USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 52
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
About 1837 Gardner Hinckley (2d) left the farm and became agent and business manager for A. K. Morehouse, who owned large traets of forest land in the counties of Herkimer and Hamilton, and from 1838 to 1840 he lived for about a year at Piseeo Lake, in Hamilton county. For the pure air, pure water and charming scenery of the Adirondaek region he had an enthusiastic fondness, and he was confident that the time would come when its esthetic and sanitary advantages would be appreciated. In 1840 he moved to Wilmurt and built a saw-mill and planing-mill on the West Canada Creek near " Hinckley " bridge. Much of the lumber made there was carted to Utica or to Herkimer, over thirty miles. He lived in Wilmurt until 1854, when he moved to the place now called Hinckley. He was supervisor of Wilmurt for several terms and he held other town offices. Ile was was a member of the State Legislature in 1853-1854. About 1848, in partnership with Theodore P. Ballou, of Utica, be built a gang saw- will, planing-mill, etc, running by water power, on the West Canada Creek, in what is now the village of Hinckley (so named in 1891 in his memory), and he continued in the lumber business until his death. This mill, which was known through all the re- gion as the Gang Mill, had at the time when it was built the largest capacity of any water power mill in that part of the State, being able to saw about five million feet of spruce lumber in a year without running nights. At that time -- 1848-there was no railroad nearer than Utica, eighteen miles distant. Mr. Hinckley was a Methodist and a temperance man, inheriting the conscientiousness of his ancestors. He was a Dem- ocrat until the formation of the Republican party, and from that time a Republican. He was a man of medium stature, agreeable address, genial temperament, strict integ- rity, and amiable disposition, kind and generous in every relation of life. He was unaf- fected and sincere in manner, and dignified, but not austere. He was deliberate in judg- ment, although his mental processes were rapid, and he expressed his thoughts with clearness and force. During the fifty years that he was in active business he never had a law-suit that came to trial. He was greatly beloved by his friends and respected by all in his social and business relations. His council was often sought and cheerfully given. He was the sympathizing friend of young people, in whose happiness, educa- tion and advancement he was cordially interested. While his own will was strong and his ideals high, he was tolerant in his judgment of those who were easily tempted, and tender and helpful toward the erring and unfortunate. He died March 15, 1875. Mrs. Hinckley died September 12, 1874.
JOHN W. STANTON
Was born August 31, 1814, in Belehertown, Mass. He was a son of Randal Stanton, a Baptist minister whose father was Robert Stanton of Revolutionary fame. Robert Stanton was a Baptist minister and a prominent man in Stonington, Conn., where he ereeted a church. The family is of Euglish descent, and they trace their ancestry to the coming of Thomas Stanton to America in 1635. Thomas Stanton was interpreter general of the New England colonies. At Stonington, Conn., he built a trading post. J. W. Stanton was reared on a farm, but early in life he learned the blacksmith's trade, which
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
he followed until thirty years of age. He had the largest blacksmithing establishment in Norwich, Conn., at that time and it was reputed to be the largest in the State, doing much government work. Ile married Betsey, daughter of William and Esther (Gray) Kimball. She died in 1844. They had one son, William H., who for a number of years was mer- chant and book-keeper for the firm of Hinckley & Ballon at Hinckley, N. Y. In 1844 Mr. J. W. Stanton came to Salisbury, N. Y., and engaged in lumbering at Jerseyfield Lake, and built two saw-mills and a planing-mill there. Ile remained there until the fall of 1848, when, sharing in the first gold excitement, he went to California, sailing in January, 1849. He went by way of Vera Cruz, through Mexico, the journey taking about five months. He returned to Herkimer county in the next year and resumed his lumbering business and continued it until 1856, when he went to Gray, N. Y., and be- came one of the firm of Ladue, Stanton & Company, leather manufacturers. He re- mained at Gray five years. He thence came to Ilinekley, and has resided at the Hinck- ley homestead in that village. He engaged in lumbering for the firm of Hinckley & Ballou in 1861, and remained in that business until 1885, when he retired He was a Whig until the formation of the Republican party, and since that time he has been a Republican. January 22, 1857, he married Caroline D., a daughter of Gardner Hinck- ley, of Hinckley. Mr. Stanton is a Presbyterian.
