Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 38

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 38

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).

October 6, 1841, Mr. Burdick married Elvira Woodworth, of Bridgdewater, N. Y., a descendant of the poet Woodworth, author of the "The Old Oaken Bucket." She died in Syracuse, on the 19th of April, 1895. They had two children: Frances E., now the wife of Charles Nukerck Clark, of San Diego, Cal., and Edward H., of Syracuse, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. Benjamin F. Hall, of Auburn, N. Y.

FRANK HISCOCK.

HON. FRANK HISCOCK, ex-United States senator, is of English and Scotch descent, and was born in Pompey, Onondaga county, September 6, 1834. His grandfather, Richard Hiscock, served during the entire period of the Revolutionary war, and soon after the close of that struggle moved from his native State, Massachusetts, to Pompey, then an almost unbroken wilderness. Here in 1798 was born his son, Richard Hiscock, a man of vigorous physical and mental qualities, who in early manhood married Cynthia Harris, whose family had long been prominent in the State. They were the parents of the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Hiscock spent his early life upon the parental farm, where he developed those scholarly habits which in after years proved so invaluable and necessary. He was graduated while still a youth from the old Pompey Academy, and then entered the office of his brother, L. Harris Hiscock, at Tully, for the study of law, with whom, after his admission to the bar in 1855, he formed a copartnership, which in 1858 was moved to and permanently located in Syracuse. Following the example of his brother and preceptor he first joined the Democratic party, and with him in 1856

I41

BIOGRAPHICAL.

aided in organizing the Democratic "Free Soil" element at Syracuse in support of General Fremont for president. Since then he has been an unswerving Republican.

In 1860 Mr. Hiscock was elected district attorney of Onondaga county and served in that capacity until the close of the year 1863. In 1867 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention, and was very active in the work of that body. In 1872 he supported Horace Greeley for the presidency and in the same year was himself nominated for Congress by the Liberal Republicans and Democrats. He doubtless was largely influenced in this political move by his warm personal friend- ship and respect for Mr. Greeley, and without intending to become a member of the Democratic party he co-operated in his support. At the close of the campaign he resumed his place with the Republicans. In 1876 he was a delegate to the Na- tional Republican Conven- tion, and in the same year was nominated and elected representative in Congress by a majority of 4,590. There as a member of the Committee on Elections and of the "Potter Inves- tigating Committee" he gamed much credit, and at- tracted by his speeches the attention of both parties. He was re elected to the XL Vth, XL VIth, XLVIIth, XLVIIIth, XLIXth, and Lth Congresses, and in each election received the cordial support of his party. In the XLVIth Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Appropria- tions, and in the XLVIIIth and XLIXth Congresses he served as a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. Twice he was FRANK HISCOCK. favorably considered for the speakership. He attained wide prominence as an able parliamentarian, and won a national reputation as an able, fearless debater and an influential legislator. At various periods he was the practical leader of the Republican side of the House.

In January, 1887, while still a representative in Congress, he was elected by the Legislature of New York to the office of United States senator, and ably filled that position for a term of six years from March 4, 1887. He was a member of the Com- mittees on Finance, Inter-State Commerce, Coast Defenses, and Patents, and of the special committee on the Reports of the Pacific Railroad Commissioners and the

142

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

president's message thereon. As a speaker in that body he rendered effectual ser- vice to the Republican party and to the county at large, and won the highest respect of all classes of citizens. He achieved wide prominence as a forcible, eloquent, and influential debater, and acquired pre-eminence as an able and powerful statesman. In 1888 his name was widely considered in connection with the presidential nomina- tion, but without favor or encouragement by him, and at the Republican National Convention of that year he was a delegate at large. In all official capacities he won lasting distinction and honor by his personal dignity, his rare ability, and his char- acteristic energy and faithfulness.

After the close of his senatorial term he resumed the practice of the law in Syra- cuse as a member of the firm of Hiscock, Doheny & Hiscock. He has always taken a lively interest in the welfare of the city and is prominently connected with many important enterprises and undertakings.

NATHAN JACOBSON, M. D.

NATHAN JACOBSON, M. D., is the eldest son of Israel and Mary (Sulsbacker) Jacob- son, natives of Germany, and was born in Syracuse on June 26, 1857. His father in early life moved to England and about 1850 came to this country, settled in Syracuse, where he was married; he died in Watkins, N. Y., August 19, 1874, at the age of forty seven, being survived by his wife, a resident of this city, and their five children, of whom Henry H., Samuel, and Emanuel are engaged in business in New York city as importers and cutters of diamonds under the firm name of Jacobson Brothers. Their only daughter, Harriet, resides in Syracuse.

