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 64
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Mrs. Winchip is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to the support of which Mr. Winchip is a generous contributor. His political support is given to the republican party. He has been chosen to fill public offices of trust and responsibility and has always done efficient and conscientious work. He was assessor of Allen for three years and also served as a committeeman and on the town board. In 1923 he was elected supervisor of the town of Hume, New York, for a term of two years, assuming the duties of the office January 1, 1924, and is making a highly credit- able record in that capacity. He is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge at Fillmore and to the chapter at Belfast, New York. He is also a member of the Eastern Star and was formerly identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Winchip is an influential citizen of Fillmore, and the strength that he manifests in business affairs has its root in upright, honorable manhood, commanding for him the unquali- fied regard of those with whom he has been associated.
NICHOLAS VAN VRANKEN FRANCHOT.
Nicholas Van Vranken Franchot, numbered among the foremost citizens of Cattaraugus county, has been active as an oil producer during the past half century and is also a factor in financial circles as chairman of the board of directors of the Exchange National Bank of Olean. His birth occurred at Morris, Otsego county, New York, on the 21st of August, 1855, his parents being Richard and Ann (Vall Vranken) Franchot. Pascal Franchot, the paternal grandfather, was a native of France, who emigrated to America in 1790, settling at Butternuts (now Morris), Otsego county, New York. He became an extensive landholder of the community, owned and conducted cotton and woolen mills and also engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Judge Franchot, as he was known for many years, was widely recognized as a leading and influential citizen of his section of the state. He had attained the advanced age of eighty-one years when he departed this life in 1855. His family numbered eleven children, all of whom received liberal educational advantages.
Richard Franchot, the father of Mr. Franchot of this review, was educated as a civil engineer and became the first president of the Binghamton & Albany Railroad Company. He made a commendable record as a member of the thirty-seventh con- gress, known as the war congress. In 1862 he raised a regiment which became the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Volunteer Infantry and of which he served as colonel for a short time. When his legislative duties called him to Washington, he was brevetted brigadier general. During his later years General Franchot was legal agent of the Central Pacific Railroad Company.
Nicholas Van Vranken Franchot, the fifth in order of birth in a family of eight children, received his early education in the Union School of Schenectady and follow. ing his graduation therefrom he continued his studies in Union College, which in 1875 conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts. While attending the latter institution he became a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. He is a life trustee of Union College. When he had completed his course therein, Mr. Franchot embarked in the oil business at Millerstown, Pennsylvania, where he remained for three years. It was on the 1st of September, 1878, that he took up his permanent abode in Olean, New York, where he has been an active factor in the field of oil production through the intervening years to the present time, his undertakings having been attended with a very gratifying measure of success. He has extensive oil interests in the states of Oklahoma, Texas, California, Pennsylvania and New York, a partner in the firm of D. W. Franchot & Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a director of the Clark Broth- ers Company, manufacturers of sawmill machinery, oil drilling engines and compres-
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sor, in Olean. It was in 1896 that he assumed the vice presidency of the Exchange National Bank of Olean, with which he is still identified as chairman of the board.
On the 5th of November, 1879, Mr. Franchot was married to Miss Annie Conyne Wood, daughter of Ezekiel Wood, an extensive lumber dealer of the Keystone state. The wedding was celebrated at Titusville, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Franchot became the parents of five children, as follows: Douglas W., who is a graduate of Yale University and is engaged in the oil business in Tulsa, Oklahoma, under the firm style of D. W. Franchot & Company; Louise, who is the wife of Edgar Munson and resides in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Janet V. V., the wife of William O. Hickock of Goshen, New York; Charles Pascal, who is a graduate of Yale University and of the Harvard Law School and is successfully engaged in practice as a member of the law firm of Kenefick, Cooke, Mitchell & Bass of Buffalo; and Annie W., who is the wife of Fred A. Godley of Rye, New York. All of the above named enjoyed university and college educations.
