USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 72
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
He takes an active part and intelligent interest in all public affairs, and held the office of Trustee of the village for two terms. Socially he is a member of the Knights of Columbus and of the Catholic Union, and in both of these organizations he is prominent.
In June, 1873, Mr. O'Neil married Anna M., daughter of Thomas
[ r]
138
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
Conlan, and they have a family of three children, namely: Anna, Lula and John J.
Mr. O'Neil's parents came from Ireland in 1839 and settled in Rut- land, Vt., where his father was a farmer and contractor. His father died in November, 1897, and his mother in November, 1895.
Mr. O'Neil is a courteous gentleman of affable manners and genial address, with whom the transaction of business is a pleasure, and this, together with his recognized business sagacity and commercial integ- rity, is the secret of his wonderful success.
ORLIN E. OATMAN was born in the town of Argyle, Washington County, N. Y., February 10, 1853, and was educated at the West Hebron Academy and the Fort Edward Institute. He is engaged in the mercantile business at West Hebron, which enterprise he estab- lished in 1893.
Mr. Oatman is town Clerk for the town of Hebron, and was elected to this office for a term of two years in 1898.
Orlin E. Oatman married Emma A. Case, and they have one son, Orlin L. Oatman.
Orlin E. Oatman's parents were Isaac H. and Charlotte (Chapman) Oatman, the latter deceased. Mr. Oatman's great-grandfather, Ebenezer Chapman, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and was with Washington at Valley Forge during that trying winter when the patriots held together under great privation and suffering. He was also at West Point at the time when Major Andre was captured.
JOHN D. POTTER was born in the town of Granville, Washington County, N. Y., December 7, 1826, and was a son of Gideon and Orra (Cook) Potter. He was educated in the district schools, and has fol- lowed the pursuit of farming all his life. He has been a very suc- cessful farmer and has given a great deal of attention to the dairy business, and now has quite an extensive dairy.
On January 15, 1877, John D. Potter married Gertrude, daughter of Edmund and Charlotte (Decker) Whiting. They have no living children, their only child dying in infancy.
139
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Mrs. Potter was born in the town of Hebron, Washington County, N. Y., May 30, 1847. She is an earnest member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Potter's people have been Quakers for generations.
EDGAR L. POTTER was born in the town of Argyle, Washington County, N. Y., May 21, 1855, and was educated at the Fort Edward Institute.
At the age of twelve years he began to learn the drug business with J. M. Campbell and remained with him for five years, when he bought him out, having Joshua Pike as a partner. Two years later he bought out Mr. Pike and has since conducted the business alone ; thus at the remarkably early age of seventeen years Mr. Potter was partner in a business and at nineteen was sole proprietor. This busi- ness he has conducted successfully for twenty-six years, and has been thirty years in the same stand.
Mr. Potter is one of Fort Edward's most successful and enterprising business men, and takes a deep interest in the welfare of the village. He is an honorary member of the Durkee Hose Company and has been a life-long Republican. He has served the village in the capacity of Trustee, and in religious matters is associated with the Baptist Church.
In 1881 Mr. Potter married Ada J. Wing, daughter of A. R. Wing of Fort Edward. Mr. Potter's parents were Abel W. and Caroline Potter.
THOMAS A. PATERSON was born in Whitehall, Washington County, N. Y., February 6, 1848, and was educated in the public schools and Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Mr. Paterson has for some years been proprietor of the Hall House, at Whitehall, the leading hotel in the village, and one of the best in northeastern New York. He is a Democrat in politics, was in the State Engineer's de- partment for six years, and was put in nomination for Member of Assembly by his party in 1899. He has been Village Clerk, Village Treasurer, and Chief Engineer of the Fire Department. Mr. Paterson is also a member of the Masonic fraternity, Phoenix Lodge No. 96,
140
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
Champlain Chapter No. 25, Washington Council No. 52, Washington Commandery No. 33, and Oriental Temple, at Troy, N. Y. He is also a member of Whitehall Lodge No. 5, I.O.O.F., Tancred Lodge, Knights of Pythias, No. 303, and also the Whitehall Steamer Com- pany No. 3.
In 1868 Mr. Paterson married Helen M. Benjamin. Mr. Paterson's parents were William and Maria Bush Paterson. He is of Scotch descent, on his father's side, but his mother's people have been Amer- icans from a very early date.
