USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 17
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It will be appropriate to close this sketch of one of Jamestown's most prominent citizens with an editorial, appearing at the time of his death in the Jamestown "Evening Journal," in which a tribute is paid to his unusual qualities and virtues:
In the death of Elof Rosencrantz, which occurred this morning, Jamestown loses a citizen who has done much for the material advancement of the city. man with an active business career covering many years, devoted to his family, interested in his em- ployees, and in close touch with the growth and de- velopment of Jamestown during all of those years, he left an impression of his personality on all those with whom he came in contact.
A man of unusual force, well known integrity and good business judgment, he was appealed to for advice hy many of his countrymen, and was of great assist- ance to them in purchasing property and making other investments. Failing health, covering quite a long period, had partially removed him in recent years from the activities of the community in which he hitherto had taken so much interest. Mr. Rosencrantz took a very active part in church affairs. He was one of the building committee that built the Swedish Mis-
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Mixis Brand
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sion Church and worked very hard to make it a suc- cess. He was a trustee of the church frem its founda- tion. There are few men who have come te this city frem a foreign land, dependent upon their ewn energy and labor, to make their way amid new conditions and new opportunities, who have taken so important a place in the affairs of the community as has Elof Rosencrantz.
MAURICE C. MAIN, of Conewango Valley, Cattaragus county, N. Y., owner of a good farming property and of a saw mill at that place, is a young and enterprising business man, and although only thirty- three years of age he has gained a reputation for integrity and stability of character, so much so that he has been entrusted with the administration of justice in the district in which he lives.
Maurice C. Main was born in Ellington, Chautauqua county, March 21, 1886, the son of Charles J. and Bertha (Bennett) Main, both of whom were born in Ellington. His father was a successful miller and farmer, and the Main family has lived in Chautauqua county for many generations.
As a boy Maurice C. attended the graded schools of Ellington, and later became a student in the Ellington High School, after graduating from which he took a course of commercial study in the Bryant State Business College, evidently intending to enter commercial life. However, his business life veered to the more active and substantial enterprises of farming, and he also entered extensively into saw milling. He has succeeded well in his enterprises, and has reached a comfortable competence. He is a man of energetic habits and marked intelligence, and his business undertakings have indicated that he possesses foresight and the ability to concentrate upon a project until he has developed it to a successful basis.
In political allegiance and conviction, Mr. Main is a Democrat, and he has followed national politics with marked and comprehensive interest; he is popular in his district, and has entered actively into political work. His repute as a man of substance and responsi- bility, and of high moral character, has brought him election to the responsible judicial office of justice of the peace at Conewango. In the administration of justice, he has exhibited an earnest desire to arrive at a true, broad-minded understanding of the causes argued before him, and his findings have been such as to show him to be more than superficially versed in the fundamentals of law, and especially that he is a man of judicial, impartial mind, able to arrive quickly at the true balance of right and wrong.
He married, in Warren, Pa., March 5, 1908, Myrtle Nickle, who comes of an old Pennsylvania family, her paternal ancestor being a pioneer settler. She was born at Putneyville, Pa., Dec. 31, 1885, daughter of Oliver H. and Martha E. (Timm) Nickle. On both sides she comes of Pennsylvania families, her mother having been born in East Sandy, and her father in Nickleville, of that State, her father's birthplace having been so named because of her ancestor's asso- ciation with its settlement. Mr. and Mrs. Main are the parents of one child, Geraldine, who was born Nov. 22, 1911. They are members of the Methodist church, and good supporters of the local church, and they also enter actively into community life, both being popular and esteemed in Conewango Valley.
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ALEXIS CRANE-Every man who has a rightful claim to a place in public records has earned that right either by the bestowal of large gifts, by faithful, con- structive service, or by the shieer force and inspiration of his character and personality. The late Alexis Crane, of Jamestown, N. Y., was one of those men whose lives and characters form the underlying struct- ure upon which are built the hopes of the prosperity of America. The career of such men show the possi- bilities offered by the Commonwealth of the State of New York to those possessing the business ability and the high integrity that characterize the finest citizen- ship. Mr. Crane's noble ambitions, his steadfastness of purpose, and tireless industry, furnish inspiration to the young business man of the coming generations, and his well earned success and the esteem in which he was held was the inevitable reward of these virtues. His was a nature of singular sweetness, modesty and sincerity, and while he possessed a strong, dominating personality, his power and method in handling men were not the result of aggressiveness but the momentum of compelling character and persuasive strength.
