His maternal ancestors were Hollanders, and settled about the year 1614 on Manhattan Island, at a point then called New Amsterdam, now the city of New York. On the paternal side he is of English extraction. Tradition says that some of this family name were among the early dissenters who, being driven by persecution from England, fled to Holland, many of them being subsequently induced to seek an asylum in the wilds of America, where they might enjoy religious liberty. James Babcock was one of the earliest settlers of Rhode Island. It would be interesting to trace the history of these families through the intervening years, but the present sketch must be confined to the later generations.
The father of Aaron M. was Roswell D. Babcock, who was born in Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y., in 1799. He was the youngest of seven children; and, when seventeen years old, by the death of his parents he was left to provide for himself. The farm which was the home of his childhood was sold, and he went to Lebanon to learn the blacksmith's trade of his brother. In 1818 he left his brother and went to Chatham, where he worked at his trade, being employed by one Jacob Groat, whose daughter Christina he married on February 28, 1819. She was an attractive young lady of sixteen years, having been born in Melville in 1802. They remained at her father's house for two years after the marriage; and the union was there blessed with one daughter, Martha, who was born October 28, 1820. In 1821 they removed to Ghent in the same county, and took a farm with a public house, where they remained for two years, and then moved to the city of Hudson. Mr. Babcock being employed in a grain store. While living in that place, three children were born to them, namely: George, born June 7, 1823; Sidney, born August 25, 1825; and Eveline, born July 21, 1828. They remained in Hudson for seven years, and then moved to Chatham, and engaged in farming. Three years later Mr. Babcock resumed work at his trade at Claverack, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Lanson Groat. His next move was back to Ghent, where the third son, Aaron M., was born, February 7, 1833. About three years from that date they moved to New Britain, where on September 11, 1836, another son was born, whom they called Jacob. They next moved to Stockport, where the fifth son, Edward A., whose biography appears in this volume, was born on July 7, 1839. Martha, the eldest of the children, was married on January 21 to Jacob Miller. Jacob, the sixth child, died on August 28, 1841.
The family then thought to better their condition by moving toward the West; and the next home was in Franklin, Delaware County, N. Y., where they arrived in the autumn of 1841. Here Mr. Babcock built a shop three miles east of the village, and worked at his trade for a time. He afterward worked for a little while at his trade at Rockdale, Chenango County, where his health began to fail; and he removed to the town of Tompkins, Delaware County, February 8, 1849. He grew gradually weaker, and died on Sunday afternoon, October 24, 1852, aged fifty-three years, five months, and seven days. The family was then broken up; and the widow, with the youngest children, Giles M. and Julia, went to live about one mile from Franklin, where they remained for five years. Mrs. Babcock subsequently married Harry Taylor, a well-to-do farmer of that neighborhood. Eight of these nine children reached maturity. Martha, now Mrs. Jacob Miller, is seventy-three years old, and lives at Avon, in Livingston County. George is an insurance man, and resides at Windsor. Sidney is the Franklin village blacksmith. Eveline became Mrs. George Darling, and lived at Binghamton. She is now deceased. Aaron M. and Edward A. are partners in business at Deposit. Giles M. is a journalist, living in Deposit. And Julia is the wife of Stephen Millechamp, of El Paso, Tex.
The early boyhood of Aaron was spent in Columbia County, and he came to Franklin with his parents at the time he was about twelve years old. He was naturally fond of books, and attended first the common schools of his neighborhood, and later the Delaware Literary Institute. Having been a student all his life, he has accumulated a large fund of knowledge, and may be said to have a fine practical education. He was married in 1855 to Amelia Brown, a daughter of Matthew P. Brown, of Deposit, who was long well known throughout the county, having for years served as Deputy Sheriff. For a long time Mr. Brown drove the stage from Deposit to Walton. He was also connected with M. R. Hulie in the lumber trade and in general merchandising. He died at eighty-three years of age. Amelia, the eldest of the five children of his family now living, was born in Deposit. She finished her education at the Laurel Bank Seminary.
