USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 43
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Mr. Howell regularly attended the Congregational Church, and was formerly a teacher and superintendent of its Sunday-school. Socially his was an attractive personality and his friends were almost innumerable. He was married, May 16, 1838, to Lonisa Young, daughter of Hon. Samuel Young, of Saratoga, N. Y. She died November 7, 1881. Their eldest daughter married John R. Hazard, and died August 20, 1891. Their second daughter married B. B. Foster, of Brooklyn. Mr. Howell died October 27, 1892.
THE GRANGER FAMILY.
The name of Granger is a conspicuous one in the civil and political history of this State and nation, while its lustre has been for more than three-quarters of a century reflected upon the county of which this
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volume gives the history. Two of the family held for many years one of the most honorable and responsible offices under the national gov- ernment, as well as numerous other official positions in the State government, while three who honored Canandaigua with their residence were graduates of one of the foremost institutions of learning in this country, were illustrious members of the legal profession, and all were men of culture, refinement, integrity and the other good qualities that constitute the American citizen in his best estate.
The family is of English descent, their ancestor, Launcelot Granger, having come to this country from England in 1652 and settled at New- bury, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Thence he removed to Suf- field, Conn., in 1674, and here Gideon Granger was born July 19, 1767, the first of the name to make his home in Canandaigua. We are not familiar with the details of his early life, except that he was given opportunity to obtain a liberal education, of which he availed himself, graduating from Yale College in 1787, at the age of twenty. He entered upon the study of the law soon afterward, and rose to distinction in the bar of his native State. He was a man of public spirit, and imbued with the Jeffersonian principles of free government. He was, early and deeply impressed with the importance of the most energetic work for the ad- vancement of the public school system, and was one of the foremost laborers for the establishment of the public school fund in Connecticut, giving liberally himself towards its foundation, and being often called its father. While still a young man his reputation had reached the national capital, and in 1801, when he was thirty-five years of age, he was called by President Jefferson to take a position in his cabinet as postmaster-general. For thirteen years he filled that honorable and responsible office, during which period he was instrumental in the rapid development of the great postal system of the country. His adminis- tration of the office continued through both of Mr. Jefferson's terms as president, and most of Mr. Madison's. On his retirement from Wash- ington in 1814, he settled in Canandaigua, whither his reputation had preceded him, and where he was at once accorded the station to which his abilities entitled him. In 1820 he was elected to the State Senate, and in that body served two years. He promptly took a leading posi- tion as a legislator, and became conspicuous in co-operation with
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Governor De Witt Clinton in promoting the great system of internal improvements of which the Erie Canal was the most important feature. In 1821 he retired from public life, and died on the 3 1st day of Decem- ber, 1822, at the comparatively early age of fifty five years, leaving a record of a career distinguished for its purity, its spotless integrity, and its devotion to the public good.
Francis Granger, second son of Gideon Granger, was born in Suffield, Conn., on the Ist day of December 1792, and in 1811, at the age of nineteen years, was graduated with honor from Yale College. He fol- lowed the example of his distinguished father by studying for the bar, and soon after the removal of the family to Canandaigua took up the practice of his profession in that village. He promptly entered public life and for many years the suffrages of his constituents placed him in positions of honor and responsibility, where his natural and acquired qualifications enabled him to occupy the foremost rank. A man of striking and commanding personality, polished manners, and courteous and dignified bearing, he soon drew to himself a host of warm friends and admirers, who lost no opportunity of demonstrating their confidence and esteem by conferring upon him such public honors as were at their disposal. In 1826 he was elected to the State Legislature, where he served by re-elections in 1828, 1830 and 1832. In that legislative body his winning personality, persuasive eloquence, sound judg- ment and practical ability gave him a commanding influence and won for him friends throughout the State. Twice (in 1830 and 1832) he was nominated for governor of the State, and was defeated by an insignificant Democrat majority. Under the then existing conditions of the great political parties, these defeats were in every sense a reason for congratualation to him and his political friends. In 1836 he re- ceived the nomination for the vice-presidency of the nation, in the campaign of Gen Harrison for the presidency, but the success of his party was destined to further postponement, as recorded in the political history of the country. In 1835 he was nominated and elected to Con- gress, where he served with distinguished ability and influence until 1841, when he resigned to accept the high station so long and honor- ably filled by his father, the postmaster-generalship, General Harrison having been elected to the presidency. The duties of this office he dis
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charged until the memorable disruption of the cabinet under President Tyler. Declining a foreign mission which had been tendered him, he was again pressed to accept the nomination for Congress, but his deter- mination to retire from public life had become fixed and in the succeed- ing years he resisted all persuasion to again accept political preferment. He, however, occasionally presided at meetings of his political friends when interests of more than common importance were at issue. It was during his political career that the branch of the Whig party which be- came known as the "Silver Grays" received its peculiar title in a con- vention of which he was the chairman, from his flowing locks of gray hair.
