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COFKRiClIT  DEPOSIT. 


.^ 


THE  MEN  OF  NEW  YORK: 


A  COLLECTION  OF  BIOGRAPHIES 
AND  PORTRAITS  OF  CITIZENS  OF 
THE  EMPIRE  STATE  PROMINENT  IN 
BUSINESS,  PROFESSIONAL,  SOCIAL 
AND  POLITICAL  LIFE  DURING  THE 
LAST  DECADE  OF  THE  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY 


Vol.   I 


BUFFALO.    N.    Y. 

GEO.    E.    MATTHI  WS    i"^-    CO, 

189.S. 


(jT*^ 


^^ 


rWO  COPIES  RECEIVED. 


COPYRIGHT.    1S98, 

nv 

GEO.   E.   MATTHEWS    &    CO. 


F.NORAVRD,  PRINTER  AND  BOUND  AT  THE 
COMPLETE  ART-PRINTINO  WORKS  OF 

THE    MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP    CO., 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 


Q." 


\} 


PREFACE 


^  "  I "( )    KNOW^    the    men    of  a    lime    is    the   first    requisite    to    an    undei- 

-*-  standini,^  of  the  time  itself.  Words  alone  can  tell  hut  half  the 
stor\-.  No  man  is  more  than  half  comprehended  1)\  those  who  have 
never  seen  him.  History  becomes  comprehensible  to  e\en  a  shi}4\;ish 
imai,Mnation  when  a  visit  is  paid  to  a  threat  portrait  collection  like  that 
at  Hampton  Court  or  The  Ilaj^ue.  '1  lu  n  tiie  name  that  has  been  a  mere 
abstraction  on  the  printed  paij^e,  takes  a  new  life  as  the  student  jj^azcs 
into  the  \ery  features  of  the  statesman  or  the  warrior;  and  feels  that  in 
his  time  there  was  a  li\ing  man,  with  blood  as  warm  and  mind  as  keen 
as  has  the  friend  b)-  his  side  to-ilay.  One  |)ortrait  by  itself  cannot  brini; 
out  this  feelini.;  of  the  intejjjrity  and  continuit\'  of  humanity;  but  a 
collection  of  the  contemporaries  of  anv  character  makes  his  environment 
realizable,  and  therefore  his  personalit)'  more  comprehensible. 

The  compilers  of  this  collection  of  portraits  and  bioj^raphies  have 
not  deluded  themselves  into  the  belief  that  the\'  were  makins/  historv. 
They  know  that  much  of  biograj^hy  is  but  the  raw  material  U|)on  which 
history  is  founiled,  and  that  j)hoto_i.;raphic  portraiture  is  but  one  of  the 
humbler  branches  of  art;  l)ut  they  ha\e  felt  that  there  was  room  and 
neeil  for  the  preservation  of  some  record  of  the  men  who  were  a  i^reat 
part  of  the  life  of  a  great  state  in  these  last  )ears  of  a  great  century. 

The  labor  has  been  lon''er  anil  more  en''^rossinir  than  anvone 
anticipated  when  it  began,  but  the  result  will,  they  trust,  meet  the 
appro\al  of  e\en  the  highest  expectations.  No  effort  has  been  spared 
to  obtain    the    most    com|)lete  and   accurate    information    concerning    each 


v.. 


PREFA  CE 


subject  of  a  biography ;  and  the  portraits  have  been  made  with  the 
greatest  care  from  photographs  in  the  majority  of  cases  taken  especially 
for  the  work. 

The  conditions  inseparable  from  printing  in  parts  have  made  it 
impossible  to  preserve  the  alphabetical  arrangement  throughout  the  two 
volumes;  but  each  volume  will  be  found  to  have  a  separate  index,  and 
in  the  second  volume  will  be  found  a  synoptical  index  of  the  entire 
work,  in  this  index  is  given  an  outline  of  the  biography  of  each  subject, 
and  also  the  occurrences  since  the  original  publication  of  the  biography. 
As  these  biographies  were  written  and  published  continuously  during  the 
years  1896  and  1897,  this  outline  has  been  found  needful  in  bringing 
the  information  up  to  the  beginning  of  1898. 

In  the  first  volume  are  included  the  biographies  of  citizens  living 
in  1896  and  1897  in  the  western  section  of  this  state.  The  second 
volume  is  divided  into  several  sections  covering  the  rest  of  the  state, 
and  also  contains  the  biographies  of  prominent  citizens  who  died  shortly 
before  the  work  was  undertaken.  The  synoptical  index,  also,  will  be 
fount!   in  this  volume. 

The  compilers  and  publishers  submit  the  work  to  the  consideration 
of  their  friends  and  the  public  with  the  sincere  belief  that,  though  far 
from  perfect,  it  will  be  found  to  be  of  permanent  value,  and  by  far 
the  most  monumental  work  of  the  kind  ever  undertaken.  Certainly  no 
expense  has  been  spared  to  make  it  worthy  of  preservation. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS   IN   Vol..   I 


Pack. 

ABKI.I.,  C.  LEE 

.      Buffal,,. 

44;t 

ADAMS,  S.  CARV,       .           .      . 

1811 

ALEXANDER,  1).  S.,            .     . 

. 

17 

ALLEN,  JAMES  A,    . 

•• 

I'.K) 

ALTMAN,  IIENKV,    . 

•  • 

:!44 

Al'l'LEVAkD.  EDWARD, 

lamcstown. 

177 

ASM  LEV,  EKIKNE  M  ,       .     . 

Lock|«rl.  . 

4;n 

ATKLNS,  RoliERT  V  .    . 

.      BiilVal... 

■I.V) 

ALSTIN,  JAMES  K  .  . 

.     . 

•J41 

HAIICdCK,  JERdME. 

lanicstdwii, 

IL! 

liALL,  CHARLES  A.. 

'Wi.ll.svillc.       . 

114 

liALTZ,  (;ei>R(;e, 

MulValo. 

303 

liANTA,  Rol.I.IN  L.,      . 

305 

liARNES,  Al.ERED  J.,    . 

144 

liARNLM,  SIEPIIEN  ().,    . 

144 

llARrilOLoMEW.  AHRAM,     . 

.      . 

280 

ItAKII.ETT.  EI<;ENE  M  , 

•• 

4JI 

IIARILETT,  ERANK   L  , 

1  ilcan,  .     .      . 

11.-. 

iJECKER,  Aicasr, 

Buffalo,      .     . 

242 

BECKER,  riiiLir, 

.      . 

lill 

1!E(  KER,  TRA(  \    I'  . 

.     . 

18 

liEDELL,  OSSIAN,      . 

1  .rand  Islanil, 

422 

HENNETT,  EDWARD. 

iliiMal... 

4.'.3 

BENNETT,  LEWIS  J,. 

14.-. 

BERRICK,  (  MARLES. 

281 

lilCKEoRD,  R.  II.,     .     . 

440 

I!I\(;iiam,c;e<)R(;e, 

441 

ISIRiiE,  M.  II 

213 

BISIInI>.  CHARLES  1-..  , 

l'.» 

IMSSEI.L,  IIERI'.ERT  1'.. 

.t04 

I'.ISSEI.L,  WILSON  S  .    . 

.      . 

20 

IILASDEI.L,  IIEMAN   M  . 

N.irlli  <"..llins 

28'.l 

BLEISTEIN,  (ii;()R(;E,  .     . 

RiiMal... 

21 

BI.OCIIER.  JOHN,      .     . 

•• 

147 

ISniiKS  TAX  i:R.  Wll  1  1  AM. 

Dunkirk,    . 

2'.H( 

I'.RADISH,  WILLIAM    II  . 

Ilullalci. 

4.M 

I'.RENDEL,  IIENRV   W  . 

Ul! 

liRKit.S,  ALIIERI-   II..    . 

I'.rj 

iiRiciis,  (;i;(iR(;e  \v  .  . 

1  iriharil  I'ark. 

432 

llRtiADIIEAD,  WII.I.I.XM, 

Janusliiwn, 

m; 

I'.RiiWNELL,  C.EdRiiE  1    . 

New  \ork. 

411 

I'.UCND.VC.E,  ERANK.-  . 

I'.ullalo,       . 

.•|.".3 

BRINN,  CII.\RI.ES  A., 

.      . 

423 

IIRLSII,  II.VULAN  W.,    . 

Nnrtli  Tonnwanil 

a,  4M 

liKVANT,   IiiHN   (    . 

lluffalu,      .     . 

23 

Pack. 

BUNTING,  THOMAS  L,     .     . 

Hamburg;, 

U3 

CAMPBELL,  lAMES  A  . 

Buffalo,      . 

.     321 

CARV,  CHARLES  S, 

Olcan,  .      .      . 

'.•4 

CARV,  EltlENE.    . 

Niagara  Ealls. 

.     433 

CASE,  lASON  D  ,  .     . 

I'VanklinvilL-. 

117 

CHALMERS,  JAMES, 

Williainsvillf. 

2U2 

C1IESIER,CARL  T.. 

Buffal... 

4.'>4 

CLARK,  EDWARD,    . 

•• 

iy3 

CLARK.  JitSEI'HLS  IL.      . 

Jamestown, 

.       118 

CLARK,  MVRON  II. . 

Buffalo, 

l'.t4 

CLINTON,  GEORGE, 

412 

CLINTON,  SPENCER. 

244 

CLOSE,  EMiiRV  P 

•• 

I'.m; 

COAT.SWnRIH,  EDWARD  E 

" 

l'.i7 

COBB,  Wll. LARD  A  . 

I.<K:k|)nri. 

Uu 

COLE,  IRVlNi;  W  . 

Buffal... 

34f. 

CON(;i)ON,  loSEPII   M  . 

i  *i>\van.l.i. 

2'.i.l 

CONNERS,  WHI.I.VM    I  . 

Buffal.., 

283 

C<M1K.  EDWARD  1.  ,       . 

•• 

l'.t8 

CORIiEir,  (  IIARI.ES  II.. 

Slicmiaii, 

17N 

COREV.  ERED  I) 

Buffal... 

HtNl 

CORNELL,. s.  |M)Ur,I.AS.   . 

•■ 

2A 

CORNWEI.L,  WILLIAM  C, 

2i; 

COTIIRAN,  (;EoR(;E  W  . 

mil 

(Ol'Cn,  ASA  STONE. 

Ercdoni... 

11 'J 

CRANGLE,  ROLAND, 

Buffalo. 

3!t| 

CRONIN.  PAIRIi  K, 

I4H 

CROSTIIWAIIE,  JOHN   1... 

424 

CUDDEBAC  K,  WM.  II  . 

2O0 

CLNNEEN.  JOHN.      . 

14'.> 

CISHMAN,  IIIARI  ES  W   . 

27 

DAKE,  MOSES  W  ,     .     .     . 

322 

DAMI'.ACH.  WILLIAM   C, 

323 

DARK,  nioMAS. 

•• 

201 

HARRISON,  JOHN    1   . 

L<Kk|«.r<.  . 

W, 

DAVES,  (;EoR(;E  A  . 

Buffalo,       .      . 

24.-. 

DEAN.  BEN.  S.,      . 

|anu*vt«>wn. 

M- 

DEPEW,  (JAN.SON, 

BuHal...       . 

IM 

III  Ell  L,  toNRAD. 

324 

DORR,  SAMIEI.  (;  . 

ir.i 

DOL(;i.ASS,  GIBSON    1    , 

it,:, 

Dol  i;|.ASS,  SILAS  I  . 

•• 

42.-. 

DOW,  ALBERT  <;  .  ' 

Ran<lul|.li. 

121 

DR.VKE,  MARCl  S  M  . 

Buffalo. 

:utn 

DLCKWn/.  E    H  . 

:;'.r.' 

fNDEX   OF    VOL.    /—  Cotitimiril 


DUDLEY,  JOSEPH  P  .  .  . 
DUDLEY,  WESLEY  C  , 

DUKE,  c;rant 

DUNliAK,  CHARLES  E  , 
DUSENHURY,  JOHN  E  , 
ECCERT,  OLIYER  J.,     .     . 
ELLSWORTH,  TIMOIHV   K.. 
ELY,  WTLLL\M  CAKVL.     . 
EMERSON,  GEORCJE  D.,     . 
EMERSON,  HENRY  P.,       . 
EMERY,  EDWARD  K.,  .      . 
FAH<CHH.D,  JOSEPH   L..  . 
EARNHAM,  CHARLES  C, 
FENNER,  MH.TON  M., 
EISIfER,  JEROME  P.,     .     . 
FLAGLER,  BEXIAMIN,       , 
FLAGLER,  THOMAS  T.,     . 
FLEISCHMANN,  GUSTAY, 
FLEMING,  EDWIN.    .     .     . 
FOLSOM,  BENJAMLN,     .     . 
FORSYTH,  JAMES  G,    .     . 
FOWLER,  JOSEPH,    .     .     . 
FRANCHOT,  N.  Y.  V.,    .     . 
FROST,  GEORGE  H.,     .     . 
FULLER,  FRED'K  A.,  Jr., 
GASKILL,  JOSHUA,  .   '.     . 
GATCHELL,  GEORGE  S.,  . 

GAY  IN,  JOSEPH  E 

GERST,  PHIL^^  .... 
GIBSON,  BYRON  D., 
GILBERT,  FRANK  T  ,  .  . 
(iI.ENN,  WILLIAM  ).,  .  . 
GLUCK,  JAMES  FR.\sER,  . 
GOODYEAR,  CHARLES  W., 
GOODYEAR,  FRANK  II.,  . 
GOULD,  CHARLES  A.,  .  . 
GRAT  TAN,  WILLIAM  S.,  . 
GRAYES,  JOHN  C,    .     .     . 

GREEN, ELEAZER 

GREEN,  S.  S 

GREENE,  WALTER  D.,  . 
(JROSS,  ROBERT  J,  . 
HAIGIir,  ALBERT,  .  .  . 
HAI.LER,  FREDERICK,  . 
HAMMOND,  CLARENCE  W., 
HAMMOND,  RICHARD,  . 
HAMMOND,  WILLIAM  W., 
HARRINGTON,  DEYILLO  W 

HART,  LOUIS  B 

HA.STINGS,  ARTHUR  C,  . 
HATCH,  EDWARD  W.,  . 
HAWKS,  EDWARD  C,  .  . 
IIAWLEY,  ELLVS  S.,  .  . 
IIAWLEY,  LUCIAN,  .  .  . 
HAYES,  CHARLES  E.,  .     . 

HAZEL,  JOHN  R 

HEALY,  M.  J 

HEFFORD,  ROBERT  R,,    . 
HENDERSON,  WILLIAM  H. 
HENfJERER,  WILLIAM,     . 
HENNIG,  HERMAN,       . 
HEQUEMBOURG,  C.  E., 
HICKEY,  CHARLES,      .     . 
HICKMAN,  ARTHUR  W.,  . 
IIIGGINS,  FRANK  W.,  .     . 


Page. 

.      .     Buffalo,      .      . 

•28 

.. 

'    .•S25 

WolLsvilK-. 

r_'2 

Buffalo, 

1  WA 

Portville. 

Yi:\ 

Bulfalo,      .      . 

202 

Lock  port,  .     . 

21)4 

Niaijara  Falls, 

m 

lUiflalo,       ,      . 

36!) 
30 
332 
393 
305 

Fredonia,  . 

124 

Jamestown, 

385 

Niagara  Falls. 

12.5 

Lockport. 

100 

Buffalo, 

154 
240 

32 
204 

Olean,  .     . 

101 

Buffalo,      .      . 

•.VM\ 

Jamestown,     . 

434 

Lockport,  .     . 

102 

Buffalo,      .      . 

33 
205 
24.S 

East  Aurora.  . 

333 

Buffalo,       .      . 

20C, 

Cuba,     . 

IT'.t 

liuffalo,       .      . 

34 
35 
11 

New  York, 

207 

Buffalo,      .      . 

370 
3lj 

Jamestown,     . 

104 

Bulfalo,      .      . 

208 
340 

Dunkirk,   .      . 

105 

Buffalo,      .     . 

38 
354 
442 
420 

30 
210 
211 

Niagara  Falls, 

386 

Buffalo,      .      . 

24'J 
155 
413 
250 
251 
212 
371 
372 

Randolph, 

120 

Buffalo,       .      . 

40 

427 

Dunkirk,   . 

106 

Lockport,  . 

180 

Buffalo,      .     . 

326 

Olean,  .     .     . 

■     127 

HILL,  HENRY  \Y.,  .  .  . 
HILL,  HERBERT  M.,  .  . 
HINGSTON,  EDWARD  J.,  . 
HODSON,  DEYOE  P.,  '  , 
HOOKER,  WARREN  B.,  . 
HOI'KIN.S,  NELSON  K.,  . 
HORNADAY,  WILLIAM  T., 
HOTCllKISS,  WILLIAM   II., 

howard,  ethan  h.. 
howard,  frederick,  . 
howard,  henry  c,  .  . 
hoyt,  william  b.,  .  . 
hubbell,  alyin  a.,  .  . 
hubbell,  mark  s..  .  . 
huff,  james  b.,  .    .    .    . 

hughes,  john 

hughson,  george  ii.,  . 

hull,  john  m 

iiui,tc;'ren,  carl  otto, 

HUMPHREY,  JOHN  W.,  Jr.. 
HUNTLEY,  CHARLES  R., 
IIURD,  HARYEY  J.,. 
HUTCHINSON,  E.'lL. 
IRISH,  WILLIAM   M.,     .      . 
JACKSON,  WILLIAM   B.,    . 
JACKSON,  WILLIS  K.,  .     . 
JEWELL,  J.  R.,       ... 
JEWETT,  EDGAR   B..      .      . 
JEWETT,  JOHN  C,    .     .     . 
JEWETT,  SHERMAN  S..     . 
"KELDERHOUSE,  JOHN.     . 
KELLY,  FAYETTE,    .     .     . 
KENDALL,  FREDERICK, 
KENEFICK,  DANIEL  J.,    . 
KISSELBURGH,  WM.  E.,  Jr., 
KI.INCK,  CHRISTIAN.  .     . 
KNIGHT,  ERASTUS  C, 
KOERNER,  HERMAN  T.,  . 
KRAUSS,  WILLIAM  C. 
LAMBERT,  JOHN  S..      .     . 
LAMY,  CHARLES,      . 
LAMY,  GEORGE  H.,       .     . 
LARKIN,  JOHN  D,  .     .     . 
LASCELLES,  JOHN  H.,      . 
LATTIMER,  GE0R(;E  E., 
LAUGHLIN,  FRANK  C,     . 
LAUtnil.lN,  JOHN,    .     .     . 
LETCHWORTH,  WM.  P.,    . 
LEWIS,  (;E()RGE  L.,      .     . 
LEWIS,  I.ORAN  L.,   .     .     . 
LINCOLN,  CHARLES  Z.,    . 
LITTELL,  HARDIN  IIETH, 
LOCKWOOD,  DANIEL  N., 
LOTHROP,  TIIOM.\S,     .     . 
LO\E,  WILLIAM  II.,      .     . 
LOYERIDGE,  EDWARD  D., 

LOW,  JAMES, 

LUND,  JOHN, 

LYTH,  ALFRED,    ... 

McCANN,  JOHN  A 

McEWEN,  JOHN 

McGERAI.D,  SAMUEL,  .     . 
MlMASTER,  ALEXANDER, 

McMillan,  daniel  il,  . 
mcnaughtan,  d.  nathan 


1 1: 1. 


Page. 

Buffalo,       .      . 

156 

212 

.      . 

158 

.      . 

327 

Fredonia.  . 

334 

I'.uffalo,      .      . 

41 

New  York, 

43 

Buffalo,      .      . 

159 

397 

'• 

252 

"           .      . 

398 

(( 

429 

.     . 

214 

.     . 

3.55 

Tonawanda,    . 

4.58 

Buffalo,      .      . 

215 

254 

443 

Jamestown, 

302 

128 

Buffalo,       .      . 

lr,o 

•■ 

44 

.      . 

45 

Ole.m,  .      .      . 

107 

Ilolliind,    .      . 

295 

Buffalo,       .      . 

101 

Olean.  .      .      . 

129 

Buffalo.       .      . 

255 

373 

216 

.      . 

307 

.      . 

374 

"            .      . 

250 

,      . 

284 

"            .      . 

399 

"            .      . 

47 

it 

48 

it 

217 

•• 

285 

Fredonia,  . 

435 

Buffalo,      . 

257 

.      . 

219 

,      , 

430 

49 

'• 

400 

.      . 

308 

"            .      . 

50 

.      . 

162 

.      . 

258 

.      , 

61 

Little  Yalley. 

108 

Buffalo,      .'    , 

53 

.      . 

54 

,      . 

104 

.      , 

12 

Cuba,    . 

181 

Niagara  Falls, 

182 

Bulfalo,      .      . 

375 

.      . 

259 

.      . 

260 

Wellsville,      . 

335 

Bulfalo,      .     . 

347 

•• 

348 

311 

•• 

378 

INDEX   OF   I'OL.  l—ConliHUfd 


MACK,  NORMAN  E..  .  . 
MACKKV,  WII.I.IAM  l\.  . 
MACOMliKR,  WII.I.IAM.  . 
MAIIANV.  koWl  AM)  1!., 
MAI.l.AI.IKf,  \SII  I.Akli  I 
MANIii:\  ll.l.K,  \VM  II.. 
M.VKCIS,  I.OLI.S  \V.,      .      . 

MAK(  V.  WII.I.IAM    I 

MARSIIAI.I.,  HIAKI.E.S  U., 
MARVIN.  KOHKRT  N.,  .     . 
MATIKSiiN.  PRICK  A.,       . 
MAITIIKWS,  (;K()R(;E  E., 
MAVKR,  IDSKI'II   li., 
MKADS,  Wll.I.I.s  II.. 

MK.^SKR,  I..  I- 

MICKI.i;,  llERliKRT, 
Mll.l.I'.K,  CIIAUl.KS  II.. 
MlI.l.KR.  (  IIAkl.K.s  W  . 
MII.I.KK,  KKWIN  C.  S.. 
MII.I.KR,  I'KIKR   I'.. 
MI.SCIIKA,  jiiSKI'Il.  . 
MOIINEV.  i'aMI-S. 
Ml  KIT.  Ali"i:i  lll'.KT. 
MiiRKV,  NoRRIS. 
MORCAX,   IiHIN  C..        .      . 
MORCAN.  WII.I.IAM    I.. 
MOVIUS,  ElAVARK  11..      . 
MLRRAV,  (  IIARI.KS  I).,    . 

NKIK,  lOIIN  W 

NIXON.  S.  I  RI-.DERICK,    . 
NORTH,  CHARLES   f..  .      . 
NORTON,  NATIIANl'l-l    W. 
NORTON,  S.  M., 
O  T.RIEN,  E.  C.  W.. 
O  DAV,  1>ANIEI,.  .     . 
0(iRAI)V.  IiANIKI.. 
OAKES,  I  R.\NK   .V.    . 
ORCUIT,  WII.I.IAM   II.. 
OITAWAV.  ARIIU  R   li., 
I'ANKOW,  CIIAKl.E.S  (;.. 
I 'ARK.  ROSWKI.I,.      .      . 
I'AK  II,  MAI  RICE   It..   . 
I'ATl  l-.RSON.  tIEORCE  W.. 
I'AVNE,  l.EWI.S  S,     .      .      . 
I'KR.SON.S,  WII.ISER   I-..        . 
PETERSON,  EREDK   R..    . 
I'EIERSON,  JESSE.    .     .     . 
PETTElioNE.  I.ACREN  W., 
PITKIN.  II  II IN  T..      . 
PITT,  WII.I.IAM    11., 
PI.lMl.EV.  EliMlNh    I., 
IMOI.EV,  CHARLES  .V. 
I-ORIER,  t  VKCS  K.. 
PORTER,  PITER   A  . 
II I  ITER,  WII.I.IAM   W  . 

I'RA  IT,  PASCAL  P 

PRESTON.  lERoME.       .     . 
PRICE.  o.SCAR   E.. 
PROtliElT.  WM.  II  . 
PUTNAM.  EliCAR   P  , 
PCTNAM.  JAMES  O.. 
RAMSDEI.E,  T.  T., 
UANDALL.  EI)WARI>  i  .. 
RLr.ADOW.  ADOI.PH. 
REINECKE.  orHiMAR. 


DufTalo. 

a77 

•jr.2 
:ilii 

PrflStcIl. 

r..') 

(  )lcaii. 

l;!l 

BulVnl... 

.•il3 
■.\\\ 

Jamestown, 

Kt'.i 

lluflalo. 

:tl.-. 
S.'ifi 

ll'.l) 

n;- 

•jr.;{ 

IfiS 

\  ork.sliirf. 

iw;! 

HulTalo. 

a7'.i 

f.T 

221 

-101 

222 

lU'.i 

.     , 

l.S 

Niagara  Ealls, 

•l:!t; 

Itunalo,      .     . 

2tU 
f.8 

Dunkirk,    .      . 

111) 

Ituffalo.      .     . 

:i2K 

WcstlicUl, 

112 

lUiflalo,      .      . 

22;< 

Cii 

I'ricnilslnp,     . 

33(i 

liuMal...       .      . 

415 

New  N'ork, 

no 

I'.ulTali).      .      . 

■102 
:ti>:{ 
170 

Wcsllicld,  .      . 

1K4 

l;unali>.      .      . 

:lir, 

111 

171 

.      Weslficld,  .     . 

132 

North  TonawancI 

■»,  liii- 

Dclcvan.    . 

2'.IC 

Jamcslown. 

•«a7 

I.ock|Hirt. 

133 

lilllValn. 

3114 

403 

<!3 

2t;f. 

<'>4 

CA 

Niagara  Ealls, 

3ti0 

ItulTal... 

2fir. 
•JO 

Jamcslown. 

134 

3H1 
3311 

lar. 

nuflalo,      .     . 

224 
G7 

•• 

2r,8 

2r.'.i 

.■t.'i7 

ItiilTalo, 


\i;»^;ar:i  |-;ills. 
W  illlaln^villL^ 
IliiHalu. 


Ki  \  la  RN.  I'ERRY  C.  .     . 
Rll  E,  EHWARI)  k.. 
RICHARliSoN.  WII.I.IAM. 
Rll  IIMoND.  lEWEri    M  . 
Riril.MoNli.  WILLIAM. 
RINEWAI.T,  ADAM   1    . 
RoltERlS,  lAMES  A., 
ROIIERISON,  ANDREW    I  . 
RolJINSON,   lOlIN   W  . 
ROCER.S,  SHERMAN  s  . 
R(H)|.  ERANilS  S  . 
ROIll,  EDWARD  I., 
RCMSi:\,  llRoNSON  t. ..  (|«.nraii.  I 
RCPP.  rllARl.RS  A., 
RYAN,  STEPHEN   VINCENT, 

SANIIORN,  LEE  R 

SCllAnNEK,  JOSEPH   P. 
SCIIEC.  At  (;CSTIS  1  .. 
SCIIoELLKOpI-.  ARTIIl  R. 
SClloEI.I  Ki>PE.  lACiHl  T  . 
SCIIOELLKOPI-.  I.OCIS, 
SCHWART/.  JOHN  I-.  . 
.SCOTT,  ALLEN   D..    . 
SElllEKT,  SIMON, 
SESSIONS,  ERANK   E.. 
SlXSliiNS,  WALTER   1. 
SEVMolR,  HENRY  II  , 
SHAEKR.  EDWARD  C., 
SIICLTS,  CHARLES  |.. 
SI(;MAN,  AIllERT  J.',     . 
SILVER,  DILWORTH    M.. 
SKINNER,  EDWARD  A  . 
SLATER,  IiiNATHAN   1.  , 
.SMITH.  .Vl.P.ERT  R.. 
SMITH,  HIRAM,    .     . 
SMITH,  LEE  II.,    .     . 
SMITH,  T.  tilTl.loRD, 
SMITHER,  RORERT  K., 
SOITHWICK,  A.  P.. 
SPACl  DINC,  E.  (;.,    . 
SPENiER.  HARVEY  S  . 
SPENCER,  SETll  S.. 
.STAEEORD,  JAMES  11.. 
.STAEEORD.  RK  HARD  II  . 
.STEARNS,  (;eori;e  R.. 
STEARNS,  LESTER   E.. 
STICKNEY,  CHARLES  D  . 
STOCKTON,  LEWIS,       ... 

.sTowiTS.  (;e.oR(;e  il, 

STRASMER.  WILLIAM   \.. 

STRACSS,  MATHIAS, 

STRooTMAN,  JOHN, 

SWEET,  CHARLES  A., 

TAIIOR,  I  HARI.ES  E.,    .     . 

TAYLOR,  RDDNEY  M.,       . 

TENNANT,  WILLIS  IL,      .  Ma)-»ilU 

THOMISON,  A.  IliRTER,  Ifuffalo, 

THORNTON,  (;EoR<;e  II. , 

TIURS  TONE,  WILLIAM, 

THEANY,  NEI.SON  o., 

TIl.DEN,  I.  IL,  . 

TILLINLIIAST.  IAME.S, 

TILLINCHAST.  lAME'-  " 

TINKLE,  THOMAS, 

Tl  TCS,  RollERT  C. 


Snnlmni. 
ItulTaln. 

Niagani  Ealls 
liullnlo, 


Jamc-slown. 

llulTaln, 

Clicrrj-  Crcik. 
ItufTalo.      .      .      . 

WcstlicUl,        .      . 
ItuHaln,  .      . 

■N'rirtli  Tnnawanili 
Jamcslown. 
liiiDalo,      . 


I  Liiiiliiiru'. 
ItufTalo. 


1  >unkirk. 
|!utlal<i. 


Pat.k. 

ar* 

22.'i 
227 
444 
137 
2'.I7 

I'll) 
404 
172 

70 
am 

4.V.> 

452 

71 

72 

aH7 
270 
22« 
ar.r, 

WW, 
407 
4.V.I 
271 
272 
2'.iH 
13K 

73 
287 
438 
273 
417 
3S3 
274 
43(1 
I3'.t 
317 

75 
445 
22'.l 

70 
340 

77 
230 
231 
a2'.t 
185 
276 
34'.i 

14 
4IS 

7'.> 
318 

80 
174 
408 
■.\f,- 
44)'i 
350 
232 
351 
277 

81 
233 
175 

M2 


lADE.X    OF    VOL.    I—  Conti}uud 


Page. 

TREFTS,  TOHX 

.     Bunalo,      .      .      . 

s:i() 

TRIPP,  AUGUSTUS  F 

84 

URBAN,  GEORGE,  JR 

.      . 

85 

VAN  DUSEN,  A1.M()N  A.,       . 

.     Mayville,        .      . 

140 

VAN  GORDER,  GREENT.KAF 

S.,     Buflalo, 

234 

VEDDER,  C.  P 

.      I-:ilicottviIIe. 

141 

VEDDER.  HARRISON  N., 

.      Buffalo,       .      .      . 

235 

VOGT,  FREDERICK  A., 

"            .      .      . 

278 

VREEI.ANI),  EDWARD  B..     . 

SaLamanca, 

341 

VREELAND,  OLIVER  S.,   .      . 

300 

WADE,  ARTHUR  C 

Janicslowii, 

384 

WADSWORTH,  GEORGE,  . 

.      "Buffalo,      .      .      . 

86 

WAITE,  RICHARD  A., 

.      .      . 

87 

WALKER,  WILLIAM  D., 

.      .      . 

409 

WALKER,  WILLIAM  H.,    .      . 

.      .      . 

88 

WALLENMEIER,  JOHN  G,  Jr.,       Tonawanda,    .      . 

388 

WARD,  FRANCIS  G.,      . 

.      Buffalo,      .      .     . 

236 

WARD,  WALDEN  M.,     .     .     . 

North  Collins, 

301 

WARNER,  THOMAS  E. , 

North  Tonawanda,  4(J0 

WATERS,  IRVING  E 

.      Buffalo,      .      .     . 

4(51 

WEBER,  JOHN  B,                     . 

4( 

80 

WEBSTER,  ELLIS 

ii 

27'J 

WEBSTER,  GEORGE  B., 
WEILL,  IlENRV,   .     .     . 
WELLMAN,  A.  MINER, 
WENDE,  ERNEST,     .     . 
WENDT,  HENRY  W.,     . 
WENDT,  WILLIAM  F., 
WENTWORTH,  ALEXANDEI 
WEYAND,  CHRISTIAN,      , 
WHEELER,  CHARLES  B., 
WHEELER,  GEORGE  W'., 
WHITE,  TRUMAN  C,    . 
WICKS,  CHARLES  IL,   . 
WICKS,  lOHN  (;.,       .     . 
WILCOX,  ANSLEY,    .     . 
WILCOX,  DAVID  J., 
WILCOX,  DE  WITT  G., 
WILLIAMS,  CHARLES  E., 
WOODBURY,  EG  BURT  E., 
WOODWARD,  TOIIN,      . 
WRIGHT,  ALBERT  |.,    . 
ZELLER,  G.  FREDERICK. 
ZITTEL,  WADSWORTH  I. 


Buffalo, 

Friendship 
Buffalo, 


Randolph, 
Buffalo, 


Jamestown 
i( 

Buffalo, 

Springville 

Buffalo, 

Jamestown 

Buffalo, 


Pack, 
360 
238 
186 
288 
448 
4Ht 
142 
420 

'Jl 
23il 

92 
302 
389 
176 
342 
320 
240 
343 
188 
463 

15 
,361 


WESTERN    SECTION 


In  the  Western  Section  are  published 
the  biographies  of  subjects  from  the 
counties  of  Allegany,  Cattaraugus,  Chau- 
tauqua, Erie,  and  Niagara. 


MEN  OF  THE  WESTERN  SECTION 


jfraul;  1?.  O00^\}Car  Ims  achieved  an  unusual 
ilcgrcc  ol  su(  COS  in  ihc  liusiness  world  of  HulTalo 
and  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  where  he  has  been 
an  active  figure  for  the  |Kist  twenty-five  years.  He 
is  of  lOnglish  and  Scotch  descent,  and  possesses  the 
sturdy  determination  and  shrewd  common  sense  of 
l)oth  races.  He  is  a  son  of  Dr.  liradley  Cioodyear, 
formerly  of  RulTalo,  and  was  horn  in  Ciroton,  N.  Y., 
less  than  lifty  years  ago.  His  early  education  was 
obtained  in  the  public  schools,  the  acadcmv  at  l'',ast 
.Vurora,  N.  Y.,  and  from  [irivate  tutors. 

On  comi)leting  his  education  Mr.  CiOodycar  taught 
a  district  .school  a  few  months,  and  later  became  a 
l)ookkeeper  for  Robert  l.ooney,  who  oi)erateil  exten- 
sive .s;iwmills  at  Looneyville,  N.  Y.  He  wasan.\ious, 
however,  for  a  busy  commercial  career  ;  and  in  1H72 
he  went  to  Buffalo,  where  his  brother  fharles  had 
recently  established  himself  as  a  lawyer,  and  em- 
barked in  the  coal  and  lumber  trade.  Beginning  at 
first  on  a  small  scale,  he  wa.s  soon  able  to  enlarge 
his  operations  ;  and  before  many  years  became  a 
jjrominent  factor  in  these  industries  throughout  the 
section  tributary  to  Buffalo.  Becoming  convinced 
of  the  desirability  of  manufacturing  his  own  lumber, 
he  built,  in  connection  with  his  father,  two  sawmills 
in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  ;  and  as  this  venture 
proved  successful,  he  established  others  in  dilfercnt 
[jarts  of  the  state,  until  he  has  built  not  less  than  fif- 
teen sawmills  and  more  than  four  hundred  miles  of 
railroad,  which  have  been  constantly  emi)loyed  in 
sup])lying  the  demands  of  his  extensive  trade. 

In  IXHT  Charles  W.  (Jootlyear,  who  had  been  for 
many  years  a  prominent  attorney  of  BulTiilo,  gave  up 
his  law  business  ;  and  the  two  brothers  established 
the  firm  of  F.  H.  &:  C  W.  (loodyear,  which  for  the 
past  ten  years  has  conducted  a  vxst  amount  of  busi- 
ness.     In   order  to  open  up   the  regions  of  north- 


western Pennsylvania,  and  facilitate  the  shipment  of 
lumber  therefrom,  K.  H.  (Joodyear  in  IHH.'i  built  at 
his  own  expense  a  little  railroad  known  as  the 
Sinnemahoning  \'alley,  from  Keating  Summit, 
Penn.,  on  the  line  of  the  Western  New  \'ork  iV 
Pennsylvania  railroad,  into  that  jart  of  the  Iimi- 
ber  regions  where  he  was  then  operating.  The 
(loodyear  brothers  owned  thou.sands  of  acres  of  the 
finest  hemlock  forest  in  Potter  county  :  and  as  their 
busy  mills  gradually  devoured  the  timl>er  and  the 
hills  grew  bare,  it  became  ncccsary  to  go  farther  for 
the  supply  of  raw  material,  and  more  railroads  ha«l 
to  be  built  in  order  to  get  the  logs  to  the  mills. 
For  this  purpose  "the  (loodyears,"  as  the  two 
brothers  are  familiarly  called  throughout  that  region, 
incor[>orated  the  BufTalo  lS:  Su.s(|uehanna  Railroad 
Co.,  of  which  the  earlier  lines  became  a  |>art  ;  and 
extended  the  road  as  far  east  as  Calcton  and  .\n- 
sonia.  On  New  Year's  Day,  lH!l(i,  another  bran<  h 
was  opened  from  ( laleton  to  Wellsville,  Allegany 
county,  N.  Y.  Mr.  (loodyear  is  now  the  chief 
owner  of  the  Buffalo  iV  Susipichanna  road,  and  h,is 
an  important  share  in  its  management. 

Mr.  Coodyear's  success  in  the  conduct  of  his  own 
commercial  undertakings  is  evi<lence  of  his  keen 
business  foresight  and  marked  executive  ability.  He 
has  al.so  had  a  jiart  in  the  management  of  other 
important  enter|>rises,  notably  the  I'nited  States 
Leather  Co.,  of  which  he  is  a  director.  Though  so 
fully  occujiied  with  the  demands  of  busine.ss,  Mr. 
(loodyear  is  a  progressive  and  public-spirited  <  iti/eu, 
who  may  be  counted  on  to  help  in  any  good  cause. 
He  has  never  interested  him.self  actively  in  |Kjlitics, 
and  has  never  been  a  candidate  for  an  elective  office. 
In  IXHIi  President  Cleveland  apjKiinted  him  a  com- 
missioner to  examine  government  lands  on  the  line 
of  the  Northern   Pacific  railroad,  and  he  dis<harged 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


the  duties  of  the  position  with  his  customary  energy 
and  ability. 

Mr.  Goodyear  is  well  known  in  social  circles  in 
Buffalo ;  and  is  a  member  of  several  i)rominent 
clubs,     including     the    BulTalo,     Liberal,     P^llicott, 


IH.WK  II.  coonvi-.AK 

Country,  and  Falconwood.  He  belongs,  also,  to 
the  Manhattan  and  Lawyers'  clubs  of  New  Vork 
city. 

PERSONAL  CHjR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Frank  Henry 
Goodyear  was  born  at  Groton,  N.  Y.,  March  17, 
1849;  was  educated  at  East  Aurora  Academy;  7iias 
bookkeeper  and  teacher  in  a  district  sclwol  in  1871  ; 
married  Josephine  Looney  of  Looneyville,  N.  Y. ,  Sep- 
tember 13,  1872  ;  has  engaged  in  the  coal  and  lumber 
trade  in  Buffalo  situe  1872. 


XlUiUiam  lb.  XOVe  win  be  called  a  young 
man  fur  some  lime  yet ;  but  he  has  already  attained 
distinction,  not  only  in  the  jjrofession  of  law,  but 
also  in  that  of  teaching  and  school  administration. 
Horn    in    Muffalo    while  the  Civil  War  was  raginy. 


he  wa.s  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city, 
graduating  from  the  high  school  with  the  class  of '81. 
District  Attorney  Kenefick,  Congressman  Mahany, 
and  Frederick  A.  Vogt,  now  principal  of  the  high 
school,  were  members  of  the  .same  class. 

For  the  next  ten  years  Mr.  Love  en- 
gaged in  school  teaching.  Soon  after  his 
graduation  from  the  high  school  he  was 
appointed  by  Christopher  G.  Fox  prin- 
cipal of  school  No.  20  at  South  Buf- 
falo, and  continued  to  leach  there  for 
four  years.  Appointed  in  1<S85  to  the 
principalship  of  school  No.  33,  he  re- 
mained in  charge  of  that  institution  for 
the  next  five  years,  developing  all  the 
while  decided  talent  as  a  teacher  and 
organizer  of  school  work.  When  he 
went  to  school  No.  33  it  was  compara- 
tively small  ;  but  when  he  left  it,  in 
18110,  it  was  the  largest  school  in  South 
Buffalo,  and  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
city.  His  next  school  was  No.  13,  in 
the  central  district  of  Buffalo,  to  which 
he  was  transferred  in  the  fall  of  1890. 
He  remained  there  until  February,  1892, 
when  he  succeeded  James  F.  Crooker  as 
superintendent  of  schools.  Mr.  Love 
was  appointed  to  this  important  position 
by  a  commission  consisting  of  Mayor 
Bishop,  Comptroller  Gavin,  and  Coun- 
cilman Hanrahan.  He  was  only  thirty 
years  old  at  the  time,  and  the  appoint- 
ment was  a  striking  tribute  to  his  charac- 
ter as  a  man  and  capacity  as  an  edu- 
cator. He  held  the  position  until 
January  1,  1893.  In  the  fall  of  1892 
he  was  unanimously  nominated  by  the 
Democratic  party  to  succeed  himself  as 
su])erintendent,  but  lost  the  election  by  a  narrow 
margin  after  a  hotly  contested  campaign. 

While  Mr.  Love  was  in  charge  of  the  Buffalo 
schools  the  municipal  ordinances  relating  thereto 
were  revised  under  his  advice  and  supervision.  He 
also  assisted  materially  in  organizing  the  board  of 
school  examiners.  Largely  through  his  efforts  a 
part  of  the  public  funds  was  set  aside  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  kindergartens  in  Buffalo  ;  and 
in  recognition  of  his  work  in  this  regard  he  was 
elected  the  first  honorary  member  of  the  Buffalo 
F>ee  Kindergarten  Association. 

During  the  latter  part  of  his  teaching  Mr.  Love 
had  been  preparing  himself  to  practice  law.  He 
filed  his  certificate  as  a  student  in  the  office  of  Cud- 
deback  &  Kenefick,  and  devoted  his  afternoons  and 


ME\  OF  AA/;'    yoKk—li'ESTKRX  SECT/OX 


l.'i 


In  the  early  |>art  of  his  iirofcssional  career  Mr. 
Morey  devoted  considcralilc  time  to  public  afTairs. 
He  served  for  a  year  as  assistant  lity  attorney,  and 
for  two  years  as  assistant  district  attorney  of  lirie 
county  ;  and  in  1H74  he  was  the  Kepiiiilican  candi- 
date for  tlistrict  attorney.  Since  that  lime  he  has 
held  no  public  oflicc,  but  has  continued  to  practice 
his  profession  in  Kuffalo.  In  ISX'i  the  Republi<an 
city  convention  nominated  him  tor  the  office  of 
mavor,  but  he  declined  for  professional  reasons  to 
accejit  the  nomination. 

In  ISSiV-Xli  ,Mr.  Morey  was  chairman  of  a  com 
mittee  of  nine  who  framed  new  ndes  for  the  {"overn- 
mcnt  of  Kepubiican  caucuses  and  conventions  in 
l'!rie  coimty.  'I'hc-se  rules  aimed,  by  a  registry  of 
all  Republican  voters  and  other  safegu.artis,  to  secure 
to  all  such   voters  full  op|>ortunity   to  vote  at    the 


Saturdays  to  the  study  of  law  in  their  office.  I!v 
the  time  he  left  the  position  of  su|»erintendent  of 
schools  his  studies  were  far  advanced,  and  he  was 
able  to  JKJSS  the  l>ar  examination  at  Rochester  in 
March,  1 «!»;{.  He  was  cle>  ted  jiresident  of  the  class 
of  lawyers  admitted  at  that  time.  In  .-Vpril,  lH!i;j, 
he  formed  a  [tartnership  for  the  general  practice  of 
law  with  Daniel  J.  Kenefu  k,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Kenefick  &  I.ove.  This  as.sociation  has  (  ontinued 
to  the  present  time,  and  has  prospered  markedly  as 
regarils  volume  of  business,  success  in  litigation,  and 
solidity  of  clientage.  The  firm  has  a  diversified 
liractice  consisting  of  contested  work  in  the  courts, 
the  settlement  of  estates,  and  general  office  business. 
Without  having  made  special  efforts  to  obtain  that 
kind  of  work,  they  have  come  to  enjoy  a  con- 
siderable clientage  among  fraternal  and  benevolent 
societies.  They  are  the  attorneys,  for 
example,  of  the  Knights  of  the  .Macca- 
bees and  the  Buffalo  Fire  Oe|artment 
Beneficiary  .A.ssociation. 

Mr.  Love  belongs  to  various  social 
organizations,  including  the  Knights  ol 
Columbus,  Royal  Arcanum,  Buffalo  Or- 
pheus, and  Knights  of  the  Maccabees. 
He  has  been  prominent  in  the  counsels 
of  the  Democratic  [arty  for  several  years, 
and  has  taken  an  active  jiart  in  cam]jaigns 
as  a  platform  speaker. 

PERSOXA  L  CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
William  Henry  Lore  tints  horn  at  Buffalo 
Nm'fmher  IS,  1S02 ;  ii>as  editiated  in  //it- 
Buffalo  ptihlic  schools,  graduating  from  the 
high  school  in  ISSl ;  was  principal  of 
various  public  schools  in  Buffalo,  ISSl—O^', 
and  superintendent  of  schools  of  that  city  in 
1S!>2  :  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  IS'.i-i  . 
married  Helen  A.  Niendorf  of  Buffalo 
June  IS,  180G :  has  practiced  /<;7i'  in 
Buffalo  since  18f)S. 

■Morns  /IDOrCVJ,  who  has  ])racticed 
law  in  Buffalo  for  ujiwards  of  thirty  years, 
and  has  long  been  recognizeil  as  one  of 
the  leaders  of  his  profession  in  that  city, 
is  a  .son  of  Joseph  Morey,  an  Krie-county 
farmer.      He  received  a  common-school 
education,  followed  by  a  broken  course 
of  study  at  Oberlin  College,  from  which 
he   graduated    in    1«6.3.      The  next  few- 
years   were   divided   between   military  service  and     caucu.ses,  and  to  be  represented  in  the  conventions 
study  at  the  .VIbany   I-aw  School,  and  in   IXIifi  he      of  the  party.      They   were  adopted  by   the  county 
took    u])   his    residence    in    Buffalo,  and  began  the      convention  of  1. SHU,  and  were  ipiite  successftd   for  a 
practice  of  his  profession.  time  in  securing  those  objects. 


II    '/   /   /   /  1.'     //      lull 


u 


MJ:.\   of  NEJV    VORK—IVESTKRX  SECT/ON 


In  the  winter  of  l(S!)2-9;>  Mr.  Morey  made  an 
address,  on  behalf  of  various  committees  of  citizens 
of  Buffiilo,  before  the  assembly  and  senate  commit- 
tees on  cities  at  Albany,  in  favor  of  the  re[)eal  of 
what  were  popularly  known  as  the  "sneak  bills.'' 
These    bills    had  been   rushed  hastilv    throiisrh    the 


\ORK/S   MORE  V 

legislature  ;  they  changed  in  an  unusual  and  e.xtra- 
ordinary  manner  the  political  control  of  the  police 
board  of  Buffalo  ;  and  their  passage  ]jroduced  a 
notable  and  wholesome  uprising  of  public  sentiment, 
which  resulted  in  a  political  revolution  at  the  city 
elections  which  followed. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Morris  Morey 
was  born  at  Brant,  Erie  county,  N.  Y.,  July  20, 
1SS8 ;  completed  his  education  at  Oherlin  (O.)  Col- 
lege; served  in  the  Union  army,  1861-62  and 
180Jf-6') ;  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1866 ;  toas  assistant  city  attorney  of  Buffalo, 
1870-71,  and  assistant  district  attorney  of  Erie 
county,  1872-74  ;  has  practiced  hnv  in  Buffalo  since 
1866. 


George  IF).  StOWitS,  Buffalo's  veteran  school 
teacher,  began  his  career  in  the  public  schools  of 
that  city  in  lX(il,  and  is  still  actively  engaged  there 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  In  all  these  years  his 
enthusiasm  has  never  failed  ;  and  his  most  earnest 
efforts  are  still  directed  to  the  task  of  training  the 
boys  and  girls  in  his  charge  to  be  true 
and  loyal  .\merican  citizens,  as  well  as  in- 
telligent, well  educated  men  and  women. 
Major  Stowits  was  born  in  the  village 
of  Fort  Plain,  in  the  beautiful  Mohawk 
valley.  He  was  left  an  orjjhan  in  child- 
hood, and  was  thrown  u]3on  his  own 
re.sources ;  but  he  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing a  good  fundamental  education,  and 
during  a  career  of  more  than  fifty  years 
as  a  teacher  he  has  constantly  broadened 
and  extended  his  mental  equipment. 
After  attending  academies  at  Clinton 
and  Whitestown,  Oneida  county,  he 
studied  law  for  a  time  in  an  office  at 
Little  Falls,  N.  Y.  ;  but  when  he  was 
twenty-one  years  old  he  began  his  long 
career  as  a  teacher.  His  first  field  of 
labor  was  Starkville,  Herkimer  county  ; 
and  he  subsequently  taught  at  Fort  Plain, 
Waterford,  Little  Falls,  llion,  and  Bata- 
via.  In  the  summer  of  185(3  he  went 
abroad,  and  made  a  study  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  England,  Ireland, 
.        and  Scotland. 

J  January   1,  18()1,   Major  Stowits  went 

I  to  Buffalo  as  principal  of  Public  School 
I  No.  10.  The  troublous  war  times  were 
J  already  close  at  hand,  and  in  the  sum- 
— '  mer  of  1862  he  gave  up  his  position  as  a 
teacher,  and  went  to  the  front.  Enlist- 
ing August  29  as  a  private  in  companj- 
H,  lOUth  New  York  volunteers,  he 
joined  his  regiment  a  few  weeks  later  at  Glouces- 
ter Point,  V'a.  In  December  the  command  was 
ordered  to  the  department  of  the  South,  and  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Charleston  and  the  bombardment 
of  Fort  Sumter.  After  serving  in  many  of  the  most 
hard-fought  engagements  of  the  war,  the  lOOth  regi- 
ment was  ordered  back  to  Cloucester  in  the  spring 
of  181)4,  and  thence  to  Bermuda  Hundreds.  In  the 
advance  ui)on  Richmond  Major  Stowits  served  as 
acting  assistant  adjutant  general  on  the  staff  of  the 
commanding  officer  :  and  in  attempting  to  push  for- 
ward his  skirmish  line  closer  to  the  enemy's  works, 
he  was  shot  through  the  right  arm.  Before  the  wound 
was  well  healed  he  returned  to  his  regiment,  and 
served  on  the  brigade  staff  during  the  rest  of  the 


M/:.\  <>/■■  .\7:ir  ynKK—iri:s'n:K.\  s^^:c^^o^• 


i.'i 


war.  In  the  three  years  of  his  service  he  was  pro- 
moted throiiijh  the  various  grades  of  orderly  sergeant, 
second  and  first  lieutenant,  and  captain,  to  the  rank 
of  major  ;  and  this  title  he  has  licen  |)r(>uil  lo  hear 
ever  sin<  e. 

After  the  war  Major  Stowits  taught  for  a  short 
time  in  Kredonia,  N.  Y.,  and  at  Martinslnirg,  W. 
\'a.  In  the  spring  of  lS(i7  he  w;ls  recalled  to  liiif- 
falo  as  principal  of  I'lihlic  School  No.  .'?.  Since  then 
he  has  been  connei  teil  in  turn  with  .schools  Nos.  ."J;") 
(which  he  organized),  S,  4,  (i,  lit,  and  2;  and  in 
the  fall  of  l!S!t7  he  was  ap|)ointed  princi|)al  of  I'uli- 
lic  School  No.  11.  He  was  at  one  time  llie  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  superintentlent  of  ediu  ation. 

Major  Stowits  has  taken  spec  iai  interest  for  many 
years  in  the  (Irand  .Army  of  the  Republic.  He  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  Hidwell-W'ilkeson  Post,  No. 
II,  of  liuffalo,  and  has  twice  served  as 
commander  of  the  post.  In  iHit.'J  he 
was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Senior 
Vice  Commander  for  New  York  slate, 
and  came  within  seventeen  votes  of  elec- 
tion out  of  a  total  of  7(10.  He  has 
delivered  freiiuent  Memorial  Day  ad- 
dres.ses  to  (Irand  Army  Posts  in  neigh- 
boring towns  as  well  as  in  Buffalo.  In 
August,  18!I7,  when  the  National  Va\ 
campment  of  the  organization  met  in 
Buffalo,  he  worked  with  characteristic 
energy  and  zeal  to  make  the  meeting  an 
entire  success,  and  was  the  Senior  Aide 
to  the  Deiartment  Commander.  At  that 
time  he  contributed  to  the  Buffalo  /////.<- 
tni/oi  Express  a  series  of  articles  consist- 
ing of  war  reminiscences,  and  matters 
of  general  interest  regarding  the  Ciraiul 
Army  of  the  Republic  and  kindred  or- 
ganizations. Major  Stowits  has  also 
written  a  history  of  his  regiment,  the 
lOOih  New  York  volunteers  :  and  he  as- 
sisted Cicorge  S.  Hazard  of  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society  in  the  comi)ilation  of 
a  larger  work.  It  is  his  purpose  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Historical  Society  his  essays, 
speeches,  and  addresses  on  jx-itriotic  and 
educational  toiiics,  which  he  has  carefully 
jireserved  and  which  form  an  interesting 
and  uniipie  i  oUection.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Templars  of  Temperance, 
and  of  Queen  City  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 

PERSONAL  CI/RONOLOGY— George  Henry 
SUnoits  was  horn  at  Eort  Plain,  N.  J'.,  Nm-emher  in, 
IS  J  J  :  7i>as  CiUicalfii  at  tommon  s<lwols  and  academies ; 
married  Adaline  SUrii'its  of  Slarkville,  X.   )'. ,  Oflolur 


2(1,  IS-'f't ;  served  in  the  I  'nion  army,  lS(i2-65  ;  has 
taiij^hl  school  since  IH^H,  with  the  exception  of  the  years 
spent  in  the  army,  and  since  ]S(i7  has  been  continuously 
frnplnvrd ai  principiil of  luinout public  schools  in  Buffalo. 


G.  Jf  ICDCllCl;  ZcUcr,  «ho  has  carried  on  the 
manufacture  of  leather  in  Buffalo  for  many  years, 
was  born  in  ( lemwny  little  more  than  sixty  years  ago. 
His  early  education  w.is  received  in  the  excellent 
Cennan  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  emi 
grated  to  the  I'niled  States,  and  settled  in  Buffalo. 
I'or  the  next  two  years  he  attended  the  public-  schools 
of  that  city,  learning  in  that  way  the  language  and 
custojns  of  the  strange  land,  and  filling  himself  to 
engage  in  business. 

In  IH")")  he  entered  the  employ  of  J.  1".  Schoell- 
ko|)f.  a  Cferman  like  himself,  who  had  established  a 


,  /      }l     S  I  (l\\  lis 


tannery  in  Buffalo  some  ten  years  previou.sly,  and  had 
alreadv  built  up  an  extensive  business  including  sev- 
eral plants  in  different  |rtrts  of  the  country.  He 
remained  with  him  ten  years,  and  during  the  latter 


ir, 


MFX  OF  NEli'    VORK—iVESTKRX  SECT/ON 


part  of  the  time  traveled  considerably,  buying  and 
selling  goods,  and  acting  as  Mr.  Schoellko])f's  confi- 
dential representative. 

At  the  end  of  this  time  Mr.  Zeller  determined  to 
go  into  business  for  himself.  He  was  almost  thirty 
years  old  :  and  had  gained  an  excellent  training  in 


G.   FREDERICK  ZELLER 

sound  business  principles,  as  well  as  a  thorough 
familiarity  with  the  tanner's  trade,  from  his  long  ser- 
vice with  Mr.  SchocUkopf,  a  business  man  of  unusual 
ability.  Accordingly  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
George  Laub,  under  the  style  of  Laub  &  Zeller,  and 
began  the  manufacture  of  leather  on  his  own  account. 
This  association  lasted  for  almost  a  ([uarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  was  entirely  successful.  By  the  year  1889 
Mr.  Zeller  became  desirous  of  admitting  to  a  share 
in  the  business  his  three  sons,  Henry  C,  J.  Fred, 
and  Edward  O.  Zeller.  He  therefore  severed  his 
connection  with  Mr.  Laub,  built  a  new  tannery  on 
Howard  and  Smith  streets,  Buffalo,  and  established 
the  present  firm  of  (1.  F.  Zeller  &  Sons.  Mr.  Zel- 
ler   maintains   an    active  supervision   of  the   entire 


establishment,  and  devotes  the  same  prudent  and 
careful  attention  to  every  detail  that  ha.s  charac- 
terized the  conduct  of  the  concern  from  the  begin- 
ning. Under  the  new  management  the  business  has 
prospered  markedly,  and  the  product  of  the  Zeller 
tannery  is  known  throughout  the  United  States,  and 
finds  a  wide  and  ready  market. 

Mr.  Zeller's  success  in  carrying  on  his 
own  business  has  naturally  brought  him 
into  prominence  in  the  commercial  life 
of  Buffalo,  and  he  has  been  called  ui)on 
to  take  part  in  the  management  of  vari- 
ous financial  institutions.  He  has  been 
vice  president  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  ever 
since  its  organization  in  18!l(),  and  has 
contributed  much  to  its  high  standing. 
He  has  been  for  many  years  a  trustee  of 
the  Buffalo  Savings  Bank,  one  of  the 
most  solid  institutions  in  the  city  ;  and 
he  is  actively  interested  in  other  business 
enterprises. 

Though  far  from  being  a  politician  in 
any  sense  of  the  word,  Mr.  Zeller  is  a 
public-spirited  citizen,  and  has  taken  part 
more  or  less  in  public  affairs.  In  the 
tall  of  1878  he  was  elected  an  alderman 
from  the  old  4th  ward,  Buffalo,  and 
served  for  the  ensuing  two  years,  and 
until  he  moved  out  of  the  ward.  He  is 
best  known  in  public  life,  however,  as  a 
fire  commissioner,  having  been  one  of 
the  most  efficient  members  of  that  board 
for  more  than  a  dozen  years.  He  was 
first  appointed  in  1884  by  Mayor  Sco- 
ville,  and  the  appointment  was  particu- 
larly gratifying  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
received  without  any  solicitation  on  Mr. 
Zeller's  part.  At  the  end  of  his  term  of  six 
years  he  was  reappointed  by  Mayor  Bishop. 
In  1 896  Mayor  Jewett  appointed  him  for  a  third  term  : 
but  Mr.  Zeller  resigned  six  months  later,  feeling  that 
he  had  served  the  city  well  and  long  in  that  capacity, 
and  was  entitled  to  be  released  from  further  duty. 

Mr.  Zeller  is  a  life  member  of  the  Cierman  Young 
Men's  Association  of  Buffalo  and  the  Buffalo  Orpheus, 
and  belongs  to  various  other  societies. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— G.  Frederick 
Zeller  was  born  in  Wurttemherg,  Germany,  February 
8,  1836 ;  7£/as  educated  in  German  and  American 
schools ;  married  Barbara  Mochel  of  Buffalo  May  17, 
1859 ;  was  in  the  employ  of  J.  I'\  Schoellkopf,  1855- 
65 ;  was  an  alderman  of  Buffalo,  1874-75,  and  a 
member  of  the  board  of  fire  commissioners,  188 ^-■96  ; 
has  conducted  a  tannery  in  Buffalo  since  1865. 


.i//r.v  OF  \/-:ir  iOA-A—irEsr^KX  s/ccr/ox 


i: 


IDc  Hlva  StanwooJ)  aiciauDcr  «a.s  i.orn 

in  Maine,  l)tit  in  early  lioyhood  he  went  to  Ohio 
with  his  mother,  where,  at  the  ajje  of  fifteen,  he  en- 
listed in  the  I'ixth  Ohio  volunteer  infantry,  serving 
three  years,  and  until  the  close  of  the  war,  as  a  pri- 
vate soldier.  Most  young  men  would  feel  that  such 
an  ex|«;rience  was  education  enough.  l)Ut 
Mr.  .Mexander  deliberately  returned  tn 
his  native  state,  and  jjreijared  for  college 
at  Kdward  Little  Institute  in  Auburn. 
He  took  his  bachelor's  degree  from  Bow- 
doin  College  in  1H70,  having  as  cla.ssmate> 
James  .\.  Roberts,  comptroller  of  New 
York  state,  Dr.  l.ucien  Howe,  and  \\'illi^ 
H.  Meads,  all  of  Buffalo. 

.After  graduation  .\Ir.  .Alexander  went 
to  I'Ort  Wayne,  Ind.,  where  he  taught  in 
the  public  schools  until  he  became  one  of 
the  editors  and  jjroprietors  of  the  Fori 
Wayne  Gazette,  a  leading  Republican 
|)a|)er  of  northern  Indiana.  I.ater,  having 
ilispo.sed  of  his  interest  in  this  [jublica- 
tion,  he  accepted  a  position  on  the  Cin- 
cinnati Gazette  as  staff  correspondent, 
with  residence  at  Indianapolis.  While 
so  engagetl  he  was  elet  ted  secretary  of 
the  Republican  state  committee,  holding 
the  position  for  six  years.  It  was  alsn 
his  good  fortune  at  this  time  to  be  a]i- 
pointed  clerk  of  the  L'nited  States  senate 
committee  on  privileges  antl  elections  b\ 
its  chairman.  Senator  .Morion,  and  to  ac- 
com|>any  the  latter  to  Oregon  during  the 
investigation  of  the  senatorial  ele<  lion  in 
that  state  in  the  winter  of  iNTti. 

Mr.    .Alexander's  connection   with   the 
news[>ai>er  was  merely  a  stepping-stone  to 
the  ranks  of  the  legal  profes-sion.     For  his 
preceptor  in  the  study  of  the  law  he  had 
no    less   a    master    than    Senator    McDonald,   under 
whose  tuition  he  .studied  until  admitted  to  ihe  bar 
in    January,    1?<77.      He  then   formed  a  |iarlnership 
with  Stanton  J.    I'eelle  of  Indianai)olis,   now  judge 
of  the  Court  of   Claims    in   Washington.      In    IHHl 
.Mr.  .Alexander,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Senator 
Harrison,   was  appointed  by  President  C.arfield  fifth 
auditor  of  the  treiisury  department,  and  left  Indiana 
for  Wa.shington.      Here  among  other  things  he  wa.s 
re(|uire(l  to  [lass   upon  and    settle    the    accounts   ol 
L'nited  States  ministers  and  consuls,  of  the  internal 
revenue,  of  the  Smithsonian   Institute,  of  the  census 
and  |)atent  offices,  and  the  deiKirtment  of  slate  —  ac- 
counts amounting  in  all  to  u|)wards  of  SlOO.ddK.OOO 
annuallv.      .A    reform    feature    of   his  work    was  the 


application  of  a  system  of  chec  ks  u|K)n  consular  fees, 
making  it  im|)Ossible  for  any  consul,  without  dis- 
covery, to  collect  a  fee  and  retain  it.  Mr.  .Ale.xander 
served  under  secretaries  Windom,  Kolger,  .McCiilloch, 
and  .Manning.  While  residing  in  the  national  cap- 
ital, he  was  elected  and  served  as  commander  of  the 


nr  Ai.v.x  ST.i.vii  i'i>/>  .u  t:.\.i.\/'/  a 

Deiwrtment    of  the  Potomac,  (Jrand    .Ann\    of   tin 
Republic. 

.Mr.  .Alexander,  attracted  by  the  manifest  advan- 
tages of  Buffalo  and  by  a  law  lartnershij)  with  his 
college  c  la.ssmate,  Mr.  Roberts,  mo\ecl  thither  in 
IHM.'i.  Three  years  afterward,  when  tleueral  liar 
rison  had  become  a  candidate  for  President.  .Mr 
.Alexander  was  invited  to  assist  him,  and  for  this 
purpose  s|)ent  the  entire  cam|)aign  of  IHUMat  Indian- 
apolis .IS  his  jirivate  secretary.  In  June.  1HS!I. 
.\lr.  .Alexander  was  ai)pointecl  l'nited  States  distric  t 
attorney  for  the  northern  district  of  New  York,  and 
held  the  office  imtil  IWcemU-r.  lX!i:{,  discharging 
successfiilly  its  res|)onsible  duties.  'Ihc  failure  of 
two  national  Iwnks  and  a   large  defalcation    in   the 


18 


^rE\  OF  XEW    VOKK—IVESTF.RX  SECTIOX 


Albany  City  National  Bank,  both  of  which  occurred 
during  Mr.  Alexander's  term,  gave  the  district  attor- 
ney ample  opportunity  for  good  work ;  and  the 
fact  that,  of  eight  men  indicted  for  these  failures 
and  this  defalcation,  seven  were  convicted  and  sent 


TRACY  C.  liRCKER 

to  the  penitentiary,  shows  that  tlit-  work  of  tlie  office 
was  well  cared  for. 

Mr.  Alexander  has  shown  marked  ability  and 
capacity  for  affairs  in  whatever  he  has  undertaken. 
Political  life  in  its  higher  form  has  seemed  to  him  a 
worthy  ambition,  and  his  time  and  thought,  outside 
the  business  of  his  profession,  have  ever  been  subject 
to  the  demand  of  his  party  on  the  stump  and  in  the 
work  of  organization.  But  while  a  strong  partisan, 
he  is  no  believer  in  party  success  at  any  cost,  and  he 
has  identified  himself  with  clean  politics  at  all  times. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  and  University  clubs, 
and  is  well  known  and  esteemed  in  social  circles,  at 
the  bar,  and  in  the  plainer  walks  of  life. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  —  De  Alva 
Stamvood  Alexander  Teas  horn  at  Richmond,  Me. ,  July 


17,  18If6 ;  se)-ved three  years  during  the  Civil  War; 
7oas  educated  at  Edzoard  Little  Institute,  Auburn, 
Me.,  and  at  Boivdoin  College,  Bruiisioick,  Me.  ; 
edited  the  Fort  IVayne  ' '  Gazette, ' '  1871— H  ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Indianapolis  in  January,  1877  ; 
7oas  fifth  auditor  of  the  treasury,  1881-85  ; 
7c>as  i  "nited  States  district  attorney,  1889- 
9.3;  married  Alice  Colby  of  Defiance,  0., 
September  I4,  1871,  and  Anne  Lucille 
Bliss  of  Buffalo  December  30,  189-3. 


XTraCg  C  36ecf?er  has  attained  a 
prominent  position  at  the  bar  and  in  the 
public  service  at  a  comparatively  early 
age.  He  was  well  prepared  for  the  pro- 
fession he  adopted,  and  thus  had  to  over- 
come none  of  those  obstacles  that  retard, 
when  they  do  not  prevent,  the  success  of 
ambitious  men  of  limited  education  who 
undertake  the  practice  of  law.  Mr.  Becker 
has  confined  himself  closely  to  his  pro- 
fession ;  and  whenever  he  has  accepted 
public  office  it  has  been  because  the  posi- 
tion involved  legal  work,  and  was  in  line 
with  his  vocation. 

Mr.  Becker's  studies  ]jreparatory  for 
college  were  pursued  at  a  private  school 
in  Albany,  where  he  was  fitted  for  Union 
College,  graduating  therefrom  in  the  clas- 
sical course  at  the  unusual  age  of  nineteen. 
He  then  entered  the  famous  Albany  Law- 
School,  studying  office  practice  meanwhile 
with  G.  B.  and  J.  Kellogg  of  Troy  and 
S.  W.  Ro.sendale  of  Albany,  and  took  his 
LL.  B.  degree  in  1876.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  the  same  year,  and  thus  began 
practice  when  only  twenty-one  years  old. 
The  next  year  he  came  to  Buffalo,  where 
he  has  practiced  ever  since. 

For  four  years  Mr.  Becker  was  one  of  the  assistant 
district  attorneys  of  Erie  county,  under  District  At- 
torney K.  W.  Hatch,  now  a  justice  of  the  Su])reme 
Court.  Mr.  Becker  was  nominated  for  the  office  of 
city  attorney  in  I81S.S,  and  came  within  two  hundreii 
votes  of  an  election.  In  1894  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  state  constitutional  convention,  and  .served 
on  several  of  the  most  important  committees.  .As 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  legislative  organization, 
which  apportioned  the  state  senate  and  a.ssembly  ilis- 
tricts,  he  took  a  leading  part  in  embodying  in  the 
constitution  provisions  to  prevent  political  gerry- 
mandering. He  was  also  a  member  of  the  judiciary 
committee  and  of  the  committee  on  cities,  and  ren- 
dered efficient  aid  both    in  committee  and  on    the 


.i//r.\'  OF  \ru-  vnnK     UTSTrnv  <^rrTrn\- 


I'l 


floor  of  the  convention  in  securing  tlie  adoption  and 
[massage  of  the  im|)ortant  anirndnients  that  were 
ratified  by  the  i)eo]jle. 

In  the  field  of  niunici|jal  reform  Mr.  Becker  ha.s 
been  foremost  among  the  citizens  of  BiifTalo.  He 
served  with  Messrs.  Milburn,  WiUox,  Clinton, 
(Iraves,  and  others  as  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Citi- 
zens' A.ssociation,  which  succeeded  in  obtaining  from 
the  legislature  in  189'2,  after  several  years  of  earnest 
effort,  a  new  charter  for  the  city.  I.argely  through 
the  efforts  of  the  same  gentlemen  there  followed, 
three  years  later,  the  passage  of  the  jury-refomi  bill 
for  Erie  county  —  a  measure  which  daily  proves  the 
wisdom  of  its  promoters,  and  which  is  of  vast  benefit 
to  the  cause  of  justice.  .Mr.  Becker  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Buffalo  law  School,  in  which  he 
has  lectured  since  IHMH  on  criminal  law 
and  medical  jurisprudence. 

The  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Becker  is 
held  by  his  professional  brethren  is  evi- 
denced in  their  selection  of  him,  for  four 
years  as  chairman  of  the  executive  com 
mittee,  and  for  one  year  as  president,  oi 
the  State  Bar  A.s.sociation  of  New  York. 
Not  only  as  a  practitioner,  however,  is  he 
regarded  highly  ;  for  he  has  also  gaineil 
a  reputation  in  the  ranks  of  law  writers. 
In  collaboration  with  Profes.sor  R.  A. 
U'itthaus,  and  other  medico-legal  sjiecia! 
ists,  Mr.  Becker  has  written  a  valuable 
work,  in  four  volumes,  on  "  Medical  Jur- 
isprudence, Forensic  Medicine,  and  Tox- 
icology." His  law  practice  is  large  and 
growing,  and  he  has  appeared  before  all 
the  courts  of  this  state  during  the  last 
decade  in  many  imjjortant  civil  and  crim- 
inal cases.  He  is  a  member  of  one  of 
the  leading  law  firms  in  Buffalo,  of  which 
Comptroller  James  .\.  Roberts  is  ihc 
senior  ]jartner. 

Mr.  Becker  is  prominent  in  social  life, 
and  is  a  member  of  various  fraternal  so- 
cieties. Masonic  lodges,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
Club.  He  is  a  Presbyterian  in  religion 
and  a  Republican  in  jwlitics. 

PERSOXAL     CHROXOLOGV  — 
Tracy     CliatfielJ    Becker    was    horn    at 
Cohoes,  X.  v.,  February  H,  IS't't ;  grai/- 
iiated  from    Union    College,    Schenectaity, 
X^.   Y.,  in  1S74,  and  from  Albany  Laio 
School  in  1S16  :  was  aJmitted  to  the  bar  at  Pingham- 
lon,  X.  Y.,  in  May,  ISlfi  ;  married  Minnie  A.  Le  Roy 
of  Cohoes  December  J7,  7**76"  .•   was  Jd  assistant  dis- 
trict attorney  of  Erie  county,  tSSlS.'t  ,•  was  president 


oj  lite  .\rTi'   ),'/X'  .Vc//<-  lu\i  A.'SOiiatii'n  in  ISUIf  .   na> 
practiced  law  in  Buffalo  ■iince  1S77. 


CbiirlC5  Jf .  JBlybOp  owes  his  success  in  life  to 
close  attention  to  business,  zeal  and  activity  in  car- 
ing for  all  matters  entrusted  to  him,  and  an  honesty 
and  a  singleness  of  puri)Ose  from  whii  h  nothing 
could  entice  him.  Firmness,  shrewtlness,  boldness, 
and  the  strictest  integrity  are  |>arts  of  his  character. 
He  has  never  l)ecn  known  to  fail  in  the  discharge  of 
the  manifold  duties  that  have  devolved  upon  him  as 
a  business  man,  as  mayor  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  for 
five  years,  or  as  a  representative  Mason,  to  whom  the 
fraternity  often  looks  for  assistance  and  guidance. 

When  only  thirteen  years  old,  young  Bishoji 
sought  and  obtained  emjMoyment  in  a  retail  grocery. 


<  //.(A7.A.V  /    r.i.simr 


This  was  the  humble  l)eginning  of  a  bu.sincss  life 
that  has  continued  to  the  present  time  with  an  ever 
increasing  and  broadening  success.  For  many  years 
.Mr.  Bishop  has  l)een  a  leailing  wholesale  dealer  in 


20 


xfKX  or  XEW  ]-oRA-^n7-:sTj;/^.y  sf.ct/ox 


tea,  coffee,  and  spices,  having  established  himself  in 
that  business  in  1869.  He  is  interested  in  various 
other  business  enterprises,  is  a  director  of  the  People's 
Bank,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Western  pavings  Bank. 

Mr.  Bishop  pursued  the  (juiet  tenor  of  his  way 
as  a  business  man,  making  friends  steadily  and  hold- 
ing them  firmly,  with  no  thought  or  ambition  for 
public  life,  until  1887,  when  the.  Democratic  party 
insisted  on  making  him  its  candidate  for  county 
treasurer.  The  contest  was  unusually  close,  and 
when  the  official  count  was  made  Mr.  Bishop  was 
declared  defeated  by  fort)'-one  \otes.  Some  of  his 
friends  strongly  urged  him  to  contest  the  election  ; 
but. he  declined  to  do  this,  having  no  desire  for  an 
ofifice  so  olitained.  This  forbearance  increased  his 
.popularity  greatly,  and,  together  with  the  strength 
he  had  shown  in  the  contest,  made  him  his  party's 
candidate  for  mayor  of  Buffalo  in  1889.  He  was 
elected  by  a  very  large  majority,  and  two  years  later 
was  re-elected,  serving  altogether  five  years  as  the 
chief  magistrate  of  Buffalo.  To  the  discharge  of  the 
many  vexatious  duties  of  that  trying  position  he 
applied  plain,  business  methods,  and  gave  the  city 
one  of  the  most  efficient  administrations  it  had  ever 
known.  His  conscientious  devotion  to  duty  was 
modest  withal,  and  he  brought  about  many  reforms 
and  prevented  many  abuses  of  which  the  public 
learned  only  incidentally.  His  idea  of  what  a  mayor 
ought  to  be  was  aptly  shown  in  an  after-dinner  ad- 
dress made  at  a  banquet  given  to  (irover  Cleveland  at 
the  Irocjuois  hotel  on  May  11,  1891,  when  he  .said 
that  the  mayor  should  be  a  "handy  man."  That 
was  e.\actly  what  Mayor  Bishop  proved  himself  to 
he  for  the  taxpayers.  Never  for  a  moment  did  he 
swerve  from  what  .seemed  to  him  the  right  course : 
and  to  his  credit  it  may  be  added  that  what  seemed 
right  to  him  seemed  right  to  the  majority  of  his 
fellow-citizens  a.s  well. 

Mr.  Bishop  is  a  Mason  of  high  standing  and  great 
popularity.  He  is  a  Knight  Templar,  and  holds  the 
32d  degree  in  the  Ancient  .Vccepted  Scottish  Rite. 
He  has  been  Master  of  Concordia  Lodge  and  Emi- 
nent Commander  of  Lake  Erie  Commandery,  No.  20, 
Knights  Templars.  He  was  jjresident  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  Ma.sonic  Hall  .-Association  for  five 
years,  and  in  that  capacity  won  the  highest  praise, 
formally  expre.ssed,  of  his  associates.  For  four  years 
he  was  District  Deputy  C.rand  Master  for  the  2")th 
Masonic  district,  and  as  .such  had  the  honor  of  laying 
the  corner  stone  of  the  magnificent  temple  that  is 
owned  by  the  fraternity  in  Buffalo.  He  is  first  vice 
president  of  the  Masonic  Life  Association  of  Western 
New  York,  and  has  been  treasurer  of  Ismailia  Temple, 
Nol)les  of  the  .Mvstic  Shrine,  ever  since  its  institution. 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Charles  Fred- 
crick  BisJwp  7vas  born  at  Williamsvillc,  N.  Y.,  Octo- 
ber H,  1844  •'  "loveii  to  Buffalo  in  his  l>oyhood :  at- 
tended the  public  schools  until  he  7vas  thirteen  years 
old;  married  -Kate  Aloran  of  Buffalo  August  6, 
.1865;  7uas  elected  .mayor  of  Buffalo  in  1889,  and 
re-elected  in  1891,  sei~!'i?ig  five  years  altogether ;  has 
conducted  a  wholesale  business  in  tea,  coffee,  and 
spices  since  1869. 


MilSOU  S.  JSi3SCll  is  one  of  the  group  of 
public  men  who  have  made  Buffalo  famous  in  the 
political  annals  of  the  country.  Four  of  the  num- 
ber. Presidents  Fillmore  and  Cleveland  and  Messrs. 
Hall  and  Bissell,  have  been  lawyers,  and  by  a  unique 
coincidence  have  occupied  the  same  law  office.  Few 
cities  have  sent  so  many  men  to  fill  the  highest  posi- 
tions in  state  and  nation  as  the  city  of  Buffalo. 
That  the  history  of  the  country  has  been  profoundly 
influenced  by  these  men  is  not  an  unwarranted  state- 
ment growing  out  of  local  pride. 

Mr.  Bissell  is  a  native  New  Yorker,  and  his  home 
has  been  in  Buffalo  since  he  was  five  years  old,  when 
his  parents  removed  thither  from  New  London, 
Oneida  county.  He  had,  therefore,  the  advantages 
of  an  education  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  ; 
and  in  his  sixteenth  year  he  was  .sent  to  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  to  ]3repare  for  college  in  the  famous  Hopkins 
(Grammar  School.  He  entered  Yale  College  in 
1865,  and  graduated  with  the  class  of  1869.  Re- 
turning to  Buffalo,  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Laning,  Cleveland  &  FoLsom,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  two  years  later. 

As  a  lawyer  his  career  has  been  marked  by  close 
attention  to  work,  faithfulness  to  clients,  increasing 
practice,  and  steady  advancement  in  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  his  brethren  at  the  bar.  I'he  office  of  the 
counselor  has  been  to  him  far  more  congenial  than 
the  contentious  life  of  the  advocate  ;  and  as  an  office 
lawyer  he  holds  a  high  rank  both  because  of  his  wide 
knowledge  of  his  profession,  and  especially  because 
of  excellent  business  judgment,  which  has  drawn  to 
him  a  large  corporation  practice.  The  law  is,  after 
all,  like  any  branch  of  .science  —  a  few  broad  jjrinci- 
]jles  and  a  great  deal  of  common  sense. 

Mr.  Bissell  has  been  a.ssociated  in  partnership  with 
a  number  of  distinguished  men  and  strong  lawyers. 
His  first  partner  was  Lyman  K.  Bass.  Later,  Mr. 
Cleveland  joined  the  firm,  which  was  known  as 
Ba.ss,  Cleveland  &  Bissell.  .After  Mr.  Ba.ss  retired 
and  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  mayor  of  Buffalo,  the 
firm  became  Cleveland,  Bis.sell  &:  Sicard.  On  his 
election  to  the  govcTnor.-ihip  Mr.  Cleveland  with- 
drew, and  since  then  Mr.  Bissell  has  been  the  senior 


.\fF..\  or  .\/:\r   VOKk—ll-ESTKRX  skct/ox 


21 


member  of  one  of  Buffalo's  great  law  firms,  the  style 
to-day  Ijeing  Bissell,  Sicard,  Bissell  &  Carey. 

Although  so  muih  and  so  intimately  a.ssoiiated 
with  a  man  now  occupying  the  highest  jKJsition  in 
the  gift  of  the  American  people,  Mr.  His.sell  reso- 
lutely abjured  jwlitics  beyond  what  strong  party 
fealty  re(|uired  of  him.  .\n  earnest 
Democrat,  always  ready  with  time  and 
services  to  aid  in  the  success  of  his  [wrtv. 
he  preferred  the  ])racticeof  his  profession 
to  the  allurements  of  political  life.  In 
Mr.  Cleveland's  first  term  Mr.  Bissell  had 
the  refusal  of  several  honorable  offices,  but 
could  not  be  tempted  from  his  pnrpo.se  to 
remain  simply  a  lawyer.  However,  when 
his  old  |)artner  was  elected  for  a  second 
term  in  1X92,  and  invited  him  into  his 
cabinet,  Mr.  His.sell  feU  that  an  honor  .so 
high  and  unsought  by  him  should  not  be 
put  aside.  Therefore  he  acceiited  the 
|)Osition  of  postmaster  -  general  in  Mr. 
Cleveland's  cabinet,  and  made  the  most  of 
the  large  opjiortunitits  for  usefulness  that 
a  cabinet  i>ortfolio  presents.  When, 
after  two  years  of  service,  he  resigneil 
for  ])urely  |)ersonal  reasons,  he  left  behind 
him  in  the  ])Ost-offi(c  deiMrlment  a  rec- 
ord for  thoroughness,  unfailing  courtesy, 
executive  ability,  and  practical  reform 
unsur|)as.sed  by  any  of  his  predeces.sors. 
The  good  will  of  men  of  both  |arties 
followed  him  to  his  home. 

-Mr.  Bissell  is  |)rominent  in  the  so(  iai 
life  of  Buffalo.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Buffalo  Clid),  of  which  he  was  president 
in  l)S,Sf<.  In  all  |)ublic  movements  his 
counsel  and  his  influence  are  .sought, 
and  every  worthy  cau.se  finds  in  him  a 
.supporter  and  a  friend. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY— Wilson  Slum 
lion  Bissell  was  born  al  Nnu  London,  N.  Y. ,  Dfd-m- 
her  SI,  1847  :  gradiiatct from  Yale  Colle^^e  in  ISO!)  : 
married  Louise  Sturt^es  of  Genci'a,  N.  Y. ,  Fehruaiy 
G,  IfiOO  ;  was  ad  mi  lied  lo  the  har  al  Ihiffalo  in  1871  : 
7t>as  presidential  elector-at-laixe  on  the  Demoerati,- 
ticket  in  1888;  was  f>oslmaster-:^eneral  ]8fhi-lt.'). 

GCOttlC  JBlCiStCiU  ';*  a  remarkable  example  of 
the  ra|>iditv  with  which  a  voung  .Vnierican  can  rise 
to  |iositions  of  high  res|K)nsibility  when  ability  and 
favoring  fortune  go  together.  His  school  days  were 
brief,  emiing  when,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  left 
one  of  the  Buffalo  public  .schools,  and  entered  the 
service  of  the  Courier  Coni|iany  as  office  boy.       That 


was  the  l>eginning  of  his  career,  and  there  was  little 
indication  or  promise  up  to  that  time  of  what  the 
future  ^vas  to  lie.  Success  came  marvelously  soon  ; 
for  in  five  years  the  office  lioy  had  l>econ)e  su|(erin- 
tendent,  and  in  three  years  more,  on  the  death  of 
Chas.  W    \|.  <  •Mif  —  or  less  than  a  decade  from  the 


U7/.so.\  .V.  liissni.i. 

time  when  the  lad  of  fourteen  entered  the  establish 
ment  —  he  was  elected  i)resident  of  the  <om|>3ny 
From  the  foot  of  the  ladder  he  had  gained  the  top 
most  round. 

Rapidly  won  success  imi>oses  u|ion  him  who  wins 
it  a  greater  task  than  that  whi<  h  rests  u|K)n  the  man 
whose  rise  is  slower.  In  sustaining  the  large  res|K)n- 
sibilitii-s  that  he  xs.simied  as  president  of  the  Courier 
Com|<any,  Mr.  Bleistein  has  made  evident  the  |ios- 
session  of  ijualities  that  explain  and  justify  his  mete- 
oric advancement.  .As  a  busini-ss  man  he  h.xs  mani- 
fested enterprise  and  wi.sdom  in  the  manageinent  of 
extensive  affairs  ;  while  in  public  relations  he  has 
made  his  |>osition  and  abilities  a  i)Ositive  influence 
tor  the  welfare  of  the  communitv  in  which  he  lives. 


AfE.X  or  Xrir    VORK—iVESTERX  SECT/OX 


\\'hile  he  has  not  been  active  in  politics  in  the 
lower  sense  in  which  that  term  is  often  understood, 
he  has  taken  a  decided  stand  in  political  matters, 
and  one  which,  from  his  position  at  the  head  of  the 
compan)-  that  publishes  the  leading  Democratic 
newsi)aper  of  Riiflalo,  has  contributed  much  to  the 


GEORGE   IiLE/STE/.\ 

well-being  of  his  fellow-citizens.  That  stand  is  for 
pure  government  and  home  rule  in  home  affairs. 
When  the  Home-Rule  Democracy  of  Erie  County 
sprang  into  e.xistence  in  1893,  to  battle  with  the 
influences  that  were  committing  the  municipality  and 
county  to  the  power  of  a  corrupt  political  machine. 
Mr.  Bleistein  was  elected  jjresident  of  the  organiza- 
tion. 'I"he  effect  of  the  movement  was  felt  in  state 
as  well  as  in  local  politics,  and  to  it  belongs  much  of 
the  credit  for  the  victory  won  for  good  government 
at  the  polls  in  that  year.  Mr.  Bleistein  has  never 
sought  public  office,  and  the  only  office  which  he  has 
held  is  that  of  tnistee  of  the  City  and  County  Hall  in 
Buffalo  —  a  position  that  he  occupied  for  seven  years, 
four  of  which  were  sjjent  as  chairman  of  the  board. 


Mr.  Bleistein  has  furnished  many  proofs  that  he  is 
a  good  citizen  of  Buffalo.  Projects  for  advancing 
the  interests  of  the  city  have  always  met  with  warm 
sympathy  from  him.  He  has  given  generously  of 
both  his  means  and  his  time  and  influence  to  such 
enterprises.  Any  movement  with  a  benevolent 
object  is  sure  to  find  in  him  an  ardent 
su]iporter. 

•Vlr.  Bleistein  is  by  nature  one  of  the 
most  social  and  companionable  of  men. 
Thus  it  happens  that  he  has  many  friends, 
and  is  a  member  of  many  clubs.  Among 
the  social  organizations  to  which  he  be- 
longs are  the  Buffalo  Club,  the  Saturn 
Club,  and  the  Country  Club  (of  which 
he  is  president),  all  of  Buffalo  ;  the  Man- 
hattan Club  of  New  York  city  ;  and  the 
Jekyl  Island  Club.  He  is  a  32d  degree 
.Ma.son. 

Mr.  Bleistein  is  president  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  a  director  of  the  United  Press  of 
tlie  United   States. 

PERSONAL  CHR  0X0  L  OGY — 
GfDJXf  Bleistein  zcas  boni  at  Buffalo 
December  6,  1861 ;  graduated  from  the 
public  schools,  after  spending  tioo  years  at 
a  German  school ;  entered  the  service  of  the 
Courier  Company,  in  Buffalo,  in  1876, 
becoming  superintendent  of  the  company  in 
1881  and  president  in  1884;  married  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Wells  McCune  of  Buffalo  April 
iS,  1886  ;  was  chosen  president  of  Nome- 
Rule  Democracy  of  Erie  County,  A'.  Y. , 
in   1893. 


Ibenr^  "W.  Bren&el  is  one  of  the 

younger  lawyers  and  politicians  of  Buffalo 
who  have  taken  an  active  and  intelligent 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  Although  of 
(ierman  descent,  he  was  born  in  Buffalo,  and  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  His 
course  of  study  was  completed  in  1873,  and  he  was 
then  called  upon  to  choose  his  calling  in  life.  To 
the  young  man  just  entering  the  arena  of  action  in 
this  way,  the  future  presents  many  and  varied  possi- 
bilities. The  world  of  business,  with  its  intense 
activity,  wide  opportunities,  and  splendid  rewards, 
calls  loudly  to  him  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  its  follow- 
ers, while  the  various  professions  offer  their  counter 
attractions  with  compelling  force.  Mr.  Brendel, 
notwithstanding  the  obstacle  of  insufficient  scholastic 
prei)aration,  chose  the  study  of  law,  and  re.solved  to 
make  actual    work   and   training  in  a   practitioner's 


.\fF.\  OF  \/:ir  yo f! A— n-FSTF AW  sfct/ox 


23 


office  take  the  place  of  a  law  school.  This  plan  he 
successfully  pursued,  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the 
law  under  these  adverse  conditions  in  al)0ut  the 
same  time  that  some  law  schools  reijuire.  He 
remained  one  year  in  the  office  of  Hawkins  iV 
Fischer,  and  completed  his  studies  in  the  office  of 
Delavan  K.  Clark.  Realizing  the  fact  that  in  the 
case  of  young  men  a  successful  |)ra(  tice  of  the  law  is 
most  easily  obtained  through  a  connection  with  .some 
attorney  already  ])rominent,  Mr.  Brendel  formed  a 
coi>artnership  with  (Jeneral  James  C  Strong  in  the 
fall  of  1879.  The  firm  was  most  successful,  and 
conducted  much  imjwrtant  litigation.  In  the  year 
1H}»1  this  lartnership  was  tlissohed  by  mutual  con- 
sent, and  Mr.  Brendel  has  since  carried  on  his  ex- 
tensive practice  alone. 

Mr.  Brendel  has  always  been  actively  interested  in 
Re|)ubli<an  jiolitics,  and  has  served  his 
party  for  a  number  of  years  as  member 
of  its  executive  committee,  where  his 
counsel  and  advice  are  much  sought  and 
are  always  valuable.  While  serving  on 
this  committee,  he  was  chosen  treasurer 
for  three  years,  on  account  of  his  strict 
integrity  and  business  and  financial  acu- 
men ;  and  he  handled  the  funds  of  the 
organization  in  a  manner  highly  satis- 
factory to  the  ])arty  managers.  He  has 
three  times  been  nominated  for  the  state 
assembly,  but,  living  in  a  district  strongly 
Democratic,  he  has  been  as  many  times 
defeated.  These  defeats  he  takes  cheer- 
fully and  philosophically,  realizing  that 
the  man  who  can  say,  "  1  have  never  held 
a  political  office,"  has  escaped  many  of 
the  discomforts  of  life. 

Mr.  Brendel  is  a  member  of  St. 
Stephen's  Evangelical  Church,  and  takes 
great  interest  in  its  work.  Inheriting 
from  his  Cerman  ancestors  that  love  of 
music  for  which  the  race  is  so  famous,  he 
belongs  to  the  Harugari,  the  Teutonia 
Maennerchor,  and  other  singing  societies. 
He  can  claim  much  credit  for  the  mag- 
nificent results  accom])li.she(l  by  the  der- 
man-American  musical  societies  —  one  of 
the  noteworthy  and  creditable  features 
wherein  Buffalo  is  pre-eminent  among 
the  cities  of  the  Kmjiire  State  —  where 
the  divine  art  is  rationally  mingled  with 
domestic  and  social  enjoyments,  and  with  that 
genial  Teutonic  i^finiillilifhkeil  that  seems  at  pres- 
ent im|)Ossible  to  the  less  gregarious  and  more 
egoistic,   nervous  Yankee.       To  the  Teutonia  Maen- 


nerchor, the  chief  among  these  societies,  Mr.  Bren- 
del has  devoted  his  time  and  energy  without 
stint  ;  and  in  other  ways  xs  well  he  has  con- 
tributed liberally  of  both  his  means  and  influence 
to  the  advancement  of  the  musical  art  and  the 
cultivation  of  a  sound  musical  taste  in  the  city 
of  Buffalo.  Thus,  with  greater  effectiveness  than 
by  more  |>retentious  agen<ies,  has  he  hel|x.'d  forward 
and  develo]K'd  that  true  urlian  civilization  whi<  h 
has  made  the  Queen  of  the  Lower  I^kes  a  city  of 
cosmo|K>litan  culture. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Jhnry  W. 
Iheiitlfl  was  horn  at  Buffalo  Df(fmher  10,  IS.'i 7  : 
7i'as  filiicalfil  in  llif  Buffalo  puhlii  schools ;  hff^aii 
the  study  of  law  in  181  ii,  anJ  was  aiimitteJ  to  the  bar 
in  January,  1870 ;  rcas  nominateti  for  the  state  assent- 
My  in  1880,  1887,  ami  18S!>. 


iiiixKV  w:  itff i:\niu. 


