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 80
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SAMUEL E. DE COSTER.
Samuel E. De Coster, president of the De Coster Real Estate Company and president of the De Coster-Reed Company, is one of Rochester's representative business men and occupies a foremost position in the lines of real estate and insurance wherein his activities have been centered, ever since he came to this city more than twenty-two years ago. He is a native of New Jersey and was born in Basking Ridge, on the 14th of January, 1867, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel De Coster. Mrs. De Coster's maiden name was Bockhaven. Both Mr. and Mrs. Samuel De Coster were natives and lifelong residents of New Jersey. The father in his active life was a successful farmer, his death occurring in 1919, at the age of eighty-nine. His widow survives and is now in her ninety-third year.
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Samuel E. De Coster was educated in the schools of New Jersey and after graduating from the State Normal School was for about ten years successfully engaged in school work, during which he was principal of various schools in northern New Jersey. In 1902 he gave up his educational work to come to Rochester and embark on a business career, entering the real estate business on his own account. His business interests are conducted as the De Coster Real Estate Company and the De Coster-Reed Agency, the latter organization handling the insurance branch of the business. As the executive head of both organizations Mr. De Coster has been no small factor in their building up and development. He belongs to the Real Estate Men's Association and to the Chamber of Commerce and has always taken a keen interest in any movement or project tending to improve or benefit the city. Fratern- ally he is a Mason, has attained the thirty-second degree, and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. De Coster was married in Dumont, New Jersey, in June, 1893, to Miss Mary E. Fuller, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Newton A. Fuller of that city. Mr. and Mrs. De Coster have one son: Atwood G., who is associated with his father in business. He was born in Dumont in 1897, and educated in the schools of this city and the University of Rochester. During the World war he enlisted for service and was sent to the Officers Training Camp at Plattsburg, New York, receiving the commission of a first lieutenant. The signing of the armistice just as he was com- missioned, prevented him from seeing any overseas service. He was married in June, 1923.
HIRAM HASKELL EDGERTON.
The achievements of many who have won renown which entitles them to the grati- tude of mankind are recorded in stone and bronze, but Hiram Haskell Edgerton needs no such monument; his fame is preserved in the hearts of the people of Rochester, to whom he left a magnificent heritage. Great personal gifts were his and he spared no labor to make full use of his powers. His was an extraordinary service to his city and the impress of his individuality is stamped indelibly upon the pages of its history. For fourteen years he served as mayor of Rochester and his identification with public affairs covered more than a half century, while examples of his skill as a build- ing contractor are found in many of the city's finest structures.
Mr. Edgerton was born April 19, 1847, in Belfast, Allegany county, New York, a son of Ralph H. and Octavia C. (Penhollow) Edgerton, both of whom were de- scended from sturdy New England stock. The father was a native of Vermont and became a resident of the Empire state, living for some time at Olean. In 1858 he established his home in Rochester and there spent the remainder of his life, devoting his attention to the retail lumber business.
His son, Hiram H. Edgerton, began his education in the public schools of his native county, continuing his studies in Cattaraugus county and in Rochester. He attended the Genesee Seminary at Belfast, the Rochester Free Academy and also completed a course in the Business Institute of this city. His first knowledge of the lumber trade was gained at the age of sixteen and after his father's death, which occurred in 1868, he succeeded to the business, operating it successfully until 1881 in connection with a retail coal yard. Mr. Edgerton then entered the contracting business, with which he was identified for many years, maintaining a position of leadership in that field. Among the most imposing structures which he erected were the Wilder building, the Rochester Post Office and about forty church edifices. He rebuilt the Sibley, Lindsay & Curr stores, as well as the Granite building and for several years had charge of practically all of the structural building for the Buf- falo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Company. He constructed many manufac- turing plants, and the high quality of his work and a well deserved reputation for reliable, straightforward dealing brought him important contracts from other cities in this and adjoining states.
