Charles G. Elliott: A Man of War and Roses

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator

Distinguished Service Cross Citation for Charles G. Elliot, January 10, 1919

When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we visited several florists. The first two handed us books and told us to point at the arrangements we liked. The third, a small older gentleman, picked up a pencil and pad of paper, sat down with us, and asked us about ourselves and what we wanted our wedding to be like. He didn’t show us any catalog photos or push particular types of flowers. He wanted to make arrangements that felt personal to us that would make our day special.

Somehow in the course of our conversation, we learned that the florist had served as a corpsman during the landing at Normandy on D-Day. I was struck by the juxtaposition of that horrific, bloody day and the delicate-looking, quiet man who crafted absolutely gorgeous flower arrangements for our wedding. I was reminded of this encounter when I recently “met” another soldier who, after his time in combat, spent his life among flowers – Charles G. Elliott.

Charles G. Elliott, Elmira Star-Gazette, December 24, 1917

Charles was born in 1892 in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Sometime before 1910, he moved to Elmira with his parents Ernest and Dora. His father got a job as a laborer at a greenhouse and young Charles worked there as an apprentice. By 1917, both father and son were florists working for the United States Cut Flower Company in Elmira Heights. The horticultural company came to the Heights in 1903 and built massive greenhouses on its 62-acre site. By 1907, it was one of the largest and most successful plant and flower growing operations in the country.

In July 1917, Charles enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to Company M, 56^th Infantry Regiment, 7^th Infantry Division. The 56^th was formed from the 17^th Infantry Regiment on May 15, 1917 and was organized at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia in June that year. Shortly after enlisting, Charles left his job as a rose grower and was sent to Fort Oglethorpe for basic training. He was deployed to France in 1918. The 56^thwas stationed at a defensive position along the Moselle River. While the regiment saw only minimal direct combat, the soldiers were in no way safe or detached from the violence of war.

Photograph of men at camp during WWI donated to CCHS by Charles Elliott’s estate

On November 5, 1918, near Preny, France, Charles Elliott was on patrol when he and another member of the company were wounded by heavy machine gun fire. He was hit in the thigh by a bullet but was able to retain command of the patrol, take care of the wounded man, and report to the company commander before he was evacuated. For his heroism that day, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross from the United States and the Croix de Guerre with a silver-gilt star from France.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the United States Army’s second highest military decoration after the Medal of Honor. It is awarded to soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat against an armed enemy force. Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded to just over 6,000 of the approximately 4.7 million Americans who served in the U.S. military during World War I.

Charles Elliott’s Distinguished Service Cross and citation

The Croix de Guerre was awarded by the French government to French and allied soldiers for acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy. Stars and palms pinned to the ribbon show the level of military command that officially cited the soldier for bravery. Charles’s silver-gilt star indicates he was mentioned in dispatches at a corps level. More than 11,000 Americans were awarded the Croix de Guerre during the war.

Charles Elliott’s Croix de Guerre and citation

Charles spent nearly six weeks in the hospital recovering from the wound he received on November 5. In June 1919, he returned home and went back to work at the United States Cut Flower Company. On January 5, 1921, he married Crete F. Kingsbury. It was a small ceremony at her mother’s home with their immediate relatives in attendance. Four years later, they had a son, George Kingsbury Elliott. Charles continued working at the United States Cut Flower Company for 30 years, becoming foreman in the greenhouse by 1940.

In 1930, The Elmira Floral Products Company was created as a joint venture between the United States Cut Flower Company and Hoffman Nurseries to market products of the two companies. In 1948, the United States Cut Flower Company changed its name to Elmira Floral Products, Inc. and the 44-year-old award-winning floral company was officially no more. Charles then went to work at Hoffman Nurseries and stayed there for seven years before finally retiring from the plant business. 

After many years of cultivating beauty in a turbulent world, Charles Elliott passed away on November 15, 1957.  He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Charles Elliott’s headstone in Woodlawn Cemetery, August 13, 2026

The Elmira Garden Club

By Susan Zehnder, Education Director

Every season planters in front of our museum are creatively arranged by members of the Elmira Garden Club. We always appreciate their work.

While our museum has been located on East Water Street for close to thirty-nine years, the Elmira Garden Club has been going strong and part of the community for ninety-two years. The idea of a club began as an inspiration of a local high school senior. James H. Draper, Jr. later said he always enjoyed flowers and gardening, and wanted to start a club similar to garden clubs popping up in other cities.

 

Garden Club founder James H. Draper, Jr. 1928

In early 1928, James placed an ad in the paper hoping to find other like-minded people. Fifteen people responded, and convinced he could find more, James placed a second ad. When another fifteen people showed up, the group had thirty members and the club began. The group met at Steele Memorial Library and elected James Draper as the club’s first president. He held this position for the next four years, during which time membership grew to more than sixty-five people. Soon after it began, the club affiliated with the Federal Garden Clubs of New York, broadening its scope.

Founded to promote, instruct, and assist area gardeners, its members also strived to conserve and protect forests and waterways for wildlife and recreation. At one early meeting, Chemung County 4-H leader Frank Essick spoke in favor of Elmira’s new club. He let them all know they could count on the endorsement and resources of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture.

Early club activities included an annual flower show, and garden workshops for novice and experienced gardeners.

