USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 19
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Porter Sheldon possessed a constructive and logical mind of singularly broad type. Had he given himself wholly to statesmanship he would easily have taken high rank. He was equally at home in the court room, in political debate, in working out some mechanical problem which promised material results, or in building a hotel on the lake. His originality was alike manifest in each employment, and he took as keen a delight in one as
in another. He had the strong desire for outdoor life which is common in men of intense mental application. He loved Chautauqua Lake and his Virginia plantation with an equal affection, and in recent years he had divided his time between them in a contentment that was in sharp contrast to the prevailing unrest of our American life.
He loved the companionship of kindred souls. His dry humor, his sound judgment of men and things, his originality of expression alike enriched his conversation and made him a friend prized by all. The sturdy inde- pendence which was so characteristic of him both in public and private helped to make him a forceful personality in all relations of life. Though not closely bound by conventionalities, he was a social and kindly man, and a generous one also. He disliked all osten- tation and lived the simple life of his choice, but he did not forget to do good in his own quiet way. He never lost his interest in young people, and many a young man in Jamestown can testify to the aid which he freely extended when it was most needed. So he grew old gracefully, like the autumn leaf that hangs late upon the tree. He had reached the Indian summer of his life in the full vigor of his mind and with physical powers but little impaired. Few among the early citizens of Jamestown have left so deep and helpful an impression upon its professional, political, and industrial activities.
JACOB WIRTNER-In 1848 Jacob Wirtner, then a young man of twenty-two, incurred his father's dis- pleasure by his revolutionary sentiments, and finally his father advised his son to "go to America where they are all revolutionists." The advice was taken, and the young German became an American citizen, and in Dunkirk, N. Y., became a successful business man, hon- ored and respected by all who knew him. He was the . son of Jacob and Catherine (Schlenker) Wirtner, of Schweningen, Wurtemberg, Germany, his father a farmer and an old soldier of the days when Napoleon conquered Austria.
Jacob (2) Wirtner was born Sept. 5, 1826, at the homestead in Germany, died in Dunkirk, N. Y., April | 26, 1915, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Fre- donia. He attended school in his native land until ! fifteen years of age, then became a cabinetmaker's ap- prentice, serving three years. He then began the travel- ing experience which the foreign mechanics deems essential, and with his tools went from city to city in various parts of the country, becoming versed in all the different ways of the cabinetmakers of those different places. From the fall of 1847 until the spring of 1848, he was working in Baden-Baden, building pianos. At that time Emperor William, then Prince, was there tak- ing the treatment at the springs for his health, and the young man saw royalty at closer range than ever before. Happening to be overheard in expressing sentiment not favorable to the royal family, Mr. Wirtner and others were accused of being revolutionists, were ar- rested, held in confinement, then escorted out of the city and ordered to leave that vicinity. Mr. Wirtner went to Switzerland, but not being able to obtain em- ployment returned to his father's home in Germany. While there he came into collision with his father.
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who did not approve of the son's revolutionary ten- dencies, and obtaining money from his father to defray the expense of the trip, the young man took passage from Bremen, and after a passage of fifty-six days arrived in New York City, June 30, 1848. His first Fourth of July was spent on an Erie canal boat which finally brought him to Buffalo, where he joined his elder brother, Baldus. Unable to find work in Buffalo that suited him, Jacob Wirtner walked to Gowanda, N. Y., where he found employment at his trade, remain- ing until the spring of 1850. In October of that year he began a trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, but finding wages low, as inost of the work was done by slaves, he returned North on a sail- ing vessel, enduring many hardships before finally land- ing in New York, late in 1850. In New York he was employed in a piano factory for three years, after which he returned to his home in Germany.
