USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 45
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George F. Comstock was reared in his na- tive town, and received an academical educa- tion. He read medicine with Dr. James Tomlinson, a prominent physician and sur- geon of New York city, and then entered the celebrated college of Physicians and Surgeons of the new world's metropolis, from which he was graduated in the class of 1883. Immed- iately after graduation he came to Saratoga Springs, where he has been engaged ever since in the active and successful practice of his profession.
On December 12, 1883, Dr. Comstock was united in marriage with Ella H. Andrews, daughter of Rev. R. D. Andrews, a minister of the Baptist church, who formerly resided
in Washington county. Their union has been blessed with one child, a son, named Carl R., who was born June 29, 1886.
Dr. Comstock is a republican in politics, and a member of First Baptist church of Saratoga Springs. He takes considerable interest in Odd Fellowship and Pythian Knighthood, and is a member of Hathorn Lodge, No. 241, In -- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; and Crys- tal Lodge, No. 183, Knights of Pythias. In his profession he has labored arduously and successfully, and has built up a very fine and extensive practice. Dr. Comstock is a mem- ber of the New York State Medical association, and has served since 1889 as a member of the pension examining board of this district. He is an intelligent and public spirited citizen, and ranks high as a skilled and successful physician and surgeon.
OHN HIGGINS, proprietor of one of the oldest and best equipped drug houses of eastern New York, and a member of the Pharmaceutical association of Great Britain and New York State Pharmaceutical associa- tion, is one of the leading business men and public-spirited citizens of Waterford, which owes much of its progress and prosperity to his energetic and unselfish efforts. He is a son of William T. and Jane (Poiser) Hig- gins, and was born in the city of Litchfield, England, August 5, 1819. William T. Hig- gins was high sheriff of the city of Litchfield, and also served fifteen years as an alderman of the city of Litchfield, noted all over the world for its famous cathedral. Sheriff Hig- gins was a man of force and influence, and died in January, 1860, when in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He married Jane Poiser, who was a daughter of Dr. Poiser, and died at seventy-nine years of age. They reared a family of five children, four sons and one daughter.
John Higgins was reared in his native city, and received his education in the Latin gram-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
mar school of Litchfield, where he sat at the same desk with the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson. Leaving school, he spent three years in learning the apothecary business at Wolverhampton, England, with the late Charles Jackson, and then, in 1837, came to New York city, where he took charge of the pre- scription department in the drug store of Dr. William H. Milnor. At the end of seven years he resigned his position with Dr. Milnor to establish his present drug house at Water- ford.
In 1839 Mr. Higgins married Julia E. Hough, of New York city, who died April 22, 1875. After her death he wedded, on September 26, 1877, Elizabeth Holroyd, eldest daughter of the late James Holroyd, of Waterford. By his first marriage Mr. Higgins had four chil- dren, one son and three daughters : John W., Anna J., Jane E. and Isabella. John W. Higgins was a fine business man, and was president of the Commercial Travelers' asso- ciation in the State of Michigan, when he was killed in a railroad collision at Charlotte, on April 27, 1883. Anna J. Higgins married Prof. Orin Root, a member of the faculty of Hamilton college, of New York, and died in 1865, leaving one son, Edwin B. Root, who is a member of the law firm of Root & Love, of the new world's metropolis. Jane E. Hig- gins married Reginald Clickner, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who is now dead. Isabella Higgins married George H. Cole, and died in 1880, leaving two sons : Charles H., now at- tending Albany Medical college, and John G., who is a graduate of Waterford High school.
John Higgins is recognized as one of the leading pharmacists of the Empire State, and owns one of the most completely equipped drug houses of eastern New York. His estab- lishment is on Broad street, and has been ad- mirably arranged and provided with every fa- cility and convenience for the transaction of the large volume of business which Mr. Hig- gins enjoys. His stock is large and complete, embracing a full line of fresh and pure drugs,
together with a choice assortment of chemi- cals, patent medicines and toilet articles. Special attention is given to the accurate com- pounding of physicians' prescriptions, and a fine trade in this important branch has been built up by Mr. Higgins, who is widely known and highly esteemed in pharmaceutical circles. He served as vice-president of the Rensselaer Pharmaceutical society, and is a member of the New York State Pharmaceutical society and the Pharmaceutical association of Great Britian.
