USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume IV > Part 40
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On the 27th of April. 1910. in Rochester, Mr. Boothby was united in marriage to Miss Marjorie S. Riley, daughter of William Spencer Riley. Mr. and Mrs. Boothby have two children: John David. born July 11, 1915, and Gloria Spencer, whose natal day was February 2, 1918. During the period of the World war Mr. Boothby acted as chairman of Local Draft Board No. 7. He belongs to the Rochester Chamber of Com- merce and to the Rochester Lunch Club, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Central Presbyterian church, in which he is president of Class 42. Mr. Boothby is president of Rochester Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, a member of the board of managers of the Rochester Historical Society, and also a member of the board of directors of the Saratoga Battlefields Association. His record constitutes a splendid illustration of the force of industry, capability and perseverance in the attainment of prosperity, and in the city where practically his entire life has been spent he is held in high esteem by all who know him.
William S. Riley, the father-in-law of William B. Boothby, is the president of the William S. Riley Company and also a director of the National Bank of Commerce. He was born in Rochester, New York, October 2, 1858, a son of Phillip and Abigail A. Riley. Since April, 1902, he has filled the position of park commissioner in this city and has made a most commendable record in this connection. He is a consistent mem-
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ber of the Central Presbyterian church and fraternally is identified with the Elks and with the Masons. In the latter order he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and belongs to Lalla Rookh Grotto, M. O. V. P. E. R. He is likewise a member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation and in club circles is widely known, belonging to the Oak Hill Golf Club, the Rochester Ad Club, the Rochester Auto Club, of which he is a director, the Rochester Club, the Washington Club and the Rotary Club.
Mr. Riley has been twice married. On the 6th of May, 1880, he wedded Henrietta Gay Benedict and their children were four in number, namely: Abbie May, Edna Henrietta, Marjorie S. and William Pomeroy. On August 1, 1900, Mr. Riley was mar- ried to Carrie M. Leggett, and they have one child, Dorothy Olive.
CRAIG WHARTON WADSWORTH.
A career in the United States government service was the choice of Craig Whar- ton Wadsworth and the greater part of his life has been devoted to the diplomatic service. He has filled posts in many parts of the world and is a man of cosmopolitan experience, who looks at life from a broad standpoint, judging questions of importance in their international relations.
Craig Wharton Wadsworth was born in the city of Philadelphia, on January 12, 1872, a son of General Craig Wharton and Evelyn Willing (Peters) Wadsworth, and completed his education in Harvard University, which he attended during 1892 and 1893, also playing on the varsity football squad. He saw active service in the Spanish- American war as a member of the First New York Volunteer Cavalry, known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and in 1899 and 1900 was a member of the staff of the governor of New York. He was appointed third secretary of the American embassy at London, May 14, 1902, and on May 10, 1905, was promoted to the position of second secretary. He tendered his resignation in 1909 and in 1912 was made secretary of the legation and consul general at Teheran, Persia, where he was stationed for three years. His next assignment was at Bucharest, Roumania, where he acted as secre- tary of legation during 1915 and 1916. In 1916-17 he was secretary of the legation at Montevideo, Uraguay, and in August and September, 1916, he was chargé d'affaires at Buenos Aires, Argentina. He filled a similar office at Montevideo during 1917-18 and was sent to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 25, 1918. He was appointed counsellor of the embassy in that city on June 28, 1920, and on July 24 of the same year was assigned temporarily as chargé d'affaires to Buenos Aires, remaining there until No- vember 4, 1920. As counsellor he accompanied Secretary of State Colby's party on a tour of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, starting on November 19, 1920, and com- pleting the trip on January 2, 1921. He was assigned to the department of state at Washington, January 12, 1921, and went to Brussels, Belgium, as cousellor of the em- bassy on May 23, 1921. He has made a close study of governmental affairs and is familiar with every phase of diplomatic service.
Mr. Wadsworth is an Episcopalian in religious faith and his political support is given to the republican party. He is a member of the Metropolitan and Racquet Clubs of Washington; the Knickerbocker, Racquet and Tennis Clubs of New York city, and the Roehampton Club of London, England. He is a broad-minded, cultured gentleman, whose work has been of much value to his country, and his conversation is enriched with many interesting anecdotes of his experiences in foreign lands. Mr. Wads- worth's residence is in Geneseo, Livingston county, New York.
THE SWETT FAMILY.
