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 31
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Hendrik van Ingen attended private schools of Poughkeepsie and the Pratt Insti- tute at Brooklyn. He received much of his art education in his father's studio but had no desire to become an artist, his bent being toward architecture. In order to obtain first-hand experience and knowledge of the problems involved in construction he went to Tampa, Florida, with an architect and laid brick and did other actual work of construction on the Tampa Bay Hotel. After his return to the north he enrolled as a student in Pratt Institute and at the age of twenty-one became a member of its faculty. He was connected with the Institute for about six years and then entered the office of William J. Beardsley at Poughkeepsie as a designer and renderer of water colors. While thus embloved Mr. van Ingen made the original designs of a number of private and public buildings in Poughkeepsie, including those for the Dutchess county courthouse. His first drawings were for a Dutch colonial which fitted in admirably with the atmosphere of the old Dutch town. but the commissioners would not appropriate sufficient money to carry them out. He then altered the design and afterward, when it was too late, the commissioners appropriated as much money as would have been required to construct the beautiful building he had originally planned.
Mr. van Ingen was named as a possible candidate for a position at Mechanics Institute. The third time this position was offered to him, he met Captain Henry Lomb and Eugene Colby in New York city and accepted the position with the privi- lege of practicing architecture. When Mr. van Ingen became a member of the faculty of the Mechanics Institute in September, 1902, there was no art school and no day classes in architecture. He worked out the drawings for the courses of study for a separate art school, and made the preliminary sketches and was the consulting archi- tect for the Bevier Memorial building, which was erected in 1912. Early in his
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career at the Institute he initiated a series of lectures on house construction and the history of architecture that remained popular throughout the years. At the time of his death he held the record for giving the greatest number of teaching hours and for spending more time at the school than any other faculty member connected with the Institute. He had a hobby for wood carving and often worked designs drawn and carved by himself into his plans. Sometimes it was a keystone, sometimes a lantern, but always it was something that gave an individual touch, and examples of his art are seen in many of the finest residences of Rochester and vicinity as well as on the organ of a Poughkeepsie church and on Hudson river yachts. His designs for memo- rial tablets were always remarkably fine and one which deserves particular mention is the nurses' memorial tablet at the Rochester General Hospital. He displayed unusual ability in water colors and pencil sketches and during the World war was awarded third prize in a nation-wide water color contest. With the assistance of Clifford M. Ulp he designed a float for the Chamber of Commerce in the Centennial parade, which was held September 16, 1912. The float was drawn by six white horses, caparisoned in blankets embossed with the Rochester coat of arms and led by six youths dressed after the manner of the English pages of fiction and history. On the float were four figures on a raised dais. Seated on the throne was a woman intended to represent the civic pride of Rochester, and at her left stood a man bearing in his arms the model of a locomotive, symbolical of commerce. At her right was stationed a man holding a miniature factory building and typifying labor. In the rear of the throne, looking backward, was an Indian, representing Rochester's past. Over the forward and rear ends of the float were displayed the figures 1912 and 1812. The color designs were in white, blue and gold, the Rochester colors. This float was awarded first prize. In his younger days Mr. van Ingen designed the beautiful wrought iron gates at the entrance to Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, winning first prize in competition with New York's leading architects. He was also the author of an inter- esting brochure entitled: "The Architectonics of the Home," from which we quote the following excerpt: "Architecture is the most useful of the fine arts and the noblest of the useful arts. It is the art, as distinguished from the science, of struc- tural design. Its essential qualities are permanence, utility, beauty. Architecture in- cludes planning, composition, constructive design, decoration. Its object is to produce effects pleasing to the eye and mind, as well as to satisfy the requirements of con- venience and stability. Architecture, arising out of the humblest necessities of man, may minister to his highest aesthetic emotions, and rank as a fine art with painting and sculpture."
