Delaware County NY Genealogy and History Site

L. PHILETUS MAY, a well-known and highly respected farmer of the town of Masonville, Delaware County, N.Y., was born in Coventry, Chenango County, November 28, 1827, son of Willard and Lucy (Kenyon) May. His father was born in Massachusetts in 1794, and his mother in Rhode Island about 1790. His grandfather, Samuel May, who was a Massachusetts man, moved from that State to New York with an ox team, and settled at Bainbridge, Chenango County, about the year 1810, being among the first settlers there. In the course of time he was the owner of a fine farm, of which he had cleared a good part and brought into a good state of cultivation. The latter part of his life was spent in the town of Colesville, Broom County, where he died, aged about eighty. He was twice married, his second wife being Patty Hudson. He had a large family of children, only one of whom is alive at the present day, William S. May, of Harpursville.

Willard May grew to manhood and received his education in Massachusetts and Vermont. Shortly after coming to this State with his father, he enlisted in the American army, and was in active service in the War of 1812-14. He was by trade a carpenter, an occupation he followed in conjunction with farming. He resided in Coventry until after the death of his first wife, when he moved to Afton village; but he spent his declining years with his son, Jabez May, at Penn Yan, Yates County, where he died aged eighty-four. In politics he was a Whig, and afterward a Republican, and in religious matters was a member of the Baptist church. Mr. May's second marriage was to Eunice Metcalf, widow of Seth Seeley. He was the father of seven children, three of whom are living: Sally, widow of Isaac Randall, of Masonville; Jabez May, of Penn Yan; and L. Philetus, the subject of this sketch. Warren died aged twenty years, Mary Ann aged twenty-four, Laura aged sixty-two years, and Willard, Jr., aged five years.

L. Philetus May was educated in the town of Coventry. He gave his attention to farming and carpentering, learning the latter trade under his father and following it as a business for several years. In 1859 he came to Masonville, and bought the farm upon which he now resides, the land then being uncultivated and with no improvements. He speedily set about clearing the land, and erecting fine and substantial building. The farm consists of one hundred and thirty-three acres of good land; and he conducts a fine dairy, keeping about twenty-two head of cattle. Mr. May has always been a hard-working man, and has gained his present competency by industry and good management. He is a member of the Baptist church of Masonville, and is now one of its Trustees. In politics he is a Republican.

Mr. May was married by Elder A. St. John, September 25, 1862, to Emily M. Beach, who was born September 10, 1832, a daughter of Lumon and Maria (Brainerd) Beach, of Masonville. Mrs. May died December 31, 1888, leaving no children.

Mr. May is one of the few old settlers of Masonville now living. He has never taken an active part in politics, but has always been ready to devote his time and influence to the best interests of the town, rendering substantial aid in works of improvement and progress.

As a scion of good old New England stock, a thriving member of the farming community, and a public-spirited citizen of Delaware County, Mr. May is especially deserving of portraiture in this "Biographical Review". His likeness on an adjoining page will be readily recognized by friends and acquaintances.

WILLIAM R. WRIGHT, was born in Downsville, Delaware County, on October 14, 1859. His father, Philander Wright, was a native of Otsego County, but moved to Delaware, in which county he has followed farming and other occupations, and where he is now living. He married Miss Frances Williams. Their son, William R., whose names heads this biography, grew up and was educated in his native town, where he learned the cigar-maker's trade, and where he established a cigar factory. His patronage, which was small at first, and only warranted the employment of three workmen, was gradually enlarged, as the fame of his brand of the "Golden Gem" was noised abroad; and Mr. Wright found it expedient to enlarge his factory and increase the number of his employees. In a few years he opened a general grocery-store, which has also proved a financial success.

In 1879 Mr. Wright married Miss Lydia Thompson, a daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Oliver) Thompson. The father is a successful farmer in Hamden, and bears a record worthy of mention. He is of Scottish parentage, being a son of Andrew Thompson, Sr., who came to American in 1800, and settled in Bovina, there living to be a very old man, completing his ninetieth year. Andrew Thompson enlisted in 1864 in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteers; but, finding the ranks filled when he arrived at Port Royal S.C., he was transferred to Company A, New York Engineer Corps. His courageous bearing and unflinching adherence to duty while under fire at Morris Island won for him the highest commendation from the commander in charge, Captain brown. He belongs to England Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright have one little son, Harry, born January 28, 1890. The strict probity and keen sense of honor which characterize Mr. Wright's dealings with the public have won for him universal respect; and this has been, perhaps, one of the chief reasons for that success which has attended him as a merchant and manufacturer. He is an adherent of the Republican party, to which he has always been loyal.

CHARLES S. WOODRUFF. The subject of this sketch spent the early years of his life in the village wherein he was born, and in the district schools laid a substantial foundation for his education, which was completed in the Delaware Academy in Delhi, and from which he was graduated with an honorable record. Before his graduation he had spent some time as a clerk in his father's store, and he afterward gave his entire attention to mercantile pursuits. In 1880 he bought an interest in the store, and has continued in active business since. This is one of the most wide-awake and enterprising extensive line of dry goods, boots, shoes, and ready-made clothing, besides being largely engaged in buying and selling butter through this State and Pennsylvania.

Mr. Woodruff has ever taken an active interest in the prosperity of his native town and county, aiding all beneficial schemes tending to develop its business resources or improve its moral, education, or social status, and has served as treasurer of the fire department three years, was Treasurer of the village three years, and for a long time did efficient service as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of Trade. For two years he was President of the Delaware County Agricultural Society, and has been instrumental in raising it to its present prosperous condition. He was Secretary of the Republican County Committee for many years, and in 1893 was nominated by acclamation to the office of County Treasurer.

TRUMAN LEWIS, Assistant Postmaster at Sidney, N.Y., was born in the town of Sidney, Delaware County, March 4, 1843, son of Reuben Lewis, who was born in Green County in 1802. Reuben Lewis was a farmer, and for sixteen years occupied the position of Justice of the Peace of Sidney. In 1842 he married Miss Eliza Olmstead, of Greene County, who became the mother of six children, five of whom lived to reach maturity, although but three are still living, namely: the subject of this sketch; Hiram, a farmer who is married, and has a family in Ashtabula County, Ohio; Reuben, a railroad engineer in Scranton, Pa., where he has a wife and family. Their only daughter, Maria, died at the age of twenty-five years. Mrs. Lewis lived to be eighty-five years of age, retaining her faculties in a remarkable manner until her sudden death, January 21, 1893, of apoplexy.

Truman Lewis lived on the farm with his parents until 1859, when he moved with them to the village. He attended the district school in his boyhood, but, when eighteen, learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he was employed for twenty years, or until 1881. In 1849 he married Miss Hattie Cannon, of Sidney, who was a native of Cannonsville, a daughter or Elisha Cannon. On September 8, 1892, Mrs. Lewis passed away; and her husband was left a childless widower. Like his father, Mr. Lewis is a Democrat. He was Road Commissioner in 1884, and is now serving in his fourth year as Justice of the Peace. For the last nine years he has been employed as clerk in the post-office, which is recorded as a third-class one, although handling more mail than many offices of higher rank. He now occupies the position of Assistant Postmaster under Charles A. Wood, and, being thoroughly acquainted with all the departments of the office, as well as entirely trustworthy and attentive to his duties, is often left in full charge. As a gentleman of correct morals and sound judgment, he is held in high regard by his friends and fellow-workers.

EDWIN W. POND, general insurance agent, residing in the village of Walton, has been identified with the business circles of this part of Delaware County for several years, and is regarded as one of its most enterprising and able citizens. He is of New England birth and ancestry, having been born in New Hartford, Conn., in 1853. His father, J. R. Pond, was a native of the same town, and there reared to maturity. He was a farmer and dairyman in earlier years of his life, and later became on of the earliest manufacturer of condensed milk. In 1880 he came to Walton and established the plant known as the Granulated Milk Factory, which is still in successful operation. He subsequently removed to Oregon, and died near Portland, in 1890, at the age of seventy. He was twice married. His first wife, Martha A. Watson, was the daughter of Harvey and Sally (Wells) Watson, esteemed residents of New Hartford, Conn. She died in the village of Walton, in 1884, at the age of sixty-three years, leaving, besides the subject of this sketch, who was her only son, an adopted daughter, Cora L., the wife of Edward Brisack, of Union City, N.J. Mr. Pond married for his second wife Mary Sophia Sherwood, who survives him, and is now a resident of Walton.

Edwin W. Pond was reared as a farmer's son, acquiring his rudimentary education in the public schools, and afterward pursuing a full academical course. He worked with his father in the milk factory until 1879, when he removed to Fort Plain, Montgomery County, to take charge of the manufactory of the Orange County Milk Association, remaining there two years. Receiving a flattering offer to assume the management of the Heidelberg Cheese and Condensed Milk Company at Yarra Flats, near Melbourne, Australia, he went there, and continued in charge three years. After traveling around the world, Mr. Pond came to Walton in 1884; and three years later he established himself in the insurance business, in which he displays more than ordinary ability and tact. He now represents seventeen strong and trustworthy insurance companies, and is recognized as a straight-forward, thorough-going business man, meriting the confidence of his fellow-citizens. On February 11, 1886, Mr. Pond was married to Miss Florence St. John, a native of New York City. Mrs. Pond's parents were S. Henry and Emily (Leavens) St. John, the latter of whom was born in 1815 in New York City and died in Walton in 1878. Mr. St. John was a native of Walton, and in early life went to New York City as a clerk in a dry-good store, in which business he remained some time. He afterwards entered into copartnership with his brother, George St. John, as merchant tailors and general clothiers, under the firm name of Geo. & S. H. St. John. Having secured a competency, he retired from active business, and, coming to Walton, built a fine residence near the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Pond, and thereafter lived retired, dying in 1893, when seventy-nine years old. He reared three children, as follows: Sarah, the wife of A. L. Hyde, lives in New York City. Emma, the wife of the Rev. Reeve Hobbie, resides in Newark, N.J. Mr. S. H. St. John had the following brothers and sisters who reached the age of maturity: Martha St. John Bassett, who lived at Independence, N.Y.; Maria, the wife of Joseph E. Sheffield, of New Haven, Conn.; Thomas and Erastus, who lived at Mobile, Ala.; and George, who resided at Walton. Mr. S. H. St. John at the time of his death was the only remaining child of Colonel John Trowbridge and Mary St. John, who were among the early settlers of this section, coming to Walton from Connecticut.

Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pond, two little daughters died in infancy, and two are now living, namely: Sarah E. Pond, born April 2, 1889; and Samuel Henry St. John Pond, born August 24, 1891. Politically, Mr. Pond is a steadfast Democrat, and has served as village Trustee. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Walton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., where he has taken the thirty-second degree, and in which he is now serving as Senior Warden. Religiously, he is a Vestryman of the Christ Episcopal Church, of which both himself and wife are communicants, and toward the support of which they cheerfully contribute.

RANSOM PALMATEER, a householder and dairy farmer of Andes, N.Y., was born in New Kingston, Middletown, on May 7, 1854. His grandfather, John Palmateer, was of Dutch extraction, being son of a Hollander, but was himself American born, a native of Dutchess County, where he lived and reared a family of nine children: John, William, Abraham, Cyrus, Lucinda, Jessie, Owen, Sylvester, and Mary. In the latter part of his life John Palmateer moved to Saginaw County, Michigan, and sojourned there until the day of his death, which occurred in his ninety-fifth year. His wife, Elizabeth (Warner) Palmateer, also lived to be very old. She was a member of the Baptist church.

William, the second son of John, was born December 14, 1814. He began to work out on a farm when a boy of twelve years of age, and, when twenty-six, married Mary A., daughter of Cornelius and Mary (Yeaples) Demond. Mary Palmateer was a grand-daughter of Christian and Anna Yeaples, who lived at Kingston, Ulster County. This village was burned during the Revolutionary War, in which Christian served; and the family moved to New Kingston Valley, Delaware County, and bought a farm, upon which their grand-daughter, Mrs. Mary Palmateer, now lives. Christian Yeaples built the first log house there. The flat surface of the land selected for a habitation to be erected upon was covered with a growth of pine trees, which were rare in this locality; and many stumps still remain to attest the industrious hand of the ancestor who felled their trunks so long ago. Bear and wolf, elk and deer, disappeared gradually from their native haunts, as the white man's foot invaded year by year their wild domains; and it was not long before smoke curled up from many a settler's cabin chimney, and the solitude of the forest rang with the stroke of the axe and blow of hammer. Mr. Yeaples was the father of these children: Jacob; John; David; Henry; Christian; Cornelius B.; May; Catharine; Rachel; Nellie; and Mary, Mrs. Palmateer.

William Palmateer did a great deal toward the improvement of this estate. He built a large frame house and farm buildings. To William Palmateer and his wife the number of offspring of the Yeaples family was repeated. Of their twelve children, eight are now living, and may be thus mentioned: Phoebe, who married John V. Simmons, a farmer located near Roxbury, and is the mother of two children; Sylvester, who married Estella Sanford, and lives in Andes with their two children; Harriett, who married first Edward Taylor, by whom she had one child, and secondly P. Kaughman; Ransom, the original of this pen sketch; Emily, who married John Rhotermond, has one child, and lives in California; Rhoda and Etta, who live at home; Mary, now Mrs. George Hewitt, of Margarettville, who has one child. William Palmateer died in 1877, at sixty-two years of age. His widow is still living. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Ransom Palmateer worked at home until he was twenty-five years old, gaining a practical experience and knowledge of farm life. He then bought three hundred acres of land from Hizer & Liddle, and began to think, as most young farmers do, that it was not wise for him to live alone. So he wooed and married Anna Simmons, the daughter of John V. and Harriett (Beers) Simmons. The bride's paternal grandparents were Noble and Sarah (Randall) Simmons, the former a native of Massachusetts, though of English parentage, and a soldier of the War of 1812. Mr. Noble Simmon's estate was located in what is now known as North Roxbury, at that time an absolute wilderness. He and his wife reared seven children: Hiram, George, Eliza, Daniel, Emeline, Lydia, and John V. John V. Simmons, the "Benjamin" of his father's old age, received a good education, and began teaching at seventeen years. At twenty-six he married Miss Harriett Beers, a daughter of David and Polly (Gould) Beers. To them seven children were born. Sarah E. Married a Mr. Scudder, W. Porter married C. Deyo, Nathie died young, Jennette married the Rec. C. Artmen, Emma married G. Graham, M. Agusta married H. L. Kelly, and Anna is the wife of Mr. R. Palmateer. Mr. Simmons was left a widower, and married for his second wife Miss Eliza Gleason, who bore him two children, Gleason and John. She died; and he married thirdly Miss Addie Palmater, by whom he has one child. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons sikd their estate to their son, and are now living a quiet life.

Ransom Palmateer's marriage has been blessed by the advent of five children, four of whom are now living; namely, Arthur, May, Everett, Edith, and Howard. He has remodelled the buildings on his farm, and is preparing timber for the construction of a capacious overshot barn. He has one of the largest dairies in Andes, keeping a herd of fifty graded Jersey cows, averaging two hundred and fifty pounds of butter per head. Mr. and Mrs. Palmateer are happily allied in the bond of a common religious faith, both being members of the Methodist Episcopal church; and in politics he is a Democrat.

GEORGE H. KEATOR, a successful farmer of Roxbury, N.Y., was born in West settlement in this town on March 11, 1837. He belongs to a family that has been in Delaware County for three generations, being a grandson of Gideon Keator, who was a native of Esopus, Ulster County, and thence came here with his family and settled in Brookdale, near the village of Roxbury.

The wilderness still hid the most fertile lands under its veil of dense underbrush and mighty trees. Bud Gideon Keator threw himself with a will into the work of reclaiming his six hundred acres, and soon the fruitful fields were beginning to crowd out the forests. The earth yielded up its increase, and Mr. and Mrs. Keator were very prosperous in their new home. Barns and other necessary buildings were put up as fast as they were needed; and the estate came in time to be very valuable, so that Mr. Keator had no difficulty in selling it for a good price when he decided to make a change. Benjamin Scudder was the purchaser, and he lived on the place all his life. Mr. Keator and his wife Mary had eight children--John G., Charity, George, Harriet, Hiram, Katie, Peter, and Henry.

George Keator, second son of Gideon Keator, was born in Ulster County, came with his father to Delaware County, and was educated in the district school of Roxbury. When he came to man's estate, he contracted marriage with Betsy Benjamin, a daughter of Jesse and Katherine Benjamin, who were early settlers in Roxbury. He purchased sixty-nine acres of cleared land in West settlement, and then, as soon as opportunity offered, secured one hundred acres more of partly reclaimed new land. These two purchases made a fine farm when Mr. Keator had put on the improvements that he saw were desirable--new houses and barns. He lived on this farm until his death, at the age of eighty-four. Mr. Keator was a Democrat, and an old-school Baptist. Mrs. Betsy Keator lived to the age of eighty-six. She had six children, but three of these died. The three who lived became well-known men in the community. Jacob P. Married Jennie Van Kuren, but she died, leaving one daughter, Millie; and he married again, this time May Douglass. By his second marriage he had one son, John, who lives at Rondout, and is a palace-car conductor. John B. Married Eleanor Bartram, and died, leaving one daughter, Mary, who is now the wife of John P. Ganoung.

The other son, George H. Keator, was educated at Roxbury Academy and at Syracuse. At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Frances B. Walker, daughter of Daniel and Eliza Walker. Mr. Walker owned a large farm, and in addition owned and operated a fulling-mill. He also did some work as a contractor and builder. He had seven other children--five by his first wife, the mother of Mrs. Keator, and two by his second wife. Mr. Walker was a Democrat, and lived to the age of seventy-one years. After his marriage Mr. Keator took charge of his father's farm, he being unable to manage it on account of ill health. This he continued until 1867, when he went to Dover, Del., and took up a farm there. After one year's trial his father, finding the home work too much of an undertaking, sent for him to come back to the old place. So he took up the affairs of the estate anew; and there he lives today, about five miles out from the village.

Mr. and Mrs. Keator have had three children, of whom one is now living. Bessie M., who was born January 23, 1865, married Adelbert Carroll, and is now dead. Alice M. was born September 3, 1866, married H. G. V. White, of East Branch, and died at twenty-seven. Maud M. was born March 15, 1880, and still lives at home with her father. Mr. Keator is a Democrat, and has held the office of Assessor for four terms. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of Hobart Lodge, No. 62, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

DAVID FOOTE is an influential citizen of Franklin, Delaware County, in which town he was many years an active and progressive farmer, though of late years living a somewhat retired life.

Looking backward, we find that all the Footes of the country, for nine generations or more, are descended from Nathaniel Foote, who came early to Wethersfield, Conn., and had two sons--Nathaniel and Robert. Many facts concerning the family are set forth in the Foote genealogy, published in 1849, and in the sketch in this volume of Mrs. S. E. Foote.

The grandfather of David Foote, Charles Foote, was a tanner, currier, and shoemaker in Colchester, Conn.; and his wife was Jerusha Chamberlain. He was also a surveyor, and went to Wyoming, Pa., in pursuance of his calling, expecting to remain there; but, the Revolution coming on, both he and his son Charles enlisted as soldiers. He had five boys and four girls, all of whom lived to be married except the youngest daughter and one son. The fourth child and second son was Elias, the father of Mr. David Foote.

Elias Foote was born in Colchester, New London County, Conn., on October 4, 1766, ten years before the Revolution, but died in Franklin, July 5, 1855, when nearly ninety years old. His wife was Sally Tracy, born in Lenox, April 13, 1780, and therefore fourteen years her husband's junior. She was the daughter of Ezekiel and Patience (Kimball) Tracy, both from Massachusetts; but she was married in Otsego County, in the town of Oneonta, in 1809, though later they lived in Otsego, on a farm of forty acres, afterward increased to twenty more. Mr. Foote sold this land in 1844, and ended his life in the home of his son David in North Franklin, and was buried in the graveyard near the Baptist church, where his wife also was placed at the age of seventy-six, both being firm Baptists. They had four boys and three girls, and two sons and one daughter are still living. One of the sons is David, the subject of this sketch; and the other is Ezekiel, a retired blacksmith in the same town. Their sister Esther never married, but has a home with her brother David, though she and her sister Jane had a home together in the same town, till it was broken by death in 1889.

David Foote was born March 24, 1812, at the beginning of the last war with England; and his birthplace was on the banks of the Susquehanna, in what was then a part of the town of Franklin, but is now within the limits of Otsego. Though a farmer, he was for several winters a teacher also. Like his father, he married somewhat late in life, October 1, 1857, when he was forty-five. His wife was Mary Parsons, of Franklin, a daughter of Thomas and Anna Parsons, who came from Connecticut in 1800. Mr. and Mrs. Foote have no children, though they have given a home to the children of others, thus blessing their fellow-men. In politics Mr. Foote was a Republican until 1884, when his regard for temperance led to his union with the Prohibitory party, though he has held no public office. He has, however, been appointed executor for several estates. He owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres in North Franklin, purchased in 1844, and on which he has resided ever since. He has also another estate of one hundred and twelve acres of bottom land along the Susquehanna, once the property of his brother Asa, who died at the age of seventy-six, leaving a son and daughter. The son, George H. Foote, has been a teacher during seventeen winters.

A. L. MURRAY, an enterprising business man, who combines the practice of the tonsorial art with the duties of Postmaster of Arkville, to which latter office he was appointed in 1893, was born in Middletown, January 10, 1866, son of George and Lucinda (Blish) Murray, and the grandson, on the paternal side, of James and Mary (Ebanathus) Murray, both natives of Scotland, and who came to America about the opening year of this century, settling in New York City. The former was a seafaring man, holding a position as second mate, and was lost at sea when about forty-two years of age, leaving a wife and two children--Robert and George. His wife survived him six years, and died at the age of forty-six years in New York City.

