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THE KLOCK FAMILY
The maple syrup industry has a long history in the Franklinville area. Among the earliest pioneers there came to be a saying that if you want to make a great man of a baby you must cradle him in a sap trough.
Those same early pioneers counted among their assets the glorious stands of sugar maples when they first came to the area. However, the recognition for the first truly organized operation in producing this delectable sweet apparently goes to the Klock family.
Jacob Klock came with his family to Franklinville from Herkimer County in 1866 and purchased a farm in Cadiz, a hamlet within the town of Franklinville. They were an industrious and sturdy family. Before their arrival sap gathered in this locality had been boiled out of doors. The members of the Klock Family were the first to build a sugarhouse in their sugarbush. (Sugarbush is the term for the location of the maples from which the sap is gathered. Sap was at that time gathered by making a hole in the side of a maple tree trunk, inserting a tap, and hanging a wooden sap bucket beneath it. Today's modern producers string plastic tubing among the trees which carries the sap to a central location.)
Maple syrup production is a seasonal operation, since the sap only runs in early spring. The Klocks therefore also had a large dairy operation. These operations continued to be carried on into the next generation by Jacob's sons.
Harvey Klock, for instance, who married Vista McNall in 1867, had a large dairy and was a patron of one of the many local cheese factories from its opening in 1866 to the closing of the factory in 1911. More often than not he was the first one there every morning with the day's milk production which in those days was carried in cans and delivered to the factory by horse and wagon. Considering the strength of some of the earlier winters in Cattaraugus County, he must have overcome a lot of challenges on some winter mornings.
For more than a quarter of a century Franklinville has conducted a Maple Festival on the last week-end in April, an event which draws thousands of visitors to the village. It's a sweet success story.
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FRANK D. KINGSBURY
In 1882 Frank D. Kingsbury came to Franklinville with his bride of two years, the former Miss Arlouine Smith of Rushford, N. Y.
Frank D. Kingsbury was born on September 25, 1849 in Black Creek, N.Y. to William & Betsy Kingsbury. He and Miss Smith were married on New Year's Day of 1880.
Mr. & Mrs. Kingsbury purchased the 225 acre farm from the Dalzells. Frank then proceeded to fit up the farm with many improvements, naming it The Triangle Dairy Farm. This was located one mile north of the Village on a hill that is still known today as Kingsbury Hill.
Once the dairy was firmly established, Mr. Kingsbury began the first regular milk delivery route in the village, a route he would continue to service for the next seventeen years.
His obituary notes that he was a pleasant man and was gladly welcomed by all on his daily morning rounds. He not only delivered the milk, he also was in the habit of spreading good cheer and on occasion sharing a bit of news along the way.
Frank was also a carpenter and contributed to the construction of some of the buildings on the Franklinville Fair grounds which enjoyed its best days from 1882 to 1912.
Frank and Arlouine Smith Kingsbury had two sons, Harry and Will.
Eventually Frank developed diabetes and it became necessary for his sons to take over the route. Diabetes claimed his life on April 25, 1902. His wife lived until 1931. They are both buried in Mount Prospect.
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THE KING FAMILY
Clarence King was born in 1861 in Machias, N.Y. to Dr. and Mrs. T. J. King. He attended Chamberlin Institute at Randolph, N.Y, and Ten Broeck Academy in Franklinville.
In February of 1885 he graduated from the Buffalo Medical College and later that same year married Alta Jackson.
The new Mrs. King was the daughter of Rev. M. D. Jackson, a Methodist minister who had pastorates in this vicinity. Rev. Jackson preached for fifty years, beginning and ending with the church at Greenwood, N.Y.
Later Dr. King took special instruction at the New York Polyclinic, the New York Postgraduate School and the Chicago School of Electro Therapeutics.
Dr. & Mrs. King lived for twenty years in Machias. He was the physician for the Cattaraugus County Home for many years, and was also surgeon for the B. R. & P. Railway Company. In addition, he served many years as President of the Machias Board of Education.
Alta King, born with a considerable amount of artistic ability, eventually became a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists and her work was, on several occasions, accorded a place of honor in their exhibits. She painted in New York City and in Buffalo, her work in oils having been considered especially good. Eventually she specialized in china painting, very popular at the time, and taught a number of students that art form.
