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 47
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George C. Potts in his boyhood days was a student in the common schools of Pottsville. He acquainted himself with the coal business under the direction of his father, in whose mine he acted as superintendent for several years. At the age of twenty-one he was in business for himself, owning a mine under the firm name of George C. Potts & Company, which continued from 1857 until 1864. He afterward engaged in the banking business in Philadelphia, under the firm name of R. Ellis & Company, so continuing for twenty years. Subsequently he spent five years in Tenn- essee in the operation of iron mines, and in 1893 he came to Rochester, succeeding. Colonel J. H. Wharton as general manager and sales agent for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company. This position he has since filled. He is one of the oldest and best known mining men of the country. He spent three years as a mine engineer and is thoroughly acquainted with the business in prin- ciple and detail.
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Mr. Potts was married in 1863, to Miss Marie Laurette Eustis, of Philadelphia, and they have two sons and two daughters: Maud E., now the wife of A. G. Paine, of New York; George E., a chemist and superintendent of the Potts Powder Company at Pottsville, Pennsylvania ; Hugh E., superintendent of a pulp mill at Kingston, New York; and Laurette E., the wife of L. F. Pease, of New Rochelle, New York. Mr. Potts and his family are members of the society of Friends or Quakers. He belongs to the Rochester Whist Club, to the Genesee Valley Club and to the Yacht Club. He was also a member of the Philadelphia Club for twenty-five years. He has never con- sented to accept office of any description, always preferring to have his time as his own. He is a member of the Society of the Genesee and delights in companionship which these membership rela- tions bring. Although now in huis seventy-third year he does not look to be more than sixty. It will readily be noticed that he is a man of push and progress and difficulties vanish before him as mists before the morning sun. His friends find him genial, companionable and entertaining and in his grasp and greeting there is always welcome.
ADOLPH NOLTE.
Adolph Nolte, president of the Hydro Press Company, manufacturers of hydraulic machinery, was born in Rochester, July 11, 1866. His father, Adolph Nolte, was a native of Germany, con- nected with the aristocracy of that country and in its schools he acquired a liberal education. He took part in the students' rebellion of 1841 and was obliged to leave Germany to escape punish- ment at the hands of the government .. He then enlisted with the French Legions and went to Algiers, Africa, where he became an officer, and thence to America, settling in Rochester. In the same year he founded the Rochester Beobachter, still existing as the Abendpost, of which he con- tinued as editor and publisher for many years. His scholarly attainments found exemplification in its columns and he was regarded as one of the ablest and most fearless writers of his day. A champion of the cause of liberty, when the Civil war began he organized Company C of the Thirteenth Regiment of New York Volunteers and went out as its captain. Thus he fought under three flags-the German, the French and the American. For nine years he was a trustee of the Soldiers' Home. He did much to mold public opinion, especially among the German- American citizens of Rochester, and inculcated among his fellow countrymen a love for their adopted land and loyalty to its institutions. He
was one of the organizers of the German Turn Verein, a society which still exists. His death occurred in 1893. The wife, Mrs. Margaret Nolte, was a daughter of John Sattler, a con- tracting mason, who had charge of the construc- tion of the piers of Vincent street bridge. This was the first iron bridge built in Rochester and was a marvellous undertaking for that day.
Adolph Nolte, Jr., acquired his education in the public schools of this city and entered busi- ness life as an employe in a machine shop when not quite sixteen years of age. His evenings at home were devoted to study that he might ac- quire a technical knowledge of machinery, and throughout his entire life he has been connected with machine shop work. He has been employed in many shops and on all kinds of machinery manufactured, thus acquiring through practical experience and through his technical studies a very broad knowledge of his business in all of its branches. To Mr. Nolte is due the invention of many valuable machines and machine improve- ments. When only eighteen years of age he in- vented the first positive washing machine, while in the employ of the Sprague Laundry Company. One of his most important inventions was the first and only practical machine for grinding the edges of lenses. This has proved to be invalu- able in the manufacture of optical and camera lenses and is today used throughout the world. An illustration of his wide range of knowledge in his distinguished field of endeavor is to be seen in the fact that his inventions include some of the most delicate machinery used in the manu- facture of optical goods to the fifteen hundred ton hydraulic press, which is one of the present prod- ucts of the company of which he is now presi- dent. His latest invention is a hydraulic press for removing both wheels of a locomotive or car instantaneously-the first machine of this kind on the market.
