USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume II > Part 12
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Mr. Hardy was an earnest member of the Presbyterian church dur- ing most of his life, and was many years one of the pillars of the society at Evans Mills. After his removal to Black River he united with the Stone Street Presbyterian church of Watertown. He was always inter- ested in the progress of his home community and of the nation, and took an active part in the conduct of local affairs. He was an ardent Repub- lican, and was defeated when a candidate for supervisor because of the Democratic majority in his town, but was elected and served many years as justice of the peace, a tribute to his ability and worth. He acted as chairman of county conventions.
Phineas Hardy was married March 24, 1822, to Sarah Howland, only daughter and second child of Richmond Howland ( see Howland). She was born April 1. 1798, in Providence, Rhode Island, and died Janu- ary 13, 1887, in Black River, near the close of her eighty-ninth year. Brief mention of her children follows: David, born November 19, 1823, married Anna Slack, was a farmer in Leray, and died November 2, 1889. Elias, November 16, 1826, has been very successful as a farmer in the town of Throop, Cayuga county, this state, and now resides in the city of Auburn. Maria, December 11, 1828, in Rutland, became the wife of Simeon Dexter, whom she survives (see Dexter, VII). Lucy, April I, 1831, in Rutland, died in childhood. Phineas, February 21, 1838, in Leray, was a farmer there all his life and died there July 24, 1895. He was an active Republican, but refused to be a candidate for office, and was a Universalist in religion. He was married, April 5, 1866, to Eunetia Earl, who survives him and now resides at Sanford's Corners. They were the parents of two children: George L., the elder, is treas- urer of the Hunting Company of Watertown, a prosperous business con-
Holm 8, Dill
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cern. The younger. Mary Gertrude. is the wife of Will Ballard Ball of Watertown.
JOHN STERLING SILL. The progenitor of the American branch of the Sill family was John Sill, a native of England, who emi- grated from thence to Cambridge, Massachusetts. in 1637. The line of descent is traced through his son, Joseph Sill, who was the father of a son. Joseph Sill, and among the children born to him was a son. Lieutenant John Sill, of Lyme, Connecticut, who in turn was the father of a son. Colonel David Fithen Sill, who participated in the French and Indian war as a lieutenant, was captain of a company at the battle of Lexington, in 1775, and afterward was promoted to the rank of colonel for gallant and meritorious service. His son, William M. Sill, was the grandfather of John Sterling Sill.
William Sill, son of William M. Sill, was born in Lyme, Con- necticut, February 8, 1792. During the year 1812 he came to Jeffer- son county, New York, locating in the village of Brownville, and shortly afterward he became a merchant in the town of Rodman. In 1825 he began farming operations in the town of Henderson, and in 1836 he purchased the farm in Rodman, upon which he resided for the remainder of his days. This property consisted of two hundred and eighteen acres, to which seventeen more was subsequently added, making two hundred and thirty-five acres, all of which is under a high state of culti- vation. During the early years of his manhood he upheld the principles of Democracy, but in after years he became an active supporter of the Republican party. He served as supervisor of the town several terms, performing the duties to the satisfaction of the entire community. In 1831 he became a member of the Congregational church, in which he held membership up to his death. and in which he served as trustee. On October 2, 1816, he married Sophia Hopkins, who died May 16, 1851, aged fifty-nine years, and in 1853 he married for his second wife Mrs. Sarah Isham. By the first marriage he was the father of four children- two sons and two daughters-Mary. deceased, was the wife of the late Horace Brown, of Henderson, and later a resident of Adams, where their deaths occurred; John Sterling, mentioned hereinafter: Edward. who died in 1893. was a physician, practicing his profession in the towns of Dexter and Watertown; and Elizabeth, wife of Erastus Kelsey, of Le Ray. New York, a farmer. William Sill, father of these children, died August 8, 1869.
