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 63
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Dr. Atkins is highly esteemed in his community and his experience and special postgraduate work combined with his skill, promise him an increasing patronage as the years go by, for western New York is always quick to recognize ability in her sons.
JUDGE GEORGE MCCANN.
The title which prefixes the name of George McCann has been well earned and his work on the bench has won high encomiums from members of the bar. For the past ten years he has been a justice of the supreme court of the state of New York and the legal fraternity of Elmira is proud to number him among its members. The city claims him as a native son, for he was here born on the 23d of June, 1864, and his parents, James and Helen L. (Neish) McCann, were married in Elmira. The mother was born in Andes, Delaware county, New York, July 13, 1829, and died April 26, 1917, at the age of eighty-eight. She was a daughter of David Neish, and Mar- garet (Cowan) Neish, both natives of Scotland. James McCann was born in Elmira, September 2, 1820, a son of John McCann, who was a native of County Antrim, Ire- land, and migrated to the United States in 1794, settling in the Chemung Valley of New York. James McCann was a lifelong resident of Chemung county and his at- tention was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He was active in the Grange and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and belonged to the Presbyterian church, of which his wife was also a member. He was a republican in politics and took the interest of a good citizen in public affairs but never aspired to office. He passed away May 23, 1904, when eighty-three years of age. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McCann, three of whom survive: John, a resident farmer of Horseheads, New York; George, of this review, and James D., who operates a foundry at Elmira.
After completing a course in the Elmira Free Academy George McCann entered Cornell University, from which he received the B. S. degree in 1886, and in 1888 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the bar in November of that year and became a member of the firm of Rockwell, McDowell & McCann, which association was maintained for three years, when the name was changed to the style of Rockwell & McCann. The firm existed for twelve years, the partnership being terminated at the time of Judge McCann's elevation to the bench. He assumed the duties of county judge and surrogate on January 1, 1903, and served for eleven years-the longest term of any incumbent of those offices in Chemung
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county. The prestige which he won in that connection led to his selection for higher honors and in January, 1914, he took his seat upon the bench of the state supreme court. He had charge of trial work for about ten years and was recently assigned to the appellate division of the court.
On the 6th of April, 1893, Judge McCann was married to Miss Florence Filling- ham, who was born, reared and educated in Ithaca, New York, and passed away August 30, 1915, leaving a son, Arthur F., now engaged in the practice of law in Elmira. The latter received the Master of Arts degree from Cornell University and is also a graduate of the Law School of Columbia University. He saw service in the World war as a second lieutenant of the Fifty-ninth Pioneer Infantry and spent a year in France. Judge McCann was married May 27, 1919, to Mrs. Florence (John- son) Farr, the widow of Fred H. Farr. She was born in Ulster county, New York, and was educated at Elmira College.
Judge McCann is an adherent of the republican party and his civic spirit has found expression in effective public service. For eight years he was a member of the Elmira Board of Education, of which he was president for two years, and his work in that connection was productive of much good. He belongs to the local Grange and his fraternal relations are with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Royal Arcanum, the Order of Eagles, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Masons. He is very active in the last named or- ganization and has taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish Rites. At one time he was potentate of Kalurah Temple of the Shrine at Binghamton, New York. He is a member of Cashmere Grotto and at one time held the highest office in the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets. He is connected with the Rotary Club, City, Coun- try, Automobile and Outing Clubs, the Town & Gown Club of Ithaca, the Norwich City Club, the Cornell Club of New York city and of Phi Delta Phi, a legal fra- ternity. He is a member of the Chemung County, New York State and American Bar Associations and for four years was president of the New York Association of Surrogates. He occupies a position of distinguished preferment in his profession and his record confers honor and dignity upon his state.
VITO P. CIMINO.
