Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 115

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 115

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Parkhurst, William B., son of Gilbert, was born in Hastings in 1820, and is the oldest living resident born in the town who now lives there. The grandfather of subject, Col. Jonathan Gilbert Parkhurst, was but a boy during the Revolutionary war, but his loyal spirit and indomitable courage compelled him to join the army, and he was appointed General Washington's lifeguard, serving until the close of the war, and for some years before his death received a pension. He was a descendant of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, possessing the gold-headed cane, which through descent came to him from Sir Gilbert, and which in declining years was his constant sup- port. Colonel Parkhurst was a royal man, possessing great conversational powers, splendid physique, of noble bearing, genial in manner, and extremely kind and gen- erous, and of unexceptionable character. He was a native of Vermont, and came to Oswego county in 1808, engaging extensively in the timber trade with Canada. During the year of 1812, upon arriving in Kingston with a raft, his timber was con- fiscated and he and three of his men were given three days to leave the territory. He returned and served through the war, first as captain, then as colonel, and it was through his strategy that Oswego was saved. There being but 300 men at the fort and the British fleet approaching, he was ordered to prepare his men for battle.

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At his suggestion the small army was marched out and around the hill appearing and re-appearing. The Britishers thinking the woods were full of men, returned to Canada. He was also a soldier in the Revolution, and the first tax collector in the town of Mexico, which at that time included Hastings. He would collect the tax, and with gun on his shoulder and money on his back, he would then wend his way to Utica, where he had to report. Gilbert, the father of subject, built and conducted the first and only hotel in what is now Hastings Centre. His wife was Lucy, daugh- ter of William Brewster of Rome, and their children were Mrs. Maria Devendorf of Hastings; Mary, second wife of Harvey Devendorf; William B., James (deceased), Jeanette (deceased), Mrs. Lavina B. Hall of Rome, and Jonathan G. At the age of twenty-three subject began the lumber and farming business. Since 1856 he has de- voted his time to farming, dealing in real estate, and money loaning. He has served as assessor and poormaster, and for twenty-five years has been railroad commis- sioner. In 1843 he married Alta S., daughter of Elisha and Eunice (Brewster) Brewster, and they have one child, Wallace.

Howard, Alvin D., was born in New Haven, April 12, 1845, son of Alfred and Lucy M., who were early settlers in that town. The grandfather was a principal and one of the founders of the academy at Mexico. Alfred conducted a steam saw mill in the town of Albion, the settlement being known as Howardville, for about thirty-two years. At present he is engaged in farming. He married Lucy M. Buell, of New Haven and they had eight children Alvin has followed both milling and farming. He enlisted in 1863 in the 14th Heavy Artillery, at Petersburg and was engaged in the following battles: Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court house, Cold Harbor, Peters- burg Crater, Weldon Railroad, Fort Haskel, capture of Petersburg, and was wounded at Weldon Railroad. His brother John was killed in the same battle. He has been connected with the Bentley Post. In 1867 he married his first wife, Mary, daughter of Jothan Jennings, of Parish. They had two children, Alma M. and George C. He married his second wife in 1884. She was the widow of Dr. O. Howard of West Amboy.

Clark, Joseph A., was born in Richland, March 23, 1848, son of Chauncey R., born in Vernon, Oneida county, who is still living aged seventy-eight years. His wife was Lavina M. Patten, born in Manlius, Onondaga county, and died in Pulaski, Os- wego county, aged forty-eight. Their children were Elizabeth, Charles A., deceased ; our subject and Silas H. Subject was educated at Richland, and enlisted in 1863 in the 24th N. Y. Cav., then in the 54th N. Y. Vol. Inft., served under General Gilmore in South Carolina, was in the siege of Charleston, was on Folley and Morris Islands, and assisted in the final capture of the entire city. He was discharged at the close of the war, returned home and commenced farming and dairying, which he still con- tinues. He married, April 12, 1873, Abbie M., daughter of Marcus and Almeda (Snow) Crooks of Volney, Oswego county, and their children are Myrtle L., and May C., students in Pulaski Academy in class of '96; May is professor in music. Subject's brother, Charles, was a soldier in the civil war, and served in the Army of the Poto- mac. Subject is a member of the G. A. R.

Soper, George E., grocer and custom miller, was born at Oswego city in 1844. He followed civil engineering prior to the war, and in 1864 enlisted in the 184th Regi- ment, serving about one year. His wife, formerly Celia F. Button, is a native of

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Lewis county. They have one child, William. His father, Edward, was a native of Utica, and died in Michigan, where the mother is still residing. George E. was elected overseer of the poor in 1884, receiving a re-election to the same office for five terms, or five years. He has been since 1875 a member of the I. O. O. F., Beacon Light Lodge, and also belongs to Mexico Lodge No. 136, F. & A. M. having joined in 1877.

