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 77
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D. Sherman Burdick acquired his education entirely in Alfred, where he first attended the district schools, then the Alfred Academy and finally Alfred University, from which he graduated in 1882. After completing his education Mr. Burdick en- gaged in business. His first venture was in the hardware line with J. Chandler Greene, as Burdick & Greene, a connection that lasted until 1896, when Mr. Burdick sold out and became a factor in the wholesale cheese business in Alfred, as W. C. Burdick & Company, remaining in this line for five years. In 1906 Mr. Burdick was elected treasurer of Allegany county on the republican ticket and has been reelected at every expiration of his term since. He has been president of the University Bank at Alfred for the past fifteen years and in addition is the owner of a local insurance agency business.
Mr. Burdick was married on July 15, 1914, to Kezia Crocker of Concord, New Hampshire. Fraternally Mr. Burdick is a Royal Arch Mason and an Elk, while in religion he is a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church of Alfred.
HARRY E. GOODRICH.
One of the most prominent men in the village of Richburg today is Harry E. Goodrich, oil producer, former merchant and public-spirited citizen. There are few lines of activity, civic, social or educational, in which Mr. Goodrich does not take an active interest, and that his support of any enterprise is whole-hearted and efficient is well known by all his friends and acquaintances. There are no halfway measures in this oil producer's scheme of life. Always a hard worker, he plays hard and takes into all the "outside" activities of his life the same enthusiasm and determination that have made him a notable success in the oil industry and business world. He was born in Crystal Springs, Yates county, New York, March 31, 1876. His father was Martin Goodrich, who in ear y life plied his trade as a cooper in Yates county, but later spent twenty years in the oil fields of Allegany county. The mother was Lydia Clarke before her marriage.
Harry E. Goodrich received a good education in the common schools of this state and the Richburg high school. At the age of twenty-two he embarked in the mercantile business in this village as the proprietor of a store of his own. After about six years he disposed of this store to go to Bolivar, where he operated another store for fourteen years. Meanwhile. he had become very deeply interested in the produc- tion of oil in the Allegany county field, beginning at first in a small way and gradu- ally increasing the scope of his operations as his capital and experience increased. From the first, fortune smiled upon Mr. Goodrich and after some time his oil business had reached such proportion that he deemed it wise to sell out his mercantile inter-
D. SHERMAN BURDICK
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ests in order to devote his entire attention to his wells. Although the yield of his wells and wise investments have brought this producer an accumulation of this world's goods that would satisfy most men, he continues active in the field because he thoroughly enjoys his work. As a distinguished banker once said, "Business life is a great game and the harder you play it the more fun you get out of it."
It would be a mistake, however, to think that Mr. Goodrich is one of those "hard- headed" business men who thinks of little else besides his own money-making enter- prises. On the contrary, he is very public-spirited and has done a great deal to im- prove this community. He is one of the champions of hard roads in this section and was instrumental in bringing the hard road from Bolivar to Wellsville. Recently he was elected chairman of the board of supervisors, taking office at the beginning of the year 1924. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. In the village Mr. Goodrich has been chosen to fill many responsible offices, including that of presi- dent of the library board, which he held for three terms, and the presidency of the village, to which he has been elected twice. He has likewise served two terms on the local school board. As a Mason he belongs to the blue lodge and chapter and is pre- paring to take higher degrees in this order in the near future.
Mr. Goodrich and Miss Leona Millis, daughter of D. C. and Maryette Millis of Richburg, were united in marriage in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich have three sons: Roger H., born in 1902, was educated in the local schools and the Westbrook Business College of Olean and is now assisting his father as a pumper on the latter's oil leases; Mitchell, born in 1911 is a student in the local high school; and Dee C., born in 1913, is attending the graded schools of Richburg.
JAMES FRANKLIN HAMILTON.
