Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 25

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > New York > Onondaga County > Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II > Part 25

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He had with him, however, a volume of Shakespeare which served to brighten the hours and store his young mind with thoughts and aspirations for a broader life. Through all his life Mr. Ranney has been a diligent reader in the various fields of literature until he is one of the best posted men of the time.

After returning from Michigan Mr. Ranney taught school in Troopsville in 1839 and in Port Byron in 1840. Then for the next two succeeding years read law with Messrs. Robinson & Goodwin, but at the end of that time failing health compelled him to abandon his chosen profession and seek a climate more conducive to health. Therefore he went in the fall of 1842 to Kentucky where he again engaged at teach- ing school. That was many years before the civil war, but being a close observer of affairs, Mr. Ranney readily comprehended the evils of the slavery question, and pre- dicted in unqualified terms what the ultimate outcome of it would be. In reply to a friend in the north asking his opinion on the subject, he returned the following :

" When I see the vast amount of evil that originates in this system of slavery, I shudder at future consequences. The day of final judgment may be far distant, but as sure to come as a rock loosened from the top of a mountain is to thunder down to the plain below, and woe, woe to all who are in its path. I may not live to see it, but the seed has been sown, the crop is more than half grown, and when the harvest comes it will be a harvest of death and destruction." The realization of this a little

BIOGRAPHICAL.

more than twenty years later showed that he foresaw with great accuracy the end of it all. At that time the temperance question was being agitated in Kentucky, and Mr. Ranney's firmly developed principles in that line naturally led him into active participation in its behalf. He was then and always has been an eloquent speaker which was turned to good account among the people there. Through his efforts inany converts to temperance were made, as many as one hundred and fifty signing the pledge as the result of one evening's work. In the fall of 1843 Mr. Ranney re- turned from the south and the following year married Miss Rebecca Lyon, daughter of Deacon Cyrus Lyon, of the town of Weedsport. For the next five years Mr. Ranney lived on the farm, gradually recovering his health, and adding at the same time a moderate accretion in wealth. In the spring of 1852 they moved to Elbridge where they have since resided. Mr. Ranney's interest and activity in public affairs coupled with his thorough understanding of them at once placed him at the front as a leader in politics. In the spring of 1857 he was chosen to represent the town of Elbridge in the Board of Supervisors. The record he made while a member of the board served to still increase the confidence of the citizens in his integrity and ability. The following year he was elected to represent the First District of Onondaga in the Legislature, and again in 1865 and 1867 he was a member of that body. His superior judgment and ability were here again recognized by his associates placing him on the most important committees of the House. The bill creating the State Board of Assessors was originated and framed by Mr. Ranney, and it was through his influ- ence that it became a law. The intent and working of this law was so satisfactory that the State Board of Assessors is still in vogue. It was while Mr. Ranney was in the Legislature and also a member of the select committee on freight rates bill that his memorable fight for the people of the State as against corporations was begun. This bill was defeated and Mr. Ranney had reason to believe that it was brought about by the influence of money contributed by the N. Y. C. Railroad Company, and that at a cost it was alleged of $60,000. Mr. Ranney's speeches on personal liberty and other topics in the House gave him a wide reputation, while his rigid upright- ness and loyalty to the people made him feared by corruptionists and monopolies.

Another move of the N. Y. C. railroad at that time was to have enacted a law permitting that company to increase its way passenger rates to two and a half cents per mile. This Mr. Ranney vigorously opposed, and proceeded to prove by state- ments of the company itself that millions of dollars had at the present rate of fare, been divided among the stockholders. The bill was finally defeated and as the re- suit of Mr. Ranney's sledgehammer opposition and merciless expose of the injustice and iniquity of the measure. Every person who has ridden on the N. Y. C. from that day to this owes this saving in rate to that able champion of the right, Luke Ranney. But Mr. Ranney was then, as he always has been, too fearlessly honest in his political acts to walk in the graces of political schemers and jobbers, so the in- fluence of that body was afterwards active to prevent his return to the Legislature. Mr. Ranney is now a staunch Republican and although past eighty years of age takes a lively interest in all public matters whether in politics or the moral and religious betterment of the community.

