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 82
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In the words of the late A. O. Bunnell, Colonel Doty gave to this work "the best energies of a trained mind and conscientious devotion to the highest interests of his native county. This work, most painstaking and exhaustive, was continued until the pencil dropped from fingers palsied by death. The world of valuable work conscien- tiously, tirelessly performed by Colonel Doty in his various positions is immeasurable, almost astounding, and through it all he bore his labors so cheerfully, so uprightly, that he won the praise of all parties, with a spotless integrity unquestioned. As Christian, patriot, husband, father, brother, his forty-six years of noble, useful life made the world better and happier."
LOCKWOOD RICHARD DOTY. By Gordon K. Miller.
Lockwood Richard Doty, the present county judge and surrogate of Livingston county, and prominent member of the bar of western New York, was born December 2, 1858, at Albany, New York, a son of Lockwood Lyon and Sarah (Abell) Doty.
Lockwood R. Doty received his education in the Albany Academy; the Temple Hill Academy at Geneseo, New York; the Normal school at Geneseo; Mount Wash- ington Collegiate Institute, at New York; Hasbrouck's Institute at Jersey City, New Jersey, and Columbia College Law School, New York city, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1880.
Mr. Doty immediately began the practice of the profession for which he had prepared himself. In the years of his legal activity at Geneseo he has won for him- self an enviable reputation as a counsellor, a position of respect and honor rewarded in 1914 by his election as county judge and surrogate of Livingston county. In 1920, after six years of service upon the bench, he was reelected. Like his worthy father. Judge Doty has always been a stanch republican. He was a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1894, and has also served as super- visor of the town of Geneseo, and as president, clerk, police justice and attorney of
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the village. Judge Doty served faithfully as chairman of the Livingston County Home Defense Committee while the World war was in progress.
During the years of his residence at Geneseo, Judge Doty has been active in many things of a public nature, movements for the social and civic betterment of the com- munity. He has been honored with positions of trust and responsibility on many occasions. Among his various connections may be mentioned briefly the following : director of the Genesee Valley National Bank; member of the local board of managers of the Geneseo State Normal School; trustee of the Wadsworth Library at Geneseo; trustee of the Geneseo Masonic Lodge, of which he has been master; former presi- dent of the William P. Letchworth Memorial Association; former president and now councilman of the Livingston County Historical Society; president of the Genesee Country Historical Association; member of the State Historical Association of New York; member of the Rochester Historical Society; member of the New York State Archaelogical Association; member of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society and committeeman on Letchworth Park of that society. Judge Doty's fraternal affiliations, in addition to the Masonic order already mentioned, include membership in the Genesee Valley Club of Rochester, New York; the National Republican Club of New York; the Geneseo Club of Geneseo; and the New York State Society of Mayflower Descendants. He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church of Geneseo.
For many years Judge Doty has been recognized as one of the foremost historical authorities upon Livingston county and the Genesee country, and as such has held a number of executive positions as indicated above. In 1905 he assisted in the prepara- tion of an exhaustive history of Livingston county, which was very largely the sub- stance and continuation of his father's earlier history of the county. Again, in 1924 and 1925, Judge Doty acted as editor-in-chief of the The History of the Genesee Country, the publication of which this sketch is a part.
Lockwood R. Doty was married June 6, 1887, at Geneseo to Jennie A. West, the daughter of Dr. James A. West. Mrs. Doty's death occurred May 1, 1924. To them were born three children: Mary A., who is the wife of Howard S. Teall, of Rochester, New York; Louise A., the wife of James W. Colt, Jr., of Cleveland, Ohio; and Lockwood W. Doty, who passed away December 26, 1922. The last named was a veteran of the World war, during which service he attained the rank of major; he married Flora C. Weaver, of Lockport, New York, who survives him, with a son, Lockwood R. Doty II.
GRANGER FAMILY. (Rochester Branch.)
