USA > New York > Cattaraugus County > Dayton > Historical and biographical history of the township of Dayton, Cattaraugus County, New York : comprising the villages of Cottage, Wesley, Markham, Dayton, South Dayton, and Fair Plain > Part 17
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CHARLES KEPPEL.
Final success is attained only by incessant toil and earnest effort. Rich harvests do not spring from uncultivated soil, neither is moral worth developed by chance. An example of industry is the life of Charles Keppel, who was born January 22, 1816, in Germany. He came to this country September 7, 1853, locating at Buffalo, where he remained for two years. In 1855 he came to the town of Dayton being one of the first to locate in the German Swamp. Here he built a log house subdued the forests and made grain to grow from which with other agricultural products he gained his livelihood. He has seen that section of the town develop from a wilderness to its present advanced state and is an encyclopedia of local information. His long life has been spent in honorable, intelligent useful manual labor. The results of which will remain a blessing to mankind for all time to come. Wealth is converted labor. He was essentially a producer by the only method possible to man by the sweat of his brow; the world is richer and better because of his life and labor and he with many millions of his like produced the material
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CHARLES KEPPEL.
MRS. CHARLES KEPPEL.
wealth we now enjoy. How poor this world would be without their lives. Dayton would be a forest in which the wild beasts would roam unmolested as in the year 1800 There would be no highways, cultivated fields, luxur- iant homes, well equipped school houses or towering church steeples within its limits. Mr. Keppel married June 3, 1836, Rika Fogel, who was born Jan- uary 14, 1816, they had six children all of whom they reared to manhood and womanhood in industry, and are honorable and useful members of society. Henry, born in 1837, married Caroline Kroup in 1861 and resides at Corry, Pa; Mary, born September 9, 1848, she married John Daukert, in 1846, and resides at Gowanda. Anson, born February 27, 1851, he married Maggie Snyder and they reside at Perrysburg; Charles, born May 20, 1854, married Lena Rider, September 10, 1879, a daughter of Peter Rider and she was born January 5, 1859, their children are: Mary, born May 5, 1881; Albert, born August 18, 1883; Christina, born November 17, 1887; Clarence, born October 30, 1891; Elmer and Earl (twins) born April 12, 1897. It is with this son, Charles, who is a prosperous and influential farmer at Fair Plain, that Mr. and Mrs. Keppel reside. John, born April 9, 1857, married Nora Darling, April 1, 1890, and resides at Perrysburg; Lizzie, born April 3, 1860, she married Charles Rider, June 22, 1880, and they reside at Fair Plain.
WILLIAM A. DEXTER.
It may be said of William A. Dexter, without detracting ought from any other whose name stands high on the roll of Dayton's useful citizens, that his honesty and integrity, his career of industry, and his public spirited services and liberal contributions for the development and the prosperity of his sec-
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WILLIAM A. DEXTER.
MRS. WILLIAM A. DEXTER.
tion of the town furnish an example that might be profitably followed by every young man who aspires to a position of thrift, usefulness and respectability, -being as he is, a central figure in the manufacturing and industrial interests of the town. He was born at Gowanda, December 14, 1856. In the spring of 1870 he commenced his career by working for $12 per month for Hill & Dexter. He was to pay one-half of that sum for his board, but after work- ing for a while Mr. Hill informed him that he worked so faithfully and well that he would take care of one-half of his board bill. He remained with them for three summer seasons during which time he lost but a few days. In the spring of 1874 he moved to Wesley, where he commenced on a small scale of cutting hoops and sawing shingles. In 1880 he remodeled his mill there, adding machinery of his own ingenuity and make. For a while he sawed lumber by hand, i. e .: pushed the carriage containing the timber by hand. This did not continue long as his business was a success and he began to prosper. He successfully conducted his mill business there until 1898, when he removed the mill and machinery to its present site in Fair Plain. Here he manufactures cheese boxes, shingles and lumber. He also deals in feeds of all kinds. His plant and business is one of the important enterprises of the town. One who is well acquainted with Mr. Dexter, states that every facility and accommodation known is afforded his customers, and his high re- putation maintained is the best evidence of its popularity and stability. Mr. Dexter is a man of good judgment in financial matters. In politics he is a Republican but takes no active part in political affairs and desires no office. Unsolicited he has held a number of offices of public trust, when he rendered good service with credit to himself. Commencing life comparatively'as a
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BUILDINGS OF WILLIAM A. DEXTER.
poor boy, he has now an ample fortune and honorable position, by ability, hard work and inflexible honesty. He owns a good farm of 218 acres on which are located excellent buildings. He enjoys the good will and respect of the citizens of the town, and is recognized by all as a public spirited citi- zen. He was married March 8, 1877, to Ada B. Hill of Hamlet. To them have been born three children, viz. : Blanche, born November 2, 1880; she died in infancy; Clinton E., born August 2, 1884, and Merle, born Novem- ber 27, 1891.
