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 71
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284
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
John and Samuel seem to have been favorite names with the family, as they were handed down with each generation.
Some twenty-five years ago Henry O., son of another branch of the family, conecived the idea of compiling the names of all the Sheldons then in this country in a maga- zine, to be published monthly, giving a general synopsis of each family, and a more extended sketch of those who had obtained any considerable notoriety. Although he expended a large amount of money and devoted much time in procuring statistics from all parts of the country, it only survived its second issue for want of patronage. John, great-grandfather of the present family, married Susan Clarmont,-he at the age of forty, she at sixteen, --- and came from Connecticut about the year 1729. Their oldest son, Samuel, was born in 1742. He married Tabitha
Photo, by W. H. Sipperly, Saratoga.
SAMUEL SHELDON.
Rogers, daughter of John Rogers, who came from Rhode Island about the year 1720. He procured, either by grant or purchase, six hundred acres of land, which includes the present site of the village of Greenwich and its surrounding lands. After Samuel married he purchased of Dr. Wicker the old Sheldon homestead, where he remained until his death in 1824, at the advanced age of ninety-two. He had three sons and three daughters. Caleb married a Tefft and settled just south of Greenwich, where they raised a family of seven children,-three boys and four girls.
The second son was John, father of the subject of this sketch; he succeeded his father on the homestead. The youngest son, Samuel, died unmarried, at the age of twenty-four. The oldest daughter married Isaac Tice, who removed to Poughkeepsie in 1830, where he died three years since, at the age of eighty-six. Susan married Dr. Hiram Corliss, of Greenwich, and Elizabeth married Moses Cowen. It will be observed that the older branches of the family reached a good old age.
Iu the war of 1812 John, having arrived at his majority, was ordered out with the militia of this part of the State to intercept General Izard, who was coming from Canada with an army of regulars by land and a navy up Lake
Champlain. Limited facilities for transportation, and the scarcity of arms and ammunition, rendered the organizing of a regiment at that time a task which required much more labor than at any time during our late Rebellion. They received marching orders after much delay, but, as the roads at that time were difficult to travel, their trans- ports down the lake went at a very slow pace, so that they only reached Plattsburg the next day after the battle. Having no further need of their services, they returned home and were soon mustered out.
This did not satisfy the active spirit of young John. He soon raised a company of artillery, being unanimously chosen their commander, serving for twenty years, much longer than the law required, but finally resigned after having been promoted to the rank of major. He used to say he could ride on horseback eighty miles a day with ease.
Samuel Sheldon, whose portrait is here given, is in the prime of an active business life. He was educated at the common schools and the Schuylerville Academy. In early life he was engaged in farming as his main business, but taught school for several terms in the winter seasons. He was married in 1858 to Mary De Ridder, daughter of Henry De Ridder. In 1865 he was one of the organizers of the National Bank of Schuylerville, and since that con- tinuously a director, and now, and for the last few years, the vice-president. Ile is now engaged in business as a lumber-dealer, aud also in insurance. Ile resides in the village of Schuylerville, and has three children.
JAMES H. DILLINGHAM
was born Nov. 3, 1840, in Schuylerville, Saratoga Co., N. Y. He is the son of Stephen H. Dillingham, and his mother's maiden name was Arvilla St. John. His great- grandfather was Mejor Dunham, of Revolutionary fame. Stephen Dillingham settled in this county about 1816, and was a successful merchant, a man of energy and superior business abilities. Ile had three children, of whom the subject of this notice is the only son, and who inherits in a large degree the qualities and characteristics of his father. He has been extensively identified with the business inter- ests of his village and county, and is now a resident of his village. He married Lizzie M. Dennis, daughter of H. W. Dennis, one of the prominent business men of Schuyler- ville. The fruit of this union was one son, George C., who at present resides with his parents.
WILLIAM H. MARSHALL.
Abraham Marshall, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, resided in Yorkshire, England, and emigrated to this country in 1763. He married in England a Miss Cal- vert, and by her had a number of children, of whom James Marshall, the father of William H. Marshall, was one. IIc settled in the town of Old Saratoga and pursued farming.
Abraham Marshall and his family were at times com- pelled to leave their residence and flee to the woods from fear of Indians during the Revolutionary war, and were among those who were driven from their homes by the ap-
RESIDENCE OF W. P. FINCH.
