USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 21
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We recognize in his loyalty, in his patriotic devotion to country, in his exalted citizenship, in his broad sympathy toward mankind, as well as in his posses- sion of all those other qualities of mind and heart combined in the making of an ideal man and citizen, an example worthy of the emulation of all men. The realization that we may no longer enjoy the inspira- tion and counsel which characterized his relations with his fellows, intensifies the sense of the loss which we have all sustained.
The untimely death of our beloved associate, follow- ing a long period of heroic and patient suffering, is an immeasurable loss, not only to the people of the county and of the State, but to the community which
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he has served in so many capacities with marked abil- ity, fidelity and devotion.
It is gratifying to remember that the last public expression of James L. Weeks was a strong, forceful and inspiring appeal, written to his fellow-citizens from his bed of suffering, and read at the memorable patriotic meeting of the citizens of Jamestown, on April 5th, 1917, at the time of the declaration of war against the German Empire. Had his physical strength been equal to his indomitable and lofty spirit he would have occupied a conspicuous place upon the platform of that meeting and would have made an address of the high quality that few men could match, beseeching his fellow-citizens to rally to the defence of the Amer- ican flag and the ideals and traditions for which it stands.
The loyalty, the patriotism, the citizenship of James L. Weeks was never questioned. His unselfishness was displayed in every activity. He lived, not for him- self, but for his fellow-citizens and the community.
At the bar of Chautauqua county he has had few equals He combined the quallties of advocate and counsel in a degree rarely found in any man. Pro- foundly learned in the law, gifted in speech, sound in judgment, resourceful in controversy, forceful in pre- sentation, always fair to an antagonist, he was the embodiment of all those qualities essential in a great lawyer.
The Jamestown Bar Association makes expression of its profound sorrow at his passing, and the great loss which we, as individuals, and the community at large have sustained, and we commend with reverent affec- tion the life of our departed friend.
FRANK MERZ-At noon on a September day in 1873, Frank Merz was leaving the Jamestown High School, in which he was a student, when a gentleman, Walter J. Weeks, said to him: "Would you like to go to work in a bank?" That same day in September found him installed in a lowly position in the Chau- tauqua County National Bank, and there one of the able and successful Chautauqua county bankers began his business career. He was then a lad just turned sixteen, and is now (1910) the veteran of sixty-three, but during this intervening period of forty-seven years, with the exception of eight months, his name has never been off the payroll of one of three banks: The Chau- tauqua County National Bank, where he began; the First National Bank of Jamestown, where he acquired additional experience: and the Union Trust Company, which he organized, developed and brought to its pres- ent high place among the strong and successful finan- cial institutions of Western New York, having been its cashier and president since organization. "Truth is stranger than fiction" and a review of the life of Frank Merz, a self-made man in the truest sense, again proves the truth of that old adage.
Frank Merz, son of Sebastian and Augustina (Brog- hammer) Merz, was born in the township of Clarence, Erie county, N. Y., July 26, 1857, and there the first four years of his life were spent. The death of his mother in 1859, and of his father in 1861, left the fam- ily of six children, Albertina, the eldest, aged fifteen. and Frank, the youngest, aged four years, without a head or means of support. But homes were found, Frank and Benjamin, the latter named the eldest son, going with an uncle to Chippewa, Ontario, Canada, where the boy Frank was sent to school and while still a child was given work to do in the furniture factory operated by his uncle. At the age of nine years his uncle moved to Thorold, Ontario, and here the boy was kept out of school one year that he might be used in the factory. The third child, Mary, a girl of eleven when left an orphan, now decided she would make a
home for the family and have them altogether. Ben- jamin, the eldest brother, had become a journeyman turner, then working at his trade in Jamestown, N. Y., and his earnings with her own she believed could maintain the home and keep the younger children in school. Jamestown, N. Y., was their objective, and in 1 May, 1867, the Merz children arrived there and estab- lished a home, of which Benjamin, aged nineteen, was the head, and Mary, aged seventeen, the mistress. Then ensted a struggle for a livelihood and an exhibi- tion of family love, affection and devotion rarely 1 equalled. All worked, all contributed, and a comfort- 1 able home was maintained until the health of the eld- est brother failed and the home was again broken up. | Three of the family, Benjamin, Martin and Frank, are. now (1920) residents of Jamestown, N. Y. Mary and Theresa have passed away, Albertina Myers, a widow, ' the eldest of the family, a resident of Niagara Falls, N. Y.
