USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 80
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Morton S. Parmelee, born in Malone March 2, 1850, possessed the abilities and many of the characteristics which were to be expected from his lineage, as grandson of the most intellectual divine who ever served in Northern New York, and as the son of Hon. Ashbel B. Par-
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melee, one of the strongest lawyers and most capable men in the county. Mr. Parmelee's early intention, to enter the profession of the law, was abandoned while he was yet in his youth by reason of the conviction that his father needed his assistance in the large business enterprise. which he had undertaken. Upon that consideration he gave up his college course, and in 1868 identified himself with the land and lumber business of Titus & Parmelee - afterward that of A. B. Parmelee & Son. He combined the qualities, rarely found in one individual, of the student and book-lover with a keen and broad grasp of business and public problems, so that to a refined appreciation of the arts and wide literary attainments he joined particular aptitude for the every-day, practical transactions of life. In the church he was a valued counselor and a strong supporter, and a foremost figure in nearly every enterprise that looked to the betterment of village, town or county conditions. In particular, Mr. Parmelee was active and helpful in giving Malone an improved water supply, in making Morningside Cemetery beautiful, in organizing and managing the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, in creating our present fire department system, in fostering the public schools, and notably in the movement which brought to the county a new railway, reaching to Montreal on the north and to the New York Central System on the south. No man was more interested in political affairs in a wholly unselfish way, and though he could never be induced himself to stand for office he was always a generous giver to campaign funds, and responded cheerfully to demands to address public meetings. As a speaker his efforts had a fine finish, and his delivery was magnetic and dramatic - thrilling and captivating his audiences. Mr. Par- melee's charities were many and large, but so studiously concealed that few besides the recipients were even aware of them. He died July 24, 1897.
Jabez Parkhurst, born in Sharon, Vt., October 24, 1785, was grad- uated from the University of Vermont in 1810, and, having been admitted to the bar in 1814, located soon afterward at Fort Covington. He was for a time a teacher in the old Harison Academy at Malone. A virile, positive character, and well grounded in the law, he made his mark as a practitioner and in all of his relations as a citizen. He was an extremist in almost everything, and was elected to the Assembly in 1833 and 1834 as an anti-Mason, and was the unsuccessful candidate of the Liberty party for the same office in 1844. He was a militant abolitionist. and often harbored runaway slaves at his home. He died October 31, 1865.
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Henry A. Paddock, born in Fort Covington May 2, 1823, was admitted to the bar in 1848, and was elected district attorney as a Demo- erat in 1853. Casting in his lot with the Republican party in 1855, of course a re-election was out of the question, but in 1859 he was chosen county judge, and held the office until 1868. During his incumbency he removed to Malone, and after the expiration of his term practiced his profession, and, forty-odd years ago, operated extensively in a general business way. He became the owner of a large flouring mill just north of the village, was interested in saw mills, and bought and sold real estate on a large scale. Among other ventures, he engaged in selling his indorsement on notes to those who were ready to pay handsomely for enjoyment of his credit, which, however, availed creditors but little, as nothing was collectible when obligors failed and debts matured. Mr. Paddock was a national bank examiner from 1875 to 1879, and a good one. Of keen mentality, well read in the law, possessing a broad and eager business sense, and aggressive, almost to belligereney, in any con- test that aroused his interest, Mr. Paddock occupied for a long time a large place in the public eye, and was a force in all local affairs. He died January 4, 1884.
Frederick G. Paddock, born at Fort Covington April 15, 1859, removed to Malone with his parents in 1866, and has since resided there continuously. He was graduated from the Columbia Law School in New York city in 1884, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He was elected district attorney in 1892, continuing in the office for six years, was president of the village of Malone in 1903, and was elected county judge and surrogate in 1907, and re-elected in 1913. Judge Paddock has been active in Republican politics, has evinced a strong interest in public questions from his early manhood, and has been par- ticularly active and useful in the work of promoting better highways and in all social service problems.
