USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 81
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* See the pioneer history of the town.
FRANKLIN HAND.
MRS. FRANKLIN HAND.
PHOTOS BY J. R ALUS, CHATHAM VILLAGE NY
LITH BY L H EVERTS & CO. PHILA, PA
RESIDENCE OF FRANKLIN HAND, LEBANON SPRINGS, N. Y.
HORATIO. N.HAND.
MRS. HANNAH E.HAND.
PHOTOS BY J R ALLIS, CHATHAMVILLAGE. N.Y.
LITH BY L. H EVERTS & CO PHILA.PA
RESIDENCE or MRS.HANNAH E.HAND, NEW LEBANON, N.Y.
315
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
well known, and a copy of the original petition, with other interesting papers, is in the possession of Franklin Hand, of Lebanon Springs.
In 1787 he purchased the farm which constitutes the homestead of Franklin Hand, of one Gideon King, who had first occupied and improved it, ereeting upon it a saw- mill, etc. King had become involved in debt, a portion of which he owed to Mr. Hand for two hundred bushels of wheat which he had purchased of him. That debt was the moving cause which brought Samuel Hand to New Leba- non, and made his numerous and influential descendants citizens of New York instead of Massachusetts. King was obliged to allow his place to be sold by the sheriff, and Mr. Hand was appealed to to purchase it. After repeated urgent solicitations, and the inducement to save the debt which King owed him, he consented that they might bid it in for him at the sale, and he would pay the price which it brought. He thus became owner of the estate, upon which he removed from Hancock with his family in the winter of 1787, and resided here till the time of his death, which occurred May 24, 1829, at the age of ninety-three years. The wealth of Mr. Hand at this time was unknown, and it was generally supposed that he had considerable money buried on the premises. About 1812 he had caused a family vault to be built, in which he had buried his father, Joseph Hand, who died Sept. 18, 1798, in the ninety- seventh year of his age, being the first person interred therein. Mr. Hand's remains rest in this family vault.
Samuel Hand, Jr., the son and successor of Hon. Samuel Hand, was born in Fairfield, Conn., Dec. 14, 1765, and removed with his parents first to Hancock, Mass., and thence to New Lebanon, at the dates above given, settling on the farm now occupied by Horatio B. Hand and his mother, Mrs. H. E. Hand, widow of the late Horatio N. Hand, where he spent the remainder of his days in the pursuit of agriculture.
Ira Hand, the father of Franklin and the late Samuel Hand, was born on the above place, May 31, 1799. On the death of his grandfather he removed to the place which had been willed to him-now occupied by Franklin Hand -at Lebanon Springs. He married Martha Rose, daughter of John Rose, of Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., April 4, 1824, and reared seven children,-six sons and one daughter. He was a prominent man in his town, serving as justice of the peace twenty years, and subsequently for four or five years as member of the board of supervisors, over which body he several times presided, and was chair- man of the committee on equalization in 1853. In his family, in the social circle, and in his neighborhood and town he was a man of marked character and influence, shedding everywhere the genial light of his intelligence, the bracing energy of his integrity, and the warmth of his friendship and affection. Few men have been more highly esteemed and respected than he. He departed this life suddenly on the 15th of October, 1864, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Mrs. Hand, who was a lady of more than ordinary intelligence and character, died Feb. 11, 1872, aged sixty- nine years.
Franklin Hand, the present worthy representative of the family, was born on his grandfather's farm, in the west part
of New Lebanon, June 20, 1825, and was removed to his present homestead by his father, in June, 1829, being then about four years of age. His advantages for education were such as the common schools of that day afforded, to which was added the inestimable blessing of intelligent and high- minded parents, whose influence in his intellectual develop- ment and the moral training of his childhood and youth, cannot be too highly estimated. Under these influences lie was reared till twenty-one years of age, when his father, to encourage his independence and self-direction, employed him two years to work on the farm.
In 1846 his father bought the place known as the Spencer farm, on which, in 1849, he placed Franklin and his brother Frederick, giving each of them a further opportunity to manage for themselves. Franklin was married to his first wife, Lucy Jane Green, of Cayuga county, on the 27th of February, 1850. She died in April, 1852. He married for his second wife, Sept. 8, 1858, Mary M. Spaulding, daughter of John Spaulding, of Cayuga county. Two children have blessed this union, viz., Minnie Amanda and Olive Rose Hand.
