USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58
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David Bennett was the third child in the above mentioned family of eleven and was born on the 7th of March, 1777. He was married to Polly Botsford, May 4, 1799, and soon afterward moved to Seipio, Cayuga county, N. Y. Here his wife died in Oct., 1812, leaving a family of five children. April 10, 1813, he was again married, his second wife being Mary, eldest daughter of Joel Coe one of the first settlers of the town of Scipio. In the spring of 1821 he removed to Portage, arriving on the 16th of May. He commenced at once his work upon the Springbrook farm, establishing a home where the social and family tie have ever been, and still remain strong and tender. Here he died Dec .. 7, 1857. Six children resulting from his second marriage here grew to maturity, viz :- Joel C., Mary J., Charles I)., Emily C., Curtis N. and Rachel A. Bennett.
Joel C. Bennett, the oldest of these was born May 16, 1815. He received a district school edu- cation and also taught school several terms, be- coming pretty well acquainted with the school sys- tem as it was administered in the early days. He was the first to introduce the use of blackboards in school in this part of the country, and it had to be done at his own expense. He, with thirty-five other teachers of Portage, helped to organize the first Teachers' Institute in Western New York, at Hume, under the auspices of R. H. Spencer, then County Superintendent for Allegany county, in 1844-
For many years he discharged the duties of School Inspector, School Commissioner or Town Superintendent, but he has held office very little except in this connection. He was, however, Su- pervisor at the opening of the war in 1861, and held the office two years. He tried to keep pretty full statistics with regard to the soldiers enlisted, bounties paid, companies in which they served. casualties which happened to them, &c. Most of the statistics on this subject for Portage have been compiled from memoranda kept by him.
On November 10, 1850, he was married to Cor- nelia Botsford, youngest daughter of Ezra Bots- ford, Esq., long a resident of Granger, Allegany county. They have four children, Ada E., Nora M., Carl D., and Ezra W. Bennett.
CHARLES D. BENNETT.
Charles D. Bennett, the subject of this sketch was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, Feb. 15, 1819. Two years after this, his father moved to Nunda, now Portage, and cut for himself a farm out of the woods, and as the forest was partly pine, he was obliged to combine lumbering with clearing. His education began in the rude log school-house, but was afterwards continued in Henry Chalker's select school, the LeRoy high school and Canandaigua academy, with teaching school between the terms, and he also made good use of the Nunda Farmers' library. On reaching his majority he went to Louisiana and clerked for his brother Ezra for a year, then taught school a time on Bayou LaFourche, and returning home, spent four years in farming and teaching, and was for two years town superin- tendent of common schools. An attack of inflam- mation of the eyes then forced him to refrain from hard labor and he sought the dry climate of Texas, then recently annexed, and settled at Gonzales, on the south-western frontier, where he was chiefly en- gaged in teaching, and for several years was presi- dent of Gonzales college. About the year 1850, the temperance wave spread over Texas, and he joined the ranks of " Sons of Temperance" and was for several years Deputy Grand Worthy Patriarch of the order. In 1853, he visited the north and married Miss Huldah Olney, of Scipio, who after a few years residence in Texas, desired to leave society controlled by slavery. The hard times of 1857 making the sale of property and collection of debts impracticable, Mr. Bennett converted his means into a herd of cattle and drove them to Chicago, a distance of 2,000 miles, about the be- ginning of a trade now amounting to millions. In 1858 he drove a herd of Texas oxen to Leaven- worth, and returning to Portage bought the old homestead where he has since followed the quiet and uneventful life of a farmer. In politics he has never sought preferment, but of the many minor offices which a man assumes voluntarily and fills at his own expense, he has held his full share. He is perhaps chiefly noted for his labors in improving the highways.
HON. NATHANIEL COE.
Hon. Nathaniel Coe was born in Morris county, N. J., September 6th, 1788. His paternal ancestry is given in the sketch of his sister, Mrs. Huldah Bennett. " The wish to cherish the remembrance of our ancestors is akin to the equally laudable desire to live in the memory of posterity,
"E'en though our ancient but ignoble blond Has crept through scoundrels, ever since the flood."
His mother, Huldah Horton, was born in Ches- ter, N. J., Jan. 14th, 1762. She was the daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Horton, of Southold, Long Island, who was the seventh in descent from Barnabas Horton of Mousely, in Leicestershire,
( PORTAGE. )
C. P. BENNETT.
( MT. MORRIS. )
JONATHAN PHILLIPS.
CHESTER FOOTE.
279
HON. NATHANIEL COE- MRS. WALTER BENNETT.
