Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 111

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

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WILLIAM M. COBURN, son of Merrill Coburn, was born at Felts Mills, January 26, 1825. On reaching manhood he became a partner with his father in the lumber busi- ness at Felts Mills and at Huntingtonville. In 1860 he moved to Carthage, and owned and managed a saw-mill in West Carthage, which was afterwards swept away by high water. He was a director in the Carthage & Watertown Railroad ; a director of the Jeffer- son County National Bank, and also in the

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National Union Bank. Mr. Coburn was eminently public spirited, and always an enterprising citizen. His first wife was Mary Middleton, who died before he took up his residence in Carthage. Mr. Coburn died in 1876. Mrs. Harriet Coburn, his widow, married Dr. Frank Bruce, a respected phy- sician of Carthage. William Coburn's chil- dren are as follows: Fred W., a member of the firm of J. Rogers & Co .; and a director of the Carthage National Bank; John, a bookkeeper in the same store; Arthur, of Michigan ; Marcia (Mrs. C. E. Follensbe, of Chicago), and Mabel (Mrs. Dr. Lord, of Carthage.)

WILLIAM HUTCHINSON was born in Ham- mond, St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1828. He attended the common schools of that period, academic education being much harder to obtain then than now. In 1838 he came to Natural Bridge, where he learned to be a miller. Remaining there six years, he removed to Watertown, finding employment in the Checkered mill. There he remained a year, removing thence to Copenhagen, where he was in charge for six years. At Deer River he purchased the first grist-mill he ever owned, and there he remained five years. Then he purchased the Carthage mills from Noyes Tuttle, in West Carthage, and has been in the milling business at Carthage continuously for 34 years. For the past 22 years Mr. William Clark, or his son, C. J. Clark, has been in business with Mr. Hutch- inson in the milling business. Mr. Hutchin- son has been twice married. He has raised three children, and is a resident of West Carthage. He is respected for his business integrity and personal worth-a hard worker and a shrewd manager.

JEROME STEVENS, for several years a well- known resident of West Carthage, was the son of Norman and Sophia (Patten) Stevens, and was born in LeRay, February 2, 1826. He came to Wilna in 1849, and for 15 years con- ducted a grist-mill at Wood's Mills. He married Laura, daughter of Jonathan and Betsey (Davidson) Wood. Their only daugh- ter, Rosalia, died in April, 1876, aged 25 years. For nearly six years she was precep- tress of the Carthage Union Free School. After Mr. Stevens removed to Champion he was overseer of the poor and a prominent member of the M. E. Church at Carthage. He died in January, 1892, much respected as an honorable, intelligent and conscientious citizen. His widow survives him, residing at West Carthage.

WILLIAM JASON BENTLEY was the son of William Bentley, Jr., and Abiah Bakeman, who were born in Montgomery (now Fulton) county, New York. Their ancestry came from Rhode Island. William J. was born in Montgomery county, April 2, 1811. Losing both his parents when an infant, he was given over to the care of his grand parents, who raised him. He had the benefit of the common schools of that era, working upon his grand parents' farm until his marriage

in 1831, to Lavina Hopkins, when he estab- lished himself at the head of his grand- father's establishment, and thenceforward he began his course as a successful farmer. He has been supervisor of Champion. and has held all the offices in that town. Now in his 83rd year, he is remarkably well preserved, his mind as bright as when 50, and bears his years with a courage that is almost sublime. He is probably one of the oldest persons in West Carthage.

RICHARD GIBBS was born in West Farn- ham, Lower Canada, in 1834; he came to this State in 1860, and settled in Deer River in 1879, where he built his present residence. He is the son of Hiram Gibbs, who died in California in 1857, and grandson of Isaac Gibbs, who was a Revolutionary soldier and participated in the battle of Saratoga. Six brothers served under Washington and La- Fayette. Richard Gibbs has been one of the leading business men of West Carthage for several years. He had a new shop nearly completed and ready for the machinery when the great fire of 1884 occurred. After being burned out, he again built on the site of the William Coburn grist-mill, in West Carthage, where the business is conducted by his son, Scott M. Gibbs, in manufacturing doors, blinds, mouldings, etc. He is also a heavy contractor and builder.

ROBERT WILSON was born in England, coming to America when a young man, and settled in the town of Vernon, Oneida county. He married Harriet King, who came from England but a short time previously. They had five children, James J., Lucy. M., Ma- tilda, Robert W. and Esther E, The two younger are deceased. James J. came to Jefferson county in 1874, settling near Car- thage, and in 1879 married Miss Camillia M. Passenger, daughter of James Passenger, a prosperous farmer of Wilna. Mr. Wilson has two children, Robert E. and Carrie. Mr. Wilson is proprietor of a blacksmith shop in West Carthage, and is an upright, industrious young man, now in the prime of life, and of the sort from which our best citizens are made. His brother Robert served in the late civil war, was taken prisoner and died in prison.

