Charles Jeffrey, Farmington, was born in Warwickshire,
England, November 29, 1816, and came to the United States in 1833,
sailing from Liverpool May 14, landing in New York July 6, remained in
the city one year, coming to Farmington in 1834. February 1,
1843, he married Mary,
daughter of Samuel and Hannah Mason of this town. She
died
in 1892. They had two children: Hannah, who married Henry Herendeen,
of Macedon; he died in 1873; and Mary, who married James Carson
of this town and have three children: C. Edward, Sidney J. and
Henry
H. This farm owned by Mr. Jeffrey was bought by Samuel Mason from
Nathan Comstock, who purchased it of Phelps and Gorham in 1789.
Samuel
Mason was born in Swansea RI in 1772, and married in 1797, Hannah Herendeen,
at Adams, Mass. They came here in 1801.
Albert Jeudevine, Canandaigua, was born in Canandaigua June
29, 1844, a grandson of William, the first of the family to settle in
this country, coming from Charleston with a three horse team. He
located in the town of Richmond in 1805, where he took up a farm.
He lived there until about 1821, when he moved to Canandaigua.
The family is of French extraction. William had five
children: Henry, William, Luther, Patience, and Ann.
William, the second son, father of our subject, was born in Charleston
November 5, 1800, and came with his parents to this State. He
went to Geneva about 1817, and there he worked
at his trade until the time his father came to Canandaigua, when he
located here and in 1845 bought a farm of sixty-two acres in the
village, where
he died June 28, 1873. He was a man of prominence in the town and
held many offices. For nine years he was a trustee of the village
and assessor of the town, plank road inspector, and commissioner of
highways. He was a Whig and a Republican. Besides the old
homestead farm, he owned the Wilson farm of eighty acres in
Canandaigua, besides land in Michigan and Ohio. He married Sarah Mascho,
and they had seven children, five of whom are living: Sarah M.,
Hannah and Frank live on the old homestead; and Charles G. and
Albert. William, the oldest son, died August 4, 1891, aged
sixty-six years. Harriet, the oldest daughter, died June 30,
1889, aged sixty-two years. Albert was educated in Canandaigua
Academy under Prof. Clarke, and took up farming. His first
purchase was his present farm in Canandaigua, where he has erected a
beautiful residence and new buildings. He married in 1875 Emma,
daughter of Stephen A. Codding,
of Bristol Centre, and they have four children: Frank H; Mary A.;
Albert
L.; and Sarah M.
C. H. Johnson, Gorham, is a native of Canandaigua, born
October 8, 1847. When two years old he came to Gorham with his
parents. His mother died when the subject was seven years old,
and he was reared by J. Wesley Arnold, of Gorham, until sixteen
years old, when he enlisted in Company C, Fifteenth New York Cavalry,
and served two years and six months. He was in the battles of New
Market, Winchester, and Fisher's Hill, was wounded at the latter place
and sent to a hospital, where he remained until his discharge in
December, 1865. He returned to Canandaigua and learned the
blacksmith's trade at which he worked for five years. He then
went to Gorham and followed his trade until 1883, when he established a
hardware business under the name of C. H. Johnson &
Co. After four years he sold this. Since 1889 Mr. Johnson
has
been postmaster at Gorham. In 1875 he married Lillie, daughter of
the late James M. Pulver. Mr. Johnson is a Republican, a
member
of the Rushville Lodge No. 377 F. & A. M., of the E. K. O. R., and
of
the G. A. R. at Gorham, and Sherrell Post No. 313, and has been
commander one year.
Charles R. Johnson, Canandaigua, was born on the farm where
he now
resides, February 22, 1848. The earliest ancestor on the paternal
side
we find trace of is Ebenezer Johnson, who was born in Litchfield,
Conn., in 1734. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and had
two
sons also in that war, Ebenezer Butler and Rufus. Ebenezer
married
Deborah Seeley, daughter of Gideon Seeley, a native of
Westchester
county NY, who emigrated to Onondaga county. Ebenezer B. was the
father of three sons and a daughter: Isaac, Samuel, Rufus and
Desin. Rufus was born in 1760, and died in 1822. He was the
father of
one son, Rensselaer, who was born May 18, 1797. He married Betsey
Cramer and had one son, Russell Butler, who was born May 18,
1794
(sic), and married February 20, 1817, Betsey Seeley Elliott,
and
they had six children. Seymour Van Rensselaer, father of our
subject,
was the second son. He was born September 3, 1821. Russell
B. was the first to live in this county, coming here from Onondaga
county
in 1824, and settling on a farm in East Bloomfield, and in 1829 moved
to
a farm in Canandaigua, and in 1842 he bought a farm of 150 acres near
Centerfield,
which has since been in the hands of the family. Russell B. was
justice
of the peace for twenty years, colonel of the State militia and
temperance
speaker. Seymour V. R. was a man of good education and held many
offices
in the town. He was justice of the peace for twenty years and a
man who had the confidence of all the people. He married May 12,
1844, Diana W., daughter of Japheth Stiles, a native and farmer
of this town, and had three children: Harriet A., married Homer
A. Davis, a farmer of Canandaigua; Helen R. married Ralph M. Simmons,
a farmer of this town, and Charles; Seymour died September 16,
1865.