England, whose ancestry and coat of arms were traced back several centuries.
He was born in about 1600. About 1635, with his wife, Mary, and two children, he came to Hampton, Mass., in the ship Swallow, Capt. Jeremy Horton, master. In 1640, his family, with twelve others, formed a church in New Haven, Ct., Rev. John Youngs pastor, and together soon removed to the east end of Long Island, then a wilderness. They named their place Southold, from their old home in England. He built the first framed house there, and in strange contrast with the restless, moving habits of our population, it has continued to be the residence of his posterity in lineal descent, viz: Jonathan, Jonathan, Jr., Lawrence, Jonathan and Jonathan G. Horton, who died there July 3d, 1873. A similar instance of continued possession is found in Stratford, Ct. Robert Coe, from England, settled there about 1650. His premises have ever since been held by his descendants, viz: John, Robert, Ebenezer, Eben- ezer, Jr., John Ebenezer and John Henry Coe, born in 1842. N. Coe found himself in the woods of Scipio at seven years of age, where his father had a soldier's right of 640 acres, for which he paid a shilling per acre. Schools were few, and those not the best, but the youth was one of those who take to books and seem to learn by intuition. In 1818 he came to Portage, tended saw-mills, practiced surveying, etc. In 1820, with his brother Joel and a schoolmate, Myron Strong, he went to Olean, where they procured a boat, in which they passed down the rivers to New Orleans.
He remained about six years in various places at the South, generally teaching school or classes in penmanship. In his travels he became ac- quainted with the Lancasterian method of teach- ing, then quite famous as well as novel. He taught school several sessions. By the introduction of better text books and methods of teaching by him, and a few similar teachers, such as Hiram Olney and Stephen Fuller, the common schools of Portage attained the reputation of being the best in this region. He was a member of the school board as inspector or commissioner till these offices were abolished by law. In 1828 he and W. Z. Blanch- ard, partners, opened a store in Oakland. "No liquor sold to be drank here" was hung in a con- spicuous place, a novel and unpopular sign in that day, when liquor sellers were prominent church members. October 9th, 1828, he married Miss Mary White, of Auburn, a young lady of fine lit- erary taste and high moral sentiments. Her extra- ordinary social faculties enabled her to take a lead- ing place in society. Acting with earnestness and consistency, with a unity of object, few families have exerted a stronger influence, always for good, than they. In the countless instances in common life when public good or private want required the aid of a benevolent heart, a prudent head or skill- ful hand, he was the ready helper ----
" The Ajax and the Mentor, too, To sagely plan and stoutly do."
He was several terms a Magistrate and often
Supervisor. For rare discernment and integrity he had the confidence of all. He was elected to the Assembly from Allegany in 1843, '44 and '45, and from Livingston in 1847, and became one of the leading members of the legislature. Twice he had the misfortune to be reduced from comparative affluence to bankruptcy by the failure of others. In 1851 he was appointed Mail Agent for Oregon. He selected a homestead at the mouth of Hood River on the Columbia. His sons, Lawrence W. and Eugene F., were the first navigators of that river above the Dalles. As a successful fruit culturist he spent the evening of a useful life that had been a blessing to many, dying Oct. 17th, 1868.
" Like one who wraps the drapery of his conch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
MRS. WALTER BENNETT.
LITTLE
(MRS. WALTER BENNETT.)
Mrs. Walter Bennett nee Huldah Coe, was born in Morris county, N. J., July 15, 1793. The Coe family came to this country from Suffolkshire, England, where the family descendants had re- sided for many generations. The earliest mention of them which can now be found is in Fox's Book of Martyr's, which states that Robert Coe, (Coo it is there spelled) of Millford, Suffolkshire, was burned at the stake by Queen Mary, September, 1555, at Texford. A full account of his trial and defense is given by Fox in vol. 3, page 349. Robert and his sons John, Robert and Benjamin Coe, came to America from England in 1634. Robert, Jr., settled in Stratford, Conn. Robert was married in 1657, and died in 1659, leaving one son, John Coe, who was born May 10, 1658. This son was married to Mary Hawley, December 20th, 1682.
The result of this marriage was a family of ten children. His second son Joseph, was married to
280
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Abigail Robinson in 1708. His son Joseph was born in 1713. He was married in 1739 to Abigail Curtis, by whom he had ten children. Joel was the eighth child in this family. He married Hul- dah Horton in 1780. In 1795 he moved with his family to Scipio, Cayuga county, which was then a wiklerness, and settled ten miles south of the log grist-mill, on the site of what is now the city of Auburn.
