Uzal Haggerty McCarter (1861-1931)

From Newark's Anniversary Industrial Exposition, 1916.

   A leading financier in Newark, New Jersey, Uzal Haggerty McCarter's career in banking extended nearly fifty years. A founder of the Fidelity Trust Company, McCarter would serve that organization as its secretary, treasurer, and trust officer, and in the early 1900s became its president. McCarter was also a founding member of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey and had fleeting political involvement in 1904 when he was chosen as a Republican presidential elector. The son of lawyer Thomas Nesbitt McCarter (1824-1901) and the former Mary Louisa Haggerty (1828-1896), Uzal Haggerty McCarter was born in Newton, New Jersey on July 5, 1861.

  Prominent in the political life of Sussex County, Thomas N. McCarter served as collector for the county from 1854-57 and in 1862 was elected to the state assembly, serving one term. He later declined two opportunities to sit on the state supreme court. Political service also beckoned to Uzal McCarter's brother, Thomas Nesbitt Jr. (1867-1955), who for three years was a district court judge for New Jersey. In 1902 he was named state Attorney General and served only a year before resigning.

  Uzal McCarter's education was obtained at the Pingrey School and the Newark Academy and graduated from Princeton University in 1882. After graduation he made his first move into finance, taking a position with Kidder Peabody and Co., a securities firm. In 1887 he left their employ to join the Lombard Investment Co. of New York, and married in January 1889 to Jane Meeker Lewis, to who he was wed until her death. The couple had one daughter, Isabelle Lewis (1890-1959).

   In the same year as his marriage McCarter left Lombard for a position with the Fidelity Title and Deposit Company of Newark. This firm, later known as the Fidelity Trust Company, merged with the Union National Bank to form the Fidelity Union Trust Co. in 1921. McCarter's long affiliation with Fidelity saw him serve as its executive manager, and, later, secretary and treasurer. By 1902 he had succeeded to the presidency of the Fidelity Trust Co., serving in that capacity for many years.

  McCarter achieved further distinction in 1903 when he and his brother Thomas joined to organize the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. With both brothers aware that major utility companies in the state were facing bankruptcy, a conference of the state's premier financial minds was called, with Thomas McCarter being named to a subcommittee to discuss solving the problem. Uzal McCarter, also attending the conference, "suggested one big company be formed with $10,000,000 cash capital". Thomas, then the attorney general of the state, resigned from office in July to take the presidency of the Public Service Corporation, with Uzal McCarter serving as a member of its board of directors.

  Uzal McCarter's lone foray into New Jersey politics came in 1904 when he became a candidate for Republican presidential elector. At the Republican state convention held that September, both McCarter and famed engineer Washington Augustus Roebling were chosen presidential electors at large. McCarter's election necessitated his resignation as president of the Union National Bank of Newark and was one of twelve electors for Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Fairbanks.

From the Central New Jersey Home News, September 20, 1904.

  Following his time as an elector McCarter continued with the Fidelity Trust Co. and the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, and in 1909 was reelected to the board of directors of the New Brunswick Trust Company. In 1917, he announced that the Fidelity Trust Co. had purchased a site for an up-to-date banking house, "paying for it $10,000 per front foot, or $660,000 for sixty-six feet." Envisioned as a multi-story structure, the building would be "devoted exclusively to the institution's various departments."

  After the Fidelity Trust Co.'s merger with the Union National Bank, Ual McCarter continued as president, and through the 1920s guided the institution's trajectory, overseeing "a merger policy absorbing one bank after another under the control of the Fidelity, the theory being that each additional bank was self-sustaining." Active in many other areas of public life, McCarter was a founder of the New Jersey Banker's Association and held memberships in the New York Yacht Club, the Newport Golf Club, the Princeton and Banker's Clubs, the Monmouth Boat Club, and The Rumson and Essex Country Clubs. In 1916 McCarter emerged as a leading figure in the 250th anniversary of the founding of Newark, serving as chairman of the committee of 100 for the city's Industrial Exposition held in May-June of that year. 

  In 1928 McCarter made headlines when he announced, that as a lifelong Republican, he would be voting for Democratic candidate Alfred E. Smith in that year's presidential election. In an interview concerning his change of political faith, McCarter remarked:

"I will cast my ballot for Al Smith for President. While I was in some doubt as to whether I would actually vote for Governor Smith after all my years of Republicanism, this doubt was dispelled when I met him at dinner last night. His personality, with its combination of culture and democracy, together with the impression he gives forth of the utmost of integrity and ability, convinced my of his desirability for the presidency. The views which I formed, after listening to Governor Smith's speech of acceptence, were more than confirmed in personal contact." 

