USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 80
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Thirteen sons survived him, one of whom was Philip Allen, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch. Philip E. Allen ( father ) was a carpenter by trade, and resided at
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Schuylerville, where he died in 1890, aged sixty-three years. He was a class leader in the Methodist church. He was born in 1825, and resided at Schuylerville until his death. He married Deborah Whitman, daughter of Jonathan and Mary ( Lewis ) Whitman. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen were born five children, two sons and three daughters : Caroline, Julia, Eliza, Lewis C., and Philip A. All of these children are dead, except the subject of this sketch. Deborah Allen, the mother, died in January, 1893.
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Philip A. Allen received his education in the Schuylerville Union schools, and then served his apprenticeship in the office of the Schuylerville Standard, under F. N. Crandall. He then, in 1891, leased of Mr. Crandall the paper, which he purchased one year later, on October 14, 1892. Under his management the Standard has become a bright, newsy and progressive local paper. Its politics are inde- pendent republican. It also gives valuable general reading on State and National affairs, and has a good circulation in the eastern part of the county and in the western part of Washington county. Mr. Allen has labored earnestly to build up a first-class local paper, and has met with the abundant success which his efforts have merited. While active and energetic in whatever he undertakes, yet he has confined his efforts principally to journal- ism, in which field the wide-awake and pro- gressive find an eminent and wide sphere of usefulness.
On December 31, 1891, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Carrie B. Pettit, daughter of David and Margaret P. (Allen ) Pettit, of Schuylerville.
C APT. PETER L. MAWNEY, who
for twelve years commanded a inerchant vessel on the high seas, but for several years previous to his death was a resident farmer of the town of Moreau, this county, was a son of Pardon and Experience Mawney, and was
born April 16, 1773, at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The family is of French origin and the name was formerly spelled LeMoine, but was changed to the present spelling by later generations, for what reason does not appear. Moses LeMoine, the founder of the family in America, was one of a colony of French Hu- guenots who came to this country about 1685, and made the settlement known in history as Frenchtown, in what is now the State of Rhode Island. They were driven from their native land by the persecutions which followed the revocation of the famous edict of Nantes in 1685, and, crossing the Atlantic, pitched their tents in what was then a dense wilderness, in Narragansett county, Rhode Island, where they built a log cabin, began clearing out fields, and planted an orchard in what is now East Greenwich, on lands lately owned by Nicholas G. Mawney, part of which orchard is yet standing, and is still known as the "French orchard." They literally compelled the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and that section afterward became one of the finest in the colony of Rhode Island. Moses LeMoine or Mawney had two children: Peter and Mary, the latter of whom married a Mr. Ap- pleby, of New York. Peter Mawney (great- grandfather), received a liberal education, being well versed in a number of foreign languages, and owned several large bodies of land, one of which was four miles square. His son, John Mawney (grandfather), died June 13, 1754. His children were Pardon and Jolin, the latter of whom was a prominent phy- sician, served as sheriff of Providence county, Rhode Island, and was one of the band that burned the Gaspee in Newport, during the Revolution. He died at Cranston, Rhode Isl- and, in 1830. The eldest son, Pardon Mawney (father), was born at Providence, Rhode Isl- and, December 27, 1748, and died at East Greenwich, August 6, 1831. He was exten- sively engaged in farming for a number of years, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and in June, 1772, he married Experience
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
Gardner, a daughter of Caleb Gardner, of South Kingston, Rhode Island, and reared a family, one of whom was Peter L., the subject of this sketch.
Peter L. Mawney received a superior En- glish education, and early is life became a sailor. He gradually rose from one position of responsibility to another until he became captain of a ship, and for twelve years com- manded a sailing vessel on the high seas. He then retired from that business, and in 1803 came to the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, New York, and purchased the farm of two hundred acres upon which his surviving daughters now reside. Here he passed the remainder of his life, dying at Moreau, January 30, 1868, when in the ninety-fifth year of his age. In political faith he was a democrat, but at no time took an active part in politics, and was for many years a Master Mason.
