USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 54
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 54
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the American Bible society. For a number of years he was a leading elder in the United Presbyterian church of Coila; a whig and afterward a republican, and held many of the town offices. In 1827, he wedded Elizabeth, a daughter of John Maxwell, a farmer of the town of Jackson. To them was born one son : John. James Shiland's death occurred Novem- ber 17, 1865. His wife preceded him to the grave July 13, 1831. His second wife was Jane McGoch. To them were born five chil- dren, four sons and one daughter: James Alexander, of San Francisco, California : Wil- liam Thomas, a traveling salesman residing at Sandwich, Illinois ; Elizabeth Jane, wife of John A. Stephenson, of Kansas; Edward G., a farmer of Jackson, and David B., of Pon- tiac, Illinois.
John Shiland (grandfather) was a native of Scotland, where he was born in 1772, and died in Cambridge May 25, 1844. He came to this country with his father and located in the town of Cambridge, where he afterward owned a farm of three hundred acres of land and be- came a well-to-do farmer. He was an elder in what was then known as the Associate church, but is now the United Presbyterian. His wife was Margaret Eddy, who was born in 1777 and by whom he had nine children : John ; Jane, wife of Daniel McFarland, of Jackson ; James ; William ; Mary, wife of John Lemond, of Cambridge; Ephraim ; David ; Thomas and Ann, all of whom are now. de- ceased. John Shiland, who was the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from Scotland, into the town of Cambridge, prior to the war of the Revolution, where he first located; after his arrival here he was forced to move on account of Indian depredations and then came to the town of Cambridge. He followed shoemaking and farming, and died in Cambridge.
John Shiland was reared on the farm, and has always been engaged in that occupation, having received his education in the common schools and afterward supplemented by a
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course at the Poultney academy, at Poultney, Vermont. The farm he formerly owned con- tained one hundred and fourteen acres, which in 1882 he sold to Anna F. Wright, and has since conducted the farm for her, being paid a salary for his services. Mr. Shiland was identified with the Republican party up to 1888, when he became an ardent prohibitionist and takes an active part in his party's principles. For twenty years he held the office of assessor of the town of Cambridge. He is an elder of the United Presbyterian church of Coila, an office he has acceptably filled for thirty years, and a member for forty-two years ; and a mem - ber of the American Bible society and is a di- rector of this organization.
On May 30, 1855, Mr. Shiland was united in marriage with Cornelia, a daughter of James T. Green, a farmer of the town of Jackson.
F RANK MILLER, a prominent business man and lumber dealer of the village of Greenwich, was born May 25, 1825, and is a son of Peter and Sophia (Noads) Miller. The family is of French extraction, and the father and the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch were natives of Canada. Peter Miller came to Greenwich in 1848, where he resided up to within a short time of his death, when he went to North Adams, Massachu- setts, where his death occurred in 1876, in the eighty-second year of his age. He latterly became a republican in politics. He was a member of the Catholic church, and was in the war of 1812. He was twice married ; by his first wife he had thirteen children : Peter (1), died in childhood ; Joseph, deceased ; a girl, who died in infancy ; Peter (2); Frank, Matilda, Sopha, Alonzo, Mary, and three others, who all died young. His first wife died at the age of forty-one years. By his second wife he had eight children. Among the number were : Philoman, Jackson, Augustus, John and William.
Frank Miller received his early education 24
chiefly by self study, having few opportunities to attend school. At the early age of twelve years he began working on the farm, and at sixteen he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker, a business he afterward followed for twenty years, with a Mr. Fenton, with whom he learned his trade. At the breaking out of the late war, Mr. Miller did excellent service in recruiting men for the army throughout his town ; and during the entire war he was en- gaged more or less in this work. After the close of the war Mr. Miller abandoned tlie undertaking business, and engaged in dealing in lumber, in which he has ever since been engaged - a period of about thirty years. He owns one of the most valuable plants of this kind in his section of the county, giving em- ployment to about twenty-five or thirty men. He owns a valuable home in this village ; is a stanch republican in his political affiliations, and a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On October 5, 1845, he was united in mar- riage with Jeannette Moore, by whom he had one child, Louisa, who died at the age of ten years. Mrs. Miller died August 16, 1890, at the age of sixty-seven years. Mr. Miller mar- ried, for his second wife, Margaret Campbell, of Greenwich.
