USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 72
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
JOHN M. EDDY, one of the leading farmers and wealthy stockmen of Saratoga county, who resides at Eddy's Corners, near Saratoga Springs, is a son of John W. and Hannah (Marshall) Eddy, and was born March 6, 1838, in the town of Saratoga Springs, Sar- atoga county, New York. The Eddy family is of Scotch-Irish origin, and was planted in America during colonial days by John Eddy, paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who came over from the Emerald Isle and settled in New York, where he mar- ried and reared a large family. His wife was a native of Scotland, and one of their sons was John Eddy, jr. (grandfather), who was born February 15, 1770, and died March 20, 1847, in his seventy-eighth year. He was a blacksmith in early life at Livingstone manor, near Clairmont, but removed to Saratoga county in 1810, and settling at what is now known as Eddy's Corners, near Saratoga Springs, devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. He married Margaret Miller, a daughter of Adam Miller, who came from Germany. She was born April 3, 1774, and died August 15, 1838, aged sixty-four years. They had two sons and two daugh- ters : Maria, born November 23, 1803, and died November 22, 1838; Samantha, born April 27, 1811; Daniel D., born August 12, 1813; and John W. (father), who was born March 7, 1808, and died July 9, 1889, in the eighty-second year of his age. His early years were spent in work on the farm, and his education was obtained in the common schools of his neighborhood. After attaining mar .-
hood he engaged in farming on his own ac- count, and became quite prosperous. He was a man of quiet disposition, energetic and suc- cessful in his calling, and held the highest re- gard of all who knew him, on account of the integrity of his character and his fine personal qualities. Politically he was a life-long dem - ocrat, and while not a member of any church, always made the golden rule his standard of duty through life. He was thrice married. In 1832 he wedded Hannah Maria Marshall, a daughter of Moses Marshall, of Stillwater, this county, and by that union had a family of seven children, two sons and five daugh- ters : Elizabeth Maria, Margaret Caroline, John M., Daniel Allen, Hannah Adeline and two infant daughters. Mrs. Hannah M. Eddy died April 5, 1844, and the following year Mr. Eddy married Mrs Syrena Collamer, by whom he had one son, James S. She died August 30, 1847, and for his third wife Mr. Eddy wedded, on October 17, 1852, Martha Taylor, a daughter of John Taylor, of Milton, this county.
John M. Eddy had the misfortune to lose his mother when only six years of age. He was principally reared on his father's farm, in the town of Saratoga Springs, and secured his elementary instruction in the public schools, finishing his education by courses of study in the high school at Saratoga Springs and the Fort Edward institute. After leaving school Mr. Eddy taught for three winters, and then embarked in the grocery business at the vil- lage of Saratoga Springs. After one year spent in that enterprise, he disposed of his interests in the grocery, and in 1868 removed to the farm where he now resides, at Eddy's Corners, which is the same farm first occupied by his grandfather, John Eddy, about 1810. It has remained in the family ever since, pass- ing into possession of John M. Eddy in 1889, and consists of over two hundred acres of valuable land, highly improved and lying only one and a half miles from the village of Sar- atoga Springs. In the fall of 1892 a white
E. M. Inlay, M. D.
519
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
sulphur spring was discovered on this land, which no doubt would prove very valuable, medicinally and financially, if developed and advertised as other springs have been. In connection with the farm, Mr. Eddy conducts a large dairy, finding a ready demand for his products in the markets of Saratoga Springs, and in addition to his extensive farming oper- ations he is largely interested in fine cattle, and now has on his lands a splendid herd of Guernsey cattle, some of which were imported by ex-vice president Morton. A number of these cattle were exhibited by Mr. Eddy at the World's fair in Chicago this year.
On September 18, 1873, Mr. Eddy was mar- ried to Laura B. Hunter, only daughter of Henry Hunter, of Ketchums Corners, this county. To them have been born a family of three children, one son and two daughters : Harry W., now attending the Military academy at Albany; Carrie Marshall and Hannah Laura, both living at home with their parents.
In his political affiliations Mr. Eddy has al- ways been an ardent democrat. Possessed of sound judgment and excellent business ability, together with a good constitution and untiring energy, he has won a place in the front rank of the progressive and successful farmers of Saratoga county, and is widely known as among her most useful and enterprising citi- zens.
