WILLIAM KIDD

William Kidd, for a long time perhaps the most conspicuous business man in Rochester, was born in Ballston Spa, New York, in October, 1806, and was educated there. At the age of sixteen he went to New York and engaged in the dry goods business but came to Rochester in 1827 and was employed in the store of Edmund Lyon. His first business venture on his own account was in dry goods and he next engaged in the manufacture of carpets in a factory situated at the northwest corner of Brown's race and Center street. He afterwards bought a foundry and mechanic shop on Brown's race and engaged largely in the manufacture of machinery and castings. The car wheel manufacturing department became of itself one of the most important and profitable branches of business in the city and is still carried on by his grandson, Charles T. Chapin, president of the Rochester Car Wheel works. Mr. Kidd found scope for his energies in the management of many commercial interests. In 1850 he was elected as a trustee of the Rochester Savings bank and in 1860 was chosen as its president, an office which he held through the war period with satisfaction to all. He was also a director of the Commercial bank. In 1865 he resigned the presidency of the savings bank and moved to New York, where he established the banking firm of Kidd, Pierce & Co. In 1871 he established a branch of the company in this city under the name of Kidd & Chapin, his son-in-law Charles H. Chapin managing the Rochester house, as he had managed the Kidd Iron works when Mr. Kidd moved to New York. Mr. Kidd was the first president of the Rochester and Brighton Street Railroad company; president of the Brick and Tile Manufacturing company; president of the Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris Railroad company and a director of the Toledo and Wabash Railroad company. He was also for several years treasurer of Monroe county. As a vestryman of St. Luke's church his interest in religious works and in charities was manifested but without ostentation. Mr. Kidd was married on Februtary 8, 1832, at Saratoga Spritgs, to Miss Eleanor Peck, daughter of George Peck of Saratoga Springs, who survives her husband, he having died at his home in this city March 24, 1880 Several of their children died young, and his last son, William, was killed at the second battle of Bull Run. Mrs. Charles H. Chapin is his surviving child.

CHARLES HALL CHAPIN

Charles Hall Chapin, born in Rochester, January 6, 1830, was the son of Moses Chapin, first County Judge of Monroe county and a descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin, who came from England to the colony of Massachusetts bay between 1630 and 1640. On his mother's side he was a descendant of Timothy Dwight, president of Yale college. When the time arrived for him to choose an occupation Mr. Chapin engaged in business and assumed the management of the Kidd Iron works, from which William Kidd had withdrawn on his removal to New York. The business was for many years conducted successfully by Chapin & Terry, James Terry having entered in to partnership with Mr. Chapin. In 1871 the banking house of Kidd & Chapin was established and Mr. Chapin assumed its entire management. This enterprise was successful from the start and in 1875 its capital was increased to two hundred thousand dollars and it was merged into the Bank of Rochester, of which Mr. Chapin was president to the close of his life. In 1877 he organized the Rochester Car Wheel works, which is a continuation of the car wheel manufactory established by William Kidd and has reached a degree of prosperity where it manufactures thirty to forty thousand car wheels annually, consuming some ten thousand tons of iron. Mr. Chapin held, it addition to his other responsibilities, the office of vice-president of the Charlotte iron works and of trustee of the Roberts Iron company of Kingston, Ontario. In 1854 he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Kidd, daughter of William Kidd. On his decease, which took place March 16, 1882, from pleuro-pneumonia, at his home in this city, his surviving children were William Kidd Chapin, Charles Terry Chapin, Mrs. William E. Marcus and Edward Hall Chapin. His daughter Eleanor B. had died at Florence in 1881.