He came again to the United States, locating in Buf- falo where he spent two and one-half years, finally, in 1856, locating in Dunkirk, N. Y. There lie was em- ployed in the old Erie Railroad car shop until 1864, when he bought lots on Railroad avenue, erected a store building, and for eighteen years engaged in the grocery business. When the great struggle broke out between the North and the South, Mr. Wirtner was among those who were first to offer what service they could be of to the country. His heart and soul were for the cause of the North and its great leader, Abraham Lincoln. Only his physical condition kept him from the firing line, which was of great regret to him, but he was a proud brother of two others of his family who shoul- dered their muskets and went forth to battle for their adopted land. His brothers, Marten and Baldus Wirt- ner, served under Captain Toomey, of Dunkirk, in many important engagements. In 1880 he bought a site on now Main street from Dr. Charles Hesselmier and erected a three-story brick building and established in it a hardware business which he conducted for several years with P. H. Morison as a partner. Later he sold all his business interests and retired from active life. A few days prior to his death he fell and fractured his hip bone, and from that injury he did not rally, but soon passed away, at the age of eighty-nine years. Mr. Wirtner was one of the founders of the Merchants' Na- tional Bank of Dunkirk, and for many years a director. A member of the German Lutheran church, Mr. Wirtner was later a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and faithful to his Christian obligations. He was a member of the Masonic order, a Republican in politics, a successful business man, and a good citizen. In 1889 he again visited Germany, taking his wife, and later in life they visited California several times to see their son.
Mr. Wirtner married (first) in Germany, Mary Link, who died in 1876, in Dunkirk, and was buried in For- est Hill Cemetery. He married (second) April 3, 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio, Pauline Sherer, born in Kaisers- lautern, Germany. Mrs. Wirtner survives her husband, also three sons: Charles J., of Dunkirk, a former mayor, and John E., of Rochester, N. Y., a business man; both by his former marriage; and Albert S., of San Francisco, Cal.
JUDGE ORSELL COOK-Prominent among those in the city of Jamestown who rose to eminence at the bar was the late Judge Orsell Cook, who was a man of marked capacity and decided character, and of the most undoubted integrity. He was modest and un- assuming in his deportment, and retiring in his habits, with no disposition to put himself forward, but in what- ever position he was placed he was emphatic and decided. But he went further than the mere require- ments of the ethical code. He was always anxious, not merely to act honorable to a professional brother, but also to serve him, if he could, by advancing his interests and increasing his claims to public estimation and confidence. In the language of the lamented Lane, "He was so constituted that it was impossible for him to be guilty of dishonorable rivalry towards his fellow practitioners." He scorned the tricks of the profession and those who practiced them. To the junior members of the faculty he was particularly kind and generous, giving them the benefit of his many years of experience, and they were made to feel at once that he was one in whom they could place their confidence.
Judge Orsell Cook was born in Wells, Rutland county, Vt., Feb. 23, 1807, and died in Jamestown, July I, 1895. He was the son of Benjamin and Eunice (Goodspeed) Cook. In 1812 his parents moved to Danby, Tioga county, N. Y., and remained there until the spring of 1817. From Danby the family moved to Silver Lake, then to Perry, N. Y., and in 1829 came to Busti, Chautauqua county, N. Y. Orsell Cook did not accompany them to this county but followed in company with his sister a year later, coming down Chautauqua Lake from Mayville and landing at a dock some distance above what is now known as Goose Creek, whence they followed the path through the forest to the family home.
In 1832 Judge Cook taught school at Lakewood, and in 1833 he commenced the study of law with Judge Richard P. Marvin and Samuel A. Brown, in James- town, and from that day until the time of his demise, he was actively identified with the Chautauqua county bar. During his sixty years of legal practice he had only been associated as a law partner with four men; Lorenzo P. Morris, Clark R. Lockwood, Jerome B. Fisher, and Arthur C. Wade. At the time of his death he was at the head of the law firm of Cook, Fisher & Wade, which was at that time one of the best and well known firms throughout the county of Chautauqua. The last few years of his life he did not often appear at court, but was daily at his office. He kept abreast of the times in his law studies, and active in consulta- tion with his legal associates, when his advice was always considered invaluable. In 1844 he was appointed surrogate of Chautauqua county by Governor Bouck, which position he held for three years. He was elected county judge in 1862 and was reelected in 1866.