James S. Phillips was born in Westville July 12, 1824, studied medicine and practiced the profession there from 1855 to 1859, and then located at Malone. Of quiet tastes and habits, he mingled little in a conspicuous way in politics or public affairs, though always interested in every worthy enterprise, and mindful of the duties of good citizenship. He enjoyed a large practice, and also gave considerable attention to hop farming. He died June 16, 1890.
William W. Paddock was born in Malone March 19, 1825, and always made his home in the county. He was a collegiate, and his
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private life was blameless. For many years he was a member of the board of education of the village school district of Malone. He was elected county clerk as a Republican, and served for two terms. In 18:2 he became a Liberal Republican, and because he used the machinery and influence of his office against the party which had given him the posi- tion, partisan bitterness against him was pronounced. He was, however, unquestionably conscientious in the matter. As the candidate of the Democrats and Liberal Republicans for re-election in 1873, he was overwhelmingly defeated. He died May 17, 1888.
John R. Primrose, of whom my first knowledge was that he was a resident of Brooklyn, began coming to Malone as a buyer of hops for S. & F. Uhlman about 1870, and was thereafter an annual visitor here until 1886, when he located as a resident, to take the management of the large hop farms then owned by the Uhlmans. He at once took an active part in local Democratic politics, and from his city experience taught the home contingent many points. He was elected village presi- dent. He died July 10, 1890.
Charles H. Palmer was born in Malone in 1831, and died April 30. 1891. He followed the business of farming, but was best known as a teacher, having taught school in many districts in the county, and also conducted old-fashioned singing schools all through this northern sec- tion. Of upright character, even tempered and social inclinations, he enjoyed a wide acquaintance, and was generally liked and esteemed.
Albert M. Phelps, born at Alburgh, Vt., in 1851, located in Burke in 1873 for the practice of medicine, removed to Chateaugay in 1876, and established himself in New York city in 1882. Dr. Phelps had an interesting personality, engaging and animated in conversation, over- flowing with energy and buoyancy of spirit, and delighting in associa- tion with his friends. His animadversions upon medicine as a science were sweeping and extreme. He professed a contempt for it, and insisted that practice under it was practically altogether guesswork - guessing, first, what might be the ailment of a patient, and, next, guess- ing what and how much of a drug should be given for its relief. But for surgery he had a great respect and love, and became one of the world's most brilliant and skillful operators. For a time the older practitioners in the county distrusted his counsels, questioned if there could be safety in the then almost or quite untried operations which he proposed, and even wondered if his delight in using the knife did
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not at times affect his judgment as to the necessity or advisability of applying it. But the exceptional skill which he developed, his sureness in finding and following the right course, and the marvelous cures that he wrought in cases of deformity won for him within a few years a standing in the profession which was outranked by but few in the world. The man who, hardly more than a boy, had been doubted by his elders became a lecturer in the medical department of the University of Ver- mont, was consulted and employed by the most eminent practitioners in the metropolis, stood among the foremost in the faculties of great institutions, and was even called by universities in Germany to lecture and demonstrate before their professors and students. He died October 10, 1902.
Benjamin Raymond was born in Ackworth. N. H., in 1798. He married Jane Latham Conant, a direct descendant of Roger Conant on one side, and on the other of Mary Chilton, who was the first woman that set foot on Plymouth Rock. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond moved to Fort Covington about 1820. Mr. Raymond was a millwright, and built many mills in the northern part of the county - afterward engaging in mer- cantile business with remarkable success, having been one of the two merchants at French Mills in early days who did not fail. In 1835 he removed to Malone, and, probably more than any other one man, initiated and carried through the project of giving the village a gravity system of water-works. He was also the father of the creation of the cemetery that is now known as Morningside, and gave to the undertaking and its development a degree of unrewarded attention and care that makes the present generation debtor to him in no small measure. Few men were more useful in a public way, possessed sounder practical judgment, dis- played a larger public spirit, or commanded more of general confidence and respect. He died in Malone November 17, 1870.
