Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 113

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410

USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 113

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Acker, Dr. Dillon F., physician and surgeon, has held the office of supervisor, postmaster and town clerk of Hannibal. He was born in Hannibal in 1845, and read medicine with his father, Dr. W. J. Acker, whom he succeeded in practice. He at- tended lectures at the University of Ann Arbor, Mich., graduated at the medical department of the University of Buffalo, and is now in practice here. He married Vina E. Barrett, in 1867, and they have two children, Nellie M., and Dr. W. B., a physician in practice in New York city, whose grandfather, Dr. W. J. Acker, was a native of Schodack, N. Y., who commenced the practice of medicine in Hannibal in 1842, and continued nearly until his death in 1884. His father, Nicholas Acker, served in the war of 1812 and his grandfather in the Revolutionary war. Dr. D. F. Acker was ten years examining surgeon for the United States Pension Department. He was a member of the 84th Regiment N. Y. Inf. during the Rebellion. After the war he joined the 48th Regiment N. G. S. N. Y. of Oswego, holding commissions as second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, assistant surgeon, and surgeon, and also surgeon of the 29th Separate Co., serving twenty-three years.

Olmstead, Arthur E., was born in Orwell June 20, 1850. His father, Orimel B., was born in Delhi, Delaware county, February 14, 1806. When Arthur was seven- teen years old his father died, and he, being the oldest of seven children, assumed the duty of caring for the family. In 1838 he he moved to Orwell and engaged in farming ; in 1840 he opened a store, and carried on both farm and store. In 1844 he furnished the ground and built the Orwell Union church, In 1862, as supervisor, he was called to Oswego to devise means for raising men for the Union forces, and, re- turning home, within ten days enlisted Company C, 110th Regiment N. Y. V., going himself as captain. After a few days at the barracks at Oswego the regiment was forwarded and arrived at Baltimore September 1, 1862. The Second Bull Run battle had been recently fought, and his son, Melvin S., a member of the 24th Regiment, was wounded in the engagement on Saturday; he lay upon the field where he fell

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until Tuesday, when he was found by a nurse who cared for him until he died, when he was buried in his blanket. A letter from his mother disclosed his identity, and the nurse sent the sad news to his mother at home. His father, at Baltimore, ob- tained a furlough, went to Washington, found the nurse, and going to the battlefield, obtained the remains of his son, and by driving day and night with an ambulance, brought them to Washington, and on to Orwell. The next night he started on his return to his regiment at Baltimore. The journey and exposure brought on a fever, and the regiment being ordered to the front, he was taken to a private residence in Baltimore. His wife hastened to his bedside, and ministered to him day and night, until fatigue, anxiety and loss of sleep brought on insomnia; opiates were adminis- tered by the physician, and she fell into a sleep from which she never awoke, her death occurring November 17, 1862. Her remains were brought home by her brother Erastus of Brooklyn, and after their interment the oldest daughter went to Baltimore to care for her father. When convalescent he was taken to Washington, and as there was no probability of his being able to join his regiment, he was discharged January 1, 1863, and returned home, to again resume business as his strength would permit, continuing until 1874, when he sold his store to Arthur E. He died in Octo- ber, 1884. When the Grand Army Post was formed at Orwell it was named S. M. Olmstead Post, and the veterans insisted that Mr. Olmstead should be its commander. Arthur E. is one of nine children, namely: S. M., deceased; Gilbert C. of Orwell; Mrs. H. N. Weed, deceased; Mrs. T. C. McKenna, who died in 1893; Mrs. A. H. Bean of Orwell; Etta, who died in 1865, aged seven; Mary and Samuel, deceased. Arthur E. was educated in the public schools at Orwell and engaged in the mercan- tile business in 1874 at that place. In 1883 he built a brick store on the old site where his father began business, the store being 101 by 35 feet, three stories includ- ing basement, which he now occupies with a stock of dry goods, groceries, etc. He is also heavily engaged in farming and lumbering, having a cheese factory and steam saw mill at Orwell village, a dairy farm of 230 acres near Richland Station, and 500 acres in dairy farms in Orwell, which he carries on. He is a Republican, and has served as supervisor three terms, also town clerk and assessor. The Orwell chair factory is one of his enterprises. In 1887 he bought the tannery property, which he converted into a chair factory, and successfully conducted it until 1882, when he sold it and bought the Ontario Iron Works at Pulaski, which he now is conducting, manufacturing portable engines, boilers, plows, etc. Mr. Olmstead takes great in- terest in the G. A. R., and was instrumental in the erection of the handsome soldiers' monument in Orwell. In 1876 he married Ida J. Davis of Clinton, Mich., and they have two sons, Orimel B., born October 16, 1880, and Fred L., born November 19, 1881.

