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 84
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EDWARD DUFFY.
The name of Duffy has for many years figured in connection with Rochester's business develop- ment, and for a long period Edward Duffy, now deceased, was classed with the enterprising and progressive citizens here. He was born in County Clare, Ireland, May 21, 1808, a son of Walter B. Duffy. His education was acquired in his native land under the direction of notable educators, and he entered upon his business career in the counting house of George McBride, a prominent merchant of Dublin, who had the monopoly of the trade between that city and the United States. Mr. Duffy, finding that commercial interests were more to his liking than the work of the profes- sions, decided to concentrate his energies upon such business lines and, thinking to find broader scope for his industry and enterprise-his dom- inant qualities-in other lands, he accordingly went to Demerara, British Guiana, becoming con- nected with one of the leading houses of commerce of that colony. He took with him influential let- ters of introduction and soon gained recognition in business circles. It was his desire, however, to make his home in America, and in 1832 he sailed for Philadelphia. After remaining in that city for a brief period he went to Peterboro, Canada, and spent ten years in the Dominion, after which he again crossed the border into the United States and took up his abode in Rochester.
While in Peterboro, Edward Duffy was married to Miss Jane Frances Crawford, a native of County Down, Ireland, and a descendant of a dis- tinguished Irish family, her father having held a position of prominence under the English crown. He was a man of considerable means and sailed for America in his private vessel.
Edward Duffy permanently took up his abode in the United States in 1842. Although his capi- tal was exceedingly limited, he established a small
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grocery store, which later developed into the liquor and cider business. When he first began he used an old treadmill press in the manufacture of cider. Until 1868 he continued in the business under the title of Edward Duffy, dealer in liquors, cider and vinegar. He secured a good patronage and for a long period was classed with the enter- prising merchants of the city during the middle portion of the nineteenth century. The prosper- ity which he attained was attributable entirely to his own efforts, for he had no assistance at the outset of his career, placing his dependence en- tirely upon the safe, substantial qualities of en- ergy, determination and capable management.
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Duffy were nine children, three sons and six daughters: Walter B., now one of the best known business men of Rochester; one who died in infancy; one who died at the age of nineteen years; Mary, a Lady of the Sacred Heart; Sarah, who was also a Lady of the Sacred Heart and died at the age of twenty-three years; Theresa, who was connected with the same order and died in 1894; Martha, the deceased wife of Dr. Sawyer; Julia, the wife of J. A. Donnivan, a practicing attorney of Rochester : and Josephine, also a Lady of the Sa- cred Heart .
To Edward Duffy was allotted a ripe old age, his death occurring in 1887 when he had reached the age of eighty. Born and reared in Ireland, sojourning for a time in British Guiana and living later in Canada and the United States, his varied experiences brought him wide knowledge and his contact with the world developed in him qualities which made him a practical and successful busi- ness man. He was widely known as an enterpris- ing merchant during the middle portion of the nineteenth century, and although twenty years have come and gone since he passed away, he is vet remembered by many who were his associates and friends in former years.
WILLIAM S. KIMBALL.
William S. Kimball. deceased, one of the fore- most business men of Rochester and the friend and associate of many of the eminent citizens of New York, passed away on the 26th of March, 1895, leaving behind a record which is an honor to the history of Rochester and the common- wealth. Others have figured more prominently before the public in winning military and politi- cal distinction, but William S. Kimball, through his private business affairs and the efforts which he put forth directly for the benefit of the city, greatly promoted its upbuilding and improvement. He stood, however, for intellectual and aesthetic culture, for humanitarianism and benevolence,
and as the years rolled their course and were added to the cycle of the centuries each one was filled with successful accomplishments and good deeds that indicated that, while not without that laudable ambition for advancement in the busi- ness world, Mr. Kimball also possessed the thor- ough understanding of its principles and its pos- sibilities that led him to aid his fellowmen and work for individual character development, for civic virtue and for national progress. Although the life record is ended the full value of his work cannot be estimated until interests with which he was connected have reached their full measure of possibilities for good.
