USA > New York > Oswego County > History of Oswego County, New York, with illustrations and Biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116
COMPLETE LIST OF OFFICIALS FOR 1877.
Mayor, Edwin Allen; Recorder, John B. Higgins; Clerk, Herbert M. Harman ; Treasurer, J. B. Phelps ; Justices of the Peace, David B. Blair, H. A. Jones, Wm. Lewis, J. J. White; Attorney, G. W. Cullinan ; Chief of Police, Joel A. Baker ; Surveyor, Nelson J. Harris; Har- bor Master, John Blackburn ; Sealer of Weights and Measures, William Bockus; Constables, John Fitzgerald, Martin Murphy, Patrick O'Brien, Frank Burgh; Col- lectors, Parker O. Wright and Henry Lewis; Board of Commissioners of Public Works, George Goble, E. A. Van Horne, J. P. Wetmore, Thomas E. O'Keefe; Street Superintendent, James Navagh ; Clerk of Board, James A. Beckwith ; Board of Fire Commissioners, B. B. Burt, Thomas Dobbie, Edward Mitchell, David M. Gorsline ; Clerk, G. N. Burt.
Board of Police Commissioners, Wardwell G. Robinson, Thomas Kehoe, Thomas H. Butler, James A. Southwick. (For Board of Education see "Schools.") Aldermen, First ward, George W. Goble, Edward Hendricks; Second ward, Patrick Hartney, Joseph Kinney ; Third ward, Wm. B. Phelps, Daniel Lyons; Fourth ward, Nelson S. Stone, Orrin Meeker; Fifth ward, James Hennessy, Thomas Murphy ; Sixth ward, Joseph B. Hubbard, William S. Turner ; Seventh ward, Christopher Cusick, Abram Buck- hout ; Eighth ward, P. J. Cullinan, George H. Stone.
Supervisors, First ward, John H. Staats; Second ward, James Rogan; Third ward, Bronson Babcock ; Fourth ward, Lorenzo W. Tanner ; Fifth ward, Jeremiah O'Brien; Sixth ward, Wm. McChesney ; Seventh ward, Justin B. H. Mongin ; Eighth ward, Michael Kelly.
Inspectors of Election, First ward, James Martin, Maurice Daly, Robert Oliver; Second ward, Matthew Mackey, Dennis Daly, Albert N. Hagenbruck; Third ward, Wm. H. Young, Peter Mackin, John O'Rafferty; Fourth ward, Oscar R. Goodrich, George Vickery, Jr.,. George Wafter ; Fifth ward, Roger Scofield, C. J. Baker, John Brophy ; Sixth ward, Aerial J. Murdock, Henry Mathews, Patrick Glynn ; Seventh ward, William Wallace, John Sleight, Jr., Michael Galvin, Jr .; Eighth ward, Timothy Sweeney, William Glynn, George Schaffer.
1
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM FITCH ALLEN.
William Fitch Allen, oldest son of Abner Harry Allen and Cynthia Palmer, his wife, was born in the county of Windham, Connecticut, July 28, 1808. His parents re- moved to Schenectady county in this State in the year 1814.
In 1826 he graduated at Union college, and soon after commenced the study of law with Hon. John C. Wright, and completed his studies with C. M. and E. S. Lee, in the city of Rochester. In August, 1829, he was admitted to the bar, and in the following month began the practice of his profession in Oswego, in partnership
Tr. F Alley
181
IHISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
with Hon. George Fisher, then about to take his seat in the Congress of the United States as the representative of this district, composed of Oswego, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties. Mr. Fisher retired from the practice of his profession in 1833, and in 1834 a partnership was formed between Mr. Allen and Hon. Abram P. Grant, which continued until the election of the former to the bench of the supreme court in 1847. IIe held various vil- lage, town, and county offices, and for several years offi- ciated as supreme court commissioner, and master and examiner in chancery.
He served in the legislature of this State as one of the representatives of this county during the session of 1843 and 1844, at the first session acting as chairman of the com- mittee of ways and means, and at the last as chairman of the judiciary committee. In April, 1845, he was appointed by President Polk attorney of the United States for the northern district of New York, which office he resigned on taking his seat as a justice of the supreme court in 1847.
