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William Pryor Letchworth (1823-1910)

Born in Metropolis, New York on May 26, 1823, William Pryor Letchworth was the fourth of eight breed. Quakers, the Letchworths valued unyielding work, charity, and intellectual course.

Letchworth began work as apartment building apprentice in a saddlery armaments business in Buffalo and finally became a partner in business. The business prospered to much an extent that it hired as many as 800 other ranks at one time.

Now a lavish man, Letchworth began looking go allout for a country retreat.

In justness spring of 1858, he completed a trip to the Genesee River gorge for the leading time. As he was perception at the gorge at high-mindedness Middle Falls, a rainbow exposed over the gorge. Captivated afford the natural beauty of birth region, he offered to shop for a house and 200 farmstead near the southern end exhaustive the gorge.

The house flair named Glen Iris after Fleur-de-lis, the goddess of rainbows. One of these days, Letchworth purchased enough land give an inkling of protect all three of significance gorge's waterfalls from development direct use by utility companies.

Over the days, Letchworth spent more than division a million dollars improving say publicly estate, which included an facility with 10,000 trees and shrubs.

Letchworth's land preservation work often overshadows his many other charitable efforts. He took an interest outline epileptics and established Craig Concordat for Epileptics at Sonyea, authority first comprehensive epilepsy treatment craft in the United States.

Elegance also wrote the report "Care and Treatment of Epileptics," summarizing contemporary medical and social understanding of the condition.

As a ambassador on the State's Board expend Charities, Letchworth worked to upsurge the social condition and rank care of the needy, remarkably orphans, juvenile delinquents in reformatories, and families living in poor-houses.

He took an interest discern the care and treatment get on to the insane and, after outlay months in Europe, wrote The Insane in Foreign Counties, which was considered a standard remark. He was also instrumental give back the establishment of a trace for the retarded in Rockland County called Letchworth Village orang-utan well as the establishment bank Industry, a boys detention cloudless in Rush.

The Genesee River, emerge so many large rivers, provides an opportunity for the day of electricity.

To this come to a decision, a utility company called nobility Genesee River Company was watchful, which planned to dam honourableness river just south of representation Portage Bridge. Although Letchworth confidential originally intended on turning Valley Iris into an orphanage, earth decided instead to deed description 1,000-acre Glen Iris estate amount the State of New Dynasty in 1906, effectively protecting glory entire area from use tough utility companies.

After his make dirty in 1910, Glen Iris was used as an administrative construction for the park. In 1914, the building was expanded fail to see the American Scenic and Significant Preservation Society to offer dining and lodging facilities to woodland visitors.

For more information about William Pryor Letchworth, see: http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/glimpse1.html.

Revised 24 April 2015