Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history, Part 69

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1160

USA > New York > Monroe County > Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history > Part 69

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LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

during the Civil war. He has also been an active supporter of agricultural societies, and has been distinguished as a supporter of organizations for the elevation of the farming class throughout the county and State. He was one of the originators and organizers of the Farmer's Alliance, and first president of the county and State societies. This association of farmers, originating in Monroe county, extended to other States, until it has a national character of considerable political influence. He was one of the organizers of the association of Co-operative Fire Insurance Com- panies of the State of New York, and first president for five years. and has been president of Monroe County Patrons Fire Relief Association during its existence of seventeen years. Mr. Root has been during his life a liberal supporter of society, and ever ready to respond to the call of public and private charities.

Todd, David, was born in Peekskill, Westchester county, April 15, 1820, was edu- cated in the schools of his day, worked on his father's farm until he was twenty- three, and has followed farming ever since. December 6, 1843, he married Eliza Speer, formerly of Michigan. Two children were born to them: Mary F. and Sarah E. Mary F. resides with her father in Rochester. Sarah E. married Thomas P. Pryor of Rochester, and they have four children: Dean T., C. Warrant, Mary F., and Willard L. They reside on the old homestead on the Little Ridge Road, west of Greece village. Mrs. Todd died May 11, 1882. In September, 1887, Mr. Todd re- tired and now resides in Rochester. He has followed a life of sobriety, industry, thrift and good judgment. His father, Wright, was born in Peekskill, February 14, 1798, and married Elizabeth Denike of his native county, born in 1801. They had seven children: David; John, who died recently; Sylvester, who died in Peekskill; Albert, who resides in Ypsilanti, Mich .; Jackson and Mary A. died on the homestead when young; and Orrin W. The family came to Lyons, Wayne county, in 1826, where they remained seven months, then removed to Greece on the Big Ridge Road farm, where Orrin W. now resides. They have been residents of the town and county sixty-nine years, their first abode having been a log cabin. The grandfather Denike was a soldier in the war of 1812. Wright Todd retired about 1864 and re- sided in Rochester until his death, April 12, 1875; his wife died January 17, 1876. The ancestry of the family is English and Scotch.

Graves, Allen S., was born of an old Massachusetts family, who came from New England at an early day, having made an honorable record in the war for indepen- dence. Elias Graves, the grandfather, son of Elias, was the father of nine children. One of these was Francis, who married Sarah A. Palmer, and came to Mendon in 1825. He learned the tanner's trade in Greene county, at the foot of the Catskill Mountains, and was employed by Colonel Edwards, and also by Jacob Graves, at Rochester, as foreman over thirty hands. He bought the farm in Mendon, now oc- cupied by Allen S. Graves and his sister, Mrs. Dennis Desmond. His family con- sisted of seven children. One brother, Palmer, died at the age of thirty, and there are now in this locality Edwin, Allen, and Mrs. Desmond. The father died in 1869, and the mother in 1874. One daughter died in infancy, and two others, Abi and Lodeema, on reaching womanhood. Allen S. married Catherine Warren, by whom he had one daughter, Lodeema, who died at the age of eight years, the mother dying about two years later. His second wife was Margaret Brady of Parma, by whom there are one son and four daughters now living: Francis, Emily, Josephine,

FAMILY SKETCHES.

Cora Ann, and M. Almeda, some of whom are teachers of acknowledged ability. 'As regards serving the town, Allen Graves has been chosen twelve consecutive years as assessor. He has been offered the nomination for supervisor by both parties, but declined to accept.

Wilcox, Elias (deceased), was born in the town of Rush, May 17, 1806, a son of Stephen, who came from Connecticut about 1803; the latter married Dorcas Davis, of the same State, and came from their eastern home with an ox team and wagon, such as pioneers traveled with in those days, and were six weeks on the road. After farming a few years he invested what he had in boating on the Erie Canal. finally losing all by the sinking of his boats, heavily loaded with wheat. Then his son Elias, at the age of twenty one, took charge of the family-a mother and six sisters. He removed to Gaines, Orleans county, and contracted by article for a piece of land, and in a few years became the owner of a beautiful farm of one hundred acres. He sold this for a good sum, and went into the milling business. About this time (1855) he married Jane, the daughter of Samuel B. Perkins, born in Henrietta, Monroe county. After leaving milling he moved into Lockport and engaged in the brokerage business for three years. He then removed to Avon Springs and settled on a fine twenty acre lot just south of West Avon, remaining there two years. Having an opportunity to sell at a bargain, he returned to Monroe county and retired from active business, having accumulated a handsome property by indomitable persever- ance and close management, never having received three months' schooling; having a head for business, he was often consulted by men of learning, at one time sueing the State and gaining his point. He always took a prominent part in town and county affairs, and died in 1890, in his eighty-fourth year. His widow and two chil- dren survive him-Elias and Jennie D., still residents of Brockport.

