Jan - April 1870

Married at Pewamo, Mich., on the evening of Dec. 2d, in the Baptist Church, by Rev. J. Walker of the Presbyterian Church, assisted by Rev. Mr. Wright of Fentonville, Mr. Alfred S. Badger, Sunday School Missionary for Western Michigan, to Miss Julia V. Crow, Principal of the Union School of Pewamo.

Obituary of Lizzie Thayer.—This talented young lady departed this life on Friday morning, Dec. 17^th, at the youthful age of twenty-four years. While attending the funeral services of a beloved brother some four years since, she resolved henceforth to live the life of a Christian, and a few months after joined the Baptist Church at Warsaw,… When near her last moments upon earth she called to her bedside her parents, brothers and sisters, kissing each a last farewell, and with a bow sank back upon her pillow, her lips moved a silent “good-bye” and her spirit was with the blest.—Dundee Record

The Auburn News announces the death of Hon. George Rathbun, who died at his residence in Auburn early Wednesday morning last, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was a native of Cayuga county…. Mr. Rathbun was a cousin of Mrs. Cornwell, widow of the late Dr. Wm. Cornwell of this village, and his wife was a sister of Justus S. Glover, Esq., formerly resident here.

A telegram from Elizabeth, New Jersey, called Dr. Latimer there to officiate at the funeral of Hon. B. W. Ward, of the above city, a prominent man in the political councils of New Jersey, whose funeral was held yesterday.

Died, in Leavenworth, Kansas, Dec. 30^th, 1869, James Taylor, in the eightieth year of his age. The funeral service took place at the residence of his son-in-law, Claudius B. Brace, on Saturday, January 1^st…. He was in early life a school teacher, and became a lawyer. In 1816 he was first admitted to practice, and commenced in Seneca county. He afterwards settled in Eddytown where he was married in 1819 to Miss Maria Wickes, who survives him.—Her father was Capt. Silas Wickes, one of the first settlers of Starkey…. Their children were born in Eddytown, and in 1832 they moved to Penn Yan, where they resided 24 years, since which time they have lived at St. Paul, Minnesota, and Leavenworth, Kansas….

The sudden death of Henry A. Hatmaker at Green Bay, Wisconsin, is noticed at some length by the Green Bay Advocate, which says that Mr. Hatmaker retired to rest on Sunday night, Jan. 9^th, in apparent good health…. He was a son of Dr. John Hatmaker of Torrey, and a grandson of Benedict Robinson, one of the most prominent of the early pioneers of Yates County. His body was brought home by his brother, John R. Hatmaker for burial, and a funeral service was held yesterday at the home of his brother, David F. Hatmaker on Benham St. in this village.

A Minnesota paper, before us gives an obituary notice of David Angus, who died in Houston county, Minnesota April 20^th, 1869. He was a brother of Walter Angus, an early settler of Yates county, who came to this region by persuasion of Charles Williamson, who had a laudable partiality for his own countrymen, the Scotch. In 1839 Walter Angus sent to Scotland for his brother David, who came over with his family of several children and they lived in Benton several years, removing to Minnesota some years later. He died at the age of eighty-three, surrounded by many of his children and grand-children. His wife died in Scotland, and his brother Walter, many of whose descendants are residents of Yates and Ontario counties, died in 1857 at the age of nearly ninety-one.

Death of John Ellsworth.—This aged and highly respected citizen, whose health has been feeble for some time, died on Tuesday at the age of seventy-one years. Mr. Ellsworth was a native of Vermont, and a brother of the late Hon. S.S. Ellsworth and Mrs. Eben Smith of this village. He came to Penn Yan in 1820, and served as clerk for George D. and Samuel Stewart, with whom he removed to Bethel and remained there a number of years…. He married there Eliza, daughter of Chester Andrews, who survives him, returned to Penn Yan in 1838 and has resided here since that time…. He has three married daughters in this village: Mrs. Dr. Geo. A. Hewson, Mrs. James Titus, Mrs. Wm. C. Joy; and one daughter unmarried. One son, John, died in the Army during the Rebellion….

George D. Prentice, long famous as the witty and sarcastic editor of the Louisville Journal, has departed this life at the age of sixty-eight. For many years his physical powers have been very much broken.

