Do you have photocopies from books that are missing the title page or any indication of the book title? Well, I do.
Today’s Friday Finds is a photocopy of a biography of Jesse Hall of the village of Cazenovia which is in Madison County, New York. While I don’t know of any HALL ancestors in the New York area in my tree, my ancestor, Thurston Kennedy Wells’ first wife was Sarah Hall. Since Thurston Wells lived in Madison County, I probably thought there might be a connection. Thus, the photocopies.
Fortunately, the heading “Our County and Its People” provided enough information for a Google search. I was able to locate the book and the biography on Archive.org and on Ancestry. The title of the book is Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Madison County, New York. This book was edited by John E. Smith and published by the Boston History Company in 1899
Below is a transcription of the biography.
Hall, Jesse Wilson, is one of the leading merchants of Cazenovia village, where he has been engaged in the jewelry business for a quarter of a century. Mr. Hall was born in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York, November 5, 1850. His father, also in Cazenovia in 1858, where he died in 1874. He was for eight years steward of Cazenovia Seminary. He was the son of Stephen R. Hall, a native of Dracut, Middlesex county, Mass. an early settler of Brookfield, who removed to that town in 1803, in a wagon, bringing his wife and family and was one of the earlier settlers of that town. Jesse W. was educated at Cazenovia Seminary and at the age of nineteen began to learn the jeweler’s trade with John Greenland, with whom he remained
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one year, and was then for six years in the employ of W. H. Cruttenden, watchmaker and jeweler. He resided in Sherburne one year and in 1878 bought the jewelry business of the estate of John Greenland. In his store, which he purchased in 1882, he has done a successful business. He is an Odd Fellow of high standing and in politics has always been a staunch Republican. Mr. Hall served as town clerk fifteen consecutive years. In 1896 he was elected justice of the peace. He has served as trustee of the village, trustee of Cazenovia Seminary, and member of the board of education. He married, in 1880, Lucky Nichols Bailey, daughter of Lewis and Marietta (Nichols) Bailey.
Based on the information in the biography, I was able to locate Jesse Wilson Hall on Family Search. Thus, I was able to compare his tree to Sarah Hall‘s tree. While this biography is not relevant to my genealogy research, I hope it helps someone else!