USA > New York > Schuyler County > Portrait and biographical record of Seneca and Schuyler Counties, New York : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 26
USA > New York > Seneca County > Portrait and biographical record of Seneca and Schuyler Counties, New York : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 26
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and seeured his primary education in the distriet sehools, after which he spent one year in the academy at Spencer, one year in Watkins Academy, and two years in the academy at Ithaea. At the age of twenty-one he commeneed the study of medicine with Dr. Solon P. Sackett, of Ithaca, where he remained three years; thien attended the medical department of the University of New York for one year, after whiel he was graduated from the Geneva Medi- cal College. While in the university he took a special course in the hospitals of the eity, and re- ceived special instructions in surgery under Dr. Valentine Mott, one of the most distinguished surgeons that this country has ever produced. While pursuing his studies Dr. Beach taught a number of terms of school in his own county.
In the spring of 1866 Dr. Beaeli commenced the practice of his profession at Logan, N. Y., where he remained four years, meeting with good success; but believing that there was a better opening for him at Catharine, he removed to this village in 1870, and here has since continued to reside. He has been eminently successful in his profession, as well as in other lines of busi-
ness in which he has been engaged, and for some years has owned a small farm, to which he has given his personal attention. For ten years he has been a Notary Publie, and has also served one term as County Coroner. In politics he has always been a thorough and consistent Republi- can. He is greatly interested in the political questions of the day, and believes it to be the duty of every citizen to faithfully discharge his duties as such by attending the conventions and seeking the nomination of good men, and also in voting at every eleetion. Fraternally the Doetor has been a member of the Masonic order for twenty years, being a member of Myrtle Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M. Religiously he is a mem- ber of St. John's Episcopal Church of Catharine, and in the work of the church has shown great interest, having filled all the offiees in the saine. Mrs. Beach is also a member of the church.
On the 20th of November, 1863, Dr. Beach was united in marriage with Miss Olive A. Vickery, who was born in Ithaca, and who is the daughter of Ebenezer and Eliza (Roper) Vickery, the former a native of New Hampshire, and the lat- ter of New York. Our subjeet's only son, Ed- win L., is deceased.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
28705
JOHN R. WHEELER.
OHN R. WHEELER. For a wide stretch around the town of Farmer the name of Judge Wheeler, for twenty years Justice of the Peace, has been a familiar one, and has always been associated with strict probity and a truly judicial temperament. He is a native of the vil- lage of Farmer, and was born on the second day of the last month of the year 1829. He was the son of Nathan B. and Anna ( Rappleye) Wheeler, who were natives of Connecticut and New Jersey, respectively.
The ancestors of the Wheeler family resided in New England for several generations, being of English extraction, although the first Wheeler to settle in this country came from Wales. Nathan B. Wheeler, Sr., the grandfather of our subject, came to Seneca County at an early day, and died within its borders. Nathan B. Wheeler, Jr., the father, was born in 1800, and came to this coun- ty in 1825. He soon married and settled on a farm of one hundred and six acres near Farmer, and here engaged in the honorable avocation of farming until the day of his death, in 1881. He was a man of ability and character, and his nat- ural gifts of mind and heart were soon recog- nized by his neighbors, who elected him Justice of the Peace, and retained him in that position for over forty years. He was also a Justice of the Sessions of Seneca County, and an Excise Commissioner. Politically he was a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason, for several years being 1
Master of Farmersville Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M. His wife died about twenty years before his time came.
The parental family included nine children, of whom all but one are now living. Mary is the wife of J. B. Bassett, and is at home in Farmer. John R. is the first son. Jane B. was married twice, the first time Abraham Knight becoming her husband, and the second time Daniel Bryan; she resides in Steuben County. Oscar G. is a banker and farmer. William W. is a resident of Farmer. Harriet is the wife of Norman Camp- bell and makes her home in Brooklyn. DeWitt C. is a banker at Farmer. Sarah G. is the only one who has gone over to the great majority; and Levi J. is a banker at Trumansburg, N. Y.
