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 57
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Major Couchman remained with his regiment in France until it sailed from Brest, February 28, 1919, and received his honorable discharge from active service on March 31, 1919. A special train brought his battalion back to Rochester, April 2, 1919, and the Chamber of Commerce gave a dinner in his honor, after which a recep- tion was held at the State Armory. To hundreds of veterans of the World war Major Couchman, although a commissioned officer of high rank, was a "buddy", and officers and privates alike mourned his death. Albert Williams, formerly a first lieutenant who acted as his adjutant from the time the regiment left Rochester for Spartanburg until it returned to the United States to be mustered out of the federal service after the war, paid Major Couchman the following tribute:
"He was admired and respected by every one of the men of his command. He never refused to help the soldier in trouble, as he felt that he was personally responsible for the safety of every one of the home boys so far as he had jurisdiction. At one time he was told to take his command into a shell-swept area in order that they might become accustomed to the noise and scenes accompanying a heavy bombardment. The Major was aware that some of his boys would be killed and injured in this experiment and accordingly he sent back word to the higher authorities that if they had simply requested him to take his men over the field, he felt it his duty to refuse. On the other hand, if it was an order which he had received, he had nothing to do
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but obey. His superiors replied that they only requested him to cross the area under shell fire, so the trip was cancelled. At no time did he shrink from performing his duties, but displayed a quality of courage which was unexcelled by anyone in the sector. He never asked his men to do anything which he couldn't do himself."
"Major Couchman worked so long and so faithfully in the interests of ex- service men and members of the American Legion in particular that the loss of his services will be severely felt by his former comrades in arms," said Dr. Ralph Fitch, chairman of the Monroe county committee of the Legion. "He was an ardent sup- porter of all measures that were for the betterment of the disabled veterans, as well as for those who were left dependent through the casualties of war."
On June 18, 1896, Major Couchman was married to Miss Jennie Neuhart and they became the parents of a daughter: Thelma Maysie, who completed a course in the Mechanics Institute and also spent three years as a student in Converse College at Spartanburg, South Carolina. Mrs. Couchman survives her husband and was appointed commissioner of charities in January, 1922, by Mayor Van Zandt, and she is still occupying that office.
Major Couchman was an earnest, consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Rochester. He was connected with the various Masonic bodies and had attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite Consistory. He was also identified with the Loyal Order of Moose, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the United Commercial Travelers. He was a member of the City Cadets, the Old Guard, George H. Yerkes Post of the American Legion, and was a past commander of G. Boardman Smith Camp of the Spanish-American War Veterans. He likewise belonged to the Sons of St. George and to the Rochester, Automobile and Kiwanis Clubs. He possessed a strong sense of duty and honor, never swerving from the high standards in which he believed, and his was an ad- mirable character, worthy of all praise.
CLARENCE WILLIS.
Clarence Willis, an attorney of long practice and high standing in Steuben county, New York, has held many public offices and served the people of Bath and the rest of his native county faithfully for many years. He has also taken a great interest in public education and for many years was president of the board of education. He specializes in handling estates and has won honors in his career as an attorney.
Clarence Willis was born on a farm in Howard township, Steuben county, July 31, 1852, the son of William H. and Nancy (Whiting) Willis. Clarence Willis' maternal grandfather, Colonel John Whiting, came to Bath in 1814, and his paternal great-grandfather, William Willis, came to Steuben county in 1820, the family being an old New England one. He worked on the home farm as a boy and studied with Rev. Peter C. Robertson who started him with the classics and the interest taken in young Willis by this learned man of the cloth was to influence his later desire for the best educational opportunities for all. He likewise attended the district school and then Haverling Academy at Bath, graduating in 1871. He taught school for a time and studied law with Ruggles and Little and with Charles F. Kingsley. But he worked too hard and had to return to the farm to recuperate. He was finally able to complete his law studies and was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in 1878. He started practice in Bath and has remained there. In 1895 he received the hon- orary degree of Bachelor of Arts from Hobart College and in 1910 the honorary degree of Master of Literature from Alfred University. His own practice is a large and remunerative one.
