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 23
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On October 30, 1901, Mr. Woodworth was married to Grace D. Atwood of Wiscoy, New York. He is a member of the National Electric Light Association, the Empire State Gas and Electric Association, and is a charter member of the Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers Association. Politically Mr. Woodworth is a republican, attends the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic order.
CAPTAIN CHARLES W. HOUGH.
In the memorial annals of the Genesee country and particularly of the city of Batavia and Genesee county, there are few names held in better remembrance than is that of Captain Charles W. Hough, manufacturer, publicist and community builder, whose death a quarter of a century ago was the occasion of wide mourning and whose memory still is kept green thereabout. He was a native son of the Empire state, a member of one of the old colonial families, and with the exception of a few years spent in the northwest following his return from the army at the close of the Civil war, all his life had been spent here. He was born on a farm, in the Summer Hill neighborhood, in Cayuga county, June 22, 1836, and was a son of Joel and Harriet (Smith) Hough, both members of pioneer families, the Houghs tracing to a lineal representative of the line of Sir Edwin Hough of England, who landed in the Plym- outh colony as early as the year 1664. The Houghs of this line in America are now a far-flung family, worthy representatives of this line in direct descent from this early New England ancestor being found in almost every state of the Union.
Charles W. Hough completed his education in the old Moravia Academy in his native county of Cayuga and was engaged in farming pursuits when the Civil war came on. In 1862 he enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union and went to the front as a private in Company E of the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, which later was reorganized as the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery. By successive promotions for meritorious service, he was advanced from private to corporal, thence to sergeant, sergeant major, second lieuten- ant, first lieutenant and then was commissioned a captain in the Second New York Heavy Artillery. With this command Captain Hough was for about eighteen months engaged in the defense of the city of Washington and when that command was finally ordered off for field service he was detached and was detailed by the war department as ordnance officer in the defenses of Washington, north of the Potomac. At the close of the war he was made chief ordnance officer for the military district of Washington and in that capacity had charge of the dismantling of the fortifications surrounding the capital north of the river. Captain Hough was relieved upon the conclusion of this special detail of service and received his final discharge on October 15, 1865.
Upon the conclusion of his military service Captain Hough returned to his home in New York and in the fall of the next year (1866) was married. In the following year (1867) he and his wife joined the considerable stream of emigration that was flowing into the rapidly developing state of Minnesota and for three years thereafter were residents of the picturesque little city of Winona, on the Mississippi, in the southeastern part of that state. Following his return to New York, Captain Hough,. in 1871, bought from Matthew Wiard the latter's half interest in the plow manu- facturing plant of M. & G. Wiard, in East Avon, Livingston county, a business that had been established in Connecticut as early as 1804 by Thomas Wiard, a pioneer blacksmith, and which has been maintained as a continuing industry, now the oldest. concern of its kind in the country. When Captain Hough bought into this business the firm name was changed to Wiard & Hough and in 1876 the plow works were moved from East Avon to Batavia, where the establishment ever since has been maintained and where it has grown into a great industry-the Wiard Plow Com --
ONHough
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pany, of which Captain Hough's son, Arthur G. Hough, now is the president, as is set out elsewhere in this work. It was when this concern was moved from East Avon to Batavia that the firm name was changed from Wiard & Hough to that of the Wiard Plow Company, and this name has since been maintained, thus having behind it a half century of honorable service. Captain Hough was treasurer of this company and continued active in its operation until his death on May 4, 1900, he then having been a resident of Batavia for almost a quarter of a century.
In addition to his large manufacturing interests Captain Hough had other sub- stantial interests in and about the city and was ever regarded as one of the depend- able citizens of the community. He was particularly active in the local realty and town extension field, laid out and promoted several suburban additions, donated three streets to the city and built no fewer than thirty houses. He also was influential in the way of inducing other industries to locate in Batavia and was a true community builder. His part in local civic affairs was equally helpful. A stanch republican, he ever took an interested part in local political affairs and had rendered effective service as a member of the board of village trustees. He also was a leader in the activities of the local board of trade and had served that body for some time as president. In school and church work he also was an effective participant and both he and his wife were long recognized as among the leaders in the general social and cultural activi- ties of their home town. Captain Hough was a member of Upton Post, G. A. R.