Mr. Wheeler, about whom this article is writ- ten, was born on the farm, and received the edu- cation afforded by the home schools. When twenty years of age, he was taken into a store at Farmer, and after he had gained the neces- sary experience he formed a business association with Abraham Knight, which continued for ten years. After his partner had retired, at the ex- piration of this period, he continued thie busi- ness alone for six years. Then, receiving an advantageous offer, he disposed of it and accepted a position in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, holding the place for two years. Since that time he has had an office at Farmer. For thirteen years he has been a member of the
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Seneca County Board of Supervisors, and has been Secretary of the County Agricultural So- ciety, and, as noted before, for twenty years Jus- tice of the Peace.
During the Civil War Judge Wheeler was a strong supporter of the Union, and was in of- ficial relations with the general Government, all the soldiers coming from the town of Covert being enlisted by him. He has been a stanch adher- ent of the Democratic party, and is ready at all times to do his duty in its ranks. In the state conventions of that organization his voice has been heard and his influence felt.
The domestic relations of our subject have been very happy. In 1858 Mary, the daughter of Elbert Dumont, a farmer of the town of Cov- ert, became his wife; she bore him two children, Georgiana May and Charles B., the latter of whom died at the age of twenty years. In re- ligion Judge Wheeler is a member of the Re- formed Church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has taken an active part in the upbuilding of Farmersville Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M. Of this organization he has been Master, and is much esteemed among his Masonic brethren.
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0 ARCUS M. CASS. Among the old and prominent families of Schuyler, influential in the course of early events in the coun- ty, is that of which Marcus M. Cass, of Watkins, is the oldest living representative. The first in this part of the state to bear the name was a Revolutionary soldier, who came from Massa- chusetts. His son Josiah married Miss Eunice, daughter of John French and Keziah Bull, of Otsego County. He fought at Lundy's Lane, and died about 1826, the father of six children. The eldest of these was Cynthia Ann, who, about
1840, became the wife of Dr. Samuel Watkins; and the youngest was Marcus M., the only one of his generation now alive.
Dr. Watkins, in whose honor this village was named, was born on Long Island in 1772, and came into possession, as lieir to Itis brother Jolin, of a large part of the so-called "Watkins & Flint Purchase" of three hundred and twenty-five thou- sand acres of land around the head of Seneca Lake. Here he came to live in 1828, laying out the village and erecting many of its notable buildings. Early in the '4os he married Cynthia Ann .Cass, and at his death, in 1851, left to her the bulk of his estate, then one of the most con- siderable in western New York.
Mrs. Watkins was a woman of remarkable ability and force of character, upon whom had devolved for years the management of the Doc- tor's property. interests. She changed the name of the village to Watkins, gave it a public park, endowed its academy, and was foremost in all its charities and business enterprises. Subsequently she married her cousin, Judge George G. Freer, and shortly thereafter dying childless, willed her estate to her relatives.
Marcus M. Cass was born in the town of Hec- tor in IS24. He received advantages of travel and education unusual at that day, passing some years at the then celebrated Ithaca Academy, and later attending college. Afterward he began the study of law in the office of the distinguished Joshua Spencer, at Utica, and subsequently at Rochester with the well known Selah Matthews. For a time he practiced law at Buffalo with the late Norton A. Halbert, of New York City, but, returning to Watkins in 1856, he married Saralı A., daughter of Stephen Hurd, a son of Gen. Edward Hurd, who was a Revolutionary veteran of Sandgate, Bennington County, Vt.
Of the seven children of this union, Marcus M., Jr., the eldest, was educated at Cook Acad- emy, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the Columbia Law School. He is a lawyer, late Assistant Secretary of the State Con- stitutional Convention, and is associate editor of the Watkins Express. The daughters are Mrs. George L. Meddick, of Elmira; Mrs. John M.
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Roe, of Watkins; and Mrs. Albert H. Olinsted, of Rochester. The remaining children, John L., Schuyler C. and W. H. Seward Cass, reside at Watkins.
The subject of this sketcli is a gentleman of fine natural abilities, scholarly tastes, a life-long Republican, and a forcible and polished speaker in days when he interested himself in politics. He never held or aspired to office, though serving his party on the Republican State Committee, and as a delegate to the national convention which placed President Lincoln for the second time in nomination. He is a man of conceded high character and integrity, is the owner of Havana Glen and other property sufficient for his modest wants, and of late, in failing health, is passing his closing years of life quietly at his home in Watkins.
