Delaware County, NY Genealogy and History Site
Biographical Review - 1895
The Leading Citizens of Delaware County, NY
Biography is the home aspect of history
Biographical Review Publishing Company 1895
Among these children, as already suggested, was John, the father of the subject of this sketch. He grew up on the farm in Stamford, but added to farming a skilful knowledge of carpentry. His first land purchase was in another part of Delaware County, the town of Hamden, where he also found plenty to do as a builder. His next business venture was in Kortright, where he added wagon-making to his former trade, and also bought a second farm, on which he labored till the last part of his life. He passed from earth in 1881, while living in his son John's home, at the good old age of eighty-three. His wife died in the same filial home, at the age of eighty-five. Both were stanch adherents of the United Presbyterian church. Politically, he followed his father in being a Democrat; and he had nearly the same number of children, ten in all, of whom six survive. Samuel, named for his grandfather, is a citizen of the metropolis, and so are his brothers, Charles and Benjamin Clark. Their sister Elizabeth has a home with her brother John J. Mrs. Mary D. Bush, another sister, lives in the village of Hobart. Simeon Mace Andrews died at the age of sixty-six. Charles Clark, Cordelia, and Hannah Andrews died in early life. It is a religious as well as a patriotic satisfaction to the Andrews family that they are able to trace their lineage directly back to an ancestor bearing the same name, who crossed the seas in the "Mayflower," and landed where "the breaking waves dashed high, on a stern and rockbound coast."
J. J. Andrews was like his father in growing to manhood on the paternal acres, though in a different district. What schooling was possible he obtained in his native place. Even after he began to support himself he still lived under the parental roof-tree, and cared for his father and mother in the feebler years. He was not married till the second day of October, 1878. The bride was born in Hobart, April 24, 1859. Her name was Mary Emma Kniskern, and at the time of her marriage she was only nineteen. Her mother, Jane Eleanor Story, was born in Schoharie County, December 17, 1828; and her father, John F. Kniskern, an industrious cabinet-maker and builder, was born in the same country, February 7, 1822. Their home was, and still is, in Hobart, where they are active workers in the Methodist church. A Republican in politics, Mr. Kniskern has always been interested in everything that affects the welfare of the community. To the Kniskerns were born ten children, as also to the parents of Mr. Andrews. Walter J. is a house-painter in Hobart. Aldamont is a bookkeeper in Baltimore. Mrs. Maud Chapman resides in new York City. Claude is a resident of Hobart. Mary is the wife of Mr. Andrews. Mrs. Cora L. P. Lyon resides in the metropolis. Herman and John B. are both painters in the village of Hobart, like their brother Walter. Elloy and Jennie both died when only eighteen months old. The productive farm where Mr. Andrews and his family reside was bought in 1865, just at the close of the Civil War. To the original two hundred and eighteen acres he added one hundred and twenty-six more two years later, so that he now owns three hundred and forty-four acres, one of the largest farms in this section. Like his neighbors, he turns his attention mainly to dairy products, having seventy-five milch cows, and selling ten cans of milk daily, the year round. He also deals in fine horses, and keeps his barns and stables in excellent condition. Three children have blessed the home. Maud Elizabeth was born November 23, 1879, and still graces the homestead. John Simeon, named for grandfathers and an uncle, was born May 15, 1884, and has not yet left home; and the same is naturally true of his younger brother, Benjamin Clark, born March 22, 1887. These children are growing up an honor to their parents. Mrs. Andrews is Presbyterian in faith. Her husband, however, is a liberal in his religious views. In politics he is a Democrat, like the two generations preceding him. The home is located in the beautiful valley of the Delaware River, and surrounded by the hills and mountains forming part of the famous Catskill range.
GEORGE WEBSTER. The thriving village of Walton has a full quota of live, energetic, and persevering business men, among whom is the subject of this sketch, who, in company with Mr. Frank Clark, has recently embarked in the market business. He is a man of sound judgment and keen foresight, and has met with uniform success in the various transactions in which he has engaged. He is a native of the Empire State, appearing upon the scenes of life in 1841, in the town of Milford, Otsego County, at the homestead of his parents, David and Ruth (Worden) Webster.
David Webster was born on the green sod of the Emerald Isle, in the year 1796, in Armagh, County Down, and was named for his father. When fifteen years old, he accompanied his parents to America. They had an unusually tempestuous voyage. Their seven weeks of ocean travel being weeks of terror and danger. After landing in New York City, they proceeded at once to the town of Westford, near Schenevus, Otsego County, where they bought a tract of timbered land, on which they reared their large family of eighteen children, all of whom were born in Ireland. Many of these sons and daughters were old enough to be of great assistance in clearing and improving the land; and in a few years they had a good farm, entirely free from debt. On this homestead, which they reclaimed from the forest, David Webster Sr., and his wife spent their remaining years rearing their large family to habits of industry and economy; and all became honored and trustworthy men and women, and most of them well-to-do farmers. They were Protestant in religion, and held in high respect throughout their neighborhood.
David Webster, Jr., the father of George Webster, was an earnest and honest tiller of the soil, and after his marriage bought a farm in Otsego County, on which he resided until 1849, prosperously engaged in mixed husbandry. During that year he removed to Delaware County, buying a farm in the town of Tompkins. After living there eight years, he exchanged that two hundred acres of land for a farm near by, and was there a resident until the spring of 1866, conducting his agricultural interests very successfully. Selling that at an advance, he purchased another farm, which was finely stiuated on the Delaware River, between Cannonsville and Deposit. In 1869, feeling the infirmities of years coming on apace, and having performed his full share of manual labor, he sold his property to his son, with whom he and faithful wife afterward made their home, both dying in Cannonsville, at the age of eighty-six years, his death occuring in 1882, and hers in 1884. Of eleven children born to them nine grew to maturity, four sons and five daughters; and of these the following are now living: John, a farmer, who lives in Sanford, Broome County; Mary Ann, the widow of Stutely Sherman, who resides near Cooperstown Junction, in Otsego County; Ebenezer, who likewise lives near Cooperstown Junction, and owns, in company with his son-in-law, a valuable farm of six hundred acres, on which they carry on an extensive business in dairying and hop-growing; Ruth Ann, the wife of N. S. Boyd, a farmer, who lives in Downsville; and George, of whom we write.
George Webster received a limited education in the district school, and at the early age of eight years began working on the farm, his first employment being to drive the team for his father to plough. From this time until the year 1890 Mr. Webster was steadily engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was a farmer of more than average skill and ability, his early experience in that line being of inestimable value to him. His first purchase of land was near Cannonsville, and contained one hundred and fity acres of rich and productive land, from which he received a good annual income. In 1890 he sold that farm for the consideration of six thousand five hundred dollars, and, coming to the village of Walton, bought a small tract within the corporation limits. This he divided into town lots, all of which he has sold with the exception of five. In 1893 he and his son bought the Walton bakery, which is now under the management of his two elder sons, Eugene and Arthur.
The marriage of Mr. Webster and Miss Hulda Pomeroy was celebrated September 30, 1863. Mrs. Webster Webster was born in Hamden, Delaware County, and is a daughter or Orange D. And Sally (Montfort) Pomeroy, the former of whom was born in Massachusetts, and the latter in Delaware County. This union has been blessed with three children: Eugene, who married Emma Tiffany, and has one daughter, now a few months old; Arthur, who married Florence Walworth, and also has one child, a bright boy of fourteen months; and George L., a young man of eighteen years, who is now attending the Walton High School. Mr. and Mrs. Webster occupy a very pleasant home on Park Street, which they bought from William Woodin, who had built it for his own use.
In politics Mr. Webster is an uncompromising Republican, ever interested in local matters, and now serving as Village Trustee. While in Tompkins he was for one year Assessor. In his religious views he coincides with the tenets of the Baptist church, of which he and his wife and two children are faithful and worthy members, he being a Trustee and Deacon.
EDWARD AUGUSTUS SHAFFER is a leading citizen of Margarettville. Where he has a large store in the very centre of the village. He was born May 27, 1869, in the town of Andes; and his antecedents are worth considering. The great-grandparents were Adam and Laura (Shoefelt) Shaffer. Adam Shaffer was born in Dutchess County, and there married. With his wife and older children he came to Delaware County, and settled in the village of Shavertown, in Andes, on the banks of the Delaware River, on a farm now owned by W. H. Terry. He brought cattle and horses from his old home, and built almost the first log house and barn in this part of the town. On Beach Hill Creek he built subsequently the only saw-mill to be found for many miles; and, as there were as yet no roads to Kingston, the nearest settlement, only trails through the woods, it was no easy task to get together the proper materials. As there was great need of a grist-mill, he contrived a rude machine for corn-grinding, much like an old-fashioned well-sweep; only, in place of a bucket, was a heavy stone that was pounded up and down upon the grain, which was placed in a hollow log by way of a hopper. So indispensable was this pounder that farmers came from near and far to use it. Then Mr. Shaffer began to raft lumber down the river, and in the course of years was able to erect a frame house and barn, the first in this part of the county. It need hardly be said that a farmer so enterprising and inventive soon wanted more than the two hundred acres at first bought. In the woods were wolves, bears, panthers, and wild-cats, as well as deer. Like the father of the human race, this Adam could call the beasts by name, and in later life could narrate to a younger generation many an adventure of the wilderness. Six boys helped him in his work -- George, Henry, Philip, Peter, William, and John. The pioneer was a Whig in his latter days, but earlier in life was a Federalist; and the family belonged to the Dutch Reformed church. Adam Shaffer died in middle life, at fity-two; but his wife lived to be a dozen years older.
Adam Shaffer's son William, on attaining manhood, bought part of his father's farm. He married Hannah Vail, daughter of Joseph and Ruby (Wilson) Vail, who came from the South settle on the banks of the Delaware, reared a large family, and lived to be old people, though the descendants are no longer found in this region. Like his father, William Shaffer not only farmed, but dealt largely in lumber, owning at one time three sawmills. Like his parents, William and Hannah Shaffer had six children. Alfred, born January 5, 1815, married Mary Jessup; and they had one child, who now lives in Andes. Delancey Shaffer was born in the last month of the year 1817. He was twice married, first to the Widow Bambardt, and second to Anne Knapp, and had in all seven children. Edwin Shaffer was born October 1, 1823. George R. Shaffer was born November 10, 1825, married Sarah Radecker, has two children, and lives in Shavertown. Sylvester Shaffer, born January 29, 1830, married Delotte Fuller, and lives in Downsville. Sallie C. Shaffer, born in August, 1839, married Dr. Oliver Carroll, lives in Port Jervis, and has one child. William Shaffer was a soldier in the war of 1812, and received for his service a thousand acres of land, divided into farms and woodland. He died March 30, 1835, and his wife on July 22, 1840.
William Shaffer's son Edwin, father of the subject of this sketch, studied in the district school, and worked at home, where he remained till he was thirty years old. His father gave him a saw-mill and land, and naturally Edwin took to the lumber business; but in 1864 he turned drover, taking cattle at first as far as Dutchess County, and later to New York City and New Jersey. November 29, 1863, amid the Civil War, he married, his wife being Agnes Boyce, daughter of James , Jr., and Barbara (Gordon) Boyce. James Boyce, Jr., was the son of James, Sr., and Agnes (Currie) Boyce, of Dumfries, Scotland. James Boyce the younger came to America when twenty-two years old, and here met and married Barbara Gordon, daughter of James and Mary (Hay) Gordon. Her brothers and sisters were Peter, Jane Ann, Owen, and Jeanette. At first James Boyce and his wife lived in New York City, but later in Delhi and Andes. The names of their children were: James; Joshlynn, who married Laura Caulkins, and has two children; Mary; Peter, who married Mary E. Davis, and has one boy; Fannie; Agnes, who was born march 28, 1849, and married Edwin Shaffer, as already related; John, who is dead; Thomas, who married Maggie Bell, has four children, and lives in Hartford, Conn.; William A., who married Anna Burhaus, lives in Margarettville, and is a merchant; David, who lives in Michigan; Annie, who married C. J. Dickson, of whom a special sketch may be found. James Boyce lived in Andes when his wife died, in 1882, December 20, a member of the Presbyterian church; and then he moved to Margarettville, where he now lives, at the extreme age of eighty-five. Edwin and Agnes Shaffer had only two children. Edward Augustus Shaffer was born May 27, 1869, and was married June 28, 1893. Laura Anna Shaffer was born February 28, 1877, and lives at home. Their father is a Republican, and his wife is a Presbyterian.
