USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 56
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His great-grandfather, John Cobb, was a native of England, and came to America when a more boy, settling in New England. In the busy life of the original manufacturing center of the United States, he made for himself a place and a competence. Joseph Cobb, son of John, was born June 8, 1800, in Onondaga county, New York, and was a pioneer settler of Jefferson county, locating in the town of Alexandria before 1837. In the "Patriot War" of 1837-40 he took a conspicuous part. He became a large landholder of the town, and at one time owned nearly all of Well's Island, whose value for summer resort purposes was not then foreseen, and he subsequently disposed of his holdings and removed to the town of Hounsfield, about 1842-43. There he engaged successfully in farming, and died December 25, 1887. He was a Pres- byterian in religious belief, and among the original supporters of the Republican party. He was married June 5, 1821. to Margaret Soule, and had a family of ten children, namely: Mary, Eli, Perry, John, Elijah, Philena, Carsendana, Julia, Elsie and Orlando. The mother of these survived the father over nine years, and passed away January 17, 1897.
Elijah, fourth child and fitth son of Joseph and Margaret (Soule ) Cobb, was born July 22, 1833, in the town of Alexandria, and was ten years old when he went with his parents to Hounsfield. He was trained in the rudiments of knowledge at the district schools of the time, and liis active life has been devoted to agriculture. Successful as a farmer, he is now living in retirement from hard labor upon his land near Sackets Harbor. He has always been an earnest supporter of Republican prin- ciples, and exercises some influence in the local councils of his party. He is one of those who volunteered to support the Union when its integrity was assailed by those who held to state rights and secession. In 1864 he was enrolled as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Eighty- sixth Regiment New York Volunteers, with which he served until dis- charged, June 2, 1865, after the end of the war. He received a wound before Petersburg, April 2, 1865, when his regiment led the assault on the Confederate works. Returning to Hounsfield, he took up civil life
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where he left it, and is among the respected citizens of the town. He affiliates with Joseph K. Barnes Post No. 360, G. A. R., at Sackets Harbor.
He was married, November 13, 1858, to Emily M. Frink, daughter of William C. and Maria ( Moore) Crandall, of Hounsfield, and widow of Perrin H. Frink. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb are the parents of four sons. The eldest, Herbert C., married Olia Putnam, of Adams, and now re- sides in Doland, South Dakota. She is the mother of one son. Ray Put- nam. George H. is the subject of following paragraphs. Eugene F. married Sadie Walsworth, of Adams Center, and has a daughter, Flor- ence E .; he resides in Doland, South Dakota. Edward E. is a farmer and resides upon the old homestead near Sackets Harbor. Emily M. (Crandall) Cobb's parents were natives of Brookfield, Madison county, New York, and were the parents of three children, namely : Delos M., Henry C. and Emily M. The last-named has a son by her first mar- riage, namely : Franklin P. Frink. He married Minnie E. Waterbury, and has two children, Perrin H. and Clara Emily. The latter is now the wife of Sherman Grant, of Hammond, New York.
George Henry Cobb, son of Elijah and Emily (Crandall) Cobb, was born October 10, 1864, on his father's farm in Hounsfield, and received his elementary education in the public schools of the county. He was graduated from the state normal school at Potsdam in 1886, and engaged in teaching for a short time. With the practice of the legal profession as his objective goal. he early began to read law. and entered the office of Lansing & Rogers, of Watertown, to perfect him- self in theory and practical application. He was admitted to the bar in 1891, and very soon came into favorable public notice through his energy, thorough preparation and pleasant personality. His ability and knowledge of the law were soon demonstrated, and his popularity has increased with the lapse of time. With an instinct for leadership, he quickly took prominent position in the social and political life of the city, and was soon appointed deputy county clerk. He left this position to assume the duties of city recorder, to which he was elected in 1894, serving four years, and retiring from the position when it was merged in the office of city judge. In 1898 he was elected to his present posi- tion, and is now serving his second term by re-election, the term expir- ing January 1, 1905. During this time several important criminal cases have been directed and tried by him, developing his great strength as an attorney. In 1900 he was elected state senator by a large majority.
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Outside of his official duties, he enjoys a handsome private practice, and is likely to be heard from further, in both legal and political circles. Mr. Cobb is a member of the Presbyterian church of Water- town, and a charter member and one of the organizers of the Lincoln League, a strong Republican organization with membership throughout northern New York. He holds high place in Free Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree, and being efficiently active in the various subordinate bodies of the order.
