USA > New York > Saratoga County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York > Part 78
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Jenkins, Frank M., son of James B. and Frances E. (Gorsline) Jenkins, was born in the village of Oneida, Madison county, N. Y., August 19, 1854, and came to the village of Saratoga Springs with his parents, when about four years of age, to re- side. In his early boyhood he attended private and public schools here, and also Yonkers Military Academy and Waterford schools. In 1875 he entered the law office of Hon. John R. Putnam to pursue the study of law, and was admitted to the
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bar in 1878. In 1879 he was appointed a justice of the peace to fill a vacancy in that office; at the time of his appointment he being the youngest justice ever holding the position in the county. In 1885 he received the party nomination for justice of the peace, and was elected and held the office continuously up to January 1, 1899, at which time he took up again the practice of his profession. While acting justice his court business was the largest in the county, having between six hundred and eight hundred cases a year. Mr. Jenkins has identified himself with a number of secret societies, clubs and associations in his village, holding at present office in a number. He is one of the original members of the Saratoga Citizens' Corps, and one of the founders, of whom there were four, who originated the company.
Reeves, George H., was born August 29, 1826, at Sandhurst, Kent county, Eng- land, where he was also educated, receiving a good practical English education, and after his school days he learned the trade of general merchandise in his father's store, a grocery and drapery store, and continued in that vocation in England until 1848, when he came to America. He left England in the spring of that year, and after seeing America in its summer garb, decided to remain in this country. He accordingly settled at Saratoga Springs, which has since been his home, although he spent five years in New York city where he learned the painting trade. From 1848 to 1863 he continued in the active work of his trade, but mainly as a contractor, and a large percentage of the finest buildings in Saratoga Springs were painted under his contracts and supervision. In 1863 he established a paint store, which has been a very successful business since its inception, and which Mr. Reeves still continues. On December 5, 1851, Mr. Reeves married Matilda Hall. They had one daugh- ter, Elizabeth, who died August 4, 1863, in the eleventh year of her age. Mrs. Reeves died March 30, 1890. Mr. Reeves has an adopted daughter, Bertha Eugenia Reeves. Mr. Reeves has been a very successful business man, and his record is one of highest integrity. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian church and at the present time is a trustee of that church. He has also been a warm supporter of the Y.M.C.A. Mr. Reeves's parents were George and Maria (Worsley) Reeves, both of Kent county, England.
Sturges, Charles H .- The legal profession has for centuries attracted some of the brightest minds of all civilized nations and the profoundest of these have constantly added and are still adding to the perfections of the codes that regulate and control the acts of men. The bar of Saratoga county has produced some illustrious names and among the active practitioners of to-day the subject of this sketch has already achieved distinction as an able counselor and reconstructor, of which the books bear evidence. Charles H. Sturges was born May 25, 1846, at Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N. Y. He was educated in the common schools and the Saratoga High School, which was then in reality a select school, but bore its present name. After leaving this institution his education was completed by private tuition under compe- tent tutors. Mr. Sturges at first entered commercial life through the contingencies of environment and it was not until late years that he found his natural field in the legal profession. His father owned a tannery, and while completing his education Charles H. Sturges learned this trade and subsequently went into partnership with his father at the age of nineteen years. Almost immediately after the partnership
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was formed his father died, in 1865, and the management of the entire business fell into his hands; as well as that of a hide and leather trade which was conducted along with the tannery. These interests he managed successfully up to 1870, when the tannery was destroyed by fire and that branch of the business was discontinued. From 1870 to 1879 Mr. Sturges was engaged in the hide and leather business and also dealt in wool. In the year 1879 he entered the surrogate's office as clerk, having previously perfected himself in stenography, which position he held until 1885. In 1881 he was appointed superintendent of public works for Saratoga Springs. which at that time embraced the superintendency of both the streets and the water works. His appointment was for two years, but in 1882 a separate superintendent was ap- pointed for the water works and Mr. Sturges resigned his position. While acting as surrogate's clerk he applied himself assiduously to the study of law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1886. Immediately thereafter he opened his present offices in the town hall, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his pro- fession, principally as counsel, and has established a reputation for legal knowledge and sound