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 68
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
Reid, William, Geneva, was born in Sterlingshire, Scotland, January 1, 1855. He was educated in Scotland, where he also learned his trade, coming to the United States April 1, 1880, and locating at Troy, where he worked at the molding trade. He came to Geneva in June, 1885, entered the employ of Phillips, Clark & Co. for one year as molder. He then became foreman of that department, which position he now holds. August 4, 1886, he married Marian, daughter of Colin and Agnes Harvie, of Geneva, and they have two children : Agnes W. and Helen Mc. Mrs. Reid's father, Colin Harvie, was born in Falkirk, Sterlingshire, Scotland, in 1843, and married Agnes Cud- die, of Glasgow, Scotland. They came to Canada in 1859, and afterwards to Geneva. They had thirteen children, of whom four were born in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Harvie live in Geneva.
Riker, Henry L., Hopewell, was born in Clinton, January 31, 1814. His father was Henry, a son of Henry, who was a native of Germany and came to this country, first to Long Island and then to Dutchess county. Henry Riker, jr., was born in Clinton in 1774, and married Susan Lyons, a native of Clinton, and daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Lyons. By his first wife he had two sons. She died in 1814, and he mar- ried second Lydia Hodge, of Massachusetts, by whom he had four children. He was town collector for many years and died in 1831. Heury L. Riker had a common school education, and has always been a farmer. He married in 1835 Ann C. Thorne, a native of Dutchess county, and they have had four sons and four daughters : Sarah E., George W., Martha A. (deceased), William N., Melville G., Annie L., Cora A. (who resides at home), and Frank T. (deceased). In 1837 they moved to Cayuga county, remaining until 1868. Mr. Riker came to Hopewell and purchased the farm where he now re- sides. He is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Friends Society. The parents of Mrs. Riker were James and Sarah Thorne, of Dutchess county, and Som- erset, Mass., respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Thorne had five children. He named the vil- lage of Clinton Hollow and organized the first post-office in 1816, of which he was the first postmaster. He was superintendent of the Clinton schools, and for many years overseer of the poor. Mrs. Thorne died in 1865, and Mr. Thorne August 6, 1872.
Robertson, Charles F., Canandaigua, was born in Geneva, March 30, 1850, a son of John B., a native of Yates county, born in Benton in 1824. The latter early learned the carpenter trade, and followed contracting and building all his life. He was engaged in building in Canandaigua from 1860 until his death in 1885. He married when a young man Sophia J. Flowers, of Benton Centre, and they were the parents of four children : Martha S., wife of James A. Ellis, of Canandaigua ; Mary C., wife of George H. Stannard, of Buffalo; Jane .E., of Canandaigua; and Charles F. The early life of our subject was spent in the town of his birth. In 1858 his parents came to Canan- daigua, where Charles was educated in the common schools and the academy, and after leaving school took up the trade of his father, which he followed. In 1880 he began to take contracts for building in this town and erected some of the finest residences, conspicuous among them being the residences of Editor Huntington, James S. Cooley, and many others. Mr. Robertson has always taken an active interest in politics, has been village trustee, and in 1891 was the president of the village. He is a Republican,
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and was among the first to agitate the subject of having a Union Free School established, and being a member of the board, he followed it until it was made a success. He mar- ried in 1877 Alice M. Mather, of Canandaigua. He is a Mason and has represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge as master for two years, and was M. E. H. P. of Excelsior Chapter No. 164 one year.
Reed, James, Bristol, was born in Bristol, April 8, 1823, a son of George, whose father was George, a native of Hartland, Conn., who died in Bristol, where he came in in 1819. His wife was Nancy Bushnell, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. He died March 25, 1835, and his wife October 1, 1844. His son George was born in 1793 in Hartland, and came to Bristol in 1815. He married Loretta, daughter of James Case, by whom he had six children: Nancy, Betsey, George, James, William and Nelson. His wife died in 1828, and he married Luna Reed, of Hartland, Conn .. by whom he had three children ; Reuel, Purmelia and Loretta. He died August 3, 1837, and his second wife in 1868. James was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools, and has been twice married; first to Sallie Thomas, of Bristol, who was born September 17, 1828, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Horace Case, of Bristol, and died June 24, 1876. Mrs. James Reed died in 1850, and the same year he married Lucinda, daughter of Stephen Beach, whose father was Bernard, of Hartland, Conn., who came to Bristol about 1800. Mr. Reed and second wife have four children : George W., a farmer of South Bristol; Belle, wife of Warner J. Simon, of Canandaigua; Martha, wife of Herman Van Vechten; and Reuel J. He married Emma Hunn, daughter of Thomas Hunn, and they have three children : Ethel M., Fannie E., Bertha A. Mr. Reed owns 140 acres. He is a Republican and has been excise commissioner for many years. He and wife are members of the M. E. church, and Mr. Reed has been trustee and steward for many years. Abner Reed, a brother of George Reed, jr., was a local minister of Bristol, and preached three hundred and fifteen funeral sermons.
