USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 70
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JOEL FARNHAM was a native of Wyoming, Pa., and was there at the time of the historic Indian massacre. In or near 1794 he located upon the old Farnham homestead off road 12, and died there, aged 84 years. His widow died August 30, 1862, aged 85. Mr. Farnham was also an early settler in this town. He made spinning wheels and was perhaps the first manufacturer of the town. He also did wool carding and wood turning. His son, Frederick A., born in 1820, married Agnes L. Barclay, settled on the homestead and carried on the same business as his father and was also a farmer. He died February 21, 1887, aged 68 years. His widow lives in Owego. Among their children were Joel S.,
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Alice L. (Mrs. G. H. Day), of Union Center, N. Y .; Elisha W., of Chicago, Ill., and Herbert A. Farnham, born November 15, 1855. Herbert acquired a common school education, married Anna, daughter of Almeron and Hila (Johnson) Corwin, who died De- cember 11, 1886, leaving one son, Frederick A. By his second wife, Elnora, daughter of William Day, married in 1892, Mr. Farnham has two children, Elsie M. and Lawrence. He is also in a small way carrying on the business which his grandfather and father did and has a cider mill also. Mr. Farnham is a justice of the peace and a prosperous farmer.
ABNER G. HILL, son of Alpheus and Almira (Gillett) Hill, was born December 15, 1840, in Otsego county. When about ten years old his parents removed to Wayne county, Pa., where he acquired a good common school education. After leaving school he worked for his father in lumbering for about six years, when he enlisted in Co. F, 50th Pa. Engineers, and served three years and eleven months. He then returned to Wayne county and engaged in head-sawing. In 1870 he came to Tioga Centre, which has since been his home, and made head-sawing his business. He was married in 1868 to Anna, daughter of Albert Stone. Their only child, Edith, born December 1, 1872, married Thomas Hol- bert, and has two children. Mr. Hill, on June 3, 1885, married second Hattie, daughter of Cornelius and Rachel (Brooks) Smith. Mr. Hill has mingled much in local affairs. He was town clerk of Manchester, Wayne county, for five years, was four times elected justice of the peace at Tioga Centre, was appointed in 1884, again elected in 1886, and has since held that office. Mr. Hill has been a member of the Masonic lodge at Hancock, N. Y., for thirty years, and for eighteen years has been a member of Tioga lodge of Odd Fellows. For ten years he has belonged to the Knights of Honor.
SYLVESTER FARNHAM, son of pioneer Joel Farnham who is so prominently mentioned in the history of the town of Tioga, was born August 9, 1798, and died in Tioga September 22, 1873. He was the eldest child in the pioneer's family, a farmer and lumberman, . and was well known on the Susquehanna for many years during
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the rafting period. His business life was successful and in the county he was a man of influence and worth. His wife was Patience Wood, daughter of Capt. Peter and Sarah (Standish) Wood, and seventh lineal descendant of the noted Myles Standish, the Puritan Captain. Their children were George Anson, an in- fant daughter who died unnamed, Enos Slosson, Francis Leroy, Sarah Emily and Andrew Oliver Farnham.
ENOS SLOSSON FARNHAM, second son of the pioneer, was born in Tioga, January 22, 1825, and died June 21, 1895. He was well educated for a boy of his time and his business life was spent on the old home farm and as merchant at Dryden, partner with his brother-in-law, the late Jeremiah W. Dwight, one of the best men of Tompkins county. However, in 1863 Mr. Farnham returned to the farm, but was afterward connected with important busi- ness interests elsewhere. He was an earnest republican, and for three years held the office of county superintendent of the poor, yet, all through his career his zeal was more for the party's inter- est than his own. On October 16, 1849, Mr. Farnham was married with Clarissa Venina, daughter of Elijah and Olive (Standish) Dwight. Children : LeRoy Dwight, Olive Patience, Mary Rebecca, and Hattie Venina Farnham.
