ONEIDA COUNTY NY RESIDENTS,
MONTGOMERY COUNTY NY CONNECTIONS
Our County and Its People
A Descriptive Work On Oneida County, N.Y.
By Daniel E. Wager, 1896
Family Sketches of Montgomery County, N.Y.
If the Surname has connections to both Montgomery and Herkimer County, NY, then they are listed for each county.
ABEL, WILLIAM P., was born in Prussia, Germany, September 23, 1826, son of
William and Catherine Abel, who settled in Montgomery county, N. Y. in 1834.
William P. came to Oneida county in 1857. In 1849, he married Marie Keiner, by
whom he had three children, Almira Tremain, Mary E. Kent; and Nettie Peckham, all
of whom are natives of Oneida county. Mr. Abel started in life as a farmer, which
business he has followed to the present time, and is also an apiarist, having
about seventy swarms of bees. He has been assessor of the town, also trustee of
the school and cemetery. (p. 3)*
BREWER, EDWARD E., was born on the homestead in the town of Verona in 1840. He
was educated in the common schools and Vernon Academy, and is by occupation a
farmer. He is also a dealer in hay. In 1868 he married Melia Eigabroadt, of the
town of Vernon, by whom he had two sons: James E. and Charles E. James E. is a
prominent attorney in Oneida, N. Y., and married Clara Swift, of Warren, Conn.,
by whom he had two daughters: Helen and Grace. Charles E. is a fireman on the N.
Y. C. & H. R. R. R. He married Lizzie Mahaney, of Vienna. Mr. Brewer's father,
Morris P., was also born here July 8, 1812. He was educated in the public schools
and Hamilton College at Clinton, and was a farmer by occupation. He married
Caroline E. Sage, by whom he had five children: James A., Theodore R., Edward E.,
as above, and Mercy E., now Mrs. John Merrill, of Toledo, Ohio, and Morris P.
Mr. Brewer's grandfather, Artemus Brewer, was born in Massachusetts, about 1776.
He married Electa Hall, by whom he had six children. He died in 1863, and his
wife about 1858. Mrs. Brewer's father, Peter G. Eigabroadt, was born at Palatine
Bridge, Montgomery county, N. Y., April 28, 1792. He married Lena Garlock, of his
native place, and came to this county in 1840. They had thirteen children: Mary,
Nancy, Elizabeth, Washington, David, James, Alonzo, Walter, Peter, Diana,
William, Charles, and Amelia. Charles was a soldier in the late war, in the 3d N.
Y. Vols., and died at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md. Peter was a soldier in a
Wisconsin Regiment, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. Mrs.
Brewer's father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Her grandfather, Adam Garlock,
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was in the battle of Oriskany. (p.
102-103)*
BROWNELL, JONATHAN, was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., July 29, 1844. He was
educated in the district schools, and is a farmer by occupation. August 11, 1862,
he enlisted in Co. D, 134th N. Y. Vols., was in Fredericksburg battles,
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, where he was wounded in the thigh, taken
prisoner and paroled on the field, was then transferred to the Western army, and
was with General Sherman in his march to the sea, also participated at the close
of the war in the grand march through Washington. He was honorably discharged
June 22, 1865. In 1867 he married Catherine Hawley, who died in 1868, and In 1871
he married for his second wife, Hannah M. Dygert, of Oneida, N. Y. by whom he had
five children: John A., Flora E., Edith M., Susie R., George L., William T. S.,
and Earl J. Flora E. married Harvey Renwick, of Blossville, and they have one
daughter, Ethel M. Mr. Brownell's father, Jonathan Brownell, was born in
Rensselaer Co., N. Y., in 1810, and was educated in the common schools. He
married Mary A. Ostrander, by whom he had three children: Nancy, Robert, and
Jonathan, as above. Mrs. Brownell died December 5, 1845, and Mr. Brownell in
1894. Mrs. Brownell's father, John Dygert, was born at Fort Plain, Montgomery
county, N. Y., in 1815, and came to Oneida, Madison county, with his parents,
when three years of age, where his father was killed by the Indians in his own
doorway. He married Betsey Phillips, of Oneida, by whom he had five children:
Thomas, Eliza, John, Hannah M., as above, and Alamanzo. He died in 1887, and his
wife in 1856. Mrs. Dygert's grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr.