Directly after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Babcock lived at Avon for one year, and one year at Mt. Morris, where he was engaged in the grocery business. He learned the trade of carpenter while a boy, and in 1857 with his brother Edward came to Deposit, built his present home, and has remained here since, giving his attention particularly to architecture and building, and has kept fully up with the times. He has made a careful study of his business in all its details, availing himself of the help of some of the best journals and books having reference to his work, until he has become a master in it. The Babcock Brothers deservedly have the patronage of the people. They have superintended the construction of many of the best buildings in the village and county, among which may be mentioned Robert Brown Block, Union Block, Matthews Block, Charles Wheeler Block, many cottages, and some of the finest residences in Deposit, together with the Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Baptist churches.
Mr. Aaron M. Babcock is a man of progress and enterprise, having a particular interest in all things which have a tendency to build up Deposit and the surrounding country. He is a kind and willing helper to those in distress, and with commendable energy works for the best interests of the town. He has served on the village Board, and was a valuable member when the water-works question was being considered and when the contract for its construction was made. Politically, he belongs to the Republican party. He voted for John C. Fremont, and has since voted for all the other Republican candidates for President.
Source: pages 181-183.
AUGUSTUS BABCOCK, Esq., of the city of Binghamton, N. Y., senior member of the firm of Babcock, Sperry & Van Cleve, attorneys and counsellors-at-law, was born at Scranton, Pa., October 7, 1855. His parents were Gilson L. and Margaret (Cox) Babcock, and his paternal grandparents were Ezekiel and Lydia Babcock. These latter reared a family of fourteen children, the mother four times giving birth to twins. Gilson Babcock was born in the town of Bridgewater, Susquehanna County, Pa., shortly after his parents emigrated from Connecticut. When he reached manhood, he went to Scranton, Pa., then only a small town, where he started in the grocery business; but after a brief stay he removed to Wilkesbarre.
Augustus Babcock was but one week old when his mother died; and he was taken to the home of his maternal grandparents (Cox), with whom he stayed until his fifth year, when his uncle, Gardner Babcock, who was then living at Harford, Pa., adopted him. Upon the removal of Gardner Babcock and family to Binghamton, N.Y., in 1872, Augustus accompanied them, and was educated in the high school of that city. He was a remarkably bright scholar, and, having an ambition to enter college, was well advanced in his preparatory course when a serious trouble with his eyes prevented him from accomplishing his desire. But withal he was a close student; and, when his health permitted, he entered the office of E. K. Clark, Esq., with whom he began reading law in January, 1877. He was admitted to the bar by examination at Albany, N.Y., in January of 1880, and on April 1 of that year was taken into the firm of Clark, Brown & Babcock of Binghamton, and commenced the practice of law.
December 1, 1883, he withdrew from that firm, and with a new partner opened an office under the name of Babcock & Harroun. This firm continued in practice until January 1, 1889, when Mr. Harroun retired, and Almiron M. Sperry, Esq., formed a partnership with Mr. Babcock. On October 1, 1889, William F. Van Cleve, Esq., became the third member of the firm, which is now known as Babcock, Sperry & Van Cleve. They have had many important cases, and do a large and lucrative business. Mr. Babcock has been especially fortunate in his extensive practice, a notable instance being the Perry case, which had been in litigation for fourteen years when he was retained by the plaintiff. Through many complications and discouragements the case was conducted to a successful issue, and established the reputation of the attorney as well as the right and title of his clients to valuable real estate.
Mr. Babcock was married February 1, 1887, to Miss Jane Q. Miller, daughter of Abram Miller. Mrs. Babcock, who is highly cultivated and accomplished, was before her marriage a popular and efficient teacher in the high school of Binghamton; and it was with unfeigned sorrow that her pupils, to whom she had endeared herself by her gentle and lovable qualities, parted with her when she severed her connection with the school. One child has been born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Babcock, a daughter named May. The family attend Trinity Church, and Mr. Babcock is a member of the Broome County Bar Association.
