Family Sketches Ontario County NY

"B" Surname Family Sketches

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

D. Willard Beam, Canadice, was born in Canadice, November 13, 1838. At the age of eighteen years he began the carpenter's trade, and became a contractor and builder quite extensively for twenty-three years. In 1873 he bought the farm known as the Heazlett farm, containing 120 acres. In 1880 he bought the farm known as the Thomas Doolittle farm, containing sixty acres. He makes specialties of hops and hay, having been engaged extensively in buying and shipping of hay to the New York and New England markets. He has a wife and two daughters: E. Allene and Georgia Lillian, and Berthina, his wife, all members of the Methodist Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and has been assessor and supervisor of the town in which he lives.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Beam, Smith A., East Bloomfield, a native of Sodus, Wayne county, was born in 1835. He is one of eight children of John and Margaret (Delong) Beam, natives of Connecticut, who in an early day settled on a farm in Sodus, Wayne county, where Mr. Beam died in 1885, while on a visit to his son, Smith A. The latter was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. In 1861 he married Hester A. Black, a native of Smithfield, and daughter of Loring Black, and they have one child, Loring J., born August 5, 1872, in Canandaigua. He received a common school education, and is engaged in farming. Mr. Beam also has an adopted daughter, Louise Setz, whose parents were John and Barbara Setz, of Churchville. She is a milliner. In 1865 Mr. Beam went to Canandaigua, where he resided six years, then moved to East Bloomfield and purchased sixty-four acres. This he afterwards sold, and in 1880 bought the farm now owned by the family, where Mr. Beam remained until his death, November 12, 1892. He was a Democrat, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist church of Canandaigua.

From The Story of Geneva; compiled by E. Thayles Emmons; 1931;

