Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 44

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 656

USA > New York > Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I > Part 44

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Rev. Dr. Walton Wesley Battershall, son of Ludlow A. and Eustatia (Ward) Battershall, was born in Troy, New York, January 8, 1840. His early education was received at the Kim- ball Union Academy in that city, where he completed the prescribed course in 1858, and then entered Yale College, graduating in the class of 1864. He was class poet and member of Scroll and Key Society. It was at this time that he developed a growing inclination to enter the ministry, so that shortly after his graduation he commenced his religious train- ing under the auspices of the Rev. Henry Codman Potter, who later became the Episco- pal bishop of New York diocese. He was or- dained a deacon at Troy, June 16, 1865, and then entered the General Theological Semin- ary in New York City, from which he was graduated in 1866. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Potter, November 30, 1866, and through the next two years he was the assist- ant rector of Zion Church, in New York. In 1868 he was chosen rector of St. Thomas' Church, in Ravenswood, Long Island, which post he filled one year, when he accepted a call to the rectorship of Christ Church in Rochester. Here he remained for following five years, making a number of enduring friendships, and entering heartily into the work of a growing parish. He was at this time a member of the standing committee of the Diocese of Western New York.

By the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Ben- jamin H. Paddock as the Bishop of Mas- sachusetts, on September 17, 1873, the im- portant and influential parish of Grace Church

in Brooklyn was left vacant. It was decided to secure the Rev. William Andrew Snively, rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, and he presented his resignation on May 3, 1874, hav- ing officiated since May 24, 1870, with great and general satisfaction. For a time the par- ish then came under the care of Rev. Thad- deus A. Snively as minister-in-charge, by ap- pointment as such on April 13, 1874. A com- mittee of three vestrymen was named June 10, 1874, to select a new rector, and Christ Church in Rochester was visited, whereupon they were satisfied by the selection of the Rev. Walton W. Battershall, and having received official word from the vestry of St. Peter's Church, he wrote in August that he had ac- cepted their invitation and would be ready shortly to enter upon his duties in the new field. He was instituted in that church on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, Sep- tember 29, 1874, Bishop William Croswell Doane acting as institutor and preaching the. memorable sermon in the presence of eight- een clergy seated in the chancel and a large- congregation.

It was not long after this event before St. Peter's Church began to show marked ad- vancement in several ways. This was partly through natural incidents, but mostly to be attributed to the efforts of the new rector. It can be stated without fear of exaggeration or of denial that at no time during the suc- ceeding thirty-five years of his pastorate did this spirit, so highly commendable, lessen. The first improvement to be noted was the erection of a parish house for the Sunday school and allied purposes, meetings, fairs and the like, for the conduct of the church's work. It was built at a cost of more than $25,000 on the east side of Lodge street, and its corner- stone was laid by Bishop Doane on June 9, 1875. On March 9, 1875, the senior warden, Mr. John Tweddle, died. By his will he had bequeathed the sum of $5,000 to be used towards the completion of the tower. It was found that to erect it to the parapet would cost $27,000. Mr. Tweddle's widow and fam- ily thereupon made it possible to complete it, and the handsome tower, designed by Up- john, was dedicated by Bishop Doane on Sep- tember 29. 1876, and the dedication of the chime of eleven bells, made by Meneely, of West Troy, took place on December 25, 1876, and on the 28th the completed Parish House was dedicated.

So active was Dr. Battershall in a diversity of church work for the parish in which he took so great a pride that his report, made September 28, 1879, preached as a fifth anni- versary sermon, may be read as a praise-

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worthy reflection on what he had accom- plished, although his true intention was to be- stow congratulation and praise upon his con- gregation, and it shows what he had achieved in his way as would read the record of a mili- tary officer or judge in his court. "You have contributed during the last five years for parochial purposes, including the income from the pews and gifts for the building of the Parish House, and the memorial tower and chimes. $143,874.15: for diocesan purposes (including $3,567.21 for diocesan missions) $5.927.33 ; for general objects, including for- eign and domestic missions, $4,983.17, making a total of $154,684.66. During the last five years there have been 145 baptisms and 140 have been presented to the Bishop for con- firmation. I have solemnized 25 marriages and 109 burials. The last annual report to the Diocesan Convention gave 434 communicants, 38 Sunday school officers and teachers, and 282 pupils. * * * A venerable history has been granted to this parish. Illustrious names are found upon its records. Holy men have stood in this place, upon whose foundations what little I can rear will seem a meagre and an unworthy structure; but it is idle to say that the parish has discharged, in the sight of God, the full measure of its duty to this community. I love this church. Its very stones, with their sculptured beauty, have be- come dear to me. Year by year I have been drawn to you more closely by the ties which are woven in brotherly intercourse, and in the performance of my sacred offices; but I can do little, except you make me strong with your prayers and your sympathies, and stand beside me in my work."

