USA > New York > Genesee County > Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890 > Part 22
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Joseph F. Hall was born in Rochester, N. Y , September 26, 1865. After completing his education he became connected with the Joseph Hall Manufacturing Co., of Rochester. N. Y., and Oshawa, Ont. He came to Batavia in 1885, and was in the employ of the Johnston Har- vester Co. for two years. Since attaining his majority Mr. Hall has taken an interest in politics, and now occupies a position of considerable prom- inence in the Genesee County Democracy. Mr. Hall was married to Miss Frances Holden Seaver, daughter of David Seaver, in September, 1889.
The Batavia DAILY NEWS was established June 25, 1878, by M. D. & S. P. Mix. W. H. Bradish was the editor, remaining about three months, when G. S. Griswold succeeded him. It was a small four-col- umn sheet, but being sold for one cent a copy it soon reached a circula- tion of 1,000 copies a day. The paper was enlarged in 1879 and the price raised to two cents per copy. G. S. Griswold, who had before re- tired from the paper, formed a copartnership with A: J. McWain, and together they bought out the business, which had never reached a solid foundation, the circulation having dwindled down to 500 copies. Under the new management of Griswold & McWain they have continued to publish the NEWS, enlarging and improving it as their means would al- low, and the business has increased until at the present day it is one of the most successful village dailies in the State, printing the United Press dispatches, having a circulation averaging 3,000 copies daily, and enjoy- ing a large advertising patronage as well as doing a job printing busi- · ness. The editor is A. J. McWain; the business manager is G. S. Gris wold ; the parents of both were engaged in newspaper work many years ago in Batavia.
For a short time from October, 1888. the Morning Advertiser was is- sued by George B. Herrick, an active, go-ahead man. There were 33 numbers published. In February, 1890, L. C. Parmer and M. A. Weed started the SUN, a weekly issued every Saturday.
Union School District, No. 2 .- In 1811 a deed was executed convey- ing to Simeon Cummings and Libbeus Fish the premises which after- wards came to be known as the "old brick school-house," standing upon the northwest corner of what is now Main and Ross streets. This build-
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ing was torn down in 1873, upon the widening of Ross street, after the erection of the present High School building. The earliest official school record of the district extant is dated November 25, 1813, and is as fol- lows :
TOWN OF BATAVIA.
" School District No. 2 includes all that part of the village of Batavia East of an alley on the East side of Lot No. 16, and a line running South from the South end of Said alley to the Southern boundary of said village ; the North half of Lots No. 7, 9, and II. Section 8, North third of Lot No. 1, Section 12; Lots No. 8, 10, and 12, Section 8 ; Lots No. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, Section 9 ; Lots No. 2, 4, and 6, Section 13, T. 12, R. I, "To Simeon Cummings, Esquire : You are hereby required and directed to warn all the freeholders or taxable inhabitants of District No. 2, a description whereof is above given, to meet at the Brick School-House in said District, on Wednesday the first day of December next. at One O'clock, P. M., by virtue of an act entitled : An act for the establishment of Common Schools.
" JOHN Z. ROSS, "EBEN'R MIX, Com. of Schools for Town
" ISAIAH BABCOCK. of Batavia.
" Batavia, November 25, 1813."
Following this is a list of 43 freeholders, or taxable inhabitants, warned in accordance with the above notice. At this meeting, held on the first day of December; 1813, Simeon Cummings, Libbeus Fish, and Daniel B. Brown were chosen trustees of the district; Richard Smith, clerk ; and James Cochrane, collector. This marks the formation and the election of the first officers of school district No. 2.
By a report of the trustees to the school commissioners of the town dated March 26, 1822, it appears that 155 children had been taught in the school during the school year closing at that date; and that the number of children between the ages of five and 15 years residing in the district on the first day of January preceding was 121. At the annual · school meeting held October 12, 1829, school district No. 2 was divided. All that portion of the district west of Center and Bank streets was set off and designated as district No. 12; the portion of the district east of said streets retained the original title of school district No. 2. The school records of the preceding and the following years are very meagre and unsatisfactory, as they contain little else than the recital of the election of certain persons as officers of the district, and the levying of certain small taxes, usually less than $50 annually. In the autumn of 1846 districts No. 2 and 12 were reunited under the title of " Consolidated School District No. 2."
