USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 64
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Joel W. Smith was reared on the paternal
acres in the town of Half Moon, received his education in the district schools, and was en- gaged in farming up to 1869. In that year he removed to Middletown, where he was en- gaged for two years in the sewing machine business. At the end of that time he came to Waterford, and embarked in the meat market business, in which he continued for ten years. He then purchased a half interest of R. D. Palmateer, in the Waterford Advertiser, which they published until June 1, 1891, when he purchased Mr. Palmateer's interest. - Since then he has conducted the paper very success- fully.
On June 14, 1865, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Mary E. Gates, a daughter of Luther Gates, of the village of Middletown, this county, who was a relative of General Gates, of Revolutionary fame. To their union have been born two children, a son and a daughter : S. Jennie and Luther J.
In politics Mr. Smith is a republican. He is a member of the Baptist church, and Clin- ton Lodge, No. 140, Free and Accepted Ma- sons. He is reliable and energetic as a man and a citizen, and has prospered in every enter- prise in which he has ever been engaged. His paper, the Waterford Advertiser, is a quarto, eight column weekly sheet, published every Friday, at one dollar and a half per year. It was established April 29, 1872, by R. D. Pal- mateer, and has been the property of Mr. Smith since June 1, 1891. The Advertiser is independent in politics, and has a large circu- lation in the central and southern parts of Saratoga county and in the adjoining portions of Rensselaer and Albany counties, and has subscribers in nearly every State in the Union. The Advertiser is distinguished by short, crisp and pointed editorials, contains all the im- portant State and National news, while the local happenings of the village and the county are accorded ample space on its pages. It also gives the latest intelligence by telegraph and cable of what is going on at home and abroad, and devotes considerable space to agricul-
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
tural affairs and religious reading. In con- nection with the paper, Mr. Smith has a large and well ordered printing office, including four power presses driven by steam, and makes a specialty of doing first-class job work of all descriptions.
L OUIS LeDOUX, "the village black- smith" at Maltaville, this county, is a gentleman of French descent, who is ranked among the most respected citizens of his sec- tion, and who has been successful in building up a good trade in the line of his business. Mr. LeDoux is a son of John and Victoria Le- Doux, and was born April 12, 1847, at Hilaire, province of Quebec, Canada. His father was also a native of Hilaire, and owned and man- aged two fine farms, aggregating one hundred and seventy-six acres of excellent land. Young LeDoux received his education in the public schools of Hilaire, and remained at home until his fifteenth year, when he started out to do for himself. He first went to the city of Mont- real, Canada, where he secured a position as waiter in a private family of means, and after a year and a half in that position he came to the United States, locating at Ballston Spa, where he began learning the blacksmith trade with John B. Shadler. After completing his trade he worked as a journeyman at different places in Saratoga county, and in 1871 came to Maltaville, and embarked in the black- smithing business for himself. He has been very successful, and now has a good business, owns a handsome house and shop and two acres of land in this village.
On February 19, 1872, Mr. LeDoux was united in marriage to Sarah Payne, a daugh- ter of James Payne, a carpenter and wagon- inaker of Maltaville, this county. Mr. and Mrs. LeDoux are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In his political opinions the subject of this sketch is an ardent republican, though in no sense a politician. He is a member of Frank-
lin Lodge, No. 90, Free and Accepted Ma- sons ; Warren Chapter, No. 23, Royal Arch Masons, of Ballston Spa ; Half Moon Lodge, No. 493, and Mechanicville North Star En- campment, No. 128, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is likewise connected with Tenendaho Tribe, No. 154, Improved Order of Ren Men, and is a member of the local lodge of Good Templars.
EMMETT CARRAGAN, foreman of the Vichy Spring Company, and one of the stockholders of the Carlsbad Spring Com- pany of Saratoga Springs, is a son of William and Harriet R. (Hyatt) Carragan, and was born in the town of Saratoga Springs, Sara- toga county, New York, May 14, 1847. The Carragans are of English and Irish extraction, and Eleazer Carragan (grandfather) was born in Duchess and settled in Saratoga county, where he lived to be over four-score years of age. His son, William Carragan (father), was born in Duchess county in 1809, but was reared in the town of Saratoga Springs, where he was a prosperous farmer. He was a dem- ocrat in politics, had served as commissioner of his town for two terms, and died February 4, 1891, when in the eighty-second year of his age. Mr. Carragan married Harriet R. Hyatt, who is a daughter of Stephen and Mary Hy- att, and was born in 1825.
