USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 14
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Mr. Allen was his parents' only child. He spent his youth on his father's farm and in the district school near his home. At eighteen he entered the Hornell High School, from which he was graduated in 1891. Later he was duly graduated from Alfred University. In 1893 he took up the study of law, with Beard and Griffin as his preceptors. He was admitted to the bar of the state of New York in 1896 and began the practice of his profession in Hornell. For a time he was connected with the office of Judge Frank H. Robinson. Later he was identified with the practice of Seward A. Simons at Buffalo, New York. Returning to Hornell, he practiced awhile in association with C. E. Beard. Since 1904 he has maintained a successful individual practice.
Mr. Allen is a Knight Templar Mason. His political alliances are Democratic. For six years he did great credit to himself and to the community as a justice of the peace. He married Miss Belle Spink, daughter of William H. and Mary (Whiting) Spink, in 1898. As a lawyer Mr. Allen is conscientious and persistent, a safe counsellor and an able advocate. As a citizen he is progres- sive and public-spirited, ready at all times to aid to the extent of his ability any measure which in his good judgment promises to ad- vance the well-being of any considerable number of his fellow townsmen.
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HENRY MILLER. - The great empire of Germany has contributed a most valuable element to the cosmopolitan social fabric of our American republic, which has had much to gain and nothing to lose from this source. Among those of German birth and ancestry who have attained success and precedence in connection with industrial and business affairs in Steuben county is Mr. Miller, whose interests are of broad scope and importance and who is now serving as mayor of Hammondsport. He has been in the most emphatic sense the architect of his own fortune, as he came to America when a mere boy and without financial resources. He has worked his way upward to a position as one of the essentially representative busi- ness men of Steuben county and his sterling attributes of char- acter have gained to him the unqualified esteem of his fellow men.
Henry Miller was born at Friedewald, Prussia, on the 12th of September, 1868, and is a son of Conrad and Catherine (Fech- ter) Miller, both of whom now reside in Potter county, Pennsyl- vania, where they took up their residence in 1888 and where the father has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is now living virtually retired, having attained to the age of seventy-five years (1910) and his devoted wife is sixty-nine years of age. They are members of the Lutheran church and of their children seven are living, namely : Henry, George, William, Peter, Conrad, Martha and Mary. Martha is the wife of Conrad Rudolph and Mary is the wife of Henry Muffelman. Henry Miller was reared to the age of fifteen years in his native land, to whose schools he is in- debted for his early educational training. At the age noted, in 1883, he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and came alone to America, where he joined an uncle who had previously established his home in Germania, Potter county, Penn- sylvania. By industry and good management he gradually made his way toward the goal of definite success and for a number of years he was actively identified with the lumbering industry in the south and west. In 1901 he established his home at Ham- mondsport, where he has since resided and maintained his busi- ness headquarters. He is one of the stockholders of the Henry Curtis Company, which is engaged in the manufacturing of the Curtis aeroplanes, and he is also a stockholder in the Hammonds- port Cooperage Company, the Schwarzenbach Brewing Company, the International Correspondence School, the New Jersey Steel Company and other important corporations.
In politics Mr. Miller is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he is known as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Hammondsport. The high esteem in which he is held in the community is indicated by the fact that on the 15th of April, 1909, he was elected mayor of the city, in which position he has since continued to serve and in which he is giving a most admirable and progressive administra- tion of the affairs of the municipal government. He is a member of the Lutheran church and is affiliated with Hammondsport
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Lodge No. 559, Free & Accepted Masons, Bath Chapter, No. 95, Royal Arch Masons, Ju Commandery No. 17, Knights Templars, at Penn Yan, and Damascus Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Rochester. He also holds membership in Hornell Lodge of the Benevolent & Protec- tive Order of Elks, and in Hammondsport Tent of the Improved Order of Redmen, in which he is treasurer. The popular mayor of Hammondsport is a bachelor.
