He was the son of James and Ella Goodenough Wilcox.
A twin sister Hattie died about 20 years ago.
On May 3rd, 1920, Mr. Wilcox married Miss Mable Converse, of Winthrop.
He was a successful owner and operator of a pump manufacturing and repair shop and electrical store in this village and a valuable member of the local school board for 17 years. He was a world War veteran, past commander of the American Legion, member of the local Masonic Blue Lodge and active in civic affairs.
Surviving was his wife; two sons, Howard and Donald, and a daughter, Mrs. William Regar
Friday, 2/13/1942 Ogdensburg, NY, Herald Recorder
Ogdensburg Journal - February 6, 1942
Notes by Don Wilcox as he remembers:
Allen James Wilcox was born in Ogdensburg, and was orphaned at age 13. He and his twin sister Hattie were raise by their maternal grandmother. Hattie died at the age of 20 years.
Sometime before 1920, dad moved to Brasher Falls, St. Law. Co., NY and resided with the Purley Church family. They were in partnership and listed as PUMP MANUFACTURERS in the 1920 census. He subsequently bought out Mr. Church and continued the manufacture of the BRASHER PUMP on the island between the two sections of the covered bridge on US 11 over the St. Regis River. He married Miss Mable Converse May 3rd, 1920 and shortly after moved the business to their home halfway up the hill on, I believe, Church St. That is where they raised their family and where he manufactured the wooden pumps.
He bought lumber (knotless pine) 5-6 inch by 5-6 inch square, from 5 to 10 feet long and bored a 3" hole lengthwise in them with a 10' capacity boring machine. Then he would turn them to size in a large, long wood lathe. Before being able to use them, he banded around them along the length in several places so they wouldn't split. They were also mortised and tenoned to make the connection between sections. The 'cylinder', in which the 'bucket' moved up and down to raise the water from the well, was of two sizes, a 3 1/2' and 4" bore, each being about 3 feet in length. (The larger the bore, the more water was raised with each stroke.) The outside of these cylinders was tapered from biggest in the middle and smaller toward the ends. He placed five steel bands on each cylinder. The buckets were wooden and turned on a lathe and finished by hand with a wood chisel, and a leather collar placed at the top for a seal against the cylinder and a lead-weighted leather valve installed. The 'rod' was a length of 1" square wood and fastened to the pump handle on one end and the bucket on the other. About the only other material not wood was the handle, which he had cast at Kennehan's foundry. Once you got the water coming, you could fill a large pail with two strokes of the handle.
He ran several machines in three different rooms with a 'one-lunger' gasoline engine through a system of belts and pulleys. Some of the equipment was of his own design. He would make a pattern for a part and have it cast at Kennehan's foundry. Among his customized machines was a reciprocating cut-off saw for cutting steel pipe, a drill press, and a pipe threader made from an old automobile transmission.
In the middle 1930's, while he was 'dressing' (applying a rosin and wax stick) a leather belt, the stick caught in the metal laces where the ends of the belt were joined, (One has to do this when the belt is moving) and his right arm was wrapped between the pulley and belt. One bone was broken in eleven places and the other didn't fare much better. Before this happened, he could listen (radio in those days) to a tune he had never heard before and go to his piano and within a short time play it, using both hands. Believe it or not, after his arm was in a cast (the doctor wired the bones together) for about 6-7 months, and he worked hard to get his arm to work again, he could still play the piano, although he never was able to fully straighten his arm. Truly remarkable, especially in the times.
A twin sister Hattie died about 20 years ago.
On May 3rd, 1920, Mr. Wilcox married Miss Mable Converse, of Winthrop.
He was a successful owner and operator of a pump manufacturing and repair shop and electrical store in this village and a valuable member of the local school board for 17 years. He was a world War veteran, past commander of the American Legion, member of the local Masonic Blue Lodge and active in civic affairs.
Surviving was his wife; two sons, Howard and Donald, and a daughter, Mrs. William Regar
Friday, 2/13/1942 Ogdensburg, NY, Herald Recorder
Ogdensburg Journal - February 6, 1942
Notes by Don Wilcox as he remembers:
Allen James Wilcox was born in Ogdensburg, and was orphaned at age 13. He and his twin sister Hattie were raise by their maternal grandmother. Hattie died at the age of 20 years.
Sometime before 1920, dad moved to Brasher Falls, St. Law. Co., NY and resided with the Purley Church family. They were in partnership and listed as PUMP MANUFACTURERS in the 1920 census. He subsequently bought out Mr. Church and continued the manufacture of the BRASHER PUMP on the island between the two sections of the covered bridge on US 11 over the St. Regis River. He married Miss Mable Converse May 3rd, 1920 and shortly after moved the business to their home halfway up the hill on, I believe, Church St. That is where they raised their family and where he manufactured the wooden pumps.
