USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume II > Part 55
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JIM STEVENS
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
inated for president of the United States. He was again a delegate, in 1892, to the democratic national convention at Chicago, when Grover Cleveland was nom- inated for the presidency. He represented his district in fifteen state conven- tions and in 1892 was appointed one of the four state committeemen-at-large. During recent years he has taken no active part in politics.
In 1871 Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Sarah A. Sharpe, of New York city, and they have two children : Samuel B., who lives at Rome; and Lucy K., who is the wife of Hubert Van Waganan, of New York city. Mr. Stevens is not a member of any clubs or secret societies but finds his greatest happiness in his beautiful home, at No. 315 North Washington street, the most attractive resi- dence of the city. At the age of seventy-five he finds himself surrounded by friends and all the comforts and luxuries that are to be desired. IIe has ably performed his part in the upbuilding of the city, county, and state, and can look back on a long and active life with few regrets and many pleasing recol- lections. Always courteous and obliging, entirely without ostentation or desire for praise, his name is honored wherever it is known and most of all where it is best known.
FREDERICK WILLIAM KINCAID.
There is an old saying that blood will tell and, judging by the history of the families of Oneida county whose records are presented in this work, the saying may be accepted as practically true. Frederick William Kincaid, whose name stands at the head of this sketch, is a representative of a family which has been prominent in central New York for three generations. Ile was born in Utica, May 4, 1867, a son of Hon. James C. P. and Harriet A. (Hubbell) Kincaid. The family is of Scotch origin. His maternal grandfather, Alrick Hubbell, was one of the leading men in the carly history of Utica, serving as one of the first mayors of the city and also representing his district in the state senate. He was born in Utica in 1801 and was for many years a leather merchant, being the senior member of the firm of Hubbell & Curren. Both of the great-grandfathers of our subject on the maternal side served in the patriot army during the Revolu- tionary war and an ancestor on the father's side was a soldier of the war of 1812.
George Kincaid, the paternal grandfather of our subject, came to Utica from New York city in 1841. He yielded to the gold excitement which swept over the country in the latter part of the '40s and was one of the Argonauts of '49 who crossed the plains and braved the dangers of a journey of six months to Cali- fornia in their eagerness to secure the yellow metal. In 1861 he returned to Utica, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1893. He was promi- nent in the Masonic order and served as eminent commander of Utica Com- mandery, K. T. In his family were four sons and one daughter.
James C. P. Kincaid, the father of our subject, was also a native of Utica, born in 1840, and was for a number of years engaged in the dry-goods business in this city, being a member of the firm of Putnam & Kincaid. He was an influ- ential worker in the republican party and in 1873 was appointed by President
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V. S. Grant as collector of internal revenue at Utica, serving under the adminis- trations of Grant, Hayes and Garfield and for a short time under President Arthur. He was a patriotic and useful citizen and was greatly interested in the promotion of education. For six years he served as school commissioner of I'tica, being president of the board for four years.
During his boyhood Frederick W. Kincaid attended the public schools of U'tica and was graduated from the academy in 1855. He early beeame identified with business affairs and applied himself from the start with a diligence which gave promise of gratifying success. As executive head of Brandegee, Kineaid & Company. clothing merchants, he manages one of the important indus- tries of U'tiea, this being one of the largest concerns of the kind in the country. On the 5th of June, 1899. Mr. Kincaid was united in marriage to Miss Mabel S. Griffith, a daughter of Matthew H. and Sarah E. Griffith, of Utica, and to them have been born two children. Margaret Hubbell and Frederick William, Jr.
Politically Mr. Kincaid has always been a stanch republican and for fifteen years was in command of the Conkling Unconditionals, one of the largest and best drilled marching political clubs in the country. He has always been actively connected as an officer of the New York National Guard. as were his father and brothers, the military instinct having apparently been inherited by varions generations of the family from their early Scottish ancestry. For many years he served as first lieutenant of the Utica Citizens Corps, Forty-fourth Separate Company, New York National Guard. Mr. Kincaid was appointed by Mayor Wheeler as a member of the first park board of the city and for two years served as its chairman, the first section of the parkway being constructed during his term of office. He is identified with Fort Schuyler Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution and is also a member of the Fort Schuyler Club. In the conduet of his business he has not only gained a competenee for himself but has been instrumental in greatly advancing the interests of others and also in promoting the general welfare of the city. Possessing the characteristics which win con- fidence and esteem. he has always faithfully attempted to perform his duty to his fellowmen, his associates and his state and can claim many friends wherever he is known.
