USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 46
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 46
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In 1870 Mr. Skeels was married to Martha, a daughter of Robert Norton, of the town of Whitehall. Mr. and Mrs. Skeels are the par- ents of two children : William M. and Milla. Mr. Skeels has been a member of the choir of the Methodist Episcopal church for sixteen years, and his son is the organist in the Epis- copal church. He is a member of Whitehall
Lodge, No. 5, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Whitehall Encampment, P. C. P. He is a republican in his political opin- ion, and in 1887-8 served in the office of as- sessor of the village of Whitehall.
S ILAS B. AMBLER, a partner in the well known insurance and real estate firm of Cross & Ambler (formerly Durkee & Cross), of Sandy Hill, and a prominent Mason of the county, was born in the town of Corinth, Sar- atoga county, New York, February 14, 1839. On his father's farm, in his native town, he grew to manhood, and attended the schools of the neighborhood. Leaving home at the age of sixteen years, he went to Fort Edward, where he spent two years as a student in the Fort Edward institute. In 1860 Mr. Ambler went to Glens Falls and accepted the position of salesman in a clothing house, where he re- mained for three years. At the expiration of this time he engaged in the same line of busi- ness for himself, forming a partnership with Enoch Gray, the firm name being Gray & Ambler. In this venture he was successful until the great fire at Glens Falls, in 1864, when they were burned out. In 1865 Mr. Ambler went to Wheeling, West Virginia, where for two years he was extensively ex- gaged in life insurance, working for the Ætna Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Con- necticut. In 1867 he came to Sandy Hill and entered the employ of O. Richards & Son, who were then prominent lumber merchants of that village, and with whom he remained for a period of about fourteen years.
After leaving this firm he, associated with William Warren and Orson Howe, branched out in the general merchandising business at Sandy Hill, under the firm name of Warren, Howe & Ambler, and who continued together until 1890. In the latter year Mr. Ambler en- gaged in the general insurance business, and on the Ist of August, 1893, he bought the in- terest of Mr. Durkee, and the name of the
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firm, Cross & Durkee, became Cross & Am- bler. This firm does a large general insur- ance, representing some of the best com- panies, both foreign and American, and in connection do an extensive real estate business, operating in three towns: Sandy Hill, Fort Edward and Glens Falls.
In January, 1867, Silas B. Ambler wedded Martha Richards, who was a daughter of his former employer, Orson Richards. She died in May, 1870, and in 1874 he married, for his second wife, Julia A., a daughter of J. F. Howe, of Sandy Hill. To his last marriage have been born five children, two sons and three daughters : S. Frank, Julia A., Lina M., Ruth E. and George W. V. In March, 1892, George W. V. Ambler died.
Mr. Ambler is a member and trustee of the Sandy Hill Methodist Episcopal church ; a member of Lodge 372, Free and Accepted Masons; Sandy Hill Chapter, 189, and is also a member of Washington Commandery, No. 33, of Saratoga Springs. In his political opinion he is a republican, and some twenty years ago held the office of supervisor of the town of Kingsbury. In the spring of 1893 he was elected justice of the peace, and is now the incumbent of that office. For four years he has served as trustee of his village, and is at present a member of the board of educa- tion. He is a progressive and public spirited citizen, and is ever ready to identify himself with any movement for the advancement of the public good.
Silas B. Ambler is a son of Stephen Am- bler and Lovica Laraway. The former was a native of Connecticut, and when a young man removed to Saratoga county, New York, and settled in the town of Corinth, where he made his home up to his death, which occurred in 1860, at the age of eighty years. He was a member of the Baptist church, and a whig and republican in politics. For a number of years he held the office of justice of the peace in that town, and was for several years town supervisor, but the greater part of his life was
spent in tilling the soil. The Amblers are of English extraction, having settled in the eas- tern States, many of them in Connecticut, in a very early day. Mrs. Ambler, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a native of the town of Corinth, a Baptist in church mem- bership, and died, aged eighty-six years, in 1879. She was a daughter of Philip Laraway, born in France, and who came to this country in the capacity of body guard to General La Fayette, and served with him through the Revolutionary war. After the close of that struggle he located in the State of Vermont, and died near Castleton, in that State, at a ripe old age.
