Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 67

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 67

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Morss, also a former student. He built the house on the corner of Main and North Park streets in Camden in 1860 and died there July 7, 1895.

Mr. Cromwell was a prominent member of the Oneida county bar and conducted an extensive professional business for many years. He was well versed in the science of the law, possessed a good analytical mind and a wonderfully retentive memory, was a student and a scholar, and seldom lost a case in the appellate courts. In this latter respect he was very successful. He was blunt in argument and of a nervous temperament, and before a jury lacked the expression and tact which his talents really warranted and demanded. But as an office lawyer and counselor he had no superior in the county. He won the respect and confidence of all with whom he had professional relations, and among a wide acquaintance was highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities of head and heart. He was a staunch Republican and in local politics became quite a prominent factor, yet he never sought nor had any desire for public preferment. He served as village president and trustee and as a member of the board of education served several years each, and always supported and encouraged every movement which promised benefit to the community. He was identified with the tanning industry in West Amboy, Oswego county, and with his son was at one time heavily interested in the salt and lumber business in Saginaw, Mich. He was also connected with the old Camden Bank. A devoted churchman he was for over forty years a vestryman of Trinity church, Camden, in the prosperity of which he took great pride. IIe traveled extensively, visiting nearly every State in the Union, and was well informed on all matters of general interest.

January 1, 1845, he was married to Miss Jeannette Gifford, daughter of Elihu and sister of H. W. Gifford, of West Camden, Oneida county, who bore him three chil- dren: James G., of Glen Ellen, Cal .; William, deceased ; and Charles, who died in infancy. She died January 27, 1884, and on September 12, 1887, he married Mrs. Susan (Brownell) Owens, of Utica, who survives him and resides in the Cromwell homestead in Camden.

ROBERT ABLETT.

ROBERT ABLETT, of Whitesboro, strikingly represents the type of men in this country whose mental force and keen sagacity have, in the material sense, made themselves and, too, the leading industriesof the United States. Ile possesses that element which rarely fails of success ; he has a thorough grasp of his business in every detail, every branch and step has been learned by careful study and experience, and these backed up by energy and rigid business habits. He began life a poor boy, with whatever of success that might come, to be carved out by his own personal efforts. Mr. Ablett was born February 22, 1839, in Easton, Washington county, N. Y., but only the first five years of his life were spent at that place. His parents then moved to Schaghticoke, Rensselaer county, and a little later to Cohoes, in Albany county. The son, Robert, re- ceived his education in all these towns during the period of residence thereat, till he was sixteen years of age. Then he began on a self-supporting basis, with an ambi- tion that stimulated him through a long term of apprenticeship. His first service was in the cotton mills in Schaghticoke, where he learned the business of making cotton

THOMAS D. PENFIELD.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

fabrics. He was the third in a family of eleven children, a fact which may have had some influence in the matter of his ambition to thus early in life become self- dependent. His parents, Daniel and Mary Ablett, came from England and settled in Easton, as stated above. They have ever since been identified with the agricul- tural interests of that part of the State, and are now residing in Cohoes. Robert Ablett continued for several years in service in the cotton mills at Cohoes; then he became connected with a large knitting mill, operated by the Troy Manufacturing Company of Cohoes, in which he acted as superintendent till 1881. This long experience made him thoroughly familiar with every detail of the business. At that time he went to Little Falls, N. Y., and formed a company under the style of Ablett, Mac- kinnon & Co. and started the Anchor Knitting Mills. This enterprise proved eminently successful through the years up to 1887, when the other members of the company having retired, Mr. Ablett conducted the business in Little Falls until 1889, when he moved the same to its present location. One hundred hands were employed in the making of men's, ladies' and infants' underwear. At that time the village of Whitesboro offered him strong inducements to move there and engage in the same industry. As a result of this he bought the main building which formerly comprised the Whitestown Seminary, and a little later removed his business from Little Falls. The building was a large structure, yet the growth of his business has compelled him to make several extensive additions thereto to keep pace with the increase. It is said to be now one of the most complete and best equipped mills in the State. The special line of goods manufactured consists of ladies', children's and infants' under- wear, for the making of which 250 operatives are employed. Mr. Ablett's thorough knowledge of the business, together with his sagacious business methods, has carried him through the depressed times with remarkable success. In politics Mr. Ablett is an ardent Republican, giving to the party his earnest influence because he believes in its principles. Has repeatedly been elected trustee of the village and is now serv- ing in that capacity. Socially, he is pleasant and courteous, enjoying the respect and esteem of all who come in contact with him. In 1860 Mr. Ablett married Caroline D. Murray, a native of England. They have had two sons and daughter, Lillie Adella the only one surviving. She married Charles A. Powell, of Little Falls. Mr. Powell is associated with Mr. Ablett in business.

