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 40
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On the 7th of February, 1917, Benjamin P. Reynolds was united in marriage to Miss Marguerite Fitzgerald and they have become the parents of two children: Elizabeth Josephine and Richard Frank. Mr. Reynolds is a Royal Arch Mason and his political support is given to the republican party. He takes a vital interest in munic- ipal affairs and in recognition of his worth and ability his fellow townsmen elected him president of the village of Leicester in 1922. He is still filling the office and has secured for the community many needed improvements, and abolished useless expendi- tures. He is an astute, farsighted business man, imbued with the spirit of progress, and a loyal, public-spirited citizen, whose worth to his community is uniformly acknowledged.
BERT L. ANDREWS.
Bert L. Andrews, county treasurer of Cattaraugus county, New York is a business man and public official of many years experience. His ability in office is best shown by the fact that the voters have returned him to office ever since his first term, which started January 1, 1914. Prior to that time he was supervisor of the town of Sala- manca, where he now resides, for eight years. He has been very successful personally as well in conducting his hardware business in Salamanca and is a citizen of high repute in his community. He has been chairman of the Republican County com- mittee for several years.
Bert L. Andrews was born in New Albion, Cattaraugus county, February 3, 1871, the son of Jerome A. and Emaline (Lattin) Andrews. He attended the district schools, Cattaraugus high school and a business college in Buffalo. Then he started to work for his father in the latter's hardware store and worked for two years before being made a partner in 1893. The firm then organized as J. A. Andrews & Son still operates under that name, although Jerome Andrews died in 1914, and the entire busi- ness was taken over by his son. Mr. Andrews is also a director of the Sterling Fur- niture Company and is interested in other local concerns. Between his public office and his business he is a very busy man.
Bert L. Andrews was married January 28, 1893, to Fannie Benson of Cattaraugus,
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the daughter of A. T. Benson. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have two sons: £ Leland, born in November, 1893, who attended the local schools and is now employed by his father; and Edward, born in December, 1894, who is also with his father in business. Mr. B. L. Andrews is a thirty-second degree Mason, belongs to Ismalia Shrine of Buffalo and is past commander of Salamanca Commandery. He also belongs to the Elks.
ALEXANDER N. STEWART.
For more than a century members of the Stewart family have played a conspicu- ous part in the development and upbuilding of Livingston county, and Alexander N. Stewart, president of the Bank of Livonia, is a worthy scion of his race, displaying that spirit of enterprise and that eagerness to promote the general welfare which were dis- tinguishing characteristics of his forbears. He is a native of York, born April 19, 1849, and his parents, Neil and Jane (Nichol) Stewart, were lifelong residents of the vil- lage. A sketch of the former appears elsewhere in this publication.
Alexander N. Stewart was a pupil in private schools of Livingston county and continued his studies in the Temple Hill School and the Brockport Normal School. After completing his education he joined his father in business and eventually became manager at Livonia of the grain, wool and lumber business which the latter had es- tablished. In 1871, when Neil Stewart opened the Bank of Livonia, Alexander N. be- came active in its conduct, and for fifty-three years his able management has been an essential element in its upbuilding. His thorough understanding of the intricacies of modern finance is supplemented by sound judgment and executive force and his well-directed efforts have resulted in the development of one of the strong and re- liable private banking institutions of western New York.
On October 8, 1884, Mr. Stewart was married at Richmond, New York, to Miss Emma C. Johnson, a daughter of George and Emaline Johnson of Allens Hill, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart became parents of two daughters, Jane, who died in 1916, at the age of twenty-seven years, and Marian. The latter was married on November 25, 1922, to Grant Whitney Bowen, who is assistant cashier of the Bank of Livonia.
Mr. Stewart is a stanch adherent of the republican party. He formerly took an active part in local politics and served as supervisor of Livonia during 1884-85. While his interest centers in banking, he is always ready to lend practical aid to any move- ment which commends itself to his judgment as a project likely to advance the public welfare, and his influence upon the civic life of his community has been of the high- est order.
GUY WESLEY SHOEMAKER.
