USA > New York > Wayne County > Landmarks of Wayne County, New York, Pt. 2 & 3 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
17
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Conrt in January, 1841, as a solicitor in chancery in Jannary, 1838, and as a connselor in chancery in July, 1843. He was also admitted to practice in the District and Circuit Courts of the United States in and for the Northern District of New York in March, 1842. After Mr. Holley's death Mr. Clark practiced alone down to the time of his leaving Lyons for Denver, Colorado, except for a few years when Col. Anson S. Wood, now of Wolcott, N. Y., was associated with him under the firm name of Clark & Wood, and from 1870 to 1876, when his son, William H. Clark, who was Member of Assembly from the Eastern District of Wayne county in 1875, was associated with him under the firm name of W. & W. Il. Clark.
He always took a deep interest in politics, first as a Whig and afterwards as a Re publican, and was State Senator in 1854-5, and chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
While a strong and convincing advocate, Mr. Clark was partienlarly well known as a thoroughly informed and safe legal adviser-a reputation which was shown by the term almost invariably applied to him, and by which he came to be every where known, that of "Counselor" Clark.
Mr. Clark was married October 13, 1847, to Miss Amelia R. Heermans, formerly of Nassan, N. Y., who died Oct. 16, 1880. Of their six children two died while quite young. The surviving ones are William H. Clark, of Cortland, N. Y., now editor of the Cort- land Standard; John HI. Clark, for many years principal of the Lyons Union School, afterwards superintendent of schools at Flushing, N. Y., and now connected with Gunton's College of Social Economies in New York city ; and Mrs. James H. Brown and Miss Carrie Clark, of Denver, Col.
In December, 1878, Mr. Clark removed to Denver, Col., for the benefit of his health, he having for many years suffered severely from asthma. It was while on his return to that city from a visit at Lyons that he fell from a train near Clyde, O., July 9, 1890, and was instantly killed. He was a member, at the time of his death, of the Central Presby - terian Church of Denver.
The Wayne Democratie Press, speaking of him after his death, said :
" In his profession he was an able counselor and an advanced thinker. He was a man of intelligence, well-read, mentally trained. His character nobody ever assailed. He was an honest, faithful man. He filled with honor the othce of State Senator, and as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and servant of the people was clear- headed and firm. He left the legislative hall with a clean record, and during his life he was held up to the young men of his time as an example to follow."
The Lyons Republican spoke of him as follows:
" Few men in Wayne county were better known at the time of hisremoval to Denver than Mr. Clark, and few commanded a larger measure of genuine respect and esteem. Hle was a man of decided opinions and fearless in their expression; but beneath a positive manner he carried a warm heart and kindly disposition that attached his friends to him as with hooks of steel. He was a keen observer of events, and his extensive and varied information made him an instructive and delightful companion. None who met him during his recent visit to his old home in Lyons will forget how happy he seemed to be in greeting his old time friends again, or the interest he displayed in the growth and improvement of the village that was for so many years his home. Though
18
LANDMARKS OF WAYNE COUNTY.
past his four score years, his step was firm, his voice sonorous, and his bodily health apparently unimpaired."
The following resolutions were adopted by the bar of Wayne county following Mr. Clark's death :
Whereas, Hon. William Clark was for many years a distinguished citizen of Wayne county, an eminent member of the bar and filled with distinction while among us high public office, and
Whereas, His choice of a home always remained in Wayne county, and he resided away only because afflicted with a physical malady from which he could only find relief by absence. Therefore,
Resolved, That as citizens and members of the bar of Wayne county, we monrn his lamentable death and honor and cherish his memory. That we remember him as a citizen of great ability, pure life and ever interested in the public welfare; as a lawyer eminent in counsel, able in argument, and true and honorable in his dealings with clients and with the members of his profession ; and as a statesman enlightened, incor- ruptible, without reproach.
Resolved, That these resolutions be filed with the records of the county and copies sent to the friends of our deceased brother and also to the press for publication."
The portrait of Mr. Clark which appears in this volume is from a photograph taken not long before his death.
