USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 83
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the leading medical journals of the Unfted States. On May 21, 1828, Dr. Cornell mar- ried Isabella Thompson, who was a daughter of Eben Thompson, of this county, and died July 19, 1890, aged eighty-three years. Their only child is Mary E., wife of Hon. Austin L. Reynolds, whose sketch appears in this vol- ume. Dr. Cornell was a skillful and success- ful physician, and a useful and popular citi- zen. While enthusiastically devoted to his profession, he was ever ready to work in any good cause. Calm, self-possessed and self-reliant, he was noted for benevolence, sympathy and kindness.
N ORRIS S. HAVILAND, one of the best known and most prosperous farmers of the town of Moreau, who resides on his beautiful farm, one and a half miles from the village of Gansevoort, is the second son and third child of David (2) and Flora (Baldwin) Haviland, and was born March 8, 1830, at Glens Falls, Saratoga county, New York. The Haviland family is of Hollandic origin, and its earliest representatives in this country were residents of Dutchess county this State. Nathaniel Haviland, paternal grandfather of Norris S., was a prosperous farmer of Easton, Washington county, where he died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-five years. He was a Quaker in religion, an old-line whig in poli- tics, and married Jemima Hoag, by whom he had three children, one son and two daugh- ters : Ruth, who married Joseph Wells ; David (2), father of the subject of this sketch ; and Eliza. David Haviland (father) was born at Easton, Washington county, this State, where he received a good common school education, and afterward learned the mason's trade. Later he engaged in farming, but continued to work at his trade to some extent during most of his life. In later years he removed to Glens Falls, Saratoga county, where he continued to reside until his deathı, in 1851, at which time he was in the fifty-first year of his age, having
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been born in the initial year of this century. Politically he was a whig, and married Flora Baldwin, a daughter of Burel Baldwin, of Ver- mont, by whom he had a family of seven chil- dren, two sons and five daughters: Emma, who married Benjamin Conery; Ransford ; Norris S., whose name heads this sketch; Sa- lina, who wedded Hosea Goodknow; Caro- line, became the wife of Hiram Parker; Amos, George, Linas and Jerome. Mrs. Flora Hav- iland was born in Vermont in 1803, and is still living at the remarkable age of ninety years. She had two brothers and four sisters, all now deceased: Polly Ann Peck, Laura Hurd, Abba Wells, Eliza, Ransford and Amos Baldwin.
Norris S. Haviland was reared on his father's farm, received a good English education in the public schools, and after leaving school began lumbering on the Hudson river. He continued to follow that business successfully for a quarter of a century, and then purchased a farm in Warren county, this State, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1874, when he removed to Saratoga county, purchasing a farm of one hundred and ten acres at Clark's Corners, where he has ever since resided, and upon which he has made a number of important improvements. This farm is now in excellent condition, has an ample and unfailing supply of water, is highly productive, and justly regarded as one of the most valuable in the county.
On July 30, 1855, Mr. Haviland was mar- ried to Mahala Howard, a daughter of Thomas Howard, a prosperous farmer and a native of Warren county, this state. To Mr. and Mrs. Haviland was born a family of three children, one son and two daughters: Flora, who mar- ried Willis DeVall, and died in July, 1886, in the twenty-fifth year of her age; Estella, also deceased in early womanhood; and George, who married May Carey, adopted daughter of William Carey, of Moreau, and now resides with his father on the farm, devoting most of his time to its management.
In his political affiliations Norris S. Havi-
land is a republican, and served for a number of years as road commissioner in the town of Moreau. He is a strict member of the Society of Friends, in which faith he was reared, and has always been active in support of the va- rious interests of his society.
JAMES D. MULRENAN, a skilled pa-
per manufacturer, and for the past six years general manager of the great West paper mills at Hadley, is a son of James and Ann (Whalen) Mulrenan, and was born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York, January 10, 1849. James Mulrenan is a native of Ireland, and in 1837 came to Fultonville, Albany county, this State, which he soon left to settle, first at Middle Grove, and then at Rock City, in Greenfield, this county, where he has resided ever since. He is a Catholic in religious belief and church membership, and has always been a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He is now in the eighty- third year of his age, and during the active years of his life was engaged in the manufac- ture of paper. He married Ann Whalen, who was born seventy-nine years ago in King's county, Ireland, and is a member of the same church as her husband. They are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters.