Emmett Carragan was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools, and in 1868 entered the employ of the Geyser Spring Company, with whom he remained up to the year 1872. He then entered the service of the Vichy Spring Company, and in 1886 was promoted to his present position as fore- man of their celebrated spring. Under his personal direction large quantities of the Vichy water is put up and shipped all over the United States. During the last twenty years of his business life Mr. Carragan has made some careful, judicious, and paying investments, among which is Carlsbad Spring stock, of which
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he now holds many shares. Mr. Carragan is a stanch republican in political affairs, and never fails to render his party an unswerving support at all times. He is a pleasant, cour- teous gentleman, and a member of the First Baptist church of Saratoga Springs.
On December 18, 1878, Mr. Carragan was united in marriage with Frankie C. Gilbert, daughter of John J. Gilbert, of Saratoga Springs.
C APT. JOHN H. CAMPBELL, pro-
prietor of the Talmage hotel of Mechan- icville, and a veteran officer of the army of the Potomac, is a genial gentleman, of excellent business qualifications and a republican leader of force and influence in Saratoga county. He is a son of James and Elizabeth (Hunter) Campbell, and was born April 27, 1836, at Coleraine, County Derry, Ireland. He came at an early age from his native country to Lansingburg, Rensselaer county, this State, and received his education principally in the public schools of that village. Leaving school he learned the trade of brush maker, which he followed continuously up to April, 1861, when he lielped to organize Co. A, 30th New York infantry. He was elected first lieutenant of his company, and on August 30, 1862, was commissioned captain. His regiment was a part of the famous Iron brigade, and he com- manded his company in the battles of Antie- tam, Slaughter Mountain, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and South Mountain. At the end of his term of service he was honorably discharged from the United States volunteer service at New York city, June 30, 1863. Shortly after returning home he became partly paralyzed, and thus rendered unfit for further military service, he turned his attention to business pursuits. He opened the Tammany Hall hotel at Lansingburg, which he con- ducted for two years, and then assumed charge of the Campbell house, of which he was pro- prietor for ten years. At the end of that time
he had recovered, to a large extent, from his paralysis, and served as postmaster and as a detective until 1889, when he came to Mechan- icville and opened the Talmage hotel, which he has conducted most successfully ever since.
Captain Campbell married Mary Wallace, who died in 1872, leaving five children: Eliza- beth Golden; Thomas W., who was the young-« est postmaster that has ever served at Lan- singburg ; John H .; George B .; and Jennie Strecker. On June 23, 1873, Captain Camp- bell wedded Elizabeth Farrell, and by his sec- ond marriage has had four children, two sons and two daughters: Helen M., Francis M., Walter A. W. (deceased), and Roscoe Conk- ling.
Captain Campbell is an unswerving repub- lican in politics. In 1867 he was elected col- lector of Lansingburg, and two years later was appointed postmaster of that village by Presi- dent Grant. At the end of his term he was succeeded by his son as postmaster. He was afterward appointed by Governor Cornell as a detective on the Champlain canal, where he · served until General Merritt, inspector of cus- toms for the port of New York, assigned him to duty in the barge office, where he remained until a severe fall incapacitated him for the service that he was performing. He then went to Troy, were he served for three years as a detective and then was made chief of the police force, which position he. held for five years. A new party then coming into power in the city he was thrown out of office, but ap- pealed to the courts and was reinstated. Hav- ing triumphed he was satisfied and then re- signed. Captain Campbell is a republican from principle, and serves his party with the same zeal in defeat as in victory. He has served as a delegate to Republican county, congressional and State nominating conven- tions; and while ever a leader and a force for his party, has never sought an office, and when offered the nomination for assembly, declined to accept it, although that nomina- tion was equivalent to election. He is a mem-
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
ber of Willard Post, No. 34, Grand Army of the Republic; and a past chancellor of Castle No. 34, and a member of the New York Grand Lodge, of the Knights of Pythias.
