USA > New York > Monroe County > Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history > Part 94
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Dublin, Ireland, in 1811, and came to America with his parents when but five years old. They first located in Cayuga county, N. Y., and in 1828 moved to the town of Greece. Mr. Farnan was a farmer for many years. In 1856 he sold his farm and came to Charlotte and became a ship builder, and has built some very large ones, as well as smaller crafts. He had a steam saw mill where he prepared his own lumber for ship building. He married Mary Carroll, of Greece. She was born in County Cavan, Ireland, and came with her parents to Plattsburg, N. Y., when she was three years old. They had nine children, six sons and three daughters. Mr. Farnan died in December, 1892. His wife was killed by an electric car, July 20, 1889. Mr. and Mrs James Farnan are members of the Holy Cross Catholic church of Charlotte.
Tone, Joseph C., was born in Rochester, N. Y., and educated in the public schools and Saterlee's Institute. He was clerk in Powers's Bank for seven years, and after- wards was in partnership with Stittheimer, Tone & Co., as bankers, which firm con- tinued ten years. He then became interested in real estate and railroads, and in 1872 began to develop Summerville and Windsor Beach, and he also built the railway from Rochester to the lake, now known as the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad. In 1874 he purchased the Manning Ferry, which connected Summerville with Charlotte. and he caused the lower ferry to be erected, and which is now run- ning in first-class order. In 1892 he began the erection of the Boulevard, from the city line to Summerville, and of the Electric Railway, and of the above ferry. Mr. Tone originated the idea of the construction of the above named enterprises, and unfolded his plans to the Rochester and Irondequoit Bay Railway Company, which was favorably received by the Company, and which have been thoroughly developed by them since to the convenience of the traveling public, and also being a profitable enterprise. Mr. Tone says regarding the inception and development of Summerville: "The original notion of making a summer village on the shore of Lake Ontario first presented itself to me in the year 1870, before anything of the kind was talked of. Two years later the summer village plot, now called Summerville and Windsor Beach was purchased by me, and property prepared for such purposes, since which time it has steadily increased in numbers and value, and is to-day a thriving and valuable community, and bids fair to outstrip its larger and better equipped neighbor, Char- lotte, if it cannot already be said to have reached that point." He owns a farm of two hundred acres, which he is constantly improving, and which was the birth-place of Ex-Governor Haighte, of California.
Stace, Mrs. Stephen .- The late Alamander Wilder was born in Wilmington, Vt., December 14, 1805. His parents moved to Churchville, Monroe county, in 1811, where he was educated in the common schools. He was engaged in farming until he came to Charlotte in 1854. He went to Parma at the age of sixteen years. June 6, 1839, he married Jerusha Goodell, by whom he had nine children: Josephine W., who married Stephen Stace, a fruit grower, of Greece; William R., who married Caroline Lockwood, of Greece, and has one child, Ida F .; Mary E., who died at the age of forty ; Henry C., a soldier of the late war, starved to death in Salisbury prison ; Eugenia, who married Isaac Wickwire, of Akron, Erie county; Sarah E., who mar- ried Alexander Ferguson; Emogine, who married John M. Allen; Nancy L., who married Frederick G. Miller, of Waterport, Orleans county, and had five children, Hattie J., Cora, George, Ward W., and Beulah, and died October 25, 1888; and Fan-
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nie S., who married Harry M. Pierson, of Philadelphia, Pa., and has three children : Harry W., Eugene S., and Morley H. Mr. Wilder was one of the town's foremost citizens for years. He served as president of the village of Charlotte. He died April 14, 1875, and Mrs. Wilder died March 12, 1862.
Loomis, George W., was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1851, son of Rev. George Loomis, D. D., late of Clifton Springs, N. Y., a well-known educator, who was prin- cipal of Lima Seminary, president of Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., and at his- death at the head of Foster School for Young Ladies, Clifton Springs, N. Y. Mr. Loomis was for some years interested in banking, but is now not in active business. In 1887 he married Celeste M., only daughter of Judge Gardiner, and lives at the old Gardiner homestead on Gardiner avenue.
