These biographies and family sketches are copied exactly as found. Undoubtedly there will be minor variations found in later research.
HENRY HOPKINS was born in Stratford county, Connecticut, February 10, 1804. He was a son of Joseph Hopkins, of Waterbury, Conn., and the grandson of Joseph Hopkins, a lineal decendent of a family who, in 1620, emigrated from England on the ship May Flower, and settled in the State of Connecticut. His father and uncles served in the Revolutionary army. After the close of the Revolution, his father, being unfortunate in his shipping business, removed, about the year 1805, to Bridgeport, Conn., and in the year 1808 came to the town of Rutland, Jefferson county, then almost an unbroken wilderness. He began clearing off the forest and rendering the land tillable. He died when Henry, the youngest son, was 26 years of age. The farm of 225 acres had been purchased by Henry the year previous, and the same year of the death of his father he married Miss Celestia Tyler, daughter of David and Chloe Tyler, of Rutland. In connection with farming he carried on the produce business, buying butter, cheese and pork, and shipping to New York via Sackets Harbor and Oswego. He is said to have paid the first ready cash for butter to ship to market ever paid in Jefferson county. In the year 1839 he entered into partnership with John A. Sherman, and the firm of Hopkins & Sherman was the most extensive buyers in the county, largely controlling the trade for many years.
Mr. Hopkins was a man of uncommon activity and enterprise in every department of life. His frank and upright character and his deep moral convictions made him a man of mark and of strong mental and physical powers. Early in life he became a sincere and devoted member of the Congregational Church in Rutland, in which he was always a pillar and a leader, giving largely of his money and his time to its support. He reared a family of five children, and gave them all a liberal education. For many years he was a liberal supporter in his own neighborhood of one of the first schools in the county, it being the celebrated "Eames District” school. Three of his children are living. Miss Catherine Hopkins, his eldest daughter, died in 1865, while acting principal of Mt. Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, Mass., probably the most prominent young ladies' school in America. His second daughter, Martha, wife of H. P. Dunlap of Watertown, died a year later. Mr. Hopkins died suddenly, February 4, 1880, at the age of 76. He was the last member of a family of 11 children, now all gathered to their final rest and reward.
Mary, another of the daughters of Henry Hopkins, married Mr. E. H. Thompson, for the past 37 years a prominent merchant of Watertown.
MOSES EAMES, an unique character, was born in Rutland, March 19, 1808. His father, Daniel, came to Jefferson county from Hopkinton, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1801, and settled in Rutland (then known as town No. 3), where he took up 160 acres of land and built a log house. This house stood on the site of the old homestead, which was burned February 18, 1887. Daniel Eames died September 15, 1855, aged 88 years. His wife (who was Mollie K. Wight,) died February 4, 1842, aged 74 years.
They raised a family of 13 children, of whom Moses was the 12th child. Moses was married June 7, 1837, to Delia A. Howk, of Rutland. He was a prominent agriculturist, and twice received premiums for the best farm-garden in the county. He was a director of the Agricultural Society, and in 1849 was made its president. For 24 years he was engaged in cheese-making, and in 1848 discovered and applied the heating of milk and the scalding of curd by means of steam introduced into the water in a chamber beneath the milk, thus developing the portable engine as a factor in manufacturing cheese. Mr. Eames kept a daily record, since 1830, of the weather, amount of rain-fall and of the principal events, which is very valuable for reference. He introduced into the county the first mowing-machine in 1852, and the first drain tile in 1857. In 1855 he was elected a member of the Legislature. He died June 7, 1892, in the city of Watertown (on the 55th anniversary of his marriage), aged 84 years. He was long known as a philanthropic, well-read farmer, emulous of doing good, a most lovable and well-remembered man. It was he who erected, at his own expense, the iron fountain on the public square, where a thirsty horse may stand and drink without difficulty. If horses could vote, the late Moses Eames would be elected to a high seat in Heaven.
CLIFT EAMES, son of Daniel Eames, became the owner of the homestead, on which he lived all his life. He received a good English education, and before he reached his maturity was engaged in teaching, and for a short time was engaged in lumbering down the St. Lawrence; but on coming of age settled down to the life-long occupation of a farmer. In October, 1826, he married Miss Harriet Webb, who died January 29, 1831. In the year following he married Lucy A. Tyler.
FREDERICK EAMES, the celebrated inventor and mechanical engineer, was a nephew of Clift and Moses Eames, and was killed at Watertown several years since as the result of his attempt to take forcible possesion of what he regarded as his own property. His invention of the patent air-brake has made his name known throughout the civilized world. His son, Lovett, aged about 18 years, was killed by lightning in the State of Maine.