In political opinion Mr. Higgins has been a republican since the organization of that party. He has served as a trustee and was a member for several terms of the board of education, of which he was clerk for four years and a half and president for two years and a half. He also held the office of notary public for twenty years. He wrote and secured the passage in the assembly of a charter for Waterford, ex- tending its boundaries to the cemetery, in- cluding King's canal, north to Ten Brook creek. This charter failed in the State senate, but afterward passed both houses, with its old boundaries restored since adding the Seventh ward. In religious and financial matters Mr. Higgins has been equally as prominent and useful as he has been in educational and po- litical affairs. He served for one year as a director of the Saratoga bank before it went out of existence. He is an active and influ- ential member of Grace Episcopal church, in which he served as warden for thirty years and has been a vestryman for eighteen years, and in connection with J. B. Enos he remod- eled and enlarged the church edifice in which Grace congregation now worships. He was a delegate to the diocesan convention at Albany, where he cast the deciding vote that elected William Crosswell Deane as bishop of New York. Ever active and useful in the interests of his village, he is now treasurer of the Wat- erford Manufacturing Company, was a member of the Knickerbocker Fire Company, and has served for several years as a trustee of the
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Young Men's Christian association. Mr. Hig- gins was a member and trustee of Waverly Odd Fellows Lodge while it was in existence. He is a charter member and past master of Clinton Lodge, No. 140, Free and Accepted Masons; was instrumental in organizing Water- ford Chapter, No. 169, Royal Arch Masons, of which he was treasurer for twenty-eight years, and was a member of Apollo Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar, of Troy.
The life record of John Higgins is one of which his friends may well be proud, and his course in life has been straightforward, honor- able and successful. He has ever studied the true interests of his town and village, and has always served his fellow-citizens with prompt- itude and efficiency when called upon to act in any public or official capacity.
C OL. GEORGE HENRY GILLIS, a
descendant of the noble house of Ar- gyle, Scotland, who achieved distinction on the field of battle, and after the close of the war became prominent in civil life, was a son of Robert and Annie E. (Shoemaker) Gillis, and was born at Saratoga Springs, Saratoga county, New York, July 14, 1842. His great- grandfather, Archibald Gillis, was a member of the family or clan of the Duke of Argyle, Scotland, with whom he traced a common an- cestry to the founder of that mighty family, so prominent in Scottish history. Archibald Gillis and Capt. Laughlin Campbell, together with several families came in 1764 from the Highlands of Scotland to Washington county, where a large grant of land was given to them. They settled on the land, and founded there the present town of Argyle, which they named in honor of the Duke of Argyle. Archibald Gillis lived to an advanced age, and one of his grandsons is Robert Gillis (father), who came in 1837 to Saratoga Springs, where he still resides, being now in the eighty-second year of liis age. He is a tanner by trade, a
republican in politics, and has been a member for half a century of the Presbyterian church.
George H. Gillis was reared at Saratoga Springs, and received a good English educa- tion. When the late war commenced he en- listed in Co. C, 77th regiment New York infantry, and was mustered into the United States service as sergeant, November 23, 1861, at Saratoga Springs. He served through the Peninsular campaign, and was promoted to sergeant-major, December 22, 1862, and sub- sequently to second lieutenant. He was wounded at Winchester, Virginia, September 19, 1864, in the campaign of the Shenandoah under Sheridan, and mustered out of service at Saratoga Springs, December 14, 1864. Subsequently he was promoted to brevet cap- tain, United States volunteers. He received the rank of lieutenant colonel through his service in the National Guard of the State since the war. He was first elected second lieutenant of the Saratoga Howitizer battery, November 17, 1866, but the battery failed to complete its organization ; when the twenty- second Separate company of Saratoga citizens corps was organized, he was elected first lieu- tenant. This was March 12, 1878. He was made an aide-de-camp on Gen. Joseph B. Carr's staff, with the rank of captain, dating July 12, 1881. He was further promoted as lieutenant colonel and chief of artillery of the 3d division, August 24, 1883, and on August 5, 1886, he was rendered supernumerary. During all this time he retained his member- ship in the 22d Separate company of Saratoga Springs, and before he retired from General Carr's staff he was made a member of the corps honorary staff, serving as it's colonel until illness prevented him from serving. He was still a member of the staff at the time of his death. After returning from the army, Colonel Gillis was successively engaged in the wooden-ware trade, and the hotel business, pursuing the latter at Utica, New York city and Troy. Leaving Troy in 1874, he became the confidential book-keeper of Messrs. Tomp-
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kins, Gage & Perry, of the United States hotel at Saratoga Springs, which position he held up to his death, a period of seventeen years.
Colonel Gillis was a Sir Knight of Wash- ington Commandery, No. 33, Knights Temp- lar, and a member of L. M. Wheeler Post, No. 92, Grand Army of the Republic, and of New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
On September 11, 1866, Colonel Gillis mar- ried Susan A. Thomas, a daughter of D. R. Thomas, of Rome, New York, and their union was blessed with four children: Mary A., George M., Susie, deceased, and James Henry. Mrs. Gillis now resides at her beautiful home on Union avenue, in a pleasant part of the lovely village of Saratoga Springs.
Colonel Gillis was genial and social and no one at Saratoga Springs was more highly respected as a citizen and a gentleman than he by all who knew him. He died of cirrho- sis of the liver on April 7, 1892, when in the fiftieth year of his age. His funeral was con- ducted under the impressive burial ceremo- nies of Washington Commandery, and his remains were laid to rest in a quiet and beau- tiful part of Greenridge cemetery. Dr. Carey in his elegiac address at the funeral of Col. George H. Gillis, said :
" Although to-day we mingle our tears with his sorrowing friends, though we weep with those that weep, though we are bowed with a common grief, yet it is not as those who have no hope, since Christ is the resurrection and the life. It may comfort you to know that our dear brother died in the faith of Christ, and crossed the dark river leaning on the arm of his redeemer. Almost his last words as his feet were touching the dark waters was an avowal of the sureness of his faith. So he went forth fearing naught as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. He would be the last one to have any word of praise said to-day. But you will agree with me that he was a good citizen of this country, a loyal
member af this community, a faithful friend, beloved in the societies of which he was a member. He was a true soldier-his record is woven into the history of his country. I honor the brave men who went forth for the nation's sake. Our brother was one of the first to buckle on his armor, a young man, for his country's sake, and after years of service he returned, bearing in his body the honora- ble mark of a wound received in his country's defense. To-day he takes his stand in the ranks of those departed heroes to whom we owe our national life and prosperity. As a citizen, as a friend, as a soldier, as a beloved husband and father-and what is the crown, as one launching on the sea of eternity with a certain faith in Jesus Christ, we can bear his remains to the tomb, though through the mist of tears. Yet with the hope that maketh not ashamed, knowing that he is safe, in the arms of the Lord, the great captain of our salva- tion. He will not have lived and died in vain if we go from this house of God thinking more seriously of present duty and the future life. So we shall lie down in peace and wake up in the joy of the risen Lord to abide with him forever in glory."
H ON. THOMAS J. MARVIN, who
served with ability and honor as a legis- lator and a judge, was a son of William Mar- vin and a brother of Hon. James M. Marvin. He was born in Malta, Saratoga county, New York, June 26, 1803. He was a graduate of Union College, read law with Judge Warren, and in 1828 was admitted to the bar, where he soon rose to prominence. He served in the assembly in 1834, was a county judge from 1836 to 1846, and acted as postmaster of Sar- atoga Springs. Judge Marvin was public spirited, generous and energetic. He did much for the early development of Saratoga Springs, and died December 29, 1852, at Ha- vana, Cuba, where he had gone for the bene- fit of his health.
