonial house of representatives, at a time when all was busy preparation in anticipation of an eventful war, it may be presumed those called into the service of the town were its most patriotic and representative citizens. He was deputy to the general court of Connecticut in 1785. His death occurred September II, 1794, at the age of seventy-seven. His wife Lucy died August 10, 1795. aged sixty-two years.
(VI) David, son of Veach and Lucy (Walsworth) Williams, married Lucy, third daughter of William and Amy Walsworth, and went to Rome, New York, whence he removed to Adams, this county, in 1800.
(VII) Lucy. daughter of David and Lucy (Walsworth) Will- iams, married Samuel Fox, and settled in Adams in 1800. Samuel Fox was a son of John and Abigail (Packer) Fox. of Groton, Con- necticut (see Fox).
The Fox family, of Adams. in this county, are probably traced to a more ancient and noble ancestry than any others, except it be some of their kin. The line begins about A. D. 800.
(I) Egbert, seventeenth and last king of the West Saxons and first King of England, married Lady Redburga.
(II) Ethelwulf, king of England, married Lady Osburga, daugh- ter of Oslae.
(III) Alfred, crowned king of England 871. married Lady Elswitha, daughter of a Mercian earl.
3×3
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
(IV) Edward, the elder, king of England, married Edgnia, daugh- ter of Earl Sigelna.
(V) Edward. king of England, married Lady Elfgiva.
(VI) Edgar the Peaceable, king of England, married Elfrida, daughter of Oedgar, duke of Devonshire.
(VII) Etheldred, called the Unready, king of England, married Elfleda, daughter of Earldorman Thored.
(VIII) Edmund, the Ironside, king of England, married Lady Algitha.
(IX) Edward, the Exile, married Agatha, daughter of Henry, emperor of Germany.
(X) Margared, daughter of Edward, the Exile, married Malcolm III, king of Scotland.
(XI) Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III, king of Scotland, mar- ried Henry I, king of England.
(XII) Matilda or Mand, daughter of Henry I. married Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou.
(XIII) Henry II, king of England, married Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of William, duke of Aquitaine.
(XIV) John, king of England. married Isabella, daughter of Aymer, count of Angoulene.
(XV) Henry III, king of England, married Eleanor, daughter of Raymond, count of Provence.
(XVI) Edward, king of England, married Eleanor, daughter of Ferdinand III. king of Castile.
(XVII) Edward II, king of England. married Isabella, daughter of Philip IV, king of France.
(XVIII) Edward III, king of England, married Philippa, daugh- ter of William, count of Hainault.
(XIX) Lionel of Antwerp, duke of Clarence, married Lady Eliza- beth de Burgh, daughter of William, earl of Ulster.
(XX) Lady Philippa Plantagenet married Edmund Mortimer. earl of March.
(XXI) Roger Mortimer, fourth earl of March, married Lady Eleanora Holland, daughter of Thomas, earl of Kent.
(XXII) Lady Anne Mortimer married Richard Plantagenet, earl of Cambridge, son of Edmund, duke of York.
(XXIII) Richard, duke of York, and nephew of the duke of
384
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
York, who was killed at Agincourt, married Lady Cicely Nevill, daugh- ter of Ralph, earl of Westmoreland.
(XXII) George, duke of Clarence, K. G., brother of Edward IV, married Lady Isabel, daughter and co-heir of Richard, earl of Salisbury and Warwick.
(XXV) Margaret, countess of Salisbury, married Sir Richard Pole, K. G.
(XXVI) Henry, Baron Montague, married Lady Jane, daughter of George. Lord Abergevenny.
(XXVII) Lady Catherine Pole married Francis Hastings, sec- ond earl of Huntingdon.
(XXVIII) Lady Catherine, daughter of Earl Huntingdon, mar- ried Henry Clinton, second earl of Lincoln.
(XXIX) Lomas, third earl of Lincoln, married Lady Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of H. Knevitt, of Carlton.
(XXY) Lady Susan, daughter of Earl Lincoln, married General John Humfrey, of Lynn, Massachusetts Bay colony.
(XXXI) Miss Ann Humfrey married William Palmer, gentle- man, of Ardfinnan, Province of Munster, Ireland.
(XXXII) Miss Susannah Palmer married Mr. Samuel Avery, of New London, Connecticut.
(XXXIII) Miss Mary Avery married Mr. William Walsworth. of Groton, Connecticut.
(XXXIV) Miss Lucy Walsworth married Mr. Veach Williams, of Lebanon. She was the fourth daughter of William and Mary (Avery) Walsworth, and was born December 3, 1732, in Groton, which was a part of New London until 1704. Her marriage occurred October 12. 1753. her husband being the second son of Lieutenant Ebe- nezer and Mary (Veach) Williams, of Lebanon. Mrs. Lucy (Wals- worth) Williams died August 10. 1795, aged sixty-two years. Her husband died September 11, 1804, aged seventy-seven years.
(XXXIV) William, third son of William and Mary Avery Wals- worth, married Amy (no surname found), born September, 1727, died May 3. 1810, and had eight children.
(XXXV) Lucy, third daughter of William and Amy Walsworth, married David Williams. of Groton, Connecticut, and moved to Rome, New York (see Williams, VI).
(XXXVI) Lucy, eldest daughter of David and Lucy (Wals- worth) Williams, married Samuel Fox, a pioneer settler of Adams.
