Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 84

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 84

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The history of Clinton for over forty years was closely identified with Mr. Will- iams's life and labors. He was deeply interested in all that pertained to local annals and village improvement. He made almost the first start in recording the beginning of local history in a lecture on the "Early History of Clinton " He contributed much toward the growth of the village, encouraging building and improvements, and opening new streets. In all that concerned the moral and material welfare of Clinton his advice and efforts were of great importance. His interest in the church, college, and school was constant and practical, nor could any considerable enterprise be carried on without his co-operation. Mr. Williams took a strong position from the first in his chosen profession, of the dignity and importance of which he had a very high conception. His motto was "Strive to do everything in the best possible manner." With a weak voice, a deliberate manner, never losing himself in passion or attempting flights of oratory, without much power before a jury, yet none of his associates surpassed him in mental acumen, in thorough knowledge of his case, and in clear and exact definitions of law. No case was ever so trivial as to be slighted, nor did he ever enter the court room with a carelessly prepared brief. It was the testimony of a prominent member of the Oneida county bar that he was singularly

155

BIOGRAPHICAL.

careful as well as felicitous in his choice of language to be used before the court. The habit of his mind was calm and judicial. He was not the advocate so much as the judge. Though a man of intense convictions and strong feelings, his profes- sional relations were always marked by a dignity and courtesy which it is common, unfortunately, now-a-days, to speak of as belonging to the " old school." In 1879, in connection with the very important business of the Midland Railroad, Mr. Will- iams was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. For the last twenty years of his life Judge Williams was actively engaged in railroad enter- prises. He was one of the most laborious promoters of the building of the railroad from Utica to Smith's Valley, its point of junction with the Midland. The road from Utica to Smith's Valley was completed in 1870. Mr. Williams was a director in 1866, vice-president in 1868-69, and from 1869 until his death in 1880 was its presi- dent. During all these years his burden of responsibility was very great, taxing extremely his health, time, legal skill, and pecuniary means. Except for the pow- erful advocacy and able guidance of Mr. Williams the business interest of this road could never have been so safely conserved nor so wisely settled. It is more than probable that the unremitting labor of mind and body in connection with the settlement of this delicate and important business made those serious inroads upon his health which resulted in his death on May 20, 1880.

Judge Williams was a man of the highest business integrity and honor. Not a farthing intrusted to his care was ever lost. He maintained the interests of others even to the prejudice of his own fortune. His judgment was wise and safe, his in- terest in the public good unselfish. From his wide and generous interest in all pub- lic concerns, and owing to his familiarity with local history, he was often called upon to deliver addresses on public and anniversary occasions. His addresses in connec- tion with the " Dedication of the Clinton Cemetery," the dedication of the Perry H. Smith Library Hall, the dedication of the Kirkland Monument, and the dedication of the Stone Church were, each one of them, models in point of propriety, literary form and historical knowledge. As a lawyer, a scholar, a citizen, a practical phil- anthropist, Judge Williams's life left a marked impress upon his generation, and upon the moral and material interests of the community in which he lived and died.

DANIEL GORDON DORRANCE.

THE Dorrance family, from which the subject of this memoir descends, is of Scotch ancestry. About 1720 two brothers, Rev. Samuel and James Dorrance, who were born in Scotland or in the North of Ireland of Scotch parents, came to America and settled in Voluntown, Conn. Rev. Samuel had received the honors of the University of Glasgow in 1709 and had been licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Dunbarton in 1711. He was pastor of the church in Voluntown until December 12, 1770, and died November 12, 1775, aged ninety years. James came to America with his wife Elizabeth, and their son Samuel married Rebecca Gordon, September 27, 1764, who died at the age of ninety-five. Samuel and Rebecca (Gordon) Dorrance had several children, among whom were John and Samuel, jr., twins, born in

156

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Hampton, Conn., June 19, 1778. This John Dorrance became a prominent physician. In 1806 he moved from Windham county, Conn., to Peterboro, Madison county, N. Y., where he died October 11, 1857. In 1810 he married Mary Thompson, who was born March 14, 1783, and died July 2, 1872. She was a daughter of Alpheus Thompson, a Revolutionary soldier.