Murphy, Cornelius S., was born in the city of Oswego August 15, 1846. His father, Cornelius, and his mother, Bridget Sheehan, were both born in County Cork, Ire- land, where they married and whence they came to this country in 1840. He first landed in Canada, and lived at Picton, and was engaged in what was known as the Windmill fight. He came to Oswego and from there to Fulton about 1850, and where he died in 1873. Cornelius S. was the youngest of five children, four boys and one girl. He worked with his father and brothers in the flouring mills, packing flour in barrels, until the war broke out, when his two brothers, Michael and Daniel, en-

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listed-Michael in Co. E, 12th N. Y. V., and was killed at the first battle of Bull Run. Daniel enlisted with Major Joseph Kenyon in Scott's 900 Cavalry, and died in the service from exposure in 1865. When Cornelius was scarcely seventeen he enlisted in Co. E, 79th N. Y. V. and did faithful service at the headquarters of the Ninth Army Corps in front of Petersburg until the evacuation of that city and was at the finish when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. The following August he returned home and worked for W. S. Nelson in his flour mill for a number of years, and then opened a retail meat market. He has been constable ten years and deputy sheriff under Sheriffs Beadle, Van Buren, Amos Allport and the present sheriff, Wilber H. Selleck. Mr. Murphy has been identified with the Fenian move- ment to invade Canada, and was one of the circle in Fulton; he was the first presi- dent of the Father Mathew T. A. B. Society of Fulton and was a delegate to the State convention of Father Mathew T. A. B. Society held in Syracuse in 1874, and was one of the vice-presidents. He is a member of Branch 86 of the C. M B. A., and for a number of years has been a trustee of the Catholic church; he is a member of Post Schenck No. 271, G. A. R., of this village, and has represented the post in department encampment as commander and delegate. In 1879 Mr. Murphy was married to Julia A. Burke of Oswego, and they have three children: Robert C., William J., and Alice M. He lives in a pleasant home, 33 Erie street. When Mr, Murphy first moved to Fulton there was no street open north of Erie-it was almost a wilderness. The Catholics had no church or regular pastor, but occasional services were held in private houses. He in company with Patrick Cullen, Peter Conley and forty others walked to Oswego to be confirmed in St. Paul's church, where the late Cardinal McCloskey, who was then bishop of Albany, held confirma- tion services.

Howell, William H., was born in Sterling, Cayuga county, in 1834, a son of John and Sarah Howell. Their children are Mrs. Ann Cooper, Mrs. Charlotte Burr, Will- iam H. and David. The grandfather, John Howell, was a native of Scotland, came to America and was in the war of 1812, and was lost on Lake Ontario while in the service of the United States. William H. enlisted in Co. E. 184th Regiment N. Y. Vols., August 29, 1864, and served in that regiment until the close of the war, and was mustered out at City Point in 1865. He married in 1858 Elizabeth, a daughter of Zenas Barlow. They have two children living: Mrs. Nettie R. Ottman and Elmer Z. Mrs. Sarah Bradfoard was the grandmother of our subject. The grandfather, Hosea Bradfoard, was in the war of 1812. William H. and David Howell were both in the war of the Rebellion. David enlisted in 1862 in Co. G, 110th Regiment N. Y. Vols., and served until the close of the war. The great-grandfather Bradfoard was in the war of the Revolution.

