Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 112

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > New York > Onondaga County > Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II > Part 112

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Hart, Henry J., Syracuse, son of Joseph, was born in Cicero, Sept. 26, 1849, and

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reared on a farm in Mexico, Oswego Co. Joseph Hart settled in Cicero about 1845, followed the business of a farmer and contractor, and was drowned at Brewerton in 1851. His widow, who now resides in Syracuse, married Eliphalet C. Sturtevant, who died about 1872. When 18, Henry J. learned the trade of cabinet making, which he followed till 1889. He came to Syracuse about 1869, moved to Fabius in 1872, and subsequently engaged in the furniture business in Cortland, Marathon, and other places. An eye trouble compelled him to go to Albany and while under treatment he was employed by a furniture manufacturing concern in Troy. He re- turned to Syracuse in 1878 and in 1880 entered the furniture department of Milton S. Price, where he remained nine years. In 1889 he engaged in the real estate busi- ness as the successor of Abner Bates, and in May, 1890, formed the firm of Hart & Ashpol. In April, 1892, Clarence A. Perry took Mr. Ashpol's place, and a year later Mr. Hart succeeded to the business. In politics he is an active prohibitionist and in religion has been many years an officer and a prominent member of the Wesleyan Methodist church.

Keeler, Dennis B., Syracuse, a native of Cork, Ireland, was born Feb. 24, 1843, and came to Quebec when 10 years of age, where he attended Lavelle University in addition to the public schools. In 1857 he removed with his parents to Herkimer Co. in this State, and was graduated from Fairfield Seminary in 1863. He attended Michigan University three years, commenced the study of law at Herkimer with S. & R. Earl in 1866, and was admitted at Syracuse, Nov. 3, 1868. He practiced at Little Falls, N. Y., and Kansas City, Mo., one year each, and in 1871 came to Syra- cuse, where he has since resided. He was married to Miss Sarah A. Brayton in 1867. His only son, Robert, died in 1891, aged 21 years. Mr. Keeler is a well known criminal lawyer who has a large practice in Central New York.

Grannis, George D., Syracuse, son of Robert Grannis, was born in the town of Volney, Oswego Co, Sept. 15, 1826, and obtained his education in the old Fulton Academy. He became a foreman for Case, Farewell & Co. on the construction of the Erie Railroad, and since then has devoted most of his life to contracting. He was superintendent on the construction of what is now the Grand Trunk Railroad from Niagara Falls to Windsor in 1854-55, which was the first railroad built in Can- ada and then called the Great Western. He took contracts for building the Wis- consin Central Railroad, and in 1861 engaged in the lumber business in Fulton and Constantia, N. Y. He was also superintendent of construction on the Midland Rail- road from Oneida to Oswego, after which he was for nine years in the employ of Denison, Belden & Co. He built the Syracuse Northern Railroad and a railway in Pennsylvania, removed the stone from Hell Gate in New York Harbor, engaged in the oil business for himself, was superintendent of the first pipe line laid from the oil regions to tide water, and was general superintendent of the oil business at Brad- ford, Pa., for the Tidewater Pipe Line Co. Later he was engaged for seven years in mining in the Northern Adirondacks, and since then has carried on a large contracting business with headquarters in Syracuse, where he settled his family in 1872. Ife was the first vice-president and is now president of the Eureka Plaster Co., and is one of the most enterprising men of the city. Ile married in 1847, Lau- raett Watson, who died in Oct., 1888, leaving two sons, Charles W. and Marlin R., both associated in business with their father.

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Maynard, George L., Syracuse, was born Oet. 9, 1822, in Westboro, Mass., where his father, Ebenezer, and brother Ephraim, the father of Gov. Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, were farmers and wheelwrights and prominent citizens. Obtaining a common school education and working on the farm until his father's death he be- came, at the age of seventeen, a clerk in Worcester, Mass., where he was later asso- ciated with that merchant prince, Horace B. Clafflin. In Oct., 1842, he came to Syr- acuse on the canal packet commanded by the late Austin Myers, and here hie was successively engaged in business for about ten years with C. C. Chickering, Horace Bronson, and Lyman Stevens. A Democrat in politics he was elected overseer of the poor in 1853, and held that office until 1857. In 1858 he was elected sheriff of Onondaga Co. and served three years, and from April, 1867, to April, 1871, he was postmaster at Syracuse. For more than twenty years he was a forcible, popular, and acceptable campaign speaker, and in every capacity evinced the attributes of a gentleman and a scholar. He was an original, close, and methodical thinker, a careful investigator, and earnest in his convictions. In 1872 he engaged in business as an undertaker and continued until his death, Jan. 1, 1895. His children, living, are Dr. William H. Maynard and Mrs. Nellie N. Gardner, of Syracuse, and Mrs. Seely B. Teall, of Rochester. Dr. William H. Maynard was born April 6. 1859, was educated in the public schools, and in Prof. Ginn's preparatory school in Syracuse, and was graduated from the Syracuse Medical College in June, 1883. After practicing at South Onondaga for three years he settled on Delaware street in Syracuse, where he has since resided. He was physician to the Onondaga Indians in 1884-85 and is a member of the A. O. U. W., the Onondaga Co. Medical Society, and the Syracuse Academy of Medicine. Oct. 18, 1883, he married Addie daughter of Samuel Owen, of Wayne Co, who has borne him two children : George Lucas and Mildred Owen.