His grandfather, Clark W. Dexter, came to Leon and died there at the age of 75 years. His father, Bela E. Dexter, was born June 10, 1836, and now resides at Leola, South Dakota. He married Susan Bump, who was born in 1838. Their children were: William A. (subject), Truman, who died in infancy; Ella and Eva, deceased; Dollie, John, and Edith, now with their parents in South Dakota.
WHEN Nikola Tesla, the inventor, was asked what great advance might be expected in electricity in the new century he said that it was not improbable that a hundred years from now we might be getting telegrams from other worlds. Indeed, he said that he once thought the people of Mars were trying to send him Morse signals. This is wireless telegraphy, sure enough.
No town in any part of the state has a lower tax rate than Dayton. This is due to the economic habits of its citziens and the good management of its officials.
"A MAN who never makes mistakes never makes anything else either."
WILLIAM A. DEXTER'S OLD MILL AT WESLEY.
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JACOB DERSEY AND FAMILY.
JACOB DERSEY.
The term German-American is universally synonymous with success. Joseph Dersey was born in Germany and came to Eden, N. Y., as an early settler and died there in 1867, aged 64 years. He married Elizabeth Smith and their children were: Mary, Elizabeth, Delia, Joseph, Phillip and Jacob. Jacob was born in Eden, June 20, 1840, and June 29, 1876, married Mary W. Huff, who was born June 4, 1851, in Buffalo. Their children are: Al- fred, born April 28, 1882, in Fair Plain, and Mildred P., born March 13, 1890, in Leon. Mr. Dersey like many of our best men got his education in the public schools and when grown to manhood began to toil as a day laborer. For a number of years he operated a single mill and is now a successful farmer in Fair Plain. He is popular in his locality, and like most Germans a deeply religious man, and a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal church.
PERSONS desiring to engage in truck farming will find no better land anywhere than in and about Fair Plain.
A HORSE will live twenty-five days without food which is solid, merely drinking water, seventeen days without drinking water or eating and only five days when eating without drinking water.
WHATEVER I have tried to do in life, I have tried to do well. What I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely .- Charles Dickens.
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PIONEER AND OTHER RESIDENTS.
B
Biography is the most universally pleasant and profitable of all reading .- Caryle.
UT few now survive of the early settlers who pitched their tents in the wilderness which has now been made into as pleasant and profitable a farming country as is to be found in Western New York. Time plays no part in covering from mortal gaze the forms of those pioneer men who lived and worked, nobly and well. The years roll on in continuous number above the graves of those men, who toiled early and late, for the foundation and advancement of all that tends to make a town prosperous. The reminiscences disclosed in the life of these early settlers are rife with interesting incidents, which have been snatched from the fleeting memories of the past, for the contemplation, perhaps, emulation, and education of present and future generations. Such reviews are designed to quicken our patriotism and the pride which we should feel in the town and in the men who founded it. Their works have left an
impress upon the annals of time. Long after their mortal frame has re- turned to dust their memory is cherished in loving remembrance by us. These men were actuated by the same motives and passions which in- fluence their descendants and place before us a striking example of fortitude and courage in meeting the questions of life by which we can well afford to profit. As a community when we pay them the tribute of these pages we pay a tribute to ourselves, and while we deplore their loss we revere their memory.
"They little thought how pure a light, With years should gather 'round; How love should keep their memories bright, How wide a realm their sons should sway."
