Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 58

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 58

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Williams, Mercy C .- D. B. Williams was born in Foster, R. I., August 14, 1816, and is the oldest of six children born to George and Amy Bennett Williams, both of Rhode Island. In 1831 D. B. came to Chenango county, N. Y., and in 1834 to Steu- ben county, his parents coming in 1835, and settling in East Troupsburg. George Williams died in February, 1864, and Mrs. Williams in December, 1876. The father of George, the Rev. J. Williams, of Herkimer, N. Y., was one of the first to enlist in the Revolution and served all. through the war. He preached his last sermon after he was 100 years old. The Rev. John Williams was a great-grandson of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. D. B. commenced farming in Troupsburg and in 1852 sold out and went West, but returned and bought a farm of 168 acres, which is now owned by Mrs. Williams, and where he resided until his death, which occurred January 16 1894. He was road commissioner two terms, and collector one term. In 1841 he married Mercy C., daughter of Jesse and Eunice Loomis Bartoo, of Oxford, Chenango county. Mrs. Williams was the youngest of twelve children. Mr. and Mrs. Williams had eleven children; Alfred, of Canisteo; Jeremiah, of Cali- fornia: William H., of Illinois; Mary, wife of J. Chamberlain; Elsie A., wife of Curtis Hubbard, Potter county, Pa .; Ruth, wife of Nelson Darrin, now deceased; Daniel, jr., of Illinois; Moses J., a farmer of Troupsburg ; John C., of Denver, Colo. ; Belle; and Lottie, wife of Ralph Carpenter, of Troupsburg.

Miller, Charles L., was born at Wellsboro, Pa., in 1860. Delos Miller, his father, led a very active business life, being a contractor and bookkeeper, and at last en- gaged in the mercantile business. He was a wagon master in the civil war, enlist- ing in Co. K, 147th Regt. of Pennsylvania Vols., and being in active service for three years. He died in 1868. He had one other son, Archie, who died in childhood. Charles Miller was educated at Stony Fork, Pa., but before coming to Addison he took a course at Allen's Business College, Mansfield, Pa. He was employed at West- field, Pa., in 1882 as telegrapher for the Addison and Pennsylvania Railroad, which was built that year, making Mr. Miller the first operator on the road. He was then

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twenty two years of age, but filled the responsible position with rare ability. Two years later he came to Addison and has been train dispatcher here ever since. In 1883 he married Lottie Bartle. He joined Addison Fire Department soon after com- ing to Addison, and has always taken an active part in fire matters.

Ordway, Franklin D., was born March 23, 1862. He was reared on a farm and ed- ucated in the common schools and the Elmira Academy. He now rents a farm of 140 acres and carries on a general farming. July 28, 1886, Mr. Ordway married Nancy M., daughter of Abram and Maria (Deck) Walworth, natives of Herkimer and Steuben counties, respectively. They have two children: Wyan H., born November 8, 1889, and A. Maria, born September 20, 1892. Charles W. Ordway, father of Franklin D., was born April 27, 1832, and March 31, 1859, he married Serena Dennis, by whom he had two children: Franklin D. and Ella G., who was born February 27, 1866, and died March 2, 1881.

Leach, Ephraim, was born in the town of Eaton. Madison county, N. Y., Novem- ber 13. 1823, and is the seventh of ten children born to Ephraim and Sarah H. (Co- nant) Leach, natives of Massachusetts, who came to Eaton, Madison county, being pioneers there, and where they died, he in 1885, aged ninety-four years, and she in 1834. The paternal grandfather Leach lived and died at Bridgewater, Mass., where he was a farmer. The maternal grandfather, Oliver Conant, also lived and died in Massachusetts. Ephraim Leach settled on the farm he now owns in the southwestern part of Troupsburg in 1844, and, excepting one year which he spent in Wisconsin, has resided there since. He has two farms, one of 112 acres where he resides, and another near by of 108 acres. He has filled the office of assessor. He married Rox- anna Potter of Troupsburg, who died, and in 1860 he married Margaret, daughter of Alonzo and Clarinda Hendricks, who came from Greene to Chenango county where they engaged in farming. Mrs. Hendricks died in 1881, aged sixty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have one daughter, Sarah H., and one son, Ephraim, who died in 1877, aged nine years.

