USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 12
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In the year 1890 Mr. Avey was united in marriage to Miss Ida Lawrence, who was born and reared in Springwater township, Livingston county, and who is a daughter of Ira and Julia (Lewis) Lawrence, who continued to reside in that county until their death,
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the father having been a prosperous farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Avey have one daughter, Olive, who was born August 30, 1892, and who is now employed as a bookkeeper and stenographer at Hornell, Steuben county. She is a graduate of Maple City Business College.
ADELBERT FERRY .- A prosperous citizen and a successful law- yer, this well known gentleman of Hornell counts his friends throughout Steuben county and in many of the towns and villages of surrounding counties. He has been thus far a life-long resi- dent of Hornellsville and of the city of Hornell, having been born in the old village, November 16, 1854. His father, Silas Ferry, born in Almond, in the neighboring county of Allegany, came to Hornell about 1850. His drug store was, if not the pioneer of its class, one of the early drug stores in the village. He was later a merchant in other lines and gave some attention to farming. He traced his ancestry to French-Scotch sources. Combining the amia- bility of the Frenchman with the hard business sense of the Scotch- man he made friends and prospered well, considering his time and opportunities. He lived to be about sixty-six years old.
Silas Ferry, of whom somewhat extended mention has just been made, married Cyrena Stephens, a native of Hornellsville and a daughter of Colonel John R. Stephens. That gentleman was of English extraction, a lineal descendant of one of three brothers of the name who were among the pioneers in southern central New York. There is a family tradition that two of them were passengers on the historic Mayflower of blessed memory. So far as Hornell itself is concerned Colonel Stephens was him- self one of its pioneers. He was the first town clerk at Hornells- ville and was several times elected supervisor and from time to time filled other important offices. In other fields than local poli- tics he was active. His was one of the earliest frame houses erected in the village. In Masonry he was one of the most influential of the early leaders. For eighteen successive years he was master of his lodge; for twenty-six years, from June 25, 1875, when his chapter was organized, he was its high priest. His daughter, wife of Silas Ferry and mother of Adelbert Ferry, died when she was sixty-six years old.
Adelbert Ferry, only child of Silas and Cyrena (Stephens) Ferry, received his English education in the public schools at Hornell and in select schools at Greenville, Pennsylvania. In 1873 he began the study of law in the offices of Hakes and Stephens and in 1876 was admitted to the bar, having been duly graduated from the Albany, New York, law school. He began the practice of his profession at Dalton, Livingston county, but remained there only a few months. From there he removed to Hornellsville, where he devoted a part of his time to farming. He owns a farm of one hundred and thirty acres two miles from Hornell and another of sixty acres on Bull Hill, besides real estate in Hornell and some valuable lots on the Arkport road. He resumed his law practice
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in 1907 and has met with good success. Throughout the county he is well and favorably known as a man of influence, and he was a stanch Republican up to 1910, when he decided to join the ranks of Democracy. In Masonic circles his position is high. He is a member of Hornell Lodge, No. 331, Free and Accepted Masons, of Steuben Chapter, No. 101, Royal Arch Masons, of Hornells- ville Council, No. 135, Royal and Select Masters of De Molay Com- mandery, No. 22, Knights Templars, and of Damascus Temple, Rochester, New York. He is eminent in lodge and encampment in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His public spirit ren- ders him helpful and popular as a citizen.
HON. MILO M. ACKER, lawyer and man of affairs, was born at Hartsville, New York, October 3, 1853, of German-American parentage. Until he attained his majority he worked for his father during the farming season and found employment in the lumber woods during the remainder of the year, devoting what little spare time he had to study. He saved money enough to keep him awhile at Alfred University, and was enabled to take up the duties of life well equipped educationally for all responsibilities.
In 1879 and 1880 Mr. Acker was supervisor of Hartsville. In 1881 he began the study of law in the office of Judge Hakes at Hornellsville. He was admitted to the bar in 1883 and became a member of Judge Hakes' law firm in 1885. In 1886 Mr. Acker served as recorder of Hornellsville. He was four times elected to represent his district in the state legislature and held many prom- inent places on important committees. In 1890 he was chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1891 he was Republican candidate for the speakership and therefore leader of the Republicans in the house. He was recognized as one of the best debaters in the assemblies of which he was a member.
