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 59
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(XVI) Francis Bicknell, eldest son of Asaph Homer and Almira ( Clark ) Carpen- ter, was born August 6, 1830, in Homer, where he received some education in the com- mon schools and attended the local academy one term. He very early manifested an artis- tic talent, which was not considered of much value by his family. His father was a hard- headed business man, who hoped to rear his son as his successor on the homestead, and early directed his efforts toward making of the son what he considered a practical man. The latter, however, could not be repressed, and found means of practicing on artistic subjects by the use of chalk, brick dust, white lead
and lamp black, at such opportunities as he could find, with a smooth board upon which to work. About this time one of the mer- chants of Homer returned from New York with a very handsome sign, which he placed on the front of his store. Other merchants and business men sought to emulate this ex- ample, and soon various public places were ornamented with handsome and appropriate signs. One day Asaph H. Carpenter took his horse to the blacksmith shop to be shod, and there his attention was attracted by a hand- some new sign recently hung out by the smith, which was admired by many. It not only ex- hibited the name of the proprietor, but the figure of horse and smith, and some accom- paniments of his art. On examining the sign closely, Mr. Carpenter found the name of his son in the corner, as the author of the artistic sign. He at once hastened home to lecture his son upon the folly of wasting time in this sort of labor. However, the boy persevered, and presently prevailed upon his mother to sit for a portrait. When the picture was com- pleted, its life-like and natural character was impressed upon the father, who thereafter op- posed no objections to "the boy's nonsense,' and was himself the next sitter for a portrait. When about fifteen years old, the boy entered the studio of Sanford Thayer at Syracuse, where he remained five months, and gained much by the instruction there received. Dur- ing this time, Mr. Thayer's studio was visited by the great artist, Elliott, of New York, who encouraged the youthful student, and gave him some advice as to the use of coloring.
In 1846, before the completion of his six- teenth year, young Carpenter opened a studio in Homer. His neighbors were not very lib- eral patrons of art, and as is usual in those cases were reluctant to recognize talent in a youth who was raised among them. "The prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." The first home patron of the youthful artist was the Hon. Henry S. Ran- dall, who was preparing a book on agricul- tural topics, and paid young Carpenter ten dollars for some drawings of sheep to be em- ployed in the forthcoming book. The artist completed portraits of the nine original trus- tees of Cortland Academy who were then living, and these attracted some attention at home because of their faithfulness as por- traits, which even the uncultured neighbors could largely appreciate. About this time,
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Mr. Carpenter sent ten of his pictures to the American Art Union in New York, and one of these was selected from several hundred pictures submitted for purchase, by the Art Union, and the others were disposed of at satisfactory prices. In 1850 Mr. Carpenter removed to New York City, where he soon gained a high standing in art circles, and was ultimately engaged to paint portraits of many conspicuous citizens, including ex-Presidents Tyler, Fillmore and Franklin Pierce, Hon. William L. Marcy, Lewis Cass. William H. Seward, Sam Houston, Salmon P. Chase, Ca- leb Cushing and Henry Ward Beecher. This last was considered a masterpiece, and the New York Evening Post said of it: "The por- traits of this artist are remarkable, chiefly for their subtle mentality ; for their faithful ren- dering of the inmost life and disposition. His studio is hung around with statesmen and men of power, whose characters can be read as if the men themselves, in their most impressive moods, stood before you, and among them all, this face of Beecher shines like an opal among dull and hueless stones, like a passion flower among bloomless shrubs." Mr. Carpenter was a man of amiable disposition, who made and retained strong friendships ; was impulsive and generous, and became widely known through- out the nation. He was also the author of an interesting work, entitled "Six Months at the White House." This was the result of his labors while painting various works of national character, including the signing of the "Emancipation Proclamation," and the noted "Arbitration" picture which was later presented to Queen Victoria. He was inti- mately associated with President Lincoln, and was highly esteemed by that noble patriot. Mr. Carpenter died in New York, March 23, 1900.
He married, January 6, 1853, Augusta Her- rick Prentiss. Children: 1. Florence Trum- bull, born March 10, 1854; married, May 12, 1877, Albert Chester Ives, of New York City, and has a son, Emerson Ives, born October 3, 1882, in New York. 2. Herbert Sanford, mentioned below.