Baily, Devoe, was born in Troupsburg, in 1848, and is the son of T. W. and Jane (Bishop) Baily. The grandparents, Stephen and Hulda (Whitney) Baily, were natives of Orange county. N. Y., he born January 11, 1765, and she in 1769. T. W. Baily was twice married, first to Esther Cole, by whom he had three children. She died in 1835, and in 1839 he married Jane, daughter of Charles and Betsey (Harder) Bishop, he of Little Falls, and she from near Albany. Stephen A. Baily, brother of Devoe, was first lieutenant of Company H, 86th N. Y. Vols., wounded at Fort Steadman, front of Petersburg, and died in general hospital on David's Island, New York Har- bor, April 8, 1865, and buried in Young Hickory cemetery. He was twenty-five years of age, and the G. A. R. Post at Troupsburg is named in his honor. T. W. Baily came to Barrington, Yates county, and thence to Troupsburg in 1833 where he died. He located first at West Troupsburg, where he engaged in farming and mer- cantile business, and in 1862 came to Young Hickory where he engaged in farming and milling business, and was also postmaster more than twenty years. He died in 1893, and Mrs. Baily still resides at Young Hickory. Devoe Baily was educated at Troupsburg Academy, and has always made farming and milling his principal occu- pation. He now works the homestead farm and has the mill built by his father. In

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

1872 he married Aurilla, daughter of Randall and Olive (Card) Cady of Troupsburg, by whom he had two children: Lela J., of Knoxville, and Minnie B., wife of Silas Lewis. They also have two adopted sons, Fred and Willie D. Mr. Cady died May 25, 1888, and his wife in 185 -.

Brundage, H. W , was born at North Urbana, October 3, 1843. James Brundage, his father, was a native of Painted Post. He married the daughter of Erastus Fol- som, and was identified as a farmer. He died in April, 1880, in his eighty-second year. H. W. Brundage was engaged in farming until 1881, when he moved to Bath and engaged in the mercantile business, groceries, crockery, boots and shoes; in 1876 he married Flora P. Warner, who for several years was a teacher in Haverling school. Mr. Brundage is one of the conservative men of his town, elected county superinten- dent of the poor for two terms of three years each, and in 1884 was elected village trustee and in 1895, mayor.

Tanner, John H., was born in Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., February 6, 1851, and is the only living child of Amos and Cornelia Schoonmaker Tanner, natives of Pulte- ney and Eastern New York. The paternal grandparents, John and Vinnie Edgett. Tanner, were pioneer settlers of Pulteney, where he lived and died; Vinnie died at the home of Amos in Bath. Amos was born in 1804, and married Sallie Gay, of Pulteney, and later came to Bath, where Mrs. Tanner died. For his second wife he married Cornelia Schoonmaker, by whom he had two children: John H. and Sallie J. Mrs. Tanner died in 1863. Mr. Tanner married the third time, Mary Olmstead, and she died in June, 1882, and Mr. Tanner, in 1877. Mr. Tanner came to Troupsburg in 1861 and settled on a farm, where he remained until his death. He was a strong abolitionist, and assisted in freeing the slaves. He was a deacon of the church at. Towlesville and at Troupsburg for a long time. In politics he was a Republican, and justice of the peace for many years. John H. was educated in Troupsburg and Woodhull Academies, and commenced his business career as a farmer on the home- stead, has been in the stock business, and traveled two years in the interest of N. H. Miller's School of Commerce, in building up the Hornellsville Branch. In 1882 he bought a farm in Troupsburg, where he now resides. He rents the farm and travels in the interest of Victor Hassher's Marble and Granite Works, at Corning. Mr. Tanner married, in 1872, Mary E. Benton, of Troupsburg, and they have four chil- dren: Amos B., Mary, Lelia, and John H. jr. Mrs. Tanner died December 3, 1885. For his second wife he married Florence, daughter of Henry and Emma Klice Ed- gett, who was born in Prattsburg, N. Y., December 14, 1854, and they have one daughter Emma.

Van Scoy, Mrs. Margaret, is the widow of the late Harrison Van Scoy, who was of German descent, and came here at seventeen years of age, following the occupation of a lumberman. He was vestryman in the Church of the Redeemer, a zealous and faithful worker in all that effected the upbuilding of his church, and much of its material prosperity was due to his efforts, which were untiring. In 1851 he married Margaret, daughter of the late James Wilson of Binghamton, who was of Scotch de- scent and a farmer. She has no children, but cherishes the memory of her beloved husband and revered father who died September 17, 1887, being taken ill while on a visit here, which was quite an undertaking for one ninety years of age. Mr. Van

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. Scoy died July 4, 1893, having just completed his allotment of three score years and ten of a life as unassuming as it was full of integrity and usefulness.