Guy Wesley Shoemaker, prominent in the automobile trade of Elmira, was one of the pioneers of this business in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania. He was born in Dundee, New York, June 5, 1866, a son of J. Monroe and Delia (Bene- dict) Shoemaker, natives of Yates county, this state, where they were reared, educated and married. The father was an honored veteran of the Civil war, in which he served for three years, becoming a sergeant of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Volunteer Infantry, and after his release from military duty he returned to Yates county, where he engaged in the manufacture of wagons as a member of the firm of Shoemaker & Terry. In 1873 he came to Elmira and entered the oil refining business, forming the firm of Shoemaker & Bedell. Later he purchased the business, which he conducted under the name of the Elmira Oil Company, and subse- quently the Standard Oil interests acquired the business, of which Mr. Shoemaker was made general manager. He was a resident of Elmira and was called to public office, serving for two terms as alderman from the third ward. He was president of the board of trade and for twenty-six years was chairman of the cemetery com- mission. He was also a trustee of the New York State Soldiers' Home at Bath, and a life member of the City Club and Keuka Club. He was a member of all the local Masonic bodies and attended the Park Congregational church, and he filled an important place in the life of his community. He was called to his final rest on the 9th of November, 1914, when seventy-two years of age, his birth having occurred July 31, 1842. He and his wife had a family of three sons: Guy Wesley, Floyd M., president of the Hygeia Refrigerating Company of Elmira; and J. Raymond, vice
a. M. Stewart
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president and general manager of that company. The paternal grandfather was also a manufacturer of wagons and a successful business man of Dundee, New York.
Guy Wesley Shoemaker was a boy of seven when the family came to Elmira and his education was acquired in its grammar and high schools. He first worked for the Elmira Oil Company and later entered the service of the Standard Oil Corpora- tion, with which he was connected for thirteen years. On the expiration of that period he joined the Hygeia Refrigerating Company and for nine years was one of its offi- cials. He sold his interest in the firm and in 1908 purchased the business of the Willys-Crew Motor Company, which at that time controlled the automobile depart- ment of the Elmira Arms Company, organizing the Southern Tier Motor Company, of which he has since been the head. In 1916 he incorporated the Overland Bing- hamton Company, wholesale dealers in automobiles at Binghamton, New York, and in 1923 incorporated the Overland-Willys Knight Sales Company. Mr. Shoemaker is president of the three companies mentioned above and his business is a very extensive one, covering fifteen counties, which are served by one hundred dealers. He maintains a large service station and carefully supervises every detail of the business, while the larger factors in his affairs are administered with notable executive power.
On November 22, 1887, Mr. Shoemaker was married to Miss Lenore Richardson, who was born in Elmira, a daughter of Jackson Richardson, a prominent shoe manu- facturer of the city. Mrs. Shoemaker died in January, 1919, leaving a son, Jackson R., who is president of the Chemung Motor Company. On December 16, 1919, Mr. Shoe- maker was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna (Tompkins) Drake, a native of Elmira and a daughter of Cornelius B. Tompkins, a well known educator, who served as superintendent of the city schools.
Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker are members of Grace Episcopal church of which he is senior warden-a position which he has held for a number of years, and for three decades he has been connected with and is now president of the Elmira Cemetery Asso- ciation. He has served two terms as city alderman from the first ward. He is a Rotarian and also belongs to the Elmira City and Country Clubs and to the Toledo Club of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Shoemaker has attained high standing in the Masonic order, which has honored him with the thirty-third degree, and he has been at the head of all the York Rite bodies and is a past grand commander of the Knights Templar of the state.
ALFRED WARREN ARMSTRONG, M. D.
Dr. Alfred Warren Armstrong has been an active and successful representative of the medical profession in Canandaigua during the past two decades, making a specialty of surgical work. He was born in North Bennington, Vermont, on the 20th of November, 1876, a son of Charles B. and Jane Elizabeth (Rowley) Arm- strong, and from the age of four years he has been a resident of the Empire state.
