USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York, from the earliest historic times to the beginning of 1907, Vol. II > Part 34
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John Hall is a self-made man. His educational privileges were very meager. He attended the common schools only until eight years of age, when he began earning his own living by serving as errand boy in the public health department of his native town, working for two shillings or fifty cents per week. He subsequently entered his fath- er's printing office where he learned the "case," and later served an apprenticeship of seven years on the Derby Mercury, which paper was estab- lished in 1732 and is still in existence. The print- ing office has been aptly termed the poor man's college and it proved the case with Mr. Hall, for it was in this office that he picked up most of his education. At the same time he learned Pitman's system of shorthand. Believing that he would have better business opportunities and advantages in the new world, he came to America in the spring of 1868 and made his way direct to Omaha, Ne- braska, locating there when it was a city of only
six thousand inhabitants. He was with the Oma- ha Republican for one year and afterward with the Omaha Tribune. In the capital at Lincoln, Nebraska, he acted as reporter for the constitu- tional convention of 1870 and also on the im- peachment trial of Governor Butler and for the Military Department of the Platte. While in Lincoln, Nebraska, he met George S. Harris, the land commissioner of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and entered his employ as stenog- rapher and correspondent, acting in that capacity until the death of Mr. Harris in 1874, during which time he was located at Burlington, Iowa.
Mr. Hall afterward returned to Rochester, New York, and for one year was with R. G. Dun & Company and afterward with the late James Vick, the seedsman. In 1878 Mr. Hall returned to England and was absent for four years. Mr. Vick, visiting England, met him and insisted on his return to America and his employ. Mr. Hall therefore embarked again for the new world but Mr. Vick died before Mr. Hall reached Rochester in the spring of 1882. However, he remained with the Viek house until 1887, when he engaged in the life insurance business, subsequently adding fire insurance. In this line he has since continued. He represents the Massachusetts Mutual Life In- surance Company and is associated with James Johnston in business. For seventeen years he has been secretary and treasurer of the Western New York Horticultural Society, which connection shows his deep interest in the development of this part of the state for fruit culture.
Mr. Hall is a man of well rounded character and of evenly balanced mind and this has enabled him to take an active and helpful part in many movements for the public good. He is prominent and influential in the Methodist church and served. as superintendent of the Sunday school of the Monroe Avenue church for a number of years. He is also very widely and favorably known in musi- cal circles and possesses great love for the art of music, with no inconsiderable talent in that direc- tion. Mr. Hall was appointed by Mayor Cutler as one of the park board commissioners to fill out an unexpired term and later was re-appointed by Mayor Cutler. He is therefore serving at the present time in connection with the management and development of the park system and has done effective work of this character.
In 1871 Mr. Hall was married to Miss Lillie Staley, of Rochester, the wedding, however, being celebrated in Omaha, Nebraska. They have five daughters and one son: Lillian, the wife of Pro- fessor Collins Baker, curator of the Chicago Acad- emy of Sciences; Grace Mortimer, the wife of Frank S. Brewer, of Unionville, Connecticut, who is connected with the Upson Nut Company ; Ger- trude Taylor, the wife of J. Eugene Masten, of Rochester; Maude Emily, the wife of Howard W.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
Lyman, prominent in musical circles of Rochester ; Harry Staley Hall, who is connected with the Whitehead & Kales Iron Work Company of De- troit, Michigan, as draftsman and traveling sales- man ; and Edna Elmore, at hoine. The members of the family occupy an enviable position in cul- tured social circles where true worth, intelligence and refinement are received as passports. The entire family are total abstainers, following in the footsteps of William Hall, one of the prime movers in the temperance cause of England, and John Hall of this review is well known as a man of strong convictions, quick to discern the right and unfaltering in his support thereof. He looks upon the world from no false position and has no untried standards. He is a lover of society and of his friends-a genial, companionable- and en- tertaining gentleman, with whom association means pleasure, elevation and expansion.
GEORGE A. GILLETTE.
