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 73
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Mr. Genthner chose as a companion and help- mate for life's journey, Miss Lela Parks, to whom he was married in Newark, March 12, 1892. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the Maccabees. He is a public-spirited citizen, whose labors and efforts have been most effective in promoting the general welfare. Trustworthy in citizenship and reliable in business, he is faithful to every obligation that devolves upon him. Although still a young man he has already gained a prominent place in busi- ness circles in Despatch and undoubtedly the fu- ture holds for him greater successes.
PROFESSOR FRANKLIN H. BRIGGS.
Professor Frauklin H. Briggs, whose successful management as superintendent of the State Indus- trial School entitles him to more than passing no- tice, is widely recognized as one whose work partakes strongly of that humanitarianism which is becom- ing more and more a potent factor in the guidance of the delinquent. Holding advanced ideas upon the question of controlling and reclaiming to lives of usefulness and honor the boys in this school, he has proven that his theories are practical and that results accomplished are valuable.
Professor Briggs was born in Washington coun- tv, New York, January 13, 1858. His great- grandfather, Daniel Briggs, removed from Rhode Island to White Creek, near the Vermont border, at a very early day and with his sons established cotton and woolen mills a few miles above Cam- bridge, New York. The family is of Irish lineage, having been established, however, in Rhode Island prior to the Revolutionary war. The mother of Professor Briggs was Catherine (Wilbur) Briggs, a daughter of Humphrey Wilbur of Washington county, New York, whose family were among the first settlers of that part of the state. He and his brother, Joseph Wilbur, were noted ministers of the Quaker church and as such traveled through- out the state.
Professor Briggs supplemented his early educa- tion by study in the Angola Academy near Buffalo, New York, and pursued a classical course in the State Normal, from which he was graduated in 1883. He has also done non-resident work in the
Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington. His entire life has been devoted to educational work. From 1883 until 1890 he was principal of the Academy at Hamburg, New York, and after an open civil service examination in which there were fifteen or more contestants, he was appointed prin- cipal of schools at the State Industrial School and entered upon the duties of the office on the 1st of July of that year. He thus served until 1892, when he was promoted to superintendent of in- struction, which office included the supervision of both the technical and common schools. In that connection he remained with the institution until June 21, 1894, when he was appointed general superintendent of the State Industrial School and has since acted in that capacity. Under his charge are twenty-two teachers and seventeen instructors besides attendants, nurses, physicians, clerks and stenographers. At times during his superintend- ency the institution has numbered as high as nine hundred and thirty inmates.
From April 5, 1904, until July 15, 1907, the process of moving the school from its old location in a thickly settled section in the city of Rochester to a fourteen hundred acre tract in the town of Rush, twelve miles south of the city, took place. This change revolutionized the method of caring for delinquent boys. In the old institution in the city the boys were confined within stone walls twenty-two feet high and were divided into four large groups ranging from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and thirty-five in each. In their new home they live in widely separated cottages, only twenty-two being permanently assigned to each cottage, a condition that renders close and careful classification possible and avoids the moral contamination that ofteu resulted under the old system. Professor Briggs is continually studying to improve the condition of the school and to pro- mote its efficiency in the care of the physical, men- tal and moral well-being of those under his charge. His sympathetic nature is manifest in his treat- ment of the boys and the work which he is doing is founded upon that ideal which makes law not a system of punishments but a system of reclama- tion, converting waywardness to good citizenship and individual responsibility.
On the 9th of March, 1881, Professor Briggs was married to Miss Angie M. Knapp, a daughter of Ebenezer and Emeline (Thompson) Knapp, of Woodstock, Illinois. They have four children : Orlin Knapp, in the office of the Buffalo & Sus- quehanna Coal Company at Sagamore, Pennsylva- nia ; Gladys, the wife of Edmond Arnold Bonney, of Rochester; Grace, a sophomore at Smith Col- lege, Northampton, Massachusetts; and Franklin H., a student in the West high school of Roches- ter.
