History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 61

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason
Number of Pages: 712

USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 61

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*He had been a prisoner with the Indians in the Rev- olution, and is remembered as a man zealous in his labors, but somewhat intolerant towards other sects, es- pecially the Methodists. It so happened that an only daughter became an earnest believer in the creed of these people, and chose to leave the paternal roof, rather than relinquish her religious faith.

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

newspaper at Hanover, N. H., but has now been dead several years.

After employing one Fisk, a few months, the Rev. Leicester A. Sawyer was engaged, and on the 12th of Octo- ber, 1832, he wasinstalled. Mr. Sawyer was a native of Burrville, Jefferson coun- ty; graduated at Hamilton College, in 1828, and began his ministry here. He has since become known as an author, and has published a new translation of the New Testament, in which he gained some notoriety. He was engaged on this work while still a young man, and preaching in this town. In December, 1876, he was living at Beatrice, Nebraska. He remained about three years, and was succeeded by the Revs. Loring Bush- nell, and Joel Osborn, in 1835-'36, and by the Rev. Calvin Yale, as pastor from 1837 to February 1I, 1841.

Mr. Yale was from Kingsboro, N. Y. He graduated at Union College in 1812. After the dissolution of his pastoral re- lation with this church, he preached at Lowville, Watertown, Brownville, and other places. He resided upon a farm on the West road, until his death in 1882. His Golden Wedding was cele- brated May 25, 1868, but Mrs. Yale did not long survive that date.

The Rev. Erastus S. Barnes was the next pastor, and served from Sept. 13, 1841, to August 24, 1846. He was from Gouverneur. Hegraduated at Amherst College. From this place he went to Chazy, but afterward resided in this county and Oneida several years. His successors have been the Rev. Herbert W. Morris, from March 8, 1848, to Feb- ruary 1, 1850; Rev. Joseph Rosecrans, stated supply from 1850 to March 8, 1852; Rev. Revilo J. Cone, (do.) from July, 1852, to February 20, 1854; Rev. Samuel L. Merrill, from June, 1854, to June, 1857.

The Rev. R. A. Wheelock, of Deer River, had been employed on alternate

Sabbaths since April, 1859, at the time of publication of our first edition.

The succession of Presbyterian minis- ters in Martinsburgh, since 1860,has been : Revs. R. A. Wheelock, 1861-'63 ; Wm. H. Lockwood, 1864-'65, (supply from Lowville); J. P. Harson, 1867-'68; E. G. Bickford, 1869; Delos E. Jinks, 1870; J. G. Bolton, 1874 ; Gerrit L. Roof, 1875, (supply) ; Robert Hill, 1876; Lewis R. Webber, 1878 till present time.

This church, originally Congregation- al, was changed to Presbyterian, January 9, 1812. In the fall of 1830, and winter following, a remarkable revival occurred, and a larger number were added to the church than at any similar period before or since. A Sabbath School was begun in 1821 in connection with this church and held at first at private houses, in dif- ferent parts of the town. Over a thousand had been connected with it first and last, as teachers or scholars. In 1860, Mr. Ezra Botsford had been many years its superintendent.

Methodist meetings were among the earliest held in the town, and stated preaching was had by appointment many years before a legal organization was effected. The M. E. Church in this town was made a separate circuit from Low- ville in 1840. The succession of clergy- men upon this circuit is elsewhere'given.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Martinsburgh was legally formed Sep- tember 4, 1831, with Abner Clapp, Elijah Baldwin, Sedgwick Coates, Burrage Hough, John C. Hough, Arnold Clapp, and Samuel Gordon, Jr., trustees. A stone church was built in 1832, on the brow of the hill east of the State road and on the south border of the village, and dedicated in January, 1833. After being used a dozen or fifteen years it fell into decay, and upon the erection of churches in other parts of the town it was discontinued, sold and taken down. A Methodist Episcopal

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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

church was built adjacent to the old clerk's office in Martinsburgh village in the summer of 1857. In 1871 it was re- paired, and on the 14th of December, of that year, re-dedicated.

