USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 82
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
On September 14, 1853, Mr. Reynolds wed- ded Mary E. Cornell, a daughter of Dr. Ben- jamin Cornell, whose sketch appears in this volume. To their union have been born four sons and two daughters : Isabella C., wife of
William Me Echrome
593
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
W. G. Havens, a lawyer of New York city; John C., who died in infancy; Frank C. (1), deceased in childhood; Austin L., at home; Frank C., (2), who married May Hamilton, daughter of Jabez Hamilton ; and Mary E., wife of George L. Williams, of Chicago, now engaged in the publishing business.
Austin L. Reynolds has won his way to an honorable position and a widespread influence by attention to business, an upright and gen- tlemanly course in life, and by the display of the many amiable and admirable traits which he possesses. He was a democrat until the late civil war, since which he has supported the Republican party. He has served his town ten terms as supervisor, five of which he was elected as a democrat when the repub- licans had a large majority, and two without opposition. In 1854 he was the democratic nominee for assembly, and was only defeated by thirteen votes. After uniting with the Re- publican party, on questions growing out of the late war, Mr. Reynolds was nominated for the assembly in 1866, and elected. His course as a legislator was such that he was re-elected in 1867. He served during both of his terms as a member of the committee on cities and other important committees, where he was dis- tinguished for his clear perception and sound judgment. Mr. Reynolds has ever discharged most faithfully his every duty as a legislator and a good citizen, while as a man he is known for his high sense of honor and his uniform kindness and commendable spirit of charity.
W ILLIAM McECHRON, one of the most successful men of Glens Falls, New York, is a gentleman who began life without a dollar, and now controls large business inter- ests extending to various parts of this country and into the Dominion of Canada. He is a splendid example of the self-made men of America, and his career and character furnislı inspiration and encouragement for young men who are just beginning their carcer, and are 35
compelled to rely on their own exertions for success in life. Mr. McEchron is the only son of David and Hannah L. (Selfridge) McEch- ron, and was born August 3, 1831, in the town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York. The family is of Scotch descent, and its first rep- resentative in America was sent over by the Duke of Argyle to take possession of estates granted the duke by King James I. of Eng- land. These estates consisted of lands lying near the present site of the village of Argyle, Washington county, this State, and extending ten miles east from the Hudson river. On this tract the family established itself, with half a dozen others, and the settlement thus commenced became known afterward as Ar- gyle. About the same time another settle- ment was begun, further back from the river, which was called Hebron, and is now included in the town of Hebron, Washington county. David McEchron (father) was born and reared in that county, and his wife was a native of Argyle. He was educated in the common schools of his native place, and during the early part of his life was engaged in canal con- struction as foreman on the Delaware & Lack- awanna canal, where, by hard work and care- ful management, he acquired the means to purchase a comfortable home. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, taking part in the battle of Plattsburg. Politically he was a democrat until 1852, when he became affiliated with the republicans, and was a strict member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was twice married, his first wife being Margaret Crosett, by whom he had one daugliter, Nancy, who married Ransom Sutfin, late of Schuyler- ville. After the death of his first wife he mar- ried Hannah L. Selfridge, a daughter of Ed- ward Selfridge, of Argyle, Washington county. To this union was born a family of five chil- dren, one son and four daughters: William, the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth Hagar; Hannah M., wife of J. M. Coolidge; Cornelia, married Rev. Merritt Hulburd, D.D., pastor of the Spring Garden Street Methodist Epis-
594
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
copal church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Ruth, unmarried. Mrs. Hannah L. Mc- Echron died in 1890, in the eighty-sixth year of her age.
William McEchron was educated in the pub- lic schools of Fort Edward and at Argyle academy, in Washington county. After leav- ing the common schools he was employed for a short time as tow boy on the Champlain canal, and then became a clerk in a mercan- tile establishment at Argyle, where he re- mained eighteen months, receiving as pay sev- enty dollars, with board and two terms' school- ing at the academy. At the end of his course in that institution he immediately entered the employ of Frederick D. Hodgman, a lumber manufacturer of Fort Edward, at wages of thirteen dollars a month, and remained with him for six months, engaged in cutting and preparing timber for the mills. He then ac- cepted a like position with Bradley & Under- wood, with whom he remained thirteen years, during eleven of which he acted as foreman, working in the woods through the winter sea- son and driving logs on the river in summer.