Hon. Daniel Gordon Dorrance, son of Dr. John and Mary (Thompson) Dorrance, was born in Peterboro, Madison county, March 13, 1811, and spent his early life upon a farm and as clerk in a general store in his native village. He inherited those sterling traits of thrift and frugality which characterized his New England ances- tors, and combined with these a laudable ambition to forge ahead and take ad- vantage of every opportunity. When nineteen, having finished a district school education, he entered Cazenovia Seminary and for about two years pursued medical studies with a view of becoming a physician, but he soon abandoned this profession, preferring a mercantile life. In 1832 he went to Florence, Oneida county, to manage the store of J. S. T. Stranahan and Gerrit Smith, and in this capacity completed the commercial training which ever afterward made him conspicuous in business affairs. In 1837 he engaged in trade as a country merchant in Florence and successfully con- tinued there until 1859, when he removed to Oneida Castle, in the town of Vernon, where he died March 26, 1896, aged eighty-five.

Mr. Dorrance was for many years extensively interested in real estate, not only in New York, but also in Western States, owning and handling large tracts in various sections of the country. From 1840 to 1859 he was the land agent of Hon. Gerrit Smith. The grounds occupied by his residence in Oneida Castle comprised a portion of the site once occupied by Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who came as a mission- ary to the Oneida Indians in 1766. "The old mission house formerly stood near a corner of his garden. Mr. Dorrance was one of the fourteen organizers and incor- porators of the Fort Stanwix Bank, of Rome, in 1848, and served as a member of its board of directors until his death, being the last survivor of the original company. He was one of the organizers and continually the president of the Oneida Savings Bank at Oneida, was long a director, vice-president, and president of the Oneida Valley National Bank at Oneida, and was the founder of the banking firm of D. G. & J. G. Dorrance, of Camden, and president of their successor, the First National Bank. As a financier he possessed unusual sagacity and foresight, and to him is largely due the success attained by the institutions with which he was connected. Endowed with thorough knowledge of business affairs, honest, careful, and con- servative yet enterprising, he won universal confidence, and was regarded as one of the most eminent bankers of the county. He was public spirited and progressive and quite heavily interested in various other enterprises, especially in manufactur- ing. He was a director in the Rome Brass and Copper Company at Rome and president of the Westcott Chuck Company, one of the leading industrial concerns at Oneida.

In politics Mr. Dorrance was originally an old line Whig and an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, and affiliated with the Republicans upon the organization of that party in 1856. He was very active in political affairs and a staunch supporter of his party's principles, working zealously at the polls until within two or three years of his death, when his age and health compelled him to seek retirement. He was post-

MYRON W. HUNT, M. D.

157

BIOGRAPHICAL.

master and supervisor of Florence for several years and in 1846 represented his dis- trict in the Assembly. In 1854 and 1855 he served as State senator. As a legisla- tor he attained that eminence which is characterized by unswerving faithfulness to constituents and strict fidelity to public interests. He was a member and trustee of Cochran Memorial Presbyterian church of Oneida Castle at the time of his death, and always led a consistent Christian life. His benefactions were numerous and far reaching. He liberally supported all worthy movements and was recognized as a most useful citizen.

Mr. Dorrance was married in March, 1837, to Miss Ann Sparrow, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Palen) Sparrow, of Florence, Oneida county. His wife and her parents were natives of Shropshire, England. She died December 17, 1891, aged seventy-seven, leaving three sons and two daughters: John G., William H., and Daniel G., jr., all prominent business men of Camden, N. Y .; Mary A., wife of Dr. M. H. Bronson, of Lowville, N. Y .; and Sarah E., wife of Hon. Charles L. Knapp, also of Lowville.

MYRON W. HUNT, M. D.

