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 pre?minent in their own and many other states. V.6 > Part 35
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married there Eunice, daughter of David and Susanna (Durkee) Tenney ; she was born in Hanover, December 21, 1783, died February 21, 1870. Mr. Miller also held several local offices in Hanover town and Grafton county, and was state senator, June 23, 1829, to June 2, 1830, and from that date to June 1, 1831; and was a member of the governor's council 1834- 35-36, and died, according to New Hamp- shire Official Register of 1851, January 10, 1837, aged sixty-three. He was a man of ability and distinction. In politics he was a Democrat, in religion a Unitarian. By occupation he was a farmer. Elijah Tenney Miller, son of Elijah and Eunice (Tenney) Miller, was born August 15, 1815, at Hanover, New Hampshire, and died May 30, 1892. He married Chastina C. Hoyt, born about 1826, daughter of Benjamin and Abigail (Strong) Hoyt. They had three children: Fayette M., born July 25, 1844; Susan A., March 22, 1847, married David C. Tenney, of Han- over, and died 1873; and Charles Ran- som, of whom further.
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rose to the position of city editor of that newspaper. In July, 1875, he became a member of the staff of the "New York Times," and since then has been con- nected with that newspaper. He was foreign editor for a time, then editorial writer from 1881 to 1883, and since April, 1883, has been editor-in-chief. He is also vice-president and a stockholder of the New York Times Company. During the period of Mr. Miller's editorship "The Times" has become one of the foremost newspapers of the country. In the opin- ion of many of the best judges it is the best newspaper in New York City, and the success of the newspaper under the policy of "All the news that's fit to print" has been a wholesome example and inspiration to editors and publishers of newspapers throughout the whole country. In poli- tics Mr. Miller is an Independent, and in religion non-sectarian. He is a member of the Century Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Piping Rock Club, the Garden City Golf Club, the Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club of Pike County, Pennsylvania. He married, October 10, 1876, Frances Ann Daniels, born April 8, 1851, died December 8, 1906, daughter of William H. and Frances Cot- ton Daniels, who was a descendant of Rev. John Cotton, the Puritan divine. Children : Madge Daniels, born October 28, 1877; Hoyt Miller, March 18, 1883, in New York City. Mr. Miller resides at 21 East Ninth street, New York City, in summer at Great Neck, Long Island, and his business address is the Times office, New York City.
MUNGER, George Grover, Lawyer.
While several generations of Mr. Munger's immediate ancestors have lived in New York State, the family is origin- ally from Connecticut, descendants of
Nicholas Munger who settled in Guil- ford, Connecticut, not later than 1661 and resided on the north side of the Neck river, where he died October 16, 1668. He married, June 2, 1659, Sarah Hull, who survived him and became the wife of Dennis Crampton. James Munger, a descendant of Nicholas and Sarah Munger, moved to Central New York. His son, James (2) Munger, married Jane B. Thompson, and they were the parents of an only son, Rev. Reuben De- Witt Munger, D. D., and the grand- parents of George Grover Munger, of Syracuse. James (2) Munger died in Ithaca, New York, in 1848.
Rev. Reuben DeWitt Munger was born at Ithaca, New York, August 26, 1837, died at Syracuse, New York, March II, 1909. His early years were spent in Ithaca, the family home until the death of James (2) Munger in 1848. After being left a widow, Mrs. James Munger removed with her only son to Watkins, New York, where his education, begun in Ithaca public schools, was continued in the schools of Watkins. After complet- ing the courses there he prepared at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, a noted school located at Lima, New York, then entered Genesee College, whence he was graduated at the head of his class, 1861, and awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he was awarded Master of Arts, a degree he also received from Syracuse University in 1873. His college fraternity was Phi Beta Kappa.
His high order of scholarship attracted attention and after graduation he was offered college professorships, but all such offers were declined, his ambition being fixed upon the holy calling of ministry. He passed through the varied degrees of service until finally ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and a member of the East Gene- see Annual Conference. That conference
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was then very large and through changes in conference boundaries he was at times a member of the Western New York Con- ference, the Genesee Conference and the Central New York Conference. His first appointment was at Big Flats, New York, in 1861, and from that year until 1893, when he was chosen presiding elder, he was continuously in the active ministry. In 1862 he was pastor at Havana; at South Sodus in 1863-64; Painted Post in 1865; Dansville in 1866- 67; Addison in 1868; East Bloomfield in 1869-71; Rochester in 1872-74; Bath in 1877; Palmyra in 1878-80; Auburn in 1881-82; Ithaca, his birthplace, 1883-85; Waterloo in 1886-90; Geneva in 1891-92. In all the charges he filled he labored most acceptably and as he grew in years and experience he broadened intellec- tually and was regarded as one of the strong men of his conference.
In 1893 he was elected presiding elder of the Auburn district, a responsible position, now known in the church as district superintendent. During his term of office, five years, he resided in Auburn, from there keeping in close touch with the churches of his district. In 1896 he received from Syracuse University the degree of Doctor of Divinity, an honor conferred in recognition of his learning, piety and eminence as a theologian. At the annual conference of 1898 he was transferred as presiding elder to the Elmira district, serving that district until 1904. The conference of 1904 elected Dr. Munger secretary of the sustenation fund of the conference, an office he held until death with headquarters at Syracuse. During the five years he served as secre- tary of the fund he put forth every effort and did arouse the church to the neces- sity of more adequately providing for the support of its superannuated ministers and the campaign he inaugurated resulted
in a fund which has reached very large figures, available for the support of the aged clergymen of the conference. Dr. Munger was accorded the honor of elec- tion as delegate to the quadrennial gen- eral conference of his church in 1896 and reserve delegate to that of 1904. From 1873 until 1880 he was a trustee of Gene- see Wesleyan Seminary and of Syracuse University from 1895 until his death.
