USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 52
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[LEVI BOWEN. ]
ried to Electa Maria Farnam, daughter of John and Electa Farnam. With her he soon after returned to the town of Lowville and engaged in farming on rented lands, having no means with which to purchase a farm of his own. In the years 1830 and 1831, he and his wife were employed by the late Isaac W. Bostwick to oversee and carry on his farm of five hundred acres in the western part of the town.
press for cheese was the rude pry of those days-one end of a beam under a corner of the house, a weight on the other end, and the cheese beneath the pry near the house. There were then no cash sales in this locality for butter and cheese, and his first products, in the fall of that year, were loaded on wagons and carried to Deerfield, near Utica, where they were sold to John Leland, a produce dealer at that place, the butter
yours Truly Re Collins Kellogg
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
for nine cents and the cheese for five cents per pound .*
Feeling like the lucky diggers who, in the placer days of California, struck a gold mine, he returned home elated and reported his success to his neighbors. The next year his stock was increased to thirty cows, and the dairy products brought an increased price.
From these small beginnings he built up an extensive dairy trade, and increased his acreage until he possessed some seven hundred acres of land.
Between the years 1860 and 1865, he sold this land at an advanced price over the original cost, and in 1866, purchased a residence in the village of Lowville -to which he removed in April of that year. Here he resided until his death, which occurred March 31, 1871, in his 72d year: He was buried in the family vault in the cemetery on the West road, which he had constructed in 1866. His wife re- sided on the homestead until her death, Feb. 12, 1882.
In the days of militia men, Mr. Bowen held the rank of Captain of Riflemen in the IoIst Regiment of infantry of our State, with rank from Aug. 14, 1830. This was a picked company of one hun- dred and sixty men from the several towns.
His commission was signed by Enos T. Throop, Lieutenant-Governor, then in the administration of the government. This commission he held four or five years, and resigned rather than rank higher. Possessing a staunch integrity of character, a kind and social disposi- tion, few men were as much respected in
the community as Levi Bowen. His children were :- Electa C., born March 30, 1825, married A. M. Searl; Almena L., born April 10, 1827, married Bela Hough ; Farnam J., born July 26, 1830; Orin F., born March 5, 1833.
Of these children, Farnam J., the sub- ject of the portrait accompanying, was born in Lowville July 26, 1830. His early life was passed at home on the farm, and in the common schools and Lowville Academy, from whence he derived his education.
He followed quite successfully the oc- cupation of farmer on the West road until 1865, when he removed to the vil- lage of Lowville and began the business of general produce and commission mer- chant, associating with Charles H. Curtis, under the firm name of Cur- tis & Bowen, in which business he is still engaged. Upon the organization of the Black River National Bank in 1879, Mr. Bowen became one of the directors, and in 1881 was chosen as its Vice-Presi- dent. On the 26th of September, 1853, he married Sarah Frances Sterling, of Lowville. Their children are John F., born Sept. 3, 1868, died Oct. 22, 1875 ; Jay Sterling, born April 22, 1871.
K. COLLINS KELLOGG.
In all that has been written concern- ing the business men of Lewis county, no better illustration of success in life achieved under difficulties, is presented than in the life of the man who forms the subject of this sketch. The first settlers of this name in America came
* This was the first cheese ever taken out of the county for market.
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
from Scotland. The name was originally known as Kelloch from Kel-" wood,' and Loch-" lake."
K. Collins Kellogg was born in West- field, Massachusetts, March 26, 1823. His father was Collins Kellogg, born February 17, 1802, who married Cynthia Loomis in 1822, and when K. Collins was but a child, emigrated from Massa- chusetts and settled in the town of Tu- rin. They had two other children-Hal- sey E., born July 24, 1824; and Hester Anne, born July 29, 1825, who married Sylvester W. Stimpson, of Leyden, and died November 26, 1849, aged twenty- four years. Collins Kellogg, the father, died in Cleveland, Ohio, March 31, 1881. His wife died December 21, 1860. She was the mother of K. C. Kellogg.