LEROY DWIGHT FARNHAM, M. D., born Tioga, N. Y., July 24, 1850 ; married November 7, 1878, Coralyn P. Thompson, daughter of the late Jerome Thompson of Candor, N. Y. She is of Connec- ticut lineage, and a "Daughter of the American Revolution." LeRoy D., was taken by his parents to Dryden, where he attended the common schools and Dryden academy until he was nearly 13 years old. Then he removed to Tioga, his birth place, where for several years he worked on the farm in summer and attended the district school in the winter. In 1866 he prepared for college at the Owego academy. In 1869 the academy was abandoned and he went with his teacher and a number of other students preparing for college, to the Oswego Normal school, where he remained three years and was graduated from the classical department in 1872. He began the study of medicine the same year. In 1873 he went
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to Candor, as principal of the Candor free academy and continued until 1878. The winters of the last three years were spent in at- tending medical lectures at the college of physicians and surgeons of New York city, from which institution he was graduated as doctor of medicine March 1, 1878. After graduating, he returned to Candor and after completing the academic year, began the prac- tice of his profession. He quickly built up a large clientage, but finding that the country work was making inroads upon his health, sold the home and business and went to New York and took a post-graduate course in the post graduate and polyclinic medical schools. Not yet satisfied with his professional attainments, in September, 1884, he sailed for Germany where he spent the years 1884 and 1885 in the study of medicine in the hospitals of Berlin and Vienna. In the spring of 1886, he again took up the practice of medicine in Binghamton. He has been president of Tioga county medical society and of the Broome county medical society ; president of the Binghamton academy of medicine ; is a member of the New York state medical association, ex-member of the American medical association ; was a member of the tenth inter- national congress at Berlin ; is now consulting surgeon of the Binghamton city hospital ; charter member of the Binghamton academy of science, and also a member of Binghamton, Dobson and athletic clubs ; member of Otseningo lodge, F. & A. M., Bing- hamton chapter royal arch masons, Malta commandery knights templar ; of the New York society of Mayflower descendants. Dr. and Mrs. Farnham have one child, Dwight Thompson Farnham, born at Candor, October 15, 1881. .
LODOWICK LIGHT was descended from a very old High-German family, his name having been originally Ludwig von Licht. * He came to America with two brothers, some years prior to the revo- lution, settling at first in New York city, and afterward in the town of Bedford, Westchester county, where at the commence- ment of the revolution he had large tanneries and a shoe factory. He was a soldier in the revolutionary war, serving as a " minute
* This was corrupted into Lodowick, the "von " dropped, and "Licht " changed to its English equivalent.
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man " and also saw actual service at the battle of White Plains. His old flint-lock musket is still in possession of the family of Mrs. Henry G. Light, as is also a chair in which General Washington sat when he stayed over night with Lodowick Light in Bedford during the war. After the close of the war, he, with Jesse Miller, took up a tract of 1,000 acres of land, extending east from the village of Smithboro for nearly two miles, and north from the Susquehanna river (that being the southern boundary) to what is now known as Halsey Valley, which was known as the " Light & Miller Tract." He moved his family to this location in June, 1790. Here he also built a tannery and shoe factory, with a number of saw mills in the neighborhood, and carried on a large business. He was made loan officer, a very important office at that time, and during the whole of his life in Tioga county was a justice of the peace, and was known familiarly as "Squire " Light. In this capacity he performed many marriage ceremonies, and many laughable stories are still told in the family concerning the fees he received, etc. Hen- ry G. Light, his grandson, succeeded to the homestead. By his wife, Martha Seely, he had several children, of whom Harry married Sybil Ransom, lived his life on the old farm and had seven chil- dren : Ransom, Eli, George, Edwin, Charles, Sarah and Henry G. Light. The latter was always a resident of the town, dying August 26, 1887, aged 56. He married Louisa, daughter of Absalom and Maria (Moss) Adams. They had six children : Anna, Della, Har- ry (deceased), Willianı (deceased), Nellie (deceased), and Maggie.