John Swett was admitted to the freedom of Massachusetts colony on May 18, 1642. He was one of the grantees of Newbury, Massachusetts, on December 7, 1642. It has been supposed that he was connected with the Swett family of Oxton, Devon- shire, England. (See New England Register, Volume VII, where the Swett coat of arms is shown.) The History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts (page 821), says that John Swett came to Newbury from the Isle of Guernsey and that some of his descendants settled in Wellfleet and Truro. There seems to be no connection between the Swetts of Cape Cod and those of Newbury. Sarah, wife of John Swett of New- bury, died on December 11, 1650. He may have had a second wife, Phoebe, who died
CRAIG W. WADSWORTH
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a widow on May 6, 1665. He died in Newbury on January 13, 1651 or 1652. He lived on the first lot east of the old landing at Parker's river, near the end of the present electric road. His children were: John, who was born about 1603, married Mercy Rouse and (2) Jane -, and lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts; Joseph, who wedded Elizabeth Taylor and (2) Mrs. Mary Buttolph and made his home in Boston, Massachusetts; Stephen, who was born about 1620, married Hannah Merrill and (2) Rebecca Smith and resided in Newbury, Massachusetts; and Benjamin, who was born about 1626 and married Hester Weare.
Captain Benjamin Swett, son of John Swett, was born in England as early as 1626. On November 1, 1647, he married Hester Weare, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Weare. He lived for seven years on the Woodbridge farm in Newbury, just east of the upper green and about where the Woodbridge school now stands. He removed to Hampton, New Hampshire. He lived at what is now Hampton Falls, on the farm now owned by Miss Gove (1912), whose house stands near the place where once stood the Swett mansion. Miss Gove's house is the place where the poet Whittier died. It is on the line of the electric near the post office. Benjamin Swett was captain in the militia and commanded the expedition to Black Point, Scarborough, Maine, where he was killed in battle with the Indians on June 29, 1677. His widow married Ensign Stephen Greenleaf on March 31, 1679. She died in Hampton, New Hampshire, on the 16th of January, 1718, at the age of eighty-nine years. Benjamin Swett was one of the leading men of Hampton, serving as selectman and representative, and was also a brave military officer. (For sketch of him see Bodge's Soldiers of King Philip's War.) He had seven children recorded in Newbury and four in Hampton: Hester, who was born on June 17, 1648, and became the wife of Abraham Breen on September 5, 1668; Sarah, who was born November 7, 1650, and who wedded Morris Hobbs in 1678; Mary, who died young; Mary, the second of the name, who was born on May 2, 1654, and who became the wife of Richard Waterhouse on December 3, 1701; Joseph, who was born on January 21, 1658, and who married Hannah
and (2) Sarah Andrews; Moses, who was born on April 16, 1661, and who wedded Mary Hussey; Benjamin, whose natal day was May 20, 1664, and who wedded Theodate Hussey; Hannah, who was born on March 16, 1665, and who became the wife of John Rust on May 12, 1682; Elizabeth, who was born on the 2d of May, 1667; John, who was born on March 17, 1670, and who married Bethiah Page; and Stephen, who was born on July 13, 1672, and wedded Mary Kent.
Captain Joseph Swett, son of Captain Benjamin and Hester (Weare) Swett, was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, on January 21, 1658, and was first married to Hannah, who died on August 14, 1701. On the 20th of November of the same year he wedded Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Baker) Andrews of Boxford, Massachusetts. He was several times representative for Hampton and once led a company of militia to Saco, Maine. He lived in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. His will, dated September 29, 1720, and probated in January, 1721, names his wife Sarah and her children, unnamed, son Joseph, and daughters, Esther Eaton, Margaret Sher- burne and Abigail Swett. His widow married Charles Treadwell on January 1, 1723. Her will, dated December 13, 1743, and probated October 30, 1745, names children- Benjamin Swett, Jonathan Swett, Lydia, Hannah Swett and David Swett, to whom was given the house at Hampton Falls. The children were as follows: Hannah, who was born on September 13, 1682, and died young; Margaret, who was born on July 21, 1690, and who married (1) November 16, 1710, Thomas Sherburne of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and (2) August 13, 1729, Benjamin Rust, and who departed this life on March 27, 1761; Abigail, who was born on March 29, 1692, and became the wife of Benjamin Stone of York, Maine; Esther, who became the wife of John Eaton on November 18, 1709, and who died prior to 1720; Joseph, who wedded Hannah Sayward and resided in York, Maine. Captain Joseph and Sarah (Andrews) Swett had the following children: Lydia, who was born on March 22, 1704, and who became the wife of David Lee of Boston on April 3, 1729; Hannah, who was born on May 23, 1708, and who on February 2, 1728, became the wife of Moses Swett of Newbury, Massa- chusetts; Benjamin, whose birth occurred on November 17, 1710, who wedded Mrs. Elizabeth Jenness and lived at Hampton Falls; Jonathan, who was born on November 17, 1712, and who wedded (1) Deborah Tilton, (2) Jane Row and (3) Mary Stevens; David, who was born on December 13, 1716, and who wedded Dorothy Currier and lived in Hampton Falls.
