USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 3 > Part 19
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For many years Judge Benton has been a member of the Masonic order and now holds all degrees of both York and Scottish Rites. He is a past master of Yonnondio
Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; a companion of Hamilton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; a sir knight of Monroe Commandery, Knights Templar ; a noble of Damascus Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and a thirty-third degree Mason of Rochester Consistory, Ancient and Accepted Scot- tish Rite. He was president of the asso- ciation that erected the Masonic Temple in Rochester and has rendered the order much distinguished service that has been recognized officially by the bestowal upon him of Masonry's highest degree, the thirty-third, a degree that may not be applied for, but is in reality conferred as an honor that has been won. He is a member of the Alumni associations of Cornell and Columbia universities, and at alumni reunions has been the orator of the occasion. His fraternities are D. U. and Phi Beta Kappa.
Judge Benton's home is at Spencerport, Monroe county, New York, nine miles from Rochester, that town also being the home of the Farmers' Library, the oldest of its kind in the State of New York. That institution, once prosperous and use- ful, having fallen into a state of coma, was revived by Judge Benton and his friends, and with his election to the presi- dency the library is again an excellent source of benefit to the community. This is in line with the lifelong interest he has taken in the cause of education and in educational movements. In earlier days he was a very effective campaign orator and active party worker. During the lifetime of the Lincoln Club of Rochester, 1880 to 1890, he was commander of that club, once one of the strong factors in arousing enthusiasm for the Republican tickets.
Judge Benton married, July 8, 1892, Catherine S. Westerdick and has four children : Ethel, George, Alice, Helen.
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CLEVELAND, Merritt Andrus, V
Civil Engineer.
There are many men who gain promi- nence that makes them well known in their own generation, but whose great- ness does not outlive their own time. The name of Merritt Andrus Cleveland, of Brockport, New York, will, however, be a familiar one in the annals of the State of New York as long as people are interested in her history. He was the promoter of much of the means of her present pros- perity, for of what avail are large fac- tories, fine crops, etc., if there are not ample means of transportation. He was also identified with many important enter- prises in New York and Canada.
Merritt Andrus Cleveland, son of Phil- ander Blodgett and Mercy (Richardson) Cleveland, and grandson of Stephen Rich- ardson, was born in East Houndsfield, Jefferson county, New York, August 27, 1849, and died suddenly, May 19, 1912. Until the year 1869 he was a student at schools in East Houndsfield, Brownville, Dexter and Watertown, all in Jefferson county, and at the same time assisted his father in the cultivation of his farms. In 1870 he became a member of the civil engineering corps of the Carthage, Watertown & Sackett's Harbor railroad, where the railroad was being constructed, and subsequently was employed in a similar capacity by the Clayton & Theresa Railroad Company, and then obtained a position with the Watertown Water Works, and was employed in the city engineer's office the first year that Water- town was incorporated as a city. Until 1872 he resided a part of the time at Watertown, and then at Clayton. He was appointed division engineer of the Lake Ontario Shore railroad in April, 1872, and the following year took charge of the construction work of the Kingston & Pembroke railway of Canada, and for
some time lived in Kingston, Canada. He organized the firm of Hunter & Cleveland in July, 1874, establishing this for regular contract work in connection with the con- struction of railroads; and completed the Lake Ontario Shore railroad, and several other contracts on the line of the railroad between Oswego and Niagara Falls. Three years later he organized the firm of Hunter, Murray & Cleveland, and, hav- ing received the contract for the con- struction of a part of the Welland Canal in Canada, from the Dominion govern- ment, he carried this tremendous water- way to completion at Port Colborne, Welland and St. Catherine's, making his home at Port Colborne at this time, in order to be able to superintend the work personally. The Murray Canal and many harbors on the Upper Lakes were also constructed by him. The firm of Warren & Cleveland was formed in 1882 and, having taken the contract to build the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo rail- road in Pennsylvania and Ohio, Mr. Cleveland removed to Youngstown, Ohio, and resided there until March, 1884. In 1886 the firm of Murray & Cleveland was formed at St. Catherine's, Ontario, for the purpose of general contracting, and it accepted the contract from the Dominion government to deepen the Welland Canal, Port Dalhousie. In 1888 the Dominion government again called on the services of Mr. Cleveland to con- struct the Galop Canal around the Galop Rapids in the St. Lawrence river, and at the same time to construct an eastern entrance to Toronto Harbor, on Lake Ontario. June 1, 1897, Mr. Cleveland commenced work on what is known as the North Channel, about two miles above the Galop Rapids, and the result obtained was an unimpeded British channel, eighteen feet deep, three hundred feet in width, and an air line of three and a half miles in length, and thus an easy entrance
