USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 27
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 27
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"Gamalael Jenkins, Queensbury, has in- vented and is the patentee of a new automatic car coupler which is destined to supersede the old link and pin coupling which has hereto- fore been the only connection that could be made between freight cars. The model is a very ingenious device, and is applicable to either freight or passenger cars. Its construc- tion is such that any number of cars can be connected or coupled by one move of the en- gine without the aid of any trainmen except the engineer. Connection is made by a knuckle joint, which is always positive in its action, and which will wholly do away with the old coupling and all danger to human life and limb, as no person is required to oversee its work or place themselves in danger between connect- ing cars. The cars can be instantly discon- nected while standing or in motion at the will of the trainmen, but at no other time. The coupling is very simple, strong and complete, and will be hailed with delight by the general community, who have been so often horrified by the mangling process of the old link and pin system. It is to be hoped that it may be
L. It. Crawlchite.
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adopted by the railroad officials. The sooner the better."
Gamalael Jenkins was united in marriage in 1853 to Augusta W., a daughter of Ansel Winship, of the town of Queensbury. Mr. Jenkins is also vice-president of the New York State Farmers' Union League, a growing and influential organization, that has already re- sulted in much good to the farming commun- ity of the State.
LEONARD W. CRONKHITE, one
of the prominent men of affairs in this county, residing in the village of Sandy Hill, was born in the same village, Washington county, New York, May 3, 1826. His parents were Woolsey and Ann Freeman Cronkhite, who settled in the town of Kingsbury, coming from Dutchess county, New York, about the beginning of the present century. Woolsey Cronkhite was a merchant and manufacturer, a man of sterling worth and prominence in the community in which he resided. Leonard W. Cronkhite attended the schools of that neighborhood and in due time enjoyed the ad- vantages somewhat rare in those early days, of an English and classical education, at Barnes' Classical school, and later in the Granville academy. Upon leaving school he became a salesman in a dry goods store. At the end of his five years' engagement in this capacity he went into business on his own account, as a merchant, at Sandy Hill ; in this he continued successfully for twelve years. In 1852 he mar- ried Bessie A. Green, daughter of Henry and Anna Green, of Queensbury, New York, who is still his life partner.
In 1860 he engaged in the sheep husbandry in Illinois, afterward in the ship timber busi- ness on Lake Huron, Michigan, in both of which he was successful. Subsequently he turned his attention to the banking business, both at Sandy Hill and in Michigan. He is president of the National bank of Sandy Hill and a director of the First National bank of 13
Fort Edward. The National bank of Sandy Hill was organized in 1864 and reorganized in 1883. During the thirty years since its or- ganization it has always paid a semi-annual dividend and has earned for its stockholders an average of over twenty per cent. per annum.
Mr. Cronkhite is a deacon of the Baptist church and a member of its Board of Trustees. He has been several times elected as presiding officer of the Washington Union Baptist asso- ciation ; has been a trustee and the secretary and treasurer of the Board since its organiza- tion. Mr. Cronkhite has for many years taken great interest in education ; is president of the Board of Education of his native village. During many years he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate university, and until disabled by sickness, chairman of its finance committee. He has also been a director of the New York State Baptist Edu- cation society. This society financially aids more than one hundred young men annually in their preparation for the Christian ministry. For seventeen years he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington County Agricultural society, and has served two terms as president of that society.
Mr. Cronkhite has been invited to be a can- didate for important official positions in civil life, but has uniformly declined, preferring what to him is a more congenial and indepen- dent sphere of usefulness than the atmosphere and turmoil of politics.
Leonard W. Cronkhite has been the archi- tect of his own fortune ; his father dying when he was four years of age, leaving to his family the priceless heritage of a spotless name and an exalted Christian character.