The Campbell family has been resident for several generations in the north of Ireland, where James Campbell, sr., the paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. He was a chemist by profession, but in middle age became the superintendent of cemeteries of Belfast, in his native country, where he died when lacking but one year of being a centennarian. In the Irish struggles for freedom he was always with the patriots, who so often risked their lives for Ireland's independence. He had three children : Rob- ert, Rosa and James. The youngest son, James Campbell (father), died at the early age of thirty-two years. He married Elizabeth Hunter, a daughter of James Hunter, proprie- tor of the far-famed linen bleach greens at Dunmarry, Province of Ulster, in Ireland. To their union were born six children: Eliza- beth (deceased), Robert, Linda Graham, Capt. John H., James and Robinson. Mrs. Camp- bell, who died at Lansingburg, New York, in 1889, at eighty years of age, was a worthy de- scendant of the old aristocratic Hunter family that has been prominently engaged for the last two centuries in the manufacture of Irish linen goods.
W ILLIAM DAVENPORT, a man of business ability and experience, and an active member of the straw board manufac- turing firm of Smith, Davenport & Neilson, of Stillwater, is a son of Capt. John and Lida (Van Buren) Davenport, and was born at Easton, Washington county, New York, Oc- tober 27, 1827. The immigrant ancestor of the Davenport family in America was John Davenport, who came from England about 1767 to Canaan, Connecticut, where he died and left several children to survive him. From one of his sons was descended Peter Daven-
port, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Peter and his brother Richard came with a Congregational colony from Ca- naan to near Stillwater, where they built the first church of that place. Peter and Richard, however, settled near Easton, in Washington county, where the former cleared out a large farm, and died in 1816, at sixty-six years of age. Peter Davenport married Alida Da- ronde, and had two children: Capt. John and Catherine Van Buren. Capt. John Daven- port (father), like his father before him, was a farmer by occupation and a whig in politics. He served as justice of the peace, beside hav- ing held various other town offices. He was a member of the Reformed church and the Masonic fraternity, and served during the war of 1812 on the staff of General De Ridder with the rank of captain. He died in 1845, aged sixty-six years. Captain Davenport wedded Lida Van Buren, and to their union were born seven children, four sons and three daughters: Peter, William (subject), Cornelius, and one son and three daughters who all died in in- fancy. Mrs. Davenport, who died in 1881, when in the seventy-seventh year of her age, was a daughter of William and Maria (Winne) Van Buren, of Easton, Washington county.
William Davenport received his education in Stillwater academy, of this county, and Troy Conference academy, of Poultney, Ver- mont, and spent the early years of his life as a farmer on the home farm near Easton, in Washington county. This farm he sold in 1866 to remove to Stillwater, where he was en- gaged in the general mercantile business until 1891, when he sold his store in order to be- come a member of the straw board manufac- turing firm of Smith, Davenport & Neilson. This company has their plant on Railroad street, and employ a regular force of twelve men in the manufacture of their straw board, which is well known as a first-class article in the market, where it has ready and constant sale. Mr. Davenport gives considerable time and attention to this business, which is rap-
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idly growing, while in connection with his other partners he has taken steps to increase the size and efficiency of the works. In poli- tics Mr. Davenport has supported the funda- mental principles of the Republican party since it came into existence. He is an effi- cient member of the First Presbyterian church of Stillwater since his residence in the village. In his business relations he is exact, punctual, and strict, but always pleasant and courteous.
On September 18, 1850, Mr. Davenport was united in marriage with Helen M. Dickenson, daughter of Daniel and Maria (Becker) Dick- enson, of Stillwater. Mr. and Mrs. Daven- port have six children, one son and five daugh- ters: Edward L., who married Fannie Lan- sing, daughter of George and Laura (Bryant) Lansing, and follows contracting on the im- provement of the Erie canal; Cora A., Ger- trude M., Helen M., Jennie A., and Anna S.
