USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume III > Part 10
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 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
(I) Nicholas Knapp was born in England, and died r Stamford, Conn., April 16, 1670. He settled in Water- town, in 1630, and was there listed a proprietor in 1636-37, and in 1648 moved to Stamford, Conn., where three generations of his descendants in the branch lived. His first wife Eleanor, the mother of all his children, died in Stamford, June 16, 1658. Their children : Jonathan, Timothy, Joshua, Caleb, Sarah, Ruth and Hannah were born in Waterford. Moses and Lydia, it is thought, were born after the removal to Stamford. Descent to James Knapp is traced through Caleb, the fourth son.
(II) Caleb Knapp, son of Nicholas and Eleanor Knapp, was born Jan. 20, 1637, and in 1648 was taken to Stamford with the family. His will is dated Oct. 3. 1674, and in it is named his wife Hannah, and children: Caleb, John, Moses, Samuel, Sarah and Hannah. Descent in this branch is through the second son John.
(III) John Knapp, son of Caleb and Hannah Knapp, was born in Stamford, Conn., July 25, 1664, and there spent his life. He married, June 10, 1692, Hannah Ferris, and they were the parents of five children : Samuel, John (2), Hannah, Charles, Deborah. This line traces through John (2), the second son.
(IV) John (2) Knapp, son of John (1) and Hannah (Ferris) Knapp, was born in Stamford, Conn., Aug. 14, 1697. He married and among his children was a son John (3).
(V) John (3) Knapp, son of John (2) Knapp, was born about 1730, and settled in Danbury, Conn. In the history of Stamford he is named as having served for 223 days in the Revolutionary army, during the year 1776. He married Ruth Gregory, and they were the parents of seven children : Samuel, Elizabeth, Jehu, Ruth, John, Chloe and Levi. With John, the fifth child, Connecticut ceased to be the family seat, he settling in Chautauqua county, N. Y.
(VI) John (4) Knapp, son of John (3) and Ruth (Gregory) Knapp, was born Nov. 17, 1767. In Novem- ber, 1821, he settled on lot No. 49 in the town of Har- mony, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and is buried in Panama in the same town. He married Lois Wood, and they were the parents of ten children: Noah, who came to Harmony with his father in 1821, settled on the
adjoining lot, No. 41, and later inherited the homestead farm; Lucy, married a Mr. Kilpatrick; Levi; Lucinda, married a Mr. Haines, and lived in Panama; Nancy, married a Mr. Joslyn; John, who died in Auburn, N. Y .; Darius, of whom further; Orrin, who moved to Michigan; Cyrus, who was killed by a falling tree; Harriet, married Hiram Smith.
(VII) Darius Knapp, seventh child of John (4) and Lois (Wood) Knapp, was born April 24, 1805, and died Jan. 24, 1866. He was educated in the public school, and spent his life as a farmer. He was a land owner and a substantial citizen of Panama, Chautauqua county, and held some of the offices of the town of Harmony. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics was a Republican. He married Polly Edwards, born Nov. 3, 1807, and died Dec. 5, 1877. daughter of Ebenezer and Sibyl (Seeley ) Edwards. They were the parents of five children: Ebenezer, died young; Elpha, died young; Charles, born May 16, 1838, married Alice Berry, and died Sept. 10, 1868; Mary, born May 31, 1840, married Henry C. Steward; James, of whom further.
(VIII) James Knapp, youngest child of Darius and Polly (Edwards) Knapp, was born at the farm in the town of Harmony, Chautauqua county, N. Y., Sept. 23, 1841, and died in Jamestown, in the same county, March 20, 1910. He was educated in the public schools, and spent his youth upon the farm, his father's assistant, and after the death of Darius Knapp in 1866 he succeeded to the ownership and management of the estate. He resided in the village of Panama and there conducted farming operations until 1889, when he moved to James- town, which was his home until death, twenty-one years later. In Jamestown he engaged in the real estate business and in the care of his personal estate. He was a capable business man, and to his inherited wealth made substantial additions. He was kindly-hearted and generous, public-spirited and deeply interested in public affairs. He was a Republican in politics, and an attend- ant on the services of the Baptist church. He was a man of quiet domestic tastes, devoted to his home and family, eschewing club and fraternity life. His life was a useful and honorable one, and he passed away deeply regretted. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.