MYRON W. HUNT, M. D., was born on the family homestead at Lairdsville, in the town of Westmoreland, Oneida county, N. Y., on the 24th of March, 1857. His ancestors were New Englanders, who for several years had exerted a notable influ- ence in the civil and business life of the colonies. Capt. William Hunt, the grand- father of Dr. Hunt, was born in Vermont, but removed in early life to Sharon. Conn., where he followed the trade of tanner and currier. In the winter of 1813-14 he moved with his family to Westmoreland, Oneida county, where he settled upon a farm on which he died in 1843, at the age of seventy-three. Here he followed both tanning and farming. Coming here when the country was new he experienced all the privations incident to pioneer life, but he never faltered in the hard work neces- sary in clearing his farm and prosecuting his trade. Soon after his arrival he was called with his company to Sackett's Harbor, where he was stationed as captain dur- ing the war of 1812-15. The sword he carried on that occasion is now in the posses- sion of his grandson, the subject of this sketch. Captain Hunt was a man of more than ordinary ability. Endowed with a rugged constitution he possessed talents of high order and a mind as vigorous as it was broad and comprehensive. He exerted a large and wholesome influence in the community, where he was highly respected for his many excellent qualities. Being a member of the Methodist church he took a deep interest in all religious matters and liberally encouraged every movement which advanced the cause. His home was always open to the old circuit riders- those itinerant preachers who formed such an important factor in frontier life three- quarters of a century ago. He married Betsey Calkins, a native of Sharon, Conn., who died on the homestead in 1848, aged seventy-three. She was a woman richly endowed with the sterling characteristics of New Englanders, and like her husband wielded a marked influence in the community. Of a lovable disposition, kind, benevolent, and charitable, she was especially the friend of the sick and needy, to

158

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

whom she ministered with a liberal hand. Their children were William, who died in Kansas; Elijah, a merchant, who died in Lowell, Oneida county; Rev. Isaac L., a prominent Methodist clergyman and presiding elder, who died in Adams, N. Y., at the age of eighty-six; Dr. Jacob, born in Hillsdale, Conn., in 1811, died in Utica in April, 1887; Luther E., father of Dr. Myron W .; Rev. Ward W., a graduate of Hamilton College, class of 1843, and a noted clergyman, who died in Adams, N. Y., at the age of seventy-four; Polly (Mrs. William Potter), who died in Westmoreland; Betsey (Mrs. Joseph Havens), who died in Clinton, N. Y., in 1875, aged seventy- seven ; Hettie (Mrs. Lowden Brainard), who died at Lairdsville in 1890, aged eighty- nine; aud Almira (Mrs. George Gardner), who died in Lowell, Oneida county. Of these Dr. Jacob Hunt became a well known physician and surgeon. He practiced for twenty years in Lowell, N. Y., and in 1852 settled in U'tica. He was a prominent member of the Oneida County and New York State Medical Societies, a delegate to the American Medical Society, and twice a delegate to the General Conference of the M. E. church.

Luther E. Hunt, father of Dr. M. W., was born on the homestead at Lairdsville on May 17, 1814, and spent his entire life there, dying April 9, 1895. He was educated in Cazenovia and Fairfield Seminaries, and when nineteen became principal of the Rochester public school, which position he filled several years. He held a similar position in Oswego until his health failed, when he returned to Lairdsville and en- gaged in the manufacture of brooms. He was a staunch Republican, took a deep in- terest in local affairs, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the entire com- munity. Ile was one of the oldest members of Hampton Lodge F. & A. M. at the time of his death. In 1846 he married Harriet M. Warner, of Amsterdam, N. Y., who was born in Cambridge N. Y., May 27, 1821, and who died April 11, 1895, two days after her husband. She was a prominent member of the M. E. church, a consistent Christian throughout life, and a devoted wife and loving mother. They had five children, of whom three survived them, viz: Dr. Myron W., of Holland Patent; S. Olin, of Lairdsville; and Minnie L., who was born November 6, 1861, and who died April 16, 1895, making the third death in the family within a period of one week, all of pneumonia.

Dr. Myron W. Hunt spent his early life on the family homestead and in attending the district schools. In 1875 he was graduated in the classical course from Whites- town Seminary and subsequently pursued his preparatory studies at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. Later he entered the class of 1879 of Syracuse University, but did not complete the course. having decided in the mean time to adopt medicine as a profession. In the fall of 1878 he entered the office of Dr. William M. James, of Whitesboro, where he pursued his studies with that thoroughness which has charac- terized all his undertakings. Later he read medicine with Dr. Albert Van Da Veer, a noted surgeon of Albany, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College on March 4, 1882. He immediately went to Burlington and took the spring course at the University of Vermont, graduating therefrom in June of that year. Afterward he took a special course in diseases of the heart and lungs under Dr. George M. Garland, of Boston. In the fall of 1883 he began the active practice of his profession in Stittville in the town of Trenton, Oneida county, and in May, 1888, moved thence to the village of Holland Patent, in the same town, where he has since resided.

