Oswego County New York Biographies, Surnames A-F

Transcribed by Jeffrey Tooley

Oswego County New York Biographies extracted from Landmarks of Oswego County, by John C. Churchill, LL.D., 1895.

AINSWORTH, DANFORTH E.

Mr. Ainsworth was born in Clayton, Jefferson county, N.Y., November 29, 1848. was educated at Pulaski Academy and Falley Seminary, and is an attorney and counselor-at-law, having been admitted to the bar in 1878. In 1874 he married the daughter of Nelson B. Porter, of Pulaski, N. Y. He was a trustee of the village of Sandy Creek in 1881, 1882 and 1888, and has been a member of the Board of Education of that village.

Mr. Ainsworth is a Republican in politics and always has been, but prior to 1885, when he was first elected to the Assembly, had never been a candidate for public office. He served in the Assembly in 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1893, 1894 and 1895, and during his service was regarded as one of the most ready and forceful debaters in the House. His ability as a public speaker has rendered his services to the State very valuable, and during campaigns he has done effective work for the party throughout the State. In 1894 Mr. Ainsworth was chairman of the leading Assembly committee, that on Ways and Means, and by virtue of that position was the Republican leader in the Assembly and the manager of nearly all of its political interests. He paid very close attention to his legislative duties, and in 1894 introduced upwards of ninety bills, nearly all of which became laws, and during that year was exceedingly economical as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. He introduced a supply bill which appropriated only $1,497,034, a reduction of $1,299,550 in comparison with the year before. In 1895 he was once more the Republican leader, being chairman of the Committee upon Ways and Means, and a member also of the Committee upon Rules and Codes.

Mr. Ainsworth is at present deputy superintendent of Public Instruction, having been appointed to that position on June 1, 1895.

ALLEN, WILLIAM FITCH

WILLIAM FITCH ALLEN, oldest son of Abner Harry Allen and Cynthia Palmer, his wife, was born in the county of Windham, Conn., on July 28, 1808. His parents removed to Schenectady county, N. Y., in the year 1814. In 1826 he graduated at Union College, and soon afterward commenced the study of law with the Hon. John C. Wright, and finished his studies with C. M. and E. S. Lee, in the city of Rochester. In August, 1829, he was admitted to the bar, and in the following month began the practice of his profession in Oswego, in partnership with Hon. George Fisher, then about to take his seat in Cougress as the representative of the district, composed of the counties of Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence. Mr. Fisher retired from the practice of his profession in 1888, and in 1884 a partnership was formed by Mr. Allen and Hon. Abram P. Grant, which continued until the election of the former to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1847. He held various village, town, and county offices, and for several years officiated as Supreme Court commissioner, and master and', examiner in chancery. He served in the Legislature of this State as one of the representatives of this: county during the session of 1843 and 1844, at the first session acting as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and at the last as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In April. 1845, he was appointed by President Polk as attorney of the United-. States for the Northern District of New York, which office he resigned on taking his; seat as justice of the Supreme Court in 1847.

In May, 1847, he was elected to the office of justice of the Supreme Court, and officiated in that capacity until 1863. While thus serving on the bench he was placed in nomination by the convention for the office of governor of the State of New York, but he declined the nomination, choosing to remain on the bench, which he adorned by his wisdom, learning and impartiality. In 1863 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of judge of the Court of Appeals. In the following year he removed to New York city and engaged in the practice of law as counsel only, and remained in that city until his removal to Albany to enter upon the duties of comptroller, to which he was elected in November, 1867. He was re-elected to the same office in 1869. He resigned the office in July, 1870, to take the office of associate judge of the Court of Appeals, to which he was chosen in May, 1870. His term in this office would have expired in December, 1878, but it was shortened by his death,, which took place on June 3, 1878. He received the degree of LL.D. from Hamilton College in 1857, and from Union College in 1864.

On the day following the death of Judge of Allen. Sanford E. Church, then chief judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, read a paper upon the death of his fellow member of the court, in which he reviewed the various public stations to which Judge Allen had been called, down to the time of his election as associate judge of he Court of Appeals, and concluded as follows:

“We cannot on this occasion enter into a proper consideration of the judicial character and labors of the distinguished judge who but a few days since sat with us on the bench, and whose loss will be felt and deplored not by the bench and bar of the State alone, but by the whole country. The first thirty-nine volumes of Barbour’s Reports contain the published opinions of Judge Allen, pronounced by him while a judge of the Supreme Court. They attest his eminent ability, the fullness of his learning, a firm, intelligent and comprehensive grasp of the most difficult questions in the law, and the wisdom which he brought to bear in adjusting a new system of practice and procedure to the solution of legal controversies. The same qualities which distinguished him in the Supreme Court marked his judicial labors in the Court of Appeals. He was fertile in resource, patient and laborious in the investigation of causes, and unswerving in his adherence to his convictions. His knowledge of constitutional and commercial law, and his clear apprehension of their principles were especially conspicuous. Some of us have been intimately associated with him on the bench of this court since its organization, eight years ago, and others for lesser periods, and we unite in bearing testimony to his great qualities as a judge, to the facility with which he could comprehend and formulate the principles applicable to the most difficult and complicated cases, to his untiring industry and conscientious performance of his duty, and above all, to his independence of judicial judgment, and the fearlessness with which he adhered to and enforced his conviction of right. We never knew him to be influenced in the slightest degree by any attempt to bring popular prejudice or flattery to bear upon the judgment of the court. He was not only independent, but upright and just. He was truly a man of distinction among his contemporaries; a distinction to be coveted, for it was reached by the qualities which exalt the character, and it took no advantage by false pretensions. Through an extended life he was an honor to his race, to his profession of the law, and to his judicial office; and just as men are lamenting that the arbitrary provision of the Constitution would soon take him from the bench in the ripeness of his character, his talents and his powers, the Almighty Hand, in its wisdom, has removed him from earth.

His personal character was of the highest order. He took no step outside the path of a wise sobriety and exemplary rectitude. His judgments and his life were in accord. He was simple and modest, He was kind in nature, affable in intercourse, of warm social impulses, sensible of the claims of his fellows, and prompt in rendering all the dues of neighborhood. His warm and impulsive nature was held under restraint of reason, and of the religion he professed and practiced.”

Judge Allen was married in 1883, to Miss Cordelia Carrington, daughter of Elisha Carrington, of Oswego. They had three children, all of whom died young.

BOWEN, BENJAMIN E.

BENJAMIN E. BOWEN. The ancestors of Dr. Benjamin E. Bowen were Richard and Ann Bowen, who emigated from Wales in the year 1640, and settled in Rehoboth, Mass. Among their descendants were Pardon Bowen and William Bowen, both distinguished physicians at Providence, R. I., in the early part of the present century, and Jabez Bowen, LL. D., late lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island, and chancellor of Brown University.

