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 97
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Stern, Morley A., son of Abram, was born in Rochester in January, 1854. The gg
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father came to this city from Germany in 1848 and still lives here. At the age of fourteen young Stern began active life as a clerk in the clothing business, and when sixteen he became a traveling salesman in the hat and cap trade, which was fol- lowed a year later by a similar position in the dry goods line. In December, 1875, he became a member of the firm of H. Michaels & Co., wholesale clothing manufac- turers. In 1876 the name was changed to Michaels, Stern & Co. In 1878 Henry Michaels retired from the active management, and since then the responsibility has devolved upon his oldest son, Joseph Michaels and Mr. Stern. Their trade extends over nearly every State and Territory in the Union, and practically there are be- tween 5,000 and 6,000 people dependent upon their business. They employ about two hundred hands in the store in cutting, trimming, shipping, etc., the manufac- turing being done outside. Mr. Stern is a prominent member of Yonondio Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Rochester and Eureka Clubs.
Friederich, A., & Sons, masons and contractors. This business was founded by Adam Friederich in 1870. He came from Germany with his parents, Andrew and Elizabeth, when about fifteen years of age; he was a practical mason, and in 1870 began general contracting on a small scale. He founded the present business of A. Friederich & Sons, which firm was organized in 1884 by himself and sons, J. J. L. and William M. This partnership continued until 1892, when Adam retired from active business and since then has lived in retirement. The firm, which still bears the original name, is composed of J. J. L., Wm. M., Adam G., and Louis J. Friederich, brothers, all natives of Rochester, and all practical masons by trade. The firm is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. J. J. L. Friederich, born July 8, 1856, in Rochester, was an organizer and is president of the Builders' Exchange, of which he. was the first treasurer. He is also a director in the Flour City Bank, and a member of Germania Lodge F. & A M. Among the buildings of which the firm was the con- tractor are the following : Monroe county court house, Ellwanger & Barry building, C. B. Woodworth building, American Brewing Co. buildings, Reynolds Laboratory, J. K. Hunt building, Cook Opera House, Y. M. C. A. building, Memorial Church, D. M. Child's buildings, Eastman Kodak buildings, M. Kolb & Son building, River- side Cemetery, Homopathic Hospital building, Rosenberg & Co. building, Rochester Power Co. buildings, Eureka Club House, Rochester State Hospital building.
Jones, Frank A., M.D., son of Dr. Ambrose and Sylvia (Ford) Jones, was born in Charlotte, October 23, 1849. Dr. Ambrose Jones came from Montgomery county to Charlotte and practiced medicine about fifty years, and died there in 1883, aged seventy-nine; his wife died in October, 1892, aged eighty-two. They had ten chil- dren, of whom three are now living: Mrs. Orra Warren, Mrs. William Richmond, and Dr. F. A. Jones. The latter was educated at the Rochester Collegiate Institute, and was graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo in 1869. He began the practice of his profession at Charlotte the same year, and later practiced in Grand Rapids, Mich., returning to Charlotte in 1874. Since February, 1893, he has followed his profession in Rochester. He is a member of the Monroe County Medical, and Rochester Pathological Societies, being president of the former in 1890. He married, in 1869, Elizabeth Welles, daughter of Randolph and Mary Welles of Junius, Seneca county, N. Y. They have two children, Grace Louise and Charles F. D.
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Swanton, Thomas J., was born in Fairport, N. Y., November 16, 1864, and is a son of Robert Swanton, who settled at that place about 1850. Mr. Swanton was gradu- ated from the Rochester Free Academy in the class of 1881. He then began the study of law in the office of John R. Fanning, the city attorney, but after about one year he decided that his inclination ran in the direction of commercial lines more than anything else. He, therefore, entered the employ of the Commercial Bank as a clerk, succeeding Edward J. Raymond as general bookkeeper nine months later. He served in this capacity until October 1, 1890, when he was promoted to the posi- tion of teller. On January 28, 1895, by reason of long and faithful service, he was elected as the successor of Charles F. Pond, then the cashier. Mr. Swanton is the youngest man acting in the position of cashier in Western New York, and this prob- ably holds true throughout the entire State. He is the vice-president of the Mutual Underwriter Company, one of Rochester's most successful publishing houses, and is a prominent member of the Rochester Whist Club.
