Simeon Benjamin Hinman

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Simeon Benjamin Hinman was born on August 11, 1800 in Benson, Rutland County, Vermont, the third son of Simeon Hinman and Mary Abbott Hinman. It is not known if there were other children in the family, but there probably were. We do know that Simeon was married a second time to a Miss Skinner, but we don't know when Mary died.

The Hinman family made the long arduous trip to Western New York State early in the century, and settled in Cattaraugus County in the little town of East Otto in 1824. There Simeon, junior married a fellow Vermonter, Keziah Bullis, the eldest daughter of Benjamin Bullis and Rachel Hoyt Bullis. He was 26 years old and she was 20 on December 6, 1826, when they were wed in Aurora, New York.

There were eight children in the family: Adaline, born in 1827, who married Oscar Beach; Lucy, born in 1828, who died aged 24 years; Hoyt W. born in 1831, who married Sylvania Edwards; Seymour, who moved to Iowa and was not heard from again; Millard Fillmore, born in 1834, who married Almira; Benjamin Bullis; Rachel, born in 1837, who married Hiram Dewey; and the youngest, Marshall Littlefield, born December 12, 1841, who married Amanda Josephine Miller.

In the Historical Gazetteer and Biographical Memorial of Cattaraugus County, NY, published in 1893, it states "Mr. Hinman, with the aid of his industrious sons, paid for his farm, built good buildings, and accumulated a competency."

Simeon lived to be almost 90, dying on March 28, 1890 in East Otto. Keziah lived with her daughter Rachel, the widow of Hiram Dewey, until her death on April 10, 1893. Both of the Hinmans are buried in the East Otto Cemetery, high on the hill overlooking what is now a village, surrounded by the graves of many of their children.

Map showing relation of East Otto to Buffalo View of East Otto, NY Hinman Monument in 1987
Map showing relation of East Otto to Buffalo View of East Otto, NY Hinman Monument in 1987