Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 89

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 89

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Wheaton, James G. Grindlay, W. H. Christian, and many other distinguished Union commanders. His Excelleney Governor Samuel J. Tilden was the guest of Mr. Hutch- inson, and with him were other prominent State officials, constituting altogether one of the most distinguished gatherings of national and State dignitariesever assembled outside of the capital of the nation. The reunion was a grand success and was fully ap- preciated by all the delegates and guests who were in attendance, and they expressed the highest gratification at the attention shown them by the citizens and their liber- ality of entertainment and generous hospitality. The reunion closed with a recep- tion and ball at the opera house, President Grant and Governor Tilden receiving in the proscenium boxes. One of the guests wrote of it as follows:

"No notice of this event, written at the late hour required by circumstances, can do justice to its elegance and success in every particular. Each succeeding moment seemed to be more and more enjoyable, and the culmination was a grand triumph. Nothing of the kind ever before attempted in this city or vicinity equalled it; it reflected the greatest credit upon the city and the good people who tendered it with the most perfect cordiality to their honored guests, the brave men of the So- ciety of the Army of the Cumberland. It will be a long time ere the bright dream will be forgotten."

Mr. Hutchinson was prominent in organizing the Utica Park Association, and was its president from its incorporation in 1872 until 1889, excepting three terms, when, other matters engrossing his attention, he declined an election. This park property was estimated to have cost over $150,000, but it was sold by him to the State Masonic Home in 1889 for the sum of $75,000. To this noble charity, in which as a Mason Mr. Hutchinson was deeply interested, he donated toward this purchase price the sum of $25,000. As a Mason he is a member of Utica Lodge, Oneida Chapter, Utica Commandery of Knights Templar, and Yah-nun-dah-sis Lodge of Perfection, and has taken the 32d degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Cosmopolitan Consistory of New York. He is also prominent in the order of Odd Fellows and for a time was colonel and chief of equipment of the Patriarchs Militant, I. O. O. F., in the Department of the Atlantic. He was for several years president of the Utica Club, and is a member of the Democratic and Manhattan Clubs of New York city. In association with Alexander Seward, S. N. D. North, John F. Seymour, and Morven M. Jones he was one of the founders and organizers of the Oneida His- torical Society, of which the late Hon. Horatio Seymour was president until his

death in 1886. During this period Mr. Hutchinson was first vice-president, acting president, or a member of the board of counselors, and since 1891 he has been its president. He has delivered several addresses before the society upon subjects re- lating to the early history of the Mohawk Valley, and was a member of the com- mittee of five which selected the design and erected the monument commemorating the battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777. He is also a corresponding member of several historical societies. For many years he devoted much time to the study of ethnology, history, and allied subjects, and his library is large and valuable in rare books in both English and foreign languages. One of his favorite studies is that of Indianology, especially relating to the Iroquois or tribes of the Six Nations. His cabinet of Indian curios and relies is one of the most noted in the State, and was exhibited at the Bartholdi Exhibition in New York, at the Albany Bi-Centennial,

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and at the International Fair at Buffalo in 1888. In appreciation of the warm inter- est he has taken in matters relating to the condition and welfare of the Iroquois, Mr. Hutchinson was adopted by them and given the name of "Gy-ant-wa-ka" (The Cornplanter) by a council of the Senecas on their reservation June 15, 1885.

Mr. Hutchinson has held many important corporate positions. He was president of the Utica and Mohawk Railroad Company and finally became the owner of that road. He has also officiated as president of the Central New York Agricultural Association and trustee of the Holland Trust Company of New York city, and is largely interested in real estate and in manufacturing enterprises of Utica. He was elected a vestryman of Trinity church, Utica, in 1861, and warden in 1887. This church is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in Central or Western New York, having been organized May 24, 1803, and incorporated August 14, 1804.

October 9, 1851, Mr. Hutchinson was married by Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Clark, sub- sequently bishop of Rhode Island, to Miss Laura Clark Beckwith, eldest daughter of the late Alonzo S. Beckwith, a prominent citizen of Hartford, Conn. She died April 11, 1883, leaving no children. She was active and generous in all charitable movements, and her sister and herself were the "two founders" of the House of of the Good Shepherd, that benevolent institution whose mission is the care of little children.

