USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume III > Part 67
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S. RAY FAIRBANKS-Among the attorneys of Fredonia, N. Y., may be mentioned S. Ray Fairbanks, who occupies a prominent place in the community. Mr. Fairbanks was born in Cherry Creek township, Chan- tauqua county, N. Y., on his father's farm, Feb. 7. 1876, and is a sen of Monroe and Ellen F. ( James) Fairbanks. The elder Mr. Fairbanks is a farmer and is still con- ducting his own farm, despite his seventy odd years. He is one of the sturdy old "gentlemen of the old . . 1, o1." and is well known In his vicinity.
While still a child, S. Ray Fairbanks accompanied His parents to the village of Cherry Creek, and it was in thi pler that he received a portion of his elementary education. The family did not remain here very long, how. er. let returned to the farm, and S. Ray attended the district chool-, later entering the Ellington High School, where he was prepared for college, and gradu- ated ir m this institution in 1805. He then taught in the d .r . school for a short period of time. In the fall of 1-4,6, he tha'riculated in Valparaiso University in Valara. (. Ind .. taking a course in law. afterwards acolite the Chicago Law School, where he obtained the degree of Ll .. B. in the spring of 1898. During the Spanish-American War, he and four members of his
class answered the first call of President Mckinley for volunteers, and enlisted in the First Illinois Cavalry, in which regiment he remained during the period of the war. He received his honorable discharge from the army in October, 1898. Mr. Fairbanks then returned to Cherry Creek, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and imme- diately discovered that there was very little oppor- tunity for a young lawyer to make any headway in this town, so he therefore took the civil service examination in January, 1899, and entered the government employ in connection with the postoffice district in Fredonia. After five years in this service, he began a clerkship in the law office of Sterns & Thrasher, prominent attor- neys of Fredonia, and in 1906 he was admitted to prac- tice in the courts of the State of New York. For a short time he was connected with the firm of Warner, Farnham & Fairbanks, with offices in Dunkirk and Fre- donia, which connection was severed in 1908, since which time he has been practicing his profession independently. Mr. Fairbanks is very prominent in the social and club life of Fredonia, and is a member of the Bar Associa- tion of Northern Chautauqua, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Cherry Creek, the Sons of Veterans, the United Spanish War Veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Dunkirk, and the United States Letter Carriers' Association. In politics, Mr. Fairbanks is a Republican, and has served eight years as justice of the peace. For six years Mr. Fairbaks was a member of the Republican county committee of Chau- tauqua county.
Mr. Fairbanks was united in marriage in Fredonia, Sept. 1, 1900, with Sara E. Pringle, a daughter of Charles and Alice Pringle, old and highly respected residents of Fredonia. Two children have been born of this union, Dorothy M. and Stuart.
CHARLES STILLMAN CLELAND, M. D .- Among the eminent physicians of Chautauqua county, Dr. Charles S. Cleland, of Sinclairville, occupies a lead- ing position. He descends from an early Chautauqua family, John Cleland, Jr., coming in March, 1810, and Nathan and Oliver Cleland in March, 1811, their brother Samuel and father, John Cleland, Sr., and family com- ing in the fall of the same year and finding a home in the now town of Charlotte. The marriage of one of the family, Moses Cleland, in the fall of 1811, to Sally Anderson, hy Rev. John Spencer, was the first marriage ceremony performed in the town. Dr. Cleland descends through Nathan, son of John and Thankful (Eaton) Cleland, and grandson of James Cleland, the founder of the family, a Scotchman. Dr. Cleland is the fifth generation of his family in America, and of the fourth in Chautauqua county. Since 1882 Dr. Cleland has been engaged in medical practice, and since 1896 in Sinclair- ville. He has won the true regard of his brethren of the profession, and in the estimation of the public he is the learned and skillful physician and esteemed citizen.
(1) James (2) Cleland, the founder of his family in America, was the son of James ( 1) Cleland, a man of wealth and education, who married Miss Bruce, and at the time of the birth of his son, James (2), was living in Edinburgh, Scotland. James (2) Cleland left his native land in 1750 and came to New England, settling in Boston, where he later married Thankful Wilder.
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They were the parents of seven children : Samuel, Thomas, James, a soldier of the Revolution; John, of further mention; Helen, Molly, and Hannah.