William S. Kimball was a native of Boscawen, New Hampshire. At the usual age he became a student in the district schools in his home locality and he entered business life when a youth of fif- teen as an apprentice in the Lawrence locomotive works, where he thoroughly acquainted himself with the machinist's trade. Anxious, however, for further educational privileges, for he had come to a realization of the value of mental discipline, he entered school at Derry, New Hampshire, later studied at Andover, Massachusetts, and completed a course in mechanical drawing and engineering in the Troy Polytechnic Institute. He was now well qualified for the active, onerous and respon- sible duties of life and became employed in the rebuilding of locomotives in the railroad repair shops in Concord, New Hampshire. He thus added to his theoretical training broad practical experience and gained a thorough and practical knowledge of locomotive engineering.
On resigning that position Mr. Kimball came to Rochester and upon the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed master mechanic in the navy, being attached to the South Atlantic squadron under Admiral Dupont at Port Royal, South Car- olina. There he was detailed to repair the ma- chinery of transports and gunboats and under his supervision were employed a force of one hundred mechanics on the reconstruction of two old Nan- tucket whalers, the India and the Edward.
Mr. Kimball resigned his position in the navy in 1863 and from that time forward was con- nected with the tobacco trade in Rochester, He was the founder and promoter of the Kimball To- bacco Works, one of the largest concerns of the kind in the country, in which connection he gained a world-wide reputation. He also became vice president of the American Tobacco Company and developed his business interests in that line until he became one of the foremost representatives of the tobacco trade in the United States. Not alone to this line did Mr. Kimball give his time and energies, for he figured in connection with the management of various important financial and corporate interests. He was president of the Union Bank, vice president of the Security Trust
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Company, a trustee of the Rochester Savings Bank and president of the Post Express Printing Company. He was likewise a director of the Rochester Railway and the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railroad Company. His judgment was sound, his discrimination keen and his sagacity far-reaching.
Many interests and measures which had no moneyed interests for Mr. Kimball also received his cooperation and the benefit of his judgment and management. His was a ready sympathy and a wide charity. Too broad minded to limit his belief by any creed or dogma, he recognized man's obligations to his fellowmen and withheld his support from no plans for the amelioration of the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. He acted as president of the City Hospital and also of the State Industrial School and was much interested in the great sociological problems which bear upon the evolution of the race in its intel- lectual and moral progress. He was a lover of art, and the beautiful at all times appealed to him. He acquired renown almost equal to that which he gained in business in bringing together a large and valuable collection of orchids which has long been recognized as one of the choicest floral aggregations in the country. He also col- lected an extensive library and a very fine art gallery, embracing numerous works from the most famous artists of the world. He died in the prime of life, passing away at Virginia Beach, March 26, 1895.
The Post Express said of him: "The death of William S. Kimball, of which intelligence has just come, must be regarded not simply as a private loss, but as a public calamity. Probably no other man was ever so closely identified with the various social, business, charitable and educational inter- ests of a community as Mr. Kimball has been identified with those of Rochester. He was a man of great wealth, but what was much rarer, a man who believed in putting his wealth into full ac- tivity and throwing his personal energy into every movement for the public good. He was the first to be asked where a contribution was needed, where help in the shape of an investment was sought, where individual prestige was required. He was in the full vigor of manly strength, in the full flush of rational enjoyment of life-eager as a boy in the pursuit of new interests, and sat- isfied as a boy in the practice of old pastimes. His alertness and gayety were unfailing; and his frankness, courtesy, and good nature were such that his mere presence was enough to win popu- larity. As a business man he was fertile in re- source and untiring in effort ; but not less charac- teristic was his enthusiasm in the matter of reere- ation. He made the wisest choice in his methods of rest and relaxation. He loved the sea and spent much of his spare time beside it: he loved the
woods and was an indefatigable sportsman. As a natural consequence he loved nature and was deeply learned in much of the lore of forest and stream. Even when most earnestly at work in the establishment of his great manufacturing business, he devoted himself to the culture of orchids, and became an authority on them as well as on other flowers. In the season of greater leisure he had gathered a magnificent gallery of choice paintings. It is sad to think of a man with so many capaci- ties for what is fair in the world, so many oppor- tunities to be useful, so prompt a disposition to active effort for what is good, cut off, so sud- denly, from light and life and the affection of friends and family."
