USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 113
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Mr. Tompkins died at his residence, on the 3d of Jan- uary, 1876, in the seventieth year of his age, deeply mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM C. DARROW.
William C. Darrow was born in the town of Greenfield, on the 9th of December, 1816. He is the oldest son of Ebenezer Darrow, who was born January 1, 1792, and married Lydia Hoyt, July 10, 1813.
About 1816, Ebenezer Darrow settled in the town of Greenfield, about two and a half miles west of where his son, William C., now resides.
On the 24th day of April, 1821, he was commissioned by Governor De Witt Clinton, ensign in the Fifty-ninth Reg- iment of Light Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant of the same regiment by Governor Yates, on the 23d of August, 1823. His sword is still kept as a souvenir in the family. He died on the 7th of June, 1872.
The mother of William C. Darrow was Lydia Hoyt, who was born Jan. 25, 1796, and died Nov. 4, 1877. On the 4th of November, 1841, he married Amanda M. Calkins, second daughter of Solomon and Maria Calkins. Her father was born in the town of Milton, Feb. 18, 1787, and moved into Greenfield in 1792, where he died June 7, 1870. Her mother, whose maiden name was Maria Dunning, was born in Connecticut, Jan. 31, 1795, and came to Greenfield in February, 1809.
William C. Darrow is among the thrifty and prosperous farmers of the town in which he resides, and where he has always lived. He has led a quiet and unobtrusive life, devoting himself to the interests of his house and farm, and taking no part in politics except to vote the Republican ticket, which he has uniformly done since the organization of that party.
By the marriage above referred to, Mr. and Mrs. Darrow have two children,-Annette MI., born April 28, 1843, and Stephen E., born Dec. 18, 1845. The last mentioned mar- ried Miss Josie King, in 1875, and has two children.
452
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Photo. by Baker & Record, Saratoga Springs.
Benjamin S. Robinson ,
Benjamin Sanford Robinson, youngest son of William and Maria ( Wright ) Robinson, and grandson of Benjamin Robinson, was born at Bacon Hill, in the towo of North- umberland, Saratoga Co., Jan. 24, 1838, and upon the death of his mother, in 1840, was brought to Greenfield to live with his grandparents, and has continued to reside at the same place to this time, May, 1878.
This line of the Robinson family claims descent direct from Rev. John Robinson, pastor of the Puritans, whose eldest son, Isaac, came to the Plymouth colony in 1629, and became an assistant in the government of the colony in 1633. Until the last two generations, there seems to have been no intermarriage with any who were not of true Puritan blood.
Rohama Wood, wife of Benjamin Robinson, united in herself the blood of two families of the Pilgrims of the " Mayflower," and was also the sixth in descent, on the ma- ternal side, from John Rogers, the martyr of Smithfield.
Elihu Robinson, the father of Benjamin, removed, with his family, from the Elizabeth Islands, Mass., to Washing- ton Co., N. Y., in 1784, and from thence, from 1804 to 1SOS, five of his sons and a daughter moved to Greenfield, purchased and improved farms, built up comfortable and pleasant homes, and were recognized as worthy men and good citizens. But while attending strictly to their own business matters, they took comparatively little part in public life, and were no less highly honored and esteemed.
The subject of this sketch (the eighth from Rev. John Robinson), though but little past forty years of age, has been honored with a large share of official trust both in local and public matters, and, it is believed, has always dis- charged those trusts conscientiously and fully.
In 1865 he was first elected town clerk, and re-elected in
1869, and in 1871 was appointed to fill a vacancy in the same office.
Hle was made clerk of the board of supervisors of Sara- toga County in 1871 and 1872, and again in 1875, serving with very general approval.
In the spring of 1872 he was elected justice of the peace, and again in 1876 for a second term.
In December, 1870, he was chosen secretary of the Sar- atoga County Agricultural Society, and served in that capa- city till 1878, positively declining a re-election for that year.
Hle is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Greenfield Centre, and has had a connection with the off- cial board since 1860. He is now recording steward, and also serving his fifteenth consecutive year as Sunday-school superintendent, and has filled other minor offices of trust, though not of emolument.
Being a practical abstainer from all intoxicating liquors, as well as from tobacco in all its forms, and realizing the advantages of abstinence, he is necessarily more or less identified with the temperance movements of the day, and since 1864 has been secretary of the Greenfield Total Ab- stinence Society of 1800, the oldest temperance society of the world that has maintained an unbroken organization.