Alfred Warren Armstrong began his education in Schoharie county, New York, graduating from Cobleskill high school in 1893. He continued his studies in the high school at Syracuse, from which he was graduated in 1896. His more advanced intellectual training was acquired in Syracuse University, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901, while three years later he received the degree of M. D. from the same institution upon the completion of a medical course. During his senior year he served as an interne in the St. Joseph Hospital of Syracuse. Late in 1904 he came to Canandaigua, which city has remained the scene of his profes- sional activity, save for the period of his service in the World war, which covered eighteen months. He was stationed in the General Hospital at Corpus Christi, Texas, and at General Hospital No. 14 in the same state, holding the rank of captain. Dur- ing his entire professional career he has specialized in surgery and his marked skill in this field has brought to him a very extensive practice. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and keeps thoroughly informed concerning the latest methods and discoveries of the medical science through his membership in various organizations of the profession, including the County, State and American Medical Associations and the Rochester Medical Association. Dr. Armstrong is staff surgeon of the Frederick Ferris-Thompson Hospital of Canandaigua and also secretary of its board of directors.
On the 7th of September, 1905, Dr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Castner Voorhees. Their children are four in number, namely: Mary, Jane, Elizabeth and John. The Doctor is a republican in his political views and has capably filled the position of coroner for seven years. His religious faith is that of the
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Methodist church, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Odd Fellows. He is also president of the Finger Lakes Council, Boy Scouts of America. High and honorable principles have actuated him in all relations of life and his fellow citizens attest his sterling worth.
HENRY A. PETERSON, D. D. S.
Dr. Henry A. Peterson, one of Elmira's native sons, has won well deserved suc- cess in the dental profession and is also well known in musical circles of the city. He was born June 24, 1883, and his parents, Hans and Mary (Kell) Peterson, are natives of Sweden. They came to the United States in 1876 and established their home in Elmira, where they still reside. The father followed the blacksmith's trade as a means of livelihood and is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are mem- bers of the Lutheran church and his political support is given to the men and measures of the republican party. They had a family of three children, two of whom are deceased. Their daughter, Ella, was a teacher in the public schools of Elmira and died in 1915.
After his graduation from the Elmira high school, Dr. Peterson became a student in the Buffalo Dental College and his training was completed in the University of Pennsylvania, which in 1905 awarded him the degree of D. D. S. For nearly twenty years he has followed his profession in Elmira. Dr. Peterson specializes in dental radiography.
On June 12, 1907 Dr. Peterson was married to Miss Lula Betsie Hill, who was born in Burlington, Pennsylvania, and educated in Elmira. Two sons have been born of this union: Henry Hill and Stewart. The parents are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church and Dr. Peterson has served on its official board. He is a York Rite Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Grotto, of which he is a past monarch, and to the Masonic Club. Dr. Peterson is a music lover and each month goes to Rochester for instruction. His talent lies along instrumental lines and he is a member of the Elmira Symphony Orchestra.
EDNOR ALBERT MARSH.
Ednor Albert Marsh, a well known and successful attorney of Rochester, whose professional activities extend through a period of thirty-five years, was born in West Sparta, Livingston county, New York, on September 12, 1864. On both the paternal and maternal sides Mr. Marsh represents worthy pioneer families of the Genesee valley whose identification with the development of that section goes back more than a century. His father, Albert Lewis Marsh, and his mother, whose maiden name was Helen Ogden, were both born in West Sparta. The paternal grandfather, Charles Drake Marsh, was an early settler at that place. He was born in Mayfield, New York, February 27, 1798, a son of Abel Marsh, who came from Vermont to May- field in the '20s. Abel Marsh met an accidental death in 1830 from a yoke of runaway oxen. He was, according to family tradition, a descendant of Joseph Marsh, who served as ensign in the Revolutionary war.
Albert Lewis Marsh was a farmer and followed that occupation successfully dur- ing his active life. He died in Brighton, New York, in 1896, while his wife survived him about eleven years and passed away at Starkey, New York. Of their family three sons lived to adult age-Selwyn, Ednor Albert and Darius A.
