USA > New York > Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume II > Part 37
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30, 1876, a graduate of Williams College ; lawyer, chamberlain of the city of Albany, 1858-72. He married Harriet, daughter of Judge Jonas Vanderpoel, of Albany ; children Helen Maria, Joseph Yates and Leonard. Col- onel John Keyes married (second) Novem- ber 2, 1833, Anna Maria, born June 12, 1805, daughter of Hon. Francis Bloodgood, thirty- eighth mayor of Albany, and in office at date of his daughter's marriage. Francis Blood- good was a direct descendant of Frans Jansen Bloetgoet, born in Holland, 1635, died at Flushing, Long Island, November 29, 1676; emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland, to New Amsterdam (New York), 1658; settled at Flushing, 1659, was secretary to the Colonies on the Delaware river, 1659; schepen of Flushing, 1673; chief military officer there 1674; deputy to New Orange, and died from wounds received in a skirmish with Indians. He married, 1657, Lysabeth Jans, of Gouda, Holland. Their son William, born in Flush- ing, New York, 1667, was vestryman of the Episcopal church; grand juryman. He mar- ried Mary Brinkerhoff. Their son Francis, born in Flushing, New York, 1712, died there 1744; was justice of the peace; married Mary Doughty. Their son, James B., born at Flush- ing, 1736, removed to Albany, 1759, where he was a merchant. He married Lydia, daugh- ter of Jacobus Van Valkenburgh. Hon. Fran- cis, of the fifth generation in America, was born in Albany, July 18, 1768, died there in 1842. He was a graduate of Yale Col- lege, 1787, and was admitted to the bar. He practiced law in New York City, and returned to Albany where he was clerk of the supreme court until 1823; secretary to the board of regents, 1798-1813; second president of the New York State Bank; president of Albany Insurance Company, and was elected thirty- eighth mayor of Albany, December 29, 1830, over his Whig opponent, John Townsend. He signalized his induction into the mayor's chair by paying all the debts of those confined in jail as debtors. He was re-elected December 27, 1832, being succeeded by Hon. Erastus Corning. Mr. Bloodgood was a Democrat, and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was noted for his integrity. He married (first) Eliza Cobham, of distinguished Eng- lish and French ancestry (Cobham and Mont- morency). He married (second) Anna (Mor- ris) Shoemaker. Children of first marriage: Margaret, and Anna Maria, second wife of Colonel John Keyes Paige, who had issue: i. Anna Bloodgood, died unmarried 1886. ii. Clara Antoinette, unmarried, of Schenectady. iii. Frances Cobham, unmarried, of Schenec- tady. iv. John Keyes, see forward. v. Alonzo
Winslow, born September 12, 1845, now of New York City, unmarried.
(VI) John Keyes (2), son of Colonel John Keyes (I) and Anna Maria (Bloodgood) Paige, was born in Albany, December 14, 1843. He was graduated at Union College, A. B., class of 1865, and is a long time resi- dent of Schenectady. He has been the organ- ist of St. George's Episcopal Church for fifty years, beginning January 1, 1860. For thirty years he has been a vestryman. He is a Democrat politically ; was alderman from his ward, and in 1885 was appointed by President Cleveland postmaster of Schenectady, holding that position until 1890. During his term of office the free delivery system was inaugu- rated in Schenectady. He is a distinguished Free Mason, and has had many honors con- ferred upon him. He is past master of St. George's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; is high priest of St. George's Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; is emminent commander of St. George's Commandery, Knights Templar ; dis- trict deputy grand master, and has the past officers' jewels belonging to these high posi- tions. He is influential in the grand bodies of these Masonic orders, and well versed in Masonic law and usage. He married, in Sche- nectady, (in the house where he now resides) November 20, 1873, Jeannette Franchot, born in Morris, Otsego county, New York, daugh- ter of General Richard and Annie (Van Vran- ken) Franchot. She is a granddaughter of Judge Pascal Franchot, born March 30, 1774, in the department of de la Haule Marne, Can- ton de Sainte Dezier, Commune de Chamouel- ly, France, whose father emigrated from France to the United States at the beginning of the French revolution with his sons, who when he saw them safely settled in Otsego county returned to France. Judge Franchot was an important factor in the development of that then wild region and was an influential man in many ways. He married (first) Cath- erine, (second) Deborah, both daughters of Derrick Hansen. He had ten children. Rich- ard, son of Judge Franchot, was born in Morris, Otsego county, New York, in 1816. He was for several years president of the Albany and Susquehanna railroad. In 1860 he was elected to congress. In 1862 he was made colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty- first regiment, New York Volunteers. He resigned his commission to Colonel Upton, and served out his term as congressman, af- ter which he removed to Schenectady. He was instrumental in establishing the cotton and woolen mills at Morris, and did much to ad- vance the general interests of that town. He died in Schenectady, November 23, 1875. He
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married Annie Van Vranken, and they were the parents of Jeannette (Franchot) Paige. Children of John Keyes (2) and Jeanette (Franchot) Paige: 1. John Keyes (3), born February II, 1876; educated in Schenectady public and high schools; assistant to the de- partment superintendent of the General Elec- tric Company. 2. Richard Franchot, born January, 1878; educated in high school; as- sistant to the department manager of the General Electric Company. 3. Douglas War- ner, born April 23, 1880; graduate of Union University, class of 1900, degree of A. B .; graduate Albany Law School, LL.B., 1903; prominently connected with the legal depart- ment of the Title & Guarantee Company of New York City. 4. Anna Bloodgood, born August 6, 1881. 5. Alonzo Winslow, born August 23, 1886; educated at the high school ; connected with the General Electric Company.
