History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 55

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

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 55

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

port, Monroe county ; Harriet Frances, widow of William Beadle of Canyon City, Colo. ; and Spencer E. Day of Churchville, Monroe county. Oliver H. Day, the first son, and father of our subject, was born in Washington county, September 11, 1816. His boyhood was spent in the county of his birth, and he was twenty-one years of age when his parents moved to Monroe county. He assisted on his father's farm until he married and then bought a farm for himself, but kept this one but three or four years, and after a year spent on another farm, he moved to Niagara in 1853, where he bought a farm of 200 acres, built stock yards and had a contract for feeding stock for the N. Y. C. R. R. Co., a business be was engaged in for five years. He was married October 7, 1841, to Julia M. Wilder of Attica, and they are the parents of six children, five of whom are living: Helen D. Hawley of Round Grove, Ill .; Eliza Davis of Buffalo; J. Marion Todd of Suspension Bridge; Oliver W. of Buffalo, and Henry N., our subject. The early life of our subject after he was three years old was spent in Niagara county. He was educated in the common schools, at Brockport Normal School, and Deveaux College at Niagara. In 1880 he established the first evaporator in Niagara, which he conducted for twelve years, and from 1883 he conducted a farm in Niagara county which he gave up in 1891, and February 4 of that year he bought the G. B. Sackett farm in Canandaigua. This is one of the best farms In Canandaigua, containing 200 acres. The principal products are grain, hay and stock. Mr. Day and wife are mem- members of the Presbyterian church of Canandaigua. He married, May 16, 1883, Elizabeth K. Leach of Lyons, and had four children: Clarence Oliver, born Decem- ber 30, 1884, died June 12, 1893; Henry Ralph, born June 8, 1886; Edna Louise, born April 21, 1888; and Albert Leach, born April 10, 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Day, parents of subject, still live in Niagara Falls, where they are spending a happy old age.

Depue, Jno., Hopewell, was born in Hopewell, on the farm he now owns, three miles east of Canandaigua. His father, Moses, was born in 1756 in Sussex county, N. . J., where he resided many years. About 1806 he came to New York State and settled where subject now lives. The family descended from the French Huguenots. Three brothers, on account of persecutions, left France for Holland, thence to England and westward to America; settled near New York, one on the east side of the Hudson River, the others in New Jersey. They participated in the French and Indian war One took part in the Revolution of 1776. Benjamin Depue lived and died in Sussex connty. His wife, Ocee Stuyvesant, was a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant. These were the parents of Moses Depue, father of Jno. Depue.

Douglass, Samuel, Canandaigua, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, March 5. 1825. The grandfather, Samuel, was born in Rensselaer county about 1750. He mar- ried second, Priscilla Wood; and they had one son, Samuel, the father of subject. He was born in Rensselaer county, December 5, 1802. Until the last few years of his life he always made his home in this town, and was a very prominent man. He was super- visor a number of terms, and in 1844 was elected assemblyman from his district. In politics he was a strong Democrat until the war, when he became a Republican. He married at twenty-two years Asenath, daughter of Stephen Sherman, a native of Rhode Island, who lived in Rensselaer county, and they had eight children, six surviving :

FAMILY SKETCHES.

George, in the mercantile business in New York; Mary S., wife of Nathaniel Gifford, of Canandaigua; Sarah Frances, wife of James Halkin, of Indian Territory ; John, of Troy ; Ellen, of Canandaigua ; and Samuel. Samnel, the father, died February 2, 1884, and his wife died June 21, 1886. The early life of our subject was spent in Rensselaer county. In politics Mr. Douglass is a Prohibitionist. He has been assessor of his town, and he and his family are members of the Methodist Church. He married in 1847 Waity, danghter of Nathaniel Gifford, of Rensselaer county, and they have six children : Caroline A. ; Phoebe E .. wife of Isaiah Case, of Canandaigua; Mary M., who lives at home ; Fred G .; Estella F., wife of Ira P. Cribb; and James S., who conducts his father's farm. He was educated in the common schools and at a select school. He as- sisted on his father's farm until about twenty-four years of age, when he bought a place for himself, which he conducted until 1857, when he bought seventy acres on the west shore of Canandaigua Lake, which he conducted for ten years, and then bought 170 acres where he now resides. He has since added 106 acres to it, making one large farm of 276 acres, devoted to hay and stock.