Dr. Jacobson received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native city and was graduated from the Syracuse High School in 1874. He then com- menced the study of medicine with the late Dr. Roger W. Pease, of Syracuse, and also entered the College of Medicine of Syracuse University, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in June, 1877. The same year he went abroad and pursued a post-graduate course at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna, Austria, giving special attention to surgery and the kindred branches. Returning to Syracuse in September, 1878, he began the active practice of his profession, in which he has met with unvarying success. For several years he has devoted his time largely to general surgery, and enjoys wide distinction in this as well as in the practice of medicine.

In September, 1885, Dr. Jacobson was appointed instructor in surgery in the Col- lege of Medicine of Syracuse University, and on June 11, 1888, was made lecturer on clinical surgery and laryngology. In June, 1889, he was elected to the chair of laryngology and clinical surgery, but subsequently resigned from the first named position, and since then has held the professorship of clinical surgery alone. As a member of the faculty of the medical college, as well as in his previous capacities as instructor and lecturer, his efforts have been characterized as conscientious, able, and valuable.

He is ex-president and a prominent member of the Onondaga County Medical Society and Central New York Medical Association, and a member of the Syracuse Academy of Medicine, the New York State Medical Society, the New York State

143

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Medical Association, the Academy of Medicine of New York city, and the American Medical Association, and was a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Washington in 1887. He has also been surgeon to St. Joseph's Hospital, Syracuse, since 1882. He has contributed numerous papers on surgery and kindred subjects to the leading medical and surgical journals at home and abroad, and as a teclinical writer has won considerable distinction.

On the 3d of January, 1883, Dr. Jacobson was married to Miss Minnie Schwartz, daughter of Leopold Schwartz, a prominent merchant of Buffalo. They have two children, Emma May and Gerald Nathan.

WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK, M. D.

DR. WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK, of Scotch descent, was born in Amwell, Hunterdon county, N. J., November 7, 1769. His father, Rev. William Kirkpatrick, a Presby- terian minister, was grad- nated from Princeton Col- lege in 1758, was pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Trenton, chaplain of the colonial forces of New Jersey during the French war, a trustee of Princeton, and moderator of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. Dr. Kirkpatrick was gradu- ated from Princeton College in 1788, read medicine with Dr. Benjamin Bush, of Phil- adelphia, and at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and began practice in Whites- town, Oneida county, N. Y., in 1795. In 1805 he was ap- pointed superintendent of the salt springs at Salina, Onondaga county, and held that office for twenty-two years. Owing to a peculiarly sympathetic temperament which interfered with the successful practice of his pro- fession he largely abandoned WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK, M. D. medicine and devoted him- self to his official duties. He took an active interest in politics, and in 1807-09 rep- resented his district in Congress, where he rendered efficient service and made niany valued acquaintances.

----

144

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

Dr. Kirkpatrick took an active part in furthering the great project of constructing the Erie Canal, and contributed in various ways to numerous enterprises and under- takings of public importance. In 1811 he settled in Salina, where he died Septem- ber 2, 1832. He was a man of rare literary taste and culture, a great reader and brilliant conversationalist, and a keen observer of human nature. His attainments were of a high order, and his refined qualities and elevated characteristics left an indelible impress upon the community. His wife was Miss Nancy Dunscomb, of Salina, who bore him two sons: William, who died in Syracuse in 1895, and Donald, who died in this city September 19, 1889.

THE COOK FAMILY.

AMONG the earliest pioneers in the present town of Pompey was the Cook family, whose descendants have been prominently identified for nearly a century with the social and commercial life of not only that but other localities in Onondaga county. Their lineage is traced to Samuel Cook, of London, England, whose son, Russell, settled in New Canaan, Conn., about 1759. William Cook, son of Russell, was born there in 1761, and about 1780 married, first, Hannah Pond, by whom he had five children. With his family and Ozias Burr he moved from Lebanon, Columbia county, N. Y., and settled in Pompey Hollow on November 10, 1792. He purchased of Mr. Burr 100 acres of land, upon which he built a house on the west side of the Hollow, and one-half mile south of the road leading from Pompey Hill to Cazenovia, and there he subsequently erected a brick dwelling, popularly known as the "Pride of the Valley." Broad minded, enterprising, and well educated, he was actively in- terested in founding Pompey Academy in 1811, for the building of which he furnished the brick and lumber. He was one of the original twenty-four trustees, the third man to contribute $100 for its endowment fund, Mr. Burr being the fourth, and one of the petitioners for incorporation under the Regents February 11, 1811. In April, 1796. he was chosen town assessor and in 1813 elected supervisor of Pompey. William Cook became prominent in military affairs. At the age of sixteen he had enlisted as a corporal in the Revolutionary war and served on the staffs of Washing- ton and La Fayette. January 24, 1801, he was commissioned, " for patriotism, con- duct, loyalty, and valor," captain in a regiment of Onondaga militia whereof