(XVI) DeWitt, second son of Asaph Ho- mer and Almira (Clark) Carpenter, was born May 30. 1832, on the paternal homestead in Homer, which he still owns, the only place in the section still held by a descendant of the original settler. He attended the local schools of the town until the age of seventeen years,
when he went to Boston and learned the en- gravers' trade. After an apprenticeship of four years he continued two years as journey- man with the same employer and later formed a partnership with Mr. A. F. Pollock, with whom he conducted business under the firm name of A. F. Pollock & Company for two years. During his residence in Boston in going to and from over the Mill Dam road he frequently met the poet Longfellow, who was wont to take outdoor exercise on horseback. He was also thrown in contact with the his- torian, William H. Prescott. On account of ill-health, Mr. Carpenter was obliged to aban- don his business in Boston and return to Ho- mer. Having recuperated, he went to North- port, Long Island, and in company with his brother, Francis B. Carpenter, conducted a farm for some time. Again returning to the homestead in Homer, he was actively engaged in agriculture until 1907, when he removed to the village of Homer, his present place of residence. He was known as a progressive, industrious, up-to-date farmer, and has con- tributed extensively to agricultural magazines and other public prints. He has recently com- pleted a treatise on farming. entitled, "Facts for Farmers; to the Farmers, by a Farmer, for the Farmers," and this has been widely distributed by the Delaware. Lackawanna & Western railroad. This has been warmly en- dorsed by acting director, H. J. Weber, of the State College of Agriculture, Cornell University. and many others. Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Congregational Church.of Homer, which his father assisted in found- ing. He has never been an office seeker, but has always been actively interested in the con- duct of public affairs and is an apostle of clean living for the home, state and nation.
He married, September 25. 1855, Adeline Ball, born June 28, 1832, in Pompey, New York, daughter of Stephen C. and Patty (Johnson ) Ball. Stephen C. Ball, son of Libbets Ball, was a soldier of the war of 1812. Children: 1. Cora Almira. born at North- port, Long Island, in 1860, resides at home with her parents. 2. Violette Augusta, born in Homer, December 30, 1861. is the wife of Orren Bugbee, of Cortland. New York, now principal of a public school in Buffalo, New York. They have a son, Kenneth Carpenter Bugbee, born in 1893. 3. Helen Marr. born in Homer, May 25, 1866. married Clarence Knapp, of Homer, and resides on the paternal
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homestead, having three sons: Lawrence Car- penter, Leslie Edward and Harold Clarence.
(XVII) Herbert Sanford, only son of Francis Bicknell and Augusta Herrick (Pren- tiss) Carpenter, was born May 22, 1862, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the pub- lic school in New York City, and started in the paper business with the firm of Wool- worth & Graham. In 1881 he went into Wall street as a clerk with the firm of Charles Head & Company, and in 1890 was admitted as a parner to this firm. In 1895 the Stock Ex- change firm of Thomas L. Manson & Com- pany was organized with offices in New York City. Mr. Carpenter retired from the firm of Head & Company and became a member of this firm. In January, 1910, Mr. Carpenter retired from the firm of T. L. Manson & Com- pany and started a new firm of Carpenter & Company, members of the New York Stock Exchange, with offices at 115 Broadway. He was elected a member of the Boston Stock Exchange in 1903. He is a member and direc- tor of the New England Society and member of the following clubs: Metropolitan, Union League (of which he was a member of the executive committee), New York Athletic, Automobile, Ardsley (of which he was gov- ernor ), Sleepy Hollow Country. His city home is at 56 West Fifty-fifth street, Man- hattan, and his country seat is Fairlight Cot- tage. Ardsley-on-Hudson. He married, Feb- ruary 13, 1884, Cora Anderson, of Louisville, Kentucky, and has one daughter, Cora, born January 19, 1885. now the wife of George A. Legg.
The Thompson pioneers in THOMPSON this country were very nu- merous. They came from England with the earliest settlers of New Eng- land and continued to come from England from time to time to the present. There were Scotch pioneers also from the north of Ire- land.
The Thompson family of Orange county, New York, is descended from William Thompson, who settled in the south part of Goshen about two miles from Florida town- ship. He possessed considerable means and bought six hundred acres of land. Whether he came direct from the old country or from one of the New England provinces we have been unable to determine. lacking the records and handicapped by the great number of
Thompson families. A daughter of William Thompson married Dr. Nathaniel Elmer, and Judge William Thompson, son of the pioneer, had sons Morris. William and Thomas Thompson, and a daughter who married Col- onel John Cowdrey. The census of 1790 ap- pears to show that the pioneer and his son and grandson of the same name all had families in Goshen. The only Thompson families in Goshen in 1790, according to the federal cen- sus, were three, of which the heads were Will- iam without the distinguishing marks of "Jr." or "2d." One William had four males over sixteen, three females and three males under sixteen. Another William had in his family two males over sixteen, four under that age and five females, also two slaves. The third William had two males over sixteen, three un- der that age and three females.
