USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 4
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
Mr. Gokey loved his business and gave it unbounded attention, but he loved his church more. He was ever a consistent and devoted Methodist, and the lessons taught by his church furnished him with incentives for all his noble and honorable deeds. It taught him the principles and sublime standards up to which he faithfully endeavored to act. It infused love for virtue
14
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
and moral beauty, contempt for vice and irreligion. By it he was encouraged to master through special grace those untoward affections with which men are born, and to battle manfully against the temptation that assails us all so powerfully. His devotion to his church was not ostentatious, his practice of piety was not senti- mental, his faith not intrusive, but all the same it was genuine and true, heartfelt, earnest and generous. The same practical, honest tact he put into business relations he brought to duties and to religion. Every Sunday found him teaching his classes, striving with all his might to help and teach those who were ignorant, the lessons of his church.
That his death was sincerely mourned by all who knew him is proved by the wish of one of his many friends :
God grant that we have more men like him, more characters like his in circles political, mercantile and social. Long will his memory linger with us, long will we retain the appreciation of the loss his tak- ing away occasions, long will our minds recur to his worth and his sterling qualities, which will serve us as inspirations and incentives and make us regret that he was not longer spared in his career of usefulness and honor.
JUDGE RICHARD P. MARVIN-There are no traditions of which this country has more just right to be proud than those of the American bar, with its long list of illustrious names, its brilliant record of high achievement and lofty service rendered to causes we have ever held most dear. And nowhere have these traditions been better established and main- tained than among those splendid men who have, from Colonial days down to the present, represented the New York bar, who have been its lights and who have raised it to a place beside that of any bar of the country or, indeed, the world. Typical of these men who collectively have written this magnificent record for their State, and incidently inscribed their own names on the pages of fame, is the late Judge Richard P. Marvin.
Richard P. Marvin was born at Fairfield, N. Y., Dec. 23, 1803, and died at Jamestown, N. Y., after a long and eventful life. He received his preliminary educa- tion at the common schools and from private tutors, but being a natural student he never felt that his educa- tion was completed, and it was a common thing to find him at his office long after he had passed his eightieth year, deeply engrossed in the study of some intricate question, or absorbed in the pages of history. He was admitted to the bar in 1829, and in June of that year came to Jamestown, then little more than a logging camp, with its center about the water powers afforded by the outlet to Chautauqua Lake. He entered im- mediately upon the practice of his profession, and soon gained for himself a recognized position at the bar, and one which he maintained, with increasing influence for good, during his entire career. On Sept. 8, 1834, Mr. Marvin and Miss Isabella Newland, of Albany, N. Y., were joined in marriage, and the rising young lawyer and his accomplished bride entered into the pioneer life of Chautauqua county, reared an interesting and accomplished family, and laid the foundation for much of the culture and refinement which character- izes this community. Ten years after his admission to the bar in this State, Mr. Marvin, on the motion of
Daniel Webster, was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, and as evidence of his wholesome respect for that body, as well as for the courts generally, the story is told of him that when some years later he was called upon to make a similiar motion in behalf of a young lawyer, he delayed acting for a week until the latter had visited a tailor and been equipped with a frock coat and clothing suitable to the dignity of that tribunal.
To the State of New York belongs the credit of the first judicial determination of the constitutionality of the Act of Congress of Feb. 25, 1862, making certain treasury notes of the United States a legal tender in payment of all debts public and private, although the United States Supreme Court subsequently held to the contrary in the Legal Tender Cases (12 Wallace, 457) ; the law was finally established in harmony with prior decision of this State, and Judge Marvin wrote one of the great prevailing opinions in that case. "I shall assume," says the subject of this sketch in discussing the constitutionality of the legal tender act, "that the instrument known as the Constitution of the United States is a constitution ordained and established by the people of the United States. That it contains certain specified powers and provisions which, when carried into effect, produced a government possessed of the right to maintain and perpetuate itself for all time, "and upon this right to maintain and perpetuate itself Judge Marvin urged that whatever measures were required to support the government in its trials was authorized by the grants of power contained in the constitution, and this view is at the foundation of the law as sub- sequently declared by the Supreme Court of the United States.
