USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 61
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
435
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
H ON. EDWARD D. SELDEN, A. M., a graduate of Yale college in the class of 1844, and an ex-member of the Vermont leg- islature, and ex-county commissioner of Rut- land county, Vermont, has been a resident since 1877 of Saratoga Springs, where his later years of life, after retiring from active business, have been given to benevolent work for the public good. He is a son of David and Gertrude E. (Richards) Selden, and was born in the city of New York, September 6, 1821. He passed his boyhood at Liverpool, England, spent two years at school in Paris, France, and attended one year at the London university college. He then returned to the United States, and after spending one year at New Haven Grammar school, he entered Yale college, from which he was graduated in the class of 1844. After graduation he remained one year at Yale, as a resident graduate, to pursue special studies. Having completed these, he spent six months in Virginia, and then was engaged in the mining business along the shores of Lake Champlain for two years. At the end of that time, on January I, 1850, he removed to Brandon, Rutland county, Vermont, where he was engaged in the marble and subsequently in the lumber business up to 1877. In that year he retired from active business and came to Saratoga Springs, where he has resided ever since. For the last fifteen years Mr. Selden has devoted his time largely to benevolent work, and in 1881, after serving two years as chairman of its executive committee, was appointed super- intendent of the Saratoga Humane society, which office he has efficiently filled ever since. He has exerted his benevolence wherever he has found an opportunity for doing good or relieving suffering. He is clerk and elder of the Second Presbyterian church, and has served for some time as secretary of the Fort- nightly Literary club.
Edward D. Selden is a republican in poli- tics. While residing in Vermont he served for some time as school commissioner of
Brandon, and was county commissioner for five years. His services in these offices were so efficiently rendered and were of such a sat- isfactory character to the public that he was elected in 1861 to represent the town of Bran- don in the Vermont legislature. At the end of his term he was reelected and served a second term in the legislature of the Green Mountain State. In that honorable and im- portant body his course of action was such that while he zealously guarded the rights of the State, his individual scrutiny of the large war expenditure of that period being accepted as final, he also vigilantly cared for the inter- ests of his constituents irrespective of party. Mr. Selden stood high in commercial and financial circles in Vermont and northern New York, but while a man of business ability, he has never allowed himself to become careless of what is occurring in the mental and moral world. He is a man of scholarship and cul- ture, and has always held broad and liberal views. Possessed of force and earnest con- victions, which he has never failed to assert vigorously if necessary, yet there is nothing of the bigot or tyrant in him. A courteous gentleman, a pleasant conversationalist, and a true-hearted and generous friend, he has won respect and esteem by his kindness, con- sideration and straightforward course in life.
On February 21, 1856, Mr. Selden married Elizabeth Mills Conant, of Brandon, Vermont, and to their union were born four children : Edward D., Robert W., Charles F., and Ger- trude E., of whom all are dead except Ger- trude E. Mrs. Selden was a daughter of Sam- uel Stillman and Elizabeth Turnbull (Mills) Conant, and died June 4, 1864. After her death, Mr. Selden, in 1877, wedded Mrs. Sarah (Wood) Stewart, widow of John W. Stewart, and a daughter of Aaron and Rebecca (Wright) Wood, of Rensselaerville, this State. Mrs. Sarah (Wood) Selden is a sister of Walter' A. Wood, the inventor of the celebrated Wood mowing machine, and formerly member of Congress from the Troy district of this State.
.