In the considerable Italian colony in the city of Rochester there are few more conspicuous figures or men more prominent in the general affairs of the community than Vito P. Cimino, well known funeral director of that city, whose establishment at No. 31 Lake avenue is well equipped for the exacting requirements of the calling in which he has been engaged for years. Mr. Cimino is a native of Italy but has been a resident of this country since he was fifteen years of age and thus feels himself quite as much an American as though "native and to the manner born." His eyes first saw the light February 13, 1880, on the historic island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy and a part of that country, the largest island in the Mediteranean sea, and he thus now is in the very prime of his vigorous manhood. His parents, Alphonso and Jennie (Pidalino) Cimino, now residents of Rochester, also are of Sicilian nativity. In his home country Alphonso Cimino was a manufacturer of shoes, a vocation he followed until his retirement in 1921, in which year he and his wife came to America and have since made their home in Rochester, where three of their sons have long re- sided, and where he is now living retired from the active duties of life. There are six sons in this family, Vito P. Cimino (the fourth in order of birth) having five brothers, namely: Jerome Cimino, who continues to make his home in Sicily; Charles Cimino, now living in Rochester; Joseph Cimino, who remains in Sicily; Salvator Cimino, a resident of the city of Buenos Aires, in the Argentine Republic; and Jesse Cimino, a resident of Rochester.
Vito P. Cimino was fifteen years of age when in 1895 he came to the United States. He had completed in the schools of his native town a course approximating what is known as the high school course in this country and his ambition had been fired by wonderful stories that had been brought back by some of his fellow country- men of the opportunities that awaited young men in America. To him, from the days of his early childhood, music had been a ruling passion and though little more than a boy he had become a skilled performer in brass, with particular reference to the trombone and the barytone instrument. Upon his arrival in the United States he proceeded to the city of Buffalo, where through a prior understanding he was soon engaged as a bandsman in the famous band of Professor Scinta in that city,
VITO P. CIMINO
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playing the trombone and the barytone horn. This accomplishment, however, was but the ornamental part of his life, something more than a diversion, for he was paid for his service in the band, of course; but he had his definite career to consider-a real vocation in life. He had had some little experience in the office of an undertaker in his home land and upon coming here he took up professionally the study of embalming and mortuary disposition, in accordance with the laws and standards of this country, and perfected himself in the exacting requirements of the undertaker's calling. Thus prepared for the practical conduct of a funeral director's establishment, Mr. Cimino, in February, 1915, moved from Buffalo to Rochester, and became estab- lished as a funeral director at No. 347 North street, right in the heart of the local Italian colony. There he did so well that it was not long until he began to feel the need of larger quarters and he moved his establishment to a more commodious build- ing on Ontario street, where he remained until in May, 1924, when he bought the property that then was being vacated by the old established firm of undertakers, Moore & Fisk, who were moving into new and larger quarters, and he has since been carrying on his business at this latter place, No. 31 Lake avenue, where he has an admirable equipment for the discharge of the delicately dignified obligations rest- ing upon the modern funeral director.
On October 14, 1903, in Buffalo, Mr. Cimino was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Wright, daughter of William B. and Harriet (Seymour) Wright of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Cimino have three children: a daughter, Harriet Jennie Cimino, born July 19, 1904, who was graduated from the Rochester high school in 1923; and two sons, Vito W. Cimino, born April 30, 1906, now a student in the East high school; and William J. Cimino, born July 4, 1918.
Mr. Cimino is a member of the National Undertakers Association and of the New York State Undertakers Association. He is affiliated with the American Order of the Sons of Italy and all the local Italian societies in Rochester and is also a member of the Rochester Club and of the local Automobile Club. He is a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Cimino has ever kept up his musical work and is a member of the Shrine band in this city. He has done well in his ventures since coming to this country and in the very best sense of that much abused term may prop- erly be referred to indeed as "a self-made man," for he has attained his present position in the business and social life of the city by dint of his own ambitious efforts, doing well from day to day those things which his hand found to do. Mr. Cimino's sympathetic nature and kindheartedness is often reflected in his numerous acts of quiet charity. The seeming pleasure, or the genuine "thank you" from some deserving recipient of his generosity, affords Mr. Cimino one of his greatest pleasures. In fact, as he claims, "It is really a thrill." His charities are of the practical kind and along. original plans of distribution, for it is a "hobby" with him, while he studies to make his benefactions more effective and far-reaching. Mr. Cimino resides at No. 31 Lake avenue, while his summer home is on Martin road, West Henrietta, New York.