THOMAS D. PENFIELD.

HON. THOMAS DE MILT PENFIELD, son of Fowler and Jane (De Milt) Penfield, was born in the town of Camden, Oneida county, N. Y., November 22, 1813, and there are still visible on a hillside about two miles west of the village the ruins of a small log cabin which formed his birthplace. His grandfather, Jesse Penfield, of English de- scent, entered the Revolutionary army at the age of seventeen and distinguished himself by serving over seven years, participating in the battle of White Plains and many others ; after the war he removed from Connecticut to Camden, N. Y., where he lived to a good old age. Fowler Penfield, second son of Jesse, took part in the War of 1812, serving as waiter to Colonel Johnson at Sackett's Harbor. In 1807 he mar-

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

rid Jane De Milt, a native of Cow's Neck, L. I., who came to Camden with her par- ents very early in this century. She was of French and Holland descent, of the families bearing the names of De Milt and Wormsley, who fled from the persecu- tions instituted against the Christians and landed on Manhattan Island in the days of New Amsterdam. Benjamin De Milt, a member of her family and a man of un- bounded liberality, donated an extensive library and a large sum of money to the Mechanies' Library of New York city, while his maiden sisters bequeathed much of their estate to benevolent institutions and a dispensary in New York bears their name. Fowler and Jane Penfield first settled in Oncida county on a farm two mlles west of Camden village, the present Carleton farm on the Mexico road, where Thomas was reared and educated. Fowler Penfield subsequently moved to West- chester county.

Thomas De Milt Penfield spent his youth upon the parental acres, where he ac- quired those sterling traits of character, those well-rounded habits of thrift and self- reliance, which have marked his long and eventful career. Before he reached his majority he came to Camden village to learn the trade of boot and shoemaker, which he followed several years. In 1887 he took up his residence in Main street on the site he has ever tince occupied and in 1850 he built his present dwelling. In 1854 he purchased of Gen. Lyman Curtis, ex sheriff of Oneida county, his interest in the flouring and grist mills in Camden and became a partner of F. H. Conant, who, two years later, sold out to Thomas Stone, a brother-in-law of Mr. Penfield. This firm, styled Penfield & Stone, continued business until the death of Mr. Stone in 1861. A few years afterward Hon. Benjamin D. Stone, a son of Thomas, became a partner and ever since then the firm has carried on large and successful milling operations under the name of Penfield & Stone. About 1848 he was made one of the superintendents for the construction of the Rome and Oswego plank road, and for two years after its completion had charge of that portion between Rome and the " Checkered House " in Williamstown.

In politics Mr. Penfield has always been an ardent and consistent Democrat, and for many years was an active and influential leader in the councils of his party. He was elected school commissioner of Camden in 1842, served as justice of the peace for eight years and as justice for the Oneida General Sessions two years; and be- tween 1851 and 1886 represented his town eleven terms on the Board of Supervisors, serving one year as chairman. Although a staunch Democrat he was elected super- visor in a stronghold of Republicanism, and as a member of the board distinguished himself by invariable fairness and unswerving fidelity to his constituents. Ilis con- scientious labors won for him universal approval and a wide circle of acquaintances and friends in both parties. In 1879, when not serving as supervisor, he was one of a committee of four appointed by the board to visit every town in the county and equalize the assessed valuation of real estate. His colleagues in this important labor were Harvey Head, Col. Nehemiah Pierce, and Mr. Evans, one from each of the four assembly districts. In 1856, 1857, 1862, and 1879 he was elected to the Assembly, where he served one year as chairman of the committee on villages and as member of such important committees as those on canals, on commerce and navigation, etc.

