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 21
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In 1890 Mr. Swett purchased the interest of Mr. Sampson and then called the concern the A. L. Swett Iron Works. The problem of lighting the plant arose and Mr. Swett's attention was thus turned to the power business, which he had not con- sidered up to that time. This was to become another large enterprise. A small twenty-light arc dynamo was installed to furnish light for the shop, and in 1896 a. thirty horse-power machine was put in place and light wires run on to the Swett home, three blocks away. In 1897 the village lighting contract expired and Mr. Swett's friends, knowing of his success in this line, urged him to procure the new contract. After some deliberation he did so, and he was awarded the franchise to light the streets for five years, incorporating in 1898 the A. L. Swett Electric Light & Power Company. A small wooden power-house and a water-wheel back of the foundry were installed and a one hundred and twenty-five horse-power engine and electrical equipment purchased. The plant soon proved inadequate, so he purchased the property of the old Weld & Hill flour mill and erected a modern electrical plant at Medina Falls, where a thirty-foot drop made it possible to develop four hundred horse-power. In 1903 he was forced to build again-a mile north of Medina on Oak Orchard creek. The new dam gave a fifty-five foot head and furnished power for three eight hundred horse-power units. In 1906 a contract was made with the Niagara Lockport & Ontario Power Company to furnish whatever additional power might be needed. In 1909 the company purchased the interests of the Albion Power Com- pany and they have since rebuilt the old lines and installed modern equipment. In 1910 a transmission line was run to Lyndonville and to Gasport and the next year the village of Barker was added to the list, which included Medina, Albion, Brock- port, Middleport, Gasport, Waterport and Carlton. In 1916 this business was rein- corporated as the Western New York Utilities Company, Incorporated, Mr. Swett continuing as president until January 24, 1923, when the entire interests were sold to Walter C. Lewis, president of the Genesee Light & Power Company of Batavia, New York, the two corporations being consolidated under the present name of The Western New York Utilities Company, Incorporated.
Meanwhile the A. L. Swett Iron Works prospered. In 1898 Mr. Swett sold the soil pipe and fittings branch of his business to the Central Foundry Company of New York and built a new plant on the west side of Glenwood avenue to make hard- ware and plumbing specialties. About sixty men were employed at the start and the business now employs about one hundred and fifty men. Albert S. Braughton, super- intendent of the company, has been with this firm continuously since March 28, 1876, and the success of the business has been largely due to the loyal support which he always gave to Mr. Swett. In 1917 Mr. Swett purchased the pump business of the Erie Pump and Engine Works of Erie, Pennsylvania, and moved this business to Medina, where it is now being carried on along with the business of the A. L. Swett Iron Works.
Albert Louis Swett always found time to do his duty as a good citizen, notwith- standing the demands made upon his attention by his large business interests. He served for nine years on the school board, was active in local politics and was a mem- ber of the Alert Club of Medina. He also was for many years president of the board and treasurer of the Baptist church and was a most liberal contributor to its support. Mr. Swett was one of the founders of the Medina Young Men's Christian Association
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and remained a director of this organization until the date of his death. He was also for many years a member of the Boxwood Cemetery commission and held the office of treasurer of this commission to the time of his demise. From 1903 until his death he was a director of the Medina Savings & Loan Association and for a period was also a director of the Genesee Valley Trust Company of Rochester, New York.
On September 18, 1872, Mr. Swett was married, in Medina, to Lucinda Maria Fuller, who was born near Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, New York, the daughter of James Harvey and Jerusha (Davis) Fuller. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Swett: Alice, born November 10, 1873, who died on February 12, 1884; and Charles Sumner and Raymond Fuller Swett.
The following resolutions, adopted by the Medina Savings and Loan Association, pay tribute to the life and character of Mr. Swett:
"Albert L. Swett, a director of this association, died on the twelfth day of April, nineteen hundred twenty-four:
"On motion it was ordered that there be spread upon the minutes a few words, telling of the sorrow and regret of his associates on this board and something of an appreciation of what his work has meant to this organization, which is so closely identified with the prosperity and happiness of the community.
"Mr. Swett had been a member of the association for over twenty-five years. He was elected a director in 1903 and served during the remainder of his life on this board.