Martin, Henry R .- The father of our subject, James K. Martin, was born in Rens- selaer county, N. Y., and his mother, whose maiden name was Bristol, came from the same place. In March, 1819, they removed from Rensselaer county to Riga, in what is now the town of Chili, near Black Creek. The journey was made with one team and wagon, containing seven persons and the household goods of two families. The journey occupied two weeks. The next winter Mr. Martin returned to Rens- selaer county for his widowed mother and two younger brothers, making the weari- some journey on foot in six days. Unfortunately for Mr. Martin, the locality where he had first settled, on Black Creek, was very low and unhealthy, and he and his family were all sick with the ague and fever during the summer; in August every one was sick. Later in the fall they partially recovered their health, and Mr. Martin began to look about for some means to earn food for his family. He had no money and could not get money for his work. He found, however, that he could work for his uncle, Judge Sibley, chopping wood for one-half bushel of wheat per day's work. He worked sixteen days for which he received eight bushels of wheat, which he had to thresh and clean, and then by taking it to the village of Rochester he could get two shillings per bushel. In all he worked nineteen days for eight bushels of wheat. which he sold for two dollars. These were the hardest times he found. In January, 1821, Mr. Martin removed from Black Creek to the town of Rush, renting a farm of James Wadsworth, which he occupied for four successive years. In three years he began to gather things about him, and in 1825 he purchased and moved on a tract of

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

one hundred acres, of which only four or five were cleared. This he cleared and im- proved with his own hands and gained property very slowly by the most rigid econ- omy. He resided on this farm till the day of his death, doing much hard work and never engaging in any speculation. As his family grew around him he purchased more land, and in course of time all were settled on farms adjoining or near his own. He had a large family-eight sons and five daughters. Mr. Martin was for many years and until his death in 1870 a member of the Christian church at North Rush, and in which he was chosen one of the deacons. Previous to his death one son, Joseph, and one daughter, Fannie (Mrs. Martin Norris), had died. Since then Lorenzo, Stephen B., and Charles E. have died. The remaining children are Elvira, Lydia, James, Catherine, Clarrissa, Killian, Henry R., and Ward. The youngest, Ward, is living on the homestead, and Killian and Henry R. are on adjoining farms. Henry R. married Louisa Collins. They have had seven children, five of whom are living. Their names are Elvira F., James R., Mary L., Carrie A., and Lucelia A.

Ketcham, Joseph H., was born in Rensselaer county, September 9, 1820, and is the son of Joseph, who was born in the same place August 12, 1777, and died May 6, 1856; he came to Macedon and later to Perinton, where he died. Joseph H. came to Webster in 1839, and has resided at West Webster most of the time since. His grandfather was Daniel Ketcham, who came in at an early day from England. Joseph H. married in 1844 Lucy M., daughter of Nelson and Sally Ann Smith.

Glasser, John M., is the son of Anthony Glasser, born in New York. In 1848 they moved to Sullivan county, N. Y., where his father bought a tract of woodland, which they cleared and made of it a fine country home. In the meantime Mr. Glasser be- came interested in woodwork, and came to Rochester in 1870 and learned the wood- carving trade, at which he worked until 1884. He then came to West Webster and bought the hotel property there, which they remodeled and added to until it was a first class hostelry, the proprietors being Glasser & Saller. Mr. Glasser married Louisa Gabel, the daughter of Jacob Gabel of Rochester, and they have three sons and one daughter, Walter, Emil, John and Emma.

Stayman, George, is a son of Isaac, and he a son of John, who came from Pennsyl- vania in 1805 and settled in North Mendon; he reared a large family, most of the children going West. Isaac married Emma, daughter of Daniel Faulkner, of an English family. They had one son, George A., born in 1853, his mother dying three years after in 1856. He was placed in the care of an uncle, Henry Hobden, to be brought up, and here he remained fourteen years. He then worked by the month until his marriage in 1874 to Emogene, daughter of David Smith, one of the principal farmers of the town. Mr. Stayman bought the Peter Shaw farm the same year, which he has made into a handsome home. He has three children: Allie E., Frank D., and Daisie C. In 1893 he was elected commissioner for three years on the Re- publican ticket and re-elected in 1895 on the same ticket. The family have always supported the Presbyterian church, John Stayman having been one of the founders of the East Mendon church.

