My Genealogy Hound

ISAAC A. SAXTON. Within the last half-century several citizens of Chautauqua county have been very successful in the gold-fields of the Pacific slope and prominent in the founding and early progress of some of the leading cities of the great west. Among these was the late Isaac A. Saxton, of Fredonia. He was a son of Major Isaac and Lucy (Chapin) Saxton and was born in Oneida county, New York, June 24, 1818. Major Isaac Saxton removed with his family from Oneida county to near Brocton, in the town of Portland, where he afterwards died. He married Lucy Chapin, who was a descendant of the Massachusetts family of that name.

Isaac A. Saxton, after completing his academic course, was engaged for a short time in teaching in Kentucky, where he received one thousand dollars per year and was furnished a negro page to attend him. After returning from Kentucky he entered Hamilton college, from which he was graduated at the close of his senior year. He then went to Shreveport, Louisiana, and was in business for some time, after which he became a resident of New Orleans, but his place of business burned soon after its establishment. To repair his loss, he sought the then new discovered gold-fields of California, where numerous ventures in locating and developing gold territory were successful, although at various times he met with reverses and had his residence and business buildings burned. Returning from California to Chautauqua county, he read medicine for a short time, but then abandoned all idea of that profession and applied himself to the study of law at Fredonia in order to fully fit himself for a business career as well as for a professional life. He was admitted to the Chautauqua county bar and did a large amount of real estate and other business during his life. At an early day in the history of Chicago he had strong faith in the future development of that then mere town. He invested largely in Chicago real estate, which advanced rapidly in value, as he had anticipated, and yielded him a wonderful increase of profit on his investments. He purchased western lands which became valuable and had various other profitable business interests in this county and in the western States, besides forty acres of land within seven miles of the heart of the city of Chicago. He accumulated a fortune of large proportions by his unceasing activity, unwearied energy and successful investments. While cool, calculating and conservative, while heeding carefully boom and lull in business, yet he was far-seeing and able to predict the future successful results of various investments in which many substantial business men were afraid to become interested. In political matters he supported the Republican party. After nearly half a century of active and successful business life he died on March 4, 1884, when in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His remains were entombed with appropriate ceremonies in Forest Hill cemetery.

On January 2, 1855, Isaac Saxton married Louisa W. Pier, of this county. Their union was blessed with four children, of whom one son still lives: Isaac Henry, who is married and resides in Chicago when not engaged on his horse ranch of nearly four thousand acres in the State of Kansas.

At the time of her marriage Mrs. Saxton was teaching in the city of New York. She resides at Fredonia, where she has a beautiful and pleasant home. Mrs. Saxton is a daughter of Daniel Pier, who was born at Cooperstown, New York, and removed to the site of Dunkirk city in January, 1814, where he engaged in farming. He and his father-in-law, Amon Gaylord, two of his brothers-in-law and four other parties sold their farms to a company who laid out on their purchase the village of Dunkirk. Daniel Pier had purchased the larger part of the site of the village for seventy dollars and sold it to this company for twenty-four hundred dollars. He died in 1837, aged fifty-four years. Before removing to Dunkirk he had followed merchandising, although by trade a hatter. He was a public-spirited man, and married Candace Gaylord, daughter of Amon Gaylord, by whom he had seven children, of whom three are living: Amelia S., Mrs. Aveline H. Morey and Mrs. Louisa W. Saxton.