TENEMENT HOUSE & BARNS OPPOSITE
PROPERTY OF W. P. FINCH, SARATOGA, NEW YORK.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
proach of Burgoyne's army. Ile was present at the sur- render of Burgoyne.
On Dec. 29, 1783, Abraham Marshall leased of Philip Schuyler the farm now occupied by William H. Marshall, at Old Saratoga. The lease was for the lives of Abraham, James, and Samuel Marshall, and the terms were three pounds lawful money of the State of New York, payable on the 1st day of January of each year.
James Marshall was born March 25, 1768, in England, and came to this country with his father. Ile grew up as a farmer with his father, and continued the business after the death of the latter. In 1791 he married Hannah Clements. He had twelve children, viz. : Elizabeth, born Feb. 1, 1794; Susannah, Aug. 19, 1796; Polly B., March 16, 1798; Sally, Jan. 26, 1800; Nancy, Feb. 12, 1802; James, March 7, 1804; Ruth, April 17, 1806; Cornelia, Aug. 22, 18OS; Phebe, Feb. 3, 1811 ; Samuel J., Jan. 3, 1814 ; Laura, Nov. 24, 1815 ; and William H., born May 11, 1818. Of these, James died Oct. 5, 1805, aged one year, six months, and twenty-nine days; Elizabeth, Nov. 23, 1822, twenty-nine years old; Ruth, Jan. 12, 1823, seventeen years old; Laura, Oct. 20, 1833, in her eighteenth year ; Susannah, Nov. 7, 1842, aged forty-six years, two months, and twenty-three days ; Polly B., July 9, 1844, aged forty-six years, three months, and twenty-three days ; Samuel J., Sept. 21, 1847, aged thirty-three years, cight months, and eighteen days ; Nancy, Feb. 18, 1855, aged fifty-three years and three days. James Marshall died Oct. 1, 1849, aged eighty-one years, six months, and four days ; Hannah, his wife, died June 3, 1858, aged eighty-one ycars, nine months, and seventeen days.
William II. Marshall was born on the farm where he now resides, May 11, ISIS. He was raised and continued a farmer. On April 17, 1845, he married Jane E. Calkins, daughter of Daniel Calkins, of Schaghticoke. Ile had four children : George, born Dec. 19, 1846, died April 20, 1847 ; Harrict, born June 24, 1848, died July 25, 1864; James D., born Nov. 22, 1854; Emma, born April 26, 1860.
His wife died on Jan. 3, 1875, aged fifty-three years, ten months, and eight days.
He was formerly a member of the old Whig party, but now acts with the Republican party. He never asked for office and never received any. Ile is a member and regu- lar attendant of the Methodist church at Schuylerville, having been one of the trustees for many years. He was formerly steward. He was at one time a trustee of the Methodist church of Victory Milis. He joined the Meth- odist church when seventeen years of age. He is regular in his habits, honest and industrious, and lives a life of usefulness and honor. Ile is much respected by his friends.
WILLIAM B. MARSHALL
was born in the town of Saratoga, in February, 1823. His father, Samuel Marshall, was also a native of the town, and a descendant of English ancestors. William lived with his father till the latter died, in January, 1866, when he came into possession of the homestead. He was the youngest of cight children, well educated, and an enterprising, inde- pendent farmer. ITis character was above reproach, and he was justly held in high esteem by all who knew him. On May 1, 1848, he married Jane M. Griswold, of Wilton, Saratoga County, who was born in that town July 10, 1822. The fruit of their marriage was four children, two of whom are living, viz., Jennie M. and Fannie M., wife of George W. Smith, Esq.
Mr. Marshall died June 22, 1870.
WM. P. FINCII.
Jeremiah Finch, the grandfather of Wm. P. Finch, came from Nine Partners, Amenia, Dutchess county, to Saratoga town soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. Ile settled on a farm leased of the old Schuyler estate, near Schuylerville, where he passed the remainder of his life. Previous to his death, by industry and frugality, he acquired other land in that section. On one of his farms Joseph, his oldest son, settled, and Daniel, the father of Wm. P., on another. Jeremiah Finch had eleven children,-nine boys and two girls. Ilis descendants are very numerous, and are represented in different sections of the United States. Many of them are prominent and successful men of business, having acquired large wealth, and been identified with the material growth and welfare of their several localities.
