USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 69
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THE SUPERIOR FURNITURE COMPANY, of Jamestown, N. Y., was established in 1908 hy manu- facturers long identified with the furniture manufactur- ing industry of that place. The founders of the com- pany were, mainly, Frank O. Norquist and Austin E. Anderson. The company's stated object was the manufacture of extention tables, and that was the class of furniture manufactured at the outset. Later, the product of the plant became almost exclusively chairs, which yielded greater profit than tables.
The company had experienced almost astounding growth. During the first year, 1908, $13,000 worth of furniture was produced at the plant; during 1918, the company shipped $140,000 worth of chairs, and the plant has already been doubled, so that there is every indication that the plant will eventually become of appreciable importance to the city of Jamestown. At present it finds employment for thirty men. The present officials of the company are: Frank O. Nor- quist, president; Austin E. Anderson, vice-president and manager; Marvin Anderson, secretary and treasurer.
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EDWIN HOMER EDSON, prosperous and enter- prising farmer, and supervisor of Charlotte township, Chautauqua county, N. Y., comes of a family which for four generations has had residence in Chautauqua county, and for five generations if one counts that of his children.
The Edson family, originally of English ancestry, was in early settlement days one of the New England families; the Edsons of Chautauqua county, belong to a branch which settled in Genesee county, N. Y., and it was from that county that Barney Edson, great- grandfather of Edwin Homer Edson, came; and he may truthfully be claimed to have been among the pioneer settlers of what is now an important section of Chau- tauqua county. He came from Batavia, Genesee county, N. Y., and settled in Charlotte township, in what is known as school district No. I, and what in reality then was mainly wilderness. To some extent he cultivated his tract, but eventually transferred it to his son, Barney, and returned to Batavia, N. Y., where he died.
Barney (2) Edson, son of Barney (1) Edson, came with his father into Chautauqua county, from Batavia, N. Y., although his father eventually returned to their home in Genesee county, he remained in Charlotte township, and developed fifty acres of land there. His was an active life of exceptionally hard work, but he prospered and eventually retired, he and his wife spending their last years quietly in the home of their daughter, Mrs. Mansfield, at Cherry Creek, Chautauqua county, where they both died, and were buried in Charlotte Center Cemetery. Barney (2) Edson married Julia Ames, and they were the parents of six children, as follows: I. Lois, who married Nelson Mansfield, of Cherry Creek. 2. Edwin Homer, of whom further. 3. Anna, who married Cyrus Gibson. 4. Silus, deceased. 5. Sarah, who married David Mc- Clean, of Charlotte township. 6. Minnie, who died in early youth.
Edwin Homer Edson, son of Barney (2) and Julia (Ames) Edson, was born in the Edson homestead, Charlotte township, Chautauqua county, Jan 22, 1838. He was educated at the Pickett School, and from the time he left school until he was nineteen years of age he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm. When he reached the age of nineteen years, he entered the employ of Henry Lakes, in his wood mill, for whom he worked for seven years. He was a man of steady purpose and strong characteristics, and during the seven years managed to save sufficient out of his earnings to acquire a farm of 150 acres in Gerry township, on the line of Charlotte township. The property was known as the Needham Brown farm, and there he remained for six years, improving the property appreciably, and this is the farm now owned by his son, Clinton H. Later he purchased a tract of 72 acres in Charlotte township, section 17, the property being then known as the George Hadley farm. There he worked for eight years, steadily improving the farm. Then it seemed that his life was cut short, for he was only forty years of age when he died, and his youngest child, Edwin Homer (2), had not yet been born. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Sinclairville, Charlotte township, and his brother, Silus, took up the manage-
ment of the farm and the care of the young family. Eventually the widow married Silus Edson, who had many of his deceased brother's good qualities, and was a kind foster-father and a skillful and successful farmer. He managed the family homestead until his death, March 20, 1897, and left the property in good condition. He was buried in Sinclairville Cemetery.
