History of Owego, (Tioga County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Alexander Hope Dana, lawyer, was born in Owego, N.Y., July 4, 1807; son of Judge Eleazer and Polly (Stevens), grandson of Anderson and Susanna (Huntington), great-grandson of Jacob and Abigail, great-great grandson of Jacob and Patience, and great-great-great-grandson of Richard Dana, who came from England to Cambridge, Mass., by or before 1640, and Anne Bullard, his wife. Tradition says that the family is of French descent. Alexander was graduated from Union college in 1824 and in 1828 was admitted to the bar, becoming a successful practitioner in New York city. He was married to Augusta Radcliffe. He is the author of all the articles on legal subjects in the New American Cyclop?dia; and of Ethical and Physiological Inquiries Relative to Subjects of Popular Interest (1862); Inquiries on Physiology, Ethics and Ethnology (1873); and Enigmas of Life and Death (1882). He died in Montclair, N.J., April 27, 1887.

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

William Woolsey Johnson, educator, was born in Owego, N.Y., June 23, 1841; son of Charles Frederick and Sarah Dwight (Woolsey) Johnson; grandson of Robert Charles and Catharine (Bayard) Johnson and of William Walton and Elizabeth (Dwight) Woolsey; great grandson of William Samuel Johnson ; great2 grandson of the Rev. Samuel Johnson and a descendant on his mother's side from Jonathan Edwards. He attended the public and private schools of Owego, and was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1862, A.M., 1865. He was employed upon the U.S. Nautical Almanac, 1862-64; was assistant professor of mathematics at the U.S. Naval academy, 1864-70; professor of mathematics at Kenyon college, 1870-72; professor of mathematics at St. John's college, 1872-81, and was appointed professor of mathematics at the U.S. Naval academy in 1881. He was elected a member of the London Mathematical society in 1879, corresponding member of the British association in 1881, and a member of the American Mathematical society in 1891. He was married, Aug. 12, 1869, to Susannah Leverett Batcheller, and of their two sons, Charles William Leverett Johnson, Ph.D., became instructor in Greek at Yale, and Theodore Woolsey Johnson, M.E., professor of mechanical drawing at the U.S. Naval academy. He is the author of: Elementary Treatise on Differential Calculus (1879); Elementary Treatise on Integral Calculus (1881); Curve Tracing in Cartesian Co?rdinates (1884); Treatise on Differential Equations (1889); Theory of Errors and Method of Least Squares (1890); Treatise on Mechanics (1893), and mathematical contributions to technical journals.

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

Thomas Collier Platt, senator, was born in Owego, N.Y., July 15, 1833; son of William and Lesbia (Hinchman) Platt; grandson of Maj. Jonathan Platt, who removed from Bedford, Westchester county, to Nichols, Tioga county, with his father, Jonathan Platt, in 1793. He prepared for college in Owego academy, and attended Yale, 1849-50, but was compelled to leave, owing to ill health, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was married, Dec. 12, 1852, to Ellen Lucy, daughter of Charles R. Barstow of Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga National bank; was interested in the lumber business in Michigan, and conducted agricultural implement works at Owego. He was clerk of Tioga county, 1859-61; was active in recruiting troops and in providing for the families of soldiers during the civil war, and was a Republican representative from the 28th New York district in the 43d and 44th congresses, 1873-77. He was elected general manager and president of the U.S. Express company at New York city in 1879, and served as president of the board of quarantine commissioners, 1883-88, being removed on account of his alleged non-residence in New York city. He was elected to the U.S. senate, Jan 18, 1881, for the term expiring March 3, 1887, and served until May, 1881, when he resigned with his colleague, Roscoe Conkling, on account of a disagreement with President Garfield, and was succeeded by Warner Miller. He was defeated as a senatorial candidate in the legislative caucus of 1887 by Frank Hiscock, but was elected, Jan. 20, 1897, to succeed Senator David B. Hill, receiving 147 votes to 42 for Hill and 4 for Henry George, and was re-elected by the legislature in 1903, his term expiring March 3, 1909. He became an acknowledged leader of his party in state and national politics, being a delegate to the successive Republican national conventions, chairman of the Republican state convention, and a member of the New York Republican state committee and of the executive committee of the Republican national committee. He received the honorary degree A.M. from Yale in 1876.

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