Lewis Clayson was born in 

 Westchester Co., N. Y., March 

 31, 1808. He is the youngest 

 and only surviving child of 

 Enoch and Mercy Clayson. The 

 former, a native of Stanford, 

 Conn., was a farmer by occupa- 

 tion ; was a Minute Man in the 

 war for independence, though 

 never called out; lived to the 

 age of eighty-nine, and died in 

 Westchester County, 1857. The 

 latter was a native of West- 

 chester County, lived to be | 

 eighty years of age, and died 

 about 1850. 



Mr. Clayson spent his minor- 

 ity on the farm, and was with 

 his father until he was thirty- 

 three years of age, receiving 

 the limited opportunities of the 

 district schools of that day for 

 his education from books. In 

 March, 1841, he married Cor- 

 delia, daughter of Robert and Susan Halstead, both natives of West- 

 chester Co., N. Y. She was born April 8, 1816, is a lady of rare ex- 

 cellence, and does her part well 

 in all that pertains to the duties 

 of a wife and mother. 



The same year of their mar- 

 riage, Mr. and Mrs. Clayson re- 

 moved to Steuben County, and 

 settled on the farm where he 

 now resides, in the town of 

 Cohocton, which now comprises 

 some seven hundred acres of 

 land, in possession of himself 

 and sons, and a large part of 

 which he has cleared of its 

 original forest. 



He is one of the enterprising, 

 industrious, and thrifty farmers 

 of the town, and a model agri- 

 culturist, and for many years 

 has given considerable atten- 

 tion to buying and selling 

 stock. 



Mr. Clayson has never given 

 any particular attention to po- 

 litical matters, but ever re- 

 garded the right of suffrage, 



independent action, and thought 

 of great value. His life has 

 been given almost wholly to 

 agricultural pursuits, and he is 

 a quiet, unassuming man, pos- 

 sessed of strict honesty in all 

 his business relations. Their 

 children are Robert H. and 

 Enoch A., — farmers near their 

 father, — Mrs. Melvin Miller, of 

 Wayland, and lone, at home. 



co^ '^^^"^ 



Smith Clayson, an older 

 brother, born 1796, in West- 

 chester County, married Ann 

 Gilbert, of South Salem, N. Y. 

 She died in 1840, at the age of 

 forty-two, leaving one daughter, 

 — Harriet (Mrs. Melvin Davis), 

 of Naples, Ontario Co., N. Y. 

 In 1842 he married Letitia 

 Derevere, of Mount Pleasant, 

 Westchester Co. In 1852 he removed to Steuben County, and set- 

 tled in the town of Cohocton on one hundred and sixty acres of 



land, now owned by his son, 

 Henry S. Clayson, to which ad- 

 ditions have been made, making 

 the farm two hundred and ten 

 acres. On this farm Mr. Clay- 

 son spent the remainder of his 

 life. He was a representative 

 farmer ; gave some attention to 

 buying and selling stock. He 

 was a Democrat originally, and 

 during the latter part of his life 

 a Republican. He was known 

 as a conscientious man ; was a 

 member of the Methodist Epis- 

 copal Church, and possessed of 

 sterling integrity in all his bus- 

 iness relations. He died in 

 1860, leaving a widow, now 

 Mrs. Isaac Magoon, of North 

 Cohocton, and one son by his 

 second marriage, Henry S., who 

 married Julia A., daughter of 

 Hobart Gregg, of Bath, March 

 20, 1871. Their children are 

 V:>v^ ^^"y^ Mark, Hobart, Ernest, Lewis. 