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
F LETCHER A. SMITH, M. D., of
Corinth, a graduate of Dartmouth Med- ical college and a physician of ability and skill, is a son of Luther and Zilpah (Young) Smith, and was born in the town of Scliroon, Essex county, New York, May 4, 1856. He was reared at his native village, and after receiv- ing his elementary education in the common schools, he took an academical course at War- rensburg academy. At the close of his school days he made choice of the medicine as a life vocation, and became a medical student in the office of Dr. E. J. Dunn, a prominent physi- cian of Schroon, this State. After completing the required course of reading, he took one course of lectures at the New York university, and then entered Dartmouth Medical college, of Hanover, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated in the class of 1888. The same year he opened an office at Conklinville, this county, at which place he remained until 1890, when he came to Corinth, where he has been in active, continuous and successful practice ever since. He is a member of the New Hampshire State Medical society, and has always taken an interest in the different medical associations of his own State. Exten- sive and onerous as his professional duties are, yet he has always been found ready and will- ing to assist, or work in any enterprise that has for its object the advancement of his vil- lage or county. He is a member of Schroon Lake Lodge Ancient Order of United Work- men, and has served as health officer of Cor- inth ever since becoming a resident of that thriving and prosperous village. Dr. Smith is a republican, who has ever steadfastly sup- ported his party, and has served for some time as secretary of Corinth Republican club, whose effective work was especially felt in this part of the county during the last great presiden- tial contest.
On December 31, 1882, Dr. Smith was uni- ted in marriage with Mary J. Hall, daughter of Jacob Hall, of Schroon, Essex county. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have two children : Gertrude
and Edith Dora. Mrs. Smith is an active and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Of the many settlers in northeastern New York who came from the Green Mountain State, one was Reuben Smith, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Reuben Smith was of English descent and spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in Essex county, where he died, February 5, 1877, at seventy-six years of age. He married Harriet Gray, and reared a family. His son, Luther Smith (father), was born in 1838, in Essex county, where he remained until 1892, when he came to Corinth. He is a contractor and builder by occupation, and has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years, and in politics has al- ways supported the Republican party. He wedded Zilpah Young, who is a daughter of Charles Young, of Essex county, and was born in 1833. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two chil- dren, of whom the youngest is Dr. Fletcher A., whose name appears at the head of this sketch.
C APT. NELSON SHONTS, who has been proprietor of the well known Me- chanicville mills for half a century, and is an old and highly respected citizen of Mechanic- ville, is a son of Stephen Van Rensselaer and Sarah (Pinney) Shonts, and was born at Scho- dack, Rensselaer county, New York, Decem- ber 26, 1826. He never enjoyed the privileges of the schools of his day, and learned to read and write after he attained to manhood's years by the aid of a hand on the canal and the instructions of his wife. Having mastered reading he has continued ever since his self- education until he is now a well informed man. At nine years of age he went as a tow boy on the canal, where he was successively promoted until he became captain of a passen- . ger boat before he was nineteen years of age. He commanded the boat that carried the first ties used in the construction of the present
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Delaware & Hudson Canal Company railroad. Leaving the canal he learned the trade of mil- ler, and worked successively in the Patton, Watertown and Glens Falls flouring mills of this State. On March 28, 1844, he came to Mechanicville, where he succeeded William Lawrence as proprietor of the Mechanicville Mills, which he has successfully operated ever since. These mills, built in 1812, are among the oldest mills on the Hudson river. Mr. Shonts does a large merchant and custom business, handles considerable grain, and is agent for Pratt's and Dr. Thorley's health foods. He is known as the "Honest Miller," a title that has been worthily won by fifty years of honorable business life at his present mills. He is a republican in politics, and has been for forty years a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal church of Mechanicville. An honorable and respected citizen, he has frequently served his village in an official ca- pacity, being a member of the school board at one time for eight years in succession, and again serving as a trustee for several consecu- tive terms.
On December 23, 1840, Mr. Shonts married Eliz 1 Burnham, a daughter of William Burn- ham, who married Lorinda Potter, and lived to be ninety one years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Shonts have been born five children : Almira, Orville, and Helen, who all died in in- fancy; William B., who married Ella Gibbs, and is night superintendent of the Hudson River Water-power & Paper Company; and Sarah Lorinda, wife of Charles D. Skeen, a pattern maker of Philadelphia.