S OLOMON H. PARKS, a union officer in the late civil war and the senior mem- ber of the well known business firm of Parks & Mosher, of Sandy Hill, is a son of M. B. and Gertrude A. (Cooper) Parks, and was born in the town of Monroe, Saratoga county,
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New York, October 29, 1841. He was reared on the farm ; received his education in public and private schools and Glens Falls academy. Leaving the academy he was variously en- gaged until 1863, when he enlisted in Co. A, 2d New York veteran cavalry. Some time after enlisting he was promoted from a private to sergeant, and served until October 8, 1865, being honorably discharged from the Federal service at Talladega, Alabama. Returning from the army he accepted the position of shipping clerk and time keeper at the saw mill of Finch, Pryne & Co., on the Hudson river in Saratoga county, where he remained six years with that firm and one year longer with their successors. In 1873 he went to South Glens Falls, where he formed a part- nership with T. Z. Adams, and they were en- gaged there in the general mercantile business for three years. He then disposed of his mercantile interests and spent one year with the firm of Finch, Pryne & Co. At the end of that time, in 1877, he came to Sandy Hill, and formed a partnership with his father-in- law, James P. Buck, under the firm name of Buck & Parks. They engaged in the hard- ware business, and the next year opened a coal yard. This firm continued up to 1888, when Mr. Buck withdrew and was succeeded by William E. Mosher, and the firm name was changed to the title of Parks & Mosher, now S. H. Parks. The present firm do a profitable hardware business and have large coal yards.
On January 4, 1870, Mr. Parks married Laura J. Buck, and their union has been blessed with one child, Eliza G. Solomon H. Parks is a warden of Sandy Hill Episcopal church, and has always been independent in politics. He is a member of Sandy Hill Ma- sonic Lodge, No. 372 ; Sandy Hill Masonic Chapter, No. 189, and William M. Collin Grand Army Post, No. 587, of which he was commander for six years, and has served as adjutant since 1891. He was master of his Masonic lodge for seven years in succession,
and served as high priest of his chapter for two years. Mr. Parks has been successful in his business operations and well deserves his present reputation for energy, activity and correct business methods.
The Parks are of English extraction, and the earliest member of the family in this country, of which we have mention, was Daniel Parks, who served as an American officer in the Revolutionary war, and after- ward removed to Saratoga county. Daniel Parks married and reared a family. One of his sons was Solomon Parks, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Solomon Parks served as a teamster in the Revolutionary war, and after peace was declared, removed to Monroe township, Saratoga county, where he spent the remainder of his life in farming. He married and reared a family of children, one of his sons being M. B. Parks, who was born in Saratoga county. M. B. Parks was a farmer by occupation and died in his native town in 1888, at seventy-three years of age. He was a Presbyterian and a democrat, and held the office of assessor of his town for many years.
M AJOR JAMES WRIGHT, the founder of the Sandy Hill Herald, and one of the early business men of Washington county, was a son of John Tidd Wright and Hannah Proctor Wright, and was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1802. He was reared in his native State until he was fourteen years of age. He then went to live with ex- Governor Slade, of Vermont, with whom he learned the trade of a printer. After com- pleting his apprenticeship he came to Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, but in a short time settled at Sandy Hill, where, in 1821, he founded the Herald. He edited the Herald for twenty years, and then sold it to Elisha Baker. During that period he served as post- master for fourteen years, and established a drug store, which he conducted until 1845,
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when he removed to New York city, where he resided until his death, which occurred at Sandy Hill, September 17, 1858.
Major Wright was a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, and an active and useful citizen during his many years of busi- ness life at Sandy Hill. He was married twice. His first wife, Emerine Caldwell, of Kingsbury Street, died in 1828. For his sec- ond wife he wedded Charity T. Baker. To them were born three boys - James Caldwell, William E., and Silas - and four girls, Mar- garet, Frances M., Elizabeth Baker, and Abbe A., three of whom, Silas, Elizabeth B. Denton and Abbe, still survive.
Silas Wright, a cousin of Major Wright, was a distinguished statesman, who honored the offices of comptroller, United States sen- ator, and governor of New York State. He was a law student with Martindale & Muzzy, at Sandy Hill, from 1815 to 1819.