When the Constitutional Convention met in 1867 to revise the State Constitution, they appointed a committee to examine and see if they could devise some means to prevent lobby corruption. This committee was empowered to call witnesses from

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

any part of the State. George Opdyke of New York city was chairman. He swore Worcester, treasurer of the N. Y. C., and asked him if he had ever paid any money for purposes of legislation, and he said that he paid $60,000 to defeat the pro rata freight bill, and $205,000 for purposes of legislation the session that had up the in- crease fare bill; and this $205,000, it was alleged, was used to buy votes. To judge how those who sold their votes to the railroad company must have felt, the following quotation from Mr. Ranney's speech made at that time is inserted :

And now, before 1 close, what shall I say to such, if any such there be, who have sold them- selves to this corporation ? Remember, Judas betrayed his Lord, for thirty pieces of silver, and for that act has been held up for execration, seorn and eonteinpt to the outermost bounds of civilization. Gentlemen, turn your minds within and behold yourselves as in a glass, and what do you see ? a villain whose company you are compelled to keep and from whose vile companion- ship there is no escape, dishonored and scorned by yourself, seeking a hiding-place from the goadings of conscience, dying while you live, and living praying for the everlasting rocks and hills to fall on you and hide you from the righteous indignation of a constitueney you have be- trayed, and a Legislature you have disgraced and a State you have dishonored. Go and return vour ill-got gold to the soulless corporation who would accumulate wealth on the ruins of our country! Swear by the living God you will live and die an honest man, that your garments shall never be smeared with the slime and filth of a corrupt and venal lobby, that swarms around you like carrion crows around a rotten carcase. Then as the crowning star of life sets in the west you can say, I have done something to save and not to destroy my country,

Few campaigns have passed during the last forty years that hiseloquent voice and energy have not been felt among the people. Mr. Ranney, while earrying on a farm, las also given much time to the settling of estates as executor, administrator, or assignee. In former years he was, too, a surveyor and engaged at that profes- sion for many years.

Mr. Ranney has for many years been president of the Board of Trustees of the Munro Collegiate Institute, an educational institution of wide and favorable repu- tation. As assignee he settled the estate of James M. Munro, of Camillus, whose debts when proved amounted to $124,000.

Mr. Ranney has now retired from active business.

REV. CHAUNCEY BELL THORNE.

REV. CHAUNCEY BELL THORNE was born in the town of Broome, Schoharie Co., N. Y., April 20, 1833. His father, Thomas J. Thorne, was also a native of that county. When Chauncey B. was six years of age his parents moved from Schoharie Co., to Laurens, Otsego Co., where they bought and for eighteen years condueted a dairy farm. Thomas J. Thorne was a cooper by trade, and for several years prior to settling in Laurens had been employed at that labor. Jesse Thorne, father of Thomas Thorne and grandfather of the subject of portrait and sketch herewith pre- sented, was a native of Westchester Co., N. Y., but at an early day moved to Scho- harie Co., where he spent the balance of his life. Mr. Thorne's genealogy is traced back to an early period in the settlement of this country. They were of English stock, thrifty, intelligent, and industrious.

Thomas J. Thorne married while in Schoharie county, Nancy Bell, born in Albany county in 1803. She, like her husband, Mr. Thorne, was endowed with a sturdy