Edward Augustus Shaffer went to school winters and worked on the farm summers. Four years he worked for T. R. McFarland, and then, at the age of seventeen, was employed as clerk by C. J. Dickson, of Margarettville, his kinsman by marriage. Being then of age, he formed a partnership with Fred. S. Tobey; and they continued three years in the hardware business, till 1883, when Mr. Shaffer sold out, and worked a year with his old employer, and then went into business elsewhere for himself, adding to his plumbing an extensive traffic in all sorts of farming tools. His place of business is on Bridge Street. He was married in 1893, at the age of twenty-four. His wife, Cora M. Terpenning, is the only daughter of H. H. and Susa (Myles) Terpenning. He was born in Ulster County, near Esopus, and first did business in New York City, but later came to Margarettville, where he purchased of C. B. Schoonmaker the Riverside Hotel, and does a large business in entertaining summer borders. Mr. E. A. Shaffer is a Republican, very liberal in his religious views.
LEWIS B. STRONG, a well-to-do farmer, residing on the Franklin road in the town of Meredith, is a man of much energy and ability, and has attained success by his untiring industry, combined with a careful and wise management of his business interests. He is a native of Delaware County, having been born on September 23, 1828, in that part of the town of Meredith lying between Delhi and Meredith Square. He comes of Colonial stock, and traces his ancestry back to one Caleb Strong, his great-grandfather, who was born in Connecticut, in the town of Colchester, February 20, 1713. He was a farmer by occupation, and spent his last years in Sharon, Conn. His son, Caleb Strong, Jr., was also of Connecticut birth, born June 20, 1749. He carried on farming in Sharon until 1797, when he came to this county and cleared off a tract of land now included in the site of Meredith Squre, remaining there until his decease. He married and reared thirteen children.
William, the youngest, was born February 29, 1797, in the Connecticut home of his parents, and brought here by them when an infant. He was bred a farmer, and remained with his father, helping in the farm work until of age. He then began working by the month for Judge Law, and subsequently bought a farm on Honest Brook, where he lived a few years. Selling that property, he removed to Taylor, Cortland County, residing there three years. In 1834 he returned to this county, and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by his son, Lewis B., the subject of this sketch. He labored diligently in clearing and improving the land, and in course of time waving fields of grain and green pasture lands occupied the tract where formerly stood the primeval forest. On this snug homestead he and his good wife passed their remaining years, she crossing the dark river of death in 1867, he dying in 1876, at the venerable age of seventy-nine years. The maiden name of Mrs. William Strong was Charlotte Whitney. She was a native of Walton, and was one of a large family of children born to David and Nancy (Raymond) Whitney, the date of her birth being February 15, 1800. Her parents were natives of New England; but after their marriage they settled in Walton, where Mr. Whitney followed the trade of a blacksmith for many years. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Strong; Mary Ann, who married Thomas Bartlett; Marietta, who married William H. Gates; Maria, who married Thomas Graham, a butter dealer of Croton; James W.; Lewis B.; William M.; and Milton M. Mrs. Strong was a noble type of the pioneer women of her day, a faithful coadjutor of her husband in all of his labors, and a sincere member of the Presbyterin church of Meredith.
Lewis B., the second son of William and Charlotte Strong, was two years of age when his parents went to Cortland County, where they lived three years, and was five years old when they removed to the farm he now occupies. He shortly began his education in the district school, and completing it at the Franklin Literary Institute was subsequently engaged one term in teaching. His assistance being then needed on the home farm, he gave his attention to that until 1853, when he purchased a farm in the western part of the town, where he resided ten years, successfully engaged in general husbandry. Returning in 1863 to the home of his boyhood, he bought the place, which he has since carried on with satisfactory pecuniary results. During the lifetime of his honored parents they remained inmates of his home, and were tenderly cared for by himself and family. His farm contains one hundred and twenty acres of good land, on which, besides raising grain of all kinds and cutting a good deal of hay, he keeps a dairy of graded Jerseys, which yield him a profitable income, his sweet, pure butter finding a ready market.
Mr. Strong has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united in 1850, was Jeanette Hymers, one of ten children born to John and Elizabeth (Ormiston) Hymers, the former of whom was a native of Scotland and the latter of Bovina. Three children were born of this union, namely: Henry M., who married Anna McCormick, of Meredith, and died at the age of thirty-two years; Alfred D., a butcher in Delhi, who married Sarah Thompson, and has one child, James Madison; Frank M., who married Adelia Osborne, of Croton, and has one child, Lewis Ranson. Mrs. Strong, a sweet, lovable woman, passed to the higher life in 1878, at the age of forty-six years. She was a true Christian, and a devout member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Strong subsequently wedded Miss Eugenia L. Covell, a native of Wisconsin, and the daughter of Peter and Jane (Moscrip) Covell died in Wisconsin; and his wife returned with her family to Delaware County, and married James Sloane, who was for many years a well-known farmer in the town of Kortright.
Politically, Mr. Lewis B. Strong is a true-blue Republican, and in the affairs of his town and county takes an intelligent interest. He has filled the office of Supervisor four terms, and for eleven years was a Justice of the Peace. Six years he was employed as Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. Religiously, he is a believer in the tenets of the Methodist church, to which his wife belongs.
MILTON H. MAYNARD, a prominent lumber merchant at Fish's Eddy, was born October 26, 1829, in Delhi, Delaware County. His earliest ancestors in this country came from England and settled in Massachusetts. Thomas Maynard, his grandfather, was born in Deerfield, on the Maynard farm, which is one of the oldest in that part of the State. He married Elizabeth Choat, of Deerfield, and, with a colony of Eastern people, comprising members of the Maynard, Choat, and Parsons families, migrated to Schoharie County, New York, late in last century, settling in that part of Blenheim now called Gilboa. They came as far as Newburg, N. Y., by water, and then were conveyed by ox carts to Blenheim, where they built their log cabins on the highest hills they could find. Here they lived a most primitive life, depending mainly upon the game, deer, and fish for their daily food. They built strong enclosures for their sheep and cattle as protection against the wolves, panthers, and bears, which were abundant. The women spun, carded, and wove the wool and flax, and manufactured all the garments worn by the family. Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Maynard, was a descendant of the Choat family of Massachusetts, her father having a family of thirteen children, nine of whom lived to be over eighty years of age. He himself died after more than fourscore years, and was buried on the Choat farm in Gilboa, having with his wife been a faithful member of the Baptist church. A. S. Maynard, father of the subject of this biography, was educated in his native town, and assisted his parents on the home farm until he became of age. He married Ophelia Reekie, daughter of Andrew Reekie, of Stamford, Delaware County. Her father was a supporter of the last Stuart pretender to the British crown, and came to this country as a political refugee with a price upon his head. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and first met at Newburg, after Burgoyne's surrender, the lady who became his wife. He served until the close of the war, then married and settled in Stamford, where he resided until his death, at the age of ninety-four years. His wife survived him ten years.
A. S. Maynard was the father of eleven children, seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died at the age of seventy-six.
Milton H. Maynard was educated in the Stamford Academy, and then went to Franklin, after which he began the study of medicine, but soon gave that up and taught school for a number of terms. About the year 1853, in company with A. B. Stimpson, he started a store, which he sold to his partner in 1857; and he has since been engaged in the lumbering business.
His first marriage was in 1854 to Marie A. Fletcher, of Davenport, by whom he had four children, namely: Augustus, now a resident of Hancock village; Lasael A., editor of the Christian at Work, a paper edited in the interest of the Christian religion in New York City; Ida P., wife of James M. Driver, of Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, who died in July, 1894; Dewhurst F., who died in 1874, when seventeen years old. The mother of these children died in 1863; and Mr. Maynard afterward married Elizabeth F. Sparks, daughter of Robert and Eleanor (Sniffin) Sparks, of Fremont, Sullivan County. Mrs. Maynard is the mother of four sons -- Edwin L., Arthur H., Carlisle M., Manton H. - all of whom live at home and assist in the management of their father's farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Maynard are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fish's Eddy, and politically he is a Democrat. He has been a Justice of Peace since 1858, and has been Justice of Sessions for two terms, still holding the position. A portrait of this useful and honored citizen, who is well known as a man of good business ability and of upright life, graces an adjoining page.
JOHN H. BAUMES, one of Delaware County's enterprising farmers, proprietor and manager for several years of the first steam saw-mill in Masonville, was born in Bethlehem, Albany County, N. Y., May 24, 1835, son of David and Maria (McKnab) Baumes. His parents were both natives of the county, where they began life almost with the close of that century, the date of his father's birth being February 22, 1799, and of his mother Janury 3, 1800.
John Baumes, father of David, was of German descent, but was born in New York State. In early manhood he owned land in Albany County, and was engaged in its cultivation. Later he removed to Schoharie County, where he died at the age of seventy-two years. Mr. John Baumes was industrious and thrifty, and was a man of substance. In politics he was a Democrat, or States' Rights man. He and his wife, Hannah Moshier, who lived to be of middle age, had a large family of children, some of whom died when young; but eight studious sons grew to manhood, and married before they went the way of all the earth.
One of these, David named above, learned the carpenter's trade, and was a contractor and builder in the city of Albany for a number of years. He afterward spent a year or two in Cayuga County, and about five years in Schoharie County, when in 1848 he removed to Masonville, where he bought land and carried on general farming. In 1856 he and his son, John H., who was then twenty-one years of age, bought the farm of one hundred and eighty acres where the latter now lives; and here he made his home during the latter part of his life. He died, however, during a visit to Schoharie County, March 8, 1867, his wife having died the previous year, on February 19, 1866. She was a Methodist, and he a liberal in religion. In politics, like his father, he was a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. David Baumes had eight children, six of whom grew to maturity. Five are now living, as follows: Margaret Seely, residing in Sidney; Angelina Bowman, in Masonville; Louise Smith, in Hamilton, Madison County; John H., in Masonville; and James R. Baumes, a former Judge, in Sidney.
John H. Baumes received most of his schooling in Schoharie County, but had also the advantage of one term in Hamilton Adademy. He was thirteen years old when the family removed to Masonville; and he continued to live with his parents and work for his father till he attained his majority, when he began farming for himself on the land of which he was part owner. After the death of his father he bought out the other heirs, and thus acquired sole possession of his present farm of one hundred and thirty acres. When he first began to work on the land, all but about five acres was covered with woods. To the task of clearing and improving he devoted himself with energy, sagacity, and success. Instead of preparing his land for the plough and his timber for market by the wasteful process of reducing the trees to ashes, he built a steam saw-mill; and he and his brother, buying two hundred and eighty acres more of woodland in the vicinity, were engaged profitably for about fifteen years in the manufacture of lumber, in which they did a more extensive business than any other men in the town, the product of the mill being over three hundred thousand feet hemlock. Having since disposed of both the mill and the land, he now devotes himself to the care of his original homestead, where he carries on general husbandry and dairying. He keeps twenty cows, grade Ayrshires, and has an average of twelve thousand pounds of milk a month for eight months of the year. He has a good farm which is well managed and productive.
On New Year's Day, 1867, Mr. Baumes married Mary Burnside, who was born in the town of Butternuts, Otsego County, January 13, 1847, daughter of James and Louise Burnside. Her father was a farmer. He died at the age of seventy-two, and her mother at forty-seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Baumes have one child, a daughter, Nellie Baumes, who was born March 6, 1868, and is a cultivated and accomplished young lady, a graduate of Oxford Academy in the class of 1888. Miss Baumes has already taught fifteen terms of school, including one year in the high school.
Mr. John H. Baumes inclines to liberalism in religion, and is a Democrat in politics. He has served as Highway Commissioner one year and as Assessor five years, being a man of unquestioned integrity and sound judgment in regard to property values. He is a Mason, being a member of Lodge No. 606, A. F. & A. M., and of Deposit Chapter, No. 283. Although only in his sixtieth year, Mr. Baumes is one of the oldest settlers in this part of the town of Masonville, which by his untiring enterprise he has done much to build up and improve. Diligent in business, self-respecting and respected, he lives not for himself alone, but as a useful member of society, a valued citizen of the great republic.
DR. MARCUS O. LANDON, dentist, whose office is on Main Street, Delhi, possesses great professional knowledge and skill, and occupies a leading position among the prominent dentists of this part of the State. He is a native of this place, where he first opened his eyes to the light on march 15, 1859, being a son of David G. Landon, one of Delhi's most respected citizens, and a descendant of an honored pioneer. Asa Landon, the father of David, was born in New England, and there spent several years of his early life. Accompanied by two of his brothers, he migrated to this part of New York when the intervening country was little more than a wilderness, and leased a tract of wild land in Delhi, and afterward reclaimed from the forest a valuable homestead. His brothers were equally successful in their pioneer labors, and the trio spent their remaining years in this locality.
