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 41
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The Darrow School of Business is registered by the regents of the University of the State of New York as a standard and approved commercial school, a convinc- ing evidence of its high rank. The teachers are men and women of excellent general education and a thorough technical training in their special subjects. They have combined practical business experience with classroom service. In connection with his school Dr. Darrow maintains an employment bureau which has placed hundreds of students in good positions and seeks to assist every graduate to secure the kind of position for which he or she is best adapted and qualified. It is a significant fact that the bureau always has more applications for competent stenographers, secretaries, bookkeepers, accountants and general office workers than there are people to be placed. This service is free, both to the employer and to the employe and may be used by graduates at any period after they have left the school.
On the 31st of May, 1918, Dr. Darrow and Miss Miriam Minnich, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas Minnich of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, were married. Mrs. Darrow is a teacher with the best of normal school and university training and prior to her marriage had had some years of experience in educational work. She is now principal of the Darrow School. Dr. Darrow belongs to the Rochester Cham- ber of Commerce, which brings him into close contact with the life in the business circles of the city. Fraternally he is a Mason, while through his membership in the Harvard Club of Rochester he keeps alive the interests and associations of college days.
FREDERICK WIEDMAN.
Frederick Wiedman has established his position among the successful and repre- sentative members of the legal profession of Rochester, his native city. He was born on November 9, 1880, and his parents, Michael and Anna (Murter) Wiedman, migrated from Germany to the United States, establishing their home in Rochester in 1855. The father was a cooper by trade and became one of the well known business men of the city.
In the acquirement of an education Frederick Wiedman attended the public schools and the Rochester Free Academy, afterward becoming a student at the University of Rochester. He began reading law in the office of James B. Perkins and was admitted to the bar in 1906. He has since engaged in practice in Rochester, special- izing in those branches of jurisprudence pertaining to real estate and loans, on which he is particularly well informed, and a large clientele attests his legal acumen.
In Rochester, on the 26th of November, 1921, Mr. Wiedman was married to Miss Anna Kuentze, a daughter of Henry Kuentze of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Wiedman have a son: Fred A. Wiedman, who was born in this city on December 30, 1922. Mr. Wiedman is a member of the Rochester and New York State Bar Associations. He is a republican in politics and has been for four years alder- man from the thirteenth ward. He supports all worthy public enterprises and in his law practice whatever he does is for the best interests of his clients and for the honor of his profession. Mr. Wiedman's residence is at No. 226 Aldine street.
JAMES W. FRASER.
For more than a quarter of a century James W. Fraser of Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, has been connected with the great grain and produce firm of Belden & Company, Incorporated, of Geneseo, whose operations cover the entire western part of New York state, and whose reputation among the farmers is only excelled by that of the United States treasury. Mr. Fraser's connection with Belden & Company, Incorporated, began as an employe in the bookkeeping department. By years of faithful and intelligent service he has risen to the post of secretary of the company, and is also interested as a part owner. He was born at Caledonia, Livings-
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ton county, New York, on April 5, 1872, the son of Alexander and Mary (Buchan) Fraser, and was one of a family of eight children, the parents of whom have passed away.
James W. Fraser acquired his education in the grade schools of Livingston county and in the Le Roy high school, afterward attending the Rochester Business University, at Rochester, New York, from which he graduated in 1892. He was then twenty years old and his first employment was with the hardware firm of Wilson & Moore at Caledonia, with which he remained for several years. Mr. Fraser moved to Geneseo in July 1898, and was employed as a bookkeeper by the wholesale grain and produce firm of Belden & Company, Incorporated. He has been connected with the company ever since, and has been its secretary since November 22, 1910. Mr. Fraser is also a director in the Geneseo Auto Company.
