USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 76
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BIOGRAPHIY AND HISTORY
was again appointed as one of the board of examining surgeons, with headquarters at Sar- atoga Springs. He was associated with lead- ing physicians from all parts of the State in 1884, in the organization of the New York State Medical association, of which he is still an active and influential member. In all these associations and societies Dr. Reynolds has rendered great service toward the advance- ment of the profession he adorns, and his membership and contributions have brought him into a wide acquaintance with the fore- most men and leaders in the medical science of his country.
On February 17, 1843, Dr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Sarah Ann Emerson, a daughter of the late Lyndes Emerson, a well known resident of the town of Wilton. She died September 9, 1874, after a protracted ill- ness, and the doctor has never remarried. He is a member and officer of the First Presbyter- ian church of Saratoga Springs, to which he is a liberal contributor, and is as zealous and un- tiring in church work as he is in the duties of his profession. His career has been that of a true Christian gentleman, anxious to discharge every duty in life, and by continuous useful- ness, to himself and others, contributes some- thing toward making the busy world better for his having lived in it. That he has been conspicuously successful there can be no doubt.
A MASA N. WOODWARD, one of the best known teamsters and stage drivers in Saratoga county or northern New York, is a son of Lucius and Mary (Spaulding) Wood- ward, and a native of Essex, Vermont, where he was born August 2, 1841. His father was also a native of that State, and died in 1881. While yet a lad Amasa N. Woodward came to Saratoga county, New York, and was reared principally in the town of Hadley, this county, where he secured an excellent English educa- tion in the public schools. After leaving school he engaged in farming near the village
of Hadley, where he owned a fine farm con- taining two hundred and forty-seven acres of valuable land. Later he owned and ran a stage line between Hadley and Saratoga Springs, which enterprise he conducted for seven years before the construction of the rail- road which now unites these two ancient vil- lages. After the opening of the railroad Mr. Woodward commenced running a stage be- tween Hadley and Lake George, and was thus employed for a period of one year, after which he was similarly engaged for one year be- tween Ballston Spa and Fish House. He afterward ran a hack at Hadley and vicinity for four seasons, and then began teaming be- tween Hadley and Conklingville, which latter he continued during the next fourteen years, principally engaged in the transportation of raw hides and leather. For a time he was en- gaged in general freighting between Hadley and Glens Falls, and is now in the employ of the Paper Company at Hadley, teaming and freighting. Mr. Woodward has devoted nearly all his life to teaming and stage driving in this county, and is one of the best known men in this section. He owns two fine horses, several valuable building lots and one of the hand- somest residences of the village of Hadley.
Politically Mr. Woodward is an ardent dem- ocrat, and has taken an active interest in local politics. He has been elected and served in the positions of commissioner of the town of Hadley and as school collector. He is a mem- ber of Cascade Lodge, No. 176, Ancient Or- der of United Workmen, and always inter- ested in the good of the order and in every- thing calculated to benefit his fellow man.
On the 17th of June, 1861, Mr. Woodward was united in marriage to Sarah Bovard, a daughter of Alexander and Jane Bovard, of Luzerne, Warren county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Woodward was born a family of three daughters, all of whom are now grown and married. The eldest, Nellie, wedded Scott Porteous, a farmer and lumberman of Warren county, this State, where they reside; while
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
the second, Cora, became the wife of Fred Howland, of Sandy Hill, Washington county; and the youngest, Maud, married Berton Rid- dell, a prominent young druggist in the village of Luzerne, Warren county. Mrs. Sarah Wood- ward was born in Middlebury, Vermont, edu- cated in the public schools, is a member of church, and is now in the fifty-second year of her age.
C
AMES C. BRISBIN, a leading farmer
and extensive wool dealer of the town of Saratoga, is a son of Hon. James and Sally M. (Slocum) Brisbin, and was born in the house in which he now resides, in the town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York, May 22, ISII. His paternal grandfather, James Brisbin, was of Irish descent, and came from his native county, in the north of Ireland, to the town of Saratoga, where he purchased the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch, and built on it a log cabin, which stood nearly in the centre of the present apple orchard. Two of his brothers came with him and set tled near Grangerville. He died May 10, 1835, at eighty-eight years of age. Mr. Bris- bin married Mary Taylor, and their children were : Polly, Jane and Margaret. Hon. James Brisbin, who was born January 24, 1774, and died April 6, 1833, was a farmer and specu- lator by occupation. He was a leader in the Whig party, and served his town as supervisor for several terms, and the county as sheriff for three terms, after which he was elected to the legislature. Mr. Brisbin was a man of practical views, and while in the legislature was a valuable member of the committees on which he served. He married Sally M. Slo- cum, daughter of Giles and Sally (Ross) Slo- cum, and their children were : Giles S., James C. and Sally M. Hobby.