Dr. Bowen was born on the 15th day of January, 1801, in the town of Coventry, R. I., and was the eldest son of Stephen Bowen and Rebecca Hill. She was a direct descendant from Roger Williams, the Puritan founder of the colony of Rhode Island In early life Dr. Bowen worked at farming in the summers, taught school in winters, and at the same time pursued his studies in preparation for his chosen profession. After receiving his degree, in June, 1828, he first located at Holland Patent, Oneida county, N. Y., where he practiced his profession of physician and surgeon, with great success during seven years. In 1835 he removed to Mexico, Oswego county, N. Y., where his former success was continued, and where he attained not only a high professional position, but a prominent rank as a public-spirited citizen. He held the office of president of the Oswego County Medical Society in 1837, and again in 1851, and in 1846 became a conspicuous member of the New York State Medical Society. He held the office of postmaster at Holland Patent under President Jackson, and the same office at Mexico under President Polk. A Democrat of the old school, he was a man of decided and pronounced convictions, but when the time of the nation’s peril came, he was among the first and most enthusiastic to join the ranks of those who upheld the government during the great struggle of the Rebellion. He was a leader on most of the local committees for supplying the army with men and means, and often became personally responsible for money to provide for the payment of bounties to enlisted soldiers. In 1862 he was elected to represent Oswego county in the Assembly by a flattering vote over both a Democratic and a Republican opponent, and during the succeeding legislative term he occupied an honorable and prominent position. In all local affairs he evinced an ardent public spirit and was ever ready to render valuable service to the town and county in which he lived. Many of the streets in the pleasant village of Mexico were laid out at his instigation and under his supervision. For more than forty years he was an active trustee of the Mexico Academy, and was many times president of the board. He was active and conspicuous in the erection of the present Academy edifice, upon which his name stands engraved as one of the building committee. Through his energy and persistence, with that of others, in making liberal contributions, and in the solicitation of funds, the Academy building was completed free from debt.

Dr. Bowen was a true gentleman of the old school. Fearless and outspoken, free from hypocrisy, his judgment upon important subjects was rapidly formed and followed by instant action. He took part in many local contests, and fought his battles with great vigor to a clear victory or an honorable defeat. He was never a compromiser in either politics or morals. Tall and commanding in personal appearance, dignified and courtly in demeanor, he was a conspicuous figure in the community and an exemplar of business integrity and social purity.

Dr. Bowen was married on May 14, 1829, to Julia Haskin, of Pittstown, Rensselaer county, and had but one child, Frances, who is the wife of George G. French, of Mexico. Dr. Bowen died at Mexico, on the 12th day of March, 1878.

BROWN, ORSON H.

ORSON H. BROWN, an old, and respected citizen of the city of Oswego, was born in Jefferson county, N.Y., on September 23, 1816. His father was Roswell Brown, anative of Stonington, Conn., of which State his mother, Electa Herrick, was also a native. The family removed to Oswego county in 1827, when Orson was eleven years of age. Roswell Brown died in Oswego county at the age seventy-six, and his wife at the age of eighty-four. After receiving such education as was possible in the common schools up to the age of fourteen years, the son then entered the service on the inland lakes, which he followed seventeen years, rising in the mean time from the lowest position to the command of vessels. In 1838 he was in command of a vessel and continued in the same capacity ten years, when he abandoned navigation. Mr. Brown now turned his attention to the insurance business, the adjustment of marine losses, care of properties, etc. In fire insurance he is one of the oldest and most respected agents in the State; he has held the agency of the ^Etna Insurance Company of Hartford over forty-one years; of the Insurance Company of North America thirty years; and of the Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool, England, the Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and the Western Assurance Company of Toronto twenty-three years each; also the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, twenty-five years. During this long period a large part of the insurance of Oswego and vicinity has been placed in these staunch companies by Mr. Brown. In the adjustment of marine losses Mr. Brown is an expert and has had many interesting experiences. Thoroughly familiar with maritime law, he has in the inter est of clients, met and vanquished some of the famous lawyers of this State. In one memorable case he fought his opponents almost single handed through four years of litigation and won his case against some of the best legal talent in the State. A man of recognized integrity and sound business judgment, Mr. Brown has been honored with many positions of trust. For fifteen years past he has been trustee, vice-president, and chairman of the Loan Committee of the Oswego City Savings Bank, and chairman of other committees in the same institution; he is a member of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Oswego; and in 1879-80 he was president of the Oswego Board of Trade, and aided in inaugurating many movements for the welfare of the city. His public spirit is active and he has always contributed freely to the local press on topics of current interest. Under the will disposing of the Guimaraes estate of $200,000 value, of which he was executor — no bond or other security required — and on which he rendered his final account on May 16, 1895, and in less than an hour and thirty minutes after presentation the account was settled, and the surrogate’s final decree entered. Mr. Brown collected between October 8, 1882, and May 15, 18t5, $126,558, a task requiring much of his time and oversight for twelve years past. He had previously handled the same estate under power of attorney after 1876. Complicated litigation in the cities of Oswego, New York, and Lisbon, Portugal, and other exacting duties have attended the settlement and care of this estate, but they have all been judiciously conducted by Mr. Brown. In 1878 he purchased the lot on which the Guimaraes Block stands, which structure he erected. He has also been entrusted with other valuable property on many occasions, and always without the execution of any bonds Mr. Brown is a Republican in politics, but has given little attention to that field of effort further than is the duty of every citizen. For six years he was a trustee of the Presbyterian church, although not an active member.

In 1888 Mr. Brown married Jane Weed, daughter of William Weed of Richland, where he died in 1849, at the age of sixty-two years. He was a native of Vermont, and a cousin of Thurlow Weed, the celebrated journalist and politician.

BULGER, CHARLES N.

CHARLES N. BULGER was born in school district No. 16, of the town of Volney, Oswego county, N. Y., on the 19th day of August, 1851. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Bulger, notice of whose lives is given in a sketch of Dr. W. J. Bulger herein. Charles N. Bulger was fortunate in his opportunities to obtain a liberal education, studying first in the district schools of his native town and later in that at Gilbert’s Mills, in the town of Schroeppel. He then entered Falley Seminary, in Fulton, which was at that time an educational institution of considerable note, where he remained until 1870. It was his determination to adopt the law as a profession, but previous to beginning his legal studies he taught school one year in the town of Granby, Oswego county, at the close of which he entered the law office of Stephens & Pardee, in Fulton, where he continued eight months.

At this time he was enabled, through his own efforts and those of his sympathetic parents, to gratify his early ambition to obtain a classical education. For this purpose he entered St. John’s College, Fordham, New York city, and after a year of preparatory study, passed through the classical course of four years and graduated with credit in June, 1875. He then settled in Oswego city and resumed the study of law in the office of Hon. Albertus Perry, ait that time one of the foremost lawyers of this partof the State. His offices in the Grant block were the same now in use by Mr. Bulger. An ardent student and an omnivorous reader, Mr. Bulger was admitted to the bar in June, 1879, immediately began practice and has continued since, meeting with a large measure of success.

A Democrat in politics and possessing the qualifications necessary to success in the political field, Mr. Bulger soon became prominently identified with his party. He was early chosen a delegate to the county conventions, where he was able to practically advance the interests of his party and his friends. His first nomination to public office was to the school commissionership of the first district, which followed closely upon his return from college. In March, 1882, he was appointed attorney for the city of Oswego, and in the fall of the same year, while still incumbent of the office of city attorney, he was nominated for the office of recorder of the city and elected for the term of four years. He resigned the first named office, but the Common Council declined to accept his resignation until the close of the year. His administration of the office of recorder was eminently satisfactory to the community, as indicated by the fact of his re-election in 1886, followed by two subsequent re-elections in 1890, and 1894, leaving him still in the office after thirteen years of service. In 1892 he was chosen a delegate to the National Democratic convention in Chicago.

