USA > New York > Saratoga County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York > Part 55
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COL. SAMUEL YOUNG.
HERE was a man justly entitled to the term, statesman; one who, although a Democrat of the staunchest type and closely identified with the history of the Democratic party in this State, its organization, progress and triumphs, conducted himself in political circles with such independent honesty and fearlessness in the exposure of party corrup- tion as to win from General Jackson the title, "The Cato of the New York Senate." Although not a native of this county, having been born in Lenox, Berkshire county, Mass., Saratoga can justly claim him as her own for his parents removed here during his early childhood. He was a farmer's boy and as such assisted in the farm work during the summer season and attended the common schools in winter. He began his legal studies with Levi H. Palmer, a lawyer of Ballston, in which
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place he began practice after his admission to the bar; soon winning substantial recognition in a large practice.
He at once became a prominent figure in Democratic politics and served in minor town and village offices. In 1813 he was elected mem- ber of assembly and began his long and honorable connection with the politics of the State. Soon after taking his seat a powerful speech, which he made in favor of the war, brought him prominently before the people with whom he was always a great favorite. Governor Tompkins appointed him military aide, hence his title of colonel. In 1815 he served as speaker of the House but, in the election of the same year, was defeated for re-election. This canvass was the origin of the " old line " and "new line " party controversy. In 1816 he was ap- pointed canal commissioner in which capacity he served about twenty years. In 1819 he was elected senator from the Eastern district, and in 1821 was delegate from Saratoga county to the Constitutional Con- vention, taking a front rank position in this body of able men.
Colonel Young was nominated in 1824 for governor of the State but was defeated by the newly formed " People's party," headed by De Witt Clinton, who was elected by a decisive vote. In 1825 he was again elected to the Assembly and chosen speaker. In 1830 he was defeated for member of congress by J. W. Taylor, who received a small major- ity. In 1833 he was appointed county judge, which office he held for a term of five years, declining reappointment. In 1834 he was elected senator, resigning at the close of the session of 1836; and at the next election was again chosen senator, in which capacity he served until the close of the session of 1840. In 1842 he was elected secretary of state, holding the office until 1845. It was during this period that Colonel Young (by virtue of his office acting superintendent of com- mon schools) laid the foundation of the present excellent system of public instruction of the State of New York, which is in itself a mon- ument to his memory. In 1845 he was again elected to the State Sen- ate, remaining in that body until 1847 when his term expired by force of the new Constitution. This closed his official career, and he retired to his residence in Ballston, where he died November 3, 1850, in the seventy-third year of his age.
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THEODORE FRANK HAMILTON.
THEODORE FRANK HAMILTON was born in Rochester, N. Y., January 23, 1851, and is a son of Theodore B. and Emily (Welles) Hamilton. His grandfather, Calvin U. Hamilton, was in the early part of the century a resident of Schenectady, and married Lucinda Hastings. His mother was a daughter of Hon. Henry Welles, who was justice of the Supreme Court from 1848 to 1869. Mr. Hamilton was educated in the public and high schools of New York city. His first active business was with the New York Sun, in the capacity of reporter, during which time he wrote his celebrated report on the Fisk murder. He began the study of law with Starr & Hooker of New York city. In preparing for his profession he also took a course in the law department of Columbia College, and after completing this, in 1873, began to practice in Balls- ton Spa, Saratoga county. Mr. Hamilton remained in Ballston until 1886, when he settled permanently in Saratoga Springs. He was elected district attorney in 1886, as the candidate for the Republican party, and was once re-elected with increased majority.
Mr. Hamilton compiled a manual for grand juries which has had a large sale in the State; and was editor of American Negligence Cases (8 volumes) which have been published and are being issued at the rate of several a year. He is also editor of Hamilton's New York Negli- gence Cases (classified), published in the fall of 1898, the same being a collection of nearly sixty-five hundred negligence cases classified accord- ing to the facts. Mr. Hamilton is attorney for the Fitchburg Railroad and counsel for other railroads.
