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 5
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
The following lines from "The Teamster" were found in Mr. Lyon's coat pocket among a few treasured papers :
"And I, too, sing the song of all creation, A brave sky and a glad wind blowing by, A clear trail and an hour for meditation, A long day and the joy to make it fly; A hard task and the muscle to achieve it, A fierce noon and a well contented gloam; A good strife and no great regret to leave it, A still night-and then the far red lights of home."
The letters given below are prized by Mrs. Lyon:
"My Dear Mrs. Lyon-Mr. Bell and I are shocked and grieved beyond words to hear of the great sorrow that has so suddenly fallen on you and your children. Please accept our sincerest sympathy. We grieve with you, for he has been one of our dearest friends for more years than we can count. Mr. Bell, I remember, introduced him to me first as the boy who was to carry on his work when he himself had gone on. Truly the world is the poorer for his going, and for you, my dear friend, my heart aches.
"April 27, 1920.
"Affectionately yours, "Mabel G. Bell."
"July 31, 1920.
"My Dear Mrs. Lyon-I want to thank you very much for the splendid photograph of Mr. Lyon. I feel so deeply the loss of my friend that it is difficult for me to express my sympathy in words. I never met a man who so took my heart. He was big-hearted and big-headed, and I shall miss him more as the years go by. "Your's very sincerely, "Alexander Graham Bell."
GEORGE F. SHOWERS, D. D. S.
George F. Showers is the senior dentist of Corning, having practiced in that city since 1895. During his many years of residence he has built up a gratifying patronage and has also been active in fraternal and public matters. He was born in Martins- burg. West Virginia, the son of George E. and Nancy (Alburtis) Showers.
George F. Showers received his early education in the Martinsburg schools and
36
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
graduated with the class of 1895 from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He then started his practice in Corning, being associated with Dr. W. C. Wilbur for eight years, but since 1903 he has been alone. He is a member of the American Dental Association.
Dr. Showers is a member of Painted Post Lodge, No. 117, A. F. & A. M., and also belongs to the chapter and council. He first joined Equality Lodge in Martins- burg but transferred to Painted Post Lodge. He belongs to Corning Chapter, No. 190, R. A. M .; and Corning Council, No. 53, R. & S. M. He is also a member of the Elks and the Corning Country Club. The Doctor is a republican in politics and was nomi- nated for mayor of Corning at one time. He has been president of the Business Men's Association, the organization of which the Chamber of Commerce is the out- growth. He is a faithful member of Christ Episcopal church, holding the post of junior warden.
Dr. Showers was married on June 9, 1903, to Miss Edith Walker of Corning, and they have a daughter: Miss Edith Showers. The Doctor is particularly inter- ested in his work, and is a member of the Seventh District Dental Society of New York State.
HON. JAMES WOLCOTT WADSWORTH, JR.
Hon. James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., senior United States senator from New York, was born on the 12th of August, 1877, at Geneseo, Livingston county, this state, son of Hon. James Wolcott and Louise (Travers) Wadsworth and grandson of Brigadier-General James S. Wadsworth, who was killed in the battle of the Wilder- ness. The Wadsworth family is distinguished in the history of the state, as recorded on other pages of this publication.
James Wolcott Wadsworth prepared for college at St. Mark's School of South- boro, Massachusetts, matriculating at Yale University in 1894. In his junior year he joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and he was also a member of the university baseball team. He won a place in "Skull and Bones". The war with Spain was in progress at the time of Mr. Wadsworth's graduation from Yale in 1898. He enlisted as a private at Newport News, in Battery A of the Pennsylvania Volun- teers, in July, 1898. This unit was selected to go with the second expedition under General Fred D. Grant to Porto Rico. He accompanied the battery in July and re- mained there until September. The fighting had ceased, however, and he was mus- tered out about December 1. In February, 1899, he sailed from New York to the Philippines, via Suez, on the transport Sherman, with the Third Infantry. He was with the regiment during the northern advance until Malolos, Aguinaldo's capital, was captured. Then, in company with three classmates, he completed a tour of the world.