Neuhart, Michael, was born in Alsace, France, September 6, 1820, where he was edu- cated in their schools. In 1844 he married Elizabeth Fraushaar, of his native country. He came to the United States in 1845, and she followed a year later. They were the parents of seven children: Michael, who died at sea coming over with his mother; Emil, who was well educated, and was town clerk of Irondequoit for three years, and died while on a visit to Switzerland, aged thirty-four years; and the others are dead with the exception of Emma, who married George Burger. Mr. and Mrs. Burger have six children: Flora, Hattie, Libbie, Charles, George, jr., and John. Mrs. Neuhart died September 7, 1891. Mr. Neuhart was a machinist by trade, which he followed for ten years, and then kept a grocery and saloon until 1878, when he came to the town of Irondequoit and purchased the Forrest House, conducting it with success for seven years. In 1885 he sold it to Daniel Forman, and in 1879 purchased the farm opposite the hotel, on which he erected two houses and opened a gravel pit, which is a continual source of revenue.
Conterman, Adam M., was born in Mendon, Montgomery county, N. Y., January 16, 1819. He was educated in the schools of his day, and moved with his parents to Oswego county when he was sixteen years of age, and is a farmer by occupation, and has been a resident of Western New York since 1879. He was twice married, first on January 21, 1841, to Nancy Hoyt, of West Monroe, by whom he had four children : George H., Betsey, James S. (who was a soldier in the late war, and died April 12, 1865, in hospital at Point of Rocks, Va.), and Nancy. Mrs. Conterman died May 23, 1858. January 14, 1860, he married Betsey A. Smith. of Chenango county, N. Y. They had two children: Ferma and John S. Mrs. Conterman died February 10, 1895. John S. is a farmer living at home. He married Ella Garlock, of Greece. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and German.
Williams, Charles A., of Fairport, succeeded November 1, 1894, to the hardware business of H. H. Brydges, on North Main street. Besides general hardware and stoves, Mr. Williams has a department devoted to steamfitting and plumbing, roofing and repair work. He was born in Syracuse, August 28, 1847, where his father, Russell C., was a cooper, and where Charles lived prior to 1871. In 1880 Mr. Will- iams married Della Sherman, of Fairport, and their children are Winfield, Edward and Bella.
Casburn, George, was born in Cambridge, England, February 12, 1845, and came to the United States with his parents at the age of nine. They located in Penfield.
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He was educated in Watertown, Jefferson county, and is a fruit grocer, having an interest in four fruit evaporating establishments in the West, and is also proprietor of one in Kendall, Orleans county. He has been in partnership with George Burling, of Greece, in small fruit and evaporating business for about fifteen years, and now owns a fruit farm of sixty acres near West Greece. In 1880 he married Mary Nor- drum, of the town of Greece, formerly of Norway, and their children are Ellen E., Martha M., Alfred G. and Grace Ambrose. The father of our subject was born at the old home in 1824, married Mary Dyson, of his native place, by whom he had eight children: George, Ann, Alfred, Rebecca, Sarah, Robert, Martha, and one who died in infancy. The family came to this country as above noted, and now reside in Illinois, with the exception of George, who has resided in Greece since 1874. Mrs. Casburn's father, Egbert Nordrum, was born in Norway in 1829 and married Mary Lusta, of his native place. Their two children were Mary, as above, and Ellen. They came to the United States in 1855 and located in this town. The father died in 1889 and his wife in 1862. The ancestry of the family is English and Norwegian.
Losey, William, was a former resident of Seneca county, from whence he went to the war of 1812. He was a shoemaker and farmer, and pursued both avocations after coming to Parma in 1822. His children were James, Lydia, Jane, Wilsher and Luther. William Losey died at Albion, Mich., about 1861. James was born in 1818 and is remembered as the cabinetmaker and undertaker of Parma for many years. He married Laura Meserve, by whom he had one son, George H., of Parma. He went to California in 1850 and suffered hardships on the voyage, the vessel being short of provisions. James died in Parma, April 30, 1889, and his wife January 12, 1863. George H. Losey was born January 10, 1843, and although a miller by trade, his chief occupation has been farming and market gardening. He also worked as clerk in a store several years. March 15, 1865, Mr. Losey enlisted in Co. L, 50th N. Y. En- gineers, and although in service only until June 13th, he witnessed a number of severe engagements. He returned to Parma, and in 1867 married Belle S., daughter of Henry Pullis, of Greece. They have one son, James Le Vere. Living for a time in Greece, Mr. Losey was elected justice of the peace and overseer of the poor, and was postmaster under Cleveland's administration.
