USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 36
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
Henry E. Brown married, in Jamestown, Jan. 21, 1852, Helen Sprague, born at Fly Creek, Otsego county, New York, June 10, 1828, who survives him, now (1920) a resident of Jamestown, her home with her only son, Charles H. Brown, No. 59 Prospect street. Mrs. Brown is a daughter of James L. and Mary Maria (Badger) Sprague, who were married at Fly Creek, N. Y., Sept. 5, 1827, and after residing in Rochester and Westfield, N. Y., settled in Jamestown, N. Y., about 1844. James L. Sprague, as a member of the firm of Sprague & Steele, owned and operated a foundry and machine shop in Jamestown, one of the first operated in the village. He was an ardent admirer of the New York "Tribune," and its editor, Horace Greeley, his files covering the numbers from almost its first weekly issue until the number of the week of his death, Sept. 22, 1867. His wife, Mary Maria (Badger) Sprague, died Jan. 1, 1888. Mrs. Helen (Sprague) Brown traces descent from the Angell and Sprague families of Rhode Island, both families promi- nent in the early and subsequent history of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Henry E. Brown were the parents of a daughter, Agnes, who died in infancy, and of a son, Charles Henry, of further mention.
(VIII) Charles Henry Brown, son of Henry E. Brown, was born in Iowa City, Ia., Jan. 31, 1861. After his father's return from the Union army in 1865, the family moved to Jamestown, N. Y., and there Charles H. was educated in the public schools, and has ever since resided. He embraced journalism at an early age, and has been connected professionally with the reported staffs of the local newspapers, and as correspondent with the papers of New York City, Buffalo, and Cleveland. He was one of the earliest among the stenographers of Jamestown, and taught the first class in stenography at Jamestown Business School. In 1889 he entered the office employ of the American Aristotpye Company, and has continued with that company until the present, 1920, the company now being a division of the Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, Mr. Brown being office manager. He is a Republican in politics, and at the time Jamestown became a chartered city he was holding the office of town clerk. He is a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Independent Congregational Church.
GERALD GILMAN GIBBS, of Westfield, N. Y., law graduate of Cornell University, 1902, with the de- gree of LL. B., and in successful professional prac- tice in Chautauqua county since 1902, and since that time a factor of guidance and consequence in many phases of the public affairs of Westfield, is a native of Chautauqua county, and in the paternal line comes of a family which has long been resident in the county, and which, in fact, may be placed among its pioneers. Erastus Gibbs, grandfather of Gerald G. Gibbs, was an industrious farmer in or near the town of Chau- tauqua at the time of the Civil War, and like a true patriot was desirous of serving on the side of the Union, in military capacity, but on account of his age he was rejected. In the maternal line, Gerald Gilman Gibbs has an ancestor, Charles Stanton, who saw con- siderable service during the Civil War and was a member of the Ninth New York Cavalry, and in one engage- ment was wounded in the left arm. He later had con- nection with oil properties in Pennsylvania, and eventu- ally settled upon a farming property, and to some ex- tent dealt in farm implements and fertilizers.
Gerald Gilman Gibbs was born in the town of Chau- tanqua, that county, New York, Aug. 25, 1876, the son of Charles F. and Mary (Stanton) Gibbs. His father, Charles F. Gibbs, was a farmer, and later in life be- came a travelling representative of the International Harvester Company, succeeding well in the sale of agricultural machinery. Gerald Gilman is one of four children born to Charles F. and Mary (Stanton) Gibbs, three sons and a daughter; his sister Sophie is now Mrs. Harvey, of Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, and his two brothers are: Glen S., who lives in Westfield, and is electrician for the Lake Erie Trac- tion Company: and George D., who is a merchant at Sherman.
Gerald G. Gibbs received his elementary and high school education in the Sherman schools. He did some further private study, and then proceeded to Cor- nell University, to take the law course. Eventually, in 1902, he was graduated, and gained the degree of Bachelor of Law. In the same year he was admitted to practice at the Chautauqua county bar, and soon thereafter became professionally associated with James H. Prendergast. This law partnership was not of long duration, and soon after its dissolution Gerald Gilman Gibbs became associated in practice with Henry C. Kingsbury, at Westfield, that law partnership continu- ing until the death of Mr. Kingsbury. A new law firm was constituted in 1905, Gerald G. Gibbs and Harry C. Williamson joining forces and connections, for the joint general practice of law, and also in a minor de- gree to enter into writing of insurance. That law partnership has continued to mutual satisfaction until the present. Mr. Gibbs is well regarded by his profes- sional confreres, and has a growing clientele, which indicates that in his profession he is capable.
