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 78
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CHRISTOPHER HENRY METCALFE.
Christopher Henry Metcalfe, a gardener of Irondequoit township, conducting a successful and growing business, was born in England in 1860 and was reared in his native country, but when a young man of twenty-two years he determined to try his fortune in the new world and in 1882 bade adieu to friends and native land. He then crossed the Atlantic and later was followed by five of his brothers, four of whom are still living in Monroe county. Christopher H. Metcalfe arrived in the United States with a cash capital of but twenty- five dollars and at once started to work his way upward in the world. That he has succeeded is indicated by the fact that he now owns a fine place, which he purchased in 1902. He also owned a small place prior to that time, which he sold. He has built a beautiful residence, large and com- modious greenhouses and substantial barns, and now has a place excellently well equipped for the conduct of his business. He has thirteen acres of land with gravel beds of about twenty feet under- neath most of it, and he sells thousands of loads of gravel each year. He is also engaged in the' raising and sale of garden produce, keeping a wagon for the delivery of such goods.
Mr. Metcalfe has been married twice and by his first union had two daughters, Ethel and Rose. His present wife bore the maiden name of Miss
Stella Brown and was a resident of Penfield, Monroe county. In his political views Mr. Met- calfe is independent. His time and energies have been largely concentrated upon his business af- fairs, in which he has done well, and he is now numbered among the thrifty, industrious and pros- perous residents of Irondequoit.
THOMAS J. SWANTON.
Thomas J. Swanton, vice-president and cashier of the National Bank of Commerce, is a native of Fairport, New York, and a son of Robert and Mary J. Swanton. The removal of the family to Rochester during his early boyhood caused Thomas J. Swanton to be reared in this city. He attended the public schools and was graduated from the Free Academy in the class of 1881. He took up the study of law in the office of John R. Fanning but after two years, abandoning his in- tention of becoming a member of the bar, entered the employ of Raymond & Ashley, insurance agents, with whom he remained for six months. From 1883 until 1906 he was with the Commer- cial Bank, resigning the position of cashier Janu- ary 17, 1906, to organize the National Bank of Commerce, which institution was opened for busi- ness on the 1st of March, 1906. Its stockholders are men of business prominence and stability and its officers men of experience in banking circles, so that its success was assured.
On the 10th of July, 1889, Mr. Swanton was married to Miss Georgiana Hopkins, a daughter of Edward L. and Susan M. Hopkins. They have two children, Hobart P. and Edward R. Mr. Swanton is a member of the Yonnondio lodge of Masons, and he and his wife are communicants of the Episcopalian church. They reside at No. 75 Westminster road, where they have an attractive and hospitable home.
NATHAN BRIDGE PERRY.
Nathan Bridge Perry, whose business activity, crowned with success, whose fidelity to duty and whose honorable purpose gained him the respect and esteem of his fellowmen, was born in South Newfane, Vermont, September 25, 1829, a son of Pardon and Sally (Bridge) Perry, both of Puritan ancestry, belonging to old families of Massachu- setts, although both the father and mother were natives of Vermont, and as a life work Pardon Perry followed the occupation of farming. The name of Bridge figures prominently in history, and in the maternal line Nathan B. Perry was descended from Deacon John Bridge, who came
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from England in 1630 and founded the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was he who made the suggestion that gave rise to the movement re- sulting in the establishment of Harvard College. He was also representative to the general court and held other high positions for those days. His son, Matthew Bridge, was the founder of Lexing- ton, Massachusetts, where in later years occurred the first battle of the Revolutionary war. A grand- father, father and son of the Bridge family fought in that battle. Nathan Perry by reason of this service was eligible to membership in several pa- triotic societies.