Robert Murray died in the South during the late Civil War; while his brother Goerge, born in 1810, in New York City, was brought up there, but later went to Hyde Park, Dutchess County, where he learned the tanner's trade. In 1833 he enlisted in the navy as a United States marine on United States ship "Peacock", and served for over three years, visiting many foreign countries and most of the principal seaports of the world. In the pursuit of his calling he contracted rheumatism, and, receiving his discharge from the navy, resumed his trade of tanner, coming to Delaware County in 1842, and the following year marrying Lucinda, daughter of John and Lucinda (Townsend) Blish. A family of twelve children was born to them, namely: Robert A. married Mary Beadle, and resides in Middletown. Norman J. died at the age of thirteen. Oliver L. married Sarah Parker, and resides at Griffin's Corners. Eliza died at the age of eleven years. Artemesia, now deceased, became the wife of John A. Jones, and at her death left one child. Celia I. married Frederick J. Elmore, and resides in Syracuse, N.Y. Mary E. became the wife of John H. Depew, of Walton. James G. chose for his wife Lydia Kelly, and settled at Griffin's Corners. George died in infancy. A. L. is the subject of this sketch. Dorleskie and Loduskie were twins, the first of whom died at the age of sixteen years, and the latter became the wife of Walter L. Elwood, and resides in Walton, N.Y. Soon after his marriage George Murray bought a farm of one hundred acres situated on the Kingston and Delhi turnpike near Arkville and along the bank of the Delaware River. Here he resided for thirty-two years, dying at the age of seventy-three. He was a Democrat in politics, and was Overseer of the Poor in his town. His wife still survives him, and is now seventy-two years of age.

A. L. Murray was educated at Clousville, and learned the tonsorial trade, which he practised at Griffin's Corners, later buying a shop at Margarettville. After staying in the latter place some thirteen months he sold out to E. J. Eastman, and came to Arkville, where he opened a shop and soon met with good patronage. He was appointed Postmaster in July, 1893, and has satisfactorily performed the duties of the office to the present time. Mr. Murry chose for his wife Miss Anna Conklin, daughter of Arthur and Emma A. (Osterhoudt) Conklin, of Margarettville. They have one son, Harry W., born May 15, 1893. Mr. Murray has so far in his career shown good business ability, and is the sort of man who knows how to make the most of opportunities. He is interested in the affairs of his town, and contributes his share toward its material welfare. His wife is a member of the new-school Baptist church, and is a lady of many pleasing qualities.

THOMAS D. KINGSTON, proprietor of the Kingston Hotel, Delhi, is well known as one of the best hotel men in Delaware County. He made his first start as a landlord in this village, purchasing his present house, which he has rebuilt and refurnished in the most approved modern style, and has since conducted with marked success, winning popularity as a host who understands how to cater to the wants of the public, one who well knows that "fine words butter no parsnips".

THADDEUS S. HOYT, a highly respected farmer, residing about five miles north of the village of Walton, was born about three miles below his present residence, October 28, 1821. His father, Amasa, was also born at the same place. The grandfather, Thaddeus Hoyt, came originally from New Canaan, Conn., and was one of the pioneer farmers of Delaware County. He reared a family of four sons, Amasa being the third in order of birth. He and his elder brother, Thaddeus, were farmers. The second son, John Benedict Hoyt, was a graduate of Yale College, and a well-known minister of the Presbyterian Church. Amasa resided on the old homestead until the time of his death. His children were all prominent members of the community, several of his sons being Deacons of the church. The family have always been among the foremost in church matters, the grandfather having been instrumental in building first a log and afterward a frame church about one mile from the village of Walton. Amasa Hoyt was married to Eliza H. Seymour, a daughter of Samuel and Anna (Whitney) Seymour. Her parents reared the following family: Samuel, Lewis, Thaddeus, Andrew, Annie, Pollie, Sallie, Hannah, Eliza, and Emma Seymour. To Mr. and Mrs. Amasa Hoyt were born nine children; namely, Gabriel, Amasa, Thaddeus, Frederick, Edward, Edwin, William S., Julia, and Whitney.

Thaddeus S. Hoyt received his education at the district and a select school at Walton, afterward teaching school for one winter. At the age of twenty-two he purchased from his father-in-law, Thaddeus Fitch, the farm adjoining the one upon which he now resides. Mr. Hoyt was married September 12, 1843, to Letitia Fitch, a daughter of Thaddeus and Hannah (Mead) Fitch. The family originally came from Connecticut, Mr. Fitch coming to the farm upon which the subject of this sketch now resides in 1808. He died in 1879, at the advanced age of ninety-five years, being an extemely active man until the time of his death. He was Deacon of the Congregational church for many years. He was a man of much influence, and held in the highest respect by all throughout the town. Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus S. Hoyt have ever been active in religious matters, leaving the church at Walton to assist in building one at Westbrook. This church was organized in 1857, Mr. Hoyt being elected Deacon, and serving as Trustee for many years. He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for thirty years, Mrs. Hoyt having been engated in teaching in the school for nearly that length of time. In politics Mr. Hoyt is a supporter of the Republican party. He has always been known as a sagacious and prudent farmer, his good judgment having brought his farm up to its present state of productiveness. He is held in the highest esteem by his neighbors, as a man of rare moral and intellectual worth. Mr. Hoyt served as Registrar of the Delaware Congregational Association for ten years. A portrait of Mr. Thaddeus S. Hoyt finds an appropriate place in this gallery of Delaware County worthies.

CHARLES P. MOFFATT, one of the most extensive and enterprising farmers of Delaware County, and a citizen of Grand Gorge, Roxbury, was born October 12, 1827, son of Isaac and Mary (Poppino) Moffatt. He owns and occupies the farm on which his paternal grandfather settled nearly a hundred years ago.

Isaac Moffatt, Sr., was born Mary 6, 1750, and married Anna Scott, who was born August 27, 1752. He came from the north of Ireland, and settled in Washingtonville, Orange County, where he worked at the shoemaker's trade. In 1799 he accompanied an exploring party to Delaware County, and, finding here a suitable place for a home, returned for his wife and child. He erected a log house, cleared his land, and worked a little at shoemaking. He and his wife had nine children, namely: Jane, born March 18, 1782; Francis, born May 17, 1783; Nathan, born September 27, 1784; William, born March 29, 1791; Elmer, born February 15, 1793; George, born January 5, 1795. The father of this family died in January, 1825; and his wife passed away March 21, 1820. He was a Democrat in politics, and was a member of the Presbyterian church, as was also his wife.

Their son Isaac, the father of Charles P., was born in Orange County, May 10, 1789, and was but ten years old when his parents moved to Delaware County. His school days were extemely limited; but by improving his leisure at home he became a well-read man, and continued working on the farm, of which he assumed the management after his father's death. He married Mary, daughter of Jonas and Eleanor Poppino, who was born September 12, 1796. Mr. and Mrs. Poppino settled on the farm now owned by Charles Mayhand; and they reared the following children: Temperance, Mary, Eliza, Amanda, John G., Thomas J., and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Moffatt, Jr., had ten children--Cornelia, Eliza J., Adeline, Ellen, Charles P., Sally Ann, Amanda, Mary, Samuel, and Harriet. Mr. Moffatt improved his farm and erected new buildings, living to be sixty-eight years of age. He was a Whig, and with his wife was a member of the Presbyterian church.

Charles P. Moffatt received a district-school education, and at the age of twenty-five married Mary J. Rickey, daughter of John M. and Hannah (Judson) Rickey, of Jefferson, Schoharie County. Mr. Rickey's father owned a farm near Stamford, which was then in an unsettled condition. He was a Captain in the Revolutionary War, and was the father of eight daughters and three sons. John, the father of Mrs. Moffatt, purchased a tract of one hundred acres of timbered land, which he cleared, erecting substantial buildings. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died when thirty-three years of age, the father of two children: Caroline, who married William Moore, and died, leaving three sons; and Mary, the wife of Mr. Moffatt. His widow married Mr. Vandyke, and became the mother sons.

Mr. and Mrs. Moffatt have had three children, two of whom are now living. The other, Ella F., who married Melvin Parsons, died when thirty-seven years of age, leaving one daughter, Carrie A. Moffatt, who married Mr. Brown, of Oneonta, and has one child. Charles W., the only son, and a merchant in Stamford, married Belle Talmadge, and has one child. After his marriage Mr. Moffatt purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres now owned by Mr. Holeside, and there he lived for four years. He then sold that property, and purchased the old homestead where he now resides, having remodelled the house, the frame of which is nearly one hundred years old. He has erected commodious barns, and keeps fifty or sixty cows and six horses. One hundred acres have been added to the original land, and the farm of three hundred acres is now one of the finest in this part of the country.

Mr. Moffatt is a Democrat in politics, and for nine terms, or twenty-seven years, held the office of Assessor, to which he was three times more elected, but declined to serve; and for six years he was Excise Commissioner. He was drafted in the Civil War, but paid three hundred dollars for a substitute. Mr. Moffatt is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is identified with all the good works of that organization, as well as with those of the town in which he resides.

HORACE G. PHELPS, is a plain and unassuming but influential farmer and trader, living in Unadilla, two miles from the village of Sidney, Delaware County. He was born in Dutchess County in November, 1834. His father, B. W. Phelps, the second of two sons, was born in the same county in 1797, and died in Afton, Chenango County, in our centennial year, his age lacking only one year of four-score.

B. W. Phelps's wife was Anna Crandle, of Middlefield, Otsego County, the daughter of Isaac Crandle. They were married about the year 1819, and during nearly all their lives carried on a farm in Guilford, Chenango County. They had eleven children, of whom seven sons and three daughters are still living, Mr. Horace Phelps being the fourth in the order of birth. The one deceased daughter was Octavia, the wife of George Brightman, and died in March, 1888, about fifty-seven years old, leaving a son, Eugene Brightman. Of these ten surviving children the youngest is now, at the close of 1894, fifty-one, and the oldest over seventy; and all are married. Their mother died in 1865, five years before her husband; and their bodies rest in the East Guilford cemetery, amid the rural scenes wherewith their memories are affectionately and respectfully cherished.

Their son Horace grew up like the sons of other farmers, attending the district school, and working on the land. With dawning manhood, at the age of seventeen, he began to be greatly interested in live stock, which he purchased for his father, who was every inch a farmer. On reaching his majority, Horace bought sheep and cattle on his own account, subsequently hiring three or four farms for stock-raising; and to this business he devoted the most of his time for two years, when he began to trade in lumber with Charles G. Brooks, of Mount Upton, buying and clearing timber land, and getting the lumber ready for the general market, but chiefly for railroads and mines, having contracts for the supply of the Delaware and Hudson Mining Department. This of course involves an immense traffic throughout Delaware and other counties, to the extent of a hundred thousand dollars a year. In all Mr. Phelps personally owns some twelve hundred acres, and the firm holds still larger tracts of land. He is a vigorous man, but finds himself physically well taxed, as one of the busiest men in the county, looking after his numerous interests. In politics he is independent, and has never held any public office but; but as a financier he is interested in six national banks as stockholder and director. In Sidney and other towns he has monetary ventures in several different enterprises, for he is a tower of strength in every line of work.

Mr. Phelps married in 1861, at the age of twenty-seven, just at the beginning of our great Civil War. His wife was Isabelle Talcott, of Guilford, the daughter of Adna and Eliza (Wright) Talcott, natives of the State of Connecticut. Lena, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phelps is the wife of Edgar Beal, of East Guilford; and they have one son, Horace Beale, named for his affectionate grandfather. An eminent preacher has well said, in words which apply to our subject: "Remember you have not a sinew whose law of strength is not action. You have not a faculty of body, mind, or soul, whose law of improvement is not energy."

JOHN D. VAN AKEN is a well-to-do and prosperous agriculturist, whose valuable farm is located about seven miles from Walton village, near Loomis. Mr. Van Aken is a native of the Empire State, having been born in Middletown, November 17, 1823. His father, Albert R. Van Aken, and his grandfather. Gideon Van Aken, were both natives of this State, the latter having been a prosperous farmer of Plattner Brook, in the town of Delhi, both he and his wife spending their last years on the farm which they wrested from the forest.

Albert R. Van Aken was one of a large family of children born to his parents. He spent his early life in the manner common to farmers' sons, assisting on the farm until attaining his majority. His first purchase of land was in Walton, being the farm on which the subject of this sketch now resides. The land was then in its primitive wildness, scarcely a tree having been cut. He erected a log house and barn, and by dint of zealous industry succeeded in placing much of the land in a yielding condition. During his residence here he saw great changes in the aspect of the surrounding country. Selling this property to his son John, he bought another farm about a mile below Loomis, where he lived for a time, going thence to a farm in Tompkins, near Deposit, where he spent the remainder of his earthly life, dying at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, Catherine Delemater, was the daughter of Isaac De!emater, a pioneer of Middletown, to which place he came with his wife when the timbered land was the home of wolves, bears, and other wild animals. The log cabin, which was their first dwelling-house, was the place of birth of the larger number of their large family of children, but was eventually replaced by a substantial frame house. Of the union of Mr. Van Aken and Catherine Delemater nine children were born, seven of whom grew to maturity, namely: Jeremiah, who died in the army; John D.; William; Jacob; James; Matilda: and Sarah Jane. The mother, who lived to a good old age, died in what is now Deposit.

John D. Van Aken was educated and spent the earlier years of his existence in Middletown, tilling the soil in season, and attending the district school in winter and whenever he could be spared from work. At the age of eighteen years he came with his parents to Walton, and for some time thereafter assisted in the labor of clearing the land and improving the farm. He subsequently worked out by the month for a while, and, when twenty-eight years old, bought the homestead of his father, in which he has since made extensive improvements, building the present fine residence and the convenient barn and out-buildings. In addition to the raising of the cereals common to this section of our country, Mr. Van Aken devotes his attention to the dairy business, keeping from twelve to fifteen cows, and making a superior grade of butter, which he disposes of to private customers.

Mr. Van Aken was united in the bonds of matrimony, in 1862, to Miss Jane C. White, a daughter of Robert and Anna White, and who came from Scotland in the year 1833 with her parents. A brother, John G. White, now resides in Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. White were early settlers in the town of Bovina. The only child born of this happy union was a bright and interesting boy, named White G. Van Aken, who passed from this life when only eleven years old. Although no aspirant for political honors, Mr. Van Aken keeps well informed on topics of general interest, and in politics indorses the principles of the Republican party. Mrs. Van Aken has been actively identified with the Presbyterian church, of which she is a valuable member, since 1857, first in Bovina, and later in Walton.

JAMES WILLIAM CURTIS is the proprietor of Maple Villa, situated three-quarters of a mile from Fleischmanns depot. He was born in New York City in 1860, October 24. His grandfather was Samuel Curtis, and the grandmother's maiden name was Mary Ann Kell. Samuel Curtis was born in London, and was a seafaring man, dying at the age of thirty-five, while in command of a ship. His wife long outlived him, dying at the great age of ninety-five. Her last years were spent in this country .with her grandson at Maple Villa.

John Kell Curtis, eldest son of Samuel, was born in London, but came to America at the age of sixteen, and learned the jeweler's trade with his uncle, John Brock, whose shop was on Chatham Street, New York City. After six years' apprenticeship John began at the age of twenty-two, to trade for himself, at No. 83 Bleecker Street, New York City, and soon was the head of so good a business that at the end of five years he sold out the Bleecker Street shop, and opened a larger establishment on Broadway, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, where he remained for seven years. By this time he was nearly thirty-five years old, and he engaged in the antique furniture trade for two years. Then he went in with the firm of Sypher & Co., at 593 Broadway, where he continued many years, when he died at the age of sixty. His wife, Mary Frazier Gibson, was the daughter of a thriving jeweller, James Gibson. Their only child now living forms the special subject of this sketch. After her husband's death Mrs. Mary F. Curtis came to Delaware County to live with her son, and is still in the enjoyment of excellent health. She is attractive in person and manner, with an excellent faculty for business, and belongs to the Dutch Reformed church, in which her husband was an influential Elder.

James W. Curtis was educated in the New York schools. At the age of eighteen he became a clerk with Pope & Stevens, hardware dealers at 114 Chambers Street, New York City. After three years he went into the antique establishment of Sypher & Co., where his father was also employed, at 593 Broadway. Still later he came to Delaware County, bought the sixty-five acres constituting the old Patrick Redmund farm, and moved into the little frame house, where for a few years he entertained a few city boarders in summer. Being of an enterprising disposition, and having a wide metropolitan acquaintance, he then built the large four-story house called Maple Villa, besides a barn and smaller buildings, and fitted up the grounds with a shaded lawn and four maple groves, the whole estate being situated twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the sea. A fine road leads from the village to the Villa, which affords accommodation for nearly sixty boarders, and is always well filled in the season. The landlord also owns fine turnouts for pleasure-driving, and keeps eight Jersey cows, which supply cream for the table. He also raises his own chickens, geese, ducks, and turkeys.

In 1883 he married Elizabeth L. Hatfield, daughter of Charles R. and Christina (Miller) Hatfield, of whose family sketches may be found elsewhere in our volume; and they have one child, John K. Curtis, born May 26, 1888. Mr. Curtis is a Democrat in politics; and both himself and wife are still members of the Presbyterian society in New York City, to which they belonged many years ago. A poetic preacher, Dr. Cyrus A. Bartol, has wisely wrltten:-- "Labor is never a thing of mere muscle or nerve. Are not intelligence, will, fidelity, and the sweat of the brow alike in the student's and the digger's task?" And this is the spirit of Mr. Curtis's life.

OCTAVE B. FISH, one of the younger veterans of the late war, a well-known blacksmith of Fish's Eddy, is a native of Hancock, of which this' village forms a part. On the paternal side he is of Welsh descent his progenitors having come to America from Wales in the seventeenth century, being among the pioneers of the New England States.

Edmund Fish, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, married Lydia Billings, of Connecticut. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and was employed throughout his life in farming. His children were: Isaac, Jehu, Daniel, Billings, Franklin, Lydia, Hannah, Lucy, Rebecca; and Grace. He removed to Vermont after the Revolution, and later went to Liberty, Sullivan County, N.Y., where he was one of the first settlers. Isaac Fish, son of Edmund, was born in Stonington, Conn., April 14, 1777, and received his education in Vermont. Removing with his parents to New York, he assisted his father on the farm, and taught school in Liberty. He married Rachel Stewart, daughter of Jehial and Rachel (Williams) Stewart, of Massachusetts; and they had five children--Hiram, Jane, John, Stuart, and Charlotte.

Hiram Fish was born in Rockland, Delaware County, February 5, 1809, and was an infant when his parents moved to Hancock. Later he removed with them to Rockland, and afterward to Ellenville. Having received his education in the public schools, he began while quite young to follow the life of a lumberman on the Delaware River, and has now for many years been a steersman. When twenty-six years of age, he removed to Delaware County, where he married in 1836 Miss Persis A. Underwood, daughter of Silas Underwood, whose former home was near Boston, Mass. Hiram Fish has been honored by having the thriving little village where he resides named for him; and he gave the land on which the depot of the O. & W. Railroad stands, that it might be placed on his side of the river. He has held many town offices, as Justice of the Peace, Assessor, and Highway Commissioner, and was Postmaster from 1873 to 1887. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church. He and his wife had eight children, five of whom still live, namely: Rachel J., who resides in Denver: Col.; Octave, the subject of this sketch; Emma M., wife of S. V. Proudfit, a lawyer of Glenwood, Ia.; Martha H., who married E. Martin Edwards, of Sidney Centre; and Edmund. The latter, who was born in 1839, enlisted at the breaking out of the war, and served until 1863, when he was discharged on account of sickness and returned home. In 1871, hoping to improve his health, he went to the Adirondacks, and remained in that region five years, following the occupation of guide and hunter. In I876 he returned to his native town of Hancock, and seven years later, in 1883, was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park, and held that position until the park was placed under the control of the War Department in 1886. He returned home in poor health, but in 1895 his health was greatly benefited by a course of treatment. He has served as Justice of the Peace, and votes with the Republican party.

Octave B. Fish was educated in the district schools, and in 1864, when but seventeen years of age, enlisted in Hancock in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment, Company F, and took part in the engagement on James Island, in February, 1865, serving until the close of the war, and being mustered out July 14, 1865. He then returned to his native town, where he engaged in lumbering until 1870, when he learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he has since been employed. In the spring of 1881 he went to Colorado, where he worked at his trade for a time, after which he returned to Hancock.

November 14, 1873, he married Miss Ellen M. Houck, daughter of Edwin and Mary (Read) Houck; and they have had four children: Jennie, born November 28, 1875; Sydney, born March 14, 1878; and Emma and Mary, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Fish attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and are highly respected members of society. Mr. Fish has been Constable for a number of years, is a Republican in politics, and is esteemed wherever he is known.

MRS.. EMMA (McCALL) EELLS is the widow of Edward Eells, one of Walton's old residents. She was born in Athens, Pa., in 1835, and at an early age was married to Edward Eells. Most of the years of their married life were spent in Coventry, N.Y.; but shortly before the death of Mr. Eells, on April 9, 1894, they moved to Walton, where she now resides with her children. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Eells--Granville, Benjamin, Edward, Junius, Clarence, Fannie, Adelaide, Sophronia, Georgiana, and Juliet; and all are living but three. Mrs. Eells also has seventeen grandchildren to comfort her in her declining years.

JUNIUS HIRAM EELLS is one of the successful business men of Walton, where his paternal grandfather, Benjamin B. Eells, was an early settler, coming from Connecticut in 1770. In those days horseback was the only means of travelling; and the family emigrated in that way, bringing their household goods. Benjamin's son, Jeremiah Baird, the father of Junius H. Eells, is now seventy-three years old, and for over fifty years has been in the carriage business. He founded the firm of J. B. Eells & Son, of which his son Frederick now has charge. J. B. Eells, or "Baird," as he is better known to the older residents, is one of the respected citizens of Walton: and during the late war he was elected Supervisor. He and his wife, Sarah Olmsted, are enjoying the fruit of a well-spent life in their comfortable home on North Street.