R EV. THOMAS CLARK, M. D., the founder of the United Presbyterian church in Washington county, New York, was li- censed to preach in 1748 by the Associate Burgher Presbytery of Glasgow, Scotland, and sent as supply to a congregation at Mon- aghan and Ballibay, Ireland. He was twice imprisoned on account of his religious belief, and in 1764 led a large part of his congrega- tion to the new world in quest of a place to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. They settled at Salem, and built immediately a church and school house. Doc- tor Clark, in addition to his ministerial duties, was called far and near as a physician. He
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founded several churches in different parts of the country, and in 1782 left Salem. After re- siding in South Carolina and at Albany, New York, he became, in 1786, pastor of two con- gregations at Abbeville, South Carolina, where he died December 26, 1792.
F LAVIUS J. CORNELL, an extensive farmer of the town White Creek, is a son of Matthew and Lydia (Ford) Cornell, and was born in the same town in which he now resides, Washington county, New York, May II, 1832. Matthew Cornell was a native of the town of Cambridge, where he was born March 22, 1787, and died in the town of White Creek, January 30, 1854. After receiving a common school education he was engaged in general farming. In 1826 he purchased the farm known as the Brownell Hollow farm, in the town of White Creek, containing one hun- dred and seventy acres, which he conducted with very good success. He was a member of the White Creek Baptist church, and an old- line whig. On February 14, 1807, he wedded Lydia Ford, who was born in Pittstown, New York, March 31, 1789 and was a daughter of Thomas Ford, a farmer of Pittstown, Rensse- laer county, who afterward removed to Chau- tauqua county, where he died. They were the parents of twelve children : Merritt J., born May 5, 1809, died August 27, 1883, in Ran- dolph county, Kansas, where he lived with his son ; Zina, born January 3, 1811, died Febru- ary 3, 1893, and was a farmer in South Cam- bridge ; Charlotte, born April 13, 1813, died January 8, 1857, and was the wife of Isaac G. Parker, of Greenwich ; Cyrus, born Novem- ber 11, 1815, died August 1, 1818 ; Thomas F., born June 26, 1818, died February 18, 1889, and was a farmer of Cambridge ; Walter, born December 18, 1820, and died December 18, 1845 ; Mahitable, born April 19, 1823, died April 29, 1848, and was the wife of Humphrey K. Brownell, of this town; Elizabeth Ann, born January 17, 1825, and died January 13,
1854; Mary D., born September 15, 1827, and died July 20, 1847, and Amy and Emma, who were born January 6, 1830 ; Emma died in in- fancy and Amy died August 6, 1849. Mrs. Lydia Cornell's deatlı occurred November 28, 1867. The immigrant ancestor and founder of this family of Cornells in America, was Thomas Cornell, who emigrated from England in 1630 and first located in Boston, Massachu- setts, residing there but a short time, when he went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where the early records show that he was admitted to the body of Free men, August 6, 1640. He had a son Thomas, who married Martha Freed- more, of Portsmouth, by whom he had seven children : Thomas, Susannah, Gideon, Wil- liam, George, Gideon (2), and Sarah. In di- rect line from the subject of this sketch was George Cornell, who was born May 26, 1704, wedded Elizabeth Thurston and had seven children : Walter, Thomas, Lathan, Lathan (2), Gideon, Edward and Matthew. Matthew being the grandfather of F. J. Cornell, who was born October 30, 1743, in the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, married Elizabeth Shrieve, of Newport, Rhode Island, by whom he had eight children : Elizabeth, John, Walter, Hannah, Matthew, George and Milli- cent. Matthew Cornell (grandfather) removed from Rhode Island to the town of Easton in 1783, where he followed farming, and died in Cambridge.
Flavius J. Cornell was reared on the farm, receiving his education in the district schools, and continued to farm up to 1862, when he enlisted in the late Civil war, on the 13th of August, in Co. G, 123d New York volunteer infantry, as a private, promoted to corporal, and was honorably discharged on June 8, 1865. He fought at Chancellorsville and at Gettys- burg, was with Sherman from Chattanooga to the sea, returning through the Carolinas to Washington, where he received his discharge. He received a slight wound in the head at the battle of Chancellorsville, by a fragment of a shell striking him, After returning home Mr.
