USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume III > Part 2
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On October 8, 1891, Mr. Kehew was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Taylor and they have one son, Charles Taylor. Mr. Kehew is past president of the Dansville Rotary Club, and the growth and progress of his community is a matter in which he takes much personal pride. He is an adherent of the republican party and his life is guided by the teachings of the Methodist church. Mr. Kehew is a man of large affairs and forceful personality in whom the qualities of enterprise and conservatism are happily blended. It is by men of this well balanced nature that the best work is accomplished and the most enduring results are obtained. They take no backward step and their attainment of a goal means not a temporary triumph but a permanent conquest. Mr. Kehew has impoverished none in his efforts to acquire a competence and his merits compel esteem, admiration and respect.
HON. WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY.
Anyone undertaking a review of the history of Wyoming county and of this section of the Genesee country in general, will find innumerable evidences of the lofty influence exerted in his generation by the Hon. Wolcott J. Humphrey, statesman, banker, philanthropist and for many years a leader in the general civic, social and commercial life of the community in and about Warsaw, in which his useful activi- ties were so long carried on. Though it is now more than thirty-five years since he passed from the scenes he knew so well and loved so dearly, his memory still is cherished, the evidences of the good deeds he performed in life being to the community a continuing reminder of his life and works. Though not native to the Genesee country his lines had fallen in this pleasant place in the days of his infancy and his interests ever afterward centered here, he thus being as much a Geneseean as though indeed "native and to the manner born."
From the days of his youth the striking individuality of this amazingly ener- getic man was impressed upon his fellows and associates. An early and convincing evidence of this is that when but twenty-three years of age he was elected colonel of the local brigade of the State Militia. By that time he also had become established in his mercantile career. When just past thirty years of age he was made postmaster of his home town and in the next year the people of this district sent him to Albany to represent them in the state assembly. He later represented his district in the state senate. Following the nationalization of the old Wyoming County Bank of Warsaw he became the president of that sound financial institution and in that capacity con- tinued an influential factor in the general business affairs of his community until his death. In local welfare work also he was for years one of the real leaders, a humanitarian by instinct and a friend of man. His labors were long helpful in the amelioration of local social ills and for years he also served as the head of the board of managers of the institution maintained at Batavia in behalf of the blind. In other ways his ever was a helping hand and it is thus that the good memory he left at his passing a generation ago is a continuing memory in this community.
Wolcott J. Humphrey was a member of one of the old colonial families of Con- necticut but, as noted above, was happily transplanted to the Genesee country in the days of his infancy. He was born in Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut, November 11, 1817, and was but a babe in arms when in the next year (1818) his parents, Theophilus and Cynthia (Hayden) Humphrey, came with their family over into western New York and became residents of the Sheldon settlement, in what
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then was Genesee county, but which now is included within the confines of Wyoming county. Both Theophilus Humphrey and his wife were members of old families in Connecticut, the latter born in Torringford, Litchfield county, that state. When they came to the Genesee country they had a lively group of youngsters with them and others were born to them after their arrival, until in all there were seventeen children in this family. Of these Wolcott was the sixth son. As most of these children grew to maturity and had families of their own, and some of these were considerable families, the connection of this family in the present generation is a not inconsiderable one and finds representation in widely separated parts of the country. The pioneer Theophilus Humphrey (II) was born in Canton, Connecticut, and was a son of Theophilus Humphrey (I), who also was born in that place, a son of Samuel Humphrey, also a native of Canton and a representative of one of the early families of the Connecticut colony, the first grandfather and the first grandmother having arrived in Connecticut in 1643 and 1634, respectively. When the junior Theophilus Humphrey took up his residence in the Sheldon settlement he bought a tract of ground there and made a farm. On that place he also erected a tannery, for he was a skilled tanner, and in the same place set up a saddlery and a bootmaking shop, a maker of and dealer in all sorts of leather goods, and he thus became one of the useful pioneers of that section, he and his family doing much to advance the common interest in the region known as Humphrey's Hollow.
Reared on the home place in Sheldon, Wolcott J. Humphrey had such education as the somewhat indifferent local schools afforded at that time, this being happily supplemented by a course of instruction under the preceptorship of the Congregational clergyman of that neighborhood. As a boy he took a helpful part in the operation of his father's several business enterprises and thus grew up familiar with commercial forms and with the needs in the way of merchandising of this then rapidly developing trade area. Not long after he had attained his majority Mr. Humphrey entered the mercantile business on his own account and was for almost a quarter of a century thereafter thus engaged, owning stores at one time and another variously at Varys- burg, Java Center and North Java. While engaged in business at the latter place he became interested in a western land development project in the vicinity of the now flourishing city of Bloomington, Illinois, spent three years there and made some very profitable realty investments. Upon his return he resumed his business con- nection at North Java and was there engaged in business until 1864, when he moved to Warsaw, the county seat, there set up a tannery, and thus began his long com- mercial and industrial connection with the affairs of that village. In 1869, following the nationalization of the old Wyoming County Bank, which was organized in 1851, he became one of the chief stockholders in that institution, which since then has been known as the Wyoming County National Bank, and in 1871 was elected president, a position he held until his death. He also was a large stockholder in the Warsaw Waterworks and Gas companies, and was president of those prosperous public utility concerns.
