USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 3
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Recovered in health, Mr. Gillet engaged in business enterprises, and in them all he was successful and prosperous. He was always a steadfast and conscientious Republican, active and earnest in the advocacy of principles in which he believed and in furthering the ends and aims of his party. He was for some years after 1877 postmaster at Addison, but until his election to Congress had never held any other public office. He represented the Twenty- ninth Congressional district of New York in that body from 1892 to 1904, for a period of twelve years. He gained: a large personal
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acquaintance in Washington, was familiar with all the duties in- cumbent upon one occupying the position and was ready and will- ing at all times, in so far as he was able, to grant the demands of his constituents. To those acquainted with the difficulties in the way of legislators it is pretty generally known that in Washington the "first-termer" is scarcely recognized and that the average congressman does not become conspicuous among his fellows for many years. But Mr. Gillet was not an average congressman-he was better. He won the chairmanship of the committee on Ex- penditures in the Department of Agriculture in four years and his influence steadily increased. In 1894 he was appointed a member of the committee of Public Buildings and Grounds, which is re- garded as one of the most important in Congress, and in 1902 became its chairman. He was one of the most easily approached of public men and was prompt in pushing forward the interests of the district that he so ably represented. During the sessions of Congress he was always at his post and his advice came to be sought by men who shaped legislation. It is doubtful if any con- gressman in the United States stood higher in his district for honor and integrity or for intelligence and culture than did he.
His attractive personality, lovable disposition and broad sym- pathy drew men to him, so that his companionship was always a pleasure. His kindness and encouragement to young men meant a great deal to them. No word of praise can adequately express the love which his friends bore him and it can be truly said that he was a most lovable, high-minded and public-spirited man.
On September 1, 1864, Mr. Gillet married Miss Augusta R. Comstock, daughter of General William Comstock of Laurens, Otsego county, New York, and a niece of Colonel Hiram Bostwick, one of the earliest and most prominent citizens of Corning, this county.
Two children were born to this union, namely: Franees A., who is now Mrs. W. H. Stradella of North Tonawanda, New York, and Katharine M., wife of C. M. Wales of New York City. Mr. Gillet died on the 31st day of December, 1908. Mrs. Gillet survives her honored husband and maintains her residence at Addison.
A few extraets from a Memorial written by Rev. Daniel Mackay and delivered at Addison are here inserted :
"Be thou faithful until death and I will give thee the crown of life." Rev. 2:10.
This text expresses the most prominent characteristic of the man whose life I wish to hold up to you as an example-namely, faithfulness. This, indeed, is the use of a memorial sermon and the chief reason why it should be preached. Were he not an ex- emplary man, better let the mantle of silence fall upon his memory. But, the Hon. Charles William Gillet was a type of manhood we rarely find, worthy to be held before the young, and a pattern of faithfulness for business men. His fulfillment of promises, his conscientious discharge of obligations, his truthfulness of state- ment, his fidelity to confidence, his loyalty to friends, and his dili-
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gence in work, give a close-at-hand model for imitation. We sometimes speak of men with world-wide reputation of whose private life we know little, whom we measure and admire for their public acts alone; but here is a man, who spent all his life in our midst, whom we know at close range, and whose conduct has stood the limelight of personal scrutiny, whom we always found a genu- ine Christian gentleman-he should become to us a greater inspir- ation to good citizenship and a stronger incentive to right living, because of our intimate acquaintance. And so I hold up to you our respected townsman, beloved friend and fellow-worshipper, as an example for you to follow with this important limitation, "even as he followed Christ."
All through his life he adhered to the supreme law of right- eousness. I do not believe his integrity has ever been questioned. We may differ with such men, but we can never lose our respect for them. People say, "Men can't be in politics and be honest." Here was an honest man, a statesman, not a politician. And the day is coming when none but honest men can be the representa- tives of the people. If one place more than another needs honest men, that place is our Assembly and our Congress.
Mr. Gillet was an example of the kind of man we need for office. Faithful to his trust-a man of truth-man of sound judg- ment, a man who abhorred evil, and a man in sympathy with the needs of the people. I believe it was Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain, who first used the expression, "Every man has his price." No price could purchase Congressman Gillet's honor or integrity. There did not hang on the tree of national patronage a golden apple, which would seduce him from rectitude.
