USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 58
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
610
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
In April, 1871, he purchased the Leggett, Harris, and parts of the Hiram Thomas and Hayden farms, making the company the own- ers of 738 acres, at a total cost of $140,000. A portion of the last mentioned land contained the railroad junction. In July, 1871, Judge Asa Packer, representing the Pennsylvania & New York railroad company, purchased of Howard Elmer & Co. about 100 acres of the land, including the junction, and in 1872 began here the erection of a large roundhouse. Mr. Elmer, feeling confident that the time had come, proceeded to lay out the town. The land was surveyed and the work of opening and grading streets was commenced. A contour map was made, delineating the proposed streets, blocks and lots, and work was begun in earnest under his immediate supervision and direction. The company, through Mr. Elmer as its manager, obtained permission in 1873 to erect at the junction a passenger station, and a number of dwellings were fin- ished the same year. In 1873, also, the Southern Central and Ithaca & Athens offices were removed to the new station (named by Mr. Elmer "Sayre " in honor of Robert H. Sayre, president of the Pennsylvania & New York railroad company, and general superintendent of the Lehigh Valley railroad company). The same year the Cayuta car wheel foundry commenced operations. The panic of 1873, and the consequent depreciation of values, for a time retarded the growth and progress of Sayre and deferred the immediate building of the railroad shops and offices which were already contemplated ; but Mr. Elmer did not swerve from his purpose, and continued to concentrate industries here, which the future would develop. A postoffice was established in 1874, and a hotel and several dwellings and shops erected. In 1875 Robert A. Packer, son of Judge Asa Packer, and superintendent of the Penn- sylvania & New York railroad company, removed to Sayre, bought several acres of Mr. Elmer, and commenced a palatial residence (the town already having become of so much importance that the railroad authorities decided to make it the point of distribution for the northern traffic). Other officials of the road soon made their home here, necessitating the erection of the fine general office building, commenced in 1876. In 1878, after the death of Mr. Anthony," Mr. Elmer induced the Packer family, E. P. Wilber,
*Which occurred in 1874.
611
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON.
president of the Lehigh Valley railroad, and Mr. Robert Lockhart, of South Bethlehem, Pa., all prominent in railroad circles, to pur- chase one-half of the Anthony interest, which resulted in center- ing at Sayre the great shops of the Pennsylvania & New York and the Lehigh Valley railroads. The Sayre land company was organ- ized soon after. Mr. Elmer was made president and general man- ager, as also of the Sayre & Athens water company, and the Cayuta wheel and foundry company. In all this progress Mr. Elmer was a potent factor, and it was chiefly to his faith in its future, his planning, his encouragement, and his indefatigable and persistent efforts, that Sayre is indebted for its origin, its de- velopment and its subsequent prosperity. In 1875 and 1876 Mr. Elmer was receiver of the Ithaca & Athens and Geneva & Ithaca railroads, and a director of the Pennsylvania & New York railroad company, the Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre railroad company, and treasurer of the Buffalo & Geneva railroad company. With the numerous and heavy burdens of an active business life, Howard Elmer never neglected the cultivation of the finer qualities of mind and spirit. He was naturally a student, and with his extensive reading and remarkable memory his mind was stored with the erudition of a man devoted to letters, a knowledge not looked for in one who was daily in bank or office, leading and directing in the absorbing affairs of practical business life. His library was filled with choice volumes, and frequently replenished with new works of the best authors. These kept his mind abreast of the times, and afforded him the indulgence and relaxation he craved and needed. He loved the society of his books and treasured what they gave him. He enjoyed his extensive travel in the old world and the new, which (with his keen and accurate observation) gave authority to the remark so frequently made, that no subject of importance could be introduced with which he did not appear to be thoroughly conversant. As was remarked by his life-long friend, Judge Shepard, of Chicago, "He was a delightful corres- pondent, and in conversation was charming and fascinating to an unusual degree. Young and old were alike his admirers. Face- tiousness acquired a new attraction when indulged in by him, and something was added to general knowledge by his remarks upon
608
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