30bn  C.  Krvaut,  while  earning  a  handsome 
com|)eten»'e  for  huii>elf,  has  devoted  his  life  to  the  wel- 
fare of  others.  As  president  of  the  Bryant  &  Stratton 
Buffalo  Business  College  he  has  contributed  no  small 


24 


MF.X   OF  .VFir    )-Ol<K~U'ESTKR\  SECTIOX 


share  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Buffalo,  by 
the  business  training  given  at  his  institution  to 
a  host  of  young  men,  man)-  of  whom  have  become 
leaders  in  the  business  world.  He  can,  therefore, 
look  back  upon  his  life  with  a  degree  of  satisfaction 
that  falls  to  the  lot  of  comparatively  few.      Of  good 


JOH.X   r.   /iKVA.XT 

old  I'jiglish  stock,  Mr.  Bryant  was  brought  lo  this 
country  early  in  life.  His  education  was  liegun  in 
the  common  schools,  and  after  a  two  years'  course  in 
the  academy  at  Norwalk,  Ohio,  he  determined  to 
study  medicine.  For  three  years  he  devoted  his 
entire  time  and  all  his  energies  to  the  study  of  that 
noble  profession,  and  graduated  from  the  Cleveland 
Medical  College  in  1846. 

For  the  next  ten  years  he  was  known  as  Dr.  Bry- 
ant. His  field  of  labor  was  in  .Amherst,  Ohio,  and 
here  he  was  widely  known  and  honored,  both  as  a 
man  and  as  a  physician.  Many  a  ])rofessional  man 
has  found,  after  a  few  years  devoted  lo  what  he  had 
expected   would   be  his  life-work,    that    tliere    were 


opportunities  for  remunerative  usefulness  in  directions 
altogether  unthought  of.  Such  was  the  case  with 
Dr.  Bryant.  It  was  in  the  fall  of  1856  that  he  came 
to  Buffalo  and  entered  into  partnership  with  his 
brother,  H.  B.  Bryant,  and  his  brother-in-law,  H. 
D.  Stratton,  who  had  established  business  col- 
leges in  Cleveland  in  1853  and  in 
Buffalo  in  18.i4,  which  were  to  become 
links  of  a  chain  of  similar  institutions 
afterward  located  in  forty-four  cities  of 
this  country  and  Canada.  These  places 
of  business  training  became  famous  as  the 
Bryant  &  Stratton  business  colleges.  To 
the  projectors  of  the.se  schools  it  was  evi- 
dent that  here  was  an  unoccupied  field. 
Young  men  had  no  opportunity  to  acquire 
a  knowledge  of  business  methods  excejit 
by  a  slow  course  of  training  in  some  office 
or  store ;  and  even  then  they  were  not 
likely  to  gain  an  insight  into  the  theory 
and  practice  of  business  so  comprehen- 
sive and  accurate  as  modern  conditions 
demand.  From  the  first  it  was  the  in- 
tention of  Messrs.  Bryant  and  Stratton  to 
make  their  course  of  study  cover  not  only 
the  theory  but  also  the  practice  of  mer- 
cantile methods.  How  successful  these 
business  colleges  have  been,  thousands 
of  young  men,  who  have  gone  forth 
from  them  equipiied  with  a  practical 
knowledge  of  luisiness  methods,  can 
testify. 

Since  1860  Mr.  Bryant  has  been  pres- 
ident of  the  Buffalo  college,  and  under 
his  watchful  care  the  original  system 
has  grown  and  expanded  until  it  has 
apparentl)-  reached  the  stage  of  perfec- 
tion. Yet  it  has  never  been  Mr.  Bryant's 
habit  to  be  satisfied  with  what  was  alreati\- 
accomplished.  His  motto  might  well 
have  been  "Progress,"  so  closely  has  he  lived  u]> 
to  that  jjrincijjle. 

No  author  of  practical  text-books  on  bookkeep- 
ing and  commercial  law  ranks  higher  than  Mr. 
Bryant.  He  has  given  a  great  deal  of  time  and  in- 
telligent thought  to  the  preparation  of  his  books  : 
and  the  fact  that  they  have  a  large  circulation  all 
through  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  are 
favorably  known  even  in  foreign  countries,  is  an 
evidence  of  their  great  value. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Collitis 
Bivaiit  was  born  at  Ehley,  Gloucestersliire,  Englani/, 
December  21,  1821;  attenckd  the  Norwalk  (O.) 
Academ\  l7C'0  rears,  and  studied  medicine  tiiree  years, 


.I/A.V  or  \i:ir  \()h-A'  — II 7:s 77: AW  sect/ox 


graduating  from  the  Cleveland  Medical  College  in 
ISJ^G ;  married  Hannah  .1/.  Clark  of  Wakeman,  O.. 
May  21,  1851 :  practiced  his  profession  at  Amherst, 
O.,  18J^7-o6 ;  came  to  Buffalo  in  IS06,  and  formed 
a  partnership  H'ith  //.  B.  Bryant  and  If.  D.  Slrat- 
ton  for  the  conduct  of  business  colleges  :  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Bryant  o^"  Stratton  Buffalo  fiusiness 
College  since  ISOO. 


S.  2)0lUllaS  Cornell  •»  the  head  of  one  of  the 
hest  knuwii  aiul  oKlcsi  I'ainilies  in  Buffalo.      He  is  a 
familiar   figure  on    the  streets  of  the    city,   and    is 
one  of  the  most  ])0|)ular  men  in  its  society.      He  is  a 
gentleman   in   the   best  sense  of  the   word,   always 
courteous  and  atTable,  ever  kind  and  considerate  in 
his  liearing  toward  others.      Mr.  (."ornell  was  born  in 
Fairfield  coimty,  Conn.,   but  early   in  life  came  to 
Buffalo,  where  he,  and  his  father  l>efore 
him,  were  identified  for  many  years  with 
the  |)rogressive  Ijusiness  interests  ol    the 
city.      Mr.  fornell  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  equipped  for  his  life-work  with  an 
excellent  education,  begun  at  home,  con- 
tinued under  the  care  of  able  and  watchtiil 
tutors,  and  finished  (  scholastically  speak- 
ing) at  Hobart  College,  tieneva,  N.  V., 
whence  he  graduated  in   IHfiO.     Supple- 
mentary study  brought  him  the  degree  ol 
.\.  M.  from  the  same  institution  in  lX(i.'{. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he 
began  an  active  business  career  with  his 
father,  S.  ("■.  Cornell,  who  was  a  leading 
manufacturer  of  white  lead  —  a  business 
with  which  the  name  of  Cornell  wasas-so- 
ciated  for  a  long  period.  His  connection 
with  the  manufiK  ture  of  this  important 
product  was  interrupted  for  some  time 
that  he  spent  in  Colorado  as  an  agent  for 
the  examination  of  gold  mines.  In  this 
specialty  he  was  eminently  successful,  and 
in  IHfi."?  he  ]niblished,  as  a  result  of  his 
observations,  a  valuable  jwmphlct  entitled 
"  Prospects  of  Cold  Miningin  (."olorado." 

As  Mr.  Cornell's  father  desired  the  aid 
of  his  son  in  his  ra|)idly  exianding  busi- 
ness, hitherto  conducted  under  his  own 
name,  the  young  man  returned  from  Col- 
orado and  devoted  himself  to  the  interests 
of  the  firm,  which  thus  ac(|uired  the  style 
of  S.  Ci.  Cornell  &  Son.      I'he  firm  was 
so  known  until  ISHT,  when  it  wa.s  reorganized  xs  the 
Cornell  Lead  Comi^iny.      Lnder  this  style  the  busi- 
ness was  successfully  carried  on  until  1M88,  when  Mr. 
C"ornell  retired  from  active  pursuits. 


Mr.  Cornell  early  interested  himself  in  the  National 
Cuard  of  the  State  of  New  N'ork,  and  long  and  faith- 
ful service  therein  must  Ik:  placed  to  his  credit.  In 
this  connection  he  may  be  referred  to  as  colonel, 
since  that  was  his  rank  for  a  long  time.  He  enlisted 
xs  a  private  in  the  74th  regiment,  in  which  he  .soon 
l)ecame  a  noncommissioned  officer.  The  attention 
of  Brigadier  Ceneral  William  V.  Rogers  was  called 
to  the  faithful  young  officer,  who  was  thereu|)on 
given  a  staff  ap|)ointment  as  junior  aitl-dL-camj). 
Mr.  Cornell  remained  on  the  statT  of  Ceneral  Rogers 
for  fifteen  years,  while  that  officer  was  a  brigadier 
general  and  afterwards  a  major  general  in  command 
of  the  4th  division.  .Xfter  serving  through  various 
subordinate  ranks,  Mr.  Cornell  won  the  position  of 
a.ssistant  adjutant  general  and  chief  of  slafT  with  the 
rank  of  colonel.      This  jiosition  he  retained  imtil  the 


.s:  noint.AS  coKX/it i 


reorgani/ation  of  the  National  Guard  and  the  alwlish- 
ment  of  divisions. 

Mr.  Cornell  is  |X)ssessed  of  much  histrionic  talent, 
and  would  undoubtedly  have  made  a  brilliant  success. 


26 


MK.X   OF  A/iir    VORK—WKSTERX  SF.CTfOX 


had  he  adopted  the  stage  as  a  i)rofession.  IJuffalonians 
have  had  the  pleasure  on  numerous  occasions  of  see- 
ing him  in  the  entertainments  of  the  Buffalo  Ama- 
teurs  an  organization  that   has  acquired  no  little 

fame  by  reason  of  the  finish  of  its  performances  and 
the  high  social  standing  of  its  members.  Yor  the 
former  of  these  distinctions  great  credit  is  due  Mr. 
Cornell,  for  he  has  been  the  stage  manager  of  the 
organization  from  187'2  to  the  present  time. 

''personal  CHR ONOL  O G Y—  Samuel  Doug- 
his  Cornell  was  born  at  Glenville,  Conn. ,  Dceember  2, 
1839  ;  graduated  from  Hobart  College  in  1860  :  mar- 
ried Lydia  Hadfield  of  Buffalo  January  29,  1862  ,•  spent 
about  three  years  in  Colorado,  1862-64,  as  agent  for  the 
examination  of  goldmines;  took  part  in  his  father' s  lead 
business  for  ttvo  years  after  graduation,  returned  thereto 
in  1864,  and  remained  in  the  business  until  1888 ;  served 
on  the  staff  of  brigadier  general,  aftenmrds  nnyor  gen- 
eral, William  F.  Rogers,  in  command  of  4th  di'oision, 
N.  G.,S.  A'.  Y.,for fifteen  years,  becoming  assistant 
adjutant  general  and  chief  of  staff,  with  rank  of  colonel 


Xl'QUliam  Cargl  Cornwell  has  done  much  to 

spread  abroad  the  fame  of  Buffalo,  for  press  dis- 
patches often  quote  "  W.  C.  Cornwell  of  Buffalo" 
as  making  a  speech  or  reading  a  paper  on  some  live 
topic  before  a  gathering  of  bankers  of  state  or 
national  importance.  Mr.  Cornwell  is  known  as 
one  of  the  leading  bankers  of  the  country.  Indeed, 
David  A.  Wells  includes  him  among  the  six  best 
conservative  authorities  on  financial  subjects,  the 
other  five  so  distinguished  being  David  W.  Stone, 
William  B.  Dana,  William  Dodsworth,  Edward 
Atkinson,  and  Charles  B.  Fairchild.  The  fact  is 
that  Mr.  Cornwell  is  a  thorough  master  of  the  theory 
as  well  as  the  practice  of  banking,  and  when  he 
speaks  or  writes  on  these  subjects  he  is  sure  to  have 
an  attentive  and  appreciative  audience. 

Mr.  Cornwell  is  thoroughly  modern  in  his  methods 
and  ideas,  and  at  the  same  time  thoroughly  sound. 
The  best  illustration  of  the  truth  of  this  is  found  in 
the  great  growth  of  the  Bank  of  Buffalo,  of  which 
he  was  for  fifteen  years  the  cashier,  and  in  that  of 
the  City  Bank  of  Buffalo,  which  he  organized  in 
1892,  and  of  which  he  is  president. 

When  Mr.  Cornwell  became  cashier  of  the  first- 
named  bank  it  employed  a  few  clerks,  and  used  one 
room  for  the  transaction  of  its  business.  When  he 
left  the  bank  it  had  a  staff  of  thirty-five  clerks,  and 
was  so  cramped  for  room  that  it  had  been  trying  for 
some  lime  to  obtain  a  site  for  a  building  of  its  own. 
During  his  administration  the  business  of  the  bank 
increased  over  (jOO  per  cent,  and  its  surjjlus  earnings 
became  greater  than   its  capital,    while   its  depo.sits 


amounted  to  more  than  $4,000,000.  In  l.S!)2,  Mr. 
Cornwell  withdrew  from  active  connection  with  this 
bank,  and  organized  the  "  City  Bank,  Buffalo,  N.  Y." 
This  bank  began  operations  in  the  spring  of  1893  in 
the  face  of  universal  business  depression  ;  but  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  found  the  City  Bank  with 
deposits  of  81,000,000,  all  accumulated  within  si.x 
months  and  during  a  panicky  season.  The.se  facts 
certainly  speak  volumes  for  the  skill  of  Mr.  Corn- 
well  as  a  banker,  and  for  the  confidence  that  the 
business  men  of  Buffalo  have  in  him.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Buffalo  Bankers'  Association 
in  1881,  and  has  been  its  secretary  from  the  start. 
It  was  largely  through  him  that  the  clearing  house 
was  formed  in  1889,  and  made  a  part  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. He  was  the  first  chairman  of  the  clear- 
ing-house committee,  and  held  the  position  for  three 
years.  During  that  time  he  perfected  two  most  im- 
portant undertakings.  One  was  the  making  of 
clearings  on  a  cash  basis  instead  of  by  draft ;  the 
other  was  the  banding  of  the  banks  together  for  the 
issuance  of  clearing-house  certificates.  This  was 
effected  in  1890  upon  Mr.  Cornwell's  forecast  of 
coming  danger.  The  banks  at  that  time  jjassed  a 
resolution  for  joint  action,  and  all  machinery  was 
arranged  for  clearing-house  certificates.  The  possi- 
bility of  using  these  ijroniptly  saved  the  city  from 
impending  disaster  on  the  fatal  26th  of  June,  1893. 
The  resolution  of  1890  ran  as  follows  : 

"  In  view  iif  .a  possilile  money  crisis  at  any  future  lime,  tlie 
lianks,  memliers  of  this  .\ssociation,  for  the  puipose  of  sustain- 
in;;  each  other  and  tlie  liusiness  community,  do  hereby  resolve. 
That:  .\  committee  of  five  be  elected,  as  hereinafter  provided,  to 
receive  from  lianks,  members  of  the  .Association,  bills  receiv- 
able and  other  securities  to  be  approved  of  by  said  Committee, 
who  shall  be  and  are  hereby  authorized  to  issue  therefor  to  such 
depositing  Banks  loan  certificates  not  in  e.\cess  of  seventy- 
live  per  cent  of  the  securities  or  bills  receivable  so  deposited 
(  except  in  case  of  United  States  Bonds),  and  such  certificates 
shall  be  received  and  paid  in  settlement  of  balance  at  the 
I'learing  House;  the  obligations  given  for  such  certificates  to 
liear  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  per  annum." 

in  the  larger  field  of  state,  national,  and  interna- 
tional banking,  Mr.  Cornwell  has  won  a  renown  that 
might  well  be  the  envy  of  an  older  man.  He  took 
a  very  active  part  in  bringing  pressure  to  bear  upon 
congress  to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  purchase  clause 
of  the  Sherman  act.  It  was  he  who  prepared  forms 
of  petitions,  and  sent  them  all  over  the  country  to 
banks,  which  in  turn  obtained  the  signatures  of  their 
customers,  and  forwarded  the  jjetitions  to  Wa.shing- 
ton.  These  coUei  ti\ely  became  known  a.s  the 
"Buffalo  Petition."  Mr.  Cornwell's  addresses  and 
writings  on  financial  subjects  evince  clearness  of  com- 
prehension, soundness  of  view,  and  strength  of  logic. 
.•\mong     his    writings   are   a    pamphlet    on    "  Free 


.\fF.X  OF  SEW    YORK—WESTERN  SECriOS 


Coinage";  an  address  before  the  American  Bankers' 
Association  in  1891,  on  "  Canadian  Bank  Currency," 
in  which  he  pointed  out  the  errors  in  our  own  sys- 
tem, and  predicted  the  disasters  of  two  years  later  : 
]a|}ers  on  ••Currency  Reform  and  Bank  Circula- 
tion" and  ••The  (jold  Standard,"  l)oth  ranking 
high  among  American  economic  writings; 
and  " 'l"he  Currency  and  Banking  l^iw  of 
Canada,"  a  digest  of  the  laws  of  Canada, 
recently  published  by  C.  I'.  Putnam's 
Sons. 

Mr.  Cornwell  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Xew  York  State  Bankers'  As.socia- 
tion,  and  was  its  first  president.  So  highly 
were  his  eflbrts  in  behalf  of  the  institu- 
tion and  of  sound  money  a])preciated  by 
his  associates,  that  he  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  the  council  of  ail- 
niinistration.  He  has  also  been  vice 
president  for  New  York  state  of  the 
.■\merican  Bankers'  .Association  ;  and  in 
18!)4  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  for  three  years. 

Banking,  however,  does  not  occupy 
all  of  Mr.  Cornwell's  time.  He  is  an 
artist  of  much  ability,  and  a  pleasant  and 
discriminating  writer  on  art  topics.  He 
studied  art  at  the  Julien  school  in  Paris, 
and  was  a  pupil  of  Lefebvre  and  Boulan- 
ger.  He  has  produced  many  charming 
sketches  and  some  work  of  a  more  am- 
bitious character  that  has  been  highly 
praised.  Mr.  Cornwell  has  a  summer 
home  at  Kast  .\urora,  seventeen  miles 
from  Buffalo,  where  he  and  his  wife  have 
surrounded  themselves  with  everything 
that  artistic  natures  can  desire. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
William    Caryl   Cornwell    was    horn    at 
Lyons,  iV.   ¥.,  Aiit^iist  10,  ISM  :    atteml.ul  lite  piihlii 
sehools  of  Buffalo :    marrieii  Marian    //'.    I^oomis  of 
Buffalo   October  9,   1S73 ;   was  cashier  of  the  Bank 
of  Buffalo,    1877-92 ;    organized  the    City   Bank  of 
Buffalo  in  1802,  and  has  been  president  thereof  since  : 
7iias  made  the  first  president  of  the  A\~!i<   )  'ork  Slate 
Bankers'   Association  in  180 Jf  ;    roas  president  of  the 
Buffalo  Society  of  Artists,  180^-06 ;    was  a  member 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the  American  Bankers' 
Association,    ]S9J,-0(J :   has  been  Fund  Commissioner 
of  the  Buffalo  Line  Arts  Aeademv  since  1880. 


early  in  life,  anti  continue  unceasingly  to  develop. 
Like  many  another  high-minded  youth,  Mr.  Cush- 
man  left  school  to  enter  the  amiy  at  the  time  of  the 
Civil  War.  The  fact  that  as  a  boy  he  was  willing  to 
forsake  the  exsy  anil  plea.s;int  avenues  of  civic  and 
biisil)i-s-,     lifi-     fur    till'    fir    rniii'liir    ii;illis    of    liiilltar\ 


CbarleS  XKl.  CUSbman  is  an  example  of  a 
cla.-is  of  men  fortunately  l>\  no  means  rare  in  our 
countrv  —  men   whose  activity  and  usefulness  begin 


11//-/ //lA  I  iffVf    rnR\\\F.i J 

activity,  jiromised  well  tor  his  character  and  for  his 
chances  of  success  in  any  business  to  whi(  h  he  might 
devote  himself  He  served  as  drummer  boy  in  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  marched  with  Sher- 
man to  the  .sea.  Service  and  sacrifice  of  this  kind 
are  never  without  their  reward.  The  self-reliance, 
energy,  and  fortitude  develoiied  in  camp  life  cannot 
fail  to  be  valuable  acquisitions  to  th.^  character  of 
any  man  ;  and  these  (|ualities,  when  develo|)ed  early 
in  life,  as  they  were  in  Mr.  Cushman's  ca.se,  are 
likely  to  be  |)ermanent  and  most  valuable  character- 
istics of  the  man. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Cushman 
found  an  op|>ortunity  to  put  his  ability  to  the  test  in 
the  service  of  the  I.ake  Shore  iV  Michigan  Southern 


2S 


J//;.\'   OF  XKir    YORK—U'KsrKRK  SECTION 


railway.  He  must  have  stood  the  test  excellently, 
for  three  years  after  entering  the  service  of  this  cor- 
poration he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  genera! 
agent  at  Cleveland.  This  position  he  held  for  eight 
years  —  from  1872  to  18«().  While  so  engaged,  Mr. 
Cushman  came  to  see  the  manifold  advantages  that 


^i    ^m-  ^ 

1 

\ 

CHARLES    \V    CrSHMAX 

might  result  from  an  association  of  railway-car  inter- 
ests, '{'he  ])roject  apjieared  both  desirable  and  prac- 
ticable, and  in  1880  Mr.  Cushman  organized  the 
Railway  Car  Association.  .\t  this  time  the  promi- 
nence that  Buffalo  was  destined  to  attain  as  a  great 
railroad  center  was  already  foreseen  by  the  more  ob- 
servant railroad  men,  and  by  Mr.  Cushman  among 
others ;  and  Buffalo  was  made  the  headcjuarters  of 
the  a.ssociation.  There  are  branches  in  the  principal 
cities  of  the  United  States.  Of  this  association  Mr. 
Cushman  has  been  president  and  general  manager 
since  1880. 

Some  active  business  men  seem  to  find  no  field  too 
large  for  their  capacities,  no  work  too  burdensome 
for  their  energies.      In   business,  as  in  scholarshi]), 


most  men  must  specialize  in  these  days  of  ever 
widening  knowledge.  But  the  vigor  of  the  capable 
business  manager  overflows  in  numerous  channels, 
and  many  kinds  of  business  cognate  to  his  special 
pursuit  benefit  by  the  diversity  of  his  talents.  Mr. 
Ciishman's  career  admirably  illustrates  this  statement. 
He  is  president  of  the  Columbian  Kquip- 
ment  Company  and  president  of  the 
Standard  Iron  Works,  both  of  Chicago, 
and  stockholder  and  director  in  several 
other  comjjanies.  He  served  on  the  staff 
of  the  commander  of  the  Crand  Army 
when  General  Fairchild  was  commander 
in  chief. 

Mr.  Cushman  has  found  continual  relax- 
ation in  a  great  and  constantly  increasing 
devotion  to  Masonry.  Rarely  does  an 
active  man  lack  an  avocation,  and  often 
the  success  and  distinction  that  he  wins 
in  his  chosen  means  of  relaxation  are 
parallel  to  his  business  attainments.  That 
such  has  been  the  case  with  Mr.  Cush- 
man, and  that  he  has  found  both  pleasure 
and  honor  in  his  avocation,  we  may  infer 
from  the  fact  that  in  Septemi)er,  1894, 
he  was  crowned  a  Sovereign  Grand  In- 
spector General  of  the  38d  and  last  degree 
of  Masonrv. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y  — 
Charles  Weeks  Cuslunan  7vas  horn  at 
Clevelami,  O.,  August  31,  18^8;  at- 
tended tlie  Cle'i'elaiid  fyuhlic  schools  and 
the  Rockford  ( ///. )  High  School :  spent 
titio  years  in  the  army,  186Jf-65  ;  married 
Georgie  L.  Do  ran  of  Chicago  March  18, 
1873  ;  entered  the  service  of  the  Lake  Shore 
&'  Michigan  Southern  railway  in  186!), 
and  7c>as  general  agent  of  the  company, 
1872-80 :  organized  the  Raihcay  Car 
Association  in  1880,  and  has  been  president  thereof 
since. 


50SCpb  p.  IDU&leg  comes  from  good  old  New 
Hampshire  sto<  k.  In  every  quarter  of  the  globe  and 
in  every  country  the  New  Knglander  is  found.  As 
merchant  and  banker,  as  inventor  and  discoverer,  as 
navigator  and  explorer,  the  Yankee  is  to  the  front. 
A  man  is  what  his  ancestors  have  made  him,  in 
quality,  but  the  particular  form  of  develo])ment  is 
determined  by  circumstances.  This  fact  ex]jlains  the 
inborn  integrity  and  conscientious  course  ]nirsued  in 
the  affairs  of  life  by  Joseph  I'.  Dudley. 

.\fter  a  youth  among  the  hills  of  the  old  Granite 
State,  with  only  such  educational  advantages  as  the 


MF.x  or  .\/:if  ynf!k  —  \r/:sTF.f!.\  sect/oa 


j'.i 


country  schools  and  Pembroke  Academy  could  give 
him,  he  began  a  business  career  that  has  culminated 
in  a  success  so  marked  that  he  is  recognized  as  an 
ideal  tyjx;  of  business  man.  Mr.  Dudley  came  to 
Buffalo  in  1H.")K,  and  embarkcil  in  the  foundry  busi- 
ness, continuing  the  same  for  three  years.  He  then 
formed  a  jjartnership  with  J.  I).  Dudley  and  M.  T. 
Dudley,  the  firm  being  Dudley  &  Co.  and  the  busi- 
ness that  of  oil  rcHning.  The  entire  management 
was  under  the  direction  of  Joseph  1*.  Dudley,  and  the 
firm  was  very  successful.  In  1M«2  the  oil  business  of 
Dudley  &  Co.  was  merged  with  that  of  the  great  Stand- 
ard Oil  Comiany  of  New  WnV,  the  Buffalo  business 
being  known  as  the  Star  Oil  Brain  h  ;  and  sime  that 
time  Mr.  Dudley  has  been  the  general  manager  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company's  vast  interests  in  Buffalo  and 
western  .New  York.  Probably  no  man  among  the 
many  able  managers  who  direct  the  affairs 
of  the  greatest  cori)oration  in  this  (  ounty, 
stands  higher  than  Joseph  P.  Dudley. 

It  is  but  natural  that  a  successful  man 
like  Mr.  Dudley  should  be  engaged  in 
many  enterprises,  for  ])rot'it,  for  jileasure, 
and  for  religious,  educational,  and  j^hil- 
anthropic  purposes.  He  is  identified  with 
many  of  the  important  institutions  of 
Buffalo.  He  iN  a  trustee  of  the  Krie  County 
.Savings  Bank  with  assets  amounting  to 
§•20, (100, (MID  ;  director  in  the  American 
K.vchange  and  Hydraulic  banks ;  and 
director  of  the  Kllicott  Sipiare  Comjany, 
now  erecting  the  greatest  office  building 
in  the  world. 

Mr.  Dudley  loves  his  church.  He  is 
vice  jjresident  and  treasurer  of  the  I^fay- 
ette  Street  Presbyterian  Church  Society, 
and  has  done  as  much  for  that  church  as 
any  man  ever  identified  with  it.  He  has 
had  charge  of  its  music  for  a  great  nimi- 
ber  of  years,  and  has  an  abiding  interest 
and  faith  in  the  musical  as  well  as  the 
theological  end  of  the  church.  He  has 
always  shown  great  interest  in  musi<al 
matters,  having  been  identil'ied  with  the 
Buffalo  Musical  .A.s.sociation  since  its  or- 
ganization, as  director  or  as  president. 
Mr.  Dudley  has  been  connected  with 
most  of  the  leading  institutions  of  Buf- 
falo, and  in  l.sjl.')  was  president  of  the 
Buffalo  Library.  He  is  actively  interested 
in  the  Historical  Society,  and  is  president 
board  of  managers  of  the  State  Hospital  for 

He  is  pre-eminently  a  society  man  ;  that  is 
he  is  an  intelligent  man,  who  is  fond  of  his 


creatures,  and  loves  to  be  with  them.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  leatling  chilis  of  the  city.  Hehasl)een  presi- 
dent of  the  BufTalo  Club,  and  is  now  a  director  :  he 
is  vice  president  of  the  I'.llicott  Club  ;  he  is  a  director 
of  the  Palconwood  Club,  and  memln-r  of  the  Coiintr) 
Club,  l.il>eral  Club,  Utowega  Club,  and  several 
others.  He  is  a  generous  giver  to  the  jioor,  and  to 
the  lienevolent  institutions  of  the  city.  Few  men 
are  more  |iopular,  and  no  man  has  a  keener  sense  of 
humor,  a  greater  fund  of  anecdote  and  ex|)erience, 
and  a  livelier  appreciation  of  the  good  things  of  life 
than  Jose|>h  1'.  Dudley. 

I'F.RSOXAl.  CHROXOr.OGY— Joseph  J'ilh- 
hiiry  Duillfx  was  horn  at  Caiii/ia,  X.  II.,  Xir,'fnil>n 
^1,  ISSJ :  attfrii/fi/  fountry  schools,  and  graduateil 
from  Pfmhrok(  (  X.  II.  )  Acadfmy  in  lS'y2 :  married 
.Mary   F.     Underhill  of   Coneord,    Mass.,    in   IS'tl^ ; 


jo<;f.ph  p  nini.r.Y 

of  the  mened  to  Fuffalo  in  tS.'iS  :  eni;ax'ed  in  the  oil-refinini: 

Insane.  business  from  ISOl  until  1SS4  in  the  firm  of  Dudley 

to  say,  (Sr*  Co.  :  has  been  manager  of  the  Star  Oil  (  Buffalo) 

fellow  Branch  of  the  Standard  Oil  Comf-any  since  ISSJ. 


30 


MEX  OF  .XF.IV   rORK—irFSTERX  SECT/ON 


IbCliry  IP.  JEmCfSOU  "as  born  in  the  old  Bay 
State  town  of  I.ynnfield,  of  the  good  New  England 
stock  that  makes  leaders  everywhere.  He  prepared 
for  college  at  the  famous  Phillips  Academy,  Andover, 
Mass.,  and  distinguished  himself  at  Rochester  l^ni- 
versity  by  taking  the  senior  e.ssay  ]3rize. 


///■:.\h'\   /'.  j;.\f/-:A'so\ 

He  began  his  pedagogic  career  in  1X71  as  teacher 
of  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Potsdam,  N.  Y.  In  1><74  he  came  to  Pniffalo  as  prin- 
cipal of  the  cla.ssical  department  of  the  Buffalo  High 
School  ;  and  in  1883,  upon  the  resignation  of  Pro- 
fessor Spencer,  who  had  held  the  principalship  of  the 
school  for  twenty  years,  Mr.  Emerson  was  ap])ointed 
to  that  very  responsible  position.  His  work  there 
quickly  gave  promise  of  striking  success.  Aroused 
by  his  efforts,  the  school  alumni  became  enthusiastic 
over  the  \)To]ect  for  the  enlargement  of  the  .school, 
jjetitions  were  circulated  among  the  citizens,  and  the 
city  was  induced  to  build  an  addition,  costing  nearly 
$()0,00(l.  to  the  old  school  building.      The  growth 


ot  the  school  during  his  administration  was  remark- 
able, for  during  the  ten  years  that  he  occupied  the 
principal's  chair  the  number  of  jjujiils  increased  from 
three  hundred  to  a  thousand.  But  his  greatest  suc- 
cesses were  not  of  this  material  sort.  He  exerted 
himself  to  create  among  the  students  a  sentiment  in 
favor  of  order,  and  they  were  thus  led  to 
respect  the  rights  of  others  in  the  school  ; 
and  oppressive  and  repressive  measures 
were  seldom  necessar\ .  In  opposition  to 
mechanical  and  bookish  methods,  he 
sought  to  arouse  an  enthusiasm  for  investi- 
gation and  original  work,  and  the  schol- 
arship of  the  school  was  materially 
im]3roved.  His  morning  talks  were  a 
feature  to  which  many  of  his  pupils  look 
back  as  one  of  the  happiest  and  most 
profitable  experiences  of  their  .school  life. 
It  was  his  custom  to  give  an  informal 
talk,  at  least  once  a  week,  to  the  assembled 
school  on  some  historical  subject  (sug- 
gested, perhaps,  by  an  anniversary),  or 
on  current  matters  of  interest  in  the  out- 
side world.  In  this  way  the  boys  and 
girls  obtained  definite  and  available  in- 
formation that  they  found  most  useful. 

AjJijreciating  his  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  education  and  his  entire  fitness  for  the 
office,  the  Republican  party  in  1892  nom- 
inated him  for  superintendent  of  .schools 
of  the  city  of  Buffalo.  He  was  elected, 
and  began  his  new  duties  January  1 ,  1893. 
One  of  his  first  reforms  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  more  modern  text-books  in  English 
and  in  other  subjects.  He  also  turned  his 
attention  to  that  important  branch  of  pub- 
lic instruction,  the  primary  schools,  and 
appointed  a  caiialjle  woman  to  oversee  this 
whole  work  of  primary  teaching.  The 
evening  schools  of  the  city  had  fallen  sadly 
into  disrepute,  owing  to  their  general  inefficiency. 
Su|)erintendent  Emerson  took  these  in  hand  with  em- 
inent success.  He  reduced  their  number  from  twenty- 
two  to  twelve,  and  placed  them  in  charge  of  thoroughl)- 
qualified  teachers;  and  as  a  result  these  schools  have 
become  most  popular,  and  valuable  opjjortunities 
for  .self-improvement  have  been  given  to  all  who 
choose  to  embrace  them,  while  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing the  schools  has  been  materially  reduced.  Super- 
intendent Emerson  is  an  indefatigable  worker,  and 
laliors  incessantly  in  his  office,  in  teachers'  meetings, 
and  elsewhere.  He  is  a  Napoleon  of  organization,  and 
the  wonderful  system  inaugurated  by  him  in  the  Buf- 
falo public  schools  is  worthy  the  study  of  the  educator. 


MEA  OF  .\7:ir  )OA'K—iiy:sr/:A'\  skct/ox 


:\\ 


In  the  meantime  the  scant  leisure  of  so  busy  a 
professional  life  has  been  fruitful  of  su|i|)lementarv 
achievements.  A  jxiper  on  "  l^atin  in  High  Schools," 
read  at  the  1 881  session  of  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion, ])uhlished  by  Barileen  of  Syracuse,  is  a  master- 
jiiece  among  educational  monogra|)hs  ;  as  is  also  his 
"  Kducation  of  the  Child,"  an  address  delivered  l>e- 
fore  the  public  school  teachers  of  Buffalo.  "  .\  Sum- 
mer in  Kuroix","  a  collection  of  letters,  written 
originally  for  the  Buffalo  Courifr,  is  his  bree/y  con- 
tribution to  travel  literature. 

1'rofes.sor  Kmerson  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church  ;  of  the  Alpha  Delta  I'hi,  I'hi  Beta  Kap|)a, 
and  Masonic  fraternities;  of  the  Buffalo  Historical 
Society  and  the  Society  of  Natural  Sciences  ;  and  of 
the  Liberal  I'lub,  the  University  ("lub,  and  the 
Saturn  Club  (all  of  Buffalo). 

PERSONA  I.  CHR  ONOL  O  G  \ '  — 
Ilenrx  P.  Emerson  was  horn  at  LynnJielJ, 
Mass.,  January  11,  1S47  :  graduated  from 
Phillips  Academy,  Andozrr,  A/ass.,  in 
1867,  and  from  Rochester  University  in 
1S71  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  receiving 
the  degree  of  A.  M.  from  the  latter  insti- 
tution in  187 Jf ;  married  Mary  A.  Estey 
of  Aliddleton,  Mass.,  August  J,,  187 U- 
came  to  Buffalo  in  the  same  year  as  teacher 
of  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  Central  High 
School,  of  ic'hich  he  rcas  appointed  principal 
in  18SS ;  tvas  elected  superintendent  of  edu- 
catioti  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  in  18ft  J,  taking 
office  January  1,  ISO.i,  for  a  term  of  three 
years  ;  toas  re-elected  to  the  same  position 
in  .yovemher,  1895. 


JECtWin  JflCmlng  has  devoted  his 
life  to  newspaper  work.  He  has  not  held 
office,  political  or  other,  nor  has  he  sought 
it.  He  is  a  type  of  the  journalist  who 
respects  his  profession  ;  who  finds  in  it 
the  op])ortunity  for  high  usefulness  to  his 
fellow -men  ;  who  brings  to  it  his  best, 
allowing  no  distraction  to  come  between  ; 
and  who  does  it,  and  him.self,  honor. 

In  news])aper  work,  in  a  degree  greater 
than  that  of  most  jirofessions,  the  useful- 
ness  of  the    worker   de|)ends    upon    the 
breadth  of  his  training.      Mr.   Fleming 
laid    the    foundation  of  his   professional 
career  in  a  university  education,  and  sup- 
plemented this  with    systematic  study  al"ter  gradua- 
tion.     Leaving  college  with  the  degree  of  B.  .\.,  he 
aftenvard  attended  law  lectures,  and  received  from 
his  alma  mater  in  IXT-'I  the  degree  of  M.  A.      To  his 


college  training  he  added  later  the  education  that 
comes  of  travel,  devoting  eighteen  months  to 
l^uroijean  sight-.secing.  Since  then  the  education 
received  from  books  anti  from  travel  has  l»een  fmel\- 
rounded  out  by  the  ediuation  in  practical  affairs  thai 
journalism  so  effectively  provides. 

.\lr.  Fleming's  newsiwper  life  began  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  where,  in  his  junior  and  .senior 
years,  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of  a  college  |»a|»er. 
To  this  ex]>erience  he  added,  while  still  in  college, 
the  more  practical  training  involved  in  correspon 
dence  for  the  Detroit  Post.  Immediately  u|»on 
graduation  he  found  a  berth  upon  the  Post  as  a 
reporter;  in  the  winter  of  1x70-71  he  had  charge 
of  the  telegrajih  desk  of  the  Detroit  Trihune :  later 
in  1X71  he  did  sjiecial  re|iorting   lor  the  latter  |>a|jer 


ll>\\l\    lllM/.\<. 


in  various  |>arts  of  Michigan,  afterward  doing  general 
newsi>a|»cr  work  for  the  Kalama/oo  Telegraph  and 
the  Jack.son  Citizen  a.s  well  as  for  the  Trihune.  Thus 
he  had  a  thorough  training  in  different  branches  of 


3-2 


MEN   OF  .\7-:ir    rORK—IVESTERA'  SECT/OX 


his  profession  before  lie  went  to  luirope.  On  return- 
ing from  abroad,  he  went  to  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  became  the  Washington  representative  succes- 
sively of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Coinmerci',  of  the 
New  York  Commercial  Bulletin,  of  the  Detroit  Free 
Press  ffrom  IST")  to  1885),  of  the  St.  Louis  Republic 


JAMFS   i;/f  IIFRT  I'nRSYTll 

(from  1881  to  1885),  and  of  the  Buffalo  Courier 
(from  January  1,  1877,  to  188")).  'J'hus  by  easy 
stages  his  way  led  to  the  editorship  of  the  Buffalo 
Courier. 

The  fruits  of  this  e.vtensive  training  arc  apparent 
in  Mr.  Fleming's  work  as  a  newspaper  man.  On 
the  one  hand,  he  looks  n]jon  affairs  with  the  breadth 
of  view  of  the  scholar.  On  the  other,  he  pos- 
sesses the  practical  advantage  given  by  a  remarkably 
wide  acquaintance  with  public  men — an  aaiuaint- 
ance  gained  during  a  ten  years'  residence  at  the 
national  capital.  The  combination  of  these  two 
elements  explains,  in  large  mea.sure,  Mr.  Fleming's 
success  in  the  editorial  chair. 


While  his  temper  might  be  described  as  that  of  the 
scholar,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Fleming 
takes  no  interest  in  politics.  On  the  contrary,  he 
seems  to  find,  and  rightly,  in  politics  the  field  of  the 
highest  usefulness  of  a  journalist.  In  his  editorial 
work  he  exhibits  a  judicial  nature.  He  considers 
coolly  and  deliberately,  and  when  his 
resolution  is  made  carries  it  out  fearlessly 
to  the  end.  He  treats  jjolitical  matters 
with  a  view,  not  to  their  temporary  and 
superficial  aspect,  but  to  their  deeper 
relations  and  significance.  As  might  be 
supposed,  his  work  has  been  on  the  side 
of  good  government,  of  honest  elections, 
and  of  political  indejiendence.  He  has 
believed,  and  preached,  that  the  right 
thing  is  the  best  thing  in  the  long  run. 

PERSOXAL  CHROXOLOGY  — 
Edwin  Fleming  toas  born  at  Il'esl  Lebanon, 
/ml.,  December  11,  ISJ/l ;  graduated  from 
the  University  of  Michigan  in  1870  :  en- 
gaged in  neiospaper  loork  of  various  kinds 
for  several  Michigan  papers  until  1873  ; 
after  spending  eighteen  months  abroad,  went 
to  Washington  as  correspondent  of  Neiv 
York,  Detroit,  and  St.  Louis  ne7C'spapers, 
and  of  the  Buffalo  ' '  Courier ' '  :  married 
Harriet  L.  Stone  of  Kalatnazoo,  Mich., 
April  20,  1881 ;  has  been  editor  of  the 
Buffalo  "  Courier''  since  June  1,  1885. 


\ 


James  (Bilbert  jfors^tb  exhibits 

the  tyjje  of  man  in  which  singleness  of 
purpose  and  tenacity  of  determination  are 
exemplified  in  a  marked  degree.  Half- 
way measures  are  unknown  to  him.  His 
methods  are  direct  and  thorough,  and  he 
devotes  to  every  task  such  time  as  may  be 
needed  for  its  proper  and  final  execution. 
Born  in  Buffalo  April  17,  1832,  he 
went  West  at  an  early  age,  his  boyhood  being 
spent  in  Keno.sha,  Wis.  Here  he  received  the 
usual  common-school  education,  but  restlessness  to 
begin  the  more  definite  work  of  life  caused  him  to 
apprentice  himself  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  the  hard- 
ware firm  of  Marshall  &  Phelps,  where  he  learned 
the  trade  of  tinman.  After  serving  out  the  most 
of  his  a]jprentice.ship  in  the  true  old-fashioned  style, 
he  was  released  by  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  and 
went  to  Geneva,  Wis.,  where  he  worked  for  a  kw 
months  at  his  trade  before  coming  to  Buffalo  in 
1852.  After  determined  effort  he  secured  a  position 
with  Pratt  &  Co.,  then  the  leading  hardware  firm  of 
this  section,  with  whom  he  remained   \\v\U\   January 


ME.v  or  .\/:\r  yoKK—]ri:sn:K.\  sucriox 


1,  185(),  when  he  accepted  a  |K>sition  with  Sidney 
She]>ard  &  Co.,  and  was  admitted  to  lartnership  in 
December,  1S(>0.  He  has  .since  devoteil  himself 
with  imfaltcring  energy  to  the  ever  increasing  inter 
ests  of  this  well  known  house,  whose  l)usines.s  opera- 
ations  now  extend  over  the  entire  coimtr) . 

He  was  married  on  the  10th  of  .March,  IK.')?,  to 
Miss  Jane  Elizabeth  Dodge  of  Buffalo.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  Christ  Chunh,  later  incorporated 
with  Trinity. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY—Jiinu^  Gil- 
he  rt  Forsyth  teas  born  at  Buffalo  April  17,  IS.iJ  ; 
7i'a.f  ediicateil  in  the  puhlii  schooh  of  Kenos/ia,  His.  , 
married /anf  Elizabeth  Doilf;e  of  Buffalo  March  in, 
1857  ;  entered  the  sen'iee  of  Sidney  Shepard  cf  Co.  of 
Buffalo  in  IS'id,  and  has  been  a  partner  in  the  firm 
<inie   ISao. 

GCOrijC  3.  GatCbCll  has  never 
seen  an  idle  day  since  he  l)ecame  old 
enough  to  know  what  real  work  is.  He 
belongs  to  the  class  of  men  who  are 
hajjpiest  when  they  have  most  to  do,  and 
who  justify  the  paradoxical  saying,  "If 
you  want  a  thing  done  (|uickly,  take  it  to 
a  busy  man."  .Mr.  ( latcheil  is  best 
known  as  a  railroad  man  of  wide  ex|)eri- 
ence  and  of  great  capacity ;  but  his 
earlier  military  career  is  worth  recalling. 
He  went  to  the  front  with  the  ."M  Penn- 
sylvania cavalry,  was  present  at  the  taking 
of  Petersburg  and  at  the  surrender  of 
Lee,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service 
.\ugust  7,  IHfi."),  as  sergeant  major  of  the 
.")th  Pennsylvania  cavalry.  This  army 
career  was  his  first  serious  venture  in  life, 
anil  may  safely  be  regarded  as  his  first 
success. 

Soon  after  the  war.  he  ai  cepteil  an  oji- 
portunity  to  go  out  on  the  preliminary 
line  of  the  Buffalo  &  Washington  rail- 
road as  a  rodman.  This  was  the  l)eginning 
of  his  connection  with  railroads.  The 
Buffalo  iS:  Washington  railroad,  whi(  h 
afterward  became  the  Buffalo,  New  N'ork 
&  Pennsylvania,  and  which  is  now  the 
Western  N'ew  York  &  Pennsylvania,  wa.- 
designed  to  ojjcn  up  a  new  territory  for 
Buffalo,  and  its  construction  was  watched 
with  much  interest,  .\fter  taking  charge 
of  the  construction  of  four  miles  of  this  road  in 
lM()(i-(J7,  Mr.  (;atchell  went  to  Mi<  higan,  where  he 
ran  the  lines  and  had  charge  of  i>art  of  the  <on- 
struction  of  forty    miles  of  a    road    that    ran   from 


(Iranil  Rapids  to  .Muskegon.  He  then  returned  to 
this  state,  and  ran  the  lines  of  the  Rochester  iS: 
State  l.ine  railroad  in  lM7<)an<l  1M71. 

When  work  was  resumed  on  the  Buffalo  &  Wash- 
ington railroad  he  was  made  assistant  engineer,  and 
in  \X~i'l  was  made  chief  engineer,  l-'rom  this  time 
.Mr.  (latchell  was  identified  exclasivcly  with  the 
development  of  the  railroad  system  of  western  New 
\'ork  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  .\mong  the 
lines  with  the  construction  of  which  he  was  inti- 
mately connected  were  the  Olean,  Bradford  iV  War- 
ren (narrow  gauge  I,  from  Olean  to  State  l.ine,  ami 
the  Kendall  \-  Kldred,  from  Kldred,  N.  Y.,  to  Brad- 
ford, Penn.  The.se  roads  tapjied  the  oil  regions,  then 
rich,  of  southwestern  New  York  an«l  northwestern 
Pennsvlvania,  and  idtimatelv  liecame   feeders  for  the 


I.I-  KS'l./       S      I,    >  /  (   lit-  I  I 


Buffalo,    New  York  \-    Pennsylvania  railroad.     The 
markedly  excellent  work  that  he  had  done  in  con 
nection  with  these  lini-s  and  the  imdoubted  talent  he 
had  shown  in  the  management  of  large  interests,  le<l 


MEX   ()/■•  XEli-    VORK—IVESTKR.X  SECT/OX 


to  hi.s  apiiointment  in  1879 as  general  superintendent 
of  the  Hufialo,  New  York  &  Pennsylvania  railroad. 
For  ten  years,  through  several  changes  of  manage- 
ment, he  held  this  responsible  position,  discharging 
its  trying  duties  with  rare  sagacity  and  executive 
ability.  Mr.  Catchell  left  the  railroad  business  in 
18X9  to  become  the  general  manager  of  the  Buffalo 
I^levating  Company. 

When  the  charter  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  was  re- 
vised with  a  view  to  correcting  many  existing  evils, 
the  de|)artment  of  jjublic  works  was  created  under  the 
control  of  three  commissioners.  This  department  has 
charge  of  all  municipal  construction,  paving,  street 
cleaning,  water  works,  and  public  buildings,  and  is 
responsible  for  the  jjroper  expenditure  of  a  large  sum 
of  money  annually.  When  the  first  commission  was 
created  in  1892,  Mayor  Charles  F.  Bishop  appointed 
Mr.  Catchell  as  the  only  Republican  member  of  the 
board.  Mr.  Catchell's  long  experience  in  dealing 
with  important  interests  and  with  large  bodies  of 
men  was  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  commission,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  became  known  as  the 
"  working  member"  of  the  board. 

Socially  Mr.  (Jatchell  is  a  most  companionalile 
man.      He  is  a  leading  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY—  George  Samuel 
Gatchell  was  born  at  Wlieatfield,  N.  V. ,  January  16, 
ISJfl ;  attended  the  Lockport  Union  School  until  1S6S, 
7i'hen  he  tnoi'ed  to  Philadelphia ;  enlisted  in  the  3d 
Pennsylvania  cavalry  in  June,  186 Jf,  and  sensed  until 
the  close  of  the  war ;  came  to  Buffalo  iti  1866,  and 
engaged  in  railroad  surveying ;  teas  appointed  chief 
engineer  in  1872  of  ichat  is  no7ti  the  IFestern  AWt' 
York  &-'  Pennsylvania  railroad,  and  ivas  general  super- 
intendent of  that  company,  1879-89  ;  married  Sarah 
M.  Ketcham  of  Buffalo  October  15,  187 U;  was 
appointed  a  commissioner  of  public  works  of  the  city 
of  Buffalo  January  Jf,  1892,  for  a  term  of  one  year, 
and  was  reappointed  January  Jf,  1893,  for  three  years. 


5ainC5  Jfraser  GlUCh,  if  the  law  were  not 
his  first  thought,  might  be  one  of  the  foremost  liter- 
ary workers  of  the  day.  Indeed,  as  it  is,  his  contri- 
Ijutions  to  literature  have  been  such  as  to  give  him 
high  rank  in  that  difficult  sphere  of  attainment.  He 
is  a  strong,  vigorous  writer,  and  the  products  of  his 
pen  are  characterized  l)y  a  literary  finish  that  is  rarely 
found  outside  the  work  of  professional  authors  of  re- 
jnite.  But  the  law  has  been  his  chosen  profession  ; 
and  he  has  no  reason  to  com]jlain  that  his  choice  has 
not  brought  him  substantial  and  deserved  rewards. 

Horn  at  Niagara  Falls  in  18;")2,  Mr.  Cluck  at- 
tended the  common  schools  of  that  famous  city, 
then    a  mere   village.      'I'his   was  sup])lemcnted  by 


courses  of  study  at  the  grammar  school  of  Drummond- 
ville,  Canada,  at  Up|)er  Canada  College  in  Toronto, 
Ont.,  and  at  Cornell  University,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1874,  standing  at  the  head  of  his  class, 
and  receiving  the  highest  honor  of  the  college  —  the 
Woodford  ]jrize.  He  was  chosen  president  of  his 
class,  and  has  been  re-elected  to  that  office  at  every 
subsequent  meeting  of  his  class. 

Mr.  Gluck,  after  acting  as  editor  of  the  first  daily 
newspaper  at  Niagara  Falls,  the  Niagara  Falls 
Register,  turned  his  attention  to  the  law.  He 
came  to  Buffalo,  studied  in  the  office  of  Laning  & 
Willett,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1876,  and  formed 
a  partnership  with  A.  P.  Laning  and  Daniel  H. 
McMillan  in  1877.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Laning 
the  firm  became  successivelv  Creene,  McMillan  & 
Cluck  (1881-87 J,  McMillan,  Gluck  &  Pooley 
(1887-90),  and  McMillan,  Gluck,  Pooley  &  De- 
pew  (1890-18 — ).  During  all  these  changes  the  firm 
has  been  celebrated  for  its  .successful  care  of  large 
corporate  interests,  which  it  has  made  its  specialty. 
Railroads  have  sought  its  guidance,  and  among  its 
chief  clients  have  steadfastly  been  the  great  Vander- 
bilt  interests  re])resented  in  the  New  York  Central, 
the  Lake  Shore,  the  West  Shore,  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral, and  other  railroads  entering  Buffalo. 

As  a  trial  lawyer  in  railroad  cases,  Mr.  (iluck 
stands  pre-eminent  in  his  profession.  His  ability  was 
recognized  by  his  .selection  some  years  since  to  fill 
the  chair  of  the  law  of  corporations  in  the  Buffalo 
Law  School,  a  branch  of  the  University  of  Buffalo  ; 
this  position  he  still  occupies. 

Mr.  Gluck  has  been  active  in  numerous  fields  of 
labor.  Like  many  lawyers,  he  has  ]5aid  no  little  at- 
tention to  politics,  and  during  the  exciting  campaign 
of  1884  he  organized  the  Central  Republican  Club 
of  Buffalo,  which  attained  a  membership  of  over 
2,. loo,  and  which  was  the  largest  campaign  club  ever 
formed  in  Buffalo.  He  is  a  favorite  camjjaign 
speaker,  and  has  made  many  addres.ses  in  Buffiilo  and 
throughout  the  state.  Mr.  Gluck  is  a  brilliant  and 
powerful  orator,  and  has  made  on  occasions  of  im- 
|)ortance  many  addresses  on  literary  and  scientific 
topics  that  have  won  for  him  the  highest  praise,  as 
regards  both  matter  and  manner.  These  addresses 
should  receive  jiermanent  form  in  one  or  more  vol- 
umes. Mr.  Gluck  is  niiuh  sought,  also,  as  an  after- 
dinner  speaker. 

Service  of  the  highest  importance  in  the  cause  of 
education  has  been  rendered  by  Mr.  (lluck  during  his 
long  term  as  a  trustee  of  Cornell  University.  Andrew 
I).  White,  formerly  ])resident  of  the  university, 
has  ])ublicly  given  Mr.  Gluck  much  of  the  credit 
for  the  establishment  of  the  system  of  scholarshijjs, 


.I//r.\'   ()/■'  \F.ll-    YORh-—U'ESTKR.\  SF.CT/O.X 


whereby  poor  and  meritorious  students  receive  uni- 
versity aid  for  four  years  to  the  amount  of  S250  a 
year.  The  report  on  the  condition  of  the  university 
made  by  Mr.  Gkick  at  the  end  of  his  first  year  as 
tnistee  seemed  entirely  to  dissipate  the  dissatisfaction 
that  had  prevailed  extensively  theretofore  among  the 
alumni.  Mr.  Gluck  had  also  much  to 
do  in  stimulating  the  establishinent  of  the 
school  of  philosophy  at  Cornell,  which 
is  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
complete  in  the  country.  When  Presi- 
dent White  retired,  Mr.  (iluck  was  prom- 
inently mentioned  as  his  successor.  This 
was  justly  regarded  at  the  time  as  a 
striking  tribute  to  the  ability  Mr.  (lluck 
had  displayed  in  all  his  relations  with  the 
institution.  While  curator  of  the  Buffalo 
I^ibrary,  Mr.  (iluck  made  a  collection  of 
manuscripts,  autograph  letters  of  famous 
men,  historical  documents  of  value,  and 
rare  books  :  and  just  before  the  close  of 
his  term  of  office  he  .surprised  and  de- 
lighted the  tnistees  of  the  library  by 
|)re.senting  to  them  for  the  institution 
what  many  deem  the  most  valuable  col- 
lection of  the  kind  in  the  country.  As 
president  of  the  (Irosvenor  Library,  Mr. 
Gluck  has  pursued  a  liberal  and  pro- 
gressive policy,  and  has  done  much  to 
increase  the  public  usefulness  of  that 
institution.  The  private  library  of  Mr. 
(lluck  is  probably  the  largest  private 
library  in  the  city,  and  is  distinctively 
rich  in  history,  philosophy,  science,  and 
the  classics  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
James  Eraser  Gluck  icas  horn  at  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  K,  April  28,   1852;    attended 
common  schools.    Upper    Canada    College, 
at  Toronto,  Ont.,  and  Cornell  Universitx,  graduating 
therefrom  in  IS'H  ;  studied  law  in  Buffalo,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1876  ;  married  Effic  D.   Tyler, 
daughter  of  Professor   Charles  M.    Tyler  of  Cornell 
University,  June   15,  1877  :  was  elected  a  tnistee  of 
Cornell  in  1883  ;  7vas  curator  of  the  Buffalo  Library 
from  1885  to  1887  ;  lias  been  president  of  the  GrosTcnor 
Library,  Buffalo,  since  1885. 


CbarleS  M.  G005»T?ear  is  a  shining  example 
of  the  fact  that  a  good  lawver  makes  a  good  business 
man,  for  he  has  attained  marked  success  in  both 
callings.  'I'he  word  failure  has  no  place  in  any 
dictionary  he  ever  conned.  He  has  been  successful 
in   great  undertakings    because   he  is  read\-    to  take 


advantage  of  all  o|)portunities  that  present  them- 
selves, and  to  make  opportunities  where  they  do 
not  already  exist.  Shrewdness  and  courage  go  hand 
in  hand  with  him  ;  and  these,  coupled  with  an 
industrv  that  knows  no  rest,  have  won  for  him 
unusual  success. 


JAMES  FRASER    CI.VCK 

Buffalo  first  knew  Mr.  Goodyear  as  a  resident  in 
1<S(),S.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the  common 
schools  of  Erie  county  and  at  the  Cortland  (  X.  Y.  ) 
.\cademy.  When  he  came  to  Buffalo  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Laning  &  Miller,  con- 
tinuing the  study  with  John  C.  Strong,  .\dmitted 
to  the  bar  of  Erie  county  in  1871,  he  immediately 
began  the  practice  of  law.  For  the  first  few  years 
he  was  alone,  but  in  IST-l  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  Major  John  Tyler,  which  continued  for  two 
years.  Until  1882  he  was  again  without  an  a.ssoci- 
ate,  but  in  February  of  that  year  the  firm  of  Good- 
year &  Allen  (Henry  F.  Allen)  was  formed.  Grover 
Cleveland,  becoming  governor  of  the  state  of  New 
\'ork   lanuarv  1,  I^S.'],  retired  from  the  law  firm  of 


3f) 


.\fE.X  OF  XKW    yORK—]f'I-:STERX  SECT/OK 


Cleveland,  Bissell  &  Sicard,  and  Mr.  tloodyear 
joined  that  firm.  Thereafter,  for  four  years,  the  firm 
of  Bissell,  Sicard  &  Cloodyear  was  one  of  the  most 
|)rominent  in  Buffalo. 

For  .some  years  Mr.  (Joodyear  was  actively  inter- 
ested  in   politics,  and  the  Democratic  jtarty  in  tlu- 


CHARLES    W:   COOnVHAK 

city  and  the  state  was  always  glad  of  his  services  in 
whatever  form  they  could  he  obtained.  He  served 
the  people  of  Erie  county  as  a.ssistant  district  attor 
ney  from  January  1,  187o,  until  October  1,  11S77, 
having  been  appointed  to  that  office  by  the  district 
attorney,  Daniel  .\.  Lockwood.  When  Mr.  Lock- 
wood  resigned  to  enter  upon  his  term  as  representa- 
tive in  congress,  Governor  Robinson  appointed  Mr. 
(Goodyear  to  .serve  out  the  balance  of  the  year. 
These  were  the  only  political  offices  ever  held  by 
Mr.  (ioodyear.  He  was,  however,  actively  interested 
in  the  movement  that  resulted  in  the  nomination  of 
drover  Cleveland  for  mayor  of  Buffalo  and  in  his 
subseciuent   election   to   that   office.      Mr.  (Joodyear 


had  no  small  part  in  effecting  the  election  of  Mr. 
Cleveland  to  the  office  of  governor  of  N'ew  York 
state;  and  he  did  yeoman's  service  in  securing  the 
nomination  of  Governor  Cleveland  for  the  l^residency 
in  1SX4.  Since  his  retirement  from  the  law  Mr. 
Cioodycar  has  not  been  actively  engaged  in  politics. 
In  18«7,  when  he  left  the  law,  Mr. 
(loodyear  a.ssociated  himself  with  his 
brother,  Frank  H.  (loodyear,  in  the  lum- 
l)er  and  railroad  business.  The  firm  of 
1'.  H.  iv:  C.  W.  Coodyear  was  organized 
May  1,  1887,  and  has  been  the  foremost 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  lumber 
industries  of  northern  Pennsylvania.  The 
firm's  interests  in  that  section  are  vast. 
With  the  enormous  output  of  180,0()0,()()(l 
feet  of  hemlock  hunbcr  a  year,  the  Cood- 
year  brothers  are  the  largest  manufacturers 
of  that  commodity  in  the  world.  They 
have  mills  and  works  of  various  kinds 
throughout  Potter  county,  Pennsyhania, 
and  control  many  miles  of  railroads,  which 
the)'  have  built  to  develop  the  territory. 
These  roads  are  known  as  the  Buffalo  iV 
Su.squehanna,  of  which  Mr.  (loodyear  is 
second  vice  president  and  general  man- 
ager, and  the  Wellsville.  Coudersport  iV 
Pine  Creek,  of  which  he  is  vice  president, 
k  \\'ith  all  his  mammoth  business  inter- 

W  ests,  Mr.  Coodyear  finds  time  for  other 

B  things.      He  is  a  Mason,  a  life  member  of 

^L  I         the  Buflalo  Library,  a  trustee  of  the  State 
'I  .Xormal  School  in  Buffalo,  and  a  member 

■|         of    the    Buffalo    Club,    the    Falconwood 
I         Club,  the  Saturn  Club,  the  Country  Club, 
■         the  Liberal  Club,  and  the  Acacia  Club. 
_„■  PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 

Charles  Wateilioiisc  Goodyear  7iias  boni  al 
Corf  lam/,  N.  ¥.,  October  15,  ISJ^B  ;  com- 
filetrd his  siiioolitii; at  the  Cortland Aiadeiiiy 
in  1S(!7  :  came  to  Buffalo  in  IS'O'h' ;    rcas  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  LSI' 1 :  married  Ella  Portia  Conger  of  Collins 
Center,  A'.   K,  A/arch  23,  1S76 ;    was  appointed  as- 
sistant district  attorney  of  Erie  county  by  Daniel  A''. 
Loclnoood,  taking  office  January   1,    ],S'7o  ,■    7i'as  ap- 
pointed district  attorney  by   Governor  Robinson  to  Jill 
an  unexpired  term  October  1,  1877,  holding  office  until 
January  1,  1878;    retired  from  the  practice  of  law  in 
1887  to  enter  the  lumber  and  railroad  business  with  his 
brother,  P'rank  H.  Goodyear. 


30bU  (I.  Graves  has  on  more  than  one  occa- 
sion shown  the  possession  of  those  (lualities  that 
make    the    ideal    citi/en.       Tearless    and    resolute. 


ME.X   OF  .\7-;;('    If'AVv'— ;/7:".s/A/v'.\'  sKcnox 


actuated  by  no  selfish  motives,  determined  to  do 
whatever  is  (or  the  best  welt'are  of  the  community, 
swerved  from  that  purpose  by  no  clamor  of  dema- 
gogues,— -  to  him  as  much  as  to  any  one  person  Buffalo 
owes  its  present  improved  form  of  government. 
During  all  the  years  that  this  community  struggled, 
through  the  Citizens'  Association,  of  which  General 
Graves  is  [(resident,  for  a  reformed  charter,  he  stood 
in  the  forefront,  receiving  the  brunt  of  the  l)attle 
and  successfully  beating  back  the  spoilsmen,  who 
fought  for  a  retention  of  antiquated  methods  of 
municipal  government  because  in  them  were  the 
greater  op])ortunities  for  personal  and  political  profit. 
For  that  labor  (jeneral  Graves  finds  recompense  in 
the  gratitude  of  those  of  his  fellow-citizens  who 
place  business  above  politics,  and  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  performed  an  arduous  task 

faithfully  and  well.  i 

(ieneral  (ira\es  is  a   prominent   figure  i 

in  the  commercial  and  social  circles  of 
Buffalo.  He  was  educated  to  be  a  lawyer, 
but  practiced  his  jirofe.ssion  for  only  a 
few  years,  from  1862  to  18(i7,  with  his 
father,  Ezra  (Graves,  of  Herkimer,  N.  V. 
A  year  in  Tufts  College,  near  Boston, 
followed  a  preliminary  training  at  Fair- 
field (  N.  Y.  )  Academy,  and  preceded  a 
year  at  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.  His  course  was  completed  at 
Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  in 
1 8fi2,  when  he  received  the  degree  of 
A.  M.  In  December  of  the  same  year  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1867  Gen- 
eral Graves  took  up  his  residence  in 
Buffalo,  engaging  in  business.  He  was 
active  in  commercial  pursuits  until  1874, 
when  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the 
Superior  Court  —  a  jjosition  that  he 
filled  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the 
judges  of  that  important  court  and  of 
the  legal  fraternity  until  1886,  when  he 
resigned.  General  Graves  then  turned 
his  attention  to  business,  having  large 
personal  and  trust  interests  confided  to 
his  care.  He  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers   of    the    Frontier    F^levating    Com- 

jjany,  and  was  president  of  the  company         i 

from  1886  to  1894.      His  greatest  single 
interest  is  still  in  the  grain-transfer  and 
storage    business  :     for    he    is    president 
of    the    Eastern     Elevator    Company,    which    owns 
one  of   the  largest  and    finest   elevators   in    Buffalo 
harbor,  renowned  for    the  magnitude  of  its    elevat- 
ing capacity. 


(Ieneral  (Jraves  owes  his  title  to  twenty  years' 
service  in  the  National  (iuard  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  As  colonel  of  the  6")th  regiment  of  Buffalo, 
he  labored  in  season  and  out  of  season  to  bring  that 
organization  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency.  Great  ad- 
vances were  made,  not  only  in  this  direction,  but  also 
in  the  character  of  officers  and  men.  He  made  pop- 
ular a  service  that  had  been  regarded  by  too  many  as 
detrimental  to  those  engaged  in  it,  surrounding  him- 
self with  men  of  his  own  high  ideals  and  thoroughness 
of  e.\ecution.  \Mien  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the 
[josition  of  commandant  of  the  brigade,  General 
Graves  was,  by  reason  of  past  achievements,  the  first 
choice  for  the  position  of  general  commanding  the  8th 
brigade,  including  the  65th  and  74th  regiments  in 
Buffalo  and  a  number  of  seiiarate  comijanies  in  western 


JOHX 


GRA  1 7t.V 


.\e\v   \'ork.      He  served   in    that  capacity   until    the 
demamls  of  business  compelled  his  retirement. 

The    only   municipal   office   that   General    Graves 
has  held    is   that   of  member  of   the  board   of    park 


38 


MEN  OF  XEW    VDRK—WESTER.X  SECT/O.V 


commissioners,  a  body  which  controls  the  eight 
hundred  acres  of  jxirk  lands  in  the  city  of  Buffalo, 
and  which,  despite  great  pressure,  rigorously  excludes 
politics  from  its  management.  He  has  ser\ed  on 
that  board  for  twelve  years. 


of  the  Superior  Court  of  Buffalo,  187^-86  ;    was  presi- 
dent of  Frontier  Elevating  Company,   1886-9 Jf  ;  has 
been  a  member  of  the  board  of  park  commissioners  of 
Buffalo  since  1883  :  has  been  president  of  the  Citizens' 
Association  since  its  oreanization  in  1SS9. 


ALP.I.RT  IIAICUT 

General  Graves  is  actively  interested  in  the  L'ni- 
versalist  church.  He  is  a  trustee  of  the  Church  of 
the  Messiah,  Buffalo,  and  of  the  general  conven- 
tion of  Universalists  of  the  United  States.  He  is  a 
Afason  of  high  degree.  He  has  been  Ma.ster  of 
Herkimer  Lodge,  and  of  Washington  Lodge,  No. 
240,  of  Buffalo  ;  High  Priest  of  Keystone  Chapter  of 
Royal  Arch  Masons :  is  a  member  of  Hugh  de 
I'ayens  Commandery,  Knights  Templars ;  and  has 
been  invested  with  all  the  degrees  of  Scottish  Rite 
Masonry  u]j  to  and  including  the  .■)2<1. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Card 
Graves  teas  born  at  Herkimer,  N.  Y. ,  November  18, 
1839 ;  attended  various  schools  and  colleges  ;  7vas  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  December,  1862  ;  married  Augusta 
C.   Moore  of  Buffalo  January  20.  186.'t  :  vcas  clerk 


aibert  Ibaigbt  enjoys  a  reputation 
second  to  that  of  no  jurist  in  the  state  of 
New  York.  Practicallv  his  whole  active 
life  has  been  spent  on  the  bench.  Judicial 
honors  came  to  him  when  he  was  only 
thirty  years  old.  Promoted  from  the 
bench  of  the  County  Court  of  Erie 
county  to  the  Supreme  Court,  he  rose 
thence  to  the  General  Term,  and  thence 
to  the  Court  of  Appeals.  If  a  high  trib- 
ute were  to  be  paid  to  Judge  Haight,  it 
would  be  necessary  only  to  mention  the 
facts  already  outlined  ;  for  no  man  un- 
worthy of  such  honors  could  obtain  them 
from  the  hands  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
The  record  means  that  the  laity  as  well 
as  the  legal  profe.ssion  were  early  im- 
]3ressed  by  the  pre-eminent  juristic  ability 
of  Judge  Haight. 

We  hear   much   of  the   "judicial  cast 
of  mind."      Sometimes  the  phra.se  means 
nothing.      It  ought  to  mean  a  great  deal, 
and  in  Judge  Haight's  case  it  means  all 
that  the  words  imply.      He  has  presided 
at  an  untold  number  of  trials  of  causes  at 
law,  involving  sums  ranging  from  a  trifling 
amount  to  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  many 
l^rinciples  of  law  have  been  adjudicated 
for  the  first  time  by  him.      Few  judges 
(an  point  to  so  satisfactory  a  record  as 
can    the   subject    of    this    sketch.      His 
decisions  have   almost    universally    been 
looked  upon  as  utterances  from  which  it  were  useless 
to  appeal.      His  statement  of  facts  is  clear  and  be- 
yond dispute,  his  application  of  the  law  is  direct  and 
positive,   and   his  deductions   are    characterized    by 
the  soundest  logic. 

Po.ssessing  these  traits  in  so  marked  a  degree,  it  is 
no  wonder  that  Judge  Haight  made  rapid  progress  on 
the  bench.  He  was  not  even  allowed  to  serve  out 
his  first  term  in  the  County  Court,  but  was  elected 
to  fill  the  position  of  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
for  the  8th  judicial  district.  Appreciating  the  legal 
knowledge  and  the  judicial  capacity  and  learning  of 
Mr.  Haight,  Governor  (irover  Cleveland,  himself  a 
lawyer  and  a  personal  acquaintance  of  Judge  Haight, 
though  of  opposite  political  faith,  made  him  an  asso- 
ciate justice   of  the   General    Term  of  the  Supreme 


AfE\   OF  XEW    )ORk'—U-ESTERX  SECT/OX 


39 


Court  for  the  fifth  department.  Mr.  Haight  ha.s 
always  been  a  man  of  intense  activity,  having  that 
valuable  faculty  of  doing  a  great  deal  without  ap- 
parent effort,  though  never  without  careful  study  and 
consideration.  During  his  entire  term  of  .service  on 
the  General  Term  he  found  time  to  hold  occasional 
Circuit  and  Special  Term  courts.  It  is  a  significant 
fact  that  every  appointment  that  has  come  to  him  has 
been  from  Democratic  governors  of  the  state,  though 
Judge  Haight  himself  is  a  staunch  Republican. 
When  the  second  division  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
was  formed  in  order  to  clear  up  the  work  of  the 
highest  appellate  court  of  the  state,  (■iO\ernor  Hill 
named  him  as  one  of  the  associate  judges  of  that 
court.  He  remained  in  this  position  until  the  disso- 
lution of  the  court,  when  he  wa.s  reappointed  to  the 
Ceneral  Term  by  Covernor  Flower.  There  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  elected  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals  on  the  Republican  state  ticket 
in  1894.  The  Democratic  party  of  the 
8th  judicial  district  paid  him  the  high 
honor  in  LStlO,  on  the  expiration  of  his 
first  term  of  office  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
of  a  joint  renomination  with  the  Repub- 
licans. 

For  the  past  twelve  years  Judge  Haight 
has  taken  part  in  the  decision  of  from 
four  hundred  to  five  hundred  cases  each 
year,  and  has  written  probably  sevent)-- 
five  opinions  every  year.  These  have 
been  published  in  court  reports  and  legal 
publications  of  all  sorts,  and  are  freiiuenth 
cited  as  authorities. 

The  law  is  a  hard  mistress,  and  those 
who  win  her  smiles  must  hesitate  not  in 
her  service.  Judge  Haight  is  a  firm 
believer  in  this  truth,  and  his  measure  of 
success  on  the  bench  has  been  won 
through  close  application.  The  law  is  at 
once  his  work  and  his  recreation  ;  in  it 
he  finds  his  profit  and  his  pleasure  ;  to  it 
he  gives  the  best  there  is  in  him  :  from  it 
he  has  received  honors  fairly  won. 

Judge  Haight  is  a  member  of  the  Buf- 
falo Club  and  of  the  Fort  Orange  Club  of 
Albany,  where  he  is  always  a  welcome 
visitor. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Albert  ILaii^hf  7oas  born  at  Eilicott'i'ille, 
N.   Y. ,  February  20,  18^2 ;  attended  dis- 
trict schools    and    Springville    (  N.     Y.  )    Academy  : 
married  Angeline    Waters   of    West   Falls,   A'.    Y, 
jVoi'ember  20,  ISG4. :   u>as  elected  si/ccessirely  super- 
visor front  the  second  loard  of  Buffalo  in  1869,  1870, 


and  1871,  county  Judge  of  Eric  county  in  1872,  and 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  8th  Judicial  dis- 
trict in  1876  ;  was  re-elected  Supreme  Court  Justice 
in  1890  ;  loas  appointed  successively  associate  Justice  of 
the  General  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  fifth 
department  by  Governor  Cleveland  in  1884,  'Associate 
Judge  of  the  second  division  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  by 
Go~rernor  Hill  in  1889,  and  associate  Justice  of  the 
General  Term  (again)  by  Governor  I''knc'er  in  1892  : 
was  elected  associate  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in 
189.1^. 

»«^ 

XWlLliam  M.  1baminon&  has  often  been  called 
to  serve  the  people  of  his  county  in  an  official  capacity, 
because  he  has  always  been  faithful  to  their  interests. 

He  was  born  upon  a  farm,  and  pa.ssed  his  early 
vears  there.      He  did  the  usual  work  of  a  farmer's 


r 


^ 


L^ 


WILLIAM    \V.  IIAMMOXIJ 


boy,  went  to  the  common  schools,  such  as  a  new 
(■ountry  affords,  and  after  reaching  a  suitable  age 
walked  six  miles  a  day  to  get  the  better  advantages 
offered  bv  a  "select"  .school.     He  clo.sed  his  school 


411 


ME\  OF  XEJV   VORK—lVESTER\  SECT /ON 


career  by  a  short  attendance  at  Fredonia  Academy. 
Before  1850  he  taught  school  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Kentucky,  and  soon  afterward  went  to  Mississijjpi, 
where  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  manufacture  of 
lumber.  Returning  to  his  native  county,  he  taught 
school  again  for  a  few  years.  Afterwards  he  con- 
ducted a  country  store,  studying  law  at  the  same 
time.  He  came  to  Buffalo  to  finish  his  legal  studies 
with  the  law  firm  of  Sawin  &  Lockwood,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1861  in  that  city.  After 
practicing  law  for  two  years  at  Angola,  N.  Y.,  he 
returned  to  mercantile  pursuits  for  several  years  at 
Brant,  N.  Y.  He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  magis- 
trate there;  and  for  twelve  years,  from  1865  on,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors  from  that 
town,  serving  with  the  late  Judge  Sheldon  and  with 
Judge  Haight,  at  present  of  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

In  military  affairs  Mr.  Hammond's  interest  is  best 
shown  by  his  fourteen  years'  connection  with  the 
-National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  en- 
listed in  1852.  He  went  with  the  67th  regiment  of 
the  National  Cuard  to  Harrisburg,  Penn.,  in  I86.1, 
when  Lee's  army  was  invading  the  state,  and  was 
on  duty  at  Harrisburg  when  the  battle  of  (iettys- 
burg  was  fought.  Mr.  Hammond  held  a  1st  lieu- 
tenant's commission  while  he  was  in  the  United 
States  service,  and  was  honorably  discharged  after 
about  three  months'  duty.  After  his  return  he  was 
elected  captain  of  company  C,  67th  regiment,  and 
held  that  rank  when  he  left  the  militia  service  in 
1866. 

Mr.  Hammond's  popularity  in  Erie  county  was 
first  shown  in  1877,  when  he  was  elected  county 
judge  to  succeed  Albert  Haight.  He  was  twice  re- 
elected, serving  twelve  years  in  that  important  office. 
From  1890  until  I8i)2  Mr.  Hammond  was  a  member 
of  the  law  firm  of  Peck,  Hammond,  Peck  &  Hatch  ; 
for  the  ne.xt  three  years  the  style  was  Hammond  & 
Hatch  :  and  in  18S)5  the  firm  became  Hammond  & 
Werick. 

He  has  spent  much  time  in  travel,  and  has  supjjle- 
mented  the  scant  school  advantages  of  his  youth  by 
wide  reading  and  observation.  He  is  interested  in  all 
church  matters,  and  was  a  charter  member,  and  for 
many  years  a  trustee,  of  the  Angola  Congregational 
Church.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Buffalo  since  its  organization. 
In  all  movements  for  higher  citizenship  and  impro\ed 
public  .service  his  voice  and  influence  have  alwavs 
iieen  on  the  right  side.  He  has  long  been  a  member 
of  the  Buffalo  Civil  Service  Reform  As.sociation,  and 
he  is  a  member  of  the  (lood  Covernment  Club  of 
the  ward  in  which  he  lives.  In  jjolitics  Mr.  Ham- 
iTiond  has  been  steadfa.stly  Republican. 


Mr.  Hammond's  eminence  in  his  profession  and 
his  social  position  were  not  attained  at  a  single 
bound,  but  rather  came  as  a  fitting  reward  to  patient 
endea\  or  and  continued  achievements.  He  has  seen 
Krie  county  change  from  a  forest  into  a  garden,  and 
Buffalo  has  expanded  under  his  eyes  from  a  small  city 
to  a  metropolis.  Throughout  these  years,  in  all  his 
dealings  with  his  fellow -men,  he  has  been  painstak- 
ingly honest  and  conscientious.  This  fact,  more 
clearly  than  any  other  perhaps,  gi\es  the  keynote  to 
Judge  Hammond's  long  and  successful  career. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY—Ullliam  W. 
Hammond  was  born  at  Uamlmrg,  iY.  }'. ,  Noi'ember 
4,  1831 :  attended  common  schools  and  Fredonia 
{N'.  Y.)  Academy;  married  Amy  A.  Htird  of  Evans, 
A*.  Y. ,  in  185 Jf,  and  Louisa  A.  Hurd  of  the  same  place 
in  1861  ;  7i.'as  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Buffalo  in  1861  ; 
7cias  a  member  of  the  National  Guard  from  1852  to 
1866 ;  was  elected  county  Judge  of  Erie  county  in 
1877,  and  was  re-elected  in  1878  and  in  188.1  .■  has 
practiced  Unu  in  Buffalo  since  1890. 


Milliam  IbeUGerer  is  a  self-made  man,  hav 
ing  successfully  applied  his  natal  talents  to  the  oppor- 
tunities of  his  circumstances.  Though  born  in  AVur- 
temburg,  Cieniiany,  he  is  essentially  an  .\merican. 
His  school  education,  obtained  |)artly  in  Ciermany 
and  partly  in  this  country,  ended  with  his  fourteenth 
year.  His  father,  however,  was  a  Lutheran  minis- 
ter, |)00r  in  this  world's  goods,  but  possessing  the 
character  and  qualifications  of  his  calling  :  .so  that 
while  Mr.  Hengerer's  school  days  were  few  in  num- 
ber, he  had  the  great  advantage  of  a  sound  home 
training,  which  is  often  more  than  e(]uivalent  to 
scholastic  opportunities. 

His  family  came  to  America  while  he  was  still  a 
boy,  and  for  twelve  years  he  lived  in  Pittsburg,  Penn. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  came  to  Buffalo,  and 
entered  the  dry-goods  house  of  Sherman,  Barnes  & 
Co.,  as  a  clerk,  at  six  dollars  a  week.  From  this 
humble  beginning,  by  force  of  industry,  persever- 
ance, and  integrity,  Mr.  Hengerer  has  achieved  his 
present  position  in  the  business,  .social,  and  political 
life  of  Buffalo.  To  call  his  success  luck,  would  be 
lo  dis|)arage  hard  work,  pluck,  and  honesty.  In 
1874  his  worth  and  ability  were  recognized,  and  he 
was  admitted  to  the  firm,  which  was  then  known  as 
Barnes,  Bancroft  &  Co.  This  was  the  style  of  the 
firm  for  eleven  years,  when  a  new  organization  took 
place,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  was  changed  to 
Barnes,  Hengerer  &  Co.  The  death  of  the  senior 
|)artner,  and  the  expansion  of  business  conseipient 
upon  the  evolution  of  dry -goods  houses  into  the  mod- 
ern de])artmenl  stores,  in   time  reiiuired  a  different 


.•ifEX  OF  \Kir    )-ORK^]iT.STKRX  SF.CTfOX 


41 


organization;  and  in  189oa  joint-stock  company  was 
formed,  known  as  The  William  Hengerer  Company, 
taking  its  name  from  the  clerk  who  thirty-odd  years 
before  began  on  a  salary  of  six  dollars  a  week. 

Only  once  has  Mr.  Hengerer' s  business  career 
been  interrupted,  and  then  there  was  a  break  of  two 
years,  when  he  was  engaged  in  the  more 
serious  business  of  helping  to  put  down 
the  Rebellion.  He  had  been  in  Buffalo 
scarcely  a  month  when  the  Civil  War 
liroke  out,  and  President  Lincoln  called 
for  troops.  He  did  what  thousands  of 
men  to-day  earnestly  wish  they  had 
done  —  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  soldier. 
Mr.  Hengerer  was  an  alien  born,  but  he 
showed  the  true  spirit  of  an  American 
patriot.  He  enlisted  for  two  years  as  a 
member  of  the  21st  regiment,  N.  Y.  vol- 
imteers  —  the  first  regiment  to  go  to  the 
front  from  Buffalo.  During  its  service  it 
was  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  shared  in  its  battles  and  its  triumphs. 

Returning  home  in  1863,  Mr.  Hen- 
gerer resumed  his  connection  with  Sher- 
man, Barnes  &  Co.,  and  steadily  devoted 
himself  to  their  interests.  His  life,  how- 
ever, has  not  been  confined  to  the 
accumulation  of  wealth,  to  the  neglect  of 
his  duties  as  a  citizen  and  a  member  of 
society.  His  time,  influence,  and  mone\' 
have  been  freely  given  to  every  commend- 
able object.  In  politics  he  is  a  "  war 
Democrat,"  and  his  counsel  and  assist- 
ance are  invariably  sought  by  his  part\- 
associates.  While  he  has  uniformly  de- 
clined, owing  to  the  cares  of  business, 
to  consider  nominations  for  elective 
offices,  he  has  served  the  public  for  many 
years  as  park  commissioner,  and  as  trustee 
of  the  State  Normal  School. 

Mr.  Hengerer  is  a  member  of  the  Engli.sh  Luth- 
eran church,  and  in  all  the  philanthropic  movements 
connected  with  church  work  in  these  days  his  name 
is  among  those  relied  upon  for  financial  a.ssistance. 
He  is  a  Mason  in  high  standing,  having  served  as 
Master,  High  Priest,  Commander,  and  District 
Deputy  Grand  Master.  He  has  a  life  membership  in 
both  the  Buffalo  Library  Association  and  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society.  He  is  a  member,  also,  of  the 
Liedertafel  and  Orpheus  societies,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
Club. 

Mr.  Hengerer  finds  diversion  from  business  in 
travel,  and  has  visited  Europe  several  times  for  rest 
and  recreation.      Unostentatious  in  his  style  of  living. 


cordial  in  his  friendship,  prompt  and  progressive 
in  business,  he  has  won  his  place  in  Buffalo  by 
the  same  (|ualities  he  displayed  when,  at  a  critical 
time  in  the  country's  history,  he  donned  the  uniform 
of  a  volunteer  .soldier  of  the  United  States,  and  sac- 
rificed everything  to  the  call  of  duty. 


U/LL/A.\f  HEXGERER 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— William  Hen- 
gerer was  born  at  Wiirtcmburg,  Germany,  Maieh  2, 
1839 ;  at/ended  common  schools ;  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1849  ;  sensed  in  the  Union  Army,  1861-63  ; 
married  Louisa  Diierr  of  Buffalo  September  24, 
1863 ;  has  been  park  commissioner  of  Buffalo  since 
1884,  and  trustee  of  State  Normal  School  since  1885. 


IRelSOn  Ik.  ■H50plUnS  is  a  son  of  the  Empire 
State.  His  father,  (leneral  Timothy  S.  Hopkins, 
lived  for  many  years  at  Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  but 
moved  to  Erie  county  in  1800,  and  purchased  a  farm 
near  Williamsville,  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  born  March  '1.  1>>1(). 


42 


MEX   OF  A/: II'    ) 'O /;! A'— U'ES 77-: A\y  SECT/OX 


(ieneral  Hopkins  was  appointed  captain  by  Gov- 
ernor (leorge  Clinton  in  1803,  major  by  Governor 
Lewis  in  180t),  and  lieutenant  colonel  by  Governor 
i'omkins  in  ISll  ;  and  he  served  as  brigadier  general 
under  Major  General  Hall  during  the  war  of  1812,  but 
resigned  his  commission  when  i)eace  was  declared. 


NE/.SO.y  a:  HOPKINS 

The  boyhood  of  Nelson  K.  Hopkins  was  spent 
u]jon  his  father's  farm,  where  practical  experience  of 
many  kinds  supplemented  the  scant  educational  op- 
l)Ortunities  offered  by  the  district  school.  When 
only  seventeen,  he  .secured  the  position  of  clerk  and 
manager  to  the  contractors  then  building  the  Mac- 
adam road  between  ^^'illiamsville  and  Buffalo.  In 
this  ])osition  he  had  entire  charge  of  the  accounts 
with  over  400  men.  .\fter  the  completion  of  this 
work,  Mr.  Hopkins  again  turned  his  attention  to  his 
education,  and  in  1834  entered  the  academy  at  Fre- 
donia,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  two  terms.  He 
then  spent  two  years  at  the  Genesee  Wesleyan  Semi- 
nary at  Lima,  N.  Y.  Before  entering  this  school 
young  Hopkins  had  been  elected  captain  of  a  com- 


[jany  of  militia  at  Williamsville,  and  while  he  was  at 
the  .seminary  his  company  was  called  out.  Mr. 
Hoi)kins  immediately  started  for  the  front,  where  he 
enlisted  in  the  United  States  service  with  si.vtv  of  his 
men,  and  served  in  what  wa.s  called  the  "  Patriot 
War. '  ■  He  was  stationed  on  the  Niagara  frontier, 
near  the  foot  of  Ferry  street  in  Buffalo. 

He  next  entered  Union  t'ollege  at 
Schenectady,  X.  Y.,  where  his  brilliant 
work  and  the  high  honors  with  which  he 
graduated  in  1842  gave  promi.se  of  those 
<iualities  that  were  to  be  developed  when 
he  was  to  battle  with  the  actual  realities 
of  life.  LIpon  his  graduation  Mr.  Hop- 
kins was  elected  to  membership  in  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  society  —  an  honor  con- 
ferred onlv  u])on  students  of  the  highest 
standing. 

The    legal    ])rofession    has    always  at- 
tracted  men    of  ambition    and    of  keen 
and    brilliant    mind,    and    Mr.    Hopkins 
made  choice  of  it  as  his  life-work.      He 
entered  the  office  of  Potter  &  Spaulding, 
in  Buffalo,  as  a  clerk,  and  in  1846  was 
duly  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  city  of 
New  York.      Thus  began  the  career  that 
has   made    him    one    of    Buffalo's   most 
honored  sons.      Mr.  Hopkins  has  devoted 
himself  to   the    practice   of   law  contin- 
uously   since    then,   with  the   single  e.\- 
ception  of  four  years  spent  at  the  state 
capitol,  as   comptroller.       Mr.    Hojikins 
has  ever  been  a  counselor  rather  than  an 
advocate.      Much  of  his  practice  has  con- 
(rerned    the    settlement    of    estates,    the 
examination    of   titles,   and    the   placing 
of  investments  —  duties   that    fitted  him 
w'ell  for  the  responsible  position  he  filled 
so  brilliantly  in  the  service  of  the  state. 
Mr.  Hopkins  has  always  been  a  staunch   Republi- 
can.     After  several  years  of  service  in   Buffalo,  as 
ward  supervisor  and  as  alderman,  he  was  appointed 
collector  of  internal  revenue  of  the  Buffalo  district 
by  President  Johnson  in  18(i().     In  1871,  without  his 
knowledge  or  consent,  he  was  nominated   for  state 
comptroller,  and  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority. 
He  was  called  to  the  administration  of  the  financial 
de|)artment   of  the  state  at  a  very   critical   period. 
Tweed  and  his  accomplices  were  then  in  power,  and 
they  had  .sadly  disorganized  the  finances  of  the  com- 
monwealth.     The  sinking  fimds  had  been  despoiled 
to  make  good  other  appropriations,  and   in  various 
ways    the  comptroller's   dei^artnient  was  greatly   in 
need  of  reform.      Mr.  Hopkins  addre.s.sed  himself  to 


MEN  OF  XEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


43 


the  task  with  the  painstaking  care  and  unbending  in- 
tegrity that  have  characterized  his  public  and  private 
career  ;  and,  happily  for  the  good  of  the  state,  he 
was  well  qualified  for  the  work,  both  by  natural  ability 
and  by  legal  training.  His  first  annual  report  was 
greeted  with  applause,  both  for  its  clear  elucidation 
of  the  financial  condition,  and  for  the  evidence  it 
bore  that  a  iri^imc  of  retrenchment  had  replaced  that 
of  extravagance.  That  men  of  all  parties  appreciated 
his  services,  was  shown  in  1873,  when  he  was  re- 
elected to  the  office  he  had  filled  so  well,  notwith- 
standing the  defeat  of  every  other  candidate  on  the 
Republican  ticket.  During  his  four  years  of  office, 
S6, 500, 000  that  had  been  abstracted  from  the  treasury 
in  direct  violation  of  the  constitution  was  restored, 
and  nearly  820,000,000  of  the  state  debt  was  paid. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  second  term  of 
office,  Mr.  Hopkins  returned  to  Buffalo 
and  resumed  his  legal  practice,  which  he 
has  continued  ever  since.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  he  is  a  prominent 
citizen  there,  and  actively  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  city.  He  was  one  o( 
the  organizers  of  the  present  paid  Fire  De- 
partment, and  for  ten  years  occupied  the 
honorable  ])Osition  of  fire  commissioner, 
where  his  services  were  of  a  careful  and 
conservative  nature  that  guarded  the  best 
public  interests.  For  many  years  he  was 
the  attorney  and  a  director  of  White's 
Bank,  now  the  .\merican  K.vchange  Bank, 
of  Buffalo  ;  and  he  has  always  been 
identified  with  the  prominent  local  clubs, 
organizations,  and  societies. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Nelson  K.  Hopkins  was  born  at  U'illiams- 
ville,  N  v.,  March  2,  1816;  attended 
Fredonia  (N.  Y.  )  Academy  and  JVesleyan 
Seminary  at  Lima,  N'.  Y. ,  and  graduated 
from  Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
in  184-2  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  New 
York  city  in  18^6 ;  married  Lucy  Ann 
Allen  of  Buffalo  in  18^8,  and  Louise 
Ann  Piatt  of  Buffalo  in  1855  ;  was  alder- 
man in  Buffalo,  1SG2-66 ;  loas  appointed 
collector  of  internal  revenue  by  President 
Johnson  in  1866  ;  tvas  elected  comptroller 
of  the  state  of  New  York  in  1871,  and  luas 
re-elected  in  1873 ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo  since  18^6. 


first  rank,  and  a  traveler  and  hunter  of  renown.  He 
stands  high  as  an  author,  and  as  a  business  man  he 
has  won  an  enviable  position. 

