Bradford County PA Chemung County NY Tioga County PA Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice History of Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung, Tioga 1879

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NELSON WARREN, was born Aug.26,1806, in the town of Chemung, being the fifth son of Enoch and Betsey Warren, both natives of Connecticut, who emigrated to New York in the year 1791, locating one year at Nanticoke , and from thence moved to Chemung County, then Tioga. Here the worthy couple lived to a good old age, rearing a family if ten children, three of whom are living.

Enoch Warren died in the year 1834, aged seventy years. His wife died in 1859, aged eighty-nine years.

Nelson began life as a farmer, working on his father’s farm until he was sixteen years of age. He then started out for himself, turning his hand to whatever presented itself to earn an honest dollar. He purchased his first land in the year 1832, and the following year purchased the farm on which he now resides, which at the time was heavily timbered.; and having from time to time added to the first purchase, his broad acres now reach the high figure of 1300. July 19,1832, he married Jerusha, daughter of Gideon and Azuba Griswold, of Chemung, formerly of Connecticut. The first years of their married life were passed in a log house, near the site of their present residence.

Politically Mr. Warren was Whig, subsequently a Republican and now is identified with the Greenback movement.

In addition to agricultural pursuits he has been largely engaged in lumbering , and in partnership with John Johnsen erected a steam saw-mill. Although on the down-hill of life, past the Scriptural age of threescore years and ten, he remains un a remarkable degree the vigor and elasticity of youth. May the remainder of his life be passed pleasantly, enjoying the fruits of his toil!

GARRET M. HOLLENBECK The subject of this sketch is of German origin; his ancestors settled at or near Albany previous to the Revolutionary was. He is the son of John and Maria Hollenbeck, and was born in Erin, Chenango Co., N.Y., Sept. 13,1820. His father was a native of Albany Co., N.Y., and removed to Chenango County in 1818 or 1819, and settled some four miles west of where his son, Garret M., now resides.

John Hollenbeck reared a family of seven children, five of whom are now living. He died May 16,1853. His occupation through life was that of a farmer. His wife (Maria) died some three or four years previous to 1853.

Garret M. Hollenbeck has always been a very successful farmer, and stands today among the most highly respected citizens of Erin.

Mr. Hollenbeck settled on his present farm in 1845. In politics, a staunch Republican. He has been assessor for six years and supervisor for two years. He is a strong temperance man. He is ever alive to the best interest of society.

HON. CHARLES HULETT was born in the town of Reading, Windsor Co., Vt., Feb.19,1805. His ancestors were of English descent, and the emigrants are supposed to have come to America about the year 1620; leaving England on account of religious intolerance, and came to this country that they might enjoy larger religious freedom.

His great-grandfather settled in Hadley, Mass. His grandfather settled in Wallingford, Rutland Co., Vt., was a farmer by occupation and raised a family of six sons and one daughter, viz: Nehemiah, John, Amos, Asahel, Mason, Thomas, and Phebe.

His father John, lived in Reading until the year 1827, when he came with his family and settled in the town of Veteran, Chemung Co., where he died at the age of eighty , in the year 1847,Jan. 12.

His mother was Martha, a daughter of Deacon Clark, of Weathersfield, Vt., at which place she was married. She died also in the town of Veteran, in her forty-ninth year. Their children were Laura, Guy, Clark, Asahel, John, Madison, Charles, Almira, Martha, Mason, Nehemiah, Marcia, and George W. and Benjamin F. (twins) of whom five only are living.

Charles spent his minority at home on the farm, receiving only a limited opportunity for any education from books. At the age of twenty-one he came to the town of Veteran, this county, and in connection with his brother Guy (who was afterwards associate judge of Chemung County), who was then a practicing physician in that town, bought one hundred and two acres of land, which was held by the brothers for some six years; when Mr. Hulett received by division one-half of the land which was paid for, to which he made a small addition, with buildings theron. From this time until the time of the writing this sketch he has gradually acquired property, and has spent a life of activity and industry as an agriculturist.

In the year 1844 he removed to the town of Elmira, where he has since resided. This was prior to the division of the town of Elmira. Previous to his removal from the town of Veteran he was elected justice of the peace, which office he filled for some seven years, and resigned that the people might fill the vacancy at the coming election. The same year of his removal to Elmira, he was elected justice of the peace in that town, and held the office from the following January after his election until the year 1862, when the great fire at Horseheads not only consumed the business part of the town, but his docket for his entire justiceship.

Mr. Hulett has always been an unswerving Democrat, casting his first vote for president of the United States for Andrew Jackson. In politics he has been an ardent , active and influential man and prominent in the councils of his party in advocating its principles. During the late Rebellion he was a stanch supporter of the Union cause, and acted on the war committee of this district with Charles Cook, General Diven, Dr. Beadle and others.

In the year 1860, Mr. Hulett represented Chemung County in the Charleston Convention for nominating a candidate for President of the United States. In 1863 he represented his county in the Legislature of the State, and for several years has represented Veteran, Horseheads, and Elmira as supervisor, and for some two years was president of the Agricultural Society of the county.

In the year 1833 he married Nancy, daughter of ----McDowell, of Erin, this county, who died just two years from the day of her marriage, leaving a daughter,--Martha, afterwards Mrs. Rollin R. Smith, of Addison.

For his second wife he married Ann Elizabeth Munson, about 1836, by whom he had four children,--Mrs. John Arnot, Jr., of Elmira; Edward Munson, of Fort Scott, Kansas; Mrs. Edward Comstock, of Rome, N.Y.; and Sophia , who died at the age of twelve years.

Mrs. Hulett died in 1859. Mr. Hulett again married, being united in matrimony with Eliza P. Hulett, daughter of Thomas Hulett, of Rutland Co., Vt. By this union there were born five children, none of whom are living. The mother of these children died in April, 1863

In the fall of 1858 he received the nomination (by the Republican party of Chemung County) of member of Assembly, and although the county politically was opposed to his views, he was elected ; and faithfully and intelligently represented his constituents in the Legislature of this State during the session of 1858-59. His efforts during this session to remedy the unequal assessments for tax purposes, though unsuccessful , will be remembered as an honest effort to accomplish a much-needed reform.

In 1860 he purchased a large property near Van Ettenville, and removed there and took charge of its management. He remained there for three years when he sold out and purchased the farm now owned by H.M. Seers in the town of Veteran, and removed there. His habits and liking for trade, cultivated by so many years in mercantile pursuits, led him to sell his farm, and in 1865 he returned to Horseheads and opened a boot and shoe store, which he continued until 1868, when wishing to relieve himself from that active and continuous labor which had characterized him during a long and successful business life, he transferred his stock to his only sons, Thomas J. and L. M. Wintermute, who are still leading and enterprising dry-goods dealers in the village of Horseheads. Besides the two sons, he had one daughter, Mrs. Anna M. McDanolds, now residing at Branchville, New Jersey. For two or three years prior to his death , which occurred on the 4^th dau of May, 1876, it became evident that the seeds of disease had been too thoroughly implanted to be eradicated; and during the long weeks and months which preceded his death, it was the source of his greatest enjoyment to converse with his old friends and associates . To the last he retained his strong intellectual faculties , and a deep interest in the political affairs of the county and a calm, unfaltering trust in a happy future, which could only be born of a well-founded , intelligent Christian hope.

