USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume I > Part 63
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
The Tifft family is of revolutionary fame, Caleb Tifft, of Rhode Island, having served in the patriot army. He was an early resident of Lorraine, this county. His son, Thomas W., who was born in the East, and came early to Lorraine township, was a farmer and carpenter. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served at Sacketts Harbor with the rank of captain. During the remainder of his life he drew a pension. He married Luzina H., daughter of Thomas W. Worden, who with his wife was a native of Colerain, Massachusetts. They came as pioneers to Jefferson county. Mr. Worden was also a revolutionary soldier. He and his wife both lived to the age of ninety-five. and are buried in the cemetery at Pierrepont Manor. Mr. and Mrs. Tifft were the parents of
623
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
a daughter, Melissa R., who became the wife of Dr. William H. H. Sias, as mentioned above.
DR. ELBRIDGE GERRY MINAR, a practicing physician of Mannsville, New York, is a native of the state, born in Ellisburgh, July 23. 1859, son of Captain John Minar and Betsey R. Blount.
He is a descendant of an ancient and widespread family whose name variously appears as Miner, Minor, Minar and Minard. His American ancestor was John Minar, born April II, 1780, died October 28, 1845. John Minar took to wife Catherine Colon, who was a lineal descendant of Dominie Bogardus and Anneke Jans, a princess, and granddaughter of William III. of Holland. To Dominie Bogardus was born a son Wil- liam. William was father of a daughter Annette, who became the wife of Jacob Bower. Their daughter, Anna Elizabeth Bower, became the wife of Jacob Quackenbos, whose son Ryemier, married Catherine Wal- den. They had a son Peter, who married Lytie Marsenas, of Schenectady, New York, November 1, 1701, whose son married Anna Scott, May 10, 1723. John Quackenbos, son of the marriage last named, was grand- father of Catherine Colon.
John Minar. Sr .. and his wife, Catherine (Colon) Minar, were the parents of the following named children: 1. Christian, born December 16, 1803, died September 16, 1804. 2. Henry, born April II. 1806. 3. John, February 15, 1811. 4. Ann Eliza, March 22, 1813. 5. Abra- ham. May 7, 1815. 6. Lydia, April 1, 1818. 7. Lyman, February 19, 1822. 8. Catherine, June 16, 1825. 9. Norman, June 11, 1830, drowned November 21, 1846.
Captain John Minar, son of John and Catherine (Colon) Minar, was born in Schenectady, New York. He became a sailor, as did his brothers, William, Abraham and Lyman, while two, William and Henry, were farmers. Of those of the family who followed the sea the "Jeffer- son County Journal" said : "The Minars are types of the old Norse Vik- ings. Captain John Minar has been up and down this chain of lakes for forty years, rising from cabin boy to commander and owner of fleets." It was said of him in his youth that on the steamer "St. Lawrence" he did the work and received the pay of three men. Physically he was almost a Hercules, weighing two hundred and forty or fifty pounds, yet being so admirably proportioned that although he seemed muscular he did not appear unduly large. In his young manhood he became master of the schooner "Lucinda," under E. G. Merrick, who was then also
624
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
associated with James Smith. Later, as part owner, he commanded the "AAdriatic," "Pathfinder," and a number of others. The "Montana," "M. I. Wilcox" and "Ganges" were stanch schooners of the noted "Reindeer Fleet" which he was instrumental in having built. He was a fearless sailor, and underwent experiences which were calculated to test the metal of the best of his calling, but was never known to be worsted. He out- sailed many severe storms, and on more than one occasion brought his vessel safely into port when many about went down with all on board. He was of sturdy, manly character and of a deeply religious nature, and exerised a most salutary influence upon the rough characters who formed the major part of the crew's he was called to deal with.
Captain Minar married Betsey R. Blount. She was a frail woman physically, but as fearless a seaman as himself, and she frequently shared his perils. She was aboard the "Adriatic" with him in 1856 during a ter- rible storm in which many vessels foundered and scores of lives were lost. When their situation seemed hopeless, Captain Minar said to her: "I would give all I am worth in this world if you and Fannie (their child) were only on shore." "Well, I wouldn't have you give it," was the brave answer, "for if you go to the bottom of the lake, I want to go with you." The devoted wife died May 16, 1860, aged thirty-five years and four months. She bore to her husband five children: 1. Alice S., born May 12, 1849, died September 12, 1850. 2. Ella Cornelia, born November 23. 1850. died July 1, 1851. 3. Fannie R., born June 22, 1852. 4. Wal- ter J., born September 4, married Jennie Hundley, February 11, 1875. 5. Elbridge Gerry, born July 23, 1859. On February 9, 1865, Captain Minar married Mary Myres Fiske. On April 2, 1898, in the eighty- eighth year of his age, Captain Minar passed away. His daughter ( Mrs. Ford) characterized the last rites as "a sweet, impressive, Christian burial. There was no undue sorrow, for loving faith could see beyond the grave and picture the joyous reunion with many loved ones."
