Surnames: Failing, Groff, Snell, Zimmerman
Source: History of the Mohawk Valley - Gateway to the
West - 1614-1925
Covering The Six Counties of Schenectady, Schoharie,
Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer and Oneida.
Volume IV Illustrated; Page
693
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925
The late Arthur G. Vedder, long a prominent merchant Fort Plain, was born in the old family home on Prospect Street, March 6, 1865, and resided here all of his life. His father, Joshua Vedder, came to this village years ago and built the residence,which was the birthplace of Arthur G. Vedder and is the home of his widow. He engaged in the men's furnishing business here and operated the store with success for years, continuing his active business interests until his death in January, 1905. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Gertrude Groff, passed away in September, 1895.
Arthur G. Vedder was reared in Nelliston, New York, and educated in the schools of this place and the neighboring village of Fort Plain, following which he took a course in the Clinton Liberal Institute. When his school days were over, Mr. Vedder became associated with his father in the gentlemen's furnishing business as a partner, and following the latter's death succeeded him as the head of the concern. His career in the commercial world was cut short by death, which summoned him on April 15, 1921, when he was barely fifty-six years old.
Mr. Vedder was a Mason, belonging to Fort Plain Lodge, No. 433, A.F. and A.M.; and a member of the Fort Plain Club. His political affiliations were with the democratic party. His dealings as a business man were always characterized by his integrity and honesty, nor was he lacking in the sagacity and wise foresite that makes for commercial success. Prosperity came to him as the reward of well directed effort and a real desire to serve the people of Nelliston and Fort Plain with goods that would meet their needs. His memory will long be cherished by his contemporaries and associates as that of a keen man of affairs and likeable companion.
Mr. Vedder was married on March 8, 1905, to Mrs. Ada A. Failing, widow of John R. Failing. Mrs. Vedder is the daughter of Charles and Morena (Snell) Zimmerman, the latter a native of Crum Creek, Montgomery County, and the father was born in Snells Bush, near Little Falls. Mr. Zimmerman farmed for many years in Fulton County and later continued his agricultural pursuits in Montgomery County, where he lived until hid death on the 28th of September, 1900, at the age of seventy-three. Charles Zimmerman's maternal parent was Anna Snell, daughter of Peter Snell of Snells Bush, one of the Snells (nine) who survived the battle of Oriskany, seven being killed. He survived his wife by many years, her death having occurred March 25, 1887, in her fifth-sixth year. Both the Snell and the Zimmerman families are descended from good old Revolutionary stock, by virtue of which both Mrs. Vedder and her sister, Miss J. A. Zimmerman, are eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Vedder was born in Crum Creek, her mother's birthplace, and has lived in Montgomery County all of her life.
(Note: Crum Creek is in the town of Oppenheim, in Fulton County. Fulton County was not formed until 1838, so Crum Creek was either in Montgomery or Fulton County depending on the time of the event, and the father was born in Minden, Montgomery County, not in Snells Bush. His father moved back and forth across the river a couple of time, living at or near his father's place for a while, so some of his siblings were born in Snells Bush. DKM's list of property sales, etc., brought him to the conviction that Charles was born in Minden)