Mr. Wintermute, during a long business career, was known for his integrity; and his tact in making collections without prosecutions has been seldom equaled. While he always had very positive opinions and tenaciously maintained them, no one who had ever met him in conversational debate doubted the honesty of his convictions. The confidence of his immediate neighbors and friends in his ability and interest in the local affairs of the village induced them to frequently place him in positions of trust and responsibility , and during the thirty years of intimate acquaintance there has never , to the knowledge of the writer , been brought against him a charge of dereliction of duty. Mr. Wintermute was a devoted husband and father, warmly attached to his friends, and a useful member of the community in which he so long resided.

JONATHAN BRANDT MOSHER was the eldest of a family of eleven children, five of whom still survive: Luthan Mosher, of Iowa; William, of Illinois; Oliver, of Millport; Walter and Herman, of the village of Horseheads.

The father Joseph Mosher, was born in Rhode Island, and was a descendant of Hugh Mosher , who was one of three brothers who came from England.. A short time prior to 1808 the father left Rhode Island, and coming to the State of New York, settled in the town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., at which place the subject of this sketch was born, on the 7^th day of December, 1808. His advantages for education in early life were limited to what he could obtain at the district school by attendance during the winter. He early acquired habits of industry and intuitively grasped the details of business.

By the time he arrived at full age he had acquired a reputation as a master-builder which insured success.

On the 25^th of October, 1831, he married Millie T. Daggett, daughter of Clark Daggett, late of the town of Ulysses, Tompkins Co. Soon after their marriage they settled on a farm in the town of Veteran, about one and a half miles east of Millport. In the spring of 1842 he removed to the village of Millport, and in the fall of the following year commenced at that place the mercantile career which he continued to follow until his death, on the 30^th day of May, 1876.

At the time of commencement of business in Millport, the Chemung Canal was in full tide of prosperity, and boat-building one of the leading industries of that place. Mr. Mosher, while carrying on successfully the mercantile business, was also largely interested in construction of canal-boats.

Besides his large commercial transactions, he was quite largely interested in real estate in Chemung County, and also in the State of Michigan, regarding that class of property a safer investment of capital than personal assets, so liable ti destruction by fire. One of the characteristics was that he always improved the property he owned.

Few persons had more extensive business relations in the locality where he resided. To the casual observer he appeared somewhat cold and unsocial , but his intimate friends well knew he possessed a warm heart, and many are they who cheerfully bear witness that, but for his aid , financial ruin must have stared them in the face.

His business habits were such that he had no time and little taste for anything like amusement or even recreation and it was his pride that during the forty years of active business life his paper never went to protest. Whatever he undertook he gave to it an energy and perseverance that could only bring success. He had no sympathy with the idle, in indolent, or spendthrift. Although he had decided political opinions he never sought political preferment, choosing to live in his business, and spend the hours not necessarily occupied therewith with his family and immediate friends. To his enterprise and capitals the village of Horseheads is much indebted for its prosperity. Though reared under the influences of a father who was attached to the faith of the Quakers, and having the greatest respect for their convictions and general rectitude of life, he never adopted adopted their peculiar views or habits, but was an attendant and supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The father, Joseph Mosher, died at the village of Horseheads, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, on the 9^th day of December, 1876.

The wife, Mrs. M. T. Mosher , is still living, as are also four of the nine children, viz., Mrs. Hannah M. Curtis, wife of DeWitt C. Cutis, Esq.; Bernice Tober, wife of Charles F. Tober; Miss Millie T. Mosher, and Jonathan B. Mosher, Jr., all of the village of Horseheads.

COMFORT BENNETT . Among the active business men who gained a prominent and influential place in the affairs of this section, may be mentioned the gentleman whose name heads this biographical notice.

Comfort Bennett was born Jan. 18,1781, in Warwick township, Orange Co., N.Y. He was the son of Abraham Bennett, who was a farmer by occupation. When eight years of age his father died , leaving a family of eleven children.

Educational advantages in those days were limited; but at the common school he succeeded in laying the foundation for a successful business career. When eighteen years of age he came to Chemung County (then Tioga), and for eight years gained an honest living by working on a farm; and also with his brother, who was a carpenter and joiner.

Nov. 3,1806, he married Abigail, daughter of Alexander Miller, of Horseheads, formerly of Orange Co., N.Y.

He reared a family of twelve children, six of whom are now living. The names of the children are as follows: John, George, Daniel, Sally, Charles, Horace, Nancy, Chester, Morris, Clarinda, Mary, and Andrew J. As the children grew up he gave each a comfortable home within a radius of six miles of the homestead.

At the time of his death he was known as the wealthiest farmer within five adjoining counties, all having been acquired in agricultural pursuits, never entering any field of speculation. The latter part of his life was pleasantly passed, and yearly reunions of the family were held on his birthday , which were very enjoyable events.

Mr. Bennett was an active and progressive farmer, harvesting in one year, when reapers were not known, five hundred acres of winter grain. In politics he was a staunch Jacksonian Democrat, but never a seeker after official honor. The deep interest he took in the politics of the day marked him as a strong party man, whose judgment could be relied upon. He died Aug.12,1864, and his wife survived him until Feb. 27,1872.

JOHN BREES, Among the very earliest settlers--or the first ones--of this town may be mentioned the Brees family. They are of Dutch origin, their ancestors having come from Holland previous to the Revolution and settled in New Jersey.

John, Sr., the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in New Jersey, and married Hannah Guildersleeve, a native of the same place, by whom ten children were born. Two of these, Sarah and John, were born in Horseheads. Mr. Brees settled in the Chemung Valley, within a few miles of the present village of Horseheads, in June, 1787, and in 1789 on the farm, which now includes a portion of the village of Horseheads, where he spent his remaining days. He died March 24, 1829, and his wife died Jan. 15,1844.

ULYSSES BREES. The subject of this sketch is of Welsh ancestry, tracing his lineage back through several generations. We find his ancestors among the Jacobites and adherents of the Stuarts. John Brees, the great-grandfather of Ulysses, came to this country about 1735, and settled in New Jersey. He married Dorothy Riggs, and located in Barnard township , Somerset Co. A large family of children were born to them, and the worthy couple attained a ripe old age of ninety years each. He died March 4,1803, and his wife November 23, the same year. A son, John, came to this section and settled just below Elmira (then Newtown), in 1789, and two or three years subsequently removed to Horseheads. Silas, son of John, and father of Ulysses Brees, was born May 1, 1785. Upon attaining the age of manhood he married Mary Bennett, who was born March, 1784. They reared a family of eight children, six of whom are now living. Politically he was a firm supporter of the Democratic party, and in religious matters identified himself with the Universalist Church. Being of a happy and cheerful disposition, he gained the esteem and respect of all who knew him.

In 1861 he purchased the old homestead, remaining upon it about thirteen years, at which time the spirit of enterprise again seized him and he built the fine hotel now standing at West Junction, which certainly does credit to his architectural taste. The family of Mr. Brees consisted of six children; three only are now living,--Franklin M., born Oct. 12,1850; Matthew C., born June24,1853; Wellington, born May 24,1857. Matthew C. now occupies the old homestead.

Mr. Brees is a staunch Democrat, having been chosen for supervisor twice. His career has been a prosperous one; and as an evidence of his industry and success, has a goodly heritage of over four hundred acres of land. Honorable and upright as a citizen, he is held in high esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

WALTER L. DAILEY, was born on the 4^th day of September, 1836, at the town of Veteran, in the county of Chemung. He is of Irish extraction. His father, Walter L. Dailey, Sr., was born on the farm now owned by James McQueen, north of the village of Horseheads, on the 20^th day of February, 1801. He followed the pursuit of a farmer until after his marriage to Maria M., daughter of Hon. Amos Benney, on the 18^th day of March, 1824. Shortly after his marriage he entered the law office of Hon. William North, at Elmira, as a student, and was admitted to practice about the year 1830. He immediately commenced practice at Millport, and for a period of over twenty years held a position at the bar second to none in the Southern Tier.