It was while Edwin Homer (1) Edson lived in Gerry township that he was married to Caroline (Carrie) McCollough, daughter of Thomas and Celestia (Hemminger) McCollough. She was born in Gerry township, and has had a long life, and is still active. She lives quietly with her son, Edwin H., at Sinclair- ville, to whom and to her older children she has been a loving mother, instilling into them all a good degree of her strong Christian faith. The four children of Edwin Homer (1) and Caroline (McCollough) Edson were: 1. Grant W., who is a responsible farmer in Gerry township, Chautauqua county. 2. Clinton H., who latterly has owned the farm his father purchased in Gerry township. 3. Hattie, who is the wife of Lucius Matthewson, a man well known in educational circles and residing at Bemus Point, Chautauqua county. 4. Edwin Homer, of whom further.
Edwin Homer (2) Edson, son of Edwin Homer (1) and Caroline (McCollough) Edson, was born on the farm he now owns and where he still resides, Aug. 26, 1878, four months after the decease of his father. He was educated in the district school No. 7, of Charlotte township, and at the Sinclairville High School, where he graduated in the class of 1898. After graduating from the high school, he assumed charge of the homestead, and since that time has continued to cultivate the land. He is an enterprising agriculturist, has introduced many modern methods, and has been very successful in dairying, and in cattle raising. He is particularly interested in the raising of cattle and in the improve- ment of the stock, and now has a fine herd of twenty- five Holstein cows, and has proved himself to be a good, practical farmer and dairyman.
Politically, Mr. Edson is a staunch Republican, and has been for many years an active worker in his district for his party. He is popular and respected, that having been indicated by his election as supervisor of Charlotte township in 1913, and his continued election to that office ever since. In 1919, he was again elected to that office by both parties, which circumstance indicates that he has performed the duties of the office to general satisfaction. He is a man of genial person- ality, and if he has one outstanding characteristic it is his devotion to his own home circle, which in addition to his wife and children includes his aged mother, who lives with them. In educational matters he has been prominent, having been school trustee of district No. 7 for many years. He is a member of the Grange, No. 401, of Gerry. Fraternally, he is a Mason, a member of Sylvian Lodge, No. 309, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past worshipful master.
His interest in church affairs has been constant and useful, he and his wife and mother being members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sinclairville, and substantial supporters of the same, and for many years Mr. Edson has been a trustee of that church. In his daily life he has manifested a desire that his life should
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES L. BARKER
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be governed by actions consistent with an earnest Christian spirit.
On March 28, 1900, he was married to Florence Louise Link, daughter of Judge W. and Jennie (Van Slyke) Link. She was born in Sinclairville, was well educated, graduating from the Sinclairville High School, has many accomplishments, and a refined cul- tured inclination. Her influence is evident in her children. Edwin Homer (2) and Florence Louise (Link) Edson are the parents of three children: I. Leslie Howard, who is now a high school student. 2. Gifford Silus, also at school. 3. Philip Clinton, who also attends the local school.
Mr. Edson is still in the prime of manhood, and may be expected to hold appreciable and active part in consequential affairs in Chautauqua county for very many years yet, but his record up to the present has been good, and he has reached a definite measure of esteem in the minds of the people of Charlotte township of Chautauqua county.
CHARLES LOVERT BARKER-An able busi- ness man, a good farmer, and a thoroughly loyal citizen. Such was the man whose name we herewith present to our readers, and such, during his long residence in Jamestown, his many friends and attached neighbors always found him. The last years of Mr. Barker's life were spent on a farm in the town of Harmony and there, also, he commended himself to the community by his upright life and friendly disposition.
Wilfred Barker, father of Charles Lovert Barker, came from Vermont to Jamestown, N. Y., with an ox- team. and in his new home engaged in the tanning of leather. Jamestown then consisted of only nine houses, and Mr. Barker built not only his tannery, but also his dwelling which is now known as the Barker home- stead, and is situated on Second street. During the remainder of his life he was engaged in the tanning business, also conducting a shoe store. He attended the Presbyterian church. Mr. Barker married Hannah Ames, and the following children were born to them: Elizabeth; Medorna; Wilfred, now conducting his father's business, married Emaline Hunt; Malissa; Mary; and Charles Lovert, mentioned below. Eliza- beth, Malissa and Mary are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Barker both died in Jamestown.
