William Henry Baldwin is the editor of the Watkins Democrat, of Watkins, New York, and has long been connected with journalistic interests here. Through the columns of his paper he has promoted every movement and enterprise which he believed would contribute to the general good, and his journal exercises a strong influence in the community.
Mr. Baldwin was born in Deerfield, Herkimer county, New York, June 28, 1835, a son of Hairy Downs and Mary Jane (Pease) Baldwin, who were the parents of ten children, of whom nine are still living, eight sons and one daughter, all residents of Watkins, and the sons are all Democrats. When our subject was about two years old the family came to Schuyler county, locating in Watikins, where during the winter months he was a student in the public schools until he arrived at the age of eighteen. He then started out in life on his own account and whatever success he has achieved and to whatever position he has attained he has the satisfaction of knowing that his own dili-gence, labor and capability have been the) means of advancement.
For one year Mr. Baldwin worked upon a farm and the following year began work with his father, who was a boatman and boat-i builder. He followed that life for four years and in 1848 he began his newspaper career as a printer's devil on the Jefferson Eagle at Jefferson, New York, a paper then published in Jefferson, now Watkins, and owned by John Wesley Smith. In 1859 Mr. Baldwin went to Ovid, Seneca county, New York, where he entered into partners ship with John M. Riley and purchased the Seneca County Sentinel, which they conducted until 1861, when Mr. Baldwin sold his interest and entered the employ of George D. A. Bridgman, in Watkins. In August,-1863, he went to Troy, Pennsylvania, where he purchased the Troy Times, a defunct paper, neglected and deserted by Azro C. Lombard, a former Watkins man. Mr, Baldwin purchased the plant and in a short time had the Times upon a paying" basis, This was during the memorable discussion of the Wilmot Proviso bill, of which David Wilmot was the author. Through the aid of that gentleman and M. C. Murker, of Towanda, Pennsylvania, and other friends of Troy, Mr. Baldwin succeeded in establishing a newspaper of much prominence and remained at Troy until October, 1865. In the latter part of that month he went to Hornellsville, New York, where he purchased the Democratic Vidette. Subsequently he sold a half interest in the Troy Times to A. S. Hooker, who was a strong Republican, and took up his residence in Hornellsville, where he remained until the 10th of January, 1866, when he sold the Vidette, which has become a flourishing-paper, to the firm of Thacher & Tuttle, men of easy means and thirsting for newspaper lore.
At that time Mr. Baldwin removed to Motts Corners in Tompkins county, remaining there during the winter as a part of the family of John Losey, his father-in-law, but on the 22d of May returned to Watkins < Here five days later he purchased the Schuyler County Democrat of Duncan S. and George J. Magee, and associated with him in the publication of an independent paper J. B. Look, who remained a factor in the enterprise for only four months. Mr. Baldwin then transformed the paper into a Democratic organ and was supported by the fiiendship and encouragement of the Ma-gees, well known and prominent representatives of the Democracy in this portion of the state. The paper was enlarged from seven columns to nine columns and was a prominent factor in the great campaign of Horatio Seymour, in 1869. The Democrat was afterward decreased to an eight column paper and thus published until the 22d of February, 1891, when the plant was entirely destroyed by fire, with a loss of thirteen thoui sand dollars, on which there was only twenty-eight hundred dollars insurance. With borrowed money, Mr. Baldwin built what is known as the Baldwin block, on the corner of Second and Franklin streets. It is seventy-five by seventy-five feet and three stories in height with a cupola on top. The second and third floors were used in his business-In 1893, however, his uncle Samuel G. Baldwin, of Cleveland, Ohio, who was in partnership with him, died and as the affairs were in a somewhat involved condition it was necessary for our subject to re-deed the building to the parties who had loaned the money, and thus he found himself with very little capital. However, he purchased a lot on his present site and on the 5th of November, 1895, commenced the erection of the building which he now