Mr. Acker was a member of the State Constitutional con- vention in 1894 and of its committee on rules. Since 1904 he has been a member of the State Water Supply Commission. He has served on the board of education of his home city, as trustee of the public library, the Farmers' Club, the First National Bank and the First Presbyterian church, and on the governing boards of several private clubs. In 1890 he married Mary W. Clarke of Brattleboro, Vermont.
NANCY SMITH .- Among the most intelligent and capable women of Steuben county, New York, is Nancy Smith, living in the village of Bath, a member of a family that has been prominent in the region for more than a hundred years. The emigrant an- cestor of this family was Andrew Smith, who came from Scotland in 1791 as secretary for Captain Williamson. He settled at Bath, New York, in 1793, purchasing the present old Smith homestead near Bath, where he took up three hundred and sixty-five acres of land. He died on this farm in 1837 at the age of seventy-five years. The fifth generation is now living on the homestead. Andrew Smith
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married Elizabeth Lewis, a native of Orange county, New York, and they had six children, the youngest son of whom was Andrew. Mr. Smith was one of the earliest to settle east of Bath, and was one of the sturdy pioneers who helped in first developing and im- proving the community. He was well read and well educated for his time and locality. In religion he was a Presbyterian.
Andrew Smith, Jr., the youngest son of Andrew and Eliza- beth Smith, was born near Bath, and after receiving his education worked at various occupations for several years. He died in 1852 at the age of forty-six. He married Maria Doyle, who was born at Bath, a granddaughter of Samuel Doyle, also a pioneer. She was reared by her grandparents, Samuel and Mary Doyle. Mrs. Smith died in 1889, at the age of eighty-four years. She and her husband had two sons and two daughters, namely: Charles, died in infancy; Joseph, died in the Civil war; Elizabeth, deceased, and Nancy.
Nancy Smith was born in 1836 near the old homestead near Bath. She received her education in Haverling High School and taught school twenty-two years, beginning in 1852. She lived with and took care of her mother until the latter's death. Miss Smith taught also in select school and in private families and is well known and highly esteemed by all who know her. Miss Smith reputation for ability in her profession and was very fond of it. She is an active worker in the interests of the Presbyterian church, of which she is a member. Miss Smith is unmarried. She is well versed in the early history of the county and feels justly proud of the part taken by her family in promoting the general welfare of the community. There are eleven of the Smith family of the third generation still living. Miss Smith has now retired from active life and for many years has lived quietly, though she keeps well informed on the current topics and issues of the day.
WILLIAM HENRY GREENHOW .- One of the most able and en- lightened exponents of the fourth estate, not only in Steuben coun- ty but in this part of the New York as well, is William Henry Greenhow, editor of that excellent sheet, the Hornell Tribune. Mr. Greenhow has directed its destinies fully forty years, conduct- ing it on broad and liberal lines, and standing as it does for clean principles and ideals it is one of the most potent contributors to the high prestige enjoyed by Hornell as a community.
By the circumstance of birth Mr. Greenhow is a Pennsylvanian, his birth having occurred in the city of Philadelphia, November 13, 1845, but by parentage and descent he is British. The father, John Greenhow, was born in Kendall, England, and chose as his wife Mary Frodsham, of St. Helens, England, their union being celebrated in Galena, Illinois. The father followed the trade of a printer in the old country, and after his emigration to this, became an editor and clergyman. His father was a teacher of Latin and mathematics and managed a large estate in Westmoreland, Eng-
Vol. II-7
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land. One of his sons became a teacher of classic languages and mathematics in Windsor College in his twenty-third year, but what promised to be a brilliant career was cut short by his untimely death in that very year. John Greenhow, convinced that greater opportunity awaited a young man in a land of newer civilization than Great Britain, considered going to Australia, but finally de- cided in favor of America, for which he sailed with his particular lares and penates, landing on these shores about the year 1842. New Orleans was the first American city which his eyes beheld and he visited and lived in many sections of the United States and Canada, settling in Hornell in 1870, and remaining in this favored section of Steuben county until the year 1892.
