Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 89

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084

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Simpson, Mrs. E. Throop, is a descendant of Henry Drake, who was her grandfather. He was born in New Jersey, April 6, 1770, and settled in Gaines in 1811. Mrs. Simp- son's father was Joseph Park Drake, born in Ovid, Seneca county, February 9, 1806. and moved with his parents to East Gaines in 1811. He died on the place where his daughter now resides, at Two Bridges, October 3, 1881. He married Zibeah Ruggles February 11, 1835. His wife was born in Rosiere, Jefferson county, July 30, 1812, and died in Carlton. September 16, 1862. The children of Joseph Park and Zibeah Drake were as foilows; Charles H., born in Carlton, February 11, 1836, and died

FAMILY SKETCHES.

August 8, 1837 ; Oscar, born March 12, 1838, died June 20, 1838; Emeline, born June 9, 1841 (our subject) ; Harriet, born February 25, 1844, died March 20, 1844 ; George W., born June 10, 1845, died June 8, 1861; Warren P., born July 3, 1856, died May 31, 1861; Ella C., born January 10, 1859, died May 24, 1861. Mrs. Simpson, whose maiden name was Emeline Drake, was married at Two Bridges, February 12, 1861, to Enos T. Simpson, who was born June 20, 1830, at Two Bridges, and died January 27, 1892. His father was Asa Simpson, born in Cayuga county. Enos and Emeline Simp- son were the parents of two children, viz .: Lettie M., born June 1, 1862, and died March 15, 1878, and George D. George D. Simpson was born February 21, 1865, and married Eveline McCord Browne, born August 6, 1861, in Atlanta, Ga. Her father was N. Foster Browne, a native of New Jersey, and a Presbyterian minister, now a resident of Two Bridges. George D. and Eveline Simpson were married September 12, 1888, and they have one child Helen, born December 9, 1889. George D. Simp- son was elected justice of the peace of Carlton. Mr. Enos T Simpson carried on an extensive farming business, and owned, in company with his brother, two warehouses at the Bridges, where they did a large commission business, buying grain, wool, apples, and beans, which were shipped to Oswego, Boston, New York, and other points. This was before the R.,;W. &. O. R. R, was built, and they carried on the business for twenty years or more. Mr. E. T. Simpson was collector of customs at the Oak Orchard harbor under President Johnson's administration : also held the office of town clerk for a num- ber of years.

Swan, William Gere, was born in Galway, Saratoga county, February 9, 1822, and was the elder of two children of C. W. and Susan Swan. In 1835 C. W. Swan and family came to Albion, and here the father established a general merchandise business, with which he was connected until succeeded by his son William. For about ten or twelve years William G. Swan and Joseph M. Cornell were partners in business, and in October, 1855, the former became superintendent of the Railway Suspension Bridge, continuing in that capacity thirty-eight years. Mr. Swan resigned his position a year before it was accepted. He is still a stockholder, director and treasurer in the American Company, and is also a large stockholder in the Pullman Car Company. Mr. Swan began work early in life, and for a period of more than half a century he has been actively identified with the business history of Albion and Western New York. The first wife of William G. Swan was Catharine, the daughter of Dr. L. C. Paine, of Albion. She died in 1853, and in 1860 he married Emma M. Etheridge, of Hastings, Minn. No children were born of either marriage. In politics Mr. Swan is inclined to be inde- pendent and conservative. For many years he has been a member of the Baptist Church and president of its Board of Trustees.

Spaulding, William A., a former resident of Cayuga county, came to the town of Yates in 1821 and purchased of the Holland Land Company a hundred acre tract of land. Mr. Spaulding was a successful farmer and a man of influence in this town. In politics he was a Republican and for a number of years held the office of assessor. He had ten children, viz. : Betsey, who lived and died in Yates; William, of Yates; Or- ange, who died before twenty-one; David, who died in infancy ; Erastus M., Marie,

