USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 48
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Benjamin Taylor ( father ) was a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, spent his childhood, boyhood and a portion of his young man- hood in that vicinity, and upon attaining the age of twenty-five years he removed to Gananoque, Canada, where he assisted for a short period
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of time in the cultivation and operation of a farm which was the prop- erty of his father-in-law, Dr. Rosbeck, after which he devoted his atten- tion to the operation of a ferry. For a number of years he served in the capacity of constable of the village. Benjamin Taylor and his wife, Sarah ( Rosbeck) Taylor, a native of Gananoque, and daughter of Dr. Rosebeck, were the parents of the following named children, all of whom are deceased but Captain Taylor-Sarah Ann, Josiah. J. A., and Ben- jamin. The father of these children died at the age of thirty-six years. His widow then became the wife of Daniel Maxon, and six children were the issue of this union-Mary, wife of Major Reynolds, of Texas ; Martha, deceased: Marion, who resides in Michigan; Marshman, a resident of Indiana; Malcolm, deceased; and Matthew, a resident of Three Rivers, Michigan. The mother of these children, who was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, died at the age of seventy-two years.
Captain Taylor came to the United States at the age of twelve years, acquired his educational advantages in a log school house, and in his nineteenth year engaged as captain of a small boat plying between Kingston and the Bay of Quinte for the purpose of carrying wood and timber. In those early days a part of the duty of the captain was to find a market for his cargo, therefore it required a man of good busi- ness ability and enterprise to fill the position capably. For a number of years he was captain of the "Hornet," but later commanded a larger vessel which carried lumber to Oswego and other points. In 1847 he erected a saw-mill which he conducted until 1861, and one of his orders during this period was for four hundred thousand feet of lumber for the construction of the plank road between Charlotte and Rochester, New York. In 1861 Captain Taylor foresaw, as he believed, a profita- ble investment in what was then known as Hemlock Island, which, although consisting of three hundred and fifty acres, was considered of little value. This he purchased for one hundred and fifty dollars and a shot gun, and at once set about forming a stock company, which he accomplished, and was subsequently elected vice-president of the same. The island was surveyed and carefully laid out into eighteen hundred building lots. One of the energetic spirits of the company was Mr. A. Corbin, and in company with him Captain Taylor erected a number of cottages for summer residence. These cottages were soon occupied, streets were laid out and graded, and many improvements made.
This continued up to 1894 when a company was formed for the
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buikling of a dock to accommodate the steamers which plied upon the river, and this company also began the erection of a hotel 312 feet long. 54 feet wide and three stories high. After some months it was completed, was handsomely furnished, has accommodations for two hundred and fifty guests, and is now known as the Murray Hill Hotel. This island is now one of the attractive summer resorts of the far famous Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. Utilizing his early knowledge of the St. Lawrence river. and believing that, if properly built, a boat might be run through many of the narrow channels which up to this time had been practically closed to the larger craft, Captain Taylor, in 1871, went to Buffalo, New York, and purchased the "R. P. Shoecraft." and, taking into partnership Charles and John Walton, he operated this boat on the St. Lawrence, among the various islands and intricate channels, and carried sight-seers over a route which up to this time had never been traversed by any boat. After using this boat two years they purchased a second one known as the "Needle Gun," both of which they operated on the same course up to 1890, when he was appointed custom house officer at Thousand Island Park, whereupon he sold his boats. The route which Captain Taylor established is still covered by small boats built for the purpose, and is admitted by all who have enjoyed it as the most wonderful trip ever made on any body of water.
