Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 123

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 123

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A. D. STANLEY was born in the town of Rutland, this county (whither his father re- moved in 1810), July 5, 1818. In the year 1823 he removed with his father to the farm now occupied by O. M. Stanley. Mr. Stan- ley married Miss May, daughter of Jonas Benjamin, an early settler of Houndsfield. Three children were born to them. The father of Mr. Stanley was a minute-man in a cavalry regiment in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Sackets Harbor during the trouble there. In politics the old gentleman was a Whig. He owns 400 acres of land in one body ; is a straightforward, honest, busi- ness man, and a good citizen.

ABEL BICKFORD, son of Levi and Esther Bickford, was born at Lowville, Lewis Co., N. Y., September 30, 1811. His father, a native of New Hampshire, was born in 1774, and emigrated to Lowville, in 1801. His mother was a native of Rhode Island, and was an early pioneer of Lewis county. They were married about 1803, and became the parents of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity. Levi was a farmer by occupa- tion, and reared his family in the same pur- suit. He died December, 1830 Mrs. L. Bickford lived to be 78 years of age. Abel Bickford, the subject of our sketch, was the

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fourth child, and was reared to industry and economy. At the age of 16 he commenced working out by the month. He was married to Miss Betsey Lewis, of Harrisburg, Lewis county, in 1838. He is to-day one of the substantial and wealthy men of Henderson, In May, 1871, he settled in that town, where he is now living. In politics, Mr. Bickford is a Republican, and in his native county held various positions of trust and honor. His wife was a worthy member of the Baptist church,' a faithful wife and an affectionate mother. She died September 10, 1875. His youngest son, Chauncey, is a teacher in New York city, and Miss Jane keeps house for her father. Mr. Bickford is a cousin of Hon Marcus -Bickford, of Carthage, whose bi- ography will be found on page 314.

SIMEON MATHER was reared upon a farm, has made farming his life study, and has met with success. He has been president of the Agricultural Society of this town and county. He was married to Miss Mary E. Green, daughter of Col. Henry Green, of Ellisburgh, June 3, 1847.

JOEL DODGE was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., February 12, 1817, and is one of 10 children. He was reared on a farm, and has followed it ever since. On March 3, 1842, he married Miss Sarah Adams, of Otsego county, N. Y. Four children were born to them. On May 1, 1843, Mr. Dodge came to Henderson and settled on the farm now owned by James Dodge. In 1870 he moved to the farm he now owns.

DR. LOWREY BARNEY was born in the town of Coventry, Rhode Island, in the year 1793. His father, Doctor Daniel Barney, emigrated to Herkimer in 1794; thence to Rutland. Jefferson county ; thence to Adams village, 1803, and from there to Henderson in 1807, where Dr. Barney lived and practiced medicine until his death, in December, 1884. He commenced the study of medicine under the instruction of his father in the year 1810, or when he was 16 years of age, riding about the country with his father, noting the symptoms of disease, and often giving his opinion of treatment. The country being then new and nearly covered with forests, they often found their way (on horseback) from one settlement to another through In- dian paths and by use of marked trees. In 1821 he married Almira Spencer, who died in 1838, leaving him four children. In 1844 he married Pamelia Farrell, by whom he had three children, one of whom survives.

Dr Lowrey Barney had diplomas from three medical colleges ; one from Fairfield, Herkimer county, Medical College, dated 1823, receiving his diploma from this college. After his third year he returned for another year of instruction. It was amusing and pathetic, the stories that Dr. Barney would relate of the hardships some of his fellow students endured in order to obtain an educa- tion-one young man walking from his home every Monday morning with a loaf of ginger bread under one arm and a jug of molasses

under the other. Another diploma is from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, and one from the Medical College at Castleton, Vermont.

Dr. Barney was at one time president of a medical institute in New York city. He served his district as Member of Assembly in the year 1836.