(II) John Cleland, son of James (2) and Thankful (Wilder) Cleland, was born in Eastern Massachusetts, Feb. 16, 1758, and settled in the town of Plainfield, in his native State. When a young man of twenty he en- tered the Revolutionary struggle on the side of the colonies, and from 1778 to 1780 he was in the army, serving in the company commanded by Captain Thomas, and in the regiment led by Colonel Milk. Part of this time he was General Putnam's personal orderly, and always in active service. In 1807, with his wife and eight children, he came to New York State, settling in Otsego county, there remaining until the spring of 1811, when two of the sons, attracted by the recent opening up of Chautauqua county in Western New York, made the journey and settled in Charlotte, then the town of Gerry. Their reports being favorable, John Cleland, with the remaining members of the family, made the journey in the fall of 1811. John Cleland bought land in township 4, range II, in 1811, but the others settled on lot 54, section 12, east of Charlotte Center, the tract containing 330 acres, which was later largely brought under cultivation. John Cleland, the father, died at the farm, Feb. 16, 1827, aged sixty-nine years. His widow, Thankful, survived him until July 19, 1844, when she was laid by his side in Charlotte Center Cemetery, her age at death, eighty-seven years.
John Cleland married, in East Windsor, Conn., April 27, 1780, Thankful Eaton, of an old Connecticut family, born April 12, 1757. Descendants of John Eaton, who came to New England in the ship "Elizabeth Ann," April 27, 1635, settled in Watertown, Mass., later in Connecticut, and still later in New York State. Thank- ful Eaton, it is believed, was one of the thirteen chil- dren of Nathaniel and Esther (Parry) Eaton, her father a son of Thomas Eaton, son of John (2) Eaton, son of John (1) Eaton, the founder. John and Thankful (Eaton) Cleland were the parents of: Beriah, born Nov. 15, 1781; Edna, born June 28, 1782; Samuel, born Sept. 1, 1784, died in infancy; Samuel (2), born May 14, 1788; Thankful, born April 22, 1790: John and James (2) (twins), born Feb. 19, 1792; Oliver, born Oct. 25, 1793; Nathan, born March 5, 1795; Martin, born April 10, 1797. The four Cleland brothers, Samuel, John, Oliver, and Nathan, lived to a great age, notwith- standing their severe pioneer experiences. In the "Centennial History of Chautauqua County," published in 1904, was a group engraving of the four brothers showing them all as old men.
(III) Nathan Cleland, son of John and Thankful (Eaton) Cleland, was born in Plainfield, Hampshire county, Mass., Sept. 10, 1795, and died at his farm in the town of Charlotte, Chautauqua county, N. Y., Sept. 10, 1887, having attained the great age of ninety-two years. He was twelve years of age when taken by his parents to New York State. When sixteen years of age, in the spring of 1811, he was sent with his brother Oliver to investigate Chautauqua lands and their report being favorable, the entire family made the journey, and a tract of 330 acres east of Charlotte Center be- came the homestead farm. There Nathan and his brothers and sisters grew to years of maturity, but each
founded homes of their own, when taking a wife, Na- than purchasing a farm in the town of Stockton, but later moving again to the town of Charlotte, where his long and useful life ended in 1887. He was a man of great energy, strength and perseverance, a true type of the hardy pioneer who caused the forest to retreat before the fields, and the wild things of the forest to acknowl- edge their master and pass out of existence. Gleaming rails carry the products of Chautauqua to distant mar- kets, and the life of the descendants of the Clelands find their lines cast in pleasant places, this due to the old pioneers, whose courage and self-sacrifice knew no bounds.
Nathan Cleland married, Nov. 9, 1820, Electa Batchel- dor, born April 12, 1797, died Aug. 6, 1869, daughter of Elijah and Rebecca (Dewitt) Batcheldor. Mr. and Mrs. Cleland were the parents of eight children: Elvina D., born Sept. 7. 1821, married July 6, 1848, Mr. Gorman ; Milo, born July 16, 1824, married, Nov. 10, 1871, Mar- garet Thompson; Thankful, born March 8, 1829, mar- ried, July 21, 1865, John Gorman ; Electa R., born June 2, 1831, married, Dec. 31, 1854, Samuel B. Irwin; Na- than M., of further mention: Jane N. and John E. (twins), born June 12, 1836; and Dolly Ann, born May 26, 1839, died young.
