USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 47
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 47
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original agitators and dissenters that brought about the Puritan uprising in England, and was with them in their pilgrimage to Holland, and who finally settled in America. To Robert Cush- man belongs in part the credit of securing the charter for Plymouth, and making the first permanent settlement at Cape Ann, in the Massachusetts colony, and through his zeal and perseverance the Puritans came, and to his efforts and labor should be credited a great deal of the enjoyment of their civil and religious liberty which formed the bulwark and foundation of a free government and chal- lenged the admiration of the world.
In the cause of Puritanism and religious civ- ilization in the New World, Robert Cushman probably did as much, or more than any of his contemporaries, and in 1621 won the dis- tinction of preaching the first sermon in New England.
N ATHANIEL EDSON SHELDON,
M. D., a successful physician of Glens Falls for many years, and who first detected the cholera in New York city in 1832, was born at Barnet, Vermont, September 28, 1804. His parents were Job and Joanna C. (Trippe) Sheldon, natives of Cranston, Rhode Island.
Dr. Sheldon commenced studying for orders, but soon changed from theology to medicine. He read with Dr. Lang, was graduated from a New York Medical college in 1831, and in 1832 saw and reported the first case of cholera in the city when his superiors scouted the idea. A medical commission soon confirmed his opinion, and the board of health afterward presented him with a massive silver pitcher for his gratuitous professional services rendered the poor in the second ward during the pre- valence of the cholera in 1832.
Dr. Sheldon in 1833 removed to Glens Falls, . where he spent the remaining active years of his life in the practice of his profession. He married Elizabeth Goodwin Olive, and after her death wedded Abigail T. Ferris.
THOMAS THOMPSON, the manager
of the branch office at Cambridge for the Smith Brothers Loan and Trust company, of Beatrice, Nebraska, was born in the town of Jackson, Washington county, New York, June 23, 1857, and is a son of Isaac and Jane (Whyte) Thompson. Isaac Thompson (father) was born in the same town, and received a very good common school education for that day, and afterward became one of the successful farmers of the town, where he and his brother, Thomas, owned a farm containing two hun- dred acres, and which is now owned by the subject of this sketch. Isaac Thompson was a democrat until the formation of the Repub- lican party, when he became identified with that organization until his death. He was united in marriage with Jane, a daughter of James Whyte, a native of Scotland, and a minister of the Scotch Presbyterian church, who came to this country in 1822 and located in East Salem, where he resided up to the time of his death. To his marriage to Jane Whyte were born two sons: Andrew, who is now engaged in farming in the town of Jack- son, and Thomas. Isaac Thompson died in 1863, at the age of forty-seven.
Andrew Thompson (grandfather) was born in the town of Jackson, and was engaged in farming on the old Thompson homestead of two hundred acres, located on the Arlington road, four miles northeast of Cambridge, and where, for many years during the early part of his life, he kept a hotel. He was a successful farmer and business man. In the war of 1812, he served as a soldier, and was a democrat in his political belief. By his wife, Hannah Stevens, of the town of Jackson, he had ten children.
Andrew Thompson (great-grandfather) was born in the north of Ireland, but was of Scotch extraction, and when a young man emigrated to this country, which was in about the year 1770, and located in the town of Jackson, where he purchased a farm of three hundred and fifty acres. He was the father of six children :
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Hugh, Samuel, Sarah, Andrew, Thomas, and Nancy. Two of these sons were soldiers in the Revolutionary army.
Thomas Thompson grew to manhood on the old homestead farm, receiving his education in the ordinary district school. He continued to work on this farm, which he now owns, which has been in the Thompson family for three generations, until 1885, when he removed to the village of Cambridge and accepted his po- sition above mentioned. In political senti- ment he is a stanch republican.
On June 14, 1888, Mr. Thompson wedded Fannie L., a daughter of Charles Rice, of Cam- bridge. To their marriage have been born two children : Jennie R. and Cameron.
JOHN L. WATKINS, a leading florist and market gardener of Sandy Hill, is an- other of the successful men of the county who have carved out their own fortunes by indus- try, thrift and enterprise. He is a native of Longhope, Gloucestershire, England, where he was born September 4, 1827. His parents, John and Mary (Long) Watkins, were both natives of Gloucestershire, where they passed all their lives, the former dying in 1852, aged sixty-nine years, and the latter in 1879, in her ninetieth year. John Watkins (father) was a farmer by occupation, and a member of the established church of England, as was his wife. They were both descended from old and well known families of that part of the kingdom.