In 1863 Mr. McEchron formed a partner- ship with James Morgan, and under the firm name of Morgan & McEchron embarked in the lumber business at Glens Falls, this county. In 1865 they admitted A. M. Adsit and Jones Ordway to the partnership, and the firm name was changed to Morgan, Adsit & Co. This firm purchased the Cheney Mill Company's property at Glens Falls, and conducted busi- ness until 1871, when Mr. Adsit died, and his interest was purchased by Jarvis A. Under- wood, the firm name then becoming James Morgan & Co., which was afterward changed to the Morgan Lumber Company. Three years later, in 1873, Mr. Morgan died, when his interest was sold to William E. Spier, son- in-law of Mr. Morgan, W. H. Weaver and C. E. Vanzandt, of Albany. Prior to this the Morgan Lumber Company had become asso- ciated with Mr. Weaver in the lumber business at Albany, New York. Later Underwood and
Vanzandt sold their interests to Messrs. Ord- way, Spier and Weaver. It is now thirty years since this business was established at Glens Falls, during which time it has been conducted under four different names, and of the original partners in interest, Mr. McEch- ron is the only survivor, Mr. Ordway having died in 1890, at which time his interest was purchased by H. A. Bowden, W. A. Spier and William H. Weaver, the former a son-in-law of Mr. McEchron. The business of the Mor- gan Lumber Company is undoubtedly the leading industry of the village of Glens Falls, with its ramifications extending up and down the Hudson river, and its numerous saw and planing mills on either side constantly cutting the finest timber of this region into every form of lumber demanded by the modern markets of the world. Their mills have an estimated capacity of thirty million feet of lumber per year. This magnificent business has been built up largely under the personal supervis- ion of the man who began life forty-five years ago as a tow boy on the old Champlain canal.
In addition to his connection with the Mor- gan Lumber Company, Mr. McEchron is con- nected with and owns large lumber interests in other parts of this country and in Canada, being president of the St. Maurice Lumber Company at Three Rivers, Canada ; largely interested in the lumber firm of W. H. Weaver & Co., of Albany, New York, and a member of the Norwood Manufacturing Company, of Norwood, this State, in which he owns a one- fourth interest. He is also a large stockholder in the Glens Falls Paper Mill Company, one of the largest concerns of the kind in New York. The lumbering interests with which he is connected aggregates an annual product of sixty-five million feet of lumber, worth one million dollars, while the paper business ag- gregates one million five hundred thousand dollars per year. He is also prominently iden- tified with the Morgan Lime Company, mak- ing one hundred thousand barrels of lime a year, which lime already ranks among the first
595
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
in the United States in point of quality. Mr. McEchron is also a director and vice presi- dent of the First National bank of Glens Falls, and a director in the Glens Falls Brick and Terra Cotta Manufacturing Company. He is likewise a stockholder and director in the Glens Falls Insurance Company, a trustee of the Glens Falls academy, and trustee and di- rector in the Young Men's Christian associa- tion at Glens Falls, where he resides.
In his political affiliations Mr. McEchron is a member of the Republican party, and has served the village of Glens Falls acceptably as president and trustee. For nearly the third of a century he has been a prominent member and trustee of the Glens Falls Methodist Epis- copal church, and has always been liberal in his support of the various religious interests of his denomination, and in doing good as he had opportunity. He is also an active and suc- cessful worker in the Sunday school, and takes a deep interest in its welfare.
In 1858 Mr. McEchron was united in mar- riage to Sarah E. Carswell, a daughter of Dan- iel and Margaret (Lytle) Carswell, of Fort Edward. To Mr. and Mrs. McEchron was born a family of five daughters: Margaret, who married H. A. Bowden, secretary and treas- urer of the St. Maurice Lumber Company, of Three Rivers, Canada, who resides at Glens Falls, New York, where he is also largely in- terested in the Morgan Lumber Company, Morgan Lime Company, and the Glens Falls Paper Mill Company; Bertha, deceased in early womanhood; Katie, died in infancy; Caroline, deceased at the age of nineteen; and Elizabeth, now attending the Lasell seminary at Auburndale, Massachusetts.