James Franklin Hamilton, one of the foremost representatives of transportation interests in the Genesee country, was elected president of the New York State Rail- ways of Rochester in December, 1918. He was born on the 10th of August, 1876, the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Hamilton, and in the acquirement of an education attended Wilson Academy of Angelica, New York. He was a young man of twenty years when in 1896 he entered the transportation department of the International Railway Company of Buffalo, from which he resigned six years later to accept the position of assistant superintendent of the Schenectady Railway Company of Schenec- tady, New York, serving in that capacity from 1902 until 1909, when he was appointed superintendent of the company. In 1911 Mr. Hamilton was engaged as general superintendent of the United Traction Company, operating in the cities of Albany, Watervliet, Troy, Rensselaer, Cohoes and Waterford, and at the same time was retained by the Schenectady Railway Company in an advisory capacity. He was appointed general manager of the Schenectady Railway Company and the United Traction Company in 1912 and five years later, in 1917, was appointed general manager of the Rochester Lines of the New York State Railways. In February, 1918, he was elected vice president and general manager of the New York State Railways, with general supervision over the Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Oneida companies. He was elected president of the New York State Railways in Decem- ber, 1918, and in addition to his important duties in this connection is also serving as general manager of the New York and Harlem Traction Lines of New York city. From the following list of Mr. Hamilton's official connections may be gained some idea of the extent and breadth of his operations: President of the New York State Railways of Rochester; president of the East Avenue Bus Company of Rochester; president of The Glen Haven Improvement Company of Rochester; president of the Ontario Light & Traction Company of Canandaigua; president of the Ridge Road Passenger Lines, Incorporated, of Rochester; president of the Rochester Electric Railway Company of Rochester; president of the Rochester Interurban Bus Company of Rochester; president of the Rochester Railways Coordinated Bus Lines, Incorpor- ated, of Rochester; president of the Syracuse Railway Coordinated Bus Line, In- corporated, of Syracuse; president of the Utica Railway Coordinated Bus Line, Incorporated, of Utica; president of the Manhattan Bus Corporation of New York city; director of the Schenectady Railway Company of Schenectady; director of the Roch- ester, Lockport & Buffalo Railroad Corporation of Rochester; director of the Con- solidated Materials Corporation of Rochester; director of The Rochester Association
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of Rochester; director of the Union Trust Company of Rochester; and ex-president of the Morris Plan Bank of Schenectady.
In 1902, in Birdsall, New York, Mr. Hamilton was married to Jessie M. Young, of Angelica, this state. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, belonging to St. George's Lodge No. 6, F. & A. M .; St. George's Chapter No. 157, R. A. M .; St. George's Commandery No. 37, K. T .; St. George's Council, R. & S. M .; and Oriental Shrine. His name is also on the membership rolls of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce; the Genesee Valley Club, the Rochester Club and the Oak Hill Country Club and the Washington Club, all of Rochester; the Monroe Golf Club of Pittsford; the Fort Orange Club of Albany; the Mohawk Club of Schenectady; and the Trans- portation Club of New York city. He is highly regarded by his associates and has an extensive circle of friends in Rochester who hold him in great esteem for his personal qualities as well as his splendid achievements in his chosen field of business activity.
MAX RUSSER.
Max Russer is an excellent type of the up-to-date business man and wide-awake, public-spirited citizen who can achieve financial success, at the same time contribute liberally to worthy projects, indulge in his hobbies and be regarded as a most valuable man in his community. Mr. Russer, although but just entering the middle-age period of life, has had an unusual career and one that reflects no little credit upon him. He was born in Germany, December 8, 1882, and was three months old when his parents, Max and Frances (Peeler) Russer, came to the United States with their family, in March, 1883, and established their home in Rochester. The senior Max Russer was experienced in the handling of meats and not long after taking up his residence in Rochester, became engaged there in the retail meat and provision trade, a business he continued to carry on until his death in 1908. His widow is still living in Rochester. They had a family of five children, Max being the only son.