A common country-school education brought to Nathan B. Perry a knowledge of the elementary branches of the English language. He was the son of a family in comfortable circumstances and from early youth manifested exemplary habits. He never smoked nor chewed tobacco and never used alcoholic drinks save for medicinal pur- poses. His entire life was honorable and upright in every relation and his example is indeed worthy of emulation. At the age of nineteen years he left home for New York city to work for an uncle in a baking business and learned the trade. He was connected with an enterprise of that char- acter in New York for a few years, after which he sold out and for nine years served on the police force of that city. Later he removed to Cincin- nati, Ohio, where he successfully conducted a bakery, and later he continued in the same line of business successively in Cleveland, Detroit and Rochester, New York, making a specialty of pies. He came to Rochester on the 13th of December, 1879, and founded the business which is still being carried on by his son-a wholesale pie bakery. The enterprise proved profitable from the begin- ning and has long been accounted one of the lead- ing business interests of the city. In addition to his commercial pursuits Mr. Perry owned a large farm at South Newfane, Vermont, for many years. As he approached the evening of life, having ac- quired a handsome competence through his intel- ligently directed labor in former years, he retired from active business and spent his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. In 1902 he suffered an apoplectic stroke and died from cerebral apoplexy March 2, 1907, when seventy- seven years of age, at the residence of his daugh- ter, Mrs. George B. White, at Brattleboro, Ver- mont.
Mr. Perry was married in New York city, May 25, 1853, to Miss Isabella Knight Erskine, a daughter of Colonel William Erskine, of the Brit- ish army. Their children were: Minnie E., who became the wife of Fred C. Elmer; Ada F., the wife of Henry O. Bowker; Nellie A., the wife of George B. White; and George N., who married Miss Lella Cook and is now his father's successor in business in Rochester.
In politics Mr. Perry was a stalwart republican from the organization of the party and he belonged to the Disciples church with which he united in Cincinnati in 1876. In every community where he lived for any length of time he enjoyed to the fullest extent the respect and confidence of all who knew him -- young and old, rich and poor. His was an honorable, useful and upright career and as the years passed he advanced not only in ma- terial success but also in the good will and confi- dence of those with whom he was associated. His history is another illustration of possibilities that are open for young men in this land where labor is king. He was a man of scrupulous honor and there was never any questionable or devious matter charged to him. He reached an advanced age and in the fullness of years passed away, leaving to his family an honored name.
REV. DIETRICH LAURENZIS.
Rev. Dietrich Laurenzis, rector of the Holy Family church in Rochester, was born in Let- mathe, Westphalia, Germany, on the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1854. He was educated in the College of Paderborn, Westphalia, and at the University of Innsbruck in the Tyrol, Austria, and after thor- ough preliminary study he was ordained to the priesthood on the 25th of July, 1875. Coming to America for labor in the Catholic field of this country, he was made assistant at St. Patrick's cathedral in Rochester, New York, and on the 4th of May, 1884, was appointed rector of the Holy Family church, over which he has presided for twenty-three years. He is a scholarly man and his parish has grown under his care to one of the largest and most important in the city. He mani- fests earnest devotion to the welfare of his par- ishioners, who entertain for him the warmest re- gard. He has done much to introduce and main- tain a Christianizing influence in his section of the city and his church is there recognized as a power for good.
J. MOREAU SMITH.
A life of activity crowned with honors and suc- cesses constitutes the record made by J. Moreau Smith, president of the Rochester Trust & Safe Deposit Company. He has a clear and comprehen- sive mind and is able not only to conceive great projects but also to execute well directed plans, as is evidenced by the fact that he is today at the head of the largest institution of the kind in the state of New York outside of New York city. His entrance into business life was characterized
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by no specially advantageous circumstances but the recognition of the opportune moment and the improvement of advantages such as come to the great majority have enabled him to make steady advance until Rochester numbers him among its most prominent financiers, while in banking circles throughout the state he is well known.
