Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York, Part 106

Author: Curtis, Gates
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 106
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people: a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 106

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).

Popple, G. N., Heuvelton, was born in Waddington, October 28, 1854. He received an excellent education in the schools of Heuvelton, and when about nineteen years of age began learning the tinner's trade which in time he completed, and soon after estab- lished himself in business at De Kalb Junction in company with Roach, now of Ogdens- bnrg. He dissolved this partnership in three years and established a hardware and tin business in Heuvelton (1881) which he has since successfully conducted. Mr. Popple married in 1878, Carrie Basterline, and they have two children. His parents were of New England descent and settled in this State about forty years ago. G. N. Popple is a very thorough workman, honest and upright in all his business transactions.

Price, John E., Gouverneur, was born in Gouverneur, December 9, 1856. He owns a farm of 102 acres devoted to dairying and farming. In February, 1878, he married, and has three children : Eugene, Alice A. and Lena. Mr. Price is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist church. His father was Jonas Price, a native of Herkimer county.

Pike, Nelson W., Madrid, was born in the town of Potsdam, March 7, 1835. The earliest ancestor of our subject who came to this country was Orrison Pike, his grand- father. He was the father of three children, of whom Alanson Pike, father of our subject, was the oldest. He was born in the town of Potsdam, February 27, 1809. He took up farming and tilled the soil his father had reclaimed from a wilderness. In 1828 he married Amanda Hall, a native of Vermont, and they were the parents of three children who reached adult age : Laura L., widow of Charles R. Mcclellan of Madrid ; Preston H., followed farming, was a clerk for a few years, was in California during the gold excitement, became a lumber manufacturing overseer and in his later years was engaged in railroading. He died November 30, 1890, at fifty-three years of age. Alanson Pike, father of our subject, died November 27, 1865, and Mrs. Pike, February 5, 1867. The boyhood of our subject was spent on the farm in Potsdam. He was educated in the common schools and the old St. Lawrence Academy, and at seventeen years of age came with his parents to the village of Madrid, where the same year they built the present residence of our subject. At eighteen years of age he went

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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

as an apprentice in the cabinet shop of E. D. Peck in the village of Nicholville, where he spent two and a half years learning the trade. The summer of 1856 he was employed on the erection of the Theological Institute at Canton, and the following winter he was employed on a house in Potsdam. In the spring of 1857 he returned to Madrid, bought a cabinet shop and established a cabinet shop and undertaking rooms, and has ever since been engaged in the same business in this town, the oldest established business in the town conducted by its founder. Mr. Pike has been a Republican since the first organ- ization of the party, and has held numerous offices of honor and trust in his town, now serving his ninth consecutive years as assessor. He married, May 26, 1863, Laura A., daughter of Jared Abernethy of Madrid, and they have one son and one daughter : A. Stanley Pike, principal of the graded school at Bangor, Franklin county; and Florence May, a student, of the Potsdam State Normal School.

Phair, William, Gouverneur, was born in Ottawa, Canada, April 3, 1838, and came to Gouverneur in 1868. He had been in the Southern States for ten years previously, engaged in the furniture business. He has now been in the S. B. Van Duzee Company for twenty-five years, and is superintendent of the planing mill. In 1869 Mr. Phair married Harriet Nowell, and they have four daughters.

Pickrell, Dr. Evan, Brasher, was born in Augusta, Ky., December 15, 1862, where he was educated, also at Georgetown College, and studied medicine at Minerva, Ky., with Dr. John A. Reed, and attended lectures at the medical department of the University of Philadelphia four years, graduating in 1890. For about two years he engaged in practice at Augusta, Ky., then came to this county and began the practice of his profession at Brasher Falls, where he is working up a fine practice, and becoming very popular in his adopted town.

Pringle, Ralph G., Madrid, was born on a farm in Madrid, on the Potsdam town line, August 17, 1860, a son of William Pringle and Mary B. Goldie. William Pringle was the twin brother of Gilbert Pringle, the oldest sons of Ralph Pringle. He was born June 25, 1834, in the town of Potsdam, and was educated in the common schools, and assisted his father on the farm until his marriage in 1859. His father had bought a farm in 1857 and William moved there after his marriage, and made his home there seven years. In 1866 he bought a farm of 118 acres, which he afterwards increased to 178, by the purchase of sixty acres known as the Hall lot. It was on this farm Mr. Pringle spent the balance of his days. In politics he was an active Republican, and held the office of assessor and commissioner of highways. He was always interested in church work and for many years was a member of the Reformed church of Potsdam, also of Norfolk Grange. He held the highest esteem and respect of his townspeople. Charitable and liberal to a fault, his death was a severe blow to the town and a great loss to his family. He died November 14, 1889. His widow and four children survive him. These children are: William J., principal of Northfield public school in Minne- sota, a graduate at Grinnell, Ia. ; Samuel J., a blacksmith of California ; Margaret J., a graduate of Potsdam Normal School ; and Ralph G. The latter was educated in the common schools and Madrid public schools, and took up farming. At the death of his father he assumed the management of the farm, which became his at his death. He