Benevolence as well as fidelity marked his whole career. The scriptural injunction of not letting the left hand know what the right hand did was followed in all the acts of liberality that came from his hand.
The personal sentiment of the board of trustees of the Pres- byterian church, Addison, New York, is manifest in the following memorial, which was ordered spread on the records of the society :
We meet to-night under the saddest circumstances that ever confronted our board. Charles W. Gillet has passed from our midst and left a vacancy which will last forever. No language can express our sorrow, no words can convey the sadness his untimely death has caused us.
Mr. Gillet since early manhood has been identified with the affairs of our church. His time, energy and purse were always at her command, and not only in our own church but in all other Christian denominations was his generosity felt, and our whole community mourns his death.
When a lonely and obscure man falls by the wayside the whole household grieves, but when one who has reached high attain- ments in life is called home by God, the blow falls with crushing effect upon all who are left behind.
Our deceased brother was one who bore his honors modestly
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and was everywhere recognized and known as a generous, warm- hearted, true Christian gentleman.
Dated January 6, 1909.
A. G. CRANE, Chairman; GEORGE I. TRUE, GEORGE H. WEATHERBY, CHARLES A. BREWSTER.
CHARLES D. REYNOLDS, Clerk.
FROM THE "ANNALS" OF CONFUCIUS.
"The highest study of all is that which teaches us to develop those principles of purity and perfect virtue, which Heaven be- stowed upon us at our birth, in order that we may acquire the power of influencing for good those amongst whom we are placed, by our precepts and example."
This exemplifies the life and character of Charles William Gillet.
JOHN COUMBE is associated with the industrial life of the city of Bath as a photographer, and he has achieved success and a high place in the profession. He was born at Cornwall, England, October 10, 1849, a son of Henry and Ann Budge (Caunter) Coumbe, the father born in 1805 and the mother in 1806. The father, both a butcher and a farmer, died during the infancy of his son John, and the widowed mother afterward came with her family to America, spending some time in Sault Ste. Marie, Michi- gan, then nine years in Canada, from 1865 resided for five years in Ulster county, New York, while during the following eighteen years their home was in Dutchess county, this state, and on the 2d of May, 1890, they located in the city of Bath.
John Coumbe is the only one of his parents' family now liv- ing. He was a lad of eight when he arrived in America, and after leaving the school room he followed copper mining until the age of seventeen. After spending three years with his brother- in-law in a limestone quarry at Kingston in Ulster county he began his preparation for the profession of photography, and has long been one of its leading representatives in the city of Bath. He continued to care for his widowed mother until her death, and he chose for his wife Fanny L. Brandow, who was born at Pough- keepsie, New York, November 23, 1849, a daughter of Nelson P. and Emeline (Kipp) Brandow, who were born in Greene county, this state, the father being by trade a tinsmith. A son, Harry B., was born to Mr. and Mrs. Coumbe on the 18th of December, 1888, and he is a drug clerk in Bath.
JUDGE ARTHUR H. ERWIN represents all that is noteworthy in the citizenship of Steuben county in all periods of its history- the period of the pioneer, the period before the war, the Civil war period and the period since that great struggle. No history of the county could be written without mention of the name of Erwin, which is interwoven with many of its noteworthy events and has
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been perpetuated in that of one of its largest and most important townships, all of which was once owned by his ancestor.
