USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 46
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
John M. Irvin, son of John and Mary (Johnson) Irvin, was about eight years old when the family came to live in Charlotte township, upon the farm his father had acquired, and until his years of school study closed he attended the Union No. 6 District School, working at many minor farming tasks meanwhile. After leav- ing school, he earnestly began work, finding plenty with which to occupy his time on the extensive, and to some extent undeveloped, acreage his father owned. He assisted his father and elder brothers in the operation of the farm until he was twenty years old, and then could not be held back from offering his strong arm to his country, in its national stress of Civil War. On Aug. 28, 1862, John M. Irvin enlisted in Company F, 154th New York Regiment, his immediate com- mander being Capt. Donneley, and the regimental com- mander being Col. P. H. Jones. With that unit he served until almost the war's end, when he was trans- ferred to the Second Battalion, Veterans' Relief Corps, under Capt. Myers. Eventually, on June 30, 1865, he was mustered out, with an honorable certificate, at Nashville, Tenn. His military record and war service was meritorious; he was present at the battle of Chan- cellorsville, 1863, which was disastrous in many ways for both Union and Confederate forces, the Union
Army of the Potomac losing, in killed and wounded, 17,000 men, and the Confederate forces losing almost as many, and also Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson, who was fired on while reconnoitering by his own men, who mis- took his escort for a Union company; young Irvin took part in Rockyface Ridge, where he suffered disloca- tion of the knee, and fracture of three ribs, wounds which kept him in hospital at Nashville, Tenn., for several weeks; for meritorious service he was promoted to the grade of sergeant, while in Virginia, in 1863. He participated in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and in the decisive battle of Gettysburg, which seemed to be the turning point of the war, in favor of the Union. He served until midsummer of 1865, then was honorably discharged. He returned to his home, and took up the work of farming the homestead tract of 120 acres in Charlotte township, his father hav- ing died a year earlier, while he was in the mili- tary service. From 1865 until 1889, John M. Irvin held steadily and successfully to farming, and dur- ing that time greatly improved the property, build- ing house, barn, and other buildings, and making the farm a rich one for dairying purposes. During the twenty-four years of his operation of the farm, he proved himself to be a skillful farmer, as well as a good man of business. In 1889 he retired from farm- ing, and left the farm management in the hands of his son. Going to Sinclairville, and being of too energetic a nature to retire altogether from business, he estab- lished himself as a merchant, handling shingles and other builders' supplies, and also artificial fertilizers. For sixteen years he held to that business, but in 1905 retired altogether from trading, but he still held to his public work.
He has proved himself to be a man of commendable public spirit. He has always been well regarded in Charlotte township, because his general mode of liv- ing was such as to bring him friends; his unselfish interest in his fellow-citizens brought him very true friends; and his steadfastness and general stability. both material and moral, brought him general respect from the people of the district, so that when he ex- pressed himself willing to accept public office, he was duly placed there. He was coroner of Chautauqua county for eight years, and deputy sheriff of the county for a like term. For one term, he was president of the village of Sinclairville, and during that term was the principal mover in the project which resulted in the securing for the village of the splendid water sup- ply Sinclairville now enjoys. He has served terms as highway commissioner, and tax collector of the township, and one of his most thorough and unselfish public services has been his labors during fifteen years, as superintendent of Evergreen Cemetery, Sinclair- ville, where both his parents were buried. By careful attention, he made the cemetery one of the most beau- tiful in the county, his work manifesting the rever- ence in which he held the memory of his father and mother, and of many departed friends, whose earthly remains were interred in that sacred spot. Politically, Mr. Irvin has been a Republican in general principle, and has given the party good service in the area in which he had influence. And he has shown himself to have been a devoted husband and father.
Chav-12
-
178
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
Mr. Irvin married, in Charlotte township, Nancy, daughter of John and Margaret (Harper) Allen. Their wedded life has been a long and happy one; they are the parents of three children: I. Hattie May, who married A. L. Staples, of Jamestown, N. Y., where they now reside. 2. Arthur C., who lives at Silver Creek, Chautauqua county, N. Y. 3. Ernest C., who took up financial affairs, and now is cashier of the State Bank at Sinclairville, N. Y.
