Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 101

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894 > Part 101

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JOHN KEELER ADAMS was born in Onon- daga Valley, N. Y., in 1803. He emigrated to Brownville about the year 1826, and was employed in a machine shop owned and oper- ated by Lord & Skinner. At 30 years of age he married a daughter of Hon. Fleury Keith. He died in 1860, leaving a widow and daughter, who now reside in Cape Vincent. Mr. Adams was a man of more than ordinary education and ability for the times, having been educated at the celebrated academy in Onondaga Valley, and was, in consequence, kept almost continually in office. He was for many years postmaster, justice of the peace, commissioner of deeds, and was en- trusted with the settling of many estates. Politically, he was a Democrat of the Jeffer- sonian school, and had he lived would have been a stanch war Democrat. He always wielded a strong political influence, and had he the inclination, might have aspired to many higher official positions.

JOSIAH BONNEY was born in Cape Cod, Mass., and in 1808 settled on a farm in Brownville. He served at Sackets Harbor in the War of 1812, and died in Brownville in 1848, aged 61 years. He married Betsey Morse, of Vermont. Of their five children, George married Betsey, daughter of William

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and Henrietta (Gould) Knox, of Brownville, and they had children as follows: Brayton and Amelia G. (deceased), Emma S. and Madison. Their daughter, Emma S., mar- ried Oscar C. Wilson, and resides on the homestead farm. Madison Bonney, of Brownville, married Ella E., daughter of Benjamin S. and Annie E. (Irvine) Horr, of Stone Mills, and their children are : Florence M., Mabel I., George S., Raymond H. and Grace G. William Knox, father of Mrs. Betsey Bonney, served in the War of 1812. He was born in Tunbridge, Vt., and when 19 years of age removed to Sackets Harbor, and cut the first tree where that village now stands.

JAMES WOOD's daughter, Mrs. Abel Davis, a very intelligent lady, now in her 80th year, residing in Jewettsville, has given the writer many reminescences of her father. She was the fourth child of James and Caroline Wood. They came into the Black River country about 1804, having kept a tavern in Watertown, near the site of the old Gilson hotel, now the Woodruff House. Mr. Wood was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his children tell of their mother baking bread for the soldiers at Brownville. But Mr. Wood is best remembered from his connec- tion with the James Wood Falls, between Watertown and Brownville. He built one of the first saw mills on the site now occupied by the Farwell & Rhynes mill. He after- wards built a cloth dressing and wool card- ing establshment at Brownville, being the first to introduce into Northern New York weaving by water power. He was a pro- gressive, stirring man, the contemporary of Adriel Ely, Ely Farwell, the Loomis family at Brownville, and those other prominent ones who were veritable " heroes of discovery."

One of his later attempts at erecting build- ings and dams was at the Falls which still bears his name, where he had erected a saw mill and ran it several years, when he con- structed a large woollen factory, 350 feet long and 80 feet wide. It was nearly com- pleted, and he was awaiting the arrival of his machinery from the east, when a tremen- dous spring freshet came and swept away in one night the dam, the saw mill and the woollen factory so completely that not a sliver of the whole concern was left. So noiseless was the destruction that Mr. Wood was unaware of his loss until he went out at sunrise to go to his factory.

The stone house he had built for his family and the large stone barn near the house, yet stand, probably two of the oldest buildings on the Brownville road.

Discouraging as had been Mr. Wood's ex- perience upon Black River, he sold the " Jim Wood" Falls property and followed down the stream. to Dexter, where he built a dwelling and a saw mill. This last was con- sumed by a fire, which also destroyed $5,000 worth of fine lumber. After this disastrous fire he gave over the lumber business to his two sons. He afterwards built the propeller

James Wood, the first vessel of that char- acter upon Lake Ontario, and also built and ran boats on the Oswego and Erie canals.

His restless ambition at last led him to Michigan, where he was a commission mer- chant in lumber at Detroit. He died in that city in 1852, and his remains were brought to Brownville and interred in the village ceme- tery. No man excelled James Wood in en- terprise and fearlessness. Had his financial capacity been equal to his progressive genius, he might have ranked among the ablest and most successful men in the county.

MICHAEL VAN SCHAICK came into Brown- ville in 1817, and was engaged in farming. He married Caroline Truax, and they reared a large family. His wife died at the extreme age of 104 years. She had a sister who also lived to be 104. They were all a wonderful long-lived family. Another sister, Annie V., married first, Levi Livermore, and after his death she married Thomas Warren. She is now his widow, residing in Dexter with her daughter, Mrs. James Gilmore, at the age of 95, and is as smart as if only 50.