Fisher, Urbane, one of Orwell's prominent young men, was born in Boylston, in 1853, son of James E. Fisher, a native of England, born in 1821. He was one of twelve children born to Edward Fisher, who was a farmer. James E. came to the United States in 1844 and settled in Schenectady, where he engaged at farm work. In 1850 he removed to Boylston and purchased a farm. Five years later he removed to Orwell and settled on the farm now owned by Urbane, where he and his wife, who was Cordelia Chapman, of Knox, Albany county, now live. They have four children : Lodema, Urbane, Josie, and Drucilla. Urbane began life as a farmer, which voca-

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tion he has successfully followed. He has always devoted considerable time to the carpenter and blacksmith trades, and has made a specialty of breeding fast horses, Hamiltonian and Golddust. Mr. Fisher has served as excise commissioner. He is a member of the Orwell Grange No. 66.

Delong, Philando H., was a son of Cornelius and Nancy (Hall) Delong, who were natives of Herkimer county and went in 1837 to St. Lawrence county, settling in Hammond. In 1853 they moved to Boylston and settled on a farm in the' central part. They reared five children, all now living in Boylston. Mrs. Delong died in , 1871, and Mr. Delong in 1885. Philando married Mary D. Sweet of St. Lawrence county, and they have lived on the farm occupied by them since 1865. Their chil- dren are Alice, now Mrs. Edwin Mead of this town; Ellis E. G., who married Hattie Dunlap of Holmesville and lives in Brownville; Olin P., and Howard H. B. Mr. Delong has been assessor of his town seventeen years, and auditor three years.

Brackett, Levi, was born in Cortland county in 1828, and settled on his present farm in 1838. He is a son of James A. Brackett, who bought the grist mill at this place in 1828, and conducted it until 1836, when they removed to their present home and farm. He was supervisor of this town one year and justice of the peace for twenty-five years. The family were formerly from Massachusetts. Levi married Elizabeth L. Schenck of Granby, and they have three sons, James, John and Jay. James and John are at home with their father, and Jay is at Frankfort in the lumber business. Subject is justice of the peace, having held the office for about forty years.

Sivers, Henry, was born in England, February 27, 1834, and came to America in 1851. He learned the butcher's trade in Oswego, but in 1862 moved to his present farm where he has followed market gardening, and recently the culture of tobacco. In 1855 he married Frances McLean, who was born in the West Indies, of Scotcli parentage, her father being a British officer. They have a family of four sons and two daughters. Mr. Sivers's uncle, Charles Crocker, of Chichester, Sussex, Eng., was a noted English poet, also sacristan of the Chichester Cathedral and bishop's verger, born in 1797.

Stewart, Thomas T., of Massachusetts ancestry, was born in Richland, November 23, 1822, a son of Alexander of Massachusetts, who died here aged ninety years. He married Sarah Taylor of Connecticut, who died aged sixty-seven years. Their chil- dren were Rhoda (deceased), Thomas T., and Abigail. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and the grandfather of the Revolutionary war. Subject was edu- cated in Richland and has served as town assessor thirty years, constable six years, collector three years, and is a dairyman. December 10, 1855, he married Mariah Joslyn, who died in 1866, and their children were Fred A., Mary L., Ella V., all of whom survive. October 23, 1867, he married second, Susannah, widow of A. B. Tay- lor, and daughter of Hiram and Mary Smith of Onondaga county, and their children are Carrie M., (married Chas. Jewell), Cora M., Fred A. (who married Mattie Rood), Mary L. (who married Andrew Holmes), Ella V. (who married Fred Calkins). Mrs. Stewart had one child by her first husband, Lizzie Taylor, who married S. R. Butter- worth. Mr. Stewart is a Mason, and a Granger. Mrs. Stewart had one brother who was in the late war.