But no man can achieve greatness in the law with- out experience, without a fund of information gathered from the accumulated experiences of the ages, and without the capacity to adjust the principles to the new conditions. The law grows and finds its best expression through judges who have had the widest experience, the broadest charity, and the deepest insight into the motives which move men to action. Tried by this test Judge Marvin had all the elements essential to that greatness which he did achieve. He was elected a member of the Assembly in 1835, serving in the session of 1836, where he became a conspicuous advocate of the New York & Erie Railroad, although at that time railroad construction and operation had hardly reached beyond the experimental stage, and he had lived not only to see the consumation of this idea, but the devel- opment of transportation facilities which must have far exceeded his most sanguine expectations. Before his term of service in the Assembly was ended, Mr. Marvin was elected to Congress, where he served from 1837 to 1841, taking an active part in the deliberations and having an opportunity for that intellectual expan- sion which marked every stage of his career. Return- ing to the practice of law, he was not permitted long to remain in private life. for in 1846 he was chosen as member of the Constitutional Convention which sat in Albany that year, and here his legislative experience, coupled with his knowledge of history and develop- ment of the law, made him a peculiarly valuable rep- resentative of the people in formulating the funda- mental law of the greatest State in the Union. Up
4ª
Robert A. Marie
15
BIOGRAPHICAL
to that time, while there were many of the germs of human liberty there was no constitutional system in the State of New York, in the sense that we now have a constitution. The first constitution was hardly more than a bill of rights, with certain petty restrictions upon ministers of the Gospel and other matters of incidental importance, and the constitution of 1821, centralizing the appointing power in the Governor and Senate, so that practically all of the local officers of the State were named in Albany, had grown steadily in disfavor with the people. The convention of 1846 took up the work of a constitution in a proper sense, limiting the legislative powers but leaving them free to legislate impartially within the limits so fixed, and from its preamble to its final clause, it is a model of constitution building which has not been improved upon, although it has since undergone two general re- visions, as well as various amendments. This consti- tution placed the election of the general State officers in the hands of the people, and permitted the choice of local officers by the people of the several communities. It reorganized upon a scientific basis the judiciary of the State and provided for the election of an independ- ent Court of Appeals which, as a law court, stands well at the front of the judicial bodies of the world. This constitution, in which Mr. Marvin's elegant diction and breadth of thought are conspicuous, has been copied in form and style of expression in every one of the new states since that time and in all of the states where their constitutions have undergone revisions, and this to such an extent that it is often impossible to tell which one of the constitutions you are reading without referring to its title pages. The writer recalls the new constitution went into effect on Jan. 1, 1847, and the judicial convention for the Eighth Judicial District, which was authorized by the new constitu- tion, unanimously nominated Judge Richard P. Marvin as one of the justices of the Supreme Court. He was elected for a term of eight years, was reelected in 1855 for a like term, serving the last year of that term as a member of the Court of Appeals under a constitutional provision, and was again reelected in 1863, serving to the end of his term in 1871. By a provision of the constitution the compensation of the judges could not be increased or diminished during their official terms. The salary originally was $2,500 per year and remained the same until 1857, two years after Judge Marvin's second election, so that for six years of his second term he received only $2,500 per year, while those who were elected after 1857 and who served contemporane- ously with him received $3,500 per annum, and this same thing occurred when the salary was increased after 1863. Judge Marvin continued to faithfully perform his duties at a less salary than his fellow members on the bench, and retired from office with the confidence, esteern and respect of every honest man in the State.
As a citizen of Jamestown he was enterprising and public-spirited, and his wise counsel to young and old have played an important part in shaping the destinies of individuals of the community and the State.
ROBERT NEWLAND MARVIN-It is a pleasure to read the biography of a successful self-made man. Peculiar honor attaches to that individual who, begin-
ning the great struggle of life alone and unaided, grad- ually overcomes environment, removes one by one the obstacles in the pathway to success, and hy the master strokes of his own force and vitality succeeds in forcing his way to the front and winning for himself a position of esteem and influence among his fellowmen. Such is the record briefly stated of the late Robert Newland Marvin, who at the time of his death was one of the most substantial and representative citizens of Jamestown, N. Y. He lived to see and take a promi- nent part in the later day growth of the community, and was one of its wisest counselors and hardest workers. He was a progressive man in the broadest sense of the word, and gave his earnest support to any movement that promised to benefit his community in any way. His was a life of honor and trust, and no higher eulogy can be passed upon him than to state the simple truth that his name was never coupled with anything disreputable, and there never was a shadow of stain upon his reputation of integrity and unswerv- ing honesty. He was a consistent man in all that he undertook and his career in all the relations of life was utterly without pretense. He was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him, and Jamestown could boast no better man or more enterprising citizen.
