History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 56

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 56

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Eldridge, Thomas, Canadice, was born December 20, 1836, in Naples. His father, Barber Eldridge, of French descent, came from Connecticut about 1813, and married Lucy Ann Koon of Springwater, where they lived most of the time, and where he died in 1863, aged fifty-three years. His widow survives him, aged seventy-eight years. Of their eight children six are now living : John M, now of Yates county ; Charles, of Springwater ; Lucy Ann, who married and died in Branch county, Mich .; Thomas, of this town ; Harriett, married and lives in Michigan ; Barber, died in Springwater ; Sarah Jane, now living in Livonia ; and Harrison, who resides in Springwater. Thomas was educated in the common schools, and worked at farming. In 1860 he married Ellen D. Purcell, who was born February 11, 1837, a daughter of William and Jane Purcell, of Springwater. The same year they settled on the farm they now occupy, which he, Eldridge purchased of the heirs of Homer Blake. He built his residence in 1870. They have two children : William B., born June 29, 1865, who married Minnie Henry, and is a farmer of this town, and Emma E., born November 13. 1869, wife of Edmund Doolittle, of Springwater. Mr. Eldridge has 100 acres in his home farm, and fifty-one acres in Springwater. He is engaged in the raising of thoroughbred Oxforddown sheep, and also horses. He has been highway commissioner two years and assessor three years. He was supervisor in 1888-89.

Frisbie, Dr. William, Phelps, was born in Saratoga county, May 22, 1769. He at- tended lectures at the Medical College of Albany, where he graduated. He was the first physician of that name that came to the village of Vienna, Ontario county. It was afterwards called Phelps, and is now known by that name. In the year 1819 he moved with his wife (Elizabeth Davidson, of Peterboro, N. H.) and their six children, from Pittsford, Rutland county, Vt., to Phelps. He resumed his practice of medicine ; he was eminent in his profession, a man of great moral worth, and exerted a strong and healthful religious influence in the town ; he continued steadfast in the maintenance of sound principles, beloved and honored until his death, which occurred at Phelps in 1857. His oldest son, Dr. E. Willard Frisbie, was born at Pittsford, Vt., on May 12, 1799. He came to Phelps when he was twenty years old, having graduated at Castle- ton, Vt., about the time the family removed to Phelps. He went into practice with his father, who had a large and extensive business; they owned an acre of land, which was a beautiful garden, in the center of the east village, just across from the old Ed- monston tavern. When the boom struck the town in 1837 he sold it and purchased

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

the Redfield property, just half a mile west of the village, on the street leading to Clif- ton Springs. Here in this ample and beautiful Christian home, the poor and outcast of all classes and color found a shelter; it was renowned for being one of the Underground Railroad stations. Here the drunkard or homeless found film friends in the doctor and his wife (who was Miss Sophronia Boynton, the second daughter of Hon. Jonathan Boynton, of Walworth, Wayne county.) They had six children : Ann Elizabeth, Frances Maria, William, Irene Caroline (who died at Phelps, 1857), Garret S. and Mary Boyn- ton. Garret S. Frisbie is the only one of the family who is living now at Phelps. He married Jane Hubbell, the only child of Geo. Hubbell, of Phelps. They have four children : Gertrude, Julia Etta, Georgia, and Charles.

Died, at his residence in Phelps, Ontario county, near Clifton Springs, on Tuesday, July 31, 1860, Doctor E. Willard Frisbie.

