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 66
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in the mercantile business, and later acted as agent in the purchase of wool for some Boston houses, but about the year 1840 he retired from active business and de- voted himself to the management of landed interests inherited from his father. This he continued until his death, and in it found full employment. At this period he be- came interested in and identified with the National Guard of the state, rising from subaltern to become major-general commanding the division. His liking for such service was very great, and he was not only a very zealous officer but a very liberal one, paying out of his own pocket-and largely, too-very many of the expenses in- cident to the advancement of his command.
He was a strikingly handsome man, generous and hospitable, almost to a fault, and his hand was ever open and his table ever spread to one in want. Save here and there an election to some unimportant local office, he never sought nor cared for political preferment.
CLAUDE LUDINGTON.
There is no one active in the business life of Rochester at the present day who has contributed more to the material upbuilding of the city than Claude Ludington, president of the large contracting firm known as I. M. Ludington & Sons, Incorporated. Many imposing structures of steel and concrete stand as monuments to his ability as a builder, but the greatest of all his achievements is the Rochester subway that is now nearing completion. In future generations of builders and contractors he will be remembered as the man who built the subway-a splendid engineering feat. He was born in Phillipsport, Sullivan county, New York, on Christmas Day of 1875. His parents, Ira M. and Mary R. (Weed) Ludington, were both natives of the same town and county. In 1877 they moved to Rochester, where the father was engaged on the construction of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway as a superintendent of construction. When this railroad was finished he moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he built the Scranton division of the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, from Scranton to Hancock. Having satisfactorily completed this no inconsiderable task, Mr. Ludington returned to Rochester in 1893 to take the position of superin- tendent of the Rochester & Irondequoit system. He decided later to embark in the contracting business for himself and in 1894 established the I. M. Ludington & Sons Company, railroad contracting. Mr. Ludington's long and intimate connection with various railroad construction enterprises of an important nature had well qualified him to undertake work of that type, and he operated in this field with an ever- increasing success until his death in 1910, at the age of sixty-one. At that time the business of the firm had reached large proportions and was well known through a large territory. Mr. Ludington is survived by his widow and two of their three children: Ira W. Ludington, Jr., of Greenwich, New York; and Claude, of this review. A daugh- ter, Miss Mable C. Ludington, passed away in 1909. Mr. Ludington's extensive busi- ness operations were taken over, after his death, by his son, Claude, who became president of the company. Although he was but thirty-five years of age at the time, he was well qualified for the heavy burdens that descended to his shoulders.
Claude Ludington had a good public school education, attending School No. 4 in this city as a boy, and later studied in Wyoming Seminary. In 1894 he left his school- books and classes to become associated with his father in the contracting business. While he set out to learn the business as its future manager, he began at the bottom just as any youth who was not related to the president of the company would have done, and gradually worked up to the top, gaining the skill and efficiency that comes only as the result of long and careful training. For more than a decade now, as president of a great organization, he has been proving the value of the experience he had at the bottom of the ladder. Since 1910, as head of the firm, he has directed its policies and been responsible for its success or failure. He now holds a two-million dollar contract for the building of the Rochester city subway, which is being completed in schedule time in spite of the many difficulties that are besetting builders in these post-war days. An interesting feature of the engineering side of the project is that the excavation for the old Erie canal is being used as the base for the construction. When completed the subway will be up to date in every respect, rivaling those of the larger American cities and Europe. Other work in Monroe county built and completed by I. M. Ludington & Sons is the deepening of the Genesee river from Court street to the brink of the falls; the building of a concrete and steel dam in the Genesee river, south of Court street; the viaduct and subway under the Lehigh Valley railroad,
CLAUDE LUDINGTON
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between Court street and Clarissa street and the Standard Oil Company's harbor at Genesee boulevard, near Brooks avenue.
Mr. Ludington was married to Miss Sue M. Campbell of Greenwich, New York, in June, 1902, and they have two children: Charles Ira, born in Skaneateles, New York, in 1905, who is now attending school in Kingston, Pennsylvania; and Marion Ruth, born in Rochester, July 31, 1911, a pupil in the Columbia school. Mrs. Luding- ton is the daughter of Charles C. Campbell of Greenwich and a representative of one of the leading families of that place.
