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 83
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Charles Edward Ketchum received his education in the grade and high schools of Warsaw, supplemented by a course in a business college at Buffalo, New York. After completing his education Mr. Ketchum entered the employ of his father, remain- ing with the latter until May, 1894, when he became secretary and treasurer of the Variety Machine Company of Warsaw. The name of this enterprise was changed in 1895 to that of the Warsaw Elevator Company, and at the same time Mr. Ketchum
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was made its secretary. He continued in this capacity until 1914, when he became president of the company. Mr. Ketchum is also the owner and president of the Bay State Elevator Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, and employs more than two hundred people in the conduct of the two industries over which he presides. He in- stalls elevators throughout the country, has branches in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Buffalo and Rochester and is head of the third largest ele- vator concern in the United States.
Mr. Ketchum was married in Warsaw, on June 23, 1892, to Elizabeth Dudley, daughter of Harwood A. Dudley, who conducted a newspaper in Warsaw for many years. Two children have been born to them: Anna Elizabeth is a teacher of domestic science in the Ely Court School in Greenwich, Connecticut; and Sybil Louise is the wife of Douglas Dwight Judd of Batavia, New York, and is the mother of two children, Elizabeth Waldo and Edward Douglas. Douglas D. Judd is secretary of the Bay State Elevator Company.
Mr. Ketchum has been too busy ever to join any fraternal or social organization. In his religious convictions he is a member of the Presbyterian church, while his political views find expression in the republican party. He has a wonderfully hand- some home in Warsaw, which is considered one of the show places of the town and on which he has spent much money and indulged a fine artistic taste. Mr. Ketchum delights in motoring and outdoor sports of all kinds.
THOMAS F. McMAHON.
Thomas F. McMahon, lumberman, manufacturer, banker, formerly and for years a member of the board of supervisors of the town of Allegany, Cattaraugus county, and in many ways one of the most energetic and influential factors in the develop- ment of the interests of that community and of that section of the Genesee country in which his extensive and varied interests center, was born on a farm in the imme- diate vicinity of Allegany, in 1864, and has always regarded that place as his home, though his timber interests require the spending of a good bit of his time in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, where he has large forest holdings.
Reared on the farm in the Allegany neighborhood, Thomas F. McMahon finished his education in St. Bonaventure's parochial school in the village and from the days of his youth was a helpful factor in the labors of improving and developing the home farm. He gradually began to enlarge his interest in the local lumber business and it was not long until he found that he had developed interests along that line sufficient to claim his undivided attention. He thus was launched upon a career which in course has made him one of the conspicuous figures in the lumber industry in the Genesee country. From his initial holdings in Cattaraugus county Mr. McMahon extended his operations into the neighboring county of Allegany, establishing saw- mills in the virgin timber country, and after exhausting most of the available timber resources in this field extended his operations into St. Lawrence and Jefferson coun- ties, in which he now owns about four thousand acres of timberland and where he is carrying on extensive operations in the woodworking industries. For more than fifteen years, operating in partnership with C. J. Frahm under the firm style of the Natural Bridge Last Company, Mr. McMahon has been engaged in the manufacture of last blocks at Natural Bridge, New York, and has developed there a flourishing industry, employing around one hundred persons and using about one million, five hundred thousand feet of hard maple stock annually. In addition to his timber and manufacturing interests Mr. McMahon has other substantial interests, including his place as chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Allegany. For eighteen years he rendered effective public service as a member of the board of supervisors of the town of Allegany and in that capacity did much to help bring about the substantial development of that now flourishing trade center. He is a member of the local council of the Knights of Columbus and a member of the City Club at Carthage.