A stanch republican in politics, Mr. Franchot was sent as a delegate to the national conventions of that party in 1892, 1896 and 1904. He made a very creditable record as mayor of Olean from 1894 until 1898, served as superintendent of public works for the state of New York in 1905 and 1906 and was also one of the com- missioners of the Buffalo Exposition. He has rendered valuable service as a member of the public library board of Olean. During the period of the World war he was made fuel administrator of Cattaraugus county and was also a member of the Liberty Loan executive committee. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church, in which he is serving as vestryman. Golf constitutes his favorite form of recreation. His name is on the membership rolls of the University Club of New York city; the National Republican Club; the Olean City Club, of which he has been president since its organization; the Frank L. Bartlett Country Club; the Petroleum Club and the Tulsa Country Club of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and the Sunnyside Park Club of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. The Franchot home is at No. 305 North Second street in Olean.
REEVE BEECHER HOWLAND, M. D.
Dr. Reeve B. Howland has chosen as his life work a field of broad usefulness and his ability as a physician and surgeon has brought him prominently before the public. He has been very active in military and civic affairs and has long engaged in practice in Elmira, his native city, where he has established an enviable reputation as an obstetrician. He was born February 5, 1870, a son of Howard C. and Etta (Reeve) Howland, the former a native of Collinsville, Connecticut, and the latter of Burdette, New York. They were married in Elmira and became the parents of four children: Reeve B., Anna, Nellie, and Essie. The mother came to this city in 1854 and was a member of the second class graduated from Elmira College, where she was very active in the social and musical life of the college. She was a member of the choir of the Park Congregational church and also had charge of the infant depart- ment of the Sunday school. Mr. Howard C. Howland arrived in Elmira at the close of the Rebellion and subsequently became a bookkeeper with the Standard Oil Com- pany, remaining in that service for twenty years, or until his death in 1902. He was a republican in politics and along fraternal lines was identified with the Knights of Honor and the Royal Arcanum, having filled all of the chairs in the latter organization.
After completing a course of instruction in the Elmira high school, Reeve Beecher Howland became a student in the Homeopathic Medical College and Flower Hospital of New York city and received his degree of M. D. with the class of 1895. He spent one year as interne in the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital and returned to Elmira in the spring of 1896. In the following year he joined the state National Guard and at the time of the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was made an assistant surgeon in the Third New York Volunteer Infantry and was assigned to duty in Virginia. He afterward became battalion surgeon, and later assistant regimental surgeon, with the rank of captain in the Third Regiment, New York National Guard. Altogether Dr. Howland served for twelve years in the National Guard. He was also connected with the United States Army recruiting office as medical examiner and about six hundred men were mustered into the service at Elmira during his incum- bency.
For twenty-three years Dr. Howland practiced in partnership with Dr. F. W. Adriance at No. 306 Lake street. In 1920 he moved his office to No. 312 Lake street,
DR. REEVE B. HOWLAND
-the
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which is but a stone's throw from the building on William street in which he was born. He specializes in obstetrical cases and is a member of the obstetrical staff of the Arnot-Ogden Memorial Hospital and also of St. Joseph's Hospital. In the latter institution he has been a lecturer on obstetrics since its establishment. Dr. Howland is a member of the county, state and American Medical Associations, also the Amer- ican Public Health Association. Since 1915 he has served the city of Elmira as health officer. In 1922 he was appointed regional consultant on obstetrics by the state department of health and assigned to the Southern Tier counties in New York.
On October 1, 1907, Dr. Howland was married to Miss Alice Elizabeth Scott, who was born in Port Huron, Michigan, and removed with her parents to Sarnia, Canada, where she was reared and educated. Dr. and Mrs. Howland have two children: Reeve Scott and Sara Elizabeth. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and the Doctor is allied with the republican party. He is a member of the Century Club, the Masonic order and the Knights of the Maccabees. He is deeply interested in the scientific and humanitarian phases of his work and is recognized as a man of high professional attainments and a citizen of worth.
FRED LYMAN SIBLEY.
