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 IV > Part 21
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Mr. Likly was married in 1861, the lady of his choice being Miss Helen E. Callister, and they became the parents of two sons: William C., born March 31, 1867; and Henry, born March 12, 1870. Their education was acquired in Rochester's public schools and following graduation each became identified with their father's business. William C. Likly, who died in 1915, became senior member of the firm and treasurer of the company and superintended the factory at No. 340 Lyell avenue, while Henry, who died in 1922, assumed the management of the firm's large retail store on East Main street, which is one of the most elaborate and finely equipped stores in Rochester,
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and later took his brother's place at the factory. While the brothers were still active factors in the world's work, a contemporary biographer said: "The brothers are men of excellent business ability, carefully conducting the business which had its beginning as early as 1844, but which was largely developed to its present proportions through the enterprise and energy of their honored father. The sons, too, have wrought along modern business lines, keeping in touch with the trend of general progress and placing upon the market goods which show the most advanced styles in trunks and traveling bags. The name of Likly has ever been a synonym for energy, advancement and reliability in the business circles of Rochester and wherever the house is known."
H. Kenneth Likly, son of William C. Likly, is now vice president of the firm of Henry Likly & Company. He obtained his early education in public and private schools and continued his studies in the Hill School of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, while subsequently he entered Cornell University. At the time of his father's death he left college and went into the factory of Henry Likly & Company, with which corporation he became officially identified as vice president in 1919. During the period of the World war he was commissioned a lieutenant in the air service. Following his honorable discharge on the 20th of December, 1918, he resumed his work with the firm of Henry Likly & Company, in the successful control of which his efforts have since constituted an important element. He is also an officer of the Rochester Trunk and Bag Corporation.
H. Kenneth Likly has membership in the American Legion, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, the Rochester Country Club, the Automobile Club of Rochester, the Cornell Club of Rochester and the Greek letter fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. He is well known in Rochester and enjoys an enviable reputation in both business and social circles of the city.
WILLIAM V. GRAESER.
One of the many enterprises to which the city of Rochester points with pride is the great fur house of the William V. Graeser Company, importers, exporters, manufacturers and dealers in furs, and the business has reached such a volume and is of such a high grade that the establishment would be a credit to any city on the continent. Mr. Graeser, the president and treasurer of the company, is acknowledged to be an expert in the fur trade, having been connected with all of the leading houses of this kind in the Old World. A native of Denmark, he was born at Copenhagen, April 29, 1865, his parents being John and Hannah Graeser, also of Copenhagen.
William V. Graeser's education was acquired in private schools of his native city, and after receiving a liberal education he traveled in many lands, visiting nearly every country in the world, especially all of the fur-producing countries. Throughout his business life he has been connected with the fur trade and has been associated at different times with the largest fur houses of the leading cities of the world. He has thus thoroughly acquainted himself with the business, until he is regarded as one of the best informed men in the fur trade, not only in America, but in foreign lands as well. He has made a close study of this until his knowledge is equal, if not superior, to that of the best-known fur men in the world.
Mr. Graeser came to the United States in 1884, landing at New York, where he remained for some time as an employe of Revellion Freres of New York city-the great fur house of the world. He continued in that house for seven years. In 1891 he came to Rochester and through the succeeding years was with the fur house of R. S. Kenyon & Company. He then established business on his own account in this line in the Beckley building on South Clinton street, where he was located for fourteen years, gradually building up a very important trade among the best people of the city. He then removed to his present quarters at Nos. 38 and 40 Clinton street, North, where he has beautiful showrooms and factory. He carries the most rare and costly furs of every description known to the fur trade and has connections with all of the great foreign and domestic fur markets. His patronage has constantly increased until he now has the business support of the most prominent residents in Rochester, a fact which indicates that his enterprise has been a source of gratifying profit.