Thomas Richey was born in Malone in 1812, and in 1844 was licensed by the Methodist Episcopal conference to preach. He served many parishes in Franklin county and elsewhere in Northern New York, and was superannuated in 1889. He died at Watertown July 10, 1892.
Orson L. Reynolds, who was born in Bombay in 1829, removed to Bangor, and then to Brandon, where he was the founder of the large lumbering business which has been prosecuted since his death by his sons under the style of Reynolds Brothers. Mr. Reynolds was supervisor of Brandon for a number of years, and the board had no more attentive or shrewder member. He died April 8, 1888.
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Matt C. Ransom (whose name is not Matt at all, but Madison) was born at Mooers January 23, 1858, and located at Fort Covington as a lawyer in 1883. Studious, industrious, self-reliant and endowed with a good mind, he quickly gained an enviable standing in his profession, and though the field was not one to afford many large opportunities he nevertheless had a considerable number of important cases, and his work in them attracted favorable attention. In those days he was active in politics, and a number of times was the Democratic candidate for county office. In 1896, when the Farmers National Bank of Malone had deposits of only $395,000 and a surplus of only $10,000, Mr. Ransom was offered the vice-presidency and practically the general management of the institution. Accepting, he came to Malone, and ever since has given his time and energies almost exclusively to the business of bank- ing, and with such success that the bank now has deposits of about $785,000 and a surplus of $225,000. It has the remarkable record of never having passed a dividend in over fifty years. Mr. Ransom is one of the board of managers of the St. Lawence Hospital for the Insane, and a trustee of the Alice Hyde Memorial Hospital and of the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes. He is also a director of The Lawrence-Webster Company.
George M. Sabin, born at Guildhall, Vt., in 1805, came to Malone in 1834. He was a lumberman and farmer, and became a major in the old militia. He died July 31, 1890.
Eli B. Smith was born in Chateaugay August 11, 1806, and made that place his home for about sixty years, when he removed to Malone. Though always leading a quiet life, and apparently caring for little that was not of a business nature, he yet had a very strong interest in public matters. He gave the site for the Chateaugay high school, a lot for an engine house in Chateaugay, the organ to the Chateaugay Presbyterian church, a considerable collection of books to the Wead Library in Malone, and the chimes to the Congregational church of Malone. He died January 15, 1890.
Henry B. Smith, son of Colonel Thomas Smith of 1812 war fame, was born in Chateaugay January 5, 1805, and in his youth worked on a farm and in his father's tavern. As soon as he was old enough to assume responsibilities himself he became a merchant, and, generally expanding his activities, engaged in large real estate and lumbering operations, so that after a time he dominated most enterprises in both
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Chateaugay and Burke. First and last, he served his town as super- visor for a dozen years, and held also every other town office that he would consent to accept. He was the Democratic leader and autocrat in all the eastern part of the county for a long time, became judge of the court of common pleas in 1833, its first judge ten years later, State Senator in 1852-3, was deputy collector of customs at Chateaugay for a number of years, and for nearly a decade was collector of the district of Champlain - the only Franklin county man who ever held that office. In a business way, in politics and in mentality Mr. Smith was one of the biggest men that the county ever had in his time, though it is found in his record that as a member of a special committee of the board of supervisors he recommended about 1850 a sale of the site of the existing county buildings, which, as it has turned out, would have been a wise procedure, and the erection of new structures on the Arsenal Green, which would have been an unfortunate encroachment on the park, and also in disregard of the restrictions contained in the deed of conveyance of the property of the State. Mr. Smith accumulated a probably larger property than any one else in the county had ever possessed up to that time. He died August 22, 1863.
Edmund F. Sargent, born at Brattleboro, Vt., April 18, 1815, located at Bangor as a boy. He became a farmer, and was interested largely in the manufacture of starch. He served the town as supervisor, and was a member of Assembly in 1868-9. Of sound judgment and upright life. he was respected and popular. He died November 9, 1889.
