USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 38
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This Ruel was a Presbyterian minis- ter, and about the Ist of January, 1799, married Hannah Mather, and settled in Marlboro, Vermont. Their family rec- ord is as follows :-
Ruel, born December 24, 1799; Aman- da, April 13, 1802, at Marlboro, Vt .; Cotton, June 7, 1804; Huldah, August I, 1806, at LeRay, died August 22, 1827 ; Alonzo, November 20, 1808; David M., November 25, 1810, died August 1, 1813; David M., August 26, 1813, died Octo- ber 23, 1857; Lucy, July 31, 1815, mar- ried Rev. Henry Bannister ; Mary, De- cember 18, 1817, died March 4, 1852 ; Harriet, January 14, 1820, died Febru- ary 12, 1823 ; Martin L., September 24, 1826.
Rnel Kimball, Sr., died October 1, 1847, at East Hampton, Mass., and his
wife Hannah died at Leyden, March 9, 1860. She was the daughter of Timothy Mather and Hannah Church. Timothy Mather was descended from Richard Mather, who was born of an ancient family in Lowton, Parish of Winwick, Lancashire, England, and settled as a minister at Dorchester, Mass., in 1635, and was the grandfather of the cele- brated Cotton Mather.
In the life and character of Rev. Ruel Kimball, as well as in that of his wife, Hannah, there was much that is inter- esting and instructive, and that deserves a place in the memoirs of their descend- ants. Mr. Kimball, with but a common education, prepared himself for the min- istry, at a time when its duties were more than ordinarily laborious and self- denying, and when the burdens, too, rested heavily on the wives. He at first located in Marlboro, Vermont, and left there about 1805, for Leroy, Jefferson county, where he remained until about 1816, when he moved to Leyden, where he lived until his death. Though strict in his religious views and habits, he was still paternal and kind, with a heart always open to the unfortunate, and with a benevolence that was con- stant and up to the Scriptural standard. His wife was well fitted for her position, and was a woman of more than ordinary ability, and with an elevated standard both morally and intellectually.
Of the children of Alanson Merwin and Amanda Kimball, James Merwin was born in Leyden, January 8, 1827. His early life was passed in this town, where he received the education of the common schools, and of Lowville Acade-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN.
my, supplemented by a two years' course in Wiliston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. From the latter place he returned to Leyden in 1846, and for four years worked on his father's farm. He then went on to a farm of his own, where he remained one year, and in the fall of 1851, came to Port Leyden, and engaged
of Antwerp, Jefferson county, N. Y. She died in August, 1856. Their children were :- Julia, born August 9, 1853, mar- ried John L. Bickford, of Lowville ; Jane, born August 13, 1856, died in August, 1859. He was married again October 28, 1857, to Susan Scrafford, daughter of George Scrafford, of Albany.
[NORTON DOUGLASS. ]
for three years in mercantile and lum- bering business. He then devoted his attention to the lumber trade, and built his present saw-mill in 1860. He has held the office of supervisor for four years, being elected by the Democratic party. In the fall of 1874, he was elected by that party as Member of Assembly, and served one term, defeating Sydney Sylvester, by a majority of 202. In Sep- tember 1850, he married Julia Church,
NORTON DOUGLASS.
The family of the subject of this sketch is descended from two Scotchmen, broth- ers, who emigrated to this country at an early day. One of these brothers settled in Vermont, the other in Connecticut, and from the latter is descended this branch of the family. The celebrated Stephen A. Douglass, it is said, was a descendant of the brother who settled in Vermont.
286
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
The father of Norton was Jonathan Douglass who was born, probably in Connecticut, September 21, 1774, and who came to Lewis county in 1802, lo- cating on a farm in the town of Leyden, now owned by George Banning. His wife was Rachel Allen, whom he married in Saybrook, Conn., in October, 1798, She was born January 25, 1778, and died in 1843. Jonathan Douglass died in Port Leyden, in 1860. His children were Rachel, born May 4, 1801 ; Jonathan Jr., born July 11, 1803 ; Allen, born June 25. 1805; Norton ; Amanda, born August 17, 1813; Asa, born December -, 1815. Rachel married Sylvanus Heath. Aman- da married Warren Allen.
