Genealogical and family history of western New York; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, Volume III, Part 24

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 598


USA > New York > Genealogical and family history of western New York; a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, Volume III > Part 24


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).


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thought to the teaching of temperance in the Sunday schools of the city. She married, at Jamestown, July 10, 1889, Orin B. Hayward, born January 12, 1864; they have one son, Walter Gifford Hayward, born October 12, 1891. Mr. Hayward is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church as is also their only son. Mr. Hayward is also an Odd Fel- low. Walter Gifford Hayward is at present (19II) in his freshman year in the medical school, University of Buffalo. 6. Fannie S., born July 12, 1870, died February 18, 1888.


Eliza Cornelia (Robertson) Gifford, wife of Walter Cornell Gifford, was born on a farm near the village of Ellicottville, Catta- raugus county, New York, August 4, 1830, died May 9, 1911, daughter of Henry Clark and Ursula (Maltby) Robertson, both natives of Connecticut, and both brought at an early age to New York state by their parents, he to Madison, she to Oneida county. They came to Cattaraugus county in 1820, and were among the pioneers of that section. Both were school teachers and all their five children followed that profession. Eliza C. began teaching when still lacking three months of being fifteen years of age. Her salary was one dollar per week and "board around." From that time until her marriage she either attended school as a pupil or was engaged in teaching. In that day there was but one col- lege open to girls (Oberlin, Ohio) the district school being the only opportunity she had to acquire an education, except two terms at a private school taught by the wife of a Presby- terian minister, Rev. Sylvester Cowles, at El- licottville, and later two terms at the old Jamestown Academy, with E. A. Dickinson as principal, and Harriet Hazeltine, precep- tress. The limitations which custom and opin- ion in those days set for girls were much less liberal than at present, and many things which were highly improper then for a girl could be done by the opposite sex without question. Many things that a girl can now do with per- fect propriety then earned only opprobrium and such terms as "unladylike," "romp" or "tomboy." As a young girl she often puz- zled her head why so much more was expected of a girl, especially in morals, and decided in her own mind that there should be one stand- ard of morality for both sexes. The newspa- pers that came to her home sometimes con- tained articles on "Woman's Rights," but al- most always such articles were disparaging


and often contemptuous. Women who took any part with such ideas were called "Screech- ers" or "Strong Minded," etc. On reflection the young girl decided it better to be called strong minded than the opposite, and at her first opportunity became identified with the equal suffrage movement, and equal rights in the home, in church and in state, believing that humanity can never be capable of its greatest achievements until the wife and mother takes her proper place beside her hus- band, his co-equal and helpmate. When the grange came to bless the agricultural commun- ity, she with her husband lost no time in iden- tifying herself with the movement, and together, in 1873, they became charter mem- bers of Union Grange, No. 244, of James- town. In its organization not only the oppor- tunity but especial chance for a broader out- look for the farmer's wife was given, and she often remarked that "the women of the farm need the associations which the grange affords them more than the men, for her life is necessarily more secluded and often iso- lated." At the first session of the National Grange which she attended at Atlanta, Geor- gia, in 1890, her husband then being master of New York State Grange, which made her a delegate to the National Grange also, she introduced a resolution which declared the National Grange to be in favor of the "ballot for women." As one of the fundamental principles of the order is equal rights for both sexes, this proposition would seem but the legitimate sequence of such teaching, and al- though the grange has since declared in favor of equal suffrage it met at this time with such violent opposition, particularly from southern representatives, that the resolution was af- terward defeated. A motion, however, pre- vailed to print five thousand copies of her preamble and resolution for distribution among the various granges of the nation. which was done. Mrs. Gifford continued an active, earnest worker in the grange for many years. She introduced, in 1881, in the New York State Grange, the first suffrage resolu- tion ever brought before that body, and was the author of the memorial in favor of en- franchising woman, which was adopted by the State Grange and submitted to the constitu- tional convention of 1894. She held the office of master of Union Grange and that of mas- ter of Chautauqua County Pomona Grange, She was for many years a frequent contributor


