USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 61
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
cessfully, but he has increased it very considerably, and has won for himself the enviable title of "Slate King of America." His opera- tions in slate are so large as to require the employment of an average force of 350 men. He has sixteen quarries of sea green slate stretch- ing from Pawlet, Vt., to Granville, a distance of about six miles, yet all of these quarries are within easy trucking distance of the railroad.
Mr. Hughes himself is a hard worker, putting in more hours of at- tention to business daily than any man in his employ. During the panic of the slate business some years ago, when uptvards of 800 quar- rymen were idle and free soup houses were common in the little vil- lage of Granville, Mr. Hughes kept his men at work getting out slate, and although he was acting against the advice of his friends, he piled up enormous quantities of slate, and after having made two flying trips to England he found a market for his goods, thus turning the minds and hearts of the idle working men from helplessness and des- pair to employment and gladness. No sooner had he found a market for slate than all quarry owners resumed work, so that the result of his enterprise was beneficial to his neighbors and their employees, and to the community at large.
Notwithstanding his large business responsibilities General Hughes has found time to render the people service in different public capaci- ties. He has been County Treasurer for one term, was President of the village of Granville seven years and was one of the promoters and is a director of the Granville Telephone Company. He is also a direc- tor of the Peoples' National Bank of Salem, N. Y.
He is also very prominent in social organizations and fraternities, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Odd Fellows, Red Men and Elks, and is a very prominent Mason, having past to the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, in which order he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine.
On April 28, 1886, General Hughes married Julia Forte of Albany, daughter of John and Mary Forte, formerly residents of Adrian, Mich. They have a family of three children, namely: Hugh W., William Gordon and Lorrain.
Personally and socially General Hughes enjoys that popularity which is ever the tribute to a genial and cultured gentleman. He is liberal not only in his views, but also in his charities, his hand ever obeying the best impulses of his generous nature. It is truly said of him that
Amasalowland .
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
more than half of the young business men of Granville have been tided over financial chasms by his advice and substantial aid.
General Hughes occupied a position on the staff of Frank S. Black, when he was Governor of New York State, and he held the position of Quartermaster-General during the years 1897-8.
Hugh W. Hughes was a native of Wales, but came to America in 1857, and was one of the pioneer quarriers of green slate in this country.
AMASA HOWLAND Was not only the founder and guiding genius of the great paper industry in Washington County, but has made the name Howland honored and respected all over the land. He was born in the town of Galway, Saratoga County, N. Y., June 29, 1827. In 1844 his father, Stephen Howland, moved from Galway to Sandy Hill, and with his sons built the old paper mill at Baker Falls, the first of its kind in the state of New York. In 1852 Stephen Howland retired from the paper business and was succeeded by his sons, Amasa and Enos. For the succeeding forty-five years Amasa How- land was the head and front of the constantly enlarging and expand- ing paper interest of Washington County, and to his genius and abili- ty is directly attributable the great paper interests which are today not only the largest industrial enterprise in Washington County, but contribute vastly to the prosperity of Sandy Hill.
In 1855 Amasa Howland and his brother Enos disposed of their paper interests at Sandy Hill and moved to Fort Ann, where they built and operated a mill until 1865, when Mr. Howland sold out his interest to his brother, Enos Howland, and returned to Sandy Hill. He then associated with himself Dr. Miller and Guy Clark, under the name of Howland, Clark & Company, and built one of the immense paper mills at Baker Falls. In 1873 Dr. Miller died, and Mr. Clark withdrawing from the firm in the same year, Mr. Howland admitted to partnership John H. Derby and Lansing M. Howland, under the name of Howland & Company. For twenty years this firm continued the business with almost phenomenal success, due primarily and mainly to the business energy and executive ability of Amasa How- land.
On December 1, 1893, the firm of Howland & Company was suc- ceeded by The Howland Paper Company, of which Amasa Howland
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
was president, J. E. Howland, vice president, John H. Derby, secre- tary, and Lansing M. Howland, treasurer. The new company had a capital stock of one million dollars.
In 1899 the Howland Paper Company sold out to the Union Bag & Paper Company and Mr. Howland retired from active business life after one of the most successful and honorable business careers ever carried out in this state by any man.
