USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 61
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As a lad Mr. Lord was sent by his father to become a pupil at the Chamberlin Institute at Randolph. N. Y., and there he remained until he had completed his studies. Shortly afterward Mr. Lord secured a posi- tion with the Jamestown, Westfield & North Western Railroad and was made the agent of that company at Dewittville, N. Y., where he remained for about three and a half years. He was then transferred to Bemus Point, and acted as agent there for some fourteen years and a half, making his complete term of service with the railroad eighteen years. At the end of that period he severed his connection with the company, and thereafter has engaged in the milling business at Bemus Point in partnership with his son, Clark L. Lord. In this enter- prise he has met with great success and is now regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of the town. Mr. Lord has always been keenly interested in local public affairs, and although quite unambitious for political preferment for himself has been an earnest and influ- ential supporter of the Republican party. He is a Methodist in religious belief and attends the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Bemus Point. He is not a member of any clubs, but is affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Dehart E. Lord was united in marriage, Sept. 10, 1888, at Leon, N. Y., with Blanche Ridout, a native of that place, born Jan. 14, 1867, a daughter of Leroy and Au- gusta (Bowen) Ridout. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lord, as follows: I. Clark L., born Oct. 30, 1892, married Marjorie Barrett, of Bemus Point, by whom he has had two children, Albert and Jack; is now engaged in the milling business with
his father. 2. Elon, born May 18, 1894, married Dolly Lang; one child. 3. Marion, born Nov. 18, 1901. 4. Helen, born Jan. 6, 1904.
ERNEST C. HARMON, one of the most successful of the younger business men of Brocton, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he is engaged in business as a job and commercial printer, was born in this village, in Portland township, July 19, 1892. He is a son of Carl and Sarah (Clark) Harmon, both of whom reside in this place, the former being employed in the Brocton Furniture factory here.
As a lad Ernest C. Harmon attended the Brocton pub- lic schools, and studied in the high school for a short time, then entered the Ohio Military Institute at Cin- cinnati, from which he was graduated with the class of IgII. He was an ambitious lad and helped to pay his way through the last-named institution, appreciating fully the advantage of a good general education in a business career. Mr. Harmon established his printing establishment at Brocton in December, 1914, since which time he has conducted it with a high degree of success and developed it to its present large proportions. He has put in a first-class modern equipment and turns out excellent work, doing much business at Brocton, where he is located. He gets most of the factory printing and practically all the printing of the business firms of the region, and is regarded as one of the most successful men in his line hereabouts. He enjoys a wide popularity and an enviable reputation for his integrity and square dealing, and the character of the work which he pro- duces in his shop has set a standard in this region. Mr. Harmon attends the Methodist Episcopal church of Brocton, and is active in the general life of the com- munity, being a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor commander. He is a Republican in politics, but although keenly in- terested in local affairs, has never entered public life. being quite unambitious for office.
Ernest C. Harmon was united in marriage, May 31, 1914, at Syracuse, N. Y. with Frances B. Sears, a native of that place. The Sears family has been prominent in Syracuse for many years and its members have been conspicuous in several callings.
THEODORE A. CASE-When another June 17th rolls around. Theodore A. Case, Ellington's foremost son, will have joined the ranks of the octogenarians, he having just passed his seventy-ninth milestone June 17, 1920. He is one of the pioneer sons of the town, his grandfather Eliphalet Case, and his father Salmon T. Case, coming from Pittsfield, Mass., with their fam- ilies in 1834. They bought land in 1835 from the Hol- land Land Company, their tract comprising 130 acres on lot 63 of the town, on the line of the old Chautauqua road, and there Theodore A. Case was born, June 17, 1841, the youngest of four children (and he now (1920) the last survivor), born to Salmon T. and Sarah Sophia (Ayres) Case. The first eighteen years of the life of Theodore A. Case were spent at the home farm, in the district school and at Ellington Academy, where he was a student for about five years. In 1860 he began the study of law under the direction of Obed Edson,
Theo A Case.
Uns. Theo. A. Gass
THEO. A. CASE RESIDENCE ELLINGTON, N. Y.