JOHN C. MURPHY.
John C. Murphy is well known in commercial circles of Horseheads, and for nearly a quarter of a century his attention has been concentrated upon the real estate business. He represents an old and highly respected family of the village of Horseheads. He was born August 10, 1860, of the union of Patrick Murphy and Mary Corbett, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They were married in England and soon afterward came to the United States. The father was an adherent of the democratic party and served for a number of years as superintendent of streets in Horseheads. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were faithful communicants of the Roman Cath- olic church and both passed away in Horseheads. John C. was the second child in their family, six of whom are living.
The public school training of John C. Murphy was supplemented by a course in a business college in Elmira and he afterward followed the occupation of farming, devoting a large portion of his time to market gardening. His next venture was in the real estate field, which he entered in 1900, and his work has been of the utmost value to Horseheads, stimulating its growth and progress. His business has increased steadily and since 1909 he has also maintained an office in Elmira. He is known as a thoroughly reliable business man and at one time had charge of the property of the
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Chemung Canal Trust Company of Elmira. He is the owner of six farms and other valuable pieces of property, situated in various parts of the state.
In March, 1884, Mr. Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Mary Donnelly, a native of Elmira and a daughter of Thomas Donnelly, for many years a foreman in the employ of the Erie Railroad Company. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are zealous mem- bers of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church, and in politics he follows an independent course. For two years he served his fellow townsmen in the capacity of mayor and his official course met with widespread approval.
J. POPE DE LANEY, M. D.
The medical profession of the Genesee country finds a worthy and able representa- tive in Dr. J. Pope De Laney, who has been successfully engaged in general practice at Geneva for more than forty years. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 2d of August, 1857, his parents being M. G. and Sarah Pierce (Pope) De Laney, the former a native of Dublin, Ireland, and the latter of Augusta, Maine. M. G. De Laney was a surgeon in the United States navy for nearly forty years-fleet sur- geon ranking as admiral.
J. Pope De Laney, one of a family of two sons and two daughters, supple- mented his public school education by a course of study in Hobart College of Geneva, New York. He left Hobart but received the honorary degree of Bachelor of Science in 1886, while two years later the same institution conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science. He was an instructor at Hobart, 1885-88. Having decided to follow in the professional footsteps of his father, he matriculated in Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York city and in 1885 received therefrom the degree of M. D. He at once opened an office in Geneva, where he has remained in the general practice of medicine and surgery to the present time and has been accorded a patronage of large proportions, in recognition of his marked skill in the field of his chosen calling. Dr. De Laney has ever remained a student of his profession and he keeps in touch with the advancement constantly being made by eminent members of the profession through membership in vorious medical organizations and by reading the best medical literature to be obtained. In addition to his professional activity he is a director of the Genesee Mining Company of Rochester, vice president and director of the Geneva Permanent Loan & Savings Association and a director of the General Filtration Company of Rochester.
In politics Dr. De Laney maintains an independent attitude, while his religious faith is that of the Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and with the Greek letter society known as Sigma Phi, and he also belongs to the Genesee Valley Club. Although he has devoted the greater part of his time to his practice, the Doctor is essentially public-spirited and has been influen- tial in the furtherance of many movements for the benefit of the community at large. He possesses a genial and pleasing personality, a cheerfulness which readily dispels the gloom of a sickroom and a love of humanity that is manifest in his immediate answer to any call of suffering.
DAVID JUDSON CHAFFEE, M. D.