In 1861 Captain Taylor enlisted in Company I, Tenth Regiment New York Heavy Artillery, as first ' lieutenant, which position he filled in a creditable manner until 1863. when he resigned. When this regi- ment was ordered to the front two companies were left behind and Company I. in command of Captain Taylor. was ordered to Fort Grebell, on Maryland Heights, in the defense of Washington, where he relieved Captain John T. Standing and the Fifth New York Artillery. All property was turned over to Captain Taylor, and he remained in com- mand of this fort for three months, when the remainder of the regi- ment arrived. The receipts which he received for the property which he turned over at that time are still in his possession and are very highly prized. In 1864 he was instrumental in forming Company B of the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Regiment, in which he enlisted as second lieutenant. This regiment was recruited principally in Jefferson and Lewis counties, and was mustered into service September 8, 1864. It went out nine hundred and eighty strong, lost one hundred and thirty in killed and wounded, one hundred and twenty by disease and
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discharge, and returned with seven hundred and thirty. He was in the battle of South Side Railroad, October 27, 1864; formed part of Warren's command in his raid to Nottoway, December 10, 1864; and was highly complimented by its brigade and division commanders for the gallantry shown in its charge on Fort Mahone; was present at the terrible mine explosion, and was among the first to enter the rebel fortifications at Petersburg, April 2, 1865; finally joined in the pursuit and capture of General Lee, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox. This regiment enlisted at Sacketts Harbor for a period of one year, and was mustered out in accordance with orders from the War Department on June 2, 1865.
After the close of the war Captain Taylor conducted a saw-mill at Alexandria Bay with Messrs. Sisson and Fox until 1872, achieving a large degree of success in this enterprise. He is the owner of a one hundred and eighty acre farm in Orleans county, New York, devoted to general farming purposes, and is also largely interested in real estate throughout the county. He erected a handsome residence in the town of Clayton, in 1878, and is one of the prominent men of the com- munity, and for three years served as excise commissioner. He is a member of the Congregational church, and his political affiliations are with the Republican party. He is an honored member of Alexandria Bay Lodge, No. 196, Free and Accepted Masons; chief templar of the Order of Good Templars of Thousand Island Park, and the com- mander of Albert Thomas Post, No. 410, Grand Army of the Republic, which office he has filled for the past five years. Captain Taylor was one of five representatives to go from Clayton to the national encamp- ment of the Grand Army of the Republic held at Boston, Massachu- setts, in August, 1904, and although eighty-two years of age was the only one of the five to march over the entire route.
In 1850 Captain Taylor married Julia A. Cornwell, of Oswego, a daughter of Tracy and Catherine (Armstrong) Cornwell. Mr. and Mrs. Cornwell were the parents of three children: Julia A., wife of Captain Taylor; Olive, wife of Elisha Garrison, of Seattle, Washing- ton; and George Cornwell. Mrs. Cornwell died at the age of seventy- four years. Two children were born to Captain Taylor and his wife: Mrs. C. C. Pierce, of Fine View Hotel; and Ada J., who became the wife of Dr. Maxson, of Bay City, Michigan, a dentist of note. Mrs. Maxson died, leaving one daughter, Minnie A. Maxson, who has been brought up in the home of her grandparents, Captain and Mrs. Taylor,
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since her infancy. She is a young lady of rare intellectual attainments, possesses a most amiable disposition which has won for her the esteem of a host of friends in the village, and is the sunshine of the household and a great comfort to both Captain Taylor and his wife in their declin- ing years.
SPENCER. The Spencer family traces its ancestry through a long line to England and extends to the ninth generation in this country. The family resided long in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, Eng- land, near the seat of the noble house of Spencer and the name is supposed to have been derived from the fact that its members were stewards or dispensers from the time of William the Conqueror. It has furnished three generations of able and distinguished physicians and surgeons in Jefferson county, beginning with Dr. Gordon P. Spen- cer, a surgeon at Sackets Harbor and Lundy's Lane in the war of 1812, and a pioneer physician in Champion, where he settled immedi- ately after that struggle. The plain virtues of the Puritan fathers are preserved in the lives of present bearers of the name.
(1) Michael Spencer and his wife, Elizabeth, residing in Stot- fold, had four sons and two daughters, namely : Richard, Thomas, John, Gerard, Catherine and a daughter whose name has not been pre- served, though she had descendants. Her daughter Elizabeth married a Terry, a vintner.
(Il) Gerard (or Jarrard), fourth son of Michael and Elizabeth Spencer, was baptized May 20, 1576, at Stotfold, and died before March 17, 1645. He and his wife, Alice, were parents of four sons and a daughter-William. Gerard. Michael, Thomas and Elizabeth. All of the sons except Michael came to this country about 1631.