Mr. Howland has been twice married. His first wife was Mary L. Green, who died in 1864, leaving one child, Mary Louise, who is also deceased. He married for his second wife Lydia Groesbeck of Fort Ann. They have two sons, James Edward and Frederick D. Howland, both of whom were associated with the paper business in conjunction with their father, and who are well known and popular gentlemen in Sandy Hill and New York.
The progenitor of the Howland family in America was Henry Howland, a Quaker immigrant who came to America in 1625 and joined the Plymouth colony along with his brother Arthur. His brother John had come over five years previously in the Mayflower. Henry Howland's son, Zoeth Howland, was born in Duckbury, Mass., and was a devoted Quaker and suffered much oppression on account of his religion. He was a member of the Plymouth colony and was killed in King Phillip's War in 1676. He had a son, Henry Howland, whose son, Stephen Howland, was the great-grandfather of Amasa Howland. He moved to Dutchess County, N. Y., where his son, Stephen Howland, was born, but removed to Saratoga County and became one of the first settlers in the town of Galway. One of his children, Stephen, was born in Dutchess County, May 29, 1793. He married Susan McOmber in 1812 and they had a family of eleven children, one of whom was Amasa Howland, the subject of this sketch. From Henry Howland, the founder of the family in Ameri- ca, to Amasa Howland, who has distinguished the name, all of the Howlands have been Quakers, but as might be expected from his progressiveness and mental vigor in other things, Mr. Howland is liberal in his religious views. His father, Stephen Howland, the pioneer of the paper business in northern New York, died in 1862, and his mother, who was a pious and devoted Friend, died in 1879.
Miram Hoyde
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
CAPTAIN HIRAM HYDE was born in Nova Scotia, March 18, 1846, but his parents were Americans and his birth occurred while they were on a visit to relatives in that province. He was educated in the public schools of Sandy Hill and at the early age of fifteen enlisted as a soldier in the War of the Rebellion. On December 16, 1861, he be- came a member of Company E, 96th New York Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the entire war, receiving his honorable dis- charge in February, 1866.
After the war he returned home and engaged in the business of car- penter, which he has since pursued, although he has been prominently connected with the Champlain Canal since 1898, in which year he was appointed Superintendent of Section No. 2.
In September, 1868, Captain Hyde married Josephine Gates, by whom he had two children, Della and LeRoy Hyde. Josephine Hyde died in 1882 and in November, 1884, Captain Hyde married Kittie Jackson, daughter of Jonathan L. and Susan (Howard) Jackson, of Saratoga County, N. Y.
Captain Hyde has a pleasant home on Moss street, in the suburbs of Sandy Hill, which is charmingly presided over by his accomplished wife, and where he spends his leisure hours, being no club man, al- though a member of Sandy Hill Lodge No. 372, F. & A. M., and also of William M. Collin Post No. 587, G. A. R. His long and meritori- ous service in the Federal army has given him a special interest in military affairs, and he takes an active part in the post and local mili- tary affairs. During the Rebellion he participated with his regiment in the following battles :
Yorktown, Va., April 17th and May 4, 1862 ; Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862; Seven Pines, May 29, 1862; Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; the Seven Days' battle, June 26th to July 2, 1862; Malvern Hill and Charles City Cross Roads, in July, 1862 ; Kingston, N. C., December 14, 1862; Whitehall, N. C., December 16, 1862; Goldsboro, N. C., Decem- ber 17, 1862; Swift Creek and Little Washington, N. C., February, 1863; Drury's Bluff, Va., May 14, 1864; Cold Harbor, June Ist and 12, 1864; Petersburg, June 15th and 19, 1864; Chapin's Farm, Sep- tember 29th to October 1, 1864; Fair Oaks, October 27th to 29, 1864; Fall of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, and many other lesser engagements.