On March 11, 1804, Captain Mawney was united in marriage to Zeruah Patchin, daugh- ter of Jesse Patchin, a prosperous farmer of English ancestry, residing at Milton, this county. To Captain and Mrs. Mawney was born a family of eight children: John (1), who died in infancy; John (2), Pardon, Horatio, Isabella A., Peter LeMoine, Sarah and Mary, all now deceased except Isabella A. and Sarah, who reside on the old homestead near Ganse- voort. Their farm of two hundred acres is well improved, supplied with excellent farm buildings, and ranks with the most valuable property of the kind in this section of the Empire State.
EZRA SAYRE, the proprietor at Cor-
inth, of one of the largest drug houses in that section of the county, is a man of activ- ity and purpose, which he has already shown in every change of place, occupation and for- tune from boyhood up to his present prosper- ous position. He is a son of John W. and Sarah Ann (Sturdevan) Sayre, and was born in the town of Hadley, Saratoga county, New
York, May 27, 1851. The Sayre family is of English descent, and its first American ances- tor was of Pilgrim stock and an early settler in Plymouth Colony. Descended from him was Rev. Ezra Sayre, a native of New Jersey and the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Rev. Ezra Sayre learned hatting, but soon quit his trade to study theology and enter the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He held several pastorates in New Jersey, served the church at Luzerne, New York, and in 1853 went to Shelby county, Missouri, where he died in 1864, at sixty-four years of age. He was twice married, and by his first wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Westfall, had two children: John W. and Amos. John W. Sayre (father) was born at Stillwater, New York, January 19, 1823, and followed lumbering in the town of Hadley, where he died June 10, 1855, at the early age of thirty-five years. He was a republican, and had been a member for several years of the Methodist church and Conklingville Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, who conducted his funeral ceremonies. He held several town offices, and married Sarah Ann Sturdevan, daughter of James and Lydia Sturdevan, of Hadley, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Sayre were born three children, two sons and one daughter: Mary Frances White, Ezra, and John H., who went to Nebraska, where in 1877 he was shot, at Albion, Boone county, by an insane crank who is now serving a life sentence in the Lincoln State prison for the murder, which he committed because his victim refused to drive him to a near town.
Ezra Sayre received his education in the common schools of Shelbyville, Missouri, at which place he lived with his grandfather, Rev. Ezra Sayre, from five to nineteen years of age. He then returned to Corinth, where he learned the trade of carpenter and mill- wright, and worked with the Hudson River Pulp & Paper Company up to 1891. During the following year he purchased the drug store of W. R. Clayton, on Maple street, and now
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
has one of the largest and most heavily stocked drug houses in his part of the county. His establishment is fitted up with special refer- ence to the drug business, and his stock em- braces a full and complete line of pure drugs, chemicals, standard patent medicines, fancy and toilet articles, and fine stationery. Mr. Sayre employs a skilled and experienced as- sistant, and makes a specialty of filling physi- cian's prescriptions, which are compounded with the greatest of care. He has built up a fine and lucrative trade, and his establishment is a prominent feature in the commercial pro- gress of Corinth.
Ezra Sayre, on the last day of the centennial year, was united in marriage with Augusta Mc- Queen, of Corinth, New York, and their union has been blessed with four children, two sons and two daughters: Mabel, John W., Minnie and Louis.
In politics Mr. Sayre is a republican. He has served his town in official capacities for seven continuous years, two terms as collector, three terms as assessor, and two terms as su- pervisor. He is one of the oldest living members of Corinth Lodge, No. 174, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Sayre's ca- reer has been one of constant activity, and although young in years he now occupies a prominent place in the civil affairs and busi- ness life of the thrifty and progressive village of Corinth.
JAMES E. McECKRON, proprietor of a large coal, wood and lumber business at Schuylerville, and one of the most respected and useful citizens of the county, is the eldest son and third child of Andrew and Jane (Bar- ker) McEckron, and was born May 1, 1846, at Wilbur's Basin, in the old town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York. The McEckrons are of Scotch descent, and are old residents of this State. Jacob McEckron, paternal grand- father of James E., was a resident of Argyle, Washington county, where his son, Andrew McEckron (father), was born and reared.
