USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Rochester and Monroe County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 9
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"In public life Mr. Van Voorhis was the stalwart champion of his adopted city. He left his imprint in the halls of congress, where he is remembered as the best legislator Monroe ever sent to the national capital. In the practice of his profession he achieved a country-wide distinction. As a scholar and stu- dent, in his own library, he showed a side of his character that was particu- larly attractive to his intimates. As an advisor of young men, and as their steadfast friend, if they deserved his friendship, Mr. Van Voorhis will be sin- cerely mourned and his loss as a counselor will be keenly felt.
"Strong in his loves, undying in his hatreds, but fair in both, Mr. Van Voor- his made countless friends and some enemies. All, at his death, will pay him tribute that truly great citizens strive for-HE WAS SINCERE."
The Post Express of Rochester said editorially:
"Mr. Van Voorhis was a man of great intensity and made both friends and enemies with remarkable ease. He was bold and vigorous in speech, defied parliamentary usages and restraints, drove straight at his mark, affected to care nothing for the feelings of antagonists, made no objections whatever to savage thrusts in return, and delighted in intellectual conflict. It was inevit- able that he should fall into difficulties occasionally in the heat of public debate,
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and that enemies should rise up against him, in congress and out of it. It is very doubtful, however, if these enemies long cherished their resentment, and probably all enmities created amid political strife were forgotten long ago. It is certain that Mr. Van Voorhis was always ready to forget and forgive, and his last years were those of peace and content. While he was active in public affairs he made many friends, and these he clung to with hooks of steel, was fond of their companionship, and loved to serve them.
"He was a successful lawyer who permitted nothing to sway him from the interests of his clients. He believed in knock-down blows and delighted to give and take. If he lacked diplomacy and suavity, he excelled in directness and loyalty. During the later years of his life he participated but rarely in legal battles, being content to watch them from afar ; but to his last days he was conspicuous as a friend of the Indians of Western New York, appeared fre- quently in court in their defense, joined heartily in the efforts to protect them from the avaricious whites, visited Washington in their interest, made argu- ments before the senate and house committees, kept his old friends informed as to what was going on-men like Allison, Teller, Hale, Hoar and Platt of Con- necticut in the senate-and strove earnestly, without thought of compensation or reward, to protect the innocent from outrage and wrong. His ceaseless effort in their behalf was characteristic, for he loved justice, hated wrong, and never dodged a fight. One of the fine features of his character was that he never dealt a blow in malice or harbored the slightest animosity toward his opponents, either at the bar or in politics. He was rugged and leonine in appearance, but within beat a warm and loving heart."
Of him Charles E. Fitch, state regent, and for a long time editor of the Democrat & Chronicle of Rochester, wrote as follows:
"A stalwart form is smitten. A strong heart has ceased to beat. For fifty years he was a leader at the bar; from the birth of the republican party he was prominent in its councils, honored by and honoring it; throughout he was associated with the activities of this community. If he may not be called great, he had the qualities that inhere in greatness; he was direct in purpose, candid in speech, resourceful and resolute in act, unflinching in courage and generous in success. If, in the heat of conflict in his profession or in politics, he, who hated meanness and abhorred hypocrisy, was severe in address, there lurked no malice in his thought, and he cherished few resentments. He caused no wound that he would not gladly heal. If he made foes, he would resolve them into friends, where no issue of principle was involved; and he attached friends to him as by hooks of steel. As he was self-reliant, he was also helpful. He was one upon whom others leaned. Many are they who will to-day note the kindly offices he rendered them.
"As a lawyer he was learned, skillful, assiduous and absolutely devoted to the interests of his clients. Confident in his case, and assured of its justice, apt in the trial thereof and specially gifted in the cross-examination of perverse
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or reluctant witnesses, he gained many triumphs at "NISI PRIUS," but it was in the appellate courts that he chiefly excelled, for he knew the law and its application, and seldom failed to turn victory into defeat in the last review.
