Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 119

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > New York > Oneida County > Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York; > Part 119

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which continued until Mr. Bacon was elected justice of the Supreme Court. The firm then became White & Dana, by the admissiou of William B. Dana, Mr. White's brother-in-law, and continued until Mr. Dana went to New York. Mr. White con- tinued in practice mostly alone till 1868, when he went to New York city and en- gaged in business pursuits. He returned to Utica in 1883 and has since practiced his profession. Mr. White is an office bearer in Trinity church of Utica; and is also a member of the Board of Governors of The Oneida Historical Society, of which he is an active member. He has been a member of Oriental Lodge F. & A. M. for over forty years, and is also a member of Utica Chapter R. A. M. May 12, 1858, he married Delia White Dana, daughter of James Dana, of Utica. She died in April, 1883, leaving three children: George Dana, a graduate of Yale College and now a resident of New York city; Edwin Harrison, treasurer and manager of the Daniel Green Company, of Dolgeville, N. Y .; and William Curtis, a student in Trinity College, Hartford Conn., class of 1897.

Bartow, Pierrepont, son of Edgar John and Harriette Constable (Pierrepont) Bar- tow, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 17, 1842. His father, a resident of Brook- yn, but a leading merchant of New York city, was of the Bartows of Westchester, N. Y. Others of his name had been in these parts before him, notably Andrew A. Bartow, of Bartow Hill, Herkimer county, who was connected with the introduction of the great Erie Canal in New York State. His mother was a daughter of Hezekiah B. Pierrepont and a descendant of an old Connecticut family of New Haven, and his grandmother was a daughter of William Constable, well known in this State as the purchaser of large tracts of land in connection with McCormick, Macomb, Lynch and others. Mr. Constable was in the war of the Revolution and at one time aide to La Fayette. After the peace he settled in New York as a merchant. Pierrepont Bartow received his early education in Brooklyn and finished at the English and Classical School of Mr. Huntington. In 1862-63 he was employed as draughtsman at the Continental Iron Works, Brooklyn, in preparing the plans for the monitors Passaic, Cakskill, and others, which were being built for the United States Navy. Later he was connected with the School of Mines of Columbia College for several years. In 1867 he received the appointment of draughtsman and designer for the Wood and Mann Steam Engine Company of Utica. In 1887 he was appointed to a position in the Engineer Department of the new aqueduct for New York city, where he remained several years. Ile returned to Utica in 1892 and since then has prac- ticed his profession as a general mechanical engineer. For a number of years be- tween 1870 and 1880 he followed the profession of an artist, and among his princi- pal works is a large painting for the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn represent- ing New York city in 1790 and now in the possession of the Brooklyn Historical Society. February 23, 1886, Mr. Bartow married Mrs. Emma C. (Smith) Sweet, whose ancestors were among the first settlers of Oneida county and engaged in the war of the Revolution. Timothy Smith enlisted and served as a private in Taun- ton, Mass., before coming to Oneida county in 1798, when he settled on Smith Hill His wife was a Pratt, of another Revolutionary familly of Taunton. Mrs. Bartow's grandmother was a Damuth, a family among the earliest settlers of Oneida county, and conspicuous for their bravery in the war of the Revolution. Captain Mark Damuth was a trusty friend of General Herkimer, and his brother George, of Deer-

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field, was a lieutenant, and John, another brother, a lieutenant in the battle of Oriskany. Frederick, Richard, and other Damuths were also in the struggle. George Damuth, a nephew of Captain Mark, was captured by the Indians when an infant and ever aftewards bore the marks of his captivity in his cut-ears and nose- ring, which his grandson and the late David Gray, as boys, well remember. His wife Caty was a Christman, another family who fought in the struggle against Great Britain for American independence. Mr. Bartow has two sons, William Edgar and Francis Pierrepont.