(III) William, son of Gerard and Alice Spencer, was baptized Oc- tober II, 1601, at Stotfold. He was at Cambridge (then Newtown), Massachusetts, in 1631-2, and was a member of the first general court of the colony, at Boston, and of most subsequent ones until his removal from Massachusetts. He was a lieutenant of the first military company and one of the founders of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany," which is still in existence. Removing to Hartford, with the founders of the Connecticut River Colony, he was one of the committee of three to revise the laws of that body, in 1639, being at that time a representative in the general court. He was also a selectman in that year. He died in 1640. His wedding occurred somewhere about 1633.
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and his wife, Agnes, is supposed to have been a daughter of Rev. Mr. Wakeman. After his death she married William Edwards, another pioneer settler of Hartford. William Spencer's children were: Samuel, Sarah and Elizabeth.
(IV) Samuel, only son of William and Agnes Spencer, died about 1716, surviving some ten years his wife Sarah, who passed away April 24. 1706. Their children were: Samuel, Sarah, Hannah, Elizabethi, Rachel, Mary, Abigail and Agnes.
(V) Samuel, only son and eldest child of Samuel Spencer ( I). lived first at Hartford and later in Colchester, spending his last days in Bolton, all of Connecticut, and died at the last-named place, March 26, 1748, in the eightieth year of his age. He married Hepzibah Church, a daughter of Deacon Edward Church, of Hatfield, Massachusetts, the latter a son of Richard Church, one of the first settlers at Hartford, Connecticut. Mrs. Hepzibah Spencer died September 13, 1745, in her sixty-sixth year, and was buried at Bolton, where the bones of her hus- band also lie. They were the parents of seven sons and two daughters. The first died in his fifth year, and the fourth received the same name- William.
(V1) Job, sixth son and eighth child of Samuel and Hepzibah Spencer, was born in 1722. He lived in Bolton, East Haddam and, last, in Salisbury, Connecticut, dying at the latter place, February 20, 1800 in his seventy-eightli year. He was married, November 13, 1746, to Rebecca Chapman, daughter of Jabez Chapman, Esquire, of East Had- dam. She was born May 16, 1725, and died July 22, 1792, in Salis- bury, aged sixty-seven years. She was the mother of four sons and four daughters.
(VII) Eliphaz, third son and third child of Job and Rebecca Spencer, was born March 23, 1752, in East Haddam, and died June 8, 1833. in Salisbury, aged eighty-one years. He married Statira, daugh- ter of Thomas and Margaret Hall, of East Haddam, in 1777. She was born June 19, 1755, and survived her husband only three months, pass- ing away September 12, 1833, in Salisbury. Their children were: Ach- sah, Gurdon (died in seventh year), Lovina, Gurdon P. and Statira.
Eliphaz Spencer participated in the Revolutionary war and won honor and distinction by his heroic conduct on the field of battle. He was a farmer by occupation, one of the thrifty and enterprising settlers of the New England states. Statira Spencer was a lady of worth. dc-
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riving from family position that influence which, joined with personal acquirement, gave great weight to her character.