Judge Cook married (first) in 1839, Ann M. Tew, and to this union was born three children: Mrs. John T. Wilson, who died April 18, 1903; Mrs. Henry C. Price, of Jamestown; and Mrs. Charles A. Breed, of Albany, N. Y. Judge Cook married (second) in 1849, Eliza R. Dexter, who died in 1903. Of this union one son was born, Willis O., who died at the age of fifty- four years, unmarried.
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In concluding this article we may say that Judge Orsell Cook gave of his best to the city, State and Nation. He represented, as much in his private char- acter as in his public and professional life, forces and principles that are the solid foundation of our American life and an incentive for all the world. In his home there was an unassuming devotion to his duties of a kind and loving husband and father, and an honorable gentleman. In professional life there was always deliberate judgement, calm action, clear thinking and unswerving devotion to every trust. Broad souled, he was tolerant of the political or religious opinions of others. Men, irrespective of party, loved him for what he was, a simple, kindly man, devoted to his home, loving and loved by his friends. His conduct in every relation of life was one well worthy of being held up as a model for emulation of the entire comunity. The influence which he exerted in life was at once great and benificent, and it is the task and privilege of those who come after him to keep it alive in the future.
WILLIAM J. MADDOX-Lives that count to any great extent in the development in a community are rare, and especially is this the case today among those who have devoted themselves to business pursuits, since in a large measure the splendid old public spirit of great merchants and financiers, which impelled them to work for the welfare of the fellow-citizens quite as much as for their own profit, has in a measure departed and given place to a more selfish and narrow view of existence and its ends. The majority of the leaders in business at present seem to feel that there is some- thing incompatible between their interests and those of other men, so they strive almost exclusively without regard to their fellows and often, indeed, even when it is obvious these must suffer gravely from their opera- tions. This it is that has been largely at the bottom of the growing dislike and jealousy between the classes of this country, a condition that is the imperative task of all patriotic men to remedy insofar as it lies in their power. The accumulation of his fortune and the winning of great material success for himself has not been however, incompatible with the invaluable service rendered to Jamestown and Chautauqua county by William J. Maddox, who has made his enterprises sub- serve the double end of the common weal and his own ambitions. His life, with its ceaseless, indefatigable energy, wonderful mental attainments and forethought, his strict adherence to straight, honest business methods, and his untiring zeal, have been the cause of wonder to his fellows, and might well serve as a model to those who seek the illusive Goddess Success. The men who are thus endowed undertake enterprises that would make the average man pause, apparently without fear of consequences, and seem impervious to the sting of discouragement, meeting reverses not with the usual surrender of most men, but with the simple expedient of trying again at something new.
There are some of so versatile a gift that they seem almost predestined to success. Go where they will, do what they will, that which they put their hand to invariably prospers, and the too casual observer is prone to put it down to luck. That changeable Goddess, however, is far too fickle to bestow, even upon
her favorites, any substantial and permanent success; she will bring off for them, it is true, amazing coups, from time to time, to make neighbors stare, but the lasting fortune is the product of but one thing, hard work, and if the truth were known the most versatile and talented must do as much plodding as their duller fellows, though, mayhap, with a more sprightly carriage and a lighter step. Destiny after all, deals out the same reward for the same efforts with a pretty even hand and genius has been described by one who should have known, as an "infinite capacity for taking pains." Of such a kind is the subject of this brief appreciation.
William J. Maddox was born in LaGrange, Luzerne county, Pa., July 19, 1856, a son of Thomas Maddox, who was born in Liverpool, England. His wife and the mother of William J. Maddox traced her ancestry to her grandfather, who was a brother of General Ethan Allen. William J. Maddox up to the age of fourteen led the life of a farmer's boy, attending the district county school, but he had as time passed manifested a strong predilection for mechanics, in the invention of many things, that tended to help along with the work attached to the well regulated rural enterprise. Therefore the father apprenticed the youngster to the firm of Gunster, Hull & Parker, who were manufacturing furniture at Scranton, Pa. He served in this capacity for something like seven years, working hard from six A. M. to six P. M., thus succeeding in mastering the details of every department of the plant, when he withdrew and opened a modest retail furniture establishment in Pennsylvania avenue, Scranton, which he conducted for the ensuing ten years, the while giving his inventive capacity full play. He was one of those men, as he is now, who are eter- nally doing something more than mere attending to business.
