USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume II > Part 45
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CHARLES NATHANIEL BIBBINS, M. D., traces his descent from ancestors who were among the early settlers of Jefferson county, as well as of Puritan New England. A detailed account of them is found in the history of the Burnham and Bibbins families elsewhere in this work. The latter appears under the title of Schyler Hose Bibbins.
(VII) Charles N. Bibbins, son of Scuyler H. and Louisa M. ( Burnham) ' Bibbins, was born April 7, 1867, at Burr's Mills, in the town of Watertown, at which village he received his primary educa- tion. He subsequently attended the high school of Watertown, and was valedictorian of the class of 1887 at Ives Seminary, Antwerp. While pursuing his studies, he taught two and one-half years in the village schools of this and Lewis counties, and his health was somewhat impaired by his industry and close application. in qualifying himself for his future career. On account of this, he went to Utah and was em- ployed upon surveys there for a year, the outdoor life and change of occupation proving most beneficial. Having restored his ability for mental application, he took up the study of medicine, in Bellevue Hos-
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pital Medical College, of New York city, from which he graduated in 1894. Since that time he has been actively engaged in general practice, as a member of the well known medical firm of Spencer, Bibbins & Pierce. This is a mutually valuable association, and enjoys a large share of the practice of the city and this section of the state, and the con- nection testifies to the native ability and acquired skill of Dr. Bibbins. His standing as a skillful and conscientious physician is recognized alike by his professional contemporaries and the public at large. He is attending surgeon of the Watertown City Hospital and surgeon of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company.
Dr. Bibbins has acted as delegate to the New York State Medical Society, and is one of the original members of the Watertown City Medical Society, in which he has held the office of secretary since its re-organization. He belongs to the medical board of the Watertown City Hospital, is a charter member of the American Roentgen Ray So- ciety, and a fellow of the American Electro-Therapeutic Society. He is also affiliated with the Jefferson County Medical Society. the Ma- sonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Dr. Bibbins was married June 12, 1895, to Lucy H., daughter of George and Caroline ( Simmons) Smith, of Camden, New York. Mrs. Bibbins is active in the benevolent work of the First Presbyterian church, of Watertown. Her children are named Louise Caroline and George Schuyler. Dr. Bibbins is genial of nature, agreeable in manner and conversation, and his success as a medical worker is due in large meas- ure to his high ideals of rectitude and kindness of heart and manner, all of which qualities inspire confidence in a patient, and tend to make friends of all who come under their beneficent influence.
BURNHAM. Among the early New England names which have been honored in colonial and national history, and well known in the formative period of Jefferson county, none are more entitled to favorable mention than this. The ancient seat of the family in Eng- land, " Burnham Beeches," is mentioned in one of Tennyson's poems. Three brothers of the name, John, Thomas and Robert, with their sis- ter, Mary Andrews, came from Norwalk, Norfolk county, England, in 1635. and located at what is now Ipswich, Massachusetts. They crossed the Atlantic on the ship " Angel Gabriel."
(I) Lieutenant Thomas Burnham, settled in Chebacco (Ipswich), and joined the Pequot expedition in 1036-7. He was selectman in 1647,
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and served on town committees. He filled successively the military ranks of sergeant, ensign and lieutenant, and was deputy to the Gen- eral Court in 1683-4-5. He owned considerable real estate in Ipswich and in Chebacco. He was born in 1623, and married, in 1045. Mary, stepdaughter of Thomas Lawrence and Joan Autrobus. Mr. Burnham died in 1694. His children were: Thomas, John, James, Mary, Jo- hanna, Abigail, Ruth, Joseph, Nathaniel, Sarah and Esther.
( II) John, second son and child of Thomas and Mary Burn- ham, was born in 1648, and married June 6, 1668, to Elizabeth Wells. He settled in Chebacco, first near the head of Whittredge creek, and afterward removed to the Falls. In 1680 he became proprietor of the grist mill there and other real estate in that vicinity, which has ever remained with him and his descendants. He died January 12, 1704, and his wife in 1717. Their children were: John, Thomas, Jacob, Joseph, Abigail, Jacob (2), Jonathan, David and Mary.
(III) Thomas, second son and child of John and Elizabeth Burn- ham, was born September 20, 1673, and married Susannah ( surname unknown) and settled on land that was his father's and still remains with his descendants. He died in 1748, and Mrs. Burnham in the same year. Their children were: Thomas, Jeremiah, Nathan was first lieu- tenant of the Fourth Company, Third Provincial Regiment of Foot, and was killed in Braddock's unforunate expedition against Fort Duquesne ( Pittsburg ). Caleb, Hannah and Stephen.