In public affairs he has taken much part, and has been honored by election to many responsible offices in Westfield; he was the president of the Council in 1905-06, and was supervisor of the town in 1915-16-17. He is the chairman of the Board of Electric Light Commissioners; and during the war he was a mem- ber of the Legal Advisory Board. He was very
1
:'e Ame:
Levi IM Fortou.
139
BIOGRAPHICAL
active in the various public movements of National and patriotic aspect during the years of war, and had ap- preciable part in the raising of the town's quota of the various funds raised for war purposes. Mr. Gibbs is a man of fine professional type, distinguished presence, intellectual bearing, and cleanly cut. He has the repu- tation of being an assiduous law student, well founded in the law, and a conscientious and able guardian of public interests.
Mr. Gibbs married (first) Nellie L. Herron, who died on Nov. 25, 1914, leaving one child, Stanton Wood Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs was a widower for almost five years, his second wife being Ethel B. Herron, and their marriage date being Sept. 4, 1919.
REV. LEVI WARREN NORTON, who came to Jamestown in 1853 to become the first rector of St. Luke's Church, was for many years a resident and commanding figure in the affairs of early Jamestown. By his unfailing loyalty, breadth of charity, and un- selfish devotion to the welfare of others, his character was clearly demonstrated. A man of impressive per- sonality, clear visioned, rigid in his integrity of pur- pose, willing and cager at all times to contribute his full strength and ability in every helpful way towards the comfort, happiness and welfare of the people of his church and community, he was eminent in that special loyalty which entitled him to the esteem and love of those who followed and benefited by his leader- ship. As a minister of the Gospel of Christ, he never faltered in his duty, and as chaplain during the Civil War he gave all that was in him in undismayed cour- age and unstinted effort for the benefit, consolation and comfort of those soldiers with whom he was asso- ciated.
He was born Oct. 17, 1819, at Attica, Wyoming county, New York, the youngest child of Elijah and Mary (Moore) Norton. He was educated in the acad- emies in Cherry Valley and Lowville, N. Y .: was a graduate of Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., with the class of 1843; and the General Theological Semi- nary in New York City in 1846. He was baptized in the Old Episcopal Church at Monticello. Otsego county, New York, by the Rev. Daniel Nash, a mis- sionary of the Protestant Episcopal church, and was confirmed when sixteen years of age in Lowville, N. Y., by the Rt. Rev. William Heathcote DeLancey, first bishop of Western New York, being the only person confirmed at the time. He was ordained deacon in Zion Church, Pierrepont Manor, Jefferson county, New York, by Bishop DeLancey, July 26. 1846, with Wil- liam A. Matson, Orlando F. Starkey, T. F. Wardweil, and Benjamin Wright. He was ordained to the priest- hood in Trinity Church, Watertown, New York, July 21, 1847, by Bishop DeLancey, with his brother, Rev. Samuel Hermon Norton, and Rev. Benjamin Wright. His first parochial charge was Trinity Church, Water- town, N. Y., which he assumed in 1846, and was its faithful rector for seven years. During his rectorship the old church building was entirely destroyed by fire and a new one erected. In 1853 Mr. Norton received a call to St. Luke's parish, Jamestown, Chautauqua county, New York, to become its first resident rector.
He arrived in Jamestown, in May, 1853, and preached his first sermon in the old academy at the corner of Fourth and Spring streets, there being at that time no church building. In a letter to his wife, dated Sunday, May 29, 1853, he writes: "I preached from the text, 'I have set the Lord always before me,' Psalms 16-8;" and at the afternoon service he says: "We had very beautiful singing. It is strange but true that there are some beautiful voices here in these back woods." He found here a few earnest communicants, seven women, who were anxious to have the church in the little back woods village, far from other towns or railroads. From other letters written soon after coming to Jamestown we learn that Mr. Norton often officiated in the villages in this section, for he says in one letter, "I married a couple at Ashville and have been down to Randolph to baptize a sick woman and child:" and in still another letter, "I go to Carroll for a third serv- ice next Sunday. I preached to a large congregation last Sunday evening at Frewsburg." In one letter he writes: "I expect to go to Mayville to-day, having been sent for to visit a young lady at the point to die. It is twenty-three miles." And a few days after he writes: "I reached home yesterday noon, having gone completely around Chautauqua Lake. I rode thirty- six miles the first day, reaching Ashville at ten P. M.," and still another he writes, "I rode twenty-three miles in the rain with an umbrella only, reaching Mayville at six P. M. This makes the second jaunt around the lake in less than a week." He soon succeeded in estab- lishing the church in Jamestown, purchasing the prop- erty of William H. Tew, on Main and Fourth streets, for $2,000. The house was used for a rectory; the cornerstone of the church laid Sept. 27. 1854. The building was erected at a cost of $6,500, and conse- crated free from debt by Bishop DeLancey, May 8, 1856. This edifice was destroyed by fire, Sunday, Dec. 21, 1862, the fire originating from a defective flue. Nothing daunted, the little parish fitted up a store in the Hall block on West Third street, where they wor- shipped until the new church was erected in 1865. A second church was built on the reconstructed walls, and was consecrated free from debt by Bishop De- Lancey's successor, Rt. Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, May 20, 1865. Upon the death of Mrs. Mary A. Pren- dergast, widow of Alexander J. Prendergast, in 1889, a bequest of $125,000 was left to St. Luke's Church to erect a fireproof building in memory of their only daughter, Catherine M. Prendergast, whom Mr. Nor- ton baptized. The cornerstone of this new and beauti- ful edifice was laid by Mr. Norton,. Nov. 29, 1892.