On September 26, 1866, Captain Charles W. Hough was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Young, daughter of George W. and Jerusha (Brooks) Young of East Venice, New York. Captain and Mrs. Hough had two sons: Arthur George Hough, now president of the Wiard Plow Company of Batavia, concerning whom further and fitting mention is made elsewhere in this work; and Edward W. Hough, who died in the days of his young manhood. Mrs. Hough survived her husband for nearly fourteen years, her death occurring at her home in Batavia on December 20, 1913.
SAMUEL ALEXANDER COOPER.
Among those progressive business men who have stimulated the pulse of trade in Rochester is numbered Samuel Alexander Cooper, the real pioneer in the five- and ten-cent wall paper business. He is a firm believer in the value of concentrated effort and his operations in his chosen line of endeavor now cover six states. He is one of the city's "boosters" and has contributed his share toward its substantial upbuilding by the erection of a fine business block. He was born in Jefferson county, New York, August 9, 1877, a son of Jerome and Emma (Farr) Cooper, the latter a native of Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada. The mother came to New York state as a girl and was here reared and married. The father was born in Theresa, Jefferson county, New York, and on entering the world of commerce first became connected with the tannery business. In later life he turned his attention to the wall paper trade, opening a store in Watertown, New York, where he spent the remainder of his life. He passed away January 4, 1920, and the mother's demise occurred in that city on the 10th of April, 1923. Eleven children were born to them, nine of whom are living, six sons and three daughters: Emmett A .; George W .; Jerome B .; Rana S .; Sidney B .; Samuel A. of this review; Louise, who is now Mrs. Fred Jennings; Emma, who is now Mrs. George Van Dorn; and Grace, who is now Mrs. Oscar Dillman.
Samuel Alexander Cooper attended the public schools of Theresa, New York, and after completing his studies entered the wall paper business, which he has made his lifework. He is associated with his brother, Rana S. Cooper, and they are sole owners of the business, which was established in 1900. They have a highly spe- cialized knowledge of the trade and their foresight, enterprise and ability are manifest in the remarkable growth and expansion of the business, which is one of the most extensive mercantile houses of this character in the country. At the outset they realized the great importance of that intangible asset known as character and their success has been founded upon honorable dealing and unswerving allegiance to the highest standard of commercial ethics. The Cooper Wall Paper Stores are dis- tinguished by their orange fronts and the firm now has in operation a chain of thirty-two of these popular-priced stores, situated in the following cities: Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut; Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts; Grand Rapids, Bay City, Saginaw and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Atlantic City, Newark and Paterson, New Jersey; Buffalo, Binghamton, Elmira, Albany, Schenectady, Syra- cuse, Watertown, Johnstown, Gloversville, Rochester, Troy and Utica, New York;
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Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, Harrisburg and Scranton, Pennsylvania. The first store was started in Syracuse, New York, and its success was immediate. Realizing that Rochester was destined to become one of the most important cities in the east, Mr. Cooper invested heavily in local realty, securing property on Elm street, on a portion of which he has erected a substantial two-story building with a large floor space, and here the Rochester store is located. In addition to the five- and ten-cent rolls the firm carries the more expensive grades of wall paper and since 1913 its Rochester store has been in operation, growing steadily in popular favor during that period. Mr. Cooper also owns a gas and oil station, which is situated on adjoining property.
