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 35
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(II) Thomas, second son of Edmund and Mary Lewis, was born in 1633, in England, and resided in early life in Lynn, Massachu- setts, whence he removed in 1661-62 to North- ampton, Massachusetts. There he sold a lot of four acres in 1667. He was chosen to as- sist in building a mill, August 27, 1666, and soon after this removed to Swansea, Massa- chusetts, where he was admitted an inhabitant, December 1, 1669, and granted twelve acres of land. Here he was elected selectman, May 21, 1672, and was placed in the second rank of proprietors, who were divided into three classes, according to the amount of their own- ership in the town. He was probably in Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1681, and was taxed in Mendon, Massachusetts, 1691-92-93. He was elected selectman, May 1, 1693, but de- clined to serve, and was still there in 1696. In 1692 and 1701 he sold land in Bristol, and died in that town, April 26, 1709. He mar- ried, November II, 1659, Hannah, daughter
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of Edward and Joan Baker. She survived him more than seven years, dying January 17, 1717. Children: Edward, Hannah, Mary. Esther, Thomas, died young, Thomas, Eliza- beth, Persithe, Samuel, Hepsebah, Joseph, De- borah.
(III) Joseph, fifth son of Thomas and Hannah ( Baker ) Lewis, was born May 13, 1677, in Swansea, Massachusetts, died May 27, 1742, in Haddam, Connecticut, where he settled before 1723. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Sarah Birge, of Bris- tol, Rhode Island, and had children : Sarah, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Hannah, Deborah, John.
(IV) John, youngest child of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Birge) Lewis, was born April 14. 1723, in Haddam, Connecticut, and died in Saybrook, Connecticut, August 9, 1801. He resided in Haddam until after 1762, and prob- ably removed to Saybrook in old age to join his children. He married, June 1, 1744, in
Haddam, Deborah born 1723, died February 1, 1813, in her ninetieth year. Her family name is not preserved. Children : Jo- seph, John, Simon, Samuel, Mary, Andrew ; died young. Andrew, Sarah, John, Abner.
(V) Joseph (2), eldest child of John and Deborah Lewis, was born March 24, 1745. in Haddam, and was an early settler in Cherry Valley, New York, said by tradition to have moved thither from Vermont, which is quite possible, and even probable, thougli it is cer- tain that he remained but a short time in Ver- mont. He was in New York before 1790, as indicated by the census, being then in Ste- phentown, where his family included two males over sixteen years of age, three under that age, and three females. He married while residing in Rensselaer county, and soon after the revolution settled at or near Chenango Point, at Kattelville, Broome county, New York, and lived there the remainder of his life, dying in 1834. His wife survived him less than one year. No record of her name can be found. He was pious and exceptionally zealous in religious practices, having a re- treat near his dwelling to which he resorted daily for prayer, and it is said that the turf on which he knelt was worn bare by constant use. He had five children, three of whom were: Spencer: Daniel, who lived at Bing- hamton, New York; Nicholas, mentioned be- low.
(VI) Nicholas, son of Joseph (2) Lewis, was born at Kattelville, Broome county. New
York, February 22, 1785, died at Chenango Forks, New York, July 23, 1871. He was educated in the public schools. Like his father, he was extremely pious and a devout Methodist. In 1854 he was ordained as a local preacher by Bishop James, and for half a century he was active in preaching and other good works in the Methodist denomina- tion. He was a cooper by trade, and for many years was in business at Chenango Forks, New York. He was of remarkable physique, and enjoyed good health to a great age. Even when he was eighty years old he used to walk six or eight miles to preach, and often deliv- ered three sermons in one day. His descend- ants were active in the service in the civil war ; three sons, fifteen grandsons, one great-grand- son, and two sons-in-law were in the service, and all returned to their homes with the ex- ception of one son, Dennis, who was shot at Antietam, and a son-in-law, who died in An- dersonville prison.
He married, in 1804, Mary, born February 6. 1788, daughter of Silas and Mary Hall. Children: 1. Calvin Pardy, born June 29, 1805, at Hamilton, New York, died July 23. 1848. 2. Leonard, February 18, 1807, died November 23, 1863; married Sally Palmer, of Kattelville, New York; had Samuel, Sarah. Joshua, Charles, Olive, William, Julius, Leon- ard. 3. Rhoda, July 21, 1809. 4. George Washington, February 15, 1812, died May 12, 1886, at Elgin, Illinois. 5. Mary, Febru- ary 6, 1814, died September, 1888. 6. Salmon, mentioned below. 7. Electa, October II, 1818. 8. Laura, April 13, 1821. 9. Sally Ann, October II, 1823, died November 22. 1842. 10. Jennie H., October 9, 1826, died September 17. 1862. II. Rachel, January 16, 1830, died April 20, 1860. 12. Phebe, July 7, 1834, died March 18, 1886.