To the foregoing brief sketch it is proper to add that as a lawyer Mr. Bulger is recognized among the leaders of the Oswego county bar. By continued study and reading he has kept abreast of the times in legal knowledge, while the interests of his clients are always efficiently protected by careful preparation of their cases and their able presentation before court and jury. In the office of Recorder, which he has held so long, he has shown the possession of excellent judicial qualifications and capacity for discrimination in dealing with offenders against the law. But the prime source of Mr. Bulger’s efficiency at the bar and of his strength and popularity in the political arena must be sought in another direction in his power as an orator. He is a natural as well as an educated speaker. His public addresses are logical, argumentative, convincing, and marked by courage, beauty of thought and brilliancy of diction. With a broad knowledge of general affairs, a retentive memory and a large share of that personal magnetism which enables one man to sway and influence thousands, he is often found upon the platform, where he never fails to distinguish himself and where he is always listened to with satisfaction.

Mr. Bulger was married on June 5, 1883, to Caroline Adelaide Dunn, daughter of John Dunn, a former large mill operator and merchant of Oswego.

BULGER, WILLIAM JAMES

WILLIAM JAMES BULGER was born in the town of Volney, near the village of Fulton, Oswego county, N. Y., on May 27, 1857. His father, the late Patrick Bulger, was. the son of a well-to-do farmer in the east of Ireland, and was born in Castle Comer, Queens county, on August 17, 1806. In 1844 Patrick Bulger, who was possessed of some means, came to the United States, bringing with him his wife, who was the daughter of a prosperous neighbor in the old country. Mrs. Bulger, previous to marriage Miss Bridget Murphy, was an accomplished and cultivated lady, having a thorough education in the excellent schools of her native place, which was finished at the Dublin Seminary. She was a woman of high character, as well as. fine education, and proved an inspiring and faithful help-meet to her husband in his manly efforts to found a home and rear a family in the new world. With a keen appreciation of the advantages of the district Mr. Bulger, shortly after his arrival in America, purchased a farm in the town of Volney, where he remained for a number of years, and was regarded as one of the most prosperous farmers in that section of the State. About ten years prior to his death he disposed of his farming interests in that locality and set about to find a place to spend the remainder of his days. He then purchased a farm, charmingly situated on the west bank of the Oswego River, about five miles distant from Oswego, which is one of the finest and most beautifully located in this section of the State, and is still owned by heirs of Mr. Bulger. Skilled in agriculture and having sufficient means ht his command to enable him to carry out his ideas, Mr. Bulger conducted his farming interests successfully and added largely to his worldly possessions. His family consisted of five children, one of whom, the eldest, died in infancy in the old country. The remaining four were brought up under benign home influences, with a devoted Christian mother to supervise their education, and with every comfort at their command. Mrs. Bulger died October 20, 1879, and was followed by her husband August 8, 1881. The four children who still survive them are the Hon. P. F. Bulger, of Utica, formerly for twelve years recorder of that city; the Hon. C. N. Bulger, who has held the office of recorder of the city of Oswego since the year 1882; Dr. Bulger, the subject of this; sketch, and Mrs. M. Hennessey. Dr. Bulger was the youngest child of his parents. In his youth he was afforded good educational advantages. After finishing the ordinary school studies he took a course at the Falley Seminary in Fulton, after which he took a course at the State Normal School in Oswego. Deciding to adopt the profession of medicine, he began medical studies under Dr. Ira L. Jones, of Minetto, N. Y., and afterwards was a pupil of the late Dr. James A. Milne, of Oswego. In 1879 he entered Long Island College Hospital at Brooklyn, and after a year of study in that splendidly equipped institution entered the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he remained a year, when he returned to Long Island College Hospital as the assistant of the noted anatomist. Dr. Carden L. Ford, and graduated from that institution June 15, 1882. Well qualified to begin his life work he now returned), to Oswego and entered into partnership with his former preceptor, the late Dr. Milne, which partnership was continued until a short time prior to the latter’s death, in 1886. Thorough in his attainments, a conscientious student and a close observer,. Dr. Bulger has steadily advanced to a leading position among his professional brethren, and is now recognized as the peer of any physician in Oswego, and the most skillful surgeon in the city. His practice extends to people in all walks of life, for the confidence reposed in his ability and skill is shared alike by the wealthy and. the humble, the learned and the unlearned. No medical man in Oswego is held in higher regard by the profession, and few, if any, hold a higher place in the public esteem. Some of the most difficult cases which have occurred during his residence; in Oswego have been successfully treated by Dr. Bulger, and in late years cases unusually severe or presenting uncommon complications, are always sent to him for treatment. His attainments are not limited to scientific subjects, but are of a broad: and comprehensive character, which befit the advanced professional man of moderni times and embrace nearly all branches of polite learning.

Outside of his profession Dr. Bulger has always shown active public spirit and a desire to aid in advancing the material as well as the social welfare of his city. Believing that every citizen has duties of a public character which cannot conscientiously be neglected, he has, particularly in recent years, made his influence felt in the local political field as a Democrat of enlightened views. A personal admirer of President Cleveland, and believing in the political principles that have governed his public acts, Dr. Bulger has during the past five years been a leader of that section of the Democratic party in Oswego which has adhered to the president as against the opposing faction. For his political services he has received conspicuous recognition.

In 1892 he was nominated for the office of mayor of Oswego by the Cleveland Democrats. The strife in local politics was then at white heat, and in order to defeat the Cleveland faction many of the opposing Democratic faction united with the Republicans and succeeded in defeating Dr. Bulger and electing a Republican mayor by a plurality of thirty-four votes. In the following year he was again nominated, and the followers of David B. Hill put up no candidate. The campaign was an active one and Dr. Bulger’s popularity is shown in the resulting election by a majority of about 600. His administration was a successful one and gave satisfaction to the people, in spite of the fact that the Republicans and Hill Democrats in the Council combined in opposition to many measures that were necessary for the good government of the city. While holding this office Dr. Bulger was appointed by President Cleveland collector of customs for the Oswego District, and is still administering the office. In the spring of 1894 he again received the nomination for mayor and received further evidences of popularity with the people, but with two candidates against him, and the opposing Democratic faction acting as in 1892, he was defeated by a plurality of eleven (11) votes, and a Republican mayor elected.

Dr. Bulger and his wife are prominent in the social life of Oswego, and their hospitable home is often open to their friends. Dr. Bulger’s most conspicuous personal traits of character are his aggressiveness in affairs in which he is deeply interested; a rugged integrity; and a temperament which prompts him to sociability and to meet all with whom he comes in contact upon the broad plane of humanity.

Dr. Bulger married on August 26, 1888, Miss Mary Cusick; they had one child, a boy named Charles William Bulger, who died at the age of fourteen months.

CASE, GEORGE M.