The West Martinsburgh society of the M. E. Church, was formed January 30, 1840, with Lobdell Wood, Moses Talmadge, Giles Easton, Henry Mc- Carty, Norman Gowdy, Henry Miner, Henry Curtis, Noah N. Harger, and Moses M. Smith, trustees. In the sum- mer of that year their present church was erected, and about 1846, was fur- nished with a bell .*

The Second M. E. Church and society of Martinsburgh was formed September 8, 1840, with D. Seymour, Joseph Brown, and William Peebles, trustees. A small church edifice was erected on Chapel Hill, so called, west of the village. It was re-organized October 27, 1862.

A Second Advent society in West Martinsburgh village, erected a house of worship in 1851, but meetings have not been regularly continued, and the society has become extinct.

A Baptist Church was formed at the school house a mile and a half south of the village, on the 27th of June, 1818, under the advice of Elder Stephen Par- sons. It at first consisted of seven members, and worshipped in the school house until the erection of a church in 1825. In 1840, it removed to the village where its meetings were held many years, but the society by deaths and removals has become nearly or quite extinct. The church edifice is now used as a barn.

The first settled minister was Elder Samuel Marshall, who was ordained March 13, 1822. Elders Martin Salmon, Riley B. Ashley, L. S. Baker, Charles

Graves, John B. Ambler, O. Wilbur, and others, were afterwards employed.

A Free Communion Baptist Church was formed, by a council of delegates from Russia, Lowville and Turin con- vened at Martinsburgh, October 17, 1818. It continued in existence until about 1840, when by death, removal, and union with other churches, it had be- come so reduced in numbers, that but four females attended its last covenant meeting. Elder Russell Way, of Turin, was the minister under whom this church was chiefly formed and continued. The sect is considered as extinct in this town.

The Martinsburgh United Baptist Society, was formed November 6, 1824, with Daniel Pitcher, Enoch C. Johnson, Norman Griffis, Jonathan Searle and Daniel Ashley, Jr., as trustees. In 1825, it erected a church edifice one and a half miles south of the village, which con- tinued to be used on alternate Sabbaths by the two Baptist churches about fifteen years, when it gradually fell into decay, until, at length, every vestige has dis- appeared, and a district school house has been built where it stood. The Mar- tinsburgh Baptist Society was formed September 30, 1839, with Levi Bronson, John Waters, Shepard Lee, Samuel Miner, James M. Sturdevant, and David Griffis, trustees. In the year following, a new church was erected in Martins- burgh village, but since has been wholly discontinued.

A church was built at Glensdale in 1853, by the joint efforts of the Protestant and Episcopal Methodists, and dedicated January 4, 1854. The society owning this was legally formed April 25, 1854 under the name of the "People's Church," Jer- rard Stiles, William Glasgow, Alfred Arthur, Walter Hubbard, and William Olivers, first trustees. This church was burned by lightning June 14, 1860. The edifice was rebuilt in 1862, on the same site, at a cost of about $1,000.

* This society was re-incorporated November II, 1862, the trustees being Porter Shumway, George Hart, Luther Shumway, Guy Carleton McCarty, Hiram Gowdy, Van Rensselaer Leonard, Russell J. Easton, Eli B. Hough, and James Monroe.

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

A number of persons known as Union- ists, professing to be held together by no creed or covenant but such as the scrip- tural belief and the conscience of every member might dictate and approve, as- sociated in 1857, under the Rev. Stephen P. Taft, in Martinsburgh village, and on the 12th of April, 1858, organized them-

selves into a corporation styled " The Trustees of the Church of Martins- burgh," of which Charles Peebles, Hora- tio Hough, Lewis A. Pitcher, Warren A. Peebles, Diodate Pease, Perry S. Hough, Martin Sheldon, Mithra J. Reed and Charles E. Peebles were first trustees. In the summer of that year, they erected a small but neat Gothic chapel for wor- ship on the eastern border of the village. It has since been sold and the society disbanded.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Glensdale was formed March 1, 1875, under Rev. E. H. Waugh; Bradford Ragan, Charles Wardwell, and Edward A. Stiles being first trustees.