Van Sickle, John M., was born in the town of Reddington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, December 13, 1820. Andrew Van Sickle, the father of John, was also a native of New Jersey, born in the same county, March 23, 1797, and took up farm- ing as an occupation. In 1822 he emigrated to New York State and located in Lan- sing. Tompkins county, where he lived for eight years, and in 1830 moved to Green- wood, Steuben county, where he had a large farm of 330 acres, and made his home the balance of his life, dying there, November 6, 1848. He was a man who devoted his whole life to his home and his family. The mother of John, Ellenor Melick, was also a native of New Jersey, born September 12, 1799, died April 6, 1867. They had six children of which John M. was the second son, and is the only one living. He was educated in the common schools and Alfred University, and soon began to as- sist on the homestead farm. At twenty-three years of age he bought a farm of 112 acres in the town of Alfred, where he made his home for twenty years, increasing his possessions by purchase until he owned about 350 acres. In 1864 he sold his farm. In 1863 he removed to Hornellsville where he was enabled to have the comforts of a village and still attend to his duties. He had farmed long enough, as the sorrows of his homestead made him desirous of getting away from the associations that brought them to mind. Since coming here he has been interested in the planing mill about two years, the grocery trade about one year, and had a small farm near here for three years. He has now retired from all active business and is now taking the well de- served rest his early manhood earned for him. He was married in Allegany county, N. Y., July 4, 1842, to Ethylinda, daughter of Uriah Nichols of Massachusetts. They have been the parents of three children; Robert L. Van Sickle, born July 20, 1843, educated at Alfred University and gave promise of being an honor to the name, when he was called up higher, November 23, 1863. Charles A., born May 29, 1848, is a railroad man of Batavia. Emma, the youngest child, was born January 18, 1858, and died August 20, 1863. Another bereavement for Mr. Van Sickle has been added to his lot, as his partner of life's joys and sorrows was taken from him August 1, 1892, leaving him to plod the balance of life's journey alone.

Wilcox, Bradford, was born in Campbell, January 1, 1840. Isaac Wilcox, his father, was born in Vermont, near the Green Mountains, and came to Chenango county in 1815, with his father, Archibald Wilcox. He moved from Chenango county with Culney Balcom, when eighteen years of age, and first settled in Curtis. He married Margaret Tanner of Campbell, by whom he had three children: Bradford, Jane, and John T. Mr. Wilcox was educated in the district schools of Curtis. He is a farmer and engineer, and now owns a farm of ninety-three acres. He married Frances Parker, of Bridgeport, Conn., by whom he had one son, Edwin C. Wilcox.

Windsor, Francis, father of Charles B., was a native of New York city, and at the time ef his death in August, 1861, he was living on his farm near Rahway, N. J. Charles, who was the third son of a family of seven children, was educated by private tutors and at Canandaigua Academy, and after leaving school was engaged in the insurance business in Geneva, New York city, and later in Pittsburg, going from there to Kansas, in 1872 returning, and was for a time a resident of Canaseraga and

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

traveling throughout the State as a special agent of insurance companies. In 1882 he located in Hornellsville and established a general insurance agency, which busi- ness he is still following. In 1889 he married Grace A. Noble, daughter of William E. S. Noble of Prattsburg, this county, by whom he had one child, Burtis Noble Windsor, now five years of age.

Wheeler, Oscar, was born in the town of Troy, Bradford county. Pa., August 10, 1858. Oscar was the fourth son of a family of eight children of Stephen Wheeler, a farmer of that county. He was given a common school education which he has im- proved by reading and study. He remained with his parents on the homestead until eighteen years of age and was then employed with different farmers until twenty- three, when he was married. In 1877 he came to Hornellsville, and after his mar- riage he rented the farm of seventy two acres on Lot No. 3, town of Hornellsville. He still rents the farm, and January 1, 1894, he bought the Thomas Bennett farm of 100 acres on Lot No. 3, twenty acres of which he sold and the balance he is conduct- ing for the production of potatoes principally. He is a member of the Methodist church of Arkport, also a member of Arkport Grange, No. 179, of which he is an officer, and a member of the Equitable Aid Union. He was married March 1, 1883, to Della, youngest daughter of John and Lovina Travess Morgan. They have three children: Sybil, Carl, and Merritt.

Willis, William H., was born in the town of Bath, May 30, 1832, son of Harry Willis, who was born in Connecticut, October 12, 1804, and was the son of William Willis, who was also born in Connecticut. Their ancestors lived on the old Charter Oak farm, where the charter of Connecticut was hid. The family came to Bath in 1820, settling near the town line between Bath and Howard, where they cleared a farm of 270 acres, The father and grandfather both died on this place. Harry Willis mar- ried Eunice Hern, of Howard, and they had eight children: Philander G., Leander V., William H., Henry, Ellen, James, Sophia, and George. At the present time only four are living. William H. was educated in the public schools and Alfred Academy, and is a farmer by occupation. He has a farm of 100 acres of fine im- proved land. He married Nancy, daughter of Major John W. Whiting, of Howard. They had four children: Clarence, a lawyer of Bath, who read law with C. F. Kingsley, of Bath, was admitted to the bar in 1878, and has been practicing ever since; Sarah W., who married A. T. Abbey of Watkins, and they had one child; John W., who married Emma J. Wyckoff, of Bath, and Angeline, who married A. J. McKibbin, of Howard. Mr. Willis has held the office of supervisor for two years. He is a member of the V. E. church. Mrs. Willis died September 20, 1894.

