Lucian Melvin Loope

According to the 1888 map of Cortland Village, L.M. Loope owned property near Copeland Avenue and according to our reference article on how the streets in Cortland were named, he is the namesake for Loope Street. Lucian Melvin Loope was born on November 8, 1845, in Solon and was the youngest son of J.H. Loope, “one of the oldest living pioneer settlers of this county.” Lucian was educated at the Cincinnatus and Cortlandville academies as well as the Oneida conference seminary in Cazenovia. He taught school for a few terms while he completed his own education. After he finished school, he traveled west for a year for a company he worked for. When he returned to this area, he settled about three miles east of Cortland to farm. 

In 1869 Lucian married Catherine R. Chrysler and they had six children. During this time, Lucian bought and sold real estate both locally and out of state. He had a wholesale meat business for 19 years. In 1889, he moved his family to Cortland so his children had better educational opportunities. He built several houses and city directories had him at 32 Fitz Avenue (West Main Street now), 114 Groton Avenue, 63 Railroad Street (Central Avenue now), and 48 Union Street at various times throughout the years.
Sadly, L.M. Loope died on November 8, 1917 (his 72nd birthday) as the result of a car versus train accident at the intersection of Kellogg Road and the railroad tracks. He had just dropped his daughter off to visit relatives near Blodgett Mills and was returning to Cortland when the accident occurred. Even at that time, that was a dangerous location for car and train traffic, and an electric gong had been installed there. It was unknown if Mr. Loope failed to hear the gong or if he thought he had enough time to cross. Lucian Melvin Loope and several family members, including his wife Catherine, are buried at Cortland Rural Cemetery.
There is a letter in the family file folder that was sent to CCHS in 1983 from a descendant living in Tucson, Arizona. She reminisced about visiting her grandparents and other relatives in the summers. At that time, they lived at 63 Railroad Street. She also mentioned in her letter that she had been told that her grandfather had named some of the streets in Cortland. She thought the streets were Loope, Melvin, and Helen. Whether or not I will be able to find some documentation on Melvin and Helen will remain to be seen! ~Tabitha
 
 
 
 
 
 

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.