He bought lumber (knotless pine) 5-6 inch by 5-6 inch square, from 5 to 10 feet long and bored a 3" hole lengthwise in them with a 10' capacity boring machine. Then he would turn them to size in a large, long wood lathe. Before being able to use them, he banded around them along the length in several places so they wouldn't split. They were also mortised and tenoned to make the connection between sections. The 'cylinder', in which the 'bucket' moved up and down to raise the water from the well, was of two sizes, a 3 1/2' and 4" bore, each being about 3 feet in length. (The larger the bore, the more water was raised with each stroke.) The outside of these cylinders was tapered from biggest in the middle and smaller toward the ends. He placed five steel bands on each cylinder. The buckets were wooden and turned on a lathe and finished by hand with a wood chisel, and a leather collar placed at the top for a seal against the cylinder and a lead-weighted leather valve installed. The 'rod' was a length of 1" square wood and fastened to the pump handle on one end and the bucket on the other. About the only other material not wood was the handle, which he had cast at Kennehan's foundry. Once you got the water coming, you could fill a large pail with two strokes of the handle.
He ran several machines in three different rooms with a 'one-lunger' gasoline engine through a system of belts and pulleys. Some of the equipment was of his own design. He would make a pattern for a part and have it cast at Kennehan's foundry. Among his customized machines was a reciprocating cut-off saw for cutting steel pipe, a drill press, and a pipe threader made from an old automobile transmission.
In the middle 1930's, while he was 'dressing' (applying a rosin and wax stick) a leather belt, the stick caught in the metal laces where the ends of the belt were joined, (One has to do this when the belt is moving) and his right arm was wrapped between the pulley and belt. One bone was broken in eleven places and the other didn't fare much better. Before this happened, he could listen (radio in those days) to a tune he had never heard before and go to his piano and within a short time play it, using both hands. Believe it or not, after his arm was in a cast (the doctor wired the bones together) for about 6-7 months, and he worked hard to get his arm to work again, he could still play the piano, although he never was able to fully straighten his arm. Truly remarkable, especially in the times.
He was the son of James and Ella Goodenough Wilcox.
A twin sister Hattie died about 20 years ago.
On May 3rd, 1920, Mr. Wilcox married Miss Mable Converse, of Winthrop.
He was a successful owner and operator of a pump manufacturing and repair shop and electrical store in this village and a valuable member of the local school board for 17 years. He was a world War veteran, past commander of the American Legion, member of the local Masonic Blue Lodge and active in civic affairs.
Surviving was his wife; two sons, Howard and Donald, and a daughter, Mrs. William Regar
Friday, 2/13/1942 Ogdensburg, NY, Herald Recorder
Ogdensburg Journal - February 6, 1942
Notes by Don Wilcox as he remembers:
Allen James Wilcox was born in Ogdensburg, and was orphaned at age 13. He and his twin sister Hattie were raise by their maternal grandmother. Hattie died at the age of 20 years.
Sometime before 1920, dad moved to Brasher Falls, St. Law. Co., NY and resided with the Purley Church family. They were in partnership and listed as PUMP MANUFACTURERS in the 1920 census. He subsequently bought out Mr. Church and continued the manufacture of the BRASHER PUMP on the island between the two sections of the covered bridge on US 11 over the St. Regis River. He married Miss Mable Converse May 3rd, 1920 and shortly after moved the business to their home halfway up the hill on, I believe, Church St. That is where they raised their family and where he manufactured the wooden pumps.
He bought lumber (knotless pine) 5-6 inch by 5-6 inch square, from 5 to 10 feet long and bored a 3" hole lengthwise in them with a 10' capacity boring machine. Then he would turn them to size in a large, long wood lathe. Before being able to use them, he banded around them along the length in several places so they wouldn't split. They were also mortised and tenoned to make the connection between sections. The 'cylinder', in which the 'bucket' moved up and down to raise the water from the well, was of two sizes, a 3 1/2' and 4" bore, each being about 3 feet in length. (The larger the bore, the more water was raised with each stroke.) The outside of these cylinders was tapered from biggest in the middle and smaller toward the ends. He placed five steel bands on each cylinder. The buckets were wooden and turned on a lathe and finished by hand with a wood chisel, and a leather collar placed at the top for a seal against the cylinder and a lead-weighted leather valve installed. The 'rod' was a length of 1" square wood and fastened to the pump handle on one end and the bucket on the other. About the only other material not wood was the handle, which he had cast at Kennehan's foundry. Once you got the water coming, you could fill a large pail with two strokes of the handle.
