Ontario County NY

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Beard

Mrs. Emma M. (Beard) Young was born in Detroit, Michigan, July 12, 1855. Her father, Thomas Beard, who was born in Kingston, England, October 12, 1831, learned the baker’s trade with his father in the old country and emigrating to the United States he followed that calling for a few years in Mount Clemens, Michigan. He later returned to England, where he spent three years and then returned to the United States and settled in Geneva, New York, and engaged in the trucking business; later added the coal business with his son, John. He served three years in the civil … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Arthur S. Vincent

Arthur S., son of Charles B. and Maria (Bliven) Vincent, was born at Phelps, Ontario county, New York, December 20, 1862. He attended the public schools of Phelps, and the knowledge thus acquired prepared him for the activities of life. For a number of years he was very successfully engaged as a portrait artist, but at the present time is devoting his entire attention to the growing of fruit, having about two thousand fruit trees of different species, and is deriving there from a goodly income. He was elected a member of the village board of trustees, in which capacity … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Harvey Stephenson

Frederick P. Stephenson, a well known resident of Phelps, Ontario county, New York, is descended from a family which for many generations has displayed courage and patriotism in defence of the rights and liberties of their country. Calvin Stephenson, a pioneer settler and a soldier of the revolution, had six sons who took part in the war of 1812: James was taken a prisoner and died near Montreal, Canada; William served gallantly throughout the war, then joined the regular army and lost his life on the western plains; Luther served in the contest at Raisin river and in the battle … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William H. Van Valkenberg

William H., son of Glen and Theodosia (Lobdell) Van Valkenberg, was born in Columbia county, in 1836, died in Ontario county, in 1905. He came with his parents in 1841, on the packet boat to Wayne county. They were farmers. In 1870 he came to Ontario county, where he bought the old Flower farm and lived on it until his death. He was one of Phelps’ representative business men. He was a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of the grange. He married, in 1861, Charlotte A., daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Finch) Sheldon. Her … Read more

Biography of Charles Washington Fairfax

Charles Washington Fairfax, son of George Henry (2) Fairfax, was born in Geneva, December 2, 1862. His education was received in the public schools of his native place, graduating from the Geneva Union and Classical School. While in school he worked mornings and evenings in his father’s store, and like many other Geneva boys worked in the nurseries in the spring and autumn. After leaving school he worked as clerk in his father’s store. In 1880 he formed a partnership with his brother, George S. Fairfax, who at that time returned from the west, and the firm took over the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Moses Rowley

Moses (2), son of Moses (1) Rowley, was born November 10, 1654, at Barnstable, died at East Haddam, Connecticut, July 16, 1735. He was admitted freeman in 1690, and was an active and useful citizen of Haddam. He and his wife joined the Haddam church. He married (first) Mary Fletcher; (second) Mary, daughter of Thomas and Frances (Crippen) Corbe, of Falmouth and East Haddam. She died June 9, 1764, in her ninety-seventh year (gravestone record). His will was dated March 24. 1734-35 proved August 19, 1735: Children: Mary, married Captain Samuel Olmstead: Moses, married Martha Porter; Naomi, married Samuel Fuller; … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Richmond

(I) John Richmond, the immigrant, said to have been bore in Wiltshire, at Ashton, Keynes, where the old Richmond manor house is still standing, was baptized there in 1597. He came to America about 1635, and was one of the purchasers of Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1637. George Richmond, possibly a cousin, was engaged in business in Saco, Maine, in 1635 and John may have been there also before coming to Taunton. John is mentioned in court records March 7, 1636, showing that at that time he was engaged in trade, and it is thought he may have returned to England. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Francis M. Kennedy

(II) Francis M., son of James and Margaret (Houston) Kennedy, was born in Kells, Scotland, May 30, 1830. His whole life after coming to this country was spent on his farm in Italy, New York, with the exception of the last six years, when he lived retired from active work, in Canandaigua, New York. He was a member of the Protestant church, and adherent of the Republican party. He married (first) in Italy, Yates county, New York, 1853, Phoebe J., daughter of James and Rachel Fisher. Children: James M., born September 23, 1854, deceased; John A., born May 19, 1857, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Severance

(IV) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) Severance, was born October 7, 1713, and married, October 31, 1732, Mary, daughter of Joseph Clesson, born May 9, 1712, died July 25, 1775. He settled in Deerfield, on Lot No. 36. He was a soldier in the French and Indian war, in Captain Cheever’s company; was taken prisoner, August, 1757, at Fort William Henry, and taken to Canada, where he remained but a short time. He escaped and returned home. The date of his death is unknown. Children : Joseph, born April 13, 1733, died May 29. 1735; Joseph, born June 15, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ira P. Rockefeller

Ira P., son of Norman and Christina (Blakeman) Rockefeller, was born in Richford, January 22, 1843. He accompanied his parents to Phelps, at the age of six years, and acquired his education in the district schools of that town. His opportunities for study, although limited, were used to good advantage, and for superior scholarship when sixteen years old, he was presented by Deacon George Beckwith with a Bible, which he still regards as one of his most valued possessions. Since attaining his majority he has taken a conspicuous part in the agricultural and business development of Phelps, and has entered … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Moses Black