HON. GEORGE M. CASE is the sixth child and third son of Jonathan ahd Betsey Ann (Ferguson) Case, natives of Oneida county, and was born in Fulton, where he has always resided, on the 29th of August, 1827. The parents were married in Oneida county and came thence to Fulton at an early day. Jonathan Case was a merchant, sheriff of Oswego county, a canal contractor, and later a contractor on railroads, and died here in 1850. His widow survived until about 1885, at the age of eighty-six.

George M. Case was educated in the public schools of his native village and in the old Fulton Academy, the predecessor of Falley Seminary. He taught a district school one winter and then entered the dry goods store of J. & S. F. Case as a clerk, in which capacity he remained for three years, when he was admitted to a partnership under the firm name of J. & S. F. Case & Co. Soon afterward his father died and the firm became S. F. & G. M. Case. He subsequently engaged in business as a canal contractor in company with Thomas Gale, and performed the work of enlarging the Liverpool level. In 1860 he retired from mercantile trade and until 1870 devoted his entire attention to contracting. He undertook many important contracts, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and executed each one satisfactorily. These covered numerous State and government works, and among them, as a member of the firm of Case, Van Wagenen & Co., was the blasting of rock out of the Mississippi River at Rock Island and the extensive dredgings in Maumee Bay at Toledo, Ohio. For eight years, with Thomas Keeler, he had charge of the Cayuga and Seneca canal.

In 1870 Mr. Case retired from business as a contractor and became cashier of the Citizens’ National Bank of Fulton, of which he was subsequently elected president, a position he still holds. This bank was founded and has generally been conducted by members of the Case family, and no similar institution in Western or Northern New York ranks higher in financial affairs. It has always enjoyed the confidence of business men everywhere.

In politics Mr. Case has ever exerted a commanding and wholesome influence, and as a staunch Republican he has materially contributed to his party’s welfare. In 1886 and again in 1887 he represented the second district of Oswego county in the State Legislature, where he served with distinction as chairman of the Banking Committee and member of the committee on canals. His legislative career was marked with unswerving fidelity to his constituents and an open-handed, liberal support of every worthy measure. He has served as member of the Republican State Committee for three years, and has frequently represented his constituency as delegate to local, county, district, and State conventions. He went as a delegate to the Chicago National Convention in 1880, and was one of the 806 who voted for the renomination of Grant; after Garfield was brought forward as a candidate Mr. Case with the others transferred his support to that subsequently lamented president, and was prominent among the number who proudly placed his name in nomination. Mr. Case has also been for many years one of the railroad commissiohers for the town of Volney, a position he still holds. With Willard Johnson he was instrumental in refunding the town’s indebtedness, which proved exceedingly beneficial to the taxpayers.

In private life and as a citzen Mr. Case is universally esteemed and respected. His influence is ever directed towards the betterment of his town and county. In business he is shrewd, liberal, and honest. He is a generous benefactor, public spirited, kind hearted, and consistent. He belongs to the Masonic lodge in Fulton and is a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has served as president of the board of trustees for many years. To this organization Mr Case has long been a liberal contributor and an earnest, active supporter.

September 11, 1850, Mr. Case married Miss Vandalia M., daughter of Henry French,, an early and prominent resident of Fulton. They have had two children, both living, viz., Eva D., wife of Dr. Charles R. Lee, of Fulton, and Solon F., cashier of the Citizens’ National Bank. Mrs. Case died August 14, 1890, and on October 20, 1894, Mr. Case married for his second and present wife Mrs. B. J. Kimball, of Fulton.

CHURCHILL, JOHN C. LL. D.

JOHN C. CHURCHILL, LL. D., of Oswego, was born at Mooers, Clinton county, N. Y., January 17, 1821. He is sixth in descent from John Churchill, who settled at Plymouth, Mass., about 1640, and who married there, December 16, 1644, Hannah, daughter of William Pontus, a member of the Plymouth Company to whom King James granted in 1605, the North American continent between 41 deg. and 45 deg. north latitude. His oldest son, Joseph, married Sarah, granddaughter of Robert Hicks, an eminent non-conformist of London, also a member of the Plymouth Company, who sailed in the “ Speedwell ” in company with the “Mayflower” in 1620, and, on that vessel becoming disabled, returned to England and in the following year sailed to and settled in Plymouth. Joseph, grandson of the last named couple, born in Plymouth in 1722, settled in Boston, where in 1748 his son John was born, who married Sarah Stacy, of Salem, Mass., and settled in New Salem, Mass. Soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, he removed with his family from New Salem to Benson, Vermont, in the valley of Lake Champlain, to which at that time the people of the older settled parts of New England were greatly attracted, and where he died August 23, 1798.

In 1804, Samuel, his third son, with his brothers and sisters and their widowed mother, removed to Clinton county in this State, in the same beautiful valley, then almost an unbroken wilderness. February 8, 1814, he married Martha, daughter of John Bosworth, esq., of Sandisfield, Mass., and died February 23, 1865.

Their second son, the subject of this sketch, fitted for college at Burr Seminary, in Manchester, Vermont, and entered Middlebury College, where he graduated in July, 1843. The ensuing two years he taught languages in Castleton Seminary in the same State, and subsequently, for a period of twelve months, was a tutor in Middlebury College. Having decided on adopting the legal profession, he entered the Dane Law School, of Harvard University, and having completed the required course of study was, in July, 1847, admitted to the bar. About this time the Chair of Languages in his alma mater being temporarily vacant, he was called to fill it and remained thus engaged several months. Early in 1848 he established himself in the legal profession at Oswego, where he has since resided. A year later, he married . Miss Catherine T. Sprague, daughter of Dr. Lawrence Sprague, of the United States army. From 1858 to 1856 he was a member of the Oswego Board of Education, and during a part of the same period he was a member of the Board of Supervisors. From 1857 to 1860 he held the office of District Attorney, and in the latter year was chosen County Judge. October 15, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Morgan commissioner to superintend the draft for Oswego county, which office he held for about one year, and until that business was transferred to officers appointed by the general government. In 1866 he was elected by a majority of 5,634 to represent the Twenty-second District of New York in the XLth Congress. During the XLth Congress he served on the Judiciary Committee, and with Mr. Boutwell and Mr. Eldridge formed the sub-Committee that drafted the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in the form in which it was finally adopted. On the question of the impeachment of President Johnson he joined with a majority of the Judiciary Committee in a report in the affirmative. In the XLIst Congress Mr. Churchill was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings, and was second on the Committee of Elections. He introduced at this Congress the act to secure the purity and freedom of elections at which members of congress were chosen, which subsequently became a law with slight amendment, and furnished means for national supervision of such elections. The determined attempt to repeal this act, and the equally determined defence which kept it on the national statute books until 1894, show the importance attached to it. In 1876 Judge Churchill was a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention, which nominated President Hayes, and the following year (1877) he received the Republican nomination for Secretary of State of the State of New York. At the presidential election in the fall of 1880 Judge Churchill was elected one of the presidential electors-at-large for the State of New York, and as such voted for James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, for president and vice-president of the United States. During the years 1879 and 1880 he was again a member of the Oswego Board of Education and president of the Board, which he resigned to accept the appointment of Justice of the Supreme Court, made by Governor Cornell, January 17, 1881, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Noxon. In the fall of 1881 Judge Churchill was nominated, and at the November election chosen by a majority of 11,092, Justice of the Fifth Judicial District of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, for the full term. The degree of LL. D., was conferred upon him by Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1874, and by Hamilton College, New York, in 1882. He is a member of the Local Board of the State Normal and Training School at Oswego.

