History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- , ed; Hedley, Fenwick Y., joint editor
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, American Historical Soceity
Number of Pages: 688

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume III > Part 1

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Gc 974.701 039d v.3 1127362

GENEAL - CECTION

M. 17

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 8803

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofchautau03down

Charles In Dow

HISTORY

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, ny

NEW YORK

AND ITS PEOPLE

JOHN P. DOWNS Editor-in-Charge

and

FENWICK Y. HEDLEY Editor-in-Chief

Assisted by a large corps of Sub-editors and Advisory Board

GC 974.701

V.3

C39d VOLUME III V.3

AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 1921

1127362

BIOGRAPHICAL

317

BIOGRAPHICAL

ALBIN JOSEPH CARLSON-Without doubt one of the most successful of the younger business men of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., was Albin Joseph Carlson, late of this city, whose premature death, Aug. 14, 1918, at the age of thirty-eight, removed from the community a powerful factor in its material develop- ment, and abruptly ended a career which held out the most brilliant promises for the future.

Mr. Carlson was a native of Sweden, born at Stock- holm, April 29, 1880, and it was in his native city that his childhood and early life were passed. He attended the local schools of Stockholm, and continued his studies there until he had reached his twentieth year. Shortly afterwards his interest having been greatly awakened in the opportunities offered by America for the young man of enterprise, he came to this country, and directly upon landing came to James- town, where he quickly found employment with the Peterson Crest Tool Company, his alert mind and will- ingness to work hard recommending him to those who came in contact with him. In the establishment of that concern he learned not only the trade of tool making but general business methods, and proved himself so apt a pupil that he was rapidly advanced to positions of responsibility. Mr. Carlson remained for eight years with the Peterson concern and then, having in the mean- time saved a considerable portion of his earnings, found himself in a position to carry out an ambition long cherished by him, that of embarking in a business upon his own account. Accordingly he severed his connection with his old employers and formed a partnership with Mr. J. P. Danielson under the firm name of J. P. Danielson & Company, and a successful tool making business was founded. This business was carried on with a very high degree of success with Mr. Carlson a very active partner up to the time of his death in 1918, his energy, industry and business talent contributing in no small degree to its prosperity and development. Mr. Carlson was always keenly interested in the welfare of his adopted community, although up to the close of his life his business interests had prevented him from taking the part in public affairs for which his abilities so eminently fitted him.

Albin Joseph Carlson was united in marriage, Feb. 8, 1902, at Jamestown, with Hanna Gustafson, like him- self a native of Sweden, daughter of Gustave Gustafson, of that country. One child was born of this union, Remhold Albin Carlson, Sept. 29, 1906. Since the death of Mr. Carlson, his widow has retained her interest in the firm of J. P. Danielson & Company, and in the management of her concerns has proven herself a fine business woman.

ELMORE M. KENT, one of the most successful and progressive farmers of Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he has been actively engaged in that pursuit for many years, is a member of an exceed- ingly old New England family, being of the ninth gen- eration from the founder of the house in America. He is a son of Lucian H. and Mary Fay ( McEwen ) Kent, and a grandson of Moses and Jerusha Kent, natives of Vermont. Moses Kent, his wife and two sons removed from that State to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., in the year 1822, the journey being made by the only possible

means of conveyance in those days, by ox-team, and in the middle of the severe winter, through what was then a practically unbroken wilderness. They travelled along what was known as the Port Kent road and finally reached their destination successfully.

Lucian H. Kent, upon reaching his majority, saw fit to make up for his early lack of education and attended an academy at Pottsdam, N. Y. Later he removed to French Creek township, Chautauqua county, where he became the possessor of a fine farm of 300 acres, situated about half way between Clymer and Marvin Post Office. In 1862, however, he removed to Westfield, where he also had a farm, and there passed the remainder of his life. He was a man of unusual character and mental endow- ments, and possessed unusually scholarly tastes. During practically his entire life he was a close student of the best literature, and read extensively all scientific and philosophical subjects. He was also a keen lover of nature, and indeed this largely accounted for the fact that he chose agricultural pursuits for his life's work. "The surroundings appealed to his poetic nature and served largely as the inspiration for his modest volume of poems 'Sunshine' and 'Storm', the title to which he chose as appropriate to the coloring it had received from his occupation." An example of this volume deserves to be quoted here :

I love to live because the skies In beauty from above Shed down their light from Paradise, In forms of mildest love.