Rice, Frank, Canandaigua, was born in the town of Seneca, Ontario county, January 15, 1845. His maternal ancestor came to the town of Seneca from England, and his paternal grandfather from Massachusetts, and were among the earliest settlers in that part of the county. Mr. Rice's father, at the time of his death in 1891, owned one of the farms purchased by them. During his early years Mr. Rice worked on the farm summers and attended school winters. When eleven years old he entered the private school of Dr. Taylor at Geneva, where he remained one year. Returning home he re- mained until he was fifteen, when he spent one year in the Geneva Classical and Union School. He was in the Canandaigua Academy three years under Dr. Noah T. Clarke, and in the fall of 1864 entered Hamilton College, from which he was gradnated in 1868. In the following year he began the study of law in the office of Comstock & Bennett at Canandaigua, and there laid the foundation for the legal attainments that afterwards enabled him to rise to a commanding position in his profession. He began practice in 1870, and in 1875 was elected district attorney and re-elected to the same office in 1878. In 1882 he was nominated by his party for the Assembly and elected by 1,266 majority, reversing a Republican majority of the previous year of 1,223. The Legislature was
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
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Democratic that year, and Mr. Rice attained a prominent position among the leaders of his party. He was chosen chairman of the committee on privileges and elections, and also served as a member of the judiciary, insurance, and other committees. His greatest victory was achieved in 1883 when he was renominated for the Assembly, and the opposition nominated a strong candidate and made a special effort to defeat him. In the face of this fact Mr. Rice was re-elected by a majority of 241, while the county went Republican by 692. In that year he was nominated in the Democratic caucus for speaker, but as the Legislature was Republican, he was not, of course, elected ; he, however, became the leader of his party on the floor of the House. In 1884 he was elected county judge of Ontario county, being thus honored with his fifth victory in a Republican county. He was serving his fifth year as county judge when he was nom- inated by his party in Syracuse in 1889 for secretary of state, and elected by more than 20,000 majority over John I. Gilbert, Republican. Mr. Rice was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880 which nominated General Hancock for the presidency, and served as secretary of the New York delegation. He has also been a delegate to nearly every State convention since that time, and was a member of the Democratic State Committee in 1888. He was a delegate to the State Convention of of February, 1892, and a delegate to the National Convention held in Chicago which nominated Grover Cleveland for president in 1892. He has been a candidate for office seven times and was never defeated. The fairness and ability which characterized his work in the office of secretary of state secured for him a re-election in 1891 by a majority of 38,173 over Eugene F. O'Connor.
Robinson, John S., Canandaigna, was born in Penfield, Monroe county, April 15, 1827. When but a child his parents moved into Manchester, where he was educated in the common schools and a select school taught by J. P. Faurot, one of the oldest lawyers of this town. After leaving school he engaged with John Lamport in his foundry at Canandaigua, and in 1854 he engaged in the business for himself and went into the manufacture of railroad work for the Broad Gauge road running from Elmira to Niagara Falls. Mr. Robinson was undoubtedly the first one to make a chilled plow in the United States. While he was foreman for John Lamport in 1852 he was mak- ing plows, and thought that he could make a plow with a chilled surface on the wear- ing side of the mould board, and he did cast a mould board on a chill that year. The idea lay dormant from this time until 1873, when, after many experiments, he made it a success and was granted a patent March 24, 1874, for the process of chilling and car- bonizing plow mould boards and other castings. In 1876 he went to Syracuse and the Robinson Chilled Plow Company was organized for the manufacture of chilled plows. This company is now known as the Syracuse Chilled Plow Company. In 1877 he re- turned to Canandaigua and with his son, E. C. Robinson, is now conducting the Robin- son Chilled Plow Works in the old manufactory, the only company now manufactur- ing plows that is not a stock organization. Mr. Robinson married in 1850 Jane Utter of Canandaigua, and they have three children ; Edson C., Mary S., wife of Rev. J. E. Werner of Haddonfield, N. J .; and Margaret, wife of Samuel Wood of Haddonfield, N. J. Mr. Robinson has always taken an active interest in political affairs in his town, and has twice been elected village trustee. Edson C. Robinson was born in Canan-
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
daigna, December 22, 1854, educated in Canandaigua Academy, and after serving two years as bookkeeper in his father's office, he joined his father in 1878 as partner in the Robinson Chilled Plow Company. He married, September 26, 1877, Kate Shaw of Rochester, and they have five children : Edson E., Ella Shaw, John M., Ray Utter and Leon Wood. Mrs. E. C. Robinson died December 9, 1892, age thirty-eight years.