From 1867 until 1873 Frank Merz attended James- town public schools, being a student in high school in his second academic year, having previously gradu- ated from the bookkeeping and commercial department, when his school days ended. In high school entertain- ments he was always interested, and at one of the! exhibitions played the part of "Brother Tony," the leading character in "The Midshipman." The name of the character clung and to his friends and companions of that olden time he is yet invariably addressed as "Brother Tony." He had been self-supporting from the age of thirteen and had made many friends who had watched his course and were anxious to befriend him. It was these friends whose recommendations secured him his first position in the Chautauqua County . National Bank, but he had improved his school years- and when his opportunity came, although it was entirely unsought and unexpected, it found him ready. In the bank he quickly learned his own duties and soon was. mastering the details of other men's work, eventually being able to fill any subordinate position in the bank and did. Promotion followed him, in fact from his .. entrance until attaining his present high position his life was a succession of promotions, none of which came to him through influence or favoritism, but be- cause they had been earned. He absorbed banking law through a hard course of reading, not law in general, but commercial law as it applied to his business. As the need of better systems of bookkeeping and cash accounting became apparent he, by study, devised and installed improved ones and many forms of books and ' systems stand to his credit.
In 1884 we find the young man a teller in the First National Bank of Jamestown, and still pursuing his upward career. He did much work outside of banking , hours, auditing books for lawyers, estates and corpo- rations, extending and footing inventories, compiling the village assessment rolls, in fact, his entire salary was saved for several years, his overtime earnings supporting him. In November, 1893, failing to secure the appointment of national bank examiner for the Southern District of New York, for which he was a candidate. Mr. Merz decided, because of the partial failure and the ordered liquidation by the superintend- ent of banks of the four local building, loan and savings
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associations of the city, that the time was opportune for carrying into effect plans he had some years pre- ,viously contemplated for the establishment of another banking corporation in Jamestown. After procuring ample credentials from influential citizens and the bank where he was employed he interviewed the State superintendent of banks, Hon. Charles M. Preston, at his office in Albany and received encouragement and assurance from that official that a charter would be granted for such an institution as he proposed, as soon as the legal requirements were complied with. Armed with this authority Mr. Merz returned to Jamestown, consulted friends, and after making his plans resigned his position as teller of the First National Bank, but he was requested to and did continue his duties there until the end of the year 1893, when the work of per- fecting the organization of the new trust company would require his entire time and attention. The bank also granted him a week off, in which time he secured subscriptions for 100,000 and founded the 'Union Trust Company with that amount of capital, 'every dollar of which had been obtained throughi his personal solicitation. The capital stock was all paid in within another thirty days, the Union Trust Company of Jamestown was chartered by the State
of New York, Jan. 12, 1894, began business in tem- 'porary quarters, January 15, Mr. Merz being chosen the first cashier but was in fact executive officer from the beginning. In 1899 he was formally elected presi- dent, a position which he has held continuously until the present. The years of the twentieth century which have since intervened have been years of growth, development and progress in Jamestown and its essen- Itial banking requirements, but under its able executive officer the Union Trust Company has kept in the van, the 1920 statement showing a capital increased from its earnings to $300,000 and an earned surplus of an 'amount in excess of its present capital.
