USA > New York > Jefferson County > Genealogical and family history of the county of Jefferson, New York, Volume II > Part 67
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(V) Stephen Clark was born June 25, 1754, in Chatham and served with distinction in the struggle of the colonies for independence. He always lived on Clark's Hill, and died there October 3, 1852, in his ninety-ninth year. He had a large family.
(VI) William Clark, son of Stephen, was born July 3, 1783, on Clark's Hill, in Chatham, Connecticut, and died in Champion, New York, in 1850. He came here in 1835, with his son, J. Hayden Clark, and together they cleared most of the seventy-five acres of land which they took up, on Martin Street, where the grandson and great-grandson of William Clark now reside, on lots 2 and 5. William Clark was a Whig in politics and a Unitarian in religion. He was married May 8, 1809, to Sophronis Post, who was born October 14, 1785, in Chathan, and died in 1870, in Champion. Her parents were Joel Post, born March
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25, 1753, and Keturah Jones, January 20, 1763, and they were married May 30, 1782. They died in Trenton, Oneida county, New York, the former October 14, 1819, and the latter July 19, 1855, over ninety years of age. William Clark's children are noted as follows: William Henry, horn November 12, 1810, lived and died in the town of Pinckney, Lewis county. Thomas Nelson, July 26, 1812, lived in Pinckney and Champion, dying in the latter town July 1. 1893. Sophronia Maria died when nine- teen days old, and the second of that name, born September 22, 1816, married Orson Stewart (see Stewart).
(VII) Jedediah Hayden Clark, third son of William, was born February 2, 1814, on Clark's Hill, and was just of age when he came to the town of Champion. The land purchased by his father had a small clearing and his first undertaking was the clearing of the balance and the development of a farm. He cared for his parents in their last days, added six acres to the estate, and carried on general farming until his death, August 23. 1897, when he was over eighty-three years old. When he became a voter he allied himself with the Whig party, and was among the founders of the Republican party. Both he and his wife were Uni- versalists in religious faith.
Ile was married January 3, 1841, to Maria, daughter of James and Sally ( Choat) Fulton (see Fulton). Maria Fulton was born February 15. 1817, in Champion, where she died February 10, 1857. In 1857 Mr. Clark married Susan ( Waldo), widow of John Gates, who died in March, 1865. His third marriage occurred in October. 1867, when Lydia M. Southworth became his wife. She was born April 5. 1823, in Rutland. and still survives, residing on the homestead.
(VIII) Chauncey Hayden Clark, only child of Jedediah Hayden, was born February 2. 1843, on the farm where he now resides, and where he grew up. He attended the local district school and the Carthage and Gouverneur public schools, continuing during the winter season until he attained his majority. In 1865 he bought the farm adjoining the paternal homestead on the west. and subsequently acquired the farm on the opposite side of the road, which he still retains. The Yankee propensity for trade seems to have been well developed in him, and he was engaged, profitably, in several lines of business. At one time he traded a farm for a livery business at Gouverneur, which he operated a few months and then disposed of, returning to the home farm. For a period of four years he operated a grist mill at Great Bend, and has been twice engaged in butchering for the local trade. During the con-
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struction of the paper mill at Deferiet, he catered to the demand for meats in the vicinity two years. He has always dealt largely in cattle of all kinds, and operated a dairy of twenty to twenty-five cows. He has bought and sold lands extensively, and is now the possessor of nearly fifteen hundred acres. He is a member of the Great Bend Grange, in which he has held some of the offices, but is not now a regular attendant. He embraces the Universalist faith, and is an active promoter of the interests of the Republican party, believing them to mean the best interests of the country. He has served two years as collector of the town, and was re-elected to the second terms as assessor in November, 1903.
Mr. Clark was married to Gertrude Buck, who was born September 3, 1844, in Champion, daughter of Theodorus and Harriet (Carter) Buck, who lived and died in that town. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are the parents of two sons, Jay II. and Fred B., both residing with their parents and assisting in the cultivation of the farm.