Mr. Fraser was married on January 27, 1904, to Bertha E. Paine, and they have three children: Frances M., Donald and Robert. Mr. Fraser is a republican in his political opinions, became president of the village of Geneseo in 1923, and has been one of the village trustees for years. Mr. Fraser is also a trustee of the Geneseo Presbyterian church, to which religious faith he adheres. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Soon after the Northern Livingston County Chapter of the Red Cross was organized in 1917, Mr. Fraser became a chairman, in which capacity he has since served.
ARTHUR GEORGE HOUGH.
Arthur George Hough, president of the Wiard Plow Company of Batavia, has been continuously connected with the affairs of this concern since attaining his majority, and by successive stages of advancement has become the chief executive officer of a widely known enterprise, which has contributed in substantial measure to the development of the Genesee country during more than half a century. Indeed, this concern has been a continuing industrial establishment in the east for more than one hundred and twenty years, having been founded in Connecticut in 1804, by Thomas Wiard, a pioneer blacksmith, from whose humble plow-shop there has been developed the great plow works now located in Batavia, where this plant has been in operation since its removal from East Avon in 1876. Arthur George Hough was born in East Avon, February 10, 1875, and is a son of Captain Charles W. and Jennie (Young) Hough, both members of old New York families and the latter was a daughter of George W. and Jerusha (Brooks) Young. The late Captain Charles W. . Hough, an honored veteran of the Civil war, bought into the Wiard plow works at East Avon in 1871 and until his death was ever thereafter the treasurer of the com- pany. The plant was moved from East Avon to Batavia in 1876 and Captain Hough continued actively identified with the interests of that concern until his death in 1900, one of the most useful and dependable citizens of that place, as is set out elsewhere in this work, together with an interesting narrative relating to the life and services of that veteran manufacturer and public-spirited citizen.
It will be noted by a comparison of above dates that Arthur George Hough was but an infant when his parents moved from East Avon to Batavia in 1876, and he thus was reared in the latter city, completing his local schooling in the high school. He then entered the law department of Cornell University, and in 1895, when but twenty years of age, was graduated from that institution. Mr. Hough had not taken the law course at the university with a view to entering upon the practice of law, but with the general view to acquiring an acquaintance particularly with commercial law as a further qualification for service in the office of the Wiard Plow Company, with which his father had so long been prominently connected, and upon his return from the university he became connected with the office staff of that then rapidly develop- ing concern. Upon the reorganization of the Wiard Plow Company, following the death of Captain Hough in 1900, Mr. Hough was elected to succeed his father as treasurer of the company, and upon a further reorganization in 1914 he was elected president of the company, in which general administrative capacity he since has been serving. It is not too much to say that Mr. Hough's long experience in the direction of the affairs of this great concern, his tried executive abilities and his sound judgment have been decisively manifest in the continued growth and success of the business. The Wiard Plow Company furnishes steady employment to more than one hundred persons in the manufacture of plows and other agricultural implements, its annual product in plows alone running above twelve thousand high-grade plows which find a
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world-wide market, for the Wiard products enter largely into the export trade as well as into the great domestic trade area covered by that line in this country. In addi- tion to his interests in this company Mr. Hough has other substantial interests, includ- ing a place on the directorates of the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Bank of Batavia and the Batavia Metal Products Corporation, and it will not be regarded as fulsome to say that he enjoys merited recognition among the foremost business men and representative residents of the city.
On June 23, 1898, in Batavia, Mr. Hough was united in marriage to Miss Collene Van Vleet of Candor, Tioga county, this state. Mr. Hough is a republican, attends the First Presbyterian church, and is a member of the Stafford Country Club. For two years Mr. Hough served as the treasurer of this club and has been president of the Holland Club. He has the distinction of having been the owner of the first gasoline car driven in Genesee county and his interest in motoring has never abated. Golf and other outdoor sports also afforded him pleasurable recreation. He is one of the active members of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce and is past president of the locally influential Rotary Club of that city. It is agreed that those who know him, and he has many friends, esteem him highly as a man of genuine personal worth, as a business man of ability, and as a citizen who is ever loyal to the best interests of the community.