Charles Lovert Barker, son of Wilfred and Hannah (Ames) Barker, was born March 17, 1849, in James- town, N. Y., and attended the district school and the Jamestown Academy. After giving a little time to farming, he associated himself with his father and brother in the tanning business. For many years they operated the tannery, also giving some attention to real estate. In 1909 Mr. Barker retired from business and purchased a small farm of thirty-five acres near Ash- ville, in the town of Harmony, and there, during the remainder of his life, he devoted himself to farming, finding much enjoyment in the time spent in the open air. Always a staunch Democrat, Mr. Barker never mingled actively in politics, but was ever ready to do his part as a good citizen. His religion was the daily practice of the Golden Rule.
Mr. Barker married, May 7, 1878, Rachel N. Heaton, born in New Waterford, Columbiana county, Ohio,
daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Harmon) Heaton. Mr. Heaton died in Crawford county, Pa., when his daughter was quite young, and Mrs. Heaton married (second) Cook. Mr. and Mrs. Cook both died in Jamestown, and it was there that her daughter was married. Mr. and Mrs. Barker became the parents of one son, Wilfred Charles, born Ang. 27, 1880, in James- town; educated in the public and high schools of his birthplace; has always made agriculture his principal occupation and is now farming in the town of Busti, near Lakewood; married Anna Willetts, and their children are: Wilfred Charles, Beatrice Mary, Eliza- beth, Jane and Rachel. Mrs. Charles Lovert Barker, a cultivated woman of refined tastes and a devoted wife and mother, makes, as her husband did, the "Golden Rule" her standard of conduct. When she became a widow, Mrs. Barker sold the farm and moved to Jamestown, purchasing the house on Prendergast avenue where she still resides.
During the last years of Mr. Barker's life failing health obliged him to relinquish his agricultural pur- suits, but he remained on the farm and it was there that he passed away on May 23, 1918, leaving the memory of one faithful to every duty and unfailingly loyal to his friends and family. His own home was always the place where he loved best to be, and for that reason he had no fraternal affiliations, no outside allurements equaling for him, the attractions of his own fireside. Charles Lovert Barker was a man of ability, and he was also a truly good man, respected and loved by all who were ever brought into contact with him. His record is a precious legacy to his descendants.
PETER MELVIN JOHNSON-In the early part of 1868 quite a number of Swedish families came to the United States, among them being John Peterson John- son and his wife, Mary C. Johnson. They eventually located in Jamestown, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1868. With them was their son, Peter Melvin Johnson, who was born in Sweden, Jan. 26, 1861; therefore the boy was seven years old when he arrived in Jamestown and he has continued to live there ever since.
Peter Melvin Johnson attended the grammar school of Jamestown, graduating from it, and then entered the high school, but only remained there for the first two years of the course and did not graduate. Instead he obtained employment in the large department store of A. D. Sharpe & Company, hecoming a salesman in their carpet department, later taking charge of their silk department. For twenty-nine years and six months Mr. Johnson remained with this firm, then deciding to make a change, he and four other men formed a partnership, the various members being Dr. C. E. Anderson, Emil Peterson, Herman Anderson, C. A. Swanson and Peter M. Johnson. They bought out the Duffy store on Main street and continued the partner- ship for two years, Peter Melvin Jolinson and J. B. Fleischer buying up the other interests. For two years this also continued, then Peter M. Johnson bought out Mr. Fleischer's share and a new firm was formed. the P. M. Johnson Company, General Department Store, and as such has continued till the present time. The store is one of the largest in Chautauqua county, and their ready made ladies' cloak and suit department is
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the best in the city, their customers coming from all the adjacent towns and villages, as well as the city of Jamestown.
Having grown up in Jamestown and being in close touch with all the business affairs, Mr. Johnson is naturally interested in the men of the city and their various clubs, societies and fraternal orders. He is a Free Mason, a Knights Templar, and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star; he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Maccabees and the Eagles; belonging to the Young Men's Christian Association, the Swedish Hundred Society, the Lief Erickson Lodge, the Swedish Brotherhood, and the Norden Club. While thoroughly American in every way and one of the most loyal citizens of Jamestown, Mr. John- son still loves his native land and her traditions. The English Lutheran church is another one of Mr. John- son's interests, he being one of its founders and for a number of years its treasurer; he and his family have been for many years constant attendants at the services there.