Source: pages 572 - 573.
EDWARD A. BABCOCK, the junior member of the firm of Babcock Brothers, architects, contractors, and builders, Deposit, Broome County, is a gentleman having excellent qualifications for his chosen work in life. In the great field of labor no vocation requires better judgment or more careful application of means to ends than the business of the architect and builder. Upon the character of his work depends, in a great measure, the health and happiness of the race. He determines whether the sense of sight shall be pleased by the beauty of his designs, or whether the eye shall wander over his work with pain; whether, during the cold and wintry blasts, a good degree of warmth and comfort shall be enjoyed by the dwellers in town and in country homes, or whether they shall shake and shiver and chill in keeping with the storm; whether they shall breathe a foul, death-dealing atmosphere, or have the pure and wholesome air conducive to health; whether they shall live amid the light and sunshine, or spend their time in darkness and despair; and, therefore, to a great extent, whether they shall be happy or miserable. It is not easy to exaggerate the importance of the proper construction of the homes of men, giving due attention to the needs of ventilation, sanitation, heat, light, and the thousand and one things which go to make up the comforts and pleasures of living.
Mr. Babcock, by study, application, and experiment, has become an expert in regard to the essential elements of a complete and perfect dwelling. He keeps fully informed concerning every improvement of material or design, and much of his best work is original with himself. He traces his ancestry to early English and Dutch settlers in this country, being a son of Roswell D. and Christina (Groat) Babcock, of whom further mention may be found on another page of this volume. He was born at Stockport, N. Y., July 7, 1839. Being thirteen years old when his father died, he went to live with Reuben Smith, who was a farmer, and with whom he remained three years. Having a natural taste for mechanics, he went with his brothers George and Aaron to Avon, N.Y., near Rochester, and engaged in work at the carpenter's trade. After remaining there one year, he came to Deposit, and followed the same business until the fall of 1860, meanwhile attending the Delaware Literary Institute at Franklin during the winter months. During the fall of 1860 work was not abundant in Deposit; and he went to Windsor in the same county of Broome, and obtained employment in a whip factory, remaining till the Civil War aroused his patriotic blood, when he, with Seymour Judd, raised a company of volunteers.
They two were among the very first to put their names upon the roll of Company G of the Eighty-ninth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, which became one of the hardest fighting regiments in the Union army. Mr. Judd became the Captain of the company; Edward Bloomer, of Binghamton, First Lieutenant; and Mr. Babcock was unanimously chosen Orderly Sergeant. The regiment was first called "Dixon Guards," and went into camp at Elmira, where was begun the necessary drill and discipline. After about thirty days Companies A and G were supplied with arms, and ordered to Washington, where they were quartered at Camp Henry. The whole regiment were soon supplied with munitions of war, and ordered into the field; and, joining "Burnside's expedition," they went to Annapolis, Md., January 6, 1862. The following day the part of the regiment to which he belonged was ordered on board the boat "Aracon"; and on January 8, upon the signal from the ship "S. R. Spaulding," they took their departure for Fortress Monroe.
On the way they encountered a terrific storm, and were for twenty-one days unable to effect a landing, expecting momentarily to be wrecked by the fury of the storm. No preparation having been made for such an emergency as this, the provisions were exhausted; and, with hunger and thirst added to the horrors of the situation, the introduction to the "field" was not as pleasant as it might have been. Their flag of distress finally brought assistance; and they were rescued by a rickety old side-wheeler called "Wheelbarrow," and finally succeeded in landing. The next day they secured transportation on a Louisiana steamboat for Roanoke Island; and again they had trouble---by the bursting of a steam pipe---and again the "Wheelbarrow" came to their assistance, and landed them in time to participate in the battle of Roanoke, where they whipped the rebels, took the island, and there remained, making that place their headquarters during the winter of 1862.