Altogether, the life of John M. Irvin has been a full and meritorious one: his war service would in any event have brought him honor, but it is gratifying to realize that his civilian activities have also been worthy of his army record. In an important section of Chautauqua county, he has been a factor for many decades, and he rightfully deserves a place in this historical record.
LEVANT BROWN BATCHELLER-In James- town there are many drug stores, some more popular than others, but one that has stood a twenty-year test and is still as successful as in the beginning is the drug store of Batcheller & Winnberg. These men pride themselves upon the purity of the stock they keep, and the careful and courteous consideration their customers are accorded. Levant B. Batcheller was born in Vic- tor, Iowa, Dec. 31, 1869. He was the son of Salathiel Batcheller (who died when his son, Levant B., was a young man) and his wife, Maryette, now deceased. There were in this family two children, Levant Brown and his sister, Eva B, both now living in Jamestown.
Levant B. Batcheller attended the public schools of Victor, Iowa, graduating from the high school; after doing this he went to Jamestown, N. Y., and sought employment, finding it in the shipping department of Hall & Company, where he remained for about a year; then he entered the drug store of Fred E. Hatch, re- maining there for a year. For the next five years he was employed by several other druggists, among them being Charles Swanson. Mr. Batcheller had in the meantime been studying pharmacy, and while at the Swanson store determined to go to the College of Pharmacy, which he did, graduating from the Univer- sity of Buffalo in 1897, having acquired the degree of Ph. G. After this he spent a year in the State Hos- pital at Sonyea, N. Y., as pharmacist, and after re- turning to Jamestown, in 1898, entered into the drug business with Mr. Winnberg, who had been a clerk in he Swanson store at the same time Mr. Batcheller was there. In 1895 Mr. Batcheller had been granted the license of an assistant pharmacist, and in 1897 he passed the examination of the State Board of Pharmacy and became a fully licensed pharmacist. About a year after Mr. Batcheller arrived in Jamestown, his mother and sister went there to join him. Miss Eva B. Batcheller was a school tacher, but is now retired. Mr. Batcheller is a member of the Board of Commerce, being on the retail bureau committee; he is also a member of the Order of Eagles, and is a Free Mason of some prominence, having taken the thirty-second degree, is a Knights Templar, and a member of the Shrine. Mr. Batcheller is much interested in the Pres- hyterian church, he and his family attending the serv- ices there.
On Feb. 5, 1902, Levant Brown Batcheller was mar- ried in Youngstown, Ohio, to Alice Hughes, daughter of Edward Hughes, a resident of that city. They have two children: I. Alice Cordelia, born June 10, 1904; she is now a pupil in the Jamestown High School. 2. Edward Jerome, born April 20, 1907; he is at the pres- ent time attending the public school.
Though Mr. Batcheller is now a middle-aged man, he still has an ambitious spirit, being desirous of in- creasing his fund of knowledge; he is fond of study, and at the present time he has taken up a course of reading in connection with the study of the languages. Study with him is a recreation, a rest from the long and busy hours of his business life. His days are fully occupied, for the store of Batcheller & Winnberg has a large trade, and the partners are now enlarging the store to accommodate the constantly increasing busi- ness. Both Mr. Batcheller and Mr. Winnberg have the reputation of being gentlemen of refined manners, and the desire to give the utmost attention to all who trade at their store.
GEORGE ELMER ELLIS, M. D .- Health officer of Dunkirk, and a physician who has been for twenty- two years in continuous practice in that city; these are Dr. Ellis's claims to the consideration of his towns- men, and beyond all question they are never over- looked. Both Dr. Ellis's professional skill and integ- rity as a citizen combine to render such a state of things absolutely impossible.
George Elmer Ellis was born June 13, 1864, on a farm in Portland township, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and is a son of Erastus Reuben and Helen (Freeman) Ellis, the latter a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Connor) Freeman, and a granddaughter of John Connor, a native of Ulster county, N. Y. George Freeman was a son of Jonathan and Nellie (Bazley) Freeman, and was born Oct. 20, 1795, in Delaware county, N. Y. In Feb., 1821, he came to Portland township with an ox-team and sled, having been a month on the road. He settled on the McCabe farm, and in 1832 moved to the farm he purchased. Mr. Freeman served in the War of 1812, enlisting from Ulster county. He was a Republican, and a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Ellis is now deceased, but his widow is still living at the advanced age of eighty- six years.
