Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 53

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

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taining the names of fifty-three men who are known to have entered the fort with Ethan Allen. By those familiar with the subject, he was conceded to be the best authority in America upon this matter. Mr. Bascom was a collector of rare coins, Indian relics, stamps and curios.

He was a Republican in politics, and was on the stump during every gubernatorial and presidential campaign, and was a forceful and agreeable speaker. No mention of the man would be complete without reference to the factional fight which shook the politics of Washington county to its very foundation. Mr. Bascom was a member of the Howland- Hobbie-Burleigh-Bascom faction which wres- ted the control of Washington county from the "bosses," and which culminated in the famous Argyle convention in 1896 when the sheriff of the county, under the guise of pre- serving the peace, swore in a large number of deputies and attempted by force to pre- vent the organization of the convention. Many of the Howland delegates were forcibly ejected from the hall; tables and chairs were broken, several men received serious injuries, and the convention was at a stand-still and could not be organized because no one could be found with the temerity to call the roll of the delegates, until Mr. Bascom, despite the sheriff, called the towns on the question of the selection of a chairman. He was forced from the platform several times, and was the object of attack of every bully in the room, but defied the mob and organized the conven- tion. He was afterward counsel for the tax- payers' league of Washington county which preferred charges against Sheriff John N. Hevlett before Governor Roosevelt, which led to the resignation of the sheriff, his subsequent indictment, and the restoration of about ten thousand dollars to the treasury of the coun- ty. He was also a member of the grievance committee of the Bar Association, and was secretary of the sub-committee of the griev- ance committee which heard the charges against Judge Warren Hooker, made by the Jamestown Bar Association. Jointly with Dean Huffcut, of the Cornell Law School, he was the author of the report of that commit- tee. Mr. Bascom represented the highest type of American citizenship and was a practical politician. He was able to deal with men and conditions as he found them, but never "crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee that thrift might follow fawning." In his admin- istrations of the various public trusts reposed in him, he was never actuated by anything other than the desire to discharge the duty which he owed to the electorate which chose

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him. No innocent man was ever harassed be- cause he stood in the politician's way. No rogue escaped punishment because he had "friends at court." He was an able lawyer, a kind father and a faithful citizen. Mr. Bas- com was for a number of years a warden and vestryman of St. James Episcopal church of Fort Edward. He married, December 20, 1882, Mary Larabee Platt, daughter of Myron and Sarah (Larabee) Platt, born August 22, 1857. Children : all further mentioned.

I. Wyman Samuel Bascom, son of Robert O. and Mary Larrabee (Platt) Bascom, was born in Fort Edward, February 14, 1885. He married, July 15, 1908, Esther Louise Cowles, of Glens Falls, Warren county, New York, a daughter of Darius Levens and Hattie (Cronkhite) Cowles. Darius Levens Cowles was a son of Zinah and Elizabeth (Levens) Cowles. Hattie Cronkhite was a daughter of William and Esther (Milliman) Cronkhite. Mr. Bascom was educated in the public schools of Fort Edward; graduated at Glens Falls Academy in 1902, and Albany Law School, in 1905, with degree of LL.B. He was admit- ted to the bar in May, 1906. In politics he is a Republican, and served as United States Commissioner for the Northern District of New York ; corporation counsel of the village of Fort Edward, 1907-1911 ; indictment clerk and assistant district attorney of Washington county. He is a member of the Glens Falls club, Fort Edward Club, Kappa Alpha So- ciety, National Geographical Society and Ver- mont Historical Society. He has one son, Robert William Cowles, born July 15, 1909. He is eligible to the Colonial Societies, through Ezekiel and Elias Bascom, and to the Revolutionary Societies through Elias Bas- com, Ebenezer Hulburd, Daniel Sheldon (father of Polly), and Lemuel Clark (father of Moses A.) ; "Dorchester Town History," Stiles, "History of Ancient Windsor," "His- tory of Northfield, Mass.," "Bascom's Gene- alogy," etc.

