USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 49
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(1) The first of whom authentic record appears was James Phelps, born about 1520, at Tewksbury, Gloucestershire, England. On May 10, 1588, commission was issued to his relict, Joan Phelps, to administer his goods and chattels. His children were baptized in Tewksbury Abbey church, as follows: William, August, 1560; Thomas, August 10, 1563: George, September 5, 1566; Alice. December 24, 1572; Ed- ward, May 10, 1578; Kenelm. October 16. 1580; Richard, October 16, 1583; Robert. July 18. 1584.
(II) William, first child of James and Joan Phelps, born at Tewksbury, lived and died there. September 28, 1611, Dorothy Phelps, his widow, was commissioned to administer his estate. He probably died in that year, and his widow passed away in 1613. Their children were baptized in Tewksbury Abbey church as follows: Mary, Sep- tember 4. 1587; Mary (2), April 23. 1588; Thomas, June 24, 1590; Dorothy, February 29. 1595: William. August 19. 1599; James, July 14. 1601: Elizabeth, May 9. 1603: George, 1606.
(III) William Phelps, fifth child and second son of William and Dorothy Phelps, born, probably, in 1599, was a member of the sub- stantial party which sailed from Plymouth, England. March 20, 1630. on the ship Mary and John, intending to settle on the Charles river, in Massachusetts. In that year not less than seventeen vessels arrived in New England, bringing from 1,600 to 1.700 immigrants. The company
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which came on the Mary and John was organized into a church on the day before sailing from Plymouth. under the leadership of Revs. John Maverick and John Warham. Through a misunderstanding with their skipper, Captain Squeb, they were set ashore at Nantasket (now Hull), Massachusetts, an act for which Squeb was afterward made to pay damages. The company included several gentlemen past middle age, or with good estate, and among these was William Phelps. His brother George was among the younger men, who were depended on for their strength and ability. Three military men were also included. to guard against dangers from the Indians. On account of their loca- tion in the wilderness, remote from other settlers, there was consid- erable suffering the following winter, through scarcity of food. This was partially relieved by shipments from Holand and Ireland, and by purchase of corn from the red men.
William Phelps was accompanied by his wife and six children, and the company included one hundred and forty souls. This party settled at Dorchester, being founders of that town, which claims the honor of being first to organize a town government in the Massachu- setts colony. William Phelps was made a freeman in October, 1630, and took a prominent part in public affairs. In November, 1630, he was a member of the first jury employed in a trial in New England. In September of the following year he was chosen constable, an office of much importance under the system then in vogue. In 1634 he was delegate to the general court, and again in 1635. He was frequently a member of committees to settle boundaries between towns. In the last-named year his wife died, and he joined the expedition in the fall, under Rev. Warham, to make a settlement at Windsor, Connecticut. This party included sixty from Dorchester, and two weeks were con- sumed in the journey. with women, children and cattle, through the unbroken wilderness. Mr. Phelps was a member of the commission of seven persons appointed to govern the new colony, which was sup- posed to be under Massachusetts jurisdiction. This plantation was called Dorchester until 1637. when it was named Windsor. The first court was held by the commission April 26, 1636. Mr. Phelps presided at the meeting. May 1, 1637, when war was declared against the Pe- quots. In 1639 Windsor joined with Hartford and Wethersfield in forming a government for the Connecticut colony, and William Phelps was one of the five magistrates constituting the upper house. with legis- lative, judicial and executive powers, from 1639 to 1643. 1645 to 1649.
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and 1656 to 1662. The government was changed in 1665. He was deputy in 1651, and was frequently on committees to locate boundaries and attend to many public concerns. In 1675 he was assessed in the second "grade," those having one horse and two oxen. The land rec- ords show that he bought and sold much land, and according to Stiles' History of Windsor, "He was one of the most prominent and highly- respected men in the colony-an excellent, pious and upright man in his public and private life, and was truly a pillar in Church and State." For his second wife he married Mary Dover, an English lady who came on the same vessel and was a member of the Dorchester and Wind- sor churches. She bore him two children. He died in Windsor, July 14, 1672, and his widow passed away November 27. 1675. Mr. Phelps' children, by the first wife, were: Richard, born at Tewksbury, Eng- land, went to Barbadoes and no further record of him appears; William, born in England about 1620; Sarah, born about 1623; Samuel, 1625; Nathaniel, 1627; Joseph, 1629. Children of second wife-Mary Dover : Timothy, horn September 1, 1637. and Mary, March 2, 1644, in Wind- sor.
