USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. II > Part 4
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Aside from the manufacturing business Mr. True has other lumber interests of broad seope and importance. He is a stock- holder in the Painted Post Lumber Company, of Painted Post, New York; a stockholder in the Yadkin Lumber Company, of Yadkin, North Carolina, which owns fifty thousand acres of tim- ber lands in the western part of the state; and vice-president of the Embreeville Timber Company, of Embreeville, Tennessee, which holds title to thirty thousand acres of timber in eastern Tennessee. He was one of the organizers and a director of the First National Bank of Addison and for a number of terms he was incumbent of the office of vice-president of the Veneered Door Manufacturer's Association. He was one of the charter members of the Baldwin Hook & Ladder Company, organized in 1876, and is now one of its honorary members. His deep interest in educational affairs in the town has caused him to be several times elected a member of the loeal school board, on which he has served with great efficiency and credit. Since 1888, when he was one of the foremost in the organi- zation of the Addison branch of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, he has been a trustee, director and treasurer of that body. As a member of the Presbyterian church he has contributed liber- ally to its support and there are many at and near Addison who can testify to his generosity in private charity. He is a mem- ber of the City Club but spends most of his leisure time at home. Having a fondness for a good horse, he delights in driving. In 1906, when he had been village treasurer of Addison for the long period of twenty-two years, he declined re-election to the office on account of the pressure of private business. In every sense he has shown a loyalty and public-spirit beyond that manifested by the average man of affairs. His townsmen know how much he has done to advance the interests of his community and they proudly recognize in him a leading business spirit and a citizen of the highest type.
On the 19th of June, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. True to Miss Louise M. Turner, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Turner, of Addison. No children have been born of this union but included within the charming home circle is Miss Jessica K. Turner, a sister of Mrs. True. Mrs. True is a woman of most gracious personality, is a member of the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution and she has given much of her time and most freely of her purse to charitable work of various kinds. Mr. True has ever been a most devoted brother to Mrs. C. C. Dawson, of Toledo, Ohio, a daughter of his step-father, Mr. Daniels, by his first marriage.
George Ivers True has lived a life of usefulness such as few men know. God-fearing, law-abiding, progressive, his life is as truly that of a Christian gentleman as any man's can well be.
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Unwaveringly he has done the right as he has interpreted it. Pos- sessed of an inflexible will, he is quietly persistent, always in com- mand of his powers, never showing anger under any circum- stances.
JOHN F. LITTLE .- Captain Little is one of the venerable and honored members of the bar of Steuben county, is a veteran of the Civil war and is still engaged in the active practice of his profession at Bath. He commands a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community that has so long represented his home and is a native of Steuben county as originally constituted, though the town of Reading, in which he was born on the 30th of July, 1839, is now in Schuyler county. He is a son of William and Letitia (Shannon) Little, both of whom passed the closing years of their lives in Bath. The father was born in Ireland, whence he came to America when a young man and he located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and for years was engaged in mercantile pursuits. . He later moved to Steuben county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits during the residne of his long and useful life, though for some time he maintained his home in the village of Bath.
Captain John F. Little was not yet two years of age when his parents moved to Bath, where he secured his early educational training, which included a course in the historic old Haverling Academy, in which he was graduated. Thereafter he began the study of law under the able preceptorship of Hon. William B. Ruggles and he continued his technical studies until he responded to the call of higher duty and tendered his services.to the cause of the Union, whose independence had been placed in jeopardy by open rebellion. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany F, One Hundred and Sixty-first New York Volunteer In- fantry, as a first lieutenant, and he continued in active service until several months after the surrender of General Lee, having re- ceived his honorable discharge in November, 1865, and having been assigned to detached duty after the virtual close of the war. He took part in the battles of Port Hudson and Sabine Pass, participated in the Red River campaign, Cox's Plantation, Fesche campaign, in the building of the famous dams that saved the fleets at Alexandria, Louisiana, and in the capture of Mobile, and he made an admirable record as a faithful and valiant soldier of the Republic. In 1863 he was commissioned captain and later he re- ceived the brevet rank of major.
After the close of his military service Captain Little returned to Bath and resumed the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1866 and forthwith established himself in the practice of his profession at Bath. In 1867 he was elected to represent his county in the lower house of the state legislature, in which he served one term. In 1887 Captain Little was appointed surrogate of Steuben county, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Guy H. MeMaster, and he continued on the bench until the close of the
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unexpired term. For five years he served as a member of the county board of supervisors and in 1878 he was one of the original trustees appointed by the state to establish and complete the Soldiers' Home at Bath. He was reappointed to this posi- tion in 1885 and continued incumbent of the same until 1897; he was secretary of the board of trustees during practically this entire period. Captain Little has long held prestige as one of the able and resourceful members of the bar of Steuben county and here he has been identified with a large amount of important litiga- tion. He has at all times retained a representative clientele and his professional course has been marked by deep appreciation of the dignity and responsibility of his chosen vocation so that he has beld the confidence and high regard of his professional con- freres.