Brownell is a member of Joseph H. Warren Post, No. 615, G. A. R., in which he has
filled all of the offices with the exception of chaplain. (p. 223)*
COOK, CASPER I., was born in Vienna, N. Y., June 7, 1838. His father, Andrew
Cook, a grandson of Captain Andrew Dillenbeck who was killed at the battle of
Oriskany, August 6, 1777, and grandson of John Cook, who participated in the
battle of Oriskany, and son of John I. Cook, who served in the war of 1812 as
captain at Sackett's Harbor. Andrew Cook settled in Vienna about 1823, coming
from Palatine, Montgomery county, N. Y., where he was born November 11, 1880;
died at his home in Vienna December, 1893. He married Jane E. Covell by whom he
had seven children: Betsey C., John, George, Charles, Caspar I., Joseph A., and
Verena J. Joseph A. enlisted in Co. C, 50th N. Y. Engineers, and served three
years; Caspar I. enlisted December 14, 1851 (?), in Co. C, 81st Regiment, N. Y.
S. Volunteers and received a 1st lieutenant's commission in 1864, and a captain's
commission January 1, 1865; discharged June 22, 1865; is now a member of
Constantia Post No. 519, and was married February 18, 1866, to Julia E., daughter
of Elijah and Prudence Watrous of Bolton, Conn., by whom he had four children: De
Witt C., a graduate of Rome Academy, class of 1889, who also attended Cornell
University one year, and in 1891 received an appointment in the pension office in
Washington, where he attended the evening sessions of Columbian University for
three years, but was prevented from finishing the course on account of failing
eyesight; J. Carlotta, and M. LeVanch, graduates of Rome Academy, class of 1891;
Jessie Waltrous, a graduate of Rome Academy, class of 1895. (p. 41- 42)*
CROUSE, JOHN M., senior member of the firm John M. Crouse & Son, wholesale
grocers, of Utica, is a son of Daniel Crouse, who joined his brother, John
Crouse, in the business as a general store in Canastota, N. Y., in 1827. In 1860
Daniel Crouse moved the concern to Utica and established a wholesale trade,
taking the name of Daniel Crouse, Son & Co. In 1871 this was changed to Daniel
Crouse & Sons, and in 1881 to J. M. & C. B. Crouse, both sons of Daniel. In 1894
the present firm of John M. Crouse & Son succeeded to the business, C. B. Crouse
retiring and Beecher M. Crouse son of John M. being admitted. Daniel Crouse was
born in 1805 in Minden, N. Y., settled in Utica in 1863, and died here in
September, 1877. In 1833 he married Catherine Jane Beecher, who survives, and of
their five children three are living: Daniel N., Charles B., and John M., all of
Utica. The firm whose business he founded nearly seventy years age does an
extensive wholesale grocery trade, and is one of the oldest and most prosperous
concerns of the kind in Central New York. Their present store on the corner of
Broad and John streets was built by Daniel Crouse and Daniel N. Crouse in 1871.
In 1874 the firm established a large packing and provision business on Catherine
street, and still continues it in connection with the store. John M. Crouse is a
director of the Oneida National Bank, the Utica Steam Cotton Mills, the Mohawk
Valley Cotton Mills, the Roberts-Wicks Company, and the Mohawk Valley Scotch Cap
Factory. (p. 235)*
FITZGERALD, EDWARD, was born in St. Johnsville, Montgomery county, N. Y., in
June, 1839. His parents were born in Ireland, and came to the United States in
1830 and first settled in Albany, whence they came to Utica, and in 1840 to the
town of Florence. Mr. Fitzgerald was a farmer by occupation and cleared a farm of
about one hundred acres, where he resided until his death. Edward Fitzgerald is
one of five children. He acquired a good education and taught school in the town
of Florence for several years and is a farmer by occupation, now owning a farm of
ninety acres. He married Hannah, daughter of David Barry of Seneca county, N. Y.,
and to them have been born ten children: Ella, Maud J., Lulu E., Katie B., Mary
A., Margaret T., Agnes L., Grace B., Evangeline, and Edward, jr. Politically Mr.
Fitzgerald is a Democrat, and in 1871 was elected supervisor of the town, which
office he held for nine years, was collector for two years, and has held the
office of justice since 1891, and was re-elected justice March, 1896, for the
term of four years; he has also held the office of inspector of election for
several years. He has held some town office every year since he became a voter.
