USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 53
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 53
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
DEV. JOHN ANDERSON, a Presby- terian clergyman of Cambridge, who is well and favorably known in many sections of the county, is a native of Port Hope, Province of Ontario, Canada, where he was born July 6, 1826, and is a son of William and Mary (Woods) Anderson. William Anderson (fath- er) was born in the north of Ireland and of Scotch-Irish descent. He remained in his na- tive country until after his marriage, to Mary Woods, when he came to Port Hope, Canada, where he was engaged in farming up to 1841. In that year he removed to the town of Argyle, this county, and was engaged in farming until 1856, when he migrated to Wisconsin, and in 1860, to Kosciusko county, Indiana, where he lived until his death, in 1865, at the age of seventy years. He was an active and influen- tial member of the Presbyterian church, and by his marriage he had nine children, six sons and three daughters : Margaret (dead), was the wife of Jeremiah Lewis, of Green county, Wis- consin ; Jane (dead), wife of Albert Riley, of Oswego, New York; Rev. John ; Mary A. (dead), wife of Joshua Crouch, of Minnesota ; William H. (deceased) ; Samuel, who was killed in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, April 6, 1862; Elizabeth (died young), and Thomas G., of North Dakota, where he is en- gaged in merchandising and farming. Mrs. Mary Anderson's death occurred in May, 1872, in the seventy-second year of her age.
Rev. John Anderson grew to manhood on his father's farm, and after taking the academi- cal course of the Argyle academy, he entered Union college, at Schenectady, and was gradu- ated from there in 1852. He subsequently entered a theological institution at Newburg, New York, where he thoroughly prepared hin- self for the ministry, and was graduated from there in 1856. Rev. Anderson paid for his edu- cation all himself, principally by working by the month on the farm and teaching district school and one term in the Greenwich acad- emy. After completing his theological edu- cation, he commenced the active work of
the ministry, his first charge being at Oswego, Kosciusko county, Indiana, where he had charge of the United Presbyterian church for a period of twelve years. At the end of that time he accepted a call at Martin, Michigan, where he labored successfully as pastor of the Presbyterian church for nine years, going thence to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he preached for five or six years, when on account of failing health he resigned his charge and was for a while retired. He next accepted a call from Schoolcraft, Michigan, remaining there two years and a half, when in 1888 he removed to the village of Cambridge, where he has since resided, but having no regular church, only occasionally preaching here and there.
On May 27, 1857, Rev. Anderson was mar- ried to Mary B., a daughter of Dr. Henry C. Gray, of the village of Cambridge. [For his- tory of the Gray family see sketch of Dr. Henry Gray, of Greenwich. ] To their marriage have been born seven children : Mary J., now the wife of Fred Goodman, State secretary of the Young Men's Christian association, and resides in the city of New York ; Lizzie M., Dr. Henry G., a practicing physician of the city of New York ; Grace E., a teacher in the city schools of Ottawa, Canada ; John B., a student in Un- ion college, and Charles G. Mrs. Anderson owns the old Gray homestead farm, containing one hundred and thirty acres, adjoining the village of Cambridge on the east, on which is located a comfortable old-fashioned farm house, and which constitutes one of the pleas- ant homes of that locality.
Rev. Anderson was formerly an active re- publican in politics, but of late years he has identified himself with the Prohibition party, and has frequently spoken in the cause of tem- perance.
C HARLES SCALES, secretary, treas- urer, and superintendent of the Glens Falls Terra Cotta & Brick company, was born in England, September 13, 1838. His
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
father, Edward Scales, was a native of Cray- ford, County Kent, England, where he was born in 1810, and died at the age of seventy- two years, in 1882. He was an Episcopalian in his religious belief, and a brick manufac- turer and clay worker by occupation. Edward Scales wedded Frances Webb, who is now a resident of Sittingbourne, County Kent, Eng- land, and is in the seventy-sixth year of her age.
Charles Scales was principally reared at Sit- tingbourne, in the county of Kent, receiving his education in one of the boarding schools of his native country. After leaving the school room Mr. Scales began to learn the terra cotta and brick manufacturing business under his father, with whom he remained in various ca- pacities in business until 1870, when he emi- grated to Canada and located at Ottawa. He was there engaged in the same line of manu- facturing until 1879, when he came to New York State, and located at Glens Falls. In the fall of the same year he branched out in his old business, to which he has since devoted his entire time and attention. In 1884, prin- cipally through the efforts of Mr. Scales, the Glens Falls Terra Cotta & Brick company was organized and incorporated, of which he was immediately elected secretary and treas- urer, offices he has ever since filled most sat- isfactorily to all concerned. The position of superintendent of these works he has also filled since their organization. The capital stock of this growing and important industry is four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The company owns twenty-six acres of land where their works are situated, their buildings covering some five or six acres of the tract, and during the summer months of the year employs about one hundred operatives.
