USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 22
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It is of ancient Welsh origin, the name itself being derived from two Welsh words, namely, craum, meaning iron, and dell, which had the same significance as its English equivalent. Whether Craumdell, or Crandall, to which it was later corrupted, referred to the iron deposits found in some narrow valley, and which were used for weapons at a very early period, or whether it was some more poetic reference to the grim aspect of some wild region in which Wales abounds, we shall probably never know, but certain it is that, after the manner of the time, the place name gradually attached itself to the dwellers there, and in this case to the ancestors of the present Crandalls who thus have a suggestion as to the character of the place whence their ancient forebears are sprung. Great Britain furnished a number of immigrants bearing this name to the American colonies during the earliest Col- onial period, several having arrived at Boston as early as 1634.
(I) The New York family of Crandall is descended from the Rev. John Crandall, whose name first appears in Massachusetts in 1635. He was a man of strongly religions character and was one of those whose con- victions led him to espouse the party of Roger Wil- liams, a fact that caused him to become a partner in the sufferings and persecutions of which that reformer was the victim. The latter was dismissed from his pulpit in the church at Salem in the autumn of 1635, and only escaped arrest in the following winter hy fleeing into the wilderness. How he was the recipient of kindness from the Narragansett Indians, who granted him large tracts of land, and how he founded the city of Providence is well known to history, and it was to this place that the Rev. Mr. Crandall fled after his imprisonment in Boston on a charge of heresy. He later removed to Newport, R. I., where he became associated with the early Baptist church, and still later went to the little community of Westerly, and was first elder of the Baptist church there. He was extremely prominent in the affairs of Westerly, and represented the community in the General Court as deputy. His death occurred at Newport, R. I., in 1678, he having removed to the larger place for security against the Indians during the war they were then carrying on with the Whites. The Rev. John Cran-
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dall was twice married, the name of his first wife being unknown, but she was the mother of his nine children, and her death occurred Aug. 1, 1670. He then married Hannah - -, who died in 1678. His children by his first wife were as follows: I. John, who died in 1704; married Elizabeth Gorton, who bore him five children. 2. James. 3. Jane, who became the wife of Job Bab- cock, and died in 1715. 4. Sarah, who became the wife of Josiah Witter. 5. Peter, a lieutenant in the Colonial militia and a deputy justice of the peace; married Mary and died in 1734. 6. Joseph, married Deborah Burdick, who bore him three chil- dren; and died in 1737. 7. Samuel, married (first) Sarah Colley, (second) Hannah Gaylord; and died in 1736. 8. Jeremialı, married Priscilla Warner; and died in 1718. 9. Eber, mentioned below.
(II) Eber Crandall, ninth and youngest child of the Rev. John Crandall by his first wife, was born in the year 1676, and died in 1727. He lived at Westerly and Newport, and was made a freeman at the former place on June 29, 1702. He purchased property in 1709, and was one of the substantial citizens of the community. He was three times married, but we do not know the name of his first wife. His second was a Miss Lan- phere, and the third, Mary Cottrell, who died in 1727. In his will, which was proved Sept. 15, 1727, he says:
To my wife Mary equal share of whole estate, with all her children and mine that I had also by my former wife, to each child, John, Eber, Samuel, Joseph, children I had by my second wife and to my five chil- dren, that my now wife hath living, Mary, Nathaniel, Jonathan. Ebenezer and Jeremiah, one tenth of estate when children are of age. Executors may sell land and put children out apprentice.
(III) Jeremiah Crandall, youngest child of Eber and Mary (Cottrell) Crandall, was baptized in the year 1718, in Rhode Island, and died at Ghent, Columbia county, N. Y. He was the founder of the line in his State and came here from Rhode Island about the time of the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. His first home was made in Dutchess county, but he later joined others of his family who had preceded him and settled at Ghent, Columbia county. He was married at South Kingston, R. I., Feb. 2, 1746-47, to Elizabeth Casey, born in Kingston, R. I., in 1720, a daughter of Samuel Casey, of that place, born about 1686, died March, 1752. Jeremiah Crandall and his wife were the par- ents of the following children: Samuel, mentioned below; Esther, born March 13, 1753; Jeremiah, Jr., born Sept. 19, 1755; Dorcas, born May 24, 1758; James, born Jan. 29, 1764, died July 22, 1848.
