USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 86
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Tunniclift, George E., Warren, was born on the farm adjoining the one on which he now lives, July 11, 1858, and is a son of Horatio N. and Augusta L. (Rathbun) Tunni- clift. His grandfather, George, was born in 1790 and came to Warren when he was three years old, and there lived until he died at the age of seventy-three. His wife was Marinda Tilden, whose father was a cousin of Samuel J. Tilden. They had four children : Horatio N., Oran N., Mary E. and Damon G. Horatio N. Tunnielift was born October 11, 1820, and died November 5, 15%; his wife is still living. They had four children : Mary M. (deceased), Augusta L., George E., and Nelson H. George E. was educated at Richfield Springs Seminary and taught school one term. He operates his mother's farm of fifty-two acres and is a breeder of Hambletonian horses. He is a Republican.
Farber, Christopher, Ohio, was born in Germany, March 2, 1850, a son of John Farber, who married Annie Fisher, a native of Germany, and to them were born five children. In 1874, Mr. Farber came to Ohio, N. Y., where he lived until his death in 1885. Ilis wife died in 1881. The father of John was Albert Farber, a native of Germany. Chris- topher Farber was reared on a farm in Germany and was seventeen years old when he and his brother John came to America. John settled in Russia where he still resides and Christopher settled in Ohio, where he has since made his home. Subject was a
x 1885
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
poor boy when he came to America and worked on a farm by the month for six years. He then purchased the farm where he now resides. In 1875 he married Rachel Hoff- man, a native of Ohio, born in 1851. Her parents were Peter and Sophia (Hafer) Hoffman, who reared eleven children. Mr. Hoffman and family reside at Washington Mills, N. Y. To Mr. Farber and wife have been born four children : Albert E., Amelia A .. Mary E., and Edward all of whom are living. Mr. Farber is a Democrat.
Thomas, George H., is a native of Middleville and was educated in the private schools of Connecticut. He first began business as a clerk in the employ of the State at Albany and was next in the employ of the United States. lle subsequently came home and took charge of this business, which he has owned since his father's death in 1865. This tannery business is one of the oldest in the country, having been started by Mr. Thomas's grandfather in 1814. Mr. Thomas now employs seventy hands in the produc- tion of calf-skin leather. He is president of the National Bank at Newport and has been since 1874. In 1867 he married Miss Mary Kenyon and they have one child. Mr. Edward M. Burns is a partner of Mr. Thomas.
Thompson, James W., Fairfield, is one of the bright young men of Herkimer county. Ile is a native of Salisbury and his father. W. J. Thompson, was one of the substantial farmers of that township. Mr. Thompson owns 165 acres of land and a dairy of forty- five cows. His father died in 1885 and his mother in 1891, the former at the time of his death being the owner of seven farms.
Tibbetts, William, M. D., Danube, was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., October 4, 1837. He received an academic education and eventually graduated in medicine from Bellevue Hospital College, New York, in 1867. He immediately thereafter located at Newville, Danube township, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. Dr. Tibbetts married Elizabeth Iloupt ; they have two children liv- ing, both of whom are sons. The doctor has served Danube as supervisor for the past two terms. He is a member of the County Medical Society and is a very skilled and thorough medical practitioner.
Van Slyke, William, is a native of Fairfield, and one of the oldest residents of the place. Ile was born in 1822 and has been a farmer all his life, though of late years he has retired from active work, and his son manages the farm, which consists of eighty- six acres of dairy land. Mr. Van Slyke married in 1847. and has a family of two children, a son and a daughter. Ile is a Democrat in politics, as is also his son. His grandfathers on both sides took part in the war of the Revolution.
Chle, Jerome, Little Falls, was born in 1828, near the village of Little Falls and has been a farmer all his life. He has been successful and now owns 195 acres of land, having inherited twenty-five acres from bis father. Mr. Uhle's grandfather came from Germany and his grandmother was a relative of General Herkimer. Mr. L'hle uses his farin entirely for dairy purposes, and has a herd of forty-eight milch cows. Mr. Uhle has one daughter, the wife of B. J. Shant of Little Falls. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and has held the office of commissioner of highways.
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
Van Slyke, D. C., is a native of Little Falls, ard has been a resident farmer all his life. His father, James Van Slyke, is still living and resides with him. The family is descended from the old Mohawk Dutch, and they were among the earliest settler in that part of the State. D. C. Van Slyke is a prominent and successful Prohibition worker, and is county deputy of the Good Templars. Ile also belongs to the Royal Areanum, the People's Benefit Society and the Grange. He married Anna A. Border. He works 176 acres of land and has forty cows. He formerly dealt extensively in hay and supplied the Seventh and Eighth Avenue Railway Company of New York for seven years. He brought to the town the first hay press used this side of Albany.
