USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 81
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P. B. Crandall
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
generous hearts, until now the graded school system is classed by the Board of Re- gents among the very best in the State. He also took an active interest in the agri- cultural welfare of the county, having been one of the prime movers and earnest workers in the Farmers' Club, which held weekly meetings for the discussion of topics and for mutual improvement for many years. This club gave valuable aid to Cornell University at a time when it was charged with having violated its charter in neglecting to properly provide for the interests of agriculture, and also to the move- ment which resulted in the establishment of the State Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion, located at Geneva, and the grants from the general government to the agri- cultural colleges and stations for experiment work. In more recent years his life has been somewhat retired, owing to poor health and advancing years, yet his interest in all public affairs continued to the last, and his sympathies were always on the side of the oppressed and downtrodden ; always on the side of humanity. He died June 22, 1892, at the ripe age of seventy-six. His wife, Eunice C. Priest, survived him until December, 1893. She was a willing, capable, and most intelligent help- mate, who contributed her full share towards the happiness and welfare of the home and family. The four children still survive: Kirk P., Charles L., Ella L. (now Mrs. de Mello), and Clayton-the sons residing in Ithaca and the daughter in Saô Paulo, Brazil.
MYNDERSE VAN CLEEF.
MR. VAN CLEEF was born in Sencca Falls, N. Y., on the 29th day of August, 1853. He is a descendant of an old Holland family and his great-grandfather was the first permanent settler in that village. His parents, Alexander M. and Jane E. Van Cleef, moved to Ithaca in 1869 with their family. His father died August 1. 1879, but his mother is still living. He attended the Ithaca Academy and Cornell Univer- sity, from which latter institution he was graduated in the year 1874. While in col- lege he became a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. After graduation he took up the study of law and pursued his legal studies in Ithaca and at Columbia Law School. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1876, and has ever since been in the active practice of his profession in Ithaca.
In 1880 he was appointed United States Circuit Court commissioner for the North- ern District of New York, which office he still holds.
In the year 1881 he was elected trustee of Cornell University by the alumni of that institution for a term of five years, and on the expiration of his first term he was re-elected by the alumni for an additional term of five years.
He has never sought political office, but has been content in the practice of his profession, in which he has been successful. He is interested in various local finan- cial and business enterprises, and is counsel for a number of banking and business corporations in. Ithaca.
He is an associate trustee of the Cornell Library Association, a director of the Ithaca Mechanics' Society, a local savings institution, and a director in the Ithaca Trust Company.
He was married in 1882 to Elizabeth L. Treman, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elias Treman, of Ithaca. He has two children, Eugenia and Jeannette.
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BEN JOHNSON.
BEN JOHNSON was born at Haverhill, Grafton county, N. H., June 22, 1784. His father was a native of Enfield in the same county. He was married in Fayette, Sen- eca county, N. Y., November 20, 1817, to Jane, a daughter of Peter Dey, an early settler in that part of the State, and died at Ithaca N. Y., March 16, 1848.
At the time of his marriage the house erected by him on Seneca street, in that village, and which is now owned by Dr. William Coryell, was nearing completion, and became his residence for the remainder of his days, a period of thirty years. His early education was chiefly derived from the common schools, and was suppleniented by a little academic training. He had a decided inclination to the law, and as a preparation for that profession, entered as a student the law office of Foote & Rum- sey of Troy, N. Y., where he and John A. Collier, who was then a student in the same office, pursued their studies together. The two subsequently, at Binghamton, N. Y., formed a law partnership, which was, however, of short duration. For a while there- after Mr. Johnson resided in Hector, Schuyler county (then Cayuga) with the Richard Smith who became first judge of Common Pleas for Tompkins county, upon its erec- tion in 1817, and hield sessions alternately at his residence in Hector and at the Colum- bian Inn at Ithaca. Mr. Johnson came to Ithaca some years before his marriage, and opened a law office on Aurora street, where he pursued his profession single- handed until near the year 1819, when he became associated with Charles Humphrey, and continued that connection a number of years.
He subsequently formed a partnership with Henry S. Walbridge, which terminated in 1839. He next was associated with Anthony Schuyler, his son-in-law, who had a short time previous married his daughter Eleanor, since deceased.