   Uzal McCarter continued to be a force in New Jersey financial circles until his death. Having contracted a cold while onboard his yacht, the illness later developed into bronchial pneumonia, which claimed his life at his home in Red Bank on August 15, 1931. He was survived by his wife and daughter and was interred at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark. Following his death McCarter was memorialized by the Paterson Morning Call for his "rugged honesty, and his unfailing wit and humor", as well as his philanthropy. It was left for the Call to eulogize him as:

"As the best business getter for his bank; he searched the daily newspapers for leads to new business and no one person in his great banking institution worked harder to bring into the bank new accounts. Attention to small details and a determinatioon and energy to make good, account for the success of Mr. McCarter in whose death New Jersey loses her greatest banker."

Thanks Albert Anderson (1889-1974)

Anderson during his tenure as Mayor of Tempe.

  One of the more curious names you'll see while perusing a roster of Tempe, Arizona mayors, Thanks Albert Anderson served three terms as mayor of that city and was born, appropriately enough on Thanksgiving Day, hence his first name. A World War I veteran and prominent banker in addition to his mayoralty, Anderson was also a leader in Tempe civic affairs, heading war bond drives during WWII and was a past president of the city chamber of commerce. A native of Texas, Thanks Albert Anderson was born in the town of Brackettville on November 28, 1889, the son of George Albert (1850-1928) and Susan Arbelle (Mason) Anderson (1854-1936). One of several children, Thanks Anderson was not the only one of his siblings bestowed an unusual name, his sisters Content, Honor Glint, and Guess Eleanor having equally strange names of their own.

  Anderson's early education was obtained in Texas and in 1909 relocated to Arizona. Settling in Tempe, he soon found employment at the Tempe Hardware and Vehicle Company. He remained in their employ until 1915, and during the First World War enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was a corporal in a field artillery unit. His exact period of enlistment and area of deployment remain unknown, and in December 1917 married in Arizona to Agnes Perry (1890-1924). The couple was wed for only six years before Agnes' death at age 33, and their union would be childless. Following her death, Anderson remarried in the late 1920s and had two sons, Mason Evans Anderson (born May 1929) and John (birthdate unknown).

  After leaving the Tempe Hardware Co. Thanks Anderson entered into a clerkship with the Tempe National Bank in 1916. Anderson would be affiliated with this bank for decades afterward and succeeded to the post of assistant cashier in the early 1920s. He would serve as its cashier from 1926-31 and in 1935 saw its merger with the First National Bank of Arizona. From 1950-54 Anderson was the bank's manager and vice-president and retired in December of the last-named year.

  Thanks Anderson entered the political life of his city with his election to the Tempe city council in 1930. Following his election to that body, the other council members elected him as mayor, with his first term extending until 1932. He would be returned to the mayoral chair in 1934 and won a third two-year term in 1936, but in February 1937 resigned from office, with councilman Hugh Laird being elected as acting mayor.

From the Arizona Republic, November 30, 1954.

  Following his final term as mayor Thanks Anderson served a one year term as president of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce in 1941 and during World War II was a leading figure in war bond drives held in Tempe. He would be active in the local Masonic lodge, the Rotary Club, the William Bloys Lodge No. 2 of the American Legion, and for many years was a booster for the Arizona State University's athletic programs with the Sun Angel Foundation. 

  Anderson continued residency in Tempe through the remainder of his life and on his 85th birthday was feted with a birthday party at his home. Shortly afterward he was felled by a heart attack and died the day following his birthday, November 29, 1974, at the Desert Samaritan Hospital in Mesa, Arizona. He was survived by his sons Mason and John and was interred at the Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe.

From the Arizona Republic, December 1, 1974.

Mackamie Jay Harris (1874-1941)

Portrait from the 1937 Albemarle City Directory.

  Following on the heels of July 13th's profile on Stanly County, North Carolina resident Crayon Cornelius Efird, another curiously named resident of that county is accorded a write-up here, Mackamie Jay "M.J." Harris. A multi-term mayor of Albemarle, North Carolina (the Stanly County seat) Harris served over two decades as mayor of that city, and this article would not have been possible without the efforts of Lewis Bramlett, a Stanly County historian and fan of this site who graciously sent along not only several articles and photos concerning Crayon Efird, but was also kind enough to send me a 1941 obituary for Mayor Harris, as well as information regarding Harris' full dates of service. Without Lewis's input and help, this article would not have been possible!

