History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826

USA > New York > Steuben County > History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19

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those who knew him best love to cherish as mementos of his genius.

Mr. Hammond was a son of Lazarus Hammond, the founder of Hammondsport. He was educated at Franklin Academy, Prattsburgh. He began the study of law with Gen. S. S. Haight, at Angelica, and finished in the office of Cruger & Howell, at Bath. He was admitted in 1831. After practicing for a time at Baldwinsville, N. Y., he re- turned to Bath, and, in 1836, formed a partnership with Hon. Robert Campbell, which lasted till 1842. The year following he opened practice in Albany, and was there elected district attorney. In 1853 he commenced editing the Albany Register, and closed his connection with that paper in 1856. Hle afterwards practiced law in company with HIon. William Irvine, of Corning, and in November, 1857, became a partner of A. P. Ferris, Esq., at Bath. In 1859 he was elected to the Senate from this senatorial dis- trict. In 1864 he removed to Watertown, N. Y., where he died in November, 1878.

[For biographical sketches of Hon. George B. Bradley, C. H. Thomson, Esq., E. D. Mills, and others, see History of Corning.]

HON. WASHINGTON BARNES.

Hon. Washington Barnes was county judge of Steuben County from 1860 to 1864. Hle settled quite early at Painted Post; studied law with Thomas A. Johnson, of Corning, and was admitted to practice in 1836. He after- wards practiced law five years in company with Ansel J. McCall, Esq., of Bath. He was a very earnest and conscien- tious man in all his dealings, strictly honest and entirely free from all the tricks and subterfuges by which professional men and politicians of a different stamp too often seek emolument and influence. He died in Bath in 1868.

ION. G. I. MCMASTER.

Guy Humphries McMaster was born in 1829; prepared for college at Franklin Academy, Prattsburgh, and in the select schools of Bath ; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in the class of 1847; was admitted to the bar in 1852; elected county judge in 1863; re-elected in 1867, and again in 1877. Ile wrote the " History of the Settle- ment of Steuben County" in 1850, while a student-at-law.

ANSEL J. M.CALL, ESQ.

Ansel J. McCall, Esq., has been a member of the Steu- ben bar and in continuous practice at Bath since 1842. He was born in the town of Painted Post (now Corning) Jan. 14, 1816. After a preparatory course at Franklin Academy, Prattsburgh, he entered Union College, and was graduated in the class of 1838. He commenced the study of law in company with Hon. David McMaster, at Bath, and completed his clerkship in the office of Hammond & Camp- bell, being admitted, and entering into partnership with Washington Barnes, Esq., in 1842, with whom he con- tinued to practice for a period of five years. He subse- quently practiced several years in company with A. P. Ferris, Esq. In 1843 he was appointed by Governor Bouck surrogate of Steuben County, and held the office till the new constitution came in force, Jan. 1, 1847. Mr. McCall is a veteran lawyer, and is not only well in-

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

formed in his profession, but upon all the topics of local and general interest. Few men in the county are more conversant with its men or have preserved more of its history than he. He is a very genial and companionable gentleman, and one of those persons who never seem to grow old.

ALFRED P. FERRIS, ESQ.

Alfred P. Ferris, Esq., was born in the town of Milo, Yates Co., on the 29th of November, 1818. He received an academical education at Franklin Academy, Prattsburgh, and came to Bath, Jan. 1, 1840. He studied law with Hon. Z. A. Leland and S. H. Hammond, and was admitted in 1843. Mr. Ferris has practiced law in Bath ever since. At the special election under the new consti- tution in June, 1847, he was elected district attorney, and held the office till Jan. 1, 1851.

CHARLES F. KINGSLEY, ESQ.

Charles F. Kingsley was born in the town of Urbana, in this county, on the 29th of September, 1835. After re- eeiving a common-school education, he spent two years at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, N. Y. Studied law and was admitted to practice in December, 1857. He commenced practice in Prattsburgh in 1858, and settled in Bath in 1860, where he has followed his profession ever since.

IION. WILLIAM E. BONHAM.

Hon. William E. Bonham, now of IFornellsville, was born at Painted Post. Read law with Hon. Washington Barnes, at Bath, with whom be practiced for some time in partnership. In 1864-65 he was a member of the Legis- lature, in which he creditably represented the first district of Steuben County. He is a good lawyer, a man of integ- rity, and a genial, courteous gentleman.

