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 65
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John Andrew Reynolds attended the grade schools of Elmira and supplemented his public school education with two years of study at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, and two years at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. He graduated from the latter institution in 1863. Returning immediately to Elmira, Mr. Reynolds began the study of law in the office of Smith, Robertson & Fassett, and in 1867 he successfully passed the examination for admission to the bar. He took up active practice without delay and with his first case exhibited those qualities which were to be so completely exemplified in the following years. In the year 1875 Mr. Reynolds formed a partnership with Frederick Collin, under the firm name of Reyn- olds & Collin. In 1885 John B. Stanchfield was admitted to the partnership and the firm became Reynolds, Stanchfield & Collin. Mr. Reynolds retained this association until his death on December 2, 1900. Of this notable legal firm, only Judge Frederick Collin survives.
John Andrew Reynolds was an able supporter of the democratic party, but never was a seeker of public office. Service to his fellows was the keynote of his character and this trait he followed in politics as well as in his profession. In Williams College he was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity and later in life he joined the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. This comprised his fraternal activities. Both he and his wife were consistent members of Grace Episcopal church and were earnest workers in its behalf. He was a member of the county, state and American Bar Associations, in the affairs of which he took an active interest. Mr. Reynolds seldom stepped outside of his profession to engage in business, but during the later years of his life he did enter into a few business projects which he conceived to be of benefit to the commu- nity, organizing a number of corporations for the purpose of supplying Elmira fac- tories and residences with natural gas and steam heat.
On June 6, 1876, Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bailey
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JOHN A. REYNOLDS
JAMES R. REYNOLDS
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Rathbone, a native of Rathbone, New York, and the daughter of Henry Wellington and Sarah Elizabeth (Bailey) Rathbone, whose biographies appear elsewhere in this volume. She was the sister of William Henry and James Bailey Rathbone. To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds three children were born: James Rathbone, mentioned on another page; Mrs. Francis R. Lawson, who is a widow and resides in Garden City, Long Island; and Henry Rathbone, graduate of Princeton University, who died September 24, 1906. Mrs. John A. Reynolds died May 9, 1920.
JAMES RATHBONE REYNOLDS.
Industrial activity in Elmira has received marked impetus from the enterprising spirit and well directed efforts of James Rathbone Reynolds, whose reputation as a tobacco dealer is more than local. His record reflects credit upon the city which numbers him among its native sons. He is a member of one of Elmira's old and most prominent families and was born January 12, 1879. His parents were John Andrew and Mary Bailey (Rathbone) Reynolds, mentioned elsewhere in this work.
James Rathbone Reynolds was a student at the Elmira Free Academy after attending the grade schools of his home city. He completed his education at Hobart College, Geneva, New York, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. He was graduated from this institution with the class of 1899. For a period of two years thereafter he was employed in his father's law office. In 1901 he engaged in packing leaf tobacco in Addison, New York, as a member of the firm of Farnham & Reynolds. In January, 1912, the business of this copartnership was moved to Elmira and in 1918 the association was dissolved. Mr. Reynolds has since conducted the business alone and through untiring effort and wise management has built up an industry of large proportions. He obtains his tobacco from Connecticut and has three warehouses, located in Owego and Elmira, New York, and Hadley, Massachusetts. An average of two hundred and twenty-five employes are retained by Mr. Reynolds in the conduct of his extensive leaf tobacco business. He is also a director of the Chemung Canal Trust Company, a member of the board of managers of the Arnot- Ogden Memorial Hospital of Elmira, and a member of the Woodlawn Cemetery com- mission.
On April 25, 1911, Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage to Sarah Tyler Plummer, who was born, reared and educated in Hartford, Connecticut. They are the parents of two children: Mary Bailey and John Andrew. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of Grace Episcopal church and for several years the former has been one of the vestrymen. Mr. Reynolds is a democrat in politics and is a member of the City Club of Elmira, of which he is now serving as president.
BENNETT FAMILY.