MARVIN A. CULVER

Marvin A. Culver was born May 4, 1827, in the town of Brighton, in the house in which he now lives. His grandfather, William Culver, was a revolutionary soldier, belonging to the Lexington Alarms, commanded by Colonel Hinman in 1775, afterward by Colonel Wolcott in 1776, as recorded in the History of Windsor. His father, John Culver, was born in 1789 at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, and while a young man worked as gunsmith for the United States armory at Springfield, Massachusetts. He was influenced by his brother Oliver to purchase one hundred and fifty acres of land of James and Simeon Brown. This land extended from Goodman street nearly to the present easterly line of this city. In 1810 John came on horseback into Western New York, but returned to Vermont. He finally came, in 1812, and settled on his farm. He married Lydia, a daughter of Joseph Case, a Baptist minister of Penfield, in 1815. To obtain the wedding bonnet they went on horseback to Canandaigua, then the nearest available shopping place. They began housekeeping in a log house near the present family residence. John Culver assisted in clearing and logging out East avenue. He afterwards built the house in which he spent the remainder of his life. He died August 21, 1870. Marvin Culver received a common-school education, and learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed for several years. He then returned home and began farming, in which occupation he has been engaged ever since. Mr. Culver married Frances Alice, eldest daughter of William Otis, December 22, 1863, and has one son, Harry. After the death of his father he purchased the interests of the other heirs, and commenced to sub-divide the farm property. He laid out Culver and Rundel parks and several streets in that quarter of the city. He has taken a deep interest in the growth of East Rochester, and attributes its prosperity more to the clause prohibiting the sale of liquor, which he inserts in all his conveyances, than to any other cause. Mr. Culver is a trustee of the Monroe County Savings bank and of the Rochester Theological seminary; he has also held the position of treasurer of the Westert New York Agricultural society for ten years.

JACOB GOULD

General Jacob Gould, the first Democratic mayor of Rochester, was a native of the Bay state, having been born in Boxford, Massachusetts, February 10, 1794. His grandfather, and his father, Captain Jacob Gould, were also natives of the town and the first named was a lieutenant of militia in the Revolution. General Gould's mother was a Peabody from Middletown, and related to the Peabody's of Boston. During his boyhood General Gould lived with his parents on the family farm and was educated in the common schools. He worked for a year in his youth at shoemaking, but gave up the trade in consequence of ill health. In 1812 he began school teaching and in 1815 took charge of the English department of the Union College Grammar school, where he was associated with Professor Barnes, uncle of the late Hon. S. J. Tilden. This school he conducted successfully for four years. He came to Rochester in 1819, at that time a village of one thousand inhabitants, and began shoe manufacturing and dealing in leather. In 1824 he was elected captain of an artillery company, became colonel, and was appointed by Governor Clinton as a major general of artillery. General Gould was one of the delegates appointed to meet and escort La Fayette to this city in 1824. In 1839 President Jackson appointed General Gould collector of customs for the Port of Genesee, and he was also appointed to the same office by President Van Buren. In 1836 he was elected president of the Rochester City bank. In 1845 President Polk appointed him to be United States marshal for the Northern District of New York. In 1850 General Gould was elected financial officer of the Farmers' and Mechanics' bank, a place he occupied until 1866. From 1839 to 1841 he was associated with Messrs. Gibson and Chidell in completing the New York Central railroad to Auburn, and was elected a director of the road under the Corning and Keep administration. Presidents Tyler and Van Buren were both entertained by General Gould on their visit to this city. In 1819 he became an elder of the old First Presbyterian church and continued to his death. He was married at the age of twenty-two to Miss Ruby Swan of North Andover, Massachusetts, who died twenty-four years later, leaving two daughters and one son. In 1841 he married Sarah T. Seward, principal of the Seward Female seminary. General Gould died here suddenly on November 19, 1867, universally respected. General Gould's children who survive him are Mrs. Caroline Gould Benton; Mrs. Susan Tilden, who married the younger brother of the late Samuel J. Tilden; J. S. Gould; Mrs. Ruby Simmons of New York; Seward Gould of this city, and Miss Anna J. Gould of New York.

