FISHER
This name, being that of one of the employments of men, is found in all nations and languages. The family in Lyons Falls, New York, descend from English ancestry. Papworth thus describes a coat-of-arms granted to a Fisher: "Azure, a dolphin embowed naint or." A seal, the device being the above coat, was used by the Fishers of Dedham, Mass., and may still be found affixed to Indian treaties and deeds negotiated by Captain Daniel Fisher. The family seat was in the parish of Suleham, county of Suffolk, England, on the south bank of the Waverly river.
The ancestor was Anthony Fisher, whose wife was Mary Fiske, daughter of William and Anne Fiske, of St. James South Elmsham, Suffolk, an old Puritan family which suffered persecution during the reign of Queen Mary.
Anthony Fisher of Sylvham resided on a freehold estate called "Wignotte".
Children:
Anthony (see forward), Cornelius, Joshua, Amos, Marie and Martha.
Anthony Fisher, the father, died 1640.
(I) Anthony (2), son of Anthony (1) of Syleham, England, was born there and baptized April 23, 1591. Arrived in Boston, Mass., on the ship "Rose," June 26, 1637, with his first wife Mary, and children. He did not long remain there, but made permanent settlement in Dedham. He lived in England during the later years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and his wife Mary was also one of the Puritan family that suffered persecution during the reign of Queen Mary.
He subscribed to the Dedham covenant, July 18, 1637. His wife Mary was received into the Dedham church March 27, 1645, but he was not "comfortably received into ye church," on account of his "proud and haughty spirit," until March 14, 1645. He was made a freeman, May, 1645, was selectman, deputy and "woodseever." He was strong and positive in character and a man of means.
He married (second) Isabel, widow of Edward Buck.
Children, all by first wife Mary, and born in England):
Anthony (see forward), Cornelius, Nathaniel, Daniel, Lydia, John.
(II) Anthony (3), son of Anthony (2) and Mary Fisher, was born in England; came to America with hs parents and settled with them at Dedham in 1637. He was a member of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company" in 1644, joined the Dedham church in 1645, and took the oath of a freeman in 1646.
He was a surveyor of Dedham. He lived just before his death, which occurred Feb. 13, 1670, within the bounds of Dorchester.
He married in Dedham, Sept. 7, 1647, Joanna, only daughter of Thomas and Joanna Faxon, of Braintree. She died Oct. 16, 1694.
Children:
Mehitable, Experience, Josiah (see forward), Abiah, Sarah, Deborah, Judith and Eleazer.
(III) Josiah, son of Anthony (3) and Joanna (Faxon) Fisher, was born in Dedham, Mass., May 1, 1654, and died in the same town April 12, 1736. He was made a freeman Feb. 13, 1683-84; selectman, 1697, and served in all five terms; representative to the general court from Dedham in 1699; coroner in 1716. He became a man of great wealth and influence. His homestead was appraised after his death at 800 lb., and other land and personal property brought the toal to 2022 lb. 8 s. 2 d., a large sum for his day.
He married (first) Jan. 27, 1680, Meletiah, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Morse) Bullen, born in Dedham, Sept. 15, 1655, died April 23, 1693; married (second) Sept. 1, 1693, Joanna, daughter of Ezra and Joanna (Hoare) Morse; married (third) Abigail Greenwood; married (fourth) Mehitable Veazie.
Children:
Bertha and Josiah, by first marriage.
Joanna and Abigail by second marriage.
Experience, by third marriage.
No issue by fourth marriage.
(IV) Captain Josiah (2) son of Josiah (1) and Memetiah (Bullen) Fisher, was born in Dedham, Nov. 25, 1683, died Feb. 24, 1763. He was captain of militia, selectman for seven years, and a man of prominence. His estate inventoried 1236 lb.
He married, Sept. 25, 1707, Elizabeth Avery, born at Dedham, May 16, 1684, died Aug. 7, 1747, daughter of Deacon William and Elizabeth (White) Avery.
Children: Josiah (2);
Joseph, Jonathan (see forward), Samuel, one of the proprietors of Keene, N.H.; Moses; Moses (2); Aaron and William.