In 1891 Mr. Graeser was married to Miss Katherine McCafferty, a daughter of John McCafferty of New York city. Mr. and Mrs. Graeser have a daughter, Hannah, who is married to Leslie Erhart, associated in business with Mr. Graeser. Mr. Graeser is connected with the Chamber of Commerce and is deeply interested in all that per- tains to the material advancement and the progress of Rochester along various other
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lines. He is both a York and Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to Genesee Falls Lodge, F. & A. M., Monroe Commandery, Knights Templar, Damascus Temple and Lalla Rookh Grotto. He may well be proud of what he has accomplished in the business world, for he has long since left the ranks of the many and has attained a position of leadership among the chosen few in commercial activity. Mr. Graeser's residence is at No. 345 Maplewood avenue.
JOHN G. KERSHAW.
A prominent representative of financial interests in Wyoming county is John G. Kershaw, who has been at the head of the Silver Springs National Bank since 1917, prior to which time he served for fifteen years as cashier of the institution. He has also been an active factor in the public life of the community as village clerk since 1904 and as supervisor of Silver Springs since 1916. He was born in Castile, Wyoming county, New York, in May, 1872, his parents being Robert and Caroline (Montgomery) Kershaw. The family has been represented in the Genesee country through more than a century, for it was about 1820 that John Kershaw, the paternal grandfather of John G. Kershaw of this review, took up his abode among the pioneer settlers of LeRoy, New York. He later removed to Perry and subsequently to Castile, where he spent the remainder of his life. Robert Kershaw, the father of John G. Kershaw, was successfully engaged in the jewelry business in Perry throughout his active career. The latter passed away in the year 1913.
John G. Kershaw received his education in the grade and high schools of Perry and as a young man entered the First National Bank of that place, remaining in the service of the institution for five years. Subsequently he was employed in the post office at Perry until 1902, when he again became connected with financial interests as cashier of the Silver Springs National Bank in Silver Springs, continuing in that capacity until 1917. In the latter year he was made president of the institution and as its directing head has since been a dominant factor in its growing success. His long experience in the banking business has made him thoroughly familiar with every phase thereof and he is widely recognized as a financier of high standing. Since 1910 Mr. Kershaw has filled the position of secretary of the Spring Brook Cooperative Butter & Cheese Company of Silver Springs, in which capacity he has also proved himself an astute and enterprising business man.
On the 24th of June, 1896, in Perry, New York, Mr. Kershaw was united in marriage to Miss Mary Boynton of that place. They are the parents of two children: Charlotte, who is a school teacher in Warsaw, New York; and James R., who graduated from the Silver Springs high school in 1923, Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York, in 1924, and is now attending the Pennsylvania State College.
Mr. Kershaw is an active worker in the local ranks of the republican party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have chosen him for positions of public trust. He has capably discharged the duties of village clerk during the past two decades and since 1916 has served as town supervisor, making a most com- mendable record in the latter connection. Mr. Kershaw belongs to the Industrial Bureau of Silver Springs and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church, of which he has been a trustee for fifteen years. He is fond of outdoor life and is greatly interested in the raising of chickens. Throughout his business career Mr. Kershaw has adhered closely to the rules which govern strict integrity and unabat- ing industry, and the respect that is accorded him is well deserved.
RAY HERBERT MANSON.
Ray Herbert Manson, an electrical engineer of broad experience and proven ability, is well known in professional circles of Rochester and fills an important place in the industrial life of the city, in which he has made his home for the past eight years. He was born in Bath, Maine, August 25, 1877, and his parents, Rev. Edwin E. and Abbie (Stone) Manson, were also natives of the Pine Tree state. The father devoted his life to the ministry of the Baptist church and his labors were effective and resultant forces in promoting the spiritual welfare of those who came under his guidance. The mother still resides in her native state.