E RWIN G. INLAY, M. D., one of the deservedly popular and successful plıysi- cians of Saratoga Springs, is a gentleman whose career fitly proves that it is no idle boast when the claim is made that America is a country where the avenue to wealth and fame is open to the poorest, if he only have the necessary brains and energy. Dr. Inlay was born on a farm in the eastern part of the town of Monroe, Saratoga county, New York, Sep- tember 17, 1847, and his parents were Mark P. and Betsey Ann (Bennett) Inlay. He was principally reared on a farm in Warren county, this State, to which his father moved while the
subject of this sketch was a small child. There young Inlay had to take his share of the usual farm work when not in the public school, which he attended regularly during its sessions, and diligently applied himself to the work of securing an education. Leaving the common school he took a course of training in the acad- emy at Warrensburg, and afterward taught in the district schools of that county for eight or ten years. He had long felt a predilection for the profession of medicine, and in the spring of 1872 entered the office of Dr. Hiram Mc- Nutt, of Warrensburg, Warren county, and began the study of the healing art. Later he read with Dr. W. D. Aldrich, of the same place, and afterward matriculated in Dartmouth Med- ical college, at Hanover, New Hampshire, from which well known institution he was graduated in October, 1878, with the degree of M. D. In the fall of the same year he came to Saratoga county, and, locating at Conkling- ville, at once entered on the active practice of his profession in that village. He remained at Conklingville until 1885, when in order to widen the field of his operations and increase his practice he removed to Saratoga Springs, where he has ever since resided. Here he met with marked success from the first, and soon had a large and lucrative business, which during the years that have intervened have compelled him to be a very busy man. He has found time, however, to keep up with the march of progress in the domain of medicine, and is one of the best and most successful physicians in Saratoga county. Since 1885 he has been an active member of the State Med- ical society of New York, and is a regular reader of and occasional contributor to the lead- ing medical journals of this country.
On September 25, 1888, Dr. Inlay was uni- ted in marriage to Phebe A. Brown, daughter of Ezra Brown, of Martinsburg, Lewis county, this State. Their union has been blessed by the birth of one child, a son, named Erwin G., jr., born November 24, 1890.
Politically Dr. Inlay is a stanch democrat,
31
520
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
but too much devoted to his profession to give much attention to politics. He is a regular attendant and liberal contributor to the Meth- odist Episcopal church of Saratoga Springs, of which his wife is a member. In secret so- ciety circles he has long been prominent, be- ing a member of Warrensburg Lodge, No 425, Free and Accepted Masons; Sacandago Chapter, No. 116, Royal Arch Masons ; Cryp- tic Council, No. 37, Royal and Select Mas- ters; Washington Commandery, No. 33, Knights Templar; the Oriental Temple at Troy ; Saratoga Lodge, No. 115, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Saratoga Tribe, No. 165, Improved Order of Red Men. Dr. Inlay not only has high standing as a physi- cian, but is a universal favorite in social cir- cles, being affable in manner and a fine con- versationalist.
The Inlay family was founded in this coun- try by the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Jonathan Porter Inlay, a native of Liverpool, England, who came to the United States in 1817, and settled at Granville, Wash- ington county, New York. He had followed the sea for thirty years, with constantly vary- ing fortunes, and upon his retirement from the water sought a home in America. He died at Granville about 1850, at a good old age. He married Serepta Sharp, and reared a family of five children, one of whom was Mark Porter Inlay (father), who was born at Granville, Washington county, this State, in 1819, and reared and educated there. He was a farmer by vocation, and removed to Warren county soon after marriage. On December 13, 1863, he enlisted as a private in Co. G, 93d New York infantry, and after participating in a num- ber of bloody engagements, was instantly killed in action at the battle of the Wilder- ness, May 6, 1864, when in the forty-fifth year of his age. In politics he was an ardent dem- ocrat, but supported the war policy of the Republican party, and died in defense of the cause he so earnestly espoused. In 1840 he married Betsey Ann Bennett, a daughter of
Abel Bennett, and a native of Warrensburg, this State. To them was born a family of six children, five sons and one daughter : George Edgar, Livonia, Erwin Gilman, DeLos, De- Forest and Joseph Emmett. Mrs. Inlay is still living, and now resides with her sons at Salix, in Woodbury county, Iowa. She is now in the seventy-first year of her age, and is a devoted and exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
