USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 41
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Another of the beautiful tributes paid to the memory of Father Coyle was that from a Methodist minister, Rev. Dr. Horace G. Ogden, of the First Methodist Church. Speaking to his congregation, he said :
I want to speak this morning for myself, and I be- lieve the entire congregation, a word of appreciation of that good man who for so many years was in charge of a sister church, and whose death Is such a calamity to his own people and so distinct a loss to this city and community. Father Coyle was a true priest of God, he did here in this community God's work, modestly, unassumingly, and faithfully, and for forty years he wrought the work of Him who sent him. For forty years he has gone in and out of the homes of this city, he has brought comfort in sorrow, cheer in distress, help for the burdened, and strength for the weak. The story of his wonderful services can not possibly be told by man. It is known only to God. 1 have met and conversed with thousands of people in Chautauqua county, but from not one have I ever heard a word of criticism of Father Coyle's character nor a reflection on the purity, integrity, or unselfishness of his life. We all believed in him and held him in the highest honor. As I stood beside the casket in which his body rested, beautiful in death as was he in life, I am not ashamed to tell you that tears fell freely from my eyes. I loved him and revere his memory.
One of the many noble deeds of Father Coyle was the purchase of several acres of ground in Jamestown, and the presenting of this to the Franciscan Sisters with the distinct understanding that they were in the near future to erect upon it a home for the aged poor of Jamestown, regardless of creed.
An extract from an address given at a public recep- tion, in honor of Frank W. Stevens, the chairman of the Public Service Commission, is not only typical of Father Coyle's patriotic loyalty to his country, but his far-sightedness as to good government. His words are very applicable at this time of industrial unrest, following the great World's War. Father Coyle said:
We are confronted in this country with difficulties from within and without, and that the government may exist, and go down through generations yet un- born, there is need of strong men of peace and moral character. The gates are wide open to those who wish to come here, from all nations, to enjoy liberty but not license. If he comes with right ideas, the stranger is welcome regardless of nationality or creed, be he rich or poor. We need men of virtue and virtue de- pends upon our conviction that there is a power higher than man. All laws come from God and if a man has no faith in God then it Is useless to continue, for even with powerful navies and armies, if the people do not live up to the law, no country can endure and our country is the highest type of country and home ever conceived.
In conclusion we may say Father Coyle will be missed, sadly missed. His Bishop will miss his genial presence from his councils; his congregation will long feel the sad blow of his demise, and Jamestown and Chautauqua county will long remember him as a loyal, patriotic, public-spirited man, who gave the best that was in him for the good of the community-at-large.
VINCENT CASTLE, D. D. S .- This is the name of a man to whom Jamestown has already begun to accord recognition and of whom, as the years go on, she will become increasingly aware. Dr. Castle is a good citizen as well as a skillful dentist, and is win- ning friends no less quickly than patrons.
Russell Castle, grandfather of Vincent Castle, is principal of a high school in Italy. He is also a man
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of letters, and a poet, having written many poems on famous men, including Napoleon and a number of others ..
Louis Castle, son of Russell Castle, married Joseph- ine Tripi, like himself, a native of Italy, and both are now living in that country.
Vincent Castle, son of Louis and Josephine (Tripi) Castle, was born March 8, 1892, in Vallelunga Prota- memo, Province of Coltanissetta, Italy, and attended an elementary school in his native land. In 1908 he came alone to the United States and made his way to Buffalo, N. Y., where he became a pupil in a grammar school, obtained employment, and in due course of time entered the high school, graduating in 1911. In 1914 he began the study of dentistry in the University of Buffalo, but at the end of two years was obliged to leave in order to earn the money with which to defray the expenses of further study. After a clerical position for one year, he returned to the university, completed his course, and on June 17, 1918, received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In December of the same year, Dr. Castle passed an examination by the State Board in Buffalo, and for about two months thereafter was associated in the practice of his profes- sion with Dr. Johnson. He then opened a well equipped office of his own and has already begun to build up a profitable and advantageous clientele. In politics Dr. Castle is a Republican, and though he has thus far not mingled actively in public affairs, he has ever shown himself ready to do all in his power toward the im- provement of community conditions. He is a member of the Barrettonian Society, and attends St. James' (Italian) Roman Catholic Church.