In 1902 Mr. Nolte entered the employ of the Schaffer Manufacturing Company as a machinist and was almost immediately thereafter made fore- man. A year and a half later he was promoted to superintendent, which position he held until the death of John O. Brewster, president of the firm, in June, 1906, when, having in the mean- time become a large stockholder in the business, he organized the Hydro Press Company, with a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars and pur- chased the business of the Schaffer Manufactur- ing Company. He was then elected vice presi- dent and manager, which position he held until January, 1908, when he became president, still continuing as manager. The Schaffer Manufac- turing Company was organized in 1869 as a small job shop, opened by a Mr. Badger, who was the first man to build a hydraulic press in
ADOLPH NOLTE, SR.
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America. It was a small machine, with a pres- sure of twenty tons, which in those days was considered enormous. The original pattern for this machine is still in possession of the company. There are in the factory at present three presses of six hundred tons pressure and another of fifteen thousand tons, which shows the progress made in hydraulic presses in the past thirty years. At the death of Mr. Badger the business was purchased by Jacob Schaffer, who conducted it until his death in 1903, when the Schaffer Manu- facturing Company was organized by Frederick Cook and others. The business had never been greatly successful up to this time and employed only four workmen when Mr. Nolte entered the shop but under his management it has grown rapidly until employment is now given to forty- two machinists and the enterprise is considered one of the most important manufacturing indus- tries of the city. All of the machines made in the shop have been constructed according to Mr. Nolte's ideas and under his own patents.
On the 27th of April, 1887, occurred the mar- riage of Adolph Nolte and Miss Elizabeth Klein, a daughter of Adam Klein, a wagon and carriage maker of Rochester. They have five living chil- dren, Elmer, Adelle, Gladys, Mildred and Lucile. The son is a machinist. One daughter, Lillian. died July 14, 1907. Mr. Nolte is a member of the International Congress of Inventors, the Knights of Malta and of the Rochester Turn Verein, of which his father was founder. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. His entire life has been passed in Roches- ter and he has attained to a creditable place in business circles, while his sincere and unfeigned cordiality have won him the friendship of many.
CHARLES M. HENDERSON.
Charles M. Henderson, general agent for the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, at Rochester, was born at Weedsport, Cayuga county, New York, on June 17, 1858, his parents being William and Charlotte (Avery) Henderson, the former a native of Weedsport, New York, and the later of Scipio, this state. The father was of Scotch descent, while the ancestry in the mother's line is traced back to the Mayflower, Mr. Hender- son being a direct descendant of William Brews- ter. William Brewster was born in Scrooby, Eng- land. in 1566, and had a son Jonathan, who was also born in Scrooby. They crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower with the Pilgrim band who made the voyage in 1620 and both died in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Elder William Brewster, as his-
tory relates, was the organizer of the little colony that in order to enjoy religious liberty left the old world and came to the shores of the new, found- ing the first settlement in New England. He was a minister of the gospel and the first preacher in that little flock. Hannah Brewster, a daughter of Jonathan Brewster, was born in Duxbury, Massa- chusetts, and married Samuel Starr, of New Lon- don, Connecticut. Her son, Thomas Starr, also a native of New London, Connecticut, had a daugh- ter, Rachel Starr, who became the wife of Daniel Denison, of New London, and their daughter, Phoebe D., married Ebenezer Avery, Jr., of Gro- ton, Connecticut, who was killed in the battle of Fort Griswold. There were nine Averys killed in that battle, three wounded and four others taken off as prisoners. These Averys were not all mem- bers of one family, but were blood relatives. A monument has been erected at Groton, Connecticut, on the site of the old fort, on which are inscribed the names of those who fell at that battle. Ebe- nezer Avery 3d was a colonel and commanded a regiment until he was killed in battle. His son, the Rev. Charles Eldredge Avery, was born in Groton, Connecticut, and was the grandfather of Mr. Henderson of this review. He married Ase- nath Cook Chedell, who was a sister of General John H. Chedell, of Auburn, New York, a soldier of the war of 1812. Their daughter, Charlotte Avery, became the wife of William Henderson and the mother of eight children, three of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Harriet, Char- lotte, widow of H. P. Chadderdon; Frances J .; Jane Avery ; and Charles M. The last named was educated in the academy at Weedsport, New York, and early in his business life worked in Syracuse for two years. He was afterward engaged in the banking business with his father at Weedsport for fourteen years and in 1893 came to Rochester, where he accepted a position as assistant general agent for the Mutual Life Insurance Company, acting in that capacity until 1901, when he en- gaged with his present company, being now general agent of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is building up a very satisfactory business, having made a close study of insurance, so that he is able to carefully direct the labors of the local agents who are under his supervision.