Captain Jonathan Swett, son of Captain Joseph and Sarah (Andrews) Swett, was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, on November 17, 1712, and was married (1) on July 19, 1733, to Deborah Tilton. On October 26, 1738, he wedded (2) Jane, daughter of Robert and Mehitabel (Leavitt) Rowe, or Row. The inscription on her
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tombstone, in the oldest cemetery of Hampton Falls, which is about midway between the town hall and the post office, reads thus: "Here lies buried the Body of Mrs. Jean Swett, Late Wife of Capt. Jonathan Swett, who departed this life Jan. 5, 1751, in the 33rd. year of her age." Dow's History of Hampton says she was born on December 9, 1717. Near her grave is a long row of mounds without tombstones, where probably rest several generations of the Swett family. Robert Row's will, 1757, names grandchildren, children of his daughter Jane, viz: Joseph, Josiah, Jonathan, Mehitabel and Sarah Swett. Captain Jonathan Swett married (3) Mary Stevens. Her mother, Mary Stevens, in her will of 1765, names her daughter Mary, wife of Captain J. Swett. There is no record of his death and nothing in probate records to indicate it. He may have moved out of town and died elsewhere. The town records assign seven children to his second marriage and three to his third, but this is manifestly an error. Joseph, born on August 16, 1739, wedded Jemima
and probably settled in Waterboro, Maine; Josiah, whose birth occurred December 20, 1741, married Prudence Dodge on January 10, 1765, and died on the 26th of December, 1808; Mehitabel, who was born on February 6, 1744, became the wife of David Perkins of Newington, New Hampshire, on October 29, 1771; Sarah, whose natal day was February 3, 1746; Jonathan, who was born August 27, 1748, and who wedded Lydia Huntress of New- ington on November 8, 1774, and settled in Campbells Gore, afterward called Windsor, New Hampshire. The following were the children of Captain Jonathan and Mary (Stevens) Swett:
David, who was born April 8, 1753, who lived in Hampton Falls and who on October 30, 1786, wedded Sarah Batchelder and had two daughters and also a son who died unmarried; James, who was born April 8, 1755, and perhaps settled in Vermont; Lydia, whose natal day was September 5, 1757; Elizabeth, born on May 5, 1759; and Abigail, whose birth occurred on the 3d of August, 1760.
Josiah Swett, son of Captain Jonathan and Jane (Row) Swett, was born in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, on December 20, 1741, and on January 10, 1765, wedded Prudence, daughter of Skipper and Sarah (Cogswell) Dodge of Wenham, Massachusetts. Mrs. Prudence (Dodge) Swett was born on September 28, 1747. Josiah Swett lived for some years in Wenham, Massachusetts, and thence moved to Campbell's Gore (Windsor), New Hampshire, while finally he settled in Claremont, New Hampshire, where he passed away on December 26, 1808. His wife departed this life on the 8th of August, 1831. (See published Claremont Cemetery Inscriptions.) All his children except James are recorded in Wenham, Massachusetts. Josiah Swett was a Revolutionary soldier from Wenham, Massachusetts. His children are here given: Prudence, who was born on October 2, 1766, wedded Joel Richards in 1783 and settled in Claremont, New Hampshire; (2) Josiah, who was born on October 2, 1768, died in Claremont on December 18, 1843. On the 18th of February, 1791, he wedded Hannah Healey of Washington, New Hampshire, who passed away on Decem- ber 3, 1854. Their family numbered ten children; (3) Benjamin, whose birth occurred on January 22, 1771, was married (1) on March 17, 1790, to Polly Healey and (2) on October 12, 1813, to Marcia Dodge of Wenham, Massachusetts. He is said to have moved to Mount Morris, New York. (4) Sarah, who was born on May 28, 1773, passed away on the 26th of June, 1774. (5) Mehitabel, whose natal day was May 27, 1775, became the wife of Ichabod Dodge on May 23, 1794. (6) Jonathan, who was born on February 19, 1778, passed away on July 27, 1779. (7) Jonathan, the second of the name, who was baptized on July 2, 1780, according to the published records of Wenham, Massachusetts, was born on the 22nd or 23d of June, 1780, wedded Charissa Hitchcock on October 23, 1803. (8) James departed this life on the 23d of April, 1804, when twenty-two years of age. The above lineage was compiled by Rev. Everett S. Stackpole of. Bradford, Massachusetts, in February, 1908. He has worked for several years over the Swett family lineage and has searched town and church and county records, military lists and cemeteries and every known source of information. He is responsible for the truth and accuracy of the above records.
