Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume IV, Part 18

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 660

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moved to the town of Ellinburg Sew York. where they resided on a farm until their death. Children : Sarah Ann, Su-annah Free love. Martha Haight, Edmond Carpenter, Aaron Jay.

(VIII) Martha Haight, third child of Aaron and Mary ( Wilbur ) Quinby, married. November 19, 1856, John Carmi Ilayden ( see Hayden XXIV), and they are the parents of Adelbert Carmi Hayden.

SHULER This family settled in the Mo- hawk Valley about the middle of the eighteenth century. They are originally of German nativity, the American ancestor being Lawrence Shuler. He became possessed of a tract of six hun- dred and forty acres, part of the two thousand acres conveyed to Edward and Philip Harri- son, known as the Harrison patent. The original survey was made in 1737 by Christo- pher Yates. From the Harrisons one Dubois, a wealthy man of New York City, purchased six hundred and forty acres. This purchase was the immediate cause of the emigration to America of Lawrence Shuler, the founder. Dubois died, and his widow having need of the services of an agent to look after her northern lands was led, through recommen- dation, to write to Lawrence Shuler in Ger- many, offering him the position. This was in 1767, and he was then probably about twenty-one. He was born in Luxemburg, Germany, and had received a good education and possessed good business ability. Hle ac- cepted the offer and came to America and acted as Mrs. Dubois' agent in the manage- ment of her Florida lands. Their business acquaintance resulted in their marriage, and thus the estate passed into the Shuler name, where it remained for over one hundred and twenty-five years. The estate is situated one and a half miles east of Minaville, in one of the best and most beautiful parts of the town. No owner of the Shuler name has ever died upon the estate, it so happening that they were absent from home when their final hour came. Neither Lawrence Shuler nor his wife died there. Their children were: John, see forward; Jacob, Solomon, Lawrence (2), Elizabeth. Lawrence (1) Shuler married ( second) Magdalena Servoss, who bore him Abraham and Sarah, and possibly others. Abraham died an old man, unmarried; Sarah married Cornelius Van Derveer, afterward accidentally killed, leaving a daughter Helena. The children of the first wife, all married and reared families. The estate was divided into smaller farms and each, at times, owned portions.

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(II) John, son of Lawrence Shuler, the founder, and his wife (Mrs. Dubois), was born on the original homestead, November 12, 1769, died at Gasport, New York, at the age of eighty-nine years. He came into pos- session of the farm about 1790. He was a well-educated man, well known in public life. He was elected to the legislature, Sep- tember 26, 1814, and re-elected in 1815. He was a friend of Alexander Hamilton, and acquainted with Aaron Burr. He was one of the invited guests of Governor Clinton at the exercises opening the Erie canal. He was a member of St. Patrick's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Johnstown, Fulton county, New York (then No. I, now No. 4), the oldest English-speaking lodge in the state, organized by Sir William Johnson under a charter from the Grand Lodge of England. He was a Whig in politics, later a Republican, which was the political faith of the family. He married, in Florida, Hannah Buck, born in Canaan, Massachusetts, died in Ames, New York, at the age of seventy-five. Children : I. David Cady, married (first) Pervely But- ler; (second) a Miss Nellis, both natives of Jefferson county, New York. 2. Sarah, mar- ried Elijah Wilcox; they removed to Elgin, Illinois, where they died. 3. Ransom, mar- ried Katherine Talmadge; they settled in Cumberland county, where they died. 4. Daniel, see forward. 5. Ann, married Louis Griffin; they were residents of Unadilla, New York, where they died. 6. Jacob, a mer- chant, later a farmer ; married (first) Kathe- rine, daughter of the Reverend Colonel Matise; (second) Amelia Case; he died in Cortland county, aged fifty-six years. 7. Cholett, lived to be one of the oldest in- habitants of Amsterdam; he was born May 20, 1807, on the Shuler estate; he married Ann Mallory; they are both buried in Green Hill cemetery, Amsterdam. 8. Adeline, mar- ried Oliver Wilcox; they died at Gasport, Niagara county, New York. 9. Lydia, mar- ried William Carlyle, M.D., of Elgin, Illi- nois. 10. Caroline, married George A. Wol- verton, of Albany.