In the acquisition of his professional training, Dr. Castle has proved himself a man of uncommon strength of purpose, and in every phase of his career he has shown himself possessed of those endearing personal qualities which win and hold friends. He is well fitted for the amenities of social life, possessing as he does a fine tenor voice which made him, during his years at the university, a member of the Glee Club. In the social circles of Jamestown he has already been cor- dially welcomed.
J. RUSSELL ROGERSON-Among the prominent attorneys of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., should be mentioned J. Russell Rogerson, who, in the space of comparatively few years has risen to a position of leadership in his profession and is well and favorably known throughout the city. Mr. Roger- son is a son of David M. and Alberta (Campbell) Rogerson, both of whom are living in Jamestown at the present time (1920), the former carrying on a suc- cessful contracting business here.
Mr. Rogerson was born in Jamestown, Oct. 1, 1892, and as a lad attended the Jamestown grammar and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1911. From an early age he had decided upon the law as a profes- sion, and with this end in view, entered the legal de- partment of Syracuse University. He graduated from that institution with the class of 1914, taking the degree of LL. D., and was shortly afterwards admitted to the Chautauqua County Bar, beginning practice in James-
town immediately thereafter. From the outset he was highly successful in his career and has already built up a large and high class clientele, handling much important litigation in the region. At the time of the entrance of the United States in the great World War, Mr. Rogerson offered his services to his country and enlisted as a private in the signal corps, May 8, 1917, in New York City, for three months. Shortly afterwards he returned to Jamestown as a recruiting officer, where he remained for about six months, enlisting during that time seventy men in the signal corps, and then with his unit was sent to France, in Jan., 1918. He was in service in all about twenty-six months, and was re- turned to the United States June 28, 1919, and sta- tioned for a time at Camp Mills, being honorably mus- tered out of service July 3, 1919. Mr. Rogerson is a member of the Zeta Psi College fraternity, and in politics is a Republican. He is also a member of the Jamestown Bar Association and American Legion.
J. Russell Rogerson was united in marriage, Dec. 22, 1917, at Jamestown, with Eleanor E. Olson, of this place, a daughter of Eric W. and Anna M. (Hender- son) Olson.
CHARLES HENRY WICKS-One of the most prominent business men and citizens of Lakewood, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he has taken an active part in practically every department of the com- munity's life, is Charles Henry Wicks, a native of Ellery, N. Y., where he was born Oct. 15, 1849. Mr. Wicks was a son of the late James Hamilton and Sophia (Ward) Wicks. The Wicks family originally came from Saratoga county, N. Y., to Chautau- qua county, in 1818, and settled on what is now known as the Harvey farm on Pickard street in the town of Ellery.
Charles Henry Wicks as a lad attended the public schools of Gerry and later the Jamestown High School, and was graduated from this institution in the class of 1870. For ten years thereafter he followed the profes- sion of teaching, being principal of the Clymer Union School, acting principal of the high school at Corry, Penn., and principal of the Panama Union School, and while at that place was elected school commissioner for the first district in Chautauqua county which embraces the western half of the county. He was reelected to this position four times, each term occupying three years. Upon completing the last of these terms, Mr. Wicks removed to Lakewood, N. Y., in the year 1891, and since that time has been engaged in the real estate business, which he has pursued to his advantage and profit. He also became interested in timber lands, and has bought and sold many important holdings in West- ern New York and Pennsylvania. In addition to his business activities, Mr. Wicks had been a conspicuous figure in the public life of the community. He served as index clerk in both the Assembly and the Senate of the State of New York for fourteen years, and in all his public capacities has shown himself a most public spirited and efficient public servant. He was elected chairman of the Republican County Committee for Chautauqua county in the year 1901, and held this position continuously for fifteen years, during which
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time he played an influential part in the affairs of his party. Like his father, Mr. Wicks held the office of justice of the peace in the town of Gerry, being elected thereto when but twenty-one years of age. He was also supervisor of the State Census in 1905. Mr. Wicks may justly be recorded as a self-made man in the best sense of the term, his achievements and suc- cess having been due entirely to his own intelligence and indefatigable industry and never to any outside influence.
