USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 4
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Mr. Marshall was one of the founders of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, and is Treasurer of its permanent fund. He has served as Trustee, Vice-President and Treasurer of the Thomas Orphan Asylum for Indian Children, and holds life memberships in the Buffalo Historical Society, the Fine Arts Academy and the Young Men's Association. He has served as a director of the Buffalo Library, the Buffalo Society of Artists, the Buffalo City Cemetery and the Third National Bank, and is a member of the Buffalo, Beaver Island, Falcon- wood, Saturn, Launch and Canoe Clubs. In 1885 he was adopted into the Seneca Indian nation in recognition of his interest in the study of Indian antiquities. He is a member and trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, of Buffalo. In politics he is an independent Republican.
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WALTER T. WILSON. In the life of Walter T. Wilson is presented a career consistent in its devotion to large business interests and notable for the ability displayed in the conduct of important enterprises. Mr. Wilson is not only a superior man of affairs but a strong and valuable type of citizen.
The Wilson family is of English origin. Walter Wilson, the great grandfather of Walter T. Wilson, at an early period came from England to America and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the father of Walter Wilson, the second of the name, who was born in Baltimore and who in 1846 became a resident of Burlington, New Jersey. By occupation he was a West India trader. He died in 1846. He was the father of Guilford Reed Wilson, who was born in Burlington, N. J., October 19th, 1813, and was the father of the subject of this sketch. While yet a youth, Guilford R. Wilson went to Penn- sylvania and afterward to Corning, N. Y., engaging in the lumber business and also becoming interested in the Bless- burg coal mines. In 1842 he removed to Buffalo and embarked in the coal and iron business in which, under the firm style of G. R. Wilson & Co., he continued on an extensive scale until his death in 1877. He was a director in several banks and a member of the Board of Trade and the Buffalo Coal Exchange.
Mr. Wilson was originally a Whig, and later a Republican. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, but attended Pres- byterian worship, and during the last years of his life was President of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo. He was among the early members of the Buffalo Club.
March 31, 1846, Mr. Wilson married Jane Corning Townsend, daughter of the late Judge Charles Townsend. Their children were: Walter T .; Gertrude Corning, who married William C. Francis of Buffalo; Jennie Clifton, who died in youth, un- married; Guilford Reed, who was engaged in the planing mill business and who died in 1898 as the result of illness contracted while serving during the Spanish-American War in the Com-
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missary Department, with the rank of Captain in the 65th Regiment; Charles T., who married Stella Granger; Arthur W., who died in youth; Clarence W., now deceased; and Edward R., also deceased.
Guilford R. Wilson died in Buffalo, February 18, 1877. His widow's death occured in 1898.
Walter Townsend Wilson was born in Buffalo, March 28th, 1847. He attended the public schools of that city and finished his education at the school of Prof. Briggs. Leaving school at the age of eighteen, Mr. Wilson became a clerk in his father's office. Subsequently he engaged in the coal and iron business, and in 1868 was admitted partner in the firm of G. R. Wilson & Co., located at the corner of Ohio and Elk Streets. In this association he continued to the time of the death of his father, Guilford R. Wilson, when he closed up the affairs of the firm, and since then has been engaged in the leather belting business, being one of the proprietors of the well-known enter- prise known as the Bickford & Francis Belting Company. This firm is one of the leading houses of its kind in the United States.
Mr. Wilson is a director of the Commonwealth Trust Com- pany, secretary and manager of the Buffalo Planing Mill Com- pany, and is identified with various other industrial and finan- cial undertakings of importance.
In politics he is a Republican. In 1886 he was elected Alder- man from the 16th Ward.
He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, belongs to the Historical Society, the Saturn Club, and other organiza- tions of a social or scientific character.
In January, 1875, Mr. Wilson married Miss Jennie Morse, daughter of David R. Morse. Their children are Walter Morse, who is associated with his father in the belting business and who is a 1st Lieutenant in the 65th Regiment N. G. N. Y., and served in the Spanish-American War; Gertrude, wife of the Rev. John Stockton Littell, pastor of St. Luke's Episcopal
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Church at Brockport and whose children are John, Margaret and Gertrude; and Margaret.
THE PORTER FAMILY. Illustrious in the annals of the Niagara Frontier the name Porter has also a distinguished place in Colonial history and in that of the Revolutionary epoch. The well-known Porter family of Western New York is of Norman-English ancestry. Its descent is traced from William de la Grande, a Norman knight, who acquired land at the time of the Conquest, near Kenilworth, England. His son Roger (or Ralph) was "Grand Porteur" to Henry I., and from that office the name of Porter is derived.
