Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 37

Author: Hakes, Harlo, 1823- ed; Aldrich, Lewis Cass. cn
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > New York > Steuben County > Landmarks of Steuben County, New York > Part 37

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LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

Mr. Pinney was especially prominent in the development of the village of Pratts- burg, to the cause of which he gave much time and untiring energy. His faith in its future was unswerving, and his zeal in promoting its material interests never faltered. In this respect he became the leading and influential citizen of the place. Being a heavy taxpayer, and intimately identified with its growth and prosperity, he was ever foremost among the representative inhabitants in fostering and encouraging every movement which had the welfare of the village at heart. He was the chief promoter of the Kanona and Prattsburg railroad, and to him more than to any other man is due the inception and construction of that line from Kanona northward. As the business of his village increased in volume he intuitively foresaw the necessity of such a road, and long before it was started he put forth every energy for its consum- mation, even to involving his entire fortune in the interests of the project. He was the prime mover in organizing the company, and upon its incorporation was elected its president, a position he held until shortly before his death. He lived to see the line completed and distributing its benefits to the town he honored with his residence and business ability.

Mr. Pinney was also prominent in various other connections. A life-long Demo- crat he was for several years the supervisor of Prattsburg, and in local politics bore the distinction of a leader. In education he always took an active interest, particu- larly in planning for the prosperity of the academy, in which he personally looked after matters of detail. He was for a number of terms a member and president of the Board of Education, and for a long time a trustee of the Presbyterian church, of which he was a regular attendant and liberal supporter. A great reader of the Bible he was a devout christian, and in various ways fostered and encouraged the cause of religion. Dignified, courteous, and simple in manner, honest, kindhearted, and generous, he won hosts of friends and bore the respect, esteem, and confidence of every one. He was a devoted husband, and found in his home the height of enjoy- ment. He lived the life of an upright citizen, and left an indelible impression of his eventful and successful career upon the community.

Mr. Pinney was married, first, on October 20, 1858, to Miss Electa Jane Gillett, who died in 1863. October 20, 1865, he married Mrs. Fannie Lewis Smith, whose death occurred September 18, 1892. On February 14, 1894, he was married to Mrs. Elsie J. Combs, who survives him and occupies the handsome homestead in Pratts- burg village, where he died on Sunday morning, July 1, 1894, at the age of a little more than sixty-eight years.

GEORGE HOLLANDS.

GEORGE HOLLANDS was born in Sussex county, England, on January 9, 1841. His parents, William and Charlotte Hollands, with a family of six children, came to this country in the year 1850. Soon after their arrival they found their way to Mansfield, Tioga county, Pa., where they have since resided. Four more children were born to them after their arrival to this country. They are still living and enjoying reason- ably good health and are in their eighty-fourth and eighty-first year of age respec- tively. George Hollands, the subject of this sketch, at the age of eleven years found

Seo Hollands

BIOGRAPHICAL.

a home with a respectable farmer, with whom he was to live until he was twenty-one years of age, with the understanding that he was to receive a common school educa- tion and when he became of age he was to have a good suit of clothes and $100 in money. Before arriving at the age of maturity, however, the war broke out, and in September, 1861, he left the farm and enlisted in Co. B, 101st Pa. Vols., and served in the army for the period of three years and ten months, during which time he was engaged in many important battles. He was wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks on May 31, 1862, and was taken prisoner at the surrender of Plymouth, N. C., April 20, 1864. He was an inmate of Andersonville and Florence prisons until the following December, and has never recovered from the exposure and suffering of that terrible summer. He was shipwrecked in the Potomac River while on his way to join his regiment in April, 1865, and was only saved from a watery grave by clinging to the mast of the ship all night, where he was picked up in an exhausted condition by a United States gunboat, the following morning. He was discharged from the service in July, 1865, having risen from a private to the rank of first lieutenant. Soon after the close of the war he embarked in the grocery business at Hornellsville, under the firm name of Hollands & Fletcher, occupying what was then known as the old " Mamouth Store," opposite the Park. On January 2, 1866, he married Lydia Bailey of Mansfield, Pa. Five children were born to them, viz .: Minnie, now the wife of Charles A. Smith of Middletown, N. Y .; Eva and Robert, who died of diphtheria in October, 1876; George Hollands. jr., who was born in November, 1875, and who is now at the age of twenty years, carrying on an extensive grocery business in the village of Bath, under the firm name of Geo. Hollands, jr., & Co .; and Burr R. Hol- lands, who was born in June, 1878, and is now being educated as a pharmacist. Mr. Hollands is an enterprising citizen, a man of sober and industrious habits and a prominent member of the First M. E. church of Hornellsville. He has always been a prominent and active member of the Republican party and has had the honor of representing his ward as village trustee for six years prior to the organization of the city. In 1879 he was elected to the important office of county superintendent of the poor, in which capacity he served for three years. In 1886 he very ably repre- sented the town of Hornellsville on the Board of Supervisors. He was commander of Doty Post, No. 226, G. A. R., for two years, 1889 and '90. He was one of the in- corporators of the Hornell Sanitarium Co. and for several years a director and treas- urer of said company. In the fall of 1891 he was elected sheriff of Steuben county, which office he very satisfactorily filled for the term of three years. A few months after his retirement from the office of sheriff he, in company with Mr. O. L. Thomp- son, purchased the interest of J. W. Bachman of Hornellsville, N. Y., in the drug trade, and at the present time are carrying on a very prosperous business under the firm name of Thompson & Hollands.