Howell, Harvey H., has been a resident of Fairport since the age of sixteen, with the exception of nine years from 1859 to 1868 During this time he pursued the ad- venturous career of a quartz miner of California. He was born at Newark, Wayne county, in 1837, of an old New Jersey family, but of German ancestry, and is the only surviving son of Jacob W. Howell, who in 1853 came to Perinton and engaged in farming, and who reached the age of eighty-two years, his death occurring in 1882. After returning from California in 1868 Mr. Howell was for several years en- gaged in farming, and for a time conducted a market on West avenue. Mr. Howell was for two years police officer of the village and several years deputy sheriff under Charles S. Camell and for twenty years been treasurer of Fairport Lodge No. 476, F. & A. M. At present he is a member of the Board of Education and is also a member of the Board of Water Commissioners. December 20, 1873, he mar- ried Carrie M. White. They have one daughter, Mabel, born September 17, 1882. Their only son died in infancy. Mr. Howell had two brothers and three sisters; one brother died at the age of thirteen years, and John H., a well
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known and highly esteemed resident of the town of Perinton, who in early days went to California and subsequently made four more trips to that country, going and returning by water each of the five trips. He was well known throughout California, being quite a noted quartz miner. He fell from an apple tree at his farm in 1891, injuring the base of his brain, from which he never regained consciousness. The three sisters are all living.
Bacon, John B., was born in New York city, March 21, 1842, where his father, John P., at that time operated a ship chandlery business. The latter afterwards re- moved to Middletown, Conn., turning his attention to financiering, and is at present vice-president of the Middletown Savings Bank. Our subject was educated at Middletown High School and graduated from Daniel H. Chase's Preparatory School, and at an early age became salesman for a dry goods house in Worcester, Mass., when, after six months, an accident obliged him to return to Middletown, where he entered the post-office as clerk. For two years he was employed as bookkeeper by a mercantile house at Middle town, and at the age of nineteen embarked for Liverpool in a merchant ship, visiting many European ports. Just prior to the outbreak of the war Mr. Bacon was deputy postmaster at Columbus, Wis., where he enlisted in Co. M, 4th Wis. Cavalry, and served nearly two years. He was at one time shot by an am- bushed enemy, and confined in a hospital at Vicksburg. Mr. Bacon has traveled largely, and is a true cosmopolite. A resident of Pittsford since 1884, he takes a leading place in all local affairs both in business and society. He has served on the village and health boards as trustee, and is a prominent figure in the Masonic lodge and the Episcopal church. During a residence of six years in Manistee, Mich., where he was engaged in the lumber business, he was elected supervisor twice. He is treasurer of the local lodge of Knights of Sobriety, Fidelity and Integrity, is a very active member of the G.A. R., and was commander of E. J. Tyler Post No. 288 for two years.
Smith, Orril, was born in Enfield, Mass., and when a young man went to Sodus and engaged in tinsmithing. His wife was Caroline Prosser, who died in 1859, and in 1861 he married Laura, daughter of Orrin Parsons, who was a pioneer of Wayne county, and one of the progressive men of the town, energetic, and always ready to forward any enterprise for the good of his townspeople. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two daughters: Mrs. Kittie Marsh, and Miss Emma Smith. Our subject has lived a useful and unostentatious life, and his hand has ever been extended to the needy and worthy.
Ernst, Hon. Charles B., police justice of the city of Rochester, is a son of the late Col. Louis Ernst and was born here August 16, 1854. Receiving a liberal education in the schools of Rochester and graduating from Mount St. Mary's College of Mary- land in 1878, he was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1880, and entered the office of Judge Angle. After his admission to the bar he formed a partnership with Frank J. Hone, under the style of Hone & Ernst, which continued until 18 -. He has always taken an active interest in politics. For two terms he represented the old Fourth ward on the Board of Supervisors, and in 1888 was appointed city attor- ney by the Common Council and reappointed in 1890. In March, 1893, he was elected by a large majority to the office of police justice, which he still holds In all
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these positions Judge Ernst has won the commendation and esteem of all classes and parties. He is zealous member of the C.M.B.A. and I.O.R.M., and one of the best known and most popular young attorneys of Rochester.