Mr. Smith was born in Burlington, Otsego county, New York, October 17, 1829, his parents being Robert Hartwick and Harriet (Watson) Smith. His father was born in Massachusetts and there married Miss Watson, who belonged to one of the most prominent pioneer families of New England, her father being Joseph Watson. The family is also closely connected with the Sar- gent family descended from William Sargent, who came from England in 1638 and settled in Charles- town, Massachusetts. Her father was one of the Revolutionary heroes, who, at the outbreak of the war, participated in the opening battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. The family removed from Burlington to Nassau, Rensselaer county, New York, during the early childhood of our subject, and the father was there connected with a cotton mill. When his son was only seven years of age he removed to Orleans county, where he was engaged in farming until the death of his wife about two or three years later. She was born De- cember 20, 1801, gave her hand in marriage to Robert H. Smith on the 28th of December, 1823, and died on the 12th of February, 1838. After the death of his wife Mr. Smith removed to Michi- gan and spent his last days in Marshall, that state.
Owing to his mother's early death J. Moreau Smith spent the period of his boyhood with an unele in Buffalo, where he attended the common schools prior to continuing his education in the academy at Albion, Orleans county. He entered business life in connection with merchandising and was thus engaged until 1857, when he was elected deputy clerk in the general assembly. Later he did clerical work in the comptroller's office un- der Sanford E. Church, who subsequently became chief justice of New York. He was married on the 20th of November, 1861, to Miss Helen Es- telle Herrick, a daughter of Dr. Lewis R. Herrick of Albany, and soon afterward joined his father- in-law in the manufacture of proprietary goods. His continvance in that business covered the period until April, 1869, when he left Albany for Rochester.
Throughout the period of his residence in the latter city he has figured in financial circles, and various banking and moneyed institutions have felt the stimulus of his sound judgment and care- ful direction. He aided in incorporating the East Side Savings Bank, of which he became a director, and he was president of the old Safe Deposit Com- pany, the predecessor of the Rochester Trust Com-
pany. He served on the committee which secured an amended charter for the company in 1884. This was before the enactment of the new law concerning corporations, when charters were ob- tained by special act, and that of the trust com- pany became a perpetual one-a valuable requisite for such a company. From the beginning suc- cess has attended the Rochester Trust & Safe De- posit Company. Steadily it has advanced in pub- lie favor, its patronage continually growing until it now stands first among the trust companies in the Empire state outside of the metropolis. In relation of capital to surplus it ranks tenth in the United States in a list of over five hundred institutions-a record which certainly reflects credit upon those who manage its business affairs. The deposits have now reached the sum of ten million dollars. The building occupied by the company is one of the finest in the city and was erected and opened for business on the 5th of June, 1888.
While varied and important financial affairs have largely claimed the time and energies of Mr. Smith his interest has centered in his home, but on the 21st of March, 1901, the death of his wife occurred. Two sons survive: V. Moreau, who is secretary of the Trust Company; and L. Walton, who is a shoe manufacturer of Rochester. The family have a beautiful home at No. 227 East avenue.
In his social relations Mr. Smith is connected with the Genesee Valley Club and through a long period he has been senior warden of Christ Episco- pal church, of which he is a most helpful member. He is a pleasant and affable gentleman and a stranger in his presence soon feels perfectly at ease. Close application to all the details of his business, strong executive force and remarkably keen discernment have enabled him to reach the position-conceded to him by all-that he ocen- pies as a leading financier of Rochester.
JOHN EWING DURAND.
Earnest effort, close application and the exercise of his native talents have won for John Ewing Durand prestige as an able lawyer at a bar which has numbered many eminent and prominent men. He was born in Rochester, February 5, 1856. His father, Frederick L. Durand, was for years a dis- tinguished lawyer of this city and in the '50s served as city attorney. He was a native of Con- necticut and a descendant of Samuel Durand, the ancestry of the family in New England being traced back two and a half centuries. In 1845 Frederick L. Durand came to Rochester and for many years thereafter practiced at the bar, main-
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taining a place among the ablest representatives. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church and his life exemplified the traits of a good and thereby truly great citizen. He died in the year 1903 respected and honored by all who knew him. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lydia W. Powers, was a native of Vermont, descended from one of the oldest families of that state. By her marriage she became the mother of four children but only two are now living, the brother of our subject being Harrison C. Durand, of Rochester.