Fraternally Mr. Ludington is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In the York Rite of that order he has taken degrees in the Royal Arch Chapter. He is also an Elk and belongs to the Rochester, Rochester Yacht and Rochester Sportsman's Clubs of his home city and to the Transportation Club of New York city. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Third Presbyterian church. He has always been a devoted lover of fine horses and in this connection takes a deep interest in his blooded stock. His pacer, Merriman, 2:011/4, is the world's four-year-old champion. He won fifteen thousand dollars in grand cir- cuit stake races in 1923, with Tommy Murphy, his trainer, driving. Mr. Ludington purchased Merriman as a yearling in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky. The horse comes from a long line of high class animals on both sides.
On his mother's side of the house Mr. Ludington is descended from an old Ameri_ can family that has contributed much to the development of the nation. His great- grandfather fought in the War of 1812 and supposedly was killed by the British or the Indians. The appended letter, reproduced here as exactly as type will permit, is the last word that was ever received from him. It is, of course, of much interest to the members of the present generation:
"Dear Brother: this is the first time we could inform you of our surcomstanses & that we have all got out of Canada & was in formed By Ebenezer Monger you had got home & we wold in form you we have ben in the U. S. States Service One year. We have had hard times on the frontier & We have Been plundered of all We have by the Indians & Savage British But we are yet alive But we have ben threw every thing But Death since we saw you We have Been in Many a Battle We lived at Lewis- ton at the tim fort Niagary was taken but made our escape to Buffalo Olive was taken Alone with 3 children but past threw the snow thirty milds (miles) Whilst we fout the British Bak three Days & knights but there force being Savage & Superior to ours we was a oblige to retreet here we saw hard times our nations Women & Children tom hawkt Stript & Schulpt & Som Burnt alive we made our retreet to Buffalo Where we found Olive here we had a nother battle here they plundered all before them but we retreated to Batavia 50 milds (miles) With nothin but What we wore on our backs here we Staid til Spring this Summer we have been to Canada With a Large force & have had hot Battles here We was in Chipeway battle where we drove them of (f) We was in a nother battle at Niagary falls here Was two thousand kild on both sids in the field. here we could not Stir with blundering over the Dead british lost fifteen hundred & Mericans 4 hundred Mayor Malloney & his famaly lives in Batavia he Commanded Our Company we are volunteers we are now Going on with a large force to try them again if we fail this time we Shall Give it up & look for Some other habitation in the States We have never herd from Gold this 2 years he then Started for Lower Canada our surcomstance
"See our friends at present we remember them all Olive has fore children 3 of them are boys all in health Give my copliments to Jeremiah Johnson & show him this letter we wish you to wright to us soon if Convenient Direct your letter to Batavia York State Gove or (Give our) Compliments (to) all our friends tel Go- to Come & See us if he is here as soon as possible We Should be glad to seel all our friends if We hae any John S. Johnson
"From
Olive Johnson "Eph Squire
"Give my Compliments to Abigail & my Children I Calculate to Come & see them as soon as possible I have not forgot them in my absence I See hard times & troubles but hope for better Soon
"from Ephraim Squire
"Batavia Genisee County State of new york
"September the 7-1804."
From such heroic stuff as this were made our early pioneers. Had they been less courageous in facing their "hard times" the settlement of the west would have been
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long delayed and perhaps never have been under the Stars and Stripes. It is little wonder to the keen observer that their descendants of a century later are forging ahead in industry and commerce, showing the same rugged qualities that characterized these colonial and Revolutionary fathers.
WILLIAM LE ROY PELTON.