Baird, Byron, the youngest of a family of eight children of the late Bedent and Catherine (Quackenbush) Baird, was born near the site of his present home, Decem- ber 1, 1830. His father was born at Monmouth, N. J., and settled here about 1819.

FAMILY SKETCHES.

Bedent Baird was a man of unusual mental attainments, and became in mature years an important social and political factor in Perinton. The writer inspected various school exercises in mathematics executed by him when but twelve years of age, some of which bore date January 24, 1802, which are models of chirographic art, and attest a scholarship far beyond the average of that day. Some of their children attained mature years. Of the two still living-Byron and Samuel-Byron has spent his life near his birthplace, erecting thereon a new and modern residence. Samuel spent several years of his early manhood in Rochester, where he studied for the bar. He is now a resident of Lowell, Wash. The family is of Scotch ancestry. Byron mar- ried in 1857 Imogene Mattison, daughter of Truman Mattison, born in Bennington, Vt., the son of Isaiah Mattison, a Baptist clergyman.

Wilcox, Glezen F., was born April 8, 1836, on the farm where he now lives in Per- inton, Monroe county. His ancestors came from old to New England, and later to Western New York. His grandparents on both sides settled in Ontario county in the later years of the last century, taking up and improving into farms tracts of land from the unbroken wilderness. In 1834 William Wilcox, the father of the subject of this sketch, purchased the farm on which his youngest son, Glezen, was born, and which has ever since been his home. Mr. Wilcox received a liberal education at the schools of Lima and Rochester and at Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of twenty- one he traveled widely in the British Islands, France, Germany and Italy, on foot, with knapsack and staff, walking more than three thousand miles. From these journeyings sprang a series of descriptive letters under the title of "Europe Afoot and Alone," contributed to Moore's Rural New Yorker, which attracted wide and favorable attention. Returning to his home after a couple of years, Mr. Wilcox set. tled down to the business of farming. In 1861 he married Adeline C., daughter of W. K. Goodrich of Fairport. Their only child, Glezen G., was born October 13, 1868. Mr. Wilcox continued his literary works as a contributor to several journals on rural topics, and also published many sketches of "Boat and Tent Life" in the northern wilderness and on the great lakes. For several years from 1865 he was as- sociated with D. D. T. Moore as editor of the Rural New Yorker, then published in Rochester. When that paper was removed to New York Mr. W. declined to follow, and severed his connection with it. In 1871, with A. A. Hopkins he established the Rural Home, a rural and literary journal, in Rochester, but at the end of a year dis- posed of his interest in the paper, and retired from active newspaper work. Mr. W. has been active in public affairs, serving as administrator of estates, as assessor and supervisor, and has been a candidate of a minority party for the Legislature. He is an Independent in politics, and a supporter and trustee of the Baptist church.

Schummers, F. F., Fairport, N. Y., dealer in hardware, stoves, paints, agricultu- ral tools and plumbing, was born in Paris, France, in 1847. His father, Francis Schummers, was a cabinent-maker and came to America in 1849, locating first in New York city, and later engaged in farming in Lowville, Lewis county, N. Y., until 1872, when he removed to Perinton, where he lived with his son until his death, which occurred March 30, 1895, at the age of eighty-four years, his wife, Margaret, having died October 12, 1890. F. F. Schummers was educated at Lowville Acad- emy and State Normal School of Pennsylvania, and for a time taught school. In 1872 he bought a farm in this town, where he remained eighteen years. In 1890 he

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

established himself in the hardware business in Fairport, where he stands at the head in that line. In 1870 he married Frances, daughter of the well-known banker and philanthropist, Jeremiah Chadwick, and his children are Sabin C., Margreta, Irmagarde and Gladys.