The First National Bank of Allegany, of the board of directors of which Mr. McMahon is the chairman, a position he has occupied ever since the creation of that. board, was organized in 1903, succeeding the private bank of M. M. and William Dye, which had been in operation there for about thirty years. The officiary of this bank at the time of its organization in 1903 was as follows: President, Frederick Smith; cashier, Claire Willard; assistant cashier, Wallace H. Windus, the organiza- tion having been brought about largely through the direction of H. C. Morgan of
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Cuba. Mr. Smith continued as president of the bank for about ten years, at the end of which time he was succeeded by Mr. Willard, who in 1922 was succeeded by the present president, Harry M. Krampf, with Thomas F. McMahon as the chairman of the board of directors, H. J. Zimmerman as vice president and J. Ray McAuliffe as cashier. The bank owns the building it occupies, is capitalized at twenty-five thousand dollars, has near two thousand depositors with aggregate deposits of about five hundred thousand dollars, and has a surplus of about fifty-five thousand dollars.
WILLARD J. MORROW.
A motor enthusiast, indeed, is Willard J. Morrow, automobile dealer of Corning New York, whose recreation is motoring, as is also his business. He has been a director of the Automobile Club for a number of years. But before he reached the position of president of one of the most complete auto sales concerns in the Genesee country he had many hard struggles, from newsboy to factory hand, and then in a small business for himself. Mr. Morrow has made a success, however, and is still a young man. He was born in Bath, New York, January 27, 1878, the son of Alexander and Jennie (Look) Morrow. His parents moved to a farm six miles from Bath when he was an infant and lived there until he was eight years old.
Willard J. Morrow obtained a public school education, helping himself along by selling newspapers and when school days were over he came to Corning (he was only thirteen then) to work in a glass factory. When he was nineteen he went into business for himself as a groceryman and conducted this enterprise for seven years, when he operated a livery stable until 1914, when the automobile began to take the place of the horse. Mr. Morrow kept up with the times and started his present business, and he has a garage in connection with the sales department. He erected the present building in the spring of 1923. In 1922 the business was incorporated as the W. J. Morrow Company, he being president and Mr. M. Guernsey secretary- treasurer.
On January 21, 1900, Mr. Morrow was married to Miss Isabelle Armstrong of Corning, and they have four children: Louise, Clayton, Norman and Dorothy. They reside in the house in which Mrs. Morrow was born. Mr. Morrow is active fraternally, being a member of the Masons and the Elks, and he also belongs to the Rotary Club and the Corning Country Club. He is a republican in politics and served two terms as alderman from the first ward, the years being 1916 to 1920. He spends the winters in Florida with his family but always likes to get home again to Corning, the city where he has spent so many useful years.
W. J. Morrow's grandfather, Thomas Morrow, a farmer, came from Ireland and settled in Steuben county. His mother's people, the Looks, are of old American stock. In August, 1923, the Morrow and Hervey families held a notable reunion at James Hervey's home in Steuben county.
A. D. STEVENS.
A. D. Stevens, mayor of the village of Painted Post in Steuben county, vice president of the National Bank of that place, vice president and manager of the Painted Post Development Company, for many years a member of the school board and in other ways one of the foremost factors in the general life of the community, is a native son of the Genesee country and all his active and useful life has been spent here, a resident of Painted Post for nearly forty years and one of the real "live wires" in development projects in Steuben county. He was born on what is known as the old Macy farm in the immediate vicinity of Avon in the neighboring county of Livingston, July 19, 1864, and is a son of Edwin I. and Julia (Deming) Stevens, the former of whom was born on that same place, a member of one of the pioneer families there, his parents having come into western New York from Massa- chusetts. The Stevenses of this line are an old colonial family, dating from early settlement days in the Massachusetts colony.