Upon his return home he immediately took up the occupation of a farmer. The Senator's home farm, consisting of fourteen hundred and seventy acres, is situated in the town of Groveland, Livingston county, near the village of Mount Morris. In addition to running his home farm he assists in the management of other farm prop- erty owned by him in the same neighborhood. He also owns a ranch property in Briscoe county, Texas.
A republican in politics, he was nominated in 1904 for assemblyman from Liv- ingston county and was elected. In 1905 he was reelected and for the session of 1906 he was elected speaker of the assembly, being then twenty-nine years of age. He was reelected as speaker in 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910. In 1912 he was the republican party's candidate for lieutenant-governor. In 1914 he was nominated for United States senator and was elected, his democratic opponent being Hon. James W. Gerard, ambassador to Germany at the time. In 1920 Senator Wadsworth was reelected by an overwhelming majority. Senator Wadsworth was a delegate to the republican national conventions of 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920 and 1924, serving as chairman of the New York delegation in the last four conventions. He holds a foremost place in the councils of the party in the nation.
Senator Wadsworth is an Episcopalian in religious belief. He belongs to the Loyal Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Spanish War Veterans and the Groveland Grange. He is a director of the Genesee Valley National Bank. In his club connections he is a member of the Metropolitan Club and the Racquet and Tennis Club at Washington, D. C., the Yale, Union League, Racquet and Tennis and National Republican Clubs at New York and the Fort Orange Club at Albany.
A
HON. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, JR.
39
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
On September 30, 1902, Senator Wadsworth was married to Miss Alice Hay, daughter of Hon. John Hay, secretary of state. The mother of Mrs. Wadsworth was a daughter of Amasa Stone of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the builders of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. Senator and Mrs. Wadsworth have a daughter and two sons: Evelyn, who is the wife of W. Stewart Symington (III) of Rochester, New York; James Jeremiah; and Reverdy.
EDWARD B. LEARY.
In America social tradition has rather expected the young men of each generation to leave the parental roof and make their own name and fortune in the world. Con- sequently we do not in this country find the many business firms and houses that have been managed by the members of the same family for generations, that are to be met with in Europe. It is, therefore, a matter of unusual interest when the history of such a firm as that of the Leary Dry Cleaning & Dyeing Works is brought to the attention of the public. This establishment, which was founded in 1822, was long ago taken over by Daniel Leary, father of Edward B. Leary of this review, who was suc- ceeded by his son, the present proprietor. He, in turn, is looking forward to the not very distant future when in partnership with his son he can begin a program of expansion that has long been his ambition.
As a boy of seventeen, Daniel Leary landed in Quebec, Canada, after a voyage from his native Ireland in an old-time sailing vessel. Traveling was not so easily and rapidly done in those days and it took the lad ninety long days and nights to cross the Atlantic, but nothing daunted by the tedious voyage, he shortly reembarked on the St. Lawrence for another laborious voyage into the Great Lakes and up the Genesee river, finally landing in Rochester. As later events proved, this city was destined to he his home for the rest of a long and useful life. Shortly after his arrival he secured a position with Lester Peacock, who was conducting a dyeing establishment he had founded in 1822. This dye works was the foundation of the present Leary business, which has had, therefore, a continuous history, lasting over one hundred and two years. Under Mr. Peacock's able guidance the youth learned the intricacies of the dyeing art himself and remained with his instructor and em- ployer until the latter's death, when he purchased the works and took over the entire management. In 1890 Daniel Leary retired from active business life, turning the business over to his son, Edward, who is still directing its affairs. During the period he had been owner of the plant it had grown steadily and many modern features, undreamed of in 1822, had become important parts in its operation. His wife, Mrs. Caroline Seeley (Montgomery) Leary, passed away in 1884. She was a native of Bennington, Vermont, and came from Revolutionary stock. Her grandfather Seeley was one of General Washington's body guard, while among her ancestors were also General Montgomery of Revolutionary war fame and Millard Fillmore, president of the United States. Captain Warner, whose monument stands in Bennington, Ver- mont, likewise came from this family.
