USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 34
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from that institution in 1863, and after practicing one year in Panama removed to Jamestown, New York, where he soon built up a good practice, which has con- tinued to increase ever since. Dr. Ormes is physician and surgeon for the Jamestown Street Railway Com- pany, and also for the Chautauqua Traction Company. He holds a membership in the following national, state and county homoeopathic societies: The National Society of the United States, the American Institute of Homoeopathy, Western New York Society, and Chautauqua County Society. Dr. Ormes has served on the Board of Health, and has served as a physician to the poor. Dr. Ormes is also prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of the various Masonic bodies, including Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 145; Western Sun Chapter, No. 67, Royal Arch Masons, for which he was secretary twenty-six consecutive years; Royal and Select Masters; charter member of Jamestown Commandery, No. 61, Knights Templar; Ismalia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Buffalo. He was one of the members of the board of managers for Gowanda State Homoeopathic Hospital for several years. In politics Dr. Ormes was a Republican until the formation of the Liberal Republican party, which nominated Horace Greeley for president, and since then has been voting the Democratic ticket.
In Franklin, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1864, Dr. Ormes was united in marriage with Leona Glidden, who was born May 28, 1843, and died April 30, 1898, a daughter of Daniel and Almira (Steward) Glidden. To this union were born four children, as follows, all residing in Jamestown: I. Jessie, born February 22, 1866, wife of Arthur H. Greenlund, and they are the parents of one child, Leona Ormes. 2. Dr. Cornelius Frank, born July 27, 1874, a physician; married Pauline Backus. 3. Grace, born February 17, 1878, wife of Joseph W. Graff; they are the parents of two children, Dickson and Helen. 4. Leona, born January 6, 1882, wife of Herbert Goodwill, parents of one child, Francis.
In conclusion will say that Dr. Ormes' social stand- ing is of the highest, and only equaled by his profes- sional standing. Affable and genial in his nature, he is ever a welcome guest in Jamestown's highest circles, where he is respected and honored for his professional skill, candid, sincere, attractive manner. By his breth- ren in the medical fraternity he is highly esteemed and is frequently consulted, in the most cases they relying upon his sound judgment as well as medical knowledge. Happily gifted in manner, disposition and taste, personally liked by those who know him best, and as frank in declaring his principles as he is in maintaining them, his career has been rounded with success and marked by the appreciation of men whose good opinion is best worth having.
FRANK HENRY MOTT-The present work would be incomplete if it failed to make a record of the lives of those men who have risen to professional eminence in Chautauqua county, as well as those, who by a series of successful efforts, have gained a posi- tion in the first rank of our citizens, as manufacturers, bankers, merchants and business men, or who have attained great wealth, or contributed to the material advancement of their city and county in the purely
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business walks of life. No state in the nation can fur- nish the same long list of distinguished names in the professions of men who have achieved distinction as New York State.
Speaking of achievement, the man who attains suc- cess solely by the well directed efforts of his own natural ability and character is a type which has ever appealed with peculiar force to the Anglo-Saxon race on both sides of the ocean. Among those of Chau- tauqua county's professional men, who belong to this honorable class, is Frank H. Mott.
Frank Henry Mott, the son of Aaron Van Renssaler and Flora (Russell) Mott, was born February 9, 1873, in Russell, Warren county, Pennsylvania, a village de- riving its name from his great-grandfather. A great- grandfather upon his father's side was a captain in the Colonial Wars, before the Revolutionary period; an- other was a soldier of the Revolution, and an earlier forefather was a Colonial governor of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations. Still another was one of the Mayflower signers of the Plymouth Compact. and farther back one was among the men of Runne- Incde who wrested the Magna Charta from King John, while a collateral branch settled and became distin- guished in Virginia. The Motts were among the earliest settlers of the Hudson River Valley and Long Island, and were prominent in the early annals of New York City and of Dutchess county, New York.