HARLOW C. CARPENTER.
One of the most influential of the younger business men of Olean, New York, is Harlow C. Carpenter, treasurer of the Olean Trust Company. Mr. Carpenter worked his way up from humble beginnings, starting with this company in 1913 as a messenger and reaching the important post of treasurer in December, 1922. He has been active in the general business life of Olean as well, being secretary of the Olean Housing Corporation and treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce. He is an inde- pendent republican but has never sought political office.
Harlow C. Carpenter was born in Olean, the son of Charles W. Carpenter, a builder and contractor. He attended Olean high school and then entered the employ of the Olean Trust Company. When America entered the World war he enlisted, serving with the Field Artillery and was in the St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne offensives, spending a year in active service in France. He is now treasurer of the Olean Post of the American Legion. Fraternally Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Presbyterian church and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is un- married.
REV. JOHN J. LEE.
Thorough scholastic training and an earnest desire to uplift mankind well qualify the Rev. John J. Lee for his duties as pastor of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul at Elmira, of which he has had charge for the past eight years, and his labors have constituted a strong force in the spread of Catholicism. He was born in Rex- ville, New York, in 1864, a son of Peter and Bridget (Fahey) Lee, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They came as young people to the United States and were married in Canandaigua, New York. The father became a prosperous farmer and always followed that occupation. He was an adherent of the democratic party and filled various township offices, proving faithful to every trust reposed in him, whether of a public or private nature. There were seven sons and five daughters in the family, nine of whom are living. John J. of this review was the fifth in order of birth.
The preliminary education of John J. Lee was obtained in the public schools of Rexville and Canisteo Academy, after which he entered St. Charles College of Mary- land. He spent nine years as a student at Niagara University and in 1894 was ordained to the priesthood. He was appointed first assistant at St. Stephen's Catholic church in Buffalo, remaining there for three years, and then came to Elmira as assistant pastor of St. Patrick's church, which he served for two years. On the expiration of that period he was called to the Church of St. Mary's of the Lake in Watkins, New York, of which he had charge for seventeen years, and since July, 1916, has been pastor of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul in Elmira. He has worked untiringly for the success of the church and his religious instruction has proven a resultant factor in promoting the spiritual welfare of those who have come under his guidance. The parish school has an enrollment of two hundred and
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twenty-five pupils and five teachers are in attendance. Through intensive study Father Lee has become a man of broad culture and deep learning and his is a sincere and devoted service in behalf of the cause to which he has dedicated his life.
WILLIAM MATE.
The greater part of the large quantities of coal required for industrial plants and domestic use in Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, is supplied by William Mate, whose business also extends into the territory adjacent to the town and is of large proportions. He was born at Groveland, Livingston county, on November 7, 1854, the son of Richard and Harriet (Wiley) Mate, both of whom have passed away.
William Mate was educated in the common schools, and while still a boy he started to work in a blacksmith shop, and in a few years had a shop of his own. For the next twenty-five years the blacksmith shop of William Mate was known for many miles around, was always busy, and did a most prosperous business. In De- cember, 1917, Mr. Mate decided to retire and occupy his time in some less strenuous pursuit, and the opportunity offered in the willingness of Mrs. S. J. Woolever to sell the coal business she owned, and Mr. Mate became the purchaser.
Mr. Mate was married in 1885 to Emma Jerome, who has passed away. Some time after the death of his first wife Mr. Mate was married to Edith Lowery, and they have two children: Sherwood W. and Harold W. Mr. Mate is a member of the Masonic order, in religion he is a Presbyterian and a trustee of the Mount Morris church of that faith, and in politics he votes the democratic ticket.
WILLIAM F. LOVE.
One of the prominent younger members of the Rochester bar is William F. Love, district attorney of Monroe county. Born in this city on the 26th of October, 1880, Mr. Love comes from a good old Rochester family, for both of his parents, Frank W. and Marietta L. (Ward) Love, were born and have always lived here. Until 1918 the father was engaged in the grocery business, but is now retired from active commercial life. He was the first supervisor of the twentieth ward and held that office for years.