436
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
The Selden family is one of the oldest and most honored families of New England. It was planted in the new world by Thomas Sel- den, who came from England, and in 1635 became one of the founders of Hartford col- ony, in what is now the State of Connecticut. He was a very prominent man in New Eng- land, and his name is on the deed for the site of the city of Hartford as it was originally laid out in the seventeenth century. From Thomas Selden, in lineal descent, was David Selden, the father of the subject of this sketch. David Selden was born June 4, 1785, at Had- dam, Connecticut, and at fifteen years of age went to New York city, where he soon became the confidential clerk to a large importing firm which sent him, before he had attained his majority, to Europe to purchase goods. He made several such trips, during which he vis- ited nearly all the countries of Europe. In a few years he left the employ of this company, and foreseeing the great increase of the cotton trade that was soon to take place, he formed the great cotton brokerage firm of Richards, Ogden & Selden, of New York and Liverpool, with correspondents at Charleston, South Car- olina, Savannah, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, being located himself at Liver- pool, England, where for twelve years he sold more than three quarters of all the cotton ex- ported from the United States. From England he returned to New York city, where, finding that a partner of his had lost in speculation all of their capital, he established the first commission house for the sale of English man- ufactures in New York, but was induced to return to Liverpool, where he was at the head of another large business firm for several years. At the end of that time he retired from business, and after residing at New Ha- ven, Connecticut, long enough to educate four of his sons, he removed to New York city, where he died February 23, 1861, at seventy- six years of age. Mr. Selden was a man of great business ability and wonderful organiz- ing power, and left the impress of many of
his ideas on the present commerce of the world. He was instrumental in organizing the first line of packets sailing on fixed days between Liverpool and New York, and in forming the London Parcels post, the pioneer of all of the express companies of the world, besides introducing other useful improvements in ocean commerce and inland trade, especially in the iron business. He married Gertrude E. Richards, an educated and cultured wo- man of New York city, who was born Decem- ber 9, 1801, and died February 21, 1875. Mrs. Selden was a daughter of Abram Richards, who was of Welsh descent, and who was an active, prominent and useful merchant of Sa- vannah, Georgia, and afterwards of New York city.
WILLIAM P. CARPENTER, a prom- inent Mason and Odd Fellow of Saratoga Springs, and a well known business man, whose career has been one of substantial pro- gress, is a son of William B. and Ruth (Brown) Carpenter, and was born at Glens Falls, War- ren county, New York, May 13, 1843. The Carpenters are of English descent, and the family is one of the old families of the United States. One branch of the family became resi- dent of New York, and a descendant of its founder was William B. Carpenter, the father of the subject of this sketch. William B. Car- penter was born March 25, 1802, and reared at Glens Falls, where he died January 31, 1854, aged fifty-two years. He was a wagon maker by trade and carried on wagon making for sev- eral years at Sandford's Ridge, which was three miles north of Glens Falls. He was a whig and a Quaker, and married Ruth Brown, who was a daughter of Ephraim Brown, of English lineage, and died March 18, 1882, when in the eighty-third year of her age. She was a native of Sandford's Ridge, and for many years before her death had been a de- vout member of the Society of Friends. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were the parents of eleven
437
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
children, five sons and six daughters: William B., Ruth, Cordelia, Aaron B., Joel D., Wil- liam, Amanda H., Rachel S., Louisa, Lydia and William P.
William P. Carpenter was reared at Glens Falls and Sandford's Ridge, received a good English education in the common schools of his native county, and upon attaining his ma- jority in 1861, came to Saratoga Springs, where he has been successfully engaged in the truck- ing and express business ever since. Mr. Carpenter runs a number of wagons and em- ploys several hands in order to fill his numer- ous orders. He has had a large fire-proof, with separate apartments, storage house, for the past twelve years, and enjoys an extensive and substantial business. He has successfully met all outside competition and permanently maintains the lead in his respective lines of business.
On September 7, 1870, Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage with Mary L. Edwards, a daughter of Ephraim Edwards, of Utica, this State. William P. Carpenter's wife is a mem- ber of the Congregational church of Saratoga Springs, and Mr. Carpenter is a birthright member of the Friends' church of Saratoga Springs, which was organized in 1865. He is a democrat in politics and has always advo- cated and supported the principles of democ- racy as taught by Thomas Jefferson. He is a member of Empire Lodge, No. 183, Knights of Pythias; and Hathorn Lodge, No. 241, and Morning Star Encampment, No. 64, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Carpen- ter ranks high in Masonry, and is a member of Rising Sun Lodge, No. 103, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Rising Sun Chapter, No. 131, Royal Arch Masons; Cryptic Council, No. 37, Royal and Select Masters; Washington Com- mandery, No. 33, Knights Templar; and Ori- ental Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Carpenter is a pleasant and courteous gentleman, a well respected and highly es- teemed citizen, and an energetic and enter- prising business man.