FRED WILLIAM TERRY .- Wide-awake and enterprising, ever alert to take advantage of offered opportunities, Fred William Terry holds an excellent position among the leading business men of Steuben county, being properously engaged in mercantile pur- suits at Atlanta, as a dealer in wagons, carriages and vehicles of all kinds, having a substantial trade. He was born in Atlanta, New York, November 3, 1873, and is an excellent representative of the native-born citizens of this section of the state.
William Terry, Mr. Terry's father, was born seventy-two years ago and having located in Atlanta, New York, in early days has since followed his trade of a stone mason in this vicinity, and now makes his home with his son Fred. He married for his first wife a Miss Avery, who died in early womanhood, leaving one child, Victoria, who is the widow of the late C. E. Partridge, and has one daughter, Lillian Partridge, a bright girl of ten summers. He married second, in 1872, Sarah Nickoson, who was born seventy- one years ago, a daughter of William O. Nickoson, the first station agent at Atlanta for the Erie Railroad Company, and his wife, Rhoda (Phelps) Nickoson. Three children were born of their union, namely : Fred W., the special subject of this sketch; Lil- lian, wife of R. W. Lander, an Atlanta merchant, and Effie, wife of M. O. Hill, a hardware merchant in Rochester, New York.
At the age of seventeen, having previously attended school regularly for ten years, Fred William Terry entered the employ of William T. Cornish, with whom he remained as a clerk for seven years. Buying then his present establishment, Mr. Terry has since carried on a thriving mercantile business, making a spe- cialty of dealing in carriages. He has other interests, however, being an extensive dealer in real estate and loans, and is finan- cially associated with various enterprises.
Politically Mr. Terry is a straightforward Republican, but has never had official aspirations. Fraternally he is a member of the K. O. T. M., of North Cohocton, of the M. W. A., of the I. O. O. F., of Atlanta, and of the Atlanta Lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah. Mr. Terry married in 1904 Leona Cornish, who was born in Atlanta, Steuben county, New York, March 31, 1885, a daughter of the late William Cornish. Mr. and Mrs. Terry have two children, namely: Conant, aged five years, and Harry, aged three years. Mrs. Terry is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an active worker in the Ladies' Aid Society, and in its Missionary Society.
Vol. II-8
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JOSEPH LEONARD WAUGH, who is engaged in the insurance busi- ness in the thriving village of Cohocton, where he is also incumbent of the office of justice of the peace, is a citizen who commands a secure place in popular confidence and esteem and he is entitled to definite consideration in this historical work.
Joseph Leonard Waugh was born in Oneida county, New York, on the 21st of October, 1844, and is a son of Rev. John and Char- lotte (Rogers) Waugh. Rev. John Waugh was born in the city of Carlisle, Cumberland county, England, on the 14th of March, 1814. He was four years old at the time of the family removal to the United States and after due preliminary discipline he entered Brown University, in which he took a partial course. He carefully prepared himself for the work of the ministry and was ordained as a clergyman of the Presbyterian church. He was for a time pastor of the church of this denomination at Mount Hope, Orange county, New York; for fourteen years he held a pastorate at Sauquoit, Oneida county; for an equal period he was engaged in the work of his high calling at Canton, St. Lawrence county; the following nine years he held the pastoral charge of the Presbyterian church at Carthage, Jefferson county; and in 1878 he came to Steuben county and assumed the pastorate of the church of his denomination in Cohocton, where he served for fifteen years. He was a man of marked intellectual ability and deepest piety, and his labors in the ministry were marked by the utmost zeal and consecration. He passed the closing years of his life in Cohocton, where he died on the 20th of August, 1907.
On the 3d of May, 1842, was solemnized the marriage of Rev. John Waugh to Miss Charlotte Rogers, who was born at Laurens, Otsego county, New York, on the 6th of November, 1817, and who was a daughter of Oliver G. and Deborah (Lewis) Rogers. She was summoned to the life eternal on the 3d of February, 1899, and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. Of the five children four are living and of the number Joseph Leonard, subject of this review, is the eldest. Dr. Theodore R. is a representative physician and surgeon of St. Albans, Vermont; Ella Charlotte died at the age of eight years; Rev. Arthur J., a clergyman of the Presbyterian church, is pastor of a church at Montasata, Sullivan county, New York; and Ida is the wife of Dr. Thomas B. Fowler, of Springville, Erie county, this state.
