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 7
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On August 14, 1913, Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage to Mrs. Ila (Godfrey) Harrison and theirs is one of the attractive and hospitable homes of the village. Mr. Caldwell is a stanch adherent of the republican party and takes a keen interest in politics. He served on the county committee for seventeen years and his opinion carries considerable weight in the councils of the party. He is loyal, patriotic and public-spirited in all matters of citizenship and during the World war acted as chair- man of the committee which had charge of the local Liberty Loan drives. He is a consistent member of the United Presbyterian church and belongs to the Elks Lodge at Batavia. Mr. Caldwell is a man of broad views and progressive ideas, who enjoys the esteem of many friends, and time has proven his worth.
J. LEE KINNER, M. D.
Dr. J. Lee Kinner, who has practiced surgery in Elmira for fourteen years, was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, in 1885 and is a son of Wilson D. and Anna- bel (Hanlon) Kinner, the former a native of Cameron, New York, and the latter of Pennsylvania. They reside in Elmira and the father is a conductor in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company. They were married in Pennsylvania and four children were born to them, one of whom is deceased; the sub- ject of this sketch was the second in the family. The grandfather, Allen H. Kinner, was a native of New York state and a veteran of the Civil war. The great-great- grandfather, Jonathan Kinner, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, in which he served for nine years, having been a member of the Sullivan expedition.
J. Lee Kinner attended the Elmira Free Academy and prepared for his profes- sion in George Washington University, Washington, D. C., which in 1910 awarded him the M. D. degree. In the following year he opened an office in Elmira and con- tinued in practice until 1918, when he enlisted for service in the World war, joining the United States Medical Corps. He was commissioned first lieutenant and during the
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NEIL S. CALDWELL
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latter part of his service was attached to the general hospital at Atlanta, Georgia. He was released from military duty in 1919 and returned to Elmira to resume his practice. On April 15, 1915, Dr. Kinner was married to Miss Mary Ellen Wilder, who was born in Illinois. She passed away in 1918. On June 27, 1922, Dr. Kinner was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Knapp, a native of North Tonawanda, New York, and they have a daughter: Mary Elizabeth.
Dr. Kinner is a member of the Academy of Medicine, the Chemung County Medi- cal Society, the New York State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a Shriner and an Elk, and belongs to the Rotary Club and the Elmira Golf & Country Club.
WILLIAM F. LYNN.
William F. Lynn of the Rochester bar, has had broad experience in his profession, which he has followed continuously for nearly thirty years. He was born in Mendon, Monroe county, New York, on the 21st of October, 1872, a son of Maurice and Jane (Groves) Lynn. The mother, who passed away in Rochester on November 2, 1923, at the venerable age of ninety-two, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, on the 29th of July, 1831. As a girl she came to Rochester with her mother and made this city her home until her marriage on November 1, 1852, soon afterward removing to Michi- gan with her husband. Maurice Lynn was also a native of Ireland and had come to the United States in early life. The young couple remained in Michigan only a short time, then returned to New York, locating in East Bloomfield and later in Mendon, where they resided until the death of Maurice Lynn in 1892, when seventy-three years of age. There were ten children in their family, six of whom are living: Mrs. John Grimm, Emma M. Lynn, John D., William F. of this review, and Edward B., all of Rochester; and Thomas M. Lynn of Gates.
William F. Lynn attended the district schools of Mendon, afterward becoming a student in the Wesleyan Seminary. He read law in the office and under the direction of his brother, Judge John D. Lynn, a prominent attorney of this city, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1895, when twenty-three years of age. He formed a partnership with his brother, with whom he has since been associated, under the name of Lynn Brothers.
On December 26, 1901, Mr. Lynn was married to Miss Hester V. Cronin, of Seneca Falls, New York. She died in September, 1909, leaving a daughter, Jane, who was born in Rochester in 1906. On July 20, 1912, Mr. Lynn was married to Miss Josephine H. Cronin, a sister of his first wife. He is connected with the Rochester Bar Association and the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and in religious faith is a Roman Catholic.
NEWTON S. BARKER.
