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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published by John M. Gresham & Co. in 1891.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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HOMER J. SKINNER is a leading farmer of the town of Portland, and owns a property eighty-four acres in extent, two and one-half miles from the village. He is a son of David and Betsy (Hill) Skinner, and was born in Portland, Chautauqua county, New York, June 6, 1829.

Homer J. Skinner traces his ancestry to the Emerald Isle; his father, David Skinner, was born in Chenango county, in 1803, and came to Portland when sixteen years of age, located in this town, began to farm, and has followed it uninterruptedly for seventy-two years. The old gentleman still lives, aged eighty-eight years, is a prosperous farmer enjoying fair health, and is now happy in the association of his grandchildren of the fifth generation. On account of his advanced age, as would be expected, he is not actively engaged, but is a member of the Methodist church at Portland, and belongs to the Democratic party, as do all of his sons. On December 25, 1825, David Skinner married Betsy Hill, who was born August 14, 1803, and having borne her husband five children, four sons and one daughter, died in the faith of the Methodist church, December 22, 1836. He then married for his second wife, Mary Williams, who is still living, and is the mother of three children, two sons and one daughter.

Homer J. Skinner was reared on the old farm, and secured a district school education. He, like his father, has made farming his life work, and is now the proprietor of a fine vineyard twenty acres in extent.

On October 20, 1851, he married Martha Fuller, a daughter of Michael Fuller, of Portland, and they have one son, Norman Lester, who is united in marriage with Fanny Secord, of Erie, Penna., on the 2d day of August, 1888, and now lives with his father.

Homer J. Skinner is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a democrat, good citizen and a prosperous farmer.

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This family biography is one of 658 biographies included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published in 1891. 

View additional Chautauqua County, New York family biographies here: Chautauqua County, New York Biographies

View a map of 1897 Chautauqua County, New York here: Chautauqua County, New York Map

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