Representatives of the Granger family have been identified with Rochester's history for more than a century and a quarter and have figured in its annals from the days of pioneer development. The last surviving member of the family in the male line was the late Lyman Henry Granger of Rochester, a highly esteemed citi- zen who worthily upheld the splendid family name and prestige through a long and honorable life that spanned nearly eighty-six years. The family lineage is traced to Launcelot Granger, the American progenitor of this branch of the family, who was born in England and came to this country, settling in Suffield, Connecticut, where he died on September 3, 1689. In 1653 or 1654 he married Joanna, daughter of Robert Adams. She died after 1701. Samuel Granger, son of Launcelot and Joanna (Adams) Granger, was born on August 2, 1668, and died in Suffield, Connecticut, on April 22, 1721. He married Esther Hanchett, who was born in 1678 and died in 1721.
Robert Granger, son of Samuel and Esther (Hanchett) Granger, was born on the 6th of May, 1710, and departed this life on the 14th of February, 1785. He married Ann Seymour in 1731 and resided at Suffield, where he was a farmer and held various public offices. Zadock Granger, son of Robert and Ann (Seymour) Granger, was born on July 20, 1736, at Suffield, and was an agriculturist by occu- pation and also interested in mills, mines and fisheries. He was known as Colonel Zadock Granger. He served with the rank of lieutenant in the Second Company of the Suffield Train Band in March, 1775, and became captain in May, 1775. He was a private in Captain Elihu Kent's company of Minute-Men at the Lexington alarm. Previous to 1793 he had purchased land on the Phelps and Gorham tract, and when
Syman
Granger
Lyman H. Granger
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the settlement commenced he followed his son, Eli, who had located thereon at King's Landing in Greece. Colonel Zadock Granger here became a factor in business activi- ties as a shipowner and merchant at the dock. He died July 17, 1799, of the so- called "Genesee fever", and was buried in the old cemetery, but unfortunately the grave was unmarked. In 1761 he married Martha Cooley, who was born in Sunder- land, Massachusetts, in 1742 and died in Rochester on February 6, 1823. Their son, Eli, was the grandfather of Lyman H. Granger of this review. Eli Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut, April 12, 1763, and died in what is now Greece, Monroe county, New York, May 4, 1823.
Eli Granger was the first of the family to come to the Genesee country. In 1796, in company with Elisha Kent and Thomas, Gideon and Silas King, he started from Suffield for the Genesee country. The men traveled in covered sleighs and were accompanied by their wives. They settled on the land previously purchased by Colonel Zadock Granger and Stephen King-at what became King's Landing, later called Handford's Landing, a thriving little settlement. Here Eli Granger opened a general store which he conducted for several years. He became the first town clerk in 1797. In 1799, in association with Abner Mignells, he built at King's Landing the first sailing merchant vessel conducted by Americans and used on Lake Ontario. This vessel was named "Jemima" after Mrs. Granger. Eli Granger was married in Suffield to Jemima Leavitt, who was born in 1765 and was the daughter of John Leavitt, a merchant of Suffield. She died on December 2, 1818. By her marriage she became the mother of three daughters and three sons who are named below. Lucretia, whose birth occurred in Suffield on November 21, 1786, married William Hincher (II), an agriculturist at Charlotte, where she passed away on the 28th of September, 1849. Clarissa, whose natal day was March 28, 1788, became the wife of Calvin Bronson and removed to Toledo, Ohio, where she died on June 22, 1810. Calvin, born on December 6, 1790, married Roxanna Chamberlain and died at Hornellsville (Hornell), New York, on March 4, 1861. John, whose birth occurred on the 9th of November, 1791, married Susan Stone and removed to Toledo, Ohio. Lyman Granger was born on June 27, 1794. Arabella, born at Kings Landing, December 5, 1800, mar- ried Elihu Grover, who was born in Scipio, August 23, 1808, and was a shoe merchant of Rochester. She died April 20, 1874.
