USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 50
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He was a learned and instructive lecturer. As Ins lectures were illustrated with an ample apparatus, and he was a skillful manipulator, his experiments were invariably
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successful. To show the very high value placed upon Dr. Mather as a scientific lecturer, we quote very briefly a few extracts from press notices of years ago :
We congratulate the lovers of science among us on the prospects of a course of lect- ures on chemistry by the intelligent and experienced lecturer Dr. William Mather .- Peekskill Republican, February 25, 1851.
Extracts from a copy of resolutions presented to Dr. Win, Mather :
Resolved, That in the lectures just closed, Mr. M. has shown himself an eminently successful experimenter and thorough master of the principles and details of the science which he teaches.
Resolved, That we feel confident in saying to schools and colleges, and the public generally, wherever Dr. M. may lecture, that they will receive an ample equivalent in the solid, interesting and useful instruction which he imparts. Dr. Mather displays no badges of the empyric. He is a plain, interesting and instructive lecturer. He has devoted years of ardnous labor to the science of chemistry, and shows a perfect famil- iarity with his subject. He blends with illustrations that simplicity peculiar to elemen- tary demonstration, while he leads along the mind to comprehend the complicated results of the chemical combinations of elementary principles,-Fulton Patriot, Septem- ber 16, 1847.
As an author he wrote no extended work, but his pen had been active in various chrections for many years, and his contributions to local and scientific periodicals were numerous and valuable, Perhaps no other man was so well versed in the early history of this section, especially with reference to its pioneers, and the rise and progress of its educational institutions. His memory was remarkably vivid, enabling him to recall with great accuracy and fullness the incidents which came to his personal knowledge from his earliest years as a resident of the town. His assistance to Mr. Benton, in the preparation of the Histo y of Herkimer county, was invaluable; and many pages of that work were written entirely by Dr. Mather, and for which he did not receive the credit which justly belonged to him.
ITis series of articles on the origin of Fairfield Seminary, and, later on, a similar series on the histo y, work and influence of the Medical College, were extensively read and widely copied. Only recently, a paper prepared by him on the Fairfield Medical Col- lege, was read before the Utica Historical Society, by a prominent physician of that city, and received high praise. For months previous to his death he was engaged in collecting material and preparing manuscript for the forthcoming History of Fairfield Seminary. His memory was remarkable, especially with reference to events which happened in his youth or early manhood. He took much interest in the genealogy of the early settlers of Fairfield and vicinity, and spent much time in tracing out lines of descent in answer to questions sent to him from people now widely sca.tered.
He gave valuable assistance in the preparation of biographies of Dr. Asa Gray, Dr. Hadley, and many others whom he knew, either as fellow students or with whom he labored, in after life, as an educator. His penmanship, in the style of half a century ago, was remarkable for its neatness and clearness, resembling copper plate, and the notes which he took, only the Monday before his death, as secretary of the Medical College Board, which annually meets at Little Falls, are an exact counterpart in style
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and penmanship to those taken by him in the same capacity when he was first elected secretary iu 1840.
No man among the hundreds of distinguished alumni of " Old Fairfield " took greater interest in his alma mater than Dr. Mather. From his early youth he had an intimate acquaintance with all its inner and outer workings.
He took special pains to become acquainted with all its teachers, and was ever ready with his kind encouragement and offers of advice and assistance. When a new teacher was about to commence his duties in the department of physical science, it was his custom to aid him in his first use of the apparatus, and frequently to assist him in his experiments, and the writer of this article will ever hold him in grateful remembrance for much information and help in that department.
So solicitous was he for the prosperity of the school, that he always endeavored to keep in his mind the exact number of students present, and often, at the beginning of each term would watch the number of lights in the building during the first few even- ings, in order that he might judge of the prospects of a successful term, anxiously commenting to those whom he met upon the favorable or unfavorable indications. While he was president of the Board of Trustees, he took great interest in the Regents' examinations. He would perform the tiresome duties of a committeeman, and look over the answer papers, and was always regarded by the students as a very pleasant and efficient guardian of the Regents' interests.