FURMAN GARDNER.

FURMAN GARDNER, one of the leading pioneers of the town of Wheeler, was born in Albany county, N. Y., November 7, 1793, being an only child and was left an orphan at a very early age. When seven years old he was brought to this then

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

wild and picturesque section by Capt. Silas Wheeler, from whom the town subse- quently received its name, and with whom he lived until he attained his majority. On June 17, 1817, he married Miss Elizabeth Myrtle, eldest child of Philip and Mar- garet Myrtle, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1799, and who came here with her parents in 1800, settling on the farm now owned by D. Z. Gibbs. The newly married couple located on the farm now owned and occupied by their son, William Gardner, where they spent the remainder of their lives. He died June 6, 1856, and his wife on December 22, 1883.

Mr. Gardner was one of the hardest working men in town. Endowed with a robust constitution he cleared his forest farm, mainly with his own hands, convert- ing it from an unbroken wilderness into a pleasant and fruitful home, and adding to · it from time to time until he owned 170 acres. He was industrious and prosperous, and systematically followed the business of agriculture upon what might be termed modern methods. He was long regarded as one of the best farmers in town. His first house was a log cabin, rude and inconvenient, but suitable for those days. This was finally superseded by a more pretentious frame dwelling, and this in turn eventually gave place to the present house, built and occupied by their son William. Thus three habitations for the family have been erected on the same site, two of them by the subject of this sketch,

In the common affairs of life Mr. Gardner always took a keen interest, and in fur- thering every worthy movement he gave both time and means. While a young man he served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812, and in later years he was active as a substantial citizen in public matters, particularly in the cause of religion. In politics he was a lifelong Whig, but never sought office nor official distinction. He was long a prominent member and liberal supporter of the Wheeler Presbyterian church, and throughout a useful life bore the respect, esteem and confidence of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner had born to them six sons and four daughters, namely: Sarah (Mrs. Ezra Haire), widow, born May 9, 1818, of Wheeler; Silas, born April 2, 1820, deceased; Rebecca (Mrs. A. J. Raplee), born September 18, 1823, a widow, of Hillsdale, Mich .; Polly, born March 31, 1825, died August 2, 1827; Henry, born Oc- tober 5, 1828, of Wheeler; Addison, born October 16, 1832, of Bath, Mich. ; William, born May 25, 1834, of Wheeler; Benjamin, born March 2, 1837, died August 22. 1839; Thomas, born August 14, 1839, of Wheeler; and Harriet (Mrs. William Rose), born August 16, 1842, of Bath, Mich.

Mrs. Gardner practically spent her entire life in the town of Wheeler, and witnessed its transformation from dense forests to a prosperous community. She related in later years many interesting stories of the Indians and pioneer times, when settlers did not enjoy the benefits of modern civilization. She was one of the original mem- bers of the Presbyterian church in 1835, as was also her husband, and remained a communicant of that body until her death. Endowed with rare personal qualifica- tions she was a true woman, a consistent and devout Christian, and a worthy help- mate and mother.