CHAUNCEY B. THORNE.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

character, the spirit of independence and a kindly Christian heart. All these ele- ments contributed to their successful and exemplary life. In 1857 they disposed of their farm property in Otsego county and removed to Skaneateles, purchasing a farm a little distance south of Skaneateles village. They devoted their lives to the occu- pation of farming. Mr. Thorne was born November 30, 1799, and died August 5, 1873. His wife died July 17, 1865. Chauncey B. Thorne began his school days while in Broome, Schoharie county, and continued for several years in the schools of Otsego county. In the mean time he had become a proficient student of phonography, and had developed a noticeable ability in the art of drawing. Desiring to acquire the art of engraving, at twenty-two years of age he left home to try his fortunes in New York city. There he engaged with Andrew J. Graham, author and publisher of text books in shorthand or stenography. Mr. Thorne's rapidly developed skill as an engraver, in connection with some new methods and means of his own devising for the securing of greater accuracy and beauty in the production of printed shorthand, insured to him a permanent place until he had completed the engraving of Graham's Standard Phonographic series of text books. He remained with Mr. Graham, with some intermissions, till 1861, when the need of his aid called him home to the farm. For the next succeeding fourteen years he resided on the farm at Skaneateles, which he purchased of his father. During this time he was a successful farmer, act- ively interested in general agricultural matters, occupying a leading position in the work of the several town agricultural organizations, and of the association of wool- growers of Onondaga county. He continued also to apply himself at spare times to his engraving art; doing much good work in that line for several authors and pub- lishers, James E. Munson, New York, David P. Lindley, Philadelphia, and others. In the line of his art, Mr. Thorne has been recently engaged mostly in the making of shorthand drawings for photo-engraving.

Mr. Thorne has resided in Skaneateles village since 1875, quitting the farm at that time. In the mean while in 1859 Mr. Thorne married Amelia Anna Hibbs, a daugh- ter of William and Elizabeth Holcomb Hibbs of Upper Makefield, Bucks county, Pa. Following in the course of the religious denominational preferences of their parents and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne in 1869 became members of the society of Friends, uniting with the meeting in Skaneateles, one of the oldest church organiza- tions in the town. In 1873 Mr. Thorne was recorded a minister in the Society of Friends, and has continued to occupy that position in the church at Skaneateles.

They have had two daughters, one now being deceased. The younger daughter, Luella H., is a teacher of ability and success. She graduated in 1890 at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

AMBROSE SADLER.

AMBROSE SADLER is at present a citizen of the town of Clay, although the greater part of his life has been spent in Cicero. He is a native of the latter town, where he was born, February 20, 1823. His ancestry on his father's side was of sturdy New England stock, and the genealogy of the family extends back to the early days of the foundation of the Massachusetts Commonwealth. Zelotes Sadler, father of the

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

subject of the portrait herewith, was a native of that State, born in the last year of the last century. In 1816 his parents, with others of their State, became inspired with the hope of better things and broader opportunities of the westward country, so they emigrated, and after much difficulty and hardship landed in what is now Phelps, Ontario county, this State. After a residence of two years there they set their face towards the east again, reaching Cicero in 1818, where they bought a farm cast of the present village of Cicero, and settled down to carve out a fortune at agri- culture. Zelotes Sadler was then a young man of nineteen years of age, but he con- tributed valuable aid towards the building of a home and the development of the farm. He remained with his parents, and devoted his life also to farming. He married Rachael Shepard, of Albany county, who died in 1871, she having survived her husband many years. He died in 1858.

Ambrose Sadler received his education at the common schools of Cicero. His school days being over he applied himself to the vocation in which he had been trained, and that he has done so successfully the result clearly shows. He was for many years one of the most prominent farmers in the town of Cicero or, in fact, in the county. Before his father's death he had purchased the homestead. Subse- quently, in 1863, Mr. Sadler bought the Merriam farm on the Cicero plank road, which, under his hand, became one of the finest in the county. At present he is the owner of several valuable properties of this kind. Since attaining his majority Mr. Sadler has been an earnest, active Republican, and has been influential in the party's success in his native town.

In 1876 he was selected as keeper of the county poor asylum, and continued in that position till 1882. Under his management many important changes were made, and improvements inaugurated which put the institution on a higher plane of service and satisfaction to the citizens of the county. After six years' service in the capacity of keeper of the poorhouse, Mr. Sadler retired, and for the next year was a citizen of Syracuse. He then returned to Cicero and assumed control of his many agricul- tural interests there. In 1882 Mr. Sadler was appointed as superintendent of the Onondaga Penitentiary. There were several candidates for the place at that time, but the generally acknowledged fitness of Mr. Sadler to successfully discharge the exacting and multifarious duties of the position rendered him the first choice of the Board of Supervisors as well as the people.