(III) Daniel, fourth child of John and Hannah (Buck) Shuler, was born on the Shuler homestead in Florida, February 27, 1803, died February 17, 1882. He grew up on the farm, and adopted farming as his vocation. He married and settled in the same town, where he resided all his days. He married, in Florida, Katherine Van Derveer, who died July 26, 1874, at the age of sixty- nine, daughter of Henry Van Derveer. Chil- dren: 1. Ann, born February 8, 1830, died March 4, 1904; she married Jacob Schuyler,

born in 1829, died October 19, 1899. 2. Free- man, see forward. 3. Henry Van Derveer, born at the old homestead, June 3, 1842; he has resided all his life within the confines of the town, and for the past nine years has been employed in the "Brown" store at Minaville; he married Eveline Haver, born in 1852; she resides in California.

(IV) Freeman, second child and eldest son of Daniel and Katherine (Van Derveer) Shuler, was born on the homestead in Florida, New York, September 12, 1833, died at his home in the city of Amsterdam, New York, April 4, 1909. He was a successful farmer of Montgomery county, owning and operating, for many years, a farm east of Amsterdam, near the Mohawk river. He retired from active labor to a comfortable home in Am- sterdam, where he passed in ease his latter days. He took an active part in town affairs, was assessor for ten years, and a leading member of the Dutch Reformed church. He stood high in his community, and was a man of unblemished character. He married, at the Young homestead, in Florida, in 1860, Mary A. Young, born in the town, May 17, 1838. She survives her husband and resides in Amsterdam (Port Jackson). She is a member of the Dutch Reformed church. Chil- dren : 1. Carrie A., born August 2, 1863 ; mar- ried Zachariah Jacoby, born January 25, 1859; he has been many years a member of the New York National Guard, for which he wears a service medal; is an employee of the State, connected with the State armory, at Amsterdam. 2. William H., see forward. 3. Annie E., born May 10, 1867; married Andrew McClumpha, a farmer of Florida; they have a son, Raymond McClumpha, born October 4, 1901. 4. Daniel, born September 16, 1689; married Edna A. Young, and has a daughter, Ruth A .; their son, Wilbur S., died in infancy. Daniel is a farmer of Holley, New York. 5. Mary A., born April 14, 1875, died January 25, 1877.

(V) William H., son of Freeman and Mary A. (Young) Shuler. was born on the Montgomery county farm, February 21, 1865. He was educated in the town schools, and upon his father's retirement succeeded to the man- agement of the farm. He is a worthy suc- cessor and maintains the property in the same excellent condition, and ranks among the best of his town. He married, January 16, 1890, Martha M. Conover, born in Glen, November 3, 1871. The Conover family are among the older Mohawk Valley settlers, Seth Conover, her father, being of the third generation in direct linc. Seth Conover married Annie Lynch, both born in Florida, but afterwards

Freman Shuler

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settlers of Amsterdam. Their children, all born on the Conover homestead : Martha M. (Mrs. William H. Shuler) ; Seth J., born July 28, 1875, married Lizzie Field, and resides in Amsterdam; Howard L., died at the age of eighteen ; Edward, married Rose -, and has issue. Mrs. William H. Shuler (Martha M. Conover) was educated in Glen, and is a member of the Reformed church, as is her husband. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Shuler : Alice, born November 8, 1891; Lawrence, February 22, 1893; T. Howard, March 4, 1894; Marion, June 16, 1906; Myra L., July 1, 1908.

MUNSON The English Monsons belong- ing to the peerage have a rec- ognized history extending

through five centuries.

According to "Burke's Peerage," John Monson was liv- ing in 1378, and denominated of East Market Rasen, county of Lincoln, from whom lineally sprang William Monson, Esq., who died in 1558. It is the opinion of eminent members of the family that their common ancestor was a Dane. The name is common in Denmark, and that portion of England where the family were dwelling in the fourteenth century had been overrun by the Danes.

(I) Thomas Munson, the American ances- tor, was among those exiles who left Eng- land for conscience sake, brave and spirited men who were loyal to their God and their convictions. He was born in England about 1612, died May 7, 1685. It is not known how or when he came to America. He is first found of record in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1637, where he performed service in the Pequot war. He received a grant of one hundred acres, which was confirmed by the general court, May 13, 1637, no doubt in rec- ognition of his services in that war. In 1639 he became one of the pioneer settlers of New Haven, Connecticut, where he acquired a house lot in February, 1640. He was one of the sixty-three signers of the "Agreement." He took the oath of fidelity July 1, 1644, and was appointed sergeant of the "trayned band," a title he bore for nineteen years. May 19, 1656, he was chosen one of seven townsmen (selectmen). In 1661 he was appointed "En- signe," and was assigned "seat No. 2 of the shorte seats in the meeting house." April 28, 1663, "Ensigne Thomas Munson and John Moss were chosen deputies for the jurisdiction General Courte for the yeare ensueinge." In 1665, after the union of New Haven Colony with Connecticut Colony, John Winthrop, governor, he was chosen deputy to the general assembly. July 6, 1665, he was confirmed by

