USA > New York > Wyoming County > Warsaw > History of the town of Warsaw, New York, from its first settlement to the present time; with numerous family sketches and biographical notes > Part 24
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Mrs. Phebe Ann Matthews died Jan. 31, 1859 Mr. Mat- thews married Cynthia Clute. Ile resides in Genesee Falls.
LAURA A. married Philander F. May. They reside in Nashna, Iowa, and have had five children: 1. Alonzo M. 2. Mary. 3. Isaac. 4. Miranda. 5. Frank.
GEORGE L., born Oct. 13, 1818, and married Elizabeth C. Hannum, of Pavilion. IIe is a prominent citizen and mer- chant in Dubuque, Iowa.
Mrs. Hannah Savage, by her former husband, had a son, Luther W., who resides in Springfield, Erie Co., Pa. He married Harriet Russell, and had two children. Mr. Savage was for many years a teacher.
Mr. Isaac Matthews had by his second wife three children: JOSIAH S. married Charlotte D. Strong, who died Jan. 22, 1856. He married II. Elizabeth Collins, May 16, 1860.
JOIN B., born Feb. 1, 1835, married Elizabeth S. Case, and has a son, Walter C. Mr. Matthews is one of the firm of' Matthews & Brown, Druggists, in Warsaw.
MARY E., born Oct. 14, 1836, married George Duryee. They had three children: Edward, Charles, d. inf., and John M. Mr. Durvee was for several years in the Drug and Gro- cery business in this village, and now resides in New York.
FERDINAND C. D. McKAY was born in Skaneateles, Onondaga Co., N. Y., in 1811. From an early period in his life he was dependent mainly upon his own exertions for the means of education, and at the age of fourteen engaged in the occupation of school teaching to earn the means for prose- cuting the study of law. He studied in the office of Daniel Kellogg, of Skaneateles; and in 1833, he married Angelina J. Judd, and removed to Warsaw the same year. He suc- ceeded in the practice of law, James Crocker, Esq., whose residence he bought. Ile practiced with marked success about two years, when, in the fall of 1835, he made a contract
297
FAMILY SKETCHES AND NOTES.
with Judge Webster for all his real estate in this town, about 640 acres of land, possession to be taken in April, 1836. This change of property, though it resulted in no benefit to the purchaser, proved advantageous to the village. [See p. 67.] His purchase and sale of real estate cansed an interruption of a few years in his professional business, which he resumed, and continued until his removal from the town. Mr. and Mrs. McKay were members of the Presbyterian church until the formation of the Congregational church, which they joined at the time of its organization. In promoting the cause of temperance, he was a prominent and efficient actor, and was one of its ablest advocates. In the formation of the Antislavery Society in this town, in 1833 or 1834, he took a leading part, and was to the last in sympathy and cooperation with the friends of immediate emancipation. At the meeting ( elsewhere alluded to.) held in this village in November, 1839, he was one of the majority who nominated James G. Birney the first time for the Presidency. He was a lawyer of ac- knowledged ability. He was appointed, in 1856, District Attorney for Wyoming county in the place of Harlow L. Comstock, elected County Judge, and was afterwards elected to the former office .. In the winter of 1860-61, he removed with his family to Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. He de- voted himself to the prosecution of his profession for about a year, when he received the appointment of Agent for Iowa, by the American Emigrant Company, in whose service he continued until his last sickness, having gained the warmest commendations and substantial rewards of the corporation. He had ten children, as follows :
FERDINAND C. DWIGHT, who married Julia Carpenter, and resides in Elmira. Ile has three children.
E. DE COST is a graduate of Yale College. He engaged for a time in the mercantile business, which he relinquished and removed to the city of New York, where, as agent, he is prosecuting the Life Insurance business with extraordinary success. He married Susie E. White, of Worcester, Mass., and has a daughter, Cora.
ANGELINA J. married Charles Mosher, formerly Cashier of Wyoming County Bank. They reside in Des Moines, Iowa, and have three daughters, Grace, Florence, and Mand.