Doctor Frisbie had for many years been extensively known. He was eminently a religious man and devoted much of his time, talents and substance to the cause of benevolence. He was among the first to embrace the doctrines and practice of temper- ance, and his love of liberty was no silent, calculating sentimentalism, but a living, fear- less, outspoken principle, and regarding all men as made by the great Author of our being of one blood, and entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, he claimed equal freedom for all. His education with his strong and well disciplined mind enabled him to make his influence felt. In the early periods of these reforms he experienced the truth of the declaration that "they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution," and it was none the less trying to have a full share of this persecution come from the church. His name has often been before the public as the nominee of the Liberty Party for high and responsible offices, and more than once as member of congress. At times his oppressors manifested great bitterness and hatred at the re- forms he advocated, yet such was his dignity and his justice that could but respect the the man. His course has been onward, never turning to the right nor left for popular favor. An incident is remembered which was so characteristic that we give it a record : At the first celebration of the West India Emancipation at Geneva, about the year 1840, a large number had gathered under the call and direction of a very respectable committee of colored people. A procession was formed with a band of music and with appropriate banners. But it was soon discovered that the procession was made up wholly of colored people except Doctor Frisbie, and the writer [the writer here referred to was his beloved friend, Hon. Henry Bradley, of Penn Yan], who, without thought or concert, had dropped into the line side by side, attracting the gaze and it was under- stood the sneers of the fastidious and the refined, who thought they were opposed to amalgamation. On Monday night Doctor Frisbie went into his door yard to nurse a sick young horse. The horse in its struggles kicked the doctor, striking him in the ab- domen. He returred to his house and told his family that he was fatally wounded. Viewing death as near at hand and certain, it might be expected that he would repent of his past ultraisms and adopt the popular conservatism to die by. Not so, he met death in twenty hours without shrinking, and died as he lived, a Christian.

Fisher, Charles, Victor, was born in Stockbridge, Mass .. November 30, 1796, and came with his parents to Woodstock, Madison county, when he was two months old, and afterwards, in the year 1811, to Henrietta, Monroe county. In the year of 1814 he located permanently at Fisher's, in the town of Victor. He was among the earliest settlers liere, and the place was named after him. He was justice of the peace for a term of years, postmaster, and entertained travelers until there was a hotel started in the place. He married twice, first July 29, 1821, Rebeckah Gaskell, of Victor. They

FAMILY SKETCHES.

had two sons and three daughters : Harriet, Charles, now of Newton, Kansas, Almira, Robert, an attorney of Victor village, and Mary R. Mrs. Fisher died September 7, 1848, and he married second Helen J. Pardee, on October 21, 1850. They had two sons : Henry P., born December, 27, 185], died June 25, 1893, who married Lucy E. Bushman, November 9, 1875, and had two children : Clara and Charles. William F. was born March 9, 1854; September 6, 1882, he married Addie C., daughter of Almon and Emily Preston, of Battle Creek, Mich. They have two sons, Almon P. and Henry S. Mr. Fisher was a producce dealer with his brother for some time, but is now farm- ing on the old homestead. He is a member of Milner Lodge, No. 139, F. & A. M., Victor, and Excelsior Chapter, No. 164, R. A. M., Canandaigua.

Fisher, Henry P., Victor, was born at Fisher's, Victor, December 27, 1851. He was educated in the public schools, was a produce dealer for some time, and later a farmer. November 9, 1875, he married Lucy E., daughter of Abner and Phoebe P. (King) Bushman, of East Mendon, and they had two children: Clara B. and Charles H. Mrs. Fisher's father, Abner Bushman, was born in Monroe county, November 28, 1801, was a school teacher, farmer, and also justice of the peace for twenty years. He married twice, first to Jane Ely, and they had one daughter, Mrs. Bentley Corby, of Pittsford. April 14, 1849, he married second Phoebe F. King, of Brighton, Monroe county, and they had seven children, three died in infancy, four survive: Hanford E., Lucy E., Clara M., and Julia who died at the age of eight years. A branch of her family named Hopkins dates back to the Mayflower. His grandfather on his mother's side, Silas Pardee from Columbia county, was a lieutenant in the Revolution- ary War, and Mrs. Fisher's great-grandfather, Rufus King, was in the Revolutionary War. Henry P. was a staunch Democrat. He died June 25, 1893.