Mr. Johnson married, in Jamestown, June 30, 1885, Albertina C. Peterson, the daughter of C. J. Peterson, a resident of that city. Mrs. Johnson died in July, 1915. Of this union one child was born, Maud L., who was married in Jamestown, in 1914, to Wallace M. Van Zandt, who is employed in Mr. Johnson's store.
The business success of Peter Melvin Johnson is the outcome of his faithful and patient adherence to detail, his interpretation of the "Golden Rule" applying as much in the commercial world as in any other phase of every day life.
GRANT JAMES COBB, a hero of the Civil War, and for almost seven decades a worthy resident in Chautauqua county, N. Y., of which county he was a native, died in the place of his birth, Gerry, in 1913. The expressions of condolence to his bereaved ones, of their esteem for the departed patriot, gave his widow and their children an adequate idea of the place their departed husband and father held in the com- munity, and among the veterans of the Civil War. He was a patriot of noble record; his personal service to his country in the time of her greatest need was to the greatest extent; he offered his arms and heart while the struggle was still in its first year, and while the prospects were dark. And as the result of his military service during that terrible period of civil strife, he carried throughout his life wounds which, while grati- fying and honorable in retrospect, caused him physical discomfort for many years.
Grant J. Cobb was horn in Gerry. Chautauqua county, N. Y., Sept. 30, 1843, the son of Freeman and Rebecca (Bucklin) Cobb, and came of a family long and honorably connected with Chautauqua county. His father was a farmer, prosperous and respected in the Gerry district of Chautauqua county, and upon his father's farm the boy grew to manhood. In his early years he attended the public school of his native place, and after passing through all the grades took industri- ously to farming, with his father. Then came the Civil War. He was only seventeen years old at that time, but his father did not hesitate to let him follow his
desire to offer his personal services to the cause of the Union; therefore, on Sept. 12, 1861, young Cobb enlisted. He served for three years in the famous 112th Regiment of New York Volunteers, and was in all the campaigns in which that regiment participated, and valiantly stood in all the engagements and battles in which that unit engaged during the three years of his service. He was twice wounded, in the shoulder and in the foot, and eventually was given an honorable discharge from the federal service, to which he had given three good years of his life, the three during which he could be of greatest service to his country. And although unfortunate in the matter of physical con- dition because of that service, he was thereafter honored throughout his life, as was his dne. Especially by the patriotic organizations later constituted by veterans of the Civil War was he honored; he was elected a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and had prominent part in the functioning of the local post of that organiza- tion; he was also a life member of the 112th Regimental Association. At his death, on July 23, 1913, the Civil War veterans of the district gathered in full numbers for the obsequies, and demonstrated solemnly the extent of their regard for their deceased comrade.
In civilian activities and life, Mr. Cobb's record was commendable. It was industrious, steady and worth while. With the exception of his years of war cam- paigning, he passed his life in agricultural occupations. He was an industrious and successful farmer; owned, developed, and maintained in good yield an agricultural property of appreciable extent in Gerry. And he entered interestedly into the public affairs of his neigh- borhood. In political allegiance he was a Republican, and he followed the policies of that national political party faithfully, when those policies harmonized with his own convictions and opinions upon national questions. But he was a man of independent thought, and upon many occasions was a factor of consequence in the deliberations of public questions by the people of his own district. And, had he wished it, he might have been elected to many political and public offices, for he was a man highly esteemed and very popular in his own district.
His home life was estimable, and for forty-three years he had the comfort and companionship of a worthy, God-fearing and kindhearted helpmate. Grant James Cobb was married, at Fluvanna, N. Y., May 22, 1870, to Sarah Jane Mattocks, who was born May 26, 1844, a daughter of Abel Burlingame and Harriet (Starr) Mattocks, respected and well-to-do Chautauqua county people. And since his death, in 1913, Mrs. Cobb has lived a widowhood of quiet reverence for the memory of lier deceased liusband, in the place of his birth, and has shown a kindly interest in the well- being of the community. She is esteemed by her neigh- bors, and has friends in many widely separated parts of the country. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb had four children: I. Maud E., born June 6, 1872. 2. Fred B., born Sept. 4, 1874. 3. Floyd F., born Jan. 25, 1878. 4. Mabel T., born March 20, 1883.