On August 22, 1910, Mr. Cooper was married to Miss Dorothy Shisler, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Le Roy Shisler of Syracuse. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have three children: Mary Sybil, who was born June 4, 1920; and Sam and Sue, twins, born August 5, 1922. Mr. Cooper is a York Rite Mason and in the Scottish Rite Consistory he has attained the thirty-second degree. Rochester has greatly benefited by the citizenship of Mr. Cooper, in whose character 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. In his business career he has made each day count for the utmost and, strong and purposeful, his efforts have been directed along steadily broadening lines of greater usefulness. His residence is at No. 14 Council Rock avenue.
HON. SELDEN STANLEY BROWN.
Hon. Selden Stanley Brown, Surrogate of Monroe county, is one of the popular and honored citizens of Rochester, where he presides over his court, and of Scotts- ville, where he makes his home. It is not alone his qualities as a lawyer and judge but also as a man that have gained him the favorable place which he occupies in public regard. There are few residents of the county who have more warm friends and friendship is always an indication of the recognition of genuine personal worth.
Judge Brown is a native of Scottsville, Monroe county, New York, where his birth occurred on the 23d of October, 1855. He was the eldest son of the late D. D. S. Brown and began his education in the public schools of Scottsville, after which he attended the Rochester Collegiate Institute, subsequently entering the University of Rochester in the class of 1879. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi society while in college and for a number of years was president of the local alumni association of that fraternity.
Following the completion of his more specifically literary course Judge Brown entered upon the study of law under the direction of the firm of Hubbel & McGuire and was admitted to the bar in 1882. In 1896 he formed a law partnership with Harry Otis Poole and the firm continued in active practice with offices in the Powers building until Judge Brown went upon the bench through appointment to the position of Surrogate by Governor Frank W. Higgins in 1905 and assumed his judicial duties in January, 1906. Later he received the endorsement of the Monroe county bar and at the regular election became the nominee of the republican party and was elected by a very flattering majority. Judge Brown has since then been reelected three times and his present term will expire in December, 1925. A local paper has said of him: "Judge Brown has a natural judicial air. His dignity is blended with courtesy and a kindliness of heart that makes him popular with the members of the bar who come before him in practice. His ability commands respect, while his recep- tion of practitioners, litigants and visitors inspires regard. In the surrogate's court several hundred people come in the course of a year; they often come there under distressing circumstances. Usually the handling of law questions involved in any proceeding may be simple, but there often is need of personal sympathy and a kindly word of advice from the surrogate that counts as much in relieving difficulties as a decision of the law in the case. Judge Brown fills all these requirements."
Judge Brown as a citizen has always been interested in matters of general moment and has ever been a stalwart supporter of the republican party. He has kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day and his opinions have carried weight in party councils, where he has served as a delegate to the county and state conventions on various occasions. For many years he was a member of the republican general committee representing the town of Wheatland but he did not become a candidate for any office until he was suggested as the successor of Judge
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Benton of the surrogate bench. He had enjoyed a large and important law practice and had given ample proof of his ability and his thorough understanding of all departments of the law. He was therefore well qualified to take up official duties and his course as surrogate has been characterized by the utmost devotion to duty, in which he has fulfilled not only the letter but also the spirit of the law. He was an alternate to the republican national convention of 1904 which nominated Roosevelt. He has served as a member of the school board of Scottsville for many years, and the cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend.
In 1883 Judge Brown was married to Miss L. Adell Franklin, whose death oc- curred April 23, 1912. Their only child, Selden King Brown, was born October 13, 1886, is a farmer and resides in Wheatland township, Monroe county. He married Miss Annis M. Dunn and has three children: Janet Crosby; Selden Stanley (II), who was born October 21, 1912; and Ruth Eleanor. Judge Brown, for his second wife, married on June 17, 1914, Mary Elizabeth Stewart of Scottsville, who died on Febru- ary 1, 1921. On August 4, 1923, he married Miss Jessie E. Franklin of Scottsville. Judge Brown has never changed his place of residence from Scottsville to the city, but remained in his native village, with the interests of which he is most closely identified. He is a member of the Rochester Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Genesee Valley Club. He is a strong man, strong in his honor and his good name, strong in his professional ability and strong in support of whatever he believes to be right. He therefore stands for those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride and his good qualities of heart and mind have made him a prominent resident of Monroe county.