An authority in the insurance and real estate field of western New York is Wil- liam Le Roy Pelton, president of the W. H. Mandeville Company of Olean, New York. Mr. Pelton has worked his way to the top from a clerkship and he has made the business one of the strongest and most dependable of its sort in the county and state. William L. Pelton was born in Olean, July 26, 1869, the son of John G. and Mary Frances (Gorman) Pelton. His father was a merchant tailor in Olean for the long span of sixty-five years, dying at the age of ninety-four, in February, 1923. His long and honorable career in Olean helped his son to decide to remain in business in the community, which has a peculiar ability to hold its sons from wandering afar. Many smaller cities might well envy Olean in this respect, as it is usually the habit of the young man to leave his birthplace for what seem greener fields.
After attending the public schools and Olean Academy, William Pelton entered the insurance office of W. H. Mandeville and has remained with this concern all of his business life. He was a clerk until 1905, in which year the firm was incorporated, with W. H. Mandeville, president, and J. M. Larkin, vice president. In 1912 Mr. Larkin succeeded Mr. Mandeville and Mr. Pelton was made vice president. Six years later Mr. Pelton became the head of the company and his wife the vice president. The concern handle's every kind of insurance and is by far the largest business of its sort in this part of the state. There is also a department devoted exclusively to real estate.
On October 8, 1902, William L. Pelton was married to Miss Emma H. Mead, daugh- ter of Edgar N. and Helena Mead of Buffalo, the ceremony taking place in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Pelton have two sons: William, born April 19, 1904; and Edgar, born June 13, 1906, both students at Dartmouth College. William Le Roy Pelton is a Mason and has attained the thirty-second degree in that order. He belongs to the City Club and the F. L. Bartlett Country Club; the Chamber of Commerce and the Olean Country Club. He is president of the Olean Library Association and takes a great interest in this organization. He is the ex-president of the Y. M. C. A., and chairman of the industrial commission of the Chamber of Commerce. He also belongs to the Olean Kiwanis Club. Mr. Pelton is active in the First Presbyterian church, being clerk of the session at the present time. He is an independent in politics.
HERBERT THOMAS REED.
One of the leading members of the Orleans county bar is Herbert Thomas Reed, member of the firm of Fluhrer & Reed of Albion. As a representative of this digni- fied profession and a public-spirited citizen, he has well carried on the family's traditional interest in the community and has proved to be a worthy son of his father, Thomas F. Reed, who for many years was active in business in Orleans county. Herbert T. Reed has been an effective worker in the local ranks of the republican party as well, advancing its good government plans for a number of years in a con- structive, businesslike manner. His birth occurred at Hulburton, Orleans county, New York, on the 5th of March, 1872, his parents being Thomas F. and Mary (Blanchard) Reed. The father was the proprietor of a sandstone quarry at Hulbur- ton and continued active in this business until his death, which occurred December 28, 1901. The family has been represented in this section since 1820, which year witnessed the arrival of Edward Reed, the paternal grandfather of Herbert T. Reed, who here spent the remainder of his life.
Herbert T. Reed supplemented his district school education by a course of study in the State Normal and Training School at Brockport, New York. He then entered the employ of his father, with whom he was associated until 1891, when he came to Albion and studied law in the office of Signor & Wade until admitted to the bar in 1895. His early interest in his father's business continued, too, and today he is a member of the firm of Reed, Allen & Reed, who own and operate a number of sand-
WILLIAM L. PELTON
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stone quarries. When he had practiced his chosen profession in Albion for seven years, from 1895 until 1902, Mr. Reed was elected clerk of the surrogate court and thus served until 1911. In the latter year he became associated with Judge Gerald B. Fluhrer as member of the firm of Fluhrer & Reed, which has been very successful and especially so in trial work. Mr. Reed is a member of the Orleans County Bar Association and has long enjoyed high standing among his professional colleagues and contemporaries.
On the 21st of October, 1902, Mr. Reed was married to Miss Marjorie Livingston King, daughter of Charles A. and Helen (Hunt) King of Albion. They have become the parents of three children, as follows: Charles King, who died in infancy; Mary King; and Marjorie Blanchard.