Michael Van Schaick had a brother named Henry, residing in the town of Adams, whose son, Emery Van Schaick, was the man murdered by Duncan, who is now serving a life-sentence at Auburn, the details of which crime will be found more extensively set forth in the sketch of Judge Emerson's official acts, page 376n. The parents of this unfortunate victim are yet living near Adams Centre.

JOHN COLE, a native of Montgomery county, came to Brownville in 1802, among the early settlers, and located upon a farm near Perch River, now known as the Cole farm. In the early days the town meetings were held upon this farm. Mr. Cole died here at the age of 81 years. He married Polly Waters, and their children were: Walter, Samuel, John, Betsey, Abigail, Margaret, Clarissa and Polly. John married Elizabeth, daughter of Seth and Mary Cole, of Bennington, Vt., and they had children as follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Caroline, George, Jane, Edward and Byron. The latter, born in this town, where he now resides, married Annie, daughter of Clement and Betsey (Hamilton) Hawley, of Perch River, and they had four children, viz : Earl B., Josie M., Grace D. and John. Francis Cole, brother of John, the early settler here, served in the Revolutionary War, and was made prisoner by the Indians at Fort Stanwix, when 15 years of age, and was taken to an island in the St. Lawrence river, and sold or given to a merchant in Lower Canada, where he re- mained many years. He finally removed to this town, and later to Watertown, where he died.

WILLIAM PENN MASSEY, son of Solon and Mary Esther (Boult) Massey, and grandson of Hart Massey, was born in 1824 on his father's farm, two and a half miles from Watertown, on the Sackets Harbor road. He died at Brownville in 1885, aged 60 years. He was

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

educated at the select schools of Brownville, and at the Black River Institute, at Water- town. In 1846-47 he attended medical lectures at a university in New York city, where he graduated in the latter year, after which he practiced his profession in Brown- ville with remarkable success until his death. Politically he was a stanch Republican. He and his amiable wife were prominent mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church. He married, May 8, 1848, Adaline A., daughter of Charles and Addie (Macomber) Smith, of Utica, N. Y. She is now deceased.

CHARLES WELCH, a native of New Hamp- shire, came to Brownville in the early days, when there were but two log houses in Water- town. He died in Brownville, aged 88 years. He married Eunice Cole, and they reared a number of children. Nathan married, first, Susan Anderson, of Clayton, by whom he had seven children, viz: Lyman M., Eliza, James S., Olive, Anderson C., Owen E., and John H. His second marriage was with Jane DeLong, of DeKalb, St. Lawrence county, and their children were Susan, Ida, Charles and Lewis. John H. Welch married Nancy, daughter of John and Hannah Gunn, of Herkimer, N. Y., and their children are Stella, Maggie M., Arthur J., Clark N. and Mabel S. He served three years in the late war in Co. I, 10th New York Heavy Artil- lery, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war.

NATHANIEL PECK, who served at Sackets Harbor in the War of 1812, was born at Dan- bury, Conn., in 1782. His father, Eliphalet Peck, also a native of Danbury, served with three brothers in the Revolutionary war, and was taken prisoner in New York city by the British. Nathaniel married Abigail, daughter of Samuel Starr, of Brownville, and they had eight children. Spencer S. B. served in Co. B, 177th New York Vols., in the Port Hudson campaign. He owns the homestead farm of his great grandfather, Samuel Starr, and ad- joining the farm once occupied by his grand- father, Nathaniel Peck.

EBENEZER ALLISON, a native of New Hampshire, came to Brownville while young and finally located on a farm on road 28, where he died at the advanced age of 83 years. He took part in the battle of Sackets Harbor. He married Phoebe Phelps, of Brownville, and their children were Sally, Polly, Esther, Julia, Henry W., Jane, Han- nah, Louisa, Simeon and Harlon. He resides in this town on the homestead farm, where he has lived 18 years.

CONKEY MOFFATT was a native of North Adams, Mass., whence he removed to Otsego connty, New York, and in 1818 to Brown- ville, where he was one of the first settlers. He died in Brownville in 1841, aged about 70 years. He married Olive Hinman, who bore him nine children.

RICHARD BUCKMINSTER was born in Platts- burgh, N. Y., in 1800. In 1816 he located in Watertown, and in 1819 removed to Brown- ville, where he remained until his death, in

1884, aged 84 years. He married Mary, daughter of Frederick Avery, and they had six children, viz: Charles, Nancy, Myron, Frederick, Bruce and Woodruff. The latter married Adelaide, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Vaughn) Buckminster, of Brown- ville, and they had one son, now deceased. Frederick Buckminster married Florence, daughter of John and Mary A. (Knox) Cole, of Brownville, and they had one son, Evan. Mr. Frederick Buckminster served in Co. I, 10th New York Heavy Artillery, in the late war, and died July 13, 1870, aged 29 years. His widow survives him.