the general assembly lieutenant "of yi ve une band at New Haven." In 1666 he ware again chosen deputy, and in 1668 assigned ofnew seat in the meeting house; he was no one of the thirteen persons seated "in the first seat" in the gallery. April 29, 1668. he was elected one of seven townsmen ( selectmen ), and in 1669 again chosen deputy ; in fact, this office was bestowed upon him, as well as that of selectman, almost continuously until his death in 1685. At a session of the general court, held at Hartford, August 7, 1673, the following "special order" was passed : "Whereas there is now at present a great appearance of danger towards the Colony by the approach of the Dutch, for our own safety and defence till the general court in October next, it is now ordered by this court that the committee hereafter named, viz: The Governor, Deputy-Governor, and assistants (five others), and Lieutenant Thomas Mun- son, are hereby empowered to act as the Grand Committee of this Colony in establish- ing and commissioning of military officers, in pressing men, houses, ships, barques, or other vessels, arms, ammunition, provision, car- riages, or whatever they judge needful for our defense, and to manage, order and dispose of the militia of the colony in the best way and manner for our defense and safety." This was the first appointment of a grand commit- tee, or as afterwards termed "council of war." During King Philip's war he was in command of troops in and around Saybrook, and May 15, 1676, was appointed captain of New Ha- ven county soldiers, and in 1682 was a com- missioner to treat with the Indians. Sep- tember 29, 1684, he was, for the last time, elected deputy to the general court, and May 7, 1685, he closed an exceeding busy and use- ful life. He was continuously in the ser- vice of town, colony and church until the last. He married Joanna - -, born about 1610, died December 13, 1678.

(II) Samuel, only son of Thomas and Jo- anna Munson, was baptized in New Haven, Connecticut, First Church, August 7. 1643, died 1693. He was made a freeman of New Haven, May 9, 1667, and assigned in the meeting house a seat with fourteen others in the "second seat in the gallery." In 1670 he was one of the thirty-nine men who signed the agreement to become "Planters" and settle in the wilderness north of New Haven, now Wallingford, Connecticut. Here he was as- signed a house lot on the "Long Highway" (Main street), and a farm of eight acres. He was chosen selectinan in April, 1672, and June 7 "Samuel Munson shall be allowed forty shillings for maintaining and beating the

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Drum in good order for the yeare ensuing." In 1674 he was again chosen one of five "townsmen." King Philip's war now being waged, he was appointed "Ensigne of Walling- ford Traine Band." Under date of Septem- ber 10, 1677, it was "voted that Ensign Mun- son shall have fourty shillings allowed him for meeting in his house this yeare." He was chosen "lister" in 1678, and one of the two sealers of leather. November 27. 1678, .occurs the first mention of schools in the town record. December 24 it was voted to allow ten pounds for a schoolmaster and three pence per week for each scholar attending. April 12, 1679, Samuel Munson was chosen to serve as the first schoolmaster. He was successively auditor, selectman, treasurer, and recorder of the town. In 1682 he apparently returned to New Haven to reside, perhaps to make a home for his widowed father, perhaps to be- come master of Hopkins grammar school. 'The earliest record book of the Hopkins gram- mar school begins with 1684, under date of January 4. "agreed that Ensign Munson go on with the grammar school at New Haven to make up his year current, and his allow- ance to be £40 per annum as formerly, also that trial be made of the sufficiency of the said Ensign Munson and if he be sufficient to instruct or fit hopeful youth for the College that he have £50 for the ensuing year." Three months later he "laid down his charge," and was succeeded by a graduate of Harvard College. It is uncertain whether he was rector of the school one, two or three years. He was one of the sealers of leather in New Haven, 1683-85-86, and in 1692, lister, and constable. This useful life ended the following year. He married, October 26, 1665, Martha, daughter of William Bradley.

(III) Thomas, second son of Samuel and Martha ( Bradley ) Munson, was born March 12, 1671, died in Cheshire, Connecticut, Sep- tember 28, 1746. He was a husbandman, and resided in New Haven. He was favored in the distribution of his grandfather's estate, and dealt largely in real estate during his life. He held several of the town offices, and in 1716 was a contributor to the amount of land donated to secure Yale College for New Haven. He thus assisted in founding that celebrated university which, a little later, was removed to New Haven from Saybrook. Like all the family preceding him, he was a mem- ber of the Congregational First Church, which he joined in New Haven, September 25. 1735. His wife had been a communicant .of the First Church since 1698. He mar- ried. September 15, 1694, Mary Wilcox, who ·died November 28, 1755-

(IV) Obadiah, fourth child of Thomas and Mary (Wilcox) Munson, was born in New Haven, April 3, 1703, died in Wallingford. April 29. 1773. He was a mill owner and farmer, and during his life he dealt exten- sively in real estate, residing in New Haven, Cheshire and North Haven ( Wallingford). He is buried in the North Haven cemetery. He married, March 27, 1729, Hannah Booth.

