USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 18
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On the 3d of October, 1850, Mr. Davison led to the hymeneal altar Miss Louise Jackson, daughter of Josiah and Betsey Jack- son, of Schuyler county, this state, and the two children of this union died in infancy. Mrs. Davison was summoned to the life eternal on the 23d of June, 1855.
On the 23d of November, 1856, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Davison to Miss Martha Carter, who was born in Schoharie county, New York, and who was a daughter of Rev. Chauncey and Maria (Plough) Carter, who were at the time residents of Canisteo. The mother is still living, making her home with her son, Milton W., at Canisteo. Mr. and Mrs. Davison became the parents of five children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here noted: Ida L., August 26, 1859; George A., October 1, 1861; Hiland T., March 25, 1863; Ella M., June 14, 1865, and Milton W., July 2, 1867. All of the children are living except George A., who died June 1, 1862, and Hiland T., who died De- cember 4, 1864.
WALDO WICKHAM WILLARD, of the law firm of Willard and Rogers, Corning, New York, was born in Tioga, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1865. In his youth he had excellent educational ad- vantages. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1883. Then he matriculated at Harvard University. He completed his classical course at Har- vard in 1887, and in 1891 received his degree from the Harvard Law School. That same year he was admitted to the bar in New
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York city, and there entered upon the practice of his profession, which he continued at that place for five years. Coming to Corn- ing in 1896 he opened an office and practiced alone until 1909, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Rogers, under the firm name of Willard & Rogers.
Politically Mr. Willard is a Republican, and since becoming identified with Corning has filled the office of city attorney. He was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and the D. K. E. at Harvard. He is unmarried.
WILLIAM S. SHULTS, merchant and town collector, Bath, Steu- ben county, New York, was born at Bath, August 30, 1875, a son of Arnold and Ella (Gray) Shults. His father is living, retired from business. His mother died in 1877. Mr. Shults married for his second wife Anna Buck, who is also dead. His present wife was Rachel Adams. He is now in his seventieth year. By his first marriage he had children (besides William S., the immediate subject of this notice), who were named as follows in the order of their nativity: Clara, Fanny, Frank and Lydia. Clara is the wife of George Little, of Bath. Fanny lives at Goodland, Newton county, Indiana. Frank is a feed merchant and farmer at Bath. Lydia is the wife of Newman S. Look, of Bath. Mr. Shults has three half-brothers: Daniel, Edward and Grattan. Daniel is a druggist at Ithaca, New York. Edward is in the feed trade at Bath. Grattan is a student.
William S. Shults attended public schools till he was four- teen years old and then helped his father on the farm till 1898. In that year he bought the home farm. In 1902 he sold it to his brother and came to Bath to accept a position as a clerk. He was thus employed three years. After that he was for two years at Buffalo, New York, as foreman on some railway construction work. Then, until 1907, he was in the grocery business at Lackawanna, New York. He sold out there to join his brother in the feed busi- ness at Bath. Politically he is a Democrat. So great is his per- sonal popularity that in 1909 he overcame by one hundred and sixty-five votes a regular Republican majority of five hundred, and was elected to the office of town collector, which he is filling with such ability and integrity that his advancement in the official management of town affairs would seem to be assured. Since he was seventeen years old he has been a member of the Grange. As a member for many years of Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, of Bath, he gained so good a reputation as a fireman that he is now assistant chief of the fire department of the city. He is a high Mason and a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mrs. Shults was Miss Mary Herron. She was born at Bath April 9, 1874, a daughter of James and Mary (Rutherford) Her- ron. Her father is a well-known retired farmer. She has borne her husband a son, James Herron Shults, now nine years old and a promising student in school. Enough has been said of Mr.
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Shults to show that he is active in public affairs, efficient and helpful as a citizen, a leader in public and private life. His public spirit, many times tested, has never been found wanting, and he is in the forefront of all movements for the enhancement of the public weal.
