Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 57

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256

USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 57
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 57

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being mustered out he returned to Dansville. Since then he has been a professional musi- cian, being well and favorably known as an excellent teacher and player. In the spring of 1884 Rochester became his home, where, active in musical affairs, he is engaged in pro- fessional work, being incorporator and Presi- dent of the Fifty-fourth Regiment Band and ex-President of the Rochester Protective Mu- sical Association.

The maiden name of Mrs. Oberdorf, mother of Bernard, was Susannah B. Hamsher, daugh- ter of Bernard Hamsher, for whom our sub- ject was named. Bernard Hamsher was a pioneer of Sparta; and his children were born in a log house, which formed his primitive dwelling. Ile was active in religious mat- ters, being one of the organizers and first officers of St. John's Lutheran Church. Suc- cessful in agriculture, he passed his entire life upon his farm. Mrs. Oberdorf, the sec- ond of six children, and born October 17, 1828, became the wife of Peter J. Oberdorf March 31, 1853. They reared three out of four children born to them - Bernard H. ; Ona, who married Robert J. Kelso, of Roch- ester, and died July 15, 1893, at the age of thirty-five years; and W. S., one of the editors and proprietors of the Dansville Advertiser, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Both Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Oberdorf are members of the Presbyterian church of Dans- ville, with which they united by letter from the West Sparta Presbyterian church in 1861. For many years Mr. Oberdorf was leader of the choir of this church.

Bernard H. Oberdorf, the subject of this sketch, came to Dansville with his parents at the age of six years, where he attended a select school and afterward the Dansville Seminary. At thirteen he entered the office of the Dansville Advertiser as an apprentice, where he remained thirteen years. During this time not only was the printer's trade thoroughly learned, but also considerable ex- perience acquired, first as foreman of the mechanical department and later at reportorial work in the editorial branch of the office. At twenty-six his health was so impaired by con- stant indoor confinement that for some time

he was unable to attend to any business; but, as soon as health permitted, he undertook in- surance as local agent, and later became clerk for contractors during the construction of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. He followed this occupation for some time in Dansville and also at Lyons, where he re- mained about six months. Then he returned to Dansville, and accepted a position with Our Home Granula Company, the manufact- urers of "granula," a celebrated health food, originated by James C. Jackson, the founder of the famous Jackson Sanatorium. Since then he has constantly been identified with the company, first on salary and afterward as one of the partners. Through his untiring efforts and progressive ideas the company has attained prominence and wide mercantile repu- tation. The food called granula is a nutri- tious product from wheat. Appreciation of its worth and its sales are increasing rapidly over an extended territory, which includes almost every civilized country. Mr. Oberdorf also owns an insurance and real estate business, which he conducts under the firm name of Oberdorf & Edwards, having finely appointed offices in the newly constructed plant of Our Home Granula Company. On January 20, 1886, he was married to Miss Helen G. Grant, daughter of Colonel T. B. Grant, a well-known resident and formerly a prominent hardware merchant of Dansville, whose family occupy a high position in Dansville. A sketch of him appears elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Oberdorf is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 115, F. & A. M., in which he has held various offices and of which he is now Treasurer. In Canaseraga Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 123, of Dansville, he has held all the principal offices, being now a Past Grand. He was an active member of Union Hose Company for eleven years, serving as Secretary and President, and is now an exempt, honorary, and club member of that organization. He was a member of the Board of Trade, and is connected with several social societies, including the Roches- ter Whist Club. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, whose suc-

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cess he is actively promoting. At this time he is serving his second year as Trustee of the village board. When he was elected, the Democratic party in the village was conceded a safe majority, and the election of a Repub- lican considered difficult. Self-made, capa- ble, energetic, shrewd, successful, and un- tiring in the interests of those he represents, he has acquired a deserved reputation and popularity.

OLONEL JOHN RORBACH, a prom- inent owner of real estate, of Geneseo, and before the Rebellion an active member of the State militia (being Colonel of the Fifty-ninth Regiment at that time), was born at Newton, Sussex County, N. J., December 8, 1826. His father, Sam- uel, was a native of the same town, born Sep- tember 25, 1783. Ilis grandfather, George Rorbach, was a native of the village of Rohr- bach, in the Duchy of Baden, Germany.