David G. Landon, son of Asa, was reared on the parental homestead, receiving as good educational advantages as the schools of his time afforded. He was a very active, enterprising youth, and at the age of fifteen years began clearing a tract of land in Delhi. When at a suitable age to assume the responsibilities of a benedict, he married Mary Ann Dibble, the daughter of Cornelius Dibble, a prosperous farmer of Bovina; and they commenced housekeeping in the log cabin which he had previously erected on his land. He worked with untiring industry, and, as time progressed, had the satisfaction of seeing the once heavily timbered land covered with waving fields of grain, and the log cabin, in which the older children of his household were born, replaced by a substantial frame house. He subsequently sold that farm, and bought the one where he now lives, and has since continued his agricultrual pursuits. To him and his wife four children were born, namely: Amelia, who died when young; George A.; Cornelius F.; and Marcus O.
Marcus O. Landon spent his boyhood days in this town, acquiring the rudiments of his education in the district school, and afterward attending the academy. In 1876 he removed to Cobleskill, where he began the work of his profession, remaining there four and one-half years in active employ. In 1881, Dr. Landon returned to the place of his nativity, and was very soon in the possession of an excellent and lucrative practice. He has now, without doubt, the largest business in dentistry in Delaware County, and is reputed to be one of the leading men in his profession in the State.
The nuptials of Dr. Landon and Emma B. Browne were solemnized on August 6, 1885. Mrs. Landon is the daughter of the Rev. George Browne, pastor of the Presbyterian church of Hamden, and his wife, Maria (McLaren) Browne. Religiously, the Doctor and his wife are esteemed members of the Episcopal church of Delhi, in which he is a Vestryman. In politics he is identified with the Republican party; and socially he is prominent in the Masonic fraternity, having belonged to Delhi Lodge, No. 439, A. F. & A. M., of which he is Past Master. He is also a member of Delhi Chapter, No. 249, of Norwich Commandery, No. 46, and of the Scottish Rite.
MARTIN CHURCH, wagon-maker, residing in Sidney, is a hearty and vigorous man of seventy-seven years, still an active worker at his trade. His grandparents, James and Lois (Dart) Church, were born in Connecticut, and were there married. They reared a family of six children, all of whom were married excepting one daughter, Nancy, who died in Otego, at the advanced age of seventy-two years. Other children were born to them, but were called to their hevenly home when young. In 1806 Mr. and Mrs. James Church migrated from their New England home to the wilds of Otsego County, starting in the month of February or March, making the journey in an old-fashioned cart, drawn by a pair of oxen. On their way through the Catskill Mountains they were snowed in, and had to excange their wheels for runners, fitting up a sled, in which they completed their trip. They settled in the town of butternuts, Otsego County, where their children grew to maturity, and where they spent their remaining years, Grandfather Church living to the venerable age of ninety-three years, departing this life 1857.
The parents of Martin, Ebenezer, and Charity (Emmons) Church were natives of Connecticut, and were both born in the year 1790. Their union was celebrated in the town of Butternuts, where they afterward lived and labored as long as their lives were spared, the mother dying in 1871, and the father some seven years later. Of their four children one, Julia, the eldest born, died at the age of twelve years. Levi B. died at Butternuts in 1866, leaving one son and four daughters. Isaac, a wagon-maker and a farmer, is a respected resident of the town of Butternuts. The other, Martin, as above mentioned, lives in Sidney.
Martin Church was born in Butternuts in 1817. He received a limited amount of schooling in his youth, and at the age of fourteen years began working at the carpenter's trade with his father, continuing in that occupation for several years, having inherited in a large degree the mechanical ingenuity of his father and grandfather. In 1852 he began the trade of wagon-making, without, however, having served any apprenticeship. In company with his brother Isaac, he opened a shop in the village of Gilbertsville; and this they operated in partnership until 1867, when they dissolved by mutual agreement. In 1870 Mr. Church established his business in Sidney, meeting with such encouraging success in the first year that he resolved to make this his permanent abiding-place. He accordingly built his comfortable residence at No. 24 Main Street, and the shop where he is working he erected 1889. He is a thorough-going business man, prospering well in his labors, and a valued and esteemed citizen of the village.
The maiden name of the wife of Mr. Church, to whom he was united in 1841, was Huldah Ann Fairchild. She was a native of Otsego County, having been born in the town of New Lisbon, in 1820, being the descendant of a pioneer family of that place. She bore her husband six children, two of whom died in infancy, and one daughter, Mary, when only six years of age. Of the three children now living William D., now fifty-one years of age, is a printer by trade, and has a wife and one son, Daniel; Sanford E., who was named for the governor of that period, a cousin of his father, is a railway man, and is married, but has no children; and Emma, the wife of Willard B. Ruland, has eight children.
Mrs. Church, who was a most worthy woman, and trained her children to habits of industry and virtue, passed on to the higher life in 1878. In politics Mr. Church is a stanch Republican, having been identified with that party since the time of John C. Fremont, and, although interested in the welfare of his town, has never held any office, excepting that of Town Collector for a while in Butternuts.
WILLIAM R. SWART was born on Beeman Hill, town of Middletown, Delaware County, on the thirtieth day of January, 1821. His grandfather, Tunis Swart, was a farmer at Esopus, on the Hudson River, and had accumulated quite a competence when his possessions were suddenly lost during the Revolutionary War, at the time that the village of Kingston was burned. Having lost his property in the patriotic cause, he received afterward a lot of two hundred and fifty acres from the Livingston tract in Delaware County, at what is now known as New Kingston. His father gave him a team and lumber wagon, also some farming implements, with which to begin life; and he bravely set forth upon the way, but, when he reached Delaware County, found it impossible to go farther until a road was opened from Margarettville, and here remained until a way was cut through the uncleared country. When at last, after a long delay, he arrived at his destination, he cut timer, and built a log house, and commenced the improvement of the land. Later he leased a lot on Beeman Hill, from which place he finally moved to the town of Hamden, where he remained until his death. He reared the following-named children: John, Samuel, William, Richard, Abraham, Anna, Electra, Attie, and Mary.
Samuel Swart was born in Esopus, and came to Delaware County in his youth. Here he married Anna Beeman, a daughter of Solomon and Deborah Beeman. He bought a tract of eighty acres of land, doubling it by a later purchase, and here reared the following-named family: Solomon, who married Miss Mary J. Akerly, and had two children; William R. of this notice; Peter F., who married a Miss Drummond, and died, leaving five children; Attie, who married E. J. Faulkner, and became the mother of one child; Charles, deceased; Mary, who married Peter Delamater, and died, leaving two children; Orson, who married Miss Gussie Decker, and had three children. Samuel Swart afterward moved to Margarettville, residing there until his death. He died at the age of seventy-two years, having served in the War of 1812, been a faithful Democrat, and a conscientious member of the old-school Baptist church.
William R. Swart passed his boyhood at Beeman Hill, receiving an education at an old log school-house on Hubble Hill. Upon attaining his majority he began farming, and a year later learned the trade of carpenter, which for some years he plied through the long winters, driving stock and doing farm work during the summer seasons. Gradually, by industry, he accumulated enough capital to invest in a store at New Kingston, and entered into a partnership with Isaac Birdsell, this being the first store of general merchandise established in that village. This enterprise was sold out, however, and a similar one started in Margarettville. Mr. Swart engaging in business with his brother. Six years later he bought the old Drummond farm, which he finally sold, and purchased a dwelling in Margarettville. Having been successful in these various enterprises, he has retired from active business, although his services as a veterinary surgeon are still in demand. He is the owner of the handsome stallion, Pride of Dutchess.
In 1842 Mr. Swart was united in marriage with Elizabeth Drummond. Her father was a progressive farmer in New Kingston, and lived to attain the age of eighty-four years. Mrs. Swart had one sister, Mrs. Henry Reynolds, of New Kingston; but both are now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Swart married Mrs. Julia E. Carpenter, widow of Richard Carpenter, and daughter of Abram Akerly, who served in the War of 1812, and died at the age of ninety-eight. Mr. Carpenter passed away at the age of eighty-four. Mr. Swart is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party. He has been an active and useful citizen, has held various local offices, for two terms having been President of the village, and has taken great interest in educational matters, at the present time being a member of the Board of Education.
TALLMAN C. BOOKHOUT. In the annals of Delaware County the name of Bookhout is of frequent and honorable mention, and the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch is a worthy representative of the first of that family to settle in this section of New York. Mr. Bookhout is a native of this county, and was born in the town of Roxbury, November 24, 1841. For many years he was identified with the agricultural element of Walton, and in the pursuit of his chosen occupation amassed a competence. He is a man of great energy, enterprise, and financial ability, and occupies an important position among the successful and influential business men of Walton. He is of German origin, and is a grandson of John Bookhout, a pioneer of the county.
John Bookhout was born in Krakow, Germany, and emigrated to America prior to the Revolution, settling in the Dutch settlement then called New Hamsterdam, now New York. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War he enlisted in the service of his adopted country, serving seven years; and the musket which he carried during that time is still in the possession of one of his descendants. After the close of the war he married Nancy Smart, and the first decade of their wedded life they spent in Dover, Westchester County. Following the tide of emigration to Delaware County, they located in the town of Roxbury, where he was one of the first settlers. He secured a tract of timbered land, on which the family camped until the customary log cabin was raised, and for a short time one end of that was used for a stable. Standing at his cabin door, rifle in hand, he had no trouble in shooting sufficient game to furnish himself and family with a dinner at any time. The nearest grist-mill was twelve miles distant, and he frequently carried his grist to and fro on his back. He and his faithful wife lived together for upward of sixty years; and both died in the town of Roxbury, he passing away at the age of eighty-two, while his widow survived him living until the venerable age of ninety-four years. They were the parents of nine children. Both were religious people, and were charter members of the Congregational church of Roxbury, of which the father was Deacon for many years.
William Bookhout, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the oldest son of his parents, and was born on the farm in Roxbury. He was a farmer by occupation, and in early manhood married Caroline Hull, a native of Connecticut, a daughter of William Hull, and a niece of the world-renowned Commodore Isaac Hull. They became the parents of a large family, as follows: Nancy married Urion McKay, and settled in Lenawee County, Mich., where both died. Sabra is the wife of Francis O'Conner, of Delaware County. Elizabeth is the widow of G. W. Plough, and lives at Roxbury. Isaac married Useba Craft, and they are residents of Roxbury. Mary, the widow of Urion McKay, also lives in Roxbury. Tallman C. is our subject. Margaret died at the age of four years. George W., a resident of Roxbury, married Adelia Bouton. John resides in Dallas, Tex. Rose died, unmarried, in Michigan. James, who resides in the town of Franklin, married Emma Hall, of Walton. The father was a life-long and much esteemed resident of Roxbury, and in his political views was a Jacksonian Democrat. The mother lived to the advanced age of seventy-two years, dying on the old homestead in Roxbury. She was a woman of superior character, and a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Tallman C. Bookhout assisted his brother John to obtain an education. The latter went to Texas, where in course of time he became wealthy, and paid his brother all he had expended for him. He was afterward unfortunate, and lost his all through the failure of a bank. He was fortunate, however, in having friends in the North who had confidence in him, and loaned him a few hundred dollars. With this money he purchased the site upon which the city of Dallas now stands. In the boom which afterward followed he made a vast amount of money, and is now one of the wealthiest men in the State. He married Ella Randall, of Dallas, where they now reside, and of which city he has been Mayor.
Tallman C. Bookhout, to whom we refer in this brief sketch, was reared to man's estate in the town of Roxbury, and received a liberal education. At the first call for troops he enlisted in defence of his country in Company I, Seventy-second New York Volunteer Infantry, being the first volunteer from his town. With his regiment he served in Sicles's Brigade, and was an active and courgeous participant in many of the most important and decisive engagements of the Rebellion, among the earlier ones being the seige of Yorktown, battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, and the Peninsular Campaign. He was stricken with fever, and sent to the David Island Hospital, New York, where he remained five months. He rejoined his regiment at Brandy Station, Va., and was attached to General Hancock's corps at the battle of the Wilderness, but during the second day's fight was wounded and left for dead on the field of battle, which, says Draper, "was throbbing with the wounded." He was sounded in the left shoulder and left eye, the ball striking his gun and being shattered, three pieces entering his body.
