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 98
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Alden, John F., son of Sidney Alden, was born in Cohoes, N. Y,, March 19, 1852, prepared for college in private schools in Albany, and was graduated from the Rens- selaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy in 1872, after which he was made assistant en- gineer on the Central-Hudson railroad bridge at Albany. He came to Rochester on January 1, 1875, to accept a similar position with the late Thomas Leighton, one of the most extensive iron bridge contractors in the country and the founder of the pres- ent Rochester Bridge and Iron Works. In 1878 he became engineer in charge and in 1879 was also admitted to partnership in the Leighton Bridge and Iron Works Company, incorporated. In 1880 he formed a co-partnership with Moritz Lassig, of Chicago, under the firm name of Alden & Lassig, and leased this establishment, which they continued for five years. During that period they also started a bridge and iron manufactory in Chicago under the style of Lassig & Alden. In 1885 the business was divided, Mr. Lassig taking the Chicago end and Mr. Alden the Roch- ester works. The name of the latter establishment was changed to the Rochester Bridge and Iron Works, which it has ever since borne, and of which Mr. Alden has been the sole proprietor, as at that time (1885) he purchased the entire Leighton in' terest. The works cover an area of about eight acres and are conveniently arranged and thoroughly equipped with powerful machinery for the easy handling and the rapid construction of large iron structures for railroads, etc. Mr. Alden not only manages the entire business but attends personally to all the engineering work. During the last ten years he has designed and constructed many large railroad and highway bridges, iron work for buildings, and other structural iron work between Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon, and along the principal railroads in the United States and Canada. Among the iron and steel structures may be mentioned the elevated railway tracks in New York city; the bridge over the Columbus River at Pasco, Wash .; two large viaducts at Los Angeles, Cal. ; the upper suspension bridge at Niagara Falls; the tower and iron roof on the western House of Parliament at Ottawa, Can., much of the iron work at St. Paul and Chicago, including some of the World's Fair iron and steel work; and miles of other railroad bridges. In the past twenty-three years he has probably designed and superintended the construction of as many or more lineal feet and tons of bridge and other structural iron work as any one man in this line of business. He is a member, ex-third vice-president, and for several years a trustee of the Chamber of Commerce, member of the East Side Sewer Commission, since 1887 a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Rensselaer Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the Alumni of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y. Mr. Alden traces his ancestry directy to the Hon. John Alden who came to Plymouth in the Mayflower and signed the compact in her cabin in 1620, being of the seventh generation of Aldens since the landing of the Pilgrims upon our shores.
Bausch, E. E., one of the leading and oldest opticians in Rochester, is a native of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, and emigrated to this country in 1854, arriv- ing in Rochester May 3. He had learned the business of optician with his brother, J. G. Bausch, in the fatherland. In 1857 he went to Philadelphia, but the same year returned to Rochester and became a clerk for his brother, J. J. Bausch, and Henry Lomb (Bausch & Lomb), where he remained about five years. With Thomas Drans- field he then bought Bausch & Lomb out, the latter firm themselves engaging in the
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manufacture of optical goods. The firm of Bausch & Dransfield continued a success- ful business at No. 20 Arcade for twenty-two years, when Mr. Bausch purchased his partner's interest and formed a copartnership with his son, George R. Bausch, un- der the firm name of E. E. Bausch & Son, which still continues, at No. 6 East Main street, in the Elwood Memorial building. Here Mr. Bausch has carried on a large business for about twelve years, doing prescription work and general repairing, and devotes special care to the eyes, and their motto is " Take care of your eyes."
Kent, J. H., son of Henry Kent, was born in Plattsburg, N. Y. ; in 1848 he moved to Brockport, Monroe county, where he began his life work as a photographer. In 1868 he came to Rochester, where he has ever since resided and followed his profession. Mr. Kent is recognized not only as the leading photographer in Rochester and West- ern New York, but enjoys a reputation which extends throughout the country. He is a master of the art, and for several years has been recognized as one of the leaders in photographic work in America, being also well known among the profession abroad. For a time he was president of the National Photographic Association, embracing the United States and Canada. At the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876 he exhibited the best and largest photographs ever made at that time and probably larger than has ever been attempted since, receiving all the first prizes, five in number. He is the oldest and best known photographer in Rochester, where he is prominently identified with the city's material interests, and where he is one of the foremost citizens. He was one of the incorporators and is vice-president of the Eastman Kodak Company, the largest manufacturers of cameras and photographic materials in this country.
