USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 16
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Clara H. Philippbaar, second daughter and youngest child of Daniel and Catharina (Sahm) Philippbaar, was born in Dunkirk, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1860. After attending a German school until nine years of age, she began public school study and passed all the grades and was a member of the high school graduating class of 1879. While a student at the public school, she was
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Rudolph Philipbacon
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a pupil in piano music and a graduate of Stuttgart Con- servatory of Music; after graduation from high school she became a student of the Cincinnati Con- servatory of Music, and during her two years' training there, developed a very pleasing, sympathetic voice, which her instructors urged her by all means to culti- vate. This she did to the great joy of her family, her friends and former schoolmates. She contributed greatly to the musical entertainment of her city, often appearing at concerts and musicals. During her third year at the Conservatory in Cincinnati she also taught English branches and music in a private girls' boarding school. The next five years she spent in Boston study- ing both voice and piano, and reveling in the musical opportunities offered to listen to the noted vocal and instrumental artists.
After her return from Boston, Miss Philippbaar was soprano of the quartette choir of the Unitarian Church of our Father in Buffalo, N. Y., and appeared in several concerts. After leaving the Buffalo church, she , spent considerable time in New York City studying and attending the performances at the Metropolitan Opera House when the great famous artists sang or great orchestras performed. After the death of her brother Rudolph the business burdens of the family fell upon her, and very ably their interests were cared for. In 11910, with her widowed sister, Mrs. Emilie Bremer, Miss Philippbaar toured Europe with a party con- ducted by the Bureau of University Travel of Boston, visiting Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Switzer- land, Italy and Austria, returning refreshed, invigorated and richer in her love of the beautiful in art and nature, for she has the appreciative eye and the under- standing ear.
After the return from Europe, Mrs. Bremer and Miss Philippbaar, with a Buffalo architect, planned and built the beautiful house at No. 727 Washington avenue, Dunkirk, owned by Mrs. Bremer, and occupied by the sisters. For several years Miss Philippbaar taught both vocal and instrumental music in Dunkirk, but other interests caused her to relinquish that activity. With her secret devotion is the essence of true religion, and she exemplifies her beautiful faith in her daily life.
JUSTIN HOLMES-The life of Justin Holmes, which closed in Westfield many years ago, was intimately connected with the early building of rail- roads in the East, but his duties later called him to Chicago, where he amassed a fortune, which was greatly diminished through the ravages of the "Great Fire" which devastated Chicago in the "seventies." That misfortune brought him back to Chautauqua county, where the remainder of his life was passed, and there two of his children yet reside: Mrs. William Prendergast, and Phebe L. Holmes, of Westfield. This family traces to early New England ancestry and to a family whose history may be traced in England back through several centuries.
Justin Holmes was a son of Preston Holmes, of Milford, N. H., who married Elizabeth Lunn, and later moved with his family to Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y., where he settled on a farm and spent several
years. Later he moved to Wisconsin, but a few years after, returned and made his home at North East, Pa., where he died at the age of sixty-five. His wife, Elizabeth, died in Oneida county, N. Y., and he married a second wife, she too, long since deceased.
Justin Holmes was born in Milford, N. H., Feb. 3. 1816, died in Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1878. While young, he was brought to Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y., by his parents and there grew to manhood, obtaining his education as the section then afforded. He was a farmer in his earlier manhood, but later became interested in railroading, being con- cerned in the building of the Erie Railroad, and in the construction of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (Buffalo and State Line) Railroad in Chautauqua county, being assistant superintendent under Superin- tendent Brown. During that period he located his family at Westfield, Chautauqua county, his office headquarters being in Buffalo. Later Mr. Holmes became superintendent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, with headquarters in Chicago, a position of trust and responsibility which he held for several years. Finally, Mr. Holmes resigned his position with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and engaged in the commission brokerage business, forming with John S. Brewer, the firm, Holmes & Brewer, commission brokers in grain, stocks and bonds. They were very successful in building up a good business and were fast accumulating a large fortune when the Chicago fire effectually ended their prosperity and Mr. Holmes saw a large part of his fortune swept away. He was then at an age which precluded his reentrance into business life, and he made no effort to regain what the fire had swept away. He returned to Westfield, where his family had lived while he was in Chicago. and there spent the remaining years of his life, retired from business, devoting himself to his private property interests in Chicago and Westfield. He was an invalid in his last years, but he was tenderly cared for by his devoted family.