At the breaking out of the Civil War, Mr. Norton, with the consent of St. Luke's vestry, enlisted as chap- lain in the Third Regiment, Excelsior Brigade, 72nd New York Volunteers, and was located with his regi- ment under command of Col. Nelson Taylor at various places in Maryland and Virginia. Being attacked with camp fever he was sent home on furlough, but later returned to the army, but because of continued ill health he was obliged to resign in April, 1862. In Aug., 1870, Mr. Norton resigned as rector of St. Luke's Church at Jamestown to accept a call from St. Luke's Church, Metuchen, N. J. He remained there until March 1, 1882, when he became rector of St. Paul's
140
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
Church, Rahway, N. J. His health breaking down in 1892, he resigned the rectorate of St. Paul's Church at Rahway, at Easter, and with his family returned to Jamestown, in July, 1892, living a quiet and retired life, but ever ready to assist his brother clergy, as his strength permitted, until his sudden death at Bemus Point, N. Y., Aug. 23, 1900, where he had gone with his son and daughter and friends for a day's recrea- tion. He was buried from his home on Crossman street, Jamestown, Aug. 26, 1900, and his remains in- terred in the family lot in Lake View Cemetery.
Mr. Norton was for several years a trustee of the General Theological Seminary, New York City. He was secretary of the Convention of the Diocese of Western New York, in 1869, while in the Diocese of New Jersey he was secretary of the standing commit- tee for a period of thirteen years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, taking his first degree in Masonry in Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 145, Free and Accepted Masons, in Jamestown, later becoming a Sir Knight and member of St. John's Commandery of Olean, N. Y. Mr. Norton's mother died in 1837, and is buried at Cherry Valley, N. Y. His father, a sol- dier of the War of 1812, died in 1839, and is buried in the town of Gerry, N. Y.
Mr. Norton was married, Oct. 15, 1846, to Elizabeth Proudfit Leonard, daughter of Stephen and Jane (Mar- tin) Leonard, of Lowville, N. Y., by Rev. Edward A. Renouf, rector of Trinity Church, Lowville. Their children were: Frederick Leonard Norton. Frank Beardsley Norton, M. D .; Jane Martin Norton: Levi Warren Norton, Jr .; and Lucy Seymour Norton; the last-named surviving. He had four brothers and three sisters. His brother, Merritt Milton Norton, a mer- chant of Lowville, N. Y., died in 1846. Morris Norton was known as "Squire" Norton, and was a popular resident of Ashville, N. Y .; he died in 1878. Sullivan Sedgwick Norton, died in infancy. Rev. Samuel Her- mon Norton was rector of Trinity Church, Fredonia, N. Y., and died there in 1864. Of his sisters: Eunice Beardsley, died in youth. Fanny Malvina, wife of Dr. Nelson Potter, of Cape Vincent, N. Y., died in 1895. Mary Moore Norton, married Robert J. Merrell, and lived to the good old age of ninety-eight years, retain- ing her mental faculties to the last, passing away April 21, 1913; she was a well known resident of Jamestown for many years of her married life. Mr. Norton's second son, Dr. Frank B. Norton, married Emily Mockridge, of Metuchen, N. J., in 1875, and died there in 1890, leaving three children by this union: Grace Warren Norton; Charles Leonard Norton, of Newark, N. J .; and Warren Mockridge Norton, of Los Angeles, Cal. The keynote of this useful and stirring life may be shown by one of Mr. Norton's favorite verses:
We can never be too careful What the seed our hands shall sow; Love from love is sure to ripen, Hate from hate is sure to grow.
