Frank Edmund Pelton, hardware merchant, was born in Ilion, New York, on October 18, 1875, the son of John R. and Florence M. (Caswell) Pelton. John R. Pelton was born on October 17, 1845, at East Winfield, New York, and died on November 2, 1917, at Ilion, where he had been employed by the Remington Arms Company from 1861 to 1885. From 1885 to 1907, when he retired, he was engaged in the hardware business. He was the son of Edmund H. and Lucretia E. (Hodges) Pelton. Florence M. (Caswell) Pelton was born in Herkimer, New York, on August 23, 1845, and died in Ilion, on October 5, 1921. She was the daughter of Edwin and Maria (Eaton) Caswell. Edwin Caswell, a dealer in general merchandise, was born on December 31, 1815, and died in Ilion on February 14, 1887. His wife was born in Herkimer and died in Ilion on October 17, 1891.
Frank E. Pelton was graduated from the Ilion high school in 1892, and from Cazenovia Seminary in 1894, and from that time to January, 1898, he was associated with his father in the hardware business. He then came to Herkimer and formed a partnership with William H. Prowse and conducted a hardware business until May, 1904, when Mr. Prowse retired, and Edwin C. Pelton, a brother, became partner under the firm name of Pelton Brothers, and they are known as live merchants and doing a fine business.
On January 14, 1897, in Rochester, New York, Mr. Pelton was united in marriage to Miss Grace Hollister Weaver, who was born on December 17, 1872, in the town of Penfield, Monroe county, New York, the daughter of John DeWitt and Nancy E. (Carter) Weaver. She attended the Old Penfield Academy and later moved to Rochester, New York, where she was married to Frank Edmund Pelton. Her great grandparents on her mother's side were: David Kellogg Carter, born March 24, 1776, and died August 27, 1828, in Rochester. Elizabeth Hollister Carter, born October 31, 1789, died in Syracuse, New York, in September, 1876. They were pioneers of Rochester, New York — he a millwright, and she one of the first eight white women in the city, their son Phederus, Mrs. Pelton's grandfather, was a lawyer and drew the first map ever made of the city of Rochester, then called Rochesterville; this map gave the streets and Indian trails as they were in 1812 and was reprinted for the Daughters of the American Revolution and distributed during the city's centennial celebration in 1912, and can be found in their records at Washington, D. C. Mrs. Pelton's grandparents on her mother's side were: Phederus Carter, born at Lowville, New York, November 6, 1806, and died at Boston, Massachusetts, June 22, 1865; Lydia Ann Wright Carter, his wife, was born on Pompey Hill, Tully, New York, March 22, 1812, and died in Rochester, New York, November 18, 1898. Lydia Ann Wright's parents were: Samuel Wright, born April 17, 1781, died December 22, 1821; Lucina Tuller Wright, born January 22, 1781, died April 12, 1848. She was a direct descendant of Mollie Stark. Mrs. Pelton's great-grandparents on her father's side were: Johannus, or John, Weber, born October 20, 1750, killed at "Lundy's Lane" in the Battle of Fort Erie, in September, 1814; his wife, Mary Myers, was born October 23, 1768, died August 13, 1830, at Penfield, New York. Grandfather Weaver and his wife were: John Weaver, born at Deerfield, New York, January 28, 1795, and died at Penfield, New York, November 20, 1870; Sally Kellogg, born East Bloomfield, New York, February 7, 1801, died February 4, 1877, at Rochester, New York. Ancestors through this line were captured and carried away to Canada by the Indians from the Mohawk valley, and years later were exchanged for other prisoners, during the Revolutionary war. Parents of Grace Hollister Weaver Pelton were: John DeWitt Weaver, born at Penfield, New York, May 16, 1833, a graduate of Amherst College and studied medicine, but poor health prevented his practicing his profession and for years he was obliged to live in retirement on a farm in Penfield, where he continued a student and great reader, until his removal to Rochester, where he died August 29, 1910. Nancy Elizabeth Carter Weaver, his wife, was born at Scottsville, New York, June 15, 1833, and died at Byron, New York, December 6, 1914. Mrs. Pelton is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Progressive Literary Club, and of the Methodist church, all of Herkimer. She is also president of the Herkimer County Old Ladies Home and secretary of the board of directors of Folts Mission Institute of Herkimer.
Mr. and Mrs. Pelton have four children: Florence Elizabeth Pelton was born on August 6, 1898, and was graduated from Herkimer high school in 1916, and from Skidmore College in 1920, with the B. S. degree; Mary Weaver Pelton was born on January 20, 1900, and was graduated from the high school in 1918 and from Skidmore College in 1923, with the B. S. degree. She taught in the high school at Milford, Pennsylvania, and on August 2, 1924, was married to Lieutenant Floyd C. Devenbeck, son of Peter V. Devenbeck of Herkimer. He is a lieutenant in the Reserve Corps of the United States army and was graduated from Cornell University in June, 1921, with the degree of M. E.; Grace Arline Pelton was born on October 4, 1902, and graduated from high school in 1921. She is now a senior at Skidmore College, class of 1925; Frank Edmund Pelton, Jr., was born on May 7, 1910.
Mr. Pelton is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the blue lodge of Herkimer, Ziyara Shrine of Utica and the Mohawk Valley Consistory. He is a member of the Exchange Club and of the Chamber of Commerce of Herkimer, and at one time was president of the Business Men's Association. He has been treasurer of the New York State Retail Hardware Association, Inc., since 1903, the year following its organization in 1902; and treasurer of the Herkimer county branch of the State Charity's Aid Association since its organization. His church associations are in the Methodist Episcopal church and he has been treasurer of the same from 1902 until the present time. In politics he is a republican. For diversion Mr. Pelton enjoys traveling and has traveled extensively in the United States and in foreign lands.