USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
107
BIOGRAPHICAL
the earliest arms of which we have any record as being borne by an American Cushing. The only im- portant difference between the Granary tombstone escutcheon and that authorized by H. G. Somerby consists in the fact that the American emblem has but two hands, instead of three. It is suggested that this might be the fault on the part of the stone-cutter, which would have been quite natural, as in the Eng- lish arms the third hand is nearly covered by the can- ton.
Few families in America can trace a longer pedigree than the Cushings, which includes six generations au- thenticated English ancestors, and few families can produce more members who have won high places by their own merits. Prominent among Americans of the name have been Chief Justice William Cushing, who administered the oath of office to Washington at the beginning of his second term as president, March 4, 1790. He was the last of the chief justices in this country who wore the big wig of the English judges, and his full biography would fill many pages. Seven years older than Chief Justice Cushing, but, like him, associated with the founders of our government, was Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Cushing, of Massachu- setts, himself also a judge, who was born in Boston, March 24, 1725. He was the friend and co-worker of Adams, Otis and Warren, and the intimate associate and counselor of Hancock and Franklin. A little later we have Judge Caleb Cushing. of Newburyport, min- ister to China, and from 1835 to 1837 attorney-general of the United States. Hon. Luther Stearns Cushing, born at Lunenburg, Massachusetts, June 22, 1803, be- came famous as the author of "Cushing's Manual," and Frank Hamilton Cushing, born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1857, acquired renown from his archaeological researches among the Zuni Indians.
(I) William Cushing (Cussyn or Cusseyn) was born some time during the fourteenth century, and was either the son or grandson of Galfridus Cusyn, of Harding- ham, Norfolk county, England, who is mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls for Norfolk in 1327. He added to the estates in Hardingham the estates in Hingham, which were inherited by his son Thomas.
(II) Thomas Cushing, son of William Cushing, was born in Hardingham, Norfolk county, England, in the latter part of the reign of Richard II., 1377-1399. A deed, dated 1466, contains not only his name, but also the name of his son William, who is also named in other deeds and charters dated 1474, 1480 and 1484. Thomas Cushing possessed large estates in Harding- ham, Hingham, and other parts of his native country.
(III) William (2) Cushing, eldest son and heir of Thomas Cushing, was born at Hardingham, England, early in the fifteenth century, and lived at Hingham. He died about the time Columbus discovered America, for his long and explicit will was dated September 26, 1492, and proved in the Bishop's Court of Nor- wich, March 11, 1493. In ancient deeds relating to his estates in Hardingham, Hingham, East Dereham, and other parts of the County of Norfolk, he is styled "Gentleman." William (2) Cushing's wife Emma was executrix of his will; and her own, dated June 16, 1507, was proved July 26, 1507. Eight children were born to William (2) and Emma Cushing: John, see
forward; Robert, of Hingham, whose will was proved July 10, 1547; Thomas, of Hardingham, whose will was proved January 15, 1504; John, Jr., whose will was proved August 1, 1515; Elyne: Annahle; Mar- garet, married Thomas Crowe; Agnes.
(IV) John Cushing, eldest child of William (2) and Emma Cushing, was born at Hingham, England, but he lived in Hardingham, where he possessed large estates. He also owned large properties in Lombard street, London, and was called "Gentleman" in a survey of the manor of Flockthorp in Hardingham, dated 1512. John Cushing's will was proved March 5, 1523, and in it he mentions his wife and six children. His own name occurs in the Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII. for the year 1523. Eight children were born to John Cush- ing: John, of Hingham, Lord of the Manor of Flock- thorpe in Hingham, Markham's in Tithingham, and Stalworth in Wymondham; Thomas (2), see forward; William, of Hardingham, to whom his father gave a house called Gillbert's; Margaret, Isabell, Margery, Elyne, Agnes.
(V) Thomas (2) Cushing, the second son of John Cushing, inherited the homestead of his father at Hardingham, England, and all the lands pertaining thereto, and died at that place in April, 1558. He had six children: John, of Knapton, Norfolk, whose will was proved November 26, 1586; Ursula, Nicholas, Edward, Stephen, Peter, see forward.