It took them a week to sail to Albany. From Albany they went to Schenectady by wagons, and from that place on a boat, propelled by oars and poles, to Fort Stanwix, now Rome. They hauled the boat on an ox wagon three miles, to Wood creek, thence on Oneida lake, Oswego and Seneca rivers, and Cayuga lake to Aurora. For nine miles they cut the greater portion of their way through the forest to their settlement one mile north of Scipio Center.
Mary was the first born in Joel's family of eight children. She was the mother of Joel C. Bennett, whose portrait appears in another part of this work.
Huldah Coe, whose name heads this sketch, was the sixth child in this family. Both Mary and Huldah were born in Morris county, N. J. Mary was born in September 8, 1782, and died Septem- ber 12, 1872. Huldah was born July 15. 1793, and was married to Walter Bennett September 20, 1809. They settled in Portage in 1817, cutting their roadway much of the last twenty miles, and were one of the most influential families of that town, taking a leading part in all the earlier settle- ments and improvements.
The Coe family are noted for their longevity, and the subject of this sketch will be eighty-eight years old in July, 188t, enjoying remarkable health for a woman of her age. Brightness of intellect. with uniform cheerfulness, blended with Christian graces, purity of heart and life, works of charity, and steadfast faith have been her eminent charac- teristics. The "dew of youth" is still fresh in her warm affections, and her children, friends and neighbors "arise and call her blessed." She resides with her son J. Yates Bennett, who is the subject of the following sketch.
J. YATES BENNETT.
Walter Bennett, father of J. Yates, was born in Newtown, Conn., May 2, 1786. Came to this country in 1817, and settled in the town of Portage. He is the grand-son of Ephraim Bennett, who emi- grated from England to Connecticut about the year 1720, and son of Thomas Bennett, who was born November 17, 1752, and died February 7, 1836. Walter settled in Scipio, Cayuga county, in 1808. Married Huldah Coe, (a portrait and sketch of whom appears previously,) September 26, 1809. Eleven children were born to them, seven of whom are now living as follows :- Thomas F., a wealthy farmer, residing in Atchison county,
Mo. ; Walter, an inventor, residing in Rhode Island; Flora, principal of the Peabody Institute at Summit, Mississippi; J. H. Hobert, sewing machine dealer, residing in Springfield, Ill .: M. Louise, wife of J. W. Johnson, and residing in Bal- timore ; Mary E., residing with J. Yates Bennett.
On moving to Portage, Walter Bennett formed a co-partnership with N. B. Nichols, and they built the first saw-mill erected in the town. in Hunt's IIollow, and there carried on the lumber business and farming for a number of years. In politics, he was a Democrat. Was Justice of the Peace a num- ber of years. He was elected warden of the Epis- copal church at its organization, which office he held till his death May 26, 1843.
LITTLE
(J. YATES BENNETT.)
J. Yates Bennett was born in Portage, Nov. 30, 1822. Moved to Louisiana in 1844, and resided there mostly for sixteen years, seven of which he spent in teaching school, five as postmaster and book dealer in Thibodeaux, La., and two in New Orleans. Returned to Portage, and in 1862 mar- ried Marietta Galusha, of Arcadia, N. Y., who died Dec. 23, 1868. He then married Mrs. Elizabeth B. Smith, daughter of Dr. G. W. Branch, of Mt. Morris, May 2, 1872. Two children were born to them, one of whom, Arthur Vates, born July 28, 1873, is now living. Mrs. Bennett dlied May 27, 1877. In politics J. Vates is a Democrat and was elected Justice of the Peace in 1880. Is also war- den of the Episcopal church, and is engaged in the lumber business and farming.
COL. GEORGE WILLIAMS.
Col. George Williams was born in Hatfield, Mass., May 26th, 1793. He was educated at Can- andaigua Academy, his father, Dr. William Wil- liams, being a prominent pioneer on the Phelps
281
COL. GEORGE WILLIAMS.
and Gorham purchase. At nineteen he enlisted as a volunteer and became a member of Gen. Peter B. Porter's staff. At the close of the war of 1812 he commenced the study of law in the office of John Greig, Esq. Mr. Greig was the agent and afterwards the partner of Mr. Hornby, of Scot- land, in the survey and sale of the Cottinger tract of 50,000 acres which included the town of Portage.
(COL. GEORGE WILLIAMS.)