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to the press, chiefly in advocacy of "Equal Rights," believing the press to be the surest, speediest way to gain the public ear. She was also active and useful in the special work of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. For many years she held the office of county superintendent of franchise; she was also state superintendent of legislative work for the New York State Woman's Suffrage As- sociation. She and her husband were in per- fect accord in her work and labored together for the public good. In common with most women of the farm her life was a busy one, and as she said "with some clouds and more sunshine." Her later years were spent in the companionship of her daughter Alice, (Mrs. Orin B. Hayward) of Jamestown, New York.


Ursula (Maltby) Robertson, mother of Mrs. Gifford, was a double cousin of Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric pioneer preacher, her mother be- ing Asenith Dow, sister of Lorenzo Dow's father, whose wife was sister of her father, Mr. Maltby. Ursula Maltby was born May 25, 1799, died August 24, 1876; married Clark Robertson, born April 26, 1799, died March 26, 1886. Had born to them six chil- dren of whom Mrs. Gifford was the last to survive. Children: I. Mary R., wife of Dr. Moore, of Manlius, New York; one son, Frank R. Moore, of Brooklyn, at one time receiver of customs for the Eastern port of New York, afterward principal of the Brook- lyn commercial high school and a lifelong educator. 2. Amerette, wife of Ephraim Hud- son : children : i. Julia, married Sidney Har- son : several children and grandchildren living in and near Ellicottville, New York ; ii. Flora, married Truman Hinman, had Ar- thur and Charles : iii. Erma, born May 22, 1866, married (first) Erie Sherman, had Gil- bert : married (second) Smith, lives at present time (1911) in North Yacama, state of Washington; they have three children ; iv. Eva, twin sister of Erma, married Elmer Eddy, has two children. 3. Eliza C., afore- mentioned as wife of Walter C. Gifford. 4. Albert, married Lucinda Smith; children : Robert Clark, Edith Agnes, Dr. R. Smith. 5. Frances, married Myron Sherman. To them were born Edward Humphry, Edith and Mabel. Edward H. married Florence Shaver ; children: Arthur, born April, 1884; Louise and Gertrude.


The Caleb Gifford branch have several in-


teresting lines of ancestry, one tracing through Jeremiah Gifford who married Mary Wright of the fourth generation from Fran- cis Cook, of the "Mayflower." Another through Jedida Cushman, wife of Caleb Gif- ford, sixth generation from Robert Cushman who hired the "Mayflower" and to Mary Allerton who came over in the "Mayflower" and was the wife of Elder Thomas Cushman, son of Robert Cushman, and still another through the same source which traces back fifteen generations to Thomas Sherman, of Suffolk county, England, who died March 16, 1564.


Thus this branch of the family traces three lines to the Pilgrim Fathers and one to the middle of the fifteenth century in old Eng- land.


The father of Millicent Cornell, wife of Gideon Gifford, was captain of a whaling vessel and left the seas about the time of the revolutionary war.


(The Cook Line).


(I) Francis Cook, born 1577, died April 4, 1663; resided at Plymouth ; married Hester


(II) Hester Cook, died June 18, 1666; married, November 21, 1644. Richard Wright, born 1608, died June 9, 1691.


(III) Adam Wright, born 1645, died Sep- tember 20, 1724; married for second wife Mahiable Barrows.


(IV) Mary Wright, died March 12, 1780; married Jeremiah Gifford (see Gifford III).


(The Cushman Line).


(I) Robert Cushman, father of Elder Thomas Cushman.


(II) Elder Thomas Cushman, born in England, 1608, married Mary Allerton, born in Holland, 1616; she was the daughter of Isaac Allerton, who came over in the "May- flower" and was for many years lieutenant- governor of the colony.