On June 7, 1877, Mr. Hamilton married Kate M. Luther, daughter of J. J. Luther, and they have three daughters; Mary Clement, Mar- garet Welles and Kathryn, and one son, Macaulay Hamilton, named after Thomas Babington Macaulay, the English historian and essayist.
EDWARD VALENCOURT DEUELL, M.D.
EDWARD VALENCOURT DEUELL, M. D., was born in the town of Malta, Saratoga county, N. Y., March 13, 1839. He was educated at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., and was graduated with the de- gree of M.D. from the University of Louisville, Ky., in 1863. In that year he was appointed assistant surgeon in General Steele's division,
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U.S.A., and at the capture of Little Rock, Ark., he was placed in charge of the General U. S. A. Hospital (1,200 beds) at that place, which position he held until the close of the war. He was then ap- pointed surgeon in chief of the district of Arkansas, Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen, and filled that position until 1869. Retiring from the army, he practiced his profession in Little Rock until 1889, when on account of ill health of his family, he removed to Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where he has since continued his professional work. During his service as U. S. army surgeon a scourge of epidemic cholera visited his military district, at the close of which Dr. Deuell was officially commended by Surgeon-General J. K. Barnes, U. S. A., for his courage, successful treatment, and devotion to duty, he having remained at his post throughout the entire scourge, though deserted by his assistant sur- geons. He subsequently contributed to the Medical and Surgical History, War of the Rebellion, an article, "Treatment of Cholera by Strychnia in One-tenth Grain Doses," which attracted wide attention.
After a season of careful investigation by him of the European health resorts, Dr. Deuell has recently inaugurated a movement toward the more systematic administration of the Saratoga mineral waters, on the principles existing at Carlsbad and other European Spas, thus departing from the former rule of their indiscriminate use. This movement is preparatory to the establishment of a great sanitarium for this purpose.
Dr. Deuell was a charter member of the first local and State Medical Society organized in Arkansas; a member of the American Medical Association ; of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Little Rock; president of the board of U. S. Examining Surgeons, Bureau of Pen- sions, through two administrations; late clinical assistant to E. C. Seguin, M. D., Manhattan Hospital, New York, and physician to Mar- tha Rest at Saratoga Springs. He is also a member of James B. Mc- Kean Post, G.A. R., of Saratoga Springs, and of Theta Delta Chi Alumni Association of Union College.
In 1871 Dr. Deuell married Mary C., only child of Chester Ashley and Sallie Huston Cunningham of Frankfort, Ky., cousin of John J. and Robert Crittenden, eminent in Kentucky statesmanship. Their children are Mrs. G. R. P. Shackelford, David Valencourt, Marguerite Huston, Jean Crittenden and Dorothy Coggeshall.
Dr. Deuell's ancestry embraces colonial and heroic stock of the American Revolution. His father, Ethan Allen Deuell, was the eld- est son of Stephen Deuell, first cousin of Ethan Allen, hero of Fort
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Ticonderoga, for whom he was named. His mother was Ruth Cogge- shall, a direct lineal descendant of John Coggeshall, the first colonial governor of Rhode Island.
AUGUSTUS BOCKES.
JUDGE AUGUSTUS BOCKES, Saratoga Springs, was born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga county, N. Y., October 11, 1817, where his par- ents had resided for many years. His father, Adam Bockes, jr., was a farmer and held various town offices, among them that of justice of the peace and supervisor.