Elbridge Gerry Minar, son of Captain Jolin and Betsey R. ( Blount) Minar, was educated at Adams, New York, in the Hungerford Collegiate Institute. He studied for his profession in the medical department of the University of the City of New York, from which he was graduated in 1883. He first engaged in practice in Bay City, Michigan, where he re- mained for a period of thirteen years. In 1896 he located in Mannsville, New York, where he has resided continuously to the present time. He stands well in his profession, and is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society and the New York State Medical Association. He mar- ried Miss Myra Converse, July 23, 1884.
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY. 625
MRS. J. WALLACE FORD, well known throughout the United States for her efficient and successful labor in behalf of Sunday school instruction, is a daughter of John Minar, Jr., and Betsey R. Blount.
Her maiden name was Fannie R. Minar, and she was born June 22, 1852, at Mannsville. New York. She received her education at Miss Wil- lard's Seminary. She was married, August 13, 1871, to the Rev. James Wallace Ford, D. D. Shortly after this union her health failed and her physician advised a change of climate. She spent several months in the mountain region of Georgia, the change proving so beneficial that she was enabled to engage in the work which she has pursued with abundant success. While in Georgia she made acquaintances with prominent edu- cators, who were so impressed with her ability that she received an invi- tation from the Female College of LaGrange, one of the leading educa- tional institutions in that state and in the entire south, to deliver semi- weekly lectures on Etiquette and the History of Art. This department, thus founded by Mrs. Ford, proved to be one of the most attractive and beneficial features of the college.
About the same time Mrs. Ford's attention was directed to Sunday school work, and she soon became favorably known as a most capable in- structor in Bible history. For several years she has been industrious in this line, and has traveled much and in many states and territories, organ- izing classes of Sunday school teachers and giving them instruction. Mrs. Ford is recognized as a most interesting and forceful rostrum speaker, with a charming personality and grace of manner which attracts and holds her auditors, of whatever class or degree of intelligence. She is also an accomplished writer, and her productions in various leading magazines and periodicals have attracted wide and favorable attention.
James Wallace Ford, who became the husband of the gifted woman above named, was born June 24, 1847. He was educated in the common schools and an academy in Hamilton, New York, and studied for the ministry in the Rochester (New York) Theological Seminary. He was ordained in Mannsville, New York, in 1870, the year prior to his mar- riage. His pastoral work has been with churches in Canandaigua, New York : Bay City, Michigan ; LaGrange, Georgia; Charleston, South Caro- lina : St. Louis, Missouri; Troy, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. While resident in LaGrange, Georgia, he received from Mercer University of that state the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
To Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Ford were born three children : John Minar Ford, May 13, 1873, at Mannsville, New York; Marietta Holley Ford,
40
626
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
December 22, 1878, at Homer, New York, and James Wallace Ford, Jr., October 6, 1880, at Bay City, Michigan.
Dr. James Wallace Ford is a lineal descendant of William Ford, a native of England, born in 1604, who came to America in the ship "For- tune" in 1621. From him the line of descent to Dr. Ford is through Wil- liam Ford, Jr. (2), born in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1633; Joseph (3), born in Marshfield, in 1666: Jesse (4), one of a family of nine chil- dren, born in Marshfield, in I711: Abel B., (5), born in 1745; Solomon B. (6), born in Preston Hollow, Albany county, New York; Norman Abel (7), father of Rev. Dr. Ford, born in 1819.
LIVINGSTON STONE, the oldest living fish culturist in the United States, and now ex-United States deputy fish commissioner, having charge of a station at Cape Vincent, Jefferson county, has done as much as any other one man to promote the fish raising industry. md in fact his efforts are of recognized value throughout the world, as his writings are received as authority not only in this country but in Europe. Mr. Stone was born October 21. 1836 .- in Cambridge. Massachusetts, where the ancestral home of the family was established at an early period in the colonization of the new world. The Stones are of English lineage, and the founders of the family in the new world settled in Massachusetts within a few years after the founding of the Plymouth colony.