James Knapp married, at Panama, Jan. 6, 1869, Ellen Lewis, born in Panama, Oct. 24, 1846, who survives her husband, a resident of Jamestown. Mrs. Knapp is a daughter of Perrin Lewis, and a granddaughter of Emos Lewis, born in April, 1773, and died April 26, 1861, a resident of Rutland county, Vt. His wife Eunice was born in 1772, and died May 15, 1862. Their son, Perrin Lewis, was born in Rutland county, Vt., April 2, 1803, and died Jan, 29, 1890. He was a cabinetmaker by trade, and until 1832 resided in Vermont, then came to Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he worked at his trade and operated a farm. Perrin Lewis married (first) Oct. 27, 1825, Emily Frances, born Nov. 30, 1806, died Nov. 25, 1826. He married (second) Feb. 7, 1827, Lury Cook, born Dec. 8, 1803, died Jan. 30, 1892, daughter of Francis and Susanna Cook, of Hamburg, Erie county, N. Y. Francis Cook died in 1810, leaving a widow and seven children who lived in Hamburg. During the second war with Great Britain the Cook home was visited by the Indians and Lury was sent by
352
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
her mother to obtain aid. She could not return, and it was not until after the burning of Buffalo in 1814 that the Indians departed and the Cook family were reunited. Perrin and Lury (Cook) Lewis were the parents of the following children: Emily, died at the age of eleven years; Cherlina, married (first) Dr. John R. Bush, (second) William Walrodt; Martha, married Moses Bush: Eunice, died at the age of two years : Alta. married Rev. Austin D. Bush ; Eunice (2), died young; William Henry, removed to Iowa; Ellen, born Oct. 24. 1846. now the widow of James Knapp; Charles Albert, moved to Michigan.
James and Ellen (Lewis) Knapp were the parents of two children : 1. Lewis D., born in Panama, N. Y., Oct. 8. 18;2; he was educated in the grade and high schools of Jamestown, finishing at Jamestown Business College; he engaged in the drug business in Jamestown for five years, but has for many years devoted himself to the management of the family estate; he is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Baptist church. 2. Mabel, born Feb. 28, 1874, died April 16, 1003; she was educated in the Jamestown grade and high schools; she became the wife of Royal C. Burnham, Sept. 14, 1893; Mr. and Mrs. Burnham had a son Kenneth, born Oct. 9, 1894; they reside in Lancaster. Cal. ; she was a devoted member of the Baptist church, and a woman of gentle, lovable Christian nature.
DR. MATTHEW S. MOORE-Placed in these pages as a memorial to Dr. Moore, this record has especial value from the fact that the greater part of its text is quoted from the writings of a close personal friend of Dr. Moore's. the Hon. Oscar W. Johnson. Many years have passed since Dr. Moore went in and out of Chautauqua county homes on his missions of ministration to bodily ills, but the influence of a life such as his can never be lost, and the example of a min who used his opportunities to a splendid end will lony stand as an inspiration and example to those who i How him.
Dr. Moore's family has been prominent in the history of South Carolina for a number of generations. His grandfather, Richard Richardson, and in more recent years his cousins, James Richardson, John L. Manning, and Richard Manning, each served as governors of the State. The family is connected by both blood and marriage & George McDuffie, Wade Hampton, the war governor of Reconstruction Days, the Pinckneys, all of whom tok prominent part in the carly history of the nation. flis cousin, Angelica Singleton, married the er of Morun Van Buren, and, the wife of President Van Biren beine then deca ol, she pre ided as lady of the White Ilon- during his administration.
Mathew Singleton Moore was born in Viken, S. C. He roeised his literary education at the University of Virgin, and his professional education at Jefferson Mednel College, Philadelphia. fle was an only child, and his father died in infancy. fle inherited about ;6 acres of cotten bearing lands, which gave him an inc the bevend his wants or desires, but this did not pre- vert is practicing his profession, which he loved as a m'ar of alk wating human suffering.
At the commencement of the Civil War, he was appointed surgeon of the First South Carolina Artillery and was rationed at Fort Sumter from the surrender
of General Anderson to the close of the war. When the war closed, his wealth had vanished; his plantations were a barren waste; his associates and friends had been scattered like leaves in the tempest; the tax gatherer made demands he could not meet; a large family demanded protection and support. He resolved to come North and prepare a new home for them. The advice of Dr. Strong, of Westfield, an early friend, led him to visit Fredonia in 1867. He called upon many of our citizens, and with a characteristic frankness told them of the part he had taken in the war, of his desire, if they could welcome him as a man and physician, regardless of the past, to cast his lot among them. He asked no charity that he did not give. From the hour of this meeting all were his friends. They recognized a brave and magnanimous man, struggling against adversity. If they thought he had erred they knew he had never sinned against his own convictions. In about two years he removed his family.