FURMAN GARDNER.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

GEORGE C. McNETT, M. D.

GEORGE C. McNETT, M. D , of Bath, youngest child of the late Col. Andrew J. Mc- Nett, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., July 11, 1857. His paternal grandfather served as a commissioned officer at Sackett's Harbor during the war of 1812 and gallantly saved the garrison from capture by the British; for this act he was subsequently placed in charge of the post and neighboring lighthouses. Col. Andrew J. McNett, a native of Henderson, Jefferson county, born in October, 1819, completed his education in Belleville Union Academy, studied law with Augustus Ford at Sackett's Harbor, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. Settling in Buffalo he formed a partnership with Hon. Hiram Barton, the mayor of the city. He became a recognized leader of the Democratic party there, and was elected alderman of the Seventh ward in 1855, dis- trict attorney in 1856-57, and member of assembly in 1858. In the Legislature he was made chairman of the Committee on Railroads. In 1859 he settled in Belmont, Allegany county, where he practiced his profession until 1861, when he enlisted in the 93d N. Y. Vols. as captain. June 12, 1863, he resigned that post and was com- missioned lieutenant-colonel of the 141st Regt. Vols., and was mustered out June 25, 1865. He participated in many of the principal battles of the war and lost an arm at Peach Tree Farm on July 20, 1864. In the fall of 1866 he was commissioned a cap- tain in the 44th U. S. Infantry, assisting in the reconstruction of Virginia and act- ing as mayor of the cities of Lynchburg and Suffolk. He was subsequently appointed judge-advocate of the Washington district, serving under Generals Emory, Canby, and Brooks. He was placed on the retired list with the rank of colonel on Decem- ber 10, 1873. Colonel McNett was repeatedly supervisor of Belmont, president of the village, and was a candidate of his party in Allegany county for congressman, judge and surrogate, assemblyman, and district attorney, and never failed to reduce the majority of his opponent in a Republican stronghold. He died in Belmont on March 8, 1895. He married Miss Abby Clark, daughter of John Clark, a wealthy citizen of Belleville, Jefferson county, who survives him, as do also their three children: Priscilla (Mrs. J. E. Norton), of Rutherford, N. J .; James H., of Hornellsville; and Dr. George C., of Bath.

Dr. George C. McNett attended the Union School of Belmont and completed a four years' course at Alfred University in 1876. He received the degree of M. D. from the medical department of the University of the City of New York in 1881, and im- mediately afterward began the practice of his profession at Belmont, where in the same year he joined the Allegany County Medical Society, of which he is still a mem- ber, and of which he was president.

In the winter of 1883-84 he took a post-graduate and polyclinic course at the Post- graduate School in New York city, and in 1886 he removed to Bath, having received the appointment of surgeon to the Soldiers' Home. He filled that position with dis- tinguished ability until 1889, since which time he has been engaged in general prac- tice, making surgical operations and disease of the nervous system a specialty.

Dr. McNett is one of the leading members of the medical profession in Western New York. As a citizen he has always taken a keen interest in public affairs and en- courages every project which promises benefit to the community. For the past two years he has been health officer of the village of Bath. He is a member of the New

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY

York State Association of Railway Surgeons and is also a prominent Mason, being a member of Belmont Lodge, No. 474, F. & A. M., Wellsville Chapter, No. 143, R. A. M., Corning Consistory, 32º Scottish Rite, and Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has held all the chairs in the order and was past master of Bel- mont Lodge, and is also a member of the Elks, No. 63, Elmira.

June 1, 1882, Dr. McNett married Mary Agnes Stewart, daughter of Dr. E. S. Stewart, a prominent physician and banker of Ellicottville, Cattaraugus county. They have one child, Celia.

HENRY W. PERINE.

HENRY W. PERINE, of Bath, the oldest merchant in Steuben county, was born in South Dansville, N. Y., July 2, 1821, and is the eldest of seven children born to Will- iam Perine, jr. His grandfather, William Perine, sr., came to this country from France about 1750 and took an active part as a cavalryman in the Revolutionary war. He first settled in Washington county, N. Y., whence he moved at a very early day to Dansville, Livingston county, where he followed farming upon land now occupied by a large portion of the village, of which he was one of the founders. William Perine, jr., was born February 25, 1792, in Livingston county, and settled in South Dansville; he subsequently returned to Dansville and died there in May, 1879. He was one of the founders, a prominent member and long a deacon of the Dansville Pres- byterian church, and married Miss Abigail K. Whiting, daughter of Col. John Whit- ing, of Bath. She was born August 29, 1801, and died February 11, 1858. Of their seven children Henry W., the eldest, and Clarence (born February 3, 1842), the youngest, of New York city, are living.