Reared in the city of his nativity John Ewing Durand was a student in the Wilson grammar school and afterward of the Satterlee Collegiate Institute. Subsequently he attended Yale College and was graduated on the completion of a success- ful course in 1876. During his college days he became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon. He then took up the study of law with his father and entered upon active practice as his father's partner and so continued until the death of Frederick L. Durand in 1903. Since that time John Ewing Durand has been alone and, while he is thoroughly well informed concerning the vari- ous departments of jurisprudence, much of his time is given to the management of estates and other legal work of the same nature, as well as to the care of his personal holdings and investments.
In 1894 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Durand and Miss McConnell, daughter of Robert Y. McConnell of Rochester. Unto them has been born one son, Samuel J., now ten years of age.
Mr. Durand is a charter member of the Genesee Valley Club of Rochester and belongs to Frank R. Lawrence lodge, No. 797, A. F. & A. M., as well as to Hamilton chapter, R. A. M. He is also a member of Kent Club, composed of prominent at- torneys of Rochester. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Brick Presbyterian church and his devotion to the public welfare is manifested by his active co-operation in many movements and measures for the public good. He is an energetic member of the board of park com- missioners for Rochester, in which connection lie has done very beneficial and effective service in improving and beautifying the city through its park system. He has closely studied opportunities of this character and has so exercised his official prerogatives that, in conjunction with others, he has developed in Rochester a park system of which the city has every reason to be proud. He has also acted as school commissioner and the cause of edu- cation finds in him a stalwart champion. He is a trustee of the State Industrial School in Rochester and his wife is a member of the board of lady commissioners of the same institution. Like her husband she is very active in charitable and be- nevolent work and the poor and needy never ap- peal to them in vain. While they do not believe in that indiscriminate giving which often fosters
vagrancy or idleness, no real distress passes by them unrelieved. Mr. Durand's activities have thus touched various interests of society and Ro- chester numbers him among those whose labors have benefited the city and brought it to its present high state of development.
OSCAR P. COLBY.
Oscar P. Colby, in former years connected with agricultural interests, his attention, however, be- ing now given to the discharge of the official duties which devolve upon him as justice of the peace and clerk of the village board in Spencerport, was here born on the 26th of April, 1841, his birth- place being the farm which was settled by his grandfather, Abraham Colby, in 1802. Here the grandson has spent his entire life with the ex- ception of three years when he was a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war. His parents were James and Martha W. (Peck) Colby. The father was also born at the old Colby homestead, where he spent his entire life, passing away at the age of eighty-five years. He followed the occupa- tion of farming and thus provided for the support of his family. His wife was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and became a resident of East Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, where she was residing at the time of her marriage. She had previously engaged in teaching in the town of Ogden. Unto Mr. and Mrs. James Colby were born two children, the elder being Adelaide, who became the wife of James C. Ross and died about 1905.
Oscar P. Colby acquired his early education in the public schools and also attended the Rochester Collegiate Institute and what is now the Brock- port Normal School. He assisted in the work of the home farm during the periods of vacation and after he had put aside his text-books. On the 8th of August, 1862, he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Fortieth New York Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel O'Rorke. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and Mr. Colby participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, where he was under fire for the first time. He afterward took part in all of the engagements that led up to Gettysburg. where on the 2d of July, 1863, he received a ball in the right leg at Little Roundtop. It was at that time that his colonel was killed. Mr. Colby car- ried the ball for six weeks before the surgeons could locate it. After he had sufficiently recovered from his injuries he was assigned to detached serv- ice at Sickel's general hospital at Alexandria.
OSCAR P. COLBY.
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Virginia, where he remained until the close of the war.
Mr. Colby was a brave and loyal soldier, never faltering in the performance of any duty, whether it called him to the lonely picket line or to the firing line. Soon after his return home he was married and began farming on the old family homestead, continuing to engage actively in gen- eral agricultural pursuits until about fifteen years ago, when he was elected justice of sessions and served for two terms on the bench with Judge William E. Werner. For fifteen years he has lived in the village of Spencerport and for a simi- lar period he has filled the office of justice of the peace, while at the present writing he is serving as clerk of the village board. In his political affilia- tion he has been true to the teachings of the Colby family, who through several generations have been stalwart democrats.