EVI L. WEEKS, a well known and prosperous farmer of the town of Malta, this county, is a son of Capt. John and Cath- arine (Lansing) Weeks, and was born June 21, 1821, in the town of Malta, Saratoga county, New York, on the farm where he now resides. The Weeks family is of remote Welsh descent, and have been long resident in this State. James Weeks, the grandfather of Levi L. Weeks, was a native of Westchester county, but removed to Malta, this county, about 1795, where he engaged in farming. He was an old- line whig in politics, and a Quaker in religious belief. A man of unimpeachable character, he was well liked by his neighbors, and being industrious and a good manager he became quite prosperous. He married Freelove Brun- dage and reared a family of three children. Capt. John Weeks (father) was born at North- castle, Westchester county, this State, April 13, 1783, but came with his parents to the town of Malta, Saratoga county, when about twelve years of age. After reaching man's estate he engaged in farming on his own ac- count, and soon became very successful. He owned a farm containing one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, and spent most of his life in clearing it up, and improving and cul- tivating its broad acres. His death occurred November 29, 1859, when in the seventy-sev- enth year of his age. In political sentiment he was an old-line whig, and during his life held a number of the town offices. For many years he was connected with the old State militia, in which he held a captain's commis- sion, and was familiarly addressed as Captain Weeks. On May 26, 1805, he married Cath- arine Lansing, a daughter of John Lansing, at that time a leading farmer of the town of Malta, and by this union had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters, of whom the subject of this sketch is the seventh, and the only one of the sons now living. Mrs. Catharine Weeks (mother) died March 19, 1872, aged eighty-nine years.
Levi L. Weeks was reared on his father's
.
438
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
farm in the town of Malta, attended the com- mon schools of his neighborhood and Jones- ville academy, and completed his education at the old Hamilton academy in Madison, Ham- ilton county, this State. After finishing his studies at that institution he engaged in teach- ing, which he followed for some years, and then began farming. To this latter occupa- tion he has devoted the greater part of his ac- tive life, and has become very successful and prosperous. He owns and cultivates a farm containing one hundred acres of valuable land, situated in the western part of the town of Malta, in what is known as the Weeks corners.
On September 24, 1845, Mr. Weeks was united in marriage to Jane A. Hagar, a daugh- ter of Solomon Hagar, then of the town of Ballston, but who afterward removed to Mich- igan, where he died in 1880, aged nearly eighty-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Weeks were born a family of three children, one son and two daughters: Audella, who married George W. Burr, a farmer, residing in the town of Malta; Mary F., now deceased ; and Levi E., who resides with his parents and as- sists his father in the farm management. Levi E. Weeks is a quiet, unobtrusive man, of the age of thirty-five years, possessed of the happy faculty of making friends of all who are fa- vored with an acquaintance or brought into business relations with him. He was united in marriage to Emma Babcock, January 1, 1880. They have two children : Lelia, aged seven years, and Jessie, aged four. Mrs. Jane A. Weeks is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and is now in the sixty-seventh year of her age.
Politically Mr. Weeks is a republican, with whig antecedents, and has held the positions of town superintendent of schools, assessor, and other local offices. He was elected to the office of justice of the peace at one time, but declined to serve. Nearly all his life he has been a strict member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and has served his denomination as trustee, steward and recording steward for
many years. Mr. Weeks has spent a long, active and useful life among the people of this county, and is everywhere known and highly esteemed for the honesty, integrity and up- rightness of his character, and his many ad- mirable qualities of head and heart.
C HARLES C. VANVORST, one of the substantial and prosperous farmers of the town of Ballston, is a son of Ammi and Sarah C. (Hoyt) Van Vorst, and was born in the town of Charlton, Saratoga county, New York, Aug- ust 30, 1850. Abraham Van Vorst, great- grandfather of the subject of, this sketch, was a native of Holland, who came to this country when a young man and served as a teamster in the Continental army during the Revolu- tionary war. He was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and, not having a gun, stood in the ranks with a hickory club in his hand. He was a farmer and a cooper, and one of the early settlers of Schenectady county, where he died at an advanced age. His son Abraham (grandfather) was a farmer in Schenectady county, this State, where he lived all his life, dying about 1860. His wife, Martha Wallace, was a daughter of Jacob Wallace, of Charlton, who won distinction in the Revolutionary war as a member of the famous flying artillery, while his three brothers were serving in the English army at the same time. Ammi Van- Vorst (father) was born on the old homestead in the town of Glenville, Schenectady county, in 1804, and was reared and educated there. At the age of twenty-eight he removed to Sar- atoga county, and purchasing a farm there, spent the remainder of his active years in its cultivation. He operated on an extensive scale for a number of years and became quite prosperous. About 1884 he practically retired from active life and is passing his declining years in quietude with his son in the town of Ballston. In politics he has always been democratic, and for a number of years was an officer in the old State militia. He married
439
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
Sarah C. Hoyt, a daughter of Ammi Hoyt, of the town of Charlton, and by this union had a family of two children : Charlotte, who became the wife of Edward K. Wheeler, a farmer of Burnt Hill, this county, and Charles C., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Sarah C. Van- Vorst was a member of the Presbyterian church, and died at the age of thirty years.