Charles Henry Wicks was united in marriage to Florence R. Robbins, a daughter of Levi H. and Mary Thompson Robbins, at Spartansburg, Penn., Nov. 6, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Wicks have two daughters: I. Corrie Jane, now engaged in teaching in the Lake- wood High School. 2. Mary Evelyn, wife of Albert G. Sherman, of Middletown, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have one son, Charles Wicks Sherman.
FRED CONLEY RICE, M. D., of Ripley, Chau- tauqua county, N. Y., who was killed by a pass- ing electric car, while he was crossing the road, return- ing home from a professional call, on June 21, 1918, was cut down in the early prime of his professional use- fulness and patriotic public service; yet, short as was his public life and professional activity, that life, in its private, public, and professional phases, has earned him a definite place of honor among the historical records of the worthy men of Chautauqua county. He was a son in whom the county might well take pride; in all that he did his record was good, his service was of high grade, his actions of appreciable consequence, he had the quality of doing thoroughly all that he un- dertook, was a skilled surgeon, of exhaustive research, highly regarded by his professional confreres; as a patriot, his heart was in the thickest of the fighting in France, even while his professional ties and public duties held him here, and he longed to be at the front even though he was accomplishing national work of considerable value in his own home district; as a lec- turer, his convincing logic and terse reasoning were models of inspiration to his co-workers on the four- minute-men committee, of which he was chairman; his professional services were of inestimable value to the Red Cross, during the early days of the war, and also to the Examining Board for the Selective Draft in District No. 2, Chautauqua county; and his patriotic fervour and joy in national service cleared away the gloom of many a bewildered young man passed for military service; and his earnest, active Christian work and Bible teaching stamped him as a man of the high- est moral character. Altogether, the life of Dr. Fred Conley Rice, so suddenly and so tragically cut short, was one of inestimable, unselfish public service in the town of his nativity.
Dr. Rice was born in Ripley, Chautauqua county, Dec. 24, 1877, the son of Charles W. and Laura A. (Conley) Rice. His father, Charles W. Rice, was a man of refinement and literary inclination, and in later life passed much time in tax and title searching, in Buffalo, N. Y. He became an authority on real estate values and validity of titles. He died in 1893, and his widow, Laura A. (Conley) Rice, June 21, 1904.
Fred C. Rice, who was their only child, received his elementary education in the public school of Ripley, and later entered the Westfield High School, from which in due course he graduated. After graduation he pursued further preparatory study, and eventually enrolled at the University of Buffalo, as a student in the medical department. He graduated in 1902, and gained the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He had closely followed his medical studies while an under- graduate, and had observed much clinical work. For eighteen months he was a member of the house surgical staff of the Buffalo General Hospital, and in competi- tive examination was placed first for the appointment. In 1902 he sat before the State Board for license to practice, and successfully passed. But he still de- sired to enter into post-graduate work in surgery, and therefore remained in Buffalo, N. Y., connected with the Buffalo General Hospital, where the clinical op- portunities were so extensive, and the practice so vari- ous. However, in December of 1903, he opened an office in his native town, Ripley, Chautauqua county, and thereafter entered confidently and ably into the general practice of his profession. But as the years went by, and he had entered more exhaustively into surgical research, he specialized in that branch of medical science. In 1910, he went to Chicago Uni- versity, and there took a post-graduate course in sur- gery, after which he took a course of surgical instruc- tion with the Mayo brothers, eminent surgeons of Rochester, Minn. Thereafter, until his death, Dr. Rice specialized in surgery, and gained a wide repu- tation, his later practice being a very extensive one.
He was honored by his professional confreres, and was identified with many professional organizations, of national, state, and county scope. He was a member of the Clinical Congress of Surgeons, and several other national and state professional bodies; and was a member of the Chautauqua County Medical Society, of which at one time he was president. And at vari- ous times, he contributed many papers upon medicine and surgery to leading professional publications.