CONDE, HENRY S.

HENRY SWITS CONDE, a successful merchant and manufacturer of Oswego county, sprung from a noble family founded in France in the 12th century by Godfrey de Conde, who derived his name from the town of Conde in the French department of Nord, and from whom descended the illustrious princes of Conde. One of the earliest noted representatives of the line was Prince de Conde, Louis I. de Bourbon (1530-1569) 1 younger brother of Antony of Bourbon, king of Navarre, who distinguished himself by his gallantry at the siege of Metz, the battle of St. Quentin, and the capture of Calais, and who from jealousy and conviction joined the Huguenots. The most illustrious of the name was Prince of Conde, Louis II. de Bourbon (1621-1686) who at the age of eighteen was intrusted by his father with the government of Burgundy. He married a niece of Richelieu, became commander of the French forces at the age of twenty-two, and acquired a name that still remains in the first rank of the Frenchmen of his century. He was known as “the Great Conde.’ Adam Conde, a scion of this ancient family and a French Protestant (Huguenot), owing to religious persecution fled to Holland in the latter part of the 16th century and thence came soon afterward to America, settling in Schenectady, N. Y. He was called the “Chevalier” Conde, and in 1724 was high constable of Albany. In 1748 he was killed by the Indians within a few miles of Schenectady, and was survived by two sons, Adam and Jesse. Jesse Conde was born in 1743, married Partlienia, daughter of Jonathan Ogden, in 1762, and had born to him five sons and two daughters. Albert, one of the sons, married Hester Toll, eldest daughter of Daniel and Suasn (Swits) Toll, and they were the parents of Henry Swits Conde, who derived his middle name from Henry Swits, brother of Susan and a member of a respected Holland family.

Henry S. Conde, it will be seen, descended from a distinguished line of ancestry. He was born in Charlton, Saratoga county, N. Y., May 30, 1809, and inherited all the principles of manliness which characterized his race. His early life was not unlike that of his playmates, but a naturally superior intellect very soon made him a leader among them, a position he held among men as well throughout an honorable career. Of books his knowledge was necessarily limited, his rudimentary education being confined to the scanty advantages of his time, but keen perception, shrewd and close observation, and systematic reading placed him high in the first rank of his contemporai'ies before he had reached his prime, while his youthful avocations developed a natural business instinct. His most marked characteristics were unerring judgment and intuitive foresight, two invaluable traits which in his case are exemplified by living results. In 1830 he settled in Central Square in the town of Hastings, where he followed the mercantile trade and held the office of postmaster twenty-two years. There he accumulated property and established a reputation which ever afterward marked his numerous commercial relations. In the fall of 1855 he was elected clerk of Oswego county by an overwhelming majority and removed to Oswego city. At the expiration of his term of office in 1859, during which he had materially advanced his popularity, he engaged in the manufacture of knit goods, founding the present extensive establishment of the Swits Conde Manufacturing Company. In this he was eminently successful. He was also interested in iron works, in various oil wells in Pennsylvania, and in cotton and sugar plantations in the South, and to all these enterprises he brought a trained ability and shrewd business qualifications. His best energies, however, were directed towards the maintenance and development of his interests in Oswego. Starting in a small way while the manufacture of knit goods was yet in its infancy, he gradually increased the capacity of his plant as the demands for his products augmented and lived to see his business become one of the leading factors in the commercial life of the city. A few years prior to his death, which occurred in Oswego on April 28, 1878, he practically retired. His wife, Dorcas A. Peckham, who was born August 5, 1812, also died in Oswego city June 80, 1888. Two sons, Swits and Frederick (elsewhere mentioned), and one daughter, Marion, all residents of Oswego, survive them.

Swats Conde, who derives his name from his grandmother’s brother, Henry Swits, previously mentioned, was born in Oswego county on April 24, 1844, and was graduated from the schools of Oswego city at the age of eighteen. In 1863 he went to Louisiana and during the succeeding four years was interested in the growing of sugar and cotton. Returning to Oswego in 1867 he was admitted to partnership with his father under the firm name of II. S. Conde & Son, and continued in that capacity until 1874, when he succeeded to the active and permanent management of the business. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Union League Club, of the Huguenot Society, and of the Riding and Republican Clubs, all of New York city, where he has a palatial winter home. He is an enthusiast in yachting and a member of several yacht clubs. He was married in 1873 to Miss ApamaL, daughter of Churchill and Sarah (Morse) Tucker, of Fulton, and has three sons and two daughters. Mr. Conde’ s life since 1867 has been spent in developing the immense knit goods manufactory founded by his father, of which he became the responsible owner in 1874, and to which he has constantly devoted a close study of details. The plant, consisting of a four-story brick building 100 by 300 feet and a number of contributory structures, occupies one of the best water-power privileges on the Oswego River and covers an area of over three acres. It is also supplied with steam power and employs above 700 operatives. Since 1874 the business transacted has increased to upwards of $1,500,000 per annum. Mr. Conde has invented more than forty separate appliances wdiich have been of practical utility, and to them is largely due the present unexcelled facilities for manufacturing the various fabrics.

DEVENDORF, H. C.

H. C. DEVENDORF was boin in Verona, Oneida county, in June, 1828, and is a son of Peter Devendorf, a native of Herkimer county, one of thirteen children of Rudolph and Barbara (Thumb) Devendorf, natives of Mohawk Valley. Rudolph officiated as judge, assemblyman, county clerk, and held other offices in Herkimer county. Peter Devendorf came to Hastings in 1832, and was elected justice of the peace the following year, which office he held twenty years. His wife was Rhoda A. Sherman, a native of Oneida county. They had five children: Henry C., Rudolph H., Mary, Mrs. Rhoda A. Breed, of Central Square, Mrs. Catherine Beeby, of Central Square.

At the age of sixteen years he began work as clerk in Oswego, N. Y., and later was similarly employed in various places until he was twenty -four years of age, when, in 1853, he purchased of his uncle a general store in Hastings, which he conducted until 1856. He then removed to Central Square, where he engaged in the same business, and where he has since been interested. From 1871 to 1883 he resided in Georgia, where for ten years he served as postmaster of Doctortown post-office. He then returned to Central Square, where he owns and conducts the largest dry goods and grocery store in town. In 1858 he was chosen captain of a company of New York State National Guards, and later was elected lieutenant-colonel. The country’s call for aid in her time of trouble, found a ready response from Major Devendorf, and he raised a full company of volunteers which went from Oswego as Company D, in the 110th Regiment, he being chosen captain. The company served with distinction until the close of the war, and in 1864 Mr. Devendorf was promoted major. During the last eighteen months of his term of service he was located at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, where he commanded the post when the Lincoln conspirators arrived; Colonel Hamilton was in command in Key West. Major Devendorf’s wife, and their adopted daughter. Mrs. Emma Dygert Low, were with him during his service in that port.