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Cornell followed farming for a short time, when he removed to Genesee county, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and forty acres. In 1872 he sold this farm and bought another in the same neighborhood ; sold the second farm, and in 1876 removed to the vil- lage of Morganville, in the same town, where for two years he was engaged in carpentering work. In 1878 he removed to Maryland, where he purchased a farm and resided for two years, during which time his wife died, when he sold the Maryland farm, returned to the town of White Creek, and bought the Wallace farm, and at the end of three years sold this and bought the old J. Van Rensselaer farm, going there to reside in 1885. This farm contains one hundred and thirty-five acres, and is known as John Van Rensselaer farm, and is located one-half mile east of Eagle Bridge, where he makes a specialty of raising poultry, chickens and seed potatoes. Mr. Cornell is a member of John McKie Post, 309, of Cambridge, of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is chap- lain of the post.
On July 4, 1855, he wedded Mary E., young- est daughter of Isaac Deuel. They are the parents of eight children : Louis, wife of Daniel Torie, of Genesee county ; Lydia F., wife of Zina Birch, of South Cambridge ; Flora, wife of Alonzo Lee, of the same place ; Lottic, wife of William Gay, of White Creek ; Zeruah, wife of Arthur Cornell, of Cambridge ; Walter G., Herbert and Edith. Mrs. Cornell died July 24, 1880, and on February 21, 1884, Mr. Cornell married, for his second wife, Mrs. M. Howden, of Cambridge, New York.
H ON. HALSEY ROGERS WING,
prominent for many years as a lawyer and business man of Glens Falls and Warren county, was born at Sandy Hill, New York, and was a son of Daniel W. and Rhoda A. (Stewart) Wing. He attended Lenox acad- emy and Yale and Middlebury colleges, and was graduated from the latter institution of learn-
ing in 1832. He read law with Hon. Samuel Cheever, was admitted to the bar and prac- ticed successively at Brockport, Buffalo and Glens Falls. He was a strong democrat, and served one term each as county superinten- dent of common schools and first judge of Warren county. In 1851 he retired from the active practice of law and launched forth upon a remarkably successful business carecr. A man of sensitive feelings, of kindliest nature and fine literary ability, Judge Wing lived a life of worth and usefulness, and died full of honors and of years, on January 26, 1870.
B URTON H. GRIFFIN, a resident of Greenwich, and general manager of the Greenwich factory of Tim Wallerstein & Co., shirt manufacturers, of Troy, New York, is a native of Walpole, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, and was born February 13, 1835. He is a son of Levi H. and Lydia (Gould ) Griffin. Levi H. Griffin was born in the town of Alstead, New Hampshire, on January 13, 1809. By occupation he followed contracting and building, was a member of the Congrega- tional church, and was a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of his section. He was a whig in political opinion. Lydia Gould was a daughter of Benjamin Gould, of Alstead, New Hampshire. Benjamin Gould was a native of Alstead, a blacksmith by trade, and served as captain in the war of 1812. To his marriage with Lydia Gould were born three children, two sons and one daughter : Burton H. ; Alonzo J. ; and Helen (dead). Levi H. Griffin's death occurred in the town of Ack- worth, New Hampshire, on April 25, 1844. His wife, who was also a member of the Con- gregational church, passed away in 1855. The family is of pure English extraction, and was planted in America by three brothers, and the one in direct line from the subject of this sketch, after first locating in Long Island with the other two brothers, subsequently removed to New Hampshire. Howard Griffin (grand-
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father) was a native of the town of Alstead, New Hampshire. Burton H. Griffin was thrown upon his own resources principally by the death of his father, at the age of nine years, and after receiving a fair common school education, commenced to learn the trade of sash, door, and blind making in Winchester, New Hampshire, and afterward was engaged in various places at his trade until at the age of forty-two years, working for some two years in Wisconsin, at Fort Edward for five years, and Hartford, Connecticut, for six years ; thence he went to New Haven, where for two years he was foreman for Lewis Beach & Co. At the expiration of this time, after spending four years at Arlington, Vermont, Mr. Griffin returned to Fort Edward, and there accepted a position as traveling salesman and collector for the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine company, and remained with them for twelve years. Leaving their employ, he for a short time was in a shirt factory at Granville, and on July 1, 1890, connected himself with the above firm at Greenwich, as general manager of their factory. This firm employs on an average of about two hundred and twelve hands, and makes in the neighborhood of sixty- five hundred shirts per month. In politics Mr. Griffin is a republican. For three years while at Hartford he served as inspector for the Sharp Rifle Manufacturing company.
