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 40
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ing it her work for life if it should be pos- sible. What might have been a difficult task for most of us, with her talents was quite possible and she soon became known as a successful public reader. In the year 1883 she was married to Edwin P. Bellows, of Gloversville. Mrs. Bel- lows took up the work of elocutionist pro- fessionally ; she was previously enrolled as a member of the Star Lyceum. Bureau, with office in the Tribune Building in New York City. She has read and re- cited at many public entertainments in the neighborhood of Gloversville and else- where.
Large as is her influence in her profes- sion, it is not by any means the only chan- nel in which it is exerted for the good of the community. On the contrary, she is active in a large number of the impor- tant movements undertaken in the city for the general good and especially those identified with her own sex. She is a member of many of the most prominent organizations among women in the State and in all takes a leading part. From the year 1886 she has been intimately con- nected with the Young Women's Chris- tian Association of Gloversville and has during all that period served as a mem- ber of its board of directors and off and on as its president also. She is a member of the Mohawk and Hudson Humane So- ciety and a director of its Gloversville branch, and is intensely interested in all philanthropic and humane work, espe- cially that connected with children and animals. She is also a member of the General Richard Montgomery Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and has served as its regent since the year 1906. Besides these organizations she also belongs to the Monday Afternoon Study Class, the Washington Headquarters Association of New York City and the Cayadutta Chap-
ter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Tak- ing part in as many of the activities of the community as she does, Mrs. Bellows is of course a very well known figure in community life. She is carrying on the work and influence begun by her father towards a better appreciation and under- standing of the beautiful, although her own course lies in different paths and is effective through other means. She is highly successful in her profession, and although it is necessarily difficult to pick out the elements and contributory factors in a thing so complex as success, the sub- ject is so fascinating a one that a glance at it in the case of Mrs. Bellows is per- haps justifiable.
There is no formula for success, one accomplishing the ends by means that seem the diametrical opposite of those employed by others. One's strength seems to lie in self-advertisement, to make progress one must call attention to him- self or herself and claim the admiration and wonder of those he or she uses as instruments, while with another silence appears as necessary as did noise to the first. There are, of course, a thousand variations to each of these general classes and we distinguish easily between those who need silence or obscurity for their deeds, and those who prefer them merely as part of modest and retiring natures. Perhaps we can say that it is to this last class that the subject of this brief article belongs-a woman who does not strive or proclaim her own merits, so convinced is she that "good wine needs no bush," that she concerns herself wholly with the performance in the very fullest sense of all her engagements. The result fully justifies her in her policy ; her suc- cess is great and no wide system of ad- vertising could have resulted in a more en- viable reputation or an achievement more substantial. Whatever may be thought
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of the method from the standpoint of business there is one thing certain, how- ever, and that is that in a broader aspect the knowledge of such a life must in the final analysis depend upon the efforts of others for its preservation. The more re- tiring and self-effacing a person is, the more important is it that an account of his or her career should be put in some permanent form so that it may not cease to serve as an example to others. Nay, there is an added reason why such a one should have his record preserved, for modesty is an added virtue and one which perhaps above all others, we need to have presented to us for imitation, and which by a strange paradox most readily hides even itself. This is the raison d'etre for a record such as this, that it shall assist in preserving the knowledge of a career that may serve us all as a model to be copied.
OTIS, Lyman M., City Official, Honored Citizen.
