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 64
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
of February, 1879, while his wife passed away on the 28th of December, 1866. They were the par- ents of five children, of whom three are now living, the eldest, William, and Eliza, the fourth of the family, being now deceased. The others are: James H .; Elizabeth, who is the widow of Clark Campbell, and has one son, their home being on Grove street in Rochester ; and Isabelle, who is now living in Sheldon, Iowa.
James Henry West acquired a common-sehool education and has always resided upon the old homestead, coming into possession of the property at the time of his father's death. He has carried on the business along even more progressive lines, has built extensive greenhouses and one of the finest packing houses in the state. There is an abundant supply of water, coming from a well that cannot be pumped dry and he has installed an eighteen horse power gasoline engine for pump- ing purposes. The water is piped so that he can sprinkle about four acres of his garden, and in the conduct of his business he has developed an en- terprise exceeding that of all other market garden- ers of the county. He produces vegetables of the finest variety, always using the best seed for plant- ing and in all of his work he is following methods which are thoroughly in keeping with the modern ideas of the present.
On Christmas day of 1871 Mr. West was united in marriage to Miss Emma Jewett, a native of England, who came to America in early childhood with her parents, John and Eliza (Ellston) Jew- ett, who were farming people and became residents of the town of Brighton. Unto Mr. and Mrs. West have been born four sons and two daughters, Chauneey, James Henry, Mary Ellen, George Thompson, Maud Isabelle and Russell Allen. The elder daughter is the wife of John D. Rudman and they live near her father. The other children are all at home. The younger daughter is principal of Irondequoit Union school. The two daughters are graduates of the Geneseo Normal school and all of the children have been provided with good educational privileges. The three eldest sons have seven and a quarter acres of fine gardening land at the corner of North Portland avenue and the Ridge road. upon which are extensive greenhouses and every equipment for the successful conduct of a market gardening business. They purehased this property from David Heffer and are winning for themselves an excellent reputation in the field of business activity which they have chosen as a life work.
Mr. West is a stalwart republican in polities and is a member of Grange No. 849. The family are all members of the Memorial Presbyterian ehureh and are most highly esteemed people, the hospi- tality of the best homes of this part of the county being freely aeeorded them. Mr. West has attained splendid success in business and he now keeps fine
horses, carriages and an automobile. He is en- abled to provide his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life, and he owes his prosperity to his elose application and unfaltering diligence, correctly applied. His life work is an example of what may be accomplished in this di- rection and while winning prosperity he has at the same time gained an untarnished name.
WILLIAM ANSCOMB. -
William Anscomb, a farmer and dairyman of Pittsford township, was born here and is a son of Abel and Catherine (Adamson) Anseomb, the former a native of England and the latter of Seotland. The father emigrated to the new world when a youth of eighteen years, at which time he settled in Pittsford, where he worked at candle- making and butehering. He also assisted in the building of the Midland Railroad. His death oc- curred in 1883, while his wife passed away at the very early age of twenty-eight years, leaving two sons, the brother of our subject being Thomas Anseomb, who is a hardware merchant of Roeh- ester.
William Anscomb, the elder of the two children, spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof and acquired his education in the schools of Pittsford. In choosing an oceupa- tion he deeided upon agricultural pursuits and in 1868 began farming for himself, at which time he also established a home by his marriage to Miss Minerva Eliza Nye, who was likewise born in Pittsford, a daughter of Lorin and Eliza Davis (Huntington) Nye. The father was born in Pittsford, in 1809, a son of Silas Nye, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Monroe county. In 1848 Lorin Nye purchased the farm upon which our subject now resides, making all of the im- provements upon the place which are seen to- day. He engaged in farming until the time of his death, which occurred in 1881, and he was long survived by his wife, who departed this life June 16, 1904, at the very advanced age of eighty- six years. Lorin Nye had a brother, Hiram Nye, who earried on farming on the old Nye home- stead and also was engaged in the nursery busi- ness. He, too, is deceased. He was a promi- nent citizen of this locality and at one time served as road commissioner.