Donnelly Peter, Victor, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, November 14, 1822. October 28, 1843, he married Catherine McNeilly, of County Down, and they have eight children ; four were born in Ireland and four in the United States. In July, 1850, they came to America, locating at Canandaigua. Mr. Donnelly was educated in the Queen's College at Belfast, was also trained in the National Training School for school teachers at Dublin. He taught school in Ireland eight years. Upon his arrival here he taught school six months, devoting his time mornings and evenings assisting the agent, a Mr. Ross, with his accounts. In the fall of 1850 he was appointed general ticket agent of the Elmira, Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railway Company, which position he filled until 1859, when the company failed. He was retained a year to close up the accounts. In 1861 he spent conisderable time traveling in the West. In the fall of 1861 he taught school at Seneca Falls, and afterwards entered the employ of the New York Central, assisting the station agent, McFaggan. On the 11th of June, 1864, he received the ap- pointment of station agent at Canandaigua from the president of the New York Central Railroad Company, Dean Richmond, and held the position until he died March 19, 1886. His honesty and integrity were appreciated by the railway company, and his obliging and pleasing manners by the traveling public.

De Bow, James. C., Farmington, was born in Canandaigua, May 30, 1832. He was educated in the common schools and Canandaigua Academy, and has always followed farming. October 14, 1856, he married Luzetta, youngest child of twelve living of Leonard and Marcy Knapp of the town of Hopewell. They have two children, both sons, Hiram and Jefferson T .; both were well educated at Canandaigua Academy and Rochester Business University, and are farmers at home. Mr. De Bow's father, Garret, was born in the Mohawk valley in 1798, and came with his parents to the town of Canandaigua when a year old. He married Almira Thurber, formerly of New Hamp- shire, and they had two children : James C., and Mary J., who married Thomas W. Cost of Hopewell. Mr. De Bow's grandfather, John, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War from this State. Mrs. De Bow's father, Leonard Knapp, was born in Rensselaer county in the year 1785, and came with his parents to Hopewell when eighteen years

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

old. He married Marcy Brown of that town (born in New Lebanon, R. I.), and they ' had twelve children who grew to maturity : Lucinda, Chloe, Clema, Leonard H., Sally A., Henry, Marcy, Elizabeth, Fidelia, B. Franklin, Hiram, and M. Luzetta. Mrs. De- Bow's father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and both families were among the first settlers. Mr. De Bow is a Democrat. Henry F. Thurber, recently appointed private secretary to President Cleveland, is a first cousin to James C. De Bow, and is a son of Jefferson Thurber.