L. WILSON ROCKWELL was born in Olean, New York, Novem- ber 2, 1855. His parents were Lemuel and Mary (Van Scoter) Rockwell, of English and Dutch descent respectively. The father was born blind, but was well educated and a musician, and for a number of years was a teacher of the profession in Hornellsville. L. Wilson was the third of eight children. He received a common school education and at thirteen years of age he secured a position as bundle boy and clerk in the dry goods store of Adsit & Tuttle, holding the position ten years. In 1879 the firm of M. A. Tuttle & Company was organized with Mr. Rockwell as the company. In 1883 this partnership was dissolved and he removed to Wells- ville and with his brother, H. H. Rockwell, organized the firm of Rockwell Brothers, which firm still exists.
In 1886 Mr. Rockwell removed to Cortland, New York, and there organized another firm under the same name. In 1888 he returned to Hornellsville, and in 1890, with M. A. Tuttle, or- ganized the firm of Tuttle & Rockwell. The business of this firm grew to such proportions that in 1903 it was incorporated under the present name, The Tuttle & Rockwell Company. In 1891 Mr. Rockwell, in connection with his brother, J. L. Rockwell, and F. P. Merrill, formed a partnership under the firm name of Rock- well, Merrill & Company for the manufacture of silk gloves. This business was very successful and was the beginning of the silk in- dustry in Hornell. Ten years later Mr. Merrill withdrew from the firm and two years later the Rockwells became members of the corporation of Julius Kayser & Company, the largest silk glove manufacturers in the world. Mr. Rockwell is also one of the or- ganizers and a director in the following corporations: The Citi- zens' National Bank, Wellsville, New York; the Bank of Steuben, Hornell; the Steuben Sanitarium Company, Hornell, and the Plymouth Lumber Company, Plymouth, North Carolina; he is president of the Bank of Steuben, also the Steuben Sanitarium Company, and treasurer of the Tuttle & Rockwell Company.
Mr. Rockwell is a life-long Republican, but never held public office. He is a member of Hornellsville Lodge, No. 331, F. & A. M., and is past master of the same; and is also a member of the Steuben County Chapter and DeMolay Commandery. He is a communicant of the Episcopal church and a member of its vestry. He was married in 1884 to Miss Lizzie Smith, of Wellsville, who died in January, 1892. He was again married in 1895 to Miss Minnie Smith, of Hornell. He has two children, Robert F. Rock- well, of Paonia, Colorado, and Miss Jeanette, of Hornell.
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ASHAHEL W. REED .- The real estate, loan and insurance in- terests have no abler or more successful representative in Steuben county than the popular citizen whose name is the title of this brief notice. Mr. Reed is a native of Birdsall, Allegany county, New York, born February 7, 1880, a son of Cyrus and Nettie (Davidson) Reed. His parents, both born in New York state, were both living when this work was in preparation. Their home is in Hornell. Ashahel William Reed, their only child, was edu- cated in the high school at Almond, Allegany county, New York, at Alfred University, Alfred, Allegany county, and at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. After having taken a special course in civil engineering he came to Hornell as city engineer, which office he filled with great efficiency and credit. When he relinquished. it he opened an office in Hornell as a civil engineer and was successful in the venture almost from its beginning. His official work had made him well known and in its prosecution he had made many friends, some of whom became his personal cus- tomers. After giving his undivided attention to engineering for two years he took up in connection with it real estate and insur- ance. In the development of his business real estate and insurance gradually came to demand the greater share of his attention, but he has continued to make a specialty of reliable engineering work and has always been in good demand in that way. His offices, formerly in the Adsit building, are now in the Conderman block. On November 20, 1909, Mr. Reed married Miss Ina Josephine Hann, of Andover, Allegany county, daughter of Charles and Viola J. (Young) Hann. He is a Republican and a strong tem- perance man. In his religious affiliation he is a Presbyterian, active in church work and secretary of the Sunday-school. He is a firm believer in the future of Hornell and is ready at all times in a public-spirited way to do what he can for the good of the community.
PERRY DELOS GREENE, D. D. S., Hammondsport, Steuben county, New York, was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, December 8, 1873, a son of Franklin P. Greene, who was born in November, 1852. Franklin P. Greene, a merchant at Hammonds- port, came there in 1897 from Belmont, Allegany county, New York, where he had conducted a store two years. He had gone to Belmont from Wellsville, in the same county, where he had car- ried on merchandising on a large scale for fourteen years. Polit- ically he is a Republican, zealous for the success of his party. He is one of the town trustees of Hammondsport and is otherwise influential in local and county affairs. He is a Mason of high de- gree, being a member of Damascus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Rochester, New York. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. He married Elizabeth Smith, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Sheer) Smith, of Schuyler coun- ty, New York.