(IX) Robert Platt Bascom, born at Fort Edward, New York, December 29, 1886; edu- cated at public schools of Fort Edward, grad- uated from Glens Falls Academy, Glens Falls, New York, 1907; graduated from Carnegie Technical Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June, 1911, with degree of C.E.

(IX) Frederick George Bascom, born at Fort Edward, New York, June 15, 1895 ; edu- cated in public schools of Fort Edward, Glens Falls Academy, and Glens Falls High School.

(The Platt Line).

(I) Mary Larrabee Platt Bascom is of the eight generation of the Platt family in

America. She descends from Richard Platt, who came to America in 1638 and settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he died in 1684. He married Mary -, who died in 1678.

(II) Lieutenant Joseph, son of Richard and Mary Platt, was born August 1, 1648. He married, May 5, 1680, Mary, daughter of Daniel Kellogg.

(III) Gideon, son of Lieutenant Joseph and Mary (Kellogg) Platt, was baptized Septem- ber 29, 1700. He married, February 28, 1726, Mary Buckingham.

(IV) Epenetus, son of Gideon and Mary (Buckingham) Platt, was born February, 1728; married Susannah, daughter of Joseph Merwin.

(V) Epenetus (2), son of Epenetus (1) and Susannah (Merwin) Platt, was born, August 13, 1760. He married (first) August 10, 1783. Mollie Stone; (second), March 17, 1803, Sarah Lobdell.

(VI) Elmore, son of Epenetus (2) and his first wife, Mollie (Stone) Platt, was born Au- gust 18, 1797, died July 26, 1880. He mar- ried, February 2, 1825, Betsey, born Septem- ber 23. 1805, daughter of Reuben Peck.

(VII) Myron, son of Elmore and Betsey (Peck) Platt, was born August 15, 1830, died October 17, 1897. He married, August 4, 1856, Sarah E. Larrabee. He was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.

(VIII) Mary Larrabee, daughter of Myron and Sarah E. (Larrabee) Platt, was born Au- gust 22, 1857. She married, December 20, 1882, Robert O. Bascom. She is now and has been for a number of years a member and officer of Jane McCrea Chapter, D.A.R., and is a member of the Vermont Society of Co- lonial Dames. She was educated at Glens Falls Academy, Glens Falls, New York, Newton Academy, Shoreham, Vermont, and is a grad- uate of Fort Edward Collegiate Institute.

Peter D. Hanson, born HANSON-BEST 1801, died 1851, mar- ried and had the follow- ing children : Andrew, Orville, Sarah, Marga- ret. John, Harriett, Abram (of whom fur- ther), Mary and Andrew.

Abram, seventh child and fourth son of Peter D. Hanson was born in 1841, and died October 8, 1908. He descended from Cap- tain Hans Hendrickse, an early trader of Bev- erwyck, whose descendants took the name Hansen from their progenitor's first name Hans. Abram Hanson was educated in the district schools at Albany Bush, Fulton coun- ty, New York, and served a full term of ap-

