USA > New York > Genealogical and family history of central New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation, Volume II > Part 39
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Bowen, employees, being taken into the com- pany.
Although Mr. Adams never sought or would accept public office, he was public-spirited to a high degree, and every enterprise promising to advance the interests of Randolph received his hearty personal and financial support. He was one of the trustees of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, director of the State Bank of Randolph, and interested in other enterprises in Randolph and elsewhere. While perfectly open and frank by nature, in his business dealings he was most secretive, and in his benevolences few knew the extent of his private charities. It is said of him that no needy person ever went from his store without a garment required for comfort, whether the money was forthcoming or not. He was a great sufferer in his last years, but gave daily attention to his business as long as strength remained and ever turned a smil- ing face to the world. He died in New York City, at a private sanitarium, where he was being treated by the best medical experts. He is buried in Randolph cemetery, his funeral being attended by a large gathering of his friends, including his brethren of Randolph Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, who marched in a body.
Mr. Adams married, December 15, 1865, Mary Lenett Crowley, born February 16, 1844, daughter of Asahel Crowley (see Crow- ley line). Children: I. Theodora Crowley, born June 23, 1867; married William L. Rathbone. 2. Percy Crowley, born April 4, 1860; married, June 22, 1899, Amy Farmer, of Oil City, Pennsylvania ; children: i. Theo- dora, born December 12, 1901 ; ii. Thomas Ed- win, born December 26, 1910. Percy C. Adams is now residing in Washington, D. C., and is a member of the well-known firm of architects, Averill & Adams. 3. Florence Crowley, born May 19, 1881 ; married Robert T. Searle, her father's business associate ; chil- dren : i. Robert, born May 13, 1905: ii. Wil- liam Adams, born June 10, 1906; iii. Mary Lenett, born March 7, 1910.
(The Crowley Line).
Mary Lenett (Crowley) Adams, wife of Theodore Edwin Adams, survives her hus- band, and is a resident of Randolph. Her grandfather, Walter Crowley, was a native of Connecticut and emigrated to Vermont long before it became a state. He married
Mary Todd, also of Connecticut, whose par- ents also emigrated to Vermont at an early date. Walter Crowley cleared a farm from the then almost unbroken wilderness on the summit of the Green Mountains, where his family of four sons and three daughters were born. They remained in Vermont until 1839, when they came to Randolph, New York, and passed their remaining years there with their sons, all wealthy and influential citizens of that town. He died in 1851, his wife in 1855.
Asahel Crowley, father of Mrs. Adams, was born in Mt. Holly, Vermont, February 14, 1809. He came to Randolph in 1831, where for half a century he was actively en- gaged in business life, and at the time of his death, January 30, 1901, was the oldest resi- dent. On first coming to the town he taught school for two winters, then engaged in lum- bering. In 1833 he first engaged in mercan- tile life, admitting to a partnership three years later his brother, Addison Crowley, and Jo- seph Stanley. They erected a large store building which at that time was the largest in the country. They conducted a general store and dealt extensively in cattle and lum- ber. After four years' association Mr. Stan- ley withdrew and the firm continued as A. and A. Crowley. A younger brother, Alvin Crow- ley, was admitted and had charge of the lum- ber business at Cincinnati, the firm then be- coming A. Crowley & Company, continuing until 1860, when Alvin withdrew, the firm name reverting to its former name, A. and A. Crowley. In 1868 a general division of the business was made, Asahel Crowley then es- tablishing a general farming, lumbering and cattle dealing business, which he continued until his final retirement. He was one of the incorporators of the State Bank of Randolph and a director. He was treasurer of the Western New York Home for Homeless and Dependent Children, a charity to whose in- terests he was devoted. He took a deep in- terest in the building of the Erie railroad and was one of the original directors of the com- pany, a position he occupied seven years. He was a highly respected gentleman and was ever devoted to the best interests of the town. He bore a blameless reputation and lived a business and private life free from blot or stain.