judgment, which places him among the foremost lawyers of the Empire State. Among the many cases in which he has achieved distinction was the defense of John H. W. Cadby of Hudson, who was extradited from Canada on the charge of uttering forged paper. The prosecution undertook to put him on trial on twelve in- dictments of forgery. Mr. Sturges contended that this could not be done legally and the case continued for over a year on his overruled plea that Cadby could not be tried for forgery when he had been extradited for uttering forged paper. At this juncture the Supreme Court of the United States came out with a decision on a sim- ilar case sustaining Mr. Sturges's contention, and the wording of the Supreme Court's findings was so similar to the plea of Mr. Sturges that the untenable sug- gestion was made that he had seen the finding of the court before it was handed down. In the case of George Clements, who had been cashier of the State Bank of Fort Edward, Mr. Sturges established the people's right to appeal to the Court of Appeals after the discharge of the prisoner by the General Term. In the municipal case Glazier vs. Hebron (town) Mr. Sturges established the law that it is not negli- gence for town authorities to fail to erect a barrier where nature had placed trees along the side of a highway to take the place of a barrier. These and other im- portant cases are recorded in the books and furnish conclusive evidence of the high standing of Mr. Sturges as an able lawyer and sound counselor. In politics Mr. Sturges has always adhered to the Republican party, but has never sought office, the demands of his practice requiring all his attention. Notwithstanding this he accepted the presidency of the village for two years in the cause of good govern- ment. The town was wide open and a strong man and strong measures were neces- sary to restrain the gambling and sporting elements. To this end the village char- ter was changed and Mr. Sturges chosen president, and during the two years of his administration he not only curbed, but absolutely stopped gambling in the village, not even the famous Club House being exempted. Mr. Sturges is a prominent Ma- son, a member of Rising Sun Lodge No. 103, Rising Sun Chapter No. 131, Royal Arch Masons, Cryptic Council No. 37, Royal and Select Masters and Washington Commandery No. 33, Knights Templar. He has held all the chairs from master of the Blue Lodge, except high priest, and is the prelate of Washington Commandery, which he has now been for twenty-two consecutive terms. In 1866 Mr. Sturges
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married Florence S. Hartwell, who died in 1878 without issue. In 1882 he married Emma A. Deal, daughter of Alexander and Martha (Ostrom) Deal of Dobbs Ferry. They have two children, Harold H. and Raymond Sturges. Mr. Sturges's parents were William and Charlotte (Sherman) Sturges. William Sturges was a native of Rensselaer county. His father, Rufus Sturges, was a native of Connecticut, where the family had resided for some generations. The Deal family came into Mont- gomery county in its early settlement days.
Town, Byron J., one of the enterprising and solid man of Saratoga Springs, was born in this village and received a liberal education in the schools of his native place and at North Chili, Monroe county, N. Y. He began the active business of life as a clerk and through his own energy and ability has become a prosperous busi- ness man. He was a trusted clerk in the post office, Saratoga Springs, for a period of ten years, after which he was a clerk for the Thomas & Brown Company for some time, finally becoming a partner in that concern. In 1888 he was elected receiver of taxes for Saratoga Springs for a term of three years, and was again elected in 1894, holding the office in all six years. In the spring of 1898 he accepted the position of bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Saratoga Springs. In all the positions which Mr. Town has held, whether public or private, he has discharged his duties with the strictest fidelity and marked ability and has merited the high esteem and public confidence which he enjoys. In 1878 Mr. Town married Lucy A. Stevens of Windsor, Broome county, N. Y. Their children are Clara, Anna, Howard S., Lil- lian and Byron J. Town, jr. Mr. Town's parents were F. A. and Emily (James) Town. His great-grandfather, William Town, was a patriot soldier in the Revolu- tionary war, and along with two brothers saw much active service in the strug- gle that won American independence. The ever famous battle of Bunker Hill is one of the engagements in which William Town participated. A strong strain of fighting blood has pervaded the family on both sides for generations. Mr. Town's grandfather, on his mother's side was an English soldier, and his brother, William F. Town, of Saratoga Springs, was a member of Company L, Second- N. Y. Vols., during the Spanish-American war. Byron J. Town's mother was born in London, England, but came to America when a child. On his father's side the family has been American for upwards of two hundred years, descending from old Puritan stock.
Bloom, George W., was born in Saratoga, May 1, 1864, a son of Daniel and Mar- garet Bloom, and educated in the public schools of that place. He has been in the barber's business for sixteen years, the last five of which he has been proprietor of the Arcade Barber Shop. He is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity and the Royal Arcanum. June 15, 1887, Mr. Bloom married Ella Laforce, and they have two children; Daniel and Irene. Mr. Bloom's father died in the winter of 1898.