Professor Briggs is a member of the official board of the First Methodist Episcopal church and
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actively interested in its work. He belongs also to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and in poli- tics is a republican. He is well known through- out the state as a speaker, having delivered many addresses before prominent clubs of New York, also before the Social Club of the Unitarian church at Grand Rapids, Michigan, the National Conference of Charities and Corrections and the New York State Conference of Charities and Cor- rections.
HARPER R. DAY.
The failures of life are directly chargeable to a lack of consecutive effort, a ready discernment of business opportunities and unabating energy. It is these qualities which constitute a sure and safe foundation upon which to build success and in an analyzation of the life and work of Harper R. Day it is seen that he is lacking in none of these qualities requisite for the attainment of prosperity. Working at the meager wage of two dollars per day at the time of his marriage, he is now one of the most prominent representatives of real-estate in- terests in the city, being in charge of the real- estate department of the Monroe County Savings Bank.
Born in Rochester on the 13th of July, 1860. Mr. Dav comes of English lineage. His materna! grandfather, William Spraggins, was born at Godmanchester, England, and was a brick manu- facturer, who died in his native place when well advanced in years. In early manhood he wedded Miss Caroline Harper, whose death oceurred when she had reached the age of seventy-six years. They reared a large family, including Maria Harper Spraggins, whose birth occurred in Godman- chester.Hertfordshire, England, and who crossed the Atlantic to America in 1852. She had pre- viously become betrothed to William B. Day, a native of Rochester. Kent. and she followed him to this country a few months later. They were married in New York city and lived there until 1854, when they came to Rochester. Mr. Day was an artist-a portrait painter-and fol- lowed that profession for many years. His early life, however, was spent with the great English publisher, John Murray, and they attended the same church in Rochester, England. Mr. Day was also an intimate friend of Charles Dickens, being reared in the same neighborhood. Mr. Murray was a great entertainer and the leading lights of England used frequently to meet at his home. He was also a brother-in-law of the well known James Chichester. William B. Day was liberally educated in art, beacme a connoiseur and gathered many valuable works of art, which are still in possession of the family. His own paintings were
of superior order but in the early days of Roch- ester such work was not properly appreciated here and he finally turned his attention to contract painting. He was a man of classic face and fea- ture, of superior refinement and culture of man- ner and moved in the best circles of society, to which his genuine worth gained him entrance. He died in Rochester in 1886 at the age of sixty-five years, while his wife passed away November 2, 1904, at the age of seventy-six years. They were members of the Cornhill Methodist church of Rochester, Mrs. Day taking a particularly active part in the church work. Their family numbered two sons, Harper R. and Elmer W., the latter a wholesale leather dealer in Rochester.
Harper R. Day was born in Rochester, New York, where he has spent his entire life. He at- tended the public schools and the free academy and in his boyhood learned the painter's trade, serving his apprenticeship with George H. Thompson & Company, then the leading contracting firm of Rochester. He mastered the business and finally began contracting on his own account, succeeding his father in that trade. At a later date, however, he turned his attention to the field of real-estate operation and as time passed by accumulated con- siderable property, meeting with very gratifying success through his investments. He is still en- gaged in the real-estate business and his intimate and accurate knowledge thereof finally gained him his present position as superintendent of the real- estate department of the Monroe County Savings Bank, while his services and the benefit of his ex- perience are sought by other large institutions as an appraiser. He started in business life at the time of his marriage for a salary of two dollars per day and it has been entirely through his own labors and the utilization of opportunities that he has attained to his present prominent position in the business life of Rochester.
On the 18th day of September, 1877, Mr. Day was married to Miss Ida E. Bennett, a daughter of Cyrus R. and Clarissa (Cross) Bennett. Her father was for thirty-eight years an engineer on the Erie Railroad. There was one son born of that union, William B., who is a farmer of Conesus, New York, and a graduate of the free academy.