and one of its founders. He identified himself with the best in- terests of his city and community. Twice he was proffered the mayoralty of Brooklyn, and twice was offered nomination to con- gress, but refused to enter public life. He was a devout and de- voted churchman, and for forty years held office as vestryman and warden of Holy Trinity church, Brooklyn. He was a member of the governing board of the "Church Charity Foundation " in Brooklyn for many years. One of the deserving honors bestowed upon liim was his selection as a trustee of the famous " Brooklyn Bridge." His name is carved high on its towers as a memorial. During all these years his heart was in Owego, where his beloved parents and kinsfolk dwelt. Each year he returned to his native village and found its surroundings and its valley scenery the niost satisfying and beautiful rest he could find. Here he made his summer home, and here he closed his eyes on July 1, 1893. The service of burial was held in St. Paul's church, Owego, and his body was thence taken to Greenwood cemetery on the edge of Brooklyn. William Boardman Leonard was named for his mother's favorite cousin, Judge William W. Boardman of New Haven. Handsome in his personal features, gracious and cour- teous, like his venerable father, his manners were easy and his bearing kindly. He had a generous heart, a loving nature, a chris- tian walk and conversation. He bore no malice, and was beloved by all. His children are Right Rev. William Andrew Leonard, D. D., Episcopal bishop of Ohio, of Cleveland, Ohio., Lewis Leonard, of Brooklyn, and Louisa Bulkley Van Nostrand, also of Brooklyn.
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON.
HOWARD ELMER was born in the town of Wawayanda, Orange county, N. Y., on August 2, 1833, the eldest son of Richard A. and Charlotte B. Elmer. He descended from a worthy ancestry, dis-
Grund Chner.
609
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON.
tinguished for steadfastness of purpose and unfaltering adherence to principle-the unflinching Covenanters of Scotland and the staunch Puritans of New England. He early developed, and sus- tained through life, the indomitable fixedness of purpose and the intense conscientiousness and devotion to the right, which were his by inheritance, and which characterized his every action. He was prepared for college at the Ridgebury and Goshen academies, but delicate health prevented the continuance of his course of study. He came with his father to Waverly in 1850, a lad of sev- enteen, and was soon employed in the old Waverly bank ; and his financial education was continued in the Chemung Canal bank at Elmira, and in the First National bank of the same place. In 1864 Mr. Elmer organized the First National bank of Waverly, was its cashier until 1868, then its president for the remainder of his life. He married in October, 1865, Miss Sarah P. Perkins, daughter of the late George A. Perkins, of Athens, Pa. Waverly was his chosen residence, and there his name was closely identified with the leading religious, benevolent and business projects of this sec- tion. He had a genius for the successful management of difficult enterprises, and while a man of varied and responsible affairs, no department of business was of more absorbing interest to him, nor evidenced more fully his superior executive ability and foresight, than the founding, building and developing of Sayre, Pa., now a railroad centre of importance and one of the most prosperous man- ufacturing points of northern Pennsylvania. This is situated just south of the New York state line, comprises a portion of the old estate of Mrs. Elmer's grandfather, the late John Shepard, and lies in the beautiful Susquehanna valley, midway between the vil- lages of Waverly and Athens. Mr. Elmer had great faith in the geographical advantages of the territory, and conceived the idea of building a town at the junction of the Lehigh Valley and the Southern Central railroads, and making it the terminus of the two northern railroads then running to Athens, and in 1870 he asso- ciated with himself the late Charles L. Anthony, of New York city, the late James Fritcher and the late Richard A. Ehmer (his brother) of Waverly, and purchased the Morley, Hopkins and W. H. Thomas farms, containing 321 acres, and commenced his work.
$612
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
most varied topics. And, best of all, the religion taught by Christ (of which he was an humble and devoted follower, both in profes- sion and practice) was made to be the chief attraction of ripe man- hood." He was a marked man of unusual strength of character and ability, reserved and yet of positive convictions, and with a courageous expression of what he thought and believed. It was this stalwart adherence to the right which constituted him a pillar of strength in the community, standing with firmness for all that was manly and high-minded in opinion and action. He was for many years an active member of the Presbyterian church, and, as was truly said by his pastor, "He was ever willing to give of his time and money to advance the cause of his Lord and Master." With all his interest this was uppermost, and to those in need he dealt with an open hand. His death, which occurred September 9, 1892, left a vacancy in the church, the community and business circles which could be filled only by loving memories in the hearts of the many whom by his sympathy and liberality he had helped to uplift, and by the boundless influence for good of his rarely un- selfish and untarnished life, which will be lasting as eternity.