The education of George Elmer Ellis was received in local district schools and at Westfield Academy. He was fitted for his profession in the Medical School of the University of Buffalo, graduating in 1891 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For seven years thereafter he practiced in Brocton, coming in 1898 to Dunkirk, where he has since remained, engaging in general practice, acquiring a large and lucrative clien- tele and building up a deservedly high reputation. He is a member of the medical staff of Brooks Memorial Hospital, and for the last eighteen years has most efficiently filled the office of city health officer. He belongs to the American Medical Society, the New York State Medical Association, the Chautauqua County Medical Association, and the Dunkirk-Fre- donia Medical Association. The political allegiance of Dr. Ellis is given to the principles advocated by
1
& b Celan
179
BIOGRAPHICAL
the Republican party. He affiliates with the Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, serving as medical examiner for the Moose and the Eagles, and also as trustee and past dictator for the Moose.
Dr. Ellis married, July 7, 1890, Frances, daughter of William Barden, of Westfield, and they are the par- ents of a son and a daughter: 1. Neil C., educated at Dunkirk High School; married Isabella Brooks, and they have one child, George. 2. Norma, educated at Dunkirk High School and Fredonia Normal School; now a trusted employee of the Lake Shore National Bank.
The career of Dr. Ellis speaks for itself, constitut- ing as it does a record of professional success founded on talent and fidelity and of civic service long and honorably rendered.
FRED BAKER TINKHAM-In the two decades that have passed since the removal of his business headquarters and interests from Medina to James- town, N. Y., Mr. Tinkham has come to occupy leading and influential position in business circles in the latter city. The firm of Tinkham Brothers, composed of Fred B. and Frank M. Tinkham, is rated as one of the substantial, progressive commercial houses of Western New York, with business interests in several lines in New York and Pennsylvania. Mr. Tinkham has given largely of his time and attention to organi- zations whose object is the advancement of James- town's civic and commercial welfare, and has also numerous social connections in the city.
Mr. Tinkham is a son of Grove L. and Rosa A. (Baker) Tinkham, his father a wholesale produce dealer and justice of the peace of Medina, N. Y., who died Oct. 1, 1916. Rosa A. (Baker) Tinkham was a graduate of Albion Seminary. Fred Baker Tinkham was born in Lyndonville, Orleans county, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1870. He attended the public schools of Medina, and as a youth worked after school hours and on Sat- urday for S. A. Cook, a wholesale tobacconist, driving his horse and working in his store. He remained at school until he was nineteen years of age, then became a bookkeeper in the iron works of A. L. Swett, where he was employed from 1889 to 1892. At this time he returned to Mr. Cook's employ, in the capacity of travelling salesman, and in the following year he and his brother, Frank M., purchased a half interest in Mr. Cook's business. In 1895 George Bowen and D. J. Bigelow were admitted to the firm, which con- ducted business as S. A. Cook & Company, and the manufacture of furniture was added to its interests.
In 1900, desiring to engage in independent enter- prise, the Tinkham brothers sold their interest to the other members of the firm, and formed a partnership as Tinkham Brothers, wholesale dealers in cigars. Jamestown became their place of business and they occupied the corner store in the new Gifford building, opposite the Humphrey House, formerly the site of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank. In 1908, upon the completion of the Barrett Building, the firm moved to the present location, occupying space in the first, second, third and fourth floors. Indicative of the de- velopment of their business is the fact the first year's
sales totaled $66,000, while eighteen years later the million mark was passed. Branch houses of the firm are located in Rochester and Buffalo. In the early days of the firm only a few selected brands of cigars and tobacco were handled and for a time they worked almost entirely on private brands of cigars. Later a more general line was carried, but at the present time their activities are confined to a few nationally known brands of cigars, marketed in a con- trolled territory of about forty counties in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. These districts are covered by travelling salesmen, the entire force in the home office and on the road numbering more than thirty per- sons.
In 1906 Tinkham Brothers bought the notion busi- ness of C. S. Fish, of Salamanca, and moving it to Jamestown, added it to their own. Three years later, in 1909, they purchased the United Hosiery Mills, at Youngsville, Pa., jobbers of hosiery and underwear, and this is now operated by Tinkham Brothers. All departments of the firm's business show a healthy pros- perity, and the brothers have built up a strong, reliable organization.