In 1847 he entered into partnership with Hon. Theodore North, which continued a short time. Mr. North removed to Elmira, when he associated with the Hon. Gabriel L. Smith, under the firm name of Dailey and Smith. In 1853 he went to Hornellsville, where he held large landed interests, and remained there until his death which occurred on the 10^th day of October, 1856. His wife survived him twenty years, and died July 19, 1876.

He was a lawyer by nature as well by profession. With a mind framed to grasp and master the principles and subtleties of the law, and in the application of legal principles to facts and evidence, he often excited the wonder and admiration of the bench. As a special pleader, under the old system of pleading, he had few equals.

The subject of this sketch entered the office of his father at the age of nine years as clerk and copyist, and remained until until 1851, when he entered Alfred Academy, where he remained four years. In 1855, and before reaching his majority, he commenced his legal studies under his father’s supervision at Hornellsville, N.Y. In 1856, after his father’s death, he went to Millport and took charge , as administrator , of his deceased father’s estate. In October , 1857, he was admitted to practice in the courts of the State. In 1858 he removed to Horseheads, and has continued the practice of law ever since.

In November, 1877, he was elected for a term of three years as district attorney of Chemung County, and ever since 1870 has served the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira Railroad Company.

His practice is extensive in all of the courts of the State, and in the Federal courts held in the State.

ISAAC WINTERMUTE was born in Sussex Co., N.J., on the 18^th day of August, 1802. His father , Peter Wintermute, was of German extraction; was the head of a large family of children,--seven sons and three daughters; a farmer’s son. Isaac spent his earlier years upon the homestead farm, receiving but a limited education, only such as the common school then afforded. In December, 1829, he married Sarah J., daughter of Chauncey Smithe, an estimable young lady, and the union proved a very happy one, lasting almost half a century, and dissolved only by death.

After marriage, Mr. Wintermute continued his farm life until 1837, when he removed to Horseheads, N.Y. In 1838, and in a period of the greatest financial disturbance and business calamity, he embarked in trade. With no experience in the business, with limited capital, and with wreck and ruin on every side , he confidently and with stern purpose to succeed, made the daring venture by which he stacked every dollar he possessed. But with a sagacity and sound judgment which seemed unerring ,and an integrity that no temptation could move, and a strict personal attendance to business, he succeeded and so well that in a period of less than twenty years he was enabled to retire and enjoy his fortune in elegant leisure to the close of his life, and leave a rich inheritance to his children.

Mr. Wintermute was in many respects a remarkable man. He had within him the elements of greatness, and had the exigencies of his life made the demand, he would have risen equal to any emergency. He was positive at all times, negative in nothing. “He was a plain, blunt man.” There were no sophistries about him. He was frank and outspoken when called upon to speak; warm-hearted and generous , without being impulsive. His favors were awarded with just discrimination. With no vain pretentions, yet his influence and personal power were always felt. Whether liked or disliked, all the world united in the sentiment, “ He is an honest man.” He was an affectionate husband, a kind indulgent father, a good-natured and obliging neighbor and a trusted and respected member of society, prompt to meet all his engagements. He was lenient to the last degree as a creditor and many a man in Chemung County owes his financial salvation to his indulgence, when the exactions of a hard creditor would have been financial ruin.

Mr. Wintermute was the father of four children: Anna, wife of George W. Smith, died a few years ago at Nashville, Tenn.;Peter P., a man noted for his enterprise and ability throughout the West and Northwest, died at the early age of forty-five, in January, 1877;Charles, a successful trader in Montana and Sarah E., wife of Adam L. Staring. One of the most beautiful and talented ladies of Chemung County ever boasted was his youngest child.

Mr. Wintermute was proud of his success; proud of his family, wife, and children; proud of his unsullied name, maintained ti the last unspotted through prosperity and adversity; gratified that his health was preserved unimpaired to the last; and he died , as he had often wished , without that languishment of suffering on a sick-bed, helpless and hopeless, which so often precedes dissolution. He was stricken with paralysis on the 25^th day of April, 1878, and remained comatose until the 28^th when he died.

He was for nearly a quarter of a century a member of the Baptist Church at Horseheads, giving to it a liberal support, and died with the unwavering hope of a blessed resurrection, and in the firm faith of a better life beyond the grave.

JAMES A. CHRISTIE, was born in the town of Middlesex, in the county of Ontario (now a portion of Yates County), on the 9^th day of February, 1820.

His father, James Christie, who is still living , was born at West-Town , Orange Co., N.Y., Oct. 16,1791, and with his father, Andrew Christie, moved to Middlesex about 1809.

The father of the subject married Lydia Adams, daughter of Chester Adams, who was one of the earliest of the pioneers of Western New York from Massachusetts, and settled near Canandaigua, about the year 1786. Both the grandfathers served under Washington, in our Revolutionary struggle for independence from soon after it began until its close.

Until he was about sixteen years old the subject of this brief sketch worked on his father’s farm summers, and attended the district school where he lived. From that time he taught in the common schools a portion of the time, and pursued his classical studies at the academical institutions of Prattsburg, Lima and Geneseo, until he was twenty-two years of age. He then removed to the State of Indiana, and studied law in the office of Robert Douglass, of Angola, Ind., about a year. His health failing him there, he returned East, and pursued his legal studies under S.H. Torrey, Esq., now of Canandaigua.

He settled at Horseheads, Chemung Co., N.Y., on the 29^th day of November, 1848, and was admitted to the bar at the general term at Auburn in March, 1849, and has continued in the active pursuit of the business of his profession ever since.

On the 9^th day of November, 1848, he was married to Martha W., daughter of Samuel W. Powers, of Rushville, N.Y. She died March 30,1857. The fruit of that marriage was one son, William H.

Mr. Christie, after the death of his first wife, married Miss Phoebe A. Townsend, daughter of David Townsend, of Horseheads, on the 1^st day of June, 1858, with whom he is still living. The offspring of his last marriage is one daughter, Carrie A., born Jan. 18,1860.

ROBERT P. BUSH was born in Branchport, Yates Co., N.Y., March 31,1842. The name of the family was formerly Terboss, and it originated in Holland. The great-grandfather of our subject was a captain in the Revolutionary army. His grandfather also served in the same army, although only only sixteen years old. They went from Dutchess County. The father, Dr. Wynans Bush, whose mother’s maiden name was Esther Bull, came “west” from Orange County about 1830. His wife’s maiden name was Julie Ann Loomis. She was born in Coventry, Conn.

Robert is the youngest son in a family of nine,--four boys and five girls. His advantages for education were limited, but by working and teaching he was able to attend for a short time the Franklin Academy at Prattssburg, and Cortland Academy in Homer.