RICHARD ALLISON ELMER, son of Richard Allison and Charlotte Bailey Elmer, was born in the town of Wawayanda, Orange county, N. Y., June 16, 1842. The family removed to Waverly in 1850, and he was there prepared for Hamilton college, from which he was graduated in 1864. He intended to study law and pursued his studies for that purpose, and was admitted to the bar. In 1867 the death of his father led him to abandon the practice of law and he joined his brother, Howard Elmer, president of the First Na- tional bank, of Waverly, and became cashier of that bank. This position he occupied for about twelve years, during which time the firm became one of the largest investors of private trusts in the state. In 1870, with his brother and two other associates, Mr. Elmer purchased the large tract of land near Waverly, which has become a great manufacturing and railroad centre employing large bodies of men and capital, and bears the name of Sayre, Pa. Busied with these and other enterprises which gave full occupa- tion to his energies, Mr. Elmer, although he always took a promi-
2
Rich Et. Enhver .
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON. 613
nent part in political, local, and charitable movements, never sought political office. His fame as a banker and business man caused his name to be prominently mentioned in the republican state convention of 1879 for the position of state treasurer. In 1881, on the accession of President Garfield, the famous "star route scandals " demanded the president's earliest attention, and, after removing the head of that department of the post office in which the scandals had occurred, it was no ordinary task to find a successor of sufficient courage, business experience and executive capacity to fill the place of second assistant postmaster-general. Without Mr. Elmer's knowledge, several gentlemen, prominent and influential with the new administration, recommended him as the most competent man for this position, one able to conduct the exceedingly difficult work of reform. The president decided to nominate him, and it was only when this decision was announced that Mr. Elmer was informed of the intention. He had but a day to consider the question, and it was with his reluctant consent that his name was sent to the senate. On May 5, 1881, his nom- ination was confirmed, and he soon removed to Washington and entered upon his duties. The affairs of the post office department, particularly that part under charge of the second assistant post- master general, known as the " star route and steamboat service," had fallen into such disorder under the previous administration as to become one of the greatest public scandals in the history of the government, attracting the attention of the whole country, and being exposed and denounced by the journals of both parties, as well as in congressional committees and debates. All demands for reform had been successfully resisted, and President Garfield realized that a thorough extirpation of this mal-administration and waste was absolutely essential to the success and good fame of his administration. He promised to render his unfaltering support to Mr. Elmer, and, thus encouraged, the good work was begun. Mr. Elmer found himself strongly opposed by those who profited by the corruption, many of them men of influence, supported by others as prominent. Almost unknown to the political leaders in Washington, and entirely unfamiliar with the department and with the capital, Mr. Elmer steadfastly pursued the work of reform
614
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
which he had undertaken. His administration overcame all ob- stacles placed in its way, and the great difficulties which met him at every step. In less than three years of arduous and unceasing labor, he fully accomplished the reforms undertaken. In February, 1884, Mr. Elmer resigned his office to attend to neglected private interests. On resigning he received the well-merited thanks of President Arthur, and of the head of the post office department. His administration had won the approval of the country, which saw with surprise and satisfaction the substitution of economy, honesty and efficiency in a branch of the service long notorious for the most scandalous abuses. During his incumbency of the office the mileage of the star route service and its efficiency were largely increased, and the annual rate of expenditure was decreased over $2,500,000. The policy thus enforced resulted in making the post office department entirely self-supporting for the first time in thirty years, and by reason of these results congress reduced the letter rate from three to two cents. In June, 1885, the New York Herald, discussing editorially the condition of the postal service, praised Mr. Elmer's administrative capacity, courage, and honesty, and said : " As to Mr. Elmer, the second assistant postmaster-general, it was his task to reform the star route service, and weed out of it the extravagance and corruption which had filled it under his predecessor. Mr. Elmer did this, and deserves the thanks of the country for doing it admirably." Shortly after retiring to private life, Mr. Elmer organized the American Surety Co., of New York city, of which he became president, and built up in four years the largest surety company in the world. It was principally his keen business insight and careful study of and improvement upon the methods of European companies that placed the American Surety Co. in the advanced financial position it now occupies. Such an outcome under ordinary circumstances would require great execu- tive ability, energy, patience, and pluck ; but the conditions under which Mr. Elmer wrought his results were extraordinary, and in mastering them and achieving success in spite of them he displayed real heroism. For months at a time the American Surety Co. was managed from his bedside. There, directors, minor officials, and clerks called daily, communicating information, receiving advice
615
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON.