Sherman Stancliff, born at Shoreham, Vt., August 28, 1817, came to Malone in 1833. For many years whenever the town had a particu- larly ugly piece of road making or repairing, or any individual wanted a dam built on honor, or a lumber job put through with a rush, Mr. Stancliff was always looked to to take the contract. He invariably did the work as it ought to be done, regardless of the agreed price, and more often than not he worked at a loss. Upon one occasion, in the time when churches in all of the country districts were open for political meetings, the writer had a speaking appointment with the late John I. Gilbert at Chasm Falls, and Mr. Stancliff acted as chairman of the meeting. His politics and his religion were vital things to him, and he believed in one as devoutly as in the other. Thus when the speaking was over, he announced that the meeting would close with the singing of the Doxology! Simple, straightforward and conscientious, everybody liked and respected Sherman Stancliff. He died May 3, 1892.
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S. Dwight Stevens (father of Halbert D. of the Malone Farmer), born at Whittingham, Vt., in 1818, settled in Bangor, and then in Moira, where he remained until 1875. Mr. Stevens was one of the founders of the Republican party in the latter town, but in no sense as a politician. He believed in the new organization as he believed in Christianity, and for much the same reasons. Though without train- ing as a public speaker, he espoused Republicanism and expounded its principles in every school house in Moira. In 1875 he removed to Malone, and engaged in merchandising for a few years. He was a man of intelli- gent and conscientious convictions, self-poised, and highly respected. He died November 24, 1899.
Baker Stevens, born in Canada in 182?, came to Moira as a young man, and engaged in farming work in summer and teaching school in winter. From 1849 to 1852 or a little later the California fever raged here very much as Colorado attracted so many people twenty-odd years afterward, and Mr. Stevens was one of a party of eighteen young men from the western part of the county who was stricken by it, and adven- tured the trip in 1852, making the voyage " around the Horn," and being 152 days from New York to San Francisco. While Mr. Stevens's search for gold was moderately successful, more than once he missed " striking it rich " by the merest chance, as, for illustration, he dug one day at the foot of a tree, choosing a spot that was in the shade, and found but little gold. Had he worked where the sun was heating down, on the opposite side of the tree, he would have realized a rich fortune, which a worker there a day or so later unearthed. Mr. Stevens returned from California in 1855, and engaged in merchandising at Moira, and after- ward at North Bangor and Malone, but for the final forty-odd years of his life was without confining or active occupation. He was always greatly interested in educational affairs, and for many years was a valued member of the board of education of the village school district of Malone, Though never particularly active in politics, he was many times (usually unwillingly) the Democratic nominee for important local offices, and was invariably deeply interested for good government and in public policies generally. Of broad intelligence, spotless character, and delighting in discussion of abstract questions, Mr. Stevens was highly regarded, and enjoyed a marked degree of public confidence. He died January 2, 1917.
William Cullen Stevens, born in Moira August 29, 1848, began business life as a clerk at that place, but soon afterward engaged as
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a traveling salesman with a wagon for a notions house, and then became a commercial traveler for a large Boston wholesale firm. In 1874 he engaged in merchandising in Malone as a member of a hardware firm, and later in dry goods. From his earliest manhood Mr. Stevens was intensely interested in politics, and became a party worker. He was clected to the Assembly in 1888, and re-elected in 1889 and 1890 - succeeding well in the duties of the office, particularly in forwarding local measures. It was during his service that the first appropriation for the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes was secured. For a number of years following his service as Assemblyman he was the financial clerk of the Assembly, and traveled between sessions as a salesman for The Lawrence-Webster Company of Malone. Mr. Stevens was genial and companionable, and made friends readily. He died suddenly the night of October 2, 1897, after a day of unusual activity, and during which he had been chosen chairman of the Republican county committee - a position to which he had long aspired. Mrs. Stevens awoke in the morning and found him dead.