Robert Newland Marvin was born in Jamestown, Oct. 13, 1845, in what Mr. Miller, in his history, terms the "red schoolhouse era," and his preliminary educa- tion was found in one of these institutions, being followed by a course in the Jamestown Academy, after which he became a student at the Hartwick Seminary, taking on the refinements of that celebrated school, and rounding out with a business course at the Bryant & Stratton Business College. Mr. Marvin began his practical career as a bookkeeper, and he has known almost every phase of business experience, from the employee in the bank to its presidency, from the small beginnings of mercantile life to extensive dealings in lumber and other materials coupled with important public and private trusts which have brought him in contact with men of affairs in all the walks of life. Ex- tensive as have been his business experiences, they are rivalled by his experiences in the civic and semi- public life of the community in which he lived. To enumerate the affairs in the city of Jamestown with which Mr. Marvin has been identified in some capacity, and always with fidelity and a singleness of purpose which has commanded respect, would be practically to furnish a compendium of the developments of the city during the past four years.
In 1905, after the death of Mr. Marvin's father, Richard P. Marvin, Robert N. Marvin came into full control of his father's extensive business interests as executor of the estate. One of the most noted opera- tions in his management of this property was the reclamation of our extensive swamp, and upon the ground thus made available for use he established Marvin Park, while many acres of valuable land was opened up for industrial and residential usage. Mr. Marvin was the trustee and executor of many large fortunes and estates throughout the Chautauqua county region, and in every department of his vast enterprises held the unvarying confidence of all who knew him. He was named executor in the will of Mary A. Prender-
16
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
gast of the vast property that, under the provisions of her will, was converted into St. Luke's Memorial Church, and the James Prendergast Free Library and Art Gallery. He was trustee of this institution, and for several years was president of the board.
His business interests, in addition to his work as executor of these estates, were many and varied in character. He was the organizer and for a time the president of the Chautauqua Lake Street Railway Company, president of the Lakeview Cemetery Asso- ciation, and prominent in the direction of the Lakewood Land and Improvement Company, and the Preston Farming Company of North Dakota. In 1885, he was elected president of the First National Bank of Corry, Pa., and held this office several years. He succeeded Alexander T. Prendergast as the director of the Na- tional Chautauqua County Bank. Mr. Marvin remained in that position until his death, giving of his wise busi- ness ability and even judgment as a member of the most important committees of the board. Mr. Marvin was the organizer of the first telephone company to operate in Jamestown and was president of the corporation. He was also organizer and president of the first water company formed in Jamestown, and was a member of the first and all subsequent boards of water commis- sioners, after the city assumed control of the water sup- ply. He was chairman of the committee that drafted the first city charter of Jamestown, and was the guiding spirit of every movement that marked the healthy, steady growth of the town and city. Mr. Marvin was promi- nently identified with the Gustavus Adolphus Orphans' Home, serving as chairman of the committee which se- cured the subscriptions from Jamestown residents for the home. He was a member of the New York State Charity Aid Association, and served as an advisory committeeman in the Women's Christian Association Hospital. Mr. Marvin was an attendant and generous supporter of the First Presbyterian Church and was interested in all its societies and works.
In politics Mr. Marvin was a staunch Republican, and he made an ideal public servant when called into office, for he was mindful only of the opportunity official place gave him for the accomplishment of benefit for his district and constituency. He was lead- ing figure in the Republican organization, being a delegate to many conventions, and in 1884 was a Blaine elector. For four years, until he declined reelection, he represented the town of Ellicott. As a member of this board he fathered methods, measures, and reforms, in the care of the districts, the dependent, indigent, and insane, that proved conclusively their value and humanity, besides furnishing a model which many institutions have followed. No local organization of his day was complete without his participation and coöper- ation. He was foreman of the Ellicott Hook and Ladder Company, and was a life member of the New York State Firemen's Association.