Charles Danford Bean, attorney, is a member of a well-known old Geneva family. He was born in Marion, Wayne County, 1861. His early years were spent in New York City, where he was a pupil at St. John's Trinity Parish School and North Moore Grammar School. He also attended the Franklin Academy at Prattsburg and the Geneva Union School. At the age of eighteen he graduated from Hobart College and commenced the study of law with his uncle, Major Bean, and Judge Fowler. For many years Mr. Bean continued to reside in the house at Maple Hill, now Lafayette Inn, but eventually sold the place. He is a man of numerous and wide activities and is himself numbered among Geneva historians.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Bean, John E., Geneva - This widely known and esteemed attorney was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1824. At the age of twelve he came to this country and became a resident of Sodus, in Wayne county. There he lived for four years, and in 1841 was in the Union School at Geneva. In 1846 he graduated from the Geneva College. He read law with B. Slosson, and was admitted to all New York State courts in 1849, and has practiced at Geneva since. In 1864 he was admitted to practice in the United States District and Circuit courts. He has held the office of justice of the peace several terms and acted as police justice in Geneva. In 1846 he joined the Geneva fire department. In 1851 he received his commission as captain from Governor Hunt in the Fifty-fifth Regiment of the New York militia, and in 1853 another commission from Governor Seymour. In 1856 he was elected major of Fifty-ninth Regiment, Seventh Division of the New York State militia, receiving his commission from Governor Clark. At the beginning of the war he was inspector of troops at Geneva. In his early life he taught school several terms under a State certificate. In 1849 he married Miss Van Vorhis. Shunning the life of a politician, he has devoted himself with great success to his profession.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Maximillian C. Beard, Canandaigua, was born in Biloxi, Miss., November 27, 1864, and was educated in the University of Louisiana and at Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, N. J., where he graduated in the class of 1887 with the degree of Mechanical Engineer. Previous to entering the institute he acquired some practical knowledge of machinery, especially in the Bethlehem Iron Company shops at South Bethlehem, Pa., spending two years there and in other shops, gaining his practical education. After leaving college he had charge of the Philadelphia office of the Welsbach Incandescent Gaslight Co. as engineer. After leaving them he joined as partner in the business now engaged in. He married in 1888, Gertrude T., daughter of H. M. Finley, of Canandaigua, and they have one daughter, Philadelphia I. Mr. and Mrs. Beard are attendants of St. Joseph's Episcopal church, of which Mr. Beard is a vestryman. He holds the office of trustee of the Ontario Orphan Asylum.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Becker, John Franklin, Canadice, was born in 1830 in Richmond. His father, John, born in 1800, died in 1850, and was a native of Schoharie county, thence coming to Canadice, and from there to Richmond. In 1820 he married Lurana Allen, and of their nine children, W. D. and Allen live in Richmond, and John F. in Canadice. He was always a farmer. John F. married in 1851 to Mary Adaline, daughter of Daniel Short 2d, of Richmond and settled in Canadice on the Middle Road in 1864. He had eight children: Clara E., Marion J., Hattie M., Lana L., Speedy S., Fremont H., Spencer U. and Adda M., all deceased except Spencer U. and Marion J. He married second in 1877 Lucinda Jane Butler, daughter of William Butler, of Canadice, and they have had eight children, six now living: Herbert E., born in 1879; May A., born in 1880; Grove F., born in 1882; Jay F., born in 1883; Belle, born in 1888; Reid H., born in 1892. Mr. Becker has always been a farmer, and is a Republican in politics.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Marion J. Becker, Canadice, son of John F., was born in Richmond, January 24, 1854. He was educated at the district schools and taught during fourteen winters. In 1874 he married Emma Tague, daughter of Joseph Tague, the present postmaster of Canadice, who, when a boy, came with James B. Sayre to this town, as an adopted son of the latter. They have three children: Maud L., born October 9, 1880; Spedee M., born January 19, 1884, and Spencer Dayton, born September 12, 1889. Mr. Becker owns twenty acres at the homestead, and a half interest in another farm of ninety acres and also in one of 109 acres. He buys and sells sheep, and usually keeps on hand about 100 head. He is a Republican, and he and his wife are Methodists. Mrs. Becker's father married Barbara Ann Struble, and had three children. He has been a blacksmith at Canadice forty years.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Philip Becker, Geneva, was born in Bavaria, Germany, January 19, 1835, where he was educated. He came to the United States in 1854, first locating in Brooklyn, N. Y., for one year, then came to Geneva, and has been in the hotel business twenty-five years. He has been in his present location twenty-one years in the "Kirkwood." Through polite attention to commercial men and the general public, together with efficient management it has become one of the leading hotels of the place. February 11, 1861, he married Mary Finck of Geneva, formerly of Rochester, and they have had five children: John H. (deceased), Fannie L., Henry H., Edward (deceased), and Louis (deceased). Fannie L. married James C. Beebe, of Syracuse, and they have one daughter, Inez B. Henry H. is in company with his father under the firm name of Philip Becker & Son. He married Mary E. Steele of Romulus, N. Y., and they had a son, Eldreth J., who died in infancy. Philip Becker is a member of Ark Lodge No. 33 F. & A. M.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Christopher Bellinger, East Bloomfield, a native of Little Falls, was born December 17, 1827, a son of John C., a native of Little Falls, whose parents were among the earliest settlers here, and whose father was killed at Little Falls while working in a stone quarry. John C. was born in 1797, and was reared by David Richmyre, a blacksmith, with whom he learned that trade. He also kept a hotel and followed farming, having fallen heir to a farm from his father. He used to go on foot to Albany to purchase iron to bring back on flat boats up the Mohawk. He married Mary Feeter, a native of Manheim, and daughter of Col. William Feeter, of Revolutionary fame. He was an intimate friend of General Herkimer, and maintained the mail service from Newport to Albany. The government afterwards employed him to carry the mail, and for many years some one of the family acted as mail carrier. He was a friend of Sir William Johnson, and was one of forty men known as "Tryon county bull dogs." Mr. Feeter was born February 12, 1756, and his wife, Elizabeth, March 23, 1764. They were the parents of twelve children. John C. Bellinger and wife had seven sons and two daughters. He died in 1881, and his wife in 1871. Christopher received a common school education, and has always been a farmer. In 1849 he married Christina Walrath, a native of Herkimer county, born November 14, 1828. She is one of eight children of Moses and Margaret (Whitmasher) Walrath. The father of Moses Walrath was Jacob, one of the earliest settlers of the county. Christopher and wife have had seven children: Margaret, Hiram, Moses, Jerome (deceased), Christina, Gertrude, and Hattie. Mr. Bellinger formerly owned ninety-seven acres of land in the town of Columbia, which he sold, and purchased 100 acres and a saw-mill in Danube. Here he kept a large dairy and did an extensive business in hop growing. In 1866 he came to East Bloomfield and bought the Colonel Rochester farm of 304 acres, which he has greatly improved. He is an active Democrat, and has been assessor and excise commissioner.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