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prenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, at which he worked until the breaking out of the civil war when he enlisted in the One hun- dred fifteenth Regiment, New York Volun- teer Infantry, known as the "Iron Hearted Regiment." He enlisted at Amsterdam, New York, as a private in Company B., mustered out June 9, 1865. The One hundred fifteenth Regiment was largely recruited in the coun- ties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton and Hamilton. They left for the seat of war, Au- gust 29. 1862, and September 1, 1862, were in Maryland, armed and equipped for serv- ice. They were first in battle at Maryland Heights; were surrounded with the army at Harper's Ferry; later saw the most terrific fighting of the war, and gained a reputation for bravery not exceeded by any regiment in the service. Through it all Abram Hanson bore well his part and escaped without seri- ous injury. After the war was over, he re- turned to his home, and in association with his brother John, he carried on a stove store, and as Hanson Brothers, they continued its operation until 1886. In that year the part- nership was dissolved, Abram starting a sim- ilar business under his own name. He was engaged in the stove and hardware business until his death, building up a good business, which he left to his wife, who still continues it, with Vroman H. Best as manager. Mr. Hanson was a member of Lodge. Encamp- ment and Canton of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias; Improved Order of Red Men; Colonel Sammons Post. Grand Army of the Republic, and the Royal Arcanum. He was also a prominent fireman for many years, and he belonged in his latter years to the Exempt Fireman's Associations. His funeral was held under the direction and according to the bur- ial rite of both the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. Politically he was a Democrat. He was a warm-hearted generous man, bestowing upon his wife and adopted daughter every attention and advantage. Mr. Hanson mar- ried Eliza Churchill, born May 15, 1844. They had no children, and adopted when she was but four years old, May G., born June 1, 1868.

May G., adopted daughter of Abram and Eliza (Churchill ) Hanson, was born June I, 1868. She was educated in the Gloversville high school and Cortland State Normal School, graduating from the latter with the class of 1889. She taught a private school for one year and in the public schools for two years previous to her marriage. She married, April 30. 1891, Vroman H. Best

(see Best). She is now her husband's assis- tant in the management of the business left by her father. She is a member of Richard Montgomery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, having served as sec- retary of the society for several years. May G. (Hanson) Best is a writer and composer of some note, contributing to several of the leading periodicals. Mrs. Best has also pub- lished a book of poems entitled "Rose Leaves. and Rowen." They have one son, Abram Hanson Best, born November 30, 1900.

(The Best Line).

This branch of the Best family descend from English ancestry. John M. Best was. born at Pickering, Yorkshire, England, came to the United States with his wife, Eliza- beth, and settled in St. Lawrence county, New York, where they located on a farm and reared six children.

(H) Jacob, son of John M. and Elizabeth Best, married and had four children : Charles, Alonzo, of whom further, Angeline and' Julia M.

(III) Alonzo, son of Jacob Best, was born in 1836, died July 27, 1904. He married Anne Vroman, born in 1836, died February 21, 1900. She was a descendant of the old Dutch Vroman family, whose history is found' elsewhere in this work, and that bore so prominent a part in the settlement and de- velopment of the Mohawk Valley. Children of Alonzo and Anne (Vroman) Best : Fran- cis, born and died in 1860; and Vroman H., of whom further.

(IV) Vroman H., son of Alonzo and Anne- (Vroman) Best, was educated in the public schools and at the age of fifteen years, in 1885, went to Gloversville, where he com- pleted his studies in the high school. After leaving school he learned glove making and followed that occupation for six years. He. then became associated with Abram Hanson in the stove business, continuing with him until his death in 1908. He is now manager of the business. He is an Odd Fellow and a Democrat. He married, April 30, 1891, May G., adopted daughter of Abram Hanson and' they have one son. Abram Hanson Best, born November 30, 1900.

The Copeland family of COPELAND Bridgewater, Massachu- setts, from whom the pres- ent family in Troy descent, was planted in . America at an early day by Lawrence Cope- land. By the marriage of his son William to Mary Bass the line of descent is carrieď to John Alden and Priscilla Molines ( Mul-

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lins), through their youngest daughter Ruth. Through a later marriage of Jonathan, son of William Copeland, to Abby Godfrey a sec- ond line is traced to John Alden, through his eldest daughter Elizabeth (Betty). Several revolutionary ancestors are encountered in tracing this line, which are hereafter noted. The Copelands are a strong and hardy race, strong in mentality and character, as well as in bodily vigor, and are very tenacious of life. Notwithstanding their length of years the men of the family matured early and were filling men's places in the world when they were yet boys-note the early business re- sponsibility of George, and the early enlist- ment of his son Ithamar W. Copeland.

(Mayflower descent).