ALBERT M. MILLS.
The ancestry of the subject of this sketch were of Scotch and English origin. His grandfather was from Connecticut, of English descent, and an early settler in New Ilartford, Oneida county, N. Y., being a contemporary of Hugh White, the father of Whitestown. His father was Dan C. Mills, a native of New Hartford and a respeet- able farmer. He died at New Hartford in 1883, at the age of eighty . five years. His mother was Jane Campbell, whose father, John Campbell, was also from Connecticut, and of Scotch descent, and settled in New Hartford at about the same time with Mr. Mills. Ile lived to a great age, two records giving it respectively as 99 and 101 years. The sturdy charactertisties of this ancestry are transmitted to the son and are sufficient to account for his mental strength and his great capacity for work.
Albert M. M'lls was born in New Hartford, Oneida county, N. Y., September 10, 1841. Ile was given excellent opportunities to secure an education, which he improved to the utmost, with the exception of an intermission to answer the call of bis country in the late war. After the customary period in the district school and a short term in the Sauquoit Academy, he prepared for college at Fairfield Seminary and entered Am- herst College. In the second (Sophomore) year and soon after the breaking out of the war (August, 1861) he enlisted as a private in the Eighth New York Cavalry, which was attached to the Army of the Potomac until the establishment of peace in 1865. Mr. Mills remained with the command through its whole period of service, which he left with an honorable discharge and the rank of lieutenant. This is not the place to euter upon the details of so long a period of active service in the army. Those who are fa-
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miliar with the work of the cavalry arm of the great Eastern branch of the armies of the Union will not need to be informed what it meant to pass through four years of active service therein. Mr. Mills endured the hardships of the soldier with the forti- tude born of great physical strength and personal bravery. He was twice wounded- once by a saber cut across his hand in a personal encounter, and once by a shot in the leg, while on more than one occasion he escaped bullets that left their marks in his clothing. He was taken prisoner, with 130 others, by the notorious Mosby, but the oncoming of the battle of Opequan enabled them to escape after twenty-four hours' confinement.
Returning from the army in Angust, 1865, he contemplated finishing bis collegiate course, but the long interruption in his studies and an ardent desire to enter act- ively npon the profession which he has since followed, led him to abandon that plan and he entered the Michigan University Law School in 1865 aud graduated therefrom in June, 1867. In the fall of the same year he was admitted to the bar in this State, having in the meantinie become a student in the office of Hon. George A. Hardin at Little Falls. He began practice in 1868 in Newport, Herkimer county, N. Y., where he remained until 1875. From the very outset of his career Mr. Mills felt a deep interest in politics and his natural and acquired qualifications equipped him thoroughly for active work in that field. He is a ready and forcible speaker, has al- ways kept abreast of the times and conversant with all matters of public interest, and it is not, therefore, remarkable that he has attained success in politics. He has always been a steadfast Republican, and in every campaign since 1868 he has been a prom- inent and aggressive factor and his influence, particularly in his own Con- gressional district, has been powerful for the advancement of the principles of Republicanism and the success of candidates of that party. In the fall of 1870, in recognition of his ability as a lawyer, his considerable experience in dealing with tbe cases of criminals, and his earnest efforts in the political field, Mr. Mills was elected dis- trict attorney of Herkimer county, beginning his term of service January 1, 1871. This office he held two terms of three years each, and it is sufficient and no disparage- ment to other officials, to state that never for a like period were the criminal cases of Herkimer county more efficiently conducted. At least three important capital cases came into his hands, and convictions were secured in all. He retired from the office still more firmly established in the confidence of his fellow-citizens and with his legal reputation greatly enhanced.
In the fall of 1879 Mr. Mills secured the nomination and was elected to the State Senate, where he remained one termi. In that body he was a member of the judiciary committee, which, among other matters, performed very important work on the new Code of Civil Procedure, which was adopted during that time. Judge William H. Robertson, of Westchester county, was chairman of the committee. Mr. Mills was also chairman of the committee on corporations, before which came important legislation. In the great contest over the election of United States Senator, after the resignation of Mr. Conkling and the resulting election of Senator Warner Miller, Mr. Mills was an active and efficient participant.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Retiring from the Senate, Mr. Mills gave his undivided attention to his large and in- creasing law practice, except as he was called into the service of his party in the various campaigns. In the fall of 1892 he barely escaped the nomination for Congress, and, while it is not the province of the biographer to write prophecy, it cannot be out of place to hazard the prediction that in the near future Mr. Mills will receive further honors from his party if he will accept them.
