History of Jefferson County New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Milton Smith Littlefield, soldier, was born in Jefferson county, N.Y., in March, 1832. He studied and practised law in the office of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Ill. On the breaking out of the civil war he was commissioned captain in the 14th Illinois regiment, commanded by Col. John M. Palmer. He served in the campaign of 1862 on the staff of Gen. W. T. Sherman, as provost marshal at Memphis, Tenn. He was transferred to the Department of the South and made colonel of the 4th South Carolina colored regiment; served in the siege of Charleston, S.C., and after the assault on Fort Wagner, was temporarily assigned to the command of the 54th Massachusetts colored regiment, the colonel, Robert G. Shaw, having been killed in that engagement. On August 31 the regiment, which was in the 4th brigade commanded by Col. James Montgomery, was detailed by General Terry, in charge of the division operating on Morris Island, for special duty in the trenches. On Sept. 1, 1863, Colonel Littlefield assumed command of the 21st U.S. colored troops, and after the battle of Olustee, Fla., of the 54th and 55th colored regiments. He served on the staff of General Gillmore, was inspector-general of colored troops, and after the war engaged in railroad enterprises in New York city. He died in New York city, March 7, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Delano Chipman Calvin, lawyer, was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., Nov. 3, 1824; son of Alpheus R. and Minerva Calvin. He was educated at the Black river institute, Watertown; Professor Dewey's academy, Rochester; Professor Fowler's law school, Cherry Valley; and the law school at Ballston Spa, N. Y., where he was graduated in July, 1849, and admitted to the bar. He was district attorney of his native county, 1852-55. In 1866 he removed to New York city, and not long after was associated with Richard O'Gorman, the corporation counsel, and Henry H. Anderson in the celebrated dock litigation, which successfully established the right of the city to prevent the obstruction of the docks of New York city by the erection of structures for the convenience of private traffic. On the death of Surrogate Van Schaick in April, 1876, Mr. Calvin was chosen to fill that office, and in the following autumn was elected to serve the unexpired term which closed with December, 1881. His published opinions occupy the greater part of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th and a part of the 5th volumes of Redfield's Surrogate's Reports which included the decisions concerning the wills of A. T. Stewart, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Frank Leslie. After the termination of his official term as surrogate, Mr. Calvin engaged in the active practice of his profession. In June, 1881, Hobart college conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL. D.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Hiram Barney, lawyer, was born in Jefferson county, N.Y., May 30, 1811. He was graduated from Union college in 1834, and then studied law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1840 he settled in New York city, and in 1849 became associated in legal practice with Benjamin F. Butler and his son, William Allen Butler. Benj. F. Butler having soon afterward retired from active practice, James Humphrey of Brooklyn became associated with the business, and the firm was continued under the name of Barney, Humphrey, & Butler, and afterward?on Mr. Humphrey's election to Congress?under the title of Barney, Butler & Parsons, which was succeeded, on Mr. Barney's retirement, by the firm of Butler, Stillman & Hubbard. Mr. Barney was appointed collector of the port of New York by President Lincoln, and served during the first three years of Lincoln's administration, when he resigned, and declined an appointment to a foreign mission. Mr. Barney was first married to Susannah, daughter of Lewis Tappan, the abolitionist, and after her death to Miss Kilburne of Keokuk, Ia. In 1830 he became identified with the temperance and antislavery cause, and was chairman of the executive committee of the young men's anti-slavery society in New York city. In 1840 he was nominated as a representative to Congress by the anti-slavery party, but received only three hundred and fifty votes. In 1848, when the anti-slavery party formed the Free Soil party, Mr. Barney was a presidential elector. In 1852 he was on the electoral ticket for Hale and Julian. When the Republican party was formed, in 1856, Mr. Barney was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention that nominated Fremont and Dayton. At that convention he voted for Sumner instead of Fremont. In 1860 he attended the convention at Chicago that nominated Lincoln and Hamlin, and he succeeded in raising $35,000 in New York, which he sent to the state committee in Illinois to assist in carrying that state. He died at Kingsbridge, N.Y., May 18, 1895.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Wilbur Peck, governor of Wisconsin, was born in Jefferson county, N.Y., Sept. 28, 1840; son of David B. and Alzina Peck. He attended the public schools, and in 1855 went to Wisconsin, entering the printing office of the Whitewater Register. He assisted in establishing the Jefferson County Republican; was employed by the State Journal, Madison; enlisted in the Federal army as a private; served, 1861-66, being one year in Texas after the war, and attained the rank of 2d lieutenant. He was married in 1860 to Francena Rowley of Delavan, Wis. He established the Ripen Representative in 1866 and soon afterward removed to New York, where he was one of the editors of Pomeroy's Democrat. He subsequently edited the La Crosse edition of the Democrat, called the La Crosse Democrat, and in 1878 published Peck's Sun in Milwaukee, Wis., which gained a wide reputation for its humorous character. He was chief of police of La Crosse, 1874-75, and chief clerk of the state assembly in 1874. He was mayor of Milwaukee, 1890-91, and governor of the state of Wisconsin, 1891-95. He is the author of: Peck's Bad Boy and his Pa, and The Groceryman and Peck's Bad Boy: a Continuatian of Peck's Bad Boy.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Jefferson County New York

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