Charles C. Van Vorst grew to manhood on his father's farm, and received his education in the common schools and at Charlton acad- emy. Soon after leaving school he embarked in farming on his own account, and has made agricultural pursuits the principal business of his life. Being of an energetic disposition and gifted with a good degree of ability for management, he has been quite successful, and now owns a fine farm containing one hun- dred and seventy acres of excellent land, upon which he annually produces a large amount of hay and grain and a considerable number of fine stock.
On November 13, 1878, Mr. Van Vorst was married to Harriet Van Buren, a daughter of Harman Van Buren, of Clifton Park, this county. To Mr. and Mrs. VanVorst have been born a family of five children : Jessie and Satie died at the ages of six and four years ; Edna G., Emma J., and Clarence.
Politically Mr. Van Vorst is a prohibitionist, and an active member of the local lodge of Good Templars. He is also a member of Ballston Grange, No. 687, Patrons of Hus- bandry, and takes great interest in every movement calculated to benefit the farmers and producers of this country.
JOSEPH J. PERKINS, a wounded veteran Union officer of the late civil war and one of the substantial business men of Schuylerville, is a son of Jacob and Reconcile (Blakemany) Perkins, and was born at York, Michigan, April 3, 1845. His paternal grand- father, Erastus Perkins, was a native of West Polliet, Vermont, where his immediate an-
cestors had come. Erastus Perkins was a tailor by trade, and during the latter part of his life removed to Mooresville, Michi- gan, at which place he purchased a farm of five hundred acres of land. He was a republican and a Baptist. He built and donated the first Baptist church at West Pol- liet, Vermont. He married and had two chil- dren, one son and one daughter : Betsey Ells- worth, of York, and Jacob, father of the sub- ject of this sketch. Jacob Perkins was a man of good education and served as principal of high schools for over ten years, at Newton and Clyde, New York, after which he removed to York, Michigan, where he was engaged ex- tensively for several years in farming, mer- chandising and lumbering, and in operating a stave factory and saw mill. Leaving York he was successively engaged in the hotel busi- ness at Ypsilanti, that State, and then for a short time served as general agent for J. T. Hadley's Encyclopedia. He was a republican in politics, and died at Jackson, Michigan, August, 1868, at eighty-five years of age. Mr. Perkins had been for many years a prominent and useful member of the Baptist church, in which he was serving as a deacon at the time of his death. He was a liberal supporter of church and school missions, and the Baptist church edifice at York, Michigan, was a pres- ent from him to the congregation. He was married to Reconcile Blakemany, who was a daughter of Dr. Blakemany. Mr. Perkins had twelve children, eleven sons and one daugh- ter : George, Erastus, Martha Rice, Elisha and Elijah (twins), William, John, Albert, James, Henry, Joseph J. and Adelbert. Of the sons, four served during the late war : Elisha in the 6th Michigan heavy artillery ; William enlisted in the First Michigan sharp- shooters, was wounded seven times, receiving one wound one night on a picket post where three men had been killed previously, but which he held; Albert served in the 12th Michigan infantry ; and Joseph J. in the 6th Michigan heavy artillery.