The whole life of our subject has been spent on the old
homestead.
He was educated in Canandaigua Academy under Prof. N. T. Clarke.
Mr.
Johnson has always taken an active interest in the politics of his
town,
and has been the party leader of this section for many years. In
1885 he was elected assessor of his town, and has held the office
continually
since, now serving his third term. He married January 7, 1873,
Maggie
Fitzmorris, daughter of John Fitzmorris, of East Bloomfield, and
they are the parents of one daughter, Mary A. Johnson, now in her
fifteenth
year.
Frank A. Johnson, West Bloomfield, son of Leman A., was born
in Cazenovia in 1839. He has resided in Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Michigan, and came to Miller's Corners in 1874,
engaging in the mercantile business, and has kept a general store
since. He has been postmaster sixteen years. He married in
1862 Cornelia Morey Fenner, Madison county, and has two
children: Clinton M. born in 1864, in business with his father;
and Myrtie A.
From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass
Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;
Johnson, George, Richmond, was born on the spot where he now
resides in 1823. His father, Sylvester, a native of Dighton,
Mass., served as ship carpenter during the War of 1812, and afterwards
came here with his wife, Ruth Chase, who died soon after,
leaving three children: James, Hiram, and Abbey. He married
second Beulah Bush, of East Bloomfield, by whom he had two
children, Louise, deceased, and George. The latter was educated
at the district schools and at Allen's Hill, under Prof. Rice, and
married in 1853 Emeline D. Bailey, of Somerset,
Niagara county, who was born at Baptist Hill, in Bristol, in
1830.
They have had four children: Frank B., born in 1854, died
in
1858; Carrie E., born in 1856, died in 1858; Jennie O., born
April
11, 1859, wife of L. A. Mitchell; and Emma C., born September
22,
1860, wife of A. N. Stewart, of Livonia. Mr. Johnson has
a
flock of 300 Merino sheep and is engaged in mixed farming. For
the
past fifteen years he has bought large quantities of wool, and has been
industrious and energetic.
John Johnson, Canandaigua, was born on his present farm in
Canandaigua, August 19, 1823, a son of Robert, a native of Ireland, who
came to this country in 1817. He first located in Canada, where
he spent a year, and then came to Canandaigua, where he bought a farm
of fifty acres. He married, in Canandaigua, Lovina Thurston
of Onondaga county, by whom he had one child, John. The whole
life of our subject has been spent on this farm. He was educated
in the common schools and has made a successful farmer, as well as one
of the most popular men in the southern part of this town. After
the death of his father in 1864,
he took charge of the farm which he has since increased to 122
acres. He owns besides, a farm of eighty-five acres in
Bristol. He built a very comfortable and pretty residence with
barns and outbuildings. He has never taken an active interest in
politics. He married April 4, 1842, Rachel Sanford of
Canandaigua, by whom he had four children, three of whom survive:
Lovina, wife of William Hicks of Bristol; Lyman D. of Cheshire,
a contractor and builder; and Herbert E., with a Rochester firm located
in Naples. Mrs. Johnson died October 31, 1855, and he
married second, April 2, 1856, Mary E., daughter of Chauncey Curtiss,
a native of Connecticut. They have had three children: John
A., who conducts a vineyard in Canandaigua; Addie O., wife of Frank Foster,
died September 12, 1889, aged twenty years; and Jennie A., wife of
William Johnson of Cheshire.
John A. Johnson, Canandaigua, was born in Canandaigua March
11, 1859, a son of John and Mary (Curtiss) Johnson. The
early life of John A. was spent on the farm, and he was educated in the
school at Naples and at Glenwood Institute, Mattewan, N. J. He
assisted his father on the farm and taught school winters until
twenty-four years of
age, when he bought fifty acres of land by the lake shore. At the
time
there were no buildings on the place and only a small portion was under
cultivation, but Mr. Johnson has built a beautiful cottage, a
substantial and convenient barn and other buildings. He has set
out about 14,000 grape vines,
divided among Concords, Delawares and Catawbas, and a few fancy
vines.
The vineyard is most favorably situated as by its location he is able
to
ripen his grapes early. His Delawares are his most profitable
variety. In 1892 he cut from his vines about fifty tons of grapes
and found a market for grapes in Boston. Mr. Johnson married
March 14, 1883, Ida A.,
daughter of George and Eliza (Ward) Curtiss of Cheshire, and
they
have one son, Stuart LeRoy Johnson, born December 25, 1883. Mr.
Johnson
has never taken a great interest in politics. He is a member of
Canandaigua
Grange.