Parker, Orin, was born June 5, 1845, in Plainfield, Ind., and is a son of John Parker, a millwright. He was reared on a farm, where he remained until the age of nineteen, and received his education in the public schools of his native State. February 24, 1864, he enlisted in the 10th Ind. Vol. Battery as a private and served until July, 1865, participating in the Atlanta campaign, the battles of Buzzard's Roost, Resaca and Altoona and many other skirmishes and engagements of his regi- ment, being under fire for about fifty days. After the war he served in the 7th U. S. Inf. in Florida, Utah and Montana for eight years, was promoted first sergeant, and at the end of his term of service, was changed to the Signal Service and Weather Bureau of the U. S. Army. He was stationed successively at Washington, D. C., Montgomery, Ala., New Orleans, La., Boston, Mass., Buffalo, N. Y., and Greencastle, Ind., where he pursued a course of law in the law department of Depaw University, taking the degree of LL.B. in 1886. Thence he was transferred to Co- lumbus, O., and to Chicago, Ill., in the Signal Service of the army, and was retired October 19, 1893, on the World's Fair grounds, credited with thirty-three years' service in the U. S. Army. He then joined the Weather Bureau, which had been transferred to the Agricultural Department, July 1, 1891, at Chicago, and stationed at Columbus, O. In December, 1894, he was transferred to Rochester as observer in charge of the station here. Mr. Parker is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and the G. A. R., and one of the oldest officials connected with the gov- ernment Weather Bureau.
McPhail, Percy R., cashier of the Merchants' Bank at Rochoster, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 18, 1860, and is a son of Edward McPhail, who moved with his family to Rochester about 1869. Receiving a classical education in the University of Rochester, he became a clerk in Powers's Bank, where he re- mained until the organization of the Merchants' Bank in 1883, when he was made bookkeeper of that institution. Afterwards he was promoted teller, and since 1892 has officiated as cashier. Mr. McPhail is a member of the Rochester Chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. In 1887 he married a daughter of Rev. Isaac Gibbard of Rochester.
Ashley, William J., son of Rev. William Bliss Ashley, D. D., and Julia Cornwall Hall, his wife, was born in Portland, Middlesex Co., Conn. His father was a prominent
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Episcopal clergyman in the Diocese of Western New York from 1849 to 1860, after which he resided in Milwaukee, Wis. William J. Ashley was graduated from Hobart College at Geneva, N. Y., receiving the degrees of A. B. and A. M. in course. Since 1882 he has been a trustee. and is president of the Alumni Association of his alma mater, and is also a member of the Sigma Phi and Phi Beta Kappa college fraterni- ties. He was clerk in the U. S. quartermaster's department for two years; came to Rochester in July, 1866, in the employ of the First National Bank, and was a bank clerk thirteen years. From 1869 to 1884 he was secretary of the Safe Deposit Co. (now the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Co.). He was one of the incorporators, in Decem- ber, 1883, of the Merchants' Bank, its first cashier, a member of its board of directors since that time, and its vice-president since 1892. He was one of the organizers of the New York State Bankers' Association, chairman of the Rochester Group, and member of the council of administration for 1894-95. He has been a member of the vestry of Christ church for twenty-five years; member Diocesan Council of Western New York for about twenty years; is a trustee of the Church Home; was one of the organizers of the Church Club, and of the Infants' Summer Hospital, of which latter organization he was treasurer and member of the board of managers for four years. He married in 1871, Katharine, daughter of Arthur T. Lee, Colonel U. S. army, and has two daughters, Margaret Lee and Mary Janet Ashley.
Van Zandt, Clarence D., born in Rochester, March 21, 1853, is a son of the late John J. Van Zandt, who came here from Albany in 1844. and was the founder of the coffee and spice business in this city, and built the present residence of President Hill of the university. Clarence D. Van Zandt was educated in the public schools, Benedict & Satterlee's, and Carpenter's Collegiate Institute. He removed to East Saginaw, Mich., and in the 1868 engaged in the drug business, but returned to Roch- ester the following year, and became connected with the old drug firm of Lane & Paine, who were succeeded by the Paine Drug Co., of which he has been a member since 1881. He was formerly a member of the old Light Guard of Rochester. In 1881 he married Mary E. White, a daughter of Dr. J. Balsey White of New York city, and has one daughter, Marie, living,
Mead, Darwin W., son of Darwin M., was born in Oswego, N. Y., January 2, 1856, and received his education in the public schools of that city. He early became a clerk in his father's drug store, and remained there until 1878, after which he was for one season in Saratoga in the same business. He went thence to Buffalo in 1879 as clerk in the Erie street freight office of the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad ; in 1882 he was made chief clerk in the Buffalo freight and passenger office of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and held that position until July, 1886, when he removed to Harrisburg, Pa., as Interior New York and Pennsylvania agent of the Great Southern Despatch. March 1, 1894, he came to Rochester, succeeding F. W. Parsons as agent of the Atlantic Coast Despatch and Richmond and Dansville Despatch, all rail fast freight lines, operating between the New England and Middle States and the South and South- west, having charge of the business from and to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the New England States and Canada. He resides in Watkins with head- quarters in this city.