I love to live where truth's bright beams Can reach the awful shade, That wilful falsehood here can form In light which God has made.

Mr. Kent possessed an extraordinary physical consti- tution and was never confined to his bed by sickness a single day during his entire life He lived in a period in which he had seen most of the great social and political issues which this country has had to face in the formative period of its development decided, and his keen intellect kept him constantly interested in each new problem as it arose. Lucian H. Kent married, June 9, 1849, Mary Fay McEwen, the oldest daughter of Deacon George McEwen, of Lawrence, N. Y. Their married life was an unusually happy and harmonious one, and they celebrated their golden wedding, June 9, 1899, at the old family home in Westfield, with all the living members of their family present. Mr. Kent's death occurred March 9, 1900, and that of Mrs. Kent, Nov. 17, 1903. They were the parents of six sons and one daughter, as follows: 1. Elmore M., mentioned at length below. 2. Herman L., born Jan. 31, 1854, at Hopkinton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., formerly engaged successfully in the manufacture of paper at Westfield as the head of the firm of Herman L. Kent & Company ; he is now engaged in farming and fruit grow- ing. 3. Henry B., a graduate of Western Reserve Uni- versity, and author of "Grafic Sketches of the West;" was born Oct. 21, 1855, and died while traveling at Canon City, Colo., June 25, 1890. 4. Elwin R., born Nov. 1I, 1858; for some time private secretary to Hon. Daniel G. Rollins, surrogate in the city and county of New York, and died at Westfield, Nov. 14, 1890. 5. George S., one of the first graduates of and for a time a teacher in the Westfield Academy and Union School. 6. Alice C., who resides at Westfield, and is identified with grape culture in this region. 7. Vernon A., born Jan. 17, 1866; a prom-

318

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

inent figure in the agricultural activities of this region ; he was postmaster at Westfield for twelve years.

Elmore M. Kent, son of Lucian H. and Mary Fay (McEwen) Kent, was born June 7, 1850, at Hopkinton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y. The first seven years of his 'jie were passed at that place, and he was then brought by his parents to Chautauqua county and has since that time made the town of Westfield his home, with the exception of five years, when he resided in French Creek township. As a lad he attended the public schools of Westfield and the Westfield Academy, and upon com- pleting his studies became a teacher in the public schools. He was also employed for a short time ou the staff of the Westfield "Republican," and later went to New York City, where he worked on the staff of the New York "Daily Standard," which was published at No. 34 Park Row, by John Russell Young. He then went to Burling- ton, \'t., where he became associated with Mr. C. C. Post, who was a manufacturer of sugar maker's supplies on a large scale. On the death of Mr. Post, Mr. Kent was appointed administrator of his large estate. In 1881 he returned to Westfield, where he formed an association with his brother, Herman L. Kent, and purchased and rebuilt the Westfield Paper Mills, which they operated under the firm name of Herman L. Kent & Company. Mr. Kent resides at South Portage street. In addition to his paper business, Mr. Kent is the owner of several large farming properties, and at the present time devotes most of his time to taking care of these and other interests. He is a member of the Westfield Business Men's Associ- ation. and is a staunch Republican, though he has never cared for public office or political preferment of any kind. Although not a member of any church, Mr. Kent attends the Westfield Presbyterian Church and is a trustee thereof, having taken a very active part in the affairs of the congregation. One of the enterprises which Mr. Kent has conducted for the benefit of the community is that known as Kent's Glen, where he spends a con- siderable portion of each summer and where he main- tains an excellent swimming place for boys, as well as walks, drives, picnic and pleasure grounds. He has also made many improvements on the natural park situated on his lands at Buttermilk Falls, which he also main- tains for the benefit of the public.

Elmore M. Kent was united in marriage, June 20, 1889, with Edna M. Chittenden, daughter of Varick A. Chitten- den, of Hopkinton, N. Y., where her birth occurred July 12, 1866. Mrs. Kent was educated at the Andover Female Seminary at Andover, Mass., and died June 26, 1897.

The Westfield Paper Mills, which have so many years been prominent in the industrial development of the community, was founded shortly after the Civil War, in 1865, by Allen Wright, who returned to Westfield after having ama .ed a considerable fortune in the oil business. Mr. Wright formed a stock company and purchased the old "Cottage Grist Mill" which he rebuilt and fitted for the manufacture of paper. For a time the concern was engaged in the manufacture of white printing paper. At that time the market for this kind of paper was com- faratively mall in thi region, and the mill was idle for a part of each year. The price of white paper at that time ranged from 15 to 20 cents per pound, however, and the sale of a comparatively small amount of it con- stituted a good business. About 1867, or 1868, Mr.