Mr. Junius H. Eells is a member of the firm of Eells & Mott, of Oneida, N.Y., and represents them on the road. He was born in Walton, February 21, 1846, and when sixteen years old entered his father's carriage-shop as an apprentice. This trade he followed for seventeen years, leaving it to travel for Spencer & Co., of Oneida, whose business was purchased by Eells & Mott over nine years ago. Mr. Eells was married December 27, 1866, to Eunice C. St. John, and four children were born to them; namely, Frank, Howard, Bessie, and Emma, of whom only Frank and Emma are living. Mrs. Eunice Eells died October 23, 1883. On February 12, 1885, Mr. Eells married his second wife, Minnie Bass Tibbals, of New York City, by whom he has had two children -- Martha and Alden. The latter died August 4, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Eells also have an adopted child, Charlotte Brownell. Mrs. Minnie B. Eells was born in Stockbridge, Mass. Her grandfather was Jonathan Chamberlain, a Colonel in the War of 1812. A sturdy and patriotic citizen, with physical powers of remarkable endurance, he lived to be eighty-two years old without the loss of a tooth; and it was his boast he did not know what the toothache meant.

In closing, it should be said that the subject of this sketch, Junius H. Eells, is one of the best-known men in the carriage trade of the East, and the business of his firm covers six or seven States. Since May 1, 1892, he and his family have occupied their spacious and comely new residence, built in the Colo-nlal style, opposite the attractive home of the North sisters.

ULYSSES S. CAMPBELL was born on Campbell Mountain on December 5, 1837. The ancestor of this family of Campbells in America, and the grandfather of Ulysses, was Archibald Campbell, born in Scotland, September 24, 1776. Early in 1800 he emigrated to America; and in Westchester, N.Y., on November 29, I803, he was married to Miss Mary Jones. Archibald moved to what is now known as the town of Colchester, but which at that time was almost a trackless wilderness. With the courage and strength that marked the Scottish emigrant, he bought a tract of this land, and immediately began the arduous task of clearing site for a habitation. There were Indians in the vicinity more to be dreaded than the wild animals of the forest, and more jealous of the encroachments of the "pale faces," who each year came in greater numbers to usurp the domains.

In spite of the almost inconceivable difficulties of the situation, he brought his wife to their humble woodland home; and amid these rough surroundings they reared a family of eleven children. Daniel C., their eldest son, born November 20, 1804, married Phoebe Bogart, and died November 22, 1874. Elizabeth, born May 7, 1806, married Eleazer Conklin, and died July 30, 1853. Mary Ann, born March 29, 1808, married David Warren. Robert, born May 4, 1809, married Hannah Radeker, and died July 5, 1891. Janette, born May 15, 1812, married Samuel Hitt, both deceased. Jane M., born May 7, 1814, married W. H. Radeker, deceased. Archibald, born September 8, 1816, married Charity Voorhees, and lives on Campbell Mountain. Cornelia, born August 1, 1818, married Josiah Warren, and died June 13,1869. John, born April 30, 1820, married Catherine Sprague, and died January 9, 1867. Esther, born June 3, 1822, married George Gregory, who died; and she was married a second time to Enoch Knapp. Caroline, born August 25, 1824, was married twice, first to George Elmwood, second to Isaac Wilson, and lives in Downsville. Archibald Campbell was left a widower, his wife Mary, who was born in Wales, June17, 1783, dying on the date of her birth, in1827 in Colchester. He returned to Scotland after his second marriage, and died in his native land on August 8, 1856. Robert Campbell, the second son of Archibald, and the father of Ulysses, started out for himself at twenty-one years of age. He bought one hundred acres of his father's !and; and then as he saw that the business in which he had embarked -- lumber dealing -- was proving a successful venture, he purchased other timber tracts, and was soon considered the most skilful steersman who floated a raft on the Delaware. All of the lumber was sent to Philadelphia down the river; and the raftsmen were piloted back to Kingston, from which point they had to walk home. This return journey of sixty miles Robert often made in a day. being of remarkable physique and very·athletic. He was deeply partisan during the anti-rent war. and was a Captain in general training at that time.

He won the hand of Miss Hannah Radeker, and to them were born five children, namely: Ulysses S.; Francis, born September 1,1839, dying November 5, 1866, who was a .Sergeant in the Civil War; Orin, born October 28, 1844, who died in 1875; Helen, born October 31, 1841, now Mrs. C. T. Bogart, living in Downsville; Celestia Jane, born October 20, 1846, who married Mr. E. Bradley, and is now dead. Robert Campbell died at the age of eighty-two years, having lived a useful Christian life worthy of the respect and imitation of all who knew him. He was a Whig in political faith and a Presbyterian in religious convictions. His wife, Mrs. Hannah Radeker, born May 26, 1804, was one of a large family, and the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Radeker. Her father was born September 9, I776, and died April 3, 1857. The dates of her mother's birth and death were May 17, 1775, and August 1, 1834.

Ulysses S. Campbell grew up on the old homestead, which he afterward bought. He enlisted in the United States service in I862 in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Volunteer infantry, and was discharged in 1863. In 1864 he re-enlisted, and remained in the ranks until the end of the struggle. In 1871 he was married, in Franklin, to Miss Sarah Francisco, a daughter of DeLancy and Jeannette (Davidson) Francisco. Mrs. Campbell's parents were among the early settlers of Colchester. Her father was born September 19, I807, and died at the age of eighty-three years. Her mother. whose home is with Mrs. Campbell, was born September 11, 1811. Mr. Campbell has held several offices, and is now Commissioner of Highways. He formerly turned his attention to dairying, and has lately bought land in Downsvi!le, where he has built a handsome residence. He has always been an advocate of Republican principles. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are in the communion of the Presbyterian church. They have no children except two by adoption, namely: Mae D., who now resides with them; and Sherwood D. Francisco, who is now married, and resides on Mr. Campbell's farm. They also gave a home to Robert C. Bradley and Orin Mathews for a number of years.

GEORGE J. HUYCK, a thriving farmer of Deposit, was born in Tompkins, N.Y., September 7, 1840, son of Peter Huyck, Jr., who was born in the same town, March 26, 1810, he being the son of Peter Huyck, a native of Schoharie County.

Isaac Huyck, father of Peter, was also born in Schoharie County, and was of Dutch descent, his ancestors having been among the original settlers of New York State, while he was one of the founders of the town of Scodic, or, as it is now called, Schoharie. Removing from that place, he eventually bought a farm in what is now Cannonsville, on Trout Creek. As time went on, improvements were made by him, and the acreage increased. Isaac Huyck died when ninety six years of age, on the farm he had cleared, and which is still held in his family. His son Peter assisted with the work on the farm, and later added to the number of acres on Trout Creek. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War he enlisted with the American forces under different commands, and many and various were the anecdotes of those exciting times he would relate to his grandchildren. He distinctly remembered the flight of his parents from their home near Kingston, whence they were driven by the Indians. Peter Huyck was married twice, first to Susana Gardner, of Kingston; and from this marriage there were four children--Lottie, Annie, George, and Isaac. He married for his second wife Cornelia Huyck, a distant relative; and from this union there were seven children -- Peter, Andrew, Jacob, Elisha, Susan, Julia, and Lavinia. Mr. Huyck lived on the homestead on Trout Creek, and died there when a very old man.

Peter Huyck, Jr., started in active business life for himself as steersman, rafting logs to Philadelphia. Later he took to buying and selling live stock, walking long distances, driving his herd before him, buying and selling as he went. At the end of a few years he bought a farm, which he stocked well, and in connection with his farm work engaged again in lumbering. When twenty-seven years of age, he married Esther Seeley, daughter of William and Mary (Benedict) Seeley, of Sidney. They had five children, namely; .William E., who married Lavinia (Begeal) Houghtaling, the widow of Elias Houghtaling, who was killed in the late war; George J., the subject of this biography; Julia A., who married Charles Downs, of Deposit; Mary E., who married William Begeal, son of Samuel and Charlotte (Barley)Begeal, of Schoharie County; and Celia Ann, who married Charles A. Palmatier, of Tompkins. Peter Huyck, Jr., still lives at this writing, scarcely showing his advanced age of eightyfive years, and remembers all important events that have occurred during his life. He was one of the founders of the Presbyterian church in his town, and its first Deacon. He was in his young days a Democrat; but at the starting of the Republican party he cast his vote with them, and has continued to do so up to the present time.

George J. Huyck received his education at the district schools, helping his father with the farm work at odd times, and had just become of age, in 1862, when the war broke out. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment, New York Volunteers, served three years; and at James Island, in front of Charleston, on February 17, 1865, was shot by two minie balls, which struck both legs. After lying in the hospital at Beaufort, S.C., he returned to the regiment, and was granted a furlough of thirty days. He reported for duty at the end of that time, and was mustered out in July of the same year. After remaining at home about two years, he went to Ricevil!e, Mitchell County, Ia., where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. He remained there three years, then sold out, returned East, and bought the homestead, where he engaged in farming, dairying, and lumbering to a certain extent. In 1892 Mr. Huyck sold that place, and went to the DeMoney farm, where he remained but a short time, as in 1894 he bought the Whitaker estate, one of the best and oldest in the country. On November 27, 1872, George J. Huyck married Ann E. Travis, of Hale's Eddy, a descendant of the old Whitaker family, the original owners of his estate, and a sister of Squire Travis, of Hale's Eddy, town of Deposit. Mr. and Mrs. Huyck have three children -- William Jan, Rutherford Squire, and Celia Ann. Mr. Huyck is a member of the Presbyterian church, and his wife a member of the Baptist church of Tompkins. He was a charter member of Hathaway Post, Grand Army of the Republic, Deposit, and is honored and respected as a patriotic and useful citizen.

GURDEN W. BATES, a descendant of an old and honorable Scottish family, was born in the town of Colchester, Delaware County, N.Y., October 13, 1863. His great-grandfather, Robert Bates, left Monedie, Scotland, in 1801, and came to America, bringing papers attesting a highly honorable Christian parentage.

James, the grandfather of Gurden, was a boy of ten years when his father emigrated to this country; and he grew up thoroughly imbued with American ideas and Republican principles. He owned a place in Delhi, which he sold, and then settled on the estate in Colchester known as the "Squire Tate farm," a tract of four hundred acres of land, Here he conducted an extensive business in lumber dealing, floating his timbers down the Delaware to their markets. He belonged to the political party known as Whig in his generation, and was of the old-school Presbyterian faith. To him and his wife, Elizabeth Bates, were born six children, namely: Mary, the wife of William Polleck, of Iowa; Sarah. the wife of Mr. Jared Fuller, of Iowa; Harriet, who married Simon Horton, both dead; Robert; James, Jr., who married Amanda Dann, of New York City; Gurden E., who, after serving in the Civil War, went to Kansas, and died there in 1888.

Robert Bates, son of James, was born in Delhi on February 25, I823. He was educated in the district schools, and worked with his father in the lumber business until he was twenty-four years old, when he married Miss Mary Wilson, a daughter of John and Millicent (Rumsey) Wilson. Robert Bates bought the northern portion of his father's farm when he first began farming, and finally purchased the entire estate. He was largely engaged in lumber dealing, in which he was eminently successful. He held the office of Postmaster from 1849 to 1852, and was Justice of the Peace for twelve years. He was a Republican, and in 1879 was elected a member of the Assembly, and was Sabbath-school superintendent for thirteen years. He died on the 13th of July, I888, leaving his wife, who survived him two years. Gurden W. Bates, son of Robert and Mary (Wilson) Bates, grew up and was educated in his native town of Colchester. After his father's death he took complete control of the home farm. He and his widowed mother moved afterward to Downsville, when the latter died. Mr. Gurden Bates was appointed Deputy Sheriff in the autumn of 1889, and continues to hold this office. He belongs to the Republican party in politics, and is in the communion of the Presbyterian church.

CHARLES R. SCOFIELD is a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family of the town of Masonville. His birth occurred on the farm where he now resides, March 26, 1853, it being the home of his parents, .Hiram and Angeline (Olmstead) Scofield, the former of whom was born in the town of Half Moon, Saratoga County, May 27, 1812, and the latter in Masonvil!e, October 10, 1814.

His paternal grandfather, Gilbert Scofield, and his maternal grandfather, Benjamin Olmstead, both served as soldiers in the Revolution. The former was of English ancestry, and the latter of English and German. Gilbert Scofield came to Masonville with his family in 1813, and bought the farm adjoining the one where his grandson now resides, it being then in a wild and unimproved condition, a small opening on which a rude log house had been built being the only attempt at improvement. On a hill near by Mrs. Scofield, when returning from a neighbor's one evening, was chased by wolves. She carried a pine torch in her hand, and was thus seen by her husband, who took a torch and ran out to meet her. Gilbert Scofield was an ingenious man, and before the invention of iron and steel ploughs used to make wooden ones to use in cultivating his land. He was the first person in town to introduce a cook-stove into his household. He died when but fifty-five years old, his wife living to the age of eighty-one. Both were members of the Baptist church; and, politically, he was a Democrat. Of their large family of ten children, Hiram, the father of Charles, is the only one now living. Benjamin Olmstead was also an early settler of Masonville, and managed a fine farm . of one hundred acres. He was of great assistance in building up the town, and one of the strong workers in the Baptist church. He had two wives, each of whom bore him two children, Angeline being a daughter of his first marriage. Both he and his last wife died when about seventy years of age. Hiram Scofield grew to manhood in Masonville, receiving his schooling in the log school-house, which, with 'its pin-legged' benches stood two or three mi!es from his home. On September 8, 1836, he was united in marriage to Angeline Olmstead, the Rev. Henry Robertson, who now resides in Bennettsville, performing the ceremony. After his marriage he bought !and near the old homestead, a part of which he already owned, and on which he engaged in general farming and stock-raising for many years. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and has always been influential in local affairs, having served as Supervisor one term, besides holding minor offices. He is yet vigorous in intellect and body for one of his advanced years, and is looked upon with respect and esteem. He is liberal in his religious views. Of the nine children born to him and his wife, who passed away July 30, 1888, eight grew to maturity and six are now living, the family, record being as follows: Gilbert B., born August 6, 1839, was married, and died May 15, 1886. in Deadwood, Dak.: Adaline, born May 3, I841, died July 28, I863; Matilda A.. born December 16, 1842, is the wife of William Mosher, of Bainbridge; Louisa, born October 2, 1844. is the widow of Emerson French, and resides in Morrisville; Mary, born August 8, 1846. is the wife of Oscar Broad, of North Sanford; Hiram E., born July 12, I848, died March 25, 1849; Oscar, born February 7, 1850, is a resident of Carlisle, Pa., where he owns a creamery; Charles R.; Ella T., born March 14. 1855, is the wife of Levi Olmstead, of North Sanford.

Charles R. has spent the larger part of his life in the place of his nativity, having acquired his education in its district schools and in the academy in Unadilla. He remained a member of the parental homestead until attaining his majority, when he began life for himself. He has devoted his attention to cultivating the soil, and for three years was a resident of Alton, where he owned a good farm of one hundred and eight acres. This he sold in order to buy the homestead of his parents, of which he took possession in 1892, and which he and his estimable wife are now managing with profit. His farm, containing one hundred and forty-nine acres, is pleasantly located, well supplied with substantial buildings, and stocked with Jersey grade cattle.

On November 1, 1876, Mr. Scofield married Miss Deeta Keith; who was born July 21, 1853, in Milford Centre, Otsego County, being a daughter of Amos and Lydia (Scott) Keith, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. Mr. Keith was a shoemaker by trade, but after his removal to Milford he engaged in farming. He died at the age of seventy-six years. His widow is still living, and makes her home in Binghamton with her daughter, Mrs. William Darling. He was a sound Republican, and both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. They reared ten children, eight of whom are living. namely: Andrew Jackson, of Hornellsvi!le; Lockwood, of Bainbridge; Mary Darling residing in Binghamton; Newton of Masonville; Eliza Phelps, of Chicago; George and Albert, of Sidney; and Mrs. Scofield. The deceased were Luzerne, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Angeline Green. who died in Binghamton, at thirty-four. Mr. and Mrs. Scofield have four children: Harvey F., born January 11, 1879; Emerson C., born September 2, 1885; Florence A., born November 30, 1889; and Mary E., born June 29, 1891. Both parents are valued members of the Baptist church, and in politics Mr. Scofield is closely identified with the Democratic party. A man of undoubted integrity, he is a member of Masonville Lodge, No. 606, A. F.& A. M.

JOHN M. ORR was born on the farm in Kortright, where he now resides and has lived throughout his life. He belongs to an old and prominent family, the members of which have been connected with the history of this town since the beginning of the century. Mr. Orr's grandfather, John Orr, was a native of Ireland and a pioneer of Kortright, where he located his habitation about the year 1800, buying half of the land now occupied by the subject of this sketch. The tract consisted of one hundred acres, partially improved, containing a small clearing and a log house; and here he resided for many years, the latter part of his life being spent in Kortright. John Orr was an industrious and religious man. He died at the age of seventv-five years, his wife Elizabeth also living to a good old age. Both were members of the United Presbyterian church; and they were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters, all of whom have passed away. Their son, David Orr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but at the age of twenty-one years came to America, where he married Nancy Spencer, of Davenport, N.Y. He was a weaver by trade, but gave his whole attention to farming in this country'. His new occupation proved eminently successful, and he became the owner of two hundred and fifty-two acres of land. His death occurred in the town of Kortright, at the age of eighty-three years, his wife dying when sixty-five years old, both members of the Presbyterian church. Of their eleven children, six still survive, namely: Elizabeth, a resident of Kortright; Robert. who lives in Almeda; John, the subject of this biography; Joseph, of Kortright; William, also residing in Kortright; David M., a resident of Davenport. The following have passed away: Sarah. Nancy, Hester, Mary, and James.

John M. Orr was born November 12, 1823. and grew up on the old home farm, attending the district school. In early manhood he purchased the old homestead, where he resided for twenty-six years, and then bought the farm which he now occupies, on the Beatty Brook road. He owns two hundred and sixty-two acres, carrying on general farming and dairying. He has fifty cows, and manufactures butter of the finest quality.

On January 20, 1856, Mr. Orr married Miss Mary J. Pogue, who was born in Kortright, August 8, 1836, a daughter of John and Hannah (Kilpatrick) Pogue. Mr. Pogue was a native of Ireland, and died at the age of fifty-two years, his wife, who was born in Kortright, living until her sixty-second year. Both were Presbyterians. Mr. and Mrs. Orr have been called to part with one child, Mary F., wife of J. S. Porter, who died at the age of thirty-three years; and they have three children now living, namely: James K, who resides at home and assists his father in the management of the farm; David W., who also helps on the home farm; and Jenny H., wife of Robert S. McCracken, a farmer of Kortright. James K. Orr, e!dest son of John M., has taken an active part in politics, having been nominated for Supervisor by the Democratic party. He is a single man, of liberal religious views, and is a very successful farmer. Mr. Orr's farm is carried on under the firm name of J. M. Orr & Sons, and is one of the most thriving in this section of the country. The family attend the Presbyterian church, of which David Orr is a Deacon. They are highly respected and honored throughout the town, where they reside, the entire family being industrious, energetic, and upright. A portrait of this worthy representative of the sagacious and thriving agriculturists of Delaware County will be found on a neighboring page.

THOMAS HILL proprietor, and manager of the Ackerly Hotel in Margaretville, was born in Shaken, Ulster County, on April 19, 1846 and is a grandson of Andrew Hill, of Peekskill, who was a large landholder, and one of the first projectors of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad. Andrew S Hill lived to an honorable old age, having been an energetic and successful worker for the Democratic party. in whose principles he was thoroughly and intelligently versed. Six sons were: born to him, namely: Abraham; William; Samuel; John; Andrew, Jr; and Thomas--all of whom are now dead. Thomas Hill of the second generation, and the father of the Thomas of whom this sketch is written, was also a large land-owner, and was engaged as a merchant farmer and !umber dealer. He was a member of the legislature in 1864, and was an ardent Democrat and able politician. He heId the office of Supervisor, and was prominent in civic affairs generally. In 1840 he married Maria Russell, a daughter of William Russell, a farmer of Ulster County, who was successful in business and the father of a large family. The number of descendants was repeated in this generation, six children being born to Thomas and Maria (Russell) Hill. One of their sons was Joseph, who married Elizabeth Hogan, and who lives with his family at Shokan. Thomas Hill, the younger, with whose name this article begins, was educated in the Shokan school, and began business at the age of twenty-two years at Shankaken as a merchant, continuing in mercantile life for eighteen years, after which period he bought the Ackerly Hotel in Margarettville, which is still under his management. Mr. Hill won for his wife Miss Jessie Burhaus, a daughter of Francis B. and Louisa (Preston) Burhaus. Three children were born of this union, as follows: Maud, born February 3, 1870; Thomas B., now dead, born February 15, 1874; and Jessie M., born on August 20, 1876. Following the family traditions, Mr. Hill is what may be called a "born" Democrat, and holds a political office after the manner of his forefathers.

Mrs. Hill's father, Francis B. Burhaus, was a son of Edward Burhaus, Jr., and a grandson of Edward and Mary Newman Burhaus. Edward, the ancestor, was a native of Kingston, coming after the Revolutionary War to Roxbury, where he bought the farm now owned by R. Moore. Francis B. Burhaus started to earn his own living at fourteen years of age, but shortly abandoned farming and learned the trade of blacksmith, in which he was very successful. He afterward travelled as far west as Chicago, and in all the States on this side of the Mississippi River, for Pratt. Snyder & Co., oil-cloth manufacturers. He next went into the hotel business, which he finally gave up to enter mercantile life. He is a resident of Margarettville.