Fred Lyman Sibley was born near Cuba, New York, July 14, 1854, and was the second child born to Freeman and Lucy Ann Sibley. He was educated in the district schools and the Cuba high school. As a young man he was employed as a clerk in the First National Bank and later was a clerk in the office of E. N. Bond of Cuba, a wholesale cheese dealer. For some time he was the local representative of A. W. & F. W. Leggett, exporters of cheese. In 1892 he formed a partnership with Herbert J. Demcey for the manufacture of cheese on a rather extensive scale. An interest in the business was sold to Swift & Company in 1907, when the concern was incorporated with Mr. Sibley as manager. This position he occupied until 1920, when failing health compelled him to retire from active business life.
Mr. Sibley was a director of the First National Bank of Cuba and was its vice president for several years; a stockholder in the Phelps-Sibley Company, a local merchant milling concern; also in the Cuba Knife Company and several other local corporations. Politically he was an unswerving republican. From 1900 to 1909 he was one of the trustees of the village of Cuba and for several years of that time was president of the board. He was a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of Ismailia Temple of the Mystic Shrine, at Buffalo.
On December 15, 1886, at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, Mr. Sibley married Miss Estelle M. Snow, daughter of James Nelson and Rebecca Jane (Beebe) Snow, her father being a prosperous farmer near that place. To this union was born one son, Gerald Freeman Sibley. After receiving an academic education he engaged in the produce and coffee business at Olean, New York, as the senior member of the Sibley-Almy Company. He married a daughter of Dr. A. E. Smith, of Olean, and one daughter, Janet, was born to them. The death of Fred Lyman Sibley occurred January 7, 1924, and his son, Gerald Freeman, died a few days later, January 16.
EUGENE C. ROESER.
Eugene C. Roeser, whose residence in Rochester covers a period of forty-three years, is one of the largest operators in real estate in this section of the state and has successfully closed some of the most gigantic deals in down-town property in recent years. He was born on February 27, 1879, and was but two years old when his parents, Ferdinand and Magdalene (Yaeger) Roeser, made the voyage from the Old World to the New, establishing their home in Rochester. The father embarked in the cutlery business and remained at the head of the undertaking until his death, which occurred in 1889. The mother passed away in this city in 1902. They had three children: Ferdinand, Eugene C. and Mrs. Pauline Stifter, all of whom are living in Rochester.
Eugene C. Roeser received his early training in the St. Francis Xavier Academy, afterward attending the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and next became a student in the University of Rochester, from which he was graduated in 1901, winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On entering the business world he became connected
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with the Yawman & Erbe Company, manufacturers of cabinets, files and other lines of office equipment, and remained with that house until 1909, acting as manager of the Portland (Oregon) branch of that company in the Pacific coast territory. He then returned to the east and established a business of his own in Rochester as a real estate broker. He has an intimate knowledge of the worth of property in this locality and is regarded as an expert valuator. He represents as real estate broker eight savings banks in various parts of the state. His business has increased rapidly and he has set a new standard for real estate activity in Rochester. He is local repre- sentative for Frederick Brown, of New York city, one of the world's largest real estate operators, who handles between fifty and one hundred millions of dollars worth of business annually. In November, 1922, Mr. Roeser sold to Mr. Brown and associ- ates the holdings of the Cutler Realty Company, which consisted of eleven parcels, among them being the Cutler building, the East Avenue building and Atlas building, for a consideration of one million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In Febru- ary and March, 1924, he was associated with another in selling to two local investors, Samuel E. Durand and Eugene J. Chapman, business property on East avenue and Eastman street, and the two transactions amounted to two and one-half million dollars. It is interesting and suggestive to note here that since that time, Mr. Roeser, with others, has leased for the estate of Eugene J. Chapman the East Avenue building for a period of thirty years at a total rental of about one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars net. In March, 1924, Mr. Roeser sold the one hundred and ten foot frontage on East avenue adjoining the Sagamore Hotel on the west, to the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation for their new office building and salesrooms. Mr. Roeser has also negotiated numerous other important realty trans- fers and is preeminently a man of large affairs, while his integrity is above question.