HON. L. II. READ,

who formerly practiced in Bath, was a native of Steuben County. His grandparents were among the early settlers of that part of the town of Bath now included in Urbana. He studied law with Edward and William Howell, and began practice in Hammondsport. About 1839 he re- moved to Bath, and became a law partner of Hon. David McMaster. In 1850, President Fillmore appointed him Chief Justice of Utah, to which Territory he removed. After performing the judicial functions for one year, he resigned and returned to Bath, where he died in 1853 or 1854.

IION. ZIBA A. LELAND.

Ziba A. Leland was a native of New England, and was educated at Williams College. He came to Bath about 1822. He was eminently successful in the practice of his profession. In 1838 he was appointed Judge of the old Court of Common Pleas, as the successor of Judge Edwards, who died in November, 1837. Judge Leland removed from this county to Auburn, N. Y., where he became a law partner of Hon. George Rathbun. He died at Mechanies- ville, Saratoga Co., about 1873.

IION. ANDREW G. CHATFIELD.

Hon. Andrew G. Chatfield was for quite a number of years a practicing attorney at Addison, in this county. lle

was member of Assembly from this county in 1839, 1840, 1841, and in 1846, and district attorney in 1845. Ile subsequently removed to Minnesota, where he became a justice of the United States District Court, and where he died not long since full of honors.

F. C. DININNY, now a resident of Elmira, formerly practiced law in Addison.

HON. F. R. E. CORNELL also commeneed the practice of law in Addison. He removed to Minnesota, where he became attorney-general of the State, and is now one of the justices of the Supreme Court.

IION. HARLO HAKES.

Harlo Hakes was born in Harpersfield, Delaware Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1823. His father, Lyman Hakes, was a native of Berkshire Co., Mass., and settled in Harpersfield at about the age of twenty-two. He married soon after Nancy Dayton, a native of Connecticut. He was a man without early opportunities for book knowledge but pos- sessed that native talent to be found often among the earlier settlers of the country.

In after-life he became a careful observer of the events of his time, and a student of literature. He was by occu- pation a farmer, yet by his own self-exertion and reading he acquired a prominent place in the better-informed circles of society.

Ile was identified with the Whig party in politics, and in the year 1841 received the appointment of judge of Delaware Co., N. Y., by the Hon. William H. Seward, at that time Governor of the State.

Hle died at the age of eighty-five, in Harpersfield, in the year 1873, leaving three sons, Lyman, Harlo, and Harry, - the eldest, a lawyer of Wilkesbarre, Pa., from 1840 until his decease in 1874; the younger, a part of his life a mem- ber of the medical profession, but now a practicing attorney of Wilkesbarre, Pa., having associated with him in prac- tiee his nephew, Lyman H. Bennett.

His daughters are Mrs. Phineas L. Bennett, of Harpers- field, N. Y., and Mrs. Joseph G. McCall, of Michigan.

Mr. Harlo Hakes spent his time until about twenty-eight years of age on his father's farm, attending school winters until he was seventeen, and was for eight successive terms a teacher. In the year 1851 he entered the office of Rufus King, of Davenport, Delaware Co. (now of Elmira), as a law student, where he remained nearly two years. He then became a student with Judge Harris, of Albany, and after attending one course of lectures at the Albany law school was admitted to the bar, 1853, and in May of the same year settled in Ifornellsville, N. Y., where he has re- mained in the practice of his profession until the present time.

In the year 1855, Mr. Hakes married Mary, youngest daughter of J. D. Chandler, of Hornellsville. Their chil- dren are M. Evelyn, Hattie V., and Carrie M.

Mr. Hakes was chosen to represent his Assembly district in the State Legislature for the year 1856, and served ou the judiciary committee during the term. In 1862 he was elected district attorney of the county, which office he held

Nouloldaker

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

for three years. During the year 1865 he associated with him in the law business James HI. Stevens, Jr., a gentle- man of fine legal ability. This firm has enjoyed a very large law practice in this and surrounding counties during the term of partnership, which still continues.

In the year 1867, Mr. Hakes was appointed registrar in bankruptcy for the Twenty-ninth Congressional District, comprising the counties of Allegany, Steuben, and Chemung, which office he now holds. He has been somewhat active in political circles, and interested in questions affecting the changes in our nation's history. He was originally a mem- ber of the Whig party, and was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention that nominated Bell and Everett for President and Vice-President, since which time he has been a sup- porter of the Republican party, and its representative of the Twenty-ninth Congressional District of New York ; was a member of the Cincinnati Convention in the year 1876 that made ITon. Rutherford B. Hayes the Republican nominee for the presidency of the United States.

