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 76
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AMOS HUBBELL COBB.
Among the men who are prominent in the fruit and vegetable canning industry of central and western New York, is Amos Hubbell Cobb of Rochester, secretary of the New York Canners, Incorporated. The son of Amos Hubbell Cobb and his wife, Angeline (Hodgman) Cobb, he was born in Brooklyn, New York, on the first day of March, 1874. His father, a native of Green county, New York, moved to New York city in the early '60s. He became associated with Kemp, Day & Company, after which he became a member of the firm, Goodman, Cobb & Company, wholesale paper dealers, of No. 16 Reed street, New York city. This firm was in business until 1881, at which time he purchased a canning plant at Fairport, New York, which he con- ducted until his death in 1891. His widow is still living and makes her home in
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Rochester. They were parents of five children, two of whom are living: Frederick H., who died in Rochester, in February, 1918; George Watson Cobb of Montclair, New Jersey, who is sales manager for the American Can Company; Angie, who was the wife of Stanley Shepard, died on October 15, 1918; Clarence Shepard Cobb, who died June 10, 1917; and Amos Hubbell, of this biographical review.
Amos Hubbell Cobb was educated in the public and high schools of Fairport, New York, and Colgate Academy at Hamilton, class of 1894. In January, 1895, he purchased an interest in a laundry in Rochester, as a member of the firm of Carpenter & Cobb. In 1898 he sold his interest in the laundry and became secretary of the Cobb Preserving Company, located in Fairport. Subsequently he was elected treasurer of the company and later became its president. In 1919 the Cobb Preserving Company became one of the units of the New York Canners, Incorporated, and he was elected its secretary and associate production manager.
For a year Mr. Cobb contributed to the educational advancement of his community by serving as president of the Brighton board of education, while his support has always been given to the program of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, for the development of the economic and civic interests of the community. He is a member of the Rochester Ad Club, the Genesee Valley Club, the Oak Hill Country Club, the Sons of the American Revolution and the Rochester Historical Society.
On October 1, 1896, Mr. Cobb was married to Mary G. Carpenter, daughter of George W. and Susan B. Carpenter, of Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb have three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter, Angelina H., is the wife of Harry A. Sessions, attorney of Rochester, and they have two daughters, Angela C. and Suzanne C. Sessions; Amos Hubbell Cobb (III), graduated from Yale University in the class of 1922, and is now president of the A. H. Cobb Manufacturing Corporation of Rochester, New York; the third child, George Warren Cobb, is connected with the New York Canners, Incorporated. All three children were born in Rochester and there received their early educational training.
WILLIAM ANDREW ROBISON, PH. B., M. D.
Dr. William Andrew Robison, a successful physician of Medina, was born in Buffalo, New York, on the 28th of January, 1888, the son of James L. and Cordelia Etta (Crapser) Robison. His father, a United Brethren minister in this part of the state for thirty years, is now retired and resides in Medina. It was about the year 1840 that Thomas Robison, the paternal grandfather of Dr. W. A. Robison, took up his abode in Buffalo, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Following his graduation from the Lockport high school in 1901, William Andrew Robison entered the University of Buffalo, from which institution he was graduated as a pharmacist in 1905, having defrayed the expenses of the course with his own earnings. He at once secured employment as a druggist and was eventually made manager of the drug department of the William Hengerer Company in Buffalo. In this way he built up a good foundation for his later work, as he soon became inter- ested in the practice of medicine. In 1909 he returned to the University of Buffalo for the medical course and four years later received therefrom the degree of M. D. He next became resident physician of the German Deaconess Hospital in Buffalo, where he was assistant to Dr. Mansberger. In 1915 he branched out for himself in Lyndonville, where he bult up a fine practice during his five years of residence. The city of Medina has been the scene of his professional activity since 1920 and here he has gained such a reputation for skill and ability in his chosen calling as has brought him a patronage of ever-increasing volume and importance. He is a member of the staff of the German Deaconess Hospital of Buffalo and belongs to the Erie County Academy of Medicine, and is a member of the Greek fraternity of medi- cine, Beta Phi Sigma.
On the 16th of September, 1916, in Java, New York, Dr. Robison was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Geraldine Murphy, daughter of Edward J. Murphy of Geneva, this state. Dr. and Mrs. Robison are the parents of two children: William Andrew, Jr., who was born September 16, 1921; and Elizabeth Geraldine, whose natal day was February 11, 1923.