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John Sterling Sill was born in the village of Rodman. New York, October 27. 1820. He attended the common schools of the neighbor- hood, and the knowledge thus obtained was supplemented by a course at the Black River Religious and Literary Institute of Watertown. Hav- ing been reared on a farm he was familiar with all the details of farming. which occupation he chose as his lifework. He is now the owner of the old homestead, upon which he has conducted extensive operations, and the neat and thrifty appearance of his broad acres, together with his commodious and substantial outbuiklings, denote the supervision of a careful and practical man. He erected a handsome house thereon, which is one of the finest in the town, and here his days are spent in quiet and contentment, as he is now reaping the reward of his years of unceasing and tireless activity. He has served as assessor of the town, having been elected on the Republican ticket, the principles of which party he has always adhered to. He has been a member of the Congregational church since boyhood, and for many years served in the capacity of deacon and trustee. He has been a worthy and respected citizen, and the example of his life is a benefit to any community. His wife died March 20, 1000, aged eighty years.
On June 19. 1850, Mr. Sill married Arletta V. Winslow, of Rod- man, New York, daughter of William Winslow. Their children are : John Sterling. Jr., born August 1. 1858, a member of the wholesale and retail hardware firm of Weeks & Company, of Watertown. William Elisha, born December 24. 1860. a progressive farmer, employed on the home farm. He is a Republican in politics, and has served his town as assessor. On March 21, 1900, William Elisha Sill married Anna Gates, daughter of Simeon Gates, of Rodman, who was born October 27, 1868, and they are the parents of one child. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church.
GEORGE SUMMERFIELD WALKER, one of the genial and intelligent citizens of Watertown, whose friends are numbered by the list of his acquaintances, is a native of the county and a scion of one of the earliest American families. The records of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. show that one of the original proprietors of the town was "Widow Walker," whose property in 1643 was valued at fifty pounds sterling. After 1646 the name di-appears from the records, which may have been due to her removel to another town, with her sons.
(Il) James Walker, born 1619-20. in England, appears at Taun-
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ton, Massachusetts, as among those able to bear arms in 1043. He was admitted a freeman there June 4. 1050. He married Elizabeth Phillips, daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Parker ) Phillips. Her brothers. William and John, were among the prominent men of the colony, the lat- ter doing valiant service as a captain of troops in the expedition against Quebec in 1690, for which the colony granted him several fifty-acre "rights" to lands then unsettled. Elizabeth ( Phillips ) Walker died Au- gust 14, 1678. aged fifty-nine years, leaving five children-James, Peter, Eleanor, Hester and Deborah. Mr. Walker married ( second ), November 4. 1678. Sarah Rew, widow of Edward Rew, one of the proprietors of Taunton, and daughter of John Richmond, of that town. James Walker died February 15, 1601, aged seventy-three years. He was a large land- holder, and interested in the iron works and saw mill.
(III) James, eldest child of James and Elizabeth Walker, born 1645-6, died June 22, 1718, at the age of seventy-two years. He was married. December 23. 1673. to Bathsheba, daughter of Gilbert Brooks, of Rehoboth. She was born in 1655, and died February 23. 1738. in her eighty-third year. Mr. Walker was constable in 1689. He lived at "The Weir," and had fifty acres of land. In 1697 he was granted fifty acres.
(IV) David Walker, son of James (2) Walker, died in 1765. He was married October 18. 1703. His wife, Mary, died May 19. 1750, as recorded in Scituate, and he married (second) Esther Dillingham, daugh- ter of Edward Paul, of Berkeley. Mr. Walker lived in Dighton, and was selectman in 1732 and representative in 1721 and 1745. and was captain of militia. He had nine children.
(V) David (2), son of David and Mary Walker, was born May 24. 1717, and died about 1781, in which year the inventory of his estate shows him to have been worth 1.262 pounds sterling. He was married, April 5, 1755, to Mary Wilmarth, of Taunton, who died June 9. 1756, leaving a child. Mr. Walker married, second, March 25. 1758, Sarah Richmond, of Little Compton, Rhode Island, daughter of William and AAnna (Gray) Richmond. She was born January 8. 1738. They lived in Dighton, three-fourths of a mile from Three-Mile River, on the Bris- tol road. There were twelve children.