On March 16, 1859, he wedded Esther, a daughter of Russell Hickock, of Fort Edward. To their marriage have been born four chil- dren : Fannie G., wife of William A. Van- kirk, of Greenwich; Frank R .; William H .; and James Burton. James B. died at Glens Falls at the age of seven years.
p ROF. ASA FITCH, M. D., one of the most distinguished entomologists that the State of New York has ever produced, was born at Salem, February 24, 1809, and was the second son of Dr. Asa and Abigail (Mar- tin) Fitch. He received an academic educa-
tion, and then in preference to entering col- lege took a course in natural science. He read medicine with Doctor Freeman, and was. graduated from the Vermont Medical academy in 1829. After practicing for some time at Fort Miller and at Stillwater, he turned his attention largely to agriculture and entomol- ogy, being appointed State entomologist in 1854. Doctor Fitch made an agricultural sur- vey of Washington county, and published thirteen annual reports on the injurious insects of the State. These reports received the com- mendation of home and foreign agricultural societies, and gave him world-wide fame as an etomologist.
JAMES W. ASHTON, an old and well
known citizen of Cambridge, is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Foster) Ashton, and was born at East Salem, Washington county, New York, January 22, 1828. This family was planted in America in about the year 1772, by Major James Ashton (great-grandfather), who came from Ireland after he had reached man- hood and married. Immigrating with his - family in the year above mentioned to this country, and located in what was then the eastern part of the town of Cambridge, known as " Ash Grove," but now in the town of White Creek, where he purchased a farm of three hundred acres, at twelve shillings per acre. He was a prominent man in his day, and we find his name appearing frequently on the old town records as holding town offices ; on these same records we find that at a town meeting, held at the house of Capt. John Wood, for the purpose of electing field officers for the 18th regiment of the old State militia, that they se- lected Lewis Van Woert first colonel, John Blair second colonel, James Ashton first major, Ebenezer Allen second major, John Young- love adjutant, and Ira Flint as quartermaster. On April 4, 1778, James Ashton was commis- sioned first colonel by Gov. George Clinton. During the retreat of the American army from
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Fort Ticonderoga to Bemis Heights, he com- manded the rear guard until he arrived in the neighborhood of Fort Edward, when he re- ceived permission from his superior officer to visit his family at " Ash Grove," and while at home he was betrayed by his tory neighbors, who informed the British of his visit, and who sent a squad of troops with some Indian guides to his home, who made good his capture. He was taken back to Bemis Heights and was there held as a prisoner until after the surren- der of Burgoyne. At the close of the war he returned to his farm at " Ash Grove," where he spent the remainder of his years in peace, and his bones now repose in the old Cambridge cemetery. He was a leading member in the old Scotch Presbyterian church, and was the father of but one son : John Ashton (grand- father), who was born in Ireland, July 8, 1763, and came with his father to this country at the age of nine years. He was reared on his fath- er's farm, which he afterward inherited. He became a prosperous farmer, a member of the Scotch Presbyterian church, of which he was. an elder for a number of years. He was bene- volent and charitable, giving one-tenth of all his crops to the worthy poor of his neighbor- hood. A biographer once said of him : "He was a man of good judgment and sound mind, and for sincerity and honesty he had no supe- rior." He married Lydia Morford, by whom he had six sons and three daughters : James, John, William, Isaac, Thomas, Benjamin, Eliza- beth, Rebecca and Sarah. John Ashton died on his farm at the age of seventy-five years. Ben- jamin Ashton (father) was born in the town of White Creek, this county, receiving a good common school education, and was reared upon the farm and followed that all his life. He owned a farm of one hundred and thirty acres in the town of Salem. While a young man, and while residing on this farm, he had a severe attack of rheumatism, which rendered him a cripple for life. In politics he was a whig, and a member of the Associate Re- formed church. He wedded Mary, a daughter 21cc
of James Foster, "an Irishman by birth, who afterward became a farmer in the town of Hebron. To that marriage there were born two daughters and four sons : Martha, wife of Rev. John T. Brownlee, of Washington county, Pennsylvania ; James W., John B., of Minne- sota ; David (dead) ; Lydia, wife of Michacl Kerr, of the town of Jackson, and Rev. An- drew, a minister in the United Presbyterian church, at Hamilton, Ohio. Benjamin Ash- ton's death occurred in 1867, and his wife's death in 1872, at the age of seventy-two years.
