NEWSPAPER: Matthias B. Hildreth; Johnstown, Fulton co., NY

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Found glued to vol. 1 of Fulton Co., NY Will Book
dated 121 Apr 1949, "The Leader-Republican", Gloversville & Johnstown, NY

JOHNSTOWN

Former State Attorney General Lived on Lot 42

Little Known about Life of Matthias B. Hildreth, Notable Man of Johnstown

by Dr. R. M. Palmer, County Historian

In the old cemetery on Green street in Johnstown is a tall marble gravestone,
marking the resting place of the remains of Matthias Bernard Hildreth. The
inscription reads:

"In memory of Matthias B. Hildreth, late Attorney General of the State of New
York who departed this life on the 11th day of July, 1812, in the 38th year of
his age."

Beside this stone is another which says: "Sacred to the memory of Ann, widow
of M. B. Hildreth an daughte rof A. Rust who died 27 July, 1821, in the 52ndyear of her age."

Adjoining these two graves are two more, those of Captain Amaziah Rust and his
wife Mary, parents of Ann.

Matthias B. Hildreth was oneof the many notable men of early Johnstown. Not
much can be found about his life. He died at an early age, ending what might
have been an even greater career. I have been exspecially interested to
determine two things about him, where was his home in Johnstown and whether he
left descendants who might be living at the present time in our neighborhood.

What I have been able to discover about him follows: he was the son of James
Hildreth, one of four brothers who came into this county before 1800. The
other three brothers were Noah, Joshua and David Hildreth. James Hildreth was
a prominent man in Johnstown and at the time of his death in 1818, was judge
of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery county. Matthias may have been born
at Southampton, Long Island, as his grandfather and father, both named James,
lived there.

Bought Property in 1797
The first time h appears in our county records is when he recorded a deed in
the county clerk's office for a piece of property which he bought Feb, 23,
1797, paying 200 pounds for it. He was described as an attorney-at-law. It was
lot 42 in the village of Johnstown and was sold by Thomas Reed. This lot calls
for one-half acre of land and was bounded on the west by William street, on
the east by Johnson street (now Market street), on the south by lot 41 and on
the north by Old Sacandaga street (now Green street). This is the property
which now extends the length of the block with the Baptist church at the
William street end.

A map of Johnstown, made in 1784 shows lot 42 with one house on it, in the
corner where the church is now located. However, I do not believe this was his
home as it was bought 11 years before his marriage. This is no further record
of this property being sold by any Hildreth or descendant of a Hildreth.

Served as Attorney General
During the term of office Daniel D. Tompkins of Richmond county, as governor
of the State of New York, Matthias B. Hildreth served two terms as attorney
general, the first from March 18, 1808 to Feb. 2, 1810,a nd the second term
from Feb. 1, 1811 to his death on July 11, 1812.

The Albany newspaper, Albany Register of March 22, 1808, carries this item,
"Married on Sunday the 13th inst., by Rev. Mr. Hosack, Mr. Matthias B.
Hildreth to Miss Nancy Rust, daughter of Amaziah Rust of Johnstown." Nancy was
a common nickname for Ann. He was married five days before his first term
began as attorney general. There is a tradition in the Hildreth family that it
was an elopement, Captain Rust not looking with favor upton the rising young
attorney as a prospective son-in-law.

Four years later he died. His will is on record in our surrogate's office and
is most interesting. It was made March 24, 1812, a little over three months
preceding his death. He named his father, James Hildreth, executor. To his
wife, Ann, he left "the dwelling house and lot in Johnstown, inwhich my family
now reside," no exact location being given. He takes affectionate leave of his
two small children, James Tallmage Hildreth and Catherine Mary Hildreth. To
them he speaks with "Parting advice of your dying father."

I am tempted to speculate on the cause of his death. Tuberculosis would fit
into the picture but there is no knowing now.

Wife Lived until 1821
His wife Ann lived on to 1821 as a widow. The two children survived her. The
elder,James Tallmage Hildreth seems never to have married. He was living in
Johnstown for many years and bought and sold several pieces of real estate as
is shown by deeds recorded by him inour county clerk's office. On April 23,
1840 as Justice of the Peace for the town of Johnstown, he married Nicholas
Stoner to the widow Hannah Frank at the home of Tunis Van Vleet in Johnstown
village.