The last named, youngest of the children of Eli and Jemima Granger, was a farmer and wagon maker and also operated a store at one time. He resided in Greece, Monroe county, for a few years, but Rochester was his home during a number of years prior to his death. He was the owner of considerable land which in later years became very valuable. Some of his holdings were plotted by James N. Bruff, one of Rochester's pioneer surveyors, into what was later known as Granger, Sibley and Field tract, lying west of Jefferson avenue and traversed by that and Genesee street. Lyman Granger was a citizen of worth, much esteemed and respected. He died on the 2d of July, 1865. On the 19th of May, 1818, he married Electa Cooley, who died without issue. On November 7, 1820, he wedded Mabel Terry, who was born on December 17, 1795, and departed this life on the 8th of July, 1827. Two children were born of this union. The elder Terry, whose birth occurred on February 8, 1823, became a chemist and druggist. No information concerning his where- abouts was ever received after he started for California in 1861. Harriet, daughter of Lyman and Mabel (Terry) Granger, was born on August 3, 1824, became the wife of James G. Russell and departed this life on January 20, 1846. For his third wife Lyman Granger chose Elizabeth Kempshall, who was born on August 7, 1803, and died on September 28, 1850. Their children were four in number, namely: Leavitt P., whose birth occurred on November 25, 1832, and who died on December 26, 1876; Elizabeth, who passed away in 1853 .; and Lyman H., whose natal day was May 18, 1837.
Lyman Henry Granger, son of Lyman and Elizabeth (Kempshall) Granger, was born in Greece, on the 18th of May, 1837, and was a boy of seven years when his father returned to Rochester. He was educated in the public schools and acquired a knowledge of the printer's trade in the employ of the Union-Advertiser, but he never worked at it. For about ten years beginning with 1860 he was connected with the business office of the Evening Express in Rochester, opening the first set of books in that office, and after leaving there he devoted his attention to his private inter- ests, which through his able management became somewhat extensive. His resi- dence for forty-five years was at No. 15 Plymouth avenue, but about a half dozen years before his death he purchased the property at No. 30 Appleton street and there he passed away on April 16, 1923. He was buried in Mount Hope cemetery. Fraternally he was identified with the Masonic order, belonging to Rochester Lodge,
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F. & A. M. He was not a church member but at all times exemplified the spirit of the Golden Rule. He was a very capable business man, had a high sense of personal honor, his word was as good as his bond and his bond never questioned. He was eminently fair and just in his dealings, never made an obligation he did not expect to keep, asked only for what was justly due him and was equally as insistent that others receive from him what was due them. He made liberal contributions to charity with as little publicity as possible, so that many of his generosities became known only when the recipients made public acknowledgment of them. Lyman H. Granger detested sham and hypocrisy in any form. He was fond of travel and in earlier years found much pleasure in outdoor life, especially in hunting and fishing. Fond of children, he frequently sought their companionship and he was never happier than when they surrounded him and he could do little things for their pleasure. He possessed a fund of humor which made him a delightful companion. His mind was keen and to the end he retained all his faculties to an unusual degree.
On the 6th of April, 1859, Lyman H. Granger was married to Mary B. Martyn, whose birth occurred in Cornwall, England, on December 17, 1829, her parents being William and Sarah Elizabeth (Brown) Martyn. William Martyn and his wife emi- grated to Canada from England in 1846, settling in Coburn, Ontario. They became the parents of four sons and four daughters, of whom one son and one daughter were born in Canada. Of their family there are now only two survivors: John B., of Bowenville, Ontario; and Caroline, the wife of Thomas Marriott of Harrow, On- tario. Another daughter was Sarah B., who married Richard Glanville and resided at Exeter, Ontario, where she died. Alma C., daughter of Richard and Sarah B. (Martyn) Glanville, became the foster daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman H. Granger when a young girl. She lives with Mrs. Granger, who is now in her ninety-sixth year, at the residence on Appleton street in Rochester. Between foster parents and daughter there developed a devotion not surpassed by any bond between parents and child. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman H. Granger had a daughter, Mabel Elizabeth, who died on September 2, 1865. Their happy married life, which extended over a period of sixty-four years, was terminated by the death of Lyman H. Granger in April, 1923.
ARENDT W. HOPEMAN.
It is not regarded as too much to say that for many years "Hopeman quality" in architectural and structural work in and about the city of Rochester and through- out that section of the Genesee country has been held up as a standard in the building trades, a standard that was established here a half century and more ago, when Arendt W. Hopeman set himself up in business as a building contractor in Rochester, and which, during all the years since, has been maintained. Even a cursory survey of the architectural aspects of the city of Rochester will reveal many evidences of this Hopeman quality in the character of the buildings which adorn that city. There are many business buildings and fine old residences that more than a half century ago were erected by Arendt W. Hopeman. Though now (1925) well past eighty year's of age Mr. Hopeman retains much of the sturdy vigor that contributed to the tireless energy he put into his work during the days of his greater personal activity, and as the head of the contracting firm which bears his name, he keeps in close touch with its operations. Though of European birth, Arendt W. Hopeman has been a resident of the United States and of Rochester since the days of his young manhood. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of the village of Alton, in the kingdom of Holland, April 13, 1843, and was the last born of the six children of John William and Johanna (Kappers) Hopeman, both members of old families in The Netherlands.