"As a politician he believed in his party, because he believed in its principles. From devotion to its creed he never swerved, as loyal to it in its reverses as in its prosperities. For years he labored for it zealously and indefatigably and without reward. In the maturity of his years and the fullness of his power, he was commissioned to represent his district in the national congress, and no man ever represented it more ably or faithfully than did he. In speech never elaborate, in debate he was potent and often crushing to his adversary. He exalted his political faith and knew no compromise with wrong. He made a national reputation for terseness and vigor of utterance, and for integrity in civil administration in accordance with the leading of the party which redeemed the republic and accomplished its weal. And not less did he serve his immediate constituency than the country. Pensions for the veterans of the war, needed appropriations for public improvements, and the varied inter- ests of his district testify to his diligence.
"In his retirement from public life, and in a measure from the arduous duties of his profession, as the advancing years admonished him to rest, he rip- ened into charming companionship with all who came within the circle of his acquaintance. In conversation he was fascinating, drawing not only upon reminiscence, but upon stores of literature with a knowledge of which he was not generally credited. All asperities had ceased and all contests had ended. His closing years were serene. He dies full of years and of honors, and it will be long before he will be forgotten by the profession he adorned, the coun- try he served and the city in which he lived so long."
Rev. S. Banks Nelson, D. D., paid a beautiful tribute at the funeral exer- cises. It was in part reported by the press as follows:
"John Van Voorhis is dead, but we need not place a broken column on his grave. He was a man who put the cap on his own column, and then stepped off the superstructure into the glorious hereafter. His life in some senses was not even a broken arc. To him we may not apply that old simile of a ship wrecked on the shoals of time, a decrepit body and a mind approaching senility. For he raised anchor, hoisted his pennant, and waving us adieu, sailed away with his hand in that of his pilot."
Speaking of Mr. Van Voorhis' mentality, Mr. Nelson said:
"He was keen and he was witty, but his wit was so keen and polished that his blade never bore away a heart sting and his bon mots sent a ripple over the faces of his hearers. His very dumbness as he lies here is eloquent and bespeaks strength. No one ever thought of John Van Voorhis without asso- ciating him with strength.
"When Mahomet died one of his followers rushed out of the tent and draw- ing his sword threatened to run it through any one who should declare that
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Mahomet was dead. The Jews could not believe that Elijah was dead; they thought it impossible that any one so brave and great could die. When Moses died they refused to believe that he had passed away, not deeming it possible that he could be dead for more than a day. This is a thought that runs throughout sacred history and a thought that runs through profane history from the beginning to the present day, and it is a natural thought that it is impossible for the great and good to die. This universal instinct itself declares man's immortality.
"Leave John Van Voorhis out of the affairs of the city of Rochester and what a different complexion they would have. We are thankful that he was sent as a representative of this district to the federal government at Washington, for we know that our affairs were looked after by a man of character and prin- ciple. In the church, too, his influence was felt. He believed in the necessity of the Christian pulpit and was an ardent friend of every faithful preacher of the Gospel."
Dr. David J. Hill, United States minister to the Netherlands, on learning of his death, paid a beautiful tribute to his memory which reads in part as fol- lows:
"'Once a friend always a friend,' was his motto so long as a man deserved his friendship. No lawyer ever more unreservedly committed his whole soul to the cause of his client, and it was one of the secrets of his success. In the unremunerated good offices of private friendship it was the same way. He believed in his cause, he believed in his friends, he believed in the triumph of right, and did all in his powr to promote it. In return, his friends believed in him, and they never misplaced their faith. Sincerity, loyalty, straightforward- ness, unselfishness,- these are the qualities that shone in the character of John Van Voorhis and made him seem noble as well as true to those who really knew him. This is the tribute I would lay upon his grave,-'Here sleeps the soul of loyalty.'"
Henry Nettleton Shyam
Captain henry nettleton Snyder
N O MAN was ever more respected or more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people, and none ever deserved such respect and confidence than Henry Nettleton Snyder. In his lifetime the people of his state, recognizing his merit, rejoiced in the advance- ment and in the honors to which he attained and since his death, which occurred in Clarkson, in 1904, the people of Monroe county have cherished his memory. He was one to whom was entrusted important public service and in the discharge of his duties he appreciated the responsibility which rested upon him and his worth was therefore widely acknowledged.