In 1860 Mr. Scales was united in marriage to Mary Ann, a daughter of Robert Sargent, of Stittingbourne, England, and to his marriage have been born three children : William J., Edward, and Laura. Mr. Scales, with all the other members of his family, are members of
the Friends' church at Glens Falls. Williani J., the eldest son, is quite a sculptur, and de- votes a great deal of his time to his art.
The Glens Falls Terra Cotta & Brick com- pany manufactures pressed, plain, and moulded or ornamental brick of various colors, also architectural terra cotta in red buff and other colors. The president of this company is J. M. Coolidge, but it is principally through Mr. Scales' energy and well-directed business tact that the works have assumed their pres- ent size and command their present patronage.
EONARD M. RICH, the capable tele- graph operator and railroad ticket agent, has held these positions at Whitehall since 1865. He is a son of Lyman and Catharine (Daily) Rich, and was born in the village of Comstock, Washington county, New York, September 29, 1843. Lyman Rich (father) was a native of this county, and was born in 1809. He resided in his native town the greater portion of his life, but removed to Whitehall some five or six years previous to his death, where he died in 1878, at the age of sixty-nine years. By occupation he was a carpenter, and a republican in his political belief. His father, Richard Rich, was one of the early settlers in the county. Mrs. Catharine Rich (mother) was born in this county, and died in 1869.
Leonard M. Rich grew up in his native vil- lage of Comstock, where he received the ad- vantages of a common school education. At the age of fifteen he entered the employ of the old Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad company as fireman, and, in 1861, while coupling cars he suffered the loss of his right arm. After losing his arm he learned telegraphy, and in the fall of 1865 he was stationed at Whitehall as the company's operator and ticket agent, which position he has acceptably filled ever since. In 1880 he was given the appointment by the company of station agent, taking charge in connection with his other positions of that of the freight department for the Delaware &
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Hudson Canal Railroad company, the suc- cessor to the old Rensselaer & Saratoga Rail- road company.
Leonard M. Rich was married in 1875 to Sarah J. Green, of Addison, New York. His wife died August 23, 1893. Mr. Rich is a re- publican in politics, and has for a number of years filled the office of school trustee of lis village. He is a member of Whitehall Lodge, No. 5, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a leading member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church ; his wife was also a member of that church up to the time of her death. Mr. Rich is pleasant, affable and ac- commodating, and is popular alike with his employers and the traveling public.
H ENRY SMITH, a popular citizen and farmer of the town of Jackson, is a son of Gideon and Betsy ( Styles ) Smith, and was born in the town of Jackson, Washington county, New York, February 6, 1839. Gid- eon Smith was a native of Shaftsbury, Ver- mont, and followed the occupation of farming ; a member of the Methodist church, and an ardent democrat. His wife was Betsy Styles, also a native of Vermont. To their marriage were born seven sons and three daughters : Reuben, of Hoosick Falls ; Henry ; Elizabeth, of Hoosick Falls ; George, also of Hoosick Falls, and William, in the United States Army. The rest died in youth. Reuben Smith (grand- father) was a native of Massachusetts, and in the latter years of his life removed to Wash- ington county. He was a member of an inde- pendent military company that started for the battle of Plattsburg, in the War of 1812, but was never called into active service. His wife was a Miss Kenyon, of Massachusetts, by whom he had eight children : Mary, the wife of D. Hawthorne, of Hoosick Falls; Gideon ; Job ; Lydia ; Charlotte, wife of Asa Colgrove, of Hoosick Falls ; Eliza, wife of Norman Har- den ; John and William. William and Eliza are the only ones living. Gideon Smith (great-
grandfather) was a native of Rhode Island, who afterward removed with his family from there into Massachusetts. The Smiths are of Irish extraction.
Henry Smith was reared on the farm and has always been engaged in that calling, and received his education in the schools of his na- tive town. In December, 1866, he removed to the farm where he has ever since resided, which is one of the best farms in the town, containing one hundred and fifty-five acres.