Day, Rev. Samuel Mills, Richmond, is of the seventh generation from Ralph Day, who came from England in 1636 and settled in Dedham, Mass. Our subject was born in Richmond, August 8, 1827. His grandfather, Orion, or Orin, a native of Dedham, enlisted in the army of the Revolution at the age of seventeen. He was at West Point at the time of Arnold's treason, and remembered well the anxiety of Washington when reviewing the troops at that place. After the war he married Joanna Everett of Ded- ham, and settled in Sharon, Vt. They had eight children, of whom Warren, the oldest, was born October 1, 1789. He graduated in 1814 from Dartmouth College, and there had private instruction in theological studies. He came with his young wife, Sarah Kel- logg of Hanover, N. H., to Richmond in 1816 as a licentiate, and began his ministry here at the First Congregational church of Richmond Center. He was ordained and installed pastor of the church March 3, 1819, and remained until November, 1828. He then went to Orangeville and was pastor of the church there two years. He was agent of the American Tract Society at Geneva seven years, pastor at Enfield four years, returned here, and was pastor of the Center Church five years. He went again to Orangeville and was pastor a second time four years, after which he resided with his son, Dr. Fisk H. Day, in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee, nine years. In 1865 he returned to Richmond the third time, making liis home with his son, S. Mills, until his death in 1864, May 19. He was buried in the old cemetery at Richmond Center, and two years later a monument was erected to his memory by his old parishioners and his sons and daughters. By his first wife he had four children: Orrin W., who died early ; Ann D., wife of Charles Works of Rockford, Ill .; Mary Lydia, wife of John Allington of Freeport, Ill .; and Parsons Everett, a lawyer and real estate dealer of Brooklyn. He married a second time in 1823, Lydia L. Holbrook of Rushville, a native of Cummington, Mass., and a schoolmate and near neighbor of William Cullen Bryant. She died July 14, 1880. Their children were: Sarah, wife of the late Marcus C. Riggs of New York; Fisk Holbrook, M. D., now of Milwaukee, Wis .; S. Mills, Edward Warren, and Warren Edward. The last two died young. S. Mills Day graduated with honors from Union College, class of 1850, where he delivered the valedictory address. He pursued theological studies at Auburn, graduated in the class of 1852, and was ordained and installed pastor of the Presbyterian church at Hammondsport, June 30 of that year. In April, 1857, he went to Havana, N. Y., and was pastor of the Presbyterian church there four and a quarter years. In 1862 he became pastor of the Congregational church at Honeoye, and has been here in that capacity ever since. He married in 1852 Lucy E. Maxwell of Geneva, a sister of the Maxwell brothers, the well known nurserymen there. Their children are: Fannie Maxwell, born in 1853, died in 1875; Minnie Everett, born in 1855, wife of George Patterson, a blacksmith and jus-

FAMILY SKETCHES.

tice of the peace of this town ; Maxwell Warren, born in 1865, graduated at Williams College in 1887, now an electrical engineer at Lynn, Mass .; and Lucy Holbrook, born in 1866, wife of Warren McNair, stenographer, of Springfield, O. For more than thirty years Mr. Day has been pastor here, during which time the changes and inci- dents that have occurred would make an interesting volume.

Dixon, Walter J., West Bloomfield, a native of Mayfield, Fulton county, came with his father Jacob to Gorham in 1826. He was born August 28, 1814, and died August 16, 1891. He began his business career by working a farm at East Bloomfield for Mrs. Fairchild, and later came to Gorham, near Reed's Corners. He married Adaline Roat, a native of Jerusalem, Yates county, and daughter of John Roat of Orange county, who settled in Gorham near Hopewell, where he died. Walter lived twenty- seven years in Gorham and came to this town in 1863, where he bought the farm now occupied by his widow and her daughter Addie. He was supervisor here two years, and was a Democrat. Of the three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, the oldest, Mary L., married H. A. Metcalf, and died in Lima. Hannah E. married Thomas Lubbock and resides near Battle Creek, Mich. Addie, the youngest daughter, resides at home.