(I) John Alden, born 1599, came to Amer- ica in the "Mayflower" in 1620, and was a signer of the compact. His career is too well known to be here considered. He married, in 1621, Priscilla Molines (often written Mullins ). They had eleven children of whom Elizabeth was the eldest daughter, and Ruth the youngest.

(II) Ruth, youngest child of John and Priscilla ( Molines ) Alden, married, May 12, 1657. John Bass, of Braintree, and from them descended two presidents of the United States John and John Quincy Adams. Ruth died in 1657. John Bass, born 1632, died Septem- ber 23, 1716, was a son of William, born in England, 1601, settled in Roxbury, 1630, re- moved to Braintree, 1640, where he was dep- uty twelve years. He married Annie -

and died January 10, 1695, aged ninety-four years. His wife, Annie, died September 16, 1692, aged ninety-three years.

(III) Mary, daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass, born December 11, 1669, mar- ried (first ) Christopher Webb; (second) April 13, 1694, William Copeland.

The first Copeland in America of whom there is definite record was Lawrence Cope- land, born in England in 1589. The time and manner of his coming is not recorded. He was a resident of Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts, and lived to the great age of one hundred and ten years. He married, Decem- ber 12, 1651, Lydia Townsend, and had chil- dren : Thomas, died in infancy ; Thomas (2), William, Lydia, Ephraim, Hannah, Richard, Abigail.

(II) William, son of Lawrence and Lydia (Townsend) Copeland, lived in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He married, April 13. 1694. Mary, widow of Christopher Webb, and daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass. Children : William (2), Ephraim, Ebenezer.

Jonathan, mentioned below; David, Joseph, Benjamin, Moses, Mary.

(III) Jonathan, son of William and Mary (Bass) (Webb) Copeland, was born August 31, 1701. He settled in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he married, in 1723, Betsey, daughter of Thomas Snell (2). Chil- dren : Abigail, born 1724; Betty, 1726, died young ; Jonathan (2), 1728: Mary, 1731 ; Jo- seph, 1734; Hannah, 1737 ; Elijah, 1739; Dan- iel, 1741; Sarah, 1745; Ebenezer, 1746, see forward: Betty, 1750.

(IV) Ebenezer, son of Jonathan and Bet- sey (Snell) Copeland, was born in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1746, and married, in 1770, Abigail (Abby) Godfrey, of Norton, Massachusetts, daughter of James Godfrey, a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, through their eldest daughter Eliza- beth (Betty). Children: 1. Ebenezer, born 1773; married (first) Mehitable Snell; mar- ried (second) Mrs. Hannah Godfrey. 2. James, died without issue. 3. Betty, mar- ried, in 1799, Calvin William. 4. Lydia, mar- ried, in 1799, Nathan Howard (3). 5. Oakes, see forward. 6. Abby, married, in 1796, Eli- jah Snell (2). 7. Rachel, died without is- sue. 8. Ruth, died without issue. 9. Molly, died without issue.

(V) Oakes, son of Ebenezer and Abigail (Abby) (Godfrey) Copeland, was born in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1793. He resided in that town, Foxboro and Graf- ton, Massachusetts. He was a prosperous farmer, a man of strong character and com- manding influence. He married Polly Pet- tee, born June 26, 1799 ( see Pettee V). Chil- dren : George, mentioned below; Joseph, Mary, Abigail, Lydia, Simon, Otis, Thomas.