After a lifetime of ceaseless activity, during most of which he was a large operator in lumber and did much for the development of the Genesee country, Newton S. Barker of Nunda, Livingston county, New York, has retired from active business and is liv- ing the life of leisure his years of industry have fairly earned. During all the years when Mr. Barker had large interests demanding his constant attention, he always maintained an interest in and close contact with local affairs as a good citizen and one with obligations to the community in which he lived. A republican in his political views, he has been village trustee; president of the village; was president of the school board in 1924, when the new high school was erected, and supervisor. He was born on a farm near the town of Nunda on July 5, 1852, the son of Jesse and Jane (Bradley) Barker, and is the only one of their six children living.
Newton S. Barker's education was limited to boyhood attendance at the district schools, after which he began to work on the farm and continued to be thus occupied until he was twenty-five years old, when he abandoned the plough for the business world and engaged in the work of cutting timber and making lumber, in which in- dustry he was active until his retirement in 1923. He prospered almost from the very start, steadily expanded his business, operated several sawmills, and for fifteen years had a large retail lumber trade in addition to his wholesale business.
On November 30, 1874, Mr. Barker was married to Mary J. Clute, who died on
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January 11, 1899. They became the parents of the following children: Asa J., now of Linton, Indiana; Mary E. Taylor of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Arthur, who passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Barker adopted and reared as their own child, Mary L. Barker, daughter of their son Asa J. She is now the wife of Daniel Smith of Rotter- dam Junction, New York. Mr. Barker was married on December 22, 1904, to Mrs. Jen- nie Phillips who died March 3, 1917. Mr. Barker is a Chapter Mason, and in religion an adherent of the Baptist faith.
GEORGE L. MULFORD.
George L. Mulford is a newspaper man of the Southern Tier. He located in Horseheads, Chemung county, in 1893, when he became the owner of the Chemung Valley Reporter. In 1911 he formed a company and admitted some of the employes to share in the profits of the publishing business. He is the president and treasurer of the Chemung Valley Reporter Company.
George L. Mulford was born July 6, 1868, in Mount Hope, Orange county, New York, the child of Thomas J. and Ellen Jane (Langdon) Mulford. His Mulford an- cestors were English, and they came from Devonshire, England, in 1643, and settled on Long Island. He is of the ninth generation. The Mulfords throughout the coun- try are said to have been the descendants of these two men who came from England.
George L. Mulford obtained his education in the Goshen high school and lived on a farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he entered the office of the Goshen Democrat and learned the printer's trade. Before coming to Horseheads he worked at the trade in Brooklyn, Newburgh and New York city.
On July 6, 1891, Mr. Mulford was united in marriage to Miss Jennie S. Quick, who taught school in Newburgh prior to her marriage. Mr. Mulford is a member of many organizations, including the Methodist Episcopal church, being a trustee of the local church; the Masons, being a trustee of the local lodge, and having taken all the degrees in the great fraternity, including the thirty-second degree; the Odd Fellows, being a past grand of the Horseheads Lodge; the Grange and the Rotary Club. He counts just two dozen organizations to which he belongs and is rated as a "jiner".
Mr. Mulford has been among the progressive men of the community and was in- strumental in organizing the Horseheads Savings & Loan Association and the Horse- heads Civic & Commercial Club, and is president of the latter organization. In politics he is a republican and frequently takes an active part in party affairs.
DONATUS L. LUNGHINO.
Donatus L. Lunghino, member of the firm of S. Lunghino & Sons, is a forceful personality in banking circles of Rochester and the possessor of business acumen and enterprise-essential elements in the attainment of success. He was born in Buffalo, New York, July 11, 1885, and is a son of Sebastian and Frances (Spera) Lunghino, natives of Italy. In 1881 they came to the United States, establishing their home in Buffalo, where the father secured a position as a laborer and later opened a grocery store in the Italian colony of that city. In 1888 he founded a private bank in Buffalo and subsequently expanded the scope of his operations, organizing the firm of S. Lunghino & Sons. He remained at the head of the business for many years and was very successful in his financial operations, owing to the confidence reposed in his ability and integrity. He retired from business about one year before his death, which occurred in May, 1924, at the age of seventy-nine. The mother died in 1920. Seven children were born of their union.