J. Leonard Waugh gained his early educational discipline in the common schools, and supplemented this by effective prepara- tory work in Canton Academy, at Canton, New York, after leaving which institution he matriculated in Hamilton College, at Canton, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1867 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The ensu- ing three years he was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of his native state, and in 1873 he was graduated in Auburn Theological Seminary, after which he was ordained to the
DEQuack suburb
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ministry of the Presbyterian church. He assumed the pastorate of the church at Brasher Falls, St. Lawrence county, where he remained until 1879, and in 1881 he came to Cohocton, where he was engaged in the printing and publishing business for two years. He then established a general insurance agency and to this line of enterprise he has devoted his attention during the long intervening years, within which he has built up a large and representative business as an underwriter. Though he has retired from the min- istry he has continued to be a most earnest and devoted worker in the church and he is at the present time an elder of the Presby- terian church in his home village. He commands unequivocal con- fidence and regard, and none has shown greater loyalty and public spirit. He is affiliated with Liberty Lodge No. 510, Free & Accepted Masons, with which he has been identified since 1882. In politics Mr. Waugh is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the princi- ples and policies of the Republican party, and he has given effective service in behalf of its cause. He has served as delegate to the county and district conventions of his party. In 1883 he was ap- pointed justice of the peace, and in 1885 he was duly elected to this office, of which he has served in all eighteen years.
SAMUEL E. QUACKENBUSH, dealer in insurance, real estate and loans at Corning, New York, has been identified with the business activity of this place since 1903, having come here at that. time from West Caton, where he was for some time engaged in general merchandising. Previous to that, from 1884 to 1886, he was in Corning, in the employ of J. H. Huber, grocer, and the following year owned and operated a farm adjoining the town of Lindley. On his return to Corning in 1903, he engaged with the Meltby Company, with which he was connected one year, and afterward was with L. T. Goodrich & Company, incorporated, dealers in books and stationery. This last named company he left to engage in busi- ness for himself.
Mr. Quackenbush was born in Caton, Steuben county, New York, April 30, 1858, son of William and Polly (Gardner) Quack- enbush, natives of Otsego county, New York, the former born in 1833, the latter, in 1835. When he was four years old the death of his mother broke up the home and he was taken into the house- hold of his cousin at Caton, near Corning. His father was en- gaged in lumbering at Mitchell Station, Pennsylvania, and there young Quackenbush remained until he was twenty-one years of age, and until he was twenty-four was engaged in farm work. His early education was limited to the common schools, but after he was thirty he took a course in commercial law and thus fitted himself to engage successfully in his present line of business.
Mr. Quakenbush has been twice married, January 9, 1879, he wedded Miss Mary E. Barnard, daughter of Gershom W. Barnard of Corning, and to her he gives the credit for much of the success he has attained. She died in July, 1895. The two children born to
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them are Nina A. Quackenbush Ammerman and Earl B. Quacken- bush, the former a resident of Corning and the latter of Ithaca. On February 20, 1901, he married Miss Louise I. Borst, daughter of John and Nancy (Van Gelder) Borst, of Painted Post, Steuben county, both now deceased, her mother having died May 28, 1899.
Politically Mr. Quackenbush has since he became a voter af- filiated with the Republican party, and has always taken an active interest in public affairs and frequently filled public office. While a resident of West Caton he established a post office, was appointed postmaster and served as such for a number of years. Also while in that town he was two years supervisor and two terms justice of the peace. In 1900 he was a delegate to the state convention at Saratoga which placed in nomination for governor of New York Benjamin Odell of Newberg, who was elected and served one term. In the fall of 1909 Mr. Quackenbush was elected alderman of the Third ward, and he is now serving as such, and also he is now serving his third year as a member of the Republican City Com- mittee, of which he is secretary.
He and his wife are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church.