On December 25, 1871, Mr. Smith was mar- ried to Elizabeth Malone, by whom he had three children : Bessie, May, and Henrietta (dead). Mrs. Smith was born in January, 1839, and died May 13, 1889 ; she was a mem- ber of the Episcopal church. Mr. Smith also owns a valuable farm of fifty-five acres lo- cated one-half mile from the village of Cam- bridge, which he rents.
A LEXANDER M. SHERMAN, a well
known business man and farmer of tlie town of Cambridge, was born on the farm where he now resides September 11, 1839, and is a son of Zina and Elizabeth (Marshall) Sherman. Zina Sherman was born in the same town, October 16, 1803, and where he died January 11, 1879, and his wife, Elizabeth Marshall, was also a native of the same town, born June 12, 1805, and where her death oc- cured, April 19, 1877. Zina Sherman received his education at the Cambridge Washington academy, and grew up on the farm. He pur- chased the farm where his son now resides, containing one hundred and twenty-nine acres, soon after his marriage, where he continued to till the soil until his death. For a number of years he was also engaged extensively deal- ing in cattle and sheep. He was a member and elder in the United Presbyterian church at Cambridge, being ordained elder May 25, 1845, and continued as such until the time of his death. In politics he was a whig and re- republican, and held the office of supervisor of
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the town for a number of years, and that of coroner of the county a term or two. On March 20, 1833, he married Elizabeth, a daugh- ter of Alexander Marshall, a farmer of the town of Cambridge. The Shermans and Mar- shalls are both of Scotch descent. To the marriage of Zina Sherman and Elizabeth Mar- shall were born four children : Sarah J., wife of Edwain L. Bushnell, of Poughkeepsie ; Eliza- beth, wife of Hon. James S. Smart, of Cam- bridge ; Alexander M., and William, of Oska- loosa, Iowa, and Emil Sherman.
Lemuel Sherman (grandfather) was a native of Connecticut, and who became one of the pioneer settlers of the town of Cambridge, where he afterward became one of the thrifty farmers of that section. He owned two hun- dred acres of land, and in that early day was known as Captain Sherman, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was a member of the noted colonial Sherman family which gave Roger Sherman to the republic. He was an elder in the Scotch Presbyterian, now the United Presbyterian, church. His wife was Sarah Carswell, by whom he had eight chil- dren : Fortunatus, Zina, Eunice, wife of Gar- rett Fisher, of Cambridge, and both dead ; Rhoda, wife of Courtland Skinner, a farmer of this town, and both dead; and Lemuel, Nathaniel, Sarah and Rebecca, who are all deceased. Fortunatus Sherman (great- grandfather), was a native of England, who immigrated from his native country to New Bedford, Connecticut, several years prior to the Revolution, and during that strug- gle was a sailor in the "Continental navy," and while serving in this capacity he was shot through the knee, during one of the naval en- gagements.
Alexander M. Sherman was reared on the farm, and has always been engaged in farm- ing, and attended the Cambridge Washington academy. After leaving school he returned to the farm, where he has since remained, and belongs to a family of successful farmers. Mr. Sherman is a member, elder and trustee of the
Presbyterian church of Cambridge. In poli- tics he is a republican, and filled the office of loan commissioner of the county from 1873 until 1883, receiving his appointment from Governor Dix.
On December 5, 1866, he was united in marriage with Mary Frances, a daughter of Nelson Simpson, a farmer of the town of White Creek.
R. NILES RICE, vice-president and treasurer of the well known Jerome B. Rice & Company's Cambridge Valley seed garden, wholesale dealers in garden, field and flower seeds, of the village of Cambridge, and one of the most prominent business men of that section, was born in what was then the town of Cambridge, but now the town of White Creek, Washington county, New York, September 12, 1813, and is a son of Daniel and Zina (Kidder) 'Rice. Daniel Rice (father) was a native of Connecticut, where he was born November 23, 1777. He was reared on the farm, which occupation he afterward fol- lowed, and after his marriage he and his wife came to Washington county, New York, on horseback, and located in what was then tlie town of Cambridge, but is now White Creek, and where he purchased ninety-six acres of land ; he afterward added more to that tract, and a number of years later he traded it for a tract of two hundred acres in the town of Salem, where he died October 14, 1838. April 19, 1803, he married Zina Kidder, by whom he had a family of ten children : Harvey (dead), born September 16, 1804; Daniel (dead), born February 21, 1806 ; Anna (dead), born October 8, 1808 ; Jemima (dead), born November 28, 1810 ; Roswell M., born Sep- tember 12, 1813 ; O. K. Rice, born December 27, 1815 : Sylvia H. (dead), born April 14, 1818; Lydia, born July 9, 1824 ; Nathan E. (dead), born July +, 1826, and Sarah E. (dead), born December 2, 1828.