In the spring of 1864, at the instance of his father, Mr. Hand removed from the Spencer farm to the old house of his grandfather, which has been in the possession of the family for almost a century. In the settlement of the estate, upon the decease of his father, the homestead came into his pos- session. Valuable on account of its traditions and associa- tions, Mr. Hand has aimed to render it not less so in the modern improvements which he has made upon it. The inheritor of a large estate, he has expended liberally of its income in its improvement and decoration, and has one of the most desirable homes in this section of the State. Highly esteemed for his intelligence, moral worth, and energy of character, he has twice represented his town in the board of supervisors ; the second time, in 1878, he was elected without opposition.
HORATIO NELSON HAND
was born in New Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y., Dec. 22, 1807. He was a son of Samuel and Chloe (Waddams) Hand, early residents of the country, who settled first at Hancock, Mass., and then at Lebanon Springs, N. Y.
Horatio was brought up on his father's farm till twenty-one years of age, when he served an apprenticeship to the car- penter's trade, which occupation he followed about five years. He married Hannah E. Gardner, April 25, 1833, daughter of Benjamin and Didemma Gardner, of Rensselaer Co., N. Y. The fruit of this union was five children,- three sons and two daughters,-all living at this writing, viz. : Louisa, now Mrs. Ebenezer Smith Strait, of Troy, N. Y .; Cornelia, now Mrs. Charles B. Campbell, farmer, of New Lebanon ; Samuel, married Cornelia Elliott, farmer, residing at Malden, Columbia Co., N. Y .; Horatio Benja- min, married Mary Jane Waterbury, and resides on the old homestead in New Lebanon; Albert, married Mary E. Dickerman, of Spencertown, and is a farmer, residing in North Chatham.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Mr. Horatio N. Hand, after following the occupation of a carpenter five years, hired the " Hill farm" of his father, on which he resided fourteen years, when he purchased the present homestead, which he greatly improved and enlarged, erecting new buildings, where he spent the remainder of his life, occupying an honored and respectable position among his fellow-townsmen. He was a Republican in politics, and represented his town several years on the board of supervisors, and also held other minor offices of trust. He departed this life on the 10th of November, 1862, highly esteemed and respected by all who knew him. Mrs. Hand still survives him, and resides on the old homestead with her son, Horatio B. Hand. A view of their beautiful place appears on another page of this work.
WILLIAM B. COLE
was born on the farm where he now resides, in New Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y., March 5, 1810. He is a son of Joseph and Ruth (Gordon) Cole, the former born in the town of New Lebanon, Feb. 15, 1782, and the latter
WILLIAM B. COLE.
in Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., June 15, 1785. Jacob Cole, the grandfather of William B., was the first settler on the present farm, when the wilderness in which it was situ- ated was under the crown of Great Britain. The house shown in the engraving was built by him more than a hun- dred years ago. He was of German descent, and was born in New York city, Oct. 13, 1743; he died June 18, 1848, aged one hundred and five years. Before he came here he had been what is known as a " light pilot" under his father in the city of New York, engaged in guiding vessels into the harbor.
The place on which Mr. Cole lives has been handed down to him from his grandfather. His father, Joseph Cole, though born in Rensselaer county, was brought up here, and died here Sept. 18, 1819, aged thirty-seven years.
William B. Cole married Mary Ann Cadsey, of Stephen- town, Rensselaer Co., in 1834, and has one daughter, Harriett M., now Mrs. Henry Royce, of New Lebanon. His life has been devoted to the quiet pursuits of a farmer, in which he has laid up a competence for his future years, having bought out the heirs of both his father and grand- father, and having a large and valuable estate. He has resided here from his birth, almost sixty-nine years at this writing (July, 1878).
JOHN KENDALL.
Rev. Thomas Kendall, the grandfather of the above, was born in Massachusetts, and resided at an early time in the town of Millbury, Worcester Co. He was a missionary among the Narraganset Indians, and chaplain during a por- tion of the Revolutionary war.
Thomas Kendall, Jr., the only son of Rev. Thomas Ken- dall who arrived at maturity, was born in Millbury, Mas- sachusetts. He married Olive Crane, of Oxford, in that State, and had by her six sons and one daughter. One son by this marriage died in infancy. lle married for his second wife Martha Sparawk, by whom he had two daughters and one son, and the family (all living except the youngest son) removed to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y., in June, 1820.