or instruction, leaving the president propped up in bed, well sup- plied with writing materials to prepare business for the next day's meeting. Mr. Elmer was then suffering from disease of the kid- neys. It was hoped later that he had entirely recovered, but his death came unexpectedly on the evening of October 1, 1888, after a busy day at the office. He was buried from Calvary Protestant Episcopal church and now rests in Woodlawn cemetery. Mr. Elmer married June 16, 1870, Sara Foster France, daughter of the late J. Foster and Isabella Sears France, of Middletown, N. Y. He has three sons, Robert France Elmer, Richard Allison Elmer (third of the name), and Charles Howard Elmer.
At a meeting of the American Surety Co., on October 3, 1888. these resolutions were adopted :
The sudden death of our beloved associate and friend, the president of this company, comes to us with an appalling shock. Yesterday in our midst, strong, with that energy which was the admiration of all, and which vitalized every object that it touched, and to-day silent in death.
We record upon our minutes the irrepressible sorrow of our hearts at this sudden re- moval of one whom to know was to love and to honor, for all that was noble and gen crous in human nature. In the person of Richard A. Eher was embodied almost the perfection of christian manhood. Noble by nature, the world as it passed him could not fail to stamp him as a leader of men. The majestic power with which he confronted the problems of daily life was well-nigh irresistible, and failure was a word unrecognized in his vocabulary. To be brought in contact with his generous nature was to yield a graceful submission to his will. His very presence was an inspiration and a power.
As president of this company his success was phenomenal. Of untiring industry and with consummate ability, from the very inception of this enterprise, he has devoted every day and hour to its success, never resting until what seemed to have been the am- bition of his life accomplished and a result achieved which commanded the admiration of all.
We mourn him as a brother, and we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved wife and children in this the hour of their desolation.
REV. NATHANIEL ELMER, brother of Richard A. Elmer, was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, January 31, 1816. He was grad- uated at Union college, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1840, and at Union theological seminary, New York, in 1843, and was ordained a min- ister of the Presbyterian church October 24, 1844. He was the first pastor of the Presbyterian church at Waverly, which position he held nine years. He married in 1845, Caroline, daughter of Rev. John Ford, of Parsippany, New Jersey. She lived but six
616
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
months after marriage. He married, second, in 1849, Mary A. Post, daughter of James Post, of Middletown, N. Y., and died in that city July 11, 1884, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth.
SAMUEL WICKHAM SLAUGHTER, second son of Dewitt and Caro- line (Mills) Slaughter, was born at Hamptonburg, Orange county, November 8, 1837. He was educated at Chester and Middletown academies, and when twenty years of age, in 1857, came with his father's family to Waverly. He engaged in the drug business, and for over thirty years occupied the "corner drug store." In 1883, on account of failing health, he retired from active life. Mr. Slaughter married, on May 13, 1873, Miss Charlotte, youngest daughter of Mr. Alfred Wells, of Goshen, N. Y., a lady whose sterling qualities of womanhood were well fitted to make his home life pleasant and attractive. They have one child, Gertrude. Dur- ing the long period of his business operations Mr. Slaughter was a leader in the commercial interests of Waverly, and all things tend- ing to advance the prosperity of the village found him a ready helper. It has been truly said of him : "As a citizen Mr. Slaugh- ter enjoyed to its fullest extent the confidence and respect of his fellow townsmen. Naturally of a retiring disposition, he always refused positions of public honor, yet he was ever interested in affairs, and with every plan whose purpose was the commercial or spiritual prosperity of the village, his name was closely associated in wise counsel and generous contribution." In the few civil and educational offices he was persuaded to fill, his promptness, clear judgment and accurate intuitions gave evidence of his pre-eminent ability to fill any station with credit and honor. His long connec- tion with the Citizen's bank of Waverly, of which he was vice- president from its organization in 1874 until his death on August 24, 1894, demonstrated that he possessed the characteristics of a successful financier. His nature was both studious and artistic, and his beautiful home and place of business bore ample testimony to his correct taste and his love of the beautiful. His business sagacity and his skill in investing brought him wealth, which his generous nature forbade him to hoard. His ear was ever open to the tale of the deserving poor, and those who needed sympathy
I. Sr. Stang here
617
WAVERLY AND TOWN OF BARTON.
