USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
* The Chautauqua of to- # day owes its existence to his suggestion, its founda- tion to his liberality, and especially its early success to his ability and fidelity.
Mr. Miller was the devoted friend of Biblical educa- tion. Sunday school work was with him a passion, draw- ing out the best efforts of his fine energy and receiving his constant care and attention and an unceasing stream of support from all his resources, mental and material. At the memorial exercises at Chautauqua in 1899, Dr. Jesse L. Hurlbut, a Chautauquan almost from the very beginning, spoke specially of Mr. Miller's Sunday school work. He said :
1
Lewis Miller
95
BIOGRAPHICAL
He was deeply interested in his life in the Sunday school. It is one of the glories of the Sunday schoot that it has in its service such eminent men. I do not question that if to-day Mr. Miller is looking out upon hls life, he finds that out from his Sunday school there has grown a mighty influence which will do more for humanity than the work in his office. He founded in Akron a Sunday school that has become monumental because of what it has accomplished. It was noted for thoroughness and efficiency. Probably it was the first really graded Sunday school with a normal depart- ment. It continues to-day. We can place Lewis Miller In the front ranks of those who by their influence and active work have made the Sunday school of the pres- ent. His work will continue as long as the Bible is studied in any Sunday school.
In his Chautauqua anniversary address of Aug. 3, 1899, Dr. J. M. Buckley said :
It was Lewis Miller who proposed the idea of taking Into the woods the normal work without which the Assembly could never have been a tenth of what it is, for a location in no metropolis would have given it such attractive and expansive power. It was he who overcame Dr. Vincent's opposition to an open-air As- sembly and it was he who proposed that Chautauqua should he the place for the holding of the Assembly. Lewis Miller was underneath and in the very center of this whole movement, contributing money toward all the preliminary expenses, paying bills, assuming re- sponsibility, personally indorsing notes to the amount of more than $100.000, and throwing his influence as a business man, financier, and capitalist around the un- developed giant.
Mr. Miller had wished the new establishment to be called the Sunday School Camp Meeting, but consented to have it called instead, The Sunday School Assembly. As the assembly developed into the present Institution, Lewis Miller continued to take the liveliest interest in everything concerning its welfare; his business sagacity solved many a pressing problem, and Chautauqua owes to him many of the features of her early work. He gave her the Children's Temple, which was a rustic imi- tation of the famous Sunday school room at Akron. He planned the college buildings. He proposed the great amphitheater in the gorge, and superintended its erec- tion. It was he who advocated simultaneousness in the readings of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Cir- cle after the manner of the International Uniform Sun- day School lessons, instead of the progressive method which had been suggested.
The memory of Lewis Miller is an imperishable monu- ment at Chautauqua. It has physical embodiment in the beautiful tower which, rising from the furthermost pro- jection of promontory about which Chautauqua centers, commands the view of voyagers on the lake as they approach Chautauqua from either direction, and from the landward view seems to typify, with its combination of grace and strength, the living spirit of the Institution.
ABNER HAZELTINE, born in 1793, in Wards- borouglı, Vt., came to Jamestown in 1815 as a young man of twenty-two to be the first teacher in this little settlement of Western New York. He had just been graduated from Williams College. During the next three years he imparted some of his knowledge and culture to his pupils in the Prendergast Academy, using such sterling text books as Murray's "Grammar," Murray's "Reader," and Milton's "Paradise Lost."
He studied law in Mayville and in Jamestown. After being admitted to the bar, he practiced law for three
years in Warren, Pa., and for the remainder of his life in Jamestown. He was at different times State Assem- blyman, member of Congress, district attorney of Chau- tanqua County, and United States Commissioner for the northern district of New York. A man of untiring industry, he filled his days, until within a week of his death in 1879, with thorough, conscientious work for his clients, his community, and his country ; an able lawyer, he was held in honor throughout Western New York; a man of the highest integrity, he is remembered by all who knew him as an honest lawyer, an upright judge, and a good man ; a sincere Christian he helped to found the first church in Jamestown, and honored the faith by his daily life.
Mr. Hazeltine married (first) in 1819, Polly Kidder, of Wardsborough, Vt. His second wife, mother of three of his children, was Matilda Hayward.