JOHN O. WHITAKER, a farmer of Trout Creek, in Tompkins, Delaware County, a representative of a well-known pioneer family, was born in this town, August 27, 1849. He is a great-grandson of Benjamin Whitaker, who was a pioneer of Wyoming Valley, Pa., and with his family was obliged to flee from the Indians and Tories at the time of the massacre, his wife bringing her baby on her back, while he carried the older child. Together they made their way on foot to the Delaware Valley, where Benjamin Whitaker built a house on the left bank of the river, and resided here until his death at an advanced age. His son John, the baby brought on that long and weary journey from Wyoming, having grown to manhood and, settled near what is now. Sanford, Broome County, and, after clearing the land, erected the buildings which still stand on the place. He married Catherine Weaver; and they had these children--Squire, Henry, Ogden, Stephen, Richard, Elizabeth, Zilpha, Phebe, Polly, Catherine, and Margaret. John Whitaker died at the age of ninety-six years.

Richard Whitaker, the father of the subject of this biography, was born October 7, 1816, in Sanford, and attended the district school and assisted his parents on the farm. When twenty-one, he purchased a farm in Sanford. which he sold four years later, buying the farm now occupied by his son. He married Polly Ann Hill, born February 22, 1816, daughter of lsaac and Clarissa (Parks) Hill, of Tompkins. Mrs. Polly A. Whitaker died April 20, 1883. Isaac Hill was a pioneer farmer of that section. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Whitaker were the following: Josephine, born February 24, 1845, the wife of William H. Brewer. a farmer of Masonville, died January 8, 1894, leaving four children, namely: Martha E., born January l, 1872; Marion E., born March 3, 1873; Alberta L., born September 3, 1875; and Helen M, born January 8, 1883. Fredonia, born January 13, 1847, married Albert Gould, of Groton, Tompkins County, and has four children: Alice, born February 2, 1871; Rosa M., born in April, 1873, Mary, born in 1875, and Frank. John O. is the subject of this biography. Orville R., born May 10,1853, married Helen McLean, of Owego, Tioga County, and has three children: Ole M., born March 8, 1875; Oscar F., born October 1, 1877; and Charles R., born July 20, 1881

John O. Whitaker attended the district school of his native town, and adopted a farmer's life. On November 18, 1874, he married Laura Matleson, born September 15, 1859, daughter of Albert and Catherine (Davis) Matleson, of Masonville, her father being a farmer and carpenter of that town. Jonathan Davis, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Whitaker, was a life-long resident of Exeter, Otsego County, where he passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker have two children: Clara, born September 9, 1875; .and Blanche, born June 1, 1881. Mr. Whitaker is a man of good character, upright in conduct, and is held in high respect by his neighbors and friends.

HENRY J. DICKSON, a prominent citizen of Andes, Delaware County, where he is a large owner of mills and other property, was born September 17, 1858, being the son of John and Alice (Gladstone) Dickson. His grandparents, James and Jane (Trotter) Dickson, came to America in 1816. Though a carpenter by trade, Mr. Dickson took a farm of a hundred and forty acres in the town of Andes, which is the estate now occupied by James Armstrong. Their children were nine in number. Elizabeth Dickson married John Baker, and is now dead. William Dickson married a Miss Holmes, and is also dead. Thomas Dickson, no longer living, married Mary Turnbull. James Dickson, a resident of Andes, married Elizabeth Davis. Mary Dickson, deceased, married Edward Turnbull. John Dickson married for his first wife Alice Gladstone, and his second wife was Elizabeth Oliver. Peter Dickson married Eliza Bank, and they are living in Pennsylvania. Henry Dickson, deceased, married Esther Gladstone. Ellen Dickson married Amos Frisbee, and their home is in Gladstone Hollow.

John Dickson, the father of Henry J., was born March 30, 1827, at the old homestead. and was educated in the common schools. As his father died while he was still young, his self-reliance was early developed; and at the age of twenty years he was engaged as a carpenter. While still a young man, he bought a farm of eight acres of D. Ballentine, but soon sold this parcel of land, and, marrying. purchased a farm and settled in Gladstone Hollow, in Andes. He became the father of six children, as follows: Walter, Maggie, and Mary A. Dickson, all of whom are dead; Henry J. Dickson, the subject of this sketch; Esther Dickson, who married George E. Gladstone, a merchant in Margarettville, and has one child; William Dickson, living at home. After a time John Dickson sold the farm at Gladstone Hollow, and bought the present home in the village, with its ninety acres of land. He is a Republican, a member of the United Presbyterian church, and holds the office of Assessor.

Henry J. Dickson was educated at the academy of his native town. At twenty-five years of age he turned his attention to agriculture, taking his father's farm; but at the end of three years he sold two hundred acres to Reed Dumond, and moved into the village of Andes. Here he bought of his uncle, Peter Dickson, a store filled with general merchandise and agricultural implements of all kinds; also a grist-mill, where he engaged in manufacturing by the roller process buckwheat flour, buying the grain and grinding it into different kinds of feed. For the first nine months he managed the entire business alone. Then in 1886 he took as a partner Walter J. Armstrong, son of Walter Armstrong, living in the village. A sketch of the Armstrong family may be found elsewhere in this volume. The grist-mill which Henry Dickson bought of Peter Dickson was originally a carding and fulling mill, and was built by the Waterburys about the year I830. In 1887 Mr. Dickson rebuilt the mill, putting in a steam-engine of twenty-five horsepower, to be used in midwinter and summer. Attached to this mill he now has a firkin factory, and he is also the owner of a planing and saw mill. Among his other possessions are a tenement house and a building containing a photograph gallery, law office, and dress-making establishment. He also owns real estate in Delhi. Henry J. Dickson, married Kate Lawson, daughter of James and Nancy McGregory, of Delhi. Jennie McGregory, a sister of Mrs. Dickson, married Adam Rutherford. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson have four children: Ray Dickson, born in 1884; Alice Dickson, born in 1887; Lynn Dickson, born in 1890; and Clifford Dickson, born in 1892. The family residence is a fine mansion situated on Main Street, surrounded by beautiful grounds. Mr. Dickson is a Republican, a member of the United Presbyterian church, and a man of large ability and influence. He is very useful in the community, and has much to do with the prosperity of his town.

AUGUSTUS J. CARPENTER, a retired farmer, who occupies a pleasant home in the village of Walton, may be classed as one of the self-made men of Delaware County, having begun his career without other resources than his own indomitable will and persevering industry. He was born in the town of Hamden, Delaware County, in 1844, and is a son of John L. Carpenter, a farmer by occupation, who married Juliet Smith, daughter of Benjamin Smith. At the age of thirty-six years she was called from this life, and was followed the next year by her husband. Four sons, the eldest of whom was but thirteen years old, were left orphans, and were subsequently cared for by kind neighbors and friends.

Augustus J. Carpenter was nine years old when the death of his father occurred, and he was taken to the home of a neighbor with whom he lived for a year. He then became an inmate of the household of a relative, Jotham Scudder, a blacksmith, residing near Delhi, with whom he lived until attaining his majority. He received a limited amount of schooling, and became familiar with the trade of a blacksmith; but work at the forge having no attractions for him, he turned his attention to agriculture, and went to work on a farm by the month. Being hard-working and economical in his habits, he saved some money, and in 1878 bought one hundred and six acres of good land in the town of Masonville, where he carried on general farming with excellent results. In I893 he sold his farm and removed to the village of Walton, where he is now enjoying the fruits of his earlier years of labor.

Mr. Carpenter has been twice married. On February 4, 1869, he was wedded to Alida Cramer, daughter of William and Polly(Munson) Cramer, all natives of Delaware County.

She died on the farm in Masonville, March 12, 1885, leaving one son, William. Since her death Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret (Wright) Ogden, daughter of Malcom and Margaret (Shaw) Wright, and widow of the late Edward Ogden, who died in the village of Walton, in March, 1871, being then but thirty-six years old. Mr. Ogden was born in Walton, son of Abram and Margaret (Sawyer) Ogden, who removed here from New Jersey. His great-grandfather was one of the earliest settlers of the county; and his grandfather, Daniel Ogden, cleared and improved a fine farm, four miles from Walton, on West Brook, the farm now being owned and occupied by William H. Ogden, a son of Mrs. Carpenter. Mr. Wright, the father of Mrs. Carpenter, was born in Scotland, emigrating from there when a young man. His wife, Margaret Shaw, was a native of Delhi. Three sons and six daughters were born of their union, all of whom, with the exception of two daughters, are now living. Of the union of Margaret Wright and Edward Ogden eight children were born, three of whom are deceased; namely, Eliza, Emily, and Charles. Eliza died at the age of twenty-two years. Emily, who married Platt Hanford, died in 1887, at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving an infant daughter. Charles married Imelda Beers, he died May 1, 1892, aged thirty years, leaving his widow and two children - Thurman and Louise. The names of the living children are as follows: William H. who resides on the Ogden farm, as before mentioned: Julia, who was graduated from the Walton High school, was a successful teacher, and is the wife of Edwin Guild; Jennie, an active young lady, living with her brother on the farm; John, a harness-maker; and James, a salesman in a hardware store in Oxford.

JOHN W. GOULD, a prosperous farmer of Hancock, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1830, and was brought to this country by his parents when but two years of age. His father, John Gould, was a stone-mason, who came to this country with his family and settled in Newburg on the Hudson, where he was very successful in his trade of stone-cutting. In 1842 he exchanged his property in that place for eight hundred and fifty acres of land in the wilderness of what was then considered the West. Hiring a guide to pilot them through the forest, they made the journey to Westfield in wagons; and from there seven ox teams hitched to wood shod sleds transported them to what is now called Gould's settlement. They were the pioneers of this section, it being five years before any other settlers came here. John Gould married Mary Gillard, of his native town; and they had eight children at the time of their removal to Hancock, four of whom had been born in England. After settling in that town, he was head mason for the Erie Railroad, and was employed on many public works in the State, being exceptionally skilful. In his forty-ninth year, while engaged in drawing logs to a mill, he was killed by the rolling of a huge log. His life had been one of untiring industry, and his death occurred just as he was rising to easy circumstances. His wife survived him about six years.

John W., being the eldest son and about twenty-four years of age, was now called to the management of the farm. He subsequently purchased two hundred and thirty-two acres of land near the old homestead, and erected a substantial frame house and commodious farm buildings, there being no roads within six miles of his farm. At the breaking out of the war he went to Hancock to enlist in his country's service, but was persuaded by his seven brothers, who were already enrolled, to remain at home and care for their families. He is the eldest of twelve children, nine of whom grew to maturity, namely: John W.; George, who was a soldier in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York State Volunteers; Hannah, who married Marvin Thomas, a farmer in Gould's settlement: James, a soldier in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment, now a resident of California; William, a member of the same regiment; Richard, who enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-third New York State Volunteers; Henry, a soldier of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York State Volunteers; Charles, who died in service in the Tenth Legion Excelsior Brigade; Wesley, a soldier of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania.

September 9, 1860, John W. Gould married Sarah Jane Lobdell, daughter of James and Sarah (Cowell) Lobdell, of Westerlo, Albany County. Mrs. Gould's father and her grandfather were both ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were pioneers of Albany County. Mr. And Mrs. Gould are members of the Methodist Episcopal church; and Mr. Gould has for seven years been Assessor of the town, and has also held the office of Notary Public. He is now engaged in farming and wool-growing, in which he is very successful. He has no children of his own, but he and his wife have educated and brought up three who were of other families. Mr. Gould cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, and has always voted with the Republican party. He is universally regarded with respect and esteem, wherever know.

ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, an extensive farmer in the town of Colchester, now retired from active life, was born September 6, 1816. His father, Archibald Campbell, Sr., a British soldier for five years, was born in Scotland in 1776. After coming to America he married Mary Jones, of Wales, and settled in Westchester County, where he was overseer of a large farm. Tiring of his position, and eager for a home of his own, he shortly ventured westward, with only a pack of small articles to pay his way. He journeyed on through the wilderness of uncleared land, occasionally meeting a family, until at last he reached Brock Mountain and secured of Charles Teed a small tract of land. He returned for his wife; and, accompanied by her and their three children, he again departed for the new home, where he lived a short time. And then he bought the site now owned by his son Archibald, and moved here, leasing one hundred and twelve acres. At different times he added land to his estate, which he cleared with the help of his son, and, building a saw-mill, sawed the timber and ran the lumber down the river to market.

The elder Archibald and his wife Mary had eleven children, namely: Daniel, who was born November 20, 1804, and married Phebe Bogart; Elizabeth, who was born May 14, 1806, and married Eleazer Conklin; Mary Ann, who was born March 29, 1808, and married David Warren; Robert, who was born May 5, 1809, and married Hannah Radeker; Jennett, who was born May 15, 1812, and married Samuel Hitt; Jane Maria, who was born May 7, 1814 and married William H. Radeker; Archibald, subject of this sketch; Cornelia, who was born August 1, 1818, and married Josiah Warren; John, who was born April 30, 1820, and married Catherine Sprague; Esther, who was born June 3, 1822, and married George Gregory; Caroline, who was born August 25, 1825, and married George Elwood. When his wife died, the father became discontented with his home, and, selling the farm to his sons, returned to Scotland and married a lady whom he had known and loved before he came to America. He died there August 30, 1856.

Archibald Campbell, third son of Archibald and Mary Campbell, bought a part of the estate and continued the work of lumbering, clearing the land and raising grain and stock. He married Charity, daughter of John C. Voorhees, a farmer of Sullivan County; and they had a family of ten children, as follows: Henry, who was born December 20, 1844, and married Laura Radeker; Sarah, who was born September 12, 1846, and married Mr. A. Cowen; James, who was born June 25, 1849, and married Luritta Jellett; John, who was born May 27, 1851; Archibald Jr., who was born April 30, 1853; Charles, who was born February 26, 1856, and married Mary Shell; Colin, who was born in 1857, and married Sarah Johnston; Duncan, who was born October 23, 1859; Horace, who was born September 17, 1861; and Hugh, who was born November 16, 1863, and married Minnie Gregory.

Mr. Campbell has made many additions to his farm, and now owns over five hundred acres, keeping twenty-five cows and a large stock of sheep. The old buildings have been remodeled, and new ones erected; but since his wife's death, March 27, 1892, he has rented his farm to his son, and now lives a retired life. Mr. Campbell was a Whig in politics, but is now a Prohibitionist. He is an esteemed member of the Presbyterian church, to which his wife also belonged. He has been very successful as a farmer, and his estate still prospers under the management of his son.

ABRAHAM VAN STEINBURG, a prosperous farmer of Andes, Delaware County, was born in this town October 13, 1850. He is an industrious man, greatly esteemed, and enjoying well-deserved success. In politics he is a Republican.

His grandfather, William Van Steinburg, settled on a farm near New Kingston in Middletown, and had a family of six children - George, Jacob, Jane, Barnett, Catherine, and Sally. He was a very active man, and a thriving agriculturist, but died in middle life. George, his eldest son, was educated and grew to manhood in his native town. He married Antoinette, daughter of Dr. George Stead, one of the best ;physicians of Delaware County, who was in practice with Dr. Cohoon, the first doctor in the county. Dr. Stead became blind, and after his affliction practiced for thirty years, his wife visiting his patients with him. George and Antoinette Van Steinburg had a family of ten children - Mary, Aaron, William, John, Abraham, Richard, Ella, Elizabeth, Colonel, and Almon. Mr. Van Steinburg bought one hundred and thirty acres of heavily timbered land, joining the Stead farm, on which he built a house and barn. He soon sold out, and rented a farm on Perch Hill, afterward buying one hundred and thirty-seven acres on Barkerboom Creek, where he lived for twenty-eight years. With his two sons, William and Aaron, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Infantry in 1862, and served during the war. After his wife's death he sold his farm and retired from active work. He is a Republican in politics, and has lived a busy life, being highly respected by all who know him.

Abraham, the fourth son, as enumerated above, was sixteen years of age when he first began his farming career. He worked on various farms in the vicinity, and later bought one hundred and seventy-six acres of uncleared land near Barkerboom Creek, on which was a log house. He had not intended that for a home; but at one time, when he was away on business, his wife moved their goods through the wilderness to the cabin, and was keeping house there on his return. Encouraged to continue his undertakings, he bought more land, making in all four hundred and seventy-nine acres, which he cleared, floating the lumber down the Delaware River to Philadelphia. Many extensive improvements have been made on his farm; and he now has three large barns, a house, milk-house, and a blacksmith's shop for his own convenience. He had forty cows and as many sheep, several men being hired to assist him in the work.

He married Phebe, daughter of William Sprague, a successful farmer of Middletown who had a family of six children: Carrie, Elizabeth, and George, who are dead; Phebe , who was born April 28, 1850; Aaron in Ulster County who married Phebe Dunning; and Ezra, a carpenter of Ulster County who married Ada Clayton. Mr. And Mrs. Van Steinburg have seven children; Mary, born January 8, 1869, who married George Rosencranse, and lives in Stamford: George, born April 14, 1875: Jessie, born May 21, 1877; Harvey, born May 26, 1879; Cassie, born December 28, 1882; Fannie, born November 4, 1883; and Lola, born May 24, 1885.

DAVID B. WOODIN is one of the leading contractors and builders of Delaware County, and is conspicuously identified with the building interests of the town of Sidney, where he has resided since 1893. During the past ten years many of the more important buildings of Sidney and Walton were erected under his supervision and that of his brother, who was until lately in business with him - among them, the spacious house of J. H. ells, Dr. Hawley's fine residence, that of the late Dr. Alexander Montgomery, and the elegant and commodious dwelling of Dr. Stone.

Mr. Woodin is a native of Delaware County, and was born in the town of Andes in 1857. His grandfather, Henry Woodin, was born in Putnam County, Conn.. in 1798. and when a young man, came to this county, casting, in his lot with the early settlers of the town of Andes where he took up a tract (of timber land. from which in the course of time he cleared a farm. His industry and frugality met with their natural reward; and he became one of the -well-to-do agriculturists of the town, residing, on the homestead which he had wrested from the forest until his death in 1882. He was twice married, choosing for his first wife a Miss Hamilton, of Andes. She bore him four sons and three daughters. of whom three sons and two daughters are now living, Edwin Woodin, father of the subject of this sketch. being the eldest child. After the death of the mother of these children, Henry Woodin married Catherine Roney: and she became the mother of five children, four sons and one daughter, all of whom are now living. One of them. Henry, residing with his mother on the old home farm. She: is a bright, active woman, and has full charge of the affairs of the household.

Edwin Woodin, father of David B., was born about seventy years ago and in 1835 married Jane Murphy, who after thirty-three years of wedded life passed to her reward, in February, 1888, leaving him five sons, as follows: David B.; William, a contractor and builder, living in Walton; Andrew, who is in the employment of his eldest brother; Sherman, a farmer, living in Andes; and Edwin, who is working with his brother William in Walton. The father still resides in the town of Andes.

David R Woodin was reared in the town of his birth, and received a fair education in its public schools. acquiring a practical knowledge of his father's business before reaching the years of maturity. After following his trade for some time in Andes, he established himself in business in Walton, where. in company with his brother William, he remained for about six years. His health failing, he was obliged to give up active work for a while, leaving his brother to carry on the business alone, and the latter being still thus engaged. Mr. Woodin removed to Sidney in the summer of'1893, and now occupies a fine residence on Pike Street, the house being of his own construction. He has a large and constantly increasing business and ranks among the foremost citizens of the place.

Mr. Woodin was married April 9, 1885, to Emma Shafer, of Andes, daughter of Washington and Jane (Fuller) Shafer, the remaining children of her parents being as follows: Mary, the wife of H. D. Mayhan, residing in Buffalo, N.Y.; Ella, who married George E. Lawrence, and lives in Creston, Ia.; Emma; and Ada, wife of E. T. Hoose, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her mother passed from this life in 1884; and Mr. Shafer, now an aged man, lives with his daughter, Mrs. Woodin. The union of Mr. And Mrs. Woodin has been blessed by the advent of one child, Irving D., a bright boy of seven years. Mr. Woodin takes a warm interest in public affairs, and usually casts his vote with the Democratic party, although reserving the right to support the candidate he deems best fitted to perform the duties of public office.

JESSE MURDOCK is a representative farmer and dairyman of Masonville, industrious, progressive, and highly respected throughout the town where he resides. His father, George Murdock, emigrated from the eastern part of the State of New York when quite young, and settled in Caroline, Tompkins County, early in this century, where he followed his trade of stonemason. He married Ruth Knickerbocker, daughter of a pioneer of Roxbury, and a descendant of the old New York family of that name, whose ancestors came from Holland. George Murdock and wife were the parents of six children, namely; Edgar, who married Miss Cash, of Sidney, and there spent the latter part of his life; Harvey; George; Catherine A., wife of Edwin H. Shaw of Sheboygan, Wis.; John J. a farmer in south Bainbridge; and Jesse, the subject of this sketch.

Jesse Murdock was born at Caroline, March 6, 1832, and was educated at the district schools of his native town. He began life as a farmer, and was employed at farm labor in various places. About 1860 he settled in Masonville on the farm where he now resides and carries on a dairy. On July 10, 1864, he married a daughter of Isaiah Booth, who was a native of Delaware County, where he was engaged in farming and operating a dairy. Mr. and 'Mrs. Murdock have three children - Della, George, and Lilian - all of whom were educated at Masonville, and live with their parents. Mr. Murdock is an upright, useful, and valued citizen.

DAVID ANDERSON, the son of Andrew and Sarah (Brotherton) Anderson, was born in Bethel, Sullivan County, N.Y., on September 3, 1822. His father came from the north of Ireland to New York City where he found employment as a car-man, and where he married Miss Brotherton. After his marriage, with a wisdom one wishes many more city denizens might emulate, he left the crowded city streets, and went to Sullivan County, where he bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres. Here, amid the wholesome surroundings of country life, he and his wife raised a family of ten children, namely: Thomas, born November 5, 1804; William, February 18, 1806; Andrew, April 29, 1808; Eliza, February 18, 1810; James, October 29, 1812; Ellen, March 4, 1814; Sarah, April 24, 1816; Samuel, October 24, 1820; David, September 3, 1822; Maria, December 28, 1824. Samuel is living in Newark, N.J.; and Maria, now a widow, lives in New York City. Andrew Anderson was an industrious man, whose labors were crowned with success. In politics he was a Democrat. He died in the prime and vigor of life, at the age of fifty-three years. His wife, who died before him, was a member of the Presbyterian church.