John Porter, sixteenth in descent from William de la Grande, was the founder of the Porter family in America. He came to this country from England in 1637 and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son Samuel, was a merchant and lived in Hartford, Conn., and afterward in Hadley, Mass. Nathaniel Porter, son of Samuel, joined the army in the expedition against Canada in 1708-9. He was the father of Nathaniel Buell Porter, who was a merchant in Lebanon, Conn. Col. Joshua Porter, son of Nathaniel Buell Porter, graduated from Yale College in 1754. Early in life he settled in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conn. He served for more than forty sessions as a member of the State Legislature, was Judge of Common Pleas thirteen years, and Probate Judge thirty-seven years. As Colonel of the 14th Con- necticut Regiment, he participated in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Saratoga, Monmouth and other engage- ments in the Revolution.
GEN. PETER BUELL PORTER, son of Col. Joshua Porter, was one of the greatest military leaders of the War of 1812. He was as eminent in civil affairs as in soldiership and in the perspective of history, stands forth as the central figure of the memorable military and civic dramas enacted on the Niagara Frontier during the first three decades of the last century.
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Among the dauntless, indefatigable toilers of that formative epoch none left a deeper impress on this section of the State than Peter Buell Porter, soldier and statesman.
Gen. Porter was born in Salisbury, Conn., August 14th, 1773. He was educated at Yale, College, graduating in 1791, and studied law with Judge Reeves in Litchfield, Conn. In 1795 he removed to Canandaigua, N. Y., and the same year was ad- mitted to the bar. In 1797, he was elected Clerk of Ontario County, and in 1802, was chosen a member of the State Legis- lature. When later elected to Congress he was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, and in this capacity he advocated with great force and eloquence the necessity of war with Great Britain, also presenting a report in favor of a declaration of war. In 1810 he removed to Black Rock, and the same year he was a member of the committee to investi- gate the route of the proposed Erie Canal, of which project he was always an able and earnest supporter.
Upon war being declared, Mr. Porter left Congress and re- cruited a brigade of New York and Pennsylvania troops. In 1812 he was appointed Quartermaster-General of the New York State Militia, and upon the election of Governor Tompkins he was commissioned by the latter Major-General of New York State troops. General Porter's part in the campaign of 1813 began with the occupation of Fort George, when he acted as volunteer Aide-de-Camp to the American commander, Gen. Lewis, later being placed in command of the troops and Seneca warriors gathered at Buffalo. Afterward in several engage- ments he led the Indians to victory. He was known among the red men as "Conashustah," and they had a current saying, "Where Conashtustah leads we follow." Gen. Porter was one of the principal officers of the American army which, after the burning of Buffalo by the British and Indians in 1813, reoccu- pied the place and in 1814 prepared for the invasion of Canada. When the march on Canada began, Gen. Porter was in com- mand of a volunteer brigade, reconnoitered Fort Erie and
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assisted in concerting the plan which resulted in its surrender. The battle of Chippewa was the first, during the War of 1812, in which a large force of British regulars was defeated in the open field, and was one of the most decisive engagements of the war. The next act of the great drama of the Niagara Frontier was the siege of Fort Erie, and to General Porter was com- mitted the formidable task of relieving the fortress. He ac- complished it, and the achievement was the crowning one of his military career, there being no other case in history where a besieging army had been routed by one sortie. The raising of the siege of Fort Erie practically closed the war on the Niagara Frontier. To Gen. Porter's skill and valor high honors were accorded. In 1814 Congress voted him a gold medal, and the State of New York presented him a sword. The Governor of New York brevetted him Major-General, and in 1813, Presi- dent Madison commissioned him Major-General of the United States Army, also appointing him Commander-in-Chief, but the latter position he declined.
In 1815 Gen. Porter was made Secretary of State, but de- clined the place, desiring to serve out the rest of his term in Congress. In 1816 he was appointed one of the Commissioners, under the treaty of Ghent, to determine the boundary line be- tween the United States and Canada. In 1824 he was chosen one of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. In 1828 he became Secretary of War in President John Quincy Adams' Cabinet, his administration of the affairs of the War Department being marked by the strong practical efficiency characteristic of the man. Besides his military and public life, Gen. Porter has an important share in the business devei- opment of Western New York. He was senior member of the firm of Porter, Barton & Company, of Black Rock.