LANDMARKS OF ORLEANS COUNTY,

S. Emeline, Nancy, who married L. S. Barnum; Frances, who died when a child; and Henry H., of Rochester. William A. Spaulding died in Yates in 1892, aged ninety-four years, and his wife the same year, aged ninety-three. Erastus M. Spaulding was born June 14, 1829, and lived on the farm until he came of age. He then went into the prod- uce and commission business in Yates and continued it about eight years. In July, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A, 129th N. Y. Vol. Infantry, which in De- cember, 1862, was transferred to heavy artillery and designated as the 8th N. Y. Vol. Artillery, and having been largely instrumental in recruiting the company, was elected its captain. In the winter of 1863 he was promoted to major, and in 1864 was retired with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel on account of disabilities arising from a pro- longed attack of malaria, which confined him to the hospital for two months. Major Spaulding has twice been elected sheriff of the county, his first election bringing him to Albion, where he has since resided. Mr. Spaulding is a Republican, and under Har- rison's administratlon was appointed to examine the mortgaged indebtedness of this congressional district. In 1862 he married Harriet V., daughter of Rev. William Brad- ford, and to them two children were born, Truman H. and Louis M. The Consumers' Drug Company was organized and incorporated in 1893 through the efforts of Truman H. Spaulding, he being elected the secretary and general manager. A successful busi- ness was inaugurated by the company through Mr Spaulding's energy, and at a time when the future seemed most bright and promising he was stricken ill and died March 29, 1894.

Skinner, Jarviş M., was a native of Providence, Saratoga county, born June 3, 1799. His wife, Mary Delano, was born at the same place, December 25, 1800. They were married February 4, 1822. Soon after their marriage Mr. Skinner came to Barre and made an improvement on lot 33, and the next year returned to Saratoga county and brought his wife to their new home. Mr. Skinner was a harness and saddlemaker by trade, but is chief occupation in Barre was farming. Mr. Skinner and wife had ten children, the first of whom died in infancy. The others were: Jonathan, who died in Barre ; Polly, who married Jonathan Clark ; Nancy P., who married Elisha Wadsworth ; Susan B., who married William Gillett; Henry W., Jarvis M., jr., of Albion; Sarah E., who married Ceylon Otis, of Warsaw, N. Y .; Stephen D., of Carlton, and Ezra D., of Albion. Jarvis M. Skinner died in 1882, and his wife in 1876. Henry W. Skinner was born in Barre, June 1, 1834, reared on the farm, and educated at the Albion and Lima Academies. In the fall of 1854 he went west. For a time he taught school in Indiana, and in 1855 went to Kalamazoo, Mich., where he purchased a farm, which he still owns. In 1856 he returned to Barre and married Caroline E., daughter of Romeo Sanford. With his young wife he went again to Michigan and lived on his farm until 1880, then returned to Orleans county, and has since been a resident of Albion. Mr. Skinner has been extensively engaged in the produce business, in connection with which he built, in 1887, the large elevator near the railroad. Of his children only one is living, Cora P. Mrs. Skinner died in 1868, and in 1870 he married second, Maryette Wickham, of Gaines. He is known in Orleans county as a man whose fair dealing qualities have won success for him. He is a Republican and a member of the M. E. Church

FAMILY SKETCHES.

Sickels, Hiram, came from Auburn, Cayuga county, in 1824, and located at Albion. At that time the now county seat of Orleans county was known as Newport. Mr. Sickels was a practical hatmaker, and on coming to Albion he established himself in business, and thenceforth was conspicuously identified with local interests. For a num- ber of years he was associated with Deacon Harvey Goodrich, and was generally known in business connections in the village in the manufacture and sale of hats and caps, and in various other enterprises, for a period of about fifty years. Mr. Sickels built the first brick dwelling house in the village of Albion. He died in 1873. His children were as follows: George H., of Albion; Hiram E., now clerk and reporter for the New York Court of Appeals; Laura, of Albion ; Robert, of New York city, and one other child who died in infancy. George H. Sickels was a child when his father came to Albion, but since 1847 he has been engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village. He began his career as a clerk, and was for two years at Mt. Morris in a cap and hat store. In 1847 he started in business at Albion with T. C. Fanning, and two years later became sole proprietor. In later years and until about three years ago, the firm name of Sickels & Co. was well known throughout the county. At the time indicated the present firm of Sickels, Day & Collins was established. Mr. Sickels has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and has held the position of president of the Board of Trustees of Albion Academy, taking an active part in changing that institution to a union free school. He is one of the leading members of the Presbyte- rian Church and one of the members of its session. In 1853 George H. Sickels married Almira, daughter of Stephen P. Morehouse, of Albion. They have three children : George H., Jr., and Frank, of Buffalo, and Ella, wife of Harry C. Fulton, of Daven- port, Iowa.

Salisbury, Guy S, was born in Wilson, Niagara county, March 16, 1846, and was the son of Royal and Sally Ann (Annis) Salisbury. His father was one of seven brothers who settled in Clarendon at an early day, and were among the pioneers. Royal was originally a carpenter, but after settling in this county he became a farmer. Guy was brought up on a farm and educated at the academy at Holley. At the age of seventeen he went on the railroad as brakeman, but after two years was advanced to the posi- tion of conductor, holding the latter four years. Leaving the road he was mar- ried to Emma T. Parsons in the year 1869. Mr. Salisbury lived for a short time on the farm of his wife's father, then went to his mother and cared for her until she died. After that he was in the grocery business for a time at Fairport, and two years later purchased the general store of W. S. Sheldon at Barre Centre. For five years Mr. S. carried on the store, then traded it for the stave and heading mill, of which he is still the proprietor. He is a member of Renovation Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 37, and Orleans Chapter, No. 175, of Albion. Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury have one child, M. Elva, born June 4, 1874, at Clarendon, Orleans county.