(VI) Sylvester, son of David (2) and Sarah Walker, was born in 1769, and died February 28, 1836, in the town of Adams, this county. The time of his marriage is indicated by the publication, May 19. 1792, of his intention to wed Sally Burt. of Taunton. She died of smallpox
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at their home in Dighton, and he later married Mary, daughter of John and Ruth ( Talman) Pullen, of Somerset. She was born in 1774. In the autumn of 1791, Mr. Walker accompanied a friend to Charleston, South Carolina, where they did a profitable business in the boot and shoe trade during the winter, returning in the following spring to their homes in Massachusetts. In December, 1799, he went to Havana, Cuba, and for three succeeding winters he was engaged in the stove trade there, with success. On his last voyage he was made prisoner by a French priva- teer and set ashore at Matanzas, after being stripped of all his possessions. In June, 1802, he went to Brattleboro, Vermont, and bought a farm, and in April, 1815, came to Adams, where he passed the balance of his days, He was a religious and highly respected man. One of his nine children -Nancy-became the wife of James Neelon, and their son, Sylvester, was a large shipper and merchant of St. Catherine's, Ontario, and a member of the Canadian parliament.
(VII) David, son of Sylvester and Mary ( Pullen) Walker, was born October 28, 1799, in Swansea ( now Somerset ), Massachusetts, and was married in March, 1820. to Eunice Thomas, daughter of Ira Thomas ( see Thomas ). She died August 3, 1824, in Adams, leaving two daugh- ters. On September 19, 1826, Mr. Walker married Lucy Thomas, a sister of his first wife, who also bore him two children. He was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, and conducted many funer- als among his fellow pioneers, and otherwise officiated among them. He was also a competent civil engineer. and surveyed most of the lands in the southern part of the county. He took the first level in the pre- liminary surveys for the construction of the Rome, Watertown & Og- densburg Railroad, at Rome. He was largely self-educated, though he had some academic training. In early life he owned and tilled a farm of one hundred and seventy acres in the town of Ellisburgh, near the "Thomas Settlement," but moved in 1839 to the village of Adams, where he resided until old age. His death occurred at the home of a son in Cape Vincent, September 3. 1883, when almost eighty-four years old. He was an active Whig, and an earnest supporter of Republican prin- ciples from the birth of the new party. He was for some time superin- tendent of schools in the town of Adams. His first child, Lucy Elmira, lied at the age of sixteen years, and the second, Eunice, in childhood. Sarah Janette, the third, married Jonathan Hall, of Smithfield, Penn- sylvania, whom she survived, and died at Adams in the autumn of 1862.
(VIII) George Summerfield Walker, youngest child of David and
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Lucy Walker, was born November 27, 1830. in the town of Ellisburg. and was reared in Adams. He attended the local public schools and Black River Institute, at Watertown. Illness compelled him to abandon the course begun at the Albany Normal School, and he subsequently attended an academy at East Smithfield, Pennsylvania, for a time. He taught school in Rodman, Adams and Mannsville, and became agent of the railroad company at Adams, continuing a long time in its service, there, at Clayton. Brownville and Potsdam, remaining at the last named post thirteen years. He opened the station, organized the force and sold the first ticket at Clayton. After farming a short time in Adams, he engaged with A. B. Cleveland & Company, seed growers of that town, with whom he removed to Cape Vincent, and was superintendent of one of their departments there ten years. During the last seventeen years he has resided in Watertown, and is now engaged with the Watertown Carriage Company. His home is on Cadwell street, where quiet hos- pitality and culture rule. Mr. Walker adheres to the faith of the Meth- odist church. He was made a Free Mason in Racquette River Lodge No. 213, of Potsdam, in which he subsequently served as warden, and is a member of St. Lawrence Chapter No. 24, same order, in which he was king, and affiliates with Canton Commandery No. 28, Knights Tem- plar. Being independent of party organizations in politics, he has escaped much official service, though he acted as collector of the town of Adams and was postmaster at Castorland while station agent there.
Mr. Walker was married April 11, 1860, by Rev. B. S. Wright, of the State Street church, Watertown, to Miss Ellen E. Williamson, who was born February 22, 1835, in Rodman, daughter of Samuel and Anna (Williamson ) Williamson. The last-named was born in Rodman, a daughter of Christopher Williamson. one of the first settlers of that town. His wife, Eleanor Heustis, was the only daughter in a family of six brothers who came from England. Samuel Williamson was born August 21, 1799, and lived in Rodman and Adams. He died August 6, 1899, aged ninety-nine years and fifty weeks, at the home of a daughter, in Rochester, this state. His wife died May 28, 1883. in New Haven, Oswego county.
