Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history, Part 55

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1160

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Mr. Powers has also been prominent in various other connections. He was twice elected alderman from the old Tenth ward, and was a member of the commissions which directed the construction of the City Hall and the elevation of the Central- Hudson Railroad tracks. Upon the incorporation of Powers Bank, the successor of the Powers Banking House, in June, 1890, he was elected its president, which posi- tion he has ever since held. He is also president of the board of trustees of the City Hospital. He is one of Rochester's most distinguished, enterprising, and public spirited citizens, and has done more than any other man to make the name of the city famous throughout the world.

In 1855 Mr. Powers married Miss Helen M. Craig, daughter of the late John Craig, of Niagara county. They have five children.

HENRY LIKLY.

THE subject of this sketch was born in Perth, Canada, January 18, 1836, and came to Rochester with his mother in the spring of 1848, his father, William Likly, having died but a short time before. After completing his education in the public schools of this city he entered the employ of A. R. Pritchard, manufacturer of trunks and trav- eling bags, who had established himself in that business here in 1844. Here Mr Likly served a regular apprenticeship, thoroughly mastering a trade with which he has ever since been prominently identified, and in which he has met with unvarying suc- cess. While he was connected with the establishment the firm became A. R. & F. H. Pritchard. January 1, 1868, he was given a partnership interest under the style of

BIOGRAPHICAL.

A. R. & F. H. Pritchard & Co., and three years later this name was changed to A. R. Pritchard & Likly. In February, 1879, Mr. Likly and his brother-in-law, W. D. Callister, as Henry Likly & Co., became sole proprietors, and since then have successfully conducted one of the largest concerns of the kind in this country. They consume annually more than half a million feet of lumber and manufacture over thirty thousand trunks and thousands of traveling bags, maintaining a trade which extends throughout the United States, and employing upwards of 110 hands. They make all kinds and grades of trunks and traveling bags, and have an extensive fac- tory at No. 340 Lyell avenue and a retail store at No. 96 State street. No firm in this country is more favorably known to the trade, and none enjoys a wider prestige for the fine quality of the goods manufactured.

Mr. Likly is one of the most esteemed and most popular citizens of Rochester. A staunch Republican, taking at times an active part in the councils of his party, and always manifesting a keen interest in the welfare and general prosperity of the city, he has frequently been named for positions of trust and political responsibility, but invariably has refused public office, giving instead his energies to a large and grow- ing business, which occupies his entire attention, and in which he has been eminently successful. He was a charter member of Corinthian Temple Lodge No. 805, F. & A. M., of which he is the present treasurer. He is also a member and past noble grand of the I. O. O. F.

He was married in 1861 to Miss Helen E. Callister, by whom he has two sons living: William C. and Henry, jr., both of whom are associated with their father in business.

FREDERICK A. ROWE.

FREDERICK A. ROWE was a life long resident of Monroe county, and during an active and a successful career became one of the prominent agriculturists of his time. He was born in the town of Greece on January 26, 1814, being the fourth child and second son of Frederick and Philura (Church) Rowe, who were among the earliest pioneers in that part of the Genesee country. Frederick Rowe was born December 22, 1779, and died June 10, 1855. He participated in the war of 1812, and a few years afterward moved to the town of Gates, settling on the place now owned by C. C. Beaman, where he lived the remainder of his life. He took a keen interest in town affairs, supported every local public enterprise, and donated the site upon which the school house in District No. 5 now stands. His wife, Philura Church, was born August 2, 1784, and died November 5, 1862. Their children were Lucian, Emeline F., Ruth H., Frederick A., Ira G., Abel. Henry C., Nancy P., Nancy P. 2d, and William E., all deceased except Nancy P. 2d.

Frederick A. Rowe, the subject of this memoir, was raised on the paternal farm and acquired as good an education as the common schools of his day afforded. His entire life was spent in agricultural pursuits. On October 19, 1837, he was married to Miss Julia M. Sperry, daughter of Ira Sperry, a pioneer of Monroe county. She was born May 2, 1805, in Cayuga county. Soon after their marriage he settled on the farm now owned and occupied by his son-in-law, C. C. Beaman, whence he re-

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

moved about 1850 to the present Omlstead place, where he resided ten years. In 1860 he returned to the farm first mentioned, upon which he died July 10, 1878 His wife survived until June 7, 1882. They had born to them five children, viz. : Ruth H., who was born October 7, 1838, married George B. Sperry, of Gates, and died in June, 1883; George A., born October 31, 1840, enlisted in the 108th Regt. N. Y. Vols., was wounded near Fredericksburg, Va., and died December 17, 1862; Ellen Louisa, born May 20, 1842, died July 2, 1843; Charles H., born April 5, 1844, a resident of Forest Grove, Oregon; and Julia E. (Mrs. C. C. Beaman), of Gates, born September 26, 1846.