Farwell, John G., Geneva, son of Samuel P., was born in the town of Ischua, Cat- taraugus county July 17, 1861, and when twelve years of age his father removed to Elmira, N. Y. John G. graduated from the grammar school and the Free Academy of the latter city, and in 1880 removed to Geneva and entered the law office of John E. Bean, esq. He was admitted to the bar at Buffalo on June 5, 1885, and in October of the same year was united in marriage with Minnie E. Goff. On the first of January following he opened an office in Geneva, where he is now practicing. He has been a justice of the peace since 1885, and was local editor of the Geneva Gazette for five years. Mr. Farwell is also an extensive dealer in Geneva and Buffalo real estate.

Fisher, Harlan M., a native and resident of Bristol, was born February 25, 1850, and is a son of Alphonso G., a son of Nathaniel, whose father, Nathaniel, was a native of Dighton, Mass., who about 1800 came to Bristol and settled. Nathaniel, jr., was born in Dighton, Mass., and came to Bristol with his parents. He was a colonel in the War of 1812, and was a prominent man. He was held in great respect by the Indians, who often stopped on their hunting expeditions to stay over night with Ski-a-na-gha, as they called him, perhaps leaving some of their trophies of the chase as they departed in the morning. His wife was Lovice Phillips, of Dighton, Mass., who bore him one son and two daughters. He died in Bristol in 1855, and his wife in 1863. Alphonso was born in Bristol, November 16, 1816, and married Almeda, daughter of John Worrallo,

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

who was lost on Lake Erie. Mr. Fisher and wife had two sons : Harlan M. and Edgar N., the latter a farmer of Bristol. Mr. Fisher was an active politician, yet never ac- cepted office. He died November 19, 1891, and his wife resides on the old homestead. Subjert was educated in Canandaigua Academy, graduating in 1878, and taught school for nineteen years in connection with farming. He owns 165 acres of land, and is a general farmer. He makes a specialty of breeding bronze turkeys, Holstein cattle and Berkshire swine. He is a member of the Ontario County Agricultural Society, and for four years has lectured at Farmers' Institutes in New York, under the auspices of the State Agricultural Society, on various subjects connected with agriculture, and is con- sidered a drainage expert. He is a Republican, and was assessor two terms. In 1872 he married Helen L., daughter of the late Benjamin F. Phillips, of Bristol. They reside on the farm settled by Elnathan Gooding, grandfather of Mrs. Fisher and the first settler of Bristol, who came there at the age of seventeen and remained alone the first winter. One incident is perhaps worthy of mention as illustrating the material of the sturdy yeomanry of New England who settled the Empire State. While young Good- ing was chopping down the thick forest to clear for crops, he heard a twig snap, and glancing over his shoulder saw a large savage standing back of him with a tomahawk raised to deal the deadly blow. Without deigning to give the Indian further notice, he kept on chopping, never missing a single stroke. The Indian, admiring his coolness in the trying circumstances, quietly slipped the tomahawk in his belt, with an " Ugh, white man no scare," disappeared in the dense woods. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are: Ethel L., Ada E., Harlan A., Rex P., Almeda L. and Marion E. V. Ethel L. is a student of Cook Academy at Havana, N. Y.

Frary, Edward H., Canandaigua, was born in Lyndon, Catteraugus county, April 25, 1840. As far back as 1640 the ancestors of this family have been natives of this country. When Edward was but five years old his father died. He was educated in the common schools and at Rushford Academy, and after leaving school learned the carpenter's trade. In 1860 lie came to Canandaigua, where he followed his trade until August 26, 1862, when he enlisted in Company A, Ninety-seventh Regiment N. Y. Vols., known as the Conkling Rifles, and saw service with the Army of the Potomac from Antietam to the Wilderness. He was wounded May 6, 1864, at the battle of the Wilderness by a ball passing through his left shoulder and lung. He was carried from the field and left for dead, but good care brought him around, though he was never able to do duty again. He was discharged February 15, 1865, on account of wounds, and returned to this place, where he has since lived. In 1869 he was elected collector for this town, and in 1870-71-72 held the office of constable. In 1872 he went into Cooley's store, where he spent about eight years. In 1880 he was appointed census enumerator, and in 1880-81 was village collector; 1882-83-84-85, school collector for District No. 11, and from 1888 to 1893 collector of District No. 1. In 1887 he was elected on the Republican ticket justice of the peace, and re-elected in 1891. He mar- ried in 1860 Emily A. Cross, of Canandaigua (who died April 20, 1893), and they have three children : Nellie A., wife of H. E. Osborn, of Batavia; Edward W., of Canan- daigua ; and Minnie B. Mr. Frary is Past Commander of Albert H. Murray Post, G. A. R., No. 162.