During this time, also, he invented the reclining rocking chair, in which he felt that he saw possibilities. He brought it to Jamestown, and without difficulty succeeded in interesting others in the device and its manufacture, and shortly after sold his Scranton store and came to Jamestown and purchased an interest in the plant of Beeman, Breed & Phillips, who were man- ufacturing a line of parlor tables, which at the time were practically all made of black walnut with French walnut burl veneers and marble tops. Mr. Maddox took personal charge of the manufacturing end of this business. With the advent of Mr. Maddox the style of the firm was changed to Phillips, Maddox & Com- pany. This partnership existed for a little over a year, when Mr. Phillips sold his interest in the business and the name was then changed to Morgan, Maddox & Company. The working of the "deadly parallel" com- parison between one of Mr. Maddox's tables of that day and one of his present day pieces in mahogany would make a striking illustration of the progress made along these lines in a third of a century, for it is over thirty-three years ago that Mr. Maddox began the manufacture of tables.
Up to this time anything other than the black walnut table with the marble top was unheard of in this country, and to have presumed to offer anything but a marble top would have been almost a serious affront. But Mr. Maddox thought he saw possibilities in the
Wm Mada, addax
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wood top tables made in finely figured mahogany and of other fine cabinet woods, and in this became the pioneer in that line. For a long time the rubbing and polishing of these new table tops was done by hand, and Mr. Maddox, realizing the need of more expe- dition, set himself about the production of a machine which should do this work much faster and much better. The result of his first effort may be appreciated by the comparison between that and the present Maddox rubbing and polishing machine. The machine was patented in 1891, and was the first "stroke" rubbing machine ever used. As time passed the machine was improved and placed on the market. The Maddox machines are now part of the equipment of factories all over America, Canada and Europe. in in spite of the fact that they have had many imitators. Again the kaleidoscope of business shifted and interests changed to other hands. Morgan disappears and Bailey appears on the scene, but don't forget to note that it was always-Maddox, and invariably the move is to the fore. The change made was from Morgan, Maddox & Company to Maddox, Bailey & Company, and after a few years Mr. Maddox withdrew from the business and almost immediately organized the Maddox Table Company, and it is under that standard that he has continued to the present time.
Mr. Maddox erected the original buildings of the present plant, and immediately brought out a line of parlor and library tables, then turned his attention to further improving and perfecting the rubbing machine. When it had been brought to the state of practical perfection, Mr. Maddox conceived the idea of starting George H. Allen, known throughout America as 'Cefarine Allen," on a world tour, carrying with him three full sized tables and a set of photographs of the complete Maddox line. He was the first representative of a furniture manufacturing establishment to make such a tour, during which orders were taken for Maddox tables from dignitaries throughout the trip. One of the tables, an affair of the French leg persuasion, with a round top about twenty inches in diameter and in mahogany, has on its top an outline of Mr. Allen's trip, and occupies an honored place in Mr. Maddox's palatial home. Its interesting itinerary was as follows: Left Jamestown, N. Y., July 14, 1899, arriving in New York City, July 15; Glasgow, Scotland, July 27; London, England, Aug. 25; Gibraltar, Spain, Ang. 31; Port Said, Egypt, Sept. 7; Aden Arabia, Sept. 13; Colombo Ceylon, Sept. 20; Penang, Straits Settlement, Sept. 27; Singapore, Straits Settlement, Oct. 1; Hong Kong, China. Oct. 10; Shanghai, China, Oct. 24; Hong Kong, China, Oct. 26, the Nagasaki, Japan, Oct. 28; Kobe, Japan, Oct. 30; Yokohama, Japan, Nov. 3: Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov. 16; St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 20; Chicago, Il1., Nov 21 ; Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 25; James- town, N. Y., Nov. 26, having made the circuit of the globe in just four months and twelve days.