WILLIAM T. SKINNER was born in West- moreland, N. Y., in 1826, and died in 1878. When four years of age he came with his father, Alanson, to this town and here re- mained until his death. His occupation was that of a foundryman, and he continued in that business in the buildings erected by his father, until his decease. He married Lucy, daughter of Oliver and Mary (Ormsby) Horr, of Watertown, who survives him, and re- sides in California, with her son Frederick. They had born to them two children, Freder- ick W. and Albert A. Albert A. is dead.

WILLIAM P. SMITH, a native of Brown- ville, married, first, Clara Lounsbury, of Niagara county, New York, who bore him one son. She died in 1878, aged 42 years. In 1880 he was married to Mrs. Belle Kilborn, of Clayton. He is now a farmer at Perch River. He commenced life as a poor boy, and for many years lived with John Prior. By industry and frugality he has become quite successful as a farmer. He served in Co. A, 35th N. Y. Vols., and in Co. G, 6th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and received an hon- orable discharge.

HENRY FREDENBERG, a native of Ulster county, came to Brownville in 1837, where he died in 1872, aged 76 years. He served in Company M, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery one year. He married, first, Annie Shower, of Ulster county, and their children were: Albert, Elias, John, Mary J., David, Sylvia, James C., Eliza, George and Lottie. His second marriage was with Annie Beckwith. James C. married Hattie, daughter of Alex- ander Hayes, of Chaumont, and they have two children. He served two enlistments in the late war, in Company M, 2d Regiment N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, and in Co. E, 186th Regt. N. Y. Vol. Infantry ; being honorably discharged. He served in the battles of Bull Run and Antietam, and in front of Peters- burg. He resides in Limerick.

JOSEPH UNDERWOOD, son of Joseph Under- wood who served in the Revolutionary war, was born in Vermont, whence he emigrated to Rutland in 1800, and was one of the first settlers of that town, where he lived 35 years, when he removed to Brownville, dying in 1843, aged 72 years. He married Rebecca Hayes, who bore him seven chil- dren, viz : William, Elizabeth, Sarah, Clar- issa, Joseph, Huldah and Warren. Joseph, a native of Rutland, came to Brownville in

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1835. He married Louisa, daughter of Jere- miah and Sally (Bush) Scott, and his children are Charles, Morrell and William H. The latter married Genevieve, daughter of I. Al- anson and Susan Roseboom. William H. Underwood is proprietor of the popular Underwood Hotel, in the village of Dexter, of which village he is president. He enlisted in Co. I, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, in 1862, and served until the close of the war, receiv- ing an honorable discharge May 28, 1865. He was in the battles of the Wilderness and Petersburg ; was at the front in the defense of the National capital, and was present at Lee's surrender.

JOSIAH SATCHWELL was the son of Thomas Satchwell, who came from England with Burgoyne's army in 1776. At the close of the Revolutionary war Thomas Satchwell settled in Duchess county, New York, where Josiah was born, April 27, 1789. When he was 12 years old his father moved to the town of Appenheim, Montgomery county. Here he was married to Catherine Bellinger, and continued to reside until 1837, when he moved to Pillar Point, which continued to be his home till April 25, 1868, when he died at the home of his son Alonzo, at the ripe age of 79 years. He served as a soldier a short time during the War of 1812, being stationed at Sackets Harbor, which fact afterwards influenced him to settle at Pillar Point.

He was converted at an early age, and soon after united with the Methodist church, of which he became a prominent member, serving the church of his choice for many years as class leader and steward. He was the father of 11 children, all of whom sur- vive him except one.

The younger branch of the family is ably represented in the present editor of the Watertown Advocate, Geo. E. Satchwell, who is the son of Alonzo and Margaret Satch- well, and was born at Pillar Point, August 28, 1851. He received his education in the common schools and at the High School of Watertown, from which he graduated in 1876. He entered Syracuse University the same year, but was soon compelled to leave by reason of ill health. Entering the ranks of teachers, he continued for eight years in that position, serving as principal of schools at Felts Mills, Three Mile Bay, Theresa, Philadelphia and Madison, N. Y. In Feb- ruary, 1883, he established the Temperance Advocate, afterwards changed to the Water- town Advocate, which has continued till the present under his management. The Advo- cate has proven a strong supporter of the principles of temperance and prohibition and a fearless advocate of reform in government. Converted at the age of 19 years, he united with the Arsenal Street Methodist church, in which he was at once appointed class leader, and soon after received a license to preach, and has also served as steward for many years. He was married to Miss Libbie Marsh, of Watertown, June 25, 1889,