Mr. Edgerton's thoughts were ever fixed upon problems for the betterment of his community and he was always in the vanguard of every movement looking toward the accomplishment of real and practical good. The characteristics that dominated him in the upbuilding of his large business were injected into his administration of civic affairs and he was eminently practical in all of his ideas. From 1872 until 1876 he was a member of the Rochester board of education, of which he was presi- dent for two terms, and was also the executive head of the commission in charge of the construction of the east side trunk sewer in 1899, one of the most important
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municipal undertakings which had been attempted by the city up to that time. From 1900 until 1908 he served as president of the common council and in 1907 was elected mayor of Rochester on the republican ticket. He had had previous training for the duties of head of the city government in 1903, when he acted as mayor for a number of weeks, filling the chair of Mayor Adolph J. Rodenbeck, who resigned to accept an appointment as judge of the state court of claims. He served until the close of the year, when James G. Cutler was elected to the mayoralty.
For seven consecutive terms, from January 1, 1908, until December 31, 1921, Mr. Edgerton was the incumbent of that office-a record equalled only once in the his- tory of the city and rarely in any American city. At the close of his final term he was appointed superintendent of municipal construction, a position created for the purpose of enabling him to carry forward to completion the projects that he had started. The achievements of his several administrations comprise an imposing list and demonstrate his remarkable ability as a city builder, the breadth of his mind and his unusual capacity for public service.
One of the outstanding accomplishments of Mr. Edgerton's official career was the creation of Exposition Park, which occupies the site of the old reformatory. Through this means he prevented the existence of a prison near the heart of the city, thus earning the plaudits of his fellow citizens, and when the great expansion of park area is considered, its beautifying and adornment by public buildings, the inestimable value of his work is partially understood. The high esteem in which he was held by the residents of Rochester was strongly illustrated shortly after his death, when, in response to popular demand, the name was changed to Edgerton Park, which through his efforts has become one of the city's most noted public institutions and the scene of the greatest outdoor horse show ever given in the United States. In this beautiful setting stand the public library, the municipal museum, established through his instrumentality, housing in the same building the collection of the Rochester Historical Society; the Jefferson junior high school; a public bath house; a model playground, and the fine buildings used annually by the Rochester Exposition Asso- ciation, and at other times to accommodate conventions, also for the display of the numerous exhibits which are brought to the city because of the facilities afforded here. The exposition buildings are likewise utilized throughout the year for athletic sports of all kinds.
Mr. Edgerton was also responsible for the construction of an additional conduit from Hemlock lake; the building of an adequate reservoir; the introduction of the sewage disposal system; the erection of the garbage disposal plant and incinerator; the building of flood protection walls on the river and the deepening of the river bed; the installation of new fire apparatus; the elimination of four grade crossings; the preliminary plans for a new bridge across the Genesee river, and under his regime work was begun on the construction of the new street and railroad in the bed of the o'd Erie canal, purchased from the state for this purpose. He was indefatigable in his efforts to improve the city and during his administration more than eighty acres were added to the public park system. Ontario Beach Park, which he secured for the municipality in 1920, had an attendance of more than a million persons in the summer of 1921. He established city seed beds, propagating grounds and nurseries and worked ever toward making Rochester more attractive and desirable as a place of residence.
