USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 2
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John D. Taylor, whose name initiates this review, gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of Arkport and later he continued his studies at Almond, Allegany county, where he remained with his maternal uncle, Dr. Dildine, for a period of five years. That he made good use of his educational advantages is evident when it is noted that for two years, as a young man, he was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Steuben county. He then engaged in the general merchandise business at Arkport and he continued to be successfully identified with this line of enterprise for a period of twelve years, since which time he has given his attention to dealing in produce and to the handling of real-estate. He has built up a successful business in both departments of his enterprise and is numbered among the substantial and valued business men of his native county.
In politics Mr. Taylor is a staunch advocate of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor in a generic way and he served as postmaster at Arkport for a period of eight years, under the administration of President Cleveland. He was incumbent of the office of supervisor of Hornellsville town- ship from 1889 to 1896 and in 1909 he was again elected to this position, of which he has since continued in tenure and in which his service has been marked by progressive ideas and utmost loy- alty. He has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1883 and his wife likewise is a zealous member of the same church.
On the 26th of January, 1898, Mr. Taylor was united in mar- riage to Miss Bertha E. Kridler, who was born at Arkport on the 6th of October, 1872, and who is a daughter of Cyrus and Eliza (Willey) Kridler, both of whom were residents of Arkport at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have three children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here noted-Win- field K., August 10, 1899 ; Leland B., February 16, 1901; and Ran- dolph, October 14, 1903.
S. LISLE HOLLISTER .- One of the former citizens of Steuben county who has become actively and prominently identified with business interests in New York city is Mr. Hollister and he is at the present time incumbent of the office of bookkeeper and gen- eral clerk in the United States Trust Company, at 45-47 Wall street, one of the stanch and popular financial institutions of the great metropolis.
Mr. Hollister claims the fine old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity, as he was born at Dimock, Susque- hanna county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of January, 1882, and he is a son of Amos B. and Harriet E. (Kent) Hollister, both of whom were likewise born in Pennsylvania. When the subject of this
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review was a child of one year his parents removed to Painted Post, Steuben county, where he was reared to adult age and where his early educational training included a course in the high school. This discipline was supplemented by a course in a business col- lege at Elmira, this state, and also by further study in the Scran- ton Business College at Scranton, Pennsylvania. After leaving school he became secretary to Smith Table Co., at Warren, Penn- sylvania, and later he was employed by the Belmar Manufacturing Company of Canton, Pennsylvania. He finally returned to Painted Post, where he entered the employ of Ingersoll-Rand Co. His next position was in the First National Bank at Hornellsville, New York, and after leaving that place he removed to Kane, Pennsyl- vania, from which place he removed to New York city, in 1907. Here he became bookkeeper in the offices of the United States Trust Company and he has since continued incumbent of this posi- tion, as well as that of general elerk, being one of the popular and valued executive men of the institution.
He is actively identified with the Steuben Society of New York city and has found much pleasure in his association therewith. He maintains his residence in Ridgewood, Bergen county, New Jersey, one of the attractive suburbs accessible to New York city. In politics Mr. Hollister gives his allegiance to the Republican party and both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal ehureh.
In the year 1903 Mr. Hollister was united in marriage to Miss Bella Irene Nash, daughter of Andrew J. Nash, of Canton, Penn- sylvania, and the two children of this union are Jennie Irene and Stuart Nash.
NICHOLAS J. WAGNER .- Among those citizens of Steuben county who belong to her in particular degree by reason of almost life-long residence within her borders must be mentioned Nicholas J. Wagner, a well-known agriculturist. He was born in Dans- ville, Livingston county, New York, October 13, 1839, and he is of Teutonic extraction. His parents were Jacob and Anna M. (Grob) Wagner, natives of Prussia, who followed the example of so many of those with whom they were associated and emi- grated to the United States in May, 1837. In course of time they found their way to Dansville, New York, where the father followed his trade, which was that of a cabinet-maker. He subsequently took up agriculture and moved onto land in Cohoeton township in 1841. He lived here up to the time of his demise, which occurred February 18, 1871. He was survived by his widow until January 6, 1878. These estimable people were the parents of eleven chil- dren, nine of whom grew to maturity and seven of whom are still living. They were: Mrs. William Cradler, Mrs. Mary Hart, Nich- olas J., Catherine (deceased), Jacob, Wallace, George E., Harry and Rose (twins-deceased), John and Emma.