Case, Jonathan H., a central figure in the commercial life of Fulton, is the son of Samuel F. Case, born in Amsterdam, N. Y., who came here from Utica with Jonathan Case, the paternal grandfather of our subject. Jonathan first was born in Hoosick, N. Y., and was one of the prominent men of his time. To him was awarded the con- tract for widening the Oswego Canal, and that and other public works of magnitude owe their success largely to his genius and practical ability. S. F. Case inherited the qualities which had made his father a leader of men, and was associated with him as a contractor and otherwise. He was largely interested in public work, was for a year or more engaged upon the N. Y. and Erie Railroad, also a longer time upon the Great Western in Canada. He built the road into Windsor for twenty-five miles, and com- pleted the terminus of that road; also excavated the bottom of the Mississippi River at or near Rock Island. He was himself a practical mechanic and civil engineer, personally executing the survey of Fulton at the period of its greatest growth. He was engaged in mercantile business in Fulton with his brother, George M. Case. He entered the Citizen's National Bank about 1860 and continued in that place until his death in 1869, having served as president and cashier. His brother, G. M. Case, then took his place, which he has filled up to the present time. George M. is the only sur- vivor of his father's family of nine children. The widow of Samuel F. Case is still living at Fulton. Of her five children but two survive-Jonathan H. and Mrs. Thomas D. Lewis. Jonathan H. has for many years been vice-president of the Citizen's Bank, and associated with public affairs about Fulton.

Ransom, Herbert F., was born in Richland February 26, 1850. His grandfather, Samuel Porter, was born in Vermont and died in Oswego county aged seventy-four. Francis, father of Herbert, was born in Richland and died in Oswego county aged sixty-five. Francis married Lucy E. Hinman, and their children were: Herbert F., Charles A., Clarence, Porter, William L., and Mary Belle. Of these Charles, Porter and Mary Belle are deceased. Our subject was educated in Pulaski and after com- pleting his studies for six years worked in a large saw mill and lumber yard in Pu- laski. He then bought the old home farm where he now lives with his family. He married Nettie, daughter of Joseph and Betsey Litts of Richland, and their children are: Francis H., born in 1873, and Mary Belle born in 1875.

Loomis, H. W., was born in Herkimer county in 1829, and came with his parents to Oswego county in 1835. In 1866 he moved from Palermo to Mexico. In 1856 he was the first elected school commissioner, being elected for three years. He was a member of the Assembly in 1863-4, and president of the village of Mexico in 1893. He was in the employ of the Travelers Insurance Co. of Hartford from 1870 to 1891. His wife was Adeline S., daughter of John Sayles. Their oldest child, Ira S., died in 1889 aged thirty-four; Elmer H., was born in 1861, graduated from Colgate Uni- versity in 1883, taught in Colgate Academy seven years, and in 1890 entered Straus- burg University (Germany), graduating in 1893 as doctor of philosophy; was elected

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to chair in department of physics in Princeton College, N. J., in 1894; Fred M. was born in 1863, graduated from Colgate University in 1885, was two years professor of mathematics in South Jersey Institute, and for four years principal of the Oneida Com- munity High School. He took courses of study at Strausburg and Milan in 1891-92; in 1892 became principal of the Keystone Academy of Pennsylvania, which position he still occupies.

Wright, Abner, born in Massachusetts in 1813, came to Bowen's Corners about 1826, his father, Zenas Wright, having bought a farm at that place. He was a man of much force of character, full of purpose and originality, interested in education, and not only a book seller, but a lover of books. In 1830 he married Electa, daugh- ter of Tristam Cathcart, of Scotch descent, by whom he had two children, Spencer, now in Michigan, and Adelia, who in 1865 married Ambrose Kellogg. Abner Wright died October 22, 1882, and his widow survives, devoting herself to her children and grandchildren, who surround her with every care that love can devise. Her daugh- ter's husband, Mr. Kellogg, for many years a merchant at Bowen's Corners, and for three years postmaster, is highly esteemed, as a citizen of irreproachable character and moral worth. He took a front rank in the late war, volunteering ir. Captain Jenning's Company, of the gallant 24th Regt. His children are Lillian R., A. Birney, and Ray W. The two sons are already engaged in business in Syracuse, and the daughter, a graduate of Oswego Falls Normal School, is now a teacher in Peru, Neb.