On October 20, 1912, Mr. Roeser married Miss Jane Matthews, of Rochester, and theirs is one of the attractive and hospitable homes of the city. Mr. Roeser is identi- fied with the Masonic order, the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, the Rochester Club, the Oak Hill Country Club, the Automobile Club of Rochester, and is also a member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. His life has been earnest and purposeful, crowned with notable achievement, and his worth as a man and citizen is uniformly acknowledged. Mr. Roeser's residence is at No. 124 Corwin road.
CHARLES HENRY HOWARD STONE.
Charles H. H. Stone, a widely known chemist and an authority on gas manufac- ture, rendered notable public service and his death, which occurred in Rochester, on January 27, 1923, was a great loss not only to his city but to the country at large, for his work was of national significance. He was born in West Newton, Massachusetts, September 11, 1876, a son of Fred Howard and Mary Louise (Ball) Stone, the former also a native of that place. The family later removed to Newton, that state, and for forty-five years the father was a representative of the insurance firm of Field & Cole.
Charles Henry Howard Stone received his early training in a private school con- ducted by a Miss Spears and completed his high school course at the age of sixteen. He next enrolled as a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated in 1896, winning the degree of B. Sc., and then became an instructor in Rhode Island College. After severing his connection with that insti- tution of learning Mr. Stone went to Boston as chemist for the board of health of that city. He was thus engaged for three years and at the end of that time was appointed assistant inspector of the gas commission of Massachusetts and acted in that capacity for three years. He then entered the government reclamation service and was sent to Berkeley, California, establishing a laboratory at the State University for the testing of water to irrigate the arid lands of that region. He was next transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed in testing cement for the government, and later was made chief gas inspector by the New York State Public Service Com- mission. For about six years he filled that position and then became manager of the gas company at Middletown, New York, with which he was connected for a similar length of time, subsequently acting as superintendent of the Jefferson Avenue station of the Detroit Gas Company for about one and a half years. He was also manager of the gas company of Lansing, Michigan, resigning that position to become head of the research laboratory of the Rochester Gas Company. He brought to his duties in that connection broad experience as a chemist and ability of a high order and his services were of great value to the corporation and to the municipality. He conducted
CHARLES H. H. STONE
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many original researches along chemical lines in connection with the manufacture and use of gas and was the author of a textbook entitled: "Testing of Gas and Gas Meters". It is used extensively by gas corporations. Just before his death he was engaged in writing a gas handbook, on which he spent much time and effort. The publication of this book is awaited with keen interest by gas manufacturers throughout the coun- try. While connected with the United States Geological Survey, Mr. Stone took a postgraduate course at the University of California, which conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science, and while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he had the benefit of military training, becoming a lieutenant.
In 1901 Mr. Stone was married to Miss Ellen May Kinsman, a daughter of Lamont and Amelia (Forsythe) Kinsman, the former a farmer of Nova Scotia, Canada, and their property was situated in Acadia, the home of Longfellow's Evangeline. Mr. and Mrs. Stone became the parents of a daughter: Margaret Tenney. Mr. Stone was a member of the American Gas Association and the American Chemical Society. He was also identified with the Royal Arcanum and while a resident of Lansing, Michi- gan, was a member of the Kiwanis Club. He was a man of high scientific attainments and a citizen who would have been a valuable acquisition to any community, his irre- proachable character no less than his achievements giving him a commanding. position and compelling his recognition as one destined to lead in anything he undertook.
HERBERT J. DEMCEY.