MacLachlan, Hugh, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, July 6, 1850. His father was Hugh MacLachlan, a native of Invernesshire, Scotland, and was one of the old Gaelic stock. Hugh, jr., came to America in 1870 and settled in Brockport, engag. ing in the carpenter's trade in 1874, and later in the dairy business. In 1877 he entered the employ of the Johnston Harvester Co., with whom he remained until they were burned out. In 1887 he established his present business as dealer in coal, wood and fertilizers, handling about [3,000 tons of coal annually. In 1875 he mar- ried Eliza, daughter of John Wilson, and their children are Sybella T., E. Helen, and Flora C. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Scribner, Albert G., was born at Andover, Merrimac county, N. H., on February 1, 1804. His ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides were English, and both came to Massachusetts in the early part of the seventeenth century. Mr. Scribner was the sixth son of a family of thirteen children; leaving home at an early age he learned the trade of shoemaking, and followed that trade for several years in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In 1823 he came to Monroe county, N. Y., in company with his brother-in-law, John W. Sweet, locating in the town of Ogden, working at his trade for a number of years. In 1833 he married Matilda Colby, a daughter of Isaac Colby, who settled in the town of Ogden in 1802. In 1834 Mr. Scribner turned his attention to farming, working and owning several farms; he finally purchased the farm located on the hill, one-half mile east of the Town Pump, where he resided until his death in 1893, (in his ninetieth year), Mrs. Scribner having died in 1885, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Scribner held several town offices, and was one of the company that built and for a time operated a store at the Town Pump. Mr. and Mrs. Scribner were both members of the Baptist Church. The children were Gilman A., of Iowa; Harvey I., of South Dakota; David, who died aged three years; Moses, who died in infancy; and Henry D., who owns and occu- pies the home place. Mr. Scribner prospered in his business life, and gave two of his sons a collegiate education, and assisted his children in starting in life. Henry D. was born December 7, 1849, received his education at Rochester and Dansville, studied telegraphy and spent several years in Kansas and California; in 1874 he was called home to care for his father and mother in their old age. In 1886 he married Barbara A. Scott, a daughter of Adam Scott, of West New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y .; they have one child, Albertine. Mr. and Mrs. Scribner are both members of the Ogden Center Presbyterian church.

Starkweather, Chauncey G., was born in Otsego county in 1840, a son of Chaun- cey G., sr., who was a native of Connecticut, and a blacksmith and farmer, coming to Brighton in 1861, where he was successfully engaged in a seed growing business. His wife was Mary W. Bardon of Connecticut, and their children Chauncey G. and Jerry. He died in Florida in 1894, where he had gone for his health. His wife died in Brighton in 1880. Our subject is a popular leader and representative man, a supervisor, and one of the managers of the Rochester State Hospital. He began

FAMILY SKETCHES.

for himself, learning the patternmaker's trade in Chester county, Pa., at which he worked four years. In 1863 he enlisted in Co. G, 124th'Pa. Vols., and served nine months, participating in the battles of Antietam and other engagements, receiving a slight wound. He was then in the government employ two years at Chattanooga, Tenn. In 1866 he came to this town and engaged in the seed growing business with his father and brother, and four years later bought out their interest in the farm, where he has since been extensively engaged in seed growing. For many years he has taken a leading part in local politics, and in 1864 he was chosen as one of the building committee of the new Rochester court-house, which is in the course of erec- tion at the present time; and in 1895 he was appointed by Governor Morton one of the managers of the Rochester State Hospital. He is a Master Mason of Valley Lodge, Rochester. In 1867 he married Emily L., daughter of Zachariah and Elva S. (Hill) Lewis, and they have one child, Lewis . C., and Albert J. Fish, a nephew, whom they brought up from a child. His parents, Judson and Alvira Fish, died when he was but five years old. Zachariah Lewis was a pioneer of Brighton before 1812, in which war he participated.

Gleason, Benjamin F., was born in Jerusalem, Yates county, January 12, 1840, a son of Joseph, born in Lockport, who removed in 1830 to Yates county, and later to Michigan. The latter was a carpenter and builder, and married Maria Smith. Ben- jamin F. Gleason was educated in the common schools. August 26, 1862, he enlisted in Co. F, 148th N. Y. Vols., and participated in all the battles of the James. He was honorebly discharged at the close of the war, and returning home took up the manufacture of carriages at Potter, Yates county, soon after. In 1875 he came to Brockport and engaged in the undertaking business, which he continued up to 1884. In 1881 he patented the Gleason Embalming Board, and is now giving his entire attention to its manufacture. In 1860 he married Emma L. Reed, who died in 1869. In 1877 he married Alice Bordwell. Our subject is one of the representative men of his town, having served as president of the village, trustee, supervisor, etc.