He loved his profession and was always a student, and although lame from his youth, was a busy and active man, leaving a mem- ory especially sweet and grateful in the region where he practiced so many years. He was an unusually skillful practitioner, and a man of enlarged experiences.

REUBEN WOOD LEFFINGWELL was born near Woodville, in the town of Ellisburgh, Jefferson county, N. Y., December 7, 1805 His father, Hezekiah Leffingwell, Jr., was born in Connecticut, March 6, 1777, and came to Ellisburgh about 1800, from Middle- ton, Vt., with his wife, Miriam Wood, to whom he was married November 18, 1800. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and, later in life, a believer in the doctrines of Swedenborg. He died in 1866, surviving his wife about 30 years. His father, Heze- kiah, Sr., was a native of Connecticut, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. R. W. Leffingwell, the subject proper of this sketch, was married to Sarah Carpenter, at Guilford, Vt., June 5, 1831. He brought his wife to Ellisburgh, and subsequently to the farm where they now reside. Mr. Leffingwell has devoted his time and energies exclusively to agricultural and dairying pursuits. About 1860 he was elected president of the Ellis- burgh, Adams and Henderson Agricultural Society. He received the first premium on dairy products from the Jefferson County Agricultural Society, about 1860. He has been eminently successful in his operations, his dealings always being characterized by honest and upright motives. He died in 1888 and his wife in 1884, aged 75 years.

A M. LEFFINGWELL, son of the above, was born in the town of Henderson, Septem- ber 26, 1842. He received his education at the district-school and Union Academy, from which he graduated in 1866. The following year he entered the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, graduating from the law depart- ment in 1871. He was admitted to the Michigan bar, and subsequently to the bar of New York and Brooklyn. In 1874 he em- barked in the milling business at Henderson, and in the practice of his profession. He has been justice of the peace and held other minor offices in the town. For three years he has been County Chief Templar, and is one of the board of managers of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He mar- ried. Miss Hattie Cook in 1870, which union has been blessed with two children.

EATON ALEXANDER was born in Hender- son in 1811, and was reared upon a farm. He married Dolly, daughter of James and Bar- bara (Ireland) Wood, in 1835, and they have

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

two sons, viz: Epenetus, born in 1836, and La Fayette, born in 1841. Epenetus married Helen S., daughter of Lucius and Lucy Ann (Babcock) Barrett, March 3, 1858, and they have a son, Eaton T., born in 1864. Mr. Alexander and son are prosperous farners.

WILLIAM PITT DAVIS was born in Hender- son in 1826. In 1849 he went to California, via Isthmus, and remained in the gold mines a little more than a year. He returned to Henderson, and subsequently engaged in mercantile pursuits at Smithville. Hle mar- ried Emma E., daughter of Harvey and Sarah (Bell) Smith, in 1856. She died Sep- tember 12, 1881.

CAPT. BURTON PENNEY was born March 28, 1828. At the age of 15 he shipped as cook on board the schooner Dexter. He worked on sailing vessels until 1851, and until 1861 was engaged on steam crafts. In 1861 he became master of the passenger steamer Buffalo, and later was master of the passenger boat Idaho. He continued on the lakes about 40 years, without loss or damage to his company. He married Mary F., daughter of Captain Clark and Emeline (Yonngs) Stevens, in 1854. Mr. Penney is now engaged in farming in Henderson.

ALBERT G. LAWRENCE was born in Henderson in 1832, learned the carpenter's trade, taught school many terms, and has been justice of the peace and census marshal. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served to the close of the war. He married Sarah, daughter of Clark and Emeline (Youngs) Stevens, December 30, 1856, and they have had four children, viz: Milton C., born in 1858; Mary Louise, born in 1862, who mar- ried Wallace G. Rogers in 1887, and their children are: M. Bessie, Clifton, who died in infancy ; and Carl A. Rogers. Mr. Law- rence resides in Henderson village.