Mr. Willis has held many local offices. He was elected village clerk of Bath in 1889 and police justice in 1890. In 1891 he was elected justice of the peace, holding that office for four years. He was appointed transfer tax attorney for Steuben county on March 1, 1907, by the state comptroller and served two years. He has been assessor and on the Bath Board of Health. He was elected to the board of education in 1888, and was in office, with the exception of a three-year interval, from 1901 to 1904. Mr. Willis resigned in December, 1914, on account of ill health.
In the larger field of county and state politics Mr. Willis has made a good record but is a democrat in a normally republican area. He was nominated for county judge in 1906 and made a fine fight. In 1909 he was the democratic nominee for the assembly but lost by a small margin. In 1910 he was nominated for state
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senator and carried every district in Bath despite the fact that two years before Taft has swept the district with a majority of five thousand. But the other dis- tricts served to defeat Mr. Willis.
On April 23, 1890, Mr. Willis was married to Mary Alice Bullington. Mr. Willis is a director, secretary and superintendent of the Bath Cemetery Association, (Nondaga). Mr. Willis is very popular and he takes great personal pride in Steuben county and is the best informed historian concerning the county. He has a rich historical and general library, and he is the author of a tract on "The Pulteney Land Title" (Genesee tract), now in its fourth edition. His extreme interest, how- over, is always in the schools and he annually donates prizes for elocution. He established the Haverly High School Alumni Association in 1883, and has been its president for six years of the intervening period. He founded a chair of oratory in Alfred University in memory of his father and mother, and is a director of the Alumni Association of this university. He is Senior Warden of the St. Thomas church and has been a vestryman for many years. He is a prominent Odd Fellow and has been district deputy grand master and district deputy grand patriarch of the Order.
ELIZUR KIRKE HART.
The late Elizur Kirke Hart, retired banker of Albion, Orleans county, whose death occurred on January 21, 1923, was a worthy representative of a family that for several generations has had a conspicuous part in the development of this section of the Genesee country. The family is of record in the early settlement of New England, later generations migrating to the state of New York. Deacon Joseph Hart, the great-grandfather of Elizur Kirke Hart, moved from Greene county to Seneca county in 1806, and from there he came to Barre, Orleans county, in 1812. Elizur Hart, son of Deacon Joseph, in company with Joseph M. Cornell, established the Orleans County Bank in Albion in 1860, it becoming a national bank in 1865, when the name was changed to the Orleans County National Bank. He was president of this institution until his death. Hon. Elizur Kirke Hart, son of Elizur, succeeded his father as head of the Orleans County National Bank and became a very prominent figure in western New York as publisher of the Rochester Evening Post Express and also represented his district in congress. He married Louise Sanderson and their son, Elizur Kirke Hart, was born in Albion, New York, March 20, 1873.
After attending the Albion high school Elizur Kirke Hart continued his studies in the Riverside Military Academy at Poughkeepsie, New York, and Phillips Academy of Exeter, New Hampshire, after which he entered Harvard. Leaving the latter institu- tion in 1895, he entered the banking business in the old Orleans County National Bank, first as bookkeeper and later becoming cashier and a director. Mr. Hart continued his connection with the bank until January, 1920, when the family interests in the institution were disposed of and the present Orleans County Trust Company was formed. Mr. Hart then retired from active business, devoting his attention to the management of his extensive private interests.
Mr. Hart was married on June 29, 1904, to Miss Elizabeth Beckwith Keeney of Albion, daughter of Allen and Ella (Beckwith) Keeney. Mr. and Mrs. Hart had three children: Elizur Kirke, born July 20, 1908; William Beckwith, born February 14, 1912; and Elizabeth Keeney, born January 21, 1914.
During the World war Mr. Hart took a leading part in local activities, serving on the general local committee of the Liberty Loan, and was captain of the various Lib- erty Loan and Red Cross drives. He was independent in politics, a member of Albion Lodge No. 1006, B. P. O. E., and of the Albion Country Club. He attended the Presbyterian church, of which he was a trustee.
LEON HAMILTON, M. D.
