Ilion Alumni PharmacistHarold Jarvis - IHS 1909November 2020By Aileen Carney Sweeney
Harold Jarvis - IHS 1909 Class President
 Front Row, from the left - Elizabeth Dutcher (Sherwood), Arthur Roberts, Rachel Jenks, Wesley Ingersol, Mae Jarvis, Bernard Tracy, Laura Chandler (Mitchell), Elizabeth Mathews (Lenig) Second Row - Ray Shaul, Lulu Barnes (Williams), Floy Brown (Woodward), Eva Hempstead (Seymour), Selena Haughton, Harold Jarvis - Class President, Jessie Pratt, DeWitt Brown, Blanche Burdick (Ray), Estella Hall (Austen), Benjamin Wheelock Back Row - Blanche Ingalls, Fred King, Olive Williams (Billington), Earl Jones, Gertrude (Carney) Tracy, Leland Quinlavin, Ann Kelner (Sands), Raymond Allston, Grace Greenfield, Carl Byron
Harold Jarvis - IHS 1909 Alumnus - PharmacistHarold Jarvis was born on October 30, 1891 in Barre. Vt. He was the son of Alexander and Rachel Lee Jarvis. His siblings included brothers Charles IHS 1905, Leon IHS 1913, and sisters, Elizabeth (Bessie) (Jarvis) Cross IHS 1908 and Mae (Jarvis) Evans IHS 1909. The Jarvis family moved to Ilion about 1901 where father, Alexander Jarvis, began his business as an artistic granite and marble sculptor. Alexander Jarvis produced many of the finest monuments in Central New York cemeteries. The Soldiers' Monument, on Otsego Street in Ilion, stands as a testament to Alexander's skill and artistic taste. He designed and built the monument in 1906.
Harold Jarvis graduated, with his sister, Mae, from Ilion High School in 1909. He was the Class President. Right out of high school, he began teaching in District No. 7 in Schuyler. In September 1912, he left working in J. V. Down's pharmacy, in Ilion, and entered the Columbia College of Pharmacy in New York City. For two years, Harold had been with Charles B. Skinner & Co., pharmacists at Amsterdam. Pharmacist Bert H. Bentley purchased J. V. Downs, the well known pharmacy at the corner of Otsego and First street in 1913. He partnered with Harold Jarvis and conducted the new business under the firm name of Bentley & Jarvis. Harold Jarvis completed his education and graduated from Columbia College in May of 1914. Harold Jarvis married Miss Bessie Burns, of Mohawk, in 1915. In November of 1917, they welcomed the birth of their son, Alexander Bruce Jarvis. Two years later, their daughter was born in Utica, on her father's birthday, October 30, 2019. On August 13, 1917, Harold bought a store, in the Mohawk, NY Weller block, from George Gallinger, a Herkimer pharmacist. A year or so later, Harold Jarvis purchased the Main Street location of the business from Martha and Charles Steele. Harold conducted his pharmacy in that location for 30 years and moved his family to Mohawk. Harold's son, Bruce Jarvis, would also one day become a pharmacist and take over his father's business in Mohawk, NY. Bruce Jarvis is the father of Challenger astronaut, Gregory Jarvis, for whom the Central Valley School District's middle school is named.
Harold Jarvis - ObituaryHarold L. Jarvis, age 55, of 13 W. Main St., local druggist for 30 years, died Apr. 17, 1946, at his home, following a brief illness. Funeral services were conducted at 2:30 p. m. Sunday from the Graves Funeral Home with the Rev. Garrett Roorda officiating. Burial was in the Mohawk cemetery. He was born Oct. 30, 1891 in Barre. Vt.. a son of Alexander and Rachel Lee Jarvis. He moved to Ilion with his parents about 46 years ago. A graduate of Ilion High School and Columbia School of Pharmacy. New York, he worked for several years as a pharmacist in Ilion prior to moving to Mohawk where he purchased the block from which he had conducted his pharmacy for the past 30 years. He was a member of the Ilion Presbyterian Church, Mohawk Masonic Lodge, Alexander Hook and Ladder Co., Community Club, Mohawk Club and the Mohawk Fish & Game Club. He leaves his wife, the former Miss Bessie Burns whom he married in Mohawk about 31 years ago; his mother, Mrs. Rachel Jarvis, Dade City. Fla.; a son, Bruce, Mohawk; two brothers, Leon M. and Charles D., both of Ilion; two sisters, Mrs. Robert P. Evans, Dade City and Mrs. Elizabeth Cross, Greenfield, Mass., and a grandson.
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