James D. Mulrenan was born and reared at Middle Grove, and received a common school education. At twelve years of age he went into a paper mill and by several years of pa- tient labor and study mastered the manufac- ture of paper in all of its various and intricate details. He not only labored in the mill where he served his apprenticeship, but worked in many of the leading paper mills of New York, New England and some of the western States. Thus he acquired a practical knowledge of all the latest and most improved methods of pa- per manufacture. In the fall of 1887, Mr. Mulrenan became general manager of George West's large manilla paper mill at Hadley, which position he efficiently filled until
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1893. Under his management the mill has been greatly enlarged, improved machinery put in and the latest and most advanced meth- ods of manufacture introduced. The results of these improvements have been increased production and the manufacture of a high grade article of manilla paper that has ready sale in both the eastern and the western mar- kets. The mill has a capacity of twenty-four thousand pounds of paper per day, and fur- nishes steady employment for seventy-five men. Leaving the employment of Mr. West April 1, 1893, he engaged in business for him- self as a manufacturer of wood pulp at Hadley, New York.
In 1871 James D. Mulrenan was united in marriage with Mary E. Williams, daughter of Walter W. Williams, of the town of Providence, Saratoga county. To this union was born two children, one son and one daughter, of whom only the daughter, Addie, is now living.
Politically Mr. Mulrenan is a republican, but has never been an aspirant for office, and gives his time and thought to the development and improvement of the manufacture of paper. He is a member of Horeb Lodge, No. 93, Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Mulrenan has risen by his energy, ability and industry to a most honorable and important business position, and stands deservedly high in public estimation. He has given to the paper busi- ness many years of study, labor and experi- ment, and believing that "the consumption of paper is the measure of a people's culture," he is endeavoring to furnish the best article possible in his particular line of manufacture.
E RASTUS T. MCCLEW, for a number of years engaged in general mercantile business at Ballston Springs, and a leading member of the Presbyterian church, is the youngest of the nine children of Charles and Jeanette (Nelson) McClew, and was born March 31, 1835, in the village of West Galway, Fulton county, New York, just across the line from
Saratoga county. In that village he was reared, receiving a good English education in the public schools, and after leaving school engaged for a time in farming. Leaving the farm, he became a clerk in a mercantile house at West Milton, this county, where he remained for a period of nine years, and in 1869 formed a partnership with E. W. Lee, under the firm name of Lee & Co., and engaged in general merchandising on his own account at Ballston Springs. This partnership lasted until 1880, when Mr. McClew purchased his partner's in- terest, and for more than ten years success- fully conducted the bus ness alone.
Politically the subject of this sketch is an ardent democrat, and an active worker for the success of his party. In religious faith and church membership he is a Presbyterian, and for some years has been serving as an elder in his church. He has never married.
The family to which Mr. McClew belongs is of Scotch ancestry, and was planted in America by Charles McClew (father), who was born and reared near Edinburgh, Scotland, but came to the United States about 1815 and settled in Montgomery county, New York. Later he removed to Fulton county, where he resided until his death in 1840, at the age of fifty-six years. He was a merchant tailor by vocation, a democrat in politics, and in religion a strict member and ruling elder of the Pres- byterian church, in which faith he had been reared. He married Jeannette Nelson, also a native of Scotland, and to their union was born a family of nine children, of whom Eras- tus T. is the youngest. Mrs. McClew died in 1877, aged eighty-five years. She was a de- voted member of the Presbyterian church, and greatly respected and loved by all who knew her.
T FRUMAN BELUS INGALSBE, one
of the progressive farmers and successful dairymen of the town of Moreau, is a son of Warren and Lucretia (Hamlin) Ingalsbe, and was born in the town of Moreau, Saratoga
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county, New York, March 29, 1863. His grandfather, Belus Ingalsbe, was born Sep- tember 8, 1793, in the town of Hartford, Washington county, and late in life, in 1855, came to the town of Moreau, where he resided for seven years, near Reynolds Corners. He then purchased the farm of seventy acres on which the subject of this sketch now resides. He was a republican, and died September 2, 1880. He married Sallie Maynard, who was born January 17, 1797. Their family con- sisted of nine children, four sons and five daughters : Camilla Hardin, Phebe A., Adol- phus, Hurry, Fidelia, Hurry (2), Charlotte A., Warren and Aaron Burr. Warren Ingalsbe (father) was born September 15, 1833, and died May 20, 1883. He was a farmer and an Odd Fellow, and in politics supported the Republican party. He served for several years as a justice of the peace, and also as a commissioner of his town. Mr. Ingalsbe married Lucretia Hamlin, and to their union were born five children: Ralph Boardman, Philo B., Truman B., Frank B., and Ward B. Mrs. Ingalsbe was a daughter of Truman and Lydia (Betts) Hamlin, natives of Connecticut, and died Independence day, 1885, at fifty-two years of age.