EUDORA A. married J. B. Stewart, Esq., of Des Moines, and has two children, Mary and Cecil MeKay.
AUGUSTA MARIA d. inf., in Warsaw, Jan. 11, 1841.
THEODORE E., unmarried, resides in New York city.
CHARLAS J., FLORENCE E., JENNIE M., and WILLIAM L., reside at Des Moines.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
JOHN A. MCELWAIN came to this town in 1817, in the employ of Simeon Cumings, of Batavia, who had recently built the grist-mill and the oil-mill in this village, which were subsequently, at times, either wholly or in part conducted by him. In 1824, he purchased of Oliver Lee the north tavern stand, which, many years afterwards, he improved by erect- ing the present spacious three story brick structure in the place of the old wooden building. Soon after he commenced this business, he became interested in the running of stages, and in the transportation of mails. In this business his inter- est increased, until his stages were run, and carried the mails on every route passing through or terminating at Warsaw. This business he continued until his horses and coaches were superseded by the more expeditious "iron horse, whose sinews are steel, and whose provender is fire." He was elected Sheriff of Genesee county in 1831. IIe was a representative of that county in the Assembly in 1837; and a senator from the district including Wyoming county, in 1852 and 1853. He was also chosen Treasurer of Wyoming county. He has been a friend and promoter of public improvements; and he rendered efficient service in procuring the new county, and in the erection of the public buildings. By diligent attention to business and prudent management, he was enabled, many years since, to retire upon an ample competency from the active pursuits of life.
John A. McElwain, born in Palmer, Mass., Sept. 21, 1794, married, March 25, 1830, Polly Day, who was born in this town, March 10, 1811, and was a daughter of Col. Elkanah Day. She died, Aug. 24, 1834, leaving a daughter, Mary Isabel, who married Dr. Edward II. G. Meachem.
Mr. McElwain married for his second wife, Lomira Suther- land, a daughter of Isaac Sutherland, Esq., of Batavia, Aug. 12, 1839. She was born Dec. 12, 1811. They have six chil- dren: John S., William Henry, Laura L., James Frank, Chip- man Warren, and Frederick F.
JOHN MCWHORTER removed from Granville to War- saw in 1807, and settled on that part of Lot 36 now owned by Samuel Fisher, in the south part of the village. His wife, whose name before her marriage was Bethia Hall, died before his removal to this town. Their children were:
PorLy, who married Elkanah Day. [See Sketch of E. Day.]
JOHN married Clarissa Phelps and died in Granville. They had two children, who came to Warsaw with their mother, then the wife of Samuel Hough, her second husband.
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FAMILY SKETCHES AND NOTES.
1. Polly, who married Calvin Rumsey. [Sce Sketch of C. Rumsey.] 2. John, who married Betsey, daughter of Na- thaniel Cumings, of Warsaw. He was a merchant in War- saw and in Westfield, and afterwards, for several years, ticket agent of the Central Railroad in Buffalo. His services in this employment were unfortunately terminated by the total loss of his eye-sight. Ile died a few years since. He had several children.
JENNETT married Zera Tanner, in Granville. [See Zera Tanner.]
PATIENCE married Hezekiah Wakefield. [Sce H. Wake- field.]
CHLOE married Joel Phippeny, in Warsaw. . They removed to Sheldon, where Mr. Phippeny died. She returned to War- saw, removed to Belvidere, Ill., and died there.
DAVID died in 1809, at Manlius, N. Y .; and SAMUEL.
SAMUEL MCWHORTER, son of John Mcwhorter, was born in Hebron, Washington Co., N. Y., Nov. 17, 1786. He removed to this town with his father from Granville, in 1807. He taught the first school in Warsaw. At the first town meeting after the formation of the town, in 1808, at the age of 21, he was elected Town Clerk, to which office he was sev- eral times reelected. Ile was for many years a Justice of the Peace, and for a term an Associate Judge of the County Court. And in 1822, he was a Member of Assembly from the county of Genesee. In 1834, having sold his farm, he removed to the town of Portland, Chautauqua Co .; thence to Westfield, where Mrs. McWhorter died. He subsequently removed to Belvidere, Ill. In 1856, he removed to Kilbourn City, Wis., thence to a farm a few miles distant, where he died in 1865.