H ON. JAMES WARREN HOUGH-
TON, one of the youngest judges who ever sat on the bench in Saratoga county, is universally regarded as a young man of talent and energy, and has rapidly won fame and honor as a just and impartial jurist. Few men have achieved greater success in early life, or have been more faithful in the performance of public duty, than Judge Houghton. He is the eldest son of Tilley and Charlotte (Day- ton) Houghton, and was born in the town of Corinth, Saratoga county, New York, Sep- tember 1, 1856. The Houghton family is of English descent, and settled at Leominster, Massachussetts, at an early day in the history of the Bay State. One of the members of this Houghton family, several generations down, was Tilley Houghton, sr. (grandfather), who came from Leominster to this county, where he lived until his death. He married a Miss Mitchell, whose father was an officer in the English army. Their son, Tilley Houghton, the father of Judge Houghton, was born and reared in this county, where he lived until his
death, which occurred February 12, 1869, at forty-nine years of age. He was a man of great natural ability, and was widely known in this and adjoining counties. Although not a lawyer, he was the legal adviser of a large portion of the northern part of the county, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of a large circle of friends. He married Charlotte Day- ton, daughter of Joel and Jane (Cameron) Dayton, the latter of whom was a descendant of the Scotch Highland Camerons, and was born in that country in 1831, and died January 31, 1890. To Mr. and Mrs. Houghton were born three sons and four daughters, of whom one son and three daughters are living : Hon. James W., Mrs. H. P. Ryals, Mrs. C. C. Sack- ett and Miss Daisy.
James Warren Houghton, up to the time of the death of his father, had attended the com- mon schools of the village of Corinth. After his father's death, his mother and the family were thrown largely upon their own resources. In order to avail himself of the advantages of first-class schools, he went to reside with an aunt in Canandaigua, Ontario county, New York. By manual labor on the farm he ac- quired good health, and laid the foundation of a sturdy constitution, which has enabled him to pass successfully through his many years of sedentary life and close application to pro- fessional labor. In 1871 he entered Canan- daigua academy, then a college preparatory school of note. He closely pursued a thor- ough course of study, teaching, however, at intervals, as a means of meeting necessary ex- penses. He was recognized by the faculty as a studious and ambitious boy, and on several occasions was awarded rhetorical prizes. At the close of the school year of 1876, by spe- cial designation of the trustees of the academy, he delivered an oration upon the "Past and Future of the Republic." He had hoped to enter college, but at the end of his preparatory course he found himself unable to carry out his cherished design, and he remained one year longer at the academy, where during that
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Stan James Harren Haughton.
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
time he took advanced studies, and did the work that is usually done the first year or two of most colleges. In the fall of 1876, still finding himself unable from lack of means to enter college, the seeming necessity of quali- fying himself for some remunerative work caused him to abandon his long cherished de- sire for a collegiate education, and he entered upon the study of the law with Judge H. L. Comstock, of Canandaigua. He read for some time with Judge Comstock, and afterward with E. W. Gardener, and was admitted to the bar at Rochester in October, 1879. In January following he came to Saratoga Springs, hav- ing secured a position in the office of Hon. E. H. Peters, who was then entering upon his first term as surrogate of the county. Three years later, in 1882, he opened an office for himself, and his care and extensive research in the preparation of his cases soon attracted attention, and in a short time secured for him a lucrative practice. With successful prac- tice came deserved popularity, and after win- ning several stubbornly contested civil and criminal cases he was recognized as one of the rising young lawyers of the county. His rep- utation grew with his increasing years of prac- tice, and at the Republican county convention held at Ballston Spa, on September 6, 1888, he was nominated for the office of county judge. Several other prominent and able lawyers were candidates for the nomination, and the con- vention was a memorable one, not only for the stubbornness of the fight, but also for the good feeling which prevailed. A nomination was not reached until the sixty-second ballot, when Mr. Houghton was made the unanimous choice of the convention. At the ensuing election he was opposed by an able democratic lawyer, but notwithstanding an especial effort to defeat him on account of his youth, he was elected by nearly fifteen hundred majority. The term of office is six years. He took his seat on the bench January 1, 1889, and has presided over the courts of the county ever since with abil- ity and fairness. On several occasions he has
been called upon to act in neighboring coun- ties, and his easy dignity and impartial rulings and ability have been universally commended.
On April 22, 1884, Mr. Houghton married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of John Smith, of Saratoga Springs. Their union has been blessed with two children : James Tilley and Elizabeth.