Exceptionally well preserved in this, his eighty-fourth year, serving his city as he has always served it, with fidelity and zeal, the tall, spare, yet supple and re- sponsive form of Lyman M. Otis, treas- urer of the city of Rochester, is a daily sight at his desk in the City Hall during business hours. Physically, no man of his years can surpass him, while in mental vigor, breadth of vision, and loyalty to the interests of the city he loves, he is more the man of fifty than of eighty-four. His has been a wonderful life, not more for its success than for the spirit that in- spires his public service. Since 1857 when, as a citizen of the town of Henri- etta, Monroe county, he first accepted public office, he has rendered official serv- ice almost continuously, not from the nar- row standpoint of self-interest, but from a patriotic desire to be identified with
public affairs and to aid the cause of clean, honest, municipal government. Prior to 1899, when he retired from active business life, this public service was given at the expense of personal interest and convenience, and certainly the twelve years during which he has been treasurer of Rochester might have been justly de- voted to personal comfort, not civic duty. But he laid aside his rightful privileges in his desire to be useful, and these twelve years have been years of active service and vigilant supervision of the financial interests of his city, his keen foresight, business sagacity, inborn financial abil- ity, and sound moral principles all being laid upon the altar of duty. And there is a lesson to be learned from the example of Mr. Otis that other men in control of industrial and commercial enterprises should take to themselves-that cities and States need the wisdom and business abil- ity of such men, and that not until the light that has illumined the life of Mr. Otis penetrates the cloud of selfishness in which so many able men are enveloped will the cause of good government ad- vance. That the public appreciates the more than half a century of official serv- ice of Mr. Otis is best shown by the fact that he found it necessary to announce publicly that at the expiration of his term, December 31, 1915, he would re- tire permanently from official life in order to prevent another reëlection. But when he shifts the responsibilities of his office to younger shoulders he can do so with the full knowledge that his duty has been performed and that he carries into private life the unbounded respect and confidence of an entire city.
Mr. Otis springs from an honored New England ancestry, tracing to John Otis, who came from Hingham, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in June, 1635. His grandson, Judge John Otis, born in
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Hingham in 1657, moved to Barnstable, where he died after a life of long and use- ful public service, November 30, 1727. He was for eighteen years colonel of militia, for twenty years representative to the General Court, for twenty-one years a member of the Governor's Council, and for twenty-one years Chief Justice of Common Pleas and Probate Court.
David G. Otis, a grandson of Judge John Otis, came from Connecticut to Perry, Wyoming county, New York, at an early day and was one of the pioneer school teachers of that section. He taught for many years in Warsaw, Wyoming county, moving in 1838 to Henrietta, Monroe county, where he also taught and resided until his death in 1837. He was for many years identified with military affairs in the State, and at the time of his death held the rank of brigadier-general of militia. He served as school commis- sioner and was actively interested in edu- cational matters as teacher and layman throughout all his life, although farming was his principal occupation. He mar- ried Maria Morris, born in Warsaw, New York.
Lyman M. Otis, son of David G. and Maria (Morris) Otis, was born in Henri- etta, Monroe county, New York, Novem- ber 12, 1831, and at the age of six years was deprived of a father's care. He was educated in public schools, Monroe Acad- emy, and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, the last named institution located at Lima, New York. During his youth and early manhood he taught school during the winter months, engaging in farming dur- ing the summer seasons. In 1855 he made his entrance into the business world as a partner of D. W. Chase, embarking in the nursery business under the firm name Chase & Otis. This was in the early period of the now great nursery business of Monroe county, and in order to make
income and disbursements balance the firm dealt in produce, live stock and wool. In 1867 the firm sold its business in Hen- rietta and moved to Rochester, where the lumber business of J. H. Robinson & Son was purchased. They conducted a very successful business until 1888, when Mr. Chase died, Mr. Otis continuing the busi- ness under the firm name of L. M. Otis & Company. For eleven years he managed an ever-increasing business most success- fully, then in 1899 sold to the W. B. Morse Lumber Company and retired from pri- vate business life. He was for many years a member and treasurer of the Monroe County Agricultural Society and one of the organizers of the Monroe County Building and Loan Association. He was connected with that association during the fifteen years required to mature its issue of shares, every shareholder receiving from six to ten per cent. on his invest- ment. As a business man Mr. Otis was progressive and successful, displaying the qualities that ever make for advancement and winning high reputation as a finan- cier and executive manager.