The incidents in the life of Dr. Moore are easily written, but when we attempt to describe the man, as he seemed to us, we feel inadequate to the task. In head and heart he was an exemplification of true man- hood. He was a man of broad and liberal culture, whose thoughts and studies were not bounded by the limits of professional investigation. His mind was enriched by books and by a close observation of life in many forms. The northern and the southern heart had been opened to him; he had been tried by prosperity and adversity. He was distinguished for his courtesy, not the courtesy that is prescribed by rules, but that which comes from the eye, that is quick to see, and the heart overflowing with kindness and generous im- pulses toward all humanity. As a physician he was the acknowledged peer of the ablest in Western New York. His cheerful nature and genial sympathy endeared him to every family he visited. His cheerfulness was won- derful, and it did not desert him when he was con- scious that disease was upon him and that "he was walking in the valley of the shadow of death." He said to the writer that he did not fear to die, that he had been face to face with death until it had lost all terrors, but he shrank from the long suffering and helplessness which sometimes attended his disease and which no human skill could alleviate. All this was mercifully spared him, as in the twinkling of an eye death affixed its seal upon the features where his accustomed smile still lingered.
Dr. Moore had a heart large enough for the North and the South and he loved them both, and after the whirlwind of war had passed would have given his life that they should remain "one and inseparable" forever. Ile chose to sleep his last sleep among his Northern friends, not forgetting, however, his child- hood's home in the sunny South or the graves of gener- ations of his kindred with whom he had once hoped to rest. He had as much of his practice and as many friends in Dunkirk as in Fredonia. At his funeral services, which were held in the Protestant Episcopal church, hundreds of families from both places were represented, and the exhibition of sorrow was as if death had smitten one in every household. As his affections and sympathies and charities were broader than any school, class or sect, so from all sources alike came the tributes of respect to his true and loyal nature.
archer Relloone
353
BIOGRAPHICAL
Surely in his earlier home, friends with tenderer hands and warmer hearts could not have borne him to his last resting place or felt a more assured hope that it will be well with him hereafter.
Dr. Matthew Singleton Moore and his wife, Martha Screven (Murray) Moore, were the parents of eleven children : Matthew S., Jr., Elizabeth B., John I., Sarah R., Arthur Rose; Samuel M .; Martha and Screven, twins; Mary C., Burchell R., and MacDonald. Dr. Moore died Jan. 6, 1884, aged fifty-six years.
Mrs. Moore is a descendant of John Hart, who came from England to Pennsylvania with William Penn in 1682, and in 1683 married Susanna Rush, of Byberry, near Philadelphia. John Hart was the eldest son of Christopher and Mary Hart. From John and Susanna Hart the descent is as follows: Their eldest son, John Hart, married Eleanor Crispin; their fifth son, Oliver Hart, married Sarah Brees, of Bucks county, Pa .; their eldest daughter, Eleanor Hart, married Thomas Screven, March 6, 1770, he a son of Thomas and Mary Screven, of Charleston, S. C .; their eldest daughter, Martha Screven, married Benjamin Bonneau, Feb. 26, 1795; their only child, Elizabeth Vanderhorst Bonneau, married Samuel J. Murray, May 25, 1820; their fourth child, Martha Screven Murray, born Dec. 18, 1826, married Dr. Matthew Singleton Moore.
ARTHUR ROSE MOORE-For thirty-five years, 1885-1920, Arthur R. Moore has been engaged in the practice of law in Fredonia, N. Y., having opened offices there immediately upon his admission to the bar. The years have brought him the rewards of his profession as well as the esteem of his fellow-townsmen, and he is most highly regarded both as a professional man and as a citizen.