Scofield, Warren D., son of Warren S. Scofield, was born in Palmyra, N. Y., April 21, 1844, and finished his education at the Union Classical School in that village. At
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the age of fourteen he became a clerk in the grocery store there and later went to work on a farm. The next year, however, he entered upon a clerkship in a dry goods store and remained there three years. In August, 1864, he enlisted in Co. F, 111th N. Y. Vols., and served till the close of the war, being detailed as regimental clerk. Returning from the army he settled in Rochester in September, 1865, and began clerking in the dry goods store of Hubbard & Northrup and six years later entered the establishment of Burke, Fitz Simons, Hone & Co., with whom he re- mained nine years, during eight of which he was manager of the silk department. In the fall of 1879 he started business for himself under the firm name of Scofield & Strong, which continued until 1884, when they closed out. In January, 1887, he established his present store at 170 East Main street, and deals exclusively in fine dress goods and trimmings. Mr. Scofield is a member of Valley Lodge, No. 109, F. & A. M., Marshall Post G. A. R., and the Royal Arcanum, in which he has held all the lodge offices, and of which he was State deputy for two years.
Almy, Elmer E., proprietor of the New Osburn House, was born in Rochester, April 28, 1852, and, although a young man, is a veteran in the hotel business. He served his apprenticeship at the Reed House, Erie, Pa., and has held various re- sponsible positions in such hotels as the Trans-Continental, Lafayette, and Continental, of Philadelphia, Pa .; Grand Pacific, of Chicago; and St. James, of New York. He returned to Rochester in 1881, and has been the proprietor of the New Osburn House ever since. Mr. Almy is a member of the National Hotel-Keepers' Association, the New York State Hotel Association, and the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. He is also prominent in fraternal orders, and is a member of Blue Lodge, Chapter, Com. mandery, Mystic Shrine, Consistory, B. P. O. Elks, etc. He was formerly vice . president of the Commercial Travelers' Association of the State of New York and is an honorary member of the Commercial Travelers' Home Association of Binghamton. The New Osburn House is in all respects a strictly first-class hotel. The appoint- ments are rich, beautiful, and tasteful. The hotel was built and first opened to the public in 1881. N. Osburn, grandfather of the present proprietor, assumed con- trol in 1882. Under the latter's efficient management the popularity of the house kept steadily growing, and, in order to meet the demands of the increased and in- creasing patronage, had the hotel rebuilt and refurnished in 1892-93. It is a hand- some four-story brick structure, 175 feet on South St. Paul street, and 160 feet deep, and contains 194 rooms. It is thoroughly steam heated and perfectly ventilated, lighted by gas and electricity, and is conducted on the American plan.
Shedd, Kendrick P., clerk of Monroe county, was born in Trumansburg, October 22, 1837, is a son of Rev. P. Shedd, a Baptist clergyman, and was educated in the public schools at Dundee and at Warsaw Academy. His first business experience was acquired in a country store near Rochester. In 1855 he came to Rochester and obtained a position in the wholesale and retail grocery of Dewey & Monroe, where he spent several years. During the Rebellion he was in the pay department, with Major Wingard, for three years. At the close of the war he returned to Rochester, and in 1866 married Miss Emily E. Mudge, formerly principal of School No. 2. Six children have been the fruit of the union. Mr. Shedd then engaged in the grocery business in Rochester and continued in trade until elected county clerk in 1891, to which office he was re-elected in 1894 by the largest majority ever given in the county
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for any office. . He is a member of Genesee Falls Lodge, Hamilton Chapter, Monroe Commandery, the A. O. U. W., Knights of Honor, Rochester Whist Club, and Colum- bia Rifle and and Pistol Club. Upon entering upon his duties as county clerk he at once inaugurated many changes in the routine work, and although the office has been twice moved, all papers and public documents have been carefully preserved and kept where they can be obtained at short notice. He will be the first county clerk to occupy the handsome new court house.