GARRY A. WILLARD.

GARRY AARON WILLARD was born in Boonville, Oneida county, in 1861, the sixth of a family of eight children. His forefathers were numbered among the hardy settlers of New England and were among the first to enlist under the banners of the Granite State boys which were carried through the Revolutionary war. Aaron Wil- lard, his grandfather, came to Boonville from Veunont at the beginning of the pres- ent century, and being a farmer by occupation industriously plied his vocation near that village, clearing away the virgin forests in order to plant his crops. Among his sons was Harvey P. Willard, father of Garry A., who possessed fine intellectual at- tainments, scholarly tastes of a high order, and abilities which were early recog- nized. He was educated at the Boonville Academy, and after his graduation and for a period of twenty years taught school in Kentucky and in various places in the State of New York. In 1861 he purchased the Boonville Herald, which he ably con- ducted until his death in 1887, making it one of the best and most influential weekly newspapers in the county.

Garry A. Willard is one of the worthiest descendants of a family that has been known in Boonville since the organization of the town. At an early age he had mastered the printer's trade, and after his graduation from the Boonville Academy he completed his education at the Clinton (N. Y.) Grammar School. Returning to Boonville he took a position in the Herald office, mastering the details of every de- partment until, in 1891, he purchased the paper and became its sole responsible head. Since that period the paper under his management has grown until to-day the Herald plant is almost metropolitan in its character and the paper is extensively

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circulated throughout Oneida, Lewis and Herkimer counties. A sturdy, never- swerving Republican, of pleasing address and of the courage of his convictions at all times, Mr. Willard could not well escape the notice of those high in the councils of his party. In 1891 he was appointed postmaster of Boonville by President Har- rison and served a full term, and until his successor was appointed by President Cleveland, giving the best of satisfaction and making the office rank among the highest in its class. In 1895 he became the candidate of his party for county clerk and was elected by the handsome majority of 3,500. His prominence in local affairs and the confidence reposed in him by the people of Boonville is best attested by the fact that he was chosen president of the Board of Education in 1892 and re-elected in 1893, 1894 and 1895. He is public spirited, progressive, and enterprising, and takes a keen interest in the welfare and advancement of the community.

In 1884 Mr. Willard married Julia 1I., eldest daughter of C. W. Colton, one of Boonville's best known merchants. One child, a daughter, blessed their union. The family residence on Schuyler street is one of the handsomest in that village of lovely homes.

M. M. BAGG, M.D.

MOSES MEARS BAGG, M.D., is a grandson of Moses Bagg, sr., who in the autumn of 1793 came with his wife and two sons to what was known as Middle Settlement and on March 12, 1794, moved thence to Old Fort Schuyler. He settled and finally bought of Mr. Bleecker four acres of land where Bagg's Hotel now stands, and then practiced his trade of blacksmith and also opened his log house for the accommoda- tion of travelers. Soon afterward he erected a two-story frame building on the same site. He was succeeded by his son, Moses Bagg, jr., who in 1812-15 built on the site of this wooden structure the central portion of the brick hotel which still bears the family name, and who continued as proprietor until 1836. Moses Bagg, jr., came here with his parents from Westfield, Mass. Ile married Sophia, daughter of Matthew Derbyshire, of Hartwick, Otsego county, N. Y., and a recent immigrant from Yorkshire, England, and in this now famous hotel their son, Dr. Bagg, was born July 13, 1816.

Dr. Bagg received his earlier education in part at the Utica Academy, but chiefly in the Utica High School, now extinct, which was kept by Charles Bartlett in the eastern portion of the city. He entered the sophomore year of the class of 1836 at Hamilton College, finished this and the junior year, and as there was temporarily no president to instruct the senior students, he went to Yale College to complete his course and was graduated from that institution in 1837. After a year spent in teaching in Baltimore, Md., in an institution known as Mt. Hope, he began the study of medicine with the late Dr. Charles B. Coventry. of Utica, and attended two courses of lectures at Geneva Medical College, where Dr. Coventry was one of the professors, and where he received his degree after spending a winter studying medicine in Philadelphia. For one year he was a partner with his precep- tor and then went to Paris, France, where he was engaged in attendance on lectures