A. P. SEATON.

159

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Dr. Hunt has successfully built up an extensive general practice and stands well among the leading physicians of Oneida county. He is a prominent member of the Oneida County Medical Society and out of-town physician to Faxton and St. Eliza- beth's Hospitals of Utica. He has also been health officer of the town of Floyd for several years. In politics he is an ardent and active Republican, and in the councils of his party is one of the recognized local leaders. In the fall of 1890 he was elected coroner of Oneida county by a majority of 118, and three years later was re-elected to this office, running ahead of the ticket. During his two terms, or nearly six years, as county coroner he has had much important work, his territorial jurisdiction being the largest in the county. Dr. Hunt has been a member of the Board of Education of Ilolland Patent since 1888 and is chairman of the teachers' committee. He is an honorary member of the 117th regiment N. Y. S. V, a member of Remsen Lodge, No 677, F. & A. M., member of Utica Lodge No. 33, P. B. O. E., and a charter member of Trenton Lodge, No. 577, I. O. O. F., and Holland Patent Lodge, No. 352, K. of M. He was a charter member and one of the organizers of Holland Patent Lodge, No. 291, K. of P., is district deputy chancellor commander of the 66th district Knights of Pythias, and was the organizer and is past chief councillor of Stittville Council, No. 279, Order of the United Friends. He also organized Oriskany Council, No. 291, O. U. F., and has taken a deep interest in the advancement of the order. Dr. Hunt is a public-spirited citizen, active in all worthy enterprises, and is actively identified with the prosperity of his town and county. He stumped the counties of Herkimer and Oneida in 1892 and has delivered numerous addresses before patriotic and other gatherings. He has been a delegate to county, district, and State political conventions, and in every capacity has manifested that loyalty and patriotism and public spirit which characterize the respected citizen. He is vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal church, Holland Patent, and a member of the United Friends Club of New York city.

On August 7, 1884, Dr. Hunt was married to Miss Frances A., daughter of Joseph D. Newton, of Lowell, Oneida county, and they have two sons: Newton L., born October 20, 1885, and Isaac L., born April 16, 1891.

ALBERT P. SEATON.

ALBERT P. SEATON is the youngest child of John and Alice (Hopkinson) Seaton and was born in Utica, N. Y., October 1, 1844. John Seaton was born in Yorkshire, England, March 17, 1809, and served a seven years' apprenticeship at the tailor's trade in Leeds. He was married in Hull to Miss Alice Hopkinson and in 1832 came to America, locating first in Quebec, Canada. In 1833 he settled in Utica, where he very soon entered the employ of Z. & P. Lyon, merchant tailors, with whom he remained eighteen years. In the spring of 1850 he removed to the town of New Hartford and engaged in farming on East Hill, about one and one-half miles east of the village. Here he spent the remainder of his active life, and here his wife died in October, 1878, at the age of sixty-eight. In the spring of 1879 he removed to the village of New Hartford, where his death occurred in June, 1885. Mr. Seaton was a

160

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

man of sterling character, a strong Whig and later an ardent Republican, and a prominent member of St. Stephen's Episcopal church, which he served for many years as vestryman. He was especially active in church work, and always took a keen interest in the welfare of the entire community. He had six children: Sarah and Maria (twins), who died in infancy; Sarah, 2d, who married Edward B. Stevens and resides in Utica; Anna Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Rigney, both deceased; and John W. and Albert P. of New Hartford.

Albert P. Seaton removed with his parents to New Hartford in 1850, when he was six years old, and here in the common schools he received his education Inheriting the sturdy characteristics of his parents he made the best of his limited means and advantages while a youth, and on the farm gained a rugged constitution, which has carried him through a most successful career. In 1861 he began learning the ma- chinist's trade in the Remington gun factory at llion, N. Y., where he remained until 1865, becoming in the mean time a sub-contractor. His skill as a machinist had now attracted the attention of his associates and he was invited to go to the Oneida Community and accept a position in the establishment which had started for the purpose of manufacturing machinery for the new silk factory there. He con- tinued in this capacity about two years, when he returned to Ilion, and became a contractor in the Remington works. In the spring of 1870 he returned to the pa- rental farm in New Hartford, where he has since been engaged in farming and in the milk business. In the spring of 1879, his mother having died. he removed with his father to the village, where he now lives, occupying a valuable farm lying partly within the corporate limits.