Mr. Wagner, who was only a year and a half old when his
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parents moved to Steuben county, received his education in the common schools and on his father's farm found that training in the various phases of agriculture which has since served him so well. When the Civil war broke out and the integrity of the union was threatened, Mr. Wagner was one of the most eager to give his services. He was enrolled August 30, 1862, in Company I, New York Volunteer Infantry, Department of the Gulf, and served until September 20, 1865, at which time he was honorably dis- charged. Mr. Wagner has a war record which is both interesting and thrilling. He participated in numerous engagements, among them the siege of Fort Hudson, Sabine Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill, Sabine Pass, the surrender of Fort Morgan, the siege of Spanish Fort and the siege of Fort Blakeley, not to mention numerous minor engagements. Mr. Wagner was wounded at Sabine Cross Roads, his left hand being disabled. Another experience more exciting than pleasant came about when he was one of a force of troops engaged in patrolling the Mississippi. The boat which carried them collided with another boat, causing the loss of forty-one men, Mr. Wagner, however, escaping with a severe shaking up.
After the war Mr. Wagner resumed his farming and he has enjoyed unqualified success in his chosen vocation. He owns in Cohoeton township one hundred and ten acres in a high state of cultivation. His other property consists of a home in Cohoeton village.
Mr. Wagner has played a prominent part in the county in which he makes his home. He has from time to time ably filled various positions such as overseer of the poor, director of the Cem- etery Association, and justice of the peace, which latter office he still holds (1910). He belongs to the Rodney E. Harris Post, No. 240, Grand Army of the Republic, having been associated with it since its organization October 17, 1881. For twenty-three years he has held the office of post commander, besides serving in various minor capacities. He is a member of the Universalist church and" a trustee of the same.
On February 4, 1866, Mr. Wagner was united in marriage to Miss Caroline, daughter of Hiram Dewey. To this union two children were born, Anna M. and Gard O. D.
A. DANIEL B. GRIMLEY .- This busy and useful citizen of Steu- ben county is one of the largest packers and shippers of grapes in the world and his "Lyons" brand of grapes is known throughout the civilized world. Mr. Grimley was born in New York city, De- cember 11, 1871. His father, Thomas Grimley, came to the United States from England as a boy of seventeen. He had graduated in pharmacy in his native land, and he eventually engaged in the drug business in New York and prospered till 1880, when he died. He married Frances Virginia Haight, who is living with her son, aged sixty-three. She was a daughter of William Henry and Fanny (Acker) Haight. Her father, who was a wholesale dealer
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in feed, died in 1860, and her mother died July 25, 1901, aged seventy-six years. Mr. Grimley has a brother, T. Harry Grimley, of Summitt, New Jersey.
Mr. Grimley left school at the age of seventeen and went into the fruit business in New York city, in which he continued till 1894. He then came to Hammondsport in the interest of Lyon Brothers, in whose employ he continued four years. In 1898 he engaged in business on his own account, in association with others, and in 1899 he bought in all other interests and improved and en- larged his plant, which occupies the space of an ordinary block or "square." His business consists principally in growing and buying grapes and packing them in baskets. He employs in season an average of one hundred and twenty-five people and ships an average of five hundred thousand baskets of grapes per year. He also manufactures fermented grape juice, which is distributed from New York city. His ice plant, an important adjunct to his busi- ness, is one of the show places of Hammondsport. He is recognized in the trade as one of the world's largest shippers of grapes and his goods are known in all the markets on both continents.
Mr. Grimley is a Republican, and as such was elected mayor of Hammondsport in 1889 and village trustee in 1907. He is a very active and efficient worker in the interests of his party, its principles and its nominees. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Royal Arcanum. In 1900 he married Miss Clari- bell Ingersoll. She died in 1904, aged twenty-six. On April 7, 1909, he married Grace M. Casterline, daughter of Frank and Emma Jane (Earley) Casterline. Her father, who is dead, was of a family of pioneers in Steuben county.