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the new consolidated district, held December 28, 1846, a committee was appointed to ascertain where a
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TOWN OF BATAVIA.
suitable site could be obtained for the erection of a new school building. This committee reported at an adjourned meeting, held January 19, 1847, in favor of the lot now occupied by the Baker Gun Company. The recommendation of the committee was adopted at the meeting by a vote of 36 yeas to 12 noes. April 6, 1847, the trustees were authorized to borrow $5,500 for the purpose of purchasing the site and building a school-house. With the money thus voted the two-story brick building on Liberty street (now occupied by the Gun Company) was erected, and made ready for occupancy in the fall of 1848. In November, 1853, at a special meeting, it was decided by a vote of 102 to 34 to establish a Union Free School. At the same meeting, and by reason of the deci- sion to establish a Union Free School, a board of education consisting of six members was elected. This board at its first meeting elected L. W. Hart principal of the Union School just established. The board, also at this meeting, passed the following resolution :
" Resolved, That we do not deem it expedient, at present, to establish an Academic Department."
In April, 1854, G. W. Starkweather was employed as principal, the records leaving us in mystery as to the fate of his predecessor (L. W. Hart), employed the November previous. At the annual meeting, September 29, 1857, the following action was taken :
"Resolved, That the trustees, if they deem it proper, establish an Academic Department in the school."
No action on the part of the trustees, so far as the records show, re- sulted from this resolution. In January, 1861, the board of education made application to the Regents of the University of the State of New York for the establishment of an academic department in connection with the Union School. This request was granted, and in October of the same year the first " Report to the Regents " from school district No. 2 was adopted by the board of education and forwarded to them at Albany.
In the year 1871 it was found necessary to provide additional room for pupils, as the school building on Liberty street could not accommo- date those seeking admission. A dilapidated tenement house in the vicinity was rented and fitted up with school furniture. It was soon crowded with from 60 to 70 pupils. As the number of those attending school continued to increase the subject of additional room forced itself upon the attention both of the board of education and the patrons of the school. In April, 1872, at an adjourned school meeting held in Ellicott
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GENESEE COUNTY.
Hall, the site of the present school building on Ross street was adopted, and $50,000 appropriated for the purpose of erecting a school building thereon. The State superintendent of public instruction, upon appeal, set aside the action of this meeting.
Pending the appeal to the State superintendent of schools the trustees purchased the present site for the school, there being no stay of proceed- ings, and the vote of the district meeting in April, 1872, having author- ized it. On the first day of August following this decision the district, by a decisive vote, authorized the raising of $40,000, together with what- ever money should accrue from the sale of the old school building and lot, for the payment of the new site and the erection of a new school building thereon. At the annual meeting in October, 1873, $25,000 ad- ditional was voted for the completion of the building.
On the first day of September, 1874, dedicatory exercises were held in the completed building, which was pronounced at that time by compe- tent judges one of the finest and best equipped school buildings in the State. In October, 1874, the district voted the further sum of $5,000 for the furnishing of the building, grading of the grounds, etc. Although two rooms (one each upon the first and second floors) were not required for school purposes when the new building was first occupied, and the remark was by no means uncommon that provision for the wants of the district had been made for 50 years to come, yet within five years the building was crowded to its utmost capacity.
October 10, 1882, the annual school meeting voted $10,000 for the erection of a school building for the accommodation of the younger children living south of the railroads. With this appropriation a site was purchased and the Pringle Avenue school building erected. School was opened in two rooms of this building in September, 1884, but in November following it was found necessary to open the two additional rooms to meet the wants of the school. A special meeting of the dis- trict was called by the board of education July 21, 1884, to take into consideration the subject of providing still further accommodations for the children seeking admission to the schools. At this meeting the site of the Washington Avenue School was selected, and $8,000 voted for its pur- chase and the erection of a school building. The house was completed and occupied for school purposes in September, 1885. School district No. 4 (now West Main Street School) was united with Union School District No. 2 in June, 1883, and the district formerly known as district No. 15 (now Pearl Street School) in January, 1887. The area of the Union
.
2II
TOWN OF BATAVIA.