  Born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina on March 23, 1874, MacKamie Jay Harris was the son of Mcamy and Margaret Harris (as per the 1880 census.) Recorded by period sources under the initials "M.J." or "M. Jay", Harris' first name was located via Find-a-Grave, which denotes that name as it is inscribed on his tombstone. His middle name, Jay, was revealed via the 1940 Albemarle city directory. Nothing is known of Harris' early years or education in the county of his birth, and around 1900 he removed to Albemarle in Stanly County to take work with the Cabbarus Bank and Trust Company, which had established a branch there. Harris would marry in Mecklenburg County on October 30, 1901, to Margaret Louise Caldwell (1875-1959), who survived him upon his death in 1941. The couple would have at least one son, Mackamie James, who died age two in 1910 after being afflicted with "toxine poisoning".

  A short period following his resettlement in Albemarle, M. Jay Harris was named as the assistant cashier for the Cabarrus Bank and Trust Company's Albemarle branch, a post he would continue to hold for a number of years afterward. He would later assume the post of cashier for that bank, serving in that capacity until his death in 1941. In addition to his banking interests, Harris served for a time as Secretary-Treasurer of the Albemarle Building and Loan Association and also was a 33rd degree Mason, being remarked as "the only 33rd degree Mason" residing in the city.

  M. Jay Harris entered the political life of his city in 1911 when he took office as Mayor of Albemarle. He would be continually reelected until at least 1918, when he resigned from office, shortly after a board of aldermen vote that repealed "the blue laws which had recently been placed in effect and of which the mayor was sponsor." By 1925 Harris had been reelected as mayor, and, according to the records of Lewis Bramlett and various Albemarle city directories, was continually reelected until retiring from the mayor's office in May 1941. 

  In addition to his long mayoralty, Harris was a senior elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Albemarle and in 1927 was appointed by the board of county commissioners as chairman of the board of trustees of the Stanly County Public Library, which had been established a short time prior. Just one month after stepping down as mayor M. Jay Harris died on June 17, 1941, at his Albemarle home of a heart attack, aged 68. Following burial at the Old Albemarle Cemetery, he was memorialized in the Stanly News and Press as:

"A man of high ideals, loyal to his friends and to the community. He was always in the forefront in movements designed to improve the community, and he was always held in high regard by all those who knew him."

From the Stanly News and Press, June 20, 1941. Courtesy of Mr. Lewis Bramlett.

Leumas Hoyt Pease (1845-1919)

Portrait from the Hardware Dealer's Magazine, 1919.

  For many years a leading citizen in New Britain, Connecticut, Leumas Hoyt Pease was a one-term mayor of that city who devoted over five decades of his life to the Stanley Works, the famed tool manufacturer which later merged with the tool company Black and Decker. A former director, secretary, and treasurer of the Stanley Works, Pease also cultivated a reputation as a leading banker in Hartford County, serving as the vice president and director of three banks in that county. The firstborn son of Julius and Mary (Hotchkiss) Pease, Leumas Hoyt Pease was born on January 20, 1845, in Winsted, Connecticut.

  Removing to New Britain with his family at age two, L. Hoyt Pease (as most sources record him) attended school in that city and graduated from the local high school in 1862. In 1864 he took work at the Stanley Works in New Britain, with which he would be affiliated for the next five decades. Founded in 1843 as Stanley Bolt Manufacturing, the company manufactured door bolts, hinges, and other pieces of hardware from wrought iron, and by 1853 had incorporated as the Stanley Works. The company later designed and built hand planes, saws, chisels, screwdrivers, and other tools, and by the early 20th century had become an industrial powerhouse in New England. In 2010 the Stanley Works merged with Black and Decker and continues operations today, with over 50,000 employees.

   L. Hoyt Pease's early tenure at Stanley Works saw him as an office boy and after several years had advanced to paymaster. He was later placed "in charge of the sales department" for the areas of Boston and Philadelphia and in 1887 was elected as secretary and director of the company. After stepping down from that office, Pease served as company treasurer from 1905 until his death.

