Dr. Major Albert Veeder1848 - 1915The Family Physician, Citizen Scientist & Psychic Photographer of Lyons NY Doctor Veeder's Photographic ExperimentsFrom: the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Thursday, February 1, 1906, page 3. THOUGHT WAVE PHOTOGRAPHED IN EXPERIMENT MADE AT LYONS Interesting Result Obtained by Dr. M.A Veeder and Special Dispatch to the Democrat and Chronicle Lyons, Jan. 31 - Dr. M. A. Veeder of this village has made an interesting scientific experiment. Doctor Veeder, assisted by four Lyons men, actually photographed a thought wave. The proof from the plate on which this brain emanation was photographed has been seen to-day by many people. The experiment was performed in this manner: Dr. Veeder, Rev. W. N. Webbe, William Holloway, A. R. Russell and Harold Webbe met in Mr. Russell's photographic studio for the purpose of trying several experiments along the line of psychical research. A four by five photo-graphic plate was prepared in the ordinary manner and placed in the holder. Then the five experimenters, standing around a table, placed the tips of the fingers of their right hands underneath the plate at the exact center, the fingers of the five left hands meeting on the top side of the plate. Previous to assuming this attitude they had agreed to fix their minds on a common object, a ball of surgeon's gauze thrown down on the floor. The position was held for a few seconds. When the plate was taken into the dark room and developed, although it had not been exposed during the experiment, there at the exact spot where the finger tips of the experimenters had centered as an object, clearly photographed, of the size, shape and general appearance of the ball of gauze on which the attention of the experimenters had been fixed. The photograph is considered proof of a theory Doctor Veeder had held for several years concerning the peculiar modes of action of the brain and nerve force, and along the line of which he has made demonstrations so remarkable that he has been asked to embody them in articles for leading scientific magazines. He says it was due to the influence of the sensitized nervous system, which was so roused and active in the experimenters that the impression was produced on the plate. He says the point is not that the ball of gauze was photographed, but that anything was reproduced. The successful result of the experiment may be looked upon as a stride in advancement of the X-ray process, the impression in this case being nothing more tangible than the emanation of brain force. From: The Annals of Psychical Science: a Monthly Journal Devoted to Critical and Experimental Research in the Phenomena of Spiritism, Volume 3, No. 5, London: The Offices of the Annals of Psychical Science, 1906, pages 354 - 355. Thought Photography. Photographs of thoughts and mental impressions will soon be as common as cabinet portraits, according to Dr. A. M. Veeder, a scientist of Lyons, near Rochester, N.Y., says the Chicago Tribune, quoted by the Progressive Thinker. He believes he has solved the problem of photographing brain waves. Dr. Veeder recently invited a number of friends to a photograph gallery to participate in an experiment intended to demonstrate the possibility of affecting a photographic plate by a purely mental process. It was found that all of those who assisted in the experiment were capable of exercising supersensitive powers that are ordinarily latent. This having been shown, a plate from a package which had not been opened before was put in the holder and laid on the table, the shutter being closed. Each person placed one hand about four inches above the plate, with the other hand under the plate and table, and were requested to fix their minds on a named object. After an exposure of about one minute the plate was taken into a dark room and developed. It was found that a spot had formed about the size of a silver dollar, which, when developed, was what the persons participating in the experiment had in mind. The precaution taken was such that there was no escape from the conclusion that the picture printed on the plate was an impression of the thought in the minds of these interested. It demonstrated, Dr. Veeder says, the fact that persons in a certain state of sensitiveness of the mind, which had been fully identified, are able to produce an impression on a rapid photographic plate without direct contact. The experiment, Dr. Veeder stated, cannot be successfully performed by sheer effort of the will without the peculiar sensitiveness of the mind, evidence of which was secured in the five persons participating in this experiment. Dr. Veeder believes that the fact that brain waves or something of that sort are capable of producing photographic impressions is not unreasonable and is of remarkable interest in many ways. Whether the mind can project itself outwardly on the principle of