In prosperity and adversity the school has found him the same unvarying champion, always ready to work, to contribute funds, and speak for its interests. The teachers have found him a friend and co-worker in the cause of education, and the students a man abounding in knowledge which he was willing to impart.
He had been a trustee of the school since 1853, president of the board for about twenty years, and was a prompt and regular attendant at all the meetings, and an active participant in all discussions relating to its financial and educational matters.
When, a few years ago, the indications were that the seminary was about to close, when many people feared that " Old Fairfield " had done its work and must hencefor- ward be counted among the institutions of the past, Dr. Mather, with earnest solicitude and zeal, labored to bring about the change in management which promised, and has resulted in, the successful and permanent establishment of the school; and he lived to rejoice in the well filled rooms and numerous lights that gleamed from the windows opposite his residence.
He was also an earnest worker in the Protestant Episcopal church, of which he was for many years a vestryman. He was always attentive to every duty, taking, as he did in every good work, an active interest in all church affairs ; and it was often re- marked by those who knew him best that few men ever lived a more genuine, practical, Christian life than Dr. Mather.
He was a man of perfect honesty, remarkable in his habits of punctuality in all duties, of strict accuracy and system in the execution and record of all business transactions, and of marked kindness of heart. He was ever careful and considerate of the feelings and circumstances of all around him, and the universal testimony of his neighbors and those with whom he came into the most constant personal contact, shows him to have
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
been a man of unusually broad views and benevolent character. In his latter years he was somewhat afflicted with deafness, but did not lose his deep interest in all current affairs. He read constantly and carefully, and kept well informed on public questions of the day. He was public spirited. and contributed freely of his time and means in support of local projects. He retained to the end of his life the mental faculties of a remarkably well balanced and even brilliant mind. Ile passed away June 26, 1890, in the fullness of years, esteemed and lamented by the entire community.
PROFESSOR XERXES ADDISON WILLARD.1
Professor X. A. Willard was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., in 1820. His family trace their ancestry to the time of William the Conqueror, A. D. 1085, through Colonel Simon Willard, one of the Puritans from England who settled at Boston in 1634. His father, Dr. N. S. Willard, a prominent physician, died in 1827. After preparatory studies at Fairfield and Cazenovia, X. A. Willard entered Hamilton College in 1841. He was gradnated in 1845 and at once began the study of law in the office of Loomis and Nolton at Little Falls.
In 1848 he was married to Miss Harriet L. Ilallett of Fairfield, and engaged in farm- ing, buying the farm which his maternal grandfather, Judge Evans Wharry, cleared from the wilderness in 1785, and on which he lived and died.
Professor Willard gave his attention principally to dairy farming, making experi- ments with milk which have proved highly useful. In 1855-6 he organized the Farm- ers' Club of Little Falls. From 1858 to 1861 he was the editor of the Herkimer County Journal. In 1859 he published the first of his works-" Essays on Agriculture "-began contributing articles on agriculture to periodicals, and wrote for the New York State Agricultural Society a pamphlet on "Cheese Dairying in Herkimer County." From 1860 to 1862 he was canal collector at Little Falls. In 1861 he wrote another pamphlet on dairying for the State Agricultural Society, and in 1862 his work on the " Asso- ciated Dairies of New York " was issued by the society, being the first published ac- count of the new dairy system now so generally adopted over the continent.
In 1864 Professor Willard became one of the editors of the Utica Morning Herald, and for five years conducted an agricultural department in that paper. He was one of the leading workers in organizing the American Dairymen's Association, and the published reports of that body contain many of his addresses at its conventions.
! The portrait of Professor Willar 1, which appears elsewhere in th's work is taken from a paint- ing in oil made in 1979 by the late Alonzo Pease of , Ut ca, N. Y., and which for some time hung in the Academy of Design, New York City. It is now in the possession of Frank H. Willard of Lit- tle Falls, and is considered a faithful likeness. In person Professor Whlard was slightly above the average he'ght, of rather full habt and ight complexion. Maj. Henry E Alvord of Maryland, writing to the O'u try Gent . " soon after Professor Willard's death, said: " As a writer and speaker Professor Willard was fluent, entertaining, practical, and both timely and instructive. He was a man of attractive presence, genial manners and interesting conversation, and had hosts of warm friends."