On April 19 they went up to Camden to destroy a lock on a canal, and were for several hours engaged by the Confederates, the battle terminating amid a terrific thunder-storm. They went into camp; and about midnight he was aroused by the Captain, who told him to wake up the boys carefully, as there was an army of "Johnnies" coming down to fight them in the morning. He quietly aroused the boys; and they formed, and marched back to the gunboats lying along the river, and were taken on transports back to Roanoke Island. The first bloodshed of the regiment occurred at Camden, where a number of men were killed. Soon after the arrival at Roanoke Island the regiment received orders to report at Aqua Creek; and thence they took cars, and went to Fredericksburg, where for a number of weeks they were on picket duty, and had orders to burn the bridge over the river at that point. After that they marched during the night through the mud back to Aqua Creek, and were transferred by transports to Washington, and assigned to duty in the army of the Potomac at Frederick City, Md. There they took a number of rebel prisoners, captured the rebel hospital, and were received with great delight by the citizens of the place, many of whom were not strongly in sympathy with the Confederacy. On Sunday, September 14, 1862, they started for the battlefield of South Mountain, having a position on the left. The Federal battery was on the right, the rebels made the attack on the left, and during the engagement General Reno was killed. The Eighty-ninth New York stood firm under repeated and desperate charges, and poured eight rounds of ammunition into the ranks of the enemy, who finally broke ranks and fled, closely pursued by the regiment, who took three hundred of them prisoners. This gallant action was observed by the Captain of the battery, who was on the right with six pieces of artillery; and, after the battle was over, he came up, and inquired, "What regiment is this?" The answer came back, "The Eighty-ninth New York"; and he responded: "Bully boys! If it had not been for you, I should have lost my battery."
That night they rested on their arms, and early Sunday morning started on the march to Antietam. The ground was literally strewn with the Confederate dead, and the road had to be cleared of the bodies that the artillery might pass. It was here that hundreds of bodies were thrown into a deep well, which was near a log house along the road. They continued the march early Monday morning for Antietam, wading a stream of water up to their waists, and arriving on the afternoon of the 15th. The Confederates ascertained the position of the camp, which they began to shell; and the Federals built fires, so that the smoke would hide their immediate position form the artillery. On the night of the 16th they marched up to the stone bridge known as Number Three in the edge of the woods, the regiment being on the extreme left under Burnside, and the battle having commenced in the morning on the extreme right. The sharpshooters and artillery made the position untenable; but during the afternoon orders came from General McClellan to force the bridge by all means, which task they performed at great hazard and heavy loss. Being then ordered to charge the battery on the brow of the hill, a fierce conflict ensued; and here the regiment proved invincible, as against volley after volley which was poured into their ranks they pushed forward, gained the elevation, and cleared the wall on the very brow of the hill. It seemed miraculous that any could have escaped from the terrible rain of shot and shell; and Sergeant Babcock, who in these battles was in the thickest of the fight, at South Mountain was wounded in the left side of the face, and at Antietam was slightly wounded in the left leg by a shell. Here the Eighty-ninth New York established beyond any doubt that they were fighting men, when the occasion demanded the greatest courage; and, indeed, they stood the brunt of the battle, successfully resisting the combined efforts of four Confederate regiments of North Carolina troops. From Antietam they went to Pleasant Valley, where the troops were inspected by President Lincoln, and then started in pursuit of Lee's army, following him straight to Fredericksburg.
At this time Mr. Babcock was granted a furlough of thirty days, which was extended ten days, making forty days away from the regiment, when he returned just in time to be "stuck in the mud" before the second battle of Fredericksburg. While on picket duty a little later, at Newport News near Fortress Monroe, he unfortunately took a severe cold, became sick, and was sent to the hospital. The troops being ordered to another locality, he, with the other disabled soldiers, was transferred to Hampton Hospital in Fortress Monroe, where, suffering from a complication of ailments, he was compelled to remain for about a month---to him the longest, saddest, dreariest thirty days of his whole term in the army. He was then discharged on account of physical disability, and returned home May 31, 1863, having been in the service two years. Here, among his friends and relatives, although an apparently physical wreck, by careful attention and good care he soon began to recuperate, and in time regained his strength and a measure of health.
