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 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
Earle Leland Miller received his early education in Madison county and com- pleted a course in the Oneida high school in 1905. He studied engineering at Lehigh for a year and afterward matriculated in the University of Syracuse. He was con- nected for two years with the government immigration service and was stationed first in Seattle, Washington. He went from there to Ellis island and spent a year at each place. He next became a student in the dental school of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which he received his professional degree in 1914, and has since resided in Elmira. He has taken postgraduate work in Rochester.
In 1916 Dr. Miller was married to Miss Winifred Boshart, who was born in Low- ville, New York, and there attended the public schools, afterward entering Vassar College, from which she was graduated with the class of 1914. Two children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Miller: David and Mary. The parents are affiliated with the Park church and the Doctor is an adherent of the republican party. He belongs to the Ivy Lodge of Masons and the Psi Upsilon and Delta Sigma Delta fraternities. His professional connections are with the New York State and Sixth District Dental Societies and the American Dental Association and the nature of his recreation is indicated by his membership in the Elmira Golf & Country Club.
HERBERT ANDREW HEMINWAY.
Herbert Andrew Heminway, who has been engaged in the general practice of law at Corning for the past quarter of a century, is accorded an extensive clientage as senior member of the firm of Heminway & Turnbull and is widely recognized as a sound counselor and splendid trial lawyer. He was born in Nunda, Livingston county, New York, on the 26th of February, 1875, his parents being Allen and Caroline Diantha (Underwood) Heminway. Ralph Heminway, the American progenitor of the family, came to this country in 1632, settling in East Haven, Connecticut. He wedded Miss Elizabeth Hewes and among their descendants have been numbered many prominent men. Their son, Abraham Heminway, the great-great-great-grandfather of Herbert A. Heminway, was the father of Abraham Heminway (II), who in turn became the father of Abraham Heminway (III), and he became the father of Abraham Heminway (IV). The last named was the father of Allen Heminway and the grandfather of Mr. Heminway of this review. Allen Heminway was a man of wide and varied interests w .. o attamed considerable prominence in his day. He was active as a carpenter, farmer
360
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
and inventor, owned a grist mill in Rochester, New York, also conducted a nursery at Newfield, New Jersey, and was withal a scholar, teaching in high schools and academies for a number of years. He purchased land in New Jersey and was instru- mental in the building of a railroad through Newfield, that state. His efforts were exerted along constructive lines which contributed materially to the upbuilding and advancement of the communities in which he labored. His wife was a member of the Underwood family, which was originally represented in Massachusetts and which has produced notable men in America in almost every generation. Herbert Andrew Heminway, whose name introduces this review, pursued a high school course at Ben- nington, Vermont, to the time of his graduation as a member of the class of 1895. While a student there he acted as lieutenant of the military cadets and was a member of the Vermont National Guard for three years. Following the completion of his high school work he engaged in the profession of teaching until he entered Cornell University in order to prepare for law practice, being graduated from that institu- tion with the degree of LL. B. in 1900. The same year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Corning, which city has remained the scene of his professional activities to the present time. He was a member of the firm of Heminway & Housner until 1909 and afterward followed his profession independently until the 1st of January, 1923, since which time he has been engaged in general law practice as senior member of the firm of Heminway & Turnbull, whose suite of offices com- prises a dozen rooms. The thoroughness with which he prepares his cases, the unre- mitting study which he makes of every cause entrusted to his care and his forcefulness in the actual work of the courts, have gained for him notable distinction. Of tremen- dous energy and striking personality, he has been characterized as "a big man in every way". His is one of the finest law libraries in the state of New York.
On the 25th of June, 1902, Mr. Heminway was united in marriage to Miss Ella May Daley and they have two daughters: Caroline Ella and Marion Louise. Politi- cally Mr. Heminway has become well known as a campaign speaker in the interests of the republican party and he has been a member of its judicial and congressional committees. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, belonging to Corning Consistory, A. & A. S. R. He is a past grand in the Odd Fel- lows fraternity, being a member of Corning Lodge No. 94, I. O. O. F., and Montour Encampment No. 41. Mr. Heminway is also past exalted ruler of Corning Lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His name is likewise on the membership rolls of the Sons of the American Revolution. He has never been content with medi- ocrity but has ever been actuated by high ideals and what he has accomplished repre- sents the fit utilization of his innate powers and talents.