During Mr. Edgerton's incumbency in the office of mayor, twenty-five new school buildings were erected and seventeen others were remodeled. Seventeen engine houses were completed and the personnel of the fire department was increased from two hundred to five hundred men. Two hundred miles of pavement were added to the c'ty at a cost of twelve million dollars and one hundred and eighty miles of sewers were laid at an expenditure of four million dollars. Meanwhile the city's tax rate remained low and its municipal bonds still command a higher price in the open market than those of any other city in the world. Mr. Edgerton created the bureau of playgrounds and recreation and in 1921 twenty-five playgrounds were in opera- tion, with an attendance of one and a half million children. The bureau of play- grounds organized baseball clubs for adults, also providing facilities for bathing, indoor baseball and basketball, and has served as a model for other cities. Mr. Edgerton secured for Rochester its fine public library, establishing branches through- out the city, so that all might have free access to good reading matter, and in 1921 one million, two hundred and twenty-eight thousand, two hundred and fifty-two vol- umes were issued for home use. One of his last acts as mayor was to provide by ordinance an appropriation for a history of Rochester's part in the World war, to be prepared under the direction of the public library. He was fearless in the discharge
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of his official duties and this trait in his character was strongly manifested during the great strike of the clothing workers in 1913. He was just, considerate and kindly in his attitude toward his employes, thus securing that harmonious cooperation so essential to the success of every business corporation. Mr. Edgerton was very pop- ular, especially with the laboring classes, which fact contributed to his political success, and in many of his plans for the betterment of the city he endeavored to provide work for those in need of employment-a policy that tended greatly to increase its population. He was a man of honor who had none of the earmarks of the pro- fessional politician, and he worked unselfishly and untiringly in the interests of civic growth and improvement. He was admired for his good judgment and indomitable spirit and endeared himself to the entire community through his kindliness and geniality.
On the 13th of May, 1868, Mr. Edgerton married Miss Medora L. De Witt, a daughter of Cornelius Sherman De Witt, of Henrietta, Monroe county, New York. Two children were born of this union: Edna is the wife of Henry Lampert, of Rochester, and has a daughter, Edna Frances; Elizabeth De Witt married Benjamin T. Roodhouse and their home is in Wilmette, Illinois.
Mr. Edgerton was identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks and also belonged to the Masonic Lodge of Rochester and to the Genesee Valley Lodge of Elks. He was a trustee of the Rochester Public Library and honorary president of the Rochester Exposition Association. In youth he en- joyed hunting, boating and athletic sports and in later life derived much pleasure from visiting the parks and public playgrounds. He loved children and was ever planning to enlarge and increase the opportunities for healthful recreation for the people of his city. His heart was in sympathy with the sorrows of the unfortunate and his hand was always ready to extend aid to the needy. Preeminently loyal and public-spirited, his pride in his community was contagious and resulted in placing Rochester among the foremost cities of the country.
Mr. Edgerton passed away at his home in Rochester, June 18, 1922, at the age of seventy-five years, and his departure was an irreparable loss to the community.
WILLIAM U. LEE.
William U. Lee, one of the highly esteemed citizens of Medina, Orleans county, successful financier and able business man, and for thirty-six years president of the Medina Savings and Loan Association, and its guiding spirit, died November 23, 1924. Mr. Lee was born December 21, 1843, in the town of Barre, Orleans county, and came of a pioneer family in Orleans county. Charles Lee, father of William U., came from Barre, Massachusetts, to Orleans county and located on a farm he had purchased from the Holland Land Company, where he resided the remainder of his life. He was twice married and there were children born to each union. The second wife of Charles Lee was Eliza Underhill, and she was the mother of William U. of this review.
William U. Lee attended the district schools and the Clinton Liberal Institute at Poughkeepsie, New York, and during his attendance there the institution was removed to Clinton, New York, where he completed his education. He was reared to farm work and after the death of his father succeeded him to the ownership of the home property in Barre. He continued to operate the farm successfully until 1880, when he was forced, because of failing health, to give up agriculture and for three years thereafter he spent his time in travel in search of health. In 1883 he removed to Medina and on March 20, 1888, helped organize the Medina Savings and Loan Associa- tion, of which he became president and so continued the remainder of his life. Mr. Lee devoted much time and energy to the building up of that organization, which grew to reach nearly every home in Medina, and (said a local paper) "it will stand as a monument to his untiring efforts in behalf of the welfare of the people of Medina, who have lost a good friend."
Mr. Lee was married in Barre, New York, to Frances H. Church of Albion, daugh- ter of John Church, a pioneer farmer of Albion. Mrs. Lee died May 3, 1922. Their daughter, Mary E., is the widow of Charles W. Whedon, who was a prominent manu- facturer of Medina, and whose death occurred on September 15, 1919. Mr. Lee was a democrat in early life but later became a republican. He was president of the City Club at the time of his death, and for nearly a quarter century was a trustee and treasurer of the Presbyterian church, retiring from these offices several years
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prior to his passing. Mr. Lee provided in his will for the establishment of a public library in Medina, subject to the desires of his daughter, Mrs. Whedon. The library site, building and endowment, under the conditions, can be provided by Mrs. Whedon and are to be incorporated as the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, Incorporated. Mr. Lee's residence in Medina was at No. 220 Park avenue.