Alexis Crane was born in Granby, N. Y., in 1858, a son of Alexis and Jane Ann (Gilbert) Crane. In his early boyhood he came to Jamestown, and received his education in the Jamestown Union School and Collegiate Institute. Shortly after laying aside his text books, he entered the employ of W. S. Shedd, druggist, and at the end of five or six years assumed a similar position with the well known drug firm of Henderson & Putnam. Later he formed a partnership with F. E. Hatch, opening a drug store under the firm name of Hatch & Crane. Fascinated with the ever widening opportunities of the financial world, he finally severed his connection with Mr. Hatch, and by his own unaided efforts he discovered the nucleus of what has since become the Art Metal Construction Company, one of the most extensive metal factories in the country. While he could not have accomplished his purpose without the loyalty and support of his associates, it was his business sagacity, his breadth of view and his firm faith in the ultimate success of the enterprise that were the soul and motive power of the original organization. The Fenton Metallic Company, as it was known in the beginning, was formed in the early eighties with five charter members and bore the name for several years of its first president, the late R. E. Fenton. This company was the pioneer in that branch of industry, and represented dignity and high ideals in its policy and fineness of quality in workman- ship and production. It was mainly due to Mr. Crane's efforts that the plant of this now enormous industry was transferred and established in Jamestown, and to him is willingly ascribed a very large measure of success achieved. His industry was tremendous; he gloried in the strenuous life; his intelect was keen, his memory, especially in details, was phenomenal. The last twenty years of his life Mr. Crane devoted all his splendid energies to the upbuilding of this institution and promoted its interest throughout the length and breadth of the land. Besides being a director, he held the position of general manager of the entire Eastern and Western territory.
Politically Mr. Crane was a Republican, however, in
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local affairs he cast his vote for the men and measures that he thought were for the hest interest of all the people. Fraternally Mr. Crane was a prominent and respected member of Mount Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Jamestown, N. Y., and Montgomery Lodge, of the same organization, in New York City, and he exemplified in his life the teachings of Masonry. He was a member of the Jamestown Club and supported that organization with a willing service and purse.
In Jamestown, on July 27, 1880, Mr. Crane was united in marriage with Emily Harrington, a daughter of Andrew Murray and Catherine Virginia (Whitaker) Harrington, prominent residents of the town of James- town. To this union was born one daughter, Imogen. During her childhood and youth she received a thorough education in the Jamestown High School, and after graduating from the Catherine Aiken School in Stamford, Conn., she spent a year in foreign travel. Miss Crane had the honor of being the first volunteer from Jamestown for the overseas Red Cross Canteen Work during the great World War. She left New York, Sept. 19, 1918, and served in France for one year. She was first stationed at Is-sur-Tille, then at Bordeaux, and finally at Marseilles, the largest canteen in the southern zone, of which she was in full charge. This highly responsible position she held with honor and credit until her return to America in September, 1919. After a few weeks of rest, she again enrolled under the Red Cross Banner of Workers in the Social Service Division of New York City.
Miss Crane is a young lady of true refinement, culture and ability, and is well known socially. Her over-seas work has been publicly acknowledged, and it is women like Miss Crane who make the moral improve- ment and social culture of the community a certainty. Her executive ability and the faculty of making friends with all classes of people equipped her with peculiar fitness for her work over-seas, and were reminders of the same qualities in her father, of whom it was once said: "It is a splendid fact that Mr. Crane was as popular with his employees as he was with the public and business world. His consideration of the feelings of even the humblest, his democratic ways, his sym- pathy, his help, and his effervescent genialty won any man at sight and his hold never relaxed. His great, generous, hospitable heart was never still to an appeal for anything in his power to give. As long as memory remains he will he recalled as one who never forgot to be kind, one who wrought patiently, persistently, intelligently, for success-and won." Every sentiment already expressed in the above is fully corroborated by the following tribute, published by the directors of the Art Metal Construction Company, at the time of his death, which occurred June 7, 1907.