Judge McWhorter married in Warsaw, for his first wife, Annis Brown, of Mass., a sister of the wife of Dr. Sheldon. They had eight children:
CAROLINE, who married Horace Hollister. [See Horace Hollister.]
ISABEL married Joseph Riddel, in Westfield, and removed to Cherry Valley, Ill., where he died in 1864. They had six children: Annis, Samuel, Gertrude, William, Caroline, and one d. inf.
JonN, who died young, in Warsaw.
MILO, who is married, and lives in Wisconsin.
MATTHEW was a soldier in the Mexican war, and died at New Orleans, at the age of 25.
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IHISTORY OF WARSAW
SAMUEL is married, and lives on the farm on which his father died, in Wisconsin.
WILLIAM II. died in Belvidere, Ill., at the age of 22.
JOHN A. is a graduate of Beloit College, Wis., is married, and has several children. He is, and has been for several years, instructor in the State Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, at Delavan, Wis.
Whilst residing at Belvidere, Judge McWhorter married, (1849,) for his second wife, Susan Phelps, of Warsaw, who lives with his son Samuel, in Wisconsin.
JOHN P. MEAD was born in Morristown, N. J., March 12, 1806. He was a son of Dr. Leonard Mead, who was a graduate of Yale College. He married Phebe Ferris, and removed to Warsaw in 1837. He had eight children:
WILLIAM J., who married Henriett E. Graves, of Eagle, and has three children, Emma, Willis F., and Lemnel.
GEORGE W., who married Gussie Wise, of Troy, Ill. Chil- dren: George W., Lewis M., and Ada M.
MARY E. married George M. Pierce, and has two children: Martha D. and Mary D.
MILFORD A. married Mary C. Whitney, and has three chil- dren: John P., 3d, Nelly A., and Mary.
JOHN P., Jr., and SAMUEL, reside in Warsaw.
MARTHA and MARTHIA A., both died young.
ELI MERRILL was born in Litchfield, Oneida county, in 1804. He came to Sheldon in 1821, where he married Mi- nerva Humphrey, daughter of Dea. Theophilus Humphrey. She died, leaving a daughter, Minerva, who married William Hewett for her first husband, and for her second, John H. Rogers. They live in Java. Mr. Merrill came to Warsaw in 1832, and taught school on West Hill. In 1834, he mar- ried Ann M. Burr, of Perry. He taught school some time in Tennessee, and removed to Chautauqua county, where he re- sided until 1847. He returned to Warsaw in that year, and resided here until his death, April 20, 1861. He had by his second wife, five children: Asa Burr, William Henry, [see Sketches,] Chauncey Gates, Cynthia L., who married Charles HI. Huntley, and lives in Jamestown, and J. Milton, now in Oberlin College.
Mrs. Ann M. Merrill married, June, 1866, Asa Cady, of Collamer, O., where she resides.
ASA B. MERRILL, son of Eli Merrill, was born in Perry, Aug. 6, 1836. He came to Warsaw with his parents in 1847 and received here a thorough academical education. In
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Asa B. Merrill.
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FAMILY SKETCHES AND NOTES.
September, 1861, after the second call for volunteers, he was among the first to enlist in a Company of Cavalry, and en- tered at once into the work of raising volunteers; and by the combined labors of Capt. Stimson, Lieut. Lapham, and him- self, the Company was raised, and started for Camp on the 3d of October. He was elected and appointed First Lieuten- ant. In the spring of 1862, his Regiment, 9th N. Y. Cavalry, was ordered to join the army of the Potomac, as part of the reserve in Mcclellan's siege of Yorktown, during which he had command of the Company. In May the Company was ordered back to Washington, and he was commissioned as Captain. A fever, brought on by over-exertion and exposure, prostrated him, and he died on the 23d of June. The body was embalmed, and sent home. Funeral services were held at the Congregational church, which was draped with em- blems of mourning. He was the only officer from here who lost his life in the service; and his was the first public funeral of a volunteer from this town. He was a true soldier, and an efficient officer. His future was radiant with promise; and in the midst of labors but just begun, and plans which his talent and energy fitted him to prosecute with success, he closed his earthly career. His loss was deeply deplored.