He was a War Democrat, noted for his independence and the courage of his con-

BIOGRAPHICAL.

victions, and on one occasion was the only Democratic member of the Legislature who voted in favor of a resolution for amending the United States Constitution prohibiting slavery in the States, which resolution was enacted into a law in April, 1865, when eleven of his party colleagues voted with it. His patriotism, his sense of justice, his conviction of duty, and his great admiration for Lincoln made him steadfast in upholding the Union and the war policy of the government. He served four years in the Assembly, and at one time was offered the chairmanship of the committee on canals, but declined in favor of John Snow, of Madison county. Dur- ing the civil war of 1861-65, Judge Doolittle, Samuel Campbell and Mr. Penfield were appointed a committee to raise troops for the Union army, and through their personal efforts and at their own expense raised two regiments in Oneida county, one of which was commanded by Colonel Jarred. Mr. Penfield was for many years prominently identified with Oneida County Agricultural Society and served one term as its president. He was town commissioner of highways four years, president of the village nine terms, and chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners for three years. In 1882 he was elected sheriff of Oneida county and served a term of three years, and while acting in that capacity executed in August, 1883, at the old Mohawk jail in Utica, the notorious William Henry Ostrander, whose trial for the murder of his brother created considerable excitement throughout the country. During the erection of the new town hall in Camden in 1894-95 he was chairman of the building committee. In 1872 he was nominated for Congress by the Democratic convention, with the assurance of election, but refused to go upon the ticket.

Mr. Penfield, from a poor, industrious boy, has lived a career of marked usefulness and activity and become a substantial citizen of large means and varied interests. He is emphatically a self-made man, endowed with rare ability, perseverance, and energy, and now at the age of over eighty-two is well preserved in body and mind. He was long a prominent factor in the local and county Democracy, which honored him with several important offices, but probably his last public acts are embodied in the service he rendered as chairman of the building committee of the new Camden town hall, in which he takes great pride. He has been a member and trustee of the Camden M. E. church many years and was for a time chairman of the board of trus- tees, especially during the erection of the M. E. parsonage in 1890. Public spirited, enterprising, and benevolent, always good natured, kind hearted, and liberal, he has ever manifested a keen interest in religious, educational, agricultural, and busi- ness matters and in the prosperity of his town and village, which have always been his home. He was a warm personal friend of Gov. Horatio Seymour and also of Gov. Lucius Robinson, who spoke of him as a " man who always voted on the right side."

September 6, 1837, Mr. Penfield married, first, Joanna P., daughter of the Rev. Eliakim Stoddard, a local Methodist preacher and father of the M. E. church in Cam den ; he was born in Connecticut in 1779 and died here in 1860, after a long and use_ ful ministerial life. She was born in Camden on June 6, 1811, and died in 1854. Their children were Samuel D. 1st, born September 3, 1839, died aged two years; and Samuel D. 2d, born November 28, 1844, died October 15, 1877, leaving one daughter, Joanna Stoddard Penfield. In 1855 Mr. Penfield married, second, Miss Lucintha Curtiss Stoddard, a cousin of his first wife and a daughter of Judge Israel Stoddard, of Camden. They have one son, Israel Stoddard Penfield, born Jnne 17, 1857.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

JOHN B. WELLS.