One, John Pye, a custom blacksmith in Kingsborough, in the town of Johnstown
in testifying before N. J. Johnson, county judge of Fulton, in the case of a
widow applying for a soldier's widow's pension, swore that "she was married by
James T. Hildreth, Esq., a justice of the peace of the town of Johnstown and
that the aforesaid justice has moved off to the state of Wisconsin." This
testimony was given March 13, 1853. According to the best obtainable
information he never returned to these parts.

Albany Argus Reports Marriage
Under date of Dec. 1, 1829, the Albany Argus has the following item, "Married
at New York on Tuesday, Nov 24th by Rev. Mr. Schroeder, Miss Catherine Mary,
daughter of the late Matthias B. Hildreth, Esq, of Johnstown, Montgomery Co.,
to John Bloodgood, Esq., of Mobile, Alabama. "So far as I can find only one
child was born to this couple, Hildreth Bloodgood, who lived in New York city
and had a Summer home near Marlboro, Mass."

This man had two daughters, the elder Vera Bloodgood who married Charles
Scribner, Jr., of Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers in New York. The younger
Gladys who married J. Macy Willetts. Whether there are descendants of these
Scribner and Willetts families and if so, where they live, I do not know.

Where Was His Home?
There seems to be only one descendant of this old and prominent Hildreth
family in our midst now, Fay De La Mater who lives on the old Hildreth farm,
just north of Gloversville, in the town of Johnstown. His mother was Louise J.
Hildreth, great granddaughter of Noah Hildreth, the brother of James who was
the father of Matthew B. Hildreth. Mr. De La Mater has in his possession a set
of books which belonged to his illustrious relative. It is entitled, "The
Works of Edmund Burke, in Three Volumes, Dublin, 1792". On the front fly leaf
of each volume is the autograph of its former owner.

Now for the other point at issue - where did Matthias B. Hildreth have his
home in Johnstown? At his death he left a will leaving the house to Ann but he
did not state where it was except that it was in Johnstown village. There is
no record of Ann selling it and it is presumed she continued to live in it
until her death in 1821, nine years following her husband's death. James W.
Miller was named executor of her will made shortly before she died. The two
children were still minors. She left property equally divided to them.

The real estate is mentioned, but not located.

On Aug. 9, 1831, James T. Hildreth on reaching the age of 21 years sold lot 32
in Johnstown to William Rood. This lot was one half acre and was bounded on
the west by William street, on the north by a lot owned by Cornelius Van
Buren, on the east by market street and on the south by property owned by
Simon Hosack.

On Aug. 25, 1832, John Bloodgood and his wife, Catherine Mary of Mobile,
Alabam, sold the same lot to the same man. She had just become 21 years of
age. It appears that the deed given to Matthias B. Hildreth was never
recorded, and it passed to his wife by his will, then to the children who when
they reached their majorities sold their equal shares in it.

ON looking at a map of Johnstown made in the early days, lot 32 can be located
and brought up to date. It is now divided between properties on South Market
and South William streets and extends from one street to the other. On the
South Market street front is the C. and H. Chevrolet garage, 23 and 25 South
Market street and on South William street are dwelling houses, 18 and 20 South
William street in the rear of which is the George B. Wayne and Sons glove
factory.

Original House Changed
On a map of Johnstown made in 1851, William Rood who is listed as a merchant
is shown to occupy as a dwelling the present buildings which face on William
street. Sometime prior to this date the original house occupied by the
Hildreth family had been removed or incorporated into the buildings there now.
On examination of the property as it exists today, it can be seen that the
back wing of the southern part of the present house is of an older date than
the remainder and it may possibly be a part of the old Hildreth house.

Looking at the Wayne factory in the rear, the southern part appears of ancient
construction. On the second floor where plaster is gone, hand split lath show,
the casings are of colonial style, the doors are antique. This part of the
building was built a long time ago and was a dwelling.

As it was the custom years ago not to tear down an old building but to move it
for further use when a new structure was constructed on the same site, it is
entirely possible and very probable that this part of the shop was a part of
the house occupied by Matthias B. Hildreth at the time of his death in 1812
and was moved back from its original location in front and facing William
street.