USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 75
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C APT. JOHN HI. MEEKER, of Wa-
terford, one of the proprietors of a knit- ting mill, and a wounded veteran of the army of the Potomac, is a son of Capt. John H., sr., and Adelia (Young) Meeker, and was born at the village of Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, January 21, 1842. His paternal grandfather, James L. Meeker, was of German lineage, and came from his native State of
New Jersey to Waterford, where he conducted a chair factory for many years before his death. He married Eveline Van Derwerken, whose father once owned the site of Waterford. Their son, Capt. John H. Meeker, sr. (father), was born in 1811, at Waterford, where he died in 1871, at sixty years of age. He was an Episcopalian in religious belief, and a demo- crat in political opinion. His life industry was that of boating on the Hudson river. He owned several boats which he ran between Waterford and New York city. Captain Meeker wedded Adelia Young, who resided near Johnstown, New York. Mrs. Meeker died in the same year as her husband, passing away in 1871, when in the fifty-third year of her age.
John H. Meeker was reared at his native village, and received a good common school education, which he supplemented by a full course in Troy Commercial college. Leaving school he engaged in inland commerce, and owned and operated a Hudson river boat line between Waterford and New York city until 1880, when he disposed of his boats-five in number-to embark in his present coal busi- ness at Lansingburg, Rensselaer county. Twelve years later, in 1892, he formed a part- nership with James Meeker, and they started the knitting mill which they have successfully operated ever since. They have a very fine mill, which has been fully equipped with all the required machinery necessary to manufac- ture the excellent goods that they place on the market. Their products have a good demand, which is constantly increasing.
In 1869 Mr. Meeker married Julia Slocuni, daughter of Charles D. Slocum, of Waterford.
During the late civil war Mr. Meeker, in 1863, enlisted in Co. G, 16th New York in- fantry, and served as a private until 1865, when he was honorably discharged from the Federal service. He participated in all the engagements of his regiment, and was wounded in the left arm and the left side at the battle of Chapin's Farm, October 7, 1864.
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BIOGRAPITY AND HISTORY
In politics Captain Meeker is a democrat, and the last few years took an active part in political affairs. He served as a member of the school board for several years, was a canal weighmaster for sixteen years, and is now act- ing as a trustee of his village. Captain Meeker is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Sheridan Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a prominent Mason, and has been for many years a mem- ber of Clinton Lodge, No. 140, Free and Ac- cepted Masons ; Waterford Chapter, No. 169, Royal Arch Masons ; and Apollo Command- ery, No. 15, Knights Templar, of Troy. Mr. Meeker has been a member and vestryman of Grace Episcopal church for several years, and is known as a man of practical benevolence and an active, useful citizen.
A LVAH B. NASH, a prominent farmer of Clifton Park Centre, is the youngest of the two sons born to William S. and Mary J. (Trevett) Nash, and is a native of the town of Providence, Saratoga county, New York, where he was born February 22, 1838. He was reared principally on the farm in his native town, and received a good practical education in the public schools. After leaving school he engaged in farming on his own account, and has devoted nearly all his life to agricultural pursuits, including stock raising. He owns and cultivates a fine farm containing ninety acres of valuable land, all well improved and supplied with convenient farm buildings. His farm is situated at Clifton Park Centre, in the town of Clifton Park, and is considered one of the most valuable farms in this section. In its management Mr. Nash is progressive and enterprising, and has met with a remarkable degree of success.
On January 4, 1871, he was united in mar- riage to Lydia J. Benedict, a daughter of Luther Benedict, of Clifton Park Centre. To Mr. and Mrs. Nash have been born two chil- dren, both sons: Andrew L. and Charles E.
Deacon Luther Benedict, father of Mrs. Nash, was a son of Samuel and Lydia ( Dewey) Benedict, and was born in the town of Half Moon, this county. He died at Clifton Park Centre, May 16, 1886, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. In his fourteenth year he united with the Clifton Park Baptist church, and re- mained a devoted member of that organization all his life. He served his church as deacon for a period of thirty-two years, was its treas- urer for half a century, and collected the church benevolent funds for forty years. Always scru- pulously honest in his dealings and benevolent in his disposition, he was greatly esteemed by his neighbors and ranked with the best and most useful citizens of his community.