No man can hide his light under a bushel and the success which has attended Mr. Merz, as a banker, has attracted attention from other cities and opportuni- ties have not been rare for him to have made very profitable connections elsewhere. But his home and his heart are in Jamestown, the Union Trust Company, 'his pride, is here and here he remains. Not infallible 'in his judgment, for losses have been sustained through errors in estimating the course of investments, but they have been surprisingly few and the Union Trust Company has paid substantial dividends every year from its beginning. While nothing can transcend the personal equation, Mr. Merz insists that his success as a banker has been due in a large degree to the loyal support given him by the able board of directors, asso- ciate officers, as well as to the confidence reposed in him by personal friends outside of the Union Trust : Company. His career as a banker has been marked by strict integrity, devotion to the interest of the institution over which he presides, and a conservatism which, without being timid, has been safe and sanc. | His advice is both sought and followed in financial affairs, and while he has held many positions of trust where large property interests were involved not one has ever been betrayed and his standing is high in banking and investment circles. His latest work for
the advancement of the banking interests in the city was the establishing of a Clearing House in May, 1920, with all the seven banks of the city as members. The prevailing system used in other cities in making the clearings was altered and changed by Mr. Merz into three parts without prejudice to absolute accuracy, forms were devised to Iessen the work of the bank messengers who now do but one simple part, the clear- ing house clerks the rest. It has proved its value as a time and labor saver and is so accurate in effecting and facilitating settlements that the Jamestown Clearing House, put on trial for the month of June, has been made a permanency.
To the many who have committed their savings and investments to his care he has brought returns most gratifying and unexpected, his own private fortune being small compared with the amounts made for those fortunate to be among his personal associates and friends. There are many men who attribute their pres- ent prosperity and position largely to his judgment in placing their capital in strong, conservative securities, and to his practical, sound counsel and advice. Inves- tors trust him implicitly and it is said he holds more authority from individuals giving him absolute control of investments and property than any other man in the community acting in private capacity.
Mr. Merz takes his recreations very sanely. His farm, twelve miles away, for years has furnished the relaxation from his business cares, and there he has created an ideal country estate. His love of high grade cattle and horses has been indulged in and his Percherons and Holsteins arc of the best, while even the Scotch collie is a thoroughbred, as well as the Kentucky saddle horses on which for many years he took morning gallops. The latch string always hangs out at "Sunnyside Farm" and his friends who know of its beauties and pleasures often find their way over the Gerry hills to enjoy the open handed hos- pitality that there abounds.
Always and yet a worker, Mr. Merz does not live selfishly nor for his own advancement, but by the kindly word of advice. warning or encouragement, rein- forced by substantial aid, he has started many young men upon careers of mercantile success and honor. He urges upon young men and women the necessity of saving for the proverbial "rainy day," the advantage of starting at the bottom, and he believes in James- town and her industrial future. Keen, incisive, deter- mined, unerring in his estimate of men and their motives, not afraid to rely upon his own judgment, nor to follow where it dictates, Mr. Merz is a man to trust in business affairs and this explains his leadership in matters financial. He is a member of the St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, past master and past high priest of lodge and chapter of the Masonic order, a past district deputy grand master of the same order, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Merz married, at Jamestown, N. Y., Sept. 9, 1891, Lena Cornelia Crissey, daughter of Elverton B. and Mary Crissey. Mr. and Mrs. Merz are the par- ents of five children: Robert Crissey, died in infancy; Lucy Albertina, Elizabethi Langworthy (now Mrs. Sid-
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ney D. Butterfield), Margaret Crissey, and Frances Cornelia.
An incident in the life of Frank Merz, which he re- calls with pleasure, is a foreign trip taken with four other well known young men of Jamestown, Frederick P. Hall, Henry G. Breed, Jr., A. F. Allen Brown, and Clyde W. Preston, in 1878. On his twenty-first birth- day he was in Geneva, Switzerland, and there properly celebrated his crossing the threshold between youth and manhood. The tour included the Paris Exposition, parts of France, Switzerland, Germany, where he found many of his kith and kin, Belgium, Holland and Eng- land, the young man being away from home four months.