JAMES A. CRITTENTON was born Novem- ber 25, 1825. He was reared upon a farm, educated at Union Academy, and was a sailor on the lakes. He married Martha M., danghter of William and Elizabeth (Smith) Harris, in 1856, and located on the farm he now owns, where he is engaged in breeding fine road and trotting horses. Of his chil- dren, William J. died in 1865, aged six years; Harley F. died in 1855, aged two years; Elizabeth Charlotte, born in 1866, married Dr. W. K. Walrath in 1886, and they have a daughter, Florence C., born December 23, 1888; and Gertrude Alice, born in 1870, and educated at the Adams Collegiate Institute.

JAMES M. WHITE was born April 17, 1819, and at the age of 11 years commenced sail- ing on the lakes. In 1842 he became cap- tain of the boat Sir William Wallace. He subsequently sailed the Neptune and other vessels. Mr. White began ship-building in 1853, and subsequently built the boats Trade Wind, Lucy, Auchard, Volunteer, S. D. Hungerford, C. G. Mixer, Phonix, Seaton, James Wade and the Jennie White. In 1857

he bought the farm where he now resides, to which he has since added other lands, until now he owns 222 acres. He married Hannah, daughter of Seele and Dorcas (Mal- lory) Hungerford, March 12, 1843, who bore him six children. James M. White has served his town as justice of the peace.

HENRY BROWN, was born in 1854; at 14 en- gaged as a sailor on the lakes, and served in this capacity until he attained his majority, when he learned the carpenter's trade. He married, first, Addie C., daughter of Lester and Elizabeth (Spicer) Rickerson, in 1875, and they have a son, Reuben W., born in 1876. Mrs. Brown having died, for his second wife he married, in 1886, Mattie, daughter of Ephraim and Eliza (Spencer) Ramsey, by whom he has a daughter, Ethel, born in 1888.

MURRAY B. SCOTT, son of Eastman J. and Lydia (Howe) Scott, was born in Ellis- burgh in 1840, and was reared upon a farm. He was subsequently engaged as clerk in a general store for several years. In 1873 he married Laura M. Montagne, and they have a son, Harley M., born in 1876. Mr. Scott resides on Main street, in Henderson village.

CHARLES F. SAWYER learned the carpen- ter's trade, and enlisted in the 35th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry. He married Christie A., daughter of Sylvester and Augusta (Bates) Kilby, November 27, 1860, who bore him a daughter, Flora Augusta, who died April 23, 1885, aged 21 years. Mr. Sawyer's wife died September 29, 1887, and for his second wife he married Mrs. Fanny Eliza Kilby, widow of Edwin B. Kilby, and daughter of Nathaniel and Fanny (Smith) Gleason, June 10, 1888. Mr. Sawyer resides in Henderson village.

ALBERT A. ROBBINS, was born April 26, 1849 ; was reared upon a farm, and edneated at Union Academy. He married Lucy E., daughter of Fayette and Caroline (Hunting) Stanley, in 1872, and their children are: Glenn S., Lawrence J., Mary and Lena M. Mr. Robbins and his father, Appleton W. Robbins, are extensively engaged in farming, and occupy the homestead near Smithville.

EMORY FALES was born April 7, 1825, and was brought up a farmer. He married Lucy M., daughter of David and Elizabeth (Hun- gerford) Montagne, in 1851, and they have two children, viz : Willis G., born in 1855, who is a farmer and resides at home, and Ella E., born in 1859, who married Willian E. Matteson in 1876.

NEWELL N. GRIGGS was born July 19, 1848. He married Ella May, adopted daugh- ter of William H. and Mila (Leffingwell) Rice, August 22, 1877, and they have three sons and one daughter, viz: N. Willis, Daniel F., Leonard A. and Mila G. Mr. Griggs is a farmer.