Truman Belus Ingalsbe was reared on the home farm, received his education in the dis- trict schools, Island Grove and Ft. Edward institutes, and then engaged in farming, which he has followed continuously up to the present time. He owns two fine farms, aggregating one hundred and ninety-eight acres, but re- sides on the home farm, which has not been divided yet among the heirs, of which he is one. In connection with farming, Mr. In- galsbe operates successfully a dairy, for whose products he has a steady demand at Glens Falls. He is a republican in politics and gives his party a hearty support, although his time is mainly devoted to his business interests. He is self-made in the true sense of earning success for himself, and in his business career has steadily avoided the rocks, quicksands
and shoals that lie scarcely beneath the sur- face of rash ventures and wild speculations.
On January 27, 1886, Mr. Ingalsbe wedded Minnie Boynton Partridge, a daughter of Silas Partridge, who married Mehitable Boynton, daughter of Bealey Boynton and a sister to Henry and Cyrus Boynton. Mrs. Ingalsbe's brothers and sisters are: Christopher, Betsey Pike, Carrie Cutler, Orville, Hiram, Susan Graham, Mattie Sapper, and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Ingalsbe have one child, a son, Charles Clifford, who was born July 10, 1888.
H ENRY L. HAIGHT, postmaster at the village of Crescent, this county, where he is also engaged in the lumber and coal busi- ness, is the eldest son of Hiram and Clarinda (Peck) Haight, and a native of the town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York, where he was born September 7, 1829. His great- grandfather, Israel Haight, was one of the landed proprietors known as the nine part- ners, who came over from Scotland and set- tled in Dutchess county, New York. Hiram Haight (father) was born in that county, Octo- ber 6, 1800, and when twenty-one years of age came to Saratoga county, locating in the town of Saratoga. He afterward removed to the town of Saratoga Springs, was a farmer by occupation, and owned one hundred and fifty acres of valuable land in that town. Politi- cally he was a whig and republican, and died at his home in the town of Saratoga Springs in 1885, aged eighty-five years. In 1827 he married Clarinda Peck, a daughter of Amos Peck, a well known farmer of the town of Sar- atoga, this county. By that union he had a family of six children, two sons and four daugh- ters : Henry L., the subject of this sketch ; Caroline, who married Alexander Macintosh, of Saratoga Springs; Mary L .; Nancy E., wife of Abraham Bennett, a farmer of the town of Saratoga; Helen, who wedded Dennis Rams- dell, a farmer of the same town; and Ro- manzo H.
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Henry L. Haight grew to manhood on his father's farm in this county, received a supe- rior education in the public schools and Still- water academy, and at the age of twenty-two became a clerk and salesman in the grocery and produce store of Knight & Powell at Still- water, this county. He remained in the em- ploy of that firm for two years, when he formed a partnership with Mergan Monger and pur- chased the establishment from his employers. After two years of successful business he sold out, and in 1855 came to Crescent, where he clerked for Wiley & Brother one year, and then embarked in business for himself at this place. He conducted a general store, together with a lumber and coal yard, until 1890, when he dis- posed of his stock of goods, but still owns the lumber and coal business. For some time he has also been engaged in the insurance busi- ness, and is telegraph operator and postmas- ter at Crescent. Politically he is a stanch re- publican, and has served three terms as super- visor of the town.
On June 25, 1858, Mr. Haight was married to Mary E. Banthuyson, of Saratoga, and by that union had two children, one son and a daughter: Edward L. and Jennie E. Mrs. Haight died in 1865, and in 1868 Mr. Haight wedded Jane Hall, a daughter of Benjamin Hall, of the village of Waterford, this county.