In politics Alvah B. Nash is an ardent pro- hibitionist, and is a member and trustee of the Baptist church. He is also a member of Fish House Lodge, No. 299, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and for a time was connected with the State militia, in which he held a first lieutenant's commission.
The Nash family is of Scotch origin, and was among the early settlers of Connecticut, in which State Samuel Nash, paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and removed first to Westchester county, New York, and about 1820 came to Saratoga county, settling in the town of Providence. His son, William S. Nash (father), was born in West- chester county, New York, in 1811, and came with his parents to the town of Providence, this county, when a boy. Here he grew to manhood, received his education, and after- ward learned the trade of chair manufacturer, at which he worked in the town of Providence until 1858. In that year he removed to the town of Galway, where he purchased a farm of two hundred acres and engaged in farming and stock raising. He continued his farm operations until 1868, when he sold out and returned to Providence, where he died Janu- ary 31, 1889, at the age of seventy-eight years. Politically he was a democrat all his life, and
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
held a number of local offices, including that of town clerk and two terms as supervisor of the town of Providence. In 1832 he married Mary Jane Trevett, a daughter of Henry Tre- vett, a deacon in the Baptist church of Provi- dence, and to their union was born two sons : Lewis H., now engaged in the mercantile business at Clifton Park Centre; and Alvah B., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Nash died in 1849, and Mr. Nash afterward married Hannah Pettet, a daughter of Elisha Pettet, of the town of Galway. By his second mar- riage he also had two children: William E. and Jennie, now the wife of Hiram H. Fol- lette, a merchant residing in the town of Prov- idence.
F LLEN F. TEFFT, an enterprising bus- iness man and the senior member of the mercantile firm of Tefft & Potter, of Schuyler- ville, is a son of Asel and Eliza (Oatman) Tefft, and was born at Mott Haven, in the town of West Farm, Westchester county, New York, September 21, 1858. The American ancestor of the Tefft family came from Hol- land and settled in Rhode Island, which his grandson, William Stanton Tefft (grandfather), left to settle eventually at Greenwich, Wash- ington county, where he died May 3, 1829, aged sixty years. He was a farmer by occu- pation, a republican in politics, and a Baptist in religious faith. He married Ann Foster, and his children were : Charles, Amos, Asel and Nancy. Asel Tefft (father) was reared on his father's farm and learned the trade of machin- ist, which he followed at Saugertes, on the Hudson, and then at Troy, this State. He died at Middle Falls, Washington county, New York, April 7, 1869, at fifty-four years of age. He was a republican politically, and married Eliza Oatman, by whom he had four children, three sons and one daughter : Stan- ton J., Allen F., Merriman F. and Ida M., now dead. Mrs. Eliza Tefft, who died April 7, 1862, at fifty-one years of age, was a dangh- ter of Sheldon Oatman (maternal grandfather),
a native and resident of Washington county, where he was successively engaged in shoe- making and farming. He was of Scotch de- scent, and married Mary Higgins, of Irish lineage, by whom he had five children : Mary Crozier, John, Emma, Kate Degarmo and Mrs. Eliza Tefft.
Allen F. Tefft received his education in the common schools, and at fifteen years of age became a clerk in the general mercantile store of N. J. Seelye, of Schuylerville, with whom he remained for fourteen years. At the end of that time, on February 4, 1888, he formed a partnership with F. W. Potter, and they then opened their present mercantile estab- lishment at No. 96 Broadway. They have a well arranged establishment, and carry a very full and choice stock of dry goods, carpets, and fine shoes and groceries. . They handle first class articles, conduct their establishment on correct business principles, and enjoy a large and constantly increasing patronage.
On October 11, 1882, Mr. Tefft was united in marriage with Florence Estella Grippen, daughter of M. B. Grippen, whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Tefft have two children : Mabel B. and Wal- ter G.
In politics Mr. Tefft has always been a stanch and active republican. He has been a trustee of Union Free school, District No. 1, and is a member of the Schuylerville Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has served as treasurer, and of whose Sunday school he was superintendent for ten years. Mr. Tefft, by close attention to business and a thorough ap- preciation of the wants of the public, lias achieved a success that is well merited.