In 1853 Major Devendorf was married to Armonella, daughter of Lorenzo D. Marshall, of Mohawk, N. Y., and granddaughter of John Marshall of Warren, N. Y., who enlisted in Colchester, Conn., as a soldier of the Revolution, and who was supposed to be the last survivor who witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis, a fact creditable to his youth at that time, and his great age at the time of his death. His father was drafted, but was the head of a large family, and his eldest son was accepted in his place, at the age of sixteen years, and was ninety-nine years old at the time of his death. Major Devendorf is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and of Waterbury Post, G. A. R. , of which he was the first commander.

DORR, FREDERICK J.

FREDERICK J. DORR. The subject of this sketch was born in Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y. , on the 30th of April, 1826. His father was Rittenhouse Dorr, and his mother was Anna Lorain Carrington, a daughter of Elisha Carrington, and sister of Frederick Carrington, both of whom were prominent citizens of Oswego city. When Frederick J. Dorr had reached his tenth year, in 1836, he was taken by his parents from Cambridge to Oswego, and there placed in the family of Elisha Carrington. His opportunities for obtaining an education were limited to the district school, after which he 'was employed as a clerk in the dry goods store of Dwight Herrick, where he continued until he had reached his majority. His experience as clerk served to inculcate in him those strict and conservative business principles which governed his long and active business life. Soon after he was twenty-one years of age, he opened a hardware store in Oswego, where he carried on a successful trade until his death. During this long period Mr. Dorr gained the entire respect and confidence of the community. His unswerving integrity, fairness in all business transactions, sound judgment upon public questions, and the high plane of morality which governed his social and domestic life, conspired to give Mr. Dorr an enviable position in the business and social life of Oswego. Although not a member of any church, he was long a trustee of the Presbyterian Society, and was always ready to devote his time and energies to good works. In early life he was a Democrat in politics, but later espoused the cause of the Republican part), and cast his vote for General Grant for president of the United States. Of a naturally retiring disposition, the active strife of politics was distasteful to him, and he never sought public official station.

Mr. Dorr was married in Watertown, N. Y., on September 23, 1857, to Mrs. George D. Lewis. Before her first marriage, she was Louise L. Dake, a daughter of Edwafd D. W. Dake, of Saratoga, N. Y. The Dake family were prominent in Saratoga county, where Mrs. Dorr’s father was a physician, and late in life a successful lumber merchant. Her grandfather was a large real estate owner in that vicinity, and a prominent and respected citizen. Mr: Dorr died on February. 24, 1881, his widow surviving him, and now residing on their homestead about two miles south of Oswego city.

DU MASS, MOSES A.

MOSES A. DU MASS was born in Sterling, Cayuga county, N. Y., May 28, 1836, and came to the town of Hannibal, Oswego county, in April, 1842. He received a limited education in the district school, working on the farm and doing carpenter work with his father during the summer season, lumbering the last few winters before he was twenty-one years of age. He then went to Hillsdale, Mich., and for three years labored on a farm and at his trade.

Mr. Du Mass then returned to Hannibal, and was engaged in carpentering until August 8, 1861, when he enlisted in Company C, 44th Regiment New York Volunteers, which was an independent infantry regiment with headquarters at Albany. This regiment was called the "Ellsworth Avengers,” and was organized to avenge the assassination of Colonel Ellsworth at Alexandria, Va. The name of the regiment was afte wards changed to Ellsworth’s People Regiment and was mostly officered by men who had served in the Ellsworth Zouaves, and the regiment thereby came to be known as the Zouaves. The plan of the organization of the regiment was one unmarried man between the ages of eighteen and thirty from each town in the State, and was to be of good moral character and not less than five feet eight inches in height. In October, 1861, the regiment was mustered into the United States service, and left for the seat of war, and spent the winter of 1861-62 near Hall’s Hill.

In the spring of 1862 the regiment was removed to Old Point Comfort, and afterward took part in the siege of Yorktown; on the evacuation of that place the 44th occupied it for a few weeks. During the siege of Yorktown Mr. Du Mass was detached to do carpenter work, and was engaged in building signal towers. The regiment was then ordered to become part of the advance army, and went to Hanover Court House, where in an engagement with the Confederates on May 27, 1862, Mr. Du Mass was wounded in his right leg just above the knee, the ball passing through the limb. He saw that the flow of blood was such that he would soon die, and having no bandages, he thrust his thumb into the wound, thereby stopping the bleeding, and after a few hours it was hurriedly bandaged. The following day, which was his twenty sixth birthday, he returned to camp, some sixteen miles in an ambulance, being in a very weak condition. A comrade lay by his side, who was so injured that the shaking of the ambulance caused him much pain, and Mr. Du Mass grasped his arm and steadied him for the whole distance.

During the following week, Mr. Du Mass was returned to Yorktown, and the blood having stagnated below the knee, on account of the wound not being properly dressed (as the Union forces were driven back), an abscess formed, which was lanced and with the discharge of pus the flesh sloughed off until the bones were nearly bare. After consultation the medical director told Mr. Du Mass that he could not live over three days, and asked what messages he wanted sent home. Mr. Du Mass asked the director if there was any hopes of life if the limb were amputated, and the reply was, that owing to the great loss of blood, there was only one chance in a thousand of surviving the operation. Mr. Du Mass’s answer was that he would rather die at once, and wished to have the leg amputated, and the operation was performed. He is unable to tell the exact date, being weak and delirious at the time, but it was about the middle of June. He was cared for like a babe by the nurses, for a number of weeks, and on July 4, 1862, the Yorktown Hospital was evacuated, the Confederates having driven the Union forces back, and he was placed on an ocean steamer and taken to Portsmouth Grove, R. I., where he was discharged October 16, and returned home, and after awhile was able to walk with the aid of crutches. A marked characteristic of the Du Mass family is a progressive spirit and an indomitable courage to carry forth reforms that will better humanity. So, early in the Abolition movement, his father became a member of that party, and his home was the resting place for runaway slaves.

Mr. Du Mass was early taught to be self-reliant, and seeing the evils of intemperance, has given his energies to educating public sentiment on the temperance question; has allied himself with all temperance movements whenever possible; having his name connected with all temperance societies, and aiding the W. C. T. U. movement; has been an active member of the I. O. G. T. for years, is now in good standing in the subordinate, county, and grand lodges; will soon join the International Supreme Lodge, to which he and the most of his family are eligible; believing that political education, and final success of any principle is the ballot in a republic, and neither of the great political parties daring to combat the evil, he allied himself with the Prohibition party, and has for the last eighteen years voted that ticket, and for ten years has been a prominent worker in their ranks, being a member of the County Committee and has been its secretary and treasurer for most of the time besides holding the position of chairman. He was for two years town collector.

Although Mr. Du Mass is physically disabled and almost sixty years of age, he is ambitious and actively engaged in business, working from early morn till late at night. For the last few years he has carried on a small dairy, using a “Cooley Creamer,” making and marketing his own butter.

His grandfather, Peter Du Mass, came from France to this country with La Fayette, and was a soldier during the Revolutionary war. He afterwards settled in the town of Sterling, and was one of its earliest settlers. His youngest son, Jasper, was the father of our subject.

