William C. Main
Utica Saturday Globe, February 1918
William C. Main
1832 - 1918
William C. Main, for 66 years engaged in the harness and saddlery business, and well known as the oldest merchant in Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], passed away at his home on South Broad street early Wednesday morning after a brief illness of pneumonia. Mr. Main was the son of William F. and Submit Carpenter Main and was born in Norwich July 14, 1832. His grandparents, Thomas and Hannah Chapman Main, came from Connecticut in the pioneer days and settled upon the Breed farm on the Oxford road. Later they removed across the river to the John Randall farm, which was then a dense forest, but being on higher and better drained ground offered less danger from malaria. William F. Main was 2 years old when the family came from Connecticut to the Chenango valley. When he attained his majority he followed his father's footsteps in faring and after marriage purchased the Dwight McNitt farm, where his first son, William C., was born. A year or two later the family moved to another farm at Latham's Corners. The children numbered five when at 14 years of age William C., the eldest, entered the harness shop of his uncle, Chester W. Carpenter, to learn the trade of harness maker. He remained in his uncle's employ for five years and mastered every detail of harness making. He then went to Deposit, where he conducted a shop of his own for two years, returning to Norwich in 1852. Two years later, he built the block which he occupied for 20 years and to which, after a cycle of years and several changes in location, he came back to close his business career with the longest record to his credit of any tradesman in the city. As soon as he was well established in business she married Martha E. Demander, of Deposit, and brought his bride to the home he had built on South Broad street and which he continued to occupy until his death. In June, 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Main celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and the family circle remained unbroken until the death of Mrs. Main in December, 1916. An only child, Ada R. Main, survives her father. Deceased was the oldest member of Norwich Lodge, F.&A.M., which he joined October 7, 1855. He was also a long time member of Harmony Chapter, R.A.M., and of the Norwich Commandery, Knights Templar. With his beloved wife he had been a communicant of Emmanuel Episcopal Church for many years.
Martha R. (DeMander) Main
Norwich Sun, December 5, 1916
Mrs. Martha E. Main, the wife of William C. Main, died at their home at 60 South Broad street [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY] at an early hour Tuesday morning, Dec. 5, 1916, after a few days' illness with pneumonia. Private funeral services will be held form the home at 2:30 o'clock Friday afternoon, Rev. H.W. Foreman officiating and interment in Mt. Hope cemetery. Mrs. Main was born in Deposit, Dec. 27, 1835, the daughter of Charles and Betsey Fortner DeMander, and for over sixty years had been wedded to William C. Main, who with their only daughter, Miss Ada Main, and a sister, Mrs. Smith of Brooklyn survive her. Mrs. Main had resided here for years and many friends will mourn the decease of a true friend and kindly gentlewoman.
Frank Brooks
Bainbridge Republican, July 2, 1880
Frank Brooks, a painter, residing at Cortland [Cortland Co., NY], went to Blodgett's mills last Friday, to visit his brother's family, who reside there. About 5 o'clock in the afternoon he started on foot for his brother's residence, which was about a mile from the station. Taking the nearest route, which was the railway track, a coal train came along and he attempted to board it. he was unsuccessful, and missing his hold, fell, and the cars passed over his right leg, mangling it terribly. Physicians were summoned and amputation was found necessary. The operation was performed, but he lived but a short time afterwards.
James D. Fox
Norwich Sun, December 5, 1916
James D. Fox was born in Pitcher, Chenango county, N.Y., Nov. 26, 1837. He received but a common school education, except that from the fall of 1856 to that of 1857 he attended what was then called New York Central college, at one time a thriving institution under the auspices of Gerritt Smith and the abolition party. It was located at a place called Mt. Grawville, a small village six miles south of Cortland, Cortland county, N.Y., but owning to the unpopularity of abolitionism, it went down a short time before the breaking out of the war of the rebellion.
In the fall of 1857, Mr. Fox came west and settled in Aurora. He commenced teaching at that time on the west side of the Fox river at North Aurora. he soon after commenced reading law with the late C.J. Metzner, and was engaged in legal studies until June, 1863, when on the third day of that month he was appointed second lieutenant of Company H, Sixteenth Illinois volunteer cavalry, by Governor Gates. He remained in active service, and was on duty every day from that time until Jan. 3, 1864, when the command to which he belonged, overwhelmed by numbers, was captured at Jonesville, Va., after an all day's fight. He was taken prisoner to the Andersonville prison. Captain Fox often spoke bitterly of the men that stayed at home during the war. During a trial at one time in the Aurora city court he dramatically said, "I know that I get my wrath up but why shouldn't I. When I was in Andersonville prison rotting, there were men who remained at home and who were stealing from the government and one paid a fine of more than $8,000."