Dykeman, Theodore W., son of Aaron, a commission merchant, was born in Penn Yan, N. Y., April 30, 1863, and was educated at the Penn Yan Academy. While there he lost his right arm in a railroad accident. He then learned telegraphing, which he has since followed, being stationed at various times in the West Shore Railroad dispatcher's office at Syracuse, the W. U. Telegraph offices in Auburn, Syracuse and Skaneateles, and the B. H. T. & W. and D. & H. railroad dispatchers' offices in Mechanicsville, N. Y., and Albany, N. Y., also in dispatcher's office of the Troy & Boston R. R. at Troy, acting as night dispatcher for one year. In 1884 he came to Utica as manager of the Postal Telegraph Company, which position he has since held. When he came to Utica in 1884, he did all his work alone and had one messenger ; now has ten messengers, one clerk and two operators. He is a member of the Utica Cycling Club and the Utica Maennechor.

Bushinger, Eduard, son of Andrew and Christina (Abberle) Bushinger, was born at New York Mills, Oneida county, N. Y., June 1, 1856. He was educated at New York Mills district school and at Utica Business College where he graduated in 1873. He was bookkeeper for the Central New York Copying House of Utica for two years and a half, clerk for Marcus A. Pillsbury for several years, and bookkeeper in the crockery department of George Dubois & Co. for a year. May 1, 1882, he became bookkeeper and afterward teller in A. D. Mather & Co.'s Bank when it was incorpo- rated as a State Bank in November, 1890. Mr. Bushinger's services were duly rec- ognized and he was made cashier. Mr. Bushinger is a member of Faxton Lodge, No. 697, F. & A. M., of Royal Arcanum, Imperial Council No. 70, and of Oneida Chapter, R. A. M. He has been twice married, his first wife being Mary A. Thom- son, of Utica, who died January 26, 1890. December 26, 1894, Mr. Bushinger mar- ried M. Adel Roberts, daughter of W. J. Roberts, of Utica.

Dagwell, Charles M., was born in Utica, October 7, 1843, and is a son of Herbert Dagwell, a native of England, who came to America when about two years of age, lived in Little Falls and Oswego county with his parents, and while in his 'teens came to Utica, and was married here to Aurelia S. Tallman. He was both a ma- chinist and an iron moulder, and worked for a number of years in the foundries of Hart & Dagwell and Philo S. Curtiss. Charles, the subject of this sketch, at the age of fourteen went out to seek his own self support and worked at farming on Stony Island, Lake Ontario, until the fall of 1860, when he returned and went to work for Hart & Dagwell, as core maker, and on April 24, 1861, when only seventeen, enlisted in Co. B, 14th N. Y. Vols., was mustered into the U. S. service at Albany on May 17; he served in the army two years, and was mustered out at Utica, May 24, 1863, by reason expiration of service. He then entered the employ of the Reming-

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ton Armory Co , on Franklin street, and in August, 1864, he went to New York and enlisted in the U. S. Navy, serving on the U. S. Gunboat Shawmut until the war closed. He came home and went to work for the Remington Agricultural Co., at Ilion, also the American Express Co. at Utica; was an active member of Hiawatha and Utica Base Ball Clubs, also a member of the Utica Volunteer Fire Department, and in the spring of 1870 was appointed a patrolman on the Utica police force, served until the fall of 1871, resigned and went into the liquor business with George Miller, at 210 Genesee street, sold out in the fall of 1874 and went to Texas, returned six months later, and on June 1, 1875, was appointed a patrolman on the police force ; April 5, 1882, was made assistant chief, and July 1, 1889, chief to succeed Robert McElwaine, who died in June of that year. Mr. Dagwell has since held this position with credit and satisfaction. He is a member of Oriental Lodge, No. 224, F.& A. M. and of the Exempt Firemen's Association ; was foreman of Engine Co. No. ? , Volun- teers, and is a charter member of Post McQuade, No. 14, G. A. R., of which he was commander for three successive terms.