Mrs. Charity T. ( Baker) Wright was born at Sandy Hill in 1804, and is remarkably well preserved, both mentally and physically, for one of her advanced years. Her grandfather, Hon. Albert Baker, was a native of West- chester county, where he married Rachel Sut- ton. He removed to New York city and fol- lowed carting sugar until 1768, when he came to the site of Sandy Hill and built a house near the falls of the Hudson, which now bears his name, Baker's Falls. He was the second settler at Sandy Hill, where he took up six hundred acres of land, and built at the falls the earliest grist and saw mill of the town of Kingsbury. He served in the Revolutionary war, and was one of the representatives of Washington county to the convention of del- egates, which assembled at Kingston in 1777 and framed the first State constitution. He died in 1805, and his widow passed away in 1815. They had four sons: Lieutenant Al- bert, who served in the Revolutionary war, and was a farmer and miller ; Charles, who never married, followed farming and milling ; Caleb, the first child born in the town, was a prom-
inent politician and justice of the peace ; and John, the father of Mrs. Charity T. Wright. Hon. John Baker was a miller and a contractor, and served as coroner and associate judge of his county, and as a member of the State legisla- ture in 1811, and from 1821 to 1823. While engaged in contracting he erected the finest locks and bridges on the canal ever built up to that time. He died in 1824, at forty-four years of age.
E. D. Baker was a son of E. D. and Mary ( Buckbee) Baker, and was born in New York city, November 9, 1812. His father was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of New York. E. D. Baker received a common school education, and at seventeen years of age entered the Herald printing office, where he learned the printer's trade. In 1841 he bought that paper and owned and edited it for a quarter of a century. 'He was a dem- ocrat, and in 1834 wedded Ellen Matthews, a daughter of David Matthews, of Salem, and a soldier of the war of 1812. David Matthews was a son of William Matthews, who came from Ireland, and served as an American sol- dier in the war of the revolution. Mrs. Charity Wright died in 1894.
H ENRY CRANDALL, one of the most enterprising and public spirited citizens of the village of Glens Falls, was born in the town of Caldwell, Warren county, New York, February 13, 1821. He received only the ad- vantages of a common school education, and when at the age of twenty-four years went to work by the month in the lumber woods, where he remained as a common laborer for a period of ten years. At the expiration of this time, in 1855, he formed a partnership in the lumber business at Glens Falls with James C. Finch and John J. Harris, which partnership carried on a very successful trade until 1880, when he withdrew from the lumber business, and has since been engaged in real estate and building.
Mr. Crandall is a director in the Glens Falls
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National bank, and is a trustee of the board of education ; he is a republican in his political opinion, and owns considerable real estate in Glens Falls. He built, and is the present proprietor of the Crandall block, one of the most artistic and tastefully built blocks in the village. The Glens Falls public library has free use of this building, and not only in this, but in many other particulars, has Mr. Cran- dall evinced his philanthropy and progres- siveness.
He was married, in. 1858, to Betsie Waters, of Warren county. As a citizen and friend, Mr. Crandall occupies an enviable position in his community : his rise from poverty to afflu- ence is a splendid example for the struggling and ambitious youths of to-day; having fol- lowed through all his successful business career the one avenue, only, that leads to per- manent and honorable success, which is con- centrating of mind and devotion to duty, en- twined with truth and unblemished character.
R EV. JAMES J. O'BRIEN, a popular and scholarly gentleman, and the present pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church of Sandy Hill, was born January 16, 1856, in Oswego, New York, where his parents still reside. He is a son of Thomas and Ellen O'Brien, who came from Ireland. Father O'Brien was educated in the public schools of his native city of Oswego, and was graduated from its high school in 1871, at the age of fifteen years delivering the Latin salutatory. He afterward entered and completed his col- legiate course of studies in the Niagara uni- versity, conducted by the Lazarist Fathers, located at Niagara Falls, New York; and entered St. Joseph's seminary, at Troy, New York, in September, 1874. There he re- mained until 1879, when he was ordained priest by the Right Reverend Francis Mc- Nierny, D. D., Bishop of Albany, and as- signed to the curacy of St. Mary's church, Syracuse, New York, where he was assistant
to the late Reverend Dr. O'Hara, in which capacity he remained for three years. In 1882 Bishop McNierny selected him for the new mission of Fonda and Tribes Hill, where he labored most devotedly for five years, and in 1887 was promoted to his present important charge at Sandy Hill. During his able pas- torate at this place the debt on the church and parochial residence has been liquidated, and in addition to that he has purchased and paid for a magnificent new pipe organ at the cost of three thousand four hundred dollars, and placed it in the church.