WILLIS A. MATSON.
Willis A. Matson, assistant district attorney, was born in Clarendon, Orleans county, New York, October 6, 1861, his parents being David and Charity A. (Davis) Matson, who were natives of Vermont and of Maine respectively. David Mat- son, with his father, who also bore the name of David Matson, settled upon a farm in Orleans county, New York, in 1814. He was born in 1811 and was therefore but three years of age at the time of the removal of the family from the Green Mountain state to this state. He followed the occupation to which he was reared-that of farming.
Willis A. Matson acquired his early education in the public schools and subsequently attended the Brockport Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1889. He immediately took up the study of law in the office of Keeler & Salisbury, of Rochester, and completed his studies with John D. Burns, of Brockport. In March, 1893, he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Brock- port, where he was not long in obtaining a good clientage. He was elected police justice of that town, which office he filled for three years, when he resigned to accept the appointment of assistant district attorney at Rochester in February, 1898, since which time he has acceptably and capably filled the position. In September, 1903, he re- moved to Rochester, where he has since made his home. He here engaged in the private practice of law, also being a member of the firm of Matson & Mann, with offices at Brockport. He belongs to the Rochester Bar Association and has obtained recog- nition in legal ranks here as a practitioner of ability and landable ambition, who prepares his cases thoroughly and presents his cause before the conrt forcefully and logically. He has been con- nected with some of the most famous murder trials of the county, sometimes as sole counsel
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and again as assistant. Among the most noted are the George H. Smith case, the Curran case and the Perrota murder case, together with others of scarcely less note. He is regarded as a most able trial lawyer, who gives due prominence to every detail bearing upon his case and vet never for a moment loses sight of the important point upon which the decision of every case finally turns.
Mr. Matson was married in 1893 to Miss Rose Randall, of Brockport, and they have two children, Randall W. and Millicent. Mr. Matson is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity and has attained the thirty-second degree of the consistory. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, to the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Elks and to the Foresters, and is a member of the Gamma Sigma fraternity. He has always taken an active interest in politics and is a stalwart advocate of the republican party. His interest, however, chiefly centers in his profession, and in this call- ing, where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit, he has made a most creditable record.
LEVI WARD CLARKE.
Prominent among the list of Rochester's honored dead is Levi Ward Clarke. Born in Al- bion, New York, August 10, 1834, he was the eldest son of the late Freeman Clarke, who was for many years the recognized head of the financial world of Rochester. Levi Ward Clarke prepared for college at the Clover street school of this city and at College Hill, Poughkeepsie, New York, but owing to severe illness was unable to enter college.
About 1857 his father established the Monroe County Bank, afterward the Clarke National Bank, and in 1865 on accepting the office of comp- troller of the currency under Lincoln, his son suc- ceeded as its president, being at the time the youngest bank president in the United States. His skill in managing the affairs of the bank was universally recognized and established his reputa- tion as one of the leading business men and finan- ciers of the city. From banking Mr. Clarke became interested in the newspaper business, establishing with others the Rochester Printing Company, pub- lishers of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and remaining treasurer of that company until the close of his life, July 28, 1894.
Mr. Clarke was a generous friend of the chari- table institutions of the city. He was one of the founders of the Rochester Club and was its presi- dent for a number of years, he was also a member of the Genesee Valley Club, the Whist Club, the Rochester Yacht Club, the Union Greys and of several New York Clubs.