Ryan, William F., was born February 11, 1851, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and came with his parents to Utica when one year old. He was educated in the Assumption Academy. He was in the employ of John A Davies, a furniture dealer, for seven years, and with M. B. De Long for twelve years, following the trade of wood polish- ing. In 1884 he formed a partnership with Andrew Steates, as Stcates & Ryan, and engaged in the retail furniture business, and in which they still continue. The firm also does wood-polishing, repairing, etc. Mr. Ryan was school commissioner of Utica for two terms, being elected in 1885 and re-elected in 1888. He was a charter member of Utica Lodge, No. 1979, Knights of Honor, and now its presiding officer. and has also been the representative to the Grand Lodge of the State of New York and the Supreme Lodge of the United States. He is a member of the Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Order of United Friends, Utica Maennechor, and Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Jones & Shippey, the firm of, was organized in 1883 and consists of John S. Jones and George W. Shippey, both natives of Utica, and they are among the leading con- tractors and builders in the city. Among the important contracts may be noted the Skenandoa Yarn Mill, the Mohawk Valley Cotton Mill, and Quackenbush air gun factory of Herkimer, the Folts Institute, the Paragon Knitting Mill, and the Mohawk High School in Herkimer and Mohawk. Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic order, and was born March 17, 1839. His father William was one of the oldest builders in Utica, and assisted in erecting Grace, the Universalist, Calvary, St. Luke's churches, City Hall, and many residences and prominent buildings, including the J. Watson Williams residence, and the old cotton mill. Mr. Shippey was born August 29, 1843, and is a son of Nathan Shippey, who was a builder and a con- tractor of locks on the Black River Canal.

Sweeting, Jesse V., was born in Schenectady county. N., Y., February 6, 1840, son of Alfred and Elizabeth (Van Slyke) Sweeting. Alfred Sweeting was born at the present family homestead at Hecla, as also was his father, Nathaniel Sweeting. He was born September 2, 1809, and his wife was born March 21, 1820. Jesse V. Sweeting was educated in Montgomery county, where he was engaged in farming.

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He settled on the old homestead in Westmoreland in 1877, and married Mary Rock- well, of Charlestown, Montgomery county, by whom he had five children: Lucy, Ella, Libbie, Jennie, and Henry. Mrs. Mary Sweeting died June 14, 1892. Mr. Sweeting is married to Martha T. Swan, of Albany, N. Y. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lowell.

Coan, Luke, was born in Westmoreland, August 4, 1816, son of Ambrose and Anna Coan. Ambrose Coan came from New England and settled in Westmoreland, where he was engaged in the boot and shoe business until his death. Luke Coan has always followed farming, although in his early days he learned the wagonmaker's trade. He married Eliza A. Townsend, of Westmoreland, who died June 23, 1895. Mr. Coan has one adopted daughter, Anna, who married William H. Lunt, of West Tremont, Me.

Arnold, Charles F., was born at the town of Vernon, N. Y., July 31, 1869. He received a common school and commercial education and has been engaged in a variety of occupations. He was a clerk in the mercantile line for nearly four years, was also in business with his father in New London, under the firm name of C. F. Arnold & Co. until burned out on October 28, 1895. Mr. Arnold is a member of New London Lodge, No. 420 F. & A. M. and is its secretary. W. Henry Arnold, his father, was born at Augusta Centre, Oneida county, N. Y., September 5, 1839. He was educated in the district schools and was a farmer and merchant. He mar- ried twice, first to Mary C. Waterman, of Illinois, by whom he had three children: Eva J., Charles F., and Sarah A. Mrs. Arnold died January 14, 1892. He then married Mrs. Elmira Smith, born Prime. His father, John, was born in Connecticut in 1807 and came to this State when a young man. He married Sarah Francisco, of Augusta, by whom he had five children. He died in 1884 and his wife ten days later. Charles F. Arnold's sister, Eva J., married J. Gordon Burleigh, formerly of Vienna, and they have one child, Mary E. Mr. Burleigh is a member of Warren Lodge, No. 84, I. O. O. F., New York city. Mrs. Burleigh is a member of Vesta Chapter, No. 115, O. E. S., of New London, N. Y. The family is of English and German descent.