DARWIN B. GOTHAM, now a resident of Watertown, but doing business in Brown- ville, was born December 19, 1844, the son of Jenery P. Gotham, who was the son of that John Gotham, for many years an exten- sive land owner near the eastern limits of what was then the village of Watertown. He was educated in the common schools of that era, and in 1861, at the age of 17, enlisted in Co. B, 94th N. Y. Vol. Infantry. He served with that regiment until 1864. After leaving the army he began to learn the machinist trade with the Lords, on Beebee's Island. After an extensive experience as a worker in iron, he purchased the Alanson Skinner fur- nace property in Brownville, and has carried on a general foundry and machine shop until the present time (1894). In 1868 he married Elizabeth Milett, and they have raised two children, Merritt, who is married, and has charge of his father's business, and Ivan, a schoolboy. Mr. Gotham has made a success of the foundry business He is an estima- ble citizen, a man of the people, for he has all his life been a toiler. He has his reward in enlarged possessions and a future unclouded by any fear of want.

RICHARD VAN ALLEN was born in 1773, and his wife, Nancy Timmerman, in 1779. Their son, Mindred, was born in St. Johnsville, N. Y., in 1781, and came to Watertown about 1830, finally locating in Brownville, where he died in 1849, aged 68 years. He married Maria, daughter of John and Margaret Van- derwalker, of St. Johnsville, N. Y., and their children were: Emily, Jerome, Myron, Addison S., Augustus R., Daniel D., John, Charles L. and Ellen C. John and Augustus Van Allen served in Company K, 35th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, and Jerome in Company B, 20th N. Y. Cavalry. John enlisted in Company B, 20th N. Y. Cavalry ; Daniel D. served two years in the 35th Regiment, and one year with the 2d Connecticut Artillery. Charles served in Company B, 20th N. Y. Cavalry, and Myron in Company M, of the same regiment.

CAPT. FRANCIS WINN was born in South Reading, Mass., in 1782, and died in Holden, Mass., in 1840. He married Eliza Jackson, of Boston, and they raised eight children. One of these, Francis W., born in Woburn, Mass., came to Brownville in 1840. He married Harriet, daughter of Sylvanus and Lucy (Baker) White, of Charlton, Mass., and their children are : Harriet E., William H., Frederick, Ann E. and Mary S. William H. served in Company I, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He is now drawing a pension. He was in the engagement at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. He served in the Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1864.

JAMES T. OUTTERSON, son of Andrew, was a native of Connecticut, and is now a resi- dent of Watertown. He served as captain of Company G, in the 84th New York Volun- teer Infantry. He married Frances E., daughter of C. R. Jones, of Pulaski, and his

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

children are : Chauncey R. (now deceased), James A., Charles E., Mabelle and Carrie. James A. married Eva S., daughter of Horace S. and Mary (Coburn) Peck, of Ticonderoga, N. Y., and is now superintend- ent and manager of the Raquette Paper Company. James T. is president of the Outterson Paper Company, of Brownville. Mr. James T. Outterson has an adopted daughter, Miss Blanche, who has been an in- mate of his family for the past 17 years.

CHARLES C. STEELE, long a resident of Brownville, was the son of Eliakim Steele, of Windsor, Vt., who came into Brownville in 1834. Charles C. was then nine years of age, and he has resided in Brownville ever since. In 1853 his father died, and Charles C. carried on the farm until he was 35 years old, when he came into the village of Brown- ville and became a merchant, the firm being Gibbs & Steele. In 1869 he purchased an interest in the Empire Mills, opposite Brown- ville, where he remained two years, and sold his milling business to Henry Spicer, return- ing to the store, where he remained a year, and traded his mercantile business for the grist-mill upon the north side of the river. Here he remained some eight years, and that terminated his active business life.

In 1859 he married Miss Elizabeth Guard, the daughter of Samuel Guard, one of the oldest residents of Brownville. Two sons were the result of this union. He married, for his second wife, Miss Frances E. Kilborn. His third wife, with whom he is now living, was Mary E., widow of Walter Fox, of Pamelia. Mr. Steele retired from business in 1883, and has devoted his time to the management of his private affairs.