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conducts it as a dairy, with twenty-two cows and other stock. Mr. Pringle is a mem- ber of the Congregational church of Madrid. He is one of the directors of the Madrid Branch Genesee Building and Loan Association, and a member of Madrid Grange No. 727, of which he is the overseer.

Pringle, Gilbert, Madrid, was born on a farm in Potsdam, June 25, 1834. Ralph Pringle, the father, was a native of England, born in Northumberland county. He married Janette Young, a native of Roxburyshire, Scotland. They had four children, only two of whom are living: Ralph, a farmer of Potsdam, and Gilbert. The early life of the latter was spent on the old homestead in Potsdam. His education was derived in the public schools and he took up farming. In 1867 he started out for himself on a farm of 115 acres, on the town line of Potsdam and Madrid, and for four years spec- ulated in cattle and stock. In 1868 he sold the first farm and bought the Dailey farm of eighty-one acres in Madrid. He stocked this place with young cattle for two years, and leased it two years, and in March, 1871, bought his present residence, known as the Daniel Forbes farm of 100 acres. Mr. Pringle has made many valuable im- provements to this property in the way of repairing the stone residence, erected over fifty years ago. He has also erected new barns and other outbuildings, and now has one of the best farms of this section. He has always been a firm Repub- lican, but never aspired to public office. He and his family are members of the Re- formed Presbyterian church of Potsdam. He married, March 1, 1871, Betsey, daugh- ter of Thomas Blythe, a farmer of Waddington, and they have two children: Elizabeth and Thomas Ralph.

Pelsue, James B., Stockholm, was born in Wallingford, Vt,, February 16, 1829. His father was George Pelsue, a native of West Chelmsford, Mass., born in 1786. George Pelsue was reared on a farm and in an early day came to Stockholm. Here in 1818 he married Mrs. Phobe Chase, born in 1796, and widow of Edmund Chase, who was drowned in attempting to rescue two children from the St. Regis River. Mr. Pelsue removed to Wallingford, Vt., where he remained until 1832, when he returned to Stock- holm, where he spent the remainder of his days. Mr. Pelsue and wife have had four sons and six daughters. He died February 21, 1868, and his wife November 14, 1870. The father of George was James B. Pelsue, who lived and died in West Chelmsford, Mass. The maternal grandparents of subject were Caleb and Phoebe (Parlin) Newell, natives of Connecticut and early settlers of Stockholm. The death of Mr. and Mrs. Newell occurred in Potsdam. Our subject, James B., was educated in the public schools. At the age of thirteen years he undertook and accomplished the task of paying for a small piece of land for which he induced his father to bargain. He acquired a farm of 125 acres with good buildings, and is now one of the leading farmers of his town. Oc- tober 21, 1856, Mr. Pelsue married Luthera J., eldest of six children of Lewis and Al- mira (Newton) Marsh, of Stockholm. Lewis Marsh was born in Sharon, Vt., in 1803. His father was Isaac Marsh, a native of Vermont and a pioneer of Stockholm. He was twice married, first to Mercy Percival and second to Lucy Mason. Lewis Marsh was one of the representative farmers of his town. He died in 1873, and his wife in 1872 in De- troit, Mich., while on a visit to that place. Lewis N. Marsh, brother of Mrs. Pelsue, died at Sandy Hook during the late war. James B. Pelsue and wife have had five children :

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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

Hattie L., wife of Lloyd N. Allen, of Detroit, by whom he has had two children, Ruby M. and Earl F .; Edson J., who married Emma I. Gilby, of Iowa, and had one son, Harold G .: George L., at home; Joel M., traveling salesman for Sanford Whip Com- pany ; and Early M., at home. Mr. Pelsue is a Republican in politics. He has often represented his party in town and county conventions, and in 1892 was chosen delegate to the State convention. He was a member of the State militia eleven years, was cap- tain five years, and lieutenant two years. Mr. Pelsue and family are liberal in religious views. He is a member of P. of H. of Potsdam, No. 39.

O'Driscoll, Father James, Canton, was born in Ireland, March 27, 1842, and received his education in Dublin. He was ordained in 1867, and came to America the same year, locating in Albany. He removed to Oswego and then to Lewis county. Twenty-two years ago he came to Canton, where he has done a great deal for the church and his people. He has built one of the finest edifices in Northern New York, at a cost of $60,000, and his congregation numbers 1,000 souls.