Mr. Bookhout was a very courageous soldier and an expert marksman, and in relating the history of his army life often says that, if every Union man had killed as many of his adversaries as he did, there would not have been a rebel left to tell his side of the conflict. Among his victims was the rebel who killed the Major of his regiment, Mr. Bookhout shooting at him six times before killing him, and being shot at the same number of times by his opponent. He was subsequently sent to the hospital at Fredericksburg, narrowly escaping capture on the way thither. This was within fifteen days of the time for the expiration of his term of enlistment, and he was offered a furlough. He proceeded as far as Washington on his way home; but his patriotic impulses were in the ascendant, and he returned to Fredericksburg, starting from there on foot, with the hope of striking a train. Arriving at Fredericksburg, he found himself in the rear of Grant's army, and followed with his own regiment, which he joined at Cold Harbor. He went into the midst of the fray at that place with his arm in a sling, and without fire-arms, but soon procured the latter from the body of a dead comrade. He did heroic duty with his uninjured arm, probablly firing as many effective shots as others with the use of both. He next went with his company to Ream's Station, at Bermuda Hundred, and was subsequently at the siege of Petersburg, this being after his term of service had expired. He was also in the engagement at Weldon Railroad, afterward retiring from active duty, and returning home the 8th of July, 1864. His wound was very painful, and gave him much trouble, not healing for more than a year, and costing him about one hundred and fifty dollars.
In the spring of 1866 Mr. Bookhout was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Ellen Ferris, of Ashland, Greene County, N. Y. Three children have been born of this union: Carrie is the wife of Lewis Benedict, of Walton, Alden is a student in Union College, and Sarah lives at home. In 1893 Mr. Bookhout retured from his farm labors, and removed into the village of Walton, where he is enjoying the pleasant leisure to which his previous years of toil entitle him. In politics he is a firm adherent of the Republican party, and, although not a politician, is deeply interested in local and national matters. Fraternally, he belongs to Ben Marvin Post, No. 209, Grand Army of the Republic, and is prominent in Masonic circles.
GARDNER L. RIDER, who died at his home in Masonville, N. Y., August 12, 1894, was born in the town of Sidney, January 8, 1828, son of John and Charlotte (Smith) Rider, the father being a native of Vermont, and the mother of Otego, Otsego County, N. Y. The grandfather, Gilead Rider, was a resident of Vermont, little being known of his antecedents.
John Rider settled in Otsego County when a young man, and there followed the trade of a blacksmith, his specialty being the manufacture of a high grade of scythes. He afterward moved to the town of Sidney, where he purchased a farm of one hundred acres. This, however, he soon disposed of, and bought another farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres in the same town. He thenceforth turned his attention exclusively to farming, and was a hard-working and successful man of his day. In politics he was a Democrat, but never aspired to any public office. He was married to Miss Charlotte Smith, by whom he had the following children: John G., residing on the old homestead in Sidney; Gilead, a farmer of Sidney; Hannah, wife of Olmstead Flint, of Otego; Hattie Rider, of Unadilla; Elvira, wife of Adelbert Houston, of Otego; Gardner L., and Charlotte, who died young. Mrs. Charlotte Rider died aged sixty-five, and her husband at the age of eighty-seven.
Gardner L. Rider was educated in the town of Sidney. He lived at home until he was twenty-one; and after that he worked out by the month for four years for one man, making good wages, but unfortunately losing over four hundred dollars of his savings by the failure of his employer. In 1858 Mr. Rider settled in town of Masonville, buying at first seventy-five acres of land and adding to it until he had a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres, and carried on a large dairy business, keeping about thirty head of native cattle.
Mr. Rider was married, April 8, 1858, to Sarah E. Thompson, who was born November 11, 1837, in Masonville, daughter of Rufus A. Thompson and Prudence E. Wells. Mr. Thompson was born in Otsego County, and his wife in Masonville, the Wells family being among the early settlers of the town. Mr. Thompson was a tanner in early life, his latter years being devoted to farming. He died in the village of Sidney, April 18, 1890, aged eighty-six; his wife died November 3, 1840, aged thirty-one. Mr. Thompson, who was twice married, had three children by his first wife and four by his second. Four children survive him, namely: Foster W. Thompson, a farmer of East Sidney; Sarah, wife of Gardner L. Rider; Rufus A., a practising physician of Norwich; and Mrs. Ellen Pinder, now residing in California. Mr. and Mrs. Rider had two children. Their daughter, Edith L., wife of Orville Dean, a farmer of East Masonville, has four children -- Jessie, Leslie, Frank, and Ralph. Frank Rider, the only son, resides at home with his mother. He married Alice Robertson, and has one son, Foster Thomas Rider.
Mr. Rider, like his wife, was liberal in his religious views, and in politics was allied with the Democratic party. He possessed one of the best-kept farms in Masonville. He was distinctly the architect of his own fortune, having by diligent application, good judgment, and economy acquired the competency which he enjoyed in his declining years.
EDMUND A. HOWES, a worthy citizen of Tompkins, was born in this town February 27, 1857. The Howes family, which is of English ancestry, came to New York from Caped Cod. Edmund Howes, grandfather of Edmund A., was engaged in farming and lumbering in the town of Thompson, Sullivan County, where he erected a house, which still stands. His wife was Polly Fields; and they had the following family: George, Benjamin, Jesse, Samuel, Edmund, Deborah, Emilly, Elizabeth, and Jane. Edmund Howes died in 1838, having passed the greater part of his life in Thompson, where he was buried.
Jesse, the third son, was born in Bridgeville, and spent his boyhood on the home farm. When about twenty-one, he started out for himself as a carpenter and joiner, following that occupation until 1850, when, in company with his brother George, he purchased a tract of land on the Delaware River near Long Eddy, and here engaged in shipping lumber to Philadelphia. He was an excellent swimmer and an expert hunter, the hero of many thrilling adventures. After about eight years he sold his interest to his brother, and in 1855 purchased a tract of one hundred acres of timbered land on Bullock Hill, where he erected a log cabin, and began to fell the trees. He later built a frame house on the same site, and engaged in farming and dairying. He married Susan Jenkins, daughter of Horace and Anna (Vermilyea) Jenkins, of Roxbury, N. Y. She is still living, and is greatly esteemed by all. Her father was in his younger days one of the most prominent men of his town; he now spends much of his time with his grand-daughter, Mrs. Howes.
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Howes were the parents of twelve children, namely: Anna F., widow of Charles Drake, a farmer of Tompkins, who died in 1881, and is buried on Knickerbocker Hill; Loomis; Horace J., who married Ella A. Drake, a sister of Charles Drake; Eva A., who married S. L. Niles, of Tompkins; Hiram J., a school-teacher; Edmund A., whose name heads this sketch; Annetta, who married Jesse Gardner, a physician in Anemdeta, Ohio; Emily J., the wife of Frank Clark, a butcher of Walton, of the firm of Clark & Webster; Samuel, who died at the age of two years; Mary E., who teaches school on Knickerbocker Hill; Arthur R., who follows the occupation of a butcher; Helen M., wife of Frank Wells, of Masonville; Frank C., who lives on the old homestead and carries on the farm.
Edmund A. Howes was educated in the district schools of his native town, and when eighteen began to teach in Peasetown, Broome County. He afterward taught at Bennettsville, Chenango County, and later five terms in Masonville, teaching sixteen terms altogether. January 1, 1883, he married Maggie E. Finch, daughter of Henry and Mary Jane (Carroll) Finch, of Sidney. The grandfather of Mrs. Jonas Finch was born in Cairo, Greene County, son of Amos and Martha (Parks) Finch. Amos Finch was a Revolutionary soldier, and engaged in farming in Dutchess County. Jonas married Henrietta Lennon, who lived to be eighty-seven years old, and died in 1874. His son, Henry Finch, father of Mrs. Howes, was born June 22, 1823, was a farmer in Masonville, but later bought land in Williamsport, Pa. In 1862 he enlisted in the war, in which he served ten months, returning to Pennsylvania after peace was declared. He now resides, retired from active work, in Sidney. His wife was Mary J. Carroll, daughter of Samuel Carroll, of Tompkins; and she was the mother of twelve children: Zaccheus, who married Rosetta Teed, of Sidney; Sarah, wife of Edgar Teed, of Stevensport, Pa.; Henrietta, who married Duane Hand, a farmer in Morris, Ontario County; Louisa, wife of Robert Stewart, of Sidney, who died in 1894; Anna, who married Warren Hodges, a farmer of Sidney; Maggie; Henry, who married Mary Bradley, of Tompkins; Emeline, who died at the age of sixteen; Almetta, who married James Hodges, of Sidney; Nora, the wife of Edwin Wheat, a carpenter of Sidney; Norman, who married Bertha Gaylord, and is engaged in farming in Sidney; and James.
Mr. and Mrs. Howes have one son, Fred E., born June 10, 1885, who now ttends school in District No. 7. Mr. Howes is very prominent in town affairs, and has held various offices of trust. He is Justice of the Peace, has been Inspector and Auditor, and was a member of the Republican County Committee during the years of 1881 and 1882. He is a Republican in politics, and is widely known and esteemed.
MRS. JANETTE (GOODRICH) STODDART, widow of James S. Stoddart, who died at his late home in the town of Croton, September 13, 1890, at the age of seventy-four years, is an intelligent and cultured lady, universally respected for her nobility of character and kindness of heart. She is a native of Delaware County, and a daughter of Richard M. Goodrich, who was born June 16, 1786. He was educated for a professional life, and at an early age began his career as a physician, being for many years the most successful and popular practitioner of this section of the county, having an extensive practise in the towns of Hamden and Middletown. He was married December 28, 1812, to Jane J. Sands, who bore him six children, as follows: Antoinette, the wife of Benjamin McCall; Henrietta, now seventy-seven years of age, and a resident of Delhi; Janette, Mrs. Stoddart; Juliet, the wife of Alexander Shaw, of Delhi; Harriet, the widow of William Burgess, of St. John, New Brunswick; and George, a resident of Delhi.
Mrs. Stoddart received a careful home training and an excellent education, being fitted at the age of fifteen years for a teacher, and for four terms was an instructor in the public schools. On the 3d of April, 1839, being then a maiden of eighteen years, she became the bride of James S. Stoddart, an industrious and enterprising farmer, and a young man of great promise. They settled on a farm of their own in the town of Hamden, where they lived several years, prosperously engaged in tilling the soil. Selling that property at an advantage, they bought another farm in Walton, and managed this with the same untiring industry that had heretofore characterized their labors, and in the course of time amassed a comfortable competence. Mr. Stoddart was a man of great force of character. Possessing more than ordinary business ability, he carried on his farming operations in an able and scientific way, and was numbered among the most progressive agriculturists of his neighborhood. About eighteen years ago he and his wife removed to the present fine home of Mrs. Stoddart in Croton, where he lived retired until called to his eternal home. He was a most exemplary and highly esteemed citizen, and in every condition of life performed whatever he undertook conscientiously, and as became a man having the best interests of his town and county at heart. He was an active worker in religious circles, and a devoted membder of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Stoddart was of good Scotch ancestry, his father, William Stoddart, having been born and reared in Scotland. When a young man, he emigrated to America, and settled in Delaware County, where he was married May 4, 1815, to Phoebe Churchill, who was born in the same year as himself, 1784. He was a farmer by occupation, and owned a farm on Scotch Mountain, where, by industry, thrift and strict economy, he acquired a substantial property. During the last years of his life he lived retired in Delhi. His wife survived him many years, and died at her home in Delhi, June 14, 1857. Four children, two sons and two daughters, were born to them; but of these only one is now living, Esther, the widow of Tracey G. Rich, of Binghamton, N.Y.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Stoddart was blessed by the birth of five children: William G., born January 11, 1840, married Estella Rowe, and lives in Croton. Jane E., formerly a successful teacher, was born January 29, 1843, and is now the widow of Samuel Holmes, of Walton. Sarah B., born in 1845, is the wife of Joshua Seaman, a farmer residing in Meredith, and has two children. Charles A., born January 22, 1849, now a resident of Walton, is a widower with three children. Ann Eliza, born May 8, 1851, married Leroy Smith, of Franklin; and they are the parents of three children.
Mr. and Mrs. Stoddart were for many years among the most extensive and prosperous land-holders of the county, and owned several farms, their acreage aggregating some five hundred acres, this large property being acquired mainly by their own efforts and good management.
MERRIT S. ROBERTS, one of the most prominent and successful farmers of the town of Kortright, was born in that town, October 7, 1829, and is the son of Joseph W. and Mary (Seely) Roberts, the former a native of Kortright, and the latter of Westchester County. The grandfather, Eli Roberts, was born in Westchester County, but settled in Kortright in 1780, being one of the first pioneers of the town. He owned one of the largest farms in the vicinity, remaining in active charge of the same until his death, at the age of eighty-nine. Joseph W. Roberts was brought up as a farmer and lumberman, and purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, the greater portion of it having to be cleared. He died on his farm at the age of seventy-six, his wife being eighty-eight at the time of her death. The latter was a member of the Baptist church.
Merrit S. Roberts was educated at the district school and the academy. He turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, managing his father's farm, and looking after his parents during their last years. He has added considerably to the farm since it came into his possession, now having three hundred and eighty acres under cultivation. He has built a handsome residence, and his farm is conducted on model and practical lines. His son is associated with him in its management, the firm name being M. S. Roberts & Son.