During the troubled era of 1861-65, when the very foundations of the Union were threatened, Mr. Granger was a staunch supporter of the government. He was induced through the solicitation of many friends to go to Washington as one of the so called Peace Convention in 1861, in which he bore a conspicuous part in the proceedings held to avert the threatened war.
It has been written of him that "he was a man of great native intel- ligence, of quick wit, of warm heart, of popular manners, of imposing personal appearance, and of impressive speech, both in public and in private. Few persons have had more friends in all parts of the coun- try. Webster and Clay, Preston and Crittenden, Edward Everett, Ab- bott Lawrence, and many more of all parties and sections, were on terms of intimacy with him, to which they admitted few others. His nature was peculiarly attractive to young and old, and he seemed in- capable of making an enemy of any one. Singularly happy in his own temperament, he made everybody happy around him. His sunny dis- position was never quenched or clouded, either by disappointment or old age, and when he was at last called to die under circumstances full of sadness, he uttered no word of impatience or repining, but threw himself with quiet resignation and perfect trust upon the mercies of his God He died in Canandaigua on the 28th of August, 1868, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
Gideon Granger, son of Francis Granger, was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., on the 30th of August, 1821. His early life was surrounded by all the refinements of a beautiful home, and the most liberal opportuni-
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ties for gaining a thorough education. Like his father and his grand- father, he was a graduate of Yale College, where he took his degree in 1843. Like them, too, he studied for the legal profession, and had he been so inclined, might without doubt have taken a foremost position at the bar. Born with a heart in sympathy with suffering of all kinds, he gave much of his professional skill and time to the service of the poor and needy. This was true also of the labor of his life outside of his profession ; the empty hand or the troubled mind never sought his aid in vain. Prevented by ill-health from serving his country in the field, he acted as chairman of the war committee for raising troops dur- ing the great struggle for the support of the Union, laboring faithfully to fill the depleted ranks of the army, and to care for the families left behind. The widows and orphans of those who fell on the field he made his especial care, and his strength and substance were given out freely for their relief. The revival of the Agricultural Society of the county was also largely due to his activity and interest. Indeed, wherever and whenever a public good could be advanced, a charitable deed done, or a gentle word spoken, Gideon Granger was ever foremost, in every act of his daily life following the example of the Saviour, to to whose cause he had consecrated himself.
He died in Canandaigua, September 3, 1868, aged forty-seven years, five days after his father, Francis Granger.
John Albert Granger, third son of Gideon (Yale 1787) and Mindwell (Pease) Granger, was born in Suffield, Conn., on the 11th day of Sep- tember, 1795, and died in Canandaigua, N. Y., on the 26th day of May, 1870.
Originally intended for the navy, his early education, commenced in Suffield and there continued until the removal of the family to Wash- ington, D. C., was along lines of instruction which, when the idea of the sea was abandoned, found him without the classical training re- quired for a college course. He spent some years under the tutorage of " Parson " Gay, of Fairfield, Conn., a noted instructor in those days, from whose hands he entered a business career at an early age. Some years were spent in Washington during the period of his father's con- nection with the cabinets of Jefferson and Madison (1801-1814), and at the time of the family leaving that city he went in advance to Whites-
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town, N. Y., (now Whitesboro), which place his father had decided on as their future home. They had barely settled there, however, before a business connection with the Hon. Oliver Phelps, of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, induced their further removal to and permanent set- tlement in Canandaigua, which was ever after the family home. He assisted his father largely in the building of the Granger homestead there and drew from the Genesee country most of the timber which constituted its frame.