JOSEPH H. POTTER, of Salem, N. Y., is a son of T. T. and Helen (Tabor) Potter, and was born in Mechanicville, N. Y., in 1863. He is of English ancestry on both sides; the Potters were among the earliest settlers of Rhode Island. In 1872 Mr. Potter's parents moved to Salem, and his education was accomplished at the Washington Academy in that village. Upon leaving school he went into partner- ship with A. J. Haggart, and conducted a general merchandise store with him in Salem for six years, at the expiration of which time he relinquished his interest in that firm. In 1893 he established a clothing and men's furnishing store, and was so successful in this venture that in a few years his business had altogether outgrown its quarters on the east side of Main street. Mr. Potter in 1899 con- structed the handsome Potter business block on the west side of Main street, and now occupies the southern store with his clothing house, which is one of the largest and most enterprising in Washington County. He is a member of Salem Lodge No. 391, F. & A. M., and of Salem Lodge No. 45, I.O.O.F. In 1889 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary Billings Cleveland, of Salem, and has one daughter, Jennie Billings Potter, who was born in 1891.
LEONARD CHURCH PISER, one of the most prominent manufacturers of Washington County, N. Y., is a son of Martin P. and Mary E. (Church) Piser, and was born at Pittstown, Rensselaer County, N. Y., October 1, 1849. His father was a farmer and he was reared on the farm, but received a liberal education at Fort Edward Collegiate
141
BIOGRAPHICAL
Institute. In 1872 he came to Shushan and settled permanently. He was employed as clerk in a clothing house until 1877, when he engaged in selling sewing machines and also began the manufacture of shirts by having them made by many of those to whom he sold machines. In 1880 he rented the Hedges sawmill, which he remodeled and fitted up for a shirt factory and commenced the manu- facture of shirts on his own account. This undertaking was a success from its inception under Mr. Piser's able management, and he now employs a force of 200 hands in his factory, besides giving employ- ment to several hundred more at their homes.
This mill building is an historic one. A dam at Shushan was con- structed in the first years of the nineteenth century by Bethuel Church, a great-grandfather, and the mill was used as a sawmill until bought by Mr. Piser. The dam has a water power of about four hundred horse power.
Besides building up a fine manufacturing establishment, which has been of incalculable benefit to Shushan, Mr. Piser has found time to give considerable attention to public affairs and in that way also has been a benefit to the village and the surrounding country. He was the prime mover for an electric light plant for the village, and the project was carried through to a successful issue on July 4, 1891. This was the first electric light plant erected on the line of railway between Troy and Rutland.
He was a Justice of the Peace from 1875 to 1883, and was elected for another term of office, but declined to qualify.
In May, 1872, Mr. Piser married Emily Halstead, daughter of James Halstead of Pittstown, N. Y. They have four children, Theo- dore H., Arthur L., Walter N. and Ralph H.
Theodore H. Piser was born June 8, 1873, and graduated as an elec- trical engineer at Cornell University in 1892, and now resides in Bos- țon.
Arthur Leroy Piser was born September 4, 1874, and was educated at Wabash College, Ind., on leaving which he went into the shirt making business, and is now Superintendent of the Rutland Shirt Company's factory at Rutland, Vt.
Walter N. Piser was born February 2, 1877, and was educated at the Union School, Cambridge, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1894. Soon after leaving school he went into the shirt business with
142
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
his father in Shushan, N. Y. In 1898 he was appointed Superinten- dent of the factory, which position he now holds.
Ralph H. Piser was born September 14, 1882, and was educated at the Cambridge High School from which he graduated in 1899.
Mrs. Piser died in 1895. Mr. Piser had one brother and two sis- ters. His brother, Theodore H. Piser, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer County, N. Y., and was a veteran of the War of the Re- bellion. He enlisted in 1861, when only nineteen years old, in the 125th New York State Volunteer Infantry, and participated with his regiment in all its operations until he was finally mortally wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, and died in a hospital at Alexandria, Va., in 1865.
His sisters were Josephine M., who married William Dobbin, and now resides in Shushan, and Clarissa E., who resides in Troy, N. Y.
Mr. Piser's grandfather, Peter Piser, was a native of Germany, and came to America with his brother Martin. They settled on the Hudson and took up land which they lost through a defective title, after which they went to New York and entered into business, but were robbed by a dishonest partner. From New York City they went to Pitts- town, Rensselaer County, N. Y., and purchased a tract of royal land, on which they resided all their lives. Peter Piser's son, Martin P. Piser, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Pittstown, this state, in 1804, and died in 1866. He married Mary E. Church, who died at Shushan, N. Y., in June, 1882, aged sixty-two years. Her father Leonard Church, was a lawyer, and one of the early advocates of abolition. Her grandfather, Bethuel Church, was one of the early settlers and pioneers of Washington County, and built the first house in Shushan.