He was pursuing his studies at the latter-named place in 1861, when the President’s call for soldiers was issued. He at once enlisted in Co. D, Twelfth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and served two years in the ranks, participating in many of the battles in Virginia, their first fight being at Blackburn’s Ford, Va., July 18, 1861. After the expiration of his term of service he returned to school and graduated with his class, in 1863. In the fall of the same year he commenced teaching in Cortland Academy and also took up the study of medicine. In 1864 the call for soldiers being again urgent he left his pupils and his studies and went to the front as captain of Co. E., One Hundred and Eighty -fifth Regiment New York Volunteers. His three brothers were all in the Union army at the time. He was soon made a major of his regiment ; was captured at Hatcher’s Run, his horse having been shot under him, Feb. 6,1865. After the close of the war he taught in Penn Yan Academy, still continuing the study of medicine. In 1868, after attending a course of lectures in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, he commenced the practice of medicine with his father in Branchport, N.Y., having a license from Yates County Medical Society. In 1870 he took charge of the Horseheads Union Free School, and continued at its head for more more than three years, leaving it to attend lectures at the Buffalo Medical College, from which institution he graduated Feb. 24, 1874. He at once returned to Horseheads and formed a partnership with Dr. O.S. Greenman. Still, however, taking a deep interest in the subject of education, he was elected school commissioner for Chemung County in 1875, receiving the largest majority in the town of Horseheads that had ever been given a candidate.

He was married, Sept.1, 1870, to a former pupil , Miss Saretta A. Ludlow, of Penn Yan. They have had four children, Rho S., Julia M., Robert F., and Walter W.

Dr. Bush is an earnest Mason, and has been honored by his brethrenn by being elected Eminent Commander of Jerusalem Commandery. High Priest of Horseheads Chapter, R.A.M., and Master of Horseheads Lodge, F. and A.M. Still keeping up an interest in military matters, he is major of the One Hundred and Tenth Battalion, National Guard, State of New York.

JOSEPH LIVESAY. Gershom Livesay, father of our subject, was a native of France, born in 1770. He came to America with his father about 1773, and located in Warwick, Orange Co., N.Y., where his father died , but Gershom remained there until he was twenty-one years of age, in the indentured service of Judge Wheeler; on attaining his majority he removed ( 1792) to old Tioga County, locating seven miles west of Newtown (now Elmira) at a settlement formerly known as Sing Sing. He there squatted upon a large tract of land, but only succeeded in acquiring title to a small portion of it,--228 acres. Jan. 29, 1796, he married a widow lady, Mrs. Hannah Silsby, of Elmira. She was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1771, and died Sept. 11,1842. Gershom Livesay departed this life Sept. 24, 1862, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Their children were

Charles Livesay, born Dec. 15, 1797, died in 1868.

George Livesay, born March 0, 1800; still living.

Judah Livesay, born Dec. 7, 1803; died in 1870.

Joseph Livesay, born Sept. 6,1806; subject of this notice.

Jonathan Livesay, born May 27,1809; died in 1867.

James Livesay, born Nov. 7, 1811; still living.

Rebecca Livesay, born Dec. 12, 1815; died aged about thirty-seven years.

George and James are residents of Lenawee Co. Mich., whither they removed with their father in 1835.

Joseph Livesay spent his youth and early manhood upon his father’s farm. April 28, 1831, he embarked for himself, without capital, but with willing hands and a firm resolve to make himself a home. He took farms in the neighborhood, which he worked upon shares . His first purchase of land was 62 acres, in June, 1835, of the Goble heirs, in the town of Big Flats. October 29 of the dame year he married Sally Bennett, eldest daughter of the late Comfort Bennett. She was born Oct. 20, 1814. They commenced housekeeping April 10, 1836, and have maintained their fireside and roof-tree through the forty-two intervening years. The record of their two sons and five daughters is as follows: George W., born July 25,1839; Ellen born June 1, 1841; Clarinda, born June 16, 1843; Morris B., born Aug. 22,1846; Sally, born June 29, 1849; Belle, born Nov. 24, 1853;and Kate S., born June 10, 1860. George and Morris both died when quite young, and Clarinda at the age of fifteen years. Ellen married ( Oct.18,1860) David D. Reynolds, of Horseheads. Belle married Mr. G.E. Reed, of Elmira, July 12,1876. Sally, unmarried and an invalid and Kate, the youngest are both living at home with their parents.

Mr. Livesay made his residence in Big Flats from 1836 to 1870, when he removed to Horseheads, where he cultivated a small farm in the suburbs of the village; the remainder of his acreage , embracing about 760 acres in Big Flats and 240 acres in the town of Elmira,--near the Water-Cure on the east hill,--being operated by tenants.

Mr. Livesay is one of the very few remaining early residents of this valley, and has been identified with its interests, its growth and prosperity, for nearly a half-century. He was born in what is now known as the town of Big Flats, and his whole life has been passed in this vicinity. Although never a politician or office seeker, he has held various town offices; he was a school trustee for thirty-one years, path master for thirty-two years in Big Flats, and a member of the board of trustees of the village of Horseheads. He was one of the original charter members if the old Chemung County Agricultural Society, and one of the prime movers in the institution of its fairs. He always took an active interest in everything pertaining to agriculture, particularly in the improvement in stock and introduced the first thoroughbred bull into his town. In religious faith he is a Universalist and in politics a Democrat. He is still hale and hearty, and is enjoying a comfortable competence as well as the respect and esteem of the community where he lives.
 

DANIEL DALRYMPLE. The family from which Mr. Dalrymple is descended was of English origin. His paternal grandfather resided near Bennington, Vt., at which place Ephraim, the father of our subject, was born , June 26,1792. Ephraim married Abigail Bridgman, a native of Afton, Chenango Co., N.Y. She was born March 10, 1793; the daughter of Reuben and Abigail (Town) Bidgeman, whose parents emigrated to Chenango County from Vermont, about the year 1790. His father having died when he was about twelve years old, Ephraim came to Chenango County in 1804, and lived with an older brother. He served in the war of 1812. He followed the trade of a carpenter and millwright and in later years engaged in farming.

In 1831 he moved to Jackson, Tioga Co., Pa., where he resided until 1841, when he purchased the farm now occupied by his son, Daniel in Southport. He subsequently left the farm to the charge of his son and engaged for several years in the lumber business in Potter Co., Pa., where he died April 22,1856. He was twice married; first to Abigail Bridgman, as above stated, by whom he had seven children, viz: Mary Ann, Daniel, Adna, Delia Ann, William , Abigail, and Lydia Sophia; all living except the first one named. His second wife was Sarah Bovier, widow of Noah Bovier, and by this marriage were born to them Mary Ann, Sophronia Maria, Hannah, and Ephraim, all living and residing in Southport. William and Sophia are living in Potter Co., Pa., while Adna, Delia A., and Abigail reside in Illinois.

Daniel Dalrymple, the eldest son of Ephraim, was born in the town of Afton, N.Y., June 11,1819. With his father moved to Jackson, a., in 1831, and with him, ten years later, came to Southport, which has since been his residence. Besides the 100 acres of the homestead farm (given him by his father for his years of service), he owns 600 acres of farming lands in Wells, Pa., stocked with seventy-five cows. Some years since he sold his mill interests in Potter County to his brothers and sisters residing there. He is no politician, but has been a life-long Democrat, as was his father before him; has held the office of assessor, but much prefers to leave official cares and duties to others , and to follow agricultural pursuits and enjoy the quite life of a farmer. With no educational advantages, in early life, he was self-reliant, industrious, and trustworthy. From the age of fourteen years he had the entire charge of his father’s farm, in addition to which for years he kept the books and settled the accounts of the lumber business, which, at one time, embraced eleven different saw-mills. He thus developed into a practical business man,--a successful manager. He married, first Sophronia M. Morrell, Jan. 12,1843, who died Feb. 27,1843. His present wife ,Emily Edsall, was born in Columbia, Bradford Co., Pa., Feb.18,1830. Her father, Jesse , son of Samuel Edsall, was born in Southport, in 1790; her mother, Clarissa, daughter of Thomas Wright and Sarah Owens, was born in 1801. Her grandmother, Sarah Seeley, was a native of Orange Co.,N.Y. Jesse Edsall drove the first stage between Elmira and Binghamton in 1802. In 1803 he settled in Columbia, Pa., where he died Oct. 2,1861. He and his wife were both members of the Baptist Church. He was a man of much social influence, possessed of a strong intellect, vigorous constitution,and a clear judgment . His wife died Aug. 31,1876, and was buried by his side in the town of Columbia. Of their children, Hiram, Jonas,  Hila, Charles and Harriet are deceased; Emily, Austin, and Jesse reside in Southport; Sara,in Columbia; and Amanda in Elmira.