(I) The "History of Framingham, 1640-1847" records that Gregory Stone, or Ston, with his brother Simon, was one of the early emigrants to New England, and that they were admitted as freemen May 25, 1636. Gregory Stone was a deacon of the church at Cam- bridge, and was a representative to the council in 1638. He lived near Mount Auburn, and died at Cambridge, November 30, 1672, at the age of eighty-two years. He was married in England to Mrs. Lydia Cooper. a widow, who died June 21, 1674. His children were John, Daniel, David, Elizabeth, Samuel and Sarah.
(11) John, eldest child of Gregory and Lydia Stone, was born about 1619, and died May 5, 1683, at Cambridge. He was a large landholder and built several houses, was town clerk of Cambridge in 1655, and representative in 1682-3. He was one of the early pro- prietors of Sudbury, and was elder of the church of Sudbury, being thereafter called Deacon Stone. He had four sons and six daughters
(III) Daniel, third child and eldest son of John Stone, was
正传
٨
627
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
married November 2, 1667, to Mary Ward, and had two sons and six daughters. He was a deacon of Sudbury, and selectman two years, 1700-I. His first wife died June 10, 1703, and he was married Feb- ruary 8, 1704, to Abigail Wheeler, who died October 28, 1711. He was married, third, November 18, 1712, to Ruth Haynes, of Sudbury. He died in 1719, aged seventy-five years, and his estate was administered by his son, John, the funeral charges being sixty pounds sterling.
(IV) Daniel, eldest child of Daniel and Mary (Ward) Stone, was born November 22, 1668, and married Patience, daughter of Major Thomas Brown, of Sudbury. He served as selectman and was town treasurer in 1702, dying on December 22 of that year at the age of thirty-four. His estate was administered by his widow, who married Nathaniel Rice, and died November 13, 1722, aged fifty-two years. Daniel Stone had one son and four daughters.
(V) Micah, only son and fourth child of Daniel ( 2) and Patience Stone, was born in March, 1699, and was married April 2, 1724, to Abigail, dangliter of Samuel Stone, of Lexington. He lived on the island of Sudbury, and was selectman five years, beginning with 1732. He died of smallpox October 17, 1738, aged thirty-nine years. His widow married Colonel Joseph Perry, and died October 4, 1796, aged ninety years. Micah and Abigail Stone had six sons. One of these. Rev. Micah Stone, D. D., graduated from Harvard College in 1750, was tutor there in 1754, and afterward minister of Brookfield. Another, Eliab, graduated at Harvard in 1758.
(VI) Daniel, second son of Micah and Abigail Stone, was born April 11, 1727, and married Persis Haynes, of Sudbury. He was captain of militia, and selectman in 1767-8. He died April 3, 1813, aged eighty-six years, and his widow passed away May 7, 1804, aged seventy-six. They had three sons and two daughters.
(VII) John, third son of Daniel and Persis Stone, was born February 17, 1757, and married Ann Hunt, of Sudbury, June 25, 1778.
(VIII) Feter Robert Livingston Stone, son of John and Ann Stone, was born in Sudbury, or Wayland, Massachusetts, May 4, 1794. He acquired a common school education and became a wholesale dealer in West India goods in State street, Boston. He was captain of a company of militia, and was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery, the oldest militia organization in the country. The epaulets he wore are now nearly one hundred years old, and there is also in existence a certificate of membership dated July 13, 1819. His early
628
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
political support was given the Whig party, and he afterward became a supporter of Republican principles. Both he and his wife were mem- bers of the Unitarian church. Mrs. Stone bore the maiden name of Lavinia Winship, and was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, on the 22d of February, 1800. She belonged to one of the oldest and most honorable fanulies of Massachusetts, and from his mother Livingston Stone received a silver spoon which was secreted in the woods at Lex- ington at the time of the opening battle of the revolutionary war which there occurred.