November 25, 1861, Edward A. Babcock was married to Fanny Irene Teed, daughter of Lebbeus L. and Letitia (Page) Teed. Her father was born at Trout Creek, and was of the Teed family that settled very early in that vicinity, the place being for some time called Teedville. Mr. Teed was an active man in public affairs, and was Postmaster for about thirty years. Mrs. Babcock's paternal grandfather, John Teed, was a native of Orange County, his father, John Teed, Sr., having moved from Orange to Delaware County during the pioneer days of that part of New York. The mother of Mrs. Babcock, formerly Letitia Page, was born at Fairfield, Vt., and was distantly related to General Putnam of Revolutionary fame. She died, at the age of sixty-four years, on March 31, 1876. She was a lady of marked intelligence and a useful member of society, belonging to a noble type of Christian womanhood---earnest in all benevolent enterprises, self-sacrificing, esteeming it more honorable to forgive than to resent an injury, most happy in the communication of happiness. Mr. Lebbeus Teed is now eighty-four years old, and is living at Sayre, Pa. There were six children in his family, namely: Hiram P., a merchant at Sayre, Pa.; Francis W., deceased, formerly a merchant at Trout Creek; Fanny Irene; Alanson K., who was a Union soldier in the Fifty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, and is now engaged in merchandising at Trout Creek; Agnes L., living in New York City; and Lebbeus Williston, who died in New York City, leaving three children.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Babcock have had two children, Bertha Letitia and Pearl Irene. The latter died when five years and ten months old; and the former is now the wife of Mr. N. C. Oakley, who has been connected with and interested in the Deposit Journal. They have one child---Edward Williston.
Mr. E. A. Babcock since his army experience has been a citizen of Deposit, and for the past twenty-one years has been a member of the firm of Babcock Brothers, who are by common consent the leading builders in this part of the State, having extensive business in Broome and Delaware Counties. Fraternally, he is a member of Eggleston Post, Grand Army of the Republic, No. 184, and is a Past Commander of the same. Politically, he adheres to the Republican party. Religiously, he is connected with the Baptist church, to which denomination his family belong. Socially, he is one of the most genial, affable of men, having the faculty of entertaining friend or stranger; and, when either comes within his gates, he is made to feel comfortable and at home. Mrs. Babcock is not less companionable, and together they dispense with liberal hand a generous hospitality.
Source: pages 238-242.
JAMES H. BARNES, proprietor of the marble business, still known under the firm name of Barnes & Congdon, was born in Virgil, Cortland County, N. Y., December 24, 1836, son of Jeremiah and Polly Ann (Angel) Barnes. His father, whose remote ancestors were from Holland, was born in Dutchess County, near Poughkeepsie, New York, March 11, 1811. He was a lumberman and farmer, and had been engaged in that business in Sullivan County. He went from there to Cortland, and was a Justice of the Peace for many years and one of the reliable representative men of the county. In 1848 he went to Broome County, and was a contractor for the Erie Railway, afterward settling in the town of Maine in that county. He was Commissioner of Highways for some time. From there he went to Union Village, Broome County, where he now lives, retired, at the age of eighty-three years. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an officer in it for over half a century. His wife was born near Providence, R. I., and was of English origin. Her family afterward settled in Otsego County, going from there to Cortland County, where she married Jeremiah Barnes. They reared a family of twelve children, James being the eldest of six boys. The mother was accidentally killed at the age of fifty-eight.
