Herkimer County NyArchives Biographies.....Booth, Elihu December 22, 1795 - February 4, 1852 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nan Starjak naela@earthlink.net January 20, 2008, 10:05 am Author: Hardin & Willard Booth, Amanda M., Russia, is a daughter of Elihu, who was a son of Alexander, a native of New Haven, Conn., born December 11, 1767. His wife was Huldah Thompson, born April 22, 1768, by whom he has these children: Elisha, Neas, Elihu, Harvery, Russell, Walter and Mehitable. In 1811 Alexander Booth and all his sons except Russell came to Russia, and the next year the other members of the family joined them. Mr. Booth was a Democrat and died July 11, 1829, and his wife June 14, 1842. Elihu Booth was born in Connecticut December 22, 1795. At the age of sixteen he came with his parents to Russia. Here he married Nancy Tiffany in 1829, a native of Cooperstown, born March 14, 1805. Her parents were Ebenezer and Silence Tiffany, who has five daughters and three sons. He died February 4, 1852, and his wife July 16, 1851. Elihu Booth and wife have four children, Amanda M., Elihu N., Castella C. and Castella N. Amanda M. is the ony one living, and her home is at Prospect, N.Y. Elihu Booth was a Democrat and commissioner of highways, also constable for many years. He died May 3, 1859, and his wife September 13, 1877. The wife of Elihu N. was Margaret Caruthers, daughter of William Caruthers. They had one child, Margaret N., who owns and resides on the old homestead. Castella C. married Thomas Smith, of Brooklyn, and had one son, Thomas E., who died aged two years. Mrs. Smith died November 6, 1883, at Prospect. Elihu N. Booth died January 19, 1892, and his wife February 27, 1892, in Grant. Elihu Booth was a soldier in the war of 1812, and after its close was a captain and general of militia which had general trainings each year in different localities of the town. He helped build the first church in Grant, and took an interest in all movements to build up the village and its religious growth. Alexander Booth came to Russia with his family and settled four miles in the wilderness, where he built a saw-mill on Black Creek, cleared a small plat of ground and erected a frame house for the family to live in. He commenced clearing off the farm, sawed logs at the mill, built a bridge over Black Creek and erected a number of buildings, a post-office, established mail once a week. The name of Black Creek was changed to Pottsville, and later to Booth, after the first settlers. At the time of the assassination of Lincoln it was changed to Grant. After the death of Alexander, Elihu bought out the interest of the other heirs in the saw-mill and farm, and kept the first store, made potash, and took a load to Albany once in two weeks, across the country, there being no railroads at that time. At his death his son Elihu N. bought out the other heirs, and followed his father hin religious zeal and enterprise. His daughter, Margaret N., was the sole heir to the estate, which has passed to the fourth generation, and has been in the Booth family possession for nearly 100 years. Mehitable Booth taught the first school in the barn, opposite the house on the Booth farm. Nine years ago the old saw- mill was carried off by high water. Additional Comments: source: History of Herkimer County, New York : illustrated with portraits of many of its citizens edited by George A. Hardin ; assisted by Frank H. Willard Syracuse, New York : D. Mason, 1893 550 p., 276 p. : ill., maps, ports. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.org/ny/herkimer/bios/booth253gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/nyfiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb