My Genealogy Hound

BURDETTE J. SALISBURY is a resident of Little York, town of Homer, this county, who may be regarded as a true example of the best class of American citizenship. His name has come down to him through a long line of patriotic ancestors, who bore full well their part in all the struggles that have resulted in the liberties and freedom which we now enjoy. The family is of English extraction, the original head of the American branch coming to this country about the year 1640, in company with two younger brothers. Being opposed to the political and religious tendencies of King Charles I, they were obliged to leave their home by stealth, with no word to their friends and relatives as to their ultimate destination. They came into the colonies directly from North Wales, where they had sojourned for a time. One of the brothers, John, was killed by the Narragansett Indians near Mt. Hope in 1665, and this act, if not an immediate cause, did much to hasten King Phillip’s War.

The great-grandfather of the subject of this article was a resident of Warwick, and later of Cranston, Rhode Island. His wife was a Miss Pierce, and to them were born seven children: Peleg, known as the “big man of Warwick;” Martin; Job; Urial; Nathan, grandfather of Burdette J.; Rebecca; and Phoebe.

Nathan Salisbury, Sr., was born December 1, 1751, and at the age of twenty married Abigail Stone, who was two years his junior. She was the only daughter of Deacon James Stone of Cranston, a descendant of Hugh Stone, the stolen boy, and ancestor of the Stone family in America. The mother of Abigail (Stone) Salisbury was of the celebrated Brown family, of which John Brown, the founder of Rhode Island College, now Brown University, at Providence R. I., was a member. Nathan Salisbury, Sr., was lieutenant of the company of men under the command of Captain Burgess that fired into the British Frigate Gaspie a short time prior to the opening of the Revolutionary War. This, it will be remembered, was one of the series of events that led up to the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Salisbury resided at Cranston until 1795, when he removed to Providence; he lived in the latter city until 1803, when he betook himself to Hartford, Washington County, N. Y., and purchased a farm. After a three years’ residence he removed to Cazenovia, Madison County, N. Y., and in the year following came to Homer, Cortland County, in the fall, buying a farm on Cold Brook, and moving on to it. He resided on the latter place until his death, November 4, 1817. Mr. Salisbury and his honored wife were the parents of twelve children: Waity; Sally; John; Joseph; Martin, who died on a return voyage from China; Anna; Mary; Lucinda; Ambrose; Cynthia; Nathan, Jr., father of our subject; and Phoebe. At the time Mr. Salisbury settled on Cold Brook, the stillness of night was not infrequently broken by the cries of wolves and other wild animals, and it became a quite common occurrence for deer to come out into the clearing almost to the very doors of the cabin. Game of all sorts was abundant, and the cool, sparkling waters of the streams fairly teemed with trout and others of the finny tribe.

Nathan Salisbury, Jr., was born at Cranston, October 10, 1793. He came into the new country with the family, and in 1813 was baptized and received into the Baptist Church of Homer by the Rev. Alfred Bennett. Subsequently he changed his membership to the Baptist Church of Scott, where a large and flourishing society existed for many years. Always interested in the welfare of the young, Mr. Salisbury, though scarcely more than a youth himself, devoted much time to organizing and conducting Sabbath Schools. Alive to temporal matters, he, in 1815, bought a farm on Lot 95 of Scott township; this estate has ever since been known by the euphonious name of Evergreen Terrace, and is the home-gathering place of the Salisbury family. When Mr. Salisbury first purchased the tract, it was covered with a dense, unbroken forest, but as soon as the second summer he had cleared enough so as to be able to raise two acres of corn, and in 1818 he was able to harvest thirty acres of fine wheat. Thus gradually, the forest retreated, and fertile, arable land came forth, but it was not without the hardest kind of labor and serious drawbacks that it was accomplished. Lucretia Babcock became the wife of Nathan Salisbury, June 21, 1818. She was a daughter of James and Mary (Gibbs) Babcock, who came into Scott township from Blandford, Mass., about the year 1815. Mrs. Salisbury was born September 30, 1792, and spent all her married life at Evergreen Terrace, dropping into that last final sleep which knows no waking, in 1889. Her husband was not long separated from her by death, but followed her the next year, and rejoined her on the other shore. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury all grew up on the homestead; they were named: Amanda A.; Charles B; Dr. James H., a prominent and well-to-do physician of New York City; Milton L., deceased; Burdette J., subject of our history; Charlotte O.; William W.; and Nathan, Jr., a farmer of the town of Scott, whose life history may be found on another page of this work.

Our subject’s father was above all a man, who could be trusted, and he enjoyed the love and esteem of all who had the good fortune to know him. Possessed of good judgment and endowed richly with perseverance, he carried through to a successful termination his every undertaking. Despite the hard, grinding labor of the pioneer, he found time to look after the gentler and more refined side of life. He loved flowers, and seldom could his beds produce too many. He liked cattle and sheep of fine breeds, and his estate was noted for the extra quality of its fruit. Several excellent varieties of seedling pears were originated on his farm. As an agriculturist, his fields were handled with skill, hence good crops and full granaries resulted. Loving the natural sciences, he collected and arranged in the home a cabinet of rocks, fossils and minerals, than which few private collections could be better; this cabinet is now the prized possession of his son, James H. All in all, Nathan Salisbury was a true gentleman of the old school, — intelligent, courteous and refined, he was the kind of a man to make a lasting impression of good on all societies, which were so fortunate as to number him among their members.

Burdette J. Salisbury was born and reared at Evergreen Terrace. He came into this life October 30, 1828. He was trained in scholastic lines at the time-honored Homer Academy. Completing his education at the age of twenty-four, he engaged in farming and stock-buying. Especially fortunate was he in the latter business during the war. He also had money invested in the manufacture of shoe pegs, having a factory at Little York, on Little York Lake, where he made pegs by the thousand bushels; a unique but nevertheless an exceedingly useful industry. He retired from this business in 1878, and has latterly devoted himself to the care of his farms. In addition to the home place, he owns a farm in Little York, and one in Cayuga County. He has a herd of fine Holsteins, of which any man might well be proud, and is also a breeder of valuable horses. Always active in public affairs, he is a leading member of the Democratic party in his section, and has most acceptably filled many offices of trust. He is a member of the Little York Grange, and takes great interest in the welfare of the agricultural classes.

His wife, whom he married in 1862, was before her union to him Elmira Ellsworth, daughter of Daniel Ellsworth of Venice, Cayuga County, N. Y. They have two children: Orlando B., a druggist of New York City, and a graduate of the College of Pharmacy of the same city; and Frank N., a farmer and produce dealer, whose wife is Jennie (Squires) Salisbury.

Our subject is a man, wherever he is known, who is respected for his sterling qualities. He has, like all men, had opportunities, but unlike the most of men, he has made the most of them. He takes a broad, expansive view of life, in this respect very similar to his honored father. He has knowledge of many other interests than the one with which he is intimately connected, and in all matters his judgment is known to be sound. He is the heir to a good name, and that same good name he proposes to hand down to posterity with no tarnish or mar to detract from its lustre. On a preceding page we present the portraits* of Mr. and Mrs. Burdette J. Salisbury.

*Portraits were included in the original printed volume.