Edward B. Leary was born in Rochester, on the 23d of January, 1861. Here he gained his education in the public schools and in the Rochester Free Academy, where so many of the future business men of this city have secured their secondary educa- tion. When he had finished his high school course he was taken into the business by his father, but on no easy terms. Daniel Leary wished to have his son carry on the work when he could no longer do so and he wished him to be able to maintain the high standards he had always set for himself. He was, therefore, a conscientious and hard taskmaster, passing over no lesson in the cleaning and dyeing industry until his son was one hundred per cent perfect in it. No doubt there were times when the ordeal was as trying to the father as it was to the son, but he persevered, knowing that the day would come when the younger man would be proud of his skill and effi- ciency in his line of work. In 1890 the older man was convinced that his business would be in safe keeping if it were entrusted to his son and he accordingly withdrew from active connection with the works and left the entire management to the present owner.
Thirty-four years have passed since Edward B. Leary became sole owner and proprietor of the Leary Dry Cleaning & Dyeing Works. In that space of time more scientific discoveries and inventions have been made than in any other third of a century of the world's history. Nearly all of these have had an important practical bearing upon our every-day life and industry and nowhere has this revolutionary
40
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
influence been felt more than in industries that make use of chemical science, of which the dyeing and cleaning industry is an apt example. Mr. Leary has taken great pains to master the scientific end of his business himself and to understand thoroughly the chemical reactions involved and the effect of various cleaning and dyeing processes on the different types of fabrics. His son has recently completed a course in chemical engineering in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, undertaken with the sole view of preparing himself to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Those initiated into the mysteries of the cleaning business and dyers' art can see in the Leary plant many evidences of this progressive scientific attitude on the part of the owner. Its equipment is modern in every respect and includes many devices for securing as nearly perfect workmanship as is humanly-and chemically-possible. It is no surprise to the visitor to this establishment to learn that many of its patrons have been sending their rugs, delicate draperies and clothes to the Leary works for years and would not think of patronizing another establishment so long as this one is in existence. Its reputation for reliability cannot be beaten.
Mr. Leary has progressive ideas concerning the management of the business end of his concern, as well as a thorough knowledge of the processes used in the plant and is already making plans for an expansion that will require a larger force and a larger plant. Recently Mr. Leary was elected chairman of the Rochester branch of the American Chemical Society, in which he has long been an interested and inter- esting member. He was one of the founders of the National Dyers and Cleaners Asso- ciation, which now boasts a membership of over two thousand members prominent in their industry in this country and in Canada. This association owes much to his loyal support and encouragement and he was at one time its vice president. Mr. Leary is a member of the board of management of the Maplewood Young Men's Christian Association and for over twenty years has been a teacher in the Sunday school of the Brick Presbyterian church, of which he is a member and an elder. He became a charter member of the Rochester Yacht Club, to which he still belongs.
On the 6th of July, 1893, in Rochester, Mr. Leary was united in marriage to Miss Estel Heger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Heger. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Leary: Marian E., a graduate of Vassar College, class of 1917; Sylvia Montgomery, an alumna of Wellesley College, class of 1922; and Harold Heger Leary, who completed a course in chemical engineering in the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology in 1923 and in 1924 received the degree of Master of Science. The last named is now associated in business with his father. It is a significant fact that Mr. Leary has been able to inspire all of his children with a keen interest in his business. To them, as well as to him, it means more than a mere getting of bread and butter. They have his interest in carrying the work into the future and building up an industry that will perpetuate the highest ideals of service and the best standards of workmanship.
JOHN JACOB BAUSCH.
An imposing monument to John Jacob Bausch is the huge plant of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, manufacturers of scientific and optical instruments in Rochester, of which he is the president and which is the largest industry of its kind in the world. His record constitutes a business romance of compelling interest and of inspiration. For years he was handicapped by misfortunes and a prejudice against American-made lenses, but he fought on with indomitable courage. He had reached the age of sixty years before his business showed any real signs of prosperity.