Klink, William T., Syracuse, son of Adam, sr., and Barbara (Snyder) Klink (see sketch of Adam Klink), was born in Clyde, Wayne Co., Aug. 2, 1857, but moved with his parents to Syracuse when a babe and was educated in the public schools of this city. He commenced his business career in the employ of Duguid, Wells & Co., manufacturers of saddlery hardware, with whom he remained for twenty-one years, rising to the position of foreman of the iron department and subsequently becoming superintendent of the saddlery hardware department. In 1889 he engaged in the coal business, and subsequently formed a partnership with his brother Adam under the firm name of Klink Brothers, which still continues. He is a member of Syracuse Lodge, No. 501, F. & A. M., and prominently identified with the business develop- ment of the city. In 1878 he married Miss Louisa, daughter of Godfried Weidele, of Syracuse, and they have had five children: Adam, Alice L., F. Lester, Anna Eva, and Irene H.

Penn, George, Syracuse, senior member of the firm of Penn & Lee, was born in Alsace, France, now Germany. His father, a miller, was of English descent, while his mother was of German parentage, and as the family resided near the line at- tended school in Saarbrucken, Prussia. At the age of twelve he came with his pa- rents to Bridgeport, Conn., where he learned the trade of steel spring making. When 21 he established a steel spring manufactory in Gananoque, Canada, which he continued sixteen years. He sold out in 1878 and removed to Watertown, N. Y., where he organized the firm of Penn & Lee, which was moved to Syracuse in 1878-

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80, where it has since continued with almost phenomenal success, being one of the largest concerns of the kind in the country. They employ 100 men, and their goods are sold all over the United States and Canada. They make a specialty of carriage springs, many of which are manufactured under patents granted to Mr. Penn, who also has several patents outside the business. Mr. Penn has been a Mason for nearly thirty years, is a Knight Templar, and a member of the board of managers of the Business Men's Association. He has also been prominently identified with Demo- cratic politics, being in 1892 his party's candidate for mayor. In 1862 he married Miss Agnes Storm, of Jefferson Co., and has one daughter and four sons.

Gaynor, Col. John F., Man- lius, was born in Fayetteville, Onondaga, Co., N. Y., April 6, 1850. His father, Edward Gaynor, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and came to America in 1849, settling in Fayetteville in 1850. Here for many years he was en- gaged in the manufacture of cement and plaster, and died April 26, 1890. His wife was Catherine Kenney, born in Ire- land and died in Fayetteville, July 9, 1879. They had ten children, six of whom are now living, as follows: John F., William T., Annie, and Mary R. Bangs, residing in Fay- etteville, Edward, a resident of Boston, Mass., and James, living in Brooklyn, N.Y. Col. John F. Gaynor, the subject of this brief sketch, was edu- COL. JOHN F. GAYNOR. cated in the Fayetteville Academy, and at the age of fourteen years he engaged with his father as clerk and bookkeeper in the cement and plaster business, and continued in that capacity until 1878, when he started in the business which he has followed since and in which he has met with such great success. He has had contracts with the U. S. government for building jetty and harbor work at many places along the Atlantic Coast and at Richmond, Va., has built railroads in Chili, S. A., and has had large contracts for harbor work in Mexico. He put in the entire sewerage system of the city of Orange, N. J., and has now a large contract from the government for harbor work at Savannah, Ga. In all these operations, which have been on a large scale, calling for the expenditure of millions of dollars, he has been been wonderfully successful and has reaped a rich reward for his ability and boldness in the management of these great undertakings. In politics

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Colonel Gaynor is a staunch Democrat, always taking an interest in, and doing every thing in his power to insure the success of his party. He has been a delegate to nearly every Democratic convention, both State and National, since he was 21 years of age. Gov. D. B. Hill made him a member of his staff with the rank of colonel, which po- sition he held during Governor Hill's incumbency. He is now a member of the Democratic State Committee representing the counties of Onondaga and Madison. He was the World's Fair commissioner for the 5th Judicial District of New York, and has held many less important offices of his town and county. Colonel Gaynor married Mary Ann Gallegher, of Oneida, N. Y., by whom he has two children: John F., jr., and Catherine L. Mrs. Gaynor died May 5, 1887.