In politics Captain Little is a staunch adherent of the Demo- cratic party and he is an able exponent of its principles. He has been prominent in its councils in his native state and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1904, when Judge Alton B. Parker was nominated for the presidency. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and while not formally united with any religious organization he attends and is a liberal supporter of the St. Thomas church, Protestant Episco- pal, of whose vestry he is a valued member and of which his wife is a zealous communicant.
In the year 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Captain Little to Miss Emily Theodora Howard, youngest daughter of the Rev. Oran R. Howard, S. T. D., who was rector of St. Thomas church, Protestant Episcopal, in Bath, from 1857 to 1882, and whose memory is revered in the community in which he so long labored with all of consecrated zeal and devotion. The maiden name of his wife was Emily Millington and she survived him by a number of years.
PETER H. ZIMMERMAN .- On the roster of the public officials of Wayland is accorded the name of Peter H. Zimmerman, the city's present postmaster. Perhaps no man in the city or county is more widely known, and his splendid personality has enabled him to fill with distinction the many public positions to which he has been called. He was born, reared and educated in Way- land township, born May 13, 1857, and under the tuition of his father, Nicholas Zimmerman, a learned man and a graduate of Trevis University, Germany, gained the knowledge which fitted him for life's usefulness. Both Nicholas Zimmerman and his wife, nee Anna Hoffman, were from Germany, their emigration occurring respectively in 1848 and in 1851, and settling in Steu- ben county, New York, they were here married in 1854. Nicholas Zimmerman was the first merchant in Perkinsville, where he snc- ceeded in business, but he was an educator, brilliant and accom- plished to a high degree, and in his own native land he served
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as a professor in a high institution of learning. In 1858 he moved to Corning, but soon returned to Steuben county, where he died in 1895, and where for twenty-three years he had served as a magis- trate, filling the office with honor and dignity up to the time of his death. His widow survives him, and of their four children three grew to mature years and two are yet living, C. M. Zimmerman, whose home is in Buffalo, and Peter H.
The last named entered upon his business life as a clerk to the agent for the Illinois Central Railroad Company at Carbon- dale, Illinois, this being in 1872, and in 1879 he entered the office of Capron and Fowler, at that time the most extensive produce dealers in Steuben county. In 1880 he was made the census enumerator, four years later was elected the village treasurer for one year, was village clerk from 1881 until 1884, and from 1888 to the present time he has served as the secretary of the Wayland Dime Savings and Loan Association. At the age of twenty-one he was appointed a notary public, and he has held that office continuously since, from 1898 to the present time has been a mem- ber of the board of education, and he is the president of the Board of Trade. In 1901 Mr. Zimmerman became a stockholder and the president of the board of directors of the Wayland Canning Factory, and he continued at the head of that institution until his resignation in 1905. From 1894 until the abolishment of the office he was a justice of the sessions, from 1884 to 1900 was a justice of the peace, and in February of 1900 he was appointed the postmaster of Wayland and is the present incumbent of the of- fice. He was appointed a special agent of mortgage and indebted- ness for Steuben, Yates and Ontario counties, which comprised the Twenty-ninth Congressional district for the eleventh Federal census. He has proved a valuable factor in the public councils of Wayland and of Steuben county, and as one of the representative men of this community consideration is due Peter H. Zimmer- man in this compilation. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Maccabees, the Woodmen of the World and the C. M. B. A.
On the 25th of September, 1883, he was happily married to Miss Amelia, a daughter of Philip and Catherine Conrad, and the following children have graced their marriage union: Victor B., the deputy postmaster at Wayland; Emanuel M., in the em- ploy of the Standard Oil Company in Buffalo; Magdalene M., Beatrice H., Harold J., Peter H., Wilhelmina H., Marion E. and Bernetta J.
CHARLES A. KINNEY .- Noteworthy among the rising young business men of Steuben county is Charles A. Kinney, a skilful mechanic, now actively engaged in plumbing at Bath. A native of this city, he was born April 5, 1884, a son of James Kinney, whose birth occurred in this city fifty years ago. James Kinney married Margaret Kahal, who was born in Thurston township, Steuben
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county, in 1862. They reared four children, namely: Charles A., the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; James, an elec- trician in Rochester, New York; Jolin, of Bath, a printer; and Helena, a clerk in Rochester, New York.
Having acquired a practical education in the public schools, Charles A. Kinney enlisted for a term of three years in Company F, Twenty-second Regular Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment re-enlisted for three years, joining Company I, Twenty-third Regular Infantry, being stationed a part of the time at Fort Crook, Nebraska, while during the Spanish-American war he served under General Wood for two years in the Philippine Islands. On returning to this country he was, with his regiment, on guard duty at the Jamestown Exposition, from there going to Oswego, New York, where he was honorably discharged from the service. Since that time Mr. Kinney has followed the trade of a plumber in Bath, in the meantime living at the old home and caring for his widowed mother.