Daniel Rice (father) was married April 19, 1803, and died October 13, 1848. His wife,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Zina Kidder, was born December 24, 1787, and died February 12, 1865. After the death of Daniel Rice his widow married Amorialı Fenton, of the town of Jackson, where she was a member of the Presbyterian church when her death occurred. Thomas Rice (grandfather) was a native of Connecticut, where he followed farming until he removed to the town of White Creek, where he con- tinued to farm until his death. He was born September 1, 1745, and died in 1833. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He took to wife Thankful Eldridge, who was born in Connecticut, and died in the village of Cam- bridge at the age of seventy-one years, in 1816. They were the parents of four children : Ros- well, a farmer in the town of White Creek ; Daniel, the father of Roswell N .; Sarah and Thankful ; Sarah, wife of Ichabod Eldridge, of Cambridge. The Rice ancestry is traced back to the landing of the " Mayflower," and Mr. R. N. Rice has in his possession a num- ber of relics that were brought over in that fa- mous little boat.
R. Niles Rice, like most of the successful men of the day, grew to manhood on the farm, receiving his education in the old Washington academy at Salem and the Fort Edward Collegiate institute. After leaving school he taught district school for several years, and alternately was engaged in farming and rais- ing garden seeds. About this time he pur- chased two farms in the town of Jackson, con- taining two hundred and thirty-six acres, and also owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Kankakee county, Illinois, where he built a comfortable residence. In his farming he always made a specialty of raising garden seeds and speculated extensively in grain and potatoes. In 1867 Mr. Rice sold his farms in the town of Jackson and removed to the village of Cambridge, where he has resided ever since ; and in 1882 sold his Illinois farm. Since coming to the village he has devoted his entire time to his seed business, which he has been more or less engaged in since arriving at
the age of nineteen years. At that age he commenced raising seed and putting them up in packages for the retail trade, continuing alone in this industry up to the year he re- moved to the village, when he took in his son, Jerome B., as partner, who continued the busi- ness up to 1889, when the business became a stock company, with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and doing a busi- ness of over a half million dollars annually. This immense business, which is due princi- pally to the splendid ability of Mr. Rice, was established in 1832 and incorporated in 1886. The present officers of the company are : Je- rome B. Rice, president ; R. Niles Rice, vice- president and treasurer ; and C. E. Smith, secretary. The seed house, located on a beautiful spot of ground, is a substantial three story brick building, of which the main build- ing is one hundred and twenty-five by eighty feet, with an annex the same height as the main, one hundred and fifty by forty feet. The company employ one hundred and thirty- eight men and women at the seed house, and twenty traveling men, selling these goods in all parts of the United States.
R. Niles Rice is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, and a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church ; he is also chair- man of the board and superintendent and trus- tee of the Woodland cemetery. In politics he was a republican up to 1888, when he identified himself with the Prohibition party. While residing in the town of Jackson, he served one term as supervisor, and since his residence in Cambridge he has several times served as village trustee.
On May 14, 1840, Mr. Rice wedded Betsy Ann, daughter of Abel Hodges, a farmer of the town of Salem. To Mr. and Mrs. Rice were born six children : Jerome B., who is president of the Jerome B. Rice & Co. Cam- bridge Valley seed gardens, and a veteran of the Civil war, and was born July 18, 1841 ; Josephine, born September 15, 1845, and the wife of Henry B. Wilcox, a custom house
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
officer of Rochester, New York; James H., born October 31, 1843, a stockholder in and traveling salesman for the seed firm, and a veteran of the Civil war; Mariette, born De- cember 11, 1847, wife of Dr. A. S. Newcomb, of New York city ; Albertine, born October 9, 1853, and the wife of Edward Fuller, of this village ; and Anna G., born October 31, 1859, the late wife of Fred. Becker, of Troy, New York ; she died December 30, 1893. Mrs. R. N. Rice was born March 27, 1817, died June 2, 1876, and on March 12, 1878, Mr. Rice wed- ded for his second wife Mrs. Mary Motsiff, a danghter of J. Sniffin, of Onondaga county, New York.