James C. Brisbin received his education in the common schools of the town of Saratoga, and has been engaged ever since in farming on the homestead farm, which he now owns. His farm -one of the finest in the county -
contains two hundred and thirty acres of pro- ductive, well-watered and well-improved land. Mr. Brisbin is a democrat in his political views, and although a close and well-informed reader on the issues of his own and the leading oppo- sition party, yet he has always refused to be a candidate for office. In addition to farming and stock raising he is to some extent engaged in dealing in wool.
James C. Brisbin, on March 22, 1864, mar- ried Ella Ableman, a daughter of Capt. Chris- tian Ableman, who was of German descent, served in the war of 1812, and married Jane Clark Potter. To Mr. and Mrs. Brisbin have been born four sons and three daughters : James S., born July 12, 1865 ; Sterling Ross, December 31, 1866; Austin E., May 9, 1868 ; Ella M., May 23, 1872; Grace L., August 14, 1877; Gertrude, September 9, 1878; and Charles C., September 10, 1881.
A NDREW J. FREEMAN, one of the heroes who so nobly defended his coun- try in the great civil war, and by so doing be- came a life-long cripple, is a son of Moses Freeman, and was born in the village of Sar- atoga Springs, Saratoga county, New York, September 5, 1845. The Freemans are an old, well known and highly respected family of Vermont, who settled there at a very carly day. Moses Freeman (father) was a native of Ver- mont, where he was born in 1808, but came to Saratoga county about 1830, and settled at Saratoga Springs, where he continued to re- side for a number of years, engaged in farm- ing and the lumber business, in both of which occupations he proved himself worthy to be counted among the successful business men of this county. In politics he was a republican, and always true to the party whose principles he espoused. In later years he removed to Greenfield, where he died in the year 1880, at the age of seventy-two. His wife was a na- tive of Vermont, and died at an early age.
Left motherless while yet a small boy. An-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
drew J. Freeman was destined never to know the fullness of a mother's love, yet he was tenderly cared for and carefully reared and ed- ucated. He passed the years of childhood principally at Saratoga Springs, and was ed- ucated at what is known as the old female sem- inary, at Mechanicville, this county. After leaving school young Freeman returned to the farm and settled down to the cultivation of the soil, which calling he faithfully and suc- cessfully pursued until August 7, 1862, when he nobly responded to the call of his country, and enlisted in Co. C, 115th New York infantry, as a private. Leaving his young wife, Mr. Freeman shouldered his musket and marched bravely forth to the field of battle, where he heroically fought for the stars and stripes for upwards of two years, until May 7, 1864, when he was struck by a minnie ball, the shot tak- ing effect in the joint of the left knee, making it necessary to amputate the leg just above the knee. He was also shot in the right leg at the same time, the ball just grazing the bone. He was honorably discharged at Albany, New York, December 10, 1864, on account of dis- ability, his leg having been amputated on the field.
After the war Andrew J. Freeman returned home, and notwithstanding his crippled con- dition, was not content to remain idle, but again engaged in farming in the town of Mil- ton, where he continued to reside up to 1883, pursuing his occupation to the best of his abil- ity. He finally abandoned farming in 1883, and came to Ballston Spa, where he engaged in the pension business, which he has followed ever since, and in which he has been eminently successful, having secured more pensions than any other man north of the city of Albany.
In 1861 Mr. Freeman was married to Phobe E. Pettis, a daughter of Stephen C. Pettis, of the town of Milton. They have one daugh- ter, Mattie, now the wife of Cyrus Hall, of the village of Ballston Spa. Andrew J. Free- man is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a repub-
lican, taking an active interest in the affairs of his town, and has served two terms as over- seer of the poor. He is also a member of William H. McKittrich Post, No. 46, Grand Army of the Republic, and is chairman of its relief committee.