ALVIN JOHNSON STEWART, M. D .- A young, talented physician, full of ambition and the love of his profession, is the best description that can be given of Dr. Alvin Johnson Stewart, one of the leading prac-
titioners of Falconer, N. Y. He worked to earn the money to finance his college career, so values the edu- cation thus gained more highly. Dr. Stewart's ability as a surgeon is somewhat an inherited gift, for his father, Alvin D. Stewart, was a physician and surgeon before the young Dr. Stewart was born. The elder man had a fine reputation for great ability and many . successful cures are ascribed to him. He practiced in 1 Port Byron and was greatly beloved by his patients. :
Alvin Johnson Stewart was born Sept. 7, 1886, in Port Byron, N. Y., his mother before her marriage to ( Dr. Stewart being Emma Johnson. Dr. Alvin D. 1 Stewart and his wife had two children: Alvin John- son, and his sister who is now the wife of Allen John- son.
Alvin J. Stewart was educated in the public schools of Port Byron, graduating from the high school in ! 1903. Being very young to begin the study of medi- cine, and wishing to earn the money to defray the ex- penses of a college course, the lad obtained employ- ment with the New York Central Railroad as librarian in their offices in New York City. For three years he remained in this employ, and in the fall of 1906 entered the medical school of the University of Syra- cuse, from which he graduated in 1911 with the privi- lege of writing M. D. after his name. This was fol- lowed by a year of hospital experience as interne in the City Hospital of Rochester, New York, after which he passed the examination of the State Board of Ex- aminers, June 30, 1912, at Syracuse. Young Dr. Stew- art went to Falconer that same year and opened an office for the general practice of medicine, though in- clining greatly to specializing in surgery. He has been very successful since locating in Falconer, and now that he has been given his discharge from the army he has returned to that place and resumed his practice.
Dr. Stewart volunteered for service in the war with Germany, gaining his commission as first lieutenant on October 5, 1918, spending six weeks at Camp Green- leaf, Georgia, in the Medical Officers' Training Camp, after which he was assigned to escort detachment duty at Hoboken, N. J. He has visited every camp in this country in connection with his work on hospital train service, meeting the incoming transports laden with sick and wounded soldiers and sailors, relieving their sufferings while en route to the hospital camps or the nearest discharge point. It was a wonderful field of service for a man of Dr. Stewart's ability and kindness of heart, giving him a great opportunity for further experience. He was discharged from the service, June 18, 1919.
At Port Byron, N. Y., in 1911, Alvin Johnson Stew- art married Elizabeth K. Hest, a resident of that town. They have one child, Jean Katherine.
Dr. Stewart is a member of the Medical Association of New York State, and of the Greek letter society. Alpha Kappa Kappa, a college fraternity. He is alsc a Free Mason. He is one of the rising young men of his time, well regarded by other physicians, and with the prestige of his father's ability and success, in addi. tion to his own army experience, there is no doubt that Dr. Alvin Johnson Stewart has a brilliant career open- ing up before him.
141
BIOGRAPHICAL
ERIE HALL-The Hall family of Westfield to which Erie Hall belonged was founded in Chautauqua county, New York, by Asa Hall, who came from New England in 1811, the Halls settling in that section at a very early period of our country's history. The mem- bers of this branch of the family were hardly seated amid their new surroundings ere they were disturbed by reports of a second war with Great Britain, and when it became a certainty, Asa Hall and his two sons, George, and Asa, Jr., marched to the defense of the border and did their share. On West Main street, in the village of Westfield, is a stone monument erected to the memory of early settlers of Portland, Westfield and Ripley, and on it the names of Asa Hall and sixty- one others are engraved. Erie Hall was a descendant of Asa Hall through his son, George Hall, and his wife, Sally Hutchins.
(I) Asa Hall, the founder, was born in Thompson, Windham county, Conn., June 20, 1767, and died in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, March 15, 1832. After leaving Connecticut, Asa Hall settled in the State of New Hampshire, there remaining until the year 1811, when he came to Chautauqua, accompanied by Mrs. Hall and their six children. He settled on land in the town of Westfield, and with the aid of his sons conducted as successful farming operations as were possible under pioneer conditions. Asa Hall and his sons, George, and Asa, Jr., enlisted in the Ameri- can army during the war of 1812-14, and were present at the capture and burning of Buffalo in 1814. Asa and his sons were returning home under parole and had reached Mack's Tavern on Cattaraugus Creek when all were stricken with fever and ague and were unable to proceed. Mrs. Hall was sent for and came, nursing her husband and sons back to health, then sickened herself, and died Sept. 18, 1814. She was buried in Westfield Cemetery, and eighteen years later her husband, Asa Hall, was laid by her side. They were married at Douglass, Worcester county, Massachu- setts, July 5, 1789, and were the parents of six children, as follows: Sophy, born Dec. 5, 1791; George, of fur- ther mention; Harriet, born Oct. 11, 1794; Asa, born Dec. 26, 1796, a soldier of the War of 1812, and ruling elder of the Presbyterian church; David, born Oct. 29, 1798; Silas Foster, born July 24, 1800.