Mr. Holme's was an ardent supporter of the prin- ciples of Jefferson and Jackson, never swerving in his allegiance to the Democratic party, nor even seeking an office for himself. He was a member of the Masonic order, and possessed of many sterling attributes of character, loyal in his citizenship and faithful to every obligation of life. He was kindly-hearted and benevo- lent, devoted to his family, and thoroughly respected by all who knew him.
Mr. Holmes married, in Trenton, Oneida county, N. Y., Adaline Walker, born in Trenton, N. Y., and died at her home in Westfield, Chautauqua county, July 17. 1882, and with her husband is buried in Westfield Cemetery. Mrs. Holmes was a daughter of Timothy and Betsey ( Whitaker) Walker and a descendant of an old New England family. Although not a woman of robust health, she was a devoted wife and mother and possessed of true womanly virtues, coupled with an earnest Christian spirit, and a spirit of love and help- fulness which actuated her in her long struggle with the infirmities of health both she and her husband were called upon to endure. She was very charitahle. giving freely to relieve the unfortunate and to the recognized charities of church and philanthropy.
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Mr. and Mrs. Justin Holmes were the parents of four children: 1. Harriet E., died in youthful woman- hood. 2. M. Morton, a business man, who died in Texas. 3. Emma, who married William Prendergast, son of Thomas and Eunice Prendergast, and a descend- ant of the old Chautauqua county family. William Prendergast was a well known business man of West- field, proprietor of a grocery for many years, and also at one time manager of the Leolyn Hotel, at Lily Dale; he died at his home in Westfield, June 18, 1901, and is buried in Westfield Cemetery. Mrs. Prendergast survives her husband and continues her residence in Westfield. 4. Phebe L., youngest of the children, also resides in Westfield, the home of the sisters being at No. 95 East Main street. They are pronounced and consistent Spiritualists, broad in their charity, and tender in their sympathy.
HARVEY WILLIAMS TEW-This branch of the Tew family came to New York State with William Tew who, as far as imperfect records and family belief can be relied on, was a son of the Revolutionary patriot, Captain Henry Tew, of Dighton, Mass. William Tew settled in the Upper Hudson Valley of New York State, later moving to Ostego county, N. Y., and in July, 1832, making permanent settlement at Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., many of the name there now residing, prominent in the business and social life of that community. He was the father of William Henry Tew, and grandfather of Harvey Williams Tew, both now deceased, but during their lives leading business men. Harvey W. Tew was the first of his family born in Jamestown, and there spent most of his life. However, he was engaged in the rubber business at Akron, with his brother-in-law, B. F. Goodrich, and for several years was an oil operator.
(11) The New England branch of the family descend from Henry and Mary (Clarke) Tew, of Medford, Northamptonshire, England, through their son Richard Tew, who came to New England, in 1640. There is an instrument upon record in Rhode Island, filed by Richard Tew, which provides for marriage settlement between Richard Tew and William Clarke, of Prior Hardwick, father of Mary Clarke, father and son both marrying ladies by the name of Mary Clarke. Richard Tew was married in 1639, and in 1640 arrived in New England, accompanied by his wife and daughter, Seaborn, the later born on the ocean, Jan. 4, 1640. In 1642, Richard Tew was living at Newport, Rhode Island, and the same year he bought land in Portsmouth of John Anthony. In 1643, he bought more land, and in 1653 was on a committee for settling some matters with the Dutch of Long Island, N. Y. He was called at that time "of Portsmouth," but he lived there but a short time. He was a commissioner six terms, between 1654 and 1663, joined the church, was made a freeman in 1655, and in 1657 he bought more land and was chosen governor's assistant. Hc bought a share in the Conanticnt settlement in 1659, and in 1661 he was on a committee to raise funds for the colony's agents in England, Roger Williams and John Clarke. He was named on the Royal charter granted Rhode Island, in 1663, by Charles II. The
same year he served on a committee to establish bounds between Portsmouth and Newport. He was deputy to the General Court from Newport, in 1663-64-65, and died in 1673, a tradition of the family being that he died in England. Mary (Clarke) Tew survived him until 1687. Descent in this branch is traced from their youngest child, Henry Tew.