It will thus be seen that, if he has had honor with the people, he has also had work to do as well, and that he has not shunned the " laboring oar" in the voyage of life.
Mr. Robinson has been twice very happily married ; first, to Mary L., daughter of the late Samuel Gregory, of Green- field, on Oct. 20, 1864. She died Feb. 27, 1871.
Secondly, to Jennie E., daughter of George II. Traver, Esq., of Wilton, N. Y., on Jan. 8, 1873. Two sons of this union now give fair promise of aiding to perpetuate the line of Robinsons in Greenfield.
453
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
NELSON D. MOREHOUSE.
Nelson D. Morehouse was born in the town of Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Nov. 26, 1813. He lived with his parents till their death, and received a common-school education. His parents settled in the northwestern part of the town of Greenfield in March, IS16. His father, Daniel Morehouse, was born in the town of Ballston, Saratoga County. where he resided all his life, and died on the 29th of June, 1852. His mother, whose maiden name was Fanny Doolittle, died Feb. 26, 1864.
Mr. Morehouse lived on the farm above referred to, west of Porter's Corners, till 1834, when he removed to Green- field Centre, and remained till March, 1857, when he re- turned to the old place. and resided there till 1860. Ile then -lived on the Gifford farm, which he purchased, till 1870. In 1872 he purchased his present larm at Prospect Ilill, to which he removed the same year. He built addi- tions to his house subsequently, and, with other important changes and improvements, has made it one of the most desirable homes in this section of the country. A view of the premises appears in another place in this work.
Mr. Morehouse married Ruth Brackett, daughter of Ray and Sylvania Brackett, of Greenfield, March 8, 1838, and has had four children, two of whom-a son and a daughter -are now living.
He has served one term as town clerk, and officiated eight years as justice of the peace. In religions conviction he has been a firm believer in universal salvation since the age of nineteen, and since 1846 has been a member of the Universalist church at Porter's Corners. He is a man of much strength and earnestness of character, sound intel- ligence, generosity, and unswerving integrity.
I. G. JOHNSON, M.D.
Dr. Ianthus G. Johnson, the subject of this sketch, was born March 1, 1831, in the place where he now resides, Greenfield Centre, Saratoga County, N. Y. He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were physicians. The eldest, Dr. G. Fordyce Johnson, died at Stillwater in 1866. Dr. L. B. W. Johnson, the other brother, is still practicing at Hixton, Wisconsin.
Dr. I. G. Johnson, after graduating at the Albany Medi-
cal College in 1853, commenced the practice of medicine with his father and brother, with whom he studied, and after practicing for some time in Illinois, returned to his former home, where he has been engaged in successful practice ever since. In 1862 he married Amanda F., daughter of Isaac Wing, of Stillwater, N. Y.
Hle was elected to the board of supervisors of the county on the Republican ticket in 1863, and was re-elected and served another term in 1864, making an honorable record for faithful and efficient services. As a physician he is highly esteemed, and he has justly earned the confidence reposed in him by a large circle of acquaintances, among whom he has built up a successful practice.
ELINU WING
is a son of Daniel Wing, and grandson of Prince Wing, who emigrated from Dutchess to Saratoga County among the carly settlers. Daniel Wing married Clarissa Manches- ter, the mother of the subject of this sketch. The latter was born in the house where he now resides, June 21, 1819. The house is the third frame house erected in the town of Greenfield. Mr. Wing has always lived in the same place. In the early part of his life he followed the profession of teaching, and relinquished it only iu consequence of ill health. He then engaged in farming, which he has fol- lowed ever since, in connection with operating a saw-mill, which he erected in 1854, and which is now run by his sou, Albert G. Wing.
Mr. Wing married Wealthy Gleason, Jan. 1, 1845, and has five children, all living.
His place is well adapted to the ideal he desires to realize in a farmer's home, and he is now devoting his attention exclusively to its development and improvement. A view of his residence appears in this work.
A Democrat in politics, he cast his first vote for Martin Van Buren, in 1840, and has voted at every presidential election and town-meeting since. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was a War Democrat, and went in for a vigorous prosecution of the war for the defense of the Union. He was elected town superintendent of schools in 1851, and discharged the duties of that office with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents for four years.
DAY.