From the time when he began practice in Little Falls (1875) Mr. Mills was a partner with Mr. Charles J. Palmer and Mr. Kendrick E. Morgan, of the firm of Mills, Palmer & Morgan. This firm was dissolved in 1885, and he subsequently practiced alone until Jannary 1, 1893, when he became a member of the prominent law firm of Kennedy, Tracy, Mills & Ayling, of Syracuse, N. Y. He stills retains his residence and an office in Little Falls.
Mr. Mills's most prominent characteristics are indomitable energy and perseverance, large mental capacity and inborn uprightness and integrity. While easy and courteous with those who approach him, his quickness of thought and ready apprehension of what is said to him give him at times a manner of brusqueness. But his persistence in the study and preparation of his cases and the natural intuition that enables him to see both their weak and their strong features, are well known among his brethren at the bar and his clients.
Mr. Mills was married in 1872 to Mary Barry, of Newport, Herkimer county. She is a daughter of the late Standish Barry, who was assistant United States treasurer under Francis E. Spinner during the war period.
ALPHONZO DELOS MARSHALL
Was born in the town of Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y., Jannary 8, 1819. His father was Romeo Marshall, a respected farmer, and his mother was Miss Hariet Van Ant- werp. As a boy A. D. Marshall was brought up on his father's farm, and formed those habits of industry and practical labor to which he adhered through life. When he reached his majority he engaged in business in Frankfort village with the late John Stillwell, and in 1845 the firm removed to Mohawk. They carried on a successful mer- cantile business together for eighteen years, until 1867, when Mr. Stilwell retired, and Reuben Walker became a member of the firm. Not long afterward Mr. Marshall sold his interest in the business to Mr. Walker and retired from mercantile pursuits. In his business career Mr. Marshall followed the strict rules of integrity which nnderlie all honorable success, and by his uprightness, fairness and liberality won the good will of all with whom he had business relations. llis natural business qualifications and the confidence felt in him by the community brought him a large measure of success.
Mr. Marshall was a man of unusual public spirit, and his substantial aid and generous support were always freely given to any measure of public improven.ent which re- ceived his sanction. Ilis interest in public affairs led him to considerable activity in politics, though not in any sense as a mere partisan. A Republican of the staunchest character, he found ample favor from that party, and in 1872 was called as a candidate
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
for the office of connty treasurer and elected. So satisfactory was his administration of the duties of the responsible trust that he was recalled and served the second term. Other political preferment was tendered him, and he filled acceptably the several vil- lage offices which he was asked to fill. The confidence of the business community in Mr. Marshall was shown in his selection as president of the Mohawk Valley Hotel Company, treasurer of the Mohawk and Ilion Railroad Company and director of the National Mohawk Valley Bank. In these several stations he exhibited those prudent and sagacious business qualifications which had contributed so much to his previous personal success, and by his genial, warm-hearted temperament won a place in the hearts of his associates that was equally gratifying to them and to himself, At a meet- ing of the board of directors of the National Mohawk Valley Bank soon after his death, a series of resolutions was adopted in eulogy of the deceased, in which appeared the following expression : "That in his decease the National Mohawk Valley Bank has lost a wise and discreet member of its board of directors, the social circle in which he moved has lost a contributor to its enjoyment, and society at large has lost a men- ber whose excellence of heart, rare gifts of goodness, unostentatious charity and lib- eral benefactions render his loss a public calamity. As a man he was honorable and enthusiastic ; as a citizen he was large-hearted and liberal; as a friend he was true, loyal, genial and consistent ; as a business man he was honest, and hated fraud and artifice with an undisguised detestation ; in his family circle he was indulgent, affec- tionate and lovable." Similar expressions were also made by the Masonic lodge, of which he was an honored member.