Born  with  a  love  of  nature,  which  his  early  life 
did  much  to  foster,  he  sought  emjjloyment  when  a 
young  man  in  the  famous  natural  history  establish- 
ment of  Professor  Ward  in  Rochester,  and  there  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  work  as  a  field  naturalist  in 
which  he  gained  such  distinction.  His  first  venture  in 
this  line  was  in  Cuba  and  Florida,  where  he  won  his 
spurs  as  a  naturalist  by  discovering  and  describing 
the  Florida  crocodile,  a  genus  quite  distinct  from  the 
alligator.  His  success  gave  impetus  to  the  desire  to 
enter  richer,  if  wilder  and  more  dangerous,  lands  ; 
and  in  1876  he  undertook  an  expedition  to  the  West 
Indies  and  South  America,  where  he  made  a  large 


\\  I  [.I.I AM    T.   lIOR.y.in.iY 


Milliain  'C.  IbOrna&ap  has  made  a  success 
of  life  in  more  directions  than  are  open  to  most  men. 
He  is  a  naturalist  of  distinction,  a  taxidermist  of  the 


collection  of  strange  fi.shes,  beautiful  birds,  and  hor- 
rible reptiles.  On  his  return  he  went  to  Europe, 
and  spent  some  time  in  study  in  various  museums  of 
science   and   art.       His   next   trip   was   to  the  East 


44 


MEN   OF  NEW   YORK  —WESTER N  SECTION 


Indies.  This  was  the  most  extensive  expedition  Mr. 
Hornaday  ever  made,  and  lasted  nearly  three  years, 
during  which  he  sent  home  the  largest  collection  of 
specimens  ever  made  in  the  Far  I'^ast.  His  adven- 
tures in  India,  Ceylon,  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and 
Borneo,  have  been  given  to  the  public  in  a  book  en- 
titled "Two  Years  in  the  Jimgle,"  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1885,  and  ran  through  four  editions. 

Mr.  Hornaday  returned  to  Rochester  in  187it,  and 
three  years  later  was  ajjpointed  chief  taxidermist  of 
the  United  States  National  Museum  at  Washington. 
During  the  eight  years  in  which  he  held  that  import- 
ant position,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  .stood 
at  the  head  of  the  profession.  Many  of  the  recent 
advances  in  the  taxidermic  art  are  due  to  him.  He 
introduced  the  present  very  jjopular  method  of 
mounting  large  quadrupeds  in  groups  and  placing 
them  amidst  their  natural  surroundings.  Some  of 
his  work  —  notably  the  group  of  buffalo  which  is 
such  an  ornament  to  the  National  Mu.seum  —  has 
received  the  highest  praise  from  the  best  authorities, 
and  is  a  monument  to  his  skill  as  an  artist  and  his 
knowledge  as  a  naturalist. 

In  1889  Mr.  Hornaday  proposed  the  establishment 
by  congress,  on  a  grand  scale,  of  a  national  zoolog- 
ical park  at  Washington,  to  be  under  the  control  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution.  He  was  forthwith  de- 
tailed by  the  secretary  to  formulate  plans  and  present 
them  to  congress.  He  did  this  with  so  much  success 
that  in  the  next  two  years  congress  appropriated 
S2!)"2,000  to  carry  out  the  scheme.  Mr.  Hornaday  was 
appointed  superintendent,  and  served  the  commission- 
ers for  one  year  in  that  capacity.  When  the  park 
was  finally  placed  under  the  control  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  Profes.sor  T.angley  insisted  on 
changes  in  its  plans  so  sweeping  that  Mr.  Hornaday 
resigned  his  position,  severed  his  connection  with 
the  government,  and  came  to  Buffalo.  Here  he 
became  interested  in  real  estate,  and  with  four  other 
operators  formed  a  close  corporation  called  the  Union 
Land  Exchange,  which  has  been  the  direct  means  of 
bringing  a  large  amount  of  capital  to  Buffalo. 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Hornaday  has  interested  the 
public  in  many  subjects.  His  story  of  life  in  the 
l^ast  Indies  has  already  been  referred  to.  He  has 
written  a  work  on  "Taxidermy  and  Zoological  Col- 
lecting" that  is  a  standard  authority.  His  memoir 
on  the  "  Kxtermination  of  the  American  Bison  "  (a 
government  publication)  attracted  much  attention. 
His  contributions  to  various  papers  and  magazines 
are  well  known  and  popular.  His  recent  novel,  en- 
titled "The  Man  Who  Became  a  Savage,"  which 
made  its  first  a|)pearance  in  the  fllu<:tialed  Buffalo 
Express,  jjosses-ses  great  merit  and  originalit)'. 


The  CEsthetic  side  of  Mr.  Hornaday's  nature  finds 
expression  in  an  intense  love  for  art.  He  is  an  ex- 
cellent judge  of  paintings,  and  has  begun  to  form  a 
collection  of  works  by  American  artists  onlv. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY —Wiiliam  Tem- 
ple Hornaday  was  born  near  Plainjielcl,  /nil. ,  Decem- 
ber 1,  185 Jf  ;  attended  the  public  schools  of  Knoxville, 
loiaa,  Oskaloosa  {Iowa)  College,  and  the  Iowa  Agricul- 
tural College  ;  studied  zoology,  taxidermv,  and  museologv 
in  Rochester  and  in  various  European  museums ;  trai'- 
eled  extensively  from  1875  to  1879,  visiting  the  Jlest 
Indies,  South  America,  and  the  Far  East,  maki?ig 
zoological  collections  ;  married  Josephi?ie  Chamberlain 
of  Battle  Creek,  Mich.,  September  11,  1879 ;  7i<as 
made  chief  taxidermist  of  the  United  States  National 
Museum  in  1882  ;  proposed  the  establishnent  and  pre- 
pared the  plans  of  the  National  Zoological  Park  at 
Washington  in  1888 ;  has  been  engaged  in  the  real- 
estate  business  in  Buffalo  since  1890. 


IbarveV  %.  1f3Ur&  is  a  striking  example  of  the 
men  whose  ca[)acity  for  work  is  such  that  they  can  be 
at  once  successful  in  business  and  actively  interested 
in  public  affairs.  He  has  been  a  thoroughly  practical 
citizen,  attending  strictly  to  his  private  enterprises  on 
the  one  .side,  and  on  the  other  assuming  his  full  share 
of  the  duties  that  we  all  owe  to  the  community  in 
which  we  live.  One  of  the  encouraging  signs  of  the 
times  in  our  country  to-day  is  the  steady  increase  in 
the  number  of  business  men  who  are  recognizing  the 
fact  that  the  state  has  a  just  claim  to  their  services  in 
some  oflicial  capacit}'.  It  is  in  this  way  only  that 
our  |)olitics  can  be  made  clean  and  respectable. 

Mr.  Hurd's  father,  Clark  W.  Hurd,  was  of  Ver- 
mont stock,  coming  to  Erie  county  in  the  '30's. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  on  the  Buffalo  Creek 
Indian  reservation  at  Elma,  where  Harvey  Hurd  was 
born.  The  latter's  early  life  was  passed  ujjon  the 
farm,  and  his  early  education  was  obtained  in  the 
district  .school.  To  this  was  added  an  excellent 
training  at  the  old  Buffalo  Academy  and  at  Cornell 
University,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1872.  His 
commercial  life  has  been  confined  to  the  lumber 
business  chiefly,  in  which  he  is  at  present  engaged  in 
Huftalo,  in  company  with  his  brother,  James  T. 
liurd,  under  the  firm  name  of  Hurd  Bros. 

In  1K!)0  and  1891  Mr.  Hurd  was  president  of  the 
Buffalo  I.iHiiber  I'^xchange.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Buffalo  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  served  for  several 
years  on  the  board  of  trustees  of  that  institution. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Builders'  Ex- 
change. He  is  part  owner  of  the  Buffalo  Planing  Mill 
Com])any,  which  ojierates  one  of  the  largest  and 
best  eijuipped  plants  in  the  United  States,  and  is  vice 


.]/j-:x  or  XKW  vo/<:K—irESTF.RX  SEcriox 


45 


president  of  the  comi)any.  Mr.  Hurd  is  also  a  director 
of  the  Buffalo  Loan,  I'rust,  and  Safe  Deposit  Com- 
pany, and  of  the  Lancaster  Brick  Yard  Company. 
He  is  a  life  member  of  the  Buffalo  Library  Association. 

In  public  life  Mr.  Hurd  has  made  a  good  record. 
Few  men  are  able  to  manage  many  things  well  at  the 
same  time,  but  Mr.  Hurd  has  shown 
aliility  as  a  legislator  as  well  as  in  the 
walks  of  mercantile  life.  He  was  first 
elected  to  the  legislature  in  1877,  and 
served  altogether  four  years.  His  princi- 
pal work  in  the  assembly  was  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Erie  canal.  For  three  years 
he  was  chairman  of  the  canal  committee, 
and  directed  his  efforts  towards  securing 
the  adoption  of  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment making  the  canals  free  from  tolls. 
His  services  in  this  matter  ha\e  not  been 
forgotten  in  western  New  York. 

Mr.  Hurd  was  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lature in  1881,  when  the  memorable 
resignation  of  Mr.  Conkling  from  the 
United  States  senate,  together  with  that 
of  Mr.  Piatt,  unexpectedly  rendered  the 
election  of  two  senators  nece.ssary.  The 
Republican  party,  with  which  Mr.  Hurd 
has  been  identified,  was  divided  into  two 
factions  —  one  favoring  the  return  of  Mr. 
Conkling  to  the  senate  and  the  other 
opposing  such  return.  A  long  and  bitter 
light  followed  in  the  legislature.  Mr. 
Hurd  was  a  strong  admirer  of  the  New 
York  senator,  and  supported  him  to  the 
end.  This  trait  of  adhering  to  a  friend  or 
to  a  cause  is  a  marked  one  in  his  character. 

Mr.  Hurd  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and 
has  taken  an  active  interest  as  one  of  the 
managers    of   the  party  in  Erie  county. 
I'or  several  )ears  he  was  chairman  of  the 
Republican  general  committee.      He  is  at  present  a 
member  of  the  Republican  state  committee,   repre- 
senting the  ood  senatorial  district,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the  state  committee. 

In  social  life  Mr.  Hurd  is  eminently  com])anion- 
able.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club  and  of 
the  University  Club,  and  is  a  3'2d  degree  Mason. 
While  the  cares  of  business  leave  little  time  for 
diversions,  his  life  is  not  in  any  sense  one-sided. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Harvey Jctson 
Hurd  rcas  born  at  Elma,  N.  Y.,  February  M',  IS  If!) : 
was  educated  at  Buffalo  Academy  and  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, from  7vhich  he  graduated  in  1872 ;  was  a 
member  of  the  New  York  legislature,  187S-S1 ;  lias  been 
engaged  in  the  lumber  /'usiness  in  Buffalo  sniee  ISSO. 


IE.  ti.  IbUtCbiUSOn  is  one  of  the  men  who 
make  themselves  valuable  in  the  community  in  which 
they  live,  'thoroughly  imbued  with  the  progressive 
spirit  of  the  age,  he  is  to  be  found  in  the  front  rank 
of  those  who  are  working  for  the  material  and  moral 
welfare    of  the    world.       Endowed    with    large    re- 


HAR\-i-.y  J.  itiRn 

sources,  he  has  numerous  and  varied  business  inter- 
ests. Unlike  many  people  blessed  with  means, 
Mr.  Hutchinson  is  liberal  with  both  his  energy  and 
his  money.  No  worthy  charity  appeals  to  him  in 
vain  ;  no  public  movement  that  has  for  its  object  the 
eradication  of  some  political  or  moral  evil  need  lack 
his  influence.  He  is  a  public-spirited  citizen  in  the 
fullest  meaning  of  the  term,  and  he  has  made  many 
personal  sacrifices  to  serve  his  fellow  -  citizens. 
Sturdy  in  mind  and  purpose,  no  unw'orthy  motive 
ever  turned  him  from  the  path  of  duty.  When  his 
way  is  seen  clearly,  it  is  pursued  to  the  end,  no  mat- 
ter what  obstacles  are  to  be  overcome. 

Mr.  Hutchinson's  business  life  began  when  he  was 
eighteen   vears   old,    ill  health  having  forced   him   to 


.VfE\   OF  XEll-    VORK—WESTERX  SECTION 


abandon  a  course  of  study  j)reparatory  for  college. 
His  first  venture  was  as  a  ijartner  in  the  firm  of  L.  W. 
Drake  &  Co.,  provision  dealers  and  ])ork  packers. 
In  the  .summer  of  187")  their  slaughterhouse  at  p;ast 
Muffalo  was  burned,  and  the  fire  was  followed  by 
a  dissolution  of  partnershij).     But  so  energetic  and  re- 


E.   H.   HUTCIIIXSOX 

sourccful  a  man  as  Mr.  Hutchinson  had  already  shown 
himself  to  be  could  not  long  remain  idle,  and  in  a 
few  months  he  had  established  an  advertising  agency. 
To  this  he  soon  added  the  job-])rinting  business. 
L'nder  his  fostering  care  and  wise  management  this 
business  grew  steadily  and  prospered  exceedingly. 
Mr.  Hutchinson  continued  it  alone  until  1890,  when 
Harry  C.  Spendelow  beamie  his  partner.  This  asso- 
ciation was  unbroken  until  January  1,  189o,  when 
Mr.  Hutchin.son  retired,  the  Spendelow  Printing 
Com])any  succeeding  K.  H.  Hutchinson  &  Co. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  is  interested  in  many  business 
enterprises  in  Buffalo.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
Marine  Bank,  and  a  stockholder  of  the  Hank  of  Buf- 
falo ;  and  serves  as  a   trustee    of  the    Buffalo   City 


Cemetery.  .\  number  of  fine  business  blocks,  flats, 
and  apartment  houses  have  been  erected  by  him. 
In  many  directions  his  influence  is  felt,  and  every- 
where his  counsel  and  his  energy  of  execution  are 
desired  and  sought.  He  is  a  manager  of  the  Church 
Charity  Foundation  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Buffalo,  and  is  a  life  member 
of  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  the 
Buffalo  Orphan  .\sylum,  and  the  Buffalo 
Library.  No  more  cheerfiil  giver  is 
known  to  many  charitable  and  benevo- 
lent institutions  of  the  city,  and  he  is 
always  one  of  the  first  to  respond  to  any 
special  call  for  aid.  As  a  loving  memorial 
to  his  father,  John  Martin  Hutchinson, 
and  to  his  mother,  Eunice  Alzina  Howard 
Hutchinson,  he  has  recently  built  the 
Hutchin.son  Memorial  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Innocents,  which  has  been  presented  to 
the  Church  Charity  Foundation. 

Men  of  Mr.  Hutchinson's  stamp  make 
ideal  public  servants,  and  it  is  certainly 
to  be  regretted  that  he  has  found  it  im- 
l)0ssible  to  give  the  city  as  much  of  his 
time  as  his  fellow-citizens  would  like.  A 
Democrat  in  politics,  he  was  yet  elected, 
because  of  his  personal  popularity,  to  a 
seat  in  the  board  of  aldermen  for  the  old 
10th  ward,  the  strongest  Republican  ward 
in  the  city.  He  served  one  term  of  two 
years. 

When  John  M.  Hutchinson  died  August 
17,  1886,  there  was  a  popular  demand 
for  the  appointment  of  his  son  to  succeed 
him  as  member  of  the  board  of  fire  com- 
missioners. No  convenient  opportunity 
to  effect  this  came  until  F'ebruary  24, 
1891,  when  Mayor  Charles  F.  Bishop 
was  pleased  to  make  the  ajjpointment. 
The  father  had  served  the  city  for  years  with  a  single- 
ness of  purpose  and  an  unexcelled  faithfulness,  and 
it  was  felt  that  the  son  would  do  the  same.  The 
other  members  of  the  board  at  once  paid  a  tribute 
to  the  father  by  choosing  the  ca|)able  son  as  their 
chairman.  Unfortunately  the  younger  Hutchinson's 
connection  with  the  Fire  Department  ceased  in  two 
yeai"S,  because  he  was  compelled  by  ill  health  in  his 
family  to  absent  himself  from  Buffalo  for  a  consid- 
erable period  of  time,  and  he  felt  it  unjust  to  the 
city  to  hold  the  position  under  such  circumstances. 
He  has  still  a  keen  interest  in  everything  pertaining 
to  the  Fire  Department,  and  the  members  of  the 
force  in  all  grades  of  service  have  a  warm  regard  for 
their  former  commissioner. 


MKX   OF  XFJr    ViVx'k-— WESTER X  SECTrOX 


47 


Mr.  Hutchinson  delights  in  travel,  and  has  visited 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  the  greater  part  of 
Europe. 

Several  fraternal  organizations  know  V..  11.  Hutch- 
inson as  a  brother.  He  is  a  member  of  Ancient 
Landmark  Lodge,  No.  441,  F.  &  A.  M.;  Adytum 
Chapter,  No.  235,  R.  A.  M. ;  Keystone  Council,  No. 
20.  R.  &  S.  M.:  Hugh  de  Payens  Commander)-,  No. 
'.]{),  K.  T. ;  Ismailia  Temple,  Nobles  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine  ;  and  Orient  Lodge,  A.  ().  V .  W . 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Ethoani  Hmo- 
ard  Hutchinson  was  born  at  Buffalo  Alairh  7,  1S52  : 
attended  Tarioiis  public  and  private  schools  :  married 
Jeanie  Blanche  Ganson  of  Buffalo  Se/>ten/ber2;j,  1872  : 
was  alderman  from  the  old  10th  ward,  1888-89  ; 
was  appointed  a  Fire  Commissioner  February  24. 
1891,  resigniiii^  October  3,  189,1. 


Cbristian  IklincI?  is  one  of  Huf 

falo's  most  enterprising  citizens,  and 
stands  among  the  foremost  on  the  list  of 
men  of  Teutonic  descent  who  have  made 
for  themselves  fame  and  fortune  in  their 
adopted  country.  Mr.  Klinck  is  a  native 
of  Cermany,  where  he  received  a  good 
common-school  education,  and  learned 
his  trade  as  a  butcher.  The  narrow  world 
of  German  provincialism,  with  its  hope- 
lessness of  any  great  success,  proved  too 
small  for  the  ambitious  lad,  and  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  determined  to  seek 
his  fortunes  in  the  new  world.  Accord- 
ingly he  set  sail  for  America,  intending 
to  settle  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  but  when 
he  reached  Buffalo  he  was  unable  to  pay 
his  railroad  fare  further,  and,  making  a 
virtue  of  necessity,  he  sought  work  there, 
which  he  obtained  at  the  munificent  rate 
of  six  dollars  a  month.  Notwithstanding 
this  small  beginning,  his  Clerman  thrift 
and  industry  enabled  him,  in  six  years, 
to  amass  sufficient  capital  to  go  into  busi- 
ness for  himself;  and  from  that  time 
forth  his  path  was  alwa}s  forward  and 
upward.  At  first  he  conducted  the  busi- 
ness of  a  general  butcher,  but  in  lisd.s 
he  took  up  a  specialty,  opening  a  pork- 
packing  business  that  was  destined  to 
become  one  of  the  greatest  establish- 
ments of  its  kind  in  the  LInited  States. 
From  the  start  he  had  to  contend  with  competition 
of  the  keenest  kind.  There  were  wealthier  and 
stronger  firms  which,  had  they  been  able,  would  have 
crushed  the  life  out  of  the  new  concern  ;    but   it  was 


ba.sed  upon  the  ])rinciples  of  business  integrity,  and 
an  iron  will  was  behind  it.  Few  men  could  have 
been  succe.ssfiil  in  this  enterprise,  but  Mr.  Klinck 
was  one  of  the  few-.  He  was  honest,  industrious, 
prudent,  far-seeing,  and  resolute ;  and  because  he 
possessed  these  characteristics,  because  he  rejected 
all  offers  to  compromise  or  combine,  because  he  re- 
fused to  be  swayed  from  his  original  purpose,  he  won 
the  battle,  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  kings  of  pork 
packing  in  the  country.  His  establishment  is  situated 
on  Depot  street,  near  William,  in  East  Buffalo.  The 
)  ards  cover  over  eighteen  acres,  and  the  mammoth 
buildings  are  equipjied  with  the  most  complete 
machinery  and  the  most  improved  appliances.  Some 
idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  business  may  be  gained 
from  the  fact  that  between  two  and  three  hundred 


CHHISTIAX   KI.INCK 

men  are  there  employed,  turning  out  a  product  that 
annually  amounts  to  over  §8,000,000. 

Mr.   Klinck   has  not  only   flourished   financially, 
but  he  has  prospered  politically  as  well,  so  far  as  he 


48 


ME.X  OF  A'Eir    VORK-—li'ESTERA-  SECTfON 


has  found  time  for  such  pursuits.  In  1S()3,  yielding 
to  the  solicitations  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  he 
entered  the  political  arena  as  candidate  for  alderman 
of  the  old  l;5th  ward  in  Buffalo,  and  served  his  con- 
stituents faithfully  for  two  years,  when  he  retired. 
P"or  nearlv  tliirtv  vears  he   remained  out   of  politics, 


N' 


ERASTLS   r.   KXfC.HT 


but  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  rejiresenlative  citi- 
zens waited  upon  him,  and  induced  him  to  become  a 
candidate  for  councilman  ;  and  he  was  elected  by  a 
most  flattering  majority.  In  this  capacity  Mr. 
Klinck  has  brought  to  the  service  of  the  public  those 
rugged  (|ualities  of  sterling  integrity,  steadfastness  of 
purpose,  and  keen  discrimination  that  have  brought 
him  success  in  private  life.  To  be  fair  and  just  is 
the  self-evident  purpose  of  his  action  in  all  matters 
of  legislation.  Though  at  times  others  have  differed 
from  him  and  taken  opposite  grounds,  none  have 
ever  impugned  his  motives  or  suggested  for  a  moment 
that  his  intentions  were  other  than  the  purest. 

Mr.    Klinck  is  interested   in  many   financial  and 
business    enterjirises  aside   from   those    immediately 


under  his  personal  control.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
Citizens'  Bank  and  of  St.  John's  (lerman  Orphan 
Asylum,  and  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Live  Stock  F;.\- 
change  and  in  the  Crocker  Fertilizer  Company. 

PERSONAL    CHR  ONOLOG  Y—  Christian 

Klinck  TC'ii.f  born  in  the  Bavarian  villa;^e  of  Schonen- 

I'lirg,  Germany,  February  (J,  lS3-i  ;  moved 

,         to  the  city  of  Zweibrucken  {also  in  Rhenish 

Bar  aria)  in  ISJ^O,  where  he  learned  his 
Ira  lie  as  a  butcher  .■  came  to  America  and 
settled  in  Buffalo  in  1S50 ;  established  a 
pork-packing  business  in  1868  ;  was  alder- 
wan  from  the  IStli  loard,  Buffalo,  1863- 
63  ;  7oas  elected  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
board  of  councilmen  in  1S93,  and  ivas 
made  president  of  the  board   Joniiarv  (J, 

hsm. 

l£raStU5    (I.  llJniObt   attained   his 
present    high     position     in    finance    and 
])olitics    by    reason  of   undoubted    merit 
and   ability.       His   ancestors    were    New 
Knglanders,    of  the   revolutionary    type, 
his  great-grandfather,  Seth   Cole,  having 
moved  trom  Chesterfield,    Mass. ,  to   the 
shores    of   Lake    Erie    near    Dunkirk    in 
180.").     Mr.  Knight's  grandfather,  Rraslus 
Cole,  was  a  volunteer  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and    wa.s  present   at   the  burning  of  the 
<  ity  of  Buffalo  in  l8l;i.      Mr.   Knight's 
own  father  was  a  substantial  business  man 
of  Buffalo,  and  very  likely  the  son  inher- 
ited some  of  his  father's  business  capacity. 
\X  all  events,  Mr.  Knight's  career  shows 
an  unbroken  chain  of  advancement  such  as 
unmistakably  indicates  some  powerful  and 
adequate  cause  in  antecedent  conditions. 
A  thorough  education  was  one  of  the 
factors  of  Mr.  Knight's  success.      Having 
taken  a  cour.se   in  a  commercial  college,   he   had  a 
theoretical    and    practical     knowledge    of    business 
methods  before  he  entered  active  business.      <  )n  the 
completion  of  his  studies,  he  accepted  a  position  in 
the  wholesale  house  of  Bell  Brothers,  produce  com- 
mission merchants,  of  Buffalo.      Later  he  broadened 
his  experience  with  men  and  places  by  going  on  the 
road  as  a  traveling  salesman  for  the  same  firm  —  one 
of  the  finest  schools  of  practical  business  knowledge. 
In  188(1  he  started  in  lousiness  for  himself,  and  became 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Knight,  Lennox  &  Co., 
produce  commission  merchants,  with   whom  he  was 
successfully  engaged  for  seven  years. 

Usually  a  man   is  loath  to  change  when  once  he 
has  established   himself  in  a  ])rofession  or  branch   of 


MEX  OF  XKH'  ]  o A' A' ~ I r/-:s 77-: AW  sac/jox 


49 


mercantile  industn'.  But  Mr.  Knight  concluded 
that  the  opportunities  were  greater  in  a  field  different 
from  that  first  chosen  by  him,  and  in  1)SX7  he  with- 
drew from  the  foregoing  firm,  and  embarked  in  the 
real-estate  business.  To  this  he  added  the  occujja- 
tion  of  a  builder  in  181)2,  when  he  formed  a  partner 
ship  with  Oliver  .\.  Jenkins,  under  the  I'lrni  name  of 
Jenkins  &  Knight.  Mr.  Knight  is  also  a  partner  in 
the  firm  of  Sloan,  Cowles  &  Co.,  proprietors  of  ex- 
cursion steamers  and  summer  resorts. 

In  politics  Mr.  Knight  has  been  prominentl)'  iden- 
tified with  the  Republican  party.  Before  the  city  of 
Buffalo  was  redistricted  he  was  nominated  for  super- 
visor in  the  okl  11th  ward,  and  was  elected  ;  and  two 
years  later  he  was  renominated  from  the  new  24th 
ward,  and  wa.s  elected.  He  was  chosen  for  a  third 
time  in  lHil8,  serving  as  chairman  of  the  board  dur- 
ing the  session  of  1.S94.  In  the  fall  of 
that  year  he  received  the  nomination  for 
comptroller  of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  and 
was  elected  by  a  round  majority,  assuming 
the  duties  of  the  office  January  1,  1895. 
'I'he  country  is  learning  that  the  success- 
ful business  man  is  most  likely  to  manage 
wisely  the  affairs  of  a  municipality.  Ex- 
perience in  commen  ial  life  is  what  we 
need  in  the  administration  of  nearly  all 
public  ofifices,  and  it  marks  an  advance  in 
practical  wisdom  when  a  commimity 
selects  a  business  man  for  what  is  essen- 
tially a  business  office.  The  city  of  Buf- 
falo, therefore,  may  well  congratulate  itself 
on  Mr.  Knight's  accession  to  the  office  of 
comptroller.  His  administration  has  been 
marked  by  soimd  business  judgment,  faith- 
fulness to  the  interests  of  the  public,  and 
uniform  courtesv  to  the  patrons  of  the 
office  In  public  and  in  private  capacit\ 
alike,  Mr.  Knight  has  in  large  measure  the 
res])ect  and  good  will  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  OGY  — 
Erasttix  Cole  Kn!i;/if  rctrs  born  at  Biiffalii 
March  1,  hS'iT  :  attended  the  ptblic  schools 
and Brxant  ib'  Stratton's  Business  College ; 
engaged  in  the  f>rodiice  commission  business 
with  William  C.  Lennox,  1880-S"!  ;  mar- 
ried Mary  Elizabeth  Cowles  of  Buffalo  May 
H,  ISSl ;  established  a  real-estate  business 
in   1SS7,   and  formed  a  partnership  with 
Oliver  A.  Jenkins   in  ISO  J  ;    7aas  elected 
supervisor  of  the  old  11th  ward  of  Buffalo  in  1880,  and 
was  re-elected  in  the  nexc  2Jfth  ward  in  1891  and  180S, 
sen'ing  as  chairman  of  the  board  in  189^  :  was  elected 
conftroHer  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  in  XoTcmber.   189^. 


50bn  1l3.  XaSCClleS,  though  a  newcomer  to 
Buffalo,  is  already  thoroughly  identified  with  the 
business  interests  of  the  city.  He  is  a  banker  of 
long  experience  and  of  great  ability,  and  is  so  re- 
garded by  his  fellow-financiers.  His  career  in  the 
field  in  which  he  has  won  so  marked  a  success  began 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  At  that  time  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  Lake  Shore  Bank  of  Dun- 
kirk, N.  Y.,  his  native  town.  Beginning  in  the  lowly 
capacity  of  "trotter,"  where  the  jiower  of  literally 
•'getting  there"  right  on  time  is  the  one  thing 
needfiil,  he  rose  by  degrees  to  more  important  posi- 
tions, .serving  in  the  various  grades  of  clerkshi])S, 
absorbing  speedily  a  thorough  knowledge  of  link- 
ing methods,  and  acquiring  a  mastery  of  the  .science 
of  finance.  For  eight  years  his  connection  with  the 
Lake  Shore  Bank  was  mibroken,  and  he  severed   it 


J('/l.\  II.   I.ASCEI.I.ES 

only  to  accept  a  flattering  offer  from  a  rival  institu- 
tion, the  Merchants'  National  Bank  of  Dunkirk, 
which  wished  to  make  him  its  cashier.  This  was  in 
ISS'J.       Ten    vears   of  his   active   business    lile  were 


50 


MFX   OF  XFir    VORK—U-ESrERX  SF.CTfOX 


spent  with  this  bank  —  years  fraught  with  success  for 
both  the  hank  and  its  cashier.  During  this  period 
Mr.  Lascelles  became  known  in  circles  iieyond  Dun- 
kirk as  a  careful  and  conservative  but  shrewd  bank 
manager.  He  had  proved  himself  fully  equal  to 
every  emergency  and  to  all  demands,  and  it  was 
plain  that  the  limit  of  his  capacity  was  far  from 
reached.  Accordingly,  when  that  old,  solid  institu- 
tion, the  Marine  Bank  of  Buffalo,  stood  in  need  of 
an  assistant  cashier,  Mr.  Lascelles  was  cho.sen  for  the 
place.  He  accepted  the  position,  and  moved  to 
Buft'alo  October  1.'),  1892.  His  election  to  the  posi- 
tion of  cashier  soon  followed,  and  this  place  he  now 
fills  to  the  eminent  satisfaction  of  the  officers  and 
directors  of  the  bank  and  of  its  many  customers. 
A  bank  cashier  must  be  affable,  yet  firm  ;  must  know 
when  to  acquie-sce  and  when  to  refuse  ;  must  at  no 
time  offend  those  with  whom  his  bank  has  dealings  : 
must  be  alert  to  protect  the  bank,  and  ready  to  listen 
to  all  propositions  from  its  customers  ;  must  know 
the  financial  standing  of  those  who  come  to  him  ; 
and  must  see  that  the  machinery  of  the  institution 
runs  without  jar.  Mr.  I.a.scelles  has  all  the  necessary 
qualities  highly  developed,  and  they  make  him  an 
ideal  man  for  the  place  he  fills.  He  still  retains  a 
connection  with  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  of 
Dunkirk,  of  which  he  is  vice  president. 

Banking  has  not  absorbed  all  of  Mr.  Lascelles' 
time  and  attention.  Having  a  broad  outlook  and  a 
wide  interest  in  men  and  all  their  affairs,  he  has  to 
meet  demands  for  his  services  in  many  directions. 
During  his  long  residence  in  Dunkirk  he  devoted 
himself  somewhat  to  politics.  This  was  largely  a 
labor  of  love,  as  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  as  Chautau- 
(jiia  county  is  a  hotbed  of  Republicanism.  It  is  said, 
by  the  way,  that  there  is  more  politics  to  the  square 
inch  in  that  county  than  in  any  other  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  it  is  only  natural  that  Mr.  Lascelles 
became  infected  with  the  prevailing  disease.  Still, 
he  is  not  a  violent  jjarti.san,  and  does  not  place  party 
above  good  government.  His  personal  popularity 
in  Dunkirk  was  evidenced  by  his  trium])hant  election 
as  city  treasurer,  an  office  that  he  held  for  several 
consecutive  years.  For  six  years  he  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  education,  of  which  he  was  also 
treasurer  at  different  times.  When  he  ran  for  county 
treasurer  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  he  was,  of  course, 
defeated;  but  he  received  the  largest  vote  of  any  of 
his  party's  candidates. 

One  who  is  willing  to  give  of  his  time  and  energy  for 
the  benefit  of  others  always  has  plenty  of  such  oppor- 
tunities for  .self-sacrifice  thrust  u])on  him  ;  and  .so  it 
has  been  with  Mr.  La.scelles.  He  has  performed  many 
duties  cheerfiilly  with  no  thought  of  recompense.    One 


of  the  organizers  of  the  Dunkirk  Savings  &  Loan 
Association,  he  .served  it  as  treasurer  from  the  date  of 
its  organization  until  he  moved  to  Buffalo.  He  is 
now  serving  his  third  year  as  treasurer  of  the  Buffalo 
Board  of  Trade  and  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange. 

Mr.  Lascelles  is  a  member  of  various  social  organi- 
zations, including  St.  Mary's  Lyceum  of  Dunkirk, 
the  Buffalo  Orpheus  Singing  Society,  and  the  Buffalo 
Catholic  Young  Men's  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Henry 
Lascelles  7Lias  born  at  Dunkirk,  N.  ¥.,  Alareli  3, 
1856 ;  attended  the  public  schools  of  Dunkirk :  was 
elected  cashier  of  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  of 
Dunkirk  in  1882 ;  married  Annie  Moran  of  Buffalo 
on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1885 ;  ivas  elected  assistant 
cashier  of  the  Marine  Bank  of  Buffalo  in  1892  ;  has 
been  cashier  of  the  same  bank  since  1893. 


50F)n  XaUOblin  is  a  native  of  Erie  county, 
N.  v.,  and  a  man  to  whom  that  county  and  the 
state  as  well  is  much  indebted  for  public  service. 
After  taking  a  four  years'  course  in  the  Lockport 
Union  School  (an  institution  that  has  played  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  intellectual  development  of  western 
New  York),  Mr.  Laughlin  read  law  in  the  office  of 
Richard  Crowley  of  Lockport.  In  the  spring  of 
LS81  Mr.  Crowley  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  Mr. 
Laughlin,  who  had  just  completed  his  legal  studies, 
accomjjanied  him  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
Buffalo.  He  at  once  became  managing  clerk  in  the 
office  of  Crowley,  Movius  &  Wilcox,  and  two  years 
later  became  Mr.  Crowley's  partner  in  the  firm  of 
Crowley  &  Laughlin.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Crowley 
went  to  New  York  city,  and  Mr.  Laughlin  formed  a 
copartnership  with  Joseph  E.  Ewell.  Wilbur  E. 
Houpt  was  taken  into  the  firm  a  little  later,  and  the 
style  became  Laughlin,  Ewell  cS:  Houpt. 

In  18.S7  Mr.  Laughlin  was  nominated  for  state 
senator  to  fill  a  vacancy  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
and  was  elected.  He  was  re-elected  in  1889,  but 
was  defeated  in  1891,  though  he  ran  ahead  of  his 
ticket.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Re])ublican 
national  convention  in  1888,  where  he  warmly  advo- 
cated Depew's  candidacy,  and  was  the  last  man  in 
the  New  York  delegation  to  give  u])  "ourChaun- 
cey."  Mr.  Laughlin's  service  in  the  legislature  was 
marked  by  earnest  efforts  to  effect  needed  and  prac- 
tical reforms  in  different  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment. Like  all  men  of  advanced  views,  he  not 
infrei|nently  found  him.self  in  a  minority  ;  but  on 
many  points  he  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
ideas  prevail  in  the  end. 

Throughout  his  two  terms  in  the  senate,  Mr. 
Laughlin  was  a  member  of  the  judiciary  committee. 


MEX   OF  .\E]i-    VORK^irESTKhW  SECTfOX 


51 


He  was  also  chairman  of  the  canal  committee,  and 
advocated  liberal  appropriations  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  state  canals,  believing  that  they  are  an 
important  factor  in  the  prosperity  of  the  common- 
wealth. He  prepared  and  introduced  a  revision  of 
the  police-excise  laws  of  Buffalo,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
public  school  act  :  and  these  measures, 
though  defeated  when  originally  pre- 
sented, were  subsequently  embodied  in 
the  revised  charter  of  the  city  of  Buffalo, 
which  passed  the  senate  in  1891  chiefly 
through  Mr.  Laughlin's  efforts. 

Another  of  Mr.  Laughlin's  practical 
reforms  has  been  more  widely  operati\e 
by  reason  of  its  embodiment  in  the  new 
constitution  of  the  state  of  New  York. 
We  refer  to  the  change  in  the  method 
of  conducting  elections  whereby  munici- 
pal offices,  concerning  which  the  "per- 
sonal equation  "  counts  for  so  much,  are 
filled  in  odd  years,  while  state  and 
national  offices,  in  which  great  public 
i|uestions  play  so  important  a  part,  are 
filled  in  even  years.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment obviously  simplifies  issues,  promotes 
political  purity,  and  generally  serves  the 
cause  of  good  government. 

While  in  the  senate,  Mr.  Laughlin 
devoted  much  time  and  thought  to  the 
subject  of  text-books  in  the  public  schools. 
His  own  experience  suggested  to  him  the 
need  of  reform  in  this  particular,  and  hi^ 
later  observation  only  strengthened  the 
earlier  conviction.  He  saw  the  lack  ol 
uniformity  in  the  books  used  in  diftereni 
schools,  and  the  frequent  changes  in- 
volved in  the  attempt  of  each  school 
board  to  improve  on  the  choice  of  its 
predecessor.  All  this  he  regarded  not 
only  as  a  .serious  hardship  in  a  pecuniary 
way  to  people  of  moderate  means,  but  also  as  a 
positive  obstacle  to  the  pupil's  progress.  His  plan 
was  thoroughly  comprehensive  in  its  scope,  and 
provided  for  the  creation  of  a  commission  to  select 
books,  purchase  copyrights,  and  prepare  originals 
when  necessary.  The  books  could  thus  be  ob- 
tained by  the  state  at  the  lowest  possible  rates, 
and  were  to  be  furnished  to  the  pupils  without 
charge ;  and  the  books  were  not  to  be  changed 
except  at  stated  periods  and  for  ade(iuate  cause. 
This  measure  was  defeated  in  the  senate  ;  but  one 
consequence  of  the  movement  was  the  adoption 
of  free  text-books  by  Buffalo  and  by  some  other 
places  in  the  state. 


Since  his  retirement  from  the  senate  Mr.  Laughlin 
has  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  law,  and  has 
built  up  a  large  general  practice  in  both  the  state  and 
the  L^nited  States  courts.  He  has  been  especially 
successful  as  a  trial  lawyer,  where  his  talent  as  a  jjublic 
speaker  has  come  into  effective  play.     Though  out 


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^^ 

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AJSSB^fc^ 

"^  ^^^^^B^^PP^H 

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^^^^^^^^^^^^Br^^'   _rtl 

f                        fl 

^^^^^^^^^^^B '  jflr    ~ ' ■■^M' 

JO  US   I.AUGHLIX 

of  active  politics,  Mr.  Laughlin  maintains  his  interest 
in  public  affairs.  He  is  called  upon  in  every  cam- 
paign to  deliver  addresses,  and  usually  does  so. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Laugh- 
lin li'as  Iwni  at  N'nvstcai/,  Erie  catnity,  N.  Y., 
March  H,  1856  ;  was  educated  in  the  district  schon/s 
of  Erie  and  Niagara  counties,  and  in  Lockport  Union 
School :  7vas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1881 ;  was  elected 
state  senator  in  1887,  and  7-e-elected  in  1889 :  has 
practiced  hnv  in  Buffalo  since  1881. 


lOrail  3L.  XeWiS  has  been  prominent  at  the 
bar  and  on  the  bench  of  western  New  York  for 
nearh'  fortv  vears.      During  all  that  time  his  record 


.VEX  OF  A7:W    yO/^k-—ll-ESTKR.\  SECr/OJV 


has  been  one  of  which  anv  man  might  well  he  |)roiul, 
and  which  few  men  may  ho]je  to  equal.  Coming  to 
Buflalo  when  it  was  little  more  than  a  large  village, 
he  has  seen  it  grow  and  prosper,  and  has  been  a  ]jart 
of  its  growth  and  prosperity.  While  the  law  has 
claimed    his    first    attention,  he   has  been   an    active 


/.OA'.t.y  I.    LEWIS 


figure  in  various  enterprises  that  have  done  much  to 
build  up  and  make  great  the  Queen  City  of  the  Lakes. 
Born  in  Cayuga  county,  N.  Y.,  in  the  quarter- 
century  year,  Mr.  Lewis  sjient  his  early  life  in  the 
central  part  of  the  state,  and  his  education  was  begun 
in  the  city  of  Auburn.  He  was  (|uite  a  young  man 
when  he  determined  to  study  law,  and  was  onl\ 
twenty-three  years  old  when  admitted  to  the  bar. 
Then,  as  now,  the  question  of  location  was  an  ini 
))ortant  one  for  the  young  lawyer  to  decide.  Loraii 
L.  Lewis,  after  looking  carefidly  over  the  field,  de^ 
termined  to  come  to  Buffalo.  He  arrived  in  tiiat 
city  in  184H,  and  it  has  been  his  home  ever  since. 
He  did  not   have  to  wait   long  for  clients,  and  his 


progress  when  once  begtm  was  continuous.  He 
formed  a  partnership  with  C.  ().  Pool  in  1854,  and 
with  several  others  afterward  —  with  Ceorge  Wads- 
worth,  Wm.  H.  Gurney,  A.  (;.  Rice,  Adelbert  Moot, 
and  with  his  own  son,  George  L.  Lewis.  The  firm 
name  of  Lewis,  Moot  &  Lew-is  is  best  known  to  the 
younger  generation  of  Buffalonians. 

Politics  at  one  time  demanded  much 
of  Mr.  Lewis's  attention,  and  his  services 
to  the  Republican  party  were  rewarded 
in  the  fall  of  1869  with  a  nomination  to 
the  state  senate.  The  voters  of  Erie 
county  endorsed  the  nomination,  and  Mr. 
Lewis  had  a  seat  in  the  highest  legislative 
body  of  the  state  of  New  York  for  four 
years,  having  been  returned  for  a  second 
term  in  1871.  From  the  end  of  that 
period  of  service  Senator  Lewis,  as  every- 
one then  called  him,  remained  a  private 
citizen  until  January  1,  1888,  when  he 
took  his  seat  on  the  Supreme  Court 
heiu  h,  to  which  he  was  elected  from  the 
!Sth  judicial  district.  For  thirteen  years 
he  presided  with  dignity,  fearlessne.ss, 
im|)artiality,  and  unusual  ability  over 
many  trials,  some  of  grave  importance, 
and  others  of  slight  interest  to  any  but 
the  parties  at  suit.  For  the  last  four 
years  of  his  service  on  the  bench  Judge 
Lewis  was  honored  with  the  a])pointment 
as  a  member  of  the  General  Term,  and 
distinguished  himself  there  by  many  val- 
uable decisions.  During  the  period  of 
his  life  pas.sed  at  the  bar,  Mr,  Lewis  was 
known  as  a  trial  lawyer  of  the  highest 
rank.  His  e.xami nations  were  marked  by 
a  searching  directness  that  permitted 
nothing  to  be  left  hidden  ;  his  op])onent 
always  dreaded  his  shafts  of  sarcasm  ;  and 
his  appeals  to  the  jury  were  elocpient, 
logical,  and  eminently  succe.ssfid.  It  is  still  said 
among  the  lawyers  of  Buffalo  that  there  has  never 
been,  in  the  history  of  the  Erie  county  bar,  any 
other  advocate  who  won  so  large  a  proportion  of  his 
cases  before  the  jury  as  Mr.  Lewis,  and  that  when 
he  went  upon  the  bench  he  was  regarded  as  an  advo- 
(  ate  unequaled  in  persuasiveness. 

Judge  Lewis  is  interested  in  several  of  the  banking 
institutions  of  Buffalo,  being  a  director  and  vice 
president  of  the  Third  National  Bank,  and  a  director 
of  the  German-American  Bank.  He  has  found  recre- 
ation in  farming,  and  is  the  owner  of  a  handsomely 
ecpiipped  fami  at  Lewiston,  where  he  s])en(ls  much  of 
his  leisure  time. 


M/-:.\  OF  .v/:ir  ]'(iRk'—n'i-:sT/-:R\  sect/o.\ 


53 


PERSONAL  CHR ONOL O G 1 '—  Loian  LoJo- 
K'ick  Lewis  was  born  at  Mentz,  Cayuga  county,  N.  Y. , 
May  0,  1825  :  came  to  Buffalo  in  the  fall  of  ISJ^S  : 
7L'as  admitted  to  the  bar  in  IS.'fS  :  married  Charlotte 
E.  Pierson  of  East  Aurora,  N.  Y.,June  1,  1852 : 
was  elected  state  senator  from  the  Erie  county  district 
in  1860,  and  rcas  re-elected  in  1871 :  raas  elected 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  8th  judicial  district 
in  1882,  and  serTcd  as  such  until  18-95,  when  he  re- 
tired h\  limitation  of  age. 


1barC>in  Ibetb  Xittell  is  a  splendid  type  of  a 
most  important  class  of  men  —  the  class  which  has 
had  the  largest  part  in  the  material  development  of 
our  country,  and  which  constitutes,  together  with 
nature  and  with  inventive  genius,  the  real  cause  of 
that  development.  These  are  the  men  who  jwssess 
in  a  conspicuous  degree  what  is  known 
as  executive  ability — that  rare  and  choice 
ipiality  of  brain  matter  which  enables  the 
owner  to  organize  men  and  things  into  a 
jjerfectly-oiled,  swift-running,  and  fric- 
tionless  machine,  performing  immense 
amounts  of  work  almost  automatically. 

Such  a  man  in  a  marked  degree  is 
Hardin  H.  Littell.  Kducated  very  in- 
adequateh' — "none  at  all,"  as  he  says 
himself  jocosely — Mr.  Littell  was  obliged 
to  begin  work  when  most  boys  are  begin- 
ning their  faesar  and  their  algebra.  He 
essayed  first  the  dry-goods  business,  and 
later,  after  the  family  had  moved  to  Louis- 
ville, Kv.,  assumed  a  more  ambitious 
place  in  a  jewelry  store.  Few  men  are 
fortunate  enough  to  find  at  once  the 
special  kind  of  work  for  which  they  are 
best  adapted,  and  our  present  subject 
offers  no  exception  to  this  general  rule. 

At  nineteen  Mr.  Littell  really  began  his 
career,  for  it  was  at  that  age  that  he  entered 
the  service  of  the  Louisville  City  Railway 
Co.,  as  a  clerk  in  the  treasurer's  office. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  promoted  to 
the  position  of  assistant  superintendent, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  became 
superintendent.  He  remained  in  charge 
of  the  Louisville  city  railways  for  nearly 
a  i|uarter  of  a  century,  in  which  time  the 
system  was  very  much  extended  and  im- 
proved. The  change  from  horse  to  elec- 
tricity as  the  motive  power  was  made  in  part  in  the 
later  years  of  his  work  in  Louisville. 

In  the  decade   18H(l-it()  the  city  of  liul'lalo  grew 
bevond  all  iirecedent  in  manv  wavs.  and  especiallv  in 


the  matter  of  population.  Such  a  period  is  particu- 
lar!) trying  for  a  street-railway  system,  and  the 
owners  of  the  Buffalo  street  railways  deemed  it  of 
the  first  importance  to  find  somewhere  a  thoroughly 
capable  man  to  cope  with  this  state  of  affairs  in  the 
management  of  their  projierty.  Such  a  man  they 
found  in  Mr.  Littell.  He  was  elected  in  May,  1H91, 
president  of  the  Cro.ss-town  Railway  Co.,  vice  presi- 
dent of  the  Buffalo  Railway  Co.,  and  general  mana- 
ger of  both  companies.  He  a.ssumed  the  duties  of 
these  positions  in  the  following  month.  Under  his 
administration  the  prosperity  of  the  companies  has 
been  marked,  while  the  operation  of  the  system  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  public  has  been  greatly  im- 
proved and  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  excellence. 
The  service  was  doubled  in  mileage  in  three  years, 
and  all   parts  of  the  city  and  suburbs  were  brought 


ttlA'/1t\  IIFTII   I.ITTI-.I  I. 

into  close  touch  with  each   other  through  a  network 
of  electric  lines. 

Mr.    Littell's   time   and    energv   have   been    given 
I  hietly  to  the  i ompanies  directly  under  his  care  :  but 


54 


MEN   OF  XEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECTIOX 


numerous  other  enterprises  have  received  the  benefit 
of  his  wide  experience.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
has  been  president  of  the  Cincinnati  Inclined-Plane 
Railway  of  Cincinnati.  He  is  director  and  vice 
president  of  the  Bufialo,  Bellevue  &  Lancaster  rail- 
road. He  is  a  director  in  the  Bellevue  Land  Co., 
also.  Notwithstanding  his  departure  from  Louisville, 
Mr.  Littell  has  retained  his  position  as  director  in 
the  Louisville  Railway  Co.,  as  well  as  a  directorate 
in  that  highly  successful  institution,  the  Cemian 
Bank  of  Louisville.  He  is  also  a  director  still  in  the 
Columbia  Finance  and  Trust  Co.  of  Louisville. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Haniin  Heth 
Littell  was  born  at  Corydon,  Harrison  cmintx,  /ml., 
August  5,  ISJfO  ;  attended  country  schools  until  the  age 
of  tivelve  :  married  Nellie  Burton  Green  of  Logans- 
port,  Ind. ,  April  26,  lf!~6  :  entered  the  service  of  the 
Louisi'ille  City  Railway  Co.  in  186Jf,  and  became 
superintendent  of  the  company  in  1867  ;  has  been  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Buffalo  street-raihvay  system  since 
June,  1891. 

2)auiel  IH.  X0Cl?W005  is  aBuffalonian  whose 
fame  and  reputation  are  national.  He  is  known  as 
a  politician  of  great  ability,  as  a  legislator  of  keen 
intelligence,  as  a  lawyer  of  deep  learning,  and  as  a 
shrewd  man  of  affairs.  He  has  long  held  a  con- 
spicuous and  honorable  position  at  the  bar  of  Buffalo 
and  among  the  public  men  of  the  Empire  State. 

Born  in  a  small  country  town,  with  none  of  the 
advantages  of  wealth,  and  bereft  of  his  father  at  an 
early  age,  he  found  the  usual  difficulty  which  young 
men  of  limited  means  and  high  ambition  experience 
in  obtaining  a  college  education.  But  he  possessed 
such  tenacity,  determination,  and  persistency  that  he 
swept  all  obstacles  from  his  pathway,  and  finally 
graduated  from  Union  College  in  18()r). 

Mr.  Lockwood  had  early  been  attracted  to  the  law, 
and  shortly  after  graduation  he  entered  the  office  of 
Judge  Humphrey  in  Buffalo,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  in 
1866.  The  wisdom  of  his  choice  of  a  profession 
soon  became  evident ;  for  to  strong  rea.soning  powers, 
forcible  expression  of  ideas,  and  unfailing  tact,  he 
added  capacity  for  work  and  untiring  zeal  in  the 
jjreparation  and  presentation  of  ca.ses.  During  the 
thirty  years  in  which  he  has  followed  his  jtrofession 
many  im]jortant  causes  have  been  entrusted  to  his 
care,  and  many  notable  victories  have  been  won  by 
him  in  the  courts.  That  he  is  a  careful,  sound, 
and  conscientious  counselor,  and  an  able,  eloquent, 
and  convincing  advocate,  is  amjjly  evidenced  in  the 
gratifying  measure  of  jirofessional  success  attainetl 
by  him. 


As  a  business  man  Mr.  Lockwood  stands  high, 
and  his  shrewdness  and  good  judgment,  conservative 
yet  fearless,  are  acknowledged  by  all.  He  has  an 
active  interest  in  a  number  of  commercial  enter- 
prises. He  is  president  and  manager  of  the  Akron 
Cement  Works,  one  of  the  leading  industries  in  this 
line  ;  vice  president  and  manager  of  the  Buffalo  Sewer 
Pi])e  Company  ;  president  of  the  Buffalo,  New  York 
&  Krie  railroad  ;  and  a  director  of  the  Merchants' 
Bank,  and  of  the  Third  National  Bank,  both  of 
Buffalo. 

To  the  people  at  large,  however,  Mr.  Lockwood 
is  best  known  through  his  long  connection  with 
]3ublic  affairs.  He  has  always  been  a  Democrat 
and  an  ardent  supporter  of  Democratic  principles. 
He  has  a  wide  reputation  as  a  campaign  speaker  of 
unusual  force  and  eloquence.  During  his  early  days 
in  party  service,  it  was  not  unusual  for  him  to  make 
half  a  dozen  campaign  speeches  to  as  many  differ- 
ent audiences  in  a  single  evening.  He  is  said  to 
have  a  wider  personal  acquaintance  with  the  people 
of  we.stern  New  York  than  any  other  man  in  the 
country. 

Soon  after  coming  to  Buffalo  Mr.  Lockwood  took 
an  active  part  in  ])olitical  affairs.  In  1871  he  was 
nominated  for  district  attorney  of  Erie  county  :  and 
though  he  was  defeated,  his  great  popularity  carried 
him  1,.500  votes  ahead  of  his  ticket.  Three  years  later 
he  was  again  nominated,  and  this  time  was  elected. 
Before  his  term  of  three  years  expired  he  was  called 
upon  to  accept  a  higher  honor  —  membership  in  the 
4")th  congress.  This  body  as.sembled  in  October, 
1877,  and  was  destined  to  figure  largely  in  one  of 
the  most  serious  and  momentous  political  contests  in 
the  history  of  the  country.  The  Tilden-Hayes  elec- 
tion controversy  is  still  fre.sh  in  the  public  mind,  and 
is  even  yet  hardly  ripe  for  the  pen  of  the  historian  : 
but  the  part  played  by  the  great  actors  in  that  scene 
stands  out  in  higher  relief  with  the  passage  of 
time,  and  to  have  been  intimately  connected  with 
that  event  is  an  experience  a  man  might  properly 
covet.  It  was  Mr.  Lockwood's  fortune  to  serve 
in  that  memorable  congress.  Though  one  of  the 
youngest  representatives,  his  speech  on  the  Demo- 
cratic side  of  the  question  attracted  the  attention  of 
his  fellow-members,  and  is  one  of  the  really  valua- 
ble contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  great 
controversy. 

On  the  expiration  of  his  congressional  term  Mr. 
Lockwood  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
a.ssociated  in  partnership  with  Judge  Humphrey,  but 
did  not  cease  his  active  ])artici])ation  in  what  has 
always  seemed  an  allied  branch  of  the  law  —  civic 
affairs.      He   was   too   good   a   manager,  too   wi.se  a 


.VKX   OF  XEW    YORK—WKSTKRX  SECT/OX 


55 


counselor,  too  willing  a  worker,  to  be  relieved  from 
public  service.  In  1880  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Democratic  national  convention  at  Cincinnati,  which 
nominated  (leneral  Hancock  for  President.  In  the 
same  year  Grover  Cleveland  was  elected  mayor  of 
Buffalo,  and  Mr.  Lockwood  made  the  nominating 
speech.  Two  years  later,  as  a  delegate 
to  the  Democratic  state  convention,  Mr. 
Lockwood  placed  Grover  Cleveland  in 
nomination  for  the  office  of  governor. 
In  1884,  at  the  Democratic  national  con- 
vention in  Chicago,  Mr.  Lockwood  pre- 
sented the  name  of  the  same  man  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

Having  been  appointed  by  President 
Cleveland  United  States  district  attorney 
for  northern  New  York,  Mr.  Lockwood 
brought  to  the  office  the  same  legal 
acumen  that  characterized  his  jjrivate 
practice.  After  holding  the  position  for 
three  years,  he  resigned  in  188;t.  In  the 
following  year  he  was  elected  to  congress 
again,  and  in  1892  he  was  re-elected.  In 
both  congresses  Mr.  Lockwood  served  on 
important  committees,  and  repeated  his 
earlier  success  in  that  body.  He  cared 
for  the  interests  of  his  constituents  with 
fidelity  and  unflagging  zeal.  He  drafted 
an  immigration  bill  that  was  regarded  by 
many  authorities  as  affording  the  best  pro- 
tection  to  .-Xmerican  labor  ever  devised. 

PERSONAL      CHROXOLOGY  — 
Daniel  Neiiiton    Lock^vood   7vas    born  at 
Hambiiii^,  N.   Y.,June  1,  ISJ^I^  ;  gradu- 
ated at  Union  College,  Schenectadv,  N.  J '. , 
in  ISdo  ;    was    admitted  to    the    bar    in 
May,  1866  ;  married  Sarah  B.  Bnnon  of 
Buffalo   October  IS,   1870;    was   distriet 
attorney  for  E}-ie  county,  187.')-77  ;  luas  a 
delegate  to  Democratic  national  conventions  in  1880 
and  1884  •'    ^<^^  United  States  district  attorney  for  the 
northern  district  of  New  York,  1886-80  ;  was  a  mem- 
l)er  of  the  45th,  52d,   and  53d  congresses  {1877—70 
and  1801-05)  ;  was  nominated  for  lieutenant  governor 
of  N'eio  York  state  in  September,  180 4. 


MiUar&  jFrancis  /IDallalieu  has  carried 

the  gos|)el  over  a  larger  part  of  the  world  than  most 
living  clergymen.  He  has  journeyed  from  north 
to  south,  zigzagged  from  Norway  to  Me.xico,  and 
belted  the  globe,  tending  the  scattered  flocks  of  the 
Methodist  fold.  He  is  the  embodiment  of  jjhysical 
and  mental  vigor  consecrated  to  religious  work. 
'I'hese  i|ualities  he  comes  by  honestly,  inheriting  on 


his  father's  side  the  blood  of  the  Huguenots  exiled 
from  France,  and  on  his  mother's  side  that  of  a 
Puritan  family  who  helped  to  found  Salem.  Bishop 
Mallalieu's  youth  was  favored  with  the  superior  edu- 
cational opportunities  of  the  oldest  section  of  the 
country,  and  he  was  thus  enabled  to  enter  the  minis- 


DAMhL    .\.   LOCKW  OOU 

try  the  same  year  in  which  he  graduated  from  col- 
lege, excellently  e([uipped  for  the  grave  responsibil- 
ity of  that  profession.  He  quickly  rose  to  influential 
prominence  in  the  important  Ma.ssachusetts  stations 
to  which  he  was  assigned.  In  18G7  he  proved  his 
devotion  to  pastoral  work  by  declining  the  presi- 
dency of  Central  Tennessee  College,  to  which  he  had 
been  elected.  In  1875  he  visited  Europe  for  the 
])urpose  of  studying  certain  phases  of  social,  relig- 
ions, and  educational  life.  In  187fi  he  was  elected 
a.ssistant  secretary  of  the  Freedman's  Aid  Society, 
but  declined  the  position.  He  was  repeatedly  sent  by 
the  New  England  Conference  <xs  delegate  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  the  Methodist  F])iscopal  church, 
and  to  the  Conference  of  18X4  he  was  elected  bv  the 


M/:.\    OJ--   XKir    )-ORk-—]J7:STEhW  SECT/OX 


largest  vote  ever  given  to  a  delegate.  This  Confer- 
ence proved  memorable  in  Mr.  Mallalieu's  career,  as 
it  placed  him  on  the  exalted  roll  of  Methodist  bishops. 
Me  was  thus  removed  from  the  presiding  eldership 
that  he  had  filled  during  the  two  preceding  years  ;  but 
he  added  a  solid  pillar  to  the  Methodist  e|)iscopate. 


Wll  l.lKli   rK.I\(  JS  M.M.I.M.Ilii' 

From  this  time  Bishoi)  .Mallalieu's  work  took  on  a 
(|iiickly  expanding  character.  His  episcopal  resi- 
dence wa.s  in  the  South,  where  he  chose  New  Orleans 
for  his  home.  It  is  not  farfetched  in  this  connection 
to  point  to  the  wonderful  growth  in  recent  years  of 
the  Methodist  l-^piscojjal  church  in  the  South.  IV- 
cause  of  its  aliolitionism,  this  church  was  not  tolcr 
ated  in  that  part  of  the  country  a  ipiarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago  :  but  there  are  now  over  a  half  million 
members  of  the  Methodist  church  south  of  the  old 
line.  During  his  eight  years'  residence  in  New  Or- 
leans, Bishop  Mallalieu  held  Conferences  from  Dela- 
ware to  Texas,  and  si}ared  no  effort  to  further  the 
conversion  and  cflucation  of  the  freedmen. 


In  ])ursuance  of  the  duties  of  his  offic  e  Bishop  Mal- 
lalieti  went  to  Europe  in  1K8?(,  and  presided  over 
Conferences  from  Naples  to  Throndheim  in  Norway, 
and  from  Switzerland  to  the  Black  Sea.  In  the  fol- 
lowing Near  he  went  to  Mexico,  to  inspect  missions 
and  hold  Conferences.  In  1892  he  undertook  a 
world-encircling  episcopal  itinerary  in 
behalf  of  the  foreign  missions  of  his 
church.  Sailing  from  San  Francisco  by 
way  of  Honolulu,  he  traveled  in  japan, 
Korea,  and  China,  visiting  Peking  and 
adjacent  cities.  He  went  to  Shanghai 
next,  and  up  the  Yangtse-Kiang  river 
to  Kew  Kiang  and  the  heart  of  the 
empire.  Returning,  he  visited  the  city 
of  Foochow  and  many  other  localities 
in  the  Fuhkien  province.  Singapore, 
Ceylon,  Madras,  and  Calcutta  were 
then  visited  in  turn.  He  next  went 
up  the  Ganges  fifteen  hundred  miles, 
inspecting  mission  work  in  many  of  the 
great  cities,  and  crossed  the  country 
via  Delhi  to  Bombay.  He  returned  by 
way  of  the  Red  Sea  and  Egypt,  with 
occasional  stojis  at  points  in  southern 
Europe. 

Action  has  been  the  keynote  of  Bishop 
Mallalieu's    successful    ministry.       Ever 
alert,   (juick    in    thought  and   sympathy, 
and   remarkably    affable    in   manner,    his 
work    both    as    |)astor    and    bishop    has 
endeared    him    to    all.        \Vhile     in     the 
pulpit.  Bishop   Mallalieu  was  in  constant 
demand  in  the  lecture  field  ;    and   he  has 
been  a  frequent  contributor   to  both    the 
religious  and  the  .secular  press.      In  1874 
he  received  the   degree  of   D.    I),   from 
East    Tennessee     W'esleyan     I'niversity, 
and  in  18!)2  the  degree  of  1. 1..   I ).  from 
New  Orleans  I'niversity. 
I'ERSOXAI.  CIIROXOl. OGY—  Willanl Fran- 
cis Mallalieu  was  horn  at  Sutton,  Mass.,  December  11, 
JS.JiS' :  7i'as  educated  at  various  ^ref>aralory  schools  and 
at   Weslcyan    University,   Middlctmvn,  Conn. ,   ichence 
lie  graduated  in   Aui^ust.     tH.'>l :  married  Eliza   F. 
Atkins  of  Sandwich,    Mass. ,  October  l.J,  JS.'hS'  ,•  l/ad 
fiastorates  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  sticces- 
sivelv  at   Grafton,  Chelsea,  Lynn,  Charlestcnon,  Bos- 
ton, and  Ilorccster  {all  in   Massachusetts)  :  jcas  ap- 
pointed presiding  elder  of  the  Boston  district  of  the 
Nexo  England  Conference  in  April,  1SS2 ;  loas  elected 
hilltop   of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  1S84  : 
lived  in  Xlew  Orleans  from  ISSJ^  until  /.S'.V,  'when  he 
moved  to  Buffalo. 


.i//:.\'  OF  .\7:ir  )(>uA-  —  ii7-:sr/-:/^\  s/-:c77o.v 


]£&\Vin  (5.  S.  /IDiller  represents  a  class  of 
men  that  are  railed  in  the  West  by  the  name,  mean- 
ingful to  Americans  at  least,  of  "hustlers."  Some 
men  seem  born  with  activity  and  enterprise  sufficient 
for  two,  and  cover  as  much  in  a  brief  span  of  life  as 
others  in  twice  the  number  of  years.  Modern  life 
accomplishes  more  in  a  day  than  was  even  ])ossible 
before  the  age  of  stenograjjhers,  ty])ewriters,  and  im- 
proved facilities  of  communication  and  transporta- 
tion. This  undoubtedly  accounts  in  part  for  the 
vast  volume  of  business  that  certain  men  perform  to- 
day ;  but  nevertheless  the  personal  element  is  still  a 
large  factor  as  regards  both  the  i|uantity  and  tlie 
(juality  of  the  work  done. 

Mr.  Miller's  forty-odd  years  have  been  spent  en- 
tirelv  in  Buffalo,  where  he  was  born  and  educated, 
in  which  his  business  training  was  begun, 
and  in  which  his  commercial  successes 
have  been  achieved.  After  a  common- 
.school  education  (the  equipment  of  most 
.■\merican  boys)  Mr.  Miller  took  up  the 
occupation  of  bookkeeper  —  one  of  the 
best  forms  of  discipline  for  anyone  en- 
tering upon  a  mercantile  career  —  and 
became  an  employee  in  the  office  of 
(leorge  Urban  &  Son,  proprietors  of  the 
Roller  Flour  Mills.  His  capacity  lor 
business  and  his  demonstrated  worth  to 
the  firm  were  soon  recognized,  and  in 
1X74  he  was  admitted  into  the  partner- 
ship. He  then  extended  his  business 
relations,  and  in  the  year  1884  became 
manager  of  the  Gerhard  Lang  Brewery. 
His  conduct  of  this  establishment  has 
been  highly  successful,  and  the  output 
from  the  malt  house  has  steadily  increased. 
In  December,  1895,  Mr.  Miller  added 
yet  another  enterprise  to  his  \arious 
projects  by  purchasing  an  important  in- 
terest in  the  Buffalo  Etujuirer.  Most 
men  would  be  taxed  to  the  utmost  with 
the  cares  of  so  much  business,  but  Mr. 
Miller  is  blessed  with  a  splendid  physicjue, 
executive  ability,  and  untiring  industry. 
He  is  at  one  or  the  other  of  his  offices 
early  and  late,  keeping  longer  hours  than 
most  men  in  positions  like  his.  i 

In   financial  circles   Mr.   Miller   is  an 
active  and  yet  conservative  force,  seeking 
lines  of  investment  and  development  that 
have  a  permanent  future.      He  is  a  director  in  the 
People's  Bank,  the  German-American  Bank,  the  Buf- 
falo Loan,  Trust  &  Safe  Deposit  Co.,  and  the  Buffalo 
Savings    Bank.      When    a    movement    for    increased 


street-car  facilities  was  set  on  foot,  and  capital  began 
seriously  to  examine  the  field,  Mr.  Miller  was  among 
the  foremost  in  giving  his  influence  and  support  to 
the  scheme  :  and  when  finally  a  company  was  or- 
ganized to  build  a  new  railway  line,  he  became  the 
first  president. 

Despite  this  busy  career,  .Mr.  Miller  has  found  time 
tor  those  political  duties  too  ol'ten  neglected  by  men 
of  affairs.  While  never  a  candidate  for  office  —  for 
he  would  have  no  time  to  perform  its  functions  —  his 
counsel  and  spare  hours  have  always  been  at  the  ser- 
vice of  his  party.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  political 
belief,  and  was  chosen  by  the  Democratic  state  con- 
\ention  of  1892  to  be  one  of  the  presidential  elec- 
tors :  and  he  helped  cast  the  vote  of  the  state  for  Mr. 
Cleveland. 


EDWIX  a.  S.  MlLl.l-.R 

In  social  life  Mr.  Miller  is  essentially  a  home  man, 
though  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club  and  of  the 
Ellicott  Club.  He  is  a  member  of  St.  Louis 
Church,  and  is  identified  with  its  ]ihilanthropic  work. 


58 


MEN   OF  XKIV    VORK—IVKSTERX  SECTfOX 


Courteous  in  his  demeanor,  reliable  in  business,  and 
cordial  in  his  hospitality,  he  stands  among  the  foremost 
of  Buffalo's  active  and  progressive  men  of  to-day. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Edwin  G.  S. 
iMiller  icas  born  at  Buffalo  March  0,  18oJ^  ;  was 
educated  in  common  schools  ;  married  Annie  Li.  Lam; 


EDWARD   II.   MOVIUS 


of  Buffalo  in  June,  188 Jf  ;  7oas  a  Democratic  presi- 
dential elector  in  1892  ;  has  been  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Urban  &^  Co.  {^roller  flour  mills')  since  lS7/i, 
manager  of  the  Gerhard  Lang  Bmcery  since  ISSJ/, 
and  part  owner  of  the  Buffalo  ' '  Enquirer ' '  since  De- 
cember, 180.5. 

•♦• 

IE^^Var^  1b.  /IDOViUS  is  a  student,  a  lawyer, 
antl  a  man  ot  allairs.  He  is  known  as  one  of  the 
foremost  professional  men  of  Buffalo,  and  as  a 
thorough,  painstaking,  and  capable  worker  in  what- 
ever he  undertakes.  To  these  traits  of  character  he 
owes  his  great  success,  'i'hough  born  in  Michigan, 
^^r.  Mdvius  ha.s  jjractically  been  a  Buffalonian  all  his 


life.  His  early  scholastic  training  was  obtained  in 
various  private  schools  in  Buffalo,  at  Russell's  Mili- 
tary Academy,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  at  Phillips 
Academy,  Exeter,  N.  H.  Shortly  after  finishing  his 
studies  at  E.xeter  in  1867,  he  went  to  Europe  and 
took  a  course  at  the  famous  University  of  Heidel- 
berg, Germany,  from  which  he  graduated 
in  1869,  with  the  degrees  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  and  Master  of  Arts.  After- 
ward he  determined  to  ado])t  the  law  as 
his  profession,  and  took  a  course  in  the 
law  school  connected  with  Hamilton 
College  at  Clinton,  X.  Y. ,  receiving  there 
the  degree  of  LL.  B. 

He  l)egan  at  once  the  active  practice 
of  his  profession,  and  has  continued  the 
same  with  unbroken  success  up  to  the 
present  time.  He  read  law  in  the  offices 
of  those  masters,  E.  Carleton  Sprague 
and  Delavan  F.  Clark,  both  now  dead, 
and  brought  to  his  life-work  a  mind  well 
grounded  in  the  principles  of  the  law  and 
thoroughly  trained  in  the  application  of 
those  principles  to  intricate  problems. 
The  firm  names  of  Crowley  &  Movius, 
of  Allen,  Movius  &  Wilcox,  and  of 
Movius  &  Wilcox  have  been  prominent 
in  many  matters  of  much  legal  im- 
portance. Since  the  dissolution  of  the 
last-named  firm  in  1893,  Mr.  Movius  has 
practiced  alone. 

When    the    West    Shore    railway    was 
[irojccted    from    New    York    to    Buffalo, 
paralleling   the   lines   of   the    New    York 
Central,  Mr.    Movius  was  appointed  one 
of  the  attorneys  of  the  company,  and  as 
such  rendered  service  of  the  utmost  value. 
This  company  bought  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  ])roperty,  and  Mr.  .Movius  pa.ssed 
on  the  greater  part  of  the  titles  of  land 
purchased  in  Erie  and  Cenesee  counties.      He  con- 
tinued as  the  attorney  of  the  West  Shore  road  until 
about  the  time  of  its  reorganization  and  lea.se  to  the 
Central.      He  was  also  one  of  the  attorneys  for  the 
commissioners  of  the  state  reservation  at   Niagara  in 
their  condemnation  of  valuable  lands  taken  by  the 
state  "  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  the  scenery  of  the 
great  I'alls  to  its  natural  condition,"  and  of  estab- 
lishing there  a  |)ark  that  should  be  free  to  all  man- 
kind for  all    time.       In    that  capacity    Mr.    Moxius 
pa.ssed  on  the  titles  of  all  land  taken  by  the  state. 

From  1887  to  1X89  Mr.  Movius  served  in  the  very 
trying  position  of  receiver  of  the  First  National 
Bank   of   liuffalo.   which    had   been    wrecked   by  its 


AfEX   OF  XEir    )()K'/':~irESTER\  SECT/O.X 


president.  Here  he  displayed  in  a  marked  degree 
unusual  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  man  of  business. 
To  his  efforts  was  largely  due  the  satisfactory  closing 
of  the  affairs  of  that  unfortunate  institution. 

When  President  Cleveland  was  looking  about  for 
the  right  kind  of  material  to  compose  the  board  of 
United  States  mineral-land  commi.ssioners  he  picked 
out  Mr.  Movius  as  one  of  the  three  members  for  the 
Helena  (Mont.  J  land  district.  Theirs  was  a  most 
difficult  and  delicate  task.  How  well  they  are  dis- 
charging their  duties  is  evidenced  in  the  Montana 
]ja]jers,  one  of  which,  the  Helena  Independent^  said  on 
.\ugust  23,  1895:  "Starting  out  ine.>;perienced  and 
unfamiliar  with  their  duties,  with  natural  prejudice 
against  them  because  they  were  strangers  in  a  strange 
land,  the  mineral-land  commissioners,  one  and  all, 
have  discharged  their  duties  with  fidelity,  earnestness, 
and  impartiality.  They  have  done  a  great 
work,  and  ha^•e  won  deserving  and  lasting 
gratitude  from  all  parties  interested." 

The  social  side  of  Mr.  Movius's  nature 
is  highly  developed,  and  he  is  a  weUrome 
visitor  at  the  many  clubs  and  societies  of 
which  he  is  a  member.  Among  these  are 
the  University  Club  of  New  York,  the 
University  Club  of  Buffalo,  the  Buffalo 
Club,  of  which  he  has  been  vice  pres- 
ident, and  the  Montana  Club  of  Helena, 
Mont. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Edward  LLallam  Movius  ivas  born  a  I 
Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  October  19,  1848 ;  7i'as 
educated  in  various  preparatory  schools  in 
this  country,  and  graduated  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Heidelberg,  Germany,  in  1869 
7vith  the  degrees  of  Ph.  D.  and  M.  A.  : 
graduated  from  Hamilton  College  law 
school,  Clinton,  iV.  V.,  in  1878 ;  tnarried 
Mary  Levering  Rumsev  of  Buffalo  Sep- 
tember 26,  1877 ;  was  appointed  receiver 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Buffalo  in 
1887 ;  was  appointed  by  President  Cleve- 
land one  of  the  board  of  three  United  States 
mineral-land  commissioners  in  Ike  Helena 
(  Mont.)  land  district  in  April,  1895. 


IRatbaniel  mtllis  IRorton  is 

one   of   the  best  known  of  the   younger 
members    of    the    bar    of   Erie    county. 
Coming  to    Buffalo    fresh    from   his   law 
studies,  a  comparative  stranger  in  the  city,  he  never- 
theless,  by  reason  of   natural    ability  and    untiring 
diligence,  soon  attained  a  practice  that  was  the  envy 
of  many  new  disciples  of  Kent  and  iilackstone. 


The  excellent  common-school  system  of  Maine 
afforded  young  Norton  his  first  knowledge  of  books. 
When  nineteen  years  old  he  entered  Nichols  Latin 
School  at  Lewiston  in  his  native  state,  and  there  de- 
voted himself  industriously  to  a  cour.se  of  study  that 
would  adequately  fit  him  for  college.  Mr.  Norton 
spent  his  freshman  year  at  Bates  College  ;  but  Dart- 
mouth was  more  to  his  liking,  and  he  entered  the 
sophomore  cla.ss  of  that  institution  in  liST').  Three 
years  of  hard  study  at  Hanover  brought  him  to  that 
epochal  time  in  the  lives  of  all  college  men  —  gradu- 
ation day.  His  duties  at  Dartmouth  had  been  dis- 
charged with  fidelity,  and  the  bachelor's  degree  was 
conferred  upon  him  in  due  course. 

Immediately  after  leaving  college  Mr.  Norton  was 
elected  principal  of  the  high  school  at  Ware,  Mass. 
This  appointment  was  very  creditable  to  the  young 


\ATH.AMEl.     WILLI.S  .\ORTO.\ 


graduate,  and  might  easily  have  encouraged  him  to 
adopt  teaching  as  his  profession.  But  it  was  no  part 
of  Mr.  Norton's  scheme  of  life  to  remain  a  school- 
teacher ;    he  had  other  aims,   and   the    law   was   his 


lil) 


MEX   OF  XEir    V(iRk-^ll-ESTER.\  SECT/0\ 


ambition.  He  taught  school  for  one  year  only,  there- 
fore, and  devoted  all  his  spare  time  to  the  study  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  law.  .\t  the  end  of  that 
period  he  entered  the  .Mbany  Law  School,  from  which 
he  graduated  with  the  degree  of  1. 1..  B.  in  May,  18.H(). 
His  admission  to  the  bar,  at  Albany,  followed  at  once. 

Mr.  Norton  came  to  Buffalo  the  same  year,  believ- 
ing that  the  place  was  a  thriving,  growing,  bustling 
city,  where  the  legal  profession  was  not  overcrowded 
at  the  top  —  and  the  top  was  the  place  that  Mr. 
Norton  determined  to  reach,  if  intelligence,  industry, 
and  a  mastery  of  his  profession  could  put  him  there. 
How  well  he  has  succeeded  the  record  of  the  past 
fifteen  years  amply  demonstrates.  For  the  first  five 
years  Mr.  Norton  practiced  law  alone,  but  in  April, 
1885,  his  brother,  Rosewell  M.,  joined  him  :  and  in 
January,  IXi).'),  a  second  brother,  Herbert  !■'.  j.,  was 
admitted  to  the  firm. 

While  thoroughly  devoted  to  his  profession,  Mr. 
Norton  has  identified  himself  with  the  general  con- 
cerns of  the  community,  and  many  enterprises  and 
organizations  of  a  public  and  semi-public  nature  have 
received  the  benefit  of  his  support,  his  counsel,  and 
his  example.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Histor- 
ical Society,  the  Buffalo  Library,  the  (lerman  Young 
.Men's  Association,  and  the  Merchants'  Exchange. 
He  is  a  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  Orphan  Asylum.  He 
is  also  a  prominent  memlier  of  the  Buffalo,  Saturn, 
and  University  clubs.  He  has  long  been  an  ardent 
believer  in  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  is  a  leading  member  of  the  Buffalo  Republican 
League.  At  the  same  time  he  does  not  believe  that 
party  advantage  should  be  placed  before  public  good  ; 
and  honest  politics,  as  the  phrase  is,  finds  in  him  a 
hearty  advocate.  His  party  services  were  rewarded 
by  an  appointment  as  assistant  United  States  district 
attorney  under  Colonel  D.  S.  .Ale.xander,  who  was 
appointed  by  President  Harrison.  Mr.  Norton  ably 
filled  this  position  for  a  year  and  a  half  during  l<S^i) 
and  IHHO,  when  the  demands  of  his  private  i)ractice 
comijclled  his  resignation.  This  is  the  only  public 
office  he  has  held. 

PENS ONA L  CHR ONOL OGY—  Nathaniel 
Willis  Norton  laas  horn  at  Porter,  Mc\,  March  J, 
ISn-i  :  spent  one  year  at  Bates  College,  hut  grailuated 
from  Dartmouth  College,  in  1878 ;  was  principal  of 
IVare  (Mass.)  If igh  School,  1878-7.9;  married  Mary 
Estella  Miner  of  Buffalo  fune  -V),  1880;  nms 
assistant  United  States  district  attorney,  188!i—t)0  ;  has 
practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1880. 


IDillliCl  O'SJaV?  i'i  an  example  of  what  |)lu(  k, 
energy,  and  perseverance,  coupled  with  ability,  all 
properl)  directed,  will  do  for  a  man.      Starting  with 


no  advantages,  without  influential  friends  to  back 
him,  with  nothing  in  fact  but  native  talent,  a  deter- 
mination to  succeed,  and  a  willingness  to  work  hard 
at  whatever  he  could  find  to  do,  this  man  early  in 
life  reached  a  ]»sition  of  affluence  and  influence. 
Some  ])eople  might  say  that  Mr.  O'Day  had  op])or- 
tunities  that  come  to  but  few  men.  This  may  be  .so, 
but  he  worked  for  those  openings  for  advancement, 
seized  them  when  they  came  within  his  reach,  and 
had  pre\iously  qualified  himself,  by  mitiring  energy, 
to  make  the  most  of  them.  No  obstacle  ever  came 
in  Daniel  ()' Day's  pathway  that  he  was  not  ready 
and  willing  to  overcome  by  hard  work  and  persist- 
ent effort.  This  is  the  secret  of  his  business  success. 
He  is,  furthermore,  a  public-spirited  citizen,  engaged 
in  many  enterprises  of  a  public  or  a  private  nature. 
His  friends  are  numbered  by  the  thousand,  for  he  is 
a  popular  man,  personally,  socially,  and  politically. 
He  i.--  a  member  of  various  .social  organizations  in 
both  Buffalo  and  New  York.  Though  an  ardent 
Democrat  and  a  liberal  contributor  to  his  jjarty's 
funds,  he  has  never  held  ])olitical  office.  eNce|)t  as  a 
presidential  elector. 

Born  in  Ireland,  Mr.  O'Day  was  brought  to  this 
country  when  a  small  child.  His  early  life  was 
passed  on  a  farm  in  Cattaraugus  county.  New  \'oxk. 
Here  he  spent  his  days  as  do  most  boys  brought  u)j 
in  like  (  onditions.  His  education,  accjuired  in  the 
broad  field  of  the  world,  bail  its  foundation  in  the 
public  schools.  Farming  was  not  at  all  to  his  liking, 
and  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old  he  mo\ed  to 
Buffalo  to  begin  his  struggle  with  the  world.  His 
first  employment  was  found  with  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral railroad  as  a  me.s.senger.  In  this  humble  position 
his  faithfiil  application  and  his  natural  capacity  and 
intelligence  were  displayed  so  far  as  opportunity 
offered.  They  were  rewarded,  too,  by  successive  pro- 
motions, until,  after  a  lap.se  of  three  years,  young 
O'Day  attained  the  position  of  .shipi)ing  clerk. 

Though  the  main  business  of  his  life  was  to  con- 
cern transportation  interests,  Mr.  O'Day  did  not 
find  railroading  so  congenial  that  he  was  satisfied  to 
continue  in  that  line.  In  18f!5  the  oil  excitement  in 
the  rajjidly  developing  fields  of  Pennsylvania  ])erine- 
ated  every  part  of  the  East,  and  in  Buffalo,  so  near 
the  scene  of  operations,  the  excitement  was  natur- 
ally inten.se.  The  shipping  clerk  became  infected, 
resigned  his  position,  packed  his  few  belongings,  and 
soon  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fighl.  Perhaps  because 
of  his  railroad  training,  perhaps  by  chance,  his  atten- 
tion was  early  directed  to  the  transportation  of  oil. 
It  was  a  great  jjroblem  in  those  days.  Railroads  were 
few  and  hard  to  reach,  and  teaming  was  exjjen- 
sive  and  a  vexation  to  the  soul.     Pijie-lines  had  been 


MK.y   (^F  .\/-:U'    YORK  -\V/iSTKR\  SFCVVOX 


fil 


projected,  some  of  which  had  proved  faihires,  while 
others  had  shown  that  the  method  could  be  economic- 
ally and  successfully  applied.  Mr.  O'Day  early  be- 
came connected  with  one  of  the  pioneer  lines,  the 
Empire  Transportation  Company.  So  active  wa.s  he 
in  furthering  its  interests,  so  .shrewd  was  his  counsel, 
that  he  soon  held  an  important  position 
in  the  company. 

Mr.  O' Day's  connection  witii  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  dates  from  1871). 
It  is  largely  to  him  that  this  great  com- 
pany owes  its  wonderful  system  of  pipe- 
lines, which  have  their  beginning  at 
thousands  of  wells  scattered  over  thou- 
.sands  of  acres  of  land,  and  which  end  at 
the  seaboard.  It  was  some  years  after 
pil)e-lines  were  successfully  used  to  convey 
oil  from  the  wells  to  refineries  located  in 
the  oil  country,  that  it  was  deemed  pos- 
sible to  transport  this  i)roduct  over  long 
distances  by  the  .same  method.  Daniel 
O'Day  was  one  of  the  first  to  suggest 
that  this  might  be  done.  He  saw  no 
reason  why  the  company  should  not 
send  its  petroleum  from  the  fields  to 
the  seaboard  through  pipes,  using  pumps 
of  great  force  as  the  motive  jiower. 
This  idea  eventually  resulted  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  line  that  now  extends 
from  Olean,  N.  V.,  to  Bayonne,  N.  J. 
Mr.  O'Day  is  the  virtual  head  of  the 
mammoth  pipe-line  interests  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company.  He  is  vice 
president  of  the  United  Pipe-Lines  Com- 
pany, and  of  the  National  Transit 
Company. 

Though  Mr.  O'Day,  long  a  Buflaloniau, 
has  moved  to  New  York  since  the  death 
of  his   first   wife    in    1890,    he  has   still 
large  interests  in  the  Queen  City,  and  may  be  seen 
there  frequently.      He  is  president  of  the  People's 
Bank,  of  the  General  Electric  Company,  and  of  the 
Buffalo    Natural    Gas    Fuel  Company.      He    is   also 
interested  in  other  concerns,  and  is  a  large  ow-ner  of 
Buffalo  real  estate. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGV—  D,viicl  O '  Day 
loas  horn  at  Kildysart,  Ireland,  February  (J,  184-^  : 
was  brought  to  this  country  early  in  life,  and  lived  at 
Kllicottcille,  N.  K,  iititil  1862 ;  was  with  the  A'eio 
York  Central  railroad,  1802-65 ;  went  to  Pennsyl- 
vania oil  fields  in  1865,  and  ultimately  hecanie  man- 
ager of  the  Standard  Oil  Company's  pipe-lines :  mar- 
ried Louise  Au'Tcell  of  Boston  in  1870  and  Mary  L\i;e 
of  Nova  Scotia  in  1892. 


IROSWCll  pari?,  though  only  forty-three  years 
old,  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  men 
whose  names  ajipear  ujion  the  annals  of  medicine  in 
western  New  York  ;  and  this  is  no  slight  distinction, 
when  the  statement  concerns  a  locality  that  has  been 
the    home    of    such   teachers   and    practitioners    of 


n  wiEi.  (>■/). I  y 

national  reputation  as  .\ustin   Flint,  Frank    Hastings 
Hamilton,  James  P.  White,  and  Julius  V.  Miner. 

Dr.  Park  might  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of  what 
Dr.  Holmes  says  of  the  influence  of  a  fine  ancestry. 
His  father,  the  Rev.  Roswell  Park,  D.  D. .graduated 
at  the  head  of  his  class  at  West  Point  in  1836,  and 
did  important  work  in  the  corps  of  engineers  of  the 
United  States  army  for  some  years ;  then  became 
professor  of  chemistry  and  physics  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  ;  and  finally  entered  the  church  and 
became,  in  18.")'2,  founder  and  first  president  of 
Racine  College.  On  the  other  side,  Dr.  Park  is 
descended  from  a  race  with  a  bent,  like  that  of 
R.  L.  Stevenson,  for  engineering.  His  mother, 
Marv  B.  Baldwin  of\\'oburn.  Mass.,  was  a  descendant 


.\fE\   OF  XEW    )ORK—lVKSTERX  SECT/OX 


of  the  Baldwin  famil)',  so  many  representatives 
of  which  became  famous  engineers  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  country,  and  left  monuments  of  their 
skill  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Dr.  Park's  ances- 
tors on  both  sides  were  jirominent  in  the  War  of 
Independence,  and  several  of  them  were  officers. 


ROSWIilJ.    P.IA'A- 

With  such  a  family  history,  it  would  not  have 
been  surjjrising  if  Dr.  Park  had  become  an  engineer. 
Instead,  he  decided  to  follow  the  study  of  medicine. 
After  a  general  education  at  Racine  College,  he 
graduated  from  the  Chicago  Medical  t'ollege  (  North- 
western University),  adding  to  his  preparation  for  his 
profession  the  valuable  experience  of  two  and  a  half 
years'  service  as  interne  in  the  two  largest  hospitals 
in  Chicago.  .Vt  twenty-five  Dr.  Park  began  his 
work  as  a  teacher,  having  received  an  ap])ointment,  in 
1877,  a.s  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Chicago.  The  next  year  he  was 
appointed  to  the  same  position,  and  later  to  that 
of  a.ssistant    jjrofessor  of  anatomy,   in   the  Chicago 


Medical  College.  In  1882  he  was  made  lecturer  on 
surgery  in  the  Rush  Medical  College.  In  188.'>  he 
was  called  to  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Buffalo 
Medical  College  :  this  position,  with  that  of  surgeon 
to  the  Buffalo  (General  Hospital,  he  still  holds.  His 
ability  as  a  teacher  has  been  widely  recognized. 

Dr.  Park's  reputation,  however,  is  not 
confined  to  his  work  in  the  class-room 
and  as  a  practitioner.  If  the  record 
stopped  here,  it  would  leave  out  a  very 
important  part  of  his  career.  He  is  a 
deep  student,  and  has  won  fame  as  a 
writer  upon  medical  topics.  The  list  of 
the  papers  that  he  has  jniblished  in  the 
last  twelve  years  fills  fourteen  pages  of 
manuscript.  Among  the  chief  items  is  a 
volume  of  "  Lectures  on  Surgical  Pathol- 
ogy," which  ajjpeared  in  18112.  He  has 
in  preparation,  and  will  soon  publish,  a 
volume  of  lectures  on  the  history  of 
medicine  :  and  a  treatise  on  surgery,  in 
two  volumes,  of  which  he  is  editor,  and 
to  which  he  has  been  a  large  contributor. 
He  has  written  many  encyclopedia  ar- 
ticles and  popular  lectures.  His  signature 
appears  at  the  foot  of  many  of  the  med- 
ical articles  in  Johnson's  "Universal 
Cyclopedia."  He  is  a  member  of  the 
New  York  .\cademy  of  Medicine,  the 
American  Medical  Association,  the  Amer- 
ican Surgical  .\ssociation,  the  American 
Orthojiedic  Association,  the  American  As- 
sociation of  Cenito-Urinary  Surgeons,  the 
German  Congress  of  Surgeons  (^Deutsche 
Gesellschaft  fiir  Chinngie^,  and  various 
other  professional  societies.  He  was 
made  an  honorary  menil)er  of  the  Amer- 
ican Academy  of  Medicine  in  1895,  and 
is  now  president  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  all  the  local  scientific  societies.  Among  the 
degrees  that  he  has  received  are  A.  M.,  Racine 
College,  1875;  honorary  M.  D.,  Rush  Medical 
College  (  Lake  Forest  University),  1892  :  and  honor- 
ary A.  M.,  Harvard,  1895. 

.■\t  the  age  of  forty  Dr.  Park  h^ttl  attained  a 
national  reputation.  He  is  not  only  a  good  student 
and  a  voluminous  writer  in  his  profession,  but  is  also 
a  man  of  the  world,  actively  concerned  in  every- 
thing that  makes  life  interesting.  He  is  a  man  of 
the  widest  sympathy.  His  social  nature,  and  the 
extent  and  diversity  of  his  interests,  appear  in  the 
fact  that  he  has  been  an  officer  of  the  Buffalo,  Saturn, 
and    Universitv   clubs   of  Buffalo  ;   that  he  has  been 


.i//-:.\'  t^r  .\7-:ir  ivvca'— n7-;,srA"A'.\'  sa'ct/ox 


63 


president  of  the  Buffalo  Musical  Association  ;  that 
he  is  a  member  of  the  University  and  Reform  clubs 
of  New  York  city  ;  that  he  has  been  jjresident  of  the 
21st  Ward  Good  Government  Club,  and  vice  presi- 
dent of  the  Council  of  Confederated  (Jood  (lovern- 
ment  Clubs  of  Buffalo.  In  years  past  Dr.  Park  was 
for  some  time  president  of  the  Chicago  Electrical 
Society,  and  later  of  the  Buffalo  Microscopical 
Society.  In  1895  Governor  Morton  made  him  one 
of  the  managers  of  the  Buffalo  State  Hospital.  Dr. 
Park  has  also  held  many  other  ])Ositions  of  honor  and 
responsibility. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Ronocll  Park 
7vas  born  at  Pomfret,  Coiiti.,  May  If,  1852;  i^raifi/- 
atedfram  Racine  (  Wis. )  Colle;::;e  in  1H12,  and  from 
the  Chicago  Medical  College  with  the  degree  of  M.  D. 
in  1870 ;  married  Alartha  P.  Diirkee  of  Chicago 
June  1,  1882  ;  senrd  upon  the  faculty  of 
the  Womaii  s  Medical  College  of  Chicago, 
the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  Rush 
Medical  College,  successively,  1877-83  ; 
7aas  called  to  he  professor  of  surgery  in 
the  medical  department.  University  of  Buf- 
falo, and  surgeon  to  the  Buffalo  General 
Hospital,  in  1883  ;  was  elected  president  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Nnv 
York  for  lSOr,-!)(!. 