After receiving a good common school educa- tion the latter engaged in compounding patent medicines, and was proprietor and manufac- turer of the famous "McEckron's Ringbone liniment" for many years. The early part of his life was spent in Washington county, but he afterward removed to Saratoga county, set- tling at Schuylerville, in the old town of Sara- toga. Politically he was a whig and republi- can, and died in 1858, at the age of forty-four years. In 1841 he married Jane Barker, a daughter of James Barker, of this county, by whom he had a family of seven children : Elizabeth Davis, Emily Clement, James E., Andrew, Mary Jane, who died in childhood ; Phœbe and Charles. Mrs. Jane McEckron was born at Quaker Springs in 1821, and died. at Saratoga Springs, August 26, 1891.
James E. McEckron was reared principally at Schuylerville, and received his preliminary instruction in the public schools. He after- ward attended the Fort Edward institute, where he passed the regent's degree, and after leaving school became a clerk in the gen- eral mercantile establishment of N. J. Seeley, at Schuylerville, this county. He was prompt and efficient, and remained with Mr. Seeley for a period of six years, at the end of which time he embarked in the butchering business for himself at Schuylerville, and successfully conducted that enterprise for two years. He then abandoned it to engage in boating on the Champlain canal from New York to Canada, in which he was engaged for nearly a decade, carrying coal to the Canadian markets and lumber from that country to the markets of New York and the New England States. In 1885 he opened his present coal, wood and lumber business at Schuylerville, and has been successfully engaged in these lines ever since. His personal attention has been given to his constantly growing business, and he now has a prosperous and lucrative trade, "his coal, wood and lumber yards being among the largest in this village.
At the village of Schuylerville, Saratoga
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
county, this State, on April 22, 1873, Mr. McEckron was married to Mary Ray, eldest daughter of James and Lydia Ann (Fuller) Ray, both natives of that place, though of Scotch-English lineage. To Mr. and Mrs. McEckron have been born five children, one son and four daughters : Grace, deceased in infancy; Cornelia J., May, Belle and James Ray, the four latter living at home with their parents.
Politically Mr. McEckron is a stanch pro- hibitionist, having always been a strong advo- cate of temperance. In 1888 he was elected a member of the board of education, and has served continuously in that position ever since. For many years he has been a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Schuylerville, in which he has served as class leader and steward.
H ARVEY SCIDMORE, one of the leading farmers of Saratoga county, is a son of Abner and Hannah (McKinster) Scid- more, and was born in the town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York, December 30, 1821. He received his education in the dis- trict schools of his native town, and then em- barked in farming, which he has followed suc- cessfully ever since. He resides on the farm that was purchased by his grandfather, John Mckinstry, in 1787. Besides this home farm of two hundred acres of good land, Mr. Scid- more owns fifty four acres in another tract, in addition to two woodland tracts, respectively of sixty and one hundred and twenty acres. While abundant success has crowned his farming operations, he has also been fortu- nate in his business ventures and in his in- vestments in village property, now owning several valuable lots and buildings at Saratoga Springs. He is a republican, politically, and while not a member of any church he attends the Methodist church regularly.
On January 18, 1849, Mr. Scidmore mar- ried Hannah C. Glean, daughter of Oliver
Glean, of Saratoga Springs. They have four children, one son n and three daughters : George S. Scidmore (married Emma E. Ar- nold); Sarah Cleaveland, Nellie C. Herrick, and Jessie M. Bennett, all of whom received ·their education in the common schools.
The Scidmores are of English extraction, and Abner Scidmore, sr., the paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was a na- tive of the town of Saratoga, in which he passed the larger part of his life, and where he died March 30, 1863, aged eighty-two years. He was a farmer by occupation, and a republican in politics. He wedded Sarah Coon, and reared a family of four sons and three daughters : John, Solomon, Benjamin, Abner, Mary H., Annabel, and one other. Abner Scidmore was born May 2d, 1781, in the town of Stillwater, but removed, after at- taining his majority, to the town of Saratoga, where he passed his life in agricultural pur- suits. He was a republican, and a protestant, and ranked as one of the substantial men and leading citizens in the community where he resided. He died March 30, 1863, at eighty- two years of age. Mr. Scidmore married Hannah McKinster, and to their union were born two children : John and Harvey, whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Mrs. Scidmore lived to be seventy-three years of age, dying on September 10, 1860.