HENRY G POTTER, for many years a well- known and highly respected citizen of West Carthage, was born in Norway, Herkimer county, May 13, 1803, and was united in marriage February 17, 1833, to Thankful E., daughter of Nathan and Anna Potter, of Gloversville, N. Y. Soon after he came to Great Bend, where he kept a hotel for seven years : also a store, a grist-mill, a plow manufactory and a cheese-box factory dur- ing the 20 years he was closely identified with the business interests of that village. His wife died, leaving six children, Amelia M., widow of Edward Woodard, of Evans Mills; James G., of West Carthage; Wil- liam H., of Chicago ; Harriet C. (deceased); Emily T., of Evans Mills, and Mary R. (de- ceased). Henry G. Potter was married the

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

second time May 29, 1849, to Susan C., daughter of Hannah and James Smith, of Carthage, and their family is as follows : Fannie S., wife of Jay A. Loomis ; Eva S., wife of Fred A. Southwick, of Carthage ; Fred A., who died at Whitesboro, aged 33 years, (after commencing a successful pas- torate of the First Baptist Church of that place), and George W., a resident of Clayton, N. Y. Mr. Potter died September 21, 1882, aged 79 years, and his widow survives him, and is still a resident of Carthage.

JOHN A. POTTER, for many years the only merchant in West Carthage, was born in Fairfield, Herkimer county, September 7, 1811. He was married February 22, 1842, to Miss Betsey Haze, of Champion, who died July 29, 1849. Their children were Daniel J. and Henry C., both of whom served in the late war. The latter lost an arm and died. Daniel died in Orange, N. J., in 1875, aged 31 years. John A. was again married to Miss Mary Green, of Car- thage, who still survives him, a resident of Syracuse. Their family are: Almira R., wife of H. H. Mills, now of Syracuse, and Sarah A., of Syracuse. George L. Potter, a son of Daniel J., has resided, since a small child, with his grand parents, and has been for several years a trusted employe of the Electric Light Company, of Carthage, and is the champion bicycle rider of Northern New York. John A. Potter died December 8, 1884.

NELSON RULISON Was a widely known and respected citizen of Carthage. His birth- place was Florida, Montgomery county, whence he came to Jefferson county in 1819. For several years he taught school in Alex- andria and LeRay, and in 1837 came to Car- thage, being in the employ of LeRay de Chaumont, which position he held for more than a quarter of a century. For a time he was employed by the State in charge of the work upon the canal, and for a long time was United States assessor. He also repre- sented his town for several terms as its supervisor. His marriage with Sophia Van Antwerp took place in 1830, and four sons and one daughter were born to them. One son, Rev. N. Somerville Rulison, is a dis- tinguished clergyman of the Episcopal Church, and another son, Winchell D. V. Rulison, was for many years the trusted clerk in the county clerk's office, at Water- town. Nelson Rulison united with the M. E. Church in 1824, and held most of the offices of responsibility in the church of his choice. His death, in 1876, left a place in the community long to be remembered. With Christian fortitude he looked forward to a blessed immortality.

FRANK C. KNEPLER is of French descent, born in the Province of Lorraine, France, in 1857. He is the son of Peter and Anna (Nicholas) Knepler. His father was a cabinet-maker, and Frank learned the same trade. He came to America in 1880, and married Miss Emma Hanno, of New Bremen,

Lewis county. They have reared one child. When he first came to Carthage he was in the employ of Smith & O'Keefe, and after- ward in partnership with Charles Duffy in the manufacture of furniture, which enter- prise did not prove a financial success. At present he is conducting a chair factory in West Carthage, occupying the saw-mill property, formerly owned by the late Lewis Earl.

WILLIAM SISSON was born in Herkimer county in 1806. He came to Jefferson county in 1868, and had married Aramintha Williams. They had five children: Charles H. (who was an extensive dealer in lumber, on the Pacific Coast, and was murdered 125 miles from Vancouver, leaving three chil- dren); Harriet and Mary (both deceased), Almeron and Orman. William Sisson, the father, died in August, 1886. Almeron married Esther M. Ricket, and adopted two children. Orman is unmarried. These two brothers have been in partnership for several years In 1866-67-68 they conducted a saw- mill, shingle and lath factory on the Rawson place, near Carthage, removing to Carthage after the great fire of 1884, and where they took contracts for building houses. At present they conduct the grist-mill, wood- working and shingle mills owned by Chaun- cey H. Clark, at Great Bend, established in 1881.