Adams, Abner, was born in East Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., March 31, 1838, and is a son of the late Myron Adams, whose grandfather, Capt, John Adams, was one of the pioneers of Western New York over one hundred years ago. Myron Adams, son of Abner Adams, who died in Adams Basin, Monroe county, in 1849, was born in Bloomfield in 1799 and died in Rochester in 1893. Abner Adams, the subject of this sketch, spent his boyhood at school and on his father's farm in his native place. During the war of the Rebellion, he enlisted in the 24th New York Battery, U. S. Vols., and was subsequently promoted to a lieutenancy in the Second North Carolina Union Vols., serving as military secretary on the staff of Gov. Edward Stanly, military governor of the Department of North Carolina, in 1862-3. He was first identified with the commercial industries of Rochester in 1886, when he became connected with the Wood-Mosaic Co., of this city, manufacturers of fine hardwood floors. This business was started about ten years ago, under the above title, and has developed from a comparatively small beginning into one of the largest concerns of the kind in the country. Originally, only endwood mosaic flooring (the invention of the projector of the company), was manufactured. Later, however, as the demand for hardwood floors became more general, the plant was extensively enlarged, and has since been devoted to the manufacture of parquetry, wood-carpet, mosaic, and other approved kinds of plain and ornamental hardwood flooring. For several years past Mr. Adams has been one of the principal representatives of the Wood Mosaic Co., and during his administration of the business in this city and Western New York, their goods have acquired an enviable reputation, having come to be regarded as a prime necessity. His success in this line of business is also supplemented by
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that of two sons, one of whom, Robert T. Adams, is now the New England repre- sentative of this successful Rochester enterprise, with headquarters in Boston. The other, John M. Adams, is manager of the company's branch office in Baltimore.
Kondolf, Mathias, son of Henry Kondolf, was born in Germany on April 19, 1835, and removed with his parents to Rochester when two years old. Educated in SS. Peter and Paul's Parochial School, he began life in his father's brewery, the second German brewery in the city, at the corner of Child and Jay streets, then in the town of Gates. This was in 1846, and there he remained about six years, thoroughly learning the business. He then learned and followed the carpenter's trade about four years, after which he engaged with his father and David Upton, at the same location, in the manufacture of flour barrel staves and heading. Henry Kondolf finally sold his interest to Mr. Upton and the firm became Michael Brayer & Co., who subsequently removed to Oak street, where a large business was conducted for some twelve years, when Mathias Kondolf sold out. Meanwhile he had become a heavy stockholder, director, and one of the originators of the Rochester Co-operative Foundry and the German Insurance Company; with the former he was long identi- fied, and of the latter he is still a director Soon after settling the stave business he founded the Genesee Brewing Company, which was incorporated in 1878, and of which he served as president until 1888, when it passed into the hands of an English syndicate controlling this and the Bartholomay breweries, under the name of the Bartholomay Brewing Company, of which Mr. Kondolf is a director. He has also been an extensive dealer in real estate. He was the pioneer in securing pure ice from Hemlock Lake water for the city of Rochester about 1883, has ever since been identified with that business under the name of Kondolf Brothers, and has had several imitators. About 1885 he organized the Standard Sewer Pipe Company with a capital of $100,000, and has continuously been its president. He has been a director in the German American Bank since its inception, was for five years a member of the Board of Health, and was one of the originators of the present park system in 1888, serving ever since as one of the park commissioners. In this latter connection he has been especially active, buying considerable land for Seneca Park and the con- templated boulevard for public purposes, not for private gain or speculation. He is a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce and takes a lively interest in the general welfare of the city. He has been married twice and has thirteen children living.
Myers, Robert M., is a native of Herkimer county, and was first engaged in busi- ness at Ilion, N. Y. In 1874 he removed to Rochester and purchased an interest in the paper house of N. G. Hawley & Co. In 1880 he bought his partner out and changed the name of the firm to R. M. Myers & Co. Finding the structure then occupied by the firm inadequate to its increasing business, he bought in 1887 the site of the old Clinton Hotel on Exchange street, and erected a seven-story fire-proof building, which is one of the most substantially constructed in the city. He removed to the new building in April, 1888, where he is engaged in business at the present time, dealing in paper, cardboard, etc. Mr. Myers is a director of the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company, vice-president of the Commercial Bank, formerly president and now a director of the Citizen's Light and Power Company, and is in- terested in other Rochester and Buffalo enterprises. Possessed of a sound, practical
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common sense and good judgment, his opinion is always valued, and while never taking an active part in politics, he is a most enthusiastic Republican. In 1886 he married Mary, daughter of the late Thomas Evershed.