(IV) Timothy, youngest son and seventh child of William Phelps, was his father's successor on the homestead in Windsor, pur- chased from the Indians. He was made a freeman May 2, 1664, and in May, 1690, was chosen lieutenant in the "Trained Band," and pro- moted to captain six years later. In 1695 he went to the "Great Falls" in Massachusetts, against the Indians, having then the rank of sergeant in the colonial troops. The general court commissioned him lieutenant in 1707, under Colonel William Whiting, in Captain Matthew Allyn's Company, in Queen Anne's war. He died in 1719. March 19, 1661. he married Mary, daughter of Edward Griswold, of Killingworth, Con- necticut. She was born in Windsor and baptized October 13, 1644. She died some years before her husband. Their children were: Tim- othy, born November 1, 1663; Joseph, September 27, 1666; William, February 4, 1669: Cornelius, April 26, 1671 ; Mary, August 14, 1673; Samuel, January 29, 1675: Nathaniel, January 7, 1677; Sarah, De- cember 27, 1679: Abigail. June 3, 1682; Hannah, August 2, 1684; Anne, October 2, 1686; Martha, November 12, 1688.
(V) William, third son and child of Timothy and Mary Phelps, settled in Windsor, where he died in 1733. He married (first) Abigail Mudge, who died April 24, 1705: (second) Ruth Barber, April 18, 1706. She was born July 24, 1683, in Windsor. daughter of Samuel
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and Mary (Coggens) Barber, and died August 2, 1747. His children were: William, born March 16, 1702; Ebenezer, April 2, 1705 : Caleb, January II, -1708 : Jacob, January 18, 1711; Ruth, January 23, 1713.
(VI) Ebenezer, second son of William and Abigail Phelps, was a farmer in Windsor, and earned his title of ensign in the French war in 1775. He died in Windsor, September 22d of that year. December 7. 1727. he married Mindwell Eggleston, born in Windsor November 24, 1703, and died there. She was a daughter of Thomas and Grace (Moore) Eggleston, the former a son of James and grandson of Begat Eggleston, the last-named of the Dorchester company of 1630. Eight children were born to Ebenezer and Mindwell Phelps, as follows: Mind- well, December 3. 1728 (died 1736); Abigail, December 29, 1731; Ebenezer. November 18. 1735 (died young) ; Agnes, July 25, 1738; Ebenezer, April 30, 1741; Sarah. July 3, 1744: Lucy, September 21, 1747.
(VII) Lieutenant Ebenezer, son of Ensign Ebenezer Phelps, was a farmer in Simsbury, Connecticut, where his children were born, and spent his last years with his children in Westfield. Massachusetts, where he died March 27, 1806. His gravestone is in the Westfield old bury- ing ground. He served in the Revolution, and was a lieutenant in the second company of Wadsworth's brigade, under Captain Ellis. He was married May 12, 1760, to Susannah Leavitt, and they had nine children, namely: Agnes, born October 5, 1761 ; Susannah, August 22, 1762; Ebenezer. July 27, 1864; Oliver, April 20, 1765; Eber, twin of Oliver; Lois. 1767, died in infancy: Bishop, baptized May 30. 1767 (probably died young) ; Horace, March 4, 1769: Ruth, 1772.
(VIII) Horace, youngest son and eighth child of Lieutenant Ebenezer and Susannah Phelps, lived in Suffield and Granby. Connec- ticut, West Springfield. Westfield. Springfield and Easthampton, Mas- sachusetts, dying in the latter place February 12, 1848. He was mar- ried May 2, 1792, to Mary Rice, who was born January 30, 1777, and died June 1, 1846, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their children num- bered eleven, as follows: Horace. born November 20. 1793, in Suffield ; Lester, August 11, 1795, in Granby ; Mary, February 20, 1798; Nancy, March 17, 1801: Eliza, August 27, 1804; Willis, February 25, 1806; Jane, October 6, 1808; Horace, February 29, 1812, in Springfield, died 1816; Almira, July 27, 1814, in Westfield; Horace, November 18, 1817, in Springfield; George Washington, October 27, 1820, in West Spring- field.