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and hospitals and in travel for about fifteen months. Returning to Utica in the summer of 1845 he opened an office and waited for practice. For two years he was city physician, having the care of the sick poor of the whole city during half this time and of one-half of them during the remaining period. He was also at one time the health officer, and at a later period he was for five years physician in charge of the city hospital. His practice increased steadily and became in time absorbing. Other duties somewhat alien to it and occupying a limited portion of his time were the teaching of rhetoric and composition in the Utica Female Academy for four or five years and of French in the Free Academy for two years, as a substitute for the reg- ular teacher, who was incapacitated by illness. Of both these institutions Dr. Bagg was a trustee; of the former board for many years the secretary and now, as senior member, its president.

Dr. Bagg eventually built up a large practice and became one of the foremost physicians of the city. He has always been regarded as an able and talented practitioner, a wise counsellor, and a kind and sympathetic friend. Few men have ever won a warmer place in the hearts and affections of the people than has he. His genial nature, his honesty and uprightness, his benevolent spirit, his unfailing sympathy for the afflicted, his words of wisdom and encouragement, his cheerful disposition, have always made him a welcome visitor at the bedside or in the family circle. Charitable, kind hearted, and friendly he acquired a high repu- tation and generously met every demand upon his time and means. In the Oneida County Medical Society, of which he is one of the oldest living members, he has occupied several positions from secretary to president. As a member of the New York State Medical Society he has been censor of the middle district. In 1864 he was employed for a few weeks by the New York State agency in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers at Washington, and for two years-1883-85-he was one of the board of pension examiners.

Dr. Bagg has for many years been deeply interested in the history of his native city and has been the means of collecting and preserving more historical matter than any other man. In 1877 he published the " Pioneers of Utica," a volume of in- estimable value to the local historian and biographer. In 1892 he edited for the pub- lishers a large volume entitled " Memorial History of Utica," bringing the story of the city's growth and development down to a recent period. He is the author of several published addresses, mostly historical in character. These were two ad- dresses before the County Medical Society and one before the managers of the Utica Orphan Asylum, of which he has been a medical attendant since its organization. He has also read a paper before the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, a semi-centennial address before the Oneida County Bible Society, and an annual address and two or three other papers before the Oneida Historical Society. Of this latter organization he has been an interested participant since it was founded and is at present its librarian, Probably no man has taken a deeper or more active interest in its growth and welfare. He is also a member of the Reformed church of Utica and for some fifty years has been one of its consistory. In all these connec- tions, in the elevation of society, and in the advancement of the city Dr. Bagg's enthusiasm and loyalty have known no bounds. He is public spirited, energetic, and progressive, and takes a just pride in aiding every cause for the betterment of humanity.

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On November 22, 1847, Dr. Bagg was married to Miss Maria R., daughter of Sam. uel Farwell, of Utica, and they have two sons, both residents of Watertown, N. Y., and four daughters, who with his wife constitute his family in Utica.

ALFRED C. COXE.

HON. ALFRED C. COXE was born in Auburn, N. Y., and came of distinguished an- cestry. His father was the venerable Rev. Dr. S. Hanson Coxe, for many years rec- tor of Trinity Church, Utica, and he was the son of an eminent Presbyterian divine and a brother of Rt. Rev. A. Cleveland Coxe of Buffalo, N. Y., bishop of the diocese of Western New York. His mother was a sister of Roscoe Conkling, and a daughter of Judge Alfred Conkling, for a long time judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, author of "Conkling's Treatise," a standard work on practice in the federal courts, and of "Conkling's Admiralty," and once United States Minister to Mexico.

Judge Coxe was educated in the common schools of Utica, at the Oxford Academy, and at Hamilton College. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and practiced alone in the city of Utica until 1870, when he entered the firm of Conkling, Holmes & Coxe, of Utica, composed of United States Senator Roscoe Conkling, Ex-Judge Sid- ney T. Holmes and Mr. Coxe. Judge Holmes retired from the partnership in 1872, owing to ill health, and was succeeded by Hon. Scott Lord, and that firm under the name of Conkling, Lord & Coxe continued until 1875, when it was dissolved on ac- count of the election of Judge Lord to Congress. From that time until 1882 Judge Coxe remained alone in practice, retaining the clientage of the old firm.