He was confined in a number of the confederate prisons during his imprisonment. Among the prisons in which he was confined from Jan. 3, 1864 until Feb. 27, 1865, were the Libby prison, Andersonville prison and stockades at Mason and Savanah, Ga., Charleston and Columbia, S.C. and several other places for a short length of time.
After his parole he resumed his law studies in the office of his old tutor, C.J. Metzner, and June 19, 1865, while waiting for his discharge from the army, he was admitted to the bar.
Captain Fox was married July 21, 1890, to Helene Hart, who survives him with a sister, Mrs. Witter Coy of Keneville, and two brothers, A.V. and H.I. Fox, of North Pitcher, N.Y.
The above was taken from a two-column article that appeared in the Aurora, Ill. Beacon News, November 15. The same issue contains the following editorial: "James D. Fox, whose passing The Beacon-News chronicles today, will be long remembered in this community for certain characteristics that placed him somewhat apart from the ordinary run of human kind. A hater of sham and an uncompromising foe of pretense, he ridiculed the fads and follies of his time, stripping them of their outward show and exposing the naked truth. An intense patriot, he quickly and willingly responded to the call of his country in the early days of the civil war, facing the enemy's bullets without hesitation and suffering the tortures of the damned in Andersonville prison without a murmur. Honest to the very heart, he never tried to take a mean advantage of anyone and many were the bills he paid because of the treachery of false friends. A lover of home, his family came first in his affections, and his intimate acquaintances found in him a friend of more than common steadfastness. Vigorous of speech, he knew how to argue a case in court to bring out the best points and his writings which have appeared in The Beacon-News for years were marked by unusual force. For more than a half century this man has passed his life among our people, suffering physically every minute of that time, but never complaining of his own ills. Original in thought, courageous in action, steadfast in his belief of what he thought was right, his presence here will be long remembered. One of the phases of life, peculiar to those who have been "in business" and "down town" is the close association with many people, and the necessity from time to time of saying the long farewell to a companion who leaves upon the journey into the Great Beyond.. Newspaper people have long been so associated with the late Captain Fox and none knew better than they his brilliancy, his real kindliness and worth beneath one of the most unique of personalities. One wishes at times that it were possible for those who are leaving for higher planes, to bequeath in those who are behind, their wealth of learning, of ability to see beneath the surface. Captain Fox had a mint in his marvelous knowledge of English writers alone."
He was confined in a number of the confederate prisons during his imprisonment. Among the prisons in which he was confined from Jan. 3, 1864 until Feb. 27, 1865, were the Libby prison, Andersonville prison and stockades at Mason and Savanah, Ga., Charleston and Columbia, S.C. and several other places for a short length of time.
After his parole he resumed his law studies in the office of his old tutor, C.J. Metzner, and June 19, 1865, while waiting for his discharge from the army, he was admitted to the bar.
Captain Fox was married July 21, 1890, to Helene Hart, who survives him with a sister, Mrs. Witter Coy of Keneville, and two brothers, A.V. and H.I. Fox, of North Pitcher, N.Y.
The above was taken from a two-column article that appeared in the Aurora, Ill. Beacon News, November 15. The same issue contains the following editorial: "James D. Fox, whose passing The Beacon-News chronicles today, will be long remembered in this community for certain characteristics that placed him somewhat apart from the ordinary run of human kind. A hater of sham and an uncompromising foe of pretense, he ridiculed the fads and follies of his time, stripping them of their outward show and exposing the naked truth. An intense patriot, he quickly and willingly responded to the call of his country in the early days of the civil war, facing the enemy's bullets without hesitation and suffering the tortures of the damned in Andersonville prison without a murmur. Honest to the very heart, he never tried to take a mean advantage of anyone and many were the bills he paid because of the treachery of false friends. A lover of home, his family came first in his affections, and his intimate acquaintances found in him a friend of more than common steadfastness. Vigorous of speech, he knew how to argue a case in court to bring out the best points and his writings which have appeared in The Beacon-News for years were marked by unusual force. For more than a half century this man has passed his life among our people, suffering physically every minute of that time, but never complaining of his own ills. Original in thought, courageous in action, steadfast in his belief of what he thought was right, his presence here will be long remembered. One of the phases of life, peculiar to those who have been "in business" and "down town" is the close association with many people, and the necessity from time to time of saying the long farewell to a companion who leaves upon the journey into the Great Beyond.. Newspaper people have long been so associated with the late Captain Fox and none knew better than they his brilliancy, his real kindliness and worth beneath one of the most unique of personalities. One wishes at times that it were possible for those who are leaving for higher planes, to bequeath in those who are behind, their wealth of learning, of ability to see beneath the surface. Captain Fox had a mint in his marvelous knowledge of English writers alone."
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