Judge Erwin was born at Painted Post May 10, 1844, a son of Arthur H. Erwin, himself a native of the township of Erwin, born November 26, 1803, whose entire life, which ended August 1, 1863, was passed in that township. In his earlier years Arthur H. Erwin was a merchant at Painted Post, but during most of it he was an extensive and successful farmer and lumberman. He mar- ried Frances Maria McKeen, daughter of William and Rebecca McKeen and a native of Easton, Pennsylvania, born in 1808, who was brought to Erwin township in her childhood by her parents, who were early settlers there. Captain Samuel Erwin, father of Arthur H. Erwin and grandfather of Judge Erwin, was born. in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and his father was Colonel Arthur Erwin, a native of county Antrim, Parish of Crom- well, Ireland, born in 1726, of mixed Scotch and Irish ancestry. He came to America in the pre-Revolutionary period and returned to Ireland ahout 1765 to bring over his family. They landed at Philadelphia in August, 1768. In 1789 he bought the township of Erwin, in Steuben county, a tract of hill and valley land comprising in all some twenty-three thousand and five hundred acres, for which he paid fourteen hundred pounds. Captain Samuel Erwin died at Painted Post November 10, 1836. His son, Arthur H. Erwin, father of the immediate subject of this notice, and Frances Maria McKeen, above mentioned, were mar- ried in Erwin township February 21, 1828. The following facts concerning their children will be found of interest in this con- nection. They had seven daughters and five sons. Mary, born April 2, 1831, married Marcus Strom of Detroit, Michigan, and died June 13, 1903. Eugene H. married Miss Elizabeth Cook of Painted Post. He was born August 14, 1832 and died June 13, 1894. Emily, born June 27, 1834, died October 27, 1891. Frances Virginia, born April 15, 1836, died April 13, 1909. Eliza- beth, born July 15, 1838, married Dr. J. B. Dudley of Painted Post and died October 27, 1905. DeWitt Clinton, born March 10, 1840, died December 11, 1873. Anna Maria, born May 2, 1842, married Charles Iredell of Painted Post and died June 17, 1898. Arthur H. was born May 10, 1844. Harriet L., born July 9, 1846, married John Lutman and is living at Painted Post. Winfield Scott, born December 18, 1848, died October 30, 1905. Helen, born June 14, 1851, died September 5, 1855. John J., born May 1, 1854, died August 30, 1855.
Of this family of children, notable for its number and more notable for the ability which many of its individual members displayed, Judge Erwin was the eighth in order of nativity. He was educated in home schools at and near Painted Post and at Alfred University. He had been brought up to farming, and to farming he first gave attention after his graduation. He easily took rank as a leader among the farmers of Erwin township, and during thirteen years of his active life there conducted an agri-
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cultural warehouse at Addison, selling up to date machines and implements of all kinds in demand among the farmers of that section. He married, October 19, 1869, Miss Gertrude Brown, daughter of Reuben P. and Maria Brown of Addison, who died December 28, 1889, leaving two children-Agnes M. and Frances G. Agnes M., born July 23, 1870, is married and lives in New York city. There also lives Frances G., and she too is married. On August 15, 1899, Judge Erwin married Miss Mary Gay Bres- sia of Ponca City, Oklahoma, who bore him a son, Arthur H., Jr., September 1, 1900.
Judge Erwin went west in April, 1888, and during the suc- ceeding five years was in the shoe trade in different cities. In September, 1893, at the opening of the Cherokee outlet in Okla- homa territory he located at Ponca City, where he was in the real estate business until in 1896, when he was elected city judge of the municipality mentioned. In the spring of 1898, when he retired from that office, after a period of service creditable for integrity no less than for efficiency, he returned to his real es- tate office, branched out into larger operations than he had handled before and has since continued the business, though living a part of the time amid the scenes of his boyhood and earlier active years. He takes a helpful interest in all local affairs and has in many ways repeatedly demonstrated his public spirit. There are those in the little old eastern town of Painted Post whose name came down with it from the days of the Indians in Southern New York who rejoice that Judge Erwin comes back to them with western experience and western ideas to inculcate a new standard of progressiveness. He is a popular Mason, having been made a member of the order as long ago as 1866. Politically he is a Democrat.