In the spring of 1816 he sent the student to act as resident agent for its sale and settlement. He established his land office at Oak Hill, a little south of the Deep Cut, and as it was a pleasant location, central among the settlements, it soon became the principal seat of town business, where trainings, elections and town meetings were usually held. He located his homestead a half mile north, where he opened a large farm. Its clearing and cultivation, his extensive milling and lumber operations, the business of the land agency and his various civil and military offices made his life a busy one. Of powerful frame and vigorous con- stitution, he shunned no exposure and feared no fatigue. He had a genial, social temperament, which made him the acknowledged leader in the festive scenes and athletic sports that enlivened the rough labors of the early settlers.
As a land agent he was kind and indulgent to the buyers, few of whom were able to comply with their contracts, and none who labored faithfully to improve their premises were ever ejected for non- payment. In 1822 the Nunda post-office was re- moved from Oak Hill to Hunt's Hollow, and he obtained the establishment of the Oakland post- office at his residence, where he was about ten years postmaster. About the same time the militia brigade was constituted a regiment, and he was made its colonel.
Mr. Williams had been Town Clerk and Super-
visor, and in 1826 he was elected to the Legisla- ture as a Clintonian, but in Albany he went over to the opposite party. That was, among poli- ticians, the unpardonable sin. The principle of free toleration, though early preached, was slow in coming into practice, and party spirit, though less bitter than it had been in the last century, when Federalists and Republicans would not sometimes send their children to the same schools, was far more rancorous than now, and knock-down argu- ments were often used in political discussions.
In the lonely road east of Portageville about that time, he chanced to meet Dr. A. A. Parmelee, when a discussion at once began. His artillery of logic well shotted with facts was in such a skirmish hardly a match for the Doctor's keen thrusts of wit and ready repartee surcharged with a sarcasm that was venomous. Tortured to madness, the Colonel's threat of harsher arguments was quickly met by the Doctor, whose physique was above the average, and if inferior to the Colonel in size of frame and power of muscle, he fully made up the deficiency in agility and skill at scuffling, for this was not a contest under the rules of the ring, but a common rough-and-tumble. Whether a thought of their former friendship, or from an idea of its ridiculousness, or from weariness they gave up the discussion as a draw game is not known, as there were neither spectators nor umpire, and the parties were never profuse in giving particulars.
This incident is given as an illustration of the custom of the times, rather than of the character of the persons, for both were men of the first re- spectability ; nor was it at all akin to the vengeful vendetta still so common at the south, for as they had before been fellow partisans, so they after- wards worked as warm Whigs together. Col. Williams was never again an aspirant for office. He was too impatient of the criticism and calumny heaped upon candidates, and he gradually with- drew from party politics, but he was always pro- nounced in his political principles.
About the time he opened his agency, Hubbard, Mumford, McKay and Smith, a company of enter- prising men, undertook to develop the immense water-power at Portageville, but with indifferent success. They built mills and laid out the village, but weary of their work, they sold their interests at different times, till finally Col. Williams became sole proprietor. The purchase did not prove a wise one, for like the company, he failed to make it a paying investment. Besides it left him the im- putation of holding a valuable and useful property which he would neither improve himself, or allow others to develop. His naturally genial temper was soured by such accusations and the hostility of the villagers ; he became estranged from his fellow citizens and diverted his mind from social enjoy- ments to the cares of his family and the conduct of his extensive business. But his kindness of heart continued. The needy called often upon him and never in vain.
His generous disposition made him very public spirited, but impulsive in his methods and im-
282
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
patient of dictation, he preferred to act by himself rather than be fretted and crossed by the co-opera- tion of others, even in the construction of costly highways, or the building of a river bridge.
He took a leading part in causing the construc- tion of the Genesee Valley canal, and was a large stockholder in the Attica and Hornellsville railroad, which was mainly built by subscribers along its line, but has since become a part of the great Eric Railway, whose insatiate maw has devoured the funds of successive series of stockholders.
His health remained firm and vigorous till his eightieth birthday, when he was severely injured by being thrown from his buggy. When he had partially recovered, a sitnilar injury, September 22d, caused his death, May 11th, 1874. If the great opportunity given him at that early day, in the possession of ample means for doing great good to others and gaining greater for himself, was not crowned with commensurate success, it was not for want of the will, for he was frugal and industrious, liberal to lavishness, and he has left a character noted for strict integrity, as well as an ample fortune.
August 30th, 1843, he married Miss Alma De- voe, sister of Isaac, Henry and Col. Jacob Devoe, among the first settlers of the town. Their children are : George W., who occupies the home- stead ; Julia, the wife of Willis H. Fuller, of Por- tageville; Henry, who died in Montana, and Char- lotte, wife of Edwin Pattison, Esq., of Buffalo.
