My Genealogy Hound

HON. WILLIAM BOOKSTAVER, an active business man and mayor of Dunkirk city, one of the commercial centers along the great lakes, is a son of Abner and Ann (Shearer) Bookstaver, and was born at Montgomery, Orange county, New York, December 28, 1833. He is of Dutch lineage on his paternal side, while his mother was of Irish descent. Mayor Bookstaver is a lineal descendant, in the third generation, from Jacob Boochstaber (as spelled in the old church records of the colony of New York), who came from Holland to Orange county, New York, in 1732. He was the first deacon in the German Reformed church in the new world. His son was the grandfather of subject, and married and reared a family of children, one of whom was Abner Bookstaver, the father of the subject of this sketch. Abner Bookstaver was born in Orange county, where he followed merchandising at Montgomery for many years. He afterwards removed to Syracuse, and died well advanced in years. He was an elder of the Reformed church, and married Ann Shearer, a native of the north of Ireland.

William Bookstaver received his education at Montgomery academy, from which he was graduated in 1852, and in which he was a teacher during 1853. In April, 1855, he came to Dunkirk and read law with a Mr. Brown and his brother, David Bookstaver, who was formerly mayor of Syracuse, where he now resides. He was admitted to the Chautauqua county bar, in 1858, but afterwards relinquished the practice of his profession to engage in the real estate business. He had faith in the development of Dunkirk as one of the great lake cities, and accordingly invested largely in real estate in different parts of the village. The rapid growth of Dunkirk from a village to a metropolitan city within the last quarter of a century has fully verified Mr. Bookstaver’s early expectations of its future importance as a successful rival of Toledo and Buffalo as a manufacturing and commercial centre. He now owns one hundred and fifty acres of land within the city limits which embraces valuable business blocks and excellent manufacturing locations as well as a large number of houses, and residence and business lots. He also owns his fine residence on Central avenue, is the largest individual tax-payer in the city, and has acquired all of his property by his efforts and judicious investments. He is president of the Dunkirk Savings and Loan association, which erects buildings and sells or advances money to purchase buildings, and receives monthly payments which do not exceed one or two dollars more than the rent of these buildings, thus enabling the buyer to secure a home for a very small sum above what he would pay in rent in six or seven years.

In politics Mr. Bookstaver is a democrat. He served for thirteen years as county supervisor, and was appointed, in 1887, by Governor David B. Hill, as a member of the prison labor reform committee, of which he served as chairman. He was elected mayor of Dunkirk, and at the expiration of his term of office was almost unanimously re-elected for a second term, which he is now serving, with no abatement of the popular favor.

He united in marriage with Mary A. Leonard, of Maine. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, Mabel, who is now in Paris, France, but will spend the most of the following year in Italy.