Mr. Seaton has been an active and influential Republican for many years, and has frequently been called by his party to positions of trust and honor. In 1881 he was elected highway commissioner and served one term. He was president of the village of New Hartford for five years between 1882 and 1888, and for about seven years served efficiently as a member of the Board of Education being its president from August, 1890, until the spring of 1891, when he resigned to accept the office of su- pervisor of the town. He was supervisor from March. 1891, until March, 1896, or for five successive years, and was chairman of the board in 1894 and 1895. In all these positions Mr. Seaton officiated with ability and great credit. Ile has been very act- ive in political affairs, and has frequently been a delegate to county, district, and State conventions. In all public matters and in the general welfare of the commun- ity he takes an active interest, and liberally encourages every movement worthy of a loyal citizen's support. He was one of the organizers and treasurer of the New Hartford Leather Company during its existence, and for several years served as vestryman of St. Stephen's church.

On September 6, 1875, Mr. Seaton was married to Miss Jennie E., daughter of Franklin F. and Caroline Brooks, of Utica. She died February 8, 1895, at the age of forty-two, leaving six children: Alice E., John F., Carrie M., Albert P., jr., Jen- nie E., and Franklin F.

JOHN L. BABBITT.

161

BIOGRAPHICAL.

JOHN LEROY BABBITT.

JOHN LEROY BABBITT was born at Utica, N. Y., May 17, 1835. When a child he re- moved with his parents to Susquehanna county, Pa., where his father followed the occupation of peddler, which kept him from home the greater part of the time. His mother was a seamstress, and was employed wherever she could find work for her needle; as a result, the boy, John L., was deprived of a permanent home, and lived about at different places and with different people, doing such light work as his age and strength permitted, and obtaining but little schooling.

At the age of fifteen, in company with a cousin, he started west, crossing Lake Erie on the sidewheel steamer Mayflower from Buffalo to Monroe City, Mich. From the latter place he walked fourteen miles to an Indian settlement, where he obtained employment at farming and lumbering. After a limited period at this labor he attended the Union School at Tecumseh, Lenawee county, Mich .. and later applied himself to learning the machinist trade at the same place.

Having finished his course of instruction and practice in the machine shop, he was employed first by the Michigan Southern Railroad Company, then by the Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad Company, and finally by the New York and Erie Company. In 1860 he went to New York city, where he became the chief en- gineer in the immense soap factory of his uncle, B. T. Babbitt; here he remained for three years, and then accepted the position of chief engineer for the Glen Cove Starch Company, at Glen Cove, Long Island. For eleven years he satisfactorily filled this place, during which time he was appointed by the governor of the State steam boiler inspector for that congressional district, comprising the counties of Queens, Suffolk, and Richmond.

In the spring of 1874 Mr. Babbitt came to Whitesboro as superintendent of the iron works which his uncle, B. T. Babbitt, had established there, a position he still holds.

Mr. Babbitt has proved himself a useful citizen in the village of his adoption in every way and has won the esteem and confidence of his fellow men. He has served the village of Whitesboro as trustee for several terms, and as president for one term; he has been trustee of the United Society of Whitestown several years, also president, and for a short time deacon. In 1893 he was chosen the first presi- dent of the Homestead Aid Association of Whitestown.

Notwithstanding the disadvantages and hardships of his early life, and a lack of those opportunities which give to youth a hopeful view of the future, Mr. Babbitt proved his natural abilities by the sturdy energy and restless ambition to succeed which have characterized his career from boyhood to middle age.

Mr. Babbitt was married on June 2, 1869, to Miss Lorinda L. Potter, who was born at Gibson, Pa., December 21, 1836, and educated at Hartford Academy, Sus- quehanna county, Pa. They have had two children: Willie T., born at Glen Cove, Long Island, November 27, 1871, died August 2, 1872; and Benjamin Talbot, born at Whitestown, N. Y., October 9, 1874, who is now a student at Cornell Univer- sity in the class of '97, he having won a scholarship in that institution at a com- petitive examination.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 84

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