Mr. Hazeltine's literary tastes were inherited by his children. The four sons, like their father, studied at Williams College. Charles Gilbert devoted his life to teaching. Harriet Newell taught for several years in Cherry Valley, and then was a trusted cashier for many years in one of the larger stores of Jamestown; she was interested in every good cause in her native city. Lydia Kidder died in infancy. Henry Martyn, a sketch of whom follows. Abner Hazeltine became a well known and able Jamestown lawyer, influential in the city, and deeply interested in the Chautauqua County Society of History. Lewis Hayward was a physician, giving his youthful service in the Civil War. Mary Matilda married De Forest Weld, for many years a merchant in Jamestown.
Judge Hazeltine's bent for culture and teaching reached to the third generation, as is shown by the fact that six of his grandchildren are teachers by profession.
HENRY MARTYN HAZELTINE, son of Judge Abner and Polly (Kidder) Hazeltine, was born in Jamestown, in 1831, and was fitted for college in the schools there. He taught for a few years in Jamestown and elsewhere after being graduated with honors from Williams College, in 1852. He studied theology in Union Seminary, New York, and was ordained to the ministry in 1860. After more than thirty years of suc- cessful pastoral work, his failing health forced him to retire, and he returned to Jamestown for the last few years of his life. There he died in 1899.
He was pastor of either Congregational or Presby- tcrian churches in Sherman, Perry, and North Salem, N. Y .; West Stockbridge, Mass .; Monroe and Oxford, Conn. These churches he served with energy, sympathy, unquestioned sincerity, and lasting results, thus trans- mitting the influence of his town and family to different states. In spite of his lack of robust health, Mr. Hazel- tine accomplished a remarkable amount of work by his steady devotion. His keen intellect was of superior quality. His fine aesthetic sense, his genial and refined humor, his sympathetic nature, his broadly tolerant spirit, his unfailing interest in literature and in matters of the public weal, his spotless integrity, and his devo- tion to the highest ideals, together with his forgetful- ness of himself, made his character one of rare charm.
96
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
He married Fanny Hallock, of Amherst, Mass., thus uniting two honored New England families. Their two daughters are, like the father and the grandfather, stu- dents and teachers. Elizabeth Hallock received the B. A. degree at Vassar College, and the M. A. degree at Wellesley College. She has been for eleven years a professor of French in Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio. Alice Isabel received both the bachelor's degree and the master's degree at Wellesley College. She is assistant professor of English in Wilson College, Cham- bersburg, Pa.
EDWARD LISLE ALLEN, editor of the James- town "Morning Post," has been closely identified with the growth and development of a journal of unusual strength and influence. The "Post" is a newcomer as compared with the other dailies of Chautauqua county, but during the last two decades it has demonstrated that there is a wide field which can be reached by a live morning newspaper using Jamestown as a center. The policy of the "Post" has brought generous response, and through its reporters and special correspondents the news is daily gathered from an extensive territory.
Edward Lisle Allen, only child of Elias and Rose (Sheldon) Allen, was born at Moscow, Livingston county, N. Y., Aug. 14, 1868, but until reaching the age of nine years his home was on his father's farm in the town of South Bristol, Ontario county. Elias Allen, anxious that his son should have better educational training than the district schools of that section then afforded, sold his farm in Ontario county in 1877, and removed to the city of Rochester. There the lad at- tended the public schools until June, 1887, when he was graduated from Rochester Free Academy. His father's death shortened the course of study he had mapped out for himself, and as he had in vacation periods been employed by the Rochester "Herald," he sought and obtained a permanent place on the local staff of that paper. Four years he remained with the "Herald" and then joined the staff of the Rochester "Union and Ad- vertiser." However, a year later (April, 1892), he returned to the "Herald" as associate editor, being then one of the youngest editorial writers in the State.
Leaving newspaper work for a time, Mr. Allen as- sumed a position of financial responsibility, accepting, Jan. 1, 1895, the post of cashier of the United States Post Office, at Rochester, that office then being the de- pository for postal funds for Western New York. But his heart was in newspaper work, and after two years as cashier he resigned, and in January, 1897, became an editorial writer on the staff of the Buffalo "Enquirer," of which Samuel G. Blythe was then editor. Later in the year he was transferred to the Buffalo "Courier," which then came under the same ownership as the "Enquirer," and until 1901 he remained with the "Courier" as its leading editorial writer.
