USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 36
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In nationality Mr. Wing is of English origin. The Wing family was planted in Massachusetts
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
shortly after the landing of the pilgrims. It
soon extended westward with the New En- gland settlements, and one branch of it was planted in Duchess county, this State, where one of its members was Daniel Wing (grand- father), who was brought by his parents, in 1810, to the town of Greenfield, where he died in 1869, at seventy years of age. He was a farmer and a Quaker. His son, Elihu Wing (father), was born in 1819, and has always re- sided in his native town of Greenfield. He owns seven hundred and fifty acres of land in the towns of Greenfield, Milton and Malta, and in connection with farming has been ac- tively engaged in lumbering and in the lime business. Mr. Wing is a democrat, and was nominated twice by his party as a candidate for the assembly, but was defeated, as the county was hopelessly republican at each time that he was the democratic nominee. He married Wealthy Gleason, of the town of Mil- ton, and a member of the Presbyterian church. She was of English descent, and died in 1889, at seventy years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Wing were born five children : Hannah, Jos- ephine, Goodrich, Alice, and Daniel E., whose name heads this sketch.
H ON. JAMES R. CHAPMAN, of Sar-
atoga Springs, is another of the sons of Saratoga county whose well known career illus- trates the fact that opportunity is open to every young man who has the brains, deter- mination and strength of character to force his way to the front. Beginning at the bottom of the ladder, he has climbed to conspicuous suc- cess by his own ability, integrity and fidelity to every trust. Mr. Chapman is a son of Henry D. and Maria (Viele) Chapman, and was born in the town of Saratoga, on the east- ern shore of Saratoga lake, April 29, 1829 The family, of which the subject of this sketch is a distinguished representative, is of ancient English lineage, and traces its American an- cestry back to the seventeenth century, when
three brothers of the name came over and set- tled in the colony of Connecticut. In that State Samuel Chapman, paternal grandfather of Hon. James R. Chapman, was born and reared. About 1750 he removed to Saratoga county, New York, and settled on the eastern shore of Saratoga lake, where he built one of the first frame houses then in the county. The locality of this old homestead is still known as Chapman hill. When the revolutionary war occurred he shouldered his musket, and joining the continental forces, fought through the whole of that terrible struggle. He took part in the battle of Bemus Heights, and his grandson, James R., now has in his possession the old gun used by him on that occasion. It is said that he was one of the first white men to drink the water of what is now known as Congress spring, which he came upon one day while hunting. He died about December 29, 1826, aged seventy-eight years. His son, Henry D. Chapman (father), was born on the old homestead near Saratoga lake, July 23, 1791, and served as an officer in the war of 1812, under General Brown. He died at Chapman hill in 1860, aged sixty-nine years. In politics he was a whig, in religion a member of the Dutch Reformed church at Schuylerville, and served as supervisor of the town of Saratoga two terms, and in other official positions. He was an honest, straightforward man, and well liked by his neighbors and friends. In 1826 he married Maria Viele, a daughter of Stephen Viele, and a native of the town of Saratoga, this county. She died in 1868.