Aberdein, Dr. Robert, was born Dec. 2, 1845, at Chippawa, Province of Ontario, Canada. His father, Dr. Robert Aberdein. sr., then a young man, having earned distinction in the practice of his profession in Edinburgh, Scotland, went to Canada to settle. The Aberdeins have been physicians and surgeons for generations. Early in life the subject of this sketch naturally turned his mind to the same study. When a mere lad of ten years this predilection was manifested by his fondness for Latin, in which language he became quite proficient before he was in his teens. He laid the foundations of a liberal education at the Belvidere Academy, at Drummonds- ville, in the historical Lundy's Lane; later attending the grammar school at Drum- mondsville, where he fitted himself for entrance to the University of Toronto. When he matriculated at that institution he was not sixteen years old, but on his own motion decided to give up the study of arts and pursue medicine in the medical de- partment of the university. After two years of conscientious study there he offered his services to the Federal government at Washington as an assistant army surgeon -the Rebellion being then in progress-and was only prevented from going by his father's interdiction. An elder brother, David L. Aberdein, was at the time captain of Bat. G, 3d N. Y. Art. Dr. Aberdein's third year's study in medicine was at Mc- Gill University, Montreal, whither he went on the urgent persuasion of friends, to be under the instruction of eminent teachers there. The following year the young student, being still under age for graduation at Toronto, resolved to go to New York for a year to take advantage of the clinics in the hospitals, and to attend the lectures being delivered at Bellevue Hospital College by the authors of the best text-books in use in Europe and America. Having graduated at Bellevue Hospital College in March, 1867, he returned to Toronto in time for the examinations at the University, and in June of the same year was graduated therefrom with the degree of M. B. The work he had done at Bellevue, having attracted the attention of the professors, he was at once offered a post as ship's surgeon on an ocean liner, a prize for which the whole student body then struggled. This opening Dr. Aberdein declined, hav- ing determined to locate at Suspension Bridge, N. Y. He practiced there until 1875, acquiring recognized standing in his profession, especially as physician on call at the great hotels of Niagara Falls, then in the zenith of their prosperity. He was special surgeon for the Erie and New York Central Railroads, and also for the Great Western Railway of Canada. Dr. Aberdein came to Syracuse in 1875, as successor to the late Dr. Nelson C. Powers, and in the intervening time has fairly earned the rank he holds as a practitioner of medicine in this section of the State. As a gyne- cologist he is widely known, his skillful hand, as well as his deep learning, being in

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constant demand in that department of surgery. Dr. Aberdein was the first to per- form Caesarian section in Onondaga Co., and, as a trophy of his skill, points to a young woman, now (1896) a resident of Syracuse. The mother's life was lost by a shock given to her by women, who, forcing their way into the sick chamber, en- lightened the patient in regard to the desperate nature of the operation which she had survived for twenty-four hours. By his brethren in the profession Dr. Aber- dein's success in the performance of difficult operations of a gynecological character is freely acknowledged. He has operated something like one hundred times in cases of laparotomy, intra-uterine tumor, and hysterectomy without a fatality. Dr. Aberdein is a member of the Syracuse Academy of Medicine, a member of the Onondaga Med- ical Society, a fellow of the New York State Medical Association, a fellow of the American Microscopical Association, a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society of King's College, London, England, and a member of the Central New York Micro- scopical Society, having been president of the last named association for a number of years. He was for twelve years a trustee of the State Institution for Feeble Minded Children at Syracuse, by the governor's appointment, and for eighteen years has been visiting physician to St. Vincent de Paul's Orphan Asylum in Syracuse. June 28, 1871, Dr. Aberdein married Lelia, daughter of David McClelland, of Syracuse, by whom he has two children : Harriet Lelia and Hamilton Lizars.

Gere, David M., Syracuse, son of George C. and Adelia (Manzer) Gere and a grandson of Robert and Sophia (Stanton) Gere, early settlers of Onondaga Co., was born in the town of Geddes June 25, 1865, and was educated in the Geddes Union Free School, the Syracuse High School, and Cazenovia Seminary. On April 1, 1885, he became a clerk in the grocery store of Cady & Gere in Geddes, where he remained two years, when he accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Canadian office of the J. F. Pease Furnace Co. Three years later he engaged in the wholesale and commission produce business in Syracuse, continuing for three years. In April, 1893, he opened his present insurance office, being now the local manager of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Portland, Me. In Oct., 1890, he married Sarah, daughter of Henry S. Munro, of Belle Isle, and they have one son, Howard Munro.