PAGE Edward Noah Page, son of Joseph Page, was born in England, De- cember 15, 1825, died in Water- ford, New York, June 22, 1900. His father, Joseph Page, was born in England and de- scended through several generations of Eng- lish forbears. Edward N. Page came to the United States in 1848 and landed in Boston. Later, in 1862, he settled in Cohoes and be- came identified with the Cohoes Rolling Mills and the manufacture of certain superior grades of iron and steel. In 1854 the Cohoes Rolling Mill was built, originally to produce iron for the Simmons Axe Factory, then a flourishing concern. The capacity was twelve tons of iron in twenty-four hours. James Morrison purchased the Simmons interest and the firm of Morrison, Colwell & Page was formed. Under this management the busi- ness rapidly increased until the fire of Janu- ary 5, 1883. The works were quickly rebuilt in substantially their present form and are capable of turning out from thirty to fifty thousand tons of iron annually. Edward N. Page was the superintendent, and to his quali- fications much of the prosperity of the mills are due. He was master of the details of iron and steel making, having been connected with the iron industry since he was twelve years of age. He was a member and trustee of the Presbyterian church of Waterford, New York and a Republican in politics, serving several terms on the school board. He married Bet- sey Edge, born in England, died in Cohoes, New York, April 5, 1872. Children: four sons and six daughters, two sons living, George Henry, and Samuel T., who is in bus- iness with George Henry.
(II) George Henry, oldest son and child
of Edward Noah and Betsey (Edge) Page, was born in Pembroke, Maine, May 11, 1857. He came to Cohoes and Waterford with his parents and was educated in the public schools. He was employed in the iron works of his father, and on the death of the latter the fam- ily succeeded to the business. Mr. Page is a director of the People's Bank of Troy and identified with other business interests of Al- bany county. He is also trustee of the Mo- hawk and Hudson River Humane Society. He is a Republican in politics, and a trustee of the Presbyterian church. He married, Oc- tober II, 1881, Eliza, daughter of Lysander and Abigail (Ranney) Button, of Cohoes. They have no issue.
BUTTON Eliza (Button) Page traces her ancestry to Matthias Button, who came to America with Governor John Endicott; he first settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where he landed Sep- tember 6, 1628. He soon removed to Bos- ton, where he is found among the earliest settlers and was identified with the First Church prior to 1633. He removed to Ips- wich, then to Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1646, where he resided until his death, 1672, very old. He married (first) Lettyce -, who died 1652. Married (second) Teagle
who died 1663. Married (third) Elizabeth Wheeler. Children by first wife: Mary, Da- vid, Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannah. Children by second wife: Daniel, killed at the battle with the Indians at Bloody Brook; Abigail, Mat- thias, Peter and Patience. There was no is- sue by third marriage. His widow survived him several years.
(II) Matthias (2), son of Matthias (I) and Teagle Button, was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1657. He married Mary Neff. They removed to Plainfield, Connecticut, 1690, where he died 1725.
(III) Matthias (3), son of Matthias (2) and Mary (Neff) Button, was born 1689. He was of Plainfield, Connecticut. He mar- ried and had issue.
(IV.) Captain Matthias (4), son of Mat- thias (3) Button, was born in Connecticut, 1727. He married Phebe Butts, and they had children born in Canterbury, Connecticut. He was a captain in the revolutionary war. He had five wives and children by four of them, said to have been twenty in all. His fifth wife survived him and died in Wells. Rutland county, Vermont, about 1811, aged eighty-four years.