J ANE McCREA, whose sad and un- timely death on July 27, 1777, has re- ceived more versions than any other event in ancient or modern warfare, was the second daughter of Rev. James McCrea, and a grand- daughter of Elder William McCrea, of Dela- ware. She was born at what is now Laming- ton, New Jersey, in 1753, and the news of her murder, as it spread with lightning rapidity over the valley of tlie Hudson and throughout the thirteen Colonies, roused up a wonderful resistance against the English. Her people were whigs, but she left them to join Lieut. David Jones, a tory officer in the English
army, to whom she was engaged. Jones sent Duluth, a half-breed Indian, with a party to escort her to the British camp, where Mme. Riedesel and Lady Harriet Acland had con- sented to attend the marriage, which was then to take place. Duluth, while on his way to Mrs. McNeil's, where Jane McCrea had stopped by arrangement with her tory lover, was passed by LeLoup, a fierce Wyandotte chief, who captured the beautiful maiden. When Duluth came up, a dispute ensued be- tween the Indians over the fair captive, and she was shot through the heart and scalped by some one of the savages. On the next day Col. John McCrea, her brother, found and buried her mangled remains, which, after sev- eral changes, now lie interred in Union cem- etery, between Fort Edward and Sandy Hill. Jane McCrea, who, by the uncertain fortunes of war, met so bloody a death and left her name for all time to come impressed upon the history of this country, was a "woman of rare accomplishments, great personal attractions and remarkable sweetness of disposition."
PROF. JAMES E. KELLEY, a re-
markably successful educator in high and graded school work, and a promising young member of the Saratoga county bar, is a son of James and Anna (Pomfrey) Kelley, and was born in the town of Saratoga, Saratoga county, New York, August 16, 1863. He re- received his education in the Schuylerville academy and Union college. Leaving college in 1884, he became principal of the Union school of Victory Mills, and gave such satis- faction that he was re-clected the next year at an advanced salary. After his second term he was annually re-elected as principal for four years, and received an increase of salary twice. During the time he had charge of the Union school, he read law with Hon. D. S. Potter, of Schuylerville, and was admitted to the bar at Albany at the general May term of 1887. In 1889 he resigned the principalship of the
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Union school to enter upon the practice of his profession at Saratoga Springs, where he re- mained for one year. At the end of that time his health became so impaired by close appli- cation that by medical advice he relinquished for a time practice of the law. Leaving Sar- atoga Springs in 1890, he went to Galway, and accepted the position of principal of the Union school of that place. At the close of his first term he had won the confidence and respect of the patrons and pupils of the school by his efficient labors, and was re-elected at an in- crease of salary. He was again elected in 1892, but is now living in the town of Sarato- ga, where nearly all his life has been passed.
On August 23, 1890, Mr. Kelley was united in marriage with Louisa E. Bailey, daughter of James B. Bailey, a prominent citizen of the town of Saratoga. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, named Miriam.
Politically Mr. Kelley is a democrat, and for two years represented the town of Galway as a member of the Democratic county committee.
C
HARLES EDWARD SNELL, the
intelligent, active and progressive young editor and proprietor of the Mechanicville Mail, and an active and influential State worker in the interests of the Young Men's Christian association, is a son of Daniel and Mary Ann (Dolan) Snell, and was born in the city of Albany, New York, August 19, 1868. The Snell family is of Dutch descent, and its immigrant ancestor settled, prior to the Rev- olutionary war, on the west of the present village of Ballston Spa. He reared a family of five children, three sons and two daughters, four of whom were George, Christopher, Mrs. Henry Link and Mrs. Burke.
The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a farmer by occupation and a democrat in politics. He served as a soldier in the Mexican war, and was afterward sheriff of Schenectady county. He married and reared
a family, one of his sons being Daniel Snell (father), who was born in 1833, and died in 1873, when only in the forty-second year of his age. He was a blacksmith by trade, and at the time of his death had charge of the black- smithing shops of the New York Central Rail- road Company at Albany. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary Ann Dolan. To Daniel and Mary Ann Snell were born four children : John G., Daniel D., William H., who died in infancy; and Charles Edward, the subject of this sketch.
