USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 67
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carries somewhere in his system the bullet which wounded him, the surgeons being unable to extract it. He was also a participant in the battle of Second Bull Run, and was in every battle his regiment was in until the battle of Fredericksburg. After his last wound he spent several weeks in Harewood Hospital, Washington, D. C. During his term he served as orderly to General French and to General Hancock.
After his return from the army, Mr. Hickey resumed farming in Brant township, Erie county, N. Y., and became one of the prosperous and substantial men of the town, owning 154 acres of fertile, well improved land, which he cultivated and made to produce bountiful crops. He moved to Fredonia, in 1896, but continued to own the farm, which he rented out, until 1918, when he sold it. He has long been retired from active part in business life, and is enjoying the well-earned rest his years, seventy-six, entitle him to. He is a member of Holt Post, No. 403, Grand Army of the Republic, of Fredonia, and is a Democrat in politics.
Mr. Hickey married, Jan. 1, 1866, Anna Maria Ham- mond, born in the town of Brant, Erie county, N. Y., daughter of Charles and Emeline (Rice) Hammond. Mr. and Mrs. Hickey are the parents of three children: 1. Franklin H., born in Brant township, Erie county, N. Y., March 6, 1867; he was educated in public schools and Angola Academy, and after completing his studies taught for eight years in the public schools of Erie county, N. Y .; he then located in Fredonia, where, with his brother Harry B., he engaged in business under the firm name Hickey Brothers, and so continues; he married Belle Shearer, and has two sons: Dr. Harold Hickey, a D. D. S., of Fredonia, and Roland C., an automobile salesman, of Buffalo, married Pauline Markham. 2. Harry B., born Jan. 2, 1871, at the homestead in Brant township, Erie county, N. Y .; he was educated in the public schools of Brant, and Fredonia State Normal, his business life beginning as a partner with his brother Franklin H., in the firm Hickey Brothers, of Fredonia; he married Mary Roberts, of Fredonia, and has a son, Harry B., Jr. 3. Lina, born Ang. 2, 1879; she was a student of Fre- donia State Normal, and wife of Claude E. Strong, formerly of Gerry, N. Y., their home now in Florida.
Mrs. Hickey is a lady of artistic tastes and talent, a painter of more than local fame. She paints in oil and water colors, does portrait work as well as landscapes, and has many fine evidences of her genius adorning the walls of her home. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She is an earnest Red Cross worker, giving freely of her time to this organization. For the past six years Mr. and Mrs. Hickey have spent their winters in Florida. Mr. Hickey may review his life with satisfaction, for he started life under a severe handicap. The advantages of education of which he was deprived in his youth he showered liberally upon his children, and every good cause has had in him a friend.
EDWIN LAFAYETTE TODD, D. D. S., who has been for a number of years not only one of the leading dentists of Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, N. Y., but
also one of the most prominent figures in the general life of the community, having taken part in departments of the city's affairs, is a native of California, where his birth occurred Sept. 30, 1879, a son of Homer and Josephine (Dawlcy) Todd, old and highly respected residents of that place. His father was a farmer by occupation, and removed to Chautauqua county when Dr. Todd was yet a small child. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom four were sons and one a daughter.
The greater part of Dr. Todd's childhood was passed at Cassadaga, N. Y., where he attended the public schools, and he was graduated from the local high school. He then entered the Fredonia Normal School at Fredonia, N. Y., completing his elementary educa- tion and his preparation for college. While yet quite young he had determined upon dentistry as a profession and accordingly, upon completing his general studies, entered the dental department of the University of Buffalo and there took the prescribed course in that subject and graduated with the class of 1903. He was given the degree of D. D. S. by the university, and shortly afterwards passed the examination of the State Board of Examiners and received the right to practice his profession in this State. He at once came to Dunkirk and opened an office, his skill and knowledge soon giving him a leading position among the dentists of the region. He worked up a large and high class practice, which has continued to grow uninterruptedly up to the present time, and he now enjoys a wide repu- tation both in the city and the neighborhood adjacent. Dr. Todd has always made a point of keeping abreast of the latest advancement in his profession, and in the year 1919 went to New York City to take a special course in dentistry at Columbia University. This he completed in 1919 and received from that institution a diploma in exodontia and oral surgery. With his usual interest in public affairs, Dr. Todd took a lively interest in the part this country played in the great World War and was very active in war work in this part of the State. He was a member of the Preparedness League of America, the object of which was to urge upon the country and government the necessity of preparing for the mighty conflict which was perceived to be inevitable, and when the United States was finally launched therein, gave much of his time and energy in fitting the soldiers of the national army for their task. He did a great deal of work for the service men both professionally and otherwise, and was indefatigable in his efforts to promote their health and welfare. Another way in which Dr. Todd has benefited the community has been in the establishment of school clinics in dentistry, his work in this line being an important factor in the improvement of the public health. Dr. Todd has shown a most enlightened interest in local politics, and has refused to become identified with partisan interests, preferring to remain entirely independent in his judgment on public issues and casting his ballot and exerting his influence for the best candidate regardless of party affiliations. In his religious belief he is a Unitarian, attending and liberally supporting Adam's Memorial Church of that denomination at Dunkirk. He is a member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Dunkirk Club,
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and his public-spirited attitude towards the activities of the community has won the grateful appreciation of his fellow-citizens generally.