(V) Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Mat- thias (4) and Phebe (Butts) Button. born 1748, died September 14, 1824. She married
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her cousin, Daniel Button, son of Ebenezer Button, born 1746, died June 9, 1791. Chil- dren : John, Hazzard and Daniel.
(VI) Hazzard, son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Button) Button, was born in Groton, Con- necticut, February 10, 1780, died in Wat- erford, New York. He married Eurania Tut- tle, a descendant of Captain Tuttle, who do- nated the fieldland for Yale College, and among their children was Lysander.
(VII) Lysander, son of Hazzard Button, was born in North Haven, Connecticut, Sep- tember 2, 1810. He appeared in Albany, New York, with his parents. When a mere lad he lived in other places, and at age of twenty- one settled in Waterford, Saratoga county, New York. He began work in Waterford as a machinist, and about the year 1835 en- tered the firm of William B. Platt & Com- pany with N. B. Doe, manufacturers of fire engines of crude and primitive models. In a few years he bought out Mr. Platt and on the death of Judge Doe became the sole owner of the business, which he conducted in Waterford for one-half a century. During that time Robert Blake was associated with him, a partner for several years, and after- ward his eldest son, Theodore E. Button, under firm name of Button & Son. In 1881 he sold out to Holroyd & Company, and led a retired life until his death, July 29, 1898. When he entered the business the building of fire engines was in its infancy. The engines were of crude design and of little value for fire protection. He immediately began to in- troduce improvements, which he did not pro- tect with patents, and which allowed his com- petitors to very soon adopt them. He in- vented and first applied to fire engines the "Crane Neck," the "Butterfly" or "Folding Brakes," the "Squirrel Tail Suction," large cylinders with adjustable stroke, the return or "runaround" by which water could be re- turned to the suction to relieve pressure on the hose. He patented the "improved air chamber, with contractor neck," folding han- dles on hose couplings, and a number of other improvements on hand and steam fire engines. When he left the business the "Button Fire Engine" was a "thing of beauty" and a mar- vel of boundless power and the acme of fire fighting machinery. "Button" engines were sold in every state and territory in Canada, South America and in Europe, and wherever the engines went the reputation of Lysander Button as a total-abstaining, Sabbath-observ- ing, honorable christian man of business went with them.
He began life absolutely without capital, but he never failed, never had a note go to pro-
test, never was without unbounded credit and never missed a pay day. He was a busy man but never too busy to be interested in the wel- fare of his town. He served on the board of trustees and on the school board. He took especial interest in the schools and in having a good water supply. He was a Republican and a great admirer of Horace Greeley. He was a staunch supporter of the government during the civil war and never lost faith in the ultimate success of northern arms. He lost a valuable consignment of engines during the war which were destroyed by the privateer "Alabama." He was very indignant and af- ter walking the office floor for a few minutes said to his bookkeeper: "Take the ledger and open an account with the English pirate 'Ala- bama,' I will have every cent of that in good British gold, when the war is over," and he did with interest to date twenty years later. In 1838 he united with the Presbyterian church of Waterford. In 1842 he was made ruling elder. He was superintendent of the Sunday school twenty-five years and a teach- er until within one year of his death. He held the offices of deacon, trustee and leader of the choir at various times. For sixty years he was a faithful member and rarely was his pew vacant. He was always cheerful, of strong faith, sanguine temperament, fearless and positive, yet tenderhearted as a woman and loyal in his friendships.
He married Abigail Ranney, born June 15, 1810, died April 1, 1874. Children : May Josephine ; Eliza, married George Henry Page (see Page II) ; Theodore E., in partnership with his father; Julia M .; Charles Ranney ; Charles Ranney and Mrs. Page are the only survivors. Abigail (Ranney) Button was a descendant of Thomas Ranney, born in Scot- land, was of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1658, married, in 1659, at age of forty-three, Mary Hubbard, aged seventeen, died June 21, 1713, "lived 97 years," left four sons and six daughters. Many of the Ranney name served in the revolution from Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the name is an eminent one among the families of New England. The Button family appears often on Massachusetts revolutionary rolls under the name Button, Butten, Buten and Buton.
