History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 77

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 77

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In 1870, Governor Hoffman appointed him a member of the first commission for the Elmira Reformatory. He was chosen chairman, and devoted much time and study in de- veloping the policy finally adopted for that institution, and to perfecting building plans as well as the erection of the buildings. He continued a member of the commission until the Legislature changed the management of the Re- formatory to favor party friends.

He represented the Twenth-ninth Congressional District in the Forty-fourth Congress of the United States, and at the time of' clection, although his party was in the minority of from four to five thousand, he received a majority of some three thousand; and in his own town, of a poll of seventeen hundred, his majority was some nine hundred and eighty. He served on the committee on the Post-office and Post-roads, also that on Expenditures in the Post-offiee Department.

Ilis course in Congress was marked by a close and intel- ligent attention to his duties; his decisive and complete defense of the military rendezvous at Elmira against charges of negleet and cruelty ; and for his effective sup- port of all measures for the welfare of the country, also measures for the relief of the soldiers and others whom the Federal government was in duty bound to protect. Ilis record in that memorable Congress reflected alike honor to himself and credit to his distriet. The approval was gen- eral, and the expression for his re-election so universal that a publie declination was deemed necessary, in which he re- iterated his feelings of two years before, intensified by an experience of two years, " that he much preferred the pleasures of home and its associations to any honors which a possible election might bring him."

ITis whole career has been marked by his strong sym- pathy with the agricultural and mechanical interests. Farmers, manufacturers, lumbermen, mechanics, and labor- ing men, by the hundreds, can testify to the timely aid given in the past.

In the year 1854, March 2, he married Maria D., daughter of Edward S. and Maria Townsend, of Palmyra, N. Y. Her father was a native of Palmyra, and her grandfather, Rev. Jesse Townsend, was a Presbyterian minister, and among the early settlers of that place.

Their children are Alvah (deceased), Mrs. James A. Drake, of Corning, Charles E., Hattie E., and Edwin S.

Col. Walker, with his family, spends much of his time during the summer months at his beautiful farm residence at Palmyra, to which he intends to retire when he with- draws from active business.

At present the firm of Walker & Lathrop is extensively engaged in the lumber, manufacturing, and hardware busi-

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TOWN OF CORNING.

ness, and other enterprises which are developing the resources of Southern New York. In these pursuits Col. Walker has achieved honor and fortune, has earned the respect of a legion of friends, and set an example before the young men of this generation worthy to be emulated.

IION. GEORGE B. BRADLEY

was born in the town of Greene, Chenango Co., N. Y., Feb. 5, 1825. His grandfather, David, and his father, Orlo F. Bradley, were both natives of Richfield Co., Conn. David Bradley removed to Chenango County during its early settle- ment, was a farmer by occupation, and died at about eighty- four years of age. His father died in Corning in 1845.

Mr. Bradley spent his time until he was sixteen on the farm, and at the common schools, and was subsequently a student at the Ithaca Academy. In 1845 he became a stu- dent of law, with Judge Monell, of Greene, N. Y., with whom he remained only a short time, and was afterwards a student with James Crombie, of Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in May, 1848. In June of the same year he settled in Addison, Steuben Co., in the practice of his profession, where he remained the balance of the year ; and after practicing for some four years in Wood- hull, in the year 1852, settled in Corning, where he has since resided, in the practice of the law.

He has been a member of the law-firms of " Bradley & Brown" and " Bradley & Kendall," and is still a member of the latter firm.

Mr. Bradley is a Democrat in polities, and holds an in- fluential position in that party. In the fall of 1873 he was elected to the Senate of the State from the Twenty-seventh Senatorial District, and served efficiently in that body during the term of 1874-75. In the fall of 1875 he was re-elected, and discharged the duties of senator during the following term (1876-77). Under the administration of Governor John T. Hoffman he was appointed a member of the consti- tntional commission of the State of 1872-73, and in the fall of' 1878 was a candidate of the Democratic party for judge of the Court of Appeals.

Mr. Bradley married, in 1850, Hannah E., daughter of John Lattimer, of Woodhull.

FRANKLIN N. DRAKE

was born in the town of Milton, Chittenden Co., Vt., Dec. 1, 1817. His father, Elijah Drake, was a native of New Windsor, Conn. ; was married to Polly Tambling, a native of Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass. ; was a fariner by occupation, and died in 1829, at the age of fifty-six, in the town of Mil- ton. His wife was subsequently married to Christopher Cadman, and removed to Le Roy, Genesec Co., N. Y., where the smaller children, at the time of their father's death, were reared.