Reared in Avon, A. D. Stevens received his education in the schools of that place and early became interested in the lumber business, being in the employ of the lumber firm of Watkins & Bennett in Avon, a connection he maintained until he was twenty-four years of age, when, in 1888, he transferred his connection to Stanton,
WILLARD J. MORROW
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Crandall & Company in Painted Post and has ever since been a resident of this latter place. This connection brought Mr. Stevens into close touch with general development activities in and about that village and he presently became the active factor in the organization of the Painted Post Development Company, of which he was elected vice president and made general manager. It is sufficient to say that through the efforts of this organization no fewer than one hundred and twenty-five houses have been built in Painted Post since Mr. Stevens took hold of the manage- ment of affairs there. In 1921 he helped in the organization of the Painted Post National Bank and was elected its vice president. When it came time to construct a waterworks system and erect an electric light plant in Painted Post he was one of the chief "boosters" in the promotion of these essential public service projects. He has ever taken an equally active and interested part in the promotion of the general social and cultural interests of the village and during his twenty years of service as a member of the local school board has done much to advance the cause of the schools there. By successive reelections he has served as mayor of the village for twelve years and more and in this responsible executive position has rendered a very real and permanent service to the community.
Mr. Stevens married Miss Lydia Fancher and they have one child: A daughter, Jennie, who is now the wife of W. F. Zimmerman of Waverly. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Stevens has been a member of the board of trustees of that congregation for many years. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with the Consistory at Corning and the Temple at Binghamton, is a past Noble Grand of the local lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and a past district deputy of that order, and is also connected with the Rotary Club and the Country Club.
EDWARD BUTTERFIELD VREELAND.
There are few names in the Genesee country or throughout the state of New York that are better known than that of Edward Butterfield Vreeland, president of the Salamanca Trust Company of Salamanca, formerly and for years the repre- sentative in congress from the Thirty-seventh district of New York, a national figure during the period of that service, known as the joint author of the Vreeland-Aldrich emergency currency bill, vice chairman of the notable monetary commission upon whose labors the present Federal Reserve banking system is founded, and in other ways a conspicuous and influential factor in the commercial and industrial expansion of this section of the country. Mr. Vreeland is a native New Yorker and all his life has been spent in this state. He was born in Cuba, Allegany county in Decem- ber, 1857, and is a son of Simon and Jerusha (Butterfield) Vreeland, the latter of whom was a member of that branch of the Butterfield family which has had repre- sentation in this section for the past hundred years. The late Simon Vreeland, whose name ever will be held in remembrance in industrial circles as the inventor of the suspension steel wheel and certain other well known devices for simplifying mechan- ical processes, also was a member of one of the old families throughout this section of the state, his father having settled here at a time that must be considered as having been well within the pioneer period. The Vreelands of this line are an old colonial family, the first of the name on this side of the water having been a settler in the settlement that through the generations since has been developed into the present Jersey City. One branch of this family in course became members of the Geneva settlement in New York and from that branch came Simon Vreeland's father, the first of the family to come west into the Genesee country.
Reared in Cuba, Edward Butterfield Vreeland finished his education in the local academy and then began teaching school. When in his twentieth year (1877) he was appointed principal of the Salamanca schools and was for five years thus engaged, meanwhile studying law and devoting his vacation periods to the insurance business. In 1881 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Salamanca, soon becoming recognized as one of the forceful and effective personal factors in the general affairs of that community, social, civic and commercial. In 1890 Mr. Vreeland was elected president of the Salamanca National Bank and when in 1903 this old financial institution was reorganized as the Salamanca Trust Company he was elected president of the latter and has since been serving in that adminis- trative capacity, his service as a bank president thus now having covered a period of something more than thirty-five years, making him one of the oldest bank execu-
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tives in the state. In 1898 Mr. Vreeland was elected to represent the Thirty- seventh congressional district of the state of New York in congress and by succes- sive reelections was retained in congress for fourteen years (1899-1913), thus ren- dering service in the house during the fifty-sixth to the sixty-second congresses, inclusive.