Dr. Robison is chiefly interested in his profession but loves motoring as a hobby and maintains three cars, so that he may travel when he has time. He gives his political support to the republican party and withholds his aid from no movement or measure looking to the advancement and progress of the community. He enjoys
DR. WILLIAM A. ROBINSON
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the respect and esteem of his fellow practitioners, because of his close conformity to the highest professional ethics, and by reason of the many sterling traits of his character he has gained an extensive circle of warm friends in his adopted city.
DAVID A. WHITE.
Among the well known and successful attorneys of Orleans county is David A. White, who is actively engaged in general law practice in Medina. He was here born on the 14th of December, 1887, his parents being John C. and Ellen (Pendergrast) White. The father, who is deceased, was a harness maker by trade.
Following the completion of a high school course in Medina, David A. White spent two years as a student in the law department of Cornell University. He was admitted to the bar in 1912 and during the succeeding decade was associated with the firm of Fluhrer, Reed, Wage & White in Albion. Since the fall of 1922 he has practiced inde- pendently in Medina and the gratifying clientage which he now enjoys has come to him in recognition of his marked ability in the work of the courts.
Mr. White was elected justice of the peace for the town of Ridgeway in 1916 and has long been an influential factor in the local ranks of the democratic party, effectively exerting his efforts in its behalf and at the same time doing everything in his power to promote community progress and upbuilding. The party chose him as its candidate from this strong republican district in congress in 1916 and again in 1922. He has served as county committeeman for six years and was sent as delegate to the national convention held in New York city in 1924. Mr. White is a member of the board of directors of the Medina Hospital Association and is widely recognized as a public-spirited, progressive and enterprising citizen. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being grand knight of the former organization for four years and exalted ruler of the latter for two years. He is a communicant of St. Mary's Catholic church and is accorded high standing in both social and professional circles of Orleans county, within the borders of which he has always lived.
Mr. White was married to Miss Mary G. Henry of Washington, D. C., and they have become the parents of three children: David, Elizabeth and Marietta.
FREDERICK WILLIAM SWAN.
The Scotch ancestors are manifest in the life of Frederick William Swan, a member of an old and prominent family of Elmira and a native son. For the past five years he has been vice president of the Chemung Canal Trust Company. He was born November 13, 1868, and his parents were Charles and Lucretia Angeline (Ran- dall) Swan. They were married in Kirkwood, Illinois, in 1857, and ten children were born to them, but four are deceased. The mother was born near Rutland, Vermont, in 1837 and is now residing in Washington, D. C. The father was born near Warwick, in Orange county, New York, in 1828 and died in 1902, at the age of seventy-four. He was reared on a farm and became county superintendent of schools of Chemung county, New York. In 1853 he entered the insurance business, subsequently organiz- ing the firm of Swan & Sons, and remained at its head until his death. The business is still continued and is now conducted under the name of Swan & Sons-Morss Com- pany, Incorporated. Mr. Swan was a member of the Presbyterian church and a democrat in politics. While he never aspired to public office, he was foremost in all civic projects and his influence was a potent force for good in his community. He was a grandson of William Swan, who was born near Glasgow, Scotland, and came to the United States as a young man; he proved his loyalty to his adopted country by service in the Revolutionary war. His son, William Swan, Jr., was a native of Orange county, New York, and fought in the War of 1812.
Frederick William Swan attended the public schools and afterward became a student in the Elmira Free Academy, from which he was graduated in 1885. He engaged in the insurance business with his father and brother and for twenty years was a member of the firm of Swan & Sons, now operated under the style of the Swan & Sons-Morss Company, Incorporated. Mr. Frederick Swan is vice president and a director of the concern, which has been in existence for a period of seventy-one years and is one of the oldest in the city; as well as one of the largest. For some
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time he had been interested in financial affairs and in 1919 he was elected vice presi- dent of the Chemung Canal Trust Company, which was founded in 1833 and is num- bered among the pioneers in this field of activity. Mr. Swan is also a director of the bank, which is considered one of the strongest moneyed institutions in this part of the state. He is a director and vice president of the Eclipse Machine Company of Elmira and is also a director of the Shepard Electric Crane & Hoist Company of Montour Falls, New York, the Johnson Oil Refining Company of Chicago, Illinois, and the Elmira Mechanics Society, being likewise vice president of the last named organization.