John Russell, an ancestor on his mother's side, was born in Ireland. He came from County Down to the United States about 1788. In 1800 he explored the wilderness country along the upper Allegheny and Conewango. Later, the same year, before there were any white settlers in Chautauqua county, he and his family left his home on the north branch of the Sus- quehanna in Pennsylvania to lead a party of emi- grants, mostly his neighbors, up that and the Sinema- honing rivers in a boat of his own construction. This boat was carried across the portage to the Allegheny and again launched on that river, which was in turn descended to the mouth of the Conewango. Mr. Rus- sell ascended the latter stream to a place near the State of New York, where he settled the same year. A portion of his party became pioneers of Sugargrove and Farmington, in Pennsylvania, and Kiantone and Carroll in New York. His son, Thomas Russell, and John Frew, a kinsman, some years later became the founders of Frewsburg in Chautauqua county. An- other son, Robert Russell, the great-grandfather of Frank H. Mott, became afterwards a prominent pio- neer of the town of Kiantone and later the founder of Russell, Pennsylvania, and was for many years one of the most successful lumber men and leading citi- zens of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Frank H. Mott received his early education in the village school of Russell. At the age of fifteen he en- tered the High School in Jamestown. Later he became a student at law in the office of Cook, Fisher & Wade, long the leading law firm of Chautauqua county. He completed his studies in the Buffalo Law School, and was admitted to practice in 1899. After his admission to the bar, he began the practice of law in James- town, and is now in active practice in that city, pro- fessionally representing some of its largest interests.
While pursuing his law studies, he was engaged for two years in newspaper work for the Jamestown "Morning News," and again during the presidential campaign of 1900 he was the political editor of the Buffalo "Times."
Mr. Mott has a striking personality. His refined, dignified, courteous and democratic ways have made him universally popular. In early life, before he reached his majority, he developed a marked ability for public speaking which was assiduously cultivated and reinforced by the reading of history, and the study of the best literature. This accomplishment has gained him wide renown as a popular orator. His reputation as an eloquent speaker extends far beyond the limits of his county, and his services are in constant requisi- tion at distant places and upon important occasions.
As an attorney, Mr. Mott is perhaps more generally distinquished. In the trial of jury cases, he is earnest and resourceful: there is no sign of uncertainty as to the soundness of his positions in respect either to the facts or the law of his cases. Opposition stimulates him, difficulties seem to delight him. No sudden turn of the conflict confuses, complexes or discourages him. His cases are always well prepared. His perception, swift and keen, is regulated by vigorous reasoning powers. Whether examining a witness, arguing a point of law to the court, or addressing the jury, his manner is always assured.
In addition to his legal acquirements, he possesses a remarkable aptitude for business, which enables him to readily understand the complication growing out of commercial affairs, and especially commends him to clients engaged in mercantile pursuits. As a counselor. he exhibits boldness and sagacity, with kindness and tact, but no man has ever been able to command his services for the accomplishment of wrong or the per- version of justice.
Mr. Mott has always been a Democrat. He has always given his ability and the influence of his char- acter in his party's support. The Democrats of Chau- tauqua county owe much to him. Although a young man he is a sagacious leader. At a meeting of the Democratic State Committee held in the summer prior to the National Convention at Kansas City in 1900, notwithstanding a strong effort to prevent expression of a choice for a presidential candidate, he introduced and secured the passage of a resolution significantly expressing the existence of a sentiment in the com- mittee favorable to William J. Bryan. At the State Convention held at Saratoga in 1904, he was one of those who organized and led a movement that resulted in the nomination of Judge Herrick for governor.
He was a delegate to the Democratic National Con- vention held at Kansas City in 1900, and represented the State of New York upon the committee appointed to notify William J. Bryan of his nomination for the office of president. At the Democratic State Conven- tion held at Saratoga in 1902, when but twenty-nine years of age, he was chosen the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State. On his return from the con- vention to his home in Jamestown, he was given a public reception at which speeches were made in his honor by the leading citizens of the city without the distinction of party. In the election that followed he
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carried that Republican stronghold by nearly three hundred majority, and ran several thousand ahead of his ticket in Chautauqua county, thus showing his popularity and the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. In every political campaign since he attained his majority, he has been one of the ablest champions of the principles of his party, and during the presidential campaign in 1904, in a continuous tour, he addressed large assemblies in many of the princi- ples cities and towns of the State from Buffalo to Brooklyn, rendering valuable aid to the cause he served. Mr. Mott has served as a member of the Board of Education of Jamestown, New York, for two terms; he has been deputy attorney-general of New York State for one term. He served two years as secretary of the Public Service Commission of the Second Dis- trict of New York State, and six months as acting counsel of the same commission.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is past exalted ruler; of the Eagles, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Phi Delta Phi, and Jamestown Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution, of which he is regent. He is a member of the Jamestown Club, a former president of the Jamestown Bar Association, and also a member of the New York State Bar Association.