Elliott, Frank, was born October 11, 1852, in Hamlin, Monroe county, and is a son of German Elliott, a native of Hastings, Oswego county, who came to Hamlin about 1823, settling finally on the farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch. He was educated in the district school and the Brockport State Normal School, and has always been a farmer, and upon the death of his father in 1871, suc- ceeded him on the homestead, where he still resides. In October, 1893, he became interested in a general store at Morton, which he still continues, the firm being Elliott & Kenyon. He was collector for two years, and in 1893-94 was on the Board of Supervisors. He married, December 23, 1874, Ella E., daughter of A. R. Kenyon of Hamlin, and they have three sons, Allie K., Elmer, and Randall J. .
Randall, Amos C., was born September 19, 1847, in Kendall, Orleans county, and is a son of Gideon Randall, whose father, Amos, was a very early settler of that town. He was educated in the public schools, the Brockport Collegiate Institute, and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. He has always been a farmer (ex- cept four years when he resided in Brockport), and settled upon his present farm in April, 1879. Both in Kendall and in Brockport he was officially connected with the M. E. church, and in town and public affairs has always taken a keen but quiet in- terest. He was married in January, 1869, to Cordelia, daughter of the late Dr. Charles Farnham of Kendall, and they have two daughters: Florence, a graduate of the Rochester Business University, and Lucy Louise, now a student at the Brock- port State Normal School.
Brownell, Frank A., son of Myron S. Brownell, a millwright, was born in Vienna, Ontario, Canada, February 4, 1859, and attended the grammar schools of his native town. In 18.6 the family moved to Rochester, where the father died in 1878. Mr. Brownell served out a five years' apprenticeship at cabinet making, and also followed the trade of pattern making for about one year. In 1883 he entered the employ of the Union View Company, making photographic apparatus, with which business he has ever since been identified. Since 1885 he has manufactured various kinds of photographic apparatus, and microscopic, and other fine goods on contract, and in this business he has been very successful.
Redman, James H., was born in Hamlin, in 1839. Hiram Redman, father of James H., was born in 1815, and came from Onondaga county, N. Y., to Clarkson with his father, John Redman, where he died in 1879. James H. Redman is now serving his town in the Board of Supervisors for the eleventh term, and has also been a justice since 1871. He engaged in farming until 1883, when he bought the store at Hamlin Center, which he now runs with his son, H. Elmer, who is also town clerk. Mr. Redman is also postmaster, having been appointed in 1884, and in 1894 was a member of the Constitutional Convention.
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Palmer, Isaac, was born July 1, 1809, on the 4th Section road in the town of Sweden, Monroe county, on a farm now owned and occupied by Wm. Palmer. His father, Simeon, came there from Eaton, Madison county, in the winter of 1808-9, and died there in 1833. aged fifty-three years; he served in the war of 1812. Mr. Palmer in 1832 went to Brockport and read law with L. B. Holmes, and was admitted to the bar in 1836 and practiced in partnership with his preceptor until about 1855, when he became interested in farming, which he has since followed. In 1875 he moved to Hamlin settled upon his present farm, and is known as one of the best and the wealthiest farmer of Hamlin. He was for about six years master in chancery, but excepting this has held no public office. He was for five years a partner of Henry C. Wisner of Rochester in the crockery business, and has been the controlling owner of the gas works of Brockport for the past few years. In 1839 he married Eliza Spencer and they have three children: George, Emily P. (Mrs. Jonah D. Decker), and Fred, all residents or Monroe county
Storer, George W., was born June 18, 1827, in Oswego county, N. Y., and is a son of George W. Storer, an early settler there. The family came to Hamlin (then Clarkson) about 1843 to a farm adjoining the place subsequently owned by the late John H. Storer, who died there in 1895. George W. Storer, jr., was educated in the schools of Hamlin and the Eastman Business College of Rochester, and has always been a farmer. He settled upon his present farm in the spring of 1866. He has al- ways been a Republican, and has served as assessor nine years and three terms as supervisor, always taking a keen and active interest in the welfare of the town. He married in 1859 Helen, daughter of William C. Henion, who settled in Hamlin in 1834 and died in Clarkson in January, 1892. They have one son, Frank B., a physi- cian of Holley, N. Y.