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continuing until 1862, when he enlisted in Company G, Ninth Regiment, New York Cavalry.
The Ninth Regiment participated in much of the hard fighting and was an important unit of the Army of the Potomac. At a hard skirmish at Old Church, Va., on their return from a raid at Richmond, Mr. Case received a bullet wound through the leg which fortunately missed the bone. This was on May 30, 1864, and ended his field service, which had been long, arduous and danger- ons. After convalescence, he was transferred to the recruiting bureau of the regular army at Washington, D. C., and there was in service until honorably dis- charged and mustered out. His duties were in part to carry letters and messages to President Lincoln in the White House, and this gave him many opportunities to see and hear the great President. He was in Washing- ton when the President was shot and one of the first to see the body after it was brought to the White House. Much of interest and historical value is con- nected with this period of his life, and it is interesting to know that during his army life he was a continuous contributor to the Fredonia "Censor," the clippings forming a large scrap book volume, both interesting and valuable. The first vote Mr. Case cast for a presidential candidate was for Abraham Lincoln for a second term.
After his return from the army Mr. Case resumed the study of law, finishing in the offices of Charles B. Green, of Ellington. He was admitted to the bar at the General Term in Buffalo, in June, 1867, and opened an office in Ellington, where he has now been in practice for fifty-three years. Eye failure has kept him from the more active forms of practice and for eighteen years he conducted a private banking office in Ellington, but has never withdrawn from legal practice. He was one of the founders of the National Bank of Jamestown, was a member of the first board of directors and still serves the bank in that capacity. He is a man greatly beloved by his townsmen, and by all who are familiar with his upright manly life and his admirable traits of character.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Case has given much time to the public service. He was first elected super- visor of the town in 1874, and served that important county office during the years 1874-75, 1884-88, 1895- 1907. He was chairman pro tem under chairman S. Fred Nixon, and succeeded the latter as chairman of the board, serving during the years 1906-07. During the term of Mr. Case as chairman, the new County Court House was built at Mayville. Much antagonism developed against the location of the court house, but the wisdom of Mr. Case and his associates in their action is now universally acknowledged. During the years 1876 and 1877, Mr. Case was a member of the Legislature, elected from the Second Assembly District of Chautauqua county. During his years of practice two men widely known in the county studied law under Mr. Case and both became his law partners-Arthur C. Wade, of Jamestown, and Frank H. Wheeler, now spe- cial county judge.
Mr. Case married, in 1866, Lucy Bagg, daughter of Allen Bagg. of Ellington. Mr. and Mrs. Case are the parents of a daughter, Cora C., wife of Clyde C. Hill, a civil engineer of North East, Pa., and they are the parents of three children: James R., Theodore Case,
and Lucy R., the sons both heads of families. The Case home in Ellington is a beautiful estate, the house erected by Mr. Case, and its now stately, beautiful trees all planted by him. There their more than half century of married life has been spent, and there hospitality abounds as always, and its doors still swing on many social occasions.
