Vendome Pierce Ticknor (1902-1985)

Mayor V.P. Ticknor cutting the ribbon at a furniture store opening in Corinth, 1953.

   Following the September 7th write-up on Geneva, New York mayor Castner E. Rapalee we continue our stay in the Empire State to profile another interestingly named mayor, Mr. Vendome Pierce Ticknor of Corinth, New York. Ticknor served as Mayor of this Saratoga County town for ten years and despite my best attempts at doing so, little information could be found on him. The above picture of Mayor Ticknor was located in a 1953 edition of the Saratoga, New York Saratogian, one of four small portraits of him that I've been able to locate. All of these pictures are (unfortunately) of very low quality and when scanned online lost most of their resolution. 
   Vendome P. Ticknor was born in the city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin on September 27, 1902, one of eight children born to Frank Barton and Elizabeth Genevieve Haggerty Ticknor. It can be safely said that interesting names ran in the Ticknor family, as the 1919 history of The Ticknor Family in America notes that three of Vendome's siblings were bestowed the names Laviere Barton (1899-1977), Exter Lionel (born 1906) and Naopia Ruth (1908-1990). An alternate spelling of Ticknor's middle name is given as "Perce", although this is presumed to be a spelling error. Vendome attended Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids and graduated from that school in the class of 1920. 
   Following his graduation, Ticknor married his first wife Ruth Van Sickle, and later had one daughter, Fern (born ca. 1922), according to a listing on the Rootsweb genealogical website. Following Ruth Van Sickle's death in 1935 Ticknor married Helen Hayes (1905-1999) in Mackeyville, Pennsylvania, and had two sons, Donald and Arthur Robert. Ticknor's eldest son Donald (1941-1959) was tragically killed in a car accident in Corinth when he was just eighteen years old. 
   Vendome Ticknor removed from Wisconsin to Corinth sometime in the 1920s and later became an employee of the International Paper Company for over forty years, and was eventually promoted to mill superintendent. He first became active in Corinth village politics in the early 1940s when he was elected as a village trustee, and as such was a member of the Corinth village board. He served as a trustee until 1949 and in November of that year was elected as Mayor of Corinth. He succeeded outgoing mayor Victor Parmenter, who had declined to run for another term. Ticknor's decade-long tenure as Mayor saw him take part in numerous civic activities and programs within the town, including declaring the last week of January 1952 as "National VFW Week" in Corinth. In addition to this, Ticknor later served as marshal of the first division in the Corinth Labor Day Parade held every year.
   Ticknor resigned as mayor in February 1960 due to what the Saratoga Springs Saratogan called "business pressures" and later returned to his work as a day superintendent at the International Paper Co. He retired in 1964 and in the following year became a candidate for village assessor. He was successful in his candidacy, defeating Democratic nominee Joseph St. John by a vote of 1,12 to 675. 

Vendome Ticknor shortly after his election as Corinth mayor in 1950.

    In addition to his political activities in Corinth, Ticknor was a prominent local mason, being a longstanding member of the Corinth Lodge #987 of Free and Accepted Masons, and served as secretary of that lodge from 1974-75. Ticknor is also listed in his obituary as being a past trustee of the Corinth Rural Cemetery Association. Little information could be found on Ticknor's later life, although it is known that he passed away at a hospital in Glens Falls, New York on November 25, 1985, at age 83. His wife Helen survived him by fourteen years, dying at age 94 in December 1999 at a nursing facility in Wheeling, West Virginia. Both were interred at the Corinth Rural Cemetery following their deaths.