WILLIAM N. STEWART.
Agriculture is one of the most honorable occupations open to man and the basis of our national prosperity. William N. Stewart, therefore made a wise choice of a lifework, and with the history of progress in Livingston county his name was long closely and prominently associated. A firm believer in scientific methods, he made his private property a public resource, and his death on the 4th of June, 1923, deprived York of one of its most valuable and highly respected citizens. He was a member of one of the oldest families of Livingston county and with its history he was thor- oughly familiar. He was born in the town of York, November 4, 1857, a son of Neil and Jane (Nichol) Stewart. His paternal grandfather, Alexander Stewart, was born in Scotland in 1778, and when about thirty years of age married Margaret McDougal, who came from the same section of that country. Soon after their marriage they made the voyage to America, in 1810, casting their lot with the pioneer settlers of York. They bought a heavily timbered tract of land, on which they established their home, and there reared to maturity four sons and two daughters. An extended mention of Neil Stewart, father of William N., of this review, will be found elsewhere in this publication.
The public schools of Livingston county afforded William N. Stewart his educa- tional privileges and on starting out in the world for himself he chose the occupa- tion of farming, which he continued to follow throughout his life, becoming one of the largest landowners in the county and a dominant influence in its development. A man of progressive ideas, he utilized the most modern methods in the cultivation of the soil, which rewarded his care and labor by steadily increasing productiveness. He was also interested in financial affairs and served as a director of the Genesee Valley
H. T. Sewall
363
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
National Bank, and the Le Roy National Bank. On the 16th of January, 1890, Mr. Stewart was married to Miss Margaret Elizabeth Johnston, a daughter of Dr. J. Wil- liam and Catherine (Rice) Johnston. Her father was an army surgeon and they resided at Newport Barracks, Kentucky. There were two children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart: Katherine, who graduated from the Emma Willard School for Girls, at Troy, New York, and later graduated from the Dr. Sargent School for Physical Training at Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was married to Dr. Carl H. Bartling and they reside in Rockford, Illinois. They are the parents of two children, Mary Stewart and Margaret Ann; and Neil Johnston, who graduated from Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana, in 1916, and then attended the Agricultural department of Cornell University and furthered his education by two years of study at the University of Rochester. He is manager of the extensive farm property of the family.
Mr. Stewart was affiliated with the United Presbyterian church and faithfully adhered to its teachings. He was a prominent member of the Livingston County Historical Society, of which he was made president in 1912, and also belonged to the Genesee Valley Club of Rochester and the Geneseo Club of Geneseo. He was a high minded clean-cut man of exemplary character and a long, useful and well-spent life won for him the unqualified esteem and enduring regard of those with whom he was associated.
W. H. BROWNELL.
Manufacture of bean harvesters is one of the important industries of Caledonia, Livingston county, New York, and to W. H. Brownell, general manager of the Caledonia Bean Harvester Company, much of the prosperity of the company may be justly attributed. He was born at Caledonia, on January 8, 1877, the son of Finley P. and Emma W. (Warner) Brownell.
The education of W. H. Brownell was acquired in the public schools. In 1905 he engaged in the coal and lumber business in Caledonia, which he sold out after conducting it for eight years. Mr. Brownell became associated with the Caledonia Bean Harvester Company as one of its organizers in 1911, his associates being L. C. Brownell and Charles Menzie. The company manufactures a full line of bean har- vester implements and gives employment to about twenty-five men.
On September 23, 1903, Mr. Brownell was married to Mina J. Huston of Geneseo, New York. Mr. Brownell is a republican in his political views, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic order.
BERT E. VALENTINE.
