Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 38

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

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JOHN W. DAVIS.

JOHN W. DAVIS, the eldest child of Orlando Davis, and the grandson of a sol- dier of the war of 1812, was born in Sherburne, Chenango county, N. Y., Octo- ber 5, 1820, and received his education in the public schools and academy of his na- tive town. His father drove a team from Hartford to New Haven, Conn., during the war of 1812, and late in life moved to Yates county, N. Y., where he died in Jan- uary, 1880, aged eighty-six years. He married in 1819 Mrs. Fanny Adsit, widow of Leonard Adsit and daughter of Noah Davenport, a prominent farmer and merchant in Columbia county. She had five children by her first husband, viz .: Albert, Arunah M., James M., Martin and Alma; by her second marriage she had three sons: John W. Davis, the subject of this sketch; Charles D., of Yates county, and George, who died, aged thirteen. She died April 28, 1871, at the age of eighty-six.

John W. Davis came to Hammondsport, Steuben county, in 1837, as clerk for his half-brother, A. M. Adsit, who was engaged in general merchandising and forward- ing. He remained in that capacity until 1842, when he was admitted to partnership under the firm name of Adsit & Davis, which continued till 1851, when Mr. Adsit moved to St. Lawrence county and Mr. Davis became sole owner of the business. He then increased the scope of his operations and carried on a large mercantile, pro- duce storage and forwarding trade alone until 1877, when he closed out one of the most extensive and successful concerns ever prosecuted in Hammondsport. He was a heavy dealer in lumber, grain and wool, which he shipped to eastern markets. He was the principal owner and manager for a considerable time of a line of some twelve freight boats that ran between Hammondsport and New York, which was in- stituted by A. M. Adsit at the opening of the Crooked Lake Canal. In this business

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

Mr. Davis was remarkably successful, and acquired as wide a reputation as his vil- lage in days when it was noted as one of the leading and most important grain and lumber markets in the State. He was by all odds the heaviest operator in produce in the county, and discontinued the trade only when the grape industry superseded all other interests.

In 1881 Mr. Davis became a director and general manager of the reorganized Ur- bana Wine Company, one of the largest corporations of the kind in this famous sec- tion, and these positions he has ever since held. He has been interested in farming and grape growing since 1865, and owns and occupies the place upon which the first grape vines in town were set. These were planted more than sixty years ago by Rev. W. W. Bostwick, and have continuously borne excellent fruit. Mr. Davis has long been one of the prominent and extensive viniculturists of this locality, and to him much of its fame as a grape section is due. He was largely instrumental in bringing about the construction of the Bath & Hammondsport Railroad, and upon the organization of the company was elected its first secretary and director, which latter office he still holds. He has also been a director in the Lake Keuka Naviga- tion Company most of the time since its inception, and has always taken an active interest in the material prosperity of his village and town.

Mr. Davis is a Republican and has been a prominent factor in local politics, though not in the sense of a politician. He was supervisor of Urbana in 1848, member of Assembly in 1880, and was one of the first board of trustees of the village of Ham- mondsport, an office he held several years. He has also been president of the vil- lage and was one of the prime movers in effecting its incorporation. He has been a member of St. James's Protestant Episcopal church about forty-five years, and has served successively as vestryman, junior warden and senior warden much of that time. To this parish he has given valuable services, especially during the erection of the new edifice, which cost about $15,000, and which is one of the finest village structures of the kind in the country. As chairman of its building committee, com- posed of able and representative men, he has had the principal charge of its con- struction during the summer and fall of 1895, and to him is largely due the efficient management which has characterized the work

August 10, 1848, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Sarah Hunt, of Dansville, N. Y., daughter of Richard Hunt, of Illinois. She died July 3, 1894, aged seventy-two.

WALTER LULL MOORE.

WALTER LULL MOORE, son of Nathaniel Moore, was born in the town of But- ternuts (now Morris), Otsego county, N. Y., November 1, 1815. He was reared a farmer, a business he followed there until 1863, and obtained his education in the public schools of the neighborhood. Endowed with the sterling characteristics of a worthy parentage, he imbibed the qualities which make the successful man and re- spected citizen, and from an early age pursued a career of quiet but marked useful- ness. On September 7, 1842, he was married to Miss Esther Adelia Fairchild, of New Lisbon, Otsego county, who was born April 29, 1822. Before this, on February

FARY B. BEECHER.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

24, 1838, he was commissioned by Gov. William L. Marcy a lieutenant in the 251st Regt., infantry, 2d Brigade, 6th Division, New York State Militia, and on August 8 of the same year was promoted captain, which position he resigned July 14, 1842. In 1863 he came with his wife and four children to Hammondsport, Steuben county, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying January 7. 1893. His estimable wife preceded him on December 29, 1876, being killed in the memorable railroad accident at Ashtabula, Ohio, of that date.