H OWLAND FISH, supervisor of the town of Moreau, and a successful busi- ness man of more than ordinary ability, who is now engaged in farming near Gansevoort, is the eldest son of Joshua and Mary (Row) Fish, and a native of the town of Moreau, Saratoga
county, New York, where he was born Jan- uary 28, 1833. The family is of English ex- traction, and takes rank with the older ones of New York, where several of its members have won distinction in law and other professions. Peter Fish, paternal grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Dutchess county, this State, in 1763, and passed his en- tire life in that county, dying in 1833, at the age of seventy years. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, a man of good judgment, fine business ability, and unimpeachable char- acter, and held the office of justice of the peace in Dutchess county for a number of years. In 1784 he married Alce Howland, a daughter of Samuel Howland, of Dutchess county. To them was born a family of four sons and one daughter. The second son was Howland Fish, sr., who became a prominent lawyer and diplo- mat, served two terms in the State assembly, and was a member of the Constitutional con- vention of 1821. He was the father of Judge Frothingham Fish, late judge of the district comprising the counties of Montgomery, Sara- toga, Warren, Fulton and Hamilton, and who, previous to his elevation to the bench, was one of the prominent attorneys of this State, and had served two terms in the State legislature. Judge Fish now lives in retirement at Fulton- ville, Montgomery county. The other sons of Peter and Alce Fish were: Joshua, father of Howland Fish ; Peter and Job, the latter of whom removed to Louisiana, where he prac- ticed medicine for many years, but is now de- ceased. Joshua Fish (father) was born in 1789, in Dutchess county, this State ; received his education in the common schools, and while yet a young man went west, and after- ward traveled down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, Louisiana, on a flat-boat, before steamboats were known, in which State he made his home for many years. He took part in the battle of New Orleans in 1816, and was in command of Baton Rouge, where he re- sided and had charge of the post during the continuance of hostilities. He was a demo-
596
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
crat in politics, and after his return to New York settled in Saratoga county, and was elected supervisor of the town of Moreau. His character was above reproach, and he ex- emplified all the virtues of true Christian man- hood, though he never connected himself with any church. He died May 24, 1861, aged seventy-two years. He was twice married, his first wife being Catharine Sides, by whom he had a family of five children : Peter, now deceased ; Walter, also dead, who was one of the earliest settlers of Oregon, where he ac- quired a competence in the mercantile busi- ness in Oregon City ; Milton, captain of a ship for several years engaged in the fur trade in Alaska ; Joseph, now a practicing attorney at Cadott, Wisconsin ; and Mary, who first mar- ried William Sweet, and after his death in the civil war, wedded M. C. McCall, now of Min- nesota. His first wife died in 1827, and in 1831 Joshua Fish married Mary Row, of Dutch- ess county, this State. To this second union was born a family of nine children, two sons and seven daughters : Howland, the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth, unmarried; Fannie; Sarah ; Ward, who lives in Chicago; Jane, who wedded Scott Fuller, and is now deceased; Carrie, now deceased ; Henrietta, who became the wife of John Brown ; and Phœbe, who married William Davis, of Greenfield, Sara- toga county.
Howland Fish was reared principally in the town of Moreau, this county, where he ac- quired a superior English education in the public schools, and afterward taught in the district schools for a time. He then had charge of manufacturing and shipping lumber for several years, and later traveled exten- sively in the south and west for the purpose of seeing the country and becoming acquainted with the business opportunities and resources of his native land. From 1861 to 1881 he was engaged in shipping grain and lumber over the Erie canal from Buffalo to New York city. In the latter year he removed to the farm he had previously purchased in the town of Mo-
reau, this county, where he has since devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. His home farm contains two hundred acres, and is located in the Snook Kill valley, about two miles from Gansevoort postoffice. He also owns a farm of one hundred and seventy acres on the plains of Moreau, which is devoted to raising sheep for the markets and butchers of Saratoga Springs.
Politically Mr. Fish is a democrat, and has always manifested a deep interest in local pol- itics. At the age of twenty-one he was elected school commissioner of the town of Moreau, and in 1883 he was elected to the position of supervisor of the town. In 1893 he was re- elected to the same office, receiving the largest majority on record in this town, which usually gives a large republican majority. No more striking proof could be given or desired re- garding his personal popularity where he is best known. He has been a member of Sen- ate Lodge, No. 456, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, of Glens Falls, nearly ever since its or- ganization, and is now a life member.
In January, 1862, Mr. Fish was united by marriage to Elizabeth B. Scripture, a daugh- ter of Jeremie Scripture, of Moreau. To that union was born a family of two children : Frank, who married Lizzie Sisson, of the town of Stillwater, and is a grocer and marketman at Fort Edward, Washington county ; and Cora, living at home with her parents. Mrs. Elizabeth Fish was born in Essex county, New York, and is now in the fifty-eighth year of her age.
