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The Chew Family

By Becky Chapin, Archivist

Our story of how 543 South Main Street became the Geneva History Museum starts with Alexander Lafayette Chew who came to Geneva in 1841. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Beverly and Maria Chew, he was sent to live with New York relations and attended school at Geneva College (now Hobart College).

While he was forced to return home without finishing his degree, Alexander returned around 1843 and married Sarah Augusta Prouty in 1849, the second daughter of Phineas Prouty Sr. They briefly lived in 543 South Main before moving down the road. Alexander joined his father-in-law in the hardware business along with his brother-in-law, Phineas Prouty Jr.

Alexander L. and Sarah had eight children: Beverly, Harriet Hillhouse, Phineas Prouty, Thomas Hillhouse, Alexander Duer, Kate Adelaide, Theodore Augusta (died as a child), and Lillian Beverly. Eventually Alexander Sr. got into the banking business in which his son Thomas followed.

Phineas Prouty Chew married Marguerite Pistor in 1879, the daughter of Philip and Mary Pistor who lived next door to Alexander L. and Sarah. With their children Theodora, Katherine, Philip F, and Beverly II, Phineas and Marguerite lived mainly in New Jersey and Vermont while their children were young.

Born in Nyack, New York in 1885, Beverly II visited his grandparents in Geneva many times as a boy and returned permanently in 1912, working for the Standard Optical Company (later Shur-On Optical).

In 1913, Beverly married Madeleine Scranton in Vermont. Beverly would become president of the Standard Optical Company and be involved in a variety of civic organizations in Geneva. Beverly purchased 543 South Main Street in 1921 from Waldo Hutchins, who lived across the street in 544 South Main. Madeline died at age 36 from pneumonia in 1927.

Beverly’s second wife was the sister of his first wife, Margaret Scranton Henry. Margaret married Lewis Henry in 1910 and they had a daughter together, Madeline.

On June 27, 1931, the Brooklyn Standard Union published an article called “Divorced Ones in Reno Take Post Graduate Course in Matrimony.” In this article, Margaret S Henry is listed as divorcing Lewis C Henry and marrying Beverly Chew of Geneva. The Nevada legislature had passed new divorce laws in 1931, in an attempt to make money during the Great Depression, lowering the divorce residence period to six weeks and broadening the grounds for divorce. This could explain why they went to Reno for the divorce.

Margaret and her daughter Madeline would move to Geneva to live with Beverly at 543 South Main. A well-known equestrian competitor, Margaret would continue to compete, and the family frequently traveled out of town. While on vacation in Cape Cod in 1941, Margaret and Madeline would contract a streptococcus infection. Margaret was later rushed to a Boston hospital where she died from pneumonia five weeks later.

Edith Johnson was born in 1903 in Seneca Falls to Lewis and Elizabeth Johnson. She could regularly be seen on stage singing or performing in theater groups in Seneca Falls and around the area as a young woman but continued singing regularly as she got older. She started out as a secretary for the Goulds Manufacturing Company before briefly becoming a stenographer for the government in Washington, DC in 1925.

From newspaper articles, it seems that Edith and her mother maintained a home in Geneva and in Seneca Falls from about 1926 until 1932 when they sold their Seneca Falls home. Elizabeth died in 1933 shortly after they moved to 2 Park Place. Edith started as a secretary at the Standard Optical/Shur-On Optical Company around 1926.

Beverly was a charter member of the Geneva Rotary Club, life member of the Elks Club, a member of the Geneva Police Commission, and served on various boards including for the Geneva General Hospital, Community Chest, Red Cross, Hobart College, and the Geneva Trust Company.

Edith was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, in the Young Republican Club, and a founding member of the Geneva Choral Club. She participated in several other music groups, including the Four Shades, a local women’s barbershop quartet which was part of the Geneva chapter SPEBSQSA. She was a long-time member of the Geneva Business & Professional Women’s Club, serving as its president and regularly participating in their drama department plays.

Beverly and Edith were married in 1953 and continued to live in 543 South Main until 1960 when they gifted the house to the Geneva Historical Society. The Chews moved to Washington Street, but both remained involved in the Historical Society. Edith remained on as a hostess in the museum and Beverly left many artifacts to furnish the house.

Beverly Chew II passed away in June 1972 and Edith moved to Waterloo where she passed away in May 1988.

For more on the Chew Family beyond Geneva, visit the Cliveden website and check out this Historia Obscura article. Also available is the Chew family genealogy in our research library.