My Genealogy Hound

REV. EDWARD W. HITCHCOCK, D. D., who for some years past has been one of Cortland County’s best known sons, is a gentleman of high scholarly attainments, and the representative of a family, which has had much to do with the history and growth of Central New York. His portrait* is shown on the opposite page.

Dr. Hitchcock is a native of Homer, Cortland County, N. Y. The family is of English stock, but the history of the American branch goes far back into early colonial times, when its founder crossed the Atlantic and settled in New England. The first member of the family to become a resident of New York State was Major Noah Hitchcock, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Major Hitchcock was a man of prominence even before he left New England. His family was well and familiarly known in the colonies, his father being Noah Hitchcock, Sr., a leading spirit of his times, and the Major, himself, had been a member of the Massachusetts State militia, and had fought in putting down Shay’s Rebellion. At the time Major Hitchcock came into Central New York, few white men had dared to invade the beautiful country of the Iroquois Nation, so zealously did the red keepers of the “Eastern Door” guard the approach to the Genesee Country to the west. His military genius stood him in good stead in the state where he had determined to make his home, as is testified to by three commissions which were given him, and which Dr. Hitchcock now holds in his possession. The first of these papers bears the date of April 19, 1798, and is signed by John Jay; it makes Major Hitchcock the ensign of a company of militia with headquarters in Onondaga County. The second is dated November 25, 1802, is signed by Gov. George C. Clinton, and confers a commission of captain of a company. The third is also signed by Gov. Clinton, bears the date of March 10, 1804, and confers the rank of major in an Onondaga County regiment. As the braves of the forest were slowly but surely forced back by advancing civilization, the Major turned his attention to agriculture, and came to Homer, this county, in 1796, settling upon a tract of 178 acres, a property which is to-day in the hands of his grandson, the subject of this sketch. When the Major came into the beautiful Cortland region, dense forests, full of wild animals covered the hills and vales. With characteristic intrepidity and industry the hardy pioneer set about the task of clearing a farm, so that it should be fit for the occupancy of civilized man. He accomplished his task, and lived out his long life on his estate, hewn out by his own efforts from the wilderness. Major Hitchcock was born in Brimfield, Mass., in 1768, and died on his farm in Homer in 1856.

The faithful wife of Major Hitchcock was Marcy Keep, daughter of Captain Keep, a distinguished son of the old Bay State, who bore a commission from Gov. John Hancock, dated the fifth year of the Independence of the United States. Mrs. Hitchcock preceded her husband in entering the higher state by some ten years, passing from earth’s scenes in 1846. Ten children were born to them, whose names were: Margaret, born November 7, 1796; Caleb B., November 26, 1798; Asa, August 31, 1800; Capt. Noah, father of Dr. Hitchcock, December 2, 1802; Permelia, October 12, 1804; Diantha, September 4, 1806; Orange, July 3, 1809; Abel, July 28, 1811; Amelia, July 13, 1815; and Mercy, February 21, 1817. All the above were born on the old “Hitchcock homestead.”

Noah Hitchcock was reared in Homer, and spent all his days on and about the home place, though he acquired business interests, which reached to remote parts of the land. While still a young man, he evinced a capacity for handling affairs and engineering important deals that later on made him one of the most influential men in the county. Primarily, he was a tiller of the soil, but as the state expanded and filled up with people, he had the foresight to appreciate its resources, and the adaptability to handle its development. The Captain became a heavy buyer and shipper of pork and cattle for the market; and was one of a company of four men, who handled for dairy purposes the milk of 1200 cows. He was one of the promoters and also a heavy stockholder in the Binghamton & Syracuse R. R., a line that is now operated as a part of the Lackawanna System. He was an investor in other railroad stocks and bonds as well. Financial schemes and interests outside of his immediate surroundings received his attention and often found him ready to co-operate, provided they appealed to his excellent judgment as safe and good investments for his money; in this way he became a member of the Cleveland Paper Manufacturing Co., and was one of the organizers of the Hubbardstown Lumber Co. of Hubbardstown, Ionia County, Mich. In local affairs he was no less active. He was captain of a company of State militia; a trustee of Cortland Academy, now the Homer Academy; and was one of the active members of the Homer Congregational Church, a church of which he was a trustee for many years. In politics, Captain Hitchcock was a Whig of the soundest doctrine. His townsmen were free to make demands upon his time whenever they desired, and he filled at one time and another elective offices in their gift. So varied were his talents and so many were his abilities, that it is safe to say that few men stamped their individuality in a more indelible manner on any community than did Noah Hitchcock. When the time came for him to loose his hold on this life, the loss was keenly felt by a host of people, in whose individual lives he had been time and time again an important factor. He died November 3, 1869.

Captain Hitchcock had married in Brimfield, Mass., Lucy Hubbard, and from this union four children were born: Mary A.; Edward W., our subject; Henry W.; and Dwight N. Mary A. Hitchcock became the wife of Mr. W. W. Walker, and took up her residence with her husband in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was the mother of two children: Mary, the wife of Alfred W. Lee, editor and proprietor of the Ottumwa Courier and present postmaster of the city; and Lucy H., who wedded Johnson Brigham, who was counsel to Aix-La-Chappelle, France, under the Harrison Administration, who was also for a long term of years editor of various papers, principally the Cedar Rapids Republican, and who is the proprietor and founder of the Midland Monthly of Des Moines, Iowa, already one of the leading magazines of the country ; and was appointed State Librarian in 1898. Henry W. Hitchcock is now a resident of Hubbardstown, Mich. He fought for the Union through the years of the Civil War, and is now a retired and prominent citizen, holding the office of justice of the peace. Dwight N. Hitchcock, the other brother, is now a leading, active citizen of Homer, N. Y., where he devotes the greater part of his time to agricultural pursuits.