John Jacob Bausch was born in Suessen, Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 25th of July, 1830, his parents being George and Annie (Schmidt) Bausch. The father was a baker in Germany; the mother's people were foresters. John Jacob was one of seven children in a household where the family income was hardly as many dollars a week. The story of his early struggles, printed in the American Magazine as related by him to a few friends in a clubroom. is as follows: "I was six years old when my mother died, and I can scarcely remember her; but this I know, that she was strict. Duty and obedience were essentials in her view, and it was fortunate that she made good use of the few years that she was spared to us, for when she went ; way my father was like a lost man. She had been the real head of the family, as all of us keenly realized after her death. You ask me what I remember of those early days ? Not much that seems cheerful from this distance. I remember that my oldest brother was apprenticed to a wood-turner, and later to a man named David
J. J. Bausch In his ninety fourth year.
43
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
Bantleon, in the optical trade. It is easy to recall that fact because it gave rise to the principal financial discussion of my boyhood. An apprentice in the optical trade must have tools, and the tools would cost one hundred and twenty-five gulden ($46.25). Could my father afford to risk so much? After long debate it was decided that my brother's earning power with the tools would make them a good investment, and accordingly they were bought. But they had hardly arrived at the house in triumph when my brother fell from a barn and was carried home seriously injured. Eventually he recovered and, except for the fact that one arm was three-quarters of an inch shorter than the other, he suffered no permanent ill effects. But the precious tools had lain idle for a year. I had made some effort to use them, to be sure, but without success. I seemed to have no knack for mechanical things in those days, though I tried hard. The investment which took so large a portion of the family's cash did not begin to show a return for a long time. After six years my brother completed his apprenticeship, but it was difficult for him to dispose of his finished wares. There was almost no money in our neighborhood, and the best he could do with his spectacles was to exchange them for the food and clothing which the family had to have. I followed along in his footsteps and learned the rudiments of the trade. I could grind lenses and make horn spectacles, but this was as far as my training extended. He knew only this much and there was no one who could teach us. Moreover, before my apprenticeship was finished I came home with typhoid fever, which ran through the family, making our home a veritable hospital. My father died; the nurse who attended us so bravely also died, and hope of saving my life was abandoned. How- ever, I was tough and managed to pull through, but for six months I was worse than useless. The months of weakness gave me many hours in which to think. Our family had stuck to one spot for generations. I saw clearly that if I remained at home there would be nothing for me except a repetition of the life of my ancestors-a bare living, and no more. Someone, traveling through the town, told us that an optician was wanted in Berne, Switzerland. The report kindled my imagination. If I could throw off the fetters of tradition, I might find a place where one could learn much more and earn much more than had ever been possible to anv of us. Of course, the suggestion met with opposition. Why must I turn my back on the life that had been good enough for all mv ancestors ? Who was I to assume that I could battle successfully against the outside world ? Had I any special gifts or cleverness ? with such questions they sought to discourage me, and I had to admit, in answer that I was indeed without qualifications for success. No one knew it better than myself. Nevertheless, I swung my knapsack across my shoulders, and setting out on foot arrived finally at Berne.
"But no fortunes were lying loose in Berne. I was young, just eighteen, and I had not learned that fortunes do not lie loose. They have to be dug out and the digging is hard, no matter where one digs. But moving about the world a little puts the iron of self-reliance into a young man, and iron is good for digging. In Berne I made spectacles after a fashion and sold them for six cents a pair. By working hard from morning until night I could finish six pairs in a day. The times were extra- ordinarily poor; everywhere the crops had failed, and the discontent and suffering among the people caused the disturbances which are known as the Revolution of 1848. Thousands left Europe for America, and I was one of them. Of the journey across the ocean I need not tell very much. It lasted forty-nine days. The weather was rough most of the way and though our appetites were not especially hearty when the boat rolled and tossed, still we ran out of some important provisions very early, especially butter. After that we had to make the pancakes, which were the chief element in our diet, out of water alone, and the supply of water was limited to one quart per person a day. All this sounds like real hardship in these days of beautiful swift ships and good food, and looking back I sometimes wonder how we stood the journey at all. Yet at the time, we thought nothing of it. When one has been accustomed to hardship and privation, the addition of a few simple comforts gives great encouragement. But raise a boy in luxury, and if he is compelled to give up even a few privileges he feels that a hardship is being worked on him. Staying power is the great asset. The softer you make things for a boy the harder you make things for him; or so, at least, it seems to me.