Mr. Kellogg received the education of the common schools, supplemented by a course of study in Collinsville Insti- tute, Turin, New York. In March, 1840, when seventeen years of age, he entered the employ of William L. Easton and A. G. Dayan, merchants of Lowville. Here as a poor clerk, on a meager sal- ary, he found his feet on the bottom round of the ladder up which he has persistently climbed to a position of for- tune and influence. Born with the true business instinct, and actuated by those principles which alone insure success in this life, he began with the determina- tion to master the minutest details of his calling, and after a few years' faithful clerkship, began to rank as a skillful merchant. In 1846, he received an in- terest in the business of his employer, William L. Easton, and although a young man, was intrusted with the purchase of
merchandise for the firm, visiting New York for that purpose. His business connection with Mr. Easton continued two years. Subsequently he was with Cornelius P. Leonard, as an employè.
On the 13th of June, 1855, he married Elisha Boshart, youngest daughter of Garret Boshart, one of the earliest set- tlers in Lowville. He did not again en- gage in trade for himself until 1856. In that year he bought of John Stevens, the store formerly occupied by Jess Brown on the west side of Main street, next door north of the drug store of Horace Bush, where for fourteen years he con- ducted a prosperous business. From that time since, there has been no inter- ruption to Mr. Kellogg's mercantile ca- reer. During the year 1857-'58, he had with him as partner, his brother-in-law, James H. Boshart. He sold this store to R. J. Easton, and in January, 1870, removed to the store in the Kellogg House block, which he now occupies, and where in March, 1881, he associat- ed with himself Henry F. Weber as partner.
In his efforts to build for himself a business and a name, Mr. Kellogg has been peculiarly fortunate in securing the services of efficient clerks to whose in- terests he was uniformly devoted, and to whom he often refers with a feeling of kindness, not unmixed with pride, that he should have been instrumental in advancing their welfare. Among those who have thus contributed to his success, may be mentioned Eli T. Jones, who entered his employ in April, 1860, and continued to 1875; D. Franklin Dodge, from December, 1857, eight
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
years ; K. Collins Kellogg, 2d, his neph- ew, from March, 1870, to March, 1881, now (1883) in the dry-goods store of Robert Frazier of Utica ; George Gord- inier, 1861, to. March, 1882 ; and George S. Fisher, clerk in the Kellogg House office several years, who was elected sheriff of Lewis county in the fall of 1882.
Within the sphere in which he has moved, Mr. Kellogg has been remark- ably successful ; a success due to a pe- culiar combination of gifts-industry, perseverance, integrity, honesty, calcu- lation, and a genius for surmounting the difficulties in his way. Mr. Kellogg's business life has been by no means pure- ly mercantile. He has been largely in- terested in real estate and farm property. In 1864-'65, he owned several farms in this vicinity, and now owns one of three hundred acres, one mile west of Low- ville, upon which his brother resides. He also owns the Henry Kitts farm, sit- uated on Black River Flats, 11/2 miles east of Lowville, which cost $15,000, and is now occupied by Jess. J. Kellogg, his nephew.
In 1869, he loaned $20,000 to the build- er of the hotel in Lowville, which bears his name. He afterward became the owner of this property and for several years was proprietor of the house. Pos- sessed of rare business ability, to which was added a prodigious capacity for hard work, he has lived plainly and toiled hard many years, and by close application to his duties, has arisen from poverty and obscurity to wealth and in- fluence, and has won an enviable posi- tion as a merchant and financier.
Mr. Kellogg is not naturally of a so- cial turn, generally keeps himself in as much retirement as possible, and has al- ways avoided public station or office. His has been a life of intense industry, in which there has been but little of social joy, and those have loved him most who have known him best. Preserving his years by a life of steady habits, at the age of sixty, he is not a decayed gentle- man, but possesses his gentility and bus- iness capacity in full vigor. Believing that there is a glory in work when by it one can achieve success, Mr. Kellogg has not allowed the fire of his business ambition to burn out, and in his life- time is meeting with what is called snc- cess, the way to which has been paved with years of incessant labor. It can be said of him that he has never been a drone in the hive. Whatever his hands have found to do he has done with a will, and in summing up the secret of his success here, we may say that it is found in his energy of purpose, his in- domitable will, and his habits of econ- omy. For the past forty years, he has been a regular attendant at the Presby- terian church in Lowville. From the lives of such men as he, others may learn a lesson.
THE KELLOGG HOUSE.
One of the finest inland hotels in the State, a view of which is given herewith, is the Kellogg House, in Lowville, N. Y. It was built in 1869, and stands on the site once occupied by the Bostwick House, which was destroyed by fire
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Sunday morning, January 17th, of that year.
