William Pidgeon, Sr.
W. PIDGEON SR., SHOE PIONEER PASSES AWAY
Retired Merchant Succumbs
at Age of 89
William
Pidgeon, Sr., 89, for many years connected with the shoe
industry of Rochester and who conducted a shoe store for
24 years at 19 Front Street, died last night (Apr. 14, 1936)
in Fairport Baptist Home, where he has lived for the last
five years.
He is the father of William Pidgeon, Jr., also active
as a shoe man.
Born in Cullompton, Devon, England, Sept. 7, 1847, Mr. Pidgeon
learned to make shoes by hand there under conditions
of which he once said, “My hours were rather long, for work
began at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 8 p.m.”
At the age of 22 he married Emily Baker in St. Cuthbert
Episcopal Church, Somerset, Engl.
She died in March, 1924, in this city, where they
had reared three of six children born to them.
Linked to Notables
Mrs. Pidgeon, before her marriage, had worked for the wife
of Sir Bulwar Lytton, the novelist,
Tiverton, Devon, and had lived at the Old Blundell School,
Tiverton, mentioned in Blackmore’s “Lorna Doone.”
Shortly after their wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Pidgeon
had lived at Budleigh, Devon, where he made and mended
shoes and sang in the Methodist Church Choir.
Among patrons of his employer, for whom Mr. Pidgeon
mended shoes, were the sons of Jennie Lind, the singer,
who were attending school nearby preparatory to going to
college.
Mr. Pidgeon landed in Castle
Gardens, New York, Oct. 3, 1872, four weeks before General
Grant was re-elected president over Horace Greely.
His brother George came with him, but he left his
wife and baby girl in England until he could make a home
for them. He
first lived in Meadville, Pa., where his sister Ann
and her husband had preceded him.
One of his early recollections there was of hearing
the men with whom he worked at shoe making recount stories
of the Civil War, which had ended some seven years before.
Came Here in 1879
Coming to Rochester
in June, 1879, he went to work for Cowels, Curtis &
Wheeler, shoe manufacturers, who later became the first
shoe firm in Rochester to introduce machinery for the making
of shoes. Mr.
Pidgeon opened his own retail store in Front Street in 1901.
Three
children survive.
They are, besides William Pidgeon, Jr., George Pidgeon
of Tonawanda, and Mrs. F. L. Deline of Buffalo.
There also are three grandchildren.
Mrs. Helen Draper of Rochester; Miss Dorothy Deline
and Miss Emily Mae Deline of Buffalo.
Transcribed on 9/11/01 by Linda
Blum-Barton from a newspaper clipping.
Democrat & Chronicle
April 15, 1936
PIDGEON – At Baptist Home, Fairport, N.Y., April 14, 1936.
William Pidgeon aged 89 years.
He is survived by two sons, William Pidgeon, Jr.
Rochester, George Pidgeon , Tonawanda, and daughter, Mrs.
F. L. Deline, Buffalo, NY.
Body rest at parlors of Moore &
Fiske, 105 Lake Avenue, where services will be held Friday
afternoon at 2 o’clock.
Interment in Mt. Hope.
Democrat &
Chronicle
April 16, 1936
William Pidgeon, Sr. Rites
Conducted
Funeral
services were conducted yesterday for William Pidgeon, Sr.
at 105 Lake Avenue, with the Rev. Arthur W. Evans, associate
pastor of the Baptist Temple where Mr. Pidgeon was a member
for 40 years, officiating.
Mr. Pidgeon died Tuesday (Apr 14, 1936) in the Fairport
Friendly Home.
He will be buried at the convenience of the family
in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Democrat & Chronicle
April 18, 1936
Pg. 1
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