It is with profound regret that the Board of Direc- tors has learned of the death of Alexis Crane. He was connected with this company from the date of its or- ganization and he had formed a conspicuous part in all its undertakings. In these years of business asso- ciation he has demonstrated rare business ability, and his every act has been guided by the strictest integrity and devotion to duty. His genial manner, his keen perception and kindly disposition, endeared him to the hearts of all who knew him. In all his associations In life he was kind and gentle, ever ready to be of help and assistance to others and never seeking praise or plaudit from any one. His good and generous nature,
and happy disposition made him appear like a ray of sunshine in every circle in which he moved. Firm in his own conviction, which he expressed with force and logic, he was ever considerate of the opinions of others. His popularity was only limited to the boun- daries of his acquaintance and that was very exten- sive. For him to betray a friend was impossible, an injury he soon forgave, but a favor he never forgot. It is indeed sad to lose one whose life was so full of hope and promise and one whose every act was marked by sentiments of love and affection. Cut down in the prime of life and manhood, when he i seemed to have so much to live for, he left a bereaved ( family and a community of friends that sadly mourn t his untimely end, and upon which he has left the . imprint of his noble and lovable character.
DIX-HARRINGTON FAMILY-Several years : ago, at a high school festival, a stately young man t on a handsome black horse came riding across the school campus. He halted, and shading his eyes with [ his hands, eagerly scanned the landscape before him. I This young man typified James Prendergast in his : search, more than a hundred years ago for an advan- tageous site for the founding of the city of Jamestown. But Jamestown, then called "The Rapids," had already begun its earthly career in the form of a lonesome but sturdy saw mill, the pioneer structure of this city built, operated and owned by Joseph Dix, a son of Benjamin Dix, and born in Liecester, Mass., July 7, 1753. He married Sarah Fisher, of Sturbridge, Vt., when about twenty-six years of age, and together they set out for their future home, reaching what was to be Jamestown after a journey of sixteen days. In the Congregational church which was founded shortly after their arrival, Joseph Dix had the unique distinction of being one of the original nine members and the first deacon. He brought his creed with him from Massachusetts, as he was said to be one of the only three professors of religion to be found here. After selling the mill to ( James Prendergast, which with increasing possessions became the nucleus of the new town, Joseph Dix removed temporarily to Panama, fondly hoping that the gods had chosen it to hold the rank that Jamestown subsequently acquired. Several years later, however, he returned to make it his permanent home, proving his right to the fraternity of pioneer residents. Joseph Dix served as private in Captain Parker's company, was one of the famous minutemen, serving from April, 1775, to 1780. He was mustered out as sergeant of Colonel Biglow's regiment. His name is distinguished as being that of the only Revolutionary soldier buried in Lake View Cemetery.
His son, Horatio Dix, also a resident of Jamestown, was the father of several children, the eldest daughter Keziah being the mother of Andrew M. Harrington. Andrew Murray Harrington son of Noah W. and Keziah (Dix) Harrington, was born in Jamestown, May 8, 1829, and never had this city a more ardent lover and loyal champion. Next to politics, his native city claimed his unswerving devotion, indeed to be a staunch Republican and live in Jamestown made a kingdom of Heaven on earth for him. Mr. Harrington was identified with all that meant good times and progress for the town, and especially in music as expressed in church, singing clubs, and that old dignified organization known as the Philharmonic Society. He inherited his musical tendencies from his father, who was possessed of a marvelous tenor voice
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and was a member of the first musical organization to tour the State in concert.
The name of Andrew M. Harrington was for many years connected with mercantile business, later with the fire insurance business. He was the first to suggest the public school, calling a meeting of trustees and presenting his ideas through Calita S. Jones as spokesman.