He was married April 19, 1893, to Louisa Wenzel, a daughter of Fred and Kunigunda Wenzel, of Watertown, and of German extrac- tion. Mrs. Cobb was born January 26, 1865, in Watertown, and is the mother of a son, George Donald Cobb, born March 18, 1899.
REV. ROYAL HOUGHTON, for many years a member of the Black River Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a scion of one of the old New England families.
1. John and Ralph Houghton, brothers, came from England in 1650. and settled at Bolton, Massachusetts. Ralph was born in 1620. James (2) son of Ralph, was born in 1661, and died in 1711. Edward (3) son of James, born 1703. 4. Edward, son of Edward, born 1740. 5. John, son of Edward Houghton, was born and lived at Brattleboro, Vermont, where he died at the age of one hundred and two years. He was married three times. He served seven years as a soldier in the revo- lutionary war.
6. John, son of John Houghton and his third wife, was born De- cember II, 1774, in Brattleboro, and died in 1850, at New Lisbon, New York. He was married at Balston, New York, to Elizabeth Jackson, who was a native of that place, of Quaker parentage. He was a skilled millwright and carpenter, and did much building on a large scale in cen- tral New York. Among his works was the construction of the academy at De Ruyter. He had five sons-Royal, Hiram, Jehiel, Harvey and John. Hiram settled in the northern peninsula of Michigan, where a town and county are named for him.
7. Royal Houghton was born March 7, 1802, in New Lisbon, Otsego county, this state, and attended school at Cherry Valley and other points where his father was employed in building operations. He was early converted, and began to exhort before he was twenty years of age. He was licensed by the Methodist Episcopal church as an exhorter and to hold meetings, May 25, 1826; was made a deacon July 15. 1832, and
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an elder September 7, 1835, thus early proving his zeal and piety. He joined the Oneida Conference in 1836, and was a charter member of the Black River Conference and continued therewith until the Central Con- ference was formed, after which he was a member in that until his death. He was first stationed on the Bainbridge circuit, and next on the Fabius circuit. After being stationed, successively, at Manlius, Weedsport and Turin, he went on the Russian circuit, and was successively located at Trenton, Van Buren (now Warners) Red Creek, Jordan, Butler, Lysan- der, Turin, Belleville, Pulaski, Depauville, Rome, Carthage, Euclid, Montezuma. Rose, Scriba, Springfield and Sterling. This list denotes a busy life, and he was always regarded as one of the most useful and earnest members of the conference. After failing health compelled the abandonment of preaching he lived some years at Syracuse, where he died April 21, 1881, at the age of seventy-nine years, and his body was in- terred at Carthage. In their day he joined the Sons of Temperance, and was ever ready to further any movement calculated to encourage morality and right living. He was a stanch patriot, adhering to the Whig and Republican parties.
His first wife, Polly Blackman, bore him two sons and two daugh- ters. Louisa, the eldest, is the widow of James Leray de Chaumont Stearns, and resides in San Francisco, California. Warren was a very versatile man, highly educated, a linguist, graduated physician and den- tal surgeon. In his younger days he was a tanner and currier by trade. He was a thirty-second degree Mason. and died in Glasgow, Missouri. Mary Lucretia is the wife of Thomas B. Jamison, of Canisteo, New York. John Wesley was a skilled leather worker, and died in Norwich, New York.
About 1833-4 Mr. Houghton was married to Maria Morse, of Nor- wich. New York, who died leaving a daughter, Lucy Maria. She died at Friendship, this state, while the wife of Warren Kellogg.
Mr. Houghton was married in 1836 to Cecilia Beverly (Stearns), widow of Walter Horr, of Carthage. She died May 13, 1900, in Syra- cuse. She bore five children to Mr. Houghton. Ross Clark, the eldest, is a noted divine, author and traveler, residing in Boston. He was for many years a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, but was in- stalled pastor of a Congregational church in Boston in 1894. He is a Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Literature and Doctor of Philosophy. He is now retired and engaged in educational and literary work. Men- tion of Hiram, the second, appears later. Oscar, the third, is also a
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clergyman and writer of considerable note, Doctor of Divinity and Doc- tor of Philosophy, and is attached to the Central New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. The fourth died in infancy, and the fifth, William Fletcher, died at the age of sixteen years and was buried in Carthage, as were both his parents.