Dryer, William R., Victor, was born in Victor, February 3, 1841. He was educated in the public schools and Lima Seminary. He was discount clerk in the Flour City, Bank of Rochester three years; bookkeeper in the State Treasurer's office in Albany four years until 1879, and after this became cashier of the First National Bank of Abilene, Kan., for five years, returning to Rochester in 1885. For some time he has been vice-president of the Genesee National Savings and Loan Association of Rochester. September 18, 1861, he married Julia E., danghter of Charles F. Dickinson of Victor, who died June 1, 1873. They had two children, Carrie E., who married Prof. Elmer Sherman of Port Jervis, and died in November, 1886; and William C., a farmer on the old homestead, who married Clara Outhouse of Canandaigua, and they have one son, Truman C. Mr. Dryer's father, William C., was born in Victor, March 28, 1810, and married Phoebe M. Ball, sister of Drs. Wm. and Chas. Ball, of that place. He died in Victor, February 21, 1891. They had two children: William R., and Caroline C., who died when sixteen years old. Mr. Dryer's grandfather, Rufus, was born in Stock- bridge, Mass., in 1780, and came to Victor in 1798. He married Lydia Cobb in 1804, formerly of Conway, Mass. They had five children : Selecta, Minerva, George, Will- iam and Truman. His grandfather was a R. A. Mason, and his father a Master Mason, and Mr. Dryer himself a thirty-second degree Mason. In politics the family have always affiliated with the Democratic party. His father was postmaster under General Jackson and others for twelve years, was United States marshal four years under Buchanan's administration, a presidential elector several times, and member of the Democratic State Committee ten years.

Davison, Calvin P., East Bloomfield, a native of West Bloomfield, was born July 3, 1824, a son of Enoch S., a son of Christopher, a native of Connecticut, who there lived and died. Enoch S. was born in Connecticut in 1802, and was reared as a mason. He came to West Bloomfield in 1822, and there married Lucretia S. Beebe, a native of

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

West Bloomfield, and daughter of Adonijah M. Beebe, a native of Connecticut, and an early settler of West Bloomfield. He had four sons and four daughters. The death of Mr. Davison occurred in 1890, and that of his wife in 1881. Calvin P. received a common school education, and early in life learned the mason's trade, and followed it a number of years. In 1867 he came to East Bloomfield and purchased seventy-seven acres of land, and has there since resided. In politics he is a Republican. In 1857 Calvin married Ann C. Chase, a native of West Bloomfield and a daughter of Joseph Chase of that place, and they had one son, Frank J., born May 15, 1859. He received an academic education, and is a farmer. Mr. Calvin and family attend and support the Congregational church at East Bloomfield, of which his wife is a member.

Doolittle, Frank, Canadice, was born here May 4, 1851. He was educated in the common and Honeoye Select Schools. His father, William S., was a native of Ver- mont, and came with his parents at the age of nine years to Canadice. The latter was a son of Thomas Doolittle, and married Cleora, daughter of John Adams, whose farm he subsequently purchased and located upon, and where Frank now resides. There were four children, one of whom died in infancy. Lucy Jane married Sydney Gaskey ; Eliza P., deceased, was the first wife of D. W. Beam. Frank Doolittle married in 1871 Emma Hartson, daughter of Asa Hartson of this town, and they have had four chil- dren : Arthur, born May 12, 1873; Jennie B., born May 8, 1877 ; Claud D., born Feb- ruary 3, 1886; and Bessie L., born July 24, 1887. Mr. Doolittle follows farming, and has 240 acres in the north part of the town. His father built tlie residence about 1864. Frank is a Republican, and has been collector two years. He and his wife are mnem- bers of the M. E. church.

Dewey, Eugene B., Vietor, was born in the village of Victor, November 7, 1833, was educated in the district schools and has always been a farmer. November 7, 1857, he married Augusta Cooper, of the town of Farmington, and they have had two children : T. Emmett, who married Arra Etter, of Abilene, Kan., where they reside ; and Bernie, who resides at home with his father. Mrs. Dewey died March 31, 1876. Mr. Dewey's father, Lanson, was born in Madison county, April 2, 1805, and came to this place August 14, 1826. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Mary E. Felt, of Vic- tor, and they had five children, all living: Bernard M .; Eugene B .; Gertrude, who married James Frost, of Victor; Ellen, who married Peter Plumb ; Ida M., who mar- ried Marvin A. Wilber, now of Victor. Mr. Dewey's father was supervisor of the town eleven years, and represented the assembly district in the Legislature two terms, 1862 and 1863. He died the last week of February, 1886, and his mother about the year of 1852.