Mrs. Polly Fargo, living on Flat street, Benton, at the age of ninety-three, enjoyed a birthday dinner with a number of her children and grandchildren on Monday last. Russell R. Fargo of Pulteney and Elisha W. Fargo of New York are her sons, and Mrs. Wm. H. Gage of this village is her daughter. She was the wife of Dr. Calvin Fargo, who was a school teacher in Benton during the first years of the present century, and afterwards a very popular physician, riding to all parts of the country from Geneva to Bath. He moved to Indiana in 1817, where he soon after died. He was a one-armed man, and is still vividly remembered by a few of the most aged residents. She and her daughter Elizabeth reside with Mrs. Hiram Weed, another daughter, in Benton.

Morris Earl, an old citizen of this village, died on Saturday evening last, at his residence on Main street, at the age of seventy-three. He was a native of Stamford county, Connecticut, and came to Penn Yan about 1823. He was a tailor and for many years carried on a shop and kept a clothing store on his own account. He was one of the founders of the Baptist church in this village…. His wife was Emeline Clark, of Connecticut, who survives at the age of seventy-two. They have had no children.

Asher Torrance, one of the oldest and most-respected citizens of Lockport, has been gathered to his fathers, full of honors and full of years. He died Thursday evening, December 16^th, in the seventy-second year of his age….

Aaron Young, an old resident of Geneva, died in that village last week at the age of 79.

Hon. Isaac L. Endress , a leading citizen of Dansville, died in that village last week….

Married in east Saginaw, Mich., on Wednesday, January 26^th, 1870, at St. Paul’s church, by Rev. George B. Eastman, Rector of the Church. Mr. Frank Eastman and Miss Sara B., second daughter of the late Justus S. Glover, Esq., formerly of this village….

Jonathan Davis, one of the early citizens of Jerusalem, died at his residence in that town on Friday last the 4^th inst., at the age of ninety-three years….

Brilliant wedding.—Another of those “interesting affairs” occurred at the house of Morris Hutches, Esq., near Penn Yan, on Wednesday last, the occasion being the marriage of his daughter Susie to Mr. Sam. McElwee….

Jacob Farmer, one of the principal chiefs of the Onondaga Indians, died on the reservation of his tribe, a short time since. The deceased was a grandson of Antiauga, one of the old chieftains of the Onondaga tribe. He was in the war of 1812, and rendered the Americans great service as a dispatch-bearer….

Died at his residence in the town of Torrey, on the 1^st day of February, 1870, Jacob Ellis aged 81 years and 7 months. Deceased was born in Orange, N.J., July 4, 1788, came into this state and settled at or near Newtown (now Elmira) where he lived for a few years, then moved to Plum Point in this county. Here he tarried for a while, then resided for a time with Jemima Wilkinson. He then lived some years with Arnold Potter, often going to Philadelphia and New York with Potter’s droves of cattle. From Potter he came into what is now Torrey, and worked for Abel Botsford. In 1813 he was drafted into the army, was gone but a few months when he was honorably discharged in December, and on the 13^th day of February 1814 was married to Mary Pitney with whom he lived for almost 56 years…. He leaves a widow and 5 children surviving him, 4 sons and 2 daughters. One son, David D. Ellis, was killed by the bursting of a shell at Petersburg, Va., where he was serving as a volunteer in the last war.
Torrey, Feb 15, 1870 COM.

Melancton S. Reed, a prominent citizen of the town of Seneca, Ontario county, died of paralysis on Tuesday of last week, at the age of sixty-one years. He was a native of Seneca and a brother-in-law of John S. Ferguson of Benton.

Died, in Benton, on Tuesday, February 6^th inst., James Jennings, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He was born in Saratoga county in 1794, came to this county in 1817, and in 1824 married Elizabeth, daughter of Wm. Rector of Benton. After living a few years in Jerusalem and Potter, they settled in Benton where he has resided forty-two years, between Havens Corners and Crank’s Corners. He was a member of the Methodist Church during the last thirty-seven years of his life. His wife died in 1854, in February of that year. They have a number of descendants but few of whom remain in Benton. J.N. Jennings of this village is a son of James Jennings.

3 March 1870

10 March 1870

The only daughter of Peter H. Bitley, and wife of Rev. M. Howe, died at Branchport, February 26^th.

