George A. Cleghorn

b. 3 February 1864, d. 16 March 1963
  • George A. Cleghorn was born on 3 February 1864 in Lewiston, Niagara County, New York.
  • Robert Hill Cleghorn and Margaret Gow appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1880 in Lewiston, New York. Other members of the household included George A. Cleghorn, Mary Jean Cleghorn, Margaret Cleghorn, John C. Cleghorn, Alexander G. Cleghorn, Robert Cleghorn and Maud Cleghorn.
  • He married Catharine A. Fralick, daughter of Emma (?), in 1888.
  • George A. Cleghorn and Catharine A. Fralick appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1900 in Lewiston, New York. Other members of the household included Emma (?)
  • He was a farm laborer, according to the 1900 census.
  • George A. Cleghorn and Catharine A. Fralick appeared in the US federal census of 15 April 1910 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York, at 724 Division Avenue. Also in the household was one male boarder.
  • He was employed as a foreman by a paper mill, according to the 1910 census.
  • Catharine A. Fralick and George A. Cleghorn appeared in the US federal census of 1 January 1920 in Niagara Falls, New York, at 724 Division Avenue.
  • He was employed as a bridge watchman, according to the 1920 census.
  • George A. Cleghorn became a widower at the 28 October 1926 death of his wife Catharine A. Fralick.
  • The following appeared in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal: The husband, George A. Cleghorn, of the Mountain road, town of Lewiston, was appointed administrator of the estate of Catharine A. Cleghorn, who died here on October 27, 1926. He is the sole heir to the estate, valued at $100 personal property.
  • The following appeared on 24 February 1928 in The Niagara Falls Gazette: The People from the Country (signed L. O. M.) . . . There, too, is Robert Cleghorn of the town of Lewiston. He was the father of Ida, now Mrs. James P. Hewett; Jean, who once taught in the Fifth street school and is now in California; Margaret, Maud, John, Alex, and George. Robert Cleghorn was a square, well-built man of considerable energy, his son John having been one of the tallest young men in this locality in those days. . . .
  • George A. Cleghorn appeared in the US federal census of 1 April 1930 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, at 972 South Vermond enumerated as an uncle in the household of Emanuel and Ruth Fainer.
  • The following appeared on 23 January 1939 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: A Peep Into the Past . . . One of those who early decided raido in the home was a pretty good thing was George A. Cleghorn, who lived at 724 Division avenue. According to a news story in the Gazette of January 23, 1924, Mr. Cleghorn chalked up some sort of record by getting 35 stations in live and one-half hours on his set.
         Among the cities which he reached by radio were Omaha, Louisville, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Havana, Cuba.
         It is highly probable that Mr. Cleghorn would show little interest in listening to so many stations in such a brief time today, because radio has almost moved out of the luxury class and the quality of the programs and the reception are the important considerations. In place of crystals, peanut tubes, dry cells, storage batteries and earphones have come metal tubes, twin speakers, the "Magic Eye," balanced tuning and greaater selectivity.
         Mr. Cleghorn is retired now and resides near Los Angeles, Calif., suring the winter, returning to Niagara falls in the summer to visit his sister, Mrs. Ida C. Hewitt, of 2226 Ontario avenue, and other relatives here.
  • George A. Cleghorn appeared in the US federal census of 1 April 1940 enumerated as a roomer in the houshold of widowed lawyer Clarence W. Leninger.
  • George A. Cleghorn died on 16 March 1963 at age 99 in Los Angeles County, California.
  • He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York.
  • The following appeared on 18 March 1963 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: George A. Cleghorn, 99, who had been a member of Niagara River Lodge No. 785, F&AM, for 73 years, died Saturday (March 16, 1963) in a Hollywood, Calif., hospital.
         Mr. Cleghorn, a master mason since 1889, was a descendant of a pioneer Niagara County family. Until last year, he spent his summers visiting with relatives in the Niagara Falls area and Cuby, N.Y; and his winters in Hollywood, where he maintained an apartment.
         Mr. Cleghorn's grandfather was a Presbyterian minister who came to Niagara County early in the 19th century. He was born in a farmhouse in Upper Mountain Road in the Town of Lewsiton on Feb. 3, 1864.
         He owned a farm in the escarpment area near the Tuscarora Reservation, which later sold to Stanley Glennie. It is now a residential section.
         Mr. Cleghorn moved to Niagara Falls early in the 20th century after his doctor advised him he did not have long to live because of a heart condition.
         He worked for Silberberg's men's store in the North End and also for the Michigan Central Railroad. He made his home then in Division Avenhue.