Hiram Houghton was born April 19, 1839, in Middleville, Herki- mer county, New York, and was educated at Belleville Academy and Hudson River Institute at Claverack, New York. He engaged in teach- ing, and enlisted as a soldier in April, 1861, being the first to enroll his name at Carthage. He became a member of the Seventh Regiment New York Cavalry, and was made a non-commissioned staff officer in the commissary department. After serving six months he became seriously ill, and was discharged on account of disability. Returning to Carthage he found employment in a grocery store, and later opened the first exclu- sive shoe store in that village. For some years he was associated with Ashley Loomis in the operation of a tannery, and later sold his interest. For four years he was a clerk in the private bank of Horr & Holcomb, and was afterward employed in the same capacity in the First National Bank. He next purchased two hundred acres of land below the village and opened a brick yard, which he operated in connection with farming for six years. Since then he has been practically retired from business. He was master of Carthage Masonic Lodge in 1888, and high priest of the local chapter in 1897-98-99-1900. He is a member of E. B. Steele Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and the local lodge of the Order of United American Mechanics. Since 1865 he has been a member of Car- thage Methodist Episcopal church. For many years he was affiliated with the Republican party, but now acts with the Prohibitionists, and has been their candidate for supervisor of the town of Wilna.
He was married, May 28. 1862, to Helen Maria Collins, daughter of Abel P. and Maria ( Macomber) Collins, of Evans Mills, now deceased. Mrs. Houghton is the only child of her parents, and was born May 21. 1837, at Walterborough, Carlton District, South Carolina. Five chil- dren came to Mr. and Mrs. Houghton, namely: Collins, who married Clara Kring ; he is now operator of the farm and brick yard: Grace, Lil- lian. Royal, at home, and Gary, who married Minnie Wisner.
Abei P. Collins was a native of Jefferson county, and became wealthy in merchandising, largely in the south. He was a very kind- hearted inan, punctilious in dress, and always wore a beaver hat. He was a member of the Baptist church at Evans Mills, and sang in its choir.
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He was married at Evans Mills to Maria Macomber, who was born in Denmark, New York, February 22, 1815, died February 1, 1886. in Carthage, daughter of Judge John, who was born in Middletown, Ply- mouth county, Massachusetts. March 14, 1789, died in Watertown, New York, January 4, 1863, buried at Evans Mills, and Olive (Miller) Ma- comber, who was born at Chester, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, De- cember 16, 1789. died at Watertown, New York, December 8, 1863. buried at Evans Mills. Mr. Macomber was one of the early settlers of Evans Mills, was judge of the county court, and the house which he built is now standing in that town. The only child of Mr. Collins who grew up is Helen Maria, now Mrs. Hiram Houghton, of Carthage, New York.
DEMPSTER ROCKWOOD, an intelligent and progressive farmer of Champion, is a native of the town, and grandson of one of its pioneer settlers. His grandfather, William Rockwood, was a native of New England, the son of Reuben Rockwood and his first wife, who died when William was only three weeks old. On attaining his majority, the last-named came to Champion to settle (the year being 1799), and was followed in the ensuing year by Reuben and three younger sons-David, Roswell and Asa. All came here from Remsen, New York. On the organization of the town, in 1800, Reuben Rockwood was made one of the two overseers of the poor, an office which must have been a sinecure, or else, burdensome. But few had ventured to settle here to live prior to 1799, and all were about on a level, as far as worldly possessions were concerned, with much to gain and little to lose. William Rockwood secured one hundred and fifty acres where Dempster Rockwood now lives, which he cleared, and was a successful farmer. Here he died Feb- ruary 4, 1864, aged eighty-eight years and six months. In early life he was a Whig, and joined the Republican party upon its organization. A reading and thinking man, he deserved and received the respect and good will of his contemporaries. Soon after settling in Champion he married Polly Cutler, who bore him four sons and four daughters. She and her daughters were members of the Methodist church. Priscilla, the first child, married David Raulston, and died in Russell, St. Lawrence county, this state. Sally, wife of George R. Sayre, died in Champion. Philotha married Warner Van Allen, formerly lived in Alexandria, and died in this town. Charles G. is further mentioned below. William went to Kansas, served as a soldier from that state, and died as a result of ex-
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posure in that service. Renben went to Michigan, and died in that state. Sabrina married Warren D. Johnson, lived in Jefferson and Lewis counties. and died at Beaver Falls. John W. is now living at Omro. Wisconsin.