(V) Jonathan, son of Captain Josiah (2) and Elizabeth (Avery) Fisher, was born at Dedham, Aug. 5, 1713, died Oct. 15, 1749. (Abner Smith, the first settler of Westhampton, Mass., built his second house "near the Fisher place," which he sold to Jonathan Fisher. This property is yet possessed [1910] by the descendants of Jonathan Fisher). He died at Westhampton, in that part formerly New Braintree.
He married (first) at Dedham, Dec. 21, 1737, Mary, daughter of James and Hannah (Metcalf) Richards. She was born in Dedham Oct. 15, 1719, died Oct. 15, 1749. He married (second) Aug. 23, 1750, Mehitable, daughter of John and Grace (Williams) Metcalf, who survived him.
Children, all born in Dedham except Stephen, the youngst:
Mary, Elizabeth, Jonathan (see forward), Josiah, Experience and Ebenezer.
Children by second wife:
John, Mehitable, Aaron, Grace, Sarah, Sarah (2) and Stephen.
(VI) Lieutenant Jonathan (2) son of Jonathan (1) and Mary (Richards) Fisher, was born in Dedham, Mass., Nov. 25, 1743. He resided at New Braintree and North, afterward Westhampton. In 1775 he resigned his commission in the King's army and on March 22, 1776, his name appears "on a list of officers of Massachusetts militia chosen by field officers" as second lieutenant of Second Hampshire regiment. He was commissioned April 5, 1776, "second lieutenant of the Fifth Company, whereof Seth Pomeroy, Esqr. is Colonel." He enlisted again as a private, Dec. 20, 1776, in Jonathan Wales' company, Leiut. Colonel S. Williams' regiment, and died in camp at Morristown, New Jersey, March 10, 1777.
The muster and pay roll with his information is dated at Morristown, March 15, 1777. The letter written by his comrades of Washington's army, informing Mrs. Fisher of her husband's death is preserved along with his leutenant's commission. He left seven children, the oldest being nine years of age. His widow died in Paterson, New Jersey, at the home of her son, Rev. Samuel Fisher, who was a posthumous son. He married Oct. 22, 1766, Catherine Avery, born in Dedham, Oct. 31, 1746, eldest daughter of Deacon William and Bertha (Metcalf) Avery and a sister of the well-known Congregational minister of Holden, Mss., Rev. Josiah Avery.
Children:
Rev. Jonathan, graduate of Harvard, "Preacher, teacher, farmer, carpenter, clockmaker, portrait painter, wood engraver, poet well versed in Hebrew, wrote three thousand sermons, an early riser, great walker and faithful Christian." (see "A Down East Village").
Stephen, Catherine, Mary, Rebecca, William, and Samuel.
(VII) Rev. Samuel Fisher, D.D., son of Lieut. Jonathan (2) and Catherine (Avery) Fisher, was born in Sunderland, Mass., June 30, 1777, where his mother was temporarily an inmate of the home of her relative, Rev. Samuel Ware. He was graduated at William College, entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church; was pastor of the church at Morristown, New Jersey, then the largest in the state; first moderator of the New School division of the General Assembly of the Presbyeterian church in 1837, the time of the division between the old and new branches. "As a theologian he was clear and thorough, as a preacher he was direct, instructive, scriptural and in the highest fullest sense, popular. He possessed the power of vivid statement to a remarkable degree. It was impossible to doubt his deep sincerity of soul."
The degree of D. D. was conferred by Princeton College and he honored the title. He married, Aug. 22, 1805, Alice, born June 15, 1777, died at Orange, N.J., April, 1851, only child of Dr. James and Elizabeth (Davenport) Cogswell of Preston, Conn., and granddaughter of Rev. James and Alice (Fitch) Cogswell of Windham, Conn.
Another son of Rev. James and Dr. Mason Fitch Cogswell, founder of the Hartford Conn. Asylum for Deaf Mutes.