He was a member of Dansville Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Ithaca Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; St. Augustine Commandery, Knights Templar, of Ithaca. He was a member of the New York State Historical Society, taking a deep interest in the various bodies to which he belonged. Seventy-two years was the span of life allotted the devoted, eloquent divine, years of greatest useful- ness in the ministry and ended while still "in the harness" as he would have wished. He was actively interested in those ques- tions tending to the moral uplift of the communities in which he lived and could always be counted upon for active sup- port. The cause of temperance was very dear to him, and outside of his strictly ministerial work none other was so clear. He was a loyal supporter of Francis Murphy, that gifted Irishman whose crusade against rum so stirred the nation, and during that and other campaigns for temperance he lectured in nearly all of the Eastern and Middle States. He was greatly in demand for such service and proved a powerful advocate for the cause.
Dr. Munger married, in 1863, Estelle Hinman, daughter of Dr. George T. and Irene (Benson) Hinman, of Havana, New York, a descendant of Sergeant Edward Hinman, an officer of the Royal Life Guards of Charter I. Sergeant Hinman came to America in 1650 and is the ances- tor of all of the name in this country
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claiming early Colonial descent. He was a large land owner at Stratford, Con- necticut, and the first title holder to the old tide mill which stood between Strat- ford and what is now Bridgeport. The Hinman ancestry also includes Governor John Webster, of Connecticut, and Deputy-Governor Samuel Symonds, of Massachusetts. Dr. and Mrs. Munger were the parents of George Grover Munger, of further mention, and James DeWitt Munger, of St. Paul, Minnesota.
George Grover Munger was born Janu- ary 29, 1865, at South Sodus, Wayne county, New York, his father then being pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at that place. His early education was obtained in the schools of the different charges his itinerant father filled, but he was reared under the best home influences and the instruction of his scholarly father and accomplished mother counted more in those formative days than school instruction. At Auburn and at Ithaca he had the benefit of the high school courses Mr. Munger married, September 26, 1894, Ada M. Bishop, of St. Paul, Minne- sota. Their only son, George DeWitt Munger, is a student at Syracuse Univer- sity, class of 1919. and was fully prepared for college admis- sion. He then entered Cornell Univer- sity, specialized in history and political economy and was graduated Bachelor of Arts, class of '88. Choosing the profes- sion of law he studied under the precep- NOLTE, Adolph, Jr., torship of F. L. Manning, of Waterloo, New York, and in 1890 was admitted to Manufacturer, Inventor. the bar. He chose Syracuse as a location, Nolte, a name well known among Ger- many's higher classes, has been worthily borne in Rochester by two generations of the family, Adolph Nolte, senior and junior, the former an adopted, the latter a native son. The father was a noted editor of a newspaper, the son has won distinction in the mechanical world by his inventive genius and skill. His inven- tions cover a wide field, but his greatest fame has been won in connection with the Hydro-Press Company, of which he was was a partner with H. H. Bacon for one year, but since 1892 has practiced alone. While his practice is general in character he specializes in the law of real estate and of corporations, transacting a large business in the State and Federal courts of the district. In 1904 he was appointed receiver for the Royal Templars of Temperance, and has been called to fill other positions of trust and respon- sibility. He is devoted to his profession, but has outside business interests and is . president. The most important of his
highly regarded as both a professional and business man. He is a member of the various bar associations, and is interested in those movements intended to make communities better places in which to live. His church affiliation is with th. denomination whose ministry his honored father graced, and he serves Centenary: Methodist Episcopal Church of Syracuse as trustee. He is one of the stewards of the Central New York Conference, a member of the Permanent Fund Commis- sion and holds other positions of the con- ference open to a layman. He is a mem- ber of Central City Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Central City Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Central City Com- mandery, Knights Templar ; the Citizens' and University clubs; the New York State Historical Society and American Historical Association. In political faith he is a Republican, but serves as a private in the ranks, seeking no political office for himself.
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inventions is difficult to determine, for his machine for grinding the edges of lenses so that the milky surface is obtained, a result that eliminates the shadows and reflections of a bright surfaced edge, is used to-day all over the world by manu- facturers of optical and camera lenses. To him is also credited the first positive washing machine, Mr. Nolte perfecting that invention at the age of eighteen years while an employee of the Sprague Laundry Company. His hydraulic press, capable of removing the two wheels from the axle of a locomotive instantaneously, was the first machine of its kind ever built, and giant presses of fifteen thou- sand tons strength are the fruit of his mechanical genius and skill. Since 1908 his talents have been devoted to the serv- ice of the Eastman Kodak Company in experimental work and machine improve- ment. These are his greatest successes only. He is the inventor of many original machines, has taken out many patents, and is a member of the International Congress of Inventors. Originality, enterprise, determination and industry have marked his business life, while cour- tesy and kindliness show in his inter- course with his fellow-men. He is highly esteemed and holds a place in public regard fairly won and worthily filled.
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.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
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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Milliaus. 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 alde .. 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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