Mr. and Mrs. Harper R. Day are members of the Cornhill Methodist church, in the work of which they take an active and interested part. He is serving as a trustee and treasurer of the church and was a member of the building committee at the time of the erection of the new edifice. Mr. Day is extremely fond of outdoor sports and manly exercises, especially of hunting, and he owns a number of the finest pointers and setters in the state. He takes great pleasure in roaming the fields and woods of his suburban farm and preserve on the shore of Conesus lake. He belongs to the Rochester Athletic Club and is also a member
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
of Yonnondio lodge, No. 166, A. F. & A .M. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and is serving on the housing committee of that or- ganization. In this connection and in individual ways he has contributed to the upbuilding and im- provement of the city. Public spirited in an eminent degree, his labors have been of the great- est benefit to Rochester and at the same time he has carried on his private business interests with such energy that he has attained a place among the most successful men of his native city, pos- sessing now extensive and valuable realty hold- ings.
CHARLES O. FOX.
Charles O. Fox, secretary of the Sherwood Shoe Company of Rochester, was born in Naples, On- tario county, New York, on the 24th of June, 1860, and is one of the five living children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Randolph) Briggs, both of whom are now deceased. He lost his father when only two years old and was adopted by Chancey W. and Julia E. Fox, taking their name.
At the usual age Charles O. Fox entered the public schools of his native town and eventually pursued an academic course there. His education completed, he obtained employment in the general store of J. Conaughty, of Naples, with whom he re- mained for two or three years, when he went to Penn Yan, where he entered the dry goods house of Roenke & Rogers. He next spent one year in Dundee, but subsequently returned to Penn Yan, where he became connected with the shoe business in association with his uncle. Changes in the firm induced the adoption of the name of Long, Fox & Company and he continued with that house for several years. He afterward went west to Muncie, Indiana, in February, 1890, and estab- lished the firm of Smith & Fox, being for six years engaged in the shoe business in that city. In the spring of 1896 he came to Rochester and entered into business relations with the J. W. Jenkins Shoe Company. He has since been with that firm and its successors, the Sherwood Shoe Company, of which he is now the secretary. This house is a foremost representative of the shoe trade of Rochester and is conducting an extensive and gratifying business.
In 1887 Mr. Fox was joined in wedlock to Miss Sarah Jane Smith, a daughter of John Smith, of Canandaigua, New York, and they have one son, John Randolph, who is twelve years of age and is now attending school. The family home is at No. 14 Rawley street. Mr. Fox is a member of the Shoe and Leather Club of Rochester, an asso- ciation formed to advance the interests of shoe and
leather merchants and manufacturers and also to promote social relations among them. His po- litical allegiance is given to the republican party, yet he does not feel himself bound by party ties and frequently casts an independent ballot at local elections.
AUGUSTUS L. McKITTRICK.
Augustus L. McKittrick was born January 28, 1846, in London, Ontario, and is the son of Pat- rick and Mary (Bassett) McKittrick. He re- ceived the ordinary education incident to his native land, attending school and working during his spare hours until he had attained the age of four- teen. With the idea of making his own way in the world, he set out to secure employment and found it in a dry-goods store at London, where he worked for two years. At the age of sixteen he saw larger possibilities in the city of Rochester and accordingly made his way here, working at first for Burke, FitzSimons, Hone & Company, with whom he has been ever since. He began as salesman for this firm but was soon promoted to the position of buyer and was finally given an in- terest in the business.
In 1864 Mr. McKittrick entered the United States navy on the ship Ceres, engaged in chasing blockade runners. At the close of the war, in 1865, he went to China with Admiral Bell on the old historic Hartford to investigate the massacre of American residents of Formosa. This was at the time that Lieutenant Colonel Mckinstry was shot and killed. Mr. MeKittrick accompanied the remains to Shanghai and for two years was in that locality. His ship, the Hartford, on which he was paymaster sergeant, became famous as the first foreign vessel to cruise through the inland seas of Japan. When she set out on this trip all of the English speaking residents told the officers that they would never return alive but they came through all right, though the Hartford was five months in getting home.