In 1820 Mr. Granger married Julia Ann Williams, daughter of Dr. William Augustus Williams (Yale 1780), and Elizabeth Chapin, daugh- ter of Gen. Israel Chapin, the United States agent to the Indians and commissioner of Indian affairs in the new county. His wife died in 1822, leaving two daughters: Delia, who married Alexander Jeffrey, and died in 1847; and Julia, who married Sanders Irving, nephew of Washington Irving, still survives (1893).
In 1829 he married Harriet, daughter of Amasa and Mary (Phelps) Jackson and granddaughter of the Hon. Oliver Phelps before referred to. Mrs. Granger died in 1868, having had two children : Harriet Mind- well Granger, who married Caleb Brinton, of Westchester, Pa , and died in 1860; and John Albert Granger (Yale 1855), who married Annie, daughter of Edwin D. Townsend, of Palmyra, N. Y., and is still living (1893).
About the time of his first marriage Mr. Granger settled in the Gen- esee country at Moscow, Livingston county, where he lived with but few neighbors except the Indians, with whom he became very friendly and was adopted into their tribe. Here he lived until the death of his wife left him with two children of such tender years that the simple care of them required services he could not obtain so far from neigh- bors, and he therefore returned to Canandaigua. For a few years he was engaged in the mercantile business, and later acted as agent in the purchase of wool for some Boston houses, but about the year 1840 he retired from active business and devoted himself to the management of landed interests inherited from his father. This he continued until his death, and in it found full employment.
At this period he became interested in and identified with the National Guard of the State, rising from subaltern to become major- general commanding the division.
Cory don theah
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His love for such service was very great, and he was not only a very zealous officer but a very liberal one, paying out of his own pocket- and largely too-very many of the expenses incident to the advance- ment of his command.
He was a strikingly handsome man, a superb horseman, and on the days of the annual parade and inspection made, with a brilliant staff and well drilled regiments, a display which would do credit to these days of Upton and State camps.
There was that in the character of Mr. Granger which won esteem at the outset, and so nourished it that it soon became love and affection. Generous and hospitable, almost to a fault it might be said, his hand was ever open, and his table ever spread to one in want. No halting, trembling hand of the unfortunate, groping in the dark, amid cares and anxieties, but found his helping grasp with aid and brotherhood.
Save here and there an election to some unimportant local office he never sought or cared for political preferment. He loved his home and his home loved him, and he passed in and out always with a tender, loving greeting, born in a warm heart and fostered by countless kind- nesses to all.
His home life was but his outer life intensified. The same genial courtliness and gentle courtesies were extended to all. The coat made no difference to him. His heart was full of cordial greetings he could not hide, nor did he seek to, and when the time came that he sickened and passed weary months in pain and steady sinking, the neighborhood, and village even, took on the shadow, crept into it, as it were, to share it with the family, and all made common sorrow and common mourning when he passed away.
He was a "just man, made perfect" when his time had come, and many a hand was raised in benison, and many a voice whispered bene- dictions at the end.
CORYDON WHEAT.
Among the pioneers of the town of Phelps in Ontario county, was Benjamin Wheat, who came from Conway, Conn., in 1795, and pur- chased from Phelps and Gorham a farm which embraced one hundred
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and sixty acres of land just north of the site of the village of Orleans, for which he paid $1.25 per acre. He had a son, also named Benjamin, who followed in the footsteps of his father, as far as his life work was concerned, remaining on the farm. He was born April 1, 1781, and on the 30th of January, 1805, was married to Luany Sprague. Their son, Corydon Wheat, the subject of this sdetch, was born June 4, 1824, at the homestead, Orleans, Ontario county. His ancestry on his moth- er's side was distinguished in the early history of the country, and is traced back to the Sprague who came over in the Mayflower. His grandfather was Ebenezer Sprague, who lived in Connecticut at the time of the Revolutionary War, and after twice having his dwellings burned by the British, he started westward in 1780. He had on the 17th of January, 1775, taken for his wife Mary Chamberlin. In about the year 1790 he aided in building on the site of the city of Rochester the first grist- mill in this part of the State ; but that location was then considered unhealthy, and in 1793 he sold out his mill interest and re- moved to Chapinville in this county. He received one hundred dollars in the sale of his property and for that he was offered eighty acres of land lying in what is now the heart of the city of Rochester. His daughter, Luany Sprague, who married Benjamin Wheat, was born Feb- ruary 24, 1784.