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Nelson Shonts is a great-grandson of John Shonts, who was of German descent, although a native of Holland, from which country he came to Rensselaer county, where he was killed by Moskegan Indians during Queen Anne's war. He had taken up a tract of six hundred acres of land, which his widow and children abandoned and removed to Green- bush, in the same county, for better protection against the Indians. One of these children,
Jeremiah Shonts (grandfather), was born in Rensselaer county, and passed the greater part of his life near Schodack, where he died at eighty-two years of age. He was a farmer, and during the last two inter-colonial wars served as a teamster with the New York troops in several campaigns. He married Louisa Adams, who was a native of the north of Ireland, and died in 1822 at seventy-four years of age. Of their fourteen children were: Christian, Henry, James, John, Stephen V. R., Polly and Hannah. Stephen V. R. Shonts (father), who was born in 1795, removed, in 1819, from Schodack to Glens Falls, Warren county, where he died. He was originally a democrat and afterward a republican, and held the office of inspector of lime one term by ap- pointment of the governor of New York. He married Sarah Pinney, who is a daughter of Ambrose Pinney. To them were born seven sons and seven daughters: Almira Wicks, Nelson (subject), Thomas, Louisa, Zilla, Or- ville, Joseph, Jay, Fannie, Jeremy, and a son and a daughter who both died in infancy.
H ARRY M. LEVENGSTON, a suc- cessful young business man of the Em- pire State, and the founder of the celebrated "Saratoga Baths," in a magnificent bath house, equal in elegance and comfort to any in the world, is a son of Henry M. and Mary E. (Pratt) Levengston, and was born at Sara- tega Springs, Saratoga county, New York, August 26, 1863. He was reared at Saratoga Springs and in New York city, and received his education in the excellent public and se- lect schools of those two places. Leaving school, he was engaged in different enterprises until 1891, when he built his present magnifi- cent bath house over the famous "Old Put- nam Spring," at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and opened his Sara- toga baths, that have already become National in reputation. In the same year he built his handsome residence on Circular street, and
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
since then has been actively engaged in pro- moting the business interests of his native village. In politics Mr. Levengston supports the principles of the Republican party, but in local elections votes for the candidate whom he considers best qualified to discharge the duties of the position in contest. He is an attendant of and contributor to Bethesda Epis- copal church, and has served for some time as president of the Saratoga law students society. He believes in relieving the business cares of life with out-door exercise and sport. He is a very fine shot with a shotgun, and has been for the last fifteen years a member and officer of the Saratoga Gun club. He is also a mem- ber and the president of the Saratoga Bicycle club, and has served for several years as manager of the annual sporting tournaments held at the Springs.
On December 2, 1885, Mr. Levengston mar- ried Emma C. Pike, daughter of Hon. L. B. Pike, of Saratoga Springs. To their union have been born two children : Thomas Pike and Harry H.
Genial, generous and energetic, Harry M. Levengston has been remarkably successful in business, and is very popular in the com- munity where he resides. The Saratoga baths -Turkish, Russian, Roman, needle, mineral and plain-are situated in the most magnifi- cent bath house to be found on the North American continent, if not in the world. The building, with its simple, yet elegant front of massive carved bluestone and Roman brick, re- lieved by graceful terra cotta frieze and impos- ing arched entrance, would look by no means out of place amid the millionaire palaces of Fifth avenue, in the new world's metropolis. One hundred and seventy-five feet in length by seventy-five feet in width, this great bath house, with its immense floor space of nearly fourteen thousand square feet, divided by a central wall into two completely separated departments, for ladies and gentlemen respectively, affords a splendid opportunity to Americans to enjoy a bath far superior to the finest baths of Pompei
in its palmiest days. Lighted by electricity, supplied with electric bells, speaking tubes, and perfect water filters, the Saratoga baths are clean, well ventilated and elegantly fitted up for the accommodation and convenience of the thousands of guests that yearly throng the many hotels and numerous boarding houses scarcely a block away. The wonderful cura- tive properties of the mineral baths have brought hundreds of patients from all parts of the Union to test and be benefited by their virtues. The Levengstons came originally from Prussia, and settled in Boston, Massa- chusetts, where Henry M. Levengston, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. Henry M. Levengston left New England in 1840 and became a resident of Saratoga Springs. He soon engaged in busi- ness here and also in New York city, where he now spends the greater part of his time. He owns considerable real estate at Saratoga Springs, and some very valuable property in New York city. Mr. Levengston wedded Mary E. Pratt, who died in 1870.
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