Van Alstyne, Calvin, Little Falls, was born March 9, 1829, in the town of Danube. He received a good education in the schools of this vicinity, and was an assistant in his father's grocery store until twenty-one years of age, when he was admitted to a part- nership at the same time the business was removed from Shall's Lot to Jacksonburg, Two years later he married Miss C. E. Eysaman, dissolving partnership with his father in the grocery establishment and entering the employ of J. J. Gilbert of Little Falls, with whom he has been for the past twenty years. He was elected tax collector last charter election, which office he now holds most acceptahly to the public. Mir. Van Alstyne has a family of four sons living. He is a staunch Republican in politics.
Uebler, Conrad, Schuyler, is one of the successful men of Herkimer county. is a German by birth, but came to America in 1870. He was born September 15, 1836. He has been on his present farm of 180 acres for eleven years, and has put up fivè buildings and started a charcoal enterprise and a hop plantation. In 1872 he married Josephine Sohn, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter.
Van Vechten, William P., Norway, was born October 27, 1843. He is a son of Hamlen and Roxy H. Van Vechten, mentioned in Charles Van Vechten's sketch. William P. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He married Annie Stratton of Utica, a daughter of George and Haunah Stratton. Their children are George, Anna and Ada, deceased. Mr. Van Vechten owns 170 acres of land and keeps a large dairy. He is a Democrat and has been supervisor three years, assessor several years, and inspector of elections.
Van Dewalker, Nicholas, Warren, was born in Sharon September 14, 1857, and is a son of Jacob and Lavinia Van Dewalker. His grandfather, Peter, was a pioneer of Schoharie county, and owned about 1.000 acres of land. Jacob Van Dewalker was born in Schoharie county, and died about 1880, aged sixty years. His wife, who was the mother of three children and a member of the Methodist church, died earlier. Nicholas Van Dewalker was educated in the common schools, and at eighteen began business for himself by working on a farm. In the spring of 1890 he bought and set- tled on 300 acres east of Little Lakes. He is a Democrat. He married in May, 1883 - Fannie, daughter of Albert and Fatima (Flint) Clyde of Montgomery county. They have one child, Ina E.
Van Allen, Edward G., Little Falls, was born in Little Falls June 24, 1853. Ile re- ceived a good common school education. after which for years he was engaged on a
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
farm. During the next three years he was brakeman on the Central Railroad, after which he was promoted to the position of conductor. This he held for eleven years. When the great strike occurred, about two years ago, he with others, lost his position, since which time he has been engaged in the grocery and bottling business in the old stand at Lock thirty-eight (the Van Allen lock), and which his father conducted before him. His goods go all over the country, with perhaps the exception of the town of Herkimer. He married Maggie Ward, and they have six children, five sons and two daughters. Mr. Van Allen's father and two of his uncles participated in the late war.
Vagts, Christ, is proprietor of the milk station at West Winfield. He buys milk from the farmers and ships to the New York city market, the product being from about 3,000 cows. He ships about 130 cans a day, each can containing forty quarts, It is taken in and cooled by water from a flowing well. The cans returned from New York are first cleaned by washing and then steamed. He commenced this business in Janu- ary. 1889. About 1,200 cans required to run the business, and all the surplus milk is made up into butter and cheese, the farmers being paid as if it were all shipped to New York. The building is 156 feet long, 30 feet wide and two stories high.
Van Deusen, B. B., German Flats, was born in Pennsylvania, October 29, 1841. He served one year in the United States army during the civil war and afterwards gradu- ated a civil engineer. After following his profession for twenty years, largely mining engineering in the West, he entered manufacturing, and is now manager of the Rem- ington Standard Typewriter Works at flion. In 1872 he married Miss Ellen F. Bullard, by whom he has two daughters. Ilis father, Benjamin Van Deusen, and family have a history in this State extending back two centuries. Mr. Van Deusen's grandfathers and granduncles took part as patriots in the Revolutionary War.