Dr. Leon Hamilton maintains a leading place among the physicians and surgeons who have chosen Elmira as the scene of their professional labors. He was born in Veteran, Chemung county, New York, August 4, 1884, and is a son of John and Emma (Merchant) Hamilton, the former a native of Veteran, this state, and the latter of Alpine. The father formerly followed the occupation of farming and is now engaged in the grocery business in Horseheads, New York. He is an earnest,
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helpful member of the' Methodist Episcopal church and his wife is also active in its behalf. He belongs to the Sons of Veterans and gives his political support to the republican party. He is a well read man and served as justice of the peace at Veteran from the time he was thirty until he reached the age of sixty, his long retention in office being proof of the quality of his service and the esteem in which he was held by his fellow townsmen. His father, Stuart Hamilton, was a native of Scotland and served for three years in the Civil war. He saw much hard fighting and one of the most important engagements in which he participated was the battle of Antietam. The maternal grandfather, Gurden Merchant, was a native of Alpine, Schuyler county, New York, a professor of music for thirty-five years, and one of a family of thirteen sons. His brothers were Enoch, Aaron, George W., DeWitt C., Silas B., Abel L., David O., Lewis H., Ardo J., James B., Norman M., and Oliner; eleven of whom were soldiers in the Civil war-a notable record of patriotism equaled by very few American families-and the forty-sixth congress passed a bill allowing the mother, Mrs. Eliza Upright, formerly Mrs. Eliza Merchant, a pension in recogni- tion of the magnitude of her contribution to her country.
Leon Hamilton is the second in a family of five children. He completed a course in the Horseheads high school and also in a business college at Elmira, afterward becoming a student in the University of Buffalo, from which he was graduated in 1912, with the M. D. degree. He was connected with the Buffalo Hospital until September 30, 1913, and then opened an office in Elmira, where he has since engaged in general practice. He is a member of the surgical staff of St. Joseph's Hospital. He attends clinics in New York each year and in 1922 took postgraduate work in the University of Buffalo.
On November 1, 1916, Dr. Hamilton was married to Miss Edith F. Hamilton, who was born in Britton, South Dakota, and they have two children: John Henry, who is attending the public schools; and Mary Jeannette, aged four years. Dr. Hamilton is a Presbyterian in religious faith and his political views are in accord with the platform and principles of the republican party. He is identified with the Masonic order, belonging to Ivy Lodge, F. & A. M .; Elmira Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M .; St. Omer's Commandery, No. 19, K. T .; and Kalurah Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Binghamton, New York. He is also a member of the Country and City Clubs of Elmira, the Cold Brook Club and the Keuka Club. His professional con- nections are with the Elmira Academy of Medicine, of which he was president in 1918, the Chemung County and New York State Medical Societies, and the American Medical Association.
GEORGE L. KREIN.
George L. Krein, one of Dansville's native sons, has made insurance the ladder by means of which he has mounted to success, and demonstrates his public spirit by actual achievements, being a man of action whose cooperation can always be counted upon to further every worthy civic project. He was born on the 6th of December, 1866, and is one of a family of nine children whose parents were James and Catherine (Lander) Krein, the latter a native of Germany. The father was born February 25, 1825, at Merelbach, in canton de Forbach, arrondissement de Sarreguemines, dé- partement de la Moselle, France, and came to the United States when a young man of twenty-one. He resided for a time in Rochester, New York, and then went to Nunda, where he taught the French language in 1848 and 1849. He arrived in Dansville in 1850 and secured a clerical position in the establishment of the firm of Sikes & Wood, subsequently opening a grocery store, which he conducted until 1876. He then entered the insurance business and continued his operations in that field of activity until death ended his labors, on the 21st of January, 1892, when he was sixty-seven years of age.
His son, George L. Krein, attended the public schools and was also a student in the old Dansville Seminary. His first knowledge of business methods was gained as a clerk in the dry goods store of Dyer Brothers and he next became a clerk and tele- graph operator in the Dansville office of the Erie Railroad Company. He was trans- ferred by the road to Rochester, New York, where he remained for a year, and in 1889 returned to Dansville, becoming an assistant in his father's insurance office. There he gained a thorough knowledge of the business, which he found much to his liking, and subsequently entered the field independently. In June, 1921, he purchased the business of the late Bernard H. Oberdorf, and combined the two undertakings.