HON. FREDERICK LOUIS DUTCHER.
Hon. Frederick Louis Dutcher, one of Rochester's most active and valued citizens, has been a representative of the legal profession here during the past twenty-eight years and is now serving on the bench as judge of the juvenile court and as special county judge. He was born at Lone Tree, Iowa, October 1, 1870, a son of Henry H. and Mary Ann (Darrow) Dutcher, the father a native of Avon, New York and the mother of Rochester, New York. The father, who always resided in the Genesee country with the exception of a few years spent in Iowa and Illinois, devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits until the last twenty years of his life when he was a stationary engineer in Rochester, New York. He passed away in 1919. To him and his wife, who still survives, were born ten children, as follows: Mrs. Cora Colson, who makes her home in Geneseo, New York; Charles A., a resident of Rochester; William H., living in Auburn, New York; Hon. Frederick Louis, of this. review; Mrs. Marian L. Boyink and Mrs. Rosamond L. Welsh, both of whom are resi- dents of Rochester; Arthur G., a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work; two who died in infancy; and J. Edward, a prominent attorney who died in 1914.
Frederick L. Dutcher was four years of age when brought by his parents to the state of New York, the family home being established at Avon. After completing the district school course he became a high school pupil at Avon and was graduated in 1889. In that and the succeeding year he engaged in teaching district school. near South Livonia and at Foote's Corners, Conesus, New York, and later was vice- principal of the Avon high school. In the fall of 1890, he entered Syracuse Uni- versity, from which institution he was graduated in 1894, on the completion of a. course in liberal arts. He then resumed the profession of teaching, which he followed at Palmyra, New York, for one year, on the expiration of which period he became a clerk in the office of Shuart & Sutherland, attorneys, with whom he read law until admitted to the bar on November 30, 1896. He at once entered upon law practice in Rochester, where he has remained continuously since and is at present associated with his brother, Arthur G. Dutcher, the two forming a strong professional combina- tion. Frederick L. Dutcher was elected special county judge in 1920 and in November, 1923, was reelected to that position. In that capacity Judge Dutcher is making a splendid record. To wear the ermine worthily it is not enough that one possess legal acumen, is learned in the principles of jurisprudence, familiar with precedents and thoroughly honest. Many men, even when acting uprightly, are wholly unable to divest themselves of prejudice and are unconsciously warped in their judgments by their own mental characteristics or educational peculiarities. This unconscious and variable disturbing force enters more or less into the judgments of all men, but. in the ideal jurist this factor becomes so small as not to be discernible in results and loses its potency as a disturbing force. Judge Dutcher is exceptionally free from all judicial bias. As a member of the Juvenile Welfare Association and a director of the Rochester Humane Society he takes a deep and active interest in social welfare- work and is frequently called upon to make public addresses on matters pertaining to this subject.
On the 10th of June, 1902, Judge Dutcher was united in marriage to Miss Clara. 5. Welch, daughter of Frank and Elvina Welch of Avon, New York. Their children are three in number, namely: Donald F., who was born in Rochester, May 29, 1908; Ruth M., whose natal day was September 25, 1910; and Richard A., whose birth. occurred in Rochester, April 2, 1915.