I .- GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
DAY is the northwest corner town of the county. It is bounded, north, by Warren Co .; cast, by Hadley ; south, by Corinth and Edinburgh ; west, by Edinburgh and by Hamilton county. It comprises a territory of an irregular rhomboidal form, about eight miles in length from north to south, and having an average width of the same distance from east to west. It includes 9534 acres of improved land, 9728 of unimproved, and of this last amount 9416 is woodland. The population in 1875 was 1199.
The town of Day is mostly within the boundaries of Pal- mer's purchase, the southwestern corner running into the patent granted to John Glen and forty-four others.
The following description of the town of Day, and the definition of its boundary lines, is taken from the revised statutes of the State :
" The town of Duy shall contain all that part of said county, be- ginning at the east corner of the farin of Walter Hunt, on the north bank of the west branch of the Itudson river, and running from thence north thirty degrees and forty minutes west to the rear line of the river division of Palmer's Purchase ; then along the said rear line westerly until it intersects the west bounds of the county ; then along the said west bounds of the county, northerly, to the north hounds of the county ; then along the same until a course of south thirty degrees and forty minutes east will strike the most northerly corner of lot No. 50, in Palmer's Purchase : then sonth thirty degrees and forty minutes east, to and along the casterly hounds of the lot marked It. T. P. to the said corners of the said lot No. 50 : then along the cast bounds of said lot to the Saeandaga river ; then on a course that will strike the east bounds of lot No. 3, in the subdivision of the twenty-fourth allotment of the Kayadrossera patent: then south along the said east bounds to the town of Corinth ; then west along the bounds of Corinth to the west eorner thereof; and thence to the place of beginning."
II .- NATURAL FEATURES.
The Sacandaga river enters at its southwest corner, and flows in a tortnous northeast by cast course across it. The Kayadrossera range of mountains are in the southern part of the town, and the part north of the river is occupied by high hills. There are three small lakes, called Mud, Sand, and Livingston lakes. Livingston lake lies in the north- eastern part of the town, and empties its waters through Paul creek into the Sacandaga at Day Centre. Sand lake lies near the centre of the northern half of the town, and empties through the creek of the same name into the river, near the town line. Mud lake is near the north line of the town, and two miles east of the western boundary. It empties into the Sacandaga in Hamilton county. There are many high peaks among the hills. Oak and Bald moun- tains reach an elevation of nine hundred feet above the river. Rockwell's mountain. near Day Centre, is a stony elevation of some seven hundred feet, and affords a fine view up the valley. From the hills back of Huntsville a
beautiful view of the valley, the Mayfield mountains, and the distant Catskills is obtained, and from other hills the Green mountains of Vermont show plainly in clear weather. The soil is sandy, and filled with outeropping rocks.
The principal streams are Sand, Paul, Glasshouse, Daly, and Allen's creeks, and the outlet of a number of small lakes lying in Corinth.
III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The first settlers within the present town of Day, of whom anything definite can be learned, came about the year 1797. David Johnson was born in New Hampshire, in 1758, and enlisted in the American army in 1776, being then eighteen years old. He served seven years, and took part in the campaign against the Tories and Indians in 1779, under the command of General Sullivan. At the expiration of his term of service he went to Salisbury, Vt., and soon after married Mary Joiner. In 1797, with his wife and seven children, he started for the " Genesee coun- try," with the expectation of settling on some of the rich and fertile lands he had seen in his campaign under Sulli- van. He had his household and effects in a large, covered sleigh, and came across the mountains to Luzerne. Then crossed the Hudson, and struck into a roughly-broken forest- path that crossed the hills and came into the Sacandaga valley a little above Conklingville. The snow, which had been quite deep all winter, now suddenly melted away and left him and his family stranded. He concluded to try farming, and
bought a farm in what is known as the Rockwell neighbor- hood. Ile lived there one year, and finding the title defect- ive, and the land being claimed by another man he left the farm, refusing to treat with the claimant, saying he would " never buy such land twice," and, going cast, bought three hundred acres on the eastern boundary of the town, fronting on the river, running back three hundred rods. He built a log house where Kathan's hotel now stands in 1798, and lived there many years. He died Feb. 22, 1839, and lies buried in the Craig burying-ground, between Conklingville and Day Centre. His family consisted of eight children,-six girls and two boys. Of these children but one remained in Day. John remained on the homestead. He served in the War of 1812, and was at Plattsburg. He married Fally Allen, a daughter of David Allen, about 1815, and had a family of thirteen children. Of these Luke and Philadelphus were drowned while driving logs in the river, -the first at the falls of Luzerne, the other at Wellstown. Louisa Totman and Mary L. Scott, two of the daughters, live in West Day. John S. lives in Edinburgh, abont a mile and a half west of Huntsville. David lives on the old homestead. These are all of the grandchildren of David Johnson that are now living in Saratoga County.