H ON. JAMES E. GOODMAN, presi- dent of the Farmers' National bank of Granville since its organization, and ex-mem- ber of the State assembly of New York, is a son of Origin and Tryphosa (Murrill) Good- man, and was born June 3, 1832, at Bolton, Warren county, this State. The Goodmans are of English extraction, and proud to trace their American ancestry back to John and William Goodman, brothers, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620. The subject of this sketch is a direct descendant of William Good- man. His grandfather, Eleazer Goodman, was a native of South Hadley, Massachusetts, but removed to Warren county, New York, about 1785, and settled in the town of Bolton, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying there when quite old. He was a farmer by occupa- tion, and among his children was Origin Good- man (father), who was born at South Hadley in 1784, but was brought to New York by his parents while yet a small child, and was reared and educated in Warren county, this State. After attaining manhood he also engaged in farming, and spent most of his life in agricul- tural pursuits. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, reaching the front on the day after the battle of Plattsburg had been fought. After peace was declared he returned to his
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farm in the town of Bolton, upon which his father had originally settled, and continued to manage it until his death, May 7, 1847, when in the sixty-third year of his age. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and at different times filled a number of the offices of his town. His wife was Tryphosa Murrill, a na- tive of Hartford, New Hampshire, and a daugh- ter of William Murrill. They reared a family of eleven children, two sons and nine daugh- ters. Mrs. Goodman survived her husband for nearly a quarter of a century, dying in 1871, at the age of eighty-two. She was a life-long member of the Presbyterian church, and in her character exemplified all the virtues and graces of true Christian womanhood. Her father. William Murrill, was pressed into the British service under General Burgoyne, and was captured by the American forces at Sara- toga at the time of Burgoyne's surrender. After securing his passports to return home, on ac- count of his youth, being only sixteen years of age, he changed his mind, enlisted in the American army, and served until the close of the Revolutionary war. He died at Hartford, this county, at an advanced age. He married a lady named Williams, a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the famous dissenter, who was banished from Massachusetts in 1636, and afterward founded the colony of Rhode Island.
James E. Goodman was reared in his native village until seventeen years of age, receiving his primary education in the public schools. At the age of seventeen he entered the State Normal school at Albany, from which institu- tion he was graduated in the spring of 1852. He then went to Fishkill Landing, where he taught the village school for six months, and afterward taught one term at Ovid, Seneca county. He then went to Nyack, Rockland county, where he took charge of a large school, but resigned after six months to accept the principalship of the Twelfth Ward school in the city of Troy, made vacant by the death of his brother, Darwin E. Goodman. This position he held for two years, when he was compelled
to resign on account of ill health, and soon afterward he entered a drug store in Troy as clerk and salesman. Later he became a part- ner in the store, and was in the drug business in that city for two years. He then came to Fort Ann and engaged in farming, in hopes that fresh air and outdoor exercise would re- establish his health, which had failed to im- prove as rapidly as he desired. This farm continued to occupy his time and attention until 1865, when he sold out and purchased another farm in the town of Hartford, where he continued his agricultural pursuits until 1884. In that year the Farmers' National bank of Granville was organized, and Mr. Goodman was elected its first president, an office he has continued to occupy ever since. He is a large stockholder in this bank. and was one of its promoters and organizers. In 1888 he removed his family to Granville, where they have since resided, though he still owns his farm, which is now occupied by his eldest son, Darwin E. Goodman. In the conduct of the bank's affairs Mr. Goodman has shown good financial ability and judgment, and its present prosperous condition is largely due to his care - ful and conservative management. It has a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and a surplus of fifteen thousand.
In 1856 James E. Goodman was married to Ellen Humphries, a native of the city of Troy. She died in 1858, leaving an only son, Darwin E., of whom mention has been made. In 1860 Mr. Goodman was again married, wedding Sarah E. Beecher, a daughter of Deacon Beecher, of the village of Granville. To this union was born a family of five children, two sons and three daughters : Jessie E., married Clayton E. Gates, and resides in Nebraska ; Mary B., now teaching in the Union school of Granville : Silas B., is engaged as clerk in a store at Granville ; James E., jr., now attend- ing college at Middlebury, Vermont, and Sarah F., at home.
In political faith Mr. Goodman is a stanch republican and protectionist. He served as
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supervisor of the town of Hartford from 1874 to 1879, and was a member of the State assem- bly in 1881. He takes a deep interest in na- tional and State politics, and is among the most trusted local leaders of his party. In re- ligion Mr. Goodman is a Baptist, and. is serv- ing his church as clerk. His manner is affa- ble and pleasing in the extreme, and his popu- larity extends wherever he is known.