  Pease married in New Britain in 1880 to Julia Lillian Sawyer, to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have three children, including Herbert Hoyt (1881-1967), Maurice Henry (1883-1983), and Dorothy Sawyer (1887-1980). Of these children, Maurice Pease would live to the age of 99, dying one month short of his 100th birthday in August 1983.

Portrait from the Iron Age, May 28, 1896.

  Active in other areas of New Britain business, L. Hoyt Pease was a founder of the Burritt Savings Bank in that city, which had been incorporated in 1889. Pease would serve as a director of that bank and upon the death of bank president Valentine Burt Chamberlain in 1893 succeeded to its presidency. He held that post until his death in 1919, and in addition to that post occupied the office of director of the Mechanic's National Bank and was vice president of the New Britain Trust Company.

  L. Hoyt Pease first entered the political life of New Britain in 1884, when he was elected to the city council. Following a two year term, he successfully ran for city alderman (serving from 1886-87) and was later chairman of the New Britain Republican Town Committee. In 1890 he announced his candidacy for mayor of New Britain and was later elected, serving until 1892. Pease's term was later favorably reviewed in his 1919 obituary, which remarked that he had:

"Clothed the office with an atmosphere of calm, dignity and judicial wisdom that elevated it above the plane of political position. He discharged the duties of the post graciously, always with the interests of New Britain in heart and mind, and his administration was regarded as a model stewardship, worthy to be patterned after by succeeding executives."

  One year after leaving office L. Hoyt Pease was elected to the New Britain school board, where he would serve for twenty-six years. During his lengthy tenure, he chaired that board's finance committee and died in office of heart failure on March 20, 1919, aged 74. He was survived by his wife and children and was later interred at the Fairview Cemetery in New Britain.

Pease's obituary from March 1919.

Kerfoot Weightman Daly (1874-1938)

From the November 7, 1938 edition of the Charleroi Mail.

   Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Kerfoot...What was that? A man whose first name is Kerfoot? Yes, indeed it is! There were few men more prominent in early 20th century Charleroi, Pennsylvania than the intriguingly named Kerfoot Weightman Daly, long a leader in civic affairs in this Washington County borough. As a well-known banker in Charleroi, Daly was also named to various positions of the public trust, serving as a Presidential Elector in 1916 and later as a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1924. The life of this intriguingly named Pennsylvanian came to an end in a tragic automobile accident in November 1938, and although he is little remembered today, the following biography will hopefully restore some measure of prominence to Mr. Daly, seventy-five years after his passing.

   A lifelong native of the Keystone State, Kerfoot W. Daly was born on April 24, 1874, in Gibsonton, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the last of five children born to Thomas Lafayette and Caroline Wilson Daly. A successful businessman in Gibsonton, Thomas L. Daly (1839-1922) was a past manager of the Gibsonton whiskey distillery (known as the Gibsonton Mills) and late in life was a founder and president of the First National Bank of Charleroi, serving in the latter position until his death. As the son of such a distinguished figure, Kerfoot Daly was afforded a fine education and began his "preliminary" studies under the tutelage of a governess, according to the 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, PA., and Representative Citizens. As a young man, he was a student at the Trinity Hall Military Academy in the city of Washington and later attended the Park Institute in Pittsburgh. 

   In 1898 Daly relocated to Charleroi, where he became engaged as a clerk in the Bank of Charleroi, serving under his father Thomas, who was then the bank president. Kerfoot Daly married in Pittsburgh on June 6, 1900, to Mary Elizabeth Thompson, with whom he would have one daughter, Mary Violet Daly McFarland (1904-2002). Shortly after his marriage Daly was named as cashier of the Bank of Charleroi and subsequently served in this capacity for two decades. During his lengthy tenure as bank cashier Daly rose to further prominence in other areas of local business, including a period as treasurer of the West Side Street Railway Company in Charleroi and was a director of the Monongahela Trust Company. In addition to the above posts, Daly was also a longtime member of the Charleroi Chamber of Commerce and the Washington County, Pennsylvania Banker's Association. 

Kerfoot W. Daly in his younger days, pictured in the "Banks and Bankers of the Keystone State", 1905.