After passing through the successive grades of the grammar schools, William F. Love attended the Rochester Free Academy, from which he graduated in the class of 1896 and then took a year's course in the Rochester Business College. Subse- quently he enrolled in the University of Rochester, which conferred the Ph. B. degree upon him in 1903. When he left the university the young man took up the study of law, entering the office of George Raines, where he worked and read his Blackstone until he was ready to take his bar examinations. He was admitted to practice before the New York bar in 1905 and for two years thereafter continued in Mr. Raines' office as a legal assistant. It was not until 1907, therefore, that he estab- lished himself in private practice under his own name. Equipped with native ability, a sound education and considerable practical experience in his chosen field, Mr. Love naturally rose rapidly in a profession that requires thorough preparation and actual accomplishments of those upon whom it bestows its honors. Ere long he had a good clientele and had won the confidence of the profession and the laity alike. In 1911 the post of assistant district attorney gave him additional opportunities to display his powers, and so well did he do so that in 1919 he was elected to the office of district attorney and in 1922 was reelected for a second three-year term.
During the World war Mr. Love served very ably on the draft board and as the United States government appeal agent, devoting a large share of his time and attention to the onerous duties connected with these offices. He belongs to the Ameri- can, New York State and Rochester Bar Associations and tries in every possible man- ner to keep fully informed on all matters affecting his profession. He is now on his second term as president of the Association of Federal and State District Attorneys of New York State. A Roman Catholic in his religious faith, Mr. Love is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose, while in college days he was initiated into the brotherhood of Theta Delta Chi. He has always retained his interest in this college fraternity and for the past year has served as president of the Grand Lodge. He
WILLIAM F. LOVE
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is first vice president of the Associated Alumni of the University of Rochester. In Rochester Mr. Love is known socially as a member of the Oak Hill Country, Rochester, Washington and Rochester Yacht Clubs.
In Rochester, on the 3d of June, 1908, Mr. Love was married to Miss Gertrude B. Dunn, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Dunn, prominent citizens of Rochester. Mrs. Love passed away on March 2, 1913, leaving a daughter, Katherine G. Love, who was born June 5, 1909.
RALPH H. GORSLINE.
The business interests of Rochester are important and varied, offering splendid opportunities to the man of ambition, enterprise and initiative. Competition in the different lines of business, however, is exceedingly keen and only those possessed of more than ordinary ability have won the full measure of success. In this classi- fication belongs Ralph H. Gorsline, president of the New York & Pennsylvania Clay Products Company, a million dollar corporation. He is one of the outstanding figures in industrial circles of western New York and represents one of the very oldest families in Rochester.
Mr. Gorsline was born in this city on the 12th of May, 1867, a son of William Henry and Sarah W. (Parker) Gorsline. The name of Gorsline has figured in connection with the business development and upbuilding of Rochester for more than a century, the family having been founded here by Richard Gorsline, the grandfather of Ralph H. Gorsline, who was of French extraction and resided for some years in East Bloomfield, New York, whence he came to Rochester in 1816. He was a builder and many costly and substantial structures still standing bear evidence of his archi- tectural skill and ability. He assisted in constructing the ponderous stone aqueduct which crossed the Genesee river and revived, by its solid masonry and graceful arches, recollections of the old-time bridges over more classic streams. He laid the corner stone of St. Luke's Episcopal church in 1824, and this is the only century-old building in the city in continuous use. He was a typical specimen of the race from which he sprang, being sprightly and vivacious and possessing the artistic temperament in a marked degree, as well as a fine physique and great capacity for hard work. He died in 1870 at an advanced age, while his wife, whose maiden name was Aurelia Rice, died seven years later. For some years prior to his death he was elder in Dr. Shaw's Presbyterian church of Rochester and his name heads those inscribed on the memorial slab to the founders of that church.