Wright, foreseeing the great demand there would be for grape baskets in this region of large vineyards, and being of an inventive and mechanical turn of mind, conceived the idea of making a grape box from paste board. Meeting with success in this invention, the output of the mill was changed from white paper to strawboard and special machines were invented by Mr. Wright for the cutting of this product into shape for the round paper grape boxes which were made mostly in sizes to contain five and ten pounds of grapes. These grape boxes were manufactured during that part of the year which pre- ceded the grape harvest and were very attractive, having a colored label with a cut or stem of grapes on the covers and the pasteboard covered with a light sheet of fancy paper resembling cloth finish and in a variety of designs. This new enterprise met with considerable success for a time, but the introduction of wood grape baskets event- ually drove them from the market and the mill remained idle until about 1870. In that year a brother of Allen Wright, Mr. Reuben G. Wright, who had also gained a fortune in the oil business, came to Westfield, and in company with E. P. Whitney purchased the plant, a new partnership being formed under the name of R. G. Wright & Company. The mill was once more rebuilt and new machinery was installed for the manufacture of white straw printing paper, the first to be made in the State, and almost a new product in the country. This quality of paper was of a snow white color and was made of cheap straw, but once more the promoters of the industry failed to realize their expectations as the paper proved too brittle and did not give satisfaction to the printers who used it. The business was continued by R. G. Wright & Company from 1870 until the autumn of 1877, however, but during that time the price of paper gradually fell, and with the entrance upon the market of the new fibre wood pulp the demand for it was dis- continued. Accordingly, the mill was sold out to a Mr. E. A. C. Pew, of Canada, and afterwards passed into the hand of Bradford I. Taylor, who in 1878 leased it to Herman L. Kent. In 18So the latter, in association with his brother, Elmore M. Kent, purchased the property and once more the mills were equipped with new machinery and used for the manufacture of "Kent's Economy Sugar Bags." The paper for these bags was stripped during the process of making and was of un- usually heavy stock, being sold by the pound instead of by the thousand as in the case of the light manilla bags. They were indeed the first of their kind to be manu- factured in the country, and in addition to them the mill also turned out a large quantity of wrapping paper. Iu 1895 the mills were sold to Smith Brothers, a firm which continued to run them about two years when they were destroyed by fire. The firm of Herman L. Kent & Company was dissolved after the sale of these mills, but the paper business was continued in the brick block built by Mr. Kent in Westfield, his paper warehouses being located in the business district of the town ou North Portage street. In the year 1800 another paper warehouse was built, connected with the first warehouse and giving a storage capacity in both buildings for over 200 tons of paper goods. These buildings were after- ward remodeled and converted into the "Portage Inn" by John Jones. Elmore M. Kent was for many years president of the Chautauqua and Eric Grape Company.

MR. AND MRS. E. A. BAGG AND DAUGHTER ( ONEWANGO VALIFY, N Y.

319

BIOGRAPHICAL

GARNET M. HUNTER, M. D .- Instant and cordial recognition will be accorded to the appearance of this name not only by Dr. Hunter's fellow-citizens of Westfield, but by very many of the residents of Chautall- gua county. Dr. Hunter is quietly but helpfully identified with the most essential interests of his home town, and is regarded as one of her most valued citizens.

Garnet M. Hunter was born April 18, 1876, in Tor- onto, Canada, and is a son of Samuel James and Char- lotte (Ruston) Hunter. Mr. Hunter, who was of English descent, and filled the position of a clerk, is now deceased, but is survived by his widow. Garnet M. Hunter was educated in public and high schools of his native city, graduating from the high school in 1893. He then entered the medical department of the University of Toronto, receiving in 1898 the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For about one year thereafter he served as interne in the Toronto General Hospital, and then went to New York City where he took a post-graduate course.

In 1900 Dr. Hunter began practice in New York City, and at the end of two years removed to Sag Harbor, Long Island, N. Y., where he remained until 1907, when he came to Westfield. Here he established his own hospital, maintaining it for four years, and in 1911 entered upon a course of general practice. His clientele is now large and constantly increasing. He takes a special interest in the study of chronic diseases and their treatment by means of water, light, and electricity, and is now the house physician to the Rumsey Inn and Mineral Bath Corporation of Westfield.