On the 18th of July, 1861, he was married to Miss Mary E. Hall, a daughter of the late John Meigs Hall, of Wallingford, Connecticut. The later years of his life were spent in the enforced retirement of failing health; but were devoted to reading, study and to countless deeds of charity and thought for others-the promptings of a gen- erous, unselfish and kindly nature. Honored and respected by all, his death was a loss to the city where he had spent so many years of his active and useful life.
PROFESSOR GEORGE DAVID HALE.
Professor George David Hale was born in Adams, Jefferson county, New York, on the 27th of March, 1844. His parents were Abner Cable and Sally Ann (Barton) Hale. The first Ameri- can ancestor in the paternal line was Thomas Hale, the glover, who came from England in 1637 and settled at Newbury, Massachusetts, where he died December 21, 1682. The grandfather, David Hale, was senior member of the first mercantile firm in Adams, New York, and was also captain of a troop of cavalry in the war of 1812. From a very early period in the development of Jefferson county the family was connected with its progress and upbuilding. Abner C. Hale, the father, fol- lowed the occupation of farming at Adams.
Professor George D. Hale, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, in 1870 was gradu- ated from the classical course of the University of Rochester. Three years later that institution con- ferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. He is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon and of the Phi Beta Kappa, two college fraternities. Professor Hale needs no introduction to the read- ers of this volume, for he is known personally or by reputation to every resident of the city and also to a large extent throughout this and other states by reason of the fact that his students have gone abroad into all parts of the country, bearing in their lives the impress of his individuality. The Hale Classical and Scientific School, which he con- ducted in this city from 1871 to 1898, is recog- nized as having been one of the most excellent in- stitutions of learning in the state and among its graduates are men who are now prominent in the public and business life of Rochester. Thorough- ness has always been his motto and he has ever held high the standard of educational proficiency. Kant has said, "the object of education is to train each individual to reach the highest perfection possible for him" and the spirit of this statement has been a dominant factor in the work done by Professor Hale during these years. Moreover, he is recognized in educational circles as an authority
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on mathematics and as one who stands as a leader in his profession because of the high ideals which he has ever held and the unfaltering effort he has made to reach them. He is identified with several of the leading societies for the advancement of knowledge, being a member of the National Edu- cational Association, and the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, also of the National Geographic Society and the Rochester Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Of local societies, he is identified with the Genesee Valley Club and with the Country Club. His political preference has always been for the repub- lican party and while he has been a student of the great issues and questions bearing upon the wel- fare of state and nation, he has always been with- out political ambition.
On the 29th of December, 1875, Professor Hale was married in Rochester to Miss Mary Elizabeth Judson, a daughter of Junius and Lavenda (Bush- nell) Judson. They have two daughters, Edith Harriette and Elizabeth Lavenda Hale. Profes- sor and Mrs. Hale are members of the First Bap- tist church of Rochester, in which he has served for many years as a trustee, being also prominently identified with the general interests of the Bap- tist denomination in this city. He has been a generous contributor to many public and charitable works and his influence is always on the side of that which promotes intellectual development, aesthetic culture and moral progress. He has given many years of an active and useful life to the cause of education and has attained wide dis- tinction in the field of his chosen labor. Nor has he been denied the substantial benefits which should ever arise from industry.
He is at present identified with the business in- terests of the several Judson companies of this city, in which he is both director and stockholder.
ABNER ADAMS.
Abner Adams, who for twenty-two years has been connected with the commercial industries of Rochester, was born in East Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, March 31, 1838, a son of My- ron Adams while his great-grandfather .Captain John Adams was one of the pioneers of western New York, settling in this section of the state more than a century ago. The grandfather, Abner Adams, died at Adams Basin, Monroe county, in 1849. Myron Adams, who was born in Bloom- field in 1799, passed away in Rochester in 1893. His son, Rev. Myron Adams, filled one of the prominent pulpits of Rochester for many years and was an able and extensive writer on religious and theological topics. He is represented on an- other page of this volume.