It is built of brick, four stories in height, with a frontage of 110 feet on State street, and 200 feet, land and yard, on Shady Avenue. It is of handsome architectural proportions, equipped with every convenience, and in one of the most desirable summer resorts in the country, being in close proximity to the
[THE KELLOGG HOUSE. ]
hunting and fishing regions of the North Woods. There are few hotels that have so good a reputation for com- fortable accommodations and prompt and courteous attention to the wants of travelers.
The house was opened to the public in January, 1870. On Friday, September 26, 1873, the property passed into the hands of K. Collins Kellogg, who, in the year 1869, had furnished $20,000 for its erection. July 16, 1874, Mr. Kellogg took possession as proprietor of the ho- tel, and for a number of years conducted it successfully, until June, 1881. He made considerable improvements both in the building and the property, erecting the
hotel livery barns in June and July of 1874, and laying the marble floor in the office in October, 1876. The yearly average receipts of this house are over $20,000.
The Kellogg House is now (1883) un- der the skillful management of S. V. Warner, a landlord well-known to the traveling public. A door opens out from the hotel hall to the Ruscoe Opera House. The patrons will here find in all its appointments that well-bred cour- tesy so necessary and always appreciated by patrons.
STEPHEN AND CHARLES LEONARD.
Among the distinguished men and early settlers of Lewis county whose lives of usefulness have left an impress upon Northern New York, none were more conspicuous than Stephen Leonard, and none more prominent and more in- terested in the enterprises of those latter days than his son, Charles P. Leonard. The first of the family name known in this county was John Leonard, who set- tled in Springfield, Mass., in 1636, and held in that town the then highly re- spectable office of Constable. His wife was Sarah Heath, whom he married No- vember 12, 1640. He was killed by the Indians early in 1676. His widow then married Benjamin Parsons, February 21, 1677. He died in 1690, and she married Peter Tilton. She died in Springfield, Mass., November 23, 1711.
The generations succeeding John Leonard were :- Joseph (second ;) Joseph
A.LITTLE.
Yours Truly Charles P.denna
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
(third ;) Moses (fourth ;) Phineas (fifth ;) Stephen (sixth.)
The latter was a son of Phineas, who was born August 19, 1751, and was a sol- dier in the war of the Revolution. He, too, was a resident of Springfield, Mass., where he died November 16, 1847, aged 96 years.
Stephen Leonard was born in West Springfield, Mass., October 29, 1783, where he lived until the year 1802. In that year, at the age of nineteen, he left his native town and went to Skaneateles, N. Y., where he remained some six months, and from there went to Manlius, N. Y., where he resided until the winter of 1804-'05, when he came to Lowville, and soon after formed a mercantile co- partnership with the late James H. Leon- ard, a relative, with whom he continued in business during a period of twenty- four years. In 1809, he was appointed postmaster by President Madison, and served in that capacity thirty-six years, or until the presidential administration of Polk, in 1845. He was one of twenty- four other prominent citizens who, in March, 1808, made application to the Regents of the University of this State for the incorporation of Lowville Acad- emy, in which institution he was a trus- tee for nearly forty years; watching its progress with care and solicitude, aiding it by his judicious counsels in its hours of prosperity, and assisting it by gener- ous gifts of his means, in its times of ad- versity. At the organization of the Low- ville Presbyterian Society, in November, 1820, Mr. Leonard was appointed one of the first trustees, holding that position many times during the subsequent years,
and being one of the most regular at- tendants on its services. Every enter- prise tending to the public good, found in him an earnest advocate, and he la- bored earnestly and faithfully during many long years for the prosperity of his adopted town. A man of generous impulse, those in distress found in him a true and liberal friend, and his memory ranks with those whom posterity reveres as worthy citizens and noble men.
On the 11th of December, 1806, Mr. Leonard was united in marriage with Jane Martin, daughter of General Wal- ter Martin, founder and first resident proprietor of Martinsburgh. She was born in Salem, Washington county, N. Y., February 16, 1788, and came with her parents to Lewis county in March, 1802, to encounter many of the discom- forts of pioneer life in what was then a remote and almost unbroken wilderness. She was a resident of Lowville from the date of her marriage until her death, which occurred May 4, 1871, surviving her husband but two years, he having died March 13, 1869.