Ednor Albert Marsh was reared to farm life and after acquiring his early educa- tion in the State Normal School at Geneseo, New York, went to Lima, this state, where he attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, from which he was graduated in the class of 1884. He then began the study of law in the office of Judge Solomon Hubbard of Geneseo and was admitted to the bar in 1889. He had spent one year in travel prior to entering upon his law study, and following his admission he began practice in Rochester in partnership with C. J. Browning. This relation, however, was maintained for only a short time, for on the 1st of December, 1889, Mr. Marsh was appointed clerk of the surrogate court and so continued until January, 1892, when he was appointed deputy county clerk. This experience was, of course, excellent train- ing for the young lawyer in certain practical phases of the profession. He held that position until April, 1895, when he resigned to enter the firm of Keeler & Salisbury,
EDNOR A. MARSH
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at which time the firm style became Keeler, Salisbury & Marsh. He remained as a partner of Mr. Keeler for ten years, at the end of which time he withdrew from the firm and practiced alone until May 1, 1923, when he associated with H. Douglass Van Duser under the firm name of Marsh & Van Duser. The extent and importance of his business is the best evidence of his ability and of his success. He has a large and desirable clientage and has been connected with much important litigation that has been brought to the courts of the district. He belongs to the American Bar Association and the New York State and Rochester Bar Associations, and is accorded a most creditable place in the ranks of the legal fraternity in this city.
Mr. Marsh is a supporter of the republican party and formerly was active in its ranks. He is a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-third degree, is a past master of Rochester Lodge No. 660, F. & A. M .; past high priest of Ionic Chapter. R. A. M .; past commander of Cyrene Commandery, K. T .; a member of Rochester Consistory, Scottish Rite; past district deputy grand master of the Thirty-third Masonic district of New York state, and is now grand captain general of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State of New York. He is a member of the Masonic Club, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the Automobile Club of Rochester and senior warden of the Church of the Epiphany.
On the 26th of December, 1889, Mr. Marsh was united in marriage to Miss Lina Scott, daughter of Byron W. and Eliza Payn Scott of Geneva, New York. Mrs. Marsh's family is among the old and prominent ones in Geneva. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have a daughter and two sons, all of whom were born in this city: Helen, who is the wife of Robert B. Rowe of Rochester, is the mother of two children, Robert Marsh and Elizabeth Rowe; Byron Scott, who resides in Dillsboro, North Caro- lina, is an engineer by profession and held a commission as captain in the artillery during the World war. The government, however, detached him from the artillery and at the time of the signing of the armistice he was in charge of the work of laying out the additions to Camp Jackson and the artillery field at Columbia, South Carolina. He is married and has one child, Dorothy Huntington; Donald Lewis Marsh is married and resides in Washington, D. C., where he is in business. During the war he served with the Twenty-seventh Division as a machine gunner and after the armistice served as a lieutenant in the Red Cross in Europe for more than a year. Mr. Marsh's residence is at No. 90 Kenwood avenue.
HARLAN WATSON RIPPEY.
Harlan Watson Rippey, one of the prominent members of the Rochester bar, was born in Wadsworth, Livingston county, New York, September 8, 1874, a son of Joseph N. and Hester (Lind) Rippey, the former a native of Seneca county and the latter of Livingston county. The father was a successful farmer of Livingston county. His death occurred on the 6th of January, 1906, and the mother passed away on May 15, 1918. They had two children: Josephine, who is the wife of Dr. Charles Gilmore of Cadiz, Ohio; and Harlan Watson.
Harlan Watson Rippey's early education was obtained in the district schools of Livingston county, and in 1894 he was graduated from the Geneseo Normal School. He next became a student at the University of Rochester, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1898, and in the following year received the Master's degree from that institution. Mr. Rippey was an instructor at Wagner College for a time and then entered the office of George Raines, under whose direction he began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1901 but continued with Mr. Raines for seven years, since which time he has practiced independently. Mr. Rippey enjoys a fine practice and a very representative clientele and has been con- nected with no little important litigation in the courts of western New York.
He is one of the prominent democrats of this section of the the state and for years has been one of the advisors and councillors of the party in western New York. Mr. Rippey is the leader of the democratic organization in Monroe county and was a delegate to the national and New York state conventions in 1924. He was state tax appraiser for six years but has held no other political office.