"Coming up, as he did, from small beginnings, Mr. Swett knew, at first hand, the problems of the man who would make his way in the world by industry and thrift and how much a little help at just the right moment means to such a man, and he was always deeply interested in everyone who had an ambition to save, or to own a home.
"In his later years he was the controlling force in extensive corporate interests which made large demands upon his time, but he was seldom too busy to give his most careful attention to the appraisal work preliminary to even the most modest request for home building funds. Many times, in the memory of committees of this board, he has laid aside the consideration of projects involving many thousands of dollars to give the same careful attention to some bit of committee work which seemed small in comparison, but meant, possibly, that some Medina man was making his beginnings in thrift, even as had Mr. Swett many years before.
"Intensely practical, indefatigably industrious, not too patient with the shirking and the insincere and for the most part rather inclined to brusqueness, he had yet a deep,underlying vein of sympathy and was quick to respond when once convinced that any appeal was just.
"It is due to Mr. Swett and to men like him, who have given freely of their time and of their ability for the benefit of Medina and her people, that this organization is the successful and valuable institution that it is today.
THE MEDINA SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION. William U. Lee, President Harry F. Welton, Secretary."
ELMER EUGENE FAIRCHILD.
Elmer Eugene Fairchild, president of the Alderman-Fairchild Company, is one of Rochester's prominent business men and citizens. For more than thirty years he has been identified with the business life of the city and his activities in various ways have been of distinct value to Rochester. He was born in Volney, Oswego county, New York, February 4, 1874, a son of William F. and Francelia A. (Mattison) Fairchild.
Elmer Eugene Fairchild attended the high school in Fulton, Oswego county, where he prepared for the profession of teaching. On completing his course he successfully followed that work in the schools of Oswego county for about three years. On the ex- piration of that period he came to Rochester and took a position with the Kenyon Hat & Fur Company, with which he remained for three years, and then entered the employ of the Buedingen Paper Box Company. Three years later he joined Henry O. Alder- man in establishing a similar enterprise, and in 1900 the Alderman-Fairchild Com- pany was incorporated. From a small concern the business has become one of the foremost in the country in the manufacture of paper boxes, as well as toys and games. The Alderman-Fairchild Company operates three plants, two of which are located in Rochester and the other in Churchville. The main plant on Orchard street, Rochester,
ELMER E. FAIRCHILD.
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represents the last word in modern industrial construction, and in character of main- tenance will rank with any in the country. The product of the company has given it a national reputation as container craftsmen. The boxes made by the company are also lithographed or printed, according to specifications, and a completely equipped designing department is maintained to study the requirements of manufacturers and to make recommendations as to the most suitable type of containers. The firm also manufactures games and toys in large quantities. The growth and development of the Alderman-Fairchild Company has not only been a material contribution to Rochester's industrial prestige, but a magnificent tribute to its management, for it stands in the foremost rank of the city's strong and ably managed industrial institutions. Mr. Henry O. Alderman is secretary and treasurer of the company. Among Mr. Fairchild's other business interests, he is a director of the Swope-Stanley Motors, Incorporated.
In Rochester, on December 20, 1899, Mr. Fairchild was married to Miss Mary A. Webb of this city. They have a son and two daughters: Earl, born May 18, 1902; Ester Estelle, who was born April 25, 1906; and Jane Webb, born January 4, 1914. Mr. Fairchild's list of clubs is an extensive one and includes the Rotary Club, Ad Club, Rochester Club, Genesee Valley Club, Oak Hill Country Club, Washington Club, Auto- mobile Club, Tennis Club and Sportsman's Club. Religiously he is affiliated with the English Lutheran church. He is an exemplary representative of the Masonic order, be- longing to Zetland Lodge, No. 951, F. & A. M .; Ionic Chapter, No. 210, R. A. M .; Cyrene Commandery, K. T .; Rochester Consistory, A. & A. S. R .; Damascus Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; and Lalla Rookh Grotto, No. 3, M. O. V. P. E. R.