George D. Bement, Victor, was born in Victor, August 24, 1829, and went with his parents to Orleans county at the age of ten years. He was educated in the public schools and Albion Academy, and by occupation was a joiner and builder. March 2, 1889, he married Mary D. Brown of Hopewell. Mr. Bement has done business in several States in the Union. His father, Heman D., was born in Stockbridge, Mass., March 18, 1799, and in 1811 joined his father in Tioga county, residing there until nineteen, when he came to Victor. He was a farmer and miller. November 13, 1826, he married Selecta Dryer of Victor (whose family were of Holland descent, and whose mother, Lydia Cobb, was of Welsh ancestry), and they had five children: Phoebe M., George D., Mary A., Helen L. and John D. They moved to Gaines, Orleans county, in 1839, returning to Victor in 1865. His father died December 7, 1876, and his mother March 28, 1893, at the age of eighty-eight years. His grandfather, John Bement, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., September 3, 1776, and married Amy Dewey in 1797. She was born March 23, 1778, of English descent, and they had twelve children. He was appointed justice of the peace by Gov. DeWitt Clinton in 1817. The great-grandfather, Asa Bement, was born in Wethersfield, Conn., and in 1761 married Ruth O'Neil, who was born on the water coming from Ireland, May 11, 1738. They had eight children. He represented Berkshire county in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1806. Mr. Bement's great-great-grandfather, William Bement, married Phoebe Markum, and had four sons. He was a soldier in the Revolution from 1775 to 1789. Mr. Bement's ancestry comprises English, French-Huguenot, Welsh, Holland and Irish.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

John B. Bement, Victor, father of George S., was born in Victor, September 7, 1821. He ran the first threshing machine that separated the grain from the straw in Ontario county, and has followed it continuously for fifty-three years. He married three times: first, June 7, 1845, Margaret Sever, and they had one son, George S.; both mother and son are deceased. January 14, 1852, he married second Sarah E. Webster, of Parma, N. Y.; she died December 15, 1860. He married third, Mrs. Jennett (Camp) Benson, and they have one son, George S., born September 30, 1862. He was educated in the public schools and is a steam thresher by occupation. December 24, 1883, he married Ida M., daughter of Ransom I. and Merilla Hill, of Penn Yan, Yates county. John B. Bement's father, Harry, was born in the State of Massachusetts in 1793, and came with his parents to this State when he was three years old. He married Nancy Webster, formerly of Massachusetts, and they had nine children: Susan, Morgan, Maria, John B., Amanda, William, Emily, Ashel, and Henry. His grandfather, Ebenezer Bement, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Bement's father, George S. Benson, was born in Dutchess county in 1815, and married Naomi Wardwell, of Cayuga county. They had seven children: Jennett M., Eliza J., David T., Charles H., Caroline E., Sarah M., and Julia A. George S. is a member of Milnor Lodge No. 139 F. & A. M. He is also highway commissioner of the town. Mrs. Bement's brother, David T., was a soldier in the late war.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

D. C. Benham, was born in Hopewell on the farm he now owns, August 22, 1825, a son of Thomas Benham, a native of Dutchess county, who came when a young man to Hopewell, and here married Eliza Coe, a native of Rockland county, who came to Hopewell with her parents, Isaac and Nancy Coe. Mr. Benham has on his farm an Indian well built with brick brought from France. Some of these bricks will be at the World's Fair at Chicago. Their family consists of one son and three daughters. He died in 1876, and his wife in 1885. Subject was reared on a farm, and on January 24, 1854, married Mary A., daughter of John and Amy (Smith) Crane, who reared seven children. Mr. Crane was in the War of 1812. He and his wife settled in Canandaigua, where both died, he November 3, 1873, and his wife March 18, 1887. Mr. Benham and wife have two sons, Charles D., who has charge of his father's fruit farm in Gorham; and James E., who resides at home. His wife is Hattie Wadsworth, a native of Hopewell. Mr. Benham was under sheriff of Ontario county from 1876 to 1880, and on September 6. 1878, hung Chas. Eighmy, this being the first execution in Ontario county. Mr. Benham is a Democrat, and a member of Canandaigua Lodge NO 294 F. & A. M., and Excelsior Chapter No. 164 R. A. M. Mr. Benham has been senior deacon and scribe for a number of years. He represented his lodge at the annual convocation at Albany, February 2 and 3, 1892.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