Mr. Rowe was always one of the representative citizens of the town, and through- out life took a keen interest in public affairs. Originally an old line Whig and sub- sequently a staunch Republican, he was more or less active in politics, and filled every position with both credit and distinction. Like his father he was especially prominent in local educational matters, and for several years served as school trustee. Both himself and wife were life-long members of the Baptist church of Greece, to which they were always liberal supporters. Mr. Rowe was highly respected and esteemed, and maintained throughout a successful career, an untarnished reputation and the charcteristics of an honest upright, and conscientious citizen and neighbor.

GEORGE ELLWANGER.

GEORGE ELLWANGER was born at Gross-Heppach in the Remsthal (called the " Garden of the Fatherland"), kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, December 2, 1816, and spent his youth with his father and brothers in their vineyards. In this capacity he acquired a love for horticulture and early resolved to devote his life to it. Having secured a liberal education in the schools of his neighborhood he studied for four years in a leading horticultural institution in Stuttgart, where he perfected him- self in the arts which he had decided to follow, In 1835 he emigrated to America and first settled in Tiffin, Ohio, passing through the Genesee Valley on the way and mentally noting the unparalleled advantages it offered. He soon returned and located in Rochester, where he entered the horticultural establishment of Reynolds & Bateman, the first of its kind in this city. In 1839 he purchased their business and also bought eight acres of land on Mount Hope avenue, and thus formed the nucleus of the subsequently celebrated Mount Hope nurseries. In 1840 he formed a partner- ship with the late Patrick Barry, which continued under the firm name of Ellwanger & Barry until the latter's death in June, 1890. They successfully built up the most complete and extensive nursery business in the United States, and for fifty years maintained a trade which extended largely into foreign lands, shipments being made to almost every nation on the globe. They also established the Toronto nurseries in Canada and the Columbus nurseries in Ohio. Since Mr. Barry's death the business has been continued under the old name as extensively as before.

As a citizen Mr. Ellwanger has constantly exercised an elevating influence upon the growth and material prosperity of the community, and has always been prominently identified with every public enterprise. For many years he has been officially con- nected with the banking interests of Rochester, being successively a director of the Union and Flour City Banks and a trustee of the Monroe County Savings Bank and

BIOGRAPHICAL.

the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company. He has also served as a director of the Rochester Gas Company, the Eastman Kodak Company, and the Rochester and Brighton Street Railroad Company.

In 1846 Mr. Ellwanger married Miss Cornelia, daughter of Gen. Micah Brooks, of Livingston, a pioneer of Western New York. They have had four sons: George H., Henry B., William D., and Edward S., all of whom received the best education the schools of this country afforded, supplemented by extended travel and study abroad.

AUSTIN P. ROSS.

AMONG the earlier pioneers of Monroe county who were instrumental in convert- ing an unbroken wilderness into a fruitful and progressive section of the Empire State was Libbeus Ross, the grandfather of the subject of this memoir, who moved with his family from Rhode Island to Penfield in 1801. He settled on a farm two miles north and west of Penfield village and died there, leaving to his children-six sons and three daughters-a rich inheritance of New England thrift and frugality. Libbeus Ross, jr., was reared on the paternal farm and received such educational advantages as the primitive district schools afforded. He was a life-long farmer, a prominent member of the M. E. church, a member of the old Monroe County Pioneer Association, and died in Penfield in the spring of 1866. He was twice mar- ried and had five children who attained maturity, as follows: Mrs. Calvin Eaton, Mrs. Benjamin Crippen, Mrs. Egbert Leak, Martin V. B., and Austin P., the others being born to him by his first wife.