C ORNELIUS PATTERSON, an ex- cellent mechanic and now successfully engaged in farming in the town of Saratoga, is a son of Elnathan and Phebe (Clements) Patterson, and was born in the town of Sara- toga, Saratoga county. New York, April 17, 18IO. The Pattersons are of English de- scent, and the family found its first home in this country in the colony of Connecticut. One of its new world members, Sherman Pat-
597
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
terson, came from the "Land of Steady Habits " to the province of New York prior to the Revolutionary war. Sherman Patterson died at eighty years of age. He cleared out a large farm at Westmoreland, in Oneida county, this State, where he was a prominent man in his community, and served as justice of the peace for several years before his death. He married and reared a family of six chil- dren, three sons and three daughters : John, Josiah, Elnatlian, Eunice, Betsey and Lucy. Elnathan Patterson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Connecticut, in 1780, and came with his father to Oneida county, this State, which he afterward left to settle in the town of Saratoga, this county, where he died at sixty years of age, and his remains were buried under the auspices of the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker by trade, and a genial and good natured man of excellent common sense, who was re- spected in the community where he lived for his many estimable traits of character. He owned a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, was a Jacksonian democrat in politics and had been a useful member of the Baptist church of Schuylerville for many years before his death. He was twice married. His first wife was Phebe Clements, who was a daughter of Joseph Clements, and died at twenty-eight years of age. After her deatlı, Mr. Patterson wedded Elizabeth Martial. By his first mar- riage he had four children : Joseph, now a resident of Maryland, is eighty-seven years of age ; Diana, died at twenty-two years of age ; Cornelius, (subject); and Tobias, who lived to be fifty-five years of age.
Leaving school at an early age, Cornelius Patterson learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed at various places for over twenty years. He then, in 1844, settled on a farm near his present residence, where he lived until 1873, when he purchased his present farm of one hundred and ten acres, nearly all of which is improved. He also lias one hundred and
twenty-three acres of heavy woodland in North- umberland, while his wife owns one hundred and three acres of choice land adjoining his home farm. Mr. Patterson is a Cleveland democrat in politics, who believes in a just and economical administration of the government. He has held numerous town offices, serving for many terms as road commissioner and overseer of the poor, and in other positions. He has always been interested in local affairs, both town and county, although he is no office seeker or aspirant for political honors. Mr. Patterson is a member and deacon of the Schuylerville Baptist church, which he served for nine years in succession as a trustee. He has gained a useful knowledge of life by his experience in the many different places where he worked at his trade, and by his business re- lations since engaging in agricultural pursuits, and while learning largely of the deceit and rascality practiced by men, he also learned of the nobler characteristics of the human race. His experience has been useful to protect him- self from imposition, while at the same time it has made him benevolent and charitable. He has lived to see many thousand miles of rail- road built in New York and elsewhere, though he helped to build the first railroad ever con- structed in this State - a fifteen mile road run- ning from Albany to Schenectady. This road was built in 1830, with wooden rails and strap iron nailed on top of the rails. Mr. Patterson also helped Professor Morse in his experi- ments with the telegraph before it was ever put to public use.
Cornelius Patterson has been twice married. On the 8th of November, 1837, he wedded Maria (Outwater) Moore, who was a daughter of Frederick Moore, of Dutchess county, New York, and who died June 25, 1849, aged twenty- eiglit years, leaving three children : Clarence Edgar, now a civil engineer of the city of Brooklyn; Francis Augustus, and Frederick E. On May 4, 1859, Mr. Patterson wedded Julia A. Gibbs, who is a daughter of George Gibbs. By his second marriage Mr. Patter-
598
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
son has had three children : George, now en- gaged in farming and an agent for farm and road machinery ; William, died in infancy, and Mary E., who died at eighteen years of age. Mary E. Patterson was a bright and promising girl, and had just graduated from the high school, where she took the prize of- fered by the board of education for the best essay, in a class of six contestants. Her paper was entitled, "Ne Plus Ultra," and was a scholarly production, very creditable to one of her age. A copy of it was furnished us, but lack of space prevents its publication.