The subject of this sketch, John Kendall, who was the oldest son by the first marriage, was born in Northbridge, Worcester Co., Mass., July 21, 1810, and was, consequently, ten years old at the time of the removal. His father was a mechanical genius, and began early in life to work and experiment in machinery for his own amusement. His ex- periments led him to consider the principle of graduating the degrees on the scale of the thermometer, and about the year 1820 he invented a machine for that purpose, giving with great accuracy a division of degrees conforming to the variations of calibre of the tube. This was the great diffi- culty to be overcome in the construction of the thermometer, and it was never successfully obviated till Mr. Kendall in- vented his machine. It was the result of close and accurate mathematical study, and the most ingenious application of mechanism. Mr. Kendall perfected his own standard be- tween the boiling and freezing points so completely that Prof. Henry says the degrees established by him conform almost exactly to the best standards obtained in London and Liver- pool.
After his removal to New Lebanon he established the manufacture of thermometers, which he continued during his life, and also constructed a barometer for his own use. He died at the age of forty-five, in December, 1831.
His son, John Kendall, inheriting much of his mechani- eal genius, and being brought up with him, naturally became interested in his father's occupation, and after the death of the latter took up the business, and has followed it most of the time since, building and furnishing his present well- equipped shop, and introducing many improvements in the way of machinery. In 1832 he added the manufacture of barometers, which he has continued to make, although his principal attention is devoted to the other branch of his
RESIDENCE OF H. A. TILDEN, NEW LEBANON, NEW YORK.
LITH. BY L.H EVERTS & CO PHILA, PA
317
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
occupation. Within the past ten or twelve years he has increased the capacity of his machinery so that he can now produce, if needed for the market, from forty to forty-five dozen thermometers per day. The machine invented by his father is now, however, no longer monopolized or kept a secret, but has come into general use, and the competition has very much reduced the profits of manufacturing. Mr. Kendall, however, makes a very popular thermometer, and supplies a fair share of the demand throughout the country.
He was married in 1832 to Deborah Avery, of New Lebanon, and has three children, all daughters. Thoughi an earnest advocate of Republican principles, and sometimes a hard worker at elections, he has never sought nor desired office for himself. He is universally esteemed for his in- tegrity and uprightness of character, and his genial dispo- sition has made him many warm friends.
HENRY A. TILDEN
was born April 1, 1821, in the town of New Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y., and has spent his days here for the most part, except when absent at school. In 1843 he became in part interested in a business which induced him in 1847 to lay the foundation of the extensive business in which he is now engaged,-the mannfacture of chemicals and medicinal preparations for the use of the medical pro- fession,-and which has become one of the largest interests of the kind in the United States. The business embraces a great variety of articles, and hence involves great detail in their handling and management, requiring not only com- plete order and system, but a knowledge and an assortment marvelous in extent and accuracy, combined with great organizing and executive qualities. For these Mr. Tilden is noted, and his laboratory and shops afford one of the best examples of organization in business to be found anywhere.
In connection with this business Mr. Tilden early organ- ized a printing department, and since 1857 has published the Journal of Materia Medica, a monthly periodical, with a circulation at this time of over twenty thousand copies. He also edited and published a " Book of Formula" of over four hundred pages, and a supplement to the Journal of Materia Medica of over three hundred pages, which is now in the hands of nearly every physician, and which contains an epitome of the properties of the indigenous materia medica of the United States, and has become a book of reference for physicians. The composition and printing of these books, as well as circulars, catalogues, labels, etc., is carried on in Mr. Tilden's establishment, which is furnished with several power-presses of different sizes.
Mr. Tilden was married in 1844 to Susan Gould, dangh- ter of General Gould, of Rochester, N. Y., and has six children living,-two sons and four daughters. The sons, at this writing, are in business with him at New Lebanon.