J. H. Benham, was born on the farm he now owns in Hopewell, February 6, 1817, a son of Ebenezer second, who was a son of Vincent, who came from Morristown, N. J., to Dutchess county, and finally to Canandaigua, where he and his wife lived and died. Ebenezer second was born in Morristown, N. J., in 1787, and married Mary, daughter of John and Mary Harwood, of Connecticut, and early settled in Hopewell. Ebenezer Benham had two sons and five daughters. His wife died in 1827, and Betsey Root became his wife, by whom he had five daughters. He died in 1856. Our subject, who for many years has been one of the leading farmers of Hopewell township, was educated in the common schools and Canandaigua Academy. In 1838 he married Sophia Murray who was born in Hopewell, December 12, 1817. Her parents were William D. and Sophia (Russell) Murray, of Massachusetts, who settled in Hopewell in 1801. Here Mr. Murray died in 1827, and his wife in 1869. Mr. Benham and wife had these children: Emogene (deceased), Murray, Margaret (deceased), Mary, Ebenezer M., who resides on the old homestead, and Jessie F. He married Hattie H. Case, of Bloomfield, by whom he had three children: Florence C., John H., and W. Case. Ebenezer Benham stands at the head in New York State as a breeder of Hampshiredown sheep, having taken the first premium in the county fairs, New York State fairs, and Western New York fairs. He also breeds fine Jersey cattle. J. H. Benham at present owns over two hundred acres of land, including find buildings. He is a Republican and has been town clerk, justice of the peace for eight years, was supervisor one term, and county superintendent of the poor for nine years and once elected by a majority of 1,200. Mr. Benham and wife are members of the M. E. Church at Hopewell, of which he was one of the Board of Trustees for thirty years, has been steward and at present is district steward.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Charles Bennett, Geneva, was born in Starkey, Yates county, January 22, 1820, and came to Geneva with his parents when an infant. He was educated in the old Castle School, and in early life was a farmer. He had conducted a livery and stage business for ten years, and is now a brick manufacturer and farmer. He has married twice, first in 1850, Elizabeth White, of Geneva, who died in 1861. In 1863 he married second, Judith Tillott, of Clifton Springs. She died in 1888. Mr. Bennett's father, George, was born in New Jersey in 1792, and came to Western New York when a young man. He married Sarah Lum, of Geneva, and they had seven children: John L., Hannah, Charles, Henry, George, Horace H. and James; all except Charles were born in Geneva. His father resided in Yates county only one year, locating in this place in 1811. He was a soldier of 1812 from here at Sodus Point. His grandfather, Mathew Bennett, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Bennett's father was a member of the Baptist church. In politics Mr. Bennett is a Democrat and attends the North Presbyterian Church.

From Phelps Citizen 29 January 1903

John H. Bennett came to Phelps in 1833 from Marathon, Cortland county. He married a Miss Cook, sister to Revs. T. D. and J. M. Cook, Universalist clergymen. His home was at Unionville for many years and later removed to the village. He was a builder and contractor. Bennett Block was owned and erected by him. She died in 1891, aged 74 years, and he died in 1888, aged 72 years. They had Sarah, who married Martin Vosburg; Emily, who married Mr. Garwood and died in 1873, aged 22 years; Mary, who married Mr. Atkins; and Eugene, who married and had children, Francis and James. Mr. Bennett was a public-spirited citizen and at a time was president of the village board of trustees.