Norton Douglass was born in the town of Leyden, June 27, 1809. He passed his earlier years on his father's farm, re- ceiving the education of the district schools, and at the age of eighteen, went to Utica to learn the trade of edge-tool maker. Here he served a three years' apprenticeship under Alfred Windsor, and then for four years worked as jour- neyman for Windsor & Morris. He then went to Newport, Herkimer county, where he engaged in the manufacture of axes, in which business he continued four years. At the expiration of that time he returned to Utica and hired the manufactory of his former employers, which he conducted one year. From there he moved to Clarksville, near Au- burn, where for four years he was en- gaged in the manufacture of hoes. He next established a trip-hammer shop at Seneca Falls, which he run one year and sold to Alfred Gould, and went to Wa- tertown, N. Y., where he hired a water
trip-hammer shop and engaged for some ten or twelve years in the manufacture of axes. This business he sold out, and bought a farm about two miles from Watertown where he remained four years, and from there went to Clay- ville, Oneida county, where he worked one year for S. A. Millard, in the manu- facture of hoes and forks. He then went to Baldwinsville, Onondaga county, and worked four years for the Morris Axe and Tool Company. In 1867, he re- moved from there to Leyden, and en- gaged in the flour and feed business, purchasing in 1875, the Port Leyden steam mill, which is now (1883), under his management.
On the 14th of September, 1832, Mr. Douglass was married to Sally B. Shaw, of Utica. She died on the second of July of the following year, and on the 15th of April, 1834, he married Charlotte Elizabeth Furman, of Utica, by whom he had six children. She died March 4, 1879. The children were: Helen, born January 8, 1836, married E. G. Hutchinson, of Phoenix, N. Y .; Eugene, born August 20, 1837, died November 15, 1838 ; Frances Josephene, born Au- gust 22, 1843, died June 22, 1847; Gertrude M., born July 22, 1845, died June 22, 1847; Mary R., born April 15, 1849, married Oscar Howard, of Bald- winsville, N. Y.
In 1881, Mr. Douglass was married to his present wife, Elizabeth McNeal, of Coldbrook, Herkimer county, N. Y.
DAVID D. DOUGLASS, M. D.
The first that is known of the ances- tors of this branch of the Douglass fami-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN.
ly was Israel, grandfather to the subject of this sketch, who came from Scotland to America at an early day and settled in Middletown, Connecticut, and from thence removed to Lewis county. His children were Lydia, Annie, Jonathan,* Israel, Nathan, Salmon. One, Ruth, died with small-pox.
Oneida county; Roxana, born Feb- ruary 16, 1814, married Orrin Kenyon, of Lee, Oneida county, died August 1I, 1875; Lydia S., born March 20, 1815, married William H. Jacobie, of Port Leyden ; David D., born February 2, 1817; Achsah, born June 22, 1819, mar- ried William Post, of Leyden ; Salmon
[DAVID D. DOUGLASS, M. D. ]
Salmon was born in Saybrook, Con- necticut, February 24, 1786. He mar- ried Roxie Hubbard, of Saybrook, Con- necticut, in 1798. He died in Ellisburgh, Jefferson county, August 25, 1851.
His wife died October 14, 1826. Their children were: Marilla, born Septem- ber 23, 1809, married John A. Clarke, of Leyden; Julia H., born January 2, 1812, married Joseph Kenyon, of Lee,
J., born April 11, 1821, died in Sandy Creek, Oswego county, August 28, 1876.
Salmon Douglass married for his second wife Prudence Halley, of Weth- ersfield, Conn., March 13, 1827. By her he had five children-Horace L., born in Sandy Creek, March 12, 1828, dead; Pru- dency, born in Sandy Creek, February 6, 1831, married Ogden Edwards, of Ellis- burgh, N. Y., is now in Minnesota;
* Father of Norton Douglass.
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Charles, born in Sandy Creek, Sep- tember 1, 1834, killed July 3, 1854, in California, by the caving in of a mining shaft while digging for gold; Harriet L., born March 13, 1837, at Sandy Creek, married Allen M. Johnston, of Lee, Oneida county, died in 1872 ; Frances A., born June 6, 1841, at Sandy Creek, mar- ried first, Joel Merills, second, Allen M. Johnston.
Salmon, father to David D., was a physician who began his practice after the age of thirty-five, and pursued it successfully in Oswego and Jefferson counties until his death. Three of his sons were also physicians of some re- pute of the Eclectic practice.
David D. Douglass was born in Ley- den, New York, February 2, 1817, in which place he passed his early life. He passed through the studies of the com- mon schools, and attended the academy at Mexico, Oswego county, two years, and also at Geddes, Onondaga coun- ty, nearly two years more. At this latter place was located a school of Phy- sicians where he studied medicine, and from there went to Sandy Creek, where for five years he practiced his chosen profession with his father. At the ex- piration of that time he came to Leyden where he remained some two years, and then returned to Sandy Creek where he resided one year. He then removed to Oswego City for three years' practice, then to Leyden where he has since re- mained in the practice of his profession. At that time the village of Port Leyden was but a hamlet. Here he invested largely in real estate, built numerous buildings, and interested himself gener-
ally in the welfare of the village and town. In 1859, he began business as a druggist, in connection with his profes- sion, and continued it until 1879, when he sold to E. D. Spencer, his son-in-law. In 1870, he built the Douglass House, the leading hotel of Port Leyden, and in 1879 and 1880, erected the Douglass Block, a commodious and beautiful brick edifice on the main street, devoted to mercantile and official pursuits. In these and many other ways Dr. Douglass has been instru- mental in the upbuilding of the village.