He married, in Mt. Holly. Vermont, Octo- ber 6, 1836, Clarissa M. Johnson, born May 3. 1815, daughter of Marvel and Julia
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(Mason) Johnson, of Mt. Holly. Children : I. Julia M., born September 1, 1837 ; married, May 16, 1860, Charles M. G. Chase. They have one daughter, Mary, born July 26, 1862; married Dwight Rundell, of Randolph. 2. Ellen A., born August 26, 1839; married, Oc- tober 10, 1859, Alexander Wentworth; chil- dren: i. Isabel, born September 13, 1860; ii. Crowley, born May 8, 1868. 3. Marvel J., born August 3, 1841 ; married, August 29, 1865, Adelaide Weed, of Franklinville. 4. Mary Lenett, married Theodore Edwin Adams. 5. Genevieve, born October 31, 1858; married, in 1883, Edwin Terhune.
MATTHEWS The name Matthew, hav- ing belonged to one of the Twelve Apostles, was adopted by a great number of persons in early Christian times, and with its variations and derivations is borne today by many families who are wholly unrelated. The Matthews family with which this narrative is concerned was located in the county of Kent, England, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and has been prominently connected with the printing business for four generations.
(I) Edward Matthews was born at Seven- oaks, county of Kent, the son of a steward to the third Earl of Stanhope. This was the Earl Stanhope who invented or at least de- veloped and applied what came to be known as the "plaster process" of stereotyping. He also invented the Stanhope press, still known in the printing trade, and was otherwise fa- mous as a practical scientist. Edward Mat- thews learned stereotyping under Earl Stan- hope, and thus became one of the earliest and most skillful masters of the art. He was sent by the Earl over various parts of the United Kingdom to install and teach the Stanhope process of stereotyping. He en- countered the bitter hostility that the intro- duction of labor-saving devices often pro- vokes, and at times went about in hourly peril of assassination. Some of his most trying ex- periences were in Glasgow, where he installed the stereotyping process for the famous firm of Black & Company. Though a small man, he was full of energy and courage, and he persevered in his task until it was completed. Returning to England, he was sent to intro- duce the stereotyping process at the printing works of Robert and John Childs, at Bungay, county of Suffolk. This establishment did
fine book work for London publishers, notably the Douay and other Bibles, dictionaries, and numerous historical works. The firm after- ward became John Childs & Son. The firm made him so advantageous an offer that he remained with it permanently, being granted a pension in his old age. He married Har- riet Newson, by whom he had many children. The following lived to maturity: 1. George, entered the printing business and became an expert compositor, pressman, stereotyper and finisher, and was employed by the Hebrew Society of London many years. He married Susan Knight. His son William became the principal stereotyper for the London Times, in which work he was succeeded by his son George. 2. Simon, became chief engineer in the British navy, served in the Crimean war on the battleship "Magnificent," also in the Chinese war, and received a medal for sav- ing his captain's life, and another for meri- torious service. The war office loaned him to the Italian government, and he served as chief engineer on one of Italy's first warships in a voyage around the world. He was af- terward for many years engineer on the Queen's yacht. He married (first) Lucy Hay- ward, of Ipswich; (second) Elizabeth Fitch. He had two sons, Henry and George, by his first wife, and three daughters, Susan, Louise and Pauline, by his second. Henry was a schoolmaster on board the training ship "St. Vincent," and afterward became connected with the London Fire Brigade. He married Minnie Jenkins. Two sons, Cecil and Earn- est, are both warrant officers in the royal navy. George was a commissary officer, and served under Lord Kitchener in Egypt, South Africa and India, where he died. His widow is matron of the military school at Cairo, Egypt. 3. Mary Ann, married James Barber and had eighteen children, of whom Susan, Betsey, Austin and George survived. 4. Eliz- abeth, married George Helsdon, an artist colorist in the employ of Sir John Kelk and E. M. Ward; children: John Edward, came to America in 1871, and has since worked in the printing business in Buffalo; married Maria Forsyth ; his son, James Newson Mat- thews Helsdon, married Margaret Hebard, and they have a daughter, Elizabeth Ann; other children of George and Elizabeth Hels- don were James and Harriet. 5. James New- son, mentioned below. 6. Susan, died of con- sumption at age of twenty. 7. Henry, born
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1834; removed to America in 1852, and fol- lowed the printing trade in Buffalo; was for ten years superintendent for the firm of Mat- thews & Warren, proprietors of the Commer- cial Advertiser, and afterward member of the firm of Matthews Brothers & Bryant, which established the printing house now known as the Matthews-Northrup Works. He married, 1857, Ellen S. Glover, of Bungay ; children : Frank Russell, born February 4, 1860; Har- riet Wells, born May 26, 1861, married Edgar J. Nelson, and has children, Ellen Olive and Hazel Annette, of whom Ellen Olive married Edward R. Earle, and has one child, Nelson Matthews, born August 8, 1903; Fanny Au- gusta, born April 24, 1870, married Herbert Spinney ; Harry Newson, died in infancy. 8. Edward, married Anna Mobbs ; children : Ed- ward. Anna and Harriet.
