Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical Review of LIVINGSTON and Wyoming Counties, New York Biographical Review Pub. Co., Boston, 1895 [224 - 225] ALONZO B. COOLEY, notary public, is and has been for some years a useful and influential citizen and office-holder in Leicester, Livingston County, N.Y.; but he has lived in other places, and was born in Covington, Wyoming County, on April 28, 1821. His grand- father, JONATHAN COOLEY, Sr., was born in Springfield, Mass., and came as a pioneer to Lewis County, New York, settling there for life. JONATHAN COOLEY, Jr., son of the elder, was born in Springfield, Mass., February 11, 1784, and moved with his parents to Turin, Lewis County, when very young. There he grew up and married; and in 1811 he came to the Genesee country with ox teams, when Rochester was but a hamlet. They settled in Greigsville, now in the town of York, Livingston County, and built a log cabin in the wilderness. In 1816 MR. COOLEY sold out, and cut a road through the woods to Covington, where he bought a tract of land heavily timbered, and there erected another cabin, wherein the subject of this sketch was born. In due time MR. COOLEY'S success transformed his log buildings into frame houses; and on that estate he lived until his death, on December 15, 1855. His wife, ZERVIAH NIMOCKS, was born in Westfield, Mass., Sept- ember 11, 1782. She joined the Methodist Episcopal church when only fifteen years old, and was a faithful member for eighty-eight years, dying January 16, 1886. Her father, RICHARD NIMOCKS, who was a cous- in of her husband, was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Massachu- setts, and died in Westfield. His wife's maiden name was FOWLER. She came from Massachusetts to Leicester, and finally died at the home of her daughter, MRS. COOLEY. MR. and MRS. JONATHAN COOLEY reared eight children - FREDERICK, GILBERT M., LUCINDA, JAMES A., CARLETON, ALONZO B., ALMON O., and NANCY JANE COOLEY. FREDERICK COOLEY died in his thirty-fourth year, May 21, 1847; but all the others are living. ALONZO B., the sixth child of JONATHAN and ZERVIAH COOLEY, attend- ed the scantily furnished pioneer school in a log cabin at Covington, and afterward graduated with honor at the Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. He lived with his parents until he came of age, when he bought a farm at Covington, where he resided until 1859. Then he sold this farm, and went to the town of Perry, where he remained till 1864, removing then to a farm in Leicester, one mile north of Moscow. After living there six years, he moved into the village, at the time of the com- pletion of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and became the first station agent, holding the position eight years, after which he retired from active life. He has been thrice married. His first marriage, to ELIZA ANN PARTRIDGE, of Covington, a daughter of ORA and BETSEY PARTRIDGE, natives of New Hampshire, and pioneers in Wyoming County, took place in 1848, when he was twenty-seven. MRS. ELIZA A. COOLEY died in 1863, after fifteen years of wedlock. In the month of March, 1865, MR. COOLEY married HANNAH EMMA BEEBE, who was born in Leicester, and was a daughter of RUSSELL and ORRILLA BEEBE, early settlers of the town. MRS. HANNAH E. COOLEY died July 3, 1871. On August 2, 1874, MR. COOLEY married EMELINE ELIZABETH WHITE, who was born in Moscow, Livingston County, a daughter of LEWIS B. and HANNAH S. (PIERSON) WHITE, natives respectively of Bath, Steuben County, and Cazenovia, Madison County. By his first wife MR. COOLEY had one daughter, HELEN E. COOLEY, born July 3, 1852, who married ADDISON P. WEISNER, and died on March 5, 1889, leaving three children - ARTHUR P., HARRY, and BERTHA WEISNER. By his second marriage there were three children. RUSSELL B. COOLEY, born February 14, 1866, died February 17, 1883, aged seventeen. MABEL COOLEY was born on June 29, 1870, married CHARLES E. BURNS, of Howell, Mich., October 11, 1889, and died December 21, the same year, aged nineteen. WILLIAM JONATHAN COOLEY, the only living child of MR. COOLEY, was born on May 8, 1868, married FANNIE KENNISH, and has three children - ELMER, RUSSELL, and MABEL KENNISH COOLEY. MR. and MRS. ALONZO B. COOLEY are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as were his former wives. MR. COOLEY was one of the organizers of the Republican party in the neighborhood, and has been a stanch supporter of its tenets. He was Justice of Peace in Covington for twenty-three years, but re- signed this office on coming to Perry, where he served as both Cor- oner and Justice of Peace four years. He has been appointed Notary Public successively by Governors CORNELL, HALL and FLOWER; and, after coming to Moscow, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he still holds. He is one of those men who believe, with Plato, that "justice is, in the mind, a condition analogous to good health and strength in the body." =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more information for Livingston County, N.Y. by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ny/livingston/ ===========================================================================