(IV) Nathan M. Cleland, son of Nathan and Electa (Batcheldor) Cleland, was born at the home farm in the town of Stockton, Oct. 20, 1833, and died at his home in the town of Charlotte, Dec. 19, 1913. He was educated in the district school, and from youth was a farm worker. He was his father's able assistant in farm management until his father's passing in 1887, then became managing owner. His farm was his home and sole business interest from youth until old age, and for twenty-six years he was its sole managing head, although he had many years prior to the death of Na- than Cleland borne the entire responsibility. After coming into ownership he made many improvements and erected the present modern farm residence. The farm of 208 acres is well improved and a most desirable property. In politics Mr. Cleland was a Republican and active in town affairs, serving as justice of the peace, road commissioner and coroner. In religious faith he was a Baptist.
Nathan M. Cleland married, in the town of Gerry, May 16, 1861, Catherine M. Hooper, daughter of Eze- kiel and Betsey (Tompkins) Hooper. and a grandniece of Governor Tompkins of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Cleland were the parents of three children: Charles Stillman, of further mention; Owen M., whose sketch follows; Grace, wife of Charles Sears, and a resident of Sinclairville, Chautauqua county.
(V) Charles Stillman Cleland, eldest son of Nathan M. and Catherine M. (Hooper) Cleland, was born at the home farm in the town of Charlotte, Chautauqua county, New York. July 3, 1862. After completing pub- lic school courses of study. finishing in the Sin- clairville High School, he taught school for four years in Charlotte public schools and for a time in Tidioute, Warren county, Pa., During those years he resided at the home farm and read medicine with Dr. A. A. Ste- vens. He next entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, but a year later he withdrew and finished his medical study at the medical department of
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the University of Baltimore, whence he was graduated M. D .. class of 188 ;.
With his newly acquired honors, Dr. Cleland began practice in South Dayton, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., and there remained two years, gaining needed experi- ence and confidence. From South Dayton he moved in 1850 to Collins. Erie county, N. Y., and there he continued in successful practice for seven years. He closed out his practice in Collins in 1806, and located in Sinclairville, his old home district, succeeding Dr. Frank A. Stevens. For nearly a quarter of a century Dr. Cleland has practiced medicine in Sinclairville, his standing as a careful diagnostician and skillful physi- cian being very high. During this entire period. 1896- 1020. he has been health officer of the village and has as scrupulously observed his public duties as his private practice. He is a member of the Chautauqua County Medical Society. New York State Medical Society. and American Medical Association, keeping in close touch with all advance in medical science through these so- cieties. their meetings and their literature. He has practiced his healing art over the district his forefathers helped to subdue a century ago, and has builded a name and fame as enduring as theirs. Dr. Cleland is a mem- ber of Sinclairville Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; president of Sinclairville Free Public Library; and in politics, a Democrat of the Cleveland-Wilson type.
Dr. Cleland married in Tidioute, Warren county, Pa., lda L. Irvin, born in Tidioute, daughter of William and Charity (MeGrath) Irvin. Dr. and Mrs. Cleland are the parents of a son. Elmer Owen, of further mention.
(VI) Dr. Elmer Owen Cleland, only child of Dr. Charles S. and Ida L. (Irvin) Cleland, was born in South Dayton, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., June 20, 1888, and died at the home of his parents in Sinclairville, Oct. 19, 1910. He was eight years of age when his parents made Sinclairville their permanent home, and there he completed public school study with graduation from high school, class of 1009. Choosing the profes- sion of dentistry, he entered the dental department of Baltimore Medical College, whence he was graduated D. D. S .. class of 1912. After receiving his degree he located in Greenville. Mercer county, Pa., continuing in practice there until his death. During the period of war between the United States and Germany, 1917-1918, Dr. Cleland was enrolled in the Medical Reserve force and was assigned to Base Hospital No. 42, at Pittsburgh, Pa., and ordered to report for duty, Oct. 17. 1918. On that da'e he was suffering from an attack of influenza, from which he never recovered, the immediate cause of his death a year later being attributed to bronchial pneumonia. He was very successful in his profession, and socially very popular. He was a member of Sin- clairville Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Greenville Lodge, No. 140, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. and of the Bessemer Club. He was stricken just on his's threshold and with every promise of a brilliant professional career before him. He was buried with many others of his family in the cemetery at Sinclair- ville.
Dr. Charle S. Cleland, now in the full prime of his physical powers, with mind enriched with the years of constan' practice and study, and with the calm and sober judgment which the years alone can give, occu-
pies an enviable position in his community, He is the loved confidant and trusted adviser of young and old, and is no less highly valued as friend and neighbor than as a physician. His is a genial, social, friendly nature, and as his personality attracts, so his sterling quality re- tains the friendship of all who come within the wide circle of his influence.