ICHARD WATSON PADGHAM, M. D., is a comparatively new-comer in Farmer, having been located here since October, 1889. He was born in Barbadoes, West Indies, . April 11, 1850, his parents being Rev. Henry and Eleanor (Appleton) Padgham, who were na- tives of England. His father was educated as a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and was sent by that church as a missionary to the West Indies, remaining two terms of ten years each, when, in 1864, he returned to England, and died there Oc- tober 13, 1887, aged seventy-two. For forty- nine years he had been a minister. His wife was born" May 31, 1810, and died October 23, 1881. They were the parents of five children, of whom two died in the West Indies, and three are now living. Robert A. is a traveling sales- man in England, making his home in Yorkshire. Mary C. is the wife of Samuel Johnson, an artist in Sheffield, England.
Soon after his birth Dr. Padgham was taken to England, but in 1854 was taken back to Bar- badoes, where he remained for ten years. Then the family journeyed once more to England, and there our subject's education was carefully con- ducted by private tutors. As a young man he favored the calling of his father, and in 1870 was made a Wesleyan minister. He was sent to Canada, and found work in the Hamilton, Glan- tord and Watertown Circuits until 1875, when he came to the United States, and was attached to the Odessa and Ontario Circuits. He afterwards had eliurchies at North Bradford, Pa., and Batlı, N. V.
As a minister Dr. Padgham was highly re- spected and counted an able minister of the Gos- pel. The medical profession, however, had long drawn him, and he finally turned from the sav- ing of souls to the liealing of bodies, feeling that the one was no enemy of the other. In 1887 lie entered the New York Eclectic Medical School as a student, and was graduated from it as a doc- tor of medicine two years later. He soon located at Farmer to engage in the practice of medicine, and for one year was associated with Dr. A. R. Hill, but since that time lie has conducted his large and growing business without professional assistance.
Dr. Padgham found his wife in Canada. She was Elizabetli, the daughter of Joseph Clark. They have had five children, all girls but one. Ethelbert G. was born May 9, 1875. Eleanor E. died May 2, 1895, at the age of eighteen years. Mabel G. has passed her seventeenth birthday. Maud B. and Leila Blanche are, respectively, fif- teen and twelve years of age.
Dr. Padgliam has worked with the Republican party, and has been a strong and effective work- er in the temperance cause. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Sheldrake, and cannot resist the call to preach at times. Socially he is a member of the Farmersville Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M., and is authority 011 the history and secret work of the craft. In his chosen profession Dr. Padgham stands well, and his ability is conceded by his fellow-practi- tioners, who have elected him Vice-President of
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the New York State Eclectic Medical Society. He is also a member of the Southern Tier Eclectic Medical Society. For a number of years he did considerable literary work of high grade, but at the present time is devoting all his attention to his chosen profession.
TEPHEN V. VAN RIPER, prominent among the farmers of the town of Fayette, Seneca County, was born at Rose Hill, July 21, 1839. His parents were Peter and Maria (Vreeland) Van Riper, natives of New Jersey, the father born in Essex and the motlier in Ber- gen County. They were married in that state, soon after which they came to New York and purchased what is now called the Rose Hill Farm. It is a tract of one hundred and fifty and three-fourthis acres, which Mr. Van Riper bought from a Mr. McClung, whose family had entered it from the Government. There the fa- ther resided until ready to retire from active life, when he moved into the village of Waterloo.
Peter Van Riper was twice married, becoming the father of five children by his first union and two by his second. The subject of this sketch was next to the youngest of the first marriage. His brother Jolin P. died in California, whither he had gone in search of gold; Jane married
Robert Rorrison, and departed this life in Water- loo; Isabel V. married Jeremiah Van Horn, and makes lier home in Waterloo; Peter H. died in Newton, Iowa, unmarried. Of the second mar- riage there were born two daughters: Gertrude M., now Mrs. William Shiley, who lives at Reading, Hillsdale County, Mich. ; and Sophia E., who married Daniel Williams, and makes her home in the town of Owasco, Cayuga County, this state.