B. L. HURD, one of the leading and in- fluential business men of Schuylerville, and the inventor of the celebrated and widely used "Hurd's Baking Powder," and " Hurd's Adirondack White Pine Cough Balsam," is a son of F. J. and Mary S. (Lee) Hurd, and was born at Mineville, Essex county, New York, May 15, 1852. His paternal grandfather, William Hurd, was a son of the immigrant ancestor of the Hurd family in this country. William Hurd was of English lineage, and passed his life as a farmer at his native village of Shoreham, in Vermont, where he died in 1853. He served in the Revolutionary war, and was a whig in politics. He married Mrs. P. Morton, and reared a family of four chil- dren: F. J., William, John C., and Mariette, wife of Dr. A. B. Parsons, of Jamestown, this State. The eldest son, F. J. Hurd (father), was born at Shoreham, Vermont, in 1823, and in early life became superintendent of the ex- tensive iron ore mines at Mineville, Essex county, which important position he held for fifteen years. He was also engaged to some extent in mining operations, and his ventures were so successful as to realize him consider- able wealth, which he has principally invested in land in Winona county, Minnesota. Mr. Hurd has resided since 1887 at Washington, D. C., and spends the winter seasons in the south. He looks after his landed interests, and does a considerable business in loans on western real estate. He is a republican in politics, and married Mary S. Lee, who died
521
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
September 1I, 1891, at sixty-six years of age. They had four children: B. L .; John E., who died at seven years of age; Richard, who passed away when in his second year; and George, who died at two years of age. Mrs. Hurd was a daughter of Hon. John A. Lee (maternal grandfather), one of the founders of the great mining industry of Moriah, Essex county. He was born at Tinmouth, Vermont, in 1804, was a resident and mine owner of Essex county from 1825 to 1869, when he came to Saratoga Springs, where he died August 7, 1888. He represented Essex county in the legislature in 1857, ranked as a public spirited citizen, and was one of the noted men of the Champlain valley and Adirondacks. He mar- ried Cynthia Tarbell, of Chester, Vermont, who died September 11, 1875. They had six children: Mrs. F. J. Hurd, Mrs. Eleanor M. Rogers, Mrs. Eliza A. Duprey, Mrs. C. B. Moon, Mrs. Caroline C. Jennings, and Mrs. C. B. Pease.
B. L. Hurd received his education in Gil- more's academy, of Ballston, New York, and Vermont Episcopal institute, of Burlington, that State, and then to fully prepare himself for a business career in life, took the full course of Eastman's Commercial college at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated in the class of 1869. Leaving school he was engaged in the drug business at Ran- dolph, this State, for four years, and then in 1874 went to St. Charles, Minnesota, at which place he was extensively engaged in the grain business, owning and operating Hurd's wheat elevator until 1877, when he went to Chicago, where he became a member of the board of trade, and did a large grain commission busi- ness on Clark street for one year. At the end of that time he returned to Saratoga county and graduated as a lawyer as Judge Hulbert's law student, and in 1883 came to Schuyler- ville, where he engaged in the drug business and the manufacture of his cough balsam and baking powder.
On September 11, 1870, Mr. Hurd married
Frances Harriet Maidment, and their union has been blessed with one child, a son, Lee Maidment, who is now attending medical lec- tures at Columbia college, New York. Mrs. Hurd is a daughter of Edward and Harriet Maidment, natives of England, who came to Albany, this State, where they reared a family of four children : Edward, jr .; Lizzie, wife of Dr. J. P. Jackson; Clara, wife of G. L. Myers, a law book publisher of Chicago, Illinois; and Mrs. Hurd.
In politics Mr. Hurd is a republican. In 1883 he patented his celebrated "Chemically Pure Baking Powder," and "Hurd's Adiron- dack White Pine Cough Balsam," both of which he can hardly manufacture in quantities sufficient to meet the demand that exists for them in the United States. He owns a splen- did stock farm of six hundred and thirty-four acres of land at Whallonsburg, in Essex county, which he has stocked with the finest of Cali- fornia horses, Swiss cattle, and Southdown sheep. Mr. Hurd always acquaints himself thoroughly with any business in which he en- gages; and thus to practically qualify himself to become a druggist he studied medicine for two years, and to intelligently understand the legal status of business affairs he read law for three years with Judge John C. Hulbert, of Saratoga Springs, New York. By his ability, energy, and perseverence he has attained prominence and won success.