Van Benschoten, Elias, was born where he now resides in Warren, December 20, 1848, a son of Mathew and Julia Ann (Wykoft) Van Benschoten. The grandfather, Elias, was a pioneer of Otsego county. Their children were : Melvina, Colman, Mrs. General Holt, Catharine Hicks, Mrs. Helen Gould, Cordela, Mathew and Elias. Mathew was born in Otsego county, where he bad a farm of two hundred acres, and ran a hotel on the west side of Otsego Lake. About 1830 be located where his son now resides, where he died in 1859, aged fifty-nine. ITis wife died January 17, 1890, aged eighty- five. She was born January 8, 1805, in Cherry Valley, a daughter of Grant Wykoff, of New Jersey. They had twelve children, and raised two : Chester, of Michigan, and Elias. The latter had a district school education, and at fourteen began for himself on the home farm which he now owns. lle is a Republican. In 1870 he married Martha J. Storing, born in Otsego county, N. Y., a daughter of Jacob and Elisabeth (Weldon) Storing, and they have three children : Don E., Bruce P., and Lula. Subject's mother's parents raised nine children : John, William, Eliza Paine, Sally Fish, Julia A., Emily Springer, Elenor Eckler.
Vickerman, James, German Flats, was born in England, February 19, 1829, but has lived in this country all his life. His father and he farmed and contracted together for several years. After continuing the contracting some time be went into the plaster business, in which he has been for thirty years. His father was Collingwood Vicker-
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
man. Mr. Vickerman has always been prominent politically and has been supervisor of the town. In 1852 he married Harriet E. Ingram, and they have two daughters, Mrs. Lester and Mrs. Rasback, both living in Ilion.
Weeks, Hiram, Stark, was born in Amsterdam, May 23, 1825, a son of Levi and Jane (Hollenbeck) Weeks. The grandfather, Levi Weeks, was born on Long Island, and died at Stark. He married Anna Arnold, a sister of Benedict Arnold. Subject's father was born in Montgomery county, and in early life was a carpenter. In 1833 he came to Stark, and bought 140 acres, later added 140 acres more. Served as super- visor and justice.' Had fourteen children and raised thirteen : David, Louisa, Hiram, John, Jane, Ann, Solomon, Mariam, Benedict, Laura, Willard, Mariah and Albert. He died in February, 1890, aged over ninety-one. His wife died February, 1884, aged eighty-four. Subject's mother was born in Stark, daughter of Isaac Hollenbeck, who had four sons and five daughters. Hiram was raised on a farm, received a district school education, and at twenty began for himself as a carpenter, which he followed more or less all his life. He has kept hotel at Starkville, and located, where he now lives, about 1867, on five acres. He owned adjoining about 100 acres, his property now comprising three farms of about 400 acres. He served as commissioner on the Republican ticket. He married July 4, 1850, Margaret Lepper, who was born in Am- sterdam, a daughter of Jacob and Martha (Paddock) Lepper, natives of Warren and Amsterdam respectively. Her father was a soldier of 1812, and she was one of nine children : William, John, Mary A., Effa, Hannalı, Deborah, Elisabeth, Martha A., and Margaret. Jacob, son of Frederick Lepper, was of Holland Dutch descent. His mother was taken prisoner, with two children, by Indians during the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Weeks have four children : Harlan, Jennie, died aged twenty-five, Charles and Edwin. They are attendants of M. E. church.
Williams, Thomas, Ohio, was born in Remsen, Oneida county, in 1837, a son of Lewis R. Williams, a native of Oneida county, where his father was a very successful farmer. The wife of Lewis R. was Eleanor R., by whom he had eight children. He died in 1877 and his wife is still living. Thomas was reared on a farm and at twenty-one years of age started in life for himself. For a number of years he worked for Gardner Hinckley. In 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Infan- try, Company C, under Captain Moon, and served three years. He was in the battles of South Mountain, 2d Antietam, Wilderness, Gettysburg, Shenandoah Valley, etc., and at the Wilderness he was wounded in the breast, but remained with the regiment. While with Sheridan he was wounded in the left shoulder and was taken to Saterlee Hospital, Philadelphia, and remained four months, and was discharged. At the close of the war he returned to Gang Mills and worked for Gardner Hinckley. He then went to Ohio and purchased a farm, on which he remained three years and then returned to Gang Mills and worked for Hinckley & Ballou six years. In 1880 he returned to Ohio and has since lived on a farm. In 1872 he married IIelen Hagadorn, a native of More- houseville, by whom he has had these children : Alida, Ella, Mary J., Annie and Ira, all of whom are liying. Mr. Williams is a Republican and has been highway commis- sioner and justice of the peace two terms. He is a member of the G. A. R. Thomas Post at Prospect, N. Y.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Windecker, Fred, is a native and resident of Fairfield, and a son of J. W. Windecker. He has a farm of 165 acres and keeps a dairy. He was four years in Danube, and was road commissioner in that town for some time. In 1872 Mr. Windecker married Sarah C. Neely, and they have two children. Ile is a member of the Grange and an active Democrat.