JOSEPH G. McCONNELL .- Though not himself a native of Steu- ben county Mr. McConnell, who is engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in the thriving village of Prattsburg, is a scion of old and honored families of this county, where both his father and mother were born. He is numbered among the pro- gressive and public-spirited citizens of Prattsburg and he has contributed in generous measure to its material and civic ad- vancement. He is an influential citizen and one who has an im- pregnable place in the confidence and esteem of the community. Joseph G. McConnell was born in Italy township, Yates coun- ty, New York, on the 18th of May, 1865, and is a son of Ira A. and Rosanna J. (Bardeen) McConnell, both of whom were born in Prattsburg township, Steuben county, where the respective fam- ilies of stanch Scottish lineage were founded in an early day. Ira A. McConnell was born on the 14th of January, 1838, and was a son of Alexander McConnell, who was likewise a native of Prattsburg township, where he was born on the 2nd of August, 1817. Alexander McConnell was a son of William McConnell, who was born in Pennsylvania and who was a son of Guyon Mc-
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Connell, a native of Scotland, whence he emigrated to America and established his home in Pennsylvania in 1776. There he passed the residue of his life, and his son William settled in Prattsburg township, Steuben county, New York, in the pioneer days, here securing a tract of wild land and reclaiming the same into a duly productive farm. He and his wife here continued to reside until they were summoned to the life eternal, and during the long inter- vening years the family name has continued to be associated with the great basic art of agriculture in this county, the while repre- sentatives of the name have also achieved worthy success in other lines of productive endeavor. Ira A. McConnell was born and educated in Steuben county, and with his parents moved to Yates county when he was five years of age. Upon reaching his majority he secured land in Italy township and became a successful agri- culturist and influential citizen. His course was so guided and governed by strict principles of integrity and honor that he never was denied the fullest measure of popular respect and confidence. He was a Republican in his political proclivities and his religious faith was that of the Baptist church, as was also that of his wife. He died in 1884. Mrs. Rosanna J. (Bardeen) McConnell was born in Prattsburg township on the 5th of April, 1844, and was a daugh- ter of Moses and Hannah (Fisher) Bardeen, both of whom were born and reared in the same township. Moses Bardeen was a son of Calvin Bardeen, who likewise was a native of Prattsburg town- ship and who was a son of Moses Bardeen, a patriot soldier of the Continental line in the war of the Revolution. From the brief data here incorporated it will be seen that both the McConnell and Bardeen families were founded in Steuben county in the pioneer epoch of its history, and both names have been conspicuously iden- tified with the development and upbuilding of this favored sec- tion of the old Empire state. Mrs. MeConnell died in Italy, Yates county, New York, June 11, 1872.
Joseph G. McConnell, whose names initiates this review, was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm in Yates county, and after availing himself of the advantages of the district schools he entered the high school at Naples, that county, where he com- pleted the prescribed curriculum. Thereafter he continued his higher studies at Hillsdale College, in the city of Hillsdale, Mich- igan, where he remained a student for three years and where he admirably fortified himself for successful work in the pedagogic profession, to which he devoted his attention for a period of fifteen years, within which he was a popular and valued teacher in the public schools of Yates and Wayne counties. He served five years as principal of the Macedon Academy, Macedon, New York, which was the last of his teaching, he having resigned that position.
In the year 1900 Mr. McConnell returned to the ancestral home, Steuben county, and located in the village of Prattsburg, where he purchased the old Foster furniture and undertaking establishment on Mechanic street, one of the oldest places of busi- ness of the town. He forthwith identified himself with local in-
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terests by engaging in the furniture and undertaking business, in which he has since continued with unqualified success, having an establishment of modern equipment and appointments and having the best of facilities for the handling of the department of his enterprise devoted to undertaking and funeral directing. As a progressive business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen he is well upholding the high prestige ever attached to the name in Steuben county. In 1906 Mr. McConnell established a branch store in the village of Pulteney, this country, and this also con- trols a large and representative patronage in the territory normally tributary to the village. He is also owner of the Prattsburg Marble Works, representing one of the successful industrial en- terprises of the county, and is a stockholder and director of the Prattsburg State Bank. In politics Mr. McConnell is a stalwart adherent of the Republican party and he has ever shown a deep and broad-minded interest in public affairs, especially those of a local order. He is affiliated with Prattsburg Lodge No. 583, F. & A. M., of which he is past master; with Prattsburg Lodge No. 598, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with Prattsburg Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Both he and his wife are iden- tified with the work of the Presbyterian church. Their home in Prattsburg is a center of cordial and refined hospitality and they also have an attractive summer cottage on the shores of Keuka Lake.