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The subject of this sketch supplemented the
knowledge which he gained in the district school by a course in the Geneva public schools. He remained at home until his marriage, which oc- curred December 23, 1863, when he was joined in wedlock with Miss Julia Brown, who was born October 16, 1838, in the town of Romulus, this county. She was the daughter of John R. and Polly. (Blane) Brown. the former of wliom at that time owned the farm which is now occupied by her husband. The latter lived on the Rose Hill Farm until his father sold it, when he began working a place on shares. The following year, however, he purchased a tract of land in the town of Varick, going in debt for the greater part of it. He had the misfortune to have his dwelling burned a short time after moving on the place, and in order to replace it was put to con- siderable expense.
Mr. Van Riper lived on this place about three years, when he sold it, and, moving into the vil- lage of Waterloo, established a grocery business. However, not liking the confinement after the freedom of farmi life, he sold out after six months and bought eleven and one-half acres, a part of his present farm. In addition to cultivating this small place he ran a threshing-machine for about four years, during that period making consider- able money. His means he then invested in one hundred acres adjoining his former tract, and thereafter gave his entire time to its improvement.
To Mr. and Mrs. Van Riper were born five children, of whom Bertha died when about twen- ty-one years of age, and was interred in Maple Grove Cemetery at Waterloo. Orsa P. married Charlotte Duntz, and is engaged in farming in this locality; and Lottie M., Charles B. and El- mer are still under the parental roof.
Following in the footsteps of his honored fa- ther, our subject is a Republican in politics, tried and true, and cast his first Presidential vote in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln. He has ever been true to the principles of his party, and on that ticket was chosen Inspector of Elections. To- gether with his wife and children, he is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, meeting with the congregation at Waterloo, of which he is Trustee, and his eldest son is Elder. They
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are all actively interested in Sunday-school work, and the younger members of the family are loyal Christian Endeavorers. The father of our sub- ject was for many years connected with the Dutch Reformed Church at Geneva, in wliich lie was Elder. Later, however, he took his letter from that congregation and placed it with the so- ciety meeting at Waterloo ..
In August, 1862, Stephen V. Van Riper en- listed in Company I, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth New York Infantry, and was sent to Har- per's Ferry, where the regiment was obliged to surrender. It was thien paroled and sent to Chicago, and kept in Camp Jackson for two montlis, at the end of which time the men were exchanged and ordered to Washington, thence to Virginia. Mr. Van Riper was prevented from further serving the Union cause on account of an injury, and after being confined for a time in the hospital at Washington, was honorably dis- charged and returned home. Socially he is a member of Rose Hill Grange at Waterloo.
QUIRE MINOR T. COBURN, one of the honored residents of Seneca County, was born in Tompkins County, this state, March 15, 1817. He is therefore advanced in years, and as one of the oldest citizens of the town of Covert commands the respect of its best people. Mr. Coburn is the son of Chester Coburn, whose birthi occurred in Delaware, where also occurred the birth of the grandfather many years ago. The family is of English extraction, and is an old one in the United States.
The maiden name of our subject's mother was Phebe King. She married Chester Coburn in Seneca County, after which they made their home in Tompkins County, where their son Minor T. was born. Their other children were Emeline, who died in 1830; Matilda, who mar-
ried Joseph Bell, and is living in Ionia, Mich .: Chester, who died when a lad of seven years: James L., Judson and Plicebe. Of this house- hold our subject was the fourth in order of birth.
Chester Coburn was a minister of the Baptist Church. When Minor T. was an infant liis mother died, and eight years thereafter lie went to live with an uncle, whose home was in the town of Hector, Schuyler County. He remained an inmate of his household until nineteen years of age, but two years previous to this time, low- ever, he accompanied the family on their removal to the town of Covert. He was fairly well edu- cated, and was brought up to a full knowledge of farın work.
In the year 1848 the subject of this sketch was married to Miss Jane E. Ewell, a most worthy lady, and to them were born three chil- dren. Of these Mary married Harvey H. Cole, a farmer of this locality; Ada is deceased, as is also her twin sister, Edith. Our subject began life for himself when nineteen years of age, first being employed as a farm hand. He followed this business for a period of two years, when he abandoned it, and, chartering a boat, made a trip to Troy with grain. He found boating to be a very profitable and pleasant business, and fol- lowed it for the succeeding six years. At the end of that time he found himself to be the pos- sessor of a snug little sum of money, which he invested in a farm in his town. His estate at first comprised fifty-seven acres, and as his means would allow he has made purchases of more land, owning at the present time seventy-four acres. Although not as large as some farms, his is ad- mirably cultivated and is made to yield good re- turns to its owner. In 1854 he erected on this place a comfortable dwelling. He is now, how- ever, retired from active work, although he takes much pleasure in walking about liis estate and viewing the improvements that are being made from year to year.