(\') Obadiah (2), eldest son of Obadiah (1) and Hannah (Booth) Munson, was born in New Haven, August 27, 1731, died May 26, 1805. He was a mill owner and farmer of Connecticut, his home, until 1771, when he removed to the Wyoming valley, Pennsyl- vania, where he remained until 1778, when he returned to Connecticut ( Plymouth ), dying at Harwinton, that state. His residence in Pennsylvania was in Luzerne county, near Pittston. "He purchased a tract of land on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna, built his log cabin and hoped to make for himself and family a permanent home." When the valley seemed in danger from Indians and British he left his family and went back to Connecti- cut to prepare a home for them. His wife died at the time of the massacre, and at least four of his sons were in the revolutionary army. During his absence the massacre at Wyoming occurred, and he never returned to the valley. He was a member of the First Church of Christ, of Harwinton, Connecticut. He was a man of remarkable constitution, broad-shouldered, and very strong. He could lift a barrel of cider and put it over the rave of a cart. He was a good business man and led an active, useful life. He married Rachel Tyler.

(VI) Stephen, fourth child of Obadialı (2) and Rachel (Tyler) Munson, was born in Wallingford (now Cheshire), Connecticut, February 10, 1759, died July 9, 1824. He was a saddler and a farmer. At the time of the Wyoming massacre he was with the army of Washington at Morristown, New Jersey, in Captain Durkee's company. He was also a member of one of the "Valley Independent Companies" that saw much hard service. He is described on the roster of Captain Durkee's company as five feet five inches tall, aged eighteen. He was a man of means and genial nature. He resided in various towns of Con- necticut, and in Westfield and Huntington, Massachusetts. He married, March 13, 1783, Elizabeth, daughter of William Andrus.

(VII) Daniel, eldest child of Stephen and Elizabeth ( Andrus) Munson, was born Janu- ary 22, 1786, died at Huntington, October 7, 1859. His early schooling was in Southington and at Wolcott. At fourteen the family re-

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moved to Westfield, Massachusetts, where he attended academy two winters. He "farmed it" during summers, and after leaving the academy taught a winter school at Blanford. the next winter at Chesterfield, the next at Goff's Hill, and then at Falley's Roads. A sedentary life did not agree with him, and he gave up the idea of going to college, for which he had been preparing. He was a farmer all his days. He served as constable in Norwich and three terms as selectman. He is remembered as a person of elevated char- acter and courtliness of manner. He was a Whig and Congregationalist. He married, January 18, 1810, Jerusha, born May 1, 1786, died March 10, 1852, daughter of Ebenezer Fowler, of Westfield, Massachusetts.

(VIII) Garry, eldest child of Daniel and Jerusha (Fowler) Munson, was born Decem- ber 29. 1810, died June 5, 1882. After leav- ing the district school he attended Westfield ( Massachusetts ) Academy five terms and then engaged in teaching. In April, 1829, at the age of eighteen, he opened a store on Cliester Hill in connection with his father, and this business continued eight years. On the day he was twenty-one he began making twist but- tons, and the year following. the production of lasting buttons. In 1835 he was employ- ing over two hundred persons. After a few years the introduction of machine-made but- tons drove him out of the business. During the financial panic of 1837 he lost two-thirds of his property, and he removed to Spring- field, where for two and a half years he was a partner with Galen Ames in the dry goods business. In 1840 he removed to Huntington, where he took possession of the farms at Nor- wich Bridge, which had been owned by his father and grandfather since 1807. He also opened a store which he operated for five years. He acquired a half interest in a lumber mill. In 1848 he built a store in the village. where he carried on business three and a half years until fire destroyed the building. For many years he was an extensive wool buyer. In 1870-71 he was a member of De- laney & Munson, with paper mills at Union- ville, Connecticut. In 1872 he became a part- ner in the Massasoit Knitting Mills at Co- hoes, New York. He devoted much of his time during his later years to the settlement of estates. He was trial justice in the Hunt- ington district, and at the time of his death commissioner of insolvency, and president of the Cemetery Association and of Huntington Hall Association. Politically, he was a Whig and later a Republican. At the age of thirty- four he was elected to the legislature, and was repeatedly elected selectman. For twenty-