O. C. ROBINSON was born in the town of Hebron, Washington county, New York, January 13, 1843, and is a son of James Robinson and Anna Livingstone [see sketch of John J. Robinson for ancestral history]. He attended the public schools and West Hebron academy. Leaving school at the age of six- teen, he was engaged with his brother in busi- ness until the breaking out of the Civil war, when, on August 7, 1862, he enlisted in the 123rd New York volunteer regiment, and fought in the following engagements : Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, being afterward transferred to the western division and fought under " fighting Joe Hooker," and was in the battles of Kenesaw Mountain, Culp's Farm, Peach- tree Creek, Atlanta, in the march to Savan- nah, Bentley's Mills, and in all was in seven- teen pitched battles. He was honorably dis- charged at Washington in 1865, and returned to Washington county and engaged in farming in the town of Argyle, in which he continued up to 1870, when he engaged in the wool and pelt business at Fort Edward with his brother, Jolın J. Robinson. He remained in this busi- ness for ten years, when he engaged in the meat, and afterward in the lumber business. He is a stanch republican, and has held the offices of assessor of the town of Argyle, and that of justice of the peace at Fort Edward. Mr. Robinson was appointed by President Har- rison postmaster at Fort Edward, and is the present incumbent of that office. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, Jane McCrea Lodge, No. 267, Ancient Order of the United
Workmen, and Grand Army of the Republic post, at Fort Edward.
O. C. Robinson was married November 7, 1865, to Mariah McConelee, of Argyle, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have been born seven children : Nellie, Anna, Georgia, Courtland, Jennie, Orville C., and Sarah M.
ECK FAMILY. One of the oldest fami-
lies of the town of Queensbury and the village of Glens Falls, is the Peck family, whose immigrant ancestor was William Peck, a native of London, England, and a man of high standing in the New Haven colony, where he died in 1694, aged ninety-three years. His grandson, Peter, the son of Peter, one of nine sons, was the pioneer of the family in Queens- bury. Peter Peck. jr., married Sarah Terrill, daughter of Paul Terrill. Their three sons were: Reuben, Daniel and Edmund. Reuben's eldest son, Hermon, married Martha Ken- worthy in 1830, and one of their seven children is Daniel Peck, a representative business man of his village and county, and who served as postmaster at Glens Falls from 1856 until 1860.
w ILLIAM-ELDRIDGE, one of the successful business men of Cambridge and an extensive stock and produce speculator, is a son of Ahira and Polly (Rice) Eldridge, [for the early history of this family see sketch of brother, Ahira Eldridge], and was born in the town of White Creek, Washington county, New York. He was reared on a farm, receiv- ing his education mainly in Cambridge, Wash- ington academy and the Fort Edward Collegi- ate institute. After leaving the school room he returned to the farm, where he continued successfully in that calling for twenty-five years in the town of White Creek, where he still owns a good farm of one hundred and fifty acres, adjacent to the corporate limits of the village. For the past four years Mr. Eldridge has not been very actively engaged in farming,
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but he has through nearly all his business ca- reer been more or less engaged in buying and selling live stock and general produce. He also owns some valuable village property.
In 1859 William Eldridge was united in mar- riage to Elizabeth, a daughter of Alexander Maxwell, a farmer of the town of Jackson. He was a native of the same town, and was an ex- tensive farmer. His wife was Jane Alexander, by whom he had ten children : Mary, wife of Robert Graham, of Jackson ; Elizabeth, Walter S., Robert A., Kate C., wife of J. H. Alexan- der ; William J., Jennie, wife of H. A. Barbur, of Greenwich ; George H., Alexander B., and Martin D. Alexander Maxwell died in Janu- ary, 1892, at the age of eighty-four years.