RODOLPHUS C. BRIGGS.
Rodolphus C. Briggs, for thirty-three years a practitioner at the bar of Oneida county and long recognized as one of the foremost attorneys of Rome, was born in Earlville, Madison county, New York, October 24, 1847, a son of Adoniram and Nancy Ellen (Stowell) Briggs. The father, a native of Smyrna, Chenango county. New York, was a cabinet maker by trade and died about 1850. The mother was a native of Earlville and was the daughter of a physi- cian. She passed away in 1881, having long survived her husband. They were the parents of five children, four sons and a daughter, of whom only two are living. the elder being Fred Briggs, who is general agent for the Pacific Coast
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for the Detroit Standard Life & Accident Insurance Company. He resides at San Francisco.
Rodolphns C. Briggs, the other surviving son, was but eleven years of age when he went to Illinois, residing at Bristol, Kendall county, until the spring of 1864, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Illinois Infan- try, with which he served until the elose of the war. After being mustered out he returned to the east and entered Whitestown Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1869. In the same year he became a student in Hamilton College, there pursuing a classical course to his graduation in 1873, when the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. Three years later his alma mater gave him the Master of Arts degree. For two years following his graduation he served as principal at Pen Yan Academy at Penn Yan, Yates county, New York, but having decided to take up the law as a profession, he came to Rome and began reading in the office of Johnson & Prescott, well known attorneys, with whom he remained until admitted to the bar in 1878. In the following vear he began prac- tice for himself, establishing an office in Rome, which he has now maintained for nearly a third of a century. His practice has been general and has covered a wide and varied range, especially in the surrogate courts. From 1893 until 1899 Mr. Briggs was special county judge and has served as referee in a large num- ber of cases, many of which involved questions and interests of great impor- tanee. He belongs to the Oneida County Bar Association, and the profession accords him prominence in its ranks owing to his comprehensive familiarity with the principles of jurisprudence and his correct application of these prin- ciples to the points in litigation.
In polities Mr. Briggs has always been an ardent republican and has done considerable speaking in county, state and national campaigns. Ile has also served as a delegate to many judicial, state and county conventions. Possessed of good voice, he won recognition as an orator at college, where he instructed in elocution men who have since gained national prominence. Clear, logical and forceful, for many years he exerted great influence from the platform for the advancement of party interests, but he has never been an aspirant for office nor accepted any other than those he considered it his duty to accept as a citizen, deelining many proffers of positions which carried with them great honors and also substantial emoluments. His public service, however, has been of an important character in which the public has been a direct beneficiary. For a period of eight years Mr. Briggs served as a member of the board of managers of the Rome State Custodial Asylum and during part of that time was president of the board. He has also for many years been a member of the board of trus- tees of the Rome Institution for Deaf Mutes, of which he is vice president. He served for some years as a member of the common council of the city of Rome. In religious faith Mr. Briggs is a Presbyterian and has always taken an active interest in church work, having been identified with the First Presbyterian church of Rome for over thirty years, a member of its board of session for twenty-seven years and superintendent of its Sunday school during most of that period. He has always taken a keen and helpful interest in educational work, serving on the school board, in which connection he has rendered effective aid toward upholding the high standard of the schools. He has also always evinced
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a citizen's pride in civic affairs, giving his support to every movement for the betterment of the community. Ilis social affiliations are with the Rome Club and the Te-Uge-Ga Country Golf Club and he is also a member of the Royal Ar- canum, the Knights of l'ythias and Skillen Post, G. A. R.
On the 8th of January, 1879, Mr. Briggs was united in marriage at Chitte- mango, New York, to Miss Hattie S. Perry, a daughter of George and Ann Perry of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Briggs have one daughter, Anna Gertrude, still at home, and the family reside at No. 612 North George street. Mr. Briggs has indulged in travel to some extent both in this country and abroad. Golf and motoring are his principal outdoor recreations and he has also a keen apprecia- tion for literature, possesses a good library and is one of the contributors of local history to whom this work is deeply indebted.