(III) Eleazer, son of Elder Thomas Cush- man, born February 2, 1656, married Eliza- beth Coombs.


(IV) James, son of Eleazer Cushman, mar- ried (name of wife not given).


(V) Ebenezer, son of James Cushman, born January 27, 1727, married Zurviah Sherman.


(VI) Jedida, daughter of Ebenezer Cush- man, married Caleb Gifford (see Gifford V).


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.


(The Sherman Line).


(I) Thomas Sherman, of Suffolk, England, died March 16, 1564.


(II) Henry, son of Thomas Sherman, born in 1520, married Agnes Butler.


(III) Henry (2), son of Henry (1) Sher- man, died 1610; married Susan Hills.


(IV ) Samuel. son of Henry (2) Sherman, born 1573, married Phillis Ward.


(V) Phillip, son of Samuel Sherman, came from England in 1633, settling in Roxbury, Massachusetts, afterward moving to Rhode Island. He left the Congregational church and united with the Society of Friends. He died 1686. He was called the Hon. Phillip Sherman. He married Sarah Odding.


(VI) John, son of Phillip Sherman, mar- ried Sarah Spooner.


(VII) Phillip (2), son of John Sherman, born 1676, died 1740; married Hannah Wil- COx.


(VIII) Jacob, son of Phillip (2) Sherman, born April 9, 1708; married August 29, 1729, Mary Ellis.


(IX) Zurviah, daughter of Jacob Sher- man, married Ebenezer Cushman.


(X) Jedida, daughter of Ebenezer Cush- man, became the wife of Caleb Gifford (see Gifford IV).


(The Cornell Line).


(I) Matthew Cornell, born November II, 1745. The place of his birth is not known. At the age of twenty-nine or thirty and at the commencement of the revolutionary war his family was living at Ponegansett, Bristol county, Massachusetts. He was a seafaring man and captain of a whaler, was captured by a British cruiser in 1776 or 1777, and confined on board a British prison ship lying in the harbor of New York. After suffering every- thing but death from hunger and malaria (and history says 12,000 prisoners died in these horrible prison ships), he was released in 1778 or 1779, and after recovering from the effects of imprisonment, he lived a short time in Ponegansett, whence he emigrated with his wife and one or two children to Easton, Washington county, about the year 1780. There were but one or two houses where the city of Troy now stands. The road from Albany to Troy lay through fields and gates. The vessels of that time stopped at Albany altogether. After a residence of about nine years in Easton he moved to Cambridge and


settled on the farm (1870) now owned by Gerritt Fort, where he acquired a respectable property, and reared a family of seven chil- dren, and departed this life March 4, 1807, in his sixty-third year. He had one brother who died in Easton, the father of Walter La- tham, Wanton, etc. His wife's mother, Amy Shrieve, whose family name was Head, was a Presbyterian and a native of Seconnett (an Indian name) now called Little Compton. Her husband, Daniel Shrieve, was drowned by the swamping of a fishing boat in Buz- zards Bay on the coast of Massachusetts. Amy Shrieve was buried in Cambridge in a burying ground on the farm now (1870) owned by Elliott Lee. Daniel and Amy Shrieve left seven children, Daniel, Abigail, Mary, Elizabeth, Christopher, Ruth and God- frey. Elizabeth was the wife of Matthew Cornell. They both embraced the Quaker faith, and their remains rest in the Quaker burying ground in Easton, Washington county, New York.


He married Elizabeth Shrieve, born No- vember 23, 1750, died April 9, 1829. They were married about the year 1774. Children : Amy, born December II, 1774, died Septem- ber 16, 1814; Elizabeth, February 19, 1778, died July 6, 1806; John, June 24, 1780, died May 15, 1839; Walter, August 24, 1782, died March 4, 1833; Hannah, September 10, 1784, died August 15, 1821; Matthew, March 22, 1787, died January 29, 1854; George, Sep- tember 13, 1790; Millicent, June 28, 1792, died July 30, 1886; married, May 26, 1810, Gideon Gifford (see Gifford VI).