Another important step was the erection of the rectory. When Dr. Battershall first came to Albany he occupied the old rectory on the northwest corner of Maiden Lane and Lodge street, on ground leased by the Masons; but this land was desired by them as a site for the proposed Temple. The property adjoin- ing the church on the west was offered for sale for $19.000, and it was decided to build there- on. The land was acquired by transfer of the deed on December 31, 1894. Through the un- expected and most generous offer of Mr. Jesse WV. Potts and his sister, Miss Sarah B. Potts, the building of a new rectory was provided, and on February 12, 1896, it was opened by a service of benediction. Its cost was $20,- 000, and was given in memory of Jesse Charles and Eunice Walker Potts, the parents of the donors. The residence of the late Jus- tice Rufus W. Peckham of the United States supreme court, next to the west of the rec- tory, was acquired a little later and converted

to the needs of the parish, and besides all this spreading out, considerable land was pur- chased along Maiden Lane on which to build a choir room. A costly new organ was in- talled in the chancel end, instead of in the gallery over the main entrance; choir stalls were built in the chancel, a beautiful memo- rial altar and its reredos were given by Mr. Charles L. Pruyn, a carved stone pulpit was presented in 1886 as a Tibbits memorial, an artistic lectern and marble font were added, and under the further solicitation of Dr. Bat- tershall practically every window throughout the handsome edifice was transformed into an example of most skilled workmanship, and it was in these manifold ways that the inde- fatigable parochial labors of Dr. Battershall will endure in visual form as a memorial of his earnestness in his work. On Sunday, No- vember 5, 1899, the vestry honored its pastor with a special service of song and praise in recognition of the completion of his rector- ship of a quarter-century, and in the fall of 1909 his thirty-fifth anniversary was fittingly celebrated.

Union University conferred on him the de- gree of D.D. in June, 1877, and he was made archdeacon of the Episcopal diocese of Al- bany. He is the author of a number of pub- lished works, notably "Interpretation of Life and Religion," issued in 1897 by A. S. Barnes, and a leading section of "Historic Towns of the Middle States," G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1899. The casual listener to his preaching soon discovers that he is a clergyman of deep erudition, whose delivery is forceful, con- vincing in its trend of philosophic argument, and displaying, as by the sense of instinct, a most familiar acquaintance with the great writers of the ages by reason of the charm of his diction and poetic phrasing. His pres- ence as a speaker has been requested upon many important occasions in his own and other cities, at the dedication of buildings and notable anniversaries.

Rev. Dr. Walton W. Battershall married, October 13, 1864, at St. Mark's Church, in Newark, Wayne county, New York, Anna Davidson, daughter of Fletcher Williams and his second wife, Ann Eliza (Ford) Williams. She was born in Newark, New York, March 27, 1843, died at Christ Church Rectory, in Rochester, September 25, 1872. Children: I. Walton Ford, born in Troy, New York, July 12, 1865, died at Troy, September 27, 1865. 2. Fletcher Williams, born at Ravens- wood, Long Island. September 29, 1866, see forward. 3. Cornelia Smith, born in Roches- ter, New York, July 21, 1869; married, in St. Peter's Church, Albany, June 10, 1896, Dr.

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Harry Seymour Pearse, of Elmira, New York, son of Charles Pearse ; children : Lud- low Pearse, born Albany, June 1, 1898, died same day; Anna Williams Pearse, born Al- bany, April 26, 1900; Walton Battershall Pearse, born Albany, November 4, 1905. 4. Anna Davidson, born in Rochester, New York, September 20, 1872 ; married, in Albany, April 27, 1900, Russell Agnew Griffin, of Orange, New Jersey, son of Charles Russell and Lucy (Agnew) Griffin; children: Anne Griffin, born July 15, 1903; Charles Russell Griffin, born at Orange, December 29. 1908,