JOHN B. VISSCHER, son of William B., and grandson of Col. Frederick Visscher, of Revolutionary fame, who was afterwards judge in Montgomery county, was born in Fairfield, Herkimer county, in 1826. In 1851 he married Lydia, daughter of Jerry Rowley, of Fort Plain, and located in Lowville, where he resided until 1869, when he removed to Tylerville, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits there for 15 years. He was postmaster at Tylerville (South Rutland p. o.) for 14 years, was also notary public, and justice of the peace. In 1886 he removed to the farm he now occupies.
JOHN FELT was born in Somers, Conn., May 11, 1781. His father, Captain Samuel Felt, served in the French and Indian wars, and took an active part in the War of the Revolution. By the courtesy of his greatgrandson, Samuel Felt, of Watertown, we are enabled to give a facsimile copy of one of the commissions held by this Revolutionary patriot.
John removed with his parents at the age of 13 into the then unbroken wilderness of Madison county, N. Y., where for 13 years he shared with parents, brothers and sisters, the perils and privations incident to pioneer life at that time.
In1806, some misunderstanding having arisen with his brothers in regard to division of property, with characteristic self-reliance he suddenly left them and his own share of the property and sought his fortune in the newly-opened up Black River country, locating in the town of Leyden, Lewis county.
In 1808 he married Polly, daughter of Oliver and Elizabeth Ackley, of Haddam, Conn. This was a fortunate alliance for both parties. Their 60 years of married life were such as to bring forcibly to mind the oft quoted simile of the sturdy oak and clinging vine.
In 1811 Mr. Felt removed to Great Bend, Jefferson county, and two years later to a new settlement two miles lower down the river, where he purchased some 350 acres of land, comprising three subdivisions of Great Lot No. 2 of the town of Rutland, excepting five or six building lots situated in the hamlet at the junction of Mill Creek and Black river, where the pioneer grist-mill of Jefferson county was then in full operation. This mill and a saw-mill were subsequently purchased by Mr. Felt, and thenceforward the place was known as Felts Mills.
In this first year of his residence at Felts Mills, he served as a private in the war then waged with Great Britain, and took part in the battle of Sackets Harbor. About 1814 he erected a distillery, and for many years carried on extensively the four-fold business of lumbering, milling, distilling and farming. Distilling was discontinued in 1834, and merchandise added in 1841.
In 1821, needing more water-power than Mill Creek afforded, he purchased of Vincent LeRay the island in Black river opposite the new settlement, and the same year built dams across the two branches of the river. He gave this work his personal attention; but he was forced to lose one day from the job, caused by nearly severing a great toe with an adz. This day was employed in hollowing out and fitting a wooden shoe for the injured foot. The next morning found him in the water with his helpers as before.
The year following (1822), he erected a stone grist -mill. The power was water, both from Black river and Mill Creek, united in one pond. In 1823-24 he built the first sawmill on his newly-purchased island. The second and larger mill was built in 1842. In these mills were four gangs of saws, several circular saws, a shingle machine, planingmill, and at one time a threshing machine, believed to have been the first threshing machine set up in Jefferson county.
From time to time Mr. Felt made extensive purchases of pine timber and land in the towns of Wilna and LeRay, and in 1834 built a saw-mill on Black Creek, in the former town, some seven miles from Felts Mills. From two to three million feet of pine lumber, of most excellent quality, were annually shipped from these three mills to Troy and other Eastern markets.
In 1827 he erected the fine stone mansion in Felts Mills, in which his three surviving children now reside.
It may be of some historical interest to many to learn that the first railroad in this State, that from Albany to Schenectady, was furnished with its bed-rails by Mr. Felt in 1834 or 1835. The material, Norway pine, was floated in the log to the Huntingtonville saw-mill, there sawed into plank six or seven inches wide by two inches thick, and passed into the Elisha Camp ditch to be floated therein to Sackets Harbor, to go thence via Lake Ontario, Oswego and Erie canals, to place of destination.
But those beautiful and extensive groves of pine could not long stand before the remorseless onslaught of the lumbermen, made "all along the line." In 1851 Mr. Felt sold his island property and mills at Felts Mills, and seven years later the stone grist-mill. busying himself thereafter with farming at Felts Mills, and managing and disposing of sundry tracts of land in the town of Wilna, and a tract of some 9,000 acres in the counties of Lewis and Herkimer.
In character Mr. Felt was a sturdy, resolute, high-minded and honorable man; a stranger to fear and discouragement; a good neighbor and warm friend, and a public-spirited, patriotic citizen, whose sympathies and influence were ever on the side of sound morality and public virtue. In habits he was strictly temperate, being opposed alike to the use of intoxicants and tobacco. He took a deep interest in political affairs, though never an aspirant to office, the only office held by him being postmaster at Felts Mills and supervisor of the town of Rutland.