By the census of 1865, two persons in Yates County were reported as one hundred years old and upward. Elizabeth Schoonmaker of Benton, 101, and Hannah Townsend of Torrey, 100; both natives of Dutchess County.

Levi French died of old age, at Eddytown, on the 24^th of February, at the age of eighty-eight years. He had resided in Starkey more than sixty years. The Record says, he was a member of the Christian Church at Rock Stream, and was familiarly known as “Father French.” He had been blind for many years.

The Le Roy Gazette records the death of Cyrrel Shumway, of the town of Pavilion, Genesee county., at the age of 86 years, who had not been out of the town since the great Whig Pole Raising at Le Roy in 1844 when he journeyed five miles to witness that great political gathering. Strange to say the old man never saw a railway car. Until recently he would not allow a reaping machine on his premises.

Col. Cornelius Post, of Lodi, Seneca county, died at his residence in that town, Feb. 24^th, at the age of 86. He came to the Lake country at the age of twenty two, commenced as a laborer, and became a man of large wealth. He was the father of Dr. Lewis Post of Lodi, late Member of Assembly from Seneca county, and of Cornelius Post, Esq., at Himrods, in this town.

Mathew Royce who settled in Starkey, (then Frederickton) in 1800, died in that place on Saturday last, the 5^th instant, at the age of ninety-eight years. He was a native of Connecticut, afterwards resident at Sandgate, Vermont, from whence he removed with the Hurds and others, to the then new and wilderness region of the Lake country, settling at Eddytown. He lived to see remarkable changes take place and the country become the theatre of civilization and wealth, when all was wood and wild, at the beginning, seventy years ago. His life has been one of industry and simplicity, and filled with good works. Let his memory be held in reverence.

17 March 1870

Died, at Eddytown, on the morning of the 6^th instant, Mr. Matthew Royce, aged 98 years. Mr. R. was a native of Vermont. He came to the Lake country of New York in 1801, settled on the farm upon which he died, where he had spent 68 years. He was among the first permanent settlers of Reading, and in that part of the old town now called Starkey, and for nearly half a century has been called Uncle Mathew, or Uncle Matt, by nearly if not all of his acquaintances…. His wife died some years ago, at an advanced age. They raised five sons, two of whom have gone to the grave before him. One of his sons, John Royce, lives in Thurston, N.Y., another, Simeon, resides at Horseheads, and David L. Royce is upon the old homestead…. In the earlier part of his life he was a member of the Methodist Church, and then his house was the home and resting place for the circuit preachers, and was known far and wide as a Methodist tavern, but when the Methodists excluded Reuben and Benjamin Farley, Wm. Curry, Stephen Lamphire, James Potter, Martin Pierson, all ministers, with others for heresy, Uncle Matthew and Aunt Jennie were of the number who were cut off, simply for an honest opinion which they supposed everybody believed…. He outlived his generation, and yet leaves behind him one sister, Mrs. Caleb Cowing, who is 85 years old, hale and hearty….

Oliver Coleman, an aged citizen, for years resident a little west of Head Street in Jerusalem, and of late years residing in this village, died on Monday and is to be buried today. Mr. Coleman was a quiet and upright man and a good citizen. His son Wm. A. Coleman, was a captain of the 126^th regiment, and has resided east since the war. Doubtless an appropriate notice of Mr. Coleman will be presented hereafter.

We learn by the Watkins Express that a Mrs. Middleton (colored), died in the village of Watkins on Tuesday morning, Feb. 22d, aged 103 years….

24 March 1870

Died very suddenly, at the residence of her son Silas W. Spink in Milo, on Wednesday, March 22, 1870, Mrs. Marbra Spink, relict of Silas Spink, deceased, in the 86^th year of her age. Mrs. Spink was born in Rhode Island, August 15^th, 1784, and grew up to womanhood in that State, where she was first married to a Mr. Hall and by him had one son Oliver R. Hall, formerly of Jerusalem and now residing in Starkey. After the death of Mr. Hall, her first husband, (which occurred in early life), and many years ago she emigrated to this country with her father, and was married after her arrival to Silas Spink; and by this marriage she had two children, Mary, wife of Daniel Supplee of Starkey, and Silas W. Spink of Milo. …

Married

· At Alaska, Kent county, Michigan, on the 18^th inst., by Rev. D.S. Haveland, Mr. James G. Ansley to Miss Hattie L. Coger, all of Cascade, Mich.