HORACE PORTER BIGELOW.
Horace Porter Bigelow was born in Waterville, New York, April 13, 1838, and resided in the house where he was born until his death, which occurred in 1902. Ile was the son of Ilorace Bigelow, who was born at Colchester, Con- necticut, October 10, 1793, and died on the 27th of July, 1871. He was a son of Otis and Harriet (Butler) Bigelow and the latter traced her ancestry di- rectly back to John and Priscilla Alden of the Mayflower. Thirteen of the ancestors of Horace P. Bigelow were on the Mayflower: John Carver, Catherine Carver, John and Elizabeth Tilly, John Howland, William, Mary and Love Brewster, Robert Warren, William, Aliee and Priscilla Mullens, John Alden. Otis Bigelow, John Porter and Thomas Dana participated in the Revolutionary war. The ancestors represented in the colonial wars were John Alden, Robert Bartlett, John Bigelow, Love Brewster, Joshua Bigelow, Roger Clapp, Wil- liam Collier, Philip Elliot, John Gorham, Andrew Hallett, John Howland, Robert Long, Joseph Loomis, John May, John Otis, William Parke, John Shep- herd, Nathaniel Thomas, Nathaniel Thomas, Jr., John Tilly, Richard Warren, Joseph Weld, Robert Williams and John Whitmarsh. On the 2d of February. 1830, Horace Bigelow married Julia Ann Porter, who was born in New Hart- ford, New York, February 2, 1809, and died April 27, 1887. She was a daugh- ter of Noah and Sarah (Williams) Porter, of New Ilartford. Her maternal grandfather, Ezekiel Williams, came with his wife to Oneida county from Connecticut in the latter part of the eighteenth century and settled at New Hartford. It is said that they were obliged to leave behind them a debt, but by their combined efforts were soon able to pay this and with the money in her possession the wife rode on horseback to their old home in Connecticut in order to liquidate the debt.
When a small boy our subject's father, Horace Bigelow, was put upon a farm and walked five miles every morning to the country school at Sangerfield Center, where he received his edueation. One of the tasks of his boyhood was clearing an acre of solid woodland, receiving in remuneration therefor a wooden box or chest in which to keep his clothing. This box is still in posses-
HORACE P. BIGELOW
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
sion of the family. Mrs. Bigelow also has the original military commission is- sued August 30, 1827, by Governor De Witt Clinton, appointing her father- in-law captain in the One hundred and fortieth Regiment, New York Infantry. When seventeen years of age Horace Bigelow came to Waterville from Sanger- field Center, where resided his parents. Here he was apprenticed to the hat- manufacturing business, which he followed as a journeyman until he became proprietor of the business in which he continued most of his life. He was very successful and became a highly honored citizen, while both he and his admirable wife held a very prominent place in the social life of the town. Their children were: Horace Porter; Rev. Dana Williams Bigelow, of Utica ; and Laura Amelia, who married a cousin of the same name and resided at Mount Vernon, New York.
Horace Porter Bigelow acquired his education in the Cazenovia Academy and Hamilton College, being graduated from the latter with the class of 1861. In his college days he became a member of the Alpha Delta fraternity. When a young man he studied law but never practiced the profession. He was for some years cashier of the Waterville National Bank and later one of its direct- ors and was connected with various other interests of a public and semi-public character. He acted as secretary of the Waterville Grange and at one time as its master. He was also vice president of the cemetery association and presi- dent of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church, of which he and his family were members and of which he served as trustee for a quarter of a century. At one time he was supervisor of his town and never failed to give active cooperation to the measures and movements for the public good. The cause of education found in him a stalwart champion who served as president of the school board and its seeretary for more than a quarter of a century. In politics he was a republican and was always prominent in public affairs that made for the uplift of the town and its inhabitants. He was likewise a prom- inent member of the Pickwick Club.
After the death of his father, his brother and sister having married, Horace Porter continued his residence in the old home with his mother until her death. Their home was one ever to be remembered for its hospitality and many resi- dents of the town recall the pleasant entertainments there to which they were bidden. The garden in the rear of the house was most attractive with its numerous choice shrubs, trees and flowers of every variety. It sloped down to a pretty little brook bordered with willow trees-a favorite resort for the little visitors of the family and their youthful friends. Many were the teas and re- ceptions held in this pleasant garden, presided over by Mrs. Bigelow and her son.