On August 28, 1902, at Castleton-on-Hudson, Mr. van Ingen was married to Miss Ethel Mae Bell, a daughter of Edwin and Luanna (Newton) Bell. Wilhelmina, the only child of this union, is now an art student at Vassar College. While taking a normal course in art at Pratt Institute, Mrs. van Ingen formed the acquaintance of her husband. She was supervisor of art in the public schools of South Omaha, Nebraska, and later while in Schenectady, New York, she became identified with the regent's department of education of the state of New York. Mrs. van Ingen twice assisted in revising the state syllabus in the art educational section and later became identified with one of the large educational concerns of New York. As their special representa- tive she visited the large cities of the east and middle west in the interests of art education in the public schools and filled that position until her marriage. She was an inspiration to her husband in his work and theirs was an ideal union. She is a member of the republican committee of Monroe county. In 1900 Mrs. van Ingen published "Supplemental Drawing Helps", for use in public schools.
Mr. van Ingen passed away at his residence, No. 74 Avondale Park, the home in which he had spent all of his married life, and besides his widow and daughter is sur- vived by three brothers and a sister, namely: Gilbert van Ingen, a well-known geolo- gist, who is president of the academy board of United States military aeronautics at Princeton University; Philip van Ingen, who resides in Albany, New York; Daniel van Ingen of Chadron, Nebraska; and Josephine van Ingen, who is taking a course of study at the Art Students League of New York city.
Mr. van Ingen was affiliated with the Third Presbyterian church of Rochester, where his funeral service was conducted by the pastor and long-time friend, the Rev. Dr. Paul Moore Strayer, assisted by the Rev. Phillip Swartz. Mr. van Ingen was a charter member of the Rotary Club, also of the Citizens Rifle and Revolver Club and the City Club. He was a member of the Dutchess County Society in the city of New York. He also belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, the Rochester Architects Asso- ciation and the New York Association of the American Institute of Architects. He took much pleasure in his work, in which he was deeply absorbed, and evinced a keen
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interest in everything that tended to raise the standards of his profession or promote the efficiency of its representatives. He never compromised with what he considered beneath his dignity as a professional man or his honor as a Christian gentleman. His designs were characterized by a degree of taste and consistency that indicated the true artistic touch and he also showed a marked degree of originality in his work. In October, 1909, Mr. van Ingen assisted in celebrating Old Home Week at Pough- keepsie, during the Fulton-Hudson celebration. He spent some time on the vessel Half Moon and was one of twelve guests at a private luncheon for Captain Lam, commander of the Half Moon, and his aide, Lieutenant de Bruyne. He possessed a keen sense of humor, a generous, sympathetic nature, and none ever sought his aid in vain. In any gathering or assemblage he was a distinguished figure, for he was very tall, and his keen, intellectual face was an open index to his comradeship and his kind heart. A cultured, refined gentleman, he reached out into the broader realms of thought and of beauty, and his life was a conspicuously useful and honorable one.
JOHN THOMAS CALEY.
John Thomas Caley was long a prominent figure in industrial circles of Rochester as senior member of the firm of Caley & Nash, with which his five sons are still identified, conducting an extensive business in automobile painting and trimming, in the building of automobile bodies and in the manufacture of fine carriages, sleighs and delivery wagons. He was a lifelong resident of Monroe county and was in the sixty-sixth year of his age when called to his final rest on the 3d of May, 1916. He was born on Andrews street, in Rochester, on the 20th of June, 1850, his parents being John and Katherine Caley, the former a stone-mason by trade. They emi- grated to the United States from the Isle of Man.
In the acquirement of an education John Thomas Caley attended the public schools of his native city and also pursued a course of study in the Williams Rochester Commercial Institute. He mastered photography under the direction of J. E. Hale, but subsequently acquired by purchase the business interests of his uncle, Thomas Caley, a successful carriage and wagon manufacturer in the village of Brighton, where he also operated a large smithy. John T. Caley conducted this shop throughout the remainder of his life and was succeeded by his sons, who continue the enterprise under the name of Caley & Nash, Incorporated. He had the distinction of building the famous Twentieth Century tallyho in 1896 and built many wagons for the Sibley and McCurdy department stores, as well as trucks for such large concerns as the Rochester Packing Company and the Eastman Kodak Company. He was likewise accorded an extensive patronage as a builder of automobile bodies and gained an enviable reputation for superior workmanship in his chosen field of activity.