Austin P. Ross was born in Penfield on October 10, 1828. His early life was spent upon his father's farm and he succeeded to the old homestead, where he resided until May, 1866, when he removed to Rochester, where he died September 10, 1872. As a farmer he was successful, but it was as a business man in Rochester that he became best and most widely known. Soon after coming here he became one of the origi- nators and a heavy stockholder of the Vacuum Oil Company, of which he continued as a director until his death. In this he acquired an enviable reputation as well as a competency, and for several years sustained intimate relations with the commercial interests of the city. He was a man of the strictest integrity and universally re- spected and esteemed. A consistant christian, he was first a member of the Penfield M. E. church and later of the Alexander Street M. E. church, being long one of their official boards and a trusted counsellor. He was for many years a Master Mason, and one of the prominent and influential men of the community. In politics he was always a Republican, but never became actively identified with partisan affairs, although he constantly manifested a keen interest in public matters for the welfare and advancement of his town and city. His career was almost wholly a business one, in which he met with unvarying success and no little distinction, He was a man who made close friendships, and, making, kept them throughout life.

December 24, 1865, he married Mrs. Caroline (De Witt) Easton, of Rochester, who survives him. She was a daughter of Jacob De Witt, a native of New Jersey, and an early settler of Greece.

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

ISAAC R. ELWOOD.1

ISAAC R. ELWOOD was born at Herkimer, in the Mohawk valley, N. Y., in 1800, and received a common school education. He descended from an ancient German family, of which one branch settled in England many generations ago. To this branch be- longed Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker, reader and friend to the blind poet, John Milton. Our subject's grandfather, Richard Ellwood, of German extraction, came to America from England in 1748, and soon afterward settled in the town of Minden, Montgomery county, in the Mohawk valley, He was a mason by trade, and an old stone house near St. Johnsville still stands to attest his handiwork. His son, Richard Ellwood, jr., father of Isaac R., was born in England and had attained the age of six years when the family came to this country. He was a farmer in the Mohawk valley, and married a Miss Bell, by whom he had six children, Isaac R. being the youngest. John Elwood, a younger brother of Richard, jr., settled in Canada and changed the orthography of the name from Ellwood to Elwood, which was originally Ellwoode.

The following incident relative to the mother of Mrs. Richard Ellwood, jr., appears in the Documentary History of New York, Vol. I., p. 522. During the French and Indian war, when an attack from the Indians was imminent, Captain Herchamer issued orders calling upon all settlers to take refuge within Fort Herkimer. By an oversight Mrs. Bell and her family were left unwarned. They were surprised, her husband and two children were killed, and an infant's brains were dashed out, while she herself was scalped and left for dead, here nose being also nearly cut off. Her then unborn child became in course of time the mother of the subject of this memoir. Mrs. Bell suffered severely from the shock, and was several times at the point of death before she recovered.

Isaac R. Elwood, who adopted the spelling of the name as modified by his uncle, was reared on the paternal farm amid the Dutch settlements of the famous Mohawk valley. About 1830 he came to Rochester, where he not only spent the remainder of his life, but which was destined to become the scene of his active and useful career. After studying law and being admitted to the bar he practiced his profession in part- nership with those two distinguished brother jurists, Samuel L. and Henry R. Selden, for several years, acquiring eminent success and a wide reputation. Possessing a profound knowledge of legal literature, and endowed with great ability and sound judgment, he was recognized as an able lawyer and a trusty counsellor. Originally a Democrat and subsequently a Republican in politics he always manifested a keen interest in public affairs, and in 1838 officiated as clerk of the Common Council. Afterward he was clerk of the New York State Senate for two sessions, and at the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion he took a prominent part in supporting the Union cause. But in the midst of this struggle, on February 27, 1863, he died at his home in this city from injuries received in a runaway accident, widely respected and esteemed. To his memory his eldest child and only son, Frank Worcester Elwood, erected in 1879 the handsome and substantial Elwood building on the historic north- east corner of State and Main streets.

It was as one of the founders of the Western Union Telegraph Company, however,

] This sketch properly belongs in the chapter on "Judges and Attorneys," but was received too late for insertion therein.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

that Mr. Elwood acquired a name which imperishably stands upon the annals of time. When this great corporation was formed by the consolidation of lines which then covered thirteen States of the Union he was retained as an attorney, and in that capacity drew all the papers which started the enterprise and placed it upon a successful working basis. He was also made its first secretary and treasurer and held those positions until his death in 1863, his office being in Rochester.