Peckham, Newton R., Camillus, son of Joseph L., and a native of Georgetown, Madison Co., was born Feb. 15, 1866, and moved with his parents to Memphis in 1869, where the latter died in 1885-the father on February 15th and the mother on September 4th. Receiving his preliminary education in the Jordan Academy, he was graduated from the Munro Collegiate Institute at Elbridge in 1885, after which he attended Syracuse University for a time. In 1887 he began the study of law in the office of Farrar & Cady, in Syracuse, and was admitted here May 1st, 1891. He remained in the office of William G. Cady until May 1, 1893, and since then has practiced alone. Prior to his legal training Mr. Peckham was principal of the graded school at Georgetown for two years, and there became a member of Cautious Lodge, No. 726, F. & A. M. He is also a member of New York Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Psi. He practiced his profession in Syracuse until 1895, when he removed to the village of Camillus and opened an office there.

Weaver, Lewis Frederick, M. D., Syracuse, was born in the town of Frankfort, N. Y., April 12, 1849, and was graduated from Whitestown Seminary in 1867. He tanght school winters and worked on the farm summers until the fall of 1870, when

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he entered the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pa., from which he was graduated March 12, 1873. He began the practice of his chosen profession on July 9 of the same year in the Fourth ward of Syracuse, where he has since resided. In the spring of 1894 he was elected alderman from that ward; on April 25 he was ap- pointed a trustee of the New York State Institution for Feeble-Minded Children ; and in the fall of the same year he was elected coroner of Onondaga Co., all of which positions he still holds. He is a member of the Masonie orders of the city, holds offices in all the bodies, and is also a member of the New York State, Central New York, and Onondaga Medical Societies and of the Syracuse Academy of Medicine. Sept. 12, 1878, he married Miss Mary Ella, dangliter of Beverley Chase, of Syracuse, and has one son, Earl Chase Weaver.

Knapp, Henry J., Manlius, was born in Cass Co., Mich., May 9, 1843. William L. Knapp, his father, was born at Onondaga Hill, N. Y., Jan. 4, 1818. Joel Knapp, father of William L., was a native of · Connecticut, and came to this county early in the present century, establishing a hat factory at Onondaga Hill, which he conducted many years. He was the father of three children: William L., Joel E., of Camillus, and Mrs. A. E. Smith, of Camillus. William L. always followed farming. In polities he was a staunch Republican, but never held office. He was twice married, first in 1839 to Jane Electa Mead, a native of Dutchess Co., and they were the parents of five children, three of whom are living; HENRY J. KNAPP. Henry J., our subject; Rev. Frank L., of Milford, N. H .; and William M., a real estate dealer of Syracuse. The second wife of William L. was Delia Cunningham, of the town of Manlius, who died July 23, 1884, and one child of that union is still living, Mrs. Ella J., wife of G. Albert Knapp, a landscape painter and artistic decorator of Syracuse. William L. died Sept. 18, 1891. Mrs. Knapp, first, died Sept. 9, 1855. William L. was always closely identified with the Baptist church, being a deacon for many years, to the time of his death, and was one of the leaders of inception and construction of the Baptist church of this place. Henry J. Knapp was ten years of age when his parents came back to their native county. He lived on the farm in Dewitt until 18 years of age. The homestead has since come into his possession, and is now conducted as a