Milliam  lb.  iPitt  has  an  important 
place  in  the  history  of  the  petroleum 
industry,  and  is  an  excellent  illustration 
of  the  truth  that  one  of  the  chief  factors 
in  the  material  development  of  our 
country  to-day  is  the  man  of  science. 
He  was  born  and  brought  ui)  on  a  farm — 
a  circumstance  that  he  has  looked  back 
upon  not  with  regret,  but  with  pleasure. 
The  oldest  boy  in  a  farmer's  family  of 
ten  children  —  more  than  half  of  them 
girls  —  is  generally  not  overburdened 
with  opportunities  for  advancement.  So 
it  was  with  young  Pitt.  His  education 
had  to  be  for  the  most  part  what  he 
made  it  himself,  and  he  early  determined 
that  it  should  be  the  best  possible  under 
the  circumstances.  He  worked  and  taught 
'  and  studied,  in  accordance  with  shifting 
conditions,  for  twelve  years,  finally  grad- 
uating from  Union  College  in  18()(). 
He  was  then  twenty-eight  years  of  age  — 
somewhat  older  than  the  average  collegiate  at  grad- 
uation :  but  he  had  been  forced  to  interrupt  his 
studies  continually  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  his 
current  expenses  bv  means  of  teaching  ;   and   he  hac 


the  solid  and  enduring  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
all  the  expenses  of  his  education  had  been  j^aid  liy 
himself. 

Once  through  college.  Professor  Pitt  returned  to 
teaching,  all  the  while  continuing  the  study  of 
various  branches  of  science.  He  was  principal  of 
the  high  school  at  Spencer,  N.  Y. ,  for  two  years  ; 
then  held  a  similar  position  at  Angelica  (N.  Y. ) 
Academy  ;  next  .served  as  superintendent  of  education 
at  Warren,  Ohio,  for  two  years;  and  then  returned, 
as  principal,  to  Friendship  (N.  Y.  j  Academy,  where 
he  had  once  taught.  From  there  he  came  to  Buffalo 
in  September,  1.S72,  to  take  the  professorship  of 
physics  and  chemistry  in  the  high  school.  He  built 
up  both  departments,  added  largely  to  their  appara- 
tus, and  finally  resigned  his  position  in  1890,  after 
eighteen   years  of    useful  work,    on  account   of  the 


WILLIAM   II.  I'ITT 


growing  demands  of  other   interests.      He  still 
tnined.  and  yet  occupies,  the  chair  of  general  ph\.-i..-;i 
listry  in  the  medical  department  of  Niagara 
v,  to  wliii  li  he  was  called  in  1MS4. 


re- 

ics 


i      L  iiiversit 


Ii4 


.I/AW   Ol-    XEW    YORK—WESTF.RX  SECT/OX 


Professor  Pitt,  during  all  these  years  of  teaching, 
was  still  a  student,  devoting  his  leisure  moments  to 
scientific  research.  In  1863  Union  College  gave 
him  the  degree  of  A.  M.;  in  1.S79  the  medical  de- 
partment, University  of  Buffalo,  that  of  M.  D.  :  and 
in  188(i  Alfred  University  that  of  I'h.  1).  His 
scientific  knowledge  furnished  at  last  the  basis  of 
important  developments  in  the  petroleum  fields.  He 
became  interested  in  the  subject  of  oil  at  the  lime 
of  the  early  excitement  in  Pennsylvania,  and  studied 
carefully  the  geological  and  chemical  problems  relat- 
ing to  the  production  and  the  manufacture  of  oil. 
His  suggestion  that  oil  would  be  found  further  north 
and  east  of  the  Oil  Ureek  district  was  followed  by 
the  opening  of  the  Bradford  field  in  1X7().  \n  l-S.SO 
he  declared  that  petroleimi  existed  along  the  line 
dividing  the  head  waters  of  the  .-Mlegheny  and  dene- 
see  rivers.  His  theory  led  ().  P.  Taylor,  the  ])io- 
neer  of  the  Allegany  coimty  field,  to  "  wild-cat  "  in 
the  locality  pointed  out  by  Professor  Pitt.  An  im- 
mensely rich  territory  was  discovered,  Richburg  and 
Bolivar  sjjrang  into  fame  as  oil  towns,  and  millions 
of  dollars'  worth  of  oil  was  produ(  ed  :  all  of  which 
redounded  to  Professor  Pitt's  reputation  for  excellent 
judgment,  but  was  otherwise  of  no  advantage  to  him. 

But  he  was  more  fortunate  later  in  profiting  from 
the  fruits  of  his  knowledge.  For  a  long  time  the 
oil  produced  in  the  Ohio  and  Canadian  fields  was  of 
little  use,  exce])t  for  fiiel,  on  account  of  the  large 
proportion  of  sulphur  that  it  contained.  Professor 
Pitt  ajjplied  him.self  to  the  problem  of  utilizing  this 
nearly  valueless  ])roduct.  After  many  fruitless  experi- 
ments, he  at  last  hit  on  a  practical  method  of  refining 
the  oil  :  and  the  result  has  been  a  revolution  in  the 
petroleum  industry  in  Ohio.  Formerly  the  Lima 
oil  was  sold  at  fifteen  cents  a  barrel.  To-day  certifi- 
cates for  the  same  oil  are  .sold  at  the  exchanges  for 
about  ninety  cents.  If  the  man  who  makes  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  grew  before  is 
a  ]jublic  benefactor,  the  man  who  invents  a  ])rocess 
by  which  any  of  the  earth's  ])roducts  are  made 
doubly  useful  should  be  placed  in  the  same  category. 
Professor  Pitt's  ]jrocess  is  in  use,  with  entire  success, 
at  the  Paragon  Oil  Refinery  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  of 
which  he  is  the  consulting  chemist.  This  position 
and  his  duties  as  lecturer  at  Niagara  University  have 
occupied  all  his  attention  in  recent  years. 

Profes.sor  Pitt  has  written  mostly  on  scientific 
([uestions.  Papers  from  his  pen  have  ap|)eared  in  the 
Buffalo  Medial/  Journal  and  other  periodicals,  and 
in  the  [jroceedings  of  the  Ainerican  Association  for 
the  .Vdvancement  of  Science.  He  has  described  and 
illustrated  several  new-  fossils  from  the  water-lime 
formation  in  the  neighborhood  of  P>uffalo  —  among 


them  the  first  pteregotiis,  it  is  believed,  found  in  this 
country.  He  has  belonged  to  the  Buffalo  Society  of 
Natural  Sciences  for  many  years,  doing  original 
work  on  the  Journal  and  adding  specimens  of  his 
own  discovery  to  the  society's  collections. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  William  Hud- 
son Pitt  Teas  horn  at  Short  Tract,  N.  K,  September 
<V,  18-U  :  prepared  for  college  at  Alfred  {N.  Y.)_ 
Academy,  and  graduated  from  Union  College,  Schenec- 
tady, N.  Y. ,  in  IHdO ;  married  Mary  Elizabeth 
Church  of  Eriendship,  N.  Y. ,  May  IS,  1801 ;  was 
superintendent  of  education  at  IVarren,  Ohio,  1S67- 
(18 ;  7oas  professor  of  physics  and  chemistty  in  the 
/Buffalo  High  School,  1872-fiO  :  was  State  Analyst  of 
Poods  and  Drugs,  1881-32  :  has  been  professor  of 
general  chemistry  and  physics  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Niagara  University  since  May  2(>,  188^. 


CbaiieS  H.  pOOlCg  is  known  as  one  of  the 
soundest  lawyers  in  the  city  of  Buffalo.  It  is  no 
small  prai.se  to  say  this,  for  it  is  an  undisputed  fact 
that  the  bar  of  Buffalo  contains  among  its  members 
some  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  state  of  New  York. 
To  win  a  recognized  i)lace  among  these  legal  lights 
one  must  be  well-read  in  the  law,  and  must  be  able 
to  apply  legal  jjrinciples  correctly  and  promptly  to 
all  (|uestions  arising.  The  fact  that  the  firm  of 
which  Mr.  Pooley  has  long  been  an  active  and  dis- 
tinguished member  cares  for  large  corporate  interests 
is  itself  a  guarantee  that  he  is  an  able  and  astute 
lawyer. 

Mr.  Pooley  has  al«a\s  lived  in  Buftalo.  He  at- 
tended Public  School  No.  1,  and  graduated  from  the 
Central  High  School  in  the  class  of  1873.  This 
was  the  end  of  his  .scholastic  training.  I'pon  his 
graduation  he  entered  the  lumber  business,  in  which 
he  continued  for  three  years.  Not  finding  this  em- 
])loyment  strictly  congenial  and  having  an  ambition 
to  adopt  a  profession  for  which  he  felt  a  special  ajjti- 
tude,  Mr.  Pooley  began  the  stuch'  of  law  on  January  1 , 
187(5.  Devoting  himself  diligently  to  Blackstone 
and  Kent,  he  was  admitted  to  the  full  privileges  of 
the  bar  in  .Vpril,  1X79.  He  began  at  once  the 
active  ])ractice  of  law  in  connection  with  the  firm  of 
l.aning,  .McMillan  &  (JIuck,  having  completed  his 
studies  in  the  office  of  the  late  Senator  A.  P.  Lan- 
ing.  He  has  continued  with  that  firm  through  its 
various  changes  —  C.reene,  .McMillan  &  Cluck, 
.McMillan,  (;iuck  &  Pooley,  and  McMillan,  Chuk, 
Pooley  &  Dejjew  —  to  the  present  time. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  Mr. 
Pooley  is  held  by  his  fellow-members  of  the  bar,  the 
fact  may  be  cited  that  when  a  vacancy  occurred  on 
the  bench  of  the  .Su|)reme  Court  for  the  8th  judicial 


MEA  OF  A7iir    )()A'A-—II7-:s77-:A'X  s/-:c77o.y 


f)5 


district,  caused  by  the  elevation  of  Judge  Albert 
Haiylit  to  the  Court  of  Appeals  on  January  1,  1895, 
Mr.  Pooley  was  strongly  endorsed  for  the  appoint- 
ment. 'I'he  petition  to  (iovernor  Morton  in  his 
favor  was  signed  by  lawyers  of  all  shades  of  political 
opinion  ;  and  the  mere  fact  that  he  was  endorsed  in 
this  manner  to  succeed  a  jurist  of  the 
recognized  standing  of  Judge  Haight  is 
as  great  a  compliment  as  could  well  be 
paid  to  a  man  of  his  profession.  That 
he  was  not  appointed  was  undoubtedly 
due  largely  to  political  exigencies,  (lov- 
ernor  Morton  deeming  it  best  to  select 
for  the  place  a  man  from  another  part  of 
the  judicial  district.  In  the  summer  of 
liS!);")  Mr.  Pooley  was  prominently  men- 
tioned as  a  candidate  for  the  Republican 
nomination  to  a  place  on  the  bench  of 
the  Supreme  Court. 

Mr.  Pooley  is  a  trustee  of  the  law 
library  of  the  Sth  judicial  district,  having 
been  appointed  to  that  honorable  position 
i)y  the  Supreme  Court.  He  has  likewise 
been  a  director  of  the  Buffalo  Library, 
serving  for  three  years. 

Always  a  faithful  worker  in  the  interest 
of  any  cause  with  which  he  has  connected 
himself,  Mr.  Pooley  has  been  highly  hon- 
ored by  the  Free  Masons.  He  is  a  Past 
Master  of  DeMolay  Lodge,  No.  498,  and 
served  a  term  as  District  Deputy  (irand 
Master  of  the  Masons  of  the  state  of  New 
York  for  the  2.5th  Masonic  district. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Charles  A.   Pooley   loas  horn  at  Buffalo 
November  17,  JS-'>4  ;    K'(7.f  cdiicateit  in  the 
public  schools  of  Buffalo ;    engaged  in  the 
lumber  business,  1873-75  ;    7C'as  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  April,  1879 :  married  Carrie 
Adams,  daughter  of  S.   Cary  Adams  of  Buffalo,  June 
4,  1884  ,"    h(^s  practiced  law  since  1870  ivith  the  firm 
of  McAIillan,     Gluck,   Pooley  &"    Depc70   and  their 
predecessors. 

(IVrU3  1l\.  iPortCt  has  made  an  honorable  re|i- 
ulation  ill  two  distinct  lines  of  activity.  He  has 
been  a  successful  architect  and  builder,  and  he  is  the 
founder  of  the  order  of  Royal  'I'emplars  of  'I'cmijer- 
ance.  His  life  has  been  twofold,  having  been  de- 
voted both  to  his  vocation  and  to  movements  for  the 
uplifting  of  his  fellow-men.  Practical  work  and  ju- 
dicious philanthropy  have  occu])ied  his  time  and 
thought  ;  and  self-seeking  has  had  no  ])lace  in  his 
plans   for   the   betterment   of   societv.      Recoi,'ni/ing 


the  great  evil  that  lies  at  the  root  of  so  much  human 
misery  and  crime,  he  has  combated  this  evil  in  pub- 
lic and  ])rivate  with  every  rational  weajjon  at  his 
command.  He  has  not  allowed  himself  to  lie  carried 
awav  by  the  cause  he  advocates,  but  has  avoided 
I'anaticism,  and  appealed  to  the  reason  of  men. 


niARr.RS  A.   I^OOl.EY 

Though  a  native  of  New  York  state,  Mr.  Porter  is 
of  an  old  New  England  family  that  has  contributed 
generation  after  generation  to  the  ranks  of  the  coun- 
try's scholars  and  public  men.  His  education  was 
obtained  in  common  .schools,  and,  as  he  characteris- 
tically says,  "in  the  workshop."  He  began  his 
a])prenticeship  as  a  builder  on  the  day  General  Tay- 
lor was  elected  I'resident  —  November  7,  1848. 
Having  mastered  the  mechanical  part  of  building,  he 
next  undertook  the  theoretical  study  of  the  subject, 
and  in  due  time  he  became  an  architect.  For  two 
years  he  was  employed  in  the  ofifice  of  the  resident 
engineer  of  the  Chicago  waterworks.  Business  then 
took  him  to  the  jirovince  of  Ontario,  and  ten  years 
elapsed  before  he  returned  to  western  New  ^'ork. 


66 


MEN  OF  NEW   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


It  was  in  1865  that  Mr.  Porter  came  to  Buffalo  to 
live.  The  American  l)lock,  which  had  just  been  de- 
stroyed in  a  memorable  fire,  was  then  rebuilding, 
and  he  was  made  superintendent  of  construction  in 
connection  with  that  work.  In  the  following  year 
he  formed  a  partnershi|i  with    H.  M.  Wilcox  under 


CYRUS  K.   PORTER 

the  firm  name  of  Wilcox  &  Porter  ;  but  he  soon 
bought  out  his  partner's  interest,  and  has  since  car- 
ried on  his  profession  alone  or  in  company  with  his 
son.  He  has  paid  particular  attention  to  designing 
schoolhouses,  churches,  and  pul)lic  buildings,  such 
as  permit  the  exercise  of  bold  ideas  and  original  con- 
cei)tions.  He  has  fretjuently  competed  for  ]«iblic 
buildings,  and  has  won  several  important  premiums 
—  notably  the  second  premium  for  the  War,  State, 
and  Navy  Department  Building  at  Washington  and 
a  like  premium  for  the  City  Hall,  Quebec,  Canada. 
Among  the  ])rominent  buildings  of  Buffalo  ])lanned 
and  constructed  by  him  are  Trinity  Church,  St.  Pat- 
rick's Church,  the  new  municipal  buildings,  and  the 
Builders'  I'lvchange. 


Mr.  Porter  has  been  no  less  active  in  the  cause  of 
temperance  than  in  the  practice  of  his  profe.ssion. 
He  is  among  the  foremost  reformers  in  devising 
methods  of  promoting  sobriety  in  all  classes  of  the 
people.  His  work  in  this  direction  has  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  Prohibition  party,  which  has  placed 
him  ill  nomination  several  times  upon  its 
ticket.  He  has  always  been  a  Repub- 
lican, having  cast  his  first  ballot  for  John 
P.  Hale,  in  1852.  He  is  not,  however, 
a  hidebound  member  of  that  party,  but 
has  exercised  the  high  prerogati\e  and 
duty  of  "scratching"  the  names  of  ob- 
jectionable candidates. 

The  fraternal  side  of  Mr.  Porter's 
character  is  evidenced  in  the  number  of 
societies  to  which  he  belongs.  He  is  an 
Odd  Fellow,  a  Free  Mason,  a  Good 
Templar,  a  Son  of  Temperance,  a  United 
Workman,  and  a  Royal  Templar  of  Tem- 
perance. All  his  leisure  has  been  spent 
in  temperance  work,  the  one  interest  he 
has  had  at  heart  outside  the  practice  of 
his  profession. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Cyrus  Kinne  Porter  was  horn  at  Cicero, 
N.  Y.,  August  27,  1828 ;  was  educated 
ill  common  schools  ;  learned  the  builders'' 
trade,  and  became  an  architect  in  1855  ; 
founded  the  order  of  Royal  Templars  of 
Temperance  in  1870  ;  laent  to  Buffalo  in 
1865,  and  has  praeficcd  his  profession 
there  since. 


pascal   1|>.  Ipratt  has  added  liistre 

and   prestige  In  a   family  name  already  so 

distinguished  that  the  mere  maintenance 

of  the  patronymic  unimpaired  would  have 

been  a  noteworthy  achievement.      When 

the  century  now  closing  had  barely  begun   to  run  its 

course  Captain  Samuel   Pratt,  grandfather  of  Pascal 

P    Pratt,  brought  his  family  from  Vermont  to  Buffalo 

in  an  old-fashioned  coach,  .said  to  be  the  first  carriage 

ever  .seen   in   Erie   county.       Captain   Pratt  had  an 

ini])ortant   part    in    shaping   the   frontier  history   of 

Buffalo,  and  his  sons,  one  of  whom  was  twice  mayor 

of   Buffalo,   contributed  their  share  in   making  the 

family   name  a   part   of  the   best   history   of  western 

New  York. 

Pascal  P.  Pratt,  so  descended,  really  deserves  three 
biographies  —  one  as  a  business  man,  another  as  a 
banker,  and  a  third,  perhaps  most  important  of  all, 
as  a  public-spirited  citizen.  Regarding  him  first 
from   a   business  standpoint,   we   may    note  the   fact 


MEX  OF  XKIV    VORK—H-ESrKKX  SECT/OX 


67 


that  he  began  his  commercial  life,  in  the  hardware 
business,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  after  having  made  the 
most  of  educational  opportunities  that  would  now  be 
deemed  scanty.  In  this  business  he  remained  as 
clerk  and  partner  for  half  a  century,  finally  retiring 
from  the  famous  firm  of  Pratt  &  Co.  in  1885,  in 
order  to  devote  more  time  to  banking  duties  that 
were  becoming  increasingly  burdensome.  Side  by 
side  with  the  hardware  business  there  grew  up  under 
Mr.  Pratt's  masterful  hands  other  industrial  concerns 
hardly  less  important.  The  house  of  Pratt  &  Letch- 
worth,  founded  in  1845,  and  the  Buffalo  Iron  &  Nail 
Company,  organized  in  1857,  are  cases  in  point. 
Without  resort  to  details,  Mr.  Pratt's  business  life 
may  be  characterized  as  having  been  ideally  success- 
ful :  he  has  furnished  lucrative  and  jileasant  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  contented  workmen,  and  he 
has  at  the  same  time  secured  a  fair  return 
for  invested  capital. 

As  a  banker  Mr.  Pratt's  career  has  been 
equally  distinguished.  With  the  Manu- 
facturers' and  Traders'  Bank  of  Buffalo  he 
has  been  identified  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, over  forty  years  ago,  when  he  was 
made  director  and  vice  president.  The 
latter  office  he  held  until  1885,  when  he 
w^as  elected  to  his  present  office,  that  of 
president.  He  has  also  been  a  director 
of  the  Bank  of  Buffalo,  of  the  Third 
National  Bank  of  Buffalo,  and  of  the 
Bank  of  Attica. 

Most  interesting  to  the  general  reader, 
and  perhaps  most  pleasing  to  himself,  is 
Mr.  Pratt's  life  on  the  side  of  public  ser- 
vices and  civic  honor.  A  list  of  the 
offices  of  trust  and  responsibility  held  by 
him  would  quite  exhaust  the  space  at  our 
disposal.  Educational  and  religious  in- 
stitutions, political  and  charitable  organ- 
izations, as  well  as  the  city  and  the  state, 
have  asked  him  freely  for  the  Ijcnefit  of 
his  business  sagacity,  mature  judgment, 
and  ripe  experience.  The  Buffalo  Female 
Academy,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, the  North  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  Buffalo  Orphan  Asylum,  and  numer- 
ous other  institutions  of  his  native  city 
have  been  greatly  aided  in  their  work 
by  his  head  and  heart.  Well  might  a 
careful  biographer,  in  summing  up  the 
character  of  Mr.  Pratt,  write  the  following:  "  \ 
just  and  devoted  husband  and  father,  a  true  friend, 
and  active  in  all  the  years  of  a  pure  and  useful  life  in 
whatever  would  inure  to  the  benefit  of  iiunianitx',  no 


man  better  represents  the  character  of  the  good  citi- 
zen. And  thus  it  is  that  the  city  of  Buffalo,  gratefully 
appreciating  his  devotion  to  its  best  interests,  and  the 
example  of  a  stainless  life,  honors  him,  in  the  dignity 
of  his  manhood,  with  its  confidence  and  respect." 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Pascal  Paoli 
Pratt  was  Iwni  at  Buffalo  September  15,  1819  ;  7c>as 
educated  at  Hamilton  {N.  K )  Academy  and  at 
Amherst  {Mass.)  Academy ;  married  Phoebe  Lorenz 
of  Pittsburg  September  1,  18^5 ;  was  a  Republican 
presidential  elector  in  1872,  chairman  of  the  Buffalo 
Park  Commission  from  1869  to  1879,  and  one  of  the 
three  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1883  to  appraise  the  value  of  the  property  taken  by  the 
state  for  the  Reservation  at  Niagara  Falls ;  has  been 
president  of  the  Manufacturers^  and  Traders'  Bank  of 
Buffalo  since  1885. 


F.l.'iC.I/.    J'.   I'K.ITT 


U.  "C.  ■|RaniS&CU  is  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  men  in  Bulfalo  to-day.  Unlike  many  of  the 
prominent  citizens  of  this  changing  and  rapidly 
growing  city,  Mr.  Ramsdell  wa.s   born   and  educated 


cs 


.\fi:X   OF  XEiV    VORK—IVESTEKX  SECT/OX 


here,  and  has  spent  his  whole  life  here  ;  and  he  gives 
to  the  many  enterprises  for  the  advancement  of  his 
native  city  that  hearty  co-operation  and  interest 
which  might  be  expected  from  one  of  her  loyal  sons. 
As  a  boy  he  attended  the  public  schools  of  the 
city,  and  later  spent  three  years  in  Professor  Briggs's 


THOMAS    T.   RAMSDEl.I. 

classical  school,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1<H71. 
In  1878  he  began  his  business  life  as  a  clerk  in  the 
wholesale  boot  and  shoe  house  established  by  his 
father  in  1H:}7,  and  he  has  ever  since  been  connected 
with  this  firm.  At  that  time  the  business  was  con- 
ducted by  his  father,  Orrin  P.  Ramsdell,  and  by 
\V.  H.  Walker.  In  1877  .Mr.  Walker  retired  from 
the  firm,  and  T.  'I'.  Ramsdell  and  his  lirother,  Albert 
N.,  were  taken  into  jjartnership.  Albert  N.  Rams- 
dell died  in  the  following  year,  and  in  1879  W.  C, 
(i.  \V.,andS.  M.  Sweet  were  admitted  to  the  firm,  and 
the  business  took  the  present  style  of  ().  P.  Ram.sdeli, 
Sweet  &  Co.  ().  P.  Ramsdell  and  (;.  W.  Sweet 
have  since  died,  and  T.    T.    Ram.sdeli    is   now  the 


senior  member  of  the  firm.  To  the  maintenance  and 
development  of  this  already  extensive  and  prosperous 
business,  Mr.  Ramsdell  has  devoted  himself  with  per- 
sistent energy  :  and  as  a  result  the  firm  to-day  is  one  of 
the  most  solid  and  highly  respected  in  Buffalo,  and 
one  of  the  largest  of  western  New  York  in  its  line. 

Mr.  Ramsdell  has  never  sought  nor 
held  political  office,  but  his  interest  in 
political  affairs  is  keen,  and  his  influence 
is  always  exerted  on  the  side  of  good 
government  and  needed  reform.  He  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Republican 
League,  which  he  served  as  president  in 
1894,  and  to  which  he  devotes  much  time 
and  energy. 

He  is  also  prominent  in  ail  the  move- 
ments for  enhancing  the  pros]jerity  of  his 
native  city.  The  great  scheme  for  bring- 
ing Niagara  Falls  water  power  to  Buffalo 
is  a  notable  case  in  point.  When  this 
was  only  an  idea,  Mr.  Ramsdell  foresaw 
the  immense  industrial,  domestic,  and 
municipal  benefits  inherent  in  the  scheme, 
and  he  identified  himself  actively  with  the 
promotion  of  the  jjroject  —  with  the  prac- 
ticalization  of  the  idea.  He  was  ap- 
pointed a  member  of  Mayor  Jewett's 
advisory  committee  to  consider  the  prac- 
tical business  use  of  the  great  power  within 
the  limits  of  Buffalo.  Mr.  Ramsdell  is 
a  director  of  the  EUicott  Square  Com- 
])any,  the  corporation  that  erected  the 
I'.llicott  Square  Building,  which  is  one  of 
the  finest  architectural  features  of  the 
<  ity  of  Buffalo.  He  is  also  a  director  of 
the  .Merchants'  Exchange,  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  of  the  Bell  Telephone 
Company  of  Buffalo. 

.Mr.  Ramsdell  has  not  confined  his 
attention  to  projects  for  the  material 
prosperity  of  the  city.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Westminster  Church,  the  Buffalo  Library,  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society,  the  Buffalo  Fine  Arts  Academy, 
and  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences.  He  is 
a  director  of  the  Buffalo  Cieneral  Hospital.  Mem- 
bership in  the  Buffalo  Press  Club,  the  Country  Club, 
and  the  Buffalo  Club,  evidences  his  interest  in  social 
matters,  and  rounds  out  on  an  important  side  his 
character  as  a  successfiil  business  man  and  [niblic- 
spirited  citizen. 

PERSONAL  CHR  OiXOL  O  G  V—  Thomas  T. 
Ram  Slid  I  loas  Iwni  at  Biijfalo  March  I'l,  IS-JJ^  : 
graduated  from  the  Buffalo  Classical  School  in  ISl  1 ; 
hegan  business  in  187 S  as  a  clerk  for  O.  P.   Ramsdell 


.\/E.\   OJ'    .XKli'    Vi)h'K—]n-:STE/r\  SKCT/OX 


69 


&"  Co. ,  w/w/esa/e  dealers  in  boots,  shoes,  and  nihlicrs  : 
became  partner  in  this  firm  in  1877 ;  organized  the 
present  firm  of  O.  P.  Ramsdell,  S%veet  &=  Co.  in 
1870 ;  married  Louise  Miller  of  Sterling,  III. ,  No- 
vember 10,  1881. 


3ameS  S.  IRObertS  I'egan  \\k  in  the  back- 
woods of  Maine.  He  was  "raised  on  a  farm,"  as 
the  saying  is  —  a  statement  that  conveys  to  all  Amer- 
icans a  mental  image  perfectly  intelligible  and  mean- 
ingful. He  resolved  to  obtain  a  college  education, 
and  to  effect  this  he  underwent  the  most  rigorous 
self-denial.  He  taught  school  in  winter,  worked  in 
the  fields  in  simimer,  and  practiced  the  strictest 
economy  at  all  times.  At  one  particularly  trying 
stage  of  his  college  finances  he  contracted  to  ha\il  a 
large  number  of  logs  to  market,  and  ful- 
filled the  contract  on  time  by  arising  at 
four  o'clock  every  morning  and  starting 
into  the  woods  with  two  yoke  of  oxen. 

If  it  be  true,  as  some  competent  judges 
assert,  that  a  young  man  who  enters  col- 
lege with  plenty  of  money  to  spend  is 
really  handicapped  thereby  in  the  race 
for  college  honors,  we  may  understand 
why  our  teacher-farmer-contractor  stu- 
dent was  able  to  graduate  from  Rowdoin 
at  the  head  of  his  class. 

One  reason  for  this  success,  in  the  tace 
of  obstacles  that  would  have  disheartened 
most  men,  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
young  Roberts  brought  to  his  college 
duties  a  matured  mind  and  a  character 
that  had  been  strengthened  by  e.\])eri- 
ences  quite  unusual  in  the  case  of  so 
young  a  man.  When  he  would  naturally 
have  entered  college  the  Civil  War  was 
raging  fiercely,  and  he  determined  to  ex- 
change his  books  for  the  soldier's  knap- 
sack. He  enlisted  in  1864,  when  only 
seventeen,  in  the  7th  Maine  battery,  and 
served  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
until  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 

After    leaving    college    Mr.     Roberts 
taught  school  in   Portland  for  one   year 
and  in  Buffalo  for  three  years,  studying 
law  at  the  .same  time.      He  abandoned 
teaching  on   his  admission    to   the    bar, 
and  devoted  all  his  energy  to  the  jjractice 
of  law  and  the  promotion  of  various  busi- 
ness enterprises.     At  that  time  Buffalo  was  about  to 
enter  u])on  a  period  of  extraordinary  growth  in  po[)u- 
lation  and  of  wide  expansion  in  industrial  affairs,  and 
she  needed   ])rofessional  men  of  the  highest  class  to 


complement  her  material  prosperity.  Mr.  Roberts 
was  quick  to  realize  the  significance  of  these  con- 
ditions and  to  take  advantage  of  them,  and  he  soon 
became  prominently  identified  with  the  city  of  his 
adoption.  Coincidentally  with  wide  learning,  lit- 
erary culture,  and  intellectual  attributes  of  a  high 
order,  Mr.  Roberts  possesses  an  intensely  practical 
turn  of  mind,  which  has  been  of  the  utmost  value  in 
his  professional  work  and  in  his  highly  successfid 
business  operations.  In  the  organization  and  the 
conduct  of  banking,  street-railroad,  electric-lighting, 
and  real-estate  enterjjri.ses,  Mr.  Roberts  has  shown 
a  marked  genius  for  business. 

In  political  life  Mr.  Roberts  has  attained  decided 
success  without  the  sacrifice  of  self-respect  or  of  any 
ipialitv  that  should  be  dearer  than  the  highest  measure 


/.).i//;.v  .;.  /iV)/,v-.A'/:v 

of  success  as  sometimes  estimated.  He  has  not 
always  been  ])roniinently  before  the  public  in  politi- 
cal matters,  but  he  has  alwa\s  been  allied  with  the 
best  element   of  his  jxirty,  and  has  always  given  that 


70 


MEA'  OF  XEIV    YORK—IVESIKRX  SECT/ON 


element  the  wisest  and  most  patriotic  counsel.  He 
has  been  an  ardent  civil-service  reformer,  and  has 
done  yeoman's  service  in  the  advance  of  that  cause. 
As  comi)troller  of  the  state  of  New  York,  Mr.  Rob- 
erts ha.s  splendidly  improved  the  opportunity  to  show 
how  important  that  office  may  be  made  in  the  hands 


188^  ;  was  representative  in  the  state  assembly,  1879- 
80  ;  was  elected  comptroller  of  the  state  of  Ahw  York 
in  1893,  atid  was  re-elected  in  1893. 


SHE  R.MAX  S.  ROGERS 

of  a  capable  and  a  thoroughly  upright  ]iublic  official. 
Without  attempting  the  difficult  feat  of  forecasting 
the  political  future,  the  statement  may  .safely  be  made 
that  Mr.  Roberts'  career  in  the  world  of  jwlitics 
ha.s  not  yet  reached  its  zenith,  if  honesty  of  purpose, 
independence  of  character,  fearlessne.ss  of  judg- 
ment, and  broad-minded  .statesmanship  of  the  highest 
type  count  for  anything  with  the  people  of  the 
Empire  State. 

PER.SONAL  CHRONOLOGY— James  A. 
Roberts  was  born  at  Waterboro,  Me.,  March  8,  18^7  ; 
fitted  for  college  at  Auburn,  Me.,  and  graduated  from 
Bowdoin  in  1870 ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buf- 
falo in  187') ;  married  Minnie  Pineo  of  Calais,  Me. , 
in   1871,  and  Martha  Dresser  of  Auburn,    Me.,   in 


SbCrmaU  S.  IROlJCrS  has  served  the  law  and 
his  fellow  men  all  his  days.  He  began  the  endless 
study  of  legal  science  at  an  early  age, 
and  enjoyed  an  important  practice  before 
young  men  nowadays  have  received  their 
diplomas.  After  practicing  three  years 
in  his  native  town  of  Bath,  N.  Y.,  Mr. 
Rogers  sought  the  wider  opportunities 
promised  in  the  city  of  Buffalo.  This 
was  in  lx.04  when  Buffalo  contained 
fewer  than  50,000  people,  but  when  evi- 
dences of  its  later  greatness  were  clearly 
a])i)arent.  There  Mr.  Rogers  has  lived 
for  more  than  forty  years  —  a  shining 
light  in  his  profession,  an  ornament  to 
his  city,  and  a  distinguished  honor  to 
his  state  and  country. 

Of  Mr.  Rogers  as  a  practitioner  hardly 
any  words  of  praise  could  be  deemed  ex- 
travagant. The  Buffalo  bar  has  a  very 
splendid  history,  and  includes  among  its 
illustrious  members  two  presidents  and 
many  famous  jurists  ;  but  it  may  be  said 
without  fear  of  contradiction  that  Mr. 
Rogers'  success  as  a  lawyer  in  western 
New  York  has  rarely  or  never  been  sur- 
passed. Rogers,  Bowen  &  Rogers, 
Bowen,  Rogers  &  Locke,  and  Rogers, 
Locke  &  Milburn  have  been  names  to 
conjure  with  in  the  annals  of  the  Buffalo 
bar  ;  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has 
been  a  tower  of  strength  to  the.se  firms  as 
regards  weight  of  legal  counsel,  brilliancy 
of  pleading,  and  solidity  of  clientage. 
The  lawyer's  calling,  more  than  any 
other,  paves  the  way  for  political  preferment,  and 
abundant  evidence  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  career 
before  us.  Early  in  life  Mr.  Rogers  was  a  Democrat 
in  political  belief,  but  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War  he  liecame  a  Republican,  and  has  so  remained. 
At  various  times  Mr.  Rogers  has  been  strongly  sup- 
ported for  high  political  offices,  such  as  the  governor- 
ship and  the  United  States  senatorship,  and  these 
might  easily  have  come  to  him  under  conditions 
slightly  difterent.  Political  and  jiersonal  independ- 
ence, however,  and  absolute  integrity,  such  as  char- 
acterize Mr.  Rogers,  are  not  the  best  motive  power 
in  the  oi)eration  of  office-actuated  "machines." 
Whenever  the  ]JOp\ilar  voire  has  been  heard,  the 
tone  has  been  loud  and  unmistakable.      In  1x7"),  for 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


71 


example,  Mr.  Rogers  consented  to  run  as  state  sen- 
ator in  a  district  that  had  gone  heavily  Democratic 
two  years  before,  and  in  which  Republican  defeat 
seemed  inevitable  ;  but  he  was  elected  by  the  largest 
majorit)-  ever  given  to  a  senatorial  candidate  in 
the  district.  In  the  same  way,  when  he  ran  for 
lieutenant  governor,  he  received  more  votes  than 
any  other  candidate  on  the  ticket. 

Mr.  Rogers'  influence  in  national  politics  has 
been  felt  through  his  active  and  consistent  advocacy 
of  reform  in  the  civil  service.  For  many  years  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
National  Civil  Service  Reform  League,  rendering  great 
service  under  the  captaincy  of  his  intimate  personal 
friend,  the  late  George  William  Curtis.  Mr.  Rogers 
has  in  fact  for  years  been  deemed  in  Buffalo  the  typical 
anti-spoilsman,  having  been  president  of 
the  local  reform  organization,  as  well  as 
an  officer  in  the  National  League.  To 
no  other  citizen  does  Buffalo  owe  so  much 
for  its  place  in  the  front  rank  of  civ- 
ilized communities  as  regards  the  dis- 
tribution of  municipal  patronage. 

Mr.  Rogers  has  been  a  director  of  the 
Bell  Telephone  Company  of  Buffalo, 
director  and  vice  president  of  the  Bank 
of  Buffalo,  president  of  the  Fine  Arts 
Academy,  and  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  Calvary  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  has  been  prominently  identified  with 
almost  every  literary  and  benevolent  so- 
ciety in  Buffalo,  and  with  the  intelligent 
and  cultured  side  of  the  city  in  general. 

Mr.  Rogers  has  found  time  in  the  in- 
tervals of  his  busy  life  as  a  lawyer  and  a 
statesman  to  cultivate  the  arts.  He  is  a 
connoisseur  in  painting  and  music,  and 
his  literary  style  is  most  charming. 
L^nfortunately  for  his  admirers,  it  is  onl\ 
in  occasional  addres.ses  and  now  and  then 
in  a  magazine  article  that  he  has  dis- 
played his  gifts  in  pure  literature. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y  — 
Shermafi   S.   Rogers  was   born  at  Bath, 
N.    v.,   April  16,    1830;    prepared  for 
college,  but  entered  a  law  office  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  without  fiDiher  scholastic  training  : 
married  Christina  Cameron  Davenport  of 
Bath  January  6,  1858  ;   was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  commission  to  revise  the  con- 
stitution of  the  state  of  New  York  in  1872  ;  teas  elected 
state  senator  in  1875  ;    was  nominated  for  lieutenant 
governor  in    1876,   on   the  ticket  headed  by    E.    D. 
Morgan  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  185 J^. 


CbarleS  B.  TRUPP  was  thrown  on  his  own  re- 
sources early  in  Hfe,  and  began  his  business  career 
when  he  was  fifteen  years  old.  Ho«'  well  he  has 
succeeded  in  his  efforts  to  build  up  a  business  every 
resident  of  Buffalo  knows.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  closely  identified  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
city,  and  many  flourishing  enterprises  are  due  to  his 
sagacity,  energy,  and  faith.  As  a  young  man  he  was 
not  averse  to  turning  his  hand  to  any  honorable 
occupation  however  lowly.  During  the  war  and 
w-hile  attending  the  public  schools  he  sold  papers  on 
the  streets,  and  worked  at  various  small  jobs.  His 
first  permanent  employment,  however,  was  as  a 
"trotter  "  for  the  old  Buffalo  City  Bank,  which  was 
located  in  the  .4itna  building  on  Commercial  street. 
This  section  of  the  citv  was  then  the  business  center. 


CHARLES  A.  RL'PP 


for  the  chief  material  interests  of  the  town  were  in 
its  lake  and  canal  trade.  It  was  only  natural  for  Mr. 
Rupp  to  drift  into  employment  connected  with  this 
trade,  and  he  was  soon   hard  at  work  as  a  tallyman 


MEX   OF  .XF.IV    YORK'^IVESTFRX  SECT/OX 


and  clerk  for  forwarding  firms.  It  is  seldom  that  a 
yoimg  man  at  the  outset  of  life  finds  the  business  to 
which  he  is  best  suited,  and  Mr.  Rupp  was  not  so 
favored.  He  soon  aliandoned  the  forwarding  busi- 
ness, and  worked  as  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store  and 
later  in  a  variety  store;  and  it  was  not  until  18()8 
that  he  found  the  vocation  in  which  he  was  to  make 
his  mark. 

In  the  year  mentioned  he  was  employed  by  Henry 
Rumrili,  a  leading  contractor  and  builder,  to  keep 
his  books  and  to  act  as  confidential  clerk.  He  liked 
the  business,  and  soon  evinced  an  ambition  to 
ac(|uaint  himself  with  its  practical  details.  To 
accomplish  this  he  attended  night  schools  of  archi- 
tecture and  mechanical  drawing,  and  even  worked 
for  a  time  at  bricklaying.  His  enthusiasm,  ambition, 
and  determination  to  master  the  practical  knowledge 
necessary  to  become  a  contractor  found  encourage- 
ment from  his  employer,  and  in  1874  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  a  partnership.  This  lasted  for  fifteen  years, 
or  until  Mr.  Rumrili  sold  his  interest  to  his  son, 
Henry  Rumrili,  Jr.  The  firm  name  of  Rumrili  & 
Rupp  remained  unchanged  until  18!);?,  when  the 
partnership  was  dissolved.  Since  then  Mr.  Rupp 
has  conducted  his  business  alone  as  a  mason,  builder, 
and  contractor.  Many  extensive  contracts  have 
been  successfully  carried  out  by  Mr.  Ru])p  and  his 
partners,  and  their  work  has  found  a  place  in  a  large 
number  of  the  best  buildings  that  adorn  the  city  of 
Buffalo. 

Mr.  Rup|i  has  been  active  in  politiis,  and  liis 
advice  and  support  have  been  eagerly  sought  by  his 
party.  His  entrance  into  public  life  was  made  in 
1881,  when  he  was  elected  an  alderman  from  the 
11th  ward.  He  served  two  years.  For  the  next 
seven  years  he  held  no  public  office,  but  in  ISilO  he 
was  appointed  a  civil-.service  commissioner.  I'his 
position  carries  with  it  a  great  deal  of  hard  work 
and  no  corresponding  recompense  beyond  the  grati 
tude  of  all  believers  in  honest,  efficient  government, 
and  the  satisfaction  involved  in  the  faithfiil  discharge 
of  duty.  When  the  citizens  of  iiuffalo  rose  in  their 
might,  in  1X94,  and  vindicated  the  princi|)le  of  home 
rule,  Mr.  Rupp  was  ap])ointed  one  of  the  police  and 
excise  commissioners.  Their  first  duty  was  to 
cleanse  the  police  force  of  the  city  of  partisan 
politics,  and  Mr.  Rnpjj  had  an  important  ])art  in 
this  work.  In  the  fall  of  1^94  he  ran  for  the  office 
of  commissioner  of  ]jublic  works,  but  shared  in  the 
general  defeat  of  his  party  at  that  time. 

Mr.  Rupi)  has  been  active  in  various  other  direc- 
tions. He  is  a  Mason  and  a  Knight  Templar,  and 
is  active  in  a  number  of  business  a.ssociations.  He 
is  president  of  the   Builders'  Kxchange  A.ssociation, 


a  stock  company  that  owns  the  fine  building  occupied 
by  the  Builders'  Kxchange.  That  project  was  carried 
to  a  succe.ssful  completion  largely  through  the  efforts 
of  Mr.  Rupp.  He  has  been  vice  president  of  the 
National  Association  of  Builders  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  elected  president  thereof  at  the  con- 
vention held  in  Baltimore  in  October,  189"). 

Some  years  of  Mr.  Rupp's  life  were  devoted  in 
part  to  the  State  (luard.  He  enlisted  as  a  private 
before  the  war  closed,  and  held  various  positions, 
finally  becoming  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  6")th  regi- 
ment in  1878.  He  resigned  after  a  service  of 
thirteen  years. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOL OGY~Charks Albert 
Rupp  7c>i7.<  horn  at  Buffalo  April  1,  1850  :  attended 
the  district  schools :  married  Nellie  Pilot  of  Buffalo 
Septemher  11,  1S7J,  and  Anna  T.  Hcnafelt  of  Buf- 
falo October  J,  18S!> :  icas  elected  alderman  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  in  1881 ;  was  appointed  a  civil- 
scri'ice  commissioner  in  fune,  1890,  and  a  police  and 
excise  commissioner  A/arch  1,  1894 ;  entered  the 
service  of  Henry  Rumrili,  builder  and  contractor,  in 
18()8,  and  formed  a  partnership  7vith  him  in  1874  ■' 
has  been  in  business  alone,  as  builder  and  contractor, 
since  IH'J.',. 


StCpbCn  l>inCCnt  IRvan,  bishoj)  of  the  Cath- 
olic diocese  of  liulfalo,  is  revered  by  the  priests 
under  his  authority,  beloved  by  all  his  people,  and 
honored  by  all  cla.sses  in  the  city  of  which  he  has  for 
nearl)-  thirty  years  been  a  resident.  Strict  in  his  ex- 
action of  church  authority,  firm  in  his  control  of  the 
great  interests  in  his  charge,  he  has  yet  no  harshness 
in  his  character,  and  benevolence  and  kindness  are 
the  foundation  stones  of  his  rule.  His  influence  is 
naturall}  most  weighty  ;  and  his  voice  is  always 
heard  in  behalf  of  whatever  makes  for  the  highest 
moral  welfare  of  the  community. 

A  little  Canadian  town,  .\lmonte,  Ontario,  was 
the  birthplace  of  Stephen  Vincent  Ryan,  and  Janu- 
ary 1,  l.S^-"),  was  his  natal  day.  When  he  was  yet  a 
(  hild  his  |)arents  removed  to  Pottsville,  Penn.,  and 
there  yoimg  Ryan  spent  his  youth.  He  was  early 
attracted  to  the  priesthood,  and  when  his  parents 
consented  to  fall  in  with  his  bent,  he  was  .sent  to 
St.  Charles's  Seminary  at  Philadelphia  for  a  cla.ssical 
course.  This  was  in  1840.  While  there  he  made 
the  ac(|uaintance  of  the  fathers  of  the  Mi.ssion  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  enter 
their  community.  In  1S44  he  was  sent  to  their  col- 
lege at  Cape  (Jirardeau,  Mo.,  and  afterward  to  St. 
Mary's  of  the  Barrens,  Perry  county,  Mo.,  when  that 
institution  became  the  mother  house  of  the  Vincen- 
tians.      While  at  Philadcliihia  he  served  as  one  of  the 


.uji.y  OF  .y/-:ir  ioa'A' 


-  /( 7':.V  77^  AW"  S/:\  T/OX 


acolytes  in  the  cathedral  at  that  place,  and  thus  had 
the  honor  of  participating  in  the  consecration  of 
Bishop  Kenrick.  When  Mr.  Ryan  was  ordained  to 
the  priesthood  in  St.  Vincent's  Church,  St.  Louis, 
Archbishop  Kenrick  conducted  the  august  ceremony. 
Father  Ryan  at  once  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  pertaining  to  his  hoi)'  order, 
and  brought  to  them  rare  intelligence  and 
unflagging  industry.  He  was  untiring  in 
his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  order 
of  the  Mission,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
he  took  a  leading  part  in  the  grand  work 
carried  on  by  the  Lazarist  fathers.  In 
1857  he  was  appointed  Visitor,  or  head, 
of  the  order  in  the  United  States.  To 
him  was  due  the  successful  establishment 
at  (lermantown,  Penn.,  of  the  Vincentian 
Seminary,  which  is  now  the  headquarters 
of  the  Vincentian  army  of  devoted  mis- 
sionaries, the  mother  house  of  the  Eastern 
Province,  and  the  residence  of  the  \'isitor 
of  the  order  in  America.  On  several 
occasions  Father  Ryan  crossed  the  ocean 
to  consult  with  the  Superior  General  of  t+ie 
order  in  Paris  concerning  the  welfare  of 
the  Vincentian  congregation  in  America. 

Father   Ryan's  eminent  success  in  all 
matters  placed  in  his  care  had  attracted 
so    much    attention    that    when     Bi.shop 
'I'imon    of    the    Buflalo    dioce.se   died  in 
ISiiT  it  was  freely  prophesied  that  Father 
Ryan  would  be  his  successor.      His  ap- 
pointment came   from    the   Holy    See   a 
little  later,  and  he  was  duly  consecrated 
November  8,  1868.      His  administration 
of  the  constantly  growing  diocese  of  Buf- 
falo has  met  with  the  entire  approval  of 
his  superiors,   and,  as  has  been  said,  he 
has  endeared  himself  to  priests  and  people 
alike.      His  wonderful  popularity  was  shown  a  few 
years  since,  on  his  return  from  a  journey  to  Rome, 
when  he  received  a  welcome  home  such  as  is  extended 
to  but  few  men.      The  churches  in  this  great  diocese 
number  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty   and  the 
priests  more  than  two  himdred.      L'nder  his  zealous 
care    there    have    grown    up    three    seminaries,    five 
colleges,   twenty  academies,  over   seventy   parochial 
schools,  and  seventeen  charitable  institutions. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Stephen  Vin- 
cent Ryan  7vas  horn  January  1,  182-'),  at  Almonte. 
Ont.  :  7iias  taken  /y  his  parents  when  a  child  to 
Pottsi'i//e,  Penn. ,  wlicre  lie  i^reiv  up  ;  was  sent  to  St. 
Charles'  s  .'Seminary,  Philadelphia,  in  18^0,  to  l>egin  a 
course    of  study  to  fit   him    for    the  priesthood ;    icas 


ordained  at  St.  Louis  in  ISJff)  ;  toas  consecrated  bishop 
of  the  Catholic  diocese  of  Buffalo  November  8,  1868, 
and  has  lived  there  since. 


1l)CUrV?  1l5.  SCV?mOUr  illustrates  vividly,  on  his 

intellectual  side,  what  i^  known  as  the  "  legal  mind." 


."^TEPHRx  r/\i/-:.\r  at. /.\- 

.\  disposition  to  get  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  to 
push  aside  nonessentials  and  get  down  to  fundamen- 
tal causes,  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  his  mental 
proce.sses.  This  legal  cast  of  mind,  joined  to  a 
strong,  wholesome  faith  in  his  fellow-men,  is  per- 
haps the  distinguishing  trait  of  his  character.  While 
yet  a  student  in  Cornell  University,  he  was  attracted 
to  the  philosophic  study  of  history  ;  and  his  interest 
in  the  subject  has  continued  ever  since,  and  has  been 
stimulated  by  extensive  foreign  travel. 

Mr.  Seymour's  college  career  was  a  brilliant  one, 
and  on  his  graduation  from  Cornell  University  he 
recei\ed  one  of  the  (loldwin  Smith  prizes,  then 
deemed  the  highest  rewards  in  the  gift  of  the  univer- 
sitv.      -After  a  season  of  studv  and  travel  abroad,  he 


ME.\    OF  XEIV    YORK—irKSTER.X  SEC'/VOX 


returned  to  Mount  Morris  and  began  the  reading  of 
law.  He  studied  law  in  the  offices  of  his  uncles, 
McNeil  Seymour  and  George  Hastings  —  two  of  the 
most  widely  known  lawyers  in  the  Genesee  valley  — 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1874.  He  then 
went  abroad  again,  and  spent  over  a  year  in   further 


//E.XRY  //.  sr.Y.xroi'K 

study  and  sight-seeing.  In  1.S7()  he  returned  to  this 
country,  and  opened  a  law  oftite  in  Buffalo,  where 
he  has  since  practiced. 

It  has  ever  been  Mr.  Seymour's  desire  to  elevate 
the  standard  of  legal  education.  He  has  filled  the 
position  of  lecturer  on  the  law  of  agency  and  partner- 
ship in  the  Buffalo  Law  School  ever  since  the  forma- 
tion of  that  institution,  and  in  that  capacity  has 
sought  to  impress  upon  the  students  the  importance 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  law.  Statutes 
may  change  with  every  session  of  the  legislature,  but 
the  great  legal  princijjles  do  not  vary,  and  every 
statute  must  ultimately  rest  upon  them.  He  urges 
his  students  to   think   for  themselves,  and  to  attach 


more  importance  to  indejjendent  and  well-considered 
rea.soning  than  to  mere  te.xt-book  knowledge. 

Mr.  Seymour  has  never  held,  and  has  not  cared  to 
hold,  any  public  electi\e  office.  He  has  been  a 
consistent  independent  Democrat  in  political  opinion, 
and  has  filled  numerous  public  trusts  in  a  creditable 
manner.  He  has  l)een  for  many  years 
one  of  the  bar  examiners  for  the  judicial 
department  in  which  he  lives,  and  since 
1N,S9  he  has  been  commissioner  of  jurors 
for  the  northern  district  of  New  York  in 
the  Ignited  States  District  Court.  For 
the  latter  office  he  was  selected  by  Judge 
C'oxe,  who  made  the  appointment  in 
recognition  of  Mr.  Seymour's  strong  faith 
in  the  jury  system  and  strong  desire  to 
see  it  maintained  and  strengthened  rather 
than  abolished.  In  1S95  Mr.  Seymour 
was  appointed  deputy  commissioner  of 
jurors  for  Erie  county,  under  a  reform- 
jury  act  passed  in  that  year.  He  has  been 
a  bulwark  of  strength  to  the  jury  system 
against  the  attacks  that  have  lately  been 
made  upon  it  in  \arious  quarters.  Ad- 
mitting that  the  system  has  faults,  he 
I  contends  that  these  may  be  remedied  by 

m  wise  legislation,  and  that  the  institution 

1m         as  a  whole  has  rightly  been  regarded  as 
one  of  the  pillars  of  constitutional  liberty. 
Mr.  Seymour's  extensive  travels  in  the 
old  world  have  given  him  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  broaden  his  general  culture,  and 
to   roimd   out  his  legal  knowledge  by  a 
study  of  comparative  constitutions.      On 
one  of  his  visits  to  England  he  enjoyed, 
through  the  courtesy  of  Lord  Chief  Justice 
Coleridge,  the  somewhat  unicpie  privilege 
of  sitting  beside  that  official  all  one  day 
while  he  held  his  court  in  the  Law  Courts 
ill  the  .Strand.     Such  an  honor,  and  many 
other  opportunities  to  note  the  workings  of  the  law 
in  the  mother  country,  were  naturally  highly  prized 
by  the  young  American  lawyer. 

Mr.  Seymour  is  a  prominent  member  of  Buffalo 
clubs.  He  is  chairman  of  the  house  committee  of 
the  University  Club  and  of  the  library  committee  of 
the  Buffalo  ciub. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Henry  Halt- 
Seymour  7i<as  born  at  Aloiini  Morris,  N.  Y.,  October 
27,  18 Jf!) ;  prepared  for  college  at  Moimt  Morris 
Academy  ;  after  one  year  in  Dartmouth  College  entered 
Cornell  University,  from  it'hicli  lie  graduated  in  181 1 
with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  :  studied  hna  at 
Mount  iMorris,  and  rcas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  18"iJi.  ; 


MEX   OF  XEir    VORK—lVESTKR.y  SECTION 


lO 


served  as  Judge  advocate  of  the  Ifth  division  N.  G. , 
S.  N'.  Y.,  1880-85  ;  was  appointed  commissioner  of 
jurors  for  the  northern  district  of  Nc7v  York  state  in  tlie 
United  States  District  Court  in  188f>,  and  deputy  com- 
missioner of  jurors  for  Erie  county  in  180')  ;  has 
practiced  laui  in  Buffalo  since  187 4- 


XT.  (BuilfOr?  Smitb  finely  typifies,  in  his 
career  and  in  his  character,  the  material  prosperity 
of  our  country  and  the  conquest  of  man  over  nature 
by  which  that  prosperity  has  been  attained  and 
promoted.  The  intelligent  and  persistent  develop- 
ment of  our  natural  resources  b)'  men  especially 
ada|)ted  for  the  work  by  reason  of  native  ability  and 
technical  training,  has  characterized  our  industrial 
history  as  a  whole,  and  especially  the  chapters 
relating  to  coal,  iron,  and  steel.  Few  men  have 
had  a  larger  and  more  important  pntt  in 
this  work  than  T.  Guilford  Smith. 

A  thorough  scholastic  training,  both 
general  and  technical,  paved  the  way  for 
Mr.  Smith's  life-work.  His  father  took 
great  pains  with  his  education,  obtaining 
special  instruction  for  him  in  F'rench, 
Crerman,  and  the  sciences,  in  addition  to 
the  regular  courses  in  the  public  and 
private  schools  of  Philadelphia.  When 
he  graduated  from  the  Central  High 
School  there  in  1858,  he  was  the  saluta- 
torian  of  his  class,  and  five  years  later 
the  same  institution  gave  him  the  degree 
of  Master  of  .\rts.  To  the  general  edu- 
cation obtained  in  Philadelphia,  he  added 
the  special  training  of  a  civil  engineer, 
which  he  obtained  at  the  Rensselaer 
Polytechnic  Institute  at  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Smith  began  his  business  life  in 
the  engineering  department  of  the  Phil- 
adelphia &  Reading  railroad,  and  finally 
became  resident  engineer  of  the  company 
in  the  Mahanoy  district  of  the  anthracite 
coal  fields.  He  resigned  from  the  road 
in  1865,  and  spent  the  ne.xt  four  years  as 
general  manager  of  the  Philadelphia 
Sugar  Refinery.  He  was  then  connected, 
as  consulting  engineer,  with  railroad  and 
mineral  projects  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  ;  and  in  1872  he  visited  F^urope 
in  connection  with  railroad  enterprises. 
His  appointment  as  secretary  of  the 
Union  Iron  Company  of  BulTalo  brought  him  to 
that  city  in  1873.      He  has  lived  there  since. 

After  five  years  in  the  service  of  the  Union   Iron 
Company,  Mr.    Smith   became  western  sales-agent  of 


the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company, 
and  afterward  organized  the  firm  of  Albright  & 
Smith,  sales-agents  for  New  York  and  Canada  for 
the  same  company.  This  arrangement  with  the 
Reading  Company  continued  until  1892,  when  the 
company  bought  out  .Mbright  &  Smith,  and  Mr. 
Smith's  long  connection  with  the  anthracite  coal 
trade  ceased.  F"or  more  than  thirty  years  he  had 
been  more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  the 
mining,  transportation,  and  sale  of  anthracite  coal 
in  the  interest  of  the  Reading  Company.  In  1889 
Mr.  Smith  became  sales-agent  for  Carnegie,  Phipps 
&  Co.,  since  merged  into  the  Carnegie  Steel  Com- 
pany, Limited;  and  he  is  still  connected  with  that 
company.  He  is  also  vice  president  of  the  New 
York  Car  Wheel  Works,  of  the  St.  Thomas  ( Ont. ) 
Car    Wheel    Works,   of   the    Canada    Iron    Furnace 


/.    (,/  //  l-nk  h    .s.M!  Ill 

Company   (  Radnor,    Que.  ),  and   of  other   industrial 
enterprises. 

Mr.    Smith's    life-work    has    thus   been   identified 
with  inin,  steel,  and  coal  :   anil  his  experience  ol  the 


7(i 


MEN  OF  XEW    YORK  ^WESTER. \  SEC'EIOX 


needs  of  these  great  industrial  factors  has  led  him  to 
devote  much  of  his  energy  to  the  cause  of  protection 
to  American  industry.  He  has  never  lost  faith  in 
this  cause,  and  deems  the  necessity  for  a  protective 
policy  as  strong  to-day  as  it  was  years  ago. 

Most  men  of  force  and  character  have  an  avoca- 
tion which  affords  an  outlet  for  their  overflowing  en- 
ergy :  and  Mr.  Smith  is  a  ca.se  in  point.  While 
the.se  important  extractive  industries  have  been  the 
chief  concern  of  his  business  life,  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation has  received  his  he.st  attention,  and  may 
fairlv  be  regarded  as  his  avocation.  He  has  found 
no  incongruity,  as  engineer  and  man  of  affairs, 
in  cultivating  the  love  of  letters  that  began  in 
his  early  life.  His  interest  in  educational  mat- 
ters culminated  in  his  election  by  the  state  legisla- 
ture in  1890  as  a  regent  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  This  is  a  life  position,  and  he  will 
thus  have  the  opportunity,  as  long  as  he  lives,  of 
assisting  in  the  development  of  education  in  this 
state.  In  ISitl  Mr.  Smith  was  made  chairman  of 
the  Museum  committee,  which  has  charge  of  the 
geological  and  other  surveys  of  the  state  and  of  the 
state  Museum.  This  position  brings  him  into  close 
touch  with  all  matters  affecting  the  mineral  resources 
of  the  state  and  the  exhibition  and  study  of  tho.se 
resources  at  the  Museum. 

Ever  since  his  graduation  from  the  Rensselaer 
Polytechnic  Institute  Mr.  Smith  has  had  member- 
ship in  various  engineering  societies,  and  has  always 
taken  a  lively  and  an  intelligent  interest  in  them. 
In  1894  he  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the 
Orient,  and  acted  as  a  delegate  from  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Civil  Engineers  to  the  International 
Congress  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  in  Rome.  Mr. 
Smith  belongs  to  many  literary  and  scientific  socie- 
ties, including  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia,  the  Union  League  of  Philadelphia,  the 
I'ranklin  Institute,  the  American  In.stitute  of  Mining 
I'",ngineers,  and  the  Historical  .Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  is  president  of  the  Charity  Organization 
Society  of  Buffalo,  vice  president  of  the  Buffalo  Eine 
.Arts  .Academy,  and  |)resident  of  the  Buffalo  Library. 
In  1894  he  was  made  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Phi  Beta  Kai>pa,  by  Hobart  Chapter. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Thomas  Guil- 
ford Smith  was  bom  at  Philadelphia  August  27,  18SH  ; 
graduated  from  the  Central  High  School  of  Philadel 
phia  with  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  18n8,  and  from 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  in  1801;  married 
Mary  Steiuart  Ives  of  Lansinglmrgh,  N.  Y.,July  /.J, 
186^ ;  was  jcith  the  Philadelphia  e^  Reading  rail- 
road as  ciT'il  engineer,  18(i  1 -!!■'>  ;  was  general  mana- 
ger  of  the  Philadelphia   Sugar  Refinery,    1806-00  ; 


was  secretary  of  the  Union  Iron  Co.  of  Buffalo,  1873— 
78 ;  was  sales-agent  of  the  Philadelphia  cr  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Co. ,  1878—92  ;  has  been  sales-agent  of 
the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.,  L't'd,  since  1889;  has  been 
regent  of  the  Unii'ersity  of  the  State  of  New  York  since 
IS'K). 


IE.  (3.  SpaUl&ilU1  —  lawyer,  financier,  states- 
man—  is  Buffalo's  "  Crand  Old  Man."  Horn  in 
the  same  year  with  Cladstone,  he  bears  the  burden  of 
fourscore  and  seven  with  faculties  unimpaired. 
What  a  long,  eventful,  and  useful  career  has  been  his, 
honorable  alike  to  himself,  to  his  state,  and  to  the 
nation  !  Jefferson  was  President,  the  second  war 
with  England  was  still  to  be  fought.  Napoleon's  sun 
was  at  its  zenith,  .seventeen  states,  with  less  than 
seven  millions  of  jjeojile,  comprised  the  American 
Union,  Buffalo  was  a  mere  village  —  when  .Mr. 
Sjjaulding  first  saw  the  light. 

-Apart  from  a  common-school  education,  .\lr. 
Spaulding  may  justly  be  called  a  self-made  man. 
His  early  days  were  spent  on  his  father's  farm  in 
central  New  York  ;  but  he  was  ambitious  to  become 
a  lawyer,  and  on  attaining  his  majority  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  Batavia,  N.  Y.  .Admission  to  the 
bar  was  not  so  easy  and  direct  in  tho.se  days  as  now. 
Eirst  the  applicant  was  admitted  to  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  :  later  he  was  eligible  to  the  office  of 
attorney  of  the  Supreme  Court  ;  and  finally  he 
might  become  coun.selor  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
of  the  Court  of  Chancery.  .After  being  admitted  to 
practice  before  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Mr. 
Spaulding  came  to  Buffalo,  in  18.j4,  an  entire  stran- 
ger and  without  so  much  as  a  letter  of  introduction. 
Such  a  beginning,  however,  befits  a  man  who  relies 
on  his  own  talents  and  industry.  He  soon  obtained 
a  position  as  law  clerk  in  the  office  of  a  leading  firm, 
and  in  due  time  became  an  attorney  and  counselor 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  opened  an  office  for  him- 
.self.  His  success  was  raj^id  and  on  a  large  scale. 
After  fourteen  years  at  the  bar  he  retired  from  the 
legal  profession  to  begin  a  business  career.  Mr. 
Spaulding  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  remo\al 
from  .Attica  to  Buffalo  of  two  banks  that  have  be- 
come widely  known  as  reliable  money  institutions  — 
the  Commercial  Bank  and  the  Farmers'  and  Mechan- 
ics' Bank.  Of  the  latter  institution  he  w-as  made 
l)resident.  This  banking  experience  was  destined  to 
])rove  invaluable  in  another  field  of  usefulness,  to 
which  he  was  called  in  the  same  decade  b)'  the  suf- 
frage of  his  fellow-citizens  at  a  time  of  national  ])eril. 

.Along  with  his  private  cares  and  manifold  labors, 
Mr.  Spaukling  has  fre(|uently  accepted  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  public  office.      He  has  been 


.i//r.v  OF  .\7-:ir  jvavv  — n7-;.v77i7v'.\'  skctkkx 


city  clerk,  alderman,  and  mayor  of  Buffalo,  meml)er 
of  the  legislature,  state  treasurer,  and  representative 
in  congress.  As  mayor,  nearly  half  a  century  ago, 
he  adopted  a  system  of  sewerage  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  city  ;  in  the  legislature,  and  as 
treasurer,  he  was  a  potent  factor  in  the  development 
of  the  Erie  canal  ;  in  the  31st  congress 
of  the  United  States  he  stood  among  the 
stoutest  opponents  of  slavery,  and  favored 
the  admission  of  California  as  a  free 
state  ;  in  the  36th  and  37th  congresses, 
extending  from  1859  to  1863,  he  was 
again  a  member  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  served  on  the  most  im- 
portant committee  of  that  l>ody  —  the 
committee  on  ways  and  means.  The 
nation  was  in  the  mid.st  of  the  great 
Civil  War;  its  resources  were  taxed  to 
the  utmost  :  there  seemed  no  way  for  the 
government  to  maintain  its  credit  and 
meet  its  obligations.  The  wisest  states- 
men pondered  the  perplexing  problem  in 
vain  till  Mr.  Spaulding  conceived  of  the 
"greenback"  as  the  nation's  salvation, 
made  necessary  and  constitutional  b\' 
stress  of  war.  Mr.  Spaulding  introduced 
the  bill  for  the  adoption  of  the  greenback 
as  legal  tender,  and  the  national  currency 
banking  bill,  both  of  which  became  laws  ; 
and  their  author  has  since  been  known  as 
the  "  Father  of  the  CJreenback."  in 
later  years,  Mr.  Spaulding  gave  to  the 
world  a  full  account  of  this  important 
legislation  in  a  "History  of  the  Legal 
Tender  Paper  Money  issued  during  the 
(ireat  Rebellion."  In  so  high  estimation 
was  he  held  as  a  financier,  that  upon  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Chase  President  Lin- 
coln, it  is  said,  would  have  appointed 
Mr.  Spaulding  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
if  New  York  had  not  been  already  represented  in 
the  cabinet  by  Mr.  Seward. 

Since  his  retirement  from  public  life,  Mr.  Spaulding 
has  devoted  his  business  time  to  a  bank  jjresidency, 
the  presidency  of  the  Buffalo  (las  Company,  and  to 
various  enterprises  of  a  financial  character.  He  has 
sought  at  the  same  time  to  vary  the  routine  of  busi- 
ness by  filling  in  his  leisure  with  diversions  suited 
to  his  age,  chief  among  which  have  been  the  build- 
ing and  improvement  of  his  beautiful  summer  home 
at  River  Lawn  on  Grand  Island.  At  the  Centennial 
Celebration  in  Philadelphia,  he  delivered  the  address 
to  the  bankers'  association  on  "One  Hundred 
Years  of  Progress  in  the  Business  of  Banking."      In 


social  life  he  has  long  been  a  conspicuous  figure.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club,  and  though  less  active 
before  the  ])ul)lic  than  in  years  gone  l)y,  be  retains  an 
adequate  interest  in  the  current  of  passing  events. 

PERSONAL    CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Elhridge 
Gerry  Sf'aiiMins;  rcns  horn  at  Summer  Hill,  N.    Y. . 


E.   G.  SPAULDIXC, 

February  2^,  1809 ;  received  a  eommon-sehool  educa- 
tion :  loas  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Batavia,  N.  Y. ,  in 
IS-i-'i  :  mas  city  clerk  of  Buffalo  in  18S6,  alderman  in 
IfUl,  and  mayor  in  1847  ;  married  Antonette  Rich  of 
Attica,  N'.  Y. ,  in  18S7  ;  was  member  of  the  state  leg- 
islature in  18Jf8  :  ivas  representative  in  the  31st,  36th, 
and  S7th  congresses  {ISIfO-T^l  and  1859-63);  was 
treasurer  of  New  York  state,  18i)Jf-r>'j  ;  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank  since  1850. 

SCtb  S.  SpCUCCV  may  be  said  to  resemble 
one  of  those  wheels  in  a  great,  comjjlicated  machine, 
which,  though  inconspicuous  to  the  beholder,  are 
none   the   less  essential    to    thi.'   smooth  and    perfect 


(» 


MEX   OF  .XEIV    YORK  —WESTERX  SECT/O.V 


working  of  the  mechanism.  As  a  rule,  in  every  large 
city,  the  men  who  are  the  real  factors  in  many  mer- 
cantile and  commercial  establishments,  banks,  and 
factories  are  not  the  men  best  known  in  the  com- 
munity, popularly  speaking.  Mr.  S])encer  belongs 
to  this  class  of  quiet,  una.ssuming  men,  whose  ability 


s/^Tjy  s.  s/'/-:.\'(  /-.k 

and  character  arc  lull)  reali/ed  and  appreciated  only 
by  those  who  have  social  or  business  relations  with 
them.  For  many  years  he  has  successfully  managed 
one  of  the  largest  manufacturing  liakeries  in  the 
L'nited  States,  so  that  to-day  the  name  of  the  founder 
of  the  business  has  become  a  household  word  in  west- 
ern New  York.  Since  Mr.  Spencer  has  been  at  the 
head  of  this  business  the  output  from  the  factory  has 
more  than  doubled  in  volume  —  a  most  creditable 
showing  in  the.se  days  of  keen  and  active  competition. 
Mr.  Spencer  is  a  native  of  New  York  state,  having 
been  born  in  Genesee  county  less  than  sixty  years 
ago.  His  educational  ojiportunities  were  such  as  a 
country  school  afforded,  supplemented  by  a  course  in 


the  Rural  Seminary,  at  East  Pembroke,  N.  Y.  Al- 
though ambitious  to  do  so,  he  was  without  the  means 
to  enter  college  and  prepare  himself  by  advanced  in- 
struction for  the  legal  profession,  which  he  hoped  to 
make  his  vocation.  Taking  advantage  of  spare  hours 
in  his  regular  occupation,  he  read  law  in  the  offices 
of  P'.  J.  Fithian  and  William  Dorsheimer, 
both  noted  lawyers  in  their  day,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1865. 

Stress  of  circumstances,  however,  pre- 
vented him  from  practicing  law.  As  early 
as  1857  he  had  turned  his  attention  to 
telegraphy,  and  on  mastering  this  craft 
he  secured  a  position  as  local  agent  and 
telegraph  operator  at  the  railroad  station 
in  Lancaster,  N.  Y.  His  duties  in  this 
connection  brought  him  into  contact  with 
the  railway  mail  service,  then  in  its 
infancy,  but  destined  to  be  rapidly  de- 
veloped and  widely  extended  in  the 
course  of  the  following  decade.  In  1861 
Mr.  Spencer  obtained  an  appointment  as 
a  railway  mail  clerk,  and  for  two  vears 
he  "ran"  between  Elmira  and  Buffalo. 
Promotion  then  brought  him  the  route 
from  Buffalo  to  New  York  city,  one  of 
the  most  imjjortant  in  the  service,  which 
he  retained  for  ten  years,  or  until  his 
resignation  in  l87o.  \Vhatever  may  lie 
.said  of  some  positions  under  the  govern- 
ment, that  of  the  railway  mail  clerk  is  by 
no  means  a  sinecure.  The  work  is  ex- 
hausting in  an  extreme  degree,  and  is 
often  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  poor 
facilities  provided  by  railroads.  Only  a 
man  of  vigorous  constitution,  ijuick  eye, 
and  alert  mind  is  fitted  for  the  position  ; 
and  the  fact  that  Mr.  .Spencer  endured 
the  labor  and  strain  for  twelve  years 
is  proof  of  his  sound  constitution  and 
capacity  for  hard  work.  Alter  retiring  from  the 
railway  mail  servii  e,  he  became  a.ssociated  in  busi- 
ness with  Robert  Ovens,  manufacturing  baker,  to 
whose  daughter  he  had  been  married  in  1X70,  and 
who  wa.s  at  that  time  engaged  in  building  up  in  Buf- 
falo the  industry  that  now  bears  his  name.  In  l<s,s;) 
Mr.  Spencer  a.ssumed  the  entire  management  of  the 
business,  which  he  has  since  conducted  on  an  in- 
creasingly large  scale  and  with  corresponiling  suc- 
cess, displaying  an  energy  and  method  that  have 
marked  him  as  one  of  Buffalo's  most  enterjjrising  and 
Airsighted  men  of  affairs.  Free  from  ostentation,  and 
devoted  to  the  responsiliilities  he  undertakes,  Mr. 
Spencer  enjoys  the   respect   and    confidence  of   the 


A/E.y   OF  jVEIV    yORk-—]]-ESrER.X  SECT/OX 


7 'J 


business  world,  and  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  his 
neighbors  and  fellow-citizens.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, but  he  has  generally  exercised  his  preroga- 
tive to  vote  for  the  best  man  irrespective  of  party  lines, 
when  no  great  principles  were  at  stake.  Mr.  Spencer 
attends  the  Lafayette  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
is  one  of  the  trustees  thereof ;  he  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  of  the  Buffalo  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Seth  S.  Spen- 
cer was  born  in  the  town  of  Batavia,  N.  Y. ,  August 
25,  1838 ;  was  educated  in  country  schools  and  at 
Rural  Seminary,  East  Pembroke,  N.  Y. ;  was  a  rail- 
way mail  clerk,  1861-73  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1865,  but  never  practiced  law ;  married  Mrs.  Agnes 
J.  Derrick  of  Buffalo  December  22,  1870  ;  has  been 
manager  of  the  R.  Ovens  Branch  U.  S.  Baking  Co. , 
Buffalo,  since  1883. 


/IDatbias  Strauss  shows  by  his 

career  what  a  man  starting  without  means 
or  influence  can  achieve  through  hard 
work,  brains,  and  honest  dealing.  Born 
nearly  sixty  years  ago  in  Remich,  grand 
duchy  of  Luxemburg,  Germany,  he  se- 
cured a  limited  education  ;  and  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  allured  by  glowing  re]iorts 
from  America,  persuaded  his  parents  to 
leave  their  fatherland  and  .seek  a  new 
home  and  fortune  across  the  sea.  No 
writer  can  adequately  describe  the  pathos, 
the  hope  and  fear,  the  complete  change 
that  accompanies  the  sundering  of  old 
friendships,  the  parting  with  familiar 
places  and  objects,  and  the  launc:hing 
out  into  an  untried  world  of  a  family 
from  one  of  the  old  countries.  It  is  an 
experience  never  to  be  forgotten.  Mr. 
Strauss  recalls  it  the  more  vividly  because 
the  "  promised  land  "  so  eagerly  sought 
proved  a  keen  disappointment  in  many 
respects.  Wages  were  low  and  work  was 
scarce  ;  and  the  prospect  of  a  strange 
land,  a  stranger  tongue,  no  friends,  and 
no  business  was  exceedingly  disheartening 
to  the  newcomers. 

Young  Strauss  realized  that  his  parents, 
with  a  large    family,   had   come  to  this 
country  chiefly  on  his  account,  and  he 
resolved  to  take  upon  his  shoulders  all 
the  burden  they  could  bear.      For  over  a 
hundred  years   in  the   old   country,   his   father  and 
grandfather  had  carried  on  in  their   native  town    the 
business  of  wool  and  sheep-leather  manufacturing.    So 
naturally  he  applied  for  work  with   his  father  in   the 


same  business  here,  and  both  obtained  employment  in 
the  sheepskin  tannery  of  Breithaupt  &  Schoellkopf  of 
Buffalo  —  the  father  at  7')  cents,  and  Mathias  at  37  Ji; 
cents  a  day.  Bitterly  regretting  that  he  had  left  his 
native  country,  the  young  man  determined  neverthe- 
less to  make  the  most  of  his  opportunities  and  to  do 
his  full  duty  to  his  jiarents,  whom  his  youthful  en- 
thusia.sm  had  brought  to  the  United  States.  He  was 
glad  of  the  chance  to  work  and  to  learn  a  trade  ;  and 
so  diligently  and  intelligently  did  he  apply  himself 
to  his  duties  that  in  five  years  he  was  promoted  to  be 
foreman  of  the  department  for  dyeing  and  finishing 
fancy-colored  sheep  leather,  and  was  regarded  as  the 
best  man  in  that  line  in  Buffalo. 

To  every  industrious  and  faithful  young  man  an  op- 
portunity such  as  he  wishes  finally  comes.   When  Mr. 


M.4THI.l.'i  STA'AUSS 


Strauss  was  twenty-four  years  old,  the  firm  for  which 
he  worked  was  dissolved,  and  the  tannery  be- 
came vacant.  On  a  capital  of  two  hundred  dollars, 
which  he  had  slowly  accumulated,  he  rented   the  old 


80 


AfKX  OF  .\/:ir  )()RK—H-j:sj/:h'.\  sF.cnoA 


establishment,  and  started  in  business  for  himself. 
He  there  laid  the  foundation  for  the  immense  business 
which  came  to  him  with  the  passing  years,  and  which 
to-day  recjuires  a  large  force  of  men  and  huge  build- 
ings for  its  adequate  operation.  .Mr.  Strauss  at- 
tributes much  of  his  success,  especially  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  to  the  influence  of  his  wife,  who 
was  .Miss  P^lizabeth  Brosart,  daughter  of  fharles  Hro- 
sart.  .\s  an  illustration  of  Mr.  Strauss's  continued 
activity,  pluck,  and  energy,  the  fact  may  be  cited 
that  when  his  establishment  was  burned  to  the  ground 
in  the  spring  of  185).^,  he  set  to  work  at  once  to  re- 
build, kept  all  his  workmen  employed  at  full  wages, 
and  in  six  months  had  the  great  ]jlant  again  under 
roof  and  in  complete  operation.  Two  of  Mr. 
Strauss's  .sons  are  employed  in  the  business  :  John 
.\.  is  head  bookkeeper,  and  Charles  is  foreman  and 
buyer. 

Not  only  has  Mr.  Strauss  impressed  himself  ujjon 
the  community  as  a  manufacturer  and  employer,  but 
he  has  also  served  the  jjcople  of  Buffalo  in  a  political 
capacity,  as  an  active,  progressive  citizen.  He  has 
twice  been  elected  a  councilman,  and  in  performing 
the  duties  of  that  office  he  has  been  faithful  to  his 
own  ideals,  and  has  done  at  all  times  what  he  bi'- 
lieved  would  meet  the  approval  of  the  people  and  the 
taxpayers  of  the  city,  in  common  with  whom  he  has 
large  and  varied  property  interests  aflected  by  jiublic 
action.      In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Democrat. 

Mr.  Strauss  has  been  active  in  church,  social,  and 
philanthropic  work  for  many  years.  A  member  of 
St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  one  of  the 
founders  of  a  church,  an  orphan  asylum,  and  a  work- 
ing boys'  home,  he  has  shown  his  devotion  to  re- 
ligious and  charitable  institutions  and  their  wants. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Old  (Jerman  Society  of  Buf- 
falo, and  an  honorary  member  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John,  thus  maintaining  in  addition  to  business  rela- 
tions a  l)road  parlicijjalion  in  the  moral  and  social 
life  of  the  community,  and  proving  himself  in  every 
way  a  worthy  citizen  of  the  country  of  his  adoption. 

PERSONA L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Mathias 
Strauss  was  bom  at  Remich.  Germany,  April  I'l. 
IS-id  ;  married  Elizabeth  Brosart  of  Buffalo  Novem- 
ber lo,  18'>0 ;  was  elected  councilman  of  the  city  of 
Buffalo  for  the  year  1892,  and  a^aiii  for  the  years 
1893-.95  ;  went  to  Buffalo  in  18')<),  and  has  been  en- 
gaged there  since  in  the  manufacliire  of  leather  and 
wool. 


CbaclCS  B.  Sweet  has  long  been  one  of  the 
recognized,  (|uiet-working  forces  in  the  commercial, 
.social,  and  i)olitical  life  of  Buffalo.  A  man  may  be  no 
less  a  factor  in  a  community  because  he  is  naturally 


unobtru.sive,  devoted  to  business  affairs,  and  opposed 
to  notoriety  of  every  sort.  Mr.  Sweet  is  a  type 
of  a  class  of  men  hajjpily  to  be  found  in  all  our 
large  cities,  who  constitute  the  strong,  con.servative 
element,  whose  influence  and  supjjort  are  always 
sought  whenever  any  great  enterprise  or  important 
measure  is  under  consideration  or  is  being  projectetl. 

.\mong  the  things  that  determine  success  in  life 
are  i>arentage,  |)lace  of  birth,  education,  and  o])i)or- 
tunity,  for  none  of  which  are  we  primarily  responsi- 
ble. What  we  make  of  the  "raw  material"  of  life, 
as  it  may  be  called,  is  really  the  sum  total  that  the 
individual  can  claim  as  his  own.  .Apijlying  this 
standard  impartially,  it  is  possible  to  estimate  the 
credit  due  to  any  given  person.  Mr.  Sweet  was 
fortunate  in  being  born  of  old  New  England  stock, 
amid  the  picturesiiue  scenery  of  Berkshire  county, 
Ma.ss.  What  education  he  was  able  to  secure  was 
limited  to  the  three  "  R's,"  and  had  to  be  obtained 
in  the  winter  months  when  there  was  no  work  on 
the  tarm.  But  the  training  of  the  home  supplied  a 
discipline  and  a  standard  of  living  that  schools,  and 
colleges  even,  do  not  undertake  to  furnish.  His  life 
was  that  of  the  farmer's  .son — an  apprenticeship 
that  has  proved  of  invaluable  benefit  in  fitting  young 
men  for  the  practical  work  of  the  world. 

In  1<S()2,  when  twenty-si.K  years  of  age,  Mr.  Sweet 
made  Buffalo  his  home,  and  engaged  in  the  transpor- 
tation business  on  Central  wharf.  Here,  undoubt- 
edly, he  gained  many  of  those  traits  of  accu- 
rate dealing,  and  that  .sound  business  judgment, 
which  have  characterized  his  career  in  the  more  dif- 
Hcult  and  responsible  field  upon  which  he  entered  in 
ISSl,  when  he  became  president  of  the  I  bird 
National  Bank  of  Buffalo  —  a  position   he  continues 

to  OCCU]^'. 

A  busy  life  has  left  him  little  leisure  for  many 
diversions  so  agreeable  to  tho.se  who  have  time  for 
them.  Mr.  Sweet  has,  however,  realized  that  he 
had  duties  as  a  citizen  as  well  as  a  business  man,  and 
every  ])ublic  movement  commending  itself  to  his 
judgment  has  received  his  active  support.  A  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  he  has  influenced  his  party  in  the 
right  direction  on  all  occasions  ;  and  his  personal 
interest  in  local  affairs,  together  with  his  readine.ss  to 
contribute  of  his  time  and  means  to  his  ]jarty's  suc- 
cess, has  given  him  a  power  in  the  commmiity  that  he 
has  always  employed  for  its  good.  Though  frec|uently 
urged  by  his  friends  to  be  a  candidate  for  various 
offices,  he  has  uniformly  declined,  and  has  never 
a(ce])ted  a  distinctly  political  office. 

One  public  office,  however,  he  ditl  consent  to  fill 
in  18!(2,  when  he  was  a|)|iointed  by  the  governor  of 
New  York  one  of  the  nonparti.san  boaril  of  (ieneral 


MEX   OF  XEW    VORK—WESTERX  SECT/OX 


81 


Managers  ha\ing  charge  of  the  manifold  representa- 
tion of  the  Empire  State  at  the  World's  Fair  in 
Chicago  in  l)S9o.  The  complete  and  successful 
exhibit  of  New  York  at  that  superb  exposition  is  a 
matter  of  historv,  and  the  volume  and  variety  of  the 
work  jjerformed  b)'  the  (ieneral  Managers  is  best 
illustrated  by  their  comprehensive  report 
to  the  state  legislature,  comprising  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  labors  of  the  board. 

Mr.  Sweet  was  president  of  the  Buf- 
falo Board  of  Trade  when  that  institution 
was  still  on  Central  wharf.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Young  Men's  Association 
before  it  was  changed  to  the  "Buffalo 
Library."  He  served  many  years  as  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  City  and  County 
Hall,  having  been  appointed  to  that  posi- 
tion by  the  Superior  Court.  He  served 
many  years,  also,  as  trustee  of  the  State 
Normal  School  at  Buffalo.  He  was  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  Citizens'  (las  Com- 
pany, and  is  now  vice  president  of  the 
same.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  Delaware  Avenue  Methodist  Church, 
and  is  president  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  that  institution.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  many  associations  of  a  re- 
ligious and  philanthropic  character. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  Augustine  Sweet  was  born  at 
Hancock,  Mass. ,  February  1(1,  1836 ;  was 
educated  in  country  schools ;  icent  to  Buf- 
falo and  engaged  in  the  transportation  busi- 
ness in  1862  :  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  General  Managers  for  New  York  state 
at  the  World' s  Fair,  189.i  ;  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Third  National  Bank  of  Buf- 
falo since  1881. 


SameS  billing  bast  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
a  typical  American  railroader,  though  his  diversified 
experience  in  connection  with  the  transportation 
industry  has  rarely  been  paralleled  in  this  or  any 
other  country.  He  began  at  the  bottom  of  the  lad- 
der, and  ended  at  the  top  ;  and  the  story  of  his  life 
is  at  once  interesting,  instructive,  and  inspiring. 

Mr.  Tillinghast  inherited  his  mechanical  ability 
from  his  father,  and  as  a  schoolboy  spent  much  of  his 
leisure  time  in  his  father's  machine  shop,  where  he 
became  practically  conversant  with  the  use  of 
tools  and  the  methods  and  processes  of  mechanical 
work.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered  a  country 
store  in  Brownsville,  N.  Y.,  as  a  clerk.  A  year  later 
he  accepted  a  similar   ])Osition   at    Dexter,    N.   Y., 


where  his  duties  included,  besides  clerical  work, 
making  fires,  sweeping  the  store,  waiting  on  custom- 
ers, and  keeping  track  of  a  miscellaneous  stock  of 
drugs,  hardware,  dry  goods,  groceries,  and  notions. 
For  all  this  he  received  the  princely  sum  of  eight 
dollars  a  month. 


CHAKl.ES  .1.  SUEHT 

In  1843  Mr.  Tillinghast  embarked  in  the  lake 
trade,  making  his  first  venture  as  supercargo  of  a 
sailing  vessel  that  carried  passengers  and  freight  from 
Sackett's  Harbor  to  Chicago.  The  passengers  sup- 
plied their  own  ])rovisions,  and  slept  in  the  hold. 
On  the  return  trip  he  brought  a  cargo  of  wheat,  which 
was  the  second  that  had  ever  been  shipped  from  Chi- 
cago to  Buffalo.  Mr.  Tillinghast  soon  abandoned 
this  lake  traffic,  and  engaged  in  business  with  his 
father  for  several  years :  but  in  1851  he  began 
the  railroad  career  in  which  he  was  to  attain  such 
success.  Beginning  as  extra  fireman  on  a  gravel 
train,  he  became  assistant  su])erintendent  of  the  Rome 
\-  \\  atertown  railroad  the  following  year  :  and  since 
that    time    he    has   held    high    official    positions    on 


MEN  OF  XA'lf    yORK-—}VKS7ERA'  SECT/OX 


almost  every  important  railroad  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  Few  men  have  had  a  more  varied  ex|)eri- 
ence.  His  energy  and  good  judgment  won  for  him 
positions  of  trust,  and  these  he  always  filled  with  faith- 
fulness and  zeal.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  New 
York  Central  road  in  18{i5,  at  the  request  of  its  presi- 


_/.  I.\f/:S    TIILIXCIIAST 

dent,  IJean  Richmond,  and  was  appointed  superin- 
tendent of  the  western  division.  He  soon  made  the 
ac(|uaintance  of  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  who  had  re- 
cently acciuired  a  large  interest  in  the  road,  and  was 
making  his  first  trip  of  ins])ection  over  it.  The  great 
railway  king  at  once  recognized  Mr.  Tillinghast's 
unusual  ability,  and  the  friendship  that  then  began 
grew  with  advancing  years,  and  ended  only  with  the 
death  of  .Mr.  \anderbilt.  When  Commodore  Van 
derbilt  aci|uired  a  controlling  interest  in  the  "Cen- 
tral," he  made  Mr.  Tillinghast  general  superintend- 
ent, with  headquarters  at  Albany  ;  and  this  position 
he  held  until  IMS],  when  he  was  appointed  by  Will- 
iam   H.   \'anilerliill   a.ssistant   to   the   president.      B\ 


that  time  the  tonnage  of  the  road  had  increased 
tenfold  from  the  figures  of  I860,  when  Mr.  Tilling- 
hast first  became  connected  with  the  road. 

In  1878  and  18"!),  in  addition  to  his  other  duties, 
Mr.  Tillingha.st  filled  the  double  position  of  president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Canada  Southern  railway  ; 
and  it  was  owing  chiefly  to  his  e.xertions 
that  the  Dominion  parliament  passed  laws 
that  saved  the  road  from  bankruj)tcy,  and 
enabled  it  to  be  reorganized  without  loss  to 
the  stockholders.  In  1883  Mr.  Tillinghast 
wa.s  vice  president  of  the  Niagara  River 
Bridge  Company,  and  superintended  the 
erection  of  the  cantilever  bridge  built  b\ 
that  company  and  opened  for  traffic 
during  that  j^ear. 

All  the  ini|)ortant  offices  held  by  Mr. 
Tillinghast  have  come  to  him  unsolicited. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice,  moreover,  that  he 
has  never  demanded  a  fi.xed  sum  for  an)' 
services  rendered,  but  has  relied  upon  the 
zeal  with  which  he  served  his  employers 
to  secure  for  him  adequate  compensation. 
His  good  judgment  and  reliability,  in  all 
emergencies  and  under  all  circumstances, 
have  earned  for  him  the  respect  and  es- 
teem of  railroad  officials  far  and  near,  and 
of  the  general  public  as  well.     He  is  a  man 
of  few  words,  exceedingly  cpiiet  and  un- 
demonstrative   in   manner ;     but  a    deep 
thinker,  and  a  man  of  action  and  determi- 
nation. He  is  affable  and  kindly  in  his  in- 
tercourse with  all,  and  is  noted  for  his  gen- 
erous hospitality  and  other  social  virtues. 
PERSONAL      CHR  ONOL  O  G  V— 
James    Tillinghast  was  born   at   Coopers- 
town,  N.   Y. ,  A/ay  8,  1822  ;  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  ;  engaged  in  business, 
1837-^2,  ami  in  lake  traffic,  18J^S-J^6  and 
1862-(H  :   7('as  assistant  superintendent  of 
the  Rome  •b'   Waterto'ti'n  railroad,  18-'>2—'>(>,  superin- 
tendent of  motive  power  of  the  Northern  Railway  of 
Canada,  1850-62,  division  and  general  superintendent 
of  the  Central- Hudson  railroad,  18<i-'>-81,  and  assistant 
to  the  president  of  that  road  in  1881 ;  7oas  president  of 
the    JVagner  Sleeping    Car    Co. ,    1884-85 ;    married 
Mary  Williams  of  Limerick,  N.   Y. ,  October  2,  184-i, 
and  Mrs.  Susan  Williams  of  Buffalo  July  25 ,  1882. 


IRObCrt  C.  ZlitUS  bas  for  many  years  of  his  life 
>er\cd  his  fellow-men.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he 
has  held  various  imjjortant  positions  of  trust,  and  in 
each  one  he  has  discharged  the  duties  imposed  upon 
him  so  faithfiiUv  that  his  record  is  without  a  blemish. 


MK.X   OI-    Mill-    YORK—U'ESTKRA'  SEC770X 


83 


Born  in  a  little  Erie-county  village,  Judge  'I'itus 
passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  amid  surroundings 
that  called  for  great  sacrifices  and  much  labor.  He 
worked  on  a  farm  and  attended  district  schools  by 
turn.  At  last  the  opportunity  came  for  a  course  in 
Oberlin  College  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  this  chance 
to  broaden  out  and  to  satisfy  .some  of  the  ambitions 
that  had  long  possessed  the  young  man,  was  eagerly 
seized.  He  did  not,  however,  graduate  from  this 
institution,  but  returned  to  Buffalo,  and  began  the 
study  of  law.  Thus  was  gratified  an  earnest  desire. 
The  young  man  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
principles  of  law  with  so  much  zeal  and  persistence  that 
in  186ii  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  with  high 
honors. 