CASPER ZAPF was born in Bavaria in 1824. He came to America and married Agnes Waibel in 1855. They had three children : Lewis, a cheese-maker in Theresa; Francis X. and Barbara, who married Edwin L. Mc- Neil, in the employ of Rider & Fuller, of Watertown. Casper Zapf was a cheese- manufacturer, and an extensive dealer in cheese. He died in the town of LeRay in 1878. Francis came to Great Bend in 1876, and was a cheese-maker for eight or nine years. He is the present secretary of the Great Bend Paper Company, and is sole trustee of the school district. He married Julia M. Dodge, and they have four chil- dren : Casper, Bertha J., Ethel N., Walter J. He is a member of Pisgah Lodge, No. 720, of Evans Mills, and universally re- spected.

ERASTUS B. FREEMAN was born in Wilna, in 1809. He was the son of Alfred Freeman (who built the Checkered House), and one of 11 children, but one of whom survives, Charles, in Montana. Erastus B. came to Great Bend in 1851, and purchased a small hotel, to which he added and improved until finished, as it now appears, in 1873. For years the Freeman House has been a popular resort, and equally so under the present manage- ment of his sons, John and George, who suc- ceeded their father. Erastus married Abi, daughter of John Strickland, Jr., of Phila- delphia, N. Y., and of their eight children but six are living, Harriet (wife of Sylvester Loomis of Champion), Helen M. (wife of Clark Loomis of Champion), Almira C. (wife of Charles Roberts of Watertown), Martha

H.T.O.ENG.CO.

LEANDER E. BOSSUOT.

GEO. W. PARMENTER.

WILLIAM FULLER.

FREDERICK BENNET.

DR. ALBERT A. JOSLIN.

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A. (wife of Thomas B. Phelps, proprietor of the Lowville Democrat), Charles E. (who married Adelaide. daughter of Sandford Lewis, of North Wilna, and died in 1875), John E. (who married Adelaide, widow of his brother Charles), and George E. (who married Miss Susan Merritt). Erastus Free- man died December 21, 1873, aged 64 years. His widow survives him, and at the age of 86, is a remarkably smart lady.

JOSEPH F. DODGE was born in Goshen, Litchfield county, Conn., October 21, 1832. He came with his parents to Wilna in 1839, where his father took up 200 acres of land. He married Ann Maria, daughter of Bris- band Brownell, in 1856. Seven children were born to them, five of whom are living : Oliver F., Julia M., Walter R., Nellie L. and Clinton B. Joseph moved with his family to Great Bend in 1867, and entered the em- ploy of L. H. Mills. About two years later he engaged with the Great Bend Paper Com- pany, where he remained until about four years since, when, his health failing, he was obliged to retire. His wife died in 1877. He is now in poor health, and resides with his son Clinton, at Great Bend. Oliver F. Dodge is foreman of the Great Bend Paper Company, and is a justice of the peace.

FRANK A. FLETCHER, president of the Great Bend Paper and Pulp Company, was born in Mantrel, N. H., in February, 1836, and is the son of Lewis A. and Betsey M. Fletcher. He is one of seven children, and the

only survivor. Frank came to Watertown in 1874, and engaged as manager for Knowl- ton Brothers, of Watertown, and in 1887 be- came identified with the paper company at Great Bend. He married Ida LaDue, of Newburg, N. Y., and they have four chil- dren. Frank enlisted May, 1861, in Co. G, 2nd N. H. Infantry, and served until June, 1864, when he was mustered out as sergeant. He was stationed on the Potomac, partici- pated in the battles of the first and second Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Williamsburg -18 ar 19 battles in all. He was wounded at first Bull Run, and also at Gettysburg. He has always been a straightforward Re- publican, and is a member of Spratt Post at Watertown.

JEWETT CLARK, a contractor on the Black River Canal, built. in 1842, the large stone hotel, the Jefferson House, which stands con- spicuously in the center of the village of Great Bend-a monument to his enterprise. It was used for many years as a hotel, but is now a tenement house. It is most substan- tially put together, and the oldest inhabitants remember an incident connected with its con- struction. The rafters of the roof were being placed in position, when they suddenly gave way and three men were precipitated into the cellar, and, what is remarkable, none of the were seriously injured. Mr. Clark was drowned in Black River two years after. Mrs. Clark's maiden name was Mahala In- galls ; she survived her husband many years.

SOME SOLDIER BIOGRAPHIES.

