USA > New York > Broome County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Broome County, New York. > Part 21
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downed a less fortunate man. Ile is to-day where he is by sheer force of merit, having never inherited a position or other article of value in his life.
UY W. BEARDSLEY, as Managing Editor of the Evening Herald, has been a potent factor in its phenomenal suc- cess. Mr. Beardsley was born in the hamlet of North Colesville, Broome County, N. Y., May 6, 1868. He was reared and partly edu- cated in the district schools, which gave him but limited opportunities, as their sessions were only a few weeks in the winter seasons. llis home was on a farm, and he had to take his part in the work which falls to every country boy's life. Ile was thus engaged until he reached his twenty-first year; but having, by hard study, qualified himself for the profession of teaching, he passed a thor- ough examination successfully, and received a certificate which enabled him to get a school.
Desiring to fill a higher position, he re- moved to Binghamton in December of 1889, and, after looking over the field of journal- ism, entered in January, 1890, the office of the Evening Herald, beginning as reporter, and remaining with the paper until the early part of August, 1893, when he retired from it. Later, when Mr. C. 11. Turner sold his interest in the Herald, and the incorporation of that company took place, in September, 1893, Mr. Beardsley returned to the office, became a stockholder and director of the company and Managing Editor of the paper, which position he has continued to fill. IIc
has been an earnest and industrious worker, winning his way to this important place on the staff of one of the best daily papers in the State by his own ability and perseverance. Ile is progressive and ambitious; and his excellent judgment is shown in the impartial and independent editing of his newspaper, although in his own political sentiments he is a stanch Republican.
Mr. Beardsley comes of excellent paren- tage, his father, Dr. IT. F. Beardsley, and his mother, Jane (Cornish) Beardsley, being descendants of early and influential settlers of Richfield, Otsego County, and Coventry, Che- nango County, N. Y. Dr. H. F. Beardsley lost his parents, Harvey and Lydia (Martin) Beardsley, while he was a young boy, and was reared by his maternal grandmother in Coven- try. When he grew to manhood, he became quite active in the local politics of his county. Ile early manifested an inclination to adopt the medical profession, and for that purpose became a student in the office of Dr. .W. H. Beardsley (not a relative, however), and later was graduated at the Medical Col- lege in Buffalo, N. Y. Opening an office in Coventry, he practised there for a few years, and afterward removed to Broome County, where he carried on his profession in North Colesville, but removed from there to Fun- nel, on the Delaware & Hudson Railway, and remained in that place twenty years. He then came to Binghamton, and located his office at No. 494 Chenango Street, and now resides at No. 9 De Forest Street.
Dr. Beardsley married Miss Jane Cornish,
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of Coventry, Chenango County, daughter of Whiting and Temperance (Wylie) Cornish. They were eminently respectable people, Methodists in their religious belief, and lived and died in Coventry. Dr. Beardsley, prior to the extension of the city limits, was Health Officer of the town of Binghamton, and is now a member of the Board of Educa- tion, which office he has held since he came to Binghamton in the year 1890. In his political opinions he is a pronounced Repub- lican. He is a member and ex-President of the Broome County Medical Society, and at present is Vice-President of the Academy of Medicine. To himself and wife have been born eight children, all living but one. They are: Mrs. Jennie Monroc, of Tunnel; Mrs. Mary Warner, of North Colesville: Mrs. Bertha Watrous, of Otego; Mrs. Clara Fisher, of Onconta; Ray, a student in the Long Island Medical College Ilospital; Guy W .; and Frank, a telegraph-operator and in- structor in penmanship in the Lowell Busi- ness College of this city.
In closing this biographical notice of Mr. Guy W. Beardsley, it need only be added that he is a ready and fluent writer, crisp in his style, concise, going to the heart of his subject without unnecessary verbiage, making his edit- orials by these very qualities intelligible to the dull and attractive to the most critical reader.