PLINY SEXTON.
IT is a pleasant as well as an imperative duty to place in this historical work on Wayne county, a brief account of the life and character of the man whose name stands above. In general terms it is wholly proper to state that no one has exerted a wider influence for good in this community.
Pliny Sexton was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 31, 1796, and was brought into what was then Ontario county (now Wayne) by his parents in 1799. The family settled temporarily near the present village of Marion, but soon removed to what is now the village of Palmyra. In December, 1801, the boy made a journey with his mother to visit her mother in Suffield, Conn. This long and trying journey, made in a sleigh, was always remembered as replete with incident. They remained east until 1803, when they again made the journey westward and lived for a period at what has locally been called " the Huddle " on the road to Walworth. In 1805, when the boy was only nine years old, he went to work for Sylvanus Conant in a brick yard on the creek flats about two miles west of Palmyra. In those early years of arduous toil were laid the foundations of character, energy, perseverance, and fidelity which marked his personality through life. And the conditions of life and the physical surroundings of the people in this part of the country at that time, were far different from those of this day. In every direction extended an almost unbroken forest, through which roamed at will wild animals. Speaking of his boyhood experiences, he mentioned
19
BIOGRAPHICAL.
being sent, when about eleven years old, alone to drive a cow from Walworth to Lake Ontario, all of the way through the woods, and of his fear of meeting bears, which then abounded. Even when, after his apprenticeship, he returned to Palmyra, in 1819, as a young business man, the country was still in quite a primeval state. The Erie Canal was not dug until several years afterward; railroads were unthought of, and the only mode of travel was upon the rude highways by private conveyance or in the public stage coach. His journeys to New York for goods, and the return, easily consumed a month of time, by stage to Albany and from there by sail vessel down the Hudson River, a voyage which baffling winds often extended to a week. The surplus products of this country were hauled to Albany by teamsters, who brought back loads of mer- chandise.
In the year 1808 the family removed to Mayfield, in what is now Fulton county, N. Y., and in 1809, when he was thirteen years old, the boy was apprenticed to Caleb Johnson, in Johnstown, in the same county, to learn the silversmith's and watch making trade. He served there faithfully for eight years as an apprentice, until he was twenty- one years old, receiving for his labor his board and clothing and nine months schooling -a period of devoted service to acquire properly the means of earning a future liveli- hood that is unheard of at the present day. In the fall of 1818 he worked in Auburn at his trade and in the manufacture of mathematical instruments, principally surveyor's compasses. One of these compasses bearing his name as maker, is now owned by the town of Palmyra. In the following year (1819) he returned to Palinyra and made that place his home until death. It was only a mere hamlet at that time and finding no suitable building for a shop, the young man proceeded to erect one. He was cheerfully aided by his brethren of the Society of Friends, kindness that he never forgot or failed to recognize on all proper occasions. He had his tools and very little money ; but he was given credit for lumber, while others aided him in his work on the shop, Asa Stoddard building it and taking a brass watch for his pay. It stood about on the site of the present Episcopal church. There he began work, making almost anything he was called upon for, including sleigh bells, silver spoons, compasses, repairing watches, and gradually increasing his stock of goods.
In 1822 he married, but he had already begun building a house, which is still standing on the corner of Main and Washington streets, which he occupied before it was finished, his previous housekeeping having been in the chambers of Orrin White's dwelling, on the site of the Episcopal church lot. In 1823 he brought into the town and sold the first cooking stoves. In 1825 he joined with others in erecting the Jenner Block, the middle section of which he occupied with his rapidly growing business. In 1828 he built and removed to the " corner hardware store," which stood until 1878 on the corner of Main and Market streets. There he remained in the hardware business many years. His business was conducted as almost all really successful business is-upon principles of integrity, fairness, and proper regard for the rights of all ; and of course he was success- ful; successful not alone in acquiring money, but in making for himself a most enviable place in the hearts of his fellow citizens. When, therefore, in 1844 he determined upon organizing the Palmyra Bank, under the then new free banking law, he found no trouble in doing so, for there was no lack of confidence in the enterprise under his
0
S
20
LANDMARKS OF WAYNE COUNTY.
management. He soon afterward entered into partnership with the late George W. Cuyler in the banking business, which was conducted under the name of "Cuyler's Bank," until 1864, when they organized the present First National Bank of Palmyra, of which Mr. Sexton remained vice-president until his death.