(VII) Salmon, son of Nicholas Lewis, was born in Chenango Forks, Broome county, New York, June 11, 1816, died January 20, 1900, in Pleasantville, Pennsylvania, and was buried at Chenango Forks, New York. He received a common school education. In 1849 he joined the gold seekers and went to Califor- nia, sailing around Cape Horn. After return- ing from California he engaged in the hard- ware business in Chenango Forks, New York. After the death of his first wife, and marriage to his second wife, he removed to Friendship. Allegany county, New York, in autumn of 1853, and entered the hardware business.
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After a time he sold out and engaged in the manufacture of oil barrels in Titusville, Penn- sylvania, in April, 1860, the family remaining in Friendship, New York. He served in the state militia when a young man. He married (first) December 25, 1838, Alvira Page, who died in 1852. He married (second) Novem- ber 15, 1853, at Chenango Forks, New York, Sarah Welch, born in New Berlin, Chenan- go county, New York, January 10, 1822, died December 21, 1892, in Cortland, New York, at home of her son, Lynn Ross. She was a daughter of Vine Welch. Her par- ents died when she was quite young. Chil- dren of first wife: 1. James M., born Feb- ruary 9, 1840; a hardware merchant at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania ; married Sarah Schucks, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 2. Abiah L., born July 12, 1841 ; lives at Pleasantville, Pennsylvania; married Lucien B. Main, of Friendship, New York. 3. Jasper Eugene, born July 28, 1843, died July 3, 1899, in South Bend, Indiana: married Agnes Wheeler, of South Bend, Indiana. 4. Cassius Clay, born September 1. 1845, died January 3, 1879, at Friendship, New York ; married Ella Higgins, of Friendship, New York. 5. Florence Ame- lia, born September 28, 1847, died June 5. 1884, in Centerville, Pennsylvania; married Ashbel Gates Sexton, of Centerville, Pennsyl- vania. Children of second wife: 6. Lynn Ross, mentioned below. 7. Blanche, died in infancy.
(VIII) Lynn Ross, son of Salmon Lewis, was born at Friendship, Allegany county, New York, January 28, 1858. His schooling was rather limited, but he acquired an educa- tion largely by private study and contact with the world. In May, 1867, he removed with his mother to Chenango Forks. His first work was that of a driver on the canal, and he followed it for five years. He then learned the trade of tinsmith. He moved from Che- nango Forks, March 27. 1877. to Marathon, New York, where he engaged at his trade (tinsmithing), remaining there until Novem- ber 14, 1881, when he moved to Cortland, New York, and accepted a position with Smith & Kingsbury, remaining with this firm until April, 1884, going with Newkirk & Hulbert, and remaining with this firm and their suc- cessors until August, 1888. He then pur- chased the plumbing and heating business of Smith & Bates, which he carried on success- fully until 1902, and during this time he in-
vented and patented the Perfection Milk Cool- er, which he manufactured on an extensive scale. He also manufactured the Farmer's Favorite Feed Cooker. Upon selling out his plumbing and heating business he continued the manufacture of the feed cooker and milk cooler until March, 1907, when he sold his interest to Ralph S. Bennett, and the business is conducted under the style of the Lewis Man- ufacturing Company. Mr. Lewis then asso- ciated himself with Marvin D. Main in the manufacture of the Winner Plow Truck. The patent was granted on the truck, May 7, 1907 ; they continued until November 1, 1907, when Mr. Lewis purchased Mr. Main's interest, and since then has manufactured alone, and is the sole owner of the patent. This plow truck is the most practical device ever invented for holding a walking plow, and is one of the most valttable and useful implements a farmer ever used, an implement which virtually takes the place of a sulky plow, and at a big saving of expense. The Winner Plow Truck is sold through agents, and also direct to the farmers.