The business firm of Tilden & Co., with their usual enterprise, made arrangements to place their goods in a suitable manner before the International Exposition, at Paris, during the present year. A letter dated Paris, June 19, 1878, says,-
" The Exposition is well advanced, although we observe new ex- hibits in nearly all the scetions, especially in our own. There is one of which we cannot resist the temptation of giving a detailed account, namely, that of Messrs. Tilden & Co. The handsome pavilion is in black walnut and gilt, upholstered in blue granite cloth, bordered with red ; it is arranged so as to cover the entire exhibit at night, and during the morning interval of sweeping the aisles. Like the majority of the Amerieau and English exhibits, the curtains remain closed during Sunday; a fine gilt eagle surmounts the top of the large pavilion, inclosed by a railing of maroon, black, bronze, and gilt. The roof is sky-blue. The ceiling is blue satin, with gilt mouldings and rosettes in the corners. The exhibit consists of solid and fluid extracts, sugar-coated pills, elixirs, syrups, chemicals, crude artieles, ete., which are in handsome gilt-labeled bottles ; both bottles and jars set in alphabetical order on pyramidal counters covered with crimson velvet bordered with gilt. In the eentre of the pavilion is a desk, upholstered in a style in keeping with all tho surroundings, at which the courteous and popular representative of Messrs. Tilden & Co. presides. This desk is behind a brass railing, highly polished, around which visitors are allowed to walk. We cannot speak too higbly of the taste displayod in the choice of colors, the carpet being mottled black and red, in harmony with the velvet on the cases. We learn that Dr. Merkel, at this carly date, has rendered professional service to more than fifty of our exhibitors and commissioners, marines and sailors, who were suffering from malaria and other diseases.
" During the late Turko-Russian war, Tilden & Co. shipped large quantities of hromo-ehloralum for hospital use, with very favorable results. It must be borne in mind that since the disciples of Mu- hammed eannot enter heaven with their limbs cut off, they prefer death to amputation; the bromo-chloralum, diluted in water and applied on lint to the wounds, in many cases removed the necessity of the surgeon's knite. Large quantities of their medieines are consumed, not only in the United States, but also in Canada, South America, Cuba, Sandwich Islands, Japan, England, and Australia. The firm contemplate opening a branch house in London next year, in order to supply the foreign market. Tilden & Co. 'sexhibit is the largest and finest of its kind in the whole exhibition ; highly inter- esting and instructive to foreigners, to Frenchmen in particular, who bad no idea of the importance and rank of our chemists and manu- facturers."
MOSES Y. TILDEN
was born in New Lebanon, Nov. 14, 1811, and died there Sept. 9, 1876. His life was uneventful. Save in its re- lations to his younger brother, Samuel, it had not extraor- dinary points of contact with the outer world. Yet it was a happily-rounded, worthy life, full of all acts, behavior, and " household charities" that become a good son, affec- tionate brother, and faithful husband, nor deficient in any service due from the intelligent, public-spirited citizen. The varied knowledge of his manhood had its basis in an early love of study, cultivated by a good English education at the Lenox Academy, under Mr. Hotchkin, a noted teacher of that day in Berkshire. He married Lucy F. Campbell when he had reached the age of thirty-two, and their home, which became the resort of young and old, was brightened in his later years by the presence and love of an adopted daughter. He was senior partner of Tilden & Company, the pharmaceutists, whose extensive works are elsewhere described ; but after their prosperity was assured he laid aside active business, and occupied himself with the less exacting cares of stock-raising, for which he had a great fancy, and for which the fertile valleys and hill-sides of New Lebanon afford sufficient temptation. Indeed, like Webster in his dying day, when he had his cattle brought up the lawn to the porch, so the sight of his own soft-eyed Jerseys
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
was solicited, and was grateful to his failing vision, when the final hour was near.
As the elder member of the Tilden family, he maintained during a long and honored life the political principles and traditions which were like an atmosphere in his father's house. He inherited, also, or prolonged, that something indefinable of personal influence or weight of character which had made his father the oracle of the vicinage, as it made him a foremost and respected citizen. The republic itself has received its best stamp of perpetuity from men like these, who sincerely loved their country and its insti- tutions of freedom, who were not seekers of office, but if in office looked upon themselves as merely chosen servants of the people. He was identified, of course, with the largest enterprises in his locality, and his aid or advice were sought in any new path struck out by the energies of his fellow-citizens, and in every shifting phase or serious extremity of public affairs. At the local and State con- ventions of his party he was often a delegate, and always a sagacious counselor. There, too, his cautious, watchful diligence and unforced sagacity of counsel made his place good and his remembrance cherished among the disin- terested and upright of both political parties.
