My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE M. DEMAREST, who resides in the village of Seneca Falls, was born in Fayette, Seneca County, May 7, 1834, and is a worthy descendant of the sturdy pioneers who laid the foundations of this Republic. As his name implies, he is of French descent. His great-grandfather left France in the seventeenth century and settled in New Jersey. His son, Daniel Demarest, was one of the most prominent citizens of New York City at the beginning of the present century, and was the first to introduce into that place a line of trucks — an enterprise in which he retained an interest until his death.

At his death, Daniel Demarest left two children. His daughter married a Mr. Terhune, of Ann Arbor, Mich. His son, Peter D., our subject’s father, was born in New York City, March 17, 1800, and spent his early years there and in Jersey City. At the age of about eighteen he removed to Seneca County, where he was occupied as a carpenter and joiner. He married a Miss Bachman for his first wife, but she and her two children died young. His second wife, Mrs. Susan (Reifsnider) Haines, was a native of Northumberland County, Pa., and died October 20, 1885.

The family of which our subject is a member consisted of six children, namely: George M.; Lyman W., who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is engaged in railroading; Peter P., of Benicia, Cal. William M., who died in Seneca County, March 16, 1886; Jane M., wife of John White, of Tyre; and Amy A., who married Edmund Brandt, of Sumner, Neb. The parents removed from Fayette to Tyre in 1838, and twelve years later, in 1850, went to Lockport, N. Y. Later, however, they returned to Seneca County, where they died, the father November 21, 1894. Both were earnest Christians, Mr. Demarest being a Universalist and his wife a member of the Lutheran Church.

In youth our subject was an apprentice under his father, and became a proficient carpenter, cabinet-maker and painter. In 1862 he enlisted in Company K, Fiftieth New York Engineers, and served with distinction until the close of the war, being constantly at the front, and receiving the rank of Quartermaster-Sergeant. While with the Army of the Potomac he contracted disease, from which he has never fully recovered. At the close of the war he returned to Seneca County and took up the paint brush once more. In 1866 he attempted farming in Cayuga County, but his health was too poor to permit of manual labor, so he opened a furniture and undertaking establishment at Port Byron. In 1869 he started a similar business at Marshall, Mich. In 1872 he returned to Seneca Falls, where he conducted a similar business until 1879, but since then his failing health has compelled him to confine himself solely to office work.

January 1, 1856, Mr. Demarest married Sarah A. Gregory, daughter of Isaac Gregory, a blacksmith of Seneca County. Six children were born of this union, namely: Hattie S., wife of Charles H. Possons, of Glens Falls; Willie L., who died September 13, 1861, at the age of thirteen months; Libbie T., now Mrs. Michael Eck, of Seneca Falls; Lulu, who was born April 29, 1866, and died April 18, 1870; Georgia May, born May 28, 1867, and died April 30, 1891; and Nettie, who was born June 21, 1872, and passed away September 12, 1872. The wife and mother departed this life August 15, 1872, in Chicago, and was buried at Marshall, Mich.

November 15, 1875, Mr. Demarest was united with Mary T. LaFlour, who was born in Newport, R. I., July 30, 1845. Her father, Joseph LaFlour, was a native of Canada and of French extraction. Her fifty years sit lightly on her brow, for she possesses the beauty and grace of the Gallia ladies, whose charms never fade. Mr. Demarest is a member of the Episcopal Church, and socially is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of Cross Post No. 78, G. A. R. In politics he is a Republican. In his beautiful modern residence at No. 20 Daniels Street, he is enjoying the autumn of a life of hard work and devotion to his country.