David Anderson, with whose history this sketch has mainly to deal, passed the years of child life and boyhood in the village of his birth, where he was educated. His first enterprise was one which requires some experience as well as good judgment to insure success. This venture was hotel-keeping in the old Radiker house in Colchester, now used as a private residence. It was built by Jacob Radiker, and was the first inn in this section of the country. After three years Mr. Anderson left the village, and moved to the Garrison farm on Campbell Mountain, and stayed there for a period of eight years. One year was passed at the Elwood farm. Then he came to Downsville, where he bought property at the lower end of the village, and built a hotel, now known as the Anderson House. The situation is one of the best in Downsville, and the house is very popular. Mr. Anderson conducts a livery in connection with his hotel business, so that his patrons may have the benefit of the lovely river drives about the country.

David Anderson's first wife was Miss Emeline Bennet, by whom he had two daughters, only one of whom is now living, namely, Sarah, who married Mr. A. Tyler, was left a widow, and has since married again. Her sister who died was named Eliza. Mr. Anderson's second wife, to whom he was married on December 13, 1857, was Miss Emily Jane Williams, a daughter of Thomas and Laura Williams. The father of Mrs. Williams died in Oswego. He and his wife raised a family of seven children: Emily Jane, now Mrs. Anderson; Julia F.; George K.; Elizabeth; William D.; Mather; and Ida.

David Anderson is a man whose ability is recognized by all with whom he comes in contact. Mrs. Anderson is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while he is liberal in his religious views. Mr. Anderson brought up and educated a nephew of his wife. E. T. Smith, who has proved himself a worthy recipient of the benefits bestowed upon him. He is one of the leading merchants in Downsville, and won for his wife a daughter of Dr. G. P. Bassett.

JOHN HEDGE was born in the town of Bovina. December 17, 1821, and was the son of Francis and Susan (Boyd) Hedge, both natives of North Ireland. Francis Hedge was born in 1769, and emigrated to America in 1827, bringing with him a family of twelve children, which was augmented by the addition of two of American birth after his arrival in the land of the brave Francis Hedge bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Bovina. which he cleared, and upon which he put up several buildings. This was sold at an advance, and two hundred acres of land was purchased near Walton. Here he lived until his death in, 1841. He was a Democrat and a Presbyterian.

John was quite young when his father died; and the care of the farm fell to his lot, which cut short his educational pursuits, and forced him to turn his whole energies toward practical farming. He married Miss Nancy Hamilton, whose parents were natives of Bovina, though they had moved in later years to Delhi, where they raised a family of seven children -Thomas, Nancy, James. Andrew, John, Elizabeth, and William. Subsequent to his marriage Mr. Hedge moved to Hamden where he bought a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, which he afterward sold, coming to Colchester. and buying from Seth White, of Delhi, a tract of one hundred and eighty acres, one mile from the river in Terry Cove. This estate is in a most desirable situation. Its trout streams afford excellent sport for the fisherman, as well as delicious material for the housekeeper's culinary art.

Comfortable buildings, attractive scenery, and pleasant surroundings all combine to make this a most charming home for the family of children who were reared here: William Francis, who died young. Lydia Jane who also died in childhood; John A., who married Miss Isabella Davis. and lives in Syracuse; Andrew, born May 4. 1868; Frank L; and Libbie L. Mr. Hedge owns. Besides his herd of cows which supply his excellent and remunerative dairy, a flock of thirty sheep and some fine horses and oxen. He is a stanch Democrat, and is a religious man.

JAMES A. GIBSON, a highly intelligent and wealthy farmer of Kortright, in the north-eastern part of Delaware County, was born on the farm where he now resides, August 16, 1851. His father, Adam Gibson, of Ireland, married Dora Whigham, of the same country, and came with her to America in 1834, settling in Kortright. In 1837 he purchased the farm where the subject of this sketch now resides, and here he lived throughout his life. His first purchase consisted of sixty-two acres, to which he was able to add from time to time, so that at his death he was the owner of one hundred and ninety acres. He and his wife were Presbyterians. and he was a supporter of the Republican party. Adam Gibson died January 21, 1890, at the age of seventy-seven ; but his wife is still living on the old homestead. They were the parents of six children, four of whom are now living: Mary Ann McLaury. of Binghamton; Miss Isabelle Gibson, residing with her mother; Charles, also in Binghamton: and James A., of Kortright.

James A. Gibson, the youngest child of his parents, grew up on his father's farm, attending the district school, the graded school at Binghamton, and the Stamford Seminary. After receiving his education. he devoted his time to farming. residing on the home farm, and caring for his parents in the evening of their lives. He is the owner of twenty head of native cattle, and makes a good quality of butter for market, being eminently successful in his chosen occupation. Mr. Gibson is a bachelor of pleasant disposition and cultivated tastes, being extremely fond of reading, and owning a very good library. He is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and also of the Delaware Lodge, No. 612, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is regarded with much esteem by all who are fortunate enough to possess his friendship or enjoy his acquaintance.

A portrait of his father, the late Adam Gibson, may be found on another page of this volume.

DAVID ROTHENSIES, who is carrying on a lucrative business in Walton as a manufacturer and wholesale dealer in cigars, has resided in that village since 1891. Many of the most enterprising and successful business men of Delaware County are of foreign birth, and Mr. Rothensies is an excellent representative of this class of citizens, having been born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1838. His father, Levi Rothensies, was an extensive Farmer, and dealer in stock. His wife was, by maiden name, Anna Blumenthal; and she bore her husband five children, three sons and two daughters. Both of the daughters married in their native country, and both died while in the prime of womanhood. The three sons, of whom David is the eldest, are all living. Joseph, the youngest, is a merchant in Walton. Aaron, the second son, remained in his native country. The parents are no longer living, the father having died at the advanced age of eighty-three, in 1886, and the mother, who survived him, dying at the age of fourscore years.

David Rothensies received a substantial education in his native country, and began to learn the butcher's trade at the age of seventeen. In 1855 he emigrated to the United States, taking passage in a sailing-vessel, at Havre de Grace, France, the voyage lasting forty-one days. He found employment at his trade in New York, but remained there only six weeks. Coming to Delaware County, he settled in the town of Meredith, and began his mercantile career by peddling, on foot, dry goods and notions. Being very successful in his ventures, he bought a horse and wagon, and enlarged the scope of his trade. His business continued to grow; and his one-horse wagon was in due time superseded by a covered vehicle drawn by a pair of superb horses, his turnout being well known throughout this part of the State. Mr. Rothensies continued his commercial travels for about eight years, and in 1864 opened a dry and fancy goods store in Downsville, subsequently adding cigars to his original stock. In 1875 he sold out his stock of merchandise, and turned his entire attention to the manufacture and sale of cigars, being thus engaged for several years. Deciding to leave the rural village of Downsville, Mr. Rothensies went to Middletown, Orange Co., N.Y., conducting a prosperous business there for tow years. At the end of that time, his health being impaired, by the advise of his physician he sought a place of higher altitude in which to settle, and removed his business to Walton in 1891. Since then he has been closely identified with the manufacturing and mercantile interests of the village.

October 18, 1881, Mr. Rothensies married Miss Ida Russell, daughter of William Russell, of Hamden. Their wedded life has been gladdened by the birth of two children - Leo and Charles - both bright boys, their respective ages being eight and three years.

JACOB BIELER, a worthy citizen and prosperous wagon-maker at Griffin's Corners, in Middletown, Delaware County, was born in the Duchy of Baden, Germany, on December 15, 1838, and was a son of Christian Bieler, who was a farmer, and lived to the age of threescore years and ten. His wife died when sixty-five. They left four children - George, Chisholm, Len, and Jacob Bieler.

Jacob Bieler was education in Germany, and came to this country when sixteen years of age. He crossed the ocean in a sailing-vessel, and landed at New York after a passage of twenty-eight days. He first came to Margaretville, remained three years, and learned the trade of wagon-making. Thence he went to Franklin, in this county, where he made a stay of one year, and went from there to Western New York, and spent some time. Returning to Delaware County, he sojourned awhile in Delhi, and then went again to Margaretville. In 1860 he established himself in trade at Griffin's Corners, but at the end of a year was burned out. After this misfortune he build another shop near the bridge, which, however, he soon sold, and bought a house and lot of land. Here he erected the two shops now standing, where for twenty years he has carried on a large business.

In 1862, he married Essenth Engle, who was born in the town of Halcott, Greene County. She was the daughter of Frederick and Ella (Garrison) Engle, and grand-daughter of John Engle, who was born in Germany, but came to this country and became a soldier in the Revolutionary War. After the war was over, he went to Lexington, Greene County, where he was one of the pioneer settlers. He lived to the very remarkable age of one hundred and seven years, and, dying, left four sons - Jacob, Christopher, Frederick, and Peter Engle - and one daughter. Frederick Engle. Mrs. Bieler's father. was born in Lexington, Greene County, and at the age of twenty-one entered mercantile life in Halcott. After a time he- sold his store. and bought a farm and another store near by, where he was in business until 1845. Then he sold out, and came to Griffin's Corners, where he again established himself as a merchant. Here he remained until his death, which took place when he was about sixty-five years of age. His wife, Mrs. Jacob Bieler's mother, is still living, at the age of eighty-one, with her son Arland, in Laplata, Mo. They had seven children, five of whom are living. and are: Martha Engle, who Married George Nesbut, and lives in Minnesota; E. F. Engle, a tin-smith; Arland Engle, whose home is in Laplata; Essenth Engle, the wife of Mr. Bieler; and Aaron Engle.

Some years ago Mr. Bieler built a fine, spacious house, which is now surrounded by delightful grounds and shaded by- beautiful trees. In summer it is thrown hospitably open to people who are seeking a pleasant retreat for the heated term. This roomy- mansion accommodates from twenty-five to thirty guests, and is usually filled with city people who are rendered most comfortable by the efforts of their kind host and hostess, being much more at home than they could be at the large hotels. Mr. and Mrs. Bieler have had two daughters: Minnie Bieler, whom they lost when a fair girl of seventeen years; and Margie Bieler, who still gladdens their home with her presence. Mr. Bieler is a Democrat in politics, and in religious opinions a Presbyterian belonging to the church at Margaretville. He is a complete master of the art of wagon -making, is a genial host. and is, a worthy and highly respected gentleman.

VAN BUREN THOMAS, a well-known farmer and lumberman of Hancock, N.Y., was born in this town on May 20, 1851. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Thomas, came originally from Vermont, being one of the pioneer settlers of this part of Delaware County. He married Abigail Brown, who was a descendant from the old Puritan stock of New England. In the early days of the century she and her family were clothed in homespun, the material for which was carded, spun. and woven by her own hands. Daniel Thomas. Jr., son of Daniel and Abigail (Brown) Thomas, and father of the subject of this sketch, attended the district school at Hancock in his boyhood, and followed the occupations of farming and lumbering throughout his active life. He married in September. 1844, Sarah Lakin. of Hancock. by whom he had five children, three of whom are now living. namely: Mary. born July 3, 1847; John, born January 14, 1849; and Van Buren. Daniel Thomas. Jr., was a Prominent man in town affairs, and in politics he was a Democrat.

Van Buren Thomas was educated in his native town, and has spent his life in lumbering, and in carrying on the farm connected with the old homestead. On April 26, 1891, he was united in marriage to Catherine McKenna, daughter of Nelson McKenna. This union has been blessed by one child, who was born March 25, 1894. Mr. Thomas has held various offices in the town, serving with. Much ability and enjoying the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

GEORGE T. BROWN. M.D., a native of Warren, Litchfield County, Conn., may be considered peculiarly qualified for the profession of medicine, in view of the fact that he has had a more than ordinary experience since his early boyhood with the practical application of medical and surgical knowledge.

Dr. Brown's paternal grandfather was a sea captain. who lived to be very old. and spent the last days of his life in Litchfield. The grandmother was noted for her extraordinary physical strength, being able in her youth to lift with ease barrels of cider or sugar, and performing various remarkable feats of muscular power. Both of the grandparents lived to be very old. Captain Brown completing the ninetieth year of his life in Litchfield. The grandparents of Dr. Brown on the maternal side were George and Mary Pomeroy Talmadge, the grandfather, who was one of the most prominent lawyers in Litchfield, belonging to the old and well-known family of Talmadge. George Talmadge was one of the Democratic party, and died in the sixty-sixth year of his age, having survived his wife for some years.

Orlando Brown, son of Captain Brown, and the father of George T. Brown, was born in Mystic, Conn., and was graduated from Yale College in 1851. He began to practice medicine in Boston; but, when the Civil War broke out, he went as a surgeon in the Eighteenth Regiment, and was afterward appointed Medical Director in the Army of the Potomac. He served also in the State of Virginia under General Howard. After the war he returned to Connecticut, where he is now living in Litchfield. He has a high reputation for scientific knowledge and skill, and holds the honored position of President of the State Medical Society. Dr. Orlando Brown has a hospital in Washington, Litchfield County, Conn., in which he takes an absorbing interest. He has been a widower for thirty-eight years. From his youth he has been a very active politician, and has done much for the Republican party in his section. He married Miss Fanny Talmadge, and is the father of four children - Fanny, Mary, Chester, and George T.

Dr. George T. Brown has had a peculiar, not to say unique, experience in his medical career, having accompanied his father to the army when but a lad of thirteen years, and remained with him throughout the four years of blood and carnage. It was amid the dead and dying of many battlefields that the nerve, the skill, the calm strength, and cool judgment which so characterize the physician whose memoir is now presented to the public were fostered and developed. In 1878 he received his degree from the Medical College of the University of New York, and was surgeon in the United States service for some years. Then he practiced in Fernandina, Fla., for two years, after which period he spent some time in European travel, returning to America, and establishing himself for three years in Ulster County.

Dr. Brown finally came to Margarettville, where he now holds the position of Health Officer. He married Miss Amelia Perry, a daughter of George and Mary Perry. The wife's father was a dealer in stone in the town of Newburg. In political convictions, Dr. Brown follows the line of heredity, and is, like his father, a Republican. He has been eminently successful in his professional career in Margarettville, and has won the esteem and respect of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, or have come to him for treatment.

JACOB M. H. CORNISH is well known in Walton and the vicinity as a painter and decorator, and dealer in wallpaper, shades, paints, oils, and other art materials. His paternal grandfather was Jacob Cornish, a contractor and builder, who died at Pine Hill, Ulster County, N.Y., in 1852, at the age of sixty-one, his wife Susan passing away some years before in New York City, leaving a family of six sons, whom we briefly enumerate: William, who emigrated to California; John, who settled in Colorado; Benjamin now deceased; Joseph C., the father of the subject of this sketch; Abram a resident of New York; and Alexander, a contractor and builder of Menlo Park, N.J.

Joseph C. Cornish was born in New York City in 1829, and in early manhood was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Hosbrook, of Kingston, N.Y., daughter of Jacob J. and Katherine (Knickerbocker) Hosbrook, of Stone Ridge, N.Y. Four children were born to them, namely; James M.; Matthew B.; Francis A.; and Jacob M. H., whose name is found at the head of this sketch. Joseph C. Cornish, the father, is now retired from active business.

Jacob M. H. Cornish was born at Pine Hill, Ulster County, N.Y., in 1857, and, after receiving a common-school education, acquired a knowledge of the painting and decorating business with his father, commencing when but fourteen years of age, and receiving instruction in drawing from competent teachers. In connection with this business his father and he carried on successfully the family trade of building and contracting, building many churches in Delaware County and the vicinity, among them the Methodist Episcopal church at Walton. June 1, 1881, Mr. Cornish was married to Miss Cora E Webb, daughter of B. A. and Emily E. Webb, of Walton. A sister of Mrs. Cornish, Miss Lelia Webb, is an artist of ability, and has classes in Walton and Sidney.

Mr. and Mrs. Cornish occupy a pleasant home in Walton. where they attend the Episcopal church. and are prominent in social affairs

W. G. EDGERTON, Cashier of the Delaware National Bank of Delhi is a representative of one of the oldest most enterprising and most noted families of Delhi, his great-grandfather. Guerdon Edgerton, and his grandfather, Henry Edgerton, having been prominent among the influential citizens of the early part of the present century. They built the Edgerton House, and were among the leading, spirits in founding the Delaware Bank upward of fifty years ago, it having opened its doors for business April 4, 1839. It was organized with H. D. Gould as President. M. Shaw as Cashier; and among its Directors were H. D. Gould, Samuel Gordon, N. K. Wheeler, and Charles Marvin. In 1863., when the national bank law came in vogue, it became a national bank, and is now, with its capital of one hundred thousand dollars and its excellent business system, the oldest and strongest bank in Delaware County.

Mr. Edgerton is a Delhi boy, his birth having occurred here, June 29, 1858. He is the only son born of the union of Thomas and Elizabeth (Griswold) Edgerton, formerly honored residents of this community. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Allegany, Cattaraugus County, where they lived until the death of Mr. Edgerton. The widowed mother and her son, a lad of nine years, then returned to Delhi. Mrs. Edgerton subsequently became the wife of Judge J. S. Hawes, and now resides in Kalamazoo, Mich.

W. G. Edgerton improved every opportunity afforded him for gaining an education, and, after leaving the district school, entered Delaware Academy. where he obtained a thorough knowledge of bookkeeping in connection with the academic course. At the age of fifteen years he began to paddle his own canoe. Being capable, energetic, and willing. he secured a position in the Delaware National Bank as bookkeeper, and after a faithful service of thirteen years was installed as Cashier in 1886. succeeding Walter Griswold, and being the fifth cashier employed in the bank. This position Mr. Edgerton is filling with credit and marked business ability and is justly esteemed as a young man of sterling integrity and high moral principles.

Mr. Edgerton married Miss Carrie A. M. Smith, the daughter of Professor S. C. Smith, formerly, Principal of the Delaware Academy, but now the well-known editor of the Delaware Gazette. Both he and his estimable wife are active members of the social circles of their community; and their home is an attractive place for a host of friends. In politics Mr. Edgerton is a strong Democrat. He is a member and present Master of the Delhi Lodge, No. 439. A. F. & A. M, and High-priest of Delhi Chapter, No. 249. and also belongs to the Norwich Commandery.

SQUIRE W. TRAVIS, a well-known resident and business man of Deposit, Delaware Count, is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in that State opposite the village of Hancock, November 24, 1826. His grandfather, Thomas Travis, came from Orange County to the Delaware Valley by way of Port Jervis, from which place he paddled to this point in a canoe. The land proved to contain an Indian orchard and burying-ground, many skeletons and relics having been since discovered on the Travis farm.

Thomas Travis engaged extensively in lumbering, and purchased over nine-hundred acres of land, upon which he cleared three large farms, giving one to each of his two sons when they successively reached their majority. He and his wife were active members of the Baptist church. Thomas Travis built the first grist-mill on Scheawkin Creek, and was a progressive man for his time. He was an active patriot during the Revolution, although not attached to any regiment; and in after years he often referred to those stirring times, designating his neighbors as "Whig" or "Tory," according to the cause which they espoused in 1775. The wife of Thomas Travis was Rachel Jones, of Hancock; and she became the mother of nine children -- Benjamin, Gilbert, Thomas, Harrison, Solomon, Rachel, Dorcus, Sarah, and Clarissa. The father of this family was stricken with fever, and died at his home, aged sixty years.

His son, Gilbert W., the father of Squire W. Travis, was born in Buckingham, Pa., January 10, 1802. He received a district schooling, after which he assisted his father in lumbering, farming, and in building the famous grist-mill. He then purchased at Hales's Eddy a farm, where he established a home which is still occupied by one of his descendants. He was a member of the Baptist church and a rigid Democrat, dying at his home in Broome County at the age of ninety-three. His wife was Catherine Whitaker, daughter of John Whitaker, of Broome County, and Catherine (Weaver) Whitaker, of Wyoming. Catherine Weaver was a child in arms at the time of the Wyoming massacre; and her parents were among those who fled with their families into the trackless forest on the approach of the Indians and Tories, of whose coming they had disbelieved the warning. Tying up the dog that he should not betray them, with the younger children strapped to their backs, they fled to the Delaware Valley, and arriving at the river, begged food and shelter of the first white man whom they met. His answer was to turn them from his door, with the remark that they should have been killed for daring to oppose the king. Weary and footsore, they struggled on up the river until they reached the house of the brother of the man who had treated them so cruelly. He proved to be a good patriot, and gave them assistance, helping them to reach their destination near what is now Deposit. The subject of this sketch has in his possession a piece of homespun cloth woven by his grandmother, and used by her to fasten her baby boy to her back in the flight from Wyoming -- an ever-present reminder of the hardships undergone by his ancestors in those hostile times.

Squire W. Travis received his education in the district school and the Deposit Academy, and then started in the lumber business for himself, taking his first raft to Philadelphia without starting a log; and for forty years he was a pilot on the river. On November 11, 1856, he married Eliza J. Surine, daughter of Alanson and Jane (McLean) Surine. Peter Surine, the father of Alanson, was a native of Dutchess County, a son of a French Huguenot emigrant, who lived to be over a hundred years old. Peter was born in Putnam County, whence he removed to Guilford, being one of the first settlers in that section. He later removed to a farm about one and one-half miles from the town of Walton; and there engaged in agricultural pursuits. In his declining years he purchased land in Michigan, where he died at the age of ninety years. His wife was an English lady, who died in Walton at the home of her son, John Surine, aged ninety-four years. Alanson Surine, father of Mrs. Travis, was educated in the town of Walton, and worked in the foundry. He purchased land in Hamden, and there married Jane McLean, daughter of John McLean, a Revolutionary soldier who came to this country before the war, and enlisted in the Colonial cause. John McLean settled in Albany, where he lived when that town was burned, his family being obliged to quickly pack what they could of their possessions and flee for safety, beholding their house in flames before they lost sight of it. After peace was declared, John McLean settled in Walton, where he was engaged in farming until his death. He was a strict Scotch Presbyterian, and in politics a Democrat.