In his public work, of war aspect, he was indefatiga- ble and self-sacrificing; he was the inspiring chair- man of the four-minute-men of Ripley, during the time when there was need to thus enlighten the people as to the causes and the progress of the war; he was the professional instructor of the local first aid auxiliary of the Red Cross movement; he did all the physical examining of the men selected by the draft board of District No. 2 of Chautauqua county, and in that he was invaluable for the cheer and loyalty of spirit he instilled into the young men as he passed them for service; and all this without remuneration, notwith- standing that he was a professional man whose time professionally was in demand and at a high rate of remuneration. He was a true patriot, whose own affairs dwarfed into insignificance when the national need came for his skilled service; and to have taken material payment for such service would have tar- nished the nobility of thought which caused him to enter upon the labor.
His church service has much the same aspect; he was a busy professional man, with call for his services Sun- days as well as week-days, yet he was able for many
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years to act as teacher of the adult Bible class of the Methodist Episcopal church at Ripley. And he was the leader of the community singing, promoted by the church, and for many years was one of the trustees of that church. He also interested himself in educational affairs in Ripley, and for many years he was a member of the School Board. Fraternally, he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Masonic body, including the Eastern Star branch, to which his wife also belonged.
Dr. Rice married, May 4. 1904, Fanny E., daughter of Allen and Edith (Gay) Bartlett, of North East, Erie county, Penn. Mrs. Rice, a woman of intellec- tual attainments, refined features, cultured habits, and active public spirit, was keenly interested in her husband's work, especially his public work, and she did much to assist him in that phase of his activi- ties. She entered actively into church and community work, and was especially earnest and prominent in local movements connected with the raising of funds and supplies for the needs of the government during the war; she labored whole-heartedly in behalf of the departing and returning soldiers. The innumerable expressions of sympathy she received at the time of her husband's death emphasized to her her great loss. She is, however, comforted in the possession of her children, for to her and her husband were horn four children: Laura May, Allen Bartlett, Edith Gay, and Charles Wesley.
Dr. Rice's life, short though it was, was not lived in vain, for he rendered to his country, and his native town, a professional service of appreciable consequence during the most portentous time in the history of the Nation, a time when each man, by his acts, demon- strated his true worth.
CHARLES WINFIELD YOUNG-That branch of the Young family long represented in Jamestown, N. Y., by Charles W. Young, came to Chautauqua county from the State of Connecticut, George Washington Young, father of Charles W., locating in Frewsburg when a young man. He was born in Connecticut, and in Frewsburg followed his trade, carpenter and builder, until his death, Dec. 30, 1862, while still in the prime of life. He was a Whig, later a Republican in politics. a member of the Baptist church, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, in Frewsburg, Amanda M. Howard, daughter of Luther and Jemima (Haven) Howard, and they were the parents of a daughter. Florence R., and a son, Charles W. Flor- ence R. Young married (first) Frank R. Scowden; (second) Charles E. Dodge, and resides in James- town. The career of the son, Charles W. Young, is traced in this review. Like his father, Mr. Young was cut off in the prime of life, but during the eleven years that he was in business in Jamestown as a dealer in hardware, he won golden opinions as a man of honor, uprightness, and ability.
Charles Winfield Young was born in Frewsburg, Chautauqua county, N. Y., April 11, 1856, and died in Jamestown, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1894. He was educated in Frewsburg schools, and was in mill em- ploy until 1883, when he moved to the city of James-
town, which was ever afterward his home. He estab- lished in business in Jamestown, as a dealer in hard- ware, continuing most successfully in mercantile life for eleven years, when death ended his activities. He erected the three-story brick building now owned and operated by the Jamestown Hardware Company, he conducting the hardware business there under his own rh name as long as he lived. J. H. Doubleday held an interest in the Young hardware business, but his in- terest was a silent one. Mr. Young was a inan of energy and ability, devoted to his business and his home. He was a member of the First Baptist Church, I and in politics a Republican. He was a good citizen, interested, progressive, and helpful, but took no active .' part in Jamestown's political life.
Mr. Young married, in Frewsburg, N. Y., April 15, : 1876, Emily Jane Mendall, born in the town of Pine Grove, Chautauqua county, N. Y., daughter of Samuel and Theresa Jane (Howard) Mendall, and granddaughter of Ezra Howard. Mrs. Young's par- ents later moved to the State of Missouri, where her father continued his business of shingle manufacturing. They both died in Stockton, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Young were the parents of a daughter, Alice Marie, born May 8, 1884, who now resides with her mother, to whom she is devoted.
