FAMILY SKETCHES
ONTARIO COUNTY NY RESIDENTS,
HERKIMER/MONTGOMERY CONNECTIONS
Source: History of Ontario County, New York, with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men
and families; edited by George S. Conover, compiled by Lewis Cass Alrich. Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co. 1893.
The following 20 Ontario County, New York residents were either born in Montgomery County or Herkimer County, or had family or business
ties to the counties. We hope researchers tracing families who moved on "West" out of the counties will find these
profiles useful.
Personal information published in books of this type was provided by the individuals being profiled, and it was common for the submitters
to pay to be profiled in these books. The information below was submitted to the compilers ca. 110 years ago. It is subject to error in recall, family legend, misinterpretation of sound or handwriting by the compilers, or exaggeration. On the other hand,
these books often contain information taken from family documents and Bibles that may no longer exist. All information -
dates, locations, names - should be verified by other sources. Spellings of names and locations are as in the
original book and will not be changed within the body of the original text. Submission of additional or more accurate information about persons profiled or their
relatives is most welcome, to post at the end of this listing.
ALLEN, M.D., Alexander D., Gorham, is a native of Gorham, born May 12, 1856. His father, James H. Allen, M.D., is a son of John, a native of Montgomery county, who came to Steuben county and there lived and died. James H. was
born in Montgomery county, March 3, 1830, was educated in Albany Medical College, and in 1853 came to Gorham, where he has since had a very successful practice. Dr. Allen married in Steuben county, Phoebe E., daughter of
David Stevenson. Dr. Allen and wife had two children, Alexander D., and Margaret E., wife of Lewis T. Ruf, a Presbyterian minister of Pittsford, Monroe county. Dr. Allen is a member of the Ontario Medical Society and New York
State Medical Society. Dr. Alexander D. Allen was educated in Canandaigua Academy and in Syracuse Medical College, graduating from the latter in 1880, since which time he has practiced his profession in Gorham. He is a Democrat
in politics, and has been supervisor of Gorham five years in succession, and was chairman of the board in 1891-2. He is a member of Ontario County Medical Society, and is a member of E.K.O.R. In 1883 Dr. Allen married
Annie T., daughter of H. L. Suydam, an artist of Geneva. The children of Dr. Allen are: James S., Elizabeth H., William A. and Hiram L.
ARNOLD, Lovel, Gorham, was born in Gorham, October 4, 1829, a son of Isaac A., a son of Abram, born August 6, 1767, who was an early settler of Montgomery county, also of Gorham,
coming here about 1814. His wife was Lorain Sipperly, born June 15, 1775, in Montgomery county. Her father, a Revolutionary soldier, was killed by the Indians while on his way to join his regiment. Abram Arnold had seven sons
and five daughters, and died May 24, 1825. His wife died in September, 1859. Isaac A. and wife had six sons and two daughters. He first settled in Yates county, then in Gorham. In 1829 he settled on the farm now occupied by
his son Lovel, and here lived until 1865. He was a deacon in the Baptist church many years. In 1865 he moved to Reed's Corners, where he died January 15, 1866. Lovel Arnold was educated in Madison University and at Rochester.
His health failing, he engaged in farming, which has since been his occupation. He makes a specialty of breeding
Shropshiredown sheep, Durham cattle and Clydesdale horses. January 6, 1854, he married Caroline A., daughter of George and Ann Eliza (Hocum) Clark, natives of Potter, and they have
one son, Frank G. Arnold, who resides with his parents. Mr. Arnold is one of the largest real estate owners in Gorham, also owning land in Yates county. SInce 1872 he has been a Democrat.
CALMAN, Menzo, was born in Little Falls, April 21, 1841. His grandparents were early settlers of Herkimer county, where they lived and died. His father, John Calman, was born in Herkimer county in 1806. His father
died when John was a mere child, and the latter was bound out on a farm until sixteen years of age, when he learned the carpenter's trade. He purchased a farm in Herkimer county, and some years later purchased
another, making 400 acres. He was one of the leading dairymen of the county. Mr. Calman was a strictly temperance man, having never tasted liquor in his life. The wife of Mr. Calman was Kate Maria Sluyter, born in
Greenbush, Rensselaer county, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. Mr. Calman died in 1868, and his wife in 1884. At the age of twenty-one Menzo engaged in farming, which he has since followed. In 1866 he
married Mary E. Countryman, a native of Minden, and a daughter of George and Nancy Countryman, early settlers of Fort Plain. For many years Mr. Countryman was a dealer in boots and shoes in Fort Plain. He and his wife
both died in Stark. Subject and wife have one son, Edward E. In 1869 Mr. Calman purchased a farm in Hopewell and has since improved it at a cost of $6,000. He is now one of the leading farmers in the town. He is
a Republican, but has never aspired to public office.
FRESHOUR, George W., Hopewell, was born in Hopewell, N.Y., June 6, 1823, on the farm he now owns, a son of John, whose father was a native of Germany and came to America previous to the French and Indian war, in which he took part.
