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 36
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Adolph Nolte, Sr., scion of an aristo- cratic German house, was educated in a manner befitting his station. He was one of those bold spirits who, inspired by a hatred of oppression and a love of liberty, joined in the "Students' Rebellion" in 1841, and as a consequence was forced to flee his native land. He tarried in France. joined the French army, fought in Africa with the French legions, and for gallantry was raised to the rank of an officer. He later came to the United States, locating in Rochester, where within a year of his
arrival he was editor of the "Rochester Beobachter," a paper that he founded and printed in the German language. Its name was later changed to the "Rochester Abendpost," and for many years he con- tinued its editor and publisher. When war broke out between the States he recruited Company C, Thirteenth Regi- ment New York Volunteer Infantry, and upon receiving a captain's commission he led them to the front. The military spirit was in his blood and he fought as bravely for the Union as he had upon Algerian battlefields under the French flag, and was as ardent an apostle of liberty for the slave as when, a student in his native land, he raised the standard of revolt against tyranny. His influence among those of German birth in Roches- ter was very great, and being thoroughly imbued with American ideals he sought to inspire his countrymen with the same love and loyalty for their adopted coun- try and its institutions. He was one of the organizers of the Turn Verein, was a trustee of the Soldiers' Home, and a man held in highest respect in his adopted city by all classes. He married Margaret, daughter of John Sattler, a contractor of masonry and builder of the piers for the first iron bridge erected in Rochester. Adolph Nolte, Sr., died in 1893, mourned by a wide circle of loyal, loving friends. His wife died in 1885, aged forty-eight years.
Adolph Nolte, Jr., son of Adolph and Margaret (Sattler) Nolte, was born in Rochester, New York, July 11, 1866, and has ever been a resident of his native city. He attended public schools until sixteen years of age, then became a machinist's apprentice. He converted his nights and days of vacation into hours of study, machine designing, mechanical drawings, mathematics, and technical branches of his trade being his favorite
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William S. Pelletreau. June 12. 1915.
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branches. He adopted the foreign method of working in different shops, thus be- coming familiar with all kinds of ma- chines, how they were built and how they were operated under varied conditions. This, with his constant study, marked natural inventive genius and constructive ability, laid the foundation for his future success as inventor and designer of ma- chinery and executive and for his high position in the mechanical world. In 1902 he entered the employ of the Schaffer Manufacturing Company, beginning as a machinist, that firm then employing but four men in the machine shop and doing a limited business. He soon advanced to the position of foreman, and within a year and one-half after his entrance was made superintendent of the plant, in charge of a force of forty-two machinists. In 1906 John O. Brewster, president of the com- pany, died, and Mr. Nolte, having become a large stockholder, organized the Hydro- Press Company with a capitalization of $75,000, and bought out the Schaffer Manufacturing Company, becoming vice- president and manager of the new com- pany. In 1908 he was elected president, but shortly afterward disposed of his interests in the company and accepted a position with the Eastman Kodak Com- pany which was more in accord with his tastes, experimental work, designing of new machinery, and improvements on that in use. The work Mr. Nolte did with the Schaffer and Hydro-Press companies resulted in a vast advance in the construc- tion of hydraulic presses. The power of the hydraulic press was vastly increased and the scope of its usefulness broadened. He built presses capable of exerting a pressure of fifteen thousand tons, and as heretofore noted designed a press for the removing of the two locomotive driving wheels from their axle instantaneously, the first of its kind ever built. Numerous
patents exist as the product of his brain, many of them exceedingly valuable and covering a wide field. His invention to eliminate the shadows and reflections that a bright surfaced edge throws into a lens is exceedingly valuable, and his machine for grinding the edges to produce a milky surface was a result that lens makers had sought for vainly for thirty years. The introduction of his successful machine was hailed with delight by lens makers all over the world and found a ready sale. So, too, his machine for burnishing post cards was a great advance, raising both the quality and the quantity of the work produced.
Mr. Nolte is a member of the Inter- national Congress of Inventors, the Rochester Turn Verein, and the Knights of Malta. In politics he is a Republican, but takes little active part in public affairs. He is one of the world's valued workers and the results of his labors have added to the sum of human achievement. Hardly yet in the full prime of his powers, there are many years of useful effort be- fore him, and even greater results are to be expected from his labors.