    As a distinguished citizen in Charleroi, Kerfoot Daly was sought after to serve in several areas not related to banking, including being the chairman of the Liberty Loan Drive in Washington County, as well as the War Savings Stamps campaign during the First World War. Active in Republican party circles in his native county, Daly represented Washington County on the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee for sixteen years and in 1916 was selected as a Republican Presidential elector for Pennsylvania's 24th congressional district, casting his ballot for candidates Charles Evans Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks. Although he was a leading figure in the Republican party in Washington County, the Charleroi Mail noted that Daly "was never a candidate for public office," noting that he "thrust aside many times pressure to be the party's candidate for several high offices." In 1924 Daly served as part of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that nominated Calvin Coolidge for the Presidency.

From the July 7, 1916 edition of the Charleroi Mail.

From the Pittsburg Press, November 7, 1938.

   In 1922 Thomas L. Daly died and upon his death Kerfoot W. Daly succeeded to the position of President of the National Bank of Charleroi, serving until he died in 1938. While the position of bank president gained him additional notoriety in his home state, Daly continued to advance in other non-financial areas, being a member of numerous fraternal organizations, including the following: the Charleroi Lodge #615 of Free and Accepted Masons, a past exalted ruler of the Charleroi Elks Lodge, the Duquesne Club, and the Nemacolin and Monongahela Country Clubs. Along with his being a prominent club man in Charleroi, Daly is remarked by sources of the time as being an avid sportsman and hunter.

   In early November 1938, Daly and his friend, Dr. John McNaughton (a Charleroi dentist) embarked on a hunting trip to West Virginia, driving there in Daly's sedan. On November 5, 1938, the pair began the drive back to Charleroi and it was on the return trip home that tragedy struck. As the Charleroi Mail noted in its November 7th edition, Daly and Naughton were traveling down Route 50 on Cheat Mountain (in the Allegheny Mountain range) near the settlement of Red House when they came upon a stretch of curved road. The Mail later related that:

"The car moved into a long steeply banked curve with a deep ditch on the driver's side. At this point it is believed that the driver's door, which opened from the front, suddenly unlatched and that Mr. Daly reached to close it. When he did the car went into the ditch, the opened door caught against the hillside and pulled him out of the seat. Impact was such that it pulled the front and rear doors, attached to the center post, from the machine. These evidently hurled him under the car in the small clearance."

  During the accident, Dr. McNaughton was thrown from the vehicle but was uninjured. A hunting dog also in the vehicle was killed, and a report of the accident later noted that Daly "died a moment or so after the crash of a fractured skull and hemorrhage" caused by being crushed between the car and the mountainside. Reports of the accident reached Charleroi a few days after the accident and the outpouring of grief was immediate. The Charleroi Mail lamented the untimely passing of Charerloi's "foremost citizen" and devoted the front page of its November 7th edition to Daly's numerous contributions to the community, as well as testifying to his integrity of character. Amongst the many attributes given to Daly in the wake of his passing, the following excerpt from the Charleroi Mail details how great of a loss Daly's death was to the Charleroi community:

"He will be missed, not only in his home town but in the county and state, as well as for his activities carried him beyond the borders of this community, activities which took him into the worthwhile things of life, which made him a real leader, one of the commanding figures of this district. In fact to say that he was a leading citizen is inadequate in expressing the real position he held.......His work took him beyond the confines of his banking institution however. In both civic and business affairs, his motto was to do all things well, that no stone should be left unturned in his zeal to better the conditions for his fellow men. He stood for the right, and fought for the principles he believed might aid his family and community." 

  Daly's funeral took place at his home in Charleroi and he was later interred at the Monongahela Cemetery in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, located a few miles from his home. He was survived by his wife Mary Elizabeth and his daughter Mary Violet Daly MacFarland, who died in February 2002 at age 97.

From the Charleroi Mail, November 8, 1938.

Sextus Heman Hungerford (1806-1867)

   The following profile will be a special one, as the honoree is none other than Sextus Heman Hungerford, a 19th-century resident of Westfield, New York. This intriguingly named man served one term in the New York State Assembly and during his life was viewed as one of Chautauqua County's most prominent citizens, being at various times a banker, church elder, and state legislator. 
   Sextus H. Hungerford was born on January 14, 1806, in the town of Smithfield, New York, the son of Lot Hungerford and his wife Celinda. Sextus was the eldest of nine children, and he spent his formative years in Smithfield before moving to Vernon, New York with his family at a young age. Lot Hungerford died in Vernon in 1827 when Sextus was 21 and for the next few years, Sextus engaged in farming pursuits while also helping raise his younger siblings. In 1830 he married Polly Maria Skinner and seven years later removed from Vernon and resettled in the town of Westfield.
  Within a few months of his resettlement, Hungerford and his brother-in-law (Henry J. Miner) were furnished with goods to begin their own mercantile store, courtesy of local merchant Joshua Babcock (1793-1878). This business achieved modest success and in 1843 Hungerford removed to nearby Ripley, New York where he purchased a farm. He moved back to Westfield a few years later and in 1848 became the founder and President of the Bank of Westfield.