(II) James Newson, son of Edward and Harriet (Newson) Matthews, was born at Bungay, county of Suffolk, England, Novem- ber 21, 1828. While thoroughly grounded in the elementary branches, he was unable to obtain an advanced education, and at an early age was apprenticed in the printing and book- binding business. As the trade was then taught, this experience in itself gave him the best kind of education for a man who was later to become a great newspaper editor. When seventeen years old he emigrated to America, coming directly to Buffalo, where he made his home for the remainder of his life. He obtained employment in the printing office of Jewett, Thomas & Company, who were concerned in the publication of the Commer- cial Advertiser, and his superior technical training and efficiency made him foreman of the shop before he was twenty, while he was still an apprentice. The managing partner, C. F. S. Thomas, had a national reputation as a printer. He was very proud of his young foreman, but differences arose between the two men, and in 1848 young Matthews gave up his position to become foreman in the office of the Buffalo Republic. After a short experience there, he opened a printing office of his own on the southeast corner of Wash- ington and Exchange streets, directly opposite the site where he afterward erected what is still known as the Matthews Building, and is occupied by the great business which he created. In 1850, with some associates, he established a daily paper called the Journal of Commerce, which lived but a short time. He
then became foreman of the job-printing office connected with the Buffalo Express, of which Almon M. Clapp and Rufus Wheeler were owners. A year later he was admitted into partnership, the firm becoming Clapp, Mat- thews & Company. This connection lasted until 1860, when political differences caused Messrs. Clapp and Wheeler to dissolve part- nership. Mr. Wheeler joined James D. War- ren and Joseph Candee in buying the Com- mercial Advertiser. In 1862 Mr. Candee re- tired and Mr. Matthews was taken into the firm, which became known as Wheeler, Mat- thews & Warren. Mr. Matthews took charge of the job-printing branch, which soon be- came famous, and acquired a virtual monop- oly in fine color work for railroads. In 1864 Mr. Wheeler retired on account of ill health. His partners bought his interest and continued the business under the name of Matthews & Warren. Mr. Matthews at this time as- sumed charge of the editorial management of the paper. In 1872 the firm purchased The Express, and conducted it during the Grant- Greeley campaign, when they sold it again. In 1877 political differences arose between Messrs. Matthews and Warren and they de- cided to dissolve partnership. They had al- ways made their investments together outside as well as within the printing business. On going over their accounts they found that the value of their outside investments about equalled that of the printing business, and Mr. Matthews offered Mr. Warren his choice between the two. After a day's consideration Mr. Warren chose the business. Mr. Mat- thews believed at the time that the step which he was talking would mean his retirement forever from journalism, but it was charac- teristic of the man that he preferred to give up an honorable and lucrative profession rather than make any concession of principles which he believed to be right. It so happened, however, that the fortunes of The Express were then at a very low ebb. Mr. Matthews was asked to take hold of the property and attempt its rehabilitation. After due consid- eration he consented. Failure and personal ruin were predicted as the inevitable conse- quence of what to many appeared a rash en- terprise. But Mr. Matthews was not a man either to fail in any undertaking to which he put his hand or to be easily discouraged. The first number of The Express under the new management came out January 7, 1878. Mr.
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Matthews's announcement declared that it was his settled purpose to make The Express "the neatest and brightest, bravest and best news- paper ever published in Buffalo, steadfastly Republican as to political principles, but ab- solutely independent in reference to our mu- nicipal government-the organ of no man or set of men, but, in fact, worthy to be styled 'The People's Paper.'" The announcement continued : "If our interpretation of the party's faith is not very well known already, the fault is not ours. At any rate it will ap- pear soon enough in these columns. We do not conceive, however, that political princi- ples have anything whatever to do with mu- nicipal affairs, but we do most sincerely be- lieve, on the contrary, that municipal affairs should be absolutely divorced from political manipulation. And this is just what we pur- pose doing so far as The Express can effect the separation. We shall run no caucuses. If any man hereafter pretends to represent The Express in any political convention, he may be set down as an impostor. It will liave no delegates. It will seek no official patron- age. If it is approached with promises or threats of exclusion from political papers, it will invite those who think they control this business to place it wheresoever they think it will do them the most good. We do not want it."