(IV) Samuel Crandall, eldest child of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Casey) Crandall, was born at South Kings- ton, R. I., Sept. 18, 1750, and died at the town of Ghent, Columbia county, N. Y., Aug. 25, 1822. He settled in Dutchess county after his marriage and prior to the Revolution, and from there removed to Colum- bia county about 1794. He was a school teacher, and a member of the Society of Friends, and in the first election held at Chatham, Columbia county, April 7, 1818, was elected commissioner of public schools. There was quite a numerous settlement of Quakers in the eastern part of the town of Ghent and among them none bore a higher reputation than Samuel Crandall.
He married, Jan. 11, 1776, in Dutchess county, Keziah Stillwell, and they were the parents of the following children: Esther, born Aug. 4, 1776, and died in 1777; William Pitt, born Oct. 31, 1777; Anna, born Nov. 20, 1780, and died in 1782; Mercy, born Feb. 4, 1783: Stephen, mentioned below; Pauline, born Sept. 7, 1790; Elihu, born Sept. 2, 1795.
(V) Stephen Crandall, fifth child and second son of Samuel and Keziah (Stillwell) Crandall, was born Dec. 9, 1786, in Dutchess county, N. Y., and died Dec. 12, 1839, at Portland, N. Y., to which place he removed from Kinderhook in 1836. He married, Jan. 22, 1818, Christianna Benjamin, born at Ghent, N. Y., June 12, 1792, died Oct. 1, 1868, a daughter of William Benja- min, a native of Preston, Conn., and a descendant of many prominent New England families. They were the parents of the following children: Urania; William Benjamin, mentioned below; Samuel, James, Hosea Ballou, Mary P., Winchester, Lydia H., Edward, and Matilda.
(VI) William Benjamin Crandall, eldest son of Stephen and Christianna (Benjamin) Crandall, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., Aug. 22, 1820, and died in Westfield, N. Y., July 16, 1890. He married, Nov. 16, 1848, at Westfield, Sylvia S. Bandall, born Feb. 19, 1825, at Winsted, Conn., daughter of Samuel Bandall, of Winchester, and connected with many prominent families. They were the parents of two sons, as follows: Samuel Charles; and Frank William, with whose career we are here especially concerned.
(VII) Frank William Crandall, younger son of Wil- liam Benjamin and Sylvia S. (Bandall) Crandall, was born April 30, 1861, at Westfield, N. Y., and there attended the local schools as a lad. After a course in the grammar grades he entered the Westfield High School and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1880. Upon completing his studies he secured a position, July 1, 1880, with the First National Bank of Westfield in the humble capacity of errand boy, but he displayed so much industry in his work and such an alert and intelligent mind that he was rapidly pro- moted through a number of clerical positions, and was appointed assistant cashier only seven years after first entering the institution. In 1890 he was elected a director and two years later became cashier. He was made vice-president of the concern somewhat later, and in 1913 was elected president, an office that he continues to hold at the present time. At the present time he is also president of the State Bank of May- ville and of the First National Bank of Ripley. The latter concern was a later development of the banking house of F. A. Skinner & Company, of which Mr. Crandall was one of the organizers, and received its charter from the government, Sept. 1, 1902.
It has not been in finance and business only that Mr. Crandall has served the community. He has taken a keen and practical interest in public affairs, and has participated in local politics in a manner that may well serve as a model for disinterestedness. He is a staunch supporter of Republican principles and policies and has done much to advance the cause of his party in the region, but the interests of the community in general always come first in his consideration and
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he allows no partisan objects to interfere with his earnest efforts for the public welfare. He served as clerk of the village from 1884 to 1887, and in 1893 was elected president of the village and reelected on a number of occasions since that time. Mr. Crandall has also held numerous other offices in the village, includ- ing those of president of the Westfield Water Board and treasurer of Patterson Library since its incorpora- tion. For many years he has given loyal and devoted service to St. Peter's parish of Westfield, N. Y., which he has long served as treasurer, and of which he is at present senior warden. He has been connected also with many movements for the benefit of the community at large and was for a number of years a member of the board of visitation of the Gowanda State Hospital, a position which he held by appointment of the Gov- ernor of the State.
Mr. and Mrs. Crandall for years have devoted time and energy in the interests of the Patterson Library. This has done much to place the library in the fore- front of all libraries throughout the State of New York.
Frank William Crandall was united in marriage, June 29, 1887, with Catharine Louise Patterson, a mem- ber of the old and distinguished Patterson family, a short account of which appears below. They are the parents of the following children: Francis William, and George Patterson, sketches of whom follow.