The First.Methodist Protestant Church of Martinsburgh was incorporated June 9, 1879, with Henry Hall, George P. Owens, Ira Strader, Harvey Plopper and Erastus Hall as trustees. They reside in the western part of the town.

St. Patrick's Church, at Maple Ridge, upon the hill some three miles south- west of the village, is a small Catholic church under the care of the priest at Lowville.

The "Sacred Heart Chapel," a small Catholic house of worship, was built in 1880 near the line of Montague. It is served from Copenhagen.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BRADFORD ARTHUR.

Of the earlier ancestry of this family nothing definite is known, save that they were residents of England. The name was originally known as McArthur, which would indicate that the family was of Irish origin.

The prefix was dropped from the name at some remote period in the his- tory of the family. Bartholomew Mc- Arthur, the grandfather, came to this country from England, but at what date and at what place he settled are both unknown. Richard Arthur, his son, and the father of Bradford, was at one time a resident of Groton, Rhode

Island, from which place he removed to Westfield, Mass., at about the beginning of the Revolutionary war.

He married Hannah Bradford, a great- granddaughter of Governor Bradford, who came over in the Mayflower. He was by occupation a ship carpenter, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and at one time a prisoner in that event- ful struggle.

He died in Westfield, Mass., in 1790, aged forty years. Hannah Bradford Arthur, his wife, died December 13, 1831, aged eighty-four years. They had eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters.

The sons were Bradford, Levi, Rich-

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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

ard, Russell, Joseph, and Elisha. Four of the daughters married early settlers here, and the entire family came from Westfield, Mass., in 1802 and 1803, and took up large farms on the State road north of Martinsburgh village, the most of which are still owned by their descendants.

married Rheumah Ely, of Springfield, Mass. In 1803, he came to Lewis county and took up a farm. He was for a number of terms supervisor of his town, and held also the office of coroner.

He died September 9, 1855, aged eighty-two. Rheumah Ely, his wife, died April 15, 1850, aged seventy-three.

[BRADFORD ARTHUR.]

Bradford, the eldest of these children, and the subject of the portrait connected with this sketch, was born in Groton, Rhode Island, in 1773. Some portion of his early life was passed in Rhode Island, when he removed with his parents to Westfield, Mass., where he was educated. He was a farmer, and served as a lieutenant in the American forces during the War of 1812.

On the 26th day of April, 1798, he

Their children were :- Lovisa, born March 7, 1799, married Murlin Finch, of Lowville, died August 6, 1882; War- ren, born December 20, 1800, married first, Maria Harger, of Martinsburgh, · and second, Almira Hough, died June 19, 1876; Rheumah, born August 6, 1803, married Egbert Ragan, of Turin, died May 24, 1828 ; Almira and Alvina, (twins) born June 8, 1805, the former married Roswell Miller, of Leyden, and

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

died February 21, 1838, and the latter, now the widow of Willis Rudd : Louisa, born February 18, 1808, widow of Thomas J. Adams, of Martinsburgh ; Julia Ann, born April 1, 1810; DeWitt Clinton, born July 15, 1812, died Sep- tember 7, 1815 ; Mary Ann, born Novem- ber 27, 1815, widow of Chauncey Rob-

who came to Lewis county about the year 1802.

He married Sally Hovey, who was born in Bennington, Vermont, April 20, 1785, and who, in 1803, came from that State to this county with her brother, Samuel Hovey, for whom she kept house for some years,

LITTLE

[ORLANDO ARTHUR . ]

erts, of Leyden ; Emily, born March 31, 1818, married Duane Moore, of Martins- burgh ; Harriet, born August 20, 1821, married Sherman Phillips, of Lowville.