LEANDER E. BOSSUOT, who is a merchant in West Carthage, was the son of George Bossuot, who was the first white child born in the village, afterwards called Carthage, the son of Jean Baptiste Bossuot, a native of Troyes, France. The family of this pioneer and earliest settler of Carthage, is an im- portant and historical one. In 1798 he found at Carthage only a single Indian's hut-the forest coming down close to the river-a boundless wilderness. He died in Cham- pion, July 26, 1847, aged 93 years. The children born to Jean Baptiste Bossuot were: George, Louis, Augustus, John Bonaparte, Peter, and a daughter named Julia, who died early. With the exception of Augus- tus, who died in Minnesota, all the rest of this numerous family resided in or near Car- thage until their death. Jean Baptiste was accompanied to Carthage by his brother Louis, who also reared a numerous family : John, Louis, Joseph, Ellen, Margaret, Mary, Ann and Julia. The girls all married and raised families, and the boys emigrated West excepting John, who is now residing in Car- thage.

Leander E. Bossuot, the grandson (as we have stated), of the original Jean Baptiste, is a respected citizen of West Carthage, and is clerk of the town of Champion. He enlisted

in the 20th Cavalry in July, 1863, and served through with it until its final muster out. This regiment was the one which made the first entry into Richmond after its evacuation by the Confederates, and its colonel raised the first Union flag upon the State capital. It was a regiment full of veterans from the two-year service, and it is an honor to any man to have belonged to it. Its make-up may be judged of by remembering that Leander Bossuot served in it.

Mr. Bossuot is a Knight Templar, a mem- ber of Carthage Lodge No. 158, and the senior warden ; is also a member of Carthage Chapter No. 259, of Watertown Command- ery No. 11, and of Utica Council. He is also an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Mystic Shrine, a Masonic organization.

DR. ALBERT A. JOSLIN,

THE subject of this sketch (the son of Phi- lander D. Joslin and Philindia Van Dusen Joslin, of Champion), was born in Wales, Erie county, N. Y.

While yet in his infancy, his parents re- moved from Erie county to Champion, Jefferson county, where he resided with them until the latter part of the summer of 1864, when he enlisted at the early age of 15,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

in Company H, 186th N. Y. Vol. Infantry. He was the youngest soldier in the regiment who carried a musket. The regiment ren- dezvoued at Sackets Harbor, where it was organized. On the examination of the re- cruits by the surgeons, young Joslin was at first rejected on account of his youth, but being persistent, and anxious to become a soldier, he succeeded by stating that he was 18 years of age, in securing a second exami- nation, and was accepted.

The regiment was soon ordered to Vir- ginia, where it joined the forces of General Grant, before Petersburg. There he served in the trenches, within rifle range of the enemy's lines throughout the siege. He par- ticipated in the movement of a portion of the army in an attempt to destroy the South- side Railroad. The attempt was unsuccess- ful, but the battle of Hatcher's Run was fought on October 27, 1864, in which the regiment was engaged.

On the night of December 10, 1864, the regiment, with other troops of the 9th corps, were withdrawn from the entrench- ments, supplied with five days' rations and 80 rounds of ammunition, and made a forced march to Nottaway River at the crossing of the Weldon Railroad, to reinforce the 5th corps in the destruction of that road. This move was a success.

On April 2, 1865, in the final assault upon Petersburg, the regiment was in the charge upon Fort Mahone. In this battle young Joslin was captured by the rebels, and held a prisoner of war during the retreat of their army from Petersburg and Richmond to Appomattox Court House, where Lee sur- rendered, and he was recaptured. On this retreat the rebels were greatly harassed by the forces under Gens. Grant and Sheridan; and were obliged to make long and rapid marches each day, which were sometimes prolonged far into the night. No rations were issued to the prisoners for the period of one week, with the exception of four ears of corn and a small piece of bacon at one time. By reason of this and of the exhausting marches, Mr. Joslin suffered greatly from hunger and fatigue. He, with other prison- ers, were compelled by hunger to search for kernels of corn where the horses and mules were fed, when the army halted at night.

About three years after the close of the war, he went to Litchfield county, Conn., and was there for three years. While in Connecticut, he commenced reading medi- cine, returning to Jefferson county and con- tinued the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Ferguson. In 1879-80 he attended lectures at the University of the City of New York. In 1882 he entered the University of Vermont, at which institution he graduated, and commenced practice in 1882 at Greig, Lewis county, where he remained for several years. He then removed to Martinsburg, and there continued in practice several years.

He is a member of the Medical Society of Lewis county, of which society he was

twice elected president. In 1885 he was elected a Fellow of the New York State Medical Association. He is a member of the executive board of said Society. He also has served a period of six years as coroner of Lewis county.