Crossett, Monroe, a native of Herkimer county, born in 1845, in 1858 came to Or- well from Oneida. He married Fanny Miner of Orwell, who died in 1884, leaving two children, a boy who died shortly after his mother, and George, who was born in 1882. Newman S. Crossett, Monroe's father, now living in Orwell, served in the 189th Regiment during the war. Monroe was in the 5th U. S. Regulars, enlisting in 1861, serving three years. Henry, son of Newman Crossett, enlisted in the 193d In- fantry, and died in the service of his country, March 4, 1865. One of the most start- ling events in the history of Orwell was connected with the Crossett family. In 1863, one of the boys, Newman, aged eleven, went with some other boys up the Geary Brook fishing. His companions lost track of him and supposed that he had gone home. He was never seen after that time. For days all the people of Orwell and the surrounding towns hunted through the woods. His father spent forty days and nights in the woods, but the mystery was never cleared up.

Clark, William, was born in Oswego, July 5, 1843, and excepting for the time spent in the army has been engaged in farming all his life. In 1864 he enlisted in Co. C, 184th Inf., and served till the close of the war. In 1869 he married Sophia Robarge, and they have four sons and one daughter. The parents of Mr. Clark were Seldon P. and Eliza Clark, the father having served in the late war. The grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution.

King, George R., was born in the town of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, September 24, 1824. He was the oldest of a family of four. His father, Amos King, was a ship carpenter and builder, and his mother was Mahalah (Edmunds) King, a native of Jef- ferson county. During his early life he worked with his father, of whom he learned his trade of ship carpenter and builder; he came to New Haven with his parents in 1840, and settled on the Lake road about one mile and a half west of Texas; the

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country at that time was nearly a vast wilderness. At the age of nineteen he went to Oswego city, where he worked at his trade, and June 27, 1844, was united in mar- riage with Diantha S. Parks, of New Hartford, Oneida county, and returned to Os- wego, where he followed his trade of ship carpenter and builder about thirty years, working part of the time as foreman and builder for James A. Baker, and the remain- ing part for Samuel Miller. June 17, 1864, he enlisted as a member of the National Guards, where he served seven years and received an honorable discharge. April 23, 1869, he located on his present farm of seventy-five acres in the town of New Haven. To Mr. and Mrs. King were born three children, Mary E., Emma M., and George R. Mary E. is now the widow of Norman Manwarren; George R. died in infancy, and Emma M. is now the widow of Wilbert Smith; they had two children, Ida E. and George F.

Phelps, Henry De Witt C., was born in Rochester, N. Y., April 5, 1852, son of De W. C. and Barbara A. (Allen) Phelps, both now deceased. He has one sister, Barbara A., born August 29, 1854. De W. Clinton was a physician, and for over four years practiced in the South, one year in a hospital in New Orleans and over a year on President Jackson's plantation, and in other portions of the South. He also practiced at Honeoye Falls, Ontario county. After his return to Cayuga county from the South he was married and located in Rochester, where he died when Barbara was but three weeks old and Henry not three years. The subject with his mother and sister then went to Seneca county near Waterloo, to live with his grandmother, Mrs. Alleman, attending district school and working on the farm. For two years with his mother he lived with his uncle, Dr. A. J. Alleman of Fayette. When fourteen he was taken with a severe illness in August, which kept him in the house until the next summer. Unable to work, he then attended school in Waterloo at the academy, teaching his first term in the winter when he was sixteen. He clerked at intervals and during vacations to obtain means with which to clothe himself and proceed with his studies. Meantime, having moved to Waterloo, Henty began the study of medicine in 1869 with Dr. A. A. Alleman of Waterloo, and attended his first course of lectures at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the class of 1871-72. Returning the next summer, he studied with Dr. S. P. Johnson, formerly of Oswego, Dr. A. A. Alleman having died. He returned to Ann Arbor in the fall and graduated from Michigan University in the class of 1873. He began practice in Palermo in September of that year, and removed to South Scriba in the fall of 1880. He received an injury from a gunshot in 1885, which was severe enough to nearly disable him for eighteen months. His wife died during this time, and having sold out, he came to Oswego in the fall of 1888, where he has since remained, doing a general practice. He married August 14, 1877, Libbie M., daughter of G. F. Shattuck, an old lake captain and vessel owner of Scriba, and well known in this vicinity. Her mother, Amelia, was a daughter of Capt. John Davis of this county. She died in 1886 leaving one child, Ione Libbie, born November 14, 1883, who for the past five years has resided with her father's sister on a farm in Seneca county near Waterloo, and but a short distance from the farm which Jacob and Nancy A. Alleman (grandparents of subject and sister) settled and cleared. Dr. Phelps is a member of the medical societies, and for a number of years of Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M. of Fulton. He joined the I. O. O. F. in October, 1887, and has taken an active part in this order since; is a member of the Encamp-

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ment, has been deputy G. P. of his district for four terms; also of Canton Oswego, No. 18; with others he represented that body at the first annual department council of the State and instructed that body according to the new laws of S. G. Lodge gov- erning the P. M. Branch, and held in Syracuse in May, 1894.