Mr. Du Mass married, March 19, 1865, Mary E. Tallman, who was born in the town of Oswego, May 1, 1837, a superior humanitarian. They have three children : Milicent I., born April 22, 1867; Olive R., born April 2, 1870; and Hattie E., born August 4, 1874; also an adopted son, Earl N., born November 1, 1886. Mr. Du Mass believes and thus acts, that Christ’s kingdom will be set up, so his work is given to that end, and has always been a prominent Sunday school worker, as opportunity was given; seeing that rural districts are neglected, he has given the most of his attention to that work, having been superintendent in a number of school districts; he was converted and baptized in the Baptist church on his eighteenth birthday and became a prominent church member; his Christian zeal has not abated. An independent thinker, believing the church wrong on communion, he, in August, 1887, joined the Free Will Baptist church at Oswego Falls. Denominational lines are weak with him; members of the true church, be they of any name, are his brothers and sisters. Believing God, he daily goes forth relying on his providential dealing. In his regiment he helped to organize and maintain a Christian association of seventy members; he was its secretary and sexton, seeing that the grounds were prepared for religious services, when it was needed having a bright fire in the center, around which they gathered in song and prayer; in camp having a tent arranged with split logs for seats. At Yorktown he saw the only church there was refitted for worship, and the Confederate General John Magruder’s alarm bell was placed on the top of the building to ring for service where it remained for a number of years.

EARL, ORRIN R.

ORRIN R. EARL was born in Jefferson county, November 2, 1812. He is a grandson of Stephen Earl, who was born in R*hode Isiand and died in Saratoga county aged seventy-eight, and a son of Pardner Earl, who was born in Rhode Island, and died in Jefferson county, aged sixty-two. The latter married Nancy Sherman, who died at the age of fifty years; their children were Andrew C., Ruth, Orrin R., Albert. Nancy, Jenette, and Ann V., who are all deceased excepting Orrin R., the subject. Pardner Earl was a soldier in the war of 1812, a prominent farmer, and served as supervisor and in other local positions of trust.

Orrin R. Earl was educated at Belleville, Jefferson county, and in 1846 began life ns a farmer. His public spirit and his unselfish interest in public affairs gave him prominence in the town, and he was elected to the Board of Supervisors, on which he served as a leading member for seventeen years. He held the office of president of the village four years, and in 1847 was elected to the State Legislature where he served with credit. In 1848 he engaged in mercantile trade at Sandy Creek, as a member of the firm of Earl & Salisbury, which continued five years. He also conducted the Salisbury Hotel one year, and for about eight years carried on the tan yard. In 1870 he opened a bank in Sandy Creek, in connection with P. M. Newton, which partnership existed ten years, and was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Newton. This bank was the first one established in Sandy Creek, and is still successfully conducted by Mr. Earl. In 1884 Mr. Earl became interested in the Sandy Creek Wood Manufacturing Company, Limited, of which he is now president and one of the largest stockholders. When the subject of boring for natural gas in Sandy Creek was first agitated, Mr. Earl took a deep interest in the matter and was one of the prime movers in the project of sinking the first gas well in 1889. He was chosen president of the Sandy Creek Oil & Gas Company, held the office three years, and is now one of the directors, and the principal stockholder. In addition to these various pursuits, he has successfully conducted a general farming and dairy business

During the war period Mr. Earl was one the most ardent and unselfish supporters of the government, and in 1862 was sent by the citizens of his towm to look after the interests of the local soldiers at the front. While on this mission he found himself inside the lines at the battle of Antietam, and witnessed the entire fight. He gave to the wounded men of his acquaintance $500 in cash, and. rendered them other much needed assistance. Mr. Earl at the age of eighty-two years still personally conducts his banking and other business interests, and enjoys the merited confidence and esteem of the community.

In 1844 Mr. Earl was married to Jenette Salisbury, daughter of Nathan Salisbury, and granddaughter of a soldier of the war of 1812. She died on March 8, 1886.

FARMAN, ELBERT ELI

ELBERT ELI FARMAN, jurist and formerly Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Cairo, and late Judge of the mixed Tribunals, or International Courts of Egypt, was born at New Haven, Oswego county, New York, April 23, 1831. On the paternal side he is descended from an old Maryland family of planters, that settled near Annapolis, in 1674; and on his maternal side from Leonard Dix, one of the original! settlers of Wethersfield, Conn., and from Thomas Wells, also one of the settlers of that town (1635), and the first Colonial Treasurer of Connecticut, and afterwards, Secretary, Deputy Governor and Governor of that colony, and twenty-four years one of the Judges of the General Court, and the writer, and one of the enactors, in 1642, of the severe criminal statutes, that have given rise to the tradition of the existence of a. criminal code, commonly called the “Blue Laws.”

Mr. Farman prepared for college at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and graduated at Amherst, Mass., in 1855, and three years later received his degree of A.M.

Immediately on leaving college he took an active part in public political discussions and soon became an effective campaign speaker, and made in the campaign of 1856 in Oswego county, and its vicinity, forty speeches for Fremont. He studied law at Warsaw’, N. Y., and was admitted to practice in 1858. From 1865 to 1867 he traveled and studied in Europe. On his return, in January 1868, he was appointed, by Governor Fenton, District Attorney for Wyoming county, and elected for the two folio wing terms to the same position, serving until 1875. In March, 1876, he was appointed by General Grant, Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Cairo, Egypt. He held this position until the 1st of July, 1881, when President Garfield, on the last day of his public service, on the personal recommendation of the Hon. James G. Blaine, designated him as one of the Judges of the Mixed Tribunals of Egypt. This was a life position, with a liberal salary, but he resigned in the fall of 1884, and returned to the United States, and took an active part in the campaign of that year. In 1880, while holding the position of Agent and Consul General, Mr. Farman and the Hon. Geo. S. Batcheller were appointed, by President Hayes, delegates, on the part of the United States, to act on an international commission, instituted to revise the Judicial Codes of Egypt, for the use of the Mixed Tribunals. He was engaged in this work one year. In January, 1888, he was designated by President Arthur as a member of the International Commission, organized to determine the amounts to be paid to the people of Alexandria for damages arising from the riots, bombardment, burning and pillage of that city, in June and July, 1882. This commission examined, in eleven months, over ten thousand claims, and awarded upon them over twenty millions of dollars. During this work he continued to hold his position in the courts, generally sitting one day in a week.

Mr. Farman was our representative in Egypt during the most interesting period of of its modern history. He was in Cairo during those eventful times that led to the dethronement of the Khedive, Ismail Pasha, and the installation, in his place, of his son Tewfik, and, afterwards, he witnessed the riots at Alexandria, and the bombardment and burning of that city.

When General Grant visited Egypt Mr. Farman presented him to the Khedive, and acted as interpreter at all their interviews. He also accompanied the general on his famous voyage of the Nile.

While Consul General he sent to the department at Washington voluminous reports upon the agriculture, people, commerce, politics and finance of Egypt, many of which have been published. By direction of the Department of State at Washington, made at his suggestion, he negotiated with Egypt a treaty, relating to the extinction of the slave traffic in that country, and its provinces. Although this treaty was completed and verbally assented to by the Egyptian government, it failed of execution on account of a sudden change of the ministry. He took, in other ways, a deep interest in the condition of the slaves in that country, and on his application and through his personal efforts, in their behalf, at different times, fifteen slaves were liberated by the government, on the ground of their ill treatment by their owners. He successfully conducted the negotiations for the increase of the number of American judges in the Mixed Tribunals, and the Hon. Philip H. Morgan, afterwards U. S. Minister Plenipotentiary, and Envoy Extraordinary to Mexico, was appointed to the position thus created. He also conducted the negotiations for the obelisk, and to his friendly personal relations with the Khedive, Ismail Pasha, and the members of this ministry, and his diplomatic skill, New York city is indebted for the gift of that ancient monument.