wireless telegraphy for considerable distances remains to be seen. He says his experiments would indicate that it is among the possibilities. To tell the truth, these results, which are put forth as a thrilling event of actuality by the American journal, will appear poor and out of date to European occultists who are familiar with the photographs of the same order obtained by the French officer, Commandant Darget and other experimenters. However, of the numbers of persons who have tried to repeat these experiences, not one has succeeded up to the present. From: The Pharmaceutical Era, Volume XXXV, No. 7, February 15, 1906, page 141. That brain waves, or what may be so termed, are capable of producing photographic effects is the problem that Dr. M. A. Veeder, of Lyons, N. Y., believes he has solved. Dr. Veeder invited several friends to a photographic studio recently. A plate from an unopened package was put in the holder and placed on a table, the shutter being closed. Each person present placed one hand about four inches above the plate, with the other hand under the plate and table. After an exposure in this position for about one minute the plate was taken into the dark room and developed, whereupon it was found that a spot had formed the size and shape of a silver dollar, which, as a matter of fact, was the form of the object which the persons participating in the experiment had in mind at the time. From: The Post-Standard, Syracuse NY, Monday Morning, April 2, 1906. SENSITIZED FILMS DARKENED BY SOME MYSTERIOUS FORCE Dr. M. A. Veeder of Lyons Thinks He Has Obtained Special to The Post-Standard Lyons, April 1- Dr. M. A. Veeder performed another experiment Friday night along the line of his new research, that of thought photography. The experiment, which was made at his home in the presence of a photographer and one other person, was peculiar as well as interesting. To exclude any possibility of light the experiment was tried at 9 o'clock at night in a room 6x12, where there were no lights in the house. The room was empty except for three chairs and some photographic material. A ruby light was not even used in the development. A piece of film from a roll marked "Good until September 1, 1906," was cut and developed, showing that it was perfect. Four more pieces were then cut off. One was laid aside and the other three were given to those present. The films were placed in printing frames and held by the experimenters close to different parts of their heads. They were directed to concentrate their thoughts on some certain subject. After about three minutes the films were developed and to the surprise of the visitors the three films came out as black as darkness, while the one film that was laid on the table came out light, as films under such circumstances will, and no impression can be made from it. The black films did not make the object thought clear, but demonstrated to the satisfaction of Dr. Veeder that thought radiation had its influence on the sensitized film. In an interview with The Post-Standard reporter Dr. Veeder said: The experiment seems to carry out my theory that some other form of radiation than light produced the effect, as we tried to remove every possibility of light or other influence than the brain of the parties in the room from the object films. Almost always there is change in the color of plates, but it is harder work to get the forms of objects to appear. We have, however, produced a good impression of the letter "B" and the shape of a triangle, by concentrating our thoughts on those objects. There have been obtained evidences of emanations of similar nature that do produce an effect upon brains of other persons who may be present along other lines than photography, and it will require more investigation to determine the real nature of the process involved. It has been demonstrated that a person standing behind another and out of sight has traced figures in the air, being intent in his movements, and although the person ahead cannot see him he will reproduce the movements to the letter. It is the supposition that radiation is the means of doing this as in photographic effects. These experiments may tend to solve the problem of personality in nature or the survival personality after death and they may be of the utmost importance, showing that there are latent powers in the human being not yet developed. From: The Psychic Riddle, by Isaac K. Funk, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1907, pages 177-178. Indicating a mechanical power in thought. A scientific friend, Dr. Veeder, living in Lyons, N. Y., a writer on scientific subjects of wide reputation, and a man of extended experience, has succeeded within the past few weeks in making what seems to be a photograph of thought or brain vibrations. Under his direction, several persons of tested psychic power, each put a hand above and below