Parochial and public schools of Buffalo afforded Donatus L. Lunghino his edu- cational opportunities and under the direction of his father he received thorough training in the banking business. When about seventy-eight years of age Sebastian Lunghino retired from the firm and turned over his interests to his three sons, Dona- tus L., Anthony S. and Joseph J. Lunghino, the last named a prominent attorney of Buffalo. They have proven capable financiers and through harmonious cooperation and concentrated effort have succeeded in enlarging the business, which is one of ex- tensive proportions. In 1910 Donatus L. Lunghino came to Rochester to open a branch bank, of which he has since been manager, and he also has charge of a steamship office here.
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In New York city, on November 16, 1910, Mr. Lunghino was married to Miss Maria Giovanna, a daughter of Sebastian and Margherita (De Vito) Giovanna, and they have become the parents of two children: Beatrice, born in 1919; and Donatus Sebastian, born March 16, 1921, both natives of Rochester. Mr. Lunghino is a Ro- man Catholic in religious faith and has membership in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. He belongs to the local Automobile Club, and his genuine personal worth has won for him many friends in Rochester, as well as in his native city.
MURRAY L. GAMBLE.
Murray L. Gamble, an able financier, is president of the Groveland State Bank, one of the leading moneyed institutions of Livingston county, and has also achieved success in other walks of life. He is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the town, of which he is a native son, and was born in the old Gamble homestead on the 30th of June, 1865. His grandfather, David Gamble, was a native of Ireland and migrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania in 1810. A few years later he cast in his lot with the pioneers of Groveland and became owner of a farm of two hundred and twenty-eight acres. When he arrived in the Genesee country the work of development and civilization had scarcely been begun, and by arduous labor he cleared his land, eventually transforming it into a productive and well improved property. In public affairs he took a keen interest and served for a number of years as justice of the peace, while he was also a member of the board of supervisors. His son, Robert Gamble, was born June 9, 1828, and died February 24, 1904, at the age of seventy-six years. He married Rose Mary White, whose demise occurred on the 5th of June, 1898. They had a family of four children: Iva, who is the wife of D. E. Gray of Groveland; Murray L., of this review; Ora M., who was married to Dr. F. V. Foster of Caledonia, and died September 6, 1897; and a son who died in infancy.
Murray L. Gamble attended the public schools of Livingston county and completed his education in Lima Seminary. He first followed the occupation of farming and is still identified with agricultural pursuits, owning four hundred and fifty acres of valuable land in Livingston county. He displays keen sagacity in guiding the destiny of the Groveland State Bank, tempering progressiveness with conservatism, and has so directed his efforts as to win and retain the confidence and support of the public. He is also senior member of the firm of Gamble & Vincent, engaged in the automobile business in Geneseo, and has made a success of everything that he has undertaken, for his plans are well matured and his broad grasp of affairs enables him readily to discriminate between the essential and unimportant elements of a business situation.
In 1888 Mr. Gamble was married to Miss Fannie E. Ewart, a daughter of George S. Ewart of Groveland. She was born December 31, 1867, and died October 4, 1898, leaving three children: Roxy, born October 5, 1888; Mary Louise, who was born Jan- uary 5, 1890, and married Charles Roda of Potsdam, New York; and Helen Ewart, who was born March 26, 1894, and is the wife of Clifford Staudinger of Long Island. Mr. Gamble's second union was with Miss Luella Harrison, to whom he was married on June 22, 1904. She was born November 9, 1875, and her father was James B. Harrison, a well known citizen of Groveland.
Mr. Gamble is a Presbyterian in religious faith and an elder in his church. He is allied with the democratic party and filled the office of supervisor for a number of terms. He is a member of Groveland Grange and has attained the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order, also belonging to the Shrine. In considering the welfare of his community he gives to it the earnest and thoughtful consideration that he habit- ually bestows upon personal matters and his worth as a man and citizen is uniformly acknowledged.
WILLIAM M. KILLIGREW.