In May, 1847, he was elected to the office of justice of the supreme court, and officiated in that capacity until the year 1863. While thus serving on the bench he was placed in nomination by the convention for the office of governor of the State of New York, but dcelined the nom- ination, choosing to remain on the bench, which he has adorned by his wisdom, learning, and impartiality. In 1863 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of judge of the court of appeals. In the following year he removed to New York city, and engaged in the practice of the law as counsel only, and remained in that city until his removal to Albany to enter upon the duties of the office of comptroller, to which he was elected in November, 1867. He was re-elected comptroller in 1869. He resigned that office in July, 1870, to take the office of associate judge of the court of appeals, to which he was chosen in May, 1870. His term of office will expire by constitutional limitation December 31, 1878. Hle received the degree of LL.D. from Hamilton college in 1857, and from Union college in 1864.
Notwithstanding he has repeatedly been called by the favor of the people from the field of his chosen profession to positions of trust and confidence, both in the State and national government, and that he has always discharged the duties of the several positions to which he has been called with fidelity to the trust reposed in him, with honor to himself, and with satisfaction to the public, his future fame will rest more solidly, surely, upon the decisions he has ren- dered, upon the able and exhaustive opinions he has writ- ten, which evince such profound learning and great ability, and shed so much light upon the jurisprudence of our State and nation.
In his political convietions he has always been a pro- nounced Democrat, never, however, mingling in politics while upon the bench, although strong in his political convictions, and fearless in the expression of those convic- tions when occasion required. At the expiration of his first term as justice of the supreme court of the fifth judi- cial district, in 1855, both political parties presented him as their choice for the same office for the succeeding term of eight years, and the legal profession of his district were
unanimous in his favor, thus attesting in the highest man- ner possible the appreciation of his ability as a judge and his purity as a man.
Future generations will regard him as the great lawyer, the able counselor, the wise judge, and the honest man.
BRADLEY B. BURT.
This well-known citizen is descended from one of the oldest families of New England, the genealogy of which he has traced with the same combined diligence and enthu- siasm which have made him an authority in local history, and to which we are so much indebted for assistance in this work.
Henry Burt came from England to Roxbury, Massachu- setts, about 1638 (only eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims), and his son Benjamin was one of the first settlers of Deerfield, in that State. The latter and his wife were both captured by the French and Indians, at the time of that event so sadly celebrated in New England history, the burning of' Deerfield, in February, 1704. They were taken to Canada, ransomed, and returned in 1706. Two of his brothers were slain at other places by the same deadly foes.
After his return he settled in Connecticut, whence his son, Daniel, moved to Warwick, Orange county, New York, in 1746. His son, also named Daniel, resided there until 1803. James Burt, a younger brother of Daniel, Jr., was one of the most eminent men in the county : a Revolutionary soldier, an assemblyman eight years, a State senator ten, and a presidential elector and chairman of the New York electoral college in 1840, at the age of eighty.
The part taken by the second Daniel Burt and his sons in the early settlement of Oswego is mentioned in the historieal sketch of the city. Ilis fifth son, George W., married Amelia Benedict, and their oldest child, Bradley Benedict Burt, was born at Oswego, November 19, 1814. After attending the common nud select schools of the vil- lage, he began reading law with Fisher and Allen in 1833. After three years' study with that firm and its successor, Grant and Allen, and one year in Utica, he was admitted an attorney of the supreme court in July, 1837.
Mr. Burt practiced three years in Oswego alone, and one year as a member of the firm of Grant, Allen & Burt. In 1841 he was admitted a counselor of the supreme court. He was also within a few years admitted to practice in all the degrees in the court of chancery, the United States circuit and district courts, and the courts of the city of New York. From 1841 to 1844 he practiced in Utica, and while there (June 21, 1843) married Artemisia C., daughter of George Noyes, of Oriskany, Oneida county, and sister of the late William Curtis Noyes, of New York city. His children by that lady are three sons and a daughter. In 1844 he went into partnership with Mr. Noyes, in New York, where he remained three years. He then returned to Oswego, where he has ever since diligently pursued his profession.