FRANCIS WILLIAM CRANDALL, son of Frank William and Catharine Louise (Patterson) Crandall, of Westfield, N. Y., was born Jan. 13, 1889, at West- field, and as a lad attended the public schools of his native village. After studying at the Westfield High School, he entered the famous Hill School at Potts- town, Pa., where, after being prepared for college, he was graduated in 1907. He then matriculated at Yale University and took the usual classical course, gradu- ating with the class of 1911 and taking the degree of A. B. Upon completing his studies, Mr. Crandall entered the employ of the McCormick Lumber Com- pany, of McCormick, Wash., where he gained his first acquaintance with business methods and fitted himself for a later career. He remained with this concern from 1912 to 1914, and in the following year became associated with the Maynard H. Murch Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, a prominent concern engaged in the business of investments and securities.
It was in 1916 that young Mr. Crandall gave up his business and private interests in order to enter the service of his country, which at that time was massing a considerable force upon the Mexican border, with the intention of punishing the brigands under Fran- cisco Villa, who had been committing depredations across the border. He enlisted as a private in Troop A, Ist Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, and served during the border campaign in 1916 and 1917, being stationed at El Paso, Tex. He rose rapidly in rank and was commissioned a captain in the 313th Field Artillery, 80th Division, and stationed at Camp Lee, Virginia. He acted as sup- ply officer from August, 1917, to February, 1918, and was then appointed commanding officer of Battery C in the above regiment and held that post until the fol-
iowing May. This was during the time that the United States was sending troops with all possible dis- patch to France to take part in the final battles of the great war. Captain Crandall's turn to join the Expe- ditionary Force abroad came that month and he was placed in command of E Battery, 313 Field Artillery, and took part in the great American offensive which obliterated the St. Mihiel salient which had so long threatened the French lines in the south. His next major actions were with the American forces assisting the French along the line of the Meuse river and in the Argonne, the desperate character of which fighting has passed into history. During the Argonne battle Captain Crandall was promoted to the command of the first battalion of his regiment, Oct. 17, 1918, and con- tinued in the active fighting until Nov. 11, 1918, when the armistice was signed. The last engagement in which he took part was with his regiment operating as a part of the 90th Division as divisional artillery in the attack on the Freya Stellung line. which began November I, near Aincreville. Upon his return from France he was commissioned major in the Officers' Reserve Corps. Major Crandall is a member of the Wolf's Head Society of Yale and the Yale Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, and his clubs are the Yale of New York City and the University of Cleve- land. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Major Crandall has always taken a keen inter- est in athletics and out-door sports and pastimes and spends his spare time in these healthful pursuits.
GEORGE PATTERSON CRANDALL was born June 21, 1891, at Westfield, N. Y., a son of the emi- nent financier, Frank William Crandall, whose biog- raphy precedes this, and Catharine Louise (Patterson) Crandall. He received his early education in the pub- lic schools of Westfield and continued his studies in the Thacher School at Ojai, Cal. He completed his course of study at Yale University, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1915.
After graduation he accepted a position with the National Bank of Westfield, but on account of ill health was forced to resign soon afterward. After spending two years in Florida he returned to Chautau- qua county, N. Y., and assisted with the organization of the Dunkirk Trust Company at Dunkirk, serving as secretary of the company during that period. He gave up this position, however, to return to Westfield as vice-president of the National Bank of Westfield, which position he continues to hold. In politics Mr. Crandall is a Republican, but in local affairs he votes for the men and measures he thinks are for the best interests of the people. At Yale Mr. Crandall was a member of the Wolf's Head Society and Psi Upsilon fraternity, and is a member of Shorewood Country Club at Dunkirk. He and his family are members of the Protestant Episcopal church.
In Dunkirk, N. Y., June 29, 1915, Mr. Crandall married Nellie van Buren, a daughter of the late James Lyman and Julia (Nelson) van Buren. To this union has been born two children, as follows: Prudence, April 22, 1916; Faith, March 17, 1918.
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THE PATTERSON FAMILY is of ancient Scot- tish lineage and was found seated in Argyleshire at an early period. It was there that one John Patterson, the ancestor of the American family, was born about the year 1640. John Patterson removed as a young man to Ireland and settled at Priestland, near Bush- mills, in County Antrim, where his death occurred about 1690. He was present at the historic siege of Derry with his family from 1688 to 1689, and suffered the terrible hardships of the time, one of his sons dying of starvation and being found with his mouth stuffed with weeds.