Mr. Fairchild is loyal, patriotic and public-spirited in all matters of citizenship and during the World war was chairman of the Monroe County Defense committee, in which connection he made a highly creditable record. He has been honored with the presidency of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, which office he is now filling, and the Young Men's Christian Association numbers him among its trustees. Mr. Fair- child is appreciative of the social amenities of life and his due consideration thereof constitutes the even balance to his intense business activity. He is an excellent ex- ample of the type of business man developed in the present age, quick to perceive an emergency and equally quick in devising a plan to meet it. Gifted with a keen busi- ness insight and grasp of affairs, he has had a career of unusual activity and most creditable success.
LOUIS W. WEHN.
Louis W. Wehn enjoys the distinction of being the pioneer in the insurance busi- ness in Rochester, his native city, and worthily sustains the traditions of an honored family name. He was born January 15, 1856, and his parents, Louis and Elizabeth (Schauman) Wehn, were natives of Germany. They followed the tide of immigration to the New World, becoming residents of Rochester in early life, and for a time the father followed the trade of cabinetmaking. Later he became a manufacturer of soap but subsequently withdrew from the industrial field and organized the Rochester Insurance Company. He remained at the head of the business until his death and was very successful in that undertaking, winning and retaining a position of leadership in that line, while his commercial integrity ever remained unsullied. He passed away in 1897 and the mother's demise occurred a year later.
Their son, Louis W. Wehn, attended the public schools and completed his studies in the Vosburg Academy. He earned his first money by working in a grocery store. Going into business for himself, he became a partner in the coal firm of May & Wehn, and later was a member of the firm of Wehn & Bauer, in the same line of business. He then joined his father in business and for eighteen years was associated with the Rochester Insurance Company. He next became a member of the Vay & Wehn Insurance Company, which was conducted under that style until the death of Mr. Vay in 1915, when Henry W. Wedel was admitted to a partnership, and the firm style of Wehn & Wedel was adopted. They represent the strongest and most reliable com- panies in the field and write a large amount of insurance each year. Mr. Wehn's identification with the business covers a period of forty-four years and his success has been founded upon honorable dealing and concentrated effort. He has made an in- tensive study of the insurance business and is recognized as an authority on matters pertaining thereto.
On May 28, 1880, Mr. Wehn was married to Miss Amelia Bauer, a daughter of Louis Bauer, a prominent citizen of Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Wehn have two children:
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Mrs. Florence Weber, who resides in this city and has three children, Wehn, William and B. W .; and Mrs. J. Hilman Smith, who is living in Joplin, Missouri. Mr. Wehn belongs to the Exempt and Volunteer Firemen's Associations and is a life member of the Rochester Lodge of Masons. He has taken the fourteenth degree in that order and for thirty-three years has been identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His life has been upright, useful and purposeful and his efforts have been effective and resultant. His activities along business, civic and fraternal lines have brought him a wide acquaintance and time has proven his worth. A lifelong resident of the city, he has wrought himself firmly into the texture of its life, winning the high and enduring regard of all with whom he has been associated.
SIRENO F. ADAMS.
For nearly a quarter of a century Sireno F. Adams has been practicing law at Dansville, Livingston county, New York, has built up a large practice, and is held in high esteem in the profession for his ability and thorough mastery of the basic prin- ciples of law. He was born on July 21, 1871, at Conesus, Livingston county, the son of Philip T. and Julia A. (French) Adams, who were the parents of four children. Both parents have passed away.
Sireno F. Adams obtained his education in the public schools and in the Geneseo Normal School, and then began to read law in the office of Fred W. Noyes at Dans- ville, remaining in this office for ten years. He was admitted to the bar on January 9, 1900, and immediately began practice, which he has continued alone ever since.
On September 1, 1909, Mr. Adams was married to Elizabeth M. Woolever. They are the parents of a daughter: Mary E. Adams. Mr. Adams is a republican, takes an active interest in politics, and has served as president of the village. During the World war he was identified with the various movements on its behalf, was chairman of the Four-Minute men of the county, and head of the legal advisory board in Dans- ville. Mr. Adams is a member of the Rotary Club of Dansville and a trustee in the Presbyterian church, to which religious faith he belongs.
JOHN FRANKLIN DINKEY.