Mr. Henderson was married in September, 1883, to Miss Alida Booth Page, a daughter of the Rev. Dr. J. R. Page, of Rochester. They have four children, Stanley Page, Charlotte Avery, Kenneth Manning and Laura Page. Mr. Henderson is a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and belongs to the Knights of Pyth- ias fraternity. There are few who can trace their ancestry in such a direct and unbroken line as can Mr. Henderson. In his business life he has been actuated by a spirit of enterprise and progressive- ness that is manifest in the excellent results that
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have followed his labors and he is regarded as a valued addition to the business circles of Roches- ter, where he has now lived for fourteen years.
CALVIN C. LANEY.
Calvin C. Laney, superintendent of parks in Rochester, was born at Waterloo, Seneca county, New York, February 18, 1850, and is a son of Enos and Polly Maria (Lawrence) Laney. The father was a native of England and was nineteen years of age when he came to this country. He was engaged in the grocery business in Waterloo, New York, and there died in 1895.
During his boyhood Calvin C. Laney attended the Episcopal parish and public schools to the age of thirteen years, when he entered the Friends Academy at Union Springs and later attended a private school at Poughkeepsie, New York, con- dueted by Egbert Cory, who formerly conducted the Friends Academy. He then worked in whole- sale and retail grocery at Waterloo for thirteen months and, continuing his studies, spent two years at Waterloo Academy. For a year he engaged in teaching in the parish school and for one year in a publie school.
In 1871-2 Mr. Laney worked with an engineer- ing corps, surveying a railroad through Seneca county, and from 1873 until 1875 was assistant engineer on the New York Central Railroad, grad- ing four tracks from Albany to Buffalo. In 1876 he was employed in building bridges in Buffalo and making a topographical survey of Rochester. This task completed, he went to Vermont as engi- neer in the survey of the Brattleboro & Whitehall Railway, while later at Corning he was assistant engineer in the building of the Geneva & Corning Railway. In 1877-8 he was employed as assistant engineer on the survey of the Geneva & Lyons Railroad and in the winter of 1878-9 spent several months in surveying railroads between Chicago, Wilmington and Kankakee, Illinois. From 1879 until 1882 he was assistant engineer on the Erie Railroad, building a double track from Buffalo to Hornellsville, having charge of a change of line located at Warsaw. He next located at Cuba, on the survey of the narrow gauge railway from Cuba to Bolivar in the Allegheny oil fields, and in 1882 became division engineer, building the Pine Creek Railway from Stokesdale Junction to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. From 1883 until 1885 he was superintendent of construction on the Beech Creek Railroad from Jersey Shore, Penn- sylvania, to Clearfield, and in 1885 came to Roches- ter. The following year he worked on the survey of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and during the summer of 1886 opened a surveying office and
spent that season in survey work in Rochester. In the succeeding fall he went to Nebraska on the Kansas City & Omaha Railroad, building eighty miles of that line in 1887, after which he was called to San Diego, California; and made surveys on Coronado Beach.
In 1888 Mr. Laney was employed by the park commission to make topographical surveys of Rochester for all parks and boulevards, and in 1889, when the office of superintendent of parks was created, he was appointed on recommendation of Fred Law Olmstead, the celebrated landscape architect, since which time he has continuously and acceptably filled the position. A few years ago he was offered a position as superintendent of parks at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on recommen- dation of Olmstead Brothers, sons of F. L. Olm- stead and landscape architects of Boston. He did not accept, however, but has remained in Roches- ter and the beauty and attractiveness of the park system of this city is attributable in very large measure to his efforts.