During his earlier years Mr. Otis was a Democrat, but like so many others broke with his party when slavery be- came the issue and affiliated with the newly formed Republican party, to which he has ever since been attached. He was elected town clerk of Henrietta in 1857, served nine years as justice of the peace, and after his removal to Rochester in 1888 at once began taking active part in public affairs. In 1889 he was elected supervisor from the Fourth Ward, serving continu- ously for six terms, during the last two being chairman of the board. He also served two terms as alderman from the Fourth Ward, from 1894 to 1898 was in- spector of Monroe county prison, in 1894 was chosen chairman of the committee having in charge the erection of the new
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county court house, serving until its com- pletion in 1896, and was elected sewer commissioner in 1895. From 1900 until 1904 he was city assessor of taxes, and on January 1, 1904, entered upon his duties as treasurer of the city of Roches- ter, an office he held continuously, his last term expiring December 31, 1915, when he announced that he would re- tire from public life. He will be missed, this kindly old gentleman whose sense of humor never fails, whose tall form and keen blue eye have welcomed callers at the treasurer's office for the past twelve years. The treasurer's office of a large city like Rochester is not a sinecure, the single item of disbursements alone re- quiring Mr. Otis to sign seventy thou- sands checks each year. But from the age of seventy-two to that of eighty-four years he has carried the weight of re- sponsibility the office entails with the ease of a man thirty years his junior.
Mr. Otis married, in 1864, Amanda M., daughter of Ambrose Cornwell, of Henri- etta, New York. Mrs. Otis died in 1909. They were the parents of one child, Mary S., widow of Fred W. Baker, of Roches- ter.
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GREENE, Myron W., Banker.
Myron W. Greene, who conducts a pri- vate banking and investment business in Rochester and acts as executor, adminis- trator and trustee of estates and trust funds, has gained distinction in financial circles, and is a representative of one of the oldest and most prominent American families. He is the author of a family genealogy from 1639 to 1891, which was published in 1891 by the Narragansett Historical Register. His grandfather, Nathan Greene, married Maria Greene, a descendant of John Greene, of Warwick,
Rhode Island, to which line belongs Gen- eral Nathaniel Greene, hero of the War of the Revolution and contemporary with General George Washington.
John Greene, of Quidnessett, Rhode Island, was fifteenth in descent from Lord Alexander de Greene de Boketon, who received his titles and estates A. D. 1202, head and founder of the "Greene line ;" ninth in descent from Sir Henry Greene, Lord Chief Justice of England, who died in 1370; and on the "Capeteian line" was twenty-fifth in descent from Robert the Strong, made Duke de France in A. D. 861; twenty-second from King Hugo Capet; and nineteenth from Hugh de Vermandois, the great crusader. In the Revolutionary War Samuel Greene, of Rhode Island, sent eight sons into the war, a record no one else ever equalled, and Joseph Greene, of New York, volun- teer, twelve years old, was the youngest soldier of the same war. The Greene family, so closely identified with the early history of Rhode Island, have enjoyed more State and civic honors than any other family within her borders, there being more Greenes in the State than any other name whatever and extending over a period of nearly three hundred years of American history not one has been found to have ever been convicted of crime and not one who was a drunkard. The Greene coat-of-arms, with the motto, Nec Timeo, Nec Sperno, consists of three bucks trip- pant on an azure field, as it was borne by the founder of the line. The crescent, a mark of cadency, denoting the line of a second son, is used by all the Warwick and Quidnessett Greenes.
Ira W. Greene, father of Myron W. Greene, was a native of Monroe county, New York, born at Greene's Corners, now Mann's Corners, in the township of Rush, on May 2, 1832. He was a man of dis- tinguished presence and commanding in-
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fluence in politics, although never aspir- ing to or accepting office. For twenty- five years he was superintendent of the Sunday school and president of the board of trustees of the Rush Methodist Epis- copal Church, his father, Nathan Greene, having settled on a farm in this county in 1804. For many years Ira W. Greene carried on business as a farmer and dealer in live stock, coal and produce, and was in the Eagel Bank of Rochester, New York, from 1851 to 1853, which later merged into the Traders' National Bank. He was also propagator and grower of choice field seeds and figured for many years as a respected and worthy resident of this county, being at the time of his death, which occurred on June 22, 1905, one of the oldest native sons of the coun- ty. On the distaff side Myron W. Greene is also a descendant from an old pioneer family of Western New York. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Hester Ann Ruliffson, was born in Henri- etta, Monroe county, daughter of Isaac Ruliffson. She died in April of 1866. The father was twice married and by his first wife had three children, two sons and one daughter, and by his second wife he had two sons and one daughter.