THE A. C. NORQUIST COMPANY, Incorpo- rated, of Jamestown, N. Y., is noted for its wood- working industries and for the furniture produced by the many factories of the place. That of the A. C. Nor- quist Company has had an appreciable part in the repu- tation gained by Jamestown for the high grade of its furniture products. It has held consistently to its original policy to produce only bedroom furniture of the better grades, and the company has its markets surely established by reason of confidence earned in the honest value and superior quality of past supplies.
The Norquist Company had its inception in the courageous enterprise of the brothers Norquist, of Jamestown, who in March, 1881, with a capital of only $175, and no mechanical devices, essayed to establish a furniture factory in a section of their father's barn. The brothers, Charles J. and August C. Norquist, were skilled workmen of long experience in other factories, and notwithstanding the financial handicap and the lack of mechanical wood-working devices, set reso- lutely to work, feeling that quality of product would yield them a living, even though quantity was impos- sible to them at the outset. They confined themselves to the manufacture of bedroom furniture, and the first set was hand made. Eventually the brothers, trading as Norquist Brothers, found themselves in the posses- sion of more business than they could cope with in their original barn; therefore, the plant was moved to East Second street. In 1885 another brother, A. P. Nord, which is the Swedish equivalent for Norquist, or rather its derivative, was admitted to the firm, and two years later still another brother, Frank O. Nor- quist, joined the company. As their business expanded, the brothers increased the factory space, and eventually crected the building on Second street, now occupied by the Jamestown Cabinet Company. And the ever- increasing demands for more factory space forced them to lease part of the Paterson & Swanson Planing Mill across the way from their own plant. In 1900 the Norquist Brothers built a frame structure on Chandler street, spacious, but unfortunately not fireproof, and eventually the whole of their plant was installed therein. On May 6, 1904, the building was destroyed by fire, causing a loss of $50,000. It also was tragically dis- astrous for the Norquist family, for in the burning building one brother, A. P. Nord, lost his life. The fire occurred at 2 p. m. of a work day, and Mr. Nord was overcome while going through the building to make sure that all the men were out.
The family grief was of course great, but the com- pany still went forward. With the least possible delay another building was erected upon the same sight, and the building, which was of brick, duly occupied, the new plant having the most modern mechanical devices for their line of work. In 1910 the building, which now contains the office, shipping department and stock- room, was erected. The financial loss was in course of time repaired, and that the brothers endeavored to lessen the loss to the immediate family of their deceased brother is indicated by the fact that Julia A. Nord, widow of A. P. Nord, was made an official of the company, that of vice-president, which she held until 1920, then sold her holdings to the Norquist family.
Reviewing the various changes in the personnel of the concern during the forty years of its operation, it appears that in 1890 Charles J. Norquist disposed of his interest to his brothers, A. C. and F. O. Norquist and A. P. Nord, and started in independent business. In 1906 the business of the brothers was incorporated under the name of the A. C. Norquist Company. In- corporated, with A. C. Norquist president, and Frank O. Norquist secretary. A reorganization came in 1919, when Frank O. Norquist sold his interest to his brother, August C. Norquist. As at present con- stituted, the officials of the corporation are: A. C. Norquist, president; G. H. Norquist, vice-president; R. A Norquist, second vice-president; C. L. Norquist, treasurer: C. E. Norquist, secretary. The business finds employment for an average of 125 people.
August C. Norquist, who first came to Jamestown, N. Y., fifty years ago, and who, excepting for a couple of short breaks, has been resident in the city ever since, has for practically the entire period been respon- sibly connected with helpful manufacturing industries of the place, and has lived to see the one which bears: his name develop into a concern finding employment for an average of 125 people. The A. C. Norquist Company, Inc., of which he is the president, has been referred to in the industrial section of this historical. work, but it may be proper here to state that the suc- cess which has come to the incorporated company, and the reputation it has gained for the production of high-grade bedroom furniture, reflect the skill, thor- oughness and honesty of purpose of August C. Nor- quist, who has pursued a fixed purpose steadily despite t discouragements.