BYRON S. PALMER, D. D. S.
When, nearly twenty-five years ago, an accident compelled Dr. Byron S. Palmer, a successful dentist of Chicago, Illinois, to give up his profession, he was freer than are most men to choose the place in which he wished to live apart from considerations that have to do with businesses and professions. The place of his choice was Palmyra, New York. This selection is not so surprising, perhaps, when one learns that although he is an Iowan by birth, Dr. Palmer comes from old New York families. His father, George Lamb Palmer, was born in Ontario, New York, on March 12, 1832, which state he left as a young man of twenty to seek his fortune in the black soil of the western prairies. All of his active life was devoted to the tilling of the soil and for seventy years he lived in and near Vinton, Iowa. He died March 4, 1924, at the age of ninety-two. His wife, who died in 1883, was Miss Mary M. Smith before her marriage, which took place in West Walworth, New York. She was born in Walworth, Wayne county, into an old pioneer family of this county, of New England origin. Her parents were Daniel M. and Elizabeth (Herrendeen) Smith. Of her five children two sons and the only daughter are still living. Byron S. of this review was the second child, and was born in Vinton, Iowa, on the 4th of June, 1858.
Byron S. Palmer was educated in the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, from which he graduated in 1881 with the B. S. degree. As he was not attracted to agricultural pursuits as a lifework, the young man continued his studies in the school of dentistry in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and two years later received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. He entered into the active practice of his profession in Paw Paw, Michigan, where he remained for two years, after which he moved to Chicago and there practiced for fifteen years-from 1885 to 1900. During this time he came to the front in his profession and was enjoying an excellent practice, when an unfortunate injury to his eye made further work in this line impossible. While he was practicing Dr. Palmer also did considerable teaching, mostly of a scientific and professional character. While he was a student at Ann Arbor he first began practice in the employ of a dentist at Paw Paw, and after his graduation he purchased the practice. During his residence in this place he taught physiology and anatomy in a private school. After he went to Chicago he taught for four or five years in the dental school of Northwestern University, his subject being dental technique. At that time he was a member of the Illinois State Dental Society, the Chicago Dental Society and the Chicago Dental Club. Although it has been many years since he was actively engaged in the profession Dr. Palmer retains a keen interest in its development and keeps well abreast of the times in this particular field, through an honorary membership in the Rochester Dental Society.
Since coming to Palmyra, Dr. Palmer has been leading a somewhat retired life,
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but he has always manifested a keen interest in the affairs of the community and has ever been ready to do whatever he could to make it a better place in which to live and rear a family. His scientific training has made him a valuable and enthusiastic member of the Palmyra Agricultural Society. Since college days he has been a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Financially Dr. Palmer is interested in the Borcherdt Malt Extract Company of Chicago, in which he has been half owner since 1900, and is now vice president of the company. For the past seven years Dr. Palmer, because of poor health, has been practically retired from active business. He has, however, been engaged in the completion of a genealogy of the Palmer family in America, containing upwards of forty thousand names of individuals bearing the family name. Dr. Palmer began this task about thirty years ago, and plans to issue the work in five volumes, in 1926.