DAVID F. SMITH .- This prominent farmer and citizen of Steu- ben county was born on his father's farm near Bath August 3, 1860, a son of George Smith. George Smith came to the United States from Scotland when he was sixteen years old with Matthew Smith, his father, the grandfather of David F. and Nancy Smith. Matthew, a widower, married Harriet Richardson and settled on the Smith farm near Savona. The land was not then all cleared and the improvements on it were primitive and incomplete. By years of hard work Mr. Smith developed the place into a first class farm. George Smith had the farm in his turn and died there in 1908, aged eighty-four years. He married Jane Foster, who is living with their son David, now advanced to the age of eighty- seven years. She was born in Ireland and was brought, compara- tively young, to America by her widowed mother, Nancy ( Atkin- son) Foster. They settled in Bath and she later became acquainted with and married Mr. Smith.
David F. Smith went to school till he was seventeen years old and was reared to farming. Since his father's death he has suc- cessfully managed three large farms belonging to the estate. He is not only one of the most extensive farmers in the county, but one of the largest shippers of stock, giving special attention to sheep. A man of public spirit, he is naturally interested in all that pertains to the welfare and development of the town and county. A Republican, he is active in the local work of his party and has been elected twice to the office of assessor of taxes, which he has filled with rare judgment and fidelity. He has also served several terms on the Board of Education, at one time as president.
Mr. Smith married, in 1882, Miss Emma Stowell, born in
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Wayne county, New York, in 1862, a daughter of Dwight Stowell, a carpenter by trade. Mr. Stowell married Elizabeth Hayes and they were both dead when Mrs. Smith was ten years old, and she, their only child, was reared by her mother's brother. The following facts concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith will be of interest in this connection: Mabel Zenobia is the wife of Dr. J. Floyd Bowman, of Irvington, New Jersey, and she has a son, Floyd Smith Bowman, aged about one year. She is a member of St. Thomas' Episcopal church, Bath. Before her marriage she was graduated at the close of the prescribed course at Bellevue Hospital, New York. George, the only son of David Smith, is dead. Edna Maud is a teacher in the public school at Irvington, New Jersey.
Mr. Smith is a charter member of the Savona lodge of the Independant Order of Odd Fellows and has passed all the chairs of his lodge and encampment and is now a past grand commander. He is a member also of the Grange. He is a Baptist, devoted to his church and all its interests.
Miss Nancy Smith, daughter of George Smith and sister of David F. Smith, was born on the Smith homestead near Savona April 14, 1862, and is living on one of the farms of the Smith es- tate, which, with a local superintendent, is under the general man- agement of David F. Smith. It has been increased in size to a farm of one hundred and ten acres. Miss Smith is a member of the Episcopal church, active in its work and generous in its sup- port. She is a woman of rare good sense and of a charitable dis- position, which leads her into avenues of usefulness and wins her many warm friends.
ROBERT J. MILLER, plumber, conducts one of the leading busi- ness interests of Hornell and is one of the admirable army of the self-made, having developed through his own efforts into a man of character, standing and substance. He is a native of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in Rochester, New York, September 1, 1866, and he is of Irish lineage, combining in himself all the best traits of that versatile and interesting nation. His father, William Miller, was born in Ireland in the year 1816 and came to the land of the stars and stripes in his early days. In the country of his adoption he followed contracting throughout the active years of his life, his death occurring July 12, 1905, when almost ninety years of age. The subject's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Courtney, was born in Rochester, New York, in 1830, and was married in that city some two decades later. The progeny of this worthy pair were: Emma Miller, who married Sidney White; Ada, who became the wife of Jermia O'Brien and makes her home in Rochester; William and Robert J., of Hornell.