occupies, taking possession of it on the 19th of January, 1896. That year the Chicago convention nominated W. J. Bryan for the presidency and endorsed a platform in favor of free silver, and together with many others of the Democratic party who were leaders throughout the country, he refused to support the platform. In the spring of 1896 some free silver men. purchased of John Corbitt the Schuyler County Advocate and merged it into a Democratic opposition, later changing it to the Review, which is now published here. Through the instrumentality of the Democratic supervisors and the Democratic county committee the opposition paper was given the session laws with the view of squelching the Democrat. Soon afterward General Magee, who had been the chief friend of the Democrat, died and Mr. Baldwin was thus left to fight his own way against the opposition and the free silver attitude of the old party. The paper, however, has a good circulation and is published weekly. It is neat and attractive in its make-up and is always found the earnest advocate of Wat-kins' prosperity and its improvement and progress. When Mr. Baldwin came to Wat-kins there were but three papers in the county, but at the present writing in 1903 there is one paper in Montour Falls, three in Wat-kins, one in Burdett and one in Odessa. He does all kinds of job printing and has a thoroughly complete and modern plant, the building being seventy-five by twenty-five feet and three stories high. It is heated by steam, lighted by gas and electricity, is supplied with city water and connected with the sewer system and has excellent plumbing arrangements.
On the 3d of January, 1863, Mr. Baldwin was united in marriage to Miss Louise
E. Losey, a daughter of John and Laura (Johnson) Losey. They became the parents
of four children: Donna Madelon, wdio died at the age of twelve years; John, who
died at the age of five years; Marian P., the wife of Alfred C. Woodward, of
Watkins; and William, who died when five years of age.
Mr. Baldwin has served as trustee of his village for one term, has been clerk of the board and canal collector and was postmaster during President Cleveland's first term. He attends the Presbyterian church and at one time was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He has taken particular interest in supporting any enterprise calculated to advance the welfare of Watkins. Through his paper he strongly advocated the system, of water and sewerage for the city, which measures were adopted and the work successfully completed. He also agitated and encouraged the establishment of the electric light plant and telephone system and the building of the electric railway between Watkins and Elmira. When he erected the Baldwin block he put in hot and cold water, sewerage and steam pipes, the building being quite modern in all its appointments, and this Resulted in compelling other business blocks to make improvements that were never thought of before. The erection of the Baldwin block was the initiation of a period of business block building in Watkins, so that the village now has a number of architectural structures supplied with modern conveniences that any town might be proud of. (A Biographical Record of Schuyler County, New York, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1903, pages 225-227)
The Corbetts of the British Isles and America are descendants of the family of whom was Hugh Corbet or Cor beau, seated in Normandy in 1040. There are twelve county families bearing the name of Corbet or Corbett, now seated in England, of whom Burke's Peerage states: "This is one of the few families still existing, who trace in the male line an undoubted descent from an ancient race of the same name in Normandy."
Hugh Corbet or Corbeau had issue four sons, Hugh, Roger, Robert and Reginald.
Of these Hugh, the eldest son, succeeded to the lands in Normandy and was
ancestor of the Corbets of that country. Reginald, the youngest son, accompanied
Hugh, Count de Saint Paul, to the Holy Land in 1096, and was ancestor of the
Corbets of Artois and of Flanders; Chatelaines de Saint Paul. The two other
sons, Roger and Robert, accompanied their father into England, at the Norman
invasion under William the Conqueror, in 1066. Robert, the third son, received
large estates in Shropshire and elseT where, and had issue one son, Robert
Corbet, Lord of Alcester, County Warwick, who died without issue, and two
daughters, Sibil, ancestress of the Earls of Pembroke, and Alice, ancestress of
the Earls of Huntingdon.
