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 89
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SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION .- The town of York furnished during the war of the Rebellion a large number of soldiers, but, like many other towns in the county, the war record required by the law of 1865 was never kept, and for the ap- pended list of those who fought in that war the historian has been compelled to depend on the memory of the citizens, and the surviving soldiers who enlisted from this town. The record, there- fore, is necessarily meagre. It is better to have recorded on the pages of history the few accessible names of those gallant defenders, than to permit all of them to pass into oblivion ; and so we give the following few but patriotic names, leaving it for the future to add others to this list of the heroes of Gettysburg, of the Wilderness, of Vicksburg and Bell Plain.
8th N. Y. Cavalry .- Harry Robinson, enlisted in 1861 in Company B. Reënlisted on the field in 1863 in same company and regiment, and served until close of the war. Now in Fowlerville.
Henry Averill, Company B. ; died at Arlington Heights in August, 1861, and was buried there.
Myron Averill, Company B, was discharged for inability in the spring of 1862. Now in Geneseo, N. Y.
Thomas J. Robinson, Company B, reënlisted in 1863, was wounded at Black and White Station in 1864, and sent to headquarters in Washington where he remained until the close of the war. Now in Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo county, Mich.
George Brown, Company M, served three years. Now in town of York.
Hugh O'Hara, Company M, discharged for ina- bility at Bell Plain Landing in 1864. Now in York.
Joseph McPherson,* Company M, killed at bat- tle of Raccoon Ford, Va., in 1863. Body brought home for interment.
George Scott, Company M, was wounded at the battle of Beverly Ford, June 9, 1863 ; died of lock jaw soon after. Is buried in York.
Daniel Calder, Company M, died at Bell Plain Landing in 1863. Is buried in York.
William Patterson, Company M, served his period of enlistment. Now in Rochester, N. Y.
Duane Powell, Company M, died at Bell Plain Landing in 1863. Is buried in York.
Clark White, Company F, was captured by the rebels and imprisoned in Andersonville. Was pa- roled and died on his way home in 1864, at Fort- ress Monroe, where he was buried.
Robert Orr, Company M, killed near Fairfax Court House in 1863, and was buried on the field.
John Hardin, Company M, enlisted in 1862, and served three years. Now in lona, Mich.
Jonathan Macomber, Company M, killed on skirmish line in Western Virginia, in 1863.
Andrew Scott, Company M. Now in Michigan. Phillip Wood, Company F. Served until close of the war. Now in Fowlerville.
Roswell Root, Company M. Now in York.
OTHER REGIMENTS .- John E. Roberts, Sergeant, enlisted in 1861, in Company G, 104th Regiment N. Y. Volunteers. Was wounded at Gettysburg July 2: 1863, died twelve days thereafter, and lies buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Captain James Gault, Company G, 104th Regi- ment, N. Y. Volunteers, enlisted in 1861, served through the war, and was afterwards provost-mar- shal in Buffalo.
William Francis Gibbons, corporal, enlisted in 1865, in Company D, 169th N. Y. State Volun- ¿eers, and was discharged with regiment at the elose of the war. Now in Fowlerville.
Frank Hawley, corporal of the colors, Company E, 169th N. Y. State Volunteers. Now in Greigs- ville.
Amos Hill, Company D, 169th N. Y State Vol- unteers, was discharged for inability in 1865. Dead.
John Foster, drummer 104th Regiment. Died in Fowlerville three years ago.
O. M. Bush, entered the naval service in 1862, aboard the gunboat Chillicothe. Was in the Red River Expedition in 1863. Died in 1874, and is buried in the town of York.
James Rockie, entered U. S. Navy in 1862, and served his time of enlistment. Now in the West.
· Brother to Senator McPherson, of New Jersey.
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COLONEL ORANGE SACKETT-DAVID PIFFARD.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
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COLONEL ORANGE SACKETT.
Homer Sackett, father of Orange, was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Conn., Aug. 6, 1765. In 1787 he was married to Sarah Carter, by whom he had twelve children, eleven of whom grew to inaturity.