WILLIAM S. GRIGGS, previously men- tioned, was born February 13, 1838. Ile married Eunice Imogene, daughter of Job and Electa (Halladay) Rathbone, October 19, 1870, and they have three sons and two

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Adams Collegiate Institute; Sammel J_ efr- casei in Union Academy. amd David D. Nahel an Jene P. Mr. Griggs is a farmer in Henderson. His wife died in 1844

JOMETA W. OTEXTOY TES tom in Hender- son in 1:50. He married fem. Maria dangi- der of Sammel and Poly Edwaris Spencer, in 1551 and they have ire ses and one darriner Tiz. Charies N., of Elliborgh ; Frank W. and Flori C., of Henderom: Vellie F. deceased. Binis E. and Wine also derraseri. His wife dieri in 1861, ami Sor bus secondi wid: M .. Oreran mamiei in Mr. Julia Holoomis Hawkins. has an aringcei danrhoer, Mamie

in ithee he married Minnie E, darghner of Homaio and Ečzaheri Mare Evans. br whom he has a son. Beans E. He is & farmer. Pomi Overan, born in 15: was efreanet sy. He married Amma Lan and Carte Gremmel Allen in Is

Eine Webo Lovelee was born in Lorraine ân 1550 He married Aber dannginer of preghen

in 198, andi for his fourth wie he mazzieri Charity daughter of Gideon and Lucy Bich Petter in 1.3. He resides in Headersc

He married Emily D.

Wesley and Charime Filer

mez and guns and ocempies the homestead

LEOTARD CESTOS TẠI kom Ín the MOTH VẺ ElMiaburgh in 1-9%, and leamed the made of Henderym. In Arms, 112 he entered in COMTANT E. MA K. T. HAATT ALLAIT:

Mary Ann Benmens Baner who died in 1:54

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and Forrit the Exchange Hotel This ie n- a x-firmatei

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THE GROWTH OF. A CENTURY.

have two sons, Arthur F. and Philip S. Mr. Lane enlisted in Company E, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served to the close of the war. Thomas N. Lane was born in 1839. He married Jane, daughter of Chester Bar- rett, in 1862, and their children are: Fred, Burt, Frank and Kate. William Lane, born in 1828, married Sarah A. Stoodley, in 1858, and they have a son, Charles A. Peter Lane, born in 1844, married Alta A. Eggleston in 1869, and they have a son, Anson P. Thomas Lane the father of these children died in 1887, and his wife in 1876.

DANIEL B. NUGENT, son of John and Mar- garet (Carson) Nugent, was born in Marys- burg, Prince Edward's District, Canada, in 1820. His father was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Nugent studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Moore, of Picton, Ont., attended college at Castleton, Vt., graduated before the Medical Board of Os- wego in 1849, and commenced practice in Pulaski, Oswego county. In 1850 he located in Henderson. He married Mary J., daugh- ter of Richard and Fanny (Southard) Fletcher, in 1845, who died in 1887, aged 60 years. They had four children. Dr. Nugent has been in the successful practice of his profes- sion for nearly 50 years. He resides in Hen- derson village.

WILLIAM MATHER, son of William, was born August 20, 1834, and was educated at Union Academy. He married Eunice S., daughter of Alvah and Louise (Packer) Bull, in 1876, and they have a son, William A., born in 1879. Mr. Mather taught school for many years. He is a wholesale seed-grower and dealer, and has a landed estate of more than 550 acres.

JOHN C. POPE, son of John and Barbara (Shubert) Pope, was born in Bavaria, Ger- many, in 1833. In 1854 he emigrated to America, soon finding his way to Smithville. His worldly possessions at this time consisted of one dollar. He worked on a farm for O. H. Knapp until 1861. He married Avis A., daughter of Hiram and Jerusha (Ayres) Hill. In 1861 Mr. Pope bought the farm at Smith- ville which he now occupies.