In March, 1879, Mr. Laney was married to Miss Georgena Platt Walbridge, a daughter of George W. Walbridge, one of Rochester's oldest residents. They have become the parents of three daughters, Marie W., Ester D., and Augusta Platt, the last named being the wife of Charles Hoeing, professor of philosophy in the University of Rochester.
Mr. Laney is a republican but takes no active part in politics. He is not a member of any fra- ternal or social orders. His life has been devoted to his business and the pleasures of the home. He is a man of strong domestic tastes, finding his greatest enjoyment at his own fireside with the companionship of his wife and daughters, and in Rochester he is widely known as a most highly re- spected citizen.
JOHN H. PERRY.
John H. Perry, a wholesale produce dealer of West Henrietta and the owner of fifty-seven acres of good farming land, was born at Rush in 1852, a son of George W. Perry. The first step which the individual usually takes in life after passing beyond the period of infancy is the acquirement of an education, and John H. Perry, after master- ing the common branches of learning, continued his studies in the Rochester grammar school and in the Brockport Normal School, thus becoming well qualified by mental discipline for the active affairs of life. He has always been interested in farming and is today the owner of fifty-seven acres, constituting a rich and arable traet of land responding readily to the care and labor bestowed upon it. He is also conducting a wholesale busi-
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less as a dealer in produce and controls a large trade in that direction, and for twenty years was in the fire insurance business. In his business life he manifests unfaltering diligence and close application, combined with a spirit of integrity that has made his name an honored one in com- mercial circles.
Mr. Perry was married, in 1877. to Miss Min- erva Jackson, and they now have two sons and one daughter. He is independent in politics and with little aspiration for public office. vet served as town clerk and also as constable. He was for two years master of Henrietta lodge, A. F. & A. M., a fact which indicates his standing in Masonic cir- cles, and his interest in the moral development of the community is proven by his attendance at the Baptist church.
MORRIS DWIGHT KNAPP.
Morris Dwight Knapp, born in Rochester on the 11th of May, 1864, was educated in the public schools while spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, Dwight and Abigail (Sted- man) Knapp. The father was a railroad man, connected with the New York Central Railroad for thirty years prior to his death. He was born in Warsaw, New York, came to Rochester in early life and died in the year 1905. His widow still survives and makes her home with her only son, Morris D. Knapp.
Upon leaving the public school Mr. Knapp of this review entered the employ of the L. M. Otis Lumber Company, and for eighteen years was connected with that firm in various capacities, gradually working his way upward as he demon- strated his ability to perform the responsible service of different positions. On leaving their em- ploy he became associated with the Woodbury Whip Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer until he sold out. In business life he is accurate, systematic and methodical and possesses that executive force which enables him to dis- patch a large amount of business in a given time. He has made it his plan to thoroughly master every task devolving upon him and thus his worth is acknowledged by those who are associated with him.
In 1885 Mr. Knapp was married to Miss Nellie G. Benson, of Brooklyn, New York, and they have one daughter. Mr. Knapp belongs to Yonnondio lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Hamilton chapter. R. A. M. He is also a popular repre- sentative of some social organizations, including the Genesee Valley Club. the Oak Hill Country Club and the Rochester Whist Club. He belongs to the Brick (Presbyterian) church and is a re- publican in politics. He stands for progressive
citizenship, for advancement in the business world, and recognizes social and individual obligations which make a man worthy the respect and esteem of his fellowmen.
REV. THOMAS F. CONNORS.
Rev. Thomas F. Connors, rector of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Rochester, was born on the 12th of July, 1870. In early boyhood he was a student in the Immaculate Conception par- ish school and in Rochester Free Academy, fol- lowed by a preparatory course in St. Andrews Pre- paratory Seminary. He also attended St. Ber- nard's Theological Seminary, where he finished his theological course and, thus having qualified for the priesthood, he was ordained and took upon himself the holy offices of the church on the 11th of June, 1898. He was then appointed assistant of St. Mary's church and during his connection with the parish three priests died and he was ap- pointed acting rector, after the death of each, his labors proving an element in the Christianizing of his native city. He was assistant to Rev. J. P. Kiernan, Rev. T. C. Murphy and Rev. J. J. Leary. In 1901, Father Connors was appointed rector of his present parish but continued his duties at St. Mary's until 1902, when he removed into his new parish and was succeeded at St. Mary's by the Rev. William Gleeson.