Golley, William E., was born in town of Lee, Oneida county, N. Y., June 23, 1865. He was educated in the common schools, and is by occupation a cheesemaker. In 1895 he purchased the Fitch & Bacon Cheese Factory, near Blackman Corners, where he is engaged in the manufacture of cheese. February 28, 1894, he married Alice D. Agans, of the town of Lee. Mr. Golley's father, William Golley, was born at the old homestead in Lee. April 8, 1828. He was educated in the district schools, and is by occupation a farmer. He married Esther Bynam, of the town of Lee, by whom he had four children ; Sarah, Charles, William E., as above, and Fred J. Mrs. Gol- ley's father, John Agans, was born in Rome, N. Y., in 1830. He was educated in the district schools, and afterward engaged in farming. He married Susan Hogle, of the town of Floyd, by whom he has six children: Willard, Emma, Jennie, Francis, Ahce D., as above, and George. The ancestry of the family is Scotch and German.

Pelton, A. G., is a native of Richfield, Otsego county, born in 1850, son of Giles W. Pelton, who is of Scotch and English descent. He received his education at Winfield Academy, and after teaching school for thirteen years, he engaged in farm-

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ing. He is an earnest advocate of the Republican party and has been justice of the peace since 1889. His father was an influential farmer before him, and is still a living representative of that sturdy class of men, who were the foundation on which the fame of Oneida county rests. In 1884 A. G. Pelton married Nancy Adams, of Irish birth.

Scoville, William, was born in the town of New Hartford in 1831, a grandson of Darius Scoville, an early settler of Paris, N. Y., coming from Watertown, Conn., about 1800 with Seabury Scoville, the father of William Scoville. Seabury Scoville spent nearly ninety-four years of his life here, dying in 1877, leaving a worthy record as a man and citizen. William Scoville continued in the cultivation of the ancestral acres until his retirement to Washington Mills. His education was completed at the Sauquoit Academy. In 1863 he married Lois Porter, of New Hartford, by whom he has three children: Luella A., wife of William Nelson; Rufus S., and Florence C. Rufus S. married Cora H. Foss November 22, 1894.

Joerissen, Joseph, was born in Coblenz, Germany, February 16, 1830, spent his early life as a clerk in a counting house, and at the age of seventeen volunteered in the army and served through the revolution of 1848. June 14, 1851, he bade farewell to fatherland and sailed for America, and for a time was employed in New York city and in traveling in the west. In 1854 he came to Utica and engaged in cigar manu- facturing on the corner of Varick and Columbia streets. Selling out he entered the employ of Warnick & Brown, cigar manufacturers, and continued till 1859, when he started a cigar manufactory on Third street and also formed a partnership with his father-in-law, John G. Hutten, in the brewery business; since then he has continued as a cigar manufacturer, being located on the corner of South and Brinkerhoof streets sinee 1878. He withdrew from the brewery business in 1863, when he opened a restaurant and cigar store on Genesee street. This he soon sold and devoted his time wholly to cigar manufacturing. He was charity commissioner from 1890 to 1893, and since 1867 has been a member of the Utica Citizens Corps, becoming an honorary member in June, 1868. He is a charter member of Allamania Lodge I.O.O. F., and has held all the chairs in that body. He is also a member of the Germania Industrial Association, the Utica Maennechor, and the Utica Turn Verein, and a charter member of Utica Lodge, Knights of Honor.

Burritt, A. W., was born in Paris, N. Y., June 20, 1866, son of William H. and Sallie (Wicks) Burritt. He followed farming until 1889, at which time he commenced the mercantile business, first as clerk, and in 1892 engaged in business for himself as senior member of the firm of Burritt & IIenkle. His father, William H. Burritt, served three years in the Rebellion, enlisting August 7, 1862, in the Sth Regiment, N. Y. Vol. Cav., was honorably discharged at Cloud's Mills, Va., June 7, 1865. His grandparents (Wicks) came from Connecticut in 1800 and were among the pioneer settlers of old Paris.