(VI) Peter Cushing, youngest child of Thomas (2) Cushing, was born at Hardingham, England, but moved to Hingham about 1600, and was buried in the latter place, April 26, 1641. He was probably one of the first of the Cushings to embrace the Protestant faith, as the wills of the father and eldest brother are in the Catholic form. Peter Cushing married Susan Hawes at Hardingham, June 2, 1583, and they had seven children: Theophilus, baptized November 4, 1584; Bridget, baptized February 19, 1586, married George More; Matthew, see forward; William, bap- tized April 1, 1593, married Margery - -; Barbara, baptized June 16, 1596, died January, 1632; Peter, of London, married Godly, widow of Simon Payne; Catherine, married Long, of Carlton Road, near Wymondham in Suffolk; Thomas, of London, baptized May 15, 1603.
With this generation ends the English record of the Cushings. Two of Peter's sons, Theophilus and Matthew, set out for the new world, and it is with the American branch of the family, founded by Matthew Cushing, which we shall hereafter concern ourselves.
(VII) Matthew Cushing, second son of Peter and Susan (Hawes) Cushing, was baptized at Hardingham, England, March 2, 1589, and died at Hingham, Massa- chusetts, September 30, 1660. For the first fifty years of his life he lived at Hardingham and Hingham, Nor- folk county, England, but in 1638, with his wife and five children, his wife's sister, Widow Frances Reicroft, who died a few weeks after their arrival, Matthew Cushing embarked upon the ship "Diligent," a vessel of three hundred and fifty tons, under the command of John Martin. This ship sailed from Gravesend, April 26, 1638, and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, Angust 10, 1638. Matthew Cushing having landed at Boston immediately proceeded to his destination,
IOS
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
Hingham, Massachusetts, so named after the former home of the Cushing family in Hingham, England. At a town meeting held in 1638 a house lot of five acres on Bachelor (Main) street was given to Mat- thew Cushing, and it continued in the possession of the family until 1887, practically a quarter millennial. Matthew Cushing was early engaged in the affairs of the town, and became a deacon in the church. He had many eminent descendants, for it is now a well established fact that, with the exception of some re- cent immigrants, all the Cushings of the United States and Canada are his direct lineal descendants On August 5, 1613, Matthew Cushing married Nazareth Pitcher, daughter of Henry Pitcher, of the famous family of Admiral Pitcher, of England. She was bap- tized October 30, 1586, and died at Hingham, Massa- chusetts, January 6, 1682. They had five children, all born in Hingham, England; Daniel, born April 20, 1619; Jeremiah, born July 21, 1621; Matthew, born April 5, 1623: Deborah, born February 16, 1625; John (2), see forward.
(VIII) John (2) Cushing, youngest of the children of Matthew and Nazareth (Pitcher) Cushing, was born at Hingham, England, in 1627, and died at Scituate, Massachusetts, March 31, 1708. At the age of eleven, he migrated to America with his people and he ap- peared to have remained at Hingham, Massachusetts, until after his father's death in 1660. In 1657 John (2) Cushing, together with Mathias Briggs, purchased for one hundred and twenty pounds the Varsall estate at Bells House Neck, Scituate, which consists of one hundred and twenty acres with the house and barns; but John Cushing did not move there until about 1662. The place derived its name from the fact that for a century, at least, a bell hung at the house there to give alarm to the neighboring country in case of the ap- proach of the Indians. In 1663 John (2) Cushing was surveyor of the highways; in 1667, receiver of excises; in 1674, was deputy to the colony and was often re- elected: in 1673, he was on the committee for divid- ing the Scituate lands, and in 1676 he was chosen to report to the government a statement of all services of the soldiers of Scituate in the War of King Philip. Mr. Cushing was selectman from 1674 to 1686, in- clusive, and county magistrate (Plymouth county), 1685 to 1692. He was assistant of the old colony gov- ernment of Plymouth colony from 1689 to 1691; repre- sentative to the General Court at Boston in 1692 and for several succeeding years; member of the Council in 1796 and 1797; and was colonel of the Plymouth Regiment. On January 20, 1658, at Hingham, Massa- chusetts, John (2) Cushing married Sarah Hawke, daughter of Matthew and Margaret Hawke, who was baptized at Hingham, August 1, 1641, and died at Scituate. March 8, 1679. Her father was the third town clerk of Hingham. To John (2) and Sarah (Hawke) Cushing were given twelve children: John, born April 28, 1662; Thomas, born December 26, 1663; Matthew, born February, 1665; Jeremiah, born July 13, 1666; James, born January 27, 1668; Joshua, August 27, 1670; Sarah, born August 26, 1671; Caleb, born January, 1673; Deborah, boru 1675; Mary, born August 30, 1676; Joseph, born September 23, 1677: Benjamin, born February 4, 1679.
(IX) Matthew (2) Cushing, son of John (2) and Sarah (Hawke) Cushing, was born February, 1665. He served in the town of Hingham as selectman for five years. He married and among their chil- dren was Jacob.