The Catholics of Fort Ann, although few in number, reverence Father O'Brien, for the erection in that village of one of the hand- somest and most substantial country churches in the Albany diocese. Within two years this handsome church edifice, at a cost of five thousand dollars, has been completed, and only a few hundred dollars of indebtedness remain.
Father O'Brien is popular with all classes, energetic and progressive in his work, and de- voted to his church. The success that he has already achieved at this early period of his life, and the esteem in which he is held by his congregation and by the public generally give assurance of the larger work yet remain- ing to be done by him for the greater glory of God. Since his coming to Sandy Hill he has labored and been active in the advancement of religion and civilization. He was the chief promoter and organizer of the Young Men's Catholic Union, the Young Ladies' B. V. M. society, Holy Name society for men, a Catholic Mutual Benefit association, Branch No. 120, and several smaller societies for children.
H ENRY GRAY, M. D., a prominent physician of Greenwich, who is descended from a long line of successful practitioners, and who served during the civil war as cap- tain and major in the Federal army, was born
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at Cambridge, Washington county, New York, September 6, 1842, and is the eldest son of Dr. Henry C. and Jeannette ( Bullion ) Gray. Dr. Joseph Gray, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was an Englishman by birth and education, who came to America and settled in New Hampshire, early in the eighteenth century. His son Henry Gray, M. D. (grandfather ), was a native of New Hampshire, studied medicine, and while yet a young man located at White Creek, New York, where he followed his profession nearly all his life. He acquired a large practice and became prominent. Politically he was a Jacksonian democrat, and married Ruby Car- penter, a native of New Hampshire, by whom he had a family of eight children. One of his sons was Henry C. Gray, M. D. (father), who was born in New Hampshire, in January, 18II, but was reared and educated in New York. His medical studies were conducted at Andover, Massachusetts, and in the city of Philadelphia, where he received his degree. For nearly half a century he lived and prac- ticed his profession in the village of Cam- bridge, where he became very successful and was regarded as one of the leading physicians of the county, and he became widely known and was greatly esteemed. He was com- missioned surgeon of the 114th New York in- fantry by Gov. William G. Marcy. Politi- cally he was a democrat, and a member of the Baptist church. He married Jeannette Bul- lion, a daughter of Rev. Alexander Bullion, of Corla, this county, and by that union had a family of eight children, three sons and five daughters : Mary B., married Rev. John Anderson, of Cambridge; Eliza N., wife of Dr. B. F. Ketchum, of Brattleboro, Vermont ; Dr. Henry, the subject of this sketch ; Robert L., who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864 ; Dr. Charles A., a practicing physician of Hinsdale, New Hamp- shire ; Florence G., wife of J. J. Estey, the well-known organ manufacturer of Brattle- boro, Vermont ; Fannie G., inarried Thomas 13a
Cull, D. D., of the village of Greenwich ; and Anna R., widow of the late M. L. Cobb, of Sing Sing, New York. Mrs. Jeannette Gray died in 1849, aged thirty-nine years.
Dr. Henry Gray grew to manhood in this county, receiving his education in the Cam- bridge academy, Princeton and Jonesville, and was graduated from the New York Col- lege of Physician and Surgeons in 1867. In the autumn of the same year he located in Greenwich for the practice of his profession, and has remained here ever since. Inheriting from a long line of ancestors many of the leading characteristics of the true physician, and having carefully prepared himself for the duties of his profession, it was not long until he found himself in the enjoyment of an ex- tensive practice, which has steadily increased until it may now be said to be among the lar- gest in this section. Dr. Gray is a member of the New York State Medical society, and of the Washington County Medical society, in the latter of which he has held all the offices from secretary to president.
In politics Dr. Gray adheres to the tradi- tions of his family, and is an ardent demo- crat, believing implicitly in a government of the people by the people, and opposed to all legislation intended to benefit certain classes at the expense of others. In 1862 he enlisted in the Federal service, was made cap- tain of Co. G, 123d New York infantry, and was afterward promoted, for gallant conduct, to the rank of major. He participated in the battles of Chancellorsville, May, 1-4, 1863 ; Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863 ; beside a num- ber of others, and was with Sherman in his famous march to the sea. During his service Major Gray was thrice wounded, in the leg, on the arm, and on the head, but none of these injuries proved serious. He was dis- charged with his command in the summer of 1865, and returned to Washington county, where he took up the study of medicine, and prepared himself for practice as previously mentioned.