When Benjamin Wheat came into Ontario county, the land was a wilderness of forest, but under the zealous labors of the pioneers it soon took a different aspect and sufficient of it was cleared to produce under cultivation the grain and vegetables for the growing families. Corydon Wheat's father built in 1814 the first brick house in that part of the country, and the old homestead is still standing. Though a well- to-do farmer, Benjamin Wheat was not able to give his son the best of edu- cational advantages, though they were better than were enjoyed by the majority of young men at that time. After attending the common schools he was sent to the Lima Seminary in 1840, aud studied there two or three years until the institution was burned. He then went to Michigan and entered a store of his brother-in-law as a clerk. It had been his intention to adopt the legal profession, and after the seminary was rebuilt, he returned to it with a view of completing his course, and then taking up the study of law. But his brief experience in mercan-
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tile business in the West had developed his taste and adaptability for that vocation. Coming to Geneva in 1845, just as he reached his ma- jority, he thereafter was an important factor in the business life of the place until his death, and in many other respects occupied a prominent position in the community. His first occupation in Geneva was as a clerk in the dry goods store of Platt & Sons, after which he was em- ployed in a similar capacity with C. C. Seeley. He then organized the dry goods firm of Wheat & Simms (Enoch Simms), which was succeeded by Mr. Wheat alone. For a number of years he successfully conducted the business alone ; but finally sold it out and soon afterward purchased the crockery business of Lauren W. Lacy, his father-in-law. This he continued to about the year 1870, when he sold it to Charles Kipp and retired from active business, except as his time and attention were de- manded by the various positions which he held.
As a citizen of Geneva, Mr. Wheat took a deep and active interest in all public matters that seemed likely to promote the growth and prosperity of the community. He was a director in both the Geneva and Southwestern and the Geneva and ithaca Railroad companies, and was conspicuous in the movement which led to establishing the first named road. He was at first a director in the Geneva Optical Com- pany, and for a number of years previous to its being merged in the Standard Optical Company he held the office of president of the com- pany. He was a director in the Geneva Gas Company and in the First National Bank. He was conspicuously instrumental in establishing the beautiful Glenwood Cemetery and aided in laying it out. His asso- ciates in every one of these positions ever found him the same energetic and genial co-worker, whose reliable judgment and willingness to bear more than his share of the burdens were unfailing, while his courtesy and geniality, and his staunch integrity, commanded the respect and admiration of all who knew him. In the educational affairs of the place Mr. Wheat was one of the most active and interested workers, and was a member of the Board of Education for about thirty years, giving freely of his time and energies for the advancement of the cause and the improvement of the local schools. He was not a politician in any sense, though he entertained strong convictions upon all impor- tant public questions. In the days of the Know-nothing movement he
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became actively interested in that party, who made him their nominee for member of assembly, but he afterwards identified himself with the Republican organization. He was in this field, as in all other respects, a self-reliant and independent thinker ; had read extensively on scien- tific, literary and historical subjects, and maintained his ideas and con- clusions on such and kindred topics with forcible speech and courteous persistence on all proper occasions. Mr. Wheat was active in religious affairs, and was at different times connected with the Methodist, the Presbyterian, and finally with Trinity Episcopal Church. In the Sun- day-school work in these churches he was especially interested, and accomplished much for their welfare.