Herbert J. Demcey was born April 18, 1865, at Rushford, New York, the son of James and Bridget (Yates) Demcey, both now deceased. The father was a farmer at Rushford, where he had settled on coming to this country from Ireland. Mr. Demcey was brought up on his father's farm and received his education in the district public schools and the Cuba high school. After leaving the latter he went to work for a cheese maker, learned the business, and after a time was employed by a whole- sale cheese concern. In 1892 Mr. Demcey, in partnership with F. L. Sibley, engaged in the wholesale cheese and cold storage business in Cuba, this partnership prospering and continuing until 1907, when an interest was sold to Swift & Company of Chicago, Illinois, and the business was incorporated as the Demcey & Sibley Company, Mr. Demcey being president. Under this name the business was conducted until 1916, when Swift & Company bought the interest of the other stockholders and changed the name to Swift & Company, Mr. Demcey and Mr. Sibley remaining as managers. Mr. Sibley retired in 1920, and since that time Mr. Demcey has been the sole manager of the business. In addition to the cold storage business Mr. Demcey has been president of the Phelps & Sibley Company, merchant millers, since 1915, is vice president of the First National Bank of Cuba, and a trustee of the village of Cuba. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, the blue lodge only. In his political opinions Mr. Demcey holds with the republican party. He attends the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Demcey was married June 7, 1891, to Helen Phelps, daughter of W. O. and Louisa Phelps, of Cuba, New York.
ARTHUR HERVEY MCCALL.
Among the important productive industries of Rochester is that of the McCall Machine Works, of which Arthur H. McCall is the executive head, and broad experi- ence along mechanical lines, combined with excellent administrative ability, enables him to direct the business in a manner that has been a big factor in its success. He was born in Norfolk county, Ontario, Canada, July 19, 1871, and his parents, Edwin R. and Caroline (Carpenter) McCall, were also natives of the Dominion.
Arthur Hervey McCall attended the public schools of Norfolk county, Canada, and after completing his studies came to the States. He served an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade in the plant of the Frank H. Clement Company, a subsidiary of the American Wood-Working Machinery Company, and for twenty-three years remained with that corporation. In 1910 he decided to become an independent operator and purchased the business of Thomas Baxendale, a well known manu- facturer of tools and dies, who had established the industry in 1870. In 1911 the business was incorporated and has since been conducted under the name of the McCall Machine Works, of which Mr. McCall is the president. The plant is equipped to turn
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out work of the highest grade. His company has been very successful in designing and building special machinery and many of the machines have been great labor savers. Mr. McCall has installed modern safety devices for the protection of those who serve him and carefully supervises every department of the business, which is operated systematically and efficiently, ranking with the best managed plants of the kind in the city.
In Rochester, on June 26, 1895, Mr. McCall was married to Miss Bertha A. Grover, a member of one of the early families of the city. Mr. and Mrs. McCall have a son and a daughter: Charles Duncan was born in 1899 and was graduated from the Ohio State University with the class of 1922, on the completion of a course in mechanical engineering. He married Miss Wilda Honeter of Columbus, Ohio, and is now connected with the Gleason Works of Rochester. He belongs to the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity; his sister, Caroline McCall, was born in 1913.
Mr. McCall is identified with the Masonic fraternity and has crossed the hot sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Rochester Automobile Club, and is deeply interested in every project that affects the welfare and advancement of his city, particularly the religious education of the youth. In his religious connections Mr. McCall is an elder in the Central Presby- terian church and for over twenty-five years took a very active part in its Sunday school, work, serving as superintendent for ten years, and he is an ex-president of the New York State Sunday School Association. Mr. McCall's home is situated at No. 239 Seneca parkway. He was one of the early residents of that attractive thoroughfare.
JOHN ANDREW REYNOLDS.
John Andrew Reynolds is remembered as one of the most gifted lawyers who ever graced the Elmira bar. He was a giant even amongst a generation of brilliant legal minds which produced such contemporaries as David B. Hill, Jeremiah McGuire, Robert Stephens, Jacob Schwartz, Frederick Collin and others. As a trial lawyer he won his greatest laurels. Before juries he was a remarkably successful pleader and his cases were always prepared with technical thoroughness. His career was char- acterized by the most rigid adherence to the ethics of the profession of which he was such a valued member. John A. Reynolds also became widely reputed as a counsellor and his legal advice was sought by corporations and individuals from far and wide. He was born in Big Flats, Chemung county, New York, November 11, 1841, a son of Nathan and Matilda (DeArmond) Reynolds. Nathan Reynolds was a native of Orange county, New York. In 1849 the family moved to Elmira.
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