The children of John Felt were: Oliver A., born in Leyden, Lewis county, in 1809; went with his parents to Felts Mills in 1813. With the exception of a residence of four years in Wilna, he spent his life in Felts Mills. He married, in 1836, Elizabeth Bolt Weed, of Saratoga, N. Y. His earlier years were spent in the lumber and mercantile business, and later he became a conveyancer and small farmer. He held the office of justice of the peace about 16 years; he was notary public the last 10 or 12 years of his life. He died May 6, 1885, aged 76.
Polly Felt was born in Felts Mills in 1815, and married John T. Copeland, in 1834. She died in Watertown in 1844.
Samuel Felt was born in Felts Mills, June 20, 1817. He married Pamelia, daughter of Denton 0. and Tryphena (Colton) Losee, in 1843. Until the last 10 years of his life he was engaged with his father and brothers in an extensive lumber and farming business at Felts Mills. The last few years of his life were passed in Watertown. He was a man of sterling integrity, sound judgment, strong attachments and kindly impulses. He died in Watertown, April 8, 1888.
John Felt, Jr., was born in Felts Mills, October 30, 1821. He began teaching at the age of 21, and followed that occupation, with short interruptions, till about 51 years of age. He graduated from the State Normal School at Albany in 1847; married Harriet Adelaide, daughter of James F. and Hannah Angel, at Clayton, N. Y., in 1851. He taught in the Albany Normal School from September of that year till February, 1854, and resigned at that date to accept the principalship of the Liberty Normal Institute, at Liberty, Sullivan county, N. Y. He gave up teaching in 1858, on account of impaired health, but soon returned to that business, teaching in Felts Mills, Carthage, Brownville and Watertown. To Mr. Felt more than to any one person, Watertown probably owes the adoption, in 1865, of its present school system, and he was chosen by the first Board of Education to serve as its clerk, and inaugurate the new system. The course of study for the different grades then written out by him and adopted by the school board was in use without essential change for some 15 years.
He now resides with his sisters, Harriet and Maria, on the old homestead at Felts Mills, carrying on the farm cleared up by his father over 80 years ago.
Harriet Felt was born at Felts Mills in 1825 and since the age of two years has always resided in the old Felt mansion at that place. Although quite infirm in body she has a clear mind, and is noted for her retentive memory. It is believed by those who know her well that she has not forgotten a single important fact, event or date that has ever engaged her attention.
Maria Felt was born at Felts Mills in 1828, and has always resided in the paternal mansion, in which she and her sister are joint owners. These two maiden ladies are beloved and respected by the community where their lives have been spent.
WASHINGTON BEECHER, who died in Detroit, Michigan, in 1894, and was buried at Tylerville, was a native of the latter place, where he was born 84 years ago. His father was one of the earliest settlers of that part of Rutland, and was one of the stockholders in the cloth mill established there in 1812. Among the employes of this mill was the late Alvin Hunt, for many years proprietor of The Jeffersonian, now published as The ReUnion. Hunt was a writer of considerable force and originality, and married for his first wife a sister of Mr. Beecher. With the early days of the pioneers, their hardships and amusements, Mr. Beecher was familiar. He lived when the gaunt wolf prowled at the back doors of the log cabins, and the county paid a bounty of $15 for the carcass of each. For over 50 years he was the village sexton. He gave his time gratuitously and ungrudgingly, in rain or shine performing his office with unvarying tact and kindness. On over 150 coffins he thrice sifted the mould which symbolized the re-absorption of the flesh into the earth which had nourished it; and for all this long and wearying labor he received, as spontaneous remuneration, the sum of $15, the largest single item of which was a pig valued at $3.
Mr. Beecher was four times married. His first wife was Miss Polly Patten, mother of George Patten Beecher, of Watertown. By his second wife, Miss Lydia Seaman, he had a son, Marshall W. Beecher, now a successful business man of Detroit, Mich. But few octogenarians have a cleaner record than the subject of this sketch. He was an absolutely honest man, and notwithstanding King David, an absolutely truthful one. It is said that there are no lines so barren as those of an obituary, but the writer can attest that as neighbor and friend, as husband and father, he had no superior.
HENRY M. BALL, a native of Rutland, but nearly all his life a resident of and business man in Watertown, was born upon his father's farm in the southeast corner of Rutland in June, 1820. He was educated in the common schools of that period, and attended one term at the old Watertown Academy, taught by Hon. Joseph Mullin. In 1839 he 'went to Depauville, and served two years in the store of Stephen Johnson, becoming initiated into the mysteries of mercantile life. In 1841 he returned to Watertown, and associated with Walter N. Woodruff in the grocery trade. This lasted two years, but the effort did not prove as profitable as was anticipated, and they dissolved partnership, Mr. Ball returning to his father's farm, where he remained for several years. In March, 1843, he was married to Miss Mehetable Burnham. They reared three children: Mrs. J. J. Lamon, of Watertown; Mrs. W. W. Scott, whose husband is lately deceased, of Saginaw, Michigan, and Wooster 0. Ball, a son, who resides in Watertown. Mr. Ball's first wife died in April, 1871. He married Miss Eunice D. Drullard, of Buffalo, in 1873. By this last union three children have been reared: W. Drullard, Arthur Rey and Margaret Lorraine. Mr. Ball has long been an honored citizen of Watertown, extensively in business for many years.