(III) Henry Tew, son of Richard and Mary (Clarke) Tew, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1654, and died there, April 26, 1718. He served as deputy ini 1680 and 1698, and there bore the title of captain. ; He served in various public capacities, and from 1703 to 1712 served eight terms as governor's assistant. In 1706 he was on a committee to erect a fort on Goat Island, and in 1709 was on a special committee to advise Governor Cranston concerning the expedition, against the French in Canada. In 1714 he was chosen deputy governor to succeed Walter Clarke, deceased. On June 18, 1717, he was bearing the rank and title of lieutenant-colonel. He deeded his son Henry "for love and other considerations" certain lands in Newport with mansion house, barns, orchards, garden, etc., and sundry other parcels, reserving six rods where his mother and wife were buried, to be laid out "twelve rods wide and three in length for use as a burial place forever." The son, Henry, agreed to keep 100 sheep for his father for life, and to make certain payments to his sisters. He and his two wives were buried in the family plot half a mile north of Sachuest Beach. His first wife, Dorcas, who died in 1694, bore him children ; John, the fifth child, being head of the next generation. His second wife, Sarah, died in 1718, the mother of three children.
(IV) John Tew, son of Henry and Dorcas Tew, was born in Newport, R. I., about 1686, but under his father's will he received lands in Dighton Mass., three records of that town showing that three of his children were born there: Henry, Oct. 29, 1729, William, Sept. 12, 1731, and Dorcas, March 26, 1734. He married Sarah-
(V) Captain Henry Tew, son of John and Sarah Tew, was born at Dighton, Mass., Oct. 29, 1729. Until after the Revolution the family remained mostly in Newport and Middletown, R. I., Dighton and Free- town, Mass. Both Henry Tew and his son Henry were soldiers in the Revolution from Dighton, Henry, Sr., serving as second lieutenant in Captain James Nichols' company, Second Bristol County Regiment, commissioned April 26, 1776, serving in the Rhode Island campaign. He was captain in the same company in 1779, and in Colonel John Hathaway's regiment in 1780. Records of the Tews of this period are confus- ing, but the best evidence shows that Captain Henry Tew had married and had a son, William. Records of London, England, show that he died on the prison ship, "Jersey.'
(VI) William Tew, son of Captain Henry Tew, was born at Nantucket, Mass., Sept. 17, 1769, and died in Jamestown, N. Y., April 26, 1847. About the year 1796 he came to New York, settling at Hudson in the Upper Hudson Valley. In 1803 he settled in Renssel- aerville, opposite Albany, and in 1810 moved to Otsego county, N. Y., going thence to Jamestown, in July, 1832, his son, George W. Tew, there being
Harry H. Jeur
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engaged in the practice of law. He married, Junc II, 1797, Priscilla Fish, born at Nantucket, Mass., March 16, 1776, died at Jamestown, Feb. 13, 1852. They were the parents of nine children: Samuel, died in Kansas City, Mo .; Sally Ann, married R. F. Fenton; John Enos, born Jan. 4, 1802; George W., of James- town; Mary Eliza, married Nicholas A. Sprague; William Henry, of further mention; Emily Jane, married Rufus Jones; Ann Maria, married Orsell Cook; Betsey Matilda, married Walter Stephens.
(VII) William Henry Tew, sixth child of William and Priscilla (Fish) Tew, was born in Rensselaerville, N. Y., July 16, 1808, and died in Jamestown, N. Y., Ang. 24, 1885. He attended the Fly Creek district school in Otsego county, N. Y., learned carding, cloth dressing, carpentering, and mill wrighting, the two trades last mentioned being also followed by his father. William Henry was employed at shoemaking at Smyrna, N. Y., then was with brother, John Enos Tew, in carding business near Rochester, until 1825, at which time General La Fayette made his tour of the country, and he went to Rochester to see him. He came to Jamestown in June, 1826, and began to learn the tinsmith trade. He worked for his brother, George W. Tew, who was then head of a tin and shcet iron business, until 1829, when he went to Buffalo, N. Y., and worked in Pratts' tin shop. Later he returned to Jamestown and went into business with his brother, George W. After George W. Tew was admitted to the bar in 1831, William H. Tew continued the managing partner until 1835, then became sole owner, conducting the business at the corner of Fourth and Main streets; here he remained until 1847, when he built the brick store at the corner of Main and Second streets and took Rufus Jones, his brother-in-law as partner. William H. Tew was president of the First National Bank of Jamestown; was an ardent temperance worker, and organized the first temperance society in James- town. He was a man of high character, and left an honorable record behind him. He married, near Laona, N. Y., April 12, 1829, Rhoda Burnham, born Dec. 13, 1805, died at Jamestown, Jan. 22, 1869. Children, all born in Jamestown: Julia Matilda, born Aug. 10, 1830, died in Jamestown; Harvey Williams, of further mention; Alice Louisa, born Sept. 28, 1840, married Martin Fenton; Mary Minerva, born March 2, 1847. married Seth Warner, and died in Jamestown; Charles Henry, born Oct. 7, 1849.