In a sketch written by a friend and a leading member of the Oneida county bar, the following tribute is paid to Judge Coxe's ability as a trial lawyer: "He was thorough in the preparation of his cases and successful in conducting them. Always attending faithfully to the details of his side of a litigation, and taking good care of the law questions arising, he was at his best addressing a jury. Having an excellent voice and a fine presence, attractive, earnest, persuasive, as the occasion would justify, he was humorous, he was pathetic, or he rose to the heights of elo- quence."

Judge Coxe has always been an ardent Republican. In 1879 and 1880 he was president of the Young Men's Republican Club of Utica. In 1880 he was appointed by Gov. A. B. Cornell one of the managers of the Utica State Hospital. In the spring of 1882 President Arthur appointed him United States district judge for the North- ern District of New York, the position held by his grandfather, Alfred Conkling, half a century before. The district is in territory and population the largest in the United States. Judge Coxe is an indefatigable worker and promptly disposes of the busi- ness of his court. Most of his time is devoted to the trial and determination of patent cases, of which, it is said, he has in his term of office tried more than any other judge now on the bench in the United States. It is stated that his decision of a patent cause has never been reversed by the Supreme Court. He has also tried many ad- miralty causes, and in only one instance had his decision under this branch of the

W. E. SCRIPTURE.

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law been reversed. In his handling of a complex issue of law the judicial mind of the man is displayed to the best advantage. He goes at once to the heart of the subject, treats it in a lucid and perspicuous style, and renders just judgment upon the merits. As the writer before quoted, says: "He prefers to err on the side of equity and justice, rather than permit wrong to triumph on naked precedent or the bare letter of the law." Bred a gentlemen, by education and training a scholar, and gifted with rare judicial temperament, Judge Coxe is an honor to the bench of the United States.

In 1878 Judge Coxe married Miss Maryette Doolittle, daughter of the late Judge Charles H. Doolittle, of Utica, who at the time of his death was a justice of the Supreme Court.

WILLIAM E. SCRIPTURE.

HON. WILLIAM E. SCRIPTURE, justice of the Supreme Court, was born in the town of Westmoreland, Oneida county, N. Y., November 2, 1843. He descends, on his father's side, from Sterling Welsh ancestry, whose first American representative emigrated to this country and settled in New Hampshire about the year 1700. His grandfather, Hiram Scripture, was a native of Tolland county, Conn., and in 1797 came to Westmoreland, where he married, in March, 1798, Miss Elizabeth Parker, a native of Boston, whose parents were born in Ireland. He died there, aged seventy- seven, as did also his wife, at the age of ninety-three. Her family settled in West- moreland about 1794. Parker A. Scripture, son of Hiram, was born in that town October 23, 1814, spent his life upon a farm there, and in 1874 came to Rome, where he was accidentally killed October 26, 1875. He married Miss Harriet Standish Snow, daughter of Wilson Snow, who survives him. She was born in Plymouth, Mass., and is a lineal descendant of Capt. Miles Standish, one of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower and captain of the Plymouth colony, whom Longfellow immortalized in the celebrated poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." She is also descended from the Murdock family, whose ancestor came over soon after 1620. They had three children: Sarah E. (Mrs. C. H. Steele), William E., and Phebe P.

Judge Scripture was reared on the parental farm in Westmoreland and in early life attended the district schools of that town. He was graduated from Whitestown Seminary in 1865 and in the fall of that year entered Hamilton College in the class of 1869. Illness, however, compelled him to give up a cherished collegiate course and turn his attention to healthier exercise. By the autumn of 1866 his health was sufficiently restored to enable him to enter the Albany Law School, where he was admitted to the bar in May, 1861. He then came to Rome as managing clerk in the law office of Beach & Bailey, whence he left in January, 1868 to begin the active practice of his profession in Canastota, N. Y., under the firm name of Hutchins & Scripture. In the fall of that year he returned to Rome, where he has ever since resided. Here he first resumed practice under the name of Weld & Scripture, but one year later formed a copartnership with Homer T. Fowler as Scripture & Fowler. Subsequently he was associated with George H. Weaver, E. M. Pavey, and O. P. Backus, and since 1892 has practiced alone.