Of eleven children, Mr. Franklin N. Drake was the ninth child. At the age of fifteen he began a clerkship in a drug-store at Le Roy, where he remained for three years, followed by one year spent in the West, and one year as clerk in the drug business in New York City. In

the year 1840 he returned to Le Roy, and opened busi- ness for himself in the hardware and grocery trade, which he continued for some fourteen years. Iu the spring of 1854 he purchased timber-lands in Cohocton, Steuben Co., and began manufacturing lumber on quite an extensive seale, running some six mills, and shipping his lumber to various markets North,

In the year 1866 Mr. Drake sold his lumber in- terest in Cohocton, having previously, with seven others, purchased a tract of coal and lumber land near Blossburg, Pa., built a railroad connecting their lands with the Tioga Railroad, and developed their lands for coal and lumber purposes, under the name of " Bloss Coal-Mining and Railroad Company," of which he was general superintendent.

In 1867, Mr. Drake removed to Corning, and the same year the company bought the Tioga Railroad, and he was elected president of the same. In 1871 the Bloss Coal- Mining and Railroad Company sold their mine and roads to the Blossburg Coal Company, of which company Mr. Drake was elected president, and still holds the office, as also the presidency of the Tioga Railroad Co., with office located at Corning. The company, in 1876, extended their railroad to the city of Elmira. In 1870-71 he was a director of the Erie Railway. Mr. Drake has never beeu solicitous of any political preferment, but rather preferred a strictly business life, never accepting any office except that at one time he was supervisor of the town of Cohoc- ton, and served as auditor one term at Corning. In the year 1840 he married Abigail, daughter of Giles Man- waring, of Bethany, Genesee Co., N. Y., but a native of Lynn, Conu. She was born in 1819. Their children were three sons and three daughters, of whom only two sons reached manhood. Henry lived to the age of twenty-six, and died in 1873, leaving a wife and two children.

James A. Drake, the only surviving son and youngest, married Isabella, oldest daughter of Hon. C. C. B. Walker, of Corning, and is in business with his father.

ELLSWORTH DAGGETT MILLS.

Ellsworth Daggett Mills, second son of Charles Lewis Mills and Maria Ann Kellogg, was born at Fairfield, Conn., May 8, 1836. The Mills family is of English origin. The first American progenitor was Peter Walter Mills, who, upon leaving England, went first to Leyden, Holland, where he was called Vondermeulen. He came to America between 1636 and 1640, and settled at Windsor, Hartford Co., Conn. Soon after his name was changed back to Mills by an act of the Colonial Legislature of Connecticut.

His son, named Peter, had twelve children. Three of his sons were graduates of Yale College, and became minis- ters of the gospel. The eldest, Jedediah, was for fifty years pastor of the first church in Huntington, Conn. His wife was a granddaughter of Robert Treat, who was Governor of Connecticut for several years. His son, Elisha, lived in Huntington, and represented that town in the General Assembly of the State for thirty consecutive years.

Charles I. Mills removed from Fairfield, Conn., to Steu- ben County in the year 1835, and settled at Centreville, in

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the then town of Painted Post, where he engaged in mer- cantile business. He brought his family from Fairfield in 1836. Ile removed to Corning in 1841, where he con- tinued to reside until his death, in 1845. He first engaged in the mercantile business, in Corning, in connection with Charles E. Osborne, and afterwards in the foundry business, to which B. W. Payne & Co. sneceeded at his death, and which has been carried on so successfully since by B. W. Payne & Co., Payne & Olcotts, Payne & Pritchard, and B. W. Payne & Sons.

The Kellogg family is of Scotch origin, the first settler in America having been Stephen Kellogg, who settled at Westfield, Mass., about the year 1700. Maria was a daugh- ter of Alexander Cyrus Kellogg, who was a grandson of Stephen before mentioned, and was a successful merchant and prominent citizen of Troy, N. Y.

The subject of this sketch began his residence in Steu- ben County at the early age of six weeks, in the summer of 1836, at Centreville, moving to Corning in 1841, where, with the exception of about seven years, he has always lived. Ilis education was received in the public schools in Corning and the academy at Fairfield, Conn. He studied law with IIon. Geo. T. Spencer and Charles H. Thomson, then practicing law at Corning, under the firm name of Spencer & Thomson ; was admitted to practice in 1857; went to New York City to reside in 1858, and remained until 1865, when he returned to Corning and formed a law partnership with Charles H1. Thomson. Has since been a member of the law-firms of Thomson & Mills, Spencer, Thomson & Mills, and Spencer & Mills.