In 1875, in Brighton, Mr. Caley was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Morrill and they became the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters, as follows: Morrill John, who married Miss Arrathea Reddick, is the president and general manager of Caley & Nash, Incorporated; Frank Thomas, who has charge of the blacksmithing and horseshoeing department of this industrial concern, married Miss Eliza Jewett and has two sons and a daughter, John T., Frank W. and Arra- thea E .; Arthur E., who is the manager of the paint show of Caley & Nash, married Miss Bertha J. Zorsch and has a daughter and a son, Mona Birdie and Arthur D .; Elizabeth A., the wife of Thomas H. Copson, a contractor and builder of Rochester; William H., assistant manager of the woodworking department of Caley & Nash, mar- ried Miss Anna L. Binder, and has two daughters, Caroline Louise and Elizabeth Ann; Ruth, who married Arthur Whitcraft and has two children, Roberta Elizabeth and Arthur Edgar; and George A., who participated in the World war as a mechanic in the aeroplane service and who is a trimmer with Caley & Nash, married Georgina Creighton.
Mr. Caley supported the republican party and took a prominent part in local politics as committeeman of the twenty-first ward. He was a leading factor in public affairs of Brighton and as president of the village promoted its advancement along various lines. In the early '80s he built the residence at No. 17 Winton road, North, where has been the family home ever since and where his widow now resides. He held membership in the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and was a worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternitv, being a life member of Valley Lodge, No. 109, F. & A. M., and also belonging to Hamilton Chapter, R. A. M .;
JOHN T. CALEY
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Monroe Commandery, No. 12, K. T .; and Damascus Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He attended the services of the Brighton Presbyterian church.
At the funeral services of John T. Caley the pastor made the following address: "He will be greatly missed-this man. He was born in Rochester and most of his life of sixty-five years has been spent here. For thirty-five or forty years-for two generations-he has been a part of this community. Here he built his home, here he reared his family, here he engaged in business and here he has done his life- work. Some men, like some buildings, are landmarks in a city, and he was one
of the best known men in this community. I like to gather into two or three words the outstanding characteristics of a life. First he was an independent man. The world demands that a man stand on his own two feet, hew out his own career, do his own task. He did. He was an industrious man, active and energetic, always going at full speed. There was not a lazy hair in his head. Perhaps he worked too hard, perhaps he worked too long, perhaps he did not realize soon enough that these bodies of ours are not built of steel. I always envied the man his splendid physique and wished I had as fine a body. His spirit of activity was contagious. He was a master workman. * * It is not what we do-it is the way we do it. Here * was a man who gave his best to his task, who dignified hard work. He did it so well that men wanted it, and he built up a large and successful business. He was a good workman who needed not to be ashamed of his work or the way he did it. He was a family man. He and his wife had forty-one years of married life together -happy, good years. He reared a large family and he kept them about him and made home a place they wanted to be in. He would rather be in his home with his family than anywhere else, but he was no provincial. He was intimately connected with many fraternal organizations-good ones-and a life member of some. He took an active part in matters of citizenship. He was interested in all community better- ment. He believed in church, attended it and supported it, and, coming after a time to see the necessity of and the priceless worth of a personal religion, within the last few weeks reading through a copy of the New Testament. He took Christ for his Savior and went into the valley of the shadow of death unafraid. * * * No man truly lives unless he lives every day as though it were his last day, and no true man truly lives but as one who knows he will never cease to live."
VERY REV. PATRICK J. ENRIGHT, V. F.
Very Rev. Patrick J. Enright, one of the best known priests in the Buffalo diocese, was elevated to the deanery of the Erie district by Bishop Turner of Buffalo, on the 11th of August, 1921. On the 9th of January of the previous year he had been appointed pastor of St. Peter's Roman Catholic church in Le Roy, which he thus served to the time of his death on the 12th of February, 1925, when he was in the forty-ninth year of his age. He was born in Allegany, Cattaraugus county, New York, on the 6th of July, 1876, his parents being Michael J. and Jane (Enright) Enright. The father, a native of Ireland, emigrated to the United States upon attain- ing his majority and took up his abode in western New York about the year 1860. He assisted in the erection of the first buildings of St. Bonaventure's College in Allegany and lived with the Franciscan fathers while thus engaged. Michael J. Enright de- parted this life on the 1st of October, 1889. Three of his children still survive, namely: Professor Michael Enright of St. Bonaventure's College; Mary; and Julia, of Allegany.