In all matters pertaining to his profession he keeps fully abreast of the times. His choice of a medical career was wholly voluntary, his desire being sufficiently strong to lead him to assist in defraying the expenses of his professional education. In politics Dr. Hunter is an independent voter. He holds membership in the Ameri- can Medical Association, the New York State Medical Society, and the Chautauqua County Medical Society. He affiliates with the Masonic fraternity, the Royal Arcanum, and the Loyal Order of Moose. He attends the Presbyterian church.

Dr. Hunter married, Oct. 9, 1901, Florence M., daughter of William and Jane (Thomas) Rea, of Ottawa, Canada. They are the parents of one child : Garnet Rea, born Oct. 7, 1905, now attending the West- field High School. Like her husband Mrs. Hunter is of English descent.

Devoted as he is to his profession, Dr. Hunter is undoubtedly a man to inspire in the physicians and students brought within the circle of his influence increased enthusiasm for medical science.

EDWIN ALLEN BAGG, who for thirty-two years has been the owner and operator of a substantial business at Conewango Valley, Chautauqua county, N. Y., namely, the hardware store conducted under his own name at that place, and the Daisy Buckwheat Flour and Feed Mills, at Conewango Valley, has by a successful business life, and a private life marked by honorable purpose and action, become esteemed by his neighbors, and become a man in whom the residents in general have confidence. This is evidenced by the position he holds in the adminis- tration of the leading financial institution of the district ; he has been president of Conewango Valley National Bank since its organization, January, 1917, and has in

great measure aided in building that institution to its present condition of stability and prosperity.

Edwin Allen Bagg was born in Ellington, N. Y., Oct. 29, 1863, the son of Allen and Allison Lee (Boyd) Bagg, of that place. His father, Allen Bagg, was a farmer in that vicinity, who by consistently and intelligently apply- ing himself to the tilling of his property became a man of some means, and much respected as a man and a churchman. As a boy, Edwin A. attended the district school of his native place and eventually became a student at the Ellington High School, and in due time became a graduate thereof. He has spent practically his whole business life in Conewango Valley, and is probably one of the most widely-known men of that district. For thirty-two years he has been in independent business as a hardware merchant, and most of the people of the neighborhood have had dealings with him, in some branch of hardware, or in his other business capacity, as the owner and operator of the Daisy Buckwheat Flour and Feed Mills, at Conewango Valley. And the record of those dealings must have been good, in point of honor, as well as financial return, otherwise he would not have been elected to the office of president of the national bank of that place, an administrative office which demands of its occupier not only an amply demonstrated capability as a man of business but a record of undeniable moral integrity, in other words, such a position of honor and responsibility calls for a man in whom the stockholders and depositors might have implicit confidence that their holdings and deposits would be safely and shrewdly handled.

Primarily, Mr. Bagg has gained substantial success in life by early recognizing that a trading value must be given as well as demanded, if the trading is to bring further transactions. Throughout his business life, he has pursued consistently that principle-of giving value for value. Of course, success would not come by that alone; one of the fundamentals of success in the staples of commerce is industry ; without industrious effort, properly and enterprisingly applied, expansion of business is not probable; and Mr. Bagg for more than thirty years has consistently applied himself with commendable assiduity to his business interests, and has always sought to keep his business up-to-date. He has also given unself- ishly of his time and substance to further many local causes, manifesting a sincere community interest, both in regard to social and church functions. He has been a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Conewango Valley for many years, earnest in his attend- ance thereat, and substantial in his support thereof.

On June 24, 1908, at Rockland, Pa., he married Cora Mabel, daughter of Peter Lovell and Eleanor (Burns) Pryor, of that place. They have one child, Alice Eleanor, born on Oct. 24, 1910.

Mr. Bagg has not taken much part in political move- ments, that is, in those that had no direct bearing upon local affairs, and he has never sought political office. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, and has been some- what prominent in the dispositions and functions of the local body of that order. Generally, Mr. Bagg has been a worthy, useful citizen, ready at any time to give assist- ance to neighbors needing such aid, and to further in any way possible any local project that he considered might tend to enhance the well-being of some phase of com- munity life.