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Judge Scripture is widely recognized as an able, conscientious, and reliable coun- selor, well versed in the practice of the law, and qualified by nature for a success- ful and influential advocate. An unswerving Republican he has for several years taken an active part in politics, working for the good of his party as one of its popular leaders. For nearly four years he served as postmaster at Rome under President Harrison, and in November, 1895, was elected justice of the Supreme Court by the largest majority given to any candidate in this district on the Repub- lican ticket.

In August, 1867, Judge Scripture was married to Miss Emma C. Goodwin, daugh- ter of Israel F. Goodwin, of Westmoreland. They have had eight children: May Standish, Mina Emma, Ella Goodwin, Emina Harriet, Ruth, Vina, Parker Fairfield, and William.

HENRY J. COGGESHALL.

HON. HENRY J. COGGESHALL, lawyer, was born April 28, 1845, in Waterville, Oneida county, N. Y., where he has always resided. Ilis ancestors emigrated from England in 1632 with Ann Hutchinson, and settled in Massachusetts. Driven from that colony on account of religious convictions, they went to Rhode Island, where John Coggeshall became provisional governor. Thus it will be seen that the subject of this sketch, the present senator from Oneida county, sprang from stock that was born to rule, or to sway and influence those with whom he came in contact. Senator Coggeshall's grandfather, when quite a young man, settled in Chenango county, N. Y., where he held several local offices, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He rose to the rank of colonel of the State militia, and in 1840 removed with his family to Waterville. His son, Dr. James S. Coggeshall, the senator's father, was a physician of wide and honorable repute. Henry J. Coggeshall was educated in the Waterville Seminary, but on account of impaired health, through overstudy, was obliged to give up a contemplated collegiate course, and decided, after a suitable rest, to enter upon the study of law. Having pursued his studies for a term of four years, he was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of law in 1866, and at once attained a prominent and successful position in the profession.

Mr. Coggeshall was the possessor of a laudable and masterful ambition, and he likewise cherished a catholic and sympathetic spirit. His natural tendencies and his acquired tastes led him quite easily away from the active practice of the law, and into the broader and more exciting field of polities. He made an early alliance with the Republican party, and such was his zeal and energy and devotion to the prin- ciples of his chosen organization that he was called frequently to the occupation of public office. His first public position was that of assistant district attorney. In 1872 he was elected to the Legislature as member of assembly from the Second District of Oneida county, and in 1879 was elected county clerk. He served in that office until January 1, 1883. In November of that year he was elected to the State Senate, and is still a member of that body. During his senatorial service (which has extended over a period of thirteen years) he has been a member of many important

Faithfuly yours MfGogshall

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committees; he has been chairman of the committees on miscellaneous corporations and of railroads, and a member of the judiciary, insurance, commerce and naviga- tion, canals, public buildings, engrossed bills, general laws, and grievance com- mittees. His work as senator has been characterized by patience and industry, fidelity to every duty, a strict attention to all demands of the public, a careful con- sideration for the general weal, and an earnest advocacy of legislation beneficial to his own immediate constituents. He is interested in agricultural pursuits, and, be it . said to his credit, he has always taken great interest in legislation looking to the benefit of the agricultural classes; and, at the same time, he has been the champion of wise and consistent legislation in behalf of the laboring classes of the State. His eloquence, tact, and parliamentary skill have always been used to the advantage of the people. He has advocated and caused to become laws the bills to abolish the State paper, to prohibit the adulteration of food, to prefer soldiers in civil service ex- aminations to exempt disabled soldiers from poll tax, to make the 30th of May a legal holiday, to abolish imprisonment of insolvent debtors, to prohibit employment of children under thirteen years of age in manufactories and to regulate the hours of labor therein, to prohibit the use of substitutes for hops in the manufacture of ale and beer, to prohibit the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine, to compel the use of fire escapes in hotels, public buildings, and manufactories, to substitute elec- tricity in the place of hanging in the execution of criminals, and to prevent hazing in colleges. He has at all times been an earnest advocate and champion of the rights of the common people.

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 89

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