ORLANDO ARTHUR.

The father of the subject of this sketch was Levi Arthur, who was born in Westfield, Mass., March 20, 1780, and

Levi Arthur died November 28, 1852. His wife died in Martinsburgh, October 19, 1861. Their children were Jane Ann, born February 16, 1807; Orlando ; Caro- line, born January 10, 1812, died Novem- ber 14, 1846; Mellissa, born June 11, 1814, died September 7, 1815 ; Alfred, born August 16, 1818; Pamelia, born August 20, 1820; Levi, Jr., born March I, 1823, died December 10, 1877.

Orlando Arthur was born in Martins-

473

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

burgh, June 4, 1809, in which place he has always lived. He received the edu- cation of the common schools, and en- tered upon the occupation of farming, which he has followed through life with some success. Born at a time when the town and county was in a state of rug- ged wilderness, he passed his earlier

Elijah, born November 12, 1834, died February 2, 1835 ; James E., born April 22, 1836, died September 12, 1839; Or- lando, Jr., born August 6, 1838 ; Charles D., born May 12, 1840; Lewis, born July 22, 1841 ; Martha A., born January 23, 1843, married Amos Peebles; Frances H., born January 10, 1845, married Henry

[CHARLES PEEBLES.]

years in the trials and deprivations of pioneer life, and has lived to see the county rescued from its primitive con- dition ; to see the forests fall beneath the settler's axe, and cultivated farms spring from the wilderness ; the cramped cabin give place to the comfortable dwelling, and all the modern improvements super- sede the crudeness of those pioneer days. On the 29th of January, 1834, he married Eliza Ann Mastan, by whom he had eleven children, as follows :-

Coats ; Caroline, born December 3, 1847, married James Kelly ; Almedia, born November 19, 1849, married John Mc- Cue ; Eliza Ann, born July 22, 1851, married John McCue, and died August 2, 1872; Nancy A., born September 9, 1853, married Samuel Roberts.

CHARLES PEEBLES.

The subject of this sketch, Charles Peebles, son of John and Mary Peebles, was born in the town of Martinsburgh,

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

Lewis county, May 18, 1821. He re- ceived the education of the common schools of the town, and followed through life the occupation of farmer, in which he was industrious and successful.

He was married December 14, 1843, to Miss Pamelia Arthur, who was a daughter of Levi and Sally Arthur, and

gave liberally of his means to all church and religious purposes. In sickness and in trouble he was ever ready and willing to assist, and all who came to him for help found a friend.

This is the greatest tribute to the life of any man-that he recognized all men as brothers, and extended a helping hand

[JARED STILES, SR.]

born in Martinsburgh, August, 20, 1820. They had seven children, as follows : Ferman F., born September 22, 1844; Venendo F., born January 9, 1846; Eliz- abeth C., born March 2, 1847 ; Edna A., born January 2, 1851; Mary I., born March 22, 1856; Ruhamah P., born No- vember 22, 1857 ; Elmer E., born January 27, 1862. Mr. Peebles experienced re- ligion in 1857, and was chosen deacon in the Union church, at Martinsburgh. He

to the afflicted and distressed. Mr. Peebles died April 14, 1864. His wife and children survive him.

THE STILES FAMILY.

Among the representatives of the- quiet, industrious and useful class of farmers, whose uneventful lives yet give character and stability to the community

475

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

in which they live, none are more worthy of notice than the Stiles family.

their industry, steadiness of habit, and persistent, life-long effort, the prosperity

[JARED STILES, JR.]

There are no laurels of fame upon their | of every town is more indebted than

[DWIGHT STILES.]

brows, and no romance thrills the brief pages of their history, yet to the men of

to the rays of genius that flash out here and there and fade, and leave

476

HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

no glory and no monument but to the individual.