G EORGE H. SMITH, proprietor of the village hotel at Vischer's Ferry, this county, and one of the prominent citizens of his section, is the sixth son of Samuel W. and Eliza (Palmer) Smith, and first beheld the light of this world June 13, 1847, in the old town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York. Ilis paternal grandfather, Allen Smith, was a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but re- moved to this county, and settled in the town of Saratoga. He was a carpenter by vocation. but purchased a farmi after coming here, and
522
BIOGRAPHIY AND HISTORY
spent a number of years in its cultivation. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, was a democrat in politics, and married Judith Wait, by whom he had a family of twelve chil- dren. One of his sons was Samuel Smith (father), who was born in 1808, in the old town of Saratoga, and grew to manhood and re- ceived his education in that town. He learned the carpenter trade with his father, and worked at that business for a time, but devoted most of his active life to agricultural pursuits, in which he became very successful and prosper- ous. Politically he was a republican, served as commissioner of highways for a time, was orderly sergeant in the old State militia, and was a Methodist in religious belief. His death occurred July 26, 1879, when he was in the seventy-first year of his age. In 1828 he united in marriage with Eliza Palmer, a daughter of Benjamin Palmer, a prosperous farmer of Sar- atoga county, and to them was born a family of fourteen children, eight sons and six daugh- ters : Samuel, William, Charles, Jonathan, Warren; George H., the subject of this sketch; Orville, Leonard, Ira; Alice, who married Alfred Hiscock, formerly of Rhode Island, who died in California ; Mary, who wedded John B. Goewey, of Rensselaer county ; Ma- riah, who became the wife of John McKinstry, then of Saratoga county, but now deceased ; Julia, deceased ; Emily, also dead ; and Ame- lia, now the wife of John Barry, of Saratoga county. Mrs. Eliza Smith (mother), died De- cember 13, 1889, aged seventy-eight years.
George H. Smith was reared on his father's farm in the town of Saratoga, this county, and received his education in the superior public schools provided by the State. After leaving school he learned the carpenter trade, and successfully followed that occupation until 1880, when he engaged in farming for three years in the town of Clifton Park, and then embarked in the hotel and coal business at Vischer's Ferry, this county, where he has built up a large business in both lines. He is of an energetic disposition, and gives to all
his undertakings that close and careful atten- tion which must command success in any line of endeavor.
In the year of 1877 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Emily A. Barry, a daughter of Thomas Barry, a prominent farmer in Rens- selaer county, and to Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters : Thomas L., Freddie G., Walter E., Amelia M., Arthur E., Ann and Grace, all living at home with their parents.
In his political faith Mr. Smith is an ardent republican, always giving his party an earnest and loyal support, and has been honored by election to the position of clerk of his town, the duties of which office he discharged for four years with great acceptability, and is now serving his second term as road commissioner, and is a notary public. He is a member of Jonesville Lodge, No. 132, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, and ranks among the leading citizens of his section of Saratoga county.
H JORACE E. MCKNIGHT, a promising young lawyer of Ballston Spa, is a son of Horace F. and Sarah J. (Hayes) McKnight. The ancestry of the McKnight family is traced back to Scotland, from whence they came at an early day to this country. The great- grandfather, John McKnight, was born in New Jersey, and was one of the pioneers of the town of Charlton. A man of energy and sturdy independence, he entered the unbro- ken forest, where he made his home. He built a log hut, cleared and cultivated the soil. John McKnight (grandfather) was born in the town of Charlton. Inheriting much of the push and energy that characterized his father, he became a successful farmer, which he fol- lowed all his life in the towns of Charlton and Ballston, and died in the latter town in 1864, aged seventy-six years. Horace F. McKnight (father) was a native of the town of Ballston, where he followed the occupation of farming,
523
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
and where he became one of the leading and prosperous farmers of his town, accumulating considerable property. Before the civil war he was a second lieutenant in the New York State militia. He now resides at Ballston Spa, retired from active business, and is in the seventieth year of his age. He was married in 1860 to Sarah J. Hayes, of Milton, who was of Scotch descent, a member of the Presby- terian church, and who is still living.