Above facts are taken from papers in pos- session of Zina Cornell, South Cambridge, Washington county.


A very interesting and valuable document which is in the possession of Mrs. Alice (Gif- ford) Hayward is a legal manifesto signed July 19, 1776, by her great grandfather, Mat- thew Cornell, and by the governor of the Island of St. Eustatia. This document sets forth the reasons why as captain of the ship he was forced to sell. The paper is some- what torn and portions are gone but it reads with the exception of a few words as fol- lows (The spelling and capitals are the same as in the original) :


St. Eustatia,


July 19, 1776.


Be it known to all Whom this may Concern that we Matthew Cornell and George Whippy late Mas-


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ters of the Ship Jacob (?) and Brig. George Who Arrived at this Island on the 20th day of June 1776 from a Whaling Voyage, which our protest more fuley Explains we the Deponants Maketh Oath and Solemnly Deposeth that we waited with great Ex- pectations of hearing from our owners before we offred our Vessles and Cargoes for sale which we did not do Until th 29th Day of June 1776 that on that day his Britamuck Magestys ship of Warr the Pomona Cap Eastwood which then lay at harbor in the Road. Wrote to his honor the Govournor of this Island and made a Demand of our Vessels and Cargoes, also that of and some Phil- adelphia Vessels at Anchor in the Road. as being the property of people in Rebellion (being the by the S. Capt. Eastwood) his Re- quest was denied however we were advised by all Means to Unbend our Sails and Land our Cargoes which we did without Delay and further it was the opinion of most people here, we ought for the In- terest of our owners to Sell our Vessels and Car- goes and that from the Critical Circumstances of the Unhappy affair between Great Britain and the Colonies and the Actual risk of being made prison- ers of it if we attempted to move out of the Road. and also the farther actual Risk of the Hurricanes which we must be exposed to did we Lay here Dur- ing the Months of July. Aug. and Sept .- the 15th Oct furthermore we have the Greatest Reason to Suspect the aforesaid Capt Eastwood was Deter- mined to take our Vessels as His ship the Pomona was Cruising off this Road Continually after the Govornor Denied Delivering up our Vessels and Cargoes. We might write much more but farther at present the Deponants Saith not in Testimony where of we have set our hand and seal this day Matthew Cornell


George Whippye


Witnesses


Obadiah Rogers Ebenezer Eblan (?)


Before the Honble Mraham Heyliger Govonor over the Islands St. Eustatia, Saba and St. Martin. Personally appeared before me Matthew Cornell and George Whippye Marriners


and further the Deponants Saith not swore to be- fore me the 20th July 1776 and given from under our hand and the seal of Government Signed Mr. m Heyliger.


The seal of the government is also affixed in red wax.


As the records show Matthew Cornell left the seas before 1780, at which time he immi- grated with his wife and one or more chil- dren to Easton, Washington county, New York, as before stated. At one time (date unknown) he brought two exquisite china punch bowls from China. One of these was for many years in the possession of the Whiteside family on Chautauqua Lake, but as all the family have passed away some one else now has it in keeping. The other and by far the handsomer of the two came through Millicent (Cornell) Gifford to her son, Wal-


ter Cornell Gifford, and is now in the pos- session of his daughter, Millicent Cornell (Gifford) Jenkins, of Dumont, New Jersey.


Mrs. Hayward has three other interesting papers, one an announcement of the death of Mr. W. Cornell, member of the assembly in Albany. This Mr. W. Cornell was Walter Cornell, born August 24, 1782, died March 4. 1833, son of Matthew Cornell, and brother of Millicent (Cornell) Gifford. His nephew and namesake, Walter Cornell Gifford, fol- lowed in the footsteps of his uncle and served the Second Chautauqua District two terms in the assembly beginning 1890. This docu- ment is printed in gold on green satin. The second one is the original deed given by the Holland Land Company to Gideon Gifford the 8th of June, 1829, and the third a descrip- tion of the Cushman monument at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts.