The first of this family of whom any- thing definitely is known was John Stiles, grandfather to Jared Stiles, Sr., of Staf- ford, formerly of Bolton, Conn., who married Jemima Ellis, of the same place. He had no brothers, and but one sister,

Martinsburgh, where he settled on the farm now owned by his son, Dwight. Here he lived a useful life and died Sep- tember 15, 1867. His children were :- Belinda, born November 28, 1809, died March 20, 1875; Jared, born September 23, 1811 ; Alfred, born April 6, 1813, died August 30, 1815; Alfred, born April

[ALFRED STILES.]-

Deborah, who married a man by the name of Eaton. John Stiles came to Martinsburgh in 1808. His children were Jared, David, Solomon, and Timo- thy. Of these Jared, born in Tolland, Conn., March 25, 1785, married Lois Warriner, of Wilbraham, Conn., Sep- tember 11, 1803, who was born Novem- ber 21, 1786. In the year of his marriage he came to Turin, Lewis county, where he lived some eight years and moved to

5, 1815; Mary, born July 20, 1817, died September 28, 1834 ; Anson, born March 23, 1820, died May 9, 1820; Dwight, born April 22, 1825. Jared, born Sep- tember 23, 1811, in Turin, now West Turin, was educated in the common schools and adopted the life of a farmer. January 31, 1837, he was united in mar- riage with Fanny Mills, who was born May 3, 1810, and by her he had three children-Mary, born March 17, 1844,

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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

died June 10, 1847; Lewis H., born April 6, 1847; Mary B., born August 13, 1856.

Alfred, born in West Turin, April 15, 1815, passed his early life in Martins- burgh, in attendance on the district schools, and has lived the life of a farmer.

he married Lucretia J. Stanton, who was born in Martinsburgh, June 10, 1828. Their children were :-

Charles D., born October 20, 1851, died October 4, 1875 ; Augusta L., born January 4, 1854, married February 13, 1879, Charles A. Mills; Eleazer J., born

[CLEMENCE WHITAKER. ]

He married Harriet Squires, January 20, 1841. She was born May 11, 1815. Their children were-Edward A., born September 29, 1844, married Ellen J. Pitcher, November 18, 1873 ; Francis D., born August 12, 1846, married Nett A. Hart, January 9, 1867; Dwight, born in Martinsburgh, April 22, 1825, was bred and drilled upon his father's farm, and received the education which the com- mon schools afforded. January 1, 1851,

January 27, 1859; Ida A., born June 25, 1865.

CLEMENCE AND DANIEL WHITAKER.

Clemence Whitaker was the son of William and Amy Whitaker, and was the fourth child in a family of five sons and seven daughters. He came from a long-lived family who first settled in Re-

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

hoboth, Mass., about the year 1650. His father emigrated from Rehoboth a short time prior to the Revolutionary war to Cheshire, where Clemence was born Dec. 18, 1779, and was christened with the surname of his maternal grandfather. His boyhood was one of toil, assisting his father, whose burdens were such as

walk of life excelled him in general in- formation.

Leaving the parental home soon after arriving at majority, he settled in Tren- ton, Oneida county, N. Y., in March, 1801, where he resided for thirty-four years. In April, 1835, he removed to Martinsburgh, N. Y., where he resided

[DANIEL WHITAKER, ]

usually fall to the lot of pioneers with limited means and a fast increasing family. His school advantages were limited to a few months' attendance in the district school of his native town, prior to the twelfth year of his age. But he was a constant reader, and by the natural grasp of his intellect, keen perception and observation, he became self-educated, and his after life exhib- ited a well-stored mind, and few in any

till his death, which occurred Feb. 28, 1872. He was married in 1805 to Alice Hall, and was the father of eight children, five of whom survived him. His second son is the present owner of the old home- stead in Oneida county. He took considerable interest in politics during his whole life, and during the more. ac- tive portion of it became somewhat prominent in the political affairs of his county, and the Senatorial and Con-

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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MARTINSBURGH.

gressional districts of which his county was a part. He was in no sense an office- seeker, and never held office except that of Presidential elector in 1844, when he cast his vote for the Democratic nomi- nees, Polk and Dallas. He was content to work for the general interests of his party with occasional assistance to an aspiring personal friend. He was for a time in the service of his country in the War of 1812.