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Success in substantial measure has attended his well-directed efforts and he now writes a large amount of insurance annually.
Mr. Krein is a stanch democrat in politics and has served his fellow citizens in various capacities, always doing conscientious and efficient work. For six years he acted as assistant postmaster of Dansville and in 1913 was appointed postmaster by President Wilson, filling that position until 1922. For twenty-one years he was town clerk-a record of long and faithful service which redounds to his credit. He has also been clerk of the board of supervisors and is now a member of the board of education, in which capacity he is working earnestly to improve the public school system of Dansville. He is a Rotarian and his fraternal relations are with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Masonic order. He has taken the thirty-second degree in the last named organization and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He attends the Presbyterian church and his life has been an exemplary one in all respects, winning for him the respect, confidence and goodwill of his fellowmen.
JOHN COOKE MCCURDY.
John Cooke McCurdy, president and founder of McCurdy & Company, incorpo- rated, one of Rochester's leading department stores, was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1852, a son of James and Jane (Cooke) McCurdy. He has had long experi- ence as a merchant and since becoming a resident of Rochester has attained a promi- nent position in business circles of the city. The substantial growth and rapid development of the McCurdy store is an outstanding achievement in Rochester's mer- cantile history and represents a magnificent tribute to the business ability, enterprise and progressive character of its management. From a comparatively modest struc- ture the McCurdy store now occupies five acres of selling space, with entrances from Main, Elm and Cortland streets, and its appointments represent the last word in modern department store construction. The character and values of its merchandise have been from the inception of the business such as to give the store a high standing and establish a reputation for commercial integrity that is not surpassed by any mercantile house in the city. Mr. McCurdy is recognized as a most capable executive, and with his sons, William C. and Gilbert J., who are active in the management of the business, there is represented an able and exceptionally well balanced business organization.
On the 23d of November, 1882, Mr. McCurdy was united in marriage to Miss Florence Anna Cathcart, and to them have been born five children: William Cathcart, Jean Cooke, Florence Caldwell, Gilbert James Cathcart and Gordon Wallace. Mr. McCurdy is a consistent member of the First Baptist church and also belongs to the Genesee Valley Club and to the Rochester Chamber of Commerce.
William Cathcart McCurdy, vice president of McCurdy & Company, Incorporated, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1883, and supplemented his early education, obtained in private schools, by a course of study in the William Penn Char- ter School. On the 18th of November, 1915, William C. McCurdy wedded Miss Helene 'Stephens Hart and they are the parents of a son, William Cooke. Fraternally Mr. McCurdy is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is also a member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Automobile Club of Rochester.
Gilbert James Cathcart McCurdy, secretary and treasurer of McCurdy & Com- pany, Incorporated, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 29th of March, 1895. He prepared at Hill School of Pottstown, that state, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College with the class of 1917. At the beginning of the World war he became an adjutant in the Williams College Student Battalion, thus serving until the time of his enlistment on the 27th of August, 1917. He joined the Sixth Company of the First Niagara Training Regiment, was commissioned first lieutenant of infantry on the 27th of November, 1917, and assigned to the Three Hundred and Fifth Machine Gun Battalion of the Seventy-seventh Division at Camp Upton, New York. On January 2, 1918, he was transferred to Company A, Three Hundred and Fifth Infantry, and on March 8th to Company B. He sailed for France on April 16, 1918, arrived at Calais on the 29th of the same month and began training with the British Fourth Army. In the following June he entered the front line in the Baccarat sector (Lorraine), while on the 10th of August he went into the Vesle sector and during the first three days of September crossed the Vesle on to the Aisne canal. He was relieved on the 12th of September and three days later was trans-
JOHN C. MCCURDY
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ferred to the Chemical Warfare Service, being assigned to the Intelligence Division, with headquarters at Tours. Following the signing of the armistice he assisted in the preparation of a work entitled "History of the Chemical Warfare Service". He sailed for the United States as courier to Washington, D. C., carrying the above-mentioned history for delivery to the proper authorities. On the 5th of April, 1919, he was discharged from military service. On the 25th of September, 1920, Gilbert J. C. Mc- Curdy was married to Miss Virginia Geier of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a member of the First Baptist church and also belongs to the University Club and to two Greek letter fraternities-Zeta Psi and Phi Beta Kappa.