Jeremiah Gould was lieutenant-colonel. This commission was signed by Daniel Hale, secretary ; attested by Comfort Tyler, clerk ; and dated May 2, 1801; and was also signed by John Jay, governor of New York. March 9, 1803, Mr. Cook was com- missioned major of Lieut .- Col. David Williams's Onondaga County Militia Regi- ment, his commission being dated June 6, 1803, and signed by Thomas Tillotson, secretary ; attested by Jasper Hopper, clerk; and signed by George Clinton, gov- ernor. The children of Major William and Hannah (Pond) Cook were Ele, born March 5, 1782; Asa, born March 14, 1785, married September 1, 1811, Eunice Gard- ner, and died August 7, 1856; Ransom, who married Dolly Delamarter; Ruth, who married William Perry; and Sarah, born April 6, 1796, married Thomas Cooper Sleeper, and died in Chicago, February 24, 1888. Major William Cook's first wife died and he married, second, Asenath Butler, by whom he had three children: Will-

- --

ELE COOK.

145

BIOGRAPHICAL.

iam, who married Sally, sister of Luther R. Marsh; Albert, who married Mary Conkey; and Aseneth, who married Isaac Getty, of Onondaga county, and died in 1884. Of this family Asa had four children: William Gardner, born October 23, 1813, married Susannah Adams on May 4, 1837, and died February 7, 1884, in Manlius, where he was a successful farmer, and his wife died at her residence in Syracuse May 28, 1895, leaving one daughter, Ursula (Mrs. Edward E. Kent); Isaac A., born May 3, 1818, of Syracuse, who married, first, Mary Peck in 1843; Maryette A., born July 12, 1823, married Thaddeus Heath in 1846, and died in February, 1895; and Sarah A., born September 1, 1826, married William W. Heath in 1851, and died November 16, 1875. Ransom Cook's children were Russell, Ruth, Sarah, William and James, all deceased. Ruth (Cook) Perry's children were Alfred, Eunice, and William. Of these Eunice married a Mr. Major, who erected the first cotton mill on the Pacific slope. Sarah (Cook) Sleeper's children were Alonzo, Edgar, Oscar, and Sarah.

Ele Cook, eldest son and child of Major William, was born in New Canaan, Conn., March 5, 1782, came with his father to Pompey llollow in 1792, and assisted the latter on the farm, in the saw mill, and in the brickyard on the premises. At these last two named establishments were manufactured the limber and brick which were used in the erection of the first academy building at Pompey Hill, and a model of this structure is still preserved by the Onondaga Historical Society at Syracuse. Mr. Cook was educated in the schools of his adopted town. In 1807 he married Catharine Eliza Carman, daughter of John J. Carman, of New Jersey, and of Revolu- tionary fame. Mr. Carman was a wealthy man when he enlisted in the Continental Army, but the depreciation of government money left him at the close of the war without a dollar. He was in the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, and in many others, meluding Bunker Hill. He was a cousin of Gen. William Carman, of Wash- ington, D. C., was born in Woodbridge, Middlesex county, N. J., October 4, 1751, and died September 9, 1837, in Delphi, Onondaga county, near where his daughter was teaching school when she married Mr. Cook. His wife Deborah was born April 4, 1756, and died May 24, 1830, in Cincinnatus, Cortland county.

Ele Cook served for four weeks at Sackett's Harbor in the War of 1812, and in 1813 moved with his wife and three children from Pompey Hollow to what is now La Fayette, then known as Pompey ell. He bought a farm one mile north of the village, built a saw mill, and established the first brick manufactory in that town. His brick and lumber were used in the construction of the schools and churches which the family attended. After residing there twenty years he sold his mill and twenty- five acres of land and moved to a farm of 125 acres near Onondaga Valley, which he purchased of Mr. Whitcomb for $40 per acre. This was in 1833. In 1867, after his children had left home, he sold this place to Justus Newell for $100 per acre. He returned temporarily to La Fayette. He intended to set up housekeeping again, but a severe cold in 1868 brought on asthma, and he died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Nancy A. Morse, in La Fayette, January 7, 1869. His wife died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Harriet M. Lyons, in Syracuse, October 28, 1879.