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Ray Herbert Manson received his elementary instruction in the public schools of Gardiner, Maine, and continued his studies in the University of Maine, from which he was graduated in 1898, upon the completion of a course in electrical engineering. His first position was with the Western Electric Company of Chicago, with which he re- mained for two years, assisting them in the manufacture of telephones. On the expira- tion of that period Mr. Manson entered the employ of the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company of that city and for several years was with that firm. He next became connected with the Dean Electric Company of Elyria, Ohio, and in 1916 severed his relations with that house, having accepted the position of chief engineer with the Stromberg-Carlson Company, telephone manufacturers. He has since acted in that capacity, discharging his duties with marked efficiency, and his services have been of great value to the corporation, which controls an industry of extensive proportions.
On August 3, 1903, Mr. Manson was married to Miss Amy Arthur of Toronto, Canada, and they have become the parents of two children, a son and a daughter: Stanley H. was born December 5, 1904, in Elyria, Ohio, and after his graduation from the East high school of Rochester entered Dartmouth College, where he is a member of the class of 1927; Amy M. was born in Elyria, July 23, 1909, and is attending high school.
Mr. Manson belongs to the University Club of Rochester and to the local Auto- mobile Club. He is connected with the Rochester Engineering Society, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Insti- tute of Radio Engineers. He is a member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and is in complete sympathy with the aims of the organization and with all movements destined to prove of benefit to his community. He has never lost the attitude of a stu- dent toward his profession, in which he has made continuous progress, and measured by the standard of usefulness, his life has been a very successful one. His residence is at No. 185 Beresford road.
WILLIAM HENRY CRAIG.
An exceptional record of long, faithful and efficient service stands to the credit of William Henry Craig, who for sixteen years has been superintendent of the Monroe County Penitentiary, to which he has given unreservedly of his powers, and his name also figures conspicuously in business circles of Rochester. He was born in Cobourg, Canada, July 18, 1859, a son of Charles and Mary (Mulhearn) Craig, who were natives of Ireland and followed the tide of immigration to the New World, settling in the province of Ontario. In 1860 they crossed the United States border and for a half century the father was identified with the hotel business, becoming widely known in this country and in the Dominion of Canada. His operations were conducted princi- pally at Rochester and Charlotte, New York, and he built and managed the American House, the Spencer Hotel and other well known hostelries. Later he became a large stockholder in the W. W. Warner Medicine Company, manufacturers of "Warner's Safe Cure", and was uniformly successful in his business ventures. His demise occurred in Rochester, in 1900. The mother passed away in this city ten years later.
William Henry Craig attended a parochial school of Rochester and the public schools of Charlotte, and following in the footsteps of his father, he also entered the hotel business in the latter place. Later he constructed the amusement park at Charlotte, conducting it for some time, and his next venture was in the livery business. He became a well-known turfman and at one timed owned some of the best race horses in the country, winning many purses in the New York circuit. He engaged in the livery business for sixteen years and during that period was elected alderman for the fourth ward of Rochester, acting in that capacity from 1901 until 1905. The fine record which he made in that connection led to his selection for the office of sheriff of Monroe county, which he filled from 1906 until 1908. The first public posi- tion to which Mr. Craig was called was that of assistant sergeant-at-arms of the New York state capitol and these duties he discharged from 1897 until 1900. Since 1908 he has been superintendent of the Monroe County Penitentiary, which under his administration has become one of the best managed institutions of the kind in the country, setting a standard which other state officials have followed with marked benefit. A keen student of human nature, he takes a personal interest in the inmates of the institution and bases his official service upon the belief that there is good in every individual. He has therefore adopted a policy of charity and helpfulness,
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emanating from a true Christian spirit, in consequence of which many of the men under his charge have responded to his humane treatment and are leading better lives.