           This print of Sextus Hungerford appeared in the 1875 work "History of Chautauqua County".

   Hungerford is listed as being a ruling elder in the local Presbyterian church from 1851 until his death, and that he "aided in sustaining the institutions of the church and religious and benevolent institutions generally, by personal effort and liberal pecuniary contributions." The Centennial History of First Presbyterian Church of Westfield, published in 1910, gives a substantial write-up on Hungerford's religious affiliations, mentioning that he was "never ostentatious but always doing his part in the church work" and that he also acted as church session moderator when a clergyman was unavailable.
  In addition to his church work and banking interests, Sextus Hungerford was elected to public office at both the local and state levels. He was named as Westfield town supervisor in 1861 and served six years in this post. In November 1864 he was elected by the citizens of Chautauqua County as their representative in the New York State Assembly and took his seat during the 1865 session. During his service (which extended from the session opening on January 8 to its end on April 28) Hungerford sat on the committees on Railroads and Banks. Another roster from that session is provided below, with Hungerford's name again highlighted in yellow.

  Young's History of Chautauqua County notes that Hungerford continued with his earlier banking activities around the time of his legislative service. In 1864 he was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Westfield and during the final year of the Civil War is listed as being "untiring in his efforts to sustain the government, and devoted much time gratuitously furnishing both men and means." Hungerford died at age 61 on May 15, 1867, at his home in Westfield, and his obituary lists him as being in "declining health for some time", although there's no mention of what illness he may have suffered from. In his will, Hungerford left $15,000 (a considerable sum for the time) to the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions and Theological Seminary. The obituary below appeared in the Corning Journal on June 6, 1867, a few weeks after Hungerford's death.

   Shown above is another death notice for Hungerford that appeared in the Albany Evening Journal on May 24, 1867. Both the Corning Journal and the Albany Evening Journal lament the passing of Hungerford, describing him as a "sound and reliable businessman; upright and respected by all who knew him" and "a gentleman highly esteemed for his many virtues" among other attributes.

  In keeping with the exhaustive research that I do on many of these oddly named public figures, I made it a point to seek out the gravesite of Sextus H. Hungerford yesterday (March 10th). Hungerford's final resting place is under a mammoth granite obelisk in the Westfield Cemetery. The stone itself is well over twenty feet tall and in the picture below I'm practically dwarfed by its size!

 I also noticed something odd about this stone--Hungerford's wife's name is listed on the stone as Polly Maria Skinner, but all other references to her indicate her name as "Maria P. Skinner". Aside from the inconsistencies regarding her name, Polly/Maria outlived her husband by nearly 30 years, dying in November 1895 at age 87. 

  The picture below is of Sextus's burial marker. The stone bearing his wife's name is out of camera range a few feet away to the right. The Westfield Cemetery is a great repository for local history and there are a few other notable local political figures buried here as well, including George Washington Patterson (1799-1879, a U.S. Representative and Lieutenant Governor of New York), Austin Smith (1804-1904), Chautauqua County's representative in the State Assembly in 1851-52 and a centenarian, and finally Samuel Frederick Nixon (1860-1905), Speaker of the New York State Assembly for several years.

  And lastly, I also managed to snap a picture of Sextus Hungerford's home, which still stands in Westfield. The Hungerford house is currently the home of the Jakway VFW Post, and the building looks significantly different from what it was during the 19th century. This author has a large wall map of Chautauqua County (circa 1854) in his possession and this very map bears a picture of the Hungerford homestead. While doing research on the map many years ago, I discovered Hungerford's name underneath the portrait of his home and set out to find out more about him. All the research that I've done on the man has culminated in the article here, and yes, I think it has turned out rather well!

   The Hungerford Home-Jakway VFW Post in Westfield.

Preserved Fish (1766-1846)

Portrait from "the Fish Family in England and America", 1948.