From Phelps Citizen 29 January 1903

Thomas Bennett died in Phelps, September 28, 1851, aged 74 years. His wife was Elizabeth (unknown), and their children were Harriet, Catharine, Matilda, who married Benjamin Finch; Rebecca Morse; Joshua; Jesse and Resign. Mr. Bennett was born Sept. 22, 1777. He is buried in the old cemetery. This is all we know of the family, but perhaps some one can inform us. The family doubtless removed from the town.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Ichabod Benson, Victor, was born in Mendon, Monroe county, December 19, 1823, was educated in the common schools, worked at carpenter's trade several years, and in January, 1852, went to the gold fields of California; returning in 1856, he has since followed farming. June 4, 1857, he married Mary J., daughter of Anson and Hulda (Simonds) Lord, and they had four children: Alonzo L., who married Sarah Caroline Tufford, of Canada, and has one child, Harvey L.; Cora J., who died at the age of eleven; Clara E., who married Charles K. Spellman, of Pittsford; and James H., who resides at home with his parents. Mrs. Benson's father, Anson Lord, was born in Saratoga county, September 10, 1810, and married Huldah Simonds, of Henrietta, who was born February 27, 1813, and they have seven children: Mary J., William J., James H., Matthias L., Clara B., Daniel A., and Eliza A. Mrs. Benson's brother, Matthias L., was taken prisoner at the battle of Gettysburg.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Bently, M.D., Francis E., Canandaigua, was born in VanBuren, Onondaga county, April 23, 1816, a son of Isaac Bently of that town. The earliest ancestors of this family came to this country from England in 1740. The father of our subject was born in Rhode Island, and came to Onondaga county in 1804, locating in Pompey, and in 1811 moved to the homestead where Francis B. was born. Subject was educated at Cazenovia Seminary, and attended Geneva Medical College two seasons, graduating January 24, 1841. He then went with his preceptor, Dr. Root of Memphis, with whom he practiced for three years, and then moved to Cheshire, in the town of Canandaigua, where for the last fifty years he has had a very extensive practice. He has now retired from active work and is taking a well merited rest. He has been a member of the Ontario County Medical Society from its organization (about 1848) and has held all the offices in the society. He is also a member of the New York Medical Association. He married first June 25, 1843, Sophia Ball of Marcellus, Onondaga county. His second marriage, December 27, 1847, was with Almira, daughter of Squire Warren Brown of South Bristol, and they have two sons: Frank, who conducts the farm in Canandaigua, and Victor, who is a musician.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Bently, Orville, Bristol, was born in Richmond, Ontario county, July 24, 1830. He is the youngest son of Isaac Bently, a son of George Bently, a son of Tillinghast Bently, whose father, James Bently, was the first of the family in America. Isaac Bently, father of the subject, was born in Dutchess county in 1788, and went to Saratoga county with his parents. His wife was Hannah Dubois who bore him seven sons and five daughters. Mr. Bently served in the War of 1812. In 1816 he came to Richmond, and purchased sixty acres of land. He held minor town offices, and with his family attended the Universalist church. Mr. Bently died in 1863, and his wife in 1855. Orville Bently was reared on a farm, and January 1, 1850, married in Bristol Marcia S. Wheeler, born in Livonia, Livingston county, born October 31, 1831, daughter of Sylvester Wheeler. They have had three children: Sidney A., born September 20, 1851, and educated in East Bloomfield and Canandaigua Academies, and died in 1869; Murray S., born July 13, 1873, married May Wickham, daughter of William and Jenett (Francis) Wickham, of Bristol, and is a farmer; Nettie M., born December 23, 1874, is the wife of Fred Buell. They have one son. Orville Bently, in 1856, came to Bristol and purchased 100 acres of land, where he has since resided and carried on general farming. He is a Republican, a member of Bristol Grange, and he and family attend the Universalist church.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

