Niagara County
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1897 Biography - Thomas Root

Root, Thomas, was born at South Onondaga, Onondaga county, N. Y., October 14, 1817, the oldest son of Elias and Anna (Belding) Root, and is descended from Thomas Root, who came from Badby, England, and settled at Hartford, Conn., in 1637. Thomas Root was married to Martha B., daughter of Dr. Myron Orton of Cambria, in 1847. They have five children: Elias, a lawyer at North Tonawanda; Mary A., wife of Gilbert M. Duncan, a farmer of Newfane; Emma M. Root of North Tonawanda; Minnie C., wife of W. Irving Burns, a physician at North Tonawanda; and Frank M. Root, living on the home farm. Thomas Root has resided at Pekin, Niagara county, since 1818. He has represented his town (Cambria) as supervisor twice, and has held the office of justice of the peace for over forty years, the longest continuous service in that capacity of any one in the county. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He was one of the original Abolitionists in his town, where only one or two other voters co-operated with him, and his place was a station on the underground railroad. He actively supported the Republican party from its organization until a few years since, when he identified himself with the Prohibition party. He and his family are Methodists. He still, at the age of eighty years, resides on his farm near the village of Pekin, a hale, hearty old gentleman, influential in neighborhood affairs, and whose judgment and advice are much regarded.

Contributed 2017 by Lisa Slaski from Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, by William Pool, D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, NY, 1897


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