Rochester has always had reason to be proud of her bench and bar. The men who have stood as the conservators of justice have usually been cit- izens of genuine worth and in the profession have displayed that strong mentality, keen analytical power and close reasoning which insures success to the followers of the law. Possessing the requisite qualities of an able attorney, George A. Gillette has practiced in Rochester for about twenty years and has also been largely interested in the improvement of the city through building operations.
He was born in Milford, Otsego county, New York, January 14, 1862, a son of the Rev. Charles and Sarah C (Ware) Gillette, the former a min- ister of the Presbyterian church. He was called to various pastorates and in July, 1877, located in Rochester, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred in December, 1887. His wife sur- vived him for about fifteen years, passing away in March, 1902. In their family were four chil- dren, who yet survive: George A .; Willis K .; Caroline M., the wife of J. Stuart Page, an at- torney; and Mary C.
George A. Gillette is a graduate of the Roches- ter Free Academy of the class of 1878 and he afterward attended the University of Rochester, from which he was graduated in the class of 1882. He displayed special aptitude in his studies and won the first scholarship from the high school into the university. Following his graduation from the latter institution he went to California and taught in the Pacific Methodist College and also in Dr. Finley's College in Santa Rosa. He
was also a member of the board of education of Lake county, California, and was recognized as an able educator, the schools of which he had charge making substantial improvement under his guidance. He studied law in the office of his uncle, A. B. Ware, at Santa Rosa, and in 1884 was admitted to the bar. He continued to reside upon the Pacific coast until 1887, when he returned to Rochester on a visit. While he was at home his father died and, leaving considerable real estate, Mr. Gillette took charge of his father's affairs. He was admitted to the New York bar as a prac- titioner in the same year and soon afterward opened a law office. He has since engaged in gen- eral practice here and has demonstrated his abil- ity to cope with intricate and complex legal prob- lems. He has also been largely interested in realty operations and has erected about fifty houses per year thus transforming unsightly va- cancies into fine residence property and greatly adding to the improvement of the city.
On the 1st of February, 1894, Mr. Gillette was married to Miss Bessie J. Baker and they have become the parents of three sons and a daughter : Percival W., Charles L., Ruth E. and G. Allison. Mr. Gillette is a man of social, genial nature and has maintained pleasant relations in many fra- ternal and club organizations. He belongs to Genesee Falls lodge, A. F. & A. M .; to Wahoo tribe of Red Men; to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Modern Woodmen camp. He has been a member of the Columbia Rifle Club and the Rochester Athletic Club for several years. He also belongs to the Delta Upsilon and in the line of his profession is associated with the Roch- ester Bar Association. Mr. Gillette is one in. whom learning and culture have vied in making an interesting and entertaining gentleman and in the city where much of his life has been passed the circle of his friends is a very wide one.
MICHAEL A. BARRY.
Michael A. Barry, who is conducting a success- ful business as a retail dealer in coal and wood in Rochester, his native city, was born on the 10th of October, 1863. His father, John Barry, was born in the south of Ireland and came to the United States in 1848, in which year he took up his abode in Rochester, where for many years he was engaged in merchandising. He wedded Mary Costello, a native of Ireland, and they became the parents of nine children, five of whom have passed away. The death of the husband and father oc- curred in January, 1905, and he was laid to rest in the cemetery of the Holy Sepulcher. His widow still survives and is living in Rochester.
GEORGE A. GILLETTE.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
Michael A. Barry was educated in the public and private schools of Rochester, in the high school, of which he is a graduate, and in the L. L. Williams Business College. He was thus well trained for the practical duties of a commercial career and he has always been connected with the coal and wood trade, being associated in an en- terprise of this character with his brother for twenty-three years. He is now alone in business with offices at No. 591 South avenue. He con- tinues to deal in coal and wood and has developed an extensive business, which brings him a gratify- ing financial return.
Mr. Barry lives with his mother at No. 999 South avenue. He is quite prominent socially and has membership relations with the Elks lodge, No. 24, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Woodmen of America and the Red Men. In politics he is a democrat, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Mary's Catholic church. He possesses many good quali- ties-a kindly spirit, a generous disposition and an honorable purpose-and these have brought him many friends and the favorable regard of all who know him.