Mr. Roberts was married October 20, 1852, to Adelia A. Brownell, a daughter of Isaac and Lucy Brownell, of Kortright. Mr. Brownell was a well-known and influential farmer of this town, and lived to a ripe age, being eighty years old at the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have two children: Maud, who was married in April, 1884, to George E. Moore, a prominent druggist of Oneonta, and has one child, Leona; Joseph I., who was married January 18, 1892, to Miss Grace Van Vechten, of Rensselaer County, and is one of the rising young farmers of the town. He was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, which position he now holds, and is a member of Lodge No. 466, A. F. & A. M. In politics, like his father, he is a Democrat.
Mr. Roberts has been Supervisor of the town for two years, and has also filled minor town offices. He is a member of Lodge No. 466, A. F. & A. M., of Oneonta, and is also a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Delhi Chapter, No. 249. Mr. Roberts is one of the most respected farmers in Delaware County. He is a man of sterling worth, giving life and spirit to the town of his nativity, and taking a deep interest in all enterprises which tend to promote its welfare.
ARTHUR H. ST. JOHN, M. D., represents in a worthy manner the medical profession of Walton, one of the most prosperous and thriving towns of Delaware County, and socially is regarded as one of its most valued citizens. His native place was at Cranbury, N. J., the date of his birth being May 8, 1856. He is a son of Isaac J. and Elizabeth P. (Hanford) St. John, both of whom were natives of Delaware County.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in the town of Walton, whither his parents had returned shortly after his birth. Soon after his graduation from the Walton High School he entered into mercantile business, and was subsequently employed as an agent for the American Express Company, running between Oswego and New York. From his boyhood, however, he had intended to become a physician, and, with this end in view, entered the office of Dr. J. H. Keeney, of Oswego, N. Y., with whom he read medicine, going thence to the New York Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892. The subsequent year Dr. St. John was one of the staff of the Hahnemann Hospital. After spending some time in private practice in New York City, the Doctor located in Walton, opening his office here in April, 1893, and since that time has been in the receipt of a substantial practice. He is a close and thoughtful student, devoted to the interests of his patients, and is held in high respect both as a man and as a practitioner. He has more than an average share of the patronage of the best people of the community, and his prospects for winning a position among the leading physicians and surgeons of this part of Delaware County are exceedingly good.
The marriage of Dr. St. John and Miss Belle M. Snow, a daughter of Garrett Snow, was solemnized at Caroline Centre, Tompkins County, in 1876; and the young couple began their wedded life in Walton, which is the natal place of their only child, Nellietta, who was born in 1877.
CARL HERMANN is one of the leading cottagers in the charming rural resort known as Fleischmanns, situated in the mountainous uplands of Delaware County, the summer residence of a small number of select families well known in metropolitan life. Some years ago several members of the Fleischmann family, in search of rural quiet and picturesque scenery, visited this retired neighborhood, and, charmed with its pure air CAN'T READ altitudes, and care-banishing influences, resolved that their first visit should by no means be their last. Accordingly, about 1882, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Fleischmann and Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Bleier came to the locality, and purchased a part of the old farm then owned by John M. Blish, building pleasant summer cottages, well adapted to the requirements of health and pleasure seekers. They were soon joined by others, among them Charles Fleischmann, Carl Edelheim, Mrs. Max Fleischmann, Anton Seidl, Louis Josephthal, and Carl Hermann. Bernard Ullman and Henry Mierlander added to the architectural beauties of the place by establishing spacious and picturesque homes on the mountain side, Mr. Charles Fleischmann building three more large and tasteful dwellings.
The grounds surrounding these attractive residences are exquisitely laid out, teeming with flowers and shrubbery, and broken here and there with convenient walks and well-graded carriage drives. A large deer park, in which ramble at will some choice specimens of their kind, adds greatly to the interest of the landscape. Swimming Pond, supplied with pure mountain spring water, is a convenience that has not been forgotten; neither have commodious stables and carriage houses. Another most interesting and luxurious feature of this realm of pleasance is a fine riding-school in a magnificently equipped hall, with a commodious gallery, in which the friends of the riders can sit and watch their graceful evolutions. There are costly paintings on the walls, which are elsewhere tastefully draped with rich bunting; and four large chandeliers provide brilliant illumination for evening pleasures. A portable floor has also been provided for dancing, and an orchestra of skilled musicians from New York is kept in good practice throughout the season. The railroad station, a tasteful structure, erected by the liberality of the Fleischmanns, invites the attention of the passing traveller. The surrounding grounds attest the work of an artist in landscape gardening.
This charming spot, whose natural beauties have been so enhanced by a boundless liberality, directed by cultivated taste, is yet but in embryo. The plans for the future are well calculated to dwarf the achievements of the past; and in the choice and secluded settlement of "Fleischmanns," nestling in the shadow of the romantic Catskills, redolent of health, innocent gaiety, and cultured ease, we may view a place where sordid cares are excluded and the rude turmoil of life's battle stilled, its faint echoes only touching the chord of remembrance, as the reverberations of the swift express, with its varied freight of human interests, hopes, and passions, break softly on the air and lose themselves in the rural solitudes.
SAMUEL W. NILES, a retired farmer of Sidney, was born in that town, August 23, 1816, and is the son of Joseph and Sally (Barstow) Niles. His grandfather, Ambrose Niles, a native of Connecticut, was a veteran of the War of the Revolution, and was drafted in the War of 1812, but hired a substitute. He came to Delaware County in 1810 with his wife and two children, and, settling in the town of Sidney, took up a lot of land consisting of about one hundred and seventy-seven acres, upon which he built a log house, and later built the second frame barn that was erected in that part of the town.
Joseph Niles, son of Ambrose, was born in Connecticut, and taught school in that State before coming to Delaware County with his father when a young man. He here followed the occupation of a farmer, and filled several local offices, being Justice of the Peace for some years, well known as "Squire Niles," holding his court in an old log house, many of the lawyers coming to court on horseback, with their clients behind them. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Samuel W., the subject of this sketch; Clarinda, wife of Addison Nowland, of Chicago, Ill.; Lucina, who became the wife of Joseph Miller, and died at the age of fifty-six; Mary, wife of Norval Barstow; Celinda, wife of Cyrenus Schofield; Sarah, wife of Henry Fletcher; and Hubbard Niles, who died aged eight-one. Joseph Niles died in 1850, aged seventy-one, his wife surviving him thirty years.
Samuel W. Niles was reared on the old farm, a short distance from where Sidney Centre now stands, receiving his education at the district school, which was on the farm, Gardner Olmstead being his first teacher. The school-house was of logs, and heated by fireplaces, the seats being made of slabs with pegs put in for legs. Mr. Niles had but a meagre chance of attending school, as most of his time was given to work on the farm. He remained at home until he was twenty-one, when he hired himself out to his father, receiving one hundred and twenty dollars a year and his clothes and board. He was twenty-five when he bought a farm in Otsego County, on which he lived about four years, and then sold it and moved back to the old farm, purchasing that after his father's death. In 1874 he moved to his present residence at Sidney Centre.
Mr. Niles was married October 22, 1840, to Susan C. Mack, who was born January 20, 1820, at Harpersfield, a daughter of Abner Mack, one of the early settlers of Delaware County. By this union Mr. Niles had four children - Sarah, Edson, George B., and Charles. Sarah, born December 12, 1850, is the wife of Frederick Shaw, of Binghamton. Edson Niles, born September 10, 1854, one of the leading merchants in Sidney Centre, married in 1880 Addie M. Baker, who died in 1888, leaving two children - Ethel May and Robert. Mr. Edson Niles married in 1890 Miss Cora A. Travis, by whom he has also two children - Susan E. and Harry. George B. Niles was born September 4, 1846, and died June 2, 1877. Charles Niles, born April 16, 1844, died December 23, 1888. Mrs. Susan C. Niles died August 25, 1884. On January 13, 1886, Mr. Niles married for his second wife Mrs. Sally Davis, a daughter of Israel and Susanna Kneeland. Her father was a native of Delaware County, and was a wheelwright by trade; but the latter years of his life were devoted to farming. He died at the early age of forty years, his wife, a native of Chenango County, surviving him thirty-four years, dying at the age of seventy-four. They had four children, two of whom are now living - Mrs. Niles and Mrs. Louisa Davis, the latter living in Masonville. Her mother having been twice married, Mrs. Niles has also a half-brother, Austin L. Welch, who resides in Texas.
Mrs. Niles is a member of the Baptist church, and her husband is a Congregationalist. In politics he is a strong advocate of the Prohibition party. He has been Assessor and Inspector of Elections, besides holding several other public offices, all of which he has filled most acceptably. Mr. Niles bears a high reputation for honesty and integrity, and both in private and public life has always retained the respect and esteem of his fellows. An excellent portrait of this representative citizen of Delaware County maybe seen on another page of the "Review."
JOHN BECKWITH, a retired farmer, owning and occupying a pleasant home at DeLancey Station, was reared to agricultural pursuits, and has followed this calling with more than average success. His present possessions are the result of his own industry, while his integrity and honesty have served to establish him in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men. He is a native of this great commonwealth, having been born in Ulster County in 1829.
Joseph Beckwith, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Newbern, N. C., in 1801, and at the age of sixteen removed to this State, becoming a resident of Ulster County. He was left an orphan, without means, when quite young, and consequently was obliged to seek his own living. He worked out by the month at farm labor for several years, and by steady industry and strict economy saved some money. With this to start upon, he wedded the lady of his choice, Anna Ostrander, a native of Ulster County, their nuptials being celebrated in 1826. In 1839, accompanied by his wife and four children, he came to this county, settling in the town of Andes, where he purchased a farm, on which he afterward lived and labored until his death in 1865. He was a man of enterprise and energy, meeting with prosperity in his farming operations, and leaving his family a good estate. His widow survived him several years, living to the ripe old age of ninety years. Both were devout members of the United Presbyterian Church, and highly esteemed members of the community where they had for so many years made their home. The record of the children born to them is as follows: Maria, who is the widow of John Fowler; John, of whom we write; Margaret, who died in the prime of life; Cornelius, a carpenter, who lives in Ulster County.
John Beckwith was the second child of the parental household. He was reared on the farm, attended the district schools, and assisted his father until his marriage. He then became a farmer on his own account, carrying on his labors in such a thorough and skilful manner that his farm property in the town of Andes was among the finest, in regard to improvements and cultivation, of any in the vicinity. This farm Mr. Beckwith recently sold for three thousand dollars, and invested one thousand six hundred dollars of this money in his present home in DeLancey. It contains an acre of land, sufficient to keep a cow and a horse, and requiring just enough care and labor to keep him healthy and happy; and, with two daughters to keep house for him, he is living in comfort and ease.
On the 1st of January, 1857, Mr. Beckwith married Elizabeth Nichols, who was born in Scotland in 1827. Her parents, Andrew and Margaret (George) Nichols, were farmers by occupation, and emigrated to this country with their family in 1839. Mrs. Beckwith was endowed with true Scotch habits of industry and thrift, and proved herself a most admirable wife and companion. She passed from earth to the spirit world, January 23, 1893, leaving her devoted husband and seven children to mourn their loss. Of this family, to whom she was ever a wise counsellor and a loving mother, we record the following: Anna M., a successful teacher, lives at home. Hattie M., the wife of A. R. Worden, a farmer of Andes, has four children. Joseph, an insurance and real estate dealer in Walton, has had the misfortune to break one of his legs three times; but, notwithstanding the fact that he is lame, and not in particularly good health, he is managing a very successful business. David A., a resident of Iowa, where he is in the employ of a railway company, is married and has a son and daughter. Cornelius, a carpenter, lives in Missouri. Jane lives at home. William, also a carpenter, is in Missouri with his brother Cornelius, where both are working prosperously at their trade.
Mr. Beckwith is a sound Republican in his political views. The United Presbyterian church finds in him a consistent member.
ARTHUR J. GANOUNG, a substantial citizen of his native town, Roxbury, where he was born February 2, 1864, is of French descent and patriotic ancestry. His paternal grandfather, James Ganoung, who was born in Putnam County, New York, came to Butternuts in Delaware County while in the first vigor of manhood. Here he tried to settle, and clear up a tract of land that was, like a great deal of the surrounding country, almost a wilderness. But the Tories, who were jealous of the prosperity and increasing strength of the rebel element, drove him from his humble and toil-worn home; and the young pioneer returned to Putnam County. Both he and his brother John served in the Revolutionary War as minute-men.