A recognition of the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizen- ship has led Bert E. Valentine to take an active part in public affairs and he is now serving for the second term as sheriff of Wayne county. His record as a public official is an unblemished one and his influence is always on the side of progress, reform and improvement. He is a member of one of the old and highly respected families of Rose and was born in the village, on the 12th of April, 1874, a son of Jackson and Christian (Dodds) Valentine, lifelong residents of Rose. The father engaged in general merchandising and was also called to public office, serving for seventeen years as supervisor, a portion of which time he was chairman of the board, like- wise becoming a member of the state legislature. He was a son of Dr. Peter Valen- tine, a veteran of the War of 1812, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Rose and enjoyed the distinction of being its first physician and supervisor. To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Valentine were born four children, three sons and a daughter, but two of the sons are deceased. Bert E., of this review, is the youngest member of the family.
Bert E. Valentine attended the Rose grammar school and the Clyde high school, after which he completed a course in the Rochester Business University. In 1886 he started the Rose Times, a weekly, and the first newspaper published in the village, conducting the business until March 1, 1889. After his father's death, which occurred in 1898, he became proprietor of the general store and continued the business until 1901. After selling his stock he concentrated his attention for six years upon the evaporation of apples, operating evaporators in western New York, Michigan, Illi-
364
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
nois and Missouri during the apple season. Upon the expiration of that period he engaged in farming and now has a large and valuable apple orchard in Rose.
Mr. Valentine is a stanch republican in politics and has served as a delegate to a number of the state conventions of the party. His connection with public affairs constitutes one of the vital interests of his life and at all times he has been actuated by an unselfish spirit of devotion to the general good. From 1903 until 1907, inclusive, he held a clerkship in the state assembly at Albany and in the latter year he was elected supervisor of the town of Rose. He was reelected in 1909 and resigned in 1911 to assume the duties of election commissioner, which he discharged until 1915. He was the people's choice for sheriff of Wayne county in 1915, and was reelected in 1921, his present term expiring December 31, 1924. He is strict, fearless and prompt in per- forming the functions of his office, leaving nothing undone to enforce the law accord- ing to his conscience, and is regarded as one of the best sheriffs the county ever had.
In 1896 Mr. Valentine was married to Miss Nellie E. Wade, who was a daughter of Joseph S. Wade of Rose. She died in 1920, at the age of forty-eight, leaving two sons, Jackson W. and Joseph S. Mr. Valentine was married to Miss Grace A. Putnam, a daughter of Hervey D. Putnam of Rose, the ceremony taking place in the village, in June, 1922. From an early age Mr. Valentine's life has been one of unabating industry and his success is well deserved, for it has been worthily won. He has never violated a confidence nor betrayed a trust and no resident of the county enjoys in greater degree the esteem of his fellowmen.
HERBERT M. DAYFOOT, M. D.
Dr. Herbert M. Dayfoot, the eldest son of Philo W. and Caroline (Harold) Dayfoot, was born in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, on the 21st of February, 1846 He was of English extraction and from Green Mountain stock, his ancestors having come from England and settled in Vermont some time before the War of the Revolution. In this connection it is interesting to note the origin of the name Dayfoot. The family name was originally Defoe. The great-grandfather of Dr. Dayfoot was a Tory, and served as an officer in the English army. He was killed at the battle of Bennington, leaving an orphan son, who, as the years passed by, became an ardent patriot. The old family name Defoe, so suggestive of English and Tory association, became distasteful to the son, and upon his arrival at majority he changed the English Defoe to the simple American name Dayfoot. Thus was it handed from father to son, and was the patronymic borne by the subject of this sketch.
Herbert M. Dayfoot received his early education at a private boarding school under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. McVicker. At the age of fifteen he attended the Wood- stock Institute. In 1863 he began the study of medicine in the office of Elias Vernon, M. D., of Hamilton, Ontario. His first course of lectures was taken at the Buffalo Medical College in the winter of 1863-64. The following two years were passed at the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1866, the youngest member of his class. He was constrained to await his arrival at majority before his diploma was issued, in the meantime continuing his studies at the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri, obtaining from this institu- tion the hospital diploma for faithful attendance upon the three hospitals of St. Louis.
