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 77
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in other localities, among them in Maryland, where he has spent several winters. When eighteen years of age he learned the art of grafting fruit trees, which business he followed six years, earning enough money to give him a good start in life, which with a small sum given him by his father, was the foundation of his successful busi- ness life. In 1857 he opened a store in North Parma, which he soon gave up and returned to the old farm. January 1, 1845, Mr. Wheeler married Melissa Crandall, by whom he has one child: Melissa, wife of Charles W. Gaffield. His second wife was Dorothy Hiscock, to whom he was married January 14, 1847, by whom he had five children: Mary H., William H., Harriet L., Mina and Susan.
Williams, Charles S., was born in Clarkson October 3, 1848. His father, Mark F., was a native of Burlington, Vt., and came to this town in 1832. His wife was Caro- line, daughter of Samuel Smith, and their children were: Charles S., Frank E., Mrs. Mary Upton, and Isabelle Williams. He was one of the leading produce dealers in the county, and also an extensive farmer, identified with all the leading interests of his town. He died in 1894, in his seventy-fourth year, a man whose judgment was sought by many and who was respected by all. Charles S., his son, was educated at the Normal School at Brockport, and has taken the management of his father's estate.
Gallup, Andrew J., was born in Albany county March 31, 1825, a son of Eli Gallup, of Stonington, Conn., who came to this county in 1830 and settled in Sweden, where he engaged in farming. He married Sally Crary, and his death occured in 1882, in his ninety-second year. A. J. Gallup was educated at Brockport Collegiate Institute, after which he taught school. In 1848 he married Mary A. Houston, whose father, Isaac, was a prominent lumber dealer in this county, and also supervisor, etc., of his town. Mr. and Mrs. Gallup have these children: Eli H., William N., Albert J., Mrs. Susan C. Garrison, Mrs. Fannie D. Webster, and Miss Sarah O. Gallup. Our sub- ject is a practical and successful farmer of his town.
Cole, Clair M., is a native of Mendon, born in 1851, and here he has always lived. His father was Nahum B., a son of Abraham, who came from Connecticut in an early day, and was a leading citizen of the town, having served as justice and supervisor many years. He reared a large family, all of whom settled in Mendon. Nahum B. married Mary, daughter of Captain Burt, and had one daughter, Mrs. Byron How- land, who died in 1889, and one son Clair. He took a good citizen's part in town af- fairs, having served as assessor. The elder Cole was prominently identified with the Presbyterian church, and the family have all been Democrats. Clair Cole married Emma Smith, who is of Canadian birth and they have two sons, Benjamin H. and Lewis M. Mr. Cole moved on his present farm in 1881, the place comprising 196 acres under high cultivation.
McBain, James W., was born in Ballston, Saratoga county, June 27, 1818, a son o Farquahar McBain of Scotland, who came to this country in 1801, settling at Balls- ton, where he married Janet Davidson. They removed to Monroe county in 1836, and bought the Crittenden farm, where his descendants now reside. He wasa pros- perous and public spirited citizen, identified in all good works, and especially in the cause of education. He died in 1850, aged seventy-two. In 1852 James W. married Jane, daughter of Gideon Holmes, and has followed in the footsteps of his father, taking an active interest in all public affairs.
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Goodberlet, Joseph, was born in Hesse Castle, Germany, November 8, 1838, came to this country in 1853, and settled in Parma, and in 1869 settling in this town. In 1859 he married Emily, daughter of Alanson Van Brunt. Our subject has been a well-known contractor and builder as well as a successful farmer. In 1887 he was appointed postmaster, which office he still holds, and he is now serving as road com- missioner, being a prominent factor in the local affairs of the town.
Finucan, A. N., is proprietor of the famous old Phoenix Hotel at Pittsford, which has for seventy years been a prominent landmark, having been erected in 1826 by John Acker. In all this time the sturdy old hotel has not lost its supremacy as the leading hostelry of the place, and in the hands of Mr. Finucan bids fair to maintain its position as such, Under his management it has been improved and refitted, and extensive additions made to its culinary and dormitory capacity. Mr. Finucan was born at East Mendon in 1857, where his father, Daniel, settled in 1843. The latter was of Irish birth and came to America at the age of twenty-one. At New York city he married Margaret Fitzell, by whom he had nine children. She is still a resi- dent of Mendon, having survived her husband. In 1884 Mr. Finucan married Mar- garet, daughter of Harvey C. Little, of Henrietta. Her family has always been a prominent one here, and in the earliest annals of Henrietta will be found the name of Elijah Little, coupled with every measure of improvement and progress.