(I) Henry Thompson, grandson of the pio- neer, William Thompson, was doubtless a son of one of the William Thompsons mentioned in the census report described above. He was born at Goshen, May 15, 1788. He was edu- cated in Goshen and lived there until 1825, when he came to Owego, New York. For some fifteen years he was proprietor of a hotel at Campville. Afterward he followed the trade of blacksmith, having a shop in the vil- lage of Owego. He married (first), Novem- ber 3. 1810, Abigail - -. He married ( sec- ond) Children by first wife: Sally Maria, born April 16, 1812: Eleanor, Febru- ary 15, 1814: Julia H., February 11, 1816; William Gale, April 4, 1818 ; James Lawrence, July II, 1820; Anthony Dobbin, mentioned below ; Phebe Ann, April 24, 1824; James Lawrence, April 11, 1826; Abigail Frances, April 9. 1828. Children by second wife : Henry, born July 6, 1831 ; John, March 13, 1833 ; George Franklin, March 30, 1835 ; Mary Bacon, April 27, 1842 ; Prentice Ransom, Sep- tember 12, 1844.
(II) Anthony Dobbin, son of Henry Thomp- son, was born in Goshen, New York, June 4, 1822, died at Owego, New York, July 7, 1893. He came from Orange county to Owego with his parents when he was three years old, and with the exception of two years which he spent in Towanda, Pennsylvania, he made his home in Owego the remainder of his life. He attended the public schools there and learned the trade of blacksmith, working in his father's shop for six years. For a number of years he was a clerk in the office of the stage line
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of the Owego Hotel, which stood on the pres- ent site of the Ahwaga House. He drove a stage between Ithaca and Owego for some time. Afterward he went to Towanda and conducted a livery stable. He also owned a livery stable at Waverly, New York, and con- ducted a stage line between that town and Towanda. After the building of the railroad, he entered the employ of the Erie Railroad Company, and continued for a period of forty years, being a conductor most of that time, and in later years being the eldest conductor in point of service on the railroad.
He married (first), November 1I, 1845, Sa- brina, born in 1826, died January 14, 1873. daughter of Chauncy Hill. He married (sec- ond), July 3, 1877. Susan Guthrie, of Owego. Children, all by first wife: 1. Clarence An- thony, mentioned below. 2. Charles Sidney, born February 5. 1852, died February 27, 1885. 3. Sadie Alberta; March 21, 1862; mar- ried Samuel E. Hillyer, of Auburn, New York. 4. Lizzie Tappan. May 7, 1866; mar- ried Walter G. Curtis, of Hubert, Minnesota. 5. Harry Gero, October 21, 1869; assistant postmaster at Owego.
(III) Clarence Anthony, son of Anthony Dobbin Thompson, was born at Owego, New York, February 1, 1848, died March 19, 1910, in New York. He attended the public schools, the Owego Academy and the Oneida Confer- ence Seminary at Cazenovia, New York. He started upon a business career in July, 1864. as clerk in the National Bank of Waverly, became bookkeeper and assistant cashier and at length cashier. In April, 1870, he resigned to accept the position of teller of the First National Bank of Owego, and in 1881 was made assistant cashier of that bank. When the Owego National Bank was organized in August, 1883, he was elected cashier and he filled that position with ability and efficiency until he resigned in 1890. He was interested in other lines of activity. He was financially interested in the building of various steam- boats which plied between Owego and Big Island. He was a prime mover in securing the opening of a telephone exchange in Owego. From 1890 until the time of his death he was a boarding officer of the New York customs house, in the immigration de- partment. He took a prominent part in public affairs for many years. He was treasurer of the incorporated village in 1876-80. For many years he served on the board of education,
and was on the committee in charge of the construction of the Free Academy. From 1887 to 1890 he was treasurer of Tioga county. In politics he was an active and lead- ing Republican.
He married, June 9. 1869. Dorinda E., born in 1844, died April 17. 1901. daughter of Lyman and Emily ( Goodrich ) Truman, of Owego. They had one child. Sidney Welles, mentioned below.