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CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

CHARLES J. BELLINGER-Prominent among the citizens of Silver Creek, N. Y., is Charles J. Bellinger, owner and editor of the Silver Creek "News," who has since the inception of his business career been identified with newspaper work.

Charles J. Bellinger was born in the town of Ava, Oneida county, N. Y., Ang. 27, 1856, the son of David and Mary (Warrath) Bellinger, He received his education in the schools of his native place, taught school for a short time, and then became associated with the local department of the Rome "Daily Sentinel." Subsequently going to Watertown, N. Y., he became local or city editor of the Watertown "Daily Times," continuing in news- raper work in that city for twenty-five years. In 1908 failing health compelled retirement from daily journalism and he came to Chautauqua county and bought the "Ripley Review." which he edited for four years, selling it in 1912. In 1914 he bought the Silver Creek "News" and has since been associated with this particular paper.

Mr. Bellinger is a man who has stood throughout his journalistic career for all that makes for the betterment of home life and of civic welfare, and the journals which he has edited have been known as upholders of strict moral principles and high ideals in public and private life.

WILLIAM ELIAL SKINNER, who for a number of years has been a conspicuous figure in the agricul- tural life of Portland township, Chautauqua county, N. V., is a member of one of the old distinguished families of this region which was founded here early in the nine- teenth century. The first of the family to settle in Chau- tauqua county was David Skinner, son of Daniel and Harriet Skinner, of Chenango county, N. Y., and grand- father of the present Mr. Skinner. He was born in the town of Norwich, Chenango county, Aug. 12, 1803, and, with his brother Alfred, came to Portland township in the month of October, 1819, when he was but sixteen years of age. He purchased a fruit farm which he sold in 1824 in order to buy a larger property, the claim of Joel Smith. This he sold to Samuel Hull in 1835 and three years later bought a valuable farm of Almon Taylor, of which he continued the owner and which has remained in the possession of the family ever since, part of it belonging to the Mr. Skinner of this sketch. David Skinner was a man of the true old pioneer type, Lessessed of tremendous energy and endurance, as may be gathered from the fact that, unaided, he cut down the trees and cleared the land of about 500 acres of the great virgin forest which at that period covered practi- cally the whole of the district. Indeed he was regarded by his fellow pioneers as the most expert woodsman and axeman in the region. He was a prominent figure in the l'ir of the community during his day, and was a staunch D' mocrat in politics. He married (first) on Christmas D :. 1825, Betsey Hill, a daughter of Lewis Ilill, who wa- lern Aug. 11. 1803. and died Dec. 22, 1836. 1le married ( erond) Oct. 9, 1837, Mary Williams, daughter of Lhal Willam,, of Portland. By his first wife he had the following children: Joseph, born March 13, 1827, married Antoinette Morley, and removed to Michigan ; Homer, born Iune 6, 1820, and married Martha Fuller ; Le ter, born May 12, 1831: Roxy Ann, born Feb. 12, , 833, and became the wife of Mortimer Francis; Franklin,

born April 16, 1835, and married Catherine O'Neil. By his second wife three children were born to David Skinner, as follows: Elial William, father of William Elial Skinner, of whom further; George W., born Sept. 30, 1840, who married Susan Jane Taylor ; Mary Jane, horn May 2, 1842, who became the wife of John Gordon.

Elial William Skinner was born Sept. 30, 1838, and was a grape cultivator on a large scale. He served in Com- pany E, 154th Regiment, New York Volunteers, for three years during the Civil War, and was captured at Gettys- burg and held a prisoner at Andersonville for eighteen months. He was a Democrat in politics, and a prominent Mason. His death occurred June 30, 1911. Elial William Skinner married, Feb. 9, 1870, Betsey Haight, born March 1, 1840, at Smithville Flats, Chenango county, N. Y., died March 29, 1913, a daughter of Luke and Polly Haight, and they were the parents of two children : I. Lillian A., who resides at Portland, N. Y., where she operates a farm; she was prominent in war work during the World War, especially in connec- tion with the various government campaigns for money, and the Red Cross; also an active member of the Methodist church and the Women's Relief Corps, president of the Ladies' Club, and a member of the Eastern Star Society. 2. William Elial, of whom further.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- , ed; Hedley, Fenwick Y., joint editor Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Boston, American Historical Soceity Number of Pages: 688

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- , ed; Hedley, Fenwick Y., joint editor
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, American Historical Soceity
Number of Pages: 688