Miller, William, came from Sand Lake, Rensselaer county, to Parma in 1836, and settled in the northern part of the town, where he was a prosperous and respected citizen. He died in 1876, survived by his widow. Eight of their children survive: Cornelius, Sarah Ann, John B., Martha Jane, J. Melvin, Mariette, Charles, and Alzina. John B. was born in Parma December 28, 1840, and has always followed agriculture. He attended the district school and later taught seven terms. He is a successful farmer, and is regarded as one of the substantial men of the town. In 1862 he married Lydia A. Van Voorhis, by whom he had three children: Albert, Alma, and Eva. His wife died September 5, 1890, and in 1891 Mr. Miller married Elizabeth Garlock, widow of Amos Emerson, of Charlotte. In the spring of 1890 Mr. Miller moved to North Parma village. He has two farms of 158 and eighty-four acres respectively. He has served as village trustee two years. Dr. Amos Emerson was a pioneer physician of Charlotte. He had a brother, John, and a sister, Eleanor, the latter an early teacher in Greece. Dr. Emerson had two children: Augusta, who married William Babcock, of Brighton, and Amos W., the latter a farmer of Greece and Parma. He married Elizabeth Garlock, by whom he had two children: Minnie L., wife of E. O. Smith, of Kendall, and Gertrude A., wife of J. Milton Butcher.
Harrison, Henry, was born in Brockport April 2, 1854. His father, Josiah, was born in Orange, N. J., and came to this county in 1836, and his wife was Adelia, daughter of Joshua Field, one of the pioneers of Monroe county, and of the same family as Cyrus W. and Dudley Field. Josiah Harrison was a descendant of Richard Harrison, who lived in New Haven, Conn., in 1664. Joshua Harrison was actively identified in the mercantile business in early life, and for twenty-five years was the largest dealer in grain in Brockport and vicinity, holding several positions of trust and responsibility. Henry Harrison was educated at Brockport Normal School, and
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in 1873 entered the University of Rochester, vom which he graduated in 1877. He first went to Detroit and engaged in the grain business, but returned in 1879 and became associated with Horace Belden, which was a continuation of the firm of Har- rison, King & Co. In 1881 our subject married Florence, daughter of Dr. Hiram Lewis, of Albion, N. Y. He is a member of the local board of the State Normal School and takes an active interest in all town affairs.
Boothe, Reuben N., was born in Brighton August 10, 1867. His late father, also named Reuben N., was born in Scipio, Conn., and came to Brighton when two years of age with his father, Abijah Judson Boothe, who was born in England. Educated at Brockport Normal School, he stands to-day a representative of an old and well known family. In 1891 he married Myrtie J. Preston, of Pittsford.
Warren, Newman, was born in Wheatland, March 7, 1826, a son of Benjamin Warren of Ulster county, who was a son of Newman Warren, a native of England, who came to America when a young man, settling in Ulster county. He removed to Rochester in 1802, and the following year came to Wheatland and settled on the farm now owned by our subject, where he spent his last days in the log house erected by him in the first clearing in 1815. His wife was Margaret Codding Benjamin. Father of our subject was a farmer, and spent most of his life on the home farm, but the last eight years were spent in Chili. He married Elizabeth Hicks, and their children were Elizabeth, Newman, Isaac, Mary, Benjamin and Janet. He died in 1880, aged eighty-six, and his wife in 1884, aged seventy-nine. Our subject remained at home until the age of twenty-six, when he engaged in farming for himself. In 1871 he bought the homestead, where he has since resided. In 1852 he married Catharine, daughter of Archibald and Isabella Stewart, of Wheatland, and their children are Stewart, Elizabeth, Isabella, Jane E. Benjamin, Archibald, and Catharine. Mrs. Warren died in 1870.
Moore, Adam (deceased), was born in Clarkson, where he was for twenty-five years identified with the mercantile business. In 1844 he married Sabra C., daughter of Frederick Shafer, their children being Frederick A. and Clara E. Mr. Moore was for years prominent in the affairs of his town, holding various positions of honor and trust. He served as supervisor two terms, and was a man whose judgment was re- spected and sought by many. He died in 1888 in his seventy-first year, a loss not only to the family, but to all who knew him.