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is gained to the great Canadian canal system of the St. Lawrence. In all these huge enterprises, it is to be remembered that thousands of men, skilled and un- skilled laborers, were employed by Mr. Cleveland. To his credit be it said, that while strikes raged, and governments and judiciaries were compelled to interfere, Mr. Cleveland never had strikes or labor troubles of any kind arising from the many quarrels and misunderstandings almost sure to crop out in these days, and especially in great undertakings. The building of the channel attracted univer- sal attention. The "Illustrated London News," in its issue of August 26, 1899, gave an elaborate and detailed account of the grand work. The Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa papers followed the work while in the course of construction with the closest attention, and delighted to use their columns in praise of the great achievement of Mr. Cleveland. The Watertown "Daily Times" honored its former citizen in a special issue ; and the New York "Herald" had an exhaustive account of the work done at Port Col- borne on the Welland Canal, in its issue of April 12, 1880. The Cleveland & Sons Company, with Mr. Cleveland and his two Sons-Milo L. and Harold-was formed in December, 1908, and engaged in work on Contract No. 61, of the Barge Canal in this State. This was not completed at the time of the death of Mr. Cleveland. He was the largest land owner in the county and one of the largest in the State. His holdings in Lorraine and Worth alone totaled more than ten thousand acres, and he also had vast estates in Canada.
Mr. Cleveland married at Sodus, New York, May 20, 1875, Ellen Elizabeth Smith, born in Sodus, July 24, 1857, died April 30, 1915. She was a daughter of Orril and Caroline (Prosser) Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland had children: Milo L., born at Port Colborne, January 21,
1879; Helen Louise, born at Port Col- borne, April 4, 1880, married Richard O. Marsh, of Warsaw, Illinois, a civil engi- neer, who constructed a dam across the Mississippi; Harold, born at Brockport, New York, June 24, 1885, married, in 1912, Mary Louise Gaines, of Kansas City, Missouri; Florence Murray, born in Brockport, February 2, 1893. The home of the family has been at Brock- port, New York, since 1884. Mr. Cleve- land was a man of fine personal appear- ance, and possessed the genial qualities which rendered him popular. He won friends easily and had the happy faculty of retaining them. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Brock- port, and of a number of organizations of varied character, among them being the following mentioned; Black River Valley Club, of Watertown; St. Ann's Shooting and Fishing Club, of Toronto; Rochester Whist Club; the Silsby Hose Company ; Brownville Lodge, No. 53, Free and Accepted Masons; Watertown Chapter, No. 59, Royal Arch Masons ; and was an honorary member of Capen Hose Company.
The sudden death of Mr. Cleveland was a great shock to the community. He had been about his home in the forenoon apparently in his usual health, and, after playing with his grandchildren, as he was in the habit of doing, went to his barn to take an inventory of the amount of hay on hand. He had been there but a few moments when one of his men saw him fall forward on a bale of hay. Medical assistance was at once summoned, but before it arrived he had breathed his last. We quote the following from one of the papers of the time :
Some of his employes had been with him twenty, thirty, and in one instance, forty years. All day long it was their one theme of conver- sation. He was always the same to one and all. Genial, kind hearted, the employe who showed his
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worth was always repaid, as many of them can fully testify in their long service, and by the many acts of kindness shown them and their families. Again the beautiful floral offering, a rose blanket, sent by the workmen, and their at- tendance in a body at the last sad rites to the de- ceased, all anxious to pay their tribute of love and esteem, were alone expressive of their feel- ings. They knew his worth and keenly felt their loss. With our townspeople he was held in high esteem and the best interests of the village were always his interests. In matters of importance his opinion was sought, and his conservative manner of looking on all sides won appreciation from all. No one can say aught of his charitable ways, for he was always the first to give for any good cause, and generously too, and many a poor home can attest to substantial remembrances from the unknown giver.