Hon. James R. Chapman was reared on the old Chapman homestead, on the borders of Saratoga lake, and received his early educa- tion in the common schools of his neighbor- hood. He was an ambitious and pains-taking student, and, inheriting a military spirit, pre- pared to enter West Point, but failing to secure the appointment, his energies were diverted into other channels, and while yet in his teens he entered the machine shops at Troy and be- gan learning the trade of machinist. He com-
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pleted his apprenticeship in the shops of the New York Central railroad at Green Island, and having mastered the mysteries of the loco- motive, accepted a position as locomotive en- gineer, and had charge of an express train for a period of nearly twelve years, principally on the Saratoga & Washington railroad. He thoroughly understood his business, was al- ways careful and accurate in his work, and during his entire connection with the road never lost a life, or destroyed a dollar's worth of the company's property through careless- ness. In fact, he enjoyed the reputation of being one of the finest engineers on the road, and the distinction of making the fastest time ever made on that road, notwitlistanding all the improved facilities of later years. During the civil war he secured highly complimentary letters from Senator Harris, of Albany, and Congressman James B. McKean, of Saratoga Springs, and with these credentials made ap- plication at the Brooklyn navy yard for an ap- pointment as engineer in the navy. He passed the rigid examinations with great credit and was recommended for appointment, but before he could be assigned to duty it became evident that the war was about over and the department would need no additional force. Returning to Saratoga Springs, Mr. Chapman was immediately engaged as book-keeper in the steward's department of the Grand Union hotel, where his work was so satisfactory that he was made steward the next season by the Lelands, and remained with them in that ca- pacity, having charge of the building during the winter, until the Grand Union liotel passed into the hands of the merchant prince, A. T. Stewart, some nine years later. Appreciating his great capacity and fidelity, Mr. Stewart desired that he remain in the same position, but he had already made arrangements to en- ter the employ of the Saratoga Gas Light Company, which he did in 1873, and remained with that company until its failure in 1876. In that year Mr. Chapman was instrumental in reorganizing the company, and became a di-
rector and superintendent, and later general manager, which position he retained until the business was sold to its present owners, the Saratoga Gas & Electric Light Company, in 1886. During this time he had acquired a high reputation as an upright,sagacious, clear- headed and clean-handed business man, and when the failure of the Saratoga Savings bank occurred, Mr. Chapman was appointed re- ceiver. In that emergency his skill and fidel- ity were of the very highest value to the num- erous depositors. He took hold of the bank's affairs with a firm hand, and by his advice and management prevented a panic and avoided the entire wrecking of the institution, secur- ing the time necessary to make the best dis- position of the bank's assets and paying the depositors eighty-seven per cent. Mr. Chap- man was also one of the leading spirits in the reorganization of the First National bank, a financial institution whose success has been phenomenal. Beginning little more than a dozen years ago, this bank has steadily paid large dividends and at the same time accumu- lated a surplus fund which now far exceeds its original capital. Mr. Chapman had an im- portant share in the able management which has effected this very creditable and satisfac- tory financial condition. Since 1886 he has been practically retired from active business, but is still a director in the First National bank.
In 1857 Mr. Chapman was married to Eliza- beth J. Jenkins, a daughter of Philip Jenkins, of Hebron, Washington county, this State. Both are members of the First Presbyterian church of Saratoga Springs, in which Mr. Chapman has long served as a trustee. In politics he is a democrat, of broad and liberal views, and although frequently solicited to ac- cept nominations for important public posi- tions, has almost uniformly declined to permit the use of his name. He did, liowever, ac- cept the democratic nomination for president of the village in 1880, and was elected without opposition. He declined the renomination in
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1887, but in that year accepted the unanimous nomination of his party for sheriff of Saratoga county, and although he made a good race and received a large vote, the great majority of the Republican party in the county prevented his election. He has served as water commis- sioner of the village for several years. Mr. Chapman is a prominent Mason and a mem- ber of Washington Commandery, No. 33, Knights Templar. He owns a large and care- fully selected library, is a man of stalwart build, fine personal appearance, and well de- serves to rank with the successful, self-made men of this generation.
H ON. REUBEN HYDE WAL- WORTHI, the last of the chancellors of the mighty Empire State, was a man of stainless character and a jurist of national reputation. He was the third son of Benjamin Walworth, and was born at Bozrah, Connecticut, Octo- ber 26, 1788. Benjamin Walworth was a son of William Walworth, and a lineal descendant of the famous Lord Mayor Walworth, of Lon- don, who slew the rebel, Watt Tyler, in the reign of Richard II. of England. Reuben H. Walworth came with his parents to New York at four years of age. He read law, and was admitted to the county court in 1808, and two years later to the supreme court of the State. In 1810 he was appointed a county judge of Clinton county, and in 1814 served as acting adjutant-general of the United States forces at the battle of Plattsburg. Judge Walworth served in Congress in 1821 and 1822, was ap- pointed a circuit judge of the State in 1823, and five years later became chancellor of New York, which high office he held with great honor until the chancery court was abolished by the constitution of 1848 Chancellor Wal- worth died in 1864, at seventy-six years of age. He married Maria Ketchum, and after her death wedded Mrs. Sarah E. (Smith) Hardin. "Chancellor Walworth may justly be regarded
as the great artisan of our equity laws. In some sense he was the Bentham of America, without the bold speculations and fantastical theory which to a certain extent characterized the great English jurist. What Bentham did in removing the defects in English juris- prudence, Walworth did in renovating and simplifying the equity laws of the United States."
