Lawyer Sylvester Terry (1824-1912)

From the Proceedings of the Chautauqua Co. Board of Supervisors, 1910-13.

   Featured on this site's Facebook page on October 27th, its Chautauqua County, New York native Lawyer Sylvester Terry. It's always exciting to discover a new odd name political figure from my home county, and Terry fits the bill perfectly. "Vet" Terry, as he was familiarly known, has a misnomer for a first name; he wasn't a lawyer and never practiced law! Terry served three terms as township supervisor of Clymer, NY, and also for French Creek for one term. Township supervisor being an office similar to village president or mayor, Terry later served as one of three county superintendents of the poor, and in the twilight of his life resided in Washington, D.C. 

  One of nine children born to Silas and Polly (Powers) Terry, Lawyer Sylvester Terry was born in French Creek, New York on November 9, 1824. An early county resident, Silas Terry (1800-1883) was a native of Vermont and was distinguished in his own right, representing Chautauqua County in the state assembly in 1849. One should also note that political service continued in the family with Walter Loomis Sessions, the husband of Terry's younger sister Mary Ravilla (1826-1899). Sessions served terms in the New York state assembly and senate, and for three terms represented Chautauqua County in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

  Little is known of "Vet" Terry's formative years, and in 1849 he married Laura Moses (1829-1864). Following her death, he remarried to Nellie Forsythe Durand (1837-1917), with who he had two children, Loy S. and Grace. A farmer in Clymer, Terry was a founding organizer of the Clymer Baptist Church and first entered local politics in 1860 with his election as Clymer town supervisor. He served during the 1861 session of the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors, and in 1863 was elected as supervisor for the neighboring town of French Creek, where he sat from 1864-65.

  In the election of 1878, Terry was reelected as Clymer town supervisor, serving consecutive terms from 1879-1882. The 1881-82 board session saw Terry named to the committees on Erroneous Assessments, the Grand Jury List, Printer's Accounts, and the Poor House and Farm, and in November 1889 was elected as Chautauqua County Superintendent of the Poor. One of three superintendents, Terry served a term of three years and in 1891 resettled in Westfield. Following his resettlement he was elected as town commissioner of excise, serving until his resignation in April 1894.

  In 1903 Lawyer Terry left Chautauqua County, removing to Washington, D.C. to reside with his son Loy and daughter Grace, then "holding responsible positions" in the Interior department's pensions bureau. Terry resided in the District of Columbia until his death on May 17, 1912, at age 87. He was returned to Clymer for burial at the Clymer Cemetery, where his widow Nancy was also interred following her death in 1917. In October I was able to visit Terry's gravesite at that cemetery, and here are some photos from the trip! 

Tuthill Raymond McDowell (1895-1956)

Portrait from the three-volume "Southeastern New York", published 1946.

   For many years a distinguished resident of Wawarsing and Ellenville in New York, Tuthill Raymond McDowell was a former U.S. Postmaster at Ellenville as well as a township supervisor of Wawarsing. A real estate broker and banker in addition to his involvement in local politics, McDowell also was an alternate delegate to the 1952 Democratic National Convention from New York.

   The son of John and Margaret Stapleton McDowell, Tuthill Raymond McDowell was born in Woodridge, Sullivan County, New York on December 4, 1895. He would be a student in the schools of the aforementioned county and during his time in high school was viewed as a standout athlete. McDowell would later become a coach at the Ellenville High School and is remarked as having guided that school's baseball and basketball teams to "several championships" during his time there. A veteran of the First World War, McDowell entered the U.S. Army and served with a cavalry unit, his total dates of service being unknown at this time.

   Tuthill McDowell married in Kerhonkson, New York in 1919 to Hilda Myers (1894-1991). The couple were wed for nearly forty years and are believed to have been childless. Following his military service, McDowell entered into business with his father, joining him in the firm of John McDowell and Son. Their business centered on the breeding, raising a sale of horses, and in addition to that firm McDowell also worked as a real estate broker and was a director of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Ellenville.