ALFRED TUCKER was a life-long resident of Rutland, and enlisted, June 9, 1861, in Company A, 35th N. Y. Infantry, and served two years. He was a colonel in the War of 1812. Arthur H., his son, also served two years in Company A, 35th N. Y. Vol. Infantry, the same as his father. Arthur Tucker has been thrice married, and has five children. He is at present a justice of the peace and bookkeeper for the Taggart Paper Company, at Felts Mills.
PETER POOR, brother of Matthew Poor, of Black River, was one of a large family, and was born in Cobelskill, N. Y., in 1804. He came to Black River at an early date, and conducted a saw-mill and planing mill, and finally retired to a farm. Peter married Prudence Clark, daughter of Asa Clark, of Rutland, who died in October, 1893, aged 85 years. Peter died in 1859, at Black River. He had nine children, four of whom are living, and three, Christopher, Emerson and Julius, are business men at Black River.
ELIJAH GRAVES, son of Jonathan Graves, one of the early settlers of the town of Rutland, was born in that town July 16, 1813. He attended the district school, and continued to attend winters until the twentieth year of his age. In the fall of 1827 he attended a course of lectures on grammar and arithmetic, given by Win. Ruger in an adjoining district. The first school taught by him was in the winter of 1833 and 1834, since which he taught a portion each year. In June, 1856, pursuant to the act creating the office of school commissioner, he received the appointment for the second district of Jefferson county. He had previously served as town superintendent of common schools in the towns of Lyme and Rutland. In 1858 he failed of an election. In December, 1858, he opened a select school at Evans Mills, teaching there eight terms.
Hon. ANDREW C. MIDDLETON was born April 5, 1824. He was brought up on a farm, and has always made farming his business. He received a common school and academic education, and, after ceasing to be taught, continued in school as a teacher for a number of winters. In 1849 he became town superintendent of schools, a position which he filled satisfactorily for two years. In 1858 he was elected supervisor, and served two years, and again in 1868 he occupied the same position. During the war he was deputy collector of internal revenue. For the years 1872 and '73, he was president of the Jefferson County Farmers' Club. At a convention of farmers, October 20, 1873, Mr. Middleton was nominated to represent the 18th senatorial district, and he was elected by a large majority over his competitor. During his term he served at the head of the Committee on Agriculture, and also as a member of the Committee on Public Expenditures and Grievances. Mr. Middleton was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party. In 1847 he married Miss Nancy Butterfield, of Rutland. Dewitt C., a son, is in business in the city of Watertown. The Middleton family have been for many years an important factor in the town of Rutland. The origin of this distinguished family in America dates from 1790, some of them coming to this county in 1807. They have been a prolific family, and their record embraces John and Samuel, among the earliest farmers, and Christopher, born in 1809, also became a farmer. William was born in 1806, and he had a twin brother, both of whom were reared in the family of their uncle, Samuel, who was born in Montgomery county in 1796, and came to Rutland in 1807.
SAMUEL FRINK, son of Trustrim and Betsey (Clark) Frink, was born in Rutland in 1819. He married Lucy Ann, daughter of Robert Hardy, of that town, and the same year purchased a farm at the " Center," where he resided for 20 years. Mr. and Mrs. Frink have three children, viz.: Carl H. and Asa B., who reside with their parents, and Lucy M. (Mrs. Frank J. Staplin), who resides on a farm one mile north of Rutland. Mr. Frink was supervisor in 1869, and has been town clerk two years. He has been justice of the peace for seven years. He was a Whig in politics until the formation of the Republican party, to which he has since strictly adhered. During the War of the Rebellion he was very active in assisting to raise the town quotas from time to time, and to lighten the burdens of the government. Mr. Frink is past 73, but is still very active in business. His father died at the age of 85 years, and his mother at the age of 80 years.
JOHN W. BEECHER was born in 1820. In 1842 he married Elizabeth Wilson and settled on the old homestead. He has had two sons and two daughters, of whom the daughters, Mrs. H. B. Churchill, of Watertown, and Mrs. J. C. Riordan, survive. Mr. Beecher has served the town as justice of the peace and notary public, and now resides in the village of Tylerville.
WILLIAM SOUTHWORTH, son of John, was born October 23, 1816. He married Ortance Devois, of Wilna, April 4, 1854, and settled on the farm he now occupies. He served the town as supervisor three years, was assessor nine years and road commissioner three years. He worked at the carpenter's trade 20 years, and is now a farmer.