Captain Snyder was born in Clarkson, Monroe county, New York, May 24, 1831, the only child of Adam and Sallie (Whitney) Snyder, and a grand- son of Henry and Hannah (Vermilya) Snyder. The father was born in Wes- terlo, this state, June 15, 1800, while the mother's birth occurred in Water- town, Connecticut, December 29, 1798, and their marriage was celebrated April 20, 1820. The Whitney family was founded in this country by Sir Ran- dolph de Whitney, a grandson of Eustace de Whitney, who accompanied Rich- ard Cœur de Lion on his crusades, where he distinguished himself.
Captain Snyder pursued a course of study in Brown University, at Provi- dence, Rhode Island, from which institution he was graduated in 1855, and the following year he filled the chair of professor of mathematics in the semi- nary at Sunbury, North Carolina. In 1857 he entered the law department of the University of Albany, in Albany, New York, and upon being admitted to the bar located for practice in Chicago, Illinois, where he remained during the succeeding four years. His business interests, however, were interrupted by his service in the Civil war, when, in 1861, he raised a company of volunteers and was mustered in as its captain, serving throughout the struggle to pre- serve the Union. He participated in the different campaigns in the south- western and gulf states and at the close of the war settled at Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he engaged in merchandising, this being his business connec- tion until 1874. During his residence in that city he acted as alderman and was elected by the republican party as a representative from Hamilton county to the state legislature. In connection with his other business interests he was also the editor of a paper in Chattanooga. He was likewise for twenty years
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pension examiner at Washington, D. C. Captain Snyder remained in the gov- ernment employ until 1903, when he returned to Monroe county, where he owned a farm of eighty acres in Clarkson township, located about a half mile east of the village of Clarkson on the Ridge road, which at one time was an old Indian trail. This property was settled by his parents. Here his death occurred in 1904, and thus passed away one of the old and highly esteemed citizens of Monroe county.
It was in 1876 that Captain Snyder was united in marriage to Carrie Euge- nia Lyman, a daughter of H. F. and Catherine Lyman, farming people of Una- dilla, Michigan. Mrs. Snyder receiveed her education in the schools of Michi- gan and after reaching womanhood went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to visit an aunt, Mrs. Lucretia Arnold, who resided on Lookout mountain, and it was during her sojourn there she formed the acquaintance of the gentleman whom she later married. Their marriage was blessed with five children: Sarah L., who is the wife of E. C. Fowler, a resident of Clarkson, where he is now serv- ing as justice of the peace; Catherine, who is engaged in teaching in the schools of Washington, D. C .; Lyman W. and Carrie, twins, who died in infancy; and Gladys Vermilya, who is attending the Brockport Normal School. Mrs. Sny- der is the sixth in order of birth in her father's family, the others being: Frank Lyman, who lives in Jackson, Florida; W. C., R. and A. R. Lyman, who are engaged in the newspaper business in Jackson, Michigan; Flora, the wife of Friend Williams, a resident of Stockbridge, Michigan; and Clarence and William H., who died at an early age.
Mrs. Snyder is making her home on the farm which was left her by her hus- band and in the community where she resides she is esteemed by all who know her by reason of her many excellent traits of heart and mind, and all sympa- thize with the household in the loss of the husband and father, whose death was the occasion of deep regret not only to his immediate family but to a host of warm friends. At his death, a personal friend, Julius Heidenreich, a million- aire of Chicago, who was accompanied by a daughter and a granddaughter, came to pay his last respects to one who in life had been a devoted and faithful friend, and in a touching speech spoke of the many excellent and commend- able traits of Captain Snyder.
The Captain was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, exemplifying in his life the teachings of that organization, while with his old army comrades he maintained pleasant relations through Farragut post, G. A. R., at Washington, and also Army of Cumberland. He was a member of the Masonic order, in which he attained the Knight Templar degree, and also affil- iated with the Loyal Legion at Washington, D. C. Through the long years of the Civil war he followed the Union banners on southern battle-fields and in private life just as loyally advocated the principles which he believed would advance the welfare of his state and county. A native son of Monroe county, his name was closely interwoven with its early development and later prog- ress, and his memory today is cherished as that of one who made the world better for his having lived.