Dake, M.D., Mrs. Addie B. Crowley, was born in Mount Morris, Livingston county, and graduated from Cleveland Homoeopathic Medical College in 1886. She settled in Geneva, where she has since practiced medicine, making a specialty of women's and children's diseases.

Dakin, Elbridge, Geneva, was born in Concord, Mass., October 19, 1802, and came to this State when a young man. He located first in Buffalo, and soon after in Geneva, where he resided and conducted business. Ile married first Mary Ann Brizee, of Gc-

FAMILY SKETCHES.

neva, by whom he had one son, George Brizee, who died in 1859; and second Mrs. Nancy Stearns Spalding, of Gorham, Ontario county. They had two daughters and a son : Sarah P., wife of Elisha C. Deane, of Buffalo, by whom she had two children : Isabella S., and Elbridge G .; William O., who married Eveline Shepard, of Toledo, O .; and Mary O., who lives in Geneva. Mrs. Dakin died April 12, 1881, and Mr. Dakin March 4, 1893, in his ninety- first year. He was the oldest Mason in this part of the State, · being a member of Ark Lodge No. 33 of Geneva F. & A. M., and its treasurer over thirty years. He was a man of integrity in all his dealings with his fellow men. He conducted a coal and wood, Portland and Akron cement business for more than thirty years on Castle street. His great-grandfather, Colonel Barrett, on his mother's side, commanded at the battle of Concord, Mass.

Ellis, Bolivar, Victor, was born in Victor, February 25, 1833. He was educated in the public schools, and in early life was a farmer, surveyor, and conveyancer many years. Has been supervisor of his town three years, and justice of the peace twenty- four years. In the fall of 1882 he was elected county clerk and served three years. Was also loan commissioner three years. Mr. Ellis is a member of Milnor Lodge No. 139 F. & A. M., and has been its master for some years. He is a member of the Ex- celsior Chapter No. 164 R. A. M. of Canandaigua, and of Munroe Commandery K. T. No. 12 of Rochester. June 30, 1874, he married Frances M., daughter of Jacob L. and Joannah (Farr) Lobdell, of Victor, and they have one daughter, Isabel. Mr. Ellis's father, Henry, was born in the town of Florida, Montgomery county, December 10, 1798, and was a farmer. December 29, 1823, he married Isabel Bennett, of Duanes- burg, Schenectady county, and came to Victor April 5, 1824. They had six children, four survive : Nancy M., who married Thomas C. Turner (now deceased) ; Jane E., who married James B. North (deceased) ; Bolivar, and Daniel. Mr. Ellis's father, Samuel, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The ancestry of the family is Welsh and Scotch. Mr. Ellis is one of the deacons in the Universalist Church.

Ellis, James A., Canandaigua, was born in Fleming, June 3, 1839, a son of Arthur, a farmer of that town. When fourteen years of age he went to Honeoye, where he served his apprenticeship of four years as a gunmaker. In the spring of 1862 he came to Canandaigua, where he joined in partnership with Lefevre in manufacturing guns, and was with him five years. In 1867 Mr. Ellis bought out the interest of his partner and has ever since conducted the business alone at 157 Main street, where he handles hardware, sporting goods, cutlery, etc. He is a Mason, a member of Canandaigua Lodge No. 294. He married in February, 1869. Martha S. Robertson, of Canandaigua, and they have five children : Arthur C, a clerk in the New York Central freight office ; Ada E., Ina M., Herbert J., and George Robertson. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are members of the Congregational Church of Canandaigua.