In the meantime, and while thus extending along various lines his large business operations, Mr. Humphrey ever was mindful of a good citizen's obligation to the public service and was taking an active, interested and helpful part in local public affairs. In passing, it is a matter of recollection among his surviving contemporaries that there were few men in western New York who possessed a higher degree of political sagacity than he or better judgment in matters of public concern. It was in 1840 that he received from his neighbors the compliment of election as colonel of the Ninth Regiment of the Eighth Brigade, New York State Artillery, a rank which he held until his resignation four years later and through which he came by the title "Colonel", a form of personal address to which many of his old friends long adhered. In 1849 he was appointed postmaster of Java, a position he held for four years. In 1850 he was appointed marshal for taking the enumeration for the decennial census, and in that same year was elected to represent his district in the lower house of the New York state legislature, and was reelected in the next year. During this term of service in the assembly Mr. Humphrey served as chairman of the committee on railroads and in that capacity reported out for passage the bill for the consolidation of the Central (New York Central) railroad. He also was in charge of the bill enacted into law during that session for the suppression of the liquor traffic in New York state.
Reared a whig, Mr. Humphrey remained with that party until it became apparent that the new republican party formed in the middle '50s had a program worthy of support and he then threw his influence wholeheartedly toward that party's cause
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and was ever after an ardent republican. When the Civil war came on he was made enrolling officer for the draft in his district, and while serving in that behalf had the honor of being mobbed by a certain element of the community that was opposed to the draft, but the sturdiness of his spirit subdued the outbreak and he carried on unwaveringly to the end. In 1865 Mr. Humphrey was elected to represent his district (the old thirtieth) in the state senate, this district at that time comprising the counties of Wyoming, Livingston and Allegany, and in 1867 he was reelected. During this term of service in the senate he was chairman of the committee on roads and bridges, chairman of the committee on commerce and navigation, and a member of the committees on internal affairs, printing, finance and banks and in these several capacities exerted a helpful influence on legislation designed to promote some of the most important interests of the public. For thirty years Mr. Humphrey was a member of the republican county committee, twenty years of this time being the chairman of it, and was long looked upon as one of the real leaders of his party in western New York. He was a delegate to the national convention of the republican party in 1876, which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes for the presidency, and a delegate also to the convention that in 1880 nominated James A. Garfield for the presidency. Mr. Humphrey was for twenty years a trustee of the Congregational church in Warsaw and a liberal contributor to the support of that church. For eight years he was one of the board of managers of the school for the blind at Batavia, for three years of this period the president of the board, and did much to advance the cause of that institution. It is not too much to say, thirty-five years after the death of this public- spirited and useful citizen, that in the relations of father, husband, friend and citizen he was a lofty example and a worthy model. Mr. Humphrey died at his home in Warsaw on January 19, 1890, and his memory still is kept green throughout the Genesee country.
Mr. Humphrey was twice married. On March 31, 1841, he was united in marriage to Miss Amanda B. Martindale, daughter of Major William S. Martindale of Dorset, Vermont. Mrs. Amanda B. Humphrey died in Sonora, California, on June 17, 1873. Mr. Humphrey was married to Miss Hannah Adams Mulholland on July 8, 1874, and she is still making her home in Warsaw, and with her daughter, Miss Annabel Humphrey, is occupying the handsome old family residence, "The Elms", on West Buffalo street. Mr. Humphrey also left a son, Wolcott Julius Humphrey, president of the Wyoming County National Bank of Warsaw, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Humphrey was born in Rochester, Monroe county, this state, in 1840, and is a daughter of Hugh and Isabel (Adams) Mulholland, both of Scotch-Irish birth. She was reared amid an excellent social environment, was given good schooling and was for fifteen years a teacher in the Rochester schools and for five years principal of the Glenwood school. After her marriage she took an interested part in her husband's business affairs and thus, following his death, was able to carry on numerous business details herself and for some years was recognized as an active business woman, these activities including a place on the directorate of the Wyoming County National Bank, of which her son now is the president and of which her husband was the president for many years prior to his death. For thirty years Mrs. Humphrey has served as a member of the board of managers of the school for the blind at Batavia, and for thirty-two years she has been president of the Society for Village Work, a local organization that has been of much help in Warsaw. She is a member of the Congregational church of Warsaw. Her home both before and after her husband's death always has been a center of social and philanthropic life, and her life has been one of great activity.