J ESSE YOUNG, proprietor of the leading undertaking establishments at the county capital, and a young man of splendid business ability, energy and enterprise, is a son of Rush H. and Hannah (Humphrey) M. Young, and was born in the village of Ballston Spa, Sara-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
toga county, +New York, June 8, 1864. The Youngs are of English origin, and upon com- ing to this country the founder of the family settled on Long Island, from which point his descendants afterward spread into various of the New England and middle States. Isaac Young, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Greenfield, and, after attaining manhood, studied medicine and became a practicing physician in the town of Greenfield, this county, where he passed most of his life, and died in 1852, aged nearly eighty- one years. He married Evalyn James, and one of his sons was Rush H. Young (father), who was born and reared in the town of Greenfield, this county, but in 1855 came to Ballston Spa, and began working for John McKowan in his undertaking and cabinet-making shops. Later he was engaged for a time in the same line with E. Holmes, of Saratoga Springs. On June 21, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Co. F, 13th New York heavy artillery, and served until the close of the war, being discharged at Norfolk, Virginia, in October, 1865. Soon after his enlistment he was detailed to take charge of some plantations in Virginia for the United States government, and remained in that position until within a few days of his discharge. After the civil war closed he re- turned to Ballston Spa, and for eight years had charge of the undertaking business of P. N. Viele, at Ballston Spa. In 1876 he formed a partnership with John McKowan, under the firm name of McKowan & Young, and em- barked in the undertaking business for him- self at Ballston Spa. This firm conducted a large trade until December, 1880, when it was dissolved by the death of Mr. McKowan, and Mr. Young continued the business in his own name. He became very successful and widely known, and his active business career ended only with his death, which occurred January 29, 1890, when he was in the fifty-first year of his age. During the course of his life he bur- ied a large number of people, old and young, rich and poor, but never refused a coffin to any
one, no matter whether they were able to pay for it or not. He was acquainted all over the county, held everywhere in the highest es- teem, and his funeral was the largest ever known in this village. Politically Rush H. Young was a republican, and served for eight years as trustee of the village of Ballston Spa, two years as president of the village, and a like term as assessor and member of the board of education, and was frequently asked by his party to accept candidacy for higher offices in the gift of the party, but could not be pre- vailed upon to do so. He was also prominent in secret society circles, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, Order of United Friends, Independent Order of Rechabites, and was also a member of the fire department here for many years. At the time of his death he was commander of McKittrich Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In 1861 he married Hannah Humphrey, a daughter of Jason Humphrey, and a native of Ballston Spa, where she now resides, in the forty-eighth year of her age. She is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. To Mr. and Mrs. Young was born a family of six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom Jennie, Helen and Rush H., jr., died in in- fancy. The others are : Jesse, May E. and Ollie N. The maternal grandfather of Jesse Young, Jason Humphrey, was also of English descent, and a native of Connecticut. He came to this village from Winsted, that State, as superintendent of the scythe factory here, and remained a resident of Ballston Spa until within a few months of his death, when he re- turned to Winsted, where he died in 1847, aged twenty-five years.
Jesse Young was reared in his native village and obtained a good practical education in the public schools here. After leaving school he assisted his father in the undertaking busi- ness until the death of the latter, when he suc- ceeded to the business, and has successfully
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
conducted the establishment ever since. He is a practical embalmer, being a graduate of several schools of embalming, and carries a full line of everything needed in his line, and has a large patronage from the village and all parts of the surrounding country. Having been in a manner brought up in the business, he thoroughly understands it in every detail, and gives his personal attention as far as pos- sible to all matters pertaining to his calling.
In politics Mr. Young follows the traditions of his family and is an ardent republican, hav- ing already served one term with great accep- tability as clerk of the town of Milton. He is a member of Kayderosseras Lodge, No. 270, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Improved Order of Red Men. He is also a member of the Undertakers' association of Saratoga, Washington and Warren counties, and is serving at the present time as secretary of the same. Mr. Young is still unmarried, though very popular in the social circles of this village, and a prominent member of sev- eral well known social organizations of Balls- ton Spa.
A LMERIN D. HOLDEN, a reliable cit-
izen and substantial farmer of the town of Corinth, is a son of Obed and Sally (Farns- worth) Holden, and was born in the town of Hadley, Saratoga county, New York, Febru- ary 21, 1821. He was reared on the paternal acres, received a good common school educa- tion, and then engaged in farming and stock- raising, which he has followed very success- fully up to the present time. He came into possession of his present farm forty-four years ago, and has resided on it ever since. His farm consists of one hundred and thirty acres of well improved and well cultivated land. Beside it he owns a valuable wood lot and some very desirable property in the village of Corinth. His farm, which lies three-fourths of a mile from the above named place, is fer- tile and productive, and possesses especial ad- vantages for grazing, as well as for grain rais-
ing. Mr. Holden is a prohibitionist politi- cally, has supported the Prohibition party since its organization, and has always labored faith- fully for the suppression of the liquor traffic and the banishment of intemperance from the country.
