The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879

BIOGRAPHY

ELIPHALET PATEE.              MRS. SALLY PATEE.

ELIPHALET PATEE was born June 24th, 1789, in Pawlet, Vermont, the native place of his parents, Edmund and Elizabeth [Turner] Patee. His father was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and served as a musician in the army during the war of the Revolution. At the close of the war he returned to Pawlet and followed the trade until 1802, in which year he removed to Moravia, in Cayuga County. In 1812 he removed to Owasco, and in 1820, to Delaware County, Ohio, where he and his wife died, the former about 1827, and the latter in 1838. They had nine children, viz: Eliphalet, the subject of this sketch, Seth, John, Sabrina, Elizabeth, Henry, Alvah, Lester and Harriet, only two of whom are living, Alvah, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Harriet in Marion County, Ohio. They were able to give their children only such scholastic advantages as the common schools of the time afforded.

Eliphalet Patee married Sally, daughter of Isaac D. and Hannah [Lee] Tripp, natives of Wilkesbarre, Pa., April 5th, 1811. Mrs. Patee was born in New York city, December 31st, 1793, and at the time of her marriage was living in the village of Milan, in the town of Locke, in Cayuga County. Upon their marriage they settled on lot 60 in the town of Owasco, where they continued to reside till their death, Mr. Patee, March 5th, 1877, at the advanced age of 88 years, and his wife, April 10th, 1875, in the 82d year of her age.

Mr. Patee pursued the vocation of a farmer, and "witnessed the great change from forest, log-cabin and pioneer privations to cultivated field, commodious dwelling and the comforts that wealth and prosperity bring. His life was marked by unremitting industry and a commendable economy, that brought the sure reward of wealth without speculation, fraud or oppression." He was honored by his townsmen with several offices of trust and responsibility, among them that of supervisor several terms, collector and justice of the peace, the latter of which offices he held twenty-two years. He discharged with fidelity and ability the duties which each devolved upon him. He was a man of sound judgement, strong convictions and strict integrity. He was a kind husband and father, though not over indulgent, weak or vacillating. Though not a member of any church, nor the defender of any creed, he was by no means an irreligious man; but an admirer and frequent reader of the Bible, and a conscientious, upright man, exemplifying in his business relations the precepts of the Golden Rule. He met death as a weary child quietly sinks to sleep, looking forward to the inevitable change without a murmur and often breathing "that model prayer, 'God have mercy upon me a sinner.'"

Mrs. Patee shared heroically with her husband the trials and vicissitudes of an active, busy life, and after a residence at their home in Owasco of sixty-three years, covering the entire period of her wedded life, she was gathered to her final rest, "like a shock of corn fully ripe in its season," having performed her life mission fully and well. As a wife she was a true helpmeet (sic); as a mother, faithful in all her household duties; as a neighbor, obliging and kind; and as a friend, faithful and true. "Her last illness was protracted through several months, and attended with severe suffering, and yet not a complaint was heard to escape her lips, or a peevish word to an attendant. In her sickness and death it was evident that she knew "whom she had believed,' and by the girdings of devine grace, was enabled by her example of patience and resignation to say to all observers: "He doeth all things well.'"

Mr. and Mrs. Patee raised a family of seven children, viz.: Mandana, who was born January 17th, 1814, is now residing in Auburn, and from whom the village of Mandana, in Onondaga county, was named by Mr. I. T. Marshall, of Auburn, now deceased; Matilda, who was born May 8th, 1815, and married Aaron L. Cone, of Milan, Cayuga County, April 17th, 1839; Elizabeth, who was born August 20th, 1818, and is still living in the old home; Hannah, who was born February 6th, 1820, married Rufus K. Hoyt, January 7th, 1845, and is now living in Auburn; Naomi, who was born December 15th, 1822, married Alanson Stillwell, of Livingston County, N.Y., January 7th, 1845, and is now living at Rockford, Ill.; Caroline, who was born January 11th, 1827, married Franklin Howard, of Owasco, May 15th, 1851, and is now residing in Syracuse; and Sally A., who was born March 29th, 1830, married Thomas White, of Auburn, N.Y., January 1st, 1856, and is now living in Ashtabula, Ohio.

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