Roger Corbet, the second son of Hugh Corbet or
Corbeau, held at the general sur-vey no less than twenty-four lordships in
Shropshire, or, as it was anciently known, the County Salop. He left a son
William Corbet of Caus Castle, who 'was the father of Sir Robert Corbet, from
whom descended Peter Corbet, who was summoned to Parliament as a Baron by Edward
I. The eldest son, Thomas Corbet, was grandfather of Sir Richard Corbet, who
settled at Moreton-Corbet, and his direct line con-tinues still to reside there,
the present senior representative being Sir Walter Orlando Corbet.
Moreton-Corbet is a parish in the hundred of North Bradford, County Salop.
The church dedicated to St. Bartholomew is an ancient structure, and contains effigies and monuments to the Corbet family. Near it are the ruins of Moreton-Corbet castle, which was erected on the site of an older one in the sixteenth century, and was burned during the civil wars.
Robert Corbett, soldier of King Philip's war, in service on the Connecticut river in J 675-76, is the first of the family of record in America. He married Priscilla Rock-wT6od in 1682, and by her became possessed of large land holdings in the town of Men-don, Worcester county, Massachusetts. Of his sons, Daniel Corbett married Sarah Jones in 1717. He was an elder of the Congregational church and a man of prominence in affairs of community. His children were two sons, Daniel and Nathaniel, and seven daughters. His youngest daughter Alice, married Dudley Chase, and was the grandmother of Secretary Salmon P. Chase. Daniel Corbett, Jr., was born in 1720, and by Mary, his wife, had seven sons and five daughters. He was a deacon in the Congregational church, of which his father had been an elder, and his death occurred in 1761, the same year as the birth of his youngest son, John Corbett. The sons of Daniel Corbett, Jr.," were Robert Corbett, Nathaniel, Daniel, Peter, Joseph, Eldad and John, and all but Joseph were soldiers of the Revolution.
Robert Corbett of the Revolution, great-grandson of Robert Corbett of King Philip's war, was born in 1745, and married Elizabeth Daniels in 1769. They were the parents of eleven children, eight of whom became heads of families. Robert Corbett was born in that portion of the town of Mendon which was set off as Milford, and in 1790 he named his settlement on the Salt Lick creek, near the great bend of the Susquehanna river, as New Milford, in honor of his former home. He left Pennsylvania in 1801 and founded Corbettsville, now in Broome county, New York, where his death occurred in 1823. Of his sons, Asaph Corbett, Sewell and Cooper, the latter two remained with him, and were jointly interested in extensive timber operations. On their large land holdings in Potter county, Pennsylvania, is located Corbett, the site of the largest wood alcohol factory in America. and in which the great-grandsons of Robert Corbett, Marshall Corbett and Julius Cqrbett Fish, have ownership. Another great-grandson was the late Elias J. Beards-ley, for many years superintendent of public instruction in Elmira. A granddaughter, Charlotte Leach Drake, who died in 1901, aged eighty-six years, was the author of a descriptive poem on Watkins Glen.
Asaph Corbett, eldest son of Robert Corbett, was born in Milford, Massachusetts, in 1769, and there married Matilda Read in 1790. He accompanied his father to New Milford, Pennsylvania, and built the first frame house in the place. He bought a farm in the town of Catharine, now in Schuyler county, New York, in 1804, but in 1812, having sold it, he purchased lands on the west shore of Seneca lake, in the town of Reading, and made it his home until his death in 1847. His son, Chester Corbett, was with him in all his business operations and inherited the homestead. His daughters were Betsey, who became the wife of Charles Deming; Nancy, wife of William Lord; and Emma, wife of Daniel Miller. Chester Corbett was born in 1795 and married Sally LeFevre in 1818. She was the daughter of Lewis LeFevre of the Huguenot family of Ulster county, New York, and a pioneer of the town of Hector in 1804 and the town of Reading in 1812. Her birth occurred in 1800 and her death in 1864, Chester Corbett dying in 1869. Their children who became heads of families were Otis Read Corbett; Matilda, wife of Samuel K. Gilbert; Nancy, wife of John W. Warner; Charles M. Corbett, and John Wallace Corbett, all of whom remained in the town of Reading.
Otis R. Corbett was born September 27, 1818, and is still in the enjoyment of good health and all his faculties at the age of eighty-four years. He has exemplified the principles of his father, who was a Whig and a Republican and an advocate of temperance reform, having as early as 1828 desisted from furnishing spirits in the haying and harvest fields. He was an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal church, long holding official position in the organization, and ever active in town affairs, and in these respects his son has emulated .his example. After receiving a good common school education, Otis R. Corbett, at the age of eighteen, entered an artillery company, commanded by Captain Reuben LeFevre, of Reading, and in 1839 was orderly under Captain John Royce, of Eddy town. In 1842 he was promoted to first lieutenant, and to captain in 1844, the following year he being appointed president of the board of court martial. Having satisfied not only the requirements of the law by ten years of military service, but his own aspirations in that line, he turned his attention to the more important duties of life. In i860 and for six years thereafter he was assessor of the town of Reading, and during the Civil war, under the direction of the adjutant general, rendered efficient service in the enrollment of troops. In 1878 he was the Republican candidate for super-visor of his town, but was defeated by a coalition of the Greenback and Democratic parties. His son, John Corbett, retrieved the political field, having been Republican supervisor of Reading in 1896-97.
Otis R. Corbett and Adelia B. Chase were united in marriage October 1, 1846. She was born in Oneida county, New York, November 21, 1827, and came to the town of Reading as a school teacher. She is a descendant of the Chase family of New England, of whom was Dudley Chase, who married Alice Corbett in Mendon, Massa-chusetts. A brother, the late Hiram W. Chase, was long a leading attorney of La Fayette, Indiana. The children of Otis R. and Adelia Corbett numbered ten, of whom five are deceased. Three sons grew to exemplary manhood before their demise, and none but called them friends. They were Walter S. Corbett, aged twenty-seven years; Chester L. Corbett, aged forty-seven years, and George A. Corbett, aged thirty-eight years. A daughter and a son died in infancy. The living children are John Corbett, who has somewhat of a reputation as a newspaper writer on local historical subjects, and is now with the Elmira Advertiser; Mary T. Corbett, Sophia C. Corbett and William Corbett, of the homestead; and Joseph J. Corbett of the Topeka, Kansas, Mail and Breeze. The farm which has been the home of this family for half a century, is a monument of the enterprise and industry of. the father and the co-operative efforts of the mother and children. Reverses have.come at times, the home having been destroyed by fire in 1874, but advancement has always ensued. From the heights of Seneca, near the family dwelling, the shores and surface of this peerless lake are visible for a score of miles. At the water front of the old farm a great salt plant is in operation, and on, the original homestead one mile northward, a test well is now being driven, through the co-operation of the Corbetts and others. A man's life cannot be fully written until it is past, and there may be important events yet in store for Otis R. Corbett, despite his advanced age. (A Biographical Record of Schuyler County, New York, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1903, pages 227-230)
GENERAL GEORGE J. MAGEE
Honored and respected by all, there has been no resident of Schuyler county who has occupied a more important position in industrial and commercial circles than did General George Jefferson Magee of Watkins, not alone on account of the brilliant success he achieved, but also .because of the honorable, straightforward business policy he ever followed. He possessed" untiring energy, was quick of perception, formed his plans readily and was determined in their execution and his close application to business and his excellent management brought to him a high degree of prosperity. In a large measure he pushed forward the wheels of progress, upon which rested the material and substantial upbuilding of the state. He controlled interests of vast magnitude with an ability that indicated a master mind, a clear calm judgment, and ac-curate recognition of possibility. General Magee was born in Bath, Steu-ben county, New York, March 17, 1840. His father was the late John Magee, a successful banker of Bath, who became the owner of extensive coal mines in Pennsylvania and was likewise interested in the organization and construction of railroads in New York and in the Keystone state. He also figured prominently in public affairs and for four years represented his district in the council chambers of the nation as a member of congress. His paternal ancestors came from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1756, and settled near Easton, Pennsylvania, and the family history is given more fully on another page of this volume. His mother's people came from Ayrshire, Scotland, and his mother from the north of England, settling in Loudoun county, Virginia, about the time the Magee family was established here.