Ile was elected district attorney in 1874, and re-elected in 1877 ; was also elected member of the board of eduea- tion of the village of Corning in 1874, and re-elected in 1877.

In polities he was originally a Democrat. He became a war Democrat at the breaking out of the war, and soon after became identified with the Republican party, and has acted with that organization, substantially, ever since, and was at one time chairman of the Republican county committee.

He was married in 1862 to Eliza A. Wellington, a daugh- ter of Samuel B. and Amelia Wellington, who died in 1869; has two sons living, Charles L. and George A.

He has one brother living, Dr. Augustus T. Mills, now practicing his profession at Corning, and three sisters, Mrs. Anna K. Curtis, of Ithaca, N. Y., Catharine L. Mills, and Mrs. Margaret A. Green, both residents of Corning.

Mr. Mills has a good reputation as a lawyer, and is highly esteemed for his social and moral qualities.

AUSTIN LATHROP, JR.

The paternal ancestor of the subject of this sketch, Rev. John Lathrop, was a native of Barnstable, England, and settled in America, at Scituate, Mass., Sept. 28, 1634. He died at Norwich, Conn., Nov. 8, 1653. The great-grand- father of Austin Lathrop (sometimes spelled " Lattrop" by many) was named Jedediah. He was a native of Stoning- ton, Conn. He had seven sons, of whom Israel, the grand- father of' Austin, was the youngest, and was born in Bozra, Conn., in October, 1770, and settled in Otsego Co., N. Y.,

in 1801. He was married to Miss Martha, daughter of John White, of Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y.

John White was a brother of Dr. Joseph White, of Cherry Valley, known far and near as a physician and sur- geon of great skill. As the result of the above union, four children-two sons and two daughters-were born, of whom Austin Lathrop, Sr., was the eldest, and was born in Otsego Co., N. Y .. Aug. 19, 1805. His brother Delos was two years younger, and graduated at Union College with honors, became a lawyer in 1832, and settled in Buffalo, and died in the city of Albany, in 1835.

Austin Lathrop removed to Chenango County, and from thenee to Lawrenceville, Pa., in 1830. Ile married Miss Amy, only daughter of Daniel Walker, of Lawrenceville, Pa., Nov. 5, 1832. Of this union, seven children-four sons and three daughters-were born, viz., Margaret, Martha, Austin, Delos, Daniel, William, and Mary. Mrs. Lathrop died March 19, 1850.

In 1836, Mr. Lathrop removed to Covington, Tioga Co., Pa., but at the present time (January, 1879) he is a resi- dent of Academy Corners, Tioga Co., Pa.

He has spent the most of his life as a farmer and Inmber- man, in Lawrence township, Tioga Co., and is now retired from business, at the age of seventy-four years.

Austin Lathrop, Jr., son of Austin and Amy Lathrop, was born in Covington, Tioga Co., Pa., April 9, 1839.

At the age of sixteen he left the paternal roof, and went into the busy world for himself. For two years he was lumber inspector for Ballard & Sampson, of Williamsport, Pa. ; for one year a elerk in a general merchandise store, at Lawrenceville, for Mr. Ballard ; and March 30, 1859, came to Corning, and engaged as a elerk for Hon. C. C. B. Walker, in a general hardware store. June 13, 1862, Mr. Lathrop was admitted as partner, with firm-name of Walker & Lathrop, since which time, Messrs. Walker & Lathrop, in connection with hardware, carry on an extensive busi- ness as manufacturers and dealers in lumber.

Mr. Lathrop is a member of the Democratic party, and in matters of local interest has always been connected with such enterprises as tend to the growth and prosperity of the town and village of Corning.

He was treasurer of the village for one year ; for two years following, its president; and supervisor of the town of Corning for nine years, ending February, 1878, during which time he was elected four times as chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the county.

Mr. Lathrop was connected with the fire department of the village for many years, and for some two years as chief engineer.

QUINCY W. WELLINGTON

was born in Moriah, Essex Co., N. Y., Dee. 27, 1832. He was second son in a family of seven children of Samuel B. and Amelia (Greene) Wellington,-the former a native of Alsted, Vt., born Sept. 7, 1805, the latter born at Saratoga, N. Y., June 29, 1813. Of the children, all are living except two.

Mr. Wellington removed with his parents to Tioga in the year 1845, and in the year 1849 entered the store of

Quetiene Datrop

HENRY GOFF was born in the town of Howard, Ian. 8, 1816. His father, William Goff, was a native of Bennington, Vt., born in 1781; went to Otsego County while a young man, and married Harriet Hamilton, of the town of Butternuts, and began farming.