In Elmira, on October 2, 1907, Mr. Swan was married to Miss Elizabeth Rachel Johnson, daughter of Lorenzo R. Johnson and his wife, Sara (Horton) Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have six children: Lorenzo Johnson, Esther Lucretia, William Johnson, Eleanor B., Sarah E. and Priscilla. Mr. Swan is a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal church. He is treasurer of Elmira Council, Boy Scouts of America, a director of the Arnot-Ogden Memorial Hospital and formerly served as president of the Elmira Chamber of Commerce. He is a Mason and an Elk and one of the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution. He is a member of the Elmira City Club and also belongs to the Elmira Golf & Country Club.
ANTHONY JAMES FLOOD, M. B., M. D., C. M.
The citizens of Perry, Wyoming county, consider it a most fortunate circumstance that when Dr. Anthony James Flood, late of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, was com- pelled to change his residence on account of his health he chose their city as his future dwelling place. For Dr. Flood is a physician and surgeon of unusual ability and training, whose services would be highly valued by any community in which he might choose to locate. As he has been able to resume his professional activities, Dr. Flood has risen to an enviable position among the medical fraternity of this section of New York and has gained the recognition his talents so justly merit. Born on the 19th of October, 1885, in Delta, Ontario, he is the son of the late Anthony J, and Bridget G. (O'Connor) Flood of that place. His father was a business man and lived in Delta for many years prior to his death.
Anthony James Flood was educated in the Athens high school and Queen's Uni- versity, Kingston, Ontario, from which he graduated in 1912, with the M. B. degree. Two years later the same university awarded him the degree of M. D. C. M. The young physician started the practice of medicine in 1914 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he remained until 1919, devoting the greater part of his time to surgery, of which he had made a special study. At that time his health failed and he was obliged to give up a large and growing practice in Sault Ste. Marie in order to seek a better climate and more favorable conditions for his recovery. Happily for the Genesee country the Doctor's choice fell upon Perry, which has been his home ever since. As soon as he was able to do so Dr. Flood began to practice his profession again and has built up a large practice in Perry and the surrounding territory, where his reputation is now well established. In Canada he was a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and since coming to the state has been ad- mitted to the fellowship of the American Medical Association and the Wyoming Medical Society. To a considerable degree the Doctor's unusual rise in his profession is due to the fact that he has never lost an opportunity to increase his knowledge of medicine and surgery. He has already done a large amount of graduate work for so young a man and spent the summer of 1924 in Europe where he attended the noted clinics and lectures of Vienna, London and other famous medical centers.
In Sault Ste Marie, on the 17th of July, 1916, Dr. Flood was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude C. Gagnon, daughter of L. P. and Susan (Rosseau) Gagnon of that city. Dr. and Mrs. Flood are parents of three children: Anthony James, Jr., born in 1918; Constance, born in 1919; and John Francis, born in 1922. Before her marriage Mrs. Flood studied music, graduating from the conservatory of Toronto University, and she is an accomplished musician, whose talent brings much pleasure to her family and friends.
Thoroughly public-spirited in his outlook on life, Dr. Flood has identified himself intimately with the interests of the community he has chosen to make his home. He belongs to the Perry Chamber of Commerce, the Perry Club and the Silver Lake Country Club. As the latter club membership indicates, he is very fond of golf, although this is not his only hobby in the way of recreation. All outdoor life appeals
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to him and fishing and hunting are two of his favorite sports. Dr. Flood's religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and he is a member of St. Joseph's parish of Perry. Politically he ranks as a republican with independent tendencies.
R. A. PAGE, M. D.
Practice of medicine according to the homeopathic school is worthily represented in Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, by Dr. R. A. Page, a native of the county and a long established practitioner in the town, where he has been a most successful member of the medical profession. He was born at Nunda, Livingston county, on December 9, 1871, the son of Herman D. and Mary O. (Warner) Page, both of whom have passed away. They were parents of three children.
The early education of R. A. Page was gained in the grade and high schools of Nunda, after the completion of which he entered the New York Homeopathic College in New York city, from which he received his degree of M. D. and was graduated in the class of 1894. After his graduation Dr. Page took one year of hospital work and then located in Geneseo, opened an office and has been practicing his profession there ever since.
Dr. Page was married on June 6, 1900, to Mary West of Geneva, New York. The Doctor is a member of the Livingston County Medical Association, the New York State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order. In his religious convictions he is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in his political leanings a member of the republican party. The Doctor is one of the four coroners of Livingston county.
HOUSTON BARNARD.