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455
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Jonas Bond and Phineas Austin were brothers-in-law, and settled on the north side of the river, about a mile east of Day Centre, in 1797 or 1798. They were hunters and trappers, and, by the dexterous use of line, trap, and gun, kept the larder supplied and the wardrobe replenished.
A family by the name of Grove are reported to have set- tled here previous to 1799.
In the early spring of 1799, Nicholas Flansburgh, a resi- dent of Schenectady county, came-via the Fish House (Northampton)-down the river in a dugout, and, landing on the south bank of the river, nearly opposite Day Centre, settled on lot 3, great lot 21 of the John Glen patent. He built a log house, and clearing up the land as quickly as possible, planted his crops. Wild animals were quite plentiful at that time. The deer had a herding-place or yard at a large rock on the hill near Mr. Flansburgh's. Bears were frequently seen, and sometimes, grown bold by pressing hunger, woukl come and carry off a calf, sheep, or pig, and often the poor settler, lacking powder and ball, was forced to see his property destroyed without remedy. Some- times the tables were turned, and Bruin himself helped to fill the meat-barrel. The barking of foxes and the bowling of wolves were frequent, and the blood-curdling shriek of the panther was occasionally heard.
George Bradford, with his mother and three sisters, came from the shire of Galway, North Britain, and settled in the eastern part of the town of Day, in the year 1800. The mother, Mary Bradford, died in 1804, aged seventy- five years, and was buried in what was afterwards known as the Craig burying-ground. Her burial was probably the first one in the town. The Bradfords did not keep a regu- lar tavern, but their log hut was often used by travelers who desired refreshment and shelter. It is said that the board, on one side of which the ladies of the household kneaded their " rye and Indian" loaves, was so arranged that the man of the house used the other side for the pur- pose of shaving " navy plug" into the proper form and condition for consumption. At last the keen edge of the knife wore away the substance of the board and made its debut on the bread side, and from that hour the usefulness of the board as a " double-header" was ended. Bradford married Betsy Sumner, a daughter of John Sumner, Sr. His sister, Mary, married Wm. Craig, and they built and kept the first tavern in the town about 1802 or 1803.
About this time a quite remarkable character settled on the lot west of what is now called the Stituson homestead. His name was Daniel Hines. In his youth he was cap- tured by the Indians, and was brought up among them, adopting their ways, manner, and dress. He built a log cabin, dressed in Indian costume, with moccasins, fringed leggings, wampum and eagle plumes, carried his bow and arrows, knife and tomahawk, lived by the fruits of the chase, and was to all practical intents and purposes a verita- ble aborigine. He was quite a terror to the children of the vicinity, who, when perverse and fretful, were threatened with a visitation from " Indian Hines," which dire threat usually produced a sudden, though perhaps but temporary reformation. The friendly wayside bushes have often screened the trembling forms of the little ones while the dread and redoubtable chieftain strode majestically along,
and many little hearts beat less wildly as he vanished in the distance.
Samuel Rogers settled in Day Centre, about 1800. His house stood about opposite where Guile's hotel now stands. Ilis barn was on the present hotel site. Religious ser- vices were held in this barn by " Preacher" Clark at a very early date,-probably about 1803. Peter Van Vleck moved on to this farm about 1805, and services were then held in the house. Rogers had three daughters, one of whom mar- ried Daniel Hines.
Win. Woolley settled near " Cook's Ferry," a little west of S. Y. Rockwell's present residence, in 1804. After living there a few years, he returned to his former home in Schenectady.