Randall, William, Farmington, was born in Warwickshire, Eng., in 1826, and came to the United States in 1851, locating in Farmington, where he has been a successful farmer. In October, 1852; he married Dinah Ann Allen, who was born in Oxfordshire, Eng., in 1830, and came here the same year. They have ten children: Edward, born in 1853; Frank, born in 1857; Cora, born in 1859; Durfee, born in 1861; Eliza, born in 1863; Albert, born August 25, 1865; Herbert, born October 10, 1867 ; Wilkinson, born in 1871; John, born in 1873; and Walter, born in 1855. Edward married Charlotte Jeffrey, and has three children: Florence, Herman and Mabel; Walter married Chloe Morris, and has three children: Grace, Gertie and Harriet; Frank married Mary Donahoe; Cora married Frederick Knowles, and has two children, Mary B. and William E .; Durfee married Marion Soule; Eliza married Henry Howland ; Herbert married Ida Pardee; three are not married, Albert, Wilkinson and John. The father and sons are all farmers. The two youngest are farmers with their father at home. Mr. Randall has resided on the farm he owns twenty-one years.
Riker, W. H., Hopewell, was born in Cato, Cayuga county, August 15, 1839, a son of Henry L. Riker. December 18, 1861, he married Fannie E. Vorce, a native of Con- quest, Cayuga county, born June 3, 1842. She is a daughter of Harris and Minerva (Johnson) Vorce, natives of Dutchess county, who reared three children. His first wife was Fannie Spaulding. His father, Daniel Vorce, was a Quaker, and the family is of Holland extraction. Harris Vorce died August 2, 1873, aged seventy-one, and his wife February 26, 1888, in her seventy-first year. Mr. Riker and wife have one daugh- ter, Clara B., wife of W. H. Megaffee of Reed's Corners. They have one daughter, Leontine. Mr. Riker spent two years in gold mining and prospecting in Montana, Idaho, and Utah, and in Salt Lake City during one of their conventions. He returned to Cayuga county, and spent two years, also one year in Ontario, and then removed to Iowa, where he engaged in farming and stock dealing. In 1874 he came to Hopewell, and worked his father's farm five years. He then purchased 100 acres in Gorham, and has since bought fifty acres in Hopewell. Mr. Riker is a Republican and has been dele- gate to State Conventions at Rochester and Albany. He now resides in his pleasant home in Chapinville.
Redfield, Nathan, Farmington, was born June 1, 1834, in Livingston county, and came to Farmington with his parents when he was five years old. He was educated in the common schools and followed farming. December 9, 1857, he married Ruth, daughter of Burling and Hannah Hoag of this town, formerly of Greene county. They have no children, and own a good farm in the southern part of Farmington. Mr. Redfield's father, Ezra, was born in Hopewell, February 12, 1812. He moved to Steuben county, and married Lucy A. Bolster, who was born September 12, 1806. They had four sons : Nathan, William, Henry J. and George. Mrs. Redfield's father,
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
Burling Hoag, was born in Baltimore, Greene county, April 8, 1802, and married Hannah Bedell of his native place. They had four children: Benjamin C., Hannah B., Ruth C. and Anna E. Mrs. Hoag was born December 1, 1801, and they came here from Albany. The railway extended no further in 1838. Mrs. Hoag resides with her daughter, Mrs. Redfield, in her ninety-first year. Mrs. Redfield's father, Burling Hoag, died in 1878. Mr. Redfield's father. Ezra Redfield, is still living in the town. His mother died October 14, 1851. Mr. Hoag's grandfather, Eli Nelson, was impressed in the British navy for seven years. Mr. Redfield's brother, George, was a soldier ir. the late war, and was honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of service. Mr Redfield had been one of the assessors of this town eight years.