ERSKINE D. PARSONS was born in 1843, and was reared upon a farm. He taught school 19 terms. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. E, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served to the close of the war. In 1868 he married Emma, daughter of Elias and Anna (Atridge) Dickinson, by whom he has a son and four daughters.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM GILBERT was born in 1827. At the age of 13 he shipped on board the schooner William L. Marcy, as cook, and sailed on the lakes until 1848. In 1853, with William McLean, he built the schooner Billow, and in 1865, with Mr. McLean, bought the sloop Mclellan. In 1872 he bought the schooner Union, and in 1879 built the schooner Gilbert. He came to Henderson Harbor in 1883, engaged in trade, and built a dock and warehouse. Mr. Gilbert followed the lakes more than 45 years, and never lost a man or

had a wreck. He married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Esquire and Phena (Washburn) Ellis, in 1853, and they have two sons and one daughter.

CHARLES L. SIMMONS was born in 1851. He graduated at Canton University and taught school several terms. In 1876 he shipped as purser on the Jay Gould, plying between Buffalo and Toledo ; has served on several other vessels. In 1874 Mr. Simmons married Ellen L., daughter of E. O. and Caroline (Osgood) Kilby, and they have a daughter, L. Maude.

PAYSON F. THOMPSON was born in 1844, and was reared upon a farm. He enlisted in Co. B, 8th Vermont Vols., and served to the close of the war, after which he resided in Kansas for a time. In 1867 he came to Hen- derson and engaged as clerk in the store of George Thompson, and in 1872 opened a store on his own account. In 1876 he built the Thompson block, where he has a large general store. Mr. Thompson married Fran- ces A., only daughter of William and Mary Jane (Moody) Dobson, of Henderson, in 1869.

FRED R. BABCOCK was born in Adams, December 15, 1850 ; was reared upon a farm, and learned the blacksmith's trade. He mar- ried Martha, daughter of Stephen and Bet- sey (Peck) Bishop, of Woodville, in 1875, and they have two sons. Mr. Babcock located in Smithville in 1876, and engaged in black- smithing. He bought the Hammond saw- mill in 1880, and the next year added a cider- mill. In 1884 he kept the Smithville Hotel.

WALLACE GLEASON, born in 1840, enlisted in Co. B, 186th N. Y. Vol. Infantry, as lieu- tenant, in 1861, and served to the close of the war. He married Angelia A., daughter of John and Miranda (Congdon) Chapman, in 1863, and they have a son and a daughter. Mr. Gleason has followed the lakes for many years. He resides in Henderson village.

WILLIAM LANE was born in England and came to the town of Brownville about 1830, and engaged in farming ; he resided there 40 years. He married Sarah Stoodly, of Hounds- field. Their only son, Charles A., is a resi- dent of Henderson, and overseer of the Hen- derson Grange. He has also held minor offices in the town. He married Anna, daughter of Frank McOmber.

JAMES DAWSON was born in Martha's Vineyard and was a salt-water sailor. He came to Henderson at an early date, settling at Roberts Corners. He married Lydia Dex- ter, whose parents came to the neighborhood in 1812, and their union was blessed with one son and three daughters: Alexander, who died at the age of 84; Caroline, who died at nine years of age; Rosamond, who also at- tained the age of 84 years, and Lucinda (Mrs. John B. Pierce), who resides at Roberts Corners. She was born in 1814, in a log house on the site where her present home stands. June 8, 1894, many of her friends met to celebrate her 80th birthday. Possess- ing a cheerful disposition, her society is sought by young and old.

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HOUNDSFIELD.