The name of Bennett has long figured conspicuously in the history of Williamson. The first of the name here was Dr. Josiah Bennett, who came to Wayne county from Hudson, New York, prior to the War of 1812 and purchased a tract of six hundred and forty acres, much of it being the site of the present village of Williamson. He was one of the first physicians to this section, and his practice covered a wide area. He married Ruth Reeves, who survived him for many years.
Their son, John P. Bennett, was the pioneer lumberman of Williamson and a successful business man. He was allied with the republican party and his fellow citizens honored him with election to public offices of trust and responsibility. For seventeen years he was retained in the position of supervisor of the town of William- son and for two terms he discharged the duties of sheriff of Wayne county. He represented this district in the state legislature in 1858 and at a later period, exerting his influence to secure the passage of measures that would prove of benefit to the commonwealth, and his record as a public official was an unblemished one. He married Sarah Bradley, of another pioneer Wayne county family, coming to this section from Saratoga county. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were married in Williamson and reared a family of four children, three sons and a daughter, who are re- corded below.
William J. Bennett is connected with the Williamson Lumber Company and is also a director of the K. M. Davies Company, Incorporated, of Williamson. He married
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Mary L. Freeman and their three children are: S. Pauline, a graduate of Wellesley College; John Paul, who graduated from Williamson high school, attended the Taft School for Boys at Watertown, Connecticut, and entered Yale; and William F., who is connected with the Williamson Lumber Company. John Paul Bennett, of the above named, left college to become a private in a machine gun corps and went overseas. After the close of the war he returned to Yale and was graduated in 1919 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then spent a period in the employ of Lawrence J. Bottomley, the noted New York architect, until failing health compelled him to relinquish active work.
Albert B. Bennett, second son of John P. and Sarah (Bradley) Bennett, was graduated from Yale in 1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He likewise is connected with the Williamson Lumber Company and also has farming interests. He has served as supervisor and as justice of the peace. He married Rose Cooke, and they have two daughters, Alice and Mabel.
Miss R. Mae Bennett is the third member of the family.
The youngest was Samuel S., who married Cora Malette. He died in December, 1922, leaving a widow and one son, Robert. Samuel S. Bennett was for many years connected with Marshall, Wells Company, wholesale hardware dealers of Duluth, Minnesota, until about a year previous to his demise, when he became associated with the Williamson Lumber Company.
HERMAN J. MEYERING.
Herman J. Meyering was born in Rochester on the 24th day of July, 1868, being one of eight children of John and Katherine (Moller) Meyering, who came from Germany in the '50s, taking up their residence in Rochester, where the father became one of the leading musicians of the city. Herman J. Meyering received his general education in the public schools of Rochester, and his technical education with the Karle Lithographic Company, becoming one of the recognized leaders of the litho- graphic art in western New York. He was one of the founders of the Genesee Valley Lithograph Company, of which company he has been president since its organization.
On June 2, 1892, Mr. Meyering was married to Miss Elizabeth Gregorius, daughter of John Gregorius of Dansville, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Meyering have three sons and a daughter, all residing in Rochester: William J .; Rudolph H., who served in the United States navy during the World war; Richard B. Meyering; and Marie E., now Mrs. Walter Hammer. Although Mr. Meyering did not follow his father's example in adopting music as his vocation, he nevertheless inherited taste and skill in this art, in common with the other members of a musical family, and his own family grew up in a home where music was the natural atmosphere and in which they manifested the persistence of the family gift. A solid man, of unimpeachable integrity, and un- failing kindliness and courtesy to everyone with whom he comes into contact, Mr. Meyering occupies a conspicuous place among business men, and in the love and esteem of his fellow citizens.
ROBERT H. TEW.
Robert H. Tew, a rising young lawyer of Corning, has already manifested pro- fessional ability to a degree which argues for continued advancement and success at the bar. He was born at Troupsburg, Steuben county, New York, on the 5th of June, 1894, his parents being William and Lizzie B. (Hopper) Tew, representatives of respected old families of the Genesee country. His paternal grandfather, Henry B. Tew, took up his abode among the first settlers in Troupsburg, where his maternal grandfather, a pioneer of Steuben county, also cleared a farm in the early days. William Tew, the father of Robert H. Tew, is the president of the Tew Motor Com- pany and is widely recognized as one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens of Troupsburg.