Arriving at Hammondsport, Mr. Moore engaged in viniculture, a business he prose- cuted with marked success until his death. He was one of the pioneer grape grow- ers in that now famous section, and for many years carried on an extensive vineyard. About 1865 he also engaged in the manufacture of cabinet ware and grape boxes in partnership with his brother-in-law, S. B. Fairchild, under the firm name of Fair- child & Moore, and continued about five years, when the firm sold out to Fairchild Brothers.

Mr. Moore was a man universally respected and esteemed, not only for his busi- ness qualifications, but also for his many social attributes. He was a life-long Demo- crat in politics, but never an officeseeker. Public-spirited and enterprising, he lib- erally encouraged and supported all worthy movements of general benefit, and took a keen interest in the welfare of village and town, especially in religion and educa- tion, being for a time school trustee, and during nearly his entire residence in Ham- mondsport a vestryman of St. James's Protestant Episcopal church.

His children were Anna (Mrs. Elbert McMinn), born March 3, 1845, died May 12, 1884; Trevor, born April 13, 1846, president of the Central New York Grape Grow- ers' Union during its existence, and a heavy shipper of grapes, of Hammondsport; Hobart J., born December 14, 1850, a prominent druggist of Hammondsport; and Clara A. (Mrs. J. C. Mitchell), born September 11, 1854, of Chicago.

FARY B. BEECHER.

FARY B. BEECHER, of Atlanta, Steuben county, is a lineal descendant of one of the immortal band of Pilgrims who sailed for this country in the Mayflower in 1620. This paternal ancestor had three sons, Hezekiah, Lines, and Lyman, and from the latter descended Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. To the posterity of Hezekiah Beecher belongs the subject of this sketch and his father, Randall F. Beecher. The latter came from Madison county, N. Y., about 1840, and settled on a farm in the town of Fremont, Steuben county, where he also practiced as a licensed veterinarian, and where he died. He married, first, Miss Serepta Cass, who bore him three children: Andalusia, Nason, who died in the Union army in the Rebellion, and William Henry, deceased. His second wife was Wealthy Doneha, who was the mother of one son, John D., who served in the Civil war and afterward settled in Allegany county. For his third wife Mr. Beecher married Statira Sanford, by whom he had ten children who attained maturity: Wealthy, of Buffalo; Orrin H., a teacher at Lima, N. Y .; Eunice (Mrs. Lewis B. Ward), of Fremont, Steuben county; Mark H., of Buffalo; Fary B., the

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

subject of this sketch; Luke A., a furniture dealer in Atlanta; Amenzo J., a con- tractor and builder in Buffalo; Murray C., who died in Chicago in 1894; Scott M., of Buffalo; and Gertrude C.

Fary B. Beecher was born on his father's farm in Fremont, Steuben county, June 2, 1856, and received his early education in the public schools of his native town. He attended the Rogersville Union Seminary for a time then taught school several years. Deciding upon a professional life he entered the office of O. S. Searl, of Cohocton, where he became a faithful disciple of Blackstone, and from whence he was admitted to the bar in 1891. He immediately settled in Atlanta, where he has very successfully practiced his chosen profession ever since.

Mr. Beecher is a staunch Democrat and active in the councils of his party. He takes a keen interest in local affairs, in the advancement of his village and town, and is prominently identified with its material growth and prosperity. He is a member of and has held nearly every office in Kanawha Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Atlanta, and has taken the past official degree of the District Grand Commandery and also in 1893 the Grand Lodge degree at Buffalo. He is also a prominent member of the Atlanta Presbyterian church.

Mr. Beecher was married in 1881 to Miss Emma E. Johnson, of North Cohocton. They have four children: Don L., Dana C., Una M., and Marion.

OTTO FREDERICK MARSHAL.

