My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM BURKHALTER MICKLEY has made his own way in life and is now enjoying a competency that is the result of his unaided efforts. He was for many years a mechanic and millwright, but is now living retired from any active business on his comfortable farm in the town of Seneca Falls. His place is a valuable one, and is pleasantly located within one mile of the thriving village of Waterloo.

Mr. Mickley was born in South Whitehall, Lehigh County, Pa., June 30, 1813. His parents were Henry and Mary (Burkhalter) Mickley, also natives of that county, where the father was proprietor of a hotel the most of his life. In his native place our subject was educated in the German tongue, and was eighteen years of age when he began to do for himself At that time he was apprenticed to a workman to learn how to build bellows for furnaces, working for three years, and receiving his board and $50 in money. His father had died when he was sixteen, leaving him a few hundred dollars, which enabled him to buy his own clothes and other necessary articles.

William B. was the fourth in order of birth in a family of ten children. After mastering his trade, he left his native place, and, coming to this county, located at once in Waterloo, where, instead of working at his trade, he obtained a position as millwright; thus all that his former occupation did for him was to teach him the use of certain tools. He aided in the building of the first brick gristmill in Waterloo, which was located on the south side of the river, but in 1892 or 1893 this was destroyed by fire.

When Mr. Mickley came to New York, he could not speak a word of English, but by applying himself very closely, he soon learned to both speak and understand that language. After working a year in Waterloo, he went to Rochester, where he assisted in placing machinery in a large mill. When this job was completed he returned to Waterloo and erected the first distillery in this locality. After that he was hired by several other companies to erect plants of this kind for them, and later was engaged to operate a distillery, receiving very fair wages. Although he came here a young man poor in this world’s goods, by the time he was ready to embark in business for himself he possessed $3,000.

About this time our subject removed to Penn Yan, Yates County, and, having learned the business of a distiller, operated a plant there for himself for a few years. Later, however, he returned to Waterloo and established himself in the same business, following it through the period of the Civil War, during which time he made a large sum of money. He had a partner who was interested in the business at Penn Yan, and when ready to dispose of their distillery there, they traded it for a farm in this county, located on the banks of Seneca Lake. This was later given in exchange for Mr. Mickley’s present estate of ninety and one-half acres, he having bought out his partner. Soon after the close of the war, our subject abandoned the distilling business and purchased twenty-four acres of land west of Waterloo, which he later sold at a good price to a railroad company. In addition to his home place he also owns a tract of one hundred acres near McDougall, which is leased and cultivated on shares.

When about thirty-three years of age, Mr. Mickley and Miss Sarah Alleman were united in marriage. The lady was born in the town of Seneca Falls, May 12, 1818, and by her union with our subject has become the mother of eight children, of whom we make the following mention: Susan Josephine is at home; Elsie Lee married Oliver P. Loveridge, and is living in Waterloo; Bayard Taylor died at Penn Yan, when in his fifth year; Alice Rosaline became the wife of J. E. Richardson, and is living in Waterloo; Georgiana is now Mrs. Isaac Westbrook, and resides in the town of Fayette; DeWitt is at home; Clara Belle, a finely educated young lady, completed her education in the Cooper Institute, New York City, and for many years taught drawing in Missouri and Toledo, Ohio, but is now at home; and Helene is a stenographer and typewriter for a firm in New York City. The mother of this family departed this life December 11, 1894, and her remains were laid to rest in Maple Grove Cemetery.

In early life Mr. Mickley was a Whig, and cast his first Presidential vote for Martin Van Buren. On the organization of the Republican party, however, he joined its ranks, but of late years has not taken much interest in politics. Although advanced in years, Mr. Mickley is full of energy, and displays unusual judgment in the management of his affairs. It is interesting to know that the branch of the family to which our subject belongs is of French origin. The grandfather was a Huguenot refugee, and during the insurrection against the Huguenots in France, left his native land, and, coming to America, made his home in Lehigh County, Pa. He visited in Toledo, Ohio, when it contained but few houses, and was on the site of Cleveland when there were no houses there.