FAMILY SKETCHES.

Francis, John B., was born in Wethersfield, Conn., January 29, 1813, of Huguenot ancestry. He was educated in the common schools in Wethersfield, and at the age of sixteen went with Daniel Dewey, of Hartford, Conn., to learn the trade of cabinet worker. He went to Bristol, Conn., in 1832, and worked for Seneca C. Hemenway and George Mitchell, the manufacturers of clock cases, where he was engaged for five years. In 1837 he came to Waterloo, where he was with Hart Gillam & Co., in the furniture business, for about two years, and then spent about eighteen months conduct- ing a furniture store, and in April, 1841, came to Canandaigua, where he worked for Mr. Kellogg one year, and then established a store for himself. About 1850 he added undertaking to his furniture business, and has ever since conducted it, making over forty years in the business in this town. He is now retired from aetive life, and is living in Waterloo. He is a Mason, and was until he moved from town the oldest Mason there ; a member of Canandaigua Lodge No. 294, and Excelsior Chapter No. 164. He has also held a membership in the Monroe Commandry No. 12 K. T. Mr. Francis married, April 22. 1838, Harriet Ives, of Bristol, Conn., daughter of Orrin Hart, of Canandaigua. They have never had any children. She died March 12, 1892, at seventy-three years of age.

Ferguson, Harrison B., Canandaigua, was born in Phelps, April 22, 1842, a son of John H., a native of the county, a farmer and afterwards a merchant of Orleans. He had four children, of whom our subject was the second son. He was educated in the common schools and at Lima Seminary, and after leaving school spent two years in his father's store, and August 22, 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment N. Y. Vols., and served with them until December 25, 1864, when he re- ceived his discharge from the army and entered the Ordnance Bureau of the War De- partment at Washington, where he was employed until October 1, 1865. He then came to Canandaigua and engaged in the insurance business. He was also in the book business about five years. In the fall of 1875 Mr. Ferguson was elected county treas- urer, and afterwards re-elected. He entered the employ of the First National Bank of Canandaigua as clerk, and rose to the position of cashier, which position he held until the close of the bank, and assisted in its voluntary liquida ion. He is still engaged with Mr. Munger, who was the president of the bank. He is secretary and treasurer of the Canandaigua Gas and Electric Light Companies; treasurer of Union Free School District No. 1, and secretary of the Canandaigua Cemetery Association. Mr. Ferguson married in 1866 Ella C., daughter of Rev. Jacob A. Wades, of Orleans, and they have four children : Clara Louise, Julia May, J. Arden and Harry W.

Foster, Frank F., Gorham, was born in Prattsburg, Steuben county, July 6, 1851, one of seven children of George and Ann (Stevenson) Foster, of Yorkshire, England, who in 1850 came to America and now reside in Prattsburg. In 1871 Mrs. Foster died, and he married Salina Horton. Frank F. was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools and in Prattsburg Academy. February 25, 1879, he married Flora L. Lord, a native of Gorham, born March 3, 1834. She is a daughter of Ethan and Paulina Lord. Mr. Foster follows farming, and makes a specialty of breeding draft horses. He owns 130 acres, on which he has resided since 1880. Here he has erected fine buildings. Mr. Foster is a Republican.