(IX) Livingston Stone was a student in the public schools of Cambridge until he had completed all of the work from that of the primary division to that of the high school. Subsequently he entered Harvard College, from which he was graduated with honor in 1857. His alma mater has since conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. After graduating from Harvard, Mr. Stone took a three years' course at the Meadville Theological School, and in 1864 became pastor of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church of Charlestown, New Hampshire. He continued four years in this position, until failing health compelled him to seek an outdoor life, and he entered into the work of fish culture, and his efforts have been a most potent factor in the development of the industry in the United States. In 1872 he was appointed United States deputy fish commissioner for the Pacific coast, and remained in that section of the country for twenty-five years, and was deputy commissioner twelve years at one point, on the McCloud river, in California. When he left that region the "California Stand- ard" said :
"After nearly a quarter of a century in the government service on this coast, Livingston Stone has probably left California permanently. As long ago as 1866 Mr. Stone built the trout-breeding establishment in New Hampshire known as the Cold Spring trout ponds, this being the first attempt at practical fish culture in New England and the second in the country. In 1868 he built and operated the first salmon-breeding establishment in this country, on the Miramichi river in New Bruns- wick. In 1872 he published "Domesticated Trout," which has passed through six editions, has been translated into Italian, and although written more than thirty years ago is still accepted as a standard author- ity on trout culture all over the world.
"In the same year Mr. Stone was sent by the United States gov- ernment to the Pacific coast as deputy fish commissioner to select and operate a station for salmon breeding on a large scale, and the same year he located the station on the McCloud river, now known as Baird
United States Fish Hatchery and Signal Station, Cape Vincent.
631
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
station of the United States fish commission. In 1877 Mr. Stone was again commissioned by the government to select a site for a salmon- breeding station, this time on the Columbia, on behalf of the cannery men of that river. The point selected was on the Clackamas river. There Mr. Stone built and operated for one year large salmon-breeding works, the expense being borne by the Oregon and Washington Fish Propagating Company. While conducting salmon breeding operations at Baird station the United States fish commission was desirous of introducing the rainbow trout into the eastern states, and, with that end in view, Mr. Stone was direeted in 1879 to find a place on the McCloud river where rainbow trout eggs could be procured, and to conduct operations there. The place selected was four miles up the river from the salmon hatchery, and it is from there that all, or nearly all, of the rainbow trout distributed over the world have come.
"In 1883 Mr. Stone was sent by the government to make an investigation along the whole course of the Columbia from its source to its mouth, for the purpose of selecting a salmon-breeding site for the United States fish commission of that river. In 1888 he was despatched again to the Columbia to negotiate with the Oregon fish com- mission (into whose hands the Clackamas station had passed) for the purchase of that station by the United States. The priee asked was ten thousand dollars, but he was fortunate enough to succeed finally in getting the station deeded to the United States without charge except for the expenses of operating and for repairs which had just been incurred by the Oregon commission. The next year Mr. Stone accom- panied a government expedition to the Kodiak islands, in the North Pacifie, where the first Alaskan gold was discovered. The objeet of this expedition was to conduct a general investigation of the salmon fisheries of the islands and vicinity, Mr. Stone's special department of investiga- tion being salmon culture. Mr. Stone reported favorably in regard to salnion culture on Afognac island, one of the islands of the Kodiak group, and the attention of President Harrison being called to the inatter, he set aside this island as a national reservation.
"About the year 1884 arrangements were completed between the Chilean minister and the United States fish commission for Mr. Stone to go to Chili to inaugurate salmon culture in that country, but just at that time the breaking out of hostilities between Chili and a neighbor- ing state brought the enterprise to a sudden end."
MIr. Stone was iong a friend of the renowned and eminent natural- ist, Professor Agassiz, to whom he furnished all the salmon specimens for his investigation on the subject of fishes, during several years. During their long acquaintance he received many complimentary and friendly letters from that greatest of all American naturalists, showing his appreciation for the fine specimens sent by Mr. Stone and com-
63%
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
mending him for his scientific attainments in fish culture. There is a trout on the Pacific slope which was named "Salmo iridea Stonei." in honor of Mr. Stone, by Mr. Jordan, president of Leland Stanford University. Besides several silver medals received by Mr. Stone in this country, he was awarded two diplomas at the international exposi- tion held at Berlin in 1880, and was one of the fortunate six persons in the United States who received the large gold medal of that exposi- tion. In 1883 he was presented with the large and handsome diploma signed by the Prince of Wales (now Edward VII, King of England), at the International Exposition in London, of which exposition Mr. Stone was appointed one of the judges. He was also awarded many years ago an honorary medal in bronze by the Societe d'Aclimatation of Paris. He was made an honorary member of the National Fislı Culture Association of Great Britain, elected July 4. 1884, and was made an honorary member of the Deutsche Fischerei Verein of Berlin, Germany, April 8, 1878.