 

Dahlia show display at Arnot Mall, September, 1969

Meetings often featured speakers, who presented a variety of garden-related topics. In 1935, the club was instrumental in introducing an important conservation organization to the area, the Audubon Society. Formed in 1905, they are a non-profit environmental - and one of the oldest - organizations to use science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission.

The Garden Club was also actively involved in keeping Elmira beautiful, and received national recognition for their outstanding civic beautification projects.

While club meetings continued to be held at Steele Memorial Library, an opportunity arose for them to obtain their own clubhouse, which included available space to garden. The building at Fulton and Pleasant Streets had once housed the hospital for Civil War families and was later used as an orphan asylum. It had been abandoned and vacant since the 1930s.

 

Elmira Garden Clubhouse

Agreeing to care for the building and grounds, the Elmira Garden Club took it over and nine years later were able to purchase the property. The year was 1943. The USA was involved in WWII, and not surprisingly the featured garden that year celebrated Victory Gardens.

In addition to annual flower shows, Elmira Garden Club activities have included planting window boxes at the Post Office, assisting City Planners with mini-park landscaping, plantings at Mark Twain’s and Hal Roach’s gravesites, and container gardens at the Arnot Art Museum. Members have been involved in beautifying gardens surrounding the SPCA in Big Flats, and gardens at Riverfront and Wisner Parks.

Over the years, club membership has fluctuated. Numbers have been as high as 150 and as few as 27. Today, according to Garden Club President Karen Coletta, there are eighty-three active members. The group meets at their clubhouse located at 426 Fulton Street, gathering at 6:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month, from April through December. All are welcome to join their hands-on workshops, and hear invited guest speakers. More information can be found on their website. 

Founder James Draper, Jr. was a member of the Elmira Garden Club until he died in 1967. By then he had served as director of the sixth district of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State which had jurisdiction over similar garden clubs in Broome, Chemung, Onondaga, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler, Tioga, Tompkins and Madison counties. He had also organized the Garden Club Workers of Western New York, and served as its president for two years. Well-known as a gardening expert, he wrote a gardening column for the Sunday Telegram as well as other New York newspapers and various home magazines. Reading the entry in his 1928 senior yearbook we can almost imagine a gardener, though he writes ‘undecided’ for his direction.

In addition to our outdoor planters, the Elmira Garden Club supplies the Chemung County Historical Society with holiday wreaths, and arranges flowers for our annual Great Car Thing fundraiser in early June. We are lucky to benefit from their hard work and grateful for what they continue to do. 

Enjoying the flowers at The Great Car Thing, June 2019

The LaFrance Carnation Company

by Erin Doane, Curator

When you hear the name LaFrance in Elmira, most people think of fire engines but the name was also associated with flowers. The LaFrance Carnation Company operated here from 1906 to 1915. The company was founded by T. Everett LaFrance and Frederick L. LaFrance, sons of Truckson LaFrance who was one of the cofounders of the famous fire engine company.

T. Everett was a machinist and engineer before getting into the watchmaking and jewelry business in the late 1880s. In 1895, he was a partner in LaFrance & Swarthout Jewelers at 100 W. Water Street in Elmira. His brother Frederick started out as a coppersmith before taking a job at a florist on Maple Avenue in 1897.

In the spring of 1906, the brothers formed the LaFrance Carnation Company and announced that they would be constructing a 30,000 square foot greenhouse on E. Miller Street. In early June, they broke ground for the greenhouse where they would grow carnations for the wholesale market. The entire product of the new venture was already promised to two firms in New York City and Philadelphia. The company was officially incorporated in 1907 with F.L. LaFrance, T.E. LaFrance, and Della A. Kent (their sister) listed as the owners.

Tragedy struck on July 28, 1907 when Frederick died unexpectedly of a heart attack. His father had died ten years earlier in the same manner. Frederick left behind his wife Sarah, and two children, 11-year-old Eleanor and 9-year-old Delia. 

T. Everett and his sister Della continued to operate the Carnation Company and expanded the business into retail sales. In 1909, they opened an office at the Longmate Jewelry store at 139 W. Water Street to sell cut flowers for all occasions. They also sold tomato plants out of the greenhouse on Miller Street. Business seemed to be going well at that time. Several help-wanted advertisements appeared in the local newspaper seeking workers. The company sought to hire two boys, 16 or 18 years old, to work at the greenhouse for 75 cents a day and two good strong men for $1.50 a day.

Elmira Star-Gazette, Feb. 11, 1909

When Walter Longmate decided to close his jewelry store and move out of the city in 1910, T. Everett made arrangements to lease a storefront at 100 E. Water Street. They were able to make the move and open LaFrance Florist in time for Easter, a major flower holiday. At that time, Della served as president of the LaFrance Carnation Company and T. Everett was secretary and treasurer. Two years later, the city directory listed T. Everett as vice president of the company and manager of LaFrance Florist. Della no longer appeared to be involved in the business.

Business seemed to have taken a turn for the worse in those years. In May 1913, and again in August of the same year, the LaFrance Carnation Company greenhouse on E. Miller Street was listed as part of a tax sale. The United State Cut Flower Co. purchased the greenhouse and continued its operation through 1919. T. Everett run LaFrance Florist until 1915 when Mrs. C.W. Mathews took over the business. The next year, LaFrance Florist was purchased by Katherine Jackson who ran the business for 26 years until 1942. T. Everett does not appear in any city directories after 1915.