The true physician in the exercise of his beneficent calling furnishes one of the finest examples of self-abnegation and devotion to the service of humanity of which the world has knowledge. Such a man was Dr. David Judson Chaffee, whose life ended on the 28th of January, 1923, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Great personal gifts were his and he spared no labor to make full use of his remarkable healing powers, which for a half century were effectively utilized to alleviate the suffering and add to the happiness of Rochester's citizens. His life was filled with good deeds and kind words, and he will long be gratefully remembered for his broad humanitarianism and altruistic work. He was born May 6, 1835, in Palermo, New York, a son of Abner and Julia Ann (Hurlburt) Chaffee, and was a direct descendant of Thomas Chaffee of Chaffcombe, Somerset county, England, who crossed the At- lantic in 1635, settling in Hingham, Massachusetts.
David Judson Chaffee received his elementary training in the public schools of his native town and then entered Falley Seminary at Fulton, New York, from which
DR. J. POPE DE LANEY
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he was graduated in March, 1855. He was a student in a commercial school at Fulton in 1856 and later matriculated in the Albany Medical College, but abandoned his intention of becoming an allopathic physician, completing his professional course in the Homeopathic Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1863 with high honors. He also attended the Homeopathic Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1867.
Dr. Chaffee began the practice of medicine at Palermo, making his first profes- sional call on February 3, 1860, and in November of that year he went to Cleveland for the purpose of attending medical lectures, returning to his native town after fin- ishing his studies. On November 5, 1860, he cast his first presidential ballot, voting for Abraham Lincoln, whose address at Cleveland in February, 1861, he was privileged to hear. He was married in Fulton, New York, and went with his bride to Jennings Corners, New York, where they spent four years. In 1867 Dr. Chaffee moved with his family to Fairport, New York, where he made many friends, and while there he realized for the first time that he possessed a gift that was of far greater value than medicine. During an epidemic of diptheria he lost but one patient, while many died under the ministrations of his fellow practitioners. His gift was an intangible force, a magnetic quality impossible to describe, and was in the nature of healing by the power of touch. He had known for some time that by simply placing his hands upon a patient's head he was able to completely dispel the pain without any feeling of discomfort to himself or the person thus treated. In May, 1873, he came to Rochester and the remainder of his long and useful life was spent in this city, where his exceptional skill drew to him a large practice.
Dr. Martin B. Anderson, at one time president of the University of Rochester, and a patient of Dr. Chaffee's, in an attempt to explain this gift, said in part: "Our terms alone show our ignorance. It cannot be electricity. There are no wires. It cannot be magnetism, there is no battery. Who can say it is vitality, for who knows just what vitality really is?" Dr. Chaffee was always a great mystery to other physicians, who could not understand why he could do so many things they were unable to accomplish. When he administered medicine it was always prepared by himself and the Hahnemann remedies were used exclusively. His method of diag- nosis was to place his hand upon the head of the patient, whose physical condition he correctly determined by this contact, never questioning those who sought his services in regard to their state of health. This was not clairvoyance. Occasionally he would place his hands upon the patient's body but generally touched only the head, and his treatment was followed by a feeling of warmth and restfulness. He could greatly reduce pain in one ministration and always effected a cure in two or three treat- ments. In cases of numbness he restored feeling and life and in fact his method was more beneficial than medicine in checking diseases of all kinds. Dr. Chaffee was also able to treat successfully people in far distant cities, as well as those near by. He would magnetize a piece of paper or cloth by holding it between his hands and the effect was similar to that of a personal application. Many out of town patients took advantage of this great opportunity to benefit by Dr. Chaffee's healing powers. He could magnetize water so that it would keep fresh indefinitely. When asked if he treated certain diseases, he always said: "I don't treat diseases, I treat people, and when the person is better the disease disappears. I help nature to help herself." He completely cured those suffering from supposedly incurable diseases, such as cancer, tumors, etc. His patients regarded him as a friend and counselor as well as a physi- cian and he was benevolent and charitable to a degree. He disliked ostentation and display and his benefactions were known only to the recipients thereof. His hand was ever ready to extend aid to the needy and he often paid the rent for a poor fain- ily, also sending supplies of fuel and provisions, and would frequently watch all night at the bedside of a patient in order that the other members of the household could get a much needed rest. He was wholly unselfish and his motto was "Do all the good you can, for as many people as you can, in all the ways that you can, just as long as you can." When in need of relaxation and quiet, he would leave the city and spend a brief interval in some locality where he was unknown, but even then people would discover his name in the hotel register and seek his services.