Wadell, George C., Winfield, was born in Bridgewater, August 23, 1839, and came to this county to live in 1854. Ife enlisted July 29, 1862, in the 121st regiment, Com- pany B., and was in the battles of Crampton Pass, Antietam and Fredericksburg, and was discharged for disability, March 10, 1863. He marned, June 3, 1863, Sarah E. Bucklen. He is a son of Isaac E. and Jane Wadell, both natives of England. He has two children living: Charles R. and George S., and has lost two: Albert H. and Edward L. Robert Bucklen was born where he now lives, May 14, 1806, a son of Simeon, and Mary Brcklen, the first settlers on this farm, which came to Robert, his father, by buying out the other heirs. There were twelve children in his father's family, only three now living: Robert, Isaac and Han- nalı. Robert married Luna, daughter of Dr. John Hackley, of Plainfield, Otsego county, and have an adopted daughter, Sarah E.
Williams, Richard, a farmer, of Litchfield, was born in Wales, in November, 1845. He came to America in 1870. and settled in this town in 1880. He married Sarah Ann Lewis, and they have two children : William and Sarah Ann. Richard was a son of Robert and Mary Williams, residents of Wales. Mrs. Sarah Ann Williams, was a daughter of William Lewis, a native of Wales, who settled in this town on the Gulf road in 1853, and lived there until he died November 22, 1891, aged seventy-one years. William Lewis married Sarah Morris, and they had seven children : William, jr., Sarah Ann, William Henry, Mary Jane, Margaret E., Traphena A. and Florence P. Robert Williams married Mary Peters, by whom he had seven children : Margaret, William, Ann, Lewis, Richard, Robert, jr., and John Williams.
Wood, B. W., assistant postmaster of West Schuyler, is a native of this town, and a son of Harvey Wood. His grandfather was Benjamin Wood, and his great-grand- father, Thomas Woo1, who came from Massachusetts in 1770. The family is one of the oldest in the town, and Mr. Harvey Wood was town clerk for many years. Mr. B. W. Wood conducts a general business in West Schuyler, and is assistant postmaster.
Williams, Roger F. , was born on the farm where he now lives, in Winfield, Decem- ber. 18, 1840. He is a son of Anthony Williams, who was born in Rhode Island, in 1799, and came to Columbia with his father, from Rhode Island. They came with an ox team all the way, and built a log house, and cleared the farm. Here he lived until his death. Anthony Williams settled on the farm now occupied by his son, Roger, about 1830, where he died in 1873, aged seventy-four years. Roger Williams married Nelia Ginbey, and they have two daughters: Emma J., who married S. B. Crnikshank, and Ida II. Roger F. Williams is one of the representative farmers of Winfield, and owns about 100 acres.
Wholahan, John J., Winfield, who has been over overseer of the poor for three terms, was born in Clinton, Oneida county, November 26, 1854, and came to Winfield
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
in June, 1879. He married Nellie L. Wilcox, by whom he has two children : Olive M. and John W. John J. is a son of Michael Wholahan, who settled in Clinton about 1846. His wife is a daughter of Elijah Wilcox, a native of this town, who was a son of Hezekiah, one of the first settlers.
Wilcox, Newton Peleg, Litchfield, was born on the farm adjoining this, May 27, 1844. He is a son of Rodney, who was a native of Stonington, Conn. and settled in this town, where he died, February 22, 1883, aged seventy-five years. His wife, Emily Davis, was a native of Newark, and died, February 20, 1884. P. N. Wilcox married Mary E. Hull, a native of Noble county, Indiana, and a daughter of Noah I. Hull. They have four children : Glen Avery, Joe E., Mabel H. and Charles N.
Weeks, George S., Winfield, is a dealer in lumber, lath and shingles, also runs a planing-mill and sash, door and blind factory, besides being an extensive farmer. He was born in West Winfield, May 3, 1836, a son of Charles Weeks, who came from Ashford, Conn., and settled in West Winfield, about 1825. He died January 31, 1874, aged seventy-two years. His wife was Abigail Snow, who died July 31, 1870, aged sixty-four. They had ten children, of whom four are living : C. Delos, George S., Louisa M. and Emma R. George S. married Phoebe D .. daughter of David Burton, now of Ilion, and they have one daughter living, Nellie L. Weeks. The business was commenced by Charles Weeks in 1857 and continued until 1860, when it became Charles Weeks & Son, remaining so until 1868, wben George S. went into the mer- cantile business in West Winfield, and he then pulled down the buildings and erected what is now known as the Wheeler block. The lumber business and manufactories were run by Charles Weeks until 1870, when George assumed control and has eon- ducted it until the present time.
