Ontario County NY

Biographical Sketch of John Parmelee

John Parmelee, immigrant ancestor, was one of the first settlers of Guilford. Connecticut, and one of the twenty-five signers of the Plantation Covenant, June 1, 1639. He died in New Haven, November 8, 1659, leaving property inventoried at seventy-eight pounds, thirteen shillings. His will was probated January 3, 1659-60. His home lot in Guilford was on the site of the present Congregational church and contained two and a half acres. He married (first) Hannah (second) Widow Elizabeth Bradley, who died in New Haven, January, 1683. After his death she married, May 27, 1663. John Evarts. of Guilford. Children : John, … Read more

Biography of Dudley Marvin Dixon

Prominent among the highly successful and enterprising business men of Hall. New York, are Dudley Marvin and Edward Baxter Dixon, brothers, sons of Edward and Isabella (Crosier) Dixon, the latter named a daughter of Major Crosier. They belong to that honorable class of men in whom every city takes a peculiar pride, men who by force of character, strength of will and firmness of purpose, joined to natural ability, have come to deserve the distinctive title of self-made. Dudley Marvin Dixon was born in Hall. Ontario county, New York, March 29, 1870. He obtained a practical education in the public … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Aaron B. Esty

(VII) Aaron B., son of William Esty, was born in a log house on the homestead in Seneca, in 1802, and followed farming all his active life. He died in September, 1882. He was a member of the Seneca church at Seneca castle. He married Mary Gilbert, formerly of Benton, Yates county, New York. She died February 12, 1892. Children: John B., mentioned elsewhere; William P.; Cynthia A.; Norton, who died aged two years; Joseph; Sibley; Elizabeth and Edmund.

Biographical Sketch of Benajah Andruss

(VI) Benajah, third son of Miles Andruss, was born at Newington, Connecticut, November 13, 1769; died at Bluff Point, New York, July 24, 1838. He married Abigail Nash, born February 20, 1776, and had a family of seven sons and four daughters.

Biography of Albert Barnes Watkins

ALBERT BARNES WATKINS IN THE broad and varied interests of education, and as possessing intellectual powers admirably fitted for the practical application of knowledge to the wants of our young men and women engaged in the courses of study, no man in Albany has earned a more excellent reputation than Dr. Albert B. Watkins, of the University of the State of New York. His career, marked by a supreme love for knowledge, reveals in full light the earnest, persevering and successful workings of the true educator under many pressing difficulties. He was born on the 8th of July, 1838, in … Read more

Biography of Edward B. Robson

Edward B., son of William N. and Katherine J. (Smith) Robson, was born in the town of Seneca, Ontario county, New York, November 19, 1867. He received the advantages of an excellent business and classical education. At first he was a pupil in the district school. then at the Canandaigua Academy and the Geneva High School, and finally received his business training at Eastman’s Business College, from which institution he was graduated in 1891. During his early years, while he was still a student, his spare time was employed in assisting his father in the cultivation of the homestead farm, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Noah Aldrich

(IV) Noah, son of Jacob (2) Aldrich, was born in Mendon about 1720. He deeded lands in Mendon in 1772. He appears to have moved soon afterward to New Salem, Massachusetts, of which he was a soldier in the revolution in 1775 in Captain John King’s company, Colonel Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge’s regiment. In 1790, according to the first federal census, he was living in Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and had one son over sixteen and four females -in his family. He married Rachel.

Biography of Dwight R. Burrell, Dr.

The late Dr. Dwight R. Burrell, for nearly thirty-five years a prominent and honored citizen of Canandaigua, New York, actively identified with its social and business life, enlisting in every movement that was made for the progress and prosperity of the community, was born at Sheffield, Loraine county, Ohio, March 1, 1843, at the homestead which his grandfather had built nearly a quarter of a century before and which today remains in possession of the fifth generation of the Burrell family. After spending his boyhood on the farm and gaining his preparatory education in the common schools of the neighborhood, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Samuel Buell

Samuel, son of William and Mary Buell, was born at Windsor in 1641, and later became one of the founders of Killingsworth. He held a number of public offices, was a man of large property, and is on the town records as “a gentleman.” He married, 1661, Deborah Griswold, of Windsor. He had seven sons and five daughters, of whom Mary and Hannah married Henry and Joseph Porter, and settled at Niagara, western New York.