In 1901, he entered upon the third stage of his news- paper career, and in an entirely new capacity and a new locality. During his years in Buffalo, he had been viewing Western New York as a possible field for a new enterprise. He had decided that Jamestown should have a morning paper of high class and determined to
occupy the field. He interested local capital in the project and the Post Publishing Company was incorpo- rated early in 1901, of which he is the secretary. On Sept. 2, 1901, the "Morning Post" made its initial ap- pearance with Mr. Allen as editor, and his Rochester friend and associate, Robert K. Beach, as business man- ager. Nearly twenty years have since elapsed, and with the "Post," Mr. Allen has grown until he has become one of the strong editorial writers of the State. He meets the issues of the day fairly and without bias or rancor, keeping his editorial page clean and devoting it to his ideals of the common good. He is an able as well as a successful newspaper man, and the "Morn- ing Post" largely reflects the views and aims of its editor.
Public-spirited always, Mr. Allen has been active in I city affairs, and as a citizen of Jamestown has borne . his share of the public burdens. He aided in organizing : the Jamestown Board of Commerce, and during its first , five years of existence served as a member of the board of directors. He was a member of the Charter Revision Committee which rewrote the city charter during the administration of Mayor Weeks, and later served for three years as a member of the Board of . Health. Since 1915, he has been a member of the local board of managers of the State Normal School at Fre- donia. He was for several years a director of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was actively engaged in the financial campaigns during the European War, and one of the earliest advocates in his city of the Community Chest.
In politics Mr. Allen is a Republican, and when, dur- ing the administration of Governor Hughes, the direct primary became a State issue, he was identified with the movement and aided in organizing Chautauqua county in its support. He has taken an active interest in main- taining the merit system in the civil service. He has frequently been a delegate to State conventions of his party, and in 1920 was the Presidential Elector for this Congressional District, serving as a secretary of the Electoral College when it met at Albany to cast the vote of New York State for the Republican nominees, Harding and Coolidge. He is a member of the State Press Association and of the Republican State Editorial Association, having through the columns of the "Post" ably and consistently advocated Republican principles. He has rendered aid to city and county movements of importance, is the chairman of the Chautauqua County Committee Advisory to the County Agency for De- pendent Children, and was a member of the County! Anti-Tuberculosis Committee, taking a prominent part in urging the county hospital project. He is a member of the Associated Press, National Civic Federation, Union Grange, Chautauqua County Historical Associa -. tion, and of the First Presbyterian Church of James- town. He was a charter member of Beta Chapter, Alpha Zeta fraternity, organized at Rochester in 1886. He has served as president of the University Club of Jamestown.
Mr. Allen married, Dec. 4, 1895, at Canandaigua, N. Y., Martha C. Van De Vyver, and they are the par- ents of two daughters: Marjorie, Elmira College, 1919; and Elizabeth, Wellesley, 1922; and a son, Edward Robert, University of Rochester, 1922.
97
BIOGRAPHICAL
GEORGE OLIVER MEREDITH-When a lad of seventeen years, George O. Meredith located in James- town, New York, and until his death that city was his home. He became well known in the business life of his city, and as representative of J. H. & F. A. Sells Company, of Columbus, Ohio, was equally well known throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and the Middle Western States. While his duties as traveling sales- man took him away from Jamestown a great portion of the time, he always retained his home there, and was officially connected with Jamestown business in- stitutions, churches, and lodges. He endeared himself to his business associates and fraternal brethren, their official expressions of respect and appreciation form- ing a most interesting feature of this review.
Mr. Meredith was of Canadian birth, son of Thomas Meredith, born in County Sligo, Ireland, who came to Canada, making settlement in Orangeville, Province of Ontario, being a pioneer settler in that section of Canada. He owned a tract of timber land which he cleared and brought under cultivation, making farm- ing his lifework and the Orangeville farm his home as long as life continued. He was a member of the Church of England, and highly esteemed as a man of industry and integrity. He married, in County Sligo, Mary Carson, who died in Orangeville, Canada, the mother of twelve children: Joseph, Henry, Jackson, Thomas, John, William; George O., of further men- tion; Matthew, Anne, Susan, Elizabeth, and Mary.