In 1863, Mr. Burt served as supervisor of the First ward. In 1868, he took into partnership his son, George Noyes
182
HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Burt, then just graduated from the law school of Columbia college, and the firm-name has since been B. B. & G. N. Burt. In 1876 he was appointed a member of the board of fire commissioners of Oswego, drew a term of one year, and was made chairman. In May last he was reappointed for four years, and again made chairman. As has been stated, Mr. Burt has paid great attention to local history, and his leisure hours are mostly devoted to historical, anti- quarian, and genealogical investigations.
ELIAS ROOT.
Elias Root was born in Fort Ann, Washington county, New York, on the 30th day of November, 1806. The rudiments of his education were acquired at the village school at Fort Ann, and subsequently he studied Latin in a select school, taught by Judge E. D. Culver. He after- wards entered the Rutland county grammar school, and, at the age of eigliteen years, was appointed a cadet in the United States military academy at West Point. In con- sequence of ill health he resigned at the close of one year, and commenced teaching school in Newburg, Orange county, New York, and continued in this honorable vocation with eminent success for a period of two years, when he formed a copartnership with Timothy Brewster, and began busi- ness as a merchant in the village of Newburg. Newburg, however, was not suitable for a young man of limited capi- tal, and he resolved to seek a more favorable location. He finally decided on the valley of the Mohawk, and settled in what is now the village of Mohawk, in the county of Herkimer. Mr. Root seemed to be peculiarly adapted for large transactions, and his ambition, integrity, and method- ical business habits served well for building up a large trade. He established a merchandising and general for- warding business, and during a period of twenty-five years successfully managed this immense business, the heaviest of the kind in that portion of the State. He was not only a successful merchant, but his affable and courteous manners won hosts of friends, and, when but twenty-two years of age, he was elected to the office of supervisor, defeating Mr. Remington, of Ilion, one of the most popular and influential citizens of the county. He was appointed loan commis- sioner, and was also chosen to the office of school commis- sioner, then one of the most important and responsible positions in the county. While a resident of Mohawk, he assisted in organizing the Mohawk Valley bank, one of the first banking institutions established under the State law of 1840. He officiated as vice-president a number of years while General F. E. Spinner, late treasurer of the United States, was cashier. In 1856, after a residence of twenty-four years, during which time he had amassed a fortune, and was ranked among the leading men of the county, he came to Oswego, and organized the Marine bank. This institution was changed to the National Marine bank in 1865. Mr. Root has officiated as president of both organizations from their inception to the present time.
His traits of character, which rendered him popular in public as well as in social and business life while a resident
of Herkimer, won for him the csteem and confidence of the citizens of Oswego, and in the year 1861 he was chosen to the assembly from the first district of Oswego, and the record of his services bears out the assertion that this county never was represented by a more faithful or efficient member.
His devotion to the interests of the people of his county attracted the attention of Governor Morgan, and when in the following year war-committees were appointed in each senatorial district, for the purpose of securing the quotas for said districts, he was appointed chairman of the com- mittee in this district, and officiated in that capacity during the war. His record as chairman of that committee is one that he may well be proud of, and we " nothing extennate, nor anght set down in malice," when we state that if to one man more than another the county of Oswego was indebted for the success of the committee, that one was the subject of this sketch.
The people, recognizing the services that he performed during the Rebellion, returned him to the assembly in 1865, and during both terms of service he was chairman of the committee on banks. He was chosen a member of the constitutional convention in 1867, and held a commission from President Grant for collector of customs at this port for a period of more than six years.
January 14, 1830, he united in marriage with Lydia Noyes, a native of Newburg, Orange county. Their family consisted of three children, viz. : Emeline, De Witt, and James N. Emeline is the wife of John R. Noyes, cashier of the National Marine bank.
De Witt gradnated with high honors at West Point military academy in 1851, and was appointed lieutenant in the Third Artillery, then considered the best regiment in the service. After graduating he obtained a furlough, and while on the western tour contracted fever, and died within two months from the time he left the academy. James N. enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, entering the ranks of the Twenty-fourth Regiment as private, and was subsequently promoted to captain. He was discharged at the expiration of his terni of service, and re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Regiment, and served with the gallant Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley. He re- sides in Oswego. Mrs. Root died October 5, 1871. March 20, 1873, he married Mary A. Chalmers, a native of Onon- daga county, who has resided in this city since three years of age.