(X) Jacob Cushing, son of Matthew (2) Cushing, was selectman of the town of Hingham for four years, a deputy to the General Court for fifteen years, and a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety, at the beginning of the Revolution. Jacob Cushing married -, and among their children was Charles.
(X) Charles Cushing, son of Jacob Cushing, was a colonel of the Continental Army, a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety, a repre- sentative to the General Court for seven years, and was Senator for one year. Colonel Charles Cushing married ----- and among their children was Edmund.
(XII) Edmund Cushing, son of Charles Cushing, was a representative to the General Court in 1804-06- 20, a member of the Governor's Council from 1826 until 1828, a Senator for three years, and a presi- dential elector in 1824. Edmund Cushing married, and among their children was William.
(XIII) William (3) Cushing, son of Edmund Cush- ing, was a member of the Governor's Council. He was also a school teacher for some time and a member of the Unitarian clergy. William Cushing married -, and among their children was J. Stearns.
(XIV) J. Stearns Cushing, son of William (3) Cush- ing, was born in Putney, Vermont, Angust 1, 1785, and died November 2, 1868, at Saxtons River, Vermont. He married Deborah Miles, who was born 1781, in Putney, Vermont, and died in 1854. To J. Stearns and Deborah (Miles) Cushing were born eleven chil- dren, among whom was Mary C., who married Joseph Alonzo Deming, and they were the parents of several children among whom was Hattie, who married Charles M. Strong, father of Louis C. Strong.
Charles Kinney, father of Mrs. Louie C. Strong, was born in Addison, Steuben county, New York, December 12, 1847, and lived in Pennsylvania before he moved to Brocton, in 1882. He attended the com- mon schools until he was fifteen years old, and from 1865 to 1867 he took the elementary and scientific courses in the State Normal School at Mansfield, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah J. Wood, at Corn- ing, August 14, 1867, and they were the parents of three daughters: Mrs. Belle M. Smith, of Brocton; H. Mina Kinney, and Mrs. Louie Charles Strong, of Jamestown.
Mr. Kinney began work as a contract builder when but eighteen years of age 'at Blossburg, Pennsylvania, in which he continued until he was twenty-six; from 1873 until 1883 he was the proprietor of a wheel fac- tory at Kendall, Pennsylvania; then went to Brocton, where he ran a flouring mill and conducted business as a contract builder until a few years ago. He built the Brocton School Dean Hall, the Mericle block, and many houses in Brocton. He has for some time been associated with Jonas Martin and Ernest Buckner in the Brocton Wine Distributing Company, whose "Old Country Wine Cellars" were among the best in the State.
109
BIOGRAPHICAL
Mr. Kinney was a soldier in the Civil War, having served with the zeal that has characterized his efforts in the business world, in Company L, Second Penn- sylvania Cavalry. His father was also a soldier in the same regiment. He has held a number of elective and appointive offices. He was elected justice of the peace of the town of Portland in 1892; was postmaster of Vineyard from 1898 until his resignation in 1904; was coroner of Chautauqua county for three years and was elected for a fourth term in 1903, but resigned. He was appointed deputy factory inspector, November I, 1903, which office he held for some time. Mr. Kinney is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Sons of Veterans, the Odd Fellows, and the Masonic Order. He was secretary of the New York State Hotel Protective Union, and a member of the National Wine Growers' Association. He was killed on a rail- road crossing at Brocton, New York, October 4, 1910.
(The Wood Line).
The origin of the name is the same as that of Bywood, Atwood, etc., all being originally designations of persons from the location of their homes in or near woods, similar in derivation to the name Hill, Pond, River, Lake, Bridges, etc. The medieval spelling of this surname was Ate Wode, afterwards modified to Atwood, and in a majority of cases to Wood, the prefixes Ap, Mc, De, Le, being dropped in other names. Nearly every conceivable wood in England surnamed some family in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth cen- turies. In Domesday Book the name is found in its Latin form, de Silva, in County Suffolk. Some branches of the family have retained the ancient form of spelling to the present time, and the name Atwood is common in the United Kingdom as well as America. Philip Atwood, who settled at Malden, Massachusetts, married Rachel Bacheller, Elizabeth Grover and Eliz- abeth -, and Herman Atwood, cordwainer, who came from Sanderstead, County Surrey, fifteen miles from London, to Boston before 1634; deacon of the Second Church; died 1651; and from the several im- migrants at Plymouth, many of whose descendants set- tled upon the spelling of Wood. In fact the Plym- outh Atwoods, even the immigrants themselves, used the two spellings interchangeably to judge from the records. Henry Wood, the immigrant ancestor, was in Plymouth as early as 1641. He married Abigail Jenney, and from one of their sons was Mrs. Strong's mother descended.