(VIII) Harvey Williams Tew, son of William Henry and Rhoda (Burnham) Tew, was born in Jamestown, N. Y., Sept. 23, 1832, and died Nov. 11, 1911. He was educated in the schools of Jamestown and Lima, N. Y., and after leaving school became associated with his father in the hardware business, continuing in that line for seventeen years in Jamestown. He went to Akron, Ohio, becoming associated with his brother-in- law, B. F. Goodrich, of the well known rubber manu- facturing concern. He remained in Akron seven years as superintendent of the Goodrich rubber factory, after which he went to Bradford, Pa., hecoming interested in oil operations. He remained in Bradford until 1882, then returned to Jamestown, and formed a partnership with Edgar Stephens, and under the firm name. Tew . & Stephens, manufactured Columbia drills. That
business he conducted successfully for several years, then retired and lived free from business life. He was a man of high standing in the community, a successful merchant, domestic in his tastes, and most kindly hearted. He was a Republican in politics, and in religious preference a Universalist. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.
Harvey W. Tew married, in Erie, Pa., Susan D. Goodrich, born in Ripley, N. Y., daughter of Anson and Susan (Dinsmore) Goodrich, and sister of B. F. Good- rich, the well known rubber manufacturer. Mrs. Tew survives her husband, active in mind and body, a devoted mother, and a member of the Universalist church. Children: Susan Dinsmore Tew, Ph. D., an educator of high rank, filling the chair of Greek at Tulane University, New Orleans, La .; Alice Fenton, died young; William Henry, a business man of Brook- lyn, N. Y., married Eleanor Scott; James Dinsmore, superintendent of the B. F. Goodrich Rubber Tire Works at Akron, Ohio; he married Eleanor Bechtel. of Philadelphia.
LIOL DANIEL FITZPATRICK, D. D. S .- Al- though young in years, Dr. Fitzpatrick, a well known dentist of Silver Creek, N. Y., has already earned a distinction in his professional work which might well be the envy of a much older man. His efforts have been so discerningly directed along well defined lines that his may already be called a successful life in the full sense of the word.
Daniel Fitzpatrick, father of Liol Daniel Fitzpatrick, has been connected with railroads all his life and at the present time is master carpenter in the maintenance department of the Pennsylvania railroad. He married Catherine Flanagan, and they are the parents of three children: Liol Daniel, mentioned below; Paul G., captain in the quartermasters' department of the United States army at Camp Merritt; Catherine.
Liol Daniel Fitzpatrick was born in Springville, Erie county, N. Y., Aug. 22, 1890, the son of Daniel and Catherine (Flanagan) Fitzpatrick. He was educated in the grammar and high schools of Springville as far as his preliminary education is concerned, then entered Buffalo Dental College, the dental department of Buffalo University, and was graduated from this institution with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1915, and passed the New York State Board exami- nations the same year. For one year immediately following his graduation he was associated with Dr. Smith in the latter's office at Niagara Falls, and on Jan. 1, 1917, established himself in private practice in Silver Creek, with which place he has been actively identified since that time. The skill which he has evinced in his work and the thorough business training which he has received resulted in success from the very beginning, and he is now in possession of an ever increasing practice.
During the recent World War, on April 30, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army and was attached to Company F, 37th Regiment, at Camp Dix, later being transferred to Camp Lee, where he was assigned to the 148th Infantry in the dental department. He received his honorable discharge April 6. 1920. In his political affiliations Dr. Fitzpatrick is independent,
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preferring to form his own opinions on all public matters rather than be tied by party connections. He is affiliated with the Zi Phi Psi fraternity, and is a member of the Preparedness League. In religion he is a Roman Catholic.