GEN. OTTO FREDERICK MARSHAL was born in the village of Zeisar, Prussian Saxony, Germany, August 14, 1791, being the only son of Daniel Marshal, field chaplain, who enjoyed the favor of Frederick the Great, the sovereign of that country.1 Upon the death of his royal patron in May, 1799, father and son came to the United States, landing in Boston, whence they took a stage to New York city, where they arrived in June. There Daniel Marshal, being a talented linguist, opened a select school, and also invested his small means in German linen, ivory combs, and other notions, opening a modest store at the Bowery in Chatham street. In the spring of 1801 he gathered his effects together and started for the interior of the State, taking a sloop to Albany, ,where he procured transportation to Schenectady. He there purchased a small boat, took aboard his baggage and supplies, and with his son poled his rude craft up the Mohawk River to Utica, then a frontier village. There was a German settlement about a mile from the village, and ten miles below another. The elder Marshal had taken orders, and was therefore qualified to preach, and for several years ministered to the spiritual wants of these settlements in their own language. About a year after their arrival in Utica he purchased a lot on Genesee street, erected a house, and opened a small store. In 1805 a German farmer persuaded him to visit with him the Genesee country. They came to Geneva and were advised by the agent of the Pulteney estate there to apply at the office in Bath. Marshal did so,

1 Several autograph letters of Frederick the Great to Daniel Marshal, as well as one from General Washington, are in the possession of the pioneer's great-grandson, Otto F. Marshal, of Wheeler, by whom they are highly prized.

J. H. LEWIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

and found a lot on Five Mile Creek, in Wheeler, which suited him. Part of it was owned by Valentine Bear, a German, who sold his right and improvements to Mar- shal. He also purchased an additional forty acres adjoining, and then returned to his home in Utica. In 1809 he disposed of his house and lot and closed out his little store, preparatory to his removal to this county. He waited till the 16th of February, 1810, for sleighing, and then engaged a party to bring him and his son, with his goods, to his lands in Wheeler, where they arrived on the 22d of that month where the general ever afterward resided, a period of more than eighty years. The father soon after his settlement here married a young widow. On the 27th of May, 1812, he died. February 16, 1814, Gen. Otto F. Marshal married Miss Dolly Neally, a sister of the late Samuel Neally. . There were born to them three sons and two daughters. One son, Frank J. Marshal, of Wheeler, survives him. He died January 10, 1891.

General Marshal was one of the most distinguished men the town of Wheeler ever honored as a resident. His first service in the State militia was as third corporal in 1810, and he rose by regular gradation until his appointment as major-general of the 30th Division on June 20, 1833, a position he held until he resigned in 1845. He took a becoming pride in that organization, was regarded as a model officer, and was present as a commissioned officer at the execution of Robert Douglass in Bath. By the gift of his townsmen he held every town office from pathmaster to supervisor except constable and collector. He was long a justice of the peace and about twelve years county superintendent of the poor, and in 1837 was appointed postmaster of Wheeler. In 1846 he was elected to the State Legislature and served creditably his

term. He was also commissioner of deeds many years. He was a life-member of the Steuben County Agricultural Society and never failed to have an attractive exhibit at its annual fairs. He was literally the father of that society by virtue of great efforts for its organization and his unceasing anxiety for its welfare and continued usefulness. No other man ever did so much for that body or contributed so largely towards its permanent existence. At the time of his death be was its oldest and most honored member. In all the affairs of life his great desire was always to aid his fellow-citizens and promote their best interests in word and deed. He was plain and simple in his manners, as becomes an American by birth as well as by adoption. He was frank and cordial in his deportment, without roughness or bluster. Always hopeful, always cheerful, slight in form and spare in habit, his great age was due as much to his social qualities as to a vigorous constitution. His memory of men and events was wonderful. It is doubtful is he ever forgot a person he once knew, or was unable to recall some incident connected with him. He attained the great age of nearly ninety-nine years and five months, and died universally respected, esteemed, and beloved.

JACOB H. LEWIS.