John C. Berry, Farmington, was born in Ireland October 25, 1840. He was educated in the common schools and Canandaigua Academy, and was a farmer. January 31, 1866, he married C. Maria, daughter of Jacob and Sophia Bower, of Victor. They have two sons: Carlton J. and Leon R. September 4, 1862, Mr. Berry enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth N. Y. S. Vols., was in sixteen general engagements: Clover Hill, May 8, 1864; Swift Creek, May 12, 1864; Drury's Bluff, May 16, 1864; Port Walthall, May 26, 1864; Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864; Rowlto House, June 15, 1864; Petersburg, June 18, 1864; Mine Explosion, near Petersburg, July 30, 1864; Siege of Petersburg, for several weeks up to August 25, 1864; Fort Harrison, September 29, 1864; Fort Gilmore, September 30, 1864; Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864; Hatcher's Run, March 31, 1865; Fort Greig, April 2, 1865; Rice's Station, April 6, 1865; Appomattox, April 9, 1865. He was honorably discharged June 22, 1865. He received a wound by a fragment of shell at the battle of Fort Harrison, and at the battle of Fair Oaks he was the only one that escaped out of forty from being taken prisoner.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Joseph J. Berry, Farmington, was born in Canandaigua, November 14, 1846. He was educated in the public schools and Canandaigua Academy, and follows farming. January 13, 1886, he married Jennie B., daughter of David and Elizabeth Loring, of Scandia, Kans. They have two children; Vernie E. and Merle. Mr. Berry's father, Richardson, was born in Ireland, and came to the United States in 1842, locating near Canandaigua. He married, previous to his arrival here, Eliza Johnson, of his native place, and they afterwards bought a farm near the town line of Farmington. They had nine children, six survived: Esther (now Mrs. Mowry Power, of Farmington); John C., Thomas J., William H., Joseph J., Anne E., who married Erastus Hiscock, of Canandaigua. Mrs. Berry's father, David Loring, was born in the town of Canandaigua, February 1, 1816, and married Elizabeth Nichol, formerly of Washington, Pa.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Michael Berry, Canandaigua, was born in County Cork, Ireland, August 8, 1835, and came to this country in 1854, first locating at Lindsay, Canada, where he learned the trade of harnessmaker. In 1866 he came to Canandaigua, and the next spring started a harness shop in Bull's block on Main street. He was a partner of M. J. Moran and October, 1891, when he moved into his present location in the McKechnie block in Main street, where he carries a full line of harnesses, saddlery, blankets, etc. Mr. Berry has always taken an active interest in politics, and is a Democrat. He has held the office of assessor, and is prominent in the politics of the town. He is a member of Catholic Church of Canandaigua. Mr. Berry married in 1870 Lizzie Higgins of Canandaigua, who died two years later.

From Victor Herald Newspaper 6 July 1895

A Memorial Held in St. Paul's Universalist Church, Victor, N. Y. - Azariah Bickford was born on May 8th, 1796, in the town of Skowhegan, Somersett county, on the banks of the Kennebeck river in the State of Maine. He was one of a family of eight sons and two daughters. His father was a farmer in very humble circumstances. At the age of sixteen years Azariah came to Salem, in the state of Massachusetts, where he learned the trade of a blacksmith. In the year 1816, he came to our neighboring village of East Bloomfield, and engaged to Bain Bradley as a journeyman blacksmith. I do not know how long he labored in that capacity, probably but a short time. He afterward opened a shop on his own account in the old stone building on the south side of Main street, east of the four corners in that village a little way below the stores. To the blacksmithing he added the foundry business. In the year 1819, he married Philena Perkins, daughter of Joseph Perkins, then occupying the farm now owned and occupied by Hiram Ladd. He was now twenty-three years old, the head of a family and owner of a flourishing business. Both he and his wife had been reared in the most rigid school of Presbyterianism. Having sold out his business at East Bloomfield and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by Hermon Boughton in the village of Victor, N. Y., Mr. Bickford removed there in the spring of 1838. There he continued to live to the time of his death, engaged in farming at which he was very successful. So lived Azariah Bickford to round out four score years. One day the sad news came to us that father Bickford had been stricken with paralysis. Four years he lingered between life and death, existing all a blank, then, on the 6th day of January, 1880, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years, death came to his relief. Friends and neighbors bore his remains to the cemetery on yonder hill and gently laid them to rest.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Paul F. Bill, Seneca, was born near Hall's Corners, June 29, 1815. He was educated in the district schools of his day and has always followed farming. He has always made memoranda of passing events on his own farm and vicinity with pleasure to himself and of much interest to others. February 27, 1845, he married Isabelle Telford, and they had six children: Robert A., the attorney of Jamestown, North Dakota; Sarah J., Margaret T., Carlton F., general agent for D. M. Osborne & Company of Auburn, manufacturers of binders, mowers, etc. for the last eight years; George D. (deceased), and Charles L. The latter is not married and is the farmer at home; Robert A. married Margaret D. Morrow, and they have one living daughter, Lucy M.; Sarah J. presides over her father's house; Margaret T. married William Fisher of Cleveland, O., and had six children: Worden F. (deceased); Ada B., Dayton B., Bessie M., Nathan R., and Benjamin H. Carlton F. married Mary Turnbull, and had one daughter, Anna E.; her mother died in 1885; for his second wife he married in 1892 Emily Todd of Byron, Genesee county. Mrs. Bill died March 28, 1890. Mr. Bill's father, Richard D., was born in Groton, New London county, Conn., November 5, 1772. He first came to this town in 1795, by sloop from New London to Albany, then up the Mohawk by flat boat, working his passage by poling through Wood Creek and Seneca River, to Geneva on business for Captain T. Allyn, agent of Phelps & Gorham. In 1796 he came in here on horseback and bought by contract of the Wadsworth Brothers at Big Tree (now Geneseo), lot No. 41 on No. 9, first range; a part of which subject now owns, though he lives on lot 39. By his journal he kept, the distance was 334 miles in eight days. He also came in for Captain Allyn to collect partial payments and interest, in 1801-5-8, on horseback. Subject's parents had five children born in Groton: Joseph A., Richard C. (died in Groton), Lucy A., Emeline E., Robert A., all now deceased. June 9, 1796, when subject's father arrived in Geneva, the frame for the Geneva Hotel was being put up, built by Charles Williamson, for the Pultney estate, which is still standing. He married Tabitha, daughter of Robert Allyn, born April 21, 1772, at Allyn's Point, Groton, and came to this town in 1813. They were twenty four days on the way. They had six children: Richard C., who died in Connecticut, and four who came with them, Joseph A., Lucy A., Emeline S., Robert A. and Paul F., born here. His father died November 7, 1853, and his mother April 3, 1837. His grandfather, Phineas Bill, was born at the old home in Connecticut. The first known of the family was on John Bill, who came from England. His son, Philip, received a grant of land from Queen Ann on the east side of the Thames River, near New London, Conn., with Robert Allyn and others. The subject is of the eighth generation on the side of both father and mother from the first immigrants from England.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