Mr. Anscomb and his wife have spent their en- tire married life upon the farm which is still their home and in addition to cultivating the land he is also aeting as local agent for all kinds of farm implements, having been thus engaged for the past eighteen years, while for the past twenty years he has handled a fertilizer. At the present time
WILLIAM ANSCOMB.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
he is giving his attention more exclusively to the dairy business, keeping for this purpose nine cows.
As a supporter of the republican party, Mr. Ans- comb takes an active interest in local politics, hav- ing since 1884 served in one official capacity or another. For six years he was road commissioner and for the past eight years has served as town assessor, being the present incumbent in that of- fice. He is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, in which he served as master for four years. He also holds membership with Ionic chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Rochester.
Mr. Anscomb is an enterprising and public- spirited man, whose record as a public official, as a business man and a private citizen has been so honorable that he has gained the confidence and good will of all with whom he has brought in contact.
DEAN L. BUTLER.
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To the business men who have made their own way to success a town is accustomed to look for aid in its growth. They are men who have the energy and the determination not only to see what is best for a town, but to carry their plans to fulfillment. For this reason Brockport has always relied on Dean L. Butler. He was born there on the 19th of March, 1867, and is a son of David J. and Mary Butler. Although a resident of Brockport, the father was engaged in the furniture business in Rochester for fifteen years, but in 1877 he em- barked in business in his home town, dealing in flour and feed for some time. He was also inter- ested in other enterprises, but is now living a re- tired life. In 1862, during the dark davs of the Civil war, he enlisted in the Twenty-first New York Cavalry and served for three years.
Dean L. Butler began his education at the age of seven years in the Brockport Normal School, where he continued his studies until 1891. He then assumed charge of his father's flour and feed business, which he carried on most successfully. In 1899 he began carrying mail, a position in which he served efficiently for six years. The op- portunity for starting in the coal business present- ed itself and he has since devoted his attention to that line of trade and has built up an excellent business.
In 1895 Mr. Butler was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Detcher, of Rochester, and to then has been born one child, Dorothy Dean, now five years of age. He is a much respected member of the Sons of Veterans and is also connected with the Business Men's Association of Brockport. In 1896 he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and has held several offices in his lodge. In
politics he is a stalwart republican and he holds membership in the Presbyterian church. In busi- ness affairs he is notably reliable and his prosperity has not been based on others' losses, but is due to his own efforts, and in promoting his own inter- ests he has advanced the general welfare.
ROBERT C. BARKER.
Robert C. Barker, engaged in the real-estate business in Rochester with offices in the Powers building, handles both city and country property and is engaged in loaning money. He has thus been associated with the business circles of the city since 1891 and the policy which he pursues is one which commends him to the confidence and trust of all who have business relations with him.
Mr. Barker was born in Mendon, Monroe coun- tv, on the 10th of June, 1843, a son of William G. Barker, who was born in 1809 and came to Monroe county at an early period in its develop- ment. He devoted his life to farming and at- tained the venerable age of ninety years. He be- longed to the Society of Friends or Quakers, gave his political allegiance to the whig party and was a stanch advocate of abolition. He frequently lectured from the same platform as Fred Douglass and did not a little to mold public opinion in antebellum days.
Robert C. Barker was one of twins in a family of seven children, of whom five sons are yet living. He was educated in the rural schools, spending his boyhood days at Mendon upon the home farm, where he early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. On starting out in business on his own account he chose farming as a life work and was thus identified with agricultural pursuits until the time of his removal to Rochester. His farming interests were largely in the state of Delaware. In 1891 he retired from that department of ac- tivity to become a factor in real-estate circles in Rochester, where he has now operated for about seventeen years. He handles city and country property, has thoroughly acquainted himself with realty values and has secured a good clientage. He also makes loans and his business from the beginning has been a profitable and well conducted one.
Mr. Barker was married in June, 1865, to Miss Alice M. Smith, a daughter of Squire Smith, of Honeoye Falls, Monroe county. To them were born five children, of whom two are yet living: Frank M., who is freight agent for the Lehigh Valley Railroad; and George E., who is doing a good business as the owner and manager of the Rochester Roofing Company.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
In his political views Mr. Barker is a republican, and his religious faith is that of the Universalist church. While his life record has been less spec- tacular than that of many who have figured promi- nently in military or political circles, it is none the less essential or none the less important, for it represents the good utilization of the innate talents which are his and the faithful perform- ance of daily duties.