Daniel Finch, son of Jeremiah Finch, was a farmer all his life, and died, at the age of cighty-five, on the farm now occupied by his son, Wm. P. Finch. He married Sarah Peffer, and had three children, to wit., Wm. P., Eliza, and Mary Ann. Eliza is unmarried, and resides with Wm. P. Finch. Mary Ann married J. P. Clements, and resides near Ann Arbor, Mich.
Wm. P. Finch was born on Oct. 13, 1815. He passed his early life in assisting his father in his farming enter- priscs. He afterwards visited different points in the west, engaging in business ; but returning, took up a permanent abode on the farm which he now occupies, near Schuyler ville. In connection with his farming enterprises he has been engaged, since 1857, iu the lumber and plaster busi- ness at Schuylerville.
He is a man of genial spirit, liberal mind, true in his words, of moral life, industrious and energetic in business, and by these traits has acquired a comfortable competency in life through his own exertions.
STILLWATER.
I .- GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
STILLWATER is one of the eastern towns of the county, bordering upon the Hudson river. It is bounded north by Saratoga, east by the county line, south by Half-Moon, west by Malta. It contains 21,693 aeres of improved land, 2747 acres of unimproved, and of this last amount 2542 are woodland. The population in 1875 was 3434. This town is mostly within the Saratoga patent, but contains near the lake two narrow strips of the Kayadrossera patent.
For the purpose of convenient reference we add from the Revised Statutes of the State the legal description of this town, and the definition of its boundary lines :
"The town of Stillwater shall contain all that part of said county bounded southerly by Half-Moon, easterly by the east bounds of the connty, westerly by Malta, and northerly by the north bounds of lot number seventeen in Saratoga Patent, contiuned in the same direc- tion west to the town of Malta."
The town of Stillwater, like Old Saratoga, is rich in his- torie memories. Its name runs baek into the elosing years of the seventeenth century, when William and Mary sat together on the throne of England. The old ehronieler, who wrote some account of General Fitz John Winthrop's northern expedition up the Hudson, of the year 1690, says :
"Stillwater was so named because the water passes so slowly as not to be discovered, while above and below it is disturbed. and rageth as in a great sea, occasioned by rocks and falls therein."
At Stillwater, in June, 1709, Col. Peter Philip Sehuyler, in command of the advance-guard of General Nicholson's army, halted and built a small stockaded fort, which he named Fort Ingoldsby, in honor of Lieutenant-Governor Major Richard Ingoldsby.
Again, in the summer of 1756. General Winslow, while on his northern expedition, halted at Stillwater, and build- ing a new fort on the deeaying remains of the old one erected in 1709, called it Fort Winslow.
Again, in September, 1777, General Gates, in passing up the Hudson, on his way to Bemus Heights, first made his stand at the old military station of Stillwater. But after re- maining there a day or two he changed his plan, and going up the river about two miles farther, took his memorable stand at Bemus Heights.
This was the last military occupation of Stillwater.
II .- NATURAL FEATURES.
The surface is uneven and moderately hilly. The highest summit is about two hundred and fifty feet above the Hudson. In the north part, the series of hills known as Bemus Heights form a beautiful and diversi- fied landscape. The erowning eminence, at the Neilson homestead, commands an extensive view. The flats along
the Hudson are bordered by a range of bluffs from sixty to one hundred feet high. Similar bluffs are found along Anthony's Kill. There are no streams of any impor- tance for water-power, but there are several brooks of small size, and these flow through deep gullies that are worn in the drift deposits. Upon some of these there are beautiful easeades. The northwest corner borders upon Saratoga lake. The soil upon the river-flats is alluvial, and abun- dant in production. West of the bluffs is a wide belt of heavy clay, now divided into farms of great value. In the southwest part of the town is a sandy tract interspersed with swamps. In the northwest part of the town, on the shore of Lake Saratoga, there is an excellent white sulphur spring. The falls in the Hudson river furnish valuable water-power. The river above the falls at Stillwater village is a beautiful stream, full of attractions to the lover of nature. Its gentle current, flowing between cultivated fields or forest-fringed banks, invites the modern boatman, as it did the ancient Indian warrior, to glide over its surface. No wonder the struggle for the possession of this valley convulsed States and empires. It is a land worthy to be loved, and worthy of being defended, as it was, by early heroic pioneers.
III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Aside from the mills of the Schuylers, at the mouth of Fish ercek, in Saratoga, and the village destroyed there in 1745, Stillwater was the first settlement on the west side of the river north of Half-Moon Point, or Waterford, as it is now known.