EDWIN C. PRATT, son of Franklin and Elizabeth (Stickney) Pratt, was born in Essex County, N. Y., February 15, 1850. When fourteen years of age he went to Michigan with his brother, where he remained a year and then came to Whitehall, and entered the employ of J. F. Clarke as a clerk. He remained in this position for three years, at the end of which time he took a position in the store of R. M. Wither- bee, and remained with him for the long period of fourteen years, when he embarked in the hardware business on his own account, under the firm name of E. C. Pratt & Company. The business pros-
143
BIOGRAPHICAL.
pered from the outset, and this is today the leading hardware estab- lishment in Whitehall.
Mr. Pratt is not only an enterprising and successful business man, but takes an active interest in public affairs, and in the promotion of everything tending toward the advancement and benefit of his com- munity. He has held the offices of Trustee of the Village and Presi- dent of the Village. He is connected with both the Masonic frater- nity and the Odd Fellows, and is particularly prominent in the latter organization. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 96, F. & A. M .; of Whitehall Lodge No. 5. I.O.O.F. ; of Whitehall Encampment No. 69, and Canton Whitehall No. 54. He has passed through all the chairs in the order, and now holds the office of Past Grand Patriarch of the State in the Grand Encampment. He is also a member of the Whitehall Fire Department, in which he has long taken an active interest.
On September 8, 1873, Mr. Pratt married Mariam, daughter of Nehemiah and Maria (Benjamin) Collins.
FRED PETTEYS was born in the town of Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., April 25, 1854. He is the son of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Ferris) Petteys.
He received his education in the district schools and at the Green- wich Academy, and has always been engaged in the occupation of farming as a business pursuit.
In 1881 he came to the town of Easton and located on his present farm.
On February 22, 1878, Fred Petteys married Maggie McCue.
Mr. Petteys' ancestors are of Scotch-English descent. He is a prom- inent farmer in the town of Easton and is a highly respected citizen.
TOWNSEND J. POTTER was born October 30, 1832, and was educated in the public schools and at the old Argyle Academy, which still exists as the Union school. His father was a farmer and lumberman, and T. J. worked on the farm until old enough for the woods, after which he was engaged in lumbering with his father until nineteen
144
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
years of age, when his father retired, and he continued until twenty- four years of age with other people. He taught school several win- ters in the Fort Edward District Schools. His lumbering experience was in Pennsylvania, as well as New York, and included cutting tim- ber, rafting, and in fact all branches of that important industry.
At twenty-four years of age Mr. Potter married, bought a farm and followed agricultural pursuits for three or four years, but not finding this congenial, he went back to lumbering for two years. In 1863 he came to Fort Edward and embarked in the produce and coal business, in which he has since been constantly engaged.
In politics Mr. Potter is a staunch Republican, and has been identi- fied with the party since its formation in 1855. He voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and has voted for every Republican president since that date. He was a member of the New York Legislature in 1876 and 1877, and was Supervisor of the town of Fort Edward for four years.
In 1856 Mr. Potter married Elmira Durkee. Mr. Potter's parents were Abel W. and Caroline Belle Potter.
The Potter family is an old American one, and is originally from the state of Connecticut. Mr. Potter has always taken a great interest 'in the cause and advancement of education.
WILLARD L. PEABODY was born in Poultney, Rutland County, Vt., August 13, 1839. He was educated in the high school in New Hamp- shire, from which he graduated in 1861. He then came to Sandy Hill in the same year and began farming. In 1872 he went west, located in Denver, Colorado, and engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued in that city until 1883, when he returned to Kingsbury and also to farming, in which he is still engaged, and in connection with which he conducts a considerable dairy business.
On January 1, 1865, Willard L. Peabody married Martha A. Robin- son, daughter of Nelson and Olive J. (Martin) Robinson. They have two children, namely: Flora M., born May 13, 1870, and now wife of Roswell Mitchell, and George N., born December 28, 1879.
Mr. Peabody's parents were Isaac K. and Clarissa (Gay) Peabody. Mr. Peabody's grandfather, Calvin Peabody, came from England and
145
BIOGRAPHICAL.
settled in Massachusetts. On his mother's side the family is of Irish descent.