On the 29th day of September, 1839, he married Harriet L. Clark, of Ley- den, daughter of Elder John Clark,* a Baptist minister, and one of the first settlers in the town of Leyden. Their children were :- Eugene C., born Sep- tember 3, 1843, in Leyden-a bright, in- telligent young man, was drowned at Midland City, Michigan, in the Titawa- boise river, February 28, 1863, body found March 8th, and brought to Port Leyden for burial ;- Emogene B., born November 20, 1845, in Sandy Creek, married Edward D. Spencer, of Port Leyden.
WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, M. D.
The subject of this sketch is descended from James Johnson, a native of Eng- land, who went to Ireland and married an Irish lady of the name of Dority, and in that country died, at what date is unknown. The children of James John- son were Charles, William, James, John, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth. Of these
* The first Baptist church at Talcottville was organ- ized with five members, (four males and one female,) at the house of Thomas Brayton, April 22, 1803, by Elder John Clark, its first pastor.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN.
children, James came to America, en- tered the Union army at the outbreak of the Rebellion, and was killed at the siege of Petersburgh; Margaret died in Columbus, Ohio ; Mary died in New York; Elizabeth died in Ohio; William is now living at Florence Court, County
some years the occupations of farmer and merchant; was for four years an officer in the New York State Senate, and during the last fourteen years of his life was an officer in the House of Representatives.
He married Rachel Emery, of Duanes-
William HJohnson. m. 2
Fermanaugh, Ireland; and John is a colonel in the English service.
Charles, the father of William.H., was born at Florence Court, County Fer- manaugh, Ireland, about the year 1820, and came to America about 1832, at the age of twelve years; locating first in Canada, then in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., from whence he removed to Norway, Herkimer county, N. Y., where he died in 1873. He followed for
burg, Montgomery county, N. Y. To them were born the following chil- dren :- George G., born May 5, 1838; William H .: Allen J., born May 24, 1842; Sarah L., born August 2, 1845 ; Catherine E., born February 23, 1848, died in September, 1875.
William Henry Johnson, the second child, was born October 9, 1840. His early life was passed in Herkimer county upon the farm, and in attendance
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
at the common schools in the village of Graysville. He afterwards attended the Seminary at Whitestown, Oneida county. His father intended that he should lead the life of a farmer, and in obedience to his wishes, William for a few years plodded the weary way of the ploughman with uncongenial foot- steps. He resolved at last to break away from labor so entirely at variance with his tastes and inclinations, and hew out for himself a newer and a better path. He had that faith in himself without which success in life is impos- sible in any calling, and added to that, he had the gift of patient labor. It is said that genius consists, in the main, of a prodigious capacity for hard work. His secret longings, during the uncon- genial routine of farm work, were to- ward the study of medicine,-to wield the scalpel"rather than to hold the plow,
-and he determined to enter upon a course of instruction that would gratify those longings ; to shrink from no labors, however hard, that would tend to that result, and to study, without an attempt to practice, until he had mastered, as far as it was possible, the intricacies of his chosen profession. Accordingly, in 1868, at the age of twenty-eight, he en- tered the office of Dr. S. R. Millington, in Poland, Herkimer county, and began his medical studies. The first few years of his new life were years of up-hill work ; but possessing a resolute and deter- mined spirit, he fought his way against many obstacles, and with the one idea of becoming a skillful physician, he studied in season and out of season, to perfect himself in the calling of his
choice. Studying diligently for some time in Poland, he attended his first course of lectures at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and immediate- ly after attended three successive courses of lectures at Bellevue Hospital College, New York City, in 1869, '70, '71, graduating therefrom the 2d of March of the latter year. On the 26th of April, 1871, he came to Port Leyden and established a practice that has been both successful and lucrative. He was chosen as the President of the Lewis County Medical Society, and has been a delegate to the State Medical So- ciety for the past six years. In 1882, he was elected a permanent member of that society, probably the first per- manent member ever elected in Lewis county.
