The Sweets of Amsterdam, New York, descend from a Welsh ancestor, possessed of a skill in the treatment of bone diseases that has been handed down through the generations until the present day. Their skill in the treatment of disjointed and otherwise diseased bones by a form of rude surgery in the earlier day was called "natural bone setting," and while the latter-day practitioners are no doubt more skillful and advanced in the science, the treatment is practically the same as that followed one hundred and fifty years ago in Wales.
(I) Samuel Sweet, immigrant ancestor, was born in Wales. He had reached man's estate when he emigrated to America, and had been instructed in the family profession which he no doubt practised in his native land. He settled in Rhode Island, where he remained until after the revolutionary war. He had gained in that colony considerable local notoriety as a practitioner of his peculiar profession and was a man of good repute and reputation. After the war he removed to New York state, settling at Scotchbush [Scotch Bush], Montgomery county. He prospered there, purchased land and owned considerable property at Bulls Head, the local name for a tract of high land in the town of Florida. He married Hannah ————, probably after settling in Montgomery county. The farm he acquired has been willed in the form of an entail from father to son and is now the property of a great-grandson. He had issue.
(II) Waterman, son of Samuel and Hannah Sweet, was born in the town of Florida. As the farm was willed to him it is conclusive that he was the eldest son. He was instructed in the professional art of the family by the father and had a wonderful success as a practitioner, not only locally but far beyond the limits even of his state. He traveled west and south at the call of the afflicted and accumulated a large property scattered over the different states, one estate in Ohio being yet owned by one of his family. He was a man of varied attainments and often filled pulpits in the churches of the towns he visited. He was an exemplary member of the Baptist church, not an ordained minister, but both at home and abroad in demand as a preacher. He married Elizabeth Hodges and reared a large family, including Leonard and Waterman, Jr., the latter continuing in the profession of the father by natural inheritance, as it were, and transferred the profession to his son, and so it has gone from father to son until their reputation is almost world-wide.
(III) Leonard, son of Waterman and Elizabeth (Hodges) Sweet, was born on the homestead at Snooks Corner, town of Florida, in 1796, died February 25, 1873. He was all his life a farmer and was one of the substantial men of the town. He married (first) Sally Pierce, born in the county, where she died in the prime of life, leaving a family of small children. He married (second) Susan Becker, of a pioneer Montgomery county family, born in November, 1802. Children:
- Catherine, married (first) Cornelius Huff, of the town of Glen; (second) Hiram Van Sickler, of Johnstown, New York, where she died;
- Margaret, married William N. Newkirk, for many years proprietor of a hotel at Fort Hunter, New York;
- Waterman J., see forward.
(IV) Waterman J., son of Leonard and Susan (Becker) Sweet, was born on the homestead farm in Florida, December 27, 1840, and for thirty years lived upon the farm, which he operated after reaching man's estate. In 1891 he retired to a home in Port Jackson, now the fifth ward of Amsterdam, New York, where he died March 29, 1906. He married,. December 19, 1866, in Florida, Emma Williams, born in Glen, Montgomery county, October 28, 1843, daughter of Peter and Maria (Van Horne) Williams, natives of the town of Glen, but at the time of death residents of Amsterdam. They were the parents of six children, four of whom are now living. Children of Waterman J. and Emma (Williams) Sweet:
- Dr. Leonard, see forward;
- Jane, born June 17, 1880, educated in Amsterdam, where she resides with her mother, unmarried.
(V) Dr. Leonard (2), only son of Waterman J. and Emma (Williams) Sweet, was born on the homestead at Snooks Corner, Florida, Montgomery county, New York, December 11, 1867. He was educated at Amsterdam Academy. He followed farming for several years, but abandoned that business to follow the family profession, "bone setting." He is very proficient and has gained a good practice. Politically he is a Democrat. The original Sweet homestead, now comprising over one hundred acres, is owned by Dr. Sweet and his sister, Jane. He married, in Minaville, September 3, 1890, Catherine Van Derveer, born April 20, 1867, daughter of William Spencer, born October 8, 1837, and Augusta (Parks) Van Derveer, residents of the town of Florida. Mrs. Sweet attended the town schools, finishing her education in Schenectady, New York. She is a woman of culture, refinement and womanly grace. Children:
- Harold Waterman, born October 13, 1894;
- Howard J., November 19, 1896;
- Alice V., August 28, 1905.