LEONARD PERRY, son of Nathaniel and Mary Ann (Hart) Perry, was born January 8, 1821, in Caroline, Tompkins county. His fa- ther moved to Tioga county when Leonard was quite young, and, later, to Athens, Pa., where Leonard gained a common-school edu- cation. After leaving school he engaged in lumbering and farm- ing and which have since been his vocations. He has lived in the town since he was of age. He was commissioner of highways two terms, collector and assessor (for six years), town auditor, and school trustee and collector for many years and has held other local offices ; and always when nominated was elected. Mr. Perry was a member of the Baptist church of Smithboro. He was mar-
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ried March 30, 1843, with Miss Clarissa, daughter of Waite and Rachel (Newman) Smith, who was born September 9, 1822. Chil- dren : Albert H., born February 7, 1845, married Frances Duryea, December 24, 1867. They had three children, all deceased. Mrs. Perry died and Leonard Perry married, second, Martha Far- num. They had one child, Kittie A., died an infant. Mary Dell Perry, born January 30, 1851, married George Eckert February 16, 1876. Children : Mertie L., born November 27, 1877 ; Robin, born in 1882. Elizabeth L. Perry, born November 20, 1857, mar- ried John P. Swartwood. She had two children : Florence C., born in 1882 ; S. Leonard, born in 1888. Nathaniel Perry and his wife, the pioneers of this quite numerous family were people who served their day and generation well. They had seven children : Julia Ann, born January 2, 1817, married Charles Masten ; John James, born March 17, 1819, died in 1824; Leonard, Albert A., Chauncey, born October 28, 1826, married Tracy Ann Manning ; Sarah E., born January 22, 1829, married George Smith ; Milo M., born March 3, 1831, a soldier in the late war, married Amanda Babcock.
ALBERT A. PERRY, son of Nathaniel and Mary Ann (Hart) Perry, was born on March 31, 1824, and was educated in the common schools of Athens, Pa. He learned the carpenter's trade of Wil- liam G. Dean, for whom he worked three years, then he was in the fanning mill business three years. He was for the next twelve years engaged in contracting and building. Later, and for 27 years, he was employed by the Erie railroad as a carpenter and cabinet maker. He then purchased a farm and was a farmer for seventeen years. Returning to Smithboro in 1886, he has since de- voted himself to small fruit culture and market gardening. His home is located on the knoll at Smithboro and has an extensive view of the Susquehanna valley. Mr. Perry married November 12, 1846, Susan E. Foster, born October 31, 1829. Of their eight children these survive : Henrietta A., born July 23, 1848, married Edward Wescott, February 10, 1867, (they had one child, Clarence P., died at four years); Hanson S., born March 11, 1855, married Ella A. Smith, September 20, 1874, (they have one child, Minnie
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L., born 1875); Jesse L., born October 9, 1862, married R. F. Ohswaldt, September 10, 1880. Four children : Susie, Frank P., Ida (deceased), Agnes ; Ella A., born February 11, 1868, married in 1889, L. G. Drake, photographer of Elmira ; Chester D., born October 15, 1873, married October 5, 1896, Nellie Stinson.
NATHANIEL and ROBERT LEONARD, brothers, came from Vermont to this county at a very early day. Nathaniel purchased land in the eastern part of Nichols near Hyatt's ferry, and here he con- ducted lumbering and farming, reared fifteen children and passed the remainder of his life. Chauncey Leonard, son of Nathaniel, born in Nichols in 1815, married Mary A., a daughter of James Gould, and was a farmer in Nichols all of his life. He had twelve children. He died in 1882, and his widow in 1883. George Leonard, son of Chauncey, was also born in Nichols on March 30, 1839. He married Mary Prothers in 1858, and located his home at Tioga Center. By trade a stone mason, he has also conducted lumbering and been a pilot of lumber rafts on the Susquehanna. He has been chosen to fill local and town offices, and has served as highway commissioner and as town collector of taxes. Two of his five chil- dren are living ; John E. Leonard, M. D., of Harford Mills, and Ella (Mrs. P. R. Carlyon), of Lestershire. Mr. Leonard enlisted on August 11, 1862, in Co. I., 109th New York Vols., and was in all of the numerous and bloody engagements in which his regi- ment took part during his term of service (among them being the battle of the Wilderness, Fairfax C. H., and North Anna river) except when he was ill with typhoid fever from August, 1864, to March, 1865. Mr. Leonard was severely wounded in front of Fort Hell on April 2, 1865, in both an arm and a leg by a bursting shell. Taken from the field to the hospital at Alexandria, Va., he was there mustered out of service on June 5, 1865.