George Oliver Meredith was born in Orangeville, Dufferin county, Ontario, Canada, December 5, 1858, and died in Jamestown, New York, April 8, 1919. He was educated in the schools of his Canadian home, and was his father's farm assistant until 1875, when he left home and came to the United States, locating in James- town, New York, where his elder brother, Jackson, had preceded him and was established in a harness- making business. In Jamestown, George O. Meredith became connected with his brother's business, and be- came thoroughly familiar with all details of the har- ness-maker's trade or business. He then "went on the road" for G. E. Plumb, of Elmira, New York, harness and leather goods, representing that house as travel- ing salesman throughout New York State and Penn- sylvania. After several years with that house he formed a connection with the J. H. & F. A. Sells Company, of Columbus, Ohio, also a harness and leather goods house. With the Sells Company Mr. Meredith received a considerable increase in territory, and for twenty-seven years he traveled New York, Pennsylvania, and the Middle Western States in the interest of that company. He was a successful sales- man, thoroughly reliable under all circumstances, and held in the highest regard by his employers and by his customers. During all these years "on the road," Mr. Meredith retained his residence in Jamestown, and became closely connected with the affairs of that city. He was a director and vice-president. of the J. H. & F. A. Sells Company, of Columbus, Ohio; director of the Home Telephone Company, of Jamestown, and The Jamestown Telephone Corporation of Jamestown, and a member of the Chautauqua Council United Trav- elers' Association. At the time of his death the James- town "Journal" said :
Chau-7
In the death of George O. Meredith, which occurred at his home on Allen street, this community loses a good citizen, and the loss will be freely felt in many circles. He had heen for many years deeply interested in the service that St. Luke's Episcopal Church was doing, and was one of its most active vestrymen; he was identified with the Masonic fraternity, and with various business enterprises which will miss his kindly interest and advice.
In politics, Mr. Meredith was a Republican. His Masonic affiliations were with Mount Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Western Sun Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Jamestown Commandery, Knights Templar; and Ishmalia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Buffalo. For a quar- ter of a century he was a vestryman of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, and deeply interested in the work of that parish. The following resolutions of condolence and respect to his memory were sent Mrs. Meredith, the church resolutions being most beau- tifully engrossed and framed:
We, the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Luke's Church, inscribe these presents as a testimon- ial of our esteem, and in loving memory of George Oliver Meredith:
Born Dec. 5th, 1858-Died April 8th, 1919.
For a quarter of a century vestryman of St. Luke's Parish, Jamestown, New York. A faithful and devout servant of Jesus Christ, a zealous and loyal officer of His church, a loving and devoted husband and father, and a true and sincere friend. "May he rest in peace and may light perpetually shine upon him."
(Signed personally by the following) : REGINALD N. WILLCOX, Rector.
WM. F. ENDRESS, ALFRED F. FIDLER, Wardens.
WM. A. BROADHEAD, FRED J. SNOWBALL, THOS. H. RINGROSE, JAS. INGHAM, HOWARD L. RODGERS, GEO. A. CHATFIELD HOWARD W. ALLING, FRED'K P. HALL, Vestrymen.
In the copy of the "Sample Case," the official publi- cation of the United Commercial Travelers for June, appeared Mr. Meredith's picture and the following:
George O. Meredith, on April 8, 1919, Past Senior Counselor of Chautauqua Council, No. 202, one of the best known members of our Order, passed away. He was always active in every movement for the better- ment of conditions affecting traveling men. His sud- den death came as a shock to his many friends. Not only Chautauqua Council but the Order sustains a great loss in the death of Brother Meredith.
Resolved, That the following memorial be placed upon the records of this company:
The Board of Directors of the Home Telephone Com- pany of Jamestown desires to place on record its high regard for its late associate, Mr. George O. Meredith, and its appreciation of his devotion to the welfare of the company.
Mr. Meredith was a citizen of sterling worth, whose loss will be long and keenly felt.
Courteous in his manner, and ever considerate of the feelings and interests of others, industrious and enterprising, Mr. Meredith was an example of what a citizen and business man should be, and this com- pany, with whom he was so long identified, mourns his death and honors his memory.
IN MEMORIAM.
Nature has summoned to higher life our brother and friend, George O. Meredith. The loss of this noble life will be deeply mourned by his family, friends and acquaintances, to whom his many acts of kindness have endeared him. His devotion to his family, his integrity and loyalty to his many business and fra- ternal associates, denotes a life of highest character.