Patten, J. E., was born in Sweden, February 12, 1848, a son of Daniel B., a native of Argyle, Washington county, who came to Sweden in 1840. He married Nancy, daughter of James Hart, and became a prosperous agriculturist. James E. Patten was educated at the Brockport Collegiate Institute, and in 1869 entered the employ of Tozier & Haight, druggists. In 1878 he associated with B. C. Ketcham, and in 1883 bought Ketcham's interest and now carries on the best store of its kind in the locality, keeping a complete line of imported and domestic drugs and perfumes, with a full assortment of stationery, etc. In 1881 he married Kate L., daughter of Sidney Spaulding, and their children are Kenneth S., Delia W., and Alice O.
Cox, John, of Wheatland, was born in Yorktown, Westchester county, N. Y., August 31, 1819. His parents were Isaac and Hannah (Fowler) Cox. He first came
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to Monroe county in 1837 on a visit to friends already settled there. He married, October 5, 1842, Mary C., daughter of Oliver and Ann (Mosher) Cunningham, of North Castle, Westchester county, N. Y. Mary was born in North Castle, Novem- ber 15, 1822. They removed to Chili in the spring of 1844, traveling on the Erie Canal and taking a week for the journey. They owned the farm in Chili, since the resi- dence of Frederick Fellows, till 1854, when they traded it with him for the farm in Wheatland, where they have since resided. It has been their remarkable lot to live a wedded life of fifty-three years, and without the death of a child. John was a birthright member, and Mary a member by request, of the Religious Society of Friends, till the little meeting in the stone house on the hill was discontinued. Their children are; Stephen William, who was born February 5, 1844, in Yorktown, Westchester county, and resides in Wheatland; Isaac, who was born March 12, 1846, in Chili, lives in Rush; Henry E., born October 28, 1850, in Chili, where he now re- sides; William James, born April 2, 1855, in Wheatland, and resides in Clark county, Wash .; and John jr., born November 4, 1860, in Wheatland, and now resides in New York city.
Page, W. L., born in Cedar Key, Florida, December 25, 1834, came to Monroe county in 1848, by way of underground railroad, and settled in the town of Perinton, being the first colored man educated in the University of Rochester, also the first colored man to serve on a jury in the Supreme Court of Monroe county. In 1863 he came to Brockport and engaged in mechanical engineering with Luther Gordon, D. S. Morgan & Co., and with J C. Hoadley & Co., introduced the first threshing en- gines in this county. He is a man of great industry and force of character and has by his unaided efforts secured a liberal education, meriting and receiving the respect of all with whom he is associated.
Perkins, Asa F., is a son of Asa, sr., now deceased, who was prior to 1827 a spinner in a woolen mill at Smithfield, Mass., where he married Martha Erten, who was also an operative in the mills. In 1827 they started on what was in those times a long journey, by wagon, to Troy, N. Y., where they took canal passage. They settled first in Penfield, and four years later removed to Perinton by ox team. Their happy married life covered a period of sixty-nine years, broken by the death of Mr. Perkins in 1892, at the age of ninety-two. Mrs. Perkins survives him, at the age of eighty- eight, a remarkable instance of mental and physical preservation. Asa F. was born in Penfield March 6, 1831, and his home is just north of the village of Fairport. The children of Asa and Martha Perkins are Asa F., Samuel F., Jane E., Mary M., Olive C., Martha A., and Sarah Elizabeth.
Udell, Parson G., was born in Rochester, December 16, 1849, a son of William C. and Mary M. Udell. Our subject was educated in the public schools and Collegiate In- stitutes of Statterlee & Peck. His prceeptors were Drs. P. G. Shipman and J. F. Whitbeck of Rochester. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania, medical department, from which he graduated in 1871, having previously had a hospital ex- perience and practice. After a year's practice at Rochester, Dr. Udell came to Spencerport, where he has been an active and successful practitioner in the town. For about two years he was partner with Dr. W. C. Slayton, but has otherwise prac- ticed alone. He is a member of the County Medical Society, the Rochester Patho.
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logical Society (of which he was one of the founders), and during his residence in Rochester was assistant surgeon of the 54th Regt. N. G. S. N. Y. He married, first, Mary, daughter of William C. Slayton, and second, Jennie, daughter of Sylves- ter Warner of Ogden. Of their five children four survive.
Pitt, William, was born in England, and was a son of William, sr., who came to America and settled in Brighton in 1854 as a farmer. They came to Webster in 1886, the family comprising the father, two sons, and William, jr., with his wife and children, who are William, Fannie, Lillian and Pansy. Mr. Pitt has been a farmer and fruit grower all his life.