   Certainly, one of the most humorously named individuals in American history,  Preserved Fish was a leading financier and merchant in New York City who earns placement here on the site due to his service as a Democratic presidential elector for New York in 1832. As improbable as the man's name sounds, he is, in fact, a real person, and his first name is correctly pronounced as "Pres-er-ved". The Banker's Magazine and Financial Register, Volume I, published in 1847, gives the following notice on his unusual first name: 

"It is not known why the singular name of Preserved was given to him; but its peculiarity probably added notoriety to a character already distinguished for consistency, a discriminating judgment, and stern integrity." 

   Preserved Fish was born on July 3, 1766, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the son of Isaac and Ruth Grinnell Fish. A scion of the influential Fish family, this clan gained further prominence in New York political circles for producing such eminent statesmen as Governor and Secretary of State Hamilton Fish (1818-1893) and Congressman Hamilton Fish III (1888-1991.) Fish's father Isaac was a prominent local blacksmith and raised his son to follow along the same route, which he did until age fourteen.

   While still residing in Rhode Island, young Preserved was apprenticed as a farmer, but soon tired of this employment and ran away from home. He took passage on board a whaling ship, becoming a cabin boy. After several years of hard work learning the seafaring trade, Fish rose through the ranks of command and by 1787 was the captain of his own whaling ship (at the young age of 21!) The 1890 work Portrait Gallery of the Chamber of Commerce notes that Fish made a reputation on the seas as having "shrewdness and tireless energy" and because of these traits "accumulated a fortune". Although lacking in years, Fish was viewed as a reliable captain, with the Portrait Gallery remarking that Fish had:

"No fear, and once when his vessel sprung a leak, and the crew, on the verge of mutiny, demanded his return to the nearest port, he refused to yield, and eventually brought his ship and cargo of oil safe to their destination." 

  Preserved Fish married his first wife, Abigail Clark, in Massachusetts in 1788. In 1791 she died in childbirth and two years later he remarried to Mary "Polly" Gerrish. The couple's length of marriage remains undetermined, and by 1800 was married to Mary Shepard (name also recorded as Pease.) These unions would be childless and despite having no biological children of his own, Fish would later adopt a son, William Middleton (1812-1840) who later took the name William Middleton Fish.

   By 1810, Fish had accumulated enough savings from the sale of whale oil to give up the sea life and settled in New York City. It was here that he established contact with his cousin Joseph Grinnell (1788-1885) in 1815 and soon after the two founded the shipping firm of Fish and Grinnell. Within a few short years, this firm became one of the most profitable and influential firms in New York merchant circles.

   In 1817, Preserved Fish became one of the founders of the New York Exchange Board (which later became the New York Stock Exchange) and in 1829 became president of the Tradesman's Bank of New York, which had been incorporated six years previously. Fish was also a prominent member of the New York Chamber of Commerce for nearly thirty years, holding a membership from 1818 until his death in 1846.

                                This picture of Fish is in a collection at the New York Public Library.

   In November 1832, Preserved Fish won election as a Presidential Elector for New York, and is listed as such in the 1833 edition of the National Calendar and Annals of the United States. The listing of the electors (including Fish) is shown below. It is mentioned in the various resources available on Fish that he was aligned with Tammany Hall (the notorious Democratic political machine) and was one of four electors from New York County to win election that year.

                                                Fish's name is highlighted in yellow on this roster.

   The History of the Fish Family in England and America makes light of Preserved's political leanings, mentioning him as a "Democrat with the courage of his convictions." This same work also relates a humorous story centering on Fish's comments in regards to the Whig Party in New York City's seventh ward, remarking:

"If the Whigs succeed in electing their candidate", he said during one campaign, "I will run around the Seventh Ward in my shirt".

   The Fish family genealogy further relates that after making the above statement:

 "The Whigs did succeed and as Mr. Fish found it inexpedient to carry out his announced intention, they revenged themselves by circulating a very cheap print representing him clothed in a night cap and shirt, running at the top of his speed".

   Fish remained President of the Tradesman's Bank until his death at age 80 on July 23, 1846. As one of New York's leading public men, news of Fish's death made newspapers as far away as Virginia, and following his death, he was interred at the historic New York City Marble Cemetery. The resting place of several prominent 18th and early 19th century New Yorkers, this cemetery's other interments include Marinus Willett (1740-1830), a former sheriff of New York County who served a term as Mayor of New York City from 1807-08.

From the Portsmouth Virginia New Era, August 1, 1846.