Fletcher Williams, son of the Rev. Dr. Wal- ton Wesley and Anna Davidson (Williams) Battershall, was born in Ravenswood, Long Island, the home of his maternal grandparents, September 29, 1866, and when seven years of age was taken to Albany by his father upon his acceptance of the rectorship of St. Peter's Church. When not many years older, he en- tered the Albany Academy, where he was one of the charter members of the Gates Literary Society and one of the first board of editors of the school publication, "The Cue." He was graduated from there in the class of 1884, and the next fall entered Cornell University. He affiliated there with the Kappa Alpha frater- nity. He remained at Cornell two years, sub- sequently serving in the State Engineer's of- fice. He then entered the Albany Law School, was a member of the class of 1896, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He opened a law office at No. 100 State street, and was associated with Hon. J. Newton Fiero. He was appointed a lecturer at the Albany Law School of Union University, where he still lectures, and later was made deputy supreme court reporter. He is the author of "A Daughter of this World," published in 1893 by Dodd, Mead & Company, and by Heineman in England: "Mists," published by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1894, and of "Bookbind- ing for Bibliophiles." In 1909 he wrote a memoir of his friends, Henry Arnold Peck- ham and Rufus W. Peckham, Jr. In 1910 he issned a book on "Domestic Relations," pub- lished by Bender & Company. In his youth he had leaned strongly towards the sciences and displayed decided aptitude, but this gave way to some extent for the delights of read- ing, which developed his literary bent, and his works have met with considerable criticism strongly in their favor. His love for books created a deep fondness for the rare and beau- tifully bound, developing in him a pronounced interest which led him to devote much of his leisure to binding certain books for his library in an artistic manner. He takes pleasure in automobiling, and is a lover of dogs. His

close friends are those of intellectual attain- ments. He is fond of travel, and has made several trips abroad, visiting art centers es- pecially.

He married, in St. Peter's Church, Albany, November 9, 1897, his father officiating, Maude Goodrich, daughter of Hon. James Newton Fiero, dean of the Albany Law School since 1895, author of "Special Ac- tions," "Torts," and "Special Proceedings"; president of the New York State Bar Asso- ciation, 1892-93; vice-president of the Amer- ican Bar Association, 1895-1902. James N. Fiero was born in Saugerties, New York, May 23, 1847, son of Christopher and Janet Sands (McCall) Fiero, of Delhi, New York.

Thomas Geer, born 1623, was son GEER of Jonathan Gcere, of Heavitree, county Devon, England. Jonathan Geere was a descendant in the fifth gener- ation from Walter Geere, of Heavitree, Dev- onshire, living about 1450, who married Alice Somaster. The parents of Thomas died when he was young, and he and his brother George were left in charge of an uncle, who in order to obtain possession of their property, which was considerable, shipped them to Boston, where they landed in 1635 without money and without friends. George became an early settler of New London, Connecticut, about 1651, and from him the elder branch of the family (the Connecticut Geers) are descended. Thomas had land granted him at Enfield, Con- necticut, July 24, 1682. He married Deborah -; had two children, Shubael, born about 1683, and Elizabeth, who died in infancy. Thomas Geer died January 14, 1722, aged ninety-nine years.

(II) Shubael, son of Thomas Geer, born abont 1683, married Sarah, daughter of Thom- as Abbe, January 27, 1702-03. He had land granted him March 5, 1700. Children (born Enfield, see Stile's Windsor, Conn., II, 285) : Shubael, Jr., and Thomas, born July 1, 1722.

(III) Shubael (2), son of Shubael (1) Geer, was born 1717. He married and had children : Hannah, born 1738; Sarah, 1740; Shubael, 1743; Ebenezer, 1745; Ebenezer, 1747; Eben- ezer, 1750; Hannah, 1753; Mindwell, 1756; Walter, 1759: George, 1761; Charles, twin of George.

(IV) Walter, son of Shuhael (2) Geer, was born 1759. At age of nineteen (May, 1778) he enlisted with his brother Charles, aged sixteen, in Captain Jason Wait's company, Colonel John Stark's regiment, as from Mar- low, Cheshire county, New Hampshire (Mar- low adjoins Keene). ( See State Papers N. H. XIV. Rev. War Rolls I, p. 598.) The

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History of Charlestown, New Hampshire, states that Walter Geer married Lucy, born March 28, 1758, daughter of Benjamin and Peggy (Spafford) Allen. Children: Har- mony, born Lebanon, New Hampshire, June 27, 1784; Dan, Windsor, Vermont, November 7, 1786; Lucy, January 29, 1789; Walter, Jr., see forward. The History of Charlestown also states that Benjamin Allen married, No- vember 6, 1751, Peggy Spafford, daughter of Captain John and Hannah 'Spafford, born June 30, 1735, children : Eunice, Oliver, Lucy, married Walter Geer.