FRANK TAYLOR.
Frank Taylor, president of the Union Trust Company of Rochester, was born October 4, 1844, at Stoddard, New Hampshire. His parents were Jacob and Mary (Harnden) Taylor. The former was a distinguished citizen of the old Granite state and represented his district in both houses of the legislature. Frank Tavlor had one brother, George Taylor, who died in 1889, and a sister, Mrs. Mary A. Woodbury.
Reared under the parental roof in a home where education and culture are valued at their true worth, he was provided with the opportunity of attending the public schools and the academy of his native town. His removal to Rochester when a young man of eighteen years, was followed by the establishment of the Taylor Brothers Ther- mometer works on Hill street. From a small be- ginning they built up an extensive enterprise, Frank Taylor continuing in business until 1900, when he became president of the Union Trust Company and relegated the direction of the ther- mometer works to other members of the firm al-
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though still retaining his financial interest. In the meantime he had extended his efforts to the fields of financial operation and is today at the head of one of the strong moneyed institutions of the city in the presidency of the Union Trust Company.
Mr. Taylor was married in 1875 to Miss Mary J. Averill, and they have a family of six children : Grace, Mary A., Ruth E., Laura K., Raymond A. and George H. His interest centers in his home and his circle of friends is seleet rather than large but those who know him in that relation find in him a most congenial and interesting compan- ion. He spends a large part of the year at his summer home at Manitou Beach, where he in- dulges his favorite hobby at the expense of the finny inhabitants of the lake. Politically he is a democrat and in Freemasonry has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is recognized as one of the safe, conservative busi- ness men of Rochester, who has built up both his commercial and banking interests by strict atten- tion to business and unremitting energy.
SARDIUS DELANCEY BENTLEY.
Sardius Delancey Bentley, a member of the Rochester bar, whose practice extends into all the state and federal courts, including the United States supreme court, was born in the town of Busti, Chautauqua county, New York, November 9, 1843, and is a son of Alexander and Lavantia Mary (Norton) Bentley, both of whom were na- tives of the state of New York. The father was a farmer by occupation and died on the old home- stead in 1895.
The early education of Mr. Bentley, the subject of this review, acquired in the common schools, was supplemented by study in Jamestown Acad- emy, the Randolph Academy, now Chamberlain Institute, and the University of Rochester. He was graduated from the last named institution in the class of 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and afterward taught school for two years, but regarded this merely as the initial step to other professional labor, and in 1872 began read- ing law in Rochester.
On the 9th of May, 1878, Mr. Bentley was mar- ried to Miss Martha Burr Cogswell, a native of Rochester and a daughter of William F. Cogswell. They have become the parents of six sons: Cogs- well, a practicing attorney, who was graduated from Yale College with the Bachelor of Arts de- gree, and also from the Yale Law School; Alex- ander N., an engineer who was graduated from Cornell University : Harold D., a broker; Delan- cey, who is a student in Cornell University ;
Charles Raymond, a student in Yale; and Liv- ingston, in the high school.
Mr. Bentley was admitted to practice at the October term of court of 1875 at Rochester and entered upon the active prosecution of his chosen profession in this city, where he has since con- tinued. He was a partner of William F. Cogswell for a number of years and later the firm name was changed to Cogswell, Bentley & Cogswell by the admission of William N. Cogswell to the firm. This relation was maintained until 1893, since which time Mr. Bentley has been alone in prac- tice, having a large and distinctively representa- tive clientage. He was admitted to practice in the United States supreme court in December, 1885, and has been admitted to all the federal courts of New York state. His practice has extended to all the courts and has been of such a character as de- mands wide and comprehensive understanding of the principles of jurisprudence. Well equipped by thorough preliminary reading. Mr. Bentley has, moreover, continued a student of his profes- sion and prepares his cases with great thorough- ness and care, entering the courtroom well equipped to meet the arguments of the opposition and to present his own cause with clearness, force and cogency.
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