WILLIAM H. MERRILL was born in Stockton, Chau- tauqua county, July 3, 1840, and came with his father to War- saw when seven years old. He received his education in the common school and Warsaw Academy. He entered the office of the Wyoming County Mirror as an apprentice, in 1855; and became one of the proprietors in 1857. In the spring of 1860, he went with E. L. Babbitt to Waukon, Iowa, where they established the North Iowa Journal, of which he was joint editor and proprietor, until the spring of 1861. He returned to Warsaw, and in company with J. P. Morse, pur- chased the Western New Yorker. In Sept., 1862, he bought the interest of his partner, and condneted the paper alone until October, 1864, when the New Yorker and the Mirror were consolidated under the firm of Dudley & Merrill; Mr. Merrill, editor. From 1863 to 1866, he was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. In 1864, he was appointed Loan Com- missioner, and was re-appointed in 1866. He was appointed Executive Clerk of the State Senate in 1866, and served through two sessions of the legislature. In 1867, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, and served on the Committees on Suffrage and Printing. He married, in 1863, Flora J. Judd, daughter of the late Charles J. Judd, and has two sons, Charles J. and Wm. Henry.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
EDWIN B. MILLER was born in Rutland, Vt., Aug. 1, 1809. After a brief apprenticeship at the printing business at Royalton, Vt., he established the Weekly Register at New Bedford, Mass., in 1831, and continued its publication nearly two years. In 1835, he went to Bangor, Maine, as managing agent of a branch of a Hardware house in New Bedford, which position, after about one year, he resigned. He next engaged in the Corn and Flour trade in Bangor, which he relinquished in 1837, and removed to Warsaw. Here he soon became in- terested with his brother in the manufacture and sale of Frank Miller's "Oil Blacking;" which business, under the firm of Frank Miller & Co., is still continued. [See Frank Miller.] In 1862, he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., to superin- tend the business of the firm, which had been removed to the city of New York. In 1840, himself and wife united with the Presbyterian church in Warsaw. He was soon after elected an elder of the church and clerk of the session, which offices he held until his removal to Brooklyn. He has several times been a delegate to the General Assembly of the Pres- byterian church. The institutions of the church and the interests of religion in general, receive his cordial and active support. Mr. Miller married, May 17, 1836, at Pittsford, Vt., Rebecca C. Moulton, who was born at Castleton, Vt., May 29, 1810. Their children were: William Moulton, who died at 24 years; Frances S. and Martha HI., who are both living.
FRANK MILLER came from Granville to this town in 1819, then a youth of about fifteen, fatherless, and without a relative here. Having no trade, and for a number of years no regular employment at any one kind of business, he asso- ciated himself with Samuel Munger in the Tanning and Shoe business, in the old establishment of Deacon Munger, a half mile south of the village, in which business he continued one year or more. Having acquired some knowledge of the busi- ness, he formed a connection with Isaac Preston; and they purchased the tannery of Calvin Rumsey in this village. About the year 1835, Mr. Preston withdrew from the concern; and Mr. Miller became sole proprietor, and after a year or two discontinued the business. He soon after invented his "Water Proof Oil Blacking." Fortunately he early formed a partnership with his brother, Edwin B. Miller, a systematic business man. Their capital was small, and for years their business was quite limited. But by energy and perseverance it has been extended, until "Miller's Blacking" finds sale in nearly every state in the Union. The annual sales of his dif- ferent kinds of blacking, and his "Prepared Harness Oil,"'
Frank Miller.