Robson, William, Gorham, was born in Northumberland, Eng., October 13, 1813, a son of James Robson, jr. He was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools. January 24, 1842, he married Phoebe L. Sawtelle, a native of Gorham, born January 23, 1817, a daughter of Levi and Sarah Sawtelle, a native of Groton, Mass., and she of Hillsdale, N. Y. They were for many years residents of Cayuga county, and reared one son and nine daughters. In 1815 Mr. Sawtelle came to Gorham and settled the farm now owned by subject, where he died in 1852, and his wife in 1858. They were members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Sawtelle was for many years rul- ing elder. Mr. Robson at present owns 280 acres of land, a brick block in Gorham village, and also property in Canandaigua. He has made many improvements on this farm ; among them are good tenant houses. Mr. Robson is a Republican but has always declined office. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Robson has been ruling elder for fifty years.
Rhind, Duncan, Canandaigua, was born in Inverness, Scotland, January 14, 1851. His father was James Rhind, gardener for the McKintosh family, whose son, David, succeeded him in the same capacity. James Rhind had eight children, of whom Dun- can is the oldest son. He died in 1889. Duncan Rhind was reared a gardener and first worked for James Gordon, aftewards for Mr. Ellis, M. P., at Invergarry. He after- wards went to Closburn Hall in Dumfrieshire, and then to Drumlanrig Garden, the seat of the Duke of Buceleuch, where he was second foreman. In time he went to Edinburgh, where he was engaged in garden planning. Here he perfected his educa- tion as a horticulturist and landscape gardener. In April, 1875, Mr. Rhind came to America and was first employed as foreman for Mr. Kellie at Ellerslie, on the Hudson River, the present seat of Vice-President Morton. Here he became noted as a plants- man, and after several years came to Canandaigua, and for six years was employed by F. F. Thompson. He became famous for growing large bunches of grapes. He was next employed as superintendent of Wanamaker's gardens in Philadelphia, where he made many improvements, and was also a short time with Alexander Brown of Torrys- dale. In 1885 he was awarded a medal by the Horticultural Society for growing the largest bunches of foreign grapes in Pennsylvania, and in 1886 took all the first pre- miums given by that society and was awarded a medal. In 1887 Mr. Rhind came to Canandaigua and purchased the Cassius Sutherland farm, where he has since resided. He devotes his attention to the breeding of graded Jerseys and the raising of fruits. He married Mary Louis, a native of Rochester, by whom he has one son, Louis D., a stu-
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dent of Miss Gooding's private school in Canandaigua. Mr. Rhind has been a member of most of the important secret societies of this country.
Reed, George, of Hartland, Conn., came to this county in 1820, following with the rest of his family two sons who had come out earlier. He settled in Bristol. His wife was Nancy Bushnell of Connecticut, and they had five sons and five daughters. His son Uriel was born in Connecticut and came here with his father. He married Nancy Frost of Bristol about 1825, and there children were: Corintha J., Marietta, Nancy Annis, Ann Elizabeth (all deceased), Uriel J., George W., a farmer in Richmond. Uriel Jerome Reed was born August 21, 1832, in Bristol, and at ten years of age came with his parents to East Bloomfield and was educated at the common schools and at the Lima Seminary. He came to this town and settled on the State road east of the vil- lage in 1869, where he has a fine farm and a comfortable home. He married in 1856 Martha A. Totman of Bristol, and they have three children : Homer J., born in 1860, a lawyer of Canandaigua ; Ettie A., wife of Dr. Louis R. Head of Madison, Wis .; and Belle, at home with her parents. Mr. Reed has held the office of town assessor and in politics is a Republican. Mrs. Reed's father, Ira Totman, came from Luzerne, N. Y., to Bristol, and married in that town Nancy Gregg, whose grandfather came from Scot- land to Massachusetts.