The Penitentiary, during Mr. Sadler's sojourn there, housed many noted criminals and was the scene of many a clever scheme on the part of this cult to thwart the law and escape just punishment for crimes. The famous Poucher case was one of the many, whereby his mother came from New York, and through some attorney served a writ of habeas corpus upon the superintendent, and having by this means secured the convict's release, gave bail in $500 for his appearance for trial. The bail, as in- tended, was forfeited and Mr. Sadler's guest departed never to return.

Mr. Sadler was instrumental during his term of having the system of heating changed to that of steam, enlarging the hospital and also the farm, besides many other notable improvements. Since retiring from the Penitentiary in 1886, Mr. Sadler has resided at North Syracuse, exercising simply a supervision of his various agricultural interests.

Mr. Sadler married for his first wife Dorothea E. Williams, of Pompey. She died in 1874. His second wife was Mrs. Jennette Dunham, of Cicero.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Mr. Sadler has two children, one son and one daughter. The daughter, Georgenna was born April 27, 1849. She married E. Forest Rouse, a manufacturer of Bay City, Mich.

The son, Russell Z., is engaged in business in Syracuse. He has represented his ward in the Board of Supervisors for three terms.

WILLIAM C. RODGER.

WILLIAM C. RODGER was born near Wolcott, Wayne county, N. Y., October 30, 1832. He has, however, spent his life in Jordan, for his parents lived only about one year and a half in Wayne county when they moved to the town of Elbridge, set- tling in Jordan permanently. His father, James Rodger, was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1805, one week after his parents landed in that place from Scotland. They had come direct from Greennock, Scotland, with the intention of making America their permanent home. William Rodger, the father of James Rodger, was a black- smith, and carried on the business in Albany until 1818, when the family removed to Madison county, purchased a farm near Quality Hill, which he worked in connection with his trade until 1832, when they removed to the town of Elbridge, purchased a farm about one and a quarter miles north of the village of Elbridge, where they re- sided at the time of his death, December, 1822. It devolved on James, who had grown to be quite a boy, together with his mother, to carry on the farm. This they did suc- cessfully till James Rodger had grown to manhood, and, in fact, till some years after he was married. He married Olive M. Clark, a native of Vermont, who had become a resident of Elbridge. James Rodger, at the time mentioned, had closed out his in- terest in the Elbridge place and moved to Wolcott, where William C. Rodger, the subject of this portrait and sketch, was born. After James Rodger returned to Jor- dan he entered upon a commercial career, which continued the balance of his life, a career that was crowned with success in no small degree. As a boy William C. Rodger attended the Jordan public schools, and later graduated at the Jordan Acad- emy. At the age of nineteen he was through with school and ready to start an active life, for he possessed the same quality of metal that had come down from his Scotch ancestors and that comprised energy, pluck and ambition.

His father had become a large dealer in all kinds of grain, and was also carrying on the grocery and milling business in Jordan. William C. was admitted to an in- terest in the business, and they together conducted it until James Rodger's death, which occurred in 1885. His wife survived till 1894. In addition to the branches of business mentioned, they had, in 1872, bought the Jordan Bank, which they con- tinued to run, and which is still conducted under the style of Rodger & Co. Mr. Rodger is now engaged extensively in buying and shipping all kinds of grain, and with these lines carries on the coal business in Jordan. He is, besides these, in- terested in other industries that require much of his time and capital. The success he has achieved places Mr. Rodger amongst the first business men of the county.

While Mr. Rodger has been earnest and active in business he has also taken a lively interest in political matters of the town, county and State. As a Republican he has been for many years an influential worker, giving much valuable service to

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

the party. In recognition of this he was appointed postmaster at that place in 1862, during President Lincoln's administration, and largely through his efforts the busi- ness of the office increased till it became a presidential office. He has been presi- dent of the village, and for many years a member of the Board of Education. The fact that Jordan has to-day one of the finest public school buildings in the county was due largely to his push and zeal in the matter. Since 1890, though, Mr. Rodger has been, politically, in the Prohibition ranks, being now as fervent in the interests of this party as he formerly was in the Republican.