O'Brien & Maxfield, Potsdam .- Franz B. Maxfield was born in Parishville, Novem- ber 20, 1860, a son of Samuel, a native of Vermont, who came to this country in 1858. He was a carpenter and also a farmer, and was the father of six children, of whom Franz was next to the oldest. : Our subject was educated in the common schools and at Potsdam State Normal School, after which he taught for one year. In 1885 he was engaged as clerk and bookkeeper for F. B. Mathews in his hardware store. In Novem- ber, 1889, Mr. Maxfield, in company with Frank F. Flint, purchased the business of Mr. Mathews and this firm existed until April 1, 1891. On that date T. O'Brien pur- chased the interest of Mr. Flint and the firm has since been O'Brien & Maxfield. Their store is located on the south side of Main street in the O'Brien block; has a frontage of twenty-four feet, and seventy-five feet depth, with a tin shop in the rear. They carry a full line of stoves and shelf hardware and are contractors for tinning, plumbing and furnace work. The second story is used as store room for reserve stock. Mr. Maxfield is a member of the S. O. V. He married in 1887, Nellie J. Currier of Pots- dam, and they have had four children : Grace C., Carolyn R., and Jennie C. and Nellie C. (twins). The latter died April 4, 1893. Mrs. Maxfield died January 23, 1893.

Olmstead, William H., Potsdam, was born on a farm in Potsdam, October 12, 1825. Lester, father of our subject, was a native of Vermont and came to St. Lawrence county when about twenty-four years of age. He was born December 9, 1795. When he came to Northern New York he took up a tract of fifty acres in Potsdam, which he afterwards increased by a purchase of forty acres more. Lester Olmstead died on this farm August 31, 1878. The mother of our subject, Freelove Benson, was also a native of Benson, Vt. They were the parents of ten children, five now living : Polly, wife of Freeman McAllister of Potsdam ; Allen, a farmer of Potsdam, who owns the old home- stead; Almeda, widow of C. A. Richards of Ogdensburg; Rufus, of Oklahoma; and William H. The early life of our subject was spent on his father's farm. He was edu- cated in the common schools and after reaching his majority he worked for eight years on different farms, and in 1853 bought a farm of 125 acres, on which he has built a beautiful residence and reared his family. He has since purchased about forty acres,

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which he has added, and now conducts a dairy farm. He married, January 2, 1849, Susan J., daughter of Spalding and Dorcas (Parmenter) Waterman, and they have six living children : M. Lester, who owns a farm in Pierrepont; George W., who conducts his father's farm ; William H., a shipping clerk in a button factory in Springfield, Mass .; Albert C., a maker of sewing machine needles in Springfield ; Mandana L., wife of Lewis D. Partridge of Potsdam; and Rhoda A., wife of Moses M. Emery of Orange, Mass. Mr. Olmstead is one of the representative farmers of this town.

Olin, Charles M., Canton, was born in this town, August 11, 1832. He is a son of Joseph M. Olin of Chittenden county, Vt., who came here with his father, Joseph M., a son of David Olin, one of the first settlers of this town, who came here from Ver- mont. Joseph Mitchell Olin had twelve children : Polly, Joseph M., George S., Risce- lus, Asa, Charlotte, James, Almina, Sally, Daniel, Huldah and Edward. The second child, Joseph M, had seven children : Charles M., Martha, Elmina, Elizabeth, Thankful Andrew and Dann. Charles M. married Betsey Ann Davis, who died May 23, 1892. She was a daughter of John Davis of Canton, formerly of Herkimer county.

Northrup, Lorenzo, Pierrepont, was born in Pierrepont, September 10, 1823. His father, Samuel, was a native of Shoreham, Vt., born in 1793, and who married Abigail Doolittle of the same place, by whom he had three sons. He served in the War of 1812, after which he came to Pierrepont and settled. He was supervisor six years, assessor eight years and justice of the peace about forty years. He died December 22, 1841, and his wife August 23, 1843. Lorenzo was educated in the common and select schools of his day and has always been engaged in farming, owning 180 acres of land. August 2, 1857, he married Patty M. Morrill, a native of Huntington, Vt., born in 1825, and a daughter of James and Eunice Morrill, who came to Pierrepont in 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Northrup had two daughters, Josephine A. and Delphine E., wife of George Hitchcock of Pierrepont. Mr. Northrup is a Republican and has been justice of the peace for about forty years in succession, except one term, and has served as town clerk for eight years. In 1876 he was elected supervisor, which position he held six years ; he was also poormaster for three years. Mr. Northrup is a member of the Crary's Mills Grange.