FRANK SHAW UPTON.
Frank Shaw Upton, born in Keene, New Hamp- shire, on January 15, 1851, has been practically a life-long resident of Rochester. The established records of the Upton family extend hack to the Norman conquest. One branch in those days spelled the name L'Upton, and a member, Cheva- lier John L'Upton, was a Knight of Malta. Short- ly after William the Conqueror ascended the throne another branch of the family, then De Up- peton, settled at what is now Upton, Cornwall. England. The original ancestral records of the family are preserved at Ingmire Hall, Westmore- land. From this branch came John Upton, a sturdy Scotchman and strict Presbyterian, who settled in 1652 in what was then Salem, now Danvers. Massachusetts. According to family tra- ditions John Upton was taken prisoner by Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650, or of Worcester, a year later, and sent to America, and that his wife was Eleanor Stuart, more or less distantly related to the Scottish royal house of that name.
A great-great-great-grandson of John Upton was David Upton, born in Stoddard, New Hampshire, in 1816, who was the father of Frank Shaw Upton. His wife was Mary C. Deyo, of Chatham, New York. David Upton was a railroad man and identified for many years with the Boston & Al- banv, Western and Cheshire Railroads. In 1852 he removed to Rochester, where he became associ- ated with the New York Central Railroad as mas- ter mechanic, which position he occupied for about twenty years. He resigned to become a member of the firm of M. Brayer & Company, extensive manufacturers of staves and headings. He died in Rochester at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. Upton died at Rochester in 1901, at the age of seventy-four.
Frank Shaw Upton was duly graduated from the Rochester public schools and entered the Sat- terlee Collegiate Institute. He withdrew from the latter when he was about nineteen, to take a posi- tion in the office of the Star Chemical Works, manufacturers of perfumery, flavoring extracts and toilet soaps, conducted in the name of N. O.
Vosburgh & Company and practically owned by Mr. Upton's father. It was thought that Mr. Upton's position in the office of the firm was tem- porary, but Mr. Vosburgh became ill, and a change of climate being necessary, removed to Denver. Mr. Upton therefore remained in the of- fice. He became a member of the firm in 1872 and continued as such until 1875, when the business was sold. Mr. Upton at once affiliated himself with the Kelly Lamp Works as its vice president and treasurer. The business of the company was the manufacture of locomotive headlights, railroad lanterns and similar articles. In 1890 the com- pany was merged with other large concerns in the same line of business under the corporate name of the United States Headlight Company, with prin- cipal offices and factory in Buffalo, New York. Of this company Mr. Upton has been a director since its incorporation.
In 1894 Mr. Upton became interested in the Dominion Construction Company, organized for the purpose of building the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railroad, which connects two great trunk lines, the Canadian Pacific and the New York Cen- tral lines. He was vice president of the Construc- tion Company and was stationed at Hamilton, Ontario, as the financial representative of the syn- dicate during the period of construction. After the road was opened Mr. Upton was identified with its operation as assistant to the president.
He resigned in 1899 to return to the mercantile arena as participant in the promotion of the New York & Kentucky Company, a corporation having an authorized capital of six million dollars and owning and operating distilleries, wholesale and rectifying houses in Boston; New York, Albany, Waterloo, Rochester and Buffalo, New York : Car- rollton, Maryland: Frankfort, Kentucky ; and St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Upton was chosen treasurer and a director of the corporation and has been its financial officer since its inception.
Through the connection of some of his associ- ates with the cider and vinegar industries, Mr. Up- ton became identified with the organization of the "American Fruit Product Company," having an authorized capital of five million dollars, formed to manufacture and deal in cider, vinegar, evap- orated fruits, etc., which owns and operates many plants in the states of Massachusetts, New York and Michigan. He is a director and treasurer of the company.