All phases of civic affairs have Mr. Tinkham's in- terested cooperation. Since 1915 he has been vice-presi- dent of the Board of Education, and is ( 1920) presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Rotary Club, and the United Commercial Travel- lers' Association. His club is the Jamestown, and he fraternizes with the Masonic order and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is a director of the National Chautauqua County Bank. He and his family are at- tendants of the Presbyterian church. His only mili- tary connection has been with the 29th Separate Com- pany of Medina, N. Y., of which he was a charter member, but the duties of his position, travelling sales- man, compelled him to retire from that organization.
Mr. Tinkham married, in Medina, N. Y., Sept. 11, 1895, Florence Brooks, daughter of E. Brooks, a resi- dent of that city, now deceased. They are the parents of two children: Lois B., and Martha B.
Mr. Tinkham's contribution to business circles in Jamestown has been not only an important part in the direction of one of her flourishing concerns, but of an enthusiastic interest and participation in the work of the city's commercial organizations. At no time has this interest been more apparent than on Labor Day, 1917, when, as chairman of the committee in charge, he conducted the outing given by the wholesale divi- sion of the Chamber of Commerce to the merchants of the surrounding country towns. This social feature was a pronounced success, and Mr. Tinkham and his committee were highly congratulated upon its manage- ment. Briefly, he is a public-spirited, thoroughly modern and progressive business man, favorably re- garded in his community.
JAMES P. CLARK-Very few, indeed, are the resi- dents of Chautauqua county who will not at once recognize this name, and it is safe to say that not one of those to whom it is familiar will fail to greet it with a thrill of respect, admiration and cordial re- gard. For many years Mr. Clark served as assistant commissioner of agriculture of New York, and though
180
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
he has now, for a considerable period, been numbered among those who have "ceased from earth," his memory is still fresh in the minds of his fellow citi- zens of the county and lingers, with more intimate associations, in the hearts of his friends and neighbors of his home town of Falconer.
James P. Clark was born Sept. 5, 1852, on a farm a short distance from Falconer, and was a son of William and Nancy (Chandler) Clark. He received a good common school education, and as he grew to manhood assisted in the labors of the homestead, acquiring thus early some knowledge of the industry to the development of which he was destined to devote the best years of his life. As a young man Mr. Clark, in partnership with Sidney Jones, engaged in the grocery business in Jamestown, maintaining the con- nection for four years, at the end of which time he associated himself with his brother-in-law, H. C. Bryant, in the wholesale butter business, under the firm name of J. P. Clark & Company. The enterprise prospered until 1895, when Mr. Clark was appointed assistant commissioner of agriculture of the State of New York. His duties were always performed to the satisfaction of the State Agricultural Department and to the equal satisfaction of those representing the agri- cultural interests of his own community and of the State at large. To his work Mr. Clark brought an enlightened zeal as well as indomitable energy. He studied farming and its manifold interests as a success- ful lawyer, physician or merchant studies the conditions belonging to the calling which he follows. He was interested in the Grange, in farmers' clubs, in farmers' institutes, and in the society of agriculturists-in everything which has for its object the betterment of the conditions of a farmer's life, whether the man be owner, tenant or laborer.
In politics Mr. Clark was a staunch Republican, and in public spirit he was excelled by none. He affiliated with Jamestown Commandery, No. 61, Knights Tem- plar, and Ismailia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Buffalo. His reli- gious membership was in the First Methodist Epis- copal Church of Falconer, and he ever took a helpful interest in its work and in philanthropic enterprises in general. He was a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Falconer, and at the time of his death was vice-president of the institution. The portrait accompanying this biography will reveal, as mere words can never do, the personality of a man in whom future generation of his fellow citizens will always feel an active and grateful interest by reason of what he accomplished for the advancement of one of the most vital elements in the life of his community and his State.
Mr. Clark married, Sept. 17, 1887, in Falconer, Annis S. Washburn, daughter of John and Lois (Harris) Washburn, and a descendant of one of the oldest and best known families of New England. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Clark was one of mutual devotion, the latter, a woman of culture and refinement, sharing her husband's interest in Falconer and its institutions. Mr. Clark died June 10, 1909, and Mrs. Clark mar- ried (second) Dec 24 1919 Rev. Lewis M. Law-
rence, a well known minister of the Presbyterian church; they reside in Falconer. Mrs. Lawrence is a director of the First National Bank of Falconer, being the second woman in the State holding such an office. She is a member of Elliott Chapter, Daugh- ters of the Revolution, of Falconer, and also of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and belongs to the Ladies' Aid Society and the Women's Christian i Temperance Union. Over and above her other gifts, Mrs. Lawrence is endowed with a soundness of judg- ment rarely found in members of her sex and which she applies with notable success to matters of business. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were without children of their own, but had one adopted daughter, Flora M., who married (first) Clifford Shrieve, by whom she became the mother of one child, Annis Lois Clark; she mar- ried (second) Frank Beck, and they have one son, James Washburn.