Whitney. M. S., son of the late Jared Whitney of Kirkland, Oneida county, was

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born at that place, June 20, 1859. A younger son, Fred, remains at Kirkland with the widowed mother, Mary F. (Miller) Whitney, and the daughter, Cora M. Miller, resides in Augusta, being now twenty-three years of age. In 1880 Morris married Rose L. Hastings of Fulton, and in 1881 purchased a farm at Volney Centre near Bristol Hill, one of the pleasantest localities in town. Their children are Rubie and Junie, aged respectively thirteen and eleven, and Jessie and Bessie, twins, born in 1886.

Sabin, A. A., son of the late Vincent Sabin of Southwest Oswego, was born July 3, 1846. His father located upon the farm which he now occupies in 1858; it is the same farm originally owned and reclaimed from the wilderness by his grandfather, the late Stephen Tilden; it contains eighty-four acres. In 1864 he enlisted in Co. C, 184th N. Y. V., serving till the close of the war. In 1867 he married Mary J. Chase, daughter of the late J. J. Chase, for many years postmaster at Southwest Oswego. Six chil- dren have been born to them-three sons and three daughters: one son and three daughters survive. Mr. Sabin was a charter member of John Stevenson Post No. 609, G. A. R., in which he has served as commander, quartermaster, adjutant and officer of the day, having held office ever since its organization. He is also a member of Hope Grange No. 115, P. of H., having joined the organization in April, 1875, and has held the office of master, overseer, treasurer, etc. He is also justice of the peace, having been elected in 1890 and re-elected in 1894.

Robbins, George J., was born in Pulaski in 1838, and lived there until seventeen years of age when he went for two years to Peoria, Ind. Returning to Oswego county, he married Rosina, daughter of Marcus Stowell of Orwell. In the fall of 1863 he enlisted in Co. G, 24th N. Y. Cav., and served till the close of the war. He was ·wounded April 5, 1865, at Burkeville Station, but was able to rejoin his regiment, and was in at the final surrender of Lee. After the war he returned to Orwell and worked at farming and in the bark woods. In 1876 he bought his present farm of ninety-seven acres in the southern part of the town. They reared a large family of children, seven of whom are living: Mary, Mrs. James Domeburg of Sandy Creek, who has one child, Foster; Ella, Mrs. Nelson Waldon of New Haven, who has two children, Edwin and Nina; Nettie, Mrs. Charles Filkins of Syracuse, who has three children, Bessie, Leon and Berton; Frank and Berton live in Sandy Creek, while Newton and Vera live on the home farm. One daughter died in 1864, and the eldest son, Henry, in 1865, soon after the father's return from the war. Mr. Robbins's father, Philip, married Elizabeth Rogers, and they had but one child, the subject, Mrs. Robbins dying soon after he was born. Mr. Robbins married a second wife, and died in Pulaski in 1889.

Allen, Joel, was born in Sandy Creek May 25, 1846, a son of Octavus and Ruah (Reynolds) Allen, he a native of Vermont, born June 1, 1867, and died in this town July 16, 1881, and she of Medina, N. Y., born November 23, 1814. The father of Oc- tavus was Erastus Allen, and the family descended from a brother of Ethan Allen. Octavus Allen came to Sandy Creek when about thirteen years of age, where he died. Mrs. Allen's father was Lyman Reynolds, a native of Rhode Island, who went to Me- dina and finally to Oswego county, where he died about 1860. His wife was Ruth Purse, a native of Rhode Island, who died in Sandy Creek. Subject was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. At the age of nineteen he began sail- ing on fresh water lakes, and has been thus employed since. He owns afarm of six-

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ty-four acres, on which his father settled. He married in 1877 Lavina Fitch, a native of Sandy Creek and daughter of Gilbert Fitch, who came to Sandy Creek in an early day, but died in Ellisburg November 12, 1883, and his wife, Eunice Lindsey, in Sandy Creek, February 8, 1889. Our subject is a member ot Sandy Creek Lodge No. 564, F. & A. M. Octavus E. Allen, jr., a brother of Joel, died in Sandy Creek Octo- ber 15, 1894.