Biographical Sketch of Henry Martyn Granger

Henry Martyn, son of Calvin Granger, was born in Rochester, New York, August 13, 1835. He was engaged in the general mercantile line and was recognized as a successful and up to date business man. He was a trustee of the church in Hornell, New York, and was a liberal contributor to funds to be devoted to the furtherance of religious matters. He married Sarah. daughter of Deacon Chauncey B. Smith, who was born in 1800, and died in 1879, and who established the First Presbyterian Church in Hornell. Mrs. Granger was a native of Hornell, was a devout worshipper … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Herendeen

The surname Herendeen is identical with Herenden, Harandine, Harnden, Harrenden, Harraden, Haraden and Harrington, and there are various other variations in spelling. A Richard Harnden settled in Reading, Massachusetts. He was born in 1640. Edward Harnden settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, about 1650, and afterward removed to Gloucester; was over fifty years old in 1677. There was a Benjamin Harndale or Harnden in Lynn in 1649. Benjamin Herendeen or Hearnden, the immigrant ancestor of all the early Rhode Island families of this surname, was born probably in England and settled at Providence, Rhode Island. He married Elizabeth White. who died about … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Sidney Knickerbocker

(II) Sidney, son of Hebram Knickerbocker, was born in Naples, New York, March 21, 1832; died in Ontario county, New York, January 14, 1899. As a tiller of the soil he was as successful as his father had been, and improved the property in his possession in many directions. He was one of the organizers and builders of the Baptist church of his community, was elected a trustee of this institution, and served in this office up to the time of his death. He took an unusually active interest in all matters relating to the education of the growing generation, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Sylvanus Burtis

Sylvanus Burtis, second son of Arthur ( i ) and Elizabeth (Palmer) Burtis, was a boy of fourteen when his father died. He attended school at Cherry Valley. After his return home he managed the farm. He was an ideal country gentleman. He married Elizabeth Post, whose family is well known in Ontario county, living north of Oaks Corners. They had one son. Sylvanus Jr., with whom the father lives in California, being ninety-two years old.

Biographical Sketch of Richard Child

(I) Richard Child, born in 1624, resided in Barnstable, and married, October 15, 1649, Mary Linnett, of that town. He was either a son or brother of Samuel Child, who arrived in the Plymouth colony at an early date.

Biographical Sketch of Carl D. Smith

Carl D. Smith, although still a young man, has been prominently identified with the establishment of a number of newspapers in the state of New York. He was born in Chateaugay, Franklin county, New York, June 19, 1876, and was educated at the Franklin Academy, Malone, New York. While employed in the office of the Malone Farmer, in 1892, he took up the trade of printing and was thus engaged for a period of three years. He then organized the Adirondack Enterprise, at Saranac Lake, this paper being one of the pioneers in this field of publication in that section … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry D. Warner

Henry D., youngest child of Hiram and Mary Jane (Knapp) Warner, was born in the town of Phelps. Ontario county, New York, June 17, 1844, died June 4, 1908. He was a prosperous farmer, owning two hundred and five acres and an orchard of fifteen acres. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the Universalist faith. He married, January, 1875, Frances Belle Spear, of Maryland ancestry, daughter of James Allen and Mary (Baggerly) Spear. of Clifton Springs, in the town of Manchester, Ontario county, New York. Children: 1. Belle W., married Charles J. Carr, of Dayton, Ohio. … Read more

Biography of George W. Burling

George W. Burling, secretary and assistant treasurer of the Ailing & Cory Company, is descended from a Burling who was the first of the name to settle on Manhattan Island, and was one of the first settlers there. According to an old history of New York he owned all the property in the vicinity of Burling Slip, New York City, and the slip was named in his honor. Thomas C. Burling, father of the subject of this narrative, was a farmer and carpenter by occupation. He was a Quaker, and a member of the Orthodox Society, Farmington, Ontario county, New … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Edson T. Case

Edson T., only child of Isaiah and Mary (Totman) Case, was born in Bristol, Ontario county, New York, January 23, 1865. He was a student at the Union high school, from which he was graduated, and then took a course in the Canandaigua Academy. At an early age he engaged in farming and dealing in live stock and wool. Too much cannot be said of the energy, combined with integrity and a high standard, which Mr. Case displayed invariably in the conduct of his business, and these measures did not fail to produce the deserved amount of success. Mr. Case … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Vincent Reed

Vincent (2), son of Vincent (1) Reed, was born near Geneva, New York, October 21, 1846. He was educated in the public schools of Geneva, and at the age of nineteen years moved with his parents to a farm in the town of Phelps, New York, where he has since been engaged in farming. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Oaks Corners, and has been elder and trustee for years. On January 19, 1870, he married Alice, daughter of Henry and Louise Church. Children : Alice, born December it, 1872; Nelson C., February 18, 1875; Philip, January … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Peck

The American Pecks belong to an ancient and prolific race, the progeny of John Peck of Belton, Yorkshire, from whom their descent has been traced in an unbroken line to their immigrant ancestors in this country. For centuries before the English colonization in America, they were numbered among the gentry, and their coat-of-arms is described as follows : Argent, on a chevron engrailed. gules, three crosses formed of the first: Crest: Cubit arm, erect, habited, azure; cuff argent; hand proper, holding on one stalk, enfiled with a scroll, three roses, gules; leaves vert. These armorial bearings, quartered with those of … Read more