Mr. Kinney is a valned member of Saint Mary's church. He is not actively interested in politics, voting for the best men and measures regardless of party interests. He is now serving his second term as president of Hose Company No. 2, of Bath.
HARVEY P. JACK, M. D .- A distinguished representative of the medical profession in Steuben county is Dr. Jack, who has attained marked precedence in the domain of surgery and gynecology and who has given most effective service along educational lines in his profession through various contributions to medical and surgical literature of standard periodical order. He is engaged in practice as a specialist at Canisteo, Steuben county, and is a representative of one of the old and honored families of this county. Dr. Harvey P. Jack was born at Thurston, Steuben county, on the 1st of De- cember, 1865, and is a son of Allan T. and Loranah (Lane) Jack, the former of whom was born in Steuben county, in March, 1831, and the latter of whom was born in New Jersey in June of the same year. Their marriage was solemnized in 1862. Allan T. Jack early became identified with railroad interests, in connection with which his first work was on the Erie Railroad. About 1862 he be- came a conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad and he continued to be thus engaged until 1866, when he returned to Steuben county and purchased a farm on the southeast corner of Cameron town- ship, on Tracy creek. He became the owner of one hundred acres of valnable land and developed one of the fine farms of the county. He continued to give his attention to the supervision of his farm until 1898, and he is now living retired in the city of Buffalo. His devoted and cherished wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1907, and she is survived by three sons and one daughter.
Dr. Harvey P. Jack gained his preliminary educational disci- pline in a select school at Hedgesville, Steuben county, and this school was presided over by Emily Hubbard, who had been a friend
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and classmate of his mother at the female college at Elmira, this state, and another classmate later became the wife of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain). Later the Doctor continued his studies in historic old Haverling Academy, at Bath, Steuben county, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1885. That he made excellent use of the advantages afforded him is evident when it is stated that when but nineteen years of age he became principal of Woodhull Academy, Woodhull, New York, an incum- bency which he retained one year, within which he raised the stand- ard of the school to a much higher grade, obtaining the first cer- tificate of intermediate grade for the institution. Upon retiring from this position he became principal of the Howard Flats Acad- emy, Howard, New York, which is now a union school, where he remained one year. . He also served as principal of two district schools in his native county and he made an excellent record in connection with his pedagogic career. After leaving the Howard Flats Academy the Doctor entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the city of Baltimore, and in this splendid institution he was graduated on the 1st of April, 1891, duly receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Prior to this he had devoted six months to the reading of medicine under the able preceptor- ship of Dr. M. B. Hubbs, of Addison, Steuben county. In 1899 and 1900 he took two post-graduate courses at Johns Hopkins Hospital, under Dr. Howard A. Kelly.
After his graduation Dr. Jack initiated the active practice of his profession at Rathbone, New York, where he laid the founda- tion for the distinctive precedence which he has since gained in his chosen vocation. He has been an especially close and appreciative student of the profession and has had recourse to the best of its standards and periodical literature. On the 17th of January, 1893, he located at Canisteo, where he has since continued in practice and where he now confines his labors to office practice, surgery and consultation, the while he makes a specialty of gynecology. His reputation has gained him a clientage that far transcends local limitations and as a surgeon his success has been of the most pro- nounced order, as is also his work in plastic surgery. He is the inventor of several useful instruments that have met with signal favor on the part of leading surgeons throughout the United States and one of these is the Jack Suture-Thimble, which is a great aid to surgeons in sewing up orifices and which is used in the same manner as an ordinary thimble. He has also invented the Jack Hysterectomy Needle, which likewise is widely used. His indi- vidual methods of teaching surgery are now being taught in the principal medical colleges and have gained him high commendation on the part of his professional confreres. He has succeeded in greatly simplifying operations for hernia and his work along this line serves as a model for many of the leading surgeons of the country, besides which it has been adopted by representative sur- geons in Europe. His contributions to medical literature have been wide and varied and have attracted much appreciative atten- Vol. II-3
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tion on the part of leading members of the medical fraternity. Especially is this true in connection with his recommendation con- tained in a paper published in 1908 and entitled "Preparation of the Surgeon." This paper appeared in the International Journal of Surgery and it is worthy of special note that his suggestions in this connection are now being adopted in Japan. The Doctor has had a large amount of correspondence with eminent Japanese sur- geons and they are zealously working out a method of manual training for surgeons-a discipline that is now considered an abso- lute necessity. Dr. Jack also devised a new and simple method of burial of the appendix stump and his paper entitled "Shall We Bury the Stump of the Appendix?" was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association of March 13, 1909, being copyrighted by the association. His method of performing this part of the operation is original and is now being utilized by leading surgeons. Other noteworthy papers contributed by Dr. Jack are entitled "Puerperal Septicemia" and "Hernia as a Dis- ability, with a New Procedure for Disposing of the Sac, and the Use of Cocaine Anesthesia for Operations." Dr. Jack is consulting surgeon to the St. James Mercy Hospital at Hornell, Steuben county and the Steuben County Medical Society, and has served as president of the Hornell Medical & Surgical Association. He has also been president of the New York State Railway Surgeons' Asso- ciation and is identified with the New York and New England Rail- road Surgeons' Association, besides which he is an active and val- ued member of the American Medical Association and the New York State Medical Society. He has served for ten years as a mem- ber of the board of the United States pension examiners for Steu- ben county.