Hickox, W. Jerome, the son of J. Wesley and Clarinda Storey Hickox, was born October 24, 1839, in Syracuse, N. Y., where he lived until twenty years of age. He then removed to New York and engaged in the transportation business, which he continued for fifteen years. In 1873 he entered into real estate business in Oneida, and June 9, 1875 he married Florilla, only daughter of Hon. Timothy and Harriet

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Tuttle Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins, who is well remembered as one of the most distin- guished lawyers and ablest citizens of the State of New York, had long resided in the pretty village of Oneida Castle, and to the spacious old homestead which had for so many years been the center of pleasant hospitality, Mr. Hickox came to live and share his wife's tender care of her widowed mother. Mr. Hickox had large business interests at Oneida, and his public spirit made him prominent in all that concerned the life of the village. He took also a keen interest in politics, unalloyed by any self- seeking, and he was warmly appreciated by his friends for his most genial and gentle nature. Perhaps to his fine physique and perfect health was partly due his rich endowment of cheerfulness, that "sunshine of the heart" which was an irresisti- ble charm in social intercourse, He died March 4, 1894, after a very short and sud- den illness. Few men have been more affectionately mourned.

McDonald, William, was born in 1859, and is an industrious farmer of his native town, Boonville, where he has resided on a 265 acre farm since the death of his father William McDonald, which occurred in 1878, at sixty-one years of age. Will- iam McDonald was of Irish birth, emigrating from County Tipperary when nineteen years old, and with no capital settled in Stillwater, Conn. There he found employ- ment in a foundry, and by strict economy and shrewd business principles, he pro- vided for his family, consisting of a wife and seven children. In 1888 William Mc- Donald, jr., married Julia Hurley, daughter of Cornelius Hurley, of Boonville, by whom he has two children: Mary and Belle. Mr. Hurley belongs to the Democratic party, and is a member of the Roman Catholic church.

Wagner, Edward G., was born in Montgomery county, February 11, 1848, the oldest son of Edward and Alida E. (Gray) Wagner. Both of his parents were de- scendants of old Mohawk Valley families; his father was descended from John Peter Wagner in 1709, and whose only son, Lieut .- Col. John Peter Wagner, was a dis- tinguished officer in the Revolutionary war; he was in the battle of Oriskany, and after the wounding of General Herkimer is said to have assumed command of the troops and completed that important victory, which was at the time almost assured; several of his sons were engaged with him, and his son John was the grandfather of Edward Wagner, who was born in Montgomery county in 1819, and died in Whites- boro in 1886. Mrs. Wagner died in 1882; she was also a descendant of an officer en- gaged in the battle of Oriskany. Edward G. Wagner was educated at Whitestown Seminary, and located in Whitestown in 1867, where his father had purchased a large farm, situated near the centre of the village. This he now conducts with his brother Henry, entirely on business methods, and they are recognized as the representative farmers of Whitestown. He has several times been president of the village of Whitesboro, is a staunch Republican and takes an active interest in the success of his party. He married Ida L., daughter of Jonathan Barnes of Fairfield, Herkimer county. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are both members of the Episcopal church of Whitesboro.

Odell, Edgar B., son of Benjamin F., was born in Junius, Seneca county, June 26, 1857, and was educated at Phelps and in Cazenovia Seminary, N. Y. He entered his father's general store in Phelps and remained there until March, 1880, being his partner the last two or three years. He was then in Golden, Denver and Canon

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City, Colorado, as a bookkeeper until September, 1882, when he came to Utica and became bookkeeper for Roberts & Hoag. In February, 1888, Mr. Hoag having re- tired, Mr. Odell became a member of the firm of J. A. Roberts & Co., dry goods dealers, aad still continues. He is a member of Faxton Lodge 697 F. & A. M., Oneida Chapter R. A. M., the Royal Arcanum, and the Arcanum Club, and a char- ter member of the Masonic Club of Utica. October, 1884, he married Charlotte J. White, daughter of the late Nicholas A. White, of Utica. They have one son, Frederick Edgar Odell.