In the public schools of Bath General Magee began his education, which he con-tinued in Albany and in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and in i860 he was graduated in Princeton College. He then entered upon his business career as an employe of the Steuben County Bank at Bath, and later became connected with the mining interests at Fall Brook, Pennsylvania. Subsequently he spent about eighteen months in traveling in Europe, after which he returned to the office of the Fall Brook Coal Company in Watkins, New York, and became familiar with his father's extensive business invest merits and interests, so that he was well qualified to assume an important business relation in these connections, at his father's death. On the death of John Magee, the president of the Fall Brook Coal Company and of the Blossburg & Corning Railroad Company, General Magee became the vice president of each and upon the death of Duncan S. Magee, in June, 1869, he succeeded to the presidency of both concerns. At the death of his father, on the 5th of April, 1868, General Magee inherited a large property and was thereafter accupied with the interests which engrossed his father's attention. He became a trustee of his father's estate, which included the entire ownership of the bituminous coal interests represented by the Fall Brook Coal Company in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, together with the railroad property connected with the mines. The development and extension of these interests formed the life work of General Magee. He was instrumental in the building of the Wellsboro & Lawrenceville Railroad, later a part of the Fall Brook Railway system and now a part of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, projected and secured the building of the Syracuse, Geneva & Corning Railway, also the Beech Creek Railway, and the Pine Creek Railway, so that beginning with the ownership by the estate of his father of a railroad line of fifteen miles in length, capitalized at less than five hundred thousand dollars, having an equipment of ten locomotives and a corresponding number of cars, the lines of railroad now owned by the same interests aggregate about one hundred miles with a capital stock of five million dollars and an equipment of seventy-six locomotives and three thousand three hundred cars used in operating two hundred and fifty miles of owned and leased lines. The old Blossburg Railroad, fifteen miles in length, was the nucleus and later a part of through system of railroad known as the Fall Brook line, reaching from the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad at Lyons and from Geneva to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a distance of one hundred and eighty-five miles, connecting with the Philadelphia & Reading road. These extensions and connections were made during the presidency of General Magee and were planned and carried to a successful completion by him. The Cowanesque Valley branch of the same system was built in the same period from the main line to Ulysses in Potter county, Pennsylvania.
In connection with his railroad building General Magee had other extensive business interests, which proved of great - value and importance to the state as well as contributing to his individual prosperity. He was the projector, contractor and first general manager of the well known Beech Creek Railroad, having one hundred and fifty miles of line and now a part of the New York Central system, reaching from Jersey Shore on the Pine Creek Railway to the coal mines in Clearfield and Cambria counties, Pennsylvania. He was also the president of the Fall Brook Coal Company, the Fall Brook Railroad, the Morris Run Coal Mining Company, the Tioga Improvement Company, and the Syracuse, Geneva & Corning Railroad Company; vice president of the Pine Creek Railroad; and a director of the Chest Creek Hand & Improvement Company, of Cambria county, Pennsylvania, the Beech Creek Cannel Coal Company, of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, the Beech Creek Railroad, the Central Dock & Terminal Company, of Buffalo, New York, the North River Coal & Wharf Company, of Jersey City, and of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, of New York city. These but serve to indicate the volume and importance of the business interests with which General Magee was associated. In 1865 General Magee was united in marriage to Miss Emma Stothpff, of Bur-dett, Schuyler county, New York, and unto them were born seven children: Anna Stot-hoff, John, Kathleen, Stewart, Arabella Helen, Emma Marie, Lusyd and George J, To a man of