Mr. Peabody is a representative man of the town of Kingsbury, and is a member of Sandy Hill Lodge No. 372, F. & A. M., and also of the Baptist Church.
LEWIS N. PHILO was born in the town of Halfmoon, Saratoga County, N. Y., June 30, 1843. After his school days, he began the active business of life as a clerk in a drug and hardware store for N. F. Philo. After spending two years in this position, he embarked in farming in which he has since been engaged. He settled in Green- wich, Washington County, N. Y., in the year 1884.
On March 10, 1868, Lewis N. Philo married Mary F. Saulsbury, daughter of Orson and Amanda (Tefft) Saulsbury.
Mr. Philo's parents were Nicholas E. and Mary F. (Fraly) Philo. Mr. Philo's great-grandfather, John Philo, came from England and settled in Saratoga County. His son, Asal, the grandfather of Lewis N. Philo, was a prominent man of his day in Saratoga County, and was Member of Assembly in the State Legislature.
ALBERT E. PARANT was born in the city of Metz, Province of Loraine, Germany, but came to Canada when four years of age and resided in that country for a number of years. In 1879, he came to the United States and first located in Berlin Falls, N. H .. where he took up the study of the chemical department of the pulp business, and remained there five years. After this he traveled extensively and was employed in Cuba, Florida, West Virginia, Georgia and other southern and eastern states, during which time he gave considerable attention to steam fitting.
He came to Fort Edward in 1894, and in 1897 was appointed to the position of Superintendent of the Sulphide in the pulp mill. In pulp mills sulphurous acid is used to cook the wood and dissolve the fibers, and Mr. Parant is a recognized expert in this department of the man- ufacture of pulp.
[ s]
146
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
In 1887 while living at Berlin Falls, Mr. Parant married Louise Tripp of Saratoga Springs, and they have one son, Euclid Parant.
Mr. Parant's father was Jean Parant and his mother Desinda (Mer- cier) Parant.
HIRAM H. PARRISH .- The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Jackson, Washington County, N. Y., in 1858, and was edu- cated in the district schools, Cambridge, Washington Academy and Claverick College. As a boy and young man he was always a close student of men and affairs. His first work for himself was in the capacity of teacher in the district school in Jackson where years before he had been a pupil. He was then twenty-one years old. Soon afterward he secured the position of bookkeeper in the Cam- bridge Valley National Bank and subsequently was made teller of the same institution. His strict attention to business and personal popu- larity soon interested the citizens of Cambridge, and the Trustees elected him Village Clerk, which office he filled with the highest satisfaction for nine consecutive years. He was then elected Presi- dent of the village and served with distinction for four years. During his incumbency as president notable changes and improvements were made in the village. He has also served with credit as a member of the Board of Education with which he was connected for seven years and for five years of that time was President of the Board.
His parents. being ardent Presbyterians, Mr. Parrish early took great interest in that church and its work and for fourteen years he has been an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. He has also held several offices in the United Presbyterian Church Society out- side of the congregation of which he is a member, and he is still known in church circles throughout the state and has frequently been a delegate to church synods.
In 1890 Hiram H. Parrish married Eleanor Maxwell of Salem, N. Y., daughter of John J. and Jane (McGeoch) Maxwell. They have two children, namely: Malcolm Maxwell Parrish and Mary Eleanor Parrish.
Hiram H. Parrish is a descendant of Josiah Parrish, an English sea Captain who gave up his ship and settled in Connecticut, marrying Elizabeth Plant of that state. To them were born six children, namely: John, Josiah, Hannah, Susan, Sibyl and Lizzie. Later he
147
BIOGRAPHICAL
moved to Hebron, N. Y., four miles north of Salem village, N. Y., on which farm he was buried in 1796, aged 90, in a family burying ground beside his wife.
His son John lived and died on this farm and is buried in the same plot. He had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Hiram, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, about fifty years ago settled in Jackson on the turnpike, two miles north of Cambridge vil- lage where his son Henry, the father of Hiram H., still resides.
Josiah Parrish, Sr., was a member of Captain Hamilton's Company and of Colonel Webster's Regiment during the Revolutionary War.
M. PICKETT was born in Saratoga County, but has passed his life in Washington County. He was born March 8, 1859, and was educated at the Union School of Sandy Hill.
His entire life-work has been in connection with Allen Brothers Company at Sandy Hill. He began work in the paper mill in 1877, and is now timekeeper and paymaster for Allen Brothers Company.