It was in 1865 that Mr. Colby was united in marriage to Miss Hattie E. Ross, a native of the town of Ogden, and to them have been born two children : Alexander G., who is now upon the old homestead farm; and Ida V., who is with her parents. Mr. Colby has sold a part of his farm to his son but still owns about one hundred acres of land which is very valuable and productive. Fra- ternally he is connected with John H. Martindale post, No. 270, G. A. R., of Spencerport. In 1863 he joined Etolian lodge, No. 479, A. F. & A. M., of Spencerport, being one of its oldest members. He is a worthy representative of a prominent pioneer family, the name of Colby having ever stood for good citizenship, for progress in busi- ness and for fidelity in social life. His record is in harmony with that of an honored ancestry and it is his personal worth which entitles him to men- tion in this volume.
THE COLBY FAMILY.
On the west bank of the Merrimac river in the old Granite state, there lies the small town of Salisbury, where, one hundred years ago lived a man named Ephraim Colby who traced his ances- try back to one Anthony Colby who came from England in the year 1630 and located in that town about 1639. His family consisted of a wife, Mary Eastman, and seven sons and one daughter, named in the order of their birth as follows: Ephraim, Zaccheus, Mary, Abraham, Isaac, Timothy, Eastman and Merrill, he being at this time fifteen years of age.
On the 5th of October, 1802, four of the said sons, Ephraim, Abraham, Isaac and Timothy, got together their small belongings and started from
the old homestead with an ox team for, what was then considered the far western country. After a long, slow and tedious journey they arrived, near the last of October, at Canandaigua, where they found and consulted a map of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, in the Genesee country, west of the Genesee river, this tract being then owned by Wadsworth & Murray. They each articled a lot in the then North Hampton township, county of Genesee, now the town of Ogden, Monroe county. They settled as follows: Ephraim, on lots 80 and 93, now owned and occupied by J. C. Ross and Alexander G. Colby; Abraham, on lot 68, now owned by Charles Kincaid, on which he built a small log house, near the middle of the lot, on the Colby road and on the west bank of a creek, where on the 24th day of May following (1803) was born to him a son who was named John Mur- ray and who was the first white child born in the town of Ogden ; Isaac settled on lot 67, now owned by William F. Ross; and Timothy on lot 76, now belonging to the Fargo estate on Salmon creek. Two years later the father and mother, with the remaining three brothers, namely, Eastman, Zac- cheus and Merrill, came from the old home in New Hampshire in the same primitive fashion and located as follows: Eastman on lot 64, now owned by the Leander Danforth estate; Merrill on lot 78, now the William Arnold estate, opposite the Baptist church. He shortly afterward erected a frame building on the southeast corner of Colby and Washington streets, where he conducted a. store for many years; Zaccheus settled on the Ridge road, in what is now the town of Greece. Being a physician he practiced his profession suc- cessfully for years, as well as conducting the farm and nursery on which he settled.
Some years after on the organization of the State Militia, about 1810, Eastman Colby was elected colonel and commanded a regiment at general training, with great ability and general satisfaction to all. On his journey here he was injured by a severe cut by an ax while clearing away an ohstruction to the road by a tree which had fallen across it, from which, however, he in time entirely recovered.
On the 8th day of October, 1803, there was born to Ephraim Colby a daughter who was named Betsy, she being the first white female child born in Ogden. She afterward married John A. Fin- cher and died in this town in 1872.
Abraham Colby was the first town clerk of North Hampton and continued in that position until after 1824, during the time that this town was known as Fairfield and Parma successively, which covers a time of more than twenty years. Many records are in his hand-writing and signed by him as town clerk. He also started the first nursery from apple seeds brought with him from New Hampshire.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
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