(The Bixby Line).
The family originated in England, in Suffolk county, prior to 1600; many Bixbys are found there at that early date and in no other English county. The family have long been in America, and have furnished many pioneers and prominent citizens. Members of the fam- ily were active in the early settlement of New England, and took an active part in securing for the colonies independence in the Revolutionary War, and later in the settlement of nearly all of the northern United States, and are scattered throughout the entire United States. In the early records of New England the name is spelled Bigsby, Byxby, and occasionally in other ways. With three or four exceptions all the people in the United States and Canada bearing this name
are descended from Joseph Bixby, of Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, and to this line Mrs. Strong traces her an- cestry.
(The Lee Line).
Mrs. Strong's great-grandmother was Phoebe Lee, of the celebrated Lec family of Virginia. The Lee family are of English ancestry, and were of good old Revolutionary stock. In fact they have not only taken an active part in the development and progress of America, but have been prominent in its political, mercantile, social and military life as well. Among the Lees whom we might mention as being prominent in affairs of America is Ann Lee, founder of the Society of Shakers; Eliza Buckminister Lee, an eminent author: General Robert E. Lec, General Fitzhugh Lee, George Frederick Lee, the author, and Richard Fred- eric Lee, the great landscape painter.
To this celebrated family Mrs. Strong traces her ancestry. She is a lady of true refinement and culture, and is very popular throughout the social circles of Jamestown and Chautauqua county.
In concluding this review of Mr. Strong's life, would say that he is a selfmade man in the truest and best sense of the word. His life has always been a busy one; however, he is a great lover of nature and the big outdoors. He finds recreation in the woods, hunt- ing and fishing, and he is considered an expert with both the fly and casting rods. Although his every-day affairs make heavy demands upon his time, yet he never shrinks from his duties or from his obligations to his State and Nation. Always calm and unassuming, never demonstrative, his life is nevertheless a persistent plea, more by precept and example then by publication or spoken word, for the purity and grandeur of right principles and the beauty and elevation of wholesome character. No man has attained a higher reputation for honorable dealing than he, and in the business world his friends are numberless. His promises or statements can always be relied upon, for he holds his word sacred, and his excellent business judgment often enables others to profit as well as himself.
Mr. Strong has the greatest sympathy for his fellow- men, and is ever willing to aid and encourage those who are struggling to aid themselves, yet in this as in everything else he is entirely unostentatious. To him home life is a sacred trust, friendship inviolable, and nothing can swerve him from the path of rectitude and honor. He is held in the highest of estcem by all who know him, and Jamestown and Chautauqua county can boast of no finer man nor more enterprising citizen.
JOHN WALLACE HALE-Now (1919) an octo- genarian living in Jamestown, New York, not far from the place of his birth, Westfield, John W. Hale has watched the progress of Chautauqua county from a frontier community to a political division of wealth and importance, prosperous cities and towns within its borders sending manufactured goods to every part of the vast system of the world's food supply; and within its borders the great Chautauqua Assembly grounds from which radiated a world-wide influence. Mr. Hale's experience carried him far afield, and aside from his journeyings of three years' regular army
-
IIO
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
service, and later as a soldier of the Union, his duties as traveling salesman carried him far from his home. Many of his experiences in the form of communica- tions to the Jamestown "Journal" have been published, and in them his life on the Western plains as a United Staes regular, in the Civil War as a volunteer, and after the war as traveling salesman, are interestingly told.
The name Hale has been abundant in Hertfordshire, England, since the carly part of the thirteenth century, no evidence appearing that any of the name were above the rank of yeoman earlier than 1560. Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England, was of the Gloucestershire family, and in the history of that county Atkyns says: "The family of Hale has been of ancient standing in this county and always esteemed for their probity and charity." Within the last fifty years after the settlement, at least eight settlers by the name of Hale came to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the name is also found among the early settlers of Mary- land and Virginia. In New England the name is one of unusual prominence, made so by Nathan Hale, the patriot who died the death of a spy, a great-grandson of a graduate of Harvard College; John P. Hale, the New Hampshire statesman: United States Senator Eugene Hale, of Maine; and a host of others.