The following memorial is from the Silsby Hose Company :
The death of Merritt A. Cleveland, for many years a member of Silsby Hose Company, means a loss which is felt personally by the members, and more particularly to the older men, those who were active in the company when he joined it. Mr. Cleveland became a member of the Com- pany, March 1, 1885, and continued in active membership to the time of his death. While his large business interests and frequent absences from the village necessarily prevented his partici- pation in many of the activities of the Company, he nevertheless felt and showed at all times a sincere interest in its affairs. He was for many years a trustee, and was always to be relied upon for any service which it was in his power to render. It is as a friend as well as a fellow member that we mourn his departure. We, therefore, feel that it is most fitting that we, as a Company, express our deep sorrow in this loss, and our sincere sympathy with Mr. Cleveland's family. GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, Secretary.
CLEVELAND, Milo L., Civil Engineer.
It has been said that the sons of great men seldom attain to distinction, imply- ing that more or less of a handicap is entailed through standing in the shadow of such greatness. This may be true in
many cases, the annals of our as well as those of other nations showing such to be the fact, but in contradistinction are found so many instances where sons have added laurels to honored names of fathers that there can be naught but perversity of spirit and obliquity of vision when it is maintained that the above premise is in- variably correct. An instance is afforded in the career of Milo L. Cleveland, of Brockport, New York, who is numbered among the leaders of the younger busi- ness men and civil engineers of the city and State that were honored and dignified by the life and services of the late Merritt Andrus Cleveland, to whom a memorial is dedicated in this work. Milo L. Cleve- land has achieved much in an individual way not dependent upon hereditary pres- tige, and has proved himself a worthy factor in the line of industry he has elected to follow. He is a splendid ex- ample of the virile and progressive young man who believes in doing well whatever is worth doing at all, a man of keen dis- cernment and sound judgment, broad- minded, and a follower of the highest business and social ethics. Though a busy man, he is very approachable and unassuming in his manner, being genial and pleasing in his address, and because of his genuine worth he is well liked by all with whom he comes in contact.
Milo L. Cleveland was born in Port Colborne, Province of Ontario, Canada, January 1, 1879, and was a child when his parents first made their home in Brock- port, New York, where he acquired his earlier education in the public schools. He was then in succession a student at Bradstreet's Preparatory School, in Rochester; the Cascadilla School, in Ithaca; the Brockport Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1900; and finally matriculated at Cornell Uni- versity, where he took a course in civil engineering, and was graduated from this
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institution in the class of 1905. He at once became associated with his talented father, in the important contracts of the latter in Canada, and with Contract No. 61, of the Barge Canal work at Brock- port. After the death of his father he was elected to the presidency of the corpor- ation founded by his father, known as Cleveland & Sons Company, and is still the incumbent of this office. In 1913-14, under his supervision, the firm con- structed the locks, dams and bridge on Seneca river. In all that he undertakes Mr. Cleveland displays the thoroughness and progressiveness of the well-trained business man of the present generation, young in years, but apparently old in experience, by whom the work of the world appears to be carried on in the present period. His popularity in social circles is on a par with his usefulness in the business world, and he is a member of the following named organizations : Sigma Phi fraternity, Cornell University ; order of Free and Accepted Masons, of Brockport; Genesee Valley Club, of Rochester ; Cornell clubs, of New York City and Rochester. His religious affili- ation is with the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Cleveland married, in Kansas City, Missouri, September 6, 1906, Kathryn Callaway, a daughter of Redman and Antonia Callaway. This union has been blessed with two children: Sybil and Merritt Andrus. Men of Mr. Cleveland's caliber and makeup are needed in every community, as an example of what un- remitting zeal and ability may accomplish in developing, directly or indirectly, all lines of industry and progress. Optimistic in temperament, he always sees the bright side of life and endeavors to spread the gospel of good cheer among all with whom he comes in contact. He is not demonstrative in his feelings toward others, yet he makes friends easily, values them at their true worth, and his intense
loyalty to them is one of his striking char- acteristics. At every stage of his career he is the same honest, cheerful, generous soul, living not for himself alone, un- known to selfishness, a stranger to dis- honor, and in everything "standing four square to every wind that blows."
LEWIS, Merton Elmer, Lawyer, Public Official.