Evershed, Thomas, civil engineer, was born in Sussex, England, February 20, 1817, and came to America with his parents in his youth. He was engaged on the Erie Canal enlargement, had charge of the combined locks at Lockport, and super- intended the building of many of the structures on the Chemung and Crooked Lake Canals. In 1849 he went to California and built a levee around the city of Sacra- mento, and returning to Rochester was engaged on the Rochester and Niagara Falls Railroad, the Erie Canal, and the Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada. In 1878 he was appointed division engineer of the New York State Canals, and held that office until his death, February 9, 1890. He had the direction of the survey for the State Res- ervation at Niagara Falls, and while engaged in that work conceived the idea of utilizing the extensive water power there by means of a tunnel, an idea which re- sulted in the incorporation of the Niagara Falls Power Company, of which Mr. Ever- shed was made engineer. He originated and designed the present hydraulic tunnel, which was commenced October 4, 1890, and is 6,700 feet long. This is one of the greatest achievements of modern times. It will stand forever as a monument to Mr. Evershed's wonderful foresight and remarkable engineering skill.
Buck & Sanger, proprietors of the Powers fire-proof hotel, opened that celebrated hostelry in April, 1883, immediately after its completion, and have conducted it ever since. The firm consists of George A. Buck and William H. Sanger, and was organ- ized in November, 1867, to take charge of the Revere House in Ottawa, Canada. In 1869 they went to Watertown, N. Y., as proprietors of the Woodruff House, and ten years later came to Rochester in charge of the Osborn House, which they continued until the opening of the Powers in 1883. Few hotels in America enjoy a wider reputation or a higher prestige among the better class of travelers and tourists than does this famous house. It is known abroad almost as well as nearer home, and ranks with the very best hotels in the country.
Otis, Lyman M., was born in Henrietta, Monroe county, November 12, 1831, and is the eldest son of David G. and Maria (Morris) Otis, the other children being Har- rison G., of Rochester, and David G., of Battle Creek, Mich. David G. Otis. sr., came from Connecticut to Perry, N. Y., at a very early day, taught school in Monroe county, settled in Henrietta in 1829, and died there in 1837, being a general in the old State militia and school commissioner at the time of his death. He was practi- cally a lifelong farmer. His wife's father, Lyman Morris, moved to Warsaw, N. Y., in 1804, where Maria Morris was born in 1806; she died in Frbruary, 1882. Lyman M. Otis was educated in the district schools, Monroe Academy, and Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary at Lima, and taught school winters and worked on the farm sum- mers. In 1855 he engaged in the nursery business with D. W. Chase as Chase & Otis. They also bought wood, live stock, and produce, and in 1867 removed to Rochester, where they purchased the lumber business of J. H. Robinson & Son. This partner- ship continued until the death of Mr. Chase in 1888. On February 1, 1889, Charles H. Moody was admitted to the firm, which became L. M. Otis & Co. They are ex- tensive wholesale and retail dealers in all kinds of lumber, and have occupied the
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present premises at 734 East Main street since 1891, prior to that being first located where the Erie depot now stands and later (1882) on Crouch's Island, where they purchased the business of H. H. Edgerton. Mr. Otis was a Democrat until the organization of the Republican party, when he affiliated with that great political body. He has served as town clerk of Henrietta in 1857, justice of the peace for nine years from 1858, supervisor of the Fourth ward six terms, chairman of the board two terms, alderman two years, and treasurer of the Monroe County Agricultural Society, and is now chairman of the building committee of the new court-house, member of the West Side Sewer Commission, member of the Masonic fraternity about thirty-five years, and president of the Monroe Avenue Loan and Savings As- sociation. He was married in 1864 to Miss Amanda M., daughter of Ambrose Corn- well, of Henrietta. They have one daughter, Mary S.