Yet, neither in all these circumstances of his career, nor
in the competence he gradually accumulated, nor in the habitual benevolence and cordial hospitalities with which it was administered, nor in the gentle manners and kind speech which were so fit an index of his pure and capacious heart, can a biographer and friend find all the lineaments of the portrait which he would fain trace for a memorial. Nor do these alone explain why one or two thousands thronged from Pittsfield, Albany, Chatham, and Kinder- hook, along with his neighbors of New Lebanon and the Shaker village, to do honor to his memory and replace his ashes in their native earth. The reverend gentleman who stood beside his bier went nearer to the heart of the matter when he found his text in the gospel of Luke and the character of Joseph of Arimathea, " a counselor, a good man, and a just." For the quality of his goodness was this, that it was without ostentation or profession ; it had the grace of a genuine humility; in that which concerned the public it was without a sinister or self-seeking thought; in that which concerned individuals it was just to the far, and to the near was governed by the golden rule,- precept matchless in the religions of all ages. He died avowing a personal faith in the incarnate, crucified, arisen, atoning, interceding Saviour, the " Lord both of the dead and living."
CANAAN.
CANAAN is the second, from the north, of the towns on the eastern border of the county, and was originally a part of King's district. It received its present name in 1788, and was reduced to its present area in 1818. The general aspect of the surface is mountainous. The Taghkanie range traverses it in the eastern part, from north to south, with ridges and spurs extending into the interior. Some of these attain an elevation of about five hundred feet, and are covered with a growth of stunted pine, or have out- croppings of rocks in bare ledges. Many of the smaller hills are composed of slate-rock, which is constantly disin- tegrating, mixed with flinty stones and soils, rendering them susceptible of cultivation. In other parts, slate of excellent quality, of a deep-blue color, can be obtained in plates of various sizes and almost any thiekness. Mag- nesian limestone abounds, and several kinds of minerals, as lead, iron ores, and galena, with a limited proportion of sil- ver, are found, but not in quantities to pay the expense of mining. The soil in the valleys is generally fertile, being a elay admixed with sehistic gravel, and produces large crops of grass and the various cereals.
In the northeastern part of the town is Queechy lake, a very fine body of pure water, more than three miles in cir- cumference. Its outlet formed a mill stream, having a general westerly course into the town of Chatham, where it unites with a brook from the central part of Canaan to form Steeny creek. Flat brook, so called on account of its low banks, is in the eastern part, and a branch of the Kline Kill in the southwest. Numerous springs and small brooks water the town well, and secure good drainage.
Although Canaan was in part included in the lower Rensselaer manor, but a limited portion was settled under its provisions. A tract, " six miles square," was purchased from the Stockbridge Indians, lying partly in this town, and in the eastern part were small grants, made by the General Court of Massachusetts, before the State bounds were adjusted. These are more fully noted in the general history of the county.
It is no easy matter, in view of the conflicting testimony, to fix the exact date of
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT.
There is a general claim that the southern part of the town was settled in 1750, but we cannot learn anything about the parties that will warrant any such conclusions. The general settlement of the town did not begin until after 1760, and but few came before 1766. Asa Douglas was one of the first. He had an interest in the " Six-Miles- Square" tract of land, conveyed by the Massachusetts In- dians, in 1758, and was the means of inducing many of his Connecticut friends to come to the new country. His
home was in the northern part of the town, and was a noted place of rendezvous for the Whigs during the troublous times of the Revolution. The garret of his house was sometimes used to confine such of his Tory neighbors as had been deemed dangerous by the committee of safety. In the army he held the rank of major, and was esteemed a brave man. His sons were Asa, Zebulon, John, and Horatio Gates.
At Queechy settled Gamaliel Whiting, in 1763. A two years' residence convinced him that he was unfit to be a pioneer, whereupon he returned to Connecticut and sold his interests in a large tract of land to his brother, William B., who came on in 1765. He at once took position as one of the leaders of the various interests in developing the country, and actively engaged in the struggle for independ- ence. In command of his regiment, he marelied for Sara- toga to join Gen. Gates. During his absence his enemies destroyed his mill. Colonel Whiting's sons were Daniel, who removed to Troy ; Nathan, the editor of the Religious Intelligencer ; Samuel, a book publisher in New York city ; John, who remained on the homestead, which is now owned in part by his son, Henry J. There were also three daughters, one of whom married Jason Warner, and another Colonel Tiffany, of Utica.
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