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

Fowler, Reuben W., Gorham, was born in Cuyahoga county, O., August 22, 1838. a son of Harvey, who was a son of Reuben W., a native of Connecticut, who married Sybil Sawyer, and had seven children. About 1800 Mr. Fowler came to Gorham and settled on what is known as the Stark farm. He bought the land of the Indians, paying $1 worth of flour for an acre of land, carrying the flour on his back from Albany. He was worth at his death about $40,000. He died in 1854 at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife in 1875 at the age of ninety-four years. Harvey Fowler was born in 1811 on the homestead, and at the age of twenty-two married Fannie, daughter of James and Nancy Blair, of Pine Corners, and had six children, five of whom survive. He purchased a farm in Cuyahoga county, O., and there resided several years, when he returned to New York and purchased the Deacon Hatfield farm. In 1876 he went to live with his son-in-law, John Wilson, where he died May 9, 1892. His wife died September 15, 1883. Reuben W. attended the Rushville Academy. March 11, 1861, he married Caroline Sawyer, a native of Marshall, Mich., born July 22, 1842. She is a daughter of C. H. and Ruth A. (Comstock) Sawyer, who in 1851 moved to Hornells- ville, and there died, November 12, 1853. His wife died March 11. 1876. Subject and wife have had two children: Charlotte A., wife of Frank C. Twitchell, a native of Middlesex, and a grape grower ; and Harris C., who died December 20, 1866, at the age of fourteen months. Mr. Fowler has been a successful grape grower for twenty years. He is a Republican, but never cared for public office. He is a member of the Royal Templars at Middlesex.

Forsyth, Leander, East Bloomfield, a native of New London county, Conn., was born August 12, 1820, a son of Elisha, whose father, Lathan, was a native of Salem, Conn. Lathan was twice married and the father of seventeen children. He was a private in the Revolutionary War, and died about 1830. Elisha, a native of Salem, Conn., was born in 1787, and was a farmer and cooper. He married Sallie, daughter of Joseph Chester of Salem, Conn., who was born March 17, 1731, and died in 1803. Mr. Forsyth came to East Bloomfield and there spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1857, and his wife in 1861. They had three sons and two daughters. Leander was reared on a farm and received a common school education. At the age of seventeen he started in life for himself. Coming to East Bloomfield he worked by the month for two years, and then went to Michigan where he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed forty years, but after six years he returned to East Bloomfield where he has since re- sided. Of late years he has been engaged in farming, and for twenty years has been a successful growor of onions. May 24, 1847, Mr. Forsyth married Lucy Quick, a na- tive of Lyons, born January 6, 1819, and a daughter of Peter Quick. Their children are : Kate, who was educated in East Bloomfield Academy, and Frank, a carpenter of East Bloomfield. He married a Miss Sage of Mendon, and they have one daughter. Lucy. Mr. Forsyth is a Republican in politics, and has been highway commissioner twelve years in succession and excise commissioner three years. He and family are Baptists.

French, Seward, West Bloomfield, was born at East Bloomfield February 28, 1856. He was preparing for IIamilton College when his father died, and he was called home

FAMILY SKETCHES.

to attend to duties there. He became a school teacher and later a deputy sheriff, in which office he was successful in apprehending thirty-one men out of thirty-three war- rants had in one year. In 1879 he began the study of law in the office of the noted criminal lawyer, Hon. George Raines of Rochester, with such close application that on his examination three and a half years later for admission to the bar, he was one of the foremost in his class of thirty. He practiced in Rochester until 1889, then removed to Miller's Corners, where he has one of the finest law offices in the county, and which is a museum of criminal relics and implements secured by his perseverance, as evidence in case :. He has also two other offices at East Bloomfield and Victor, and branch offices in Chicago and Sioux Falls for divorces for parties wishing these facilities. Mr. French devotes himself most especially to criminal law, and within five years was suc- cessful council, in ninety-two criminal and that line of cases, one of the most important being the celebrated John Kelly homicide case, which was three years in the courts. He tries a case with boldness and skill, and is a rapid thinker. His father, Reuben E., was born in East Bloomfield, and married Maria H. McMichael, born in Canandaigua, of Scotch-Irish descent. Reuben was three times supervisor and owned a fine farm near Miller's Corners, now owned by his son Seward, was born in Massachusetts and came to Victor among the early settlers. Subject is a 32d degree Mason, is notary public for Ontario, Livingston and Monroe counties. He married in 1876 Jennie L. Jefferson, daughter of John Jefferson of Miller's Corners, and they have three children living : Reuben, Lyra and Florine. One daughter, Floice, is deceased.