Myron W. Greene was born in district No. 6, in the township of Rush, Monroe county, New York, November 26, 1864. Provided with good educational privi- leges he was graduated from the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York, in the class of 1887 and became a mem- ber of the Genesee Lyceum Society. He became an active member and is now president of the board of trustees of this society. He is treasurer of the Alumni Gymnasium Association of the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and further retains his interest in the seminary by maintain- ing a scholarship prize and prize for pub- lic speaking to members of the Lyceum
Society. As a student in the Syracuse University, which he entered in 1887, he pursued a scientific course and was can- didate for the degree of Bachelor of Science in the class of 1891. In 1888 he entered Williams College, Massachusetts, in the class of 1890. His broad intellec- tual culture well qualified him for an im- portant position in the business world, and following the completion of his edu- cation he entered the Bank of Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, New York, where he remained until 1892, when he became connected with the Rochester Trust & Safe Deposit Company, with which he remained until 1899, when he established a business on his own account for the conduct of a private banking and invest- ment business. He deals in government and municipal bonds, and has gained for himself a reputation as a financier of keen discernment and sound judgment.
Mr. Greene is a member of the Invest- ment Bankers' Association of America, the Zeta Psi (College) Fraternity of North America, of which he was grand officer in 1909-1910. During his term of office he visited practically every college of importance in the United States and Canada, delivering numerous public ad- dresses, and presiding at the International Convention held in San Francisco in 1910. He has been president of the Zeta Psi Alumni Association of Rochester, New York, since the date of its organiza- tion in 1905; vice-president of Williams College Alumni Association of Rochester, New York, 1913-14-15; vice-president of Greene Family Association, 1913-14-15; president of Ruliffson-Wells Family As- sociation, 1914-15. He also belongs to the Frank R. Lawrence Lodge, No. 797, Free and Accepted Masons, and Hamil- ton Chapter, No. 62, Royal Arch Masons. He is a worthy representative of an hon- ored family, patriotic in his devotion to
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American interests, and loyal in his sup- port of those measures and movements which he deems beneficial to the city, government or nation.
On April 27, 1900, Mr. Greene was mar- ried to Nancy Laura Lancaster, of Lead- ville, Colorado. She was born in Lara- mie, Wyoming, February 22, 1877, daugh- ter of George W. Lancaster. Unto this marriage have been born the following named: Lancaster Myron, born Febru- ary 21, 1901 ; Norvin Ruliffson, born Sep- tember 13, 1902 ; Zeta Priscilla, born March 2, 1904; Nathan Ira, born March 6, 1906; and Myron Wesley (2nd), born Novem- ber 1, 19II.
BELDEN, Alvin Jackson, Man of Large Affairs.
The true measure of Alvin Jackson Belden, of Syracuse, New York, is clearly indicated by the designations he succes- sively earned as he passed along the road of commercial effort -executive, iron- master, railroad and canal builder, con- structor of public works, financier, capi- talist -ever and always a man of big affairs. Greatness cannot emanate from pettiness, neither can broad comprehen- sion meet narrow perspective. The life of Alvin Jackson Belden has been occu- pied with accomplishments of magnitude, in the main the outcome of his own in- dividual ability and application, but to some extent, perhaps, due to heredity.
The ancestral records of the Belden family cover many distinguished lives, Alvin Jackson Belden being in direct lineal descent from Sir Francis Baildon, who was knighted at the coronation of James I., and whose son, Richard Belden, in 1638 emigrated from England, landing in due course on American soil, and settling in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Tracing still farther back, it appears that Belden
is a place name, and the family of ancient English origin. Bayldon, or Baildon Common, is a chapelry in the West Riding of Yorkshire; Baildon was in the Angle kingdom of Diera, A. D. 550, whence came the immortal youths seen by Gregory at Rome, and it has been the seat of the Baildon-Bayldon-Baylden-Bel- ding-Belden family since the time of King John. Baildon Hall is still in a good state of preservation. The hall was built sometime during the fifteenth century, and alterations were effected in 1660 by Francis Baildon, cousin of Richard Bel- den.
