H. P. Sinclaire & Company

H. P. Sinclaire, for many years a manufacturer of cut and engraved glass in Corning and recently a manufacturer of art glass in Bath and pressed specialty lines in Dunkirk, was found dead in bed this morning.

Mr. Sinclaire left his Corning offices shortly before noon yesterday complaining of illness. He had been living at the home of his step-mother, Mrs. Anna W. Sinclaire, corner of Pine and West Third street. Mrs. Sinclaire sailed June 4 for a European tour. It is thought that he went directly to the house which was otherwise vacant and thence to his room. He did not appear yesterday at the usual places he visited for lunch.

Evidently in pain, Mr. Sinclaire immediately upon his arrival removed his coat, vest and shoes, lying down upon the bed and covering himself with a blanket. Death probably occurred almost immediately, from acute dilatation of the heart, in the opinion of physicians.

Yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock Mrs. Mary Krener of 133 Walnut street, caretaken for Mrs. Sinclaire, who made two visits daily to the house, observed Mr. Sinclaire apparently resting in bed as she passed through the hall past the partially open door of his room.

This morning, Mrs. Krener again noticed Mr. Sinclaire and lying in apparently the same position. She paused and studying the still form for a moment decided that he was either ill or dead. She entered the room and it was at once established that Mr. Sinclaire had been dead for several hours.

Mr. Sinclaire's son, Murray, who manages the plant at Dunkirk arrived at 6:40 o'clock this morning stopping off at Corning and going to the house to visit his father on his wasy to Dunkirk after a trip to New York. He, too, had noticed his father lying in bed from the hall but thought that he was sleeping. He was present in the house when Mrs. Krener made the discovery that he was dead.

Dr. E. H. Hutton, long the family physician of the Sinclaires and Dr. J. C. Pinkston where immediately summoned and Francis C. Williams, intimate friend and legal counsel for Mr. Sinclaire was informed of his death.

They hurried to the Sinclaire home where a thorough investigation was made of all the apparent circumstances surrounding Mr. Sinclaire's death. In the absence from the city of the coroner and health officer, Dr. Hutton, who is a member of the board of health and also acting Health Officer, made his investigation official.

All of the evidence tended to show that Mr. Sinclaire hurried home in a taxi, and upon arriving there was already in such heart pain that his only thought was to lie down comfortably, and that his final and fatal seizure occurred almost immediately after he had succeeded in removing his outer clothing and sought the comfort of his bed.

The regularity and moderation of Mr. Sinclaire's habits and the constant exercise which he gave his body were such that none of his family or friends believed that his health was other than the best, but it is known that he recently told a Corning physician that he would soon come to him for a complete physical examination.

When a young man Mr. Sinclaire was an enthusiastic bicyclist, traveling many miles on his wheels in the days when the bicycle was a popular form of sport. Earlier in the days of the high wheel bicycle he occasionally entered bicycle races, competing in Corning, Rochester and elsewhere and it has been suggested that the strenuosity of this exercise may have weakened his heart. Later, when power locomotion succeeded the bicycle Mrs. Sinclaire purchased a motorcycle which he drove over the roads for long tours. He never owned an automobile in Corning, but he did purchase one for use in New York.

Mr. Sinclaire had been living for about six months at the home of his stepmother, Mrs. Anna Sinclaire, following the sale of his residence at 14 East Fifth street to James L. Peden, assistant sales manager of the Corning Glass Works.

Henry Purdon Sinclaire was born in New York City, Aug. 14, 1864, the eldest son of Henry Purdon Sinclaire, Sr., then a resident of New York and later one of the founders of the Corning Glass Works, a business association which induced the senior Sinclaire and his wife, a Miss Oaks of New York, an aunt of the late Amory Houghton, Jr. to move to Corning. The late Mrs. H. P. Sinclaire, Sr., and the mother of the late Amory Houghton, Jr., were sisters.

Mr. Sinclaire was graduated from the Corning Free Academy and then attended the Rochester Business College. As a young man he became a salesman for T. G. Hawkes & Co., and in time acquired an interest in that firm. Several years ago he, with Marvin Olcott as a partner established the corporation of H. P. Sinclaire & Co., and erected a factory opposite the present Denison Park for the engraving and cutting of a highly artistic quality of glassware. Always a lover of beauty, Mr. Sinclaire planted the finest of shrubs, trees and flowers about the spacious factory grounds, thus doing much to beautify the eastern end of the city and providing an attractive entrance to the city. Mr. Olcott retired from the corporation about five years ago. Mr. Sinclaire established a branch in Bath a few years ago for the manufacture of colored and other art glasses, but closed the Bath plant two years ago and establihsed a plant in Dunkirk for the manufacture of various glasswares.

Mr. Sinclaire's first wife was a Miss Murray of New York, and to them were born four sons, Robert O. Sinclaire of Hartford, Conn., Douglass C. Sinclaire of Washington, N. J., Murray Sinclaire of Dunkirk, and John Sinclaire, of New York, all of whom survive; the three younger boys were all prominent in track, footfall and crew at Princeton. Mrs. Sinclaire died about 25 years ago, and two years ago he married Mrs. Mary Berresford of New York, who also survives. William Sinclaire, secretary of the Corning Glass Works, a brother, and Reginald Sinclaire of Colorado Springs, Colo., a half brother, also survive.

Early in life Mr. Sinclaire joined the Presbyterian Church.

He was one of a very amall group of men who started and financed the Corning Opera House.

The Corning Club became a second home for him, after his children had finished school and were established elsewhere in business, and he contributed liberally to that organization. He was also a member of Corning Country Club, and at one time of the Princeton Club of New York.

Many years ago Mr. Sinclaire jocularly offered to provide an annual prize to the boy or girl, graduating from the Corning Free Acadeny, who should have attended and not been tardy, every session of school for the six years prior to the day of graduation. As a devotee of the rigorous in life he had casually remarked that such an accomplishment was one that few young men or young women would ever attain; some friends accepted the suggestion seriously, because they knew of Mr. Sinclaire's admiration for exactness, order and regularity, and from that conversation followed the Sinclaire medal, earned by but two girls and one boy during all of the years that it had been available. One of the characteritics of Mr. Sinclaire is examplified in the conditions of this medal; it typified the seeming reserve and precision of the man; it was similar to his appearance, his carriage, his walk; it was the life he led himself. At those times when he opened his mind to his friends he revealed a broad imagination, a terseness of expression and a depth of reading that cuased him to stand out prominently among those who knew him.

The hour of the funeral will be decided after the arrival of the members of his family who are expected this evening.

Reprinted 1 May 2006