In 1818 Gen. Porter married Laetitia Preston Breckenridge, who was of Scotch and English ancestry, being a daughter of John Breckenridge, a descendant of Alexander Breckenridge, who was among the early settlers of the Blue Ridge Region of
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Virginia. The children of Gen. Porter were Elizabeth L., who was born April 19, 1823, and died January 28, 1876, and Peter A. Porter.
Gen. Porter removed to Niagara Falls in 1839, and lived there during the rest of his life, his death occurring March 10, 1844.
COL. PETER AUGUSTUS PORTER, son of Gen. Peter Buell Porter, in a brief but heroic career nobly maintained the tra- ditions of patriotism and valor which were his by inheritance, and sealed with his life his devotion to his country.
Col. Porter was born in 1827 at Black Rock, Erie County, N. Y. After a careful preparatory education he graduated from Harvard College in 1845, later going to Germany where he studied at the universities of Heidelberg and Breslau till 1849. On his return to the United States until the beginning of the Civil War, he took an active part in the business and social life of Niagara Falls. In 1861 he was elected a member of the New York Legislature, and the same year, after he had joined the army, was tendered the nomination of his party for Secretary of State. A brilliant political career was opening before him, but the national crisis was with him a consideration paramount to all others, and he declined the civic honors with- in his grasp.
The military career of Col. Porter began in 1861, when he raised a regiment which was organized as the 129th New York Volunteer Infantry. In 1863 it became the 8th New York Heavy Artillery, of which he was commissioned Colonel. At his earnest solicitation he was sent with his troops to the front in 1864, the regiment being incorporated with the Army of the Potomac, under General Grant, and took part in all the battles of the Wilderness campaign, and Cold Harbor. In this terrible battle Col. Porter met his death. He fell pierced by six bullets, while gallantly leading his regiment up to the rebel entrench- ments. For two days Col. Porter's body lay in front of the
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.enemy's works, and could not be recovered. On the second night five brave soldiers of his command bore back his remains to the Union lines.
Col. Porter was married March 30, 1852, to Mary Cabell Preston Breckenridge, daughter of Rev. John Breckenridge, and Margaret Miller. The issue of the marriage was one son, Peter A. Porter, born, October 10, 1853. Mrs. Porter died August 4, 1854, and on November 9, 1859, Col. Porter married for his second wife Josephine M. Morris, daughter of George Morris, of Charleston, S. C. Their children were Laetitia H. Porter, born February 16, 1861, died October 17, 1864, and George M. Porter, born on the 7th of July, 1863.
HON. PETER AUGUSTUS PORTER, son of Col. Peter A. Porter, is one of the leading men of the State, and has long been a central figure in the political, industrial and civic affairs of Western New York. Mr. Porter has the incentives to achievement which are the natural possession of the descend- ants of so illustrious a line, and has worthily maintained the prestige of the distinguished name he bears. Public spirit is one of his salient characteristics, and he is signally identified, both as a legislator and a citizen, with the development of the power resources of Niagara Falls.
Mr. Porter was born at Niagara Falls, N. Y., October 10, 1853. He was educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., and at Yale College, graduating from the latter in 1874., His college course was followed by extensive foreign travel. On returning from abroad Mr. Porter actively identified himself with the business and municipal interests of Niagara Falls, his enterprise and initiative soon making themselves manifest as factors in the upbuilding of that city.
In 1886 Mr. Porter was elected a member of the Legislature, and the following year was reelected. As Assemblyman he introduced and brought about the passage of the celebrated Niagara Tunnel Bill, which gave the sanction of the State to
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the utilization of the cataract for the development of electric power. The effect of this legislation has been far-reaching, the law and its outcome marking a memorable epoch in the industrial world. In the fall of 1906, Mr. Porter was nomi- nated for Congress in the 34th District on an independent Re- publican ticket, being indorsed by the Democrats and the Inde- pendence League. His adversary was James W. Wadsworth, who for many successive terms had been returned to Congress from the distict, and the normal majority which Mr. Porter would be obliged to overcome was estimated at from 7,000 to 13,000. Mr. Porter was elected by heavy pluralities, the result being a significant tribute to him as a leader and a decisive in- dorsement of his policy.
Mr. Porter has always taken a deep interest in the wonder- ful conquest of nature at Niagara Falls. He was a prime mover in the negotiations incident to the establishment of power plants at the Falls, and his tact and counsel materially aided to reconcile conflicting interests. As an author he did much to place the project in a correct light, to enlist capital and to supply the public with accurate information. Mr. Porter has been a lifelong student of the antiquities of the Niagara Frontier, and is a distinguished contributor to the literature of that topic. His library relating to the subject is the most extensive of its kind in the country.