JACOB H. LEWIS, third son of Herman and Margaret (Thompson) Lewis, was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, N. Y., January 16, 1826, and came with his parents to the town of Wheeler, Steuben county, in 1828. His father was born of Holland

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

Dutch parentage in the Mohawk valley on April 28, 1787, and served for a time in the war of 1812; he was a life-long farmer, and with the exception of a few years spent in Yates county, Avoca, and Bath, lived in Wheeler from 1828 until his death on January 5, 1873; his wife, Margaret Thompson, daughter of Daniel Thompson, who came to this town in 1840, was born July 12, 1797, and died August 19, 1860. Their children were Daniel D., born October 10, 1818, died December 23, 1893; Jane, born May 24, 1820, died October 20, 1860; Catherine, born February 9, 1822; John M., born February 9, 1824; Jacob H., the subject of this sketch; Barbara, born Feb- ruary 16, 1828. died November 4, 1881; Emeline, born January 3, 1831, died March 23, 1857; Lemuel, born March 7, 1834; Mary E., born February 29, 1836; and George W., born November 7, 1839.

Jacob H. Lewis was educated in the public schools of Wheeler, where he has lived since the age of two years. He was reared upon his father's farm, and early mani- fested an inclination for an active life. When fifteen he began farming for himself and at nineteen he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed successfully for ten years. He then purchased a farm of 112 acres, which he sold twelve years later. and he then bought a farm of 135 acres on Wheeler hill, a part of which he still owns. While farming he also bought sheep and shipped them to western markets. In 1885 he moved to Wheeler village and engaged in general merchandising, which he con- tinned with marked success until 1894, when he turned the business over to his only son, F. F. Lewis, and retired permanently from active life.

Mr. Lewis is a Democrat in politics and has always taken a prominent part in town affairs. Public spirited, enterprising, and sagacious he encourages every worthy movement with a degree of liberality that characterizes a progressive citizen. He was assessor nine years. town clerk two years, and supervisor two terms, and in all these capacities distinguished himself for rare fidelity and uprightness. He was one of the chief promoters in Wheeler of the Kanona and Prattsburg railroad, to which he donated considerable land for right of way. In other minor enterprises of a private and public nature he has been equally prominent, and in matters affect- ing the social and moral welfare of the community his influence is often felt for the good.

February 12, 1854, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Belinda Hankinson, second daughter of Joseph and Susan (Myrtle) Hankinson, of Wheeler. They have one son, Fred Francis Lewis, born December 1, 1855, who married Miss Kate Cook, daughter of Adam Cook, on April 5, 1882.

JOHN H. KEELER.

JOHN H. KEELER was born at Mauch Chunk, Pa., January 1, 1822, and inherited the sturdy characteristics of a Holland Dutch ancestry. When a young man he came to Penn Yan, N. Y., where he acquired a common school education. He early learned the trade of tinsmith in Waterloo, Seneca county, and about 1848 removed to Hammondsport, N. Y., where he entered the employ of Randall & Neil, stove foun- drymen and tinsmiths, whose business he very soon bought out. This was the prac- tical beginning of a long a useful career. He manufactured stoves, plows, tinware,

BIOGRAPHICAL.

and agricultural implements until about 1865, when he sold the foundry and devoted his attention to a vineyard near the village. In January, 1879, he purchased the hardware store of Allen & Brownell and placed his sons, John W. and George H. Keeler, in charge under the firm name of J. H. Keeler & Sons. Mr. Keeler died May 17 of that year, and about four years later the mercantile business was sold to Robie & McNamara, who a year afterward was succeeded by George H. Keeler and O. H. Younglove. This firm was followed by George H. Keeler, the present pro- prietor.

John H. Keeler was a lifelong Republican and an ardent advocate of the princi- ples of his party, but he never became an office seeker nor a politician. He devoted his time and energies solely to business and acquired unusual success. He was one of the first vineyardists in this now famous grape section, and practically demon- strated his faith in its future by founding the valuable vineyard owned by his two sons. In social and business life Mr. Keeler was a man of strict integrity, endowed with the attributes of a respected and successful citizen, and esteemed for his many excellent qualities of head and heart. He took a keen interest in all movements conducive to the welfare of his town and village.

In 1845 he was married to Miss Sarah E., daughter of William McConnell, of Sugar Hill, Schuyler county, who was the mother of his five children, three of whom died in infancy. She met a sudden death in the memorable railroad wreck at Jackson, Mich., on October 13, 1893, while on her way to the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Their surviving children, born in Hammondsport, are John W., born June 19, 1849, and George H., born September 17, 1853, both of whom are representative business men and leading citizens.