Lewis M. Johnson, Canandaigua, was born in Canandaigua May 1,
1856, a son of John L. The first ancestor of this family was
Lewis,
grandfather of Lewis M. He was a native of Monmouth county, N.
J., and came to this county when about thirty-five years of age.
He had six children, one of whom survives, Phoebe, widow of Seymour N.
Gillette, of Canandaigua. John L., second son of Lewis,
was born December 19, 1820, in Monmouth county NJ, and came when a
child
with his parents to Gorham where they settled on a farm. He was
educated
in the common schools and chose farming for a living. His father
first bought a farm about a mile south of Cheshire where the family
spent
several years, and then for about fifteen years lived on a farm west of
Canandaigua. In 1846 John L. bought a farm below Cheshire, where
he
lived until 1876. In 1878 he moved to Cheshire and lived a
retired
life, dying here January 14, 1885. He was a very prominent farmer
and
took much interest in politics though never an office seeker. His
principal
interest was in his home and his farm, and at his death he owned a
large
quantity of real estate. He married November 19, 1844, Celestia
C.,
daughter of Milton Gillette, of Canandaigua, who was a native
of Connecticut.
Mr. Johnson had four children: Helen S., the oldest, married
Homer
Chase of Canandaigua October 10, 1866, and died October 16,
1883;
Julia E., married W. D. Crandall of Canandaigua; William S. is
a farmer
of Canandaigua. The whole life of Lewis M. has been spent in this
town.
He was educated in Canandaigua Academy, Geneseo Normal School, and
Eastman's
Business College at Poughkeepsie. He has devoted part of his life
to farming, and at the death of his father succeeded to the management
of the farm, residing on the homestead in Cheshire. October 4,
1888,
he married Carrie E., daughter of L. M. Spaulding, a farmer of
Canandaigua and a native of Gorham.
From the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by
Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S. Conover; 1893;
Lewis Mortimer Johnson, Canadice, was born in Conesus,
Livingston county, June 8, 1837. His father was George Johnson, born in
Vermont,
who came with his father, Luke, to Canadice, and settled on Bald Hill
in an early day. George married Joanna, daughter of William Fuller,
who came here very early. George and his wife had thirteen
children,
eight sons and five daughters. One brother of Lewis M., William, lives
in Canadice, on Hemlock Lake. Lewis M. was educated in the district
schools
and has always been a farmer. He married in 1861, Chloe Jackman, daughter
of Josiah and Luvia Jackman, and they have two sons: Burdett, born
September
18, 1863, and Eugene B., born November 7, 1866. The latter is now
station
and telegraph agent on the Erie railroad at Wallace, Steuben county,
while
Burdett is now residing home. He is a natural mechanic, and a builder
of
boats. Mr. Johnson is a Republican and a supporter of the M. E. Church.
He owns sixty acres of land on the homestead farm, formerly known as
the
Short farm.
William S. Johnson, Canandaigua, was born on the old
homestead, a mile south of Cheshire, September 3, 1862, the second son
of John L. and Caroline (Gillette) Johnson. His early life
was spent on the farm and he was educated at Canandaigua Academy.
In 1885, at
the death of his father, he succeeded to what was known as the Gelder
farm
of 266 acres, which he has since conducted. He married in 1890,
Jennie, daughter of John Johnson, of Academy and they have one
child, Julia E., who is in her second year.
John Johnston, Geneva, was born in Scotland, April 11,
1791. He came to the United States in 1821, and after traveling
about and visiting various localities, he purchased a farm of 112 acres
on the east side of Seneca Lake, three miles from Geneva. To this
place Mr. Johnston brought his family, and on the same farm he
continued to reside until
1877, when he came to Geneva. Mr. Johnston was deeply interested
in every measure that tended to improve the condition or lighten the
labors
of the farming community of this country. He was the first man to
use the tile drawing system for improving low or marsh lands, and
although
he was frequently ridiculed by his neighbors, who said he was burying
his
money, he nevertheless was the pioneer of a system that afterward came
into
general use and proved of great benefit to the agriculturists of the
whole
country. For this and his general devotion he was presented in
1859
with a valuable and finely fashioned silver water service, consisting
of
a pitcher and two goblets. Mr. Johnston was the inventor of the
iron
scoop shovel, and was the first in this region to use a threshing
machine,
one of which he constructed and used on his own farm. The first
tile
patterns were sent for and procured by him from Scotland. Mr.
Johnston
was a successful farmer, beginning with small means but increasing his
lands as he was able to do through his earnings, until the homestead
farm
comprised 306 acres, all well stocked and in a fine state of
cultivation, and he kept a flock of sheep, 1,000 in number, in Italy,
Yates county, and
brought them in the winter to his home farm. In 1877 Mr. Johnston
and his daughters came to reside in Geneva, and here, in November,
1880, at the age of eighty-nine years, he died. His wife was
killed by lightning
in 1854.
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