Judge Dutcher, ever a stalwart champion of the cause of education, served as a member of the Rochester school board from 1898 until 1900. He enjoys high. standing in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Judge Dutcher was raised in Avon Springs Lodge, No. 570, Avon, Livingston county, in 1892, while home from college on a vacation. He is. now past master of Yonondio Lodge, No. 163; past high priest of Hamilton Chapter, No. 62, R. A. M .; past illustrious master of Doric Council, No. 19, R. & S. M .; member-
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of Monroe Commandery, No. 12, K. T .; Rochester Consistory, Damascus Temple and Lalla Rookh Grotto, No. 3. At the one hundred and twenty-seventh annual con- vocation of the Grand Chapter of the state of New York, Royal Arch Masons, in 1924, he was elected grand high priest. Judge Dutcher is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in religious faith is an Episcopalian, serving as vestryman of the Church of the Ascension. He is likewise a member of the Greek letter fraternity known as Beta Theta Pi and of O'Rourke Camp of the Sons of Veterans. His name is also on the membership rolls of the Washington Club, the University Club, the Masonic Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Rochester Historical Society, while along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Monroe County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Ameri- can Bar Association. He is a stanch republican. Judge Dutcher has spent practic- ally his entire life in western New York and is widely recognized as one of the most esteemed citizens and honored jurists of this part of the state. His residence is at No. 140 Birr street.
FLOYD W. ANNABEL.
Among Steuben countys' native sons is Floyd W. Annabel, one of its wide-awake and successful attorneys, who has been engaged in the general practice of law at Bath since 1911. He was born in the town of Howard, on January 13, 1886, his parents being William H. and Eve (Hoagland) Annabel, the former a well known agriculturist of that place. The paternal grandfather of F. W. Annabel came to the Empire state from Connecticut in company with his father. Members of the Hoagland family formerly lived in the vicinity of Amsterdam, New York.
Floyd W. Annabel supplemented his district school education by a course of study in the Avoca high school and then entered Syracuse University, from which institution he was graduated upon the completion of the law course as a member of the class of 1910. The same year he was admitted to the bar and in 1911 began the practice of his chosen profession in Bath, where he has remained to the present time.
On the 18th of June, 1913, Mr. Annabel was united in marriage to Miss Olive Dutcher, and they are the parents of two daughters: Ina Katherine and Jean Elizabeth. A stalwart democrat in his political views, Mr. Annabel has served as state committeeman for the party. He is a member of the Rotary Club and fratern- ally is identified with the Masons and the Odd Fellows, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church:
JAMES EVERETT NASH.
James Everett Nash occupies the important position of general superintendent of the Worcester Salt Company, with which he has been continuously identified during the past three decades, while since 1914 he has been in charge of the mammoth man- ufacturing plant at Silver Springs. The offices of the concern are maintained in New York city, where in 1867 James H. Nash, the father of James E. Nash, founded the Nash-Whiton Company, predecessor of the Worcester Salt Company, which is among the largest industries of the kind in existence. It was the Nash-Whiton Com- pany which introduced the manufacture of high-grade table salt in the United States. James Everett Nash was born in South Norwalk, Connecticut, on the 6th of January, 1875, his parents being James H. and Augusta (Dibble) Nash. As above stated, it was in 1867 that the father founded the Nashi-Whiton Company of New York city, which imported and sold salt under the name of the Worcester salt. This concern had become one of the largest of its kind in the country when in 1886 Joseph M. Duncan invented a new process of manufacturing salt and interested the company therein to such an extent that they contracted for the patent and became the pioneer manufacturers of high-grade table salt in the United States. In 1894 the Nash- Whiton Company and the Duncan Salt Company were consolidated under the name of the Worcester Salt Company, of which James H. Nash was made the first president. This extensive industrial concern conducts plants at Silver Springs, New York, and at Ecorse, Michigan, the former having a daily capacity of more than one and one- quarter million pounds, while the, latter has a capacity of three-quarters of a million pounds daily. The corporation finds its principal market in America but also does
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some export business. Its chief product is table salt, which is marketed under the three brands of "Worcester", "Ivory" and "Iodized", a salt formula product first marketed in 1924 and endorsed by the medical profession as a preventative and alleviation of goitre. Lorenzo Benedict, who has been connected with the Worcester Salt Company since 1890, or throughout his entire business career, is now the presi- dent of the corporation and enjoys the reputation of being one of the best informed men in the salt business.
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