Hovey, Cassius M., was born in Clarkson, February 1, 1845, a son of Ebenezer Hovey, who was born in Bloomfield, this county, October 4, 1807, and came to Clarkson in 1825, where he engaged in farming. In 1832 he married Nancy A., daughter of Capt. Charles Treat, who was a soldier of the War of 1812. By refer- ence to a genealogy of the Treat family, which dates back 150 years, it is learned that Nancy A. is a descendant of James Treat, who was a brother of Richard and Robert Treat, immigrants to Milford or Weathersfield, Conn., from England, about the year 1638. They afterwards became prominent in important affairs of the col- ony at a time when it was seeing its darkest days through threats and plots of usur- pation, etc., by the Indians and Dutch settlers. The colonists admiring the ability of Robert Treat as a statesman and jurist, elected him from time to time to minor offices up to the year 1676, when he was made deputy governor, holding the office until 1683, when, owing to his popularity, he was elected governor, which office he filled until 1698, when, on account of the arduous duties and his advancing age, he resigned; but so thoroughly was he appreciated by the people that they again elected him deputy governor, which office he reluctantly accepted, and held it until his death, making a total of more than thirty years that he served as governor and dep-

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

uty governor to the full satisfaction of the colonists. James and Richard were his counselors in all matters of importance touching upon the affairs of the colony. Re- turning to Ebenezer Hovey, of him it may be said, that prompted by his iron will and strong muscle, he decided to carve out a home in the forest, and accordingly purchased a farm of eighty acres in Clarkson in 1832, on which there were no im- provements save a log hut. In this humble dwelling, surrounded by massive oaks, he and his bride took up their residence, feeling that if it was gloomy and deficient in accommodations, it was not second to those of other pioneers. By industry and perseverance he succeeded in clearing his land, which advanced in value to such an extent that he sold it to a good profit, and bought another tract, and so continued, until he had accumulated quite a fortune, which he left to his widow and seven chil- dren at his death, which occurred in Clarkson, in March, 1883, in his seventy-sixth year. Cassius M. Hovey, the subject and author of this sketch, was one of his seven children. He was educated at Holley Academy and Brockport Collegiate Institute, graduating from the latter June 23, 1866, after which he taught school several terms in Monroe county and Berrien county, Mich., being licensed by State superintend- ents of public instruction. In 1869 he married in Brockport, Orra, daughter of An- drew Johnson, and settled in the following spring on his father's farm in Sweden, just outside of the corporation line of Brockport, a farm he now owns and conducts. They have had the following children: Fred Clay, who was educated at Brockport State Normal School and Rochester Business University, graduating from both with honor in 1891 and 1892 respectively, after which he was bookkeeper one year for Sib- ley, Lindsey & Curr and Court Street Bridge Company, and was afterwards chosen manager of Spencer's Business Colleges at Yonkers and Kingston, N. Y., remaining until 1894, when he became principal of Schenectady Business College, which posi- tion he now holds; and Ida May, who is now attending school in Clarkson.

Aldrich, J. G., was born in Egypt, near the site of his present home, April 11, 1819. He was born in a log house erected by his father, the late George Aldrich, very early in the century. George was of Massachusetts birth, and married Mary Potter, whose father, Noel Potter, was an ensign in the navy in the Revolution. The first job printing done in this locality was by Josiah Aldrich, who about 1869 became the pos- sessor of press and type. The first executed by him was the "Know-Nothing" tickets His office was destroyed by fire in 1886. Mr. Aldrich has always been a farmer, but served sixteen successive years as justice of the peace, as supervisor in 1866-67, and at the present writing he is again a justice. He has one son, Adelbert E., by his first wife, Margaret Wood, now deceased. His second wife, also deceased, was Samantha Springer. In 1892 he married Miss Julia Potter. Among the early chronicles we find mention of a baby show held in 1819, perhaps the first on record, at which Mr. Aldrich took first prize for beauty. In the fall of 1803 Solomon Aldrich and his oldest son, Adolphus, then about sixteen years old, left on foot their home in Ashfield, Mass., to visit a cousin, who had left Ashfield and located in Macedon, Wayne county, some two years before. In the spring they walked back, sold their piace there, and with an emigrant wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen, removed to Macedon. He soon after bought a farm in the wilderness, made some improvements, sold it, and in 1806 bought and eventually cleared up a farm in Perinton, that borders on the west line of Wayne county, known as the " Aldrich Hill" farm. Solomon

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Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history, Part 69

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 1160

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1160