(VI) George, eldest son of Oakes and Pol- ly (Pettee) Copeland, was born at Foxboro, Massachusetts. He was a boy of early men- tal and physical development. At fifteen he had left school, and had more than a fair knowledge of the machinist's trade and of machinery. At the age of fifteen he was em- ployed by a Newton, Massachusetts, firm of machine builders to go to China and erect ma- chinery they were shipping to that country. He remained abroad several years, visited all the countries of the far east, and acquired an education that included the fluent mastery of several languages. He loved nature and spent much time in studying rocks and other geolog- ical features. Returning to the United States, he continued his roving, adventurous life and added to an already richly stored mind an expert knowledge of mines and min- ing. For the last twenty-five years of his life he made Denver, Colorado, his home and

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business headquarters. He was a high-sal- aried expert and constantly employed in ex-

amining and reporting on mines, etc. He acquired private mining interests in Sonora, Mexico, and when last seen by his family was departing to visit them. He was mur- dered at a ranch in Arispe, Mexico, in 1887, whether hy Indians or Mexicans is not known. He had stopped at the ranch over- night, two shots were heard and in the morn- ing his dead body was found. Among his effects, not taken by the murderers, was a letter from his granddaughter, Annie S. Copeland, of Troy, New York, which gave a ·clue to his identity and residence. His family was communicated with and months after- ward learned of his fate. He is buried where he fell at Arispe, Sonora, Mexico. He had won the hearts of the natives by the use of some skill he possessed in medicine and sur- gery and was greatly beloved. This explains the interest that was taken to inform his friends in the United States of his death. He married (first) Sophia Babbit, born in Wal- pole, Massachusetts. April 10. 1842 (see Bab- bit VI). Children : I. Leonore, born in Mex- ico, July 30, 1843; married, Edwin E. Fish- er. of Norwood, Massachusetts, son of Eli- phalet Fisher : children : i. Genevieve Howard, born June 14, 1863, married Albert Everett ; ii. Grace Bruerton, born December 15, 1865; married Henry French Hallis, of Concord, New Hampshire, born August 30, 1869, son of Mayor Abijah (who served in the war of the rebellion) and Henrietta (Van Matis) Hallis, who were married July 9. 1864: Hen- ry F. Hallis is a prominent lawyer of Con- cord, and in 1906 was Democratic candidate for governor; children: Henry French Jr., born May 26, 1894, student of Phillips Exe- ter Academy, from which he will go to Har- vard College : Anna Richardson, born July 12, 1896, student at St. Mary's School, Concord, New Hampshire; iii. Willard Babbit, born December 28, 1870, died January 10, 1889; iv. Dana H., a graduate of Massachusetts In- ·stitute of Technology ; v. Edward Lovell, born January 21, 1882; vi. Helen Copeland, born May 27. 1885. 2. Ithamar Whiting, men- tioned below. 3. Edward Jenner, born in Walpole, Massachusetts, 1850, died in Den- ver. Colorado, 1887; married a Miss Jones and left two children. 4. Annie Drury, born in Waltham, Massachusetts, died January I, 1906, unmarried.

(VII) Ithamar Whiting, eldest son of George and Sophia (Babbit) Copeland, was born in Walpole, Massachusetts, October 9, 1847. He was educated in the public schools, and at the carly age of fourteen years en-

listed in Company K, Forty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front. He saw hard service and was wounded in the battle at Kingston, North Carolina, in 1862. This led to his honorable discharge in 1863. He returned to Massa- chusetts and was variously engaged for sev- eral years, including two years spent in pho- tography. He then entered the employ of the Rutland & Burlington railroad as clerk and telegrapher at Vergennes, Vermont, and was soon promoted to a better position at Brandon, Vermont. He became an expert operator and railroad man, which fact led to his appointment as train dispatcher and as- sistant to the superintendent at Fishkill New York, by the New York, Boston and Mon- treal Railroad Company. Here he remained five years, and then retired from railroading and engaged for three years in mercantile life at Brandon, Vermont. He sold his in- terests there, and engaged with the American Union Telegraph Company as assistant super- intendent in charge of construction of new lines. In 1881. after the American Union had been absorbed by the Western Union Telegraph Company, he was appointed man- ager of the Western Union office in Troy. New York, where he still remains. a trusted and capable official. He was actively inter- ested for several years in New York National Guard. In 1885 he was appointed signal of- ficer on the staff of Brigadier-General Parker with the rank of captain. This was during the administration of Governor David B. Hill, When three years later General Parker re- signed, Captain Copeland was retained on the staff of his successor, General Robert Shaw Oliver, now (1910) assistant secretary of war under President Taft. Captain Copeland is a member of King Solomon's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Troy Chamber of Com- merce, the Magnetic and the Morse clubs of New York City, the Electric Club of Bos- ton, and was a charter member of the East Side Club of Troy, and member of the Com- mercial Travelers Club of the same city. His patriotic ancestry, which follows, has gained him admission to the Society of Sons of the American Revolution. Politically he is an In- dependent Republican. He married, July 9. 1873, Mary L. Ross, of Brandon, Vermont, daughter of Dr. Volney Ross, a physician and merchant of Brandon, Vermont, and his wife Maria (Hill) Ross. Children: 1. Annie, So- phia, graduate of Troy high school, class of 1896; married, June 22, 1904. Chester Hast- ings Stillman, a graduate of Cornell Univer- sity. E.E. and M.E., class of 1896: a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, C.E., class