Prominent in political circles, Mr. Reed is one of the leaders of the republican party in Orleans county and has served as chairman of the republican county com- mittee for two years. He has served for two terms as exalted ruler of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in 1921 acted as vice president for the western part of New York state. He also exemplifies the teachings of the Masonic fraternity, to which he belongs, and is a member of the Alert Club of Medina and the Orleans County Country Club. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church, always willing to aid in church work and to advance the spread of Christianity. Mr. Reed loves outdoor sports, and confesses that politics and his work may also be classed as his hobbies.
PORTER A. WILSON.
Porter A. Wilson is one of the foremost figures in insurance circles of Rochester and his life history is written in terms of success, for he is a hard and intelligent worker and a man of high character, worthy of trust and confidence. He was born in Hermon, St. Lawrence county, New York, April 25, 1870, and his parents, Royal A. and Nancy Jane (Johnston) Wilson, were also natives of the Empire state, of which they were lifelong residents. The father engaged in the insurance business at Syra- cuse and was very successful in his operations in that field.
His son, Porter A. Wilson, was a pupil in the grammar and high schools of Syra- cuse and also attended the Fairfield Military Academy of New York, from which he was graduated in 1899. Subsequently he matriculated in the University of Syracuse, which in 1905 awarded him the degree of LL. B., and after his admission to the bar he began his professional career in that city, where he practiced for three years. On the expiration of that period he entered the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company and afterward became identified with the North American Life Insurance Company of Toronto, Canada. He developed expert ability as a salesman and now acts as general manager of the Massachusetts Insurance Association, which issues policies only to Masons. He maintains his headquarters in Rochester and directs the activities of seventy-seven agents, working in the states of New York and Penn- sylvania. He is well qualified by training and experience for this responsible position and ranks with the association's most capable and successful representatives.
On October 22, 1896, Mr. Wilson married Miss Sarah Kenealy, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Kenealy, of Elmira, New York, and their only child is Mrs. Gretchen Lawson of Rochester. Mr. Wilson is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of Damascus Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Automobile and Ad Clubs. He is keenly interested in all projects for municipal advancement and is highly esteemed by his business associates as well as by those whom he has met in other walks of life.
ERNEST C. WAGNER.
Although his connection with real estate operations covers but a few years, Ernest C. Wagner has made rapid progress and in business circles of Rochester he has already gained a secure foothold. He was born in this city, May 8, 1889, a son of John and Eva (Montgomery) Wagner, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Canada. The father was a boy of nine when his parents came to the United States, settling in Rochester, and here he was reared and educated. After his marriage he engaged in the coal and wood business and subsequently removed to Wallace, Wayne county, where he spent the remainder of his life, devoting his attention to the occupa-
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tion of farming. He passed away in October, 1906, and is survived by the mother, who resides in West Wallace. Five children were born to them, namely: Mrs. Ida Scott, of Macedon, New York; John, also a resident of that place; Alexander, who is living at Union Hill, this state; Eldred, whose home is at Irondequoit, New York, and Ernest C.
The last named attended the public schools of Walworth, New York, and after- ward completed a course in the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When sixteen years of age he obtained a position with the Langslow- Fowler Chair Company, with which he was connected for a short time, and then became an employe of the Brown Machine Company. Soon afterward he entered the service of the Fairport Sanitary Can Company, and while with that firm his father died. Mr. Wagner returned to Wallace and for two years operated the home farm. On the expiration of that period he went to Buffalo and for a short time was a member of the sales force of the International Realty Company. Returning to Rochester, he entered the operating department of the New York State Railroad Company, with which he remained for four years, and then took a civil service examination, becoming a member of the fire department. He devoted six years to that work and since 1919 has engaged in the general real estate business on a brokerage basis. He is well informed on everything pertaining to the local realty market and has negotiated many important transfers of property. He is a capable young business man whose word is to be relied upon, and his business is growing rapidly as the result of intelligently directed efforts.
In Rochester, September 29, 1908, Mr. Wagner married Miss Minnie Miller, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reinhold Miller of this city. The children of this union are: Dorothy, who was born in 1909 and is a high school pupil; Orville Melvin, whose birth occurred in 1911; Ernest, born in 1914; Robert, in 1916, and Betty and Harvey, twins, who were born in May, 1920.