Robert H. Tew attended the schools of his native town, continued his studies in the Genesee Academy of Lima, New York, and then began preparation for the bar as a law student in the University of Buffalo, from which he was graduated after completing the prescribed course in 1920. Two years later he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of New York and since that time has engaged in the
HERMAN J. MEYERING
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general practice of law at Corning, where he has already built up a creditable and gratifying clientage. The thoroughness with which he prepares his cases, and the clearness and forcefulness with which he presents his cause are the salient elements in his growing success. In addition to his professional interests Mr. Tew is vice president and director of the Tew Motor Company and is likewise identified with agricultural pursuits as the owner of a dairy farm near Woodhull, New York.
On the 8th of December, 1915, Mr. Tew was united in marriage to Miss Ethel McLean and they have become the parents of two children, William H. and Barbara H.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Tew has supported the men and measures of the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church of Corning. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, belonging to Corning Consistory, A. A. S. R., and he is also a popular member of the Corning Club and the Corning Country Club. He enjoys an extensive acquaintance throughout the community in which he resides and everywhere is spoken of in terms of the highest regard.
GEORGE BRADLEY ANDERSON.
George Bradley Anderson, who established the extensive mercantile enterprise which is now conducted by his sons as the Anderson Store, was a successful dry goods merchant of Canandaigua for more than a half century. He had attained the age of seventy-nine years when called to his final rest on the 12th of August, 1920, for his birth occurred in Canandaigua, New York, on April 18, 1841. His father was James Anderson. In early boyhood George B. Anderson went to live with an uncle, Charles Castle, a merchant of Rushville, this state, where he attended Rushville Academy. In 1862, when twenty-one years of age, Mr. Anderson returned to Canandaigua, where he was employed in the capacity of bookkeeper by John C. Draper, a dry goods merchant. At the end of four years, in 1866, he embarked in business on his own account as a partner of John T. Squires and Marshall Stearns under the firm style of Squires, Anderson & Company. When this association was dissolved in 1871, Mr. Anderson entered upon an independent business venture in the Hubbell block. In 1900 he erected the large and attractive building which has since been known as the Anderson Store and in which the business is now being continued by the sons of George B. Anderson, who have maintained the policy of square dealing and upright, honorable methods upon which their father builded his success. Energetic, progressive and thoroughly reliable, the latter developed an enterprise of large and profitable proportions and long enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of the prosperous mer- chants and highly esteemed citizens of his native town.
In 1872 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte A. Leland of Seneca Falls, New York, and they became the parents of three sons: Fred L., Charles W. and George Elmer, who are their father's successors in business. The passing of Mr. Anderson was the occasion of deep and widespread regret, and his memory is enshrined in the hears of those who knew his best.
RALPH WHITE.
Ralph White, who has been successfully engaged in floriculture and truck farming in Niagara county during the past three decades, is a member of the well known firm of White Brothers, florists of Medina, which had its inception in the town of Hartland in 1895. His birth occurred in Hartland, Niagara county, New York, in 1876, his parents being Charles and Mary (Smith) White, natives of Schoharie county, this state, whence they removed to Niagara county and took up their abode in the town of Hartland. The father devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career.
