THE WILE FAMILY:PIONEERS IN THECLOTHING INDUSTRY

By Kristen Fit

EPITAPHPublished quarterly by the Friends of ~founl

Hope Cemetery, Rochesler, Kcw York I

went back to law and, in 1897, becamemanager for Snow, Church and Company.

Solomon remained a lawyer in thefirm of Wile and Oviatt but was also thedrafter and first secretary of RochesterClothier Exchange, a pioneer organizationof its time that was to"foster t11e clothing industryof Rochester, to reformabuses therein, and todiffuse accurate and reliableinformation among itsmembers". It functionallyallowed the clothingindustry to becomeconsolidated and thus moreefficient and profitable.From 80 listed men'sclothing shops in 1867,including the Wiles'business, the industryeventually merged into ahandful of largecompanies in the 1930s.

Numerous letters ofappreciation attest to howwell respected Solomonwas throughout the entireclothing industry,especially from the time ofthe Exchange's inceptionin 1890 to well beyond hisrun as secretary, which heended in I 918. He wasalso secretary for theNational Boot and ShoeManufacturers' Associationfor 17 years. He had mepleasure and opportunity tohelp set the seal of nationalpublicity on the shoeindustry on Hoover Day atthe Boston Fair of 1921,with Herbert Hoover, thenU.S. Secretary ofCommerce, during a lull ineconomic demand for shoesafter the first World War.

As a high-ranking member of theclothing manufacturing industry, Sol wasone of those German Jews who was laterconsidered to be too busy to give muchthought to the conditions maintained inthe sweatshops. In fact, he would be one ofthe key players working against labor

In 1903, clothing cutters, members if the United CannentH1>rkers Union, began a strikefor an 8-hour worlcd'!J'.Photo courtesy Rochester Museum and Science Center.

In January 1913, large number.s if clothing workers went 011strikejOr an 8-hour worM,!)! 10 percent increase in pay, union

recognition, and extra p'!J'jOr overtillUi and holid'!J's.Photo courtesy Rochester Museum and Science Center.

unions and workers' requests for better payand fewer hours. Since he was a lawyer, hewas the tough guy who fought thecorporations' legal battles.

In 1890, Sol turned me Knights ofLabor's boycott efforts against them by

charging their leaders withconspiracy and extortion,and as a result, JamesHughes, a master cutterand official of theKnights, was sentenced toone year in jail. TheClothier Exchange lockedout all Rochester cuttersfrom the industry to forceworkers to renounce theKnights of Labor. Soleventually negotiated asettlement with the fewKnights officials left to endthe boycott, but he gaveno concessions on betterpayor hours.

In 1903, cuttersreorganized under theUnited Garment WorkersUnion (DGW) and begana strike for an 8-hourworkday. They wereignored, and factoriesbrought in "scab" cuttersfrom elsewhere, leading tosome riots. The strikepetered out, and Sol laterreported that this "openshop doctrine" was highlyaccepted throughout theindustry. Little labor strifeoccurred in Rochesteruntil the New York Cityclothing workers went onstrike at the end of 1912.

Rochester manufacturersattempted to complete

orders for their ew Yorkcounterparts, so Rochester workers wenton strike in early 1913 for an 8-hourworkday, 10 percent increase in pay, unionrecognition, and extra pay for overtimeand holidays. Daily parades could be seenmarching through the cloming district andgood will prevailed for several days.

On]anuary 2, 1931, Solomon JVile was stmck andkilled I!J a trolley car at Four Comers near the PowersBuilding, where he had worked as a lau!yerforyears.

He was 77years old.Photo courle.fY Rochester Public Library.

Then, on February 5, strikersdiscovered an active workshop and threwstones and Aowerpots through thewindows of the building and demandedthat the strikebreakers come out. Theproprietor, a 44-year old tailor namedValentine Sauter, fired one shotgun roundof birdshot into the crowd, woundingseveral, and tragically killing 17-year-oldIda Braiman, a young Russian girl, on theday of her engagement to be married. Ahandful of rioters were arrested, includingone girl in the hospital, as was Sauter forIda's murder. Several thousand turned outfor her funeral. She was buried in StoneRoad Cemetery.

After this tragedy, the strike continuedfor a few more weeks while hunger andcold daily depleted the ranks of marchers.At this point, the Exchange was sure ofsuccess and so reopened the factories.Picket lines reappeared and hostility grewbetween workers and picketers and oneday, mounted police were needed to opena passage for workers to go home throughthe mob of picketers. Finally, theExchange offered a 52-hour week at theold salaries, but nothing more. When theunion did not accept, mediators werebrought in and the Exchange's offer wasput into effect along with time-and-a-half

for overtime, no work on five legal holidays,no discrimination for strike activity orunion membership, although no union wasrecognized.