(I) In this branch the line is traced to Josiah Hale, a cousin of Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary patriot, and great-grandfather of John W. Hale, of James- town. Josiah Hale was a soldier of the Revolution, and at an early date left Tyringham, Massachusetts, with his sons, Nathan, James and Abram. Josiah Hale finally made permanent settlement in Chautauqua county in the vicinity of Mayville, and there died. His son, Nathan Hale, settled on a farm on Chautauqua Hill road, and the house he built thereon and in which he died is still standing.
(II) James Hale, son of Josiah Hale, grandfather of John W. Hale, of Jamestown, accompanied his father to Chautauqua county, New York, and after living in several places settled on a farm near his brother Nathan. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, and was in the attack on Queenstown Heights under "Colonel Scott." In his old age he was granted a warrant for government land in the then territory of Michigan, and settled on an eighty-acre tract there, meeting with accidental death at more than ninety years of age, a runaway team throwing him from his wagon. He was survived by sons, James (2) and Horace Hale, also by several daughters.
(III) Horace Hale, son of James Hale, and father of John W. Hale, was born in Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York, August 6, 1812. He settled in Westfield, Chautauqua county, when quite young, and later became a well known boot and shoe manufac- turer and dealer. He was one of the founders, and a deacon of the First Baptist Church; a Republican in politics; and a resident of Westfield from his settle- ment until his death, 1895, which resulted from a fall in his own house by tripping over a rug, fracturing his hip bone, an injury from which death resulted soon afterward. He died at the age of eighty-three years, his father also meeting accidental death at the age of ninety.
Horace Hale married (first) in Westfield, July 7, 1833, Sarah Burrows, born in Verona, Oneida county, New York, April 14, 1814, died in Westfield, Chau- tauqua county, New York, July 26, 1843, daughter of John and Rebekah (Troso) Burrows. John Burrows was born in the town of Hebron, Windham county, Connecticut, April 12, 1772, and died in Westfield, New York, February 10, 1842. He was a hatter by trade, also a gardener; in politics a Whig, in religion a Baptist. He married, September 15, 1792, Rehekah Troso, born in Spencertown, Dutchess county, New York, February 28, 1772, and died in Westfield, New York, August 18, 1833. They were the parents of seven children: Esther; John R., who died in infancy; Mary; Rebekah; Harriet; John R. (2); and Sarah, the last named the wife of Horace Hale. Mr. and Mrs. Hale were the parents of five children: Loretta, born July 5, 1835, married James Wickham, of Dunkirk, New York; Lorancy, twin with Loretta, died in Westfield, January 4, 1851; John Wallace, of further mention; Sarah Augusta, born October 18, 1840, married Sylves- ter Green, of Dunkirk, New York; Walter Horace, born June 29, 1843, died in Bellevue Hospital, New York, October 8, 1862, death resulting from wounds received and disease contracted in the service of his country while a private of Company G, Forty-ninth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. All the foregoing were born in Westfield. Horace Hale mar- ried (second) at Ripley, New York, November 15, 1843, Huldah Bandle Morse, born in Winsted, Con- necticut, January 6, 1821, died in Westfield, New York, February 13, 1893. Children of second wife, all born in Westfield: Arabella, born November 8, 1847, died in Ripley, New York, January 12, 1874, married Thomas B. Culver, of Westfield; Frances Amelia, born May 29, 1849, died in Westfield, New York, October 12, 1875, married, May 7, 1858, I. S. Larrabee; Emma, born June 4, 1851, married, in 1872, Daniel P. Topliff; Charles W., born April 26, 1853, married Florence Curtiss: George Washington, born January 12, 1856, married, October 16, 1878; Sarah Holland; James C., born July 18, 1857, married, December 11, 1878, Georgia Bronson.
(IV) John Wallace Hale, eldest son of Horace Hale and his first wife, Sarah (Burrows) Hale, was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, August 14, 1838, and is now, January 1, 1920, an honored resident of Jamestown, New York, retired from business cares. He attended the public schools and Westfield Acad- emy, and was for a time employed with his father in his shoe business in Westfield. But he left home early in life, impelled by perhaps a wild desire for adventure and a life of freedom. He came to Jamestown, learned marble cutting with Allen Gillett, and while still a minor enlisted in the United States army for a term of five years. He was sent to New York, going thence to St. Louis by rail, and up the Missouri river by steamer to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The train on which he went West stopped at Westfield, and having already repented his enlistment he sent a chum for his father and asked him to obtain his release as the lad was under age. He made promises of future angelic behaviour, but the wise old father said: "No, it's the best move you have made, you are now where you will
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.