Rufus Adams Sibley (1841–1928) was an American businessman, best known as a founder of the Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

Biography

Sibley was born in

Spencer, Massachusetts Spencer is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,992 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Spencer, please see the article Spencer (CDP), Massach ...

on December 3, 1841. After completing his education at the public schools in Spencer he taught school for two years, beginning at the age of sixteen. Following this he began working in a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

as a salesman and bookkeeper. At age 22 he took a job as bookkeeper and cashier at a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

drygoods store. While working there he met Alexander Lindsay and

John Curr John Curr (c. 1756 – 27 January 1823) was the manager or viewer of the Duke of Norfolk's collieries in Sheffield, England from 1781 to 1801. During this time he made a number of innovations that contributed significantly to the development of t ...

who were to become his partners. The three formed a partnership called Sibley, Lindsay & Curr and opened a small store in Rochester called "The Boston Store" (no relation to the chain of the same name owned by

The Bon-Ton Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...

). This was later renamed "Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company." Rufus Sibley was president of the company from 1868 until his retirement in 1924. He died in Rochester on May 12, 1928, and is buried there in Mount Hope Cemetery. On October 10, 1870, Sibley married Martha A. Haven of

Charlton, Massachusetts Charlton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,315 at the 2020 census. History Charlton was first settled in 1735. It was established as a District separated from Oxford on January 10, 1755, and b ...

; the couple had two children who died in infancy, and one son, Edward R. Sibley. Martha died on November 18, 1883. On November 21, 1885, Sibley married Elizabeth Conkey of Rochester; the couple had two children: John R. Sibley and Elizabeth Sibley. Mrs. Elizabeth Sibley died on August 26, 1918. In addition to his business interests Rufus Sibley was involved in a number of social and charitable interests. He was an avid breeder of

Jersey Cattle The Jersey is a British list of cattle breeds, breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney (cattle), Alderney – now extinct – and th ...

, which he raised at his "Moose Hill Farm" in Spencer, Massachusetts. He was president of the

American Jersey Cattle Club American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. He was active in the Episcopal Church, and was deputy six times at the Church's General Convention. He was a member of the

Genesee Valley Club Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada *Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States *Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee Co ...

, the

Country Club of Rochester The Country Club of Rochester (CCR) is a championship golf course in the towns of Brighton and Pittsford, in suburban Rochester, New York. History On January 1, 1885, members of the Genesee Valley Club founded the golf club, on a farm four mil ...

, and the Rochester Art Club. He served on the Executive Committee and was Treasurer and President of the Board of Trustees of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

. He was an honorary trustee of Hahnemann Hospital in Rochester, which later became the

Genesee Hospital Genesee Hospital was a hospital in Rochester, New York, United States, that was open from September 19, 1889, to May 21, 2001. Closure In April 2001, Via Health, the company that owned the hospital, announced that the hospital would close within ...

, and of the Rochester School for the Deaf. He was chairman of the board of the Rochester City Hospital (later

Rochester General Hospital Rochester General Hospital, an affiliate hospital of Rochester Regional Health, is a 528-bed tertiary care hospital, located in Rochester, New York. Rochester General Hospital has been serving the residents of the Rochester Region and beyond sinc ...

). He was Vice-President of the Reynolds Library and served as President of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce.

References

External links

*
"Rufus Sibley" and "Sibley farms" in ''Spencer, a Sense of Heritage'', Tina Mase, ed.
1841 births 1928 deaths People from Rochester, New York People from Spencer, Massachusetts {{US-business-bio-stub