USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II > Part 44
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Nichols, Jeduthun, Evans, p. o. Angola, was born in Cattaraugus county in 1827 and came with his father, Alanson Nichols, to Erie county in 1831 and settled in the town of Boston, where the latter died. Jeduthun Nichols came to Evans in 1852, and in 1853 married Olive, daughter of Elihu Johnson of Boston. They began life in Evans as farmers, and they have three sons: Alanson E., Charles J. and George W. Mr. Nichols has been for many years Sunday school superintendent and deacon in the Baptist church.
Smith, Elijah Porter, Evans, p. o. Angola, born in the town of Burlington, Otsego county, N. Y., in 1817, is a son of Nathaniel K. and Sally (Porter) Smith. Mr. Smith came to Erie county with his father in 1835 and settled in Brant township, which at that time was the southern part of the town of Evans. In 1843 he married Martha (Colvin) Smith. He bought and cleared a large farm in Evans, which he occupied until 1877, when he rented it and bought the Caskey Hotel the same year and kept the same as the Union Hotel for ten years. He then retired from active life and has since lived in Angola. Mr. Smith has five sons and three daughters: Lucius P., Jasper E., Helen G., Malcolm W., Israel E., Rosalie V., Bion E. and Nellie M. Martha Colvin Smith was born in Cortland county, N. Y., in 1824. Her father, Israel Philip Colvin, served in the war of 1812; he was born in Rhode Island; moved from there to Danby, Vt., where he married Valeriah Fisk, daughter of Reuben and Martha (Wait) Fisk; moved to Cortland, N. Y., in 1820, and in 1838 moved to Brant. Elijah P. Smith, at the time of our trouble with Canada, known as the Mckenzie or Patriot war, in the winter of 1837-38, was doing military duty under the old mili- tia system as lieutenant in Capt. Reuben Gray's company, 48th Regiment, Col. Ira Ayer, Brig .- General Burt, Major-General Winfield Scott. He was warned to appear in Buffalo, January 1, 1838, armed and equipped as the law directs, which he did, with an old French flint-lock, powder in horn, bullet moulds and lead. They were received by General Scott and enlisted in the U. S. service, and stationed on the west side of Grand Island and in Buffalo; he was discharged about the middle of March; he was in Capt. A. M. Clapp's company when discharged. In 1862, without fee or reward, he volunteered in the U. S. service, for three years, at the age of forty-five; his was the first name on the roll of Capt. James Ayer's company of the 116th Regiment. He was in active service as sergeant until discharged at the close of the war. He was wounded at Sabine Cross Roads and at the battle of Winchester. He is a charter member and chaplain of James Ayer Post No. 202, G. A. R., Angola.
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Schwert, Julius M., Evans, p. o. Angola, was born in Gowanda, N. Y., February 16, 1868, and in 1882 and 1883 worked on a farm at Farnham, N. Y. At the age of sixteen he began working for Granger & Co., wholesale grocers of Buffalo; starting at the very bottom of the ladder he continued working up until he was traveling salesman for them, until 1892, when he bought the store in Angola, where he has built up a large and successful business. He also opened a store in Farnham, N. Y., in 1886, which he sold to his brother. In 1892 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Erie county; in 1893 he was elected village treasurer of Angola and still holds the position; in 1895 he was elected town clerk of Evans and was unanimously renom- inated in 1897, but declined to run. He is a member of the Democratic County Committee from 1890 to 1895. He married Louise Ahlers, and they have one son.
Walters, Leonard, Evans, p. o. Angola, born in Collins, N. Y., is a son of John Walters, who came from Germany to Collins in 1848, and was a butcher and drover. Leonard Walters settled first in Brant, where he was a farmer for some years, and later moved to Evans where he has been engaged in farming and butchering for the past fifteen years. In 1896 he bought the market at Angola, which he carries on in connection with his wholesale trade. His wife is Phoebe, daughter of Jacob South- wick, of Brant.
Watt, A. J., Evans, p. o. Angola, was born in Silver Creek in 1861 and is the son of William Watt, who came from Scotland when a young man and was a farmer and died in Irving. Mr. A. J. Watt, after obtaining a common school education, entered the machine shop at Silver Creek, where he learned the machinist's trade, which he followed until 1893, when he had accumulated enough money to enable him to come to Angola and purchase the Union Hotel, which he now runs as a popular place for commercial men and the public in general.