He ran several machines in three different rooms with a 'one-lunger' gasoline engine through a system of belts and pulleys. Some of the equipment was of his own design. He would make a pattern for a part and have it cast at Kennehan's foundry. Among his customized machines was a reciprocating cut-off saw for cutting steel pipe, a drill press, and a pipe threader made from an old automobile transmission.
In the middle 1930's, while he was 'dressing' (applying a rosin and wax stick) a leather belt, the stick caught in the metal laces where the ends of the belt were joined, (One has to do this when the belt is moving) and his right arm was wrapped between the pulley and belt. One bone was broken in eleven places and the other didn't fare much better. Before this happened, he could listen (radio in those days) to a tune he had never heard before and go to his piano and within a short time play it, using both hands. Believe it or not, after his arm was in a cast (the doctor wired the bones together) for about 6-7 months, and he worked hard to get his arm to work again, he could still play the piano, although he never was able to fully straighten his arm. Truly remarkable, especially in the times.
A twin sister Hattie died about 20 years ago.
On May 3rd, 1920, Mr. Wilcox married Miss Mable Converse, of Winthrop.
He was a successful owner and operator of a pump manufacturing and repair shop and electrical store in this village and a valuable member of the local school board for 17 years. He was a world War veteran, past commander of the American Legion, member of the local Masonic Blue Lodge and active in civic affairs.
Surviving was his wife; two sons, Howard and Donald, and a daughter, Mrs. William Regar
Friday, 2/13/1942 Ogdensburg, NY, Herald Recorder
Ogdensburg Journal - February 6, 1942
Notes by Don Wilcox as he remembers:
Allen James Wilcox was born in Ogdensburg, and was orphaned at age 13. He and his twin sister Hattie were raise by their maternal grandmother. Hattie died at the age of 20 years.
Sometime before 1920, dad moved to Brasher Falls, St. Law. Co., NY and resided with the Purley Church family. They were in partnership and listed as PUMP MANUFACTURERS in the 1920 census. He subsequently bought out Mr. Church and continued the manufacture of the BRASHER PUMP on the island between the two sections of the covered bridge on US 11 over the St. Regis River. He married Miss Mable Converse May 3rd, 1920 and shortly after moved the business to their home halfway up the hill on, I believe, Church St. That is where they raised their family and where he manufactured the wooden pumps.
He bought lumber (knotless pine) 5-6 inch by 5-6 inch square, from 5 to 10 feet long and bored a 3" hole lengthwise in them with a 10' capacity boring machine. Then he would turn them to size in a large, long wood lathe. Before being able to use them, he banded around them along the length in several places so they wouldn't split. They were also mortised and tenoned to make the connection between sections. The 'cylinder', in which the 'bucket' moved up and down to raise the water from the well, was of two sizes, a 3 1/2' and 4" bore, each being about 3 feet in length. (The larger the bore, the more water was raised with each stroke.) The outside of these cylinders was tapered from biggest in the middle and smaller toward the ends. He placed five steel bands on each cylinder. The buckets were wooden and turned on a lathe and finished by hand with a wood chisel, and a leather collar placed at the top for a seal against the cylinder and a lead-weighted leather valve installed. The 'rod' was a length of 1" square wood and fastened to the pump handle on one end and the bucket on the other. About the only other material not wood was the handle, which he had cast at Kennehan's foundry. Once you got the water coming, you could fill a large pail with two strokes of the handle.
He ran several machines in three different rooms with a 'one-lunger' gasoline engine through a system of belts and pulleys. Some of the equipment was of his own design. He would make a pattern for a part and have it cast at Kennehan's foundry. Among his customized machines was a reciprocating cut-off saw for cutting steel pipe, a drill press, and a pipe threader made from an old automobile transmission.
In the middle 1930's, while he was 'dressing' (applying a rosin and wax stick) a leather belt, the stick caught in the metal laces where the ends of the belt were joined, (One has to do this when the belt is moving) and his right arm was wrapped between the pulley and belt. One bone was broken in eleven places and the other didn't fare much better. Before this happened, he could listen (radio in those days) to a tune he had never heard before and go to his piano and within a short time play it, using both hands. Believe it or not, after his arm was in a cast (the doctor wired the bones together) for about 6-7 months, and he worked hard to get his arm to work again, he could still play the piano, although he never was able to fully straighten his arm. Truly remarkable, especially in the times.
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