Jacob Westfall, son of Cornelius Westfall, was born January 28, 1779, died October 13, 1812. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was killed at the battle of Queenstown, in Canada, captain of a company of riflemen. Children: Catherine, August 1, 1799; Cornelius, June 1, 1800; Samuel, mentioned elsewhere; Benjamin, April 2, 1804; Albert, May 28, 1806.
Samuel Westfall, son of Jacob Westfall, was born on the old homestead in Phelps, April 10, 1802. He was educated in the public schools. He was a farmer. He died in 1870. He married Sena Cortright. Children: Catherine, Alfred, Harriet A., Benjamin Franklin, mentioned elsewhere.
Benjamin Franklin Westfall, son of Samuel Westfall, was born on the homestead at Phelps, August 1, 1837, and was educated there in the district schools. He also followed farming for an occupation. He married Harriet Peck, born March 6, 1836, died October 20, 1896, daughter of Hiram Peck. Children: Jennie B., born January 19, 1866, married John Cross; Burton S., mentioned elsewhere.
Burton S. Westfall, son of Benjamin Franklin Westfall. was born on the old farm at Phelps, November 20, 1872, and educated there in the public schools. He worked on the farm during his youth and has continued to follow farming up to the present time. He is a member of Junius Grange. Patrons of Husbandry, and of the Maccabees. In politics he is a Democrat, and in religion a Presbyterian. He married, January 16, 1895, Hattie Patten, daughter of William and Helen Patten, of Phelps. Children: Charles Stewart, born June 9, 1898; Leon Alfred, November 8, 1904.
Forty-two years ago Gustavus Charles Wilkens, a native of the fair land of Poland, left the dominion of the Czar to seek his fortune in America, and being favorably impressed with the possibilities open to him in this country he lost no time in renouncing his allegiance to the Russian government. Mr. Wilkens belongs to a race of liberty-loving people who have long cherished an ardent desire to regain their national independence, but the iron hand of imperial Russia still holds them in subjection. His father, Ludwig Wilkens, born in 1801, was in the service of the Russian government, having … Read more
Humphrey Salisbury, born in England about 1685, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1706, and settled at Braintree, where he died July. 1708. The tradition asserts that he was the youngest son of an English nobleman, and being excluded from inheriting the family estates through the ancient custom of primogeniture, he determined to seek his fortune beyond the sea. He was married in England to Mary Milburn, and had one son William.
William (2), son of William (1) and Lydia (Thomas) Salisbury, became an officer in the colonial military service and was for some time in command of the fort on Castle Island, Boston Harbor. He had a family of seven children, four of whom were sons, and among the latter were Stephen and John.
John, son of William (2) Salisbury, was born in Boston, December 8, 1769. He and his brother Stephen resided for a time in Conway, Massachusetts, but about the year 1800 they removed to Ontario county, New York, and John settled as a pioneer in the town of Phelps.
John V., son of Benjamin F. Salisbury, was born in Phelps, January 26, 1843. From his youth to the present time he has always resided in his native town, devoting his energies exclusively to the cultivation of the soil, and is one of the most able and successful farmers in that section of the state. For a number of years he served as a trustee of the public schools, and in various other ways he has demonstrated his interest in the general welfare of the town. He married Ellen Stryker. Children : Frank A., born September 22, 1873; John Lewis, … Read more
John Lewis, youngest son of John V. and Ellen (Stryker) Salisbury. was born at the family homestead in Phelps, September 17, 1875. After graduating from the Phelps high school he pursued a course in agriculture at Cornell University, and being thus well equipped for the cultivation of the soil upon scientific principles, he proceeded to apply himself with energy to that honorable calling. In addition to general farming he specializes in the production of fruit, and through the application of scientific methods to that branch of agriculture he has obtained results which have proved both gratifying and remunerative. He is … Read more
For the opening of Hofman and Grant avenues, the establishment of an up-to-date sewer system and important public improvements, the people of Geneva are indebted to Frank C. Hofmann, an enterprising and progressive German-American citizen, whose faithful performance of the various duties he has been called upon to fulfill under both town and city governments, has proved of inestimable value to the city of his adoption. Mr. Hofmann doubtless inherited his marked business ability and sterling integrity from his Teutonic ancestors, who were of the industrial class, to which the German Empire of to-day owes its strength and stability. His … Read more
There are some men who take possession of the public heart and hold it after they have passed away, not by flashes of genius or brilliant services, but by kindness and the force of personal character, and by steady and persistent good conduct in all the situations and under all the trials of life. They are in sympathy with all that is pure and useful and good in the community in which they reside, and the community on its part cheerfully responds by extending to them respectful admiration and sincere affection. Such a man was Samuel Southworth. In many respects … Read more
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
Francis. second son of Gideon and Mindwell (Pease) Granger, was born in Suffield, Connecticut, December 1. 1792, and in 1811, at the age of nineteen years. was graduated with honor from Yale College. He followed the example of his distinguished father by studying for the bar, and soon after the removal of the family to Canandaigua took up the practice of his profession in that village. He promptly entered public life and for many years the suffrages of his constituents placed him in positions of honor and responsibility, where his natural and acquired qualifications enabled him to occupy the foremost … Read more
Gideon, son of Francis and Cornelia (Van Rensselaer) Granger, was born in Canandaigua, New York, August 30, 1821. His early life was surrounded by all the refinements of a beautiful home, and the most liberal opportunities for gaining a thorough education. Like his father and his grandfather, he was a graduate of Yale College, where he took his degree in 1843. Like them, too. he studied for the legal profession, and had he been so inclined might without doubt have taken a foremost position at the bar. Born with a heart in sympathy with suffering of all kinds, he gave … Read more
John Albert, third son of Gideon and Mindwell (Pease) Granger. was born in Suffield. Connecticut, September 11, 1795, died in Canandaigua, New York, May 26, 1870. Originally intended for the navy, his early education, commenced in Suffield and there continued until the removal of the family to Washington, D. C., was along lines of instruction which, when the idea of the sea was abandoned, found him without the classical training required for a college course. He spent some years under the tutorage of “Parson” Gay, of Fairfield, Connecticut, a noted instructor in those days. from whose hands he entered a … Read more
Zadock Granger, the great-great-grandfather of Henry Francis Granger, was born in Suffield county, Connecticut; enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment, and served as a colonel during the revolutionary war. Later he removed to Halford’s Landing, the present site of Rochester, New York. His younger brother was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill.
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
Henry Francis, son of Henry Martyn and Sarah (Smith) Granger, was born in Hornell, Steuben county, New York, August 18, 1868. His ancestor Francis Granger was postmaster-general under President Harrison, and was the son of Gideon Granger, who held the office of postmaster-general under President Thomas Jefferson. At the conclusion of his preparatory education Henry Francis Granger matriculated at Columbia University, from the Law School of which he was graduated in 1892, and admitted to the bar in the same year. The following year he associated himself in a partnership with James Lindsay Gordon, a member of the senate from … Read more
Arthur Williams, immigrant, was born in England and settled in Windsor, Connecticut, as early as 1640, removing thence to Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1659. He married, November 30, 1647, Catherine Carter, widow of Joshua Carter, of Windsor, and she married (third) February I1, 1677, William Branch, of Springfield. She died August 8, 1683. The only child of Arthur and Catherine Williams was Zebediah, mentioned elsewhere.