Walrath, Henry, Litchfield, was born in Jefferson county, November 23, 1837, and settled in 1838 in the town of Danube. In October, 1870, he settled on the farm where he now lives in Litchfield. It is selected as one of the representative farms of the town, and he is an excellent farmer. He married Martha Jane Eygbroat, of Minden, Montgomery county, in November, 1859. They have five children : Esther, Hattie, Henry H., Milton and Lester. Henry Walrath is a son of David, of this county, who died in Danube in 1848. His wife, Barbara (Bort) Walrath, died August 22, 1882.
Walker, George A., Winfield, is a dealer in watches, clocks, silverware and jewelry, and makes watch repairing a specialty. He was born here and has been in business here since 1890. He is a son of the late Dwight B. Walker, a dealer in general mer- chandise, who was a son of Ira Walker, one of the first settlers of Winfield.
Weldon, John F .. is a native and resident of Schuyler. and was born October 1, 1857. He was first a carpenter, but subsequently turned his attention to farming. His father was John J. Weldon, born in Newport, Herkimer county, and his grand- father was Abel Weldon. In 1883 John F. Weldon married Carrie E. Bridenbecker, and they have two children, Bertha M. and W. Raymond.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Wood, Henry W., Frankfort, was born in Newport, N. Y., November 23, 1842. He was one of four children of William II. and Jane (Perkins) Wood. of Herkimer county. ITis grandfather was George Wood, a native of Massachusetts. Henry W lived in the town of Fairfield until he enlisted September, 1862, in Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-Second New York Volunteers. IIe remained in the army until the close of the war in 1865, seeing service at Deep Bottom, Turkey Bend, The Wilderness, Spott- sylvania, Cold Harbor, Ream Station, Weldon Railroad, and Burgess Farm. Ile married March 24, 1866, Margaret Mixter, one of ten children of John and Margaret (Ackerman) Mixter, of Danube. In 1867 he engaged in the hotel business in Mohawk for one year ; he was then a truckman for nine years ; was a presser and shipper of hay for five years, and in 1880 he went into the hotel business at Frankfort, where he has since remained as the popular landlord of the Central House. He was elected president of the village in 1887 and '88, and March, 1890, he was appointed superintendent of Section 4 of the Erie Canal (comprising thirty miles of canal, with twenty-two locks and fifty-two bridges). In the spring of 1892 he presented Frank Mann Post G. A. R. No. 604, with a Grand Army Memorial (costing $60), which act was deeply appreci- ated by the citizens of the town.
Walliver, D. H., German Flats, was born in Herkimer county, September 11, 1847, and has been a farmer all his life. Ile owns 237 acres of dairy land, and sells a large quantity of milk. Ile takes an active part in Democratic politics. In 1884 he married Miss Johanna Conkling. He is a Mason, a member of Iroquois Chapter and the Little Falls Commandery.
Walrath, Jacob, Danube, was born in Danube, August 16, 1822. His father, Moses Walrath, participated in the war of 1812, and was at Sackett's Harbor. Jacob Walrath married Mariah Green, daughter of Lyman Green; they have five children, one son. and four daughters. Mr. Walrath owns a valuable farm of 200 acres on the river road in Danube township, and is assisted in its management by his son. He has served as trustee, etc., and is one of Danube's most highly esteemed residents and property owners.
Whipple, William, Fairfield, was born in Fairfield, February 6, 1833. He has always been a farmer and a successful one. He owns 149 acres of land and a dairy of thirty- seven cows, besides owning property in the village of Fairfield. His father also lived in Fairfield, and his grandfather came from Rhode Island. One of his aneestors, Thomas Whipple, helped to throw the tea into Boston Harbor, and William Whipple signed the Declaration of Independence. These men were uncles of William Whipple's grandfather. Mr. William Whipple is a Mason, a member of the Grange, and a Demo- crat. Ile married Miss Margaret Alexander in 1862, and they have one daughter, Addie J., who is living at home with her parents.
Whitney, II. P., is a native and resident of German Flats, and is one of the trustees of Ilion ; he was a farmer's son, and taught school for twelve terms before going into business. Ile was principal of the Ilion school for a year and a half, and has been school commissioner and excise commissioner. He went into the boot and shoe busi- ness May 1, 1891. Mr. Whitney is a Mason. In 1860 he married Miss Phila West, and they have one daughter, the wife of George D. Richardson.
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