School District No. 2, as now constituted, is some 15 square miles. The number of children of school age (over five and under 21), according to the census of June, 1889, is 2, 116.
Principals of the Batavia Union School from its formation in 1853 to 1889 are: G. W. Starkweather, 1853-54; George Babcock, 1855-59; George H. Stowilts, 1859-60 ; N. F. Wright, 1860-67 ; Gardner Fuller, 1867-89.
Table showing the average number of pupils registered during the month of September in periods of five years for the last 20 years :
September, 1868, average number registered
1878, 1883, 1888, 1873, 6 € 280 890
216
420
720 6.
Table showing amount of money appropriated by the Regents of the University for academic scholars in periods of five years for the last 20 years :
In January, 1868, money appropriated $ 179 00
1878, 296 07 1883, 1 888, 1889, 1873, 16 252 53
317 96
890 79
1,049 48
An event, perhaps the most worthy of commemoration of any in the history of the district, occurred March 12, 1889. Mrs. Mary E. Rich- mond had erected a beautiful library building and reading room as a me- morial of her son, Dean Richmond, Jr. This she deeded, on that day, to the trustees of the Batavia Union School District No. 2, and their succes sors, for the accommodation of the school library, and to provide a free reading room for all the inhabitants of the district. This most munifi- cent gift will doubtless prove through all the future an ever widening in- fluence for good. At the same time the trustees of the Batavia Library Association conveved to the trustees of the Union School District their library of upwards of 3,000 volumes and nearly $4,000 in invested funds; the library to be consolidated with the Union School Library, and the in- come of the invested funds to be used for the support of a free reading room in connection with the Richmond Memorial Library.
Professor Gardner Fuller, who is at present the superintendent of schools of Batavia, was born in Fullerville, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and pre- pared for college at Falley Seminary, Fulton, and Cazenovia Seminary,
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GENESEE COUNTY.
Cazenovia, N. Y. He was graduated from Wesleyan University, Mid- dletown, Conn., in 1858. After leaving college he taught for a time at Great Barrington, Mass., and also at Newtown and Bridgeport, Conn., and was principal of Macedon Academy, at Macedon, N. Y., from 1865 to 1867. In 1867 he was employed as principal of the Union Free School at Batavia, to succeed Prof. N. F. Wright. Professsor Fuller took charge of the school, teaching as principal in the academic department, which had been established 10 years before. Soon after entering upon his du- ties he reorganized every department; classes were more thoroughly drilled ; more attention was paid to the classics and higher branches of mathematics ; and a greater thoroughness in all the branches was insisted upon. The course pursued by Professor Fuller drew in many pupils from surrounding districts, and people began to move into the village to edu- cate their children. In 1871 it was found that additional room was re- quired for the pupils, and school meetings were held in 1872, which re- sulted in the erection and completion of the large and elegant school building on Ross street. Upon moving into the new building the school was regraded under his supervision. The number of pupils has been on the increase ever since, and several private schools have been abandoned for the reason that they could not compete with the public school. Large additions to the population of the village have been made, and the prices of real estate have been kept up by the fact that it was everywhere well known that the village had an excellent Union Free School. By his thor- ough drill and management a great impetus has been given to the study of the classics and higher branches of an English education. A large number of students have been prepared for college, and wherever they have applied for admission they have been readily received, and in every instance have been found fully qualified for the classes they have en- tered. Others have prepared for the learned professions and are suc- cessful. These things operate as a great stimulus to those in the lower classes, who are stretching forward with eagerness to reach the academic department and complete the full course adopted in the school.
It is now over 22 years since Professor Fuller took charge of the school, and notwithstanding its multitude of pupils it was never more efficient or prosperous than at the present time. As a teacher and organizer of schools he has proved a very decided success. This of course requires great ability, a large amount of intelligence, and untiring energy and perseverance, all of which qualities he fully possesses. He is not only an excellent classical scholar and well versed in mathematics, but is well
DEAN RICAMOR .
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TOWN OF BATAVIA.
read and keeps up his acquaintance with the literature of the day, as may be seen by the well selected library connected with the school, a large portion of its volumes having been selected at his suggestion.