Timmerman, Albert T .- Solomon Timmerman moved from Montgomery county to Monroe county in the year 1837 and located on a farm just north of Brockport; in 1839 he removed to what is now the town of Hamlin and bought the farm now owned and occupied by his descendants. In the year 1828 he married Miss Maria Ehle, by whom he had six children, namely: Oliver, Delila E., Lany C., Zerlina, Albert and Helen M., all of whom are living except Oliver, Laney B., and Helen M. His wife died in 1855, and himself in 1882. Albert, the son, now owns and lives on the home- stead in the town of Hamlin. He has been twice married; his first wife was Sarah A. Johnson, daughter of Asa L. Johnson, by whom he had one child [named Elmer J., aged twenty-three years; his second wife was Clara E. Ferris, daughter of Walter A. Ferris, by whom he has four children, namely: Sarah Delila, Alberta Cordelia, Edeth Elizabeth and Marion Louise. The first record we have of the family is of five brothers, Jacob, George, Laurence, Henry and Theobald; he settled in Mendon, Montgomery county, N. Y., when he came from Switerland in 1759. His wife was Elizabeth Hawn; they had three sons, Thomas, John and Adin; he married Marga- ret Mattice, and Thomas married Elizabeth Sanders, and had ten children, one of which was Solomon, the father of Albert, the subject of this sketch.
Vogel, Charles, was born in Prussia, Germany, August 31, 1842, received his edu- cation in the schools of his native country, and came to America with his parents in 1853, settling in Rochester, where his father, Johannes Vogel formerly a contractor
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and builder, died in 1860. He first entered the employ of the late Louis Sacks, sr. making band boxes, and in 1854 the family removed to Seneca Falls, N. Y., where he worked in a foundry and pump factory. The next year they moved to Waterloo, whence they soon returned to Rochester, where Charles Vogel was employed for one year by Smith & Harrington, manufacturers of and dealers in tinware. In 1857 he entered the employ of the late John Siddons, manufacturer of tinware and roofing, where he remained until 1860, when he went to California. Returning to Rochester in 1865, he became foreman for Mr. Siddons, and in 1873 was given and interest in the business. In March, 1889, the John Siddons Company was incorporated, and Mr. Vogel became its vice-president, a position he held until the death of Mr. Sid- dous in 1890, when he was elected president, which office he has since held, and to which was added that of superintendent in 1895. The firm is a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce, and one of the largest and best known roofing concerns in the United States. Among the many buildings which contain its work, are the Michigan State Capitol, the Stockton, Cal., court house, the inner dome of the Illinois State House, the court-houses at Joliet, Ill., Marion, Ind., Elyria Ohio, Smethport, Pa., and Lockport, N. Y., the U. S. Government buildings at Utica and Rochester, the City Hall at Rome, the Albright Library and High School at Scranton, Pa., two of the Cornell University buildings, the Granite, Chamber of Commerce, Eastman, Powers, and Rochester Savings Bank buildings and new court-house at Rochester, and many others. They also erected the copper statue of Mercury on the William S. Kimball factory in Rochester, which was designed by the sculptor. Guernsey Mitchell. Mr. Vogel was a member of Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., and for twenty- five years has been a member of Germania Lodge, No. 722, F. & A. M., of which he was a charter member and formerly senior warden. He is a charter member of Germania Lodge of Perfection, Scottish Rite, and of the Builders' Exchange, has served in Co. F, 54th Regt. N. Y. S. N. G., is a life member of the Council Princes of Jerusalem, Chapter Rose Croix, and Sovereign Grand Consistory, a member of Roch- ester Turn Verein, and for twenty-five years has been a member of the Mannechor. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and has been three times recommended for the thirty-third degree, and for the past eight years has served as T. P. G. M. of Ger- mania Lodge of Perfection.
Colt, Mrs. Sarah A .- Silas B. Colt, son of Samuel Dickenson Colt, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., January 11, 1813, received an academic education, and his early manhood was spent on his father's farm as a wool grower. In 1849 he came to Rochester, and owned the Cole farm on the Boulevard six years, sold it, and bought the homestead nearer to the city in 1856. May 26, 1856, he married Sarah A. Wells of Rochester, formerly of Shelby, Orleans county, N. Y., by whom he had three sons: Edward W., Walter S., and Silas B., all of whom conduct the farm and market gar- dening business. Mr. Colt died April 19, 1876. Mrs. Colt's father, Levi Wells, was born in St. Albans, Vt., in 1797, and was educated in the schools of that early day, after which he engaged in farming. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, after which he located in Orleans county. He married Rebecca Edgeworth of Hudson, N. Y., a cousin of Maria Edgeworth, the poet and writer, by whom he had seven children. Mr. Wells died in 1880, aged eighty-three years, and his wife the same year, aged seventy-four years. The family has resided in Michigan since the marriage of Mrs. Colt in 1856.
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