Mr. Lewis is a member of Vesta Lodge. Independent Order of Odd Fellows; a mem- ber of the official board and president of the board of trustees of the Homer Avenue Meth- odist Church of Cortland, and a member of the Church Federation. In politics he is a Prohi- bitionist. He was elected mayor of the city of Cortland in November, 1910, and inaugu- rated January 1. 1911, the first prohibition- elected mayor in any city of New York state. At the time of his election the Cortland Standard said: "Because of his affiliation with the Prohibition party some of his ad- herents of that party will doubtless ex- pect the impossible of him in regard to the things that are uppermost in their minds, and if they expect it they will prob- ably be disappointed. lle will not attempt the impossible. He is not a fanatic, even on prohibition, but he believes in the enforce- ment of the law in regard to all things, and will unquestionably do his best to see that this is accomplished. He cannot go beyond the laws, and will not try to do so. He is interested in the welfare of the city of Cort- land in every way, and will no doubt do his very best, as he sees it, to promote its interests along all lines." What his friends said of him at the time of candidacy we quote from the Cortland Standard of October 26, 1910. "Lynn R. Lewis, our candidate for mayor, has
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been a resident of Cortland for twenty-nine years, and a business man and manufacturer for twenty-two years. Ile is therefore well known to our citizens, and it is no exaggera- tion to say that no man in our community is more highly esteemed for his sterling integ- rity. He is a man of strong convictions as regards right and wrong, and has the courage of his convictions, fearless in his advocacy of what he believes to be right, always willing to come out squarely and define his position on any public question. In the event of his election we can assure the citizens of this city a clean, business-like administration, and a square deal for every man, with no special privileges granted to any private or corpor- ate interests." Through Mayor Lewis's keen insight the "Gas Franchise." framed up to extort high prices on a twenty-five-year lease, was vetoed by him. This is only one of the many instances where he has acted most ju- diciously in the interest of the people of his adopted city.
He married. December 20, 1882. Emily, born at Cortland. New York, November 6, 1858, daughter of Philo and Rachel ( Shap- ley ) Phelps. Children : Paul M., born Jan- uary 18. 1886; Ralph Eugene, September 24, 1892: Florence Emily, November 6, 1893. died aged ten months.
DIVEN The Diven family is of Scotch- Irish ancestry, which played such an important part in the colonial history of America, and whose sons were characterized as "the backbone of Washing- ton's army" in the struggle for independence. (I) Alexander Diven came from Tyrone, Ireland, and settled in the Cumberland valley, Pennsylvania, where are yet found many of his descendants. He married Margaret ( fam- ily name unknown), who was of English birth. (II) John, son of Alexander Diven, was born in 1752. He was apprenticed to a cab- inetmaker in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. When the revolutionary war broke out, his master. a thorough-going and enthusiastic patriot, urged his workmen and apprentices to enter the army, and among those who cheerfully complied was John Diven. He and his com- panions were with Washington at Valley Forge when their term of enlistment expired. The day for their discharge arrived, and they were drawn up in line in the presence of their general. He spoke to them as few men could
speak, actually with tears in his eyes, and con- cluded by asking that all who would re-enlist would step two paces to the front. There was a moment's hesitation, and then young Diven stepped forward. One followed, then another and another, until the entire line sprang to the front with a shout. They for- got the privations of the camp and their de- sire for home in their love for their com- mander and his fervent presentation of the pressing needs of their country. Their serv- ice continued until the glorious victory at Yorktown.
In 1799 John Diven located in what is now Watkins, and the farm which he bought. cleared and long occupied is on the hill west of the village. He was the first postmaster in that locality. He became interested in the Duncan islands in the Susquehanna river, a large and rich tract of land, the continued possession of which would have made him an immensely rich man, but there was a flaw in the title reaching back to the time of William Penn, and he could not hold. There was protracted. expensive and exhaustive litigation, and in the end he lost all and came to Watkins. He was twice married, his first wife being of the family of Baskins, of Watkins; they had four sons, all of whom went west. John Diven married (second ) Eleanor Means Children : Alexander S., of whom further ; Eleanor, Charlotte: Elizabeth, married Rev. Daniel Washburn.
( III) General Alexander S. Diven, eldest child of John and Eleanor ( Means) Diven, was born in Watkins, New York, February 10, 1809. died June 11. 1896. He received his education in the Penn Yan and Ovid acad- emies, after which he commenced the study of law with Judge Grey, of Elmira, mean- time teaching school to defray his expenses. He was admitted to the bar in 1832. He spent some time in the office of Fletcher Haight. in Rochester, New York, and afterwards con- ducted the county clerk's office in Owego. He then went to Angelica, Allegany county, and was there admitted to the bar of the court of common pleas. He remained here eleven years, for a year and a half in partnership with George Miles, who removed to Michigan and became a justice of the supreme court of that state. For five years General Diven was district attorney in Allegany county, which then included the county of Livingston. In 1845 he returned to Elmira to live. and
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that year organized the law firm of Diven, Hathaway & Woods, and successfully pursued professional work until the beginning of the civil war.