Daniel Holmes.
Daniel Holmes
D ANIEL HOLMES, now practically living retired, was the pioneer lawyer of Brockport and for many years a prominent attorney of the Monroe county bar. He is a native of West Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, born September 11, 1828, and has therefore reached the seventy-ninth milestone on life's journey. His parents were Daniel and Susan (Hale-Stuart) Holmes, natives of Massachu- setts, who, removing westward about 1812, settled in Ontario county, New York, where they cast in their lot with those who were reclaiming a frontier district for agricultural uses. The father served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812 and participated in the battle of Buf- falo. The maternal ancestry of Mr. Holmes was represented in the Revolu- tionary war, the grandfather, Thomas Hale, being a drummer boy at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Daniel Holmes was reared at Allens Hill, New York, his father being pro- prietor of a hotel at that place for a number of years. After mastering the elementary branches of learning he prepared for college at the Brockport Col- legiate Institute and received his university training at Yale, which he entered in 1846. He is numbered among the alumni of 1848, having been graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently in 1853 he received from the University of Rochester the degree of Master of Arts, and in the fall of the same year was admitted to the bar, for which he had previously prepared. He immediately began the practice of his profession in Brockport, where he has resided continuously since, having been in practice here for more than a half century. He was the pioneer lawyer of the town and his ability enabled hin always to maintain a place in the foremost ranks of its legal fraternity. In recent years, however, he has retired from active practice to enjoy well earned ease.
In early manhood Daniel Holmes was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Hawes, of Brookfield, Massachusetts, of whom extended mention is made in following pages. Theirs was an ideal relation, their mutual love and confidence increasing year by year as they met together the joys and sorrows, the adver- sity and prosperity, the disappointments and the pleasures which checker the careers of all. Closer grew their friendship as time went by, the desire of each being always for the best interests and happiness of the other, but on the 6th of October, 1907, they were separated through the death of Mrs. Holmes.
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Mr. Holmes still continues to reside in Brockport, where for many years he has figured prominently in community affairs. For thirty years he served as justice of the peace of Brockport, his decisions being strictly fair and impar- tial, so that he "won golden opinions from all sorts of people." He was also clerk of the village for twenty years and in community affairs was actively and helpfully interested, and is secretary and treasurer of the State Normal School at Brockport.
Mr. Holmes is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Monroe lodge, No. 173, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master. He also belongs to Daniel Holmes chapter, No. 294, R. A. M., and to Monroe commandery, No. 12, K. T., of Rochester. He is senior warden of St. Luke's church at Brock- port. He is also a member of the Empire State chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and a member of the New York State Bar Association. He is one of the oldest attorneys of Monroe county and while his professional career gained him rank with the leading lawyers or Brockport he has also been well known because of his activity in connection with the interests bearing upon the general welfare of society and the upbuilding and improvement of the community.