In January, 1864, he re-enlisted, having served the full time of his first enlistment. He was wounded in the breast by a shell at Peters-
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
burg, Va., June 18, 1864, and after being treated in the field hospital was sent to the Hampton Hospital, Fortress Monroe. He returned to his regiment in September, 1864, and served with it until honorably discharged at City Point, Va., February 6, 1866. He was mustered into William M. Collin Post No. 587, G. A. R., Department of New York, April 14, 1886, and served as Commander for the year 1895. At Kingston, N. C., December 14, 1862, he had his drum shot to pieces. when Colonel Charles O. Gray was killed while leading his regiment in an assault on the Rebel lines. At Fort Harrison, Va., September, 1864, he had the stock of his musket torn off by a shell, which instantly killed Frank Begs, a fifer in his own company, who was by his side.
There are few men in America today who have an American ances- try to be compared to Captain Hyde's. His parents were Daniel M. and Lucy J. (Follett) Hyde. James Hyde, his great grandfather, was an ensign in the Revolutionary War, and this fact was engraved upon his tombstone by Ensign Hyde himself, which stone he made, carved and lettered before his death. He is buried in a country cemetery near his old home in Stafford, Vt.
In July, 1812, when Gen. Hull so disgracefully surrendered to the British at Detroit, his men were taken to Kingston, Ontario. Among the number was Captain Hyde's uncle, Horace Kimball, and two com- rades, who, after remaining there a few weeks, decided to make their escape, preferring to drown rather than remain prisoners of war under such mortifying and chagrining circumstances, considering the uncalled for surrender of their former General.
So, one night, when not very dark and the waters apparently still and smooth, the three took off their clothes, tied them and their shoes into bundles, which they bound safely upon their backs and pro- ceeded to swim across that part of Lake Ontario from Kingston to Long Island, ( called also Wolfe's Island ) a distance of over two miles. Before reaching their destination one of the comrades per- ished through exhaustion, and the others were discouraged and almost exhausted when they began to feel the sand under their feet and soon waded ashore. They then put on their clothes, but were so chilled that they cut switches and whipped each other till they drew the blood to regain their warmth. Afterwards they walked across the island, about six miles, and at daybreak found a rowboat which they used to carry them across to New York State.
On his mother's side Captain Hyde's ancestors were identified with
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
those early, terrible days of our country's history of which Washing- ton County had its share. His grandmother Follett's uncle. Captain Josiah Joslin, served in the Revolutionary War. He settled in the southern part of New Hampshire, near the Connecticut River, where he owned a large tract of land. He, with his wife, five children and sister-in-law, comprised the family. One day while Captain Joslin and his hired men were eating dinner his elder children came in from the barn where they were at play and told their father that they saw black folks ( Indians) behind the flax. He said to his children: " It is only your imagination." About an hour after Captain Joslin and his men had gone back to the hay field. Mrs. Joslin was cleaning out her brick oven when an Indian stepped inside the door, caught up her year old babe that was sitting on the floor, took it by the feet and dashed its brains out against the fireplace in presence of its mother, who fought the Indians with her broom. At the same time other In- dians rushed in and killed the rest of the children. They then killed Mrs. Joslin, and taking a feather bed, cut it open and emptied the feathers over the dead bodies. The body of the baby they placed in the path near the house. They then ransacked the house and each taking turns would put on the Captain's military uniform and parade around the room saying "Now I be Captain Joslin." The sister of Mrs. Joslin was hidden under a large cask, but was found and told that they had intended to kill her and carry off Mrs. Joslin a captive because " she was so big and handsome," they said, "but she fight so we kill her and take you captive instead," and they started off with her at once.
Later in the afternoon Captain Joslin came from the field for water and the first he saw of his family was the murdered babe which caused him to think of what his children had told him at dinner. As he went to the house he beheld the terrible sight of the massacre, his wife not dead but unconscious. The Captain was so shocked and stricken with grief that he lay helpless until his men came from the field at night. The men went for neighbors at a distance to prepare the bodies for burial. The sister-in-law traveled three days with the Indians before they reached their camp. She was obliged to cook and do the general work for the old chief and two others; they would go away for a day or two at a time, but some one was always left to watch her. They would often bring home firewater and get drunk.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
One night, about sundown, they came back after an absence of three days; they had been drinking as usual and they compelled her to drink, as they supposed, but she would let it run down inside of her dress waist instead. Finally they became dead drunk and fell asleep, when she took a sharp hatchet and cut the throats of three of the assassins of the wigwam. She then took some dry venison and bread as well as a bow and arrows, also her blanket, and started on a fast walk and traveled the entire night until daylight. She had learned many of their ways, also to use a bow and arrow and how to tell the points of the compass. She rested in the hollow of a large log the first day; the next day at dark she came to a clearing and saw a light in the distance which she feared might be another Indian camp, yet she ventured on until, to her joy, she found it to be the log house of some settlers. She knocked at the door and aroused them. They took her in and she related to them her experience and they provided for her and sought in every way to comfort her, her feet being frozen. She remained with them for two weeks, when they took her on their only conveyance, an ox sled, to Captain Joslin, a distance of sixteen miles.