Sheldon, Jonathan, was a native of Massachusetts and an early settler in Otsego county, in the town of Burlington Flats. From this place he came to the old town of Barre (now Albion), locating at the point which was named for him, Sheldon's Corners, in 1823. Here he lived until his death, and during that time he was known as one of the most prosperous farmers and one of the most influential citizens in the town. His

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LANDMARKS OF ORLEANS COUNTY.

children were: Marshall, Jonathan D., Clymena, who married Abram Crittenden ; Eliza, who married Mr. Lazalier ; Berthier, who died at Detroit ; Harriet, who married Joseph Wood and died in Cincinnati, Ohio; George, of Sing Sing, N. Y ; Abigail, who died at twelve, and two others who died in infancy. Jonathan Dwight Sheldon was born in 1808, and, like his father, was one of the foremost farmers in the town. In 1835 he married Prudence Wells, who bore him these children: Helen, wife of Daniel Ben- nett, of Port Huron, Mich .; Kirk D., of Albion; Alice, who married Frank Potter, of Saginaw, Mich .; Delos D., of Lockport, and Cornelia, who died in infancy. . Mr. Shel- don was originally a Whig and later a strong Republican. He never accepted public office, but was much interested in the schools of the town. He was a prominent mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. He died at the old home farm in 1882. Sherman Wells was a native of Connecticut, a farmer in life by occupation, and became a settler in Barre in 1839. He died on his old farm in 1853. In his family were eight children, viz: Charlotte, Prudence, who married Jonathan D. Sheldon ; Maria, who married Mr. Madison; Dudley, of Logansport, Ind .; Cornelia, who married William Loveland; Gideon, Parmelia, who married Henry Owen, and Roena, who married Emmet Eddy, of Sandwich, Ill.

Sargent, Alfred, is a descendant of Reuben, who was born in England and emigrating to this country, joined the American army in the Revolution as a marine, and was lost at sea. The father of our subject was Reuben, born in Massachusetts, and died in Carlton in 1838, aged eighty-five years. His wife was Mary Tarbox, born near Boston, Mass., and died in Londonderry, N. H., in 1830, aged sixty-two years. Their children were : Mary, Sarah, Cynthia, Dana, Parker, Eliza, Clarissa and Sophia. Alfred, our subject, was born in Nottingham West, N. H., August 31, 1812, settled in Yates in May, 1838, and worked a farm on shares four years; then moved to Carlton, where he bought a farmi of fifty-seven acres, and subsequently purchased fifty acres adjoining, making 115 acres. He sold out and purchased the farm where he now resides of 143 acres, and now owns 235 acres at Waterport. Our subject was educated in the com- mon schools. He has held the office of assessor two terms. He married, September 13, 1837, at Londonderry, N. H., Susannah S. March, who was born at Londonderry, N. H., July 14, 1811, and they had these children : Alfred H., born April 11, 1839, and was killed by accident August 9, 1871; Mariette, born September 18, 1840 : Reu- ben, born May 9, 1844; Celestia, born August 29, 1847; Sylvanus, born June 2, 1851, died August 26, 1854. Mariette married George A. Houseman, and they have four children and reside in Yates. Reuben married Hannah Watson, resides in Carlton, and they have five children. Celestia married C. A. Tower, and they have one child.

Sanderson, Clinton, was born June 15, 1836. In 1869 he married Louise Brace, and they have one daughter, Jessie C. Mr. Sanderson has been engaged in the sawmill and lumber business at Shelby Center since 1866, and is also interested in farming. His father was Elisha Sanderson, a native of Deerfield, Mass., who came to Orleans county in 1819. His mother was Mary (Crosby) Sanderson.

Starkweather, Avery Meech, was a native of New London county, Conn., and moved with his parents when small to Saratoga county, N. Y. He resided there until

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FAMILY SKETCHES.