In addition to his professional and official duties he has been thoroughly identified with the growing interests of the village of Hornellsville, and largely interested in real estate.

In 1873 he opened " IJakes Avenue," connecting Main and Genesee Streets, and donated it to the village, and since that time has purchased and improved that portion of the village known as " Riverside," and opened and graded the street called " Riverside Place," connecting Main with Elm Street, where he has built several substantial and elegant dwellings, which are classed with the finest in the town. Mr. Ilakes has shown rare taste and mature judgment in the prosceution of the enterprise at " Riverside," and within a short space of time " Riverside Place" has become one of the most delightful and attractive places for private resi- dences to be found anywhere. Characteristic of Mr. Hakes are his unyielding support of the right, his constancy of purpose to accomplish successfully all matters intrusted to his hands,-either professional or simply of a business nature. His keen perception, sound judgment, strict integrity and fair dealing have secured to him a large measure of success and the confidence of the community.

R. L. BRUNDAGE, ESQ.

R. L. Brundage, Esq., settled in Ifornellsville, as an attorney and counselor-at-law, in 1846. He was born in Sussex Co., N. J., in May, 1819. His parents came to this county and settled in Bath in 1824, removing to Greenwood in 1830. His father, Benjamin S. Brundage, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1846. Mr. Brundage commenced the study of law with Hon. John K. Hale, of Hornellsville, in 1840, and in 1846 was admitted to the Supreme Court and to Chancery. In 1852 he was elected to the office of district attorney, and held the office three years. He continued in active practice until 1866, since which he has been employed as attorney and elaim agent for the Erie Railway Company.

HON. JOHN K. HALE,

who was for twenty years or more at the head of the Hornellsville bar, was a native of the State of Maine. He first settled at Addison, in this county, and came to HIor-

nellsville in 1836. In 1856-57 he was a member of the State Senate, and shortly afterwards removed to the West.

THOMAS J. REYNOLDS, ESQ.,

for a time a member of the bar at Hornellsville, was one of its most original minds, and a man of great native talents, although of quite limited education. Ile settled at Hornellsville in 1819. For a while he practiced in part- nership with Hon. John K. Hale, and subsequently with Mr. Brundage. During the later years of his life he engaged successfully in farming and lumbering, and died quite wealthy in 1867.

HON. HORACE BEMIS was born in the State of Vermont. He read law in that State, and came to Hornellsville in 1850. In 1851 he was admitted to the bar, and has prac- ticed in Hornellsville ever since. Ile has taken a promi- nent part in politics. In 1863 and 1865, he represented the Third Assembly District of this county in the Legis- lature, and was chosen Presidential Elector on the Repub- lican ticket in 1868.

HON. HARLO HAKES (See biography and portrait in history of Hornellsville).

JAMES I]. STEPHENS, EsQ., a partner of Mr. Hakes, is a native of the town of Dansville, and was born in 1827. After finishing his academie education, he studied law at the National Law School, Ballston Spa, Saratoga Co., and with William T. Odell, and was admitted at Ballston, Jan. 5, 1852. Ile settled in Hornellsville as a lawyer, in 1853, and has had a successful practice.

I. W. NEAR, EsQ, of the firm of Bonham, Near & Platt, Hornellsville, was born in Jefferson Co., N. Y., in 1835; studied law with Clarke & Colvin, of Watertown, and was admitted in 1858. Ile began practice in this county at Kanona, in 1859, and in 1865 removed to IJor- nellsville, where he has since practiced his profession.

HON. WILLIAM IRVINE, well known to the citizens and bar of this county, began the practice of law in Corning, about 1849. Ile was elected member of Congress, and served during the years 1857-59. He was colonel of a regiment of cavalry during the late war, and was appointed adjutant-general in 1865. Ile now resides in California.

JOSEPHE HIERRON was a member of the bar of Corning from 1847 to 1856. He was elected district attorney in 1854, and held the office two years.

JOHN MAYNARD, a son of the late Judge Maynard, of Auburn, came to Corning about 1850, where he practiced law till he died, in 1865. Ile was elected district attorney Nov. 7, 1856.

HENRY G. COTTON commenced the practice of law at Centreville, in the town of Corning, and subsequently re- moved to the village, where he was a partner of IIon. Thomas A. Johnson, prior to 1841, at which date he re- moved to Illinois (see biography of Hon. Thomas A. John- son).