(II) An ancestor of the American Pattersons was Robert Patterson, a son of the above-named John Pat- terson, who was born in Scotland about 1666, and went with his father to Ireland. He also resided at Priest- land and there his death occurred. Most of his life was spent on the homestead purchased by his father and this he in turn bequeathed to his son John at his death. He married, about 1689 or 1690, Rachel Thomp- son, and they were the parents of three children: John, mentioned below: Robert, and Rachel.
(III) John (2) Patterson, son of Robert and Rachel (Thompson) Patterson, was born at Priestland, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1690, and died there. He married, probably early in 1709, Sarah Farrier, and they were the parents of the following children: Robert, John, William, James, and Peter, the last named being men- tioned below.
(IV) Peter Patterson, youngest child of John (2) and Sarah (Farrier) Patterson, and the founder of the American family of Pattersons, was born in the year 1715, at Priestland, and died in Londonderry, N. H., March 28. 1800. He came to this country when only twenty-two years of age and settled at Londonderry. N. H., in 1737, where he was a respected member of the community. He married, March 22, 1744, Grizel Wilson, born Oct. 14, 1722, at Londonderry, N. H., and died there June 29, 1817. She was a daughter of Thomas and Grizel (Carr) Wilson, and a granddaugh- ter of James and Margaret (Ross) Wilson. Peter and Grizel (Wilson) Patterson were the parents of ten children: Robert; Thomas, mentioned below; Sarah, John, Rachel, Margaret, Sarah, Grizel, James, and Elizabeth.
(V) Thomas Patterson, second son of Peter and Grizel (Wilson) Patterson, was born Oct. 23, 1746, at Londonderry, N. H., and died there May 20, 1834. He was a farmer by occupation, his farm being situ- ated near his native town, and he served through the Revolution. He married, June 1, 1775, Elizabeth Wal- lace, born at Londonderry, Oct. 4, 1755, died Dec. 30, 1833, a daughter of James Wallace, born in Ireland in 1712. They were the parents of twelve children, as follows: Grizel, James, Peter, Robert, Mary, Mar- garet, Thomas, William, Elizabeth, David, Jane, and George Washington, who is mentioned below.
(VI) George Washington Patterson, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wallace) Patterson, was born Nov. 11, 1799, at Londonderry, N. H., and died at Westfield, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1879. He studied at the Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H., and upon completing his stud- ies began, in 1817, to teach in the local schools. The following year, however, he gave up teaching and re-
moved to the town of Leicester, near Moscow, Livings- ton county, N. Y., where he engaged in the manufac- ture of fanning mills. In 1841 he went to Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y., to take the agency of the Chautauqua Land Office as successor to Governor Seward. He eventually purchased the remaining land owned by the concern and continued the business in his own name up to the time of his death. He was very active in public affairs and held many offices, including that of justice of the peace, commissioner of highways, and was elected a member of the State Leg- islature in 1832. He continued to represent Leicester on that body until 1840, and was Speaker of the House in the last two years of his membership. After remov- ing to Westfield he was appointed basin commissioner by Governor Seward, harbor commissioner at New York City by Governor Clark, and quarantine commis- sioner of the port of New York by Governor Mor- gan. He was delegate to the Republican National Convention that nominated John C. Fremont for pres- ident and to the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for a second term. He represented Chautau- qua in the State Constitutional Convention in 1846; was elected lieutenant-governor of the State of New York in 1848, and in 1876 was elected to the Forty- fifth National Congress on the Republican ticket. He was a director of the Buffalo and State Line Railroad, a director of the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, now a part of the New York Central, and was president of the Westfield Academy. He married, Feb. 24, 1825, Hannah Whiting Dickey, born at Londonderry, N. H., Aug. 4, 1800, died Feb. 10, 1886, a daughter of John and Rhoda (Varnum) Dickey. They were the parents of two children, as follows: George Washington, men- tioned below ; and Hannah Whiting, the founder of the Patterson Library of Westfield, who became famous for charitable and religious work in this part of the State.