Mr. and Mrs. Squire W. Travis have two children -- William H. And Jennie. William married Miss Kate Clapper, of Deposit, who is the mother of four children -- Florence J., Squire Vernon, William C., and Edna May. Jennie Travis is a school-teacher employed in District School No. 1, and lives at home with her parents. Mr. Travis is at the present time extensively engaged in quarrying and shipping stone, in which business he is eminently successful. He is an enterprising and upright man, and is held in deserved respect.

RHUME GRANT carries an extensive stock of staple and fancy groceries in his large store in the village of Hobart, and in addition thereto has an extended trade in butter. Mr. Grant is a representative of an excellent Scotch family, and is a native of Delaware County, born in Harpersfield, February 1, 1852. He is a son of James A. And Margaret (Hume) Grant, the former a native of Stamford, and the latter of Kortright.

His grandfather, Duncan J. Grant, who was born in Scotland, came to this country when a young man, and settled in the town of Harpersfield, where he was a thriving farmer. He was well educated, and was one of the most prominent and influential citizens of his day, serving one term as Sheriff of the county. In his religious views he was liberal, and in politics a stanch Democrat. He lived to be well advanced in years, surviving his wife, Mary Cowan, who died ere reaching the meridian of life. Of the six children born to them none are now living.

James A. Grant spent his life within the limits of Delaware County, and, when a young man, began a mercantile career, entering the employment of one Mr. Cowan as a clerk, in Brushland. After continuing in that capacity for some time, he opened a store for general merchandise in Hobart, which he conducted with success for fifteen or sixteen years, till his early death at thirty-seven years of age, in December, 1863. He took great interest in active politician in the Democratic party, and served as Supervisor of Stamford. He was liberal in his religious views; while his widow, who now makes her home with the only child born of their union, R. Hume Grant, is an earnest and worthy member of the Presbyterian church.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in the town of Stamford, and, after leaving the district school, attended Wellington Seminary, from which he entered Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio, being graduated from that institution in 1874. After some time spent in travel Mr. Grant was admitted to the Illinois bar, in the city of Ottawa, in 1876. For six years he practised his profession in Chicago, and was also for a time engaged as a teacher in the private seminary conducted by the Misses E. And B. Grant of that city. Returning to Hobart in 1881, he was elected School Commissioner of Delaware County, an office in which he did faithful service for three years. A portion of that time he likewise spent in teaching. In 1885 Mr. Grant established his present mercantile business, which has proved very lucrative, and which he enlarges from year to year.

Mr. Grant and Miss Ida McNaught were united in marriage November 24, 1888. Mrs. Grant's mother, Mrs. Sarah (Barrett) McNaught, widow of the late William McNaught, now lives with her. The Grant household has been enlarged and enlivened by the birth of four children; namely, Bessie Bell, Malcom Kenneth, Donald Hume, and Wallace Raymond. Politically, Mr. R. Hume Grant is a straightforward Republican. He is a man of broad culture and good mental attainments, and is held in high regard throughout the community. He has served as Supervisor of Stamford three terms, during the years 1886-88. He is independent and liberal in religious matters, and Mrs. Grant is a valued member of the Presbyterian church.

CHARLES HERRING, the popular station agent for the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, at Walton, is well fitted for the important position he occupies, being a thorough and trustworthy business man. He is a native of Delaware County, his birth having occurred January 10, 1849, in the town of Delhi. His paternal grandparents were residents of Schoharie County; and his father, Joseph Herring, was born in that county in 1817, and, after arriving at years of maturity, was united in marriage to Sophia Chase, a native of Hamden. She was a daughter of Harry P. And Olive (Roberts) Chase, the former of whom died at the age of forty-two years; and the latter, who survived her husband, lived a widow until her death in 1861, at the age of sixty-three years. A son, Isaac Chase, died soon after his mother, at the age of thirty-six. The surviving children are: Charles W., a farmer residing in Hamden; and Barbara, the eldest, who is the wife of P. B. Pettis, of DeLancey, and has recently celebrated her seventy-second birthday. Joseph Herring died in 1862; and his widow subsequently married Herman Launt, who died March 22, 1887, aged seventy-one years, leaving two daughters by a former wife: Florence P. Launt, residing in Sidney; and Adelaide, a teacher in the Walton Academy.

Charles Herring was the only child born to his parents. He received the foundation for his education in the district schools, and was afterward a student in the Walton Academy, where he continued his studies until nineteen years of age. Having an inclination for mechanical pursuits, he began to learn the trade of carriage trimmer in the shop of Eels & Morris, of Walton, but later abandoned the idea of becoming a carriage trimmer, and entered the employment of Mead, North & Co., as clerk in their extensive hardware and grocery store. Mr. Herring afterward formed a partnership with Mr. Beers, and for some time they carried on a meat business under the firm name of Beers & Herring. Giving up his meat market, he next secured a position as baggage-master for the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, and in 1876 was appointed station agent, a responsible position, which he has ably filled to the present time.

An important step in the life of Mr. Herring was his marriage with Miss Sarah Farrell, of Hobart. Mrs. Herring's father died in early life; but her widowed mother survived until 1893, when she passed away, at the advanced age of seventy-five, leaving three children, namely: Helen, widow of Clark Newcome, of Hobart; Sarah, now Mrs. Herring; and Michael, who resides in Hobart. The household circle of Mr. and Mrs. Herring has been increased and greatly enlivened by the advent of three sons and two daughters, enumerated as follows: James, a young man of twenty-two years, who is fitting himself for a civil engineer, this being his second year in Union College; Herman, twenty-one years old, also in Union College; Jennie B., fifteen, who is giving her attention to the study of music, for which she has marked talent; Sophia, a little girl of eight; and Charles, a bright little fellow, six years of age. Mr. Herring believes in the Democratic party, and has served satisfactorily as School Trustee and Village Trustee. Socially, he is a Chapter Mason of Walton Lodge, No. 257.

THOMAS A. HILSON holds an honored position among the practical and progressive farmers of the town of Bovina. He was born in New York City on January 25, 1837, being the only son of William and Elizabeth (Strangeway) Hilson, both of whom were natives of Berkshire, Scotland. (For further family history see sketch of John Hilson, an uncle of the subject of this sketch.)

William Hilson lived in his native country until after his marriage. Emigrating to the United States, he landed in New York, and remained in that city several years, working at his trades as a stone-mason, brick-mason, and plasterer. Subsequently removing to Delaware County, he bought a farm of one hundred and five acres, on which the improvements were of small value. He worked hard both at his trade and at his agricultural labors, much of his mechanical work still remaining. His death occurred when he was but forty-five years old. His wife lived but a short time afterward, passing to the brighter shore at the age of forty-six years. Both were members of the Presbyterian church, and in politics he was a Whig. They were the parents of four children, namely: three daughters, now deceased; and the son Thomas. Elizabeth Hilson, the wife of Alexander Hoy, died at the age of fifty-seven years. Margaret, the wife of David Sloan, died when thirty-three years of age. Helen Hilson died when an infant.

Thomas A. Hilson was a young lad when he came with his parents to this town, and here he was reared and educated. After the death of his parents he took charge of the old homestead, which he has since occupied, and which he now owns. Of his one hundred and five acres twenty acres are in timber, and the remainder in tillage or grazing land. His residence is commodious and convenient, and the barn and out-buildings substantial structures. A beautiful view of the valley below and the surrounding country can be obtained from his house, making the place one of the most attractive spots in Delaware County. In addition to general farming, Mr. Hilson has a fine dairy of twenty milch cows, mostly Jersey grades, which in 1893 yielded him an average of two hundred and ninety pounds of butter per head.

Mr. Hilson has been twice married. In 1861 he was united Helen Graham, who died in 1866, leaving him with two children. On March 28, 1868, he married Jeanette O. Stott, a native of Bovina, and a daughter of George and Ellen (Storie) Stott. Mr. Stott was a native of Scotland, who was for many years engaged in farming pursuits in Bovina, where he died at the age of seventy-six years. His wife, who lived to the good old age of eighty-six years, was a life-long resident of Bovina. Both were worthy members of the Presbyterian church. Of the large family of children born to them six lived to maturity, and four are now living, namely: George, a farmer in the town of Andes; Walter O., a truck gardener in Colorado; Jane, a resident of Bovina Centre; and Mrs. Hilson.

Mr. Hilson has four children living, as follows: Mary S., the wife of David Finkle, of Bovina Centre; Jennie; Nellie J.; and Bessie M. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and are greatly respected among their neighbors and associates. In politics he is a strong adherent of the Republican party and a man of influence in local affairs. He has served with fidelity as Assessor for the past seven years.

SAMUEL EGGLESTON, a prosperous farmer of Tompkins, N. Y., was born in this town, December 27, 1838. His grandfather, Samuel Eggleston, was a native of Saratoga County, where James, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born. In 1828 they removed to Tompkins from Corinth, the journey being made overland in ox teams; and there they erected a log cabin. The father worked for a time in a saw-mill, and also at his trade as a mechanic, in connection with farming. He married Ruth Cook, of Tompkins, and died in 1844, upward of seventy-eight years of age, having been father of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity.

James Eggleston was a famous hunter, and had many exciting adventures with wolves and panthers, more than once narrowly escaping with his life. He died in 1864, age the age of seventy-four years. His grave is in the family burial-ground on the homestead farm. His wife, Ann Gifford, daughter of Joseph Gifford, a farmer of Saratoga County, died September 2, 1886, and is buried beside her husband. They had the following children: Nancy, who married Theodore Sisson, a farmer of Pennsylvania; Clarissa, who married David Scott, a farmer of Tompkins; Rachel, the wife of Isaac Scott, of the same town; Susan, who married Jacob Gordenies, a farmer in Tompkins; Betsy A., wife of Henry M. Smith, a mechanic and farmer of Mace, Mich.; Simon C., a farmer, who married Alice Russell, of Tompkins, and died there in 1892; James, who married Mary Avery, and since passed away; and Samuel.

Samuel Eggleston's boyhood was passed on the old farm in Tompkins, where he attended the district school. His father being an invalid for twelve years, the care of the farm fell upon young Samuel when he was but fifteen years of age. December 31, 1859, he married Olive Miner, daughter of Abram and Keziah (Golden) Miner, of Drayton, Cattagaugus County, where Mr. Miner was engaged in carpentering and farming. Mrs. Eggleston was left an orphan when very young, and was educated at Walton. She and her husband have had three children: Albert J., born April 30, 1861, who died January 6, 1888; Curtis S., born November 27, 1865; and Melvin A., born November 25, 1870.

Albert J. Eggleston married Estella Collier, of Tompkins; and they were the parents of two children -- Hattie B. And Maggie M. Curtis S., a carpenter of Binghamton, married Kate M. Shaw, of that city. Melvin A., who assists his father on the home farm, married Emma A. Webster, daughter of Hiram B. Webster, of Tompkins. Mr. Samuel Eggleston is a successful farmer and a highly respected citizen of the town where he resides, and to promote the welfare of which he is ever ready to lend a helping hand.

CHARLES DOYLE, a representative farmer of the town of Hancock, N.Y., was born in this town September 6, 1828, and died on April 16, 1871. The Doyle family is well known in the pioneer history of this section of the country, having been the first settlers of Doylestown, Pa., and also among the first to settle Hancock, coming to the latter town early in the nineteenth century. Edward Doyle, the father of Charles, was born in Hancock, and spent a long life in his native town, dying at the age of eighty-tow. His wife was Harriet Leonard, also of Hancock.

When Charles Doyle started in life for himself, he purchased the farm on which his widow is now living. This estate is beautifully situated on the banks of Lake Somerset, and here Mr. Doyle spent the remainder of his life. His death, at the age of forty-three years, removed from the community a man of much usefulness, of sterling qualities, and highly respected by all who knew him. He was a Democrat in politics, and took an active interest in his party.

On June 7, 1858, Mr. Doyle married Matilda Lakin, daughter of Jonas Lakin, second, and Mary (Thomas) Lakin. They were the parents of three children: Walter, who lives on the home farm with his mother; Herbert, a telegraph operator on the O. & W. Railroad at Cook's Falls; Evelyn, wife of Augustus Reyen, of Hancock, and the mother of one child, Charles Reyen.

JAMES COWAN STORIE, M.D., a well-known physician and surgeon of Walton, was born in Bovina, Delaware County, N.Y., January 12, 1855, the son of Alexander and Esther A. (Calan) Storie. James Storie, the father of Alexander, was born in the north of Ireland, and was there married to Mary McCurrie, of Scotch descent. They emigrated to America soon after his marriage, settling in Bovina, where Mr. Storie cleared his land, and in course of time had a fine farm under cultivation. His family consisted of Mary A., now a resident of Bovina, Nellie, who married George Stott, and died at Bovina: Mrs. Bruob; Samuel, who died in the town of Tompkins; and Alexander, born in 1814.

At the timne of the Rebellion Mr. Alexander Storie was active in raising men for the Northern army, during which period he was Supervisor of the town. He is a man of more than ordinary ability, and for many years held the responsible office of Justice of the Peace. He is a Republican in politics. He married Esther A. Calan, who was born in Delaware County in 1820; and they had five children, briefly recorded below: William died at eighteen years of age, Marion died at the age of ten. James resides in Walton. Alexander F. is a resident of Orange County, New York, married to Miss Gussie Hastings. John William married to Miss Jennie Laidlaw, resides in Bovina. Both Mr. and Mrs. Storie are members of the Presbyterian church which they were instrumental in building.

James Cowan Storie received his early education at the district schools, afterward attending the Stamford Seminary, where he was graduated. He read medicine in the office of Dr. Henry Oden, a prominent physician, was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeions in New York City in 1884, and at once came to Walton, where he has remained in active practice ever since. Dr. Storie is a member of the Delaware County Medical Society. He has never been active in politics or sought any office, but devotes his whole time to his profession.

CHARLES S. ADAMS, represents one of the old pioneer families of Stamford, of which town he is a highly respected citizen. He was born on June 29, 1839, in the same house in which he now resides. He is a great-grandson of Joseph Adams, a descentant of one of four brother os the name of Adams who came to new England with the early colonists.

Joseph Adams was born in Connecticut in 1740, his father, Abram Adams, being one of the first settlers of that State. Joseph was a farmer, and a soldier of the Revolutionary War. He died in Fairfield County, Connecticut, at a good old age. His son, another Joseph, was born in August, 1770, and married Sarah Smith, born in May, 1776, also in Connecticut. In June, 1797, this worthy couple moved with horse and cart to Delaware County, New York, and settled in Stamford, where they cleared land and built a log house. Joseph Adams, Jr., was a weaver by trade, and followed this occupation to some extent after moving to Delaware County. He was one of the sturdy, courageous farmers of that time, industrious and faithful to his duties, and at his death owned a productive farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres of land. He died September 6, 1819, a Whig, of liberal religious views; and his wife passed away February 2, 1839. They were the parents of four children, namely: Smith, born September 12, 1796; Philemus, born in August, 1801; Fidelia, born in October, 1806; Edwin, born July 24, 1810. Edwin is the only survivor of this family; and he is one of the oldest citizens of the town, residing with his son Charles.

Smith Adams, son of Joseph and Sarah, was born September 12, 1796, in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and was brought to Delaware County by his parents when but eighteen months old. He grew up to a farmer's life, and succeeded to the old homestead, where he died August 5, 1870, having passed a useful, successful life. His wife was Rachel Taylor, born in Fairfield County, in December, 1797, a daughter of Zalmon and Hannah (Whitlock) Taylor. She died June 16, 1856, the mother of three children, only one of whom, Charles S., of this sketch, is still living. The others were: Sarah Adelia, wife of John M. Bennett, who died in 1886; and Eliza Jane, wife of David Sturgess, who died in 1892.

Charles S. Adams was educated in the district schools, after which he gave his attention to farming. His farm contains one hundred acres of land, and here he operates an extensive dairy. March 9, 1871, he married Miss Maria M. Ballard, a native of Roxbury. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are the parents of five children -- Francis B., John Q., Eva M., Mary, and Sarah. They are liberal-minded and public-spirited, and Mr. Adams is a Republican. He has made extensive improvements in the buildings on his place, which give evidence of his good judgment and ability.

JOHN T. McDONALD, general farmer, stock-raiser, and manufacturer of fancy dairy butter, owning and ably managing a finely improved farm on Elk Creek, in the town of Delhi, has spent his entire life on the beautiful homestead which he now occupies, his birth having occurred here October 4, 1842. He is one of Delhi's most brainy and progressive agriculturists, possessing in an eminent degree those traits that command respect in the business world and gain esteem among his neighbors and associates.

Mr. McDonald is the rightful inheritor of those habits of thrift and enterprise which have been the stepping-stones to his successful career, being the scion of an excellent Scotch family. His great-grandfather, who was a native of old Scotland, emigrated with his family, and was one of the earliest pioneers of Delaware County, where he took up land in the town of Stamford. Alexander McDonald, a son of the emigrant, was a little lad of four years when he left his native Highlands; and the larger part of his after life was spent within the limits of this county, although, when a young man, he was for several years the captain of a sloop on the Hudson River. He subsequently bought a timer tract in Stamford, where he established a home, and he and his good wife reared their family of seven children -- Ann, John, James, Jane, William, Alexander, and George.

James McDonald, the father of the subject of this sketch, was quite a young man when his father, Alexander, died; and from that time until his marriage he resided on the paternal homestead, taking full charge of it. In 1841, soon after his union with Elizabeth Rose, the daughter of Hugh Rose, a farmer of Stamford, he bought the farm now owned by his son, John T. It was then partly cleared; and in the succeeding years he placed a large share of it under cultivation, erected a fair set of buildings, and established a most comfortable homestead for himself and family. He was a skilful farmer, an upright man, and one of the best-known and most valued citizens of this section of the county. His wife was the descendant of a respected pioneer of Delaware County, her grandfather Rose having removed here from Scotland in 1776, while this region was but a vast forest, finding his way by means of blazed trees. Indians still roamed the woods in those days. One night a party of them came to his house, and took a boy out of bed, where he lay between two others, and carried him away to Canada. His mother never knew what became of him. He was well treated, however, by his captors; and after he had grown to manhood, he came back on a brief visit, returning then to Canada, accompanied by two of his brothers. Mr. Rose built the first mill in the locality in 1792, on Rose Brook. His son, Hugh Rose, improved a good farm in the town of Stamford, and there reared a family of ten children -- Mary, Margaret, Lydia, Sarah, Eliza, Elizabeth, Hugh, Abigail, Edmund, and Catherine. The family circle of James McDonald and his wife included seven children, as follows: Alexander; Clark H.; James H.; Catherine, the wife of William Gaffers, of Albany County; John T., of Delhi; Isabella, the wife of James W. Hills, of Albany County; and Charles R. Both parents spent their entire wedded life on the homestead, the father dying in 1868, at the age of sixty-six years, and the mother when sixty-seven years old. She was a woman of sterling worth, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church of West Kortright.

John T. McDonald received a good common-school education. During his youth and early manhood he assisted in the care of the farm; and after the death of his father he bought out the interests of the remaining heirs in the estate, running heavily in debt therefor, and has since been successfully engaged in general farming and dairying, carrying on his operations in that systematic and intelligent manner that is a sure guarantee of prosperity. His farm contains two hundred acres of choice land, some one hundred and sixty of which are under cultivation, and on which he has made extensive improvements, such as draining swampy land, pulling out stumps, and placing it in a productive condition. He has entirely rebuilt the residence, furnishing it with many of the modern improvements so conductive to the comfort of the family, including among other things a furnace for heating. He has also erected a commodious barn, sixty by one hundred feet, and about fifty feet high, the basement of which is devoted to the swine. The second floor, which has stalls for a hundred head of cattle, contains the cow stable; and on the upper floor is the wagon-room and the horse stable, and he has recently annexed a creamery, with all the conveniences for making five hundred pounds of butter per day. Each floor of this "animal palace" is most conveniently arranged; and the conveniences for feeding, watering, and caring for his stock can scarcely be improved. We must not forget to mention that above the wagon-room is a threshing-machine, run by power from the mill, in which the grain harvested upon the farm is threshed. He also has a large poultry-house, built on the most improved plans, accommodating about eight hundred hens. With characteristic enterprise Mr. McDonald built a mill upon his farm a few years since; and here, from timber which he cuts on his own land, he manufactures the boxes in which he ships his butter, and has also a grist-mill for grinding feed and a cider-mill in which, when the seasons are propitious, he makes large quantities of cider and cider jelly. Every acre of the land is made available; and, in order that the sugar maples of his orchard may bring him good returns, he has erected a sugar-house near his mill, and here the sap from seven hundred trees is annually converted into syrup or sugar, for which he finds a ready market. Mr. McDonald is a man of great native ability, possessing unusual mechanical talent; and the major part of the various improvements of the place emanated from his own brain, and are the productions of his own hand. In his workshop are tools of many kinds, in the use of which he is an adept. Although a general farmer, our subject pays especial attention to the dairying, his fine herd of graded Jerseys numbering about ninety head, from which in 1893 he sold twenty-three thousand one hundred pounds of butter, sending it direct to private customers, and shipping it to all parts of the country. In the sale of his farm products, which, besides butter, include fresh eggs, chickens, maple syrup, condensed cider, and cider jelly, Mr. McDonald has built up a most extensive and lucrative trade, his goods having a fine reputation, and bringing the highest market price.

On February 1, 1871, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Catherine Covell, a native of Roxbury, daughter of Edmund and Araminta (Wilson) Covell. The father was for some time engaged as a carpenter in Roxbury. The last twenty-eight years of the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Covell were spent in the town of Walton, where they successfully managed a large farm, and where, within one short week, both passed to their final rest. They were excellent Christian people, and esteemed members of the Methodist church. During the wedded life of John T. McDonald and his estimable wife, in which sorrow as well as pleasure has had its sway, eight children have been born, of whom we record the following: James died at the age of six months. Eddie died at the age of nine years. Elizabeth, an accomplished young lady, was graduated from the Delaware Academy in the class of 1895. Earl died at the tender age of two years. The others are Amelia, Catherine, Isabella, and Araminta. Religiously, Mr. McDonald and family are connected with the Presbyterian church; and in him the Republican party finds an earnest advocate. On an accompanying page may be seen a view of Mr. McDonald's farm.