The death of Mr. Clark was a distinct shock to the community, notwithstanding the fact that he had been, for two or three years in failing health. The announce- ment that he had passed away carried sorrow to many hearts outside his family and the circle of his personal friends, for in political and official life no man was more highly respected or cordially liked. The public senti- ment was well expressed in the following editorial which appeared in the Jamestown "Evening Journal :"
In the death of James P. Clark, which occurred at the family home, Falconer, Sunday evening, there passed away from earth one who had been faithful in the discharge of his official duties and his personal obligations to his fellowmen.
Born and reared on a Chautauqua county farm, Mr. Clark early took an intelligent interest in the subject of agriculture, and while he was engaged in business in Jamestown for a number of years he never gave up the study of farm life and farm topics and when, more than a dozen years ago, there was a vacancy to be filled in the position of Assistant Commissioner, of Agriculture of the State of New York Mr. Clark was. almost the unanimous choice of representative farmers of Western New York and was appointed to that posi- tion. From that time until the day of his death there was no thought of relieving him of his duties.
Mr. Clark was conspicuously identified with the various organizations connected with agricultural dairy interests. He was a member of the New York State Dairyman's Association and was instrumental in having that organization hold its annual conven- tion in Jamestown in 1903. He was a prominent mem- ber of the Ross Grange, but later became a member of Union Grange of Jamestown. In 1881 he joined the Chautauqua County Pomona Grange, and had been worthy master of the organization and held other im- portant offices. for seventeen years serving on the executive committee. He took a great interest in the erection of the Grange building at Chautauqua. The building was erected by Cyrus E. Jones as a memorial to his father, the Rev. Emory Jones, and during Its construction Mr. Clark gave much of his time to Its supervision and contributed liberally toward provid- ing appropriate furnishings.
In matters of the advancement of the agricultural interests of the county and State Mr. Clark took an active part, and largely through his efforts a special program for the young men and women of Western. New York was presented at Chautauqua in the summer of 1908, and on that occasion young men interested in agricultural pursuits were admitted to the grounds regardless of precedent. He performed his duties as commissioner with great fidelity, and was generally regarded as one of the most competent men in the State Agricultural Department.
Mr. Clark was an authority on many agricultura matters and was frequently consulted by his associate: in the department in regard to new or difficult prob. lems that had arisen. In early life he became a mem- ber of Mount Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma. sons, of Jamestown, and also of Western Sun Chapter No. 667, Royal Arch Masons.
18I
BIOGRAPHICAL
To such an appreciation as this nothing remains to be added. Most convincingly it shows that the work of James P. Clark, valuable as it was to his con- temporaries, was work which would endure in the years to come, a fact which, during the decade which has elapsed since he left us, has become constantly and increasingly apparent.
SAMUEL THORSTENBERG-When Mr. Thors- tenberg came to Jamestown, N. Y., in 1909, to become head of the Jamestown Conservatory of Music, which he had purchased, it was not as a novice of music, or as a business man, but as an accomplished musician, rich in experience, and bearing many of the honors of the musical profession. He studied voice culture under Oscar Saenger, of New York City, and with European masters; was a pupil of the famous Joseffey on the piano; studied the pipe organ in Stockholm and Lon- don, and has a wonderful mastery of that instrument. On the piano his touch is delicate, and his execution brilliant, while his voice, a baritone, possesses rare richness and power. Indeed, few musicians possess such diversified gifts. In addition to his musical talent, Professor Thorstenberg is a linguist, speaking several languages fluently. In Jamestown, he has added to his previous reputation, and has made that city famous in Western New York as a musical center. The Con- servatory of Music, of which he is the head, has pros- pered abundantly, and as director of the Lyran Male Chorus, he has made that organization well known upon the concert platform.
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.