Following his mother's death Mr. Bigelow married Pauline Caroline Mayer, a daughter of Frederick J. Mayer, who was born at Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany, February 10, 1822, and came to America in 1849 with his bride, Pauline C. Calmbach. They located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became prom- inent in the conduct of city and county affairs. He served as county com- missioner for Hamilton county, Ohio, and for many years was a member of the school board. By appointment of President Lincoln he became postmaster of Cincinnati and for four years was county treasurer. Ile was also a trustee
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of the Cincinnati Hospital for twenty-five years and chairman of its building committee. lle died in 1882 and his wife in 1883, both passing away in Cin- rinnati. Their children were: William G .; Pauline C., of Waterville; Carolina F. and Louise JJ .. both deceased; and Frederick J., of Cincinnati.
Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Horace Porter Bigelow took up their abode at the old Bigelow home, where they upheld the hospitable traditions of the house and entered into the social life of the village. Here were born to them two children, Frederick Mayer and Frieda Laura. The son was edn- cated at the Waterville school and the Cornwall Heights school and is now devoting his time to business interests in the west at Kootenai, Idaho, and Cusick, Washington, where he conducts fruit farming and lumbering interests.
The death of Horace P. Bigelow occurred June 27, 1902, and Waterville thereby lost one of its most esteemed and prominent citizens. He was possessed of a strong personality that always attracted and a keen sense of humor that made him a favorite with young and old. He was a lover of nature and was fond of social life, of travel and study. He was especially interested in history and particularly genealogy and his knowledge of the town and its people was probably greater than that of any resident, enabling him to be very helpful in rendering service to his townsmen along the line of establishing ancestral records. He was always loyal to his friends and never forgetful of the stranger. To know him was to esteem him highly for his many excellent traits of char- acter, his kindly spirit and his honorable activity. His wife and daughter reside in the old home, ably keeping up the traditions of an old and honored family.
BENJAMIN THORNE GILBERT.
Benjamin Thorne Gilbert was born in Utica, New York, September 21, 1872, coming of a family that traces its ancestry back through eighteen generations to Thomas Gilbert of Devonshire, England. Geoffrey Gilbert, son of Thomas Gilbert, married Jane Compton, daughter and co-heir of William Compton of Compton castle, which was afterward the seat of the Gilberts for many gen- erations. The Gilberts married and intermarried with the Devonshire families of Champernon, Gambon, Raynward, Walrund and Pomeroy. John Gilbert, a younger son of the Gilberts of Compton, settled in Blethington, Sussex, and from there three brothers-John, Thomas and Giles-came to Massachusetts. John married Elisabeth Kilham, at Ipswich, on September 27, 1677. His son, Benjamin Gilbert, settled at Brookfield and built Gilbert's Fort. Ile married Esther Perkins, of Wenham, August 9, 1716. His son Daniel was born in Ipswich and married Luey Barnes on the 6th of June, 1754. His son Benjamin married Mary S. Cornwell in 1785. Both Benjamin and Daniel were officers in the Continental army and their commissions from the Continental congress, written on parchment, are in the possession of the present Benjamin Gilbert. Benjamin Gilbert kept a diary all through the Revolutionary war, and this diary is also in possession of the family. He later moved to Otsego county,
BENJAMIN T. GILBERT
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
New York, where a tract of land was granted him by congress, and he became the first sheriff of Otsego county and was a major in the New York state mi- litia. His son Benjamin married Elisabeth Davis, on the 28th of November. 1827.
Benjamin Davis Gilbert, a son of Benjamin and Elisabeth (Davis) Gilbert and the father of Benjamin Thorne Gilbert, was married May 24, 1871, to Adelaide Hamer Thorne. The record of service of the Benjamin Gilberts in this country from 1636 to 1911 is a long and honorable one. Benjamin Davis Gilbert was a graduate of Hamilton College and was on the editorial staff of the Utica Morning Herald for many years. He was a botanist of interna- tional reputation and wrote several treaties on botany. Ile had the largest private collection of ferns in the United States. He did not confine his at- tention exclusively to botany, however, but carried his investigations far along many other lines and was the author of many magazine articles on agricultural subjects and prepared a treatise on the dairy and cheese industry for the United States government.