Houston Barnard, well known in Rochester as a leading business man and yachts- man, was born in this city, on the 3rd of January, 1871, the son of William C. and Elvira C. (Houston) Barnard. His father, a native of Acworth, New Hampshire, was one of the famous '49ers who crossed the continent to California shortly after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, near Coloma. Leaving New England for the Pacific coast, he stayed out there until about 1855, when he returned, well rewarded for his hardships and struggles in the western mining camps. Unlike most of those who joined the argonauts of 1849 Mr. Barnard was successful in his mining prospect- ing to such an extent that he was able to live a more or less retired life after he came back east. He took up his residence in Rochester, where he had numerous invest- ments, and lived here until death claimed him in 1907, at the advanced age of eighty- two. Mr. Barnard's mother passed away in 1888, when he was about seventeen years of age. Her family, the Houstons, were well known in western New York. She was a daughter of Isaac Houston, who conducted a tavern on the Ridge road, between Rochester and Lewiston years ago. His hostelry was the first stage stop in the days of the stage-coach, where the horses were exchanged before continuing the journey to Lewiston. Mr. Houston was well known and a prominent politician in that section of the state in his day.
Mr. Barnard attended the Rochester Free Academy, from which he graduated in 1889, and then took up the practice of civil engineering in various local offices and with the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad. He was identified with the reconstruction of the trolley system of the city as its chief engineer during its trans- formation to electric operation and laid out the Summerville Railway Line and boulevard.
Mr. Barnard served as assistant superintendent of public works, in charge of the western division of the state, under the administration of Governors Roosevelt, Odell and Higgins. Later entering the general contracting business, he was identified with the construction of the Cobbs Hill reservoir, the Utica and Tonawanda improvement of the New York Central Railroad, and several contracts for the construction of the Barge canal.
For thirty years Mr. Barnard has been identified with the physical growth of the city, in his earlier years laying out numerous streets and tracts in all parts of the city, and more recently himself developing important real estate enterprises of high character for residential purposes in the East avenue section. Mr. Barnard is
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president of the Barnard Development Company, Incorporated. Fraternally Mr. Bar- nard is a member of Genesee Falls Lodge, Masonic order, Genesee Valley and Rochester Clubs, Thousand Islands Yacht Club and Lotos Club, New York.
Mr. Barnard donated his cruiser "Qui Vive" to the United States government at the beginning of the World war and it was taken to Norfolk, Virginia, under com- mand of Charles H. Van Voorhis and a Rochester crew, and served as a dispatch boat for the fleet at Hampton Roads until the close of the war. In acknowledgment of this act the government presented Mr. Barnard with a bronze tablet bearing suitable inscriptions.
EARLE S. WARNER.
The Warners of New England are principally descended from three heads, never as yet connected on this side of the water, though very likely all of one family in England in times remote. These heads were: Andrew, one line of whose descendants is herein traced; William, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, from Boxted, England, whose descendants, like those of Andrew, are widely scattered throughout the United States; John, of Farmington, Connecticut, ancestor of Colonel Seth Warner of Revolutionary fame, and of a long line of Warners who settled in Litchfield county. In Virginia was Colonel Augustine Warner, whose daughter Mildred became the wife of Lawrence Washington and grandmother of George Washington. Many prominent southern families are of this blood.
(I) Andrew, son of John Warner, of Hatfield, England, was born there in 1595. He came to America in 1630 and in 1632 was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He removed to Hartford, Connecticut, with the party of original proprietors, and was chosen deacon of the First church there in October, 1633. He held this office continuously until 1660, when, owing to an unhappy and protracted quarrel in the church, he removed with others of the church to Hadley, Massachusetts. An agree- ment to go was signed "at Goodman Ward's House in Hartford, April 18, 1659", among the signers being Andrew Warner. He was living in Hatfield on the 8th of October, 1660, as a meeting was held at his house there on that date, which passed resolutions of government. This was the beginning of the settlement. He later was an early settler of Hadley, Massachusetts, where he died. The name of his first wife, who was the mother of all his children, is unknown. He married (second) in 1659, before leaving Hartford, Esther, widow of Thomas Selden, who survived him until 1693. Children: 1. Andrew, married Rebecca Fletcher and died in Middletown, Connecticut, January 26, 1681. 2. Robert, married (first) Elizabeth Grant; (second) Mrs. Deliverance Rockwell; he died in Middletown, April 10, 1690. 3. Jacob, mar- ried (first) Rebecca; (second) Elizabeth Goodman; he died September or November 29, 1711. 4. Daniel, of further mention. 5. Isaac, married Sarah Boltwood; he died 1691. 6. Ruth, living in 1677, and was presented to the court on the charge of wearing silk. 7. A daughter, married John or Daniel Pratt. 8. Mary, married (first) John Steel; (second) William Hills. 9. John, lived in Middletown, Connecticut.