OWEN M. CLELAND was born at the home farm in Charlotte, Chautauqua county, N. Y., May 9, 1864, son of Nathan M. and Catherine M. (Hooper) Cleland (q. v.). He received his early education in the district schools, and later attended high school at Ellington, N. Y. After laying aside his text books, Mr. Cleland assisted his father in his stock and dairy farming until the latter's retirement from active business, when Owen M. assumed the entire management of the farm and continued extensive dairy farming and stock raising. The pride of the farm is its fine herd of principally Holstein cattle, and its dairy is one of the best equipped in the town. Mr. Cleland also conducts general farming operations, and is the largest grower of cabbage in the county. He is a charter member and past master of Charlotte Grange, No. 669, Patrons of Husbandry, and takes a deep interest in its business and social affairs. He is also a member of Sylvan Lodge, No. 303, Free and Accepted Masons, of Sinclairville, and of the Order of the Eastern Star. In politics, Mr. Cleland is a Re- publican, but in local affairs supports the men and measures that he thinks are for the best interests of all the people. He has served Charlotte as justice of the peace, and is one of the substantial, progressive men of his town. In religious affiliation, Mr. Cleland and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Charlotte Center.
Mr. Cleland married, Nov. 11, 1890, Ethlyn Hollen- beck, born in Gerry township. Mrs. Cleland is a popular member of the Eastern Star and Grange, and is active in their social activities. Mr. and Mrs. Cleland are the parents of three sons: 1. J. Clayton, born Aug. 26, 1804: educated in grammar and high school and Cor- nell University-agricultural course-now his father's farm assistant ; he is a member of the Patrons of Hus- handry ; Sylvan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; New York State Young Men's Christian Association; and politically, a Republican. 2. Charles M., born Sept. 26, 1900, was educated in the same schools as his brother, and is an assistant in the management of the home farm; he is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. 3. Stillman, born Sept. 12, 1005, now attending school.
Thoroughly devoted to his business, Mr. Cleland worthily represents a class of men who cannot but be regarded as the bulwark of our nation, and a sure de- fense when the misrule of city and commonwealth brings confusion and unrest. The agriculturist who is a landowner has too much at stake to make experiments in political ceonomy, and is the rock upon which our national prosperity-nay our national life, rests. The reputation of a century of Clelands in the town of Char- lotte rests safely in his keeping, and he has given to the town a fourth generation of sons, who are agriculturists, trained in college for scientific farming.
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BENJAMIN TICHNOR SHELDON-The Shel- dons of Chautauqua county, N. Y., herein reviewed, descend from an ancient New England family, the founder, Isaac Sheldon, coming in 1626, and locating at Billerica, Mass, He was buried at Kingston, R. I., as was his brother John, who had located in Pawtucket, R. I. Isaac Sheldon left two sons, John and Isaac (2), the latter born in 1627. From Isaac (2) Sheldon sprang Tichnor Sheldon, who settled at Westfield, Chantau- qua county, N. Y., on a tract of 150 acres, which he cleared, improved, and cultivated for forty-five years. He was the father of Royal Edgerton Sheldon, and grandfather of Benjamin Tichnor Sheldon, a general merchant of Sinclairville, Charlotte township, Chantan- qua county. It was a beautiful tribute Obed Edson, Chautauqua's grand old man, paid to his friend, Royal Edgerton Sheldon, which appeared in the Sinclairville "Commercial," Feb. 8, 1907 :
In the death of Royal E. Sheldon the community has not only lost an excellent business man but a valuable and loyal citizen. He was a man of char- acter, nerve, aggressive, positive in his opinions, and outspoken in expressing them. If ever he found himself hasty, impulsive, or in error, he had that superior and rarest of virtues-the courage to promptly and frankly admit it.
Such was the confidence of the fellow-citizens of his ability that besides being selected to fill other important positions he was often chosen to represent them on the board of trustees of the village corpora- tion of which he also served as president. He was long a trustee of the old school district, and when that was dissolved, of the Union Free School, the village library, and of Evergreen Cemetery Association, of which he was for a period the efficient superintendent. In all these positions his energetic efforts, business experience and practical suggestions made him an influential and valuable member. He was always solicitous for the prosperity and honor of his town and village where he had lived so long. He was a friend of progress and education, and the first to take a positive position in favor of a Union Free School in the village. He was a sincere friend, had a warm heart, an affable disposition, and intellectual tastes. Sometimes it happens that we wait until the one we know is gone before we fully recognize and realize the merits of him whom death has removed. Mr. Sheldon will not soon be forgotten in the community, with others who once were leading citizens, promi- nently identified with its business interests, for his marked character, public spirit and useful life. OBED EDSON.