16. Of. Willard.
FrankItWilland
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In 1866 Professor Willard, in the interest of the American Dairy men's Association, traveled extensively over England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Switzerland, observ- ing European methods in dairying. A report of his investigations was published by the Agricultural Department at Washington and caused great improvement in the man- ufacture of American cheese.
In 1869 he was employed by the Royal Agricultural Society of England to write works on dairying, and he furnished the society with one on " American Butter Facto- ries " and one on " Condensed Milk Manufacture."
In January, 1869, Professor Willard became dairy editor of the Rural New- Yorker, and held that position for many years. In 1871 he published " Practical Dairy Hus- bandry," an octavo volume of nearly 600 pages, which has been recognized at home and abroad as a standard authority on this subject. In 1875 he brought out his " Practical Butter Book," which has long been a standard work on butter making.
Professor Willard was the first to inaugurate the system of "dairy boards of trade." He organized in 1870-71 the New York State Dairymen's Association, of which he was for several years president.
Professor Willard, during his lifetime, delivered a great number of addresses on ag- ricultural topics, speaking at the fairs in nearly every county in the State and fre- quently in other States, besides delivering courses of lectures at Cornell University and the Maine Agricultural College. He traveled extensively in America as well as in Eu- rope, having crossed the continent in 1870 and 1875, and made a tour of Texas and Colorado in 1873.
Professor Willard's reputation as a writer and speaker on dairy topics was well earned, both at home and abroad, and will endure for all time. The London (England) Milk Journal pronounced "Practical Dairy Husbandry ' the most complete, exhaus- tive and valuable work on the subject ever published.'" The late Dr. Edward Smith, F. R. S., the English author, said, in the London Standard, that his work on " Condensed Milk Manufacture " was incomparable " in clearness, detail and correctness."
Professor Willard died suddenly of heart disease in his study, on his farm near Little Falls, on the morning of October 26, 1882. The night previous he was engaged until a late hour in writing an article on the dairy for the " Encyclopedia Britannica," and this was his last work. His widow survives him, living at the fannly residence, near Little Falls. Of his five children, Frank H. lives at Little Falls; Addison X. and Harriet C. live at the family homestead ; Stephen S. resides at Earlville, Ill., where he practices dentistry, and Mary Viola (wife of Hon. Charles F. A. Bielby) at Deland, Fla.
FRANK HALLETT WILLARD. The oldest son of Professor X. A. Willard, was born on Hillside farm, near Little Falls, August 4, 1852. He attended the Little Falls Acad- emy and later entered Fairfield Seminary, where he was graduated with honors in 1876. In 1877 he commenced the study of law in the office of Mills and Palmer at Little Falls, soon afterward entering the law department of Hamiltou College, from which he was graduated in 1878 and in the same year admitted to the bar.
From 1884 to 1886 Mr. Willard was assistant editor of the Country Gentleman, residing at Albany, N. Y. In 1885 he was married to Aliss Minnie H. Staples, daughter of Rev. M. W. Staples, of Catskill, N. Y.
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In 1887 he removed to Madison, Wis., where, with Col. Walter W. Wharry, he purchased the Western Farmer. Col. Wharry soon afterward retired from the firm, and William H. Morrison, Superintendent of Farmers' Institutes, and Hon. Henry C. Adams, of Madison, were admitted to partnership. Mr. Willard was editor- in-chief and manager of that journal until October, 1890. Under his charge the paper became one of the best of its class published in the Northwest. It was the recognized exponent of the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Wisconsin Farmers' Insti- tutes ; its circulation was large, and it exerted a wide- spread and well-deserved influence in its chosen field -- the advancement of agriculture. In the autumn of 1890 Mr. Willard disposed of his interest in the paper and returned to his native town, where he is engaged in writing for periodicals and in other literary pursuits.
Mr. Willard has traveled quite extensively. In 1882 he made a trip to Europe, spending some time in England and Germany studying their agriculture and agricul- tural experiment stations : he contributed his observations to the Country Gentleman and other journals. The following year he traveled in the Southern States. Mr. Wil- lard resides at the village of Little Falls. He has one son - Staples Xerxes Willard.