Palmer, Griff D., son of Henry T. Palmer, was born in Elmira, N. Y., March 26, 1847; and finished his education at the Elmira High School. He became a clerk in the hardware business in that city, being for a time associated with the wholesale firm of Pratt & Co., and in 1886 came to Rochester, where he organized the house of Weaver, Palmer & Richmond, wholesale and retail dealers in general hardware at 31 to 35 East Main street. Their business has been very successful, extending throughout the city and over a large surrounding territory. The firm has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce since its organization. In 1871 he married a daughter of the late Erastus K. Weaver, formerly of Penfield, Monroe county. They have two children, S. Elizabeth and Carl G.
Grant, Justus Herbert, was born in Auburn, N. Y., June 19, 1849, was prepared for college at the Auburn Academy, and received the degree of Ph. D. from the Sheffield Scientific Department of Yale College in 1870. His practical experience in civil engineering, however, had commenced in 1866, when he was a rodman on the preliminary and locating surveys of the Southern Central Railroad, where he re- mained until 1867, when he began his collegiate course. In 1871 he was topographer and leveler on the location of the Utica, Chenango & Cortland Railroad; in 1872 leveler and assistant engineer in charge of the Central Valley Railroad, a short narrow gauge line in Chenango county, N. Y. ; in 1872 and 1873 leveler on preliminary surveys on the Auburn & Homer Midland and the Canandaigua, Palmyra & Ontario Railroads; from 1873 to 1876 assistant engineer on the New York Central & Hudson River Rail- road, making preliminary cross sections and estimates of earthwork of thirty miles between Syracuse and Rochester, measurements of old masonry and designs for ex- tension and estimates of same, and in charge of construction with charge of party and office on sixteen miles and of thirty-two miles track laying and ballasting that line; and from 1876 to 1885 engineer and superintendent for George H. Thompson & Co., one of the largest railroad contractors in the State. Upon the death of Mr. Thompson in 1884 and the retirement of Mr. Luther in 1885, Mr. Grant became a member of the firm of Ellsworth & Grant. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a trustee of the Mechanics' Institute, and secretary of the Build- ers' Exchange since its organization. . He was one of the organizers of the Exchange on January 10, 1888, and is the author of its constitution. In 1879 he married Miss Caroline L., daughter of Scott W. Updike, of Rochester. They have three children: Charles H., Richard H., and Laura Annesley.
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Buckley, James, M. D., is a son of Charles Buckley, a native of Ireland, who came up the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario to Hanford's Landing and settled in that part of Rochester known as "Dublin " at a very early day. He engaged in milling, being in the employ of Charles J. Hill for many years, and died here. His wife was Julia Mulhare. Charles Buckley, deceased, wasa native of this city, was grad- uated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and successfully practiced his profession in Rochester until his death at Alexandria Bay, N. Y., Septem- ber 1, 1891. He was for six years health officer of the city, was noted for his many acts of charity, for his genial good nature, and wasregarded as one of the best physicians and surgeons in Western New York. He was universally esteemed, and acquired during his brief career a reputation as imperishable as it was pure. He was a prom- inent member of the Monroe County and New York State Medical Societies and the Rochester Pathological Society. Dr. James Buckley studied medicine with his brother and was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City in 1883. After graduating he formed a partnership with Dr. Charles Buckley, and upon the latter's death succeeded to the entire practice, which he has successfully continued. He is a member of the Monroe County and New York State Medical Societies. In 1895 he married Miss Anna M. Stock, daughter of Nicholas Stock, of Brockport, N. Y.
Warner, Etta E .- Arsino B. Warner was born in Canandaigua, Ontario county, N. Y., June 22, 1820, and was educated in the public schools here. In 1821 his parents moved to the town of Greece, where he has since resided and followed the occupa- tion of farming. May 27, 1854, he married Marietta Harroun, formerly of Cam- bridge, Washington county, N. Y., and they have had three children: Lillie A., Frank A., and Etta E. Lillie A. married Melzer Barrett, and had three children: Clara J., Olive L., and Mildred C. Mrs. Barrett died at the age of thirty-seven. Frank M. married Bertha E. Hart, and they had three children: Jessie E., Harry C., and a baby not named. Etta E. resides at home. Mr. Warner's father, Mertillow, was born in Connecticut in 1781, and came to Ontario county with his parents when he was fifteen years old. He married Eleanor Cassort, formerly of the Mohawk valley, and they had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Mr. Warner died in 1854 and his wife died in 1864. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his grandfather Warner was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his brother, Mer- tillo, in the late war. Mrs. Warner's father, George Harroun, was born at White Creek, Washington county, N. Y., in 1800, and was a well educated man. He mar- ried twice, first to Lena Jones, of Cambridge, Washington county, and they had three children. Mrs. Harroun died in 1832. For his second wife he married Julia A. Hicks, of Bennington, Vt., and they had three children. The family came to West- ern New York in 1835. He died in 1844.