Wakeman, Dr. Bertis Rupert, was born in the city of Hornellsville, July 12, 1867. Bennett Wakeman, his father, was a native of Harpersville, Broome county. Dur- ing the war, he served in the navy until 1865, coming in the following year to Hor- nellsville, where he received an appointment as fireman on the Susquehanna Divis- ion of the Erie Railway. After serving in that capacity for six years he was given charge of an engine and is now one of the leading engineers on the road. In 1857 he married Bethiah M. Edson, a native of Otsego county, and of this union the doctor is the only living child. Young Wakeman began his education in the Hor- nellsville Academy, from which he graduated in 1885, and immediately became a

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student at Cornell University. With a view towards his subsequent medical career, he took a scientific course and graduated with honors, obtaining the degree of B. S. in 1889. The following year was spent in Minnesota, and was about equally divided between teaching school in a Scandinavian district near Glencoe, McLeod county, and reportorial work on one of the prominent Duluth daily newspapers. In the fall of 1890, he became a medical student at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, from which he graduated with the degree of M.D. in 1893. Throughout the inter- vening three years, he was one of the collaborators on the Foster Encyclopedic Medical Dictionary, being in charge of the departments of comparative anatomy, zoology, pharmacy and chemistry. After graduation he was one of the successful candidates in the competitive examination for positions on the house staff in the hospital connected with the college, and also received the appointment of ambulance surgeon from the Brooklyn Board of Health. In the early part of Aprll, 1894, after having spent a year in the above positions, Dr. Wakeman located in Hornellsville, where he has built up an extensive and successful practice. In June, 1894, he was elected a member of the attending staff of St. James Mercy Hospital, and in the fol- lowing September received the appointment as consulting surgeon to the Steuben Sanitarium. With the beginning of 1895, he was appointed surgeon to the Erie Railway. He is a corresponding member of the King's County (N. Y.) Medical So- ciety, President of the Steuben County Medical Society, Fellow of the Association of Erie Railway Surgeons, and a member of the Hornellsville Medical and Surgical Association.

Willis, Clarence, was born in Howard, July 31, 1852. His father, William H., was born in the town of Bath, May 30, 1832, and his father, Harry Wyllys, was a native of Tolland, Tolland county, Conn., and the family trace their descent from William Wyllys, who settled in Connecticut in 1650. William H. Willis married Nancy, daughter of Major John Whiting, who was prominent in the affairs of the town, hav- ing received his commission as major under Dewitt Clinton in 1827. William H. Willis was a farmer by occupation and held the offices of supervisor and assessor. Clarence Willis graduated from Haverling Academy in 1871, then began the study of law with Ruggles & Little and later with Charles F. Kingsley, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In 1881 he was elected justice of the peace, and in 1890 police justice, which position he still holds. In 1890 he married Mary A., daughter of Jacob Billington. Mr. Willis is prominently identified in the I. O. O. F. and A. P. D. D. G. M. of Steuben county. He has been a member of the Board of Education for seven years, and is vestryman in the St. Thomas Episcopal church. He received the honorary degree of A. B. from Hobart College in June, 1895.

Wolcott, John E., was born in the old town of Painted Post, in 183 , son of Samuel K. and Hannah (McNulty) Wolcott. The father was one of the Forty-niners who went to California and died there. Mr. Wolcott has resided at his present place for thirty years. He has 110 acres, and makes a specialty of breeding and raising horses. In 1855 he married Phœbe E. Berry, who was born on the place where they now live. She is a daughter of Samuel F. Berry and a sister of Attorney-General Berry of Minnesota. Her parents were pioneers in the town of Caton, and died there. They have one child, Edward E., who is in business at Joilet, Illinois, 1

LANDMARKS OF STEUBEN COUNTY.