Mr. Sexton had other objects and views besides the mere gaining of wealth. Always public spirited, he was active and influential in promoting the foundation of the excellent Union School at Palmyra, and in aiding other movements that benefited the place. In later years, when he could free himself in a measure from exacting business duties, he occupied himself in building up and improving a neglected portion of the village. Ile bought and drained the "old mill pond property," and converted it into a habitable region, at the same time removing a dreaded source of disease and discomfort. Of his long business career in Palmyra it was written at the time of his death as follows:
" Viewed simply as a business life it affords a worthy and encouraging example to young men. He began with nothing, and following a life of industry and economy, coupled with striet integrity, gained for himself, long before life's close, if not so great wealth as some have supposed, all thereof that man need want. And of all his gains nothing ever came to him from another's injury. In all his business plans he studied to be helpful to others as well as himself. And the one thing to be noted above all else, is that the most potent factor in his material success, was the perfect trust and confi- dence which his fellow men early came to repose in him, and which he never failed to justify. That confidence was typified in the financial panic of 1857, when standing in the entrance of the bank of which he was part owner, he found the frightened deposit- ors, who were unwilling to longer trust their money to the keeping of the bank, not only willing but anxious to take his individual note, without security, and go home con- tent leaving their treasure in his hands."
This is all high praise, but his character eminently deserved it. For it was not alone in business that he was accounted successful. He left behind a name and reputation of stainless purity. During his mature life he was a member of the Society of Friends and imbued with their high ideal of manhood in all of life's relations. Deprived of early opportunity for obtaining an education, he began a course of self-teaching and reading which ultimately gave him a cultured and refined mind and a large fund of general information. All movements for the betterment of his fellows, all instances deserving aid and sympathy, found in him a ready and generous benefactor; and par- tienlarly was this true of efforts to uplift the moral tone of a community, or the undoing of a wrong. He was, therefore, an ardent and active participator in the anti-slavery movement, believing slavery not only a curse, but a erime. His house became a well- known station on the famous " underground railroad," and many a poor fugitive from bondage was aided and protected by Pliny Sexton.
Mr. Sexton died at his home in Palmyra March 26, 1881, in his 86th year. He left surviving the wife of his later years ; a daughter, Mrs. David S. Aldrich, and his son, Pliny T. Sexton.
" He left behind him no one who could owe him an nnkind thought, and carried with him to the better land the respect and affection of all who knew him."
21
BIOGRAPHICAL.
PLINY T. SEXTON.
PLINY T. SEXTON, of Palmyra, son of the foregoing, was born in Palmyra, June 12, 1840. ITis mother was Hannah Sexton, a highly cultivated and gifted woman, who, like her husband, was a member of the Society of Friends, among whom she is still well remembered as a preacher of unusual power.
The son's early circumstances were vastly different from those under which his father began life, and were such as would be expected for one blessed with such a father and mother. The doors to educational opportunity were early opened wide for him. In the Palmyra Classical Union School and in private institutions he acquired a broad general education, which was succeeded by a course at the noted Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., whose range of studies extends over a more practically useful field than the usual college conrse. It was desired that he should also have a business knowledge of the law, and to that end he entered the New York State and National Law School, from which he graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1859. He was a hard student, mastering whatever he read. On attaining to his majority in 1861, he was admitted to the bar of this State, and since has been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Sexton was not destined to closely follow his pro- fession. Other interests connected with the business of his father and that later developed by himself have occupied his attention and time. It should not be inferred, however, that he has altogether neglected the law, which has never lost its attract- iveness to him. ITis interest in the development of legal seience has remained deep and abiding, and possessing a judicial quality of mind he has thoroughly grounded himself in the principles of his profession by continued and careful study in his law library, which is one of the best in his vicinity.