a sensitive photographic plate that had been purchased by himself and had not been removed from its original covering, and they all fix their thoughts upon a certain object for two minutes, and then the plate was developed by Dr. Veeder and the form of the object was found photographed on the plate. From: the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Tuesday, October 31, 1911, page 13. INVITED TO WRITE A BOOK Dr. Veeder, of Lyons, to Tell of Thought Photography. Lyons, Oct. 30- Dr. M. A. Veeder, of this village, has been asked by a large publishing house to write a book on the subject of "Thought Photography," a subject with which he is widely familiar and has made many experiments along this line, some of which have been successful. He has had a large number of letters from well known men such as Professor Darget, of Paris, and Professor Theodore Flournop, of Geneva University, Switzerland. The latter has just written a book on this subject, in French, and the same has been translated into English. Dr. Veeder has not as yet decided whether he will accept the offer made him or not. He believes that there are many interesting and valuable things to learn on this subject, and that a careful study will bring about the discovery of new senses. Some Census Information About Doctor VeederMajor A. Veeder is listed in the 1900 census of the Village of Lyons. At that time he was 51 years old, born November 1848 in Ohio, with father born in NY and mother born in Ohio. His occupation was physician and he freely owned his own home. His wife Mary E. Veeder, age 53, was born February 1847, was born in New York State, as were her parents. Mrs. Veeder had been married 29 years, and she'd had four children, all living and residing in the household in 1900. Daughter Sarah E. Veeder, age 27, was born June 1872 in New Jersey and was director of an art school. Daughter Martha A. Veeder, age 25, was born September 1874 in New York State. Her occupation is difficult to make out on the census page, but appears to read "pro physics." Son Albert Veeder was born January 1876 in New York State. His occupation is also difficult to make out, but appears to read "mangr." The youngest son Willard H. Veeder, age 21, was born February 1879 in New York State and was at medical college. Also in the household was Mr. Veeder's great-aunt by marriage, Sarah J. Veeder, a widow who'd never had children. She was born March 1827 in England, as were her parents. The eighth resident of the household was Viola Cooper, 15, born March 1885 in New York State, as were her parents. Viola is listed as a boarder, her occupation servant. In the 1905 New York State census of Lyons, 56-year-old physician Major A. Veeder resided on Broad Street with his wife Mary E., age 56, physician son Willard H. Veeder, age 26, and daughters Sarah E., age 30, and Martha A., age 28. Both daughters were teachers. In the 1910 census, physician Major A. Veeder, age 61, resided at 82 Broad Street in the Village of Lyons. He and his wife Mary E., age 62, had been married 38 years and she'd had 4 children, all living. Daughter Sarah E., age 37 and single, was a teacher at the high school. Also residing with them was Grace Hoar, age 15, occupation servant for a private family. For more information on Major A. Veeder's upbringing in Schenectady NY, and relationship to Sarah J. Veeder, refer to this posting on ancestry's Veeder surnames board. Mr. Veeder was listed in the 1850 and 1860 censuses of Schenectady NY. The publication Union University Centennial Catalog, 1795-1895, stated that he graduated with the class of 1870, had both a Masters and medical degree, resided in Lyons, and was a publicist. Biographical Information Provided by Doctor Veeder to the Compilers of the Lyons "Grips" Book.From: "Grip's" historical souvenir of Lyons, N.Y., by Edgar Luderne Welch. Lyons, N.Y.: Lyons Republican Print, 1904, page 76. Major A. Veeder, A. M., M.D., was born at Ashtabula, O., Nov. 2, 1848. Among the institutions in which he was educated was Union College, Schenectady. In the classical department he was graduated in 1866 and in the collegiate course in 1870. For several years he was principal of Ives Seminary at Antwerp, N.Y. Then he studied at Leipzig University, Germany, and in the University of Buffalo, where he was graduated in the medical department. In the same year, 1883, he began that long and successful practice which he has followed in this village, and in the earliest part of which he was associated with Dr. E. W. Bottume. For about eighteen years Dr. Veeder served as health officer of the village or town, occupying both positions at different times, and while so engaged became prominent through the country for the introduction to science of many new discoveries of value in public sanitation. He has distinguished himself as an authority in hygiene and meteorology. His study of the microscopical