From this narrative and these incidents it will be seen that Captain Hyde's ancestors endured their share of the hardships and miseries which the pioneers of this now great country suffered and also that some of them did their share in founding this vast Republic, which he himself, nobly fought to maintain in that most sanguinary of all wars -the Rebellion of 1861 to 1865.
FREDERICK E. HILL .- The subject of this biography, who was one of the best known and most prominent men of his day in Washington County, was born in the town of Easton, this county, April 14, 1839. His father was a farmer, and until the age of eighteen he worked on the farm and received a common school education at the district school. In 1856 he accepted the position of salesman in a mercantile house, but in a few years embarked in business for himself in the vil- lage of Easton, where he carried on a successful trade until 1880, in which year he entered the public life of Washington County, by be- coming under sheriff with his brother, James Hill, who had been elected sheriff of the county in the preceding year. After his term
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David Harleys
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
as under sheriff had expired Mr. Hill re-entered the mercantile busi- ness with Andrew J. Haggart at Salem, but in 1895 he withdrew from the concern and again became under sheriff, this time under George L. Marshall, and so continued during Mr. Marshall's term of office. At the fall election in 1888 Mr. Hill was himself elected sheriff of the county, as the regular nominee of his party, and discharged the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of the county. Both as sheriff and under sheriff he was an ideal officer, and today there is no part of the county in which his name is not mentioned with the highest re- spect and kindliest remembrance. In 1892 his term of office as sheriff having expired, Mr. Hill opened a meat market in Salem, which he conducted successfully up to the time of his death, which occurred July 25, 1894.
In the year 1861 Frederick E. Hill married Sarah Rundell, daughter of Jarvis Rundell, of the town of Cambridge. They have two chil- dren living, namely: Frank A. and Fred R. Hill.
Mr. Hill was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and affiliated with Cambridge Valley Lodge No. 401, F. & A. M. He was prominent in Republican councils and in the affairs of Washington County, and was a trustee and liberal supporter of the Presbyterian Church.
His parents were Enoch and Anna (Monroe) Hill.
L. JANE HAWLEY, daughter of Colonel Bethel Mather and Huldah (Smith) Mather, has resided in Salem since the year 1848, in which year, on February 16th, she became the wife of the late David Haw- ley. They had two sons, Joseph Mather Hawley, born in 1856, and Charles D. Hawley, born in 1858.
Joseph Mather Hawley graduated from Amherst College in June, 1875. He married Nellie Smart and is now a merchant residing in Syracuse, N. Y. Charles D. Hawley married Isabella Hinds and is a resident of Berlin, Wisconsin.
Mrs. Hawley's father, Colonel Bethel Mather, was descended from Atherton Mather, one of the five distinguished Mather brothers, who were so prominent in the early history of Massachusetts. Colonel Mather was a native of Torrington, Litchfield county, Connecticut, and had for his pastor the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, father of the first
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
missionary in Washington County. Mrs. Hawley's grandfather, on her mother's side, was Elijah Smith, cousin of John Cotton Smith, one of the Governors of New York State.
David Hawley was born in the village of Salem, Washington County, N. Y., March 9. 1809. He was the only son (having one sister, Mrs. Alonzo Gray of Salem) of Joseph Hawley and Sally Gray, the former a native of Bridgeport, Conn., and came to this county while a young man, spent his life as a merchant in Salem, and died in the year 1858, aged eighty-three years. The latter was a native of Camden, town of Salem, and died in the year 1856. His grandfather's name was Wol- cott Hawley, from Bridgeport, Conn.