Charles Giles Rockwood was born March 16, 1816, on the farm where luis son resides, nearly a half mile east of Champion "Huddle." He knew no other home, and here he passed away January 1. 1894. He aided his father in the cultivation of the farm and succeeded to its ownership. Always industrious, he continued to labor until one month before his death. His health was good, with the exception that he was somewhat troubled by rheumatism. He was a Whig and Republican, and accepted the religious faith of the Methodist church. During the civil war he was a commissioned officer of Company A. Twentieth Regiment New York Cavalry, and was in active service for a period of two years. He married (first) Mary Submit Rounds, who died April 26. 1844. They lost two children, one being a daughter fourteen years old. In June, 1846, Mr. Rockwood married Gitty Jan Van Dusen, a native of Montgomery county, New York, daughter of Martin and Ma- ria (Van Alstine) Van Dusen, died October 18. 1897. Two sons came to the second marriage, namely, Fernando Lansing, now a carpen- ter residing in West Carthage, and Dempster. The elder was born June 3. 1847.
Dempster Rockwood was born November 6, 1848, in the house in which he now lives and which has always sheltered him. He attended the local district school in early boyhood, and subsequently was a stu- dent of the Watertown high school. In the intervals of vacation he con- tinted his devotion to the duties of the farm, which became his upon the death of his father. They were very congenial, and the son continued in filial direction of the father, their work being carried on together through long years of intimate association. A large dairy is conducted by Mr. Rockwood, keeping thirty cows of part Holstein grade. For the past eleven years Mr. Rockwood has been a member of Carthage Grange. and has been its lecturer ten years. He is recognized as one of the progressive thinking men of the day, and has the welfare of humanity close to his heart. Not in any sense a politician. he holds settled con- victions of political economy, and supports the Republican candidates and principles. He is liberal in religious thought and is ever ready to further any plan for the reform of existing evils.
Mr. Rockwood was married September 20. 1881, to Anastasia
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Wise, who was born September 29, 1860, in Branford, Connecticut, and reared in Watertown, this state. One son, Wesley Wise, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Rockwood December 8, 1883, and is now at home. A his- tory of the Wise family is a feature of this work. Mrs. Rockwood is a cultured and lovable woman, and a fit helpmeet for her husband, and both are held in high regard.
FREDERICK HUBBARD McNITT, a representative of one of the oldest families of the town of Champion, resides in the southern part of that town. not far from the village of Copenhagen, Lewis county. He comes of sturdy Scotch and English colonial ancestry, and is a worthy seion of worthy families.
I. Barnard MeNitt, a native of Scotland, born in 1700, settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1752, and died there January 16, 1773, in his seventy-third year. His wife Jean survived him many years, dying in her ninety-second year.
2. John MeNitt, son of Barnard, was born April 25, 1749. in Scotland, and was brought up in Salem, Massachusetts, where he became a farmer. He served in the revolutionary war and was in the battle of Bunker Hill. His brother Andrew was in the same battle and was never found after it was over. After spending a short time in Washington county. New York, John McNitt came to Champion in 1803, and took up one hundred and fifty acres of land, in company with his son James. He died April 13. 1835. His wife, Patty Wilson, was born July 9. 1758, and died Feb- ruary 17, 1848, in her ninetieth year. They were among the founders of the Presbyterian church at Champion village, and were Godfearing peo- ple. Four of their sons and three daughters reached the age of sixteen years or over. Sally, the eldest, married Dorastus Waite, and lived and died in Champion. James, at middle age, went to Eden. Erie county. this state, where he died at the age of ninety-five years. John Wilson died in Somerset, Niagara county. New York, in the settlement of which town he acted as agent for the owners. Polly became the wife of Oliver Wright, of Clayton, in which town she died. Patty married Alvin Wright, and they were pioneers in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where they died. Noah, the sixth. is the subject of a paragraph below. Oren died at the age of sixteen.