He entered early into political life, and was an active member of the Republican party from its very beginning. He served in the New York state senate in 1858-59. In the latter year he was the Freesoil candidate for governor, and a candidate in the state con- vention at the time Judge Henry C. Davies was nominated for judge of the court of appeals. In 1860 he was elected to congress from the twenty-seventh congressional dis- trict. As a member of the judiciary commit- tee and of the house during the early part of the rebellion, he was a staunch and devoted Unionist, and gave the administration un- stinted support. His loyal utterances are a matter of record, and the proceedings of the twenty-seventh congress bear witness to his patriotic devotion. As an anti-slavery man he was well known to the public at large, and although not an extremist, he gave a cordial support to the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. He was the first to introduce measures providing for the employ- ment of colored troops in the army, draft- ing and introducing the first bill on the sub- ject.
In 1862 Mr. Diven left his seat in con- gress to aid with his sword in the suppression of the rebellion. He assisted in recruiting the One hundred and Seventh Regiment, New York Volunteers, and went into service as its lieutenant-colonel. August 12th. He distin- guished himself in the Virginia campaigns of 1862-63 by his gallantry and skill. After the battle at Antietam he was promoted to colonel, and led the regiment at Chancellorsville in the first conflict. In May, 1863, he was com- missioned adjutant-general with the rank of major, and appointed to the charge of the rendezvous for troops at Elmira, New York. August 30, 1864, he was brevetted brigadier- general, and assigned to special duty as as- sistant provost marshal general for the west- ern district of New York, and subsequently appointed to the command of the northern and western districts, which he retained until the close of the war, performing the duties with energy and success. In the spring of 1865, the war being over, he returned to civil life.
In 1844 General Diven became a director of the New York & Erie Railroad, and was its
attorney until 1865, when he was chosen vice- president, which position he held for three years. During the period from 1844 to 1850 he was conspicuous for his labors and efforts to re-establish the waning credit of the road, and in raising the necessary millions to pro- mote its creation, which he did to completion. In 1844 came the crisis in affairs of the Erie. The road was built only to Binghamton, funds were exhausted, and its officials discouraged, the fate of this great enterprise being in the balance. At a meeting of its directors, held in New York City that year, a resolution was presented recommending the abandonment of the enterprise. Mr. Diven opposed it so strongly that his resolution recommending its prosecution was submitted, and a new era of effort inaugurated, into which Mr. Diven threw all its energies and labored zealously for years. He drew up the bills passed by the legislature in aid of the road; he was in- strumental in procuring their passage by the legislative body ; the first issues of bonds and mortgages were drafted by him ; he was com- missioner of construction during its building, the pay of constructors passing through his hands.
In 1849 General Diven, while engaged in the consolidation of the New York & Erie Railroad, became interested in the Chemung Railroad, extending from the New York & Erie Railroad, near Elmira, to three villages of Jefferson (now Watkins), at the head of Seneca Lake. He was a director in the com- pany which built this road, which was opened in December, 1849, soon after the Erie was opened to Elmira, and was operated in con- nection with the latter road as a continuous line from New York to Jefferson for a couple of years and until the completion of the line to Dunkirk. Soon after the completion of the Chemung Railroad, General Diven became in- terested in the construction of a line from its northern terminal to Canandaigua. The com- pany which controlled the latter road was originally chartered as the Canandaigua & Corning Railroad Company, for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Canandaigua to Corning. After the construction of the Chemung Railroad the title of the Canan- daigua & Corning Company was, by legislative enactment, changed to the Canandaigua & El- mira Railroad, thus making a continuous line of railroad from Elmira to Canandaigua. The control for its construction was made with a
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company of which General Diven was a men- ber.
After the completion of this road a still farther extension was made by the construc- tion of the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls Rail- road, which was also constructed by the same firm of constructors. The railroad was con- structed with a gauge and compared with that of the New York & Erie railroad, and formed a continuous broad-gauge line from Elmira to Niagara Falls. This line from Elmira to Can- andaigua is now under the control of the Northern Central Railroad Company, and now leased by the Pennsylvania railroad. Soon after the completion of the road to Canandai- gua, General Diven became interested in the construction of the Williamsport & Elmira railroad, which was originally chartered by the legislature of the state of Pennsylvania in 1832, this being one of the earliest railroad charters in the United States.