In January, 1868, Mr. McKittrick reached Rochester, returning to the business which he had left and in which he became the manager of the millinery, muslin underwear and white goods de- partment. He has enjoyed his work wherever it led him and whatever the nature of the same. This spirit has been a principal feature in his suc- cess and has enabled him to maintain his good health and good spirits and enjoy the best of life while he has been actively engaged in its work.
In 1873, Mr. McKittrick was united in mar- riage to Catherine Talling and to their union have been born five children. He is a member of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in which he is a very hard worker, and in politics is inde-
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pendent. In addition to his other business duties he is a director of the Rochester Composite Brick Company.
WILLIAM H. PERKINS.
William H. Perkins was for many years a mem- ber of a wholesale grocery house of Rochester and his life record was characterized by all that is com- mendable in the business man and the citizen, who realizes fully the obligations and responsibilities of life. He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in July, 1819, and accompanied his parents on their removal to Geneseo, New York, in his youth. He came with them to Rochester when in his twen- tieth year and for a year thereafter he was engaged in the milling business in connection with Charles A. Hill. Later he was employed in the bank for some time and in 1838 he went with E. F. Smith, a grocer, in the capacity of bookkeeper. His value was recognized by his employer, who in 1842 admitted him to a partnership under the firm name of E. F. Smith & Company and he continued with the house until one year prior to his death. The wholesale business of the house was established in 1826 and has been continued since that time, being now conducted under the firm style of Smith, Perkins & Company, for a son of William H. Perkins is today a member of the firm. The only one now with the firm who was connected with it when William H. Perkins was a partner is a Mr. Brown, who was at that time a boy and has since continued with the house-one of its most trusted and faithful employes.
William H. Perkins married Miss Sarah Dewey, a daughter of Professor Chester Dewey, who came to Rochester in May, 1836, from Massachusetts. He had been a professor in Williams College and on his removal to western New York he engaged in teaching in the high school of Rochester, so serving for several years. He was employed as a teacher in many of the large educational institu- tions of the east and after the establishment of the University of Rochester he became a teacher of natural science, acting in that capacity for some time. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Perkins were born a son and daughter: George, who is now a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Smith, Perkins & Company; and Mary, the wife of William J. Averill, of Ogdensburg, New York.
In politics Mr. Perkins was a stanch demo- crat, recognized as one of the leaders of his party for many years and for a number of years he served as county treasurer, being a most faithful custodian of the public funds. He belonged to the Masonic lodge and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he was a member of the First Presbyterian church of Rochester, continuing to
act as its treasurer for many years. He was a very successful business man, constantly alert to promote new interests that had bearing upon the development and growth of the trade. Business probity was also an unquestioned factor in his life and the house with which he was connected bore an unassailable reputation for reliability. Moreover, his social qualities brought him many friends and he was a man well liked. He started out in business in a humble capacity but he was quick to note and utilize the opportunities which surrounded him and as the years passed be became a force in commercial circles in Rochester, while the business became constantly more prosperous and profitable. When his death occurred the com- munity thereby lost one of its representative and honored citizens. His widow still resides in Roch- ester, where she has made her home since 1849, and she now owns a beautiful residence at No. 174 Spring street, her brother, Dr. Dewey, residing there with her. She belongs to the First Pres- byterian church of Rochester and her entire life is in consistent harmony with her professions.
JOHN E. OTTAWAY, M. D ..
Dr. John E. Ottaway, a general practitioner of Charlotte, stands today as a distinguished repre- sentative of the medical fraternity, for through two decades of an active practice he has kept in touch with the advancement and progress being made in the profession and his service has there- fore proved of the greatest possible value to his fellowmen. He is a native son of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in Oneida, Oneida coun- ty, April 23, 1861. He is one of four children whose parents are Charles and Mary (Collins) Ottaway, natives of England and of Ireland re- spectively. Their marriage, however, occurred in this country. The other members of the family are: Rev. George Ottaway, who is rector of the Episcopal church at Canisteo, New York; Mrs. Anna Greybill, a missionary of the Presbyterian board at Linares, Mexico ; and James, who follows farming in Yates county, New York.