Max Russer received his education in a parochial school and was twelve years old when his father took him into the meat market and began to instruct him in the de- tails of that trade, a business in which he has been engaged all his active life and with all the details of which he is thoroughly familiar. Max Russer was twenty years old when in 1902 he went into business for himself and since then has built up a most excellent patronage and has become one of the best known men in his line of trade in the city. Always abreast of the times and ambitious to have things right, it is a matter of comment on the part of Mr. Russer's customers and a discriminating public that he has developed at his place of business at Ames street and Maple avenue one of the most thoroughly up-to-date and elaborately equipped retail meat markets in western New York. Mr. Russer literally "grew up" in the business and by taking advantage of all details of the amazing development that has been made in the system of handling meats since the days of his boyhood, he has built up an establishment that is regarded widely as just about the "last word" in sanitary equipment and efficiency of management. The Russer meat market is carried on in a modern building of pressed brick, one of the finest mercantile structures in that part of the city, and requires the services of no fewer than fifteen experienced meat cutters and salesmen. The interior is of special construction, the walls and ceiling of ornamental glazed tile and the floor also of tiling, this construction insuring the greatest measure of sanitary precaution. The office also is of special construction, a thoroughly modern refrigera- tion system is used and every proper provision made for the careful handling of the products of the establishment.
To refer to Max Russer only as a successful merchant would leave unmentioned a part of his career that has given him distinction and a prominent place in athletics and outdoor sports. Possessed of a notable physique, Mr. Russer has been from the days of his boyhood a leader in local athletics. Years ago he was made instructor of wrestling at the gymnasium of the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion and while thus employed made a specialty of that sport and became the amateur champion of Rochester. This fame became more than local and challenges began to come in from other cities, whose amateur wrestlers sought to gain supremacy over Rochester. Mr. Russer held his own successfully in these contests, taking them on as fast as they came, and in 1917 was proclaimed the national lightweight champion wrestler, in the amateur class, a title he successfully defended for more than two years, or until 1919, by that time having held the title longer than it ever before had been held in this country. Mr. Russer is the organizer of the Russer Baseball Club of this
MAX RUSSER
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city, which has long been regarded as one of the "crack" ball teams of western New York. He also organized the noted "Russer" football team that won the city cham- pionship in 1923 and 1924. This football organization is largely made up of young men from the locality of the twentieth ward, where Mr. Russer's store is located, and its success is all the more noted since it is the youngest organization among the various ones contending for the local championship. Mr. Russer has always been an advocate of clean sports and the keen interest he manifests in the organizations bearing his name is to him not only a diversion but the continuation of a natural love of sports dating back to his boyhood.
Among his other business connections, Mr. Russer is a director of the K. Barth- elmes Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of aluminum products, also a director of the Calumetals Corporation. He is extensively interested in real estate and his holdings include both business and residential property. His judgment of real estate values and possibilities for development has been reflected several times in deals that he has made. He is the owner of and is developing "Willowbrook", a tract of eight acres on Empire boulevard, between Culver and Winton roads. This property has been laid off into forty lots, on which Mr. Russer plans to build attractive homes, complete in every detail, such as will appeal to young couples. This project is but an example of the business foresight and judgment that have been shown in his affairs at various times. He is a member of the Rochester Meat Dealers Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Automobile Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of St. John and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
On August 1, 1910, in Gates, New York, Mr. Russer was married to Miss Eleanor Kress, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abel Kress. Mr. and Mrs. Russer have eight children: Eleanor, born in 1911; Max, Jr., born in 1913; Agnes, born in 1914; John, born in 1916; Mary, born in 1918; Ruth, born in 1920; Esther, born in 1922; and Clair, born in 1924. The family are members of the Catholic church. Max Russer is not only a successful business man, but a man of high ideals, whose personal worth is recog- nized by hosts of friends, many of whom have known him from boyhood. Mr. Russer's residence is at No. 59 Appleton street.
CHARLES HAMMOND GRANT.