Children of Rev. Samuel Fisehr:
1. Elizabeth Davenport, married Rev. Josiah Fisher.
2. Dr. James Cogswell, a physician and noted literary and scientific man.
3. Catherine.
4. Harriet Cogswell.
5. Samuel Ware; see forward.
6. Mary Davenport; married Dr. Horace Kimball.
(VIII) Rev. Samuel Ware Fisher, D.D., L.L.D., son of Rev. Samuel Fisher, D.D., and his wife Alice (Cogswell) Fisher, was born in Morristown, New Jersey, April 5, 1814. He was graduated from Yale College in 1835, spent a year in Middletown, Conn., pursued his theological studies at Princeton, N.J., for two years, and was graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1839. He was immediately called to the newly organized Presbyterian Church, at West Bloomfield, now Montclair, N.J., where he was installed pastor, April 18, 1839. In 1843 he removed to a larger and more trying field of labor, being installed Oct. 13 of that year pastor of the Fourth Church of Albany, N.Y. That church was probably then the largest in the enitre Presbyterian denomination, having in excess of nine hundred names upon the church roll of membership. How well Rev. Fisher succeeded in this field as a vigorous, eloquent, and effective preacher is best evidenced by the fact that in 1846 he was called to succeed that most popular, widely known and powerful preacher of the New School, Re.v. Lyman Beecher, D.D., as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1857 Rev. Fisher was moderator of the New School General Assembly which met at Cleveland, Ohio. This was a troublous time for the churches, as well as for the nation, and in the fierce discussions that ensued in the assembly the brach between the churches north and churches south opened (hardly yet closed half a century later), and the delegates from the southern synods withdrew from the assembly, forming themselves into a separate body.
For eleven years Rev. Fisher continued in the Cincinnati pastorate, then in response to an urgent call accepted the presidency of Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York. He was inaugurated president of the college, July 6, 1858, entering at once upon is duties to the institution. He remained eight years as the head of Hamilton, and during some of these years, 1954-59, was a trustee of Marietta College, Ohio. He gained a high reputation as an expounder of the Scripture, "especially attracted men of trained minds and thoughtful habits." On the occasion of the jubilee of the A. B. C. of Free Masons, he was chosen orator to deliver the discourse before that body. Ending his official connection with the Hamilton College, he again entered the regular pastorate of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, at Utica, New York.
Faililng health followed by a severe sickness, compelled his resignation Jan. 13, 1871, and retirement from the active ministry. He removed to College Hill, near Cincinnati, where he died, Jan, 18, 1874.
As a preacher he was brilliant and "when aroused by strong emotion, he woudl pour forth, from a full mind and a warm heart, a tide of eloquent speech, that bore his hearers away, as with the sweep and rush of mighty waters." In his pastoral and executive duties he displaed an unwavering courage and faithfulness. He was the author of "The Three Great Temptations of Young Men," and a number of able pamphlets on religous subjects. Many of his sermons and addresses were so eloquent and uplifting that they were published by his parishoners, and are thus preserved. He received the degree of D.D. from Miami University, in 1852, and L.L.D. was conferred upon him by the University of the City of New York in 1859.
He married, (first) Anna Caroline Johnson, of Morristown, N.J., who, died Aug. 31, 1840. He married (second) Jane Jackson (a descendant of Peter Schuyler, governor of New York), daughter of Peter and Hester Van Der Linde (Brinckerhoff) Jackson, granddaughter of James and Mary (Roome) Jackson, great-granddaughter of Peter and Anna (Berry) Roome, and great-great-greanddaughter of Peter Willemse and Hester (Van Gelder) Roome, who were married in the city of New York on Nov. 26, 1684. Peter Roome (2) being the ninth child of the first Roome on record in America. Hester Van Gelder was a daughter of John Van Gelder and his wife, Jane Monteroath. Mrs. Peter (Brinckerhoff) Jackson lived to celebrate, Jan. 30, 1882, her one hundreth birthday, in Newark, N.J., with eighty of her descendants attending. She died March 20, 1883.
Children of Rev. Samuel Ware and Jane (Jackson) Fisher:
William Hibbell (see forward); George Wood; Samuel Jackson; Anna Caroline; Peter Schuyler; Lewis Wild; Eliza Armstrong; Alice Esther.