David Hawley's early life, until he was sixteen, was spent at home and as a student in Washington Academy, at Salem, where he received such cultivation of intellect as gave him ready ability to enter upon a clerkship in his father's store, where he remained until he was nine- teen, when his father gave up business, and the son formed a partner- ship with his brother-in-law, Mr. Alonzo Gray, which continued for a time ; he then carried on the business alone, successfully, until the year 1838, when his health became somewhat impaired, and he spent the following ten years traveling in different parts of the United States.
In the year 1830, May 25, he married Miss Katharine Matilda, daughter of the late Major James Harvey, of Salem. She was born July 11, 1813, and died at the age of twenty-three, leaving an only daughter, Mrs. Rev. J. K. McLean, of Oakland, California. After the death of his wife, Mr. Hawley retired from business, and resided else- where for several years, first in Greenwich and then in Schaghticoke.
After Mr. Hawley's second marriage he returned to Salem, and soon after entered into the grain and commission business in partner- ship with Mr. Cyrus Atwood, which continued until his partner's de- mise, after which he carried on the business alone, until nearly the time of his death, February 5, 1874.
In January, 1859, he was elected a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, filling the vacancy occasioned by the death of his father. Ten years later he became one of the directors of the National Bank of Salem, both of which positions he continued to hold by successive re-elections until his death. Mr. Hawley was a man of activity in business, a warm friend to the deserving needy, and many whom he befriended will cherish his name in grateful remembrance. He pos-
JOHN MAIN.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
sessed fixed integrity of purpose in all his business transactions, and was honored and esteemed by all who knew him.
He was never solicitous of any public notoriety by way of political preferment; neither did he shrink from bearing his duties as a citizen, and was an unswerving member of the Republican party. Socially he was the attractive center, not only of his family, but of the business community, and his pleasant words cheered the mind of many a de- spondent and suffering one. While a young man Mr. Hawley was interested in military matters, and was paymaster on the staff of Gen- eral McNaughton, in the Sixtenth Brigade, Tenth Division, New York State Militia.
Mrs. Hawley still resides in the old homestead on Main street, Salem.
JOHN MAIN was born in the town of Fort Ann, Washington county, N. Y., September 20, 1836, and was educated in his native village. His first employment was that of boat driver on the canal. which oc- cupation he pursued for one year, when he was promoted to steersman, and soon rose to the position of captain. He ran boats of his own until 1880, when he abandoned the canal and went to New York and was engaged in the truck business for fifteen years, after which he came to Fort Ann and embarked in the hotel business, in which he is still engaged.
In January, 1858, John Main married Mary E. Mckinney, who died in 1878, leaving five children, namely: Victor W., Frances L., Wilson M., John H., and Estella.
In May, 1894, Mr. Main married Mrs. Sarah Southerland. Mr. Main's parents were Patrick and Ann (Hopper) Main.
John Main takes an active interest in the public affairs of Fort Ann, and has held the office of town collector and is now president of the village of Fort Ann; he has also held other offices.
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, Mount Hope Lodge No. 206, F. & A. M., located at Fort Ann.
His hotel, the Sheldon House, is the only one in the village, but is admirably conducted, and Mr. Main is highly popular with the public at large, as well as with the people of his own town and county.
Mr. Main's family is of Irish descent, and the first representative of the Mains in the United States came to Fort Ann in 1834, via Quebec, Canada.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
HENRY V. MIDDLEWORTH, who was one of the most prominent busi- ness men of his day in Washington County, was born in the town of Greenwich, Washington County, N. Y., December 7, 1813. During his early life he learned the trade of wagon manufacturer, and in 1831, he established himself in this business and started a' wagon shop.
After continuing in the wagon-making business for some time, he abandoned his trade and began purchasing land in Washington Coun- ty and erected buildings thereon. His operations in Sandy Hill, in this line, were quite extensive, and he did a great deal towards the building up and improvement of this town in his day. He built the well known Middleworth House, which is even yet one of the most prominent blocks in Sandy Hill, and besides this, he put up several other permanent and important buildings. He opened up River street in Sandy Hill and also laid out Walnut street and gave it to the village. He erected a fine summer residence for himself on Lake George, and also a hotel on the west shore of the lake long known as Agawam.
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