Young Barnes attended the district school of his native town, trudging wearily through the snow and over the rugged roads for nearly two miles during the winter months. After mastering the rudiments of English learning, he went to the old academy, which stood near the present court-house in Binghamton, and later to the Binghamton Seminary. While attending the academy, he earned the money to pay his school expenses and his board by working evenings and mornings. Later he taught school, and thus through his industry and economy gained the means to complete his education in the seminary, having no assistance whatever from his parents, who were too poor to help him. After leaving the seminary, where he had closely applied himself to his studies to fit himself thoroughly for the work of teaching, Mr. Barnes continued for some time to teach school winters, being besides always learning.
In 1859 he engaged in the marble and monument business, as salesman for the old establishment of Job N. Congdon, remaining with him for two years, and then being taken into partnership, the firm name being Congdon & Co. For ten years a most successful business was conducted, and then Mr. Barnes bought his partner's interest; and a new company was formed, known as Barnes & Blanding. They built the brick block, three stories in height, No. 96 and 98 Chenango Street, known as the Barnes Block. The firm of Barnes & Blanding continued for about seven years, when the latter retired; and Mr. J. N. Congdon returned to the business which he had founded over a half-century ago, this partnership continuing until 1883. Mr. Congdon then withdrew his interest; and Mr. Barnes became sole manager, but still retains the firm name. This is the oldest establishment of the kind in the country, having been started in 1840.
Though this house has long been a prominent feature of the local monument trade in Southern New York and Northern Pennsylvania, its business is by no means confined to that one locality, but extends throughout the United States as far west as the Pacific Coast. The firm has always kept a travelling representative, and Mr. Barnes himself has done much journeying for business purposes. While the cemeteries of this and neighboring cities are graced by many beautiful specimens of the skill of this firm, they have also filled contracts for many notable public monuments in various localities. They designed and erected the elegant soldiers' monument in Binghamton, N. Y., as well as the graceful shafts to the memories of the soldiers in Montrose, Pa., and at New Berlin, Owego, and Sherburne, N. Y. Mr. Barnes is quite extensively engaged in real estate business in Binghamton. In 1875-76 he represented the city in the Common Council as Alderman for the Third Ward at that time, and was President of that body. He was Health Officer for two terms, declining a third nomination.
On February 10, 1864, Mr. James H. Barnes married Miss Jane E. Minor, of Coventry, Chenango County, N. Y. She was born in 1839, daughter of Gideon B. and Lydia A. (Gere) Minor, her father being one of the oldest residents of Chenango County, having gone there from Connecticut. Her father was a teacher in the State of Maryland for many years, and afterward came to New York, and, having spent some years in Coventry and Oxford, N. Y., came to Binghamton, where he died in 1876. He was born in 1800. His wife survived him about fourteen years, and died at the house of her daughter, Mrs. Barnes, in 1890, at eighty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Minor were working members of the Presbyterian church for many years. Mrs. Barnes received a large part of her education, both classical and musical, in Maryland, but completed her classical course in the academy at Oxford, N. Y. She was for some years engaged in teaching music.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have one son, James E., who was educated at the Binghamton High School and Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., and has been an extensive traveller over the American continent. He is now engaged in the marble works of Norwich. Mrs. Barnes is one of the most active workers in the cause of charity and philanthropy in the city of Binghamton. She has been superintendent for many years of the primary department of the First Presbyterian Sunday-school and of one of its most worth enterprises, the Industrial School; also Secretary and Treasurer of the Bureau of Associated Charities, Secretary of the City Employment Society, President of the Woman's Sunday School Work in Broome County; has been Secretary of State Sunday School Woman's Work for eight years, and also has been one of the Board of Lady Managers of the Susquehanna Valley Home.
The family attend the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Barnes is a member of Maine Lodge, A. F. & A. M. His sterling qualities have won for him a host of friends, and his enterprise in business affairs has made him one of the most prominent as well as representative men of Binghamton. He has long taken an active part in local politics in the city of Binghamton, and has always been found in the front ranks of the Republican party.
A portrait of this worthy gentleman appears in connection with this sketch, and will be universally appreciated by his many friends and large circle of acquaintances.
Source: pages 397-399.
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