My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM L. MINIGER, a resident of the town of Ripley and a descendant of two old and highly-respected pioneer families of Chautauqua county, is a son of Capt. John C. and Charlotte M. (Hutchins) Miniger, and was born in the town of Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, April 17, 1826. While most of the pioneer and early settlers of Chautauqua county were from New England, there were a few from southern States, and it is quite likely that the only representative from South Carolina, among the early settlers of Chautauqua, was Thomas M. Miniger (paternal grandfather). Thomas M. Miniger served through the Revolutionary war, and, according to the history of him, as preserved by his descendants, came in 1803 to the town of Westfield, where he followed farming until his death. He was accompanied from South Carolina by his son, Lawrence Miniger (grandfather), who was a Presbyterian, and Jacksonian democrat, served in the war of 1812, and died on his farm in 1842. He married a Miss Wynn, who bore him five children, four sons and one daughter. One of the sons was John C. Miniger (father), who was born in 1800, in Virginia, and was three years later brought by his parents to the town of Westfield, where he died in February, 1871. He was a farmer, a democrat and a Methodist. He commanded an independent rifle company, and married Charlotte M. Hutchins. They had four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom two are living: John H., a farmer, living on the shore of Lake Chautauqua; and William L. Mrs. Miniger was a granddaughter of Gen. Pell Hutchins, who was one of those who gained notoriety at the “Boston Tea Party.” He served in the Revolutionary war, and came from Vermont, the State of his nativity, to Westfield, about 1806. His son, Benjamin Hutchins, the father of Mrs. Miniger, was also present at the Boston Tea Party, and came to Westfield with his father, where he followed carpentering until his death.

William L. Miniger was reared in Westfield, received his education in the common schools and then served an apprenticeship of three years, learning the trade of harness and trunk-making at Westfield. He soon abandoned this work and learned to be a stone-mason, which has been his employment until the present time.

He united in marriage with Mary Moshier, daughter of Henry Moshier, then a resident of the town of Portland. To their union have been born four children: Edgar, at home; Francis, is dead; Frederick; and an infant, who died when very young.

William L. Miniger owns a very productive farm of two hundred and twenty-seven acres of well-improved land. It is located in the town of Westfield while he resides in the village of Ripley. Politically Mr. Miniger is a democrat, and belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, Grange, Patrons of Husbandry and the Mutual Aid Union.