(IV) Stephen, fifth son and youngest child of Thomas and Susannah Burnham, was married November 6, 1735, to Mary An- drews, and lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts, having the following children : Mary, Stephen. Lucy, Lucy (2). Joseph. Ruhanna, Nathan- iel, James, Caleb. Caleb (2), Joshua, David and Jonathan.
(V) Nathaniel, seventh child and third son of Stephen and Mary Burnham, was born March 4, 1747, and married, January 20. 1774. Mary ( surname unknown ), and was of Lyndeboro, New Hamp- shire, now the town of Greenfield. His children were: Lucy, Caleb, Nathaniel. Eppes, Francis, Stephen, Israel.
( VI) Nathaniel, third child and second son of Nathaniel and Mary Burnham, was born in April, 1778, probably in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire, and lived for a time in Vermont. He settled in the east- ern part of the town of Watertown, at what is known as Burr's Mills, in 1802, and in 1803-4 built the house which sheltered him the balance of his life. This house is still in good repair, and occupied by one of
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his descendants. In 1806 he married Susan Noble, of a good old New England family. He was busy in elearing and tilling his land until old age, and was also an active factor in the development of the social and moral interests of the community. He was one of the original members of what is now the First Presbyterian church of Watertown, which was organized in a barn on the farm of his brother. Caleb Burn- ham. Nathaniel Burnham was, later. a member of the Congregational church of Burr's Mills, in which he was a deacon, and assisted to the best of his ability in the development of Christian thought in his town. He died in August, 1868, and his wife in 1880, both at Burr's Mills. She was born in 1790. Their children were: Delia, Nathaniel Noble, Caroline, Louisa, Mehetable ( see Ball. VII), Orlin and Austin. Mr. Burnham dropped the letter "h." in spelling his name, and the cus- tom has been followed by his descendants.
(VII) Nathaniel Noble, second ehild and eldest son of Nathan- iel and Susan Burnam, was born July 29. 1809. on the paternal home- stead at Burr's Mills. He attended the local public school and learned the trade of carpenter, which occupied him for a few years, and re- turned to the homestead on aecount of his father's feeble health, to re- lieve the latter of some of his cares. In due time, he became the owner of the farm and continued farming the balance of his active life. Like his father, he was a deacon of the Congregational church near his home, and in early life was a Democrat. Upon the organization of the Re- publican party, he became its supporter and so continued. In the va- rious town offices he was called upon to fill he discharged his duties conscientiously, and was respected and esteemed by his fellows. He was ever ready to assist in charitable and Christian work, and his aim in life was toward the betterment of the condition of mankind.
Mr. Burnam was married June 9, 1836, to Mary Florilla Leonard. She was born April 5. 1813. in Middlefield, Connecticut, and died at- her home at Burr's Mills. November 2, 1880. Mr. Burnam died April 22, 1891. Three children survive them. Felder Archer, the eldest. born October 22, 1837, married Christeen Purdy, and resides at Me- lina, Orleans county, this state. Louisa Mary, September 20, 1840, is the wife of Scuyler Hose Bibbins, and mother of three children : Charles Nathaniel (q. v.). Mary Adelia and Harriet Ethel ( see Bib- bins). Jerome Melvin Burnam born May 9. 1843, married Harriet Dodge, and resides in the city of Watertown.
(VI) Stephen Burnham, sixth child and fifth son of Nathaniel
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and Mary Burnham, was born March 21. 1785, probably in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire ( now Greenfield). He was an early settler in the town of Rutland, this county, his brothers, Nathaniel and Caleb, locat- ing at Burr's Mills, in the town of Watertown, in 1802. Stephen lo- cated on land west of the center of Rutland, which he cleared up, and was occupied in farming during the balance of his life, becoming an influential citizen of his town. He was a member of the Baptist church in the city of Watertown, and was a strong advocate of temperance. acting for many years with the Prohibition party. He married ( first ) Mehetabel Noble, and they were the parents of three children. Mary. the eldest. married Franklin Weaver. Julia became the wife of Jere- miah Weaver, a brother of Franklin, and had two daughters-Charille and Laura. Gilbert was the third.