Edward L. Stevens, born in Malone May 20, 1867, engaged in teach- ing after completing his academic and collegiate course of studies - his first important work in this line having been as principal of the Chateau- gay high school, and then in a similar capacity at Catskill. From the latter place he went to a professorship in the normal school at Jamaica, and from there was appointed one of the superintendents of schools for the city of New York, with assignment for service in the borough of Queens, where he was credited with having brought "order out of chaos " in his territory. Upon a later reorganization of the educational system of the city, Mr. Stevens was transferred to the borough of Man- hattan, and for several years was second in rank in charge of the super- intendence of the city's schools. He was an indefatigable worker of fine executive powers, and was fully abreast of the best educational ideas and methods. At the time of his death he was engaged in the preparation of a history of the State of New York which was to be particularly adapted to school uses. Mr. Stevens died April 3, 1914.
Calvin Skinner, born in Royalton, Vt., May 29, 1818, located in Malone in 1842 for the practice of his profession as a physician. With a cheery manner, a sympathetic temperament, a skill to alleviate suffer- ing. and an energy, courage and character that made him a high-class citizen, Dr. Skinner became one of the best known and most highly regarded residents of the county. In addition to his active professional
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work, covering a period of more than forty years, he was conspicuous in politics and in forwarding local public undertakings. He was one of eleven men to organize the Republican party in Franklin county in 1855, was a delegate to the national convention that nominated Abra- ham Lincoln in 1860, was always a worker in campaigns, and held the office of postmaster of Malone for fourteen years. In 1862 he went to Virginia as a volunteer surgeon for a short time, and later became the regularly commissioned surgeon of the 106th regiment. Dr. Skinner was one of the incorporators of the Malone Water-Works Company in 1857, was one of the founders and for years a trustee of the Northern New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes, and was identified from time to time with other home enterprises of value and importance to the town. For ten years preceding his death he was confined to his home by a spinal trouble traceable to his army service. He died September 24, 1903 - almost, if not quite, the last of the generation next after the pioneers who did so much to give tone and character to Malone, and make it a town worth living in.
William C. Skinner, son of Calvin Skinner, M. D., was born in Malone January 26, 1855, and after graduating at Franklin Academy entered Trinity College at Hartford, Conn., and completed the course there. He then studied law for a time, but, having made congenial and influential friends in Hartford, located in that city, and engaged in the wool business extensively. He was appointed aide on the staff of Governor Bulkley, with the rank of colonel. A few years ago he acquired an interest in the Colts Arms Company, and became one of its principal officers. His various business enterprises have given him large wealth without indisposing him to be active and useful. He has an ardent love for the Adirondacks, and owns a large private park on Deer river in the town of Duane, and another in the town of Brighton - the latter being the property known as McCollums. Upon the former he has spent a good many thousand dollars in erecting buildings and in developing a power plant for lighting his camp and grounds by elec- tricity. Though having ceased to call Malone his home some forty years ago, he yet continues to have an active and affectionate interest in the town - being one of the owners of the Ballard clothing factory and mill, and having recently presented to St. Mark's Church a fine and commodious rectory, in the erection of which something like fifteen thousand dollars was expended, and having also built a nurses' home at a cost of twelve thousand dollars as a memorial to his father and
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mother for the Alice Hyde Memorial Hospital. Colonel Skinner has an engaging personality, and is as popular socially as he is efficient in business.
Joel J. Seaver, born at Salisbury, Vt., December 17, 1822, came to Bangor as a boy, and learned the tinsmith's trade with an uncle, James Bigelow. In 1842 he entered the Palladium office as an apprentice, and in 1850 became one of the proprietors and editors of that publication - continuing his interest in it, at times actively and at other periods only as part proprietor and as advisor of its active managers, to the day of his death. He was the strongest editorial writer in this section of the State - virile, positive and trenchant. When Sumter was fired upon he was the first man in Franklin county to enlist, and left Malone in early May, 1861, as captain of a company which was mustered into service as a unit of the famous 16th regiment. He was promoted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and at the expiration of his two years' term of service was offered a commission as brigadier-general. Colonel Seaver was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1867, and was postmaster at Malone for four years from 1874. He was also for many years a member of the board of education of the village school district of Malone, and at one time its president. He died November 29, 1899.
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