PUTNAM The lineage of a very large part of Putnams of New Eng- land is traced to John Putnam,


the immigrant, the ancestor of several promi- nent citizens of the early days of Massachu- setts. The name comes from Puttenham, a place in England, and this perhaps from the Flemish word putte. "a well," plural putten. and ham, signifying a "home," and the whole indicating a settlement by a well. Some four or five years after the settlement of Salem. Massachusetts, it became necessary to extend the area of the town in order to accommodate a large number of immigrants who were de- sirous of locating within its jurisdiction, and, as a consequence, farming communities were established at various points, some of them being a considerable distance from the center of population. Several families newly arrived from England founded a settlement which they called Salem Village, and the place was known as such for more than a hundred years. It is now called Danvers. Among the original settlers of Salem Village was John Putnam. He was the American progenitor of the Put- namis in New England, and among his de- scendants were the distinguished revolution- ary generals, Israel and Rufus Putnam. Much valuable information relative to the early his- tory of the family is to be found in the "Es- sex Institute Collection." In common with most of the inhabitants, they suffered from the witchcraft delusion, but were not seriously affected.


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(1) The first ancestor of whom definite knowledge is obtainable is Rodger, a tenant of Puttenham in 1086.


(II) The second generation is represented by Galo. of the same locality.


(111) Richard, born 1154, died 1189, pre- sented the living of the church of Puttenham to the prior and canons of Ashby.


(IV ) Simon de Puttenham was a knight of Herts in 1199.


(V) Ralph de Puttenham, a juryman, in 1199, held a knight's fee in Puttenham of the honor of Leicester in 1210-12.


(VI) William de Puttenham is the next in line.


(VII) John de Puttenham was lord of the manor of Puttenham in 1291, and was a son of William. His wife, "Lady of Puttenham, held half a knight's fee in Puttenham of the honor of Wallingford, in 1303."


(VIII) Sir Roger de Puttenham, son of the Lady of Puttenham, was born prior to 1272, and with his wife, Alina, had a grant of lands in Penne in 1315. He was sheriff of Herts in 1322, in which year he supported Edward II. against the Mortimers. His wife, perhaps identical with Helen. is called a daughter of John Spigornel, and was married ( second ) to Thomas de la Hay, king's com- missioner, knight of the shire, in 1337, who held Puttenham with reversion to the heirs of Rodger Puttenham, and land in Penne in right of his wife.


(IX) Sir Rodger de Puttenham was par- doned by the king in 1338, probably on ac- count of some political offense. The next year he was a follower of Sir John de Molyns. and was a knight of the shire from 1355 to 1374. He had a grant of remainder after the death of Christian Berdolfe, of the manor of Long Marston, in 1370-71. He had a second wife, Marjorie, in 1370.


( X) Robert, son of Sir Rodger de Putten- ham, in 1346, held part of a knight's fee in Marston, which the Lady of Puttenham held. He was living in 1356.


(XI) William, son of Robert de Putten- ham, of Puttenham and Penne, was commis- sioner of the peace for Herts in 1377. and was called "of Berk Hampstead." He was sergeant-at-arms in 1376. He married Mar- garet, daughter of John de Warbleton, who died in 1375, when his estates of Warbleton, Sherfield, etc., passed to the Putnams. They had children : Henry, Robert and William.


(All) Henry, son of William and Mar- garet ( Warbleton ) de Puttenham, was nearly sixty years of age in 1468, and died July 6, 1473. Ile married Elizabeth, widow of Jef- frey Goodluck, who died in 1486. and was probably his second wife.


(XIII) William, eldest son of Henry Put- tenham, was in possession of Puttenham, Penne, Sherfield and other estates. He was buried in London, and his will was proved July 23, 1492. He married Anne, daughter of John Hampden, of Hampden, who was living in 1486. They had sons: Sir George, Thomas and Nicholas.