Dr. Ottaway, the third in order of birth in his father's family, was a little lad of six years when his parents removed from his native city to Clin- ton, Oneida county, and there he was reared and educated. After completing his studies in the Clinton grammar school, he pursued a course of study in the preparatory school for boys, while in 1882 he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, being graduatd from that institution in 1886. The following year he located in Charlotte and with the exception of one year spent in Alaska, has since engaged in practice at
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
this place, having built up a large and lucrative patronage. That his skill and ability have been thoroughly demonstrated is indicated by the fact that Dr. Ottaway is now acting assistant surgeon of Public Health and Marine Hospital service at Charlotte and he is also surgeon for the New York Central Railroad.
Dr. Ottaway was married in 1900 to Miss Alice Atkins, a daughter of Rev. L. S. Atkins, a Metho- dist minister of the Genesee conference. Aside from his professional duties the Doctor takes a deep interest in natural history, especially in ornithology, and he has the finest private collec- tion of birds in the state of New York. He is a Mason, belonging to Genesee Falls lodge, and in religious faith holds membership with the Presby- terian church. He keeps in touch with the medi- cal profession through his membership in the State and County Medical Societies. The Doctor and his wife are prominent in social circles and they possess many sterling characteristics which endear them to all with whom they are associated. 1
H. WHEELER DAVIS.
In his business life H. Wheeler Davis has been most prosperous and is regarded by all who know him as exceptionally sure and conservative, yet he does not lack that progressive spirit that prompts the forward step and the adoption of new methods that promise satisfactory returns. He was born January 26, 1838, at Gainesville, Wyoming coun- ty, New York. His parents were Joel G. and Sarah M. (Bristol) Davis, who celebrated their golden wedding at their home on Lake avenue in Rochester, September 1, 1885. In early life the father was a farmer. In 1855 he turned his atten- tion to the milling business and for thirty years, dating from 1870, was one of Rochester's promi- nent merchant millers, operating the Jefferson mills and the Granite mills. Both he and his wife were consistent and loyal members of the Brick Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Davis served as a ruling elder for many years. In the ancestry there are strains of Puritan, Welsh and Huguenot blood.
H. Wheeler Davis acquired his education in Pike Seminary and in Middlebury Academy at Wyoming, New York. His early ambition was to become a civil engineer and his studies were di- rected to that end, but his first step in the business world was as a teacher of a district school, follow- ing the profession for two terms. In 1858 he en- tered the employ of a large firm of railroad con- tractors at Vincennes, Indiana, and continuously remained in that service up to the time of the out- break of the Civil war. During the period of hos-
tilities between the north and the south he was in the government employ on military railroads, and from 1865 until 1870 was connected with the Mc- Callum Bridge Company, which built large nuni- bers of wooden railway bridges in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. When five years had passed in that way Mr. Davis began contracting on his own account, constructing several miles of wooden pavement in Cincinnati, also building railroads in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana and Ken- tucky until 1875.
That year witnessed the arrival of Mr. Davis in Rochester, New York, where he embarked in the inilling business as the associate of his father, Joel G. Davis, who was then conducting the Jefferson mills. The firm of J. G. Davis & Son did a large and prosperous business in that plant up to the time of the vacuum oil explosion, which on the 21st of December, 1887, totally destroved the mill. In the summer of 1888 they resumed business as proprietors of the Granite mills under the firm name of J. G. Davis & Company, M. F. Bristol being associated with father and son in this en- terprise. In 1899 the business was incorporated under the name of the J. G. Davis Company, at which time J. G. Davis retired. The Granite mills are unsurpassed in size in Rochester and a large and prosperous business is being conducted. H. Wheeler Davis is now president of the company, with Martin F. Bristol as vice president and treasurer, and George G. Davis secretary. Aside from his milling interests Mr. Davis was one of the incorporators, directors and vice president of the Citizens Light & Power Company. He is also one of the incorporators and directors of the Roch- ester Telephone Company and is not unknown in banking circles, having been a director of the Commercial National Bank for ten years, while at this writing he is a director of the National Bank of Rochester.
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