Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, People, Site

Location

Main & Whitney, Fairport, NY 14450, USA

Lat/Long

43.10821, -77.44195

Grant Recipient

Town of Perinton

Daniel B. DeLand (1823-1872) and his wife Minerva A. Parce DeLand (1829-1902) settled in Fairport in Monroe County, New York in the early 1850s. Working as a chemist and manufacturer, he established D.B. DeLand & Co. and the Fairport Chemical Works. By 1858, his home was located on North Main Street and his factory was on the north side of the Erie Canal in Fairport. Products manufactured at D.B. DeLand & Co. and the Fairport Chemical Works included cream of tartar, sal soda, and saleratus, the name then used for baking soda. By the late the 1850s, his products were being sold all over the country.

DeLand died in 1872. The December 28, 1872 edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, included a resolution that had been adopted at a meeting of the employees of the Fairport Chemical Works upon hearing of his death. It read in part:

“That in our relations with D.B. DeLand we recognized a man of great sincerity, sterling integrity, candor, and a high sense of honor; decided in his convictions, frank and fearless in expressing them; intensely earnest in business and prompt to meet engagements; expecting the same qualities in others; kind to the poor, giving liberally in a quiet way, leaving his benefactions unpublished to the world; humble and devoted as a Christian, his life was a consistent proof of the sincerity of his profession.”

After his death, his wife Minerva continued living in their Fairport home on North Main Street until her passing in 1902. Her obituary published in the December 18, 1902 edition of the Monroe County Mail noted her prominent and well respected position in the community of Fairport:

“By reason of her strong personality, her noble generosity, her tender sympathy, her cheery hopefulness, and her devotion to the divine master, Mrs. DeLand had influenced and blessed more lives than we can estimate.”

Her obituary concluded:

“Mrs. DeLand’s death removes the last resident member from the old DeLand homestead, which for many years has been one of the best known places in the village, having been occupied by the DeLand family for more than forty-five years.”