Hill, William, was born in the town of Irondequoit, N. Y., May 20, 1859. He re- ceived a common school education, after which he engaged in market gardening, which business he has always followed, having twenty-five acres of land in a thor_ ough state of cultivation. He has a wife and two children, Elvie Frances and Will- iam Avery. Mr. Hill is a member of Garden Tent, K.O.T.M. His father, William Hill, sr., was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1826, came to the United States in 1852, and located in Irondequoit. He married Mary Kingsley, of Rochester, N. Y., by whom he had eight children, five of whom are still living: William as above, John, Martha, Mary and Sarah. Mr. Hill died April 16, 1889. Mrs. Hill, Lydia A., was the daughter of John and Frances Peacock. Mr. Peacock was born in Cam- bridgeshire, England, in 1814. He married Sarah Haredine, who died in 1841, leaving three children, Charles, William and James. Later he married Frances King, and in 1851 he, with his family, came to the United States and resided in Mon- roe county until the time of his death, which occurred in the town of Greece, Septem- ber 18, 1877. His wife and eleven children, three above mentioned, also Robert, Stephen, Daniel, Peter, George, Martha, Lydia as above, and John survive him.
Rudman, William T., was born in the townof Irondequoit, N. Y., October 18, 1854. He was educated in the public schools, after which he engaged in market gardening, which business he has always followed with great success. He has been assessor of the town for the past three years,, and was re-elected in the spring of 1895. March 13, 1877, he married Hattie L. Stanton of this town, by whom he has four children: Eva A., Willie C., Roy S. and Hattie L. David Rudman, father of William T., was born in Malmsbury, Eugland, March 20, 1818. He married Eliza Porter of his native place, and had ten children, four of whom were born in England: Elizabeth, Alfred, George H., Lottie A., Fannie who died in her eighteenth year, David C., Lillie, Will- iam T., as above, Frank E., and one who died in infancy. The family came to the United States in 1848, and located in the own of Irondequoit. He died March 1, 1887, and his wife in 1881. Mrs. Rudman's father, Charles H. Stanton, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 17, 1824. April 27, 1852, he married Amelia J. Evershed, who was born in London, England, February 8, 1830, by whom he had four children: Clara E., Hattie L., Frank C. and Jay E. Mr. Rudman is half owner of the Stan- ton farm, and is one of the successful business men of the town.
Sours, William H .- His father, Frederick Sours, was born in the town of Rush, Monroe county, N. Y., and alwas resided in this county. He married Mary J. Wal- zer, formerly of the town of Irondequoit, and seven children were born to them, six of whom survive; Sarah A., now Mrs. C. S. Bradstreet, of Rochester; Frederick J., a resident of this town; William H., as above; Mary J., who married W. S. Wood- ruff, of Rochester; Albert T., who married Mary Noonan, of Troy, N. Y. ; and Ella. William H. was born in this town, July 11, 1851, and was educated in the public schools. He is a Democrat, and served seven years as supervisor, being chairman of the board one year. At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of his uncle, Henry Walzer, who was proprietor of the Newport House, and remained with him ee
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until his death in 1880 with the exception of four years. He then purchased the property from his aunt, and made many improvements on this celebrated summer resort, which is located on Irondequoit Bay. He has added to his original purchase a peninsula of ten acres, upon which the Rochester Canoe Club has erected fine buildings for its headquarters. The bay is five miles long, and about one mile wide, and steam vessels and smaller craft ply on this bay for the convenience and pleasure of his guests. The resort is a place of rare beauty, the lake, hills, and wooded dale, combined with the genial landlord make it one of the most attractive places as a summer resort. Mr. Sours's grandfather, Dennis Sours, was born in Germany, and came to Rush in 1818. The family were early settlers and have contributed to the growth and prosperity of the county.
Southworth, Edwin M., was born in the town of Bergen, Genesee county, N. Y., August 8, 1828. At the death of his mother, when Edwin was seven years of age, he was bound out with his uncle and aunt in Henrietta, Monroe county, N. Y., where he was educated in the district schools, and became a farmer by occupation, and in 1850 came to the town of Iroodequoit. December 20, 1853, he married Ellen C. Wright of this town, and they were parents of two daughters: Clara W. and Libbie B. Clara W. married James H. Luitwieler of Rochester, N. Y. Libbie B. presides over her father's household. Mrs. Southworth died March 3, 1862, mourned by a bereaved family. Mr. Southworth's father, Isaac, was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1793, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Rachel Tone of that county, and they were the parents of eight children; Emerett, Luranda, Andrew, Clara, Edwin M., Samuel, Irving and John, who died at the age of four years. He died in 1870, and his wife in 1835. Mrs. Southworth's father, George Wright, was born in Schoharie county, in February, 1804. He married Clarissa Holmes of Cayuga county, N. Y., and three children were born to them: Thaddeus, Ellen C., and Arietta. Mr. Wright was a justice of the peace for several years. He died in 1892, and his wife in 1891. Mr. Southworth's father was a soldier in the war of 1812. The ancestry of this fam- ily is English and German.
