Arvello Kling (1865-1937)

From the Journal of Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of Madison County, 1915-16.

    A prominent resident of Madison County, New York in the late 19th and early 20th century, Arvello Kling's placement here on the site rests on his service as Township Supervisor of Brookfield New York for four years. Mr. Kling is one of the first Township Supervisors to warrant a profile here, and some explanation may be in order as to what a township supervisor actually is! The easiest definition to give is that a  "Township Supervisor" is a post similar to that of mayor, but with a slight twist. A supervisor of a particular township also serves as a member of a County Board of Supervisors, and in this case, Arvello Kling not only served as Supervisor of Brookfield but also as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Madison County, New York.

  While Kling's status on the "political radar" is quite low when compared to some of the other folks featured here, he was for many years a well-known businessman and public official in Madison County, being a feed store owner and coal dealer in addition to his service as supervisor. While the biographical material on Kling remains difficult to come by, two obituaries for him (published in the Waterville Times and the Utica Observer) helped furnish a good majority of the following information!

   A lifelong resident of New York, Arvello Kling was born in the settlement of Paines Hollow on January 23, 1865, and was the son of Charles and Mary Snyder Kling. His unusual first name "Arvello" is quite unique, and also has a number of spelling variations floating around online, including Arvillo (shown in the above picture), Arvilla, Arville, and Orvillo. Kling's education occurred in the Van Hornesville, New York school system, and would later go on to attend the Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan in the mid-1880s.  

  Kling entered into the feed business with his father Charles while still a young man, being based in Van Hornesville until 1884. The Klings are also recorded as operating a grist mill in the Groton Lake vicinity, and in 1884 Kling and his family resettled in the town of Brookfield, where he returned to being a feed dealer. Arvello Kling married in Brookfield in 1901 to Ella Vesta Burchard and later had two children, Joy Elora (1902-1983) and Charles Alton (1904-1963). Charles Kling would later join his father in the feed business, being a partner in the firm of "A. Kling and Son". 

   In addition to his business interests in Brookfield Arvello Kling was active in local Democratic Party circles, being a member of the local school board in the early 1900s and from 1913-1917 served as the supervisor for the town of Brookfield. Kling was also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Brookfield and had been both a founding member and past Noble Grand Master of that lodge. In June 1927 Kling experienced tragedy when his coal shed and feed mill burned to the ground, noted as being "a loss of approximately $10,000" by the Richfield, NY Mercury.

   After many years of business and political activity in Brookfield, Arvello Kling died at age 72 at a Utica Hospital on June 18, 1937, after "an illness of six weeks." Memorialized as a "good neighbor and honest citizen" by the Waterville Times, Kling was interred at the Sweet's Corner Cemetery in Brookfield.

From the Waterville, New York Times, June 24, 1937.