Mr. Johnson was one of the staunchest members of the Ithaca bar. Erudite, of logical mind, and possessed of rare powers in debate, his efforts before the courts where he practiced always challenged attention and often admiration. Dry humor and sarcasm were allies always at his command, and, upon occasion, used. An in- defatigable worker, he kept scrupulously within the bounds of his vocation, concen- trating his mental and physical strength upon the cases in hand, from which the temp- tation of office could not lure him. His intellect, cool and penetrating, sped its shafts straight to the mark, undiverted by the false and the immaterial.
His nature was social, genial, though quiet and undemonstrative, revealing at times a slight eccentricity of manner, the habit of a mind preoccupied by engrossing subjects connected with his practice.
The only public position he was ever induced to accept, and that doubtless from a sense of duty, was the office of president of the village, in 1825. His wife died Sep- tember 28, 1881, and all the surviving members of the family, save one daughter, re- side in Ithaca.
JOSIAH B. WILLIAMS.
THE subject of this sketch was born at Middletown, Conn., on the 16th December, 1810, and died at Ithaca, September 26, 1883. Few residents of our county enjoyed
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
a wider range of acquaintance than Mr. W., and to none was accorded higher re- spect or firmer belief in the integrity of his character, his sound judgment, his ma- tured views on social and business questions, and his unswerving devotion to truth and justice. His success in life had its foundation in untiring energy and industry, and capacity to grasp advantages naturally flowing from the pursuit of a certain line of business, or branch of enterprise. In comparatively early life he was attracted to Central New York by the opening of the Erie canal, and, in company with two elder brothers, removed to Ithaca, where he resided until his death, eleven years sinee, the brothers accompanying him dying in 1840 and 1849. His industrious habits and active mind led him, in company with these brothers, to engage in canal navigation, building and running boats, advocating the enlargement and extension of the canal system, and suggesting many improvements since proved of great practical value. He became interested in the construction of roads, bridges, mills, manufactories, churches, schools, and all the accessories of advanced civilization. The building of railroads, and the use of steam thereon, engaged his earnest atten- tion, and also telegraph lines, opening of iron mines and improved modes of manu- facture of iron, were among the enterprises prosecuted by him with earnest and ef- fective energy.
A study of the free banking system of the State so commended it to his mind that the Merchants' and Farmers' Bank was established through his efforts, and con- tinued as a most successful institution until absorbed into the First National Bank, of Ithaca, of which Mr. W. was a prominent officer for years.
On the death of his brother, Timothy S. Williams, then a member of the State Senate, Josiah was chosen to succeed him, serving in that position with great dis- tinction from 1851 to 1856. He was a corporator and trustee of Cornell University, and continued as such to the date of his decease. His broad views of humanity led him to unite with many patriotic men in 1856, in the organization of the "National Com- pensation Emaneipation Society," holding a vice-presidency therein. The object aimed at by its promoters was the purchase and freedom of slaves at the South, with funds acquired from the sale of the public lands of the United States.
Through the long and anxious years from 1861 to the close of the Rebellion, Mr. Williams stood at the front in his support of the government, contributing of his in- dividual means very large sums, expended in raising troops and in the support of families of volunteers.
His wife, a daughter of the late Charles E. Hardy, still survives him, with a very large family of children, all held in high esteem by the entire community.