Mr. Burnham married (second) Maria, daughter of George and Pamelia Weaver, of the town of Watertown, and she bore him a son and a daughter. Dexter Marcellus, born January 31, 1824, married Chloe Andrus, daughter of Otis Andrus, April 16, 1851. He died March 7, 1857. and his widow is still living. They had two sons- Charles Dexter and Frank Otis. The latter married Etta Hadcock. daughter of Joseph Hadcock, and they had a son, Dexter Burnliam, who is a farmer, residing in the town of Rutland, with his sons. Frank O. Burnham died and his widow married Charles Dexter Burnham. They have a daughter, Margery. Emily Adeline Burnham, second child of Stephen and Maria ( Weaver) Burnham, born April 17, 1827. was married February 1, 1846, to Wileston A. Mallory, of Rutland. He died July 7. 1903. and she died April 28, 1904. They had one son who died at the age of eighteen years.
HIAL COOK. deceased. of Clayton. New York, was born and spent his whole life in Jefferson county. He was an extensive farmer. and a man of substantial worth in the community. He was diligent and energetic in his business, and was open-handed and outspoken in the support of the right as he saw it, while always tolerant of the opin- ions of others.
Mr. Cook was born in 1815, in Rodman, where his father first located on coming to Jefferson county. Later the family moved to La- fargeville, where the father died at the age of seventy, and where the son Hial was educated. The son learned the mason's trade, and worked at it in Watertown for Alexander Cummings. He was a highly skilled
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workman and his services were always in demand. Later he returned to Lafargeville, where he built the Lafarge mansion and a number of other pretentious dwellings there and at Depauville. A little later he occupied a farm about four miles from the village of Clayton, where he cleared off a considerable acreage, and rented an adjoining farm which he managed in conjunction with his own. He worked in all three hundred fifty acres of land, and was one of the largest farmers in the locality. He brought the same industry and intelligence to the conduct of his farm that had brought him success in his earlier work. When he gave up active work he bought a house in the village of Clay- ton, where he lived until ,it was burned down in 1885. He then built the house on James street, which is now occupied by his widow. He was a successful and exemplary man and a member of the Universalist church. He married Susan Hurd, who was born in Bennington. Ver- mont, in 1800. Her father, Isaac Hurd, born in Bennington, went to Jefferson county, New York, in 1812, going first to Champion, but later locating at Lafargeville, where he built a log house for his fan- ily. Afterward he lived at Antwerp, and his last years were spent with his children in Watertown. His wife was Mary Cuthill, born on Long Island in revolutionary times. Her father was captain of a vessel on Long Island Sound. He had at one time an exciting adventure with pirates, who at that early period preyed on the shipping along the coast. He was captured and taken on board the pirate ship, only escap- ing by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. He had previously been exposed to smallpox, but made his way under cover of darkness to a friendly cabin, where he was nursed during his illness. The pirates traced him to this place of refuge, but were frightened away by the story of the plague. He recovered and obtained command of another vessel, in which he was lost at sea. Mrs. Susan ( Hurd) Cook, grand- daughter of this old sea captain, is now in her ninety-fifth year, and the only survivor of a family of ten children. This venerable lady. who has lived a life of kindly usefulness, is held in the highest esteem by a large circle of friends.
PARKER FAMILY. This name has borne no inconspicuous part in the settlement of Jefferson county, and is found in all parts of the county. Not all have been traced to a common origin, but most are known to have descended from the Puritan fathers of the New Eng-
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land colonies. The name has been honored in all generations, and those who bear it in this region have held up its prestige.
( I) Thomas Parker was born in England in 1605. and came to America in the ship " Susan and Ellen " in 1638. He lived for a short time in Lynn, Massachusetts, and settled in Reading, where he was selectman in 1652-3 and 1657, and a deacon of the church. He died in 1698, and his wife Amy in 1690.
(II) Sergeant John Parker, one of the eight children of Deacon Thomas Parker, was married in 1667 to Hannah, daughter of Deacon Thomas and Rebecca Kendall. She died in 1680. The christian name of Mr. Parker's second wife was Thankful. He lived on Cowdry's Hill. in that part of Reading now Wakefield, and died in 1608. He was the father of thirteen children.
(III) John, son of Sergeant John Parker and his wife, Hannah Kendall, was born in 1668, and was married in 1601 or 1604. The record is now almost illegible. His wife, Elizabeth ( surname unknown) bore him eleven children.
(IV) Benjamin, son of John (2) and Elizabeth Parker, was born in 1703 and was married in 1726 to Sarah Foster, who died in 1741. He married ( second) Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Parker.
(V) Reuben, son of Benjamin Parker, was born in 1732 in Read- ing. and died January 20, 1825. He was married, June 19. 1759. to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Wooley, who died December 12, 1779. He married (second) Esther Townsend, of Townsend. Massachusetts. who passed away October 20, 1811.