domestic tastes, such as Mr., Magee possessed, one of the greatest pleasures which came to him from his wealth, was in providing royally for his family. No other interest wras so dear to his heart as the welfare of his wife and children. He had social relations, too, of a very pleasant character and was a popular and honored member of a number of the leading clubs of the Empire state, including the Lawyers,. the University, the Manhattan and the Princeton Clubs of New York city. His military title was received in 1869 under appointment of Governor Hoffman to the position of paymaster general of the state of New York. It is almost impossible to summarize a life record such as that of General Magee, for so varied were his business interests and so active was he in lines of life, pertaining to the general progress of his native state. His career was ever such as to warrant the trust and confidence of the business world, for he ever conducted all transactions on the strictest principles of honor and integrity. His devotion to the public good was unquestioned and arose from a sincere interest in the welfare of his fellow men. Moreover, in the community where he lived and in the localities where he was best known, there existed between him and his associates the warmer ties of friendship and of love. He was very charitable, never refusing any worthy person who applied to him for aid. (A Biographical Record of Schuyler County, New York, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1903, pages 223-225)
One of the richest farming sections of the great Empire state is that comprised within Schuyler county. Its rich and arable land furnishes excellent opportunities to the agriculturist or to the market g-ardener. The soil is productive and yields an excellent return for the labors of the man who cultivates it. Clark Wickham is among the number who is now successfully carrying on agricultural work in this portion of the state.
He was born in Hector, Schuyler county, on the 3d of November, 1836, and is a son of Erastus and Almeda (Everets) Wickham, in whose family were eight children: Clark, Mary, Martha, Marion, Clarissa, Harriet, Charles and Emma. Marion married Emeline Gardner and they had three chilren - Frederick, who is now deceased; Ford and Lavern. Martha D. married Osborn Everets and their children are Walter, Ira, Emma and Theodore. Harriet is the wife of Charles Stottle and resides in Odessa. Charles married Amelia Keep and their children are William W., Vina, May and Nellie. Emma is the widow of Charles Keep, who died in 1900, leaving two children. Almedia and Anna.
In the common schools Clark Wickham pursued his education but put aside his
books at the age of eighteen in order to earn his own living. He then went to
Montour Falls and began farming, which occupation he has followed throughout his
entire life, finding in it a profitable source of income. He resides in Montour
township, near Odessa, where he owns about one hundred acres of land. This he
has placed under high state of cultivation and it yields to him a golden tribute
for the care and labor he bestows upon it. In 1858 Mr. Wickham was united in
marriage to Miss Maryette Pratt, a daughter of Seth and Sarah (Runyan) Pratt,
who were residents of Burdett at one time. In 1875 Mr. Wickham was called upon
to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in that year. Six years later he married
Helen tlerrick, of Catharine, New York. The children by his first marriage are
Clarence, Alice, Oscar, Carrie, Henry, May, Cornelius and Cora. Clarence is now
engaged in the grocery business, which he has followed for thirteen years. Pie
married Alice Shoemaker and they have four children: Edward and Randolph, twins;
and Clarence Ely and Amelia, also twins. Alice is the wife of Clark Smith,
proprietor of a hotel in Ehnira, . and they have one son, Harry. Oscar is a
resident farmer residing in Odessa, and his wife bore the maiden name of Kate
Montgomery. Carrie is the wife of Clarence Dunham, of Montour Falls. Henry
married Almira Fowler and has one child, Clarence. By his second marriage our
subject has three children : Omar Clark, Emma Elvira and Miner Loyal. Mr. and
Mrs. Wickham have a pleasant home upon their farm, and through the exercise of
industry, enterprise and capable management he has met with well merited success
and is now numbered among the substantial agriculturists of his community,
widely known and valued for his sterling worth. (A Biographical Record of
Schuyler County, New York, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1903, pages
230-231)
BIOS SUBMITTED BY PEGGY THOMPSON