Mr. Marvin married, Feb. 6, 1890, Mary Elizabeth Warner, a daughter of Lucius Bolles Warner, whose hiography follows.
Mr. Marvin's death occurred Feb. 6, 1909, and to this honored and respected man is the tribute of universal regret that he will no longer be seen in his accustomed place. that the inspiration of his generous, sympathetic
presence will be lacking. Mr. Marvin had his limita- tion, as do all of us, but he gave of the best of his talents to the world and to aiding his fellowmen. He was a man of impressive personality, broad-minded, and had the characteristics which ever beget esteem, confidence and friendship. Viewing his life in its per- spective, none can fail to have an appreciation of his great accomplishments, and he shall ever be remiem- bered as a noble, kindly and public-spirited man-of- affairs.
LUCIUS BOLLES WARNER-In a review of the records of the financial and industrial development of Chautauqua county and a perusal of a list of the men who have been in any way prominently identified there- with, it will be found to contain an unusually high percentage of names associated only with the very highest and most disinterested motives and entirely free from all selfish and corrupt conduct. It is well for a community to be able to say this; it is a prouder boast than though it could point to some world genius as its offspring for a community cannot be gauged so much by its exceptions, and geniuses are always exceptions, as by the rank and file of its members, the men whom we meet on the street and find at the head of its banks, its business houses and its factories. Upon such a list and well deserving to stand with the highest both in the point of ability and the most unimpeachable honor, the name of Lucius Bolles Warner should appear.
Lucius Bolles Warner, whose death on Feb. 14, 1905, was felt as a servere loss to the community, was born March 3, 1823, at Millington, Middlesex county, Conn., a son of Ephraim and Mary Spencer (Miner) Warner. His early education was received in Middle- sex county. He came to Jamestown, N. Y., in 1850, and for five years engaged in the manufacture of furni- ture. That business was not satisfactory, however, and he began dealing in the manufacture of lumber, owning a planing mill on Allen street, which was destroyed by fire. Later he bought a planing mill on Baker street, south of the outlet, and there con- tinued in successful operation until his death.
For over half a century Mr. Warner was identified with the business interests of Jamestown, and held intimate relations with numerous leading enterprises. In addition to the business that was his major interest, he was financially connected with the First National Bank, the Jamestown Street Railway Company, the Lakeview Cemetery Association, and many others. The Warner block in the business section of James- town was built by him as an investment, and the sub- sequent development of the city vindicated his faith in the future. Throughout every period of its growth he was a leading spirit in progressive enterprises, and until his death held a conspicuous and enviable position among Jamestown's prominent citizens.
Successful as he was in business, one field of en- deavor could not claim him, and he found time for many good works. He was president of the board of directors of the James Prendergast Library, and still further advanced the cause of education as a member of the local board of education. For many years he was a generous supporter of the First Presbyterian Church. His political faith was Republican, and
Lucius B. aWarner
Vovilluso Rogers
17
BIOGRAPHICAL
although he preferred private life to public affairs, when official place was visited upon him as the unsolicited expression of the confidence of his fellows, he accepted and rendered worthy service.
Lucius B. Warner was united in marriage, Dec. 14, 1854, at Jamestown, N. Y., with Mary Minerva Henry, who was born May II, 1836, a daughter of Rev. William D. Henry, a minister of the Congregational church, who was born April 24, 1807, died in September, 1896, and Minerva (Densmore) Henry, a daughter of Thomas and Lydia ( Belden) Densmore, who was born in 1806, and died in December, 1888. Of this union there were horn three children, two of whom were: Frederick Henry, born May 13, 1863; Mary Elizabeth, born Nov. 30, 1866, wife of Robert Newland Marvin.