When Mr. Greenhow was very young his parents removed to Canada and his earliest experiences were of farm life. He re- ceived public school advantages, pursuing the usual course of studies, and supplementing this most effectively by a self-imposed study and omniverous reading. In 1866, about the time at which he arrived at his majority, Mr. Greenhow joined his father in the publication of the Canastota (New York) Herald, and finding the work congenial, in 1870 acquired the Hornellsville (then so-called) Tribune. Almost from the beginning a course of improvements was inaugurated. In 1873 the T'ribune was made a tri-weekly and in 1878 it took its place among the New York dailies. Charles F. Peck, later New York state commissioner of labor, purchased the elder Mr. Greenhow's interest in the paper, the firm being known as Greenhow & Peck. This proved to be a stormy period, for Peck was aggressive in his writings and the instigator of much wrath. He was burned in effigy at one time, was horsewhipped by a woman at another and several libel suits occurred. Mr. Greenhow pur- chased Peck's interest in 1884 and a more serene and peaceful regime ensued. It was conducted under his name alone until January 1, 1909, when the paper was incorporated under the name of the W. H. Greenhow Company, of which Mr. Greenhow is presi- dent and editor-in-chief. Mr. Greenhow enjoys to the utmost the confidence of his associates and during the Cleveland administra- tion, from 1886 to 1891, he gave efficient service as postmaster of Hornell, establishing the free delivery service here. He also served as town clerk for four years, his term of office expiring in 1878.
Mr. Greenhow is devoted to the principles of the Democratic party, being willing to do anything in his power for the cause. He is very liberal in his treatment of the public's affairs, neverthe- less, and has assumed a most admirable attitude toward the repre- sentatives of the opposition party. Having the only newspaper in Hornell he has conducted it on broad public and liberal lines, and seeking to deserve the respect of his neighbors he has been entirely successful in the attainment of this laudable ambition. The years have brought a host of competitors. Many of them were experienced newspaper men with ample resources, but none were able to establish a solid foothold, owing to popular support of Mr.
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Greenhow and the impossibility of making more than one penny paper pay in Hornell.
On June 23, 1886, Mr. Greenhow laid the foundations of a household of his own and a congenial life companionship, the lady to become his wife being Helen M. Stephens, daughter of Hon. Obadiah Stephens. They have one daughter, Olive, now Mrs. Louis H. Buisch, of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the Rev. Mr. Buisch is rector of St. Matthew's church.
Mr. Greenhow, while an ardent partisan of the Democratic faith, is recognized as being very fair to the opposition, allowing its representatives access to the columns of his newspaper and ample notices of their meetings. More than that the proceedings of those meetings are reported exactly as though they were Demo- cratic meetings and speakers, by personal instruction to reporters, and statements of speakers are subject to fair editorial criticism. This gives advocates of both sides of a controversy a hearing from every element in the entire community, an advantage they could not have in a personal organ with a limited circulation.
Mr. Greenhow's business connections in the city are extensive. He is a stockholder in each of the three city banks and a director in two and is connected with other enterprises. He is a director in the Maple City Land Company, an enterprise established by public- spirited citizens to provide houses for Erie Railroad employes to secure additions to the extensive shops of that company in Hornell. He is also a director in the Chamber of Commerce. He is con- nected with several fraternal societies and is associated with the Episcopal church. In 1901 Mr. Greenhow organized the now very successful "New York Associated Dailies," an organization em- bracing forty-five daily papers in the state outside the metropolitan cities, and was for the first three years president thereof. In 1909, while absent in Alaska, he was elected president of the New York State Press Association, embracing three hundred in its member- ship, and presided at the annual convention in Saratoga in 1910, the efficiency of his services being recognized by the members by a handsome gift at the close.
GEORGE L. PRESTON, M. D .- Secure in the enjoyment of great personal and professional popularity in Steuben county and Canisteo, a citizen of high ideals and prominent in other circles than his honored profession is Dr. George L. Preston. He is a native son of Steuben county, his birth having occurred here April 18, 1861. He is the son of Elisha W. Preston and his wife, Martha J. Preston.