GEORGE A. GILMAN.
George A. Gilman, commissioner of public safety in Rochester, comes of a family distinctive- ly American in both its lineal and collateral lines. His ancestors on the paternal side settled in New England in 1638 and on the maternal side in 1656. Perhaps this fact explains his success in business and as an administrative officer. He is a typical American citizen, alert and enterprising, and while promoting individual success recognizes his duty to the public and puts forth earnest ef- fort for general upbuilding and improvement.
Mr. Gilman was born in Westboro, Massachu- setts. Bereft of his father at the early age of ten years, he has always made his own way in the world. He was married in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 1st of February, 1875, to Miss Ella Weston and in 1880 removed to Rochester, where he has since resided. For nearly twenty years, beginning in 1876, he was engaged in the railroad business, beino first an employe of the Chicago & North- western Railroad Company, while later he was car accountant of the Blue Line, to which the Cana- dian Southern Line was added in 1886. At that time Mr. Gilman was promoted to the responsible position of general car accountant, and in 1894 he was appointed general car accountant of the Blue Line and Canadian Southern lines in charge of the office. At the time of the general consolida-
tion of all the Vanderbilt lines Mr. Gilman served as general cashier of the combined lines until he retired altogether from the railroad business.
In January, 1900, Mr. Gilman was appointed chief clerk and deputy by Honorable James G. Cutler, commissioner of public safety, and when Commissioner James D. Casey succeeded Mr. Cut- ler he retained Mr. Gilman because of his ef- ficient service for the department. When Mayor A. J. Rodenbeck took office on the 1st of January, 1902, he appointed Mr. Gilman as commissioner of public safety-an act which met with general approval. The administration of the affairs of the department under Mr. Gilman has been very sat- isfactory. He has increased the efficiency of the police and fire departments to a marked degree and in fact his public service has been of a most practical, beneficial nature, New editions of the rules of both the police and fire departments have been published under his supervision. The police department has been entirely reorganized and re- distributed and new apparatus as been added to the fire department. Through the health depart- ment he has fought successfully a smallpox epi- demic under most trying circumstances. No de- partment of the city government has had greater responsibility than the department of public safe- ty during Mr. Gilman's administration and he has met every emergency with such common sense and executive ability as to merit public praise. Under the administration of Mayor Cutler, from 1904 to 1907 inclusive, Mr. Gilman has assisted in mak- ing vast improvements in his department, of which we make specific mention as follows: Five new police precinct stations have been opened, im- proved service has been secured from police re- serves, a gymnasium has been established with pis- tol practice, military drill, traffic supervision, etc. The city has also purchascd outfits of pistols, belts, clubs, whistles and handcuffs and there has been an increase of the members of the bureau to two hundred and forty men. In the fire department there has been established a new fire engine and hose company on Monroe avenue (No. 15) ; a new fire engine and hose company and truck company house on Hudson avenue; new fire head- quarters on Central avenue; the conversion of Chemical Company No. 2 to an engine and hose company ; the conversion of hose company No. 14 to an engine and hose company ; and the addition of thirty-eight men. Four new engines have been purchased, three old engines rebuilt, two new water towers have been constructed, four combina- tion hose and chemical wagons have been secured, together with one quick-raising aerial truck. A manual system of fire alarm telegraph has been installed and a repair shop and horse shoeing out- fit established. In the health bureau there has been undertaken the treatment of tubercular cases at the municipal hospital. There has been estab-
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
lished a milk supervision and public-school medi- cal inspection.
