CYRUS DAN PRESCOTT
The first American ancestor of the Prescott family of which the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant, was John, a grandson of Sir James Prescott and his wife, daughter of Roger Standish, lord and lady of the manor of Dryby in Lincolnshire, England. John Prescott (1) settled in Boston, Mass., in 1640 and the line of his posterity is as follows: (2) Jonas, (3) Jonas, (4) Ebenezer, (5) Oliver, (6) Oliver, (7) Jeremiah, (8) Cyrus D. Oliver (5) was born May 5, 1725, married Bethiah Underwood, served in the war of the Revolution, and died January 1, 1803. Oliver(6) was born in Westford, Mass., February 22, 1760, married Keziah Howard, and moved to Jeffrey, N.H., and thence in 1793 to New Hartford, Oneida County, where he purchased 500 acres of unbroken forest land. He was a life long farmer, and died in that town December, 1843. Jeremiah Prescott(7) was born in New Hartford on August 4, 1806, was first admitted to practice as attorney and counselor at law in 1864, and died there May 12, 1872. He was a justice of the peace about thirty years, at one time under sheriff of the county, and held several other local offices. His wife, Deborah Linnemann, was born near Amsterdam, New York, December 15, 1805, and died May 5, 1874. Her father, Johan Linnemann, was born in Viele, Denmark, February 16, 1759, was brought to America in 1768, and settled near Amsterdam, where he died. He served in the Revolutionary War, and married for his wife Catherine Sixberry, who died in Ohio, December 19, 1863, aged 1001 years, six months and thirteen days.
Hon. Cyrus D. Prescott, son of Jeremiah, was born in New Hartford, on the 15th day of August, 1836, and finished his literary education at the Utica Free Academy. He then spent about one year each in the law offices of O. G. Kellogg and Hurd & Brown in Utica, and at the end of that period entered the county clerk’s office, where he remained a little more than two years as search clerk. In 1858 he came to Rome and resumed his legal studies in the office of Johnson & Boardman, which firm soon became Foster, Johnson, Boardman & Lynch. Mr. Prescott was admitted to the bar at the Syracuse General term in the summer of 1859, and began the practice of his profession in the spring of 1860 in Rome under the firm name of Greene & Prescott, which continued until January 1, 1865. After spending the years 1865 and 1866 in traveling through the South and West he went to New York in January,1867, as financial clerk for a wholesale establishment. In the spring of 1868 he returned to Rome and in June formed a co-partnership with D. Minor K. Johnson, formerly of the firm of Foster, Johnson, Boardman & Lynch, under the style of Johnson & Prescott. This firm continued a large law practice until Mr. Johnson’s death in July, 1886. Mr. Prescott remained alone till August 1, 1895, when the present copartnership of Prescott & Titus was formed by the admission of Charles T. Titus.
Mr. Prescott has been a staunch Republican, since the organization of that party. He has always taken an active interest in political affairs, and has frequently been called to positions of trust and responsibility. He was adjutant of the 101st Regt. N. Y. State Militia for a time, was alderman from the Fifth ward of Rome one term, member and secretary of the Board of Education three years, and in 1878 represented this district in the assembly, where he was chairman of the committee on railroads. In the fall of 1878 and again in 1880 he was elected to Congress by handsome majorities, which attested his popularity throughout this congressional district. In the 46th congress, during his second term, he was chairman of the celebrated committee on apportionment and brought in the bill for reapportioning the membership of the various states. This was the leading feature of that session, and the part Mr. Prescott bore in the long and bitter fight which ensued redounds to his lasting credit. He drew up and secured the passage in the 45th Congress of a bill authorizing the appropriation of $5,000 for the construction of the Oriskany monument in honor of General Herkimer. Among the various important committees of which he was a member was the committee on the improvement of the Mississippi River, and in this connection he was one of five commissioners appointed by Congress to inspect and report upon the condition of the levees along that stream below St. Louis. In both Congresses he had charge of several measures affecting his county, all of which became laws. His legislative career, both as assemblyman and as representative, was characterized by untiring faithfulness to public trust and by continued watchfulness over the interests of his constituents. As a citizen he has always encouraged every project which promised benefit to the community.
June 21, 1867, Mr. Prescott was married to Miss Eliza F. Cady, a native of Madison County, and a daughter of Daniel Cady, of Yonkers, N. Y., but formerly of Rome. They have four children: G. Linnemann, a graduate of the Rome Academy and now a resident of Rome; Elizabeth C. (Mrs. Clifton B. White) of Brooklyn, N. Y.; and Mabelle T. and Ruth Andrea at home.
Pages 126-128