On the 6th of March, 1872, he was married to Mary J. Nichols, of Fairfield, Herkimer county, who died on the 16th of July in the following year ; and on the 18th of August, 1875, he married Mary B. Lord, daughter of John D. Lord, of Leyden. His children are: May Lord, born August 9, 1876; John Emery, born May 21, 1878; Ruth Mabel, born February 7, 1880; and Helen Edith, born June 20, 1882.
JOSEPH S. BURNHAM.
The grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a resident of Middletown, Conn. He was a sea-faring man, and, contracting small-pox, died in Middle- town when Joseph, the father of Joseph S., was a small boy.
Joseph Burnham was born in Middle-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN
town, Conn., January 7, 1787, and came to the town of Leyden at the age of fif- teen, where he remained until the year 1808. In that year he went south, trav- eling through Virginia and North Caro- lina as a dealer in tinware, and there re- mained until the breaking out of the War of 1812, when he returned to Ley-
visor and Loan Commissioner. He was a member of the Universalist church, and was regarded as a man of sound and liberal views. His wife, Eliza, who was born March 4, 1788, died December 21, 1865. Their children were: Louisa, born April 12, 1815, married Orrin Hutchinson, and settled in New York ;
[JOSEPH S. BURNHAM. ]
den and was drafted and furnished a substitute. In 1814, he went into trade in the old house situated on the farm now owned by Noah C. Brooks, and was for seventeen years a merchant in the town of Leyden. On the 10th of July, 1814, he was married to Eliza Rice, and settled on the farm now owned by Joseph S., where he remained until his death, which occurred May 22, 1864. He was for a number of years Super-
:
Juliet, born September 23, 1817, married Dr. Charles N. Bass, and is now a widow in Boonville, N. Y .; Joseph S., the third child, was born in Leyden October 6, 1825. He was born in the house in which he now lives, and received his education in the common schools and at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. On the 4th of June, 1867, he married Elvira S. Brooks, daughter of Matthew T. Brooks, of Leyden, who was
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
born April 29, 1834. Their children were: Eliza M., born November 22, 1869 : Frederic C. J., born June 4, 1871.
THADDEUS E. MUNN.
Among the genial, intelligent and en- terprising citizens of Lewis county, none
purchased a large tract of land near Carthage Landing. He remained there a short time and sold this land and re- moved to the town of Greig, Lewis county, where he entered upon the oc- cupation of carpenter and joiner and bridge builder, which he followed for a number of years. In that town he
deserve more favorable mention than Thaddeus E. Munn. His father was Otis Munn, who was born in Greenfield, Mass., November 20, 1792, and who re- moved from that place to Champion, Jefferson county, N. Y., in 1812. There he remained a short time and returned home, and on the 15th of April, 1815, married Parmelia Jenings, of Green- field, Mass. Soon after his marriage he removed to Rochester, N. Y., where he
bought a farm which he sold, and moved to Leyden about 1839, where he pur- chased the farm now owned by Thad- deus. Here for nearly forty years he lived the life of a farmer, and died Aug. 31, 1880. His wife died May 5, 1876. Their children were :-
Franklin Lyon, born October 2, 1816, died December 29, 1847 ; Margaret J., born February 25, 1819, married Francis W. Northrop, of Lowville, now of Utica ;
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN.
Mary P., born August 20, 1821, mar- ried Walter Whittlesey, of Lyons Falls, died March 25, 1860; Chester J., born July 16, 1824; George W., born Octo- ber 6, 1827, died August 23, 1839; Helen M., born February 9, 1830, married Henry Shedd, of Lyons Falls, died Oc- tober 30, 1863.
Thaddeus Eugene Munn, the seventh child, was born July 29, 1835. His early life was passed about home in attendance on the common schools. At the age of thirteen he entered the Low- ville Academy, under the tuition of Pro- fessor Mayhew, where he studied two and a half years. At the expiration of that time he engaged as clerk in the store of F. W. Northrop, at Lowville, where he remained one year, and went with him to Zanesville, Ohio, where he was con- nected with him in the dry-goods busi- ness nearly two years. He then returned and entered upon a preparatory course of study for college at Fairfield, Herki- mer county. Here he studied one year, and went to Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass., where he remained another year, and entered the second term as freshman in Union College, Schenectady, graduating therefrom in 1861. During the next four years, through the eventful struggle of the Re- bellion, he devoted much of his time to public speaking at the patriotic war meetings that were held to raise funds and volunteers, and gained for himself a respectable name as a champion of the Federal cause. A member of the Re- publican party, yet not an office seeker or a politician in the corrupted sense, he was elected by that party as supervisor
in 1870, and held that office six consecu- tive terms. On the 3d of September, 1868, Mr. Munn married Adeline S. Baker, daughter of Thomas Baker, of Talcottville, who was born September 23, 1836. The only child of this mar- riage is Thaddeus Eugene, Jr., born May 13, 1869.