world has also given him a high standing in that field of research, and he is regarded as an expert in medico-legal cases. In all of these lines of professional work Dr. Veeder has written a great deal for the public press and professional journals and is the editor of many pamphlets treating of these several subjects that are regarded as standard works. During the Spanish-American war Dr. Veeder was the first to make known the fact that typhoid germs are carried about by flies, and are nourished in certain soils; and it was upon his authority that the medical department of this government acted in the successful work it accomplished in preventing the spread of typhoid fever in Cuba and in the South American campaigns of the United States army. Dr. Veeder was the first to prove to the satisfaction of medical authorities that typhoid lives in ice; and it was due to his writings that the leading institutions of New York adopted the open air treatment for consumptions. Dr. Veeder is a member of several distinguished scientific societies, including the American Society of Microscopists, of which he is vice-president; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the State Medical Association. The doctor is of Holland descent, his line of ancestry beginning in America with Simon Volkertse Veeder, who settled in New York in 1644. He is an active member of the Holland society of New York. Dr. Veeder in 1872 married Mary E., the daughter of Peleg Wood of Schenectady, N.Y. They have two sons and two daughters, Albert F. and Willard H. and Sarah E. and Martha A. Miss Sarah Veeder is a graduate of Cornell University. She has studied art in Greece and is now the professor of Physics in the Hugenot (sic) College of Cape Colony. Appreciation of Doctor Veeder's Diverse Intellectual Pursuits After His PassingFrom: Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science, Volume 5, Rochester NY: Rochester Academy of Science, 1919, pages 266-268. Memoirs of Deceased Fellows MAJOR ALBERT VEEDER, M. D. (Read before the Academy December 9, 1918.) During the years 1889 to 1899 Dr. M. A. Veeder was the Academy's mentor in matters of meteorology and solar physics. Living at Lyons and doing the work of a country physician and local health officer he took the time to attend our meetings and brought the results of his intensive studies in a subject foreign to his medical work. He was a remarkable man in his capacity for patient collection and tabulation of numerical data, his grasp of their significance, his prevision of the elusive relation between terrestrial phenomena and solar conditions, and his fearless persistency and confidence in urging his own conclusions. For in his study of electro-magnetic phenomena he was in advance of his day and his work was not appreciated. His appeals to the government bureaus were politely waived, and his writings neglected. How could a doctor in a country village discover any worth-while new truth in the difficult subject of solar influence? But Dr. Veeder's work is coming into recognition. The eminent geographer and meteorologist, Professor Ellsworth Huntington, has published an appreciation of Veeder's work and writings in the Geographical Review of April, 1917 (Vol. 3, pages 188-211; 303316). He says (page 188), "I can say with confidence, however, that in the study of meteorology I have come upon no writings which have stimulated me more than those of Dr. M. A. Veeder. His hypotheses may prove wrong, but that will not destroy the stimulating character of his broad and original ideas." When Dr. Veeder joined the reorganized Academy, in 1889, he had published, a 4-page article on the Aurora in the Siderial Messenger, and had privately printed an 8-page pamphlet. The writer of this memoir urged him to prepare fuller statements of his studies and theories for publication in the Proceedings of the Academy; with the result that six papers of his were printed in the first two volumes. These articles were on the Aurora, Storms, Zodiacal Light, and Solar Electrical Energy. No one in the Academy nor in Rochester was able to judge and correctly value these writings. They were technical, advanced physics, and objections were made to giving so much space to abstruse solar physics, and perhaps erroneous theories. But the money of the Academy was well spent in giving him a hearing and placing his work on record. That kind of mental activity deserves cultivation; and the correctness of the conclusions are of less importance. Mental geniuses are the hope of the race; and we may entertain angels unawares. Professor Huntington expresses this thought in the first paragraph of his article. "To-day the poets and reformers seem to make their voices heard in almost every village. The careful, unostentatious scientist is the man most apt to do his work unheralded and unrewarded. There is perhaps no greater economic waste