OMER J. MITCHELL, Treasurer and Chief Clerk of the Evening Herald Company, is a Schoharie County man born and bred, and, as may be surmised
by those familiar with that famous county, is of the old and well-known Mitchell stock. The head of this famous family in this coun- try was Emanuel Mitchell, who was born in France in 1752, and lived with his father, a merchant, until the outbreak of the war be- tween the American Colonies and Great Brit- ain. Unfortunate enough to be conscripted, as was the custom of those times, he was forced, without a chance to bid his friends farewell, to come to this country and fight those who were struggling for freedom and in whose cause he had the utmost sympathy. It was not long before he had an opportunity to change his service to the other side; and he did so promptly, and afterward fought so effectively that he was long remembered in Schoharie, that region of famous patriots. He settled in Albany at first after the close of the war, but later lived at Claverack, where he married. He and his family removed to Charlotteville, in the county above named, in 1802; and here the family have since lived. The subject of this sketch was born in Char- lotteville, November 13, 1865, and is the son of Harmon Mitchell and Mary E. . Wilcox Mitchell, who on August 20, 1885, removed with their family to Hooper, six miles west of Binghamton. After a reasonable schooling, which was interspersed with farm pursuits, to which, by the way, Mr. Mitchell can at the present time attribute his excellent physique, he took a course at the Lowell Commercial College in this city, and, as a particularly bright student and elegant penman, was rec- ommended to "Jones of Binghamton " by
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the faculty in January of 1887. Here in this business establishment of national reputation he remained as a valued employee until No- vember of 1890. Ile then went to New York City, where he worked for several months on the books of some large insurance companies, to perfect himself in his chosen profession, coming to this city later. In April, 1891, he accepted a position in the office of Charles E. Lee, who in January of 1892 was kind enough and disinterested enough to recom- mend him for a vacancy in the Herald office as the "best man of his age on books he ever knew." Mr. Mitchell proved his recommen- dations to be only just; and, when the incor- poration of the Herald occurred, he was asked to purchase stock and become its Treasurer, which responsible position he holds to-day. He is looked on by his associates as in every way trustworthy and able, and is relied on by all who know him as a young man of pecul- iarly stable and sterling qualities. Unlike many men of ability, he is not assuming, but rather retiring; and it is only when thrown in contact with him that the average business man realizes that he has met one who is thor- oughly competent and well qualified for the responsible duties of his position.
ARRY V. BOGART, whose life may be regarded as a happy exemplifica- tion of the saying that persistent and well-directed effort conquers success, is the son of Robert V. and Clara (Follett) Bogart. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 15, 1869, and with his parents removed
to Binghamton in the spring of 1874. Soon after he entered the Binghamton city schools, and, inspired by the counsel of his worthy parents, made as rapid progress as most boys make. He was always an active but quict boy, and is noted to-day for the few words he uses to convey his thoughts or express his requests or commands. From 1881 he worked as a mail and carrier boy on the Morning Republican ; and, before he had finished his course in the graduating class of 1888 of the Binghamton High School, in which he held a good rank, his ability and methods had so attracted Mr. H. A. Stanley, then the Business Manager of the Republican, that he had been offered a position as city circulator, an im- portant post for one so young. He later ac- cepted this position, which he held more than a year; and during that short period he showed his mettle by making the best record ever made on that paper in a similar position. In the fall of 1889 he left the Republican to go with Mr. Stanley on the Herald; and here he held a similar position for four years, during which time he had so systematized the circulation that it had been multiplied by three. At the time of the organization of the Herald Company he was offered several thou- sand dollars of the stock, and, knowing it, ' became a part owner of the paper he had helped to build up. He is to-day one of its directors, has general charge of its circula- , tion, and is probably the most efficient man in his line to be found in Binghamton or in a long distance from it. He attends to busi- ยท ness from the time he .is out of bed in the
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morning. He is at the same time courteous and pleasant, and those working under him are inclined to think him a model man for his place. Thus far his life has been a success without a reverse.
The portraits of these five intelligent and progressive young men appear in this connec- tion, and are presented as types of American energy and enterprise as exemplified by the younger generation of our day in the impor- tant field of journalism.
OSEPII MCCOLLUM, proprietor of the monument works at Whitney's l'oint, was born in Bradford, Vt., in 1837. Mr. McCollum, as the name suggests, is of Scottish descent, and is a son of Daniel Mc- Collum, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1805, and was brought by his parents to Moore Town, in Northern New York, in 1815. Ilis father was a fish-dealer, owning several fishing-smacks.