Mr. Dalrymple has three children: Clara born Sept. 1, 1852; Charles E., born Feb. 5,1854; and Cora, born April 30,1865. Clara married Wisner J. Roy, resides in Wells, Pa., and has two children; Charles married Emma Metzger, has one child, and lives on his father’s farm. Daniel Dalrymple has the reputation of being one of the most thorough, persevering and industrious farmers in the town, and the competence he now enjoys was only attained by years of toil and economy.
 

JOHN BROWN was born in the town of Truxton, Cortland Co., N.Y., April 7,1824. His father, William Brown, was a native of Massachusetts, and after residing in Rhode Island, Norwich, Chenango County and Cortland County, finally settled in the town of Caton, Steuben Co., in October, 1826, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that town. He married Lurana Simmons, of Connecticut birth about the year 1808, by whom he had eleven children, five sons and six daughters ,-- Mrs. E.A. Miller, (deceased), William A. , Mrs. Abigail J. Rowley, Charles (deceased) , Mrs. Mary Helmer , Mrs. Clarissa Higman (deceased), Mrs. Lurana Bovier, John, Anthony, Mrs. Achsah Clough, Comfort S. (deceased). The father died at Port Deposit, in Maryland about the year 1833. The mother died two years afterwards.

At the age of twenty-two he married Martha C. Waier, of Southport, daughter of William C. and Mary (J ones) Waier.

After farming for three years, from 1848, Mr. Brown removed to Wells, Bradford Co., Pa. Where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, buying some fifteen hundred acres of timber land, from which he took the logs, and for twelve years manufactured some one million feet of lumber each year. In 1865 he settled on his farm, located at Pine City, in the town of Southport, a view of which may be seen in another part of this work.

Since this time he has engaged in farming, lumbering, and the manufacture of flour,-- the two latter at Webb’s Mills.

Mr. Brown has spent an active business life, and in all his dealings and business transactions has preserved that integrity of purpose characteristic of the family.

Mr. Brown has never been an active politician, but preferred the quite of business to the emolument of office and the strife of a political life. He has generally been identified with the Republican party, and has held important offices in the gift of the people in Wells, Pa., and also in Southport, and is now holding his second term as Supervisor of the town of Southport.

His children are William D., Louisa C., Mrs. Frank J. Cassada, John H., and Mattie L.
 

HON. EDMUND MILLER was born Nov. 1,1808, in the house which he died,-- the old family residence on the Wellsburg road. His home was a short distance below Governor Robinson’s mansion, about two miles from Elmira. His ancestors were among the very earliest pioneers of the valley. His grandfather ,Abram, settled here prior to 1790, coming from Northampton Co., Pa.* His father, Jacob Miller, was a farmer, and Edmund, in due time, took up the same pursuit; he soon became one of the most successful and prosperous farmers of this section. He remained on the old home farm, enlarging its territory and applying himself earnestly to its cultivation. With his industry was allied a keen, sagacious, business discrimination and he became known as one of the wealthiest farmers of the county.

Mr. Miller was noted for the heartiness with which he enjoyed life. His home was ever the centre of a generous hospitality to a large circle of friends and relations. He was a farmer of the old time, one of the lords of the soil, whose means permitted the exercise of those hospitalities. The happiness of his domestic life was enhanced by children grown to the estate of manhood and womanhood, six of whom, with the partner of his life, survive him. They are John D., residing near Southport Corners; Edmund, living at home; Mrs. S.W. Forman, whose home is at the homestead above the house of her father’s; Mrs. Jesse Leverich, living near Wellsburg; Mrs. T.S. Flood, of Elmira; and Amelia, at home. The widow was a Miss Dubois, of Tioga Centre.

For a year prior to his decease, Mr. Miller had been in failing health, and for months suffered severely from rheumatism, later aggravated by dropsically symptoms, from which relief was impossible. He died, as if going to sleep, March 28,1878.

His was eminently a useful life. He served his day and generation faithfully, honorably, well; and there is left to relatives the tender remembrances of family affection and devotion, and to the world at large the example of a life whose bright success illustrates the value of industry and honesty. +

* Abram Miller was the first judge of the old county of Tioga after its erection in 1891. He served with distinction as a captain in the Revolution. He also erected, on a branch of Seeley Creek, the first saw-mill in the town of Southport.

+ Star Gazette, March 29,1878.

MILLER McHENRY-- The grandfather of the subject of this notice, John McHenry, was a native of Orange Co., N.Y. and moved to Elmira in 1792. He married Anna Miller in 1793. Of his family of thirteen children Abram (father of our subject), the third son, was born on the place occupied by John D. Miller, in Southport, Feb.11,1796. Abram’s wife Ruth H. Brewster, was born in Orange Co., N.Y., Oct. 16,1799, but removed to Southport in the year 1818. They were married May 1,1818, and raised a family of six children, of whom three survive, viz:

Catharine, born Aug. 12,1819; died Feb. 2, 1871

Lyman, born Nov. 14, 1821; died April 8, 1867

Miller, born Dec. 11, 1823

Eliza, born July 23, 1826; died March 7, 1863

Guy, born July 27, 1830

Julia, born June 18, 1832

The latter married Seldon Tense, in March, 1855, and is now residing in Whitehall, N.Y.

Miller McHenry married (Oct. 12, 1847) Angeline Seely, a native of Lawrenceville,Pa., removing thence to Southport when very young. Her father, Nathaniel Seely, Jr., was one of the early residents of Southport, and to her grandfather , also named Nathaniel (senior), is accorded the honor of having erected the first frame dwelling in the valley on the south side of the Chemung River, in 1792. Her father was born Feb. 15, 1795; her mother, Henrietta Holdridge, was born Jan. 28, 1802. They were married April 22, 1819, and had three children,--Angeline, Morris, and John Arnot; of whom only Morris survives. Nathaniel Seely, Jr., and his wife died May 14, 1868 and June 10, 1876, respectively.

The family of Mr. McHenry are Abram, born July 4,1848; Sarah Frances, born Aug. 9, 1850;Nattie, born July 21, 1852 and died Dec. 21, 1858. His son Abram married (Feb. 28, 1872) Sarah Ward, and have three children, viz, Nattie,born Dec. 11, 1872;Laura, born May 2, 1874; and Bertie, born Sept. 4, 1876,--all living.

All his life Mr. McHenry has followed the avocation of his father, --that of farmer,--and now in the prime of life is enjoying the result of his years of labor, but greatly missing the the faithful companion of those years of toil, whose loss he has so recently been called to mourn. She departed this life March 23, 1878, aged fifty-eight years.

Mr. McHenry has held the offices of town clerk ,assessor, and supervisor, each for a term of years, having been favored by his townsmen in this regard almost continuously since 1844. He was also for many years a director in the old Elmira and Southport Bridge Company and has always taken a lively interest in the affairs of his town.
 