Henry Paul came from Guilford, Vt., in 1801, and set- tled near the mouth of the creek which bears his name. He built the first mill in this section about the year 1805. It was a small saw- and grist-mill. There was a plank which led from the roadside to its door, and when the door was reached a person of ordinary height had to bow low to enter. Before this mill was built the inhabitants were obliged to put their grists into a dug-out and go up the river some distance above the Fish House to get them ground. On the site of the old mill there is a mill now standing, owned by a grandson and namesake of Henry Paul. Matthew Flansburgh came from Guilderland, Albany county, in 1802, and settled on lot 35 of the Glen and Yates patent. There were but few settlers, no roads, and an almost unbroken forest. After clearing a sufficient space he planted his crops and waited for the harvest. The following winter he went to Schenectady, a distance of forty miles, on foot after a half-bushel of salt, which he brought back on his shoulder. He came from Albany ri Schenec- tady, Fish House, and Beecher's Hollow. Ile had six chil- dren, four of whom are still living in this county. Peter, the oldest, lives in Day, aged eighty-four years. Catharine Mosher lives in Day ; William HI. lives in Hadley, and John in Ballston. A grandson, Isaac J. Flansburgh, has a very pleasant home at Day Centre, on a portion of the old homestead. To him we are indebted for valuable aid in collecting the materials for this work. Philip Fraker settled in Day as early as 1802, a little west of the Stimson place. One of his granddaughters is living in Edinburgh, Mrs. James Partridge. There are many of the name living in Day and Edinburgh, most of whom it is presumed are relatives and descendants of Philip Fraker.
David Allen was another settler of 1802. He came from the town of Providence ; was formerly from Providence, Rhode Island He settled on a farm of one hundred acres, about one and a half miles west of Conklingville, and lived there, and with his son-in-law, Luke Kathan, till he died, in 1871. He had a family of seven girls and three boys. Two of the daughters, Mrs. Phoebe Palmer and Mrs. Free- love Kathan, are living in Day. In the year 1803, Joseph Rockwell, a young man of twenty-three, came into Day, with his father and brothers, and settled on the west half of lot 56, Glen and Yates patent. He remained here till 1805, when he returned to Vermont, where he remained a short time, and then came back to Day and lived the rest of his life on the farm now occupied by his eldest son,
456
IHISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Samuel Y. Rockwell, Esq. He died in 1857, aged seventy- seven years. Two sons, Samuel Y. and George F., and one daughter, Mrs. Emily Yates, are living in Day. Samuel Y. married Abigail Weston ; had a family of nine children, but one of whom is now living. She resides with her parents on the old homestead.
IMPRockwell
Thomas Yates was a brass-founder in Staffordshire, near Birmingham, England, and came to America in 1801. After working two years in New York and one year in Schenectady, he came to Day Centre in the fall of 1804. Being a pretty well educated man, he was prevailed upon to teach a school during the winter of 1804-5, which he did. The school was kept in a room in his own house, and he had four scholars. Two of these scholars, Peter and Ger- trude Flansburgh, are still living, one in Day, the other in Schenectady. He married Abigail Paul in 1805, and this was one of the first (if not the first) marriages in Day. He bought thirty acres of land, on Jot 36, near Henry Paul's. Of his children five are living in Day, viz., John, Joseph, Leonard, and William Yates, and Mrs. Louisa Flansburgh. Leonard runs a saw-mill and broom-handle factory on Paul ereek. William lives on the homestead. Eliphaz Day, after whom the town was named, came to the town in 1805. Ile was an active, stirring, energetic business man, and im- mediately began lumbering. Forming the acquaintance of Sophia Rockwell, he became a suitor for her hand, and being accepted they were married. They had six children : Lydia, Ann, Nancy, Eliphaz M., Elizabeth, and Truman. None of them are living in this vicinity. Of the descendants of Eliphaz Day, only grandchildren are living in this section.
Eliphaz Day was a noted lumber-dealer. He had the fine pines of the Sacandaga valley cut, drawn to the river, floated them down to the lower falls ef the Hudson, there made them into huge rafts and floated them down with the
tide, tying to the shore during the flood, and floating down with the ebb tides. Once he had a large raft of beautiful pine logs that covered between two and three acres of sur- face. Arriving at New York, by some accident or miscal- culation they failed to make fast to the piers, and the tide going out, was fast drifting them out to sea, where the waves would have soon broken up the huge mass of logs, and not only would the timber have been lost, but also the lives of those on the raft. By shouts and gesticulations they made their critical situation known, and a steam-tug soon put them safe alongside the wharf. Some one asked Day if, had the raft been lost, it would not have "broke" him ? Ile replied that he didn't know, but thought it would have bent him terribly. At the time of his death, April 19, 1827, he was engaged in driving logs at the " horse-race," near Conklingville, and attempted to pass down the river in a boat. It is supposed a floating log or hidden rock broke one of his oars, or knocked it from his grasp, the boat be- came unmanageable, upset, and he was drowned. He was buried in the Craig burying-ground.
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