History of Westford, (Otsego County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Andrew Sloan Draper, educator, was born at Westford, Otsego county, N.Y., June 21, 1848; son of Sylvester Bigelow and Jane (Sloan) Draper. His first ancestors in America were James and Miriam (Stansfield) Draper, who emigrated from Yorkshire, England, and settled at Roxbury, Mass., in 1647. He was graduated at the Albany (N.Y.) academy in 1866 and at the Albany law school in 1871. He practised law in Albany, 1871-84; was a member of the Albany school board, 1878-81 and again 1892-94; a member of the New York assembly in 1881; of the board of trustees of the New York state normal college, 1882-87; a judge of the United States court of commissioners to arbitrate the Alabama claims, 1884-86; state superintendent of public instruction, 1886-92; president of the national association of school superintendents, 1888-91; superintendent of instruction, Cleveland, Ohio, public schools. 1892-94, and president of the University of Illinois from 1894. In March, 1898, he was elected borough superintendent of public schools of the city of New York, under the new charter of Greater New York, but declined the position. He was married in 1872 to Abbie Louise Lyon of New Britain, Conn. He received the degree of LL.D. from Colgate university in 1890. His publications include: What Ought the Common Schools to Do? How can It be Done? (1886); How to Improve the Country Schools (1887); The Powers and Obligations of Teachers (1887); The Legal Status of the Public Schools (1882); School Administration in Large Cities (1888); The Indian Problem of the State of New York (1888); The Origin and Development of the New York Common School System (1889); The Authority of the State in the Education of Her Children (1890); A Teaching "Profession" (1890); The Limits of State Control in Education (1891); The Responsibility and Authority of School Trustees (1891); The Spirit of School Administration (1892); Public School Pioneering in New York and Massachusetts (1892); The Spirit of the Teacher (1893); Science in the Elementary Schools (1894); The Pilgrim and His Share in American Life (1895); The Illinois Life and the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1896); The Distinguishing Features of the State Universities (1897); The Crucial Test of the Public School System (1897); Functions of a State Touching Education (1898); The Schools and Citizenship (1898); American Universities and the National Life (1898); and The Rescue of Cuba; an Episode in the Growth of Freedom (1899).

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

Rocellus Sheridan Guernsey, author and lawyer, was born in Westford, N.Y., April 10, 1836; son of Richard and Orilla (Delesdernier) Guernsey; grandson of Ebenezer and Silla (Shevaleer) Garnsey; great grandson of John and Azubah (Buell) Garnsey; and great, great, great, great, great-grandson of John Guernsie, who was in New Haven colony, at Milford, in 1639 with his younger brother Joseph. Rocellus attended the district school in Westford until 1852; studied law in Buffalo, N.Y., and was admitted to the bar in New York city in 1859, and to the U.S. supreme court bar in January, 1863. He was counsel for the Western Union telegraph company, for the Postal telegraph cable company and for other similar corporations. He is the author of Mechanics' Lien Laws as in operation in New York, Kings and Queens counties (1873); How Shakespeare's Plays were written (1874); Corporation Code (1884), Suicide: History of the Penal Laws Relating to it (1885); Ecclesiastical Law in Hamlet (1885), New York City and Vicinity during the War of 1812-15 (2 vols., 1889-96); Taxation and its Relation to Capital and Labor (1897); and several papers on medico-legal subjects and on taxation, economics and historical matters.

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