In closing this article we may say that Mr. Mott is a lawyer of unusual ability and marked attainments. He is an indefatigable worker, his energy is untiring, and he is thoroughly familiar with the fundamental principles of the law, with their origin, their history, their development and their adaptability to new and changing conditions. His arguments are graceful, lucid, cogent, and always to the point. He has both technical and a general knowledge acquired by assidu- ous study and research, but most admirably trained and cultivated in the line of his professional work. He is not a case lawyer, who seeks parallels and precedents to rely on. He goes to the root of a question and grasps its underlying legal principles, driving them home with skill, discrimination and effect. He takes a high rank at the New York State bar, engaging in corporation law, criminal law, and general practice.
J. DELEVAN CURTISS-The present work would be incomplete if it failed to make a record of the lives of those men who have risen to professional eminence in Chautauqua county, as well as those who by a series of successful efforts have by their own individual energy and ability, unaided and alone, gained a position in the first ranks of our citizens. Throughout the length and breadth of our country we find men who have worked their way unaided from the lowest rung of the ladder to positions of eminence and power in the community, and just credit is due them for the additional obstacles they have been obliged to over- come and the indomitable courage with which they have been possessed. An example in point is the life of J. Delevan Curtiss, a distinguished member of the Chautauqua county bar. Mr. Curtiss is a lawyer of unusual ability and of a high order of attainments. He is an indefatigable worker. His energy is untiring. He is thoroughly familiar with the fundamental prin- ciples of the law, with their origin, their history, their
development, and their adaptability to new and chang- ing conditions; and his strong reasoning faculties, coupled with his great power of analysis, his mental alertness, his quick perception and his vigorous phy- sique, enable him to present with force and clearness, to court and jury, the legal propositions and the con- clusions of facts which he may be called upon, in his varied engagements, to maintain. His arguments are graceful, lucid, cogent, and always to the point. They give convincing evidence that he has an intellect, not only well stored with both a technical and general knowledge acquired by assiduous study and research, but most admirably trained and cultivated in the lines of his professional life work. He is not a case lawyer who seeks parallels and precedents to rely on. He goes to the root of a question and grasps its underlying legal principles, driving them home with skill, dis- crimination and effect. He takes a high rank at the New York bar.
The family of which Mr. Curtiss is a member is a very large one and of very ancient origin. The name, which is derived from a Norman French word, Curteis or Curtois, meaning civil, gentle and courteous, was brought into England with the Norman Conquest. The family is of early Saxon origin, and the name is found in old records spelled, Curteis, Curties, Curtice, Cur- tis and Curtiss, as well as many other ways. The earliest families recorded in England settled in the counties of Kent and Sussex. Stephen Curtis lived in Appledore, Kent, in 1450, and several of his descend- ants were mayors of Tenderdon. The records show that John (who spelled his name Curtiss) married Elizabeth Hutchins at Nazing, Essex, England, April 10, 1610, and had children, as follows: John, bap- tized at Nazing, February 26, 1614: William, baptized at Nazing, June 21, 1618. John, Sr., was brother of William Curtiss, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, whose wife was Sarah Elliot, sister of the Apostle to the Indians. John and Elizabeth (Hutchins) Curtiss, with their sons, William, John and Thomas, came over in the ship "Lion," William Pierce, master, with Wil- liam Curtiss and Sarah (Elliot) Curtiss, his wife, in the company of Governor Winthrop, and landed in Boston in the summer of 1632. William Curtiss settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and John Curtiss, Sr., probably died at Wethersfield, Connecticut, about 1635. His son, John Curtiss, came to Boston, Massa- chusetts, in the ship "Lion," as stated in 1632. He later removed to Roxbury, Massachusetts, where the records show him to have been a landowner. His children were: John, William Thomas and Mary, and of this line of descent J. Delevan Curtiss traces his ancestry.