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(IX) Lester, second son and child of Horace and Mary Phelps. was born August 11. 1795, in Granby, Connecticut. His wife, Keziah Clough, was born March 14, 1798, in Ludlow, Massachusetts, and was a sister of Colonel Joel B. Clough, well known in connection with railroad enterprises in Mississippi and Tennessee, and also with the great trunk lines leading to the Pacific coast.
Early in life Lester Phelps settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in 1837 moved with his family to Mount Morris, New York, where hie built a very handsome residence. For forty years he was prominent as an active business man, engaging in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, and also published the village newspaper, under the editorial charge of his son. George Benjamin. The latter had an aptitude for editorial work, and the paper was a success while under his manage- ment. Lester Phelps was a man of great industry, upright and highly respected, and an uncompromising advocate of human rights. He was prominent in aiding all public improvements, and was chiefly instru- mental in establishing the union school system in Mount Morris at an early day, when the system was scarcely known outside of New Eng- land. He was greatly interested in securing railroad facilities at Mount Morris, and when connection with the Erie Railroad was obtained he was made a director of the branch line which terminated at his home town. He was greatly attached to his church, giving it liberal support in his lifetime and donating to it in his will according to his means. He died at Mount Morris, April 14, 1880. surviving his wife almost four years. She passed away September 20, 1876, at her Mount Morris home. They had six children-Jennett, Sarah. George Benjamin, Fran- ces. Emma and Willis. The last-named died in childhood.
(X) George Benjamin, elder and only adult son and third child of Lester and Keziah Phelps, was born July 3. 1822, in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, and died June 3. 1892, at his home in Watertown, New York. During his infancy. the family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where his early boyhood was spent. He was brought up in Mount Morris, and his proper education was the earnest desire of his parents. At the age of nine years he was sent away, in company with the son of their clergyman, to a boarding school in a neighboring town. Both boys became homesick and set out on foot for home, within a few days, walking all the way. only to be sent away again on the morning of their arrival. Soon after this he had a narrow escape from drowning, while traveling by canal with his father.
SerB. Phey
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At the cry of "boy overboard," the latter sprang into the water, not knowing that it was his own son he was saving until he had been brought safely out of danger. The son was about eleven years old when his father moved to Mount Morris.
When sixteen years old George B. Phelps traveled alone to Spring- field. Massachusetts, a long journey in those days, and there found employment as clerk in a store. After a few months in this situation he went to Boston and entered a small school at Quincy, and while there received compensation as a newspaper reporter. Subsequently he entered the classical course in the North Wilbraham Academy, from which he graduated in 1840, at the age of eighteen years. At that early age he had developed a keen interest in current affairs, and was an excellent scholar. Upon graduating he returned to Mount Morris and became editor and manager of the Mount Morris I'hig, which was purchased by his father for his benefit. He was later associate editor and manager of the Rochester Evening Post, which he sold in 1843. He wrote in an attractive style, and his editorials commanded wide and favorable attention. After disposing of the Rochester paper, he became a law student in the office of Scott Lord, who afterward became judge of Livingston county and. later, prominent in practice in New York city. Young Phelps was strongly urged by his preceptor to engage in practice, as his partner, and in speaking of his pupil in after years, Judge Lord said: "He ought to have continued in the profes- sion. He would have been one of the best lawyers in the country."
The young man was extremely diffident about speaking in public, and. being about this time offered a fine business opportunity by his uncle, Willis Phelps, he accepted and abandoned the law for more con- genial activity. Though a good lawyer may have been lost by the means, an exceptionally able business man was developed. He came to Watertown with Phelps. Mattoon & Barnes, who were then engaged in building the Rome & Cape Vincent railroad, and soon became a con- tractor on his own account. He built that part of the Rome & Ogdens- burg road extending from Gouverneur to Norwood, and thus began an active career as a railroad builder, in which he was subsequently dis- tinguished. He was superintendent of the Watertown & Potsdam rail- road for some years before it became a part of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg system. A large percentage of the roads constructed in his day were built by him, including those of his own and the New England states and Canada, as well as the west, and in most of them
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he was interested and took an active part in their management, after going into operation. From 1852 until his death Mr. Phelps resided in Watertown, and was interested, financially, in many local enterprises, though taking an active part in only a portion of them. In 1869 he was made president of the Empire State Insurance Company and later a director of the Agricultural Insurance Company, to which he ren- dered valuable service as a member of its executive committee; and he was also instrumental in the reorganization of the Jefferson County Savings Bank, in which he was a trustee over thirty-one years and president in 1801. He was one of the incorporators and directors of the Watertown National Bank.