Collins, Edward, Newstead, p. o. Akron, is a native of Oswego, N. Y., and lived there for the first fifteen years of his life. He was born in 1834 and is a son of John and Mary Collins, who came to this country in 1821, settling first in Ogdensburg and later moved to Oswego. He was a miner and contractor. After his death in 1857 the mother and family moved to Buffalo, where she died in 1884. There were twelve children, only one of whom, besides Edward, is now living. At the age of fifteen Edward became a sailor on Lake Ontario and continued as such until twenty-one years old. After that he spent twenty-five years as sailor and captain on Lake Erie, sailing out of Buffalo. He was captain of the brig Mechanic, New York State, and bark Sweeney; he was later in charge of the bark Waverly and the schooner King- fisher and many other freight and passenger boats on the lake. In 1877 Mr. Collins accepted the position of superintendent of the H. L. & W. C. Newman Cement Works at Akron and is still acting in that capacity. Mr. Collins married Anna, daughter of Peter and Mary Malone of Buffalo, and they had seven children, five of whom are living. Minnie married Dr. T. J. G. Shehan of Buffalo, and are now residents of South Dakota.
The Cummings Cement Company, Newstead, p. o. Akron .- In the year 1854 the firm of Cummings & Sons made and established the brand known as the Cummings Cement. The head of this firm was the father of the president and treasurer of the present company, and grandfather of the vice-president and secretary. From the
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date given until the present time the number of barrels of cement produced and sold bearing the name of Cummings, has reached the total of 6,360,000; over 600,000 barrels were used in the construction of the New Croton aqueduct, New York city. Cummings cement has been used in the construction of every railroad leading out of Buffalo, and in New England, in Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Omaha, Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis and scores of others. It has also been used in the vast sewer systems of all the cities of the great chain of lakes, and in scores of waterworks systems throughout the country; also extensively used by the United States government. The works of the Cummings Cement Company, the largest and most complete works of the kind in the United States, are situated at Akron, N. Y., and located on the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad, twenty miles northeast of Buffalo. The plant alone covers three and fifty-five hund- redths acres, and is operated by engines developing over 1,000 horse-power. The grinding is done by the system of gradual reduction, with crushers, pulverizers and twenty run of 42-inch millstones. The general offices are in the Ellicott Square building, Buffalo, and the officers are, Uriah Cummings, president: Homer S. Cum- mings, secretary; Palmer Cummings, treasurer and general manager, and Ray P. Cummings, vice-president; New England office, Stamford, Conn.
Dailey, Merritt H., M. D. S., Newstead, p. o. Akron, is a son of Marret Dailey of Oakfield, Genesee county, N. Y., and was born June 15, 1848. His father was a me- chanic of considerable note and was formerly engaged in business in Oakfield, and died in 1878. Dr. Dailey was the second of five children and early had to assume heavy responsibilities, not only in making his own way, but in caring for others in the family. His early education was obtained at the Cary Collegiate Seminary at Oakfield, and at the age of nineteen he went to Akron and entered upon a clerkship in the store of John Wainright, the leading merchant in the village. After two years' service he engaged in the jewelry business, opening a store on Main street, but dur- ing this time he became ambitious to enter the dental profession and became a stu- dent in the office of Dr. A. H. Fowler, a well known dentist in Batavia. Having completed his studies and passed his examinations, he returned to Akron to take up the work, and from that time to the present there has been no halt in the progress of his success. Dr. Dailey has in Akron one of the finest and best equipped offices in Erie county, besides having an office in Buffalo where he spends every Tuesday and Thursday of each week. In 1889 he received from the State the degree of M. D. S., after years of assiduous work. In 1868 he married Anna E. Wainright, daugh- ter of his first employer in Akron.
Eadie, James, Newstead, p. o. Akron, came from Newcastle-on Tyne, England, where he was born in 1847. Having received a liberal education, and being some- what ambitious, he decided to leave his home, and came to America in 1865; he finally came to Akron and entered the employ of E. J. Newman & Co., in which he still continues, and for the last eighteen years has been superintendent of their large flouring mill. Mr. Eadie has been a Democrat in politics since coming to this coun- try, and has always been zealous in the party's behalf; he has also served on the Village Board as treasurer for six years, and also served as school trustee for two terms in his district. Mr. Eadie married Miss Mary Coughlin in 1868, and they have four children, two sons and two daughters.