Patrick J. Enright attended the parochial school at Allegany and completed his classical and theological courses at St. Bonaventure's Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick's church in Buffalo on May 2, 1897, being at once assigned to St. Joseph's old cathedral in that city, under Msgr. John D. Biden. In June, 1899, he was transferred to St. Joseph's church at Batavia as assistant to the late Very Rev. Thomas P. Brougham and became pastor of St. Joseph's church in Gowanda in July, 1901. After remaining in Gowanda for nineteen years Father En- right was appointed pastor of St. Peter's church in Le Roy on January 9, 1920, succeeding the Rev. Thomas B. Milde, who died while acting as administrator of the parish, prior to the death of the Very Rev. Lambert W. Vanderpool, who was pastor of St. Peter's for nearly fifty years. Following the demise of Father Vanderpool, which occurred on the 1st of June, 1921, Father Enright was appointed dean of the Genesee county district of the Roman Catholic church.
Dean Enright served in the Buffalo diocese under five bishops. He received his
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first orders of the church under Bishop Stephen Vincent Ryan and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Quigley. Thereafter he served successively under Bishops Colton, Dougherty and Turner. On May 2, 1922, he celebrated the twenty-fifth anni- versary of his ordination to the priesthood, the event consisting of a celebration of solemn high mass, a dinner and a reception. He was presented a purse of one thous- and dollars. In addition to being an able church leader, Dean Enright possessed a fine tenor voice and musical talent. For several years he was a member of a double quartet composed entirely of priests in the diocese. During his pastorate St. Peter's church enjoyed a development in all departments. Of pleasing personality and very affable, Dean Enright endeared himself to his people, as well as winning a large circle of friends outside of his denomination. He maintained an independent attitude in politics, held membership in the Stafford Country Club and fraternally was identi- fied with the Knights of Columbus, belonging to Allegany Council No. 1220.
Since it was founded in 1869, St. Peter's church has been enlarged many times, being now a handsome stone structure with a seating capacity of more than twelve hundred people. The rectory, school and convent of the parish are also of stone construction. There are accommodations for more than three hundred pupils in the school, under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy. St. Peter's parish, numbering more than eighteen hundred souls, is one of the most flourishing in this part of the state. The present pastor is Rev. John E. Mullett, who came to St. Peter's on March 9, 1925, from St. Joseph's church, Fredonia, New York.
SAMUEL K. WOLCOTT.
One of the pioneer automobile dealers in New York state is Samuel K. Wolcott, the president of the Wolcott Motor Company. He started his garage and sales agency way back in 1903, when the business was a decided venture but his vision was justified and he now heads the largest automobile dealer company in Corning, New York. He was born in Caton, Steuben county, New York, May 11, 1884, the son of Lewis and Mary (Gorton) Wolcott.
After attending the schools of Caton and Corning Samuel K. Wolcott went to work for his brother, George Wolcott, in the bicycle business and in 1903 started in the automobile game. Thus he is a salesman of long experience and is also rated high among business men. In 1906 he incorporated the Wolcott Motor Company and was elected president and treasurer. It is now a close corporation. Mr. Wolcott has handled the Pierce-Arrow since 1907 and the Reo since 1910. His garage and service station have gained fame for their prompt and efficient service and the personal interest taken in all customers and patrons. The Wolcott Motor Company has the largest floor space in Corning.
The Wolcott family are among the earliest citizens of this country and Henry Wolcott came over in the Mayflower. Other notable families have intermarried with the Wolcotts, among them the Gortons and Wadsworths, and one of the Gortons was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Samuel Wolcott's grandfather on the paternal side was a '49er. He crossed the continent to the state of the "Golden Bear," returned east for a time and then yielded to the lure of California again, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Mr. Wolcott was married on August 8, 1907, to Fannie Stanton of Buffalo, New York, and they have two sons: Lewis Jerome and Samuel K., Jr. Mr. Wolcott is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Elks and the Corning Country Club and is also very active in the Corning Automobile Club.