five or thirty years he was almost continu- ously moderator of the town meetings. He was a member of the Congregational church and one of the founders of the Second Congre- gational church in Huntington. When it was destroyed by fire he gave more than any other toward replacing it. For twenty-five years he served as deacon. He was diligent in at- tendance upon public worship and in maintain- ing family worship. He keenly enjoyed family reunions, and for years he and three brothers had annual gatherings in their homes succes- sively. After his children began to form homes of their own he established the cus- tom of having them gather at the old home- stead every alternate Thanksgiving. He had rare sagacity, rare judgment, rare power to execute, and a rare wealth of practical in- formation. The judicial quality of his mind was noteworthy, and his proper function, had he been educated for it, was upon the bench. He was devoted to his family and gave his sons every encouragement, both in advice and practical help. He married. November 6, 1833, Harriet Lyman, born October 10, 1810, died August 18, 1860, daughter of Colonel and Deacon Samuel Lyman, of Chester, Mas- sachusetts. She bore him seven children.

( IX) Samuel Lyman, fifth child of Dea- con Garry and Harriet (Lyman) Munson, was born in Norwich, now Huntington, Mas- sachusetts, June 14, 1844. His early education was acquired in the common school, and at the age of twelve he entered Williston Seminary, where he studied three years. He then en- tered a Boston dry goods store, where he re- mained two years. Impaired health brought him back to the farm, where a year of out- door work restored him to vigor. After a course at the Bryant & Stratton Commercial School at Albany, New York, he became a traveling salesman for Wickes & Strong. Four years he remained with them, and then in 1867, in company with two other young men, established a factory for the manufacture of linen collars. Two years later he assumed sole control, steadily increasing his business until 1884, when he purchased the Hudson Avenue Methodist Church and converted it into a factory where he has since been engaged in the manufacture of linen and lace goods, employing about one thousand hands. In 1889 he built another factory at Cobleskill, New York, for the exclusive manufacture of shirts. As an organizer to plan and con- duct a business Mr. Munson has few equals ; from a very small beginning he has built up a business of large dimensions. While he has always given the closest attention to his busi- ness, other interests have attracted him. He

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has been trustee, secretary and vice-president of the Home Savings Bank of Albany, direc- tor of the National Exchange bank; trustee of the Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of its committee on manufactures. He is trustee of the Madison Avenue Reformed Church. His social clubs are the Fort Orange and County of Albany, and the Colonial, Ark- wright, and Republican, of New York City. He is a life member of the New England So- ciety of New York, and interested in the col- lection and preservation of family history and genealogy. He was a generous supporter of the "Munson Family History," and has his father's love of family and kindred. He is president of the Weekapaug Chapel Society, Weekapaug, Rhode Island; governor of the Albany Chapter of the Society of Founders and Patriots; regent of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, and a man- ager of the State Society. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He attained, by reason of long connection with the order, mem- bership in the Masonic Veterans' Associa- tion, of Albany, of which he became president. He is an extensive traveler, and frequently delivers lectures on travel and other subjects. His large collection of books afford him one of his principal recreations, and with golf, his favorite pastime, fill the hours of leisure. In politics he is a Republican, that having been, almost without an exception, the family politics ever since the formation of the party. He was a presidential elector in 1901. He resides in Albany, where, in a beautiful home, his large library of well-selected books, in- dicates his breadth of mind, and wide range of thought.

He married, May 21, 1868, Susan Babcock Hopkins, born in Hudson, New York, June 29, 1844, daughter of Lemuel J. Hopkins. Children, all born in Albany, New York: I. Harriet Lyman, March 8, 1869; educated at Miss Mackie's school, Newburg, New York ; married Robert H. Lyman, managing editor of the New York World, and has a daugh- ter, Susan Elizabeth, born November 18, 1905. 2. Anna Hopkins, died in infancy. 3. Edward Garry, February 16, 1873, graduate of Nor- walk Military Institute. 4. Paul Babcock, November 5, 1875 ; graduate of Norwalk Mili- tary Institute, Phillips Andover Academy, and Yale University. 5. Samuel L., May 3, 1878; graduate of Ilarvard, class of 1900, and of Harvard Law School, class of 1903. 6. Amy Treadwell, February 1, 1881 ; graduated from Miss Runts-Rees' school, Greenwich, Con- necticut ; in 1908 made a trip around the world. 7. Robert, October 27, 1888; prepar- ing at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, for ad-

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Hudson-Mohawk genealogical and family memoirs, Volume IV, Part 18

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 660

Author: Reynolds, Cuyler, 1866-1934, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 660