Fleming, Joseph, was born in King's county, Ireland, March 19, 1812, and came to New York in 1837. The Fleming family in the old country had for several pre- ceding generations been skillful mechanics and builders, so that on his arrival in the United States, the subject of our sketch naturally gravitated towards the great public works which were then being projected or were already under way in this country. He had charge of the cutting and laying of the first Croton dam on the New York water works. On its completion, Mr. Fleming went to Canada in 1842, where he took charge of and superintended a large ship lock, also in the erection of an aqueduct, and later on had charge of getting out the cut stone for the first Sus- pension bridge over the Niagara River at the great Falls, completed in 1848. Later he returned to the United States, and took several contracts on the enlargement of the Genesee Valley and Erie canals. In 1854 he purchased a farm of 140 acres in the town of Greece, which he enlarged by the purchase of adjoining farms until his present holding is about 300 acres. This he has gradually improved by the erection of substantial buildings, grading, draining and clearing of the land, as well as the formation of a trout and ice pond, until it has become one of the most modern farms of this section of the country. About fifty years ago, on November 18, 1845, he
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married Elizabeth Rigney. They have had six children reach maturity, Martin F. and Edward M., physicians in New York city, James, who died in 1889, Catherine, now Mrs. Feely, residing in Rochester, Margaret and Joseph, who reside with their parents on the farm. Mr. Fleming has been for years trustee of the Catholic church, the Mother of Sorrows, at Mt. Reed, and together with the late Peter Larkin had charge of its construction.
Adams, Reuben A., M.D .- The Adams family of Massachusetts, most distin- guished for the statesmen it has given to the country, is ably represented in the medical profession of Rochester by Dr. R. A. Adams, who was born in Marion, Wayne county, N. Y., April 3, 1841, and passed his youth on his father's farm, but attended the common schools and the Marion Collegiate Institute. In August, 1862, he volunteered as a member of Company D, 160th Regiment New York Volunteers, and served to the close of the conflict. He served with General Banks in Louisiana and was with Sheridan in all his engagements in the Shenandoah Valley. He was wounded at Fort Bisland, La., and Cedar Creek, Va. Upon his discharge he was honored with a letter of special commendation signed by every surviving officer of his regiment. After the war he resumed his medical studies at the Homeopathic College of Philadelphia and was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia March 4, 1868. In July, 1868, he located at Churchville, N. Y., and practiced successfully until May, 1873, when he removed to Rochester and rapidly acquired a large practice and took rank among the prominent and respected physi- cians of the city. Dr. Adams was city physician in 1874. He is a member of George H .. Thomas Post, No. 4, G. A. R., of Monroe Commandery Knights Templar, of Rochester Consistory, in which he has taken the 32d degree, of the Royal Arca- num, and of other societies. For ten years he was medical director of the Mutual Relief Society. He is also a member of the Monroe county, Central New York, and New York State Homeopathic Medical Societies and the American Institute of Ho- . mœopathy, and consulting physician to the Rochester Homœopathic Hospital. Dur- the last twenty-seven years he has taken an active interest in the progress and ad- vancement of homœopathy in Rochester and Western New York, and is recognized as one of the leading representatives of that school of practice in this section of the country. He has occupied his present office at No. 46 North Fitzhugh street for twenty-three consecutive years.
Kleindienst, Henry, son of Jacob, was born in Rochester, N. Y., June 27, 1857, and was educated in the public schools and the Rochester Free Academy, from which he was graduated in 1870. About this time he received the appointment of weighmas- ter at the Erie canal, and was afterward appointed inspector of customs at Charlotte, N. Y., which office he filled for three years, when he was elected coroner of Monroe county, which position he has now filled for nine years. In 1883 he was married to Cora, daughter of Frederick Meyers, of Rochester, and they have four children: Edward J., Cora J., Estella E., and Marguerite. Mr. Kleindienst is a member of the A. O. U. W., the K. O. T. M., the I. O. O. F., and the I. O. of R. M. He was also school commissioner from 1883 to the spring of 1887, and resigned to accept his pres- ent position as county coroner.
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