and aid were bountifully and delicately supplied. He was truly "the poor man's friend," and at his death among the most sincere mourners were the many whose lives had been brightened and cheered by his christian benevolence. His life for long years was dominated by the spirit of Christ, and in 1874 he made public pro- fession of his christian faith by joining the First Presbyterian church. For many years he served as a member of the board of trustees, and to his business qualities and generosity this church is largely indebted for the high position it occupies. In his churchi life Mr. Slaughter was a man of few words, but of generous im- pulses and noble actions. His piety was unaffected, deep, rever- ent and full of sunshine. He was a diligent student of the bible, and pre-eminently a man of prayer. His faith in God was strong, his hopes for the future were bright. The end of such a life is peace. Mr. Slaughter was interred in the family burial-ground at Phillipsburgh, Orange county, where his body rests awaiting the resurrection summons.
JAMES RIKER, who is still well remembered in Waverly as a his- torian of rare ability, and also the author of several high class miscellaneous works, and who is also specially remembered and respected by reason of permitting his valuable library to be en- joyed by the public, was a native of New York city, and there attained his greatest celebrity as literateur. He came to Waverly about 1869, and lived in the village to the time of his death, July 3, 1889. He was a member of many noted historical and literary societies, and, withal, a man of marked ability and learning. This much, at least, in the annals of the county, is due to Mr. Riker's memory, although he was not specially associated with local his- tory other than mentioned above.
HIRAM PAYNE was a native of Connecticut, and came to Mckean county, Pa., about 1830. He was a surveyor, lawyer, and other- wise prominent man ; was district attorney of the county, a mem- ber of the legislature and had an extended acquaintance all through central and western Pennsylvania. His wife was a daughter of Rev. Minor York, of Wysox, by whom he had six children. Five
618
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
of these came with the family to Waverly in 1854, at which place Mr. Payne afterward lived, and where he died March 30, 1882. Mr. Payne was in all respects a self made and self educated man ; a strong pro-slavery democrat, firm and unyielding in his belief. Still, he was broad-minded, of liberal views on general subjects, and his life in Waverly was such as to convince the observer that he was at least in confortable circumstances, yet he died poor.
ARTHUR YATES, better known, however, as Judge Yates, and who was so well known in business and social history in Waverly from 1832 to the time of his death, was a native of Butternuts, Otsego county, born February 7, 1807. His father was Dr. William Yates, a native of England, a physician of distinguished promi- nence, and a philanthropist as well, and was the originator of the practice of vaccination in America. In 1832 Arthur Yates came to Factoryville and was a lumberman and merchant, a builder and proprietor of mills and otherindustries, thus being closely associated with early history in that interesting hamlet of the past. He was also a strong democrat, but not in any sense a politician ; was postmaster at Factoryville in 1836 and for nearly fourteen years afterward; was justice about six years, and was appointed as- sociate judge of the common pleas April 18, 1838. He was also closely identified with local educational and church affairs, and in- deed with all the best interests of the village of Waverly. Judge Yates was married twice, first in January, 1836, with Zeba Wash- bon, who died in 1853, and second with Elizabeth, widow of Col. Noble and daughter of Judge Page, of Unadilla, N. Y.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.