GRANGER A. HOLLISTER.
Granger A. Hollister, a leading figure in the financial, civic and philanthropic life of Rochester, his native city and his home, was called to his final rest on January 19, 1924, at the age of sixty-nine. He was a dominant factor in the foremost inter- ests of this city as vice president of the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation, and as a banker and philanthropist. He was born on the 7th of December, 1854, his parents being Emmett H. and Sarah E. (Granger) Hollister, who were also natives of the Empire state, the former born in Rochester in July, 1829, and the latter in the city of Troy. The first representative of the family in America, so far as is shown by the records, was John Hollister, a native of England, who arrived in the New World in 1640, establishing his home in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. The family continued
Gracious a stellen
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THE GENESEE COUNTRY
to reside in New England until early in the nineteenth century, when George A. Hollister, the paternal grandfather of Granger A. Hollister, removed to New York, and in 1826 became a resident of Rochester, Monroe county. Six years later he en- tered the lumber business and remained in it until his death in 1854. His son, Emmett H. Hollister, succeeded to the business, and from 1832 until the present the name of Hollister has had a place in this branch of commercial activity in Rochester. In 1853, when a young man of twenty-four years, Emmett H. Hollister wedded Miss Sarah E. Granger, a daughter of Austin Granger of Troy, New York. She had come to Rochester as a girl in 1850 and here spent the remainder of her life, passing away in 1894. The demise of Emmett H. Hollister occurred in the year 1871.
In his boyhood Granger A. Hollister was a pupil in private schools in Rochester, but when he was eighteen he left school to form a partnership with his brother George C. Hollister, under the firm name of Hollister Brothers, to take over their father's business. The partnership was continued until 1888, when the Hollister Lumber Company, Limited, was incorporated. The company was capitalized at one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, with Granger A. Hollister as president; George C. Hollister, vice president; H. C. Durand, treasurer; and F. S. Gould, secretary.
The development of lighting and traction companies in Rochester was one of Mr. Hollister's chief interests. He was one of the organizers of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, which was incorporated in 1886, and in 1892 he and his asso- ciates bought all of the stock of the Rochester Electric Light Company, and a con- trolling interest in the Brush Electric Light Company. Subsequently an interest in the Rochester Gas Company was obtained, and a consolidation of all four companies into the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation was effected. From 1904 until his demise Mr. Hollister was active in the management of the various companies, as vice president and director of the Rochester Railway & Light Company, Ontario Light & Traction Company, Canandaigua Gas Light Company, Eastern Monroe Electric Light & Gas Comranv, Rochester Electric Railway Company, and as a director of the New York State Railways.
Important as was Mr. Hollister's position in the lighting and traction situation in the city. he was most widely known perhaps through his connection with the banking and financial interests of Rochester. In January, 1886, he was elected a trustee of the Rochester Savings Bank, of which he was first vice president at the time of his death, and helped form the Security Trust Company in 1892, of which he was also vice president and chairman of the executive committee. He was elected a director of the New York Life Insurance Company in June, 1907, becoming a member of its agency committee, and was connected with the management of several charitable institutions. He also served on the board of directors of the Northeast Electric Company.
When Mr. Hollister passed away one of the local newspapers said: "Actively identified as he was with innumerable financial and philanthropic interests of Roches- ter, Mr. Hollister's death will be keenly felt in every stratum of the city's business and civic life. The nobility of his character, the discrimination of his business judg- ment, the comprehensiveness of his generosity, earned him hosts of friends and stamped him in a civic sense as one who had the welfare of his community always in head and heart."
Robert M. Searle, president of the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation, of which Mr. Ho'lister was a vice president and member of the executive committee, the con- ference committee and board of directors, said: "Mr. Hollister was without exception one of the noblest characters I ever knew, and all will keenly feel the loss of his inspiring personality. He was possessed of wonderful vision and imagination, was essentially modest-one never heard him mention his charitable activities-and as generous as is humanly possible."
Julius M. Wile, vice president of the Security Trust Company, declared that Mr. Hollister had a character which would be exceedingly difficult to replace. "I have known Mr. Hollister for many years", he said, "ever since we were associated in form- ing the Security Trust company in 1892. Mr. Hollister was very religious and philanthropically inclined. He was a very active worker in the interest of the Homeo- pathic Hospital, and was a leading figure in St. Paul's Episcopal church."
Henry S. Hanford, president of the Rochester Savings Bank, of which Mr. Hol- lister was first vice president, said: "Forty years of close contact with Mr. Hollister only impressed more firmly upon me his uprightness, keen intelligence and generosity. The city as a whole, as well as his friends, have suffered by the loss of a noble character."