(11) George Hall, eldest son of Asa Hall, the founder, was born at Thompson, Windham county, Connecticut, April 16, 1793, and died at his farm in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, April 24, 1863. He was eighteen years of age when the family came to Chautauqua county, and a year older wlien with his father and brother, Asa, aged sixteen, he en- listed in the American army. He was his father's helper in clearing a farm from the wilderness, and later learned the carpenter's trade, and also was a capable millwright. He settled along Chautauqua Creek within the present bounds of the village of Westfield, and owned the land along South Portage street to the creek. About 1830 he erected the first building on the now county poor farm in Dewittville, and also built the Hall grist mill on Chautauqua Creek. That mill he operated for a time in partnership with Mr. Camp- bell, and Mr. McClurg. He cultivated his farm in
Westfield, and late in life retired from all outside busi- ness and spent the remaining years of his life at the farm. Like his father, he was a man of strong, upright life and character, a man to be trusted and relied upon.
George Hall was married, April 27, 1817, to Sally Hutchins, who survived him seventeen years, dying April 10, 1880, and they are both buried in Westfield Cemetery. Children: 1. Phoebe, born Feb. 2, 1818; married Allen Mallory. 2. George Foster, born July 14, 1820. 3. Archelaus, born Oct. 20, 1823. 4. Viola, born April 8, 1824; married William Hewitt. 5. Byron, born Oct. 1, 1828. 6. Erie, of further mention. 7. Niagara, born Nov. 21, 1834. 8. Lydia, born Feb. 2, 1837; married Giles P. Buck. 9. Miami, born Oct. 28, 1839.
(III) Erie Hall, son of George and Sally (Hutchins) Hall, was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, Dec. 24, 1830, and died Sept. 15, 1908, and is buried in Westfield Cemetery. He was educated in the public schools and at Westfield Academy, his early life being spent as his father's assistant on the farm and in the grist mill, principally the latter. After be- coming an expert miller he took the management of the mill for his own account, having as a partner Mrs. McClurg, whose husband, a former partner with George Hall, had left her an interest in the mill. Later, for a few years, J. G. Harris was a partner with Erie Hall in the mill. Finally Mr. Hall withdrew from milling and devoted his energies to grape cultiva- tion, having a vineyard on Chestnut street and another on West Main road, Westfield. He was a successful business man, influential in his community and highly esteemed wherever known.
Mr. Hall was physically disqualified for military service, but was accepted in the home guard, and dur- ing Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863, was called out for service. He was a Republican in politics, but held no public office, his business and his home filling the measure of his happiness.
Mr. Hall married, Sept. 23, 1853, Eliza Ann Cos- grove, born at Mayville, Chautauqua county, daugh- ter of James and Elizabeth (Willing) Cosgrove. Mrs. Hall, a devoted Christian wife and mother, died Feb. 3, 1901, and is buried in Westfield Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Erie Hall were the parents of six children, as follows: I. Elfleda Elizabeth, died young. 2. Leon Asa, died in childhood. 3. Adele H., wife of Hugh W. Thompson, editor of the Westfield "Republican;" Mrs. Thompson died June 15, 1896; she was a missionary teacher in the West and South in the service of the American Missionary Society. 4. Jessie E., of further mention. 5. Roy C., died in 1912. 6. James E., a resi- dent of Westfield; he married, April 21, 1897, Lottie Taylor, and they are the parents of: Harold Taylor, and Josephine Eliza Hall.
(IV) Jessie E. Hall, youngest daughter of Erie and Eliza Ann (Cosgrove) Hall, was born in Westfield, N. Y., and there educated in the public school. For years Miss Hall was a great sufferer from bodily ills. The benefit Christian Science would be to her was advanced by a friend, and as a result Miss Hall went to Boston, and during a course of reading and study of "Science and Health," as presented by Mrs. Mary
142
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
Baker Eddy, was effectually cured and restored to com- plete health. She finished her course of study, became a qualified practitioner and returned to Westfield.
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.