In the Rodenbeck administration in 1902 the police gymnasium was started and a water tower purchased ; in 1903, two nine hundred gallon met- ropolitan engines were purchased. In the Cutler administration in January, 1904, the theaters were inspected and made to comply with safety regulations, firemen being assigned to duty at each performance and red exit lights ordered, while the Empire theater was closed as being a menace to public safety. In October, 1904, two additional nine hundred gallon metropolitan engines were. purchased and two hose and chemical wagons. In 1905 four new police precinct stations were occu- pied-Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6. On the 20th of March the new engine and hose company building, No. 15, on Monroe avenue, was put in commission and ten additional firemen were appointed. On the 1st of April, 1905, police reserves were established in all six precincts. On the 17th of April, twenty firemen were appointed and the new double house on Hudson avenue was opened with a truck com- pany No. 6, and engine and hose company No. 16 were put in commission. In July a new fire head- quarters building was constructed at a cost of twenty-one thousand three hundred and sixty-five dollars. In September the city redistricted for twelve city physicians and school inspectors were arranged for. In November a traffic squad was appointed to enforce rules of the road ordinance. In March, 1906, two new second size fire engines and two combination chemical hose wagons were purchased. In April of the same year a manual system of fire alarm telegraph was constructed at a cost of forty thousand dollars. In June, 1906, electric patrol wagons were put in commission and a fire department repair shop was established. During the year the department was increased to iwo hundred and fifty-eight men. New hose for the five years was purchased to the extent of thir- ty-two thousand feet, placing the department in the front rank in this respect. In his capacity as a commissioner of public safety Mr. Gilman has had supervision of all these changes and improve- ments.
GEORGE COOPER.
George Cooper is a retired gardener living in Irondequoit township. For many years he was connected with the business interests of the town and his well directed labors brought him the goodly measure of success which he is now enjoy- ing. He was born in Yorkshire, England, on the 2d of June, 1827, and is a son of Richard and Mary Cooper, who with their family came to Mon-
roe county in 1830 settling in Rochester. In 1832 the father opened his first market garden on Mount Hope avenue and not far away were the hills and woods that now comprise the beautiful grounds of Mount Hope cemetery. The father continued in business in Rochester until 1837, when he removed to Irondequoit township. His father had been a brewer in England and the family was a wealthy one there. Richard Cooper, however, made his own way in the world and owned ten acres of land, upon which he raised garden products. He found a ready sale for these and continued in the business up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1851.
George Cooper was only three years of age when brought to the new world by his parents. He acquired a common school education, being a student in some of the early schools of Rochester and of the town of Irondequoit. In his youth he assisted his father more or less in gardening and after attaining his majority continued in the same line of business. He first bought five acres of land on Portland avenue, where he built a small house and lived there for four years. He then removed to his present location and pur- chased ten acres of land at fifty dollars per acre Here he has since resided and there is now in this tract of land twenty acres, with ten acres on Gar- den street, owned by his son, For more than forty years he followed gardening and trucking and then turned the business over to his son. The name of Cooper has been associated with this line of enterprise since 1832, in which year Richard Cooper opened a stand for the sale of garden prod- ucts in the market. George Cooper retired from active business in 1880 with a handsome compe- tence which was well merited, it having been ac- quired through his earnest and indefatigable labor. His son has a beautiful place with large green- houses and mammoth cellars. There is also an extensive heating plant, with electric lights in all buildings and electric power for pumping water for the place. Every facility for the successful conduct of the business along modern lines is here to be found and the entire place is most at- tractive in its appearance. The son has two auto- mobiles, together with fine horses and carriages, and the home gives undisputable evidence of the success which has attended him, coming to him as a reward of earnest, persistent and honorable effort.
Mr. Cooper was married, in 1849, to Miss Phoebe Janet Titus, a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Whitney) Titus, who were originally from Dutchess county, New York, and were numbered among the oldest families of Monroe county. They settled in 1833 upon the place which is now the home of Mr. Cooper and which he purchased in 1854. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been
GEORGE COOPER.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
born three sons, of whom two are living: George, who is in Rochester and is married and has seven children, three sons and four daughters; Titus, who was married and died in 1896; and John M., who for some years has been associated with his father in business. He wedded Harriet Whitney of Rochester, and they have one son, Whitney Cooper, who is now ten years of age.