Bell, William, was born near his present home in Volney, July 29, 1832. His par- ents, Minor and Polly (Dean) Bell, came here from Massachusetts among the earliest settlers of the locality. Mr. Bell has in his possession some of the hay forks brought by his grandfather from Massachusetts, and used by his father, which bear every evidence of having antedated the present century in their manufacture. Minor Bell was born June 14, 179", in Massachusetts, and came to Oswego county in 1815 with his parents, two brothers and one sister, and located on the farm where our subject now resides. November 16, 1820, he married Polly Dean, by whom he had four chil- dren: Melissa, Melinda, William and Mary, of whom three survive. He spent eight years in farming at Palmero, but otherwise has been a life-long resident of this town. In 1853 he married Nancy Stanton, of Volney, by whom he had two children, Fred- eric, who died September 7, 1867, and Minerva, who was born October 7, 1868, and who in 1888 married C. S. Henderson, then of Phoenix, but now of Volney.

Sutton, Reuben, was born in Manlius, Onondaga county, July 5, 1818. His par- ents came to Oswego county in 1819 and settled in the town of Schroeppel (then part of Volney). They were the first permanent residents of the town, where they cleared four farms. Reuben was educated in the district schools of that day, much of his education being at home in the chimney corner by the light of a tallow candle. His first night in Oswego county was spent on an ox-sled, stalled in the snow about two miles from their destination, beneath the broad canopy of heaven with only the boughs of the forest intervening. At the age of nineteen he was commissioned lieu- tenant in the 48th N. Y. Inf., serving three years. He was commissioned captain, served one year, and resigned at the age of twenty-three. He also served two years as a member of the board of court martial. At twenty years of age he was elected clerk of his school district and served as clerk or trustee for thirty years. At the age of twenty-one he was elected inspector of common schools, and re-elected each year until school commissioners and inspectors were superseded by town superintendents. He was the first superintendent elected of the schools in the town of Schroeppel, has served two terms as commissioner of highways, and nearly half his life as overseer of highways. In his earlier years he was frequently elected inspector of elections, and in later years has often been called upon to serve as executor of estates, etc. Most of his life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, lumbering, etc., having also taught school three terms He has reared a family of two sons and two daughters, all liv- ing. Mr. Sutton was a Democrat as construed b Jefferson and Jackson, a free soiler as construed by Polk, Cass, and Pierce, but has been a Republican since the organ- ization of that party. In religion he is liberal in his views, though belonging to no sect.

Sweet, Menzies M., was born in Providence, R. I., February 21, 1855. He took a course in mechanics in Providence, and also in Oswego. In 1878 he entered the em- ploy of the Minetto Shade Cloth Co., and has been their superintendent since 1890.

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In 1892 he married Elsie Ostrander, by whom he has one daughter, Leah. Mr. Sweet's father was James Sweet, his grandfather Menzies Sweet, both of Rhode Island.

Rowlee, A. A .- Since 1827 Esquire Rowlee has been a resident of Volney. At that time, he being eight years old, his parents, Nathan and Dorothy Rowlee, came here from Groton, Tompkins county, where he was born, April 8, 1819. In 1844 Esquire married Polly Graham, and has three children, Albert A., Burdette D., and Byron E. Burdette is principal of a normal school at Orange Grove, Fla. Byron is in the hard- ware trade at Wichita, Kansas, and Albert manages the homestead farm. His first wife was Addie E. Bentley, of Mannsville, who died in 1884, leaving two children, Laura A., now Mrs. George H. Wright, of Oswego; and Edith E., a student at Chaffee's School, Oswego. In 1891 he married Addie, a daughter af Gordon D. Ball, of Fulton.