385
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
(XXXVII) Edward Williams Fox, third son of Samuel and Lucy ( Williams) Fox, married Caroline Frances Stevens.
(XXXVIII) Frances Caroline, second daughter of Edward W. and Caroline F. (Stevens) Fox, married Azariah Sawyer (see Sawyer, VIII).
(VI) William Williams, son of Veach and Lucy ( Walsworth) Williams, was born August 2, 1762, in Lebanon, Connecticut, and was married May 20, 1784, to Lydia, daughter of Samuel Williams, of Lebanon. She died June 22, 1790, at the age of twenty-six years, and he was married in 1793 to Lydia, daughter of Joseph Loomis, of Leb- anon. Mr. Williams was a farmer in Lebanon, which town he repre- sented in the state legislature in 1813. He died November 5, 1818, and was survived exactly forty-three years by his widow, who passed away November 5, 1861, in Lebanon, aged ninety years.
(VII) Ebenezer Williams, son of William Williams, was born in 1807, in Lebanon, and died November 1, 1857, in Pierrepont Manor, aged fifty years. He was early a resident of North Adams, this county, and moved thence to Pierrepont Manor, where he was many years en- gaged in building operations, being a carpenter and cabinet maker by trade. He married Elizabeth Earle, daughter of James Earle (see Earle. VI), who long survived him. She was a woman of bright intel- lect and fine character, who reared her children well. Going with some of them to LeSeur, Minnesota, she there married Orr Tousley, and died about 1880. Following is a brief account of her children: Eliza- beth married Clinton Smith, and subsequently Daniel Bannatyne, of LeSeur, and is but recently deceased. A woman of fine mind and con- siderable culture, she was an ornament to society. Preston L., the sec- ond, receives farther mention below. Electa married David Imhoff, of LeSeur. Earle died in LeSeur about 1875. Brayton was a resident of Ackley, Iowa, where he died about 1885. The sixth died in childhood.
(VIII) Preston Lamont Williams, second child and eldest son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Earle) Williams, was born January I, 1835, in the town of Ellisburg, near Pierrepont Manor, and there grew to manhood. His education was supplied by the public school, and he began his business career at the early age of fifteen years. His father was the owner of a vacant store in the village of Pierrepont Manor, and the son began a mercantile business in it, which continued about ten years. In the meantime he began dealing in farm produce, and on clos- ing the store he purchased a canal boat which he commanded and oper-
25
386
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
ated on the Erie canal some three years. Returning to his native place he continued to deal in produce, making occasional excursions into Canada and buying up produce throughout northern New York, which he marketed in New York city and New England points. This con- tinued thirty years, at the end of which period he moved to New York city and engaged in the produce commission trade at the location now occupied by his son. Frank Williams. Subsequently he spent four years at Falls City, Nebraska, dealing in produce. Returning to New York he became interested with his son in the hay trade, and traveled much through the country in the interest of the business. For the last three years he has been retired from active life and resides with a daughter at Baldwin, Nassau county, New York. After a long life of keen activ- ity he is now enjoying the fruits of his labor, thrift and sagacity.
For several years Mr. Williams was clerk of the Union Church at Pierrepont Manor, and has been for many years a member of Zion (Protestant Episcopal) Church of that village. While taking no part in practical politics he has always been a strong supporter of Republi- ean principles, and has been respected as an upright citizen. He was married October 24. 1857. to Miss Pamelia Howell, who was born De- cember 27. 1834. at South Rutland. a daughter of William and Mary Howell. the former a native of England and the latter of Jefferson county. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Williams included nine children, of whom record follows: Nettie L., the eklest, is a resident of St. Paul. Minnesota. Edward Preston is mentioned at length hereinafter, as is also Fred M., the third. Catherine, wife of Ralph Calkins, died at Pierrepont Manor in 1898. Frank is the subject of later paragraphs. Mary is the wife of Charles Paine Cook, of Baldwin, New York. George Washington is a hay dealer in Brooklyn, New York. Nellie resides at Mannsville and Hettie B. at Ogdensburg. The mother of these chil- dren died in April. 1899. at Pierrepont Manor.
( 1X) Edward Preston Williams, eldest in the family of Preston L. and Pamelia ( Howell) Williams, was born June 3. 1800, at Pierre- pont Manor. New York, where he continued to reside until eighteen years old. He attended the local school until seventeen years of age, and then began assisting his father in the produce business. In 1879 he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he learned telegraphy and railroad bookkeeping, and was subsequently employed successively by the Minneapolis & St. Louis, the Chicago, St. Paul. Minneapolis &
387
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
Omaha and the Northern Pacific railroad companies as station agent and telegraph operator.
In 1883 Mr. Williams moved to Albany, New York, where he has since made his home and where he has been and is interested in some of the leading business enterprises of the city. Ever since his arrival there he has engaged in the produce commission trade, and has been active in organizing large undertakings. He constructed the plant of the Capitol City Cold Storage Company, which he sold to the present owners. He was one of the organizers of the Consumers' Ice Com- pany, which is still conducting a successful business, and is also a char- ter member of the United States Building, Loan and Mutual Accom- modating Association. Mr. Williams originated the Schenectady & Albany Electric railroad company, and organized the Empire State Cold Storage and Warehouse Company, which has a large plant under construction. He is the organizer and present treasurer of the Salmon River Lumber Company, which holds a large tract of valuable timber land in Orwell, New York.
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.