(II) Daniel, son of Andrew Warner, "the Emigrant", died April 30, 1692. He may have lived for a time in Milford, but later was a resident of Middletown, Con- necticut. He married (first) Mary who died September 19, 1672; married (second) April 1, 1674, Martha, daughter of Robert Boltwood, sister of Sarah Bolt- wood, wife of his brother Isaac. She died September 22, 1710. Children: 1. Mary, died young. 2. Daniel, married Mary Hubbard. 3. Sarah, born November 25, 1665, married Isaac Sheldon. 4. Andrew, born June 24, 1667. 5. Anna, November 17, 1669, married Isaac Hubbard. 6. Mary, born September 19, 1672, married Samuel Sheldon. 7. Hannah, born January 24, 1675, married Samuel Ingram. 8. John, died aged thirty-eight years. 9. Abraham, born December 20, 1678. 10. Samuel, of further mention. 11. Ebenezer, born November 5, 1681, married Ruth Ely. 12. Mehitable, October 1, 1683, married Preserved Clapp. 13. Elizabeth, married, December 26, 1705, Thomas Wells. 14. Esther, born December 15, 1686, married Samuel Henry. 15. Martha, born April 3, 1688, died November 25, 1689. 16. Nathaniel, born Octo- ber 15, 1690.
(III) Samuel, tenth child of Daniel and Martha (Boltwood) Warner, was born April 13, 1680. He married (first) May 1, 1715, Hannah Sackett; married (second) Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Morton. Children: 1. Rebecca, born May 6, 1716. 2. Jesse, May 6, 1718. 3. Samuel, October 27, 1722. 4. Nathan, no further record. 5. David, born February 15, 1732. 6. Joshua, December 12, 1733. 7. Hannah, died
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in infancy. 8. Elizabeth, married Israel Chapin. 9. Abraham, lost at sea. 10. Sarah, married Elijah Waite.
(IV) Jesse, son of Samuel and Hannah (Sackett) Warner, was born May 6, 1718. He resided in Belchertown and Conway, Massachusetts. He married Miriam Smith, born October 30, 1718. Children: 1. Elisha, born April 1, 1740. 2. Hannah, August 28, 1741. 3. Miriam, July 21, 1743. 4. Rebecca, September 16, 1745. 5. Jesse (2), of further mention. 6. Philotheta, born February 21, 1749.
(V) Jesse (2), son of Jesse (1) and Miriam (Smith) Warner, was born in Con- way, Massachusetts, February 1, 1747, died in Orleans, New York, October, 1833, aged eighty-six years. He, no doubt, served in the war of the Revolution, but Massa- chusetts records give four of the name Jesse Warner who served, and he cannot be positively identified. Twelve pages of "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution" are required to register the names and services of Warners in the Revo- lution from Massachusetts alone (volume XVI). In 1796 he settled on what was afterward known as Warner Hill, two miles east of the village of Orleans in the town of Phelps, Ontario county, New York, where he resided until his death. He was a rigid Baptist and fond of theological argument, and very positive that his belief only was orthodox. In 1812, when an epidemic of fever swept the country, he was sorely stricken and so near death that his son Lewis measured him and went to Geneva (the nearest point) to obtain a shroud. On his return with it his father was on the road to recovery, while Lewis himself was stricken and died, the shroud being used for him instead of his father. He married Sarah Warrener, born September 14, 1745, in Longmeadow, Hampden county, Massachusetts. Children: 1. Elijah, born 1770, settled in Ontario county. 2. Lewis, born 1772, died young. 3. Rufus, of further mention. 4. Jesse (3), a soldier of the War of 1812; shot in the hip, cap- tured by the Indians, taken to Canada, made his escape and returned home. 5. John, came to Ontario county in 1800; was a tanner, had a tannery in Phelps, manufac- tured boots and shoes, and kept a tavern for the accommodation of teamsters with their six and eight horse teams engaged in the transportation of freight between Albany and Buffalo. 6. Oliver, killed by a stroke of lightning. 7. Lucinda, born 1796, married a Mr. Peck.
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