Col. Orange Sackett, who was the sixth child of this family, was born in Warren, Conn., April 21, 1796. Before reaching his majority, he went to Orange county, N. Y., where he taught school. From thence in 1816 he went to Canandaigua, Ontario county, continuing his labors as teacher, and there Dec. 5, 1822, married Amanda Minerva Sheldon, who still survives him. Soon after this they removed to Mendon, Monroe county, where Mr. Sackett embarked in the mercantile trade, and where their first child was born. They re- mained there but a short time, removing to Riga, in the same county, where he continued his busi- ness as a merchant for eight or nine years, and from thence in the year 1835, he removed his family to the farm purchased two years previously, and which they have occupied since, in the town of York, Livingston county.
After an illness of only three weeks, Col. Sackett died at his residence March 10, 1877. He was full of energy and activity up to the date of his last sickness, overseeing and managing the affairs of his large farm of eight hundred acres.
He was in many respects a remarkable man, and his success was as marked and signal as have been the triumphs of other noted men in wider fields of industry. Justly entitled to be classed with the pioneers of Western New York, he partook largely of the energy and industry characteristic of those early settlers, but to these were joined higher and nobler traits than are commonly found upon the border. He was the same warm-hearted, be- nevolent, urbane, christian gentleman, whether in the fields pursuing his daily vocations, or in the social circle. He never sought political honors. He was an active, influential and devout member of the First Congregational Church at Fowlerville, and leaves a bright and stainless record behind him. Although nearly eighty-one years of age it cannot be said that he had outlived his usefulness, for up to the time of his last sickness, there seemed to be little or no diminution either in his physical or mental activity and energy.
Mr. Sackett left eight children ; there are also seventeen grand-children, and four great grand- children, and this four-fold family relationship was broken for the first time by the removal of its honored and venerable head.
Mrs. Orange Sackett died October 17, 1880, after an illness of three weeks.
DAVID PIFFARD.
David Piffard was born Aug. 9, 1794, in the vil- lage of Pentonville, parish of Clerkenwell without, Middlesex Co., England, and was the son of David Piffard, who was the son of an old French Hugue- not family ; the elder David Piffard was born in 1768, and died in 1823. He was a wealthy banker on the Royal Exchange, and of him Rothschild said, " that Piffard was the greatest man on change."
The mother of David Piffard, Jr., was Sarah Eyre, a lineal descendant of Joseph Eyre, an officer in the army of William the Conqueror at the time of the conquest. She was born in 1778 and died in 1815. David was the eldest son and second child of seven children, named as fol- lows :- Sarah, David, Anne, Charles, Louisa, Elizabeth, and Guèrard. In 1802, he went to France where he resided until 1813, when he returned to London with his parents. He received his education at Versailles and Paris, studying in connection with the usual course of study, the profession of architecture, and afterwards in Lon- don perfected himself in that profession.
In December, 1822, he came to America with letters of introduction to LeRoy, Bayard & Co., with whom he remained one summer. In 1824 he came to the Genesee valley and there bought of John Brinton, of Philadelphia, a tract of land con- sisting of about six hundred acres, and part of which is now the site of the village bearing his name.
In 1825 he married Ann Matilda, daughter of David L. Haight, of New York. Five children were the result of this union, all of whom are now living as follows :- David Haight, Sarah Eyre, Ann Matilda, Chas. Carroll, and Henry G. David Haight was married to Constance Theall, by whom he had four children, David Halsey, Nina Haight, Charlotte Ogilvie, and Emma Matilda. Henry G. now a noted physician of New York city, married Helen Hart, daughter of Gen. Wm. K. Strong, of that city. They also had four children, as follows :- Henry Haight, Helen Strong, Charles Halsey Haight, and Susan Far- nam. Since his settlement, Mr. Piffard has chiefly devoted himself to the care of his home farm and five thousand acres near Flint, Genesee county, Mich. In politics he was an old line Whig, and joined the Republican party at its formation in 1856, since when he has been a vigorous sup- porter of his party's measures, but has never looked for an office or allowed his name to be used in connection with one. He was a member of the first vestry of St. Michael's Parish, Gen- eseo, and was on the building cominittee for the first edifice of that parish. He was a man of rare intellectual attainments, and was thoroughly con- versant on almost any known subject. As a scholar and a scientist his knowledge of arts and the sciences was deep and far-reaching. He was among the first to accept the vibratory theory of sound and light. When it was advanced many years the men were born who were to accept it,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