THIS town was one of the first to be set- tled (1800), and is certainly one of the most historic and interesting, and is worthy of more extended space than we shall be able to give it-for we have already considerably exceeded the number of pages originally fixed for this volume. Yet this is our native town, the place . (Sulphur Springs) where our earliest and later childhood was spent, for we were not quite ten years of age when we left home to be a printer. The journey of life since then has been a somewhat long and generally a weary one - we are now past seventy-one, but this spot of our earliest knowledge has never lost its charm for us. The land there is sandy, near-by was the sulphur spring, and the solemn hemlock forest and the yet more solemn grave-yard were within stone's-throw of where my parents lived. The district school-house, where the good Mr. Morseman held sway, was also quite near. There were our play- grounds ; there were the friends of my youth, but few of them now, alas ! above the sod; many of them you can read of upon the cemetery's tombstones - the very best and gentlest of them all, him lately known as the Hon. Jay Dimick, spared to live a long and useful life, perished at last in the conflagration of his own barn. We know that such things are not precisely history, but they are germane in this-they bring up the names and recall the faces of those without whom history would be but a poor mass of dry and uninteresting details.

I was born in 1823. The War of 1812 was then much nearer to us than is now our great Civil War to this generation. What I had heard about it filled my childish mind with great awe and wonder. There were several of our neighbors (Thomas 'Spicer, Joshua Crouch, William Stoel), who had actu- ally participated in that conflict. That made them veritable gods in my eyes, and I ap- proached them with a respect which must have sprung largely from imagination and ignorance, for later knowledge has led me to believe that they were not heroes at all, but just common farming men, who could han- dle a scythe better than a musket. And such, largely, has been my awakening from other illusions. At one time I thought Grant and Sherman and Hancock the greatest men the world had ever seen. But when I saw that they were much like other people - smoking cigars and not denying themselves a glass of whisky upon occasion, I had grave doubts of their being so very great. But there was one man who never lost his greatness by a more intimate, but always re- spectful acquaintance. Abraham Lincoln never shrank in the least when viewed by mortal eyes-he grew all the time, for " he was great" - in everything, in stature, in movement, in looks, in soul and mind. No man has ever impressed me as he did.

I trust that I shall not weary the reader by

some personal reminiscences of Houndsfield. They may illustrate the peculiar impressions which a boy of vivid imagination and utter inexperience may entertain as he grows up into maturer knowledge, and begins to find that even the dolls are stuffed with saw-dust or bran, in order to make them sell better, and that men and women are not, after all, so very much worthy of the adoration be- stowed upon them by childhood.

The curious ideas one can recall as filling the youthful mind, in the concern about trivial matters, the wonder engendered by any strange story told by some sailor man, or perhaps by some survivor who " fit into" the battle of Sackets Harbor, or the relation of "folk-lore " tales of witches and ghosts - these form an enduring memory which we would not part with for any amount of money.

My father owned a small sandy farm, located in about the center of the township, and there his six children were born. When not quite nine years of age I dug the holes for the cedar posts that hold up the board fence around the Sulphur Springs burying-ground. The holes were to be three feet deep, and my " stent " was 25 each day. The sand was easy to dig until hard-pan was reached, about half-way down-which was a different matter altogether; but I finished my daily task, all the same, and my father set the posts and built the fence at such times as he could get away from his black- smith's forge in Watertown. Most of these cedar posts were yet standing and in good order when I visited that locality 12 years ago, having now been in service over 60 years.

Some of the boys of our neighborhood had told me of Sackets Harbor -- a place I had never visited, though distant barely six miles by a straight road. To add to my natural desire to see that town, the boys had told me that on certain days a boat which went by steam was to be seen there. Waiting im- patiently for the fixed day, I started off on a keen run for the Harbor, barefooted, without asking my mother's consent. Iran on until out of breath, then walked fast, and so ran on again until the desired locality was reached. At Colonel Camp's wharf I saw the steamer United States. The escaping steam, the bustle upon the wharf, the rows of houses, the rattle and noise of the village, filled me with a boy's delight and wonder: but my return home was not a joyful event by any means. My dear mother had worried all day over my unaccountable absence, and on my appearance dutifully administered to me a certain " strap exercise "- said strap having at its end a buckle, which aided wonderfully in fully developing the fact that "there's nothing like leather." Counting out the punishment, I considered it the best day I had up to that time enjoyed.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 123

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