After the war the two brothers were offered a tract of two hundred acres of land at Batavia Kill, as an incentive to settle there and farm the wild and uncultivated land of that section. This offer was accepted; and the brothers had soon erected a log cabin, and were making brave efforts to establish a home, though the danger from the wild animals of the forest, the discomforts of the necessarily primitive mode of existence, the long winters, and extreme isolation made the life very hard, almost impossible. Here James Ganoung met and married Miss Deborah Jenkins, the daughter of one of the early settlers; and here they lived the first years of their married life. As old age approached, they considered it wise to change their location; so the farm was sold, and a new home was established in Roxbury. They became the parents of eight children; namely, Jason, Isaac, Arion, Smith, Abraham, Charles, Rachel, and Polly.
Arion, the third son of James and Deborah Ganoung, was educated at the district school. At the age of twenty-six he bought a farm, owned now by Holsight. He was married in the following year to Priscilla Redmond, daughter of John and Martha (Powell) Redmond. Her father, who lived on a farm near Griffin's Corners, was a member of the Baptist church, and was a loyal Democrat throughout the varying vicissitudes of his life of eighty years. Arion Ganoung was also a Democrat in politics. He had the confidence of the community, and held the office of Assessor in the town of Roxbury.
Arthur J. Ganoung, son of Arion and Priscilla, was educated at Roxbury College, and at eighteen made himself a master of telegraphy, which he followed as a vocation for several years in different places, returning in September, 1890, to Roxbury, where he has since been employed as freight and express agent. His home is near the railway station. Mr. Ganoung married Libbie Richtmeyer, daughter of Jacob Richtmeyer, a carpenter and contractor of Middletown. Mrs. Ganoung is a member of the Lutheran church. Like his father, Mr. Ganoung affiliates with the Democratic party.
JOHN KLING, agent and manager of the branch dry-goods store of Frank Barclay, of Amsterdam, N. Y., is a wide-awake, energetic business man, and, although young in years, has already obtained a good start in life, and is numbered among the rising young men of the village of Walton. He comes of excellent Holland ancestry, and was born in the town of Perth, Fulton County, N. Y., April 8, 1869, being a son of Peter A. and Phyllis Ann (Banker) Kling, the former a well-known contractor and builder of Amsterdam. The parents are both members of the Baptist church, and politically Mr. Kling casts his vote with the Republican party.
The subject of this brief biographical record received the elements of a good education in the Union School at Amsterdam, and, being remarkably ambitious and industrious, secured employment as a clerk in a dry-goods store, thus spending his evenings and vacations from the time he was seventeen years old until nineteen years of age. He has since then continued his mercantile career, and during the past two years has been employed by Frank Barclay, as before mentioned. In January, 1894, Mr. Kling opened the branch store in Walton, and in this new enterprise has met with encouraging success, his honorable and upright dealings, his fidelity to the interests of his employers, and his genial and courteous manners securing for him a good patronage.
April 28, 1892, Mr. Kling was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Jennie Cramer, of Amsterdam, a daughter of William and Emma (McConnell) Cramer. On the maternal side Mrs. Kling is of Scotch extraction, her grandparents having been born, reared, and married in Scotland. They afterward emigrated to this country, stopping awhile in Albany, and going thence to Canada, where the grandfather engaged in the mercantile trade as a tobacconist. In Canada, near the town of Coburg, occurred the birth of their daughter Emma, the mother of Mrs. Kling. On the paternal side Mrs. Kling is of German descent, her great-grandfather having been a native of Germany, and her grandfather, Henry Cramer, a native of the Empire State. Her parents are esteemed residents of Amsterdam, where they are living retired from active labor. They have a family of three children: William H., who is engaged in the grocery business, lives in Amsterdam; Emma, who is an able instructor in the public schools; Jennie, Mrs. Kling, who has engaged in the millinery business for some years, and since coming to Walton has continued her occupation, her millinery parlors being in the store with her husband. She has a well-supplied stock, and displays much artistic ability, her talent being recognized by her large number of patrons.
In religious matters Mr. and Mrs. Kling are not entirely of one mind, he being a member of the Baptist church, in which faith he was reared, while Mrs. Kling worships at the Presbyterian church, of which she is a valued member.
JEROME WHIPPLE, a successful farmer, and dairyman of Kortright, Delaware County, of which town he has long been a prominent citizen, was born in Roxbury, March 17, 1853. His grandfather, Abram Whipple, was a native of Vermont, where he followed the trade of blacksmith. He was a pioneer of Roxbury, Delaware County, and there resided until his death, which took place when he was eighty years old. He was a liberal-minded man, a Republican, and was the father of seven children.
His son Daniel, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Vermont, but grew to manhood in the town of Roxbury, where he engaged in farming. In 1865, disposing of his farm of one hundred acres there, he removed to Kortright, and purchased the farm of three hundred and twenty-two acres which is now occupied by his son Jerome. Daniel Whipple was a hard worker and progressive farmer, and resided on the farm at Kortright until his death, at eighty-seven years of age, his wife, Maria Chamberlin Whipple, dying at the age of sixty-five years. He was a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom are living: Mrs. Jane Nesbitt, of Stamford; Jerome; Mrs. Emma Goodsell, of Meredith; George, living at RoseÕs Brook; Mrs. Anna Lamport, of Stamford; Abram, of Fergusonville, Delaware County; Libbie, who lives at home; and Mrs. Sarah Nesbitt, of Fergusonville.
Jerome Whipple removed to Kortright with his parents when but twelve years old, and, after receiving the education afforded by the district school, gave his attention to farming, always living at home, were he took charge of the farm, and ministered to his parents in their old age. On December 5, 1888, he married Miss Mary Mehaffy, a native of Kortright, and daughter of Benjamin and Mary E. (Storie) Mehaffy, the former of whom is a farmer, now residing in Iowa. The latter died in the prime of life. Mr. and Mrs. Whipple have one child, Blanche M., who was born March 22, 1890.
Just before his marriage Mr. Whipple purchased the old homestead consisting of three hundred and twenty-two acres, and now has under his control four hundred and ninety-five acres, part of which he rents. His farm is under excellent cultivation, and the dairy is a very extensive and productive one, comprising sixty-five milch cows of finest Jersey breed. Mr. Whipple has in all one hundred head of stock, employing two men throughout the year. His home is a most comfortable one, situated in the Delaware River Valley among the Catskill Mountains. The family attend the United Presbyterian church. Mr. Whipple is a stanch Republican. He is an industrious man, with remarkable business qualifications, and is eminently successful in whatever enterprises he undertakes.
VICTOR FINCH, a prominent citizen of Tompkins, Delaware County, N.Y., was born September 12, 1820, in Lexington, Greene County. The ancestors of Mr. Finch came from Holland to American with the early settlers of this country, and the family has been known in its history since that time.
Amos Finch, father of Victor, was born in Lexington in 1794, and died in 1868. After engaging in farming, in his native town for many years, he disposed of his property there, and purchased a farm in Maryland, Otsego County, where he lived for some time, subsequently removing to a farm that he bought in Tompkins. After the death of his wife, his eyesight failed; and he gave his property to his sons, passing his last days at the home of his son Victor, where he died November 16, 1868, a the age of seventy-four years. He was buried in the cemetery at Trout Creek. His wife, was Polly Merwin, also a native of Lexington; and she was the mother of six children Ñ Lura, Victor, Samuel, Emmeline, Debias, and Wilson. Mrs. Polly M. Finch was herself the eldest of a family of fourteen children, of whom her brother, David Merwin, of Hensonville, now in his seventy-ninth year, is the only survivor. His earliest ancestors in this country came from Wales. His paternal grandfather, his father, and his uncle, Daniel Merwin, came to New York from Wallingford, Conn., soon after the Revolution, crossing the Hudson on a raft of their own construction, and traveling thirty miles, mostly by blazed trees, through a howling wilderness. They took up a tract of land in Greene County, where the father of Mrs. Finch cleared a small piece of land, sowed it with wheat, built a log house, and then went back to Connecticut, and married Thankful Parker, who returned with him to the new home, where the children were born.
Victor Finch passed his boyhood in Tompkins, attending the district school, and helping with the farm work. When seventeen he went to work for a Mr. Palmer, learning the carpenterÕs trade, and at twenty-one started out in life for himself, engaging in lumbering and farming. When he was thirty-five years of age, he purchased a farm in Manchester, Wayne County, Pa., where for fourteen years he engaged extensively in his old occupation of farming and lumbering. Selling his property there, he purchased in 1856 the farm where he now resides, comprising one hundred and eight-six acres. Besides raising crops and making maple sugar, he also operates a large dairy, keeping forty-five cows, doing much of the work of the place himself. He is strong and hearty, was never known to be ill in all his life, and although seventy-four years of age, is as active and energetic as when much younger.
January 30, 1855, Mr. Finch married Sarah E. Taylor, daughter of James and Clementina (Harse) Taylor. Both of Mrs. FinchÕs parents were born in Winford, Somersetshire, England, where they were married, four children being born in England, two of whom died in that country. In 1828 they sailed for America with their two children in the ship ÒCosmo,Ó the voyage occupying sixteen weeks and four days. The passage was an unusually rough one, the good ship being twice blown off the coast; but, after much suffering and narrow escape from shipwreck, --the family reached New York City and settled on a small farm where Jersey City is now situated. For three years they lived there, and then moved to Honesdale, Pa., which contained at that time but one log house. The journey from the old home in Honesdale was made on foot with the children on their backs, a man driving an ox team containing all their worldly goods. The country to which they immigrated was a barren wilderness, abounding in wild animals, and was not particularly pleasing to Mr. Taylor. He accordingly removed to a tract called the French Woods, in Delaware County, N.Y., and here erected a bark cabin, in which he lived until able to build a log house. He proceeded to clear land on what is now called the Rolland farm, near Sand Pond, which is one of the largest in French Woods. Several years later he sold this property, and went to Bouchonville in the same county, where he carried on a hotel, which he afterward sold to purchase a farm in Manchester, Wayne County, Pa. Ten years later he disposed of this, and bought a farm near Lordville, Delaware County, consisting of one hundred and three acres; and here he lived until his death, which occurred January 14, 1871, the result of injuries received by being struck by the cars near his home. His wife died one year later, in 1872, and they sleep side by side in the cemetery at Lordville.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were the parents of ten children: John and Michael, born in England; Mary Ann, Nathaniel, Sarah E., Henry, and William, born in French Woods; Bessie, born in Bouchonville; and two others, who died in England. In 1848 Mr. Taylor again crossed the ocean, the death of his father, without a will, making his presence necessary in the settlement of the property. The passage over occupied three weeks; and the return trip, being very stormy, occupied seventeen weeks, both voyages being made in the ship ÒRappahannock,Ó of Liverpool. Mr. Taylor being the eldest son, and his father a wealthy farmer, his portion of the estate amounted to a comfortable fortune. His daughter, Mrs. Finch, was born July 14, 1837, in French Woods, and passed the early part of her life in Lordville, attending the district school, and residing with her parents until her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs.. Finch are the parents of three children; Alva Wilson, born October 16, 1856; William L., born May 4, 1860; Elmer E., born February 6, 1863. All are natives of Manchester, Wayne County, Pa., and attended the district school on Knickerbocker Hill, assisting their parents on the home farm. The son, A. Wilson, married Susan Brown of Tompkins; and they have one child, Ava, born January 30, 1891. William L. finch died July 19, 1862, at the age of two years; and Elmer works on the old home farm with his father and brother. Mr. Finch is profoundly respected for his upright character and honorable dealings.
PROFESSOR WILLIS D. GRAVES. Delaware Academy, located in Delhi, is fortunate in having for its principal Willis D. Graves, a man of liberal culture and great executive ability. Under his wise regime of the past ten years the number of students has increased, the standard of scholarship greatly advanced, and many beneficial changes and improvements been made. Delaware Academy since its inception has been regarded as the leading institution of its kind in this section of the State, and its high reputation and usefulness as a classical institute grow steadily from year to year. It was established in pursuance of an act of the legislature passed April 12, 1819, which appropriated six thousand dollars, the proceeds of a Tory estate, for the purpose of establishing an academy in Delaware county. The academy was incorporated by the regents of the university, February 12, 1820; and the first building was erected upon lands given by General Erastus Root, who had been instrumental in obtaining the appropriation. Judge Ebenezer Foote was President of the first Board of Trustees, Colonel Amasa Parker the first Secretary, and John A. Savage the first Principal of the academy.