Charles Hammond Grant, mayor of Dansville, a successful farmer and stock raiser and one of the well known citizens of Livingston county, is a representative in both paternal and maternal lines of families that have long been identified with the financial, business and social history of Dansville and active in every movement for the advancement of the general good of the community. He was born in Dans- ville, August 5, 1861, his parents being Luther and M. Louise (Bradner) Grant. He is a descendant in the ninth generation of Matthew Grant, who brought his family to New England in 1630, landing in Boston. Five years later he was a member of the party that made the first settlement of Connecticut, at Windsor, and he filled a large place in the early history of the new colony. From Matthew Grant there descended a notable posterity, including a president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, and members of the family are still prominent in the affairs of Connecticut. Luther Grant, father of Charles Hammond Grant of this review, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1822 and when a young man located in Batavia, New York, where he became a clerk in the counting house of the Holland Land Company. He re- mained there for a few years and came to Dansville in 1845 as clerk in the Bank of Dansville, of which he was afterward made cashier. The president of the institution was Lester Bradner, who later became the father-in-law of Luther Grant. The latter continued as cashier of the bank until it closed its affairs in 1884 and then because of failing eyesight he retired from active business. He was a democrat and served as treasurer of Dansville for many years. His religious faith was indicated by his mem- bership in St. Peter's Episcopal church, in the affairs of which he took a very active part, serving as vestryman and warden for a long period. He departed this life on the 25th of April, 1905. It was on October 25, 1860, in Dansville, that Luther Grant was married to Miss M. Louise Bradner, a native of that place and a daughter of Lester and Fanny (Hammond) Bradner. Mrs. Grant passed away on the 29th of November, 1901. Lester Bradner, father of Mrs. M. Louise (Bradner) Grant, was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1790, and bore a conspicuous part in the settle- ment and business development of the Genesee valley for more than a half century, his extensive and successful mercantile operations covering the counties of Livingston,
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Allegany and Wyoming. In 1842 he was elected president of the Bank of Dansville, which position he held for many years. His residence on Main street is now the Dansville General Hospital. Mr. Bradner died in 1872. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Luther Grant, as follows: Charles Hammond of this review; Henry Evans, who was secretary of the American Glucose Company but is now deceased; Lester Bradner, who was connected with the paper manufacturing firm of Bradner, Smith & Company in Chicago to the time of his death; Mrs. Lucy Grant Hall, a resident of Dansville; Fanny Bradner, the wife of John Gregory, president of the Central Bank of Rochester; Alice Bradner, who is the wife of Richard W. Adams of the Power Specialty Company of Dansville; and Mary Louise of Dansville.
Charles Hammond Grant, whose name introduces this article, was born in Dans- ville on August 5, 1861, and was educated in the public schools. He has followed farming and stock raising very successfully and has under his management about six hundred acres of valuable land in Livingston county. He is interested in all modern developments along agricultural lines and specializes in the breeding of fine sheep, of which he has made a careful study. In the public life of his community he fills an important place. His fellow townsmen called him to the office of mayor in 1923 and he has been serving as a supervisor of Livingston county since 1916, accomplishing much important and beneficial work in both connections. He is a member of the Episcopal church and his political views are in accord with the prin- ciples of the democratic party. He has advanced with the scientific progress of agri- culture and by his prosperity in a modern enterprise directed along systematic lines, has contributed materially toward the development of the resources of this section of the state.
HENRY R. HOWARD.
Rochester has long been known as one of the centers of the shoe manufacturing industry, and among the men who are responsible for the prestige which the city today enjoys is numbered Henry R. Howard, whose industry and initiative have found expression in the development of a large leather business, which was founded over a quarter of a century ago. Although he has reached the age of seventy-seven, he is still at the helm of his business, and his physical and mental powers are seemingly undiminished, for he has wisely conserved his forces, correctly estimating life's values and purposes. He was born in this city on the 9th of November, 1846, a son of James and Sarah (Andrews) Howard, the latter a daughter of Randall Andrews and a native of the Empire state. The father was born in England, subsequently becoming a resident of Rochester, and for many years was a member of the firm of Pancost, Sage & Morse.