Luther Allen was born October 10, 1798, at Fabius, Onondaga County, N. Y., and died at Gowanda, February 20, 1847. He came to the town of Dayton about the year 1818, and located on lot 39, and resided there for a few years when he removed to what is now the village of Dayton, where he remained most of the time up to his death. His first wife whom he married at Fabius was Huldah Benedict and her father and oldest brother were both Revolutionary soldiers. She died at Dayton, October 20, 1837, where all their married life had been spent. She was well suited to be the wife of an
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early pioneer. She had great personal courage to battle with the difficulties which surrounded her. An intelligent and lovable woman, she died universally mourned by those who knew her. Luther Allen came to Dayton with his wife in the winter coming from Onondaga County with a yoke of steers and a sled and bringing with them the few household effects they had been able to gather together to begin their battle for life and home in the great wilderness which surrounded them here. Mr. Allen was a man of superior business ability, an elegant writer and very competent to draft such papers as were needed to be drafted among the early settlers. He held the position of Justice of the Peace for a number of years when the towns of Dayton and Persia were included in the town of Perrysburg and for a number of years after the town of Dayton became a separate township. He was also a land surveyor and in his early years a teacher in the public schools. He was a man of fine personal appearance with keen piercing black eyes, erect as an arrow, six feet in height and finely proportioned and with a pleasing manner. While living in the town of Dayton he was elected three times as Supervisor in spite of the fact that nearly the whole town was opposed to him in politics. Mr. Allen and Ralph Johnson were the only Democrats who ever had the honor to represent the town of Dayton on the Board of Supervisors. His first wife at her decease left two children. The eldest Mrs. Lucinda Judd is still living and resides at Gowanda with her son. The other, Norman M. Allen, now resides at Dayton. Mr. Allen was married the second time to Los Leland Tuthill and resided with her until his death in 1847. By her he had one child, Luther Allen, who now resides at Cleveland, Ohio, but who for some years resided with his brother, Norman M. Allen, at Dayton. Mr. Allen's second wife died at Gowanda a few years after her husband. She was a lady of great intelligence and high attaininents and was universally loved and respected and when she died was mourned by all who knew her. Mr. Allen was a highly useful member of the community in which he lived and which was composed of the pioneers of the town of Dayton. He transacted nearly all the legal business. They had but little litigation and such differences as arose between them he settled in a manner generally satisfactory to all parties concerned. He seemed to live for the good he could do for others and there was no man who knew him but who mourned his early death as a personal loss.
Jonathan B. Allen was born August 10, 1824, and married, November 8, 1849, Fanny, daughter of Timothy M. and Amanda ( Redfield ) Shaw. Their children were Ellen (Mrs. A. C. Wright); Laura (Mrs. David Brand) ; and Cora L., who died September 2, 1877. Mr. Allen was a farmer, held several town offices and died October 7, 1898.
Hiram Austin, son of Samuel, came to Dayton in 1826, cleared a farm and died there November 16, 1875. He was twice married and had three children, of whom Hiram C., born January 26, 1825, married Jane Hooker, has five children and resides with his son on the homestead.
Norman Bacon was a son of Penuel and was born in Onondaga County. He came to this town at an early day and died May 9, 1849, on the farm which he cleared. His wife, Lucy Ann Parke died here in 1872. Their son, Elisha H., as born in the town, September 15, 1846; married in 1868, a
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daughter of Zalmon Rich and afterwards married a daughter of Walter Dean. He is a farmer and has six children. His brother, Esek P., served in Co. B., 154th N. Y. Vols. and died in Andersonville prison.
John W. Badgero, son of Jacob and Sophia Badgero, was born in Vermont. and came to Dayton while young. He married Laura A., daughter of Abel and Maria (West) Jolls by whom he had these children Christina C .; Frances M .; Ellery G .; Laura M .; Phoeba E .; Ada E .; and Ira M. Mr. Badgero was a soldier in the late war in Co. A., 154th N. Y. Vols., and died in Dayton, January 17, 1895.
CHARLES BERWALD.
Charles Berwald, a native of Germany, came to America in 1848, locating in the town of Hanover and removed from there to South Dayton in 1860. He operated a saw and shingle mill for a number of years and did much for South Dayton in the early days. He died March 3, 1891. November 15, 1857, he married Bathsheba Wickham, a sister of John Wickham, who still survives him and lives at South Dayton. They had three children: May, born September 2, 1860, married S. E. Young, and died May 19, 1898. They had one child, Maude, born in October, 1885; Charles Berwald, born January 19, 1865, resides at South Dayton; Flora, born August 13, 1868, married Lee Stearns and now resides at South Dayton.
Dennison Bartlett came to Dayton while young and died here, aged sixty years. His wife, Alzina Campbell, bore him five children.
Charles W. Blair was born at Stockbridge, Oneida County, February 22, 1822, and came to Perrysburg and thence to Dayton at an early day. His father was Willian, son of Robert, a native of Massachusetts. Charles W. Blair has served as Justice, Commissioner of Highways, and Postmaster at Cottage. He married Pastorette A., daughter of William D. and Betsey (Webb) Smith, and their children are: Emmett, who now resides at Jamestown ; (Ada A. and Cora A. deceased). Mr. Blair died at Cottage, April 24, 1897.