Reared on the home place, Arendt W. Hopeman received good education in the local schools. When but fourteen years of age he had become interested in the building trades as a vocation, and while at school in the neighboring town of Brerderverdt he entered upon an apprenticeship as a carpenter and architectural draftsman. By the time he was eighteen he had finished his apprenticeship, and in due time, as a skilled architect, was put in charge of the operations of a firm of building contractors in Brerderverdt. In this connection he superintended the erec- tion of some important buildings there, these including churches and mills as well as dwelling-houses. One of these jobs which he recalls quite well was a large cotton mill, and it is gratifying to Mr. Hopeman to know that this mill is still occupied and in operation.
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ARENDT W. HOPEMAN
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In November, 1868, in his homeland, Arendt W. Hopeman was united in mar- riage to Miss Grada Aleida te Boveldt, also a member of an old Netherlands family, and he and his bride planned a wedding trip that would include a tour of the United States, at least as far as the Northwest country. By prior arrangement they were to visit friends in Rochester, New York, and they arrived in that city on Christmas Day of that year. The extensive building campaign at that time being carried on in Rochester as an incident to the "boom" following the close of the Civil war, proved so attractive to Mr. Hopeman that before this visit was ended he had decided that America was the place for him and that Rochester was a proper base of operations for one skilled in structural work. It was thus that in 1869 Arendt W. Hopeman became established as a building contractor in Rochester and there set up what, as mentioned above, has come through the years to be known as the Hopeman standard in building operations. For many years Mr. Hopeman conducted his business as an individual, his sons meanwhile "growing up" in the business. In 1908 the business became incorporated as the A. W. Hopeman & Sons Company, Mr. Hopeman's sons, Bertram C. Hopeman and Albert A. Hopeman, at that time becoming formally asso- ciated with him, the founder of the company continuing as president, A. A. Hopeman becoming vice president and B. C. Hopeman, secretary and treasurer, with offices and plant at No. 569 Lyell avenue.
During the earlier years of Mr. Hopeman's career as a building contractor in Rochester his operations were confined chiefly to the construction of a better class of dwelling-houses, store buildings and what in those days were called "flat" build- ings, the precursor of the modern apartment house, and many of these substantial old buildings of his construction are still in use. His first work of a semi-public character was in carrying out the contract for the erection of the passenger and freight depots of the Erie Railroad on Court street. As a note in the historical annals of the city of Rochester, mention may be made of a few of the works in the building line carried on by the Hopemans. These include the Kimball residence on Troup street, the Duffy-Powers store building, the office building of the Eastman Kodak Company, the office building in Kodak Park and the Rochester Dental Dis- pensary. The Hopemans also were the general contractors for the erection of the Eastman Theater and the Eastman School of Music buildings, the Sibley, Lindsay & Curr building and additions thereto, the J. C. McCurdy building and others of like character.
As an auxiliary to the Hopeman building operations there was organized in 1908 the Hopeman Brothers Lumber & Manufacturing Company, with Mr. Hopeman as vice president, Bertram C. Hopeman as president and Albert A. Hopeman as secretary and treasurer. This latter company carried on its operations at the above Lyell avenue address, where it has an admirably equipped plant for the manufacture and erection of ship joinery and is one of the best known concerns of its kind in the country. It is not improper to point out in this connection that the Hopeman Brothers Lumber & Manufacturing Company has manufactured and installed the interior finish of no fewer than seventy ocean-going vessels, this including an important detail of the remodeling of the giant steamer Leviathan by the United States shipping board and the manufacture and installation of the interior finish of the steamship H. F. Alex- ander and Mary Weems and others of like type. This company also maintains a plant in Philadelphia and is widely known in shipbuilding circles.