Mr. Phelps was a lifelong adherent of the principles of the Demo- cratic party and could be relied upon by the active workers for assist- ance when needed, and was made the party nominee for mayor soon after the village became a city. His word in all affairs was accepted as a guarantee of performance. His aid was never withheld from the needy and deserving. His hatred of meanness and dishonor sometimes made him appear austere to those who could not understand or appre- ciate liis motives ; but none had a kinder heart for those who were worthy, or a readier hand to assist those who won his good opinion.
He married Agnes Philipson, daughter of John and Eleanor Law, of Brockport, New York. The five children of George B. and Agnes P. Phelps are all living. John Lester is a coal merchant of St. Louis, Missouri. Agnes Law married Dexter Van Ostrand (which see). Frances Eleanor is the wife of Dr. James D. Spencer (see Spencer). Isabella Gibson resides in Watertown, the wife of James Robertson Miller. George Benjamin is in the general contracting business in New York city. He married Isabel Stanley Carter, daughter of the late Oliver Carter. of Orange, New Jersey. Mr. Phelps has a son, Carter Phelps, now thirteen years old ( 1904).
ALFRED CHAPIN, a brave soldier of the civil war, now de- ceased, was for many years a farmer in the town of Wilna. He was born December 17, 1839, in Watson, Lewis county, New York. He was left an orphan while an infant, and was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Jolin Van AAntwerp, of Watson, but the foster father after ten years (lied, and he was again adopted, in 1850, by Calvin Chapin, a farmer of Wilna, formerly of Leyden, Massachusetts. Mr. Chapin was born May IT, 1787. in Leyden, and died on his farm near Natural Bridge,
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near the close of his ninetieth year. March 8, 1877. Ilis wife, Nancy Wilbur, was born September 15, 1796, in Leyden, and died July 6, 1875, in Wilna. Mr. and Mrs. Chapin never had natural children. They also reared an adopted daughter, a niece of Mrs. Chapin, Roxana Wilbur, who died at Green Bay, Michigan, while the wife of a Mr. Rogers.
Alfred Chapin grew up in Wilna, on a farm two miles south of the village of Natural Bridge, and attended the district school until he attained his majority. About this time, in 1862, he enlisted in Com- pany D, Tenth Regiment New York Heavy Artillery, and served through the civil war in the Army of the Potomac. The company was commanded by Captain S. R. Cowels, and was originally mustered as Company B. First Battalion, at Sacketts Harbor, September II, 1862. but was soon after transferred to the Fourth Battalion. Its members came chiefly from the towns of Champion, Rutland and Wilna, in this county, and Diana and Croghan, in Lewis county. Mr. Chapin was of slight build, and never strong, and he was detailed as army nurse during the first winter, while stationed on Staten Island. The regi- ment served with distinction at the battles of Cold Harbor and Fisher's Hill and in the campaign of the James, and lost heavily in the charge at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. It was mustered out June 23, 1865.
Returning to the arts of peace, Mr. Chapin settled upon the farm where he was reared, and continued there until his death, returning the kindness bestowed upon him in youth by tenderly caring for his foster parents in their old age. He refused tempting offers to go west, and remained true to those who had nurtured him when helpless and alone. He was an industrious and successful farmer, whose life was shortened by the exposures and hardships incident to military service. He passed away April 22, 1900, in his sixty-first year. For over thirty years he had been a class leader of the Methodist church at Natural Bridge, and was also a member of E. B. Steele Post, No. 262, Grand Army of the Republic, at Carthage. He was a sound Republican in political principle, but never accepted any office save that of trustee of the local school, in whose success he was deeply interested.
Mr. Chapin was married December 31, 1872, to Miss Lydia Amelia Sperry, a native of the town of Wilna, born July 31, 1856, one mile from the Chapin farm, and daughter of Sheldon E. and Angeline M. (Shattuck) Sperry. Sheldon E. Sperry was born May 9, 1820, in Granby, Connecticut, son of Elijah and Lydia (Waters) Sperry. Elijalı
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Sperry was a shoemaker, and reared a family of thirteen children. Sheldon went to Harrisburg, Lewis county, New York, when a young man, and was engaged in farming there, subsequently settling in Wilna. He was accidentally killed on October 3, 1883, by the overturning of a load of logs on which he was riding. He was married at Harrisburg, February 19, 1851, to Angeline daughter of Abel and Amelia (Frasier) Shattuck, natives of Massachusetts, who were among the early settlers of Wilna. Mrs. Angeline M. Sperry was born April 20, 1824, and died in Wilna, September 1, 1884.