Aside from business, Sol was an activemember in the community. He had a greatinterest in opera, and he even performed.He was listed in the cast of the operettaPinajOre, by Gilbert and Sullivan, which wasperformed at the Comedy Hall on StateStreet in 1879 and was hailed by the pressas "fantastic". The Opera Club was soon

formed, which performed light operas. In1882, Rochester had its first music festival,organized by the Rochester OratorioSociety (ROS) of which Sol was a boardmember. The ROS brought numerousvisiting artists to the city, no doubt forgingfriendships that led to the marriage in 1929of Sol's daughter, LuluJean, to MarcheseFrancesco Barbi, a composer of lightoperas.

Sol's interest in music even touched hiscongregation. As president of his templeB'rith Kodesh for many years, Solomon wasever seeking to liberalize and humanize thefaith into which he was born and by whichhe lived. He wrote his intriguing andreformative Hymn BookforJewish Worship(1890) that included English and

German songs (since a majority of theJewswere German immigrants) and wasintended for the congregation and not onlythe rabbi and choir. In his preface, heexpressed the hope that thesecongregational hymns would make theservices more "fervent".

OnJanuary 2,1931, Sol was struck bya trolley car downtown at Four Cornersnear the Powers Building where he hadworked as a lawyer for years, and died soonafter due to injuries from the accident. Thedriver was not charged; he said thatSolomon had become confused andstepped back in the way of the trolley.

Solomon's simple grave lies next tothat of his son Louis. Solomon also hadanother son, Dr. Ira Wile, graduate of theUniversity of Rochester and renownedphysician in Rochester at the time. Iraserved in the Spanish American War as ahospital steward, was the founder of theschool lunch system in ew York City, andpromoted sex hygiene. He carried outresearch in psychology, anthropology,sociology, and medicine, and was also theauthor of a number of books, includingThe Man Takes a Wife and Sex Education. Thefirst book was praised by

University of Rochester's Dean Gilchristwho stated that "college students ought toread it with great profit", and, accordingly,he put out a number of copies in thelibrary for students to do so. Isaac,Solomon's cousin, became the author ofThe History rif the]ews rif Rochester (1912), awell-known source of information on thecity's founders.

With all of my research, I was unableto discover any more clues as to what thebox and its mysterious contents mean tothe boy Louis, or to his grieving family, buthis ancestors proved to be honorablepioneers of his birth city. Interestingly,Louis' interment records show that he diedon Pleasant St., not where Solomon was

living at the time, but where MyerGreentree lived. Perhaps this shows howclose Louis' family was to the Greentrees. Ialso thought that Louis' epitaph mighthave come from the hymn book that hisfather had compiled together, but sadly, itwas not there. I did find, to myamazement, thatJoseph had a large familymonument a few plots away from whereLouis' little stone resides, and that Gabriel'sfamily markers are close by as well. MyerGreentree also has a beautiful rose granitemonument to his memory, andsignificantly, the cemetery avenue that faceshis gravesite, is named after him as well.

Louis Wile (1879-1882)

Joseph Wile (1812-1892), great uncle

Myer Greentree (1818-1890),

brother of great aunt

Gabriel Wile (1820-1904), grandfather

Abram Wile (1811-1895), great uncle

Solomon Wile (1853-1931), father

Millie Wile (1856-1929), mother

Isaac A. Wile (1853-1908), second cousin

Ida Braiman (1896-1913), not related

Dr. Ira Wile, brother

LuluJean Wile, sister

(Editor's Note: Kristen Fit;:gerald is a Universityrif Rochester student who prepared this essqy as acourse requirement rif Speaking Stones, Religion167, taught by Prqf Emil Homerin, who is also atrustee rif the Friends rif Mount Hope Cemetery.)

Solomon and Millie (Amelia) Wile,ftther and motl/£T qf LouisG. Wile, are buried in Range 3, close to Grove Avenue.

Photo by Frank A. Gillespie.

Gabriel Wile was Solomon Wile'sfttherand Louis G. Wile's grantijather. His

tombstone is also in Range 3.Photo by Frank A. Gillespie.

Joseph Wile was little Louis G. Wile's great uncle.This Wileftmi!y monument is in Range 3.

Photo by Frank A. Gillespie.

Abram Wile was Louis G. Wile's other great uncle, who isburied in Range 2, Lot 152. Joseph, Abram, and GabrielWile were three brothers who immigratedfrom Austria and

were pioneers in the clothing industry.Photo by Frank A. Gillespie.

Meyer Greentree was a partner qfJoseph Wile in theGreentree and Wile wholesale clothing company on

Mill Street. He was also the brother qf Louis G. Wile's greataun~ Hanclu, wifl qf Abram Wile. This is the

Greentreeftmi!y monument in Range 3.Photo by Frank A. Gilkspie.

Mqyor D'!flj, with a color guard behind him, delivers an addressinftont 'If the grave 'If Rochester'sflunder, Col. NathaniLl

Rochester, on the occasion 'If the /75th anniversary 'If the ci!J''scharter in /834. To the right are Mari!Jm Nolte, president 'If

the Friends 'If Mount Hope Cemef£ry; Nanry UJlindel4secretary 'If the Fmnds; two descendants 'If NathaniLl

Rochester; and Ed Olinger, trustee 'If the Friends.