REV. CHARLES A. HUBELL, pastor of the First Baptist Church at Trout Creek, Tompkins, N. Y., was born in Goshen, Litchfield County, Conn., July 2, 1845. He is of old Puritan stock, being descended from early settlers of New England. Loveman Hubell, his grandfather, was born in Warren, Conn., December 5, 1784. He married Rosannah Mead, born March 28, 1792, daughter of Abner Mead, of Warren, and removed to Franklin, Delaware County, N. Y., of which town he was one of the pioneers. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, namely: Orilla, born December 31, 1809; Lucy, born August 24, 1811; James F., born July 18, 1813; Lucius S., born September 12, 1815; James L., born December 29, 1817; Sarah, born October 25, 1819; Henry S., born January 6, 1822; Charles W., born July 7, 1823; Clarissa A., born December 2, 1825; David C., born December 4, 1829; Mary R., born April 30, 1832. Loveman Hubell moved to Walton, and spent his last days at the home of his grandson, of whom this sketch is written, dying October 22, 1866, a firm believer in the Baptist faith.

His son, James L., was educated in the district schools, and graduated from the Franklin High School. Being offered a position as foreman in a large machine-shop at Goshen, Conn., he removed to that town, and was Captain of a cavalry company in the State militia for a number of years. He married Polly Ann Wedge, daughter of Lyman Wedge, of Warren, Conn. James Hubell died of typhoid fever when a young man of twenty-nine years; and his death was followed two months later by that of his wife, she being a victim of the same fatal disease. Their two sons, John L., born October 2, 1842, and Charles A., born July 2, 1845, were thus left orphans at an early age, and were cared for by their grandparents, Loveman Hubell and his wife. John L., the elder, enlisted in the Civil War in 1863, going to the front from Walton in Company I, Twenty-first New York Cavalry, and serving under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. He was taken ill while in service, and died in 1864, being buried in Washington, D. C. His wife was Martha J. Beagel, of Walton, a daughter of John Beagel. Mr. and Mrs. John L. Hubell were the parents of one child, Oliver A. Hubell.

Charles A. Hubell, son of James L. And Polly Ann (Wedge) Hubell, was a mere boy of seventeen at the breaking-out of the war, but enlisted August 12, 1862, in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-fourth regiment, New York Volunteers, and served through the great struggle, being mustered out June 25, 1865, at Hilton Head. September 25, 1867, he married Electa L. Bulkley, daughter of James M. And Rebecca (Hopkins) Bulkley. The Bulkley family was one of the oldest in Dutchess County, Mrs. Hubell's grandfather being James, a son of Moses Bulkley, a sea-captain and native of that county. The Hopkins family early settled in Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Hubell have four children: Alice M.; Libbie R., who married F. W. Baker, of Hattenburg, Ulster County, and is the mother of one child, Carson; James S., who is engaged in lumbering in Colchester; and Hattie G., who lives at home.

About 1879 Mr. Hubell entered the ministry, and for twelve years preached at the Colchester Baptist Church, after which he accepted a call to the Baptist church at Trout Creek. He is a member of Ben Marvin Post, Grand Army of the Republic, No. 209, of Walton. As a pastor he is beloved by his people, and his work in the Master's vineyard has been blessed with good results.

JAMES BALLENTINE, a prominent citizen of Andes, N. Y., was born here on January 27, 1855. His grandfather, David Ballentine, was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, and came to this country in 1814, settled in Bovina, where he engaged in mercantile business and farming, and married Anna Grant.

Duncan Ballentine, son of David, was born in Bovina, February 28, 1821. He kept a store there till 1846, when he came to Andes and engaged in business, afterward organizing the national bank of this place, in which he continued to be interested till his death, at the age of sixty-seven years. In 1864 he was a Republican delegate. Mrs. Duncan Ballentine, who is still living, is a strong supporter of the church, as was also her husband. They had eight children, six of whom grew to maturity, namely: David, who married Elizabeth Frazer, and had one child -- Raymond; James; George, who married Ella Ferguson, and had four children -- Mabel, Laura, Hattie, and Lillian; Ephraim, who married Eva Crispell, and had one child -- Duncan; Agnes, who married F. Newman, and had one child -- Hazel; Lillian, who married John Knapp, and had one child -- John.

James Ballentine was educated in the Andes and Ferguson Academies. In 1874 he succeeded his uncle David in the produce business, which he now carries on so successfully. He married Kate Shaw, daughter of Archibald and Mary (Grant) Shaw. Mr. Ballentine has had a very prosperous business career, and is a well-known and highly esteemed citizen, a leader in many of the town affairs. He is a Republican, has been a Supervisor, and a member of the Assemby.

ELBRIDGE F. DOUGHERTY, a practical farmer of Masonville, Delaware County, N. Y., was born November 12, 1854. His father, John Dougherty, was a son of Jacob Dougherty, who married Eunice Robinson.

John Dougherty attended the district school in his boyhood, and assisted his father on the farm. Upon reaching maturity, he began farming for himself at Terry Clove, where he was an early settler. He married Maria Signor, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Linderbeck) Signor, of Dutchesss County, a descendant of two old pioneer families. In the latter part of the Civil War John Dougherty enlisted in an engineer corps and served ten months. When peace was declared, he returned to his home and purchased the farm now occupied by his son Elbridge at Masonville, where he now passes most of his time, having retired from active life. He and his estimable wife were the parents of five children, three of whom are still living: Hannah J., who married James Carroll, a farmer at Trout Creek; Eunice O., the wife of Daniel Hoyt, of Tompkins; and Elbridge F., of whom this sketch is written.

Elbridge F. Dougherty's early life was pleasantly passed in pursuing his studies at the district school and helping in the work of the farm. On July 3, 1877, he married Miss Lydia A. Banker, daughter of Brazillia and Susan (Frear) Banker, of Franklin. The father of Brazillia Banker was Thorn Banker, a pioneer of Kortright, who married Phoebe Rowe, whose ancestors were among the first to settle in New York. Brazillia Banker was a participant in the anti-rent war, and during the exciting times of that period was a firm supporter of the popular side. He died at a good old age at Franklin.

Elbridge Dougherty is engaged in farming and operating a dairy, having sixty acres of land under cultivation. He and his wife have two children: Claude E., born February 18, 1879, who lives at home and attends school in Masonville; and John B., who was born May 22, 1891. Mr. Dougherty is universally respected throughout the town where he is a resident, and his success in life testifies to his upright, industrious manhood.

JAMES E. HASTINGS, one of the foremost stock dealers and farmers in Bovina, is a grandson of John Hastings, a pioneer in this country, who came to Bovina in 1799. At this time the region of woodland near the village was infested by deer, wolves, bears, and panthers; and the Colonial farmer who chose this section of new York for his habitation must be also a hunter. The nearest market was seventy miles distant, at Catskill; and here the doughty settlers carried this skins and game, which were exchanged for household goods and family supples.

John Hastings lived, after the primitive fashion of the day, in severe simplicity. On Sundays he would walk to the little meeting-house at Kortright barefooted, with his shoes slung over his shoulder, in order to keep them clean and save shoe-leather. The nearest mill was at Kortright six miles away; and the journeys thither and back were formidable, and even dangerous, through the lonely roads, where the cry of the panther or wolf might suddenly smite the ear of the belated traveller, who sometimes found it a ride for life to get back within the sheltered precincts of his own home. There were four descendants of John Hastings left to hand down the name to future generations, of whom James, the father of the James of this memoir, is the only survivor.

James the father was born in 1797, and married Elizabeth Elliott. Their son, James E., grew up on the old farm, and was educated in the district school and the Delhi Academy. He has paid great attention to stock-raising, and owns a large number of full-blooded Jerseys, all registered, thirty-six of which are kept for dairy use, averaging in 1893 about three hundred pounds of butter each. The capacious barn, lately completed at a cost of three thousand five hundred dollars, measures fifty feet by sixty feet, and seventy feet in height to the vane on the cupola, has a bridgeway seventeen by twenty-four feet, with a wing thirty-two feet by thirty-six feet, and can accommodate sixty head of cattle. But it is in the dairy that Mr. Hasting's chief interests are centred; and the golden butter, the delicious cheeses, the pure milk and thick cream of the Hastings dairy, have a wide reputation.

In 1884, on January 15, James E. Hastings was joined in holy wedlock to Ellen Cunningham, a native of Ulster County. Four children have blessed their union -- Elizabeth E., Charles H., William J., and Emma D. All are still at home beneath the paternal shelter. The worldly affairs of life have not absorbed the attention of this successful man to the exclusion of spiritual concerns, for both he and his wife are in the communion of the United Presbyterian church. He is an advocate of Republican principles, and as a moneyed man, as well as an individual intelligent force, wields weighty influence in matters of public interest.

HON. MARVIN D. WHEELER, Inspector-in-Chief of Post-offices of the United States, is a native of Hancock, Delaware County, N. Y. His father, Marvin Wheeler, was the son of Frederick Wheeler, whose native place was New London, Conn. The family is of Welsh origin. Frederick Wheeler with several brothers, athletic and brave men, came to the Delaware Valley in 1795, being the first settlers on Partridge Island, now part of the town of Hancock. Frederick was married in New London to Mary Comstock, by whom he had four children, Marvin being the youngest. The others were Royal, Polly, and Corinda.

Marvin was born in 1804. At an early age he became acquainted with farm work, and also assisted his father in lumbering, later starting out for himself as a merchant and general trader. He was thrifty and far-sighted, qualities to which he owed much of his success in life. He became an extensive land-owner, and for years was Postmaster in Hancock. Originally counted with the Whigs, he became a Republican on the formation of that party. He married Emily Edick, daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth Edick, of Deposit. Conrad Edick was born at German Flats, Herkimer County. He entered the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, and was in active service much of the time until its close. His native village being burned in 1779 by a party of Tories and Indians under command of the infamous Brant, Mr. Edick moved with his step-father to Stone Arabia, Montgomery County; and later, in the winter of 1781, they removed to Greenbush near Albany. Mr. Edick was one of the force raised to avenge the Wyoming and Cherry Valley massacres. He took part in several engagements in which the enemy were repulsed with considerable loss. In the spring of 1781 he again enlisted for nine months' service, and went to Fort Plain, where he was employed as military express, and was often with scouting parties detached for dangerous service. In October, 1781, a large force of British, Tories, and Indians, under Walter Butler, attacked Johnstown, destroyed property, and killed many of the settlers. An expedition set out from Fort Rensselaer, under command of Colonel Willett, to avenge this massacre, Conrad Edick being numbered among the troops. They pursued the retreating foe and overtook them at Canada Creeks, about November 1, when a fierce battle ensued, the advantage being with the attacking force.

Mr. Edick was twice married. By his first marriage, to a Miss Whitaker, of Sanford, he had three children, as follows: Phebe, Jacob C., and Elizabeth. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Sneeden, and by her he had six children: Margaret; Roxanna; Sally, Emily, born February 22, 1808, who became Mrs. Marvin Wheeler; Jane M.; and Rachel P. In 1787 Mr. Edick settled about two miles below Deposit; but later, in 1801, he removed to Deposit village, where he died at an advanced age. He was greatly respected, and was a prominent member of the Masonic Order. During the anti-Masonic agitation secret meetings were often held in his house; and his Masonic apron is still preserved at the home of his descendant, Marvin D. Wheeler.

The five children of Marvin and Emily (Edick) Wheeler were: Frederick M.; DeWitt C.; Evelyn Susan; and Marvin Duane, whose name appears at the head of this sketch. The two elder brothers are deceased. Frederick married Elizabeth Bull, of Milford, Conn., and had three children. Marvin D. Wheeler attended the schools of his native town, and later entered the military academy at Sing-Sing. After graduation he returned to Hancock, and, like his brothers, entered into business with his father. Early regarded by his fellow-townsmen as a young man of great promise, he served as Supervisor, and held other positions of trust, fulfilling his public duties to the entire satisfaction of the community. His advancement was rapid, and his fame soon extended beyond the limits of his native town. In the first years of President Harrison's administration he was appointed Inspector of the New York Post-office, and shortly afterward was made Inspector-General of Post-offices of the United States, which position he still holds under President Cleveland.

JACOB LAWRENCE is a worthy representative of the mercantile interests of the village of Hobart, where he is an extensive dealer in gentlemen's clothing and furnishing goods, including a general and complete assortment of articles usually found in a store of this kind. He was born January 7, 1853, in Christburg, East Prussia, the residence of his parents, Abram and Lena (Freundlich) Lawrence, or Laurenes. In 1889 the father, well-to-do merchant, accompanied by his wife, came to America. Three years later his death occurred in Omaha, Neb., followed the next year by that of his wife in the same city. The four children born to them are all living, and with the exception of the eldest son, the subject of this sketch, are residents of Trinidad, Col., the following being their names: Mrs. Sarah Elliyon, Max Lawrence, and Mrs. Sophia Bargman.

Jacob Lawrence received a fine education under the excellent school system of Germany. From his father he became acquainted with the mercantile business, and, while yet a young man, emigrated to this country, landing in New York City on the Fourth of July, 1871. He there engaged as a travelling salesman for two years. In 1874 Mr. Lawrence established a dry-goods store in the village of Delhi, where he remained about a year and half. In 1876 he opened his present place in Hobart, putting in a full stock of goods, and has since conducted a flourishing business. He is widely known as an able and honorable business man, courteous and attentive to the wants of his customers, keeping a well-furnished and attractive store.

Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage October 5, 1882, to Miss Laura Grant, a native of Stamford, being the daughter of the late Alexander Grant and his wife, Valencia Grant.

Mr. Grant was a farmer of Stamford, and his widow still resides on the home farm. One child has blessed this union, a son named Amazia J. Lawrence. In politics Mr. Lawrence is a sound Democrat. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 289, A. F. & A. M. He is liberal in his religious views, while Mrs. Lawrence is a communicant of the Episcopal church.

LYMAN B. PALMER, a highly respected and well-to-do citizen of the town of Tompkins, was born February 28, 1815, at Delhi, son of Abel Palmer, a native of Canton, Litchfield County, Conn. The father of Abel Palmer came with his parents when young to Andes, Delaware County, where he went into the carpentering business, and built some of the first frame houses in that section of the country. He married a member of the Peck family, of Connecticut. From Andes he moved with his family to Delhi, where he died.

Abel Palmer was born in 1772. From boyhood he showed marked vocal ability; and he taught singing-school for a long time, but eventually leased a piece of land, where he carried on farming, also following the trade of carpenter and millwright. He married Mary Saunders, a native of Connecticut, whose family were noted for their bravery and daring in the Revolutionary War. Abel Palmer first settled in Andes, but later in life moved to Delhi, where he purchased a farm, and resided there until his death, in 1855, when eighty-two years of age. His wife had died nineteen years previous to this, having had a family of eight children -- Betsey, Saunders, Margaret, Lydia, Castle, Erbin, Abel, and Lyman B.

Lyman B. Palmer received his education at the district schools of Delhi, and until sixteen years old assisted his father on the farm. He then started for himself in life, doing carpentering and lumbering until he reached his twenty-first year, when he went South, working in Georgia and the Carolinas, erecting mills. During the late war he was engaged on government works for a few years. In 1851 he bought from the heirs of his first wife's family ninety-four acres of land, upon which he now resides, also holding the title to four hundred and ninety acres in Georgia.

Mr. Palmer has been twice married, first, in 1836, to Lucy Carpenter, daughter of John Carpenter, a native of Vermont; and by this marriage there were two children: Mary Jane, who married Henry Marks, of Chicago, Ill.; and Nancy M., who married Norman J. Harris, of Hart, Oceana County, Mich. Mr. Palmer married for his second wife, in 1866, Renna A. Butler, who was born in the town of Walton in 1826, daughter of John, Jr., and Ruana (Berry) Butler. John Butler, the grandfather of Mrs. Palmer, was born in England, and came to this country when a young man, settling in Connecticut, where he followed the trade of shoemaker. All of his sympathies were with the American people, and during the Revolutionary War he assisted on this side. Three of his brothers were numbered among the British forces, and during an engagement John Butler shot one of them three times without recognizing his victim. He married Martha Eells, of Canaan, Conn.; and in 1809 he, with his wife, bought land in Walton, where he engaged in farming. John Butler Jr., followed his father in the shoemaking business until his death, at the old homestead, when sixty-three years of age. He was the father of nine children. Mrs. Palmer's sister Harriet married George W. Finch, of Tompkins, and still resides in that town.

Lyman B. Palmer has been a voter in four different states -- New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina. He first voted with Whigs; and, when the change was made in the two parties, he became an Independent, voting generally, however, with the Democratic party. While in the South, he met and talked with many prominent men, including Jefferson Davis; Alexander Stephens; Governor Crawford, of Georgia; and Robert Toombs. Mr. Palmer is one of the substantial citizens of Tompkins, is still hale and vigorous, and continues to look after his extensive business interests.

GEORGE GLADSTONE, a noted farmer in Bovina Centre, was born in the town of Andes on September 19, 1843. There are numerous Gladstones in the county, among them Dr. James A. Gladstone; and all trace their lineage to a common ancestor, Robert Gladstone.

Grandfather Robert was a Scotch emigrant from Roxburghshire, who in 1817 began clearing the Bovina farm now belonging to Andrew G. Thomson. He was a hard-working and successful citizen, and a member of the United Presbyterian church. His wife died young; but he lived to be some eighty years old, dying in 1858, having been born about the period of the American Revolution. Robert Gladstone had six boys and one girl; and his son, Robert Osborne Gladstone, is now living in Andes. The list of Grandfather Robert Gladstone's other children, deceased, is as follows: William Gladstone, who married Catherine Renwick; John Gladstone, who married Isabella Elliott, and had twelve children; Thomas Gladstone, who married Margaret Bigger, and had four boys and two girls; Walter Gladstone; James Gladstone; Viola Gladstone; and Robert Gladstone, Jr., who married Jane Miller, and had six children.

Walter Gladstone, who married Isabella Elizabeth Bigger, was born in Scotland on the very last day of the year 1810, before the family removed to the United States; and his wife was also born among the Scotia hills, but four years later, in July, 1814. Walter was a life-long farmer, and came to this country when little more than a boy. As soon as possible he bought land midway between the centres of Andes and Bovina, and there resided till in 1858, when he was nearly fifty years old, he sold the place, in order to make a new settlement in Gladstone Hollow, a locality named after his family. There he owned a hundred and fifty acres, which he began to develop in the best way; but his hopes were blasted by his death only two years later, in 1860, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. His wife lived till 1869, dying at the age of fifty-five; and both belonged to the Andes United Presbyterian church. They had six boys and five girls, of whom only two, Robert and William, have passed from earth. Margaret Gladstone is now in Walton, the widow of Romaine Palmer, of Andes, her husband having been killed while in the discharge of his duty as a member of Company E, in the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment of New York Volunteers. John Andrew Gladstone lives in Andes. The next son is George, of whom more anon. Thomas is an Andes farmer. Ann married P. S. Doig, of Walton. Walter, named for the father, has a farm in Andes. Elizabeth lives unmarried in Walton. Her sister Isabella is an Andes school-mistress. Another sister, Janet Gladstone, has a home with her brother Tom in Andes.

George Gladstone grew up in Andes, attending the district school, and going to the academy one term. On reaching his majority, he began working out by the month -- for F. C. Armstrong two seasons, and Walter A. Doig one season. So saving was he of his scant earnings that in 1868, on the 8th of January, he was able to take upon himself family responsibilities, and became the husband of Helen Strangeway, a Bovina girl, daughter of Christopher Strangeway, of whose family further facts may be found in our sketch of A. T. Strangeway. In 1868 George Gladstone bought the estate where he still lives. At first he had only a hundred acres, but the land has been more than doubled by the addition of the Gillis farm. As is almost universally the case in this Scotch-American region, special attention is given by the owner to the dairy, suppled with milk from thirty fine Jersey cattle, each of which yields upward of two hundred and fifty pounds of butter every year, prepared for market in buildings arranged according to the latest ideas.

Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone have brought up their four sons in the United Presbyterian church. The eldest, James Walter Gladstone, born in 1869, is a farmer in the same town. His brothers, Christopher Strangeway, born in 1871, Robert Elliott, born in 1874, and William Armstrong, born in 1876, are at home on the farm. In politics their father is a Republican, and his family form the centre of a wide-awake circle of friends. Well has it been said by that searching essayist, E. P. Whipple: "Grit is the grain of character. It may generally be described as heroism materialized -- spirit and will thrust into heart, brain, and backbone, so as to form part of the physical substance of the man." Such an opinion is well borne out in the Gladstone posterity, and one can hardly speak the name without being reminded by it of that British statesman rightly known as the Grand Old Man.

MRS. E. J. WADE, of Wallton, widow of the late Charles B. Wade, who died in Binghamton, N. Y., May 10, 1873, is a lady greatly esteemed for her excellent traits of character. She was born in New York City, and comes of good New England stock on both sides, her parents, Andrew and Mary (Patterson) Seymour, having been of Connecticut birth, her father a native of New Canaan, and her mother of Stonington. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Seymour, was born in Connecticut, in 1756, and in 1774 was united in marriage to Anna Whitney, in the town of Norwalk, now New Canaan. They remained in the State of the nativity until after the birth of their twelve children, seven of whom were daughters, and in 1803, accompanied by their entire family, came to Walton, where they afterward resided. Their children all married and became heads of families, excepting one son; and their descendants are numbered among the useful and valued citizens of the place. They made the removal from Connecticut with wagons, a part of the family riding on horseback. Like other pioneers, they followed a path marked by blazed trees. The country was then in an almost primitive condition, and they accomplished their share in opening it up for the advance of civilization.