The  ne.xt  thirteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  either  alone  or  with 
others.  During  this  time  Judge  Titus  had 
drifted  into  ])olitics,  and  soon  became  one 
of  the  favorite  camjiaign  orators  of  the 
Democratic  party,  whose  platforms  and 
principles  he  warmly  endorsed.  His  per- 
sonal popularity  and  his  eminent  party 
services  appropriately  led  to  a  nomina- 
tion for  district  attorney  of  ?>rie  county, 
and  he  was  triumphantly  elected  to  that 
office  in  the  fall  of  1877.  The  duties  of 
this  office  were  filled  during  the  next  three 
years  with  honor  to  himself,  and  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  people.  When 
his  term  expired  he  resumed  private  prac- 
tice. His  party,  however,  soon  called 
upon  him  to  stand  as  the  leader  of  its 
county  ticket,  and  in  the  fall  of  1881  he 
was  elected  state  .senator  from  the  .list 
district,  which  then  included  the  whoU' 
of  Erie  cotmtv.  He  served  with  so  much 
distinction  that  he  was  re-elected  in  the 
fall  of  lS8o,  thus  representing  Erie  county 
in  the  highest  legislative  body  of  the  state 
for  four  years.  During  that  time  he  was 
a  member  of  the  judiciary  and  other  im- 
portant committees,  on  which  he  rendered 
valuable  service.  He  was  a  faithful  friend 
of  the  canals  during  his  career  in  the 
legislature,  and  stood  by  the  Erie  ( nnal, 
which  has  done  so  much  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  state,  against  all  the  attacks 
made  by  its  enemies. 

A  vacancy  about  to  occur  on  the  bench 
of  the  Superior  Court  of  Buffalo  gave  Mr.  Titus's  party 
friends  another  opportunity  to  show  their  regard   for 
him,  and  he  was  nominated   in   the   fall   of  IXH")   for 
the  honoralile  position  thus  available.      His  election 


followed,  and  since  that  time  Judge  Titus  has  pre- 
sided with  impartiality  and  dignity  at  many  import- 
ant trials  in  Buflalo.  In  the  course  of  time  he 
became  chief  judge  of  the  court,  and  held  that  posi- 
tion when  the  Superior  Court  was  abolished,  and  its 
judges  took  seats  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court 
January  1,  18!l(). 

Judge  Titus  has  for  many  years  been  a  prominent 
and  honored  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and 
has  been  a  leader  in  its  many  beneficent  works.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  Sovereign 
Crrand  Inspectors  (ieneral,  o3d  and  last  degree,  An- 
cient Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  held  in  Buffalo  in 
September,  1895,  he  was  made  an  honorary  member 
of  that  body.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Ma.sonic  Life 
Association  of  Western  New  York,  and  is  treasurer 
of  the  Acacia  Club,  the  largest  purely  social  club  of 


KO/ir.KT  r.  r/rrs 

-Masons    in    this    <ouutrv.       This   club   has  beautiful 
rooms  in  the  Masonic   Temple  at  Buffalo. 

PERSOXA L  C  'II R OXOl.  O C  Y—  Robert  Cyrus 
Titiii  was  horn  ,U   EJrii.  X.    )'.,   October  2.!,,  18S!) : 


84 


A/EX  OF  A7:ir    )'ORK—]\'ESrERX  SECTfOA' 


attended  Oberlin  College ;  married  Aifilla  R.  Clark 
of  Goioanda,  N.  K,  August  22,  1867;  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in  1865  ;  was  district  attorney  of 
Erie  count)',  1878-80 ;  was  state  senator  for  Erie 
county,  1882-8-'> ;  teas  elected  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Buffalo  in  the  fall  of  18S-'t :  'was  chief  Judge 


1 

i 

i 

>* 

N>^^^ 

-> 

m. 

i 

^l^^^^^lp^ 

^^SM 

m^ 

! 

1 

AUGUSTUS  /■•A'.I.\-A-/J.V    TRII'I' 


of  that  court  at  the  time  of  its  absorption  into  the  Su- 
preme Court  January  1,  1806,  when  he  became  a 
member  of  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


Buoustus  jfranlUin  XTripp  is  the  luad  of 

one  ot  the  nio.sl  iin|)ortant  industrial  establishments 
of  Buffalo.  In  business  circles  he  is  known  as  a  man 
of  great  worth  of  character,  and  of  a  wonderful  grasp 
of  details  that  makes  him  a  perfect  master  of  any- 
thing to  which  he  gives  his  attention.  The  firm  of 
Sidney  Shepard  &  Co.,  of  which  he  is  the  senior 
member,  is  known  far  and  wide  as  a  large  producer 
of  tinware  and  house-furnishings,  and  to  Mr.  I'ripp 
is  due  in  no  small  measure  the  success  that  the  firm 


has  made  in  the  business  world.  This  concern  has  a 
mammoth  factory  in  Buffalo,  to  which  Mr.  Tripp  has 
devoted  himself  for  nearly  forty  years  ;  and  he  has 
reduced  its  methods  to  a  system  that  is  almost  ])er- 
fection.  The  firm  has  also  a  large  warehouse  and 
distributing  center  in  Buffalo  ;  and  a  subsidiarv  firm, 
styled  C  Sidney  Shepard  tV-  Co.,  has 
headquarters  in  Chicago.  Mr.  Tripp  is 
one  of  the  men  who  do  things  without 
making  any  noise  about  it.  Careful, 
prudent,  and  sagacious  in  a  marked  de- 
gree, he  has  succeeded  where  others 
might  have  failed. 

Born  the  son  of  a  farmer,  in  a  little 
Vermont   town,    young    Tripp  spent   his 
early  years  helping  his  people  wring  the 
necessities  of   life    from    the    stony    and 
ungenerous  soil  of  the  Creen  Mountain 
State.      His  ambition  to  attain  something 
better  than  appeared  in  the  East  led  him 
to  leave  home  for  what  was  then  the  Far 
West,  and  in   1.S44  he  bade  good-by  to 
the  friends  of  his  boyhood,  and  started 
out  to  make  his   fortune.      He    went  to 
Buffalo  by  the  canal-packet  line,  and  after 
a  hasty  look  over  the  new  city,  which  was 
in  later  years  to  be  the  scene  of  his  busi- 
ness trium]jhs,  he  boarded  a  lake  steamer 
for  Fairport,  ( )hio.      Thence  he  went  to 
i'ainesville,  in  the  same  state,  and  there 
obtained  a  job  cleaning  up  the  machinery 
of  an  old  oil  mill.      This  job  completed, 
he  went  to  Cleveland,  where  he  secured 
employment  in  the  office  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Steam   I'urnace  Co.      He  remained  here 
until  1(S47,  when  he  returned  to  Buffalo  to 
take  a  position  with  the  firm  of  John  D. 
Shepard  &   Co.,  owners  of  steam-engine 
works  and  a  large  foundry.      'Two   years 
later,  when  this  firm  jjassed  out  of  exist- 
ence, Mr.     Tripp  returned  to  Ohio,  and  established 
himself  in  business  at  Painesville  under  the  firm  name 
of  Steele  Bros.    &    Tripp,  and  at  the  same  time  in 
Buffalo  with  his  brothers-in-law  under  the  firm  name 
of  A.  F.  'Tri|)p  &  Co.      This  partnership  was  dissolved 
in    1852,   and   Mr.    Tripp  then  entered  the  service 
of  Sidney  Shepard  &  Co.  as  clerk  and  liookkeeper. 
Here  he  displayed  so  much  energy  and  intelligence 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  was  .so  quick  to 
grasp  the  details  of  the  business  and  so  efficient  gen- 
erally, that  after  five  years  he  became  a  partner  in  the 
concern,  and  has  been  actively  interested  ever  since. 
Outside  of    his    business,    Mr.    Trijjp  is  preemi- 
nently a  home  man.      'This  does  not  mean  that  he  is 


J/i^.V   OF  XEir    ]-OA'k'^]VEST/-:A\\  SECTfOX 


85 


not  interested  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of 
his  city  and  of  his  fellow-men.  His  sympathy  for 
the  unfortunate  has  often  found  expression  in  his 
support  of  many  Buffalo  charities  that  have  learned 
to  look  upon  him  as  a  friend  in  need.  But  Mr. 
Tripp  never  lets  the  right  hand  know  what  the  left  is 
doing.  Unostentatiously  he  pursues  his  way  through 
the  world,  leaving  on  all  sides  evidences  of  the  sterl- 
ing worth  of  his  character. 

FEUS  ONA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Augustus 
Frauklin  Tripp  was  born  at  Ne^u  Haven,  Vt.,  Sep- 
tember 80,  1822  ;  went  West  in  18^0 — Jirst  to  Paines- 
-,'ille,  O.,  and  thence  to  Cleveland;  went  to  Buffalo  in 
18^7,  a  Jid  entered  the  employ  of  John  D.  Shepard  &■• 
Co.  ;  engaged  in  business  with  his  brothers-in-latv  in 
Ohio,  18o0-52  ;  married  Mary  M.  Steele  of  Paines- 
ville,  O.,  August  17,  184.7,  and  Caroline  M.  Brmon 
of  Chelsea,  Mass. ,  January  22,  1868  : 
entered  the  service  of  Sidney  Shepard  &^' 
Co.  of  Buffalo  in  18f)2,  and  has  been  a 
member  of  the  firm  since  1851 . 


GCOnje  lllrbau,  %X.,  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  potent  factors  in  the  com- 
mercial and  political  life  of  Buffalo.  He 
is  a  splendid  example  of  the  modern  busi- 
ness man.  Enterprise,  industry,  .sound 
judgment,  and  integrity  have  been  the 
foundation  stones  of  his  success.  He  has 
not  confined  himself  to  one  thing,  but 
has  shown  his  ability  and  capacit}-  in 
several  fields.  Happily,  the  rise  and 
development  of  corporations  have  enabled 
a  vigorous  and  resourceful  man  to  en- 
gage in  man}-  enterprises  at  the  same 
time.  .\  large  part  of  every  business 
and  profession  is  made  up  of  routine 
and  relatively  unimportant  details,  which 
re(|uire  neither  skill  nor  foresight,  and 
which  can  safelv  be  left  to  subordinates  ; 
while  the  talents  of  the  manager  or 
owner,  thus  relieved  from  petty  annoy- 
ances and  cares,  may  be  emplo}ed  far 
more  effectively  with  weightier  inatters. 
'The  man  who  knows  how  to  make  this 
division  of  work  economizes  his  time, 
and  is  enabled  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
duct of  banks  and  other  organizations  in 
addition  to  his  particular  business. 

Mr.    L'rban    is    the   son   of  a    Buffalo 
pioneer  in  the  flour  and  milling  Inisiness,  and  was 
born  in    18.50  in  a  house  just    opposite  the  Urlian 
mill.      He  was  educated  in    the    public    schools  of 
Buffalo.  an<l  at  the  age  of  eighteen  entered  his  father's 


estal)lishment.  Two  years  later  he  was  made  a  partner 
in  the  firm.  His  father  retired  from  business  in  1885, 
and  the  firm  of  Urban  &  Co.  now  consists  of  George 
Urban,  Jr.,  E.  (i.  S.  Miller,  and  W.  C.  Urban,  a 
brother  of  the  senior  partner.  For  fifty  years  the 
Urban  family  have  been  in  the  flour  business,  and  have 
made  their  excellent  brands  of  flour  household  names. 
In  financial  circles  and  among  the  promoters  of 
enter|)rises  on  a  large  scale,  Mr.  Urban  is  well  known 
from  his  connection  with  banking  institutions  and 
electrical  companies.  He  is  president  of  the  Buffalo 
Loan,  Trust  &  Safe  De])Osit  Co.,  and  a  director  in 
the  Merchants'  Bank  and  the  Bank  of  Buffalo.  He 
has  devoted  much  attention  to  electric  lighting  and 
to  electricity  as  a  power  in  manufacturing  and 
trans])ortation,  and  he  is  connected  with  several  com- 
panies concerned  in  electrical  development.      He  is 


GEORGK  r/y'/I.I.W  JR. 

vice  president  of  the  Buffalo  General  P^lectric  Co. 
and  a  director  of  the  Buffalo  Railway  Co.,  of  the 
De])ew  Improvement  Co.,  and  of  the  Buffalo,  Belle- 
vue  ^:  Lancaster  Railwav  Co. 


86 


JZ/TA-   OF  XF.W    YORK— WESTER X  SECTIOX 


Mr.  I'rhan's  business  occupations  have  not  made 
him  neglectful  of  his  political  obligations,  and  in 
taking  an  active  part  in  local  politics  he  has  ren- 
dered his  native  city  an  important  service.  While 
he  never  ^^•ould  accept  public  office,  Mr.  Urban  was 
chairman    of    the    Eric    county    Republican   general 


iSr'  Co. ,  millers,  in  1870  ;  married  Ada  E.  U'iiispear 
of  Buffalo  in  October,  1875 ;  was  chairman  of  the 
Republican  county  committee,  1892-95. 


GEORCF.     W:  //J.SM  Y)A'7// 

committee  during  the  eventful  years  lcS!)2-!).'J  ;  and 
to  his  skillful  organization,  his  executive  ability,  and 
courageous  demand  for  high  standards  of  fitness  in 
public  oflficials  is  due  in  large  measure  the  triumph 
of  the  people  at  the  polls,  and  the  comjjlete  rout  of 
the  s])oil.smen  and  demagogues  who  had  so  long 
ruled  the  Queen  City.  Increasing  business  cares 
have  since  caused  Mr.  Urban  to  retire  from  active 
politics,  but  he  can  always  be  counted  on  by  the 
frieufls  of  honest  municipal  government,  and  his  in- 
lluence  for  good  on  Kcpuhlicau  |ioliliis  is  felt 
throughout  the  state. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— George  Urban, 
Jr.,  was  born  at  Buffalo  July  12,  1850;  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  ;   entered  the  firm  of  Urban 


(Beorge  IKHa&SWOrtb  enjoys  an  enviable 
genealogical  distinction.  He  is  a  descendant  of 
William  Wadsvvorth,  who  came  from 
England  in  the  ship  "  Lion,"  and  landed 
in  Boston  Sejjtember  IS,  1682.  William 
Wadsworth  was  one  of  Parson  Hooker's 
company  that  traveled  through  the  wilder- 
ness and  settled  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1636. 
josepli  Wadsworth,  of  "Charter-Oak" 
fame,  was  a  son  of  William  Wadsworth, 
though  not  in  direct  line  with  the  sul)- 
ject  of  our  sketch.  Everyone  remembers 
from  his  school  days  the  striking  incident 
of  the  imperiled  charter  in  the  dark  da\s 
of  the  Connecticut  colony — how  Sir 
Edmund  Andros,  acting  under  orders  of 
the  King,  attempted  to  take  away  the 
liberal  charter  of  the  colony,  and  how  a 
Wadsworth  extinguished  the  lights,  seized 
the  previous  document,  and  hid  it  in  the 
hollow  of  an  oak.  One  of  Mr.  Wads- 
worth's  great-grandfathers  was  a  colonel 
of  the  Connecticut  troops  during  the  Rev- 
olution, and  an  intimate  friend  of  Wash- 
ington and  of  Lafayette.  To  such  early 
champions  of  freedom,  and  to  others  like 
them,  Mr.  Wadsworth  ma\-  trace  his 
lineage. 

Born  in  the  delightful  old  town  of 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  he  received  his  early 
education  in  one  of  the  "little  red 
schoolhouses  "  so  famous  in  their  day. 
After  pursuing  more  advanced  studies  in 
neighboring  academies,  he  took  up  the 
occupation  of  teaching,  which  has  so 
often  been  used  by  ambitious  young  men  as  a  step- 
ping-stone to  one  of  the  professions.  .\t  the  same 
time  he  began  to  stud\'  huv,  and  wlu-n  his  means  at 
length  permitted,  he  undertook  a  lourse  of  study  in  a 
law  office  in  Litchfield.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the 
century  Litchfield  had  a  wide  reputation  as  a  legal 
center,  and  attracted  to  its  famous  law  school  stu- 
dents from  every  state.  It  was  here  that  John  C. 
Calhoun,  John  M.  Clayton,  and  many  other  eminent 
men  studied  law,  and  that  Judge  Reeve  and  Judge 
Could,  the  author  of  the  noted  work  on  Pleading, 
(leli\ered  their  celebrated  lectures  for  years. 

( )n  the  completion  of  his  law  studies  Mr.  Wads- 
worth was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Connecticut  ;  and 
in  the  same  _\ear,  ha\  ing  remo\ed  to  .New  York  city, 


MEX   (IF  XKW    Vi^RK—ll'KSTERX  SECT/OX 


i<l 


he  was  admitted  to  the  Ijar  of  the  Empire  State.  The 
following  year,  1852,  he  went  to  Buffalo,  and  after 
a  preparatory  experience  as  a  law  clerk,  opened  an 
office  for  himself.  There  for  more  than  forty  years 
he  has  been  engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  an  ar- 
duous profession. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  has  acted  upon  the  belief  that  he 
who  would  be  a  thorough  all-round  lawyer  can  find 
little  time  for  diversions  or  pursuits  not  connected 
with  the  main  object  of  his  vocation  ;  and  that, 
while  one's  life  may  be  thereby  confined,  one  is 
nevertheless  a  real  factor  in  the  development  of  the 
community.  Consequently  he  has  avoided  extensive 
participation  in  public  affairs  ;  but  at  times  he  has 
contributed  services  of  permanent  value  to  the  pub- 
lic, when  the  office  concerned  was  in  the  line  of  his 
l)rofession.  He  was  at  one  time  city  attorney,  was 
twice  nominated  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Buffalo,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
commission  consisting  otherwise  of  John 
Ci.  Milburn,  Joseph  Churchyard,  and 
Spencer  Clinton,  to  revise  the  charter  of 
the  city  of  Buffalo  —  a  work  that  reflected 
credit  upon  both  the  revisers  and  the  city. 

A  great  part  of  Mr.  Wadsworth' s  legal 
practice  has  concerned  the  intricate  do- 
main of  real  property  and  the  settlement  of 
estates  —  departments  of  the  law  in  which 
he  stands  high  as  a  man  of  sound  business 
judgment.  During  his  long  career  at 
the  bar  he  has  been  professionally  asso- 
ciated in  partnership  relations  with  some 
of  the  best  known  members  of  the  local 
bar  —  with  such  men  as  Benjamin  H. 
Williams,  Loran  L.  Lewis,  Truman  C. 
White,  and  Nelson  K.  Hopkins. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  is  thoroughly  American 
in  his  habits  and  tastes,  and  preserves  the 
characteristics  of  his  New  England  train- 
ing. He  is  a  lover  of  old  books,  fond 
of  gaining  instruction  by  travel,  solid 
and  resolute  in  his  political  convictions. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  Republican  League,  and 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
and  a  Past  Master  of  the  Ancient  Land- 
mark Masonic  Lodge,  besides  holding 
membership  in  several  social  clubs,  such 
as  the  Buffalo  and  the  EUicott.  His 
life  has  been  well-rounded,  honorable 
to  himself,  and  u.seful  to  the  city  in  which  he  lives. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Gcoiy;,-  IVads- 
loorth  was  horn  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  Marcli  10,  1830: 
attended  common  sclioo/i  and  academies   at   Litclifield 


and  Danlmry  (  Conn.  )  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Connecticut  and  of  New  York  in  1851 ;  married  E/nily 
O.  Marshall  of  Utica,  N.  Y. ,  in  June,  1858  ;  7vas 
city  attorney  of  Buffalo,  18(!0-(!1 ;  has  practiced  latv 
in  Buffalo  since  1852. 


1RlCbarC>  H.  Tl^aitC  is  a  distinguished  member 
of  a  profession  that  unites,  in  a  greater  degree  than 
an)'  other  perhaps,  the  graces  of  art  and  the  demands 
of  utility.  Architecture  is  among  the  very  oldest,  if 
it  be  not  indeed  the  most  ancient,  of  the  professions, 
since  the  first  builders,  in  a  rude  way  to  be  sure,  prac- 
ticed a  kind  of  architecture.  As  for  historic  times, 
it  is  known  that  the  earliest  remains  of  any  people 
evidence  a  more  developed  state  in  architecture  than 
in  any  other  department  of  human  knowledge. 
Temples  and  tombs  proclaim  the  fact  that  man   in 


*t 

% 

/ 

RICHAKD   A.    WAiri-. 


remote  ages  devoted  his  time  and  thought  to  material 
creations  evolved  from  the  workings  of  imagination 
and  from  the  longing  to  embody  in  physical  ibrms 
the  ideas  of  the  mind. 


88 


ME.y  OF  .\7-:ir  wikk—wf.st/crx  sect/ox 


Mr.  Waite's  special  strength  lies  in  the  fact  that 
he  combines  a  theoretic  with  a  practical  knowledge 
of  building.  Previously  to  entering  upon  his  chosen 
career  he  devoted  considerable  time  to  mechanical 
engineering,  thus  laying  a  broad  foundation  for  the 
more  artistic  work  he  was  to  take  u|).  He  had 
such  masters  as  Ericsson,  of  "Monitor"  fame,  and 
John  Kellum,  New  York's  most  prominent  architect 
in  the  sixties. 

.Mr.  Waite  is  an  Knglishmaii  by  birth,  having  licen 
born  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  London  ;  but  he 
came  to  the  L'nited  States  when  a  lad,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  here.  He  has  pursued 
his  profession  in  Buffalo  since  1871,  and  has  estab- 
lished a  wide  reputation  among  his  professional 
brethren,  who  are  best  qualified  to  appreciate  the 
value  and  merit  of  his  work.  His  first  building  of 
any  magnitude  was  the  (Jcrman  Insurance  Co. 
edifice,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Lafayette  streets, 
Buffalo.  Other  structures  of  importance  in  the  same 
city  designed  by  him  are  the  Women's  Union, 
Music  Hall,  the  (Jrosvenor  Library,  Pierce's  Palace 
Hotel  (since  destroyed  by  fire),  and  the  fJenrral 
Myers  mausoleum  at  Forest  Lawn. 

To  get  an  adeiiuate  idea  of  the  scope  and  extent 
of  Mr.  Waite's  achievements  as  an  architect,  one 
must  study  the  work  that  he  has  done  away  from  his 
home  and  even  from  his  adopted  country.  Canada, 
and  especially  the  city  of  Toronto,  has  his  master- 
pieces, which  rank  among  the  most  important  and 
successful  examples  of  the  highest  class  of  modern 
architecture.  For  six  years,  commencing  in  lS,S(i, 
Mr.  Waite  was  engaged  in  the  planning  and  the  con- 
struction of  the  Ontario  Parliament  buildings  at 
Toronto.  This  was  a  stupendous  undertaking,  and 
the  brilliantly  successful  execution  of  the  work 
<|uickly  and  justly  gave  Mr.  Waite  a  high  position 
in  the  ranks  of  his  jirofession.  This  magnificent 
structure,  known  in  its  entirety  as  the  Parliament 
and  Departmental  liuildings,  includes  within  its  walls 
over  76,1)00  .stjuare  feet,  and  shows  in  all  its  archi- 
tectural details  vigorous,  masterful,  and  highly  artis- 
tic treatment.  Not  the  least  noteworthy  feature  of 
the  work  is  the  fact  that  the  undertaking  was  entirely 
completed  promjjtly,  and  within  ilic  original  esti- 
mates. The  Toronto  GM>r  truly  remarks  that  "  the 
completion  of  such  a  building  without  extras  or  dis- 
putes is  probably  a  iuii(|ueaiid  \mprecedented  occur- 
rence ;  and  no  other  instance  is  known  of  a  public 
edifice  of  such  magnitude  erected  at  so  small  a 
co.st." 

While  the  Parliament  building  must  be  regarded 
as  Mr.  Waite's  chef-d' (viivir,  for  the  present  at  least, 
the  account  of  his  professional  achievements  would 


be  quite  incomplete,  if  the  record  were  to  stop  here. 
He  is  said  to  be  the  first  American  architect  em- 
ployed by  Her  Majesty's  government,  and  probably 
no  other  .\merican  architect  has  received  so  many 
imjjortant  commissions  from  Her  Majesty's  subjects. 
In  the  construction  of  buildings  for  banks  and  instir- 
ance  companies  Mr.  Waite  has  especially  distin- 
guished himself.  He  designed  buildings  for  the 
Western  As.surance  Co.  at  Toronto,  the  Canada  Life 
.\ssurance  Co.  at  Hamilton,  Toronto,  and  Montreal, 
the  Standard  Life  Assurance  Co.  at  Montreal,  and 
the  head  offices  of  the  same  company  at  Glasgow, 
Scotland.  The  Bank  of  Hamilton  at  Hamilton, 
Ont.,  and  the  Canadian  Bank  of  Commerce  at  To- 
ronto, together  with  the  Mail  aiul  Empire  building 
at  Toronto,  are  notable  additions  to  Mr.  Waite's 
list  of  architectural  triumphs.  Among  his  works  in 
western  cities  may  be  mentioned  the  Olixer  Opera 
House  (and  office  building)  at  South  Bend,  Ind. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Richard  Al- 
fred Waite  was  horn  at  Camhentiell,  county  of  Surrey, 
Eiii^Iand,  May  H,  18.!fS :  came  to  the  United  States 
and  settled  in  Buffalo  in  J850 :  married  Sara/i  E. 
/lidlo7i>ay  of  Buffalo  September  22,  1809;  lias  pur- 
sued the  profession  of  architecture  in  Buffalo  since 
1871. 


Milliam  lb.  Malher  belongs  to  the  class  of 
i)usiness  men  that  give  stability  and  character  to  the 
community  in  which  they  live.  Not  widely  known 
beyond  a  circle  of  friends  and  business  associates, 
and  not  seekers  for  fame  or  official  honors,  these 
men  yet  influence  and  shape  the  public  sentiment 
that  determines  the  social,  commercial,  and  political 
standards  of  the  people.  'The  talkers  of  the  world 
have  not  often  been  its  workers,  and  as  the  tendency 
of  the  age  as.serts  itself,  the  practical  man  of  affairs 
is  becoming  more  and  more  the  t\pical  .American 
citizen. 

Mr.  Walker  is  the  son  of  Stephen  Walker  of  Utica, 
N.  v..  a  prominent  mechanic  and  builder  of  his 
da\,  who  moved  to  liuffalo  in  lSo2,  when  William 
was  six  years  of  age.  Buffalo  had  then  a  population 
of  a  few  thousand  onl\ ,  and  was  regarded  as  de- 
cidedly "out  West."  The  stagecoach  or  the  Erie 
canal,  recently  completed,  afforded  the  only  means 
of  travel  to  the  East.  The  public  school  system  was 
not  then  developed  in  Buffalo,  and  Mr.  Walker's 
education  was  obtained  in  private  schools  and  in  the 
liuffalo  .'\cademy.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  having 
decided  to  follow  a  business  career,  he  entered  the 
em])loyment  of  Orrin  P.  Ramsdell,  who  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  in  the  wholesale  shoe  business  in  western 
New  A'ork.     After  serving  several  years  as  a  clerk, 


.\/F..\   OF  X/-:ir    )'Oh'K^l\-ESTERX  SKCT/OX 


89 


Mr.  Walker  found  that  his  worth  to  the  house  was 
recognized  ;  and  in  IJ^ofi  he  was  admitted  to  a  part- 
nership in  the  concern.  This  connection  continued 
until  1S7(),  when  the  copartnership  was  dissolved, 
and  Mr.  Walker  engaged  in  busine.ss  for  himself. 

The  wholesale  boot,  shoe,  and  rubber  house  then 
established  has  become  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  reliable  firms  in  this  section  of 
the  state.  Its  trade  extends  not  only 
over  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio, 
but  also  into  the  far  western  states.  In 
18X7  Mr.  Walker,  finding  his  business 
growing  to  large  proportions,  admitted 
to  partnership  Edward  C.  Walker  and 
William  A.  Joyce  ;  and  Stephen  Walker 
was  added  to  the  firm  in  1898.  All  these 
men  were  experienced  in  the  business, 
and  their  accession  to  the  firm  gave  ad- 
ditional strength  to  a  house  already  notetl 
for  its  resources. 

Success  in  one  commercial  field  in- 
variably leads  to  enlarged  opportunities 
in  the  business  world,  since  men  who  have 
conducted  their  own  affairs  .safely  will 
naturally  be  sought  to  care  for  the  inter- 
ests of  others.  Mr.  Walker  as  a  financier 
has  duplicated  his  success  as  a  business 
man.  In  1884  he  was  elected  to  the 
position  of  president  of  the  Merchants' 
Bank  of  Buffalo  ;  and  so  faithfiiUy  and 
sagaciously  has  he  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  responsible  office  that  the  bank 
has  been  enabled  to  pay  regularly  an 
annual  dividend  of  six  per  cent,  and  has 
accumulated  in  addition  a  surplus  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

In   politics   Mr.    Walker  is  an   ardent 
Republican,   and  while  never  an  office- 
holder   or    office-seeker,    he    has   always 
responded  to  the  calls  of  his  party.      In  1888  he  was 
nominated   for  presidential  elector   on    the    Re|)ub- 
lican  ticket. 

Mr.  Walker  maintains  an  active  connection  with 
educational,  philanthropic,  and  religious  institutions. 
He  is  a  trustee  of  Hobart  College,  vice  president  of 
the  Buffalo  General  Hospital,  and  warden  of  St. 
Paul's  Church.  He  is  also  vice  president  of  the 
Fidelit)'  Trust  &  Guaranty  Company,  and  of  the 
Merchants'  Exchange.  In  all  these  ])Ositions  of  trust 
and  responsibility  he  is  noted  for  disinterested 
action,  fidelity,  and  unimpeachable  integrity. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  William 
Henry  Walker  was  born  at  Utica,  N.  V.,  Aiii^usf  20, 
ISilO  ;  was  educated  at  tlie  Buffalo  Aeadenix  :   entered 


the  wholesale  shoe  house  of  O.  J'.  Rams  dell  in  IS 4-4, 
and  was  associated  in  partnership  with  him,  1856-76  ; 
married  Edith  Kimberly  of  Buffalo  October  21, 
1869  :  7i>as  nominated  for  presidential  elector  in  1888  ; 
lias  conducted  the  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  business  of 
[I'm.  It.    Walker  &-'  Co.  since  1876. 


Will  JAM   II    WAI  KER 

30bn  36.  XRIleber  has  lived  much  in  few  years. 
He  has  been  equally  .successful  in  different  lines  of 
activity — in  busine.ss,  in  public  office,  and  in  financial 
affairs.  He  is  a  native  of  Buffalo,  and  was  born  in 
a  favorable  time  to  test  his  mettle  and  capacity  ;  for 
he  was  in  his  nineteenth  year  when  President  Lincoln 
called  for  troops. 

.\mong  the  many  grand  regiments  sent  into  the 
field  by  the  Emjjire  State,  none  was  more  famous 
than  the  Ellsworth  regiment,  popularly  know^n  as 
"The  Avengers,"  composed  of  men  representing 
every  ward  and  town  in  the  state.  The  members 
were  selected  by  boards  of  examiners,  and  Mr.  Weber 
was  chosen  from  the  seventh  ward  of  Buffalo.  One 
of  the  examiners  expressed  the  I'ear  that    .Mr.   Weber 


ilO 


M/:x  o/-  x/:if  voRk'^iii-.s/ /chw  s/-:c77ox 


could  not  stand  the  hardships  of  camp  and  battle. 
How  little  this  examiner  appreciated  the  staying 
powers  of  the  young  soldier  is  realized  when  the  fact 
is  stated  that  Mr.  M'ehcr  was  never  sirk  a  day  during 
the  war,  nor  obliged  to  fall  out  of  line  on  a  march.  1  le 
was  made  a  corporal,  and   being  the  smallest   man 


J0//\  B.    WEBEK 

physically  in  the  company,  received  the  sobriquet  of 
the  "  Little  Corporal." 

Mr.  Weber  .saw  active  service  in  the  field.  He 
was  ])re.sent  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  was  made 
'id  lieutenant  soon  after  that  event.  He  took  part  in 
the  "Seven  Days'  Fight"  before  Richmond,  and  at 
(laines's  Mill  he  received  s]jecial  mention  for  meri- 
torious conduct.  Later  in  the  war,  when  the  1  Kith 
New  York  regiment  took  the  field,  Mr.  Weber  joined 
it  as  adjutant.  He  was  subsei|ucntly  made  acting 
a.ssistant  adjutant  general  of  (hapin's  brigade,  and 
was  with  his  command  in  the  memorable  fight  at 
Port  Hudson.  .About  this  time  he  was  offered  the 
colonelcy  of  a  Mas.sa<hu.setts  regiment  or,  in  ca.se 
he   prrf.-rr.-d    to  do  so,  was  authorized  to  organize  a 


colored  regiment.  He  cho.se  the  latter  course,  and 
in  ]8{i.S,  when  less  than  twenty -one  years  old,  he 
wa.s  made  colonel  of  the  ^9th  United  States  colored 
infantry  ;  and  as  Colonel  Weber  he  fought  to  the 
end  of  the  war. 

On  the  restoration  of  peace  he  returned  to  Buffalo, 
and  engaged  in  business  as  a  grain  com- 
mission merchant.      Later  in  life  (18f<l 
-<S4)   he  was   a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Smith  &  Weber,  wholesale  grocers.      His 
liublic   career,    however,    must  have  our 
chief  attention.      He  was  first  nominated 
for  .sheriff  of  Erie  county  in   l.STO,   but 
was    defeated  by    (Jrover    Cleveland    by 
fewer    than    three    hundred    votes,    Mr. 
Weber    running    nearly    twelve  hundred 
votes  ahead  of  his  own  ticket.      He  ran 
again   in   187o,  and  was  elected  by  two 
thousand    plurality.      Meantime   he    had 
been   appointed   deputy   postmaster,  and 
had  filled  that  office  for  three  years.      In 
both    these    positions    he    displayed    ex- 
cellent    judgment,     antl     taithfiiU)-    dis- 
charged the  duties  devolving  upon  him. 
Hut  higher  honors  were  in  store,  and 
in  the  same  year  when  his  old  antagonist 
for   sheriff   was    elected    President,    Mr. 
Weber  took   his  .seat  as  a  rejuesentative 
in  congress  from  the  33d  New  York  dis- 
trict.     He  was  re-elected  in    1)S8!),   and 
during  both  terms  proved  himself  a  cap- 
alile  representative  and  a   public-spirited 
legislator.       He    interested     himself    es- 
pecially in  the  improvement  of  our  canals 
b\'    federal    aid    on    condition    that    the\' 
should  l)e  free.      He  was  a  member  of  the 
subcommittee  charged    with    ihe  drafting 
of  a  bill  to  settle  the  Pacific-railroad  in- 
debtedness,  his  colleagues  on    the   com- 
mittee  being  e,>c-S])eaker  Crisp,  and   Mr.  Outhwaite 
of  (Jhio.      In  the  year  following  his  retirement  from 
congress    Mr.    Weber   was   appointed    by    President 
Harrison  to  the  responsible  office  of  commissioner  of 
immigration  at  the  port  of  New  York.      While  in  this 
position  he  was  sent  to  Europe  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
mission to  make  an  investigation  into  the  sources  and 
I  luises  of  immigration.      His  special  field  was  Russia, 
and  the  part  of  the  report  dealing  with  that  country 
was  widely  discussed,  and  was  translated  into  French. 
The  work  is  prohibited  in  Russia,  though  it  under- 
states rather  than  exaggerates  the  evils  considered. 

Mr.  Weber  is  a  vigorous,  clear,  and  dispassionate 
writer,  and  he  is  the  author  of  mmierous  articles 
and   re])orts,  chietly   on   rannls  and   the  immigration 


.\/R.y  (>/■'  .v/:'U'  )(iA'/c—U7-:s7y-:A\y  sKr'/7(Ky 


n 


problem.  He  is  a  member  of  the  (i.  A.  R.,  the 
L'nion  League  Club  of  Brooklyn,  the  Buffalo  ami 
Kllicott  clubs,  and  is  a  Free  Mason.  Since  his  with- 
drawal from  official  life  he  has  been  cashier  of  the 
American  Exchange  Bank,  and  has  repeated  in  tliis 
new  field  the  success  that  has  attended  all  the  under- 
takings of  his  active  career. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John B.  Wd>er 
was  born  at  Buffalo  Scptcmbrr  ,il,  18^J ;  K'as  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  and  the  Central  High  School 
of  Buffalo :  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  soldier  in  the 
Union  army  in  August,  1861,  and  served  three  years  : 
married  Elizabeth  J.  Farthing  of  Buffalo  January  7, 
186  If.;  tvas  assistant  postmaster  at  Buffalo,  1871-7'>, 
sheriff  of  Erie  count)',  1874-76,  representative  in  con- 
gress, 188i>-80,  and  commissioner  of  immigration  at 
the  port  of  New  York,  18!)0-!hi  ;  has  been  cashier  of 
American  Exchange  Rank  of  Buffalo 
since  189^. 


Charles  ^Barher  Mbeeler  iws 

for  years  lieen  a  deep  and  earnest  student 
of  civil-service  reform.  As  a  member  of 
the  civil-service  commission  of  Buffalo 
and  as  chairman  of  that  board,  he  has 
done  work  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
cause  of  pure  politics.  The  time  has  long 
since  gone  liy  when  the  reform  moNemenl 
can  be  successfully  and  openly  attacked 
bv  petty  politicians  ;  yet  those  who  stand 
for  a  better  civil  service,  who  represent 
the  principle  that  municipal  government 
is  not  spoils  politics,  know  full  well  that 
eternal  vigilance  is  the  only  safeguard. 
How  true  Mr.  Wheeler  has  been  to  the 
trust  given  to  his  care,  how  many  annoy- 
ances he  has  been  subjected  to  because  of 
his  faithfulness,  how  many  covert  attacks 
he  has  warded  off  with  the  aid  of  his 
associates  —  only  those  know  who  come 
into  an  intimate  contact  with  the  civil- 
service  commission.  He  has  labored  at 
all  times  for  an  extension  of  the  govern- 
ing principle  of  merit,  until  he  has  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  nearly  all  depart- 
ments of  the  city  government  under  the  , 
operation  of  civil-service  rules  and  regu- 
l.itions.  Silas  W.  Burt  of  the  state 
civil-service  commission  said  lately  that 
in  the  application  of  the  reform  to  the 
city  service,  Buffalo  was  a  model  for  all  other  cities 
in  the  state. 

Mr.    Wheeler    is  a  lawver  bv   profession    and   an 
active  practitioner.      He  has  been   sucli   since    ISTIi, 


when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  (ioing  to  Buffalo 
three  years  prior  to  his  admi.ssion,  after  graduat- 
ing from  Williams  College,  Mr.  Wheeler  entered  the 
office  of  Sprague  &  Ciorham,  where  he  assiduously 
studied  the  mysteries  of  the  law.  On  his  admission 
to  the  liar  he  at  once  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. His  thoroughness  in  all  things,  his  accurate 
knowledge  of  law,  his  care  in  preparing  cases,  his 
logical  presentation  of  the  same,  and  his  clearness 
before  judge  or  jury  early  attracted  the  attention  of 
older  lawyers.  Because  of  these  marked  character- 
istics as  a  legal  practitioner  Mr.  Wheeler  was  ad- 
mitted to  jjartnership  in  1.SS-2  l)y  Sherman  S.  Rogers 
and  Franklin  1).  I.ocke,  retaining  his  connection  with 
this  firm  for  three  years.  During  this  time  many 
important  cases  were  handled  by  him  ;  and  it  need 
hardly  be  added  that  he  won  his  full  share  of  victories. 


^gte^ 


c 


^^[ 


(•HAKI.ES  liAI^'Kr-.K    WIIREl.RR 

With  broadened  experience  and  ripened  judgment 
Mr.  Wheeler  in  18S5  began  to  practice  alone,  and  has 
remained  without  a  ])artner  since.  He  is  regularly 
retained  bv  a   number   of  business  men  of  extensive 


02 


.'ifEX  (>/■  .\7:ir  ) ■()/!' A'— /r/;.s/y;A'.\  .sac/'/o.n' 


interests,  some  of  whom  came  to  know  him  and  to 
appreciate  his  worth  while  he  was  a  partner  with 
Messrs.  Rogers  and  Locke.  He  is  a  faithful  student 
of  the  law,  and  thinks  the  time  not  wasted  that  is 
devoted  to  a  jiatient  arquirement  of  all  the  details  of 
legal  learning.      In  this  iiartirular  he   is  an  exani]ile 


TRl!.\tA.\ 


w  H/r/-: 


for  many  other  lawyers  who  fail  to  ajjpreciate  the 
fact  that  only  constant  and  intelligent  application 
will  fit  them  for  a  succe.ssful  battle  in  court.  Mr. 
Wheeler  is  an  excellent  trial  lawyer  as  well  as  a  sound 
coun.selor.  He  never  finds  it  necessary  to  bully  and 
hector  witne.s.ses  in  his  endeavor  to  bring  out  all  that 
will  be  of  advantage  to  his  side  of  a  case.  His  ex- 
amination is  marked  by  an  admirable  clearness  ;  he 
knows  exactly  the  object  to  be  attained  and  the  most 
direct  and  jjositive  way  of  reaching  it.  In  (  ro.ss- 
examinalion  he  is  ecjually  expert,  and  .shrewdly  fights 
his  way  to  the  desired  end.  When  presenting  a  ca.se  to 
a  jury  he  indulges  in  no  mere  oratory,  but  marshals 
his  facts  in  strong  array,  sweeps  away  all  extraneous 


matter,  and  bears  down  upon  the  judgment  of  the 
"twelve  good  men  and  true"  in  an  irresistible 
manner.  In  a  legal  argument  before  a  court  his 
facts  are  again  presented  fairly  and  forcibly,  and  his 
contentions  .supported  by  citations  always  relevant  to 
tile  matter  under  consideration. 

If  one  were  asked  to  give  in  a  word 
the  secret  of  Charles  Barker  Wheeler's 
success  in  life,  that  word  would  be  "  thor- 
oughness." 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  Barker  Wheeler  was  born  at 
Pop/a r  Ridge,  Cayuga  eotinty,  N.  V., 
Deeemher  27,  1851 ;  graduated  from 
Williams  College  with  the  elass  of  187-3 ; 
7oas  adjrntted  to  the  bar  in  1876  ;  married 
Frances  Munro  Rochester  of  Buffalo  June 
,i8,  188-i  ;  was  appointed  member  of  the 
Buffalo  civil-sendee  commission  March  11, 
1889,  and  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
board  February  3,  1892. 


Xlruman  C.  "WHbite,  a  justice  of 

the  Supreme  Court,  is  a  son  of  the  late 
Daniel  Delevan  White  and  Alma  Wilber, 
and  comes  from  good  New  Kngland 
stock.  Klder  John  White,  who  settled  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1():52,  and  who  was 
a  member  of  the  famous  I'homas  Hooker's 
congregation,  was  Mr.  White's  paternal 
.American  ancestor.  His  American  an- 
cestor on  the  other  side  was  (Jeorge 
Wilber,  who  lived  near  Danby,  Vt.,  early 
in  the  IXth  centur)'.  Truman  White 
and  Stephen  Wilber,  the  grandparents  of 
justice  \\'hite,  were  pioneers  in  Krie 
county,  having  settled  there  in  IMO. 

Mr.  White  attended  the  public-  and 
".select"  schools  of  his  neighborhood, 
and  taught  two  winter  terms  in  the  village 
school  ot  i.angfonl,  Krie  county.  He  also  spent 
a  part  of  the  years  lX5f)-60  at  the  Springville 
Academy,  intending  to  complete  a  course  of  study 
there  :  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War 
caused  a  change  in  his  plans.  In  September,  1X61, 
he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  lOth  regiment  New 
York  volunteer  cavalry  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war.  He  held  the  noncommissioned  office  of 
c]uarterniaster  sergeant  in  his  company  from  August 
5,  1862,  to  March  4,  1863,  and  that  of  orderly  or 
1st  .sergeant  from  March  4,  1863,  to  February  It, 
1864,  when  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  1st 
lieutenant.  In  January,  18()4,  he  re-enlisted  in  the 
field  for  the  remainder  of  the  war,  served  with  his 


.i//-;.\"  ('/•■  x/'ii'  ) vvv'A"— ;rA\s7/-;A'.\'  .s7-;<77().\' 


93 


regiment  until  the  war  ended,  and  was  mustered  out 
of  service  at  Syracuse  in  July,  l'H(j5. 

Justice  \Miite's  name  has  long  suggested  legal 
rather  than  military  associations,  and  his  heart  was 
set  upon  the  law  from  an  early  day.  While  in  the 
army  he  read  Blackstone  and  Kent,  hut  of  course 
could  not  pursue  his  legal  studies  effectively  under 
such  conditions.  On  his  return  to  civil  life  he 
spent  .some  months  in  the  oil  regions  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  in  January,  1860,  entered  the  law  ofifice 
of  Judge  Stephen  Lockwood  in  Buffalo  as  a  student, 
and  soon  afterward  became  a  student  and  managing 
clerk  in  the  office  of  Edward  Stevens,  then  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  and  successful  lawyers  in  western 
New  York.  In  November,  1807,  Mr.  White  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  immediately  opened  an 
office  on  his  own  account.  He  had  scarcely  become 
settled  in  his  new  quarters,  however, 
when  his  former  preceptor  tendered  him 
a  partnership  on  very  liberal  terms.  The 
ofler  was  accepted,  and  the  firm  was 
known  as  Stevens  &  White.  Mr.  Stevens 
having  died  in  August,  1868,  Mr.  White 
from  that  time  until  he  was  elected  a 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Buffalo 
in  1891,  was  associated  succe.ssively  witli 
George  Wadsworth,  Nelson  K.  Hopkins, 
and  Seward  A.  Simons  in  the  practice 
of  the  law.  Mr.  White  attained  high 
rank  as  an  active  practitioner  at  the 
i)ar.  He  enjoyed  the  conlidence  and  re- 
gard of  all  who  knew  him  ;  and  his 
practice  was  extensive,  varied,  and  suc- 
cessful in  a  marked  degree. 

Though  a  strong  Republican  in  pol- 
itics, Mr.  White  is  not  a  partisan,  and 
when  he  was  lirst  nominated  for  a  place 
on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
Buffalo  in  1885,  he  received  the  su|)port 
of  men  of  both  parties,  and  failed  of 
election  by  a  minority  of  only  fifty-seven 
votes  in  a  total  of  thirty-three  thousand. 
When  placed  in  nomination  for  the  same 
office  in  1891,  he  received  a  majority  of 
over  four  hundred  votes  in  a  year  when 
nearly  all  the  city  and  county  Democratic 
tickets  were  elected  by  large  majorities, 
the  mayor,  or  head  of  the  Democratic 
city  ticket,  being  elected  by  a  majority 
of  4,587.  This  was  remarkably  strong 
evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which  his  fellow-citizens 
held  him  at  that  time,  and  his  career  on  the  bench 
has  been  such  as  to  increase  that  esteem.  .Ajjl  learn- 
ing, legal  ability,  unquestioned  integrity  of  purjiose. 


and  a  well  balanced  temperament  have  characterized 
and  distinguished  Mr.  White's  judicial  career. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Truman  Clark 
While  rcas  horn  at  Fcrrysburg,  N.  V.,  April  30, 
lS.'/t :  attended  country  schools  atid  Spring^nlle  (yN.  V.  ) 
Academy :  enlisted  in  the  10th  New  York  cavalry 
in  ISal,  and  served  throw^hoiit  the  war,  being  dis- 
charged in  July,  ISHi),  as  1st  lieutenant ;  7vas  ad- 
mitted to  the  Ihir  in  Buffalo  in  A\n<eml)er,  1867  : 
married  Emma  Kale  Liaskins  of  Buffalo  February 
10,  18G!)  :  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
Buffalo  in  the  fall  of  1801,  serving  until  January  7, 
18.96,  when,  on  the  abolishment  of  the  Superior  Court, 
he  took  his  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


■CbOmaS  %.  36imtinO   is  a  living  proof  that 
the  boy  who  has   it   in   him  can  win  success  in  the 


TIII1MA.S  /.  itrxTi.xc, 


countr\  as  well  as  in  the  city.  His  own  life  has 
shown  that  it  is  not  nece.ssary  to  leave  the  village  for 
the  larger  field  of  the  city,  if  one  desires  to  build 
up  a  profitable  business.      Of  course  the  chances  are 


94 


AfEX   OF  .\K\r    yORK—U-J-:sTER.\  SEC/VOX 


fewer  in  the  country,  but  that  fact  contributes  so 
much  more  to  the  credit  of  the  man  who  takes  ad- 
vantage of  them.  Like  so  many  other  country  boys, 
Mr.  Bunting  taught  .school  while  he  was  finishing  his 
education.  After  leaving  the  Springville  Academy 
in  I860  he  moved  to  Hamburg,  in  Krie  county,  and 
has  lived  there  ever  since,  having  closely  identified 
himself  with  the  material  welfare  of  that  thriving 
town.  He  embarked  early  in  mercantile  business, 
and  in  ISfiS  establi.shed  a  general  store.  Close  and 
intelligent  aiiplication  won  him  success,  and  he  is 
now  the  owner  of  the  largest  store  of  its  kind  in 
western  New  York.  His  establishment  is  popularly 
known  as  '"Six  Stores  in  One." 

.\lways  on  the  lookout  for  opportunities  to  widen 
his  field,  Mr.  Bunting  became  identified  with  the 
canning  business  in  1X,S1,  and  to  his  business  insight 
is  largely  due  the  great  measure  of  prosperity  that 
has  come  to  the  Hamburg  Canning  Co.  This  con- 
cern has  mammoth  jilants  both  at  Hamburg  and  at 
Eden,  in  Erie  county.  Its  capital  stock  is  S10(t,()()(l, 
and  its  yearly  output  is  three  and  one-half  million 
cans  of  fruits  and  \egetables,  equi\alent  to  five  hun- 
dred car-loads.  It  finds  markets  in  all  states  of  this 
country  and  in  many  foreign  cities.  Mr.  Bunting  is 
interested  in  various  other  com]:)anies.  He  is  vice 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Hamburg,  a  stockholder  in 
the  Hamburg  I'laning  Mill  Co.,  president  of  the  local 
water  and  electric-light  comijany,  and  president  of  the 
Hamburg  Investment  &  Improvement  Co.,  which  has 
done  much  for  the  development  and  improvement 
of  the  town.  .\11  of  these  enterprises  have  the  benefit 
of  Mr.  Bunting's  sagacity  and  business  judgment. 

Mr.  Bunting  is  a  Democrat  in  political  faith,  and 
has  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  honest  politics.  He 
was  elected  to  the  52d  congress  from  the  ood  New 
York  district  in  ISilO,  and  served  his  term  with 
much  distinction.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the 
discussion  over  the  proposed  changes  in  the  tariff 
laws  was  at  its  highest  point.  The  McKinley  law 
had  been  pas.sed  in  1890,  and  the  52(1  congress, 
which  assembled  in  1891,  and  which  was  Demo- 
cratic, made  a  great  effort  to  overthrow  the  principle 
of  protection.  Mr.  Bunting  arrayed  himself  with 
the  tariff-reform  forces,  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
debates,  and  became  recognized  as  one  of  the  best 
authorities  on  that  side  concerning  tin  plate.  His 
connection  with  the  canning  business,  in  which  he 
was  a  large  consumer  of  tin  cans,  gave  him  a  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  he  wrote  many 
articles  for  the  press  and  for  the  Tariff  Reform  Club. 
When  his  term  expired  his  party  endeavored  to  give 
him  a  renomination,  but  he  ])Ositively  refiised  to 
return  to  Washington. 


.Mr.  Bunting  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  the 
Royal  Arcanum,  and  of  the  .\ncient  Order  of  Cnited 
Workmen. 

J'JiRSOAAL  CHRONOLOGY— riwimu  La- 
llirop  Biintingwas  horn  in  the  tmon  of  Eden,  N.  i. , 
April  ^J^,  ISIflf  ;  receii-ed  liis  education  at  a  district 
school  and  the  Springville  Academy :  taught  school  in 
ISHl-dJ ;  married  Betiie  Maria  Neit'ton  of  East 
Ifamlnirg,  N.  Y. ,  September  H,  18(19 :  established  a 
Xeneral  mercantile  business  in  Hamburg,  vV'.  Y.,  in 
1S()8 ;  became  manager  of  the  Hamburg  Canning  Co. 
in  188f)  ;  7oa~s  a  member  of  the  ')2d  congress  ( 1801- 
f>-i)  :  has  lived  in  Hamburg  since  1863. 


Cbai'lC5  S.  CarV?  is  a  prominent  character  in 
the  politicai,  social,  and  business  circles  of  western 
New  York.  An  academic  education,  together  with 
a  close  study  of  law,  science,  literature,  and  man- 
kind, has  given  Mr.  Cary  that  tact  and  farsight- 
edness needed  by  the  successful  politician,  business 
man,  and  lawyer.  Of  commanding  presence  and 
great  mastery  of  language,  he  not  only  impresses  one 
by  his  physical  perfection,  but  also  wins  one's  con- 
fidence at  once  by  his  quaint,  bluff,  and  yet  adroit 
manner  of  speech.  Thoroughly  schooled  in  all  the 
practice  of  the  law,  he  has  gained  a  clientage  in 
Olean  and  the  oil  country  second  to  none  ;  and  Cary 
&  White,  Cary  &  BoUes,  and  Cary,  Rumsey  & 
Hastings,  have  always  appeared  as  coun.sel  in  im- 
portant cases  on  the  court  calendars  of  the  8th 
judicial  district.  During  the  forty-five  years  of  his 
practice  he  has  attended  every  term  of  the  Supreme 
Court  held  in  his  count) . 

In  ])olitical  life  Mr.  Cary  has  been  a  Democrat. 
President  Lincoln,  however,  recognizing  his  ability, 
appointed  him  commissioner  of  enrollment  for  the 
.■52d  district  in  18t)8  ;  and  during  the  years  I8(j5-(>ti 
he  was  collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the  same  dis- 
trict. In  1872  he  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats 
for  representative  in  congress,  and  received  a  major- 
ity of  the  legal  votes  in  the  district  comprising  Chau- 
tauqua and  Cattaraugus  counties.  The  Republican 
ballots  in  Chautauqua  county,  having  been  printed 
"  For  Member  of  Congress  "  instead  of  "  For  Rep- 
resentative in  Congress,"  as  roi|uircd  by  law,  were 
invalid,  and  Mr.  Cary  might  have  had  the  whole 
vote  thrown  out,  and  might  thus  have  been  .seated  by 
congress.  He  was  strongly  urged  to  do  so,  and  it 
would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  give  Mr.  Cary 
his  .seat,  the  Democratic  party  having  a  large  major- 
ity in  the  house  of  representatives  at  that  time.  But 
he  would  not  permit  this,  and  refii.sed  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  technicality.     I'his  act  alone  brought  him 


.I/AW  OF  .y/-:ij'  ]i>A'/K—iiy-:s/7-:A\v  skcz/cx 


05 


many  friends  in  the  Republican  party,  r.nd  he  was 
able  in  1883,  when  he  received  the  nomination  for 
member  of  assembly  at  the  hands  of  the  Democrats, 
10  overcome  a  large  Republican  majority  and  to  win 
the  election.  In  the  same  year  he  was  nominated  by 
the  Democratic  judicial  convention  for  the  Sth 
judicial  district  for  ju.stice  of  the  Supreme 
t.'ourt,  and  ran  eleven  thousand  ahead  of 
the  jiarty  ticket.  In  l.SS(i  President  Cleve- 
land, seeking  to  inaugurate  reforms  in  the 
governmental  supervision  of  the  Pacific 
railroads,  ajjpointed  Mr.  Cary  one  of  the 
national  commissioners.  In  this  capacity 
he  served  one  year,  when  the  President 
made  him  solicitor  of  the  United  States 
treasury.  Mr.  Cary  held  this  office  until 
the  close  of  President  Cleveland's  first 
term.  .\t  the  Democratic  state  conven- 
tion at  Syracuse  in  IXOo  he  was  strongly 
urged  to  accept  the  nomination  for  sec- 
retary of  state,  but  refused  to  allow  the 
use  of  his  name. 

In  railroad  circles  of  western  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  Mr.  Cary  has  long  been 
(jrominent,  having  been  president  of  the 
Olean,  Bradford  &:  Warren,  the  Kendall 
I.S:  KIdred,  and  the  Olean  &  Bolivar  rail- 
roads. He  is  now  vice  president  of  the 
Coudersport  &  Port  Allegheny  railroad. 
He  is  favorably  known  in  banking  circles, 
having  been  an  incorporator  of  the  Ex- 
change National  Bank  of  Olean  and  a 
director  in  that  institution  from  the  time 
of  its  foundation.  He  has  retained  in 
abundant  measure  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  commimity  of  which  he 
has  so  long  been  an  active  member. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  S.  Cary  loas  born  at  Lioriicllsvillc, 
N.  Y. ,  Novfinher  2'>,  ISiil  ;  graduated  from  Alfred 
{N.  Y.)  Academy  in  18^1 ,  and  from  the  National 
L.aw  School,  Ballsion  Spa,  N.  Y. ,  in  18'>0 :  married 
Sarah  A.  Mitchell  in  18 ')0 :  reuis  appointed  com- 
missioner of  the  board  of  enrollment  bv  President 
Lincoln  in  ]8<!-! :  laas  collector  of  internal  revenue, 
18(ji)-0(J ;  was  a  member  of  the  state  assembly  in 
188-1 ;  7C'as  appointed  commissioner  of  Pacific  rail- 
roads in  1880,  and  solicitor  of  the  United  States  treas- 
ury in  1887  :  has  practiced  law  in  Olean  since  18'i(r 
♦♦• 

'^PlIlillar^  H.  Cobb  has  been  a  lifelong  student 
of  men  and  affairs.  He  is  es|jecially  noted  as  :i 
journalist  who  has  faithfiillv  served  the  state  in 
official  ])Ositions,      He  has  been   an   active   force   in 


the  formation  of  a  sound  and  lv,alth\'  |)ublic  opin- 
ion in  western  New  York  on  e\erv  jjrominent  (jues- 
tion  that  has  arisen  during  the  la.st  twenty-five  years. 
He  has  labored  with  |jen  and  voice  for  the  success  of 
principles  constituting  the  basis  of  all  good  govern- 
ment. 


(7/.//,v./;.v  .V  r. ;/,'!' 

.\s  a  preparation  for  his  i:areer  he  had  the  advan- 
tage of  an  excellent  education.  He  was  fitted  for 
college  at  Rome  (N.  Y.  )  Academy  and  at  Dwight"s 
Rural  High  School,  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  and  pursued  a 
four  years'  course  at  Hamilton  College,  having 
among  his  classmates  Klihu  Root,  Franklin  D. 
Locke,  and  other  men  who  have  since  achieved  dis- 
tinction. Having  chosen  journalism  as  his  pro- 
fession, Mr.  Cobb  at  once  began  his  apprenticeshij) 
in  the  jjractical  school  of  the  rejiorter.  He  accejjted 
a  position  on  the  Chicago  J'ost,  and  was  then  suc- 
cessively assistant  editor  of  the  Racine  Advocate, 
city  editor  of  the  L'tica  Morning  Herald,  editor  of 
the  Dunkirk  Journal,  and  finally  editor  in  chief  of 
the  I.ockport  Dail\  Journal. 


90 


Mi:.\  or  x/-:ir  vork  —  ji-ks/ej^x  sKcrfox 


Were  it  not  for  the  absorbing  work  connected 
with  a  modern  newspaper,  Mr.  Cobb  might  have 
made  his  mark  in  pure  literature.  His  letters  from 
Kuro])e  during  a  year's  travel  abroad  exhibited  such 
jjowers  of  descrijjtion  and  faculty  of  imparling  in- 
formation  in  an   interestinij   wav  as  have  made  the 


WlI.LARn   A.   COBB 

reputation  of  many  writers.  His  letters  from  Italy 
upon  the  economic,  political,  and  religious  condi- 
tions of  that  country,  and  especially  his  account  of 
an  interview  with  Leo  XIII.,  recently  elected  Pope, 
were  in  great  demand  by  the  press. 

His  experience  abroad,  coupled  with  his  wide 
knowledge  of  practical  problems  in  education, 
e(|ui|jped  him  in  a  marked  degree  for  the  high  office 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  legislature  in  1880,  when 
he  was  elected  a  regent  of  the  L'niversity  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  duties  of  this  position 
were  fully  appreciated  and  faithfully  discharged  until 
1895.  He  was  appointed  by  (iovernor  Morton  in 
that  year  one  of  the  three  civil-service  commissioners 
of  the  state,  and  thereupon  resigned  from  the  board 


of  regents,  the  law  forliidding  him  as  commissioner 

to  hold  any  other  official  position. 

Though  always  a  strong   Republican,    an    active 

party  worker,  and  a  member  of  the  state  committee 

and  of  numerous  state  and  local  conventions,  Mr. 

Cob!)  has  proved  himself  an  impartial,  efficient,  and 
])rogressive  member  of  the  board.      At  the 

first  meeting  of  the  new  commission  he 

was  elected  president.  It  has  been  said 
by  a  high  authority  —  one  of  the  United 
States  civil-service  commissioners,  in  fact 
—  that  under  Mr.  Cobb's  administration 
more  has  been  accomplished  than  by  any 
former  state  civil-service  commission. 

Mr.  Cobb  has  been  called  upon  fre- 
([uently  to  speak  before  teachers'  associa- 
tions and  editorial  conventions,  and  has 
always  delivered  addresses  worthy  of  the 
occasion.  He  has  been  at  all  times  a 
hard  and  energetic  worker,  and  has  im- 
[jressed  himself  upon  his  day  and  genera- 
tion. Few  men  are  more  widelv  or  more 
favorably  known  throughout  the  state. 

Mr.  Cobb  is  a  bachelor,  and  lives  in 
an  apartment  flat  in  Lockjjort. 

PERSONA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G )  — 
Wilhird  Adams  Cohh  was  born  at  Rome, 
N.  Y.,  July  20,  181^2:  graduated  from 
Hamilton  College  in  IStiJf  ;  was  a  regent 
of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
lSS6-9,'>  :  has  been  president  of  the  State 
Civil  Service  Commission  since  1895  ;  has 
edited  the  Lockport  "  Daily  Journal"  since 
]87l. 


3obn  U.  2>arrtson  is  one  of  the 

most  popular  citizens  of  I.ockport.  Al- 
though still  a  young  man,  he  long  since 
made  his  mark  in  the  community  in  which 
he  has  lived  all  his  life.  He  is  identified  with  its 
interests  in  many  ways,  and  has  done  his  fiill  share  in 
promoting  its  welfare.  His  fellow-citizens  delight  to 
do  him  honor,  for  he  has  shown  himself  faithfiil  in 
small  things  as  well  as  in  great.  No  interest  com- 
mitted to  his  care  is  allowed  to  suffer  from  want  of 
attention  and  of  wise  counsel.  This  is  true  of  him, 
not  only  as  concerns  things  that  have  lo  do  with  the 
material  and  municipal  welfare  of  the  city,  but  also 
as  regards  its  charities.  Mr.  Darrison  is  a  man  of 
the  people,  true  to  himself  and  true  to  others. 

It  is  becau.se  of  these  qualities  that  he  has  so 
often  been  called  upon  to  occupy  positions  of  great 
trust  and  responsibility.  He  has  been  prominent  in 
the    municipal    affairs   of    the  city  for   some  years. 


.l/ZTA'   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTER X  SECTION 


97 


His  first  public  office  was  that  of  alderman,  in  which 
he  rendered  services  of  so  valuable  a  character  that 
he  was  next  chosen  to  be  a  member  of  the  board  of 
supervisors.  Here,  again,  his  plain  common  sense 
and  strict  business  methods  were  so  marked  that  in 
1892  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  cit)-,  holding  that 
office  for  two  years.  His  administration  was  emi- 
nently satisfactory  to  the  people  of  Lockport.  At 
present  he  is  one  of  the  railroad  commissioners  of 
the  city  ;  a  member  of  the  board  of  education  : 
treasurer  of  the  Lockport  &  Buffalo  Railway  Co.  ; 
and  active  in  an  official  capacity  in  various  local 
institutions. 

All  that  John  T.  Darrison  is  he  owes  to  his  own 
efforts.  He  was  born  in  Lockport,  and  obtained  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  When 
sixteen  years  old  he  started  out  for  himself  by  becom- 
ing an  apprentice  in  the  composing  de- 
partment of  the  Lockport  Journal.  But 
the  opportunities  there  seemed  limited, 
and  when,  two  years  later,  a  chance  came 
to  engage  in  the  flour  and  feed  business, 
young  Darrison  was  glad  to  make  a 
change.  Unremitting  and  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  business  in  all  its  details  has 
been  followed  by  a  success  that  could  ha\e 
been  only  dreamed  of  in  the  beginning. 
The  business  has  grown  steadily  and 
surely,  until  now  Mr.  Darrison  is  at  the 
head  of  an  establishment  that  occupies 
three  commodious  stores  equipped  with 
the  best  appliances  for  handling,  in  the 
most  approved  manner  and  with  the 
utmost  dispatch,  the  special  kind  of  mer- 
chandise concerned.  These  stores  are  the 
center  of  distribution  for  a  very  large  trade 
in  western  Xew  York.  The  seed  depart- 
ment is  particularly  well  organized,  and 
ha.s  business  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

While  developing  his  private  business, 
Mr.  Darrison  has  been  fully  alive  to  the 
opportunities  in  other  directions.  He  has 
done  his  part  in  local  enterprises  of  a 
])ublic  nature,  the  successful  operation  of 
which  has  resulted  in  benefit  to  the  city 
of  Lockport.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the 
Lockport  &  Buffalo  Railway  Co.,  the 
Thompson  Milling  Co.,  and  the  United 
Indurated  Fibre  Co. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 

John   Thomas  Darrison  was  born  at  Lockport,  N.  V. , 

October  ,iO,  IS-')-')  :  7oas  educate  J  in  t/ic  public  sciioo/s  : 

married  Laura  A.  Lambert  of  Lockport  September  Jl), 

1880  :  7cias  elected  alderman  of  Lockport  in  188o,  mayor 


in  1802,  and  school  trustee  in  1895  ;  was  appointed 
supen'isor  in  1886,  member  of  the  board  of  health  in 
1880,  civil-service  commissioner  in  1890,  railroad 
commissioner  in  189^,  and  a  member  of  the  board  of 
education  in  1895 ;  has  conducted  a  flour,  feed,  and 
grain  business  in  Lockport  since  January,  1873. 


iSSCll.  S.  S)caU  is  as  well  known  throughout  a 
large  part  of  western  New  York  as  any  newspaper 
editor  in  that  section.  This  fame  is  not  due  to  his 
newspaper  work  alone,  but  in  great  ])art  to  his  activ- 
ity in  politics.  He  is  a  man  of  positive  ideas,  who 
always  has  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and  never 
hesitates  to  make  them  known.  Such  a  man  cannot 
fail  to  impress  himself  upon  any  community  in  which 
he  lives.  He  may  make  foes  —  a  positive  man  al- 
wavs  does  that  — but  he  is  never  without  friends.    In 


J(>!/.\    T.   /).4Rh'/SO.\ 

fact,  he  derives  more  ]jhilosophic  satisfaction  from  the 
opposition  of  enemies  than  pleasure  from  the  support 
of  friends.  In  j)olitics  it  is  often  a  compliment  to  a 
man  that  Mr.  So-and-So  opposes  him. 


98 


.\n:.\  OF  \Kir 


'(IRK  -WKSTJih'X  S/-:C'J7().\' 


We  think  of  Mr.  Dean  nowadays  as  an  old  Chau- 
tauquan,  since  he  has  long  been  a  resident  of  James- 
town ;  but  he  was  born  in  Randoljih,  Cattaraugus 
count}'.  His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the 
common  schools.  When  someone  asked  him  where 
his  education   wa.s   com|:)leted,  the   answer  was   thor- 


HEX.  S.  DEAN 

oughly  characteristic — "It  has  never  been  com- 
pleted; I  am  still  a  student."  Being  still  a  student, 
Mr.  Dean  is  a  growing  man  :  it  is  only  the  man  that 
knows  it  all  who  cea.ses  to  develop. 

In  IX7X,  when  only  eighteen  years  old,  .Mr.  Dean 
became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Sampson,  Kittell  & 
Dean,  who  ])ublished  a  paper  called  the  Register  at 
Kmlenton,  I'enn.  He  ne.xt  a.ssociated  himself  with 
the  Rev.  J.  J.  Keyes  in  the  publication  of  the  Sun- 
day vl/Z/vw  at  Olean,  N.  Y.  I'his  partnership  con- 
tinued through  1881  and  1882.  From  Olean  Mr. 
Dean  went  to  his  native  town  of  Randoliih  in  the 
year  last  named,  and  there,  in  ))artnershi])  with  (i.  W. 
Roijerts,  puljlished  the  Randolph  Register.  Here  he 
remained  until  May,  IHH").      Jamestown  was  then,  as 


it  is  now,  a  bustling,  growing  city,  the  metropolis  of 
Chautauqua  county,  and  the  seat  of  many  prosperous 
manufactories.  The  place  seemed  to  offer  a  fine  field 
for  another  live  newspaper,  and  in  November,  1885, 
Mr.  Dean  formed  the  News  Publishing  Company, 
and  established  the  Jamestown  Ne%vs.  Of  this  paper 
he  has  been  editor  ever  since,  with  the 
exception  of  five  months  in  1894,  when  he 
served  as  a  member  from  Chautauciua 
county  of  the  state  constitutional  conven- 
tion. This  is  the  only  office  to  which 
Mr.  Dean  has  ever  been  elected,  and  the 
only  one  for  which  he  was  ever  a  candi- 
date. 

Mr.  Dean  is  an  ardent  Republican  in 
Ijolitical  belief,  and  his  journalistic  work 
is  largely  in  the  line  of  political  writings. 
He  handles  all  subjects  of  that  nature 
with  a  directness  of  purpose  that  can 
never  be  mistaken.  A  spade  is  a  spade 
to  him,  and  he  never  hesitates  to  call 
things  by  what  he  conceives  to  be  their 
proper  names.  He  has  a  large  fund  of 
information  on  many  subjects,  and  his  edi- 
torials command  wide  attention.  Though 
ot'ten  attacked,  he  is  ever  ready  with  reply, 
and  a  controversy  is  very  much  to  his 
liking.  Besides  his  journalistic  writings 
he  has  contributed  politico-economic 
articles  to  various  publications. 

Outside  of  his  newspaper  work  Mr. 
Dean's  activities  have  been  mostly  devoted 
to  politics.  He  has  been  an  earnest 
worker  both  with  the  leaders  and  in  the 
ranks.  .Sometimes  he  has  been  with  the 
controlling  interests  of  his  party  and  some- 
times against  them,  but  with  one  excep- 
tion he  has  accjuiesced  in  the  decrees  of 
the  party  conventions  in  nominations. 
The  fight  he  led  in  this  exception  resulted  in  the  de- 
feat at  the  polls  of  the  candidate  opposed  by  him. 

Mr.  Dean  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  free  coinage  of 
silver  on  a  basis  of  sixteen  to  one,  and  in  govern- 
mental ownership  of  essential  monopolies.  He  is 
ojjposed  to  ballot  reform,  high  license,  and  ci\ib 
service  reform,  all  of  which  he  terms  ' '  fads. ' '  How- 
ever much  others  may  differ  from  him  on  these 
subjects,  it  must  be  conceded  that  he  is  honest  and 
fearless  in  his  opposition. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Benjamin  S. 
Dean  rvas  born  at  Randolph,  N.  V. ,  May  10,  1800  ; 
/legan  work  as  a  newspaper  writer  in  1878  ;  married 
Emile  C.  Blasdell  of  Attiea,  N.  V.,  June  37, 
188-i  ;    was  elected  a  memher  of  the  stair  ronstifutional 


MKX   ()/■'  .VHII'    VORK^irESTKRX  SKCT/iK\ 


99 


cotnicntion  in  180-3  :  tvi^anized  the  News  Pii/i/is/iiii}; 
Company  iti  18S-'),  (.tin!  has  eififeif  the  Jamestmvn 
"  Neivs  ^'  si?ice. 


WilliaiU  Carvl  lElV?  owes  his  success  as  a 
lawyer  and  man  ol'  aftairs  to  an  indomitable  will  con- 
trolled by  sound  judgment,  wide  knowledge,  and 
practical  experience.  When  once  he  has  grappled 
with  a  problem,  he  holds  on  till  a  solution  is  ob- 
tained. He  has  been  the  projector,  organizer,  and 
promoter  of  a  number  of  important  undertakings  in 
the  electrical  field,  and  has  succeeded  in  the  face  of 
great  discouragements.  He  has  had  the  faith  and 
the  energy  that,  united,  overcome  all  obstacles.  The 
law,  it  has  been  truly  remarked,  has  to-day  become 
a  business.  The  old-time,  slow-going,  i^edantic  man 
of  books  would  be  out  of  place  in  a  modern  law  office 
or  court  room.  In  his  stead  has  come 
the  quiet,  accurate  thinker,  well  grounded 
in  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  law, 
but  jjossessing  in  addition  a  mind  adapted 
to  the  complicated  forms  and  involved 
methods  of  the  commercial  world  as  it 
exists  to-day. 

To  speak  of  Mr.  Ely  as  a  liusiness 
lawyer  .seems  natural.  Yet  he  is  some- 
thing more  than  that,  for  he  is  a  successful 
advocate,  and  has  the  valuable  gift  known 
in  the  profession  as  a  judicial  mind.  But 
his  work  in  connection  with  such  corpora- 
tions as  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Co.  and 
the  Buffalo  &  Niagara  Falls  Electric  rail- 
way exemplifies  and  emphasizes  the  prac- 
tical side  of  Mr.  Ely's  character.  He  was 
one  of  the  five  original  promoters  and 
incorporators  of  the  power  company.  He 
prepared  and  had  charge  of  the  legislation 
pertaining  to  its  original  charter,  and 
assisted  in  preparing  and  had  charge  of 
all  subsequent  legislation  ;  and  he  has 
been  a  trustee  and  local  counsel  of  the 
company  from  its  organization.  He  was 
the  principal  promoter  of  the  railwa\ 
company,  and  carried  the  enterprise  to  a 
successful  end  despite  the  panic  of  1<S!).S- 
!(."),  which  threatened  at  one  time  to 
block  the  jjroject.  He  is  president  of  the 
company. 

Mr.  Ely  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  received  the  greater  part  of  his  ele- 
mentary   and    college    training    within  its  borders. 
After  a  sound  preliminary  education  he  took  u])  the 
study  of  law,  and  was  admitted   to  the  bar  at  East 
Worcester,  N.  Y.,  where  he  practiced  for  three  years 


before  settling  in  Niagara  Falls.  His  career  as  a  law- 
yer has  been  unusually  successful  and  brilliant,  and 
the  firm  of  Ely,  Dudley  &  C'ohn,  numbering  among 
its  clients  many  imjjortant  corporations  and  manu- 
facturing companies,  has  to-day  the  most  extensive 
legal  business  in  Niagara  county. 

Legislation  and  law  are  so  intimately  connected 
that  lawyers  naturally  constitute  the  most  numerous 
class  in  all  legislative  bodies.  The  law^,  more  fre- 
quently than  any  other  profession,  leads  to  politics, 
and  Mr.  Ely  has  been  an  active  and  prominent  member 
of  his  party  for  many  years.  He  has  served  as  super- 
visor and  as  assemblyman,  and  in  1891  he  received 
the  Democratic  nomination  for  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  While  in  the  legislature  he  was  nominated 
by  his  party  for  speaker,  and  was  the  leader  of  the 
minority  on  the  floor.      He  is  treasurer  of  the  Demo- 


WILLIAM   C.I/k-V/.    el  V 


cratic  state  central  committee,  and  is  also  one  of 
the  executive  committee  of  that  organization.  Al- 
though thus  closely  interested  in  politics,  Mr.  Ely 
has  declined  nominations   for  offices   that  would  be 


100 


A/EX   (I/-    .\Kir    VORk-~]]'ESTKR\  SECT/0.\' 


likely  to  interfere  with  his  paramount  duties  as  an  at- 
torne)'  and  counselor  at  law.  His  profession  has  been 
first  with  him,  as  it  must  be  with  every  lawyer  who 
is  determined  to  win  the  respect  and  confidenre  of 
his  clients  and  his  brethren  at  the  bar. 

In  social  life  Mr.  Ely  holds  a  high  position,  and 
has  hosts  of  friends.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order,  and  has  been  a  vestryman  of  St.  Peter's  Epis- 
co|jal  Church  since  18<^6.  In  college  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Chi  Phi  fraternity. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— William  Caryl 
Ely  was  born  at  Middlefield,  N.  V.,  Eebi-uary  25, 
185(i ;  was  educated  at  Cooperstcrwti  {N.  K)  Union 
School,  Girard  ( Pa. )  Academy,  Delatvarc  Literary 
Institute  {Eranklin,  A'.  Y.),  and  Cornell  University ; 
tvas  admitted  to  the  bar  ifi  1882  ;  married  Grace  Kel- 
ler of  Cobleskill,  N.  K,  February  13,  188If  ;  was  a 
member  of  the  state  assembly,  1883-85  ;  has  practiced 
la7u  at  Niagara  Falls,  N.   Y.,  since  1885. 


ITbOmaS  Z,.  jflagler  has  had  a  thoroughly 
American  career  —  American  both  in  breadth  and 
variety  of  e.xperience,  and  in  the  rewards  that  have 
followed  upon  energy,  intelligence,  and  thrift.  His 
educational  advantages  were  limited  to  what  the 
common  schools  afforded  nearly  three-quarters  of  a 
century  ago.  His  first  paid  employment  began 
when  he  was  eleven  years  old,  and  was  in  a  bark 
mill  connected  with  a  tannery.  The  compensation 
was  board  and  one  shilling  a  day.  From  six  months' 
labor  he  saved  ten  dollars,  which  he  deposited  in  a 
New  York  savings  bank.  When  he  withdrew  the 
deposit,  after  attaining  manhood,  the  original  sum 
had  been  fully  doubled  by  interest.  At  sixteen  Mr. 
Flagler  w-as  a])prenticed  to  the  jirinting  trade  in  the 
office  of  the  Chenango  Republican,  Oxford,  N.  Y. , 
at  a  compen.sation  of  board,  washing,  mending,  and 
forty  dollars  a  year.  When  his  employer  died  two 
years  afterward,  Mr.  Flagler  formed  a  partnership 
and  bought  the  paper.  His  cash  capital  was  seven- 
teen dollars.  For  two  years  he  rode  one  day  each 
week  over  the  Chenango  hills  and  valleys  distribut- 
ing the  pa])er  to  the  sub.scribers.  After  five  years' 
experience  in  the  newspaper  business,  he  .sold  his 
interest  in  March,  18.'5(j,  and  went  westward  to 
Lock|)ort  with  81,^00,  the  profits  of  his  labor,  se- 
curely belted  about  his  body. 

Lockport  was  thenceforward  Mr.  Flagler's  home. 
For  about  two  \ears  he  worked  as  a  journeyman 
printer,  earning  the  current  wages  of  eight  dollars  a 
week.  In  September,  1838,  he  bought  the  Niagara 
Courier,  again  embarking  in  the  news])aper  business 
on  his  own  account.  The  Courier  was  a  \\'hig 
pajjer,  and  brought  him  into  active  participation   in 


politics.  Seward  and  Marcy  were  opposing  candi- 
dates for  governor,  and  Mr.  Flagler  took  an  active 
part  in  the  canvass,  not  only  in  his  paper,  but  also 
by  accompanying  the  Whig  candidate  for  congress 
about  the  lounty  and  speaking  with  him  at  jjublic 
meetings.  This  speaking  tour  doubled  the  stibscriii- 
tion  list  of  the  Courier.  Mr.  Flagler  also  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1840.  He 
made  the  dedicatory  address  at  the  comjiletion  of  the 
log  cabin  at  the  junction  of  old  and  new  Main  streets 
in  Lockport,  before  an  immense  throng  of  people. 
Millard  Fillmore,  elected  vice  president  four  years 
later,  delivered  an  address  on  the  same  occasion. 

In  184:2  and  again  in  1843  Mr.  Flagler  was  elected 
to  the  state  legislature.  The  first  year  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  grievances,  and  the  second 
year  he  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  canals. 
Only  two  men  are  now  living  who  antedate  Mr. 
Flagler  in  a.ssembly  memliership. 

In  1842  Mr.  Flagler  sold  his  newspaper,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  hardware  business,  retaining  an  interest 
therein  for  twenty-seven  years.  In  184!)  he  was 
elected  treasurer  of  Niagara  county,  and  held  the 
office  for  three  years.  In  1852  he  was  chosen  repre- 
sentative in  congress  for  the  district  embracing 
Niagara  and  Orleans  counties.  He  took  part  in  the 
stniggle  over  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  was  one 
of  the  hundred  who  voted  against  it  because  it  re- 
pealed the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  those  territories. 
He  was  almost  unanimously  re-elected  to  the  next 
congress,  the  34th  (1855-57),  and  took  part  in  the 
memorable  ten  weeks'  contest  over  the  speakership 
that  ended  in  the  election  of  Nathaniel  P.  Banks. 
Out  of  the  disorganization  of  parties  typified  in  this 
contest  sprang  the  Republican  party.  In  1860  Mr. 
Flagler  was  returned  to  the  legislature,  and  became 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  ways  and  means,  and 
of  a  special  committee  which  unavailingly  proposed 
legislation  preventing  railroad  discrimination.  In 
this  term  of  the  legislature  Mr.  Flagler  took  a  stand 
in  advance  of  his  time  by  returning,  luiused,  railroad 
passes  presented  to  him.  He  was  the  only  member 
who  did  this.  The  list  of  Mr.  Flagler's  public 
offices  closes  with  his  service  as  a  member  of  the 
constitutional  convention  of  1807-08. 

In  his  own  community  Mr.  Flagler  has  held  many 
positions  of  trust  and  honor.  He  has  been,  from 
the  beginning,  a  director  of  the  Lockport  Hydraulic 
Co.,  which  has  expended  large  sums  of  money  in 
making  the  surplus  canal  water,  taken  from  the  head 
of  the  locks,  available  for  water  power.  He  has 
thus  been  instrumental  in  building  up  Lockport  and 
making  it  a  manufacturing  town.  Among  the  in- 
dustries so  created  by  this   company   is   the   Holly 


MEX   OF  .YKir    VORK—ll-ESTEKX  SECT/OX 


101 


Manufacturing  Co.,  organized  by  Mr.  Flagler  in  1S59 
with  a  capital  of  820,000,  of  which  he  furnished  half. 
He  was  made  president  at  the  beginning,  and  has  held 
the  office  ever  since,  building  the  concern  into  an 
institution  of  national  reputation.  Other  enterprises 
with  the  organization  of  which  he  was  connected  are 
the  Lockport  Claslight  Co.,  established  in 
1851  ;  the  Niagara  County  Bank,  organ- 
ized in  18-otl  ;  and  the  Lockport  &  Buffalo 
railroad,  now  leased  by  the  Erie.  With- 
out seeking  the  position,  Mr.  Flagler  has 
been  called  almost  invariably  to  the  presi- 
dency of  the  business  organizations  with 
which  he  has  l>een  connected.  P'or  many 
years  he  has  stood  at  the  head  of  eight 
such  organizations.  He  has  shown  in 
many  ways  his  interest  in  the  well-being 
of  Lockport,  and  lately  gave  the  city  a 
dwelling  house  for  use  as  a  hospital. 
The  city  has  named  the  institution  the 
Flagler  Hospital. 

Mr.  Flagler  has  been  active  in  religious 
matters  since  his  early  manhood,  having 
united  with  the  Congregational  church  in 
O-xford  in  18.il.  He  was  elected  a  ruling 
elder  of  the  Fresbvterian  church  in  Lock- 
port  in  184(1,  and  still  holds  the  office 
after  fifty-five  years'  service.  From  1855 
to  1876  he  served  as  Sunday-school  super- 
intendent, being  finally  released  at  his 
own  request  and  made  honorarv  sujjerin- 
tendent  for  life.  When  the  presbyterx 
of  Niagara  was  incorporated  in  1875,  Mr. 
Flagler  was  elected  to  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, and  has  been  president  of  the  board 
since. 

PERSONAL      CHRONOLOGY— 
Thomas  Thorn  Flagler  was  born  at  Pleas- 
ant  Valley,   N.    Y.,    October   12,    Wll : 
after   attending   country   schools,    ivas    apprenticed  to 
the  printing  trade   at     Oxford,    X".     Y.,    in    1827: 
became  publisher  of  the   Chena?igo    ' '  Republican  ' '   in 
182,0,  and  of  the  Niagara  ' '  Courier  ' '  in  1838  :  was 
elected  to  the  Netu    York  legislature  in  181,2,   18J,-1, 
and  18(i0 ;  was  treasurer  of  Niagara  count}',  ISJ,!)  : 
was  representative  in  congress,  1853-57  ;  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1867-118 :  has 
lived  in  Lockport,  N   Y,  since  1836. 


I 


county  in  the  previous  ten  years,  almost  the  entire 
number  may  be  credited  to  Olean,  the  slight  losses 
and  gains  in  the  other  |)Ortions  of  the  county  about 
offsetting  each  other.  .\s  a  result  of  this  increase  of 
population,  Olean  applied  for  and  obtained  a  city 
charter,  and  the  first  election  of  officers  for  the  new 


1H.  ID.  ID.  jFranCbOt  has  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  man  elected  to  hold  the  office  of  mayor  of 
the  city  of  Olean.  A  study  of  the  census  re|)ort  of 
l.SOO  reveals  the  interesting  fact  that  of  the  increase 
of   five    thousand    in   the  population  of  Cattaraugus 


J  ^ 


THOMAS    T.   l-I.ACI.F.K 

city  was  held  in  February,  1894.  When  a  com- 
munity first  takes  its  place  among  the  cities  of  a 
great  state  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  it 
choose  for  its  chief  magistrate  a  man  who  will  ad- 
minister the  municipal  affairs  with  due  dignity  and 
with  sound  business  judgment.  I'he  voters  of  the 
city  of  Olean  chose  Mr.  Franchot,  who  had  been  for 
nearly  twenty  years  one  of  its  well  known  and  highly 
respected  citizens,  prominently  identified  with  its 
business,  ]jolitical,  social,  and  religious  interests. 

Mr.  Franchot  is  not  a  native  of  western  New  York, 
but  was  born  in  Otsego  county,  and  was  educated 
in  Schenectady.  He  prepared  for  college  there,  at 
L'nion  School,  and  graduated  from  Union  College 
in  the  cla.ss  of  1^75   with  the  degree  of  B.  .A.      .\t 


102 


MF.X  OF  XEir    VORK—lVESrF.R.y  SECTIOX 


that  time  the  oil  fields  of  Pennsylvania  offered  a 
tempting  o])ening  for  ambitious  young  men,  and  Mr. 
Franchot,  like  many  others,  turned  aside  from  the 
professional  paths  to  which  his  college  training  in- 
vited him,  and  embraced  a  commercial  career, 
trusting  to  industrv  and   natural  ability   to  win  suc- 


cess.  Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  went  to 
Millerstown,  Penn.,  where  he  was  employed  by  a 
pipe-line  company  as  ganger,  and  afterwards  as 
division  superintendent.  After  spending  two  years 
in  Millerstow-n  he  was  able  to  begin  business  for 
himself  as  an  oil  producer.  He  went  to  Olean,  and 
formed  a  partnershij)  with  his  brother  and  with  A.  \. 
Ferrin,  under  the  firm  name  of  Franchot  Bros.  & 
Co.  In  1888  Mr.  Perrin  sold  out  his  interest  in 
the  business,  and  the  firm  has  since  been  known  as 
Franchot  Bros. 

Mr.  Franchot  has  always  been  a  staunch  Re]jubli- 
can,  and  he  served  his  party  well,  as  chairman  of 
the  county  committee  for  three  successive  years,  and 
as  delegate  to  the  national  convention  at  Minneajiolis 


in  1892.  He  was  honored  by  the  nomination  for 
mayor  in  1S94,  in  recognition  of  his  executive 
ability  and  of  his  consistent  devotion  to  the  ]>rin- 
ciples  of  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  Franchot  is  a  prominent  figure  in  the  business 
life  of  Olean,  and  is  in  the  forefront  of  all  the 
schemes  for  advancing  the  prosperity  of 
the  city.  While  still  maintaining  his 
interest  in  the  firm  that  bears  his  name, 
he  is  at  the  .same  time  president  of  the 
Olean  Improvement  Co.,  and  a  director 
of  the  Olean  Electric  Light  &  Power  Co. , 
and  of  the  F^xchange  National  Bank  of 
Olean. 

Mr.  Franchot  has  not  allowed  himself 
to  become  so  occupied  with  his  numerous 
business  cares  as  to  neglect  the  other 
aspects  of  our  complex  nineteenth-century 
life.  He  has  been  active  in  the  work  of 
St.  Stephen's  Episcopal  Church  ever  since 
he  first  came  to  Olean,  and  for  many 
years  has  been  a  member  of  its  vestry. 
He  is  president  of  the  City  Club  of 
Olean,  and  a  member  of  the  Sigma  Phi 
fraternity  of  Union  College.  He  was 
elected  a  life  trustee  of  Union  College 
in  June,  1895.  He  is  a  nonresident 
member  of  the  (ienesee  Valley  Club  of 
Rochester,  and  of  the  University  Club 
and  the  Sigma  Phi  Club  of  New  York 
city. 

PERSONAL      CHROXOLOGY— 
Nicholas  Van  Vrankeii  Franchot  7oas  born 
at  Morris,  Otsego  count}',  N.   Y. ,   Augt4st 
^1,  IS-'io  :  was  edticated  at  Union  School 
and  at  Union   College,  Schenectady,  grad- 
uating from  the  latter  institution  in  1875  ; 
married  Annie  Coyne    IVood  of    JVarreti, 
Penn.,   Nm<ember  5,   1879;    icas  elected 
mayor  of   Olean,   N.    V. ,    in    February,   1894 ;   has 
been  in  business  in   Olean,  as  an  oil  producer,  since 
1878. 


S-OSbUJl  (3aSilUll  has  been  prominently  con- 
nected with  the  growth  of  I.ockport  for  over  thirty 
years,  and  has  done  much  to  enhance  its  material  de- 
velopment and  prosperity.  Born  in  the  town  of 
Royalton,  Niagara  county,  N.  Y.,  his  education  was 
begun  in  the  district  schools,  and  continued  in  Lock- 
port  L'nion  School,  Wilson  Collegiate  Institute,  and 
C;as]jort  Academy.  For  three  years  he  taught  a  dis- 
trict school  in  the  winter,  and  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  in  summer,  accumulating  sufficient  funds  in  this 
wav  to  enable  him  to  enter  the  L'niversitv  of  Rochester 


A/KX   OF  XEir    YORK— WESTER. X  SECT/OX 


103 


in  the  spring  of  1856.  We  prize  most  what  costs 
us  the  most  effort,  and  Judge  Gaskill,  having  worked 
hard  to  obtain  a  college  education,  naturally  made 
good  use  of  the  opportunities  that  it  offered  ;  and 
when  he  was  graduated  in  1859  he  received  the 
highest  honors  of  his  class.  The  same  year  he  began 
the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  George  D.  Lamont 
of  Lockport,  and  after  completing  the  required  course 
of  reading,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of 
Niagara  county  at  the  December  term  of  18(i().  In 
18t>2  he  opened  an  office  in  Lockport,  where  he  has 
lived  and  practiced  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of 
si.x  months,  in  1862-68,  when  he  practiced  law  in 
■Saginaw,  Mich.,  with  William  H.  Sweet.  In  the 
spring  of  1863  he  returned  to  Lockport,  and  formed 
a  partnership  with  Andrew  J.  Ensign,  which  lasted 
imtil  1868.  Since  then  Judge  Gaskill 
has  practiced  alone.  Notwithstanding  the 
infirmity  of  deafness,  which  has  for  many 
years  prevented  him  from  trying  cases  in 
I  ourt,  and  has  excluded  him  from  several 
of  the  most  lucrative  sources  of  profes- 
sional income,  he  has  built  up  and  main- 
tained a  large  and  varied  practice,  of 
which  important  litigations  form  no  in- 
considerable part.  He  has  also  devoted 
much  time,  since  his  retirement  from 
active  political  life  in  1878,  to  the  training 
of  students  for  the  profession  to  which  he 
is  such  an  honor.  In  this  he  has  been 
most  successful.  Thirteen  young  men 
who  gained  their  knowledge  of  law  in 
his  office  are  now  in  active  practice,  and 
without  exception  they  have  been  success- 
ful in  their  profession  ;  while  one  has 
attained  great  eminence. 