John Franklin Dinkey, auditor and treasurer of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pitts- burgh Railway Company, is one of the well known railroad officials of the country. For more than fifty years Mr. Dinkey has been connected with important transporta- tion interests, an identification that began soon after he completed his high school work as a boy of eighteen. He was born on the 16th of October, 1854, in South Easton, Pennsylvania, and on both his paternal and maternal sides comes from fine old families in that section of the Keystone state. His father was James Dinkey, and his mother previous to her marriage was Miss Rebecca Bowman. James Dinkey was born in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, of Huguenot ancestry, and was a son of the first associate judge of that county, being a contemporary on the bench of Judge Packer, the founder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. James Dinkey was chief account- ant in the canal department of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. His death occurred in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1876, where he resided during the latter years of his life. His widow survived for more than a quarter of a century, passing away in 1903.
John Franklin Dinkey graduated from the high school in Easton, Pennsylvania, and Shortly afterward entered the employ of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Com- pany, working under his father's direction in the canal department, and upon the transfer of that department to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, Mr. Dinkey succeeded his father as chief accountant of the canals. He remained in that connection until trans- ferred to that of chief clerk in the office of the division passenger and freight agent of the Lehigh and Susquehanna division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. In 1879 he accepted a position as chief clerk in the office of Colonel R. E. Ricker, gen- eral manager of the New York Elevated Railroad Company. In 1881 he came to Rochester as auditor and assistant treasurer of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, which had been organized to take over the property of the Rochester & State Line Railroad when it was sold under foreclosure proceedings. In 1890 Mr. Dinkey became auditor and treasurer of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway
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Company and its affiliated companies, which succeeded the Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, and has continued in that dual capacity to the present time. Mr. Dinkey's long and continuous service with one company is unique in railroad circles and embraces a period of wonderful progress and development. In 1881, when he first entered upon his duties with the old Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, the annual gross earnings were a little over two hundred and thirty-one thousand dollars, as compared with twenty-four million, one hundred and forty thousand, sixty- six dollars and ninety-nine cents earned in a similar period of today, by the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Company.
In December, 1884, Mr. Dinkey was married to Miss Annie Lockhart Hartman of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Duncan C. Hartman of Danville, Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Dinkey have a son and a daughter: Harry Packer, now assistant secretary to his father; and Isabel Emeline, now the wife of Edward F. Chapin, Jr., of Duluth, Minnesota, a dealer in investment securities.
In his fraternal connections Mr. Dinkey is a Mason, belonging to Carbon Lodge, F. & A. M .; Lilly Chapter, R. A. M., of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania; and is a life member of Palestine Commandery in New York city. He is prominent in church. circles, being a member of the English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reforma- tion and has served as president of the church board of trustees and of the church council. He is also teacher of the Men's Bible class and was a member of the building committee when the present church edifice was erected. He served as treasurer of the Lutheran League of America, also the English Conference of the New York Ministerium, and is a former president of the New York State Luther League. Mr. Dinkey is also a former vice president of the Rochester Young Men's Christian Association and has been a member of the state committee of that organization. A most zealous supporter of those movements having to do with the moral uplift of the community, Mr. Dinkey has also liberally extended his cooperation for the material. social and intellectual welfare of the city. He has achieved distinction in the field where his activities have led-a man of high ideals whose personal worth is recog- nized by all- and throughout his life he has stood for those things which have real value as constructive elements in the world's work. He has made his life count as a strong force for good and for many years has been accorded a foremost position among Rochester's best and most highly respected citizenship. Mr. Dinkey's residence is at No. 14 Vick Park B.
ARTHUR RAY ELLISON.
Arthur Ray Ellison is an able lawyer of Watkins whose high professional stand- ing is indicated in the fact that he is now serving for the second term as district attorney of Schuyler county. He was born in the town of Orange, Schuyler county, New York, on the 1st of January, 1892, his parents being Nelson and Lida (Peck) Ellison, both natives of the town of Tyrone, Schuyler county, this state. James Alli- son, Mr. Ellison's great-grandfather, was born on shipboard while his parents, who had left Ireland, were en route to America in 1815. Samuel Allison, Mr. Ellison's grandfather, took up his abode in Schuyler county, New York, prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. John Sutton, a member of the Sutton family of Ovid, New York, and an ancestor of Mrs. Lida (Peck) Ellison in the maternal line, was one of the earliest residents of Reading Center and a soldier of the War of 1812.
