 In 1883, two great nurserymen, George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry, offered 19 hilltop acres of their nursery grounds to the City of Rochester for a memorial park.The city officials at the time refused the offer, but by 1888 Bishop Bernard McQuaid, Dr. Moore, and Councilman George W. Elliot persuaded them to accept the land and establish the Rochester Park Commission.Moore became the first president of the commission.