JAMES DUGERY, superintendent of
the Champlain canal, and who is known as one of the best trainers of trotting horses in the United States, is a son of James, sr., and Frances (Moulton) Dugery, and was born at Lansingburg, Rensselaer county, New York, October 22, 1854. He attended the public schools of his native village until he was fifteen years of age, when he became a driver on a stage line, which he left some time afterward to drive a packet on the canal. Leaving the canal he drove a stage coach for some time for his uncle, and then was engaged in the express business, which he quit to open a livery stable at Lansingburg. Eight years later he removed to Saratoga Springs, where he conducted a livery stable for five years. He then engaged in driving and training horses for different parties and soon became quite noted as a skillful driver and fine horse- man, which reputation he has well sustained ever since. He was owner of the horse T. T. S., when he trotted a mile in 2:1912, at Albany, and trained American Girl, whom he drove when she trotted a mile in 2:1612, and to-day her record is only behind Goldsmith Maid and St. Julian. Mr. Dugery trains Senator Murphy's horses, and has trained many other celebrated trotters.
Shortly after engaging in training horses Mr. Dugery purchased his present farm of
one hundred and forty-six acres near Still- water, and in 1880 became superintendent of the Champlain canal, which position he held until 1884. The next year he became proprietor of the Everett house, in the city of Troy, which he conducted for some time. In 1890 Mr. Dugery was appointed to his present position as superintendent of the Champlain canal, and in the same year engaged in the saw mill and lumber business. Politically he is a democrat. He served as a member of the Democratic State committee in 1875, 1879, 1891 and 1892, has always been active in support of his party, and served as deputy sheriff while residing in Rensselaer county. Having been a leader for years in his party in local and State politics, he is said to be thor- oughly acquainted with the political affairs of New York, and to wield a great influence over delegates in all conventions of his party. He is a member of Montgomery Lodge, No. 507, Free and Accepted Masons.
James Dugery married Jane Jones, who was a daughter of M. R. Jones, and who died in 1862, leaving three children: James C., Bessie and Howard. On May 10, 1881, Mr. Dugery wedded Anna M. McAuliffe, daughter of Jchn McAuliffe, and by his second marriage has two children: George and Frank.
James Dugery is of Irish descent. His pa- ternal grandfather, James Dugery, was a native of County Queens, Ireland, and came to Lan- singburg, this State, where he died in 1838, at seventy years of age. He was a malt brewer and a man of considerable means, was a whig in politics and an Episcopalian in religion. He was a man of intelligence and education, and married Clarissa Bontecon, by whom he had six children: John, James, sr., Clarissa A. Smith, Hannah Nichols, Eliza Barker, and Julia McCorey. James Dugery, sr. (father), was born at Lansingburg, this State, in 1808, and died in 1891. He was a man of collegiate education, ranked as one of the most expert book-keepers in the State, and was success- ively engaged in the malt and grain and in the
599
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
general insurance business at his native vil- lage. He was a democrat and an active poli- tician, and served Rensselaer county for three terms as supervisor, beside acting as justice of the peace, and holding other local offices. He was a member of the Episcopal church, and married Frances Moulton, who was a daughter of Howard Moulton, of Troy, this State, and who died at Troy at seventy-five years of age. To their union was born six children, four sons and two daughters: John, James (subject), George (dead), Howard, Elizabeth (deceased), and Clarissa Loomis.
ENJAMIN F. CORNELL, M. D.,
one of the earliest homeopathic physi- cians of Saratoga county, and a president of the New York State Homeopathic Medical society, was of Quaker parentage, and was born at Easton, Washington county, New York, June 20, 1805. He grew to manhood in a rural district, uncontaminated with the ener- vating influences of citylife, received a limited education, and read medicine with Dr. Mosher, of his native village. He was graduated from Castleton Medical college, of Vermont, in 1826, practiced successively with Dr. Pierce, of Quaker Springs, and Dr. Mosher, of Eas- ton, this State, and then at Ft. Miller, which he left in 1841 on account of failing health, to spend a winter in Mississippi. Recruited in health he came to the town of Moreau, where he practiced successfully up to his death, which occurred on April 12, 1881, from paralysis. During a visit to Dr. Freeman, in New York city, he became favorably impressed with homeopathy, and after a close study of its principles he became one of the first homeo- pathic physicians of the county. Dr. Cornell helped to organize the homeopathic societies of Washington, Warren and Saratoga coun- ties, of western New York, and of the State, over each of which he was called to preside. While president of the State society, in 1868, he made an address that was published in all
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.