From the start this school had a successful career; and having outgrown its accommodations in 1856 a new academy and two boarding halls were built. Recently the boarding department has been enlarged, but is yet too small to accommodate all applicants. In 1893 the number of students registered reached two hundred and twenty-three, and the representation of the school greatly extended, the non-resident attendance numbering one hundred and twenty-six. No other academic school in this section of the State approaches such an attendance of pupils from a distance, and few similar schools in the entire State of New York report such a non-resident attendance. During the past decade over ten thousand dollars has been expended in beautifying the grounds and in adding to the comfort and equipment of the buildings. Among the valuable accessories of the school is a library of two thousand volumes, an extensive collection of apparatus, a thoroughly furnished gymnasium, and every convenience for efficient work. The work of the school is mostly academic, although both a preparatory and primary department are sustained. The regentsÕ courses of study, the only recognized courses for graduation, are liberal and progressive, fitting the students in the most thorough manner for Princeton, Yale, Vassar and other colleges, and for life work.
The faculty of this academy consists of a corps of thorough educators, who devote their entire attention to the best interests of this school. Under their tuition students who have matriculated at various colleges have become distinguished scholars. One of the students of the academy recently won a three yearsÕ fellowship at Yale college, and received the degree of Ph.D. at the age of twenty-one years. Another obtained the Mental Science fellowship of six hundred dollars at Princeton College. One is instructor of Latin in the Hartford High School and another holds the chair of Oratory in Cornell University. Reports have come back from the following-named colleges wherein Delhi Academy students have distinguished themselves, testifying to the thorough preparation received in this school: Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Vassar, Wellesley, Hamilton, Middlebury, Westminster, and Elmira Female College, besides from the law, medical, and normal schools of the State. Aside from the academic course, Professor Graves has maintained a kindergarten course, in which about twenty children are taught; and a practical course in book-keeping is included within the regular course. Special courses are given in music, drawing, and painting, these special studies being under the supervision of thorough and accomplished instructors.
Professor Graves is a native of the Empire State, having been born in Bainbridge, Chenango County, August 18, 1856, the eldest of four children born to Gaylord S. and Harriet E. (Pettys) Graves. His father was a successful business man who, having amassed a competence during forty years in which he was engaged in the furniture business, is now enjoying well-earned leisure from the active pursuits of life. Professor Graves as a boy was an ambitious student, and after leaving the public school, attended the academies of Afton and Bainbridge. He subsequently spent four years as a teacher in the schools of Chenango and Broome Counties, afterward taking a full course of study at the normal school in Albany, from which he was graduated in 1879. In August of the same year he accepted the principalship of the Bainbridge Union School and Academy, a position which he retained six years, winning in the mean time a reputation as an instructor of rare ability and merit. In 1885 he leased the Delaware Academy at Delhi, which under his efficient administration occupies a front rank among similar institutions of the kind in the State.
Professor Graves was united in marriage in 1880 to Miss Elizabeth M. Rexford, an accomplished young woman of superior mental attainments, who was graduated from Vassar College with the class of 1877, receiving the degree of A.B. She is a member of the faculty of the academy, being the instructor in Latin and German. Professor and Mrs. Graves are both members of the Second Presbyterian church, and active laborers in denominational work.
EZRA H. HAIT, an estimable citizen of Stamford, N.Y., was born in this town on Rose Brook, December 26, 1823, son of Stephen and Betsy (Lyon) Hait. Stephen Hait was born in South Kortright in the town of Stamford, and his wife was born on Rose Brook in the same town. His father, Ezra Hait, who was born in Connecticut, in 1790 moved to this county, and settled in Stamford in the Delaware River Valley. He bought a tract of wild land, built a log cabin, and then, returning to his native State, was there married. As soon as practicable he took his wife to their new home. The journey was made on horseback, which was then about the only way of travelling; and a hard and somewhat perilous trip it must have been, for wild animals, which are now seldom found, then abounded in the country.
Catskill was the main market for the wheat crop, and four days were consumed in going thither and coming back. The grist had to be taken to Schoharie to be ground. It must have required great courage and fortitude to live under these discouraging conditions. To be sure, deer, bears, and smaller game abounded in the forests, but so did prowling panthers and wolves; and, had not the pioneers been men and women of dauntless daring as well as sturdy workers, their hearts must have failed them. Mr. Hait owned a good farm, raised flax, and kept sheep, so that the family spun and wove their own linen and wool and dressed in this homespun cloth, which is now seldom if ever seen. He bought in the first place one hundred and fifty acres, but added to it till at one time he owned about four hundred acres. He was one of the well-to-do men of the town, and was a Presbyterian in religious views. He died on the old homestead, March 11, 1849, at eighty-nine years of age, his wife, April 16, 1839, when sixty-three years of age. They had five children, all of whom grew to maturity; but none are now living. Their names were Lydia, Betsey, Patty, Stephen, and Daniel.
Stephen Hait, the elder of the two sons of Ezra, grew to manhood in the town of Stamford, and there resided throughout his life. He was well known as Captain Stephen Hait, was a farmer owning a good farm at Rose Brook, and was a practical and successful man in business. In 1820 he married and moved in that same year on to his farm of one hundred and thirty-seven acres, the greater part of which he had to clear himself; and here he lived until his death. His first wife died August 3, 1837; and he was again married to Betsy Patterson. They were both members of the Presbyterian church; and he was a Whig in politics, and was Collector of his town. They both lived to a good old age. He died when about eighty years old. The three children of the first marriage were the following: Ezra H., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mary L. Ryer, widow of he late George W. Ryer, a farmer; Mrs. Louisa E. Wakeman, who was born in 1829, and died in 1860. The three of the second marriage were: Lydia E. Scott, who resides in North Kortright; Isaac Henry, who resides on Rose Brook; and Martin K., who lies on the old homestead.
Ezra H. Hait grew to manhood in the town of Stamford, and received his education in the district schools of that town. He lived under the parental roof until about thirty-six years of age, and assisted in carrying on the work of the home farm. He bought his first land, a tract of seventy-five acres, in the Delaware Valley; and this he still holds. About thirty-four years ago he bought the land where he now resides, being one of the oldest settlers in this part of the town. All improvements and additions have been made by him, and he now has one of the best farms in the valley. He is a practical farmer, and successfully carries on a dairy of twenty head of Jerseys. He has in all about one hundred and fifty acres of land, good farm buildings, and a fine dwelling. He also owns real estate in Almeda, and was one of the prime movers in having the South Kortright railway station established. His wife was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and he is a liberal in religious views and politically a Democrat.
On May 18, 1859, he married Nancy Nesbitt, daughter of George Nesbitt. She was born December 28, 1829, in the town of Stamford, on Rose Brook. Mrs. Hait died when sixty-one years of age, July 28, 1890. They had one son, Stephen, born October 12, 1865, who now resides with his father, and is practically the mainstay of the place, having full charge, and carrying on the business. On February 3, 1892, he married Katie Hilts, who was born in Schoharie County; and they have one son, Ezra Hilts Hait, born October 28, 1893. They are both members of the United Presbyterian church, and in politics he follows the principles of the Democratic party. He is one of the rising young farmers of the town, and, like his father, has shown much interest in public affairs.
GEORGE I. TREYZ is known to every resident of Butternut Grove as an enterprising and successful merchant of that place, doing an extensive and varied business. He is the son of Henry and Louisa (Mall) Treyz, and was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., May 11, 1865. His father belongs to that class of foreign-born citizens who are in the front rank of progress, and who have the highest appreciation for the freedom and institutions of our country, having come here to share its privileges and help to mold its destiny. The same might also be said of his maternal grandfather, who was a native of France.
Henry Treyz was born July 3, 1842, in Ulm, Germany, and, coming to this country in his early manhood, worked at his trade of brewer in New Jersey and other places. At length, giving up that occupation, he bought in Fremont Centre, Sullivan County, N.Y., a farm of one hundred acres, which he has improved in every possible way. He keeps a choice dairy of fifteen Jersey cows, besides a large flock of sheep; and everything about the place is in a most prosperous condition, the farm being finely located near the village. His wife, Louisa, was a daughter of John C. Mall, who was born in France, and was son of a Protestant minister, the Rev. Christian Mall. John C. Mall raised a family of seven children Ñ Louisa, Lewis, Caroline, Gottfried, John, Henry, Maggie.
Henry and Louisa Treyz are also the parents of seven children, of whom the following may be recorded: John, born February 26, 1863, married Rosa Holtzman, and has three boys, who live with him at Peakville, Delaware County. George I. is the subject of this biography. Gottleib H., born June 25, 1867, married Lena Bach, has three boys, and also lives at Peakville. Lewis A., born July 2, 1869, married Agatha Keen, has one son, and lives at Sherman, Pa. William H., born July 12, 1872, lives at Butternut Grove. August, born September 21, 1874, lives at Sherman, Pa. Maggie L., born September 17, 1876, is still at the parental home.
George I. Treyz, when but eleven years old, was obliged to leave school and begin to earn his own living. He was, however, so eager to be more than a mere laborer that he applied himself to his studies in the evenings after his daily work in the coal-yard was over, and, with a determination which was worthy of the object, acquired habits of application and gained knowledge which may be said to have been the foundation of his future success. Step by step he went on till he was enabled to start in business at Butternut Grove with a little store in one room, and keeping a small line of groceries. He gradually enlarged his stock until now he has the extensive business that may be seen to-day, including everything in the line of general merchandise, furniture, and many outside branches. He also handles all the coal used at this station, besides dealing largely in lumber and in stone. He employs four clerks in his retail department and several other men outside. William Treyz, his brother and his chief clerk in the store, is a man of much business ability and tact, and one who has made himself a great favorite by his courteous and pleasing address, good judgment, and quick appreciation of the wants of his patrons. Both William and George are Republicans in politics, as was their father before them.
At the age of twenty-seven George I. Treyz was married to Amanda, daughter of David and Sarah (Frisbee) Minkler, Mr. and Mrs. Minkler live at Fremont Centre, where they have a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Besides Mrs. Treyz they have one other daughter, Martha, wife of Milton Crandall, and mother of two sons. Mr. and Mrs. Treyz have one child, Frank M., born June 16, 1893.
Mr. Treyz is a tradesman with whom his customers are glad to deal, being characterized by uprightness in all his business transactions, and keeping a class of goods that give satisfaction. He is a self-made man, having since his early youth made his own way in the world. He is well worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens.
LEANDER H. MAXWELL, senior member of the firm of Maxwell & Son, liverymen of Delhi, is noticeable for his business capacity and enterprise. He has been a life-long resident of this town, where his birth occurred on December 17, 1837, and is especially worthy of representation in this biographical work as being the descendant of one of the honored pioneers of the place.
His grandfather, Joshua Maxwell, emigrated from Connecticut to Delaware County, and was among the earliest settlers of Delhi. He bought a tract of land; and amid the giant trees of the forest he reared his humble log cabin, and began from the wilderness to wrest a farm. He labored untiringly, being encouraged and assisted by his brave pioneer wife, and in the course of time was able to harvest fields of golden grain. A few years later and the improvements on the place were still more marked, the log cabin, in which many of his children were born and reared, having given place to a substantial frame house, flanked by a capacious barn and good out-buildings. On the homestead which he cleared he spent his remaining years; and there his first wife, too, closed her eyes upon the scenes of earthly life. Three children were born of his first union, the second being a son, Gurdon P., who became the father of the subject of the present sketch. His second wife bore him five children.
Gurdon P. Maxwell was born in Delhi, and in its pioneer schools gleaned his early knowledge of books. As soon as he was old enough to handle a hoe or drive oxen, he naturally found plenty of work on the home farm, where he remained until of age, when, following the example of his father, he bought a tract of land which was still in its virgin wildness. In the first space that he cleared he erected a small log house, and in this began his married life. As time sped on, he became the owner of a well-cultivated farm, with a substantial set of frame buildings, and had a fine family of girls and boys growing up about him. On this homestead he and his beloved companion spent their many years of wedded life, he passing away at the age of seventy-two years, and she at seventy years. His wife, known in her girlhood days as Elizabeth Hall, was a native of the Empire State, and the daughter of Adam Hall, who some years after his marriage became one of the first settlers of Delhi. Eight children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gurdon P. Maxwell, as follows: Robert C., George H., Leander H., Joshua G., William H., Prudence E., Aranetta, and Hannah M. Both parents were sincere and faithful members of the Christian church.
Leander H. Maxwell was born and reared on the parental homestead, and in the schools of his neighborhood received a practical drill in the three RÕs, the fundamental studies. He afterward worked on the farm with his father until he was nearly thirty years of age, then rented a farm, which he carried on for three years with excellent results. Not making up his mind to follow agricultural work for life, he then went to work for Mr. Roberts, in the village of Delhi, as foreman in a livery stable. In 1870 Mr. Maxwell bought his present livery, boarding, feeding, and sale stable, which he has since managed with satisfactory financial success. In 1890 he admitted his son to an interest in the establishment, and business is now carried on under the firm name of Maxwell & Son.