On December 24, 1842, Mr. Holden married Zelma Mallory, who died September 14, 1871, when in the fifty-first year of her age, and left four children : A. Appleton, Charles H., John and Wallace. Some years later Mr. Holden married Elizabeth Heacock, who died on April I, 1884, and on March 14, 1886, he wedded Mrs. Lydia (Herrick) Wilcox. Mrs. Lydia Hol- den was born at Hadley, February 19, 1837, received a good English education, and after teaching several terms, was married on May II, 1856, to her first husband, James E. Wil- cox, by whom she had two children : Lillie W. Boyce and Susie H. Barbex. He died March 3, 1884, at forty-eight years of age. Mrs. Hol- den is of Dutch and Danish descent, and her grandfather, Ebenezer Herrick, was a soldier during the Revolution, participating in the bat- tle of Saratoga, and also served in the war of 1812, at Plattsburg, and married for his first wife Sarah Washburn, by whom he had nine children : Electa Reeves, Rufus, Robert, Sally Blood, Polly Hoit, Ebenezer, Lydia Saxton, and Villetta Ide. Laton Herrick (father of Mrs. Holden) was born in the town of Green- field, followed farming, was a republican and a Baptist, and died February 22, 1890, at eighty-six years of age. He married Betsey Handy, who passed away February 2, 1883, aged eighty-eight years. Their children were: Susan Cameron, Robert, John, Mrs. Lydia Holden (wife of subject), Eunice Walker and Thomas.
The Holden family is of English descent, and Elijah Holden (grandfather) was a native and life-long resident of the town of Coleraine, Franklin county, Massachusetts. He was a farmer and Baptist, and married Abigail Fos- ter, by whom he had six children : Obed, Al- merin, Elihu, John, Mary Bass and Roxanna
1
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Carpenter. Obed Holden was born and reared in the town of Coleraine, and at twenty-three years of age came to the town of Hadley, where he followed farming until his death, which occurred June 9, 1868, at seventy-five years of age. He was a democrat, a univer- salist in religion, and a Free Mason, and served as a substitute in the war of 1812. Mr. Hol- den married Sallie Farnsworth, a daughter of Joseph Farnsworth, of Coleraine. Mrs. Hol- den survived her husband four years, dying October 29, 1872, aged eighty years. To Obed and Sally Holden were born three sons and six daughters : Lydia Mallory, Abigail Cran- nell, Bridget Wilson, Sally Vail, Myra Jeffries, Almerin D. (subject), Elmina Baker, Sanford and Anderson.
C HARLES H. MILLS, postmaster at
Hadley, this county, since 1889, and one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of that section, is a son of James and Sarah (Woodcock) Mills, and a native of the town of Hadley, this county, having been born there November 12, 1851. The Mills family is of English descent, and is among the old residents of the town of Hadley, where James Mills (father) was born in 1821. He was the son of Samuel and Lillie (Shippee) Mills, re- ceived a common school education, and after- ward learned the carpenter trade, which occu- pation he followed at Conklingville, this county, nearly all his life, dying there in September, 1889, aged sixty-eight. In political faith he was a whig and republican, held a number of local offices, and was a member of the Free- will Baptist church, which he served as deacon and trustee for many years. He was a Mas- ter Mason and also a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, being first con- nected with the Conklingville Lodge, but afterward transferring his membership to Cor- inth Lodge, No. 174. In 1845 he married Sarah Woodcock, a daughter of Joseph Wood- cock, of Hadley, and by her had a family of
eight children, three sons and five daughters: Eliza, who became the wife of Albert Shippee; Charles H., the subject of this sketch; Betsy, deceased in childhood; Sarah and Willie, who both died young; Ida, who married Thomas Crosier, jr .; and Effie, living at home with her mother. Mrs. Sarah Mills was born at Corinth, was a member of the same church as her husband, and is still living at Conkling- ville, this State.