Mr. Wheat was a prominent Free Mason, uniting with the order some time before 1860, and progressed step by step. In 1857 he was master of Ark Lodge and one of its best presiding officers He subsequently advanced to high standing in the order. Mr. Wheat accumulated a fortune in Geneva, much of which was invested in real estate, which greatly appreciated in value. His life was one of great activity and usefulness, and when the time came for him to cast aside its burdens, he did it with calm faith in his future and in the enjoyment of the deep- est respect of the community. This is shown to some extent in the various memorials and resolutions that were adopted by the different bodies with which he was connected. In a memorial placed upon the records of the Board of Education, it was said of him: "The recent death of Mr. Corydon Wheat closed a term of service on the Board of Educa- tion of more than thirty years. During all that long period it is the testimony of those who were associated with him that he was a faithful public servant, and he retained to the last his interest in the public schools. In all of the growth of the schools in Geneva Mr. Wheat has been thoroughly identified. He was quick to appreciate any improvement in the methods of teaching and ready to adopt it, and he had during his administration the satisfaction of seeing most of those changes which have made our schools the pride and glory of our country. In addition to this ability as an officer, Mr. Wheat lent to school occasions a peculiar grace by his rare eloquence. He had the ability which very few possess of charming into quiet and attention the restive schoolboy and making him listen as long as he desired. In his
LA Lay
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death this Board has suffered a profound loss, and we desire as a body to place upon record this simple tribute to his memory."
The directors of the First National Bank of Geneva also testified to their respect and admiration for Mr. Wheat, saying among other things : " While we bow with humble submission to his behests, we sorrow that we have lost the genial presence, the wise and conservative counsels, and sound judgment of our co director for the past many years. His name is indissolubly connected with the organization of the First Na- tional Bank now nearly a quarter of a century ago, and he has been one of its directors since that time. We accord to him a generous measure of praise for our success in the management of our institution."
On the Ist of September, 1852, Mr. Wheat was married to Emilie A., daughter of Lauren Walton Lacy. They had four children, only one of whom, Henry Axtell Wheat, of Geneva, is now living. Corydon Wheat died December 24, 1890.
Lauren Walton Lacy was born at Galway, Saratoga county, N. Y., July 2, 1811. His father was Edward Lacy, who was formerly from Reading, Conn. The family name was originally De Lacy. They were of Huguenot origin. His mother was Huldah Heath, whose home was in Sharon, Conn. She, too, was a descendant of the Sprague who came over in the Mayflower. They were parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the seventh. Lauren W. Lacy started in mer- cantile business in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1838, and removed to Geneva in 1846, where he started the first crockery store in the place. This business he successfully conducted until 1862, when he sold out to his son-in-law, Corydon Wheat, as before stated. Mr. Lacy has been a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Geneva for many years, and throughout his life in this place has held the esteem of his fellow citizens. He was married on the 7th of January, 1832, to Eliza Cook, who was the youngest daughter of Joseph Cook, of Galway, Saratoga county, N. Y. She died in April, 1878. Their children were Orville Brayton, who died at the age of three years; and Emilie A., who married Cory- don Wheat.
The old Lacy and Cook homesteads, one of them ninety and the other nearly one hundred years old, are still in a good state of preser- vation. Mr. Lacy is living in Geneva, at the age of eighty- three years.
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ANDREW PEIRCE.
Conspicuous among the men of more or less prominence who, though not born in Ontario county, have in the past become to some extent identified with its interests, is the subject of this notice. Andrew Peirce was a native of New Hampshire, and was born in Dover on the 3 Ist of July, 1814. His early life and his ancestry foreshadowed his future, and his first business experiences gave indication of the most significant traits of his character. His paternal grandfather was born in Dover in 1761, and early in his life removed to Gloucester, Mass., where in 1792 he purchased land. In 1806 he sold his real estate and returned to Dover. He was a descendant in the sixth generation from John Peirce, of Norwich, Norfolk county, England, who came to this country in 1637 and settled in Watertown, Mass. His father was born in Glouces- ter in 1792, but after 1806 resided in Dover until his death. He was engaged in navigation in early years, and built two packets to run between Dover and Boston, one of which he commanded. He was also interested in the construction, ownership and management of the steam mill in Dover. He held the office of State senator and other positions of trust, and was a man of sound judgment in all business matters, with a practical mind and remarkable energy in the prosecution of all his undertakings. His moral character was above reproach-traits which were transmitted to his son.
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