PETER Ross, son of William Ross, was of Scotch descent, and born August 7, 1795, in Saratoga county, N. Y. William Ross, his father, was one of the early settlers of that county and was there before the revolution. Peter was in the war of 1812. He married Ruby Knowlton, and in 1827 they moved with an ox team
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from Saratoga county to the town of Tioga, where he bought a farm of 300 acres, which is on the elevation still known as "Ross Hill," where he was ever a farmer. He died in 1871 and his wife in 1883. They had one son, Ellis H., born November 15, 1819, married Sally A., daughter of Jacob and Mary (Young) Smith. Ellis succeeded to the old farm, and was a man well known. He died in May, 1882. His widow resides at Tioga Center. They had two children, J. Warren, born March 16, 1847, married Fanny J., daughter of Sidney Coleman, and settled on the old homestead. In connection with farming Mr. Ross has been a commercial trav- eler and is now in the employ of the Eureka Mower Company, of Utica. He was a candidate for member of assembly in 1894 on the democratic ticket, and has a wide acquaintance in the county. His two sons are Harold E. and Earl Dudley.
GEORGE C. HORTON, son of Benjamin, born June 2, 1791, mar- ried Hannah Courtright (born November 25, 1797), on February 23, 1812. Benjamin Horton was an early settler and farmer in Nichols. George C. Horton settled in Tioga on the farm now owned by Theodore Horton, of Owego, in or near 1812. He took up a few acres at first, but built a log hut or house, and commenced to clear up his land. By thrift and industry he kept adding to his farm until he had 800 acres in one body at the time of his death, in 1863. He used to put his grist on the back of his cow and lead her to mill. Of his thirteen children five are living, Hannah (Mrs. Ephraim Goodrich), Emeline M. (Mrs. Emanuel Ennis), Gurdon H., Isaac S., and Abram. Gurdon Horton married Mary Goodrich, and has two children, Fred, and Fanny (Mrs. James Vandermark, of Wiltonville). Isaac S. Horton married Harriet P. Wallis, who died in 1876. They had one son, George W. Abram married Ivah Booth, and has one daughter, Erma. Daniel B., another son, mar- ried Julia A. Hanna, daughter of John, and died October 4, 1879. Three of his children are living, John, Charles, and Ada F. (Mrs. E. S. Dexter).
PETER PARIS came from Cohoes Falls, N. Y., to the town of Tioga about 1810 with his family and settled in the eastern part where he
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developed a fine farm. He married a Miss Colwell. They had nine children, of whom Stephen married Lucy Steele and settled at Tioga Center. He was a stone mason, a farmer and a lumber- man, He had eleven children, among them, John Paris, born October 10, 1830, in 1853, married Amanda, daughter of Stephen Green, and settled at Tioga Center where he has been both a lum- berman and a farmer. In 1863 he enlisted in Co. C., 109th New York regiment, and engaged in the battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, North Anna River, Spottsylvania, Gaines Mills, etc. He was wounded by a minie ball in front of Petersburg. Captured by rebels he was kept in rigorous confinement for four months. He weighed 200 pounds when taken, and only 140 pounds when re- leased in October, 1864. He was then taken to a hospital at Annap- olis City, Md., where he was discharged in June, 1865. His wife died in 1885. Children : Charles, born in 1855, died in 1885 ; Perlina (Mrs. Delos Goodenough, of Nichols), Lucy (Mrs. David Brooks, of Binghamton) Lucina (Mrs. Bennett, of Watkins), Stephen (de- ceased), lived at Owego and had quite a reputation as a violin player ; Edwin, of Lambs Station, Pa.
HIRAM E. GOODRICH, son of Noah and Harriet N. (Lane) Good- rich, was born December 31, 1847. He is a grandson of Norman Goodrich and great-grandson of Noah Goodrich, one of the first settlers in the town. He has always lived in what from the pio- neer days has been known as "Goodrich Settlement." By occu- pation he is a farmer. His father, Noah Goodrich, was justice of the peace from 1865 to 1893. Hiram E. Goodrich married October 20, 1870, and has four children : Fred E., John F., Ella J., and Noah. He has been school trustee for four years.