STEWART N. MILLER.
The president of The Peoples State Bank of East Randolph, New York, and sec- retary-treasurer of The Cattaraugus County Cooperative Farmers Fire Relief Asso- ciation, is Stewart N. Miller, who has done much to build up the businesses he is con- nected with as well as the general welfare and security of his home county. He is a native of East Randolph, born in 1870, the son of Norton W. and Lorette (Stewart) M.ller, who came to this locality from Indiana in 1846.
Stewart N. Miller attended Chamberlain Institute at Randolph and then Ohio Wesleyan University for three years. In 1900 he graduated from the Law School of the University of Buffalo and after being admitted to the bar he returned to the farm. In 1908 he became secretary-treasurer of The Cattaraugus County Cooperative Farm- ers' Relief Association and during the time he has been an official of the company its insurance risk values have grown from five million seven hundred thousand dollars to nine million two hundred thousand dollars, a remarkable total for such a localized com- pany. Chautauqua county is now included in the territory of business. Mr. Miller has also been president of The People's State Bank of Randolph since its organization.
The Cattaraugus County Cooperative Farmers Fire Relief Association was or- ganized and its first policy written in September, 1885, at Randolph, with G. A. Gladden as president and B. F. Congdon as secretary. Mr. Gladden remained presi- dent until his death in 1899, and was followed by N. E. G. Cowen, who held the office until his death in 1905, when L. W. Van Hoesen held it until 1908. He was followed by M. S. Randall, who resigned in 1916 on account of poor health. J. M. Ackley was elected in his place and holds the office at the present time. Mr. Congdon held the office of secretary until 1895, being followed by Chester D. Tuttle of East Randolph, to which place the office was moved at that time. He held it for six years, followed by M. S. Randall, who held it for seven years. He resigned the office in 1908 and S. N. Miller was elected in his place and continues to serve. The present officers are: J. M. Ackley of Little Valley, president; C. D. Smith of Perrysburg, vice president, and Stewart N. Miller, secretary.
ALEXANDER CLINTON HERMANCE, M. D.
The true physician, in the exercise of his beneficent calling, heeds neither nation- ality nor distinctions of class, and the acquisition of wealth is nothing to him save as a means of giving material form and practical force to his projects for the uplift of humanity. In his self-abnegating labors he furnishes one of the truest examples of the altruistic life of which the world has knowledge. In this classification belonged Dr. Alexander Clinton Hermance, whose life was brought to a close on the 23d of November, 1923, at the age of sixty-six years. For over three decades he has en- gaged in the practice of medicine in Rochester and his departure left a great void in the city, for he was a man universally beloved-an exponent of all that is highest and best in the medical profession. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, June 8, 1857, a son of Charles Filler and Charlotte (Cook) Hermance, whose surviving children are: Mrs. William Murrell and Harry C. Hermance of Rochester; and Dr. George S. Her- mance of Clarkson, New York.
In the acquirement of an education Alexander Clinton Hermance attended the public schools of his native city and continued his studies at Cambridge, Massachus- etts, afterward entering Hahnemann Medical College at Chicago, Illinois, from which he was graduated with the class of 1883. Coming to Rochester, he opened an office at No. 595 St. Paul street, where he also resided, and remained at that location until
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1903. He was a representative of the homeopathic school of medicine and enjoyed a very large practice. He was one of the founders of Hahnemann, now the Highland Hospital, and became chief of staff, on which he served for many years, being an honorary member at the time of his death. He was a frequent contributor to the Homeopathic Recorder and also served as city physician for five years, making a highly creditable record in that office. A close student of human nature, as well as the technicalities of his profession, he correctly applied the knowledge thus acquired to the needs of his patients, and inspired confidence in those whom he treated.
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