ASHER R. FROST was the third son of *Jonathan and Elizabeth Laura Frost. He was born Nov. 29, 1818, in the old town of Catharine, then Tioga, but now Schuyler Co., N.Y. The family consisted of eight children namely : Thomas Sherwood, Zalmon Burr, *Elizabeth Angeline, Asher Ruggles, Eleanor Jane, Laura Rachel, *George Jonathan and Francis Asbury. His father when a young man, in company with his grandfather , Joseph Frost, moved from Reading, Fairfield Co., Conn., in 1803, and settled in Catharine. They were among the first settlers in the then far western wild, and by their perseverance and industry soon made themselves comfortable homes. His father, Jonathan, was not only a pioneer in the wilderness, but also a pioneer Methodist, one of eight members organized into the first class in Johnson Settlement, one of the first in this section of the country. His house was a welcome home for the early preachers. He lived a just and exemplary life and died respected by all.

Mr. Frost is descended from Revolutionary stock. His grandfather , Joseph Frost, was a soldier of the Revolution, and he inherits a share of the sturdy virtues of the old heroes who defended the rights of the people to secure and enjoy the benefits of self-government.

Mr. Frost grew up on the farm, and enjoyed no advantages of early education, save the common school. At nineteen years of age he left home to learn the trade of a millwright, which he successfully accomplished and followed for several years.

He was married to Sally Maria McCarty, daughter of Charles McCarty, May 20,1847, who is a most estimable woman. One son was born to them,--Willis Holister Frost,--a bright , manly boy, loved and esteemed by all, and of whom not alone his parents but all his acquaintances had high hopes of his future. He entered Cornell University at its opening, pursued his studies successfully for the first year, but soon after entering upon the second year was stricken down with typhoid fever, and died November 14, 1869, in the twenty-first year of age. The loss of this son, on whom all their hopes were centered, was a most crushing affliction to the parents.

Mr. Frost purchased the farm on which he now resides in 1853, and has devoted himself to its culture, to the elevation of the farmer and the advancement of agriculture.

He has been honored by his fellow citizens, who have elected him five time to the office of supervisor of the town of Veteran. He was supervisor during a portion of the time of the war of the Rebellion, when large amounts of money passed through his hands; and from that time down to these days of crimination and recrimination there never was a breath of suspicion raised against him for not properly appropriating every dollar which came into his hands.

He has been for years an active worker in the temperance reform, and strong in his convictions that the sale of intoxicating liquors should be prohibited by law. Among the agencies which he has availed himself of to carry forward this reform has been his connection and work with the Independent Order of Good Templars. He has been for three successive years elected by the Grand Lodge of the State a member of the finance committee of the Board of Managers.

He has been a member of the Methodsist Episcopal Church for over forty years, and always occupying some responsible station therein. For many years he has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday-school in Millport. He is highly esteemed in his social relations and is a man of untarnished moral character, who will leave the world better for having lived in it.

*Deceased
 

HENRY CRANDELL was born in the town of Schettacoke, Rensselaer Co., N.Y., Sept. 22,1795. He is a son of Eber Crandell, who was a native of the town of Cold Spring, Sutchess Co., N.Y., having been born there in the year 1755, the latter’s father having lived and died there. His father, James Crandell was of English ancestry, settling on Long Island before the dawn of the seventeenth century. Eber Crandell, above mentioned , removed from Schettacoke to Argyle, Washington C., this State, when Henry was an infant, and settled there as a farmer; twelve years thereafter removing to Scipio, Cayuga Co., N.Y., where he remained a few years and then sold his farm and came to the town of Ulysses, now in Tompkins County, and from thence to the part of Catharine now included in Veteran, about 1832, and there remained until his death, which occurred while on a visit to Ann Arbor, Mich., when upwards of eighty years of age.

On the 18^th of October, 1816, he was married to Eliza, daughter of Colonel Charles Hill, of Madison Co., N.Y., the result of this union having been five children, viz: Charles, Humphrey,Diana, Susan and Amos Wilson, the latter alone surviving, the third and forth named having died in infancy. Mr. Crandell removed from Ulysses to Veteran with his family in the year 1827, having been induced to emigrate by the prospect of the construction of the Chemung Canal, the progress of which he had been watching for some three years. While in Ulysses he, in company with his brother, purchased a mill property for $6000, paying one-half down and mortgaging the property for the balance. A freshet washed away the dam and carried with it most of the mill stock, in consequence of which the mortgage was foreclosed, leaving Mr. Crandall $500 in debt. By persevering industry and the strictest economy he paid this all up in five years; and that, too, while working at one dollar a day, he in the meanwhile supporting his family.

Politically, he came on the stage in old Whig time, and on the formation of the Republican party he adopted their platform, and has ever stood firm to its principles. He has held the various town offices from supervisor down. He has never affiliated with any religious denomination, although he has been associated more particularly with the Society of Friends, of which his wife was an exemplary member, and widely known as “Aunt Eliza.” She was a most estimable lady, of fine education, a good discourser, and of great social worth. She died in 1867, in the sixty-eighth year of her age, and fifty-first of her marriage. Mr. Crandell is now in his eighty-fourth year, and resides with his son, Amos W. He is well preserved and possesses all his faculties, his eyesight alone being somewhat impaired. The writer of this sketch found him in the field husking corn in the fall of 1878.

Among the public works with which he was identified mechanically were the New York Central Railroad from Rochester to Auburn, the Chemung Canal, and the Northern Central Railway (formerly the Chemung Railroad) from Watkins to Elmira.

The life and character of the gentleman of whom we have written presents many incidents and traits worthy to be followed, and offers a bright example of what a good citizen ought to be.
 

REUBEN TIFFT, One of the oldest residents of the town of Veteran is Reuben Tifft. He was born in the town of Nassau, Rensselaer Co., N.Y., July 7,1810, and came to Veteran, then Tioga County, in the spring of 1830, driving the distance with an ox team! His father, David Tifft, was a native of Rhode Island, born July 3, 1788; his mother, Charlotte Smith, being a native of Connecticut. The latter died in Rensselaer County about the year 1846, and after her demise David married Emily Elwell and removed to Veteran, Chemung Co., where he died in 1856. After his death Mrs. Tifft returned to Rensselaer County.

Reuben Tifft was married January 7, 1830, to Sally Turner, of Veteran. To them were born Charlotte K., Feb. 16,1831, married Norman B. Wood, and living in the town of Veteran; John B. and David E. (twins) born Nov. 10, 1832; John married Betsey E. Briggs, and resides in Veteran; David married Margaret Dufur, and lives in Erin; Reuben, Jr., born Feb. 19, 1835, married Emeline R. Crane and resides in Horseheads, N.Y.; William M., born Sept. 19, 1837, and died Feb. 27, 1851; Sally M., born May 27, 1840, died in infancy; Chloe A., born March 13, 1843, married John Kays, and resides in Newfield, Tompkins Co.,; Lucretia S., born Jan. 6, 1846, married Ezra M. Howell, and lives in Veteran; Harvey M., born July 29, 1854, married Emma Anthony, and resides with his father on the home farm.

Mrs. Sally Tifft, died Oct. 20, 1864, aged Fifty-three years. Mr. Tifft married for his second wife Lucretia M. Coleman, May 6, 1867. She is a native of Chemung County, being born in Veteran , June 27, 1838. The children by this marriage are Grant L., born Dec. 6,1868; Ulysses D. , born July 15, 1871, died July 8, 1872; Wilson D., born Aug. 23, 1873.