JOHN P. SHAPLEY, EsQ., succeeded Hon. Thomas A. Johnson in the practice of law at Corning, on the election of the latter as justice of the Supreme Court, in 1847. Mr. Shapley died about 1850.

HENRY SHERWOOD, Esq., was another member of the

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

county bar, residing in Corning from 1860 to 1870. He was a member of the Legislature in 1862. Died in 1875.

ALVIN F. PAYNE was a partner of Mr. Sherwood, firm of Sherwood & Payne, Corning. He commenced practice here in 1863, and remained till 1868, when he removed to New York. He was a member of the Legis- lature from Long Island City in 1876.

CHARLES H. BERRY, Esq., commenced practice in Corning about 1850; remained till about 1855, when he removed to Minnesota, where he has since been attorney- general.

IloN. C. N. WATERMAN practiced law in Corning Irom 1851 to 1853. He removed to Minnesota, and became a judge of the Supreme Court of that State. The firm here was Berry & Waterman. Mr. Berry died in Minnesota.

ISAAC C. HERRIDON belonged to the bar of Corning about 1855. In 1861 he was appointed secretary to Hon. Andrew B. Dickinson, United States minister to Nicaragua. He is now dead.

Some of the other members of the bar who practiced in Corning were as follows :

GEORGE N. MIDDLEBROOK, 1850; remained about two years ; now resides in New York.

WILLIAM K. LOGIE, 1860; enlisted in 1861; killed in battle at the head of 141st Regiment, of which he was colonel.

AZARIAH LONGWELL, 1864; firm of Longwell & Graves.

GEORGE R. GRAVES, firm of Longwell & Graves, 1860- 70 ; removed to Minnesota, where he died.

JACOB HI. WOLCOTT, 1870; removed to Utah in 1874.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE COUNTY PRESS.

BATH.

COL. WILLIAMSON Was directly connected with the in- troduction of the printing-press into the Genesce country. The two first newspapers were established under his au- spices and patronage. Early in January, 1796, he procured from Northumberland, or Sunbury, Pa., a second-hand newspaper-office, and enlisted as printers and publishers William Kersey and James Eddie. They issued the " Bath Gazette and Genesee Advertiser." This was the first news- paper published in Western New York.

It is presumed that Mr. Kersey may have had a connee- tion with the paper, not as printer, but as one of Mr. Williamson's agents at Bath. He was a Friend, as would appear from his letters. In one of them, written to Col. Williamson at Albany, he speaks of having located some new settlers, and at the same time asks for some new type, urging that the type they had brought from Pennsylvania is "old and worn out." " We, on considering the case, conclude it is best to have a sufficient quantity of new type to complete the office, so that we may do business in good fashion ; therefore, request that, in addition to the order by Capt. Coudry, thou may be pleased to send us as soon as may be, two hundred weight of small pica or bourgeois.

We have some encouragement to pursue the business, but many of our patrons complain of the badness of the print, and that not without sufficient cause." Mr. Kersey was at the time one of the judges of Steuben County, and informs Col. Williamson that he and his associates had been "in- dicted by the grand jury for not holding an election at the Painted Post for a representative in Congress."

The next newspaper established under the auspices of Col. Williamson was also in the year 1796, but a little later than the Bath Gazette. He induced Lucius Carey, who had been publishing a paper at Newburgh, to sell ont and establish himself at Geneva. Mr. Carey forwarded his printing materials by water, and came himself with his household goods by land. On his arrival he wrote to Col. Williamson at Albany that he had ended a long and expen- sive journey, had arrived and found his house unfinished, and no room provided for his office. Says he, " I am now lying idle, and how long I shall I cannot say, only for the want of a room to work in. My house was to be done in July, and it is a mortifying reflection to me to have my parents hear that I must lay idle for the want of a house, when I had spoken so much in praise of the town, and been the means of a number coming to it since I was here in the winter." He says he almost repents of his bargain, yet " with the loan of one hundred dollars, he thinks he can get a paper ont, and moving along, if he can get a room." After a while his dwelling-house was finished, and a far better one it must have been than pioneer printers usually enjoy, for the amount paid for it by Mr. Williamson was over two thousand dollars. In April, 1797, he brought out the first number of the "Ontario Gazette and Genesee Advertiser." The paper was continued about a year and a half at Geneva, when it was removed to Canandaigua, and in 1802 sold, and its name changed to the " Western Re- pository and Genesee Advertiser." Mr. Carey died in Canandaigua in 1804.