Who ereeted the first house within the present limits of Stillwater is uneertain. That there was quite a population here before the Revolutionary war is clear from the num- ber of men enlisted, from the citizens' names appearing in history connected with the battle-grounds of 1777, and from various other sources. The Vandenburg house, so called, bears the date 1732; located on the east side of the river, above the falls. It is only a reasonable eonelusion that there was a beginning on the western side of the river nearly as early. It is also known that George Palmer bought in 1764; that mills were then already built and owned by Isaae Mann, of whom George Palmer made the purchase. Thus the weight of evidence points baek nearly to 1750 as the date of the first settlement, and Isaac Mann as the pioneer.
The early settlement, too, was more rapidly effeeted, and a greater number of families actually located here at an earlier date, than at some other points, from the fact that a whole church, numbering one hundred and one members, in Canaan, Connecticut, voted to remove in a body to Still- water, and did so remove, or a majority of them. This, as
286
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
shown in another place, was in 1762, though it may have been a year or two later than that. So far as the names of this Connecticut colony can be obtained, they appear in the account of the Congregational church of Stillwater.
In attempting to mention particularly the pioneer families who settled here from one hundred to one hundred and ten years ago, it is not probable that, even with the careful iu- vestigation given to the work, the list can be perfect or the dates in every case accurate.
Of the Palmer family, the following copy of an okl cer- tificate gives information in a brief space. It was finely executed by a school-master of the olden time, and is in the possession of Ashbel Palmer :
" George Palmer, son of George Palmer, born in Connecticut colony, county of New London, and town of Stonington, in New England, September 22, 1719.
" llannah Marsh, daughter of James Marsh, who was born in the township of Plainfield, county of Windham, and colony aforesaid, July 10, 1721. Said George Palmer and Hannah Marsh were mar- ried April 13, 1738.
" Mary Palmer, their first daughter, was born in Windham county, township of Coventry, colony aforesaid, on Tuesday, April 9, 1739.
" Lydia Palmer, their second daughter, was born in Canaan, in Hartford county, and colony aforesaid, on Sunday, June 8, 1742.
" James Palmer, their first son, was born in Canaan, Hartford county, and colony aforesaid, March 26, 1745, and died August 22 of the same year.
" Isaac Palmer, thoir second son, was born in Norfolk, eounty and colony aforesaid, 26th August, 1751. Died 25th August, 1757.
"Elias Palmer, their third son, was born in Norfolk, county and colony aforesaid, Wednesday, September 29, 1756.
" Jannab Palmer, their third daughter, was born in Norfolk, in the county and colony aforesaid, on Friday, September 13, 1760. " W. GILLS, Scripsit.
" STILLWATER, 2d May, 1774."
Hannah Palmer became the wife of Wm. Mead, who kept a very early tavern at Stillwater, in a house now owned by John Patrick.
Lydia became the wife of Mr. Roe, settling a little west of the village of Stillwater, on the Lake road. She died Dee. 4, 1784.
Mary became the wife of Colonel Daniel Dickinson. He was a pioneer before the Revolution. His homestead was the place where Gilbert Lansing now lives. She died Feb. 14, 1806.
Elias, the only son who lived to manhood, settled just west of the compact part of the village, on a rise of land. During his life he was married three times. Ile had a family of five daughters and four sons,-all born before 1800. Ashbel, the sole survivor, is living at Stillwater village, at the age of eighty-five. Ilis mind is well stored with valuable information, and he is able to give it intelli- gently and accurately. To him we are largely indebted for many important items of pioneer record, and for the use of many valuable manuscripts.
George Palmer died Dec. 15, 1809, aged ninety years.
Elias Palmer died Nov. 4, 1833, aged eighty-two years.
George Palmer purchased in 1773 three hundred and five acres of Isaac Mann's estate, struck off at public sale for .£900. This included the mills already erected. Earlier than this-in 1764-he had bought two hundred acres of Isaac Mann, supposing this included the mills. He had to buy the three hundred and five acres to get the mills, as in running the boundary lines according to the first deed the
mills were excluded, very much to the surprise of Mr. Palmer.
The three hundred and five acres covered the present site of Stillwater village.
George Palmer's pioneer house was a frame building, standing on the rise of ground a little west of Weitzel's present store. The house now standing is partly the same building,-called the " mill house."