D. C. HOWARD PRENTICE.
D. C. Howard Prentice, president of The Bank of Le Roy, was born in Le Roy, New York, on the 2d of February, 1872, the son of Charles F. and Rosepha (Cole) Prentice, and he is a member of one of the old families of Genesee county. His grand- father, Daniel Prentice, was a native of Massachusetts and came with his parents to Genesee county, New York, about 1815, locating at what is now Stafford, where he engaged in farming. Charles F. Prentice, son of Daniel, was born in Stafford, Genesee county, on September 5, 1833, and was reared as a farmer boy of the period and attended district schools. He successfully followed farming until 1865, when he
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located in Le Roy and purchased the mill property built by Jacob Le Roy in 1822, in which connection he developed an extensive business. In 1896 the enterprise was incorporated as the Le Roy Power & Milling Company, with Charles F. Prentice as president and D. C. Howard Prentice as secretary and treasurer. This concern was successfully conducted by father and son until it was merged with the Le Roy Hydraulic Electric Company. In the year 1896 Charles F. and D. C. Howard Pren- tice organized the Hydraulic Electric Company of Le Roy, of which the former became president. In 1884 he helped organize the Le Roy Salt Company, of which he was president for many years. He succeeded William F. Huyck as president of The Bank of Le Roy in 1911, and served as head of the institution until 1917, when he departed this life. Mr. Prentice was a citizen of high repute. In many ways he exerted a large influence upon the welfare of the village and town. He was married in 1863 to Rosepha Cole, a native of Michigan, and they became parents of two daughters and a son, the latter being the subject of this review.
D. C. Howard Prentice attended the public and high schools of Le Roy and the famous Hill School of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, as well as Lawrenceville School of Lawrenceville, New Jersey. In 1891 he became identified with his father's busi- ness enterprises and in 1896 was made secretary and treasurer of the Le Roy Power & Milling Company and secretary of the Hydraulic Electric Company, which was organized the same year. In 1917 he became president of The Bank of Le Roy, which is recognized as one of the strong financial institutions of the county, with assets of more than one million dollars.
On the 23d of March, 1911, Mr. Prentice was married to Mrs. Virginia (White) Graham of Batavia, New York. Mr. Prentice is a trustee of the Presbyterian church.
ELTON C. HARDER.
The door of opportunity is ever open to the alert and the ratio of progress of each individual is in direct proportion to his ability and enterprise. A man of in- defatigable energy and determined purpose, Elton C. Harder has "made good", and his name now figures prominently in business circles of Wellsville and throughout Allegany county in connection with oil production. He was born March 12, 1876, in Cedar Springs, Michigan, and is a son of Emmet L. and Cynthia (Whitney) Harder and a grandson of Robert E. and Liza M. (Shumway) Harder. Emmet L. Harder is a native of Addison, Steuben county, New York, and since 1889 has been identified with the Empire Gas & Fuel Company, Limited, of Wellsville. He has reached the age of seventy-five but the mother passed away March 5, 1914, leaving five children : Lula, the wife of Charles Stebbins of Andover, New York; Elton C .; Florence, the widow of Ernest Glauche and the mother of one child, Ernestine; Le Roy, who mar- ried Cecil Holder, is an electrical engineer of Detroit, Michigan; and Guy, an oil producer residing in Andover, New York. After the death of his first wife Emmet L. Harder was married to Mrs. F. Eugenia (Richardson) Judd, a daughter of DeWitt Clinton and Frances Chapin (Forsythe) Richardson. Mr. Harder is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and gives his political support to the republi- can party.
Elton C. Harder completed his education in the Wellsville high school and after- ward held a clerical position in the dry goods store of J. F. Fisher, a well known merchant of Wellsville. In April, 1896, he entered the employ of the Empire Gas & Fuel Company, Limited, in the capacity of pumper and discharged those duties for twenty-eight months. He is now superintendent of all field work and for twenty- eight years has been in the service of the company, ranking with its most efficient and trustworthy representatives. Mr. Harder is an independent producer, having valuable oil lands in the Allentown, Andover and Bolivar fields. He also conducts a large business as a drilling contractor, owning eight sets of tools, and is likewise a director of the Scio Oil & Gas Company. He is an exceedingly busy man who makes each moment count for the utmost, and his best efforts are given to every task that he undertakes. He is a recognized expert on matters pertaining to oil production and has been largely instrumental in promoting the development of this district.
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