In Rochester, on June 30, 1908, he was married to Miss Harriet C. Smith, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Smith, members of a prominent family of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Rippey have a son and two daughters: Joseph Smith, Harriet B. and Catherine A.
Mr. Rippey is a Presbyterian in religious faith and his professional relations are
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with the Rochester, New York State and American Bar Associations. He is a member of the Society of the Genesee, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the University Club and the Ad Club of this city, and Theta Delta Chi and Gamma Sigma college fraternities.
Mr. Rippey is keenly interested in everything that touches the welfare and progress of his community and has ever conformed his practice to a high standard of professional ethics. Mr. Rippey's residence is at No. 165 Linden street, Rochester, New York.
FRED G. OLP.
Fourteen years of faithful and conscientious work, begun when Fred G. Olp was twenty years old, and diligent study of the manifold details of the business, eventu- ally made Mr. Olp president of the Nunda Bank, at Nunda, Livingston county, New York. He was born in Mount Morris, Livingston county, on August 23, 1876, the son of Charles P. and Theresa E. (Upham) Olp, one of three children. The father has passed away.
Fred G. Olp's education was acquired in the grade and high schools. At the age of twenty he began work with the Nunda Bank as a bookkeeper, and in orderly sequence was promoted to assistant cashier, cashier, and in 1910 to the presidency of the institution in which he had started on the lowermost rung of the ladder. Mr. Olp is a member of the American Bankers Association and of the New York State Bankers Association.
On September 27, 1905, Mr. Olp was married to Florence Dowling of Nunda, daughter of Michael Dowling, a well known citizen of the town, whose life story appears elsewhere in this history. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Olp: Harriet D. and Katharine E. Fraternally Mr. Olp is affiliated with the Masonic order, in his religious convictions is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in political matters supports the policies and candidates of the democratic party.
FRITZ SAGE DARROW, B. A., M. A., PH. D.
By bringing the Darrow School of Business, of which he is the founder and president, to a high state of educational efficiency, Fritz S. Darrow has made for himself an established position in the educational circles of the Genesee country and, indeed, of all western New York. The son of Dr. Charles E. and Isabel Canfield (Sage) Darrow, he was born in Rochester, on April 13, 1882. His parents, both of whom are living, are also natives of this city and have lived here all their life. Dr. Charles E. Darrow is a well known practicing physician.
As a boy Fritz S. Darrow grew up in his birthplace, where he obtained his early education in the public schools and the Rochester high school. After spending a year in Bradstreet's private school he entered Harvard in the class of 1903, and in due time received his B. A. degree. In 1904 he obtained an M. A. degree and in 1906 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. For four years after he received the coveted Ph. D. he taught Greek in Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Drury College at Springfield, Missouri, and for six additional years was engaged in historical research work. At the end of this time his interest was attracted by the field of commercial education and after preliminary experience as a director of a commercial department he founded in 1920 the Darrow School of Business at No. 218 East avenue, Rochester, New York, where the school is now located, upon the land pur- chased in 1842 by his maternal grandfather, Nelson Sage. The school emblem, a "D" pierced by an arrow, is the old trade-mark adopted by his paternal grandfather, Erastus Darrow, who came to Rochester in 1845 and established the Darrow Book Store, well known to book lovers of western New York in the nineteenth century.
Dr. Darrow is seeking through his school to meet a very real need that has long existed in the business world, that of thoroughly training young people for business. Between the grammar school graduate with vague ideas of spelling, punctuation, grammar and geography and a brief acquaintance with typing and stenography and the college or university graduate, with no training along commercial lines, there yawns a chasm that is almost the despair of more than one employer. His greatest need in the way of employes is for young men and women with a good general educa- tion and an intensive training in commercial subjects and business methods. Such
DR. FRITZ S. DARROW
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people are usually competent and efficient workers for whom there is almost unlimited opportunity for advancement in the good business firms of the present day. The Darrow School aims to prepare just such employes for their future work. In its day and evening classes one can obtain the courses requisite for a thorough prepara- tion as a stenographer, bookkeeper or secretary. In addition there is a higher course in accounting for those who wish to qualify for the Certified Public Accountant exami- nations and a normal course for prospective teachers.
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