On the 20th of November, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McConnell to Miss Jennie Squier, who was born in Italy township, Yates county, New York, on the 9th of April, 1867, and who is a daughter of Ezra Squier, a representative citizen of that county. Mrs. McConnell was afforded the advantages of the pub- lic schools of her native county and for several years prior to her marriage she had been a successful and popular teacher. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell have two children, Lyle E., who was born on the 27th of December, 1891, is now taking a course in electrical en- gineering in Bliss Electrical School, Washington, D. C. Mary E., who was born on the 5th of April, 1897, is attending the high school of her native town.
GEORGE I. TRUE .- "Civilization will hail riches, prowess, hon- ors, popularity, but it will bow humbly to sincerity in its fellows. The exponent of known sincerity, of singleness of honest purpose, has its exemplification in all bodies of men; he is found in every association and to him defer its highest officers. Such an exemplar, whose daily life and whose life work have been dominated, as their most conspicuous characteristic, by sincerity, is George Ivers True, of Addison, New York." These complimentary phrases are quoted from an article in the American Lumberman, dated July 21, 1906, and from it we glean the following interesting facts in Mr. True's useful career.
Mr. True reflects the sturdiness of New England ancestry. Henry True, an immigrant, seeking spiritual freedom in the New
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World, came to the Massachusetts colony in 1659, and was the founder of the American branch of the family of which George I. True and Charles H. True of Galveston, Texas, are the only living male representatives of their line. George Ivers True is the only son of Jairus and Jane (Kimball) True and was born at Owego, Tioga county, New York, on the 12th of June, 1847. He had one sister, Anna J., whose birth occurred on the 23d of March, 1846, and who was summoned to the life eternal October 15, 1867. Jairus True, father of him whose name initiates this review, died when George I. was a child of five years and subsequently his mother married Philander C. Daniels, and as his wife continued to live at Owego. Young True began his education in the common schools at Owego and later was a student at Owego Academy till April, 1863, at which time Mr. and Mrs. Daniels moved to Addison, where he pursued a course of study in a select school until circum- stances made it necessary for him to find some employment. Thomas Paxton, a prominent man in Addison, at that time gave him work, paying him fifty cents a day, later twenty dollars a month, and in 1868 admitted him to partnership in the firm of Paxton & True, a general merchandise establishment which did business under that name for a quarter of a century. Meantime, out of his meager earnings Mr. True helped to pay for a home in which his mother and step-father lived until they were more than eighty years of age and in which they died.
On January 1, 1893, the firm of Park, Winton & True suc- ceeded the firm of Park & Winton in operating a pioneer factory at Addison, which had been established in 1855 and of which Mr. Park became a member about 1885. This was the beginning of Mr. True's connection with the manufacturing of sash, doors and blinds. The combination of ability thus made had all the requisites of success. From the outset Mr. True had charge of the office and of the finances. Mr. Park was lumber buyer and superintendent of manufacture, and Mr. Winton had charge of the sales depart- ment. In 1898 Mr. Winton disposed of a portion of his interest in the business to his brother, Maynard Winton, the remainder being taken by Messrs. True and Park. In May, 1900, Mr. Park was obliged to give up active business on account of ill health and on February 28, 1901, he died. At this time Mr. Winton, the former partner, again assumed an interest in the concern and he continued as a member of the firm until his death, which occurred February 8, 1906. During the periods of illness of his partners, which had lasted more than a year in each instance, Mr. True shouldered their labors in the business and carried it on success- fully. William R. and Charles F. Park, sons of the late James H. Park, are now actively associated with Mr. True in the conduct of the business. The Park, Winton & True Company was incor- porated under the laws of the state in 1910 with an official corps as follows: George I. True, president and treasurer ; Charles F. Park, vice-president and purchasing agent; and William R. Park, secre- tary and assistant treasurer. The officers. together with James G.
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Casson and D. N. Winton are the directors. The company is widely known for its fair and honorable business methods and it may be said that the sterling integrity of its officers constitute one of its best assets.
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