WARNER SHAW REXFORD-Among the many attorneys at law in the city of Jamestown there is one who particularly deserves mention, for he possesses one talent in particular that would make him a marked man anywhere. That gift is oratory. Ever since Warner Shaw Rexford attained his education, he has been a political speaker during every presidential cam- paign, and he is constantly in demand upon many other occasions, his oratorical powers being most convinc- ing and capable of holding the attention of his hearers with absorbing interest.
Born at Bemus Point, N. Y., July 19, 1876, young Rexford came into the world with an ambitious, de- termined temperament. His parents, Thomas J. and Mary Jane (Shaw) Rexford, were farmers at that time in moderate circumstances. Thomas J. Rexford is living on the farm at the present time, but his wife died some years ago. The child was sent to the dis- trict school, but after sessions and at other possible times, he had to assist in the work of the farm, his vacations always being spent in that way. But though it may seem hard to a boy, it is the training which develops their manhood. Young Rexford graduated from the district schools and then became a pupil in the Sugar Grove Seminary, located at Sugar Grove, Penn. He worked in all his spare time to help finance his course there until his graduation in 1901. The goal which Warner Shaw Rexford had set before him was the ability to practice law, and his preparation at the seminary was the first step toward its achievement. The next was to enter the law department at college. He chose the University of Michigan as his alma mater, teaching school to get some of the money to enter upon his course. He worked hard during the entire three years he spent at the university, but he accomplished the object for which he had toiled sc
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long and faithfully. Later he spent three years at the law office of Pickard & Dean, at the expiration of which time Mr. Rexford was admitted to the bar of the State of New York, Nov. 30, 1908. He at once began to practice his profession, and on Oct. 2, 1912, he was admitted to practice in the Federal courts of the United States. For the next three years Mr. Rex- ford worked alone, but on Jan. 1, 1915, he entered into partnership with John G. Wicks.
It was during his college days in Michigan that Mr. Rexford took up political speechmaking, and here he I made his record for versatility in the subject matter of his addresses, and physical endurance also, for he - made twenty-one speeches during the presidential cam- paign of 1904, when Theodore Roosevelt was the can- didate for president on the Republican ticket. Mr. Rexford is greatly interested in politics, and is a deep thinker concerning the many problems connected with it. He has always been a Republican. In 1908 he was engrossing clerk in the State Legislature, and from Jan. 1, 1914, to Jan. 1, 1917, was assistant district I attorney. At one time he was chairman of the Board ---- of Education of Ellery, N. Y., where he makes his home, though he practices law in Jamestown at No. 5 Half block.
Mr. Rexford is of an extremely social nature, as is " evidenced by the number of clubs and lodges with · which he is connected. He is a member of the Blue Lodge of Free Masons; is now Loyal Knight of the ¿ local lodge of Elks; is a member of the Order of Eagles: an associate of the Jamestown Bar Associa- tion and of the Buffalo Lawyers' Club; also a member jof the Saturday Night Club. Mr. Rexford is not con- nected with any church.
On Aug. 27, 1906, Warner Shaw Rexford married May Jenner, of Midland, Mich. Of this union two ¡children were born: Chester C. and Jeannette. Both are at present in school. Mr. Rexford's career is one of which any man may be proud; he is a self-made unan, overcoming many obstacles in pursuit of the edu- .cation which was the ideal of his boyhood dreams.
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CARL S. BERG-In presenting to the public the representative men of Jamestown, N. Y., who have by superior force of character and energy, together with a combination of ripe qualities of ability and excel- lence, made themselves conspicuous and commanding in public and private life, we have no example more fit to present than the late Carl S. Berg. Not only did he rise above the standard in his line of busi- ness, but he also possessed those excellencies of human nature that make men worthy of regard among their fellow men. He was high-minded and liberal, keenly alive to all the varied requirements of life, and one of those capable of conducting operations of the most extended and weighty character and affluence.
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