(XIV) Nicholas, third son of William and Anne ( Hampden ) Puttenham, of l'enne, in 1534, bore the same arms as his elder brother, Sir George. He had sons: John and Henry.


(XV) Henry, younger son of Nicholas Put- nam, was named in the will of his brother John, in 1526.


( XVI) Richard, son of Henry Putnam, was of Eddelsboro in 1524, and owned land in Slapton. His will was proved February 26, 1557, and he left a widow Joan. He had sons : Harry and John.


(XVHI ) John, second son of Richard and Joan Putnam, of Wingrave and Slapton, was buried October 2, 1573, and his will was proved November 14 following. His wife, Margaret, was buried January 27, 1568. They had sons: Nicholas. Richard. Thomas and John.


(XVIII) Nicholas, eldest son of John and Margaret Putnam, of Wingrave and Stukeley, died before September 27. 1598, on which date his will was proved. His wife, Margaret, was a daughter of John Goodspeed. She married (second), in 1614. William Huxley, and died January 8, 1619. They had children : John. Anne, Elizabeth, Thomas and Richard.


(I) John, eldest son of Nicholas and Mar- garet (Goodspeed) Putnam, was of the nine- teenth generation in the English line, and the first of the American line. He was born about 1580, and died suddenly in Salem Vil- lage, now Danvers, Massachusetts. December 30. 1662, aged about eighty years. It is known that he was a resident of Aston Abbotts, Eng- land, as late as 1627, as the date of the bap- tism of the youngest son shows, but just when he came to New England is not known. Fam- ily tradition is responsible for the date 1634. and the tradition is known to have been in the family over one hundred and fifty years. In


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1641, new style, John Putnam was granted land in Salem. He was a farmer, and exceed- ingly well off for those times. He wrote a fair hand, as deeds on file show. In these deeds he styled himself "yeoman"; once, in 1655, "husbandman." His land amounted to two hundred and fifty acres, and was situated between Davenport's hill and Potter's hill. John Putnam was admitted to the church in 1647, six years later than his wife, and was also a freeman the same year. The town of Salem in 1644 voted that a patrol of two men be appointed each Lord's day to walk forth during worship and take notice of such who did not attend service and who were idle, etc., and to present such cases to the magistrate ; all of those appointed were men of standing in the community. For the ninth day John Put- nam and John Hathorne were appointed. The following account of the death of John Put- nam was written in 1733 by his grandson, Ed- ward: "He ate his supper, went to prayer with his family and died before he went to sleep." He married, in England, Priscilla (perhaps Gould), who was admitted to the church in Salem in 1641. Their children, bap- tized at Aston Abbotts, were: Elizabeth; Thomas, grandfather of General Israel Put- nam, of the revolutionary war ; John ; Nathan- iel ; Sara ; Phoebe and John.


(II) Nathaniel, third son of John and Pris- cilla Putnam, was baptized at Aston Abbotts, October II, 1619, and died at Salem Village, July 23, 1700. He was a man of considerable landed property ; his wife brought him sev- enty-five acres additional, and on this tract he built his house and established himself. Part of his property has remained uninterruptedly in the family. It is now better known as the "old Judge Putnam place." He was consta- ble in 1656, and afterwards deputy to the general court, 1690-91, selectman, and always at the front on all local questions. whether pertaining to politics, religious affairs, or other town matters. "He had great business activ- ity and ability, and was a person of extraordi- nary powers of mind, of great energy and skill in the management of affairs, and of singular sagacity, acumen and quickness of perception. He left a large estate." Nathaniel Putnam was one of the principals in the great lawsuit concerning the ownership of the Bishop farm. His action in this matter was merely to pre- vent the attempt of Zerubabel Endicott to push the bounds of the Bishop grant over his




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