George Palmer had probably learned something of this country before 1762, as he had been in the employ of the British crown eutting masts for the naval service, and had traversed these northern woods for that purpose.
Isaae Mann, of whom and of his assignees the Palmer tract was bought, must have been a still earlier pioneer, but of him we have no account.
It is probable that he caused the ditch to be cut through the rocky point at the falls, now in the rear of Ensign's Hotel. The tradition is that the cost of this, and its failure to render the water-power available to the extent expected, produced the embarrassment that caused the assignees' sale of 1774.
John Neilson was born in New Jersey, March 23, 1753. He was the son of Samuel Neilson. The latter died in 1763. John Neilson, at the age of nineteen, left New Jersey with no capital but the axe upon his shoulders, his strong, robust frame, and his manly determination to carve out for himself a home in the newer lands of the upper Hudson. He obtained employment, near Bemus Heights, of a Mr. Quitterfield, and signalized his first day's work by splitting a tough black-oak log into rails. In 1775 he had accumulated enough to partly pay for a farm, married the eldest daughter of his employer, and bought the farm that has ever since been in the family,-a farm that crowns the summit of the river-hills in Stillwater, commands a wide and extensive view, and has become historie from its connection with the great battles of the Burgoyne campaign. Just settled and a little place cleared, the Revolutionary war opened, and John Neilson, with his neighbors, as shown in Palmer's affidavit, gave up much of his time to the public service. He lived to see those troubles pass by and the new government established. Ile left four sons,-John, Samuel, Charles, and Henry. John settled north of the old place, Samuel in Saratoga, Henry in East Line, and Charles on the old homestead. Daughters became the wives of Martin Vandenburg, Richard Dunning, and A. H. Rudd.
Charles Neilson was the author of a work upon the bat- tles of the Burgoyne campaign. For this work he had the advantage of a liberal education, as well as that of birth and residence on the actual field of conflict.
The sons of Charles Neilson are Charles C., of Stillwater, George W., member of Assembly, 1877 and 1878, Wil- liam IIenry, of Saratoga Springs, and Sanford.
Fayette Neilson, a son of Samuel, relates that his grand- father kept one old post-and-rail fence on the farm staked up carefully for many years, because it showed the bullet- marks of the great battle.
Among the early settlers of Stillwater was 1Jarmanus Schuyler. Ile settled there about the year 1770, owned a large farm, and built mills a short distance below the vil- lage on the river. He died on his farin at Stillwater, Sep-
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
tember 1, 1796, after holding many positions of trust and honor. A biographical sketch of him is given in the geu- eral history.
John Bemus was an early pioneer. The campaign of 1777 found him keeping a tavern at the southern extremity of the alluvial flats that formed the strategic points-near the river-in the battles of September 19 and October 7. His house was General Gates' headquarters during the first battle, and from him the hills to the west had already acquired the name of Bemus Heights. It was reserved for this humble pioneer landlord to give his name to the battle- fields where Burgoyne met his fate.
Of his previous history we have no account, but from the journal of Jeffrey Cowper, the first settler of Queens- bury, according to Holden's History, it is shown that John Bemus was keeping the tavern mentioned above as early as 1762, for Cowper ate breakfast there on the morning of August 27 of that year. How much earlier than that John Bemus actually came we have no means of ascertaining, but not more than two or three years before, because few or none could settle in this section safely until after the fall of Quebec in 1750, except under the immediate protection of the forts, and this was three or four miles from old Fort In- goldsby, at Stillwater.
Ezra Buell was here before the Revolution. Ilis name is frequent in the early records and early history. He was in the battles of Bemus Heights, and was the old guide who went over the battle-ground with visitors for many years. Ile was the first crier of the county court. He was a bachelor. His home was with the Bacon family. He was buried at Bemus Heights, in the old burial-ground. Upon the fallen stone lying upon the grave may be read, " Major Ezra Buell. Died October 23, 1838, aged ninety. He was a noted Whig in the time of the Revolution, guide to the army." Charles Ensign, of the present hotel in Stillwater, well remembers being sent from his father's tavern up the river, when a little boy, to bring Major Buell to assist visitors in studying up the battle-ground. The grave-yard where the old major sleeps deserves a better destiny than to be turned into a hog pasture, as it now is. The patriotism that would crown these summits with a monument to the memory of the great conflict, may well devote a portion of its strength to marking the last resting-place of the individuals who fought aud won in this decisive battle.
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