(V) Walter (2), son of Walter (1) Geer, was born at Charlestown, New Hampshire, January 9, 1792. His boyhood and early youth were passed with his parents in Salem, Washington county, New York. About the time he reached his majority he removed to Union Village, where he was drafted and went with the militia of our eastern border to repel the British advance at Plattsburg during the war of 1812. He removed in February, 1816, to Schaghticoke, where he commenced busi- ness as a tanner and currier. At this time he appears to have been the associate and peer of such men as William L. Marcy, Jonas C. Heartt, Job Pierson. Moses Warren, James Livingston and B. P. Staats; men that for a generation exercised a controlling influence over the politics of eastern New York, and all of whom left their mark upon the dial plate of the world's progress. In March, 1820, he came to Glens Falls, New York, and resumed the business pursued at Schaghticoke. He soon afterwards embarked in trade with Abraham Wing and L. L. Pixley. Was after- wards a partner with George Sanford in the mercantile business. At the time of the en- largement of the Glens Falls Feeder (branch of the Delaware and Hudson canal), of which he was an active promoter, he had a contract with the state for some portion of the ex- cavation, and also built the locks at Fort Ed- ward. Not far from this time he went into the lumbering business with the late James D. Weston and John J. Harris. Their invest- ments and ventures were so judiciously made. and the business so ably looked after and managed, that all these acquired a handsome competency. He was a magistrate in Queens- bury, New York, from 1821 to 1826, and member of assembly in 1837, a year memor- able in politics for its financial crisis, and the secession of the Conservatives from the domi- nant party. He was one of the principal originators and founders of the Glens Falls Academy ; was instrumental in forwarding the erection of the Second Presbyterian Church building, which was destroyed in the great

fire of 1864. He was a promoter of educa- tional and religious enterprises, an active and influential politician, a man of indomitable will and inflexible purpose. He died July 16, 1855, and was among the first whose remains were deposited in the new cemetery, where a handsome and conspicuous monument has since been erected to his memory. (History of Queensbury, N. Y., p. 51.)

He married, in Northumberland, November 2, 1815, Henrietta Van Buren, born Septem- ber 20, 1792, at Easton, New York, daughter of Elizabeth Newell and Martin Van Buren, cousin of President Van Buren and Elizabeth (Newell) Van Buren. Children: Elizabeth Van Buren. born January 29, 1817, died 1886, married John Younglove, February 3, 1847; Susan Cornell, January 16, 1819, died April 4, 1889, married James Rogers, September 12, 1850; Henrietta Van Buren, January 21, 1821, died August 31, 1898; Asahel Clarke, see forward; Walter, March 15, 1825, died October 28, 1848 ; Abigail, April 14, 1827, died 1894: Arabelle, April 14, 1829, died May 15, 1853, married L. H. Baldwin, November 13, 1849.

(VI) Asahel Clarke, son of Walter (2) Geer, was born January 6, 1823, at Glens Falls, New York.

The New York Tribune of July 23, 1902, states : "A. C. Geer, of Washington, who was stricken with apoplexy at his summer home at Williamstown, Mass., on Thursday, July 17th, died there on Monday night. Mr. Geer was born at Glens Falls, N. Y., on Jan. 6th, 1823, and was the oldest son of Henrietta Van Buren and Walter Geer, Jr. He was prepared for college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and entered Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1843 with the highest honors. He received from his alma mater, three years later, the degree of A.M.

"After leaving college he entered the law office of E. H. Rosekrans, at Glens Falls, with whom he remained one year. He then com- pleted his legal studies with Geo. A. Simmons, at Keeseville, N. Y., and was admitted to the har at the General Term of the Supreme Court held at Rochester, in October, 1846. He practised for two years with H. Z. Hayner, at Troy, and in 1848 formed a partnership with Abram B. Olin, afterward member of Con- gress from Rensselaer county, and later Judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Col- umbia. The firm name at first was Olin, White & Geer, and later Olin, Geer & Colby. His practice was a large one, the firm being counsel for the Troy and Boston R. R. Co. and other large corporations of Northern New

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York. From 1862 to 1868 Mr. Geer was Col- lector of Internal Revenue for the Fifteenth District of New York. On June Ist, 1868, he accepted the position of secretary and general manager of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Co., at Hoosick Falls, N. Y., with which he remained for eighteen years, until his retirement from active business in 1886. In January, 1886, in conjunction with the late Orlando B. Potter, of New York, he organized the N. Y. Architectural Terra- Cotta Company, of which he was vice-presi- dent up to the time of his death."

After Mr. Geer's retirement from active business in 1886, he purchased the residence at Washington of the late Judge A. B. Olin, where he and Mrs. Geer have since passed their winters, spending their summers at Hoo- sick Falls, New York, and at Williamstown, Massachusetts. He married, in Providence, January 24, 1856, Helen Augusta Danforth (see Danforth VII).

(The Danforth Line).