Mr. Hopeman's wife, Mrs. Grada Aleida Hopeman, died on July 20, 1920, some- thing more than a year after she and Mr. Hopeman had celebrated the fiftieth anni- versary of their marriage-their golden wedding. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopeman five children were born, three sons and two daughters: The eldest son, John W. Hopeman, and the eldest daughter, Antoine Beatrice, are deceased; the surviving daughter, Miss J. Margaret Hopeman, continues to make her home with her father in the Hopeman family residence at No. 39 Lake View Park. Miss Hopeman was graduated from Rochester University, supplemented this by postgraduate work at Columbia Uni- versity and Cornell University and has for years been a member of the teaching staff of the East high school in Rochester; Bertram C. Hopeman, president of the Hopeman Brothers Lumber & Manufacturing Company and vice president of the A. W. Hopeman & Sons Company, was born in Rochester, December 31, 1876, and finished his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated in 1900. On April 27, 1909, he was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Warren Wheeler of Worcester, Massachusetts, and they reside in Moylan, a suburb of the city of Philadelphia.
Albert A. Hopeman, vice president of the A. W. Hopeman & Sons Company and secretary and treasurer of the Hopeman Brothers Lumber & Manufacturing Com-
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pany, was born in Rochester, September 27, 1880, and finished his education in the Rochester Academy. From the days of his boyhood he has been actively identified with the Hopeman building enterprises and has become a leader in his line in western New York. On September 14, 1910, Mr. Hopeman was united in marriage to Miss Anna Marie Messner, who was born in the city of New York, daughter of Jacob Messner. Mr. and Mrs. Albert A. Hopeman have two children: A son, Albert A. Hopeman, Jr., born October 2, 1911; and a daughter, Grada Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Hopeman are members of the Brick church and of the Oak Hill Country Club and Mr. Hopeman is an active member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. This family resides at No. 45 Lake View Park, near the old Hopeman residence. The Hopemans are republicans. The venerable Arendt W. Hopeman is a member of the Second Reformed church, of the congregation of which he formerly and for years was an elder, and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local good works. Though now well past eighty years of age, he continues hale and hearty and maintains his interest in affairs. He is widely traveled, having been over the greater part of the United States and up into Alaska, and has made several trips back to Europe, ever keeping alert to current events.
VERY REV. THOMAS PLASSMANN, O. F. M., A. M., Ph. D., D. D.
Very Rev. Thomas Plassmann, president of St. Bonaventure's College of Alle- gany, became connected with this institution in September, 1910, and has been at its head since July, 1920. He was born in Avenwedde, Westphalia, Germany, on the 19th of March, 1879, the son of Otto and Elizabeth (Paschedag) Plassmann, both of German lineage.
Father Plassmann was a young man of twenty years when in 1899 he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Quincy College of Quincy, Illinois, which conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts in 1902. He received the degree of Ph. D. from the Catholic University in Washington, D. C., in 1907 and two years later was graduated from the University of the Apollinare in Rome, Italy, with the degree of D. D. He also attended the universities of Louvain (Belgium) and Bonn (Germany).
It was in 1899 that Father Plassmann entered the Franciscan order (Order of Friars Minor) in Paterson, New Jersey, while eight years afterward, in 1907, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic church in Washington, D. C. He became professor of theology, sacred scripture and Oriental languages at St. Bonaventure's College and Seminary of Allegany, New York, in September, 1910, and has been president of the institution since July, 1920. Father Plassmann is author of several books and treatises on theology, oriental languages and history. He has been president of the Franciscan Educational Conference for seven years, and for two years president of the seminary department of the Catholic Education Association. In addition he has taken a prominent part in all public enterprises in Olean and in Cattaraugus county generally.
CHARLES EDWARD KETCHUM.
From a purely material and business standpoint, and considered solely from the magnitude of operations, the wide ramifications of his business, the capital employed, the large number of workmen, and yearly disbursements in salaries and wages, the most important individual in Warsaw, Wyoming county, is Charles Edward Ketchum, president of the Warsaw Elevator Company, where the industry of which he is the directing head is one of the most important factors in the town's prosperity. He was born in Phelps, New York, November 13, 1864, the son of James E. and Abbie P. (Young) Ketchum of Phelps and Warsaw. His father conducted a contracting business in Phelps and later moved to Warsaw, where he remained until his death.
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