My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES P. McVEAN, a prominent business man of the town of Willet, is a son of Peter and Charity (Snider) McVean, and was born in the town of Solon, this county, November 4, 1835. Peter McVean, the grandfather, was a native of the Highlands of Scotland; he came to America, and located in Johnstown, this state, shortly after the Revolution. About the beginning of the present century, he came to Cortland County, and settled in the town of Virgil, but his death occurred in Freetown about 1850. He was a farmer all his life.

Peter McVean, Jr., the father, was born in Johnstown in 1801, but was reared to young manhood in the town of Virgil. In 1825 he went to Freetown and there opened the first store. He dealt in potash, salts, cheese, and such products as the farmer had for sale in those days; these products were taken to Albany by teams, and there exchanged for groceries and other staple articles that were in steady demand with the people. After leaving Freetown, he followed farming for the rest of his life, dying in Solon township in 1888. He was married to Charity Snider, a daughter of John Snider, a native of Germany, who fought in the Revolution, settling in Virgil shortly afterward. He was a tailor by trade, and also carried on farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Peter McVean were born six boys: John A., a retired farmer of Marathon; William S., also a farmer of Marathon; Charles P.; James G., a farmer of Virgil; an infant that died; and David W., who resides with his brother, John, at Marathon.

Charles P. McVean was married to Phoebe L. Bailey, February 9, 1860. They adopted a daughter, Cressie L., who is the wife of Merton D. Mathews, a salesman in Mr. McVean’s store. Our subject was brought up on the farm with few educational advantages, as his parents were poor, and he had to do his part toward the support of the family. He attended the common school for a time, but at the age of thirteen, secured a position as a clerk at Virgil. However, being a great reader, and persistent in his search for knowledge, he has obtained a fund of valuable information, superior to that of many college-bred men. At the age of eighteen he taught school for one term in Freetown, and then took up agriculture, in which he was engaged for ten or twelve years in Freetown and Cincinnatus. He then embarked in the mercantile business at Texas Valley, in the town of Marathon, where he remained for six years, until 1874, when he came to Willet and opened the store in which he is at present. He carries a large stock of general merchandise, and does a large business. He is still interested in farming and is successfully operating a farm at present, as well as buying and shipping stock to the eastern markets, which undertaking with his direction is quite a profitable business. By careful and judicious management, he has been able to acquire a neat income, due entirely to his own efforts; while at the same time he has won for himself the most enviable reputation for honesty and veracity. So high is his standing in the community for rectitude and uprightness in all his dealings, that he has often been importuned to act as trustee in the settlement of estates. He is one of the directors of the Broome County Agricultural Society. In politics, he is a Republican and has held many town offices, having been justice of the peace in Freetown, Marathon and Willet, in all about fifteen years. In 1888 he was elected to the office of supervisor of the town of Willet, which was a great compliment to Mr. McVean, as the town was strongly Democratic.