Mr. Nolte married, April 27, 1887, Eliza, daughter of Adam Klein, of Rochester. Children : Elmer, Adele, Gladys, wife of Frank Stolte ; Mildred, and Lucille.
PELLETREAU, William S., Genealogist, Antiquarian.
The ancestors of this family were Huguenots who fled from France on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The first in America were Jean Pelletreau and his wife Magdalena ; their sons, Jean and Elie (John and Elias) had for an ancestor a physician to Admiral Coligny. The full family line appears at length in "History of Long Island," by Peter Ross, LL. D., Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.
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From such ancestry is descended Wil- liam S. Pelletreau, son of William S. and Elizabeth (Welles) Pelletreau. He was born in Southampton, Long Island, July 19, 1840. His early education was obtained in the village school and at Southampton Academy. He was addicted to books from his early youth, and dis- played more than ordinary proficiency in language. In 1861 he was elected town clerk of Southampton. The ancient records (the oldest in the State, dating back to 1639), were in a chaotic condition, and all but entirely illegible. He accom- plished the almost hopeless task of col- lecting and arranging them in chron- ological order and transcribing them, and thus the oldest records of the oldest town were rescued from oblivion. In 1873 by vote of the town meeting, Mr. Pelletreau was authorized to print them, and when completed, the first work of the kind ever printed on Long Island, the work attracted most favorable attention. It was favorably reviewed in historical magazines and newspapers, and in recog- nition of his labors Mr. Pelletreau re- ceived from the University of the City of New York the honorary degree of Master of Arts. A second and a third volume soon followed. Since then, Mr. Pelle- treau's entire life has been devoted to historical research. Among his many works are narrative histories of Greene county and Rockland county, New York ; the genealogical portion of the "History of Westchester County," "History of Putnam County, New York ;" "Records of Smithtown, Long Island ;" "Early New York Houses;" "Early Long Island Wills," and "History of Long Island." Probably his most important works are four volumes of "Abstracts of New York Wills," prepared as part of the "Collec- tions of the New York Historical So- ciety," and which contain very carefully
prepared abstracts of all the wills and documents contained in the first eighteen books of wills in the New York surro- gate's office, and are a mine of historical and genealogical information. Mr. Pelle- treau is a life member of the New York Historical Society, and is connected with the Huguenot Society of America.
BUCKLEY, William Arthur, Contracting Builder.
It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a State lies not in its ma- chinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. Mr. Buckley is one who has through many years been an important factor in conserving the public interests.
William Arthur Buckley was born in Rochester, Monroe county, New York, October 19, 1866, son of Thomas E. and Mary E. (Dalton) Buckley, the former named a prominent and successful mer- chant of Rochester, actively engaged in the picture business. St. Patrick's Parochial School afforded William A. Buckley the means of obtaining a prac- tical education, which qualified him for an active business career, which has been devoted to the general building line, he being a contractor of note and promi- nence, many of the buildings in his native city and vicinity standing as monuments of his skill and ability in the line chosen by him as his lifework. He is a self- made man, possessed of more than ordi- nary business acumen and is now in pos- session of a handsome competence, which has been acquired entirely through his own well-directed efforts. The qual- ities which have insured his success are those easily cultivated, and his example
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Williams. O. Buckley.
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should serve to encourage and inspire others to whom fate has not given wealth in the beginning of a business career. In politics he has always been a stalwart Democrat, the principles of which party he believes stands for the best govern- ment of the people. He served as alder- man during the years 1908-09, represent- ing the Fifteenth Ward, as a member of the New York State Democratic Com- mittee for 1912-13-14, and on March 2, 1914, was appointed postmaster of Rochester, the duties of which important office he is performing in an entirely creditable manner. His religious affili- ation is with Holy Apostles Roman Cath- olic Church, and he is also actively con- nected with the following organizations : Knights of Columbus, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Catholic Mutual Benefit As- sociation, St. Joseph's Catholic Young Men's Club, Improved Order of Red Men, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Woodmen of the World. Mr. Buckley is unmarried.
SCHMEER, Henry, Prominent Manufacturer.