As a citizen Mr. Elwood was endowed with the highest qualifications, and in both public and private life he was esteemed for his many noble characteristics. He was a public benefactor. All movements of a worthy nature met with his generous sup- port and encouragement. He traveled extensively, and being a close observer ac- quired a large fund of valuable information. In 1839 he made an extended tour of Europe and kept a journal of rare interest. In 1849 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Handy Gold, third child of William Erskine and Caroline (Handy) Gold, of Pitts- field, Mass. Her father was a lawyer. Her mother was a daughter of Abigail Rosewell Saltonstall and Dr. William Handy, of New York. Abigail was a daughter of Rosewell Saltonstall, seventh son of Gurdon Saltonstall (son of Governor Gurdon Saltonstall, of Connecticut) and Rebeckah Winthrop, of New London, who was a daughter of John Winthrop and Ann Dudley. Ann Dudley was a daughter of Governor Joseph Dudley, of Massachusetts, lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Wight, and first chief justice of New York; he was a son of Thomas Dudley, governor of Massachusetts, 1576-1653, first major-general of Massachusetts, and a direct de- scendant of John Sutton, first baron of Dudley, and first of the Dudleys who were dukes of Northumberland and earls of Warwick and Leicester.1 Mrs. Isaac R. Elwood was also a relative of the poet Longfellow's second wife. She died September 10, 1869, leaving three children, viz .: Frank Worcester, of Rochester; Mrs. Arthur L. Devens, of Boston; and Mrs. Ludwig Klipfel, whose husband is a captain in the Prussian army. Mrs. Klipfel died in January, 1895.

FREEMAN EDSON, M. D.

THE subject of this sketch was of English descent. The family name sometimes appears, however, as Edson, sometimes as Edison, and again as Addison, and on. this account it has been found difficult to trace it in the old country. The first rep- resentative of the family in America was Samuel Edson, who reached New England about 1626. With Miles Standish and John Alden he was one of the original corpo- rators of Bridgewater, Mass , marrying a daughter of the Rev. John Keith, the first minister of that settlement. After him came Samuel II., Samuel III., Samuel IV., and Jonah. Dr. Freeman Edson was the thirteenth of fourteen children of Jonah and Betty Edson, of Westmoreland, N. H., and was born September 24, 1791. His mother lived to see her ninety-seventh year with little failure of her faculties except her sight. He entered upon the study of medicine in the office of Dr Amos Twitchell in the adjoining town of Keene. Completing his course in 1814 at Yale

I Vide "Sutton-Dudleys of England," by George Arnold; London, John Russell Smith, 36 Soho Square, 1862.

LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.

College the professors recommended him to a vacancy at Watertown, N. Y., but on his arrival there he found the place occupied by a surgeon from the war just closed. He therefore mounted his horse and rode westward through a wilderness unbroken except for settlements at Canandaigua and Rochester. In the latter place there was at the time but a single frame dwelling. Proceeding twelve miles farther south the young traveler found a maternal uncle, Isaac Scott, who had already come from New Hampshire and settled on Allan's Creek. It was after this uncle that the village of Scottsville was named, and here it was that Dr. Edson began his remarkable medical career, which was to continue unbroken for nearly seventy years. In preparation for his marriage he erected, in 1816, the house which he occupied until his death, and which is still the summer home of his descendants.