At the age of twelve years George Rorbach sailed with his parents for America; but he was the only member of the family to reach the New World, the others having died dur- ing the long passage. He landed at Amboy, N. J., which at that time was a rival of New York as a port of entrée. Although a poor orphan in a strange land, he managed to obtain a footing, and learned the trade of a saddler. He served in the Revolutionary War, and afterward settled in Newton, where he died. He married a Miss Fisher, a lady of English birth, and by her had eight children. Samuel Rorbach succeeded his father in the saddlery business, and was a life-long resident of New- ton. He was an active and prominent Whig, and for many years the party conventions were held in his house. He was for twenty-four years a Justice of the Peace and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and died in February, 1858. He married in 1817 Margaret Morrow, of Sparta, N. J., whose parents were born in County Antrim, Ireland, and were of Scotch ancestry. She was born September 11, 1796, her father having been a farmer in Sparta. Their children were as follows: Susan M., born December 4, 1818; Charles P., August 1

25, 1820; George M., September 7, 1822; Sarah P., August 8, 1824; John, December 8, 1826; Henrietta, January 10, 1829; Robert M., April 23, 1831; Emma, January 12, 1833; and Elizabeth C., April 29, 1835. Emma died aged one year.

John Rorbach was reared and educated in his native town, and in 1843 commenced the study of law in the office of David Thompson, Esq., at Newton. On January 6, 1848, he was admitted to the bar, and began the prac- tice of his profession in his native town, which he continued until 1850, when he engaged with an elder brother in the manufacturing business at Newark. There he remained until 1856, at which time, on account of ill health, he was forced to retire after selling his inter- est to his brothers. He went to Geneseo, where previous to this time he had acquired an interest in the hardware business in connection with Charles F. Doty, his brother-in-law, but took no active part in the enterprise. Imme- diately after the breaking out of the Rebellion, he was chiefly instrumental in raising a com- pany, which he took to Elmira, where it was organized and enrolled as Company E, Thirty- third Regiment, New York Volunteer Infan- try. After the memorable battle of Bull Run, at the urgent request of General Wadsworth, of Geneseo, who procured Governor Morgan's authorization, Colonel Rorbach set about with earnest enthusiasm organizing a regiment to represent the Genesee valley country ; and his efforts were successful, eight hundred men being enrolled as the result of his general management.

This regiment was quartered for the time at Camp Union, in the village of Geneseo, and in February, 1862, was taken to Albany, where it was consolidated with some three hundred recruits from that city and Troy, and became the One Hundred and Fourth New York State Volunteer Infantry. This regi- ment was named, in honor of General Wads- worth, "The Wadsworth Guards." When the regiment was thoroughly organized, Mr. Ror- bach was commissioned its Colonel; and for two weeks he had full command of the bar- racks at Albany. On the 8th of March, 1862, the regiment started for Washington, and was

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encamped at Kaloramma Heights for three weeks; thence it moved to Virginia. Colonel Rorbach remained in command until Septem- ber, when he was laid low with typhoid fever. and was sent from Culpeper to Washington, where he lay eight weeks, after which he was transferred to his old home in New Jersey. His health not being restored after two exten- sions of his furlough, he tendered his resigna- tion. He was much of an invalid for ten years, and, after fully recovering his health, devoted his time to the management of his real estate and attending to his personal interests, besides performing several official duties. Soon after his arrival in Geneseo he joined the State militia, and was commissioned Cap- tain of the Big Tree Artillery, from which he was promoted to Colonel of the Fifty-ninth Regiment, New York State Militia.

In 1869, when a State normal school was sought to be established in Geneseo, a large amount of money was preliminarily required by the legislative act, with which to provide a suitable location and the necessary buildings and equipments. Many opposed the idea on that account ; but Colonel Rorbach, seeing the advantages to be gained by the village, and as a Commissioner appointed therefor by the leg- islature, worked diligently toward procuring sufficient funds for such purpose, and it was in a great measure through his efforts that the institution was secured and established. It is now the largest normal school in the State, and one of the most successful in the United States. Colonel Rorbach has always taken an active interest in politics from his youth, and, when but eighteen years of age, took the stump for Henry Clay in 1844. He was a Whig until the Republican party was organized, since which time he has until within a few years most actively supported that party.