Shouldering a man's responsibilities at the age of fourteen gave William M. Kil- ligrew, who came of good old Irish stock, his start along the road to business success and sympathy for boys. As the proprietor of one of the largest flour and feed con- cerns in southern New York state, he has not only made a fine financial success but has stood out in public affairs and demonstrated that he is an American of the best type-the type which advanced this nation so greatly during the last fifty years. He
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was born in Caton, Steuben county, New York, September 25, 1870, the son of Michael and Mary (Kenna) Killigrew and was educated in the district school and Elmira grammar school. His parents were both natives of the Emerald isle, his father com- ing to the United States in 1837. Michael Killigrew was married in Goshen in 1837 and at first worked in a sawmill, but when he had saved enough money he purchased the farm at Caton where William Killigrew was born. Michael Killigrew died in 1884.
After four years of farming William Killigrew, now a man grown, went to Corning, where he worked in a coal yard and office. When he reached his majority he started a flour and feed business of his own. This concern has grown and flourished until (in 1924) Mr. Killigrew has three large warehouses in Corning, and is one of the pioneer business men in point of service in Corning.
William M. Killigrew is not interested in business alone. He has kept himself an active figure in the affairs touching Corning's general welfare and has given greatly of his funds and time to good causes. He is a director of the Boy Scouts, both of the county committee and the camp committee and works hard for their welfare. He belongs to the Rotary and Corning Country Clubs, served on the board of public works, as a director of the hospital board, a director of the Corning Trust Company, and a director of the Riverside Builders Supply Company. During the World war he was vice president of the Corning War Chest and was energetic in everything to "help win the war". He sold many Liberty bonds and set a good example by buying many himself. Corning rates Mr. Killigrew as one of its most popular men. In politics he is a democrat but has never sought office. Mr. Killigrew is a member of the Roman Catholic church, a trustee of St. Patrick's church and is active in the Knights of Columbus, and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Killigrew was married to Miss Alice McCarty on April 27, 1904, in Corning, New York, and they have five children: Esther, Bernard, Catherine, Alice and John. In his home life as well as his business life Mr. Killigrew has found happiness and as the years go on he establishes himself more and more as an essential figure in the life of Corning.
JOHN WALTER TRACY.
The name of John Walter Tracy, who was formerly vice president and general manager of the North East Service, Incorporated, a subsidiary of the North East Electric Company of Rochester, adorns history's pages as that of a hero, for he sac- rificed his life in an attempt to save others. He was in the forty-ninth year of his age when on the 30th of May, 1924, he was drowned in the annual Memorial Day cruise of the Rochester Yacht Club to Sodus, being swept to death in the waters of Lake Ontario off Pultneyville. The body of Mr. Tracy was not recovered until July 25th, follow- ing his tragic death, when it was washed ashore near Putneyville, New York.
John Walter Tracy was born in Lockport, Niagara county, New York, on the 10th of October, 1875, his parents being John Herbert and Josephine (Hillebrandt) Tracy, the former a manufacturer of whips and leather goods. When he was four years of age the family home was established on the Ridge road in Parma, a suburb of Rochester, where John Walter attended the grade schools in the acquirement of his early education. He later became a high school student in Spencerport and subse- quently pursued a course in the State Normal and Training School in Brockport, Monroe county, New York. He devoted two years to the profession of teaching as an instructor at Henrietta and next pursued a course in engineering and also a university extension course. Mr. Tracy then went to Port Chester, New York, where he assumed the responsible position of foundry manager at a remarkably early age, receiving much favorable comment from the press as a young man of unusual busi- ness ability and sagacity. Failing health caused his return to Rochester, but after a year's recuperation he went to Buffalo, where he became associated with the Taylor Signal Company. When this concern combined with the Pneumatic Signal Company, forming the General Railway Signal Company, Mr. Tracy came back to Rochester as representative of the latter, being connected with the electrical installation division in the offices at Lincoln Park. The following is an excerpt from a review of his career which appeared in the North East News of July, 1924:
"He entered the automotive field in 1912. when he became associated with the North East Electric Company on October 16th of that year. A pioneer in automo- tive electrical service, he developed and built up a service organization for North
J. W. Tracy
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East equipment along original lines, the effectiveness of which has proved the remarkable soundness of his judgment and insight. * *
* When the North East Service organization was incorporated as a separate concern in 1921 he naturally became the active head of North East Service, Incorporated, and continued in this capacity until his death." The following tribute was printed in the same publication: "To sell a new product to a discriminating public such as the automotive industry against keen competition, is a hard task; but it is harder still to keep that product sold and perhaps the most important thing that keeps a product sold is judicious servicing of the product after it gets into actual service. Starting October 16, 1912, with a nucleus of exactly four men, Mr. Tracy built up a service organization of over two hundred men and women directly connected with the North East Service, Incorporated. Ten branches in this country and abroad are operated by the com- pany who in turn supervise the activities of over six hundred authorized North East Service stations, this service covering the globe wherever North East products are used. This is a real job requiring exceptional capabilities."