Mr. Craig is a business man of more than average ability and is serving as president of the Willite Corporation, the Consolidated Materials Corporation and the Dewey Avenue Gas & Oil Company of Rochester, all of which he has placed upon a secure financial foundation. He is also aiding in developing the rich agricultural re- sources of this section of the state and is the owner of one of the most productive farms in Monroe county. He has two hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, on which he raises a diversity of crops, and also keeps a herd of high-grade cattle for dairy purposes. The farm is supplied with all modern improvements and is scientifi- cally managed by Mr. Craig's son, who completed a course in agriculture at Cornell University.
On October 24, 1890, Mr. Craig was married, in Rochester, to Miss Nellie J. Hogan, who died November 11, 1918, leaving one child: Charles Emmett, who was born in 1893. For his second wife Mr. Craig married Miss Margaret Herveon, on June 14, 1919. Mr. Craig is a Catholic in religious faith and has taken the fourth degree in the Knights of Columbus. He belongs to the Rochester Chamber of Com- merce and was appointed a member of the committee for the reception of the city's World war veterans on their return from overseas service. He is a life member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is also connected with the Liederkranz society, and the Rochester, Athletic and Yacht Clubs. By nature he is genial and companionable and his friends are legion. A man of broad views and humanitarian instincts, his life has been one of great usefulness. characterized by the accomplish- ment of much good, and the worth of his work is widely acknowledged.
MARTIN MULNER.
Martin Mulner is the popular proprietor and efficient manager of the Hamilton Hotel of Batavia, which is known far and wide as a first-class hostelry in every par- ticular. He was born in Hungary, on the 11th of November, 1871, his parents being Alois and Elizabeth Mulner. The family has been represented in Hungary since about the year 1600, when those of the name removed thither from Wurtemberg, Germany. Alois Mulner, the father of Martin Mulner, was a tailor by trade and a lifelong resi- dent of Hungary, where he passed away in 1910.
In the acquirement of an education Martin Mulner attended the common schools of his native country and after putting aside his textbooks became connected with the hotel business, working along that line in Vienna, Budapest and various other Eu- ropean cities. He was a young man of about thirty-one when in 1902 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and obtained employment in the Planters Hotel of St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for one year. He next made his way to Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, where he was connected with the Majestic Hotel, while subse- quently he spent a period of sixteen years at the Iroquois Hotel in Buffalo, New York. On the 15th of May, 1919, feeling that his capital and experience qualified him for the conduct of a hostelry of his own, he leased the Lafayette Hotel of Batavia. At the end of a year, however, he disposed of this and bought the Continental Hotel, which he remodeled completely and the name of which he changed to Hamilton, continuing as its manager to the present time. The Hamilton Hotel is situated at No. 24 Main street in Batavia, opposite the park which adorns the center of the city. It contains thirty-seven rooms with either bath or running water and is also equipped with shower baths. The excellence of its cuisine have made the grill and dining rooms liberally patronized eating places. A commodious garage adds to the conveniences of the Hamilton Hotel, which is the official hostelry of the American Automobile Association, also a "Blue Book Hotel" and "New York State Hotel". As proprietor and manager Mr. Mulner has neglected no detail that may enhance the comfort and well-being of his guests. He has membership in the New York State Hotel Association, of which he has been vice president for Genesee county since 1922.
On the 17th of January, 1905, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Mulner was united in marriage to Miss Anna Wilhelm of that city. Their children are four in num- ber, namely: Mary Regina, Agnes, Mildred Margaret and Martin, Jr. Mr. Mulner gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has membership in the Batavia Chamber of Commerce. He is a communicant of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and fraternally is identified with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He devotes his leisure hours to the study of bird and animal
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life, of flowers and trees, and is a lover of nature who finds his keenest pleasure in the great outdoors. Coming to the New World in early manhood, he here found the oppor- tunities which he sought and in their wise utilization has won prosperity, so that he is now numbered among the leading hotel proprietors as well as representative and es- teemed citizens of western New York.
AARON BARBER.