This part of New York was then known as the "Land of Cakes"; for it was largely set- tled by the Scotch, who doubtless brought with them a healthy appetite for their na- tional dish, which possibly" had much to do with their own strong constitutions and the victories of their ancestors in the days of Robert Bruce and Bannockburn. However that may be, this family established them- selves in the Empire State, and could not do otherwise than prosper with their native econ- omy and industry. The elder MeCollum and his wife, Mary McDougal, had five children,
of whom they reared two sons and two daugh- ters. The first child, John, engaged in farm- ing. Ile moved to lowa, where he died at the age of sixty-five, the father of sixteen children. The second son, Daniel, was the father of the subject of this sketch. The third child was Jessie, widow of Israel Pickle, who reared a large family. The fourth was Mary, wife of Isaac Billings, who went to Iowa. They also were the parents of many children.
Daniel McCollum married Elizabeth Wheeler, who was born in Paisley Scotland. When Joseph was nine years old, his father and mother, with the rest of the family, moved to lowa, leaving him with Mr. and Mrs. Dimmick, who were his god-parents and very fond of him. But within two years both died, leaving him quite alone in the world; and he has paddled his own canoe ever since. It has not been an altogether sunny voyage; but, through fair weather and foul, he kept up his courage, ever hoping for the best and working steadily to attain it. At Bradford, Vt., he learned the trade of marble-cutter with Hayward, Jenkins & Benjamin. By the time he was sixteen he had thoroughly mas- tered it; but he served five more years, enlist- ing at the age of twenty-one with the First Vermont Regiment, of which he had been a member in the State militia. He went with his regiment to the rescue of Fortress Monroe, was gone four months, when he re- turned to Brattleboro, Vt., and was mustered out. He was drafted in the fall of 1861, and paid three hundred dollars for a substitute.
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September 30, 1860, he was married to Helen L. Colby, of Bradford, Vt., daughter of Jacob C. Colby. Her father, who was born in Vermont, died there at the age of eighty- two. Mrs. McCollum has three sisters and one half-sister living. Mr. McCollum moved with his family to Piermont, N. II., where he engaged in business three years. His next place of trade was Bellows Falls, Vt., where he lived four years, doing a paying business. Ile then moved to Chester, Vt., where he ran a shop five years, and went from there to Binghamton in 1872. There he worked for Barnes & Congdon, and in the spring of 1878 came to Whitney's Point, and two years later purchased the marble business, of which he is still proprietor.
Mr. and Mrs. McCollum have three chil- dren. The first, George C., who is engaged in business with his father, was married to Miss Myrtie Black, and has one daughter, Edith. The second child, Cora M., is now a young lady at home with her parents. The youngest child is Clarence D., a youth of nineteen, who works in his father's shop. Mr. McCollum is a Master Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Grand Army of the Republic, Eldridge l'ost, No. 99, Whitney's Point. He, with his wife, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they are zealous workers, and he is Trustee, Steward, and class leader. Mr. MeCollum is also a Pro- hibitionist, from the Republican ranks. His life has not been like a cloudless summer's day; but he has met with some disasters, and
proved the strength and endurance of the pure Scotch character. He is one of the most en- terprising and successful business men of Whitney's Point, where he has established a good trade, and enjoys the confidence and friendship of the people.
ROFESSOR JOHN E. BLOOMER is the Principal of Lowell Business College, Binghamton, which posi- tion he has occupied since 1888. He has been an efficient teacher here since 1881, and his wise management has had the effect of placing this college among the best institu- tions of the kind in the country. His quali- fications are not confined to a knowledge of what is to be taught, but he has the happy faculty of imparting instruction. Having a well-trained mind, systematic in his methods, apt to teach, and by natural force of character qualified to lead and direct, he seems admi- rably fitted for his chosen work.