Dr. Edson found the settlers along Allan's Creek and the Genesee River afflicted with the disorders incident to a new country. The roads and bridges were of the poor- est; the rides were long. In the spring and autumn came weeks when the physician had only snatches of rest, yet he never seemed to weary. His devotion to his pro- fession was entire. He had great success. There was not only a natural aptitude for the work, but a trained judgment. His diagnosis was seldom at fault. He kept up with the times, acquainting himself with new methods and new remedies, and had a special genius for surgery, being one of the first within a wide region to perform successfully the operation of trephining. After he was ninety years of age he fear- lessly removed a tumor from a patient's face. While at the last he sought no prac- tice there were always difficult cases which demanded the old doctor's attention. His neighbors and friends celebrated his ninetieth birthday with great interest. Many were the incidents then recalled in illustration of his boldness and skill. In the autumn of 1882, making a visit to his son at Indianapolis, he received marked at- tention from the medical profession there, especially from Dr. Thomas B. Harvey, a distinguished surgeon. He was invited to address the students of the Indiana Med- ical College and told the young men how to succeed in living long. The remarks were widely reported throughout the country, and in some of the newspapers Dr. Edson was probably with truth described as the oldest practicing physician in the United States. His professional influence gained much from his personal traits. His integrity was spotless. In forming and in expressing opinions he was fearless. His hospitality was well known, and nothing pleased him better than to see his friends in his own house. While engrossed in his profession his patriotism was conspicuous. He stood for liberty, and disliked any departure from the simplicity of Republican traditions. For political office he had neither taste nor time. In early days, however, he was the postmaster, De Witt Clinton made him an army surgeon, and in 1848 he was put upon the Van Buren ticket as presidential elector. During the Civil war he was ready in every way to uphold the Union. Eearly in his career Dr. Edson con- nected himself with the Presbyterian church, and was for many years a trusted counsellor and office-bearer. The end came June 24, 1883, after a few days' illness from pneumonia. Dr. Edson was thrice married :- to Judith Mason of Keene, N. H., of whom were born Freeman Mason and Emeline; to Mary Hanford, of Scottsville, of whom Elizabeth and Hanford Abram were born; and to Thankful Olmstead Goodrich.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

HOSEA ROGERS.

HOSEA ROGERS, one of the oldest residents of the town of Irondequoit, is the youngest son and child of Ezra Rogers and was born in the present limits of the city of Rochester on January 17, 1812. His father came to Monroe county from Massa- chusetts about 1810 and died some seven years afterward, leaving children Diodat, Ezra, jr., Betsey, Caroline, and Hosea. The parents possessed all the sterling attributes of nature that characterize old-time New Englanders, and were abun- dantly qualified for the task of implanting their family standard in the then wild Genesee country. After his father's death Hosea Rogers was reared by his brothers, who were imbued with the same worthy characteristics of their race; at about the age of eleven his mother died, thus leaving him an orphan. His education was de- rived from the district school, which in that early day afforded meagre opportunities for the dissemination of even the rudiments of the common English branches. To this limited book knowledge, however, he acquired a practical experience which proved far more valuable and useful at that period than educational institutions could afford, for what was needed more than anything else was a strong, rugged constitu- tion, an indomitable perseverance, and a liberal degree of native energy. And all these Mr. Rogers possessed in full measure.

At the age of fifteen he became a sailor on the great lakes, an occupation in which he was destined to rank among the leaders of the time. He continued in this busi- ness for ten years, rising through all the grades to the position of master. Toward the close of that period his brothers built and ran a sailing vessel between Rochester and Chicago, and of this craft he had charge as captain in 1834. About 1837 he pur- chased a farm of eighty-five acres in Irondequoit, which included a part of the pres- ent Seneca Park, and to it he subsequently added other tracts until he now owns 160 acres of the choicest and most valuable lands in town. Soon after settling here he also engaged in the business of building sailing vessels and built in all fourteen- some at Charlotte and others in Ohio and Michigan. At the same time, and in fact down to the present day, he carried on the farm.

In October, 1837, Mr. Rogers married Polly Van Dusen, of Irondequoit, who died January 25, 1871. His second wife, whom he wedded May 1, 1873, was Mary J. Lyon, of Albion, N. Y., who died May 25, 1875. On February 2, 1876, he married, third, Asenath Schofield, of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, and their children are Polly M., William H., Luella A., Ezra S., and Alida J.

Although taking a keen interest in public affairs, Captain Rogers has given prac- tically his entire attention to business, in which he has been uniformly successful. His long experience on the lakes gave him an extensive knowledge of all kinds of sailing craft as well as the laws that govern inland sailors, and when he entered the field of boat building he was fully qualified to meet the requirements of the time. As a citizen he has ever manifested a public spirit, a lively regard for general pro- gress, and a generous nature in worthy movements. Preferring the career of a substantial farmer to the excitement and uncertainty of political life, he has always declined official honors. He has, nevertheless, taken great interest in the advance- ment and prosperity of his town and especially of his own community, and is widely esteemed and respected as an upright, conscientious man and neighbor. At the age of nearly eighty-four he enjoys with his family the fruits of a long and profitable career.

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Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history, Part 55

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 1160

Author: Peck, William F. (William Farley), b. 1840; Raines, Thomas; Fairchild, Herman LeRoy
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1160