Dr. Todd was united in marriage, Sept. 25, 1908, with Gretchen W. Wilber, a daughter of John and Lydia (Chase) Wilber, of Gowanda, N. Y. One child has been born of this union, Charles Lafayette, born Nov. 8, 1912.
AUGUST A. SANDBERG, son of Alfred R. and Emelia Sandberg, was born in Smolend, Sweden, Jan. 25, 1878, from which town also came other men who are now his partners in the Advance Furniture Company. Until he was twelve years of age he attended the schools of his native place. His parents then came to America, bringing their children with them. The family came to Jamestown soon after their arrival, and August A. continued his schooling in the James- town schools. The family was not possessed of much money, and it was necessary for the son, while at school, to work, between times, at various minor occupations in the city. Eventually, he entered the employ of the Atlas Furniture Company, and later the Alliance Furniture Company, where he became skilled at certain wood working operations, particularly carving. After a while he was able to take the course at the Jamestown Business College, where he gained a knowledge of executive work, and ultimately grad- uated in the general business course. His father died in 1894, and August A. had to rely wholly upon himself. He soon became a clerk in the office of the H. P. Robertson Company, and advanced steadily to executive offices of greater responsibility with that local firm of manufacturers. He remained with them until 1913, when in conjunction with several other men connected with the furniture manufacturing industry of James- town, he organized the Advance Furniture Company, as a co-partnership. The enterprise has succeeded well, the principals being all men of sound business ability, and skilled in the manufacture of furniture. In political allegiance, Mr. Sandberg is a member of the Republican party, but does not actively participate in political movements. Religiously, he is a Methodist, member of the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamestown. He is unmarried.
THE ADVANCE FURNITURE COMPANY, which was organized in early 1916, and for which corporate powers were secured on April 3, of that year, a healthy manufacturing industry of the city of James- town, was organized by well known Jamestown men of business. Its stated object was the manufacture of furniture, and the policy of the organizers, who are also its managers, is to manufacture the medium grades of bedroom furniture. Erection of a building to house the plant was commenced on April 1, 1916, and the plant was in operation in August, of that year, at the outset employing eighteen men. Its equipment is most modern, and includes individual electric motors. The expansion of business has been steady, the volume of trade having almost doubled in three years.
The original officers of the company were: Joseph Carlson, president; Hjalmar Rosenquist, vice-president; and A. A. Sandberg, secretary and treasurer. There
has been no change since the incorporation, and the above named executives also superintend the operation of the departments, Mr. Carlson being superintendent of the plant, Mr. Rosenquist being in charge of packing, and Mr. Sandberg in charge of office. The company holds membership in the Manufacturers' Association of Jamestown.
NATHAN J. HORTON, although lamed by wounds received during the Civil War, lived an active, useful, and consequential life in commercial business, and entered actively into business affairs, notwithstanding that he was within two years of octogenarian age at the time of his death. He was a man of marked intelli- gence, and since his discharge from the army, in 1865, had shown himself to be a man of capability and versatility, having successfully been a school teacher, a general store keeper, a wholesaler in fruits and produce, member of a substantial Buffalo firm, grand recorder for a national fraternal and benevolent asso- ciation, which salaried position he held for fifteen years, and town clerk, justice of the peace, supervisor, estate administrator and consultant, in Ripley, N. Y., for the last twenty years, whose analyses and advice in that connection indicate a close study and logical trend of mind.