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FAMILY SKETCHES AND NOTES.
have reached an amount not dreamed of by the inventor when he commenced in this village the sale of his single original article from a basket. During his long residence in this town, Mr. Miller has not only maintained a good charac- ter in the common acceptation of that terni, but has been a useful citizen, ever ready to engage in efforts for the suppres- sion of vice in its various forms, and for the improvement of the moral and social condition of the community. He has for nearly forty years, and his wife for a longer period, been a member of the Presbyterian church in this town. He has ever been liberal, according to his means, in contributing to the support of the institutions of religion. He has also been an active cooperator in making public improvements. He has contributed materially to the improvements of the streets and the building of the principal bridges in this village; and many of the trees which ornament and shade our streets, have been gratuitously brought into the village by his teams, and set with his own hands. He is at present President of the Board of Trustees of the village. Frank Miller was born in Wal- lingford, Vt., March 23, 1804. Lois Savage, whom he mar- ried in this town, Nov. 20, 1827, was born in Granville, N. Y., July 12, 1807. They had six children: Edwin A., Delia S., James Franklin, d. inf., James Lovejoy, Frank C., and Hen- rietta L.
EDWIN A. was born Nov. 18, 1828. He married Rebecca Mckay, of Caledonia. He has ever been a resident of War- saw, and has for many years past been in the Boot and Shoe trade. They are members of the Presbyterian church, of which he is also an elder. He is also and has been for sev- eral years Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. He had six children: Estelle C., Frank, Alida, Robert D., William E., and Charles L., d. inf.
DELIA S., born April 5, 1831, married Rev. Washington D. McKinley, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, who has been for many years pastor of the Presbyterian church at Tuscarora, Livingston Co., and is at present pastor of the Presbyterian church in Moscow. They had four daughters, all of whom d. inf.
JAMES L. was born Oct. 15, 1837, and married Fanny L. Savage, danghter of the late Rev. Amos Savage, of Connecti- cut. They have had two children, a daughter, Alice, d. inf., and Frank. They reside in Brooklyn.
FRANK C., born Jan. 11, 1840, died Sept. 16, 1855.
HENRIETTA L., born Dec. 30, 1845, married Dr. Jacob K. Smith, of Moscow, where they reside.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
SOLOMON MORRIS, SEN., was born Sept. 5, 1755. He married Keziah Moss, October 1, 1779. He removed from Hampton to Warsaw in 1807, and settled on the north part of Lot 26. He purchased also the grist-mill built, and nearly completed by Joseph Mauly. This was the first grist-mill in the town. Mr. Morris was an upright man, and a good citizen. He was a member of the Methodist church, and is said to have been a member of the first Methodist class formed in this town, about the year 1809. He had twelve children: Lyman, Salmon, d. inf., Sally, who married Simeon Gibson, Nathaniel, died at ten, Solomon, Jun., Lydia, who married Daniel Knapp, Rufus and Lucy, d. inf., Rufus, Luther, who died at 16, Lucy, and Mary who married Nye Stevens. [The families of the adult children are noticed in separate sketches under the names of the sons, and the names of the husbands of the daughters, except Lucy.]
Lucy married Carl W. Flower. They removed to Beaver, Pa., where he died. They had seven children: Jared, Esther, Ann, Hiram, Wheat, Wylie, and Lomelia.
LYMAN MORRIS was born June 24, 1780, and married Resina Hotchkiss in Hampton, Nov. 1798. He removed to this town in 1804, and settled a mile north of the village, where he resided until his death, Jan. 16, 1854. His wife died Jan. 23, 1829. They had five children:
GEORGE W., who was born Jan. 12, 1800, and married Minerva M. Scovel in 1823. He settled in the north part of the town, where he resided many years, and removed to the village, where he died, Nov. 1865. He was a highly esteemed citizen. He was elected in 1831, a Justice of the Peace for the term of four years, and again in 1839. He was a man of strict integrity, and firmness of principle. He was a thorough temperance man, and a friend of universal freedom, and lived to rejoice in the entire abolition of slavery in the United States. He was a member of the Methodist church, and one of its main pillars. His wife and a part of the family still reside in the village. They had seven children, of whom five are living, two having died young: 1. Harriet A., 2. Resina; 3. Mariett, who married James H. Sperbeck, and had two children; 4. Nathan Jackson, who married Geraldine L. Holly, daughter of Alanson Holly, is a druggist in Chicago, and has a son; 5. Marvin S., who married Loduski Blair, and has a son, George E.