JACOB FULLER came to Rutland about 1802 or '3, from Shelburne Falls, Mass., and located in the northern part of the town. He returned to Massachusetts the next year and married Dilla Thayre, by whom he had five children, viz.: Sophronia, Daphne, Gratia, Lucretia and Norman J., the latter of whom resides in Carthage. Mr. Fuller was a farmer, and a deacon of the Baptist Church for more than 40 years. He was captain of a company of militia in the War of 1812, and participated in the battle of Sackets Harbor. Both he and his wife died on the old homestead in this town.
REUBEN SCOTT removed from Massachusetts to Rutland, and located in Rutland Hollow, on the farm now owned by Peter Pohl, where he died about 1803. He had born to him 14 children. Sewell Scott, son of Reuben, was born in this town. He married Olive Carpenter, and settled on a farm adjoining the old homestead. He afterwards bought the homestead, where he resided until his death. He had born to him seven children. R. B. Scott, son of Sewell, enlisted in Co. D, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served with the regiment until it was mustered out, and was wounded in battle. He married Libbie Crowner, and now resides in the village of Tylerville.
WILLIAM P. BALL, son of Elihu and Anna (Pelton) Ball, was born November 24, 1810, in a log house built by his father on entering this town. He resided with his parents until 24 years of age, when he married Adelia A., daughter of Asa Hill, of Rodman. In the spring of 1825 he bought a farm where he reared a family of three children, viz.: John, an adopted son, Antoinette (Mrs. George F. Hickox) and Agnes 0. (Mrs. 0. A. Johnson). In 1851 Mr. Ball built a new house on his farm, around which he set a row of maple trees, which now add much to the beauty of the place. He is one of the oldest men living who was born in this town. He has been repeatedly honored by his townsmen being chosen to the offices of assessor and highway commissioner, having held the latter office 12 years. John Ball, son of William P. Ball, of Rutland, settled in Minnesota and when the war broke out he enlisted in Co.K, 1st Regiment Minnesota Vols., as a private and was rapidly promoted to first lieutenant and then to captain of his company. His regiment was incorporated in the Army of the Potomac, and he participated in the first battle at Bull Run. From this time his regiment seemed destined to be foremost in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac. He was at Yorktown and Williamsburg and in the memorable six days' fight in the Swamps of the Chickahominy. He returned with the army from the Peninsula and participated in the Second Bull Run and at Antietam. He was also in the battle at Fredericksburg under General Burnside and in the hottest of the fight at Chancellorsville under Hooker, and at Gettysburg. In the latter engagement all the superior officers of his brigade were killed or wounded, and the formation of the brigade devolved upon him. After the disbandment of his regiment he was appointed colonel of the the 11th Minnesota, with which he remained until the close of the war. Colonel Ball was wounded at Bristoe Station by a ball passing through his thigh. He returned to Minnesota after the close of the war, where he married. He died of consumption at the home of his parents, in Rutland, Sept. 26, '75.
JOHN STEBBINS, a native of Massachusetts, removed from Bridgewater, Oneida county, to Rutland, about 1806. He brought his family here with an ox-team, and settled on the farm now owned by his grandson, John Stebbins, where he resided until his death. He had four children, Samuel, Harley, Clymena and Lyman. Lyman married Elizabeth Murray, and settled on the farm now occupied by his son Harley, where he died in 1886. He also had four children, Ella, Anna E., Harley A. and John.
ASA CLARK, JR., married Betsey Poor, daughter of Christoper Poor, and settled on the Elias Clark farm, but later occupied the large stone house erected by his father in 1835, and resided on the homestead until his sudden death in 1882. Asa Jr.'s children were Christopher P., who now resides on the homestead ; Lucy J. (the late Mrs. John Youngs); Clement, who died young; Asa D., who died in 1869; Mandana (Mrs. Stephen A. Merwillog), of Black River; and Chandler C., of LeRay. Mr. Clark was actively interested in town affairs; was supervisor three terms and assessor a number of years. He was greatly respected by the people, and was often chosen as mediator for the settlement of difficulties arising between neighbors.
DANIEL H. SCOTT was born in Black River village, in this town, September 23, 1828. In 1849 he married Lodema, daughter of Levi Snow, of the town of Philadelphia. They commenced house-keeping in Watertown, where they remained about a year, when they removed to this town. September 28, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 35th N. Y. Volunteers. While on picket duty near Warrenton, Va., June 20, 1862, he was wounded in the left hand by a spent ball, which resulted in the loss of three fingers, on account of which he now receives a pension. Mr. Scott has two children, Byron N. and Nellie E.