Henry W. Perine was educated in the public schools of Dansville and the high school of Bath, where in 1835 he entered the employ of Hon. William S. Hubbell, a leading dry goods merchant. with whom he remained five years. He was then a clerk for four years in the same business for Timothy Whiting, with whom in 1844 he formed the partnership of Whiting & Perine, which continued until 1847, when Mr. Whiting retired. In 1848 Mr. Perine became associated with his brother, William W., under the firm name of H. W. Perine & Co., and continued thus till 1860. In 1862 he took in Moses Davison and William H. Nichols as partners under the style of H. W. Perine & Co., which continued for three years. He carried on the business alone until 1892, when he formed the present firm of Perine & Davison by taking in his former partner, Moses Davison. Mr. Perine has been in continuous trade in Bath since 1844, and is the oldest merchant in Steuben county. He commenced on a small scale and gradually increased his business until he became the most extensive mer- cantile dealer in that village, doing more at one time than all the other merchants combined. He built the Perine block in 1861-62, and upon occupying it es- tablished the first department store in the county, which he has continued uninter- ruptedly to the present time. An establishment of that character in a place like Bath was then a novelty and many were the predictions of its failure, but Mr. Perine has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the enterprise and with great skill has made it a permanent and profitable concern.

et Stephens

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Mr. Perine has built more structures in Bath than any other one man. He has erected four imposing business blocks and three of the finest dwellings in town, and has always taken an active interest in local affairs, particularly in public improve- ments. He is heavily interested in various enterprises of a general and private na- ture, and is one of the largest taxpayers in the village. He was one of the prime movers in securing the Erie railroad and the Soldier's Home, and to these and many other institutions he has given freely. No movement which promises benefit to the community is consummated without his aid and encouragement. He has always been a Republican and somewhat active in politics, and for several years served as village trustee, two of which he was president. He is one of the represen- tative and influential citizens of the town and county, and and is ever ready to ad- vance the material interests of the people, especially in the cause of education and religion.

August 28, 1847, he married Miss Elizabeth S. Read, daughter of Capt. James Read, of Bath, a lady of great refinement of beauty of character, who died March 27, 1894. They had three sons; James R., born Augost 3, 1848, died November 5, 1864; William H., born December 3, 1850, died May 10, 1874; and Clarence R., born March 3, 1867, died September 16, 1869.

ALANSON STEPHENS.

ALANSON STEPHENS, eldest son of Benjamin Stephens, was born in Hornellsville, on a farm on December 8, 1820, and is the oldest living native of the town. His great-grandfather, Uriah Stephens, born in 1724, came with his son Elijah from the Wyoming valley in Pennsylvania to what is now the town of Canisteo, Steuben county, in 1789, settling on lot 8 on the 25th of December of that year, and being one of the original seven owners of that township. Uriah Stephens died there Au- gust 14, 1800; his wife was born in 1731 and at the time of her death was ninety-four years old. Their son Elijah succeeded to the homestead and reared a large family of children, of whom Benjamin, the father of the subject of this sketch, died June 4, 1837, aged thirty-eight, being born in Canisteo in 1799. The family is of English descent, and is one of the oldest and most respected in Steuben county. Its mem- bers have for one full century taken an active part in business, social, and official life and in various capacities have served their townsmen with fidelity and distinc- tion.

Benjamin Stephens married Arathusa Hamilton and had born to him six children, all living, as follows: Alanson, Elijah, Daniel, Albert, Helen, and Cordelia. Mr. Stephens settled in the town of Hornellsville and died here, as did also his wife.