Dr. Chaffee took great delight in travel and had visited practically every point of interest in the United States, while he also made two trips abroad in company with his wife and daughter. When he was seventy-five years of age and his wife seventy-two they made the journey to the Pacific coast and at the age of sixty-three years Dr. Chaffee learned to ride a bicycle, continuing to ride until his eightieth year. He was exceptionally temperate in his habits and totally abstained from the use of all liquors as well as tea, coffee and tobacco. In 1908 he fasted for thirty-two days
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because of catarrhal trouble, taking no food, but drinking water. He greatly im- proved his condition and during this period attended regularly to his practice. From childhood he possessed an insatiable desire for knowledge and his mind was well stored with useful and valuable information, gleaned from years of close and dis- criminating study. He was an exceptionally interesting conversationalist, being well informed on many subjects, and to the last was eager to improve his time, ever striving to broaden his field of usefulness. Dr. Chaffee was quiet and unobtrusive in manner, yet firm in his decisions. His advice was: "If you know you are right, stick to it, no matter who is against you; but if you have made a mistake, never hesitate to admit it." All who knew him can unhesitatingly attest to his adherence to truth, his integrity and unrightness of character throughout his life. He never complained, but always made the best of whatever happened. Even during his last illness he was cheerful and hopeful. His mind was always active and he was quick at repartee; in fact, he was far in advance of the average person in knowledge of matters outside the path of his profession. During the 1921 influenza epidemic Dr. and Mrs. Chaffee, their daughter and granddaughter, were all stricken at the same time and for sev- eral days there was little hope for either the Doctor or his wife. Mrs. Chaffee lived only fourteen days after the disease entered her system, passing away March 24, 1921, and her death was a great shock to the Doctor, as theirs was an unusually happy union, extending over a period of fifty-eight years. As soon as possible he resumed his professional routine but in the spring of 1922 again had the influenza and never fully recovered from its effects, although he continued to visit his office daily until within a month of his demise. He contributed liberally toward the support of the Uni- versalist church of Rochester and was at one time a member of the Monroe County Medical Society.
In Fulton, New York, on March 4, 1863, Dr. Chaffee was married to Miss Louisa Broadwell, a daughter of Henry Broadwell, a well known architect and contractor of Fulton. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Royal Pullman, a close friend of Dr. Chaffee and a brother of the founder of the Pullman Car Company. Dr. Chaffee is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Cora Chaffee Boddy of Rochester, and a granddaugh- ter, Florence Boddy.
PETER A. VAY.
Peter A. Vay, vice president and manager of the Lincoln office of the Lincoln- Alliance Bank and president of the State Bank Section of the New York State Bankers Association, is the dean of Rochester bankers. His identification with the banking business in this city dates back more than forty-five years, when as a young man not yet nineteen he took the position of messenger in the old Flour City National Bank, then located in the Powers building. Mr. Vay was born in Rochester, New York, September 8, 1860, his parents being Rudolph and Eva (Mandel) Vay, who in early life emigrated to the United States from central Europe and took up their abode in Buffalo, New York. The father, a man of liberal education, was an instructor in the parochial schools of Buffalo and of Rochester for a number of years but abandoned the teaching profession to embark in the dry goods business. A few years later, however, he disposed of his mercantile interests and organized the German Insurance Company of Rochester, of which he served as secretary until he severed his connection therewith and engaged in the fire insurance business on his own account, conducting the same successfully to the time of his demise in 1910. To him and his wife, who also passed away in this city, were born eight children, five of whom survive: Fred J., Mrs. Theresa Schreiner, Mrs. Margaret L. Steimes, Mrs. George C. Brutsche and Peter A. of this review.
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