HON. JOSEPH GRAVES was born in East Haddam, Conn., October 3, 1787, and in 1812 he located in Sackets Harbor, remaining there during the War of 1812-13. He married Anna Graves, of Copenhagen, in 1815, and settled in this town. He was a prominent man, and served his town as supervisor for 10 years. In 1842 he was elected Member of Assembly by a large majority, and in 1848 was one of the electors who supported Gen. Lewis Cass for the Presidency. He also served as justice of the peace several years.
In 1811 he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he continued a member 58 years. He died in December,1875, aged 89 years, and his wife November 1, 1882. They had six children, two of whom are living, Hubert and Delia J. (Mrs. E. D. Allen). Hubert Graves was born June 29, 1820. In 1840 he married Adelaide De Lafleur, daughter of John B., and settled on the old homestead, where he engaged in farming until 1881, when he removed to Black River village. They have had five children: Anna J. and Allen D., deceased; Joseph S., Eugene and Frank P.
ELI KELLOGG came into the county of Jefferson in 1822, coming from Lowville, where he had settled in 1805 with a colony of Massachusetts families. About 1806 he married Grace, daughter of Captain Jonathan Rogers, and removed to Martinsburg, then the county seat of Lewis county, at which place he remained till 1822, when he removed with his family to the south part of the town of Rutland. There he reared the large family which had been born to him. Eli Kellogg died at Adams about 1855. Sylvester Kellogg, born January 21, 1808, married Irene, daughter of Rev. Walter Harris Terry, March 10, 1840. He continued to reside in the town of Rutland until 1885, when he removed to Adams Centre, at which place be died in April, 1888. Our present able district attorney was the son of Sylvester Kellogg, and was born March 17, 1858.
ASA BROWN was one of the pioneers of Lorraine, and was the first supervisor of that town. He died in 1813. Ira, son of Asa, was born January 25, 1812. After the death of his father, his mother married Milo Maltby, of Rutland, and they located in that town. In 1831 Ira married Alzina Stanley, daughter of Asa, by whom he had seven children. Stanley W. Brown was born March 12, 1836. In 1858 he married Rebecca, daughter of Stephen Adsit, by whom he has had two children, Willie D. and Flora B., both deceased. In August, 1862, Mr. Brown enlisted in Company I, 5th N. Y. Heavy Artillery; was at Washington and Harper's Ferry, and was mustered out in June, 1865.
JOEL WOODWORTH came from Connecticut, and located in Watertown about 1810, and settled on the farm owned by Elizabeth Woodworth. He also engaged in the manufacture of fanning-mills --mills, and did surveying for the early settlers. He served as supervisor and assessor, and was defeated as a candidate for member of Assembly on the Democratic ticket. He married Catharine Dennie, and they bad seven children.
ISAAC YOUNGS came from Canada to Jefferson county about 1831, and located in Rodman, where he engaged in farming. Ile reared a family of 14 children. His son, William H., was a member of the 14th Regt. N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and was killed at Petersburg by a sharp shooter. Richard Youngs, son of Isaac, was born in 1838. November 10, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 94th Regt. N. Y. Volunteers, and was with that regiment in all its battles. After his discharge, July 26, 1865, he returned to Tylerville. December 24, 1861, he married Lydia A., daughter of Edmund Wright, of Rodman, by whom he has had a large family.
HEZEKIAH SMITH, son of Abraham, came to Rutland from Salisbury, Herkimer county, in 1834. In 1829 he married Nancy Bidleman, by whom he had three sons, Wm. 0., of Watertown; H. L., who died at the age of 22 years, and Ceorge [sic] W. The latter, who was born in 1840, married Jeanette A., daughter of William Oakes, of Brownville, in 1862, and settled on the old homestead farm, where he has since resided.
CHARLES H. CRAMER was born in the town of Harrisburg, Lewis county, and in 1835 came to this town with his parents. His father, Henry Cramer, purchased 90 acres of land of Alvin Dodge, a little north of the village of Tylerville, to which he subsequently added 65 acres. Charles married Olive Jane, daughter of Timothy Bailey, of this town, and they had seven children. Mrs. Cramer died in 1867, and in 1869 he married Mary Jane, widow of John Hazel, by whom be had two children, Lina B. and Robert B.
CHESTER C. GOLDTHRITE, son of Benoni, was born in Rutland, June 28, 1839. In November, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, 97th New York Volunteers, and participated in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam and several minor engagements. He was discharged in July, 1865. In 1868 he married Margaret, daughter of George Olley, by whom he has had seven children.
LANSING J. CRAMER, M. D., is the resident physician at Tylerville, and has grown into a large and successful practice. In the fall of 1894 he married Miss Maude Fish, daughter of Mrs. Zeruah Fish, of Watertown.