         His wife, Katherine, died in 1926.
         Shortly afterward, Mr. Cleghorn retired and started traveling. He covered most of the United States by automobile. Later, when he quit driving, he took to traveling by air.
         Mr. Cleghorn kept in close touch with scores of relatives in Western New York, Iowa and California.
         The body is being sent here for burial.
  • The following appeared in the Niagara Falls Gazette: (City Editor's Notebook, by Tom Hewett) Most of his relatives thought George Cleghorn would live well past 100 years. But he didn't make it. He died Saturday night in Hollywood, Calif. in his 100th year. He had marked his 99th birthday on February 3.
         He was expected to live beyond the century mark because he kept himself as physically fit as a much younger man even after he attained the age of 90.
          Uncle George could bend over and touch the floor with the palms of his hands without bending his knees.
          When he was 93, he thought nothing of clambering about the roof of a house, installing a television aerial.
          I remember one day when I was trying to put up an aerial on the chimney at my mother's house. I was hanging onto the chimney with one hand and trying unsuccessfully to secure the aerial in position with clamps. The prospect of falling 20 feet to the ground frightened me.
          After a few minutes, I gave up the job.
          "It's too steep for me," I said.
          Uncle George promptly announced he would do the job--and he did, in short order.
          He scaled the ladder, taking two steps at a time, and moved around the roof without holding onto anything.
          Of course, he had a reason for wanting the television set restored to use. He wanted to watch the New York Yankee game the next day. He was an ardent Yankee rooter until they gave Casey Stengel the gate.
          He maintained an interest in electronics and aviation almost to his death. He liked to tinker with radios, TV sets and clocks. It was a big thrill for him to ride in a jet airplane. He took his last ride when he was 97--a trip back to California after a vacation spent in Western New York.
          He didn't come east from California last summer. His doctor advised him to stay in Hollywood where he made his winter home for almost 29 years. He also lived in San Diego, Calif.
          He was born on a farm in Upper Mountain Road, Lewiston, near the Tuscarora Indian Reservation when the Civil War was being fought. The date was Feb. 3, 1864.
         At 38, he left the farm. His doctor advised him that he had better give up farming because his heart wasn't good and he would probably only live six months.
          "The doctor died about a year later," Uncle George recalled.
          He moved to Niagara Falls and settled in Division Avenue. He worked for the Michigan Central Railroad and also moonlighted--doing part-time work for Silberberg's Inc., once the city's best known men's clothing store. He was a great admirer of the late Louis Silberberg, who headed the business for many years and was a philanthropist and civic leader here.
          Uncle George, a frugal man who neither drank or smoked, managed to amass substantial savings, which he invested in a pulp mill in Niagara Falls, Ont. The venture failed, wiping out his next egg.
         So he started again and managed to build up a modest estate.
         He never was able to understand what inflation did to the dollar in the last 25 years. To him a dollar was quite a lot of money, and $50 a week was a whopping wage.
         His attitude toward money was typical of the farmers I have known. They respect it and save it because it takes so many hours of grinding toil on the farm to earn it.
         Uncle George was always a good conversationalist--never at a loss for words. He liked to talk about the Pan-American Exposition and the Niagara Falls the way it was when he was a young man. He could recall how it was almost an all-day trip by horse and wagon from Upper Mountain Road to the International Hotel in Falls Street where he delivered milk.
         He liked to tell the story of how he met Lawrence Crosby, older brother of Bing Crosby, in a western lumber camp where he worked one summer.
         He talked about his relatives in California, Iowa and Western New York. He knew hundreds of Hewitts, Cleghorns and Armstrongs.
         Whenever he visited a new city or town, he stopped to talk to people in streets. And whenever he saw a store or building with the name Cleghorn on it, he stopped to talk to the owner about his family history. The Cleghorns came to the United States from Scotland, early in the 19th century, according to Uncle George. Some of the family also settled in Hawaii and New Zealand.
         His grandfather, Robert Cleghorn, was a Presbyterian minister who settled in Niagara County.
         Even though he was careful with his money he was generous. During World War II he had 28 grand nieces and nephews who served in the armed forces. He presented each of them with a $1,000 war bond.
         Now he's gone, even though he seemed to be indestructible.
         And with him has gone a link with the past. I'm sorry I didn't talk to him more. He could recount the history of Niagara County in a way that it can't be told in history books.
  • A single grave marker identifies the graves of George A. Cleghorn and Catharine A. Fralick.
  • Last Edited: 11 Apr 2014

Family: Catharine A. Fralick b. July 1850, d. 28 October 1926