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Perry Delos Greene, D. D. S., only child of Franklin P. and Elizabeth (Smith) Greene, finished at school when he was seven- teen and entered the Philadelphia Dental College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where, after three years' study, he was duly grad- uated and given a diploma as a doctor of dental surgery. He practiced his profession a year at Wellsville, Allegany county, and seven years at Belmont, in the same county. In 1902 he lo- cated at Hammondsport. Dr. Greene is an active Republican and has been elected mayor of Hammondsport, which responsible office he has held satisfactorily to his fellow citizens of all parties. He is an Elk, an Odd Fellow, a Red Man and a Woodman.
BENJAMIN F. LARUE .- A native son of Steuben county, who has gained prestige as one of the successful members of the bar of New York city, is Mr. LaRue, whose offices are located at 143 Liberty street. He is a lawyer and is incumbent of the position of claims attorney for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Mr. LaRue was born at Hornell, Steuben county, New York, on the 1st of January, 1873, and is the son of Henry B. and Minnie (Crandell) LaRue, the former of whom was born in New York city and the latter in Schuyler county, New York.
The father established his home in Steuben county in 1868, beginning his career as a locomotive engineer. He later, in 1873, became a contractor in connection with the construction of steam railways and in the handling of supplies utilized in this line of enterprise. He has retired from active business and resides at Baltimore, Maryland. His wife died when about sixty-five years of age and is survived by two sons, of whom the subject of this review is, the younger. The elder son, Belmont M., is engaged in the real estate business in New York city, with offices at 180 Broadway.
Benjamin F. LaRue was reared to maturity in his native town, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational training, which included a course in the high school. At the age of nineteen years he removed to New York city, where he secured employment in the law office of Henry Granger. On account of a severe illness and poor health he finally went to the city of Roch- ester, where he became managing clerk in the law office of John Van Voorhees, under whose able preceptorship he began reading law, in which he made rapid and substantial progress in the prepara- tion and trial of suits. His duties were so numerous that he had little time for a careful study of the theory of the law. While there, however, he tried forty-eight cases in all the courts and lost but seven.
In 1898, realizing the importance of a thorough legal educa- tion, he returned to New York city and in 1901 graduated from the New York Law School, after which he was admitted to the bar of his native state. He then entered the legal department of the Erie Railroad, maintaining his headquarters in Jersey City,
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and in 1903 became identified with the legal department of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, with of- ficial headquarters in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was ad- mitted to the bar and remained until the 1st of January, 1906, when he was transferred to the offices of the company in New York city.
Since 1908 Mr. LaRue has held his present position as claims attorney with the Lehigh Valley railroad corporation, having charge of all litigation founded on tort in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. LaRue is Republican in his political proclivities, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and is an appreciative member of the Steuben Society of New York city.
In December, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. LaRue to Miss Lallah Dymoke St. John, who was born and reared at Port Jervis, New York. Their charming little daughter, Kath- ryn Crandell LaRue, was born August 7, 1910.
WILLIAM R. PARK, secretary of the Park, Winton & True Company, Addison, was born in that town August 22, 1869, a son of James H. Park. The latter, a native of Woodhull and a life- long resident of the county, was for many years a manufacturer at Addison and died there in 1901. His widow, a native and now a resident of Addison, was Miss Theresa Adelaide Reynolds. Wil- liam R. Park has a brother, Charles F. Park, who also was born and reared in Steuben county and who is known in business circles as vice-president of the Park, Winton & True Company.