Nathan J. Horton was born in the town of Boston, Erie county, N. Y., July 25, 1841, the son of the Rev. Truman and Betsy E. (Carr) Horton. The Horton family is an old one in New York State and formerly lived in Columbia county, in Stephenton, of which county Truman Horton, father of Nathan J. Horton, was born. He was one of the carly settlers in Boston, N. Y., having gone to that district from Columbia county in 1816. After having accomplished some pre- paratory pioneering work, he moved his family to Boston in the winter of 1818. The Rev. Truman Horton, for he was a licensed preacher of the Baptist church as well as a farmer, was a man of strong character, upright life, and earnest Christian spirit, and was an able speaker, learned in the Scriptures, and a strong force for good by the wholesomeness and simplicity of his own life. Nathan J. Horton was one of eleven children born to the Rev. Truman and Betsy E. (Carr) Horton, and ten were reared to man- hood or womanhood. One child died in infancy, but the other four brothers and five sisters of Nathan J. Horton grew to useful adult lives in the married state.
Nathan J. Horton was educated in the public schools of his native place, and after leaving school assisted his father for some time in the operation of the home farm. He remained with his parents until he was of age, but within ten days thereafter, on Aug. 5, 1862, he enlisted at Boston, N. Y., in the 116th Regiment of the New York Infantry, which was mustered into the Federal service at Buffalo, N. Y., and sent to Balti- more, Md., for training. In December of that year, the regiment formed part of the troops sent into the Gulf department under the command of Major General Banks. Under that command, the regiment saw service in the battles of Plain Store, siege of Port Hudson, Cox Plantation and in the many engagements fought during the Red River Campaign. In August, 1864, the regiment was sent from Washington, D. C.,
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into the Shenandoah Valley, and Horton was present at the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, and the battle of Fisher's Hill, on the succeeding day, and in the latter was severely wounded in the left ankle, and incapacitated for further active service. That wound, to an extent, handicapped him throughout the whole of his later life. He was honorably discharged, as sergeant. in June, 1865, and for a time thereafter was in a hospital at York, Pa., subsequently going to Buffalo for treatment. Eventually, with the aid of a stout cane, he was able to move about with compara- tive ease, spent a year in the oil region of Pennsylvania, and engaged in business with his brother, S. C. Horton, at East Hickory, Pa. Returning to New York State, he came to Chautauqua county, and for a while took employment as a teacher in the Dayton Summit school. But although somewhat handicapped by his wound, he was of distinctly active mind and spirit, and wanted to get into the larger activities of commercial life. He went to Buffalo and there took a business course in the Buffalo Commercial College, after graduating from which he entered energetically into commercial affairs. For a number of years he was in Ripley, Chautauqua county, busily conducting a general store he had estab- lished in that town, with satisfactory financial return. Eventually he entered into a wider scope of commercial business, joining the Buffalo firm of Oatman Brothers which, when he became a member of the firm, took the trading name of Oatman Brothers & Company, their business being a wholesaling, jobbing, and commission one, handling fruits and produce, and Mr. Horton handled the buying of produce from farmers and growers in the district. Eventually he disposed of his interest in the business, and in February, 1884, was elected grand recorder, state secretary, of the American Order of United Workmen. He held that office con- tinuously until 1899, when he resigned, and for a time went practically into retirement, because of ill health. Since then, however, he has been a prominent factor in the public affairs of Ripley, Chautauqua county. He has been elected to many offices, having been town clerk, justice of the peace, supervisor, and notary public. He has been called in as consultant, and as adminis- trator and executor of many estates, and latterly has done appreciable business in local securities, being well posted on investments generally.