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dairy farm. He was educated in the common schools and Syracuse High School, which he was attending at the breaking out of the Civil war. He entered the mili- tary service in the Union army Sept. 9, 1862, as a member of Co. I, 3d N. Y. Vol. Cavalry, and performed constant and honorable service with his company and regi- ment in Eastern North Carolina and Virginia until July, 1864, when he received an appointment in the acting assistant adjutant-general's office at headquarters, Gen. A. V. Kautz's Cavalry Division, Army of the James, which position he held until the close of the war. After his return in 1865 he worked in the office of the city surveyor of Syracuse, N. Y., until the spring of 1866 when he returned to the farm in Dewitt which he conducted for three years and taught the district school winters. April 5, 1869, he bought the interest of David H. Decker, of the firm of J. & D. H. Decker, in the furniture and undertaking business in Fayetteville, N. Y. The firm name was Decker & Knapp for fourteen years, and in March, 1883, Mr. Knapp bought out the senior partner and has ever since conducted the business alone, in which he has been successful, by close application and the observance of strict business principles, gaining for himself an honorable name in the community. Undertaking has always been a leading feature of the business, and Mr. Knapp has acquired quite a local popularity as funeral director and has considerably increased the advantages of that profession in this county, taking a lively interest in the organization of the Onondaga County Undertakers' Association in 1886 and always active in matters pertaining to its welfare. Having been annually re-elected to the office of treasurer since the date of its organization is evidence of esteem among his associates. He has also made a special study of embalming, being a graduate of several schools. He was made a Mason in 1866, and has always taken an active in- terest in the order, having served in nearly all offices in the lodge, being master for several years. In 1868 Mr. Knapp married Katherine M. Duff, of Fayetteville, daughter of John Duff, and they are the parents of four sons: Hubert C., Ernest C., Arthur H., and Carroll D. Hubert C. is a student at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Baltimore, Md., class of 1896. Ernest C. is of the class of 1894, of Col- gate Academy. October 15, 1894, he entered the office of The National Beef Co. (which is a branch of the G. H. Hammond Packing Co., of Hammond, Ind.) at Duluth, Minn., and in June, 1895, was advanced to the position of bookkeeper and cashier. The two younger sons are studentsof Fayetteville Union School. Mr. Knapp has always been a Republican in politics, was president of the village one year (1893), and served as trustee of the village and school for several years. He was a member of the school board at the time of the building of the new school building, is a promi- nent member of the Baptist church, holding the office of deacon and church clerk, and has been for several years superintendent of the Sunday school. In June, 1878, he was commissioned as captain in the 51st Regt. N. G. S. N. Y., and commanded Co. F of that regiment for several years from the organization of the company to the disbanding of the regiment.

Hildenbrandt, Charles J., Syracuse, was born in Albany, N. Y .. July 9, 1861. He was educated in his native city. At the age of 16 he engaged in the drug business, in which he continued for nine years. In 1887 he entered the newspaper field and became business manager of the Albany Daily Herald, a position he held eighteen months. He then founded the Albany Sontags Journal, one of the leading and most

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successful German papers in that part of the State, and one year later, sold it to a stock company. He was then made advertising manager of the Albany Union, but soon resigned to accept a position in the advertising department of the Aibany Press and Knickerbocker, and later with the Times-Union. In 1892 he came to Syracuse as advertising manager of the Evening News, and in the fall of 1893 accepted an offer from the Daily Courier. He continued in this capacity until Nov., 1895, when he established the C. J. Hildenbrandt Advertising Company, of which he is presi- dent and general manager. This concern handles all kinds of local and foreign ad- vertising matter in the leading newspapers, magazines and periodicals, and is the most important of its kind in central and northern New York. Mr. Hildenbrandt has had a long and valuable experience in the advertising field. He is a Mason and a member of several benevolent orders. In 1883 he married Miss Georgiana Freden- dall of Albany, and they have three children.

Warner, Charles M., Syracuse, was born in Van Buren, Onondaga Co., April 8. 1845, and received his education in the public schools of Jordan. At the age of 18 he engaged in business as a groceryman, and when 21 became identified with the milling industry. Three years later he turned his attention to lumber and coal, a business he successfully followed until 1879, when he came to Syracuse, where he has since resided. Here he engaged in the malting business, which has grown un- der his management until now he is perhaps the heaviest and most extensive opera- tor in the world. He has branches or malt houses at Jordan, Weedsport, Clyde, Attica, Batavia, Buffalo, and Chicago. He is also heavily interested in various busi- ness and other corporations in Syracuse and elsewhere, such as street railway, paving, and electric light enterprises, etc., and is prominently, etc., identified with the material prosperity of the city and county. He has always been a staunch Republican, and in Jordan held several local offices, including that of post- master. He was a member and president of the Board of Police Commissioners under Mayor Jacob Amos, but excepting this has declined public preferment, his ex- tensive business interests occupying his undivided attention. Yet no man takes a livelier interest in the welfare and general advancement of Syracuse than does Mr. Warner. He is a heavy taxpayer, owning large blocks of real estate, including the famous Crouse stables, now the S. A. A. building, His crowning act as a public spirited man was the generous offer to the city of Syracuse on June 6, 1894, of a soldiers' monument dedicated to the heroes of Onondaga who fought in the war of the Rebellion, an offer which, apparently for political reasons, has not been accepted (March, 1896) by the municipal authorities. It was also as a tribute to his wife, Alice Emerick, of Jordan, whom he married in 1875, and who died in 1893, that he makes this munificent gift.

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Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 112

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094