Mary J. Holmes
Ars. Mary J. Holmes
W ITH ONE exception the works of no American novel- ist have been so widely read as those of Mrs. Mary J. Holmes, and Brockport was proud to number her among its citizens, but while her name was a house- hold word throughout the length and breadth of this land, in her home town she was loved for per- sonal traits of character that endeared her to all with whom she came in contact. She was the wife of Daniel Holmes, whose sketch precedes this. In her maidenhood she was Miss Mary J. Hawes, of Brookfield, Massachusetts, a daughter of Preston Hawes, a man of rare mentality, while from her mother she inherited a love of poetry and of fine arts. When but three years of age she began to attend school, studied grammar at the age of six, and began teach- ing school when but thirteen years old. Her first article was published when she was only fifteen years old. Very early in life she manifested rare ability for story telling, entertaining her young companions with tales of her own invention. Her precocity has been borne out by the work of her later years, for there is perhaps no American author whose works are more widely read than those of Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
Over two million copies of her books have been published and the demand for all of them continues unabated. The annual sale amounts to almost a hun- dred thousand copies and no better proof of their merit and popularity could be given. A list of her published works includes the following: Tempest and Sunshine, English Orphans, Homestead on Hillside, Lena Rivers, Meadow Brook, Dora Deane, Cousin Maude, Marian Grey, Darkness and Daylight, Hugh Worthington, Cameron Pride, Rose Mather, Ethelyn's Mistake, Mill- bank, Edna Browning, West Lawn, Edith Lyle, Mildred, Daisy Thornton, Forrest House, Chateau D'or, Madeline, Queenie Hetherton, Christmas Sto- ries, Bessie's Fortune, Gretchen, Marguerite, Dr. Hathern's Daughters, Mrs. Hallam's Companion, Paul Ralston, The Tracy Diamonds, The Cromptons, The Merivale Banks, Rena's Experiment, and The Abandoned Farm. As an author she had a most happy career, with none of the trials which fall to the lot of so many writers, and her publishers have always been her friends. G. W. Carlton and later Dillingham had charge of the sale of her books. Her first novel, Tempest and Sunshine, was published in 1854 and since that time her writings have been constantly on the market. With the possible excep-
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tion of Mrs. Stowe, no American woman has reaped so large profits from her copyrights, some of her books having attained a sale of fifty thousand copies.
In commenting on this, the Brockport Republic said, "Her success as an author is said by some to be the result of her power of description; others assert it was her naturalness, her clear concise English and the faculty to hold the reader's sympathy from the beginning to the end; others attribute it to the fact that there was nothing in her works but what was pure and elevating. We who know her best, feel that all this has made her the successful writer that she was."
Mrs. Holmes was deeply interested in benevolent works in Brockport and in those organizations which promote culture, charity and patriotism. She was president of the Brockport Union Charitable Society and vice regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was indefatigable in the founding and sustaining of a free reading room and did everything in her power to promote knowledge and culture among the young people, of whom she was particularly fond. She often talked to them concerning art and for- eign travel, on which subjects she was well versed, she and her husband hav- ing made various trips abroad, visiting the noted art centers of the old world. As a hostess she was charmingly gracious and hospitable, having the ready tact that enabled her to make all guests feel at home. Her benevolence was also one of her strongly marked characteristics. In early life she made it her plan to give one-tenth of her income to charity and this she did ever afterward. St. Luke's Episcopal church, of which she was a member, is greatly indebted to her for its prosperous condition. Her charitable work, however, was done quietly and few people knew the great amount of good she did. She cared not for public recognition of her benevolence, content in the consciousness of hav- ing aided a fellow traveler on life's journey. While she had thousands of admirers throughout the country, in her home town where she was best known she was much loved by the people among whom her daily life was passed.
The summer of 1907 was spent by Mr. and Mrs. Holmes at Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, and while on the return trip Mrs. Holmes became ill. After improving to a slight degree she insisted on continuing the journey but lived for only a brief period after she reached Brockport, passing away on the 6th of October, 1907. Perhaps no better testimonial of the regard in which she was held in Brockport can be given than by quoting from a local paper, which said: "During the many years of Mrs. Holmes' residence in Brockport her influence for good has been constant and unvarying, and every enterprise that made for the welfare of the village received her most hearty sanction and support. With charity toward all, with malice toward none, she moved among us the very embodiment of precious kindness. And so, in thou- sands of ways her death will prove an inestimable loss to this community, and today nearly every household is shadowed by a personal grief. 'She went to her death wearing the white rose of a blameless life.' The world is the poorer for her going."
Alfred B. Poter
Alfred Benedict Potter
A LFRED BENEDICT POTTER was born in Pitts- ford, New York, February 16, 1833, and was the youngest son of the late Henry S. Potter, of Pitts- ford and Rochester. Removing to the latter city when a young boy, he lived there until 1864, when he married Hulda A. Thayer, of Lakeside, New York. Mr. Potter and his wife then located in Fair- port, where he resided until his death, which occurred at Potter place, August II, 1896. He is sur- vived by his wife and three children: Mrs. Walter Howard, of Rochester; Bertha L. Potter and Frederick T. Potter, of Fairport.
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