Arthur Rose Moore was born in Slateburg, Sumter county, S. C., Jan. 1, 1855. He was named for a college friend of his father, Dr. Arthur Rose, of Charleston, S. C. He spent the first fourteen years of his life in his native place, being under the tuition of governesses and private instructors. After coming to Chautauqua county, N. Y., he attended Westfield Academy for two years, then pursued the classical course at the State Normal and Training School, Fredonia, for four years, following his classical course with two years' study in medicine in his father's office. But the medical pro- fession did not appeal to him and he discontinued study thereof to begin the study of law under the preceptor- ship of Norris & Lambert, Fredonia, N. Y. He was admitted to the New York bar at Buffalo in January, 1885. and at once began practice in Fredonia and so continues to the present (1920). In February, 1885. he was admitted to practice in the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of New York, and on Jan. 25, 1895, on motion of Senator David B. Hill, of New York, was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. While his practice is general in character, Mr. Moore has given particular attention to probate, corporation and real estate law, and has often been appointed by the courts to important receiverships which were managed and closed success- fully and most satisfactorily. He is a member of the Bar Association of Northern Chautauqua and New York
State Bar Associations, and is held in high esteem by his brethren of the profession.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Moore was elected to that strongly Republican body, the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors, in 1886, representing the town of Pomfret for one term. He was elected president of the Fredonia Village Corporation in 1895, and while holding that office was appointed by President Grover Cleveland postmaster of Fredonia to fill out an unexpired term. That appointment was made in March, 1895, and in Feb- ruary, 1896, was followed by appointment for a full term of four years. Upon the expiration of his term in February, 1900, the Republicans not being able to agree upon a successor, he held over until the end of the year, about ten months. It being contrary to the law to hold the office of postmaster in connection with any other public office, Mr. Moore resigned his office of pres- ident of the village, but the trustees refused to accept it. The post office department ruled that inasmuch as he had resigned he had complied with the law and advised that he take no further action. He continued as village president until the expiration of his term, then of course declined reelection. In 1894-95, he was chairman of the Chautauqua County Democratic Committee; from 1900 to 1907, inclusive, member of the board of managers of the State Normal and Training School, Fredonia, secre- tary-treasurer of that board, 1904 and 1905, and chair- man, 1906-1907, inclusive. He is a member of the Masonic order and a past master of Forest Lodge, No. 166, of Fredonia, having been master of that lodge in 1890-1891. He is a member and senior warden of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church of Fredonia.
Mr. Moore married, at Louisville, Ky., June 6, 1895, Sally Doom Macleod, daughter of John and Mary L. (Doom) Macleod, her father a prominent railroad and bridge engineer. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are the parents of five children: Matthew Singleton, who died July 23, 1913, aged sixteen years; John Macleod, Arthur Rose, Jr., Mary Elizabeth, Sally Macleod.
From boyhood a resident of the village which has ever since been his home and place of business, Mr. Moore has won the confidence and good will of his townsmen to a remarkable degree, and in return has given them his best efforts as a professional man, a public official, and is found in support of all movements tending to Fredonia's good. Public-spirited, courteous and efficient, he has a wealth of friends whom he loyally serves as opportunity permits.
ZATTU CUSHING-A great deal of pioneer his- tory centers around Zattu Cushing, born in Plymouth, Mass., in 1770. His father losing his fortune by the depreciation of Continental money, Zattu Cushing was apprenticed to a Boston ship carpenter, with whom he served his full time. He moved from Boston to Sara- toga county, thence to Oneida county, N. Y., where he cleared a farm. In 1779 he was employed to build a vessel at Presque Isle, now Erie, Pa., and on his way back to Oneida county he stopped over night in the wilderness of Fredonia, and was so pleased that he resolved to make the place his home. In February, 1805, he left Oneida county for this purpose with his wife and children. Two sleds, each drawn by a yoke
Chau-23
354
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
of oxen, carried his family and worldly goods. They were three weeks performing the journey which now is, by the flyer on the railroad, performed in seven hours. They started from Buffalo on the ice to go up the lake. At night a terrible tempest came unexpect- edly. They feared to move. as there were points where the ice was broken. The judge blew the old-fashioned dinner horn at intervals, thinking it might attract some settlers. Two men heard it, and taking it for a signal of distress, came with lanterns and piloted them ashore near the mouth of Eighteen Mile creek. Before day- light the ice had receded miles from the shore. When he reached Canadaway he found the lot he designed for a home had been taken up by Thomas McClin- tock, but fortunately he found a partly-built log house, which made them a home for the winter. He drove four cows. and brought a barrel of salt, a half-bushel of apple seeds, and two men to assist in chopping. His apple seeds were the germs of the oldest orchards in Chautauqua. He procured potatoes for planting from the Indians. Zattu Cushing was eminently a pions man. His first thought when he came into the wilder- ness was to establish a church. This he did with the help of eight others, two of whom were women. Thus the first Baptist church was organized, and services held in his barn, which was the most spacious edifice in the community. He was a licensed preacher, and for years held regular meetings in the back settlements, men coming for miles to listen to him.