John W. Keeler was educated in Hammondsport Academy, graduating in 1868, and became a clerk for K. Church & Co., hardware dealers, of Bath, with whom he remained until 1879, when he returned to Hammondsport, where he has since been engaged in viniculture. In 1894 he was appointed one of the original Board of Water Commissioners to establish the present water system for the village, and in Decem- ber of that year was made superintendent, which position he now holds. He was married in 1877 to Miss Lizzie P., daughter of Dr. John Read, of Bath. They have three children : John W., Daisy L., and Lois R.

George H. Keeler was graduated from Hammondsport Academy in 1873, and en- gaged in viniculture until 1879, when he became a dealer in general hardware, which business he still continues. He was one of the originators of the Lake Keuka Wine company in 1886 and has served as its president ever since. He is also an extensive grape grower and farmer. A Republican in politics he has held nearly every town office, serving as town clerk, highway commissioner, and supervisor three terms, and president of the village four years. He has also been chief of the fire department for ten years, and has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He married in 1875 Miss Eva D., daughter of John Quick, of Hammondsport. They have six daughters, viz .: Sarah E., Lottie J., Mary L., Bessie F., Georgia May, and Flor- ence D.

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

MARTIN KIMMEL.

MARTIN KIMMEL was born in Bavaria, Germany, February 13, 1831, came to America in 1847, and settled in South Dansville, Steuben county, where he worked by the month for eight years. He inherited the progressive characteristics of his race, and in early youth obtained as thorough an education as the limited means of his parents permitted, but the knowledge with which he is endowed to-day was largely acquired in the practical affairs of life and in personal application to minutest details. Determining to start himself upon a business career he purchased a stump machine and profitably manipulated it two seasons. He then formed a partnership with William Cotton and bought a steam saw mill at Haskinsville, but one year later became sole owner. In 1860 he moved the mill to Wayland and con- tinued it with different partners until 1865, when he purchased and moved on to a farm of 176 acres one-half mile west of the village. Later he bought 220 acres ad- joining and owns now in all about 400 acres of the best farming land in town. In 1884 he bought the site and erected a brick block in Wayland, and in it opened a large hardware store, first under the name of Martin Kimmel & Co. This he still carries on, the present firm being Martin Kimmel & Son, which was formed in 1887. In 1890 he also started a hardware store in Cohocton under the same firm name and still continues it. This store is managed by Peter Kimmel, while the one in Wayland is in charge of John Kimmel.

Mr. Kimmel has long been one of the representative men of the town, which he served four years as supervisor. He has always taken a keen interest in local affairs, and in various movements his aid and influence have been exerted for the general wel- fare. He was married in 1855 to Miss Catherins Gross, of Perkinsville, who died in 1862, leaving three children, namely: Joseph, of Dakota, born in 1856, married Addie Steinhart, of Dansville, N. Y., and has two children, Joseph and Laura; Margaret, of Wayland, born in 1860, married Peter Yohon, and has four children, Clara, Mar- tin, Katie, and Peter; and Mary, of Wayland, born in 1862, married John Quantz, and has five children, Mary, Martin, Peter, George, and Katie. Mr. Kimmel mar- ried for his second wife Mrs. Clara (Foot) Kirk, and they have ten children: Martin, born December 28, 1864, married Mary Shultz, and had three children, Josephine, Katie, and Agnes; John, born April 22, 1867, married Mary Engel, and has two chil- dren, Victor and Leo; Frank, born August 17, 1869, married Lizzie Munding; Peter, born November 24, 1871, married Catherine Mertz; Catherine, born November 24, 1873; Anna, born February 1, 1876; Clara, born April 22, 1878; Jacob, born May 7, 1880; Lizzie, born September 19, 1882; and Lena, born March 19, 1886.

HARLO HAKES.

HON. HARLO HAKES was born in Harpersfield, Delaware county, N. Y., Septem- ber 23, 1823. He spent his time until about twenty-eight years of age upon his fath- er's farm, attending school winters until he was seventeen, and was for eight suc- cessive terms a teacher. In the year 1851 he entered the office of Rufus King, of

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Davenport, Delaware county, as law student, where he remained two years. He then became a student with Judge Harris, of Albany, and after attending one course of lectures at the Albany Law School, was admitted to the bar, in 1853, and in May of the same year settled in Hornellsville, where he has remained in the practice of his profession until the present time.

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Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 38

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