The school is an institution the citizens of Batavia may well be proud of, and by their continuance of Professor Fuller in charge of it for nearly a quarter of a century they have shown their appreciation of his work. When he came here only four teachers were required to conduct the school. Now it requires upwards of 20. There were then four school- rooms occupied. Now 17 are in use besides the recitation rooms, and more school rooms are needed, and yet the utmost harmony pervades every department. The success of the school is due to an intelligent, liberal minded public, to its efficient board of education, to its energetic, self-sacrificing corps of teachers, and, most of all, to its able and energetic principal and superintendent, Gardner Fuller.
Dean Richmond, who for a long series of years was recognized as a vital force in the financial, political, and railroad world of New York State, won his way to the front rank of his generation by sheer energy, hard work, and a genius for overcoming obstacles and making circum- stances the servants of his will. He possessed also the keen vision that enabled him to read the signs of the times, and shape his course in ac- cordance therewith. He was truly the architect of his own fortune, in- heriting nothing from the generations before him but an honored family name and the high qualities of character for which the Richmonds of New England were noted. He was a native of Vermont, and was born March 31, 1804, in the town of Barnard. His parents were Hatheway and Rachel Dean Richmond, who early immigrated to that portion of New York State now embraced in the corporate limits of Syracuse, where his father was engaged in the early salt industry of that region. His father, being unfortunate in business, removed to Mobile, where he died, leaving a widow, two daughters, and a son, the latter only 14 years of age, dependent upon their own exertions. It was at this early age that young Richmond showed the material of which he was made, resolutely taking up the business abandoned by his father, and with little else save the debts of the old concern, and a capital composed of health and en- ergy, began his active life. A year later the death of his mother left him an orphan.
The market for salt had heretofore been limited, but the energy with which the young man pushed the sale soon extended it to new districts, and ere long the business began to yield a satisfactory income. He soon
14
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GENESEE COUNTY.
after began to interest himself in various other enterprises, in which he also commanded success. In 1842 he removed to Buffalo, where he en- gaged in the commission and transporting business, dealing principally with the products of the great West. Bringing to his business operations the wise foresight and judgment which ever characterized him, he be- came, in the course of a few years, one of the wealthiest and most influ- ential men of the lake region.
In the midst of this active career he formed his first connection with railroad affairs, becoming a director of the Utica and Buffalo Railroad Company. When the direct line to Batavia was completed he became a resident of that village, which continued to be his home for the remainder of his life, although his business headquarters were still retained at Buf- falo. His connection with the New York Central Company was one of the great events of his railroad career. When competition of rival roads forced the consolidation of the seven distinct companies into the New York Central, in 1853, Mr. Richmond was foremost in the determined struggle, and his sagacity, address, and perseverance alone carried the measure in the State legislature. He was the first vice-president of the company, which position he held until he was elected president on the retirement of Mr. Corning in 1864. He also served as president of the L. S. & M. S. Railroad for a number of years. While connected with the Central the company relied most implicitly upon his judgment, and never undertook any enterprise of importance without first submitting it to him for advice and approbation. He was the first American railroad man to advocate the laying of steel rails, and after trial, his judgment proving correct, a large order was sent to England, but they did not reach this country until after his death.
It is needless to mention in particular all of the various business enter- prises with which he was connected through a long an active career ; he was eminently successful in all. His private business always possessed a charm to him superior to the allurements of office or public life. Es- teeming it a duty, however, that each man owed to his country he gave close attention to politics. His political convictions were very strong, and were steadfastly maintained. His views were broad, and he grasped National affairs with no more difficulty than matters purely local. While a resident of Onondaga County, early in life, he was one of the Demo- cratic leaders, and he always enjoyed the unlimited confidence of his political associates, and exerted a greater influence in the Democratic party of the State than any other man of his time. He served as chair- man of the Democratic party from about 1857 until his death in 1866.
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TOWN OF BATAVIA.
From a speech upon the life-work of Mr. Richmond, in the Demo- cratic State convention of September, 1866, by Hon. S. J. Tilden, we quote the following :
" I remember very well in 1864. when the Nation was anxiously looking for a candi- date for the highest office in its gift, public opinion turned very generally to this gentle- man. Mr. Richmond firmly and persistently refused to entertain the idea. It is my firm conviction that except for that refusal his nomination was entirely possible, and his election extremely probable. . I think he was one of the best informed and ablest men whom I have ever had the opportunity to know."