LEWIS MAYNARD was the son of John Maynard, who came into Brownville in 1833. Lewis was then 16 years of age. He re- mained at home, having had the advantages of the common schools of Madison county until his 18th year, when he accepted a position with the late Major Kirby, taking charge of the out-door work until 1849. He then took the homestead farm of the family, and managed it three years. In September, 1853, he bought into the stone hotel at Brownville, kept it two years, and after own- ing the property six years, he sold it. In 1846 he married Miss Mary Ann Mitchell, daughter of Alexander Mitchell. For several years he managed the carbon mill on the south side of the river. having previously kept a livery in connection with his hotel. For the past 10 years he has not been actively engaged in business, confining himself to the management of his landed property.

FREMONT W. SPICER, who resides in Dex- ter and is superintendent of the Frontenac pulp and paper mill, the view of which is seen opposite p. 471, is the son of Henry Spicer, long and favorably known as a mer- chant at Perch River, in company with Hugh Smith, under the firm name of Smith & Spicer. Mr. Fremont W. Spicer, a paper manufacturer, is the direct descendant of a

family who are the oldest paper manufactur- ers in the civilized world. The firm of Henry Spicer & Son, of London, date their first efforts at paper-making back for several cen- turies, and the business has been continued in the family down to the present time.

The Perch River family of Spicers are fortunate in being able to trace their lineage back to the 12th century, and this in an un- broken and undoubted chain of descent. The family names have been continued with a pertinacity that is remarkable. The first one who appears in our American annals was Henry, a cavalier, who settled in Virginia in 1635; then came Peter, his son; then Ed- ward, son of Peter ; then John, son of Ed- ward, and then Edward, again, who had a younger brother who was a captain under Washington ; then Silas, who came into York State in 1792, and then his son, also Silas, who came from Connecticut to Jeffer- son county, where he became the ancestor of this numerous and well known family. The Spicers are of English descent, coming from Weare, in Devonshire. In 1273 William Spicer was mayor of Exeter, and his grand- son was also mayor of that ancient city dur- ing the 3rd Edward's reign. This family is also peculiar in this: it has sent soldiers to every war waged by the United States, crowning that record by one of Fremont Spicer's uncles dying at the head of his com- pany at Antietam. They have furnished not only soldiers, but sailors as well, having had a commodore in our old navy and a captain in our present navy.

They do not, however, make any claim for consideration on account of their an- cestry, but depend upon correct lives for their record.

But perhaps the crowning glory of this important family is in the fact that they were always the friend of the black man, and, in- deed, of all who are oppressed. For a more particular account of protecting escaping slaves, we refer the reader to Mr. Henry Spicer's biographical sketch upon the next page, as well as to the efforts in that direction made by his business partner, Mr. Hugh Smith, a descendant of Pennsylvania Quakers, a society that always befriended the poor es- caping slave, and helped him on his way to freedom.

CHAUNCEY H. FAY, born on Point Penin- sula ; in 1861 he located in Dexter, where he died March 29, 1876, aged 74 years. He married Julia Ann Tracy, of Lyme, and their children were Emily, Sherebiah, Almina, Lavina, Helen and Sullivan D. The latter was born in Lyme, and in 1860 located in Dexter, where he now resides. He married Mary, daughter of Danforth P. and Amanda (Hubbard) Clark in 1860, by whom he had one son, Fred, who died in 1870, aged four years. He served in Company B, 186th New York Volunteers, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He was present at the evacuation of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865,

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BROWNVILLE.

HENRY SPICER

WAS the son of Silas F. Spicer, who was born in Stonington, Conn., in 1792. Silas F. came with his parents to Oneida county, and finally located in Sackets Harbor previous to 1812. There he learned to be a tanner and shoemaker, two branches of the leather trade that. usually went together in the early days of settling the county. He

mar- ried Charlotte Wescott, of Houndsfield, in 1815, and they had 14 children born to them: Charlotte, Silas, Mercy, Henry, Fanny, Maria, Caroline and Clarissa (twins), Edward 1st, Mary, Jane, Edward 2d, Sarah and George.

Mr. Spicer came to Perch River in 1816, but returned to the village of Brownville, where he remained some four years, and then

HENRY SPICER.

took up his residence permanently in Perch River, in the year 1821. During his resi- dence in Brownville he formed the acquaint- ance of Melzar Fowler, who subsequently married Mr. Spicer's sister, the ceremony being performed at his home. Melzar Fowler will be remembered as the father of Mrs. C. H. McCormick (mentioned on p. 169 of this History), who was also the niece of Hon. E. G. Merick. While a resident of Brownville, Mr. Spicer was soundly con- verted, and thenceforth walked in accordance with the requirements of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was an honored member during the remainder of his life.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 101

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823- Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094