(IV) Dr. Sidney Welles Thompson, son of Clarence Anthony Thompson, was born at Owego, New York, February 10, 1873. He attended the public schools of his native town, and the Riverview Military Academy at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated in the class of 1892. During the following year he was instructor in military tactics and in various primary branches in this school. In the fall of 1893 he became a stti- dent in the medical department of the New York University in New York City, and was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same year he began to practice in Owego and continued for fourteen years. He retired from practice, however, to devote his time to his private affairs. He is a member of the Tioga County Medical So- ciety and the New York State Medical Soci- ety. He has been active in politics and is president of the village of Owego. He is a Republican. Dr. Thompson is a member of Friendship Lodge. No. 153. Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Owego: New Jerusalem Chapter. No. 47. Royal Arch Masons, of Owego : Malta Commandery, No. 21, Knights Templar, of Binghamton : Owego Lodge, No. 1039, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is treasurer. In religion he is a Presbyterian.
He married, October 12. 1897, Mary Au- gusta, daughter of Nathaniel W. and Emily (Robins) Davis. They have one child, Emily Dorinda, born October 20, 1899.
in America.
NEWTON Thomas Newton, of Fairfield, Rhode Island, was the earliest ancestor of this family known He was one of the four men who came with Roger Ludlow to start a plan- tation at Fairfield in the autumn of 1639. In 1644 he was elected deputy, and afterwards held many offices of public trust. He mar- ried Joan, daughter of Richard Smith, a friend of Roger Williams, who was admitted
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at the town of Newport since March, 1638. and who had settled at Wickford in Narra- ganset about 1639. where he owned 30,000 acres of land, and became a man of promi- nence. Smith later moved to Long Island, and with his brother owned 13,000 acres of land, now part of Brooklyn and its vicinity. Thomas Newton became involved in 1650 with the authorities of Rhode Island, and was imprisoned on a charge of witchcraft, but escaped to the New Netherlands, where he became sheriff of Flushing. His surren- der was demanded by the Rhode Island au- thorities of the Dutch and was refused, and he became the subject of much negotiation between the commissioner of New England and Peter Stuyvesant, which lasted many years. He was a landholder in Middleburgh in 1655, and died prior to May, 1683. Three sons were born to Thomas and Joan New- ton : Israel, James and Thomas.
( II) James Newton was a man of affairs, was made freeman in 1680, and held various public offices. He married Mary, daughter of Sergeant Richard and Elizabeth Meigs Hubbell. They had a large family, amongst whom Alice, born February 28, 1686, married Robert Ransom. They also had a son Israel.
( III) Israel, son of James Newton, was born March 5. 1604. He held many offices with the town of Colchester, Connecticut, and in the colony. He was deputy to the general assembly, and captain of train band. When the colonies organized the somewhat fantastic expedition against Louisburgh, Cape Breton Island, in 1745, he was appointed major of the forces sent out from Colchester, New London and that region. "On June 19th ( 1745) came the mournful tidings that the forces were defeated in an attempt on the island battery, with a loss of one hundred and seventy men. Among those who had fallen a victim to disease was Major Newton." Is- rael Newton had married Hannah Butler. He left a family of seven children, among whom was Ashael, who was at his father's death a minor.
(IV ) Ashael. son of Israel Newton, mar- ried Delight Chapman, and died in early man- hood, leaving an only child, Ashael Jr.
(V) Ashael Jr., son of Ashael Newton, was a revolutionary soldier of the Connecti- cut line, and saw much service throughout the entire war. He was one of the picked men who led the way to make the opening in the
Palisades surrounding Stony Point to give entrance to the army of Mad Anthony Wayne. He was one of Washington's guards, and was at the surrender of Yorktown. Soon after the revolutionary war he married Ver- salle, daughter of William Booth, of New London. They lived for a time at Colchester, Connecticut, and there raised a family of ten children, the eldest of whom was William.
(\1) William, son of Ashael Jr. and Ver- salle ( Booth ) Newton, was born October 15. 1786, in Colchester, Connecticut, and died in Sherburne, Chenango county, New York, Au- gust 13. 1879. He was a fuller by trade, and later became a woolen manufacturer. 1806 he migrated to New Berlin, Chenango county, New York, and thence to Hamilton, where he bought a farm and built a log house. and in 1807 sent for his father, mother and family of brothers and sisters, whom he had left in Connecticut. After establishing his father's family in the new lands of Hamilton, he went to Camden, Oneida county, New York, where he engaged in the woolen indus- try. In 1811 he removed to Sherburne, New York, where he bought a large farm which is now owned by Lucins Newton, a son, at what is known as Sherburne Quarter. Will- iam Newton, after his woolen mills had been burned out for the second time, gave up the business of manufacturing and settled down upon the farm above-mentioned. He. how- ever. broke up the monotony of farming by occasional excursions into the outside world. where he carried out various undertakings as the development of the country from time to time gave him opportunity. Thus we find him building portions of the Erie, the Black river and the Chenango canals : and working upon what proved to be the first railroad upon which a steam propelled car was run in America. It was a gravity road near Honesdale, Pennsylvania, and as it was about completed some of those engaged at work thereon, having heard rumors of what had been done in England. erected a stationary engine on a flat car and propelled it over the road.