As a contractor he was eminently successful. In connection with General Thomas Price and James P. Kirkwood he contracted for the con- struction of the Missouri Pacific railroad, and under the firm name of Diven, Stancliff & Company engaged in the construction of the southwestern branch of that road. He was president of the Elmira & Horseheads Street Car Company, and was also largely interested in the Elmira water works.
General Diven married, in July, 1834, Amanda Beers, born October 22, 1811, died August 18, 1875, daughter of John and Keziah Beers. They had eight children. He married ( second) 1876, Maria Joy ; no issue.
(IV) George Miles, son of General Alex- ander S. and Amanda ( Beers) Diven, was born in Angelica, New York, August 28, 1835, died February 3, 1909, in Elmira. He was educated at the old Elmira Academy, at a pri- vate school in Geneva, New York, and Hamil- ton College, from which he was graduated with a high standing in the class of 1857. He studied law in his father's office and was admitted to the bar in Binghamton in 1862. For a few years afterwards he was in partner- ship with his father, under the firm name of A. S. & G. M. Diven & Redfield. For many years he was the attorney in this region for the Erie railway, and also the legal representa- tive of the Northern Central and Lehigh Val- ley railroads. He early established a reputa- tion as a good and careful lawyer and a sound and trustworthy business man. He has had
the management of matters involving unusu- ally large sums of money, and his judgment never failed him or found him at fault. Some of the largest business enterprises of Elmira, in their immature and uncertain beginnings, relied with safety upon his advice and judg- ment. He was a director of the Erie railway, and of the Erie Sleeping Car Company that subsequently became a part of the great Pull- man system. He was instrumental and in- fluential in the reorganization of the rolling mills; managed the affairs of the Water Works Company when the change was inade in its organization; originated, and through most embarrassing surroundings, laid out and conducted the street railway; was foremost in the conception and construction of the El- mira State Line railroad, now the Tioga branch of the Erie; brought the La France Manufacturing Company out of the slough into which it had fallen into smooth-sailing waters ; and engaged in other but minor mat- ters, all, however, making for the interests of Elmira. For five terms Mr. Diven was president of the board of education of the city of Elmira, during which time were initiated matters of interest to the growing generations of the town, whose influence will be felt far in the future. In 1872 he was chosen one of the trustees of Hamilton College, his alma mater, which office he held for many years. In the winter of 1890-91 he was elected presi- dent of the New York State Bar Association, an honor which of itself measures the high standing he had attained in his profession.
Mr. Diven married, June 3, 1863, Lucy M. Brown, born in Clinton, Oneida county, New York, in 1833, died September 2, 1888, daugh- ter of Alden and Minerva (Sanford) Brown. Children, born in Elmira. New York : I. Josephine, died in 1872, in her ninth year. 2. Eugene Diven, born August 25. 1865. He graduated from the Lehigh University in 1887, in the mechanical engineering department, and followed his profession for five years at the La France Fire Engine Company of Elmira, at which time his father being abroad, he be- came acting president, continuing in that ca- pacity for about one year. In 1893 he went to Washington to perfect himself in the details of the patent office, serving there until 1895, and during that time studied law at the Na- tional University Law School, taking the de- gree of LL.M. He returned to Elmira in 1895, was admitted to the bar that year, and
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later became a member of the law firm of Diven & Redfield. In 1898 Mr. Redfield re- tired, and the firm name became Diven & Diven, the second son of George M. Diven, Alexander S. Diven, entering the firm, which has continued very successfully ever since. The firm makes a specialty of corporation law and of trustees of estates, also patent law is one of the special features of their practice. The firm represent the Lehigh Valley and Northern Central and other railways in a legal capacity. Mr. Diven was trustee of the Steele Memorial Library. In the will of the late M. H. Arnot he was named to be one of the trustees of the Arnot Art Gallery. He was at one time a member of the board of edu- cation for the city of Elmira. He was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and was at the time of his death, April 29, 19II, president of the local society of that name in Elmira. He married, September 10, 1890, in Elmira, Jeanette P., youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Andrus) Murdoch. Chil- dren, born in Elmira: Alexander S. (3), born May 26, 1893; Emerson Liscum, April 19, 1898. 3. Alexander S., born November, 1869; married ; children : Irving Booth, born June 3, 1903; Lucy, February 10, 19II. 4. Alden Brown, born March 4, 1871. 5. Louis, born October 5, 1873.
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