John L. Watkins was reared on the farm at his native place, and obtained his education in the common English schools. In 1852, at the age of twenty-five, he came to the United States, and two years later settled at Sandy Hill, Washington county, New York, where he has ever since resided. For several years after locating here he was engaged in various small enterprises. For five years he was an enginecr in the employ of the Washington County Mowing Machine company, and after- ward engaged in landscape gardening for some
of the best people of Sandy Hill. In 1864 he began market gardening on his own account, and by industry and skill in his business, soon made a remarkable success of that branch and built up a large trade. He owns six acres of valuable land in the village of Sandy Hill, which is always kept in the best condition, and upon which he produces large quantities of fine celery and choice vegetables for the home market. Since 1887 he has given much of his time and attention to floriculture, in which he had long been interested and in which he takes great delight and evinces wonderful skill. Hc has erected several greenhouses, to which he is still adding, and is justly entitled to great credit for the success he has won as a market gardener and florist. In 1892 he spent several months in England, where in addition to vis- iting the home of his boyhood and such of his friends as where still living, he spent consid- erable time in examining some of the best floral establishments in that country, and acquiring a knowledge of all recent improvements in use among the leading florists of the old world.
On October 22, 1857, Mr. Watkins was mar- ried to Loanna Robinson, a daughter of An- drew Robinson, of the town of Queensbury, Warren county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Watkins were born three children, one son and two daughters : George M., now inter- ested with his father in the florist business ; and Sarah E., also living at home with her parents and assisting in general floral work ; Mary A., who died in 1873. In his political affiliations Mr. Watkins is a republican, and while always yielding his party a loyal support, has never taken any very active part in local politics. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are all the members of the family, and for a number of years has served as trustee and steward of the First Methodist Episcopal church, of Sandy Hill. Beginning with nothing, Mr. Watkins has achieved a measure of financial success by his own ability and skill, and takes his place nat- urally among the self-made men of the county.
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INTERIOR VIEW OF THE BANCROFT LIBRARY AT SALEM.
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T HE BANCROFT PUBLIC LI-
BRARY. This library, so valuable a possession of the town of Salem, owes its ex- istence to the late Benjamin F. Bancroft, who, although not a native of the village, was for many years identified with the banking inter- ests in Salem, and achieved, both at home and abroad, a high reputation as a banker and a financier. Mr. Bancroft was born at Gran- ville, Massachusetts, October 27, 1816, and married, on June 12, 1844, Mary J., daughter of Gen. Edward Bulkley, of Granville, New York. Ten years after his marriage he came to Salem (1854) and established the Bank of Salem, of which he was cashier during its ex- istence. In 1865 this bank was closed and the National bank of Salem was established in its place. He was cashier of this bank till 1878, when he was made president. In 1885 this bank was succeeded by the First National bank, of which he was also president, his con- nection with it ceasing only with his death, which occurred after a brief illness at Salem, November 23, 1886. Beside his labors in the bank, Mr. Bancroft was one of the found- ers of the Evergreen cemetery, at Salen, and for many years its treasurer. He had no children, and Mrs. Bancroft had pre-deceased him, dying March 22, 1881.
Mr. Bancroft left a bequest of about twelve thousand dollars, to which the village of Salem added thirteen thousand; to fulfill the con- ditions of the legacy, and the fund for the li- brary was thus secured. The first movement toward securing the legacy was made in the spring of 1889 by Dr. A. M. Young. Messrs. John M. Williams and Moses Johnson and the board of trustees of the village, met to consider the question July Ist of that year. The bequest was accepted and an obligation prepared to bond the village for the added sum required. The plans for the building were from Messrs. Sturgis and Cabot, of Boston, and were sent and accepted in the spring of 1890 ; on July 30th of that year the corner- stone was laid by Salem Lodge, and on No- 21a
vember 24, 1890, the library was opened for public inspection. During the summer of 1891 work was begun by a committee of ladies appointed by the trustees, on the. library proper, as regarded the books, periodicals, management, etc., and was opened to the pub- lic as a reading room and circulating library on December 1, 1891. Much interest was shown in the work and valuable gifts of books were received, the largest being tliose from Hon. James Gibson, H. E. Cole and Rev. Dr. William Irvin. To these gifts and the books purchased at the time, continual addi- tions are made, and the library now numbers (September, 1894) some five thousand volumes. A small fee is charged to those who wish to take books to their own homes, but the read- ing room and use of the books while in the room are free to all, and the benefits thereof are very widely felt and recognized. The li- brary is open each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, in the afternoons and evenings.