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THE GENESEE COUNTRY
At a special meeting of the board of trustees of the Rochester Savings Bank, of which Mr. Hollister was a trustee and vice president, the following resolution was adopted: "In the passing of Granger A. Hollister, the Rochester Savings Bank loses one of its vice presidents, a trustee who was the dean of the board in point of service, having joined it in 1886, and one who was devoted to its work in every feature of it to which he was called. Particularly as a member of its executive committee Mr. Hollister gave ungrudgingly of his time and of his experience, showing solicitous and most effective care of the bank, in examining property upon which loans were asked, and in all of its authorized forms of investment, and he leaves to his associates the inspiration of thirty-eight years of faithful and devoted service; a service of which he did his full share and in which today many thousands of depositors, who own the bank, are protected in their savings; a work and responsibility represented in its man- agement which is perhaps most fully realized by those who have been in intimate contact with it from week to week for many years. This work, which is now finished for him, our friend and associate, will be carried on by others, but always with an abiding sorrow as they remember 'the sound of a voice that is still', and with sincere regret that words must seem so poor a tribute for so great a loss. The board of trustees offers to the family their heartfelt sympathy; as a mark of respect will attend the funeral in a body and directs that this minute be spread in full upon its records, published in the press, and that a copy, suitably engrossed and signed by the members of the board, be transmitted by its president to Mrs. Hollister."
The following resolution was adopted at a meeting of the trustees of the Security Trust Company, of which Mr. Hollister was a trustee and vice president: "The an- nouncement of the death of our associate, Granger A. Hollister, came as a tremendous shock to every member of this board. He had so far recovered from his recent illness that it was expected that he would again be with us in a short time. Mr. Hollister's interests have been so varied and important that he has left a vacancy in most of the activities of our city which it will be hard to fill. He was one of the leaders in banking and business circles; he was long connected with the work of our Chamber of Commerce and had recently been its president; he was prominent in the social life of the city; he was active in many of our public charities and generously contributed of his means for their support and for the relief of individuals who were suffering from illness or in need of any kind; he was, both officially and personally, a consistent and active supporter of the church of which he was a member and of the great denomination of which that church is one of the component parts; and in all of these relations he was an upright, clean-minded, courteous gentleman. But it is especially as an officer and trustee that we are thinking of Mr. Hollister today. He was one of the founders and a charter member of this company, serving continuously, either as vice president or as chairman of our executive committee. He was inde- pendent in judgment, courteous in debate and painstaking in the performance of every duty. We shall sadly miss his counsel, his personality and his active co- operation."
Mr. Hollister was one of the first trustees of the Chamber of Commerce and was president of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce in 1918. He was a director of the United States Chamber of Commerce for five years, retiring in April, 1920. Officers of the Chamber of Commerce adopted the following resolution: "The death of Granger A. Hollister, our president in 1918, and member of the board of trustees from the time of its organization in 1887, strikes his associates with the shock of unexpectedness and profound loss. Mr. Hollister was of a type that stands conspicu- ous in every generation. Honorable to the last degree, steady in the performance of every duty, painstaking in little things as well as big things, stanchest of friends, full of friendliness and sympathy toward his fellowinen, he dealt with large affairs with the strength and simplicity of a strong character, courteously, firmly, modestly. To the Rochester Chamber of Commerce he was devoted. No assignment in the serv- ice of this institution was too small to receive his personal attention; none was too large or exacting in its demand for time and thought. For it he served for a number of years at personal inconvenience and sacrifice, as member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, and shortly before his death he accepted another assignment from that body in membership on its com- mittee to study the tax situation throughout our country. His services in large affairs and great institutions at home and in the nation will not soon be forgotten. The memory of his kindness and sympathies, and the aid he gave causes designed to help and comfort his fellowmen in the city in which he was born, where he lived his full life of nearly seventy years, and to which he gave the devotion of a quiet man of high ideals and sterling character, will be an abiding blessing. Resolved, that
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a copy of this resolution be sent to Mrs. Hollister and placed upon the minutes of the board and Chamber."
The board of governors of the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital adopted the fol- lowing resolution: "The loss to the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital in the death of its president of many years, Granger A. Hollister, is too great to be expressed in words. His love for the institution, his eagerness to help the sick and suffering, his pride in fine achievement, his wise counsel and, above all, his joy in long hours of quiet, unadvertised hard work with Mrs. Hollister, at the hospital itself were not equalled by any other. Under his thoughtful guidance the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital grew steadily from year to year in its power to serve and aid the sick of the city of Rochester. This was his reward! It is, therefore, with a sense of great sor- row that we, the governors of the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital, hereby spread upon the minutes of the board this expression of our deep loss in the death of our leader and our friend."
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