JOHN BREED WELLS, the youngest of five children-four sons and one daughter- of Henry and Sophia (Breed) Wells, was born in Colchester, Conn., August 24, 1816. His father was born in 1776 and died in 1845. His mother's death occurred in 1852. About 1820 the family moved to Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Mass., where the boyhood of the subject of this memoir was passed on a farm and in attending the district school. His early advantages were necessarily limited, yet in the alternat- ing routine of farm work in summer and of study during the winter months he acquired not only an enduring physique, but the rudiments of a practical education, both of which in a measure fitted him for the subsequent duties of an active business life. He inherited those thrifty characteristics of native New Englanders and be- came imbued with an enterprising spirit, and while yet a mere youth decided upon a commercial career. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to the firm of Owen & Hurlburt, extensive paper manufacturers of South Lee, Mass., and entering the general supply store of this firm remained with them for seven years. Here he re- ceived a valuable business training and imbibed those principles which invariably characterize the successful man. On reaching his majority he purchased of his employers the stock of goods contained in this store and profitably conducted the business .for one year. But his enterprising spirit and excellent judgment led him into larger fields of activity, which he was eminently fitted by nature and experience to fill.

In 1839 Mr. Wells made a trip to the Western Reserve, a portion of the State of Ohio, where his father and older brothers had settled on a large tract of land. Not finding an opening in the mercantile line in that frontier region he returned to Utica, where his cousins A. L. & R. H. Wells, were engaged in the dry goods busi- ness at No. 76 Genesee street. Mr. Wells entered their employ and remained for two years. In 1841 he formed a copartnership with Lewis Bailey of Utica, under the firm name of Bailey & Wells, and carried on a successful dry goods trade for five years, the first two in Auburn, N. Y., and the remainder in Utica, where Mr. Wells permanently settled in 1843. In Utica their store was located at 88 Genesee street. In 1846, the partnership having expired, Mr. Wells started in business on his own account at the same location, and in 1856 moved to the store No. 56 Genesee street, in the Marble block, then newly built. In 1865 he removed to 79 Genesee street, where the original store was in 1871 extended back to Franklin street to accommo- date his constantly increasing trade. In 1879 what was known as the " Boston Store " adjoining on the north and in 1886 the old Buckley & Co. stores on the south became vacant, and Mr. Wells promptly extended his business and occupied both establishments, taking Nos. 77, 79, and 81 Genesee street and Nos. 11, 13, and 15 Catharine street. In these commodious quarters the business has since been con- ducted, and for many years it has enjoyed a foremost place among the largest dry goods concerns in Central New York. In 1865 John S. Capron became a partner under the firm name of J. B. Wells & Co. and in 1873 Edward L. Wells, the only surviving son of Mr. Wells, was admitted, the firm being since known as J. B. Wells, Son & Co. On May 9, 1893, the firm sustained a serious loss from fire, the interior of the store being almost completely burned out. The loss aggregated nearly $150,-

BIOGRAPHICAL.

000, but the firm quickly recovered and soon opened another stock more valuable than the one destroyed.

Mr. Wells's business experience covered a period of more than half a century, fifty years being spent in Utica. He was a man of unswerving integrity, honorable, up- right, and conscientious, and never was a breath of suspicion aimed against him. He bore throughout life an untarnished reputation and a name that was universally respected. His unceasing kindness to his employees, his warm friendship and active interest in their welfare and advancement, his noble and self-sacrificing example, and his treasured advice and words of encouragement are enduring monuments to his devotion, fidelity to principle, and correct judgment. He was emphatically a self-made man, his education beyond that afforded by the small district school being self-acquired. He attended this common school only four months of each year dur- ing four or five winters, yet by persistent reading and study during such leisure moments as he occasionally obtained from the hours of labor he stored his retentive mind with valuable information, and this together with critically observing people and events enabled him to successfully cope with men whose early educational ad- vantages greatly exceeded his own. He owed his success to his individual efforts. Endowed with marvelous energy, with an almost unlimited capacity for work, with excellent judgment and sound common sense, and with a nature which was both broad and companionable, he won the utmost esteem and confidence, and displayed in his daily rounds a comprehensive grasp of detail and thoroughness of purpose which distinguished him in all the affairs of life. He was a firm friend, a safe coun- selor, and a generous employer. In his business dealings he was always honest, honorable, and just, and the confidence and respect that were accorded him are glowing tributes to his exemplary career.