In the autumn of 1867 Dr. Dayfoot located in Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, but left there in 1870 and passed a year in perfecting himself in analytical and pharmaceutical chemistry at the laboratory of the University of Rochester, under the direction of Professor S. A. Lattimore. He was then associated with Doctors Mor- gan and Bishop of Ithaca, New York, and afterward for a few months with Dr. T. M. Strong at Flint, Michigan. During his years of active practice he held several posi- tions which added to his busy life. In 1869 he appeared before the Homeopathic Medi- cal Board of Canada and passed his examination and was registered a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. On returning to Mount Morris in 1872, where he maintained an active village and country practice, he served as coroner for several terms. In 1876 he was elected president of the Homeopathic Medical Society of Livingston county. In January, 1882, he associated himself with Dr. E. H. Hurd of Rochester, New York, and in 1885 was elected president of the Monroe County Homeo- pathic Medical Society. Upon the resignation of Dr. John L. Moffat as secretary of the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society in 1885, he was appointed to fill the vacancy and served the society in this capacity with unusual fidelity and zeal
H. M. Day foot.
367
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
until 1889, when he was elected, by the unanimous vote of the society, as its president. In 1891 he was honored with the nomination for the Regents' degree of M. D.
Dr. Dayfoot was also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and of the Homeopathic Medical Society of Western New York and was a censor of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College. In the winter of 1884 he temporarily laid aside a lucrative practice in order to take a postgraduate course in the New York Polyclinic for the purpose of preparing himself as a gynecologist, which important position he afterward held in the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital. To his persistent energy and executive ability this institution owes much of its success. As chair- man of a committee, appointed from the medical and surgical staff, to supervise the curriculum of the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital Training School for Nurses, he was ever active and efficient. Through his deep interest in the school and hearty sympathy with its best interests, he earned the gratitude and affection of every one connected with the Training School.
At the invitation of the Rochester Academy of Science, Dr. Dayfoot delivered on March 14, 1887, an able address before that body in defense of homeopathy entitled: "Homeopathy; Its Principles, Practice and Achievements", after which he debated the question against a number of opponents so successfully as to receive a unanimous vote of thanks from the society for his masterly exposition of the tenets of Homeopathy.
Dr. Dayfoot was married in 1872 to Marietta Clark, daughter of Ozro Clark of Mount Morris, New York, and she survives him. Dr. Dayfoot was a prominent mem- ber of the Masonic order. Step by step he climbed upward through the various degrees and rites peculiar to Masonry. He was made a Mason in the Genesee Falls Lodge, No. 507, in June, 1869. He was master of Mount Morris Lodge for two terms, and a member of the following Masonic bodies: Frank R. Lawrence Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Mount Morris Chapter, R. A. M .; Cyrene commandery, K. T .; Rochester Consistory; and Damascus Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.
Dr. Dayfoot was a contributor to medical periodicals and homeopathic literature for twenty years and did much to mould the ideas of the medical profession to a broader and more liberal thought. He was a member of the First Baptist church, which he attended regularly during his residence in Rochester.
Some months before his demise Dr. Dayfoot began to experience vague neuralgic pain in the terminal nerves of the right foot, which gradually increased in severity until it became almost unbearable. He then consulted Doctors William Tod Helmuth and Joseph T. O'Connor of New York city, who pronounced his disease to be erythro- melalgia. Some weeks later, finding no amelioration of his suffering, he placed him- self under the care of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia, who confirmed the diag- nosis and recommended as a dernier ressort the stretching of certain nerves of the leg. Accordingly, after a week's careful examination by Dr. Mitchell and his asso- ciates, he went to the Orthopedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases. On the 12th of April Dr. Thomas G. Morton of Philadelphia, under Dr. Mitchell's direc- tion, divided the external saphenous and stretched the posterior tibial nerve. Five days later, symptoms, of gangrene were found and he was removed to the Hahne- mann Hospital and placed under the care of Dr. William B. Van Lennep, with Dr. C. M. Thomas and Dr. Clarence Bartlett as consulting physicians. We quote from a letter of Dr. Van Lennep's:
"We found that he was developing gangrene of the leg, presumably due to thrombosis, following, I am inclined to think, the prolonged use of the Esmarch bandage. He was watched and treated for a week when his condition was deemed such, on consultation, that amputation above the knee was imperative. He readily consented to this and was etherized. The manipulation, or moving previous to amputation, must have loosened the clot in the femoral vein, for as I began the operation, symptoms of pulmonary embolism developed, to which he quickly succumbed. On completing the amputation, I found a clot in the femoral artery, while the femoral and part of the popliteal vein was empty. A large loose clot dropped out of the latter vein and its tributaries on inverting the amputated limb. It is needless to add that Dr. Dayfoot won our respect, admiration and affection during our acquaintance with him, and that the Rochester and New York Societies have our deep- est sympathy in their, as well as our, loss."