William Newton married. August 22, 1810, Lois Butler, born in Middletown, Connecti- cut, December 12. 1790, died in Sherburne, New York. February 6, 1885. She was a daughter of Richard and Mercy Sage Butler. Her family was of Wethersfield. Connecticut. where her ancestors had lived for many gen-
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erations. She came to Hamilton, New York, with her father in 1794, when four years of age. Children: 1. William Butler, born Sep- tember I, ISII, died March 14, 1901 ; mar- ried Salina Gooding ; had one daughter, Lois Amelia, who married Chauncey O'Dell. They live in Monroe county, and have a family of six children. 2. Louisa, born October IO, 1813, died March II, 1904; married Charles Lathrop (see Henry C. Lathrop). 3. Lucinda, born November 10, 1815, died June 26, 1892 ; married (first) Ira Williams, and they had a daughter Maria ; married (second) David C. Buell, who died in 1868, and had Minnie, Amelia, Harriet and Jessie. 4. Warren, born December 31, 1817, died December 25, 1891 ; he was a banker of Norwich, New York, and married Lydia Wheeler, by whom he had one daughter, Louise, who married Joel J. Bixby (see Bixby). 5. Maria, born January 21, 1820, died June 17, 1836. 6. Mercy Ame- lia, born February 7, 1823, died in India, July 18, 1848; married Charles Little, a mission- ary. 7. Isaac Sprague (see below). 8. Lu- cius (which see). 9. Hubert A., born March 19. 1830, died August 12, 1896. He was a graduate of Yale College in 1850. He was a tutor and professor of mathematics at Yale continuously from soon after graduation until his death in 1896. He was at the head of the mathematical department at Yale College, and was long influential in the guidance of its af- fairs. He married Anna, daughter of Rev. Joseph Stiles : he left two daughters: Clifford Newton and Josephine S. Newton, who re- side in New Haven, Connecticut. 10. Albro J., born August 16, 1832. He is a manufac- turer in Brooklyn, New York, and married, in 1860. Delia A. Lewis; she died in 1878, leaving four children: Grace L., Harriet, William L., and Delia. Of the children of Albro J. Newton, Grace married Arnold G. Dana, of Brooklyn, New York, and resides there with three children. Harriet married Edward R. Dimond. of the firm of Williams, Dimond & Company, of San Francisco, where she resides. William L. Newton married Florence Brown, daughter of Joseph Epps Brown, of Brooklyn, and resides there with four children. Delia married Eugene Graves, of Providence, Rhode Island, where she re- sides, with three children. II. Homer G. Newton, born October 25, 1835. He gradu- ated from Yale College in 1859, and later from College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He pursued medical studies in the universities of Germany. He practiced in Brooklyn from 1868 to 1874 as an oculist. He went to Cali- fornia on account of ill health in 1874, re- turning to Sherburne, New York, in 1877. Since that time he has been identified with the Sherburne National Bank and the Na- tional Bank of Norwich. In 1869 he mar- ried Grace, daughter of Joshua Pratt, of Sher- burne. They reside in Sherburne, and have no children.
(VII) Isaac Sprague Newton, born May 18, 1825, in Sherburne, New York, died sud- denly in Albany, New York, March 19, 1889. whither he had gone in the practice of his legal profession. He was a graduate of Yale Col- lege in 1848, and located at Sherburne for about two years, and then removed to Nor- wich, where he was associated with his brother Warren in partnership under the firm name of W. & I. S. Newton. The partnership con- tinued until 1856, when the senior member of the firm, Warren Newton, upon the organiza- tion of the National Bank of Norwich, with- drew from the practice of law, and Isaac S. Newton continued the practice without partner for several years. In the latter 50's he was for two terms district attorney of the county of Chenango. In about 1867 he formed a partnership with George M. Tillson under the firm name of Newton & Tillson. This part- nership continued for a few years, when he again resumed the practice without partner until 1884. At that time he formed a partner- ship with his son, Howard D. Newton, un- der the firm name of I. S. & HI. D. Newton. This continued until his death in 1889. Throughout his entire life he was very prom- inent in legal circles, having a large practice as a trial lawyer, and was also much before the appellate courts for the statc.
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