Mingay, Lieut. Richard, jr., is a descendant of an ancestry, every generation of which has produced men who have made their mark, both in the walks of peace and the ranks of war. His remote ancestors, who spelled the name Minguette, were Huguenots in France, and were men of spirit who fought for their cause, but who with thousands of other Huguenots emigrated to England after the massacre of St.
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Bartholomew, which sent so many artisans and gentlemen across the channel to benefit the English realm. A direct descendant of one of these is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Filby, county Norfolk, England, September 4, 1848. In 1850 his parents came to this country and settled in Saratoga Springs, where he was reared and educated, and where he has long been an active and enterprising citizen, taking an intelligent interest in the progress and welfare of the village and county and actively participating in some department of its mercantile and public life. While yet a boy the war of the Rebellion broke out and aroused the fighting blood in his veins, which his warrior ancestors had bequeathed to him, and he enlisted in March, 1865, was assigned to the quartermaster's department under Captain Moore, and served until October of the same year. He enlisted twice subsequently, first in 1866, when he was rejected because of his youth, and again in 1867, when he resigned because he was assigned to the drum corps, although he enlisted for the ranks in the 6th U. S. Cavalry. He was one of the organizers of the Saratoga Citizens' Corps and has been connected with it since 1878, when the corps was accepted by the State and mustered in. During these twenty years he has ever been indefatigable in his efforts to make and keep the corps a splendid military organization, and his zeal and worth are fully recognized and appreciated. He was made sergeant in 1884 and so remained until the breaking out of the Spanish-American war in the spring of 1898, when he was elected second lieutenant, passed his examination and received his commission; he also served as battalion quartermaster for several years, and was a member of Company A, 64th Regiment for two years, three months and twenty three days. As a boy Mr. Mingay began the printer's trade, alternating with railroading in the summers, and after the war resumed his chosen occupation, which he has since pursued. For five years he conducted a large job printing office in Saratoga Springs, and for the past nine years has been foreman in the job de- partment of the Saratogian, the office in which he learned his trade. Mr. Mingay is a prominent Mason, a member of Rising Sun Lodge No 103, Rising Sun Chapter No. 131, Washington Commandery No. 33, Knights Templar. In politics Lieutenant Mingay is a Democrat, and while never desiring office has been water commissioner for Saratoga Springs, and is assistant chief of the fire department, in which he has served for thirty years. Mr. Mingay married Harriet Augusta Bullard, whose an- cestors were among the earliest in this county. Mr. Mingay's parents, Richard and Ruth (Corp) Mingay, are still living in Saratoga Springs, his father at the age of eighty-three and his mother at eighty-eight. Mr. Mingay's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Duke of Wellington's army and every generation of the family for three hundred years has produced successful and honorable men.
Schwarte, John C., was born in Hanover, Germany, December 5, 1842, and came to the United States February 22, 1866. He learned the trade of tailor in the old country and pursued it as a journeyman for some years. He worked two years in New York city and came to Saratoga Springs, July 15, 1868. In 1874 he engaged in business for himself and conducts one of the leading merchant tailoring establish- ments of the village. Mr. Schwarte is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Royal Arcanum. In 1871 he married Amanda Virginia Miller of New York city, and they have four sons: Lieut. John A. Schwarte, Alfred G., Walter, Louis E., and four daughters. Lieut. John A. and Alfred G. are members of the Saratoga Citizens'
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Corps (Company L, 2d Regiment, N. Y. Vols.), and served in the Spanish-American war. Mr. Schwarte's parents were Christian and Caroline (Wedemeyer) Schwarte. His mother died when he was nine years old and his father five years later, so that at the age of fourteen he was left to make his own way in the world, which he has done successfully, honestly and honorably.
Myers, Simon H., was born in Bibra, Saxony, March 8, 1836, and came to the United States in 1856, settling first in Albany, where he took up the study of law, but soon removed to Schuylerville to go into the dry goods business. He remained there until 1861 when he went to western Vermont, remaining there until 1865, and thence to Fair Haven, Vt., being engaged in the furniture business and in slate manufacturing. In 1873 he came to Saratoga Springs and established an art store and photographic studio. He was subsequently engaged in the jewelry business un- til he embarked in the real estate business. In May, 1893, he entered into partner- ship with Mr. W. S. Lefler, forming the firm of S. H. Myers & Co. Mr. Myers married Louise Andrews and they have two daughters, Carrie E. and Charlotte E. Mr. Myers is a member of the Royal Arcanum, A. O. U. W., and the Masonic fra- ternity, having been made a Mason in 1865 at Fair Haven, Vt.