Dr. Jonathan Swett, son of Josiah and Prudence (Dodge) Swett, was born in Wenham, Massachusetts, on June 22 or 23, 1780, and was baptized on July 2, 1780. On the 23d of October, 1803, in Deerfield, he married Charissa, daughter of Justin and Mercy (Hoyt) Hitchcock of Deerfield, Massachusetts. She was born January 13, 1781. He died in Sidney, Champaign county, Illinois, on September 14, 1865. His wife died in Ridgeway, New York, on the 1st of June, 1855. Dr. Jonathan Swett attended school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He later studied medicine in Dartmouth College but did not graduate. He practiced his profession in Maine for some time; later removed to Elbridge, New York; then to Weedsport, New York, where he resided about four years, during which time he built two canal boats, with the help of an old ship's carpenter, and also built a house; from there he removed to Rochester,
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New York, and then to a place near Brockport, New York, where he remained until he purchased a farm at Ridgeway, New York, from the Holland Land Company. The records of the Holland Land Company show that the east part of Lot 38 was articled to Jonathan Swett in the year 1830; this land was deeded to him October 13, 1832. It was on the famous Ridge road which was then and has always been a highway from Rochester to Buffalo and Lewiston. On this land a tavern was situated and the only way Dr. Swett was able to secure possession was by entering the tavern as a guest and getting some of his baggage in. If this had not been done the man who occupied the tavern could not have been legally dispossessed.
While a resident of Ridgeway, Dr. Swett was known as one of the most famous pioneer surgeons of western New York. He used to prophesy that people would talk through the air and also that the air would some day be navigated. In 1856, after the death of his wife, Dr. Swett removed to Champaign county, Illinois, with his son, Joel Richards Swett, and family, and with his daughter Charissa, the latter remaining with him until his death on September 14; 1865, at Sidney, Illinois. His health was good and his strength unimpaired until shortly before his death. He was a democrat in politics but voted for Abraham Lincoln for his second term. His children were as follows: Camilla, who was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1805, and passed away on the 4th of September, 1805; James, who was born on December 10, 1806, left home while the family resided at Deerfield and was never heard from again; Barbarak, who died young; Joel Richards, who was born in North- field, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1808, who wedded Minerva Bates of Ridgeway, New York, on October 2, 1836, and who passed away in Medina, New York, on September 28, 1890; Jonathan, who was born in Deerfield, on May 18, 1809, who married Miss Knickerbocker of Ridgeway, New York, and passed away in Medina, this state, about 1882; Charissa Hoyt Swett, whose birth occurred in Elbridge, New York, on April 7, 1814, and who departed this life in Medina, New York, on May 22, 1910, when ninety-six years of age, and Charles, who was born in Weedsport, New York, about 1822, but lived only nine months.
Joel Richards Swett, son of Dr. Jonathan and Charissa (Hitchcock) Swett, was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, on the 19th of January, 1808, and on the 2d of October, 1836, wedded Minerva Bates of Ridgeway, New York, who was born in Palmyra, this state, on November 22, 1818. Her parents were Bennet and Abigail (Conant) Bates, who formerly lived in Macedon, New York, to which place they had removed from New England. Joel Richards Swett was named for his uncle, Joel Richards of Claremont, New Hampshire, who married his aunt, Prudence Swett. While the family lived in Elbridge, New York, about 1814, his uncle, Joel Richards, and wife made them a visit and took Joel Richards Swett back to New Hampshire to live with him as his heir. He returned to his father's home, however, walking most of the way. He was given command of one of the early packet boats built by his father on the Erie canal at Weedsport and his brother James was given command of the other. He moved with his father to Ridgeway, New York, in 1830 and here met
his future wife, Minerva Bates. After his marriage he again went on the Erie canal as master of a boat run by the New Clinton Line. Several transfer deeds of property are recorded in the clerk's office at Albion, New York, between him and his father, Dr. Jonathan Swett. In 1856 he moved to Rantoul, Champaign county, Illinois. He enlisted in the Eighth Indiana Battery at Terre Haute on February 27, 1862, and was in the Army of the Cumberland for thirteen months. He was ordered by Captain Cochran to ride back about four miles from the point where the battery was in camp, and he rode bareback to help in getting a commissary wagon out of the ditch. On this ride he was ruptured and was captured at Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862. While on the way to prison he spiked seven cannon in the rebel baggage train; this would have meant instant death had his act been detected. During the war he participated in the battle of Pittsburg Landing and doubtless others. He was incar- cerated in Libby prison but was paroled at City Point, Virginia, on the 3d of February, 1863, and sent to parole camp at Annapolis, Maryland, where he was discharged on the 18th of March, 1863, for disability, after which he returned home. Immediately after the close of the Civil war he returned to Medina, New York, with his family and there made his home until his death. However, because of an accident in the plant of the Bignall Manufacturing Company, he was unable to do any heavy work. He died in Medina, New York, on September 28, 1890, and his wife passed away on the 20th of January, 1901. Joel Richards and Minerva (Bates) Swett were the parents of fourteen children, eight of whom died in early childhood. The surviving members of the family are named below: (1) Joel Bates Swett, who was born in Ridgeway, New York, on the 10th of July, 1841, married Sarah Jeanette Spaulding of that place.