In 1880 M. Pickett married Louisa Brennenstuhl of Rensselaer County, and they have two children, Lewis and Gertrude.
Mr. Pickett's parents were Lewis and Mary D. (Silverthorn) Pickett. Lewis Pickett came to Sandy Hill in 1862, and was con- nected with the mills of this place for thirty-three years. He is still living and resides at Sandy Hill. He is of Scotch descent, and the Silverthorns are of German ancestry.
M. Pickett is an active, intelligent and enterprising man. When he first became associated with the paper mills he began at the bottom and has gradually worked himself up to his present responsible posi- tion, which he has held since 1890.
He is a member of Sandy Hill Lodge, No. 372, F. & A. M., and in politics is a Republican.
JOHN LOVEJOY PRATT, one of the representative and prosperous citizens of Washington County, was born in the town of Cambridge, near the old King Church, in 1824. He attended the district schools and Greenwich Academy, and began life as a farmer, and had held
148
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
the offices of Justice of the Peace and Justice of Sessions when he was thirty-six years of age.
In 1866 he, with his family, moved to Canterbury, Del., where he resided nine years. He was twice sent as delegate to the Delaware Republican State Convention held at Dover.
At the time Mr. Pratt was in Delaware the anti-abolitionist feeling was very high, and his general Republicanism and feeling for the negro was so evident that vigilance committees threatened his life and ordered him away. At one time a negro was accused of murder, which was equivalent to a sentence of death. Mr. Pratt championed his cause, proved an alibi and saw the colored man go free.
He and his family returned to Washington County in 1874, where they have since resided, near Buskirk's Bridge.
On December 22, 1847, John Lovejoy Pratt married Mary A. Brown, of Buskirk's Bridge, daughter of Sylvester Brown, a large land owner and successful speculator in western lands. Mrs. Pratt died in Feb- ruary, 1896. They had five children, namely: Howard B., a railroad engineer, who resides in Wisconsin; Amasa, a farmer, residing in Nebraska; John D., Jr., a lawyer, residing in Cambridge; and Charles Sumner, deceased, who was a civil engineer in Colorado. Fannie M. married Charles King, and lived on the homestead.
Rev. Amasa Pratt, father of the subject of this sketch, was a Meth- odist clergyman, and was at one time School Commissioner. Nathan P., a great grandfather, was a private in the Revolutionary War, and fought in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was a son of David and grandson of Thomas Pratt, of Framingham, Mass. Nathan P. had two sons and one daughter. The daughter was married to Isaac Put- nam, of Suffolk, Conn. Elias P., a brother of Nathan, was a Captain and served through the Revolutionary War. The Pratts of every gen- eration have been intensely patriotic, and have always shouldered the musket at the first call from their country.
Mr. Pratt's mother was Fannie King, daughter of Captain William R. King, a West Point graduate, and a noted fighter of the civil war.
John L. Pratt has been twice married. For his second wife he married Mrs. Sophia Collins, widow of C. S. Collins, who was at one time assistant editor of the Troy Press, and was a former editor of the Rochester Democrat.
149
BIOGRAPHICAL
JOHN HERMON PEPPER was born at Middle Granville, N. Y., June 28, 1866, and is a son of Chauncey Hamilton and Amelia (Andrews) Pepper. He was educated in the public schools of his native place and at the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vermont. After he completed his schooling he returned to Middle Granville and engaged with his father in the manufacturing of brick, with which he has ever since been identified, and in which he has achieved success and become one of the noted manufacturers of northern New York. His father died October 9, 1892, and he succeeded to the entire busi- ness. This yard is known as the Middle Granville brick yard.
· On December 30, 1892, Mr. Pepper married Hattie M., daughter of Sanford and Catharine (Griffith) Cook. They have a family of four children, namely: Alice Marian, Florence Hermione, Lynn Hamilton and Sanford Boyd Pepper.
Mr. Pepper's grandfather settled on the farm now occupied by John Hermon Pepper and not only carried on farming but began the manufacture of brick in 1849, which he carried on until 1852, when he was succeeded by his son, Chauncey Hamilton Pepper.
The Pepper family is of English extraction, but has been an Amer- ican one for generations.
Mr. Pepper has never held or aspired to public office, his entire time being taken up with his extensive business affairs, yet he has many friends and is one of the most popular business men of the county; neither is he a club man, preferring the society of his own family with whom he spends his leisure hours. In all his business dealings he is upright and honorable and his word is considered as good as gold wherever he is known.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.