JOHN H. SELKREG
WAS born at Staatsburg, town of Hyde Park, Dutchess county, N. Y., on the 10th of September, 1817. His father was of Scotch descent, while his mother was of New England stock. The mother died in 1823 and the father in 1828. The family consisted of three girls and two boys, of whom but the subject of this sketch re- mains. He attended a private school taught by an elder sister, and a common dis-
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
triet school; compelled to leave the latter by the breaking up of the family when eleven years of age. At the age of fourteen he entered the office of the Poughkeep- sie Telegraph, serving as an apprentiee to the printing business until he was of age, a period of seven years less two weeks. On attaining his majority he became a member of the firm of Arnold, Van Anden & Co., publishers of the Brooklyn Eagle, then an insignificant weekly journal. His eonneetion with the firm lasted but a few months, when he returned to employment in the office where he learned his trade. In 1840 he acquired the Poughkeepsie Casket, a semi-monthly literary paper, before published by Killey & Lossing, of the Telegraph, and continued it until April, 1841, when he removed to Ithaea and purchased one-half of the Journal from Alfred Wells, sole owner. He continued with this paper as sole or part owner until July, 1880, when he disposed of his entire interest therein. He was married to Clarissa M. Turner, of Poughkeepsie, on the 11th May, 1842. His wife died at Ithaca, April 6, 1891, leaving one daughter, the wife of Geo. W. Apgar, editor of the Democrat, and postmaster of Ithaea sinee February 1, 1894. Mr. Selkreg has served as loan commissioner for Tompkins eounty two terms. postmaster at Ithaea from July 20, 1861, to August 20, 1865. He served as member of Assembly in the years 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1871, aeting as chairman of Ways and Means in 1869. He was elected to the State Senate in 1873, and re-elected in 1875, for the district consisting of Tioga, Tompkins and Broome counties, holding the position of chairman of the committee on railroads for the full four years. He was the regular Republiean ean- didate for the Assembly in 1882, and although running about 400 ahead of Folger, the eandidate for governor, was defeated. He was president of the village of Ith- aca in 1872, president of the Calendar Cloek Company for many years, and a trustee of Cornell University and Cornell Library. He was a Demoerat until 1856, when he supported Fremont, and has continued to aet with the Republicans sinee.
LEROY H. VAN KIRK.
LEROY H. VAN KIRK, the present county elerk, was born in the town of Enfield, Tompkins eounty, Mareh 22, 1849. His father, Lewis H. Van Kirk, also a native of Enfield, and who followed the vocation of a eattle drover and farmer, was born in the year 1806, and died in 1872. In 1852-54 he served as sheriff of the county. He was a Demoerat, and a Republican from the formation of the latter party. His wife was Anna Longstreet, a daughter of Gilbert Longstreet, one of the oldest citizens of Enfield. She is now living in Ithaea with the subject of this sketeh. The children of Lewis H. and Anna Van Kirk are: Louisa, who married Lewis S. Ball, a farmer of Enfield; Oliver P., also an Enfield farmer, who married Marietta Brown; Eliza- beth and Henrietta, both of whom make their home with their mother and brother in Ithaca.
The subject of this notice was edueated in the common sehools and the Ithaea Academy, and during the latter part of his studies he began teaching distriet sehools, which he continued, part of the time in connection with the farm, for several years. In 1876 he was elected supervisor of the town, and served by re-election three years,
Wam. L. Casey
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
filling the position of chairman of the board in 1878. In this office he faithfully and ably served the interests of his constituents, and evinced the practical sound sense and judgment which are his chief characteristics.
In the year 1882 Mr. Van Kirk was appointed to a position in the second auditor's office of the treasury department at Washington, where he remained three years as an accounting clerk of the pay and bounty division of that office in the settlement of claims of the Volunteer Army. Returning to his home in Enfield he was elected county clerk in the presidential election of 1888 for a term of three years, at the end of which he was honored with a re-election.
In the politics of the Republican party Mr. Van Kirk is recognized as an active and effectual worker. He has several times been placed on the County Committee, and in 1893 was its chairman. Genial and courteous, of sterling integrity, he has firmly established himself in the confidence and respect of the community. Mr. Van Kirk is unmarried.
WILLIAM L. CAREY.
WILLIAM L. CAREY, the subject of this sketch was born on the 4th of December, 1843, in the town of Chemung, Chemung county, N. Y. He is a son of D. N. Carey, a farmer, and a native of Orange county, N. Y. His mother was Clara Brewster, also of Orange county, and both are deceased. The children of D. N. and Clara Carey were two daughters and William L.
After finishing his studies in the common schools Mr. Carey began his long career as a railroad man in April, 1863, at the bottom of the ladder, as a freight train brake- man, running between Hornellsville and Susquehanna, on the Erie Railroad, at the rather discouraging salary of one dollar a day. He continued in faithful service un- til 1872, when he located at Ithaca as a brakeman on a passenger train on the Ithaca and Athens Railroad. Three months later he was advanced to train baggagemaster and express messenger, in which capacity he served nine years, running between Sayre, Geneva, and Lyons. In 1881 he was promoted to passenger conductor be- tween Ithaca and Cayuga, on a branch of what is now the Lehigh Valley system. From August, 1890, he acted in the same capacity between Ithaca and Auburn until May 13, 1894, when he was given the longer and more responsible run through to Sayre. In all this thirty-one years of railroad service Mr. Carey points with justifia- ble pride to the fact that he has never been discharged or suspended.