Mr. Coburn has always taken a very active interest in public affairs, and in 1854 was elected by his fellow-citizens a Justice of the Peace. The duties of this responsible office he discharged until 1884, when lie resigned in favor of a
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younger candidate. In 1888 he was made Pre- cinct Justice, and altogether served his party as Justice of the Peace for thirty-seven years. In 1869 lie was elected Supervisor of his town, again in 1870, and in 1881 was also the successful can- didate for that office. He has been a church member for about sixty-five years, and is identi- fied with the Baptist denomination, serving his church in the capacity of Deacon. In 1865 he was deprived of the companionship of his devoted wife and helpmate. Mr. Coburn is a pleasant, genial gentleman, who has many friends, and is held in the highest regard throughout the com- munity.
OHN M. MORGAN, who for many years has engaged in the blacksmith trade at Odessa, is a well known citizen of the county and is highly respected by all. He was born in Schuyler County, October 13, 1836, and is a son of William and Jane (Mitchell) Morgan, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter of Schuyler County, N. Y. The Morgans were originally from Scotland, the great-grandfather emigrating from that country and locating in Con- necticut, where he spent the remainder of his life. His son William, the grandfather of our subject, removed to New Jersey, and later to Schuyler County, N. Y. At the time of the removal of the family to this county, the father of our sub- ject was but six years old, and here he grew to manhood. For many years he was engaged in farming, but later in life was the village black- smith. He was quite prominent in official circles, and was well and favorably known throughout the county.
The subject of this sketch was third in a family of five children, of whom three are now living. He remained at home until after attaining his majority, assisting in the farm work and attend-
ing the common schools of Odessa, as opportun- ity was afforded him. At the age of twenty-twc he entered the blacksmith-shop where his father and an elder brother were also engaged.
January 1, 1857, Mr. Morgan married Jane Davis, of Odessa, a daughter of Isaiah Davis, of that place. Their married life lasted but a little more than five months, Mrs. Morgan being called to the better world June 9, 1857. January I, 1863, Mr. Morgan married Jane Smith, also of Odessa, and the daughter of Thomas L. Smith. After his second marriage lie took charge of the old shop where his father and brother had worked, and there continued until the fall of 1894, when he was compelled to retire on account of ill- health.
Mr. Morgan has been a life-long Republican, and has held a number of local offices, being Collector of his town two terms. In 1879 hie became a Master Mason, and has filled most of the chairs in his lodge. Several years prior to becoming a Mason he was initiated into the Odd Fellows' order. To him and his wife was born one son, John M., named for his father. Mrs. Morgan is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for a number of years has greatly assisted in the church music, being leader of the choir the greater part of the time. While not boasting of much of this world's goods, our sub- ject has a nice property in the pleasant little village of Odessa. He is an honored citizen and at his trade has no superior.
HARLES F. AULT, engaged in the mill- ing business at Odessa, is a native of Schuyler County, born October 22, 1855, and is a son of Freeman G. and Charlotte (Skellinger) Ault, the former of whom is also a native of this county, born in Havana, March 30, 1830. His father, Adamı Ault, the grandfather of our sub-
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ject, was born in Pennsylvania, where he mar- ried Jane Ruslı, also a native of that state. After their marriage the grandparents moved to Ha- vana, where he engaged in the milling business. They were the parents of four children, of whom Freeman G. was the third in order of birth.
In early life the father learned the trade of a miller, which he continued to follow until the past year. He was married in this county to Char- lotte Skellinger, a native of Havana, and a daugh- ter of Charles Skellinger. They were also the parents of four children: Mary C., now residing in Odessa; Charles F., our subject; Cora I., the wife of Albert Landon, a millwright of Brookton, Tompkins County; and Miner, who died in child- hood. The mother of these children died in 1864, since which time the household affairs have been looked after by Mr. Ault's sister, Miss Mary Ault. For fifteen years the father has been a Master Mason.
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