Horsford-Tryon families

Biographical Notes

Jerediah Horsford (1791-1875) was born in Vermont but moved to Moscow, N.Y. (current Leicester, N.Y.) in 1815 as a missionary to the Seneca Indians. He and his wife, Maria Charity Horsford, became successful farmers. Horsford was elected to the 32nd United States Congress as a Whig and he and his wife lived in Washington, D.C., in 1851-1853. The Horsfords had four children: Eben, Eliza, Maria, and Julia. Eben Horsford (1818-1893) graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1838. After graduate study in Germany, he was appointed a professor of chemistry at Harvard College in 1847. In 1854, he became a partner at Rumford Chemical Works which manufactured Horsford's chemical discoveries including baking powder and evaporated milk. Eben Horsford was an advocate of women's education and benefactor of Wellesley College. Eliza Horsford (1820-1883) married James Tryon (1820-1895) in 1848. Tryon was a banker working first in Auburn, N.Y., a town southeast of Rochester near the Erie Canal, then Rochester, N.Y., and finally in Hartford, Conn., although with frequent business trips to New York City. The Tryons had three children, (James) Seymour (1850-1928), Mary (1852-1934?), and Thomas (1859-1920).

From the guide to the Horsford-Tryon families papers, 1800-2000, (bulk 1835-1887), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)