and which every school boy learns. Horticulture was a passion with him, and his garden was one of the finest in the county, and was always a source of great pride and pleasure with him. His probity of character was a proverb, and it was always said of him, in more honorable words than those of knighthood, that his word was always as good as his bond. His well-known hospitality was a distinguishing trait and every year found his house filled to overflowing with welcome guests. His wife was a woman of superior intelligence and culture, and one has truthfully said of her "that in those elements which con- stitute noble womanhood, she had no superior." Refined taste, Christian devotion, purity of pur- pose, and fidelity to life's duties were marked and characteristic traits. She ever regarded the poor, by whom she was surrounded, as having a claim upon her as, "the poor whom ye have always with you." During the late civil war her heart beat in sympathy with the volunteers in the North- ern army. Many a wounded and sick soldier, in camp or hospital, enjoyed those comforts pre- pared by her hands or purchased by her ever open purse, who never knew that he was indebted to a noble-hearted lady for this kindness. She died Oct. 14, 1878, leaving to her friends a history fragrant with precious memories. Mr. Piffard's memory is faithful to the many and varied ex- periences of his earlier life, and he delights in re- ferring to those younger histories which would fill volumes, of how he was in Paris during the siege of Montmartre, when the allies entered, and much more. He has been in France during three governments-the Consulate, the Empire, and Louis XVIII., and in England during the reigns of George III., and the Regency of the Prince of Wales, and afterdwards the reign of George IV., and in America under twelve elected Presidents, three of them holding two terms-and three Vice- Presidents who took the chair to complete the term of deceased Presidents.
NIEL STEWART.
Alexander Stewart, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1778. When about thirty years of age he was married to Margaret McDougal of the same neighborhood in Scotland. About two years sub- sequently they emigrated to the United States, and in the year 1810 settled in the town of York (then Caledonia). There he commenced life anew, and by perseverance and manual labor made for him- self and family a home from the lands which at the time of his purchase was covered with a forest. He raised to maturity a family of six children-four sons and two daughters, all of whom, excepting the oklest son, are now living. Mr. Stewart died in February, 1845, and his wife survived him about sixteen years.
Niel Stewart, the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of York, July 12, 1811. He was brought up on a farm and early learned those prin- ciples which constitute success-economy and in- dustry-and which are always to be found in every successful person's life. During the early part of his life Mr. Stewart lived at home, assisting on the farm, and attending the common school where he received a moderately good education, and after- wards attending for a time a select school at Cale- donia, preparatory to teaching school, which he af- terward did with great satisfaction to the district and credit to himself.
When about twenty-three years of age he engaged with J. H. and E. S. Beach, millers at Rochester and Auburn, and such were his business qualifica- tions, that he was given full charge of their large warehouse and boats at York landing, on the Gene- see river, and continued as manager for six years, receiving five hundred dollars as salary the last year. He then located at the village of York and during three years following bought grain and wool on commission. He also engaged in the dry goods business with James McPherson. Severing that connection he afterwards engaged in a similar enterprise with E. Brown and Charles Stewart, he himself being postmaster at that time. Mr. Stew- art then commenced buying grain and wool on his own account, investing from time to time in real estate. Soon after this he severed all connection with the mercantile business, giving his full atten- tion to his grain and wool dealings, and looking af- ter his large farms containing some twelve hundred acres in the town of York. His business is not all confined to that town, for at Livonia Station he is sole owner of the Bank of Livonia, the bank buikling, a large wool warehouse, a large grain warehouse, and lumber yard, all under the man- agement of his son, Alexander N. Stewart. Mr. Stewart is without doubt the largest wool and grain dealer in the county. He has in his extensive business career met with several severe losses, hav- ing at one time lost over thirty thousand dollars, but no man ever lost a dollar through Niel Stewart.
In politics Mr. Stewart was formerly a Whig but upon the organization of the Republican party joined it and has ever since adhered to its princi- ples with unswerving fidelity. He has held all the important offices of his town, having been town clerk, assessor, justice of the peace, and supervisor of his town three terms.
March 12, 1840, Mr. Stewart was married to Jane, daughter of William and Jane Nichol, of York, by whom he had ten chiklren, all of whom are now living as follows :- Maggie, married to Ho- mer McVean, of York ; Jennie, married to Geo. K. Whitney, of York ; Eliza, married to John Sinclair, of Caledonia ; Ella, married to Edward C. Caldwell, of York ; Aggie H. wife of Geo. D. Smith, now of Rochester ; Mary K. living at home; Alexander N. living at Livonia Station ; Chas. N. merchant at York ; William N. living at home assisting on the farm, and Niel N. now attending the Normal school at Geneseo.