Kircher, Charles, jr., was born in Rochester in 1852, a son of Charles, who came from Germany in 1848, and settled in Rochester, but in 1860 came to Webster, where he has been engaged in farming. Charles, jr., married Frances, daughter of John Springer, of Syracuse, and they have two sons, Charles and Irving, and two daugh- ters, Helen and Estella. Mr. Kircher's farm is in the eastern part of Webster, where he is known as one of the thrifty farmers of the town.
Bridgeman, Robert, was born in Penfield in 1859, son of John, who was born in . Burwell, England, in 1822, and came to Penfield in 1850 and settled on a farm west of the village. He died here March 17, 1894, leaving two sons, Robert and Charles, the latter now in Michigan. Robert lives on the farm where his father lived for twenty-seven years, one belonging to the Higbie estate. Mr. Bridgeman married Emma Thorp, of Brighton, by whom he has one son, Homer J., born in 1884
Hiler, William H., was born in Clarkson, September 12, 1847. His father, Abram, was a native of Boonton, N. J., and came to Parma, this county, with his father, John N. Abram married Lydia Buzzard, a daughter of Jacob Buzzard, one of the practical and successful farmers of this town. William H. Hiler has always been a hard worker and successful farmer. He is largely a self-made man and has received but little training in the common schools, yet by a life of industry and economy he has obtained as the reward of his hard toil the beautiful property on which he now resides. In 1868 he married Laura M., daughter of Ebenezer Hovey, and they have had three children. The two daughters died in infancy. Henry E., born September 7, 1871, is their only son. He intends to enter the Methodist ministry and has been aided by his parents in gaining a liberal education. He graduated from the Brock- port State Normal School in 1889, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester in 1893, and will receive the degree of Bachelor of Divinity from Drew Theological Seminary in 1896. His plans are to complete his education at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He married Jessie E., daughter of William B. Williams, of Brockport, June 7, 1893.
Billinghurst, J. H., is the only son of Henry Billinghurst, of Rochester, well known as a skilled worker in wood, and builder of boats. He was at one time super- intendent of streets, and also a member of the Common Council. He died in 1882, aged seventy: The brother, William, achieved a world-wide reputation among rifle- men as the maker of very superior rifles and telescopic sights. J. H. Billinghurst spent his youth in the city of Rochester, eight years in Pittsford, and since 1882 has been engaged at farming at Bushnell Basın. In 1879 he married Augusta Kelly, of Brighton, and their son, Charles Henry, was born December 12, 1890.
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Brydges, William, was born in Queen's county, Ireland, in 1837, came to America at the age of twenty-seven and settled in northern Perinton, where he now lives. His father, Henry, emigrated at the same time, and died here four years ago. Henry H. Brydges was born in New York city in 1855, and has lived in Fairport since 1871, and previous to that date in Canada. He possesses in a marked degree the qualities and characteristics by which success is wrested from the severest con- ditions. He had absolutely no capital at his command, and is an example of a self- made man, surrounded by a family of promising children who will owe their educa- tion and advancement to their father's industry and frugality. He has been in the hardware business six or seven years. Mr. Brydges is a Protestant in religious faith, and a Republican in politics. March 29, 1864, he married Hattie E. Sherman, of English birth, and they have had four children: George W., Burton, Frank and Mabel.
Bennett, Stephen, was born on the farm he now owns July 20, 1830, a son of Frederic, born in Massachusetts in 1787, whose father was Stephen Bennett. The latter served in the Continental army, was at Trenton and Valley Forge. He mar- ried Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Gates, one of the early pioneers of the Wyoming District, Pa., who was present at the battle of Wyoming, and afterward served in the Continental army. Gates married a daughter of Captain Howard, of Connecti- cut, who was prominent in the French and Indian war. The Gates family, with most of the other settlers of the Connecticut claim in Northern Pennsylvania, were refugees in Connecticut for several years after the massacre of Wyoming, but eventually returned to their pioneer home on the Walland Paupac Creek, now Pike county, Pa., where he was joined by Stephen Bennett, of Massachusetts, who had married his daughter Mary in 1785. Frederic, the father of the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood in Pike county, Pa., where in early life he engaged in lumber manufacture. In 1811 he bought a farm in the Genesee country, in now the town of Chili; returned to Pennsylvania and resumed lumbering. The war of 1812 caused financial reverses and he was forced to sell his Genesee land; but in 1821 he moved his family to Western New York and in 1822 settled on the farm now occu- pied by Stephen. He married Jane, eldest daughter of Silas and Sarah Chapman Killam, who were among the first settlers of Palmyra, Pike county, Pa. The chil- dren of Frederic and Jane Bennett were: Erminda, Eliza, Sarah, Lucy, Asher, Horace, Otto, Stephen and Jane. In 1856 our subject married Jennette, daughter of Archibald M. Stewart, of Wheatland. In 1857 they moved to Commerce, Oakland county, Mich., and in 1866 returned and purchased the homestead, caring for his parents until their decease-his mother in 1871 and his father in 1874. His wife died in 1888. None of their children survive her.