ELLEN PROUDFIT YATES-It is not only the men of Chautauqua county, who are prominent in the political life of the region, but there are a number of women who hold responsible political offices and among these should be mentioned Ellen Proudfit Yates, the first woman to hold the post of county clerk in the State of New York, and an efficient public servant. Ellen Proudfit Yates was born at Jamestown, Ang. 18, 1882, and is a daughter of Henry Jones Yates, a native of this place, where he was born Sept. 23, 1842. Mr. Yates was very prominent in the political life of James- town, and identified with the Republican party here. He held a number of important positions in the gift of the people, and was the postmaster of Jamestown for a number of years, as well as police justice and justice of the peace. Judge Yates was very well known in the social and fraternal circles here and was a prominent Free Mason. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in the Seventy-second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with dis- tinction throughout that struggle. He was promoted several times, rising in rank to that of adjutant-general of the Twenty-second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, to which regiment he was later transferred. After the close of hostilities, Judge Yates returned to civil life, but always retained the associations made while in the service and was a member of James M. Brown Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Judge Yates married Julia H. Blinn, at Jamestown, N. Y. She was born at New Orleans, La., March 29, 1845, and they were the parents of seven children, two of whom are now living, as follows: Anna Baker, who is a teacher in Wellesley College, and Ellen Proudfit. with whose career we are here especially concerned. Mrs. Yates' family, the Blinns, are an old one. having come to New England in pre-Revolutionary times and made distinguished places for themselves here. Sev- eral members of the Blinn family participated in the War for Independence
Ellen Proudfit Yates received her education in Mrs. Mary Yates Johnson's Preparatory School and at the Jamestown public schools. After her graduation from these institutions, she matriculated at the high school here, from which she was graduated in 1900. In Feb- ruary, 1911, she began a business career by accepting the managership of The Baby Shop in Jamestown. which was devoted to apparel for infants, a position which she continued to fill until November, 1918, a period of eight years. In that year Miss Yates was chosen by the Republican party as the candidate for county clerk, and was successfully elected by an over- whelming majority. Since taking office, Miss Yates has made a spendid record for herself and in every way ful- fills the confidence entrusted to her by the public, filling the post to the highest efficiency. County Clerk Yates
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inherits some of the splendid traits of her father, and is regarded here as a capable and honest public official, and a woman of brilliant talents and abilities who is well fitted for the position to which she was elected, and has the distinction of being the first woman ever elected to so high a place in the State of New York. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, being eligible both through her paternal and maternal ancestors' participation in the Revolution. In her religious belief, Miss Yates is a Presbyterian and attends the First Church of this denomination in James- town.
WILLIAM ADELBERT KNOWLTON, a retired business man of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he has taken a very active part in the affairs of the community for many years, is a native of this county, his birth having occurred in the town of Clymer, April 12, 1856. The Knowlton family is very well known in New England, where it has been resident since the early Colonial period, and it was a branch of this ancient and honorable house which later located in this region.
Augustus E. Knowlton, father of William A. Knowl- ton, was born in the town of Wales, near Buffalo, Dec. 1I, 1819, and removed to Clymer as a young man, where he became interested in the lumber interests of the region and conducted a paying business in that commodity in association with his brother, John Knowl- ton. The two gentlemen owned and operated a saw- mill for a number of years, but later Augustus E. Knowlton removed to Erie county, Pa., and there fol- lowed agricultural pursuits. He owned farms in a num- ber of different places in that section of the State, and one of these was located near the city of Corry, where he passed the latter years of his life. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and what was very unusual in those days, an Independent in politics. Augustus E. Knowlton married, Sept. 24, 1842, at Cly- mer, N. Y., Elizabeth (Betsey) Fellows, born at Gro- ton, Tompkins county, N. Y., and a daughter of John and Roxana (Shippy) Fellows, by whom he had the following children : Develin O., born May 28, 1843, died Sept. 26, 1844; Cyrenia P., born March 7, 1846, died May 3, 1886; Charles Maple, born July 30, 1848; Leland L., born July 17, 1850, died Nov. 19, 1882; Lucy Jane, born Aug. 26, 1852, became the wife of James D. LaCell; William Adelbert, with whose career we are here especially concerned; Leonard Perrin, born Dec. 5, 1858; George W., born Nov. 19, 1863.
William A. Knowlton removed with his parents while still young to Erie county, Pa., and attended the schools at the city of Corry, where he fitted himself for the profession of teaching. His childhood and early youth were spent on his father's farm, and upon completing his studies he secured a position as teacher at the Find- ley Lake schools in Chautauqua county, where he re- mained five years. At the end of that period Mr. Knowlton, believing that a greater future awaited him in business, embarked upon a mercantile enterprise at Findley Lake, where he opened a grocery store and conducted it for thirteen years. He then returned to North East, Erie county, Pa., and there conducted a general store for five years. It was in 1897, after dis-
posing of his interests in Pennsylvania, that he first came to Jamestown and opened a successful grocery establishment on Second street, conducting his business there for four years, after which he removed to No. 217 West Third street. Since that time Mr. Knowlton has been consistently engaged in business here until 1919, when failing health caused him to sell out his business interests and retire from active life. For a term of twenty-two years he was identified with the mercantile interests of Jamestown and made a position for himself second to none in the community for abso- lute integrity and fair dealing. His business became one of the most important of its kind hereabouts, and he enjoyed the admiration and respect of all his business associates and the community-at-large. Mr. Knowlton has for many years been active in the Prohibition move- ment, and has been a leader thereof in this community. He is himself strictly temperate in all his habits, and his first vote was cast for the Prohibition party. He has always been a strong supporter of that party, and is now able to congratulate himself upon seeing its efforts bear fruit. He has been for many years an active figure in public affairs here, and has served as supervisor of Mina township, Chautauqua county, to which position he was elected on the Prohibition ticket for three suc- cessive years, 1888, 1889 and 1890. In religious belief he is a Methodist and attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Jamestown. He is prominent in the social and fraternal circles here, and is a member of Mt. Tabor Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mt. Moriah Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Royal Arch Masons, and Knights Templar. Mr. Knowl- ton is a man of strong domestic instincts and feelings and spends his leisure time to a large degree in his own household, where he finds his greatest pleasure and rec- reation.