G EORGE H. MANVILLE, a promi- nent farmer residing near Waterford, and a worthy representative of an old French fam- ily, is a son of Jonas S. and Mary (Wheeler) Manville, and was born May 10, 1821, in the town of North Greenbush, Rensselaer county, New York. The family, although of French extraction, have been residents of New York since an early day, and are somewhat noted for longevity. Adrian Manville, paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Greenfield, this county. He was a farmer by occupation, and passed a long, active and useful life engaged in agricultural pursui's. He died at his home in Greenfield at the re- markable age of ninety-six years. He mar- ried and reared a family of two children, one of his sons being Jonas S. Manville (father), who was born in this county in 1789, but was taken by his parents to Rensselaer county when only five or six years of age, and grew up and was educated there. After attaining manhood he engaged in farming in the town of North Greenbush, that county, and suc- cessfully conducted that business to within a few years of his death, which occurred Sep- tember 18, 1888, when he lacked only one year of being a centenarian. He was endowed with excellent ability, was energetic and became very prosperous, ranking high in the esteem of his neighbors, and being regarded as a nse- ful and patriotic citizen. Politically he was a whig and republican, and for more than forty years was an exemplary and prominent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. On
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March 9, 1818, he married Mary Wheeler, a daughter of George Wheeler, of Rensselaer county. She was a native of Brunswick, that county, a member of the same church as her husband, and died August 9, 1873, aged sev- enty-six years. To them was born a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters : Peter B., Bathsheba, George H., Eleanor, Lucinda, Mary, Elizabeth, Jonas, Albert, and John A. Five of the daughters and two of the sons are still living.
George H. Manville was reared on his fath- er's farm in North Greenbush, Rensselaer county, this State, and obtained his education in the common schools of that locality. Leav- ing school he engaged in farming, and that has been his main business in life. After his mar- riage, in 1848, he settled on a farm in the town of North Greenbush, where he continued to reside until 1875, when he removed to Sara toga county, and purchased the farm of sixty- five acres which he now occupies, located one mile from Waterford, and fronting on the Hudson river. Here he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits ever since, and has his farm finely improved and supplied with all the conveniences and accessories of modern agri- culture. He has been successful in a marked degree, and is regarded as among the most substantial and most respected citizens of Sar- atoga county.
On November 9, 1848, Mr. Manville was married to Eleanor DeFreest, daughter of Peter DeFreest, a prosperous farmer of the town of North Greenbush, Rensselaer county, and to their union were born two children, one son and a daughter. The daughter, Marietta, is now the wife of Jacob D. Wood, of the town of Waterford, this county, and has three chil- dren : Edith 'G., George H. and Chester. The son, Jefferson D. F. Manville, after reach- ing manhood, married Lillie L. Wood, daugh- ter of Joseph Wood, and now resides on the farm with his father, and manages the farming operations. They have two children : Jesse B. and Gertrude M.
Politically George H. Manville is a stanch democrat, and frequently takes an active in- terest in local politics. He has served as town clerk and highway commissioner, and in various ways has contributed to the success of his party and the good government of his town and county. He is still hale and hearty, and bids fair to maintain the reputation of his family for long life and active usefulness.
H ON. JOHN STEWART, who served as a member of the general assembly in 1840, was a man of sterling integrity, and his long and useful life affords a fine example of what can be achieved by thrift, prudence, and earnest, well directed endeavor. He was a son of Maj. John and Susanna (Briggs) Stew- art, and was born at Sterling Hill, Windham county, in the northeastern part of Connecti- cut, on October 28, 1790. The Stewart fam- ily of Saratoga county is descended from Sam- uel and Elizabeth ( Kennedy ) Stewart, of Glasgow, Scotland, who settled at an early 'day in one of the New England colonies. Their son, John Stewart, was born on ship- board while they were on their way to this country. Samuel Stewart became a resident of Connecticut, where his son, Maj. John Stewart (father), was born and reared to man- hood. Maj. John Stewart served as an officer in the Continental army during the revolution- ary war, and after its close became a resident of Sterling Hill, in his native State. He wedded Ruth Smith and afterward Susanna Briggs, and of their sons were: Gen. Samuel, who served in the war of 1812; Hon. John, the subject of this sketch; and Alexander, a prominent business man of Waterford for over half a century.
