Basic Information
Name: Mayor Nicholas E. Paine, other political leaders, business owners, local bigwigs, etc.
Nickname: The Rochester Rock and Rollers, the Rochester Rotarians
Born: Leading citizens of Rochester in 1852 were most likely born in the early decades of the 19th century.
Died: Leading citizens of Rochester in 1852 had most likely died by the later decades of the 19th century. RIP, leading citizens.
Nationality: Americans
Hometown: Rochester, New York (obviously)
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Who are the "leading citizens" of any city? The mayor, the town council, and local business owners. Historical records don't lead us to anyone specific but Mayor Paine, who served as mayor and postmaster of Rochester.
Education: That probably widely varied among these guys. Some of them probably had degrees from prestigious universities, while some were probably educated in a one-room schoolhouse for a couple of months.
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Either dead or back East. Rochester was part of "the West" in the early 19th century.
Siblings: Family size peaked in the 19th century, so we bet they had a lot.
Spouse: Some of the best-dressed ladies in town. (Yeah, we're guessing that in 1852, the leading citizens of Rochester were male and at least publicly heterosexual.)
Children: See "Siblings." The same rule applies.
Friends: Let's just say you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours.
Foes: Sure, dueling was old-fashioned and "illegal"…but just don't make any of these guys call you out.
Analysis
We dove deep into the murk of history to find out about the leading citizens of Rochester in 1852 and came up…mostly empty. We found Mayor Nicholas E. Paine, but we didn't learn much about him from historical records.
Still, the "leading citizens of Rochester" get a mention here because they're the ones who asked Frederick Douglass to speak at their Independence Day celebrations. They were just too busy getting all that red-white-and-blue bunting hung to leave much behind in the way of evidence.