Mr. Sexton succeeded his father in an important banking house, and under his liberal and progressive management it has become one of the leading financial institutions of the State outside of large cities. It was in 1864 that the First National Bank of Palmyra was organized, in the dark days of the Rebellion, when a loan of money to the govern- ment was an exhibition of patriotism. He was made its first cashier and since 1876 has been its president. His praetieal financial knowledge and judgment have been manifest in the entire history of the institution of which he is the head.
A lifelong Republican in politics, Mr. Sexton might have been highly honored in that field had he so desired. The strife of party politics for personal ends has had little attraction for hin, but he has never been reluctant to give expression to his enlightened views on public questions or active aid to local movements which he believed were for the good of the community. Without solicitation on his part he was for four successive terms elected president of his native village and retired from the office at his own request. For six years he was president of the Board of Education of the Palmyra Classical Union School, an office the duties of which were in entire harmony with his natural and acquired tastes and in which his influence was most salutary. In 1883 he received without his own seeking or attendance at the convention the nomination for the honorable and responsible office of State treasurer. This was in the year following
22
LANDMARKS OF WAYNE COUNTY.
the Cleveland tidal wave of 200,000 majority for governor, and of course no Republican could be elected.
In 1890 the Legislature of the State chose Mr. Sexton one of the Regents of the Uni- versity of the State of New York. This honorable position gave him opportunity for the public development and advancement of theories of education which he had long entertained ; and his reputation for scholarship and rare mental vigor and acquirements was still further recognized in 1893, when he was elected honorary chancellor of Un'on University, Schenectady, and as such delivered the annnal address June 28, of that year. At that time he received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Laws. He chose as his theme on the occasion alluded to, " Educational Extension," his treatment of which was in direct line with his previous efforts for that canse.
This subject of " Educational Extension " has ocenpied Mr. Sexton's thoughts for some years. It is founded npon his belief that educational facilities should not stop at the time in young people's lives when they usually leave our schools and colleges, but should continue through life, even if they have to be supplied through State aid. He was chiefly instrumental in securing the passage by the Legislature in 1891 of the so-called University Extension Law, which is only the established name for the objects sought by him. Abandoning his private business he spent most of the session in Albany. Equipped with facts and ample argument, gifted with rare powers of persua- sion, and armed with the conviction of the importance of his mission, he worked as lobbyists have seldom worked. He had aid, but he is generally recognized as the parent of the measure, which finally became a law. The system has been put into operation to some extent and promises great usefulnes, as the projectors anticipated. University Extension centers have been established at various points and educators with progressive idoas havo entered into the work with enthusiasm. While the system had its beginning, in name, in England, Mr. Sexton, as well as others, have originated and incorporated in it and contemplate for it new ideas which will undoubtedly develop into useful practical features. This educational movement was the inspiration of Mr. Sexton's address at Union before referred to, which was a clear and unanswerable argument in favor of educational extension.
Mr. Sexton has been thoughtfully interested also in electoral reform, and has recently (1894) published a pamphlet suggesting a plan for practicable "Independent voting within political party lines," which seeks to bring the election of public officers more fully under actual popular control.
The tastes of Mr. Sexton are domestic and his life and manner unpretentious and modest. He was married in September, 1860, to Harriot Hyde, daughter of the late Stephen Hyde, of Palmyra, and granddaughter of the Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D., formerly a noted Presbyterian divine, of Lee, Mass. Their Palmyra home is hospitable and pleasant. They have also a summer home on Lake George, one of the loveliest spots in the country. Both Mrs. and Mr. Sexton are fond of ontdoor life, and several years ago inade a winter horseback tour of the Southern States, traveling in that manner from Palmyra to Savannah, Ga. They have no children.
Carle Botcher
23
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CARL BOTCHER.