The children of George S. and Ellen E. Walker are noted as fol- lows: Lillian J. is the wife of Daniel Marks, a dentist of Bridgeton, New Jersey. Leone Lunette is at the head of the schools of New Rochelle, New York. Lucy Ellen is the wife of DeWitt L. Parker, a doctor of medicine and also of dentistry. of Brooklyn, this state. Herbert D., a
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large advertising publisher, resides at New Rochelle, and George Samuel at New Brunswick. New Jersey. Anna M., the youngest, died at the age of twenty-three, unmarried.
HON. HARRISON FULLER, of Adams, was during his lifetime one of the most eminently progressive and useful men in his community. He served several terms in the legislative assembly of the state, and was primarily instrumental in formulating and securing the enactment of some of the most salutary measures which have contributed to the ad- vancement of the commonwealth in educational, agricultural and other affairs affecting the best interests of the people at large.
He traced his ancestry to William Fuller, whose son, Samuel Ful- ler, was born in Whitingham, Vermont, in 1775. was a farmer by occu- pation, and during the early part of the nineteenth century became a pioneer settler of the town of Adams, where he purchased a tract of land upon which his descendants now reside. He was successful in his business operations, and his standing in the community was of the best. His death occurred October 4. 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He married Anna Phillips, and they were the parents of seven children-two sons and five daughters-William, Royal. Huldah, Rhoda, Sophia, Diana and Maria.
William Fuller, father of Harrison Fuller, settled on the farm later occupied by his son ) which is located about two miles northeast of Adams Centre, on what is known as the Old State Road. He owned a large number of acres, was a successful farmer, and accumulated a comfortable fortune for those early days. On September 10, 1837, he married Martha Keep, a sister of the late Henry Keep, and four chil- dren were born to them, three daughters and one son. Two of the daughters died, one at five and one at twelve. The other daughter. Mary, became the wife of John A. D. Snell, of Adams Centre, where she now resides. Their only son was Harrison, mentioned hereinafter. Mrs. Fuller was a faithful member of the State Road Baptist church, and Mr. Fuller was a liberal supporter of all churches, and was greatly esteemed in the community for his many noble characteristics. He died it his residence in Adams Centre. April 20. 1884. aged seventy-two years. His wife, whose decease was mourned by all who had the honor of her acquaintance, passed away January 18, 1883. Mrs. Fuller re- ceived a munificent legacy from her brother. Henry Keep .- eloquent evidence of the affection which subsisted between them. In her hour of
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prosperity. Mrs. Fuller exemplified in her conduct the splendid traits of character which she possessed. As a farmer's wife she had toiled early and late and practiced the utmost economy and self-denial in the rearing of her family. Many could not have been introduced thus sud- denly to a condition of affluence without serious detriment to dignity and sincerity. To her the transition gave no excuse for alteration of conduct. She remained the modest, kindly hearted, sincere woman she had been in her days of comparative poverty, and this same disposi- tion was reflected in her son, Harrison, who when, in turn, he came into the possession of the fine estate received from his mother, refused to be drawn into a life of ease and pleasure by the allurements of the city and its money-fed society, but remained in the old home. endeared by count- less tender associations, and, identifying himself with his fellows, in all sincerity devoted himself to the interests of his home and of the com- munity. When called by his neighbors to important official position, he remained the same simple, modest man, exemplifying in his every word and act the creed upon which his daily conduct was based :
"He prayeth best who loveth hest All things both great and small."
Harrison Fuller was born August 1. 1845, on the homestead in Adams, and received his preliminary education in the public schools in the home neighborhood, and pursued advanced branches in Union Acad- emy, at Belleville. On coming to manhood he gave himself industriously to the care of the property committed to him, and to which he added largely as the fruits of his persevering and intelligent effort. In course of time he had come into the ownership of about fourteen hundred acres of rich and productive land immediately adjoining his residence. and a farm in the town of Orleans, making in all nearly seventeen hun- tired acres, and constituting him one of the largest holders of cultivated land in Jefferson county. His home was the object of his most careful solicitude. and he made it one of the most delightful residential places in all the region. Overshadowed by the stately trees which he had planted, it was even more beautiful within,-an abode of culture and domestic happiness, and whose inmates dispensed their hospitalities Lountifully and in unaffected sincerity.