Martin & Brother, A. N .- This firm are among the stirring business men of the town of Webster, where they have a large lumber yard, being dealers in lumber of all kinds and also building contractors. They employ from twenty-five to forty men in their factory and building. The father of the above gentlemen was Andrew Mar- tin, who was also engaged in the same line of business, being a first-class carpenter and builder.
Gaffney, Owen, was born in Ireland, June 6, 1824, came to America with his par- ents when but seven years of age, settled in Utica, where he gained his education.
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He early evinced a strong aptitude for mercantile pursuits, and when only seventeen years old was the owner of the most enterprising dry goods house of that city. Pos- sessing a rare business tact, he saw early in his mercantile career the approaching necessity of seeking elsewhere a larger field. In those days Rochester and Buffalo were considered as belonging to the far west. Through the advice and encourage- ment of his friend, the late O. M. Benedict, he made choice of Rochester. In 1849 he married Louisa Burke, of Utica, a woman with rare mental qualities, whose death, December 1, 1891, caused universal sorrow. In the year of his marriage he removed to this city and laid the foundation of the dry goods establishment which is now known as the house of Burke, Fitz Simons, Hone & Co. In 1853 he took into part- nership with him, under the firm name of Gaffney, Burke & Co., his brother-in-law, the late Charles J. Burke, the late Charles Fitz Simons, and Alexander B. Hone, who had been salesmen in his store. The firm enjoyed marked prosperity. In 1857 Mr. Gaffney retired from active connection with the concern, though still retaining a silent interest in the same, and in the sixties, withdrew entirely from the business. He next identified himself with various financial undertakings, and after a long and successful life died in 1895.
Greenleaf, Col. Halbert S., was born in Guilford county, Vt., April 12, 1827, was brought up on a farm, and received a common school and academic education. In 1856 he was commissioned justice of the peace, and August 29, 1857, a captain of the Massachusetts militia. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Union Army, and on September 12 of that year was commissioned captain of Co. E, 52d Regiment Mass. Vols. On October 23, 1862, he was unanimously elected colonel of the regi- ment, and subsequently served under General Banks in the Department of the Gulf. Colonel Greenleaf came to Rochester in 1867, and on July 1 of that year formed a co- partnership with Mr. Sargent, under the name of Sargent & Greenleaf, manufactur- ers of time combination, and key locks for general and special uses. He organized and commanded the Hancock Brigade in the fall of 1880, and was elected commander of the 1st New York Veteran Brigade in February, 1882, and re-elected in January, 1883. He was elected to the 48th Congress as a Democrat in a Republican district, and was re-elected to the 52d Congress, serving with honor and distinction. Colonel Greenleaf also extensively engaged in farming and stock raising. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Rochester Savings Bank, of the Rochester Park Commission, of the St. Lawrence University at Canton, and of the Soldiers' and Sail- ors' Home at Bath.
Burke, Fitz Simons, Hone & Co., the oldest leading dry goods firm in Rochester, was founded by the late Owen Gaffney in 1848. In 1853 Charles J. Burke, Charles Fitz Simons, and Alexander B. Hone, formerly clerks, were taken into partnership under the style of Gaffney, Burke & Co. Two years later Mr. Gaffney retired, though he continued to hold for some time afterward an interest in the business, and the style became Burke, Gaffney & Hone. In 1858 this was changed to Burke, Fitz Simons, Hone & Co., a name it has ever since retained and made famous throughout the country. At that time Patrick Mahon was admitted a partner; in 1872 Thomas J. Devine was given an interest, and upon Mr. Mahon's death in February, 1881, be- came one of the firm. The partnership thus formed expired by limitation in 1886, but it was renewed with the same members, and Daniel B. Murphy, who had had
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