Skinner, James Avery, was born in Union Square, Oswego county, November 15, 1835, a son of Avery Skinner, who was a native of Westmoreland, N. H., and came to Jefferson county in 1816. He was the originator of the first map of the city of Watertown, and in 1822 moved to Oswego county, where he was elected to the State Senate and Assembly, was made county judge and county treasurer. While in the Senate he advocated the building of a ship canal through the State of New York. His death occurred in 1876 at the age of eighty. James A. was educated at the Jef- ferson County Institute, Watertown, and was graduated from Hamilton College in
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1857. The same year he entered the Union Theological Seminary of the City of New York, graduating in 1860, was ordained in the ministry in 1861. In 1863 he went to California and organized the Westminster Presbyterian church of Santa Clara and was pastor of the Presbyterian church of Stockton. In 1869 he returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where he organized the Memorial Presbyterian church in 1870, remaining till 1875. He then became district superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, remaining till 1880. In 1888 he was ordained to the diaconate in the Episcopal church, and to the priesthood in 1889. In 1890 he was appointed rector of St. Luke's church at Brockport, and under his ministrations the church has increased in membership and financial standing. In 1869 he married Octavia Lane, and they have three children. His present residence is in Syracuse, N. Y.
Holbrook, Silas H., was born at Catskill, September 13, 1845. His father, Rufus B., settled in Greene county, where he was identified with the brick manufacturing business. Silas H. was educated in the public schools, and in August, 1861, enlisted in the 7th N. Y. Cavalry and on the mustering out of that regiment re-enlisted in the 1st N. Y. Mounted Rifles, and was in the following engagements: Siege of Suffolk, Jackson, N. C., Petersburg, Chapin Farm, and the last battles around Petersburg, receiving an honorable discharge November 29, 1865. after which he went to Oswego county, and in 1875 came to Brockport, where he is a well-known contractor and builder. In 1872 he married Tilly M., daughter of Jonathan W. Graves, and their children are: Willard G., and Frederick S. Mr. Holbrook is a member of Cady Post No. 236, G. A. R., of which he has been twice commander, and is a member of Brockport Lodge No. 182, I.O.O.F.
Jones, Thomas O., was born in 1817, a son of Thomas, sr., of England, whose father, John, came with his family to America in 1801, settling in Philadelphia, where he spent his days in the tanning business. His sons John, Thomas, and David, and a daughter, Elizabeth, came to Henrietta in 1815, where they bought land and made homes for themselves. Thomas, the father, at the age of nineteen, bought his time from his father, for which he gave his note for fifty dollars, then borrowed money from members of the Masonic fraternity, and came to Henrietta. He was a tanner by trade, and soon paid back the borrowed money and took up the note. He pur- chased a farm, soon became one of the leading men of the town, and took an active interest in the building of the Monroe Academy, to which he devoted a great deal of his time, and of which he was later a trustee. He was a Mason and did much for the order during the Morgan excitement. His wife was Mercy Barber, of Vermont, an early school teacher of this locality, and their children were Thomas O., Mary, Daniel, Barlow, Lavina, and Edgar. The three latter are deceased. The father was killed by the falling of a tree in 1830, at the age of forty, and his wife survived him many years, dying at the residence of our subject, aged ninety-two. Thomas O. was for many years a farmer in Henrietta, and in 1865 removed to the village, and bought a store, a dwelling, and sixty acres of land, and for twenty years engaged in the general mercantile business, and also did a large insurance business. He was also for twelve years postmaster, and for eight years his daughter Cora held the office. In 1888 he removed to Grand Forks, North Dakota, and bought a 320 acre farm, which he conducted a few years, then returned to this town and resumed farming. He also traded his Dakota farm for Rochester property, and now divides his attention
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