Mitchell, Edward, of French ancestry, was born in Canada, January 29, 1837, son of Francis, born in France, who died in Oswego aged sixty-four. He married Frances Langdeau, born in France, and now living, aged eighty-four. Our subject came to the United States at the age of seven. He was educated in Oswego and learned coopering, which business he conducted for twenty-five years, with his brother, under the firm name of E. & O. Michell. After that time, they engaged in building vessels at Alginac, Mich. They builtthe following: the Oliver Mitchell, the Belle Mitchell, the I. G. Jenkins and the John R. Noyse; and for several years they conducted the East- side Dry-Dock. For some years he has been engaged in the wholesale liquor busi- ness at 153 and 155 West First street, and handles a general line of liquors of all kinds, exclusively at wholesale, shipping goods to all parts of the State. In 1864 he mar- ried Caroline Hanzelman of Oswego, by whom he had five children. In 1890 he was elected Democratic mayor.

Deming, George J., was born on his present farm in 1839, a son of Timothy, a na- tive of Redfield, who settled on this farm at the age of sixteen. The latter was a son of Jonathan, one of the first settlers of Redfield, and later assistant postmaster of Oswego city, under Mr. Sage. He was also member of Assembly for this district. Timothy Deming married Sarah Prouty, and they had four children: Mrs. Mary R. Skilling, Mrs. Charlotte A. Padden, Mrs. Eveline Lester, and George J. Deming, who has one daughter, Jennie S. Deming.

Wallace, William, was born December 14, 1833, a son of Alvin and Sally (Bennett) Wallace, natives of Hoosick, N. Y., and Rhode Island, respectively. Alvin came to Sandy Creek with his parents when young, and both the paternal and maternal grand- parents of our subject were pioneer settlers of Sandy Creek. Alvin died in 1880, and his widow still survives him, aged eighty-nine years. William was reared on the farm, and has always followed this calling, except during the time spent in the war having enlisted in the first regiment that went from this county, the 24th N. Y. Vols. (April, 1861). He remained in service two years when he was honorably discharged for disability. His regiment was in what was known as the "Iron Brigade," and participated in the battles at Antietam and Fredericksburg. In 1870 Mr. Wallace married Esther Ellen, daughter of William and Eliza A. Delapp, of Ellisburg. Mrs. Wallace is a member of the Congregational Church.

Greene, Albert W., M. D., was born February 26, 1853, in Northamptonshire, England, son of William and Sophia Greene. With his parents he came to this coun- try in 1856 and settled in Fulton, Oswego county. William Greene was a member of the 147th N. Y. Infantry, and with them was in the numerous battles they fought. His children were Ann, Mariah, Sarah, James and Albert, all deceased except the latter and Sarah. In his early life Albert was a teacher, having taught seventeen terms. In 1881 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., graduating in the spring of 1884. The same year he settled in the town of Palermo, where he built up a fine practice, but his health failing, in the spring of 1894 he dis-

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continued practicing there, and October 1, removed to Oneida Castle. He married first, in 1874, Flora, daughter of Nelson and Salinda Cross, and second, Carrie E., daughter of Deloss Snell. Dr. Greene is a member of Lodge No. 144, F. & A. M., of Fulton, N. Y.

Taylor, E. A., was born in Chenango county in 1827, son of Cyprian and Amelia (Anderson) Taylor, and came to Sandy Creek with his parents when a year old, and moved with them to Scriba and later to New Haven. He married in 1852 Ellen R. Smith, and has a son, Dewitt, the only one surviving of six. He located on his pres- ent farm in 1852, and for eighteen years operated a steam saw mill.