Mr. Upton also took an active part in the organ- ization of the Duffy-MeInnerney Company, of Rochester, capitalized at two million dollars, which owns and operates the largest department store in western New York. He is treasurer and a director of the company. He is also a director of the Cen- tral Bank of Rochester and president of the Fit%- hugh Realty Company.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
Mr. Upton's first experience in public life was in 1884, when he was elected to the common coun- cil as alderman from what was then the ninth ward, for a term of two years. During his incum- bency he served as chairman of the finance and law committees. He declined a second term. Later he was nominated state senator by his Rochester democratic constituents, but declined to accept. He was one of the commissioners in charge of the construction of the west side trunk sewer, one of the largest municipal enterprises undertaken in Rochester in recent years. Mr. Upton has always been a democrat, but voted for Mckinley in 1896 and again in 1900. He was a stanch supporter of Grover Cleveland from the time the latter became a candidate for governor.
Mr. Upton is and has been since he reached the age of twenty-one years a member of Rochester lodge, No. 660, F. & A. M .; Ionie chapter, No. 210, R. A. M .; and Cyrene commandery, No. 39, Knights Templar. He was a member of the old Protectives for five years, and by virtue of such service is an exempt fireman. He has been identi- fied with the Chamber of Commerce since its or- ganization, becoming a charter member. He be- came a member of the Brick Presbyterian church of Rochester in 1842 and served as a member of the board of trustees thereof for a number of years.
Mr. Upton was married at Fern Bank, Ohio, June 5, 1902, to Miss Rilla H. Johnson, daughter of John F. and Josephine H. Johnson, formerly of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Upton has one daughter, Rilla Josephine Upton, born October 25, 1905, at No. 194 Riverside Drive, New York city, where the family resided for a few years.
The highly important work done by Mr. Upton while a member of the common council has been eclipsed by his increasing reputation as a financial officer of large corporations. If he has one talent more pronounced than others, it is for the direc- tion and carrying out of the financial policy of manufacturing and mercantile corporations. That this ability is of high order and recognized and appreciated by his associates is abundantly evi- denced by the positions he holds in some of the representative enterprises in Rochester and else- where.
JOHN E. DOYLE.
John E. Doyle, who is engaged in the leather and shoe supply business in Rochester, is num- bered among the native sons of the country. He was born in Fairport, on the 9th of Jannary, 1876. His father, Patrick Doyle, is a prominent lawyer and judge of Fairport. His family numbered six children, including John E. Doyle, who acquired
his early education in the Carter district school and afterward attended the Rochester Business In- stitute. Subsequently he became connected with the Boot & Shoe Manufacturing Company, and for nine years was with that house, working his way upward from one position of responsibility to another, his promotion coming to him in recogni- tion of his trustworthiness and fidelity. When he had been with the company for nine years he re- signed and went upon the road as traveling sales- man for a shoe company, with which he continued for a year. The careful husbanding of his re- sources in this time enabled him on the expiration of that period to embark in business for himself and he is now located at the corner of Water and Andrew streets, where he has been located for five years as a dealer in leather and shoe supplies. Since entering the field of business activity he has been interested in the leather trade in one phase or another and few men have broader or more accur- ate knowledge of the business or can better judge of the value of a piece of leather. This is one of the elements of his success, which is based upon his indefatigable energy and strong purpose.
On the 16th of October. 1906, Mr. Dovle was married to Miss Margaret Hoffman, a daughter of James Hoffman, of Fairport. He is popular and prominent socially and is now secretary of the Jefferson Club. Since a young man in his teens he has made his home in Rochester, closely identi- fied with the interests of the city, and the spirit of progressive American manhood has actuated him in all his relations and prompted his co- operation in many movements which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride.
CLARENCE WHEELER.
Clarence Wheeler, of the Wheeler-Green Electric Company at Nos. 57-59 North St. Paul street, Rochester, is one of the native sons of the Empire state,. his birth having occurred in Fleming, Cay- uga county, March 3, 1847. He represents one of the old colonial families, tracing his ancestry back to Captain Edward Wheeler of Revolutionary war fame. His son, Edward Wheeler, was a native of New York and was a farmer by occupation. He had a grant of land from the government of six hundred and forty acres, embracing a part of the present site of the city of Auburn, New York.