31 March 1870

One of the most illustrious Generals of the war of the Rebellion, Gen. George H. Thomas, died in San Francisco on Monday, after a very brief illness of apoplexy, at the age of 54 years….

John Taylor died at Oswego Falls on Friday the 14^th, at the age of 102 years. During the afternoon of the day on which he died, he had been sawing wood for the family, and seemed to be in possession of all his faculties. He was born in Kent, England.

Married, on the 22d instant, at the residence of the bride’s parents, by the Rev. James Rankins, D.D., President of Hobart College, Arthur Russell Weare, only son of S.C. Weare of Benton Center, and Arvilla, youngest daughter of C. Probasco of Geneva.

Died in this village on Monday, Mrs. Elizabeth Landon, at the age of eighty-two years. She came to this County at the age of nineteen, was twice married and had outlived her second husband, Joshua Landon, about twenty-five years. She was an industrious, pious and good woman.

The Watkins Express of last week mentions the death of William Martin at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. Martin was an early settler near Burdette, and received at one time a premium awarded by the Tompkins County Agricultural Society for the best farm in Tompkins County.

Died in Middlesex, on Monday the 28^th instant, John Robson, at the age of 77 years. He has been a citizen of that town for a long period, having been an early settler and the first in his locality, the southern part of the town. … He leaves three sons and a daughter, besides his aged widow.

Elder T. Spencer Harrison, former pastor of the Baptist Church at Dundee, and Chaplain of the 126^th Regiment, died at Baptist Hill in the town of Bristol, Ontario county, on the 14^th instant, of inflammatory rheumatism, transposed to the heart. … He leaves a wife and two daughters, both of whom are married.

Jonathan Lunger whose murder is recounted in the news of the day, was for several years a resident on Keuka Lake, where he led the same life he is described to have followed on the Cayuga. His boat was his residence, which in winter was drawn up on the beach and made habitable for winter quarters, usually in a cove near the end of Bluff Point, at a place called Lonesome Harbor…. His family at that time consisted of himself and wife and the little girl. Two dogs were his constant associates. About four years ago he left Keuka lake and took up a similar abode on Cayuga Lake.

Died in Benton on Wednesday, March 23, 1870, Hannah, wife of William Rector at the age of 84 years. She was born in Columbia county in 1786. Her maiden name was Simmons, and she was a daughter of Mrs. Shoemaker, who died in Benton in 1866 at the advanced age of one hundred and one years. She was married in Columbia county, and settled in Benton with her husband and young family of three children in 1810. They have resided on the premises where she died since 1812, a period of 58 years…. Her aged husband survives in his eighty-eighth year.

From the Trumansburg Sentinel. On the shore of Cayuga Lake, a little south of Goodwin’s Point, lived a man named Jonathan Lunger, who employed himself in boating and fishing for the most part of the time. He with his wife and daughter Annie lived in what was once a boat, roofed over and made into something of a dwelling. On Monday, March 21^st, between one o’clock and daylight, this dwelling was destroyed by fire, and in the debris of the building was found the charred remains of what is supposed to have been Jonathan Lunger and his wife….. For the last year or two a man named Miles Ferguson has lived a part of the time with Mr. Lunger. He has been in the Workhouse at Rochester, and seems to have borne no very good reputation in this town. This man, who was seen near the premises on Sunday (so we are told), has been missing, as also the girl Annie, since the time of the fire…. Deputy Sheriff Fish left town on Monday afternoon in search of the couple, and up to this writing has not returned…. LATER, Officer Fish returned on Wednesday, and reports Annie Lunger in custody.—An officer was in pursuit of Ferguson, and it is probable that he is by this time under arrest.