QUINCY W. WELLINGTON .- Essentially and broadly American in spirit and in achievement, possessing marked business ability and sagacity, Quincy W. Wellington has gained distinctive recognition as one of the foremost financiers of Corning, for forty and more years having been at the head of the Q. W. Wellington Bank, the leading financial institution of this part of Steuben county. He was born December 27, 1832, in Moriah, Essex county, New York, where his father settled on coming to this state from Vermont, his place of nativity, in the early part of the nineteenth century. En- dowed by nature with the energy, enterprise and sterling integrity characteristic of his honored New England ancestors, he has success- fully scaled the ladder of attainments from an errand boy in a country store becoming a prosperous banker and capitalist in a thriving city.
Making the rudimentary education which he obtained as a boy in the rural schools serve as a firm foundation for the support of a lofty structure of varied knowledge subsequently acquired in the school of experience, Quincy W. Wellington began life for himself as a clerk in a mercantile house in Pennsylvania, where, in partner- ship with a friend, he was afterwards in business on his own account
Dumay Wwellington
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for a short time. Soon after attaining his majority he entered the employ of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, locating in Corning. On terminating his connection with this road he entered upon a field of action more congenial to his tastes, from 1859 until 1862 being in the employ of the George Washington Bank in Corn- ing.
Having in those three ycars obtained a- practical insight into the principles of banking, Mr. Wellington, in company with Samuel Russell, Jr., organized the Q. W. Wellington & Company Bank, a concern which has since received the support and confidence of Corn- ing's business men and of the citizens in general. Mr. Russell re- tired from the firm many years ago, and Mr. Wellington's son, B. W. Wellington, is now associated with him and is cashier of the bank. Mr. Wellington is recognized by the patrons of his institu- tion as a safe custodian of their funds, a sagacious officer and a trustworthy adviser.
Public spirited and progressive, Mr. Wellington spares neither time, energy nor expense in the advancement of enterprises having for their object the development and improvement of Corning, his adopted home. He has served as vice-president of the Corning Board of Trade and as treasurer of its board of education. He belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons and to the city clubs.
Mr. Wellington married, May 13, 1857, Matilda B. Wickham, of Tioga River.
JOHN J. KANE, D. V. S .- An able representative of the vet- erinary profession in Steuben county, Dr. Kane is engaged in practice and is one of the well known and popular citizens of the county, where he is now serving as humane officer. He has here followed the work of his profession for nearly thirty years and his sterling attributes of character have retained to him the unequiv- ocal confidence and esteem of the community.
Dr. Kane claims the fine old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity and he was born in the family home on Vine street, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 15th of May, 1859. He is a son of John J. and Mary Kane, the former of whom was born at Yorkshire, England, and the latter in Tipperary, Ireland. The father of the Doctor devoted the major portion of his active career to veterinary surgery, and both he and his wife continued to reside in Philadelphia until their death.
Dr. Kane gained his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered Lolita College of Veterinary Surgery in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in which he completed the prescribed course and in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876. Shortly after his graduation he came to Steuben county and engaged in the work of
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his profession at the True Blue Stock Farm, where he remained three years. In 1886 he established an office in the village of Pratts- burg and he has built up a large and successful practice, the while he has gained a high reputation for his scientific knowledge and effi- cient treatment of the diseases of domestic animals and has made for himself a secure place in the esteem of the community. He is a member of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society and keeps in close touch with the advances made in his profession, in which his success has been largely augmented in his fondness for horses and other animals and his desire to see them properly cared for and treated.
As humane officer of Steuben county he has been unflagging in his efforts to protect all kinds of animals and he is known as a man of generous impulses and most genial and engaging personal- ity. The Doctor gives his political support to the Republican party and he is identified with various social organizations of rep- resentative character. He has never assumed connubial responsi- bilities but it cannot be said that this fact has militated against his social popularity.