The children that were born to this marriage were :- Jane Anne, born Sep- tember 4, 1807, died July 22, 1810; Christina, born August 14, 1809, died August 22, 1812; Martin, born Septem- ber 29, 1811, died August 22, 1814; Al- exander, born December 25, 1813, died December 22, 1819: Jane Maria, born July 10, 1816, married Francis B. Morse ; Cornelia, born December 20, 1819; Eliz- abeth, born December 29, 1821, married Rev. L. W. Norton; John, born April 8, 1824; Charles P., and George C., (twins,) born August 22, 1826; Lewis,
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
born March 20, 1832, died August 27, 1855.
At the breaking out of the Rebellion, George C. became a soldier of Company B, 94th Regiment N. Y. Vols. He was a brave and faithful soldier and partici- pated in the battles of Bull Run, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock, and the famous battle of Gettysburg. He died at Ely's Ford, on the Rapidan River, Va., December 1, 1863.
Charles Pinckney Leonard, the sub- ject of the portrait, passed his early life in Lowville, in the common schools and the academy, of which place he received his education, in the latter institution, being under the instruction of Professors D. P. Youmans and D. P. Mayhew. He followed in the line of his father's busi- ness-that of merchant and milling, to which he afterwards added the manu- facture of chairs, lumber, etc., beginning in the latter industry in 1875. He was also in 1879, one of the founders of the Black River National Bank, of which he is now President.
Possessing much of his father's indus- try, energy and genial nature, he has become prominent in the enterprises and welfare of the town, and has won the es- teem of his fellowmen. He was married to Sarah Tyler, of Lowville, January 1I, 1849, by whom he had two children :- Charlotte Jane, born September 6, 1851, died October 5, 1866; and Sarah Eliza- beth, born August 28, 1860.
Mrs. Leonard died May 27, 1865, and on the 11th of November, 1869, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Glas- gow Pelton, of Lowville, a widow with one son - Charles E. Pelton. There
was born to them one child-Stephen, born December 26, 1874, died while in infancy.
JAMES L. LEONARD.
The first that is known of this family name is John Leonard, who lived in Springfield, Mass., and who is supposed to have emigrated from Bilstan, county of Stanford, England, about 1639. The first adventurers from England to this country who were skilled in the forged iron manufacture were two brothers, James and Henry Leonard, who came to the town of Raynham, Massachu- setts, in the year 1652, which was about two years after the first set- tlers had established themselves upon this spot. In that same year these broth- ers built here the first forge in America. Henry not long after moved from this place to the Jerseys, where he settled. James, who was the progenitor from whom sprang the whole race of the Leon- ards here, lived and died in this town. He came from Pauterpool, in Monmouth- shire, England, and brought with him his son Thomas, then a mere lad, who afterward worked at the bloomery art with his father in the forge. Within a mile and a quarter of this forge was a pond known as Fawling Pond, on the north side of which once stood King Philip's house, where he used to spend the hunting season. Philip and these Leonards were on friendly terms and often traded with each other. Such was Philip's friendship that when his war broke out in 1675, he gave strict orders
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
to his warriors never to molest the Leon- ards. During that war, two houses near the forge were constantly garrisoned, and one of these was built by James Leonard long before King Philip's war. The generations of the family were John Leonard, 1 ; Josiah, 2 ; Reuben, 3 ; Elias, 4; James Harvey, 5.
James Harvey Leonard was the father of James L., the subject of this sketch. He was born in West Springfield, Mass., September 22, 1780, and died in Syra- cuse, N. Y., March 14, 1845. He came to Lowville with his cousin, Stephen Leonard, in 1804, on horseback from Skaneateles, N. Y., where they had been employed as clerks in stores. The rude aspect of the country at first discouraged them, but they were made of sturdy ma- terial and determined to stay. James H. began business in Lowville in 1804, and in January, 1805, was joined by Stephen Leonard. This firm became widely known through Northern New York. They supplied rations to troops passing through the country, and in embargo times were largely engaged in business transactions with Canada. James H. Leonard continued in the firm just a quarter of a century. He was a promi- nent and public spirited man, and among the foremost in every measure of public utility. He was an original trustee of the Lowville Academy, and an elder in the Presbyterian church. He was also postmaster at Lowville many years. His remains were interred at Lowville.