His chief characteristics were indom- itable will and stern integrity. He was positive and direct in his dealings with men, yet eminently social. These traits combined with close financiering and perseverance, made him successful in life beyond the average of men. His sternness and naturally impulsive tem- perament gave to him at times, in the minds of those not well acquainted with him, the appearance of an unfeeling and uncharitable man. But those who knew him well, discovered beneath the appar- ently rough exterior, a generosity and benevolence as intense and active as his nature was positive. No one excelled him in genuine charity, or hatred of its exhibition " to be seen of men." While he had no special praise to bestow on those who simply performed their sim- ple duty in whatever station they occupied, he was unstinted in his de- nunciations of corruption, dishonesty and crime, wherever found. He was a fervent, devoted friend, and a cold, un- yielding and unforgiving enemy.

William Whitaker, his father, had some experience when a boy in the French and Indian war, about 1758 and '59, being at one time the bearer of a message from

the commander of old Fort Stanwix (now Rome) to the commander of Fort Schuy- ler (now Utica), making the journey in the night, to avoid the danger of being captured by Indians in the daytime. He was also a soldier in the Revolution- ary war, and took part in the battle of Bennington, under General Stark.

His mother, whose maiden name was Amy Clemence, was one of the officers of the company or " regiment " of ladies in Cheshire, who made the "big cheese" for President Jefferson, and which was for- mally presented to him by the noted Elder John Leland.

Alice Whitaker, wife of Clemence, was born April 16, 1777, and died May 4, 1847. Their children were :- Jerome, born May 25, 1806; Anna, born January 2, 1808, died April 6, 1852 : George, born Oct. 12, 1809; Samuel, born Nov. 12, 18II, died in June, 1813; Winfield S., born Dec. 21, 1813, died Feb. 29, 1872 ; William, born Dec. 10, 1815, died March 21, 1879; Daniel, born April 14, 1818; Romaine, born March 17, 1821, died March 8, 1825.

Daniel Whitaker, son of Clemence and Alice Hall Whitaker, was born in Tren- ton, Oneida county, N. Y., April 14, 1818. He was educated in the com- mon schools of his vicinity, and took up the occupation of farming. He came to Martinsburgh in 1835, where he has since resided. Inheriting many of the traits and business characteristics of his father, he has been successful in his occupation, and has gained the friend- ship and respect of all with whom he has come in contact. He has taken more than an ordinary interest in the science

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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

of agriculture, and has been for some years President and director of the Lewis County Agricultural Society. .

He was married April 10, 1849, to Ruth Ann Powell, who was born Sept. 23, 1821, and died Sept. 14, 1882. Their children were :- Daniel Fremont, born Feb. 9,

iden, Conn., in 1736, and who died there in 1788.

He served as an officer in the War of the Revolution. Mrs. John Hough died in West Martinsburgh in 1812. The family is of English descent. One of the children of Captain John Hough was

[ELI B, HOUGH.]

1850, died May II, 1862 ; Addie Louisa, born Dec. 4, 1858, died Feb. 21, 1859; Mary Alice, born March 2, 1860.

ELI B. HOUGH.

The only authentic records of the an- cestors of the subject of this sketch are those pertaining to Captain John Hough, the grandfather, who was born in Mer-

Asahel, born in Meriden, Conn., Decem- ber 1, 1769. He was a farmer, a schol- arly man, and held for some years offices of town trust.

He married May 28, 1794, Abigail Bacon, who was born in Middletown, Conn., in 1773. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Bacon, of that place.

They removed to the eastern part of New York, near the Catskill mountains, and in 1795, came to Lewis county, and

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History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 61

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason Number of Pages: 712

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason
Number of Pages: 712