1Te was born at Lapeer, Cortland County, N.Y., December 17, 1860, a son of R. A. and Henrietta (Brown) Bloomer, the family being carly residents of that county. His. great-grandfather was the first man to settle in the neighborhood of Lapeer, where he had - an experience known only to the pioneers of that day. The father of the Professor was a manufacturer. John E. Bloomer attended school at Whitney's Point Academy, and there obtained a fair education, taking a post-grad- uate course fitting him for the second year. at Cornell University. . He next engaged in
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teaching in Binghamton, and continued thus employed for two years. He was meanwhile a close student, and attended Lowell Business College during his vacations, graduating from it in 1880. He was so proficient in his stud- ies and had shown himself so successful as a teacher that he secured a position in the college as Instructor in the Business Branch and in Penmanship, and retained that place for seven years. He then bought the institu- tion, and has since been the proprietor and Principal.
The college was established in 1859, and under Mr. Bloomer's management of later years has made a good record. It occupies nearly all of the upper floor of the McNamara Block, the equipment is first class, and the facilities for obtaining a business education, including a knowledge of shorthand and teleg- raphy, there offered are considered unsur- passed in the city. Professor Bloomer was married to Anna B. Gardner, of Binghamton; and they have two children, Hazel and Jean- ette. The family attend the Church of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal.
ESSE W. JANSEN, M.D., physician and druggist, of Binghamton, N. Y., was born near Ithaca, N. Y., Septem- ber 19, 1861, son of Abram and Hannah (Pearl) Jansen. Abram Jansen was born in Ulster County, New York, where his father, Sampson Jansen, settled when he came to this country from Holland. When a young boy, Abram went to live near Ithaca, and later |
moved to Owego, Tioga County, where he now makes his home.
After pursuing a course of study at the Owego Academy, from which he was gradu- ated in 1881, Jesse W. Jansen taught school for three years. In 1883 he received the appointment of druggist at the State Hospital in Binghamton, and while there read medicine with the Superintendent, Dr. Armstrong.
From that institution he proceeded to the medical department of the University of the City of New York, whence he was graduated in the class of 1886. Thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the art of healing dis- case, he next spent some time in Bellevue ITospital, New York City, adding to his knowledge the lessons there to be gained by observation and the learning which can come only from experience, thus acquiring skill in diagnosis and in the application of remedies to the many indispositions and illnesses to which the flesh is heir. On leaving the Bellevue, he established himself in Owego, N. Y., where he practised his profession for three years. While in that place, he was member of the Tioga County Medical Society. From Owego he moved to Binghamton, N.Y., where he bought a drug store, and opened an office for practice in connection therewith. He has been very successful in both practice and trade. The four-story, frame building at Nos. 141 and 143 Conklin Avenue where his store is located was built by him.
. Dr. Jansen is a member of the Academy of Medicine of Binghamton, and also of the State Pharmaceutical Association of New
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York. Being not only an intelligent, well- educated professional man, but also a prac- tical man of affairs, he is interested quite extensively in the real estate business, and takes some part in politics, in which he is a Republican. He was elected Supervisor for the Sixth Ward in 1892, and was Chairman of the Committees on Coroners and Doctors, also member of Committees on Towns and Vil- lages and Justices and Constables. In the Masonic Order he is a member of Otseningo Lodge, No. 435, A. F. & A. M. Realizing betimes that it is not good for man to be alone, on August 6, 1886, Dr. Jesse W. Jansen married Miss Minnie Ohlman, of New York City.
ILLIAM LATHAM, a farmer of North Sanford, Broome County, N. Y., a veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born in the town of Sanford, January 14, 1867. His parents, John and Maria (Saulsbury) Latham, were born in Schoharic County. The father, who has been' a general farmer and dairyman, bought several farms when he removed to Broome County, on one of which he resided until the year 1887, when he moved to Deposit, where he now conducts a large farm on the place well known as the Moore farm. Their family consists of three children, namely: William; Candace, wife of Frank Broad, residing in North San- ford; and Arthur, living with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. John Latham are well known and highly respected people of North Sanford, and are especially prominent in the Baptist
church, of which they are worthy members. Ile is Republican in his politics.
William Latham received his education in the public schools of Sanford and in the Deposit Academy, growing to manhood in his native town. He early turned his attention to farming, and now owns the old homestead of one hundred and thirty acres, where he runs a dairy farm of from sixteen to twenty head of cattle. He was married on February 23, 1884, to Miss Laura Wheeler, of the town of Sanford. They have one child, Edna R., born January 1, 1890.