Freer, Charles E., Canandaigua, was born in Canandaigua March 23, 1853, a son of Henry, a farmer of this town. Henry Freer was born in Allegany county near the village of Nunda, about seventy-four years ago. He was a bov when he came to Can- andaiga and lived with the Grangers, for whom he was gardener and coachman many years. He married when twenty . two years of age Ann Eliza Pease of Canandaigua, by whom he had two children, but one now living, Mrs. Edna Randall of Bristol Springs. Mrs. Freer died in 1850, and he married second, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Price, a native of England, who came to America in 1819, and to Canandaigua in 1838, who had been a resident of New Jersey and later of this county. They had two children : Hiram residing ou the old homestead, and Charles E., our subject. The whole life of the latter with the exception of three years, has been spent in this town. He was educated in the common schools and Canandaigua Academy, and made his home on his father's farm until twenty-five. He worked one year at Brigham Hall, and his father's farm on shares until 1880, when he bought eighty -nine acres in East Bloomfield, which he sold in 1883, and bought his present place of 110 acres in one of the most beautiful locations on the lake shore, on which he has made many improvements, hav- ing set out fifteen acres for vineyard, 1,000 pear trees, 1,500 peach trees, and 500 plums and considerable small fruit. He has made his farm one of the largest fruit producers of its size in this town. Has also erected new buildings and a commodious cottage on the shore. He married in 1878 Jennie, daughter of James Worroll of Can- andaigua, and they have two children : Eleanor, who is in her fourteenth year, and Grace in her twelfth year. James Worroll was a native of England and had been a resident of Canandaigua for fifty years. He died December 30, 1892.

HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

Freshour, John C., Gorham, was born March 25, 1840, a son of Edward A. (son of John) who was born in Hopewell October 10, 1816. December 30, 1838, he married Lany M. Brizee, a native of Woodstock, Ulster county, born September 7, 1818, a daughter of Cornelius and Sarah (Van Benschoten) Brizee. Her father was born in Columbia county, November 14, 1792, and her mother in Woodstock October 31, 1795. Mr. and Mrs. Brizee had four sons and three daughters. He died October 27, 1878, and his wife November 12, 1878. Edward A. Freshonr and wife had two sons and a daughter, of whom John C. is the only one living. In 1854 Edward A. Freshour came to Gorham and bought a farm, but now lives retired. J. C. Freshour was edu- cated in East Bloomfield Academy and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. In 1882 he went to Boston, where he was engaged for a time in real estate. He has also spent some time as a florist, but is now engaged in farming and dealing in live stock. In 1863 he married Genie M., daughter of Olney and Jane Rice, early settlers of Gorham, where Olney Rice, sr., owned a carding mill. Mr. and Mrs. Freshour have one daughter, Rosabelle, wife of W. L. Lines, of New Haven, Conn. For some years Mrs. Lines re- ceived private lessons in Boston, in the languages and instrumental music, the latter under William H. Sherwood. She is now a noted pianist. She spent one year with the Emerson Pierce Grand Concert Company and has played in all the leading halls of Boston. She has been highly complimented by the Boston press. Mr. Freshour is a member of Stanley Lodge No. 434 I. O. O. F. and of Seneca Grange, and is a Demo- crat in politics.

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History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families, Part 56

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