than that which condemns a man of great originality to spend his time in the ordinary round of common duties rather than in carrying on the so-called impractical investigations which are the essential foundation of all the so-called practical advances." Dr. Veeder was born at Ashtabula, Ohio, November 2, 1848. He graduated at Union College in 1870. From 1875 he was Principal of Ives Seminary, at Antwerp, N. Y, In 1878-1879 he studied at Leipzig, Germany. He graduated in medicine at the University of Buffalo in 1883. To his death, November 16, 1915, he lived in Lyons. His devotion to thought beyond the common range and his interest in many things outside his medical practice were the cause of suspicion and criticism from people who could not understand and appreciate the unusual man. But he was a skillful physician and alert in medical science. On October 25, 1898, he read a paper before the Academy on "The spread of typhoid fever and kindred diseases by flies." His paper on that subjected printed in the Medical Record a month previous is believed to have been the first recognition of the fact. Dr. Veeder was interested in the geologic features of his district, and wrote fugitive papers on this and other subjects. That his views on subjects apart from his specialties were sometimes more original than correct, was to be expected of a man with such active mind and fearless expression. Professor Huntington's article discusses Dr. Veeder's work and his conclusions, and includes some writings that Veeder left in manuscript. A portrait is given. The following quotation is from the paper: "... In connection with Peary's polar expeditions he distributed over 5,000 blanks to observers in all the continents, in order to have simultaneous records from as wide a region as possible. It was always a pleasure to Dr. Veeder that people in many lands took such interest in recording and reporting auroras for him. These aurora studies led him to consider the relation between the activities of the sun and the earth. The result was that by 1895 he had framed an hypothesis which may possibly prove to be one of the most important contributions not only to meteorology but to astronomy." "This modest, unassuming, but highly gifted man should never have been obliged to get a living by practicing medicine. He ought to have been connected with some great scientific institution where he would have been free to carry on his researches untrammelled by anxiety about the support of his family. His mind was extraordinarily fertile in ideas, not only in respect to his own profession but along other scientific lines. He appears to have been the first to publish an article clearly setting forth the now well-accepted idea that typhoid germs are carried by flies, and it was upon his advice that the medical department of the United States Government adopted its successful policy of preventing the spread of typhoid fever in Cuba and in the southern camps of our soldiers during the Spanish War. He was also a pioneer in advocating the open-air treatment of tuberculosis, and was perhaps the first adequately to explain it. ..." H. L. Fairchild. From: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 47, April 1916, New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1916, page 197. Necrology - 1915 Veeder, Major Albert, A. M., M. D., of Lyons, New York, died about November 17, 1915. He was born at Ashtabula, Ohio, November 10, 1848, son of Gerrit and Martha (Williams) Veeder, and married September 5, 1871, Mary E. Wood, of Schenectady, New York. Major Veeder was given the degree of A. B. at Union College, New York, 1870, later A. M. and M. D. at the University of Buffalo, in 1883. He was Principal of Ives Seminary, at Antwerp, New York, 1875-8, practiced medicine in Lyons, New York, since 1883. Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of American Public Health Association, American Microscopical Society, International Conference of Charities and Corrections, permanent member of New York State Medical Society, and corresponding member of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society for Wayne County, New York. Major Veeder has published a great many papers on public water supply, garbage disposal, the relative importance of flies and water supply in spreading disease; made study of relation of pack ice in the great lakes of North America to the glacial period and made extended investigation of electro-magnetic phenomena of solar origin, especially with reference to the causation of the aurora, and the production of certain weather conditions. Local Obituaries for Dr. VeederDr. Veeder's obituary and photo appear at center front page of the Friday, November 19, 1915 issue of The Lyons Republican, although it's illegible in the online newspaper database. He passed away at his home at 9:30 o'clock Tuesday after an illness of several weeks. From: the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Wednesday, November 17, 1915. FIRST TO CLAIM Major A. Veeder, A. M., M. D., Dies in Home in Lyons at Age of 67 Years. Lyons, Nov. 16.