CARL BOTCHER was born in Mechlenberg, Germany, February 28, 1842. His parents, Carl and Henrietta (Miller) Botcher, farmers, left their fatherland with their family of four sons-two of whom were by Mrs. Botcher's first husband, Christopher Swartz- on the 31st of October, 1853, and arrived in New York city January 18, 1854. They came direct to Rochester, where they remained two months, and then settled perma- nently in the town of Arcadia, Wayne county. Their first home was three miles north of Newark village, where Frank Swartz, the eldest of Mrs. Botcher's first children, now lives. Four years later they removed to the present farm of Carl Botcher, where the parents died-the mother in October, 1882, and the father in September, 1884. They both possessed the sterling characteristics of native Germans, and were ever first and foremost in all matters affecting their countrymen. For many years they were promi- nently identified with the Lutheran church of Newark, sustaining it with continued liberality and encouraging it by personal attendance and labor. Mr. Botcher was a Republican, but never sought political preferment, yet he always gave his influence to the betterment of his adopted country.
Carl Botcher, the third child in the family and the eldest of the two children of Carl, sr .. obtained his education before leaving his native land, and acquired a good knowl- edge of all the branches taught in the public schools of Germany. His father had been accustomed from early youth to the methods of agriculture as carried on under the German nobility, and after coming to the United States could never wholly eradicate the principles thus formed from his mind. The son, therefore, at the early age of fif- teen, was comp: lled to take active charge of the farm and ever afterward had the gen- eral management of affairs. He readily adopted the most modern methods, applying them with unusual snecess, and in many instances instituted new ideas. His present fine farm of 136 aeres, adorned with spacious and substantial buildings, all of which have been practically erected under his personal supervision, attests the degree of suc- cess which has attended his efforts.
November 16, 1865, Mr. Boteher married Miss Kate Bloom, born March 7, 1846, a native of Germany, and the daughter of Conrad Bloom. They have had two children, a daughter and a son. The latter, Clarence G. Botcher, was born October 18, 1871, was educated at the Newark Union Free School and Academy, and assists his father on the homestead.
Conrad Bloom, the father of Mrs. Carl Boteher, came to America with his family in 1853 and settled in what is now East Newark. They removed to Missouri in May, 1867, where he died in February, 1892, and where his widow still resides. They had six children, of whom five are living.
THERON G. YEOMANS.
THERON G. YEOMANS was born in Greene county, New York, January 31, 1815. ITis father, Gilbert Yeomans, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., November 30, 1775.
T
24
LANDMARKS OF WAYNE COUNTY.
His grandfather, Eliab Yeomans, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1735. The two latter moved to Greene county, N. Y., in 1778. Eliab Yeomans, the grandfather, was a noted land surveyor of that early period, and died at the age of ninety-three years.
The mother of our subject was Sarah Bullock, daughter of Asa Bullock. His parents were married October 14, 1802, and bad born to them ten children, Theron G. being the only survivor, aged eighty years. He was accustomed to farm life till fifteen year of age, when he came to Walworth to assist an older brother in mercantile business for six years. At the age of twenty-one years he succeeded his brother in the same busi- ness, from 1836 to 1845.
He was married to Lydia A. Stearns, daughter of Royal Stearns of Ontario county, N. Y., September 27, 1837. They have three children living : Lucien T., Elon L. and Francis C. ; the two former of the firm of T. C. Yeomans & Sons, and the latter, Francis C, a resident of the State of Washington. They lost one son, Vaniah G., aged fifteen months, and one daughter, Ellen L., aged seven years.
Mr. Yeomans engaged in the nursery business in 1840, and continued it on an exten. sive scale individually about thirty years ; and thereafter in the name of T. G. Yeomans & Sons about twenty years. Their fine farm is noted for its large orchards, well cared for, and for many years celebrated for its large production of choice fruit. A very important feature of this farm is the thorough system of drainage adopted many years ago, and carried on to the extent of having laid over sixty miles of tile drains; their noted drawf pear orchard having a tile drain passing within five feet of every tree. The New York State Agricultural Society, in 1852, awarded Mr. Yeomans a silver cup valued at twenty-five dollars as a prize for his successful experiments in draining.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.