H' ENRY JJ. ALLEN, M. D., of Corinth, who stands high in his honored and use- ful profession, and who served efficiently in 1891 as coroner of Saratoga county, is a son of Charles and Matilda (Kendall) Allen, and was born at Corinth, Saratoga county, New York, March 2, 1856. The Allen and Kendall families are respectively of Scotch and English descent. John Allen, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Allen, was a native of New Bedford, but spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in the town of Greenfield, where he died October 14, 1872, at seventy-one years of age. His son, Charles Allen (father), was born in 1827, in the town of Greenfield, where he lived until he had attained his majority, and then came to Corinth, and has been res- ident here ever since. He has retired from active life, although he is still serving as vil- lage commissioner, which office he has held for two years. Mr. Allen is a stanch republi- can, but is no extremist in political matters. He married Matilda Kendall, who was born in 1830, in the town of Corinth, and is now in the sixty-third year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two children, one son and a daugh- ter. Mrs. Allen is a member of the old Ken- dall family, one of the early settled familes of the county. Her father, Riley Kendall, was a native and life-long resident of the town of Corinth. He was a farmer by occupation, and married Nancy Reeves, by whom he had six sons and four daughters. He was an in- dustrious citizen, and died March 30, 1882, aged seventy-eight years.
Henry J. Allen grew to manhood at Corinth, received his education in the public schools, and learned the trade of machinist, which he
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
followed for twelve years, most of the time being spent in the employ of the Hudson River Pulp & Paper Company, whose mills were at his native village. Leaving this com- pany, he quit his trade and commenced the study of medicine. He read with Dr. S. C. Johnson, of Corinth, and then entered the medical department of the university of Ver- mont, at Burlington, that State, from which he was graduated in the class of 1883. In that same year he returned to his native vil- lage and commenced the practice of his pro- fession, in which he has been most success- fully engaged ever since.
On November 7th of the Centennial year, Dr. Allen was united in marriage with Eleanor C. Lindsey, daughter of Lyman H. Lindsey, of the town of Day, this county.
As a physic an, Dr. Allen ranks high in his profession, and enjoys an extremely large and very remunerative practice. He is a member of the Delta Mu society, of the university of Vermont; Corinth Lodge, No. 174, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows; and Tallehatchie Tribe, No. 229, Improved Order of Red Men. Doctor Allen is a straight republican in poli- tics, and has always given his party an earnest and effective support. In 1890 he was ap- pointed to fill a vacancy in the office of coroner, and at the ensuing election was elected to that position by a handsome majority. His ser- vices as coroner of Saratoga county were creditable to himself and highly satisfactory to the public.
M ARTIN H. SMITHI, one of the reli- able citizens and prosperous and com- fortably situated farmers of the town of Charl- ton, is a son of Archibald and Cornelia (Heer- mans) Smith, and was born in the town of Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, New York, March 7, 1823. He was reared on the farin, received liis education in the common schools of Charl- ton, and has been successfully engaged in farming and stock raising ever since. HIe
owns the Smith homestead farm in one of the richest and most productive agricultural reg- ions of Saratoga county.
In 1857 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Jane M. Gilchrist, of the town of Charl- ton, this county.
In politics Martin H. Smith is a democrat of the Jacksonian type, who believes in an aggressive democracy and an economical ad- ministration of public affairs in the true inter- ests of the whole people. He is a consistent and useful member of Freehold Presbyterian church, and takes a deep interest in the suc- cess of his own and of all other religious de- nominations. He is a prosperous farmer and an intelligent citizen, and as a man is highly respected in the community where he resides.
The Smiths are of English descent, and were among the early settled families of south- ern New England, where Jeremiah Smith, the paternal grandfather of Martin H. Smith, was born and reared. Jeremiah Smith came be- fore the Revolutionary war to the town of Charlton, where he purchased the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. He was a thrifty and industrious farmer, and a strict Episcopalian in religious belief and church membership, and died in 1828 at seventy-eiglit years of age. He married Hannah Paddock, and their children were: Jeremiah, jr., Archi- bald (father), Ami, Calvin, Polly, wife of Philo Dunning ; Ruth, who married Nathan Holis ter ; Martha, wife of Philo Hurd ; and Alma, who wedded Elias Smith.