LAWRENCE Rev. Egbert Charles Law- rence, Ph.D., 36 University Place, Schenectady, clergy- man, educator, and author, was born June 25, 1845, in Borodino, New York, on the shore of Skaneateles Lake in Onondaga coun- ty. IIe is the son of Silas Rensselaer and Lucinda (Hull) Lawrence, the grandson of
E. C. Lawrence
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Peter, and Margaret (Robins) Lawrence and of David and Charlotte (Alvord) Hull, and the great-grandson of Joseph and Prudence (Fosdick) Lawrence and of Charles and Eu- nice (Leaming) Alvord. Rev. E. C. Law- rence has not been able to trace all the links in the Lawrence lineage, but he believes he is descended from the Lawrences of Lanca- shire, England.
Three Lawrence brothers, John, William, and Thomas, came to Long Island through Massachusetts in the year 1643. Thomas, the youngest of these brothers, was born in 1625. He was commissioned major by Governor Leisler in 1698, and died in 1703. The name of his first wife is not given, but Valentine's Manual records the marriage of Thomas Law- rence (widower) and Mary Ferguson, No- vember 9, 1692. He names his wife Mary and five sons in his will. Thomas, the oldest son by his first wife, married Francina, widow of Melancthon Smith. He is called Captain Thomas Lawrence. According to the record in Holland documents his marriage took place in the Dutch Church of Hackensack, New Jer- sey, in 1704. Captain Lawrence had a son Jacob who is said to be of Westchester. It is believed that he was born about 1710. Jacob had a son Ezekiel, born in 1740, who married Zephrah Sneden and who resided in the town- ship of Clinton, Dutchess county, New York. Here the next two ancestors, Joseph and Peter, were born. In due time Joseph took unto himself a wife from Long Island, bought a farm in Glenville near Schenectady, and there spent the remainder of his days. After marriage Peter removed to Cayuga county which thus became the birthplace of his son, Silas Rensselaer, the last of the line down to Egbert.
Aside from the two military men, the major and the captain above mentioned, the Law- rence ancestors in this country have been in- dustrious and thrifty farmers and they have generally belonged to the Baptist church. By means of the "Alvord Genealogy" published in 1908, Dr. Lawrence can trace his mother's line back to John Alford, of Whitestaunton, county Somerset, England, who was born in the year 1475. The first generation in Amer- ica is headed by Alexander Alvord, who set- tled in Windsor, Connecticut, about the year 1640, and moved to Northampton, Massa- chusetts, in 1661. The Hulls and Alvords are New England people, bred in the pioneer school of hardship and privation; Yankees in activity, curiosity and 'invention; Puritans, mainly orthodox Congregationalists with the strictest ideas in morals and religion. In confirmation of this swift summary, lack of
space forbids much entering into details. A few facts must suffice.
Thomas Gould Alvord, one of Dr. Law- rence's progenitors, served in the French and Indian war when he was under nineteen years of age, and later in company with his eldest son and namesake, he was a soldier in the revolutionary war. They were cannoniers and both were present at the surrender of Corn- wallis. At the battle of White Plains, the father was wounded by a musket ball which entered his arm and passing out near the el- bow, was picked up by his companion, Luke Wadsworth, who placed the ball in his own gun and fired it back at the enemy. At the battle of Yorktown, Alvord fired a cannon for four hours, and when the balls gave out used old bolts and pieces of log-chain. For his service in the revolution he drew a piece of land from the United States, situated four miles north of Homer, New York. A son of the soldier, the next in the line of Dr. Lawrence's ancestors, Charles Alvord, with his young wife and babe, left Farming- ton, Connecticut, in February, 1793, travelled on an ox-sled to this tract of land in the unbroken wilderness. From Syracuse, thirty miles distant, his only guide was marked trees with streams to ford and logs to drive over. His first work was to make a shelter by. driv- ing crotches into the ground, laying poles across, and spreading hemlock boughs thickly over the whole. This served for a temporary house until he could build a log house and make a clearing to let in the sun. His nearest neighbor was four miles distant. From a brook near by he caught speckled trout, and trapped the mink, muskrat and beaver. Bears, deer, and wild pigeon were plenty and fur- nished his table with meat. The young babe above mentioned, less than a year old, who came with her parents on this long winter journey, was Charlotte Alvord, who after- wards became the grandmother of Dr. Law- rence. She was the first white child in Homer when the town belonged to Herkimer county, for the date of the Alvord's settlement was one year prior to the formation of Onondaga county, (1794), and fifteen years before the erection of Cortland county (1808). The first death in Homer was that of Mrs. Thomas Gould Alvord in 1795. She was the grand- mother of Dr. Lawrence's grandmother, Char- lotte Alvord. The Alvords were the first and largest manufacturers of salt in Syracuse. Thomas Gould Alvord, known by the political sobriquet of "Old Salt," during his long ser- vice in the legislature, was speaker of assem- blies, vice-president of constitutional conven- tions, and lieutenant-governor of New York.