J. Delevan Curtiss was born in Frewsburg, Chau- tauqua county, New York, April 13, 1860, a son of Edward J. and Elizabeth (Eaton) Curtiss. Edward J. Curtiss was a son of John Curtiss, a native of Massa- chusetts, who married Minerva Montague, and came with his wife to Chautauqua county in the early part of the nineteenth century, locating in the town of Car- roll. He became prominent there, and was one of the founders of the Baptist church at Frewsburg, New York. Minerva Montague was a lineal descendant from an old and prominent family who trace their ancestry to William the Conqueror of England. Ed-
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ward J. Curtiss, father of J. Delevan Curtiss, was a prominent citizen of Frewsburg, New York; both father and mother died at an early age.
J. Delevan Curtiss was left an orphan when three years old, and lived for a time with his aunt. Early in life he demonstrated his ability to take care of him- self by working on the farm for his board and lodging in the spring and summer, and attending the district schools in winter. He continued in various employ- ments, and managed by his own individual efforts to acquire his supplementary education in the public schools of Carroll and Frewsburg, and he later at- tended the High School of Jamestown, New York. After laying aside his text-books, he took up the study of law in the office of John G. Wicks, of Jamestown, New York. He remained there three years, and was admitted to the bar, October 5, 1883, and at once began the general practice of law in association with Mr. Wicks. This partnership continued for one year, when it was dissolved, and Mr. Curtiss has practiced alone ever since. He has been a director in various financial and business institutions of Jamestown among these, a director of the Bank of Jamestown, of which he was one of the original organizers, and a director of the Empire Case Goods Company. Politi- cally, Mr. Curtiss is a Republican. He was alderman of the first ward for two years, and corporation coun- cil for two years, and he is attorney for many corpora- tions. Fraternally, Mr. Curtiss is a member of the various Masonic bodies, including Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 145, Free and Accepted Masons; Western Sun Chapter, No. 67, Royal Arch Masons; Jamestown Council, No. 32, Royal and Select Masters; Jamestown Commandery, No. 61, Knights Templar; and is a mem- ber of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and was elected exalted ruler three times of Jamestown Lodge of Elks. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of the James- town Club and Moon Brook Country Club, recently organized. Mr. Curtiss was a member of the New York National Guard for five years.
J. Delevan Curtiss was united in marriage with Caroline Stratton, a daughter of Charles and Rose (Taylor) Stratton. They have a daughter, Caroline, who has gained a national reputation as a vocalist and whose biography appears upon other pages of these volumes.
Mrs. Curtiss traces her ancestry* to one of the oldest
*Lauriston Castle, the home of the Strattons for more than four hundred years, is in the Parish of St. Cyrus, in Kincardineshire, Scotland. The name in this Instance originated from the lands of Straton near Edinburgh, which was granted by David I. to Alex- ander, filius Roberti, in the twelfth century. The rec- crds begin with this Alexander, son of Robert, about eleven hundred (1100) and some branches are traced down to the present generation (1907).
It was to this line that the Charles Straton belonged who brought to the king the news of the surrender of Edinburgh Castle. To this line belonged, also, "our trusty and well beloved captaine Robert Straton" to whom King Charles' letter was written in 1655; Wal- ter Straton, who was murdered at Perth while de- fending his sovereign in 1437; and David Stratton, the martyr of Edinburgh.
Note-From "Fox's Book of Martyrs:" David Stra- ton, the martyr:
Several others were brought Into the Bishop's Court, among them Norman Gourlay and David Strat- ton. They had sald that there was no purgatory, and
and most distinguished families of New England. The Stratton coat-of-arms is as follows:
Arms-Argent four bars, embattled, counter-embat- tled sable an escutcheon, gules in center.
Crest-An eagle or. wings inverted, standing on a man's hand in armor, couped at the wrist argent.
Motto-Surgere, tento. (Strive to rise).