In politics Mr. Cooper is an independent demo- crat. His son John is now serving on the school board and both father and son have always been interested in community affairs, doing all in their power to promote public progress. At one time Mr. Cooper served as assessor. He is a member of the Grange and his son is a prominent Mason, having become a member of the Shrine. George Cooper is now an octogenarian, but few men of his years are better preserved or retain their facul- ties in a higher degree. He is a most entertaining companion, relating many interesting incidents of the early days. His business brought him in contact with many men prominent in the commer- cial and business life of Rochester, especially the hotel proprietors, to whom he sold his products. He is regarded as the authority upon many ques- tions relating to the early days, to the people and places of early Rochester and has written one or two interesting articles concerning pioneer times and the people then living. In his business he has made a most creditable and honorable record, never being known to overreach another in a busi- ness transaction, but winning his success through methods that have neither sought nor required disguise.
JOHN BEMISH FREY.
John Bemish Frey, of the Frey-Watkins Com- pany, Incorporated, dealers in coal, produce, etc., at No. 158 Main street, Rochester, was born in Charlotte, New York, September 22, 1871. His paternal grandfather was a native of Germany and was pressed into service in Napoleon's army, where he contracted rheumatism, which caused his death in middle age. His wife, however, lived to an advanced age. The parents of our subject were John and Mary (Bemish) Frey, the former a na- tive of Germany and the latter of the town of Greece, her birth having occurred about two and one-half miles from Charlotte, New York. Mr. Frey, leaving the fatherland, came to the United States at the age of eighteen years, having in the meantime ac- quired a good education in the schools of his na- tive country. He located in Rochester and for about thirty years was engaged in the meat busi- ness but for the past fifteen years has lived retired
from active connection with mercantile interests. He has also lived at different times at Brighton, Avon and Charlotte, carrying on business in each of those towns. He now resides on Charlotte boulevard in the town of Greece and is a prominent and influential citizen there, having for eight or ten years served as president of the village. John Frey was three times married. By his first mar- riage he had six children, of whom four are now living: Julius G .; Emma R., the wife of M. H. Latta; George H .; and Louisa F., the wife of William H. Denise. Having lost his first wife the father wedded Mary Bemish, who was one of a family of three daughters and one son. Her father was born in the north of Ireland and be- came an early settler of the town of Greece, Mon- roe county, making his home near Charlotte, where he carried on farming. He crossed the Atlantic to America in a sailing vessel. He died of sun- stroke at the comparatively early age of thirty- five years, while his wife lived to an old age. Their daughter Mary became the wife of John Frey and the mother of two children: John B., of this review; and Jennie E., now the wife of the Rev. S. J. Clarkson of Middleport.
John Bemish Frey resided in Charlotte until eighteen years of age and after attending the pub- lic schools there he became a student in the academic department of the Brockport Normal School, paying his own way through that institu- tion by means of money which he had earned. He afterward attended the Rochester Business Insti- tute, where he studied bookkeeping, subsequent to which time he accepted a position with E. M. Upton, a produce merchant at Charlotte. Prev- iously, however, he had been connected with a hardware store in that place for a time. He re- mained with Mr. Upton for seventeen years, thor- oughly acquainting himself with the business in principle and detail, and on leaving that house he organized and incorporated the Frey-Watkins Company of Rochester in 1904. He is now presi- dent of the company, with John W. Watkins $8 vice president and treasurer and Louis S. Folks, secretary. They are wholesale produce merchants, carrying on business at Nos. 152-158 Main street, and they are also stockholders and managers for the Rogers Cold Storage Company of Leroy, New York, while Mr. Frey is likewise a director of the Bolton Shoe Company on South Water street in Rochester.
On the 2d of October, 1901, Mr. Frey was mar- ried to Miss Amelie D. Behn, a daughter of Her- man and Margaret (Arnoldt) Behn, the former being president of the Bolton Shoe Company. Two children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Frey, John Donald and Dorothy.
The parents are members of the Brick ( Presby- terian) church of Rochester, in which Mr. Frey
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