(p. 97)*
FLINT, JAMES H., was born in Ava, December 6, 1857, son of Peter A., who
was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., January 8, 1820, and Catherine (Walradt)
Flint, a native of Otsego county. His grandparents, John R. and Lana (Yerdon)
Flint, were both natives of Montgomery county; and his great-grandparents, Robert
C. and Mary (Bartlett) Flint, were pioneers of Montgomery county, and they spent
their last days on the Flint homestead in Ava. John R. came to Ava in 1841 and
bought a farm of 370 acres, and he died in March, 1891, at the age of
ninety-four, and his wife died in 1885, at the age of eighty-five. Peter A. Flint
was reared on the farm and has made farming his principal occupation; but having
united with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1851, he was given license to
preach in that church, has been local minister since. He sold his farm of 180
acres to his son in 1895 and has retired. He has been supervisor for several
years and assessor for nine years. In 1882 James Flint married Amelia E. Pohl, by
whom he has one son, Clarence, who was born September 25, 1883. Mr. Flint
commenced farming in Lewis county, and in 1887 he rented the farm of 213 acres of
Sarah A. Wood, in Ava, and has a dairy of thirty to thirty-five cows. He also has
the homestead farm of 182 acres, where he keeps twenty-two cows. In politics he
is a Democrat, and has been excise commissioner, and is now assessor. (p. 98)*
FLUME, FRANK V., son of George and Mary Flume, was born in Baden, Germany March
8, 1843, and came to America with his parents in 1849. The family first settled
in Schoharie county, but moved thence to Montgomery county about 1858. There his
father died in 1862. His mother resides in Fort Plain, N.Y. Mr. Flume was
educated in the public schools and first engaged in farming and later in a saw
mill. In 1878 he removed to Utica and became a clerk in the grocery store of J.
Parker's Sons, with whom he remained three and one-half years. He then learned
the carpenter's trade, which he has since followed. He was one of the first
members of the carpenter's union and served as its secretary for a short time.
September 15, 1870, he married Angeline, daughter of Frederick and Naomi
(Dunster) Martin, of Tenterdon, county Kent, England. They have one son, Truman
Frederick, born August 3, 1871, and now engaged in the insurance business in
Rochester, N. Y. (p. 365)*
PORTER, CHESTER WINFIELD, was born in the town of Western, Oneida county,
September 3, 1861, a son of Joel and Ann A. (French) Porter, natives of Oneida
and Montgomery counties, respectively. His paternal grandfather, Chester Porter,
a native of Connecticut, was a pioneer of Steuben, Oneida county, and was a
tanner and shoe manufacturer. His paternal grandfather, a native of
Massachusetts, was a woolen and shoepeg manufacturer. Joel Porter, father of
Chester W., taught school in early manhood, but most of his life was spent in
farming and cheese manufacturing, and he died in Western, March 2, 1895, aged
seventy years. Chester Winfield Porter was educated in Syracuse Classical school
and Syracuse University, and was graduated from the latter in 1884. He began life
as an agriculturist and cheese manufacturer, in which he still continues, having
been associated with his father until the death of the latter. In 1892-93, he
served as member of assembly, representing the Third and Second districts of his
county, respectively, and acquitted himself of his duties to the general
satisfaction of his constituents. Mr. Porter is a supporter of the First M. E.
church of Western, is a member of the I. O. O. F., and Psi Upsilon Fraternity,
and politically is a Republican. (p. 39)*
ROGERS, STEPHEN, was born in Western, March 12, 1836, son of James and Eve
(Frank) Rogers, natives of Montgomery county, N. Y., who settled in Western about
1830, and engaged in farming, where they resided until their death. Their
children were Angeline (Mrs. Alfred Waldo), Andrew, Harriet, John J., Louisa,
Stephen, and George. His paternal grandfather, Francis Rogers, also a native of
Montgomery county, N. Y., was an early settler of Western, and a farmer by
occupation. Stephen Rogers was reared and educated in Western, where he has
always resided, and is a farmer by occupation. He is a member of the M. E.
church, and politically is an advocate of prohibition. (p. 25)*
SWEETING, JESSE V., was born in Schenectady county, N.Y., February 6, 1840, son of
Alfred and Elizabeth (Van Slyke) Sweeting. Alfred Sweeting was born at the present
family homestead at Hecla, as also was his father, Nathaniel Sweeting. He was born
September 2, 1809, and his wife was born March 21, 1820. Jesse V. Sweeting was
educated in Montgomery county, where he was engaged in farming. He settled on the
old homestead in Westmoreland in 1877, and married Mary Rockwell, of Charlestown,
Montgomery county, by whom he had five children: Lucy, Ella, Libbie, Jennie, and Henry.