Mr. Wagner is a member of the Rochester Automobile Club, and his fraternal relations are with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is affiliated with the Baptist church, and its teachings guide him in the daily relations of life. Mr. Wagner has a liberal endowment of ambition, energy and good judgment, and these are qualities which in every honorable vocation lead to ultimate victory.
MILLER PURDY VAN HOESEN.
Miller Purdy Van Hoesen is a loyal son of Rochester and an alert, aggressive young business man, thoroughly alive to conditions in the modern world of com- merce and well able to cope with them. He was born on the 11th of December, 1888, and his parents were Frank P. and Addie (Miller) Van Hoesen, the former a native of Onondaga and the latter of Lamson, New York. They became residents of Roches- ter and in 1887 the father embarked in the paint business, organizing the F. P. Van Hoesen Company, of which he served as president. Upon the strong foundation of honesty and straightforward dealing he constructed a prosperous mercantile estab- lishment which has endured for thirty-seven years. He displayed executive force and keen sagacity in the conduct of the business and is now living retired in Rochester, but the mother is deceased. They had two sons: Frank K. C. and Miller Purdy of this review.
Miller Purdy Van Hoesen was a pupil in the East high school of Rochester and afterward attended the Montclair (N. J.) Military Academy, from which he was grad- uated in 1908. He next became a student in the University of Pennsylvania, in which he completed a two-year course in business administration, and in 1910 won the degree of Bachelor of Science, and in that same year he joined his father in the paint business. The F. P. Van Hoesen Company also handles wall-paper and window shades and conducts both a retail and wholesale business. M. P. Van Hoesen is now a partner in the firm and to the management of the business he gives deep thought, readily solving all of the problems which arise from time to time in connec- tion therewith, and working earnestly and effectively to extend the scope of the undertaking.
Mr. Van Hoesen has two children: Frank P. (II), who was born June 21, 1913; and Jane, born January 31, 1918. They are natives of Rochester. Mr. Van Hoesen is affiliated with the Central Presbyterian church of this city. He is a Mason, belonging to Genesee Falls Lodge, No. 507, F. & A. M., and has attained the thirty- second degree in the consistory. He is also a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
MILLER P. VAN HOESEN
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fraternity and the Rochester Alumni Association of the University of Pennsylvania. He is connected with the Chamber of Commerce and also with the Rochester, Rotary, Ad, Automobile, and Oak Hill Country Clubs. The growth and progress of his city is a matter in which he takes much personal pride and his many admirable qualities have gained him a high place in the regard of those among whom his life has been passed.
ALFONSO GIOIA.
Although a native of Italy, Alfonso Gioia, has spent practically his entire life in the United States, and his initiative, enterprise and ability have found visible expres- sion in the development of one of Rochester's large industries, which he is successfully conducting. He was born at Valledolmo, Sicily, November 18, 1890, and was but four years old when his parents, Orazio and Guiseppina (De Carlo) Gioia, immigrated from that island to America, settling in Chautauqua county, New York. There the father purchased a farm, becoming one of the prosperous agriculturists of that locality. He passed away in 1908, and the mother's death occurred in 1915. Five children were born to them: Alfonso; Antonio; Louis, whose home is at Lilly Dale, New York; Mrs. Josephine Ciradola, a resident of Fredonia; and Samuel, who is living in Rochester.
Mr. Gioia completed his education in the high school at Fredonia and afterward became associated in business with his brother Antonio. They began the manufacture of macaroni in Fredonia and met with encouraging success in the venture, rapidly building up a good trade. In 1913 they decided to increase the scope of their opera- tions and opened a factory in Rochester, where they have also established a prosperous business. Their product is made under perfect sanitary conditions and is unsurpassed in quality. The business is conducted under the name of A. Gioia & Brothers and is a closed corporation. Alfonso fills the office of president and Antonio serves as vice president, while Samuel acts as manager. The firm bears an enviable reputation for integrity and reliability, and its members are recognized as astute, capable and enter- prising young business men.
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