The union of Mr. Maxwell and Miss Sarah Roberts was solemnized in 1865. Mrs. Maxwell is a native of Andes, being the daughter of William Roberts, who came from England to Andes, where he carried on the shoemakerÕs trade for many years. His wifeÕs maiden name was Moss, and she bore him three children. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are the parents of two children, Fanny and Clark. Fanny married Albert Robinson, foreman in ArbuckleÕs mills; and they have one child, Grace. Clark, who is now in partnership with his father, was educated in the district school and academy, and began his business career as a clerk in the grocery store of George McMurray, remaining in his employ about a year. He then began working for his father; and in 1890 he bought an interest in the business. On February 28, 1892, he was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Carrie Thompson, the daughter of William and Lydia Thompson. Mr. Thompson, who was engaged in business in Delhi for nearly twenty years, is now the leading tailor of Walton, where his daughter Carrie was born. She is popular in social circles and is a communicant of Saint JohnÕs Episcopal Church.
In politics both the father and son are zealous advocates of the principles of the Republican party. Mrs. Sarah Maxwell is an earnest Christian woman and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
COLONEL SAMUEL F. MILLER, who died on March 16, 1894, at his home in Franklin, was born on May 27, 1827, on the same farm which has been in the family for many years and was also the birthplace of his father. The Miller family came from East Hampton, L.I., and settled in this part of the State when it was a boundless wilderness. they owned vast tracts of unbroken forest; and in the days of William Miller, father of the late Colonel, their estate consisted of about one thousand acres of land, and included several large mills for the manufacture of pine lumber, which business increased rapidly, and is still carried on by the family. Much of the land is excellent for pasturage, keeping about one hundred cows; and the dairy products of the Miller farm are noted throughout the surrounding country. Some may still remember William Miller, whose commanding figure and pleasant face were familiar to every one half a century ago.
His son Samuel was also a fine representative of an old noble race. He was the only surviving child of William and Mary (Mills) Miller, and in him were centred all the hopes of the family. In him were realized, too, not only their expectations, but honor and distinction far beyond their fondest dreams. After graduating, in 1852, from Hamilton College, he returned to his Alma Mater, and studied law for a year, when he was admitted to the bar in 1853. He then engaged in business with his father, and under their united efforts the farming and lumbering interests grew to large dimensions. In 1854 he was elected to the New York legislature, and in 1855 and 1856 was Supervisor of the town of Franklin. His service in these capacities proved so plainly his ability and principles that he was sent to Congress in 1862. This was the noted Congress under LincolnÕs administration, when the country was in a state of turmoil, and those who served her had much need of firm hands and earnest hearts to rightly administer the affairs of the nation.
In 1867 Colonel Miller was a member of the Constitutional Convention, in 1869 a member of the State board of Charities, to which position he was reappointed in 1873; in 1869 he was Collector of Revenues, resigning this post in 1873; and in 1874 he was elected Representative to the Forty-fourth Congress. Colonel Miller was a stanch Republican, and in behalf of that party exerted a strong influence. Although a man of modest bearing, his speeches were very effective; and his voice was never silent when he saw that by speaking he might serve his country and his cause. Long to be remembered is a speech which Mr. Miller delivered at the Constitutional Convention, when he was disabled by rheumatism, and was obliged to seek the platform with the assistance of a pair of crutches. Coming slowly forward in this manner, he faced his audience and expounded to them in a most concise and masterly way the principles for which he stood.
Colonel Miller was twice married, his first wife being Miss Laura Cadwell, who died while still in the prime of life, May 29, 1865. He afterward received in marriage the hand of Maria M.
Sherrill, daughter of Lewis and Clarissa (Burgess) Sherill. The father was a native of East Hampton, and the mother of Colchester; and they were among the early settlers of New Hartford, Oneida County, N.Y. Mr. Sherrill was formerly a manufacturer of woollen goods, a clothier, as he was called in those days, and, together with his brother, carried on a mill on the Sequoit Creek. Mrs. Miller was one of four children, two girls and two boys. Her father died in 1871, being over ninety years old; and after his death Mrs. Sherrill made her home here with her daughter until the time of her death in 1891, when she, too, had reached her ninetieth year.
The only surviving children of Mrs. Miller are Samuel Jacob and William Lewis Miller, who are twins, and who were born on September 28, 1870. They live in the beautiful mansion built by their father in 1875, and together they carry on the long-established business of farming and lumbering.
they are active and energetic young men, using the most intelligent methods of carrying on their business, and showing in all their undertakings the characteristic qualities of the line from which they have descended.
The father of these promising young men has been called away from his work and his life on this side of the unknown. He had done his duty in his day and generation, as it is not the privilege of all men to do; and, when he passed hence, it was amid the mourning and regrets of all who knew him, and whose admiration and reverence for his noble traits, lofty principles, and virtuous deeds will for many years keep his memory green.
JOSEPH HILLIS is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Stamford, of which town he is an industrious and successful farmer. His father, Adam Hillis, was a native of Ireland, and came to America when twenty-five years of age. He had received a very good education in his native land, and had taught school fourteen terms. He learned the trade of weaver, but concluded to follow agricultural pursuits and purchased an improved farm of ninety-six acres in Kortright, Delaware County, to which he added from time to time until he became the possessor of two hundred and twenty-seven acres. A hard worker and good manager, he accumulated a comfortable fortune, and died on his farm at the age of seventy-six. His wife was Elizabeth McMurdy, who was born in Kortright, a daughter of an old pioneer settler of that town, Benjamin McMurdy, who was a native of Ireland, and married Elizabeth Shanks, a native of the same country. Benjamin McMurdy was a farmer of progressive habits and much industry, and succeeded in his chosen occupation, residing on his farm until his death, which occurred when he was about eighty years of age. He was a Whig, and, with his wife, a member of the Presbyterian church. They were the parents of three children: David, who died at the age of seventy-seven; Jonathan, at the age of eight-six; and Elizabeth, who passed away when seventy-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Hillis were devoted members of the Presbyterian church at South Kortright. He was a supporter of the Democratic party. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom reached maturity; and three still survive, as follows: Joseph, of whom this sketch is written; David B., a stone-mason in Stamford; and George M., a farmer in Davenport. Jonathan, William, Benjamin, Clark, Sara Jane, Ellen, and Elizabeth have passed away.
Joseph Hillis was born in Kortright, May 28, 1828, and was educated in the district school. Until he was twenty-five years of age he lived at home, but worked for Squire McGillavery, near Bloomville, receiving for his services eight dollars per month, which money he gave to his father. January 12, 1853, he married Miss Margaret D. Barnett, who was born in Roxbury, May 6, 1826, a daughter of John and Eleanor (Voorhis) Barnett. John Barnett was born in Lexington, Greene County, September 22, 1786, and, removing to Delaware County, located in Stamford, where he resided throughout the remainder of his life. He died January 5, 1863. He was a supporter of the Republican party. His wife, Eleanor Voorhis, was born in Schoharie County, January 8, 1793, and died June 16, 1879. Both were faithful members of the Presbyterian church at Hobart. They were the parents of five children, two of whom Ñ Sarah M. McNaught, widow of William McNaught, and Mrs. Hillis Ñ still survive. Those who passed away are Christopher, Charity, and David.
After marriage Joseph Hillis purchased his first farm in Stamford, consisting of one hundred and fifty-nine acres; and here he resided for some years, then sold, and in 1860 bought his present home, removing to it in 1865. This farm contains two hundred and thirty acres. It has been cultivated and improved under Mr. HillisÕs supervision, and is now one of the best farms in the vicinity. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hillis, two of who are living, namely: John O., born May 30, 1865, who is a farmer, making his home with his parents, and who married in October, 1886, Miss Belle Kilpatrick, and has one child, Blanche J., born September 15, 1890; Christopher J., a physician in Kingston, born November 30, 1866, who married June 14, 1893, Miss Ella Meeker. The following children have passed away: Sarah E., born October 12, 1853, died June 25, 1865; Barnett A., born April 3, 1857, died July 6, 1865; Ogden B., born January 25, 1862, died September 5, 1865.
Mr. and Mrs. Hillis are members of the Presbyterian church at Hobart, in the affairs of which they take a prominent part, Mr. Hillis holding the office of Trustee. Politically, he is a Republican, supporting the principles of that party.
ALEXANDER STORIE was born on March 20, 1814, on the very farm in Bovina where he now lives; and he is rightly regarded as its foremost citizen, as well as one of its highest taxpayers. His parents were William and Mary (McCune) Storie. The father was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, and the mother in Ireland.
Coming to this country about the beginning of the nineteenth century, William Storie settled in Bovina, and there pursued his trade of stone-mason a part of the time. In 1802 he married, and in 1804 bought the seventy-seven and a half acres of land now known as the Storie homestead. He died a decade later, in 1815, before he had finally passed the noontide of life, though not before he had borne the heat and burden of the day, and left the impress of his industry upon the little community surrounding him. His wife outlived him many years, not breathing her last till she had reached her ninety-first year, in the old homestead. She came from the old country when only fourteen with her parents, who at first settled in Washington County, but came later to Bovina, and bought the farm now in the hands of Michael Miller. The Stories were members of the United Presbyterian church in South Kortright. Mr. Storie was a Federalist in politics, holding opinions which would to-day make him a firm Republican. Of six children all grew to maturity, and two are now living: the son who bears the good Scotch ancestral name of Alexander; and his elder sister, Mary Ann, who makes her home in Bovina Centre. Their sister, Nellie Storie, married George Stott, and lived to be eight-five; while Margaret Storie married Walter Coulter, and died at the age of threescore. Jane Storie became the wife of Alexander Brush, a son of the second settler of the town, and died at the earlier age of fifty. Their brother, Samuel Storie, died at fifty-five, on the home farm.
The subject of this sketch was an apt pupil in the district school, where at the age of eighteen he became himself a teacher, a post he subsequently held many terms. The earliest school house was a frame building, with slab benches and writing desks around the sides of the room, heated by an open fire. His mother used to card and spin the wool, which was woven among the neighbors; and in this homespun cloth Alexander was clad till he reached manhood. The family boots and shoes were made by a journeyman crispin, who came that way two or three times a year, and whose presence afforded the youngsters the greatest delight. The chief market for the farm produce was seventy miles away among the Catskills, and the trip thither required several days. The nearest grist mill was at Brushland. People carried their luncheon to meeting on Sundays, and stayed through both the long services. Father Storie cleared his farm slowly, depending upon his boys for help. Alexander did his part; and in later years, after he bought the old place from the other heirs, he added nearly two hundred acres to its area. Beginning as a poor man, he has become by hard work and frugality, backed by the natural shrewdness inherited from his progenitors, one of the most prosperous in town.
He was not married till January 23, 1851, when he was thirty-seven years old, and Millard Fillmore, a New Yorker, was President of the United States. His wife was Esther A. Cowan, born in Bovina, November 1, 1821, the daughter of James and Mariam B. (Maynard) Cowan. Her mother was born on the old Maynard farm in Bovina in 1801, and her father in 1794, in Roxburghshire, Scotland, the birthplace of William Storie. Mr. Cowan was twenty-five years a merchant in Brushland village, but afterward owned a farm in Cortland County, were he died on January 6, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-two. His wife died twenty years before, April 14, 1856, when fifty-five years old. They belonged to the Stamford Presbyterian Society, and had eleven children, six of whom are now living. Elizabeth Cowan still lives at the old Cortland home. Hannah is now the widow of John Greenman, and lives in Cortland village. Rebecca is the wife of Delos Stevens, of DeRuyter, Madison County. Nancy is Mrs. George Stevens, and lives on the old Cortland farm. Hector Cowan is also a Cortland farmer. The five deceased Cowan children were Mary, William, John, Elisha, and Jane.
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Storie are among the oldest couples in their part of the town, and have had five children, two of whom have passed from earth. James C. Storie, the eldest now living, was born January 12, 1855, and is a physician in Walton village. Alexander F. Storie, bearing his fatherÕs name, was born November 28, 1856, and is a farmer in Newburg, Orange County. John W. Storie, born December 2, 1863, lives on the home farm. The eldest, Mariam Elizabeth Storie, was born December 12, 1851, and died October 29, 1862, in childhood. William Storie was born on Independence Day, 1853, and died October 21, 1862, a week before the little sister, only eighteen months his elder.
The family are actively connected with the United Presbyterian church in Bovina Centre. Mr. Storie is a Republican, and has always been prominent in town affairs. When a young man, he was Assessor one term, and also for many years a Supervisor. Though now withdrawn from office-holding, he never fails to be at the polls on election day, nor has he ever missed but one town meeting. With the assistance of his son John, he is still able to carry on the farm, and they keep twenty or thirty head of Jersey cattle. Not only is the farm the best in the neighborhood, but both