Charles H. Mills grew to manhood in the village of Conklingville, this county, where he received a common school education, and leav- ing school at the age of eighteen, he learned the carpenter trade with his father, and fol- lowed that occupation continuously for a period of ten years, being employed at various places in this county. He then opened a general store at Conklingville, and for four years was engaged in mercantile pursuits at that place, after which he took up his trade again, and has continued to work at the carpenter busi- ness more or less ever since.
In 1888 Mr. Mills removed with his family to the village of Hadley, where, in connection with his trade, he has been engaged in the undertaking business and various other enter- prises. He is at present acting as agent for Mrs. C. R. Gardiner, in closing out her large stock of general merchandise. Politically he is a stanch republican, takes an active interest in politics, and served as assembly district committeeman for two years. He was elected clerk of the town of Hadley in 1876, and has since served two terms as a member of the board of supervisors. On June 26, 1889, he was appointed postmaster at Hadley, and has acceptably filled that position ever since, and is also telegraph operator and notary public at that place. He is a member of Corinth Lodge, No. 174, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On October 12, 1876, Mr. Mills was united in marriage to Laura Paul, eldest daughter of Moses and Eliza (Hyde) Paul, of the town of Charlton, this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Mills
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
have been born a family of four children : Laura May, Moses Paul, Maude Sarah, de- ceased in childhood ; and Lewis Wait.
T ABOR B. REYNOLDS, M. D., who
has been in active practice for half a cen- tury, ranks as the peer of any professional man in Saratoga county, both in his high standing as a physician and his usefulness as a citizen. He is a son of Dr. Henry and Mary Reynolds, and a native of Wilton, this county, where he was born April 8, 1821. After a thorough preliminary education he began reading medicine with his father, and later pursued his medical studies under the personal tuition of Drs. March and Armsby, at the Albany Medical college, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in June, 1842. Returning to Wilton, this county, he associated himself in practice with his father, and they continued together until the death of the latter, December 20, 1857, at the age of seventy years. Dr. Tabor B. Reynolds then formed a partnership with his younger brother, Dr. John Henry Reynolds, and they continued to practice together in Wilton until his brother's death, April 3, 1870. In addition to his practice, Dr. Tabor B. Rey- nolds took a prominent part in local affairs while at Wilton, being public spirited and enterprising, and his zealous work on bchalf of the schools and other interests of his town were recognized and rewarded by frequent election to official positions and places of trust. He served as town superintendent of schools from 1847 to 1852, and in 1856 and 1857 was a member of the board of supervisors. He was reelected to the latter position in 1863, and by successive elections held the office until December 31, 1867. Referring to his services in that body, a writer in the Saratoga News says : "There was in the county legis- lature no member more valuable than he. A careful business man, painstaking and far-see- ing, he exercised in the service of his constitu-
ents those admirable qualities that have so signally advanced his own private estate. It was a troublous period. The civil war had thrown new duties and responsibilities on the supervisors. Originally a democrat, he was a stanch supporter of the Union all through the great struggle, and was particularly effi- cient in his efforts toward obtaining enlist- ments, filling the county's quota for the army, providing ways and means for the payment of bounties, and in other ways looking after the general welfare of the soldiers." In the fall of 1857 he was nominated and elected by the democrats and Americans to a seat in the State assembly from the Sccond assembly dis- trict of Saratoga county, and was an active, hardworking, influential member of that body during his term of office. In the fall of 1867 he was elected sheriff of Saratoga county by a handsome majority, and ably filled that posi- tion until 1871 in a way that gave great satis- faction to the general public, and was a bril- liant and honorable ending to his career as a public official. Since 1871 he has taken no active part in politics, but has devoted himself exclusively to his profession. By his eminent skill as a physician, his honorable character as a man, his energy in business, and his fine personal qualities, he has endeared himself to the people of Saratoga Springs, where he has a large and lucrative practice, that stamps his professional career as among the most success- ful ever recorded in the annals of northern New York. For many years he has been a conspicuous figure in the Saratoga County Medical society, of which he was president in 1857, and in 1858 he was elected a permanent member of the New York State Medical so- ciety. In 1860 he became a member of the American Medical association, and in 1872 served as president of the Union Medical as- sociation of Washington, Warren and Sara- toga counties. In 1878 Dr. Reynolds was ap- pointed an examining surgeon for pensions at Saratoga Springs, and held that position until 1886, when he resigned. April 24, 1889. he
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