George Wheeler, father of Clarence Wheeler, was born in New York and for many years followed farming in Cayuga county. He also carried on general agricultural pursuits in Maryland and then entered the employ of the government as cap- tain of the watch in the United States printing office at Washington. He was a soldier of the
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
Civil war, enlisting in Company A, Eighth New York Cavalry, and was in Andersonville prison. His wife died in 1898, at the age of fifty-five years, but Mr. Wheeler still survives. His political sup- port is given to the republican party. Mrs. Wheel- er bore the maiden name of Laura Covell and was a native of Rhode Island. By her marriage she became the mother of four sons and two daughters and four of the family are now living, namely : Bertram C., of Washington, D. C .; Clarence, of this review; Harold, also of Washington; and Adrienne, the wife of William R. Dunham, of New Haven, Connecticut.
Clarence Wheeler was reared in Fleming, New York, Charles county, Maryland, and Washington, D. C. He attended the district and the city schools and learned the electrical business in Roch- ester, coming to this city in 1894. He was in the employ of the Rochester Gas & Electric Company for some time and in 1901 he entered into partner- ship with Thomas H. Green and Whiting J. Da Lee for the conduct of a business as electrical contractors and jobbers. They sell electric motors and supplies of all kinds, beside doing a general electric business. Mr. Wheeler is president of the company, which employs two hundred men. Al- though it has had an existence of but six years, their business extends to various parts of the Em- pire state and is constantly growing. He is also vice president of the Mohawk Electric Supply Company, of Utica, a large electrical jobbing con- cern ; president of the Hydro Press Company, of Rochester, manufacturers of hydraulic presses; and president of the Addison Lithographing Com- pany, of Rochester.
Mr. Wheeler is a member of Glens Falls lodge, A. F. & A. M., has attained the thirty-second de- gree of the Scottish Rite and is one of the nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to Floral lodge, I. O. O. F.
On the 5th of September, 1900, Mr. Wheeler wedded Miss Blanche M. Feiock, a daughter of Michael and Jane (Malbin) Feiock, and to this union has been born one son, Le Moine.
JOHN MALLORY LEE, M. D.
John Mallory Lee, a native of this state, was born in Cameron, Steuben county, on the 29th of September, 1852, and he is among the most promi- nent physicians engaged in practice at Rochester. He is descended from good old Revolutionary stock. His paternal great-grandfather aided the colonies in their struggle for independence and members of his family served in the late war of the Rebellion. The doctor's grandfather was one of the early settlers of Steuben county, New
York, where he carried on farming for many years, and there the Doctor's father, Joseph R. Lee, spent his entire life. He engaged in business as a contractor and builder throughout the years of his manhood; he also served as justice of the peace and was a deacon and chorister in the Baptist church of South Pulteney. In early life he married Miss Sarah Wagener, a daugh- ter of Melchoir Wagener and a granddaugh- ter of David Wagener, who was of German birth and a Quaker. He removed from Pennsylvania to Yates county, New York, at an early day and became the owner of a large tract of land on which Penn Yan was afterward laid out. He was prominently identified with the de- velopment and upbuilding of the village, to which he gave its name taken from "Penn" and "Yankee." He contributed the site for the ceme- tery and was the first white man to be buried there. His oldest son, Melchoir, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, moved to Pulteney in 1811 where he purchased a section of land and developed extensive milling interests. During her girlhood days Mrs. Lee attended the Franklin Academy at Prattsburg, New York, where she was graduated. She died in 1898 at the age of ninety-three years and long survived her husband, who passed away in 1861. They were people of prominence in the community where they made their home and were highly respected.
Left fatherless at the early age of nine years, Dr. Lee has practically made his own way in the world and success is due to his untiring efforts. He attended the schools of Pulteney, Steuben county ; the Penn Yan Academy, and was also in- structed by a college professor at Palo, Michigan, where he was employed as clerk in a drug store for three years. Under his guidance Dr. Lee was fitted to enter college and he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1878 with the degree of M. D.
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