GARY H. WOOD, M. D. Foremost in the ranks of those Jeffer- son county physicians whose unquestioned skill is the result not alone of the training of the schools but of long and extended experience stands Dr. Gary H. Wood of Antwerp. He is a grandson of Wheelock Wood, a native of Massachusetts, who went to Ohio, Herkimer county, New York, which was the birthplace of his son, Benjamin F. Wood. The latter was educated at Fairfield Seminary and has labored for many years in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. For ten years he was presiding elder of Watertown and Adams district and was also stationed for a time at Martinsburg. He married Asenath Barnes and four children were born to them, one of whom, Gary H., is mentioned at length hereinafter. In 1865 the Reverend Mr. Wood and his family sustained an irreparable loss by the death of the wife and mother, who was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends.
Gary H. Wood, son of Benjamin F. and Asenath ( Barnes) Wood, was born December 10, 1854, in Ohio, Herkimer county, New York, and received his primary education in the common schools, afterward attending Fairfield Seminary, Herkimer county, from which he gradu- ated in 1874. In early life he was for several years engaged in teaching. He studied medicine with Dr. Osborn of Sauquoit, Oneida county, and also attended lectures at the Long Island College Hospital, from which institution he graduated in June, 1877, with the degree of Doctor of
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Medicine. He then settled in Antwerp, where he has since remained and where he has been many years in possession of a remarkably successful and lucrative practice. Although assiduous in his devotion to the duties of his profession he is closely identified with the political life of the county, has been supervisor of the town for nine years and was at one time coroner of the county. He has frequently acted as delegate to the state convention. He has always been active in educational circles and served for many years on the board of trustees of Ives Seminary. He is now president of the board of education of the Antwerp high school.
Dr. Wood is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, of which in 1896 he was president, and he also belongs to the New York State Medical Society. He affiliates with Antwerp Lodge, No. 226, F. & A. M., has filled most of the chairs of the order and was master of the lodge for five years. He is a member of Theresa Chapter No. 149, Watertown Commandery and Media Temple. Since the organi- zation of the Order of the Eastern Star he and his wife have been num- bered among its members and patrons. Politically he is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Wood married August 30, 1876, Mary F. Tamblin, of Black River, Jefferson county, daughter of Jackson Tamblin, a prominent citizen of the town of Rutland, New York, who filled for many years the offices of justice of the peace and justice of sessions. Dr. and Mrs. Wood have had three children : Ethel May, who died at the age of nineteen months; Lillian .A., who was born October 19, 1884, and is a graduate of Vassar College: and Isabelle T., who was born March 20, 1891. The home of Dr. and Mrs. Wood is one of the social centers of Antwerp. Mrs. Wood is matron of several orders.
WOOSTER SHERMAN.
(X) Wooster Sherman, organizer and treasurer of the Watertown Savings Bank, was born at Newport, New York, April 28, 1809, the fifth child and fourth son of Phineas and Amy ( Thornton) Sherman. (See ancestry elsewhere.) He received his early education in the com- mon schools of his native town, and when fifteen years old served as clerk in the stores of Eli Farwell, of Watertown, and William S. Ely, of Brownville. Having decided to follow the profession of law, the next year, at the age of sixteen, he began a course of study in the law offices of Bueklin & Sherman, and while yet a student was appointed to the position of deputy county clerk, in which capacity he served for
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five consecutive years, a portion of this time acting as clerk of the supreme and county courts. In 1828 he served as clerk of the circuit court at the trial of Henry Evans, convicted of the murder of Rogers and hanged August 22d, of that year. Mr. Sherman, as deputy clerk. signed the death warrant, which is on file in the Historical Society, of which he was an honorary member. Mr. Sherman resigned his position as deputy clerk, and again took up his studies with the firm of Ilubbard & Dutton, and in May, 1829, was admitted to the bar.
May 28, 1832, Mr. Sherman was united in marriage with Miss Wealthy S. Dickinson, of Northampton, Massachusetts, where she was born August 28, 1812, a daughter of Frederick Dickinson. The follow- ing children were born from this union: William W .; Frederick D .; Emma M., widow of Ambrose J. Clark, residing with her son, Wallace S., in Schenectady ; Cornelia F., wife of the late Robert M. C. Graham, of New York; Henry J. and J. W. ( twins) ; Grace, who married Francis E. Hunn, of New Haven, Connecticut ; Wealthy and John Jay. The only children now living are Mrs. Clark; Mrs. Hun; William W., deputy collector of customs at Cape Vincent; and Frederick D., now living in Brooklyn. Mr. Sherman's other descendants-and those of whom he was justly proud-are five grandsons, eight granddaughters, two great-grandsons and five great-granddaughters.
