My Genealogy Hound

NATHAN SALISBURY of Scott township, Cortland County, ranks high among the leading, progressive men of this section, and holds an enviable place among the county’s agriculturists as a practical farmer and dairyman. He was born on the old Salisbury homestead in Scott township, July 24, 1837. He bears the same honored name as his father and grandfather before him, and it is safe to say that he emulates their virtues, for they were men who commanded respect because of their superior ability and honorable records.

The Salisbury 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 that appeared in the reign of King Charles I, and feeling alarmed for their safety, 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 from North Wales, where they had sojourned for a time. One of the brothers, John, was killed by the Narragansett Indians near Mt. Hope, and this act, if it was not an immediate cause, at least 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 our subject; Rebecca; and Phoebe.

Nathan Salisbury, the first of that name, 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 of Providence, R. I., was a member. Nathan Salisbury 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 War of Independence. This, it will be remembered, was one of the series of events that led 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 to it. He resided in this place until his death, November 4, 1817. Mr. Salisbury and his beloved 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, the second of that name; and Phoebe. At the time Mr. Salisbury settled on Cold Brook, the stillness of the night was not infrequently broken by the cries of wolves and other wild animals, and it became quite a 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, the father of our subject, was born at Cranston, R. I., October 10, 1793. He came into the new country of Central New York with his father’s 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 as well, he in 1815 bought a farm on Lot 95 of the town of Scott; 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 dense, unbroken forest, but as early 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, March 4, 1880. Her husband followed her in July, 1889, and rejoined her on the farther 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., a leading agriculturist of the town of Homer, residing in the village of Little York, whose personal notice appears elsewhere; Charlotte A., who died January 20, 1898; William W.; and Nathan, the third of that name, of whom we will speak a little farther on.

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 sheep and cattle 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 our subject. All in all, Nathan Salisbury, second of that name, was a gentleman of the old school — intelligent, courteous and refined, he was the kind of man to make a lasting impression of good on all societies, which were so fortunate as to number him among their members.

Nathan Salisbury, the third of that name and the subject of this article, obtained a good academic education in Cortland Academy of Homer and in Cortlandville Academy of Cortland, and finished his education in 1860. He has determined to see a little of the Old World before settling down, and so in 1861 he made a visit to the British Isles, and trweled about from point to point through England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He returned home in the same year, and accepted the position of superintendent of the Hibbard Oil Co., which was then operating in the oil fields of Western Pennsylvania. For two years and a half he superintended the drilling of the wells, and saw to it that the wells were properly capped and piped when oil was struck. He then went west to Virginia City, Montana, and from there to Helena, where he engaged in mining and in speculating in live stock for a year and a half. He then made San Francisco his objective point, and reached Portland, Oregon, by way of the Columbia River. After spending a year in the States of Washington and Oregon, he passed on to San Francisco and San Jose; from the latter place he proceeded overland to Salt Lake City, Utah, from there went to Cleveland, Ohio, and finally arrived home in Cortland County in the spring of 1869. Ever since he has resided on a portion of the homestead, 180 acres of which he owns and cultivates. He also owns a farm of 69 acres in the town of Homer, and 170 acres fronting on Lake Ontario. He has been engaged as a dairyman, and is quite successful as a farmer and a business man. He is a stanch Republican, and takes an intelligent interest in county, state and national politics. As a true-blue Republican he thoroughly believes that the prosperity of the country depends on a sufficiently high tariff, constructed with a view to protecting American products and American labor from ruinous competition with the cheap products and labor of foreign countries. He very frequently attends county and district conventions of his party as a delegate, but it is a disinterested action, for he never seeks public office for himself.

On January 28, 1890, Mr. Salisbury was united in marriage with Miss Eva E. Wood, daughter of William Wood of Auburn, N. Y. This happy union has been blessed with the birth of three children, namely: Nathan, Jr., fourth of that name; Trafford W.; and June L. In religious belief he holds to the teachings of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Salisbury is a member of Exchange Street M. E. Church of Auburn, N. Y.