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Last Updated
April 14, 2012
Anonymous Author (Syracuse: D. Mason, 1896)
Page 70
The subject of this sketch, Albertus Larrowe, was born in Cohocton on the 11th of July, 1826. On his paternal side, his ancestry can be traced back for several generations. There is a legend in the family that at the time of the persecution of the Huguenots, three brothers named La Rue fled from France to the United States, landing in North Carolina. That they changed the spelling of their name from La Rue to Larrowe for fear of being followed to this country and to more completely change their identity. They, however, retained the pronunciation of La Rue. It is known that there were three brothers by this name, who formerly lived in North Carolina. One went from there to Louisiana, one to Kentucky, and one came north to New Jersey. to the latter was born a son, on the day of the battle of Trenton, within hearing of the guns. This child was named Albertus, and was the grandfather of the present Albertus. He came from New Jersey to the town of Reading, now Schuyler county, from there he came to Wheeler, where he afterward married Janet Aulls, of Urbana. He had twelve children, who reached maturity, all born in Wheeler. In 1806 he bought from Samuel Haight, in Cohocton, about two hundred acres of land, which forms a part of the farm now owned by his grandson and namesake.
The father of the present albertus was named John, and was the oldest of the twelve children mentioned above. He was born in 1801, and was married to Elizabeth Holmes in Wheeler. Soon after their marriage, they came to Cohocton, where he bought from the Pulteney estate a tract of land on the Davis Creek, adjoining that owned by his father. On the banks of the creek he built a little home, where were born his four sons. A few years later he bought the Haight property from his father, and built a house, which, when he built, the present Larrowe farm house was removed to the village, and is now owned and occupied by Ephraim Wemple.
The maternal ancestors of Albertus Larrowe can trace their descent from Slas Wheeler, in honor of whom the town of Wheeler was named, and who was its first permanent settler. He was a native of Rhode Island, was a soldier of the Revolution, and was with Benedict Arnold in his perilous march through the forests of Maine, and at the assault of Quebec stood near Montgomery when he fell. He was four times taken prisoner, twice by land, and twice upon the high seas, as a roving privateersman. After his second capture upon the coast of Great Britain he was confined in jail and condemned to be hanged as a pirate. He escaped by the aid of the distinguished orator and statesman, Henry Grattan, who procured for him a passport, and secured passage to France, whence he returned to America. He settled in the town of Wheeler (then included in Bath) in 1799.
Captain Wheeler died in 1828, aged seventy-eight, at the home of his son, Grattan H. Wheeler. His children were the son, Grattan H., and twin daughters named Ruth and Sarah. Ruth married Nathan Rose, one of the pioneers of Wheeler. Sarah married William Holmes, who made the first clearing on what is known as the Barney farm, on the opposite side of the creek from the home of her sister. The first child born to them was Elizabeth, who afterwards married John Larrowe, who was born and brought up on the farm adjoining that of her father, and from where they removed to Cohocton.
There were four sons born to them, Franklin, Albertus, Marcus Dwight, and William Wheeler. they, appreciating the benefits of educaiton, were determined that their boys should have all the educational advantages within their reach. These were necessairly most limited, consisting principally of winter schools. A Presbyterian minister, a Dr. Johnson, was boarded for one winter, that the boys might derive the benefit of his college education. During their minority the boys worked for their father on the farm. Soon after attaining his majority, Albertus invested his scanty savings in a timber tract, in company with his brother Franklin. Their earnings were invested and reinvested until they had purchased several large and valuable tracts, principally from the Pulteney estate, and had a good water power saw mill located just above the village. They built several miles of the first fence along the Erie Railroad running through the town, furnishing the lumber and doing the work for seventy-five cents per rod. The principal market for their lubmer was in Canandaigua. It was hauled to the landing, near the head of Canandaigua Lake, where it was put into rafts, and would then wait for the wind to blow from the south to blow it to Canandaigua. the market for farm produce was either Dansville on the Genesee Valley Canal, or Hammondsport on Keuka Lake.
Elizabeth Larrowe died in 1862.
John Larrowe died in 1867. His remains were interred in the plot of ground, which he had already dedicated as a family cemetery. He left his farm to his two surviving sons, Albertus and Marcus Dwight. albertus bought the interest of the latter in 1868, and has since owned the homestead, known as the Larrowe farm, situated one-eighth of a mile below the village of Cohocton. the larger portion of it is now within the corporation limits.
Mr. Larrowe was made a Mason in 1858, at Naples. He was one of the charter members of Liberty Lodge No. 510, being its first master, and occupied this position for several terms thereafter.
Mr. Larrowe has been an enthusiastic Republican since the party wsa organized. He was supervisor for two or three years, and has always felt an interest in the welfare of his party.
In 1866 Mr. Larrowe bought from David H. Wilcox the Liberty Mills, a small water power mill, fitted with two runs of stone, using wooden peg gears and the rude machinery of that period. The grain was hoisted to the top floor by a rope running over a pulley in the roof, and a man at the other end. Two years later the mill was remodeled and operated as a custom mill, making a specialty of buckwheat flour in its season, and from that time until 1889, Mr. Larrowe continued the manufacture of buckwheat flour, dropping out of the custom work entirely. The Larrowe Milling Co. was formed at that time, and two years later changed to a corporation, with A. Larrowe as president, operating the largest buckwheat mill in the world, equipped with the most modern machines and appliances, many of them built after Mr. Larrowe's own plans. He has always been a firm believer in pure food products, and Larrowe's kiln-dried buckwheat flour is one of the very few brands which have never been adulterated.
Mr. Larrowe has been a tireless worker, and has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of all his business associates and acquaintances and a host of friends. Though most of the active work of the concern is now performed by younger men, much of the success enjoyed by the Larrowe Milling Co. Ltd., is attained by his suggestions and counsel, for which his ripe experience so well fits him.
Mr. Larrowe was married to Harriet A. Kellogg, daughter of John Kellogg of Cohocton, on February 22, 1854, who died in December, 1860, leaving two sons, John and Charles. On the 23d of February, 1863, Mr. Larrowe was married to Julia A., daughter of James Draper of Cohocton, who died January 4, 1864, leaving one son, James Erwin.
Mr. Larrowe was married April 28, 1875, to Katherine, daughter of Shepard P. Morgan, of Lima, by whom he had three children, Elizabeth A., Albertus, jr., and Dwight Morgan.
Dr. Larrowe was one of the organizers of the Universalist church. The site of the present residence of Mr. Larrowe is the same as that on which stood the house, in which were born the Fowler family, the eminent phrenologists, Orson, Lorenzo and Sarah, now Mrs. Wells. And the large elm on the lawn was set there by these brothers when it was a slender sapling, the size of their wrists.
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