August C. Norquist was born in Sweden, March 6, 1857. He received his primary education in the public schools of his native place. The family came to the United States in 1869, when August C. was twelve years old, and at first settled in Jamestown, N. Y. His parents, John M. and Carrie Norquist, appear to have taken the name of Norquist after arrival in this coun- try, apparently feeling that it was the American equivalent of the Swedish name Nord (the termination quist meaning "branch of") and reasoning that as a branch of the Nord family of Sweden they should take the name of Norquist. With the exception of one brother of August C., who held to the patronymic of Nord, the family in the United States, at least the Jamestown branch, followed the example set by the parents and adopted the name of Norquist. After residing in Jamestown for some time, the father re-
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moved to Lander, Warren county, Pa., where he pur- chased a farm with the intention of settling down there, but eventually he returned to Jamestown and lived there until his death.
August C. Norquist, soon after reaching Jamestown, in 1869, worked in the plant of Jones & Gifford and remained with them for three years in order to learn the art of wood-carving. And during the same period he also attended school in Jamestown. Then for five ycars he remained with his parents, assisting his father int the operation of the farm. Returning to Jamestown in 1877, he entered the plant of Martin Brothers, fur- niture manufacturers, remaining in their employ for several years. He next went to Chicago and gained valuable experience in his work in a large furniture factory in that city. Also, at night, he applied himself closely to study, especially of designing and drawing. In 1880 he returned to Jamestown and took up work for his former employers, Martin Brothers. In 1881 he resolutely branched out for himself, or rather in conjunction with his brother, Charles J. Norquist. The subsequent developments are described in the business article written for inclusion in this work.
August C. Norquist was one time interested in landed estate in the island of Cuba. He was a director of the Vinculo Realty Company, of Cuba, which cor- poration owned about 26,000 acres of land in that country, and he is director also of the Vinculo Sugar Cane Company. He is a Republican in politics, has served for four years as an alderman of the Fifth Ward of Jamestown, and he belongs to the Swedish Methodist Episcopal church.
August C. Norquist married (first) in Jametown, May 6, 1882, Augusta C. Strandburg, and she died Nov. 8, 1895. To them were born four children. as follows: 1. Clyde L., born July 7, 1884; he was edu- cated in the public and high schools of Jamestown, and Northwestern University; he is now treasurer of the A. C. Norquist Company; married Ada J. Carlson, and they have three children: Alice I., Roland K., and Sylvia A. 2. Glen H., born June 8, 1888; educated in the public and high schools of Jamestown, and the University of Michigan; he is now vice-president of his father's company; during the World War he was at the Officers' Training School at Camp Taylor, and was ready for service when the armistice was signed; married Melba Buehler. 3. Charles E., born March 24, 1895; educated in the public and high schools of Jamestown, and New York University; during the World War he was first lieutenant regimental adju- tant, 57th Horse Artillery, United States army; he is at present secretary of the A. C. Norquist Company. 4. Ralph A., born March 24, 1895, twin with Charles E .; educated in the public and high schools of James- town, and Mechanics' Institute, Rochester; he is sec- ond vice-president of his father's company; he was a machine gun instructor in the aviation section of the army during the World War; married Effa Anderson.
August C. Norquist married (second) Angusta C. Sundell, Dec. 21, 1897, and three children were born of this marriage, as follows: I. Dorothy M., born Oct. 11, 1899; educated in the public and high schools of Jamestown, and Irving College. 2. Arline A., born Jan. 17, 1903; educated in the public and high
schools of Jamestown, and now preparing for college. 3. Francis A., born Sept. 17, 1906; educated in the public and high schools, and now preparing for college.
FRANK WILLIAM CRANDALL-It must always be a satisfaction to peruse the life-stories of men whose activities have, as it were, hlazed a way to new and successful accomplishment of a kind which represents progress and improvement, not only for themselves, but for the communities of which they are members. Of such strong men Western New York has had its full share, and from the very dawn of her existence has behield her sons as pioneers breaking a way, at first into the heart of the physical wilderness which beset them, and later into new fields of human endeavor and achievement. The family of Crandall is one of many in this region that have played conspicuous parts in the upbuilding of the country.
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