His useful versatile life of activity and independence, notwithstanding the disabling wound received in the national service, was commendable and brought him many friends. He was a Republican in politics for very many years, and was of appreciable service to the party in his district. He was prominent in Masonic functions since early manhood; he was a Mason of the thirty- second degree, and first joined Dayton Summit Lodge, No. 219, Free and Accepted Masons, eventually joining Dunkirk Chapter, No. 191; Dunkirk Council, No. 25; and Dunkirk Commandery, No. 40; of the last named he was eminent commander in 1890-91. Mr. Horton was a faithful church worker; for the last twenty-five years of his life he held office in the First Presbyterian Church, Ripley. As a patriot who voluntarily went into the service of his country during the time of need and received wounds, the effect of which he felt for very many years thereafter, it is but to be expected that he
would have a place of honor in the dispositions and functioning of the military organization, the Grand Army of the Republic. He was elected a member of Bidwell Wilkinson Post, No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic, Buffalo, N. Y., in 1881, and among his own comrades he was especially honored, he having been for many years life president of the 116th Regiment Association. Such honors cannot be purchased with money; they come by merit and worthiness.
Mr. Horton was married, at Ripley, on Nov. 11, 1869, to Susie E., daughter of Judge Daughaday, of that place. She died on Jan. 21, 1910. Mr. Horton died July 20, 1920.
IRVING ADELBERT WILCOX-There is no more conspicuous figure in the agricultural activities of Portland, Chautauqua county, N. Y., than that of Irving Adelbert Wilcox, who has been for many years engaged in the occupation of farming in this region and has come to occupy a position of much influence in the community. Mr. Wilcox is a member of a family which has long been prominent in these parts, and is a great-grand-son of Aaron Wilcox, who came to Chautauqua county in the year 1809 and settled in the town of Arkwright. His grandfather was William Wilcox, who was born in Connecticut, May 1, 1790. He accompanied his father, Aaron Wilcox, to Chautau- qua county, in 1809, and afterwards purchased a part of Lot 48, adjoining the township of Sheridan. He was the first supervisor of Arkwright, a major of militia, a member of the New York Assembly in 1867, and played a very important part in the life of the com- munity where he dwelt. He married, in 1817, Esther S. Cole, a native of Vermont, who was also a daughter of one of the early pioneers of this region. She died July 7, 1851, and they were the parents of the following sons: Marcus B., Edson I., father of Irving A. Wilcox of this sketch; Walter R., and William H. H. Edson Irving Wilcox was for many years prominent in this region, and married Amanda M. Smith, a daughter of Seth S. Smith, who was one of the original purchasers of land at Arkwright, to which place he came in 1822.
Irving Adelbert Wilcox was born Feb. 27, 1849, in Arkwright township, Chautauqua county, N. Y., and as a lad attended the local district schools. He dis- played great aptitude as a student, and after completing his studies at those institutions attended the Fredonia Academy and later the Fredonia Normal School, it being his intention to follow the profession of teaching. For four years after his graduation from the latter institution, he taught in the local schools, but his love of rural life and the farm, of which he had had con- siderable experience assisting his father on the latter's farm as a boy, impelled him to give up teaching as a profession and take up agriculture. It was in 1882 that Mr. Wilcox came to his present location in Port- land township, where for a time he rented the farm which he later purchased. This property consisted of 80 acres of excellent farm land, and Mr. Wilcox has through long effort and a wide knowledge of farming methods brought it to a very high state of cultivation. This place originally the old Fay farm belonged to the original settler of that name. The old homestead still stands upon it and is still used by Mr. Wilcox as his
I. A. WILCOX AND FAMILY
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residence, although he has greatly improved and modernized the original structure. He has also built a large tenant house across the road from the homestead, and has built a fine barn and other farm edifices includ- ing a silo. A part of this property he has planted in grapes, the typical crop of this locality, and his vine- yard is one of the finest hereabouts. In addition to his farming activities, Mr. Wilcox has also engaged extensively in the fur business, but of recent years he has somewhat curtailed his activities in both lines and has recently sold a considerable portion of his farm property. His participation in the fur business has lasted about thirty-five years, and he has been exceed- ingly active in buying and selling these valuable goods and in addition did considerable trapping on his own account. Mr. Wilcox has always been a conspicuous figure in the general life of the community, and has for many years held the offices of trustee, deacon and superintendent of the Sunday school of the Congrega- tional church at Portland, of which he is an old and valued member. He is also affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Brocton, and has been a member of the Grange, No. I, at Fredonia, and later at Brocton, No. 2, and is past master of his lodge. He is also a member of the Farm Bureau, of which he is an ex-director and a present member of the committee. He is a director of the Brocton State Bank, a trustee of the Apira Hall Memorial Library, an ex-director of the Chautauqua County Fair Association, and a life member of the New York State Horticultural Society. He is a great exhibitor of fruit at the various fairs which are held in this region, and has taken many prizes for the splendid products of his farm. He is still prominent in all agricultural matters, is a member of many committees, and his farm has often been used for experimental purposes by various agricultural bodies. He raises some 75 different varieties of grapes.