1816, when with his wife and one child he came to Orleans county and bought 150 acres of the Holland Land Company in the town of Barre, for which he paid three dollars per acre. He cut the first tree on this farm the night he arrived for the cow to browse on. He built a log house in which he lived about ten years, and in 1827 built the brick house now on the place. In 1826 the Erie Canal was completed and added much to the value of his farm. Mr. Starkweather was the first superintendent of that division of the canal, was postmaster at Eagle Harbor, and also supervisor of the town of Barre two terms. He was one of the founders of the M. E. Church at Eagle Harbor and one of its most devoted members. He died October 3, 1865, aged just 75 years. His wife was Abigail Brockett, by whom he had four children, viz .: Jared B., who set- tled in Kenosha, Wis., and died there in 1891; Reuben C., who lived and died in Or- leans county ; Eli P., who spent most of his life in the west and died on the homestead in 1888 ; Giles E., who lived a number of years in Milwaukee, Mich., and died there in 1887. The second wife of Avery M. Starkweather was Electa Moon, by whom he had one child, Hiram Avery, who served three years in the war of 1861-5, after which he moved to Van Buren county, Mich., and died in 1886. Reuben Cheney Starkweather was born in 1816. In 1840 he married Susan Jane Brown, daughter of John and Olive Brown, of the town of Gaines. Their children were Abigail and Amelia, who died young; Avery C. and Arthur J., who with their mother own and live on the old home farm. Mr. Starkweather was a steward and prominent member of the M. E. Church at Eagle Harbor. He died July 18, 1873. Avery C. Starkweather married Annie E., daughter of John and Elizabeth Anderson, of Carlton, March 23, 1892.

Timmerman, George R., was born in Shelby Center, June 23, 1849. He learned the trade of milling in his native place and followed it nine years, when he took up farming in Erie county for four years, and then went to Alpena, Mich., and engaged in the lumber business. In 1883 he came to Medina and was with Mr. Hoag in the milling business up to 1893, when the partnership of Blood & Timmerman was formed. Mr. Timmerman is an Odd Fellow and an active member of the County Democratic Com- mittee. In 1871 he married May Reynolds. His father was John W. Timmerman, who was of Mohawk Dutch descent, and his mother, Mary Underhill, was of Long Island Yankee descent. His grandfather Timmerman's name was Daniel and he had four brothers, Joseph, Christopher, David and John, all early settlers of the town of Shelby, Orleans county, N. Y., all farmers, and John, a Methodist minister,

Tanner, Samuel N., was a native of Rhode Island, born September 26, 1792, and with his father's family came to Chenango county in 1810. Here and in Onondaga county he remained for three years, when he removed still farther west, to Ontario county, where he remained until 1820. At this date, then grown to young manhood, Samuel came to what is now known as the town of Albion, in Orleans county, taking an arti- cle from the Holland Land Company for the farm on which he ever afterward lived, and which is now, and always has been, owned and occupied by his descendants. Mr. Tanner came to this farm in the spring of 1820, worked that summer and fall, then returned to Ontario county for the winter. The next spring he became a permanent resident of the town, and in later years became one of the most prosperous and enter-

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LANDMARKS OF ORLEANS COUNTY.

prising farmers of Barre (subsequently Albion), and was the owner of several good farms. May 3, 1821, he married Mary S. Spear, and by her had six children, who grew to maturity ; Edwin R., of Rochester; Robert S., of Chicago; Ann, who married Lawrence Platt, of Albion ; Mortimer C, of Chicago; William A., late of Albion, and Charles C., of Cleveland, Ohio. Mary (Spear) Tanner died December 22, 1840, and April 25, 1843, Mr. Tanner married Sarah C. Mullett, of Darien, Genesee county, a sis- ter of Judge James Mullett. She died February 14, 1863. Mr. Tanner was a Demo- crat in politics and a Universalist in religion, as was both of his wives. Samuel N. Tanner died in Chicago, October 7, 1854. William A. Tanner was born March 14, 1829, was brought up, lived on, and finally owned the farm his father bought in 1820. June 7, 1853, he married Clarissa E. Cole, by whom he had one child, Spencer N. Tanner, now a prominent farmer of Albion. Clarissa (Cole) Tanner died October 15, 1858, and September 20, 1859, Mr. Tanner married Polly Elizabeth, daughter of Cyrus Jaquith, of Albion. Of his last marriage these children were born : Frank J., now a resident of Buffalo; Fred W. and Helen A. These children were given by their parents the benefit of a good academic education, and each of them is deeply interested in the educational welfare of the community in which they live; in fact all of them have been teachers. William A. Tanner died November 3, 1893. He is remembered as having been one of the most progressive and public spirited farmers of the town, yet he was in no sense a politician. He loved good roads and was active in their construc- tion. In politics he was always a Democrat, in religion a firm and active member and trustee of the Memorial Universalist Church of Albion. Cyrus Jaquith was born in Massachusetts, June 19, 1799, and when young came with his father's family to New York State and settled in Jefferson county. He afterwards came to Albion and located where his son, Maynard A. Jaquith, now lives. This was about 1824. Here he mar- ried Amanda Bloss, and by her had three children : Austin, who died in infancy ; Polly E., who married William A. Tanner, and Josiah, who was shot and killed in )864 by southern sympathizers for his Union sentiments, while at that time a resident of Mis- souri. Amanda (Bloss) Jaquith died March 24, 1835. The second wife of Cyrus Jaquith was Percy Bloss, sister of his first wife, who died May 24, 1838. His third wife was Anna Bloss, sister of those he before married. By his last marriage one child was born, Maynard A. Jaquith, who lives on the old farm. Anna (Bloss) Jaquith died March 16, 1876. Cyrus Jaquith died in 1866. In politics he identified himself with the old Whig party, and later with the Republican party. In religion he was a staunch Universalist, as was also each of his wives. He was a successful farmer and a man greatly respected in the town.