M ITCHEL POTVIN, deceased, who was for many years one of the highly esteemed citizens of Sandy Hill, was born in 1832, at Saint Paul's Bay, Quebec, Canada. When sixteen years of age he left Canada and came to Washington county, New York, locating at Sandy Hill, which was destined to be the principal scene of his after life. A few years afterward he repaired to New York city, where he spent some time, and then visited several of the southern States. Returning to New York in 1853, he was married in that city February 19, 1854, to Catharine Lee, a daughter of Michael Lee, and they immediately came to Sandy Hill, where they began housekeeping in the autumn of that year. Mr. Potvin en- gaged in farming here, and also ran an express wagon from Sandy Hill to Fort Edward for a number of years. About 1878 he embarked in the flour and feed business in this village, which he followed successfully until 1884, when he retired from all active business, and passed the remainder of his life in quiet com- fort. By his marriage to Catharine Lee, Mitchel Potvin had a family of four children, two sons and two daughters : Lewis, Celestia, now the widow of Henry Kcenan, of Glens Falls ; William L., who continues his father's
flour and feed business, and Lovena, all resid- ing at the old Potvin homestead in the village of Sandy Hill. Politically Mr. Potvin was a democrat, and was twice elected president of Sandy Hill, in 1889 and 1890, a position lie filled with general satisfaction to the people. He also held a number of other local offices, including those of trustee, highway commis- sioner, school trustee, and village assessor, the last two of which he occupied at the time of his death. He was endowed with much practical ability and great common sense, which rendered him not only successful in pri- vate business, but made him an excellent and popular public official. During his more ac- tive years, he took a decided interest in politi- cal affairs, and was an upright citizen in all the relations of life, a kind neighbor and a public spirited man of progressive views. For many years he had been a faithful and con- sistent member of Saint Paul's Catholic church of Sandy Hill. Apparently in his usual health, Mr. Potvin returned from a visit to the post- office in Sandy Hill, on the evening of Thurs- day, February 23, 1893, and seated himself in a chair by his own fireside. The next moment, without warning and apparently without any suffering, his heart ceased to beat and his spirit had fled. On Monday following, the funeral services took place in the French church of Sandy Hill, conducted by Revs. Lize, O'Brien, and Ethier, of Whitehall. Every part of the edifice was filled, school was dismissed, and the board of education, teachers and the adult students all attended the obsequies. His re- mains were laid to rest in Union cemetery. His age was sixty-one years.
At a meeting of the board of education, two days after the death of Mr. Potvin, a set of resolutions were passed, tendering sympathy to his bereaved family and testifying to the high regard in which the deceased was held by his neighbors and official associates. The pre- amble and first resolution form a fitting close to this brief sketch.
"WHEREAS: It has pleased God in his infinite
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wisdom to remove from his earthly career, Mitchel Potvin, for many years an honored member of this board ; therefore be it
Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Potvin the cause of education has lost an earnest friend and supporter, and this board a member whose practical business qualifications and sound judgment rendered his advice at all times of great service, and whose companionable qualities of mind and heart endeared him per sonally to each of his associates."
These resolutions were engrossed and a copy printed in each of the county papers.
S YLVANUS GREGORY and Mary Hosford were both born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1766. They were of English parentage, and emigrated to Pawlet, Vermont, after their marriage. He was given the title of major, and held prominent positions in the local organizations of his town, where he spent the remainder of his life, and where his family were all born. Their names in regular order were: Minerva (the eldest), Silas, Mary, Al- fred. Clarissa, Sophia, Simeon, Elmira.
Simeon Reed Gregory (the father of Mrs. Underwood) was born in Pawlet, Vermont, May 6, 1804, and was married to Jane D. Un- derhill, April 21, 1827. They removed from Malone, New York, to Martinsburg, Lewis county, where Mr. Gregory established his business and home. He was a man of strict integrity, and a deacon in the Presbyterian church for many years. Five of their eight children were buried there, Mary in 1841, Helen in 1845, George in 1844, Charles in 1846. Mrs. Sophia Gregory Porter was buried from her home in Seneca county in 1871. The surviving children are Henry R. Gregory, who resides in California ; Mrs. Alice G. McClel- lan, of West Hebron, and Mrs. George F. Underwood, of Fort Edward. Simeon R. Gregory died April 19, 1859, and his wife died January 8, 1892. 21
A LBERT V. PRATT, a successful mem-
ber of the Washington county bar, and a resident of Fort Edward, is the youngest son and child of Myron and Elizabeth (Van Ness) Pratt, and was born at Fort Edward, Washington county, New York, June 30, 1858. The Pratt family is of English descent, and tradition says that the immigrant ancestors were two brothers, who came to Rhode Island, where Jobe Pratt, a descendant of one of them, was born. Jobe Pratt came from Rhode Is- land to the town of Bolton, in Warren county, this State, in 1796. He was contemporary with the Beswicks, Putneys and Maxwells, and followed farming and lumbering until his death, which occurred at the extreme old age of one hundred and four years. He served in the war of 1812, being at the battle of Plattsburg. He had three sons, one of whom was named Jediah Pratt, who married Ruth Lamb, and reared a family of ten children, six sons and four daughters : Thomas, Clarinda, Dennis, William, Betsy Ann, Elizabeth, My- ron, Calvin and Levi. Myron Pratt (father) was born September 26, 1828, and left farm- ing and lumbering in his native county in 1846 to become a resident of Fort Edward, where two years later, in connection with farming, he engaged in the livery business, which he has conducted ever since, excepting two years. He is a democrat in politics and now devotes his time principally to the oversight of his livery establishment.