ALONZO WOOD.
The ancestry of Alonzo Wood may be readily traced back to the hardy New Eng- landers who first peopled the shores of Massachusetts and Connecticut. His great-grand- father, Ebenezer Wood, died in Somers, Conn., in 1792, at the great age of ninety-three years ; the date of his settlement in that State is rot known, but it was, of course, very early. Among his children was Stephen Wood, grandfather of Alonzo, who was born in 1730, and died in Monson, Mass., at the age of ninety-six years. He left a record for bravery and heroism in the French and Indian war and performed his part in the peaceful arts that established civilization in the new country. Ilis family of children consisted of Stephen, David, Jonathan, Joseph, Levi, Beulah, Hannah, Lovisa. David was the father of Alonzo, and was born on the 5th of February, 1765, at Monson. He was a farmer by occupation, held the post of capta'n in the militia, and was a sturdy representative of the New England pioneers. In the year 1792, when he was twenty- seven years old, he came into what is now the town of Winfield, Herkimer county, his path being shown only by marked trees for much of the distance, and settled on the homestead which has ever since been in possession of the family, and is now occupied by Alonzo Wood. The immediate locality became known in early years as "Wood's Corners," two roads crossing near the homestead and a school-house and shops being located near there. David Wood was a man of marked character and became con- spicuous and respected in the early community. Before his removal to this county he married Persis Chapin, of Munson. She died in 1801, and he married in the following year Abigail Keep, also of Munson, She died on the 6th of October, 1857, and he died September 7, 1851. Their children were Orrin and Austin (twins), born May 31, 1790: Pamelia, borr August 20, 1792; Allred, boin June 30, 1795; David, born August 9,
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1798; Amasa, born January 15, 1801; the foregoing were all born by the first wife. By his second wife the children were Persis, born May 26, 1805; Hiram, born August 12, 1807 ; Leander, born December 29, 1810; Alonzo (the subject), born May 11, 1813; Jackson, born November 19, 1815; Abigail, born July 22, 1818; Simeon, born Feb- ruary 2, 1821. The last four are living, Alonzo being the oldest, and now (1892) in his eightieth year.
Alonzo Wood has passed a life of active labor, most of which has been devoted to the tilling of the homestead farm, which he still occupies, and where he has erected a hand- some residence across the road from the old dwelling where his father so long lived. He has always taken an intelligent interest in public affairs, but has never sought pub- lic office. When the subject of organizing a bank in West Winfield came up for discus- sion he acted in its favor and was chosen for the position of cashier for the years 1856-7. A few years later he was chosen vice-president, and when Col. D. R. Carrier died, Mr. Wood was chosen president of the bank, which office he still occupies. Although now far advanced in years, he makes daily journeys from his residence to the bank. A man of extended information, inborn integrity, and courteous and sociable under all circum- stances, Mr. Wood enjoys in his declining days the unwavering friendship and respect of all who know him.
Mr. Wood was twice married, and of a family of seven children two daughters and a son are living.
JAMES B. RAFTER.
John Rafter, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Ireland. He was married to Winifred Connolly, and soon after emigrated to America. Of that marriage six children are now living, four of whom are sons, as follows: the subject of this sketch; Judge E. E. Rafter, the present mayor of the city of Hotton, Kansas; Dr. J. A. Rafter, of the same place, and Giles S. Rafter, an attorney and counselor at law, for the past ten years employed in one of the departments at Washington.
James B. Rafter was born at Schenectady, N. Y., June 12, 1842. When he was one year of age his parents removed to the town of Winfield, Herkimer county, N. Y. He received his education at the West Winfield Academy, and after leaving school was engaged for a time in teaching. He was the principal of the union school at West Winfield, and was also the principal of the high school at Conners' Mills, Missouri. Returning from the South, he engaged for a few years in farming, and served as a justice of the peace in the town of Bridgewater, Oneida connty, for one year, when he resigned the office, and commenced the study of law in the office of S. S. Morgan, at West Winfield, in November, 1867, and so assiduously pursued his studies that he passed his examination and was admitted to the bar in October, 1868. He was sub- sequently admitted to practice in the United States courts.