Edward W. Hitchcock, the subject of this personal history, was born, as has been stated before, on the home place in Homer, N. Y., May 1, 1833. He received his first training in the schools of his native place, and prepared for college at the Cortland Academy. In 1857, he was graduated with honors from Yale University, and three years later completed the course at the Auburn Theological Seminary. His first pastorate was at New Brighton, Staten Island, in the Reformed Dutch Church. At that place he spent six prosperous years, his efforts resulting in the uniting of large numbers to the congregation, and the building of a new church. Dr. Hitchcock then became the successor of Dr. Asa D. Smith as pastor of the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church of New York City, Dr. Smith having taken leave of his charge to enter upon a broader field of usefulness as President of Dartmouth College. Another six years were spent there in which time Dr. Hitchcock most successfully directed the work of a church, which among its members numbered many of the best business men of the Metropolis. Dr. Hitchcock then crossed the water and assumed charge of the American Church in Paris, a post he filled most acceptably for eleven years.

That this church, just mentioned, became self-sustaining was largely due to the labors of Dr. Hitchcock. It had been founded in 1857 as the first American Church on the Continent. It was not intended that it should be conducted on denominational lines, but was to be a church home for all Americans who were sojourning in Paris, without reference to anyone’s particular creed. The American and Foreign Christian Union became custodian of the property and has remained such during the entire history of the church. Dr. Kirk, from the Mt. Vernon Church of Boston, was the first regular pastor, and he was followed in turn by Dr. Joseph P. Thompson, Dr. R. H. Seeley, Dr. G. L. Prentiss, Dr. McClintock, Dr. Byron Sunderland, Dr. Burlingham, Dr. Abram Van Nest, Dr. Azariah Eldridge, and Dr. C. S. Robinson. In this charge, Dr. Hitchcock’s high executive ability and talent for organization had full play, and his long pastorate enabled him to bring forth valuable results. The Church became self-sustaining, and the membership was increased by many additions; a Missionary Society was organized for French evangelization, and several Mission Stations supported; the ladies of the congregation organized and conducted the Model Industrial School in Paris, which attracted considerable attention. He often accompanied the French pastors in their evangelistic tours through the provinces, and obtained much useful information, that he has made good use of in his lectures on evangelical work in France and the Protestant movement in that country. He enjoyed the companionship and counsel of many of the prominent Americans, who at one time or another during his pastorate resided or visited in Paris; in this way he became acquainted with Grant, Sherman, Washburne, Morton, and others of great prominence. He also had a very extensive foreign acquaintance. He was a member of the committees of six French evangelical societies during his stay in Paris, and thus became familiar with the people and their customs. Pressing family matters compelled Dr. Hitchcock to return to America, and since then he has devoted himself to various ministerial labors, to lecturing and literary work, a field in which he has been followed up with the same appreciation and success as in his other employment. At the completion of his theological course, Yale University bestowed upon our subject the degree of M. A.; while a resident of Paris, Hamilton College conferred upon him the degree of D. D.

Dr. Hitchcock in his lifetime has been twice married. His first union to Evelyn P. Hawley of Homer, N. Y., took place July 19, i860. To this marriage three children were born; Eva Cornelia, who died in infancy; Mary Adelia, who passed away at the age of six months; and Evelyn Florence, who only lived to the age of three and one-half years. After the decease of his first wife, he contracted a second matrimonial union with Josephine Cattell Fithian, daughter of Joseph Fithian, a prominent physician of New York City, and three children also blessed this, his second marriage, namely: Edward Fithian, born March 26, 1884; Joseph Fithian, February 6, 1886; and Francis Bennett, May 16, 1889.

Dr. Hitchcock all through his life has been not only a fisher of men, but also a student of men; very few have had the opportunities of seeing and knowing human nature as has he. From the peaceful, contented valleys of his native heath, through the busy life of seething New York, into the salons of Paris has his career led him. He has heard the tale of sorrow and of woe, as told by the faltering lips of the fallen outcast, and has grasped in friendly intercourse the hand of the titled nobleman. Born of a family, on whose tree appears the names of such men as Charles Dudley Warner; Ex-president Cleveland; Andrew D. White, ex-president of Cornell University; President Edward Hitchcock of Amherst College; President Roswell D. Hitchcock of Union Theological Seminary; Major-General Ethan Allen Hitchcock; Judge Peter Hitchcock, chief-justice of Ohio; he has enjoyed facilities, of which he has taken full advantage, to meet and to be in touch with most that is of living human interest. His lectures, on religious matters mainly, never fail to catch and hold the attention of cultivated audiences. His experience in France has enabled him to prepare many articles on the religious affairs of that country, which are standard, and which show that they have come from the pen of a man, who has studied the subject deeply and exhaustively, and who has arrived at correct conclusions.

Though justly proud of his ancestors of whom he has ever striven to be a worthy descendant, he is a true American in all his ways. Whether it be on his own quiet, home acres, or in the whirl of city life he is always kind and unassuming, giving a ready ear to the applicant for counsel or consolation. He has labored long in the Master’s Vineyard, and his reward will come when he hears the welcome words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

*A portrait was included in the original printed volume.