In December, 1849, Mr. Pratt wedded Eliza- beth Van Ness, whose father was in the bat- tle of Plattsburg. To Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were born five children, of whom the three eldest, William (1), William (2), and Mary, died in infancy. The other two children are : George W. and Albert V., the subject of this sketch.
Albert V. Pratt received his elementary education in the Fort Edward Union schools, from which he graduated in the class of 1876. He then became a student in the Island Grove school, was graduated there in 1878, and then
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entered Union college, taking the classical course. He was graduated from that time- honored institution of learning in the class of 1882, and two years later, in January, 1884, became a student in the law office of Robert Armstrong, jr., of Fort Edward, New York. In 1886 he was admitted to the bar at Albany, and since then has remained with Mr. Arm- strong, making a specialty of negligence cases and the law in connection with corporations. Mr. Pratt has built up a good practice, being active in his profession. He is a democrat, served as president of the village, and has been justice of the peace of the town of Fort Ed- ward for about eight years, and is active in political affairs.
On June 27, 1890, Mr. Pratt was united in marriage with Nellie L. Hull, of Fort Edward, New York.
C USHMAN FAMILY. The founder and progenitor of this branch of the Cushman family in the United States, was Robert Cush- man, the immigrant, who was born in England, probably between 1580 and 1585. He was a non-conformist in religious opinion, and on that account joined the little band of Pilgrims who left their native land in search of a coun- try where they could worship God according to their own conscience, as well as to enjoy social and political liberty. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Underwood was Augus- tine Underhill, who married a Miss Cushman, and Mary Underhill, his sister, married Charles Cushman, a brother of Desiah Cushman. Among Augustine Underhill's children, was a daughter Jane, the mother of Mrs. Geo. Un- derwood. Augustine was a man of good busi- ness ability, was born in Dutchess county, New York, and early in life removed to Hartford, this county, where he followed the occupation of farming. He became prosperous and suc- cessful in business, and in his political tenents was an ardent whig. His brother John served for a number of terms as a member of the Vermont State assembly. Samuel, another
brother, was a prominent citizen of his town, holding some of the leading town offices, and followed farming. Augustine Underhill lived to be ninety-six years of age. He was popu- larly known throughout his section of the county, a large land owner, and an intelligent citizen and early settler of the county. The Underwoods were Friends, immigrating to this country in an early day, making their settle- ment on Long Island, where they became nu- merous and influential in the settlement of that section of the country. Charles U. Cushman, for his day, possessed a very good English education, chiefly through self study. He early learned the printers' trade, and afterward became the editor of the Orange Telegram, of Newburg, this State. He married Mary Bird- sall, the fourth daughter of Captain Birdsall.
The Cushman roll of honor includes the names of many distinguished men in various channels of activity ; they have filled positions of eminence and trust in most of the higher avenues of life ; famous in the pulpit and as statesmen, soldiers and diplomats. The most illustrious representative of the family and the one who has added the greatest lustre to the name, was probably the Puritan immigrant and leader of the dissenting Pilgrims-Robert Cushman, of the Mayflower crew, and who be- came one of the first men in the Plymouth col- ony. There have been ten generations of the Cushman family in this country, making an aggregate total of three thousand three hun- dred and thirty-six by that name, and who have descended from Robert Cushman ; among the number, Charlotte Cushman, the eminent trage- dienne. One has been Lieutenant-Governor of New York, three have served in Congress, twenty have been members of the State legis- ture, one United States commissioner in the late reciprocity treaty, and the late Lieutenant Cushman, who won fame and renown in his naval engagements during the late Civil war. Robert Cushman was instrumental in securing the patent whereby Puritans were enabled to emigrate to the New World. He was one of the
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