The grandparents of Mrs. Latham were Benjamin F. and Laura (Graves) Wheeler, and her parents were Benjamin F. and Eliza- beth (Shields) Wheeler. Her father resided in Ohio until his eleventh year, when he re- moved to Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., where he remained for some years, and from there went to Greene County. While in this place he enlisted in the late Civil War, and served in Company M, Fifteenth Heavy Ar- tillery, participating in nineteen battles, among them Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and Spottsylvania Court-house, going through the very hardest of the service. He enlisted in ' January of 1864, and was honorably dis- charged in August of 1865. Hle then re- turned to his home in Greene County, but after a short residence there moved to Broome County, and bought one hundred and -
thirteen acres of land, upon which he erected comfortable and commodious buildings, and where he carries on general farming in con- nection with a dairy.
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Mr. Wheeler was married January 4, 1864, to Miss Elizabeth Shields, who was born in Columbia County, New York, February 8, 1842. ller parents, William and Martha (Bailey) Shields, were born in England. William Shields was an overseer in a cotton manufactory for many years. He came to America in 1841, landing just as General William Henry Harrison was elected Presi- dent of the United States. He was settled in Columbia County for many years, and now resides in Catskill, at the age of eighty-four years. ITis wife died when she was seventy- five years old. Their five children are all liv- ing, namely: Alfred, in Catskill; Elizabeth, Mrs. B. F. Wheeler; Mary, Mrs. James Tu- hill, of Catskill; Eliza, wife of Madison Stinhorn, of Ithaca; and Martha, residing in Columbia.
Benjamin F. Wheeler carried on the busi- ness of the farm until his death. It was of good, tillable land, and an excellent stock farm. He died at this place May 23, 1893, leaving a wife and three children. Mrs. Wheeler still resides on the farm; and her two youngest children, Elmer and Martha, live with her. Laura, the eldest, is the wife of William A. Latham, antl resides in the town of Sanford. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were members of the Methodist church, of which she is still a devout and consistent adherent. He was a member of the Republi- can party, and also of Eggleston Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. and Mrs. Latham attend the Methodist church, Mrs. Latham being a professed mem-
ber. Ile is a Republican, and, while not a politician in the sense of making a business of party affairs, does good work for the party, when required. Mr. Latham is comparatively a young man, and his life so far gives promise of his becoming one of the most prominent and influential citizens of his town.
IRAM C. MARTIN, a native of Dutchess County, New York, who fought bravely under the stars and stripes in his country's season of peril, was born on October 15, 1822. His grandfather, George Martin, was a farmer in that county during the time of the Revolution, and re- sided there until his death. Dakins Martin, son of George, was reared in the town of Milan, Dutchess County, and at an early age left his home to work his way in the world. He had previously received what education was obtainable in the district schools; but his restless ambition to seek his fortune made him leave the homestead, and for a time he earned what money he could on neighboring farms. In a little while he had prospered so well as to be able to establish his own home and marry the object of his affections, a Miss Cortol. Their union was blessed with eight children - Alexander, John, William, Hiram, Garrett, Oliver, Uriah, and Henry. Later in life Dakins and wife with one of their sons removed to Wisconsin, and there remained for the rest of their lives.
The subject of this sketch was only eleven years of age when compelled to take up the
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burden of carning his bread by the sweat of his brow. At this tender age, when the ma- jority of boys are enjoying the benefits of education and the sports and games of child- hood, he was rising with the dawn, and doing the work on a farm with other laborers. By untiring industry and thrift he accumulated sufficient of the world's goods to feel himself independent and be able to marry. He con- tinued the occupation of farming until 1862, when, at the call of his country for troops to put down the rebellion, he enlisted in the Sixteenth New York Battery. For three months he rode a lead team in a flying bat- tery, and was then made horse farrier. He continued in this position for seventeen months, but, having been badly injured by a kick from a horse, was laid up in a hospital for five months, at the end of that time re- ceiving an honorable discharge. In the peril- ous situations in which he was placed during these trying months he won for himself an enduring record as a man whose bravery could not be questioned, and who was willing to risk any hazard to defend the honor of his flag.
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