During this long period of service Mr. Vreeland acquired a degree of influence in the house of representatives that made him one of the real leaders in that body and a most effective factor in the shaping and initiation of measures of real weight and moment and by right of seniority he came to be a member of some of the most important committees of the house. It was as chairman of the banking and currency committee of the house, in his great work in initiating that emergency cur- rency bill designed to give relief to conditions arising out of what popularly came to be known as the "bank panic" of 1907, that he rendered a service to the country which has made secure his fame as one of the greatest constructive financiers the country has had. The Vreeland bill in the house, merged with the Aldrich bill in the senate and popularly known as the Vreeland-Aldrich emergency currency bill, was passed in 1908 and paved the way for reforms in the currency and banking systems of this country that so definitely stabilized conditions and gave to America its present sound monetary system. Upon the creation of the historic monetary commission appointed under the provisions of that act Mr. Vreeland was elected vice president of that commission and in that capacity made a comprehensive tour of the financial capitals of Europe, securing data relating to foreign banking methods, and upon his return traveled throughout the United States speaking before bankers associations and commercial bodies explaining the workings of the pro- posed new system of finance. Based upon the exhaustive labors of this monetary commission, a national monetary currency bill was enacted into law in 1911 and upon this is based the present Federal Reserve system, the soundness of which was so effectively and conclusively demonstrated during the period of financial stress attendant upon the recent World war and the readjustments arising out of that struggle. Following his strenuous labors in helping to bring about this admirable system, and aware that the task under which he had been laboring was undermining his health, Mr. Vreeland declined a renomination to congress in 1912 and has since then been devoting his energies to his banking and other interests in and about Salamanca, these interests including connection with numerous of the local indus- trial establishments and also large interests in the Bradford oil fields, his oil interests having engaged more or less of his attention since 1897. He also has ever given his thoughtful and intelligent attention to the promotion of the better interests of this section in all ways and has been a valuable factor in the general development of the community.
In Friendship, that pleasant village neighboring his native town of Cuba, Edward B. Vreeland was united in marriage to Miss Myra S. Price, and they have three children: Two daughters, Laura, wife of Burdette Whipple of Salamanca; and Anna, wife of Dr. H. S. Reger of Jamestown, this state; and a son, Edward P. Vreeland, who is associated with his father in the banking business and who is the treasurer of the Salamanca Trust Company.
FRANK J. ROHR.
Petroleum products are basic essentials-they are at the root of industrial pros- perity, for petroleum in some form enters into practically every civilized activity. Being an astute, farsighted business man, Frank J. Rohr early recognized the importance of the oil industry, with which he has been prominently identified for more than a quarter of a century, and he has also achieved success in other lines of endeavor. He is one of Rochester's loyal sons and was born April 24, 1869, of the marriage of Henry and Marie Rohr, who were natives of Switzerland. They followed the tide of immigration to the New World and settled in Rochester in 1853. The father was one of the pioneers in the industrial development of the city and was one of the first stockholders of the Co-operative Foundry, which now ranks with the largest institutions of the kind in Rochester. He passed away in 1875, and the mother died in 1882. They were the parents of seven children, five of whom survive: Edward, Mrs. Elizabeth Klein, Marie, Frank J., of this review and Daniel.
Frank J. Rohr attended the public schools and in 1897, when twenty-eight years of age, he aided in organizing the Monroe County Oil Company, of which he is now
FRANK J. ROHR
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serving as secretary and treasurer. They are producers of and wholesale dealers in pure petroleum, obtaining their supplies from the oil fields of Pennsylvania, and the business has become one of large proportions. Mr. Rohr's enterprising spirit has also led him into other channels of activity, in which his labors have been mani- festly resultant, and he is the executive head of the Elmer E. Harris Company of Buffalo, vice president of the Hawkeye Boiler Works of Batavia, and vice president and secretary of the A. G. Vroman Company of Titusville, New York. He derives much pleasure from the solution of intricate business problems and the exercise of effort keeps him alert.
On the 17th of February, 1909, Mr. Rohr was married to Miss Ida M. Moore, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Moore, prominent residents of Rochester. Mrs. Rohr received a good education and previous to her marriage was a teacher in Normal School No. 14, in Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Rohr have the following children: Dorothy, who was born in 1911; and Ruth, born in 1913.