JAMES FULTON, JR., was born in Colerain, Mass., whence he removed to this county, locating in Champion in 1806, where he took up 120 acres and built a log cabin. He married Sarah Choate, of 'Massachusetts, and they had nine children. In 1838 he located in this town, at Rutland Hollow, where he died in 1838. Jesse Fulton, son of James, was born in 1812. He married married Mary, daughter of Reuben Scott, in 1647, and settled on a farm in Rutland. Mrs. Fulton died January 20, 1889. They had a daughter, Ida E., who married George Hadcock.
WILLARD OAKES, Son of Nathaniel, was born in Athens, Vt. He married Sally Bartlett, of Massachusetts, and in 1842 or 1843 located in this town on the farm now occupied by his son, Henry D., where he died in 1875. His wife died in 1874. They had eight chi children. Henry D. Oakes was born May 3, 1841. In 1864 he married Emily A., daughter of Elizur Shephard of Potsdam. and settled on the homestead, where he has since been engaged in farming.
WILLIAM H. COON, son of David and Susannah Coon, was born in the town of Antwerp in 1845, the youngest of five children. His father died, and his mother married, for the second time, William Bedell, a widower having 12 sons. Soon after this marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bedell removed to this town, where they remained until his death, in 1865. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, nine of Mr. Bedell's sons enlisted, as did also Orlando W. and Almar G. Coon. November 2, 1861, at the age of 16 years and five months, William H. enlisted, without the knowledge of his parents, at Copenhagen, Lewis county, under Lieutenant B. F. Smith, and was mustered into service at Albany, in November, 1861, in Company B, 35th N. Y. Vols. He was discharged in November, 1862, on a surgeon's certificate of disability, and returned home. In 1863 be went to New Hampshire, and the same year to Sharon, Vt., where he re-enlisted in Company D, 17th Vermont Vols. He was discharged July 23, 1865, in the field near Petersburg, Va.
ALEXANDER BROWN, son of Francis and Betsey (Huntley) Brown, was born in the town of Philadelphia, July 23, 1825 where his father settled in 1820. At the age of 25 years, Alexander married Mary E., daughter of Henry Lawrence, of Canton, St. Lawrence county, by whom he had three children. In July, 1861, Mr. Brown enlisted in the 1st N. Y. Light Artillery. After being discharged from the Light Artillery, he re-enlisted in the l0th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served until the close of the war. Mr. Brown receives a pension. His father was a pensioner of the War of 1812.
ANDREW Z. DRAKE, son of Almond, born in Brownville, Dec. 4,1836. March 7, 1858, he married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Crosett, of Rutland, and settled at Felts Mills, where he has since resided. August 17, 1862, he enlisted in Company A 10th N.Y. Heavy Artillery, and was discharged June 27, 1865. Mr. Drake is a merchant at Felts Mills. Mrs. Drake died in 1888.
HIRAM B. CHURCHILL, son of Archibald M. was born in LeRay, July 25, 1837. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 35th Regt. N. Y. Vols., and served with the regiment until September 7, when he was sent to the hospital at Washington. He was discharged December 30, 1861. He returned to Rutland, and in 1862 married Mary S. Beecher, daughter of John W., and has since been engaged in farming. Mr. Churchill was one of six brothers, who served in the late Civil War.
WILLIAM T. LEWIS, son of Abel P., was born in Champion, June 5, 1831. In 1854 he married Elmanza M., daughter of Jeremiah Smith, and in 1859 settled in the town of Rutland. Since 1868 he has resided in Black River village. August 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and was discharged for disability May 15,1864. He has had four children. Upon the death of his first wife, Mr. Lewis married her sister, Abbie E. Mr. Lewis has in his possession a belt of wampum, which was worn by Col. Andrew Lewis during the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars.
CHAS. A. CARPENTER, son of Amos and Pamelia, was born Nov. 30,1836, and is a resident of this town. In 1860 he married Amelia J., daughter of William Roberts, and settled at Felts Mills, where he has since resided. August 6, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery; was wounded at Petersburg, June 30, 1864, and was discharged from the hospital at West Philadelphia, Pa., May 18, 1865. He has three sons, Charles H., William G. and Fred W.
WILLIAM CLOSS, son of Christopher, was born in Columbia, Herkimer county, whence at the age of 14 years, he removed with his father to Pamelia, where he resided until he attained his majority, when he located in this town. He married Lovina, daughter of Richard Phillips, of Pamelia, and removed to LeRay. In 1862, when a resident of Rutland, he enlisted in Co. K, 10th N. Y. H. A., and while in the engagement in front of Petersburg, April 2, 1865, was severely wounded in the leg by a minie-ball. His leg was amputated April 4, and he was discharged August 11, 1865. He has since resided at Felts Mills.
W. J. LASHER, son of William I. and Lydia (Stoddard) Lasher, was born in Harrisburg, Lewis county, August 4, 1837. In 1864 he married Matilda, daughter of James Gaines, of Harrisburg, and in 1867 purchased the Tuttle Hotel at Rutland Center, and located in that village. He is proprietor of the Central Hotel at Tylerville.