Snow, Henry Alfonzo, was born in Hastings in November, 1859, on the farm he now owns, son of Leonard Snow, born in the block house at Brewerton in March, 1820, whose father was Aaron Snow of Connecticut, who built the first frame house between Central Square and Brewerton. Leonard was an industrious farmer. His wife was Geraldine Ramsey of Onondaga county, whose parents were Scotch. They had two children, Seward and Henry Alfonzo. Subject has always remained on the farm of 100 acres, making a specialty of dairying. In 1887 he married Carrie, daugh- ter of Charles and Adaline (Devendorf) Breed of Hastings, by whom he has one child, Charles, born in March, 1894. Subject is a member of the Masonic order.

Stevens, Mortimer, justice of the peace and postmaster at Pennellville, was born in Onondaga county in 1844, and located at Pennellville in 1865. He married in 1866 Hellin Owen, and has three children, Nettie, Timothy and Walter. In 1862 he en- listed in Co. E, 149th N. Y. S. Vols., was wounded on the 17th day of April, 1863, the ball passing through the right shoulder and lung. He was taken prisoner May 8, 1864, at Buzzards Roost, Ga., and held eleven months and twenty-two days in Andersonville, Dalton and Savannah.

Smith, Samuel P., was born in Westchester county, N. Y., March 7, 1843, son of Isaac and Annis Smith. « The family was originally from Rhode Island, but settled in Westchester county when the country was new and took up farming. John Smith, the grandfather, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Isaac Smith, the father, came to Albion in 1866. He followed both farming and lumbering, and was the owner of a saw mill. Isaac and Annis Smith were the parents of eleven children. Isaac mar- ried the second time, Louisa Burdsell, by whom he had four children. Samuel, in his early life, followed lumbering, but since then has devoted his time to farming, and at present owns a farm of eighty-eight acres, mostly under cultivation. In 1866 he married Julia, daughter of John Fry. The children are Gertie and Jennie C. Samuel P. is a member of the Grange. The grandmother of Mrs. Smith lived to be one hundred and eight years old.

Tucker, J. Cooley, Mrs. was born at Lee, Berkshire county, Mass., in 1824. She was the daughter of Darius Chapman, who was at that time a farmer. The late J. C. Tucker was born in the town of Fenner near Peterboro, Madison county in 1818,

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In the Tucker family were seven sons and two daughters and all but one eventually removed to Fulton, ranking among the leading families of the place. Almon Tucker, the eldest son, came to Fulton when there were very few inhabitants, and conducted the first store here. Mr. Tucker conducted for nearly half a century a crockery store, which was the first store devoted exclusively to that line, and after his death in 1887 was for seven years conducted by his widow. There were three children, Solon E., Grace J. and Willard C. The elder son is a government employee in New York and the younger, Willard, is in the railway mail service, between Syracuse and New York.

Vant, V. V., is the proprietor of the celebrated "Spring Brook " garden farm, of Fulton, producing and distributing the largest and most complete variety of vege- tables grown in Oswego county. He is the son of Fred Vant, who was born in Eng- land in 1824. He came to America in 1829, locating first in Palermo, where he re_ mained until 1854, and then purchased a farm of one hundred acres near Chicago. In 1865 he returned and purchased the old homestead near Mt. Pleasant, once the home of Ephraim Beardsley, and where he now resides. His wife, who was Rachel Beardsley, is the mother of nine children, eight of whom are living. Volkert V. Vant was born August 28, 1857, at Chicago and was eight years old when they returned here. Acquiring the basis of a good education in the common schools, he brings into his business large experience and industry, and fully deserves his large measure of success. His wife is Gertrude, daughter of John C. Hill of Volney, and their children are Don, born in 1889; Richard, born in 1891; and Max, born 1894.

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 113

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1410

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410