My Genealogy Hound

ENOCH EMENS. In the pleasant little village of Fayette reside a number of influential citizens, among whom may be mentioned our subject, who is senior member of the firm of Emens & Son. He is a native of Seneca County, and was born in the town of Varick, three miles south of this village, June 26, 1819. His parents were Joseph and Martha (Johns) Emens, the former a native of Monmouth, N. J., of which locality the latter was also a native.

Grandfather William Emens, likewise born in New Jersey, moved to Seneca County about the year 1812, at which time our subject’s father was a young man, his birth occurring in 1793. He had stood seven drafts in the War of 1812, but each time drew a blank. The maternal grandfather of our subject, John Johns, was also from New Jersey, whence he and his wife came to this state when their daughter Martha was a child, and in this county she was reared and married. Her parents located on a tract of eighty-four acres of productive land in the town of Varick, which they worked industriously to improve and make more valuable.

To Joseph and Martha Emens there were born four children, of whom Enoch was the youngest but one. He acquired such an education as could be obtained in the schools of the neighborhood, and at the age of sixteen years began to work at the carpenter’s trade, receiving for his first year’s work $50. After becoming an experienced workman he went to Rochester, where he followed his trade for a period of ten years, working the first year as a journeyman carpenter, after which he did contract work. In this way he saved the sum of $2,000, and, returning to the town of Varick, purchased one hundred acres of land and soon became one of the prominent and substantial agriculturists of the locality.

The subject of this sketch was married, October 18, 1848, to Miss Eliza Van Riper, of the town of Varick. They at once located on the farm above referred to, and continued to make it their home until 1883, when they came to Fayette. Here our subject engaged in merchandising, and the firm is now operating under the style of Emens & Son. He became the father of eight children, of whom three died in infancy. Those living are Martha; Olin E., the partner of his father, and whose sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume; Humboldt, superintendent of an extensive silver and gold mine in Denver, Colo.; Edgar A., Professor of Greek in Syracuse University; and Frederick, Postmaster of the village of Fayette, and also a clerk in his father’s store. Edgar A. is a graduate of Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., and after completing his studies traveled extensively in Europe.

Mr. Emens is greatly interested in bee culture, and has about fifty stands. In politics he is a Republican, tried and true, having voted for the candidates of that party ever since its organization in 1856. His first ballot, however, was cast for William Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate of 1840. During all these years he has been true to his party, but has desired no offices. He is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which he has been connected for over half a century. In this denomination he has been Class-Leader and Steward and an active worker in the Sunday-school.

Mrs. Emens departed this life March 9, 1895, at the age of seventy-three years. She was born March 6, 1822, in Varick and proved her husband’s most efficient helpmate for many years.