H ON. AUGUSTUS BOCKES is a son of Adam Bockes, and was born in the town of Greenfield, this county. His father was a son of Adam Bockes, sr., and ranked as a man of usefulness and sterling worth. Augustus Bockes read law, was admitted to the bar in 1843, and was engaged in success- ful practice at Saratoga Springs until 1847. In that year he was elected county judge, and reëlected to the same office in 1851, but re- signed in 1854 to accept an appointment as a justice of the supreme court. He was elected to this position in 1859, and reelected suc-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
cessively in 1867 and in 1875, when he was nominated and supported by both political parties. In 1875 Judge Bockes was appointed to the general term of the supreme court, and was again assigned by Governor Tilden to the same office for a term of five years.
THOMAS BRESLIN was born at Ush-
er's Mills, Saratoga county, New York, in 1836. In 1846 he removed with his parents to Waterford, New York, where, after attain- ing manhood, he engaged in manufacturing and various other enterprises, in which he has been very successful.
C OL. EPHRAIM ELMER ELLS- WORTH, whose early death, under tragic circumstances, at the very beginning of the late civil war, made his name familiar throughout the land, and caused it to be used as a rallying cry on many a sanguinary field, was born in the town of Malta, Saratoga county, New York, April 11, 1837. His parents were Capt. Ephraim D. and Phebe (Denton) Ellsworth, the former a native of the town of Half Moon, this county, and the latter born in the town of Malta. The family is of English or- igin, but was settled in this country prior to the Revolution. George Ellsworth (grandfather) served as a soldier in that contest, taking part in the battle of Bemus Heights, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. He married Sa- rah Reynolds, and had fourteen children. His son, Ephraim D. Ellsworth (father), was born May 22, 1809, learned the trade of tailor, at which he worked in Troy and Jonesville, this county, and in 1836 married Phebe Denton, by whom he had two sons : Col. Ephraim El- mer and one who died in Chicago at an early age. On the 16th day of November, 1861, he was commissioned by President Lincoln as captain in the ordnance department, and as- signed to duty at Fortress Monroe. This po- sition he soon resigned, and was assigned to
the charge of the Champlain arsenal at Ver- gennes, Vermont, where he remained ten years, returning to Saratoga county in the fall of 1871. He was disabled by an accident which hap- pened at the time of the Fenian raid, and the government continued for many years to re- new his leave of absence, continuing his sal- ary without requiring any active service in re- turn.
Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth's boyhood days were spent among scenes rendered classic in American history by the battle of Saratoga and the surrender of Burgoyne, and he early imbibed a love for military life. He attended the public schools, where he became noted for his love of history and his talent for drawing and sketching. Leaving school he became a clerk at Mechanicville, and later at Troy, and in 1853 went to New York city, where he re- mained as a clerk one year, regularly attend- ing the drills of the 7th New York infantry, and studying military tactics in his leisure mo-
ments. In all his struggles for place and po- sition in the mercantile world, which filled several following years, the military idea was uppermost, and under the instruction of the accomplished swordsman, De Villiers, he be- came master of the several systems of tactics and of the use of the sword and bayonet. At an early age he went to Chicago, and associa- ted himself in business with Arthur F. Deve- raux, of Massachusetts. For some cause the firm was not successful, and young Ellsworth turned his attention to the law. He finally entered the office of Abraham Lincoln, at Springfield, under whom he completed his preparation for the bar, and was duly admit- ted to practice only three weeks before he be- came an escort of the president-elect to Wash- ington in the spring of 1861. He had organ- ized a company of zouave cadets in Chicago in 1859, and with them took an active part in the presidential canvass of 1860. When the war cloud burst in 1861 young Ellsworth hast- ened to New York, and organized the Ist New York zouaves, with which he returned to Wash-
buy
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OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
ington, and was mustered into the service of the United States. After a few days' drill they were ordered to cross into Virginia and cooperate in the attack on Alexandria On the 24th of May, 1861, while descending with a Confederate flag which he had torn from the flagstaff of a house which had once sheltered Washington, Colonel Ellsworth was shot by the owner of the house. A Union soldier al- most at the same instant shot his assailant. Thus perished the young and ambitious sol- dier, whose short life was a noble example of patriotism, and whose tragic death electrified the whole country, and caused thousands of stout hearts to register a vow to see it avenged. No more fitting close to this sketch can be found than the tender words of President Lin- coln to the bereaved and broken-hearted pa- rents of the gallant colonel : " In the untimely loss of your noble son our affliction here is scarcely less than your own. So much of promised usefulness to our country, and of bright hopes for oneself and friends, have rarely been so suddenly darkened as in his fall. In size, in years, in youthful appearance, a boy only, his power to command men was surprisingly great. This power, combined with fine intellect and indomitable energy, and a taste altogether military, constituted in him, as seemed to me, the best natural talent in that department I ever knew."