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Egbert Charles Lawrence prepared for col- lege at Owego, New York, Academy; grad- uated at Union College, A. B., 1869, with the Warner prize cup for best scholarship and character, and the Latin salutatory, the honor for class leadership. He received the degree of A. M. from his alma mater in 1872. After graduation he taught a year in a boarding school on the Hudson at Mechanicsville. Then he was tutor in mathematics in Union College, 1870-72; graduated at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1875; taught a term in Blair Presbyterial Academy at Blairstown, New Jersey; pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1875-77, where he assisted Dr. James B. Thomson in the preparation of his series of text books on mathematics. He then took a fourth year of study in theology at Auburn Theological Sem- inary and at the same time had pastoral charge of Owasco Outlet Reformed Church, 1877-78; pastor of the Second Reformed Church, Schenectady, 1878-80; instructor in Latin and mathematics and adjunct professor of history in Union College, 1878-82; pastor .of Reformed Church of Thousand Islands, New York, 1882-86; pastor of Mt. Vernon Church, Utica Presbytery, 1886-90; Dr. Law- rence's last charge was a twelve years' pas- torate over the Westhampton Presbyterian, the first of the Hampton churches on the south shore of Long Island. At the close of this term of service he removed to Sche- nectady, and during the last nine years, as opportunity has offered, he has supplied the pulpits of seventy-four different churches. Dr. Lawrence received the degree of Ph.D. in 1889 from the National University of Chica- go, having taken a post-graduate course in physical science under the direction of Syra- ·cuse University. He is a member of the Al- bany Presbytery and of the New York State Historical Association, life director of Ameri- can Bible Society, director of Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society and treasurer of Schenectady department, treasurer of Sche- nectady County Historical Society. He is the author of "Historical Recreations" and of the "Early Church History of Schenectady, The Dutch Period." He married (first), at Buffalo, New York, November 27, 1877, Sa- rah Jean, youngest daughter of the Rev. Ar- thur Burtis, D.D., who at the time of his death was professor of Greek in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Mrs. Lawrence died in 1892, and Dr. Lawrence married (second) in 1896, at Setauket, New York, Mary Sylvester, daughter of Dr. Henry Sylvester and Harriet Eliza (Hulse) Dering ; granddaughter of Gen- eral Sylvester Dering and a descendant of
Nathaniel Sylvester, who in 1673 was sole owner of Shelter Island, New York, and first resident proprietor of Sylvester Manor where Dr. Dering was born. Mrs. Lawrence is a member of the Society of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York. Dr. Lawrence has three children : Arthur Burtis, born 1879, Grace Phillips, born 1881, wife of William C. Yates, and John Joel, born 1883.
REID As with the aborigines of America, the origin of the early inhabitants of Britain, or the British Isles, is a matter of speculation, although some writers claim that an analysis of the language of the Celts seems to indicate that they were of Indo-European origin, or the descendants of very early immigrants from India. This the- ory is applied to all of the languages of the aborigines of Europe. It is interesting, how- ever, to note that this does not apply to the dialect of the American Indians. Although philologists and antiquarians have found tra- ces of a similarity in the dialects of the Es- quimos and Aztecs, Iroquois, Algonquins and other aborigines of America, not a trace has been found to connect these dialects with the Indo-European nations.
During an early period the highlands of Scotland were inhabited by barbarians who were called Caledonii, a race divided into clans, and living in rude fortresses built of earth and stone situated upon the crest of hills, and again, in fortified caves, or caverns. These fortresses seem to have been construc- ted for protection against each other, rather than for safety from a foreign foe. The Cale- donii are described as a wild half-clad hardy race, and warlike in the extreme. Later we find these primitive tribes or clans called Picts. The home of the Caledonii is said to have been north of the Frith of Forth and the Frith of Clyde.
We find the name of Scotto-Irish applied to two clans of the great Celtic family who found their way into Ireland, and were called Dalriads. These clans are said to have es- tablished themselves in Ulster. In A. D. 503 the Dalriads, or, as they were after- ward called, the Scotto-Irish, formed a colony under the direction of three sons of Erc, (Lorn, Furgus, and Angus), in the territory of the Caledonii, near a headland now known by the name of Cantyre, in Argyle, and across the North Channel from the extreme north end of Ireland. The Dalriads appear to have embraced Christianity before they arrived in Argyle, but do not seem to have attempted its introduction among the Caledonians. How- ever, in A. D. 563, St. Columba, "a monk of
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