Dr. Preston was educated in Canisteo Academy and early chose the medical profession as his life work. To this end he en- tered the Eclectic Medical College of New York city and was graduated from that famous institution in 1882, having just at- tained to his majority. He began his practice in Italy, Yates coun- ty, New York, and his residence there was of nearly eighteen years
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duration. In 1901 he removed to his native town of Canisteo and has ever since continued here in the active practice of his profes- sion. Dr. Preston is by no means one of those who are content to let well enough alone and in 1886 he took a post graduate course in the New York Post-Graduate College, specializing on the eye, ear, nose and throat. In 1900 he again took post graduate work, this time in the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Baltimore, Maryland, upon this occasion devoting his attention to the diseases of women and surgery, as well as in the lines in which he had previously specialized, the eye, ear, nose and throat.
Ever since coming to Canisteo in 1901 Dr. Preston's practice has been on the increase and it is now one of the largest in Steuben county, while in addition to this he is medical examiner for several life insurance companies. He is not inexperienced in public office and for two terms in Yates county held the position of coroner. He is a Mason of high standing, a loyal adherent of the policies and principles of the Republican party, and a Unitarian.
Dr. Preston has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Carrie Jamison, daughter of Daniel Jamison, a prominent citizen of Canisteo, where her birth occurred June 15, 1860. She was educated in the Canisteo Academy and was married to Dr. Preston March 7, 1888, her death occurring January 13, 1895. One son is the issue of their union, J. Louis Preston, born in Italy, New York, February 5, 1889. He graduated from the high school of Canisteo in 1909 and is at present attending the University of New York and Bellevue Medical College, it being his intention to follow in the parental footsteps in the matter of a profession. Dr. Preston's second wife was, previous to her marriage, Miss Alice Jamison, daughter of Eugene Jamison, and born in Oakland, Livingston county, New York, March 7, 1879. They were married September 24. 1902, and have one daughter, Eugenia, born July 25, 1904. Dr. Preston is a lover of outdoor life and he finds no small amount of diversion in the breeding of high grade poultry, having had great success in this line of endeavor.
DEXTER M. WHITE, a farmer of Bath, Steuben county, is a son of Russell White and was born in Fremont, Steuben county, February 17, 1865. The father, also a native of Fremont, is still living, aged seventy-three years. Besides Dexter M., he had chil- dren as follows: Celinda, Amos, Eben, Mary, George, Merrit and Carrie, and Charles, who died in infancy. Eben is a doctor of medicine and lives in Washington; Mary is a member of her fath- er's household ; George is a farmer living in Cortland county, New York; Merrit, a farmer, lives at Belmont, Allegany county; Carrie is a trained nurse in Washington; Celinda is the wife of L. D. Harrington, an upholsterer at 33 Genesee street, Hornell.
Dexter M. White was educated in the public schools and at the age of twenty-one began farming for himself. Later he was for five years in the agricultural implement business, living for
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one year in Chicago. Returning to Ithaca, New York, he took the dairy course at Cornell University, after which he accepted a posi- tion as manager of a large dairy farm in New Britain, Connecti- cut. Thence he went to Lake George, New York, where he was for a year superintendent of a large farm. Marrying, he settled on his present home farm in 1899 and has since devoted himself to breeding Holstein cattle and also Yorkshire swine. At the New York state fair of 1907 he won every first champion and grand champion that he exhibited, also champion for breeder, same for exhibitor as well as the American Yorkshire special.
Mr. White married Miss Carrie B. Bowlby, daughter of John Bowlby. She was born in 1875. He has children as follows: Lydia, aged nine; Erwin, aged five; Helen, aged three; Chester, an infant. Mr. and Mrs. White are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Grange. He has a world wide reputation as a breeder of Holsteins and was superintendent of the horse department at the New York state fair at Syracuse four years. He has no time for active political work, but has pronounced views on all questions of public moment, town, county and national. As a public-spirited citizen he is reputed to be at all times ready to aid to the extent of his ability any movement having for its ob- ject the enhancement of the well-being of any considerable number of his fellow citizens.