The position in the community held by Mr. Warner is a difficult one to convey in terms of his achievements, and still more so by a mere list of the offices held by him and the concerns with which he was associated. His long walk in life was always in paths of honor and uprightness, and he bore always the respect of his com- munity for a life lived beyond reproach and its tender esteem for lovable qualities of mind and heart. An eminent divine has somewhere remarked that "the things men do are greater than what they are," and although perhaps we may feel disinclined to apply the proposition quite so broadly there can be no doubt that it is eminently true of some characters. Mr. Warner stood for something in the community far more im- portant than any concrete accomplishment; he stood for probity and integrity in business relations, for con- scientious fulfillment of the duties of citizenship, for virtue in domestic relations, and for sterling manhood that may well serve as a model for the youth of his own and other communities. This is what he stood for, and it is on this abstract ground that the discrim- inating will appreciate his service.
As a permanent memorial to this truly good man his widow, Mary H. Warner, on Feb. 20, 1911. gave the Warner Homestead on Forest avenue to the Agnes Association for the purpose of perpetually maintain- ing a home for old people, and her letter of gift is as follows :
Jamestown, New York, February 20, 1911.
Mrs. Charles M. Dow, Pres. Agnes Association.
Dear Mrs. Dow :-
In fulfillment of a long cherished desire to estab- lish a permanent memorial to my late husband, Lucius P. Warner, In this city, where practically his whole life was spent (and in which memorial I desire my own name to be associated with that of my husband). I hereby present to the Agnes Association the Warner homestead on Forest avenue, with the condition that it be perpetually maintained as a home for "old peo- ple," who, in their declining years, are left alone, or through material misfortune may be in partially de- pendent circumstances.
The property has a frontage of 197 feet, with the residence and stable thereon, and is free from debt except that which will be incurred in favoring Forest avenue, and this expense I desire to bear. With the house I purpose giving some of the furniture and personal belongings.
With kindllest sentiments toward those who tn my former house may find a comfortable dwelling place in the sunset of their lives, and trusting my action will meet with the hearty approval of yourself and asso- ciates of the Agnes Association, believe me, Very sincerely yours.
MARY H. WARNER.
ROVILLUS ROLLIN ROGERS, A. M., LL. D., son of Jesse F. and Hannah (Saxton) Rogers, was born at Marathon, Cortland county, N. Y., July 25, 1849. Upon the paternal side he traces his descent from the "Mayflower" pilgrims, and his maternal ancestry is English and French Huguenot. His mother having died when he was six weeks old the boy was taken into the family of Benjamin H. Glezen, a farmer of Broome county, N. Y., with the expectation that this would be only a temporary home, but he remained with Mr. and Mrs. Glezen until he was nineteen years of age, receiv- ing from them the care and affection commonly be- stowed upon an own son, and giving to them in return the tenderest filial devotion.
Mr. Rogers had the usual experiences of a farmer's boy of the period, first in his native State, later in Ohio, and lastly upon the prairies of Iowa. His early education was gained in a country village school of the primitive type. This education was very fragmentary but was supplemented by two or three winter terms in a "select school" and later by four terms in an old-time academy at Kingsville, Ohio. In the meantime he had become a country school teacher, and after three terms of experience he resolved to have a college education. He completed his preparation at the Oberlin Prepara- tory School, and was graduated from Oberlin College in 1876. At the time of his graduation he was already an experienced teacher as he had taught nine terms in country schools, and for the greater part of his last two years in college had taught classes in the prepara- tory department. By these methods and others familiar to self-supporting students, he paid, for the most part, his own way through preparatory school and college, leaving college with only such debts as he was able to pay during his first year as principal of a union school. This school was known as the Ellington Union School and Academy, situated at Ellington, N. Y. He remained at Ellington four years and was married there on Aug. 4, 1880, to Celeste E. Williams, the adopted daughter of the late Dr. James Brooks, of that village. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were born two children, Edith Mar- garet, who died in February, 1919, and Harold Lee, of Glen Ridge, N. J. From Ellington Mr. Rogers went to Gowanda, where he served as principal of the Union School for one year, In 1881 he was appointed principal of the academic department of the Jamestown public schools, then known as the Jamestown Union School and Collegiate Institute, now the Jamestown High School. He served in this capacity until March, 1890, when upon the resignation of Samuel G. Love he be- came superintendent of the Jamestown city schools. He continued as superintendent in Jamestown until Aug. 1, 1919, when he was appointed one of the State directors of Americanization.
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.