In April of 1911 Dr. & Mrs. Clarence King purchased 9 Pine Street in Franklinville, the home originally built by Simeon Robbins following his return from the Klondike old Rush. Today this Queen Anne house is the home of The Ischua Valley Historical Society. Just before the Christmas holidays in 1913 Mrs. King began the Franklinville Women's Exchange in her home. This was a clearing house for lovely hand made articles which contributors made and brought there to be sold on consignment. They were purchased by those looking for unique gifts.
The Kings entertained a great deal, sometimes turning the third floor of their magnificent home into a ballroom. One such occasion was the celebration of the sixteenth birthday of one of their daughters.
Alta King died in 1926.
Over his fifty five years of medical practice, Dr. King wrote many manuscripts for medical journals. He died September 3, 1944 in Machias at the home of his daughter, Martha Rose. During the years of his practice he had officiated at the birth of a nephew who grew up to be Dr. Leo E. Reimann. On the occasion of Dr. King's death, his death certificate was signed by Dr. Reimann.
Dr. King's mother, Mary E. King, was the first person to have been laid to rest in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Machias, the family plot having been laid out in the form of an ordinary nine spoke wheel. With Dr. King's passing, the eighth spoke had been placed, leaving the one broken spoke which was to remain unfilled.
The children of Dr. & Mrs. Clarence King were Martha Lucille King (born November 27, 1886 in Machias; married Frank Rose; died July 21, 1962 in Olean; buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Machias); Norma King (who married Verne Wheeler on March 28, 1914); Delancey J. King; Laurence F. King; Gordon L. King (born Machias 1894; married 1913 Mildred Van Aernam).
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RALPH E. LAIDLAW
On April 17, 1881 Ralph E. Laidlaw was born on a farm west of the Cadiz settlement in the Town of Franklinville. His education included three years at Ten Broeck Academy, although he did not graduate there. Instead, he took a diploma from the Teachers Training Class in Delevan, N.Y. and began teaching in 1900.
In 1901 he married Miss Ella Wickham who had been born in Franklinville in 1874 to Oscar S. (1842-1902) and Mary O. (1846-1925) Wickham. Miss Wickham had been a member of the Class of 1892 of Ten Broeck Academy but illness had forced her withdrawal from the school in the late winter of that year.
There were interesting things about two of the residences in which Ralph E. Laidlaw lived. One of them was located in Cadiz, a large house at the crossroads there. (This location, together with the facts about to be recited here, would give rise to the opinion that his home and the building later known as The Stagecoach were one and the same.) The outstanding feature of this house was that it had a huge fireplace which contained a stone from every state and nation. As the story has been handed down, his work with the Masonic fraternity put him in touch with people from whom he could request the shipment of such a representative stone. The story has also been told that he kept a "map" of where each stone was placed in the fireplace. His security system was also interesting. Ralph had a guard goose who kept unwelcome visitors at bay.
The other residence, reported to have been on Third Avenue (Third Avenue was created in 1907), was not built there originally. It had originally been located on South Main Street. Reportedly built in 1846 by Ralph's grandfather, Otis Phillips, it was moved from that location in order that a Mrs. Genevieve Gunnison might build a summer home on that lot.
Ralph and Ella raised an orphan under the name of Helen Laidlaw. She married Barton Kellogg.
In 1911 Ralph left the teaching profession and bought an insurance agency in Franklinville from L. W. Van Hoesen. In 1912 Ella Laidlaw went into the millinery business.
Neither of these two ventures lasted very long. In 1913 Ralph sold the insurance business to C. R. Hitchcock and returned to teaching, most of which was done in and around the Franklinville area. On October 5, 1916 Ella Wickham Laidlaw died. She is buried with her parents in Mount Prospect Cemetery.
Sometime after that Ralph remarried. The bride's name was Leta Hayes. Ralph and Leta Hayes Laidlaw would have a daughter, Margaret.
Ralph died on Christmas Day of 1939 in Franklinville, after a 25 year teaching career, survived by Leta Hayes Laidlaw, Helen Laidlaw Kellogg and Margaret Laidlaw.
Leta lived until 1956 and Ralph and Leta are buried side by side in Mount Prospect Cemetery.
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