   Active in the civic life of his community, Tuthill McDowell was for many years a prominent booster in the fight against polio, leading collection drives in Wawarsing to raise money to combat the disease, and for several years served as the vice chairman of the Ulster County Chapter, National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

   

Tuthill R. McDowell at a 1951 March of Dimes Rally, from the Kingston Daily Freeman.

    As a prominent  Democrat in Ulster County, Tuthill McDowell was often called to serve in various positions of the public trust. A former Democratic town chairman of Wawarsing, McDowell served that town as its supervisor from 1934-1939 and in 1940 began a ten-year tenure as U.S. Postmaster at Ellenville, being named to that post by President Roosevelt. In 1952 he served as an alternate delegate from New York to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that nominated Adlai Stevenson for the presidency.

   In addition to his political and business doings, Tuthill McDowell was a prominent club man in Ulster County, holding memberships in several fraternal groups. Among these were the Shawangunk Country Club, the Wawarsing Lodge No. 582 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Wawarsing Sportsmen's Association, the Noon Day Club, and the Cooke-Taylor Post 111 of the American Legion. 

   Tuthill R. McDowell died at age 61 on December 27, 1956, at the Veterans Memorial Hospital at Ellenville, He was survived by his wife Hilda, who died in January 1991 at age 96. Both were interred in the McDowell family plot at the Fantinekill Cemetery in Ellenville.

Obituary from the Kingston Daily Freeman, December 28, 1956.

Erbin Cone Wattles (1825-1909)

    Today's profile is a return to a local oddly named politician from Chautauqua County, New York--Erbin Cone Wattles. This interestingly named man with impressive facial hair served as Township Supervisor for the town of Ripley during the mid-1870s. Although his political career didn't extend past the confines of his hometown, Wattles was nevertheless a prominent figure in Ripley, New York for many years.
   Erbin Cone Wattles was born in Ripley on February 21, 1825, the son of Gurdon Huntington and Lucretia Phelps Wattles. Erbin's father Gurdon was also a prominent Ripley resident and served as Township Supervisor in 1835 and 1836. Erbin received his education in Ripley and in 1845 married a woman who also had an unusual name--Wealthy Ann Tennant. The couple was married for nearly sixty years until he died in 1909. Four children were eventually born to the couple and are listed as follows: Gurdon Moses, Sarah, Burt, and lastly, Jay B.
   The few sources that mention Wattles show that he purchased a large farm in Ripley in 1859 and resided here with his family for many years. His obituary in the Buffalo Express also notes that Wattles was a school teacher and music teacher during his life, and makes light of his service as Ripley Town Supervisor. Wattles was elected to this office in 1873 and served two more terms in 1874 and 1875. A roster of past Ripley supervisors has been posted below, with Wattles's name highlighted in yellow.

 In addition to his tenure as town supervisor, Wattles was also a devoutly religious man and was a prominent member of the Ripley Baptist Church. At some point during the late 1870s, Wattles and his family resettled in Buffalo, New York and he resided there until his death on April 17, 1909. He was subsequently buried in the Quincy Rural Cemetery in Ripley and was survived by his wife Wealthy, who died in 1916. 

                         Wattles's obituary in the April 21, 1909 edition of the Buffalo Express.

   On April 27, 2012, this author and two "blog friends" made a visit to the Quincy Rural Cemetery to photograph Erbin C. Wattles's gravesite. The Quincy Cemetery houses quite a few interesting graves, including those of NY State Assemblyman Jeremiah Mann (1800-1868), New York State Senator Joseph A. McGinnies (1861-1945), and U.S. Congressman Charles Mann Hamilton (1872-1941). Interestingly, two of these men are buried near the Wattles plot. I had made an earlier visit to this cemetery in March 2012 to photograph the grave of Charles M. Hamilton but was unable to find it at the time. That being said, it certainly pays to have two extra pairs of eyes with you when seeking out gravesites!

  The above picture is of the Wattles plot, which houses both Erbin, his wife, and their children. To the left in the background of this picture, you'll notice a large white obelisk, and this happens to be the gravestone of the earlier mentioned Jeremiah Mann, who represented Chautauqua County in the NY State Assembly in 1845.

                                           The gravemarker of Erbin C. Wattles, 1825-1909.