A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Chapin, who was christened Grace M. She graduated in 1897 from the Carthage high school, and was employed two years as a teacher in the Brownville high school. In March, 1901, with her mother, she moved to Carthage, and since that time has been a teacher in the local high school. With cul- tured mind and gracious manners, she is a valuable addition to the social life of the village.
PETER YOUSEY, a self-made man and active in the commercial life of Carthage and vicinity, was born on the first day of the year 1856, in the town of Wellesley, Waterloo county, Province of Ontario, and there grew to manhood. His parents were residents of Carthage long ago, and went into the wilderness of Canada soon after 1846 to make a home. The father, John Yousey, was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1818, and was reared on a farm there, receiving the education common to that country. In early life he came to America, bringing his mother with him, his father being then deceased. Here he found employment as a farmer in the town of Croghan, Lewis county, this state, and was married in Carthage to Katherine Naftsier, whom he had known in his native land. By a previous marriage he had three children-Joseph, Jolin and Elizabeth. The first is now a resident of Belfort, New York, and the others died while residing at Milford, Seward county, Nebraska, the last being the wife of Peter Erb.
When John Yousey had paid for his land in the dense forest of Canada, and had transported his family thither, he had one and one- half dollars in money left, and his family then included four children. He first took up one hundred acres of land which he cleared and im- proved, and by his industry and good management was enabled to secure three hundred acres more, which he left to his heirs, all well improved. When he located there the entire region was a dense forest and he had
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no neighbors, but he lived to see it cleared and converted into a fertile and pleasant farming settlement. He helped to organize the town, and was a member of the local Baptist church. In politics he affiliated with the Reform party. He died in August, 1878, at the age of sixty years. His widow, who still survives and lives on the Canadian homestead. came to this country from Alsace with her parents, Christian and Lena Naftsier, who settled near Croghan.
The eldest child of John and Katherine Yousey is Christian, who now resides near Jordan Falls, this state. The second, Catherine, died at Milford, Nebraska, while the wife of Joseph Yantze. Jacob resides on the parental homestead at Wellesley. Peter is further mentioned below. David died at Milford, Nebraska. and Menus resides near De- troit, Michigan.
Peter Yousey received his education in the excellent schools of his home neighborhood, where superior teachers were employed, including some who had previously taught in Edinburgh College. After his father's death he tilled the home farm for some years in partnership with his brother. This farm they bought from the heirs, and Peter sold out his interest, and in 1888 came to Natural Bridge, New York, in response to the urgent request of a brother who had already established a saw mill on Indian river. From that time he has been interested in lumbering, though he has invested largely in other industries of late.
Soon after coming to this state he became associated with A. E. Maxwell and Peter McQuillan in developing a water power and pulp mill at Carthage, and in 1897 they built what is known as the Island Paper Mill. In October, 1898, the Island Paper Company was incor- porated, with Mr. Yousey as vice-president, and they continued to operate the mill until December 1, 1901, when they sold the property. April 25, 1902, Mr. Yousey became a member of the firm of Maxwell, Yousey & Maxwell, which has since engaged extensively in lumbering, and built a saw mill that year at Fine, St. Lawrence county, where they have a tract of seven thousand acres of timber land. In partnership with his brother and Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Yousey also owns four thousand acres near Jordan Falls. In 1902 he also aided in organizing and incorporat- ing the New York Lime Company, of which he is treasurer and manager, and in the same year was made secretary of the Northwestern Telephone Company, in which he then became a stockholder. This was organized in 1901. He had continued to reside at Natural Bridge since coming to the state. until January, 1900, when he removed to Carthage. In the
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following year he built his handsome residence on James street, near Fulton. He attends the Baptist church, and is a Republican in political sentiment, but has never desired to hold an office.
. Mr. Yousey was married November 14, 1885, at Wellesley, to Miss Susan Kennel, a native of that place, and daughter of Christian and Lena (Albrecht) Kennel, of German birth. One daughter completes the family of Mr. Yousey, namely, Ilona, born January 20, 1894.
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