Arthur Ray Ellison was a youth of sixteen at the time of his graduation from the high school at Watkins, New York, with highest honor. Having determined upon a professional career, he studied law with Hon. Olin T. Nye, county judge and surrogate of Schuyler county, and was admitted to the bar on the 10th of January, 1918. For seven years prior to that time he had filled the position of clerk of the surrogates court and had thus gained valuable experience along the line of his chosen calling. Mr. Ellison was also clerk of the board of elections for five years and court stenog- rapher. On the 14th of November, 1918, he opened a law office in Watkins and two years later was elected district attorney, entering upon the duties of the office on the 1st of January, 1921. That he rendered satisfactory and efficient service in this im- portant position was manifested in his reelection without opposition in the fall of 1923.
On the 20th of June, 1916, Mr. Ellison was united in marriage to Miss Edwina Jane Mack of Watkins, New York, who is now a student in the law department of Cornell University. Mr. Ellison gives his political support to the republican party and in religious faith is a Methodist. Actuated by high ideals and worthy motives in
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every relation of life, he enjoys the respect and esteem of his professional brethren as well as of the general public and has gained many friends in Schuyler county, within the borders of which he has always made his home.
EDGAR P. REED.
At the foundation of the prosperity of every city lies the work of the manufac- turer. He it is who, in seeking a market for his products, causes factories and business houses to arise, directs the channels of commerce to his city, and furnishes employ- ment to hundreds. To this useful and valuable class of citizens belonged Edgar P. Reed, for fifty-seven years a leader of the shoe industry in Rochester, and at the time of his death the oldest footwear manufacturer in the United States. He passed away October 13, 1923, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years, leaving behind him the imperishable monument of splendid dreams realized, and a memory that is cherished by all with whom he was associated.
Edgar P. Reed was born in the town of Moriah, Essex county, New York, Febru- ary 14, 1837, and received his education in the public schools of that locality. In 1854, when seventeen years of age, he went to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and later located in Milwaukee, securing a position in the dry goods establishment of Hasset & Chap- man. He next became traveling salesman for the firm of Byanton & Smith, wholesale grocers of that city, and continued to represent that house after the headquarters of the business were transferred to Chicago. In 1866, at the solicitation of his father- in-law, Edmund Mortimer, Mr. Reed came to Rochester and entered the shoe business at No. 111 State street as a partner in the firm of Johnson & Joquaith. In 1878 Almeron J. Johnson withdrew from the firm and five years later E. O. Joquaith sold his interest therein, at which time Mr. Mortimer purchased a share in the business. After passing through various hands it was finally bought by Mr. Reed, who estab- lished the E. P. Reed Company, and soon afterward formed a partnership with a Mr. Weaver. This relationship was maintained for eight years and in 1887 the firm again became known as the E. P. Reed Company. At that time Joseph Farley became a partner in the undertaking and in 1890 the business was incorporated under the name of E. P. Reed & Company, under which style it has since been operated. Owing to the rapid growth of the business the firm was obliged to seek more commodious quarters and first removed to South St. Paul street, then to River street. About 1907 the business was removed to its present location on North Goodman street, where a large modern factory has been erected. It occupies an entire block and a large number of employes are required for its operation. On June 20, 1916, Mr. Reed celebrated the golden anniversary of his entrance into the shoe business. At the time of his arrival Rochester had a population of about fifty thousand and was growing rapidly. The boot and shoe industry was then in its infancy and it could advertise truthfully hand and bench made products, for there were no others. Six firms, Pancost, Page & Com- pany, Hatch Sons & Streeter, Churchill & Company, Farrant Brothers, G. P. Grant & Company and Johnson & Joquaith, were the progenitors of the shoe manufacturing industry, which today has become one of the city's chief industries. A great deal of the success and rapid growth of the shoe business in Rochester has been attributed to the efforts and achievements of Mr. Reed, who was known as "the grand old man" of the National Boot & Shoe Manufacturers Association, and prior to his election as honorary life vice president of the organization in 1916, had served as vice president since its formation in 1904. He was one of the founders of the association and gave much of his time to its development, watching it grow from a society with a few members to one of the most important national trade organizations in the country. He was offered the office of president several times but always declined the honor.
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