After completing his public school training Henry R. Howard became a student at the Rochester Free Academy and later served an apprenticeship to the printer's trade. Finding the work uncongenial, he decided to fit himself for another vocation and took a course in the Eastman Business College. He obtained a position in the factory of the Pancost, Sage & Morse Company and subsequently was assigned the duties of traveling salesman. He remained with the firm for seventeen years and then purchased the business of the Goodman-Larson Shoe Company, manufacturers, conducting the business until 1893, when fire destroyed the building and its contents. Having small insurance, Mr. Howard was obliged to begin life anew, and he obtained a position as traveling salesman with a shoe manufacturing house, which he repre- sented in that capacity until 1897. He then entered the wholesale leather business, conducting the enterprise alone until his sons grew to manhood, when they became partners in the undertaking. It is operated under the name of H. R. Howard & Sons, Incorporated, and as president of the firm Mr. Howard displays notable foresight and executive ability of a high order, while his integrity has never been open to question.
On the 23d of October, 1878, Mr. Howard was married to Miss Margaret Elizabeth Taylor, a daughter of John Taylor of Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Howard became the parents of five children, all of whom were born in this city: Elinor Pearl is the wife of J. D. Sullivan, a prominent attorney of Rochester, and they have four children, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Henry Randall and Sarah Lee Sullivan; Harry Lee Howard, the second in order of birth, has passed away; James Taylor Howard, who is associated in business with his father and brother, is married to Miss Mabel Brooks of Rochester, and they have two children, Taylor Brooks and Edna Howard; Elizabeth is the wife of Clifford Keller and the mother of three children, Margaret, Michael and Taylor Howard Keller; Thomas Edward Howard, also a member of the firm of H. R. Howard
HENRY R. HOWARD
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& Sons, is married to Miss Pearl Smith of Hilton, New York, and they have a son, Thomas Howard.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Howard have traveled life's journey together for forty- six years and theirs is an ideal union, cemented by perfect understanding and mutual helpfulness. They enter into athletic sports with the spirit and zest of youth and both are expert skaters. During the winter seasons they are frequently seen gliding over the ice in the park lagoons and the summer months are spent in their cottage on the lake front. Several years ago Mr. Howard purchased a large tract of land here and erected on the property homes for himself and his children. He was a boy of thirteen at the outbreak of the Civil war and although anxious to go to the front he could not gain his parents' permission to enlist until the last year of the war, because of his extreme youth. He then became a private of the Fifty-fourth New York Regi- ment, with which he served until the cessation of hostilities between the north and the south. Mr. Howard is a Baptist in religious faith and is affiliated with the Lake Avenue church of that denomination. He is a member of the Genesee Falls Lodge of Masons and also belongs to the Rochester Historical Society and the Art Club of this city. He has lived to witness many changes as Rochester has emerged from villagehood and taken on the aspects of an industrial center, and his labors have been a constructive force in its development. He has found life well worth the living, mak- ing the most of it day by day, and can look back over the past without regret and forward to the future without fear, for he has never deviated from the path of rectitude and honor.
HOMER EUGENE SNYDER.
On the roster of county officials in Ontario county appears the name of Homer Eugene Snyder, who is the capable incumbent in the position of treasurer, which he is now filling for the third term. The Snyder family has long been represented in Ontario county, of which both Homer E. Snyder and his father are native sons. He was born in Victor, on the 22nd of July, 1872, his parents being Martin V. B. and Hattie (Warren) Snyder, the former born on a farm in the town of Victor, June 2, 1845. The paternal grandparents, Josiah and Maria (Bonesteel) Snyder, had a family of four children, as follows: Two who died in infancy; Charles H., who died at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1862, as a soldier of the Union army; and Martin V. B. Snyder. The last named obtained a district school education and devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits with excellent success throughout his active life. During the past fourteen years he has lived in honorable retirement, making his home in the village in the town in which he was born. Because of his youth he was rejected for service in the Civil war a number of times before being finally accepted in the closing year of the conflict, when he joined the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth New York Infantry. He was transferred from that command to Company D of the One Hundred and Second New York Infantry and served for five months altogether. Martin V. B. Snyder is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and gives his political support to the republican party. He has attained the age of eighty years and enjoys an extensive and favorable acquaintance throughout the community which has always been his home. It was on the 27th of November, 1866, that he wedded Miss Hattie Warren. Their children are nine in number, namely: Hattie M., Charles H., Marion J., Homer Eugene, Lena A., Lillian J., Josiah E., Cora V. and Ira M.
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