Mr. Porter is a prominent member of the Buffalo Historical Society and belongs to many other organizations.
February 3, 1877, Mr. Porter married Alice Adele Taylor, daughter of Virgil Corydon Taylor and Harriett C. (Dunlap). Mrs. Porter is of an ancient family of English and Puritan lineage, being descended from Richard Taylor, who came from England to Massachusetts Colony in 1643. The children of the marriage are Peter A. Porter, Jr., born November 16, 1877; Cabell Breckenridge Porter, born April 8, 1881, and Preston Buell Porter, born March 13, 1891.
Edward P. Beals
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EDWARD PREBLE BEALS, who died on the 9th of April, 1903, was a pioneer of the iron manufacturing and hardware business in Buffalo and one of its most representative citizens. Mr. Beals was connected with a wide sphere of useful activi- ties outside of business lines. He was a citizen of sterling patriotism, deeply mindful of civic obligations, earnest in the furtherance of municipal progress and a zealous supporter of religion and charity.
The Beals family originally came from the County of Devon, England. In the seventeenth century members of the race emigrated to the American Colonies, settling in Boston, Massa- chusetts.
The great-grandfather of Edward Preble Beals was Dr. Laz- arus Beals, who was born in Cohasset, Mass., in 1725. He was the father of Samuel Beals, who in 1778 married Rebecca Wil- kerson, of Newton, Mass.
JOHN WILKENSON BEALS, son of Samuel Beals, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1795. Prior to 1820 he settled in Can- andaigua, New York. In 1826 he came to Buffalo. Here he was a partner of Judge Samuel Wilkinson and Jonathan May- hew, in the copper and tinsmith trade, till 1840. In that year he engaged in the insurance business, with which he remained identified till his death, in 1857. Mr. Beals was one of the most prominent of the early residents of Buffalo. He was a zealous Unitarian and one of the seven founders of the Unitarian Church in this city. He was the owner of the large brick dwell- ing at Washington and South Division streets, where he lived until he built a house in Swan street, where he resided during the rest of his life.
In 1815 John Wilkenson Beals married Julia Romney, of Boston, Mass., daughter of Edward Romney, a veteran of the Revolution, who rendered distinguished services in that war as Lieutenant in Captain Popkin's company of a Massachusetts regiment of the line. Edward Romney's ancestor Robert, the
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founder of the family, came to England with William the Con- queror. He received from that king's half-brother, Otto, large grants of land in Kent, including the town of Romney, and was knighted as Sir Robert de Romney. His descendant was John Romney of Sutton-Valence, whose wife Amy is supposed to have emigrated to America in 1702, and whose son, Edward, was the founder of the Romney (or Rumney) family in this country.
Beginning with the early part of the 18th century the gene- alogy of the Rumney family is as follows. Edward Rumney, who was born in Great Britain, married Elizabeth Vaughan, February 12, 1718. Their children were: Edward, born in Bos- ton, Mass., August 19, 1720, married Abigail Pierson, Septem- ber 27, 1744, died in Boston; Elizabeth, born in Boston, Mass., February 24, 1721; David, born in Boston, Mass., November 14, 1723; John, born in Boston, Mass., July 21, 1725; Samuel, born in Boston, Mass., August 21, 1727; Joseph, born in Boston, Mass., December 26, 1729; Mary, born in Boston, Mass., May 28, 1732; George, born in Boston, Mass., February 24, 1733, married Eliza Williams, April 3, 1755; Benjamin, born in Bos- ton, Mass., September 8, 1735, married Lucy Burnham, Decem- ber 10, 1767; Lydia, born in Boston, Mass., March 20, 1736. The children of Edward and Abigail (Pierson) Rumney were: Ed- ward, born in Boston, Mass., August 22, 1745, married Seeth Beath, May 13, 1771, died April 6, 1808; and Joseph, who died in South Carolina. The children of Edward aud Seeth (Beath) Rumney were: Betsey, born in Boston, Mass., April 25, 1772, married John H. Belcher, July 25, 1793, died in Wilmington, N. C., September 27, 1808; Sallie, born in Boston, Mass., Jan- uary 24, 1774, married Luther Cole, died in Canandaigua, N. Y., May 15, 1827; Abigail, born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 19, 1776, died July 22, 1777; Nabbie, born in Boston, Mass., June 1, 1778, married John B. Hammatt, January 29, 1805, died in Boston, May 24, 1856; Joseph, born in Boston, Mass., March 6, 1781, married Amy Griswold Downs, July-8, 1801, died at