M ILES ROOT, a well known citizen of Schuylerville, whose business career of nearly half a century has brought him honor, standing and a comfortable competency, is a . son of John and Mahala (Parmington) Root, and was born in the town of Stillwater, Sara- toga county, New York, January 31, 1828. Of English origin, the Root family was early transplanted to the New World, and settled in one of the New England colonies. During * the last century one of its several branches was planted in the town of Stillwater, where John Root, sr., (grandfather), was born. His
son, John Root (father), was born August 20, I 793. He was a farmer and a whig in poli- tics, and died June 2, 1864, at the age of sev- enty years. He married Mahala Parmington, and to their union were born eleven children: Eliza Traver, Betsey, Eleanor, Cordelia and Edwin (twins), Miles, Sarah Cole, Anna M. Herrington, George, Harriet and William. Mrs. Root lived to be seventy-three years of age.
Miles Root was reared on the farm, received his education in the early common schools of New York, and at nine years of age had to commence life for himself, although but a mere boy. He afterward engaged in farming, which he followed for seventeen years. At the end of that time he purchased a farm but sold it two years later. In 1852 he bought the furni- ture shop of John Cox, of Schuylerville, which he enlarged and to which he added an under- taking department. He soon built up a good trade, whichi he held for over forty years, sell- ing out in 1893 his undertaking business to James Winney, and his large stock of furni- ture to Welling & Ensign. While in business he made a large circle of friends, and his pa- trons were extended over a large area of ter- ritory. Mr. Root began business prudently, and without attempting extravagant display. He economized his resources, was always at- tentive to every detail of work, and only en- larged his sphere of operations when he was assured that it could be done with safety. He was equally successful in both lines of his business, and interred the remains of over three thousand persons. Mr. Root owns a beautiful residence and five acres of land at Schuylerville, beside his former business build- ing, which he rents to his successors. He is a republican in politics, and has earned by his own efforts the well deserved competency which he enjoys.
On June 10, 1852, Mr. Root was united in marriage with Elmira Potter, who was a daugh- ter of Benjamin Potter, and who died in 1886, at fifty-seven years of age, leaving six children:
.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Cornelia Welsh, Fannie, Irwin, Amanda Walch, Nettie, a teacher in the public schools of Schuylerville ; and Arthur, a clerk in John G. Meyers' dry goods house of Albany, New York. For his second wife, Mr. Root, on January 4, 1888, wedded Mrs. Hattie J. (Somes) Wilson, a daughter of Smith and Fanny. (Meyers) Somes. The Somes' are of English extrac- tion, and Smith Somes was a son of Stephen Somes, of Dutchess county, and a brother to Werten, Samuel and Betsey Somes, of that county. Smith Somes was a republican and a Baptist, and had been in the hotel business for several years. He was married twice, and by his first wife, Fanny (Meyers) Somes, had three children: Mary E. Rogers, Mrs. Hattie J. Root (wife of the subject), and Frank Knick- erbacker.
HARLES W. KEEFER, M. D., the
present efficient coroner of Saratoga county, and a prominent, active and success- ful physician of Mechanicville, is a son of Nel- son and Louisa (Staples) Keefer, and was born at Argyle, Washington county, New York, January 13, 1853. His paternal grandfather came to this country from Germany and settled at Ruford, Vermont. Nelson Keefer (father) removed to East Greenwich, Washington county, this State, prior to 1853. Four years later he embarked in woolen manufacturing, in which he continued successfully for a quarter of a century. He then, in 1882, retired from active business. In politics he is a republican, and in religion a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. He has always ranked high in the different communities where he has resided as a man of stainless honor, hon- esty and integrity. He married Louisa Sta- ples, and they had three children : Walter, Jerome, and Dr. Charles W.
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