On April 21, 1853, Colonel Rorbach mar- ried his first wife, Elizabeth Vance, daughter of Charles R. and Sophia (Miller) Vance, of Geneseo. She died December 18, 1877. Colonel Rorbach has four children by this marriage --- William T., born April 8, 1854; Henrietta S., born January 8, 1858; Eliza- beth V., born May 30, 1864; and Margaret V., born October 8, 1872. Hle was a second time

married, but had no issue by that union. The Colonel and his family are members of the Episcopal church. In 1880 Colonel Rorbach resumed the practice of the law, and entered into partnership with A. J. and J. B. Abbott, with offices in Rochester and Geneseo. He is now practising alone. For thirty-seven years he has been an active Trustee of the union free school and the district school, preceding it, at Geneseo, and has but seldom in all that time missed a public exercise in the same or an opening or closing thereof. Since 1860 Colonel Rorbach has been a Trustee of the Wadsworth Library. He was for a number of years a Vestryman or a Warden in St. Mi- chael's Episcopal Church in Geneseo, and many times during vacancies in its pastorate acted as Lay Reader. Colonel Rorbach ob- tained the act establishing a normal school in Geneseo, was a Commissioner to locate and construct the same, and has been a Trustee ever since. He has filled most of the town and village offices, but was never a candidate seck- ing any of them.

Such is a brief outline of the life work of one of Geneseo's most valued citizens. It has been a busy one, spent not alone in the for- warding of his own private interests, but a large portion of it has been passed in rendering eminent and valuable service, not only to his immediate community, but to the State and nation. He is a comrade of A. A. Curtis Post, No. 392, Grand Army of the Republic, and takes an active interest in all matters per- taining to the welfare of his old comrades in arms.

m" ATTHEW H. KAVANAH, the present Postmaster of North Java, Wyoming County, N.Y., was born at Five Corners, in the near vicinity of the village in which he now resides, July 11, 1852. His father, Charles Kavanah, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and learned the trade of shoemaking in the city of Dublin. The family surname is supposed to be of French origin, and in Ireland was first known in the fifteenth century. Darby Kava- nah, father of Charles, was agent of estates,

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which he sublet to tenants; and Mr. Matthew Kavanah has contracts of his grandfather, dated 1809, and made in the vicinity of Dublin.

Charles Kavanah's wife was Ellen Murphy, to whom he was married in Ireland, November 22, 1837. They arrived in New York City on June 19, 1840, and remained there until 1846, when the husband visited his beloved Erin for six months. On his return to Amer- ica he moved his family to Java, where he fol- lowed his trade for two years. He then went back to New York, but finally settled near Java in 1851, purchasing a small farm of thirty-five acres at a place known as Five Corners, where the subject of this sketch opened his eyes to the world's light. Here, some years later, Charles Kavanah died, on February 6, 1860. His widow died in North Java, whither she had moved in 1883, November 16, 1886, aged seventy years and seven months. She was the mother of eleven children, of whom those now living are : Mary Ann, the wife of John Kerwin, of North Java; James, a prosperous merchant in Elkhart, Ind. ; Thomas, who formerly kept a hotel in North Java, and is now engaged in the oil trade at Lima, Ohio; Matthew H. ; Charles, a blacksmith in North Java; Margaret, a teacher in Buffalo; Catherine, the wife of Frank Whalen, of Collins, Erie County; and John, a broom-corn dealer in Chicago, owning a fine property. With two exceptions, each of these has a family; so there is a large family of grandchildren.

Matthew II., who had a good education, as all of the family had, went into the broom manufacturing business at twenty years of age, and established a factory at Arcade. In 1871 he went to Iowa in the interest of the manu- facture of lime; and eight months later he returned to New York, where he became a travelling salesman, selling brooms from Wellsville. In 1873 he went to Chicago, where much of his active life was spent. Here he was employed as a buyer, and had the territory of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Nebraska under his auspices, and has the distinction of being the first salaried buyer of broom-corn ever sent out from Chicago.

In 1878, February 6, he was married to

Miss Anna Gaffney, of Sheldon. The lady's parents, who were both natives of Ireland, were married in New York, and came to this county in 1850. Her father was a railroad con- tractor. Mr. and Mrs. Kavanah began their married life on a farm in Java, but five years after their marriage moved to Chicago. After two years they returned to Java; but in 1888 they sold their sixty acres of farm, and made a second move to Chicago, where they lived until 1890. In this year Mr. Kavanah re- turned once more to his native locality, and bought out the store, stock, and trade of H. B. Rogers, and has since been engaged in general merchandise. Three months of each year, however, he still devotes to his former occu- pation, buying broom-corn in the West for a Chicago firm, John N. Hubbard & Co., in which his brother is a partner.