On May 23, 1854, he was married to Catherine Virginia Whitaker, a lineal descendant of William Bradford, first governor of Plymouth Colony, also of those two picturesque pilgrims, John and Pricilla Alden, of "Mayflower" fame. Three daughters were born of this union: Kate Isabelle, the eldest daughter, was in her early days called a "brilliant wit and beauty," and so closely has she always been identified with things musical that the musical history of Jamestown could not be written without her. It is as an organist particularly that she rose to her highest point of excellence, having occupied that position with many interruptions, on account of ill health, from the time she was a very young child up to the present day. Such eminent men in the same profession as Eugene Thayer and C. A. Havens said: "We can teach you nothing, you were born to play the organ." Miss Harrington also takes first rank as an accompanist, teacher, and composer, and with a peculiarly vibrant, soulful voice, she has sung her way into the hearts of all listeners. Her fine poetic sense and powers of discrimination have made her invaluable as a critic and an authority on esoteric meanings and interpretations. She is a member of Dr. John Haynes Holmes' church of New York City.
Emily, the second daughter, who like the others has also been closely associated with the musical and literary organizations of the town, particularly the Mozart, the Fortnightly, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, is also an ardent member of the Red Cross and its activities. Mrs. Crane's peculiarly sympathetic voice has won the love of many friends, and her efforts, both musically and as an intelligent, enthusiastic worker, have contributed wonderfully to the art development of the city of Jamestown. At a very early age she became a member of the Presby- terian church. In the year 1880 she was married to Alexis Crane, whose biography precedes this.
Sarah Gertrude, the youngest daughter, was possessed of quick wit, unusual memory, fine powers of analysis, and facility in verse, which have enabled her to con- tribute much of original valne in literary circles, and makes her a welcome asset where mirth and gaiety abound. She is a member of Dr. John Haynes Holmes' church of New York City.
WALTER STUART M. D .- Nearly thirty years' residence in Westfield entitles Dr. Stuart to be ranked among Chautauqua county's veterans of the medical fraternity. Morcover these years have been years of continuous professional activity during which Dr. Stuart has won friends in proportion as he has acquired patronage.
Walter Stuart was born July 7, 1856, at Baraboo, Wis., and is a son of Thomas and Harriet (Sandfort) Stuart, the former a contractor and stone mason. Walter
Stuart attended the public schools of his native town until the age of ten years, when the family moved to Busti, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where the boy finished his public school attendance and entered the high school. On leaving, he sought for work by which he might earn money to defray the expenses of a medical education, and in the course of time found himself in circumstances which justified him in enter- ing the medical department of the University of Buffalo, gradnating in 1890 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The same year, Dr. Stuart began practice at Westfield, and during the years which have elapsed, has inspired with implicit confidence in his knowledge, skill and devotion to duty,, both his pro- fessional associates and the general public. His work is that of a general practitioner, and he belongs to the Chautauqua County Medical Association, being past president of that body. He affiliates with the Masonic order, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Stuart married, March 30, 1882, Martha, daughter of John P. and Susan (Dupree) Ball, of Youngsville, Pa.
The family of which Dr. Stuart belongs is repre- sented in Chautauqua county not only by himself, but also by a brother Lewis, and a sister Flora, now Mrs. John Hoard, of Jamestown. Dr. Stuart himself has hecn an almost lifelong resident, and it is to be hoped, in the interest of the medical profession, that he may never be tempted to seek another field of labor.
GEORGE W. SHARPE-From his coming to Jamestown in 1881 until the present, 1920, Mr. Sharpe has been a prominent factor in Jamestown's business life, and although he is now practically retired from the management of the A. D. Sharpe Company, that corpor- ation stands as a monument to his business sagacity and broad vision. With him was long associated George W. Pierce and Adolphns D. Sharpe, both of whom have now passed to their reward. It was this trio of able men who in 1881 opened the People's Dry Goods Store in Jamestown, and although the firm witnessed many vicissitudes, its stability was never questioned, and the People's Dry Goods Store became one of the best known and reputable mercantile houses of Jamestown. When one of the partners, Adolphus D. Sharpe, died in 1894, the remaining partners incorporated the business, and as a mark of their respect for the memory of their former associate, named it the A. D. Sharpe Company. George W. Pierce was the first president of the corporation, and so continued until his death, Ang. 9, 1898. He was succeeded by George W. Sharpe, who as its capable head brought the business to its highest and most profit- able stage of development.