Nit Steward,
H: 5 1
CAPT. GEORGE W. ROOT.
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NIEL STEWART-WILLIAM FRASER-CAPT. GEORGE W. ROOT.
Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are members of the United Presbyterian church of York.
Providence has granted Mr. Stewart the prayer of Agur in the Book of Proverbs, that he should have "neither great poverty or riches." He has had given to him a competence, a pleasant home, a faithful wife possessed of fine literary talents, duti- ful children, " troops of friends," and a contented spirit. His story illustrates the truth that God's blessing attends the path of uprightness, prudence and industry. His leading characteristics are great activity, strict integrity and a desire to be useful. He is of the better class of self-made men. Such men are pillars of society, and salt against the world's corruption. We may well desire long to keep them with us, and cannot easily over-esti- mate their worth. It is better to show them regard and reverence now, then to wait till they have been taken from our midst, and we have only their memories to honor. The supreme words to be written over this man's life, through all its social, religious and business relations are sterling fidelity.
WILLIAM FRASER.
William Fraser, the father of our subject, emi- grated from Badenach, Invernesshire, Scotland, in the fall of 1807. He went directly to Johns- town, Montgomery county, (now Fulton county,) about fifty miles west of Albany, where he re- mained three years, then came to the Genesee country, and in the year 1810, settled in the town of York (then Caledonia,) where he bought a farm, which he. cleared and upon which he lived till his death, in February, 1828.
William Fraser, Jr., was born in Johnstown, Fulton county, June 11, 1808, and when about two years old moved with his parents to York where, when old enough, he assisted his father in clearing his land. He attended the schools of that early day until at the age of nineteen years, having a taste for other pursuits in life, he in 1827 entered the general merchandise store of David McDonald, of York. During these years, by strict economy, he was enabled to become a partner in the business with Mr. McDonald, the partnership continuing for two years when it was dissolved by mutual consent. In 1839, Mr. Fraser found an opening for a general merchandise store in the village of Fowlerville, and in the spring of the same year opened with a stock of dry goods. He has occupied the same store continuously since that time, having been the leading merchant of that village, and is now, without doubt, the oldest living merchant in the county, as he has conducted the mercantile business for more than half a cen- tury.
He began his business career in a modest way, determined to succeed if energy, indomitable per- severance, and true business habits would win suc- cess. He now owns a most desirable farm about
one mile from the village, and the fine building fronting on the two principal streets of the village, erected for his residence in 1849, and rebuilt, as it now appears in 1874, is one of the finest in the town. Mr. Fraser is a plain, unassuming man, having the full confidence of his fellow men, and now at the age of seventy-three years, retains an active mind and business ability apparently unim- paired. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and was a member of the church of Caledonia for over twenty-seven years. He joined the First Presby- terian Church of Fowlerville at its organization in 1878, and soon after was elected Elder of the same.
In politics Mr. Fraser has always been a Demo- crat, his first vote for President being cast in 1828, for that ever memorable and great captain of in- dependence, Andrew Jackson. He was Post- master at Fowlerville for sixteen years, and in 1835 was appointed census taker.
In December, 1839, Mr. Fraser married for his first wife, Isabelle, daughter of Donald G. and Margaret (Ferguson) Fraser, of York, by whom he had three children :- Helen Mar, Donald A., and Wm. Wallace. Mrs. Fraser died February 21, 1846.
For his second wife Mr. Fraser was married to Ann, daughter of Elder Donald and Mary (Christie) Fraser, of Inverness, May 18, 1848. They had two children, viz. :- Simon W. and Mary Belle, the wife of Dr. G. H. Jones, of Medina, Orleans county, N. Y. The death of Mrs. Fraser occurred September 1, 1873.
CAPTAIN GEORGE W. ROOT.
George W. Root was a son of Roswell and Pa- melia (Dickinson) Root, the former of whom was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Mass., Nov. 29, 1759, and the latter Aug. 7, 1766. They were married April 21, 1785, and in the year 1822, Mr. Root with his family emigrated from his native State to the town of York, Livingston county, where he purchased a farm and located about a mile south of the village of York, and remained there till his death which occurred Jan. 27, 1827, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife survived him ten years and died March 22, 1837, aged seventy years.