Charles Williams, brother of Col. Williams, and for many years a noted teacher, lived near him. He married Miss Mary Hunt, daughter of Sanford Hunt, and afterwards Miss Maria Taylor. He died September 24th, 1871, aged sixty-eight years. His children were : Mary H., wife of Chapin C. Williams; Delia, wife of Morris Ayrault ; Charles L., who died December 15th, 1871 ; C. Anna, a distinguished teacher and elocutionist, and Ella Williams.
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS.
Among others of the early settlers worthy of an extended sketch may be mentioned the follow- ing :-
George Wilner was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1797-of German origin. His father was one of the conscripts furnished by the Duke of Brunswick to George HI. to help sub- due his rebellious colonies in America, and sailed from Plymouth, England, in 1776 with his regiment known as the Brunswickers, under the command of Baron Frederick Adolphus von Riedesel.
In 1777, he was attached to Burgoyne's army for the invasion of New York. Under the com- mand of Lieutenant-Col. Baum, he with others were sent to take Bennington, Vt., where they were captured by the Americans under Gen. Stark. Young Wilner took the oath of allegiance rather
than be held a prisoner for exchange, and after- wards married and settled in Berkshire county, Massachusetts. In 1813 his sons George and Henry joined a company then being raised by Capt. Perkins for the war. Henry was killed at the bat- tle of Plattsburgh. In 1816, George Wilner, in company with Capt. Perkins settled in Nunda, now Portage, each purchased a farm near the Genesee river above Portageville. George Wil- ner married Betsey Moses, a sister to Dr. Elisha D. Moses, and with him moved to Indiana in 1822. He returned in 1824 and purchased a farm in the town of Portage, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1864. He held several town offices and was an active business man. Two of his children reside in the town : Marcus W., who was born in 1825, and who has held the office of Assessor and Supervisor, and Merriman J., who was born in 1827, and who has been Highway Commissioner, Assessor and Supervisor.
Captain James Perkins better known here as Colonel Perkins sold his farin on the river about the year 1855, and moved to Lima, where he died in 188o.
Jonathan Bailey was born in Athens, Vt., April 1, 1792. His father dying when he was seven years old, he was brought up by Asa Barry of Rockingham. He was a soldier on the Niagara frontier in the war of 1812. At the battle of Lundy's Lane he received a ball in his thigh. It was unsafe to remove it and it made him lame for life. He married Miss Bethany McCurdy, Febru- ary 26, 1818. She was a daughter of Samuel Mc- Curdy, and born in Surry, N. H., July 1, 1794. They settled in Burns, Allegany county, in 1818. In 1832, they removed to Pennacook, where he died August 12, 1869. He was a leading citizen, an exemplary Christian, and for several years the superintendent of the Sunday school in his school district. They had eight children, the fifth, Jas. Hinman Bailey, succeeds his father on the farm.
Allen Paine was born in Peru, Berkshire county, Mass., February 19, 1792. He taught school sev- eral terms. December 26, 1814, he married Miss Lucy Meacham, who was born in Middlefield, Hampshire county, Mass. They moved to Leices- ter in 1818. In 1831 they settled in Pennacook, where she died April 22, 1845. He continued many years a popular singing-school teacher, was often elected to various town offices and was sev- eral terms a magistrate. He married Miss Mary Wilkinson, July 4, 1846. He died January 13, 1876. His children are Lyman F., who removed to Ohio; Philip M., who was a soldier in the 130th Regi- ment ; Cecelia, wife of N. Wilder ; Adaline, wife of Samuel Star; Lucy, wife of Elisha Town; Hannah wife of Monroe Griffin; and by his last marriage, Franklin W., Nelson and Mary Belle.
Deacon Richard Willis Robinson and Charlotte, his wife, of Rutland county, Vt., settled at Oak Hill, in October, 1818, after the usual two weeks' journey by horse team, which the distance re- quired. He was a farmer, a carpenter and a brick and stone mason. He was a pioneer in burning
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MOUNT MORRIS-PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
brick kilns. They were constituent members of the Presbyterian church at Oak Hill, in 1819, and also of the Congregational church formed at Por- tageville, in 1827. She spun and wove the clothing for the family, and since his death, Nov. 23rd, 1839, she has continued to keep house for her son, E. F. Robinson, a farmer in Pennacook, and still does so, though in her 87th year. Their children were :- E. F., Huldah M., wife of R. P. Spencer, Richard W., Charlotte E. and Alba G., who went west, and Ann Z .. wife of Judson Stockwell, in the river valley.
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