Of this union were born in that county, Job; Mrs. Zimri Burnham (deceased) ; Mrs. Nathan Goff (deceased) ; Jehial D. (deceased); Potter D. H., a practicing physician of Wis- consin.

The family settled in the town of Howard, this county, about 1810, when Mr. Goff first purchased some two hundred acres of land on Goff's Creek, making additions thereto sub- sequently of several hundred acres. On his land was a saw- mill, and on which he built a grist-mill, the first built in that section of the county, and erected a wool-carding and cloth- dressing mill; and in 1833 he built the briek house now stand- ing in that part of the town, making the brick by hand. He lived where he first settled until he had erected the third grist- mill on different sites on the 'same farm. He also built a distillery which he carried on for some twelve years, and was engaged in stone-cutting.

At one time when there was a scarcity of provisions, Mr. Goff brought flour from Penn Yan, paying twenty dollars per barrel, and distributed it among the needy; and during the famine, in 1816, it is said that Mrs. Goff spent a large part of one winter sifting bran, taking the finer part and mixing with flour to supply the destitute; and at a time when there was no physician near she was the ever ready physician and midwife for the settlers; such was her generosity and kindness, that her name will long be honored for her many womanly virtues. He was an enterprising, thrifty business man ; his sympathy for those around him was only limited by his ability to help them, and to such families as the Goffs was the establishment of schools, settlement of towns, and manufacturing interests of the early days most due.

Mr. Goff' was esteemed very highly by the citizens of the town ; was supervisor for many years, and a member of the Democratic party. Although a man of little book knowledge, he possessed much native ability and sound common sense, and during the latter part of his life gave much of his time to reading, and especially to the study of the Scriptures, in which he was well versed, and believed in the final justification of the whole human race.

Their children born in the town of Howard are Cameron, Henry, Washington (died young), Warren W., Hosea B., and Mrs. Alkali Bennett.

The father died in the town of Howard, at the age of seventy-eight ; the mother died at the age of fifty-six, in the year 1843.

Mr. Henry Goff spent his minority on the farm and in the mill, receiving a fair common-school education. At the age of twenty-two he married Minerva, daughter of Reuben and Electa (Loomis) Smith, of the town of Bath. Her parents soon after their own marriage settled in Howard, when there were only three families in the town, and afterwards re- moved to Bath, where they lived until they died. She was born Feb. 5, 1813. His first business for himself was in the carding and cloth-dressing mill, which his father turned over to him about the time of his marriage. To this he added the manufacture of chairs, wagon hubs, etc., in which he was successful, and got a good start in business.

In 1851 he engaged in the lumber business with Joseph I. Burnham, rafting down the Canisteo. For three years as a farmer, and five as a merchant, he resided in Avoca. In 1862 he opened a general merchandising store in Corning, which he carried on for seven years, and since has given his attention wholly to the dry-goods trade in that place, and is among the successful and enterprising merchants of Southern New York.

Mr. Goff has always been a staunch member of the Demo- cratic party, and has been called upon by the citizens of his town to fill many places of trust and responsibility. Was supervisor of the town of Avoca, and for six years a justice of the peace of that town ; has been supervisor of Corning for two years; eight years justice of the peace and one year president of the village of Corning.

During the excitement consequent upon the draft for Corn- ing of one hundred and forty-five men during the late Re- bellion, Mr. Goff took an active part in raising money to hire men and prevent the draft; and for four days continuously was chairman of the meeting of the citizens of Corning at that time, and was a liberal contributor in supporting that sue- cessful project.

His attention has been more particularly given to business, preferring that to political honor or the emoluments of office. Their children are J. Dimick, who died at the age of twenty- three; and Mahlon D., who is now a resident of Corning.

un walters

WILLIAM WALKER was born at Sawley, York- shire, England, Oet. 11, 1827. His father, Benja- min, eldest son of Eli Walker, of Haddenfield, also a native of Yorkshire, is now in Mannum, South Australia. His mother, Bridget Baldwin, second daughter of Anthony Baldwin, of Gisburn, Coates, Yorkshire, England, a captain in the royal navy, is deceased.

Mr. Walker came to the United States, landing at New Orleans in 1842 ; thence up the Mississippi and to Chicago, then a small village, where lie resided on a farm in the vicinity for several years. He returned to Europe in 1849, spent three years traveling through different parts of the continent, and on his return to America, in 1852, settled in New York City, where he remained for a few years and carried on quite extensively woolen manufacture in Ohio.