John Stewart was reared at his native vil- lage until he was eleven years of age, and then came to Waterford to his brother, Gen. Samuel Stewart, who had removed to Saratoga county some years previous. He grew to manhood
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
at Waterford, and embarked in the grain and flour milling business, which he followed up to his death in 1865.
On February 15, 1819, Mr. Stewart married Emily Rice, who was a daughter of Ward Rice, formerly of Waterford, and who died March 26, 1869, when in the sixty fifth year of her age. To their union were born ten chil- dren, of whom only two are now living : John, the eldest son, now a resident of Waterford, and Abbie M., who married Benjamin C. Brown, a citizen of New York city.
Hon. John Stewart was a prominent and useful citizen of Waterford and tlie southern part of Saratoga county, and was the recipient of many marks of respect and esteem at the hands of his fellow citizens, whose true inter- ests he ever sought to advance. He was an honored member of the Waterford Presby- terian church, and lived an honest and upright life, scorning everything that savored of trick- ery, or wherein policy or expediency was pleaded in extenuation of a course not per- fectly open and honorable. He was a man of earnestness and energy, earned a competency by industry and honesty, and left behind him a character of which his descendants may be justly proud. . He was an old line whig and afterward a republican in politics, and in 1840 was one of the two members from Saratoga county to the general assembly, where his course of action was as pronounced for the general good of the county and State as it had always been in the local affairs of his village and town. With weight of years came well earned ease and contentment, and on Feb- ruary 1, 1864, the final summons came to John Stewart, when well advanced in the sev- enty-third year of his age, to rest from his labors. His remains were entombed in the Waterford cemetery, but the pleasant mem- ories of his many self-sacrificing and useful labors have survived death and the tomb, and will never be forgotten in the community which he loved so well.
JOHN J. DUNLOP, M. D., the oldest
practicing physician of Waterford, is prominent and successful in the profession which he honors. He has practiced success- fully for over half a century in New York city and Saratoga county, and for over thirty-five years has enjoyed a practice that extends over parts of Saratoga, Rensselaer and Albany counties. He is a son of Squire Jackson and Mary J. (Clark) Dunlop, and was born at Cortaghart, four miles from Balbay, County Monaghan, in the north of Ireland, August 2, 1818. His paternal grandfather, Wilson Dun- lop, was a native of Scotland, and settled in the north of Ireland, where he reared a fam- ily and spent the remainder of his days. His son, Squire Jackson Dunlop, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the County Monaghan, where he died in 1827. He was appointed by the government as stipendiary magistrate, and held that office up to the time of his death. He married Mary J. Clark, a native of the same county, who after his death came in 1840 to New York, where she died at Kingston, on July 4, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Dunlop was a daughter of Edward Clark (maternal grand- father), who came to the United States when he was in his ninetieth year, and afterward went to near Toronto, Canada, where he died at the wonderfully advanced age of one hun- dred and seventeen years.
John J. Dunlop grew to manhood in his na- tive county, and received his education in the select schools of Ireland. He read medicine at Balbay with Dr. Thomas Reid, attended lectures at the Medical college, Dublin, and in 1840 came to New York, where he took an . additional course of lectures at the University of Buffalo. From the university he went to New York city and studied for two years in the hospitals, where he liad an excellent op- portunity to study diseases in their different forms and to thoroughly acquaint himself with their best and most successful treatment. Leav-
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ing the hospitals he practiced for some time in the city, and during that time entered the medical department of the university of New York city, from which he was graduated in the class of 1854. Immediately after gradu- ation he went to Kingston, Ulster county, where he remained one year. He then came to Waterford, and has practiced most success- fully here ever since. While having good suc- cess in all diseases, Dr. Dunlop has made a successful specialty of fevers, and in 1863, at one time had forty-eight fever patients in and around Waterford. His practice is large and remunerative, and extends to and beyond Cohoes, in Albany county, and Lansingburg, in Rensselaer county. He is the oldest practic- ing physician of Waterford and the southern part of the county. He is ever alive to the true interests of his profession and the real progress of medical science, and has been an active member for several years of the Troy Medical society and the New York State Medical association.