Mrs. Mary Sweeting died June 14, 1892. Mr. Sweeting is married to Martha T. Swan, of
Albany, N.Y. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lowell. (p. 202-203)*
THOMAS, CHARLES H., was born on the farm where he now resides, April 17, 1840,
son of Stephen and Lucy (Goodell) Thomas. He was born in the first frame house in
this part of the country. His mother's family belonged to Montgomery county, N.Y.
His father's family were Quakers, and moved from Dutchess county to Herkimer
county when Stephen was twelve years of age. There were two brothers, Henry, of
Lone Rock, Wis., and the late Dr. D. G. Thomas of Utica, and one sister who
married Capt. Holcomb of Litchfield. About 1830 Stephen became connected with
Frankfort Iron Works, being superintendent first, and afterwards, as agent, he
traveled all over the State. In 1834 he came to Paris and bought a farm of eighty
acres, adding to it until it contained over two hundred acres. He was one of the
first to put up a cheese factory in this section, where his son Charles was
cheesemaker for some years. He was an energetic, progressive and successful
farmer, and was one of the men who rendered efficient aid in putting through the
Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley (now D. L. & W.) railroad, being one of
the commissioners until his health failed. Both parents died at the age of
eighty-seven years, leaving two sons, C. H., and W. J. Thomas of Westmoreland. In
1867 Charles H. Thomas married Frances L. Knight, daughter of Jeremiah Knight, M.
D., also of Quaker family, coming from Providence, R. I. He was a well known
physician of the town of Paris, also supervisor, and superintendent of schools.
Her mother, Lucia (Marsh) Knight, was a lineal descendant of Anne Webster,
daughter of Gov. John Webster, and John Marsh, both of whose names are to be
found on a fine shaft, erected to the memory of the first settlers in Hartford,
Conn. Other members of the family were, later on, first settlers of Hadley,
Mass., New Hartford, Conn., and still later of Whitesboro and New Hartford,
Oneida county, N.Y. These families were both represented in the wars of 1776,
1812, and the war of the Rebellion. Sergt. Robert Knight and Dr. Arthur Knight,
of Sauquoit, served three years in the Union army. The old militia commissions of
Capt. Nehemiah Knight, jr., rank of Colonel, "Cranston Blues, R. I." dated 1802,
signed by "Gov. Arthur Fenner, Commander in Chief of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations;" countersigned by "N. Knight, Senator," also the commission of
"Lieut. Jeremiah Knight, 140th N.Y. Infantry," signed by De Witt Clinton are
still in the possession of the family. Charles and Frances Thomas have three
sons: Jeremiah K. of Binghamton, Stephen G., and Irving H., still on the farm.
(p. 150-151)*
THOMAS, W. J., was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., August 6, 1829, son of Stephen
and Lucy (Goodell) Thomas. Stephen Thomas was born in Dutchess county, and Lucy,
his wife, was born in Montgomery county. Stephen Thomas was employed in Utica in
his early days, and after that engaged in farming, which he followed to the time
of his death at the age of seventy-seven. Mrs. Thomas also died at the age of
seventy-seven. W. J. Thomas was educated at the district school at Paris, then
assisted his father at farming, until he bought a farm of his own. Mr. Thomas
settled in Westmoreland on his present homestead in 1866. He married Sarah
Seymour, of Westmoreland, by whom he has three children: Elisha Goodell Thomas,
Caroline and Mary Thomas. All the children are members of the Methodist church.
(p. 191)*
VAN EVERA, VIRGIL E., was born in Knoxboro, N. Y. September 20, 1851, and has
been identified with many interests in the village. His father, Philemon Van
Evera, came from Montgomery county, and settled in Knoxboro in 1848. He was born
December 15, 1825, and for thirty years, after taking up his residence in this
place, carried on a boot and shoe establishment. He gradually developed an
extensive business in that line of goods, at that time purchasing the Howard
House, which he conducted for several years, and retired about two years ago. His
wife, Olivia Shepard, was born in Canada, February 25, 1826, and died at
Knoxboro, April 26, 1869. After receiving his education at Knoxboro and Augusta
Academy, Virgil E. at once entered his father's establishment, and continued
actively there for ten years, when he bought the interest of H. P. Pond, his
father's partner, and with his father conducted the business for five years.
Business having prospered, he became sole proprietor, buying his father's
interest in the stock, and enlarged the business opening a general store on a
larger scale. He then conducted it for a period of nine years, when he sold to M.