THE HALL FAMILY.
Among the early settlers in the Black River country, was Isaac Hall, who came from Wallingford, Conn., about the year 1802, and settled on a tract of land lying on the West road, adjacent to the village of Talcottville.
This was a part of a purchase, in sec- tions, made by him, of some six hundred acres. The farm owned and occupied by Eli Hall, his grandson, is the old homestead, and the old frame house at the intersection of the Talcottville road with the West road, was built by him, where he resided till his death, in the year 1810.
His sons were, John, Isaac, Jonathan, Abijah, and Joseph who was born at the old homestead in Leyden. The elder sons came from Connecticut, and settled on sections of land near by, a part being from the original purchase by their father.
Mary, his eldest daughter, married William Topping, who settled on the farm now occupied by Loren Drake. He was the first settler in Lewis County. Isaac Hall's ancestor, " John Hall, the emigrant," as he is called by
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Henry Stanley Davis, in his history of Wallingford, Conn., emigrated to this country about the year 1639, landing in Boston, and settling in New Haven, Conn. It is not recorded from what country he emigrated, but it is probable that he came from England.
He and his sons, John, Thomas, and Samuel, removed to Wallingford about the year 1669, as their names appear on the Plantation Covenant of 1669-'70-'72. In 1675, he and his son, John, were chosen selectmen of Wallingford. He died early in 1676, aged seventy-one years.
Lyman Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and after- wards Governor of Georgia, was great- grandson of " John Hall, the emigrant," and grandson of Samuel Hall.
Thomas, son of " John Hall, the emi- grant," was born March 25, 1649, died September 17, 1731, aged sixty-two years, five months, seventeen days.
Jonathan, son of Thomas and Grace Hall, was born July 25, 1675, died Janu- ary 15, 1760, aged eighty years, seven- teen days.
Dr. Isaac Hall, son of Jonathan and Dinah (Andrews) Hall, was born July II, 1714, died March 7, 1781, aged sixty- six years. He married Mary Moss. He was the first practicing physician in Meriden, Conn. His great-grandson, Nathan Kelsey Hall, was Postmaster- General under Fillmore's administra- tion, and afterwards United States Judge for the Northern District of New York.
The mother of one of the early settlers in Lewis county, John Ives, Esq., father
of the late Selden Ives, Esq., of Turin, was the eldest daughter of Dr. Isaac Hall.
Isaac Hall, an early settler in the Black River country, son of Dr. Isaac and Mary (Moss) Hall, was born March 7, 1745, died February 17, 1810, aged sixty- four years, eleven months, ten days. He married first, Phebe Ives, second, Lois Buckley, mother of his youngest son, Joseph.
Jonathan, son of Isaac and Phebe (Ives) Hall, was born August 22, 1776, died February 22, 1841, aged sixty- four years, five months and twenty- nine days. He married first, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. John Hoadley, second, Sally Jenks, daughter of William Jenks. His sons were Jehiel Hoadley, Daniel, Jonathan, Isaac, William Jenks, and Newton.
CHAUNCEY ROBERTS,
The ancestry of the subject of this sketch cannot be traced farther back than his father, Calvin Roberts, who was born in Connecticut, May 2, 1777, and who married Anna Brainard, March 6, 1799, who was born in the same month and year in which he was born. The earlier portion of the father's life was passed at the trade of shoemaking, and the latter portion was devoted to farm- ing. Calvin Roberts died in West Turin, Lewis County, N. Y., in May, 1835. His wife died in August, 1855. Their chil- dren were six in number, Amanda,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEYDEN.
Clarinda, Ira, Priscilla, Chauncey, and Gilbert.
Chauncey Roberts was born in Turin, Lewis County, May 5, 1810. He was educated in the common schools, and lived in that town until 1839, when he
born to this marriage, William M., born September 22, 1838, died February 1, 1864, and Mary E., born December 27, 1841, who married Walter D. Jackson, of Boonville, Oneida county, October 1, 1 863.
[CHAUNCEY ROBERTS. ]
moved to Leyden, where the remainder of his life was passed in the occupation of farming. He married, June 7, 1837, Mary A. Arthur, daughter of Bradford Arthur, of Martinsburgh, who was born November 27, 1815. Two children were
Mr. Chauncey Roberts was for forty- five years a member of the Baptist Church, and enjoyed the esteem and respect of all who knew him. He died June 15, 1876, mourned by his family and regretted by his friends.
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