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Hain, William H., Newstead, p. o. South Newstead, has been a resident of the town of Newstead since 1893, but has spent all of his life in Erie county. He was born in the town of Clarence in 1857 and spent his early life on his father's farm. He is a son of George and Philapena Hain, who came from Germany in the early days and settled in the northeastern part of Clarence, where he was a prosperous farmer, and died in 1857, his wife in 1888. During his early days William H. at- tended the district school in winters and worked at carpentering summers. In the mean while he had learned the carpenter's trade, and carried on the business of car- penter and builder. He also taught school winters until he became a resident of Newstead. Mr. Hain is a zealous Republican and has done active work in the inter- est of his party. He married, in 1886, Alice E. Crego; she died in 1888. For his second wife he married Christina, daughter of Adam and Christina Nice, and they have one child, Mabel A.
Loomis, Carlisle, Newstead, p. o. Akron, was born in Michigan in 1868, and is a son of John K. and Hannah L. Loomis. His mother died when he was less than six years of age and there being a large family of children, Carlisle was permitted to live with his uncle, R. E. Janes, at Leroy, N. Y. In a short time the family re- movod to Livonia, N. Y., and Carlisle was taken with them, where he was educated in the public schools. After completing his schooling he entered the employ of J. D. Howell, a leading jeweler of that place, and learned the trade. Three years com- pleted this service, but he remained another year, and in 1892 Mr. W. W. Parker, a jeweler at Akron, engaged Mr. Loomis as manager of his store. After two years of successful business experience Mr. Loomis embarked in business for himself, open- ing at first a small store in an up-town quarter, but by careful attention to his busi- ness, it gradually grew so as to necessitate larger quarters, and he then erected a new building, which he now occupies. It is one of the finest and most complete in the eastern part of Erie county.
Miner, George F., Newstead, p. o. Akron, was born at Olean, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., October 7, 1853, and upon the death of his father and mother, two years later, he went to live with his grandfather, M. M. Miner. His father, George H. Miner, was a jeweler by trade, and had established himself in business in Olean little more than two years before his death. He was a native of Springville, and had spent all his life there previous to moving to Olean. His wife, Jerusha A. Pratt, came from one of the oldest families in Erie county, as her grandfather was the second mer- chant to establish in Buffalo. They were also prominently identified with the early struggles of the settlers of those days. George F. Miner was educated at the schools in Springville and also in Cattaraugus county. He then taught for several years in the vicinity of his home, and in 1881 came to Akron and engaged as a mechanic for the Cummings Cement Company. On account of proficiency and strict attention to his duties he was soon made master mechanic, and in 1893 was promoted to the su- perintendency of the works, the largest single establishment of the kind in the United States. Mr. Miner is a member of the Odd Fellows, and he is now special district deputy; he is also a member of the Encampment, and member of Akron Lodge, F. & A. M. In 1873 Mr. Miner married Ella Blodgett, and they have one son, Frank A. Mrs. Miner died in 1876, and in 1879 he married Alice E., daughter of Hiram and Nancy Rowley of Alden, Erie county, N. Y.
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Stearns, James W., Newstead, p. o. Akron, is a native of Bradford, Mckean county, Pa., and was born July 21, 1850, and has spent most of his life in Bradford and the oil country. When seven years of age his parents moved to Warren county, where James W. lived until 1868. He attended school in winters and worked on a farm summers, finally taking a course in the Jamestown Union School and Colle- giate Institute, from which he was graduated. After graduating he engaged in teaching, holding several prominent principalships in schools. When the oil de- velopment in Mckean county had become an assured success Mr. Stearns returned to his native county and embarked in the oil producing business, and by his energy and good business abilities, soon became one of the leaders in the great oil center. He was not only alive and successful in his business, but also active and influential in Democratic politics in town and county. On account of this and the general esteem in which he was held, he was, in 1867, made the candidate for sheriff of. Mc- Kean county, and although a strong Republican county, came within a few votes of the election. In 1893 Mr. Stearns moved to Akron, Erie county, where he now resides, and is actively interested in the production of oil, besides having large inter- ests in gas producing territory in New York State. Mr. Stearns is one of the leaders in Democratic politics in Akron, and in 1896 was president of the Bryan and Sewall Club. In 1879 be married Annie E. Way, and they have four children.