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Jamaica, W. I., July 8, 1801; Mary, born in Boston, Mass., April 6, 1783, died in Hanover, Mass., March 25, 1866; Susan, born in Boston, Mass., May 19, 1785; Edward, born in Boston, Mass., June 3, 1786, married Eliza Wilson in 1816, died in 1823; John, born in Boston, Mass., July 22, 1787, married Lydia H. Barrett, February 18, 1814, and Martha B. McKnight, February 8, 1824, died at Alexandria, Va., April 29, 1836; Sophia, born at Boston, Mass., March 22, 1789, married Benjamin Wells, September 18, 1808; and Julia, born at Boston, Mass., August 28, 1791, married John W. Beals, February 5, 1815, died at Buffalo, N. Y., April 8, 1857. The children of John B. and Nabbie (Rumney) Hammatt were: John B., born in Boston, Mass., June 4, 1807, married Mary McIntyre, May 7, 1829, died Sep- tember 4, 1838; Abigail R., born in Boston, Mass., April 8, 1809, married Nathaniel Barstow, July 20, 1837; Benjamin H., born in Boston, Mass., July 19, 1811, married Martha Ferris, June, 1833, died December 23, 1838; Edward R., born in Boston, Mass., August 18, 1814, married Marietta P. Worth, August 29, 1843, and later Elizabeth Phelps; Sarah, born at Alexandria, Va., December 22, 1817, married Lewis G. Richardson, March 17, 1842; and Andrew S., born at Alexandria, Va., January 4, 1821, died August 27, 1823. The children of Edward and Eliza (Wilson) Romney were: Mary Eliza, born in 1820, married Horatio Bevan in 1844; and Adele, born in 1822. The children of John and Lydia H. (Barrett) Rumney were: Elizabeth R., born at Alexandria, Va., November 22, 1814, married Joseph Snelling, January 15, 1852; Lydia R., born at Alexandria, Va., August 22, 1816; John E., born at Alexandria, Va., March 22, 1818, died August 1, 1819; John, born at Salem, Mass., January 16, 1820; and Sarah, born at Salem, Mass., March 3, 1822, died November 6, 1822. The children of John and Martha B. (Mc- Knight) Romney were: Martha B., born at Alexandria, Va., January 15, 1825, married Nathaniel Hooper, August 15, 1853; Mary, born at Alexandria, Va., May 14, 1826, died July 8, 1827; Catherine P., born at Alexandria, Va., December 25, 1827,
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married Edward S. Hall, October 24, 1850; Charles B. Mc- Knight, born at Alexandria, Va., December 25, 1829, died June 12, 1833; Joseph E., born at Alexandria, Va., November 9, 1831, died November 12, 1837; and Charles W., born at Alexandria, Va., September 8, 1835. The children of Benjamin and Sophia (Rumney) Wells were: Catherine, born March 19, 1810, married Samuel Hastings, October 10, 1830; Francis, born November 15, 1812, and Sophia R., born in 1814, married John Man, Octo- ber 26, 1837. The children of John W. and Julia (Rumney) Beals were: John Wells, born at Canandaigua, N. Y., November 16, 1815, died September 13, 1853; Joseplı R., born at Canan- daigua, N. Y., February 24, 1817; Susan R., born at Canandai- gua, N. Y., February 22, 1819, married on April 21, 1844; Ed- ward Preble, born at Canandaigua, N. Y., March 16, 1821, mar- ried Mary Lorenz, January 11, 1848; Samuel, born at Canan- daigua, N. Y., July 4, 1823; George, born at Canandaigua, N. Y., August 10, 1825, married Jane M. Cook, January 21, 1851; Julia, born at Buffalo, N. Y., September 24, 1827, died March 27, 1833; Sarah Cole, born January 19, 1830, died August 15, 1831; Saralı Cole (2d), born May 21, 1832, married Calvin H. Allen, February 11, 1862; and Julia Rebecca, born October 31, 1835. As indi- cated above, the name Rumney is spelled Romney in certain branches of the family.
Edward Preble Beals was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., on the 16th of March, 1821. Five years afterward he came with his parents to Buffalo. He was educated at the Buffalo Military Academy and the Academy of Canandaigua.
On leaving school, young Beals became a clerk in the hard- ware store of Samuel F. Pratt. Here he remained as an em- ploye ten years between 1836 and 1846, his talents, industry and fidelity winning for him a place of constantly increasing importance in the concern. In 1846 was founded the firm of Pratt & Co., in which Mr. Beals was a partner. Under this name, widely known throughout the Middle and Western States, the business continued to be conducted for forty years.
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