WILLIAM CORNING

William Corning, who became a resident of Rochester in 1826 and expired at his home in this city September 20, 1891, was born in the village of Williston, (five miles from Burlington) Vermont, November 5, 1807. His father, Dr. Noah Corning, a prominent physician of the town, was a descendant of Samuel Corning, who came from Beverly, England, to Beverly, Massachumsetts. He was admitted freeman in 1639, and became one of the founders of the First church of Beverly. Mr. Corning's mother was Clarissa Morton, a descendant of the Morton and Wentworth families of Massachusetts and Connecticut. His father was anxious that his sons, T. B. and William, should adopt the medical profession, but as the elder son on attaining his majority secured a position with a mercantile house in Boston, Massachusetts, the father placed his son William in a private school in Burlington, under the charge of William Arthur, the father of the late President Arthur. After remaining in this school upwards of two years the subject of this sketch, at the age of nineteen years, determined to start out on his own account. Accordingly, in the Summer of 1826, he left his home and came to Rochester, his brother Timothy having preceded him by upwards of a year. In 1827 in the town of Penfield, now known as Webster, in this county, the brothers commenced business under the firm name of T. B. & W. Corning, in a general mercantile business, and on account of the confidence reposed in them, they were made the custodians for safe keeping of sums of money held by the farmers and others, and out of this sprang the general banking business so long conducted by the firm. In 1862 William Corning returned to this city, his brother Timothy having previonusly taken up his residence in Detroit, and in the Spring of 1870 they opened their banking office on West Main street. In the meantime T. B. Corning removed to Saginaw, Michigan, in order to make the investments of the firm in loans upon real estate, at which place his death occuirred January 13, 1874, at which time William Corning assumed the entire management of the firm, with the assistance of agents, and continued in actual business until after the death of his eldest son, William Corning, Jr., which occurred in the Fall of 1885. In 1843 he married Lucy Griffen, daughter of the late Samuel Rich of Penfield. He is survived by his widow, two younger sons and one daughter.

HENRY L. FISH

Henry L. Fish, for a period surpassing it extent the term allotted to most men, has occupied a conspicuous place in this community. Born of American parents in Amherst, Massachusetts, October 25, 1815, he inherited a stock of mental and physical vigor that could not fail to win for him distinction in any community and which found its legitimate sphere in Western New York. He left the Bay State while still a boy and passed his youth in Wayne county, New York, attending school and working on the farm. In early manhood he engaged in the warehouse business at Newark, New York, but came to Rochester in 1840 and was associated with the Western Transportation company four years, doing a forwarding business on the Erie canal. When that company retired from business he organized the Albany and Rochester Packet line. Subsequently desiring to enlarge his sphere of operation, he and others organized the Rochester Transportation company, which had boats plying between Buffalo and New York. He was the general manager and did a great business, which continued lucrative until the introduction of railroads. Mr. Fish, in connection with Thomas Pease, built and ran a line of packets between Buffalo and Dansville on the Genesee Valley canal. Although his hands were full of private business he was actively interested in public affairs and was an ardent advocate of the Democratic policy. He was a member of the Rochester Common Council nine years, of the Board of Education three years, and of the Board of Supervisors one year. He was a member of the Executive Board, and its president while in office, three years. He was mayor of the city two years and was also elected to the State Legislature as a Member of Assembly one term. Another political office that Mr. Fish administered with characteristic energy was that of Superintendent of the western division of the New York State canals two years, making a total of twenty-one years in public service. While mayor, Mr. Fish maintained at his own expense band concerts in the different parks of the city, and at the close of his term the Common Council passed a resolution directing the treasurer to pay him $500 extra salary; this he promptly vetoed. In 1882 Mr. Fish was prominently mentioned as a probable candidate for Governor, but the Syracuse convention nominated Grover Cleveland. Mr. Fish has been married three times. In 1846 he married the daughter of the late John N. Harder. His second wife, the daughter of the late John Baker, he married in 1859. In 1893 he married the sister of his second wife, and for the third time he is a widower, his third wife having died in March, 1894. Although in the eightieth year of his age Mr. Fish has the ruddy glow of a hale and hearty man, and is actively engaged in the real estate business, his son being associated with him. The only society of which he is a member is Orient Lodge of Odd Fellows.

ALFRED WRIGHT

Alfred Wright, distinguished for a long period as a business man and public-spirited citizen of Rochester, was born it Avon, Livingston county, New York, November 6, 1830, and was educated in the public schools and in Genesee Wesleyan seminary at Lima. He became a resident of Rochester in 1850, just before reaching his majority, and resided here until his decease, which occurred January 18, 1891. On arriving here he engaged in the hardware business out the present site of the Monroe County Savings bank, retiring from that in a few years. In 1866 he began the study and manufacture of perfumery, in which he ultimately became one of the foremost manufacturers in America; his factory on West avenue and Willowbank place being the most perfectly appointed plant of the kind in any country. As an evidence of his versatility and great interest in the welfare of this city, it is only necessary to say that he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Park commission, truustee of the Mechanics Savings bank, director of the Commercial Bank, trustee of the Rochester Electric Light company, City hospital, Wesleyan seminary at Lima, vice-president of the Humane society, chairman for eight years of the Republican Business Men's committee, president of the Board of Trustees of the Brick church, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Although he could not be induced to hold a political office, Mr. Wright took a deep interest in political affairs and was a trusted counselor and friend of the Republican party. He was liberal in support of institutions and objects that met with his approval, but his great charities were concealed from the world as much as possible. In private life his wide experience of the world made him one of the most companionable and entertaining of men. Surviving him are his widow and two sons Alfred G. and John S., and two daughters Marian H. and Margaret J. Wright.