For many years the keen intellect and energy of Mr. Lewis have been employed in the public service, and he is still active in directing the conduct of affairs through political action. He is descended from old New England stock, and exemplifies those characteristics which led people to cross a wide ocean and settle in a wilder- ness because of principle. He was born December 10, 1861, in Webster, Monroe county, New York, son of Charles Chad- wick and Rhoda Ann (Willard) Lewis. Rhoda Ann Willard was a descendant of Major Simon Willard, a member of Gov- ernor Winthrop's council in Massachu- setts Bay Colony, and in command of a regiment in King Philip's War, and also chief in command in the Pequot Indian War. He was one of the pioneers of New England, whose family has been conspicu- ous in many lines of endeavor down through the generations to the present time. She was born August 25, 1826, in Williamson, Wayne county, New York, a daughter of John Ray and Sarah Violetta (Purdy) Willard, and died at Webster, New York, in February, 1892.
Merton Elmer Lewis attended the com- mon schools including the Webster Union School, from which he was graduated June 2, 1882. He studied law with James Breck Perkins at Rochester, New York, and later with the firm of Perkins & Hays, at Rochester, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1887. Since that time he has been continuously engaged in the practice
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of his profession at Rochester, New York, and is now attorney for the Traders' Na- tional Bank of that city, of which he was for several years a director. From early life he took a keen interest in political movements, and directed his energies in the support of Republican principles. From May, 1890, to December 31, 1895, he served as alderman of the city of Rochester, and was president of the Com- mon Council of that city from March, 1893, to December 31, 1895. He was a delegate to the New York State Con- stitutional Convention in 1894, and a member of the State Assembly in 1897, 1899, 1900 and 1901. In 1895 he was act- ing mayor of the city of Rochester, and was a member of the State Senate, repre- senting the Forty-third District, in 1902- 03-04-05-06. He was chairman of the executive committee of the Republican State Committee in 1912-13-14-15, and in the latter year was appointed first deputy attorney-general of the State. Wherever duty calls him, Mr. Lewis is found to be faithful to every charge, and his forceful and energetic nature have won for him a recognized position both in the politics of the State and as a lawyer in active practice. That he occupies a high posi- tion at the bar is evidenced by his ap- pointment as first deputy attorney-gen- eral of the State. In 1906 he was the Republican candidate for the office of State comptroller.
He has been for many years a member of the Rochester Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Rochester Club and the Republican Club of New York City. He is a man of genial and kindly nature, with pleasing manners, and enjoys the friend- ship and esteem of those highest in the councils of the State. With his family he is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal church.
He was married (first) at Webster, New York, January 2, 1886, to Adeline Louise Moody, and (second) at Roches- ter, November 9, 1899, to Eva Juliet Gates, daughter of Nehemiah Francis and Amorette Lemira (Brinsmaid) Gates. There are two children of the first mar- riage now living, namely: Donald M. B., born July 15, 1888, and Roscoe Chadwick Moody, June 12, 1893. The children of the second mariage are: Margaret, born November 24, 1904, and Virginia, August 26, 1907.
PENNOCK, John Downer, Manufacturing Chemist.
John Downer Pennock, born August 16, 1860, at Morristown, Lamoine county, Vermont, is a son of Samuel McMaster and Alma Maria (Tinker) Pennock. The original Pennock, Samuel by name, came from Cornwall, England, about 1700, and settled in Middletown, Connecticut. The name appears in Cornwall and Glouces- tershire sometimes as Pennock, Pinnock, Pinoke and Pignoc (silent g). The family goes back to Cornwall, to the time of the early British churches, when according to custom they canonized anyone pos- sessing the least renown, hence we have the Parish of St. Pinnock in Cornwall, and the Chapelry or District of Pinnock in Gloucestershire, which was formerly called Pinnockshire. This, says an old historian, is written in the "Dooms' Day Book" (Temp. William I) Pignoc scire which means the scire or share of a por- tion of some Saxon property named Pignoc. The coat-of-arms of the Corn- wall Pennocks is the same as that of the Pinnocks. The coat-of-arms, sable pas- sant, is the one presented by William III.
As above stated, Samuel Pennock came to the Colonies about 1700. The next in line, James Pennock, son of Samuel Pen- nock, with wife and several children left
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Goshen, Connecticut, went west and north into Vermont, broke ground and estab- lished the town of Strafford, Vermont, in 1768. James Pennock was a man of more than ordinary ability. In 1770 he was justice of the peace, assistant justice of the Superior Court of Common Pleas for Gloucestershire county, attended session of court at Kingsland (now Washington) May 29, 1770, also court at Newbury in 1773 and 1774; for eight years justice at Strafford; is buried in Strafford, and on his tombstone is carved the most remark- able record as to the number of his de- scendants. James Pennock, Esq., died December 2, 1808, aged ninety-six years. Thankful Pennock died December 23, 1798, aged eighty-one years. Also carved on his tombstone is the following: "Let it be remembered that this family was the first to break the soil of this town, 1768." They left six children, sixty-four grandchildren, one hundred and eighty- nine great-grandchildren, and sixteen of the fourth generation. Samuel, Isaac, and Isaac, representatives of the third, fourth and fifth generations, all lived in the neighborhood of Strafford, Vermont.