440
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Joseph J. Perkins received his education in the public schools of Mooresville and the Ypsilanti State Normal school of Michigan, and then was engaged for four years as a clerk in a hotel. At the end of that time, in June, 1862, he enlisted in Co. F, 6th Michigan heavy artillery, and was elected corporal. He par- ticipated in the engagements at Port Hudson, Baton Rouge, Vicksburg, New Orleans, Jack- son, Pensacola, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan and Skippus Landing, where he was severely wounded in the neck by a piece of a shell, but worked his gun until the close of the action. He was honorably discharged from the Fed- eral service at New Orleans, on August 20, 1865, and returned to Michigan, where he en- gaged in the business of teaching horseman- ship. Meeting with remarkable success he soon commenced to travel, and thus for thir- teen years was engaged in sixteen states, where he formed and instructed large classes in all of the important towns. In 1878 he estab- lished a large livery, sale and feed stable at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and two years later came to Schuylerville, this county, where he conducted a successful livery business until 1886, when he purchased his present well im- proved farm of one hundred and sixteen acres of land, which is two and one-half miles from the village. Mr. Perkins still gives instruction in horsemanship and deals to some extent in horses, although a considerable part of his time, since the spring of 1891, has been given to the management of his farm. For two years he was manager of the Washington County Agricultural society and Stock Breed- ers' association, and in various other ways has given time and attention to the farming and stock interests of eastern New York. Mr. Perkins is a republican in politics, and while no office seeker, yet has held several offices, being excise commissioner for several consec- utive years. He is a member and past com- mander of Frank Morton Post, No. 116, Grand Army of the Republic, in which organization he has always taken an active part.
On March 20, 1877, Mr. Perkins married Minnie F. Wilcox, daughter of George and Mary ( Beckwith) Wilcox, and a member of the old Wilcox family of New England. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have one child, a son, George W., who was born August 17, 1881.
ROBERT HAMILTON, M. D., propri- etor of "Dr. Robert Hamilton's Medical Institute," at Saratoga Springs, and one of the most successful and popular physicians in Saratoga county, is a son of David and Jeru- sha (Hewlet) Hamilton, and was born Sep- tember 3, 1819, in the town of Wales, Erie county, New York. The family is of English descent, and was planted in America previous to the revolutionary period by John Hamilton, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Thomas Hamilton, grandfather of Dr. Robert Hamilton, was a native of Pennsylvania, but in early life removed to Chautauqua county, New York, becoming one of the early settlers of his section. He was a farmer by occupa- tion, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and spent the remainder of his life in Chautauqua county, engaged in agricultural pursuits, dying there at an advanced age. He married and reared a family, one of whom was David Hamilton (father), who was born in eastern Pennsylvania about 1784. While yet a child he was brought to Chautauqua county, New York, by his parents, and at the age of twenty-two married and removed to Erie county, this State. He served with distinc- tion in the war of 1812, being captain of his company and taking part in a number of the historic contests of that struggle. After peace was declared, Captain Hamilton resumed farm- ing in Erie county, where he remained until 1838, when he removed to Illinois, and died in the city of Chicago in 1868, at the good old age of eighty-four years. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and served as class leader, trustee and steward more than forty years. Politically he was a
441
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
whig and republican, and during his active years frequently served his people in different local and county offices. By his marriage to Jerusha Hewlet he had a family of ten chil- dren, four sons and six daughters : Levina, Thomas E., Polemus D., William H., Lydia A., Robert, Mary A., Phebe, Merinda and Rosetta. Mrs. Jerusha Hamilton was a native of Rhode Island, a Quaker in religion, and died in Chicago in 1872, aged eighty-eight years.
Robert Hamilton spent his boyhood and youth in the town of Wales, Erie county, this State, receiving a good English education in the public schools and academy of Erie county. At the age of eighteen he went to Illinois with his father, and remained in that State for a period of ten years. He had early determined to make the healing art his chosen life work, and soon after going to Illinois be- , gan reading medicine in Chicago with Dr. David S. Smith, a prominent physician of that city. He returned to New York in 1852, and for two years was engaged in practice with his uncle, the celebrated Dr. Thomas Hamilton, of Rochester, this State. Dr. Hamilton is a graduate of the Penn Medical university of Philadelphia, also the Eclectic Medical college of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which well known institution he was graduated with high honors. In March, 1854, Dr. Hamilton came to Saratoga, and for four years took charge of the medical department of Dr. N. Bedortha's establishment, and in March, 1857, opened his medical institute at Saratoga Springs, and has ever since been closely con- nected with the interests and history of this city. Dr. Robert Hamilton's Medical insti- tute was successfully conducted until 1871, when the property was destroyed by fire. Its enterprising proprietor immediately rebuilt the establishment and was just entering on a career of unusual prosperity, when, in 1874, his handsome buildings were again consumed by the flames. The general public liad taken notice of his determined fight for success, and many were the expressions of sympathy and
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.