98
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
His interest in, and faithfulness to the Order of the United Commercial Travelers of America, will be long cherished by the members of Chautauqua Council, No. 202. Therefore, be it
Resolved, That Chautauqua Council extend to Mrs. Meredith and family our heartfelt sympathy and sor- row that we share in the great loss of this brother. Be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this memorial be for- warded to the family. That the charter of our Coun- cil be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days, and that this resolution be spread upon the records of this Council.
E. E. GUSTAFSON, M. A. NOBBS, HARRY J. LeBOEUF, Committee.
Resolved, That the following memorial be placed upon the records of this company:
In the death of Mr. George O. Meredith, the James- town Telephone Corporation keenly realizes that it has
Mr. lost one of its most useful and loyal directors. Meredith was a kind, intelligent, and courteous friend, an industrious and fair-minded business man, and a citizen always actuated by high principles.
This company feels honored in having had Mr. Mere- dith as an associate, and its officers and directors desire to pay to his memory the tribute of their admiration and respect.
November 12th, 1919.
Mrs. George O. Meredith,
Jamestown, New York.
Dear Madam :- The annual meeting of the stock- holders was held last Saturday morning. The reports made at that time showed that the preceding year was one of the largest and most prosperous the com- pany has ever experienced.
At that time the following resolution was adopted in accordance with which I am sending you a copy : Resolved, That in the death of Charles H. Visscher and George O. Meredith the J. H. & F. A. Sells Com- pany has lost two valued friends and co-workers, and that the stockholders attending the annual meeting of the company on November eighth, 1919, hereby ex- press their sorrow at the loss sustained, and extend sincere sympathy to the bereaved families.
That a copy of this resolution be spread on the minutes and that the secretary send copies to the families of the deceased.
Mr. Meredith married, in Busti, Chautauqua county, New York, July 26, 1883, Florence B. Mead, born in the town of Busti, daughter of Thompson G. and Lavantia E. (Dawley) Mead. Like her husband, Mrs. Meredith is a communicant of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and much interested in its work. She survives her husband with one daughter, Edith Lillian, born in Jamestown, married, December 17, 1914, LeRoy F. Cole, and resides in Jamestown.
REV. MARTIN VERANUS STONE-Born in the town of Carroll, Chautauqua county, New York, near Frewsburg, and since the autumn of 1871 a minister of the Gospel, Rev. Martin V. Stone, a veteran in years and in service, is now living a peaceful, retired life in his own home, No. 131 Sampson street, in the city of Jamestown, in his native county. For forty- one years, 1871-1912, he was an active member of the Erie Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in active service, and although now (1920) on the superannuated roll of honor, he is engaged in normal class work in Jamestown. Not only is he a veteran of the Cross, but a veteran in a militant sense, for he served as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and saw hard service on the field from his enlist- ment until the close of the Civil War. He is a son of Richard Lush Stone, grandson of Ozial Stone, and
a great-grandson of Ezra and Freelove (Howland) Stone, who soon after their marriage settled in Rhode Island, there living until the close of their lives, his mother a member of the Society of Friends, devoted to the observance of the peculiar tenets of that faith, and in their everyday life giving to their children the example of devotion to each and to the religious life, the only true foundation upon which to build char- acter that will endure under every test. The influ- ence of the mother over her children in religious mat- ters was apparent in after years, they all having the greatest respect for the plain speech and faith which was their mother's.
(II) Ozial Stone, son of Ezra and Freelove (How- land) Stone, was born April 15, 1776, and died Febru- ary II, 1831. He was a Whig in politics, and inclined to favor the Society of Friends, although his family were nearly all strict Baptists, his mother a Quakeress. He was a farmer of Rhode Island and New York all his life, and he gave his children careful training and as good an education as his means would allow, they reaching positions in life which spoke volumes for the care and devotion of the parents. Ozial Stone married Abigail Bowen, born October 31, 1780, died May 27, 1822. Soon after their marriage they moved to Green- field, Saratoga county, New York, their home until death. Children : Rev. Arza Stone, born March 17, 1800, died November 8, 1847, a Baptist evangelist; Demas, born June 4, 1804; Freelove, born June 22, 1806; Abel, born September 2, 1808; Eliza, born Sep- tember 16, 1810; Richard Lush, of whom further; Jane, born September 29, 1817; Amasa, born May 7, 1820.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.