(VIII) Dr. Gordon P. Spencer, son of Eliphaz and Statira Spen- cer, was born in Salisbury, Litchfield county Connecticut, April 29, 1789, and in early life received private instructions from Rev. Joseph Cross- man, of Salisbury, and afterward from Ammi L. Robbins, of Norfolk, Connecticut. In 1807 he became a student in Williams College, Will- iamstown, Massachusetts, and was graduated with honors in that in- stitution. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work, he then began studying under the tutelage of Dr. North, of Goshen, Connecticut, while later the famous Dr. Lee, of New London, Connecti- cut was his preceptor, and he obtained his diploma from the Medical Society of New London in 1812. In that year the second war with Great Britain was inaugurated and he offered his services to the home govern- ment, obtaining a commission from General Armstrong, the secretary of war, to enter the army as a surgeon. He was ordered to report to the colonel of the Eleventh Infantry Regiment. He was with his com- mand from that time until after the cessation of hostilities and was an active participant in the campaign in Canada, including the battles of Lundy's Lane and Chippewa and Sacket's Harbor. On the 6th of July, 1814, he wrote to his parents : "Yesterday was fought at Lundy's Lane a battle desperate and sanguinary as any recorded in the annals of the old world. Although I have fully attested my skill in surgery, with al- most miraculous success, stili I find myself wanting in words to portray my feelings while witnessing the horrors of the scene. I dressed the wounds of two British officers, who during the whole time loaded me with imprecation, protesting that death was preferable to capture." Soon after the blowing up of Fort Erie the army went into winter quarters and Dr. Spencer was engaged in active duty in the hospital at Sackets Harbor. He was on his way to his native state after the close of the war when he was called to assist Dr. Durkee, of Champion, in a surgical operation, and there he made arrangements whereby he entered into a partnership with Dr. Durkec, after he had visited his parents and sisters at home. Returning to Champion he practiced with Dr. Durkee for some time. His professional duties called him into Lewis, Oneida, Os- wego and St. Lawrence counties and Canada. He was most devoted to his profession. which gave him ample opportunity to exercise his hu- manitarian and benevolent spirit. He answered the call of the poor as readily as he did that of the rich, even though he knew that no remuner-
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London O. Steen
Hh. P. Spencer
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ation would be received in compensation for his services. His were the experiences of a country physician who in a newly settled district travels miles and miles, undergoing many hardships and sacrifices in order to alleviate human suffering and minister to the physical needs of his fellow- men. So arduous were his duties, as the good physician, that much of his sleep was obtained in the saddle while borne along the roads by his faith- ful horse. On one occasion this trusty animal carried him across the Black river at Great Bend, in the night, walking on the center stringer of the bridge, the planking having been taken up for some repairs. His old accounts show over four thousand names and over thirty thousand dol- lars in uncollected fees. He continued a resident of Champion for forty- two years. Dı. Spencer through all the varied conditions of a country practice enjoyed excellent health until 1854, when he suffered from a fever that prevented his engaging in active professional duties for four months. When he had recovered he felt that the condition of his health would not permit him to again enter upon the work which he had pre- viously endured. In the summer of 1857 he removed to Watertown, where his death occurred March 25, 1859. He had always been deeply interested in the cause of education, was a strong advocate of a public school system and was actively identified with its promotion. For years he hired *teachers for the select school at Champion, guaranteeing to them a certain liberal compensation and obligating himself to supply any deficiency that remained after the payment of the tuition fee of the pu- pils. He was a strong believer in Christianity, and his religious faith was one of the permeating influences in his life.
In 1815 Dr. Spencer married Miss Deborah Mallery, of Rutland, this county, daughter of Deacon Amos Mallery (formerly of Wood- bury, Litchfield county, Connecticut), and sister of the noted jurist, Judge Garrick Mallery, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. and Mrs. Spencer became the parents of four sons. Ambrose, the eldest, spent many years on a sugar plantation in Hawaii, and died in California. Extended mention of Henry G. P., the second, follows this paragraph. Gustavus died while a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Eliphaz rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Civil war, was after- ward United States senator from Alabama, and died in Washington, D. C.
(IX) Henry Gordon Percival Spencer, second son of Dr. Gordon F. and Deborah (MIallery) Spencer, was born August 21, 1821, in Champion, and had the benefit of the best educational facilities of Jef-
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ferson county. Pursuing his medical preparation at the Jefferson Med- ical College, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was graduated in the class of 1846, and in 1849 settled in Watertown, where he continued to reside and pursue his calling until death cut short a career of great use- fulness, in the midst of his greatest popularity and ability. By his skill and industry he gained an extensive practice and won an enviable repui- tation among his associates in the profession. About 1866 he per- formed a remarkable cure in the case of a boy named Stevens, at Low- ville, whose thigh bone had become diseased. After removing eleven inches of the femur, Dr. Spencer succeeded in healing up the wound, with only a slight shortening of the limb. Soon after he again injured the same limb in wrestling. causing two inches more shortening, and then made a perfect recovery. In 1872, with the assistance of his son, Dr. James D. Spencer, Dr. H. G. P. Spencer removed from a woman in Theresa an ovarian tumor weighing eighty-one pounds, and the pa- tient recovered fully. This was the first operation of the kind in north- ern New York, and its success served to increase the fame of father and son as surgeons. Dr. Spencer was ever ready to help the suffering, and was one of the thirty Volunteer Aid Surgeons of the state during the Civil war, to assist the regular army surgeons in caring for the wounded after great battles. His commission in this work was issued by Governor Horatio Seymour, and countersigned by Surgeon General S. V. P. Quackenbush, under date of September 3. 1863. Dr. Spencer was called to the field of Fredericksburg, and spent several days in treating those wounded in that sanguinary engagement.
