William H. Scriven
William H. Scriven


Information on this page is from Landmarks of Rensselaer County, by George Baker Anderson (Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co, 1897),
Part 3, "Biographical Sketches", pages 60-61. Many thanks to John Hills of Portland, Oregon for typing it and submitting it to this website.

Scriven, William H., born in Grafton, NY, April 30, 1852, is a son of Joseph and Nancy Scriven, daughter of Joshua Scriven, a native of Grafton, [who was] son of Joseph Scriven, a native of England, and one of the first settlers of Grafton and who served in the Revolutionary War. The great-grandfather and grandfather of William H. both died in Grafton. The father of William H. was a stone mason by trade and lived in Grafton and Petersburgh; he died in Petersburgh in 1891; his wife died in 1895. The paternal grandfather of William H. was Joseph C. Scriven, who was born in England and came to Grafton in an early day and there lived and died.

William H. Scriven was reared on a farm, educated in the common school and learned the carpenter's trade with Clark Scriven in Troy and followed that trade until 1889, when he fell from St. John's Church and has been a cripple. He is now in the real estate business. He came to Bath-on-the-Hudson in 1870, where he has lived since, excepting three years in Washington, DC. Mr Scriven was married in 1872 to Mary A. Finkle and has had five children: Ines F., born in Bath; Lilly M., born in Washington, DC; Anthony T., Wesley H. and William H. deceased. Mr Scriven has always been a Republican, to which party he is devoted. He has been trustee of the village one term and town assessor one term and is now serving a first term as justice. He is a member of Greenbush Lodge No 337, F&AM, and also of Central Lodge No 1, IOOF [International Order of Odd Fellows], Washington, DC, and is also a member of the AOCW of East Albany.


NOTE FROM THE SUBMITTER: The Scriven Record, based on 1899 letters from Mrs. Mercy Scriven of Grafton to her cousin Mrs. Tacy Scriven Bigelow of Hartfield, NY, has no mention of ancestors who seemingly match either of these men. Mercy Scriven reports that her grandfather William Scriven, who died in about 1818, aged 99 years and 7 months in Grafton, was one of three brothers who came from England about 1776. He married twice and had 14 children. However, records from Westerly, Rhode Island appear to show that this William was born there 6 June 1727 to the Quaker preacher James Scriven and Alice Knowles.



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