Judge Bockes's opportunities for education were confined to common schools of the town in which he lived, supplemented by two terms at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt. He taught school for three terms, one in his native town and two in the town of Malta. He commenced the study of law in the office of Judiah Ellsworth at Saratoga Springs in 1838; and continued his studies in the office of William A. Beach, one of the brightest lights of the Saratoga bar, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1843. Immediately after his admission he commenced the practice of his profession in partnership with Stephen P. Nash (deceased), late of New York city; and soon thereafter formed a partnership with Mr. Beach, which continued until 1847. He was elected the first county judge of Saratoga county under the new con- stitution in June, 1847, and entered upon his official duties July 1 of that year; he was re-elected for a second term at the November elec- tion in 1851 and resigned the office in 1854. On January 1, 1855, he was appointed by Governor Clarke a justice of the Supreme Court for the Fourth Judicial District of the State, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Daniel Cady. At the November election, in 1859, he was elected justice of the Supreme Court, the place to which he had been previously appointed in 1855, and was re-elected at the November election in 1867 and was again re-elected in 1875. At the last two elections he was elected without opposition, and at his last election he was nominated and supported by both political parties. During the year 1867 he was a member of the Court of Appeals, pur- suant to the then Constitution of the State. He was designated by Governor Dix to the General Term of the Supreme Court for the Fourth Judicial department (an appellate branch of that court under 33
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the amended constitution, which designation relieved him from circuit duty) for the years 1874 and 1875, and was thereafter redesignated to the same place on the expiration of his several designations by Gover- nors Tilden, Cornell, Cleveland and Hill respectively. Thus Judge Bockes held judicial positions during a period of thirty-five years, six years county judge and twenty-nine years justice of the Supreme Court, one year of which latter period was under appointment by the governor and twenty-eight under elections by the people. During one year (1867) he was a member of the Court of Appeals, and during four- teen years prior to January 1, 1888, he was a member of the Appellate division of the Supreme Court under designation by the governors of the State. His last elective term of fourteen years was abbreviated two years by constitutional limitation, inasmuch as he attained to seventy years of age on the 1st of October, 1887. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Union College in 1885.
Judge Bockes married a daughter of Judge William Hay in 1844, and one son was born to them, William Hay Bockes. Judge Bockes is now living (1899) at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
JAMES W. HOUGHTON.
HON. JAMES W. HOUGHTON was born in the town of Corinth, Saratoga county, September 1, 1856, son of Tilley and Charlotte (Dayton) Houghton. The family is of English descent and early settled in Sara- toga county, removing from Lancaster, Mass. His father was a prom- inent man in his day and was well known, especially throughout the northern section of the county.
Judge Houghton was educated at Canandaigua Academy, Canandai- gua, N. Y., and after completing an advance course in that institution, which at that time had a high reputation, taught school, reading law meantime, and was admitted to the bar at Rochester in October, 1879. In January, 1880, he came to Saratoga Springs and began the practice of law. By industry and painstaking care in the preparation of his cases, he rapidly established for himself a lucrative practice and a high position amongst the younger members of the bar.
In 1888, after an exciting but friendly contest, he was nominated by the Republican convention of his county for county judge. A great effort was made by his Democratic opponent to defeat him on the ground
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of his youth, but he was elected by a large majority. His services on the bench met with such approval that in 1894 he was re-elected with- out opposition, his nomination being endorsed by the Democratic party.
He is regarded as a hard working lawyer, who prepares his cases for trial and argument with great care and research. His arguments are clear and logical, and as an advocate he possesses strong ability before both court and jury. His great strength is in his plain, forceful and straightforward manner of presenting his case. He is engaged upon one side or the other of nearly all the important causes in his county.
In April, 1884, he married Elizabeth M. Smith of Saratoga Springs, and their children are James T. and Elizabeth.
SEYMOUR AINSWORTH.
SEYMOUR AINSWORTH, who died at his home in Saratoga Springs, December 22, 1890, in the seventieth year of his age, was an interest- ing character and a most useful citizen of this village and county. He was born in Woodbury, Vermont, May 17, 1821, one of twelve chil- dren, all of whom lived to be more than fifty-five years of age. His scholastic education was confined to a few terms in the neighboring district schools, but his education in woodcraft, the use of the rifle and other outdoor sports was broad, leading him in after years to the busi- ness of dealing in products of Indian skill, which gained him an exten- sive acquaintance with Indian tribes from Maine to the Northwest. When a youth of fourteen he learned the trade of carpenter and car- riage maker and at the age of nineteen came to Saratoga Springs to begin business for himself. IIe was employed for several years in and about the Union Hall of which he subsequently became one of the pro- prietors. He engaged in a variety of enterprises and was instrumental in the erection of more edifices of a public and private nature than any other man in Saratoga.
Mr. Ainsworth gained an international reputation in a business for which he was eminently well fitted-that of selling articles of Indian manufacture, such as deer-skin moccasins, porcupine quill and moose hair embroideries, basket work, bows and arrows, and snow shoes. He monopolized the entire product of several Indian tribes and for a considerable time had the entire product of the beautiful grass which is used by the Indians in their basket and fan work. Coupled with
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rare business ability he had an unusual genius for invention and at dif- ferent times nearly thirty patents were granted him for devices and processes connected with his many lines of business. Perhaps the most valuable of these was his process for manufacturing feather fans, which gave him a practical monopoly in the production of ostrich feather fans. For a number of years he furnished A. T. Stewart, Lord & Taylor, and other large houses with all the feather fans they sold.
In 1865 he formed a copartnership with W. H. McCaffrey and pur- chased the High Rock spring which he greatly improved; the com- pletion of the improvement being marked by a public meeting of cit- izens which was addressed by Chancellor Walworth, William L. Stone, esq., and others.
In politics Mr. Ainsworth was a Democrat and held various public offices in the town and village government. He was the first assistant assessor of internal revenue for his district under the laws of the United States. In 1870 he was elected to represent this district in the State Assembly, a remarkable evidence of popularity, taking into con- sideration the fact that his was the first election of a Democratic mem- ber in this district in fifteen years.
GEORGE F. COMSTOCK, M. D.
GEORGE F. COMSTOCK, M. D., one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons of Saratoga county, was born in the town of Moreau, January 1, 1861, a son of George W. and Harriet O. (Carr) Comstock.
He is of English ancestry who emigrated from England to America, settling in Providence, R. I. Nathaniel Comstock, grandfather of George F., was the first of the family to reside in New York State, coming here about 1800 and settling in the town of Greenfield. He was one of the pioneers of that section of the county, and during his lifetime was actively engaged in the growth and development of the resources of that region.
George W., his son, was also a resident of Greenfield for many years and a successful agriculturist. Of his marriage to Harriet O. Carr three children were born, Anna F. (deceased), George F. and William F.
George F. Comstock acquired his early education in the district schools of his native town, afterward attending the high school at Saratoga Springs and later the McLaren Institute at Glens Falls, N. Y. In 1880
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he began the study of medicine under Dr. James Tomlison of New York city, later entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1883.
During that year he also pursued a special course of study on the heart and lungs under Dr. Alfred L. Lommis at Bellevue Hospital. Subsequent to his graduation he removed to Saratoga Springs, where he has since been continuously engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, with the exception of the time spent away for the purpose of further study. In 1895 he took a course in surgery at Roosevelt Hos- pital and the year following a post graduate course at the Johns Hop- kins University in Baltimore. A thorough and untiring student, pos- sessing a deep love for his profession, Dr. Comstock has rapidly attained to a foremost position among the medical men of this section of New York State. His possession of one of the most extensive practices in Saratoga Springs among the summer guests as well as among the towns- people is an evidence of the appreciation by the public of his profes- sional ability.
Dr. Comstock's success seems to lie in the fact that he is a shrewd diagnostician, and that he knows no fatigue when a severe case calls for his attention and will leave nothing undone which is for the welfare of his patients.
He is a member of the New York Academy of Medicine, the State Medical Association, the County Medical Association, and the Amer- ican Medical Association. He was a member and secretary of the Pen- sion examining board for this district under President Harrison's ad- ministration.
December 12, 1883, he married Ella H., daughter of Rev. R. D. Andrews, of Greenfield Center, and they have one son, Carl R. Dr. and Mrs. Comstock are prominent in social and religious life of Sara- toga Springs, are members of the First Baptist church, and identified with all projects for the furtherance of the public good.
JOHN W. TAYLOR.
HON. JOHN W. TAYLOR was born in what is now Charlton, Saratoga county, March 26, 1784, a son of Judge John Taylor. He was one of the most distinguished men in political life that Saratoga county ever produced and the only citizen of New York State who has ever held
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the third place in the National Government (speaker of the House. ) Mr. Taylor was educated at Union College, from which he was grad- uated in 1803. He began his legal studies with Samuel Cook with whom he formed a partnership in 1806. In 1811 he was elected to the State Assembly, and re-elected in 1812. In the same year he was elected to the Thirteenth Congress from this district which he repre- sented for ten consecutive terms, ending in the year 1832. He was twice chosen as speaker of the House; in 1821 as the successor of Henry Clay, and in 1825 of the Nineteenth Congress for the full term. He was elected to the State Senate in 1840, but resigned in the summer of 1842. He soon after removed to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where he died September 18, 1854. His remains were interred in the ceme- tery at Ballston.