Dr. Fitzpatrick married, April 3, 1920, Marie C. Morgester, of Springville, N. Y. Dr. Fitzpatrick is possessed of the qualities which are absolutely essential to advancement, and there is every reason to believe that he will achieve a position in the foremost ranks of his profession.
ELOF ROSENCRANTZ-The flourishing city of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., has been, during the generation just passed, the home of many enterpris- ing men whose activities have contributed largely to the material advancement of the community, but to no class of its citizens does it owe more than to those of Swedish birth and ancestry. Among the latter, one of the leading figures for many years was Elof Rosen- crantz, a man active in well-nigh every department of the city's life, and one who justly possessed the high regard and esteem of his fellow-citizens for his public spirit and keen interest, which sprang from a deep and sincere affection entertained by him for his adopted home. His death, which occurred July 6, 1919, at his home here, left a very real gap in the life of the con- munity, and was felt as a personal loss by a great host of friends who had come to value him highly both as a citizen and as a man.
Elof Rosencrantz was born in Sweden, Oct. 20, 1848, and passed his childhood and early youth in his native place, attending as a lad the local district schools, where he received his education. As a lad, also, he heard stories of the great Western Republic to which so many countrymen of his had found their way and where they had prospered highly. Accordingly, he conceived a strong desire to reach that land of pros- perity himself and test the truth of the hearsay. He continued living with his parents until he had reached the age of nineteen years, and then left the old family home and came to the United States, settling immedi- ately at Jamestown, N. Y., where he found employment in the hardware store of William H. Sprague. He was a salesman for this concern for a period of ten years, during which time he thoroughly learned the details of the hardware business and fitted himself to take part in it on his own account. About the year 1878, Mr. Rosencrantz withdrew from his association with Mr. Sprague and engaged in business in partnership with Clayton A. Price, under the firm name of Rosen- crantz & Price. This partnership was continued for some five years and then Mr. Rosencrantz bought out the interest of Mr. Price and conducted the business alone under his own name for five years longer. At the end of that period he formed a partnership with Carl Lindquist under the firm name of E. Rosencrantz & Company, which continued in operation for twenty years. In 1911, Mr. Rosencrantz sold his interest to his partner and retired from active management of the concern which. however, is still being conducted by Mr. Lindquist and is one of the oldest concerns of its kind in the community. Mr. Rosencrantz had not con-
fined his activities to the management of his private interests, however, and had become associated with a number of enterprises which were of great material advantage to Jamestown. In 1899 he erected the busi- ness block situated on Main street, Jamestown, which was occupied by his own concern, and he was one of the incorporators of the Dahlstrom Metallic Door Company and served as president of that prosperous enterprise until 1911. He was also a director and stock-l holder of the Swedish-American National Bank of Jamestown, and the Chautauqua County National Bank.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Rosencrantz took a keen interest in local affairs, especially in educational. matters, and did much to advance the school system of Jamestown. He was always to be counted upon to! assist in any undertaking for the improvement of the institutions of the city or the bettering of the conditions of its inhabitants, and he may justly be termed one of the leading Swedish-Americans in New York State. Mr. Rosencrantz was a man of strong domestic tastes and instincts, and his family life was an ideal one, his chief pleasure and recreation being found in his own household among the members of his immediate family. Several years before his death, he erected a handsome brick mansion at No. 21 Allen street, Jamestown, and it was there that his death occurred.
Elof Rosencrantz was united in marriage, Aug. 14. 1872, at Kane, Pa., with Minnie Burlin, like himself a native of Sweden, and a daughter of John and Bertha (Holmlund) Burlin of that country. Mrs. Rosencrantz survives her husband, and is a well known figure in philanthropie circles in Jamestown. She is a devoted member of the Christian Science Church, in the tenets of which she is a firm believer. To Mr. and Mrs. Rosencrantz four children were born, as follows: I. Elof, Jr., who died in infancy. 2. Sagrid W., who became the- wife of William S. Bailey, to whom she has borne three children: William S., Jr., Alaric Rosencrantz, and Rosalia. 3. Paul Burlin, who married Maude Nichols, and now resides in the city of Philadelphia. 4. Lillian Faith, who became the wife of George W. Berquist, and they have one child, Elizabeth Faith. Mr. and Mrs. Berquist make their home at Jamestown with Mrs. Rosencrantz, at the Rosencrantz residence on Allen street.
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