Dr. Dunlop is a republican in politics. He is a member of Clinton Lodge, No. 140, Free and Accepted Masons; of Waterford Chapter, No. 169, Royal Arch Masons, and of Apollo Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar, of Troy, New York. Dr. Dunlop is well pre- served for his years and has enjoyed remark- ably good health notwithstanding the arduous labors connected with his extensive practice.
E UGENE WISW ALL, one of the prom- inent business men of Saratoga Springs, and superintendent of the Saratoga County Agricultural Society, is a son of Capt. Henry and Elizabeth Ann (Pickert) Wiswall, and was born in the town of Schuyler, Herkimer county, New York, October 28, 1841. The Wiswalls are of Welsh ancestry. In 1660 three brothers of that name came from Wales and settled in or near Sudbury, Vermont ; one afterward went to Canada, a second to the State of New York, and the third, from whom
the subject of this sketch is in direct line, re- mained in Sudbury, and there his descendants were to be found until 1794. In that year, of those who removed, one was Samuel Wiswall (grandfather), who came to Herkimer county, New York, and there married the same year. He died while still a young man. He was a powerful man physically, standing seven feet high and of great strength. His son, Capt. Henry Wiswall (father), was born in Herki- mer county, in the town of Manhan, and there he remained until he was twelve years of age, when he shipped as a cabin boy on a whaling voyage on the Pacific ocean. He was gone four years, and on his return shipped imme- diately as a common sailor on board a clipper for another four years cruise. For thirty years he followed the sea, during which time he became acquainted with many lands and peo- ples and learned many languages. He was first mate for several years on a steamer carry- ing emigrants from Europe to America. After leaving the sea he went into the business of forwarding goods on the Troy and Erie line, being captain and pilot on the Hudson river boats, in which he continued from 1849 till 1852, when he settled in Washington county, New York, and there for eleven years he was engaged in farming. In 1864 he left Wash- ington for Saratoga county, locating in Mil- ton, where he purchased what is known as the Powell farm, which he continued to farm until his death, which occurred in July, 1881, at the age of three score and ten years. He was a man of wonderful strength, being over six feet in height and weighing three hundred and fifty-four pounds. In his party affiliations he was a republican. He married Elizabeth Ann Pickert, a native of Hammond, St. Law- rence county, New York. She died in 1848, when only thirty-seven years of age.
Eugene Wiswall grew up to manhood in Herkimer and Washington counties, with the exception of four years which were passed in New York city, and received his education at Fort Miller academy in Washington county.
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He came to Saratoga county in 1864 with his father, and subsequently engaged in farming for himself, in which he has continued to the present time. He has besides been engaged in lumbering, as well as being a contractor and builder of bridges and houses. In 1881 he removed to the town of Saratoga Springs, where he is now running a large saw mill in connection with his other business interests.
On November 28, 1865, Mr. Wiswall was united in marriage with Clara E. Van Eps, daughter of Alexander Van Eps, of the village of Ballston Spa, Saratoga county. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Eugene Wiswall is a republican and has filled the office of school trustee. He has always taken an active interest in farming, and has been for several years general super- intendent of the Saratoga County Agricultural society, of which he is also a director. Mr. Wiswall is one of the solid business men of the county, thoroughly valued and respected by all who know him for his energy, business ability and many sterling traits of character.
tics, but takes no active part in public affairs, and gives his time to the management and cultivation of his farm. Mr. McCreedy mar- ried Sarah J. Collamer, who is a daughter of Warren Collamer, and was born in 1820, on the farm where she now resides. Warren Collamer was a native of Connecticut. He was of Scotch descent, and came in an early day to the town of Malta, where he cleared out the farm now owned by Mr. McCreedy.
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