Mr. Fuller was throughout his life actively identified with all that enhanced the interests of the town and vicinage. He was vice president of the Farmers' National Bank of Adams, and a director in the Water- town National Bank. Educational and other community concerns of
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moment always received his most cordial and sagacious support. A Republican in politics, he was always regarded as one of the most po- tential figures in the councils of his party in the county. In 1891 he was elected to the general assembly of the state, and his wise and judi- cious course as a member of that body so commended him to his con- stituency that he was returned to his seat at the succeeding three elec- tions, extending his legislative term to the period of four sessions. In his first term he introduced a bill which was of commanding import- ance, one providing for the compulsory education of children. This was warmly supported by the state superintendent of public instruction and by the leading educators throughout New York, as well as by the great mass of the people, whose interest was amply compensated by the beneficent results which proceeded from the enactment of Mr. Fuller's most salutary measure. He also introduced a bill placing upon the state the exepnse of keeping in repair the state armories, thus relieving from an irksome and unjust confiscation of their own funds the counties in which these edifices are situated. Other meritorious subjects of legis- lation to which Mr. Fuller gave his attention by the introduction of bills were the restoration of water diverted from Black river for canal purposes : and regulating speed of cars on the Watertown street railway. In the session of 1893 Mr. Fuller introduced bills making an appropria- tion for the construction of a bridge over Black river: declaring that stream a public highway : and enlarging the scope of investments author- ized to be made by savings banks. In the session of 1894. he was chairman of the committee on banks, and a member of the committee on ways and means, and that on trade and manufactures. In this ses- sion he introduced various important bills: for regulating the fees of medical examiners; for establishing a fish hatchery at Clayton; for taxing the capital of foreign corporations doing business in the state of New York; concerning mortgages, and in relation to the water power of Black river. It is not too much to say that during the four sessions in which Mr. Fuller sat in the assembly, there were few, if any, who surpassed him in industry and sagacity and none to whom he was second in honest devotion to public interests.
Mr. Fuller was married, October 25, 1865, to Miss Ella Snell. a lady of beautiful character and disposition, and who proved a devoted helpmeet to him and a sympathetic ally in all pertaining to his relations with others, whether in public or social concerns. To them was born a daughter. Martha Annette, who has but fairly entered upon young
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womanhood, and in whom is discernible the traits which mark the mother, whose helpful assistant she already is in domestic matters.
Mr. Fuller was a prominent member of Rising Sun Lodge. Free and Accepted Masons, of Adams; Adams Chapter No. 205, Royal Arch Masons : Watertown Commandery No. 1I, Knights Templar : and Media Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Watertown. He was a man of kindly and generous disposition, and was a liberal contributor to the churches and to charities calculated to benefit the poor. His death, as a result of being thrown from his carriage on the hard pavement of Washington street, Watertown, occurred June 2, 1904, at the city hospital of that city.
ABNER TREMAINE, who died in the town of Rodman, this county, June 9. 1870, was a son of Solomon Tremaine, one of the pioneer settlers of this county. The latter married Lucy Brainard, and lived for some years in Paris, Oneida county, whence he moved to the town of Rodman, this county, about 1821. He cleared land there and became a successful farmer, and the location is still known as Tremaine's Cor- ners. He had four sons, and Abner early resolved to strike out for himself.
Abner Tremaine was born November 11, 18II, in Paris, New York. At the age of nineteen years he went to Brownville, and first found employment as gardener and useful man about the estate of a merchant there. He learned the tinner's trade, and followed it most of his life. For a few years he conducted a grocery store at Brownville, and following that kept a meat market. Before the close of the civil war, he went to St. Joseph, Michigan, where he was employed some six years in a tin shop. About this time he invested in a fruit farm near there, which was sold after his death at double the cost to him. Be- cause of failing health he returned to Jefferson county, in May, 1870, and died in the following month, as above noted. while on a visit to relatives in Rodman. He was a Methodist in religious faith, and was a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge at Brownville, until it was disbanded. While a resident of Brownville, he served several years as constable. He always acted politically with the Democratic party.
About 1838 Mr. Tremaine was married to Cordelia Kane, who died in April, 1844. leaving one daughter. Adelaide. The latter is now the wife of John Bronson, residing at Eau Claire, Michigan. On April 18, 1849. Mr. Tremaine married Mahala Hatch, who was born July 21,
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