EMIL KUICHLING

Emil Kuichling was born in Germany in 1848. His father, the late Dr. Louis Kuichling, took part in the revolution of that year, but on its early collapse was imprisoned at Strassburg and sentenced to death. By a bold stratagem his escape from prison was effected, whereupon he made his way to the United States and settled in this city. He was followed shortly afterwards by his wife, Marie Von Saeger, the daughter of an officer in the German army, and their two children, a daughter and the subject of this sketch. Mr. Kuichling received his early education in private schools of this city, and graduated from the University of Rochester in 1868. The following year he took a post-graduate course and received the degree of Civil Engineer. In 1870 he entered the Polytechnic school at Karlsruhe, Germany, where he spent three years in the further study of his profession. In the Spring of 1873 he was appointed as an assistant engineer on the Rochester water-works, then in process of construction, which position he held for ten years. The Winter of 1883-4 was spent in Europe in the study of the sanitary conditions, sewerage systems and water supplies of large cities. One of the first results of this study was the design of the pail system, (which is now in operation) at Hemlock lake, for the protection of the city water supply. In the Spring of 1885 Mr. Kuichling was elected member of the Executive Board of this city on the Democratic ticket. After serving for two and a half years he resigned to make the surveys, estimates and plans for the Rochester East Side trunk sewer, which work occupied his time for nearly two years. In 1889 he spent the Summer in Europe, in further study of municipal engineering, especially the various methods of sewage disposal. Immediately after his return he was engaged by the East Jersey Water company as an assistant engineer in the preparation of plans for the large steel conduit for the water supply of the city of Newark, New Jersey. He remained on this work until the Fall of 1890, when the Executive Board appointed him to the office of chief engineer of the Rochester water-works, and to prepare the plans for the new conduit, which is now nearly completed. It should also be stated that after the organization of the New York State Board of Health in 1880, Mr. Kuichling was selected as consulting engineer of that board, and retained the position until 1891 when his duties in connection with the city water-works compelled him to give up all outside engagements. The annual reports of that body for the series of years indicated give ample evidence of his work for the State. Considerable work was also done by him in assisting Clemens Herschel and the late Thomas Evershed in the preparation of their plans for the utilization of the water-power of Niagara. The chief features of these plans were subsequently adopted and carried out by the Cataract Construction company. Mr. Kuichling has been called as an expert engineer in many important litigations, and has also been consulted by the municipal authorities of many cities and towns in this country and Canada, on subjects of water supply and sewerage. He has been for years an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Public Health association, the Rochester Academy of Science, and other scientific and literary organizations. He is also a member of all branches of the Masonic order. In 1879 Mr. Kuichling married Sarah Louise, daughter of the late John S. Caldwell, one of the early residents of Rochester.

JOHN BISGOOD

DeWitt Clinton is, of course, entitled to the credit of being "Father of the Erie canal," but if the youngster had not been fostered ever since coming into existence by the thought and labor of able engineers it would long since have fallen not only into innocuous desuetude, but would have been a pestilential ditch supporting nothing more valuable than frogs and muskrats. Among the engineers who have devoted their time to the maintenance of the great water-way, John Bisgood, of Rochester, is distinguished for length of service to the State. He was born in Ireland February 19, 1823, educated in Dublin, and commenced civil engineering in 1841. In December, 1848, he came to Rochester and has during the intervening years had more or less to do with the railroads and canals in this quarter of the State, and is now division engineer of the Western division of the Erie canal. During the War he was a member of the Third New York cavalry, having enlisted in 1862, and was mustered out in 1865. Mr. Bisgood is a Democrat and a bachelor.