Benjamin Thorne Gilbert, in the acquirement of his education, attended successively the Utica Free Academy, the Lawrenceville school of Lawrence- ville, New Jersey, the Andover Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892, Yale University, in which he completed his course with the class of 1896, and Columbia University, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. He afterward studied literature at the Sorbonne in Paris, later devoting two years to the study of architecture in Paris, after which he followed the profession for one year in New York city. He then be- came president of the Continental Car & Equipment Company of Louisville, Kentucky, builders of special cars for railroad construction work. He be- came interested in short-story writing and had a number of stories published in Seribners and other magazines. IIe also took up practical work in arch- aeology and made researches and excavations in the Cave Creek district in Arizona, in 1904, and at Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1905. The collection of funeral urns, idols and jadeite objeets found in Oaxaca is now in the American Museum of Natural IIistory in New York city. Mr. Gilbert was engaged in mining in the west at various intervals for several years and in 1908 became identified with the Xargil Manufacturing Company, of which he is the president. He is likewise the president of the Monarch Drug Company of Utica, vice president of the Continental Car & Equipment Company of Louisville, Kentucky, and president of the Gordon-Thorne Company of Jersey City, New Jersey. ITis position in business circles is indicated in the fact that in 1910 he was viee president of the Utica Chamber of Commerce and in 1911 was elected to the presidency. Mr. Gilbert, however, has won recognition in the field of author- ship and of archaeological research and moreover has demonstrated the fact that he is a man of splendid business ability, strong and resourceful, capably controlling the varied interests which are under his direction and maintain- ing that harmonious working force which is so necessary to success in any un- dertaking.
On the 7th of September, 1905, Mr. Gilbert was married in Chappaqua, New York, to Miss Sue Racey Biggar, a daughter of Dr. Hamilton Fiske Big-
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gar, L.L. D., of Cleveland, Ohio. Their children are Susan and Benjamin Davis Gilbert. The parents are members of Grace Episcopal church of Utica and aside from the social relations which have their root in the home, Mr. Gilbert is connected with the University, Yale and Arts Clubs of New York city and the Fort Schuyler Club of Utica. He also belongs to the college fra- ternities of Epsilon Tau Pi and the Delta Kappa Epsilon, while his study of the political issues and questions of the day has established his position as an independent republican.
WILLIAM COLLIS BALLDA.
William Collis Ballda, who a few years ago organized the Ballda Electric Company of Utica, has since built up a successful enterprise as an electrical con- tractor and dealer in electrical supplies. His birth occurred at Frankfort, IIer- kimer county, New York, on the 1st of January, 1864, his parents being Charles F. and Alida C. (Collis) Ballda. Ile received his education in the public schools, after which he took up a business career. A few years later he became manager of the construction and supply department of the Utica Electric Light & Power Company, filling that responsible position in a most able and satisfactory man- ner. A few years ago he organized the Ballda Electric Company and has since devoted his attention to the development of that enterprise, which has attained extensive and profitable proportions. Ile is also interested in other enterprises, being treasurer of the Stradling Plumbing & Heating Company.
On the 14th of October, 1891, Mr. Ballda was united in marriage to Miss Annie W. Stradling of Utica. Mr. Ballda gives his political allegiance to the republican party, while in Masonry he holds high rank, having attained the thirty-third degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of Oriental Lodge, No. 224, A. F. & A. M .; Oneida Chapter, No. 57, R. A. M .; Rome Commandery, No. 45, K. T .; Utica Consistory, No. 2, S. P. R. S .; and Ziyara Temple, A A. O. N. M. S. Mr. Ballda likewise belongs to Fort Schuyler Council, No. 404, Royal Arcanum; Court Fort Schuyler, No. 1519, I. O. F .; Utica Lodge, No. 1979, Knights of Honor; Utica Council, No. 20, Universal Craftsmen Council of En- gineers; Utica Lodge, No. 33, B. P. O. E .; Mokanna Grotto, No. 1, M. O. V. P. E. R., of Hamilton, New York; and the Arcanum Club of Utica. Mr. Ballda's salient characteristics are such as are worthy of emulation and have gained for him the respect and good will of a large circle of warm friends.
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