Nash, Sidney L., Gouverneur, was born in Richville, June 14, 1849, and has always lived in this county. He learned the trade of blacksmith, and followed it sixteen years in Somerville. He was subsequently engaged in the cattle business and finally began hotel life, of which he has made a success. He built a hotel at Keene's and ran it five years, then sold out and came to Gouverneur in 1889, and is proprietor of the Brooklyn Hotel. In 1865 he married Jane M. Becker, and they have one child, Nina B.

Nightengale, John, Potsdam, was born on a farm in Potsdam, November 17, 1829. The earliest ancestor we find trace of is Timothy Nightengale, grandfather of subject. He was a native of Vermont and married Abigail Richardson. They were the parents of one child, Timothy Perry Nightengale, who was born in Monkton in 1800. He was educated in the common schools and took up farming, and when about twenty-five years of age moved to St. Lawrence county, buying a farm in the west part of Stock- holm. He lived there but a short time when he bought a farm of seventy-five acres in

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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

Potsdam, where he has since resided. He married when he first came to this town, Mary, daughter of John and Rosanna Kerr, and they had eight children, of whom Johni is the only one living. Timothy Nightengale died June 11, 1850, and Mrs. Nighten -- gale, September 17, 1875, at seventy-five years of age. The whole life of our subject has been spent on the homestead farm. He was educated in the common schools and lived on the farm with his parents until the time of his father's death, when he con- ducted it for his mother until her death. After that it became his by right of inheri- tance. Mr. Nightengale is a Republican. He married, January 1, 1856, Catherine Maria, daughter of David W. and Clarissa (Gardner) Kennedy, natives of Vermont, but at that time residents of Parishville. They have been the parents of three children ;; Ida Estelle, wife of George Boody, a merchant of Parishville Center; Carroll Chester,. who assists on his father's farm; and Clara Maria, who also lives at home. The farm. is conducted as a dairy farm, with twelve head of cattle, fifty sheep and four horses. The residence was erected about 1843 by Timothy Nightengale.

Noble, Tremont H., Gouverneur, was born in Gouverneur, May 10, 1852, and has been a farmer all his life. In 1873 he married Nana, daughter of Eugene Finch, and and they have one son and two daughters. Mr. Noble is a strong Republican and. a. member of the Masonic fraternity. His father, Henry J., is still living, aged eighty .- three years. He is reputed to be the oldest resident of Gouverneur born in the town ..

Newell, H. A., Gouverneur, was born in Gouverneur in 1859, and has resided on his: present farm since 1866. In 1884 he married Matie Thayer, and they have two daugh- ters, Gerty and Dela. Mr. Newell's grandfather lived on the Sogmadog River, and his father, Beverly, has been a resident of Gouverneur nearly all his life, and is one of the substantial land owners of the town, They keep a fine stud of the "Flying Cloud."" strain of horses,

Nevin, Henry F., Ogdensburg, was born on the old homestead in Oswegatchie in 1845. He received a good education in the schools of this town and has always fol- lowed agricultural pursuits. He owns the old homestead of 100 acres, located near Ogdensburg on the Morristown road, and was married in 1889. He is a prominent Mason and has served in various local offices. His ancestors date back to the May- flower in this country, and are of Scotch and Irish extraction. They participated in the Revolutionary war, and have always been prominent citizens and influential members of society,

Allen, Samuel, Russell, was born in Wilsborough, Vt., in the year 1770, came to New York State and settled at Chateaugay, cleared a large farm, and afterward moved to Waddington on the banks of St. Lawrence River, he being one of the three first settlers. In the year 1790 he married Sally powers, who was born at Brattleboro, Vt., in the: year 1773, her father being one of the earliest English settlers. There were born to, them two children, George R .. and Nathaniel P. George R. born in the year 1793, is. still living at Norwood, N. Y., he having celebrated his one hundredth birthday last De- cember. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, was badly wounded, taken prisoner,. and now draws a pension. His, occupation since has been farming. Nathaniel P. was- born at Plattsburg, N. Y., M, vrch 11, 1796, was also a soldier in the War of 1812, and