After the tragic death of Mr. Tracy the following memorial was mailed to the North East Service stations throughout the world: "It is with profound sorrow that we have to advise you of the death of our vice president and general manager, J. W. Tracy, who was drowned on Friday, the 30th of May, 1924. Mr. Tracy sacrificed his life to save others. He had been actively connected with this company and the North East Electric Company for twelve years and assisted prominently in the build- ing up of our service organization. He was a courteous, considerate and kindly gentleman, a faithful and loyal associate and a steadfast and splendid friend. The world has too few such men and can ill spare them. His loss is personal to each of us who have been privileged to associate with him."
In 1918, during the World war, Mr. Tracy entered the government service in civilian capacity in the Motor Transport Corps, and spent several months in France assisting in the working out of the Motor Transport service situation. He held a com- mission as captain for special service at one dollar a year under Brigadier-General C. B. Drake, who was chief of the Motor Transport Corps overseas.
Mr. Tracy met his death as a guest aboard the yacht Leone in an heroic endeavor to save his wife and Mrs. Elmer G. Knapp, who had been tossed overboard as the Leone was making its way through the heavy seas which lashed the lake and a sudden gust keeled the craft over on its side. Mr. Tracy plunged in to rescue the struggling women. Hanging to a line tossed from the small vessel, the three struggled against the angry seas, whipped into foaming breakers by the strong northeast gale. Witnessing the exertions of the two women and man on the single line of safety, Herbert E. Meier, owner of the yacht Leone, threw off his coat and plunged over the rail to the aid of the three in the rough waters of the lake. With four persons in the water and the small vessel pitching in the gale, more ropes were thrown over- board. At this point, Mrs. Knapp and John W. Tracy, exhausted from battling the waves and benumbed by the almost ice cold water, let go their hold on the first line thrown out and went to their death below the surface. Mrs. Tracy and Herbert E. Meier, grasping the extra ropes tossed by their friends frantically trying to aid them from the rails of the vessel, were pulled to the side of the yacht and rescued. The North East News said: "This heroic sacrifice typifies the kind of a man that he was. Always ready to give assistance and to shield others from injury or unpleasantness, he never let consideration for himself stand in the way of what he could do for others. He had a rare faculty for friendship, and his irresistible
kindliness and sympathetic understanding endeared him to all with whom he was associated, and transformed the most commonplace business contact into an experi- ence of real pleasure and inspiration. Of the many who knew him his friends in the automotive world will feel his loss perhaps the most keenly. His constructive leader- ship in building ideals and solving problems in the electrical service field won for him the goodwill and admiration of all who came within his influence."
On the 9th of April, 1919, Mr. Tracy was united in marriage to Miss Josie Alma McCray. He was a worthy exemplar of the teaching's and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Genesee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and he likewise held member- shin in the Chamber of Commerce, the National Geographical. Society, the Auto- motive Electrical Association, the Automotive Electrical Service, the Rochester Auto- mobile Club and the Rochester Yacht Club.
The following resolutions and expressions are from the many similar ones received by Mrs. Tracy:
"Resolutions adopted by the board of directors of North East Service, Incor- porated. The appalling suddenness of the death of our friend and associate, J. Walter
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