Irving Adelbert Wilcox married (first) Effie Fay, whose death occurred Sept. 12, 1897, after a consider- able sojourn in Colorado, to which place she had gone on account of her health. No children were born of this union. Mr. Wilcox married (second) Feb. 5, 1902, Helen C. Dill, of Mayville, N. Y., where she was born Feb. 24, 1869, a daughter of John L. and Margaret (Muck) Dill. Mrs. Wilcox is now a trustee of School District No. 4, a member of the Friday Club, and of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Congregational church at Portland, and is prominent in the social circles here. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox are the parents of two children, as follows: Frances Edith and Irving Adelbert, Jr., the former fourteen years of age and the latter twelve, and both now pupils in the Brocton schools. Both of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox are talented musicians and have received special instruction in this art for the past four years. Mr. Wilcox is a Republican in politics, and for seventeen years held the office of tax assessor of Portland.
REV. FATHER ARNOLDO VANOLI, one of the most highly respected and greatly beloved figures in the religious life of Fredonia, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he serves in the double capacity of pastor of the Church of St. Anthony and missionary father to the Italian immigrants of the region, is a native of
Italy, his birth having occurred in the Province of Parma. As a lad he attended the public schools in the town of Busseto, and gained his elementary education, taking courses of study in both the grammar and high school grades. The young man felt the religious call very early in life and determined to devote his life to the church by entering the high ministry of its priest- hood. Accordingly he became a student of theology and philosophy at the Seminary of St. Donnino at the City of Borgo. Upon completing his studies for the priesthood, he was ordained in the year 1905 by the Right Rev. John Baptiste Tescari, Bishop of Borgo S. Don, and was appointed curate of the church of S. Lorenzo at Monti Celli D'Ongina, in the Province of Piacenza. He remained there for three years, but in the meantime felt a strong impulse to enter the mission- ary field, and with this end in view took up the necessary studies at the Missionary College of the Congregation of St. Charles Borromeo, where he remained a year, under the direction of the missionary fathers of Bishop Scalabrini. He was then sent to Rome for more instruction, and after completing the same was ordered to the United States. He landed at New York City and was attached to the Church of St. Joachim in Manhattan as missionary to the Italian immigrants. After a year's connection with that church, he was sent on to Buffalo where he served in the same capacity under Bishop Colton for three and a half years. At the end of that period he came to Fredonia, having been appointed pastor of St. Anthony's Church here, and since that time has been devoting himself with the most single minded energy to the welfare of his parish, and the improving of the con- ditions of life for his fellow countrymen in the region. The Church of St. Anthony was founded in the year 1905, and was opened and consecrated by Father Colton of Buffalo, the first pastor being the Rev. G. S. C. B. Glesa, and the second the Rev. John Prossiha. Under the pastorate of Father Vanoli, the church has grown and developed greatly and now numbers up- wards of 2,000 Italians in its membership. Father Vanoli has been exceedingly active in instituting all manner of clubs and societies for furthering the work of the church, among which should be mentioned the Holy Name Society; the ladies' educational society, known as the Children of Mary; the St. Joan of Arc Club, a young ladies patriotic society; Our Lady of Pompeii Society, a charitable and educational organiza- tion; the Junior Holy Name Society. He has also organized a dramatic society that produces a play twice a year, and a band that gives occasional creditable concerts. During the time of the country's participa- tion in the war, Father Vanoli was very active in aiding the work of the government in raising funds and made speeches at all the drives. He was a member of the town committee appointed to inspire popular interest in war work, and also assisted the Red Cross materially by organizing a branch of that society among the ladies of his church. Father Vanoli has during the years he has officiated as pastor of St. Anthony's Church made himself a very influential member of the community, an integral part of its life, and won the affection not only of the members of his numerous flock but of his fellow- citizens generally, who realize how invaluable is the work he has done and is doing for Fredonia.
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