William R. Park, eldest son of James H. and Theresa Ade- laide (Reynolds) Park, was reared in Addison and educated in the public school of that village. When he was about twenty years old he became an employe in his father's manufactory with a view to taking a responsible place in the business in the course of events. In 1901, his father having passed away, he became ad- ministrator of his estate. The Park, Winton & True Company was organized in 1910, with George I. True as president, Charles F. Park, vice-president, and William R. Park, secretary. It is the oldest factory of any kind in the vicinity of Addison and one of the oldest sash, door and blind factories in the country, and gives employment the year around to about one hundred men. It is such institutions as this that help to build up towns, and Addi- son gladly acknowledges obligation to Mr. Park and his prede- cessors and associates for very material benefits in all the years of their operations there. Mr. Park is a stockholder and director in the Yadkin Lumber Company, of Yadkin, North Carolina, which owns fifty-five thousand acres of timber land in the western part of that state, and the Embreeville Timber Company, of Embree- ville, Tennessee, that holds title to thirty thousand acres of tim- ber in the eastern part of that state.
Mr. Park married Miss Carrie M. Ainsworth, daughter of Dr. H. R. Ainsworth, of Addison, in 1900, and they have two chil-
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dren : James H. and Emma A. He is identified with the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Elks. Energetic, progressive and of friendly disposition, he counts his friends by the score wherever he may go throughout Steuben and surrounding counties on both sides of the state line.
CLAUD D. CARROLL .- Avoca is indeed fortunate in the per- sonality of him who stands at the helm of the municipal ship, for he possesses in good measure those qualities which best adorn the incumbent of the mayor's office-sound judgment, fairness and nicely-balanced justice, and that executive capacity which can make a reality out of a good project. He was elected in March, 1908, for his third term as mayor of Avoca, and that his fitness for the office was generally recognized was made manifest by the fact that he was elected by a large Republican majority, and he has amply fulfilled all the faith reposed in him. He was born July 22, 1870, in Yates county, New York, the son of Alfred and Sarah Carroll. The father was born in the year 1832 in Columbia county, having gone there as a boy with his father, William Carroll. He is of noble lineage, his great-grandfather having been one Sir Charles Carroll, who emigrated to North Carolina. The mother of the sub- ject was Sarah De Reimans, who died in 1903, at the age of sixty- eight years. Mr. Carroll is one of a family of eight. His only sister, Grace, is the wife of H. Turner, of Utica, New York; Fred resides at Penn Yan; Charles, at Yatesville; Pearl, at Avoca; Gor- don, near Plattsburg, Yates county; Granger, in Boston, Massa- chusetts, and Winfield, at Benton, Yates county.
Mayor Carroll received his preliminary education in the public schools, being graduated at the age of seventeen from the Yates- ville school, and subsequently attending Penn Yan Academy for two terms. He then engaged in the wheel manufacturing business at Shortsville, New York, and continued with this enterprise for two years. Following that he was for one year employed in the same line in Syracuse, New York, and in 1889 he came to Avoca, when he became associated with the Avoca Wheel Company. He advanced rapidly, becoming general superintendent of the plant and a member of the directory, and he has been largely instru- mental in making of this enterprise one of the thriving concerns of the town.
Mayor Carroll has for a long time been active in politics and is devoted to the principles of his party, the Democratic, and has always been ready to do anything to proclaim its ideas and sup- port its candidates. He enjoys the confidence of his neighbors and has been mayor three terms and a member of the school board for three years. He is affiliated with the F. & A. M. Lodge, No. 673, of Avoca, and with the Maccabees, also of this place.
On the 27th day of December, 1892, Mayor Carroll was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Schultz, daughter of George Schultz, of Avoca township, who died at the age of seventy-three years. He
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was a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of the county. The mother, whose maiden names was Mary Martin, died in October of the year 1910, at the age of seventy-one years. Mayor and Mrs. Carroll are the parents of the following children : Eva, aged sixteen; Bernice, aged thirteen; Ellen, aged eleven; Jeanette, aged five, and Francis, aged two. The three eldest attend school. Mrs. Carroll is a faithful and valued member of the Pres- byterian church.
AUSTIN LATHROP, for many years a prominent citizen of Corn- ing, New York, was born and reared in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, Tioga being his native county and 1839 the year of his birth. His father, Austin Lathrop, was born in Otsego county, New York, in 1805, but the greater part of his life was spent in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged extensively in farming and lumbering. He died in Tioga county in 1882, at the age of seventy-eight years. By his first wife, who before marriage was Miss Amy Walker, he had seven children, three daughters and four sons: Margaret, Martha, Mary, Austin, DeLass, Daniel and William. His second marriage was to a Miss Devenport. For his third wife he married a Mrs. Colvin, nee Knox, who bore him four children: Mrs. Horatio Patrick of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Charles K., of Gailton, Pennsylvania; Anna, Mrs. Weeks, and John C.