F. Smith & Sons, and entered into partnership with his father in the Van Evera
House, the name having been changed from Howard House, and he is now conducting
the house alone, and the hotel has a history dating back for more than seventy
years. He married Ella A. Lewis, a native of Knoxboro, who was born February 24,
1854, by whom he has two daughters: Lena O. born August 17, 1876, and Floy R.
born September 1, 1877 (p. 78-79)*
YAGER, HELEN.--The late Luther E. Yager was born in the town of Vienna, May 14,
1849. He was educated in the public schools, and was a farmer by occupation. He
was in the late war as drummer boy, and bugler in the cavalry branch of the
service, and was honorably discharged from the service. May 7, 1867, he married
Helen Suits, of the town of Verona, by whom he had one son, Burton E., who is a
farmer on the homestead with his mother. December 7, 1888, he married Alice W.
Spavin of this town, by whom he had two children: Luther E. and Flossie P. Mr.
Yager died March 2, 1881. Mrs. Yager's father, Christopher Suits, was born in
Stone Arabia, Montgomery county, N.Y., October 19, 1812, and came here with his
parents when a child. March 19, 1844, he married Barbara Wagner, of this town
formerly of France, by whom he had four children: Helen, Christopher, William H.
and Mrs. Mary R. Kilts. Mr. Suits died September 6, 1886, and his wife December
12, 1888. The family have resided on this homestead since 1856. (p. 332-333)*
YERDON, JAMES H., was born in the town of Boonville, N. Y., the son of John, who
was born in Canajoharie, Montgomery county, in 1822, the youngest of four sons
and five daughters born to Henry I. and Elizabeth (Castler) Yerdon. Henry I. was
the son of John, great-grandfather of James H. of Mohawk Dutch ancestry, a
soldier in the Revolutionary War, where he was badly wounded. He was a farmer by
occupation, and spent his life in Montgomery county. Henry I. was a carpenter by
trade and spent his last days in Boonville, living with his son John, where he
died in 1858. His wife died in the town of Canajoharie, Montgomery county, in
1825. John, father of James H. came to Boonville in March, 1837, at the age of
fifteen and worked in the lumber woods for his brother-in-law at $5.00 per month.
Seven years later he purchased 100 acres of timber land and began lumbering and
farming, and later added thereto until he owned 425 acres. He has also been
engaged in the saw mill business, but since 1889 has been retired from the more
active work, leasing his larger farm and conducting the smaller one. In 1846, he
married Lovina, daughter of Jacob Bellinger, by whom he had four children: Mary
E., Emma A. Jackson, James H. and Mrs. Addie Wollaber. James H. was born July 6,
1854, in a log house just a short distance north of the present house that marks
the place, which was erected the same year that he was born, located five miles
south of Boonville village on the west side of the Lansingkill and Black River
Canal. He received a limited education in the common schools, assisting his
father in lumbering and farming until he was twenty-one years of age. February
14, 1878, he married Alice C., daughter of George H. Wollaber, of Steuben, to
which town he moved and engaged in farming. He owns 170 acres of land, and
carries on general farming, but is especially interested in the breeding of
Holstein-Friesian cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Yerdon are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, he having been Sunday school superintendent several seasons,
trustee and steward. March 8, 1896, Mr. Yerdon was elected for a term of two
years, to represent his town as supervisor. (p. 59-60)*
WAGNER, EDWARD G., was born in Montgomery county, February 11, 1848, the oldest
son of Edward and Alida E. (Gray) Wagner. Both of his parents were descendants of
old Mohawk Valley families; his father was descended from John Peter Wagner in
1709, and whose only son, Lieut. -Col. John Peter Wagner, was a distinguished
officer in the Revolutionary war; he was in the battle of Oriskany, and after the
wounding of General Herkimer is said to have assumed command of the troops and
completed that important victory, which was at the time almost assured; several
of his sons were engaged with him, and his son John was the grandfather of Edward
Wagner, who was born in Montgomery county in 1819, and died in Whitesboro in
1886. Mrs. Wagner died in 1882; she was also a descendant of an officer engaged
in the battle of Oriskany. Edward G. Wagner was educated at Whitestown Seminary,
and located in Whitestown in 1867, where his father had purchased a large farm,
situated near the centre of the village. This he now conducts with his brother
Henry, entirely on business methods, and they are recognized as the
representative farmers of Whitestown. He has several times been president of the
village of Whitesboro, is a staunch Republican and takes an active interest in
the success of his party. He married Ida L., daughter of Jonathan Barnes of
Fairfield, Herkimer county. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are both members of the Episcopal
church of Whitesboro. (p. 205)*
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