Alanson Stephens received such meagre educational advantages as the public schools of his native town afforded. His early lite was spent principally in hard work upon his father's farm, where he acquired the robust constitution and thrifty habits which later proved of inestimable value. While a youth he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner and followed that occupation about six years, when he decid- ed to embark in more promising fields of employment. He engaged extensively in lumbering in Hornellsville, and during several years cleared some 1,500 acres of

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

heavy pine timber in the town, manufacturing it into lumber on the premises and shipping the products to distant markets. He had a large saw mill on the Canisteo river that was twice burned and twice rebuilt under his ownership, and there he met with two or three serious accidents which threatened his future activity. He con- tinued this business until his supply of timber was exhausted, when he turned his energies to agricultural pursuits, which have since largely engrossed his attention. He owns three farms, aggregating about 500 acres, all lying just south of the city, and upon the one he occupies he settled in 1852. In 1880 he started a meat market in Hornellsville which was continued about twelve years by his son, Walter A. Stephens.

Mr. Stephens has been a life-long Democrat and is the oldest school official in point of service in the county. He served as school trustee of the village of Hornellsville for eighteen consecutive years, or until the village board of education was organized, when he became a member and the first president of that body. He held both of these positions for fifteen successive years, completing a continuous service of thirty- three years. During that period he had charge of the erection of the First ward and Lincoln school buildings and the reconstruction of the Sixth ward and Park school houses. No man has taken a deeper or a more active interest in the development of local education than has Mr. Stephens, and no one has devoted more time and energy to the cause. He was loan commissioner for the State for three years, high- way commissioner of his town for eleven years, and supervisor of Hornellsville two terms. He was one of the organizers and first members of the Hornellsville Farmers' club, and as superintendent had charge of the grounds and construction of the buildings, etc., at the time of its inception. Ever since then he has been actively identified with that organization. In various other movements -- in religious and social matters, in public affairs, and in numerous business relations-Mr. Stephens has been a foremost promoter.

He was married in 1841 to Miss Catherine Doty, of Hornellsville. She died March 7, 1863, aged forty-one, leaving five children, viz .: Christopher B., born April 19, 1844, died in 1879; Thaddeus A., born September 1, 1845; Walter A., born March 6, 1852; William D., born October 10, 1854; and Catherine E., born September 25, 1856, who married September 7, 1876, Henry M. Bennett, who with Alanson Stephens conducts the meat market previously mentioned. Mr. Stephens married for his second wife, in July, 1881, Mrs. Philena Pickard, of Hornellsville,

EDWARD F. WILLETS.

HON. EDWARD F. WILLETS, who has filled the office of mayor of the city of Hor- nellsville since March, 1892, was born in the town of Ledyard, Cayuga county, N. Y., and is the youngest of three sons of Abram Willets, a native of Queens county, who spent the last years of his life on a farm upon which the subject of thissketch passed his infancy and youth. He completed his education at Poplar Ridge Seminary, and at an early age engaged in mechanical pursuits, which he followed for five years. He then entered mercantile business in Lake Ridge, Tompkins county, and later in

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Fleming, Cayuga county, and thence in 1857 removed to Angelica, Allegany county, where he was engaged in lumbering for a time. Leaving there he operated a saw and flouring mill in Belmont until 1877, when he went to Bradford, Pa., and engaged in the oil business, with which he has ever since been identified.

In 1883 Mr. Willetts removed to Hornellsville, where he has since resided. He has been a life-long Republican, and for many years an active and influential factor in political affairs. He was for four years supervisor of the town of Amity, Allegany county, and while a resident of that county served also as internal revenue collector four years. After coming to Hornellsville he represented the city for four years on the Board of Supervisors, and in 1892 was elected mayor, to which office he was re- elected in 1894. In all these positions he has served with satisfaction to his con- stituents. As mayor he has been instrumental in effecting many notable and sub- stantial improvements, which testify to his progressive spirit and enterprise. Dur- ing his occupancy of the office of mayor the present electric street railway system was placed in operation, the sewer system was constructed and two miles of brick pavement were laid in the city. Mr. Willets was the first Republican mayor of Hor- nellsville and the second elected since the city's incorporation.

Mr. Willets was married in 1856 to Miss Amelia Smith, of Ledyard, Cayuga county. They have no children living.

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Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 37

Author: Hakes, Harlo, 1823- ed; Aldrich, Lewis Cass. cn Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Hakes, Harlo, 1823- ed; Aldrich, Lewis Cass. cn
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1180