Steiner, Hon. Henry L., Newstead, p. o. Akron, was born in Cheektowaga, June 26, 1863. His father. Christian Steiner, with his wife, Fredericka, came from Ger- many and settled in the above town, where they became prominent among the farmers of those days. Christian Steiner died in 1866, and the family moved soon after his death to the town of Newstead, where the mother is still living. They had six children, of whom Henry L. was the fifth. After the change of residence Henry L. was sent to the Clarence Academy, where he acquired the foundations of his edu- cation. After completing his course there he entered the German and English college at Galena, Ill., and from there he went to the Northern Indiana Normal School, graduating in both the normal and law deparment. After graduating in 1888 Mr. Steiner returned to Akron and entered upon the pratice of law, in which he has attained unusual prominence. At the outset of his career Mr. Steiner took a deep interest in the Republican party of his town and county, and almost every year since he has had honors in the way of political offices conferred upon him. In 1889 he was elected town clerk, which position he continued to hold until 1894, when he was elected to represent his town in the Board of Supervisors, and in the fall of 1895 received the nomination and election as member of assembly and was re-elected by a largely increased majority in 1896. In 1890 he married Clara B., daughter of W. L. and Samantha J. Paxon.
Patch, Will E., Newstead, p. o. Akron, has been a resident of Erie county only since 1889. At that time he was induced to become superintendent of the Akron Cement Works, a position which his long experience in a similar line had well fitted him. He was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1850, but when not more than two years old his parents moved to Rutland, Vt. His father, Joseph L. Patch, was a native of Plymouth, Vt., as was also his grandfather; in fact the ancestors on his paternal side go back in Vermont over two hundred and fifty years. His mother was Annette Lull of Lebanon, N. H. W. E. Patch, after passing through the public schools of
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Rutland, became interested in mining machinery and in 1881 went to Chicago to superintend the putting in of machinery plants through the West and South for Fraser & Chalmers. The plant of which he now has charge has a capacity of 800 bar- rels of cement per day. In January, 1876, Mr. Patch married Agnes M. Loveland, daughter of S. B. and Mercy B. Loveland of Pittsford, Vt., and they have two liv- ing children: Robert J. and Abbie L., having buried two little girls in infancy.
Tuttle, John W., Newstead, p. o. Akron, is the youngest child in a family of four children. His parents were Milo and Abigail (Davis) Tuttle of Darien, Genesee county, N. Y., where John W. was born in 1831. His father was a native of Con- necticut and his mother was born at Le Roy, Genesee county, N. Y. Milo Tuttle came to Genesee county in 1820 and in the early part of his life followed the busi- ness of carpenter and builder. In 1834 they moved to Newstead, where Mr. Tuttle bought a farm and followed that occupation until 1849, when he returned to Darien and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1872. His wife died in 1846 while a resident of the town of Newstead. John W. Tuttle was brought up in Newstead and attended the old Blackmore district school south of Akron village. At the age of nineteen he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for thirty-five years. In 1882 Mr. Tuttle engaged in mercantile business in Akron, continuing un- til 1894, and since that time has not been in active business. In 1863 he enlisted in the 116th N. Y. Vols., Co. B, and served his country well, being promoted to ser- geant, then to second lieutenant and a little later to first lieutenant, and finally to captain, and served as such until his discharge. Mr. Tuttle is a member of the G. A. R. and R. T. of T.
Burlingham, William H., Holland, was born in Machias, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., April 10, 1839, and is the eldest son of William and Cornelia Bostwick Burling- ham. Our subject's father was born in Washington county, N. Y., November 14, 1811, and came to Hamburg, Erie county, in 1816. When but seven years of age he went with his father to Canada, where he remained until 1838, when he removed to Cattaraugus county and from there to the farm now owned by his son. In De- cember, 1837, he married Cornelia Bostwick, a daughter of Col. Harry Bostwick of the British army in Canada. After their marriage in 1837 they came to the United States, and in 1840 settled on the farm where she now resides with her son. William H. Burlingham received his education in the district school, after which he took a course in the Aurora Academy. At the age of twenty he went to Michigan, where he taught during the winters and worked during the summer at millwrighting un- til 1861, when he enlisted in Co. H, 1st Mich. Cav., at Detroit and served until Oc- tober, 1862, when he was discharged for disability. After his discharge he returned to Holland and worked at his trade as millwright until 1864, when he bought the farm he now owns. February 1, 1864, he married Sarah Langdon; they have two adopted daughters. Mr. Burlingham is a member of the I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W. and the G. A. R., of which he has been commander for a long time.