WILLIAM WOLFANGER, who died at his home in Wayland township, was numbered among the representative farmers and highly esteemed citizens of his native county, where his active ca- reer was marked by earnest and well directed industry and where he gained a due measure of success as one of the world's noble army of productive workers. He was born in Wayland township, this county, on the 17th of June, 1850, and was a son of Nicholas Wolfanger, who was born in Germany, in 1815, and who was reared to maturity in his native land, where he continued to reside until 1836, when he immigrated to America. He soon came to Steuben county and in Wayland township he purchased one hun- dred and thirty acres of land, which he reclaimed and placed under effective cultivation; he continued to maintain his home in this county until his death and was one of the sterling pioneers of this section of the Empire state.
William Wolfanger was reared to maturity on the old home- stead farm and early began to assist in its work and management, so that he secured excellent training in the details of the great basic industry to which he devoted his attention until he was summoned to the life eternal. He was afforded the advantages of the common schools and eventually he became one of the substan- tial farmers of his native county, where his energy and good man- agement enabled him to accumulate a competency. At the time of his demise he was the owner of a well improved landed estate, all in Wayland township, and after his death his widow removed to the village of Wayland, where she has since maintained her home, surrounded by a circle of leal and loyal friends.
Mr. Wolfanger was married to Miss Katharina Bill, who was born and reared in Dansville township, this county. Her father
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was of stanch German lineage and was one of the substantial farmers and stock growers of Steuben county for many years prior to his death. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfanger became the parents of four sons and one daughter, all of whom are living, and the sons are all successful farmers of Wayland township. The names of the chil- dren are as here noted : Jennie, Frank, Jacob, Arthur and Edward.
CHARLES W. Erz, cashier of the Bank of Steuben, Hornell, is a descendant of a Revolutionary forefather and the son of a Federal officer whose death was regarded in northern Pennsylvania as one of the grievous tragedies of the Civil war. Two brothers named Etz came over from Germany and joined in the fight of the Colonies for liberty from British oppression. They were the founders of the American family of Etz and one of them was a lineal ancestor of the subject of this notice. Lieutenant Charles O. Etz, a first lieutenant in the Fifty-seventh Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, enlisted at the beginning of the war of the states and, in 1862, having completed his term of service, was ready to return to his wife and son at Tioga, Tioga county, Penn- sylvania, when he was killed. All in that little town and all in the country round about mourned with the widow and orphan. Lieutenant Etz was popular there, as indeed he was wherever he was known, and his loss was accounted a blow to Tioga county.
Mr. Etz was born at Corning, New York, December 1, 1855, a son of Lieutenant Charles O. and Sarah (Wellington) Etz. Mrs. Etz, a sister of Q. W. Wellington, long identified with the banking interests of Corning, was born in Essex county, New York, and has now attained to her seventy-sixth year. Charles W., the only one of her children who grew to maturity, was reared at Tioga, Pennsylvania and educated in the village school there and at Alfred University, Alfred, New York. Hc has lived at Hornell since 1874. Until 1902 he was connected in one capac- ity or another with the First National Bank. In 1902 he was one of the eight organizers of the Bank of Steuben, which is at this time managed by the following named officers and directors : President, William Richardson; vice-president, L. W. Rockwell; cashier, Charles W. Etz; assistant cashier, William E. Pittenger; directors, William Richardson, J. E. Walker, J. L. Rockwell, William E. Pittenger, W. G. Hollands, S. S. Karr, H. G. Pierson, Charles W. Etz, L. W. Rockwell, S. E. Brown, C. E. Shults, W. H. Greenhow, George Hollands, Don L. Sharp and J. E. Schwar- zenbach. Of this stanch institution Mr. Etz has been cashier from the day it began business.
In 1888, Mr. Etz married Miss Anna Cadogan, a daughter of Charles and Corrinne (Sweetland) Cadogan. Their son, David C. Etz, died when he was nineteen years old. They have a daugh- ter named Katharine. Mr. Etz has been a member of the Board of Public Works since it was created and succeeded George T. Rehn as its president. He was treasurer of the Chamber of Com-
Vol. II-2
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merce and also of the library board. He has been active to some extent in local politics and wields a recognized influence in public affairs. All in all, he is a public-spirited citizen of Hornell, to whom his fellow citizens owe not a little.
