John P. Rapalje

John P. Rapalje and Leander M. Shaw were the principal founders of Rap-Shaw Club. Details of how the club came into existence can be found in my book, The History of the Rap-Shaw Club (2019), and more briefly on this blog in a post from 5/16/21. In order to form a better idea of the personalities of the men who founded the club, I’ve written brief biographical sketches of them. My biography of Leander M. Shaw will be posted in the near future.

John Proctor Rapalje was born April 27, 1848, in the town of Farmington, Ontario Co., NY. His father, William S. Rapalje was a farmer. His mother was Helen Elizabeth Spencer. When John was in his early teens the family moved to Durham, Town of Port Hope, Ontario, Canada where his father worked selling seed to farmers. His father’s older brother owned a successful seed store in Rochester at the same time, of which the Ontario store may have been a branch. In the mid-1860’s the family returned to the family farm in western New York where his father died on June 6, 1869. According to the 1870 census, John, age 22, was working as a farmer in Carlton, Orleans Co. NY and living in a household that included his mother Helen, his grandfather and his younger siblings, Lizzie and William.

 

By the time of the 1875 Census, John had given up farming and moved to an apartment in Syracuse, NY where he tried his hand at selling real estate. His mother and his two younger siblings moved with him. John, however, still had a love interest named Mary Elizabeth Morris living back in Carlton. Perhaps because they were waiting until John’s business endeavors were successful, they did not marry but they had a daughter, Mayme E. Rapalje, born Nov. 24, 1877. Mayme was raised by her grandparents, Robert and Eliza Morris of Trumansburg, NY, but John acknowledged he was her father and continued to financially support her until she reached adulthood. Mayme lived in the Finger Lakes region her whole life. She never married. She died March 16, 1971, in Geneva, NY at the age of 94. 

 

By 1880 John, now 31, had found a permanent job working as a business agent for the American Fire Hose Manufacturing Company. By this time, he appears to have decided that selling fire-fighting equipment was going to be his life work. He traveled widely throughout central and western New York and into the North Country visiting fire departments and municipal officials in his efforts to sell as much fire hose as possible. 

 

His success in the fire hose business provided adequate financial stability for him to marry Jennie Louise Farnham of Oswego, NY on July 25, 1883. They had two daughters together, Bessie Farnham Rapalje, born April 25, 1885, died March 22, 1970, and Helen Louise Rapalje, born March 19, 1886, died July 7, 1964. His wife Jennie became seriously ill shortly after Helen was born and died Oct. 13, 1886, at age 26. John continued to live and work in Syracuse for the next six years where his mother took charge of raising his daughters. 

 

Because of his wide acquaintance with fire departments throughout upper New York, Rapalje became deeply involved in their fraternal activities. In August of 1885 he was one of the organizers instrumental in bringing the State Firemen’s Convention to Syracuse. The celebration attracted hundreds to the city. The New York Times reported it was possibly the largest gathering of firefighters and spectators held to date. In addition to the annual business meeting there were firefighting demonstrations, a hose race, and a drill competition. The convention ended with an impressive parade featuring twenty-seven bands and three drum corps. Rapalje remained active in state firemen’s organizations for the rest of his life.

In 1892 he married Caroline J. "Carrie" Goettel of Syracuse, NY and the couple, his mother and the two children moved to Buffalo, NY where he formed a fire prevention business with a partner named Bert H. Wattles.  Rapalje & Wattles, located at 10 Court St. in downtown Buffalo, sold automatic sprinkler systems as well as boiler and steam pipe coverings. The business did well. John and Carrie Rapalje lived for the rest of their lives in a modest house on Prospect Avenue in the City of Buffalo.

 

John undoubtedly developed his love for fishing and hunting as a boy growing up on a farm. As with most successful salesmen, he must have been an outgoing, friendly man. As he traveled around the state on sales calls, he met others who had the same love of the outdoors. It would have been natural for these men to share hunting and fishing stories. Eventually they would have planned joint trips to the Adirondacks, at that time a favored destination for sportsmen throughout New York. We know from a short notice in The Buffalo Commercial, May 21, 1892, that earlier in that month Rapalje went on an Adirondack fishing trip with Leander Shaw and others. Other founders of the Rap-Shaw Club, such as Robert Walker, a master plumber from Elmira, had significant involvement in firefighters’ organizations which probably would have led to professional contact with Rapalje.

 

And so, in the spring of 1896 Rapalje organized a fishing trip to the Beaver River country with a few of his friends from Buffalo, Elmira and Fairport. By the fall of 1897 the group had reached a long-term agreement with Jimmy Wilder who built them a cabin on the secluded shore of Beaver Dam Pond. When the club formally incorporated in 1901 Rapalje was elected president, a role he held until his death.

In April 1907 Helen Rapalje, John’s mother, died. Later that same year, his daughter Helen Louise, married Robert L. Streeter. His daughter Carrie continued to live at home and the family started to take in boarders who rented their spare room.

 

John P. Rapalje died on May 10, 1916 in Buffalo, NY, aged 68. He was buried in the Town of Oswego Rural Cemetery in the family plot of his first wife, Jennie Farnham. His second wife, Caroline J. "Carrie" Goettel Rapalje, died Dec. 2, 1933.