George Francis Roth

George Francis Roth (1856–1927) was a successful Rochester businessman, public figure, and philanthropist. He served, for a time, on the Board of City Assessors; and was, later, appointed Collector at the Rochester port of Charlotte. He served there two terms, including the years when the Charlotte to Cobourg train-car ferries began operation. He was married, with no children.

George F. Roth was born in Rochester, N.Y., in September 1856, to German-born parents Frederick and Frederica Roth.^[1] He had two older siblings, Amelia and Julia Roth,^[2] and attended public schools and high school in Rochester.^[3]

He married Christine Klaile in 1889.^[4] Her parents, like George's, were both born in Germany.^[5]

Roth was already working, as a grocery clerk, when he was just 13 years old and still in school.^[6] After high school, he entered the lumber business, first in Rochester, then for eight years in Denver.^[7]

By 1889, back in Rochester, he had bought into the Hilbert Truck Company.^[8] That company, which was later renamed the Rochester Carting Company, was hired in 1892 to install the large soldier's monument in Rochester's Washington Square.^[9] Roth became, by 1900, the firm's vice president and manager.^[10]

His company started to branch into renting storage facilities, which led in 1924 to a spin-off business: “Rochester Storage Warehouse”. They offered fireproof space in a new building, which could store belongings, furniture and valuables like carpets, pianos, automobiles, and so on.^[11] At the time of his passing, in 1927, Roth was President of both the Rochester Carting Company and the Rochester Storage Warehouse.^[12]

His other business interests included becoming, in 1905, a director of the Rochester Electric Railway Company, which owned a trolley line from Rochester to Charlotte, Rochester's port community.^[13]

Before that, in 1895, Roth was one of the investors and directors of a new firm, the Rochester Cash Register Company.^[14] They had obtained in 1895 a Patent for “Improvements in Cash Registers.”^[15] Nonetheless, the firm went into receivership in 1899, and its patents were sold to the National Cash Register Company.^[16] Legal notice to dissolve Roth's company was posted in 1900.^[17]

Like many executives of his level, Roth was active over the years in various committees of his city's Chamber of Commerce. One example was serving, in 1903, as a vice-president of its board of trustees.^[18]

George Francis Roth was well known in Rochester for his active involvement in social and philanthropic organizations. These included, among numerous others: The Rochester Club, the Rod and Gun Club, the Masonic Order, the Elks;^[19] the Rochester Yacht Club, and as Trustee of the Salem Evangelical Church.^[20]

Proud of his German roots, Roth was a leader in fundraising efforts for building a German hospital in an underserved part of the city.^[21] He was also a long-time supporter of the German Home for the Aged in Rochester.^[22]

Roth was, politically, a Republican, who played various roles. For example, in 1900, he was elected as his ward's representative to a convention tasked to select congressional-district delegates to the Republican national convention.^[23] In October that year, he attended a “triumphal welcome” to Rochester for Theodore Roosevelt, then the Governor; and Roth was listed among numerous “vice presidents” for the Republican Party.^[24] After Governor-elect Benjamin Odell was elected that fall, he appointed Roth as a personal aide with the rank of captain.^[25]

Benefitting from his efforts and Republican connections, Roth obtained over the years some patronage appointments. Around 1895, he was the party's choice for City Assessor.^[26] In 1903, he was appointed and confirmed by the senate as the Genesee Port Collector, and Custodian of the Government Buildings in Rochester.^[27] As Custodian, he invited proposal bids for repair work and safety improvements on, for example, the court house and post office.^[28]

Roth's first term as Port Collector overlapped the establishment, in 1905, and the beginning of operation, in 1907, of the train-car ferry between Rochester's port and Cobourg, Ontario.^[29] The ferry was a joint operation of the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway and Canada's Grand Trunk Railway. This impacted Roth's work at the port, due to a great increase in port business; and also, because the ice-breaking ferry ran year-round, so his office had to remain open in winter months.^[30]

George Roth died suddenly of heart disease in 1927 when visiting friends. He had retired from his patronage appointments but was still President of his carting and warehouse businesses.^[31]