Henry Schmeer, whose business as a paper box manufacturer exceeds that of any similar enterprise in Syracuse, was born in that city on Christmas Day, 1845, his parents being Philip and Sophia (Thousand) Schmeer, both natives of Germany, the father crossing the Atlantic and becoming a resident of Syracuse in 1835, and was one of the pioneer salt manufacturers there. He died in 1875, having for about three years survived his wife, who passed away in 1872. They were the parents of thirteen children but only two are now living, Henry and Jacob.
Henry Schmeer attended the public schools of Syracuse to his thirteenth
year, after which it became necessary for him to start out in life on his own account and he learned the trade of manufactur- ing candy with a Mr. Holliday, in whose employ he continued for three years. On the expiration of that period he took up the business of manufacturing paper boxes at a time when all work was done by hand. He was in the employ of the Trowbridge Box Company, managing same, and thoroughly acquainted him- self with all branches of the business. Because of some differences with the Trowbridge Company, he left their em- ployment and after the war he engaged in the manufacture of paper boxes on his own account, starting in a very small way with a capital of only five dollars. He admitted Mr. Philip Listman to a part- nership in the year 1867 and they began the manufacture of paper boxes in the old Wieting Block, where they remained for two years, when they removed to South Clinton street, near Walton street. For some time they continued together, but in 1883 Mr. Schmeer sold out his interest in the business to Mr. Listman and established a plant of his own on West Water street, making the same line of goods there until 1889, when he re- moved to No. 108 Noxen street, where he occupied three floors of that building and where he did an extensive business until 1894. Business grew so rapidly that he was forced to look for larger quarters, so he purchased the lot at No. 202-204 Noxen street, just one block from his old place. This lot extended through to Marnell avenue. He built a four-story brick building in the rear of this lot and began an extensive business, employing about sixty hands at that time. The firm name was the Henry Schmeer Manufacturing Company. In the year 1907 he was forced to add another story, making it five stories high. The business kept on grow-
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ing until 1913, when he was compelled to build again. This time instead of adding more stories to the same building, he extended three stories to Noxen street, connecting with the old building. This new edition is constructed of concrete and brick reinforced with steel, equipped throughont with the Grinell Automatic Sprinkler System, making it as fire-proof as possible. The building is ideal for manufacturing purposes, getting light and air from three sides, and has access from two streets. It is one of the best manu- facturing plants in the city ; has a floor space of about thirty-five thousand square feet and gives employment to over one hundred hands. In the year 1910 the business was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and from that time has been going under the name of Schmeer's Paper Box Company, Incor- porated. The business is owned entirely by Mr. Henry Schmeer and children, all of whom have stock in same. The officers are : President, Mr. Henry Schmeer ; vice- president, Mr. George J. Schmeer ; gen- eral manager, Mr. Henry P. Schmeer ; secretary, Mr. William N. Schmeer ; treasurer, Mr. Charles F. Schmeer. His political allegiance is given to the Repub- lican party, but he is not a politician in the sense of office seeking. He is a mem- ber of the First English Lutheran Church, with which he has been active for over a quarter of a century. He is also identified with the Citizens' Club, Angler's Club, South Bay Club House, De Forrest Ang- ling Association and the Chamber of Com- merce.
In 1873 Mr. Schmeer was united in marriage to Julia Meyers, of Syracuse, and they had seven children, two daugh- ters, Julia and Stella, and five sons, George J., Henry P., William N., Robert, and Charles F. Robert died in the year 1880 at the age of eight months, his was
the first grave in Woodlawn Cemetery. Julia died in 1887 at the age of sixteen years and six months. William N. was married to Theresa Vischer in 1907 and they have one daughter, Stella Florence Schmeer, age eight years. Henry P. Schmeer was united in marriage to Bertha Herbrich in 1903, no children, his wife died in 1914. George J. Schmeer was married to Caroline Hack in 1898 and they had one son, born 1915, who died in infancy. Miss Stella Schmeer was mar- ried, in 1914, to Mr. Stanley Kingsbury.
Character and ability will come to the front anywhere, a truth which is manifest in the life of Mr. Schmeer, starting out for himself at the early age of thirteen years he has gradually advanced until to-day he occupies an enviable position in industrial circles.
WINKWORTH, Edwin David, Enterprising Citizen.