Reed, Family The. Philip Reed and his descendants have constituted a large portion of the inhabitants of Richmond. The oldest ancestor which can be traced is Jacob, who went from Saybrook, Conn , to Pawlet, Vt. Philip, his son, came to Richmond with Lemuel Chipman (afterwards judge and congressman) and Dr. Cyrus Chipman, in June, 1794, on a prospecting tour. and in February, 1795, he arrived with his wife and chil- dren, John Fitch, Silas and Wheeler, together with a slave girl, and Isaac Adams, his assistant. With Philip came the families of the Chipmans. Sleighing was good, and the trip was made in eighteen days. Philip was the owner of $3,000 and considered a rich man in those days. He bought in the western part of the town about 1,000 acres, to which he added later on, and gave each of his sons a farm. Squire Reed was a prom- inent man of the town. He built a grist-mill and a saw-mill. He was justice of the peace for many years and the first poormaster of the place. His wife was Margaret daughter of Colonel Fitch, one of the " Bennington Boys." After coming to Richmond they had three children : William Fitch, Philip 2d, and Alta Fitch. Mr. Reed built the first brick house in town, from brick and lime manufactured on the place. The com- pensation for the construction and painting was to be $400.00, of which $50 was to be paid in cash and the balance in " good cattle, wheat and pork," and a provision in the contract was that Reed should " board the contractor, Lewis Morey, and all the men he should employ, and to give each man during the time he should be employed two gills of whisky per day." The original contract is now in possession of Mrs. F. D. Short, who occupies the old house, which was built during the year 1803. Philip died in 1828 and his wife in 1833. Colonel John Fitch Reed, oldest child of Philip, was born in Pawlet, Vt., in 1782. He married Antha, daughter of Isaac Steele of New Hartford, Conn. Of their eight children, Wheeler 2d, Philip 3d, and John A. are living Wheeler 2d was born in 1811, educated at Canandaigua Academy and married in 1838 Phila G. Wimple (who died in 1890) and settled on the farm he now occupies, a portion
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of his grandfather's purchase. He has eight children. Mr. Reed has been assessor many years and built the farmhouse now occupied by his son, Norman K., in 1842. His son Almeron, a member of the First N. Y. Mounted Rifles, served in the war nearly three years. Mrs. Reed's father, Jacob Wimple, came from the Mohawk Valley, and her grandfather, Dea. Nathaniel Harmon, came here from Vermont. He was a relative of the Chipmans. Norman Kellogg Reed, son of Wheeler 2d, born Sep- tember 19, 1848, was educated at Canandaigua Academy, and has always lived on the home farm. He is now owner with his father of that portion of the farm east of the road, and his sister Emily W. owns that portion west of the road, where she and her father live. Norman K. married, in 1873, Caroline, daughter of Anson and Lucy Ann (Bowen) Arnold, and they have two children : Eugene Lawrence, born September 11, 1878 ; and Irving, born September 27, 1880. Philip 3d, son of John F., was born November 1, 1813, and married, in 1837, Louisa Wemple, by whom he had one son, Henry Harrison. He married again in 1847, Emily Bostwick. Mr. Reed has been poormaster twenty-three years and commissioner of highways nine years. He resided on his father's farm until the age of thirty-four years, then purchased his present farm. He and his son have about 450 acres. Henry Harrison Reed, son of Philip 3d, was educated at Canandaigua Academy. He was born December 12, 1840, and married in 1862 Elizabeth. daughter of Hiram Gooding. They have six children : Fred G., born in 1846, a commercial traveler ; Louise, born in 1867, an art teacher in De Mille College in Canada ; Hallie; Philip 4th, born in 1874, a student at Lima; Murray E., born in 1877; Florence W., born in 1878, and Roy, born in 1879. Deacon John Alexander Reed, son of John Fitch, was born October 12, 1826; attended East Bloomfield Acad- emy. He married in 1854, Mary Eveline Ashley, daughter of Noah Ashley 2d, and they have had eight children : Mary Eveline, born in 1855; Edwin, born in 1858, who at the age of twenty-one years traveled in the west and died in Dakota in 1880; Mar- tha, born in 1860, now the wife of a Mr. Waterbury of Lansing, Mich .; Anna L., born in 1863, now Mrs. Gilbert of Bristol; Frank A., born in 1865, married Violet Quick, and lives in Wichita, Kan .; Augusta E., born in 1867 ; John F., born in 1869, now at Syracuse University ; F. William, born in 1871, and Robert F. and N. Raymond (twins), born in 1876. Mr. Reed owns 240 acres, of which 180 acres was the home farm of his father. His fine residence was erected in 1884, but the old house still stands. It was built in 1820. Samuel Palmes Reed was born February 17, 1827, and Charles Edward Reed was born August 17, 1839. Their father, William Fitch Reed, son of Philip 1st, was born in this town in 1800. He was educated at East Bloomfield Academy, and married Amelia C., daughter of Andrew Palmes, who came in 1820 from Litchfield county, Conn., but was a native of New London, and a Revolutionary soldier. He died in this town in 1846 aged ninety-one years. William F. had seven children : Caroline A., Samuel P., Theodosia, Martha, Edward, Charles E., Frances W., of whom only Samuel and Charles are now living. William F. was a farmer, and was supervisor during 1839-49 and 1857-58. He was commissioned by Gov. De Witt Clinton second lieutenant of cavalry in the Twelfth Regiment. He had of his father, Philip, 220 acres, and built a fine honse in 1827, now occupied by the sons. He died in 1862 and his wife in 1877. His son Samuel P. was educated at Lima Academy and Canandaigua Acad-
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