7 April 1870

Died in this village on Saturday evening, March 26, 1870, of congestion of the lungs, Mrs. Elizabeth Landon, in the eighty-second year of her age. She was a native of New Jersey, and came in 1807 with her parents, Nathaniel and Johannah Leach, to Hopeton in the then town of Vernon, accompanied by four brothers and two sisters. In 1809 she married William Critchell, who in 1821 was accidentally drowned in a canal lock near Geneva, leaving two sons and five daughters. The oldest daughter Melinda, married Jacob Dancingburg of Ovid, in 1834, and died in 1847 leaving six children of whom two are living at Ovid. Ann Eliza the second daughter, married Cyrus Eddy of Bailytown and moved west. Lucinda the next daughter married George Simmons, son of Abram Simmons of Benton, and died in 1841 leaving one son. Susannah married B. P. Tompkins of Geneva and has two sons. Abigail married Sidney Roff of this village, and died in 1863, leaving one surviving daughter. George Critchell died in 1830 at the age of 19, of cholera at Detroit. Thomas Critchell the remaining son, formerly of Geneva, is now living at Adrian, Michigan. In 1824 she married Joshua Landon who died in Barrington in 1846. He was the father by a previous marriage of Alfred and Edna Landon, formerly of this place and now of Tiffin, Ohio. By the second marriage there were two children, John Mark who died at Millport of small pox in 1848, and Mary Jane, of this village, with whom her mother has resided during the past twenty years….

14 April 1870

Wedded at last.—A remarkable marriage took place at Galesburg, Illinois on the 4^th, the parties being Mr. Samuel R. Crosby of New York city, aged eighty-three years, and Mrs. Anna B. Hurd, of Galesburg, aged eighty-one.—They were engaged at the age of eighteen and sixteen, respectively, but circumstances compelled a breaking of their troth, and since then each has followed three companions to the grave.

We learn that A.M. Adsit, for a long time a resident of this county, died at Glens Falls, N.Y., on the morning of the 21^st inst…. The remains were taken to Greenwood Cemetery, New York, to be entombed beside those of an only daughter, buried there a few years since…. He leaves a wife and an only son. His aged mother still survives him. He has three brothers, James M. Adsit, Chicago, Ill., Martin Adsit, Hornellsville, N.Y., both of whom are bankers, and one, a farmer, residing in western New York…. He was born in Columbia county, N.Y., left fatherless when a child, resided with his grandfather until his majority…. In 1831, at the age of twenty-three he came to Hammondsport, and in connection with his uncle Ira Davenport of Bath, opened a store of goods at that place….—Bath Advocate.

The mother of the Adsit brothers above alluded to was Fanny Davenport, sister of the late Ira Davenport of Bath. Her children by her first marriage with Leonard Adsit were the brothers herewith mentioned, and a daughter who married Harvey Tuttle of Chenango county. She married a second husband, Orlando Davis of Chenango county, and the children of the second marriage were John W. Davis, a noted business man of Hammondsport, Charles D. Davis, a prominent citizen at Milo Center, and George who died young. The mother resides with her son Charles D. Davis in this town at the age of eighty-six years. Her bodily health is broken, but her mind is still clear.

Our friend Thompson of the Le Roy Gazette has our sympathy for the loss of his only son, Frederic, who died at Hankow, China, on the 4^th of January last, at which place he was acting as United States Marshall. When a boy of fourteen, with a thirst for sea-faring life, his father obtained for him a position on a merchant vessel, in 1859, since which time he has been abroad on the seas and made but one short visit home.

Married in Hornellsville, Tuesday, April 12^th, at the residence of D.L. Benton, Esq., by the Rev. W.A. Rankin, pastor Presbyterian Church, Warren, Pa., Mr. Oliver P. Reed of Penn Yan to Miss Sue L., daughter of the late Judge Arnett of the first named place, formerly of Warren.

Also at the same time and place, and by the same, Mr. C.C. Thompson of Warren, Pa., to Miss Libbie, daughter of the late Judge Arnett.

21 April 1870

Thomas B. Darling a farmer of Hector, Schuyler county, was shot by the accidental discharge of a gun on the 7^th inst. He discovered a raccoon in his sugar bush and sent his boy for the gun. In taking the gun from the hands of his boy, it is supposed something caught the hammer and fired it off. The ball entered his breast, and he died at once.

The report of the death of George Andrus, Esq., of Canadice, which reached us last week, we are sorry to say, is confirmed by later intelligence. The sad event occurred on the morning of the 2d inst…. His age was forty-six years and three months.—Ontario Co. Times.

The deceased Supervisor of Canadice was a brother of Miles B. Andrus, Esq., of Jerusalem.

Married