Evans, John V., was born in the town of Marcy, Oneida county, January 1, 1838, and he is a son of Evan Evans, who was born in North Wales in March 1808. Evan Evans came to America in 1832 and settled in Marcy where he married Sophia Thomas. In 1839 they came to Utica. He died in Holland Patent January 16, 1895. His wife's death occurred in 1853. He was a carpenter by trade, and for a time had a lumber yard on Columbia street, on the site of the Utica Steam Cotton Mills. He also had a flour and feed business here. He had five children: John V., Eleanor, Jane A. (Mrs John Roberts), and Mary S. (Mrs. Edward Bice), of Utica, and Evan T., of Holland Patent. John V. Evans during his youth, followed various occupa- tions, being a clerk in a store in Wisconsin, engaged in mining in California, and eight years in stockraising in Nevada. In 1885 he returned to Utica and forming a partnership with John Edwards, as Evans & Edwards, engaged in his present busi- ness as dealer in coal and wood on the corner of Court street and Chenango avenue. He is a Republican and in January, 1890, was elected a member of the Board of Charities and was re-elected in 1893, serving two terms of three years each. In January, 1896, he was chosen president of the board. He is a member of Utica Lodge F. & A. M. April 9, 1862, he married Katherine, daughter of Stephen and Hannah Davis, of Schuyler, Ilerkimer county, and they have had five children: Ernest E., and Cordie P., of Utica, Lena C., who died April 27, 1895, age twenty- seven ; Dr. J. Corliss, a physician in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Arthur S. Evans.

Elthorp, William, was born in London, England, in 1837, son of William, who was born in England and was a gas manufacturer and later a railroad conductor in Eng- land and France. He became wealthy and at his death owned some 600 acres of land. Mr. Elthorp married Sarah Burt, by whom he had these children: William, Sarah, George, Alice, Lucy, John, and Mary. They came to America in 1848, set- tling in Forestport, where Mr. Elthorp devoted his time to farming and lumbering up to the time of his death in 1880. His wife now resides in Forestport, aged eighty- five years. When nineteen years of age William, jr., went to South Carolina and Georgia, where he was engaged in railroad tunneling. He then returned to Forest- port and engaged in farming and lumbering, and in 1860 bought his first farm, con- taining fifty acres, of his father. He has added to it until he now has 354 acres of land; he is still interested in lumbering. He has served as overseer of the poor, town collector, etc. In 1860 Mr. Elthorp married Anna Eliza, daughter of Josiah and Sarah Getman, born in Manheim, Fulton county, N. Y., who died fourteen months later. In 1863 Mr. Elthorp married his first wife's sister, Mrs. Sarah E. (Getman) Carpenter, and their children are William, Charles, Harriet, wife of James McArthy, of Grey, Herkimer county; Alice, wife of John Lindsey, also of Grey, Herkimer county; and Adeline. Mr. Elthorp enjoys the distinction of having been a playmate of Prince Albert when a boy.

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Wagner, Louis, was born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, in 1836, son of Philip Wagner, who operated a coopering business in his native place, and Christina Wagner. He was one of six children: Mary, Philip Henry, George, Frank, Law- rence and Louis. Louis Wagner came to America at thirteen years of age, with his sister. His brothers, Philip and Frank came later, and were soldiers in the war of the Rebellion ; the former dying in Libby Prison, and the latter shortly after his re- lease. Louis was a barber, and employed in the finest shops in Newark, N. J., and also owned and conducted several shops there, where he remained until after the war. In 1866 he removed to Forestport and engaged in lumbering and farming, which he conducted successfully. Later years he has devoted his attention to his 300 acre farm, the best of which he has cleared of timber. He is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity. In 1855 he married Frederica Beig, who was born in Ger- many in 1836, and they have one son, Louis, who is a traveling salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Co., and whose wife died in December, 1892, leaving four children: Aneda, Alonzo, Rena and Frank.

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 119

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co. Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612