MAYOR DUFFY VISITSMOUNT HOPE ON THECITY'S 17STH BIRTHDAY

By Nanty UjJindell

Rochesterville was established in 1812, but itbecame a city on April 28, 1834, when the ewYork State Legislature issued a charter. 175 yearslater to the day, Mayor Robert DuffY visited theNathaniel Rochester family plot at Mount HopeCemetery to place wreaths at the graves of Col.Rochester, city father, andJonathan Chjld,Rochester's son-in-law and the city's first mayor.The Rochester Police Department color guardstood at attendance during the ceremony.

On this rajny Tuesday afternoon, a crowd ofumbrella-laden listeners stood while MayorDuffy led the Pledge of Allegiance and spoke ofthe contributions of the pioneers during anearljer Rochester. In attendance were three great-great-great grandchildren of the city's founder:Peter Dellinger of Brighton, Thomas Hanford ofPittsford, and Adele Shepard of Penfield. SusanB. Anthony (a.k.a. Barbara Blajsdell ofBrighton), members of the Friends of MountHope Cemetery, and area residents alsoparticipated.

For countless decades, the trees at theLewis Henry Morgan mausoleum-whichis sunk into the hillside of Ravine Avenuein Section F, Lot 55-have overwhelmedthe site with their dense foliage not onlyhiding the mausoleum but creating highhumidity that is damaging the Medinasandstone of theHigh VictorianGothic structure.In recent years,the sandstone hasbeen living up toits name byturning to sand.

Medinasandstone wasformed 400million years agoin the Silurianperiod. Streamsflowing in thisarea of New YorkState depositedsand, whichsolidified undergreat pressurefrom water, ice,and increasinglayers of sand.Then the waterreceded leavingthe rock. Erosion gradually stripped off thetop layers until the hard sandstone was justbeneath the surface ready to be mined.The deposit extends from Hamilton,Ontario, through the Niagara gorge, andbeyond Rochester to Fulton, New York.Geologists gave the reddish-brown stonethe name Medina sandstone, and the areaaround the village that bears the name ofthe stone possessed the largest deposits.Almost all of it has now been mined andshipped out, mostly via the Erie Canal, tocities around the world where the stonewas fashioned into the massive 19th-centuryarchitectural structures that we find notonly in New York State today, but also inEuropean cities, especially London.

VOLUNTEERS CLEARFOLIAGE

AT LEWIS HENRY MORGANMAUSOLEUM

By Richard 0. Reisem

There are also a large number ofMedina sandstone monuments in MountHope Cemetery, but the largest of them isthe Lewis Henry Morgan mausoleum.

In an effort to slow the crumblingdeterioration of the Morgan mausoleum,

On the Rochester Dqy if Caring, Mqy 7, 2009, Birchcrest Treeand Landscape generouslY volunteered the Ullents if several

workers to trim trees and cut down two others, thereby alrowinglight and air eirculntinn into the area around the Lewis HenryMorgan mausoleum,jimnerlY considered the spookiest plnce in

the cemetery. The mausoleum 1" Medina sandstone isdeteriorating, and the newlY provided light and air should retardthe process. In the photo, Birchcrest employee Brian Krawc;;;yk

completes cleaning if the site.

the Friends of Mount Hope Cemeteryenlisted the aid of Birchcrest Tree andLandscape, Inc., which generously donatedthe expertise of several staff members toprune the trees and remove overgrownground vegetation. The result opens themausoleum area to light and air. And that,we hope, will slow the worsening situation.Because the mausoleum is built into a steephillside, there is also moisture descending

from the hill, which is another factor addingto the problem and not easily controlled.

Our thanks go to Birchcrest Tree andLandscape, Inc. for their munificent effortsto beautify and preserve this special part ofMount Hope Cemetery. So, no longer is the

shadowy LewisHenry Morganmausoleum thespookiest place inthe cemetery.

I think that LewisHenry Morgan(1818-1881) wouldalso be pleasedwith the light andair. He wasRochester's greatintellectual leaderof the 19th

century. He wasthe father of thescience ofanthropology, atitle he gainedfrom his seminalstudies of theculture of theSeneca Indians.At his home onSouth Fitzhugh

Street, Morgan builta massive library that was modeled on theimpressive one created in Scotland by SirWalter Scott. Morgan's library was theintellectual center of Rochester where manynotable Americans and foreign friendsgathered for lively debate and earnestconversation. Morgan left his estate to theUniversity of Rochester for theadvancement of women's education inmemory of his two daughters who didn'tlive long enough to receive it.

THE FRIENDS OF MT. HOPE CEMETERY1133 MOUNT HOPE AVEROCHESTER NY 14620........-........

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDRochester. NYPermit No. 150

OR CURRENT RESIDENT

IttThe cast-iroFlorentine fou.ntain

r jn ~h nor~1 entrancearea of Mount HopeCemetery wasinstalled in 1875.This is a close-up ofthe top tier in thethree-tiered fountain.Photo by Ira Srole,city photographer.