William Henry Gorsline, father of Ralph H. Gorsline, was born in Rochester, July 12, 1829, and was educated in the public schools, which he attended to the age of fourteen, when he became his father's assistant in building operations. He in- herited his father's artistic temperament in architectural lines and became one of the most prominent builders of the city. Among the fine structures which stand as monuments to his skill are the University of Rochester, the Rochester Theological Seminary, Rockefeller Hall, the high school, the city hall, of which he laid the corner stone in 1874, the arsenal, the Rochester Savings Bank, Powers commercial building, Powers Hotel, Warner's fireproof building, the Cunningham carriage factory, the First Presbyterian church, the Central church, the Brick church, the Jewish synagogue, the Grant building, and many others, which include fine business blocks and private residences. A striking evidence of the confidence reposed in the integrity of Mr. Gorsline is afforded by the fact that all the payments made by Mr. Powers for his splendid hotel, which was finished eleven months from the day of commencement, passed through his hands. Mr. Gorsline always faithfully fulfilled his part of every contract and was found true to every trust reposed in him. What- ever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, and in business affairs was always found prompt and thoroughly reliable. The larger the contract the more it seemed to develop his capabilities, and, even though sometimes threatened with loss, he never relaxed his efforts to make his work as perfect as all his great skill and all modern appliances and inventions would permit. In 1874 he became a partner of Ira L. Otis in the manufacture of salt-glazed pipe, and founded what became one of the most important industries of the kind in the country, making extensive ship- ments from its retail yards in New York city to all parts of the world. The success of this enterprise was largely due to the inventive genius of Mr. Gorsline. He was also president of the Rochester Sewer Pipe Company and the Buffalo Sewer Pipe Company, and was a heavy stockholder in the Rochester Brick & Tile Company.
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He was one of the directors of the Flower City Hotel Company and a trustee of the East Side Savings Bank. He became a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce, served on its first board of trustees in 1887 and was continuously upon its important committees. He was for two years president of the Builders Exchange and served on the boards of arbitration in labor matters.
In community affairs William H. Gorsline was deeply interested and did much to further public progress and improvement. He belonged to and was elder in the Brick Presbyterian church and was greatly interested in its work. In 1857 Mr. Gorsline was married to Miss Sarah Parker, by whom he had five children, of whom Ralph H. is the only one living. The mother died in 1874, at the age of thirty-five. In 1876 Mr. Gorsline was married to Miss Margaret Hawley Howe and they had two sons, William H. and Richard, both of whom are living. The father died in 1901, at the age of seventy-two years. In politics he was a republican and he attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry.
Ralph H. Gorsline obtained his early education in the grammar and high schools of Rochester and afterward entered the Cayuga Lake Military Academy, which he attended for two years. He next became a student at Cornell University of Ithaca, New York, a member of the class of 1889, and upon his return to Rochester secured a position with the L. P. Ross Wholesale Shoe Company. In 1890 he engaged in the manufacture of shoes, forming a partnership with George L. Van Alstyne, and the business was continued until 1894, when the firm failed, as a result of the widespread financial panic of that year. Mr. Gorsline then went to Buffalo in the interests of the New York Sewer Pipe Company, which he represented in that city for two years. In 1897 he returned to Rochester and engaged in the manufacture of clay products with the Rochester Sewer Pipe Company. In 1912 this company was merged with the New York State Sewer Pipe Company, of which Mr. Gorsline was made president, and this has since been consolidated with the Northern Refractories Com- pany. The new organization is known as the New York & Pennsylvania Clay Pro- ducts Company and Mr. Gorsline is its president-an office for which his experience and executive ability well qualify him. He has a comprehensive understanding of every phase of the business and is now at the head of one of the largest productive industries of this part of the state. The firm has established factories in Rochester and at Hutchins, Pennsylvania, and maintans its headquarters in this city.
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