A full line of the ancestry of Benjamin T. Sheldon from Isaac Sheldon, the founder, follows :
Isaac (2) Sheldon, son of Isaac (1) Sheldon, was born in 1627. He married (first) Mary Woodford, who died in 1684 or 1686. He married (second) Mehetable Ensign, who died in 1720. He had thirteen children, descent being traced through Jonathan Sheldon, his son, born in 1689, died in 1769. Jonathan Sheldon married Mary Southwick, and they were the parents of ten children, including a son Daniel, born in 1715, died in 1796, who married Mary Herman, they the parents of ten children.
Seth Sheldon, son of Daniel and Mary (Herman) Sheldon, was born in 1739, died April 24, 1810. He married Hannah Hanchett, who died Ang. 20, 1820, and they were the parents of seven children, including a son, Seth (2) Sheldon, born in 1776, died in Chautauqua county, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1850. He married Philena Ed- gerton, who died in Chautauqua county, Dec. 14, 1853. They were the parents of eleven children: Nancy, born in 1800, married Walter Strong; Philena, married James Pratt ; Tichnor, of further mention; Alta, born in 1807, married Levi Ingalsle; Franklin, born in 1808;
Julia, born in 1811, married Eli Roberts; Esther, born in 1813, married Alexander A. Barker; Sarah, born in 1815, married Milton Barker ; Seth, born in 1818; David, born in 1821; Charles, born in 1824.
Tichnor Sheldon, eldest son of Seth (2) and Philena (Edgerton) Sheldon, was born in the town of Pawlet, Rutland county, Vt., Nov. 16, 1804, died at his home in the village of Sherman, Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1881. He married in Pawlet, Feb. 14, 1827, Lucinda Brown, born at Attleboro, Bristol county, Mass., Aug. 27, 1804. Soon after their marriage, Tichnor Sheldon and his wife moved to Chautauqua county, N. Y., set- tling in the town of Westfield on a tract of 150 acres, which was his home for forty-five years, the farm be- coming under his management most fertile and profita- ble. At the end of forty-five years' residence and op- eration of the Westfield farm, he retired to a home in the village of Sherman, there residing until his death in 1881. His wife, Lucinda, survived him until 1886, dying at the home of her son, Royal E. Both are buried in the village of Sherman. Children: Milton Brown, born Nov. 26, 1827; Herbert Franklin, born Oct. 12, 1831 ; Royal Edgerton, of further mention; Fanny Maria, born Feb. 23, 1842; died July 21, 1871; Edwin Morris, born March 18, 1847.
Royal Edgerton Sheldon, third son of Tichnor and Lucinda (Brown) Sheldon, was born Feb. 19, 1835, died in Sinclairville, Chantanqua county, N. Y., Feb. I, 1907, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery there. He obtained a good education, and in his younger years taught in the county district schools. Later he was clerk in a store at Andes, Delaware county, N. Y., also in a general store in Westfield, and finally went to Boston, Mass., where he added to his business educa- tion the city methods of merchandising. In 1861, he first came to Sinclairville, becoming a clerk in the store of John M. Brunson. When Mr. Brunson sold his business to Nelson Mitchell, Mr. Sheldon continued with the new proprietor as clerk, remaining until 1869, when he opened a general store in association with Edwin Williams, they conducting business as a firm until 1879. Mr. Williams then withdrew. Mr. Sheldon built the new store in 1883 and continued in business alone until 1889, when he admitted his son, Benjamin T. Sheldon, to a partnership, who later took over the commercial interests of his father, the latter then engaging in the seed business. Mr. Sheldon continued a successful busi- ness man of Sinclairville until his death at the age of seventy-two, having been a resident of Sinclairville for nearly forty years. He was well known and deeply respected for his sterling qualities. He was postmaster of Sinclairville from 1877 until 1884. His public-spirit and progressive nature led him to the support of every forward movement, and there was no limit to his in- terest in Sinclairville and her people. He served as president of the village, was a trustee of the Free Public Library, one of the organizers and a trustee of Evergreen Cemetery, and a one time superintendent, a trustee of the Baptist church, member of the village board of health, a Republican in politics, and in all things was the temperate, high-minded gentleman and successful business man.
Royal E. Sheldon married (first) Oct. 22, 1863, Caro- line Laurenda Bridgman, born in Vermont, daughter of John and Laura (Delano) Bridgman. Mrs. Sheldon was
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