George Bilsborrow, Geneva, was born in Walsingham, in the county of Norfolk, England, January 15, 1807. His boyhood days were spent near Bolton, and he came to the United States when he was a young ,man in 1832, locating in Geneva. He married Agnes Wilkie, of Geneva, who was born in Newton Stewart, Scotland, August 24, 1812, and came to the United States when five years old. They had five children: Robert, who married Margaret Buchanan, of Leroy, N. Y.; Elizabeth A., who married J. O. Rupert, of Penn Yan; George W., who married Elizabeth Monagle, of Gorham; Agnes, and Janette, who married Oliver J. Monagle, of Gorham. Mrs. Bilsborrow's father, George, was born at the old home at Newton Stewart, Scotland, and came to the United States in 1817. He married Janette McKane, of Newton Stewart, and they had ten children. The ancestry of this family is Scotch and English. Mrs. Bilsborrow and her daughter, Agnes, reside on the old homestead.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Gould Birdseye, Gorham, was born in Hopewell in 1837, a son of Ezekiel. Subject was reared on a farm, and educated in Macedon Academy. He has always followed farming and at present owns 190 acres of land in Gorham. In 1866 he married Emeline Wynkoop, a native of Gorham, and born on the farm now owned by Mr. Birdseye, which was formerly known as the Wynkoop homestead. She is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Spaun) Wynkoop, he a native of Flint Creek, and she of Albany county. They had four daughters and three sons, and four of the children are still living. Mr. Wynkoop died in 1866, and his wife in 1878. The father of John Wynkoop was Peter, who came from the east and settled at Flint Creek, where he kept a hotel, and there lived and died, and lies buried in the Sandhill cemetery. Subject and wife have had one son, John W., born September, 1868. He was educated in Canandaigua Academy, and is now engaged in the berry and fruit culture. Mr. Birdseye and wife are members of the M. E. Church at Emery Chapel, Hopewell, N. Y.

From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;

Joseph Birdseye was born in Hopewell, August 29, 1833, on the farm he now owns. His father was Ezekiel, son of Joseph, a native of Connecticut, who came to Hopewell in 1798, and there died in 1805. Ezekiel was born in Hopewell in 1800, on the old homestead. He taught school for some time, but afterwards followed farming. His first wife was Lydia Cone, by whom he had three children. She died, and he then married Martha Kelly, a native of Honeoye, and to them were born four sons and one daughter. Mr. Birdseye died in 1875, and his wife in 1872. Joseph was educated in the public schools, and his life has been spent in farming. He owns 130 acres of the old Birdseye homestead, and is one of the leading farmers of the town. In 1872 he married Candis O., daughter of George Brundage, whose father was one of the first settlers of Hopewell, and they have had two children: Sarah C. and one who died in infancy. Mr. Birdseye is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are Presbyterians.

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