He is a stanch Republican in his political allegiance, is affil- iated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templars' degree, and is also identified with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. His wife holds membership in the Presbyterian church.
On the 21st of February, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Jack to Miss Drusilla St. Clair, a daughter of Samuel St. Clair, a representative citizen of Port Deposit, Maryland. Dr. and Mrs. Jack have one daughter, Loranah S., who was born on the 20th of December, 1891, and who is now a student in the Emma Willard Seminary at Troy, New York.
JOHN E. JACOBS .- Numbered among the progressive citizens of Steuben county is Mr. Jacobs, who resides in the village of Wayland, where he controls a prosperous enterprise in the team- ing and express business, for which he has an adequate equip- ment and in connection with which he has a representative sup- porting patronage, showing that he is reliable and upright in his business dealings and well entitled to the confidence so uniformly reposed in him in the community.
- John Erhart Jacobs was born on the old homestead farm of
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his father, in Springwater township, Livingston county, New York, on the 24th of October, 1858, and is a son of Elias and Mary Catherine (Beek) Jacobs, the former of whom died on the 28th of April, 1893, at the age of sixty-five years, and the latter was sum- moned to eternal rest on the 16th of November, 1904, at the age of seventy-one years. Elias Jacobs was born in Pennsylvania and was ten years of age at the time when his parents removed from the old Keystone commonwealth to Livingston county, New York, where his father secured a tract of land and engaged in agricultural pursuits, to which he devoted the residue of his life. Elias Jacobs was reared to maturity under the sturdy discipline of the farm and his educational advantages were limited to the common schools of the locality and period. In his youth he learned the carpenter's trade and he found his services in requisi- tion in connection with building operations in this section of the state, even after he had made farming his vocation. He continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until his death, and with the passing years a due measure of prosperity attended his earnest and arduous labors. His wife was a daughter of Valentine and Margaretta Beek, who immigrated from Germany to America and established their home on a farm near Dansville, Livingston county, New York, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Of the children of Elias and Mary Catherine (Beek) Jacobs five sons are living,-William, who resides at Trout Run, Pennsyl- vania; Valentine, who is a successful farmer of Livingston county, New York; Edward, who is a resident of the village of Wayland; Alonzo A., who is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume; and John E., who is the immediate subject of this review. The mother was a devout member of the Lutheran church.
John E. Jacobs was reared on the home farm and is indebted to the public schools for his early educational training. At the age of eighteen years he found employment at farm work, and he continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits for many years, eventually becoming the owner of a well improved farm, a property which he still retains. In 1900 Mr. Jacobs took up his residence in the village of Wayland, where he has since been successfully engaged in the teaming and express business. He is loyal and public-spirited as a citizen but has never desired of- ficial preferment, the while he maintains an independent attitude in politics, giving his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church in their home village.
On the 3d of January, 1897, Mr. Jacobs was united in mar- riage to Miss Eda Hecox, who was born and reared in Howard township, this county, and the date of whose nativity was Novem- ber 4, 1864. She is a daughter of David and Laura C. (Dock-
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stetter) Hecox, both of whom were born in Otsego county, New York. David Hecox was a child at the time of his parents' re- moval to Steuben county and they settled in Howard township, where the parents passed the rest of their lives. He himself be- came one of the prosperous farmers of that township and was a man who was never denied the fullest measure of popular esteem. He died on the 26th of February, 1898, at the age of sixty years, and his wife passed away on the 6th of March, 1897. She was a daughter of Leonard and Catherine (Kincaid) Dockstetter, who came from Otsego county to Steuben county in an early day. Of the children of David and Laura C. Hecox three are living besides Mrs. Jacobs,-David, who is a resident of the state of Nebraska; Ella, who is the wife of Allen Reed, of Kanona, Steuben county; and Ida, who is the wife of Horace Snell. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs have two children,-Beulah C., who was born May 26, 1904, and Dorr, who was born January 19, 1907.
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