Mr. Cook was a good farmer, an able business man, an earnest, upright citizen, and a kind husband and indulgent parent. He started in life comparatively poor, but by shrewd management and careful living succeeded in accumulating a compe- teney. He was uniformly successful, and besides his farming and manufacturing S

146

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

operations also bought and sold large numbers of cattle, horses, and sheep. He was able to do business up to nearly the time of his death, his mind being almost as clear and active as during his earlier years. He was a lifelong abstainer from all intoxi- cating liquors, and was always regarded as a strictly temperate man. He was a good neighbor, a faithful friend, a wise counselor, and a public spirited, enterpris- ing citizens, and won the confidence and respect of all who knew him. At his fune- ral the Rev. Mr. Palmer, of Collingwood, said "an honest and a just man is dead."

Ele and Catharine E. (Carman) Cook had eight children, of whom five were born in La Fayette: Nancy Asenath, born October 12, 1808; William J., born April 24, 1810; Addison Carman, born March 17, 1812; James Jerome, born September 28, 1814; Emeline Pond, born October 29, 1817; Orator Fuller, born March 22, 1819; Harriet Maretta, born September 20, 1821; and George Washington, born May 22, 1824.

Nancy A., married John Morse, and in 1826 settled on her present farm in La Fayette, where Mrs. Morse died March 8, 1891, leaving no children. She has reared five children to maturity, and has been an active worker in the church and among the sick.

William J. Cook was educated in the schools of La Fayette and at an early age displayed a remarkable inclination for study. In 1832 he married Sophia, daughter of Orange King, a Revolutionary soldier and long a tavern keeper in La Fayette Square. The next year he built a house and settled on his farm one mile south of Onondaga Valley, where he finally began the study of medicine. In 1836 he sold out and purchased the Gridley store house and property on the east side of the valley. In the spring of 1843 he again sold out and moved to La Fayette, where he pur- chased the Samuel Baldwin place, and where he practiced botanic medicine with success, his ride extending into adjoining towns. Drs. Rose and Parksof La Fayette, and Dr. Stearns, of Pompey, although allopaths, were among his warmest friends. He died there June 2, 1862. His children were Charles Addison, born in April, 1833, who became a clerk in the store of Milton S. Price in La Fayette and went to Wis- consin and thence to Denver among the gold seekers; Mary E., born April 30, 1835, who was graduated from the State Normal school at Albany, became a school teacher, and now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where her mother, Sophia, died January 17, 1890; Anna, born July 22, 1837; Cornelia P., born June 5, 1843, who in consequence of a fall became a cripple, and died in Salt Lake City in 1885; and Ida lone born April 21, 1851, who was graduated from the Oswego State Normal School, and became a successful and noted teacher in Utah. Charles A. Cook, the eldest of this family, was mayor of Denver two terms, president of a local bank about ten years, and married Georgette Loyd, a wealthy lady, by whom he had two children: Elmo William, born March 30, 1872, of Logan county, Utah, and Edna, born June 27, 1874, a graduate of and now a teacher in the Oswego Normal School. Charles C. Cook died at Hot Springs, Ark., March 17, 1878.

Addison Carman Cook, third child of Ele, was married in 1832 to Sally S. Smith, of Tully, lived about three years near the "Indian saw mill," which he run, and moved all the way by boat from Syracuse to Jacksonville, Ill., where he purchased a tract of land upon which that city was afterward built, He died September 5, 1838.

James Jerome Cook, fourth child of Ele, resides on the old Gould farm in La Fay- ette, three miles south of Jamesville. See his sketch elsewhere in this volume.

147

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Emeline Pond Cook is the widow of Joseph Le Roy Atwell and lives in Syracuse. Mr. Atwell was born in Cazenovia, Madison county, December 14, 1817, and died in Syracuse October 15, 1877. He was a grandson of Joseph Atwell, one of the first settlers in Pompey Hollow, who became a prominent and wealthy farmer, and who died there in 1833. Joseph Atwell, the only son of the pioneer, was born there and died in 1825, leaving three sons: William, Joseph Le Roy, and George H. Joseph Le Roy Atwell married Emeline P. Cook on September 20, 1837, came to Syracuse about 1870, and engaged in business as a produce dealer. His children were Joseph A., born October 25, 1838, died February 28, 1889; Josephine Alcestia, born July 30, 1844, died January 3, 1878; and Jodelphia Amelia, born July 19, 1846, died February 6, 1876. Joseph A. married Louise M. Reymond, of Cazenovia, and had four children ; Emeline M., Joseph A., jr., John Le Roy, and Wellsley Louise. Josephine A. mar- ried James M. Andrews, of the firm of Andrews Brothers, of Syracuse, and had one child, Frank Le Roy. Jodelphia A. married Rollin P. Saxe, a nephew of John G. Saxe, the poet, and had one son, Howard Atwell Saxe.