Mr. Kavanah's experience and capacity for this line of work command a fine salary, and the part of the year spent in this way greatly augments his income. Mr. and Mrs. Kavanah have lost one child --. Ella May, who died July 4, 1888, aged seven. They have a family of six bright children, three sons and three daughters - Mary Stella, a young girl of fif- teen; Alice, who is remarkably advanced for her eleven years; Anna, aged nine; Charles, who is a year younger; Frank, aged six; and Edward, a little irrepressible of two and a half years. In religious faith Mr. Kavanah is a Roman Catholic, and in political conviction he is a loyal Democrat. He is a member of the C. M. B. A., of which he is Trustee.

ILLIAM A. BRODIE, an influen- tial citizen of Geneseo, agent for the estate of William and Herbert Wadsworth, also attorney for James S. and Craig W. Wadsworth, was born August 9. 1841, at Killarcham, Scotland. His paternal grandfather, who was a native of that place, was for many years proprietor of the village inn, and therefore a man of considerable noto- riety and importance. He raised a large family.

His son William grew to manhood in Kil- larcham, where he attended school, and later

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learned the trade of carpenter and joiner. Ic followed this calling for some time after his marriage, and then emigrated to the United States, settling in Rochester, N. Y., and there continued to labor at his trade for many years, leading an exemplary life. About three years previous to his decease he came to Genesco to reside at the home of his son, William A., the subject of this sketch, where he died at the age of seventy-two. His wife, Mary Wilson, daughter of James Wilson, was also a native of Killarcham. She was a worthy Christian

woman, possessing many sterling qualities, and carefully reared a family of five children, as follows: William A. ; James, a soldier of the late war; John, a paper-hanger of Roches- ter; Mary, now the wife of Thomas Mellen, a painter of the same city; and McDowell, who married James R. Coddington, a merchant of Geneseo. Mrs. Mary Wilson Brodie died at the age of forty-one years in Rochester. Both she and her husband were members of the United Presbyterian church of that city.

William A. Brodie spent his boyhood in Rochester, where he attended the public schools, and at the age of fourteen entered the employ of J. Z. Newcomb, in the dry-goods business, as a clerk. He rapidly rose, dis- playing superior business ability, and gaining the entire confidence of his employer, who advanced him to the position of cashier, in which capacity, and as book-keeper, he con- tinued for nine years. At the expiration of this period he accepted a position as book- keeper with General James A. Wadsworth, of Geneseo. Having remained thus employed for ten years, he became book-keeper for the estate of William W. Wadsworth for the same number of years, when he was advanced to his present responsible position. In 1862 Mr. Brodie married Laura A. Diver, daughter of Warren Diver, of Henrietta, N. Y. She died in Geneseo, March 17, 1885, leaving one son, Warren J. Mrs. Laura A. Brodie was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church. On July 24, 1889, Mr. Brodie again married, his second wife being Martha A. Woodbury, of Royals- ton, Mass., daughter of George Woodbury, of that town.

Many positions of public trust have been

held by Mr. Brodie with marked ability, which has been highly appreciated by the com- munity. He was elected County Treasurer in 1877, and held that office for five consecutive terms of three years each, is President of the Genesco Gas Company, also the Electric Com- pany, Secretary and Treasurer of the Wads- worth Library, and Secretary of the local board of the State normal school at Geneseo. Both himself and wife are very active members of the Presbyterian church, of which he has been an Elder since 1868, and for many years super- intendent of the Sunday-school, in which he is also a teacher, having a Bible class of over one hundred normal-school students. Mrs. Brodie is likewise a teacher in the school. He has been both President and Secretary of the County Historical Society, in which he takes an active interest. Politically, he is a Republican and a stanch supporter of the prin- ciples of that party. As a member of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Brodie has a national reputation. Besides being a member of Gen- eseo Lodge, No. 214, he is also a member of Hamilton Chapter, R. A., and Sir Knight of Monroe Commandery of Rochester. He has held all offices in the Blue Lodge, and in 1884 was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is one of the most active and enthusiastic members of the craft, and in 1885 he reached the highest step in the fraternity - that of the thirty-third degree.