I11 1897 Mr. Stone came to Cape Vincent, New York, where he is now serving as superintendent of the United States fish hatchery, beautifully situated at the head of the Thousand Islands, on the St. Lawrence river. He says this is the best water in the United States for hatching fish, and has here a well equipped station. In the spring of 1904 he deposited fourteen million white fish in Lake Ontario, and brook and other trout were shipped daily from the Cape Vincent Sta- tion. On account of the skillful methods hcre employed, together with the pure water of this region, lie hatches eighty-five per cent of white fish eggs, and more than ninety per cent of trout and salmon. Nearly all are stripped from fish caught for the market.
Mr. Stone finds his chief source of rest and recreation in chess and tennis. He was considered one of the best chess players of Cali- fornia, and vanquished a majority of the best players in Boston and New England. He is also an enthusiastic and skillful manipulator of the tennis racquet. He is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, a college fraternity. In politics he is a Republican, with no political ambitions or aspirations. On the 15th of January, 1888, through the influence of Seth Green, the pioneer fish culturist, of whom he was an intimate friend for many years, Mr. Stone was supported for the posi- tion of United States commissioner of fish and fisheries, at a salary of five thousand dollars a year, but he refused the position. He has the appearance of an English gentleman, is a man of scholarly attainments,
633
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
and quiet, modest and unassuming in manner. He belongs to the Lee Street Church of Cambridge, Massachusetts. -
On the 8th of April, 1875, at Charlestown, New Hampshire, Mr. Stone was married to Rebecca Salisbury Cushing, who received a liberal education in her native place. She is a daughter of Hon. Edmund Lambert Cushing, chief justice of the supreme court of New Hamp- shire. Edmund Cushing Stone, son of Mr. and Mrs. Livingston Stone, was born March 8, 1882, received common school training in northern California, and entered the high school of Cape Vincent, New York. in the fall of 1897. In 1900 he matriculated in Harvard College, from which institution he graduated in June, 1904. He is concert master of the Orchestra of the Pierian Sodality of Harvard University, and secretary of the society, and is a fine violinist and tennis player. He occupied a room at Cambridge which enabled him to look out upon the monument of his American progenitors, John and Gregory Stone. Edmund Stone is now at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University.
CYRUS J. SEVERANCE, M. D., a practicing physician of Manns- vilie, is a native of the town of Parish, Oswego county, New York, born July 16, 1862. He is a scion of an old New England family, which bore its part in clearing the wilderness and the establishment of civilization upon the American continent.
(I) John Severns came from England in the ship "Elizabeth" in 1634, and in 1637 was one of the original proprietors of Salisbury. Massachusetts, where he died in 1682. His first wife, Ursula, was proba- bly a daughter of Richard and Ursula Kimball, of Watertown, Massa- chusetts. Between 1658 and 1663 he married Susannah, widow of Henry Ambrose.
( II) John, son of John Seaverns (as the former wrote it in 1685). was born in 1647 and was a resident of Suffield, Connecticut, February 14, 1678, among the first settlers there. About 1702 he re- moved to Bedford. New York, where he died in 1709. His wife's name was Mary.
(III) Joseph, son of John (2) and Mary Severance, was born Oc- tober 26, 1682, in Suffield, and was a tailor by occupation. His wife Anna. was a daughter of Martin Kellogg.
(IV) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) and Anna ( Kellogg) Sever-
634
GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
ance, was born October 7. 1713. and was married in 1732, to Mary, daughter of Joseph Clesson.
(\') Matthew, eldest child of Joseph ( 2) and Mary ( Clesson ) Ser- erance, served in the French war as one of Rogers's Rangers. He was married in 1762 to Experience, daughter of Daniel Nash.
(VI) Matthew (2), son of Matthew (I) and Experience (Nash) Severance, was born July II, 1765. and settled in Leyden, Franklin county, Massachusetts, where he died in 1834. In 1786 he married Mary, daughter of Elisha Wells.
(VII) Cyrus, son of Matthew (2) and Mary ( Wells) Severance, was born November 15. 1796, in Leyden, and died March 16, 1862, in Mexico, while on a business trip to Mexico, Oswego county, New York. He was married May 23, 1815, to Lephe Louisa Wells, who was born July 12, 1798. His second wife was Sarah Moore. He was the father of nine children.
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.