The educational advantages enjoyed by Ralph White in his youth were those afforded by the local schools. He was a young man of about nineteen years when in 1895, following the death of his father, he took over the latter's farm in the town of Hartland in association with his brother, Charles N. White, and soon thereafter engaged in truck gardening, while subsequently he also turned his attention to the raising of hothouse flowers for the market. The business gradually expanded until in 1911 the brothers were conducting four hothouses and had thirty thousand feet of
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glass. In order to facilitate shipments, the hothouses were in that year moved to Medina, where Charles N. White has since continued as manager of the business of White Brothers, while Ralph White has remained on the farm in the town of Hartland. Here the latter has continued his work as a truck farmer and has also given considerable attention to the cultivation of such flowers as gladioluses and asters for wholesale dealers. 'After removing to Medina, Charles N. White, brother of Ralph, began raising flowers of various kinds but soon began specializing in the cultivation of roses for the wholesale trade. The firm of White Brothers now does an annual business amounting to one hundred thousand dollars and furnishes employ- ment to thirty men in Medina, where their hothouses comprise one hundred and fifty thousand feet of glass. They cultivate three different kinds of red roses-Sensation, Templar and Crusader, beautiful yellow roses of the varieties known as Souvenir de Claudius, Coolidge, Sunburst and Golden Ophelia and also six varieties of pink roses --- Mrs. Harding, Columbia, Premier, Butterfly, Pilgrim and Commonwealth. They enjoy an extensive patronage among the wholesalers of Buffalo, Rochester, Cleveland and Detroit and also sell plants to other greenhouses.
Ralph White was united in marriage to Miss Millie Hudson of Hartland, New York, and to them have been born two children, Ethel and Marion. He gives his political support to the democratic party and fraternally is identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His life has been a most commendable one in every relation, and in the community where he has resided from his birth to the present time the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance.
THE GRANGER FAMILY. (Canandaigua Branch.)
The name of Granger is a conspicuous one in the civil and political history of this state and nation. Two of the family held for many years one of the most honorable and responsible offices under the national government, while three who honored Canandaigua with their residence were graduates of colleges and were illustrious members of the legal profession, men of culture, refinement, integrity and the other good qualities that constitute the American citizen in his best estate.
(I) The family is of English descent, their ancestor, Launcelot Granger, having come to this country from England about 1652 and settled in Newbury, in the Massa- chusetts Bay colony. Thence he removed to Suffield, Connecticut, in 1674.
(II) Gideon, great-great-great-grandson of Launcelot Granger, was born in Suffield, Conneticut, July 19, 1767, and was the first of the name to make his home in Canandaigua, New York. In 1787, when a young man of twenty years, he graduated from Yale College. He entered upon the study of the law soon afterward, and rose to distinction in the bar of his native state. He was a man of public spirit, and im- bued with the Jeffersonian principles of free government. He was early and deeply impressed with the importance of the most energetic work for the advancement of the public school system, and was one of the foremost laborers for the establishment of the public school fund in Connecticut, giving liberally himself towards its foundation, and being often called its father. While still a young man his reputation had reached the national capital, and in 1801 he was called by President Jefferson to take a posi- tion in his cabinet as postmaster-general. For thirteen years he filled that responsible office, during which period he was instrumental in the rapid development of the great postal system of the country. His administration of the office continued through both of Mr. Jefferson's terms as president, and most of Mr. Madison's. He retired from Washington in 1814, and settled in Utica, New York, in 1816. In 1820 he was elected to the state senate, in which body he served for two years. He promptly took a lead- ing position as a legislator, and became conspicuous in cooperation with Governor De Witt Clinton in promoting the great system of internal improvements of which the Erie canal was the most important feature. In 1821 he retired from public life, and died December 21, 1822, at the comparatively early age of fifty-five years, leaving a record of a career distinguished for its integrity and its devotion to the public good. He married Mindwell Pease.
(III) Francis, second son of Gideon and Mindwell (Pease) Granger, was born in Suffield, Connecticut, December 1, 1792, and in 1811, at the age of nineteen years, was graduated from Yale College. He followed the example of his distinguished father by studying for the bar.
GIDEON GRANGER, SR.
FRANCIS GRANGER
JOHN A. GRANGER
GIDEON GRANGER
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He married Cornelia Van Rensselaer of Utica, New York, who lived but a few years. He was survived by his two children: Cornelia Adeline, who departed this life in 1894; and Gideon, of whom extended mention is made below. Cornelia Adeline was first the wife of John E. Thayer of Boston and afterward of Robert C. Winthrop of Boston.