Willets, Edward F., was born in Ledyard, Cayuga county, N. Y., January 16, 1828, of Quaker parentage, the youngest son of a family of six children of Abram Willetts, a native of Queens county, who spent his last days on his farm in Cayuga county ; he was educated in the common schools and Poplar Ridge Seminary, and his first occupation was in mechanical pursuits, which he followed for five years and then engaged in the mercantile business at Lake Ridge, Tompkins county, and later in Fleming, Cayuga county. From there in 1857 he went to Angelica, Allegany county, where he was engaged in the lumbering business, and then in the milling business in Belmont, both grain and saw mill, until 1877, when he went to Bradford in the oil industry, and in 1883 came to Hornellsville, continuing in the oil business. His political record includes four years as supervisor of Amity, Allegany county, and four years supervisor in the city of Hornellsville. In 1892 he was elected mayor of the city of Hornellsvile, the first Republican mayor of that city, and re-elected in 1894, filling the office with satisfaction to his friends and constituents. He has always been a Republican, and was revenue collector five years while a resident of Allegany county. In 1856 he married Amelia Smith, of Ledyard, Cayuga county.

Waters, Almon, was born in the town of Horicon, Warren county, N. Y., Febru- ary 27, 1827, and settled in Cameron in 1858. He is a son of Howard and Laurie (Putnam) Waters. He married Agnes, a daughter of George and Marian (Cuthill) Wream, who were natives of Scotland and residents of Schuylkill county, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Waters have four children: Carrie A., Clayton H., Miriam L., and Robert J., all school teachers except Miriam. Carrie A. attended school in Bath and is a graduate of Elmira College. Almon Waters is an active worker in the North Cam- eron Grange and was one of its early masters, and is at the present time overseer of the town and county Grange. He has been assessor of the town for six years and was supervisor in 1891.

Williams, Francis A., was born at Prattsburg, March 25, 1834. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1860, then was principal of the academy at Wellsville, N. Y., and afterwards of the academy at Port Byron, N. Y. In 1863 he was admitted to the bar at the General Term of the Supreme Court held at Roches- ter in December, 1863, and commenced the practice of his profession at Corning in January, 1864, and is still in active practice. In 1865 he was elected justice of the peace and held that office until January, 1870, afterwards he was assistant district attorney of the county, and in 1889 was the Democratic candidate for county judge of the county but was defeated by Hon. Harlo Hakes. In 1862 he married L. Jane, the daughter of Solomon Clark of Hammondsport, a graduate of the Mt. Holyoke Seminary, by whom he has had five children: Mary, an A. B., from the University of Michigan, and now a teacher in Lake Erie Seminary at Painesville, Ohio; Francis C., a lawyer practicing at Corning, and a graduate from the University of Rochester in 1888; Clarke Benedict, a graduate from Princeton in 1890, a student for two years at Leipsic, Germany, and now professor of mathematics at Kalamazoo College, Michigan; Jane, an A. B., and graduated from Wellesley College in 1894, and now instructor in psychology and English at Lake Erie Seminary; and Elizabeth, now a student at Lake Erie Seminary, Painesville, Ohio.

Wettlin, William A., was born in Rochester, May 14, 1867. Daniel Wettlin, his

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father, was a native of Germany, coming to this country with his parents when a lad of fourteen or fifteen. His people located in Rochester and Daniel learned the florist's trade, which he followed until the last two years, and is now living retired in Newark, New Jersey. He removed to Hornellsville in 1879, when he bought the green-house and flower gardens established here by Lewis T. Charles in 1878. William was educated in the city schools of Rochester and Hornellsville and grew up with his business. In 1889 his father left Hornellsville and located in Newark and William has since conducted the business alone. The green-house of his occupation has 10,000 square feet of glass and forcing beds outside. He is the leading florist of this city. The last three years Mr. Wettlin has made many very valuable improve- ments and rebuilt the whole establishment. His sole interests are with his business. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for three years, and Hornellsville Lodge No. 331.

Waldorf, George A., was born in the town of Richmond, Schoharie county, N. Y., April 13, 1852, the oldest son of George E. Waldorf, at that time a farmer and deputy sheriff of Schoharie county. George was educated in the common schools, and his first occupation after leaving school was with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Co. Railroad, as brakeman for two years, then became baggageman, and for fifteen years as conductor on a Pullman car. In 1874 he came to Hornellsville to engage with the Pullman Company, and on his returning from railroad service he took up the business we now find him in. In 1885 he bought out the interests of F. J. Hutch- inson of the jewelry firm of Hutchinson & Cobb, placing Cobb in charge. The store is now located in the old Crane Bank building. He was married at the age of seven- teen to Miss Ella J. Slater of Schoharie county. They have two sons: Edwin D. Waldorf, who is in the store, and Milo W. Waldorf, machinist and foreman in the Merrill Fabric Glove Company.

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Landmarks of Steuben County, New York, Part 58

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