Mr. Root is a self-made man. Early in life he learned that the way leading to success was no royal road, but was open to strong hands and willing hearts.
" Honor and fame from no condition rise. Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
He early established methodical business habits, and his energy and perseverance, coupled with integrity of char- acter worthy of emulation, has rendered his life a success. Politically he is a Republican, and has labored carnestly to advance the interests of that party. He manifests a deep interest in religions matters, and his long and active business career has ever been characterized by a consistent Christian spirit. He is a deacon in the Congregational church.
Elias Rool
HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
183
REA
Bates
Simeon Bates is a native of Otsego county, New York, and was born on the banks of the Susquehanna, ten miles below the village of Cooperstown, on the 15th day of March, 1801. In the year 1816 he left his native county, and, coming to Oswego, located in the town of Williamstown, where he remained on a farm until 1824, when he removed to Scriba. Industry and energy have ever been prominent characteristics of Mr. Bates, and while residing in Seriba he labored assiduously on a farm during the summer, and in the winter months manufactured pine lumber at Salmon river. During his residenee in this town he also taught school four terms, and assisted in erecting the first mill in the village of Oswego, called the Bronson and Morgan mill. In 1835 he located in Oswego and opened the first lumber-yard, and became the pioneer shipper of pine lumber to the eastern markets. He continued in the forwarding business with eminent success during a period of twenty-five years, and since 1850 has been connected with the City bank.
In the month of May, 1827, he united in marriage with Mary, daughter of Major Hiel Stone, of Scriba. She died in September, 1860, and the following year he married Caroline Staats, who died in June, 1877. Mr. Bates' family has consisted of four children, one son and three daughters. The son and two daughters are living. He has ever had the confidence of his fellow-citizens in a re- markable degree, and in all matters concerning the welfare
of the publie he has manifested a deep interest, and in charitable enterprises has not only spent time but money in their advancement. He is unostentatious in manner, and his many acts of benevolence are not that he may be known of men, but through the promptings of a Christian spirit. Hle has been a member of the First Baptist church for a period of forty-five years, and is an honored member of the church and a consistent Christian. He has always been re- garded as a friend of education, and has officiated as a member of the board of education of this eity ten years, and is also one of the directors of the Orphan asylum, Riverside cemetery, and Home of the Homeless. Mr. B. has served as supervisor of Seriba and Oswego a number of yeurs, and was treasurer of the village of Oswego when the fees amounted to the sum of only fifteen dollars per year. He has held two commissions in the military, one of which was signed by General Jackson.
As a citizen, Simeon Bates has ever ranked among the most worthy, and in both public and private life his egreer is not only stainless but has ever been marked with a Chris- tian consistency. Mr. Bates is six feet and four inches in height, and weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds. Al- though he is now past the seriptural age of threescore and ten, and time has silvered his hair, he is straight as an arrow, and is still possessed of much of his youthful vigor and ambition.
1
184
HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
FREDERICK T. CARRINGTON.
The life of Mr. Carrington was comparatively uneventful, marked by few incidents, save such as occur in the life of every successful merchant and business man. He was em- phatically a "man of affairs," industrious, sagacious, en- terprising, and publie-spirited, - early developing those qualities which so largely contributed to his success in after- life, and made him so apt in originating and prompt and efficient in carrying out sehemes of publie improvement.