JONATIIAN F., born Dec. 11, 1802, married Emeline B. Otis. Their children are, 1. William T., who married Harriet Em- mons, and resides in New Lisbon, Wis .; 2. Justin O., who
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FAMILY SKETCHIES AND NOTES.
married Elizabeth Lewis, and has three children, Frank J., Eva, and Lewis. 3. Miles H., who married Mary Smith. He was formerly a partner in the firm of Garretsee & Morris in the Hardware trade in this village, and is now in the same business in Chicago, one of the firm of Morris, Hodge, & Homer. 4. David G., who married Elizabeth Weter, and is a physician in Sharon, Wis. 5. Julia Minerva, who married Morton Post, a Captain in the late war. They reside in Chicago. 6. Mary E., who married Lucien H. Post, publisher of the Elgin Gazette, Elgin, Ill.
FANNY K., born July 24, 1805, married Harley Knapp. [See Family of Wm. Knapp, Sen.] She married a second husband, Abel Ray, and resides in Livonia.
MARIA, born Nov. 16, 1808, married David Otis, and re- moved to Henrietta. They have three children: Lyman, Harrison, and David. Mr. Otis died in 1837. Mrs. Otis married a second husband, Alfred Williams. They have three children: Maria, May, and Frances.
HIRAM, born Aug. 16, 1809, married Sophia Gay. Their children are, 1. Solomon, who married Miss Bradt, and re- sides in Middlebury. 2. Maria, who married John West, and had two children, Mary and Zella. Mrs. W. died, and Mr. W. married Mary S. Barber. 3. Lavira, who married Edward Benedict, of Perry. They have three children, and reside in Chicago.
SOLOMON MORRIS, Jun. was born Aug. 9, 1787, and came from Hampton to Warsaw in 1806. He married Mrs. Olive Noble, widow of Dwight Noble, and settled on the farm on which his son Luther now resides, a mile and a half south of the village. He was conscientious and upright in his inter- course with his fellow men, and enjoyed in a high degree the public confidence. He was for many years the principal sur- veyor of lands in this town; and he was eleven times elected Supervisor, which office he held at the time of his death. He returned home, ill, from the annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors at Batavia, and never recovered. He died Nov. 20, 1839, aged 52 years. His wife died Sept. 22, 1852, aged 69 years. They had seven children:
ROWLEY was born Dec. 30, 1811, and commenced the practice of medicine in this town. He married Harriet Foster, and removed to Brodhead, Wis., where he is still a practicing physician. After a residence there of ten or twelve years, his wife died. He married a second wife, by whom he has several children.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
LUTHIER M. was born Jan. 3, 1815; married Lucy Bradley of Middlebury, and resides on the homestead of his father. They have a son, Charles L., who married Emma A. Trues- dell, and resides in this town.
NOBLE Was born March 21, 1817; married Betsey A. Doo- little, of Wethersfield, and had by her three children: Ann Janett D., d. inf .; Edward Herbert, and Emma Charlotte. Mrs. Morris died Aug. 19, 1863. Mr. Morris married for his second wife, Mrs. Helen L. Benedict, daughter of Chauncey Doolittle, of Wethersfield. He has been for many years en- gaged in the hardware trade in this village, commencing with Israel Hodge, firm Hodge & Morris. Otis S. Buxton having bought out Hodge, the firm was Morris & Buxton. They sold a third interest to C. & T. Buxton; and Morris subse- quently sold his interest to the Buxtons; and, in connection with Simeon D. Lewis, bought out the Buxtons. The busi- ness is still continned under the firm of Morris & Lewis.
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