The room is well lighted by windows on three sides, and in winter warmed by steam. It is of good size, forty feet by thirty-two feet, and beside its legitimate calling, has been used as a lecture room for the University Extension lectures, which have both helped and been helped by the library. In addition to the us- ual reading matter found in small libraries, the Bancroft library has a very excellent col- lection of dictionaries and other books of refer- ence, which are in constant demand by the pupils of the Washington academy, and dur- ing the three years of its existence has proved itself to be a most important aid, both in the education and elevation of those who have availed themselves of its advantages.
JOHN MILLINGTON, M. D., a promi- nent and well known physician of Green- wich, is a son of Prosper and Clarissa (Madi- son) Millington, and was born in South Shafts- bury, Vermont, December 27, 1846.
Prosper Millington was a native of the same
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town, and was born December 25, 1815. He was a furniture manufacturer for many years, but in latter life he was engaged in farming. In politics he was a democrat until the for- mation of the Republican party, when he be- came identified with that organization. He wedded Clarissa Madison, a daughter of Jere- miah Madison, a contractor and builder of South Shaftsbury, but formerly of Rhode Is- land. To their marriage were born two sons and one daughter : Dr. John ; Edward, super- intendent of the wood department of the Eagle Square company of South Shaftsbury, and Mary E. Prosper Millington's death occurred in his native town, February 22, 1889. His wife is also deceased. She was a member of the Baptist church.
John Millington (grandfather) was born at Shaftsbury, and was a pioneer furniture manufacturer at that place, carrying on quite an extensive business for several years. His father was Samuel Millington (great-grand- father), who was born September 27, 1749. There is some doubt as to where he was born, but it was most probably at South Shaftsbury, Vermont. He was one of twelve children. The Millingtons were among the earliest and most prominent people who settled in the vi- cinity of Shaftsbury. The family is of English descent, and trace their ancestry back to the reign of King John of England. John Mil- lington, in direct line from the subject of this sketch, lived in Yorkshire, England, where he owned six square miles of land. Gilbert, his brother, was a man of great learning and in- fluence in his day in England, and was one of the signers of the death warrant of King Charles I. ( History of England, volume 4.) +). John Millington, the son of John of York- shire, emigrated to this country, and settled at Coventry, Connecticut, and from whom all the Millingtons of this branch have descended. He had a son John (in direct line), whose son David removed from Coventry to Shaftsbury in 1768, and purchased the farm which was afterward known as the Millington farm, and
his son John became the first resident minister of Shaftsbury.
John Millington, M. D., received his literary education mainly in a boarding school at Ben- nington, Vermont. In 1870 he took up the study of medicine under Dr. B. F. Morgan, of Bennington Center, Vermont, and in the following year entered the Michigan university, and was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1873. He began the practice at Dorset, Vermont, where he remained for one year and a half, when in 1875 he removed to East Greenwich, this county, and pursued the prac- tice of medicine there up to 1892, when he came to the village of Greenwich.
Dr. Millington is a member of the Wash- ington County Medical association, and of Aslı- lar Lodge of Masons ; is also a member of the Reformed church, and in politics is a republi- can and held the office of county coroner for twelve years. On November 9, 1875, Dr. Millington married Charlotte, a daughter of Gilbert M. Sykes, of Dorset, Vermont.
G ILCHRIST FAMILY. The ancestor of the American branch of this Scottish family came to America prior to the Revolu- tionary war, and the Gilchrist families of Glens Falls and Fort Edward are descended from one of his sons.
The Gilchrists claim to be inheritors by collateral descent of the castle and large es- tates of Balmoral, in Scotland. The only link lacking to prove their heirship was contained in the old family Bible and records destroyed at the old Gilchrist homestead in 1777 by a party of Indians.