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She passed away in Manistee, Michigan, on the 8th of December, 1881. On the 1st of November, 1882, Joel Bates Swett wedded Mrs. Ella Maloria Graff Sanderson, a widow living in Manistee, Michigan. (2) Albert Louis, who was born in Ridgeway, New York, on April 27, 1850, was married in Medina, this state, on the 18th of September, 1872, to Lucinda Maria Fuller, whose birth occurred near Ballston Spa, New York, on December 29, 1849. (3) Cora, who was born in Ridgeway on the 20th of July, 1852, was married in Medina on the 3d of January, 1877, to Ephraim Loke of that place, whose birth occurred in Lincolnshire, England, on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1841. Ephraim and Cora (Swett) Loke became the parents of four children, all of whom were born in Medina, New York, as follows: Louis E., whose natal day was August 14, 1878, and who wedded Harriet Newbegin of South Carolina on the 18th of October, 1906; Minerva, born September 18, 1883; C. Estelle, whose birth occurred on September 8, 1886, died; and Marshall S., born April 23, 1893. (4) Dr. Emily Frances Swett, who was born in Royalton, Niagara county, New York, on the 9th of September, 1854, was educated in Medina Academy and later pursued a medical course at the Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago. She has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Medina, New York, since 1885. (5) Lyman Richards Swett, whose birth occurred in Rantoul, Illinois, on the 19th of July, 1859, wedded Martha Almira Washington of Port Jervis, New York, on the 29th of July, 1891. She died June 27, 1894. Their son, Trevor W. H., who was born in Vineland, New Jersey, on the 22d of July, 1893, graduated from Harvard College in June, 1915. He served in France during the World war and won a captaincy. He has remained in the army and at present (1925) is a military attache stationed at Riga, Latvia, one of the Baltic states. Captain Swett was married on October 19, 1924, to Miss Marjorie Paret at Spring Lake, New Jersey. For his second wife Lyman Richards Swett mar- ried Elizabeth Wilson Horner of Brooklyn, New York, and they became the parents of a daughter, Lois Helene Swett, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1899.
WILLIAM MARTIN SMITH.
William Martin Smith, vice president and general manager, as well as one of the founders of the Seneca Shoe Company, is also one of Rochester's best-known men in the shoe industry and his activities have materially contributed toward the development of that industry here. He was born in Rochester, September 13, 1871, his parents being William R. and Katherine (Vogt) Smith, the latter of whom was also born in Rochester. William R. Smith was a native of England and was but a boy of eight years when his parents came to Rochester, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a blacksmith, and followed that trade for many years. He is survived by his widow, who is still a resident of this city.
William Martin Smith received his early education at the Holy Redeemer parochial school and completed his studies at the Rochester Free Academy. He first entered the employ of the Edgar P. Reed Shoe Company of this city and remained with them for five years, when he resigned his position to become foreman for Moloney Brothers. After about seven years with that firm he accepted the position of superintendent for the A. H. Oliver Company, which later became the Joroleman-Oliver Company, and Mr. Smith continued his connection with this firm until 1910. It was in the latter year. and largely through his instrumentality, that the Seneca Shoe Company was organized. From its inception Mr. Smith has been the practical and executive head of the business. His intimate knowledge of shoe manufacturing, acquired from years of experience and intensive study has been a large factor in the success of the Seneca Shoe Company, which is now the largest in western New York, specializing in the manufacture of children's shoes.
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