Mr. Carey is a Democrat in politics, and in 1884-5 was trustee of the village of Ithaca. He is secretary of the Old Reliable Conductor's Life Association, which po- sition he has held since 1883, and was eight successive years a delegate to the con- ventions of the association.
Mr. Carey is the principal organizer of the Cook Land Company of Ithaca, and one of the three owners of the valuable tract which the company is improving and selling ; it is situated in the eastern suburbs of Ithaca village.
Mr. Carey was married in 1865 to Emma V. Vaughn, daughter of Crispin Vaughn, of Montrose, Pa. They have no children.
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
CHARLES INGERSOLL.
CHARLES INGERSOLL was born in Lodi, Seneca county, November 12, 1846, a son of Monmouth H. Ingersoll, born September 18, 1811, who for many years conducted a flouring mill near Lodi, and was afterward with the Seneca Falls Woolen Company as a salesman. Hc was engaged in the nursery business in Hector for about seven years and in 1872 removed to Ithaca, where he was employed as a bookkeeper with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and Coal Company for fourteen years. He has four children, of whom our subject is the oldest son. Charles was educated at Sen- eca Falls Academy, and at the breaking out of the war enlisted (in August, 1864) in the U. S. Navy, serving until December, 1865, as a sailor before the mast on board the flag ship Lancaster of the Pacific Squadron, under Admiral Pearson and Cap- tain Henry K. Davenport. After the war closed he spent two years with Hoover, Stone & Co., jobbers in hats, caps and furs, of New York. In 1868 he went with his father in the nursery at North Hector, where he remained for eight years. In 1876 he came to Ithaca, where he started as a cartman and rapidly accumulated a stock of horses and wagons, and did a large part of the carting of the city. He next bought an omnibus line which he ran until 1890, when he started a livery stable. which he now conducts. He has always been a Republican, and was trustee of the city from the third ward. In 1890 he was nominated to the office of county treas- urer, holding the office from 1891 to 1893, and was re-elected in the fall of 1893 for the same office. He married, in 1871, Jennie Hazlitt, of Hector, and they have one son, Monmouth, in class of '97, Cornell University.
SAMUEL J. MCKINNEY.
THE subject of this sketch was born in Ithaca, September 21, 1860, a son of James Mckinney, who died in Ithaca in 1861 at thirty-four years of age. On the maternal side his mother's maiden name was Mary Campbell, and she lived to rear the family from whom the father was taken when the youngest was only a babe, and after she was spared to see these children prosperous and successful men, she too was taken, dying December 15, 1893.
Samuel was given a liberal education in the schools of Ithaca, and after leaving school was employed in the dry goods store of Tillot Kinney until twenty years of age. In 1880 he entered the plumbing establishment of Jameson & Mckinney (the junior member of the firm being his brother), where he learned the trade and became a competent mechanic of that tinie. In March, 1889, he established a business for himself at 23 South Tioga street, where he has ever since been engaged. He em- ploys from twelve to sixteen hands and does a great portion of the Cornell University work, besides a large share of the residence work of this city. In connection with his regular line of work he acts as agent for some of the best manufacturers of the country. Prominent specialties are the McConnell Water Filter and the Torrid Steam Heater, manufactured by W. H. Drake, of Hackettstown, N. J.
Mr. Mckinney is a Republican in politics, and one of the workers of the party in this city, and a member of the K. of P. He was married Marchi 15, 1889, to Miss Ida M. Blakeslee, of the town of Newfield.
Charles Ingersoll
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
LEWIS P. HAND.
Of the representative farmers of the town of Ulysses none stands higher than our subject. Born in the town of Covert, Seneca county, N. Y., March 6, 1814, he can look back on his four score years with pride of his acts and know that his has not been a misspent life. His early education was only what could be derived in the common schools of his nation, and he early chose the occupation of his ancestors, farming, which he always followed until one year after passing his seventieth birth- day. January 25, 1841, he married Miss Mary D. Corey, daughter of William Corey. She was born in Genoa, Cayuga county, N. Y., March 16, 1816, and was the helpmate of Mr. Hand until February 26, 1892, when "she was called up higher." As true Christians they had early in life joined the Baptist church, of which Mr. Hand has been a deacon for over twenty years.