Thus the good, true-hearted physician, the honored friend and comrade, came to the end of his earthly journey on April 22, 1894. Dr. Dayfoot was a most popular and successful physician, a wise counselor, a warm and faithful friend, a valued associate and an accomplished member of the profession. He was a man of the highest prin- ciples, clean of thought, gentle and manly of spirit. His personal magnetism and
368
THE GENESEE COUNTRY.
strong individuality marked him as a man among men and contributed largely to his success.
The Rochester Herald printed the following tribute under date of April 24, 1894: "It is difficult to realize that Dr. Dayfoot is dead, that the great, good-hearted physi- cian has reached the end of his earthly journey. He looked to be a man of almost perfect health. He was in the prime of life, and in the full enjoyment of the honors of a successful practice. Not alone by his skill as a healer of the ills of the body did he benefit his fellowmen, but by the welcome ministrations of a merry heart, which 'doeth good like a medicine'. But the heart that throbbed so warmly for the suffering is stilled in its beating, the robust form so familiar to our citizens has vanished from among men, the life so rich in its activities, promising so many years of useful service, is ended. So close are the relations of a trusted physician to his patients that the death of such a one becomes a personal loss to hundreds beyond the immediate circle of relationship, or of intimate friendship. When the physician is a man of so many engaging personal qualities as Dr. Dayfoot, that feeling of loss is intensified. He was a devoted champion of the homeopathic school of medicine and had labored faithfully with others to establish the new Homeopathic Hospital upon a broad foundation, thus adding another to the agencies which care for the sick of this community. In the fraternal orders to which he belonged he was highly esteemed. He was a man of whom Rochester had grown proud in the brief term of his residence here, and who will be mourned by his fellow citizens generally, as well as by his personal friends and those whom he served professionally."
The Democrat and Chronicle of April 24, 1894, said: "In the death of Dr. H. M. Dayfoot, Rochester loses one of its best physicians and most esteemed citizens. Dr. Dayfoot's professional rank was high, and personally he was a man of rare magne- tism, vitality and attractive qualities. His death is sudden and shocking to those who have so recently seen him in the vigor of robust health and the activity of a busy life."
The following is an excerpt from the Mount Morris Enterprise of April 26, 1894: "Last Sunday afternoon the community was shocked when the news was received from Philadelphia stating that Dr. Dayfoot was dead. His intimate friends here knew that a council of eminent physicians and surgeons had decided to amputate his leg, and while such operations are always attended with danger, none thought it would prove fatal, as he was robust, healthy and strong. The immediate cause of his death was pulmonary embolism. It is questionable today if the medical fraternity have any knowledge of the origin or proper treatment of his disease, as only two or three similar cases are known to the materia medica of the world. It is sad, indeed, for a man like Dr. Dayfoot to be cut down in the prime of life, at the very height of his usefulness, and in the full enjoyment of a large and lucrative practice. The loss of so skillful a physician as Dr. Dayfoot is a real calamity to Rochester, the city in which he lived, and his death will be mourned by many people outside of his immediate family and friends. Dr. Dayfoot was a man of engaging person- ality, exceedingly genial and social in his nature, of generous impulses, and esteemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. Though his duties as a physician occupied most of his time, no man of our acquaintance seemed to get more solid enjoyment out of life or overcome more cheerfully the close confinement to business. To the downcast, discouraged and sick, he gave encouragement, and his sunny disposi- tion in the sick room was a tonic that restored confidence to the afflicted, and often- times, no doubt, was equally as beneficial as medicine. On Tuesday afternoon a large concourse of people gathered at the residence of his father-in-law, Ozro Clark, on Main street, where the funeral services were held. There were in attendance a large number of the medical profession from Rochester and neighboring towns, besides prominent citizens from the city."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.