Here was a revolution, not only in the character of The Express as it had recently been conducted, but in Buffalo journalism generally. And it is but just to say that the standard which Mr. Matthews set on that first day of his editorship was adhered to by him throughout his life and by his successors. The public appreciation of this kind of a newspaper was attested by a rapid growth in circulation and advertising until the property was soon on a profitable basis. The occasion for Mr. Matthews to prove his sincerity was not long in coming. The administration of the city at that time was Democratic, but in the fall of 1879 it shifted to Republican hands, but without effecting any material improvement in government. There was an antiquated charter dating from country-vil- lage days, a wide and virtually irresponsible distribution of powers, and the time was one of rapid railroad building, sewer building, street paving and other improvements involv- ing large contracts and valuable franchises. The Express attacked various features of the
city government, bringing about some inves- tigations on its own account, and when in the fall of 1881 the reform elements obtained con- trol of the Democratic city convention and nominated Grover Cleveland for Mayor, The Express promptly declared for him, saying that every honest citizen could vote for him without doubt or misgiving and that the city would be to him as a client. The famous Stalwart-halfbreed war was also waging at this time, and The Express became the most prominent of the Halfbreed organs in the western part of the state. Sherman S. Rogers, one of Mr. Matthews's most valued friends, became a candidate before the legis- lative caucus for United States senator after Conkling and Platt resigned. In addition to the mayoralty contest, the election of that year centered on the candidacy of William B. Sirret for re-election as county treasurer and of Arthur W. Hickman for assemblyman. The Express had attacked and had brought about an investigation of Sirret, who had been Republican state committeeman and was one of the principal party leaders in the county. It now opposed him for re-election and he was defeated. Mr. Hickman had been in the assembly, where he had voted with the Half- breeds. He had withdrawn as a candidate for the regular renomination, alleging that the caucuses had been fixed against him. He af- terward accepted an independent nomination with Democratic indorsement. The Express supported him and he was elected. It also bolted the nomination for Senator of Harvey J. Hurd, who had been a Stalwart assembly- man. Hurd was beaten. The short adminis- tration of Mr. Cleveland as mayor, with his numerous vetoes, particularly the "Plain Speecli" veto of a street-cleaning contract, was one of the stirring periods in the city's politi- cal history. The Express supported him heart- ily, not as a partisan, but as an independent reform newspaper, and when he was nomi- nated for governor the following year, it car- ried its independence into state politics by de- claring in his favor. Its loyalty to the na- tional principles of the Republican party, how- ever, was too strong to admit of its support- ing him for president. In the two Demo- cratic city administrations which followed Mr. Cleveland's retirement, The Express again maintained the attitude of a critical in- dependent Republican newspaper. This was a time when the first civil service reform laws
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were given effect. Mr. Matthews became much interested in the merit system and heartily supported it. With the nomination of Philip Becker for mayor by the Republi- cans in 1885, The Express gave him earnest support, which was continued throughout his two administrations. An exciting fight oc- curred at this time on the granting of a natu- ral gas franchise by the common council over the mayor's veto without compensation to the city, almost without restrictions, without limitation as to price to be charged consum- ers, and even with the privilege of discrimina- ing in price between different classes of con- sumers. The Express declared that this grant was a betrayal of the city into the hands of the Standard Oil Company; that it was the street-cleaning steal of 1882 over again, only "bigger, bolder and in every way worse." It even went so far as to charge that the grant had been put through by bribery, and in con- sequence a committee of the legislature came to Buffalo and investigated it, but reported that it found no evidence that the alleged brib- ery had occurred. By withholding his ap- proval of the company's bond, the mayor was able to finally secure some modification of the worst features of the franchise. Another crusade undertaken by The Express in 1887 was against the administration of the school department, which had become a political ma- chine. While the superintendent was not re- moved, the agitation resulted in some new or- dinances regulating the appointment of teach- ers, and later in the creation of a board of school examiners to determine by fair writ- ten examinations the qualifications of candi- dates.