While the great Solvay Process Com- pany is one of the wonders of the com- mercial world in the magnitude of its business, its proudest achievement is the perfection of its organization and the opportunity it offers for men to develop the peculiar talent they may possess. When but a lad of sixteen years fresh from high school, Mr. Winkworth entered the employ of that company and for twenty-three years he has known no other. He is a son of John W. and Anna S. Winkworth, his father a veteran of the Civil War, his service performed with the Ninth Regiment New York Heavy Artil- lery.
Edwin D. Winkworth was born at Geddes, Onondaga county, New York, January I, 1877, and was educated in grammar and high schools. In 1893 he entered the employ of the Solvay Process Company and with that company and the
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OmEdmando
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Semet Solvay Company has passed the years which have since intervened. Dur- ing those years he has served in various capacities, now being assistant secretary of the company and manager of the sales department. Busy as his life has been Mr. Winkworth has been active in com- munity affairs and in social life. He is president of the West End Citizens' Im- provement Association, president of the West End Citizens' Club, member of the Citizens' and Rotary clubs of Syracuse, Central City Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Syracuse Lodge, No. 31, Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; and of West Genesee Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. In political faith he is a Republican.
Mr. Winkworth married in Syracuse, August 30, 1905, Prudence Mary Brind- ley, daughter of Joseph and Prudence Brindley. They are the parents of three children : Laura, born July 28, 1906; Ed- ward, March 18, 1908; Eleanor, January 29, 1912.
MELDRAM, John Charles, Attorney-at-Law.
A practitioner at the Onondaga county bar since his graduation from law school in 1878 Mr. Meldram has won honorable standing at that bar, and to his profes- sional work has given his entire time and energy. He is a son of John James Mel- dram, and a grandson of James Meldram, who came in 1820 from Leeds, England. to the United States, and died in Syra- cuse, New York, in 1890, aged eighty- nine years, having conducted a meat busi- ness for fifty years, his shop being on Warren street where the Snow building now stands. John James Meldram, who died in Syracuse, April 28, 1893, was for many years engaged in the public service as deputy sheriff ; United States deputy marshal; under sheriff, sheriff and court
crier. He married Sarah Lavina Willard, who died in February, 1899, daughter of William W. Willard, who died in 1876, senior member of the jewelry firm of Wil- lard & Hawley, of Syracuse.
John Charles Meldram, son of John James and Sarah Lavina (Willard) Mel- dram, was born in Syracuse, New York, July 20, 1856. After completing the pub- lic school courses in grammar and high schools of Syracuse, he began the study of law, taking the full course at Albany Law School from whence he was gradu- ated LL. B. class of 1878. He was at once admitted to the Onondaga bar and began practice in Syracuse practically alone until 1884. He then formed a law partnership with the late William James, that association continuing until 1889. He continued alone until about 1907, when the present partnership with Frank R. Lennox was entered into. The firm prac- tices as Meldram & Lennox, with offices 923-931 University Building, Syracuse. Their practice is an extensive one, con- ducted in all State and Federal courts. Mr. Meldram is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Citizens' Club, The An- glers' Club of Onondaga, the Anglers' As- sociation of Onondaga, and the Onondaga County Bar Association.
He married in Syracuse, in July, 1881, Nellie E., daughter of Griffith Nelson and Emily A. (Costello) Griffith. Mr. and Mrs. Meldram have four children: Frank John, born November 10, 1882; Leo Griffith, April 29, 1888; Marjorie, De- cember 16, 1889; Emily Lavina, March 10, 1893.
EDWARDS, Oliver Murray, Manufacturer, Inventor.
The Edwards family, represented in the present generation by Oliver M. Edwards, inventor and manufacturer, of Syracuse, claims as its ancestor Talmage Edwards,
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who, accompanied by his brother, Daniel Edwards, came to this country from the border of Wales and England before the Revolutionary War, locating, probably, in the State of Connecticut, from whence Talmage Edwards removed to New York State and later to Johnstown, where he established the heavy glove business which later grew to be the local industry and remains so to this day. The tradition is that Daniel Edwards died during the period of the Revolutionary War, the fact remaining that he was not heard from afterward. The following was copied from the Johnstown "Republican," issue of October 19, 1895 :
The manufacture of gloves in this vicinity (Johnstown, New York) dates back many years and to-day there are thousands of people em- ployed in this industry in Johnstown. It is esti- mated that no less than 30,000 are employed in this business in the Cayadutta valley. Tal- mage Edwards, a downeast Yankee, had learned the art of dressing deer skins and of making moccasins, mittens and leather breeches. He began in a small way in a little house erected by him at the corner of William and Mont- gomery streets in Johnstown, on the site of the present residence of Everett M. Kennedy. In the course of time others became interested in the dressing of leather and its manufacture, and the business has increased until now there are 250 concerns in Fulton county making gloves. The sales of the product of the glove industry in Fulton county aggregate nearly $10,000,000 annually.