James W. Ashton grew to manhood on the old homestead at "Ash Grove," where he re- ceived his education and was engaged in farm- ing there up to 1873, when he bought his present mill property, one and one-half miles east of the village of Cambridge, in the town of White Creek. For four years he was en- gaged in flax milling, but as flax raising be- came unprofitable to the farmer, he changed his mill into a saw, planing, and grist mill. Here Mr. Ashton owns a nice home and commands a good trade. In political belief he is a re- publican, and an active worker in the cause of temperance ; and is also a member and trustee of the Cambridge United Presbyterian church.
On September 21, 1858, he wedded Sarah J., a daughter of George Armstrong, of Sa- lem. To Mr. and Mrs. Ashton have been born six children : George B., a resident of the town of Jackson ; Elizabeth A., wife of Rob- ert Maxwell, of the same town ; William J., a miller, of Cambridge ; Martha J., a gradu- ate of the State Normal school, and now a teacher at Jamaica, New York ; Archie A., and James Everett.
George Armstrong (the father of Mrs. Ash- ton) was born in Argyle, Washington county, in 1802. He was a blacksmith by trade, at which he worked for a number of years, but the latter years of his life were spent upon the farm in the town of Salem. He was a mem- ber of the United Presbyterian church ; wed- ded Elizabeth French, and had six children :
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Alice, late wife of William Skinner ; Anna Eliza (dead); Archie, a resident of Shushan ; Susan (dead) ; William (dead) ; and Mrs. Ashton. George Armstrong died in November, 1889.
H' ENRY GILBERT ROBERTSON,
a resident of the village of Coila, is a son of William and Mary (McDonal) Robertson, and was born in the same village in which he now resides, Washington county, New York, May 11, 1837. William Robertson was a na- tive of the town of Argyle, this county, and was a harness and saddle maker by trade and carried on his business at East Greenwich un- til 1821, when he moved to the village of Coila, where he did business for nineteen years, go- ing thence to the village of Cambridge and fol- lowed his trade there for ten years, when at the expiration of that time he returned to Coila and retired. He was also interested, with his brother John, in the tanning business, in the town of Cambridge. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his widow now draws a pen- sion for his services in that war. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church of Coila, a democrat in his political opinion and a trustee of the Washington Cambridge acad- emy. In 1824 he was married to Mary, a daughter of John McDonal, a farmer of the town of Cambridge. To their marriage were born three sons and three daughters: Sarah M. (died young) ; Alexander L. (dead) ; Wil- liam J., a resident of Coila; Jane Ann, died in infancy ; Henry G. and Anna Eliza (dead). She was twice married, first to Dr. Cannon, of Texas, and after his death became the wife of Rev. James Price, of Philadelphia. William Robertson (father) died in November, 1857, and his widow at present resides in Coila. She was born September 5, 1803, and is a member of the United Presbyterian church. William Roberstson (grandfather ) was a native of Scotland, who came to this country some years after the close of the Revolution and located in the town of Argyle, where he became a
prosperous farmer. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and married his wife in the town of Argyle, by whom he had nine children : Archibald, Alexander, Gilbert, John, William and Moses ; three daughters : Anna, Jeannett and Mary.
Henry G. Robertson was principally edu- cated in the Washington Cambridge academy, and afterward taught district school in the winter season and farmed in the summer. For the last ten years he has been engaged as a clerk in a store, and has acted as overseer of the summer residence at Coila belonging to G. G. Wright, and for the past nineteen years has been an active member of the Presbyterian church of his village.
Z ATHANIEL R. NORTON is one of
the intelligent and successful farmers of the town of Greenwich. William Norton (grandfather) was born at Cambridge, Wash- ington county, and afterward lived at Ticon- deroga, where he followed the trade of cloth dresser, but the most of his life was spent in farming in the town of Greenwich, where his death occurred May 8, 1861, at the age of seventy-five years. His was one of the early settled families of the upper Hudson, and was of Welch origin, his parents having come from Wales. He was a whig and republican, and a member of the Baptist church. He was mar- ried to Polly Tefft, and to them were born nine children : James, William, Charles, Esther, Mary, Sarah, Henry, Edgar and LeRoy.
Henry Norton was born at Greenwich, New York, May 28, 1827. During seventeen years of his life he resided in Greenwich, but the vocation of his life has been farming, in which he is now engaged. September 18, 1850, he wedded Dianna Rood, and to them one child was born : Nathaniel R.
Nathaniel R. Norton was born in the town of Greenwich, March 10, 1851. After leaving the district schools, he took the regular course at the Greenwich academy, then taught by
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