Carpenter, Charles E., was born in Saratoga Springs, April 5, 1855, a son of Charles and Electa (Wells) Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter has been twenty-three years in the shoe business, all of which time he has been connected with the same house. The business of Herrick & Lodewick, which he now conducts, was first started by J. L. Dodge of Troy, who sold out to William C. Herrick and Jeremiah Lodewick. Mr. Lodewick died April 18, 1894, and his interest was purchased by Mr. F. C. Herrick in the spring of 1898. The business is nominally in charge of Carpenter & Calkins. The house carries one of the largest stocks of boots and shoes in Saratoga Springs, and Mr. Carpenter's long experience in this business enables him to control and re- tain the public patronage. In 1881 Mr. Carpenter married Anna M. Crary, daugh- ter of John Crary of Amsterdam. Mr. Carpenter was a charter member of the 22d Separate Company and served an enlistment of five years, receiving an honor- able discharge.
Fish, Charles F .- There are many old landmarks in Saratoga and among them is included Fish's Drug Store, now conducted by Charles F. Fish, a son of the founder, George Haughton Fish, who was a member of one of the oldest Connecticut families and a native of Hartford. He came to Saratoga in 1840 and for many years was engaged in the drug business, becoming a useful and well known citizen; he died in 1884 in his eighty-second year. Charles F. Fish was born in Saratoga Springs and attended the common schools, and later what was then known as the Saratoga High School, conducted by the late Alexander Proudfit, D. D. Under the direction of his father, a lifelong druggist, Mr. Fish early began the study of phar- macy and passed all of the years of his earlier life in his father's store. In 1866 he was admitted to partnership and the firm name changed to George H. Fish & Son, and so continued until the death of the senior partner, when it was changed to the present style, Mr. Fish having to succeeded to his father's interest. For over six years
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Mr. Fish was a member of the board of education, acting as president of that body for a period of four years. He has three children : Nellie Stacey, George Haughton and Florence Whittlesey Fish. Caroline Whittlesey, the mother of Mr. Fish, was a native of Salisbury, Litchfield county, Conn., and a descendant of John Whittlesey who settled near the present site of Saybrook, Conn., in 1635.
Scott-Waring, Mrs. C. E., was born August 29, 1858, at South Greenfield, N. Y. She was educated at Ossinging Institute, Sing Sing, N. Y., and Young Ladies' Semi- nary of Plainfield, N. J. She began teaching at an early age, continuing for several terms, in the meantime studied oil painting under the personal instruction of Schussel of the Academy of Fine Arts of Philadelphia, also Waugh and Imely. In the School of Design, Philadelphia, she was under the instruction of Peter Moran in oil painting, and Professor Jahn in China painting. Her work attracting attention, she opened a studio in 1884, and later started the "C. E. Scott Decorative Art." In 1893 she made an exhibit at the Columbia Exposition and was there awarded a " Medal " and " Diploma," receiving at the time several favorable criticisms in lead- ing art journals. She is possessed of a happy combination of artistic and business abilities, and has met with success highly pleasing to herself and friends, giving employment to a large number of people. She is the daughter of Alexander Hamilton Scott and Sophronia Wood Seymour, his wife ; granddaughter, on the paternal side, in direct line, of Col. Lewis Scott and Barbara Dalrymple, his wife; great-granddaugh- ter of Lieut .- Col. William Scott and Rosannagh Tait (Tate), his wife; and great- great-granddaughter of Archibald Scott, of Roxborough, Scotland. Lieut. - Col. William Scott (1) was born at Roxborough, Scotland, in 1743, and emigrated to America about 1760, accompanied by his wife, Rosannagh Tait, who was a daughter of John Tait, a woolen merchant, near Garvagh, county Derry, Ireland. They set- tled in Peterboro, N. H., where he was a merchant. He espoused the cause of the colonists at the beginning of the Revolution, was a captain of a New Hampshire company, April, 1775, and in June, 1776, was made captain of the First Company in the First Regiment New Hampshire Line; he was commissioned major in the same regiment, his commission bearing date September 20, 1777; in 1779 was brigade- major of General Poor's Brigade; and on October 10, 1783, was commissioned lieu- tenant-colonel by brevet, and continued in the service until 1784, when his regiment was disbanded, having served full eight years in the Continental army. He was several times wounded, once severely in the left hand, crippling it