Thomas Vincent Welch - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thomas Vincent Welch was a New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

man and served as the first Superintendent of the New York State Reservation at Niagara, holding the post for 18 years. As a member of the New York State Assembly, Welch was a key player in the efforts to acquire the lands adjoining Niagara Falls, and to make them free for all to view.

Niagara Falls, New York was not always as we know it today. In the mid-19th century, heavy industries and mills crowded the shoreline near the falls, in order to take advantage of free power. These mills charged fees for visitors to view the falls, which were largely obstructed. A group of concerned citizens, politicians, and architects - including T.V.Welch - started the "Free Niagara" movement. When the bill making Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

free was signed on April 30, 1885, it was the culmination of a campaign in the New York State Legislature spearheaded by Thomas V. Welch. His efforts, and those of everyone involved, are documented in a pamphlet entitled How Niagara Was Made Free, which was published by the Niagara Frontier Historical Society, and in the annals of New York State.

Early life

Thomas Vincent Welch was born in Camillus, Onondaga County

Onondaga County, New York

Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 467,026. The county seat is Syracuse.Onondaga County is part of the Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

(near Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

), the third of six children of Thomas and Honora (Holland) Welch, both Irish immigrants (from Kilmeena

Kilmeena

Kilmeena is a small village in County Mayo, Ireland, near Westport. The village has a Catholic church and a school.-History:The Kilmeena ambush was the scene of a defeat for the local Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. On May 19, 1921, British troops surprised an IRA ambush...

and Aghagower, respectively, both in County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

). His parents originally immigrated to Canada and were married in Cornville, Ontario on Aug.31, 1842 and later moved to Onondaga County. Sometime after his birth in 1850, his parents moved to the Niagara Falls area along with his two brothers - Edward and John. A sister born in 1848, Honora, died when she was eight months old. Once in the Niagara Falls area, however, his parents had two more children, Ellen in 1852 and Anne in 1856.

He was educated in the public schools in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

and at an early age was employed at the New York Central Railroad Company as timekeeper in the shops in the village of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

. In 1873 he was promoted to be freight agent of the Central Railroad there, a position he occupied for three years.

In 1876 he left the Railroad to enter into the mercantile business. He continued to be involved in public affairs, but opened a dry goods store on Falls Street with Michael Ryan and later with James E. Rock, under the firm name of Welch & Ryan and Welch & Rock.

Political career

In public affairs, from 1873 to 1874 he was clerk of the village of Niagara Falls, and in 1875–6 he was a village trustee. In 1876, 1877 and 1878 he was elected Supervisor of the town of Niagara and in the latter year he was chosen as chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the county of Niagara.
He was then nominated by the Democratic party and elected Member of the State Assembly from the second Assembly district of Niagara county, and was re-elected in 1883 and 1884. He was a member of the committee on ways and means in the Legislature and a leader in that body.

During the presidential campaign of 1884, he acquired a wide reputation as a talented and convincing speaker. His speeches on behalf of the election of Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

made him an outstanding figure and following the election of President Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

, Thomas V. was regarded as the most likely appointee for U.S. Collector of Customs at the then Port of Suspension Bridge, for many years the most powerful and most remunerative position in that part of the country.

Superintendent of the State Reservation at Niagara

President Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

came to office in 1885, at the peak of the Free Niagara movement, and the unanimous choice (of the Niagara Reservation Commission) of Welch becoming the Superintendent of the parks resulted in him accepting that post.

On Sept.6, 1901, T.V.Welch, in his role as Superintendent of the Niagara Reservation, welcomed President William McKinley

William McKinley

William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

to the Park, and toured through the Park with him on foot. Four hours later, President McKinley was assassinated at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, NY.

In 1902 after 17 years of outstanding service, the Commission presented him with a sterling silver "loving cup" and parchment, in recognition of his service to the State.

Mr. Welch played an important part in the incorporation of the city of Niagara Falls. He was a member of the charter committee, and, with Hon. W. Caryl Ely, was in Albany when Governor Roswell P. Flower

Roswell P. Flower

Roswell Pettibone Flower was Governor of New York from 1892 to 1894.-Biography:He was a son of Nathan Monroe Flower and Mary Ann Flower, the sixth of nine children....

signed the Niagara Falls city charter bill, March 17, 1892, in fact Governor Flower was ready to sign the bill the day before, but Mr. Welch requested that he hold off until the next day, St. Patrick's Day. He procured the pen with which the governor signed the bill.

Mr. Welch also had a leading part in the organization of the Niagara Falls Power Company.

Mr. Welch was the first president of the Memorial Hospital Association and active in its affairs for many years. He was a member of a great many civic societies and organizations. He was prominently identified with a number of organizations of St. Mary's Church, and a trustee of Niagara University

Niagara University

Niagara University is a Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition, located in the Town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. Originally founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1856 as Our Lady of Angels Seminary, it became Niagara University in 1883. The University is still run by...

.

He was vice-president of the Niagara Frontier Historical Society at the time of his death, was also a member of the Niagara Frontier Land Marks Association, and had served two terms as president of the Civic Club, as president of the Niagara County Pioneer Association, of the Shakespeare Club, and was an honorary member of the Niagara County Farmers Club.

Thomas V. Welch was married to Anna Gill at Belfast

Belfast, New York

Belfast is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,714 at the 2000 census. It was named after the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.- History :The first settlers had arrived by 1804....

, Allegany County

Allegany County, New York

Allegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 48,946. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian word, applied by settlers of Western New York State to a trail that followed the Allegheny River. Its county seat is...

, New York

New York

on October 21, 1902.

Death and Legacy

Just one year after his marriage, T.V.Welch died from an attack of typhoid fever

Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...

, aged 53.At the time of his death, Thomas Vincent Welch was recognized at the "best known and best loved citizen" of Niagara Falls, as stated by the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, who adopted a memorial in their minutes on December 22, 1903 and provided a copy of those minutes to the family of T.V. Welch, pictured to the right. The document reads, in part:

In addition to his services to the State in the Assembly and as Superintendent of the State Reservation at Niagara, he held many positions of trust in the Village and City of Niagara Falls...he was identified with practically every public enterprise in Niagara Falls for the past twenty-five years. His exceptional talents as a public speaker, reinforced by a cultured mind and the unreserved public confidence in his integrity and sincerity, enlarged the scope of his influence, and made him a strong power for good in the community which, at his death, he was recognized as its best known and best loved citizen. By none his death more deeply deplored than by the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, who, as an expression of their sense of loss, hereby adopt this Memorial, this 22nd day of December, 1903, directing that it be spread upon the minutes, and that a copy, suitably engrossed, be presented to the family of the deceased.

T.V.Welch was originally buried in the cemetery of St.Mary's of the Cataract in Niagara Falls. On May 11, 1936 his remains were moved, along with others, to the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Lewiston, New York

Lewiston, New York

Lewiston is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Morgan Lewis, an early 19th-century governor of New York. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.The Village of Lewiston,...

. His remains rest with those of his family at the South East corner of Section 3 of the cemetery.

On July 15, 2010, a 125th Anniversary celebration was held and the plaque dedicated to T.V.Welch (pictured at the top of this article) was placed on a new stone in the Heritage Park, a new section of the Niagara Falls State Park.

External links

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