George W. Root was the youngest of a family of seven sons and two daughters, and was born in Pittsfield, Mass., June 8, 1808. He always lived at home with his parents, and with three of his bachelor brothers worked the farm, till at the death of one of the four, that one's share was divided between the remaining three, and so on till George WV. being the last of the four brothers, paid off the other heirs and retained the land originally pur- chased by his father. To this he has added from time to time till at his death he was the possessor of about seven hundred acres.
March 21, 1833, he married Eugenia Hurlburt,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
daughter of Dr. Ulysses and Lucina Hurlburt, of York, formerly of Stockbridge, Mass. They had five children :- Mary D., who died when eleven years of age ; Daniel W., living at home ; Martha, at home; Mary E., wife of Clarence Hodgman, of lyons, Ionia county, Mich .; and Julia A., wife of Moses Cowan, of York, Livingston county, N. Y.
Although he was a far-seeing man, Mr. Root's investments did not at all times meet his ex- pectations. He had always been a public-spirited man, entering into public improvements for the supposed good of his town or county, and often with pecuniary losses to himself. He was a man of strong common sense, sanguine in his tempera- ment and hopeful that many of his early projects would yet succeed. He was president of the agri- cultural society of the county one year, and direc- tor since its organization.
In polities Mr. Root was originally a Whig, but at the organization of the Republican party he be- came one of its members and ardent supporters. He was elected Supervisor by his party eight con- secutive terms, and chairman six of those terms, and often the votes of the opposing party were cast in his favor.
March 28, 1881, while attending to his duties at home hereceived a paralytic shock, and it was soon apparent to those who gathered at his bedside that his lamp of life was flickering, and as colors melt away into shades and tints and finally disappear, so his life passed away at the age of nearly seventy- three years. He was a kind husband, an indulgent father, a good neighbor and a warm friend. His life was one of unusual activity, and thoroughly identified with the history and business interests of his town and county.
SAMUEL WARREN.
Samuel Warren, was born in Litchfiekl, Herki- mer county, N. Y. Oct. 28, 1797. His father died when Samuel was but ten years old and he remained at home with his mother until he was nineteen years of age, when he concluded to try and better his condition in life by entering a new country. To this end he came to the Genesee Valley in 1816, and there engaged for one year in working on the farm for Mr. Asa Davis, The following winter he brought his mother there to live with him in the log- house he had erected on his farm of, thirty-three acres purchased from his employer. He continued in the employ of Mr. Davis, grafting fruit trees in the surrounding county, and on his own land planted a vineyard from which he sold vines to different parties and within a few years raised large quanti- ties of grapes from which he manufactured pure native wine. He made the first of that kind ever made in the county in 1832, in that year manu- facturing about twenty gallons, and in the year 1853 made over fifty-eight casks full.
Previous to this in 1822, Mr. Warren built a saw
mill, the first in the town, near where the feed and flour mill, known as Warren's mills, is now operated by his son H. P. Warren.
Nov. 30, 1826, he was married to Sarah, daugh- ter of Eleazer and Elizabeth Flagg of Conway, Franklin county, Massachusetts. Five children were born to them, three sons, and two daughters, of whom three are still living, viz : - Josiah, now residing in Geneseo; H. P. occupying the old homestead in York ; and Mary Jane, now Mrs. Alfred Burt, of Campbell, lonia county, Mich. Fidelia, who died Feb. 5, 1851, had reached her twenty-fourth year, and was a young lady of very brilliant mind and highly educated. She had studied medieine in Syracuse and Rochester in the Eclectic Medical College.
After eleven years of intense suffering Mr. War- ren died Sept. 14, 1862, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. He had long been deacon in the Con- gregational church at York, and a most exem- plary man, and efficient laborer in the Sunday School, in which he was particularly interested. Being a true christian, during the long period of his ill health, his friends or family never heard one repining word.
In politics he was a Republican. A man of good taste, nice discrimination, sound judgment and extensive reading, he became deeply interested in the questions of the day and earnestly hoped that ours might become a free nation. He became so engaged in that noble desire that he willingly bade his son whom he loved, go fight for his coun- try, and the few days that he lived after the de- parture of his son, perfect resignation was manifest upon his brow.
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