Judge  (iaskill  retired  from  political  life 
when  still  a  young  man,  but  between  the 
years  1865  and  1878  he  held  many  impor- 
tant offices  in  the  city  and  countv.  In 
the  former  year  he  was  appointed  first 
city  clerk  of  the  newly  made  city  of  Lock- 
port,  and  held  the  office  for  two  years. 
In  the  same  year  he  was  made  clerk  of 
the  board  of  supervisors  of  Niagara  count) 
for  one  year.  In  the  spring  of  1870  he 
was  elected  treasurer  and  tax  collector  of 
the  city  of  Lockport,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  was  nominated  for  the  office  of 
surrogate  of  Niagara  county,  to  which 
he  was  elected,  and  in  which  he  served  the  full 
tenn  of  six  years. 

Judge  Gaskill's  study  of  the  law  has  been  constant 
and  diligent,  and  in   addition   he   has  devoted  much 


time  to  literary,  scientific,  and  philosophical  sub- 
jects. He  has  written  and  published  numerous 
poems,  lectures,  and  addresses.  He  was  the  poet  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  alumni  of  the  University  of 
Rochester  in  1865,  and  one  of  the  essayists  of  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association  in  1880.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Upsilon  chapter  of  the 
Psi  Upsilon  fraternity  at  the  I'niversity  of  Rochester. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  State  Bar  Associa- 
tion, and  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Joshua  Gas- 
kill imis  Iwrn  at  Royaltoti,  N.  Y. ,  Nm'cmber  4,  18S5  : 
was  eilucateii  at  the  Lockport  Union  School,  Wilson 
Collegiate  Institute,  Gasport  Academy,  arid  the  Univer- 
sity of  Rochester,  from   which   he  graduated  in  1859  ; 


t?W^* 


P^ 


^ 


JOSIIiW    CASK/ 1./ 

was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1800  ;  married  Salome  Cox 
of  Lockport,  N.  Y. ,  Mar  2'>,  1863  ;  was  appointed 
city  clerk  of  Lockport  in  1865,  and  clerk  of  the  board 
of  supeiTisors  of  jViagara  county  the  same  year  :   icas 


104 


^TE^'  OF  \FW    YORK— WEST/: h'X  SECT/OX 


elected  treasurer  of  Lockport  in  1870,  and  surrogate  of 
Niagara  county  in  1871  :  ha.i  practiced  Ia7t<  in  Lock- 
port  since  ISH-i. 

•♦•      

JEleajCr  (5reetl,  a  shrewd  lawyer  and  an  honest 
and  successful  business  man,  has  long  been   one  of 


RLEA/.IIK    GRHHN 

the  central  figures  of  Chautau(|ua-county  life,  and  one 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  city  of  Jamestown. 

Educated  in  the  common  schools  of  Busti  an<l 
Harmony,  both  country  towns  of  Chautau(|ua  county, 
and  afterwartl  at  the  old  academy  at  VV'estfield  and 
the  Albany  l^w  School,  this  "Harmony  boy" 
(as  he  is  called  by  his  admirers  from  that  town)  has 
won  an  enviable  position  in  professional,  business, 
and  political  circles.  In  May,  1H(W,  Mr.  (ireen  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  came  to  Jamestown,  where 
he  acted  as  clerk  in  the  law  office  of  Cook  &  Lock- 
wood  for  two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  interval  he 
opened  an  office  for  himself  in  the  same  town, 
where  he  ha.s  ever  since  resided,  and  where  he  has 
built  up  a  large  and  .successful  ])ra<'ti(e.   'I'he  following 


well  known  law  firms  have  had  the  benefit  of  Mr. 
Oreen's  ability  and  experience  :  Barlow  &  Green 
(Byron  A.  Barlow);  Green  and  Prendergast  (the 
late  James  Prendergast)  ;  Green,  Prendergast  &  Bene- 
dict (James  Prendergast  and  Willis  ().  Benedict); 
Sheldon,  (Ireen,  Stevens  &  Benedict  (  Porter  Sheldon, 
Frank  VV.  Stevens,  and  Willis  O.  Bene- 
dict); Green  &  Woodward  (John  Wood- 
ward) ;  and  the  present  firm  of  Green  & 
Woodbury,  Mr.  Cireen  Ijeing  a.ssociated 
with  Egbert  E.  Woodbury,  surrogate  of 
Chautauipia  (-Oiuity. 

The  legal  profession  readily  lends  itself 
to  business  jnirsuits,  and  Mr.  Green's 
career  amply  exemplifies  the  fact.  His 
real-estate  operations  have  been  on  an 
extensive  scale,  and  his  numerous  success- 
ful ventures  in  this  direction  have  marked 
him  as  a  farsighted  investor.  One  of  his 
most  successful  efforts  was  the  reclaiming 
of  sw-amp  lands  on  the  northern  shore  of 
Lake  Chautau(|ua,  and  the  creation  of 
'■  Greenhurst  on  Chautauipia,"  a  pictur- 
esque and  popular  resort,  named  in  his 
honor.  In  keeping  with  his  interest  in 
lake-shore  property  have  been  his  public- 
spirited  efforts  in  establishing  the  artificial 
propagation  of  muskellunge  (a  kind  of 
|)ike)  at  Chautauqua  Lake.  To  this  end 
Mr.  Green  has  devoted  time,  money,  and 
energy,  and  the  successful  establishment 
of  the  industry  is  the  result. 

In  politics  Mr.  (ireen  is  a  Republican, 
and  while  he  has  been  a  prominent  and 
influential   member  of  his   ])arty,  he   ha.s 
also  won   the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
all    political    parties.      When,    therefore, 
in  1894,  he  con.sented  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  mayor  of  Jamestown,  he  received 
2,979   votes  out  of  a  total  of  .i,:)'i5,  although  there 
were  two  other  candidates  in   the  field.      In    1895 
Mr.  (ireen  was  a  candidate  for  district  attorney  of 
Chautaucpia   county,   and   although   there  were   two 
other  candidates  before  the  Reiniblican  county  con- 
vention, he  was  nominated   on    the  first  ballot  by  a 
large    majority,  and    was    elected    in    the    following 
November. 

Mr.  (Ireen  holds  many  offices  of  trust.  He  at- 
tends the  Congregational  church,  and  is  one  of  its 
active  supporters. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Eleazer  Green 
was  Iwrn  at  Renisen,  N.  Y. ,  March  1<>,  18Jf(>  :  was 
educated  at  Westfield  ( N.  Y.  )  Academy  and  at  t/ie 
Albany  Law  School,  from  which  he  received  the  degree 


.XfEX  OF  XF.IV    YORK  —WESTERS  SECT/OX 


105 


of  Bachelor  of  Laios  in  1808 ;  married  Mary  E. 
Bro7Lin  of  Jamestown,  N.  V.,  Noi'e/nber  .7,  187 -i  : 
was  elected  clerk  of  the  village  of  Jamestown  in  181  ii, 
and  mayor  of  the  city  of  Jamesto7un  in  18!)1^  :  was 
elected  district  attorney  of  Chautauqua  county  in  189') : 
has  practiced  law  in  Jamestown  since  1870. 


IRObert  %.  Gross  «a.s  thrown  early  in  life 
upon  his  own  resources,  and  has  achieved  success  by 
his  own  energy.  He  was  born  in  a  village  of 
Ontario,  Canada,  and  his  schooling  was  limited  to 
about  five  years  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native 
l^lace.  Before  he  entered  his  teens  he  had  taken 
up  the  study  of  telegraphy,  and  while  a  mere  boy  he 
began  to  support  himself.  He  served  as  telegraph 
operator  for  the  Montreal  Telegraph  Co.  and  the 
Dominion  Telegraph  Co.  at  Brighton,  Ont.,  and 
later  engaged  in  the  railway  service  in 
a  similar  capacity.  The  hours  were  long 
and  the  work  was  hard  :  but  it  is  precisely 
such  conditions  that  prove  and  develoji 
character.  Mr.  Gross's  abilities  and  ]>er- 
scverance  were  equal  to  the  test,  and  his 
progress  was  steady. 

He  continued  in  railway  employment 
until  1882.  The  service  called  him  to 
various  places,  and  March,  1873,  found 
him  at  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  as  train  dispatcher 
for  the  Erie  railroad.  While  there  he 
came  under  the  observation  of  Horatio  C. 
Brooks,  founder  of  the  Brooks  Locomoti\  e 
Works  of  Dunkirk.  Widening  opportuni- 
ties, due  to  the  recognition  of  his  abilities, 
called  -Mr.  Gross  to  more  imjxjrtant  posi- 
tions in  the  railway  service  in  the  West. 
Thence  he  returned  in  March,  1882,  to 
form  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Brooks,  M.  L. 
Hinman,  and  others  connected  with  the 
Brooks  Locomotive  Works.  His  rise 
there,  like  that  of  his  earlier  career,  has 
been  continuous  and  rapid  ;  and  he  is  now 
the  vice  president  of  the  company.  His 
business  has  made  him  an  extensive 
traveler,  as  well  in  foreign  lands  as  in  this 
countrj'  ;  and  he  has  been  instrumental 
in  the  introduction  of  the  American  loco- 
motive into  Cuba  and  Brazil. 

.Mr.  fiross's  business  ability  and  energy 
have  been  called  into  use  by  other  institu- 
tions than  the  Brooks  Locomotive  Works. 
Since  May,  18tMi,  he  has  been  president  of  the  United 
States  Radiator  Co.  of  Dimkirk  :  and  upon  the  organ- 
ization   of  the   Hartford   A.xle   Co.    of  Dunkirk    in 
January,    1895,  he  was   chosen    a   director.      Since 


January,  1893,  he  has  been  ])resident  of  the  Young 
Men's  Building  Association,  Limited,  of  Dunkirk. 
This  as.sociation,  with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of 
the  city,  built  and  has  conducted  the  fine  Hotel 
Gratiot  in  Dunkirk. 

Though  he  has  not  sought  office,  Mr.  Gross  has 
been  an  active  and  public-spirited  citizen,  and  has 
taken  a  citizen's  proi>er  interest  in  political  duties. 
He  is  an  earnest  Republican,  and  in  1883  served  as 
chairman  of  the  Reiniblican  committee  of  Chautauqua 
county  —  one  of  the  strongest  Republican  counties 
in  the  Empire  State.  Since  June,  1893,  he  has  l>een 
a  member  of  the  board  of  water  commissioners  of 
Dunkirk — a  life  position  that  is  considered  one  of 
the  most  honorable  distinctions  within  the  power  of 
the  mnnici|)ality  to  bestow.  In  all  matters  concern- 
ing  the    prosperity  of  the   i  itv  Mr.    Gross   takes  an 


kOHEkT  J.   GROSS 

active  interest.  Since  January,  1895,  he  has  been 
vice  president  of  the  Dunkirk  Board  of  Trade,  a 
body  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  the  city  in  its 
manufacturing  and  commercial  relations. 


lot! 


.ifK.y  or  \r.ii'  )-OKk-—irESTKRX  sect/ox 


Mr.  dross  has  a  wide  circle  of  friends.  He  is  a 
ineniber  of  the  Union  League  Club  of  Chicago,  the 
Old-Time  Telegraphers'  As.sociation,  the  American 
Railway  Master  Mechanics'  Association,  and  the 
luigineers'  Club  of  New  York  city.  He  is  a  Mason 
of  the  :>'2d  degree,  and  belongs  to  the  order  of  the 


CHARLES  E.  HEQUEMBOVRC, 

Mystic  Shrine.      He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Dunkirk  since  1888. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Robert  J. 
Gross  was  born  at  Brighton,  Canada  IVcst,  November 
21,  1850 ;  received  a  common-school  education;  was 
in  the  telegraphic  and  railway  service,  1863-82  ; 
married  Helen  E.  Wheeler  of  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
June  2-i,  1887 ;  has  been  a  partner  in  the  Brooks 
Locomotive  Works,  Dunkirk,  N.   Y. ,  since  1882. 


CbarlCS  E.  IbCqUCmLlOUrg  possesses  in  a 
marked  degree  the  i|ualities  of  self-reliance,  courage, 
and  inflexibility  of  purpose.  Apply  these  character- 
istics mentally  to  the  branches  of  activity  wherein 
his   energy   has   fotmd  an   outlet,  and   it   is  easy  to 


understand  why  he  ha.s  been  a  successful  contractor 
ujjon  a  large  scale,  and  an  instrument  in  the  develo))- 
ment  of  important  material  interests. 

Mr.  Hequembourg  began  life  in  the  village  of 
Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  and  received  a  common-.school  edu- 
cation there,  in  Dansville,  N.  Y.,  and  in  Warren, 
Penn.  To  this  education  he  added  an 
experience  gained  in  the  war,  having  been 
mustered,  as  a  boy  of  eighteen,  into  the 
(JXth  regiment,  comj)any  D,  N.  Y.  N.  (J. 
After  receiving  an  honorable  discharge  at 
the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment, 
he  entered  the  quartermaster's  department 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  where 
he  was  emplo)ed  until  after  the  clo.se  of 
the  war.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged 
in  business  in  various  capacities  as 
mechanic,  clerk,  contractor,  and  civil 
engineer. 

His  first  large  contract  was  the  erection, 
for  the  board  of  education,  of  the  .second- 
ward  schoolhouse  in  the  village  of  Dun- 
kirk. The  next  year  he  put  up  the  first 
brick  schoolhouse  built  in  the  city  of 
Titnsville,  Penn.  In  1871  he  constructed 
the  Dunkirk  waterworks.  In  1873-74 
he  liuilt  the  Hyde  Park  waterworks,  near 
Chicago.  In  1879  he  erected,  with  asso- 
ciates, the  St.  James  hotel  at  Bradford, 
Penn.,  which  was  the  second  brick  build- 
ing in  the  place,  but  which  was  so  well 
constructed  that  it  holds  its  own  among 
the  later  buildings  of  the  city. 

As  a  natural  result  of  his  location,  Mr. 
Hequembourg  became  interested  in  oil 
development.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
operators  in  the  Bradford  oil  fields,  and 
has  since  been  concerned  in  oil  and  gas 
production  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
countrv.  In  1878  he  built,  with  others,  the  plant  of 
the  Bradford  C.aslight  &  Heating  Co. —  the  first  cor- 
poration in  this  country  to  supply  natural  gas  to  a 
municipality  for  both  illumination  and  heat.  In  1880 
this  company,  of  which  he  was  president  and  engineer, 
installed  a  gas-pumping  station  of  6,000,000  cubic 
feet  daily  cajjacity  at  Rixford,  Penn.,  to  innnp  gas  to 
the  city  of  Bradford.  This  was  at  that  time  the  only 
plant  in  the  world  jiumping  gas  through  a  pipe-line. 
Later  he  was  instrumental  in  carrying  out  the  same 
idea  upon  a  much  larger  .scale.  As  ])resident  and 
engineer  of  the  Columbus  Construction  Co.,  he  un- 
dertook in  18X8  the  building  of  a  natural-gas  pipe- 
line connecting  the  ga.s  fields  of  Indiana  with  the  city 
of  Chicago.     In  1X!(2  the  <or])oration  (■omi)leted  and 


^rE.\  OF  .\7-:ir  ]'ORk'—]n-:sr/-:K.\  sf-:c77o.\ 


lo: 


turned  over  to  the  owners —  the  Indiana  Natural-gas 
&  Oil  Co.  and  the  Chicago  Economic  Fuel  Gas  Co. 
—  the  largest  and  longest  natural-gas  pipe-line  sys- 
tem in  the  world,  fully  equipped  with  modern  pump- 
ing stations  and  appliances  ;  and  the  plant  is  now  in 
successful  and  profitable  operation. 

Mr.  Hequembourg  has  exhibited,  as  a  citizen  and 
in  official  life,  the  same  qualities  of  progressiveness 
and  firmness  of  purpose  that  have  characterized  his 
business  career.  Though  his  political  affiliations 
have  always  been  Republican,  he  was  chosen  mayor  of 
Dunkirk,  a  Democratic  city,  by  a  large  majority  over 
the  Democratic  candidate.  His  election  was  due  in 
great  part  to  a  movement,  outside  of  party  lines,  to 
make  fitness  and  not  politics  the  controlling  element  in 
municipal  affairs.  The  application  of  business  meth- 
ods to  municipal  politics  proved  here,  as  elsewhere, 
eminently  satisfactory.  His  administra- 
tion was  marked  by  a  large  increase   in  ■ 

local  patriotism,  and  exercised  much 
influence  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  com- 
munity. At  the  election  in  March,  18il."), 
Mr.  Hequembourg  was  re-elected  mayor 
without  opposition.  The  only  other  pub- 
lic office  he  has  held  is  that  of  civil  engi- 
neer of  Dunkirk.  He  has  also  rendered 
public  service  to  that  city  as  president  of 
the  Commercial  Association. 

Mr.  Hequembourg  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity  for  many  years. 
He  is  a  Knight  Templar  and  a  ood  degree 
Mason,  belonging  to  the  body  known  as  the 
Ancient  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  Masons 
as  organized  by  111.  Joseph  Cerneau  in 
1807.  Mr.  Hequembourg  is  Commander 
in  Chief  of  Dunkirk  Consistory,  No.  84. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Charles  Ezra  Hequetnbourg  was  bom  at 
Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  July  9,  184-5  :  7c>as  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  ;  served  in  the 
United  States  army  from  1863  to  the  close 
of  the  war  ;  married  Harriet  E.  Thurber 
of  St.  Louis,  Mo. ,  Jtily  31,  1872  ;  was  an 
early  operator  in  the  Pennsylvania  oil  fields, 
and  a  pioneer  in  the  development  of  natural- 
gas  transportation ;  was  elected  mayor  of 
Dunkirk  in  March,  1894,  and  again  in 
March,  1895  ;  has  been  engaged  in  business, 
chiefly  as  civil  engineer  and  contractor,  in 
Dunkirk  since  1863. 


Olean,  N.  V.  ;  the  .second  is  that  of  an  able  manager 
of  public  institutions  ;  the  third  and  most  distinctive 
is  that  of  a  high  authority  in  the  complicated  busi- 
ness of  oil  refining.  To  this  business  Mr.  Irish  has 
devoted  over  half  of  his  sixty-odd  years  ;  and  both 
his  experience  and  knowledge,  which  is  as  scientific 
as  it  is  practical,  place  him  among  the  experts  whose 
opinions  are  frec-iuently  called  for  in  the  various 
departments  of  oil  refining. 

Mr.  Irish  was  a  Yankee  boy,  who  began  earning 
bread  and  butter  at  thirteen  years  of  age.  For 
eleven  years  thereafter  he  worked  in  a  grocery, 
finally  leaving  that  business  to  accept  a  clerkship  in 
the  New  Bedford  (Ma.ss. )  custom  house.  He  re- 
tained this  position  through  the  Pierce  and  Buchanan 
administrations  —  1858-61.  He  began  his  connec- 
tion with  the  oil  industrv,  first  with   the   Fairhaven 


IKnilliam  /ID.  llriSb  has  earned  no  less  than 
three  rejnitations,  each  of  them  envialile.  The  first 
is  that  of  one  of  the  most  activelv  usefiil  citi/ens  of 


WILLI. i.\I   .M.   /A'/SN 

Oil  Co.,  and  then  with  the  .New  Bedford  Oil  Co., 
holding  the  office  of  superintendent  for  two  years  in 
each  concern.  In  180.3,  with  more  experience  and 
skill    than    were  generally   possessed   by   those   who 


lOS 


ME\   OF  .\j:\r    VORK^JFESIT.RN  SECT/ON 


flocked  to  the  oil  country,  Mr.  Irish  decided  to  in- 
vest his  talents  where  the  promise  of  return  was 
greatest.  Arriving  at  the  oil  district,  he  immediately 
became  treasurer  and  superintendent  of  the  Wam- 
sutta  Oil  Co.  in  Venango  county,  Fenn.  Since  thai 
time  he  has  occupied  similar  positions  in  several 
other  companies,  including  the  Octave  Oil  Co.  at 
i'itusville,  Penn.,  and  the  Acme  Oil  Co.,  to  which 
the  former  company  sold  out.  He  is  now  general 
manager  of  the  .\cmc  Works,  which  are  owned  by 
the  Standard  Oil  Co. 

Wherever  he  has  lived  Mr.  Irish  has  been  jjromi- 
nently  identified  with  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity. In  his  native  town,  in  Titusville,  and  in 
Olean,  he  has  served  long  and  with  distinction  as  a 
member  or  as  president  of  school  boards.  I n  connec- 
tion with  the  re(|uircments  of  this  ofifice,  as  he  regards 
the  matter,  he  has  carried  on  courses  of  study  result- 
ing in  a  broad  culture  that  has  been  at  once  a  satis- 
faction in  itself  and  a  source  of  power.  Mr.  Irish 
was  the  president  of  the  first  board  of  water  commis- 
sioners in  Olean  during  the  construction  of  the  city 
waterworks.  That  his  accjuaintance  with  the  scien- 
tific side  of  municipal  management  is  by  no  means 
narrow  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  has  for  several 
years  been  a  member  of  the  local  board  of  health, 
and  is  now  its  president.  Other  conspicuous  jjosi- 
tions,  such  as  that  of  vice  president  of  the  Olean 
Electric  Light  &  Power  Co.  and  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  indicate  the  commercial  talents  possessed  by 
Mr.  Irish.  .Altogether  it  may  be  said  that  Olean  is 
healthier,  better  taught,  better  lighted,  and  better 
watered,  because  of  Mr.  Irish's  residence  within  its 
borders. 

Executive  ability  such  as  that  of  Mr.  Irish  has  not 
been  allowed  by  state  officials  to  go  to  wa.ste.  Oov- 
ernor  Cleveland  appointed  him  to  a  directorate  on 
the  board  of  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  located 
at  Buffalo,  and  Ciovernor  Hill  reappointed  him. 
.Mr.  Irish  is  an  attendant  of  the  Pre.sbyterian 
church.  His  spare  time  is  devoted  to  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  social  and  educational  interests  with  which  he 
is  identified,  or  to  study  connected  with  these  interests. 

PERSO  NA  L  '  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  William 
Mitchell  Irish  was  born  at  Fairhaven,  Mass. ,  July  -i, 
1820 ;  attended  district  schools  in  early  youth  ;  was 
clerk  in  a  grocery,  1842-53  ;  married  Sarah  Jane  Dun- 
ham of  Fairhaven  December  11,  1851 ;  was  a 
custom-house  clerk,  1853-61 :  was  superintendent  of 
oil  concerns,  1861-05 ;  was  treasurer  and  superin- 
tendent of  Wamsutta  Oil  Co.,  McClintockville,  Penn., 
18G5-72,  and  of  Octave  Oil  Co. ,  1872-76 ;  has 
lived  at  Olean,  N.  V.,  since  1880  as  manager  of  the 
Acme  Oil  Works. 


CbarlCS  Z.  XiUCOlU  has  done  his  part  in 
making  the  fame  of  the  Caitaraugus-county  bar.  On 
many  occasions  he  ha.s  shown  his  fellow-lawyers  the 
value  of  fundamental  training  in  the  principles  of  the 
law  and  of  persistent  research  into  legal  history. 
Mr.  I-incoln  at  present  holds  the  important  position 
of  chairman  of  the  New  York  commission  of  statu- 
tory revision,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  (iov- 
ernor  Levi  P.  Morton  in  January,  ISOo.  In  virtue 
of  this  office  he  is  also  the  confidential  legal  adviser 
of  the  governor.  How  important  this  position  is 
may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  every  bill  ]3a.ssed  by 
the  legislature  is  referred  to  Mr.  Lincoln  for  his 
ojjinion  as  to  its  constitutionality  and  its  other  legal 
aspects,  and  many  bills  have  been  amended,  at  the 
governor's  suggestion,  to  meet  the  objections  raised 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  fomi  or  phra.seology  or  re- 
ipiirements  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  also  chair- 
man of  the  commission  to  revise  the  code  of  civil 
procedure.  As  may  be  inferred  from  the  facts  alread)' 
cited,  his  legal  attainments  are  of  a  high  order. 

He  is  a  son  of  Vermont,  though  he  has  lived  in 
Cattaraugus  county  since  his  early  childhood.  His 
mother  died  when  he  was  four  years  old,  and  his 
father  when  he  was  eight,  and  he  was  left  to  fight  his 
way  in  the  world  as  best  he  could.  The  story  of  his 
life  resembles  that  of  so  many  successful  men,  in  re- 
counting efforts  to  obtain  an  education  under  the 
most  adverse  conditions.  He  ultimately  succeeded 
in  taking  an  incomplete  course  at  the  Chamberlain 
Institute  at  Randolph,  N.  Y.:  but  his  .school  attend- 
ance stopped  at  this  jioint. 

Determining  to  study  law,  Mr.  Lincoln  entered 
the  office  of  Cary  &  Jewell,  of  Olean  and  Little  Val- 
ley, in  187L  and  three  years  later  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  In  .\ugust,  1874,  he  opened  an  office  in 
Little  Valley,  where  he  has  practiced  ever  since. 
His  time  and  advice  have  been  freely  given  to  the 
community  in  which  he  has  lived,  and  in  which  he 
is  honored.  For  four  years  he  represented  the  town 
of  Little  Valley  on  the  board  of  supervisors  ;  twice 
he  has  been  president  of  the  village  of  Little  Valley, 
and  once  trustee  of  the  same  ;  and  for  seven  years  he 
.served  as  a  member  of  the  village  board  of  education. 

When  the  ."{"id  .senatorial  district  needed  a  sound 
man,  an  able  thinker,  and  a  hard  worker  to  repre.sent 
it  in  the  constitutional  convention  that  sat  in  this 
state  in  1894,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  chosen.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  he  was  a  force  in  that  body  of 
able  men,  and  was  early  recognized  as  one  of  the 
best  of  the  constitutional  lawyers  who  joined  in  guid- 
ing the  action  of  the  body.  He  served  on  a  number  of 
very  important  committees,  including  those  on  appor- 
tionment, privileges  and  elections,  and  civil  service. 


MEX  OF  XEir  )-<)A>A-—ir/:s//-:A'x  skct/ox 


109 


Mr.  Lincoln  has  a  ready  pen.  A  serie.s  of  articles 
on  "Young  Men  in  Politics  "  which  he  wrote  in 
18.S4  proved  very  popular,  and  attracted  consider- 
able attention  throughout  his  section  of  the  state. 
He  has  also  written  much  on  legal  and  historical 
topics  for  newspa[jers  and  legal  journals  during  the 
last  twenty  years  ;  and  in  189.i  he  wrote 
a  history  of  the  bench  and  bar  of  Catta- 
raugus county.  At  his  home  in  Little 
Valley  he  has  a  fine  library,  particularly 
rich  in  subjects  of  history  and  law.  Out- 
side the  practice  of  his  profession  he  has 
found  his  chief  recreation  in  the  study  of 
history,  especially  the  branches  that  have 
a  leaning  toward  the  law.  He  is  likewise 
a  master  of  the  philosophy  of  law.  The 
education  that  was  denied  him  in  his 
youth  has  been  won  as  he  went  along. 
He  is  a  thorough  student,  and  is  remark- 
ably well  grounded  in  the  law  of  the 
ancient  Romans.  His  lectures  and  ad- 
dresses on  law  and  history  involve  im- 
mense research,  and  are  in  great  demand. 

Though  so  thoroughly  devoted  to  the 
law,  Mr.  Lincoln  has  never  neglected  his 
social  duties.  He  is  a  memljer  of  tlie 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  and 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

PERSONAL      CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Charles  Z.  Lincoln  was  born  at   Grafton, 
Ft.,  August  a,  184-8  ;  was  educated  In  flu- 
common  schools  and  at  Chatnberlain  Lnsti- 
fute,  Randolph,  N.    Y.;   married  Lusette 
Bonsteel  of  East  Otto,  N'.   V.,  Novetnber 
1-i,  1874- :    was  a  member  from  the  32d 
senatorial  district  of  the  state  constitutional 
convention  in  1894  :  rcas  appointed  chair- 
man of  the  commission  of  statu torv  revision 
and  governor' s  confidential  legal  adviser,  by 
Go7>crnor  Morton,  January  2,  1895 ;  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  commission  to  revise  the  New  York  code 
of  civil  procedure  June  15,  1895  ;  has  practiced  laiv  at 
Little  I'alley,  N.   Y,  since  1874. 


IRObCrt  1H.  /IDarVin  is  a  business  man,  a  \>m- 
gressive  citizen,  a  man  whose  name  stands  among 
the  first  in  good  causes  —  in  short,  one  of  the  men 
who  help  generously  to  make  the  wheels  go  round  in 
whatever  community  they  live.  As  he  has  spent  his 
whole  life  in  Jamestown,  he  has  the  unusual  good 
fortune  of  seeing  about  him  the  fruition  of  the  efforts 
he  has  put  forth  during  a  remarkablv  active  career. 

With  such  prejiaration  as  could  be  obtained  from 
public   and    private    schools,  a   course   at    Hartwick 


.Seminary,  Otsego  county,  N.  Y.,  and  the  training 
of  a  business  college,  Mr.  Marvin  began  his  career. 
He  started  in  business  life  as  a  bookkeeper,  and  .soon 
after  became  manager  of  the  lousiness  of  his  father, 
the  late  Judge  Richard  P.  Marvin.  This  position 
he    held    for     nearlv     t\vent\-five     vears.       He  also 


CH.iR/./-:.s  z.  /.;.\coL.\ 

became  connected  with  the  lumber  business,  and 
organized  the  firm  of  Marvin,  Rulofson  &  Co., 
which  still  continues  under  his  management.  To 
give  a  detailed  account  of  the  business  interests  with 
which  Mr.  Marvin  has  been  identified,  and  to  re- 
count the  labors  prompted  by  the  philanthropic, 
patriotic,  and  fraternal  in.stincts  of  his  character, 
would  require  more  space  than  our  present  limits 
allow.  Merely  brief  mention  can  be  made  of  the 
efforts  that  have  rendered  him  a  potent  and  \ahialilc 
factor  in  the  community. 

The  city  of  Jamestown  has  to  thank  Mr.  Marvin's 
active  ])ublic  spirit  for  a  number  of  the  civic  advan- 
tages that  it  enjoys.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee that  formed  the  charter  imder  which   the  citv 


11(1 


ME.X   OF  .\EW    VORK—WESTERX  SECTIOX 


was  organized  ;  he  first  set  on  foot  the  movement 
that  resulted  in  free  mail  delivery  there  ;  he  was 
largely  instrumental  in  supplying  the  city  with  good 
water  ;  he  organized  the  local  telephone  company, 
and  was  for  years  its  president  :  he  has  been  a  volun- 
teer fireman   in   tlie  Jamestown   fire   tlei)artment,  and 


ROHF.RT  X.   MARIIX 

chairman,  vice  jjresident,  and  president  of  the  State 
Firemen's  Association.  In  addition  to  local  services 
rendered  to  the  Repulilican  party  as  supervisor,  dele- 
gate to  conventions,  and  nominee  for  state  senator, 
he  served  as  elector  on  the  Republican  ticket  in 
1884. 

Mr.  Marvin's  brain  has  been  ijrolific  in  conceiving 
and  carrying  out  commercial  ventures  that  have  con- 
tributed to  the  pros])erity  of  the  community.  The 
Jamestown  street  railway,  the  Chautau(iua  Lake  rail- 
way, and  other  enterprises  are  indebted  to  him  as 
promoter,  incorporator,  or  president.  He  was  an 
incorporator  of  the  l.akewood  Land  iS:  lm])rovement 
Co.,  whose  holdings  border  beautiful  Lake  Chautau- 
qua, and  is  a  director  of  the  company.      He  holds  a 


similar  position  in  the  Wyckoff  Harvester,  Mower 
&  Reaper  Co.,  in  the  Preston  Farming  Co.,  and  in 
the  Chautaut]ua  County  National  Bank. 

In  the  midst  of  these  manifold  Inisine.ss  interests 
Mr.  Marvin  has  found  opportunity  to  serve  his 
fellows  in  other  ways  as  well.  .As  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  raise  funds  for  the  Custavus 
Adolphus  ()r])hanage,  as  a  member  of  the 
advisory  board  of  the  Women's  Christian 
.\ssociation,  and  as  advLsory  member  of 
the  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  he 
has  [jroved  himself  the  friend  of  the  unfor- 
tunate. He  is  a  trustee  of  the  James 
Frendergast  Library  Association  of  James- 
town, and  is  a  lover  of  books  and  works 
of  art.  He  is  one  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  Jamestown  Club,  and  was  for 
eighteen  years  its  president.  He  is  a 
member  of  Mt.  Moriah  lodge,  F.  &  .A. 
M.,  and  of  the  A.  ().  U.  W.  ;  an  honor- 
ary member  of  the  13th  Separate  Com- 
panv,  N.  Ci.,  S.  N.  Y.  ;  a  member  of  the 
Chautaucpia  C'ounty  Historical  Society, 
and  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution.  With 
the  death  of  Mary  A.  Frendergast  ended 
the  historic  family  of  the  founder  of 
Jamestown  —  James  Frendergast,  from 
whom  the  to«n  was  named.  'Fhe  prop- 
erty accumulated  by  him  and  his  descend- 
ants has  gone  into  permanent  monu- 
ments, such  as  the  Frendergast  Library, 
and  the  beautiful  stone  church  that  adorns 
the  city  of  Jamestown.  Mr.  Marvin  was 
one  of  two  executors  of  the  Frendergast 
estate. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Robert    NeKi/anti    Marrin    was    horn    at 
Jamcsto'.cn,   N.     V.,    October   13,    18^5: 
attended  public  and  prh'ate  schools.  Hart- 
wick  Seminary,    and  Bryant  bf  Stratton' s  Business 
Colle;j;e,  Buffalo :  began  business  as  bookkeeper,   and 
later     became     manager    of   his    father' s     business  ; 
organized  the  lumber  business  of  Man'in,  Rulofson  lir' 
Co.  in  1870,  and  has  been  manager  of  the  same  ei'er 
since :  was  Republican   candidate  for  state  senator  in 
1881,  and  presidential  elector  in  1884.  ■'  married  Alary 
Elizabeth  IVarner  of  Jatnestoivn  February  (1,  18H0. 


C  S).  /IDUtrag  has  an  interesting  and  signifi- 
cant lineage.  His  father,  nau|)hin  Murray,  was 
sheriffof  Steuben  county.  New  York,  and  partici])ated 
in  the  war  of  1812  ;  while  his  grandfather  fought  at 
Bunker  Hill  and  in  other  revolutionary  battles.  On 
the  maternal  side   the  line  is  e(iuaily  distinguished. 


MKX   O/'  .\Kl\-    VORK—U'ESTE/^X  SECT/O.V 


III 


including  General  Sedgwick,  governor  of  Jamaica, 
and  other  notable  men.  Mr.  Murray  himself  has 
had  an  interesting  and  varied  career.  When  he  was 
only  nineteen  years  old  the  California  gold  fever 
broke  out,  and  the  subject  of  our  sketch  joined  the 
westward  tide  of  emigration,  and  in  due  season  reached 
San  Francisco.  It  is  hard  at  the  present  time  to 
picture  the  scenes  of  those  days.  Men  flocked  to 
the  Pacific  coast  from  all  over  the  country — some 
overland  by  wagon  and  others  around  the  Horn  — 
and  all  acquired,  if  not  tangible  riches,  at  least  a 
wealth  of  experience.  Young  Murray,  however,  did 
not  become  a  miner,  but  confined  his  attention  to 
business  pursuits.  Finding  no  other  opening,  he 
obtained  employment  as  a  drayman,  and  as  soon  as 
he  had  saved  a  little  money  bought  a  dray  for  him- 
self. A  year  later  he  engaged  in  the  produce  com- 
mission trade  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of 

Murray  &  Foster.      The  firm  carried  on  , 

an  e.xtensive  business,  and  Mr.  Murra} 
made  two  voyages  to  Australia  with 
cargoes  of  lumber.  Such  an  experience 
was  full  of  interest  in  those  early  days, 
before  the  steam  vessel  and  the  cable  had 
dispelled  the  romance  connected  with 
that  distant  land. 

Mr.  Murray  was  called  East  in  18.3.") 
by  the  death  of  his  father,  and  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business  at  Hinsdale,  Catta- 
raugus county,  for  several  years.  The 
commercial  depression  following  the  panic 
of  18o7  and  especially  a  strike  on  the  Erie  I 

railroad  preventing  the  shijnnent  of  lum-  i 

her,  lirought  business  reverses  to  Mr. 
.Murra\ ,  and  he  was  forced  to  abandon 
the  lumber  business  and  begin  over  again. 
He  obtained  a  position  as  railway  mail 
clerk  on  the  Erie  road,  traveling  between 
Hornellsville  and  Dunkirk,  and  employed 
all  his  spare  time  in  the  study  of  the  law. 

In  1860  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
and  at  once  opened  a  law  office  in  the 
town  of  Hinsdale,  where  he  practiced  for 
four  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he 
removed  to  Dunkirk,  where  he  has  won 
for  himself  a  position  at  the  bar  and  in 
public  life  that  has  made  him  a  conspicu- 
ous figure  in  western  New  York. 

Municipal  affairs  have  occupied  a  large 
share  of  Mr.  Murray's  time  and  thought. 
He  has  served  one  term  as  mayor  of  Dunkirk,  and  has 
been   repeatedly   nominated  for  high  offices  by  the 
Democratic  party,  of  which  he  is  an  ardent  supporter. 
He  has  been  a  delegate  to  several  state  conventions, 


and  to  the  national  convention  of  1884  that  nomi- 
nated Grover  Cleveland  for  president.  The  district  in 
which  he  lives  is  strongly  Republican  in  politics,  and 
Democratic  success  there  is  of  the  nature  of  a  forlorn 
hope.  Mr.  Murray  has  nevertheless  accepted  the 
nomination  of  his  jjarty  for  the  state  assembly,  and 
twice  for  representative  in  congress,  and  has  greatly 
reduced  the  majority  of  his  opponents  whenever  he  has 
run.  In  1870,  for  example,  he  came  within  three 
hundred  votes  of  election  from  the  33d  congressional 
district,  which  usually  gives  a  Republican  majority  of 
six  thousand.  This  fact  attests  Mr.  Murray's  popu- 
larity at  home,  and  shows  the  estimate  placed  upon 
him  by  those  who  know  him  best. 

In  educational  matters  Mr.  Murray  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  Dunkirk.  .\s  president  of  the 
board  of  education  for  seven  years,  he  has  contributed 


Ut^  I 


r.   n.   MIKRAY 


more  than  his  lair  share  of  work  and  care  to  a  task 
that  often  proves  thankless.  The  internal  imjjrove- 
ments  of  the  city  have  also  received  his  attention  : 
and  he  demonstrated  his  value  to  the  citv  not  onlv 


112 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK—IVESTEKN  SECTfOX 


as  mayor  but  as  president  of  the  board  of  water 
commissioners.  He  is  president  of  the  Merchants' 
National  Bank  and  of  the  Hartford  Axle  Co.,  and 
vice  president  of  the  United  States  Radiator  Co. 
He  is  a  communicant  and  senior  warden  of  St.  John's 
Episcojjal  Church.     .\  conservative  business  man,  an 


5.  FREDERICK  MXO.X 

earnest  and  upright  citizen,  he  enjoys  the  esteem  of 
a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  the  confidence  of  his 
fellow-citizens. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Charles  De 
Kalli  Mun-ay  was  born  at  Guilford,  N.  V.,  A/ay  4  > 
1831 :  recei-oed  a  common-school  education  ;  engaged  in 
commerce  in  San  Francisco,  1850-65  ;  married  Orpha 
A.  Bandfield  of  Hinsdale,  N.  Y.,  May  20,  1860  : 
7oas  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in  1800 :  Joas 
president  of  the  hoard  of  education  of  Dunkirk,  N.  Y. , 
1875-79  an,/  1883-86  ;  was  first  president  of  the 
board  of  luater  commissioners,  in  187 1,  and  mayor  of 
the  city  in  1880  ;  roas  nominated  for  congress  in  1870 
and  1872,  and  for  the  assembly  in  1884  .■  has  prac- 
ticed la'o  in  l^unkirk  since  1S64. 


S.  jfrC^CriCl?  IHilOU  affords  a  good  example 
of  what  a  young  man  can  accomplish  in  politics,  if 
he  have  suitable  talents,  energy,  and  ambition.  Before 
Mr.  Nixon  was  thirty  years  old  he  had  made  a  name 
in  the  state  legislature  as  a  political  leader.  He  did 
not  owe  his  eminence  to  subserviency,  moreover  ; 
for  he  stands  among  the  most  prominent 
of  those  who  insist  upon  uncontrolled  and 
independent  action  on  the  part  of  political 
leaders. 

'J'he  main  facts  in  his  career  outside  of 
politics  can  be  quickly  narrated.  He  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Westfield,  and  grad- 
uated from  the  village  academy  in  1877. 
Then  he  spent  four  years  at  Hamilton 
College,  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  graduating  in 
1  H«l  with  the  degree  of  B.  A.  The  next 
year  he  ]jassed  with  the  Vermont  Marble 
Co.,  at  Sutherland  Falls,  Vt.  Then  he 
returned  to  his  native  place,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  business  there  ever  since  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Nixon  Brothers, 
manufacturers  of  monumental  work  and 
building  stone.  In  connection  with  his 
brother  he  has  also  extensive  farming  and 
vineyard  interests  in  the  Chautawiua  grajie 
belt.' 

Like  most  men  who  have  won  distinc- 
tion in  |jublic  life,  Mr.  Nixon  very  early 
showed  a  taste  for  political  affairs.      He 
al.so  displayed  an  unusual  talent  for  leader- 
ship.     Thus  it  happened  that,  when  little 
past  his  majority,  he  had  already  become 
a  prominent  figure  in  local  politics.      Be- 
fore he  was  twenty-four  years  old  he  was 
elected  trustee  of  the  village  of  M'estfield 
—  a  surprising  mark  of  confidence  in  the 
case  of  one  so  young.     Two  years  later,  in 
lX8(i,  he  was  elected  supervisor,  and  has 
since  continued  to  represent  the  town  of  Westfield, 
one  of  the  richest  in  Chautautpia  county,  upon  the 
county  board.      During  four  terms,  1892-95,  he  was 
chairman  of  the  board  of  supenisors. 

Mr.  Nixon  was  introduced  to  the  field  of  state 
politics  when,  in  1887,  he  was  cho.sen  to  rei)resent 
the  1st  district  of  Chautauqua  county  in  the  state  as- 
sembly. He  has  served  altogether  in  six  legislatures. 
.\fter  his  first  term  in  1S8,S,  his  district  sent  him  back 
to  Albany  for  the  terms  of  18S9  and  1.S90.  He  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  of  1894  to  represent  the 
whole  of  Chautau(iua  county,  the  two  earlier  districts 
having  been  con.solidated  under  the  apportionment 
act  of  189'2.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  following  legis- 
lature, and  when  the  county  was  once  more  subdivided 


.\/F.\   OF  XFII'    VOR K  —IVESTER.X  SECT/OX 


113 


under  ihe  new  constitution,  he  was  chosen  as 
the  first  representative  of  the  new  2d  district.  Mr. 
Ni.xon  has  been,  from  the  beginning,  a  conspiiuous 
figure  on  the  Rejniblican  side  of  the  assembly.  He 
has  seiA'ed  on  many  important  committees,  inckid- 
ing  those  on  wa)'s  and  means,  railroads,  insurance, 
and  general  laws.  In  the  legislature  of  189()  he  was 
chairman  of  the  railroad  committee,  held  the  second 
place  on  the  committee  on  ways  and  means,  and  had 
membership  in  minor  committees.  He  was  chair- 
man of  the  Republican  caucus  committee  at  the  or- 
ganization of  the  assembly,  and  his  name  has  been 
proposed  more  than  once  for  the  speakership.  L'pon 
the  floor  he  is  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Republican 
leaders.  Among  the  constructive  measures  for  which 
he  is  responsible  is  the  legislation  under  which  a  .sys- 
tem of  horticultural  schools  has  been  established  in 
the  state.  Mr.  Xi.xon  is  best  known, 
however,  for  his  independence.  He  is  a 
leading  representative  of  the  spirit  of 
opposition  to  one-man  domination  within 
his  party,  and  as  such  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  figures  in  the  politics  of  western 
New  York. 

Mr.  Nixon  was  a  member  of  the  C'hau- 
tauqiia-county  Republican  committee  for 
five  years,  and  served  as  chairman  during 
the  presidential  campaigns  of  18><X  and 
1892. 

PERSONAL  CNR  ONOL  O  G  V— 
Saimiel  Frederick  Nixoii  was  born  at 
Westfield,  N.  ¥.,  December  3,  1800; 
recen'ed  his  early  education  at  the  West- 
fiehi  Academy,  and  graduated  from  Ham- 
ilton College  in  1881 :  married  Myrtle 
Hunting  Redfield  of  Westfield  May  21, 
1885  ;  was  member  of  the  state  assembly, 
1888-90  and  1894-96  ;  has  been  super- 
visor of  the  town  of  Westfield  since  1886, 
and  7oas  chairman  of  the  Chautauqiia- 
county  board  of  supervisors,  1892-9 If. 


Jerome  JBabCOCi?,  member  of  as- 
sembly from  the  1st  Chautauqua  district, 
has  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  politics 
of  his  county  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
He  represented  the  town  of  Busti  in  the 
board    of  sujiervisors  back  in   the  '70's 
and  again  in  the  later  "80's.      He  is  now 
serving  his  second  term  in  the  assembly, 
having    served    ten    years   ago    for   the    first    time. 
Probably  no  other  act  of  his  official  life  has  attracted 
so  wide  attention  as  his  introduction,  at  the  begin- 
ning  of  the    1896    session   of   the  legislature,   of  a 


resolution  calling  on  the  state  coinptroller  for  an 
explanation  of  his  action  in  issuing  bonds  for  the 
canal  loan  with  the  stipulation  that  both  principal 
and  interest  should  be  paid  in  gold.  Unlike  most 
eastern  politicians,  Mr.  Babcock  is  a  firm  believer  in 
silver,  and  he  was  determined  to  show  the  courage  of 
his  convictions  even  though  he  stood  alone.  As  the 
event  proved,  he  did  stand  alone.  He  made  an  elab- 
orate speech  in  sujjport  of  his  resolution,  holding 
the  attention  of  his  colleagues  and  even  eliciting 
considerable  applause.  No  speech  during  the  ses- 
sion received  more  notice  from  the  press  of  the  state. 
But  when  the  vote  came,  Mr.  Babcock  was  the  only 
member  recorded  in  the  affirmative.  His  character 
is  well  shown  by  this  incident.  He  knew  that  he 
had  the  unpo])ular  side,  and  that  he  could  expect  no 
support  :   but  he  was  determined  to  record  his  views. 


JliROMli   [iAltCOCK 

Mr.  Babcock  has  known  what  it  is  to  work  with  his 
hands  as  well  as  with  his  head.  He  was  born  in 
('hautaut|ua  county  somewhat  more  than  sixty  years 
ago,  and  country  iioys  of  that  day  were  put  to  work 


114 


mj:.\  of  .\J-:ii'  )'okk—iii-:stkkx  sect/ox 


about  as  soon  as  they  got  out  of  the  cradle.  He 
attended  the  common  schools  in  his  neighborhood, 
and  went  to  work  for  himself  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough,  as  a  farm  hand.  But  his  ambition  demanded 
a  more  profitable  return  for  his  labor,  and  he  soon 
betook  himself  to  Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  in  the 


CHARLES  A.   BALL 

lumlier  and  oil  business  on  the  Allegheny  river. 
This  was  his  occupation  for  ten  years.  Having  be- 
come a  man  of  family,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  business 
that  would  be  more  settled,  and  would  take  him  away 
from  home  less,  and  he  accordingly  liought  a  farm  in 
Sugar  Grove,  Warren  county,  Penn.  This  was  his 
home,  and  a  farmer's  life  his  calling,  for  the  next 
eight  years.  While  at  Sugar  Grove  he  was  president 
of  the  school  board  for  four  years,  and  also  served 
for  two  years  as  jjresident  of  the  Union  .Agricultural 
Society.  He  was  at  heart  a  New  Yorker  all  this 
time,  notwithstanding  his  absence  from  the  state  of 
almost  a  t|uarter  century,  and  he  availed  himself  of 
a  good  opijortimity  to  .sell  his  farm  and  return  to 
his  native  town  of  Busti.      Here  he  devote<l  himself 


successively  to  the  hotel  business,  to  mercantile 
affairs,  and  to  farming  ;  and  here  his  political  career 
really  began.  .\s  his  acquaintanceship  in  Chautauqua 
county  extended,  he  naturally  became  more  and 
more  interested  in  Jamestown  and  its  people;  and 
he  fuially  established  himself  there  in  1889.  He  is 
now  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent citizens  of  the  place,  as  is  shown 
l)y  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  an  alder- 
man of  Jamestown  in  the  spring  of  1895. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Jerome  Babcoek  was  Iwni  at  Busti,  N.  Y. , 
Jiify  21,  1S35  ;  spent  his  early  manhood 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  lumlier  and  oil 
Inisiness  and  in/armitig  ;  mamed  Celia  O. 
Smith  of  Sugar  Grove,  Penn. ,  January  1, 
1803  ;  ivas  supervisor  from  Busti,  1813-75 
and  1887-88 ;  7cias  elected  a  member  of 
the  assembly  in  1883  and  in  1895 ;  was 
elected  alderman  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  in 
March,  1895 ;  has  beeti  in  business  in 
famestown  since  1889. 


GbarleS  H.  Ball  has  been  a  very 
intluential  man  in  state  politics  for  a 
number  of  years.  Those  who  have  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  inside  work- 
ings of  political  affairs  well  ajjpreciate 
this,  though  Mr.  Ball  is  not  among  the 
men  whose  names  are  most  frequently 
heard  in  connection  with  such  matters. 
This  is  partly  because  he  is  a  modest 
man,  preferring  to  keep  his  personality  in 
the  background  and  let  only  his  work 
show.  He  has  a  wide  aciiuaintance  with 
men  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of  affairs 
in  both  the  state  and  the  nation,  and  he 
has  come  to  be  regarded  as  an  indis- 
pensable assistant  about  head(|uarters  in 
both  state  and  presidential  cam|)aigns. 

It  was  Senator  Fa.ssett  who  discovered  the  abilities 
of  Mr.  Ball,  and  made  him  known  to  the  political 
managers  of  the  state.  When  Mr.  Fa.ssett  first  went 
to  the  senate,  Mr.  Ball  held  a  committee  clerkship 
in  the  legislature.  Mr.  Fas.sett  made  him  his  private 
.secretary.  As  the  ])arty  leader  in  the  senate,  Mr. 
Fa.sselt  naturally  had  close  relations  with  jioliticians 
in  all  parts  of  the  state.  He  found  in  Mr.  Ball  not 
nierel)-  a  competent  clerical  employee,  but  a  trust- 
worthy and  reliable  friend  as  well.  His  services 
were  so  valuable  that  when  Mr.  Fassett  became  secre- 
tary of  the  Republican  national  committee,  in  1888, 
he  chose  Mr.  Ball  as  his  assistant.  Thus  the  latter 
olitained  o]j])ortunilies  for  extending  his  acquaintance 


ME.\'  or  .\7-ir  vty^'k'—n'ESTKRx  skct/ox 


11: 


and  his  sphere  of  usefulness,  which  he  impro\cci  so 
well  that  in  the  next  national  campaign  he  was 
again  called  upon  to  serve  as  assistant  secretary, 
though  the  secretary  this  time  was  not  his  friend 
Mr.  Fassett,  but  Louis  E.  McComas  of  Maryland. 
Mr.  Ball  has  retained,  meanwhile,  his  connection 
with  the  state  senate.  He  was  index  clerk  for  two 
years,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  last  six  years 
he  has  been  assistant  clerk  under  John  S.  Kenyon. 
He  has  never  accepted  a  nomination  for  an  elective 
ofifice,  though  he  has  twice  been  the  unanimous  choice 
of  the  AUegany-county  delegates  for  state  senator. 

Mr.  Ball  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Allegany  county 
about  forty -six  years  ago.  He  attended  the  country 
and  village  schools,  the  Almond  Academy,  and  the 
Dickinson  Seminary  at  Williams])0rt,  Penn.  He  is 
a  self-made  man,  having  educated  himself 
and  supported  himself  since  his  thirteenth 
year.  He  intended  to  go  to  Heidelberg, 
Germany,  to  complete  his  education  :  but 
his  father's  death,  which  occurred  when 
Mr.  Ball  was  within  six  weeks  of  gradu- 
ation at  Dickinson  Seminary  with  the 
degree  of  A.  B.,  caused  a  change  in  this 
arrangement.  Mr.  Ball  abandoned  his 
plans  for  completing  his  education,  and 
look  charge  of  his  father's  business,  which 
was  that  of  a  carriage  manufacturer  at 
Wellsville,  N.  Y.  After  some  years  he 
gave  up  this  occupation,  and  became  in- 
terested in  oil  production.  He  now  has 
important  holdings  in  the  Allegany  field. 

Mr.  Ball  is  a  broad-minded,  public- 
spirited  citizen.  He  has  interested  him- 
self especially  in  the  matter  of  preserving 
the  fish,  game,  and  forests  of  the  state, 
and  has  rendered  important  service  in 
this  work. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Chaiit'i  Alley  Jiall  7vas  Iwni  at  Almond, 
Allegany  count}',  A\  Y.,  December  19, 
JS50  :  was  educated  in  Almond  Aeadeniv 
and  In  Dickinson  Seminary,  Williams- 
port,  Penn. ;  tnarried  Clara  M.  Pooler  of 
Wellsville,  N.  K,  October  1,  187 S  .■  rcas 
index  clerk  of  the  senate,  1888-89,  and 
assistant  clerk,  1890-91  and  189J^-9(i  ,■ 
7oas  assistatit  secretary  of  the  Republican 
national  committee  in  1888  and  1892  : 
lias  lived  at  Wellsville,  N.  Y.,  since  1811. 


this  country  and  settled  at  Belfast,  Allegany  county, 
when  the  locality  was  almost  an  unbroken  wilderness. 
Mr.  Bartlett's  early  education  was  limited  to  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  village,  supplemented  by  a 
course  at  Friend.ship  Academy.  His  business  career 
began  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  when  he  became 
a  clerk  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Cuba,  N.  Y. 
Here  his  efficiency  early  won  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  his  employers,  and  soon  opened  to  him  a 
broader  business  field.  Within  a  year  he  entered 
the  Exchange  National  Bank  of  Olean,  where  his 
ability  and  untiring  energy  have  gained  him  rapid 
promotion.  Attaining  successively  the  positions  of 
bookkeeper,  teller,  cashier,  and  president,  he 
thoroughly  mastered  the  duties  and  details  of  each 
in  turn.      Mr.    Bartlett  possesses  a    combination    of 


IRAXK  I..   HAKri.ETT 


jfraill?  %.  JSartlett,  president  of  the  Ex- 
change National  Bank  of  Olean,  comes  of  sturdy 
English  stock,    his  grandfather   having   removed    to 


qualities  which  Hould  insure  success  in  anv  business 
calling  he  might  seek,  but  which  seem  peculiarly 
fitted  for  the  profession  of  his  choice.  To  his  good 
business  judgment,  his  keen   perception   of  men  and 


116 


.U/-:.y  OF  XKIV    YORK—irESTF.hW  sEcnox 


events,  his  untiring  industry  and  devotion  to  the 
interests  in  his  charge,  is  due,  more  than  to  anything 
else,  the  uninterrupted  success  and  increasing  pros- 
perity of  the  Kxchange  National  Rank  of  Olean. 
Mr.  Bartlett  is  the  largest  stockholder  in  the  insti- 
tution. 


\\  II.LIAM  HKOADIIEAD 

These  (iiialities  have  also  brought  their  due  reward 
in  other  enterprises  in  which  he  has  become  inter- 
ested. Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  Eastern 
Oil  Co.  of  Buffalo,  of  which  he  is  a  director  and 
the  treasurer. 

Mr.  Bartlett  has  always  been  interested  in  public 
affairs  and  especially  such  projects  and  enterjjrises 
as  tended  to  enhance  the  prosperity  and  well-being 
of  his  locality.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in 
the  organization  of  the  local  Board  of  Trade, 
who.se  efforts  have  secured  the  location  in  Olean  of 
many  imjjortant  manufacturing  industries.  He  has 
ever  been  zealous  in  the  su|)port  of  every  ])roject  for 
the  improvement  of  his  city  in  a  material,  moral,  or 
aesthetic  way. 


Socially  Mr.  Bartlett  is  noted  for  his  good-fellow- 
ship and  uniform  courtesy  ;  and  he  and  his  charming 
wife  dispense  hospitality  and  charity  with  a  generous 
hand. 

Mr.  Bartlett  is  affiliated  with  the  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  Masons,   being  a  member  of  St.   John's  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T.,  of  Olean,  and  Lsmailia 
lemple  of  Buffalo.     He  attends  the  Pres- 
byterian church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOG  Y— 
Frank  Le  Venie  Bartlett  was  born  at 
Belfast,  Allegany  county,  N.  V.,  December 
25,  1858 :  entered  the  banking  business 
in  1870;  moved  to  Olean,  JV.  V.,  in 
1880 ;  became  cashier  of  the  Exchange 
National  Bank,  Olean,  in  1885  ;  married 
Fannie  E.  England  of  Tidioute,  Penn., 
July  15,  1886  :  has  been  president  of  the 
Exchange  National  Bank,  Olean,  since 
January  1,  1895. 


Milliam  3BroaJ5bca&,  the  founder 

ol  the  worsted  manulacturing  industry  in 
Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  is  a  Yorkshireman  by 
birth.  At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  learn  the  weaver's  trade  in 
his  native  town  of  Thornton.  Before 
and  during  his  apprenticeship  he  attended 
the  common  and  evening  schools  at 
Thornton,  but  his  education  has  been 
mainly  that  of  the  factory  and  of  practical 
business  life.  On  completing  his  apjjren- 
ticeship  at  the  loom  he  went  to  work  in 
his  father's  blacksmith  shoj),  where  he 
remained  until  he  became  of  age. 

He  was  twenty-four  years  old  when  he 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  going  to 
Busti,  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.,  where 
his  uncle,  the  Rev.  John  Broadhead,  was 
then  living.      He  secured  work  in  the  shop  of  Safford 
lOddy    at    Jamestown,    and    within    two    years    had 
married.       .About   two   years  after    his  marriage   he 
formed  a   partnership  with  his  father-in-law,  .Adam 
B.  Cobb,  for  the  manufacture  of  .s(\  the  snaths  and 
grain  cradles.    The  business  gradually  extended  to  in- 
clude other  farm  implements,  and  when  it  was  divided, 
after  ten  years,  Mr.  Broadhead  contin\ied  alone  the 
manufacture  of  axes,  pitchforks,  and  edge  tools. 

As  his  capital  accumulated,  and  the  need  of  ]jro- 
viding  business  for  his  sons  developed,  Mr.  Broad- 
head o])ened  a  merchant-tailoring  estalilishment, 
taking  his  eldest  son,  and  later  a  younger  son,  into 
])artnership.  This  liusiness  was  continued  for 
fourteen  years. 


MEX  OF  XEir    YORK—IVESTERX  SECTfON 


117 


Mr.  Broadhead  liail  reacht-d  his  fifty-third  year 
before  he  revisited  his  old  home  in  England.  The 
trip  marked  an  epoch,  not  only  in  his  own  business 
career,  but  also  in  the  development  of  Jamestown. 
The  dimensions  to  which  worsted  manufacturing  in 
Yorkshire  had  grown  since  he  learned  the  weaver's 
trade  on  a  hand  loom,  irapre.s.sed  him  with  the  idea 
that  the  business  might  jjrofitably  he  undertaken  in 
Jamestown.  F"or  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  this 
idea  he  formed  a  partnershi]j  with  Joseph  Turner  of 
England  and  William  Hall  of  Jamestown.  The 
necessary  machinery  was  imported,  a  factory  was 
built,  and  by  January  1,  1874,  the  firm  was  making 
worsted  dress  goods.  The  enterprise  was  successful 
from  the  start,  but  owing  to  some  disagreements  Mr. 
Broadhead  and  Mr.  Hall  were  compelled  to  dissolve 
partnership.  Mr.  Broadhead  withdrew, 
and  in  1875  began  the  erection  of  a  new 
mill,  in  which  his  sons  became  partners. 
Three  years  after  it  was  finished,  the 
merchant-tailoring  business  was  sold,  and 
the  firm  gave  its  whole  attention  to  worsted 
manufacture.  A  second  mill,  and  after- 
ward a  third  and  fourth,  became  necessary 
to  accommodate  the  growing  business. 
The  present  large  factory  at  Jamestown 
employs  some  seven  hundred  hands. 
Though  he  has  passed  his  seventy-seventh 
year,  Mr.  Broadhead  continues  the  active 
superintendence  of  his  property. 

Mr.  Broadhead  has  many  investments 
besides  his  manufacturing  plant.  He  has 
built  and  now  owns  no  fewer  than  twenty- 
five  business  places  on  Main  street  in 
Jamestown.  His  firm  built,  and  are  now 
operating,  the  Jamestown  electric  street 
railroad.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Jamestown  for 
eighteen  years,  and  vice  president  for 
ten  years. 

His  extensive    manufacturing  intere.sts 
have  naturally  made  him  an  ardent  pro- 
tectionist and  a  Republican,  l)ut  he  has 
never  held  public   office.      In  his  native 
town  he  belonged  to  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist   church,    and    on    his    removal     to 
Jamestown  he  joined  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  as  most  like  the  Wesleyan. 
He  was  a  strong    abolitionist,   however, 
and  when    his  church  endorsed  slavery, 
before  the  war,   he  left   it  and  formed   a  Wesleyan 
society.     This  organization  was  given  up  some  years 
later,  and  .\h\  Broadhead  then  became  a  memlier  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church.      He  is  a  man  of 


exemi)lary  habits,  and  is  especially  proud  of  the 
fact  that  never  in  his  life  has  he  u.sed  tobacco  or 
liquor. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  William 
BnHXithead  was  born  at  Thornton,  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, February  17,  1819 ;  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  in  January,  ISJ^S  ;  married  Lucy  Cobb  of James- 
tozon,  N.  Y. ,  October  29,  IS-^o  ;  Tuas  a  manufacturer 
of  edge  tools  in  Jamestoivn,  IS^T-iJl  ;  conducted  a 
merchant-tailoring  establishment  in  Janicstoivn,  ISG^-- 
78 :  built,  with  others,  the  Jamestinon  Worsted  Mills 
in  1873  :  built  ivorsted  mills  himself  in  Jamestown  in 
1870.  and  has  conducted  the  same  since. 


3aS0U   H).   Case,  one  of  FranklinvlUe's  most 
prominent  and  public-spirited  citizens,  has  been  all 


J.ISU.V  U.   CASE 

his  life  a  resident  of  Cattaraugus  county.  Born  in 
the  town  of  Lyndon,  and  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  that  town  and  in  Rushford  Academy,  he 
settled   in     Franklinville   at    the   age   of    twenty-six, 


1  IS 


AfKX  OF  NEM'    YOKK—U'KSTERX  SECTION 


immediately  after  his  marriage,  and  has  made  that 
town  his  home  ever  since. 

His  first  knowledge  of  business  was  gained  in  aiding 
his  father,  an  extensive  dealer  in  farm  produce,  when 
but  sixteen  years  of  age.  For  two  years  he  traveled 
about  the  country,  bu\  ing  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  wool, 
etc.,  and  at  eighteen  assumed  charge  of  his  father's 
large  dairy  fami.  l-'our  years  later  he  was  engaged 
as  superintendent  of  an  oil  company  near  Pleasant- 
ville,  Penn.,  which  he  managed  for  three  years  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  company  ;  and  at  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time  he  succeeded  in  dis])Osing  of 
the  projjerty  most  advantageously. 

In  December,  1872,  Mr.  Case  was  asked  to  take 
the  management  of  a  jjrivate  bank  then  organizing  in 
Franklinville.  He  undertook  the  work,  and  soon 
made  it  evident  that  he  had  found  his  true  vocation. 
When,  in  1877,  this  private  enterprise  was  succeeded 
by  the  First  National  Bank  of  Franklinville,  the  second 
institution  of  its  kind  in  Cattaraugus  county,  Mr. 
Case  liecame  its  cashier  and  active  manager  ;  and  he 
has  held  that  responsible  position  until  the  jiresent 
time.  He  has  devoted  to  the  work  keen  business 
foresight  and  a  special  aptitude  for  financial  affairs  ; 
and  the  remarkable  success  of  the  institution  ever 
since  its  organization  is  due  to  his  indefatigable 
efforts  more  than  to  any  other  one  cause.  This  bank 
easily  holds  the  first  place  among  similar  institutions 
in  its  vicinity,  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  solid  financial 
establishments  of  western  New  York.  When  the 
Bank  of  Ellicottville  was  started,  a  year  after  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Franklinville,  Mr.  Case  be- 
came one  of  its  directors,  and  he  has  held  the  posi- 
tion ever  since.  In  addition  to  this,  he  has  been 
president  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  of  Arcade  from  its 
organization  in  1883  ;  and  he  makes  frequent  visits 
there,  in  order  to  maintain  an  active  supervision  of 
all  the  details  of  its  management.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  Mr.  Ca.se  is  a  prominent  figure  in  banking 
circles  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  he  resides,  and 
it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  he  is  a  large  owner 
of  bank  stock  in  that  vicinity.  He  is  also  a  director 
of  the  Peo])le's  State  Bank  of  Mazo  Manie,  Wis. 

.Although  Mr.  Ca.se  has  devoted  his  best  energies 
to  banking,  he  has  been  interested  in  the  production 
of  oil  ever  since  his  early  experience  as  superintendent 
of  the  company  in  Pennsylvania;  and  more  recently 
he  has  been  instrumental  in  forming  the  Manufactur- 
ers' Cas  Co.  of  Bradford,  Penn.,  of  which  he  is  a 
director.  In  connection  with  W.  H.  Odell  and  .K.  K. 
Darrow  he  has  o|)erated  .some  Pennsylvania  oil  prop- 
erty very  successfully.  He  was  influential  in  forming 
the  canning  comijany  of  Franklinville,  and  is  a 
director  of  the  new  Conklin  Wagon  Co.  at  Olean. 


Franklinville  posse.sses  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
cemeteries  in  western  New-  York,  and  this  is  due 
largely  to  Mr.  Ca.se's  efforts — first,  in  promoting 
the  organization  of  the  Cemetery  Association  in 
1878,  and  ever  since  in  the  active  interest  he  has 
taken  in  its  management,  as  trustee  and  treasurer. 

Mr.  Ca.se  has  been  for  many  years  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Jason  D. 
Case  7i'as  bont  at  Lyndon,  N.  V. ,  Octobei-  S,  1847  ; 
7cias  educated  in  the  district  schools  and  in  Rushford 
(N.  Y.)  Academy ;  began  business  in  1863  as  assist- 
ant to  his  father,  an  extensix^e  produce  dealer  ;  accepted 
a  position  as  superintendent  of  an  oil  cotnpany  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1869  :  became  manager  of  a  private  bank 
in  Pranklinville,  A'.  Y. ,  in  1873  :  married  LLelen  C. 
Morgan  of  Cuba,  N.  Y. ,  Januaiy  27,  1873  ;  has  been 
cashier  and  manager  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Franklinville  since  1877,  and  president  of  the  Citizens^ 
Bank  of  Arcade,  N.  Y.,  since  1883. 


JOSCpbUii  H.l.  ClarU  presents  a  career  interest- 
ing in  various  ways.  .\n  active  business  man  in 
Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  for  fifty-five  years,  the  war-time 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  village,  a 
member  of  the  board  of  education  for  twenty-one 
consecutive  years,  and  a  trustee  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  for  forty-four  years  —  such  a  man  must  have 
led  a  life  of  great  usefulness,  and  must  have  com- 
manded the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  towns- 
people in  an  unusual  degree. 

Mr.  Clark  is  a  representative  of  tiiat  sturdy  New 
England  stock  from  which  so  much  of  the  best  blood 
of  western  New  York  has  come.  He  was  born  in 
Worcester  county,  Mass.,  in  President  Monroe's  first 
term.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
village,  and  was  afterwards  sent  to  school  at  Salem, 
Mass.,  and  at  Winchester,  N.  H.,  thus  obtaining  a 
good  education  in  the  common  branches  of  learning. 
His  studies  were  interrupted,  however,  at  an  early  age, 
when  he  went  West,  as  New  Englanders  of  that  time 
regarded  western  New  York.  He  arrived  in  Chautau- 
qua county  in  IS.'iO,  and  obtained  a  little  more 
schooling  before  taking  ujj  the  serious  business  of  life. 

Mr.  Clark  settled  in  Jamestown  in  1835,  and  has 
lived  there  since  with  the  exce])tion  of  about  two 
years  in  his  early  manhood,  which  were  spent  in  New- 
Orleans,  Cincinnati,  and  Pittsburg.  When  only 
twenty-two  years  old,  he  engaged  in  the  foundry  and 
machine-shop  business  in  Jamestown.  He  had  two 
partners  at  first,  and  there  were  frequent  changes  in 
the  firm  during  its  early  years;  but  he  retained  his 
interest  throughout,  and  since  18o7  he  has  conducted 
the  business  alone. 


MEX  OF  A  EH-    )ORK—n-ESTER\  SECT/OX 


119 


Mr.  Clark  was  early  recognized  as  a  public-spirited 
citizen  who  had  the  interests  of  his  town  at  heart. 
Two  years  before  the  war  his  townspeople  elected 
him  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  —  Jamestown 
was  a  village  then — and  he  held  this  office  continu- 
ously for  ten  years.  Throughout  the  war  he  served 
as  president  of  the  board.  The  duties  of 
the  position  at  such  a  crisis  were  far  more 
important  than  in  the  ordinary  times  of 
peace.  Jamestown,  as  one  of  the  princi- 
pal places  in  Chautauqua  county,  was 
naturally  a  center  for  enlistment  and  for 
the  collection  of  the  heavy  taxes  made 
necessary  by  the  war.  Moreover,  when 
the  nation  was  calling  for  so  great  sacri- 
fices, unusual  prudence  and  conservatism 
were  necessary  in  the  management  of  local 
affairs.  Jamestown  justly  looks  upon  Mr. 
Clark  as  one  of  the  men  who  laid  the 
foundations  for  the  present  prosperity  of 
the  city. 

Mr.  Clark  takes  a  characteristic  New- 
England  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
public  schools.  In  1870  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  board  of  education,  and 
served  in  this  office  for  twenty-one  con- 
secutive years  :  for  fifteen  years  he  was 
president  of  the  board. 

From  early  life  he  has  been  an  attend- 
ant of  the  Baptist  church.  He  was 
chosen  a  trustee  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Jamestown  in  1852,  and  still 
holds  that  position.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Chautauqua  County  Historical 
Society,  and  is  one  of  its  executive  com 
mittee. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Joseplms  H.  Clark  'loas  born  at  Petersham, 
Mass.,  December  1,  1819;  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools :    moiled  to    western 
New    York   in   18S0 ;    married  Jane  E.   Marsh   of 
Panama,   N.    Y,  July    IS,   1851 ;     was  trustee   of 
Jamest07vn,  N.    Y,    1859-69,    and  member  of   the 
board  of  education,  1870-91 :  has  conducted  a  foundry 
in  Jamestoton  since  18^1. 


Hsa  Stone  COllCb  has  devoted  his  life  to  the 
study,  teaching,  and  practice  of  medicine.  He 
ranks  among  the  foremost  expounders  and  defenders 
of  homeopathy  in  the  United  States.  In  medical 
conventions,  in  the  press,  and  before  legislative 
committees,  he  has  vigorously  upheld  the  tenets  of 
the  "  new  school,"  and  has  demanded  for  its  jiracti- 
tioners,  against  fierce  opjxjsition,  the   public  rights 


and  opportunities  accorded  to  the  "old  school." 
The  warfare  between  allopathy  and  homeopathy  has 
lost  much  of  the  intensity  that  characterized  it  when 
the  renowned  Hahnemann  first  enunciated  his  famous 
princi})les  of  medicine.  The  new  school  has  dem- 
onstrated its  right  and   its  power  to  exist,  and  has 


JOSEPH  US  N.   CLARK 

obtained  a  recognized  standing  before  the  law.  It 
may  be  said  without  exaggeration  that  this  condition 
of  things  has  been  brought  about  by  Dr.  Couch  as 
much  as  by  any  one  man.  His  voluminous  writings 
on  this  burning  question  in  medical  science  have 
given  him  fame  and  reputation  wherever  the  contro- 
versy between  the  old  school  and  the  new  has  been 
carried  on.  In  addition  to  his  controversial  works 
he  has  written  numerous  books  and  pamphlets  on  the 
doctrines  and  methods  of  homeopathy,  besides 
occasional  papers  and  articles  on  subjects  connected 
with  the  education  and  qualifications  of  physicians. 
Dr.  Couch  has  an  ancestry  noted  in  the  fields  of 
medicine  and   education,    and  he    inherited   in    an 


120 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


unusual  degree  those  qualities  of  mind  that  mark  the 
patient  investigator  and  man  of  science.  After  an 
academic  and  a  classical  training  in  the  Westfield 
Academy  and  the  Chamberlain  Institute,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  medicine  under  the  supervision  of  two 
eminent    physicians    of    Vermont.       He    attended 


ASA    STOXF.    COUCH 

courses  of  .study  at  both  allopathic  and  homeopathic 
institutions,  and  graduated  from  the  Homeo|jathic 
Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  in  185/).  He 
immediately  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  association  with  Professor  (lardner  of  Phila- 
delphia. In  the  same  year  his  <7/ina  ///^?/(vai)|)ointed 
him  demonstrator  of  anatomy  and  assistant  surgeon. 
With  this  rich  experience  added  to  his  theoretical 
studies,  the  young  doctor  concluded  to  devote  his 
entire  time  to  practice.  He  returned  to  his  native 
county  in  New  York,  and  opened  an  office  in  I're- 
donia,  where  he  has  practiced  for  forty  years.  1'he 
esteem  in  which  he  is  held  in  his  profession  and  in 
the  comnnmity  in  whi(  h  he  lives,  is  best  attested   by 


the  positions  of  trust  and  honor  to  which  he  has 
frequently  Ijcen  summoneil.  He  was  for  se\eral 
years  vice  president  of  the  Homeojjathic  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  for  one  year 
its  president.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Chautaucjua  County  Homeopathic  Medical  Society 
and  of  the  Homeopathic  Society  of  West- 
ern New  York. 

In  1S77  he  was  appointed  professor  of 
special  jjathologv  and  diagnosis  in  the 
Hahnemann  College  and  Hospital  in 
Chicago,  where  his  lectures  were  noted 
for  de]jth  of  thought,  broad  knowledge, 
and  painstaking  research.  His  profes- 
sional brethren  showed  their  estimation  of 
his  ability  by  recommending  him  to  the 
regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York  for  the  honorary  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine,  which  was  promptly 
conferred  ujjon  him,  in  1X79  :  and  in 
1891  the  Homeopathic  Society  of  the 
state  nominated  him  for  the  state  board  of 
homeopathic  medical  examiners,  to  which 
he  was  duly  elected  by  the  state  regents. 
Dr.  Couch  was  chosen  president  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  board,  and  was 
appointed  examiner  in  pathology  and 
diagnosis. 

In  18!)4  by  Governor  Flower,  anil 
again  in  1895  by  Governor  Morton,  Dr. 
Couch  was  commissioned  one  of  the  man- 
agers of  the  Collins  Farm  Homeopathic 
Hos]jital  for  the  In.sane.  He  is  very  much 
interested  in  the  work  of  this  institution, 
and  means  to  make  it,  so  far  as  he  can, 
second  to  no  similar  establishment  in  the 
world  in  perfection  of  detail  for  hospital 
purposes. 

As  a  popular  lecturer  Dr.  Couch  enjoys 
a  wide  reputation,  presenting  complicated 
in  a  simple,  intelligible  way.  He  has 
before  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural 
Sciences,  and  he  delivered  the  opening  address  before 
the  World's  International  Homeo]jathic  Congress 
held  at  Atlantic  City  in  1891.  Dr.  Couch's  whole 
life  has  been  one  of  unceasing  activity  in  the  prac- 
tical and  theoretical  branches  of  his  profession  ;  and 
he  is  io-(iay,  in  consequence,  justly  regarded  as  a 
conii)lete,  all-roimd  physician  and  .scientific  man. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Asa  Stone 
Couch  was  born  at  Westjif/J,  N.  V.,  October  22, 
18-3,3 ;  was  educated  at  Westfield  Academy  and 
Chamberlain  Jnstitute :  }!;raduated  in  ?nedicine  from 
the  Homeopathic   Medical   College,    Philadelphia,    in 


subjects 
lectured 


MEX  or  XKir    YORk'—U'ESTKRX  SKCT/OX 


121 


1855 ;  married  Martlta  L.  SItfnnan  of  Westfiehi 
April  ,i,  1857,  and  Mrs.  Ellen  S.  Barrett  of  Dun- 
kirk, N.  Y.,  February  6,  1878 ;  7aas  appointed  a 
member  of  the  state  board  of  homeopathic  medical 
examiners  in  1891  ;  has  practiced  medicine  in  Fie- 
donia,  A'.   V.,  since  1856. 


Hlt>Crt  (5.  S)0\V  of  Raiulol]))!,  i\.  Y.,  was  horn 
of  l^iritan  parents  at  Plainfield,  Cheshire  county, 
N.  H.,  August  16,  1808.  He  was  the  eighth  of  the 
ten  children  of  Captain  Solomon  and  Phoebe  Dow, 
who  removed  from  Hartland,  Vermont,  to  (lenesee 
county  in  181(5. 

Albert  Dow's  father  died  in  Pembroke,  N.  Y.,  in 
1822,  and  soon  after  Mr.  Dow,  in  his  fifteenth  year, 
began  the  battle  of  life  on  his  own  account,  and 
commenced  a  business  career  that  has  continued 
uninterruptedly  for  over   seventy   years. 

He  lived   a   year   in  Batavia,    where    he  

learned  the  shoemaker's  trade  ;  ne.xt  went 
to  Panama  for  a  short  time  ;  and  then 
settled  in  Silver  Creek,  Chautauqua 
county,  in  1827,  which  continued  to  be 
his  home  for  nearly  twenty  years.  Here 
he  conducted  a  shoe  business  until  Jan- 
uary, 1840,  when  he  entered  the  hard- 
ware business,  having  George  D.  Farnham 
for  a  copartner.  This  partnership  con- 
tinued about  a  year,  and  on  its  di.s.sohition 
Mr.  Dow  opened  a  hardware  store  at  Sin- 
clairville.  In  the  fall  of  1842  he  resumed 
the  business  at  Silver  Creek  in  partner- 
shi|)  with  Horatio  N.  Farnham,  and  this 
continued  until  his  removal  to  Randolph 
in  184.").  In  184o  he  had  opened  a 
dry -goods  store  at  Randolph,  his  nephew, 
James  Nutting,  being  associated  with 
him.  I'his  store  they  conducted  as  co- 
partners until  1851.  L'pon  his  removal 
to  Randolph  he  opened  there  a  hardware 
store  that  he  continued  until  ISO.']  :  his 
son  Warren  was  his  partner  during  the 
last  three  years. 

In  1860  he  established  a  private  bank 
in   Randolph,  which  was  the  first  institu- 
tion  of  the  kind  in  that  section  ;    and 
from  that  time  he  has  been  prominently 
identified  with  the   banking  interests  of 
Cattaraugus  county.    From  1875  to  1880, 
the  last  five  years  of  Mr.  Dow's  banking 
in    Randolph,   his   son,    Charles    M.    Dow,   now   of 
Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  was  an  active  partner.      In   1881 
Mr.  Dow  organized  the  Salamanca  National  Bank  at 
Salamanca.      He  was  the  principal  stockholder  and 


president  of  the  institution  until  1890,  when  he  re- 
signed the  presidency,  but  continued  to  be  a  director. 

Since  then  he  has  not  been  actively  engaged  in 
business,  but  has  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  his 
investments  and  the  enjoyment  of  a  well-earned  rest. 

All  through  his  extended  business  career  he  has 
found  it  a  pleasure  and  deemed  it  a  duty  to  interest 
himself  in  public  affairs,  and  he  has  discharged  faith- 
fully and  well  the  duties  of  various  public  offices. 
He  was  a  Democrat  up  to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 
Like  so  many  others  he  changed  his  party  affiliations 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  since  1861  he  has 
been  a  Republican  and  an  active  and  unswerving 
member  of  that  party.  He  was  early  elected  to  local 
offices  in  Silver  Creek,  and  acted  as  justice  of  the 
peace  for  eight  years  in  Randolph.  He  served  as 
supervisor  of  that  town  for  ten  years.      In  1863  and 


ALBERT  a.   DOW 


1864  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  legislature  from 
the  2d  district  of  Cattaraugus  county,  and  in  1872 
he  was  elected  state  senator,  representing  what  was 
then  the  .'52d  senatorial  district.     In  all  these  positions 


122 


M£X  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/0. X 


he  displayed  the  good  sense  and  faithful  devotion  to 
duty  that  characterized  him  in  private  affairs. 

Mr.  Dow  has  always  been  actively  interested  in 
religious  work  and  in  educational  movements.  When 
a  young  man  he  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  Silver  Creek,  and  upon  his  removal  to   Randolph 


CRAXT  DUKE 

he  joined  the  Congregational  church  of  that  village, 
of  which  he  has  ever  since  been  a  member,  and  in 
which  he  has  often  served  in  official  capacities. 

In  1H.")0  he  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the 
Randolph  Academy  (now  Chamberlain  Institute), 
which  has  been  a  power  in  the  intellectual  and  moral 
development  of  western  New  York  ever  since  its 
foundation.  He  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of 
this  school,  and  has  held  that  office  uninterruptedly 
up  to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Dow's  strong  personality,  sound  judgment, 
purity  of  character,  honesty  of  purpose,  and  con- 
scientiousness in  the  discharge  of  duty,  has  won 
the    respect    and    admiration  of    a    large    circle    of 


acquaintances  and  the  friendship  of  all  classes  in  the 
community  in  which  he  lives. 

PERSONAL    CHRONOLOGY  —  Albert  Gal- 
lalin  Dow  was  born  at  Plainjield,  N.  H.,  August  IG, 
1808  :    carried  o?i  a  shoe  business  in  Sii7vr    Creek, 
N.    Y. ,  1827-JfO,  and  a  hardware  busi?iess,  18^0-45  ; 
married    Freelove     Mason    of    Batavia, 
N.    v.,    October  4,   1829,  and  Lydia  A. 
Mason  April  2-3,   ISiiO ;    engaged  in  the 
hardware  business  in  Randolph,  N.    ¥., 
1845-63 ;    established  a  private  bank  in 
Randolph   in    18(10 ;    was  member  of  as- 
sembly,   1863-(J4,    and    state   senator  in 
1873;   was  president  of  the   Salamanca 
{N.  Y.)  National  Bank,  1881-90. 


Grant  2>Ul5e  's  one  of  the  most 
prominent  figures  among  the  younger 
generation  in  his  native  town  of  Wells- 
ville,  N.  Y.  So  large  a  majority  of  our 
promising  young  men  follow  Horace 
Greeley's  advice  and  "go  West,"  or  turn 
their  backs  on  the  country  to  seek  the 
more  extended  field  of  activity  offered 
by  some  large  city,  that  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  read  the  story  of  a  life  like  Mr.  Duke's. 
It  is  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  nation  that  there  are  cases,  like 
this  one,  where  young  men  of  ability  and 
enterprise  are  content  to  devote  their 
talents  to  the  development  of  the  smaller 
towns. 

After  attending  the  common  schools  of 

Wellsville,  Mr.  Duke  spent  two  years  at 

the    Pennsylvania    Military   Academy  at 

Chester,  Penn.,  and  one  year  at  Alfred 

University,  and  finally  took  a  course  at 

a  business  college  in  Rochester.     He  was 

thus  well  equipped  as  regards  both  general 

culture  and  practical  commercial  training 

when  he   began  the  business  of  lumbering  and  oil 

producing  with  his  father.     The  name  of  Duke  is  well 

known  in  southwestern  New  York  and  northwestern 

Pennsylvania,  for  in  that  region  William  Duke,  the 

father  of  our  subject,  and  four  of  his  brothers,  had 

been  engaged  all  their  lives  in  these  industries.     The 

town  of  Duke  Center,  Pcnn. ,  was  named  for  them,  and 

practically  owned  and  controlled  by  them  for  many 

vears.     At  present   Mr.  Duke  and  his  two  l)rothers 

are  a.ssociated  with  their  father,  and  their  interests 

throughout  Allegany  county  are  varied  and  extensive. 

Mr.  Duke  is  an  ardent  Rejuiblican,  and  is  devoted 

heart  and  soul  to  the  interests  of  his  party.      He  is 

full  of  enthusiasm  for  all  plans  looking  toward  the 


ME.\   OF   M-:W    VORK—WKSTKRX  SECT/OX 


123 


im|)rovement  of  the  village  of  Wellsville  and  the 
county  of  Allegany.  \\'hen  the  Allegany  Count) 
Firemen's  Association  was  organized  he  was  made 
the  first  president ;  and  he  is  president  of  the  Wells- 
ville hose  company,  which  is  named  in  his  honor. 
His  popularity  in  his  native  place  was  abundantly 
proved  by  his  election,  in  1X94,  as  president  of  the 
village,  although  his  opponent  was  deemed  one  of 
the  strongest  men  in  the  town.  He  was  re-elected 
in  1895,  and  his  fellow-townsmen  have  every  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  his  successful  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  village  :  for  he  has  displayed  great 
executive  ability,  and  has  made  one  of  the  best 
presidents  the  village  ever  had. 

Mr.  Duke  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United 
States,  and  has  thus  expanded  his  sympathies  and 
interests,  and  gained  that  knowledge  of  men  and 
affairs  which  is  so  desirable,  and  which 
the  man  who  has  lived  all  his  days  in  a 
small  community  sometimes  fails  to  ac- 
quire. His  genial  good-fellowship  is 
amply  evidenced  by  the  number  of  clubs 
and  fraternal  organizations  to  which  he 
belongs.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Horn- 
ellsville  Club,  the  Acacia  Club  of  Buffalo, 
the  (jenesee  Club  of  Wellsville,  DeMolay 
Commandery,  No.  22,  of  Horneilsville, 
the  Damascus  Temple  of  Rochester,  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  and  Malta,  and  other 
organizations.      He  is  an  fc^piscopalian. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Grant  Duke  tvas  horn  at  Wellsville, 
N.  y.,  June  1,  1863 ;  laas  educated  at 
the  Pennsylvania  Military  Academy  and 
at  Alfred  University ;  married  Anna  B. 
Taylor  of  Wellsville  March  2J^,  1884; 
was  president  of  the  village  of  Wellsville, 
1894-95 :  has  been  engaged  in  business 
in  Wellsville  and  Allegany  county,  as 
lumber  merchant  and  oil  producer,  since 
188-i. 


50bn  E.  2)U6enbUr^  bas  expended 
the  elTorts  of  a  vigorous  and  varied   busi- 
ness life  upon  interests  centered  in  Port- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  born  and  has 
always  resided.      He  had  only  the   edu- 
cation afforded  by  district  schools  and  a 
course  at  Binghamton  Academy,  but  he 
was  endowed  with  a  generous  equipment 
of  common  sense  and  sagacity.      He  has  recognized 
each  opportunity  that  came  to  him,  and  has  made 
the  most  of  it,  until  he  now  controls  extensive  and 
varied  concerns. 


Mr.  Dusenbury's  father,  in  partnership  with 
William  F.  Wheeler,  carried  on  for  many  years  a 
countr\-  store  in  connection  with  a  large  lumber 
business,  and  yoimg  Dusenbury,  on  attaining  his  ma- 
jority, became  proprietor  of  this  store.  Two  years 
later,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  Mr.  Dusenbury,  to- 
gether with  his  brothers,  succeeded  to  a  partnership 
in  the  firm,  which  then  became  known  as  Wm.  F. 
Wheeler  &  Co.  Later  on,  the  firm  added  the  manu- 
facture of  leather  to  its  previous  undertakings,  and 
finally  the  production  of  oil.  In  these  successive 
developments  Mr.  Dusenbury  has  contributed  a  large 
share  of  enterprise  and  executive  ability. 

The  qualities  that  make  a  man  successful  in  manu- 
facturing pursuits  or  in  general  business  are  likewise 
of  great  value  to  a  bank  official,  and  it  is  not  strange 
that  Mr.  Dusenbury  was  a  prime  mover  in  the  estab- 


JOHX  R.   DUSEMH-KY 

lishment  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Olean,  twenty- 
odd  years  ago,  and  that  he  has  been  actively  connected 
with  the  institution  ever  since.  Upon  the  death  of 
his    father's    old    partner,    William    F.    Wheeler,   in 


124 


MEN   OF  NEW    )-ORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


1898,  Mr.  Diisenbury  succeeded  him  as  president  of 
the  institution. 

Mr.  Uusenbury  ha.s  no  liking  for  the  scramble  in 
which  those  desirous  of  the  emoluments  of  oflfice  too 
often  engage  :  but  he  has  been  willing  to  serve  the 
public  when  called  upon,  as  is  proved  by  his  ten 


MILTON  M.   lEXXHK 

years'  incumbency  of  the  office  of  town  su])ervisor. 
He  has  also  remained  aloof,  as  a  rule,  from  all  so- 
cieties or  fellowships,  which  many  men  find  necessary 
to  satisfy  the  social  instincts  of  their  nature.  He  is, 
however,  an  attendant  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

One  diversion  in  which  Mr.  Du.senbury  finds  re- 
laxation from  the  perplexities  of  a  complicated 
business  is  that  of  hor.se  raising  and  training. 
With  a  particular  liking  for  the  fine  points  of  well-bred 
horse  flesh,  he  has  given  .some  attention  to  horse 
breeding  as  an  avocation,  and  now  owns  an  estab- 
lishment of  this  kind. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  R. 
Dusenbiiry  was  born  at  Porlville,  N.  V.,  June 
10,  1836  ;    was  educated  in  common  schools  and  at 


Binghamton  (iV.  Y.  )  Academy  ;  commenced  business 
as  a  country  merchant  in  Forti<ille  in  185S  :  engaged  in 
/umbering  in  the  same  place  in  1800,  and  later  in  the 
manufacture  of  leather  and  in  the  oil  business ;  married 
Hattie  A.  Foster  of  Chili,  N.  Y,  in  February,  1861, 
and  Delle  V.  Mather  of  Southwick,  Mass. ,  in  July, 

186!> :   established,  with  others,   the  First 

National  Bank  of  Olcan,  AL  Y. ,  ///  1873, 

'        and  has  been  president  of  the  same  since 

18!JS. 


/IDiltOn  /lli.  JfCnner  is  a  farmer's 

boy  who  has  n.sen  to  success  in  medicine, 
business,  and  politics.  He  was  born  at 
South  Stockton,  Chautaucjua  county,  and 
until  he  was  eighteen  years  old  divided  his 
time  between  farming  and  such  schooling 
as  he  could  get  in  the  district  schools. 
Then  he  set  himself  in  earnest  to  obtain  an 
education.  He  went  to  Ellington  Acad- 
emy at  Ellington,  N.  Y.,  and  then  to 
Allegheny  College  at  Meadville,  Penn. 
I'inally  he  entered  the  Eclectic  Medical 
Institute  at  Cincinnati,  and  graduated 
therefrom  in  1860,  at  the  age  of  twenty - 
three,  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  Through- 
out his  school  career  he  paid  his  way  by 
teaching. 

For  about  a  year  after  graduation   Ur. 
Fenner  practiced  medicine  in  Michigan, 
first    in    Goodrich    and    then   in    Flint. 
Then  he  decided  to  enter  the  army.      He 
enlisted,   in    l)S(il,   in  the  <Sth   Michigan 
volunteer    infantry,    served    as    hospital 
steward,  and  was  afterward  jjromoted  suc- 
cessively to  the  rank  of  2d  and  1st  lieu- 
tenant.     In  1863  he  was  appointed  assist- 
ant surgeon  in  the  United  States  navy. 
Finally   he  retired  from  the  service,    in 
181)4,  to  devote  himself  to  private  practice,  and  re- 
turned for  this  ])urpose  to  his  native  county,  settling 
at  Jamestown.      'I'here  he  remained  until  I8(i9,  when 
he  moved  to  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  which  has  since  been 
his  home.      He  conducted  a  general  practice  until 
1872,  and  still  carries  on  an  office  practice.      In  1872 
he  began  the  manufacture  of  ]jroprietary  medicines, 
in  which  he  has  met  with  great  success. 