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«of 1906; now employed as engineer with the New York State Department of Highway Construction. 2. Edith Ross, a graduate of "Troy high school, class of 1897 ; married, April 26, 1905, Arthur De Forest Davis, a graduate ·of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 1907, in special course in civil engineering.

(The Pettee Line).

Polly (Pettee) Copeland, grandmother of Ithamar W. Copeland, was a descendant of William Pettee, or Pitty, of Weymouth, Mas- sachusetts, 1638. He married Mary and had children born at Weymouth: John, Joseph. Mary, Samuel, Thomas and William. (II) Samuel, son of William and Mary Pettee or Pitty, was born at Weymouth, Mas- sachusetts, December 6, 1657. He was of Stoughton, Massachusetts. He married Mary -, and had children : Samuel, James, Si- mon, and probably others.

(III) Samuel (2), son of Samuel (I) and Mary Pettee, was born at. Stoughton, Mas- sachusetts, October 24, 1685. He was a resi- dent of Walpole, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Clapp, and had thirteen children, of whom Simon was the youngest. There may have been five other children born in another town than Walpole.

(IV) Simon, son of Samuel (2) and Eliza- beth (Clapp) Pettee, was born at Walpole, Massachusetts, January 28, 1749, died June 28, 1825, at Foxboro, Massachusetts. He served in the revolution as follows: Enlisted in the Wrentham Matross, second company, Captain Thomas Melville, Colonel Thomas Crafts, artillery : served from November I, 1776, to February I. 1777, two months. Rolls sworn to at Boston; also same company and regiment, February 1, 1777, to May 8, 1777, three months and seven days. (See Massa- chusetts Rolls vol 12, p. 254.) (See Morse genealogy 147-151.) He was a man of great judgment and invention, and a leading citi- zen of Foxboro. He married Abigail (Jen- kins) Caswell. He had ten children, of whom Polly was the youngest.

(V) Polly, daughter of Simon and Abigail (Jenkins) (Caswell) Pettee, married Oakes Copeland (see Copeland V).

(The Babbit Line).

Sophia (Babbit) Copeland, mother of Ith- amar W. Copeland, was a descendant of Ed- ward Babbit, born July 15, 1655, died 1732; married Abigail Walker Tisdale, December 22, 1698. and settled in Berkley, Massachusetts.

(II) Nathan, son of Edward and Abigail Walker ( Tisdale) Babbit, was born March 1708, died February 25, 1775. He married

Mary -, born 1703, died December 16, 1782.

(III) Lieutenant Nathan (2), son of Na- than (1) and Mary Babbit, was born in Nor- ton, Massachusetts, October 8. 1730, died there August 31, 1794. He married, February I, 1752, Abigail Cobb, born in the same town, March 5, 1731-32, died March 10, 1782. They "owned the covenant" in the Norton church, 1756.

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Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume I, Part 53

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