Archibald Smith, the second son of Jere- miah and Hannah (Paddock) Smith, was born in the town of Charlton in 1788, was graduated from Union college, of Schenectady, this State, and then read law with Van Vecton, of the city of Albany. He was admitted to the bar about 1813, and practiced successfully at Rhinebeck, in Dutchess county, until 1828. wlien his health became impaired from too close application to professional labors, and lie then went to the town of Montgomery, in Orange county, where he still practiced some, but
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
gave his time chiefly to sheep raising on a large scale. Two years' residence in the last named town convinced him that his health would compel him to relinquish his profession en- tirely for a time, and he returned to the old home farm, on which he resided until his death, which occurred in 1869. He was a whig, and served from 1840 to 1843 as county clerk, and for many years as a justice of the peace. He was a Free Mason and an Episcopalian, and in 1817 married Cornelia Heermans, daughter of Martin Heermans, of the town of Rhine- beck. Mrs. Smith lived to reach her fifty- fourth year, dying in 1848. Their children were : Theodore, Hannah, Martin H. (subject); Caroline, wife of William H. Walls; Maria, who married William Chambers, of Galway ; and Dr. Andrew H., of New York.
W EBSTER B. RUSSELL, one of the largest landholders and tax-payers of the northern part of the county, is a man who is prompt and active in all of his transactions, and who never allows the slothful considera- tion of personal ease to prevent the faithful discharge of any of his duties as a citizen or a business man. He is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Cross) Russell, and was born in the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, New York, June 14, 1838. He received his education in the district schools of the towns of Northum- berland and Moreau, and Fort Edward insti- tute, and at eighteen years of age, upon the death of his father, assumed control and man- agement of the home farm, which came into his possession and ownership a few years later. He then widened out his operations in farming and finally engaged in several of the branches of agriculture. He purchased, in 1881, an adjoining farm of three hundred acres of ex- cellent farming and meadow land, and now owns nearly five hundred acres of the most fertile and highly productive land in the north- ern part of Saratoga county. His home farm contains one hundred and ninety-five acres,
and all of his land is well improved and kept in a high state of cultivation. In politics Mr. Russell is a republican, but he has never en- tered the field of politics, as the claims of party have never had sufficient force to take either his time or call his attention from his farming interests or business affairs. He has been very successful in the management of his business, while in energy, tact and industry he, perhaps, has no superior in his community. He has acquired wealth by slow but honorable and sure means, and his present estate, worth nearly twenty-five thousand dollars, attests his steady rise from very moderate means to afflu- ence, and an influential position in his town. Mr. Russell has always shown that he could rise above considerations of personal and selfish profit, when the public weal of his community was concerned. As a citizen he is substantial and reliable, and ever anxious to advance the public welfare.
On June 1, 1887, Mr. Russell was united in marriage with Addie A. Fowler, and their union has been blessed with three children, one son and two daughters : Mary C., Helen J. and Benjamin W. Mrs. Russell is a daugh- ter of James P. and Harriet J. (Joslyn) Fow- ler. James P. Fowler was a democrat and Presbyterian, and followed farming and spec- ulating. He was of English extraction, and was twice married. By his first wife he had one child, Derrick, while by his second mar- riage he had four children : William, Mrs. Addie A. Russell, Stephen and Walter.
Webster B. Russell is of Irish lineage, and his grandfather, William Russell, was a son of a nobleman, who came from Ireland and set- tled in this county. William Russell was born in Washington county, this State, prior to the Revolutionary war. He was a whig, owned a large tract of land and was a man of considerable means for his day. He was an anti-burger and a Presbyterian, and was twice married. He married Jennie Lytle, and after her death wedded Mrs. Sarah Fowler. By his first mar- riage he had six sons and two daughters :
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
John, David, Julia Neville, Mary Hall, Benja- min (father), Joseph, Morton and William. Mr. Russell lived to be over ninety years of age. His third son, Benjamin Russell (father), was born March 10, 1803, and received a good English education. He owned a farm on White creek, in Washington county, which, in 1834, he traded for the farm in the town of Moreau, this county, on which the subject of this sketch now resides. Benjamin Russell was a farmer and whig, and lived a life of quiet and unostentatious usefulness, dying Septem- ber 25, 1855, when in the fifty-third year of his age. He married Mary Cross, who was a daughter of Samuel Cross, of Shaftsbury, Vermont, and died May 7, 1887, aged eighty- five years. They were the parents of two children : Marlon, who was born April 10, 1831, and died December 6, 1875, being mar- ried first to Elizabeth Taylor, and then to Mary E. Mascraft, and leaving one child by his second marriage - William, now dead ; and Webster B., whose name appears at the head of this sketch.