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On May 7, 1867, Dr. Gray was united in marriage with Annie B. Buell, a daughter of Eliakim Buell, of the city of Troy, New York. To Dr. and Mrs. Gray was born an only child, a son named Harry C., who be- came an electrician, and is now superintendent of the Consolidated Electric Light & Power Company of the village of Greenwich.
J AMES H. THOMPSON, superinten- den't and general manager of the Green- wich & Johnsonville railroad, and one of the most successful and highly esteemed citizens of the village of Greenwich, where he has re- sided since 1872, is a son of Colonel Andrew and Eliza (Stevens) Thompson, and was born February 13, 1844, in the town of Easton, Washington county, New York. The Thomp- sons are of Scotch extraction, and the family was first planted in Connecticut prior to the Revolutionary war. From that State members of it came into New York about 1780, and settled in Washington county, which was then comparatively a new and unimproved country. Andrew Thompson, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared in the town of Jackson, this county. After securing such education as was afforded by the country schools of that day, he engaged in farming, the occupation of his ancestors, and devoted all his life to agricultural pursuits. He owned and cultivated a farm of three hundred acres in the town of Jackson, and be- came quite prosperous. He was an old line whig in politics and a member of the Presby- terian church. His death occurred in 1844, at which time he was about eighty years of age. One of his sons was Colonel Andrew Thompson (father ), who was born on the old homestead in the town of Jackson, in 1808, where he grew up and received an excellent English education in the district school. He then engaged in farming in the town of Easton, where he owned a fine farm of two hundred and seventy acres of valuable land. At dif-
ferent times he was also engaged in a number of other business enterprises, and was very successful in everything he undertook to do, being endowed with great energy and sound judgment. Politically he was a whig and re- publican, and always took an active interest in local politics. He was several times elected supervisor of his town, and held a number of minor offices. In 1857 he was nominated and elected to a seat in the State assembly, and re-elected in 1858. His influence was felt in that honorable body, where he exerted him- self to carry through measures required by his constituents and demanded by the public welfare. There was also a strong military side to his nature, and he early identified him- self with the 30th New York State militia, of which he was made colonel when only twenty- one years of age. At the age of twenty-three he was a candidate for the rank of brigadier general, and came within one vote of securing the election. He was a member and deacon of the Reformed church, in which he was al- ways active, and in 1840 married Eliza Stev- ens, a native of Washington county and a daughter of Simeon Stevens, a prosperous farmer of the town of Jackson. To them was born a family of six children, five sons and a daughter : Simeon A., a farmer of the town of Cambridge; James H., the subject of this sketch; Margaret, who died in youth ; LeRoy, a merchant of Greenwich, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume ; William A., now a civil engineer in the em- ploy of the government at Rock Island, Illi- nois ; and Frank, a farmer living on the old homestead in the town of Easton, of which town he is at present serving as supervisor. Colonel Thompson died August 10, 1891, aged eighty-three, and his wife still survives, being now in the seventy-eighth year of her age. She is a member of the Reformed church, and resides in the village of Greenwich.
James H. Thompson was reared on his father's farm in the town of Easton, and re- ceived his education in the district schools,
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the Greenwich academy and the Eastman Business college, of Poughkeepsie, New York. At the age of twenty-eight he entered the employ of the Greenwich & Johnsonville Rail- road Company, as station agent in the village of Greenwich, which position he acceptably filled until 1879. In that year the road was reorganized by the stockholders, and Mr. Thompson, being one of them, was elected superintendent and general manager, which office he has held ever since, discharging its duties in a manner at once creditable to him- self and advantageous to the interests of the road and its general business.
In politics James H. Thompson is a stanch republican, taking an active interest in the success of his party at the polls, and has served as president of the village. In 1892 he served as alternate in the National conven- tion that nominated Benjamin Harrison for president the second time. All his life Mr. Thompson has been deeply interested in the great cause of popular education, and for twenty years has been a member of the board of education. In religion he is a member of the Reformed church, of Greenwich, and actively supports its various interests.
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