Charles B. Wade was born and reared to manhood in New York City, and was a son of Elias Wade, Jr., who was one of the firm of Grinnell, Minton & Co., extensive shippers to foreign ports. His union with Miss Seymour was solemnized in 1852; and three years later they removed to Walton, buying the fine large house on the corner of Delaware and Townsend Streets, which is now used as business property, his widow having removed to her present desirable home in 1891. Mr. Wade engaged in a successful mercantile business in this village, and was for many years a member of the firm of Gay, Eels & Wade, the leading merchants of the place, having an extensive trade throughout this part of Delaware County. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wade, two of whom died in infancy. The five living children are: William D.; Lizzie, wife of John R. Launt, who has one son, Rae C. Launt, a youth of fourteen years; Charles E., who married Grace Lapsley, of Springfield, Mo.; Seymour B.; and Alfred L. Mr. Wade was a man of good business capacity, and was prominent in local affairs. For a while he served as Supervisor, and in politics was an uncompromising Democrat, loyally sustaining the principles of that party. Socially, he was an important member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Mason of high degree, and filling different chairs in the society.

WILLIAM H. FORMAN is a substantial farmer of the town of Stamford, Delaware County. N. Y. His grandfather, Henry Forman, was born in Dutchess County, August 19, 1787, and married March 6, 1808, Miss Mary Bishop, who was born July 19, 1787. Henry Forman was a farmer, and also a blacksmith of Stamford, having learned the latter trade in Bloomville when a mere boy. After his marriage he removed to Stamford, where he was one of the first settlers, and where he died November 29, 1868, his wife's death having occurred April 5, 1867. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics a Whig. He was an energetic and industrious man, and with the assistance of his sons cleared and cultivated the farm in Stamford. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Forman were the parents of five children, two of whom still live, namely: Alexander, the father of the subject of this sketch, and his sister Harriet Benson, widow of Simon Benson, residing in Erie, Pa.

Alexander Forman was born August 18, 1815, in Stamford, where he was educated in the district schools, and later adopted a farmer's life. October 3, 1843, he married Ann White, who was born in Bloomville. April 27, 1820, a daughter of Shadrach and Mary (Upham) White. The father of Mrs. Alexander Forman was born in South Hampton, L. I., September 20, 1779, and his wife in Massachusetts, February 25, 1783, their marriage occurring May 8, 1805. He was a tanner and currier, and in the pioneer days of Bloomville moved to that village, where he died November 6, 1866, and his wife January 24, 1858. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was liberal in religious matters, and a stanch Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Forman are still living and enjoying good health in their home in Bloomville, passing the evening of their lives in the peace and prosperity deserved by the faithful.

William H. Forman, the only child of Alexander and Ann (White) Forman, was born in Stamford, September 24, 1844, receiving his early education in the schools of this town, and later attending the Andes Academy. He then gave his attention to farming, and lived at his parents' home until thirty years of age. He was married on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1874, to Miss Jennie McDonald, who was born in Stamford, where her father, Alexander McDonald was an early settler. Mrs. Jennie Forman died while yet young; and her husband was again married November 6, 1889, his present wife being Julia Foote, daughter of Charles Foote, a farmer and carpenter of Harpersfield.

Mr. Forman inherited from his grandfather one-half the old homestead, but is now the possessor of the whole property. He also manages his father's farm, and has, in all, three hundred and forty acres of land under his control, making him one of the principal farmers of the town. He keeps fifty grade Jersey cows, and makes excellent butter. Mr. Forman is a Republican, but in no way prominent in politics, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a member of the Delhi Lodge, No. 439, A. F. & A. M. An intelligent, industrious, and upright citizen, he is deservedly held in high esteem.

Mr. Forman is further represented in this volume by a portrait, which his friends will easily recognize.

EARL S. LAKIN, son of William G. Lakin, was born April 15, 1836, in Hancock, Delaware County. The progenitors of the Lakin family in America were among the early Puritan settlers who made their home on the rugged coast of new England, where they might live free from persecution. A branch of the family settled in Vermont; and shortly after the Revolutionary War three brothers, named Jonas, Joel, and Jonathan, came to Delaware County and settled on Partridge Island.

Mr. Earl S. Lakin has followed the river as a steersman, and since he was fifteen years old has scarcely missed a season's run. He has one hundred and sixty-two acres of land at Fish's Eddy, and this he cultivates in connection with his lumbering business. He has always taken great interest in local history; and from him have been obtained many of the interesting facts concerning the early days of the town, as they were told him his grandmother, Prudence Parks Lakin. The history of the family is given at length in another part of this volume in connection with the biography of his brother, James W. Lakin.

Mr. Lakin has been prominent in town affairs, and has been Collector of Taxes and Constable, which latter position he still holds. He is a free Mason in the seventh degree, a member of the Hancock Lodge, No. 552, A.F. & A.M. and of the Royal Arch Chapter. He is a Democrat in politics, and is unmarried. Mr. Lakin has a good reputation for honesty and integrity, and is highly esteemed by his townsmen.

AMOS C. PECK, the popular editors of the Downsville News, was born June 21, 1839,son of Orin and Lucinda (Goslee) Peck. Orin Peck was born February 4, 1802, and was the son of Amos Peck, who came to Greene County about the beginning of the century, and purchased two hundred acres of land. He and his wife raised a family of seven children, namely, Orin, Levi, Charles, Munson, Mary, Jane and Lydia, all of whom are now dead but Lydia, who lives in Connecticut, and is the widow of Alfred Peck.

Orin Peck grew to manhood on the farm, and was educated in the county schools, working on the farm during his youth. When twenty-four years old, he married Lucinda Goslee, and they had the following children; Pamelia and Delia, who are now dead; Newton G., who is a farmer in Schoharie County; Amanda, wife of A. Rathbone, of Davenport, Delaware County; and Amos C., the subject of his sketch. Orin Peck had a farm of two hundred acres in Greene County, and lived there until 1848, when he sold out, and removed to Delaware County, buying a farm of one hundred acres at Harpersfield. Here he dwelt for twenty years, at the end of which time he disposed of his Harpersfield property. He then purchased a home in Stamford, where he spent his old age, and died at the age of seventy-five years. His wife passed away, December 12, 1863.

Amos Peck was born in Greene County, and grew to manhood at his father's home, receiving his education at the district schools. After five years spent in agricultural pursuits at the old homestead, he bought a farm of one hundred acres in his native town, where he spent the next five years of his life. He then sold his farm, and started with A.W. Clark the newspaper called the Jefferson Weekly. In 1875, having disposed of his interest in that enterprise, coming to Downsville, he started the Downsville News. This paper is one of the most interesting local sheets in the vicinity, has a large circulation and is highly spoken of by all its subscribers and readers.

Mr. Peck married Kate, the daughter of Edward and Mary Ann (Beard) Young. Edward Young was born in 1809 on Long Island. And came to Schoharie County while yet a young man. He was a carpenter and farmer, and was the father of seven children--- Polly, Elizabeth, Kate, Cynthia, Sarah, Lydia, Hattie. Sarah is the wife of James H. Hubbard; Lydia the wife of Stephen Dayton, and Hattie the wife of Stephen Mattice, all of Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Amos Peck have two children: Edward, born December 23, 1867, and George, born October 1, 1870, both living in Downsville.

Mr. Peck is a Democrat, and a member of the Baptist church, while his wife is an adherent to the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a man widely known through the pages of his excellent paper and enjoys the acquaintance and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

DANIEL S. DIBBLE was born in Davenport Centre, Delaware County on September 6, 1862. The grandparents of Mr. Dibble were from Schoharie County, and the grandfather was a large landowner in that section. He was a Republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and lived to be quite old. He left four sons and one daughter--- Lewis, Daniel, Bruce, Simon and Anna Liza.

Simon Dibble was born in Scoharie, September 16, 1815. He left home when a lad of fifteen years, and at nineteen bought a hotel at Blenheim, which he kept for several years. Selling out his Blenheim property, he engaged in farming in Meredith. He now rents this place, and lives a quiet restful life. He is a Republican, and has been Supervisor and Town Clerk for good many years. He married Miss Anna Davis, a daughter of Nehemiah and Charlotte Davis, and one of a family of five children--- Anna, Fred, John, Joel and Mary. Nehemiah Davis served in the War of the Revolution, and lived to be almost seventy-eight years old. His wife almost completed a century, dying in her ninety-third year. Simon Dibble was the father of a dozen sons and daughters, namely: Mary, the widow of William Smith, now living in Davenport Centre with her two children; Catherine O., who lives at home; Bartley H., who married Helen Kenyon, a farmer of Meredith; Roderick, a farmer of Meredith, who married Miss Nellie Gregory, and has two children; Frederick, a merchant in Ontario, who married and has one child, Fannie, the wife of John Gregory, of Bloomville; Carrie who married Mr., Winfield Sheldon, a farmer of Meredith, and has four children, Charles, a policeman, who married Miss Catherine Simeon; Daniel, of whom this is a personal record, Jennie who married Mr. Hasted Moore , a merchant in Oneonta, and has two children; Olive, the wife of Hiram Frisbee, a farmer of Bloomville; John, also a farmer of Bloomville, who married Miss Mary Jerow.

Daniel S. Dibble began early in life to earn a support for himself, delivering mild on board the Schuyler steamers on the Hudson, when a little boy of thirteen. When he grew older he superintended a farm at Walford for four years, after which he bought a farm of two hundred acres of land near Meredith, where he kept a dairy. Eight years ago he came to Griffin's Corners and here established a general grocery store and a livery stable. In 1887, he married Miss Fannie J. Payne, a daughter of John H. and Julia (Shafer) Payne. Mr. and Mrs. Payne had two other children, namely: Minnie, now Mrs. Abraham Quick, and George who died in his youth. Mr. and Mrs. Dibble have one child, who was born on the 8th of August 1892. Mr. Dibble is a Republican in political conviction, and a man of liberal religious views.

GEORGE A. EVANS, innkeeper, owner of the Bloomville Hotel, was born May 26, 1853, in the village of Sidney Centre, and is the son of Oscar and Jane M. (Brown) Evans, who was among the first settlers of Unadilla, Otsego County, and was a soldier in the War of 1812.

Orrin Evans, son of Levi, spent the greater part of his time in Sidney, and was a hard worker. He owned a good farm of about one hundred and seventy-five acres, and he had but one child, Oscar. Orrin Evans and his wife died in the town of Masonville. At George Evans' home, he at eighty-seven years of age, and she at seventy-eight. Orrin was a liberal in his religious views, and politically a Democrat.

Oscar Evans, son of Orrin, owned a farm of two hundred acres in the town of Sidney where he carried on quite extensively, general farming and dairying. He is now a retired farmer, living in the town of Sidney Centre. His wife died November 12, 1893, at the age of sixty-four. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while he is a liberal in religion, and in politics, a Democrat. They had two children: George A., of whom this sketch is written, and a daughter, Della, who is the wife of Edward Harris, and resides in Binghamton.

George A. Evans was educated in the district schools. He gave his attention to farming, and lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age, when he bought a farm of one hundred acres in the town of Masonville. Here he lived for six years, then sold it and bought a more extensive farm of two hundred and forty acres, where he resided for six years, carrying on general farming and dairying. In 1887, he sold out again, and engaged in the livery business at Oneonta, and also ran a stage for four years from Grand Gorge to Catskill. In January, 1889, he gave up the livery business, and came to Bloomville, buying the Bloomville Hotel, which he has successfully managed. It is an exceptionally good public house, well heated by furnaces and stoves, with accommodations for fifty guests. He had remodeled and improved it, and does a flourishing business, keeping in connection therewith an excellent livery stable.

November 3, 1875, he was married to Hannah Goodrich, who was born in the town of Davenport, daughter of C.W. Goodrich, farmer and blacksmith. Both of her parents have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have had five children, but four of whom are now living: namely, Olive W., Minnie, Frank and Hazel, who are all at home. One son, Walter, died at the age of eight years.

George A. Evans is liberal in his religious beliefs, and his wife is a member of the Bloomville Methodist Episcopal church. He supports the Democratic party, and is a member of the Delaware Valley Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 612. He is an honored citizen of the town of Masonville, and has had various public offices, serving one term as Collector, and has gained the respect of his fellow-citizens.

W. HENRY DURFEE, the energetic and popular proprietor of the Cannonsville House, Cannonsville, N.Y., was born in this village, and has resided here all of his life, being of the fourth generations of Durfees, who have made their home in these parts. His great-grandfather, Thomas Durfee, was a native of Connecticut and an early settler of Delaware County. Tradition does not disclose the location of his first settlement here, but after his marriage to his second wife, a daughter of Squire Cannon, he occupied a portion of the Cannon estate, residing thereon until his death.

His son, also names Thomas, was born in Cannonsville, and learned the trade of a blacksmith, but later became a Baptist preacher and moved to Philadelphia, where he was engaged in church work for several years. He then returned to Cannonsville, where he died at the age of eighty years. His wife, Elsie Randall, died here at the age of ninety years. Stephen, son of Thomas Durfee, Jr., like his father learned the blacksmith trade, which, however, he did not follow long, but during the war was a sutler and Provost Marshal.

He afterward kept a public house in Cannonsville, where he died in 1867, at the age of fifty-four years. His wife was Antoinette Smith, who was born in Cannonsville, a daughter of Abner Smith, a native of the same village.

Abner Smith's father, Caleb Smith, was born in the western part of Rhode Island, and resided in that vicinity until 1799, when accompanied by his wife and his child, he immigrated to Delaware County. He purchased a tract of timberland, now included in the village of Cannonsville, and improving the water power, erected a saw and grist mill, engaging extensively in lumbering and farming. He married Huldah Cottrell, who was born in Connecticut, near the Rhode Island line, and lived to be eighty-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs., Caleb Smith raised a large family, their first child being born in 1798, and now resides in Madison, Wisc., in her ninety-sixth year. Their son, Abner, the father of Mrs. Stephen Durfee, spent his entire life in Cannonsville, where he was engaged in farming and lumbering for many years, and later was employed at the shoemaker's trade, dying at the age of fifty years. His wife was Marian Kelsey, daughter of James Kelsey, who was a native of Massachusetts. When quite young, James Kelsey, accompanied by Martin Lane, started for the Far West, as New York was considered at that time, with a pair of oxen and a art, and here he purchased a tract of timber land two miles below the village of Cannonsville, employing himself in farming and lumbering. His wife was Avis Hoag, who died at the age of forty-six years.

WILLIAM G. McNEE, an important factor in the industrial interests of the town of Bovina, has a pleasant residence in Bovina Centre, where in following his trade of plasterer and mason, he has assisted in building some of the finest residences and business houses. He first opened his eyes to the beauties of this world in the town of Hamden, March 5,1853. His father, William McNee, was born in Schenectady, Albany County, and married Jane Arbuckle, a Scotch lassie, who emigrated from her native country with her parents. His first purchase of land in this county was in the town of Hamden, where he successfully farmed for many years. He subsequently removed to Delhi, and there died when sixty-three years old. His widow, surviving him, lived to the age of threescore and four years. They were persons of great moral worth, and devout members of the United Presbyterian Church of Delhi. In politics he affiliated with the Republican Party. They reared six children, namely: R.A.S. McNee. a farmer of Delhi; J. Frederic; William G., Daniel A., and Maggie j., of Delhi, and Elizabeth, who died in 1867.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the schools of Hamden and Delhi, and remained with his parents until about fourteen years old, when he went to live with his aunt, Agnes Holmes, in the town of Delhi. He began his life as a wage earned by working as a farm laborer at four dollars a month, and continued thus employed some ten years; his wages being increased as the years passed by. Being industrious and economical, he accumulated quite a sum of money, and was then enabled to buy a farm, selecting one in the town of Delhi, on which he pursued general farming for seven years. In 1876, Mr. McNee sold that property, and four years later he moved to Bovina Centre, taking up his trade as a mason and plasterer.

The union of Mr. McNee and Miss Euphemia F. Doig, a native of Bovina, and the descendant of one of its respected families, being a daughter of William and Jane (Forest) Doig, was solemnized February 25, 1875. Her father, the son of Walter Doig was born in Scotland in 1808, and died in the village of Bovina. April 7, 1871; and her mother, who was born in 1811,died February 28, 1864. Both were connected with the Presbyterian church, in which he faithfully served as Elder for many years. They reared a family of nine children, of whom Mrs. James William Coulter and Mrs. McNee are the only ones now living. The deceased are as follows: Jane, born January 26, 1836, died July 29, 1855. Walter, born March 26, 1837, died January 9, 1894. William F., born November 28, 1840, studied for the ministry, but died before completing his ministerial course. Margaret, born February 10, 1843, died March 10, 1847. Mary S., born July 4,1845, died March 30, 1847. Mary J., born March 1847, and Andrew, born June 4, 1849, are deceased. Mrs. Coulter was the third child in order of birth, and Mrs. McNee was the youngest member of the parental household.

The family circle of Mr. and Mrs. McNee has been completed by the birth of four children: namely, William F., Nellie J., Celora L., and James L. The family are regular attendants of the United Presbyterian church, of which Mrs. McNee has been a member for the past twenty years. Politically, our subject sustains the principles of the good old Republican part, and has served his fellow townsmen as Collector for two years, and is now serving his fourth year as Constable.

JAMES A. SHAW was born in the town of Hamden, May 17,1864. His grandfather, William Shaw, came to this country from Scotland, and established himself in Terry Clove. He and his wife, Margaret McDonald, and their children--- Jane, Alexander, William, Donald. Sarah, Catherine, and June--- all are now deceased. William and Margaret Shaw were remarkably pious people, and reared their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and within the fold of the Presbyterian church, to which they both belonged.

James H. Shaw, the father of James A., whose name heads this memoir, was born at Terry Clove, where he grew up and was educated. At an unusually early age he started out in business for himself, and bought land at different times until he was the possessor of one hundred and sixty acres. This was sold and the money invested in a place in Hamden where he now moved, and where he remained during the remainder of his life. His wife, Adelia C.Conklin, belonged to one of the oldest families in Coles Cove, where her parents, Ambrose and Phoebe Conklin, were large landed proprietors. There were six children in the Conklin family: Adelia; William; John R.; James E., a farmer in Colchester, and Ansel, who lives at home. Mrs. Conklin lives at the old homestead; and, though past the limit of four score years, she retains her faculties and her health to a remarkable degree.

James A. Shaw passed the college course successfully at Hamden, and at twenty-two years of age took employment with Beard Brothers, railroad bridge builders, with whom he remained for five years, soon becoming foreman and taking contracts for some of the largest drawbridges in the United States, including the bridge over the Thames at new London Conn., one is Wheeling W. Va., one in St. Louis, and one in Louisville Ky. Returning to Delaware County, he bought a house and lot in Downsville, and building an addition to the dwelling, he opened a furniture store and undertaker's establishment. A steam engine I used in connection with his planing and lumber matching, in which he is extensively engaged.

On March 22, 1893, he was married to Miss Eva M. Lindsley, a daughter of Ira D. and Jerusha (Wilson) Lindsley. The young wife's father was born April 30, 1828, and is a farmer in Downsville, where he has held the office of Justice of the Peace. He is a Republican. James and Eva Shaw have one child, born April 23, 1894. Mr. Shaw is a Republican, and belongs to the Masonic Order, being a member of Poughkeepsie Lodge, No.266.

JAMES A. POMEROY is extensively engaged in general farming and dairying in the town of Sidney where he was born October 3, 1837. His parents were Abner and Hester (Rogers) Pomeroy.

Abner Pomeroy was the son of Joseph Pomeroy, a farmer and soldier in the War of 1812, who spent his entire life in the Old Bay State, dying there at eighty years of age. He and his wife had a large family of children, Abner being among the older ones. He, being of an adventurous turn of mind and desirous of acquiring landed property, removed to Delaware County, bringing his wife and family. He settled at first in the town of Franklin, but a few years later, in 1818,came to Sidney, and bought one hundred and ten acres of wild and heavily timbered land. He built a log house, which the family occupied for several years, and with the assistance of his sons, redeemed a goodly share of his land from the wilderness. He subsequently sold that farm, and bought a smaller one in the same town, and on this he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, she dying at the age of seventy-two years, while he lived to the age of eighty. He reared a family of seventeen children, four by his first marriage, and thirteen by his second. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and served as Highway Commissioner and as an Assessor. He was liberal; in his religious views, and his wife was a Baptist.

James A. Pomeroy, the eldest child of his father's second marriage, obtained his education in the district schools, and remained an inmate of the parental household until twenty-three years of age. When beginning life for himself, he worked by the month for a short time, then buying sixty acres of land, commenced farming, and in course of time added forty more acres to his original purchase. He finally sold that place at an advantage, and in 1873 bought the farm where he now resides. It consists of one hundred and seventy acres which he has placed in a good state of culture, and further improved by the erection of commodious farm buildings, his barn, which was erected in 1885, being eighty feet long by fifty feet wide, and capable of accommodating seventy or eighty head of cattle. Mr. Pomeroy makes a specialty of stock raising, and has one of the finest herds of cattle in the county, consisting of about sixty head of full blooded and recorded cattle, his favorite breed being the Devons. His sales of milk, from about thirty-five cows, average one hundred and twenty dollars a month. Mr., Pomeroy is giving his close attention to his farming interests, and has but little time to devote to political matters, but uniformly supports the Democratic party. He takes an intelligent interest in local affairs, and has served as Assessor three years.

The union of Mr. Pomeroy with Miss Sarah Palmer was solemnized November 21, 1860. Mrs. Pomeroy was born in Franklin, August 20, 1835, being a daughter of George and Melissa (Hoyt) Palmer, neither of whom is now living. Mr. Palmer was a successful farmer of Franklin, and he and his wife were numbered among its most respected citizens. The following are the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy: Irving L., a farmer, married and residing in the town of Sidney; Minnie M., the wife of Alfred Reynolds, of Cooperstown; Amasa J., a farmer, residing at home. Mr. Pomeroy and his excellent wife are faithful and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.