Orator Fuller Cook, sixth child of Ele, married Eliza Hookaway in 1852 and is a farmer in Clyde, N. Y. His children are Dr. Addison Carman, born in Syracuse in 1853; Orator, born in Clyde in 1867; and Edith, born in Clyde in 1872, who was graduated from Syracuse University in 1892 and is a teacher.

Harriet Maretta Cook was married December 29, 1842, to William, son of Reuben Lyons, a soldier of 1813, of Adams, N. Y., who was born June 19, 1812, and who died February 23, 1887. He was a mason and contractor, and in 1854 settled in Syracuse, purchasing of Jacob Sager lot 3, No. 11, in West Adams street, where in 1858 he erected the present brick homestead. In 1873 he built a second dwelling in the same block. In 1885 he built the Lyons flats, moving from the site a frame house which was erected by Aaron Hoyt in 1838, and which was the first structure built in West Adams street. Mrs. Lyons survives him, and has been a consistent member of Plymouth church since April 10, 1870. Their children were Anna Eliza, born April 22, 1844; Ladelphia, born October 24, 1845; and Hattie A., born January 22, 1861. Ladelphia was married May 3, 1865, to Daniel V. Ferris, of Syracuse, whose sketch appears in this volume. Hattie Asenath married, March 30, 1886, Ross L. King, of this city, and has two children: Bruce and Ross. Anna Eliza joined Plym- outh church April 3, 1864, the day Rev. M. E. Strieby, the first pastor, preached his farewell sermon. She has been very active in church, Sunday school, and temperance work ever since, having had a Sabbath school class continuously since June 9, 1872, when she commenced in Good Will chapel, which in September, 1886, was succeeded by Pilgrim chapel, where she still remains.

George Washington Cook, youngest of the eight children of Ele Cook, was gradu- ated from Onondaga Academy, read medicine with Dr. Russell in Syracuse, and erected a brick house on the site of the present Kenyon flats. He married, first, Maryette, daughter of Johnson Lewis, of Pompey, and second, Laura, daughter of Ethan Allen, of Pompey Hollow. By his last marriage he had two children : Charles Sumner, deceased, and De Etta L., a school teacher.

148

ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

WILLIAM WILSON.

THE Wilson family is of Scotch descent. Rev. William and Mary Wilson, grand- parents of William, the subject of this sketch, came with their family and his aged mother from Vermont to Onondaga county about 1798, and for two years lived at Onondaga Hill, then the county seat. In 1800 they became the first settlers on the site of the present hamlet of Plainville in the town of Lysander, where they founded the family whose members have ever since been prominently and actively identified with the place. Rev. Mr. Wilson was a minister of the gospel, and after his settlement at what is now Plainville was more or less active in holding re- ligious services among the scattered inhabitants. He became the owner of a large tract of land surrounding the present hamlet and lived where the hotel now stands, first in a log cabin and later in a more pretentious frame dwelling. He followed farming here, and ably and intelligently laid the foundation of a subsequent thriving community, which has ever since reflected his sterling character and noble principles. From him the place received the popular name of "Wilson's Corners," which it re- tained until the establishment of the post-office of Plainville in 1821. He died here and was buried in the village cemetery, where a marble slab containing this inscrip- tion marks his grave:

" William Wilson. Died March 19th, 1827, aged 60 years, He was among the first who settled this country. He professed religion in early life and preached the gospel many years. He died in peace."

His wife, Mary, died October 11, 1826, aged fifty-four years, and is buried by the side of her husband. Upon another tombstone is the inscription :

"In memory of Mary Wilson, relict of David Wilson. Died July 12, 1806, aged 72 years."

She was the mother of Rev. William, and the great-grandmother of William Wil- son, the subject of this sketch. Cyrus, a son of Rev. William and Mary Wilson, died here September 19, 1805, in the second year of his age.

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.

Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 38

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