Charles Edward Snell was reared at Albany, and received his education in the public schools and an excellent training school of the Young Men's Christian association of that place. Leaving school he became an apprentice to the printing business on the Golden Era, and worked on that paper, under the management of Nellis Kluck and Farrington L. Mead, un- til 1887, when he went to Glens Falls, where he completed his trade. He then became sec- retary of the Young Men's Christian associa- tion at Mt. Cisco, Westchester county, but at the end of eight months resigned his position to enter the field of journalism. He became assistant editor of the Westchester County Re- porter, published at White Plain, that county, and served in that capacity from December, 1889, up to May, 1890, when he formed a part- nership with his brother, John D. Snell, un- der the firm name of C. E. Snell & Co. They purchased the Upper Hudson Mail, then edited by C. S. Wright, and Mr. Snell acted as its editor and manager until December 1, 1891, when he became sole proprietor. On Decem- ber 9, 1892, he changed the name of the paper to that of its present one, the Mechanicville Mail. In connection with the publication of his paper he does a large job and book print- ing business.
Mr. Snell is a republican in politics, and has been a member for the last three years of the Methodist Episcopal church of Mechanicville, of which he is class leader and a member of the official board, and in whose Sunday school
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he is a Bible class teacher. He takes an ac- tive part in church and Sunday school work, and is a prominent and influential worker in the local and State interests of the Young Men's Christian association in New York.
On April 23, 1889, Mr. Snell was united in marriage with Louisa Doris, of Ilion, Herki- mer county, and their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, Gertrude L.
J AMES H. PRATT, a prominent farmer and hotel man in the town of Half Moon, and a gentleman who has occupied a number of local offices, and is well known throughout the county, is the eldest son of James and Mary (Curry) Pratt, and was born in the city of Troy, New York, October 7, 1855. His father was a native of Ireland, born in 1827, who came to the United States and settled in Troy, this State. He was a brick mason by trade, and after remaining at Troy for some time removed to Saratoga county about 1865, and purchased a farm of one hundred acres in the town of Half Moon. Here he engaged in farming and hotel keeping until his death, in 1875, at the age of forty-eight years. In religion he was a Catholic, and a democrat in political affairs. He married Mary Curry, also a native of the Emerald Isle, and had a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: James H., the subject of this sketch; Anna, who married Thomas H. Nealand, an under- taker of the city of Troy, this State ; Mary F., living at home with her mother ; and Joseph, now engaged in the hat business at Denver, Colorado.
James H. Pratt was reared principally on the farm, and obtained a good practical edu- cation in the public schools of Half Moon and at the Troy Business college. After leaving school he assisted his father in the manage- ment of the farm and hotel, and has been con- nected with both these enterprises since the death of the latter, owning a fine country hotel three miles above Water'ord, in the town of
Half Moon, which has become very popular with the general public, and commands an excellent patronage. The proprietor under- stands his business, and is an adept in the matter of making his guests comfortable. His farm operations are also conducted in accord- ance with modern methods, and he has been very successful as an agriculturist and stock- man.
On the 16th of April, 1885, Mr. Pratt was wedded to Clara Whitman, youngest daughter of John Whitman, of the city of Troy, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Pratt have been born two daughters : Clara A. and Mary.
Politically James H. Pratt is an ardent dem- ocrat, active and influential in the local coun- cils of his party, and has been twice elected auditor of his town, served as a member of the Democratic county committee, and has been councilman two years. He is a member of the Catholic church, and for five years served as a member of the volunter fire department of the city of Troy.
OHN E. THOMSON, a prominent busi- ness man and an active and efficient re- publican leader of Mechanicville, who was graduated from the same college as the " Great Home Ruler " of England, is the eldest and only surviving child of John and Ann (Telford) Thomson, and was born in the old and historic city of Belfast, on the river Langan, in County Down, province of Ulster, Ireland, July 28, 1846. His grandfather, Prof. John Thomson, resided during the early part of his life at Ed- inburgh, Scotland. He attended the celebrated university of Edinburgh, from which he was graduated with honors. He was an architect and civil engineer by profession, and became a resident of Belfast, Ireland, where he died. He was mainly instrumental and very active in restoring Garron tower in Londonderry. In Irish political affairs Mr. Thomson was a conservative. He married and reared a fam- ily of two sons, one of whom was John, the
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