- Major A. Veeder, A. M. M. D., died here at 10 o'clock tonight, aged 67 years. Dr. Veeder was born in Ashatabula, Ohio, November 2, 1848, and has been a resident of Lyons for over 30 years. During most of this time he practiced his profession. He was a graduate of the classical department of Union College, Schenectady, in 1866, and of the collegiate course of that college in 1870. After his graduation he became principal of the Ives Seminary in Antwerp, N.Y. He then studied in Liepzig University in Germany and in the University of Buffalo, graduating form the medical department in 1883. Dr. Veeder was an authority on hygiene and meteorology and was regarded as an expert in medico-legal cases. During the Spanish-American war he was first to make known the discovery of the fact that typhoid germs are carried by flies and it was on this authority that the medical department of the government entered on its successful work of preventing the spread of typhoid fever in Cuba and the South American campaigns of the United States army. He also proved that typhoid germs live in ice and it was mainly due to his writings that the open air treatment for consumptives was adopted by leading institutions. Dr. Veeder was a member of the American Society of Microscopists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the State and County Medical associations. He has been town or village health officer for many years and was health officer of this village at the time of his death. He was a member of Eureka Grange and served as its master for several terms. Dr. Veeder was of Holland decent (sic), his line of ancestors beginning in American with Simon Volkertse Veeder, who settled in New York in 1644. Dr. Veeder married Mary E. Wood, of Schenectady, in 1872. He leaves his wife, two daughters, Miss Sarah E. Veeder, and Miss Martha A. Veeder, of this village, and two sons, Albert F. and Dr. Willard H. Veeder, of Rochester. [NOTE: the identically-worded obit also appeared in the Syracuse Journal, Wednesday, November 17, 1915, page 14] From: The Phelps Citizen, Thursday, November 18, 1915 Dr. Major A. Veeder, aged 67 years, died at his home in Lyons Tuesday evening after an illness of several weeks. He was one of the best known physicians in Western New York. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. Some Articles About His Wife and ChildrenFrom: the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Saturday, April 3, 1920, page 15. Mrs. Mary E. Veeder Lyons, April 2- Mrs. Mary E. Veeder, aged 73 years, widow of Major A. Veeder, died this afternoon at her home in Broad street. Mrs. Veeder came to this village with her husband to reside in 1878. Dr. Veeder became prominent during his life time through the introduction to science of many new discoveries of value in public sanitation. She leaves two daughters, Miss Sarah E. Veeder and Miss Martha A. Veeder, both of Lyons, and two sons Dr. Albert F. Veeder and Dr. Willard M. Veeder, both connected with the Rochester State Hospital. Funeral services will be held from the family home Monday morning at 8:30 o'clock, new time. Rev. A. J. Thomas, of the First Presbyterian Church, officiates. Burial will be made in Schenectady, the former home of Mrs. Veeder. From: The Amsterdam Evening Recorder, Amsterdam NY, Tuesday, April 13, 1920, page 10. Mrs. Mary Wood Veeder Mary E. Wood, widow of Dr. M.A. Veeder of Lyons, died recently at her home, 80 Broad street, Lyons, from heart trouble with which she had suffered 15 years. Mrs. Veeder was born in Glenville February 15, 1847. In 1865 she moved to Schenectady and in 1871 married Major Albert Veeder, then a student at Union college. In 1878 they moved to Lyons, where he practiced medicine. During the Spanish-American war Dr. Veeder, it is said, was the first to make known the fact that typhoid germs are carried by bleads. It was on his advice that the medical department of the government acted in preventing the spread of typhoid fever in Cuba and southern camps. Mrs. Veeder was buried in the family plot in Vale cemetery, Schenectady. She is survived by two sons, Albert Foster Veeder and Dr. Willard Hall Veeder, both of the Rochester State hospital; two daughters, Sarah Eleanor Veeder and Martha Anna Veeder, who live at the homestead; two brothers, Lucius P. Wood and Marcus C. Wood, and a half-brother, Edwin M. Shutts of Schenectady. From: The Sun, New York City, Thursday, August 19, 1897. Miss Veeder Appointed Professor in Huguenot College. Lyons, N.Y., Aug. 18.