The large and long names of papers in those days was a common feature throughout the newly-settled regions of New York. They were designed to stretch out over a wide and sparsely-populated section, and bring in patronage and advertisements from all directions. Hence the names " Western Advertiser," "Genesee Advertiser," etc., so often attached to the names of the local places where the papers were published. It was a shrewd method of catering for patronage to a wide extent of country, but even then the pioneer papers obtained but a very meagre support, and many of them were short-lived ventures, which failed in a few months. Where they were sustained, it was generally at great sacrifice and long-continued struggles, if not to say privations, on the part of the editors or publishers. Few men deserve more at the hands of the publie than those who toiled long and arduously to establish good newspapers and printing-offices.

The progress of these first papers was quite encouraging. Col. Williamson, in 1798, said :

" The printer of the Ontario Gazette dispenses weekly not less than one thousand papers, and the printer of the Bath Gazette from four to five hundred."

This was a good beginning, certainly, for papers not yet two years old, and in a country just beginning to be settled.

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

THE STEUBEN AND ALLEGHANY PATRIOT.

This paper was the parent of the present STEUBEN FARMERS' ADVOCATE, and was established by Capt. Ben- jamin Stuead, in the year 1816. The following letters of Mr. Smead to Gen. Cruger, who had been a member of the Legislature from Bath the two preceding years, and was that year Speaker of the House of Assembly, will explain the origin of this long-lived and successful newspaper, and through what difficulties it was originally established :

" ALBANY, July 28, 1816.

" HION. DANIEL CAUGER,

"Sin,-My residence in this city during the last session of the Legislature enabled me to learn your character, and influence in the Assembly, and in your county. You will doubtless admit this circuin- stance as an apology from a stranger, In addressing you upon a subject in which I am deeply and imme liately interested, I thought you would desire to learn who I am. I am a printer, and began at an early age with a family, which has so rapidly increased that every effort of enterprise and industry has failed to furnish more than an ordinary subsistence. Four years I printed and edited a republican paper in Brattleboro', Vt, and five years, another republican paper in Bennington. It is not delicate for me to say more of these papers than that they were always approved by the republicans ; yet, even to this day, the stinted population of both Windham and Bennington counties cannot give the encouragement an industrious printer re- quires, In March, 1812, I quitted the latter place on receiving an appointment in the army ; and continued in the service of my country, with the command of a company in the 11th U. S. Inf'y, till last July. The army being disban led, I then left it-and returning to the citi- zen's life, without much property, without a plan for settlement, and with a wife and six lovely children. have ever since been obliged to work as a journeyman, for a pittance to support them, Having often marched through nearly the whole extent of the northern section of this state, I becamo attached to habits and manners of the people, and resolved to settle among them for life. In conversations with my friends, it has been stated that Watertown, Jefferson Co., and Bath, Steuben Co., both offer liberal encouragements to a printer. I am most desirous to establish in Bath, and earnestly solicit your assist- ance. My pecuniary circumstances are low, but retaining much of the vigor of youth, with my eldest son, who is a printer, I could edit and print a respectable paper. To embark in such an enterprise, at such a distance, I want the loan of 5 or 600 dollars three years with- ont interest, office-room one year free of rent, and six months' credit of stock. The stock comprises only paper and ink, and may amount to nearly 200 dolls. per ann. The money is required to furnish print- ing materials, and defray expenses of removal. I bave an excellent press, aod the other materials shall be good : all these I will give over as security for the money immediately on my arrival, which will be as soon as possible after its receipt.

" If you, Sir, shall feel disposed to contemplate this subject favor- ably, I beg you to write Judge Buel, editor of the Argus, Albany- and to Mr. John A. Stevens, editor of the Messenger, Canandaigua, for any knowledge you may require of my moral and political char- acter, and mechanical and editorial capacity. With the former, I have assisted to complete the laws and Journals of the last Legisla- ture-and with the latter have had about ten years' intimate acquaint- ance-Mr. Stevens knows mne fully, in public and private life. Either of these gentlemen, I presume, will give you the necessary assurance, that if yourself and friends will transmit or order for my use the sum 1 ask, it shall be forthwith applied to, and effect the objects herein proposed.

" Having spent most of my years in New England, my acquaintance with the local policy of N. York legislation you will consider limited ; I should therefore, in this arduous and responsible undertaking, re- quire a liberal extension of charity, and all the aid which the influ- ential republican and literary characters of your town and county can find leisure to bestow.

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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co. Number of Pages: 826

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826