William A. Knowlton was united in inarriage, June 29, 1891, at Corry, Pa., with Rachel I. Steffy, born at Waynesburg, Pa., July 21, 1856, daughter of Jeremiah and Mary Ann Steffy. Mrs. Knowlton, like her hus- band, has always been keenly interested in the Prohi- bition movement and has done a great deal of work to further its cause. She is an active member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and has filled the office of secretary for the branch of that organiza- tion at Jamestown for twenty years. She also attends the Methodist Episcopal church as do the other members of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton are the parents of three children, as follows: I. Clara I., born at Find- ley Lake, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and educated at the public schools of Jamestown and Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio; she married Major Frank P. Good- win, one of the leading physicians of Jamestown, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. 2. Anna Abigail, mentioned at length below. 3. Lura Eliz- abeth, a twin of Anna Abigail, who died in infancy.
Anna Abigail Knowlton, was born at Findley Lake, Chautauqua county, N. Y. She has devoted her life to the study of music, and is at the present time one of the best known musicians in Western New York. She has studied a number of musical instruments under well known and competent masters, and is now herself a teacher of the organ, piano and harp, with studios in Jamestown, N. Y., and Warren, Pa. She graduated
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from the Jamestown High School in 1904, and then entered Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She pursued a course of organ lessons under Dr. George W. An- drew, of Oberlin, and studied the piano with Professor Breckenridge, also of that college. She continued her organ studies under M. Pietro Alessandro Yon, of New York City, and her piano studies under Mr. Franklin Cannon, of the same place. She also took up the study of the harp under Miss Maud Morgan, of New York City. Miss Knowlton made her debut as an organist with the recital at the First Lutheran Church in James- town, and since that time has given many recitals both on the organ and piano here and at Warren and Titus- ville, Pa. She was accompanist for the Jamestown Choral Society from 1910 to 1913, and from 1909 to 1912 filled the post of organist at the First Congrega- tional Church here. In the latter year she was appointed organist of the First Presbyterian Church at Warren, Pa., and continues to hold that post at the present time. She is also an active member of the Mozart Club of Jamestown, and in 1919 was elected president of the music study club here. She is also a member of the Philomel Piano Club, of Warren, Pa., and has her studio at No. 515 East Eighth street, Jamestown. In 1910 and 1914 Miss Knowlton made trips to Europe, and was accompanied on the latter trip by her mother, visiting England, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, and Switzerland, studying the organ under various Euro- pean masters and attending all the great Cathedrals in those countries to hear the organs there. At the pres- ent time she is an important factor in the development of musical art in this region, is a woman of great culti- vation and artistic taste and temperament, and is a keen enthusiast for her art.
FRANK ADELBERT STANLEY, M. D., one of the prominent professional men of Jamestown, Chau- tauqua county, N. Y., and a well known and influential citizen here, is a native of Sherman, N. Y., born May 12, 1876, a son of Adelbert Frederick and Florence Rosalia (Weaver) Stanley, old and highly respected residents of that place, where the former was engaged in the hotel business, and later as an undertaker for many years.