John Edwards, the first of the line here- in recorded of whom we have authentic record, was born in 1781, and when two years of age accompanied his parents to Johnstown, New York, removing thence from Dutchess county, New York. He served as jailor of Fulton county from 1806 to 1812, and was elected to Congress in 1836. He married and among his chil- dren was Daniel, of whom further.
Daniel Edwards, son of John Edwards, was born in 1804, in Johnstown, New York, and later became a very prominent citizen of that place. He married Sally
Maria Wells, daughter of Eleazer Wells, of Johnstown, who owned and occupied the Sir William Johnson estate at Johns- town, which has recently been sold to the State of New York. Among the children of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards was Eleazer Wells, of whom further.
Eleazer Wells Edwards, son of Daniel and Sally Maria (Wells) Edwards, was born in Johnstown, New York, April 17, 1838, died in Syracuse, New York, where he had resided for many years, November 25, 1911. His father was for many years a merchant in Johnstown, and on his re- tirement from business in 1863, the son succeeded the father, continuing the busi- ness which had been founded in 1832. In 1889 Eleazer W. Edwards removed to Syracuse, accompanied by his son, Oliver M. Edwards, who had recently been taken into partnership in the Johnstown store. Another son of Eleazer W. Edwards, Daniel M. Edwards, who had been oper- ating a store at Gloversville, had pre- ceded them to Syracuse and there pur- chased the old Milton S. Price store. The Syracuse firm was established under the style of E. W. Edwards & Sons, compris- ing Eleazer W. Edwards and his two sons, O. M. and D. M. Edwards. Eleazer W. Edwards was an elder of the South Presbyterian Church of Syracuse. He was a member of the Citizens' Club; St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 4. Free and Accepted Masons, of Johnstown ; the Masonic Vet- erans' Association of Syracuse, and was one of the trustees of the Auburn Theo- logical Seminary. His business, church, and personal relations gathered around him a large circle of friends, and he was considered a type of Christian manhood, belonging to the old school in which honesty, integrity and character were considered paramount essentials in busi- ness life. Mr. Edwards was deeply inter- ested in his business, and his inherent honesty and sincerity built up an exten-
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. Edwards
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sive business, growing out of the general confidence felt in him by the public. He was deeply attached to his family and of domestic tendencies. He endeared him- self to all who came in contact with him, had a host of friends and was not known to have a single enemy. His deeply re- ligious nature led him to take an unusual interest in church work, and he was among the most valuable citizens of the city. He did not seek a part in the public life in official capacity, but his share in the development of all which made for progress and civilization was very large. To an unusual degree charitable, his heart and purse were ever open to the call of genuine distress.
Mr. Edwards married, October 11, 1859, at Ephrata, New York, Amy Murray, born September 17, 1835, in that town, and died in Syracuse, December 29, 1914. They were the parents of two children: Oliver Murray, of whom further; Daniel M., an extensive dry goods merchant of Syracuse and Rochester, New York.
Oliver Murray Edwards, son of Eleazer Wells and Amy (Murray) Edwards, was born at Ephrata, New York, October 20, 1862. He received his education at the academy of Johnstown, Fort Edward In- stitute, and Boys' Academy of Albany, all of New York. His early life was passed amid agreeable and inspiring surroundings, and he was taught those principles which establish men in the hearts of their fel- lows. He had a mechanical genius, and, resigning from the dry goods firm of E. W. Edwards & Sons, turned his atten- tion to the development of devices for the improvement of articles already on the market and also made many new inven- tions which have entered largely into use. Among his most important produc- tions may be mentioned the Edwards Window Fixtures and Extension Plat- form Trap Doors for railroad cars, now
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