(IX) William Hubbell, son of Rev. Samuel Ware Fisher, D.D., L.L.D., and his wife Mary (Jackson) Fisher, was born in Albany, New York, Nov. 26, 1843, died at Cincinatti, Ohio, Oct. 6, 1909. He was early educated and prepared for college in the schools of Cincincatti; entered Hamilton College, where he was graduated with honors, class of 1864, which contained among other prominent men Elihu Root, United States senator and secretary of state. Deciding upon the profession of law, he entered Columbia Law School in New York City, and was admitted to the bar of New York state in 1867. He established his practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, where in 1870 he was in partnership with Hon. Samuel S. Fisher, ex-commissioner of patents. The partnership was dissolved in 1873 by the death of the partner. He was a successful lawyer, making a specialty of patent law and its kindred branches. He met with unusual success in his profession and gained many important cases intrusted to him. He was interested in the welfare of his city and in all that pertained to civic improvement. He was a lover of nature, president of the Ohio state Audubon Society, and his studies on bird life attracted the attention of naturalists. He was fond of the woods and trees, and was a life member of the American Forrestry Association. In 1905 he was one of the delegates appointed by the governor to represent the state of Ohio at the American Forrest Congress, held in Washington. He was president of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. During his natural life he was a leading member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, and for more than twenty-five years ruling elder and superintendent of the Sunday school.
He attended as a delegate the general assembly of his church held in Denver, Colorado, and was a member of the executive committee of the Ohio Synod. The work of the Young Men's Christian Association especially appealed to him. He joined with others in organizing the association in Utica, N.Y., became its first secretary, and continued his interest after removing to Concinnati. At the time of his death he was a director and corresponding secretary of the Cincinnati Association.
At Hamilton College he became an Alpha Delta Phi, and was admitted to Epsiolon chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity.
He married, Sept 10, 1873, Mary L. Lyon, of Lyons Falls, N.Y., who survives him (see Lyon VII).
Children:
Schuyler Lyon; Clarence L. (see forward), William, born in 1880 and died five years later, Florence.
(X) Schuyler L., born June 22, 1874, was educated at the public schools of Cincinnati and at Hollbrook's Military Academy at Ossining-on-Hudson and the Casadilla School at Ithaca, graduating with highest honors. He entered Cornell University, graduating in the class of 1899 with the degree of M. E. He was prominent in crew work, being coxswsain of his frehman crew and in his senior year captain of the Varsity crew. He was a member of Sphinx Head, one of Cornell's most exclusive senior societies. After graduation he engaged in the manufacture of automobiles, but an illness developed and he died in November, 1902.
(X) Clarence L., son of William Hubbell and Mary L. (Lyon) Fisher, was born at Lyons Falls, Lewis county, New York, Aug. 21, 1877. His primary education was obtained in the public schools, after which he prepared for college at Holbrook Military Academy, Ossining, New York, graduating in 1896. He entered Hamilton College and pursued the full course, graduating in the class of 1900. On leaving college he decided to enter newspaper work, and, securing a position on the Philadelphia Press, continued two years as reporter. A severe attack of pneumonia interrupted his work and compelled his retirement from journalism. He joined his mother, Mrs. Mary L. Fisher, in the mangement of their large holdings of timberland in Lewis and Herkimer counties, N.Y. His home and place of business is Lyons Falls, N.Y. He is a trustee of the high school, and in 1910 was elected president of the village of Lyons Falls. He is a Republican in politics, member of the Presbyterian church, Lyon Falls, Hamilton chapter Alpha Delta Phi and Port Leyden Lodge, No. 669, F. and A.M. He married at Chicago, Illinois, Feb. 21, 1907, Melissa Rachall Ingals, born in that city, Sept. 8, 1884, daugther of Dr. Ephraim Ingals. Doctor Ingals is a noted specialist on diseases of the throat, nose and chest, and has achieved an international reputation. He married Lucy S. Ingals and has children: 1. Frances E. Ingals, also a physician, born June 30, 1881. 2. Melissa R. 3. Mary G., born Dec. 25, 1895. 4. Ephraim F., born May 23, 1898. The Ingals family settled in Chicago about 1830. At that time there were only four hundred in that entire section, excepting the garrison at Fort Dearborn.
Child of Clarence L. and Melissa R. Fisher: Clarles Ingals, born Aug. 21, 1909.
[transcriber's note: Since this material was published in 1910, they may have had other children after this date.]