Horace E. McKnight was born in the town of Ballstown, Saratoga county, New York, February 5, 1864, and was brought up on the farm until twenty years of age. Being unable to perform the duties incident to the occupa- tion which his family had followed for several generations, he left the farm in the fall of 1884 and began the study of law in the office of James W. Verbeck, in the village of Ballston Spa. A close and earnest student, he had laid the foundation of a practical and substantial education in the public and select schools of his native town, and carried the same industry and earnestness into his study of the law. He was admitted to the bar September 16, 1887, and continued the practice for one year in the . office of Mr. Verbeck, when he severed his connection with that gentleman and opened a law office for himself at Ballston Spa. Pos- sessed of worthy ambition and good talent, he has succeeded in building up a paying prac- tice, and is destined to make for himself an honorable reputation in the legal profession. A republican in politics, in which he takes an active interest, he was elected to the office of justice of the peace of the town of Milton in the spring of 1888, and held the office for the term of four years, which term expired Jan- uary 1, 1893. He was appointed assistant district attorney of the county of Saratoga by District Attorney-elect John Person, which office he now holds.
On March 15, 1893, he married Miss Lillian S. Ross, of Ballston Spa, New York, where they now reside.
Mr. McKnight is a member of the Presby-
terian church and Sunday school, of which he was treasurer for five years. He is also pop- ular in social circles, and is a member of the Utopian club.
ILLIAM S. DONNELLY, M. D.,
a successful young physician of Ketch- um's Corners, this county, who has been in practice since 1883, and is prominently identi- fied with the Masonic fraternity and president of the Patrons of Industry, is the youngest son of Arthur and Mary ( Fitzgerald) Donnelly, and was born at Northumberland, Saratoga county, New York, December 25, 1859. Arthur Donnelly (father) was a native of Ire- land, born in 1814, but in 1836 he left the Emerald Isle, and, crossing the broad Atlantic, settled in Canada. There he married a Cana- dian girl, who died a short time afterward, and a few years later he removed to the United States, locating at Northumberland, Saratoga county, New York, where he resided until his death, December 12, 1864, after an active life of half a century. He was a blacksmith by trade, and was employed in a large shipyard while in Canada. After coming to Saratoga county he successfully conducted the blacksmithing busi- ness at Bacon Hill for many years, and in con- nection with that work carried on wagon mak- ing and repairing. He had learned his trade in the old country, and was an excellent and skilled mechanic. Politically he was a dem- ocrat, and in religion a member of the Catholic church. In 1844 he married the second time, wedding Mary Fitzgerald, a daughter of James Fitzgerald, of Saratoga county, and by that union had a family of eight children, seven sons and a daughter : John, Daniel, Arthur, James, Edward, Thomas, William S., the sub- ject of this sketch ; and Susan, who married Daniel McCarty, of Northumberland, this county. Mrs. Mary Donnelly was born in Saratoga county, was a member of the Cath- olic church, and died in July, 1891, aged sixty- nine years.
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
William S. Donnelly was reared at North- umberland, this county, and educated in the public schools and by private instructors. He studied medicine with Drs. John A. Moore, of Saratoga Springs, and A. Van Derveer, of Al- bany, was graduated from the Albany Medical college in 1883, with the degree of M. D., and soon afterward located at Quaker Springs, this county, where he was engaged in the suc- cessful practice of medicine for two years. In 1885 he removed to Ketchum's Corners, where he has resided and conducted a large practice ever since. Upon his graduation at Albany he was made historian of his class.
Politically Mr. Donnelly is a stanch demo- crat and has been one of the local leaders of his party for several years. In the fall of 1892 he was a candidate for the State assembly on the Democratic ticket, and made a good race, but found it impossible to overcome the large republican majority in this county. He is a member of Montgomery Lodge, No. 504, Free and Accepted Masons, of Stillwater; Mont- gomery Chapter, No. 257, Royal Arch Masons, of the same place; Washington Commandery, No. 33, Knights Templar, of Saratoga Springs; and of the Oriental Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Troy. He is also prominently iden- tified with the Patrons of Industry, and in 1891 was elected president of its State organization, which position he now occupies.
On December 26, 1888, Dr. Donnelly was united in the bonds of marriage with Clara B. Howland, a daughter of David Howland, jr., of Ketchum's Corners. To Dr. and Mrs. Donnelly has been born one child, a son, named Charles C., who is now in his third year.
R EV. JONATHAN DE VOLL, a
widely known and honored farmer, now residing on the old homestead near Gansevoort, and who has been an active preacher in the So- ciety of Friends for more than the third of a century, is the eldest son of Abner and Com- fort (Hoag) De Voll, and was born March 7,
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.