Mr. Rohr is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also a Mason, belonging to Hamilton Chapter R. A. M. He is connected with the Young Men's Christian Association, the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and the Wash- ington, Kiwanis, Automobile, Brook-Lea Country and Yacht Clubs. Along the line of his business he is vice president of the Oil Jobbers Corporation. He is well informed on matters of public moment and his influence counts as a strong force in civic development and advancement. He has a wide acquaintance in Rochester and enjoys the respect of his fellowmen.
BOOTHE COLWELL DAVIS, LL. D.
Alfred University at Alfred, Allegany county, New York, is one of the older educational institutions of the Genesee country. Within a score of years of the earliest settlements in Allegany county the pioneers who cleared the forests began to plan for permanent educational institutions. Thus Alfred had its beginning in 1836. Its founders wished to serve a local and community need. Education, like religion, was considered indispensable for this rising population of western New York. Though fostered in its beginning by Seventh-day Baptist settlers, its charter and policies were from the first non-sectarian. Many of its teachers and eighty-five per cent of its students belong to a dozen other churches and creeds, Methodists and Presbyterians predominating. For more than a third of its nearly ninety years of history, Dr. Boothe Colwell Davis has been its able and distinguished president. He came into office in the last decade of the nineteenth century, at a period when the public high schools were supplanting the academies of the earlier generation. He had the vision of a growing university in this large territory without a competing college in a radius of nearly one hundred miles. He proceeded to clear off a heavy bonded indebtedness and to add buildings, equipment and endowments until its resources now run into millions, and its annual budget is equal to the total value of the plant when he became president thirty years ago. The annual enrollment now exceeds six hundred students and Alfred ranks as a "Class A" college. Through the activity of Doctor Davis the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics was established at Alfred University in 1900 and the New York State School of Agriculture in 1908.
Boothe Colwell Davis is a graduate of Alfred and of Yale, and has been the recipient of various honorary degrees. His activities have been widespread and he is connected with numerous organizations which have the advancement of education and human welfare as their ultimate aim. He was born July 12, 1863, near Jane Lew, Lewis county, West Virginia, the son of Rev. Samuel D. and Elizabeth (Fitz Randolph) Davis, his early education being gained in the district and public schools. He then entered Alfred University, where he received his A. B. degree in 1890, and then attended Yale University at New Haven, Connecticut, for three years, receiving his B. D. degree in 1903. He was ordained to the ministry of the Seventh-Day Baptist church in 1893 and was a pastor of the First Seventh-day Baptist church of Alfred from 1893 to 1895.
Doctor Davis, in addition to his duties as president of Alfred University, served for many years as professor of philosophy in the institution. He has been president of the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics at Alfred University since its founding in 1900, and president of the New York State School of Agriculture at Alfred University since its establishment in 1908. He is vice president of the
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National Society for Broader Education; is a member of the National Education Asso- ciation, the Religious Education Association and the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. He is the author of Country Life Leadership and many articles and papers on educational and religious topics. Fraternally Doctor Davis is affiliated with the Masonic order, and the local and state Grange.
Doctor Davis was married on May 18, 1893, to Estelle W. Hoffman of Shiloh, New Jersey. Three children have been born to them: Stanton H. is a physician in Plainfield, New Jersey .; Elizabeth R. became the wife of Frank E. Lobaugh of Roches- ter, Pennsylvania; and Boothe Colwell, Jr., resides in New Haven, Connecticut. Doc- tor Davis is also pastor of the Union (College) church in Alfred.
CHARLES HERBERT OCUMPAUGH.
In the business world of Rochester, Charles Herbert Ocumpaugh is held in high esteem and his influence is strong and far-reaching. Accustomed to weighing im- portant matters and controlling the operations of large enterprises, he is direct in his methods and his labors have been resultant factors in about everything that he has undertaken. His parents were Edmund and Sarah Julia (Darrow) Ocumpaugh, and on both his paternal and maternal sides he comes from old and prominent families of Rochester. Edmund Ocumpaugh was one of the leading business men of the city in his day. He conducted a wholesale and retail men's furnishing store and was extensively interested in various business projects. He left a large estate at the time of his death.
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