The maternal ancestor of the Geer family of Hoosick Falls, New York, was Nicholas Danforth, born in Frameingham, England, baptized March 1, 1589, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1638. His descent is traced to William, died 1512, and Isabel Danforth, through their son Paul, died 1538, and his wife, Katteryne Danforth, through their son Nicholas, died 1585, and his wife, Alice Dan- forth, through their son Thomas, married, January 24, 1585, Jane, daughter of Thomas Sudbury. Thomas and Jane (Sudbury) Dan- forth were the parents of Nicholas, "the emi- grant," who is thus described by Rev. Cotton Mather in "Magnalia," vol. II. p. 59: "Mr. "N. Danforth : A gentleman of such estate and repute in the world that it cost him a con- siderable sum to escape the knighthood which King Charles I. imposed on all at so much per annum; and of such figure and esteem in the church that he procured that famous lec- ture at Frameingham in Suffolk, where he had a fine mansion ; * This person had three sons whereof the second was our Sam- uel, born in September, 1626, and by the de- sire of his mother, who died three years after his birth, earnestly dedicated unto the 'Schools of the prophets.' His father brought him to New England in the year 1634, and at his death about four years after his arrival here, he committed this hopeful son of many prayers unto the paternal oversight of Mr. Shepherd who proved a kind patron unto him."

Nicholas Danforth is mentioned in the town records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1635, and in that year was chosen deputy to the

general court. He died in April, 1638. He married Elizabeth , who died in Frame- ingham, England, where she was buried Feb- ruary 22, 1628. Children, all born in Eng- land: 1. Elizabeth, married, October 1, 1639, Andrew Belcher, mariner, trader, vintner and ·painter ; nine children. 2. Mary, baptized May 3, 1621. 3. Anna, baptized September 3, 1622; married Matthew Bridge, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 4. Thomas, baptized Novem- ber 20, 1623; recorder of deeds of Middle- sex county, 1652 ; treasurer of Harvard Col- lege, 1650-69, and steward of same 1669-82; deputy to general court 1657; assistant or magistrate 1659 until he became deputy-gov- ernor in 1679, and again in 1689 until 1692. He married May Withington, of Dorchester ; had twelve children. 5. Lydia, baptized May 24, 1625; married William Beamon; seven children. 6. Rev. Samuel, baptized October 17, 1626; member of the second class grad- itated from Harvard College (1643) ; "dis- tinguished for the fervor of his piety and the purity of his life"; ordained assistant to Rev. John Eliot, September 24, 1650, and con- tinued in office until his death, November 19, 1674; he was an astronomer and made al- manacs, some of which "the historian" says he has seen. He married, November 5, 1651, Mary, daughter of Rev. John Wilson. They had twelve children. 7. Captain Jonathan, see forward.

(II) Captain Jonathan, son of Nicholas and Elizabeth Danforth, was born in Frameing- ham, England, baptized March 2, 1627-28, died in Billerica, Massachusetts, 1712. His house in Billerica was made a garrison house "8th day 8th mo. 1675," and he was made master of the garrison. He was commissioned lieutenant for Billerica, October 13, 1675, and captain, 1683. He was one of a committee of three to consult the towns of Middlesex county as to fortifications and defence, "28th day Ist mo. 1675" (see History of Billerica). He was selectman, town clerk, deputy and captain of the militia company. He was a land surveyor and "transacted a large amount of business in town and state." He was one of the earliest settlers of Billerica, and the house he built and occupied was standing in 1878. He married (first) in Boston, Septem- ber 22, 1654, Elizabeth Pawter (or Poulter), born in Rayleigh, Massachusetts, September 1, 1633, died in Billerica, Massachusetts, Octo- ber 7, 1689. He married (second) November 17, 1690, Esther, daughter of Richard Champ- ney (1) and widow of Josiah Converse, of Woburn. His gravestone in the old Billerica cemetery was in 1901 in a fair and legible state of preservation. Children: 1. Mary, born

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January 29, 1656; married John Parker. 2. Elizabeth, born May 27, 1657 : married Sam- uel Hayward. 3. Jonathan, see forward. 4. John, died in infancy. 5. John, died in in- fancy. 6. Lydia, born June 1, 1664 : married Edward Wright. 7. Samuel, born February 5, 1665-66; married Hannah Crosby. 8. Anna, born March 8, 1667; married Ensign Oliver Whiting. 9. Thomas, died in infancy. 10. Nicholas, died at age of twenty-three years. 11. Sarah, born December 23, 1673: married (first) William French, by whom she had twelve children; (second) Ebenezer Davis, of Concord.

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Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 44

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 656

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 656