George W. Sharpe was born in Tylersville, Ohio, March 24, 1818, and there spent his youth, attending the public schools. He gained his first knowledge of the dry goods business in his father's dry goods store, at Tylersville and Versailles, Ohio. After his father's death he was associated with Lewis Wald & Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, wholesale dealers in notions. Later he acted as clerk in the store of Thompson & Sharpe, merchants of Troy, Ohio, a firm with which he gained valuable experience. While there he became intimate
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with a fellow clerk, George W. Pierce, and the friend- ship there begun existed all through the life of Mr. Pierce. In 1870 the two young men opened a dry goods store in Bradford, Ohio, which they operated for two ycars under the firm name, Sharpe & Pierce. They then spent two years in a similar business in Kokomo, Ind., and later, until 1881, they were merchants of Dayton, Ohio. The young men met with a fair degree of financial success in these business ventures, but the greatest gain was from the wide experience obtained, an experience from which later benefit was. derived.
On March 16, 1881, Adolphus D. Sharpe arrived in Jamestown, N. Y., accompanied by his friend, George W. Pierce, and brother, T. W. Sharpe, and they bought out the bankrupt stock of De Forest Weld. The three men, trading as the People's Dry Goods Store, opened what was then the largest dry goods store in Jamestown, and which, under their guidance, became one of the principal commercial houses of Western New York. A. D. Sharpe died at the Hotel Brunswick, N. Y., Feb. 28, 1894, leaving to his partners the well established busi- ness which the same year they incorporated as the A. D. Sharpe Company. The business built upon the broad foundation of "fair dealing," increased with the advant- ages gained from incorporation, and as vice-president of the A. D. Sharpe Company from 1894 until 1898, George W. Sharpe bore his full share of the corporate management, and himself grew in power and strength as executive manager. In 1898, when the death of President Pierce left Mr. Sharpe with the full burden to bear, he assumed the presidency of the company with a conscientious strength born of long experience and perfect familiarity with every detail of the great busi- ness which he had helped to ereate. Under his manage- ment the business continued to grow, and Mr. Sharpe took rank with the ablest merchants of Western New York. He remained as active head of the A. D. Sharpe Company until 1915, then practically retired, although his interest continues. Mr. Sharpe is a supporter of all good causes, and he is as patriotic and loyal a citizen as he is an able and energetic merchant. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and a long-time member of the First Methodist Church.
Mr. Sharpe married, March 5, 1873, Annabel Brooks, or Bradford, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe are the parents of two children, Elizabeth M., and Ednah R. Sharpe.
JOSHUA JULIAN TOWLE, M. D .- One of the highly esteemed citizens of Jamestown, N. Y., was Joshua Julian Towle, M. D., of unblemished character and upright lile; fearless, because of his innate sense of his personal rectitude, he walked among his fellowmen with the pride of bearing which only self-respect makes possible. A very genial man, kind and generous to the unfortunate, gentle and sympathetic to the sick and afflicted, the ideal type of the benign family physician, endearing himself to his large circle of patients who sought his ministrations.
Joshua Julian Towle was born Jan: 7, 1837, at Hem- iningsford, Province of Quebec, Canada. He was the son of William Towle, a farmer of Hemmingsford. The boy acquired a good primary education in the schools of his native village, but realizing their limitations he longed for a better opportunity to advance in his studies. When
rearly sixteen years of age, he crossed the border divid- ing Canada from the United States, into Vermont, locat- ing at Cornwall, where an older brother owned and operated a farm. For some time he worked for this brother upon the farm, studying whenever opportunity offered and attending school during the winter sessions; but young Towle was too ambitious for such restricted opportunities, so he gave up farming and, with the inten- tion of becoming a physician, went to Pittsfield, Mass., to begin the reading of medicine. He entered the Berk- . shire Medical College and graduated from it with the degree of M. D. in 1855. Dr. Towle . returned to Ver- . mont, locating at Bridport, where he opened an office and began the practice of his profession; he remained there six years, and in 1861 removed to New York State, settling in Stockton, Chautauqua county. He continued the practice of medicine there for eleven years, until 1872, at which time he went to Jamestown, making this his permanent home, and engaged in the beneficent art of healing. His offices were located in the drug store of Dr. Kimbell, a well known resident of Jamestown. Dr. Towle was a member of the Society of Physicians and Surgeons of Jamestown, and of Mt. Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He was a Republican in politics, but not an active worker in the party. He was a mem- ber of the Congregational church, as are all his family.
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