JESSE MILLER, son of Ezra, was an early settler and farmer in the town. His wife was Julia A. Meeker.
CHARLES T. GOODRICH, only son of Herman N. Goodrich, was born December 7, 1852. in the town of Tioga, where he was brought up and always lived. By occupation he is a farmer and now lives on the farm formerly owned by A. J. Goodrich, deceased. He
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married May 10, 1874, Mary Francis Deyo, of the town of Tioga. Children : Herman A., William N., Lucy E., Mary L., Sarah Frances, Andrew Jackson and Ruth.
Among the early settlers in this town were James and Benjamin Brooks. Benjamin was born June 10, 1769, in Dublin, Ireland. The Brooks family came to America first to New Jersey and, in 1789, the brothers came to this town and located at Pipe Creek, now Tioga Center. Benjamin married Polly Stowe, and had chil- dren : Ira, born December 18, 1805 ; Polly. born May 22, 1807 ; William, born October 8, 1808 ; Cornelius, born March 28, 1810; James, born October 31, 1811 ; Sally A., born May 7, 1814 ; Rachel, born February 8, 1816 ; Johnson A., born June 2, 1818 ; Melissa, born December 21, 1820 ; Benjamin, born July 28, 1822; Patty, born April 2, 1824 ; Harriet, born July 4, 1826. Cornelius Brooks married Hannah, daughter of Josiah and Susan (Heath) Fuller, October 6, 1829, and settled at Tioga Center, where he died July 10, 1895. His wife died February 18, 1887. He was a farmer and a lumberman and an upright man. His seven children were : Rachel T., (Mrs. Cornelius D. Smith of Tioga Center); Harriet C., Benjamin J., George T., Lot M., Mary L. C. and Susan D. Lot M. Brooks was born November 18, 1841. He married Mary S., daughter of Edward P. and Susan (Slocum) Robertson, on Feb- ruary 28, 1865 and settled at Tioga Center. His trades are bridge- builder, carpenter and farmer. He has two children, Angie (Mrs. DeForest Mc Whorter) and Fuller L.
MYRON H. POST, son of Dr. Francis R. and Alice A. (Smith Post, was born in Tioga Center, August 11, 1874. His education was received at the Tioga schools and he was graduated from the Union school in 1891. The same year he entered the employ of the N. Y., L. E. & W. railroad as telegrapher. In 1895, he was appointed extra station agent for the same road, and, in 1896 extra agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Co., and he is now operator in the railroad tower. Mr. Post is a composer and arranger of instru- mental music for bands, orchestras, etc. He married Theodora, daughter of Frank Ellison, and has one son, Frank H. Post. The
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Post family originated from the Laziers, a titled family of France. An interesting story is connected with the change of name from Lazier to Post. In Louis XVI time (1793-1794), during the Reign of Terror, the Laziers had their estates confiscated and had to flee the country. One Francis Lazier, coming to America, secured a position under our government to carry mail between New York and Allegany. In those days mail carriers were called "post men." He married and had three sons, who, when they became old enough, also carried mail and were called "post-boys" or "posts ;" and in this manner the name was changed. Some years after the war the emigrants of the Lazier family returned to France and were restored to their estates in Burgundy, and their descendants now occupy them.
BENJAMIN J. BROOKS, son of Cornelius, was born about 1840. He enlisted in May, 1861, at Candor in Company K., 26th Regt., N. Y. Vols. He was in several of the most momentous engage- ments of the war : Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Rappa- hannock, Acquia Creek, Rapidan, Bull's Bluff, Stafford Court House, Second Bull Run. In the latter battle he was wounded in the right shoulder. . He married at Homer, N. Y., October 22, 1863, Mrs. Maria L. Ford, a daughter of Zerah and Lucy (Chapman) Tanner. Mr. Brooks is one of the progressive farmers of Tioga county, and is master of the Pomona grange.