GEORGE W. PARMENTER.

SNELL PARMENTER was born in Putnam, Windham county, Vermont, in 1808. He came to St. Lawrence county in 1825, settling in the town of Gouverneur. Having driven stage over the Green Mountains of Vermont, he naturally took up the same avocation on removing to Gouverneur. When only 15 years of age he drove a stage drawn by four horses from Brattleboro to Walpole. He married Mrs. Clarinda Burdslee, and they raised seven children. The fifth child was George W. Parmenter, long a resident of Car- thage. He was born in Gouverneur in 1842. He had the benefit of a common-school edu- cation, and began to learn the carpenter's trade with Jacob Broxton, in Denmark, N. Y. He had not fully completed his trade when the civil war broke upon the country, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery. He served through nearly three years with that regi- ment, participating in its engagements, and was mustered out with the regiment, receiv- ing an honorable discharge. He was ord- nance sergeant of his battalion during a part of his term of. service.

On leaving the army he came to Carthage, and finished his trade with Joseph H. Root. He soon began to learn architecture, and finally made designs for buildings, and now he is a builder and contractor.

In January, 1868, he married Miss Hattie A. Dunham, and since then they have been continuously residents of Carthage. Mr. Par- mater has been twice elected a trustee of Carthage, now serving his second term. He is a reliable, enterprising citizen, and his acts as trustee have been on the side of progress and improvement.

FREDERICK BENNETT,

LONG a resident of Carthage and a soldier in the Union army, was born in Weston, near Bath, Somersetshire, England. He received a very limited education in the schools of that country. He worked in a newspaper office in 1848 in the city of London, England, and was a newspaper carrier on the London Times. In 1852, in his 15th year, he enlisted in the British army, at Tauplemore, in Tip- perary, Ireland. He joined his regiment, the 55th foot, at Gibraltar. This was about the time the Crimean War began, and the 55th was ordered to that distant point, now celebrated in history.

Young Bennett served through that im- portant war, and received the honorary good conduct medal, with three clasps, upon which are engraved, "The Alma, Balaklava and Sebastopol." He was one of the volun-

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teers who carried the scaling ladders at the assault upon the Redan, September 8, 1855, and was otherwise distinguished as a good soldier.

He was a witness of the charge of the im- mortal six hundred at Balaklava, his regiment being held within supporting distance, but not engaged.

He came to the United States in 1857, be- ginning work as a farmer in the town of Lyme, N. Y. In 1863 he enlisted in the 10th New York Heavy Artillery, in Company I, Captain Gilmore. He served right through with this company, participating in its bat- tles, terminating at the assault upon Peters- burg and the wind-up at Appomattox.

In 1858 he married Miss Martha Whittier, whose father was a cousin of the eminent John G. Whittier, the Quaker poet. She is also related to the Morrel family, which has among its members the Hon. Lot Morrel, the distinguished Senator from Vermont.

Mr. Bennett is six feet two inches in height. He joined the G. A. R. in 1867, and has held every office in E. B. Steele Post at Carthage, and has been delegate three times to the State encampment. He is yet stalwart and able to get around readily. A good sol- dier and citizen. When mustered out he was 1st sergeant of his company.

WILLIAM FULLER,

OF West Carthage, one of those shown in the composite soldier plate herewith, was a pensioner of the War of 1812. He was born in Savoy, Berkshire county, Mass., Novem- ber 13, 1795, and was the son of Aaron and Delaney (Pierce) Fuller, and one of 10 chil- dren. At the age of seven years he came with his parents to Fairfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., where they engaged in farm- ing. At the age of 19, William was called out with the militia to the defense of Sack- ets Harbor. Although not of an eligible age, he served the government as a private soldier, from an inclination to see something of the world. After six weeks' service, peace was declared and he returned to Fair- field. In 1820 he came to Turin, Lewis county, where he held many offices of trust. In 1822 he married Miss Polly Hemstreet, daughter of Jacob Hemstreet, of Revolu- tionary ancestry. Her grandfather was at the surrender of Burgoyne at the battle of Saratoga. William Fuller's children are : Harriet, widow of Josiah Huckins, with whom he spent the closing years of his life ; Perry Pierce Fuller, of Watertown, and Wil- liam D. Fuller, of North Ridgeville, Ohio. In 1842 William Fuller went to Rutland, and while there united with the State street M. E. Church, of Watertown, in which year they were erecting their church edifice. He was a prime mover in building the church at Houseville, Lewis county, and afterward a steward in the M. E. Church at Carthage, where he became a resident in 1870, and held minor offices in West Carthage. "Uncle

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 111

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