The family was founded in this country by one Sam- uel Stratton, a native of England, in which country he was born in 1592, and who came to the New Eng- land colonies with his wife and family, prior to 1647, in which year we first have record of him here. His wife, whom he had married in England, probably died shortly after their arrival in the colony, and compara- tively little is known concerning her.
(I) Samuel Stratton was a surveyor at Watertown. Massachusetts Bay Colony, and took the oath as free- man there, May 18, 1653. His home was situated in that part of Watertown which has since become Cam- bridge, in the neighborhood of the present Lowell Park and adjacent to the estate of James Russell Lowell. Samuel Stratton, after the death of his first wife, married, August 28, 1657, Mrs. Margaret Parker, the widow of William Parker, of Boston. By his first marriage he had two sons, by the second union the following children: Samuel, Jr .; John, and Richard.
(II) John Stratton married Elizabeth Traine, and they were the parents of the following children: Eliz- abeth, died in infancy; John, Elizabeth, Joseph, Samuel, Rebecca, Ebenezer, died in infancy; Ebenezer, and Jonathan.
(III) Joseph Stratton was born and lived all his life at Watertown, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Howe, and they were the parents of a large family of children of whom one was Jonathan.
(IV) Jonathan Stratton was born at Weston, Mas- sachusetts, in the year 1714, and took part in the Revo- lution. He served as a private in the company of Colonel Lamson, and marched to Lexington, April 19, 1775, upon receiving the alarm. He married Dina Bemus, of Waltham, Massachusetts, November 1, 1738, and among their children was Jonathan, Jr., born March 8, 1746. He served in the Revolution, as did his father, his name appearing upon the muster and pay-rolls of Captain Jonathan Fiske, as one of Colonel Brooks' troops which were called out March 4, 1776, for five days service, and stationed at Dorchester Heights. He also performed other military services at various times during the war. He married, Septem-
that the passion of Christ was the only expiation for sin, and that the tribulations of this world were the only sufferings that the saints underwent. These two, although greatly solicited by the Archbishops and others of the clergy, refused to recant, and were ac- cordingly condemned as obstinate heretics and sen- tenced to be burned upon the greenside between Lerth and Edinburgh, with a view to strike terror into the surrounding country. In the afternoon of the same day (August 27, 1532, under the reign of Henry the VIII.), they were taken to the place of execution, and kneeling down. they prayed with great fervency for some time. Then Stratton, addressing himself to the spectators, exhorted them to lay aside their supersti- tions and Idolatrous notions and employ themselves in seeking the true light of the gospel. He wished to have said more but was prevented by the officers. The sentence was then put into execution and the Martyrs cheerfully yielded up their bodies to the flames, commending their souls to the mercy of their Heavenly Father and hoping for immortality through the merits of their blessed Redeemer.
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ber 20, 1768, Sarah Childs. The Stratton and allied families have been prominent in all the great periods in the history of America, and Mrs. Curtiss is a worthy representative of this grand old family. She is a true home-maker, possessing splendid musical attainments, is a charming hostess, and a woman whose mental en- dowments have well fitted hier to be the trusted confi- dent and sympathetic counselor of her distinguished husband.
In conclusion we may say of Mr. Curtiss that at all times throughout his career he has stood as an able ex- ponent of the spirit of the age in his efforts to ad- vance progress and improvement, and in the wise use of his limited opportunities. Prompt and decisive in character, but always considerate of others and ex- ceedingly generous, the number of those he has aided by kindly words of advice drawn from the storehouse of long experience, or by the helping hand of material assistance, is large indeed; aye, larger, perhaps, than will ever be known, exemplifying in his daily life an intensely earnest disposition to serve his fellowmen. He practically adopts his own motto: "None too high to face, and none too low to help." A man who has the courage of his convictions to dare and to do!
One of the best known and most highly honored of Chautauqua county's professional men, Mr. Curtiss' career has been rounded with true success. He is preeminently a man of action, one whose plans and theories, deeply conceived and deliberately matured, speedily crystalized into realities. The efforts and accomplishments of such men benefit not alone their own cities and counties, but the entire State and Na- tion, furthering the progress of civilization and minis- tering to the happiness and welfare of humanity.
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