[Samuel, Sidney]
Samuel Sidney Breese
(26 Sep 1768, Philadelphia PA)
(15 Oct 1848, Sconondoa, Oneida NY)
+ Helena Burrows 29 Dece
(1782)
(5 Jan 1861)
Children:
Samuel Breese
[married Orphia Jane Bacon and Laura C. Shepard]
Margaret Breese
[married Joseph Roby]
Elizabeth Breese
[married Augustus Caesar Stevens]
Catherine Breese
[married Syracuse Mayor Nathan Fitch Graves]
Hellet Breese
Helen Platt Breese
[married Syracuse Mayor Nathan Fitch Graves]
John Sidney Breese
Family Memorials - A series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, on the families of ...,
Breese, ...", Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1885
My aunt, the wife of Samuel Sidney Breese, born in 1782, had for her mother Margaret Forman, a daughter, as her
father was a son, of one of the two original proprietors of Middletown Point, N.J. Her mother having died soon after
the War of the Revolution, and her father not much later, she was taken, in May 1796, by her uncle General
Jonathan Forman (father of Mrs. Henry Seymour of Utica, N. Y. and grandfather of Gov. Horatio Seymour), to
Cazenovia. N. Y., to make her home with him there. [The source of Henry Seymour Lansing's name!]
Excellent portraits of Samuel Sidney Breese and his wife, by their nephew S. F. B. Morse, are in the possession of
their grandsons Sidney and Arthur Breese, at Oneida, N.Y. Samuel Sidney and Helena (Burrows) Breese had, beside
one child who died an infant of a few days, six children.
Obituary, New York Observer
Samuel Sidney Breese was educated under the care of the Rev. Dr. Woodhull of Monmouth NJ whose school
stood upon the ground where the battle of Monmouth was fought. He soon after entered upon the
study of the law in the office and under the direction of Judge Boudinot of Newark NJ. [In 1789 he received
the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale College.]
After being admitted to the bar he practiced his profession a short time at Shrewsbury NJ but
soon after removed to Cazenovia NY and was one of the first settlers of that place, being then
occupied as a clerk of the Holland Land Company. He was also the first Clerk of Chenango County
[then including the present counties of Madison, Chenango, Chemung and Tioga.] In 1807 he removed
to Whitestown, and became the law partner of the late Judge Jonas Platt. In 1813 he gave up the
practice of the law, and moved to the farm [then "in the wilderness of Sconondoa and Oneida"]
which he occupied till his death. He represented his district in the Legislature, and was a delegate
in the former Convention to form a new Constitution. These public stations he filled with
ability and integrity. Mr. Breese was a good citizen and an ardent lover of his country.
He was a man of unobtrusive manners, loving and seeking retirement. He was also a man of
the most incorruptible and approved integrity in all business transactions. He was an
indulgent husband and father, an affectionate and firm friend, and as we trust a sincere Christian.
All his hopes centered in Jesus Christ.
History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York
When Chenango County was first formed the records were kept at Cazenovia, and Samuel
Sidney Breese, of that village, was appointed the Clerk of Chenango County March 19,
1798. ...
LAWYERS.--Cazenovia was an early field of legal enterprise, and while it was the county
seat from 1810 to 1817, it attracted to it men of somewhat distinguished ability in the legal
profession. Schuyler Van Rensselaer and Samuel Sidney Breese established themselves in
practice here towards the close of the last century, but Van Rensselaer remained here but a
short time. Breese was the first Clerk of Chenango county, receiving the appointment
March 19, 1798. He practiced here as late as 1808. He removed to Oneida county, which
he represented in the Constitutional Convention of 1821, and in the Assembly in 1828.
Copyright © 2002, Mary S. Van Deusen