for life, and for which injury he was pensioned. After the war for two years he was a mer- chant in Schenectady, N. Y., following which he was a farmer in North Greenfield, N. Y., until his death. In 1794 he was the first supervisor of his town, and was re- elected in 1796, and was justice of the peace from 1798 to 1803. He was a Mason, an original member of St. John's Lodge No. 90. In 1812 he built the house known as "The Homestead," where he died July 14, 1815, and was buried with Masonic honors in Bailey Cemetery, where, with his comrades in arms, he had slept in the wilderness in 1786. His wife died (date unknown) and he married, second, about 1790, Charity Gilliland, a supposed relative of William Gilliland, the extensive land owner of Essex county, N. Y. She died October 29, 1816, and was buried in Bailey Cemetery. Col. Lewis Scott, the second son and child (the first was John, a physi-
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cian, born August 11, 1765, at Peterboro, N. H., and died at Buffalo, N. Y., May 6, 1839) of William Scott, and grandfather of Mrs. Scott-Waring, was born April 8, 1774, at Peterboro, N. H. It is said that during the Revolutionary war he was in the care of a family at Athol, Mass. ; from 1786 to 1794 he was with his father in Greenfield, and at the latter date lived in the house "on the hill," next above his father. In March, 1803, he was commissioned ensign in the 63d Regiment, N. Y. S. M. (Sara- toga), and on the 8th day of April, 1805, was commissioned lieutenant in the 59th Regiment, and on May 31, 1809, was made captain in the same regiment. On Sep- tember 14, 1814, he was captain in Colonel Prior's Regiment at Sackets Harbor, N. Y., and on January 8, 1813, was in command of the erection of Fort Tompkins at that place. On June 7, 1816, he was commissioned second major in the 59th Regi- ment, and on March 27, 1819, received his commission as lieutenant-colonel in the same regiment. On July 11, 1812, he became a member of the Washington Benevo- lent Society of Saratoga county, and a member of St. John's Lodge, F. & A M., July 14, 1802, of which he was master several years. After the close of the war of 1812 he was engaged in lumbering, farming and hotel-keeping. On April 28, 1794, he married Barbara Dalrymple, born February 21, 1774. She bore him nine children, as follows: William Smith Scott, born May 17, 1795, died in 1865 at Burnt Hills, N. Y .; John Scott, born December 4, 1796, died May 4, 1861; Lucinda Scott, born October 9, 1798, died in 1892 at Glens Falls, N. Y .; Lewis Scott, born May 8, 1801, died August 26, 1885; Alexander Hamilton Scott (father of Mrs. Scott-Waring); Dudley Fish Scott, born May 2, 1807, died May 12, 1894; Cherry Gilliland Scott, born November 20, 1809, living at Greenfield, N. Y .; Samuel Stewart Scott, born November 22, 1812, died March 18, 1890, at Boone, Iowa; Mary Ann Scott, born April 2, 1815, died June 6, 1889. Col. Lewis Scott died February 22, 1866, at Green- field, N. Y., aged ninety-one years, ten months and fourteen days; and his wife Barbara February 20, 1858, at Greenfield. Alexander Hamilton Scott, fifth child and fourth son of Lewis Scott and father of Mrs. Scott-Waring, was born September 4, 1804, in the house "on the hill," above The Homestead in Greenfield, N. Y. In 1820 he studied trigonometry and surveying, and afterward did more or less survey- ing. In 1822 he enlisted in a company of cavalry, of which he later became captain ; and in the same year he qualified to teach district school in Luzerne, N. Y., which occupation he followed for the nine succeeding winters in the towns of Corinth and Greenfield. When he was twenty-one years of age his townsmen elected him justice of the peace, which office he held the greater part of his life. He prided himself on the fact that no decision of his had ever been set aside on appeal; a well-known lawyer, who had many cases before him, said he never knew when retained on a case before Squire Scott whether it would be tried or not, as his unvarying custom was to urge upon the contestants that they retire and endeavor to settle their differences between themselves, that a trial would engender bad blood, and make them bad friends and neighbors. He was an ardent advocate of learning. In 1830 he hought fifty acres of land of his father to save him from the burden of a mortgage. On No- vember 6, 1832, he was elected inspector of schools. On March 8, 1839, he bought a farm near his father, which he sold in 1868, and where five of his children were born. November 25, 1858, he bought the Seymour Hill farm in South Greenfield, where he lived until the time of his death. He was assessor of his town many years. O11 December 19, 1838, he married, at her father's home in Greenfield, Sophronia Wood
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