(VI) James Parker was born September 29. 1764. in Richmond. New Hampshire, whence he went with his parents to Ackworth, New Hampshire, where he was living in 1787. He married about 1786 Martha Houston, who was born April 26, 1769, and died April 14. 1841. She was a cousin of Sam Houston, the noted Texas general and United States senator. He died January 26, 1828, in the town of Watertown, where he settled in 1801. He was a soldier of the Revo- lution, and three of his sons were in the battle of Sackets Harbor. in 1813. He was one of the first officers of the Jefferson County Agri- cultural Society. He made the first barrel of cider in the county, and received the first prize offered for cultivated fruit and orchard. His farm embraced three hundred and ten acres, on the Brownville road. in Watertown, where a grandson now resides. He was also one of the pioneers in stone quarrying and as early as 1806 opened the Parker
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ledge on the state road between Lee's tavern and Ox Bow. It was from this quarry that one hundred pair of millstones were manufactured, and the old Church mill at Antwerp village was also built with the product of the Parker ledge.
Seven of his nine children were born in New Hampshire. The list follows: Alexander, born September 3, 1787, was many years a warden of Trinity church. Watertown, where he died. John Wallace, September 24, 1789. died in Watertown in 1871. Nancy Houston, April 4. 1791. married Henry Swayze, and died in Brownville. Cyrus, September 28. 1793, died in March, 1855, at West Theresa. Betsey, born March 9, 1795. died when eighteen years old. Lucinda. Novem- ber 15, 1797, became the wife of Abraham Morrow and lived in Theresa. She died at the home of a daughter in Chicago. Amanda, July 24, 1799. married Willard Shurtlef, and died August 13. 1846, at Plessis. Almeda, December 9, 1804. was the wife of Jason Clark, and died at the home of her son. George, in Great Bend. James, December 7. 1806, is the subject of the following paragraphs.
(VII) James Parker, youngest child of James and Martha (Houston) Parker, was born December 7, 1806. in the town of Wa- tertown, where he died June 23. 1885. He was married (first ) about 1832, to Mary E. Swayze, who was born March 24. 1807. and died June 8. 1853. She was the mother of seven children, noted as follows : Martha E., born January 1, 18344. died December 26, 1851. Jason C .. born August 28. 1835, died November 17. 1854: John H., is men- tioned at length below: Jacob S., born .August 11, 1839, was a lieu- tenant in the Union army during the Civil war and now resides in Jacksonville, Florida; Sarah A., June 8. 1841, died May 29, 1852: James R., April 1, 1844. died February 28, 1852; Winfield S., sub- ject of a later paragraph.
Mr. Parker married (second) Orinda Amelia Knapp, who sur- vives him and now resides in Brownville. Three sons and two daugh- ters were born to the second union. Mary, the first, died at the age of six years in 1864. Charles K. is a resident of Nounsfield. Ed- ward E. resides on the paternal homestead in Watertown. Frederick W. was employed by his half-brothers in Cape Vincent, and died there. Kate Lucinda died in Brownville, unmarried.
James Parker was all his life a farmer on the farm where his father settled in 1801. and was an active and respected citizen. He was for many years a member of the Presbyterian church at Brownville, in
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which he usually filled some official position, and was a leading mem- ber of the Sons of Temperance while that organization flourished. He was several years treasurer of the Jefferson County Agricultural So- ciety, was a captain of the state militia, and served long as justice of the peace. He was a Whig, and among those who organized the Re- publican party in Jefferson county.
(VIII) Captain John Henry Parker, son of James and Mary E. ( Sawyze) Parker, was born July 23, 1837, on the homestead in Wa- tertown, where he grew up, being early accustomed to take part in such farm labor as he was capable of. He attended the district school and Black River Institute at Watertown, and began at an early age to teach school. His first term of teaching was in the winter of 1853-4 at Point Peninsula, and he continued teaching in winter and attending school in spring and fall until he was twenty-four years old. Altogether he taught eight terms, including a summer term or two, his field of labor including Theresa, North Watertown, Dexter and Cape Vincent. The outbreak of the Civil war changed his course of life, and made one of the best soldiers of that day.
In August, 1862, the name of John H. Parker was enrolled as a member of Company H. Tenth New York Heavy Artillery. His first service was as recruiting officer, with the rank of first lieutenant, and he enhsted about thirty men, and was mustered in with the regiment at Sackets Harbor September 12, 1862, as first lieutenant. On the first of February, 1863, he was in command of the company, and was commissioned captain in June of that year. In August he was stricken with fever, and was invalided until January 3, 1864. With the ex- ception of this period he was in active service until his discharge in July, 1865. After spending some time in the defenses about Washing- ton he went with his organization to join General Grant at Cold Har- bor, participating in that sanguinary engagement, and from that time until the battle of Petersburg and subsequently in the Shenandoah Val- ley was under fire almost continuously. Out of a total of two hun- dred and eight enlisted men and recruits that served in Company H, eighty-six were lost, and the captain was the only one of the original officers who returned with the one hundred and twenty-two privates and non-commissioned officers at the close of hostilities. During his sta- tion at Washington. Captain Parker's command was the first to fire a salute on the unveiling of the Liberty statue on the capital building.