The traits of Mr. Marshall's character which were most conspicuous were his abound- ing kindheartedness and his sympathy with those in trouble and consequent readi- ness to alleviate sorrow wherever he found it. These traits gave him a remarkably large circle of sincere friends. A local newspaper in a notice printed after his death spoke as follows of his personality : "He had won his way into the confidence, re- spect and sincere friendship of our entire county, and there was none with whom he associated who will not ever gratefully recall the memory of his genial disposition, his free, open manners, his warm, generous heart, and his unbounded hospitality. To his own community his death is indeed a heavy loss. He was public-spirited, tender- hearted, full of kindly impulses and abounding in deeds of love and charity to those around him. In business he was honest, truthful and successful; in his social relations he was kind, courteous and popular ; in official position he was trustworthy, vigilant and upright."
Mr. Marshall was married in September, 1877, to Helen M. Curtiss, who survives him and resides in Mohawk. Mr. Marshall's death took place June 28, 1881.
ROLLIN HURLBUT SMITH,
Of Little Falls, was born at that place January 3, 1838. He is a son of Christopher Smith and grandson of Richard Smith, who came from Rhode Island and settled in Fairfield shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. His mother, Nancy Hurl-
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
but, was a daughter of Uriah Hurlbut, of Fairfield, a descendant of Thomas Hurlbut, one of the eleven men sent from England by Lords Say and Seal and Brooke, under Lion Gardiner, and who built the fort near the mouth of the Connecticut River at Say- brooke in 1635. Thomas Hurlbut received a grant from the Colony of 150 acres of land for services in the Pequot war. The Smiths in the early days of Rhode Island were Quakers, and the Friends' Record speaks of Christopher Smith, the first of the family to come to this country, abont 1640, as " an ancient friend of Providence."
Christopher Smith, the father of Judge Smith, removed to Little Falls from Fairfield about the year 1829 and was for many years extensively engaged in mercantile and storage and forwarding business on the Erie Canal.
Rollin H. Smith, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest of four children, two of whom died in infancy, and the eldest, Sarah II,. in 1854, at the age of twenty-three years. He attended the common school, and afterwards the academy at Little Falls until sixteen years of age, when he obtained employment as a clerk in a store, and re- mained so employed several years. He then entered the law office of Judge George A. Hardin as a student, and afterwards studied with Judge Hiram Nolton, from whose office he was admitted to practice in 1863. He immediately opened an office in his na- tive village and has resided there ever since.
Judge Smith's law practice has consisted mostly of cases in equity, many of which have involved large interests, and in which he has been very successful. One of these was the defense of the will of Daniel Klock, of Manbeim, in which litigation seven actions were instituted against his client, and which resulted in securing for her about $4,500, devised to her by the will of her husband. He is now engaged in defending a suit in equity brought by William Seward Webb against Morrison & Richardson, in- volving large interests in the Adirondack wilderness, and which has excited much pub- lic interest. He has also had the care, as attorney. of several large estates, always with satisfactory results. In the preparation of legal arguments, and in presenting them to the court, he spares no pains to make them exhaustive in every light in which the ease can be fairly presented. This characteristic, together with his recogmzed integrity as a lawyer and citizen, has bronght him elients of a substantial class having important in- terests to be cared for.
In politics Judge Smith has always been a firm believer in Jeffersonian Democracy, and although his party in the county has been since 1856 in an almost hopeless minority and a nomination for office an empty honor, he was brought forward in 1883 by his friends and induced to accept the Democratic nomination for the office of county judge and surrogate. He was elected, being the first and only Democratie county judge since 1856. In this office his characteristic fairness, positive integrity and knowledge of the law were prominently set forth. In the administration of the criminal law he displayed in his rulings such knowledge of all its branches that but one of the cases tried before hun was reversed during his term of six years.