He also participated in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Freshour had three sons and three daughters, and settled in Frederick, Md., 1789. He had a common school education in both English and German, and in 1810 married Mary Angleberger, of Frederick
county, Md. He settled in Hopewell and purchased 150 acres of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, and added to it until he owned about 500 acres. They had four sons and two daughters, two of whom are living, George W. and Alexander, a resident of
Gorham. Mr. Freshour was a Whig, and a commissioner of highways. He died in 1859 and his wife in 1869. Subject was educated in common schools and in Canandaigua Academy, and in 1849 married Leonora, daughter of Abraham I. Failing, of Montgomery
county, whose father was Captain Failing. To subject and wife was born one son, Byron, who married Alice Warner, an adopted daughter of Milton Warner, of Hopewell. Mr. Freshour is a Democrat, and has been justice of peace twelve years, overseer
of the poor six years, justice of sessions two terms, and in 1891 he was nominated for assemblyman. He is a member of CAnandaigua Lodge No. 292 and of Hopewell Centre Grange No. 454.
GARLOCK, Peter, Phelps, was born in Phelps, October 6, 1832. He was one of nine children of Abram and Catharine (Cook) Garlock, of Montgomery county. The grandfather was Peter, and his father emigrated to this
country from Holland at an early day. Peter Cook, the grandfather on the mother's side, was a native of New Jersey. Peter Garlock married in 1857 Maria Van Devort, of Phelps, who died in 1886 leaving seven children:
Ellen (Mrs. O.M. Lincoln), Abram, Thomas, Charles, Kate, Alfred, and Jessie M. He subsequently married Cecilia Smith, of Rochester, and they have two children: Arthur, and Grace. In 1863 Peter Garlock began distilling
cider-brandy and peppermint, and has continued in that business. In 1879 he started the mill in Phelps where he is now located, adding improved machinery in 1885. In 1889 his son, Charles Garlock, went into the business
with his father, under the firm name of P. Garlock & Son. Their plant has a capacity of from 2,500 to 3,000 barrel per year.
HICKS, Charles M., Gorham, is a native of Macedon, Wayne county, born June, 1838. His father, Joshua, was a son of Simeon, a native of Long Island, who
moved to Wayne county in an early day and there owned a large farm. His wife was a Miss Clifford, and they had two sons and one daughter. They died in Macedon.
Joshua was a prominent citizen of that place, a manufacturer of fanning mills and a farmer, and a well informed man and a great reader. He was twice married; first
to a Miss Frye, of Montgomery county, by whom he had two sons and one daughter; and second to Analine (Mapes) Stearns, by whom he had one child, Charles M. Joshua
Hicks was killed by a team of horses in 1833. Mrs. Hicks was a daughter of Israel Mapes, a native of Coxsackie. Mrs. Hicks died October 16, 1874. Charles M. was
educated in Walworth Academy, has always been a great reader, and is a well informed man. He was first engaged for about six years in the nursery business with T.G.
Yeomans, of Walworth. In 1861 he came to Gorham with his mother. He now owns a farm of 280 acres, known as the Stearns homestead, on which he has made many
improvements, including forty acres of orchards He has always given liberally to the public. He is a Republican in politics.
LANE, Ambert T., Victor, was born in the town of Farmington, Ontario county, October 10, 1854. He received a common school and academic education. July 1, 1878, he married
Amelia, daughter of Hiram and Apma (Dickinson) Parks, of Victor. They have two daughters, Laura E., and Florence M., Mr. Lane's father, Jacob, was born in
Montgomery county in the year 1793. His parents went to Canada, and in the War of 1812 he espoused the American cause, and came to Ontario county. The property was
confiscated there, and he began a new a good American patriot. He married Rhoda Grinnell, and had six children: Andrew, George, Helen, Charles, Isaac and Ambert T.
Mrs. Lane's father, Hiram Parks, was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, April 15, 1803; he married Apma Dickinson; she was formerly of Connecticut. They had eight children:
Eveline, Edwin, Eliza, Maryette, Abigail, Thomas, Amelia, and Laura J. For many years Mr. Parks was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Victor. Mr. Parks's father,
Simon, came on foot from New England to Scipio, Cayuga county, and married there. In 1812 he moved with his family to Victor. In 1814 he and his wife, Abigail, joined the
Presbyterian Church in Victor by letter. He was a deacon in that church until his death.
McCREDY, Alonzo, Canandaigua, was born in Warren, February 22, 1822. His grandfather, Robert McCredy, came to this country in the latter part of the eighteenth century,
settling in Florida, Montgomery county, where Thomas, father of Alonzo, was born in 1795. When about twenty he moved to Herkimer county, at that time a wilderness,
and bought a farm of about 100 acres, which he made into a good grain farm. He married Hannah Blatchly, of Peekskill, and they had twelve children, five of whom are
living: James, a farmer of Michigan; Eliza, widow of James T. Yule, of Herkimer county; Robert, of Olean; Hanford, a retired farmer of Warren, Herkimer county, and Alonzo.