HON. CHARLES WILLIAM GILLET was born at Addison, New York, November 26, 1840, and was the only son of Joel D. Gillet and Lucy Jane Patten.
The Gillet family descended from the French Huguenots who, owing to religious persecutions, fled from their native home into the Netherlands and came thence to America early in the Eigh- teenth Century.
Aaron Gillet, born at Colchester, Connecticut, in 1732, had a son named Solomon who married Martha Doolittle, sister of the Hon. Mark Doolittle and of the Hon. Joel Doolittle of Middlebury, Vermont, who was known as Judge Doolittle.
Solomon and Martha (Doolittle) Gillet reared a large family, one of whom was Joel D. Gillet of Addison, the father of Charles William Gillet.
Joel D. Gillet was born at Colchester, Connecticut, on the 27th of August, 1809. He spent his youth at school and on his father's farm and was often employed as a teacher in the common schools of that section.
In April, 1835, he married Lucy Jane Patten, youngest daugh- ter of David Patten of Salem, Connecticut, and in October of the same year established his home at Addison, this county, where he entered into partnership with his brother Solomon, in a general merchandise enterprise. To this union were born three children, namely : Frances Jane, now Mrs. David B. Winton, Emma Ma- tilda, who died in her youth, and Charles William.
In 1838 Joel D. Gillet purchased his brother's interest in their store and continued to operate the concern until twelve years later, when failing health compelled him to seek other employment. He later established a business in lumber in Addison, and in 1851 began buying timber land in central Wisconsin in the vicinity of Oshkosh and Wausau. His operations in logging and manufac- turing lumber gradually increased until it amounted to several millions of feet annually.
Lucy Jane (Patten) Gillet, the mother of Charles William, died in 1845, and in June, 1846, Joel D. married Catharine S. Stowe, youngest daughter of Rev. William B. Stowe. Mr. and Mrs. Gillet maintained their residence at Addison for many years, celebrating their golden wedding at their home on the 2nd of June, 1896, three years before the death of Mrs. Gillet, which occurred in 1899.
Mr. Gillet was identified with the growth of Addison from the time that village numbered about two hundred and fifty inhab- itants until the time of his death in 1902. He early interested him- self in the public schools of Steuben county and was one of the
Chance wer Ceux
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originators of the Addison Academy. He was a liberal contrib- utor to the maintenance of the Presbyterian church, of which he was an elder, and in 1889 built and endowed the Young Men's Christian Association Building on South street.
Charles William Gillet, the subject of this review, came of a long lived race. His parents gave him a physical make-up noble and energetic, a mentality, ambitious, clear-sighted and honor- able. His youth and boyhood were passed among the healthful environments of the place of his nativity. He was prepared for college at the Delaware Literary Institute at Franklin, Delaware county, New York, a famous institution in its time. He entered Union College as a member of the class of 1861.
Ausburn Towner has interestingly related the story of his col- lege days, which were also his soldier days. "Those were perilous times for our country and that was a perilous year. Perhaps no- where else in the land was the strain and appeal more deeply felt than in our higher institutions of learning. It was natural that the cultured and high-spirited should chafe and fret under the almost despairing call of their country and be unsatisfied until they could free themselves from all other ties and rush to her defense. Many an academy and college was almost depopulated and whole classes were wiped out of existence by the impetuous rush of the young blood to get to the front. When young Gillet came home for his spring vacation he was all afire to join his companions in the camp. His course at college was almost completed and it was predicted that the trouble would be over in ninety days. In view of these facts, a compromise was made with the unwilling father that the youth should return to his college duties, graduate, and if at that time the war was still in progress, no impediment would be placed in the way of his enlisting. He therefore returned to Union to graduate, and became a member of the celebrated Union College Zouaves, which furnished the Union army with more than sixty commissioned officers. The next day after he received his diploma, young Gillet enlisted as a private in Colonel Bailey's 'Steuben Rangers,' the Eighty-sixth Regiment, New York Volun- teer Infantry, of which regiment he afterward became adjutant. He served two years with honor and credit in an organization noted for its gallantry; then, wounded and broken in health, he was discharged from the army for disability and returned to Addison to live."
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