Grant James Cobb lived a worthy life in all its phases, but especially will his memory be revered because of his valiant service to his country during the dark days of the Civil War, which showed men at their true
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worth, and thus he worthily has his place in the histor- ical annals of Chautauqua county, N. Y., as well as in the military records of the United States.
WALTER HALL VOSBURG, M. D., who for more than two decades has been one of the leading physicians of Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, N. Y., is a native of the town of Perrysburg in this State, where his birth occurred Nov. 14, 1874, a son of Norton Nathaniel and Helen (Hall) Vosburg. His father has for many years followed the occupation of farming, first at Perrysburg and later at Gowanda, to which place he and his family removed when Dr. Vosburg was but a child. He and his wife were the parents of two sons, Dr. Vosburg and Charles B. Vosburg, the latter having removed to Porto Rico, where he is also engaged in agriculture and cultivates pineapples there on a large scale. Dr. Vosburg's paternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Ruth Goulding, was born in Dunkirk. Her uncle, Mr. Chadwick, was the first settler of Dunkirk, which was for years known as Chadwick's Bay.
Walter Hall Vosburg attended the public schools of Gowanda for his preliminary education, and graduated from the local high school, completing there his prepar- ation for college. It was early his purpose to follow medicine as a career, and with that end in view he matriculated at the Cleveland Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio. He was graduated from that institu- tion with the medical degree in 1897, and shortly after passed the State Board of Medical Examiners. He then entered the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital at Buffalo, N. Y., as an interne, and remained there during the years 1897 and 1898, gaining the requisite practical experience. He then, in 1898, came to Dunkirk and opened an office here, practicing consistently up to the present time save for the period when he gave his services to his country during the late war. He soon won an enviable reputation for himself as a capable physician in the community, and was honored by his colleagues on account of his high sense of professional ethics and etiquette. He specialized to a large extent in surgery, became very well known in the community for his skill in this line of work, and was appointed a member of the staff of the Brooks Memorial Hospital and the consulting staff of the State Homoeopathic Hospital. He was enjoying a large and high class practice in Dunkirk and the surrounding district when the United States entered the great World War in 1917, but he felt keenly the obligation to do what was possible for the great cause then at stake and so, although beyond the age when such action was commonly considered necessary, he offered his services to his country and enlisted in the army, Aug. 26, 1917. He received a commission as captain and went to the Medical Officers' Training School at Camp Benjamin Harrison, taking there such training as was necessary, when he was attached as acting regimental surgeon to the . 367th Regiment of Infantry and remained with that body of troops at Camp Upton, N. Y., for four months. He was then assigned to the Base Hospital at Camp Upton for surgical work in April, 1918. On May 1, 1919, he was made chief of the Surgical Service, and on June I, of the same year was given the rank of
major. He was honorably discharged from the service, Sept. 19, 1919, and has since resumed his practice in Dunkirk. Dr. Vosburg has always been active in local affairs, and has taken considerable part in politics, being a staunch member of the Republican party. He has served the community in various capacities and has been a member of the Dunkirk Board of Health and a member of the City Council from the Second Ward. In his religious belief, Dr. Vosburg is a Umtarian and attends Adams Memorial Church of that denomination herc. He is a member of the Chautauqua County Medical Society, New York State Medical Society, American Medical Association, the Dunkirk Club and Country Club of Dunkirk, Irondequoit Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Dunkirk Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Dr. Vosburg was united in marriage, Oct. 23, 1907, with Lucilla Canby, of Ontario, Canada.
FRANK AUGUST SWANSON-Although still in the early thirties, Frank August Swanson has, by his work and general reliability, risen to a definite place of responsibility and regard among the business people and residents of Jamestown, N. Y., and its vicinity. He has successfully undertaken many important con- tracts, some of them being for the federal government, and has given indication of sterling qualities, such as go to make up an aggressive, helpful, straightforward citizen. He is a native of Sweden, born July 1, 1887, son of Evan August and Hannah Mary Swanson, both of whom are still living. In fact, the father is still actively engaged in business, as a manufacturer.
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