Mr. Rodger married for his first wife, in 1854, Amelia Buckhout, of Castile, N. Y., by whom he had three children, Ella, who married Charles W. Laird of Jordan ; Emma, who married Walter W. B. Rodger, of Greennock, Scotland, where they now reside. Ile owns a large estate, and is a man of prominence both socially and polit- ically. He is the provost of the city, and recently was presented by the corporation with an elaborate silver mounted cradle, with design of municipal building and coat of arms, as a memento of the occasion of the birth of a son, the first one born to a provost while holding the office. The third child and daughter died in infancy.

Mrs. Rodger died in 1857. Mr. Rodger's second wife, whom he married in 1862, was Julia Knowlton, of Jordan, who is still living. They have had four sons, three of whom are living, namely: William K., Charles H., and Winfred C. The two older sons are now associated in business with Mr. Rodger, the youngest, Winfred C., being yet in school.

GUSTAVUS SNIPER.

GENERAL. GUSTAVUS SNIPER was born in Baden, Germany, on the 11th of June, 1836. His parents emigrated to America when he was but a lad, and soon after landing in this country came to Syracuse from New York and here passed the re- mainder of their lives. The father's name was Joseph Sniper and he died in 1862, having earned the respect of his fellowmen. The mother died in 1878.

The subject of this sketch obtained his education in the common schools of Syra- cuse, improving it as much as he could by attendance at night schools. In the year 1850 the boy began work at cigar making for George P. Hier, a trade at which he be- came proficient and at which he worked continually until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, nearly all of the time in Syracuse. In early life he developed an ardent love for military study and practice and joined the Syracuse Lightguard about 1854, and afterwards was a member or officer of the Syracuse Grays and of the Davis Light Guards. In 1859-60 he raised and organized a company known as the Munroe Cadets and was made captain of the company, which position he held at the breaking out of the war. Thus from a member or officer in the Fifty-first Regiment of militia, he passed through all the grades from corporal to colonel and brigadier-general of volunteers.

With the outbreak of the war the young militia officer was imbued with the fires of patriotism, and through his intense love for military life he saw an opportunity to distinguish himself in that profession. No sooner was a hostile gun fired against the Union than General Sniper took steps to raise a company of volunteers, expecting to

BIOGRAPHICAL.

jom the 12th Regiment. In this he was disappointed, for although his company was filled within a very short time, so rapidly were enlistments made in those early days of the great struggle that he found it impossible to connect himself with the first regiment to leave this county. Nothing daunted, however, by this result, he imme- diately formed a new company with the purpose of joining the 24th Regiment of Oswego. In this also he was disappointed for a similar reason. Disbanding his company, he enlisted in the 101st Regiment, determined to at least attach himself in person to a volunteer organization. He then raised about one-half of a company, and was made first lieutenant and soon afterwards captain. Now his perfect milt- tary schooling began to show itself, and before the regiment left the State he was promoted to major. After an honorable career in the ser- vice the 101st Regiment was mustered ont in 1863, General Sniper having in the mean time been promoted to lieuten- ant-colonel. He came home with a reputation for military skill, bravery and executive ability that was most flatter- ing to himself and his friends. When the organization of the 185th Regiment was resolved upon, General Sniper took a deep and active interest and was, perhaps, more efficient in the final success of the un- dertaking than any other one person. When the ranks of the regiment were finally filled ne was commissioned lieuten- ant-colonel. He was promoted to colonel upon the resigna- GEN. GUSTAVUS SNIPER. tion of Colonel Jenney, and when that splendid organization entered upon the closing campaign of the war, in the spring of 1865, participating in several brilliant engagements, General Sniper won for himself a name and fame which were heralded across the country in the news columns and illustrations of all prominent newspapers and periodicals. On the field at Quaker Road, March 29, 1865, after three color bearers had been shot down, in the immediate face of the enemy General Sniper seized the flag, passed to the front, and raising and waving it above his head, led his regiment to victory. For . his daring heroism on this field he was brevetted brigadier-general. At the head of his regiment he saw the final scenes of the war, and returned home to receive the plaudits and rewards of his deeds at the hands of his fellow citizens.

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Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 25

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094