- Miss Martha Veeder of this village has received the appointment of professor in mathematics in Huguenot College at Wellington, Cape Colony, South Africa, and will leave in October. Miss Veeder is a daughter of Dr. Major A. Veeder of this place, and a graduate of Cornell University. Huguenot College is the leading ladies' seminary of all English-speaking people in South Africa. From: The Evening Herald, Syracuse, Friday, October 8, 1897. Miss Martha A. Veeder of Lyons, a Cornell graduate of the class of '95, and a sister of Miss Sarah Veeder of Syracuse university, sails in December for Hugenot (sic) college, South Africa, to accept a position as head of the department of mathematics and physics. Hugenot college is called the Mt. Holyoke of South Africa, and accommodates 400 girls. From: The Wayne County Review, Thursday, June 21, 1906. Miss Martha Veeder, who has spent the year teaching at Oxford College, Ohio, is in town to spend the summer months with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Veeder. From: The Lyons Republican & Clyde Times, Thursday, January 18, 1951. MARTHA ANN VEEDER Martha Ann Veeder died January 9th at the age of 77. She was the daughter of Dr. M. A. Veeder, a physician in Lyons for many years. She graduated from the Lyons Union School in 1901, and Cornell University in 1905. She was a teacher of mathematics, physics, and chemistry and taught in Newark, and was five years a teache rin Huguenot College at Wellington, Cape Colony, South Africa. She studied at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, two yeares. One of her teachers was Einstein. She taught twenty-nine years in the Western College for women at Oxford, Ohio, and retired in 1938. She was a member of the American Chemical Society, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, The American Association for University Women, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a member of the Methodist Church. She is survived by her sister, Sarah E. Veeder, and brother, Dr. Willard H. Veeder, two nephews and a niece of Geneseo, and several distant cousins. From: the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Sunday, January 23, 1938. Beloved Art Teacher to Retire in June Miss Sarah E. Veeder Lyons- Miss Sarah E. Veeder, oldest teacher in point of service on the Lyons Union School faculty and probably one of the most popular ever to serve in the local school, will reach the retirement age this month under provisions of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System. She will continue her work until June. Miss Veeder, who was born here, is an alumna of the high school and of Syracuse University, where she majored in painting and won the Hiram Gee Fellowship, entitling her to study at the private studio of Edouard Cuyer, Paris. Cuyer at that time also was a professor at L'Ecole de Beaux Arts. Returning to America, Miss Veeder taught at Frances Skinner Academy, west of Chicago, and under supervision of the University of Chicago. For four years she was head of the art department at Ohio Wesleyan University. Again going to France, Miss Veeder studied there for six months. Upon her return she wished to remain in Lyons because of the ill health of her parents. She accepted the position of art teacher in the school in 1905 and will have completed 33 years when she ends her tenure this summer. Many of Miss Veeder's paintings have been exhibited at Rochester Art Club. Miss Veeder always has been one of the most ardent and enthusiastic followers of the sports careers of high school teams. Not only was she always on hand for combats at home but often could be seen on the Maroon and White sidelnes at out-of-town frays. The blackboard of her room daily holds the students' score, of coming games football, baseball and, currently, basketball. The walls of the room carry many framed photographs of championship court teams. Incidentally, Prof. Martha A. Veeder, a sister of Miss Sarah Veeder, retires in June as head of the chemistry department at Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio. Prof. Veeder is a Cornell University alumna, studied abroad under Prof. Albert Einstein, now at Princeton, and spent five years in South Africa. From: the Livingston County Leader, Geneseo NY, Thursday, November 6, 1952, front page. MISS SARAH VEEDER Miss Sarah E. Veeder, art teacher in Lyons Union School for 33 years prior to her retirment, died in Rochester, Thursday, Oct. 23. She was the daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. Major A. Veeder. Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon, October 25, in Schenectady, and burial was in that city. Miss Veeder was one of four talented Veeder children. Albert was a pharmacist; Willard H., a doctor specializing in psychiatry at Rochester State Hospital and Craig Colony, Sonyea, now retired and residing in Geneseo; and Martha was a professor of chemistry at Western College, Oxford, Ohio, also for several years with schools in South Afrida. She studied art in Paris and traveled in Italy and in the near east. Her only survivors are her brother Willard, a niece, two nephews, and cousins. From: The Lyons Republican, Thursday, October 30, 1952. Miss Sarah E. Veeder, who retired in 1938 after teaching as art instructor in Lyons Union School for 33 years, died Oct. 23 in Rochester. Interment was in the family plot in Schenectady. The only survivors are a brother, Dr. Willard H. Veeder of Geneseo; a niece and two nephews. Miss Veeder was extremely popular with the students. A native of Lyons, she graduated from Lyons Union School in 1891 and she completed an art course at Syra- (rest of photo caption is cut off). From: The Lyons Republican, Friday, June 3, 1927. Dr. and Mrs. Willard Veeder and Albert Veeder of Rochester were at the Veeder cottage on Crescent Beach over the week end. Dr. Willard H. Veeder was director of Craig Colony, Sonyea NY. Much information about him and his family turns up if you search at www.fultonhistory.com. From: The Wayne County Review, Thursday, June 21, 1906. Albert Veeder of New York, one of the successful Lyons young men, is spending two weeks with his parents in this village. Mr. Veeder has recently received a flattering appointment as prescription clerk in one of the most important hospitals of the city. Unable to come up with more info about Albert Veeder. Dr. Veeder's Experiment Cited by Psychic InvestigatorFrom: The Oswego Daily Palladium, February 24, 1906, page 2. DR. FUNK ON PSYCHICS Cites Ex-Governor Who Talked LENGTHY CONVERSATION KEPT UP Expert on Spiritualism Tells Congre- Dr. I. K. Funk, the investigator of psychic phenomena, who recently read a paper on "Spiritualism" to sixty members of the New York Congregationalist ministers' meeting said, "The time has come to dismiss from our minds once and for all the thought that 'there is nothing in it.'" The paper contained instances of what purported to be spirit communication, including one between a former governor of a state, whose name was withheld, and his wife and dead daughters, says The New York Herald. Dr. Funk cited these cases to show that there are psychic conditions and laws which science does not yet recognize. As a test of spirit photography he related the experience of a Dr. Veeder of Lyons, N.Y. Dr. Veeder, he said, had each of several persons of tested psychic power place one hand above the other hand below a sensitized photographic plate and had all concentrate their thoughts on a silver dollar. When the plate was developed Dr. Veeder found the form of a silver dollar on the plate. [There is more, but not relevant to Dr. Veeder.] The Four Participants in Dr. Veeder's ExperimentRev. W. N. Webbe and Harold Webbe Reverend William Nayler Webbe was an Episcopalian minister who served as rector of St. John's Church in Rochester and Grace Episcopal Church in Lyons. Prior to these charges he served parishes in Missouri, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. In the 1880 census, Rev. Webbe resided in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with his wife Caroline and several children. In 1900, Rev. Webbe, age 51, rented a home in Lyons. That same year his wife and 3 of their children, including son Harold W. Webbe, b. 1885, were renting an apartment in Manhattan. William Holloway In the 1910 census of Lyons, 53-year-old William Holloway resided at 104 Broad St. with his wife and four of their children. Mr. Holloway was born in England, emigrated in 1872, and was a merchant running his own clothing store in the village of Lyons. A. L. Russell The "A.R." in the article is an error. Mr. A. L. Russell was a local portrait photographer who took a number of the photos in Grip's historical souvenir of Lyons, N. Y., 1904, and also had a side studio in Clyde. Several years after participating in Dr. Veeder's experiment, Mr. Russell, of Lyons, was elected chairman of the Rochester Section of the Professional Photographers' Society of New York. In 1900, 36-year-old Mr. Russell was a boarder in the household of Christina Gauthner. In 1910, 47-year-old Mr. Russell rented his own home at 53 W. Union St., Lyons. By 1914 he'd relocated to Wayland, Steuben County, NY. He appears to be Albert Louis Russell, the son of prosperous farmer James Cochran Russell and Octavene Anna Chambers, of Millcreek, Erie County, PA. *** This information about Dr. Major A. Veeder and his family was gathered for no reasons other than curiosity about the local man behind the experiment articles, and to present it as a "human interest" story for our site visitors. For all inquiries about persons and topics mentioned, do NOT email the site coordinators, as we have NO further information other than what you read above. We refer you in advance to do your own research via internet search engines, historical societies, and libraries. Back to Wayne County Family Bios Page Created: 1/9/14 Copyright © 2014 Wayne County NYGenWeb This site is a County Site of the USGenWeb Project All Rights Reserved. |