(IV) Gideon, son of Francis and Cornelia (Van Rensselaer) Granger, was born in Canandaigua, New York, August 30, 1821. His early life was surrounded by all the refinements of a beautiful home, and the most liberal opportunities for gaining a thorough education. Like his father and his grandfather, he was a graduate of Yale College, where he took his degree in 1843. Like them, too, he studied for the legal profession, and had he been so inclined might without doubt have taken a fore- most position at the bar. Born with a heart in sympathy with suffering of all kinds, he gave much of his professional skill and time to the service of the poor and needy. This was true also of the labor of his life outside of his profession; the empty hand or the troubled mind never sought his aid in vain. Prevented by ill health from serving his country in the field, he acted as chairman of the war committee for rais- ing troops during the great struggle for the support of the Union, laboring faithfully to fill the depleted ranks of the army, and to care for the families left behind. The widows and orphans of those who fell on the field he made his special care, and his strength and substance were given out freely for their relief. The revival of the Agricultural Society of Ontario county was also largely due to his activity and in- terest, and he served as its secretary for twelve years. Indeed, wherever and when- ever a public good could be advanced, a charitable deed done, or a gentle word spoken, Gideon Granger was ever foremost, in every act of his daily life following the ex- ample of the Saviour, to whose cause he had consecrated himself. He died in Canan- daigua, September 3, 1868, aged forty-seven years, six days after his father, Francis Granger.
Gideon Granger married Isaphine Pierson of Canandaigua, and they became the parents of three children: Cornelia died in childhood; Antionette P. Granger; and Isaphine P., deceased. Antionette P. is living on the old homestead, which for thirty years was occupied by Granger Place School for Young Ladies-from 1876 until 1906.
(III) John Albert, third son of Gideon and Mindwell (Pease) Granger, was born in Suffield, Connecticut, September 11, 1795, and died in Canandaigua, New York, on the 26th of May, 1870. Originally intended for the navy his early education, com- menced in Suffield, and there continued until the removal of the family to Washing- ton, D. C., was along lines of instruction which, when the idea of the sea was aban- doned, found him without the classical training required for a college course. He spent some years under the tutorage of "Parson" Gay of Fairfield, Connecticut, a noted instructor in those days, from whose hands he entered a business career at an early age. Some years were spent in Washington during the period of his father's connection with the cabinets of Jefferson and Madison (1801-14), and at the time of the family leaving that city he went in advance to Whitestown, New York, (Utica) which place his father had decided upon as their future home. They had barely set- tled there, however, before a business connection with the Hon. Oliver Phelps, of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, induced their further removal to and permanent set- tlement in Canandaigua, which was ever after the family home. He assisted his father largely in the building of the Granger homestead there and drew from the Genesee country most of the timber which constituted its frame.
In 1820 Mr. Granger married (first) Julia Ann, daughter of Dr. William Augustus Williams (Yale, 1780) and Elizabeth (Chapin) Williams, daughter of General Israel Chapin, the United States agent to the Indians and commissioner of Indian affairs in the new county. His wife died in 1822, leaving two daughters: Delia, who married Alexander Jeffrey, and died in 1847; and Julia, who married Sanders Irving, a nephew of Washington Irving. In 1829 he married (second) Harriet, daughter of Amasa and Mary (Phelps) Jackson and granddaughter of the Hon. Oliver Phelps before re- ferred to. Mrs. Granger died in 1868, having had two children: Harriet Mindwell, who married Caleb Brinton of Westchester, Pennsylvania, and died in 1860; and John Albert (Yale, 1855), who married Annie, daughter of Edwin D. Townsend of Palmyra, New York. He died in 1906.
About the time of his first marriage Mr. Granger settled in the Genesee country in Moscow, Livingston county, where he lived with but few neighbors except the In- dians, with whom he became very friendly and was adopted into their tribe. Here he lived until the death of his wife left him with two children of such tender years that the simple care of them required services he could not obtain so far from neigh- bors, and he therefore returned to Canandaigua. For a few years he was engaged
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