The latter was given a common school education, and in 1856 moved to MInnesota, where he spent four years, and then moved to Illinois, where he lived three years, and in 1863
returned to New York State, locating in this county. He bought a farm of 140 acres in this town, where he has ever since made his home. Mr. McCredy has never taken an active
part in politics. He is content to be known as an honest, upright citizen and a successful farmer. He married in 1853 Louisa, daughter of Peter Rankin, of Herkimer county,
and they have two sons: Elliott, an employee of the Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, and Dimmock, who live at home.
NELLIS, John W., Geneva, was born in Oppenheim, Montgomery county, May 4, 1857, and was educated in the common schools and Rochester Commercial college. He resided in Montgomery county seven years,
and later came to Western New York, locating in Geneva, where he is a farmer and dairyman. March 13, 1883, he married Ettie D. Fonda, of Montgomery county, and they have one son, Edward Guy, born
March 11, 1884. Mr. Nellis's father was born at the old home in 1809, and married Eva Wilson, of his native place. They had nine children, of whom seven survive: Eleanor, Margaret, Lena,
James W., Emily, Martha, and John W. Mrs. Nellis's father, Dow H. Fonda, was born at Fonda, Montgomery county, in 1809. In 1832 he married Ann Veeder, who belonged to one of the representative
families of his native town, and had seven children. Mr. Fonda was a son of General Fonda, a soldier of the War of 1812. Fonda, the county seat of Montgomery county, was named in honor of this family.
They owned slaves at an early day, and when a son or daughter married it was custom to give them a slave.
SCOTT, Winfield, Geneva, was born in Canajoharie, Montgomery county, June 28, 1834, and received a liberal education. He has had a variety of occupations, for a time being bookkeeper in New York. In 1856 he married Caroline Scott of Missouri, and
they have seven children: Genio C., a resident of Kansas; James R., a merchant in Bellona, Yates county; Walter, who resides in the State of Washington; Samuel W., a resident of California; Helen M., who married Fred C. Barnes; Frank W. and John C.,
both of whom reside at home. Mr. Scott's father, Genio, was born in Livonia, Livingston county, in 1806. He was a farmer and twice married. His first wife was Catherine Roof, by whom he had four sons: George M., Walter, Winfield, and one who died unnamed.
Mr. Scott died December 19, 1879, and his widow in 1889. Our subject has been one of the assessors of his town six years, and was also the enumerator of the town in the last census. In politics he is a Democrat.
SNYDER, the late John J., Victor, was born in Hallsville, Montgomery county, September 24, 1850. He was educated in the common schools and Fort Plain Academy, and in early life was a farmer.
september 1, 1874, he married Libbie, daughter of George W. and Catherine (Wagner) Johnson, formerly of Cooperstown, Otsego county. They came to Victor March 15, 1877. Mr. Snyder was in the coal
and lumber business with T.M. Norton, and died April 9, 1889, as the result of an accidental injury received in their lumber yard. Mrs. Snyder's father, George W. Johnson, was born in Cooperstown,
Otsego county, and was a miller by occupation. In 1849 he married Catherine Wagner of Fort Plain, Montgomery county. They had two children: Minerva R. (now Mrs. Theodore M. Norton); and Libbie.
The ancestry of the family is English and German. Mrs. Snyder is a member of the Universalist church.
VAN DEUSEN, M.D., George H., Gorham, is a native of Montgomery county, born August 24, 1836, a son of Cornelius, whose father, Gloudy Van Deusen, came to Montgomery county in 1796, and there died
in 1845. The family is of Dutch descent, and came to America in 1667. Mr. Gloudy Van Deusen served five years in the Revolutionary war. In 1829 Cornelius married Elizabeth Cornue, a native of
Montgomery county, and daughter of Wessel Cornue, one of the first settlers of that county. Cornelius and wife had seven sons and four daughters, all now living. He died in 1863, and his
wife in 1877. Dr. George H. spent part of his youth in New Jersey, where his father died. His mother's death occurred while on a visit to Steuben county. Subject taught school four years,
and in 1861 was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, and was appointed physician in the insane asylum in New York city. February, 1862, he received an appointment
from Gideon Welles as assistant surgeon of U.S. Volunteer Navy, serving first in North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and then in South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. In 1863 he was ordered to
West Gulf Squadron, under command of D.G. Faragut. In 1864 Dr. Van Deusen resigned his position as navy surgeon and began practicing his profession at Bethel, Vt., where he remained four years and
then moved to Painted Post. In 1875 he came to Gorham, where he has since had a very successful practice. He was formerly a member of Vermont State Medical Society, president of Steuben County
Medical Society, and is now a member of Ontario County Medical Society. In politics Dr. Van Deusen is now a Prohibitionist. He was a superintendent of schools in Bethel, Vt. He is a member of
Rushville Lodge No. 377 F. & A.M. and of G.A.R. Scott Post No. 315. In 1863 Dr. Van Deusen married Celia A., daughter of John Liscom of Burlington, Vt. Dr. Van Deusen and wife have had two
children: Fred Mower, who died in infancy; and Kate, a graduate of Geneseo Normal School, class '93.
[Note: there may have been other personal profiles in this volume with Montgomery County connections. The volume used had pages missing.]
*** We thank you in advance for directing ALL requests for information about persons, businesses, and locations mentioned to the local historical societies and libraries, not to the site coordinators. ***
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