Mr. Tifft is a veteran resident of the town in which he resides, of which he has been a continuous resident for forty-eight years. It was a wilderness when he first established himself there, and laid the foundation for his home by erecting a log home ( a very primitive affair) and clearing a farm of some ninety-six acres, not far from his present location. To his original purchase have been made additions until he has now a goodly acreage. The old log house, in which he passed the first years of hid pioneer life, was removed many years ago, and in its place is a fine farm-house , surrounded by good barns, etc. A fine view of his home, as it appears at present, may be seen among the illustrations of the town of Veteran. Mr. Tifft has always followed the vocation of a farmer, and is still hale and hearty, works his farm and proposes to die “ in the harness.”

He is well known and much esteemed in the section where he has lived for nearly a half-century.
 

JAMES M. VAN DUZER the eldest son of William Van Duzer, was born at Unionville, in the town of Warwick, Orange Co., N.Y., on the 15th day of August, 1812. His mother was Sally M., the daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Wheeler, of Mount Eve, Orange County,--an extensive land owner and one of the most prominent men of his locality. Christopher Van Duzer, of Warwick, who was a captain in the Revolutionary war, was his grandfather. In June, 1824, he moved with his father into Chemung County, then Tioga, and settled upon the Ridge Road, in the town of Veteran, on what has so long been known as the Van Duzer farm, where he resided almost continuously during his business life.

He was for a few years--1838 to1843--engaged in the lumber business in the town of Southport, first with Sylvester Sexton, and afterwards with Colonel Eli Wheeler, and erected a steam saw-mill upon his timber tract, supposed to have been the second steam saw-mill within the present limits of Chemung County. This enterprise was unsuccessful and he returned to the farm and remained there until 1872, when his health compelled him to relinquish active business, and he moved to the village of Horseheads, where he died, on the 5^th of August, 1876.

He was married to Louisa Turner, the eldest daughter of Harvey Turner, Dec. 31, 1840, who with his two sons, survive him.

For thirty years he was an active and public-spirited citizen. He served his town several terms as an assessor, and was for many years postmaster of the Veteran post office, established by his father soon after moving into this county, and which , in the days of stage-coaches was quite an important centre for the country round about it.

In 1850 he was elected Superintendent of the Poor for Chemung County on the Democratic ticket, and served three years. Being an ardent Free-Soil Democrat, he early joined the Republican party, and ran as its candidate for sheriff on the first regular county ticket put in nomination in 1856, but was defeated.

After the passage of the act of 1857, creating a county board of commissioners of excise, he was appointed by Judge North, in May of that year, one of the Excise Commissioners for Chemung County, and performed the duties of that office until January, 1861, when his term expired.

When the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Government, and though exempt from military duty, at his own expense sent a man into the army, and was among the most active of his townsmen in his efforts to have his town fill every quota called for; and it was a matter of great pride to him that no draft was ever made on the town of Veteran.

On the passage of the internal revenue law, in 1861, he was appointed one of the assistant assessors of his district, and had the towns of Veteran, Catlin, Horseheads, and Big Flats, under his supervision until 1867. By the reduction of the internal revenue services and consolidation of the districts, his office was discontinued.
 

HORACE SEAMAN, M.D., Few men of the preceding age began life under more adverse circumstances than the subject of this sketch. The oldest of six children, whose parents had no resources but their labor, and little time for their family, he early learned the lesson of self-reliance. He was born Sept.6, 1806, in the town of Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vt. His father, Benjamin Seaman, was an honest and upright man, and esteemed for his moral worth. The son’s early educational advantages were limited to the common school, which he was permitted to attend only a few months in the year; and here his advancement was retarded by extreme diffidence and stammering, which was not overcome until late in life.

Trifling incidents often shape our after-pursuits. So in the present case. When about eleven years of age, he was persuaded to bleed a lady suffering from pain in the head, with a penknife, which produced immediate relief. For this act he was reprimanded by the village doctor, who at the same time encouraged this rashness ( as he called it) by offering to give him a lancet with directions as to its use, on condition that he should bleed such of his patients as might suddenly be taken with the then prevailing pleurisy , as he lived several miles away. The lancet was reluctantly accepted, the agreement fulfilled and in a few weeks to this was added by the same man, Dr. Peleg Barlow, a turn-key for extracting teeth.

From thence onward his determination was to some day enter the medical profession, and his energies were turned in that direction. In the year 1824 he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. P. Barlow, in Pittsfield, Vt. In the fall of 1826 he attended his first course of lectures at Cadtleton. The summer of 1827 was spent in Brandon with Dr. Josiah Hale, and the autumn in again attending the lectures at Castleton, where he spent the next season with Professor Woodward , and graduated at the close of the lecture term of 1828. Thus, without pecuniary aid, he had accomplished the first object of his ambition at the age of twenty-two.

He was married to Sally \s. Whipple, daughter of Wright Whipple, Dec. 12, 1828. She died Aug. 6, 1842. She was a woman of more than ordinary intellect and accomplishments and highly esteemed by all who knew here.

His second wife was Miss Eliza Thomas, daughter of the late Jonathan Thomas , a generous and noble woman. She is still living and is the loving companion of his declining years.

The history of Dr. Seaman’s medical career is that of most country practitioners. He came to Millport in April, 1830, and was soon engaged in an active practice. He held his ground against competition for fifteen years and was highly esteemed among his patients. His health failing, he went into mercantile business, with which (in company with his son, W.H. Seaman ) he is still connected , but he did not wholly abandon the practice of his profession.

He is now the only member living who assisted in the organization of the Chemung County Medical Society, to which he has contributed some important papers, viz: “ A Report of a Case of Remarkable Injury of the Brain, and Recovery therefrom;” “ An Essay on Stammering. Its Cause and Cure;” “ Report of a Case of Removal of the Placenta, after an Early Abortion, through the Tube of a Speculum.” This being an original suggestion, it called out discussion; and in reply to some adverse criticism, Dr. Wm. C. Wey. Who defended the proposed practice, said, “ The application of the speculum in this variety of professional experience, mentioned and illustrated by Dr. Seaman, furnishes such an important aid in obstetrical practice that I can only speak of it in terms of the highest approval, as supplying the practitioner with a ready, novel, and effective method of bringing to a speedy and successful termination a case which might be otherwise prove tedious, complicated and threatening.”

Although a general practitioner, Dr. Seaman field was more particularly confined to obstetrics, as shown by the fact that he has been present at the births of over two thousand children, among whom are many of the third generation.

Dr. Seaman investigates for himself, tries to arrive at the truth, and to act in accordance therewith. Thus he has made his influence felt in his town on all questions paramount in the public mind during the last century. Although strongly wedded to his opinions, he is not repellent in his manner, but genial and liberal in his social relations and maintains this character in spite of the weight of years and a feeble frame. He was an early worker in the temperance movement and an uncompromising Abolitionist. He is an enthusiastic admirer of music and poetry for which he has a very retentive memory.

He is now seventy-two years of age, with intellect unimpaired; is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, interested in all its enterprises, and desirous to leave the world better than he found it. The doctor is a man of unblemished character, and respected wherever he is known.
 

MOSES COLE, ESQ. This gentleman was a prominent citizen of the town of Veteran, and for many years resident of Millport. We have present a few data from a sermon preached at his funeral , by the pastor of his church, to whom his many virtues of head and heart were well known and duly appreciated : “Moses Cole was born at Jamestown, Montgomery Co., N.Y., Feb. 27,1801, and died at Millport, Chemung Co., N.Y., June 5, 1875. His parents were natives of Connecticut; and he was the second of five children, all of whom are now in the spirit world. His parents were honest, virtuous, and God-fearing people, who brought up their children in the principles of virtue and religion. In the year 1812 the family removed to Fayetteville. Onondaga Co., N.Y. On the 16th of January , 1823, Mr. Cole united in marriage with Miss Sophia Clink. Five children were born to them, all of whom , with the mother survive the father’s decease. At the time of their marriage neither of the parties was a professor of religion; but two years subsequent to that event the husband was converted to God, and his wife two years later.; both connecting themselves to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Soon after his admission in the fold, he was elevated to the responsible position of class-leader, which office he held to the end of his life, a period of more than half a century. At about the same time he became class-leader he was made a Sunday-school superintendent.