Robert J. Miller received his early educational discipline in the public schools of Rochester, graduating from the grammar school. When still quite young he faced the serious issues of life
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and learned the trade of plumbing, which he has followed for twenty-four years. In 1895 he removed from Rochester to Hornell. and the fifteen years of his residence here have been characterized by the greatest success. He enjoys the confidence of his associates and his business record is irreproachable. He gives his faith and suffrage to the men and measures of the Democratic party. He has always been active in politics, desiring no office for himself, but standing steadfast for his party and his friends. Beginning as a poor boy, with "a fair field and no favors," he has overcome all obstacles, and is to-day one of Hornell's prosperous men. He finds no small amount of pleasure and profit in his lodge relations, which extend to the ancient and august Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family are Episcopal in religious faith.
In 1899 Mr. Miller took as his wife Miss Metta Northrop, a daughter of David Northrop and a native of Syracuse. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children. Ada, the eldest, was born in 1891, is a graduate of Hornell high school and has considerable musical ability, which is under cultivation. There are also two sons, Willie, born in 1898, and Robert J., born in 1900.
EMMETT F. STONE has gained prestige and definite success as one of the representative farmers and stock dealers of his native county and resides on the old homestead farm, in Pulteney town- ship, which was the place of his birth. Here he was ushered into the world on the 14th of February, 1854, and he is a son of James D. and Jane H. Stone, both of whom were likewise born and reared in the state of New York. The father continued to reside on the old homestead until his death which occurred in the year 1905 and the mother was summoned to the life eternal in 1906, both having been earnest members of the Free Baptist church.
Emmett F. Stone was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and early began to lend his aid in its work, in the mean- while duly availing himself of the advantages of the district schools. He has never found it expedient to sever his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture and shortly after his marriage he purchased a farm west of the old homestead, where he not only as- sumed the management of his own place but also had supervision of the cultivation of the old homestead on which he was born. This latter property he purchased after the death of his parents and his landed estate now comprises one hundred and ninety acres. He has made the best of improvements upon his farm which may well be considered one of the model places of the county and on this place he set out one of the first Concord vineyards in Pulteney township. This he has developed into one of the best in this sec- tion and in addition to the raising of grapes and diversified crops he has made a specialty of stock-growing. During the past sixteen years he has also been engaged in business in the buying and ship- ping of live stock and in this line of enterprise he has built up a
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large and prosperous business. He is one of the substantial and enterprising farmers and stock-growers of Steuben county and his attractive homestead gives every evidence of thrift and prosperity. Though never imbued with ambition for public office Mr. Stone takes a loyal interest in all that touches the welfare of the com- munity and his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Freewill Baptist church, of which his parents also were consistent members.
In the year 1887 Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Belle Baker, who was born at Hornell, this county, and they have four children,-Clara H., Jennie G., James D. and Dorothy G. Clara H. was graduated in the high school in the city of Syracuse, where she is now a student in the Syracuse University; Jennie G. was graduated in the high school at Prattsburg, Steuben county, and the two younger children are now attending the local schools.
GEORGE A. MANNING, proprietor of marble quarries in Georgia and operator in mines in Nevada, is one of the best known men in Steuben county.
Mr. Manning was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 14, 1862, and here was reared and educated. In 1900 he married Miss Nellie M. Horton, who was born at Campbell, a daughter of Charles T. Horton, a native of Steuben county, whose father was a pioneer at Campbell.
Mrs. Manning was reared and educated in Campbell, but in her girlhood went to Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Manning have their summer home at Campbell on her father's old homestead. They are widely acquainted throughout the county and their coming home, as they call it, is welcomed by many who from time to time enjoy their generous yet refined hospitality. Mr. Manning is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.
WILLIAM EVERETT PALMER .- The prominent physician and surgeon of Steuben county whose name is above was born in Cort- land county, New York, June 30, 1838. Norman Palmer, his father, was a native of Bennington, Vermont. He made his living as a farmer, beginning on a pioneer farm in Cortland county. His father came, seeking better opportunities, when Norman was about four years old, bringing with him his wife, Abigail (Dodge) Pal- mer, and such of their children as were born in Vermont. This worthy couple came of old New England families long represented in Vermont and were among the early settlers in central New York. Dr. Palmer's American ancestry is traced to a Palmer who came over from England in 1640 and settled at Charlestown, now a suburb of the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
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