Patchen, John E., was born in 1819 in the town of Pompey, Onondaga county, son of John and Anna Patchen, whose family consisted of six sons: John E., Philander, R. D., Daniel, Lafayette, Aaron, and four daughters, Harriet, Matilda, Rhoda and Mary, who were grandchildren of Zebulon Patchen, who came from Connecticut about 1816 and settled in the town of Clay, Onondaga county. John Patchen was born in Connecticut in 1789; he enlisted in the U. S. army in 1812, and was discharged in June, 1815. In 1816 he married Anna Hulon of Rome; they began housekeeping in Pompey, where John E. was born; they remained there about two years and re- moved to the town of Clay, where they purchased a farm, upon which they lived until 1830, when they removed to Amboy, Oswego county, where John E. now lives. He married Hannah Manwarren in 1849; his family consists of two children, Sarah A., who married Harvey J. Faulkner of Camden, Oneida county, and Charles J., who married Anna Selleck of Palmyra, N. Y., and who now succeeds his father as one of the enterprising farmers of Amboy.

Andrews, Dorr, is the youngest of two sons of the late Dr. S. D. Andrews of Gran- by, a physician for more than forty years in that town, whose decease at the age of sixty-eight years, in 1896, was widely mourned. His widow still survives at the old home, which is now managed by the elder son, Rush Andrews. Dorr was born at West Granby, September 13, 1860, and educated at Falley Seminary, In 1882 he pur- chased a farm, and his efforts have been marked by enterprise and originality in the construction of modern buildings and general improvements. June 6, 1883, Mr. Andrews married Nellie Decker of Fulton, and their two children are Harry, born December 31, 1889, and Harold, born May 5, 1892.

Cooley, R. N., A.B., M.D., was born in Jefferson county in 1835, educated at Union · College, studied law with Prof. Amasa J. Trowbridge of Watertown, and gradu- ated at Albany Medical College, also Castleton Medical College, Vermont. He came to Oswego in 1860, where he commenced the practice of medicine about the time of the breaking out of the war. He was several times drafted, and in 1864 was examined and placed on the roll of surgeons for the hospital department as major, and was after that several times called into the field in the capacity of hospital surgeon. His father was John, a son of John Cooley, formerly of Massachusetts, who was also a son of Reuben Cooley of Revolutionary fame, a colonel in that war. R. N. Cooley is a brother of Judge Cooley of Northern New York. His wife, H. I. Cooley, is a native of Cayuga county, by whom he has two sons, Emir D., M. D., of San Fran- cisco, surgeon in the hospital at that city; and Frank L., M.D., now of Oswego. The subject of this sketch has been and is a member of the Oswego County Medical So-

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ciety, N. Y. C. Medical Association, and N. Y. S. Medical Association, and is also honorary member of several other societies and associations. He has written many papers on medical subjects, and was one of the very first, if not the first, to operate for appendicitis, the patient fully recovering, being alive and well at this time, the operation being performed April 1, 1870. Since that time he has operated success- fully quite a number of times. More than twenty years since he operated successfully for ovariotomy and in a large number of ovariotomies has only lost a single case. Several years since he was appointed to a chair of clinical surgery in the medical department of Harvard University, which position he now holds. He was com- missioned as postmaster in the hamlet where he resides in July 1892.

Lee, Moses Lindley, was born in Orange county, May 29, 1805. He graduated from Union College in 1827 and afterward attended the Albany Medical College and also the medical college at Fairfield. Dr. Lee practiced for some time at Havana, N. Y., and in 1824 became a permanent resident in Fulton, and from that time he be- came associated with the interests of the county. About 1850 he retired from active practice on account of ill health. He held at various times the following positions: member of assembly, State senator, loan commissioner, representative in Congress and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. October 2, 1832, he married Ann Case, who bore the following children : Albert L., a banker in New York city, Horace G., now in Kansas, Antoinette, wife of George A. Sanders, and Mary F. Lee of Ful- ton. Dr. Lee died May 19, 1876, and his wife November 29, 1883. Both were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church.

Potter, Albert, was born in Cortland county, August 9, 1839, son of Harris and El- mira (Bowen) Potter .. The family were originally from Connecticut. They settled in Cortland county for a few years and then came to Oswego county in 1850, and set tled in Albion. The father was a carpenter by trade. They had two children, Al- bert and Ada A., deceased. Our subject has always followed farming. In 1863 he married Mary A. Thorp, of Albion, and they had one son, who was drowned at the age of twenty-three years. Albert enlisted in the Scott's 900, who were then Gen. Scott's body guard, but a short time afterwards they were reorganized under the name of the 11th New York Cavalry. He served until 1865, and was in the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, and several skirmishes. He is a member of Bentley Post 265, G. A. R., and has held the office of quartermaster-sergeant.

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 115

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