Dr.  Fenner  has  held  various  official  positions  in 
the  line  of  his  ])rofession.  He  was  consulting  sur- 
geon to  the  Chautauqua  County  Insane  Asylum  from 
186(1  to  18()!).  During  the  same  years  he  was 
jjhysician  to  the  poor  for  Jamestown,  and  from  1869 
to  1872  he  held  a  similar  office  in  Fredonia.  He 
was  L'nited  States  examining  surgeon  from  1870  to 


MEN   OF  XEIV    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


125 


1872,  and  in   1871   and   1<S72  was   president  of  the 
Eclectic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

This  summary  of  Dr.  Fenner's  professional  career 
would  alone  show  him  to  be  a  busy  man  ;  but  he 
has  found  time  to  do  many  other  things.  He  is  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  of  the  Dunkirk  &  Fredonia 
Railroad  Co.,  and  has  been  its  manager  since  1880. 
The  company  maintains  an  electric  street-railroad 
between  Fredonia  and  the  neighboring  city  of  Dun- 
kirk, and  carries  on  incidentally  the  business  of 
commercial  electric  lighting  and  steam  heating.  Dr. 
Fenner  is  also  engaged  in  grape  and  miscellaneous 
farming.  Each  branch  of  his  business  —  manufac- 
turing, street-car  management  with  its  accessories, 
printing  (the  (Hobe  Printing  House  ),  and  farming  — 
is  organized  by  itself;  but  the  general  supervision  of 
the  whole  falls  upon  him.  He  is  a  director  of  the 
Hubbard  Company,  the  Fredonia  National 
Bank,  and  the  Merchants'  National  Bank 
of  Dunkirk  ;  is  a  member  of  the  local 
board  of  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Fredonia;  and  was  formerly  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Life  and  Reserve  Associa- 
tion of  Buffalo. 

Dr.  Fenner  is  most  widely  known 
through  his  political  connections.  He  is 
an  earnest  Republican,  has  been  prom- 
inent a.s  a  leader  in  local  politics,  and  has 
held  various  offices.  He  served  his  town 
as  supervisor — its  highest  office  —  two 
terms,  in  187)S  and  1871;I.  In  1880  his 
district  sent  him  to  the  legislature  as  its 
assemblyman,  and  the  following  year  he 
was  re-elected.  In  l.S!)0  and  1801  he 
was  deputy  collector  of  customs  of  the 
port  of  New  York. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V— 
Milton  Mariofi  Fenner  was  born  at  South 
Stockton,  N.  Y. ,  July  28,  1837 ;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools,  Ellington 
(iV.  Y.  )  Academy,  and  Allegheny  College, 
Meadville,  Penn.  ;  graduated  from  the 
Eclectic  Medical  Institute  at  Cincinnati  in 
1860 ;  married  Georgianna  L.  Gran  din 
of  Jatnesto7vn,  N.  Y.,  June  5,  1866,  and 
Florence  E.  Bondeson  of  Jamestown  March 
28,  1883;  served  in  the  Union  army 
and  naiy,  1861-61/.;  practiced  medicine  in 
Michigan,  185U—61,  and  in  Jamestown, 
186J/-69  ;  was  member  of  assembly,  1881- 
82,  and  deputy  collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of  New 
York,  1890-91 ;  has  practiced  medicine  in  Fredonia, 
N.  Y.,  since  1869,  and  carried  on  the  manufacture  of 
proprietary  medicines  there  since  1872. 


Benjamin  Iflagler  is  an  excellent  type  of  the 
class  of  citizens  to  whose  progressive  spirit  and  un- 
tiring energy  is  due  in  large  measure  the  material 
development  of  the  Empire  State.  This  is  the  cla.ss 
that  possesses  the  ability  to  organize,  and  the  skill 
and  means  to  carry  out  successfully,  large  operations 
in  the  commercial  and  mechanical  fields  of  industry. 
In  this  day  of  gigantic  undertakings,  requiring  for 
their  execution  large  numbers  of  men  and  vast  expen- 
ditures of  money,  there  is  in  every  community  an 
urgent  demand  for  men  of  executive  ability  and  high 
integritw 

Such  a  man  is  Mr.  Flagler  in  the  community  in 
which  he  lives.  He  was  educated  in  the  district 
school  and  in  the  Lockport  Union  School.  With 
this  training  added  to  his  natural  mental  endowments, 
he  began   his  business  career.      This,  however,  was 


BE\JA.MJ\   l-l.AGLF.R 

destined  to  be  arrested  soon  by  a  call  to  higher  duty. 
The  great  Civil  War  interposed  between  him  and  his 
personal  interests  and  commercial  prospects.  It 
found  him  a  young  man  in  prosperous  condition, 


126 


MEX  OF  NEW   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


married,  settled  in  business,  looking  forward  to  the 
steady-going  course  of  lomniercial  and  domestic  life. 
The  war  found  many  other  young  men  similarly  cir- 
cumstanced. Some  heeded  the  call  of  their  coun- 
try, and  ijuickly  volunteered  their  services  ;  others 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  summons  of  the  nation. 
Mr.  Flagler  proved  himself  a  true  patriot.  He 
enlisted  in  the  first  regiment  raised  in  Niagara 
county,  and  served  in  the  model  .\rmy  of  the 
Potomac  until  honorably  discharged  for  disability. 

Mr.  Flagler  was  for  many  years  connected  with 
the  customs  service,  holding  the  offices  of  inspector, 
deputy  collector,  and  collector  at  Suspension  Bridge, 
N.  Y.,  during  a  period  of  twenty-three  years. 
While  in  these  positions  he  established  a  re])utation 
for  courtesy,  accuracy,  and  fidelity  that  commended 
him  to  all  cla.s.ses  having  business  at  the  custom- 
house. 

Upon  his  retirement  from  public  service  Mr. 
Flagler  directed  his  efforts  to  financial  enterprises. 
He  became  president  of  the  Sus|)ension  Bridge  Bank 
on  its  organization  in  1886,  and  has  continued  at  the 
head  of  that  institution  since  then.  Another  field 
of  activity  which  he  entered  about  the  same  time 
was  that  of  street  railways ;  and  he  was  elected 
president  of  the  first  surface  road  operated  in  Sus- 
pension Bridge.  The  development  of  electric  power 
from  Niagara  Falls,  so  long  a  matter  of  speculation, 
has  now  become  a  demonstrated  fact,  .\mong  the 
men  de.serving  of  credit  and  gratitude  for  this  grand 
illustration  of  man's  dominion  over  nature,  is  Mr. 
Flagler,  who  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Niagara  Falls  Power  Co.,  and  who  has  been  its  vice 
president  since  1891. 

Outside  business  relations  Mr.  Flagler  maintains  a 
worthy  and  useful  connection  with  various  organiza- 
tions of  a  social,  religious,  and  philanthro]jic  char- 
acter. He  is  a  Mason  of  the  highest  rank,  and  Past 
{jrand  Master  of  the  order  in  New  York  state.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  trustee  and  the  treasurer  of  l)e 
Veaux  College.  His  ])olitical  affiliations  are  with  the 
Republicans,  and  he  has  been  honored  by  his  party 
through  Governor  Morton,  of  whose  staff  he  is  a 
member,  being  chief  of  ordnance  with  the  rank  of 
brigadier  general.  In  politics  as  in  busine.ss,  Mr. 
Flagler  carries  into  jjractice  the  sound  princi])les  of 
individual  opinion  and  strict  integrity. 

PERSO  NA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Baijamh, 
Flagler  was  horn  at  Lockport,  N.  V.,  December  10, 
1833 ;  was  educated  in  public  schools ;  married 
Martha  J.  McKni^^ht  of  Nctofanc,  N.  Y. ,  No'oember 
9,  185!)  ;  served  in  the  Union  army,  1861-02  ;  settled 
in  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. ,  in  1863 ;  was  in  the  cus- 
toms service  at  Suspension  Bridge,  N.  Y. ,  as  inspector, 


deputy  collector,  and  collector,  1863-86;  has  been  pres- 
ident of  Suspension  Bridge  Bank  since  1886,  and  vice 
president  of  Niagara  Falls  Pmocr  Co.  since  1801. 

Milliam  ll.  fl5Cn^CrS0n  of  Randolph,  N.  Y., 
has  won  advancement  and  honor  by  holding  fast  to 
one  good  profession  for  a  lifetime.  At  si.xteen  years 
of  age  he  entered  Fredonia  Academy,  then  the  leading 
institution  of  its  kind  in  western  New  York.  .\t 
eighteen  he  was  teaching.  By  dint  of  attending 
schools  when  he  had  the  opjjortunity  and  teaching 
between  times  to  earn  the  means  therefor,  he  was 
able,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  to  graduate  from  the 
State  Normal  College  at  Albany. 

After  receiving  his  diploma  Mr.  Henderson  went 
to  Randolph,  N.  Y.,  where  for  two  years  more  he 
taught  school  to  defray  expenses  while  studying  law. 
This  preparation  resulted  in  his  admission  to  the  bar 
at  Buffalo  in  18.1:^.  Since  then  Mr.  Henderson  has 
practiced  his  profession  continuously  at  Randolph 
with  but  one  change  in  the  name  of  his  firm.  His 
first  partnership  was  with  J.  F.  Weeden,  upon  whose 
retirement  in  1859  Mr.  Henderson  associated  himself 
with  Alexander  Wentworth  ;  and  to  the  present  day 
the  firm  name  is  Henderson  &  Wentworth.  As  he 
.says  himself,  "  Neither  politics  nor  pleasure  nor 
other  business  has  ever  interfered  with  the  practice 
of  my  profession. 

Professional  devotion,  howe\er,  has  not  absorbed 
the  whole  individuality  of  Mr.  Henderson.  He  has 
Ijeen  ready  to  contribute  his  talents  to  public  service, 
if  the  office  came  without  any  seeking  on  his  part. 
That  he  has  not  been  more  in  jmblic  life  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  has  always  belonged  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  which  has  not  been  uppermost  in 
western  New  York.  When  only  twenty-three  years 
of  age  Mr.  Henderson  was  nominated  for  the  office 
of  treasurer  of  Cattaraugus  county.  He  was  ap- 
pointed county  judge  by  Governor  Tilden  to  fill  a 
vacancy,  in  1875.  At  the  next  election  he  was  his 
party's  choice  for  the  same  office,  and  succeeded  in 
reducing  the  Republican  majority  in  the  county  from 
three  thousand  to  about  three  hundred.  Shortly 
afterward  Governor  Tilden  again  placed  him  in  office, 
this  time  as  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  8th 
judicial  district.  That  he  was  i)0]nilar  in  his  own 
community  was  shown  by  his  selection  as  jiresident 
of  the  centennial  celebration  of  his  county,  which 
occurred  at  Olean  July  4,  1876.  Three  years  later 
he  was  nominated  as  state  senator ;  and  close  upon 
this  honor  came  that  of  re])resenting  his  state  as 
alternate  delegate  at  large  in  the  Democratic  national 
convention  that  nominated  Hancock  and  English  at 
Cincinnati  in  IM.SO.      Governor  Robinson  had  been 


MEX  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


127 


elected  delegate  at  large,  and  Mr.  Henderson  was 
elected  his  alternate,  and  at  the  governor's  request 
Mr.  Henderson  attended  in  his  stead. 

Mr.    Henderson   holds  a  directorate  in   the  First 
National  Bank  of  Salamanca,  in  the  People's  Bank 
of  East  Randolph,  and  in  the  State  Bank  of  Ran- 
dolph,  of  which    he  was   for    ten   years 
president  of  the  board  of  directors.     Suc- 
cessive  preferments,    political  or  profes- 
sional, have  attested  the  high  esteem  in 
which  both  his  ability  and   his  integrity 
are    regarded    at    home   and    in    official 
circles. 

Two  very  important  trusts  have  been 
assigned  to  Mr.  Henderson  and  faithfully 
discharged  by  him.  For  many  years  he 
was  the  legal  adviser  of  Benjamin  Cham- 
berlain, the  founder  of  Chamberlain 
Institute,  and  was  thus  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  that  gentleman's  philan- 
thropic and  educational  ideas.  Since 
187(i  Mr.  Henderson  has  been  president 
of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Chamberlain 
Institute,  and  has  carried  out  the  benef- 
icent projects  of  the  founder  with  dis- 
tinguished success.  For  a  period  almost 
equally  long  he  has  been  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  \\  estern  New- 
York  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Home- 
less and  Dependent  Children.  To  this 
worthy  charity  he  has  given  his  most 
earnest  thought  and  labors.  Under  his 
guidance  a  "Home"  has  been  built 
which  now-  cares  for  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  children,  and  in  which  they 
are  educated  and  trained  until  homes  are 
found  for  them. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— 
William  H.  Henderson  was  born  at  Tully, 
N.  Y.,  December  Jf,  1828;  was  educated  at  Fredouia 
Academy  and  at  the  State  Normal  College  at  Albany, 
N'.  Y.  ;  was  nominated  for  treasurer  of  Cattaraugus 
county  in  18'il :  rcas  appointed  county  judge  of  Catta- 
raugus county  in  187-'),  and  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  for  the  8th  judicial  district  in  1876  ;  was  delegate 
to  the  Democratic  national  convention  in  1880  ;  married 
Anna  M.  Morris  of  Ellicotttnlle,  N.  Y.,  June  3, 
1858,  and  Emily  A.  Tlunnpson  of  Randolph,  iV.  Y., 
July  9, 1885  :  has  practiced  huo  in  Randolph  since  1852. 


lumber  interests  in  the  West,  and  as  representative  of 
the  50th  senate  district  in  the  legislature,  Mr.  Higgins 
gives  in  his  daily  life  evidence  of  great  energy  and 
unusual  power  of  concentration  and  organization. 

His  education  began   in   the  district  school  of  his 
native  town,  and  was   continued   in  the  seminarv  at 


ifraul?  M.  IbiggiUS  has  a  large  part  in  the 
business  and  political  life  of  southwestern  New  York, 
as  his  father  had  before  him.  As  the  owner  of  three 
stores  in  (Jlean,  in  addition  to  various  mining  and 


WILLIAM  H.   HEXDERSOX 

Pike,  Wyoming  county,  and  in  the  Riverview  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  Poughkeepsie.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  began  business  life  in  Chicago  as  the 
w-estern  .sales-agent  of  an  eastern  refinery  of  lubricat- 
ing oils.  He  continued  this  business  for  only  a  short 
time,  going  from  Chicago  to  Denver,  Col.,  where  he 
spent  parts  of  the  years  1*^7.5  and  1876.  Returning 
again  to  the  middle  west,  in  November,  1876,  he 
bought  an  interest  in  the  mercantile  firm  of  Wood, 
Thayer  &  Co.  at  Stanton,  Mich.  The  following  year 
he  purchased  the  interests  of  his  partners,  and  con- 
tinued the  busine.ss  in  his  own  name. 

Mr.  Higgins's  father,  O.  T.  Higgins,  was  at  this 
time  extensively  engaged  in  mercantile  business  in 
Olean  and   other  towns  of  western   New  York  and 


128 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERS  SECTIOX 


northern  Pennsylvania.  The  firm  of  Higgins, 
Bloflgett  &  Co.,  in  which  the  elder  Higgins  was 
senior  partner,  had  nine  stores  .scattered  through  this 
territory,  chiefly  at  Olean.  In  I-'ebriiary,  1879,  Mr. 
Higgins  sold  his  interests  in  Michigan,  and  bought 
a  partnershijj  in   this   firm  :  and  after  five  years  he 


'    .    t 


FRANK    W.   HIGGINS 

bought  the  Olean  stores  from  his  ])artners,  and  he 
now  owns  three  stores  in  Olean.  His  talent  for 
organization  is  such  that  he  has  been  able  for  the  last 
eight  years  to  devote  most  of  his  time  to  pine  and 
iron  lands  in  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota, 
where  he  has  large  holdings. 

Mr.  Higgins  took  an  early  interest  in  politics. 
He  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  at  Chicago  in  1888.  In  18!)3  he  was 
nominated  and  elected  state  senator  from  what  wa.s 
then  the  .S2d  district,  consisting  of  Allegany,  Cat- 
taraugus, and  Chautauqua  coimties.  His  .service  was 
distinguished  by  strict  integrity,  close  attention  to 
legislative  business,  and  honest  independence.  Thus 
he  early  actjuired  strong   influence,  and   before  the 


close  of  his  term  w\as  recognized  as  among  the  leaders 
in  the  upper  house  at  Albany.  His  constituents 
showed  their  appreciation  of  his  services  by  giving 
him  a  renomination  without  opposition,  his  district, 
the  50th,  consisting  imder  the  new  constitution  of 
Cattaraugus  and  Chautauipia  counties.  'I'he  Demo- 
crats,    Prohibitionists,    and    Populists   of 

,         his  district  made  no  nominations  against 

him,  and  iiis  re-election  lacked  little  of 
being  unanimous.     He  is  chairman  of  the 
important    committee    on    taxation  and 
j         retrenchment,     to     which      the     famous 
!  Raines  excise    bill    was  referred   in   Feb- 

ruary,  ISlKi. 

Mr.  Higgins  attends  the  Episcopal 
church.  He  has  been  Eminent  Com- 
mamler  of  St.  John's  Coinmandery,  No. 
24,  of  Olean,  and  is  trustee  of  the 
Randolph  Home  for  Friendless  Children 
and  of  the  Chautaiu|ua  As.sembly.  He 
!  has  always  taken  deej)  interest  in  the 
growth  and  improvement  of  the  city 
where  he  has  his  home,  and  of  the  sur- 
rounding locality. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Prank  Wayland  Higgins  was  born  at 
Riishford,  N.  V. ,  August  18,  1856  ;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  and  at  River- 
view  Military  Academy,  Poughkccpsie, 
N.  Y.;  was  in  business  in  Chicago  and  in 
Denver,  187^-76 ;  was  in  business  at 
Stanton,  Mich.,  1876-79 ;  married  Kate 
C.  A'oblc  of  Sparta,  Wis.,  June  5,  IHIH  : 
luas  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  in  1888  ;  was  elected  state  sen- 
ator in  1893  and  re-elected  in  1895  ;  has 
conducted  a  general  mercantile  business  in 
Olean  since  1879. 


3obn  Milliam  1l3umpbrcs»  Sr.t  ha-^^  >ed  an 

active,  energetic  life,  full  of  enterprise  and  useful- 
ness. He  was  born  in  New-  England,  in  the  thriving 
town  of  New  Britain,  C'onn.,  less  than  half  a  cen- 
tury ago.  At  an  early  age  he  was  sent  to  boarding 
.school  at  Saybrook,  Conn.,  a  delightful  old  village 
situated  on  Long  Island  sound  at  the  mouth  of  the 
("onnecticut  river.  His  parents  having  moved  to 
Chicago,  his  elementary  education  was  completed  in 
the  ])ublic  schools  of  the  western  metropolis.  Then 
he  entered  the  Northwestern  Seminary  at  Evanston, 
III.,  to  prejjare  for  Heloit  College,  where  he  finished 
his  scholastic  studies. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Mr.  Humphrey  launched 
out  into  business,  ac(|uiring  a  half  interest  in  an  oil 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


129 


well  at  Fithole,  Penn.  He  soon  extended  his  opera- 
tions in  the  oil  district,  and  became  interested  in 
valuable  properties  near 'I'itusville.  The  allied  busi- 
ness of  coal  mining  also  engaged  his  attention,  and 
this  he  carried  on  with  a  partner  under  the  fimi  name 
of  Humphrey  &  Co.  He  next  devoted  a  period  of 
two  years  to  manufacturing  at  Erie,  Penn.,  and  re- 
tired from  the  coal  and  oil  business.  About  this 
time  railroading  became  attractive  to  him,  and  for 
some  months  he  was  in  the  service  of  the  New  York, 
Pennsyhania  &  Ohio  railroad  at  Meadville,  Penn. 

In  1877  Mr.  Humphrey  chose  a  new  and  entirely 
different  field  for  his  activities  and  talents,  becoming 
the  ])roprietor  of  the  Tuna  Valley  House  at  Brad- 
ford, Penn.  This  was  the  beginning  of  his  career  as 
an  owner  and  a  manager  of  hotels.  He  .soon  inir- 
chased  the  St.  James  hotel,  which  he  carried  on 
succe.ssfully  for  several  years,  when  he 
disposed  of  it,  removed  to  Jamestown, 
N.  Y.,  and  acquired  possession  of  the 
hotel  that  now  bears  his  name  —  the 
Humphrey  House.  The  success  of  this 
hotel  is  ])roof  of  Mr.  Humphrey's  ability. 
Few  kinds  of  business  require  so  many 
and  varied  talents  as  hotel-keeping.  It 
demands  brains,  executive  ability,  and 
velvety  tact.  The  hotel  has  assumed  in 
modern  life  an  importance  undreamed  of 
in  the  days  when  travel  was  limited  to 
short  distances.  Hotels  are  the  homes 
of  a  large  class  of  people.  To  meet  the 
wishes  of  the  traveling  public  and  to 
provide  for  their  wants,  is  a  task  that  taxes 
a  man's  resources  at  all  points.  Mr. 
Humphrey  ha.s  set  a  high  standard  for 
the  conduct  of  his  hotel,  and  has  main- 
tained that  standard  under  all  circum- 
stances, however  trying. 

In  addition  to  his  hotel  business  Mr. 
Humphrey,  since  his  father's  death  in 
October,  l<Sii;!,  has  carried  on  the  manu- 
facture of  carriages  and  implements,  a 
business  that  his  father  had  built  up  to 
large  projjortions. 

Political  affairs  have  alwa\s  interested 
Mr.  Humphrey,  and  while  he  has  not 
sought  office,  he  has  been  an  active  Re- 
pul)lican  in  l)oth  state  and  national  poli- 
tics. He  is  a  Mason  of  the  :^2d  degree 
and  a  Knight  Templar. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  William 
Humphrey,  Jr.,  was  burn  at  Neiti  Britain,  Conn., 
December  o,  18Jfi  :  was  educated  in  various  pre- 
paratory schools  and  at  Belait  ColU\^e,  Beloit,   Wis.  : 


7i'as  an  operator  in  oil  and  coal  in  Pennsylvania, 
1808-72 ;  married  Mary  E.  Irioin  of  Erie,  Penn., 
October  31,  1872  :  was  engaged  in  the  hotel  business 
at  Bradford,  Penn. ,  1877-82  ;  purchased  the  Hum- 
phrey House  at  JamestotLm,  N.  V.,  A/arch  1,  1883, 
and  has  conducted  the  same  since. 


%.  IR.  Jewell  's  prominent  in  legal  circles  in 
Cattaraugus  comity,  where  he  has  practiced  his  pro- 
fession with  distinguished  success  for  neiirly  thirty 
years. 

After  an  education  received  at  Rushford  and  Ar- 
cade academies,  both  well-known  institutions  of 
southwestern  New  York,  in  IHtif)  he  entered  the  law 
office  of  Cary  &  Bolles  in  Olean  as  a  student.  Two 
years  later  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  firm 
with   which    he    had    studied    was   one   of  the   most 


JOHX    l\//J^/.IM   lUMflll^Er.  JR. 

successful  in  the  county,  and  the  fact  that  Mr.  Jewell 
was  immediately  admitted  to  partnershijj  shows 
that  he  had  already  displayed  marked  ability.  The 
new  firm  of  Cary,  Polles  is;  Jewell  established  itself  in 


130 


AfEX  OF  XEW  yoRk-—u-/:sr/-:R.\  section 


Little  Valley,  which  had  just  been  made  the  county 
seat,  and  remained  there  for  the  next  six  years. 

It  was  during  his  first  year  in  Little  Valley,  and 
when  he  was  little  more  than  twenty-five  years  old, 
that  Mr.  Jewell  achieved  his  first  brilliant  success,  and 
established    his   reputation  as  a  lawyer  of  splendid 


J.   A'.  JIC  1 1  A7  /. 

promise.  Throughout  Cattaraugus  county  men  of 
middle  age  and  over  still  remember  the  "  celebrated 
Biirdick  ca.se,"  as  it  was  called.  The  man  was 
indicted  for  the  murder  of  a  negro,  and  was  convicted. 
The  public  sentiment  against  him  was  so  strong  that 
the  judge  before  whom  the  case  was  tried  committed 
an  error  in  his  charge  to  the  jury,  and  on  this  ground 
Mr.  Jewell  obtained  for  his  client  a  second  trial. 
Here,  too,  the  prisoner  was  convicted,  but  his  indefat- 
igable young  lawyer  succeeded  in  having  the  .sentence 
commuted  by  Ciovemor  Hoffman  to  imprisonment. 
Mr.  Jewell  conducted  the  entire  ca.se  without  the  aid 
of  other  counsel  ;  and  the  legal  learning,  tact,  and 
untiring    perseverance    that    he   displayed    at    once 


brought  him  into  prominence,  and  secured  for  him 
the  beginnings  of  the  lucrative  practice  that  he  has 
since  enjoyed.  Although  he  has  not  confined  him- 
self to  criminal  cases,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  during 
his  jjrofessional  life  he  has  defended  twelve  men  who 
were  on  trial  for  their  lives,  and  not  one  of  them  has 
been  e.xec\ited. 

In  IrS.So,  when  Judge  BoUes  retired 
from  the  firm,  Mr.  Jewell  returned  to 
( >lean,  and  was  associated  with  Mr.  Gary, 
and  later  with  his  brother,  M.  B.  Jewell. 
Since  1898  he  has  practiced  alone. 

Mr.  Jewell  is  a  stanch  adherent  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  received  a  nomina- 
tion for  district  attorney  in  1873.  His 
county  was  strongly  Republican,  and  he 
was  of  course  defeated  ;  but  he  ran  about 
four  hundred  votes  ahead  of  the  party 
ticket.  This  is  the  only  political  office 
for  which  he  has  ever  been  a  candidate  ; 
but  in  August,  1894,  he  was  appointed 
by  President  Cleveland  United  States 
agent  for  the  Indians  of  New  York  state, 
and  this  position  he  still  fills. 

A  very  notable  achievement  in  the 
practical  ajjplication  of  the  law  of  real 
property  has  recently  been  accomplished 
by  Mr.  Jewell.  Congress  having  author- 
ized the  secretary  of  the  interior  to  nego- 
tiate with  a  land  company  for  the  pur- 
chase of  whatever  title,  if  any,  the 
company  had  in  the  lands  of  the  Seneca 
nation  of  Indians  in  New  York  state, 
Mr.  Jewell  was  called  upon  to  investigate 
the  title  of  the  lands  in  question.  The 
merits  of  the  case  were  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain,  as  the  controversy  went 
back  to  the  year  1624,  when  the  state 
of  Massachusetts  claimed  the  territory. 
Grants  were  made  of  certain  rights  by 
Ma.ssachusetts  and  by  New  York  before  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  was  adopted,  and  after 
that  conveyances  were  made  under  the  grants  from 
the  two  states.  The  determination  of  the  title  at 
this  time,  therefore,  was  a  most  difficult  legal  prob- 
lem ;  and  the  i)roper  solution  of  the  ])roblem  by 
Mr.  Jewell,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Ignited  States 
government  and  of  eminent  lawyers  interested  in  the 
case,  must  be  regarded  as  striking  evidence  of  his 
legal  ability.  He  jjre.sented  an  exhaustive  report  on 
the  subject,  which  was  approved  by  the  United  States 
dei)artment  of  justice  and  adopted  by  it  :  and  this 
report  will  be  a  permanent  record  in  the  archives 
of  the  government,  and  will  doubtless  have  a  most 


ME.y  OF  .YEW    ]-ORA-—irESrEA\y  SECT/ON 


1  .-1 1 


important  influence,  in  case  the  question  shall  ever 
arise  again. 

Outside  of  his  profession  Mr.  Jewell  finds  interest 
and  recreation  in  farming.  He  owns  a  small  farm 
not  far  from  Olean,  to  the  management  of  which  he 
devotes  considerable  attention,  and  from  which  he 
derives  much  pleasure.  .\Ir.  Jewell  is  not  a  member 
of  any  church,  but  his  sympathies  are  with  the 
Methodists. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — Joseph  R. 
Jewell  was  horn  at  Machias,  N.  Y. ,  April  15,  1S42  : 
was  educated  in  the  district  schools  and  in  Riishford 
and  Arcade  acadetnies ;  toas  admitted  to  the  liar  at 
Buffalo  in  1867 ;  married  Julia  E.  Lamper  of  Cone- 
wango,  N.  Y,  September  5,  1870;  practiced  la70  in 
Little  Valley,  N.  Y. ,  1867-73 ;  was  nominated  for 
district  attorney  of  Cattaraugus  county  in 
187S  ;  was  appointed  United  States  agent 
for  the  New  York  Indians  August  26, 
189]f  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Olean  since 
1873. 


M.  lb.  /ll^an^eville,  the  son  of 

John  Drake  .Manile\  illc  and  Susan  Man- 
deviile,  is  an  excellent  type  of  the  men 
who  have  made  our  countr)'  what  it  is 
to-day  —  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
nations  ;  for,  as  is  well  known,  it  is  not 
the  few  phenomenal  geniuses  who  raise  a 
people  to  the  foremost  rank  among  the 
families  of  the  earth,  but  the  solid  rank 
and  file  of  intelligent,  educated,  energetic, 
and  public-spirited  citizens,  who  are 
always  ready  to  help  forward  any  project 
for  good  in  the  community  in  which 
they  live. 

.Mr.  Mandeville  has  been  all  his  life 
most  prominently  connected  with  the  in- 
surance Imsiness,  that  great  feature  of  our 
modern  life  which,  as  has  been  well  said, 
is  more  than  almost  anv  other  tvpical  of 
our  .American  civilization.  Kngaging  first 
in  this  business  when  a  young  man,  with 
his  father,  in  Belmont,  N.  Y.,  he  moved 
soon  afterward  to  Olean,  which  has  ever 
since  been  his  home.  In  a  few  years  he 
became  prominent  in  insurance  circles, 
and  was  elected  president  of  the  Cattarau- 
gus-county  board  of  underwriters:  this  po- 
sition he  has  held  for  the  past  thirty  years. 

Mr.  Mandeville  has  not  confined  himself,  however, 
to  insurance  interests.  His  acti\e  spirit  has  caused 
him  to  identify  himself  with  the  Imsiness  of  the 
country  in  those  sjiecial   enterijrises  that  characterize 


our  age.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Lima  Natural  (las  Co.  of  Lima,  O.,  and  of  the  Ohio 
Oil  Co.;  and  for  twenty  years  he  has  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  [jroduction  of  petroleum. 

We  are  sometimes  tempted  to  think  that  one  of  the 
faults  of  our  bustling,  go-ahead,  niueteenth-century 
life  is  that  eac:h  man  thinks  only  of  himself,  and  not 
always  even  of  what  is  best  for  himself  in  the  broad- 
est and  truest  sense.  In  this  respect  Mr.  Mandeville 
certainly  has  not  failed,  for  his  interest  in  all  public 
enterprises  for  the  good  of  the  community  is  well 
known.  Everyone  nowadays  realizes  the  im])ortance 
of  education  and  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge, 
and  the  two  most  potent  factors  to  this  end  are  the 
]jublic  .school  and  the  public  library.  The  man  who 
helps  forward  either  of  these  two  institutions  is  doing 


IC.  H.  MA.\DEV/LLH 


a  great  work  for  posterity,  and  Mr.  Mandeville,  in 
his  connection  with  the  library  at  t)lean,  has  shown 
a  most  intelligent  appreciation  of  this  fact.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Olean  Librarv, 


132 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


and  for  many  years  its  president.  Since  its  reorgani- 
zation as  the  Fortnan  Library  he  has  been  one  of  its 
managers,  and  his  well-directed  efforts  have  had 
much  to  do  with  the  success  of  the  institution. 

PERSONAL      CHRONOLOGY—  William 
Ifcnuard  M,iiiifeTi7/f  7e><i.{  horn  at  Millport,  Chemung 


GEOKCF.     \V.  I'ATTEIiSOX 

county,  N.  Y.,  August  15,  ISJ^l ;  was  cducatfd  in 
the  public  schools  of  New  York  city  and  of  Belmont, 
N.  Y.,  and  at  Rushford  Academy  ;  entered  the  insur- 
ance business  in  1863,  in  partnership  rt'ith  his  father, 
at  Belmont,  N  Y.;  married  Helen  L.  Eastman  of 
N'ashua,  N.  H. ,  August  22,  1872  ;  has  been  engaged 
in  the  insurance  business  in  Olean,  N.  Y. ,  sitice  1865. 

GCOrtJC  ¥01.  Patterson  win  be  hdd  in  hon- 
orai)le  remembrance  by  the  people  of  Westfield  long 
after  he  has  passed  away.  His  greatest  service  to 
the  village  is  the  founding  of  the  Patterson  Library, 
a  work  in  which  he  is  still  engaged.  His  sister, 
Hannah  W.  Patterson,  left  for  this  |)urpose  a  legacy 
of  §1(1(1,000,  the  application  of  which  was  entrusted 


to  his  care.  Had  the  library  never  been  undertaken, 
however,  Mr.  Patterson  would  still  be  long  remem- 
iiered  for  his  services  in  the  jjerfecting  of  land  titles. 
The  Chautauqua  land  office  of  the  Holland  Land 
C'omjjany  was  located  at  Westfield,  and  Mr.  Patter- 
son's father  was  its  agent.  Since  1879  Mr.  Patter- 
son has  himself  been  the  owner,  legatee, 
and  grantee  of  the  remaining  |)roperty  of 
the  Holland  and  Chautauijua  land  com- 
[janies  for  Chautauqua  county.  The 
books,  records,  maps,  and  papers  of  the 
office  have  been  in  his  possession,  and 
have  been  kept  with  scrupulous  care.  In 
consequence,  he  has  often  been  called  on 
for  evidence  of  the  discharge  of  mort- 
gages, and  for  quitclaim  deeds  to  perfect 
titles,  when  land-office  deeds  have  not 
been  recorded  in  the  county  clerks' 
offices.  Many  Chautauqua-county  land 
owners  have  been  saved  great  trouble 
and  expense  by  the  care  and  system  with 
which  Mr.  Patterson  has  preserved  the 
important  papers  that  have  come  under 
his  charge. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Livingston  county,  N.  V.  His  father 
determined  to  give  him  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, and  he  was  fitted  for  college  at  the 
Temple  Hill  Academy,  Cleneseo,  the 
Westfield  Academy,  and  the  ( Jenesee 
Wesleyan  Seminary  at  Lima.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  entered  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated  in  1848  with 
the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  from  which  he 
received  his  A.  M.  three  years  later. 
I'or  the  purpo.se  of  completing  his  educa- 
tion, and  not  with  any  view  to  practic- 
ing, he  entered  a  law  office  in  Buffalo, 
and  studied  about  two  years.  His  father 
had  moved  to  Westfield  with  his  family  in  1841, 
and  here,  ten  years  later,  our  subject  entered  busi- 
ness life  liy  becoming  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Waters 
&  Patterson,  manufacturer!!  of  edge  tools,  shovels, 
forks,  and  hoes.  He  retired  from  this  business  in 
1854,  and  moved  to  Corning,  where  he  became 
cashier  of  the  Geo.  Washington  Bank.  After  four 
years  he  became  president  of  this  institution.  The 
bank  failed  in  the  great  financial  |)anic  of  187M-74  ; 
but  Mr.  Patterson  was  fully  discharged  of  all  claims 
by  creditors  of  the  bank.  He  then,  in  187(5,  returned 
to  \V'estfield,  where  his  later  years  have  been  devoted 
to  the  benevolent  works  de.scribetl  above,  to  his  per- 
sonal interests,  anil  to  the  executorship  of  four  estates 
averaging  o\er  s;;(i(i,(Mi(i  each. 


MEN  OF  NEW   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


133 


Mr.  Patterson's  connection  with  public  affairs  has 
been  limited  to  the  towns  in  which  he  has  lived.  He 
was  a  memlier  and  presitlent  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion of  Corning  from  1S07  to  1876,  and  a  village 
trustee  one  term.  His  election  to  the  latter  office 
was  significant  of  the  respect  in  which  he  was  held. 
Though  a  Republican,  he  received  a  large  Demo- 
cratic vote,  and  was  chosen  acting  president  of  the 
village  by  his  colleagues,  all  of  whom  were  Demo- 
crats. He  was  also  treasurer  of  the  Ho]je  Cemetery 
Association  of  Corning  from  1859  to  1876.  He 
drew  the  preliminary  plans  for  the  first  waterworks  of 
Corning  and  for  the  building  of  the  Corning  Free 
.\cademy.  He  also  made  the  plans  for  the  Westfield 
waterworks,  and  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  water 
commissioners,  having  served  as  president  thereof 
since  1888. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  a  member  of  the 
Amphictyon  Association  of  the  Genesee 
\\'esleyan  Seminary,  and  of  the  Zeta 
chapter  of  the  Psi  Upsilon  and  the  Phi 
Chi  Delta  fraternities  of  Dartmouth 
College.  He  was  a  vestrvman  in  the 
Epi-scopal  church  at  Corning,  and  fills 
the  same  office  at  Westfield.  He  has 
frequently  contributed  articles  to  news- 
papers on  topics  of  interest,  and  has 
collected  with  a  view  to  publication 
genealogical  data  of  more  than  fifteen 
thousand  persons,  descendants  of  his 
own  and  his  wife's  ancestors.  Mr. 
Patterson's  father  was  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  in  1848-50,  and  his 
son  is  a  jirofessor  in  the  University  of 
Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor.  Four  gen- 
erations have  borne  the  name  (ieorge 
Washington   Patterson. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
George  Washington  Patterson  was  borti  at 
Leicester,  N.  Y.,  February  25,  182G  ; 
7oas  educated  at  various  preparatory  schools 
(  Temple  Hill  Academy,  Westfield  Acad- 
emy, and  Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary) 
and  at  Dartmouth  College,  graduating 
tlierefrom  in  I8J1.8 ;  studied  law  in  Buf- 
falo, 1849—50  ;  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  edge  tools  at  Westfield,  N.  ¥.,  1851- 
54.  ;  was  cashier  of  the  Geo.  Washington 
Bank  at  Corning,  N.  ¥.,  1854-58,  and 
president,  1858-15  :  married  Prances  De 
Etta  Todd  of  Toddville,  N.  Y.,  September  17,  1861  ; 
has  lived  in  I J  cstfield  since  1876  ;  has  been  owner, 
legatee,  and  grantee  of  the  Holland  and  Chautauqua 
land  companies  since  1879. 


Jesse  Peterson  lia.s  long  been  a  consiiicuous 
figure  in  the  business  and  political  life  of  western 
New  York.  He  removed  from  his  native  town  of 
Belfast,  N.  Y.,  to  Lockport  in  1858,  and  that  city 
has  ever  since  been  his  home  and  the  scene  of  his 
busine.ss  enterprises.  After  a  somewhat  limited 
early  education,  which  extensive  travel  in  his  own 
country  and  in  Europe  and  Africa  has  amply  sup- 
plemented, Mr.  Peterson  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
embarked  ujjon  the  sterner  activities  of  life.  He 
engaged  first  in  the  business  of  a  contractor,  and 
for  five  years  devoted  himself  to  this  work.  During 
this  time,  notwithstanding  his  youth,  he  carried 
out  several  important  works,  such  as  the  tunnel 
for  the  Hydraulic  Company  of  Lockport,  and  the 
main  portion  of  the  waterworks  of  the  city  of 
Toledo,   Ohio. 


JESSE   PETERSON 

Mr.  Peterson  next  turned  his  attention  to  manu- 
facturing, and  in  this  field,  which  has  ever  since 
claimed  his  attention,  his  greatest  success  has  been 
attained.      His  first  venture   in   this  new  sphere  of 


i:!4 


MEN  OF  XEir   YORK— IVES  TERN  SECTION 


activity  was  made  as  half  owner  of  the  Penfield  Block 
Co.  of  Lockport,  N.  Y.  While  connected  with  this 
concern  he  built  up  and  extended  the  business  until 
it  became  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  This 
early  achievement  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Peterson's 
whole  career,  since  he  has  always  been  able  to  out- 
strip competitors  in  any  intlustry  to  which  he  has 
turned  his  attention. 

While  occupied  with  the  affairs  of  the  Penfield 
Block  Co.,  Mr.  Peterson's  attention  was  drawn  to  a 
field  just  beginning  to  attract  the  notice  of  caiiital- 
ists — the  manufacture  of  wood  pulp.  In  this  he 
perceived  a  fine  opening  for  his  business  enterprise, 
and  he  established  a  plant  accordingly  in  Lockport. 
Since  1<S83  he  has  been  jjroprietor  of  the  Cascade 
Wood  Pulp  Mills.  A  further  developiiient  of  this 
industry  is  found  in  the  manufacture  of  wares  from 
the  hardened,  or  indurated  fiber  of  the  wood.  In 
18.S.^  Mr.  Peterson  became  jiresident  of  the  Lockport 
Indurated  Fiber  Co.,  which  has  since  been  consoli- 
dated into  the  Indurated  Fiber  Co.  of  New  Jersey, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  S7oO,000.  It  is  the  largest 
establishment  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Peterson  has  never  been  ambitious  for  public 
office,  but  he  stands  high  in  the  e.steem  of  his  partv, 
and  was  honored  by  a  place  on  the  Democratic 
electoral  ticket  in  1888,  when  President  Cleveland 
was  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

Mr.  Peterson  has  not  failed,  in  the  midst  of  a 
busy  career,  to  broaden  his  knowledge  and  liberalize 
his  mind  by  extensive  travel  in  many  parts  of  the 
world  :  indeed,  this  has  been  his  chief  recreation 
and  one  great  intere.st  outside  of  business.  He  has 
visited  nearly  every  city  of  any  importance  in 
Europe,  and  has  extended  his  travels  into  the  less 
frequented  regions  of  northern  Africa,  exploring  the 
coast  as  tar  east  as  Tunis  and  spending  considerable 
time  in  the  (Jreat  Desert.  But  he  has  not  committed 
the  fault  of  which  many  an  .American  is  guilty  —  that 
of  neglecting  the  places  of  interest  in  his  own  land 
and  devoting  his  attention  solely  to  exploring  the 
old  world.  His  extensive  travels  in  the  United 
States  have  familiarized  him  with  the  wonderful 
natural  beauties  of  the  country,  as  well  as  with  the 
great  cities,  whose  |)henomenai  growth  and  enterpris- 
ing spirit  are  fiill  of  interest  to  a  man  of  Mr.  Peter- 
son's progressive  character,  (lifted  by  nature  with 
a  fine  voice  and  a  love  of  music,  Mr.  Peterson  has 
given  considerable  recreative  attention  to  musical 
societies. 

Mr.  Peterson  is  a  fine  sijecimen  of  physical  man- 
hood, being  six  feet  and  two  inches  tali  and  of  pro- 
portionate build  and  weight.  He  has  reached  his 
present  position  of  prosperity  and  influence  through 


a  happy  combination  of  sound  judgment  and  sagacity 
with  that  venturesome  spirit  which,  in  this  age  of 
sharp  competition,  has  become  essential  to  great 
success. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Jesse  Peter- 
son was  horn  at  Belfast,  Allegany  county,  N.  V., 
October  1,  1850 ;  was  educated  in  Lockport  (vV.  Y.) 
Union  School ;  married  Arabella  A.  Brown  of  Lock- 
port  January  29,  1874;  was  half  o^tmer  of  the  Penfield 
Block  Co.  of  Lockport,  lS~.'>-8o  :  has  been  eni^aged 
in  the  manufacture  of  wood  pulp  and  indurated  fiber  in 
I^ockport  since  1883. 

3Cr011lC  iPrCStOU  i^  one  of  the  men  to  whose 
energy,  determination,  and  business  acumen  James- 
town, N.  Y.,  owes  its  growth  and  prosperity.  He 
is  the  kind  of  man  that  is  of  great  \alue  to  any 
community,  alive  to  all  its  interests,  and  ])repared 
at  all  limes  to  shoulder  his  full  responsibility  as 
a  citizen.  The  moral  welfare  of  the  city  as  well  as 
its  material  advancement  has  found  an  ever  ener- 
getic supporter  in  Mr.  Preston.  In  whatever  direc- 
tion his  duties  lay,  he  brought  the  full  force  of  his 
strong  nature  to  bear  in  their  discharge.  Conscious 
of  his  own  rectitude,  he  has  proceeded  on  a  straight 
line,  turning  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left, 
intent  only  on  fiilfiUing  his  obligations  as  a  man  and 
a  citizen. 

Mr.  Preston  is  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  but 
moved  to  Chautauqua  county,  New  York,  early  in 
life.  \\'hen  twent\'  years  old  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  V.  C.  Clark  under  the  firm  name  of  Clark 
&  Preston,  and  opened  a  general  country  store  in 
the  Chautauqua-county  village  of  Busti.  This  con- 
nection continued  for  four  years,  until  1859,  when, 
desiring  a  larger  field  for  his  operations,  he  moved 
to  Jamestown.  There  he  has  since  resided,  an 
active  force  in  the  business,  political,  social,  and 
religious  circles  of  that  city.  His  first  venture  there 
was  of  a  rather  ambitious  nature,  for,  with  DeForest 
Weld  as  a  partner,  he  o]jened  one  of  the  largest 
dry -goods  stores  in  the  town.  Constantly  alive  to 
all  opportunities  for  widening  his  sphere  of  activity, 
and  having  unlimited  faith  in  the  future  of  the  vil- 
lage, Mr.  Preston  was  .soon  engaged  in  various 
branches  of  trade.  Among  his  copartnerships  were 
those  of  Preston,  Harrington  &  Co.  and  Kent, 
Preston  &  Co.,  firms  that  will  readily  be  recalled  by 
all  the  older  residents  of  Chautauqua  county. 

Jamestown  was  near  enough  to  the  oil  fields  to  feel 
the  influence  of  the  early  excitement  there,  and 
in  181)2  Mr.  Preston,  in  connection  with  Lewis 
.\ndrews,  built  the  first  oil  refinery  of  which  the 
citv  boasted.      For  several   vears  thereafter  this  firm 


MEN  OF  XKU-    yORk'—]\7-:STER\  SECT/ON 


13.1 


continued  to  refine  oil,  Mr.  Preston  at  the  same 
time  retaining  a  large  interest  in  the  dry-goods  and 
clothing  business.  For  many  years  Jamestown  has 
been  noted  for  its  woolen  mills,  and  for  the  past 
twenty-eight  years  Mr.  Preston  has  been  identified 
with  that  important  industry.  Throughout  this  long 
period  he  has  been  one  of  the  man- 
agers of  the  Jamestown  Woolen  Mills, 
which  have  been  conducted  during  most 
of  this  time  under  the  firm  name  of  Allen, 
Preston  &  Co. 

Mr.  Preston  early  began  to  take  a 
lively  interest  in  things  political,  and 
when  only  twenty-one  years  old  he  was 
elected  town  clerk  of  the  town  of  Busti. 
Later  he  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  village 
of  Jamestown,  and  was  also  a  member  of 
the  board  of  education.  For  two  years 
he  represented  the  town  of  Ellicott, 
in  which  Jamestown  is  located,  on  the 
board  of  supervisors  of  Chautauiiua 
county.  In  all  these  positions  he  was 
faithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him,  and 
guarded  carefully  the  affairs  of  the  people 
he  represented.  In  1871  he  was  called 
to  higher  honors  and  responsibilities, 
being  elected  a  member  of  the  assembly 
from  the  2d  Chautauqua  district.  This 
was  a  reform  legislature,  and  among  its 
members  who  afterward  became  famous 
the  country  over  were  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
and  David  B.  Hill.  In  many  respects  this 
legislature  failed  to  command  the  respect 
of  the  people,  but  Mr.  Preston's  course 
was  such  as  to  win  the  praise  of  his  con- 
stituents. One  of  the  local  papers  said 
of  him  after  the  legislature  adjourned  : 

"  Mr.  I'reston  has  taken  a  straightforward,  con- 
scientious course  at  Albany,  honorable  both  to 
himself  and  to  the  district.  He  has  gained  the  respect  of  his 
fellowniembers,  and  accomplished  much  to  retrieve  the  dilapi- 
dated reputation  of  the  district  and  county  on  account  of  former 
venality  and  corruption.  Mr.  Preston  would  go  to  Albany 
again  with  a  wide  acquaintance  and  with  something  of  a  state 
reputation,  not  only  for  honesty  but  for  ability  and  strict  atten- 
tion to  his  legislative  duties." 

.\  tribute  equally  warm  and  deserved  appeared  in 
the  New  York  Times,  contributed  l)y  a  (Queens- 
county  member  of  the  same  assembly.  Mr.  Preston 
thus  retired  from  office  with  a  record  that  has  often 
been  held  up  since  as  an  example  for  other  ambitious 
men . 

For  almost  the  whole  period  of  his  active  life  Mr. 
Preston  has  been  a  communicant  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church    of  Jamestown.       In  behalf  of  this  societv 


in  iiarticular  and  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  general, 
he  has  been  an  active  worker.  He  believes  that 
church  membership  means  something  more  than 
church  attendance  and  a  yearly  contribution,  and  he 
has  always  acted  up  to  that  belief.  For  over  thirty 
years  he  was  clerk  and  trea.surer  of  the  society  men- 


JliROME   PRESTOS 

tioned,  retiring  from  those  offices  in  December, 
189.5.  As  a  mark  of  appreciation,  he  was  unani- 
mously re-elected  to  the  offices  from  which  he  re- 
signed, pending  the  election  of  his  successor.  He 
has  also  been  a  force  in  Sunday-school  w'ork,  and 
for  a  third  of  a  century  has  been  superintendent  of 
the  school  connected  with  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
He  was  the  first  president  of  the  first  Young  Men's 
Christian  A.ssociation  formed  in  Jamestown,  and  has 
been  a  director  of  the  present  association  since  its 
organization. 

^PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— Jerome  Preslon 
7c>a.f  boni  at  FarDiiiigton,  Penn.,  January  28,  JSSJ/  : 
attended  common  and  select  schools  and  the  Jamesto7on 
(IV.   y.)   Academy:  married  Hannah  Broadhcad  of 


13(i 


MEN   OF  XEIV    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


Busti,  iV.  Y. ,  June  4>  1856 :  conducted  a  general 
store  in  Busti,  1854—59;  was  elected  ?nemier  of 
assembly  from  the  2d  Chautauqua  district  in  1871  : 
has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  and  manufacturing 
pursuits  (^dry  goods,  oil  refining.  Jam e stolon  Woolen 
Mills,  etc. )  in  Jawestoum,  N.   V. ,  since  185.9. 


ancAR  i'ii:h-ro\r  pc/xa.m 

E^gar  picrpont  pUtliam  is  one  of  the  men 

to  whom  the  nation  owes  a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude. 
With  a  patriot's  impulse  he  sprang  to  his  country's 
defense  in  the  hour  of  its  jK-ril,  and  followed  the  (lag 
from  the  outbreak  of  rebellion  until  the  last  gun  of 
the  enemy  was  spiked  ;  he  faced  rebel  bullets  in 
repeated  battles,  and  was  twice  wounded  ;  and  when 
armed  resistance  was  quelled,  he  returned  to  peaceful 
industry  as  unpretentiously  as  many  another  imsung 
hero  of  the  Civil  War. 

Though  only  seventeen  years  old,  young  Putnam 
was  among  the  foremost  to  respond  to  Lincoln's  first 
call  for  troops,  enlisting  as  a  private  in  the  ilth  New 
York  cavalry.      While  other  boys  of  his  age  were  at 


school  or  taking  their  first  lessons  in  business,  he  was 
in  the  army  in  Sheridan's  cavalry,  learning  the  hard 
lessons  of  war,  in  camp,  on  the  march,  and  in  the  field. 
For  four  long  years  he  served  his  country  under  the 
stern  disci])line  of  arms,  mustered  out  among  the  last, 
as  he  had  enlisted  among  the  first.  Mr.  Putnam's 
career  as  a  soldier  was  distinguished  and 
meritorious.  Enrolled  as  a  i)rivate,  he 
won,  by  his  excellent  bearing  and  ser- 
vices, successive  promotions  to  the  rank 
of  cor]5oral,  sergeant,  1st  lieutenant,  cap- 
tain, and  brevet  major  ;  and  all  this 
before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
He  was  noticed  by  federal  authorities  for 
his  gallantry,  and  congress  voted  him  a 
medal  of  honor  for  "  distinguished  con- 
duct in  action."  This  flattering  mark 
of  approval  was  Ijestowed  upon  compara- 
tively few,  and  only  in  recognition  of  ex- 
ceptional merit.  Major  Putnam  saw  hard 
fighting,  and  carries  the  scars  of  two 
wounds  received  upon  the  battlefield. 

In  the  year  following  the  close  of  the 
war  Major  Putnam  was  appointed  llnited 
States  deputy  surveyor,  and  went  to  Min- 
nesota, where  he  remained  in  this  branch 
of  federal  service  nine  years.      He  then 
returned  to  his  native  county    to    enter 
private    business    as   a    book    and    drug 
dealer.     He  soon  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  postmaster  of  Jamestown,  X.  Y. 
In  18iSS  he  was  elected  clerk  of  Chau- 
tauqua county,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
three    years.      Major    Putnam    has    not 
sought  the  preferment  which  a  grateful 
government     has    been    glad    to    bestow 
upon  those  who  made  heroic  .sacrifices  to 
save  it,  and  wliii  li  would  have  been  his 
for  the  asking.      He  has  been  content  to 
accept  offices  that  came  to  him  as  a  free 
tender  on   the  part  of  his  fellow-citizens.      He  has 
been  active  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  party 
under  whose  leadership  the  principles  for  which  he 
fought  were  established.      He  has  been  rejjeatedly, 
and   is  now,  chairman  of  the  Republican  committee 
of  his  county,  and  is  valued  as  a  wise  and  jjalriotic 
counselor. 

For  the  past  few  years  Major  Putnam  has  given  his 
attention  to  private  enterprises,  siu  h  as  a  directorate 
in  the  Chautau(|ua  Count)-  National  Hank.  He  is  an 
esteemed  member  of  various  military  organizations, 
from  the  most  general  to  those  numbering  only  the 
|iirk  and  llower  of  liiave  veterans,  including  the 
Crand   .\rmy   of   the    Re])uMir,  the    I'liioii    Veteran 


.I/AW   ()/•■  .\7-.7C    IWv'A' 


i\i:st/:r\  sj:ct/ox 


137 


Legion,  the  Loyal  Legion,  and  the  Medal  of  Honor 
Legion.  He  is  al.so  a  Mason  and  a  Knight  i'eniijlar. 
PERSONAL  CHR ONOL O G ) '—Edgar  J'i.i- 
pont  Pii/nam  7c>ai  horn  at  Stockton,  Cliaiitauijua  coiintv, 
N.  v.,  A/ay  4,  J<'>'44  •'  W'a.i"  educated  in  common  sclwoh  : 
enlisted  as  a  />nvate  in  the  9th  A'ew  York  cavalry  in 
Septenil>cr,  IHOl,  and  served  imtil  the  close  of  the  luar : 
7oas  United  States  deputy  surveyor  in  A/innesota, 
1800-7  ■')  ;  married  Eppie  Mace  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y. , 
February  il ,  1878  ;  was  clerk  of  Chautauqua  county, 
188!)-!  11 :  has  lived  in  Jainestoian  since  187-'>. 


Milliam  1RiCbmOn&  has  made  a  record  as  a 
successful  business  man  and  trustworthy  public 
official.  .\  great  part  of  his  best  thought  and  effort 
has  been  expended  in  the  performance  of  duties  of  a 
municipal  character.  The  city  of  Lockport,  where 
he  resided  for  over  twenty  years,  repeat- 
edly honored  him  with  executive  and 
administrative  offices.  He  served  that 
community  as  alderman  four  years,  water 
commissioner  three  years,  trustee  of  the 
board  of  education  six  years,  and  mayor 
of  the  city  one  year.  In  all  these  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  responsibility  Mr. 
Richmoiul  displayed  thorough  knowl- 
edge, business  methods,  and  fidelity  — 
attributes  much  too  rare  in  the  annals  of 
city  government.  .\  sound  practical  judg- 
ment has  guided  him  through  difficulties 
that  would  ha\e  proved  a  stumbling-block 
to  most  men,  while  his  tried  integrity  has 
stamped  him  as  a  man  upon  whom  the 
people  can  rely  in  all  emergencies. 

Though  possessing  the  true  traits  of  an 
.\merican  citizen,  Mr.  Richmond  is  not  a 
native  of  the  LTnited  States,  having  been 
born  in  England,  where  his  childhood 
was  passed,  and  where  all  his  schooling 
was  obtained.  .  He  attended  a  private 
school  in  Worcestershire  till  he  was  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  when  he  was  brought 
to  this  country  liy  his  father.  His  imcle 
was  already  established  in  busine.ss  in 
Lockport,  N.  Y.,  and  at  his  request  Mr. 
Richmond  took  up  his  residence  with 
him  in  L'^li?.  Mr.  Richmond  soon  dis- 
played business  capacity  of  a  high  order, 
together  with  an  affable  disposition,  both 
combining  to  gain  for  him  warm  friends 
and  numerous  admirers.  Such  a  man  finds  it  hard 
to  keep  out  of  politics  for  any  length  of  time. 
Popularity  eventually  brings  to  its  pos.sessor  nomina- 
tions for  political  office.      Mr.  Richmond  proved  no 


exce]jtion,  and  for  fourteen  years  he  served  the  city 
in  the  diflerent  offices  mentioned. 

Having  liUed  so  acceptably  many  local  trusts, 
he  soon  Ijecame  one  of  the  party  leaders  in  west- 
ern New  York,  and  his  time  and  counsel  have 
been  freely  bestowed  in  e\ery  imijortant  campaign 
of  recent  jears.  In  recognition  of  his  ijrominent 
standing  as  a  business  man,  a  public  official,  and  a 
Democrat,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Cleveland 
collector  of  customs  for  the  district  of  Niagara,  and 
a.ssumed  the  duties  of  his  first  federal  office  March  4, 
iSilS.  In  this  position  he  has  given  the  same  care 
and  thought  to  the  public  busine.ss  that  characterized 
the  performance  of  his  duties  in  local  offices. 

Meantime  Mr.  Richmond  has  been  engaged  in 
the  business  to  which  he  succeeded  on  the  death 
of  his   uncle   in    l.S7.">.      An    a  business  man   he   has 


w  1 1. I.I  AM   RICIIMOXn 


shown  himself  prudent  and  con.servative,  and  by 
wise  management  has  earned  for  himself  distinct 
financial  success  and  an  excellent  reputation  in  com- 
mercial circles. 


,8X 


MEX  OF  NEir    VORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


In  social  and  fraternal  walks  of  life  Mr.  Rich- 
mond is  likewise  ])rominent.  He  is  a  member  of 
Niagara  Lodge,  No.  o75,  F.  &  A.  M.,  Lockport, 
and  of  Lockport  Council,  Royal  Arcanum.  He  is  a 
communicant  of  the  Protestant  K])iscopal  church. 
In  all  his  relations  to  society,  to  the  state,  and  to 


^ 


WALTER   L.  SESSIOXS 

the  church,  he  has  proved  himself  a  man  of  genial 
nature,  public  s])irit,  and  philanthropic  impulses. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— William  Rich- 
mond was  born  at  Mitton,  Worcestershire,  England, 
October  6,  18Jf.7  ;  was  educated  at  a  private  school  in 
England ;  came  to  the  United  States  in  ISO-i  :  mar- 
ried Mary  Mc  Gill  of  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  October  12, 
1870 ;  was  alderman  in  Lockport,  1881-83  and 
1889-91,  mayor  of  Lockport,  1883-8 ^,  water  com- 
missioner, 1884-87,  and  trustee  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion, 1888-89  and  1890-95 ;  has  been  collector  of 
customs  at  Niagara  Falls  since  March  If,  1895. 


lUaltCr    X.    Sessions    'S   a    leading    repre- 
sentative   of   one  of   the    most    famous    families    in 


southwestern  New  N'ork.  I'or  more  than  forty  years 
he  has  been  among  the  foremost  in  the  politics  of  Chau- 
tauqua county.  Always  a  strong  Republican,  he  has 
served  his  party,  his  state,  and  his  country  repeatedly, 
holding  positions  which  are  a  guarantee  of  his  great 
force  of  character  and  of  the  high  esteem  in  which 
he  is  held  by  his  fellow-men.  Away 
"  j         back  in  the  'oO's  he  was  elected  a  mem- 

ber of  the  a.ssembly,  and  held  the  office 
for  two  years.  During  his  second  year 
\  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  ways 
and  means,  which  is  the  most  important 
committee  of  the  house.  This  position 
made  him  the  leader  of  the  majority,  and 
]jut  him  in  direct  line  for  the  speakership, 
had  he  gone  back  for  another  term. 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  decade,  the 
year  Lincoln  was  elected  President,  the 
name  of  Mr.  Sessions  is  found  in  the  list 
of  members  of  the  state  senate.  Another 
gap  of  five  years,  and  he  is  again  found 
in  the  senate  and  again  leader  of  the  ma- 
jority as  chairman  of  the  finance  com- 
mittee, the  most  important  in  the  upper 
house,  as  the  committee  on  ways  and 
means  is  of  the  lower  house.  Most  men 
are  content  to  obtain  this  leadership  in 
the  legislature  after  many  years  of  un- 
broken service,  and  such  e.vperience  is 
usually  deemed  necessary  to  familiarize 
s;  '         a  man  with  the  fine  points  of  ])arliament- 

ary  practice  requisite  to  successful  guid- 
ance of  the  controlling  party.  Mr. 
Sessions,  it  will  be  observed,  obtained 
leadership  in  both  the  assembly  and  the 
senate  after  having  served  in  each  only 
one  term.  Moreover,  his  two  terms  in 
the  senate  were  not  consecutive. 

Reference  to  the  Congressional  Direc- 
tory will  show  the  name  of  Walter  L.  Sessions  among 
the  members  of  the  4'2d  congress,  which  met  in  the 
third  year  of  Cirant's  first  administration.  Again  his 
name  appears  as  a  member  of  the  43d  congress,  elected 
in  the  exciting  Cirant-(;reeley  campaign  —  the  most 
interesting,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  the  Republican 
party.  There  were  famous  men  in  those  two  con- 
gresses. James  (1.  Blaine  was  speaker  of  both,  and 
James  A.  Garfield  was  a  leader  on  the  floor.  The 
New  York  delegation  included  such  men  as  Henry 
VV.  Slocum,  Samuel  S.  Cox,  Fernando  Wood,  Clark- 
son  N.  Potter,  John  H.  Ketcham,  William  A. 
Wheeler,  FJllis  H.  Roberts,  and  Thomas  C.  Piatt. 
Important  measures  were  before  congress,  and  the 
sessions  were  often   exciting.       The    "  salary  grab  " 


MEN  OF  .\7-:ir   yORk-^]l7-:STER\  s/-:cT/o\ 


139 


bill,  raising  the  compensation  of  members  of  congress 
fifty  per  cent  and  giving  them  So, 001)  for  back  pay, 
is  a  case  in  point.  Mr.  Sessions  voted  against  this 
measure,  and  returned  the  money  to  the  treasury. 
.■\nother  noteworthy  bill  wa,s  that  aboli.shing  mileage 
for  members  of  congress,  which  the  house  pa.ssed  and 
the  senate  allowed  to  drop.  Mr.  Sessions  voted  for 
this  bill.  Reconstruction  questions  had  not  yet 
passed  out  of  congressional  notice  ;  and  the  green- 
back question,  which  has  been  handed  down  to 
present  times,  was  just  beginning  to  demand  atten- 
tion. It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  bill  providing 
for  the  cancellation  of  greenbacks  and  substitution 
therefor  of  notes  payable  in  gold  two  years  after 
i.ssue,  was  lost  in  the  house  of  the  4.']d  congress  by  a 
vote  of  79  to  160,  with  Mr.  Sessions  recorded  in  the 
negative.  The  most  far-reaching  legislation  of  this 
period,  however,  was  the  famous  currenc)' 
law  of  1873,  containing  the  clause  that  is 
regarded  in  some  quarters  as  having  sur- 
reptitiously demonetized  silver. 

Ten  years  after  his  retirement  from  the 
43d  congress,  Mr.  Sessions  took  his  seat 
in  the  49th  congress.  This  was  the  year 
in  which  drover  Cleveland  first  became 
President. 

Mr.  Sessions  is  a  New  Englander  by 
birth,  his  father  having  moved  from  Bran- 
don, Vt.,  to  an  unimproved  farm  in 
C'lymer,  Chautauqua  county,  in  1X35. 
Mr.  Sessions  went  to  the  common  schools 
and  to  the  Westfield  Academy.  He  took 
up  his  present  residence  in  Panama  in 
1846,  so  that  his  entire  manhood  has 
been  spent  there.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1849,  and  began  practice  in 
Panama  immediately.  His  only  part- 
nership, which  was  formed  in  1886  and 
continued  six  years,  was  with  John  Wood- 
ward, now  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Mr.  Sessions  has  served  his  county  as 
school  commissioner  and  .supervisor.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  board  of  (General 
Managers  of  the  New  York  state  e.vhibit 
at  the  World's  Columbian  Exjiosition  at 
Chicago.  Aside  from  his  law  ])ractice, 
Mr.  Sessions  has  been  extensiveh  en- 
gaged in  the  tanning  and  currier  business 
and  in  lumbering. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Walter  Loomis  Sessions  teas  horn  al  Bra/iJoii,  Rut- 
land county,   Vt.  ;  was  educated  in  the  common  scliools 
and  in  Westfield  {N.  Y.)  Academy  ;  married  Mary  R. 
Terry  of  Clymer,  N^.   Y.,  in   18^8 :    was  admitted  to 


the  bar  in  18^!);  laas  member  of  assembly,  185S-5Jf, 
state  senator,  18(j()~fll  and  1860-07,  member  of  con- 
gress, 1871-7o  and  1886^7  :  has  lived  in  Panama, 
Chautauqua  county,  since  18Jf6. 


Ibirani  Sinitb  is  a  splendid  type  of  the  Ameri- 
can citi/en.  His  grandfather  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  western  New  York,  having  settled  in  Chautauqua 
county  in  1810.  His  father  helped  clear  the  forests 
and  break  land  for  farms  where  now  are  populous 
communities.  Hiram  was  the  eldest  of  fourteen 
children,  seven  boys  and  .seven  girls.  He  received 
his  education  in  the  district  school  and  Fredonia 
Academy.  His  first  business  experience  was  obtained 
as  clerk  in  his  father's  estal)lishment  at  Smith's  Mills. 
In  1839  his  father  started  a  branch  store  at  Great 
Yalley,  in  Cattaraugus  county,  and  sent  Hiram  there 


///A'. ;.!/  sMirii 


to  take  charge  of  it.  The  country  had  not  then  fully 
emerged  from  the  great  panic  of  1837,  and  it  was 
very  difficult  to  realize  money  from  produce,  business 
having  sunk  in  a  great  degree  to  its  jirimitive  basis 


140 


MEX   OF  A'Kll-    )(1/':K—IVESTKK.\  SECT/OX 


of  exchange  of  commodities.  Hiram  soon  had  a 
large  amount  of  timber  to  the  credit  of  the  house, 
and  in  1.S40  these  logs  were  run  to  the  mills  and 
rafted  to  Cincinnati.  In  all  these  transactions  the 
young  man  displayed  so  much  business  ability  that 
in  1S4-S  his  father  made  him  his  partner,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Rodney  B.  Smith  &  Co.  For  eighteen 
years  they  conducted  an  extensive  and  a  successful 
general  merchandise  business. 

'l"he  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  found  Mr.  Smith 
in  the  prime  of  his  vigorous  manhood.  The  nation's 
call  met  a  patriotic  response  on  his  part.  He  enlisted 
in  IJSHl,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war,  retiring 
with  the  rank  of  major.  Mr.  Smith  was  connected 
with  the  (piartermaster  general's  department,  and 
had  the  responsibility  of  accounts  aggregating  many 
millions  of  dollars  ;  but  so  accurate  and  honest 
was  his  dealing  with  the  government  that  he  was  one 
of  the  comparatively  few  officers  who  were  able, 
when  mustered  out  of  service,  to  accept  the  generous 
offer  of  the  government  of  three  months'  extra  pay 
on  presentation  of  certificates  of  nonindebtedness. 

.After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Smith  moved  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business. 
The  climate  there  proved  detrimental  to  the  health 
of  his  family,  and  he  returned  to  New  York  state  in 
1867,  settling  in  Jamestown,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  For  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  he  has 
been  engaged  there  in  the  insurance  Inisiness,  and 
though  now  well  advanced  in  years,  he  is  as  active 
and  energetic  as  many  men  in  middle  life. 

Mr.  Smith  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  politics, 
and  served  two  terms  in  the  New  York  legislature 
before  the  war.  He  was  for  several  years  town  clerk 
of  Hanover,  N.  Y.,  and  filled  one  term  of  six  years 
a.s  supervisor  of  the  same  place.  In  1884  and  again 
in  1)S!)()  he  was  the  Democratic  nominee  for  congress 
from  the  o4th  district,  and  received  the  united  sup- 
port of  his  party.  As  a  citizen  and  neighbor  Mr. 
Smith  is  regarded  with  high  honor  in  Jamestown, 
for  his  upright  life,  strict  attention  to  business,  and 
just  dealings  with  all  men. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Hiram  Smith 
was  born  at  Hatiovcr,  N.  V. ,  October  25,  1810  ;  was 
educated  in  the  district  school  and  Fredonia  Academy  ; 
engaged  in  genera/  mercantile  business,  18S6-61 :  was 
elected  to  the  state  legislature  in  1S59,  and  re-elected  in 
1860 ;  sen'ed  in  the  Union  army,  1801-65 ;  was 
nominated  for  member  of  congress  from  the  S^th  district 
in  188 4  and  1800  ;  married  Melissa  P.  Lore  of  Fores t- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  September  10,  18^Jf,  and  Anna  L.  Grav 
of  Jamestown,  N.  Y. ,  September  10,  18!) Jf  ;  has  lived 
in  Jamestowfi  since  1867,  and  has  been  engaged  in  the 
insurance  business  there  since  1870. 


HlmOn  H.  Dan  '5?USCU  inherited  an  honor- 
able name,  which  he  has  l)orne  without  blemish  as  a 
lawyer  and  citizen.  Our  best  critics  are  those  who 
have  the  fullest  opportunity  to  study  us  in  all  our 
relations  to  society  ;  and  if  the  good  opinion  of 
one's  neighbors  is  a  source  of  hajjpiness  in  life,  Mr. 
Van  Du.sen  must  derive  great  satisfaction  from  the 
high  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  in  his  community. 

.Mr.  Van  Dusen  made  no  mistake  when  he  chose 
the  law  for  his  profession,  and  it  would  be  hard 
to  picture  him  in  any  other  calling.  His  success 
has  been  all  the  more  praiseworthy  because  he  has 
overcome  no  small  obstacle  in  the  lack  of  a  collegiate 
training.  His  elementary  education  was  obtained  in 
the  public  schools  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
followed  by  a  course  in  the  Randolph  .Academy, 
which  enjoyed  a  favorable  reputation  as  a  preparatory 
.school.  Having  decided  to  become  a  lawyer,  he 
entered  the  office  of  Alexander  and  Porter  Sheldon, 
at  Jamestown,  .\fter  mastering  Blackstone  and  Kent 
and  the  dull  routine  of  the  law  clerk,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  November,  1866,  and  three 
years  later  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  United 
States  District  Court.  He  then  formed  a  partner- 
ship in  Sherman,  N.  Y.,  and  as  junior  partner  of  the 
firm  of  Benson  &  Van  Dusen  began  the  slow  and 
arduous  work  of  building  up  a  clientage  and  winning 
a  name  in  his  profession.  He  moved  to  Mayville, 
N.  Y.,  in  1871,  and  has  since  practiced  his  profession 
there.  He  has  been  .senior  partner  in  the  firm  of 
Van  Dusen  &  Martin  since  1886. 

W'herever  he  has  resided,  Mr.  \ax\  Dusen  has 
shown  special  interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  and 
has  done  much  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. During  the  four  years  that  he  lived  in 
Sherman  he  held  the  position  of  president  of  the 
lioard  of  education,  and  devoted  much  time  and  labor 
to  the  task  of  elevating  and  improving  the  condition 
of  the  ])ublic  schools  of  the  village.  It  was  largely 
through  his  instrumentality  that  a  new  schoolhouse 
was  built,  in  spite  of  much  opjjosition.  After  his 
removal  to  Mayville  Mr.  Van  Dusen  continued  his 
public-spirited  efforts,  and  the  handsome  school 
building  of  that  village,  as  well  as  the  system  of  water- 
works, affords  am])le  evidence  of  his  devotion  to 
the  public  good. 

In  l«i)0  Mr.  Van  Dusen  was  elected  to  the  bench 
a.s  judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  his  record  in 
connection  with  this  election  is  one  of  which  he 
may  well  be  proud.  He  declined  to  resort  to  the 
u.se  of  money  or  any  other  unworthy  means  of  secur- 
ing votes,  [jreferring  to  rely  entirely  upon  his  personal 
popularity  and  fitness  for  the  office.  He  gave  to  the 
county  one   of   the   most    dignified  and  resi)ectal)le 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


141 


canvasses  it  had  known  for  years.  The  result  proved 
the  truth  of  the  old  saying  that  "  Honesty  is  the  l)est 
policy,"  for  he  was  elected  on  the  Democratic  ticket 
by  a  majority  of  8<S!I  in  a  county  where  the  normal 
Republican  majority  is  5,000.  Mr.  Van  Dusen  as  a 
judge  may  be  praised  in  unstinted  measure.  When 
he  was  promoted  to  the  bench  he  took 

with    him    the    ripened    experience  of  a         

large  and  varied  practice,  an  innate 
judicial  balance,  and  the  confidence  of 
lawyer  and  layman  alike.  His  record  as 
county  judge  very  properly  commended 
him  to  his  political  associates,  and  in  LSOy 
he  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
party  for  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Mr.  Van  Dusen  is  a  vestryman  of  St. 
Paul's  Episcopal  Church  of  Mayville, 
and  a  member  of  the  Holland  Society  of 
New  York. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Almon  Augustus  Van  Dusen  ivas  born  at 
Jaini'Stmc'U,  N.  V. ,  Ja?niarv  S,  ISJ/S  ;  7i'as 
educated  in  public  schools  and  in  Ra/idolph 
Academy ;  laas  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1866 :  married  Jettie  E.  Merchant  of 
B radon,  N.  Y. ,  January  SO,  1871 ;  was 
appointed  Judge  of  the  County  Court  of 
Chautauqua  county  January  2,  1890, 
and  Teas  subsequently  elected  to  succeed 
himself;  was  nominated  for  fudge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  1895  ;  has  practiced  law 
iu  Mayville  since  1871. 


(I.  IP.  DC&DCr  has  had  an  enviable 
career.  Every  man,  it  is  .said,  has  at  least 
one  opportunity  in  life  to  demonstrate  just 
what  he  really  is.  His  use  of  that  oppor- 
tunity becomes  the  test  by  which  he  is 
ever  after  judged.  The  Civil  War  was 
such  an  opportunity  to  men  now  in  middle  life  or 
beyond.  To  go  to  the  front,  leaving  family,  friends, 
and  fortune  behind,  to  suffer,  and  perchance  to 
perish  —  this  was  the  test  that  confronted  the  genera- 
tion born  before  the  war.  In  their  number  was  Mr. 
Vedder.  He  had  spent  his  boyhood  on  a  farm  at 
Ellicottville,  N.  Y.  In  early  manhood  he  worked 
on  the  Erie  canal,  was  a  raftsman  on  the  Allegheny 
river,  finally  shipped  as  a  sailor  before  the  mast,  and 
ro.se  to  the  position  of  cajjtain  at  the  early  age  of 
nineteen.  All  this  tiine  he  was  saving  money  to  pay 
for  an  education,  and  the  outbreak  of  the  war  found 
him  a  student  in  Springville  Academy.  But  his 
ambition  for  a  college  course  was  not  to  be  gratified. 
He  decided  that  his  duty  lay  in  responding  to  the  call 


of  his  country.  He  clo.sed  his  books,  and  left  the 
academy  to  enter  the  practical  school  of  war,  enlist- 
ing as  a  private  soldier  in  the  154th  regiment.  New 
York  volunteers. 

Mr.  Vedder's   service    in    the   field   was   long  and 
meritorious.      He  served  from   ISCi'ito  ihe  close  of 


ALMON  A.    VAN  DUSEN 

the  war,  and  fought  at  Chancellorsville,  Wauhatchie, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  siege  of 
Savannah,  and  Bentonville.  He  was  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Rocky-Faced  Ridge,  was  confined  in 
Libby  prison,  and  participated  in  Sherman's  im- 
mortal march  to  the  sea  and  through  the  Carolinas. 
He  was  promoted  to  be  1st  lieutenant  and  captain, 
and  for  "gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  the 
battle  of  Lookout  Mountain"  he  was  brevetted 
major  in  the  regular  army  ;  and  "  for  bravery  in  the 
campaign  to  Atlanta"  he  was  promoteil  to  be  lieu- 
tenant colonel  of  volunteers. 

Returning  to  his  native  state.  Colonel  Vedder 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  His  suc- 
cess in  civil   life  as  a  lawyer,  a  business  man,  and  a 


142 


MEN   OF  XF.W    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


legislator  has  been  as  complete  and  (:ons|ji(iioiis  as 
his  record  in  the  army  was  honorable  and  brilliant. 
He  occupied  the  responsible  ]josilion  of  register  in 
bankruptcy  for  eight  years.  He  filled  the  office  of 
United  States  assessor  of  internal  revenue  for  two 
years,  and  was  state  a.ssessor  for  three  years.      How 


c.  /'.    \l-:iU)EK 

faithfully  he  |)erfornied  the  duties  of  these  various 
offices  is  best  |.)roved  by  repeated  elections  to  the 
assembly  and  senate  at  Albany. 

In  the  legislature  Mr.  Vedder  made  a  s])lendid 
record.  He  was  first  chosen  to  the  lower  house  in 
l!^72,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates  and  de- 
liberations of  that  body.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  draft  articles  of  impeachment  against 
Judge  Barnard,  of  Tweed-Ring  notoriety,  and  was 
one  of  the  managers  at  the  trial  of  that  offi(  iai, 
evincing  in  ijoth  capacities  legal  ability  of  a  liigh 
order  and  wide  knowledge  of  parliamentary  pro- 
cedure. In  1875  he  was  elected  to  the  .senate  ;  and 
it  is  no  exaggeration  to  assert  that  no  man  there  did 
more  than  he  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  taxation  upon 


those  least  able  to  bear  them,  lie  was  the  author  of 
the  laws  taxing  gifts,  legacies,  and  collateral  and 
direct  inheritances,  and  reijuiring  corporations  to  pay 
for  the  privilege  of  organization  in  the  Kmpire  State. 
.As  a  result  of  these  measures  millions  of  dollars  have 
l)een  paid  into  the  treasury,  and  a  |jermanent  source 
of  revenue  has  been  provided  for  the  state. 
Mr.  Vedder  was  chosen  a  delegate  at 
large  to  the  constitutional  convention  of 
lcSi)4,  and  served  on  several  important 
committees.  Of  the  thirty-three  amend- 
ments proposed  by  the  convention  anti 
adopted  by  the  people,  he  drafted  and 
introduced  four.  Too  much  cannot  be 
said  of  the  .sagacity,  zeal,  and  untiring 
devotion  to  the  public  interests  displayed 
by  Mr.  Vedder  in  every  position  of  trust 
and  res])onsibilty  to  which  the  people 
have  called  him.  The  constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  state  alike  attest  his  wis- 
dom and  his  worth. 

In  the  business  world  Mr.  \"edder  has 
al.so  been  a  conspicuous  factor.  He  is 
president  of  many  corporations,  including 
the  State  Bank  of  Norwood,  the  New 
York  &  New  Jersey  Ice  Lines,  the  KIko 
Mining,  Milling  &  Manufacturing  Co., 
and  the  Falls  Electric  Power  &  Land  Co. 
Ill  politics  he  is  a  Rejniblican.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of 
the  C.  A.  R.,  and  of  the  Masonic  order. 
His  social  clubs  are  the  Holland  Society, 
the  Republican  Club,  and  the  Lawyers' 
Club,  all  of  New  York  city. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOL  OG  V— 
Commodore   Pei'iy    Vedder   was   horn   at 
Ellicothnlk,  N.   K,  Februatj  23,  1888  ; 
■was  educated  at  Springi'i/le  (TY.  K  )  Acad- 
emy ;  sensed  in  the  Union  army,  1862-65, 
risiug;  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel ;  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  18(16  ;  tvas  register  in  bankruptcy,  1867-75  : 
K'as  United  States  assessor  of  internal  revenue,  1869- 
71 ;  was  member  of  the  assembly,  1872-75,  and  state 
senator,   1876-77  and  188^-91 ;  was  state  assessor, 
1880-83  ;    married  Bettie  E.  Squires  of  Springrille, 
N.    Y.,  September  2,    1862,  and  Mrs.  GenevieTc  A. 
Wheeler  of  Chicago  July  12,  1892. 


aieian&Cr  McntWOrtb  received  the  hardy 
training  of  a  farm  Ixin.  for  hi.s  parents  moved  from 
Aurora,  Erie  county,  when  he  was  only  four  years 
old,  to  Ellicottville,  N.  Y.,  and  soon  after  to  a  farm 
in  the  town  of  Randolph,  N.  Y.  Practically  his 
whole  life  has  lieen  sjient    in  Raii(lol])h,  and   he   is  a 


MEN  OF  XFAV    YORK —WESTERX  SECT/OX 


143 


representative  of  the  class  of  men  who  are  content 
to  cast  in  their  lot  in  places  that  offer  but  modest 
attractions,  and  who,  by  force  of  ability  and  persist- 
ent effort,  at  length  achieve  a  substantial  competence 
and  high  standing  in  the  community. 

iMr.  Wentworth's  educational  opportunities  were 
of  the  limited  kind  usually  available  for  the  country 
boy  of  half  a  century  ago  ;  but  he  used  them  to  the 
very  best  advantage,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  young 
man  of  to-day  who  goes  through  a  prejwratory 
school  and  a  college  without  special  effort  on  his 
own  part,  derives  as  much  benefit  from  the  experi- 
ence as  did  young  Wentworth  from  his  hardly  won 
privileges.  For  a  time  Mr.  Wentworth  paved  the 
way  to  each  winter's  study  by  a  summer  of  hard  but 
healthful  work  on  the  farm.  At  seventeen  he  sub- 
stituted teaching  for  the  farm  work,  but  continued  his 
study  during  spring  terms  at  the  Ran- 
dolph Academy.  At  nineteen  he  began 
reading  law,  and  carried  on  all  three 
occupations  as  best  he  could  for  the  next 
three  years.  It  speaks  well  for  his  natural 
ability  and  for  the  excellent  use  he  made 
of  his  opportunities,  that  he  was  able  to 
complete  his  legal  studies  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two.  He  was  admitted  as  an  at- 
torne}'  and  counselor  at  law  at  the  General 
Term  held  in  Buffalo  in  May,  1859.  An 
interesting  fact  which  Mr.  Wentworth 
recalls  in  this  connection  is  that  President 
Cleveland  was  one  of  the  class  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  this  term. 

Mr.  Wentworth  had  pursued  his  legal 
studies  in  the  office  of  Weeden  &  Hender- 
son of  Randolph,  and  on  admission  to 
the  bar  he  at  once  formed  a  partnership 
with  William  H.  Henderson,  under  the 
name  of  Henderson  &  Wentworth,  Mr. 
Weeden  retiring  from  the  firm.  This 
connection  has  lasted  ever  since.  The 
firm,  consisting  of  two  men  so  able  and 
so  public-spirited  as  Mr.  Wentworth  and 
Mr.  Henderson,  has  naturally  become  a 
power  in  Cattaraugus  county,  and  has  had 
a  wide  influence  upon  public  affairs. 
Their  business  is  largely  what  is  termed 
in  the  profession  "  litigation,"  and  is 
varied  and  extensive,  and  they  give  to  it 
their  undivided  attention.  Mr.  Went- 
worth's son,  Crowley,  a  graduate  of 
Princeton,  was  admitted  to  the  firm  January  1,  189fi. 
Mr.  Wentworth  has  no  taste  for  politics,  and  has 
never  sought  nor  accepted  a  political  nomination. 
But  he  is  not  unmindful  of  his  duties  as  a  citizen,  and 


when  important  interests  are  involved  and  there  is  "no 
politics  in  it,""  he  is  at  times  active  and  aggressive. 
He  has  been  willing  to  serve  the  community  as  presi- 
dent of  his  village  and  in  similar  positions. 

Mr.  Wentworth  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity.  He  has  been  Master  of  Randolph 
Lodge,  No.  359,  F.  &  A.  M.,  most  of  the  time  for  the 
past  twenty  years  ;  and  he  was  District  Deputy  Grand 
Master  of  the  26th  Masonic  district  from  1874  to 
1880.  At  the  latter  date  ])rofessional  engagements 
compelled  him  to  decline  the  reappointment  that  was 
tendered  to  him.  The.se  offices  came  to  him  without 
effort  on  his  part,  and  as  a  spontaneous  testimonial  of 
the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  bv  his  brother  Masons. 

PERSONAL      CHR  ONOL  OGY  —  Alexander 

Wentworth  was  born  at  Aurora,  Erie  county,  N.   Y. , 

July  26,  1837 :  7aas  educated  in  common  schooh  and 


ALEXA.XDBR    WEXTWORTII 


at  Randal  fill  Academy  :  7C'as  admitted  to  the  har  at 
Buffalo  in  IS-')!)  :  married  Ellen  C.  Cro'ci'ley  of  Ran- 
dolph, iX.  v.,  October  10,  IS'iH  :  has  practiced lau'  in 
Randolph  since  18o9. 


144 


MEN   or  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


HltrcO  3.  JGavueS  >^  o»e  of  Buffalo's  energetic 
bankers  and  agreeable  men  of  business.  He  has  had 
a  thorough  training  in  financial  matters,  and  is  a 
conservative,  industrious,  and  courteous  official, 
t'ommercial  life  often  seems  uneventful  and  made  up 
entirelv   of   routine  :    but   closer  oii.servation   shows 


ALFRED  J.   liARXF.S 

that  a  successful  mercantile  career  demands  the 
same  qualities  requisite  in  more  stirring  pursuits. 
Good  judgment,  courage,  and  a  high  sense  of  honor 
are  as  es.sential  in  the  sphere  of  finance  as  in  any 
other  field  of  human  activity. 

Mr.  Barnes  is  a  native  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  His 
earliest  business  experience  was  in  association  with 
his  father,  who  conducted  a  large  steam-fitting  and 
plumbing  business  in  the  city  of  Troy.  He  desired 
a  different  occupation,  however,  and  when  a  position 
was  offered  him  in  the  Manufacturers'  National  Hank 
of  his  native  city,  he  eagerly  accepted  it.  He  en- 
tered the  service  of  that  institution  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder,  and  bv  faithful  attention  to  his  duties  worked 


his  \va}-  up  through  the  different  clerical  grades  until 

he  became  general  bookkeeper.       He  continued   in 

this  position  for  nine  years. 

Early    in   the  '80's   Mr.    Barnes  retired   from   the 

bank,  and   engaged   with  a  local  business  concern. 

But  his  training  and  jjredilection  was  for  finance,  and 
in  1888  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  accepted 
a  place  in  the  Continental  National  Bank 
of  that  city.  With  this  institution  he 
remained  ten  years,  attaining  the  respon- 
sible position  of  chief  clerk.  His  success 
in  Chicago  won  him  a  valuable  reputa- 
tion, and  led  to  his  engagement  in  Buffalo 
in  l.Sllo  as  cashier  of  the  City  Bank. 

While  Mr.  Barnes's  residence  in  Buffalo 
has  been  comparatively  brief,  he  has 
nevertheless  taken  rank  already  as  a 
shrewd  and  active  financier,  a  capable 
official,  and  affable  gentleman  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Kllicott  and  Independent  clubs,  and  a 
Republican  in  his  party  affiliations.  His 
circle  of  acquaintance  in  business  and 
social  life  is  rapidly  extending,  and  he 
has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  no 
community  is  more  open  to  receive  a 
man  of  his  character  than  the  Queen 
City. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Alfred  Joseph  Barnes  was  honi  at  Troy, 
N.  v.,  July  12,  1856 ;  was  editcated  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  city,  and  receii'ed 
a  technical  training  in  the  Gurley  Mathe- 
matical Lnstriiment  Works  of  Troy ;  was 
employed  in  the  Manufacturers'  National 
Bank,  Troy,  187S—82,  and  in  the  Con- 
tinental National  Bank,  Chicago,  188S- 
9S  ;  married  Margaret  /. .  />'.  Boyles  of 
Riverside,    Cook  county.   III. ,  October  32, 

18f>4  ;    has  been  cashier  of  the   City  Bank,  Buffalo, 

since  18!>4. 

Stepbeu  ©.  BarUUm  has  been  a  factor  in  the 
mercantile  life  of  Buffalo  for  fifty  years.  He  went 
there  in  1.S45,  when  the  main  avenue  of  travel  was 
by  canal,  and  established  himself  in  a  business  that 
has  been  known  for  half  a  century  all  through  his 
section  of  the  state  as  "Barnum's. "  That  all- 
embracing,  siii-gcnrris  term,  "  Yankee  notions,"  best 
describes  the  mammoth  stock  of  merchandise  that 
Mr.  Barnum's  establishment  provides.  He  has 
catered  to  the  rich  and  the  poor,  to  the  large  and  the 
small,  to  men,  women,  and  children.  .At  all  sea.sons 
of  the  vear   Barnum's   has  been  a  (enter  of  trade. 


^fEX  OF  .\7-:ir  YORK—irEs-/7-:R\  skct/ox 


14." 


Especially  dear  to  the  children  has  been  the  ])lace, 
for  Santa  Claus  has  made  his  headquarters  there  ever 
since  Stephen  ().  Barnum  arrived  in  Buffalo.  In 
this  half-century  of  business  activity  Mr.  Barnum  has 
ever  been  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  alive  to  the 
interests  of  his  customers,  careful  to  ask  only  for  his 
due,  honorable  in  his  dealings  with  all  men. 

\\  iicn  Mr.  Barnum's  school  days  were  ended  at 
the  academy  in  his  native  city  of  L'tica,  he  became 
a  clerk  in  the  L'tica  post  office.  There  he  remained 
for  two  years,  when  he  entered  the  Oneida  Bank  of 
L'tica  as  discount  t:lerk.  Here  his  business  training 
was  continued  until  his  father  made  him  a  partner  in 
what  was  known  as  "Barnum's  Bazaar,"  where  he 
obtained  an  insight  into  a  business  that  he  has  suc- 
cessfully followed  all  his  life.  He  remained  with 
his  father  for  several  years,  until,  thinking  it  time  to 
start  out  for  himself,  he  made  way  for 
his  younger  brothers.  lUiffalo  was  then 
coming  into  notice  as  a  growing  com- 
mercial city,  and  the  opportunities  that 
it  afforded  seemed  to  the  young  man  just 
what  he  needed.  Thither  he  went, 
therefore,  with  a  stout  heart,  determined 
to  succeed  if  untiring  effort  and  steadfast- 
ness of  jKirpose  would  avail. 

When  he  had  been  in  business  a  short 
time  a  brother,  Richard  Smith  Harnum, 
joined  him  in  partnership  ;  but  alter  a 
few  years  Richard  went  to  Chicago,  and 
there  entered  into  business  with  another 
brother,  F^zra  S.  Their  business  was  of 
the  same  general  nature  as  that  in  which 
Stejjhen  was  engaged  in  Buffalo,  and 
which  the  father  conducted  in  L'tica. 
The  great  Chicago  fire  brought  heavy 
loss  to  Ste])hen,  who  had  become  largely 
interested  in  the  Chicago  venture  by  the 
death  of  his  brothers.  Since  then  Mr. 
Barnum  has  given  his  main  attention  to 
his  Buffalo  business,  but  he  has  found 
opportunity  to  serve  other  interests, 
having  been  at  different  times  a  director 
of  the  Western  Transportation  Co.,  the 
American  Exchange  Bank,  and  the  Em- 
pire Salt  Works  of  Warsaw,  N,  \'. 

While    taking   such   interest   in   public 
matters    as    is    the    duty    of    all    good 
citizens,  Mr.   Barnum  has    never   sought 
nor  held  political  office.      In  his  younger 
days,  however,  he  took  a  more  active  jiart   in  affairs 
than  he  has  taken  of  late.      At  one  time  in  the  early 
history  of  the  city  the  rivalry  between  the  different 
fire  comiianies  became  so  great  th.-it  more  attention 


was  given  by  their  members  to  lighting  each  other 
than  to  fighting  fires.  The  situation  became  so  scan - 
ilalous  at  last  that  the  cit\'  council  was  obliged  to 
disband  the  companies  and  to  call  for  volunteers  to 
fill  their  places.  Mr.  Barnum  was  one  of  the  volun- 
teers, and  ran  to  more  than  one  fire.  Before  his 
removal  to  Buffalo  he  was  a  member  of  the  L'tica 
fire  department.  He  was  also  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Utica  Citizens'  Corps,  antl  is  now  an  honorar\  mem 
ber  of  that  organization. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—Shplun  Us- 
Iwnie  Barnum  was  horn  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  January  IJi, 
IS  10  :  rca.f  educatat  in  the  public  sclumls  :  lici^an  /lusi- 
nesi  in  Utica  in  partnership  loitli  liis  father  in  1S38 ; 
married  Elizalieth  Chat  fie/,/  of  Utica  May  IH,  ISJ^l  : 
has  carried  on  a  i^enera/  ludion  laisiness  in  Jhi(fa/o 
since   lS',.'i. 