Austin Lathrop passed his early life on his father's farm and received his education in the common schools of his native county. At the age of sixteen he entered upon a business career at a lum- ber inspector in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and later for two years was employed as clerk at Lawrenceville, that state. Coming to Corning, New York, in 1859, he accepted a position as clerk in the hardware store of C. C. B. Walker, with whom he was asso- ciated until 1888, having been taken in as a partner in 1862. After Mr. Walker's death in 1888 Mr. Lathrop sold his interest in the business and has since been engaged in the lumber business and in railroad building. From time to time he has made investments in various enterprises. He is a trustee of the American Surety Company of New York city; director in the Safety Car Heating & Lighting Company, of New York city; director in the Standard Coupler Company, of New York city; president of the Wheeler Holden Company, lumber and tie dealers of Buffalo, New York, and vice-president of the Empire Coke & Gas Company of Geneva, New York.
Politically Mr. Lathrop is a Democrat, having affiliated with the Democratic party all his life and always taken an active in- terest in public affairs. For nine years he was a supervisor. He served two years as president of Corning, and for eleven years he was superintendent of all the state prisons in the state of New York. Fraternally he is a Mason and religiously an Episcopalian. Mr. Lathrop married, in 1893, Mrs. Emma F. Wellington.
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MURRAY D. CORBETT, engaged in farming and teaming in Avoca, New York, is one of Steuben county's substantial and pro- gressive citizens. He is a native son, his birth having occurred in Cohocton township, June 24, 1878, and the names of his parents being John and Sarah Fairbrather Corbett. These worthy people are now living at Avoca.
Mr. Corbett is one of a family of ten living children, six of whom are sons and four daughters. Ida is the wife of F. L. Mat- toon; Mamie married Fay Edwards; Mabel is the wife of Walter Shont, of Avoca; Lena, aged sixteen, resides with her brother, the subject of the sketch, and attends school; John resides in Avoca, as does also Albert H., Frank L. and Matthew, and the youngest brother lives with Mr. Corbett and attends school.
Murray D. Corbett received his education in the public schools, terminating his educational discipline at the age of four- teen years, and he remained beneath the parental roof until his six- teenth year. He was then employed as a farm assistant by various agriculturists in the vicinity until 1906, when he removed to Avoca and engaged in heavy teaming and drafting in association with his brother, and he also conducted a livery stable and milk busi- ness. This he has continued until the present day, building up a fine trade and enjoying the confidence of his patrons. The brother with whom he is' associated is Frank L.
Mr. Corbett was a recruit to ranks of the benedicts on Decem- ber 14, 1898, the lady of his choice being Eula Young, born July 20, 1878, in Fort Plain, New York. She is a daughter of Abram Young, who died December 2, 1908, at the age of seventy-two years. He was born in the eastern part of New York and was a carpenter and patternmaker. He removed to Bath, where he re- sided for fifteen years and engaged in the pursuit of his trades, and he afterward farmed for the fifteen years prior to his death, the scene of his agricultural activities being Avoca township. The maiden name of Mr. Young's wife was Frances M. Smith, and she is now living in Bath township at the age of sixty-eight years. She is the daughter of J. Smith, of England. Mrs. Corbett has two brothers: Frank W., a Methodist pastor, of Pennsylvania, and George I., a physician, of Baltimore, Maryland; and one sister, Anna, who is the wife of L. Everson, of Bath.
Politically Mr. Corbett marches beneath the standards of the Republican party and his fraternal affiliations extend to the Wood- men of America. His wife is a valued and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and belong to the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. and Mrs. Corbett have one child, a daughter, Frances Luella, who is one year old.
SPENCER H. STUART, M. D., of Hornell, was born in the town of Howard, Steuben county, New York, October 20, 1867. Samuel W. Stuart, his father, Irish by birth, came to Steuben county as a boy of fourteen with his parents, Samuel and Sarah (Wood)
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