William Blair, another son of Robert, was born in Massachusetts in 1785, and came to this town while young, locating at Cottage, where he died December 14, 1862. His wife, Susan Curtis, was born February 14, 1793, and died September 3, 1832. One of their sons, William W., married Mary Walker, and of their children Charles H. was born in Perrysburg. September 22, 1838, and July 4, 1865, married Christina C., daughter of John W. Badgero. Charles H. enlisted in Co. A. 44th N. Y. Vols., was wounded at Gettysburg and was dischagred in 1864. William W. Blair served from 1862 to 1865 in Co. K., 155th N. Y., and was six months in prison. .
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David Brand came to Gowanda and lived many years, removing finally to Dayton and eventually to Iowa, where he died. Of his children Henry C. was born in Gowanda and died in Dayton in 1872. He married Sarah Howard and their son, Henry M., born in Dayton, February 22, 1847, married Eliza M. Loomer, February 20, 1869, who died, and he then married again Rachael E. Smith. Daniel H., another son of Henry C., was born July 6,1854, and married Kate, daughter of Joanthan and Fanny (Shaw) Allen.
The Brown family was well-known throughout the towns of Dayton and Villenova as pioneers, they being among the first to settle in the woods and make homes from the wilderness. The family were originally from Brookfield, Madison County, N. Y., and vicinity. Luther Brown was born and raised in Brookfield and is still remembered by the older residents there. Hozea Brown, his son, with several other families from Madison County, emi- grated to Cattaraugus County in the early days, and settled in the town of Persia. The families moved this distance of some two hundred miles with ox teams, bringing their few be- longings with them. Their settlement in the town of Persia was at random or hazard, they becoming tired of the overland ox team mode of travel. With scarcely anything to com- mence with, these pioneers cleared places and built log cabins in the woods. Hozea Brown was then a young man of about twenty-five years, was married and had one son, Ira, now living at Cottage. The priva- tions and hardships of these pioneers were similar to those of all the early GEORGE BROWN. settlers. Money was almost unknown and barter was the medium of exchange. Hozea Brown and his wife were the tailors of that part of the country, and people came from far and near to have garments cut and made. Ten children were born to them: Ira Brown, who resides at Cottage; Frank Brown, who died at O'Neil City, Neb., in 1896; Esther Kirkland of Bowling Green, Mo .; George Brown, who died at South Dayton in 1898; Rebecca Cole, living at Gowanda; Eliza Young, living at South Dayton; Milan and Merton Brown (twins) the former residing at Gowanda, the latter dying in Libby prison; and H. J. Brown, living at Gowanda.
George Brown was born August 1, 1831, at the old log house home in Persia. At the age of about fifteen he left the farm and for a few years hired out to farmers in the vicinity, working by the month, and during the winters working for his board and attending the district school. He accumulated
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some money in various small speculations and in 1857 purchased the Brown farm in the town of Villenova, on which he built the house and set out the shade trees which still stand. In 1859 he was married to Helen B. Holmes of Madison, N Y., a graduate of Hamilton College. A son, L. H. Brown was born two years later, and six months after his birth the mother died. In 1862 he was married to Jennie A. Bartlett of Villenova, and four children were born. The eldest son, L. H. Brown is a prominent contractor and dealer and is well known throughout Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties; Merton L. Brown, one of the foremen in the Ajack Machine Works of Corry, Pa. ; Milan J. Brown, postmaster at Little Valley, N. Y .; Algia M. Brown, who died August 15, 1886, and Georgia E. Brown of South Dayton.
Ezra Brown, a native of Vermont, came to Chemung County, where he died at an advanced age. He served in the war of 1812. His son, Daniel, was born June 15, 1813, and came to Dayton in 1847, locating near Wesley, where he died August 5, 1882. He married Fanny Perham, and their children were: Ellen, Harriet, Jeanette, Josephine, Julius and Ellis. The latter was born February 11, 1856, and November 21, 1875, married Sarah L., daughter of George and Jane (Ashdown) Williams and their children are: Welcome J., Helen M., and Lena W. Julius Brown was born February 24, 1854, married December 27, 1874, to Ida Ann Easterly. They have one son, Ellsworth.
Abner Batchellor, a native of Massachusetts, came to Dayton as an early settler, married Mary A. Dow, had three children and died June 19, 1880. Netta A., who now resides on the old homestead near South Dayton is the only survivor of the family in the town.
John Casten was born in Duchess County and came to Collins, Erie County, where he died. His son, James, born in the same county, September 29, 1801, was located in Buffalo as a dealer in live stock for many years, and came thence to Collins, and from there to Leon, where he died March 3, 1888. He married Amanda Wheeler, who was born July 6, 1802, and his children were: Anna E., James W., Ira W., Emily A., Mary J., William H., Eunice L., Stephen L., and John G. John G. Casten was born in Buffalo, March 14, 1833, and in 1860, married Martha M., daughter of Samuel and Susan (Fairbanks) of the town of Leon, who was born March 9, 1841. Their children are: Susan A., James S., Addie M., John F., Ira B., William E., Stephen A., Ella M., Archie R.