In May, 1856, he removed to Corning, where he has since been a leading dealer in hats, eaps, and gentlemen's furnishing goods ; and for several years past has done a large and successful business in fire and life insurance.

During his residenee in America he has made two trips to Europe, one of which was made on board a sailing vessel in fourteen days from New York to Liverpool.

For several years since he came to Corning he has been a vestryman of Christ Church.

He was one of the original members of the Al- lianee Ilook-and-Ladder Company, of Corning, and is now an honorary member of the same. He has been a trustee and president of the Corning fire department.

June 16, 1859, he married Helen Comstock Bost- wick, niece of Col. Hiram W. Bostwick, of Corning. She was born in Milford, Otsego Co., N. Y., June 23, 1837. Their children are Anne Leaeh, William Baldwin, Helen Bostwick, Mary Louise, Fred Leach, and Edith; of whom Mary Louise and Fred Leach Walker are deceased.

Mr. Walker is identified with the Republican party, and interested in all questions affecting local or State legislation. He is a promoter of the best interests of society, and gives his attention strictly to a business life.

JOHN STORMS.

MRS. JOHN STORMS

RESIDENCE OF JOHN STORMS. CORNING, STEUBEN CO., N. Y.

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TOWN OF CORNING.

T. L. Baldwin & Co. as errand boy. In 1851 he became a clerk in the store of J. B. Steele, and remained with him one year, when he entered into partnership with Mr. Etz, with the firm-name of Etz & Wellington. After the death of his father at Tioga, Pa., March 1, 1854, he withdrew his interest from the firm, and came to Corning, Steuben Co., where he entered the office of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, under the management and control of A. T. Coehran.

On the 13th day of May, 1857, he married Matilda B., the accomplished daughter of B. C. Wickham, of Tioga, Pa. Her father, although now seventy-four years of age, is at the head of the banking house of B. C. Wickham & Co., and through a long life of usefulness has retained an unsullied reputation for integrity in all his business rela- tions, and is known for his manly qualities and business sagacity. In the year 1859, Mr. Wellington entered the George Washington Bank, at Corning, where he remained until September, 1862, when he, in company with Samuel Russell, organized under the individual banking law of the State of New York, with the name of Q. W. Wellington & Co.'s Bank. After four years Mr. Russell withdrew his interest, and Mr. Wellington has since been the sole owner of the bank, giving his whole attention to legitimate bank- ing, acting in concert with, and aiding the full development of all business interests in the locality to the extent of his means, until at the present time his bank ranks financially with the strongest banking institutions in the county.

This sketch gives only another illustration of the result of self-exertion by well-directed efforts, and adds another name to the list of self-made men, who, by striet attention to business, with a will to succeed, have won their way from an humble position to take rank in the best leading financial circle of the country. His children are Benjamiu Wickham, Catherine Amelia, Samuel Barney, Adelaide Louise, Sarah Etz, Emily Clara, of whom Samuel Barney and Emily Clara died in infancy.

JOHN STORMS

was born Jan. 31, 1814, in the city of New York. He is the son of John and Sarah Storms, who were natives of New Jersey. The family settled in New York about the year 1813, and two years after removed to Guilford, Che- nango Co., where they resided till the year 1832, at which time they took up their residence in Steuben County, town of Corning (then Painted Post). Upon his arrival in Steuben County, Mr. Storms purchased quite an extensive traet of timber-land and a saw-mill, and engaged in the lumber trade and in farming. He died Dec. 21, 1855. Mrs. Storms died on the 8th day of August, following.

John Storms, Jr., was the fifth son in a family of six children, two of whom are now living. Mr. Storms has followed farming for a business, and is one of the best farmers in the town, having a place for everything and everything in its place. He is one of the best-kuown tobacco buyers in the Chemung Valley, having been em- ployed, for many years, by heavy New York firms to make their purchases in this section.

He has always been a Demoerat, as was his father before him.

He was married, February 12, 1837, to Miss Louisa Camp, daughter of Sylvester and Mittie Camp, of Owego, N. Y. She was the second daughter in a family of twelve children, ten of whom are living. The year following his marriage, Mr. Stormus moved upon the farm, where he now resides, the buildings being an old log house, barn, and wagon-shed which, if standing now, would present not a very pleasing contrast to his present elegant buildings. Mr. Storms takes much pride in his fine stock, and is espe- eially fond of a good horse.

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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 77

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