After careful inquiry among those who knew Mr. Cole longest and best, we can cordially indorse the estimate of him, as above given by his pastor.
 

CHARLES HALL the subject of this sketch, and whose portrait is herewith given, is one of the representative farmers of this town, and is a native of the town of Veteran. He was born the 28th day of February, 1832. His early life was spent upon a farm , as have been his later years. Although considerably interested in the lumber business, having an interest in a saw-mill in the adjoining town of Catlin, agricultural pursuits have in the main engaged his efforts throughout life. He has a family of six children, all daughters. Mr. Hall has been a resident of the town of Veteran all his life, located about midway between the villages of Millport and Pine Valley. He is active and enterprising and enjoys the confidence of his fellow-townsmen.

Joseph, youngest son of the above, married Phebe Dayton, of Brookhaven, Long Island. He died in Stratford, Conn., in 1712. His second son, John, married and had three children: Abraham, born March 6, 1696; John, Jr., born March 9, 1701; Andrew, born March 8, 1708. Joseph died in 1732. Abraham married Esther Jeanes, April 17, 1732, Rev. George Pigot performing the ceremony. They had six sons and three daughters, of whom the youngest son , Michael, married Esther Nichols, whose family consisted of five sons and one daughter--Lewis, Luke, David, James, Elias, and Polly. Luke lived and died near Bridgeport, Conn.; the other children came to Catharine, Tioga ( now Schuyler) Co., in the years 1800 and 1801. They all bought land and commenced to clear up the heavily- timbered forest and for many years endured the privations and hardships of a new country. Lewis was killed by the falling of a tree, May 26, 1802, aged thirty-two years.

David had four children, two of whom still live in Catharine,-- Lewis, the eldest son, now in the eighty-third year of his age, and Lucius C., the youngest son, who resides on the homestead. James married Hannah Beach, and had a family of eleven children, and lived to not only clear up his land, but to see all his children except two, who are deceased, comfortably settled around him. He and his wife both died in 1851.

Lewis, eldest son if the last mentioned , was born July 18, 1796. He worked upon his father’s farm until his twenty-first year. In 1818(March 3) he was united in marriage to Harriet Agard, daughter of Noah Agard, and commenced their married life in a log house, but by industry and economy attained for themselves and family (six sons) a competency. Mrs. Beardsley died in 1870, in the seventy-fourth year of her age, but her husband still survives, and at the date of this sketch (1878) is still living with his son, James E., in Montour, Schuyler Co., in the eighty- third year of his age.

Samuel A. Beardsley, eldest son of the above , was born June 15, 1819. Sept. 17, 1843, he married Miss Phebe Kendall. In 1846 they settled in the town of Veteran, on they farm they now occupy. Through a fixed determination to provide a home for their old age , and by the grace of God’s blessing, they have secured a small competency. Of his three children, his two daughters are married and settled near him; his only son, Grant, lives in North Carolina, and has three children, they being the tenth generation. From William Beardsley, the first mentioned in this sketch. On another page of this work will be seen a view of S.A. Beardsley’s home and surroundings,-- a speaking evidence of a successful farmer.

JOHN TURNER was born in the town of Nassau, Rensselaer Co., N.Y., May 23, 1800, and was the seventh child of John Turner, who emigrated from Middletown, Conn., about the year 1780, with his then small family. The Turners originally emigrated from England, the place of their nativity . John, the father of our subject, reared a family of twelve children by his first wife, and three by his second ; spent his days in Rensselaer County. Our subject remained with his father on the old homestead until twenty-seven years of age; was married , Feb. 16, 1824, to Ulissa, daughter of Robert Tifft, of Steventown, Rensselaer Co.; by this union were born four children, two of whom survive, viz: Stephen and Robert.

In 1827, month of February, Mr. Turner, in company with his wife , removed to Veteran township ( then Tioga Co.) Chemung Co., coming all the way with an ox-team and sled, bringing all their effects on said sled, and located upon the farm where he now resides. Lived in a one-story log house for four years, when he erected the substantial frame house which he at present occupies. From the date of settlement has continued to improve; got out timbers for a barn the first year; purchased with his brother David, 160 acres. In politics Mr. Turner is Republican; started out as a Whig, afterwards anti-slavery. Is a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church, with which he is prominently identified ; has done much towards the maintenance of the society, and contributed liberally to the church and school interest. He is also an advocate of temperance and has not tasted liquor in any form for more than fifty years, and never used tobacco in any form. Some thirty-seven years ago Mr. Turner made lumber, which he used to deliver at Havana with an ox-team for four dollars per thousand. Mrs. Turner died Oct. 1, 1871 and Mr. Turner is now tenderly cared for by his son and family, they residing with him. He has been in the dairy business eighteen years.
 

S.R. PAGE---Erastus Page emigrated from Litchfield Co., Conn., about 1819, settled in Milo, Yates Co., N.Y., and engaged in farming, which he followed for a few years, subject to the varied success incident to pioneer life. Here the subject of this sketch was born, July 10,1822. At the age of six years he was removed , with his parents, to the village of Penn Yan, where he lived until he was nineteen. In 1840 he commenced to learn the cabinet-making trade with a cousin, Henry Page. Two years later he left Penn Yan, went to Trumansburg, Tompkins Co., N.Y., and there worked with his brother, L.E. Page, at the same business. With the last named he came to Millport, Chemung Co., N.Y., in October, 1842. Here he soon completed his majority, and began to do for himself. After working as a journeyman for two years at Geneva and West Dresden, he returned to Millport, purchased his brother’s stock in trade, and went into business for himself. Millport at that time was a lively town; lumbering and boat-building afforded a large and lucrative business; but cabinet-making was, perhaps slower as a means of attaining wealth than any other of the town avocations, which rendered necessary economic methods in its conduct. “ Live within your means” had been learned from a father’s experience, and was followed by the son during his entire business career. For nineteen years he was engaged in this branch.

In October , 1848, he married Miss Sarah N. White, daughter of Colonel L. White, of Millport. This union was blessed with three children,-- Charles E.., Clara Irene, and Linn E. Clara died before she had attained her second year. Charles lived to become a young man of uncommon development and promise. He was engaged in the mercantile business with his father, in whose store he had been for a number of years; but for four months after the partnership was formed, it was dissolved by his death. S.R. Page sold out his cabinet business in 1865 and went into the general mercantile trade, purchasing , in connection with Mr. H.K. Thomas, the stock and trade of Messrs. H.& W.H. Seaman, where they continued a successful business for three years. Mr. Thomas then wishing to dissolve the partnership, they divided their goods, and Mr. Page, with the portion that was his share, opened a store on the east side of Main, at the corner of Hill Street, in Millport village. This was the momentous period of his business life. If success was the to be achieved it must be forced from unfavorable surroundings, and under adverse circumstances. Goods had been purchased at high prices; prices were drooping and markets uncertain. The purchases of to-day were not sure of a profit to-morrow. But by good judgment, discreet, action, and untiring attention to business, with excellent home help, and a guarded care of his personal credit, he succeeded in establishing a good trade, which has continued satisfactory to the present time.

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