The career of Mr. Matthews as a printer was no less distinguished than as an editor. Immediately after buying The Express he es- tablished in connection with it the art-printing plant of the Matthews-Northrup Company. Under his skilled direction this establishment attained a national reputation for the printing of high-class railroad folders, advertising booklets, maps, etc. On one occasion it com- peted successfully with firms in Paris and London for a contract for maps for the Mexi- can government. On September 30. 1883, the first number was issued of The Illustrated Express, a Saturday and Sunday edition of the daily. This was the pioneer newspaper in issuing a half-tone supplement. The ex- cellence, number and variety of illustrations
soon made it the admiration of the trade as well as of its patrons, and no small part of the reputation of its founder rests upon its success. Mr. Matthews never held a political office. He served by appointment of Govern- or Hoffman as one of three inspectors of the special election ordered by the legislature for the Erie railway when the Gould-Fiske con- trol was upset, and he was a delegate-at-large to the Republican national conventions of 1872 and 1876. He first voted for John C. Fremont, and he voted for every Republican electoral ticket thereafter so long as he lived. He was at one time president of the Church Charity Foundation, and was connected with the vestry of St. John's Church. The Express gave vigorous support to the Republican na- tional ticket in 1888, but at the height of the campaign its editor was stricken with Bright's disease, complicated by abscess of the kidney, and his powerful pen was laid aside forever. He lingered until December 20th, when he breathed his last. at his home on Delaware avenue.
He married, July 24, 1851, Harriet. daugh- ter of Austin L. Wells, of Westfield, New York. She was born at Westfield, July 6, 1830, and died in Buffalo, February 21, 1888. Children: George Edward, mentioned below ; Frances Amy, born March 13, 1867, married (first ) Charles Buckingham Graves, (second) Ernest G. Boon, of London, England.
(III) George Edward, son of James N. and Harriet (Wells) Matthews, was born at Westfield, Chautauqua county, the home of his mother's parents, March 17. 1855. He grew up in Buffalo, where he attended the Heathcote School and was prepared for col- lege by the Rev. Dr. Theodore M. Bishop. He was ready for Yale by the time he was sixteen years old, but his parents thought him too young to enter college, so he spent the next two years in travel and in acquiring some knowledge of the printing business in the office of the Commercial Advertiser, of which his father was then editor and part owner. He was kept at practical work like an ordi- nary apprentice, and this instruction in the business which he was to take up was con- tinued during his college vacations. Thus he gained a very comprehensive knowledge of the fundamental details of the various branches of the printing trade. He was grad- uated from Yale with the class of 1877, gain- ing the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The fol-
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lowing year his father bought The Express, and he became a clerk in the counting room, and rose through various grades to be busi- ness manager. He served the same practical apprenticeship in the editorial department, be- coming successively telegraph operator, city editor and literary editor. Ultimately he was given the position of treasurer of the Mat- thews-Northrup Company. Upon the death of his father, Mr. Matthews succeeded to the management of the business, becoming editor of The Express, and president of the Mat- thews-Northrup Company, which was at that time organized as a separate firm. The part- ners were mostly men who had worked up in its employ. This policy of taking the older employees into the business was extended to the newspaper firm, which became George E. Matthews & Company, the junior partner be- ing Charles E. Austin, who had begun work for the elder Matthews as a carrier boy. Some years later James W. Greene, who had grown from copyholder to managing editor, was ad- mitted to the firm, and in 1901 the two branches of the business were consolidated into the J. N. Matthews Company, in which most of the older employees were allowed to become stockholders, and George E. Mat- thews was president from its organization un- til his death.
In addition to his newspaper and printing business, Mr. Matthews was at one time in- terested in the Buffalo Printing Ink Works. He also gave a great deal of time and hard work to developing the invention known as the noiseless typewriter, and to the organiza- tion of the company which manufactures and sells it. He was himself the inventor of the prismaprint process for which the Matthews- Northrup works is famous-a four-color proc- ess designed to take the place of the more familiar three-color process. He also invented and patented an improved method for index- ing books, and some other devices. He was the first publisher in Buffalo to introduce typesetting machines, of which his subscribers were given the benefit in the reduction of the price of the paper to two cents. At a later period the price was further reduced to one cent, but without in any way lowering the high standards which The Express had set for itself. To Mr. Matthews' practical knowl- edge of the mechanics of printing was due in large part the brilliant success of The Il- lustrated Express. As the first newspaper to
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