His wife was Mary Parish, daughter of Captain John Parish, (lost at sea,) of Branford, Conn. They were married in May, 1805. She was born July 10, 1785,
and died in Lowville, May 19, 1871, aged 86 years.
From an humble beginning as a mer- chant's clerk, and with no advantages or opportunities derived from patronage or influence of others, but gifted with fore- sight and financial tact which proved adequate for his station, he gradually acquired, by a course of honorable deal- ing and prudent management, what is regarded with us as a large estate. Nat- urally liberal, enterprising and public spirited, he every year found new occa- sions for the promotion of some new measure of public utility, and he ap- peared to take an honest pride in witnessing and promoting the pros- perity of every interest which tended to advance the moral, intellectual and social condition of those around him. His in- fluence was felt throughout the growing spheres of his business relations, and our people had learned to place confidence in his opinions and to seek his aid and counsel in whatever tended to the public good.
James Loren Leonard was the fifth and youngest son of James Harvey Leonard, and was born in Lowville on the 5th of June, 1821. Of the five broth- ers and three sisters, but one, Mr. Francis K. Leonard, now remains of this family.
The subject of this sketch received his education at the Lowville Academy, and is remembered as an industrious student, especially fond of mathematics, obedient and attentive to all his duties. The lim- ited means of his father, arising from a pecuniary loss, prevented him from at- tempting a more extended course of study, and at the age of seventeen he
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
entered the store of J. P. Ellis, at Car- thage, N. Y., as a merchant clerk. A few months after, he entered the store of the late William L. Easton of the village of Lowville, as a clerk, and after serving about seven years in this capacity became a partner with a one-third interest in the establishment. With a natural aptitude for financial management that expanded to meet the growing spheres of his op- portunities, Mr. Leonard at an early stage of his business career, began to lay those foundations of confidence and es- teem in the public mind which time only served to strengthen and confirm. While with Mr. Easton, Mr. Leonard entered the Bank of Lowville and on the 11th day of April, 1840, he appeared as book-keeper. He was appointed teller on the 19th of June, 1841, and on the Ist of April, 1846, he was elected cashier.
He was chosen Vice-President, April 19, 1855, and on the 19th of September, 1857, became President of the bank. This office he held at the time of his death. For several years Mr. Leonard had a pecuniary interest in the clothing store at Lowville, conducted by D. A. Smith. This interest had previously been repre- sented by his brother-in-law, Mr. Loren M. Brown, at whose death he assumed it. At an early period of his connection with the bank, he began to buy up stock as opportunities offered and his means allowed, until nearly the whole was owned by himself and Mr. Easton, and finally, in 1856, Mr. Leonard pur- chased the larger interest of his associate and became almost sole proprietor of the institution.
At an early period in the history of
the bank, a part of its capital had been invested in the State bonds of Arkansas, and subsequently fell to a merely nomi- nal value, and in consequence of this decline, the bank stock was for several years much depressed, and although its credit was maintained, the stockholders received no returns from their invest- ments. By prudent management this error was gradually retrieved, and the capital, placed on a sound basis, began to yield its due returns to its owners. The financial crisis of 1857, was felt by the Bank of Lowville, in common with all others, and led Mr. Leonard to apply for the appointment of a receiver to close up its business ; but the general suspen- sion of banks throughout the country, which occurred simultaneously stayed the proceedings, and as the assets were much above its liabilities, no serious ap- prehensions of ultimate loss were enter- tained. The injunction was granted by Judge Hubbard on the Ioth of October of that year, and dissolved by Judge Denio on the 27th. The Hon. De Witt C. West was, during this brief period, the Receiver. As a proof of the confi- dence of his fellow citizens in the integ- rity of Mr. Leonard and in the stability of his bank, it should in this connection be recorded that at a public meeting held in Lowville on the 13th of October, it was agreed to receive the bills at par as usual, and no serious embarrassment oc- curred in consequence of this momentary shock. The bank did not commence a single suit against its customers during the crisis and lost no debts from dis- counts during that period. Of Mr. Leon- ard's business habits, financial tact in
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
the management of the bank of Lowville, and public and domestic life, the writer of a notice in the Lewis County Democrat of January 30, 1867, who is understood to have been the Hon. D. C. West, says :-
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