The Balmoral estates, with their immense revenues, lapsed to the crown, and Queen Victoria makes the castle her summer resi- dence. This is one of the many striking in- stances of the value of a perfect family record and the need of biographical sketches to pre- serve family ancestry.
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J OHN L. PRATT, Jr., of the village of Cambridge, and a descendant of the old and prominent family of New England, was born in the town of Cambridge, Washington county, New York, August 17, 1857, and is a son of John L. Pratt and Mary A. (Bowen). Pratt. John L. Pratt, sr., was a native of the same town, and born October 12, 1824. Reared on the farm, receiving his education princi- pally at the Union village academy, at Green- wich, where he was a schoolmate of Chester A. Arthur, he afterward attended the Cam- bridge Washington academy, preparatory to entering college, but was prevented from do- ing so on account of his father's death. Leav- ing school he returned to the farm and was there engaged in farming until 1865, when he removed to Kent county, Delaware, where he resided for nine years, owning a peach farm which contained three thousand five hundred trees. In 1874 he returned to his native town and purchased a farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres, where he at present resides, in the southern part of the town of Cambridge. In politics he is a stanch republican, and has filled the office of justice of the peace for four years, and justice of sessions for two years. He still takes an active interest in politics, and has made a number of political speeches. He is a member of the Loyal Leage, of the State of Delaware, in whose welfare he takes an active interest. On December 22, 1847, he married Mary A. Bowen, a daughter of Sylvester Bowen, and to this marriage were born five children : Howard B., of Aurora, Illinois; Amasa, of Cushing, Nebraska ; John L., jr .; Charles (dead); and Fannie F., who is the wife of Charles King, of Cambridge. Amasa Pratt (grandfather) was born in the town of Cambridge, July 30, 1804. After re- ceiving a good common school education he taught school for several terms, and served as school commissioner of the town for six or seven years. He also carried on farming prin- cipally in the southern part of the town, where he owned two hundred acres of land and was
a local Methodist minister. He was licensed to exhort in 1829, and in the same year was licensed to preach by the Methodist confer- ence, in the Cambridge circuit. He labored a great deal for the good of his church and in the ministry, without any remuneration, preach- ing almost every Sunday up to the day of his death. He was popular and well liked in his neighborhood, and was a man of the strictest honesty and probity. In 1838 he engaged in the mercantile business at Buskirk's bridge, where he remained but one year, when he re- purchased his old home farm and removed there and lived until his death. In politics he was a whig. In 1823 he wedded Fannie, a daughter of Fenner King. To their marriage were born four sons and three daughters : John L., sr .; Fannie L. (dead); Mary C., wife of A. Culver, of Lyons, New York ; A. Clark, a farmer of this town ; DeMorris (dead); Eme- line (dead); and Amasa, of Buskirk's Bridge. Amasa Pratt died October 30, 1842, and his wife February 12, 1889, having been born Oc- tober 18, 1802. Jesse Pratt (great-grandfather) was born at Oxford, Massachusetts, June 28, 1780, and came into this county in about 1800, with his father and family, who made their settlement in the town of Cambridge. Jesse Pratt was justice of the peace and super- visor of the town for a number of years. He was twice married. His first wife, Ruth Shaw, was a native of Rhode Island, who migrated to this county with her parents from her native State, and by whom he had eleven children : Amasa, Polly, Uriah M., Philip, Eliza, Sallie, Jesse, Ira J., Horace and Malissa; the last named is the only surviving one, and now re- sides in Illinois. His second wife was Mrs. Patience, the widow of Anthony Browne, of this town. Nathan Pratt (great-great-grand- father) was also a native of Oxford, Massa- chusetts, where he was born in November, 1745, and located in the town as above men- tioned. He was one of the minute men in the Revolutionary war, and fought at the battle of Bunker Hill. His brother, Jonathan,
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acted as a scout during the French and Indian war, and died at Lake George in about the year 1755. Nathan Pratt died in this town on February 27, 1828. David Pratt (great-great- great-grandfather) was descended of old Pur- itan stock, who came to America from England not many years after the landing of the May- flower.