Abner Comstock, a Canadian by birth, came to Dayton in 1829, and died in 1859. He had ten children by two marriages, among them being David, who was born in Persia, and married a daughter of Ranson Remington, by whom he had five children.
David Crowell was born at Sherburne, N. Y., and came to Villenova, where he died in 1861. He was married three times and of his children, David, also lived in Villenova, until his death in 1841. He married Annie Faulkiner, and their children were: Seth, Norman, William, James, George and Charles H. Charles H. Crowell was born in Villenova, August 27, 1840, and December 3, 1861, married Celestia Robbins of Hanover, N. Y., and had one son, Fred, born August 5, 1871. Mr . Crowell enlisted in 1861 in
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Co. H., 100th N. Y. Vols., and was honorably discharged in 1862. Fred D. Crowell married Emma Smith of Dayton, (and is now deceased ).
Azariah Darbee, Jr., was born February 11, 1793, at Wells, Ver-
mont. He was one of the pioneers of the town of Dayton. He
came to the town in 1816, settling at Cottage, where he died Nov- ember 1, 1883. He married for his first wife, January 12, 1815, Prudence Hubbard, who was born October 30, 1793, and who died March 6, 1825. Their children were: Orilla, born December 28, 1815, married to Christopher Gardiner of Cherry Creek; Hubbard, born September 15, 1817, died in Washington, 1899; Lafayette, born December 18, 1818, deceased; Isaac P., born June 11, 1820, died in infancy. For his second wife, Polly Barton, in 1824, she died, January 18, 1876. Their children were: Eliza M., born at Cottage December 22, 1825, died there August 27, 1896; Augustus
AZARIAH DARBEE.
MRS. AZARIAH DARBEE.
J., born September 13, 1827, died January 15, 1901. He married Lyandia Leonard and their children were: Lucy A., born August 3, 1856, died when thirteen years of age; Bettie E., born August 7, 1861, married John Derringer and resides at Niagara Falls; Grace V., born December 25, 1867, married September 26, 1893, G. B. Perrin and resides at Dayton; Ellen, born September 22, 1829, married Merrill Pierce and died January 16, 1899; Polly born May 13, 1832, married Jonathan DeReamer and now resides at Cottage; Bettie, born May 12, 1834, married Merrill Rich and died September 15, 1897. Mr. Darbee was a devout Christian and did much for the church and Christianity.
Elbridge Eddy was an early settler of Persia, where he died in 1878. He was a native of Enfield, Mass. His son, Guilford, was born in Persia, May
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10, 1833, married Clarissa Ketchum and they have seven children. He is a blacksmith at Cottage.
Daniel D. English, son of William, was an early pioneer of Dayton. He was born in Washington County, N. Y., May 9, 1807, and died here April 15, 1874. His wife, Amanda Gere, died in Leon, October 21, 1880. Their children were: Eleanor, Sanford, Oscar, Alida, Amelia, Edgar, Theodore, and Lewis all born in Dayton. Oscar English, born December 31, 1839, married September 2, 1866, Mercy .R., daughter of William and Bathsheba ( Waite) Potter of Leon. She was born in Machias, October 26, 1843. Their children are: Bert L .; born May 27, 1869, and Maude (adopted) born August 22, 1879. Mr. English has resided on his present farm for over thirty years and has been one of the assessors of Dayton for many years. Theodore English (See South Dayton. )
John Fisher, a native of Albany, a miller by trade, a soldier of the war of 1812, died in Italy, Yates County, at the age of 106 years and six months. Of his children, James married Rachel Gilbert and of their children Jeremiah, G., was born May 8, 1830, married Sally Ann Cook, and they have three children. Louis R. (see South Dayton); Lillie, who married Dr. F. E. Tuttle, and Clifford R. Mr. Fisher is a dealer in monuments at South Dayton.
Henry Fuller, son of Benjamin, had seven children, of whom Edgar was born in Dayton, July 7, 1843, married Alice Conklin, and is a Wesleyan minister.
Jonathan Gragg, born in New Hampshire, in 1791, came to Dayton, where he was killed by a falling tree October 21, 1850. His wife, Philenda, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Adgate, died in 1855. Their children were Clarinda, Margaret, Elizabeth, Joseph, Chester, Adgate T., Caroline and Edgar. Adgate T. Gregg (see Dayton).
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