Among the especially successful enterprises of Jamestown is the American Aristotype Company, a producer of a photograph paper of peculiar and rapid printing qualities. Ordinary methods were unequal in the matter of time to turning out the prints, and after casting about for some time in a effort to meet the need the matter was put up to Mr. Maddox. In a very
short time he had devised the photographic printing machine which many will recall as that used in the great commercial galleries of the country. The machine was made for the Aristotype Company, which, as an adjunct of the Eastman Kodak Company, controls its manufacture and sale. Mr. Maddox was paid a hand- some price for the machine, and has manufactured for the company all that have gone out to the present time, though few know that it was the inventive genius of Mr. Maddox that produced it.
Mr. Maddox was also the first furniture manufact- urer of the country to trade-mark the product of his plant, and since the "Mad-ox" first appeared as a symbol of the Maddox Table Company, the custom has been adopted by many of the prominent inanu- facturers of the country. The "Mad-ox," however, has the entree to probably the greatest number of furni- ture stores of the United States of any of them. Mr. Maddox's latest stroke of genius was the knock-down feature of construction, as applied to a parlor or library table. Originally thoughit successful, or possible to tables of only the plainer and simpler sort, it was attempted only on this class of goods, but Mr. Maddox's persistence finally found a way of adapting the feature to the inore elaborate portion of the line, and now there is not a table of whatsoever kind in the parlor or library class to which this feature is not applied. In addition to the Maddox Table Company, which by the way gets the lion's share of Mr. Maddox's time, he is the owner of the Maddox Machine Company, the business of which is the manufacture of sanding, rubbing, polishing and other special machines.
Mr. Maddox's business interests are extensive and varied. Aside from the presidency and general man- agement of the Maddox Table Company, he is the sole proprietor of the Maddox Machine Company, director of the Manufacturers' Building Company, Grand Rapids, director of the Bank of Jamestown, president of the Jamestown Telephone Corporation, Jamestown, president of the Meadville Telephone Company, Mead- ville, Pa., and is a director of the Eastern Crawford Telephone Company, of Crawford, Pa. Mr. Maddox is also proprietor of the Pearl City Paint and Glass Company, trustee on the Warner Home Board, a member of the Board of Commerce of Jamestown. N. Y., and a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He was for ten years president and chairman of the Manufacturers' Association of James- town.
In the past years, along with the multitudinons things that have pressed claims upon his time, he has built and moved into one of the most delightful Colonial homes in all the Chautauqua region, which is famed far and wide for the splendor of its country seats. The great hall (which extends back through the center of the house to a conservatory) and the living room and dining room, are remarkable for the mahogany used in the paneling of the walls, while in the billiard room the material is a rare Philippine wood known as "Comagon," a wood somewhat resembling Circassian walnut, though much more beautiful in figure. The billiard table is also in "Comagon," while the floor is laid in teakwood. It was Mr. Maddox's original inten- tion to make some changes in an already fine home,
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but much after the manner of the building of a dining room to the home of Mrs. Cliff, in Stockton's delight- ful story of "Mrs. Cliff's Yacht," the farther he went the farther he found he would have to go and in the end concluded to tear down completely and rebuild. A gentleman of rare discrimination in color and harmony, the new home, carried out to the letter in accordance with his plans and designs, is most artistic, restful and delightful.
Mr. Maddox never sought public office, but he did serve as a member of the County Board of Supervisors in 1896-97. He also served on the Board of Education of Jamestown. Mr. Maddox is also prominent in fra- ternal circles, and is a member of the various Masonic bodies, including Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 145; Western Sun Chapter, No. 67, Royal Arch Masons, Jamestown Commandery, No. 61, Knights Templar; Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Buffalo. He is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
In Scranton, June 18, 1884, Mr. Maddox was united in marriage with Alice Shirer, born in Scranton, Pa., a daughter of Horace and Hettie Shirer, prominent residents of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Maddox were born two children, as follows: I. Stella, a graduate of Ely School of New York City, and wife of Irving D. Avery, of Carbondale, Pa., who is manager of the Pearl City Paint and Glass Company of Jamestown, N. Y. 2. Burton J., a graduate of the grammar and high schools of Jamestown, and who is now with the Maddox Machine Company.
In closing this article it may be timely and appro- priate to quote the following which appeared in the Jamestown "Evening Journal" of Oct. 27, 1919:
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