H OWLAND BAKER, an active and useful citizen of Mechanicville, and who has been successfully engaged for several years in the real estate business, is the eldest son of Daniel and Cornelia (Howland) Baker, and was born in the town of Half Moon, Sar- atoga county, New York, July 28, 1845. His grandfather, James Baker, was a native of Long Island, and traced his lineage on the paternal side to England, while his mother was of Dutch extraction, a lineal descendant of John Howland, who came over in the May- flower. James Baker settled in the town of Stillwater, where he owned three farms aggre- gating an area of three hundred and fifty acres. He was a democrat and Friend, and was twice married. He married Jemima Kirk, who died and left one child, a son, named Peter. He afterward wedded Ruth Post (paternal grand- mother), by whom he had fifteen children, all
sons : William, George, Joseph, Israel, Valen- tine, Isaac B., David S., Ransom O., Titus, Samuel, John T., James, Abel, Daniel and Paris. Daniel Baker (father) was born in the town of Stillwater, but at an early age removed to Half Moon, where he resided until his death, June 21, 1872, at fifty years of age. He was a democrat and owned two good farms, whose combined area was two hundred and twenty- four acres. Mr. Baker married Cornelia How- land, daughter of Elisha Howland, of Half Moon, Saratoga county, and to their union were born five sons and four daughters: How- land, John, Fayette, Powell, Elisha, Louisiana Strang, Martha Sutfin, Maria Arnold and Mina C. Cassidy.
Howland Baker grew to manhood on the paternal acres and received his education in the common and select schools of his neigh- borhood. Leaving school he engaged in farm- ing, which he followed until 1885, when he came to Mechanicville, where he has been en- gaged in the real estate business ever since. He has charge of the Clement addition to that village, which consists of thirty-one acres of land, and is the joint property of Mr. Baker and his brothers and sisters. This addition was laid out in 1888 into two hundred and forty-eight choice building lots, with the requis- ite number of streets and alleys for the neces- sary convenience of its future residents. Mr. Baker has sold over fifty of these lots up to the present time, and upon thirty of them good houses have been erected. The remain- ing two hundred lots he still holds, and as they are situated in one of the most desirable parts of the village, their sale is but a ques- tion of time. When built up the Clement ad- dition will add much to the wealth as well as the appearance of Mechanicville. Mr. Baker is a democrat and a member of the First Pres- byterian church, on whose board of trustees he has served acceptably for several years, besides always taking an active part in all re- ligious affairs.
On September 25, 1888. Mr. Baker was
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united in marriage with Catherine E. Bancus, a daughter of James and Maria A. (Swarthout) Bancus, of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer county, New York.
JOSHUA ANTHONY, proprietor of the Anthony Spice mills and baking powder factory, who justly occupies a prominent place in the business life of the southern part of Saratoga county, is a man of energy, will and enterprise, to whom all difficulties are but in- centives to renewed exertions. He is a son of Joshua, sr., and Lydia (Buffinton) Anthony, and was born in the town of Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, February 16, 1839. The Anthony family is of Yankee lineage, and was planted in Massachusetts at an early day in the colonial history of New England. Humphrey Anthony (grandfather) was born in 1770, in Berkshire county, in the Bay State, where he was a farmer and blacksmith, and where he lived to attain the ripe old age of ninety-six years. Of the sons born to him in his New England home, one was Joshua An- thony, sr. (father), who was born and grew to manhood on the old homestead, where he died on July 25, 1841, at thirty nine years of age. He was a steady, industrious man, was a Friend or Quaker in religious faith and church mem- bership, and during his few years of active business, had been very successful as a farmer and stock dealer. Mr. Anthony married Lydia Buffinton, who survived him a little over a year, dying August 27, 1842, when in the thirty- third year of her age. Their children were : Joshua (subject), Ira L., John B. and William H. Mrs. Anthony was a daughter of Zepha- niah and Joanna (Wells) Buffinton, who were Quakers, and came in 1846 from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, to Mechanicville, bought the farm known then as James Brad- shaw's, now owned by John Pruyne, of this county, which they left four years later to their son, John W. Buffinton, who also moved from Massachusetts at the same time, to settle on the farm now owned by the subject of this
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