He was born in Clinton, Oneida county, in October, 1802, and received his education at Hartwiek academy, Cooperstown. Before attaining his majority he commenced business upon his own aecount, and made large and suc- cessful commercial transactions at Peterboro', Madison county, to which place his father, Elisha Carrington, had removed. Early in life he was married to Miss Louisa, daughter of Major William Shute, an officer in the army of the Revolution, and his wife survives him. Their children died in infancy. At the sale of lands by the State in Oswego, in 1827, he became a purchaser of several parcels, and, in 1827 or 1828, removed to the then village of Oswego, and engaged in business as a hardware merchant, initiating, building up, and for many years carrying on a successful trade with Canada and the west in stoves and other merchandise. From his first investment, in 1827, until his death he was a large holder and owner of real property, having great faith in the future of Oswego, mani- festing sagacity and foresight in his purchases, and the result of his investments in real estate justified the wisdom of his action. About 1843 he, in partnership with Mr. Pardee, engaged in the manufacture of flour, and also in business as a produce and commission merchant. After the dissolution of the firm of Carrington & Pardee he as- sociated with himself in business Mr. William I. Preston, who up to that time had been a merchant in Wayne county. The business of Carrington & Preston was that of produce and commission merchants, and in that business they had an extended correspondenee and did a large and profitable business for several years, and until Mr. Carring- ton retired from active commercial pursuits. Mr. Carring- ton was instrumental in obtaining subseriptions in New York and elsewhere to the capital stock of the Oswego and Syracuse railroad company, and in proeuring the means for the construction of the road. A few years after the completion of the road he became the president of the company, and bringing to the conduct of its affairs the same taet and eeonomy which he had exercised in the con- duct of his own, was enabled soon to make it a dividend- paying road, yielding a handsome return to the stockholders. He was the president of the company up to the time that he effected a permanent lease of the road, at a good rental, to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad com- pany.
In 1844 or 1845 he became the owner, with Mr. Par- dee, of the hydraulie canal, on the west side of the Oswego river, known as the Variek canal, and the adjacent property, remaining the owner of one-half of the same until his death.
He had large views, and took an interest in all that eon- cerned the prosperity of the city of his residence, contribut- ing liberally of his substance to advance its interests and in
aid of its institutions, especially those of a benevolent character, and his charities to the poor were large and un- ostentatious, his sympathies going out readily to all in want.
In social life, with a pleasant address, he was refined, unselfish, and courteous, attracting to himself the warm friendship of the intelligent and cultivated. In his business life he was just and honorable in all his dealings, and had the respeet and entire confidence of those with whom he was brought in contaet. He died at Oswego, August 25, 1875, and was buried near the tomb which he had just erected in Riverside cemetery. He was president of the cemetery association at the time of his death.
MOSES PROUSE NEAL,
son of James and Johanna Neal, and owner of the grand and substantial bloek which bears his name, was born in the parish of Moorwinstaw, county of Cornwall, England, April 22, 1828. His father was born in the same place, as also was his mother, whose maiden name was Prouse. In early life he lived with his parents on a farm, and re- ceived the usual education given by farmers to their sons, until he reached his thirteenth year, when he was appren- ticed to William Brooks, of Chumbleigh, Devonshire, a merchant tailor, with whom he served the customary seven years before being promoted to a journeyman. Soon after the completion of his apprenticeship he made a study of cutting, and upon gaining a sufficient amount of knowledge of the art was employed in the tailoring establishment of . William Batton, Holsworthy, Devonshire, as a foreman. In the year 1853 he came to America, reaching Oswego a few days after the great fire which consumed nearly all the buildings on the east side. A half-brother, Captain John P. Brooks, was at the time living in Scriba, and thither went Mr. Neal. While visiting he sought work, and soon obtained it in the store of E. Jerritt, at Scriba Corners. He remained with Mr. Jerritt, cutting and tailoring, one year, and while there was married to Miss Hattie Winship, of Scriba. The union was a happy one, four children being born, of whom three survive. But the partner of his toils was removed by death in the year 1865, just as prosperity began to smile upon him. In the spring of 1855 he came to the city of Oswego, and found employment in the tailor- ing establishment of David Harmon, remaining there six . years. A desire to again see the land of his birth came over him in 1861, and in the spring he sailed for England. After spending several months in visiting the scenes of his childhood he again sailed for America, this time accompa- nied by his only living parent, his father, and arrived home in safety in October. His father, though quite aged, lived happily with him until death stepped in in 1874, and gath- ered the ripe fruit at the age of eighty-seven years.
In November, 1861, the first year of the struggle of the United States, Mr. Neal commeneed business for himself in a moderate little room in the second story of the Cozzens block. By attention to business and fair dealing trade in- ereased so rapidly that he found himself eramped for room, and the year following rented and occupied the store corner of East First and Bridge streets. After remaining there
F. J. Carrington
ERASTUS G.JONES.
MRS.ERASTUS G.JONES.
Tre S, Malcolm
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.