JOSEPH W. LEBART .- Many of the most energetic, enterprising and prosperous business men of the Empire state are of foreign birth and breeding, and bring with them to this country the habits of industry, economy and thrift characteristic of their ancestors, and in the land of their adoption meet with recognized success in their undertakings. Noteworthy among this number is Joseph W. Lebart, of Bath. A native of sunny Italy, he was born June 24, 1882, in Alessandria, a son of Cosimi Lebart.
The descendant of an old and honored Italian family, Cosimi Lebart was born sixty years ago in Alessandria, Italy, and has there spent his entire life, being an extensive landowner and a most successful stockman. He married Orazia Lici, who was born in Italy in 1850, the descendant of a family distinguished as large landholders. Her father, Tony Lici, lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and two years. Five children were born to Cosimi Lebart and wife, as follows: Rosa, wife of James Dispam, a farmer and wine grower in Dunkirk, New York; William, a shoe merchant in Italy; Carrie, wife of Joseph Terrace. a commission merchant in Italy; Bert, engaged in the shoe business as a merchant in El- mira, New York, and Joseph, of this sketch.
Leaving school at the age of fifteen years, Joseph W. Lebart assisted in the care of the parental estate for five years. Desirous then of trying the hazard of new fortunes, he emigrated to Amer- ica, locating in Rochester, New York, where he carried on a sub- stantial business as a caterer for awhile. In 1908 he took up his
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residence in Bath, where he still follows his occupation of a caterer, being also engaged in other enterprises of a financial nature, buying and selling, and otherwise successfully speculating. He is a man of fine character and habits, and a conscientious member of St. John's Catholic church.
GEORGE HOLLANDS .- An able exponent of the progressive spirit that has caused Hornell to forge ahead so rapidly as an industrial and commercial center is George Hollands, of the house of George Hollands & Sons, druggists, at Hornell, Steuben county, New York. He was born in Sussex, England, January 9, 1841, and is a son of William and Charlotte Hollands, both of whom were like- wise natives of England. With a family of six children they emi- grated to the United States in 1850 and located at Mansfield, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Four more children were born to them after their arrival in this country. At the age of eleven years George Hollands entered the home of a respectable farmer, with whom it was understood he was to live during his minority, giving his services in return for board and clothing, in addition to which he was to receive one hundred dollars and a suit of clothes when he attained to his legal majority. His term of service would have expired in 1862 but in 1861, at the time of the inception of the Civil war, he responded immediately to President Lincoln's call for volunteers by enlisting in Company B, One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He continued in service until the close of the war and participated in many of the most im- portant battles marking the progress of that sanguinary conflict. At the battle of Fair Oaks, May 30, 1862, he was wounded, and on April 20, 1864, he, together with his entire regiment, was taken prisoner. At the surrender at Plymouth, North Carolina, he was taken to Andersonville prison in Georgia and later was transferred to the Florence prison in South Carolina, where he was held in duress until the following December, when his exchange was ef- fected. In April, 1865, on his way south from Annapolis, Mary- land, he was shipwrecked on the Potomac River while en route to rejoin his regiment and was saved only by clinging to a mast all night. In the morning he was picked up in an exhausted con- dition by a gunboat. Thus in many ways he risked his life in the cause of his country and in July, 1865, he received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of service, having risen from the rank of private to the office of first lieutenant. Mr. Hollands re- tains a deep and abiding interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic.
Soon after the close of the rebellion Mr. Hollands initiated his independent business career as a grocer, becoming a member of the firm of Hollands & Fletcher, of Hornell, New York. This con- cern occupied the old "Mammoth Store" opposite the park and the partnership continued until the autumn of 1866. when Mr. Hollands returned to Pennsylvania and entered into business in Full Brook and Morris Run, Pennsylvania. In 1871, however, he
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again established his home in Hornell, where he has continued to reside during the long intervening years to the present time. He engaged in the drug business and the passage of time has wit- nessed the growth of his establishment until today the house of George Hollands & Sons is recognized as one of the largest and most progressive of its class in the county. In connection with the drug business Mr. Hollands was one of the organizers of the Hor- nell Sanitarium Company, which was incorporated under the laws of the state and of which he was for some time treasurer and a director. His prominence in connection with the building of the Hornell court house is a matter of public history.
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