On the 24th of October, 1881, in Macedon Center, New York, Dr. Palmer was married to Miss Jeannette M. Carman, daughter of Truman and Emaline Carman of that place. Dr. and Mrs. Palmer have two children: The son, George Truman Palmer, was educated in the Palmyra high school and Rochester University, from which latter institution he graduated in 1907, with the Bachelor of Science degree. The following two years he spent at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, where he likewise took a B. S. degree and in 1911 he received his M. A. degree from the same school. Mr. Palmer specializes in public health work and during the World war spent four years in Washington in the national government service, ranking as captain. He has also been in the service of the New Jersey State Board of Health and for four years was epidemiologist for the board of health for the city of Detroit, Michigan. During this period he received the degree of Doctor of Public Health from the University of Michigan, in 1920. From Detroit he went to New York city as a director in research for the American Child Health Association, his present posi- tion. Mr. Palmer was married to Miss Gertrude Smart of Roslyndale, Massachusetts, and they have one child Carman Palmer. Dr. and Mrs. Byron S. Palmer's only daugh- ter, Irene C., is the wife of Aloysius V. McDonnell of New York city and the mother of a son, Richard A. McDonnell. Mrs. McDonnell is a graduate of East high school, Rochester, class of 1907, and an alumna of Vassar College, class of 1911. For nearly four years prior to her marriage she taught mathematics in East high school.
CLARENCE DUNCAN VAN ZANDT.
Clarence Duncan Van Zandt, mayor of the city of Rochester and for many years prominently identified with the city's business interests, was born here, on the 21st day of March, 1853, a son of John J. and Mary A. (Harris) Van Zandt. The Van Zandt family is of Holland Dutch extraction and long settled in this country, being one of the old families of Albany. In 1844 John J. Van Zandt removed from Albany to Rochester and here established a coffee and spice business, which he conducted until in the '60s. His wife, Mary A. Harris, was the daughter of an English army officer, and they were the parents of four sons and four daughters.
Clarence Duncan Van Zandt attended both public and private schools in the acquirement of an education, and began his business career in this city, which has been the scene of his subsequent activities. He is president and treasurer of the Paine Drug Company, Incorporated, one of the extensive and important business houses of western New York, in its line and the most historic mercantile institution in Rochester, with a record of five years more than a century on the same site. Founded in 1820 by William Pitkin at what is now Nos. 24 and 26 East Main street, the firm style changed in 1840 to Lansing B. Swan; Lane & Paine in 1852; the Paine Drug Company in 1897, and the Paine Drug Company, Incorporated, in 1910. A man of splendid executive ability, sound judgment and business vision, Mr. Van Zandt has contributed in large measure to the steady development and expansion of the corporation.
In public life as well has Mr. Van Zandt become a prominent figure. In Novem- ber, 1921, he was elected mayor of Rochester and has ever since been at the head of the city government his administration being characterized by many measures of reform, progress and improvement. His military record covers service with Company C of the Fifty-fourth Regiment (the old Light Guard). He was a commissioner of Mount Hope cemetery, a director of the State Motor Federation, holds a life mem- bership in the National Good Roads Association and the American National Red Cross. He also belongs to the Rochester Historical Society, the Rochester Chamber
C. N. Vanfand-
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of Commerce, the Humane Society, the New York State Archaeological Society and was formerly a member of the executive committee of the American Automobile Association.
Fraternally Mr. Van Zandt has for years been prominent in masonry, belonging to Zetland Lodge, No. 951, F. and A. M .; Monroe Commandery, No. 12, Knights Templars, Rochester Consistory; and Damascus Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while his appreciation for the social amenities of life is further indicated in his membership connection with the Automobile Club of Rochester, of which he was formerly president, the Rochester Club, the Washington Club, the Rifle and Revolver Club and the Flower City Sportsman.
On the 30th of November, 1881, Mr. Van Zandt was married to Miss Mary E. White of New York city. Their daughter, Marie, is the wife of Clarence C. Keehn of Canandaigua, New York. Gifted with a keen business insight and a broad grasp of affairs, Mr. Van Zandt stands as one of the strong men of Rochester, strong in his ability to plan and perform, ready to accomplish things for the public good and looking at each question from the standpoint of the liberal-minded man of broad ex- perience. The elements were happily blended in the rounding out of his nature, for he unites the refinements of life with the sterner qualities of manhood, and his labors have been manifestly resultant.
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