Abner Adams of this review spent his boyhood and youth at school and on his father's farm in his native county. The need of his country awak- ened his patriotism during the dark days of the Civil war and he enlisted for active service with the Twenty-fourth New York Battery of United States Volunteers. He was subsequently promot- ed to a lieutenancy in the Second North Carolina Union Volunteers, serving as military secretary on the staff of Governor Edward Stanley, military governor of the Department of North Carolina, in 1862-3.
As stated, Mr. Adams has been identified with the commercial interests of Rochester since 1886 when he connected himself with the Wood Mosaic Company of this city, manufacturers of fine hard- wood floors, becoming their general agent for west- ern New York. This company was organized about a quarter of a century ago by Dr. C. E. Rider, an old resident of Rochester, who is still the presi- dent. It is now an incorporated stock company doing business under the name of the Wood Mo- saic Flooring Company. Mr. Adams was the pioneer in this line in western New York and under his management the products of the house have acquired an enviable reputation and are generally spoken of in this locality as "Adams floors." His success in this line is also supple- mented by that of his three sons. The eldest, Robert T., is now the New England representative of the company, located in Boston with branch in Providence. John M. is the representative of the company in Baltimore, with branch offices in Washington. Edward P., the youngest son, has for the past few years relieved his father of the man- agement of the Rochester office and the branch at Syracuse. Mr. Adams was for years most active in developing and building up the business and well merits the partial rest that has come to him, enabling him to live practically retired at the present time.
On the 21st of October, 1863, in Livingston county, New York, Mr. Adams married Minerva E. French, daughter of Sireno and Jane E. (Whit- ney) French. Her father was for many years a prominent insurance man of Chicago. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Adams were born three sons and two daughters, the latter being Kate Stanley, now Mrs. G. F. Smith, a resident of Rochester, who has two daughters; and Alice Minerva, wife of Thomas Webster, also a resident of Rochester. Of the sons, Robert T. was born in East Bloomfield, New York, March 31, 1866, and married Carrie Whitlock, of Rochester, by whom he has two sons: John M., born July 29, 1870, in Rochester, married Clemen- tine Warfield of Baltimore, and has one son: Ed- ward P., born May 28, 1881, married Maie Roades and has two sons.
Mr. Adams resides at No. 24 Riverside street in the Tenth ward. He is a worthy representative
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of one of the pioneer families of western New York, the record of which has ever reflected credit upon the history of this section of the state.
ADOLPH M. SPIEHLER.
It is one of the encouraging signs of the times that business men are consenting more and more largely to enter public life and bring to bear upon the important political questions as relating to municipal, state and national government, the same keen foresight, determined energy and ex- ccutive ability which they manifest in the control of private business interests. To this class be- longs Adolph M. Spiehler, well known as a suc- cessful manufacturer of perfumes and now serv- ing as chairman of the civil service commission at Rochester.
One of the city's native sons, he was born Oc- tober 6, 1867, and is of German lineage. His fath- er, Adolph Spiehler, was a native of Bavaria, Ger- many, and when about twenty years of age came to the United States, settling in Rochester. In his native country he had learned the business of manufacturing perfumes and has continued in this line since crossing the Atlantic. After his arrival in Rochester he was connected with several houses engaged in the manufacture of perfumes, among them the well known Mitchell house, but in 1876, when his industry and economy had brought him sufficient capital, he established a business under his own name and in this has since continued, his two sons, Adolph M. and Oscar B., being also asso- ciated with him at the present time. They manu- facture all kinds of perfumes and toilet waters, which constitute a very marketable commodity, finding a ready sale in all parts of the United States. The father is still active in business and aside from his manufacturing interests he is a director in the Merchants Bank and the Union Trust Company, being thus well known in finan- cial circles. He is likewise interested in other concerns and has contributed in no small degree to the material progress of the city. He was ap- pointed by Mayor Aldrich as excise commissioner and was chairman of the board until the White charter went into effect. He married Miss Amanda Jacobs, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and she is also living.
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