His health being somewhat impaired, Mr. Sherman concluded that a few months of travel, with complete rest from business anxieties, would be of great benefit to him, and accordingly, in the spring of 1833, he started on a voyage to the Straits of Belle Isle, on the coast of Labrador, taking passage in an eighty-ton fishing schooner from Marblehead, Mas- sachusetts. His trip covered a period of about four months, and he returned home in the latter part of September, having entirely recuper- ated.
Six years later-in the fall of 1839, while still in the practice of an attorney, he received the appointment of cashier of the old Bank of Watertown. The directors of the bank were Ilon. Willard Ives, Henry D. Sewall, William H. Angel, Stephen Boon, Benjamin Corey, Samuel Buckley and others, all of whom have passed away. Mr. Sherman severed liis connection with the institution, after two years' successful management. In the fall of 1841, under the general laws of the state, he established the first private bank with circulating notes, a method that was afterward adopted by Luther Wright, of Oswego, New York, John D. Hudson, of Ogdensburg, Henry Keep, of Watertown, N. Mer-
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riam, of Courtland, and others. Mr. Sherman started his bank, which was known as "Wooster Sherman's Bank," with a capital of $10,000, which was afterward increased to $50,000, and its circulation to $60,000. He conducted this institution, attended with much success, for about twenty-five years, during which time he accumulated a handsome com- petency, when the national banking law was passed by Congress, necessi- tating the calling in of his circulating notes, which were regularly redeemed.
In 1854 Mr. Sherman built a handsome residence on Clinton street. where he lived for a quarter of a century, and which is now occupied by George W. Knowlton. The banking house now occupied by the Water- town National Bank was also built by Mr. Sherman. He was for many years a member of the Trinity Episcopal church, and his political sympa- thies were with the Democratic party, in whose interests he worked hard. and in his younger days held many positions of trust in the party, and was at one time its nominee for presidential elector.
In the great bank panic of 1857, when almost all the banks in the country were compelled to suspend payments temporarily, Mr. Sherman publicly made announcement that he would meet all liabilities that should be demanded of him, offering gold in the redemption of his circulating notes, and to his depositors the same bank notes by which they had made their deposits, or in sight drafts on New York. always keeping there a large balance. The effect of this announcement was electrical, and few demands were made.
In 1858, at the suggestion of his Albany correspondent-the New York State Bank-he negotiated with the Hartford Phoenix Bank for an unlimited amount of their circulating notes, without interest on thirty days' time, and was thus in a position to extend accommodations to his customers profitably. When an extensive flouring and distilling merchant in the present Taggert bag and paper mill, Mr. William H. Angel, desired $50,000, lie was notified by Mr. Paddock that Wooster Sherman was the only banker that could furnish it; and his notes at sixty days were discounted for that amount. Besides this, he furnished $50,000 to Edwin White for the purchase of butter and cheese; $35,000 to Garret Ives for a cargo of wheat ; and $25,000 to Eldridge G. Merrick, of Clayton, an extensive lumber, timber and grain dealer.
Wooster Sherman could well look upon life as a success, won for him by the remarkable industry and perseverance that characterized his entire life and well qualified him to take a prominent place in the business
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world. In his youth he won the entire confidence of such prominent and respected citizens as Norris M. Woodruff, Loveland Paddock and Jolin Clarke, the two last gentlemen offering to join him in establishing the largest bank in the city. The transactions with the Phoenix bank, amounting to several hundred thousands of dollars, were closed without the loss to either party of a single dollar, thus showing the young man to be possessed of shrewd and correct methods of banking, unknown to many more experienced bankers. This confidence was not lost in his more advanced years, but his deep and lasting interest in everything that pertained to his town and the Savings Bank Jie so ably represented was justly appreciated by his fellow trustees and townsmen.
In February, 1882, Mr. Sherman received a very great sorrow through the death of his wife, who died regretted not only by her husband and children, but by the entire community.
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