In 1871 he established an office at Mohawk, N. Y., where he is still in active practice, and has been engaged in much of the important litigation of his vicinity.
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In November, 1871, he was married to Miss Georgie B. Palmer, of Spottsylvania county, Va.
In his profession he has reached a position wholly to his credit, and is recognized as a well-read and painstaking lawyer, devoted to the interests of his clients, and gives to every case his careful and personal preparation.
In politics he is an earnest and active Democrat, and has given his party his services as an orator in every presidential campaign since his majority, but has never sought political office. He has served as the president of the village of Mohawk, and as presi- dent of the Board of Education. Since early manhood Mr. Rafter has been a staunch friend of the cause of temperance, and has delivered many lectures in Central New York and in the West for its promotion. He has also lectured quite extensively upon educational and kindred subjects. He is a trustee of Fairfield Seminary and Military Academy, and is assigned as one of the lecturers in the law department of that flourishi- ing institution of learning. In a business way he is wholly a self-made man, never having received aid from any source.
Ile is at present the president of the Mohawk and Ilion Street Railroad Company, and the president of the Mohawk Valley Hotel Company. He was prominently instru- mental in organizing the Mohawk Valley Knitting Mills, and the Knitting Company of Mohawk, and is the secretary of both of those successful business corporations, and is a director in the board of each. He is a prominent Mason, and has been the master of his lodge, and is a Knight Templar. He is one of the vestrymen of Grace church.
Mr. and Mrs Rafter have three children, as follows: J. Ernest Rafter, now twenty years of age, a graduate of Fairfield Seminary, and now a student in the University of the City of New York, preparing for the profession of the law ; Clara W., and Leora May, both living at home with their parents.
ROBERT MACKINNON
Was born in Cohoes, Nov. 1, 1853. He is of Scotch ancestry, his father, Alexander Mackinnon, being a native of llawick, Scotland. His father married Catherine Morton, of Hawick, and not long afterwards came to America. He was a rib knitter by trade, and settled in Cohoes, where the manufacture of knit goods was largely carried on. He died in Cohoes in 1858, when the subject of this sketch was only five years old, leaving a family of three children, Robert, the subject of this sketch; Sarah, the wife of John Smith, a member of the firm of the Little Falls Wool Extract Co., and Miss Belle Mackinnon, who is assisting Mr. Mackinnon in the management of his business.
Mr. Mackinnon received what is termed a common school education; and at an early age began working in the mills of Cohoes. Until he was twenty-one years of age he continued to work in the factory, at which time his ambition prompted him to enter another field, and he began to study law. Into this he plunged with all his natural ardor, but circumstances induced him to take charge of a department in one of the large knitting mills. He remained in this position two years. In 1881, the end of this
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period, he united with Robt. Ablett and Walter Hume, both of Cohoes, and formed the firm of Ablett, Mackinnon & Co., and came to Little Falls, where they began the manufacture of knit goods in the mill where Rugene Walrath is now, 1893, manufacturing. In 1887 Mr. Mackinnon retired from the firm and began business in the same line in the building formerly occupied by W. H. Waters as a lumber yard. He soon developed further the admirable business qualifications which had already been demonstrated, and under his untiring energy and enterprise, success followed in a most satisfactory degree. His trade extended very rapidly, and in the year 1890 a new mill was finished, which is now running to its full capacity, and ranks as the largest in the world on his line of goods. From a list of employees reaching about seventy-five in 1887, he now employs six hundred. The character of his product occupies a high position in the market. The pay roll amounts to over $8,000 every two weeks. He manufactures all grades of cotton, wool and camel's-hair underwear for children.
Mr. Mackinnon is a Republican in politics, but his exacting business duties, as well as his natural tastes, have prevented him from taking an active position in that field. He is at the present time a member of the school board of the village. Ile is a member of the Baptist church, and the superintendent of the Sunday-school. Mr. Mackinnon is a public spirited citizen, and has been constant in his efforts to advance the best interests of Little Falls.
His immediate family consists of his wife, formerly Ella Severson, of Cohoes, and three children, Mollie, Isabel and Marguerite.
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