Dr. Stanley, as a lad, attended the public schools of his native town, and afterwards was a student at the Fredonia Normal School. Before completing his studies at that institution, however, he left it to enter the Jamestown Business College, where he was graduated in both courses, thus fitting himself for a business career. As a young man, Dr. Stanley was keenly inter- ested in scientific subjects, especially the science of optics, and in order to enter this line of work as a career in life he matriculated at the South Bend College of Optics, South Bend, Ind. He was graduated from the last named institution with the class of 1905. Re- turning to New York State, he settled at Jamestown, where he has been successfully engaged in business as an optometrist ever since, a period of some twelve years. He is now well established in his chosen line and en- joys a wide reputation through the entire region. Dr. Stanley has always taken part in the general life of Jamestown, and is a member of several fraternities and orders among which should be mentioned Mount Tabor
Lodge, No. 780, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Chautauqua Encampment, No. 54, of the same order. He is also prominent in Masonic circles, and is a mem- ber of Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 145, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Buffalo Consistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret; and Ismailia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Dr. Frank Adelhert Stanley was united in marriage, June 28, 1905, at Frewsburg, N. Y., with Ruby Estella Chamberlin, a daughter of Mellins Nathaniel and Christina Rosetta (Young) Chamberlin.
MARSHALL AUGUSTUS PORTER, one of the successful and enterprising business men of Mayville, N. Y., where he is engaged in the clothing business, is not a native of this place, but was born at Westfield, N. Y., June 13, 1844. He is a son of Elijah Porter, who was born in 1777. Elijah Porter was twice married, his first wife having been Sarah Buck, with whom he was united on April 24, 1798. Twelve children were born of this union. After the death of his first wife, Elijah Porter married Mrs. Polly Parker Braman, by whom he had five children, one of whom is now living, Marshall Augustus Porter, with whose career we are here especially concerned. Mr. Porter, Sr., died on March 11, 1856.
Marshall Augustus Porter received his early educa- tion in the district schools of the town of Westfield, and later attended the Westfield Academy. He then accepted a position as a clerk in the store of Miller & Cooley, who were engaged in business at the village of Sherman, N. Y. He was but sixteen years of age at this time, and continued in this employ for a period of about twelve years, gaining in the meantime consider- able knowledge of business matters generally. He saved a portion of his earnings, and in the spring of 1871 came to Mayville, with S. B. Miller, and then gratified a long cherished ambition to engage in busi- ness, continuing for a period of eight years. Mr. Miller then died and Edwin Sperry later bought the interest of Mr. Miller, and the firm operated under the style of Porter & Sperry. This business was continued for a period of four years, at the end of which time Mr. Porter severed his connection with Mr. Sperry and engaged in the clothing business alone. In addition to clothing, Mr. Porter added a gent's furnishing line, and at present possesses one of the finest and most up-to- date establishments of its kind in the region. He is well regarded here as a capable and efficient business man, whose reputation for honest and square dealing is sec- ond to none hereabouts. Despite his advanced age, lie is a man of sound judgment. In politics Mr. Porter is a Democrat, but has consistently declined to take any active part in politics, contenting himself with casting his vote in the regular way. Mr. Porter is prominently identified with the Masonic order of the region, and is a member of Peacock Lodge, No. 696, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Westfield Chapter, No. 239, Royal Arch Masons; Acanthus Chapter, No. 127, Order of the Eastern Star; as well as the Order of Maccabees and the Chautauqua County Historical Society.
Marshall Augustus Porter was united in marriage at Jamestown, Nov. 21, 1877, with Nellie Theresa Neff, a native of Libertyville, Ill., born Nov. 21, 1856, a daugh-
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ter of George W. and Emeline (Brown) Neff, the for- mer a native of Homer, N. Y., and the latter of Oneida, in the same State. Mr. and Mrs. Neff were married at Westfield, N. Y., and resided in Jamestown for a time, where Mr. Neff was engaged as a carpenter. He was a Republican in politics, and a Baptist in religious belief. They are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Porter are the parents of one son, Edwin S., born Dec. 7, 1878, who married Edna Bond, Nov. 4, 1904, and they are the parents of two children, as follows: Marion and Arlowene. Edwin S. Porter is regarded as a capable and enterprising young business man.
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