M. Newton Black, well known as a farmer and raiser of produce for the market in Seneca, Ontario county, New York, is a member of a family which has been identified with agricultural matters for many years, and traces his descent to the old colonial families. He is a grower and wholesale dealer in farm produce in Stanley, New York, and from there his goods are sent in all directions, being noted for their quality. (I) Moses Black, grandfather of M. Newton Black, was born in Maryland, September 29, 1789, died on his farm in Ontario county, New York, September … Read more

Biography of Rev. P. A. Neville

Rev. P. A. Neville, rector of St. Bridgets Church, East Bloomfield, New York, has been an indefatigable worker in the interests of his religion and the church of which he has charge, and his life is so closely connected with that institution that a history of the one must of necessity be a history of the other. When the Rev. Bernard O’Reilly and his brother William, in turn, visited the village of East Bloomfield in 1846, the Catholics in that section numbered only about forty. Three years later, Father Quigley received permission to visit the section and minister to the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Severance

(III) Joseph, son of John (2) Severance, was born October 26, 1682; in Suffield, and died April 10, 1766. He was a tailor by trade and resided first at Deerfield, where he owned a house and hone lot. He was in the fight in the meadows in 1704, and was also a soldier in the service in 1713. He was wounded by the Indians and made a cripple, and was compensated for this by the general court which granted him two hundred acres of land east of Northfield on Mount Grace. His father also gave him land in Deerfield. He … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Case

William Case, father of Theodore Case, was born March 6, 1813; married Lydia Haigh; children: Rachel Ann Case, born September 20, 1836, married, March 13, 1868, Charles L. Bigelow, and she died December 17, 1904; Mary Frances Case, born June 22, 1839, died March 28, 1856; Thedore, mentioned above, married, December 20, 1863, Eunice Cobb, who died January 26, 1910; Wilbur B., born August 18, 1848, died April 23, 1864.

Biographical Sketch of Theodore Ephraim Hart

Theodore Ephraim, son of Jonathan (2) and Orpha (Chapin) Hart, was born December 22, 1802. For some years he was a merchant in Harford, Cortlandt county, New York, having also large dairy interests there. About 1838 he removed to Canandaigua, because of the superior educational advantages there offered, and was engaged in mercantile business for about fourteen years. He then, 1852, founded the Bank of Canandaigua, which became a very prosperous institution, and from which he retired in 1863. Mr. Hart married, January It, 1826, Eliza Collins, (see Collins line forward). Children: Samuel Collins, see elsewhere; Adeline Eliza, deceased; Theodore … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Clayton

William (2), son of William (1) Clayton, was born about 1660, died in Chichester, Pennsylvania, about 1727. He married Elizabeth Bezer, a widow. Children: William, died 1757, married Mary, daughter of Walter Marten, of Chichester, and had Mary, William, Lydia. Sarah, Moses, Prudence, Patience and David: Richard; Rachel, married Thomas Howell: Ambrose; Thomas; Abel; Elizabeth, born July 12, 1685 (not mentioned in her father’s will), married Daniel Davis; Edward, mentioned elsewhere.

Biographical Sketch of Barnabas Horton

(I) Barnabas Horton, immigrant ancestor, is supposed to have been the son of Joseph Hotrod, of Mousely, Leicester county, England, and was born there, July 13, 1600. He emigrated to America id the ship “Swallow,” Captain Jeremy Hotrod, master and owner, in 1635 or 1638, and landed at Hampton, Massachusetts. He removed to New Haven in 1640, with his wife, Mary, and two children, Joseph and Benjamin. He settled permanently in Southold, Suffolk county, New York, October, 1640. Children, the first two born in England, the others in Southold: Joseph, about 1632; Benjamin, about 1634; Caleb, about 1640, mentioned elsewhere; … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John McDowell

John McDowell, believed to be a descendant of Ephraim McDowell, came to Yates county, New York, from New Jersey, in 1795, and settled in the town of Jerusalem on the west branch of Keuka Lake. He bought land of John Greig, agent of the Hornby estate, and lost a large part of it in the re-survey of the line of Steuben county, throwing most of his farm into Ontario county, instead of Steuben, where it had been located first. He left there in 1803 and lived for a time at the foot of Keuka Lake, where he was employed by … Read more

Biography of Gideon Granger

Gideon, son of Launcelot Granger, was born in Suffield, Connecticut, July 19. 1767, and was the first of the name to make his home in Canandaigua. New York. We are not familiar with the details of his early life except that he was given opportunity to obtain a liberal education, of which he availed himself, graduating from Yale College in 1787, at the age of twenty. He entered upon the study of the law soon afterward, and rose to distinction in the bar of his native state. He was a man of public spirit, and imbued with the jeffersonian principles … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Rowland Denton

Rowland, son of John and Bathsheba dapham) Gifford, was born May 6, 1748, and died February 3. 1827. He served as ensign in Captain Sutherland’s company during the revolution. He was a Quaker, and removed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, to Dutchess county, then to Columbia county, New York, 1789, where he purchased two hundred acres of land. He married, November 1, 1770. Judith Sutherland, born August 21, 1752, died May 28, 1817. Children: Sarah, born September 21, 1771, died January 5, 1790, married Benjamin Delamater, of Chatham, New York; Jesse, married Cady; Bathsheba, born February 15, 1775, died October 23, 1794; … Read more