GEORGE S. SABIN was born in the town of Ontario, Wayne County, November 28, 1838. He was reared upon a farm, and at an early age commenced teaching school winters and attending the academy at Macedon in the summer. In the spring of 1861 he went West, and in June of that year enlisted in the 6th Ohio Vols., at Cincinnati, serving three years. When mustered out he located in Wayne county, N. Y., where he re-enlisted in the 9th N. Y. H. A., serving one year. At the close of his term of service he commenced the study of medicine in the office of his uncle, Dr. S. A. Sabin, in September, 1865, and graduated from the University of Michigan, in March 1868, and the same year commenced the practice of his profession in the village of Denmark, Lewis county, where he remained one year. He married Cornelia M., daughter of Leonard H. Loomis, and removed to this county, where he has since practiced, with the exception of three years' residence in Iowa. He now resides in Watertown.
GARDNER TOWNE. In the list of residents of the town of Rutland deserving a special mention stands the name of Gardner Towne, and perhaps we cannot better express the quality of his life and character than to quote from one of the local papers at the time of his death:
" Gardner Towne, whose earthly example was brought to a close on the 20th day of June, 1879, at his home on Sterling street, in Watertown, at the age of 83 years and six months, was a man over whose demise we may well pause to drop a tear and draw a lesson. Of his childhood and youth we only know by report, but have been somewhat personally cognizant of his middle age and later years. He was born at Ringe, N. H., in the year 1795, and moved to Rutland with his father's family in 1804, at the age of nine years. His mother was killed the same year by a stroke of lightning, she being the first white person who died in the town. Gardner Towne married, in 1826, Miss Dorcas Eames, sister of Moses and Clift Eames, who still survives him. Of this union there was born one daughter, Janette, now Mrs. William G. Pierce, of Watertown, N. Y.
Mr. Town belonged to a class of modest, but capable men, who took an intelligent interest in public affairs, but who never put themselves forward for the honors or emoluments of office. His occupation was that of a farmer, and it was mainly from the high stand he took in his school district and town in behalf of education and temperance that his conspicuous ability attracted public attention. He was an earnest, sincere man in all his convictions, and not the least fanatical in anything. The line of demarkation between enthusiasm for a cause and fanaticism was in him clearly defined, but never crossed. The advocacy he brought to bear on education, temperance and religious and political liberty, was that of steady pressure, rational advocacy, and a high and noble example. His school district, led by his calm wisdom, was made a model, from which the whole county took example. In 1855, when the temperance cause was carried to as high a point as it has ever attained, he was selected by the temperance men of this senatorial district for their State senator. He accepted a nomination at their hands, was adopted by the Whig, party as their candidate, and elected. The district has never had a more faithful, true and practical Senator. He was several times elected supervisor of his town, having always to be urged to accept public positions.
He moved from his farm in Rutland to the city of Watertown in November, 1862 and some six or eight years afterwards united with the 1st Presbyterian Church there. He was always a regular attendant and liberal supporter of the Rutland Congregational Church, but not then a church member. His funeral was attended by a large concourse of people, and his remains deposited in Brookside cemetery. He went down like a shock of corn, fully ripe."
Another local paper, in a little memorial notice of Mr. Towne at the time of his death, spoke of him as " one of the best men that ever lived."
Mr. Towne was for many years a member of the board of directors of the Agricultural Insurance Company, of Watertown, who paid to his memory resolutions of respect.
Mrs. Gardner Towne was the daughter of Daniel Eames, and was one of 13 children. She was born May 26, 1801, in the town of Western, Oneida county, her parents coming to Rutland when she was an infant. She was well fitted to be the companion of her husband--theirs was a happy and congenial union. A notice in a local paper at the time of her death, written by one who had known her long and well, said of her, among other things: "Very few people have had the respect of the community in which they have lived to a higher degree than Mrs. Towne. Naturally of an amiable and cheerful disposition, supplemented by sweet Christian graces, she was a pleasant companion for young or old. Her virtues--and they were many--were quiet, refined, domestic virtues, such as became her sex, her age and her position. It was the violets' perfume she shed about her, which blooms unseen. Her tastes were refined, as was her nature, and the ornament she prized was a cheerful and quiet spirit. She was always the true friend, the trusted wife and mother--ever ready with offices of help and love whenever needed--a truehearted woman, and true to her convictions. There was not a treacherous or doubtful fibre in her nature. Such was her life. Having finished her work, she waited hopefully the coming of the message of the Master, who gave her sleep." Her death occurred July 7,1887, in the 87th year of her age.
Copyright 2016 Jefferson County NYGenWeb — a member of the NYGenWeb Project
If you have any questions or comments about this page, please contact,
County Co-Coordinator Nancy Dixon or
Co-Coordinator Bruce Coyne.