(VII) George Washington (2) Patterson, elder child of George Washington (1) and Hannah Whiting (Dickey) Patterson, was born Feb. 25, 1826, at Leices- ter, Livingston county, N. Y., and died at Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y., April 29, 1904. He accom- panied his parents from Leicester to Westfield in 1841, and it was with the latter place that most of the re- mainder of his life was associated. He attended as a lad the old Westfield Academy and later the Lima Academy at Lima, N. Y., where his preparation for college was completed. He entered Dartmouth Col- lege in 1844, and was graduated four years later with the degree of B. A. Later he took post-graduate work at the same institution and received the degree of M. A. in 1851. Having determined upon the legal profession as a career, he entered the law office of Haven & Smith, well known attorneys of Buffalo, N. Y., and there pursued the study of his chosen subject from 1849 to 1851, but instead of engaging in practice took up manufacturing at Westfield and continued in that line until 1854, at the same time assisting his father as agent of the Chautauqua Land Company. He then removed to Corning, N. Y., and there engaged in the banking business for upwards of twenty years, being connected with the George Washington Bank of that place in various capacities, and finally that of president.
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In 1876 he returned to Westfield and continued to reside there until the close of his life. When the Board of Water Commissioners was organized in 1888, Mr. Patterson was elected president and held that posi- tion until ill health compelled his retirement in 1901. He was the organizer and president of the Patterson Library of Westfield, which was a present to the town from his sister, Hannah W. Patterson, as a memorial to her parents, and was for many years a vestryman of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
He was married, Sept. 17, 1861, at Corning, to Fran- ces DeEtta Todd, born at Toddsville, N. Y., Nov. 4, 1838, and died at Cooperstown, N. Y., June 14, 1909, a daughter of Zerah and Martha (Carr) Todd. Mrs. Patterson was a woman of great ability and took an active part in the life of the community, being presi- dent of the Union Relief Association of Westfield, chairman of the Chautauqua county committee of the State Charities Aid Association, and an officer of the Chautauqua County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Upon the death of her husband she became custodian of the Chautauqua Land Com- pany's records. The Patterson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was formed by her in Febru- ary, 1898, and Mrs. Patterson was elected regent, an office that she continued to hold during the remainder of her life. George Washington (2) and Franees De- Etta (Todd) Patterson were the parents of four chil- dren, all of whom were born in Corning, as follows: I. Catharine Louise, born July 23, 1862; graduated from Vassar College with the degree of B. A .; became the wife of Frank William Crandall, as given above. 2. George Washington (3), born Feb. 1, 1864: now head of the Department of Engineering Mechanics of the University of Michigan, and the author of several treatises on electrical and mathematical subjects. 3. Hannah Whiting, born March 5, 1866, died Nov. 12, 1903, at Rockford, Ill .; became the wife of Harry Faris Forbes, of that place. 4. Frances Todd, born May 8, 1868; became the wife of Commander William Harry Faust, United States Navy, of Ann Arbor, Mich.
THE BEMUS FAMILY of New York descend from Joseph Bemus, born in Dedham, Essexshire, Eng- land, in 1619, and came to Watertown, Mass., with his sister Mary, not later than 1640. He was a blacksmith and a farmer, and by his wife Mary became head of a large family. Descendants spell the name both Bemus and Bemis, but all spring from this common ancestor, Joseph Bemus, who claims early New England ancestry. This family in New York State trace descent from Joseph Bemus through Major Jotham Bemus, an officer of the Revolutionary army, whose family owned the farm which included Bemis Heights on the Hudson river, the historie battleground in Saratoga county, N. Y., upon which the British General Burgoyne surrendered his army to the Americans under General Gates. Major Jotham Bemus married Tryphena Moore, and died in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., leaving a son, Wil- liam Bemus, who settled at Bemus Point on Lake Chau- tauqua, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and founded the Bemus family to which Dr. William M. Bemus, of James- town, belongs in the fifth New York generation.
William Bemus, son of Major Jotham Bemus, was born at Bemis Heights, Saratoga county, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1762, died at Bemus Point, in the town of Ellery, Chau- tauqua county, N. Y., Jan. 2, 1830. He served in the Revolutionary army, and moved with his parents to Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., where he married Mary (Polly) Prendergast, daughter of William and Mehitable Prendergast. In 1805 he left Pittstown with William Prendergast, then seventy-five years of age, who with his wife, four sons, five daughters, grandchildren, and slave Tom, in all, twenty-nine persons, drawn in four canvas covered wagons by two, three, and four horses, and a two-horse barouche for the older ladies, traveled through Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh. There they bought a flatboat upon which they embarked with their worldly belongings, floating down the Ohio to what is now Louisville, Ky. From there they traveled to near Nashville, where the party decided to retrace their steps. They arrived at Erie, Pa., about the last of September, 1805. Then they decided to settle in Chautauqua, but instead all journeyed to Canada except William Bemus and his wife, who during the winter of 1805 and 1806 lived in a log house near the Cross Roads.
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