3. Noah McNitt was born June 6. 1794, in Salem, Massachusetts, and had nearly completed his ninth year when the family came to Cham-
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pion. His meager education was supplied by the rude pioneer schools of the town, and he was early wont to aid in the tasks incident to clearing and cultivating a farm of the heavy timber. He was one of the minute- ine11 at Sackett's Harbor. Farming was always his occupation, and his first farm of his own consisted of one hundred and twelve acres on "Stone Wall street." This he continued to till until a short time before his death. In 1864 he acquired three hundred and eleven acres where his son, Frederick H., now lives, to ownership of which the latter soon succeeded. Noah McNitt died March 26, 1866, about seventy-two years old. Though he had little schooling he was an intelligent observer of men and events, was well-read, and took an active part in promoting the progress of his town. With his wife he maintained membership in the Presbyterian church, and he was an active member of the Sons of Tem- perance. In politics he continued a Democrat until 1856, and was a member of the convention that organized the Republican party in Jeffer- son county in that year. He served the town as assessor and in other capacities. Mr. McNitt was married, March 26, 1819, to Laura Hub- bard, a daughter of Joel Hubbard, one of the pioneers of Champion (see Joel Hubbard). She was born in Steuben, Oneida county, May 6, 1799, and died at the home of her son, Frederick H .. in 1871, aged seventy- two years. Eliza Ambrosia, their first child, died at the age of seven years. Gustavus A. was a wagonmaker and died at Chaumont, this county, aged twenty-five years. Egbert lived in Champion and the west, and died in his native town at the home of Frederick H. McNitt, Jan- uary 10, 1898. Ambrosia married Guilford Harris, and lives in Low- ville. Julia Eliza, wife of Albert O. Babcock, died in West Carthage. Frederick H. is the sixth. Sarah married Curtis Ingraham, and died in Carthage. Frances I. resides in West Carthage, unmarried.
4. Frederick H. McNitt was born October 19, 1830, on his father's farm on "Stone Wall street," where he grew to manhood. The instruc- tion which he received in the district school was supplemented by three terms at Bush's famous academy, then located in Champion village, Mr. Bush later going to Carthage. Mr. McNitt's present wife was a student at the same time in that institution. He continued to assist his father in the cultivation of the farm and became joint owner with his brother Egbert upon the father's demise. They added to the acreage by the pur- chase of sixty-five acres near by in the town of Denmark, and built and operated a cheese factory for thirty-one years. They erected a barn thirty- by ninety feet in ground dimension, and added other capacious farm
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buildings, and maintained at one time a dairy of sixty cows, Holsteins and Durhams. The farm has been noted many years as the home of the horse, "Rockford," of mixed Hambletonian and Morgan blood, whose colts have proved speedy on contested race courses, and generally valuable stock. For many years this farm has been a breeding place of Berkshire swine, and was formerly devoted largely to thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle. At the death of his brother, in 1898, Mr. Frederick H. McNitt became the sole owner, and has since been proprietor of one of the most productive farms in the county. In 1903 fifteen hundred bush- els of grain were grown, and ninety-two tons of hay and straw were sold, while forty head of cattle were wintered.
Mr. McNitt is a life member of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society, and was its president in 1884-5-6. He has held most of the offices in the town, being supervisor in 1869 and 1870, and twelve years from 1879 to 1891 ; was eighteen years assessor, and has served as col- lector and constable.
Mr. McNitt was married, February 4, 1857, to Miss Phoebe C. Ingraham, who was born May 22, 1835, in Champion, a daughter of Simeon and Maria (Earl) Ingraham, the former a native of Massachu- setts and the latter of the town of Rutland, this county. Simeon was a son of George Ingraham, Jr., and his wife Sally, and George was a son of George, Sr. Two daughters, Ellen A. and Laura, complete the immediate family of Mr. McNitt, but he feels much interest in his eight grandchildren. The elder daughter, born August 28, 1860, is the wife of Edwin Sage, of Champion, who is a farmer on an adjoining farm and is a cattle dealer on commission for George Smith; their children are: I. Estella, born March 1, 1881, who is a school teacher in Cham- pion; 2. Fred McNitt, December 10, 1882; 3. Gertrude, October 9, 1884, who is a teacher in the town and district. 4. Elizabeth, deceased. 5. Ellen, born August 30, 1891. 6. Leda, October 8, 1895. 7. Charles, January 20, 1902. Laura McNitt, born September 30, 1867, became the wite of Watson Carpenter, of Gouverneur, who is a commercial traveler for H. H. Nobles, of that city ; they have two daughters-Bertha, born November 4, 1891, and Gladys, June 27, 1899.
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