WILLIAM A. BEACH.
WILLIAM A. BEACH was a lawyer of great ability and national reputa- tion. He was prominently engaged in several of the most important cases that have ever been tried in the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Beach was born at Ballston Spa, this county, a son of Miles and Cynthia (Warren) Beach. He read law in the office of Judge Warren, his mother's brother, and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He prac- ticed in this county for several years, and then removed to Troy where he practiced about twenty years, subsequently removing to New York city.
WILLIAM B. GAGE.
WILLIAM B. GAGE, of Gage & Perry, proprietors of the United States Hotel, at Saratoga Springs, was born in Schenectady, N. Y., May 24, 1842, but nearly all his life he has been a resident of Saratoga Springs. There is a homely saying that "It is not every one who can keep a hotel." This is emphatically true, but Mr. Gage may not be counted among the "can'ts." His whole business life has been devoted to the vocation, which, in itself, is presumptive evidence that he is fitted by nature and education for the peculiar and varied duties that rest upon the shoulders of the successful innkeeper.
Tiliam B. Lager
DR. JOHN L. PERRY.
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In 1862 and 1863 Mr. Gage was employed in the office of the old United States Hotel as clerk, and for the three following years was cashier in the New York Hotel in New York city. From 1866 to 1869 he served as cashier at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D. C., and early in the latter year he returned to Saratoga Springs where he was cash- ier at Congress Hall until the close of the season. He then went as cashier to the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, where he remained until 1873. This experience of over ten years in some of the leading hotels of the country developed and strengthened his taste for, and knowledge of, the hotel business, and prepared him for the responsibil- ities of membership in the firm of Tompkins, Gage & Perry, who built and opened the new United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs in 1874. Since that date his connection with the United States has been un- interrupted.
Mr. Gage is intimately connected with the business life of Saratoga Springs, and is active and influential in all measures leading to the ad- vancement of his home village; he is a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank, and an owner and director of the Saratogian, the leading newspaper of the county; he has also been for many years a vestryman in Bethesda Episcopal church.
On September 29, 1875, he married Caroline B., third daughter of Hon. James M. Marvin. They have had four children, as follows: William Marvin, Augusta W., Rhoby Marvin and James Marvin.
JOHN L. PERRY, M. D.
DR. JOHN L. PERRY, one of the proprietors of the United States Ho- tel at Saratoga Springs, is a son of Dr. John L. and Harriet (Sadler) Perry, and was born at Saratoga Springs, February 28, 1840. During his boyhood Dr. Perry attended the schools of his native village, and later entered the College of St. Therese, near Montreal, Canada; he afterwards received instruction in private schools in Saratoga, and after completing his preparatory education, began the study of medicine with his father and subsequently Drs. March and Armsby, of Albany, were his preceptors. He gained much practical experience, prior to his graduation in medicine, in the Albany barracks under Dr. Armsby, in the hospital, and with his father. He was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 115th Regiment, N. Y. Vols., and served with excellent
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record at Yorktown and Port Royal for several months, but, contract- ing typhus fever, was obliged to resign.
After retiring from the army he engaged in private practice in Sara- toga Springs, and also took charge of the medical department of the 2d Veteran Cavalry (then stationed at Saratoga) until the regiment was ordered to move. He continued his practice in Saratoga Springs until continued ill health, the result of the fever contracted while in the service, caused him to give up the practice of his profession. He had a fine practice and a very successful one, but was compelled to give it up and go to Carlsbad and other resorts for a long time before he was cured. In 1866 he formed a copartnership with F. T. Hill, under the firm name of F. T. Hill & Co., and engaged in the drug trade, which association continued until 1873.
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