While Mr. Richmond's mental qualities were all the foregoing de- scribes, they were even excelled by his goodness of heart. Many noble deeds of his benevolence might be related. His acts of philanthrophy were so numerous, and so disinterested and generous, that they defied attempts at concealment, and his name became as well known in the State for good- ness of heart as it was for business astuteness and political sagacity. In his social relations he was kindly and genial, while in the privacy of the family circle his noble qualities shone with lustre.
In the summer of 1866, after attending the Saratoga convention, he, in company with Mr. Tilden, made a trip to Washington and Philadel- phia, returning to New York, August 18th. The following day, while cal- ling upon Mr. Tilden at his residence, he was taken seriously ill, and August 27th death relieved him from his sufferings. The marks of respect paid his memory by high and low, and the words of sympathy and sor- row that came from all sections, voiced the world's appreciation of the greatness and goodness of the departed. Mr. Richmond was laid to rest in the cemetery at Batavia, where a magnificent mausoleum marks his final resting-place.
The Richmond Memorial Library, of which we present an engraving, was erected by Mrs. Mary E. Richmond in memory of her son, Dean Richmond, Jr., who died in 1885. The building stands on the west side of Ross street, in close proximity to the Union School. The site has a frontage of 179 feet on the street. The building was carefully planned by James G. Cutler, of Rochester, to afford the necessary accommodation for a combined reference and lending library, and is so arranged that the books are housed in a fire-proof building. It is of a monumental and elaborate character, befitting its memorial object, and care has been taken to so fit the library as not to incur a heavy expense in its maintenance. All of the structure as seen from the street is of light gray Fredonia sandstone and red Albion stone, which, combined, make two of the finest building materials in this section. The style is Romanesque, and is re-
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GENESEE COUNTY.
garded as best adapted to the United States, and in which style most of the fine modern buildings erected within a few years past have been de- signed. A liberal amount of handsome carving gives a sense of com- pleteness and richness to the structure, and a warm and agreeable color effect is produced by the orange red of the roof and crestings. The gut- ters and metal work are of copper. The dimensions are 87 feet across the front, and an extreme depth of 87 feet, the plan being in the form of the letter T; the reading room, hall, librarian's room, and toilet rooms being in front, and the stock rooms projecting from the center to the rear of the main building. Ascending the low, broad flight of stone steps near the center of the front, the visitor stands first in a wide vesti- bule, with a handsome tile floor, and under the large half-circle arch which forms the principal entrance. From the vestibule a massive oak door gives entrance to the hall, 14 feet wide, at the end of which is the window communicating with the stock room. At the right of the hall on entering is the toilet and, cloak rooms for ladies and gentlemen, and the door which connects with the office of the librarian. To the left of the hall a large pair of folding doors open into the reading room, which is the most attractive feature of the interior. This magnificant room is 24 feet wide by 42 feet long, with a height of 15 feet. At the end of the room, opposite the entrance, in a recess formed by the half-circle arch, is a great fire-place finished in red brick tile and surmounted by a handsome oak mantel withi rich carving, and above the shelf is a large oak frame, on which is a bronze tablet bearing this inscription : "This building, erected A. D. 1887, as a memorial of Dean Richmond, Jr., by his mother, Mary Richmond." This tablet is oblong in shape, and fits in the wood work over the fire-place. A large and very elaborate pair of wrought-iron andirons complete the fire-place, which has a brick tile hearth. The room is furnished with handsome oak tables and chairs of beautiful design ; a handsome outfit of gas fixtures of wrought-iron, in- cluding a 24-light central chandelier, which hangs from the ceiling, be- tween the heavy oak beams with which this part of the room is finished; and bracket lights, with Argand burners, over each table. The room is panelled in antique oak for a height of 72 feet from the floor, on a line with the bottom of the high windows, which have plate glass in suitable patterns in the transoms. The interior finish of all the rooms in the library is of antique oak. An extra room, for the storage of pamphlets, etc., has been arranged over the librarian's and toilet rooms, access to which is by a winding stair in the octagonal tower, which is a striking
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