JOSIAH GILE or GUILES, son of Henry, was born in Otsego county, N. Y., and came to this town in 1836, settled near Pipe Creek and took up a lot of wild land where he built a log house and cleared up a farm. He married Mary, daughter of Daniel Baker. They had ten children. His son Leonard married Louise, daughter of Samuel and Diadama (Green) Cook, and about 1853 located on the farm which he now owns and where he resides. This farm he cleared up. Of his ten children nine are living ; Samuel, of Tioga Center, married Sarah Burger ; Maritta (Mrs. W.C. Green), of Tioga Center ; Lydia A. (Mrs. Gilbert Hart), of Candor ; Adelaide (Mrs. E. Merritt), of Owego ; Andrew of Tioga Center (married Lydia Dewey) ; Adelbert, of Tioga ; Willis, of Tioga, married Emeline
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Cook ; George, of Tioga, married Flora Bergusen. Waterman Guiles, of Tioga Center, born November 1, 1844, enlisted in Com- pany F., 179th New York Regt., and was in the battles of Pegram farm and the series of engagements before Petersburg, and was discharged June 8, 1865. He married Susan D. Brooks. He has been a farmer since returning to civil life. In 1887 he came to Tioga Center. Mr. and Mrs. Guiles have three children, Cornelius, Wal- ter and Mattie. Mr. Guiles is a member of Hagadorn Post, G. A. R., of Halsey Valley.
ARIS and DOLLY HASKIN settled near Candor. After some years he went to Indiana, where his death occurred soon after. He had four children : Aris, Dolly (Mrs. John F. Bolster) lives at Conne- aut, Ohio ; Phebe, and Elezer Haskin, who was born June 4, 1840. Elezer had a long and faithful war record. He enlisted April, 1861, in Co. K, of the 26th New York, and participated in the battles of Bull Run, Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Antie- tam and the first battle of Fredericksburg, serving his full term of enlistment. After his regiment was discharged, in 1863, he re- enlisted in Co. F, 8th regiment, Hancock's Veteran Corps, and was mustered out in 1866. In 1864 Mr. Haskin married Julia, daughter of Adam Fitzgerald, of Van Ettenville, who died in 1881. They had five children, of whom three are living, Fred E., Harry C. and Fenton. In 1882 Mr. Haskin married Mrs. Lydia Munn. [Mr. Munn was a soldier in Co. H, Tenth New York cavalry. Mr. and Mrs. Munn had five children, Lelia W., Carry B., Lewis H., J. D. and Florence M.] After his second marriage Mr. Haskin settled in Athens, where he lived till 1894, when he moved to Foster Valley, Tioga county, stayed there two years, then moved to Tioga Center in April, 1896. He holds membership in Perkins Post, No. 202, G. A. R., at Athens, Pa., and in Athens lodge, No. 165, of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Haskin's father was George Shafer, son of Dedrick, who came from Orange county to Chemung in 1826. His wife was Maria B. Chapman, daughter of Charles and Betsey Chapman. Mr. Shafer settled in Barton, near Lockwood, and moved from there in 1871 to Schuyler, Neb., where he died in 1895.
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WILLIAM J. DRAKE, son of Joseph and Catharine (Willis) Drake, was born in November, 1836, in the town of Barton. His grand- father, Benjamin, was an early settler there. William was brought up on a farm and received a conimon school education. March 15, 1860, he married Emily; daughter of David S. Coleman, and in 1862 made his home at Smithboro, where he was engaged in the hardware trade with A. A. Swinton for a number of years. Later he was with his son, Sidney C. Drake, in a general store compris- ing dry goods, groceries and hardware, and continued with him to 1888, when he retired by reason of feeble health. He was jus- tice of the peace for several years and postmaster of Smithboro under President Cleveland's first administration. He was also a member of Tioga lodge, F. & A. M., and of Smithboro lodge, A. O. U. W. He was a man of influence and highly respected. He died October 24, 1892, leaving three children, one son, Sidney C., born April 21, 1863, who married Virginia, daughter of Jeremiah and Frances (Dunham) Hyers, and lives at Nichols, and two daughters, Hattie M. (Mrs. E. R. Lounsbury), and Eva D. (Mrs. A. O. Hen- dershot, of Berkshire).
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