The following is a record of his work during his term as Grand Master. On July 31, 1884, he dedicated the new hall of Fortune Lodge, No. 778, at North Collins, Erie County. On August 5, 1884, in response to the invitation of the American Committee, he laid the corner-stone of the pedestal of the statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. In closing his address upon this oc- casion he said, "No institution has done more to promote liberty and to free men from the trammels and chains of ignorance and tyranny than Free Masonry." On September 22, 1884, he laid the corner-stone of the new high school building in Ithaca. A handsome silver trowel, suitably engraved, was presented to the Grand Master by the Board of Education,

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as a memento of a very pleasant event in his Masonic official life. At the request of the State authorities, he laid the corner-stone of the drill room annex to the State Arsenal at Buffalo, September 29, 1884. On September 26, 1884, he issued a dispensation to R. H. MeIntyre and others to form a new lodge at Bloomingdale, Essex County; October 6, to N. B. Slater, to form a new lodge at Au Sable Forks, Clinton County. December 4, 1884, he dedicated the new room of Phoenix Lodge, No. 662, Gowanda, N. Y. At the time of the burning of Carthage, November, 1884, he issued to the members of the Masonic frater- nity an appeal for funds, which was very gen- erously responded to by contributions amount- ing to four thousand and seventy-seven dollars and thirty-seven cents. On February 21, 1885, by invitation of the Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia, he par- ticipated in the ceremonies and dedication of the Washington Monument. The question of belief in God having arisen in a matter of dis- cipline in a Masonic lodge in Toronto, Can- ada, in the close of his annual address he said : "Free Masonry is neither godless nor anti- christian. It embraces in its membership men of all creeds and no creed. To the Hebrew member it is the God of Israel. To the Mo- hammedan God is revealed in the great, open book of the starry heavens. To the Christian God is the Father of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It has been charged that, had they, the Masons, the courage of their convictions, they would pluck the name of the Supreme Being out of their ritual. Nothing can be further from the truth than this assertion. To elimi- nate the name of the Deity from the ritual would leave it but an empty shell. Yes, there is room within our broad field for all creeds; but our doors are not open to the atheist, neither is there room within our portals for him."

Mr. Brodie's successor in office, in his an- nual address before the Grand Lodge, said :

"But what shall I say of my immediate predecessor, Mr. William A. Brodie, who, relinquishing your highest honors, went out into the ranks, and has served in every depart- ment of labor with all the zeal of the youngest

apprentice, thus furnishing an example which I hope may never be forgotten by any of his successors ?"

In 1888 Mr. Brodie visited his native land and England, making a special study of Ma- sonic charities. While abroad he was made a senior member of St. Barkam's Lodge, No. 156, of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in his native village, whose charter is dated Novem- ber 1, 1784.

OHN LOGAN, a wealthy and influential citizen of Sparta, is prominently con- nected with the agricultural, social, and financial interests of Livingston County, and is a fine representative of the na- tive-born element of this section of the State, having been born on the farm where he now resides, May 25, 1823. He is of Scotch-Irish antecedents, being the grandson of one Edward Logan, who was born in Scotland, but emi- grated to the north of Ireland when about twenty-five years of age, thereafter spending his life with the sturdy people of that country.

The father of John Logan, also named Ed- ward, claimed County Antrim, Ireland, as the place of his nativity, and made that his home until after his union with Miss Jennie Boyd, a daughter of Thomas Boyd, of Ireland. In 1819 he left his native country with his wife and children, and, crossing the ocean, emi- grated to the United States, the desired haven of refuge for so many foreign peasants. He came directly to this county, locating in Sparta, where he took up a tract of partly cleared land, on which stood a log house and barn. Inheriting the frugality, thrift, and in- dustrious habits of his Scotch progenitors, he continued the work previously begun, and had the satisfaction of watching the gradual trans- formation of his woodland to broad and well- cultivated fields, on which the golden grain waved in the harvest sun. He built a substan- tial set of frame buildings in place of the primitive ones ; and here he and his good wife spent their closing years in the enjoyment of a comfortable home and all the luxuries that they desired, he living to the age of eighty- seven years, while she died in her seventy-

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 57

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Number of Pages: 1256

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256