Up to 1807 all the county was the township of Chau- tauqua, with the town meetings at the Cross Roads, now Westfield. Judge Cushing rallied all the voters of his part of the county to go to Westfield, and they voted the town meeting here. This caused the creation of Pomfret. At its first town meeting he was elected overseer of the poor. In 1808 he was appointed one of the judges of Niagara county, of which Erie county was a part, and tried and sentenced to prison the first convict from Buffalo. At the organization of Chautau- qua county in 1811, he was appointed first judge. Law- yers from Buffalo would come and stay with him over Sunday, and on Monday they would go on horseback through the woods to Mayville. He served as a private in the War of 1812. He was delivering a Fourth of July oration when news came of the landing of some British soldiers at the mouth of the Canadaway. For a wonder, the orator hastened to the scene of danger more rapidly than his audience. James Mullett and Daniel W. Douglass in their haste undertook to ride one horse, which fell with them and left them help- le-, at the roadside. Seldom in the history of war ha, the whole cavalry of an army been rendered use- les, by a single accident. The two heroes were covered with mud instead of glory.
In 1817 a law was passed to aid agricultural societies, which were to be organized at the court house in the respe tive counties. Two or three days before the time, the judge rode from house to house as far as Cattaraugn creek and notified every man to rally for May ille. The judge headed the procession of several hundred. There were not as many horses as men, so some would ride a certain distance and tie the horse to give the footman behind a chance. At the appointed hour they emerged from the forest, filled the court
house, organized with Judge Cushing as chairman, and voted the "Fair" to Fredonia. Premiums remitted for the purpose formed the nucleus for the Fredonia Acad- emy Library.
In 1826. just after the opening of the Erie canal, Judge Cushing built, in company with others, a canal boat within the limits of Fredonia, using the tools he used to build the "Good Intent" at Erie thirty years before. The boat, named "The Fredonia Enterprise," was drawn to Dunkirk by one hundred yoke of oxen, loaded with wheat by Todd & Douglass, and towed to Buffalo by the steamer "Lake Superior." This was the first wheat ever shipped from Chautauqua to the New York market.
In 1816 the wife of Judge Cushing died. Up to that time many of the residents had never attended a funeral in Chautauqua county. They came on foot and on horseback and with ox-teams from the remotest towns to pay the last tribute of respect to the dead.
In the hard season of 1816, blessed with ample means, Judge Cushing would not sell his grain, but loaned it to be returned when harvests should come to the borrower. When his family remonstrated with him for indiscriminate benevolence, he told them it was better to aid ten hypocrites than to turn away one that was needy.
In 1822, after fourteen years of service, he retired from the bench with the reputation of an upright, dig- nified, and clear-headed judge. He was a peacemaker. Men gathered around his deathbed for a council. His influence was not in his words as a preacher, but in the heroic Christian life back of it. He died in 1839, respected, honored, even reverenced, by his fellow-men.
Six hundred acres of land converted from the wilder- ness to cultivated fields attested his energy. He was an ardent patriot, but to him the vision of the great struggle to be waged for the life of the Republic, and in which the heroism of his grandson was to make the name of Cushing immortal in history, did not come.
At the first term of court held after the death of Judge Cushing, Jan. 13, 1839, the bar of Chautauqua county procured his portrait, as the first judge of Chautauqua county, to be hung in the court house over the judge's bench. By vote of the supervisors of Chautauqua county, a group of photographs of his four heroic grandsons are now fittingly placed beneath this portrait.
THE CUSHING BROTHERS-Dr. Milton Buck- ingham Cushing, son of Judge Zattu and Rachel (Buck- ingham) Cushing, was born at Paris, N. Y., July 20, 1800, and died at Gallipolis, Ohio, April 22, 1847. He was a physician and a merchant, and an energetic, clear-sighted, persevering business man of high char- acter and vigorous intellect, influential and public- spirited.
Dr. Cushing married (first) Abigail Browning Tup- per, who died in Zanesville, Ohio, daughter of Col. Tupper, grandson of Gen. Tupper of the Revolution; her mother, a daughter of Gen. Rufus Putnam. There were three children born of this marriage: Benjamin Tupper, a law partner of Salmon P. Chase, in Colum- bus, Ohio, where he died at the age of twenty-five; Edward Anselm, a physician, who died before reach-
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.