The ancestry of our subject were first found in this country in the New England States. His father, Abraham, was born in East Hampton, L. I., in 1767, and was a farmer and mechanic by occupation. He married Abigail Winnans, daughter of Silas Winnans, who served seven years in the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, and after leaving the army settled in the town of Covert, where he spent the balance of his days. Of their twelve children eight grew to maturity: Harriet, Maria, Jesse, Eliza, Rozilla, Ovid, Lewis P., and Samantha. The father died in 1855, and his wife March 21, 1850.
Lewis P. Hand came to the town of Ulysses in 1856, buying a farm of ninety-four acres, which he has cultivated for grain and dairy. He is a staunch Republican in politics, and about 1870 was elected to the office of excise commissioner as a temper- ance member of the board. A grand niece, Miss Florence Hammond, is the only relative of the household to comfort his declining years.
STEPHEN M. PADDOCK.
It is said that the " most interesting part of history is the biography," and if the lives of all our citizens were as varied as that of our subject, history could be made complete in biography. Mr. Paddock was born in the town of Enfield, Tompkins county, August 1, 1820, was educated in the common schools, and his first regular employment was as a dealer in live stock in Chicago and vicinity. November 18, 1858, he married Mary A. Potts, of Burdette, Schuyler county, N. Y., who still lives to comfort Mr. Paddock in his declining years.
Having no children, in 1867, Mr. Paddock introduced into his family two sons of Leland Terry, Frank and Eugene, whom they have reared and educated, and they have proven a credit to the watchful care and guidance of their foster parents. Eugene is clerk in the surrogate's office at Ithaca, and Frank is a farmer and the town collector. Mr. Paddock's father, Ephraim, was born near Boston, Mass., and was an iron worker. He married Mrs. Annie McNeil, nee Mandeville, and they had I
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five children: Sarah, William, Elsie A., Stephen M., and Moses. Mrs. Paddock's father, James Potts, was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1787, and came to this country in 1805. He married Margaret Bower, of Ulysses, January 6, 1819, and they had five daughters: Mary A., Jane E., Margaret B., Matilda W., and Emma M. James Potts died April 17, 1877, and his wife January 18, 1867. She was born near Edinburgh, Scotland.
At the breaking out of the Civil War Mr. Paddock, while not going to the front, rendered valuable aid for the suppression of the Rebellion, and showed the inherited spirit of his grandfather, Bradford, who served in the Revolution.
CHARLES F. BLOOD.
CHARLES F. BLOOD was born in Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., January 12, 1826. In June, 1838, he came to Ithaca, taking advantage of the educational facilities offered by the county seat of Tompkins county until he reached the age of nineteen, when he entered the mercantile business in the store adjoining the Culver Block on East State street, in which location he continued business until the year 1872. In the spring of 1872 he erected the store No. 9 North Tioga street, being a part of the Ma- sonic Block, where he continued in the mercantile business for ten years longer, dis- posing of his business in 1882, after an almost uninterrupted business career of forty years. About the year 1883 he engaged in the manufacture of window glass, and was one of the promoters of, a stockholder in, and treasurer of the Ithaca Glass Works during its existence and until it merged into The United Glass Company.
For years he took an active interest in the militia of the State, was a charter mem- ber of Company A, 50th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., known as the Dewitt Guards, which was organized in January, 1852. On May 28, 1856, he was elected second lieutenant, and on August 25, 1862, its captain. His company was not mustered into special service during the war until August 25, 1864, when, under special orders pro- mulgated from general headquarters of the State of New York, he as commander of Company A proceeded with his command to Elmira, N. Y., and reported to the act- ing assistant provost marshal, by whom they were mustered into the service of the United States for one hundred days. Owing to the intelligence of the men compos- ing the company, comprising as they did representative business men of the city, nearly the entire command were detailed on special and important duties during practically the entire period of service, until having served the period of enlistment, they were mustered out of the service December 2, 1864.
In December, 1864, Mr. Blood was elected lieutenant colonel of the 50th Regiment, on December 11, 1866, was elected colonel, and on September 20, 1875, was elected to the position of brigadier-general of the 28th Brigade, N. G. S. N. Y., serving in that capacity until his retirement from the service, after a military service of fully twenty-five years.
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