John L. Pratt grew to manhood on the farm, receiving his education mainly in the Wes- leyan academy, in Massachusetts, graduating therefrom in 1879; he then entered Cornell university, and was graduated from that insti- tution in 1883, and in 1884 he entered the Al- bany Law school, and was graduated from there in the following year. On account of impaired health he was compelled to defer the practice of law until 1887, when, in that year, he opened an office in the village of Cambridge, where he has since practiced with good suc -. cess. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity, and the Phi Delta Phi law fraternity. Mr. Pratt is a member of the Con- gregational church of his village, and is super- intendent of its Sabbath school, and is secre- tary of the Cambridge Valley Agricultural as- sociation.
On February 16, 1886, he was wedded to Edith, a daughter of William Gay, a farmer of the town of White Creek. To this mar- riage have been born three children: Helen G., Gerald S. and Barbara B.
L eROY D. MeWAYNE, M. D., one of the well known physicians of the village of Cambridge, and a man of varied experiences in life, was born in Pawlet, Rutland county, Vermont, July 18, 1836. He is a son of El- hannan and Lucy (Tooley) McWayne. Elhan- nan McWayne was a blacksmith by trade, and a native of Woodstock, Vermont, where he was born June 4, 1803. He followed his trade in Pawlet in the earlier part of his life, and afterward removed to Wells, in the same county, where he became quite successful in
business. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics a democrat. In 1833 he wedded Lucy, a daughter of Ben- jaman Tooley, of Wells, Vermont. They had four children : Louisa, wife of Fletcher Weir, a carpenter of Cambridge; LeRoy D., Nathan- iel, and Sylvanus. Elhannan McWayne died in 1889, and his wife on May 6, 1850, in the thirty-ninth year of her age. Nathaniel Mc- Wayne (grandfather) also followed the trade of blacksmith, and was a native of Clarendon, Vermont, and had the following children : Arthusa (deceased), Violet, Elhannan, Emily, widow of the late Elijah Barrett, of Pawlet ; Ahira (dead), Carolyn (dead), Orilla, wife of James Lampson, and Titus, of Manchester, Vermont. The great-grandfather of Dr. Mc- Wayne was a Revolutionary soldier, and died at the remarkable age of one hundred years and four days. The McWaynes are of Scotch extraction, the name being Anglasized from MacElwayne, some three or four generations ago.
LeRoy D. McWayne, M. D., received his education principally from self study, as he left the school room at the early age of nine years to assist his father in the shop, who was in such limited circumstances that he was unable to give him the proper schooling. He worked at the trade of blacksmithing until he had reached the age of nineteen years, when he left there, going from home, and was engaged in various callings until 1857, when he went to Wooster, Ohio, where he became a student of dentistry. He soon gave up the study of dent- istry and was variously engaged up to 1862, when he enlisted in the. Civil war. Returning home from the field, he was for some time en- gaged in both the study of law and medicine, but in a short time concluded to take the latter profession as his life's work. He read with Drs. Smith and Chamberlain, of Akron, Ohio, and afterward entered the Wooster Medical uni- versity, Cleveland, Ohio, attending two terms, and later entering the medical department of the State university at Nashville, Tennessee,
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and was graduated from that institution in 1879, having practiced for nine years previous to his graduation. He began the practice, after leav- ing college in 1880, at Akron, removing from there to Dorset, Vermont, shortly afterward, remaining there only about six months, when in the fall of 1882 he went to the village of Cambridge, where he practiced most success- fully up to 1890. In that year he moved his office to No. 51 Church street, Hoosick Falls, in Rensselaer county. Dr. McWayne for many years has made a specialty of all forms of chronic diseases, and has treated over two thousand cases of diphtheria without loosing a case, and immediately knows the nature of diseases at sight, and has more patients than he can well attend to.
On August 12, 1862, Dr. McWayne enlisted at North Hampton, Ohio, in Co. C, 115th Ohio volunteer infantry, and was with his regi- ment until the following February, when he was discharged on account of disability. He is a member of Post Wood, Grand Army of the Republic, at Hoosick Falls ; also a mem- ber of the Elks and Knights of Pythias, of the same place. He is an ardent republican in politics, casting his first ballot for John C. Freemont for president, and has voted for every nominee for that office of the Republican party since.
On February 14, 1858, he was united in mar- riage to Thusa, a daughter of Alvin Doolittle, of Alleghany county, New York, and has had four children : Byron A. (dead), Carrie (dead), Hattie, wife of Randolph Mains, a prominent inventor, of San Francisco, California, and Allie G. (dead).
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