As judge and surrogate, Judge Smith was also known for his uniform courtesy to all who appeared before him, and all official business received his careful and intelligent attention. In 1887 he was married to Miss Nellie Bramer, the accomplished daughter of Frank Bramer, of Little Falls.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
From early manhood Judge Smith has taken much interest in public affairs, par- ticularly those connected with the material development and progress of his native village. He was one of the organizers and one of the first directors of the Little Falls National Bank; one of the original stock-holders of the Superior Furnace Company, and is at present one of the village water commissioners. He has been repeatedly called to fill village offices, such as corporation attorney, etc. In 1877 he was placed on the Board of Education, and for sixteen years las been its president. During this period great advancement has been made in curriculum, a graded system has been established, and a superintendent employed, by which changes the public schools of Little Falls have been placed in line with the latest and most approved school systems
WILLIAM T. WHEELER
Was born near Cooperstown, Otsego county. December 14, 1817, and he took up his residence in Little Falls in 1841, and carrried on the business of hardware and tinsmith from that time until his death, which occurred at his residence on Lansing street Jan- uary 3, 1885. He married Sarah A. Higby, who died October 31, 1869. Their only child is Charles V. Wheeler, who succeeded to his father's business, and now carries on the same in the block owned by deceased and Mr. W. G. Milligan at the corner of Ann and Main streets. He was several years president of the Little Falls Gas Light Com- pany and subsequently of the Henry Cheney Hammer Company, having aided in its organization in 1882. He was Past Eminent Commander, having been many years a member of the Knights Templar Commandery No. 26, Little Falls. He was also senior warden of Emanuel church, which position he held many years with great fidelity. He was half owner of, and supervised the construction of the Hardin and Wheeler block on the south side of Main street. He was a gentleman of great modesty and retiring in his habits; of unquestioned integrity in business ; a warm friend and a valuable citizen, enjoying at the time of his death the highest respect of his neighbors.
JONAS S. BARNET.
No citizen of Little Falls is better known or more highly esteemed than Jonas S. Barnet. He has attained a very high position in the business life of the village, and is one of the foremost, not only in his private affairs, but in those which concern the pub- lic as well. He also carries on stores in New York city and Boston for the sale of the products of his tanneries. Mr. Barnet was born in Bavaria, Germany, March 19, 1849, and is a son of Solomon Gotz Barnet. He passed his youth in his native land, and re- ceived a good business education during that time. In July, 1870, Mr. Barnet came to the United States of America, as many other young men have done. He became en- gaged in the leather industry, associating with him his brother, Morris S. Barnet, in 1877. In 1883 the firm built the tannery at Little Falls, and in 1887 they equipped a
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
new plant at the same location. They have since acquired large business interests in this line and are one of the most successful tanning firms in the country. J. S. Barnet & Bro. have at present, in addition to their large tannery at Little Falls, an establislı- ment at Gloversville, which they have conducted for some time, and it is very success- ful. The Little Falls establishment, under the management of its present proprietors, has been greatly increased in its capacity and in the amount of business which it car- ries on. There are now employed there about 175 hands, and the pay roll is a very large one. It is almost unnecessary to say that J. S. Barnet & Bro.'s industry is one of the leading features of business life at Little Falls. Jonas S. Barnet, the senior mem- ber of this concern, has shown himself possessed of the highest order of business quali- fications. Not only is this manifest in the successful conduct of the large tannery of which he is the head, but he has also given his counsel and experience in public affairs largely for the benefit of the village. Ile was chosen in May, 1892, as one of the board of police and fire commissioners, and in this capacity he has proven himself in every way worthy of the confidence which has been reposed in him. Mr. Barnet married Hannah Diek, daughter of Bernhard and Sarah Dick, of Albany, N. Y. They have eleven children : five sons and six daughters.
JORAM PETREE.
The reader of the early chapters of this volume has learned much of the lives of the Palatines, who were the first civilized settlers of the Mohawk valley, and whose struggles in the new country began many years before the opening of the great war- fare which gave to the American colonies their freedom Those Germans, driven from their foreign homes by religious persecution, performed deeds of heroism, endured trials and vicissitudes, and often gave up their lives in their efforts to establish peaceful homes in the wilderness where they could rear their children and leave their sturdy descendants in the enjoyment of the blessing of religious and social liberty. From one of these hardy pioneers was chrectly descended Joram l'etree, great-grandson of Johan Jost Petree, who came to this country probably a little earlier than 1725, settled in the Mohawk valley, and was one of the original patentees of Burnetsfield, on which the village of Little Falls is partly built.
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