Mr. Wells did not confine his time and talents solely to the dry goods business, but devoted a large share of his attention and means to the benefit of his fellow citi- zens. He was prominently interested in several large corporations, either as an officer or as a stockholder, and brought to these the same clear judgment, energy, and ability that characterized the conduct of his personal affairs, He was one of the founders and incorporators and the largest stockholder of the Skenandoa Cotton Company in 1882, and served as its vice-president until 1886, when, on the death of A. J. Williams, he was elected president. This enterprise was started with a capital of $200,000 and with a mill two stories high, 275 by 100 feet, erected for the purpose. The equipment consisted of about 10,000 spindles and other necessary machinery for the manufacture of fine hosiery yarns for the use of manufacturers of knit goods. So successful did the venture prove that in 1888 the capital stock was increased to $300,000 and another two story mill, equal in size to the first, erected. In 1892 the capital was again increased to $600,000 and a third mill, three stories high, 350 by 100, added, thus giving the company a plant of nearly 55,000 spindles and a product- ive capacity five times as large as the original. The company has paid regular divi- dends, and besides expending more than three-quarters of a million dollars on its plant has accumulated a handsome surplus, and its stock commands a high premium. The success and permanent usefulness of this enterprise are in a large measure due to the sagacity and business ability of Mr. Wells, who not only gave his best efforts to its development, but invested heavily of his means at a time when its future was

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

anything but promising. He stood by it when others were timid and boldly advo- cated a progressive policy, and by his courage and persistence demonstrated the soundness of his principles, which he insisted should be applied to the conduct of the business of the company. As president he ably guided its affairs from 1886 until his death, when the concern had secured an enormous business and a very strong financial condition. He was also a stockholder in the Mohawk Valley Cotton Mills, the Utica Willowvale Bleaching Company, and the Utica Steam Cotton Mills. For ten years he was a director in the First National Bank. In the progress and develop- ment of these important institutions he labored with a zeal that was both marvelous and inspiring.

But it was as a public benefactor, as a citizen who was intensely and unselfishly interested in the welfare of the community, that Mr. Wells won a warm place in the hearts and affections of not only his associates, but of all who knew him. He was intimately identified with various charitable and religious organizations of Utica, and gave to these self-sacrificing devotion and substantial support. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church from the time of his settlement in Utica in 1843 until his death, and served it as an elder for thirty years and as a deacon for ten years. He was a liberal contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association, and from 1887 until his decease served as president of its board of trustees. In the con- struction of the handsome Y. M. C. A. building on the corner of Bleecker and Char- lotte streets he was particularly interested, his gifts to it surpassing those of any other citizen. He gave liberally to his own and to other churches, to missionary and educational enterprises, and for many years maintained a missionary in western fields. In all movements for improvement or reform, in benevolent and charitable work both in the city and elsewhere, he was especially generous. He contributed freely to asylums and hospitals, and from 1887 until his death officiated as treasurer of the Home for the Homeless.

The corner-stone of his prosperity was industry, watchfulness, and honesty. His uncompromising integrity, prudence, sagacity, and tact won for him a brilliant rec- ord in all the affairs of life. He was public spirited, progressive, and conscientious, and above all a true gentleman. He died in Utica November 27, 1891, and from friends and business associates from all parts of the country came tender, touching letters of condolence, letters which spoke volumes for the exalted esteem and reverence in which the memory of Mr. Wells was held. The several institutions with which he had been connected also passed appropriate resolutions, expressing in glowing terms the appreciation of his personal qualities and business ability. Dur- ing the hour of his funeral many of the business houses of the city were closed. The obsequies were conducted by Rev. R. L. Bachman, D. D., who said: " He was not a man of many words, but of many and good deeds."

Mr. Wells was married in Lyme, Conn., on October 18, 1841, to Miss Roxanna Hill Lee, daughter of a Presbyterian clergyman who preached for many years in the church on Grassy Hill in the town of Lyme, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Oliver Brown. She was born in Lyme, April 12, 1818, and died in Utica January 10, 1879. Their children were Mary Louise, John H. (who died in Utica November 17, 1865, aged eighteen), Helen E., Edward L., and Anna S. Helen Elizabeth, the second daughter, was born June 21, 1850, was married at Utica on April 5, 1893, to

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 67

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