Thurston, Caleb C., came from Oneida county during the winter of 1814, and settled one mile west of Albion village, on what is now the Denio farm. Mr. Thurston was a farmer and secured a comfortable fortune, which enabled him to retire from farm work and live in the village during his latter years, and there he died June 3, 1861. His wife was Thankful Bailey, and she died April 4, 1858. Their children were as follows : Sophronia, who married Orlando Rogers; Stephen B., Urban C., Joel C., Thankful, who married first John Parker, and after his death Asa Howard, and Lydia, who mar- ried Harlow W. Lee. Caleb Thurston was one of the founders of Albion village, also

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FAMILY SKETCHES.

one of the organizers of the Presbyterian church there, and otherwise prominently identified with pioneer events in that town. Asa Howard, who married Thankful Thurston, was a native of Hinesburg, Vt., and came to Albion about 1828. He was a furniture and cabinet maker during his young business life, and became a merchant and forwarding and commission dealer on the canal during the early days of village history. He accumulated a fair property, but misfortune in business swept it away, he lending his name and credit to friends, who failed to keep good their promises. By his mar- riage with Thankful (Thurston) Parker he had one child, Ellen S., now the wife of William A. Howard, of Albion. Asa Howard died February 11, 1873, and his wife September 25, 1885. William A. Howard was born in Huntington, Vt., August 30, 1840. His father, Spencer D. Howard, was a tanner, currier and shoemaker, but William was brought up to farm work. In 1859 the latter came to Albion to attend the old academy, but before his course was fully completed he became bookkeeper for Asa Howard. Later on he was taken into the business as one of the then existing firm of Howard & Thurston. A little later still, and after being one year out of the busi- ness, William A. bought the property and established the firm of William A. Howard & Co., and to the present day Mr. Howard has been numbered among the successful and enterprising business men of Albion. On February 21, 1865, Mr. Howard married Ellen S. Howard. Two children were born of this marriage: John Henry, born August 23, 1868, and Sarah B., born May 8, 1871. John H. married Myra Black and has one child, Mabel Ellen, born July 4, 1893. Myra Black, born in Coventry, Vt., October 4, 1867.

Von York, Constantin, was born in Prussia, February 21, 1844, and is a son of Fred- erick and Eliza Von York. He came to America in 1869 and resided for a year in Rochester. In 1870 he came to Medina and for two years was engaged in the quarries there. He came to Hulberton and until 1876 was in the employ of Alfred J. Squire in the stone business; then purchased the hotel property at Hulberton, and for eight years kept hotel. In 1887 he purchased property on the north side of the canal, de- veloped stone quarries, and has since been engaged in that business. Mr. Von York is a Democrat in politics, was elected justice of the peace in 1888, and justice of sessions in 1890. He married in 1877 Eleanor Buddery.

Van Stone, Robert White, was a native of Horrabridge, Devonshire, England, born December 15, 1835, and was one of a large family of children born to'John Van Stone. Of the thirteen children in this family eleven of them came to this conutry. Seven are now living and five of them reside in Albion. In 1854 John Van Stone came to the United States and temporarily to Niagara county ; two years later he came to Albion and for twenty years afterward was a miller in the village in the mill known as the Albion Mill. He was an earnest, industrious and honest man, hence was much re- spected in the town. He died August 19, 1874, his wife having died some three and one-half years sooner. Robert W. Van Stone was brought up from his cradle to the oc- cupation so long followed by his father, but with his trade of practical miller he com- bines a natural aptitude for any mechanical work. He came to Albion on Christmas day, 1856, and has since been a recognized resident of the village. In Albion he was

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 89

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084