The patronymic has during the cen- turies been variously written, Baildon, Bayldon, Bayldonn, Baylden, Belding, and Belden being some of the variations. Richard Belden, the progenitor of the family in America, signed his name to the oath of allegiance to the crown, March 26, 1613, Richard Bayldonn-carrying the extra "n," though on his arrival in Ameri- ca his name was written into records, pre- sumably at his direction, as Richard Bayl- den. He died at Wethersfield, Connecti- cut, in 1655, and among the effects men- tioned in his will was rapier, or gentle- man's sword, a weapon for which he could have found small use in Wethers- field, and was doubtless a relic of his early days, indicating his aristocratic line- age.
In the annals of the Belden family of the many generations between that of Richard Belden, of Wethersfield, and the present are contained many records of honorable connection with, and partici- pation in, national, civic and commercial affairs ; many Beldens were soldiers, one of particular historic interest to the family having been Elisha Belden who served the State and Nation during three wars, including the Revolutionary War of 1775; another, Elisha, son of the aforemen-
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tioned namesake, was a noted builder of sailing vessels for foreign trade in the early part of the nineteenth century ; other members of the family have been of Judiciary, the Legislature, House of Congress, et cetera. An uncle of Mr. Alvin Jackson Belden was the Hon. James Jerome Belden, whose successful execution of many mammoth public works within the State of New York and other parts of the country brought him conspicuously before the "public eye" of the Nation. He was twice honored by election to the mayoral chair of the city of Syracuse, and for three terms sat in the Legislative House of the Nation.
Enough has been written in the fore- going to indicate the possibility that his heredity had some bearing on the capac- ity of Alvin Jackson Belden to handle affairs of magnitude and moment; and certainly an example was prominently before him during the greater part of his life-in the achievements of his father, Augustus Cadill Belden, a business man of considerable note; but chief credit for the present standing of Alvin Jackson Belden in financial and industrial circles is due to Alvin Jackson Belden, who from his very initiation into commercial affairs indicated the quality within him.
Born in Pompey, Onondaga county, New York, October 10, 1848, son of Au- gustus Cadill and Rozelia (Jackson) Bel- den, Alvin Jackson Belden commenced his education in the schools of Geddes, later proceeding to the Walnut Hill Academy at Geneva, New York, from which academic institution he graduated in 1866. Electing to follow a business life rather than a professional career, influ- enced in his decision maybe by the char- acteristic which later became so strongly evident in him, i. e., his broadness of view on all questions, he applied himself with energy to his initial industrial oc- cupation which had connection with the
iron business of the Onondaga Iron Com- pany, manufacturers of pig iron. His ex- ecutive ability quickly advanced him to posts of much responsibility, and he re- mained secretary and treasurer of the Onondaga Iron Company for many years, in fact until 1881, when he resigned to undertake the organization of the Phoenix Foundry & Machine Company, of which corporation Mr. Belden assumed direc- tion in his capacity as secretary-treasurer. About ten years later he decided to in- terest himself actively in the business of railroad and public works contracting, and this sphere of activity being abso- lutely in harmony with his disposition, his success was rapid and considerable. In a short space of time he was part owner of three huge contracting com- panies whose operations had assumed immense proportions, successfully and simultaneously undertaking contracts for important national, state and other pub- lic works of great magnitude in various parts of the United States. One of the companies executed three large contracts for sewer building in Boston, and also carried out the Erie Canal contract, a project the cost of completing which totalled to nine million dollars. Mr. Bel- den was also one of the principals of the Rapid Transit Company, of Syracuse, this company doing considerable business within the State of New York. Through- out his active business life, Mr. Belden has demonstrated his capacity for great things. One biographer wrote of him: "As an organizer and promoter, he occu- pied a position of distinction in business circles, and in all his ventures met with success which results from capable man- agement, keen foresight, and sound judg- ment." And the best evidence of his ability lies in the position he to-day holds among the leading "men of affairs" of the Empire State.
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