Samuel McMaster Pennock, father of John Downer Pennock, born in Strafford, Vermont, in 1820, was a member of the Vermont State Assembly, one year, and senator two years; moved to Boston in 1865 with seven children, and was there a merchant until his death in 1889. He took active part in civic affairs in his home town, Somerville, Massachusetts, served on the school board, common council, board of aldermen, presiding on the latter board one year.
On his mother's side, John Downer Pennock descended from John Tinker, nephew of Thomas Tinker, who came over in the "Mayflower." His name ap- pears in records as early as 1638; he was of a remarkable versatility, appears as manufacturer and trader with the Indians,
importer of goods to the Colonies from England, agent for the Governors Win- throp, a successful lawyer, and as a "grave and able man" he expounded the Scriptures in the absence of a minister ; was one of the principal founders of Groton, Massachusetts, and was town clerk until his removal to New London in 1658. From New London he was elected as deputy to the General Court of the Colony, and later made assistant to the governor, the highest office within the election of the people. In the Massachu- setts collection of historical papers are about twenty letters from John Tinker addressed to the Governors Winthrop, father and son. In the collection of James Russell Lowell's writings there is a very interesting paper of considerable length reviewing these Tinker letters with high appreciation of the man and also of his literary style. Next in line Samuel Tin- ker, born in New London, 1659, died 1733. We find he lived in Lyme. Connecticut, in 1684, later in Shelter Island and South- hold. Next John Tinker, born 1678, died 1781, aged one hundred and three years. John Tinker, born 1713. Elihu Tinker, born 1739, lived in Worthington, Massa- chusetts; married Lydia Huntington, daughter of Solomon and Mary (Buck- ingham) Huntington, fourth generation from Thomas Buckingham, who came to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1638. James Tinker, born in Worthington, Connecti- cut, 1785, died at Morristown, Vermont, 1860. He was a physician, studied first with Dr. Holland, father of James G. Holland, author and editor, in Worthing- ton, Connecticut. Regarding James Tin- ker, the "Vermont Historical Magazine" says: "Soon obtained a very extensive practice extending through the towns of Stowe, Waterbury, Mansfield, Sterling, Johnson, Hyde Park, Eden and Wolcott, frequently obliged to ride both night and day to answer the demands upon him,
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was a man of very strong mind, deep thinker, powerful reasoner, of good scholarship and skillful physician and surgeon, strong fluent and forceful writer, educated a Calvinist, became a Univer- salist. Alma Maria Tinker, born 1825, died 1865, married Samuel McMaster Pennock. Alma Maria Tinker, of sweet and gentle disposition, had rare qualities of mind, was finely educated, an excel- lent French scholar, and led a class of theological students in Latin."
John Downer Pennock received his early education in the public schools of Somerville, Massachusetts, graduating from the Somerville High School in 1879, and from Harvard College in 1883. He remained at Harvard for one year as as- sistant instructor in chemistry, having specialized in his college course in that subject. He was engaged by the Hon. Rowland Hazard as assistant chemist in the soda ash plant of the Solvay Process Company, at Syracuse, New York, in November, 1884. Two years later he was made chief chemist, and subse- quently, in 1897, chief chemist of the Semet Solvay Company, serving as chief chemist for both companies until 1913, when he was made general manager of the Solvay Process Company ; director in both companies since 1909. He has been vestryman of St. Mark's Church, Syra- cuse, for twenty years; member of the Society of Chemical Industry ; American Chemical Society; American Institute of Mining Engineers ; Electro-Chemical So- ciety, and to these societies has con- tributed a number of papers on chemical subjects ; president of Syracuse Chemical Society for a number of years. He was sent by Secretary of State John Hay as United States delegate to the Interna- tional Congress of Applied Chemistry at Berlin in 1903. Appointed Belgian repre- sentative on jury of awards, chemical sec- tion, St. Louis Exposition, in 1904. Coun-
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