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PERSONAL SKETCHES

drew a pension up to the time of his death. Was married to Lovisa Rice in the year of 1820, who was born in the year 1798 at Brattleboro, Vt., and died in the year 1857. There were born to them eleven children, three of whom are still living: John, a wheel- wright by trade, resides at Degrasse, N. Y. ; Lovisa was married to Orsemas Harris in the year 1854, moved to Nebraska, where they are now engaged in farming; Noble W. was born at Stockholm, N. Y., in the year 1835, by trade a cooper, for the last twenty years has followed farming and is now living at Clarksboro, N. Y. Nathaniel (now de- ceased), born 1822, by occupation a wholesale groceryman in Montreal, Canada. Sam- uel (also deceased), born 1825, by trade a cooper ; for twenty years a foreman in John P. Wiser's distillery at Prescott, Canada. Orlena, born 1833, was inarried to C. C. Towns in 1856. Mason (also deceased), born 1840, was married in 1860 to Frances Fisk, daughter of Daniel and Harriet Fisk ; she died in March, 1865. In 1861 he enlisted and saw service six months, when he was discharged on account of disability. There were born to them two children: Hattie (who died when two years old) ; Alvah A. (our subject), born September 22, 1863, was educated in the district school in Russell. At the age of thirteen years he began working for himself on a farm, and continued farming untill he was twenty-five years of age. He then began the mercantile business at Clarksboro, N. Y., and is now postmaster of that place.

Davenport, C. L., Russell, was born in Coopersville, N. Y., February 16, 1842, a son of T. W. and Julia (Chilton) Davenport, both of Vermont. T. W. was born February 17, 1811, and came to this State about 1835, settling in Potsdam. He followed his trade of blacksmithing in that town and Canton, also at various other places, for a period of sixty years, and he and wife now reside at Fine. Of their nine children six survive : Albert, enlisted in Company A, Sixtieth N. Y. Infantry in 1861, and served three and a half years, receiving an honorable discharge. In 1864 he joined an independent squad to fight the Indians, and has never since been heard of; Laura married D. B. Fell, of Fine; Harriet is the wife of Charles Freely, of New York city ; Emma mar- ried James Lamb, of South Dakota; George is at Black River, Jefferson county ; Eugene lives at Cedar Springs, Ia .; and C. L. The latter was educated in the com- mon schools and learned his trade with his father, beginning at the age of fourteen and remaining in his father's shop till about seventeen, when he began work for himself at Hermon, where he remained two years and then removed to Edwards, where he worked six years. From there he went to Fine and stayed two years, and in 1869 came to Russell, where he has since resided and worked at his trade, having a large patronage. August 14, 1866, he married Sarah, daughter of John and Ann (Norris) Rushton, of Bolton, Lancashire, England. She was born in Edwards, August 25, 1845, and was a member of Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport have two children : Norris, born in Fine, June 21, 1858, who married Sadie H.Il and has one child, born December 15, 1893; and Amy, born in Russell, June 27, 187], wife of Harvey Partridge, of Potsdam, and have one child, born August 1, 1892. Mr. Daven- port enlisted in 1863 in the Twentieth N. Y. Cavalry, and remained as a blacksmith till the close of the war. He is a member of Russell Lodge No. 566 F. & A. M. John Rushton was twenty-six years old the year the battle of Waterloo was fought, and was married six weeks after the battle.

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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

Armstrong, Abner H., Russell, was born in Theresa, Jefferson county, April 28, 1842, a son of Edward, a son of John A., of Canada. The father of Abner H. was born in Canada. In 1840 he married Rachel Spicer, a native of Bytown, Canada, and the same year moved to Theresa. They had two children: Abner H. and Thomas. The father of Abner H. went west and died there. Abner H. was reared on a farm, and with his mother came to the town of Russell in 1856; he worked on a farm there until August 13, 1862, when he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Sixth N. Y. Volunteers, and served three years and one month; he was in the following bat- tles : Martinsburg, Mead's retreat from Culpepper to Washington Heights, Rappahan- nock and Bermuda Station ; with Grant from Culpepper to Petersburg, Weldon Rail- road, Fairmount, Monocacy, Opequan Creek and Winchester, where he lost his left leg and received a flesh wound in his right leg; he also received a flesh wound in his right leg at Spottsylvania Courthouse. He was discharged at David's Island, New York, September 10, 1865. He began the mercantile business in 1868 and has con- tinued ever since at the same place where he now lives. February 10, 1868, he mar- ried Florence Spencer, daughter of William and Margaret (Flansburg) Spencer. They have had five children : Charles, William, Spencer, Viola and Edna, all deceased except Edna and Spencer ; the latter is now in partnership with his father at De Grasse. He established the first post-office at this place in 1880 and has been postmaster ever since excepting one year. He is a member of Rice Post No. 169 G. A. R., and also of the Good Templars, Lodge No. 650. All the family are members of the Baptist church. His mother is still living with him at the advanced age of ninety-two.

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Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York, Part 106

Author: Curtis, Gates Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Curtis, Gates
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1328