"You have read of the thrill of the immigrant when he catches his first view of America. It is all true; I felt it. Here was the rich new land, the land of opportunity. Leaning over the side of the ship I feasted my eyes on the buildings of New York, and could hardly wait to be on shore. But once on shore I found that the new land had many things in common with the old. Here, too, were hard times and discourage- ment; the green fields were still farther on. 'Go West', people said. 'New York is
44
THE GENESEE COUNTRY
overcrowded; there have been too many immigrants who have settled here. The city is too full of people.' That was in 1849, remember, when the population was only a fraction of what it is now. Yet they said that New York was too full; probably they had been saying it from the days when the population was one thousand, and will be saying it when there are twenty millions. Still, there will always be room for the man who knows more than the others; the city will stand aside and make room for him. But in those days I had no knowledge for which the great city was willing to pay. And when they said to me, 'Go West; the chances are all out there', I be- lieved them, and landed in Buffalo, where there was room enough. For Buffalo was swept with cholera, and thousands had fled. All day long the streets were filled with funeral processions. Business was at a standstill and nobody wanted a half-trained apprentice; I considered myself lucky to find work as a cook's assistant in a hotel. There were no opticians in Buffalo in those days, hence I made an effort to pass myself off as a wood-turner, relying on the very slender training in the craft which my elder brother had given me. A maker of bedsteads hired me without investigation, made his investigation by watching my work during the morning, and fired me early in the afternoon. It was discouraging, but discouragement is a luxury that can only be indulged in by those who are assured of three meals a day. I had to find work, and so I tried a manufacturer of furniture. Again I was hired and fired within twenty-four hours. This man, however, seeing that I was eager to learn and needed work badly, offered to teach me the trade, paying me fifty cents a day. You may imagine how gladly I accepted the offer. On that amount I could have managed to exist had the work been regular; unfortunately it was not. There were many days for which I received no pay at all. So my first winter in America came and went, and in the spring I borrowed five dollars and set out for Rochester. For six months I had lived practically without money, and I was worse off, because of the loss of my watch and clothing, than when I landed on this side. Still, I was not sorry I had come; I still had high hopes.
"In Rochester it occurred to me that I might make a start in the optical business, and so capitalize the training which I had gained abroad. After a year of struggle, therefore, I wrote to my brother asking for what remained of my share of our father's estate, a little less than a hundred dollars. He sent it to me, and with this capital I opened my shop, arranging with a watchmaker to give me his window for a dollar a week. That expense seems trivial enough, but it was too much for my slender receipts. After four weeks I was forced to abandon the project, having sold almost nothing. Since the people would not come to me for glasses, I tried taking the glasses to them, fitting myself out as a peddler, but with no better luck. America had not been educated in those days in the care of the eyes, and my ignorance of the language made me a poor educator. So I was forced back to wood-turning again. It was a bitter step; I hated the thought of abandoning the trade which I knew and loved; yet so accustomed had I become, by this time, to the buffetings of fate that I lost little time in self-pity. 'With you it must be this way', I said to myself, 'but you must not be discouraged.' And I was reminded again of my brother's remark that we were both 'unlucky fellows'. Unlucky indeed we seemed to be, and I was not yet at the end. My work as a wood-turner started off very well, so well, indeed, that I dared at the end of a year to think of a home of my own. I was married on October 12, 1849, and no couple ever started life more happily. Our home was simply furnished, and the total cost would hardly pay for a single rug these days. But the furnishings were beautiful in our sight. My job seemed secure and, for the first time in my life I began to look forward to comfort and serenity. Contrasted with what I had passed through, my situation seemed almost too good to be true; and so it proved. Seven weeks after my marriage, my hand was drawn into a buzz saw, wounding the fingers, two of which had to be amputated. There were no anaesthetics in those days, and the surgical operation lasted three quarters of an hour and left me weak and suffering intensely. There I was, flat on my back, with seven dollars and fifty cents, my previous week's wages, as our entire possession. For four weeks it was necessary to have someone with me every night; four months passed before the wound was sufficiently healed so that I could use my hand at all. During those months my wife and I had plenty of opportunity to think of the future, and it looked far from bright. Yet the accident had one wonderful aspect. It taught me the glory of friendship. On the day after my operation a young friend of mine, Henry Lomb, called at the house and gave my wife twenty-eight dollars which he had collected. Who the donors of that money were we never found out, though we made diligent inquiries. I have no doubt they were the same big-hearted friends who took turns sitting by my bedside through those long delirious nights. To them, and to my employer, who advanced
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.