Mr. Farman also made while in Egypt extensive collections of ancient coins, scarnbsei, bronzes, objects in porcelain, and other antiquities, which he has since classified. Some of these collections are loaned to and are now on exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

In 1882 Amherst College conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. On his leaving Egypt he received from the Khedive the decoration of “Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Medjidieh,” a distinction rarely conferred.

In politics Mr. Farman has always been an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Union League Club of New York, of the Society of Sons of the Revolution, and of the New York Bar Association. He has been twice married. His first wife was Lois Parker, a niece of the eminent Presbyterian divine, the late Rev. Joel Parker D.D.,of New York city.

He married for his second wife, in 1888, Adelaide F. Frisbie, daughter of the Hon. David H. Frisbie of Galesburg. 111., and has three children.

Since his return from Egypt he has delivered an occasional lecture, and made political speeches, but has been principally engaged in the management of his private affairs.

THE FARMAN GENEALOGY

THE FARMAN GENEALOGY. Roswell Farman, eldest son of John and Rebecqa (Chamberlain) Farman, or Foreman, as the name was formerly written, was born in Newbury, Vt. (then N. H.), March 20, 1765.

His father, John, was born September 16, 1739, in Maryland, and was a descendant in the fourth generation from Robert Foreman, a planter, who settled near Annapolis, Md. , in 1674. John was a volunteer in the old French war, and served in the British army from 1756 to 1763. He came by the way of the Hudson, the Mohawk, Oneida Lake and Oswego River, to Oswego, where he was stationed a considerable time. In 1760 he descended the St. Lawrence, in the general movement upon Montreal, and in 1763 he went through the forest to New England, and settled and married in Newbury, Vt.

Roswell moved, in his early childhood, with his father to Bath, N. H., where he resided until 1803, when he came to Vernon, Oneida county, N. Y., and three years later, in 1806, to New Haven, then a part of the town of Mexico, where he resided until his death, October 17, 1839.

He was married three times. He married first Ruth Turner, by whom he had two daughters, neither of whom ever resided in New Haven. For his second wife he married Abiah Hutchins, of Bath, N. H., who died in New Haven, N. Y., September 9, 1809. By her he had five children, one daughter and four sons, all born in Bath, N. H., viz:

I. Zadok, born April 24, 1791, died at New Haven, N. Y., April 9, 1854.

II. Ruth, born July 18, 1794, married William Taylor, had five sons and one daughter, and died in New Haven in November, 1827.

III. Richard, born August 5, 1796, resided after his maturity, for some years, in Augusta, N. Y. , and then in New Haven until 1838, when he removed to Lyons, Mich., where he died August 25, 1862. There are a large number of his descendants in that and other States.

IV. Mitchell Hutchins, born May 24, 1799, lived in New Haven until 1871, when he removed to Hillsdale, Mich., where he died February 1, 1873. He was twice married, but left no descendants.

V. Truman, born March 16, 1801, resided in New Haven until 1842, and died in Gelroy, Cal., February 28, 1890, aged eighty-nine years. He left two sons surviving him, and a considerable number of other descendants.

Roswell Farman’s third wife was Polly Wheeler, who died in New Haven, N. Y., September 1, 1860, aged eighty-eight years. By her he had one son, George Washington, born July 4, 1812, and still living in the village of New Haven.

Zadoc Farman, the oldest son of Roswell, married, March 8, 1814, Martha Dix, daughter of Charles Dix of Vernon, Oneida county, N. Y. She died in New Haven, December 23, 1863.

They had six children, two daughters and four sons, all of whom, except the eldest, a daughter, were born in the house, three-fourths of a mile west of New Haven village, now, and since the death of Mrs. Farman, owned by Charles Davis. The daughters died, one in infancy, and the other at the age of nineteen. The sons all lived to have families and were as follows:

I. Charles Dix Farman, born November 11, 1820, married in New Haven, removed to Gainesville, Wyoming county, N. Y., where he died January 7, 1889. He was a man of prominence in his locality, was several times supervisor of his town, and died leaving a handsome property to his three sons and a daughter.

II. Henry Farman, born March 14, 1823.

On arriving at the age of twenty-one he removed to Augusta, Oneida county, N. Y., where he still resides. Previous to that time he had taught school two winters, and afterwards he continued teaching for a number of winters and managed a farm in the summer. He has been many years a justice of the peace and general legal adviser of people in his section, and largely engaged in the settlement of estates of deceased persons. He has accumulated a large fortune for a rural section. He is, in religion, a Methodist and has given liberally for the maintenance of the educational and religious work of that denomination. He has spent some time traveling in Europe.

FRENCH, GEORGE G.

GEORGE G. FRENCH was born in Pulaski, Oswego county, N. Y., on the 20th day of August, in the year 1827. He comes of Puritan ancestry, from England, who settled in Massachusetts before the Revolution, and removed thence to Vermont, and thence to New York State in the counties of Jefferson and Oswego. In 1845 Mr. French attended the Mexico Academy, maintaining himself in his academic course and in acquiring his profession, by teaching a country district school, boarding around among its patrons, and by manual labor during the vacations, thus earning less than one hundred dollars during less than one-half the year, from which he paid for his board, clothing, tuition, and other necessary expenses during the remainder of the year. Ever since the close of his studies he has been a resident of the village or Mexico. In 'May, 1851, he was admitted to practice law in the courts of this State. He had been an earnest and persistent student, was an industrious and thorough lawyer, and soon acquired a lucrative practice in his profession. He held the office of district attorney of Oswego county from 1859 to 1863, administering its responsible duties with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public. He however, soon withdrew from active politics and devoted his time and energies wholly to his profession. After thirty years successful practice as a lawyer, in the courts of this State and of the United States, and after being engaged in many famous and important cases, his private and personal affairs required so much of his time that he withdrew from active practice as a lawyer. He was formerly proprietor of a majority of the capital stock, and with Leonard Ames of Oswego, managed for many years the affairs of the Second National Bank of that city until they finally sold their stock to the present managers of that institution. Since that time he has been proprietor of the Mexico Banking Office at Mexico, N. Y. In all of these private and public capacities Mr. French has, by his natural and acquired abilities as an attorney and a business man, by his unimpeachable integrity, and his genial temperament, won the esteem of his fellow citizens, with whom he has come in contact.

Mr. French was married on May 3, 1853, to Frances Bowen, only daughter of the late Dr. Benjamin E. Bowen. They have three children, viz.: Julia F., the wife of Dr. George R. Metcalf of St. Paul, Minn.; Mary T., wife of Dr. F rederic W. Gardiner, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; and Fred E. French, an attorney-at-law, who resides at Mexico, N. Y., but is engaged in extensive business relations in Minnesota and North Dakota, which occupy a large portion of his time.

[ Surnames G-M ]