Judge Houghton's residence is at the corner of Caroline and Court streets, where Mrs. Houghton presides over their inviting and tastefully furnished home with charming sim- plicity and hospitality.
As a lawyer Judge Houghton had a fine record, being remarkably successful in winning his cases. Among his early triumphs in criminal cases was his successful defense of John W. Luke, of New York city, who was charged with having robbed a prosperous farmer of Saratoga county of over one hundred thousand dollars in securities. Although Judge Houghton did not secure an acquittal, yet he made a defense so tenacious and untiring that on each of three separate trials he obtained a disagreement of the jury, which led to the discharge of his client. This case established his reputation as a zealous and untiring advocate. His fa- miliarity with surrogate practice naturally brought litigation of that character to him after he opened an office for himself, and he has been engaged in many of the most important will cases of the county, being considered now an authority on the laws relating to wills and surrogate practice. His tastes are for civil law, his retainers being especially numerous in corporation and probate cases. He is a clear and forcible speaker, and is frequently called upon for speeches and addresses, both political and literary.
Judge Houghton is well qualified for the high and honorable position which he holds by liis firmness, integrity and legal acquirements. His simplicity of character, solidity of judg- ment, sincerity, earnestness and industry all mark him as a man easy of approach, wise in counsel and zealous and untiring in action.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
W ILL W. SMITH, a prominent young attorney of Saratoga Springs, and junior member of the well known law firm of French & Smith, was born January 6, 1862, in the town of Jay, Essex county, New York, and is a son of Eli and Mary (Atwood) Smith. The family is descended from good old English stock, planted in Vermont at an early day. In that State Steven Smith, paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared, but while yet a young man he re- moved to New York and settled in Essex county. He was a blacksmith by trade, and pursued that vocation nearly all his life, dying at his home in Essex county about 1869, when nearly sixty-five years of age. He married Polly Peck, and reared a family of nine chil- dren. One of his sons was Eli Smith (father), who was born in 1827, in Essex county, this State, where he grew to manhood, was edu- cated, and spent all his long and active career. He learned the trade of blacksmith when a young man, and made that the principal busi- ness of his life, though he engaged to some extent in other pursuits, and was stirring, ener- getic, and successful in everything he under- took. Politically he was a democrat of the old school, and served as collector and in other official positions in his town, and occu- pied the office of justice of the peace at the time of his death, July 23, 1888, when in the sixty-second year of his age. He was a life- long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always active in the support of the various religious interests of his denomination. In 1852 he married Mary Atwood, a daughter of James Atwood, and a native of the State of Vermont. To them was born a family of six children: Rolon E., a farmer residing in the State of Vermont; Clarence W., ex-county judge, and a member of the law firm of Keck & Smith, at Johnstown, Fulton county, New York; Mary, who married Zena Wood; Sarah, who became the wife of Bethnel Fletcher, a farmer of Bloomingdale, Essex county; Will W., and Arthur E. Smith, now a practicing
physician at Cohoes, New York. Mrs. Smith is a member of the same church as her hus- band, resides with her son, Dr. A. E. Smith, at Cohoes, Albany county, and is in the sixty- eighth year of her age.
Will W. Smith was reared in the town of Jay, Essex county, this State, receiving his education in the public schools, at Westport academy, and the Plattsburg high school. After finishing his studies at the latter institu- tion, when only seventeen years of age, he en- gaged in teaching, and was thus employed until he had attained his twenty-fourth year. He taught the Geyser school, in the town of Saratoga Springs, and afterward became prin- cipal of the public schools of Northville, Ful- ton county, this State, where he remained one year. As a teacher he was very successful, and his labors were highly appreciated, but in 1885 he abandoned the school room for the purpose of preparing himself for the bar. He began the study of law in the office of Albert S. Burdick, of Saratoga Springs, and com- pleted his preparation with Hon. J. W. Hough- ton, of the same village. In November, 1888, he was duly admitted to practice in all the courts of the State of New York, and has been continuously engaged in his profession ever since. He makes a specialty of real estate and probate matters, and has been remarkably successful. In the spring of 1891 Mr. Smith formed a law partnership with General W. B. French (whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume), under the firm name of French & Smith, and since that time these gentlemen have practiced together, and have a large and lucrative business.
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