Having served his country faithfully and well upon the field of
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military operations, Captain Parker took up the life of a peaceful civil- jan with the same patriotic loyalty as a citizen. He has been as active in support of his principles in civil contests as he was upon the battle- field, and is recognized as a useful and influential citizen. He supports Republican policies and candidates, but has never desired any official station. In October. 1865. he opened a grocery store at Brownville. in partnership with a brother, and after the dissolution of the partner- ship two years later continued the business alone until the close of 1872. Immediately thereafter he removed to Cape Vincent, where he has conducted a general store to the present time. His younger brother. Winfield S., is now his partner.
Captain Parker has been a member of the Methodist church since 1867. and has always been connected with local official boards. He has acted many years as superintendent of the Cape Vincent Sunday school, and is active in all the works of the society. He is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was several years its commander. Every movement for the uplifting of society has his cordial support, and he enjoys the respect and esteem of his fellows.
Mr. Parker was married April 23. 1862. to Helen MI. Esselstyn, who was born in Cape Vincent in December. 1837, a daughter of Will- jam and Maria (Hollenbeck ) Esselstyn, of that village. She died in 1883. leaving a daughter. Mattie C., who resides with her father. On February, 1887. Captain Parker married Mary Holmes, who was born July, 1850. in Jo Davies county, Illinois, daughter of Benjamin and Mary ( Rogers) Holmes. Two children have blessed this marriage. Mary Elizabeth and Arthur Holmes, now students of the public school of Cape Vincent.
(VIII) Winfield Scott Parker, seventh child of James Parker (2) and youngest of his first wife, Mary E. ( Swayze), was born Oc- tober 4. 1847. in Watertown, where he grew to manhood. He attended the Watertown high school and a select school conducted by Professor Horace Otis, a noted educator of his day in Watertown. In 1869 he went to California to try his fortune, and spent two years in mining, after which he returned to his native place, and in 1873 joined his ekier brother in conducting a general store at Cape Vincent, where they are still found in successful continuance. Mr. Parker is a quiet, modest citizen, who gives attention first to his business and the interests of his family, and at the same time takes intelligent cognizance of and
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participates in movements calculated to promote the general welfare. He is a friend of the public school system, and has done his part toward making it of use in his home town. A member of the Presbyterian church and an ardent Republican, he is content to be a worker in the ranks of both church and party.
Mr. Parker was married March 2, 1871, to Miss Josephine MI. Griswold, who was born in Lafargeville, a daughter of James and Adeline ( Sperry ) Griswold. Three children have sprung from this mar- riage, namely: James Griswold. Marion Adeline and Grace Swayze. The son is a student of Cornell University, one of the victims of the terrible fever epidemic which raged at Ithaca in 1903, and will grad- uate in 1905. Both the daughters are graduates of the Potsdam Nor- mal School and the elder is now preceptress of the local public schools, while the younger is a teacher in Lowville Academy.
(VII) Alexander Parker, eldest son of James and Martha ( Hous- ton) Parker, was born September 3. 1787, in Ackworth, New Hamp- shire. He was educated in the common schools, and came to Water- town, New York, in March. 1801, with his father, on foot, and carry- ing packs upon their backs. They built their shanty in what has al- ways been called the Parker neighborhood, near the old district school- house, so long known and actively used. The following winter Alex- ander lived with Deacon Bartholomew's family and attended the near- est school, three miles distant, on the Keyes farm, south of Water- town. The same winter his father returned to Vermont for the re- mainder of his family, they making the journey on a sled drawn by oxen. James Parker, the father, was engaged to some extent in the manufacture of pot and pearl ash, and at one time. being in need of some groceries and hemlock gum, he sent Alexander, then a good-sized boy, to get the groceries at Watertown and to pick the gum from the trees in the then unbroken forest thereabout. Alexander picked the gum first and then found he was lost in the woods: when night came on and he did not return the family and neighbors went in search of him. finally finding him asleep at the foot of a great tree where Coffeen and Court streets now join. At the age of seventeen he went on foot to New Hampshire, and remained with his grandfather nearly one year, attending school.
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