Jackson, William B., Holland, son of Saxton K. Jackson, a farmer and writing teacher of Vermont Hill, Holland, was born March 20, 1858, on Vermont Hill near the village of Holland, and by the death of his father was left the almost sole sup- port of his mother and five small children. His early education was such as could
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be obtained in the district school where he resided and from select schools in the village of Holland, which he attended in the autumn, between the terms of the sum- mer and winter district school. May 11, 1874, he commenced clerking in the store of Morey & Stickney, where he worked three months for his board, after which he received $10 per month for some time, and by strict attention to business he received promotion. Mr. Morey retired in two years and Mr. Jackson borrowed $1,000 and formed a partnership with Mr. Stickney, under the firm name of Stickney & Jack- son, which partnership continued for seven years, when Mr. Stickney became super- . intendent of the Erie Penitentiary, selling his entire interest in their two stores, one at Holland, the other at Protection, N. Y., to Mr. Jackson. In 1888 Mr. Jackson suffered the loss of his Holland store by fire, but nothing daunted, he immediately opened up business in the large dining room of the Lowry House, closing out the stock rescued from the fire and continuing there until his large store was completed and ready for occupancy. Since then, by his energy and thrift, he has helped to inaugurate a sound system of water works in Holland, by taking about one-third of the capital stock of $10,000. He is now president of the company and largely through his efforts the Bank of Holland was established, he having been president since its organization in 1893. He was postmaster four years under Harrison's administra- tion. In 1895 was elected to the office of supervisor for two years and re-elected in March, 1897. Mr. Jackson is a prominent Mason, Odd Fellow, Maccabee and a mem- ber of the Order of the Iroquois. He is largely interested in real estate, owning property in Holland, Colden, pine lands in Mississippi and a large farm in South Dakota. He is also interested in the Rochester Loan and Savings Association. January 12, 1881, he married M. Zina Vaughan, step-daughter of John O'Riley, and they have three daughters, Mabel, Isabel and Annabel.
Kimball, Delos W., Holland, son of James and Esther (Wheelock) Kimball, was born in Holland, N. Y., May 13, 1831. James Kimball, father of Delos W., was a native of Vermont and was one of the early settlers of Erie county, coming to Hol- land in 1816, when there were no roads and the country was an unbroken wilderness. Delos Kimball received his education in Holland, after which he was married, in 1853, to Lucretia Davis. In the spring of 1854 he, with his young wife, moved to Illinois, where he was in the employ of his uncle, Mr. Wheelock, who was the proprietor of a large paper mill, and remained there two and a half years. September 9, 1855, a son, Frank, was born to them, and Mrs. Kimball died in the November following. In the fall of 1866 Mr. Kimball returned to Holland and settled on the farm he now owns, and in 1865 he married Mrs. Hall, a widow lady living in Holland. Mr. Kim- ball is the owner of 340 acres of well improved land and makes a specialty of dairy- ing; he is also a large grain grower, and one of the most progressive farmers in Holland. Mr. Kimball has served six years as assessor of the town of Holland; he was elected first in 1887; his first three years as assessor must have been satisfactory to the taxable inhabitants of Holland or he would not have been liable to have gained his re-election in the year 1890.
Selleck, Horace E., Holland .- The paternal grandfather of Mr. Selleck was Thad- deus Selleck, and the maternal grandfather was Moses Randell, born in Massachu- setts, and died in Holland, N. Y., in 1871, aged eighty-one years. The father of Mr. Selleck was Jonas Selleck, born in Warren county, N. Y., and died in Holland in
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1886, aged seventy-four years. His wife was Annie E. Randell, born in Warren county, N. Y., in 1832, by whom he had three children: Achsah A., born in 1849 and died in 1872; Horace E., born May 2, 1851, and Randell J., born in 1883. Mr. Sel- leck received his education in the common schools of Queensbury, Warren county. He moved to Holland in March, 1868, and commenced business for himself, purchas- ing a part of the Humphrey farm of sixty acres, where he resided for three years; he then purchased a lot containing a planing mill, built a house and manufactured garden rakes, hoes, forks, planing and matching lumber, etc. He is a member of Holland Lodge No. 631, I. O. O. F. For his first wife he married Delilah Hunt, born in Holland in 1853 and died in 1889, by whom he had two children, Belle and Frank. Belle married William W. Spalding. Mr. Selleck married for his second wife Cath- arine Losell, who was born in 1864. Mr. Selleck represents the following fire insur- ance companies: the Ætna, Orient and Phoenix of Hartford, and the Niagara of New York.
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