Eddy, Charles A., Geneva, was born in Smithville, Chenango county, August 26, 1854. He was educated in the public schools. His early years were spent on a farm until the age of twenty-one, when he learned the carriage trade at McDonough in that county, and worked at it in various places until he came to Waterloo. There he worked six years when the Seneca Falls Carriage Company was formed, Mr. Eddy being its super-

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

intendent. In the spring of 1891 the Geneva Carriage Company was incorporated with a capital of $30,000, afterwards increased to $50,000. Mr. Eddy is superintendent of this company. Mr. Morrell is one of its directors. This company has from its incep- tion been a success. June 23, 1887, he married Belle M., only daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Ide, of Waterloo, and they have two children, Francis B., and Blanche L. The Eddy family is one of the oldest in the county. Mrs. Eddy's father, Isaac Ide, was born in Geneva, January 15, 1835; he married Elizabeth Mensch, of Waterloo, and they had two children : Belle M. and Frank P. Mr. Eddy is a partner with Mr. Morrell in two valuable inventions in connection with the carriage business.

Embry, Frank W., Victor, was born in Victor, April 16, 1845. He was educated in the public schools and Eastman's Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, from which in- stitution he was graduated in May, 1864. May 7, 1878, he married Florence L. Ellis, of Weedsport. Mr. Embry's father, Thomas, was born at Arlington, Vt., November 28, 1804, and came to this State when fifteen years old, locating in Avon and after- ward in Victor, where he became a prominent merchant. In the year 1835 he built the stone store recently destroyed by fire. February 12, 1828, he married Sarah Wil- cox of that village, who was one of the teachers in the public schools. Later on he became a farmer, and followed that vocation for twenty-eight years. In the year 1865 he returned to the village and lived a retired life. He died November 5, 1890, and his wife February 22, 1886. December 14, 1864, Mr. Embry entered the employ of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company at Syracuse, as a clerk in the freight house. He came to Rochester August 25, 1867, and was employed at the Roch- ester station in the same capacity until December 31, 1873. He then resigned to accept the management of the Merchants' Despatch Transportation Company, which position he held until June 13, 1877, when he was made freight agent of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. Co., succeeding the late W. H. Cumings, which position he holds at the present time, 1893. At the time the New York Central leased the West Shore and Rome, Water- town & Ogdensburg railroads, Mr. Embry was made agent of those roads also, and still holds that position. Mr. Embry is a member of the Athletic Club, Point Look Out Club, Rochester Whist Club, Frank R. Lawrence Lodge, F. & A. M., Monroe Commandery K. T. No. 12, Rochester Consistory of Scottish Rite, and is also a member of the Re- form Club of New York city, of which Hon. Chas. S. Fairchild is president. He is a member of Christ Church parish; and in politics he is a Democrat.

Elton, Jabez, West Bloomfield, came from Bristol, Conn., to Canandaigua about 1816. He was a farmer and married in Connecticut Olive Holcomb. Their children were: Saralı, James, Noah, Eliza, Luther, Lovina, Nathaniel, Hiram, Nancy and John. Nathaniel moved to Richmond about 1833. He married in 1841 Mary J. Paul. They subsequently lived in Farmington and Perrington, and came to this town in 1854. Nathaniel was a farmer and produce dealer. Their children were: John P., James, and Mary E., wife of John M. Baker, of Bristol. Nathaniel died April 1, 1883. John was born September 4, 1843. He was a farmer and hay dealer, and was supervisor of the town in 1886. He married Jennie C. Leach. They had born to them four chil- dren: L. May, O. Louise, Alice P., and Richard.". John died November 19. 1890.

FAMILY SKETCHES.

James was born October 27, 1845. He is a farmer and hay dealer. His fine farm is on the State road, midway between the village and East Bloomfield line. He married in 1877 Alida E. Shepard, and they have three children : Raymond J., Carlotta A., and Leila J. Mr. Elton was formerly a Democrat, but some years ago he was a member of the grand jury when seventy-seven were indicted, over seventy of which were liquor cases. He and some others of the jury have since this been Prohibitionists. Mrs. Nathaniel Elton now makes her home with her son. Her father and grandfather were both named William Paul and came from Massachusetts at an early day to this town. Her father returned to Massachusetts in 1811 and married Prudance Case. They lived in the south part of the town on the line of Richmond and had seven children.

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History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 55

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass, comp; Conover, George S. (George Stillwell), b. 1824, ed
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1002