Dr. H. G. P. Spencer was married, in March, 1848, to Emily An- toinette, daughter of James Decker, of Troy, New York ( see Decker ). Five children were given to Dr. Spencer and wife, three of whom are living. A sketch of James D., the eldest, follows. Ada Antoinette is the widow of Ephraim H. Myers, residing in Watertown. Gordon P., a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, of New York, is en- gaged in practice in Watertown. The father died June 27, 1899, and his wife passed away April 11, 1903.
(X) Dr. James Decker Spencer, son of Dr. H. G. P. Spencer, an eminent gynecologist anl surgeon, of Watertown, was born April 14, at the home of his maternal grandfather, in Denmark, Lewis county. New York. His primary education was supplied by the public schools. and he pursued his studies at the Jefferson County Literary Institute. of Watertown, and Phillips Exeter Academy, of New Hampshire. His
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medical training was obtained at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, from which noted institution he was graduated in 1870. His preceptor was the late Professor James R. Wood, M. D., one of the founders of that college, and, through his interest in his student, Dr. Spencer was privileged to witness or assist in many of the difficult opera- tions performed by Dr. J. Marian Sims, who is regarded as the fatlier of gynecology. Through this training the young surgeon was ready to take a place beside his father in practice at once, and he became the partner of the latter in April, 1870, at Watertown. In that day many instruments now in constant use were unheard of, and the practice in this region compelled the surgeon often to fashion or direct the shaping of instruments for immediate use or adaptation. The first operation in tracheotomy in this county was performed by Dr. James D. Spencer. upon a child almost dead with croup. By the aid of a jeweler of the city he succeeded in adapting an instrument made for another purpose to the use of this patient, who is living and sound to-day. Dr. Spencer was the first to introduce the use of chiloroform in obstetrics in northern New York, and was severely criticised at first by those who subsequently conceded its value and adopted its use. He rapidly built up a large gen- eral practice, and is called upon in many difficult surgical cases, and as a specialist in gynecological work. He acts as the consulting physician of Saint Joachim's and House-of-the-Good-Samaritan Hospitals, and president of the Medical Board of the latter hospital. He is a member of the Medical Society of the state of New York, and was its president in 1896; is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, of the Pan-American Medical Congress, of the American Health Association and a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicinc. The manly in- tegrity, the large heart and kindly sympathy, no less than the thorough preparation and practiced skill of Dr. Spencer, have contributed in mak- ing him the popular and successful practitioner he is.
In 1872 Dr. Spencer was commissioned by the late John A. Dix, governor of the state, as surgeon of the Thirty-fifth Regiment New York State National Guard, with the rank of major, and he acceptably filled that position until the regiment was disbanded. He is affiliated with Watertown Commandery No. 11, Knights Templar, as well as the Ma- sonic bodies subordinate to it, and with Media Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Transportation Club of New York city, and the Lincoln League, of Watertown, an organization lim- ited to Republicans.
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On October 31. 1877, Dr. Spencer was married to Frances E. Phelps, daughter of the late George B. Phelps (see Phelps, X). Four of the five children born to Dr. and Mrs. Spencer are living, namely : George Phelps. Henry Percival, Sally Louise and Garrick Mallery. The family holds membership in the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Spencer established the first kindergarten in Watertown, and is ever trying to secure the bests interests of the young. She organized the Watertown Cadets, composed of thirty boys between the ages of fourteen and eight- een years, supplied all the equipments, furnished and distributed medals for meritorious conduct and, in fact, performed all the labor attached to the society, with the exception of drilling its members. It is now a body of well disciplined boys, and a credit to the city of Watertown.
PHELPS. This is a name which has long been distinguished in the military, commercial, diplomatic and religious annals of this country, and its representatives in Jefferson county have maintained the prestige established by a long line of worthy ancestors.
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