D. A. CHASE, M. D., a resident of Cam- bridge, was born at Athens, Vermont, January 13, 1830, and is a son of Daniel and Parthenia (Hadley) Chase. His education was principally received at the Bradford acad- emy, Bradford, Massachusetts, and was grad- uated from this institution in 1848. In a short time afterward he took up the study of medi- cine with his grandfather and uncle, Philip Chase, and graduated from the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical institute in 1852, and was regraduated from the same place in 1878. After his graduation in 1852, he began the practice of his profession with his uncle, Dr. Philip Chase, with whom he remained for a short time. In 1858 he removed to North Greenwich, where he practiced for three years, when he came to the village of Cambridge, remaining here until 1874, thence to Athol, Massachusetts, practicing there until the latter part of 1878, when he returned to college. After his second graduation he went to Orion, Illinois, and practiced there for two years, and one year at Peoria, when, at the solicitation of some of his old patrons at Cambridge, he re- turned to that village, where he has built up an extensive and lucrative practice. Dr. Chase makes a specialty of all chronic diseases, and has a large practice in that line from all sec-
tions of the county. He also prepares several patent medicines : Dr. Chase's Bronchial Troches, Dr. Chase's Pain Cure, his cough and lung syrup, and his vegetable worm syrup, for which he receives orders from nearly every State in the Union. Dr. Chase is a member of the following medical societies : New York State Eclectical society, Massa- chusetts State Eclectic society, Worcester West Medical society, of Massachusetts, the Albany County Eclectic Medical society, and the National Eclectic Medical society. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. On April 3, 1877, Dr. Chase was united in mar- riage with Elvira R., a daughter of Merritt Chase, a manufacturer and farmer of Whit- ingham, Vermont. To their marriage have been born three children : Maria P., wife of A. Holland, of Orange, Massachusetts ; Es- tella L., wife of Harry S. Blackfan, M.D., of Shushan ; and Mary Elizabeth (dead). Dr. Chase owns a farm containing fifty-four acres, situated in the town of White Creek, near the village, where he raises small fruits; and also owns property and several small fruit farms in the State of Florida.
Dr. Daniel Chase (father) was born in the town of Athens, Vermont, in 1808, and was a graduate of the South Londonderry academy ; studied medicine with his father, and was grad- uated from the medical department of Har- vard university, at the age of twenty-one years. He began the practice of his profession at Rockingham, Vermont, where he continued up to the time of his death, which occurred in March, 1830, caused by an accident. In about 1828 he wedded Parthenia, a daughter of Humphrey Hadley, a farmer of Shrewes- bury, Vermont. To them was born but one child, a son, Dr. Daniel A. Mrs. Chase mar- ried, for her second husband, Elias F. Eddi- son, of Andover, Vermont. To this second marriage there was one child born, a son, Wil- lard E. Her death occurred in Vermont, in March, 1841, having been born in 1800. Dr. Ebenezer Chase (grandfather) was a native of
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the State of Maine; read medicine with his father, and practiced in Rockingham and Bridgewater, Vermont, and made a specialty of all chronic diseases, broken limbs and long standing dislocations, and had a high reputa- tion for reducing fractures after other doc- tors had failed, and in this specialty he was often called from Vermont to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and Canada. He was an old-line whig, and married Betsy Ter- rill, by whom he had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters : Ebenezer, Daniel, Isaac, Peter, Philip and William, were all physicians ; one that died in infancy ; Maria, wife of Hiram Rice, of Chester, Vermont ; Almira, wife of Reuben Lippenwell, of West Munster, Vermont ; Eusseba, the wife of R. Chilson, of Redding, Vermont ; Alzina, mar- ried Leonard Cummings, of Chester, Vermont. Dr. Ebenezer Chase (great-grandfather) was a native of Concord, New Hampshire, and removed to Sebeck, Maine, where he com- manded a large practice, and was drowned in Sebeck Lake. The Chase family trace their genealogy to Sir Thomas Chase, in the reign of Henry the VIII., who was armor-bearer for the king in the war with the Saracens. The name originated on account of Sir Thomas being fond of the chase, and was afterward known as "Sir Thomas of the chase."
JOHN SHILAND, a highly respected and favorably known citizen of the village of Coila, was born in the town of Jackson, Washington county, New York, December 10, 1828, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Maxwell) Shiland. James Shiland was a na- tive of the town of Cambridge, where he was born July 6, 1801. He received an academical education at the Washington Cambridge acad- emy, and was the most of his life engage in farming in the town of Jackson, where he owned a farm of two hundred and eighty acres. He was captain of a light infantry company in the old State militia, and was a member of
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