After a long period (until 1920), as a farmer, and a remarkably successful one, Aaron Barber of Avon, Livingston county, New York, also entered the banking field and was one of the organizers of the State Bank of Avon. He became the bank's president and has retained the position ever since-more than thirty years. Mr. Barber is now eighty-eight years old, and though he has relinquished many of the active duties of the bank to his associates, he is still the responsible and directing head of the institution, one of the largest and most prosperous in Livingston county. He was born at Rush, Monroe county, New York, on July 6, 1836, the son of Aaron and Lois (Stevens) Barber. His paternal grandfather, also named Aaron, was a native of Connecticut, by trade a blacksmith and a skilled mechanic, who died in middle life, leaving a widow and a family of small children. The eldest of the children was Aaron, father of the Avon bank president. The family moved from Connecticut and for a time lived in Onondaga county, New York, afterward moving to Livingston county, and for years lived in Lima. There the eldest son obtained employment and provided for the family's support. He was engaged in the butcher business for three years, and then moved to Ogden, Monroe county, where he had bought a timbered tract of one hundred and sixty acres, and remained there two years with his wife, whom he had married in Lima. Mr. Barber then bought a small farm in Rush, on which he lived five years, and then moved to Avon, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of improved land two miles north of the village, and a log cabin upon it served for nine years as a home. He then built a handsome residence in Avon and lived there until his death in 1868, at the age of sixty-four. Mr. Barber's wife, Lois Stevens, was the daughter of Phineas and Mary Stevens. She died September 18, 1903. Three children were born to them: Mary L., who married Dr. James E. Jenks of Avon; Aaron of this review; and Amanda, who married Holliday Williams of Prattsburg, Steuben county, New York.
Aaron Barber, the present banker, was educated in the district public schools, at Lima Seminary and Rochester Academy. He began life as a farmer and followed that occupation until 1920, when he retired. Mr. Barber was widely known as a fancier and breeder of pure-bred shorthorn cattle, his herd being noted as one of the best in the country, and winning many prizes at the leading cattle shows in com- petition with some of the best stock in the United States. In 1891 Mr. Barber, W. J. Weed, William Markham and Professor Wallace, organized the State Bank of Avon, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, Mr. Barber being elected president -the only president in the bank's history. The present capital of the bank is fifty thousand dollars, surplus and undivided profits seventy-five thousand dollars, and deposits over one and a quarter million dollars.
Mr. Barber was married on December 22, 1862, to Caroline B. Hall, who died April 18, 1915. In politics Mr. Barber is a democrat and cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. His religious connection is with the Presbyterian church.
FRANCIS SELDEN MACOMBER.
Francis Selden Macomber, one of the well known members of the Rochester bar, has been for more than a third of a century actively engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. His father, Judge Francis A. Macomber, was born in Alabama, Genesee county, New York, April 5, 1837, and graduated from the University of Roch- ester in 1859. He began the study of law in the office of Judge Henry R. Selden of Rochester. Judge Macomber was elected to the supreme court of New York in 1878, and in 1892 was reelected without opposition, having received a nomination from the democrats as well as the republicans. ,In 1888 he was appointed to what was then known as the General Term of the Fifth department. and continued a member of that court until his death, which occurred on October 13, 1893. His first wife, Mary Selden,
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died in 1878. Her father, Judge Henry R. Selden, was elected lieutenant governor of New York, in 1856, as the first republican to fill that office, while in 1862 he was ap- pointed to the bench of the court of appeals.
Francis Selden Macomber was born in Rochester, September 29, 1867, a son of Judge Francis S. and Mary (Selden) Macomber. He attended the grade and high schools of this city, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, with the class of 1889. He began the study of law in the office of William F. Coggswell, and was admitted to the bar in 1892. Mr. Macomber has been connected with some of the most important litigation before the courts of western New York, and for years has enjoyed a high-class clientele, being accorded a prominent position among the able lawyers of the Rochester bar. Among his interests outside of his profession he is a director of the Merchants Bank of Rochester.
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