STF-I'HEX   (I   HAI^wr.M 

XeWiS  3.  3BCUUCtt  has  built  for  himself  an 
enduring  monument  in  Buffalo  in  the  beautifid  resi- 
dence district  known  as  Central  I'ark,  of  which  he  is 
the  founder.       This  is  a  part  ol   the  ( ity  that  has  not 


14G 


AfEX  OF  XKW    VORK^IVKSTERX  SECTION 


been  left  to  grow  uj)  at  haphazard.  It  was  ronccived 
and  laid  out  on  a  broad  jdan,  with  an  eye  mainly  to 
the  future.  Instead  of  waiting,  as  has  usually  been 
the  case  elsewhere,  for  the  houses  to  be  built  and  the 
residents  to  come  and  determine  the  character  of  the 
section,  Mr.  Bennett  planned  Central  Park  from  the 


^'    ■  \ 

i 

^^€^ 

M    rW    *^\  \ 

\ 


^-3^ 


Li-:\\  /s  J.  n/:\.\i:TT 

first  a.s  a  high-class  residence  district.  Broad  macadam 
streets  were  laid  out,  sewer,  water,  and  gas  mains 
constructed,  and  wide,  deep  lots  platted,  before  any 
building  was  ]3er]nitted.  Then,  whenever  a  lot  was 
sold,  a  minimum  cost  was  fi,\ed  of  the  house  to  be 
placed  on  it.  As  a  consequence,  Central  Hark  con- 
tains some  of  the  finest,  most  modern  houses  in 
Buffalo,  and  its  general  tojjograjjhical  features  make 
it  one  of  the  acknowledged  beauty  spots  of  the  city. 
Only  a  man  with  strong  faith  in  the  future  of  Buf- 
falo, sound  business  judgment,  and  a  public  s])irit 
that  refused  to  yield  one  iota  of  a  general  jjlan  for 
the  sake  of  temporary  advantage,  cduld  have  <ar- 
ried   to  a  successful  completion  such  an  enterjirise. 


The  laying  out  of  the  park  took  four  years,  and  re- 
(|uired  for  improvements  alone  an  e.xpenditure  of 
nearly  S300,00t). 

Like  many  other  prominent  citizens  of  Buffalo, 
Mr.  Bennett  is  not  a  native  of  the  city.  He  was  a 
country  boy,  having  been  born  in  Schenectady 
county.  New  York.  His  education  was 
limited  to  attendance  at  the  district 
school,  and  when  its  meager  facilities  had 
been  outgrown,  at  the  larger  village  school 
of  Fort  Plain,  N.  Y.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  Mr.  Bennett  entered  business, 
buying  a  partnership  in  the  grocery  firm 
of  Chapman,  Peek  &  Co.,  at  Fulton- 
ville,  N.  Y.  .At  first  he  was  only  the 
"Co.";  but  three  years  later  Mr.  Peek 
withdrew,  and  the  firm  name  became 
Chapman  &  Bennett.  In  two  years  more 
Mr.  Bennett  had  become  the  senior 
partner,  the  firm  embracing  Wm.  R. 
Chapman,  Wm.  VV.  Kline,  and  Lewis  J. 
Bennett  ;  and  the  style  was  changed  to 
L.  J.  Bennett  &  Co.  So  it  remained 
until  l'S()(i,  when  Mr.  Bennett  moved 
to  Buffalo.  While  a  resident  of  Fulton- 
ville,  in  1X61,  Mr.  Bennett  was  appointed 
collector  of  canal  tolls,  and  held  the 
|)Osition  for  two  years.  In  l<H(i.")  he  was 
elected  supervisor  for  the  town  of  (lien, 
in  which  the  village  of  Fultoinille  is 
located.  His  good  standing  with  his 
townspeojjle  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that,  though  he  was  a  Republican,  he 
received  a  majority  of  184  votes  in  a 
town  in  which  the  ordinary  Democratic 
majority  was  (iO. 

Soon    after    moving    to     Buffalo    Mr. 

Bennett  established  a  general  contracting 

business,    in     jaartnership    with    .\ndrew 

.Spalding  and    John    Hanil.        i'his    was 

continued  for  five  years.      In  1X77  he  organized  the 

Buffalo  Cement  Co.,  Limited.      He  was  elected  the 

first  president  of  the  company,  and  still   holds  the 

])Osition. 

.Mr.  Bennett  is  a  L'niversalist  in  religion  and  a 
prominent  Ma.son.  He  holds  membership  in  the 
following  orders:  Fultonville  Lodge,  No.  o.Sl,  F. 
&  A.  M.  ;  Johnstown  Cha])ter,  No.  71,  R.  .\.  M.; 
and  Apollo  Commandery,  No.  15,  K.  T.,  at  Troy. 
He  was  a  charier  member  of  the  Fultonville  Lodge, 
and  was  its  first  trea.surer.  Mr.  Bennett's  long  and 
active  business  career  has  been  varied  by  only  one 
notable  vacation,  which  was  taken  in  l.s;i4-il"),  when 
he  made  a  tour  of  the  world.      While  on  this  trip  he 


MEN   OF  XEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECTIOX 


147 


sent  home  freciuent  letters,  which  were  published  for 
the  benefit  of  his  friends. 

PERSONA L  CHR ONOL OGY—  Le7ois  Jack- 
son Bennett  luas  born  at  Duanesburg,  N.  Y. ,  July  7, 
1833  ;  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  :  conducted  a 
general  store  in  Fultotiville,  N^.  Y.,  1S31-66  ;  tnanied 
Mary  Francelia  Spalding  of  Johnsto^vn,  N.  Y.,  Oc- 
tober 6,  1857  ;  mot'ed  to  Buffalo  in  1866,  and  engaged 
in  the  business  of  a  contractor :  organized  the  Buffalo 
Cement  Co.  in  1877 ,  and  has  been  president  thereof 
ever  since. 


30bll  JBlOCber  is  a  worthy  representative  of  the 
men,  more  numerous  in  this  country  than  elsewhere, 
who  are  the  architects  of  their  own  fortunes  ;  who 
rise  by  their  own  exertions  trom  obscurity  to  dis- 
tinction, and  attain  success  in  spite  of 
adverse  circumstances. 

Mr.  Blocher's  ancestors  belong  to  the 
class  known  as  the  "  Pennsylvania 
Dutch,"  who  were  accustomed  to  the 
toil  of  the  fields,  and  disciplined  in  the 
school  of  economy  and  frugality.  Mr. 
Blocher's  father  settled  on  a  farm  in 
Cayuga  county.  New  York,  in  182o.  In 
addition  to  farming  he  furnished  supplies 
to  the  contractors  engaged  in  building 
the  Erie  canal.  This  business  brought 
him  into  western  New  York  ;  and  he  was 
so  favorably  impressed  with  the  country 
that  he  bought  a  farm  at  Clarence  in  Erie 
county.  This  was  the  year  after  John 
Blocher's  birth.  As  most  of  the  farm  was 
heavily  timbered,  young  Blocher  was 
early  enlisted  in  the  work  of  clearing 
the  forest.  His  life  was  like  that  of  the 
average  farmer's  boy,  consisting  of  in- 
cessant labor  in  summer  followed  bv  three 
months'  schooling  in  winter.  The  school 
was  a  log  house  with  a  big  open  fireplace 
at  one  end,  in  which  huge  logs  from  the 
surrounding  forest  were  burned.  Mr. 
Blocher  was  but  ten  years  old  when  his 
father  died,  leaving  him  the  youngest  of 
a  family  of  three  children.  Life  now 
became  more  difficult  for  the  afflicted 
family,  but  continual  toil  and  a  spirit 
of  self-reliance  carried  them  through. 
When  there  was  no  work  at  home  John 
was  hired  out  to  neighboring  farmers, 
and  the  scanty  wages  were  carefully  saved  and  laid 
by  as  a  nest  egg  for  the  future. 

At  twelve  years  of  age   John's  school   education 
ended,  and  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  tailoring  trade. 


In  six  years  he  had  a  shop  of  his  own.  This  he 
ultimately  turned  into  a  ready-made  clothing  house, 
to  which  in  time  he  added  a  stock  of  dry  goods, 
groceries,  and  the  other  accessories  of  a  country 
store.  Mr.  Blocher  had  thus  established  himself  as 
a  prosperous  merchant  when  the  war  broke  out.  It 
was  hard  to  leave  his  business,  but  patriotism  de- 
manded the  sacrifice,  and  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer 
soldier  in  the  74th  New  York  regiment.  After  a 
year's  active  service  in  the  field  he  was  honorably 
discharged,  and  sent  home  on  account  of  impaired 
health.  He  was  now-  obliged  to  pursue  an  outdoor 
occupation,  and  for  a  year  he  engaged  in  farming  and 
the  lumber  business.  In  this  way  he  regained  suffi- 
cient health  to  warrant  his  resuming  a  sedentary 
occupation.      He  accordingly  moved  to  Buffalo,  and 


JOH.y  BLOCHER 

began  in  a  small  way  the  manufacture  of  boots  and 
shoes,  in  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
Neff.  Their  capital  was  small,  and  patrons  were  yet 
to  be  found  ;   but  untiring  industry,  dauntless  pluck. 


148 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


and  strict  integrity  soon  brought  the  firm  a  fair 
measure  of  pros|)erity.  Two  years  later  Mr.  Hlocher 
opened  a  factory  of  his  own  in  the  Rumsey  block  on 
Exchange  street.  Here  his  business  steadily  grew, 
until  it  re(iuired  several  large  shojis  and  two  hundred 
o])eratives.  A  noteworthy  fact  in  Mr.  Blocher's 
career  as  an  employer,  creditable  alike  to  head  and 
heart,  is  that  he  has  never  had  a  serious  disagree- 
ment with  his  em|)loyees.  For  many  years  he 
had  for  a  jartner  his  only  son,  whose  early  death 
was  a  terrible  blow  to  his  parents.  Together 
they  had  worked  harmoniously  to  build  up  an 
extensive  business,  and  had  accumulated  a  comfort- 
able fortune. 

Since  his  son's  death  Mr.  Hlocher  has  retired  from 
active  business,  and  now  occupies  himself  chieliy 
with  his  property  at  Willianisville,  where  he  has  a 
country  home,  and  ha.s  laid  out  pleasure  grounds  for 
the  public.  He  is  president  of  the  Buffalo  &  ^\'il- 
liamsville  electric  railroad,  and  deals  to  some  extent 
in  real  estate  and  loans.  His  leisure  is  spent  at  his 
country  home  and  among  his  books.  Mr.  Hlocher 
is  a  well-informed  and  widely  read  man,  history 
being  his  favorite  study.  Those  who  know  him 
intimately  are  aware  that  he  po.ssesses  talents  which, 
if  cultivated  at  the  proper  time,  would  have  dis- 
tinguished him.  He  has  the  inventive  faculty,  and 
has  taken  out  many  patents.  He  is  a  man  of  original 
ideas.  'The  mausoleum  that  he  erected  in  Forest 
Lawn  cemetery  in  memory  of  his  son  embodies  his 
own  idea.  Nay,  he  fashioned  the  models  with  his 
own  hands.  He  had  tried  many  artists,  but  all 
failed  either  to  grasp  his  idea  or  to  carry  it  out 
successfully.  Hut  Mr.  Hlocher  knew  what  he 
wanted,  and  was  determined  to  have  it.  Reject- 
ing the  ideal  creations  of  the  artists,  one  of  which 
represented  Mr.  Hlocher  as  a  togaed  Roman,  he 
sought  to  sculpture  the  real  man.  Without  previous 
training  in  art,  he  worked  for  months  over  his 
models,  and  at  la.st  jiroduced  clay  figures  so  perfect 
in  design  that  the  marble  workers  of  Italy  were 
a-stonished  by  the  skill  displayed.  Out  of  purest 
Carrara  marble,  famed  from  classical  ages,  the  forms 
of  Mr.  Hlocher,  his  wife,  and  son  were  hewn  just  as 
they  existed  in  life,  and  exactly  as  Mr.  Hlocher 
desired.  He  wished  to  construct  a  memorial  uni(pie 
in  conception,  permanent  in  its  (|uality,  and  calcu- 
lated to  convey  to  remote  ages  a  true  representation 
of  men  and  women  as  they  appear  to-day,  in  their 
l>roper  stature,  dre.ss,  and  lineaments.  In  this  design 
he  has  admirably  succeeded. 

Mr.  Hlocher  is  a  Rc])ublican  in  jwlitics,  but  always 
votes  for  the  best  man.  In  IHiKJ  he  celebrated  the 
fiftieth  year  of  his  long  and  hnjipy  wedded  life,      lie 


is  a  member  of  the  Delaware  Avenue  Methodist 
Kpisco]->al  church,  and  in  ])hilanthropic  work  is  a 
generous  and  cheerfid  giver. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Blocker 
7vas  bom  at  Scifio,  N.  Y.,  July  '22,  182'>  ;  was  edu- 
cated ill  district  schools :  conducted  a  general  store  at 
IVilliamsville,  N.  Y.,  1851-61;  married  Elizabeth 
Neff  of  IVilliamsville  April  20,  ISJfG ;  enlisted  in 
the  Union  army  in  1861,  and  served  one  year  ;  estab- 
lished a  boot  and  shoe  factory  in  Buffalo  in  1863,  and 
has  been  connected  loith  that  industry  since. 


•♦•    — 


PatViCl?  CrOUiU  has  achieved  distinction,  not 
only  as  a  preacher  and  a  theologian,  but  also  as  an 
orator,  an  essayist,  a  professor,  and  an  editor.  Few 
men  in  Buffalo  are  better  known  or  more  popular,  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Father  Cronin  is  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  possesses 
in  large  measure  the  warm-hearted  generosity  and 
readiness  to  help  those  in  need  which  are  character- 
istic of  his  countrymen.  He  was  born  in  Limerick 
county,  near  the  banks  of  the  Shannon,  Ireland's  most 
famous  river  ;  and  his  early  education  was  received 
in  the  schools  of  Adare,  in  his  native  county.  When 
he  was  fourteen  years  old,  he  came  to  the  United 
States  with  his  father,  his  mother  having  died  years 
before.  His  college  training  was  received  at  St. 
l-ouis  University,  and  from  there  he  went  to  St. 
Vincent's  College,  at  Ca])e  Girardeau,  Mo.,  to  pre- 
pare for  the  ministry.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  in  December,  1862,  by  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick,  in  the  cathedral  at  St.  Louis,  and  served  for  the 
next  eight  years  imder  his  episcopal  jurisdiction,  first 
as  a.ssistant  in  the  Church  of  the  .Annunciation,  St. 
Louis,  then  as  pastor  of  a  churc  h  in  Hannibal,  Mo., 
and  finally  as  pa.stor  of  the  Chunli  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  St.  Louis. 

In  1870  F'ather  Cronin  was  called  to  occupy  the 
chair  of  Latin  and  belles-lettres  in  the  Seminary  of 
Our  Lady  of  .\ngels,  now  Niagara  University,  at 
Sus])ension  Hriilge.  N.  V.  His  marked  literary 
ability  and  general  culture  rendered  him  well  fitted 
for  this  ]josition.  While  there  he  made  his  first  ven- 
ture in  journalism,  a  field  in  which  he  was  to  dis- 
tinguish himself  lat?r.  He  became  editor  of  the 
college  pajjer,  which  was  printed  in  the  institution, 
anil  known  as  the  iXiagara  Index. 

In  October,  1878,  Father  Cronin  went  to  HulTalo. 
liishop  Ryan  had  begun  work  there  fi\e  years  before 
as  head  of  the  dioce.se,  and  Father  Cronin  became 
one  of  his  most  valued  and  trusted  priests.  I'or 
nearly  a  ([uarter  of  a  century  they  lived  under  the 
same  roof,  where  under  the  guidance  of  his  bishojj 
Father  Cronin  found  inspiration  lor  his  work. 


MEX   OF  XEir    )(U^k'—lVi:sTER\  SECT/OX 


149 


During  all  that  time  Father  Cronin  has  been  editor 
of  the  Catholic  Union  and  Times,  the  official  organ  of 
the  diocese  of  Buffalo,  and  in  that  capacity  his  literary 
talents  have  had  full  scope.  He  has  also  made  good 
use  of  the  opportunities  thus  afforded  to  advance  the 
cause  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland,  so  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  patriotic  Irishmen  the  world  over. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  this  agita- 
tion, and  was  the  first  vice  president  of 
the  Land  League  in  the  LInited  States. 
His  services  in  this  connection  have 
won  for  him  the  enthusiastic  friend.ship 
and  admiration  of  his  fellow-countrymen 
abroad. 

An  account  of  Father  Cronin's  life 
would  be  incomplete  that  made  no  men- 
tion of  his  work  as  a  poet.  Though  he 
has  never  collected  his  productions  in  a 
vohune,  he  has  written  and  jjrinted  many 
poems  that  give  evidence  of  decided 
talent.  There  is  little  doubt  that,  had 
he  been  free  to  devote-  his  time  to  this 
pursuit,  he  would  have  won  lasting  fame 
:is  a  poet.  He  has  also  delivered  lectures 
and  addresses  on  many  subjects  in  many 
places.  Perhaps  the  most  famous  are  the 
oration  at  the  O'Connell  centenary  at 
Detroit,  a  speech  at  the  Columbian 
World's  Fair,  and  an  address  before  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association  at 
.\lban)-.  In  June,  1891,  Father  Cronin  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  the  Uni- 
versitv  of  .\otre  Dame,  South  Bend,  Ind. 

PERSONA  L      CUR  ONOL  OGY— 
Patrick  Cronin  was  [torn  at  Pal/askenrv, 
Limerick  county,  Ireland,  March  1,  183ij  ; 
came  to  the   United  States  in  18^9 ;   7fjas 
educated  at  the  St.  Louis  University  and 
at  St.   Vincent's  College,  Cape  Girardeau, 
Mo. :     loas   ordained  to  the  priesthood  at  .St.    Louis, 
Mo.,  in  ISO  3,  and  was  connected  7vith  I'arious  parislics 
in  that  state  until  1870  ;  was  professor  in  the  Seminary 
of  Our  Lady  of  Angels,  Suspension    Bridge,  N.   Y. , 
1870—72 ;    has  been  editor  of  the    ' '  Catholic   Union 
ami  Times,"  Buffalo,  since  1873. 


S'ObU  CUUUCCn  has  demonstrated  what  perse- 
verance in  study  and  an  honorable  ambition  can 
accomplish  in  this  country,  where  a  fair  field  is  given 
to  their    possessor.      Born    in   Ireland,   he  came  to 

.\mericn  when  a  boy,  and,  like  many  others  of  his 
nationality,  embraced  the  rich  opportunity  here 
afforded  to  rise  in  the  world  by  dint  of  industr)-  antl 
talent.       He   obtained    his    elemeiitar\    cdui  aticju    in 


jjrivate  schools  in  Ireland,  and  at'ter  coming  to  the 
United  States  attended  for  a  time  the  .\lbion  (N.  Y.  ) 
.Academy.  Having  secured  all  the  ])reliminary  train- 
ing his  limited  means  could  afford,  he  settled  down 
to  the  study  of  law,  was  duly  admitted  to  practice, 
and  at  once,  in  January.  1X74,  opened  an  office  at 


JWIKIi  K  (  Ko.\i.\ 

.Albion.  During  his  term  oi  legal  clerkship,  and 
for  several  years  after  his  ailmission  to  the  bar, 
Mr.  Cunneen  was  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors 
for  Orleans  county.  He  also  served  one  term  as 
collector  of  taxes  of  .Alliion.  .Aside  from  these 
positions  he  has  never  held  any  political  office, 
though  he  was  twice  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
party  for  district  attorney.  As  an  evidence  of  his 
poinilarity,  it  may  be  remarked  that  on  the  second 
occasion  he  came  within  twenty-six  votes  of  an 
election  in  a  county  where  the  usual  Republican 
majority  was  over  one  thousand. 

I'or  sixteen  vears  Mr.  Cunneen  jjracticed  his  pro- 
lession  at  .Albion.  His  learning,  industry,  and 
intcgrit\    drew    In   him    a    niunerous    and    important 


J)0 


AfEX  OF  .\EU-    yoKk—li-ESTER.\  SECTION 


clientage.  He  recovered  the  largest  verdict  ever 
won  by  a  lawyer  in  that  county,  amounting  to  nearly 
8500,000,  in  a  case  tried  in  the  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court  for  the  northern  district  of  New  York. 
His  success  in  jury  trials  has  been  exceptional  in  the 
record  of  cases  won. 


JDIIX   CIXSF.EX 

In  1890  Mr.  Cunneen  sought  a  wider  field  for  the 
e.xercise  of  his  legal  talents,  and  settled  in  Buffalo. 
In  comjjany  with  Charles  F.  Taber,  William  F. 
Sheehan.  and  Kdward  E.  Coatsworth,  he  formed  a 
law  partnership  under  the  firm  name  of  Taber, 
Sheehan,  Cunneen  &  Coatsworth.  Two  of  his 
partners  were  more  or  less  absorbed  in  public  affairs, 
and  a  great  share  of  the  work  devolved  u])on  Mr. 
Cunneen.  In  1894  the  firm  was  dissolved,  and  Mr. 
Cunneen  bet'ame  the  senior  memiicr  of  the  firm  of 
Cunneen  t\:  Coatsworth.  His  well-merited  success 
gained  at  .Mbion  has  followed  him  to  Buffalo,  and  he 
has  appeared  in  many  of  the  most  imjiortant  causes  in 
Erie  county  during  the  jiast  five  years,  and  is  recog- 
nized as  a  lawyer  of  marked  ability. 


.'\part  from  his  chosen  profession  Mr.  Cunneen  has 
tlisplayed  a  taste  and  bent  for  journalism.  While  at 
.\lbion  he  conducted  successfully  a  weekly  paper,  and 
he  has  on  many  occasions  been  a  contributor  to  the 
])re,ss.  He  has  thus  been  an  active  factor  in  two  profes- 
sions, and  both  have  naturally  led  him  into  the  field 
of  politics.  Law  and  journalism  are  the 
most  freiiuented  roads  to  public  position 
and  political  prominence.  Mr.  Cunneen 
has  displayed  an  interest  in  jjolitics  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word.  A  strong  adherent 
of  the  Democratic  party,  he  has  been 
active  among  its  leaders  on  the  stump,  in 
his  paper,  and  in  conventions,  and  he  is 
recognized  as  an  honest,  astute,  and  inde- 
fatigable worker,  seeking  not  his  own 
preferment  but  the  success  of  his  cause. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Democratic  state 
committee,  and  one  of  the  chief  men  of 
his  party  in  Buffalo.  In  social  life  he  is 
held  in  high  esteem,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  Buffalo  and  Ellicott  clubs.  The 
duties  of  an  exacting  profession,  how- 
ever, have  left  him  little  time  for  pursuits 
and  pastimes  not  connected  in  some 
degree  with  his  life-work  —  the  study 
and  practice  of  law. 

PERSONAL  CNR  ONOL  O  G  Y— 
John  Cunneen  was  born  at  Enis,  Ireland, 
May  18,  18^8  :  came  to  the  United  States 
ill  18(!l,  and  settled  in  Albion,  N.  V.; 
7oas  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Rochester  in 
1874  ;  married  Elizabeth  E.  Bass  of 
Albion  January  26,  1876  :  practiced  law 
in  Albion,  1874-— 90,  and  has  practiced  in 
Buffalo  since  1890. 


©ailSOU  IDCPCW  if*  a  genuine  Buf- 
falonian,  having  been  born  and  educated 
in  the  Queen  City,  and  having  lived  there  always. 
He  attended  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo,  and 
graduated  from  the  high  school  in  1(S,S4.  He  was 
president  of  his  cla.ss,  and  was  also  class  orator. 
Additional  evidence  of  Mr.  Depew's  popularity  is 
afforded  by  his  election,  in  the  year  of  his  gradua- 
tion, to  the  office  of  vice  president  of  the  High 
School  .Xssociation,  which  numbers  over  two  thousand 
meml  lers. 

Without  resort  to  either  <ollege  or  law  school,  Mr. 
Depew  soon  after  his  graduation  from  the  high  s(  hool 
entered  the  law  office  of  CJreene,  McMillan  &  Cluck 
as  a  student,  'i'his  firm  was  one  of  the  foremost  at 
the  Erie-county  bar,  and  hardly  any  office  could  have 
been  found  that  was  iictter  fitted  to  train  and  instruct 


j//r.v  fi/-  .\7-:ir  voKK—a-EsTKhw  s/-:ct/(\\ 


a  student  in  general  and  corporation  law.  Mr. 
Greene,  one  member  of  the  firm,  afterward  became 
leading  counsel  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan 
Southern  railway  ;  Mr.  Gluck  has  long  lectured  on 
the  law  of  corporations  in  the  Buffalo  Law  School  ; 
and  the  firm  as  a  whole  is  known  far  and  wide  for 
its  vigilant  and  able  guardianshi])  of  large  corpora- 
tion interests.  Thus  Mr.  Depew  had  an  unusually 
fine  opportunity  to  become  minutely  and  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  railroad  and  general  corporation 
law.  This  department  of  legal  science  he  had 
determined  to  make  his  specialty,  and  the  connection 
with  Greene,  McMillan  &  Gluck  was  correspondingly 
valuable  to  him.  He  made  rapid  progress  in  his 
legal  studies  under  the  favorable  conditions  noted, 
and  in  18;^7  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo. 
He  continued  in  the  office  that  had  served 
his  student  purposes  so  well,  and  in  1890 
his  fidelity  and  ability  were  rewarded  by 
admission  into  the  firm  with  which  he 
had  so  long  been  associated.  The  style 
then  became  McMillan,  Gluck,  Pooley  & 
Depew,  and  the  firm  continues  to-day  as 
it  was  then  organized.  The  legal  in- 
terests of  some  of  the  largest  corporations 
in  the  country  are  committed  to  this 
firm  —  such  corporations  as  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  railroad,  the 
West  Shore  railway,  the  Lake  Shore  & 
Michigan  Southern  railway,  the  Michigan 
Central  railway,  the  Rome,  Watertown  & 
Ogdensburg  railway,  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Co.,  and  the  Equitable  Life 
Assurance  Co.  of  New  York  city. 

The  same  earnestness,  perseverance, 
and  faithfulness  that  marked  Mr.  Depew' s 
early  career  at  school  have  been  charac- 
teristic of  the  man,  and  have  been 
embodied  in  his  professional  work.  Al- 
though still  a  young  man  and  onh 
recently  started  on  hi.s  career,  he  may 
confidently  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
coming  legal  lights  of  western  New  York. 
Two  relatives,  whose  names  he  bears, 
were  long  leaders  of  the  bar  in  New 
York  state,  and  in  the  careers  of  his 
cousin,  John  Ganson,  and  of  his  uncle, 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  there  is  much  to 
encourage  and  spur  him  onward  in  his 
profession. 

Mr.  Depew  is  a  member  of  St.  Paul's  Kpiscopal 
Church  :  of  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  No.  441 , 
F.  &  -A.  M.  ;  of  Adytum  Chapter,  Royal  .Arch 
Masons  ;   of  the  Sons  of  the  American    Revolution  ; 


and  of  the  Buffalo,  Saturn,  Liberal,  and  Kllicott 
clubs.  He  was  elected  a  director  of  the  Buffalo 
Library  in  1892  and  again  in  1895,  receiving  on  each 
occasion  the  highest  vote  of  any  of  the  candidates. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOL  O  G  V—  Ganson 
Depew  u>as  horn  at  Buffalo  March  (>,  186(1 :  7iiias 
educated  in  the  puldic  schools,  and  graduated  from  the 
high  school  in  ISSJ^ ;  studied  law  in  the  office  of 
Greene,  McMillan  &=  Gluck  in  Buffalo,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  har  in  1S87  :  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  McMillan,  Gluck,  Pooley  e^"  Depew  in  ISM  ; 
married  Grace  !•'..  Goodyear  of  Buffalo  Noz^ember  15, 
18fH. 

Samuel  (5.  IDorr  comes  of  a  lineage  that  in- 
sures to  liim  publi(   spirit  and  devotion  to  civic  duty. 


GAXSOX  DEPTiW 

The  name  Dorr  is  doubtle.ss  of  German  origin,  but 
in  the  seventeenth  century  a  representative  of  the 
famil)-  lived  in  the  western  part  of  England,  whence 
Edward  Dorr  came  to  Boston  somewhere  about  lO'O. 


ir)2 


.i//;.\"  or  XKir  )'or/<^hw:stkr.\  s;-:cr/o.\ 


Dr.  Don's  middle  name  is  that  of  one  of  Connecti- 
cut's oldest  families,  several  members  of  which  held 
the  office  of  governor.  Edmund  Dorr,  one  of  Dr. 
Dorr's  ancestors,  moved  to  Connecticut  in  the  early 
l)art  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  there  married 
into  the  Criswold  familv.      .Another  of  his  ancestors 


SAMUEL    a.   DORR 

was  Captain  .Matthew  Dorr  of  revolutionary  fame, 
who  did  heroic  service  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  and 
whose  regiment  was  officially  praised  by  Cieneral 
(iates.  \  son  of  Captain  .Matthew  Dorr,  named 
Samuel  Criswold,  was  the  American  inventor  who 
patented  a  wheel  of  knives,  which,  in  connection 
with  the  s])inning  jenny,  was  destined  to  revolution- 
ize the  business  of  cloth  manufacture.  This  son, 
while  introducing  his  machinery  in  ICngland,  died  of 
poison  presuiTiably  administered  by  persons  bent  on 
frustrating  any  improvement  that  would  decrease  the 
number  of  ])eople  employed  in  cloth  manufacturing. 
Dr.  Dorr,  like  his  father,  has  been  a  business  man 
and  a  |)hysi(ian.  He  was  born  at  Dansville,  N.  Y., 
and   received  a   liberal  education   at    Nunda  (  N.   Y.j 


Acadeni)  and  at  the  .Albion  State  Academy  in  Wis- 
consin. I'pon  his  graduation  from  the  latter  institu- 
tion he  returned  to  New  York  state,  and  ran  a  flour 
mill  at  South  Dansville,  which  he  had  bought  of  his 
father.  Not  being  of  age,  Mr.  Dorr  was  mialile  to 
exeiiile  legal  papers,  and  such  complications  arose 
that  he  wound  up  the  business,  after 
having  assumed  obligations  amotmting  to 
over  810,000,  every  penny  of  which  he 
ultimately  paid  to  his  creditors.  When 
the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  President 
Lincoln  called  for  7"), 000  troops,  Mr. 
Dorr  enlisted  within  forty  hotirs  there- 
after. Unfortimately  he  was  prevented 
from  going  to  the  tront  by  an  attack 
of  diphtheria,  which  left  him  an  invalid 
for  a  year.  In  liS6o  he  was  appointed 
by  (lovernor  Seymour  recruiting  agent 
for  half  of  Livingston  county,  a  position 
in  which  he  rendered  valuable  .serviiu 
during  the  rest  of  the  war. 

.After  the  war  Mr.  Dorr  went  to  the  oil 
regions  in   Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  in 
the  business  of  refining  oil,  in  partnership 
with    Charles    Twining,  at    Oil    Creek. 
The    cooperage    business    soon    proving 
more    attractive,  they    established    works 
for  the  manufacture  of  barrels  at  Water- 
ford,    Penn.      Mercantile    life,    however, 
was    not    to    Mr.    Dorr's    taste,   and   the 
force    of    heredity    asserted    itself.      He 
went  to  Buffalo,  and  matriculated  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  L'niversity  of 
Buffalo   in    1878,   receiving  his  doctor's 
degree  two  years  later.      Once  established 
in    the    practice    of   his    profession.    Dr. 
Dorr  won  quick  success,  for  he  possesses 
in  addition  to  medical  knowledge  a  kindly 
disposition  that  is  in  it.self  a  tonic  to  the 
affli(ted.       During    the    administrations    of   mayors 
Brush  and  Cleveland  he  held  the  |)Osition  of  jjolice 
surgeon.      No    |)hysician    is   better  known  or   more 
liighly  esteemed   in   the   neighborhood   in   which  he 
lives  than   Dr.   Dorr.      He    is    a  mcmljer  of  all  the 
leading  medical  societies  in  the  state,  and  lor  years 
ha.s  been  a  consulting  physician  at   one  of  Buffalo's 
largest  hospitals. 

As  a  political  fa(  tor  Dr.  Dorr  is  a  power  in  his 
community,  and  is  invariably  found  with  the  active 
forces  of  good  government.  Two  things  have  con- 
stituted liis  political  creed  —  the  abolition  of  slavery 
and  the  purification  of  politics.  The  former  he  has 
lived  to  see  accomplished  :  the  latter  is  being 
wrought    out  at   the   presmt    tini^-.    slowly    it    is   true, 


ME.x  OF  XKir  ]-(>a'a'—ii7:s77-:a\v  s/;cr/o.v 


r>3 


liiit  no  less  certainly.  He  abhorred  slavery  as  a 
man  :  as  an  American  he  abhors  political  dishonestv. 
He  has  been  an  active  Repnblican  from  the  days  of 
Fremont.  ].incoln  was  the  idol  of  his  life,  and  the 
picture  of  the  martyred  President  graces  the  most 
conspicuous  wall  of  his  living  room.  While  a  resi- 
dent of  Waterford,  Penn.,  he  was  burge.ss  of  the 
town,  and  organized  its  first  fire  dei^artment.  In 
Buffalo  he  has  been  elected  supervisor,  and  was  once 
nominated  for  councilman.  In  1.S88  he  was  chosen 
an  alternate  delegate  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  at  Chicago.  He  is  a  stanch  ])rotection- 
ist.  In  fact,  adherence  to  that  doctrine  may  be 
called  a  family  trait,  resulting  perhaps  from  the 
destruction  of  his  grandfather's  cloth  factory  by  the 
repeal  of  a  tariff  law  soon  after  the  war  of  lS\-2. 

Dr.    Dorr   is  a  trustee  of  the  Sentinel    .Mclliodist 
Church,  a    member  of  the   Masonic   fra 
ternit)-,    and    of    many    benevolent    and 
literary  societies. 

PERSONAL  CHR  OXOL  OGY— 
Saiiitiel  Griswold  Dorr  was  born  at  Daiis- 
vilk,  N.  V. ,  Mar  SO,  18^0  ,•  7C'as  educate,/ 
at  Nunda  (^Y.  Y.)  Academy  and  A //'ion 
State  Academy  in  Jl'isconsni ;  conducted 
a  j/our-mit/inif  /nisincss  at  South  Dansvi//e, 
X.  \ '. ,  7<?.7.'y-6'4  ,•  married  Rebecca  Brad- 
/ey  of  Danivi//e  Ju/y  7,  ISO'4  :  enjrij^!;ed 
in  oii  refining  and  in  cooperage  in  Penn- 
sy/vania,  lSf>i>-~^ :  graduated  from  tlic 
medical  department  of  tlie  University  of 
Buffalo  in  lS7i>,  ami  lias  practiced  uiediciiu- 
in  Buffalo  since. 


Mr.  Dunbar  received  a  common-school  education, 
sui)])lemented  by  a  high-school  course  of  a  year  or 
more  ;  and  his  whole  life  has  been  devoted  to  study 
and  learning  in  the  practical  school  of  affairs.  Hi^ 
knowledge  of  the  dredging  business  liegan  early,  for 
he  was  only  fourteen  years  old  when  he  was  fireman 
on  a  dredge  engaged  in  digging  the  Des  Jardins 
canal  in  Ontario,  where  his  father  was  foreman.  His 
father  having  turned  his  attention  to  railroad  con- 
struction, young  Dunbar  worked  for  him  for  several 
years  on  the  Utica  &  Watertown,  the  Hamilton  &• 
Toronto,  and  the  (Irand  Trunk  roads.  He  then 
went  to  Missouri,  and  helped  build  the  first  railroad 
west  of  the  Mississippi  river  —  the  Hannibal  cS:  St. 
Joseph.  He  was  .subsecpiently  employed  in  running 
the  ])reliminary  line  of  the  St.  Joseph  iS:  Council 
Bluffs  railroad.       With    thi>    rich   experience  he  went 


Cbarles  Jfrcncb  Buubar  de- 
serves the  title  uf  "Pathfinder"  in 
recognition  of  his  great  services  to  com- 
merce and  navigation.  He  exemplifies 
the  truth  and  jjower  of  hereditary  in- 
fluence. It  is  no  mere  coincidence  that 
men  of  his  blood  invented  and  operated 
the  first  steam  dredging  apparatus  with  a 
revolving  crane,  and  that  he  gave  to  the 
world  the  first  successful  submarine  drill- 
ing machine.  Deep  harbors  and  channels 
are  to  water  traffic  what  massive  iron 
bridges  are  to  railway  transportation.  If 
there  were  no  way  to  deejien  shallow 
|)laces,  modern  vessels  could  no  more 
enter  some  of  our  chief  ports  than  could 
a  mogul  engine  cross  an  old-fashioned  uoodcn 
bridge;  and  since  large  vessels  and  hea\  y  engines 
are  now  a  necessity  of  commerce,  the  man  who 
facilitates  their  use  does  a  notable  service. 


1       '    ■*«A*-^;'*,gpi^9g 

"^■■^■1 

■■ 

i 

1 

^^^^K  ^'      ■P"-'-^ 

*-                       1 

hU 

^B|^£ 

mJk 

CHARLES   riK'I-.MH   fUXnAh' 

to  Buffalo  in  l.S(i{),  where  his  father  was  clearing  out 
the  entrance  to  Buffalo  creek.  Since  that  time  his 
career  has  been  substantially  the  liistorx  of  deep- 
water  navigation. 


1.".4 


AfK.X   OF  y/Hl'    )OKK—U'ESTERX  SECT/ON 


In  1863  Mr.  Dunbar  formed  a  partnershij)  in  the 
dredging  business  with  Frankbn  I.ee,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Lee  &  Dunbar,  by  the  terms  of  which  Mr. 
Dunbar  was  to  have  charge  of  the  mechanical  part  of 
the  work.  This  firm  was  instnmiental  in  deepening 
the  channels  and  harbors  at  Buffalo,  Dunkirk,  Erie, 


GUSTA  V  FLErSCH.\fAXN 

Conneaut,  Ashtabula,  Sandusky,  Toledo,  and  Fort 
Colborne  on  Lake  Erie ;  St.  Clair  Elats,  Port 
Huron,  Bay  City,  and  An  Sable  on  Lake  Huron  ; 
Wilson,  Big  Sodus,  Little  Sodus,  Pultneyville, 
(Jswego,  and  Toronto  on  Lake  Ontario  ;  and  C)g- 
densburg  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  firm  had,  in 
addition,  important  contracts  on  the  Weliand  and 
Murray  canals. 

It  was  at  Port  Colborne  that  Mr.  Dinibar  ])er- 
fected  his  drilling  mac  hine.  He  had  taken  the  con- 
tract to  deejjen  the  mouth  of  the  Weliand  canal. 
The  undertaking  was  regarded  as  so  hazardous  that 
many  of  his  friends  jjredicted  ruin  for  him  ;  and  the 
Canadian  government,  doubting  his  ability  to  fulfill 
the  contract,  demanded  a  ])enalty  bond  of  S2"),ll(Mi. 


With  the  aid  of  the  new  invention,  however,  the 
contract  was  satisfactorily  performed.  Then  Mr. 
Dunbar  contracted  with  the  I'nited  States  govern- 
ment to  excavate  the  Lime  Kiln  Crossing  at  Detroit. 
This  undertaking  was  likewise  most  formidable,  and 
a  bond  of  8200, 000  was  required  from  the  contractor. 
The  work  was  much    retarded  and    en- 

.         dangered    by    navigation,    and   recjuired 

twelve    years    for    its    completion.      .Mr. 
'  Dunbar  ne.xt  excavated  and  deepened  the 

llaylake  Channel  for  a  distance  of  over 
two  miles,  securing  a  depth  of  twenty-one 
feet  instead  of  nine  as  before.  In  short,  it 
may  be  said  that  Mr.  Dvmbar  has  left  his 
mark  on  the  principal  ports  of  the  Creat 
Lakes,  and  has  profoundly  influenced  the 
commercial  welfare  of  many  cities. 

The  success  and  usefulness  of  Mr. 
Dunbar's  invention  have  been  acknowl- 
edged by  engineers  of  the  highest  charac- 
ter, (leneral  C).  M.  Poe  made  the  inven- 
tion the  subject  of  a  paper  read  before  the 
American  Society  of  Engineers,  and  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Dunbar's  son  said,  "  I  regard 
his  [Mr.  Dunbar's]  adaptation  of  the 
method  of  drilling  and  blasting  rock  under 
water  as  one  of  the  great  feats  of  modern 
engineering." 

Mr.  Dunbar  retired  from  the  dredging 
business  in  1895,  and  now  enjoys  a  well- 
earned  leisure.      He  finds  much  jileasure 
in  literature,  and  is  the  author  of  a  drama 
that  was  brought  out  in  Buffalo  in  1884, 
and  was  favorably  received  by  the  public. 
While   not   a(  tive  in  politics,  he  is  a  firm 
Republican,  having  cast  his  first  vote  for 
.Abraham  Lincoln.      During  his  residence 
at  Erie,  Penn.,  he  served  one  term  of  two 
vears  in   the  common  council.      He  has 
devoted  much  time  and  attention  to  trotting  horses, 
and  is  well  known  on  the  circuit.      He  has  a  large 
circle   of  friends,   to   whom    he  is   endeared    by    his 
worth,  and  freedom  from  ostentation. 

PE  RSO NA  L  CHR ONOL O G V—  Char/es 
French  Dunbar  mas  horn  at  Boston,  Alass. ,  January 
(>,  18S9 ;  was  fi/urati'i/  in  public  schools ;  married 
Mrs.  Lucille  DcWolJ  Berston  of  Pclhani,  Ont.,  Oc- 
tober 28,  1861 ;  carried  on  a  dredging  business  in 
Buffalo,  1S00-H4  :  invented  a  submarine  drilling 
machine  in  lS7-i. 


GU5taV  JflCiSCbinaUU  is  one  of  the  many 
sons  of  the  old  worlil  who  have  attained  prosperity 
in    this    new   land,   and    have    contributed    their   full 


MEX  OF  AEir    YOKfC—lVKSTERX  SECT/O.V 


l.i.j 


share    to    the    growth    and    development    of    their 
adopted  countr}'. 

Mr.  Fleischmann  was  born  less  than  fifty  years  ago 
in  Vienna,  Austria.  He  came  to  the  United  States  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  obtained  employment  with 
the  firm  of  Casoni  &  Isola  in  New  York  city  as  a 
marble  cutter  and  designer,  at  the  same  time  attending 
night  schools  and  Cooper  Institute,  and  pursuing  his 
studies  in  mathematics  and  drawing  to  fit  him  for  the 
profession  he  had  adopted.  He  was  obliged  to  aban- 
don this  vocation,  however,  on  account  of  ill  health  ; 
and  in  1669  he  went  to  Cincinnati,  and  entered  the 
firm  of  (laff,  Fleischmann  &  Co.,  of  which  his 
brothers,  Maximilian  and  Charles,  were  members. 
There  he  thoroughly  learned  the  business  of  a  distil- 
ler and  yeast  manufacturer.  When  he  had  perfected 
his  knowledge  of  this  industry,  and  was  ready  to 
establish  himself  in  business,  Mr.  Fleisch- 
mann  began  to  consider  the  question  of  i 

location.  The  Buffalo  of  twenty  years 
ago  was  a  different  place  from  the  city  of  ' 
to-day,  as  regards  both  population  and 
commercial  prosperity  :  but  the  elements 
of  her  future  greatness  were  there,  and  it 
was  not  diificult  for  a  farsighted  and  saga- 
cious man  to  appreciate  her  superior 
advantages.  Mr.  Fleischmann  accord- 
ingly went  to  Buflalo,  and  engaged  in  the 
distilling  business  under  the  firm  name 
of  Frost  &  Co.  A  year  later  Mr.  Frost 
retired,  and  Mr.  Fleischmann  formed  a 
partnership  with  E.  N.  Cook,  under  the 
style  of  E.  X.  Cook  &  Co.  This  connec- 
tion lasted  until  1893,  when  Mr.  Fleisch- 
mann bought  out  Mr.  Cook's  interest  in 
the  business,  and  organized  the  Buffalo 
Distilling  Co.,  of  which  he  has  since  been 
the  proprietor. 

The  successful  business  man  of  the 
present  day  is  able  to  carry  on  an  amount 
of  business  that  would  ha\e  been  deemed 
entirely  impossible  by  even  the  most 
active  man  of  half  a  century  ago.  It  is 
not  surprising,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Fleisch- 
mann is  president  of  the  Meadville 
(Penn. )  Distilling  Co.,  and  of  the  Fron-  I 

tier  Elevating  Co.  of  Buffalo,  in  addition  

to  his  ownership  of  the  Buffalo  Distilling 

Co.      He  also   held,  for  some  years,  the 

presidency    of   the    Merz   Universal   E.x- 

tractor  and  Construction  Co. ;     but  this  position  he 

resigned  in  favor  of  his  brother,  when  the  main  office 

of  the  company  was  moved  from  Buffalo  to  New  York 

city. 


.Mr.  Fleischmann  is  a  member  of  Meadville  Lodge, 
B.  P.  O.  E.  His  chief  interests  are  now  in  Buffalo, 
and  he  is  the  owner  of  some  fine  residence  ]5roperty 
in  that  city.  His  greatest  recreation  from  the  en- 
grossing cares  of  business  is  in  hunting,  to  which 
he  is  pa.ssionately  devoted.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Adirondack  League  Club,  and  brings  home  several 
fine  deer  each  fall  as  trophies  of  his  mark.smanship. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Giistav Fleisch- 
mann rcai  born  at  Vienna,  Austria,  March  22,  1850  ; 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1866 ;  married  Emilie 
Robertson  of  New  York  city  August  2^,  1880 ;  has 
been  engaged  in  the  distilling  business  in  Buffalo  since 
1877. 


]£^WarC»   (I.  IbaWftS,    the  son  of  Thomas  S. 
Haw^ks,  is  a  lawyer  of  standing  and  a  man  of  business 


EDUAKD    C.   HAUfCS 

affairs.  In  the  branch  of  the  law  covering  real  estate 
he  is  an  especially  well-qualified  counselor.  He  has 
confined  himself  almost  exclusively  to  office  practice 
in    recent    years,    and    to   the   care   of  his  personal 


IJC, 


.)/£"A'   OF  .VEir    )OA'A-—irKSrE/iA-  SECT/O.y 


interests,  and  is  rarely  seen  in  court.  He  has,  how- 
ever, figured  in  important  litigation,  and  as  city 
attorney  of  Buffalo  was  engaged  in  se\eral  exciting 
and  momentous  contests.  As  a  trial  lawyer  he  was 
an  adversary  at  once  full-armed  and  unfaltering,  and 
when  convinced  that  he  was  in  the  right  nothing 
could  move  him  from  the  position  he  had  taken. 
But  the  continual  struggle  of  the  court  room,  the  de- 
lays in  bringing  causes  to  trial,  and  thedisproijortion 
of  the  issue  to  the  time  and  labor  involved,  have 
made  the  office  of  counselor  more  attractive  to  most 
lawyers  in  these  busy  days  than  the  pleading  of  cases  at 
the  bar. 

A  Buffalonian  by  birth  and  education,  Mr.  Hawks 
has  taken  more  than  ordinary  interest  and  pride  in 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  city.  He  gradu- 
ated from  the  Central  High  School,  and  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  Sprague  &  Fillmore,  then  one  of  the 
leading  law  firms  of  western  New  York.  For  seven 
years  he  was  managing  clerk  of  their  large  legal  busi- 
ness, and  had  entire  charge  of  the  real-estate  transac- 
tions of  the  Erie  County  Savings  Bank,  a  client  of 
the  firm.  After  this  thorough  and  extensive  ex- 
perience, Mr.  Hawks  opened  an  office  of  his  own. 

While  never  a  seeker  for  political  office  as  a  means 
of  livelihootl,  Mr.  Hawks  in  the  early  part  of  his 
legal  career  had,  as  nearly  ever)'  energetic  lawjer  at 
some  time  has,  an  ambition  for  public  life.  Usually 
a  short  experience  in  that  direction  cures  the  aspirant, 
and  sends  him  back  to  his  profession  a  wiser  if  not  a 
sadder  man.  Mr.  Hawks  held  the  office  of  city 
attorney  two  years,  and  frankly  admits  that  that 
sufficed  him  so  far  as  public  office  was  concerned. 
Yet  it  is  just  such  men  who  ought  to  be  in  office,  for 
thev  have  the  welfare  of  the  community  at  heart,  and 
discharge  their  duties  conscientiously.  .Mr.  Hawks's 
term  as  city  attorney  was  marked  by  a  distinguished 
.ser\'ice  to  Buffalo.  A  generous  council  had  voted  to 
sell  a  railroad  corporation  the  South  Channel  land 
for  .?l'2,0l)(>,  and  directed  the  city  attorney  to  facili- 
tate the  transfer.  Mr.  Hawks,  who  knew  the  ])rop- 
erty  to  be  worth  far  more  than  the  price  named, 
demurred  to  the  authority  of  the  council  over  him, 
regarding  him.self  as  the  attorney  of  the  city,  and  not 
of  one  of  its  departments.  Consecjuently  he  refused  to 
effect  the  transfer.  Thereupon  the  common  council 
attempted  to  oust  him  from  office  on  written  charges, 
and  he  was  formally  tried  before  Mayor  Brush.  The 
mayor  dismissed  the  charges  as  entirely  unfounded. 
It  may  be  added  that  the  railroad  company  diil  not 
get  the  proix;rty  for  812,000,  but  jjaid  the  city,  for 
less  than  half  of  it,  8150,000. 

Private  affairs  have  engrossed  Mr.  Hawks's  atten- 
tion   in    recent    years,    and   he    has    become    largely 


interested  in  land  improvement  and  grain  elevators. 
Richmond  avenue  may  almost  be  said  to  have  been 
laid  out  and  improved  by  him.  He  was  one  of  the 
builders  of  the  International  elevator  at  Black  Rock, 
and  is  interested  in  grain  elevators  elsewhere.  In 
busine.ss  he  has  the  same  courage  and  backbone  that 
he  displayed  as  a  city  official.  When  the  forgeries 
and  rascalities  of  the  Sherman  brothers  threatened  to 
ruin  .several  BufAilo  banks  and  permanently  injure  the 
city's  grain  commerce,  Mr.  Hawks  with  two  asso- 
ciates assumed  a  liability  amounting  to  more  than 
half  a  million  dollars,  and  thus  re-established  the  con- 
fidence of  shipjjers  and  financial  houses  in  the 
integrity  and  soundness  of  the  local  elevators.  Mr. 
Hawks  has  immense  land  holdings  in  Massachusetts, 
owning  five  miles  of  sea  beach  at  West  Gloucester. 
In  connection  with  his  property  there,  he  has  given 
much  thought  to  road  building,  and  jjublished  a  series 
of  articles  on  "Cood  Roads  and  How  to  Build  Them." 
Mr.  Hawks  is  prominent  in  many  of  Buffalo's 
literary  and  art  societies,  and  is  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Art  Students'  League  —  an  unusual  distinction. 
He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Artists,  and 
a  member  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  F—  Edward  Clin- 
ton Ha'ic'ks  was  born  at  Buffalo  July  2G,  18^.0 : 
i^raduated  from  the  Central  High  School  in  1865  ; 
'icas  admitted  to  the  bar  i?t  1869  ;  was  city  attorney, 
1880-81 ;  married,  on  June  o,  1879,  Amanda  Smith 
of  Buffalo,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Richard  Smith,  Jr., 
the  cnnon  patentee  of  IVarragansett,  Rhode  Island, 
in  'fl  :  has  practiced  lajc  in  Buffalo  since  187 1. 


ltCUr\?  ■CClaslan5  Ibill,  the  son  of  Martha  P. 
{  Hall  I  Hill  and  of  Dyer  Hill,  a  member  of  the 
\  ermont  state  legislature  in  1840-00,  is  a  country 
boy  who  has  risen  to  prominence  as  a  lawyer  and 
legislator.  He  was  born  in  the  Creen  Mountain 
State,  where  he  pa.ssed  his  youth  on  his  father's 
farm.  He  took  a  four  years'  classical  course  at  the 
University  of  Vermont,  graduating  therefrom  with 
honors  in  187(j.  He  received  the  degree  of  A.  B. 
at  this  time,  and  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
Phi  Beta  Kap])a  society.  Four  years  later  his  alma 
;//(?/<'/■  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  A.  M. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  Hill  was  principal  of  the 
academy  at  Swanton,  \'i.,  for  two  years,  and  then 
accepted  a  similar  position  at  Chateaugay,  N.  Y. 
During  his  career  as  a  teacher  he  organized  a  college 
preparatory  course  in  the  academies  at  Swanton  and 
Chateaugay,  and  fitted  several  classes  for  college. 
His  standing  among  educators  was  recognized  by 
his  election  to  a  term  as  jjresident  of  the  I'ranklin 
County  (N.  Y.  )  Teachers'  Association. 


.\rF.\  OF  XEir  ]-i>A'A-—irEsr/-:f!X  sfcvvo.y 


loT 


Whik-  he  was  occupied  in  teaching,  Mr.  Hill 
devoted  his  leisure  hours  to  the  study  of  law,  and 
successfully  passed  the  New  York  state  bar  examina- 
tion in  lJSiS4.  In  that  year  he  moved  to  Buffalo, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Andrev\s  &: 
Hill.  As  a  lawyer  his  career  has  been  marked  In 
unusual  skill  in  the  conduct  of  legal  busi- 
ness. He  has  also  taken  an  active  interest 
in  civic  affairs,  and  is  among  the  best 
known  of  Buffalo's  younger  generation  of 
public  men.  He  has  the  qualities  that 
bring  success  in  the  arena  of  political 
activity. 

In  the  fall  of  1X9;^  Mr.  Hill  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  New  York  constitutional 
convention,  and  served  in  that  body  on 
the  .suffrage,  education,  and  civil-service 
committees.  He  was  an  able  and  a  useful 
member  of  the  convention,  and  was 
selected  as  one  of  the  committee  of  fi\e 
to  determine  the  order  of  business,  and 
arrange  the  calendar  of  the  convention. 
He  formulated  several  of  the  amendments 
that  are  now  a  part  of  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  state.  To  Mr.  Hill  is  due  in 
large  part  the  amendment  for  improving 
canals.  He  organized  sentiment  in  its 
favor,  made  one  of  the  principal  speeches 
on  the  subject,  and  after  the  convention 
had  taken  adverse  action  on  the  projjosi- 
tion,  he  secured  a  reconsideration  of  the 
matter  and  the  passage  of  the  amendment. 

One  of  Mr.  Hill's  most  elocpient  and 
scholarly  si)eeches  in  the  convention  de- 
fended the  use  of  the  Niagara  river  for 
power  purposes.  .Among  other  things,  he 
said  : 

"The  (lia]ja.s(jn  of  Niagara  is  being  translated 
into  the  luini  of  industry.  The  niu.sic  of  nature 
will  continue,  while  the  factories  of  Buffalo,  Rochester,  and  the 
smaller  cities  of  western  New  York  pulsate  in  unison  with  the 
waters  of  the  great  cataract.  Shall  Niagara  remain  hui  lltc 
rendezvous  of  poets  and  wedding  tourists,  and  its  waters  he 
permitted  'to  flow  on  unvexed  to  the  sea,'  or  shall  they  In- 
utilized  for  the  good  of  man?  The  beauties  of  Niagara  will 
remain,  the  charm  of  the  thousands  who  visit  it,  although  its 
potent  energies  be  conserved  to  contribute  to  the  welfare  ul 
humanity.  Hitherto,  Niagara  has  spent  its  great  energies  in 
vain,  and  now  that  the  time  has  come  when  they  may  he  made 
to  propel  the  wheels  of  industry,  it  is  jiroposed  to  prohibit  the 
latter  by  constitutional  inhibition.  Why  not  prohibit  the  use 
of  the  waters  of  the  Hudson,  the  Mohawk,  the  Susi|nehanna, 
or  the  St.  Lawrence  ?  Why  not  erect  a  barrier  to  the  use  of 
all  the  waters  of  the  state?  Why  not  deny  to  commerce  access 
to  Lake  Cliamplain,  Lake  lirie,  or  the  inland  lakes  of  the  state? 
Natural  streams  of  water,  ever  since  the  morning  of  time,  have 
been  made  to  serve  the  pin[^oses  of  man The  legislalnre 


may  he  entrusted  to  L;ranl  only  such  IVanchi.ses  for  the  use  of 
llie  waters  of  Ninijara  river  as  will  he  for  the  interest  of  the 
]ieopie  of  llie  whole  '•tate." 

Mr.  Hill's  services  in  the  convention  and  on  the 
stump  were  noteworthy  and  duly  appreciated,  for 
thev  led  to  his  nomination  and  election  to  the  legis- 


HRXh'V    M  .(  V/..L\li   ///I.I 

lature  of  l.S!)(i  by  a  phn-ality  of  4, .Slid,  the  largtsl 
Kcpublican  plurality  received  bv  any  member  of  the 
New  York  assembly  in  that  )ear.  The  ])ress  of 
Buffalo  strongly  supported  his  candidacy,  declaring 
him  to  be  "  the  peer  of  any  iTian  that  ever  went  to 
the  assembl\-  from  I'^rie  county."  Mr.  Hill  was 
a.ssigned  to  the  committee  on  affairs  of  cities  and  the 
committee  on  canals.  The  latter  assignment  was 
particularly  ai)])roi)riate,  because  Mr.  Hill  had 
strongly  advocated,  in  1895,  the  measure  whereby 
the  state  appropriated  89,000,000  for  canal  improve- 
ment. He  has  shown  himself  to  be  an  earnest 
legislator,  seeking  at  all  times  courageously  to  rep- 
resent the  inti-rests  and  to  rec<irtl  the  wishes  of 
his  I  ouslilumts.  and  slrenut)us    in    the  advocacv   ol 


158 


MEN  OF  NEW    VOKK— WESTERN  SECTION 


measures  favoring  Buffalo  and  its  expanding  com- 
merce. Mr.  Hill  is  an  active  Re])ul)lican,  and 
for  several  years  has  been  a  nieml)er  of  the  Erie- 
county  Republican  committee,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
Republican  League.  He  is  a  believer  in  home 
rule  for  cities,  and  spoke  ably  on    that    subject    in 


t.Dn.iA-ii  J.  ///xasTo.y 

the  constitutional  convention.  He  is  also  an 
earnest  promoter  of  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
state. 

Mr.  Hill  has  done  much  work  of  a  literary  charac- 
ter, and  has  delivered  many  addresses  of  an  educa- 
tional or  historical  nature.  Especially  noteworthy 
is  his  address,  delivered  before  the  Buffalo  Historical 
Society,  on  the  "  Development  of  Constitutional 
Law  in  New  York."  Mr.  Hill  is  much  given  to  the 
philosophic  study  of  the  development  of  civil  insti- 
tutions, and  this  addre.ss,  covering  the  subject  from 
the  ancient  Roman  codification  in  the  Twelve  Tables 
to  the  latest  aspects  of  organic  law  in  the  Empire 
State,  shows  deep  research  and  wide  learning.  Mr. 
Hill  is  recording  secretary  of  the  Buffalo  Historical 


Society,  and  a  member  of  the  State  Bar  Association 

and  of  the  I'niversitv  Club  of  Buffalo. 

PEJ^SONA L  CHR OXOL  O G  Y—  Henry  JJav- 

land  Hill  was  born  at  Isle  La  Motte,  Vt. ,  Noi'ember 

IS,  1853 ;  prepared  for  college  in  the  public  schools. 

and gradiialed  from  the  Uni^'ersity  of  Vermont  in  187G  ; 
7uas  principal  of  Swanfon  (  Vf. )  Academy, 
lS77-~!f,  and  of  Chatcaugay  (A'.  Y.) 
Academy,  1819-83  ;  married  Miss  Harriet 
Augusta  Smith  of  Sjoanton  August  11, 
1880  ;  Tans  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Albany 
in  1884  ■'  ^^'"^'  elected  member  of  the  New 
York  constitutional  convention  in  1893,  and 
of  the  New  York  assembly  in  1895  ;  has 
practiced  knu  in  Buffalo  since  188 If. 


]£6\Var&  3.  ItincJ^tOn  has  had  a 

uniiiuc  cxj)criencc.  He  was  born  in  the 
I'nited  States,  and  educated  in  England, 
where  his  mother's  family  resided.  His 
original  intention  was  to  pursue  a  literary 
occupation,  and  he  was  ambitious  to  win 
distinction  in  the  field  of  journalism. 
In  early  years  he  showed  a  predilection 
for  books  and  study,  and  for  several 
years  taught  school  in  Liverpool.  But 
fate  had  in  store  for  him  a  decidedly 
])ractical  career,  and  to-day  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Hingston  &  Woods, 
celebrated  in  Buffalo  and  all  lake  ports 
as  skillful  dredgers  and  contractors  for 
foundation  and  sewer  work. 

Thomaston,  Maine,  was  Mr.  Hingston's 
birthplace,  but  his  childhood  and  youth 
were  spent  in  England,  where  he  attended 
the  National  School  at  Liverpool.    Having 
returned  to  .America  at  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  settled  in   Buffalo,  he  concluded 
to  follow  the  advice  of  his  ship-building 
uncle,  and  learn  the  latter's  trade.      In   this  occupa- 
tion he  spent  five    years,    and    the  experience  thus 
ac(|uired  has  proved  of  distinct  service  in  his  present 
line    of    business.       Additional    valuable     training 
followed  this,  as  he  became  bookkeeper  for  a  leading 
firm   of  Buffalo  dredgers,  holding  the  position   for 
ten   years.      He  then  embarked  in  the  business  for 
himself,  in  partnership  with  Arthur  Woods,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Hingston  &  Woods. 

The  specialties  to  which  Mr.  Hingston  has  de- 
voted his  energies  are  dredging,  excavating,  and 
laying  water  mains  and  submarine  structures.  An 
enumeration  of  the  important  contracts  undertaken 
and  successfully  carried  out  by  him  and  his  partner 
would    fill   a   page.       .Among   the  more   noteworthy 


.\fEX  OF  XEir  ]v/^A-—Ji'EsrER.y  sEcr/o.y 


159 


achievements  of  the  firm  may  be  mentioned  the 
Lehigh  Valley  slips  at  Buffalo,  the  inlet  pier  of  the 
Buffalo  waterworks,  water  mains  at  Roehester  and 
Erie  ;  and  similar  mains  for  Syracuse  at  Skaneateles 
lake.  Extensive  rock-removal  contracts  at  Oswego, 
Buffalo,  Erie,  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  and  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J.,  have  been  successfully  fulfilled.  In 
this  business  are  employed  a  large  force  of  men, 
with  twelve  dredges,  tugs,  mud  scows,  ])umping 
barges,  etc. 

Mr.  Hingston  is  also  interested  in  other  enter- 
prises. He  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Leh  &  Co., 
dock  builders,  and  for  several  years  has  been  senior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Hingston,  Rogers  &  O'Brien, 
known  as  the  International  Dredging  Co.  Mr. 
Hingston  is  an  active,  forceful  man,  with  executive 
abilitv  and  strict  methods  of  business. 
His  success  has  been  well  earned,  and  his 
ability  has  been  demonstrated  by  the 
diverse  and  difficult  pursuits  he  has 
followed,  in  all  of  which  he  has  proved 
himself  capable  and  competent.  His 
leisure  hours  are  devoted  to  literary 
studies,  and  were  it  not  for  the  exactions 
of  business,  some  form  of  literary  activity 
would  be  most  congenial  to  him  as  a  life 
occupation.  Mr.  Hingston  is  a  Free 
Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Lafayette 
Street  Pre.sbyterian  Church  and  of  the 
Buffalo  and  Oakfield  clubs. 

PERSONAL  CHR  OXOL  OGY— 
Edward  J.  Hingston  was  born  at  Tliomas- 
tort,  Me. ,  January  22,  ISJ^i  ;  was  educated 
in  the  National  Schools,  England :  taught 
school  at  Liverpool,  18oS-G2  :  returned  to 
the  United  States,  and  settled  in  Buffalo  in 
1862;  learned  the  shipbuilder's  trade, 
1862-67 ;  married  Mary  E.  Rees  of 
Buffalo  July  22,  1872  ;  has  been  engaged 
in  the  dredging  business  in  Buffalo  since 
January  1.  1878. 

"Cmmiam  1\  IbotcbftiSB,  though 

still  a   \oung  man,  L-\en   if   the  term   be 
narrowly  interpreted,  has  already  made  a 
name  for  himself,  and  accomplished  much 
good   in  a   field  of  usefulness  cultivated 
too  little  by  men    of  his   standing   and 
capacity.      He    is   a    type  of  the  young 
professional  men,  of  liberal  education  and 
well-developed    talent,   who    interest    themselves    in 
public  affairs  for  the    public    good.      He    was    pre- 
pared  for  college  at  Glidden's  Cla.ssical  School  in 
Jamestown,   X.   Y.,   going  from  there  to   Hamilton 


College,  where  he  graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  with  the  degree  of  .^.  B.  He  secured  the  much 
coveted  Phi  Beta  Kappa  key,  besides  honors  in 
literature,  oratory,  debating.  Creek,  Latin,  and 
mathematics,  and  delivered  the  Head  prize  oration 
and  Latin  salutatory.  Three  years  after  his  gradua- 
tion, his  college  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  .\.  M. 
Law  was  the  |)rofession  that  Mr.  Hotchkiss  had 
<  hosen  for  himself,  and  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a 
|)ractical  knowledge  of  legal  procedure  as  early  as 
|)0.ssil)le,  he  accepted,  after  completing  his  college 
course,  the  a])pointment  of  clerk  of  the  Surrogate's 
Court  of  Cayuga  county,  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.  The 
surrogate  at  that  time  w-as  John  I).  Teller,  whose 
name  became  familiar  throughout  the  state  by  his 
candidacy  for  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  on  the 


WILLIAM  H.   HOTCHKISS 


Democratic  ticket  in  1895.  Mr.  Hotchkiss  served 
as  clerk  two  years,  1887-89.  Meantime,  in  188.S, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Judge  Teller  took  him 
into  partnership,  and  he  ])racticed  at  Auburn,  in  the 


uu» 


.\//-:\  OF  \Kir  yoRk'—jn-:s-rERx  sEcr/ox 


firm  of  Teller  &  Hotchkiss,  till  1.S91.  He  then 
moved  to  the  larger  field  of  Buffalo,  where  he  entered 
into  partnership  with  \i.  !..  I'arker,  and  where  he  has 
since  |)nrsued  his  profession,  'i'he  firm  of  I'arker  iS: 
liotchkiss  has  risen  ra])idly  in  both  influence  and 
volume  of  business,  and  now  ranks  among  the  leading 


(■//.; A- /./•;.s  A',  // 1  x /■/./■:  Y 

commercial  and  banking  law  firms  of  ISiiffalo.  Mr. 
Hotchkiss  is  a  lecturer  on  the  law  of  personal  prop- 
erty in  the  Buffalo  l,aw  .School. 

'I'he  great  i)roblems  of  municipal  government,  so 
long  neglected  in  American  cities,  were  just  begin- 
ning to  receive  serious  public  attention  when  Mr. 
Hotchkiss  began  the  real  work  of  his  manhood.  To 
the  study  of  these  jjroblems  he  addres.sed  himself  with 
the  energy  of  youth,  the  earnestness  of  strong  con- 
victions, and  an  honest  desire  to  serve  right  ])ur- 
po.ses.  He  has  contributed  articles  fretjuently  to  the 
Rfvino  of  Rerieicis,  Munsef  s,  Outiiii^,  and  the 
Buffalo  Illiislrated  Express,  his  range  of  subject  in- 
cluding travels  as  well  as  muni(i|)al  problems.  In 
the  latter  field,  however,  lie   lias   become   rc^c  c)i;ni/ed 


as  an  authority.  He  wrote  a  jiamplilet  monogra])h 
on  "Urban  Self  Government"  in  l«!r)2,  and  has 
since  delivered  numerous  lectures  on  that  and 
kindred  subjects.  His  interest  in  politics  has  been 
in  tlie  line  of  promoting  ideas,  rather  than  in  the 
ac  tual  work  of  machines.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
exposing  the  ballot  frauds  in  Buffalo  in 
1)^92,  and  has  served  as  .secretary  of  the 
committee  on  law  and  legislation  of  the 
Buffalo  Citizens'  Association  for  three 
years.  He  is  also  an  active  member  of 
the  Buffalo  Republican  League,  having 
served  two  years  on  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  one  year  as  editor  of  its  organ, 
Tlie  Opinion.  He  is  a  member  of  Chi 
I'si  college  fraternity,  and  served  as  editor 
in  chief  of  its  magazine,  Purple  and  Gold, 
from  IcSXG  to  18!)U.  He  belongs,  also,  to 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  the 
Buffolo  Club,  the  Liberal  Club,  the  Inde- 
pendent Club,  and  the  New  York  State 
Bar  A.ssociation.  Es[)ecially  worthy  of 
mention  is  his  work  in  connection  with  the 
drafting  of  the  reform  charter  of  Buffalo. 
J'/iRSONA  r.  CIIR  ONOL  O  G  Y— 
William  Horace  Hotchldss  raas  horn  a  I 
Whitehall,  Washington  (onnty,  N.  )'. , 
September  7,  ISO4  ;  icas  educated  at 
Glidden' s  Classical  School,  Janiestoion, 
A'.  Y.,  and  Hamilton  College,  Clinton, 
J\'.  J '. ,  from  7i.'hich  he  graduated  in  ISSU  ; 
7i'.7,f  clerk  of  the  Surrogate' s  Court  of 
Cayuga  county,  1S87-SO  ;  7oas  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  18SH :  has  practiced  laro  in 
Buffalo  since  1H91  :  married  Katherine 
Tremaine  Bush  of  Buffalo  April  25,  1891). 


Cbarles  1R.  I'dintlci:  belongs  to 

the  electric  age.  W  ithin  the  memory  of 
\  oung  men  a  new  science,  and  a  new  profession  and 
indiistrv,  ha\'c  sprung  into  existence,  revolutionizing 
the  world  in  many  of  its  feattires,  destined  evidently 
to  transform  the  mechanics  of  life.  The  magician's 
wand  has  been  outstripped  in  this  epoch  of  practical 
wonders.  We  live  in  an  age  of  ])ioneers  into  the  most 
extensi\e  and  promising  realms  that  have  ever  invited 
the  genius  of  man.  Electricity  has  attracted  to  its 
service  a  cla.ss  of  men  marked  by  keen  acti\it\  and 
American  o|)timism.  The  science  seems  to  have  no 
place  for  old-fashioned  people.  Tho.se  who  .serve  it 
must  be  like  it  —  cpiick  and  ftdl  of  force.  Such  a 
man  is  Charles  R.  Huntley. 

.\lr.   lluntlex'  went  to  Buffalo  a  few  years  ago    to 
accept  the-  position  of  sec  ivtni\   of  what  was  then   the 


ME\   OF  .XEli-    VORK—IVESTEJ^X  SECT/OX 


161 


Brush  Electric  Light  Co.  i'his  company  was  subse- 
ciuently  changed  to  the  Buffalo  (leneral  Electric  Co., 
of  which  Mr.  Huntley  is  now  general  manager. 
Into  his  position  he  has  thrown  all  the  energy  and 
enthusiasm  of  a  vigorous  mind  and  body.  While 
making  no  pretense  to  inventive  power,  he  has  suc- 
cessfully striven  to  master  the  commercial  side  of 
electricity,  and  to  understand  it  thoroughly  as  a  com- 
modity. It  sounds  strange  to  talk  of  the  siunmer 
cloud's  flash  as  a  commodity,  but  to  Mr.  Huntley  it 
is  merely  that  and  nothing  more.  His  business  is  to 
sell  electricity  at  so  much  a  horse  ])Ower.  This 
requires  careful  computation  of  the  cost  of  every  kilo 
of  electricity,  for  in  no  industry  is  competition  keener, 
or  figured  down  to  a  closer  basis,  than  in  this  of 
furnishing  electric  power. 

Few  men  are  better  known  in  the  electrical  world 
than  Mr.  Huntley,  and  his  standing  among 
his  associates  is  attested  by  his  election  to 
the  office  of  president  of  the  National 
Electric  Light  Association,  composed  of 
eight  hundr.;d  member;;.  He  was  chiefly 
instrumental  in  bringing  the  yearly  con- 
vention of  that  body  to  Buffalo  in  1892. 
He  is  a  frequent  contributor  to  electrical 
journals,  and  is  a  member  of  the  ."\merican 
Institute  of  Electrical  Hingineers. 

Previously  to  connecting  himself  with 
his  present  business,  Mr.  Huntley  hatl 
experience  in  the  oil  fields  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  was  the  agent  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Co.  At  one  time  he  was 
in  the  brokerage  business  at  Bradford, 
Penn.,  and  while  a  resident  of  that  cit\ 
became  prominent  in  its  local  affairs.  He 
was  elected  school  comptroller  for  four 
years.  He  served  a  term  also  as  select 
councilman.  I'hese  positions  he  filled 
from  a  sense  of  civic  duty.  He  is  a 
supporter  of  the  Democratic  |)arty,  but  he 
has  not  sought  nominations,  nor  interesteil 
himself  in  politics  beyond  what  the  dut\ 
of  every  voter  requires. 

Mr.  Huntley  is  a  native  of  the  Empire 
State,  and  was  born  at  Winfield,  Herkimer 
county,  where  his  father  was  a  merchant. 
He   was  educated  in  the  district  school, 
and  graduated  from  the  Free  Academy  at 
Utica,  his  parents  having  moved  to  that 
city.      His  first  business  training  was  ob- 
tained  as  a  clerk  in  a    hardware    store.      Next    he 
entered  the  service  of  Remington  &  Sons,  the  fomous 
gun    and    tyjiewriting-machine    makers.       He    con- 
tinued here  for  several  years,  until  the  oil  excitement 


in  Pennsylvania  attracted  him  to  the  Keystone 
State.  Wherever  Mr.  Huntley  has  lived  he  has 
won  hosts  of  friends,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the 
])rincipal  social  clubs  of  Buffalo.  He  is  a  Mason 
in  high  standing,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
church. 

PERSONAL  CNR ONOLOGY —Charles  Rus- 
si-//  Huntley  was  horn  at  Winfield,  N.  V.,  October 
IJ,  ISiiJ^ :  graduated  from  Utica  Academy  in  1870 ; 
7i>as  engaged  in  the  hanlinare  business  and  ivith 
Remington  e^■  .SV;//.f,  Ilion,  N.  Y. ,  1870-77 ;  married 
Ida  L.  Richardson  of  Buffalo  June  12,  1878;  was 
agent  of  the  Standard  Oil  Co.  in  Pennsylvania, 
1877-83  :  conducted  a  brokerage  business  at  Brad- 
ford, Penn. ,  1883—88  ;  has  been  connected  with  the 
Buffalo  General  F.lectric  Co.  and  its  predeces.wrs 
since   J888. 


u  /i././.s  a:  j.icasu.v 

IMiUXS  Ik.  3aCl?S0n  is  a  type  of  the  younger 
class  of  Buffalo  business  men  whose  energy  and  fore- 
sight have  had  much  to  do  with  the  remarkable 
growth  of  the  city  in  the  last  twenty  years.     Entering 


162 


MEX  OF  XEW   yORk-—]]'KSTER.\  SECT/OX 


business  there  just  at  the  time  when  the  "Buffalo 
iiooni  "  was  setting  in,  his  ra])id  advance  may  almost 
be  deemed  representative  of  that  of  the  town.  And 
yet  nothing  has  been  further  from  Mr.  Jackson's 
line  of  work  than  mere  booming  or  speculating. 
His  has  been  rather  the  substantial  work  of  the 
manufacturer  and  trader,  whose  enterprising  spirit, 
reaching  out  constantly  after  new  business,  and  mak- 
ing the  city  the  center  of  operations  that  cover  a 
considerable  part  of  the  country,  has  given  to  the 
growth  of  Buffalo  the  substantial  and  permanent 
character  that  is  its  chief  distinguishing  feature. 

Mr.  Jackson  is  only  about  thirty-five  years  old. 
Born  in  the  \\'est,  he  reversed  the  advice  of  Horace 
flreeley  and  went  F^ast,  though  he  can  hardly  be 
held  responsible  for  that,  since  he  was  but  six  year.s- 
old  at  the  time.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
Buffalo  public  schools,  from  which  he  graduated  at 
the  age  of  sixteen.  With  the  energy  of  a  youth  who 
finds  himself  freed  at  last  from  school  fetters,  young 
Jackson  sought  and  found  employment  with  the 
Tug  Association  on  Central  wharf.  This,  however, 
occupied  him  only  during  the  summer.  The  months 
at  his  disposal  during  the  season  when  navigation 
on  the  lakes  was  closed,  he  determined  to  use  to 
improve  his  education,  and  he  accordingly  entered 
Professor  Herman  Poole's  Practical  School,  where 
he  took  a  full  commercial  cour.se,  besides  a  special 
course  in  higher  mathematics.  This  occupied  two 
winters,  his  summers,  meantime,  being  employed  on 
Central  wharf,  first  with  the  Tug  As.sociation,  and 
then  with  forwarding  and  commission  houses,  .\fter 
this  Mr.  Jackson  worked  for  five  years  in  a  mcrran 
tile  office. 

When  he  was  twenty-five  years  old  he  became 
connected  with  the  cooi)erage  business  of  his  father- 
in-law,  Thomas  Tindle,  who  gladly  availed  himself 
of  .Mr.  Jackson's  business  training  and  talents,  tak- 
ing the  young  man  into  his  business  at  first  on 
a  salary  and  within  a  .short  time  as  a  jjartner.  Tiie 
branching  out  of  the  firm  into  manufacturing  dales 
from  lrS92.  The  first  mill  was  built  at  Saginaw, 
Mich.  The  experiment  of  making  their  own  stock 
in  the  very  region  where  the  material  grew  turned 
out  so  well  that  the  Saginaw  mill  was  .soon  duplicated 
by  one  at  St.  C'harles.  Then  another  was  built  at 
Bellaire,  another  at  (Jaylord,  and  finally  a  fifth  at 
Alba.  Thus  the  products  of  five  large  cooperage 
factories  in  the  Michigan  forests  are  brought  to 
Buffalo  for  distribution  by  this  single  firm. 

Mr.  Jackson  early  became  interested  in  military 
matters,  enlisting  as  a  private  in  Company  I),  (ioUi 
regiment.  He  was  afterward  transferred  to  Company 
F,  and  won  rapid  iiromotion.     In  the  six  vears  of  his 


service  he  passed  through  the  grades  of  corporal, 
2(1  sergeant,  1st  sergeant,  2d  lieutenant,  and  1st 
lieutenant.  Though  he  has  never  been  ambitious 
for  political  honors,  he  is  an  earnest  Republican, 
and  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Republican  League. 
He  belongs  to  the  Asbury  Methodist  Church,  and 
is  esteemed  and  res])ected  by  a  large  circle  of  social 
and  business  aciiuaintances. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  —  Willis  K. 
Jackson  ivas  born  at  Edgerton,  Wis.,  September  22, 
1861 ;  tnored  to  Buffalo  in  1867,  and  rvas  educated 
in  the  public  schools  there ;  was  employed  in  fonuard- 
ing  and  commission  houses  and  in  a  mercantile  office, 
1877-86 ;  married  Annette  Tindle  of  Buffalo  Sep- 
tember 22,  1886 ;  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Tindle  &^  Co. ,  cooperage  /Manufacturers,  since  1888. 


lamtam  ipi'por  Xetcbwortb  has  devoted 

his  life,  for  more  than  a  i|uarter  of  a  century,  to 
philanthro[)ic  [mblic  service.  His  parents  were 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  w-hose  lives  were 
those  of  quiet  usefulness  ;  and  the  boy,  looking  out 
upon  the  larger  world  before  him,  early  determined 
that  if  in  Cod's  providence  the  way  should  ojjen, 
his  own  efforts  and  means  should  be  devoted  to  the 
betterment  of  his  fellow-men. 

Going  to  Buffalo  from  New  \'ork  in  1.S4S,  Mr. 
Letchworth  estalilished  with  Samuel  F.  and  Pascal  P. 
Pratt  the  firm  of  Pratt  &  Letchworth,  manufacturers 
of  saddlery  hardware  and  malleable  iron.  He  was 
managing  partner  of  that  prosperous  and  constantly 
enlarging  business  until  1869,  when  he  felt  that  he 
might  retire  from  its  engrossing  cares,  and  devote  his 
time  to  those  works  of  usefulness  that  were  the  polar 
star  of  his  life's  endeavor.  In  intervals  of  rest  he 
had  profited  by  foreign  travel,  for  which  his  literary 
tastes,  and  his  cultivated  habits  of  close  and  constant 
observation,  had  well  prepared  him.  His  interest  in 
I'.uffalo  affairs  had  always  been  most  active.  For 
three  years  he  was  the  president  of  the  Buffalo  Fine 
.\rts  Academy,  and  contributed  much  to  its  success. 
He  served  also  as  president  of  the  Buffalo  Historical 
Society,  and  was  active  upon  many  local  boards. 

In  1H73  the  board  of  state  commissioners  of  public 
charities,  organized  under  the  laws  of  18(57,  was 
changed  by  statute,  and  became  the  state  board  of 
charities  ;  and  in  April  of  that  year  Mr.  Letchworth 
was  ap|)ointed  by  Governor  Dix  commissioner  of  the 
Xth  judicial  district,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Dr.  Samuel  Eastman.  In  these  new  and 
unexpected  duties  his  synijjathies  were  at  once 
aroused  by  the  ])itiable  condition  of  homeless  and 
destitute  children,  of  whom  a  considerable  per- 
centatie   were  at  that  lime  in  the  countv  and    citv 


MEN  OF  NEW    VORK—JVESTERX  SECT/OX 


163 


almshouses  throughout  the  state,  exposed  to  the  most 
degrading  associations  ;  and  he  resolved  that  he 
would  not  rest  until  those  unfortunates  were  removed 
from  the  vicious  influences  of  that  poisoned  moral 
atmosphere.  During  1873  he  effected  much  in 
reforming  this  abuse,  and  in  the  annual  rejiort  of  the 
board  to  the  legislature  in  March,  1874, 
he  prepared  that  suggestive  portion  re- 
lating to  child-saving  work  in  which  he 
directed  attention  to  the  great  abuse 
of  rearing  children  in  poorhouses.  In 
January,  1875,  he  made  an  important 
report  on  the  subject,  the  details  of  which 
covered  every  poorhouse  and  almshouse 
in  the  state  except  the  immense  establish- 
ment in  New  York  county  containing 
about  800  children,  which  was  reserved 
for  further  examination.  In  his  rejiort 
Mr.  Letchworth  recommended  that  all 
children  between  the  ages  of  two  and 
sixteen  years  be  removed  from  these 
institutions,  and  placed  in  families  or 
asylums  suited  to  their  care  and  educa- 
tion, and  that  their  admission  to  pauper 
establishments  be  forbidden  in  the  future. 
The  recommendation  was  adopted,  and 
an  important  act  was  passed  during  the 
session,  which  has  come  to  be  known  as 
the  "Children's  Law."  The  county  of 
New  York  subsequently  appealed  to  the 
legislature  for  exemption  from  the  law; 
but  when  Mr.  Letchworth's  report  on  the 
county  institutions  was  made  in  January. 
1876,  which  completed  his  report  of  the 
whole  state,  the  appeal  was  denied,  and 
this  long  standing  abuse  in  the  New  York 
state  system  was  completely  abolished. 
In  1876  Mr.  Letchworth  submitted  an 
exhaustive  report  on  the  condition  of 
homeless  children  in  the  various  reformatory  institu- 
tions of  the  state.  These  were  136  in  number  and 
provided  for  about  18,000  children,  and  with  only 
two  exceptions  Mr.  Letchworth  had  [jersonally  visited 
every  institution.  He  presented  authoritative  infor- 
mation regarding  each  that  proved  of  the  highest  value 
in  forming  and  instructing  public  opinion  as  to  the 
best  methods  of  conducting  this  important  branch  of 
charitable  work.  From  year  to  year  his  labors  were 
continued,  and  his  painstaking  investigations  and 
matured  opinions  proved  of  such  worth  that  his 
published  rejiorts  and  addresses  have  become  ac- 
knowledged authorities  in  the  wide  domain  cover- 
ing the  relations  of  the  state  to  the  dL'])endent 
classes. 


In  1.S74  he  had  been  elected  vice  president  of  the 
state  board  of  charities,  and  upon  the  death  of 
J.  V.  L.  I'ruyn,  in  187''^,  he  was  unanimously  elected 
president.  From  the  beginning  of  his  public  service 
he  has  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the  work  without 
compensation. 


WILLIAM  PKYOR   LETCHWORTH 

His  attention  was  turned  at  this  time  to  the  care 
of  the  insane,  and  he  deemed  it  of  importance  to 
learn  from  personal  observation  the  methods  adopted 
elsewhere.  In  1S,S1,  accordingly,  he  spent  several 
months  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  continent,  giv- 
ing his  entire  time  to  the  inspection  of  European  in- 
stitutions, and  seeking  information  that  might  aid 
him  in  his  duties.  Upon  his  return,  his  work  upon 
"The  Care  of  The  Insane  in  Foreign  Countries" 
was  published,  and  found  immediate  recognition  by 
alienists  throughout  the  United  States  as  a  valuable 
treatise  for  their  information  and  guidance.  Its  clear 
judgments  and  practical  .suggestions  accomplisheil 
much  good  in  our  state  hospitals  and  ]jri\ate 
asylums. 


1G4 


MEN   OF  XKli'    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


After  holding  the  position  for  a  decade,  Mr. 
Letchworth  voluntarily  retired  from  the  ])re.sidency 
of  the  board  of  charities,  feeling  entitled  to  a  release 
from  responsibilities  so  long  sustained.  He  con- 
tinued, however,  to  be  a  member  of  the  board,  as 
commissioner  for  the  8th  judicial  district.      He  has 


JJHtM.iS    I.UTI/h'UP 

devoted  his  time  in  recent  years  to  official  duties,  to 
the  exacting  re(|uiremcnts  of  an  extensive  correspond- 
ence, and  to  the  jjreparation  of  many  valuable  publi- 
cations relating  to  public  charities.  Largely  through 
his  efforts  the  state  has  established  at  Sonyea,  near 
.Mount  Morris,  the  Craig  Colony  for  the  care  and 
treatment  of  epileptics.  His  country  home  at  dlen 
Iris,  at  the  Falls  of  the  (;enesee,  has  been  a  busy 
center  for  charitable  work,  extending  far  beyond  the 
borders  of  his  own  state,  wherever  the  needs  of  his 
fellow-men  have  sought  recognition  and  helji. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOG  Y—  William  Piyor 
Letchwortli  mas  horn  at  Brrnvmiile,  Jefferson  county, 
N.  Y. ,  May  26,  1823 ;  engaf;e,i  in  manufacturing  in 
Buffalo.  lSJ,S-(!fi :  was  appoiule,/  a  niewlur  of  the  stale 


hoard  of  charities  in  April,  1873,  vice  president  in 
June,  ISlJf,  and  president  in  March,  1878:  was  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities,  September, 
1883  ;  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Lotus  from  the 
University  of  New  York  ^^  for  distinguished  service  to 
the  state  ' '  February  9,  1893. 

XEbomas  Xotbrop  is  one  of  the 

most  distinguished  practitioners  of  medi- 
cine in  Buffalo,  a  city  that  supports  several 
medical  colleges,  and  is  noted  for  its 
skilled  physicians  and  surgeons.  Dr. 
Lothrop's  ancestors  were  among  the 
earliest  settlers  of  New  England,  and  he 
is  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Rev.  John 
Lothrop,  who  came  from  England  and 
settled  in  Scituate,  Mass.,  in  Ifi.'U.  Dr. 
Lothrop  prepared  for  college  under  private 
tutors,  graduated  from  the  Liberal  Insti- 
tute at  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  in  185'),  and 
entered  the  same  year  upon  a  three  years' 
course  of  medical  study  at  the  University 
of  Michigan.  From  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  that  institution  he  received  the 
degree  of  M.  D.  in  185H.  The  next  year 
he  went  to  Buffalo  to  practice  his  pro- 
fession. 

His  life  in  Buffalo  began  under  favorable 
auspices,  for  he  was  invited  to  take  charge 
of  the  professional  work  of  Dr.  John  D. 
Hill,  an  eminent  physician  in  his  day, 
who  desired  a  European  vacation  from 
his  labors.  On  Dr.  Hill's  return  Dr. 
Lothrop  opened  an  office  at  Black  Rock, 
where  he  practiced  for  eleven  years,  and 
established  his  reputation.  Moving  back 
to  the  center  of  the  city  in  1871,  he  has 
since  been  actively  engaged  in  practice, 
and  in  the  performance  of  his  jirofessorial 
duties  at  Niagara  University.  His  has  been  a  lius\ 
life.  In  addition  to  practicing  and  teaching  medicine, 
he  has  been,  since  1879,  senior  editor  of  the  Huff;ilo 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal.  He  is  physician  in 
chief  of  St.  Francis  Hospital  and  the  Women's 
Hosjjital  ;  con.sulting  physician  of  the  Hosjjital  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  the  Providence  Retreat,  and  the 
Erie  County  Hospital  ;  Fellow  of  the  American 
.•\ssociation  of  Obstetricians  and  Ciynecologists  ;  and 
he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Flower  in  18!I2  a 
manager  of  the  Buffalo  State  Hospital. 

Dr.  Lothrop  has  been  deejjly  interested  in  the 
eleemosynary  institutions  of  Buffalo,  especially  as 
regards  the  medical  aspect  of  such  establishments. 
Outside    the    inunediate    practice    of   his   profession. 


MEX   OF  XEIV    YORK—IVESTERX  SECT/OX 


U;.") 


he  has  devoted  time  and  study  to  the  beneficent 
work  of  the  Church  Charity  Foundation  of  Buffalo, 
of  which  he  is  president,  and  to  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion in  general  and  of  medical  training  in  particular. 
His  long  connection  with  the  m.;dical  department 
of  Niagara  University,  dating  from  its  establishment, 
has  made  him  an  earnest  advocate  of  higher  stand- 
ards of  study  and  teaching  for  those  who  are  to 
become  physicians  and  surgeons.  The  esteem  in 
which  he  is  held  by  the  members  of  his  profession 
was  evidenced  by  his  election  in  1893  as  president 
of  the  Buffalo  Academy  of  Medicine. 

Dr.  Lothrop  served  one  term  as  superintendent 
of  education  of  Buffalo,  in  l.S7()-72,  and  has  never 
lost  his  interest  in  the  city  schools.  In  1890  he  was 
appointed  a  trustee  of  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Buffalo.  In  all  the  many  offices  and  positions  of 
responsibility  held  by  him,  Dr.  Lothrop 
■  has  shown  rare  faithfulness,  capacity  for 
work,  and  executive  ability.  He  is  one 
of  the  strong  men  of  his  profession  and 
of  the  city  of  Buffalo.  Niagara  University 
has  conferred  upon  hini  doctorates  of 
medicine  and  of  philosophy.  In  politics 
Dr.  Lothrop  is  a  Democrat,  but  he  ha> 
never  taken  an  active  part  in  political 
affairs  except  when  nominated  and  elected 
sujjerintendent  of  education. 

PERSOX'AL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Tliovms  Lothrop  was  horn  at  Province- 
ttmin,  Mass.,  April  Id,  1836 ;  graiiiiatc,/ 
from  the  Libera/  Lnstifiite,  Clinton,  N.  Y. , 
///  18i)'),  ami  from  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  in  ISiiS  : 
7oas  superintendent  of  education,  Buffalo, 
1870-72  ;  has  practiced  medicine  in  Buf- 
falo since  1859 ;  has  been  professor  of 
obstetrics  in  the  medical  department  oj 
Niagara  University  since  188-i. 


•♦•     — 


Xouis  'CQilliam  /IDarcus   "as 

elected  surrogate   of   Erie    county    when 
only  thirty-two  years  old,  and  he  is  prolj- 
ably  the  youngest  man  that  ever  held  liie 
ofifice.      When  one  remembers  that  this  is 
the  third  county  in  the  state  as  regards 
size  and  population,  and  that  the  work  of 
the  surrogate  is  correspondingly  imjjortant, 
one  can  appreciate   the    confidence    that 
the  voters  have  placed  in  this  young  man. 
Mr.    Marcus  has  not  been  long  in  office,  but  he  has 
already  shown  such  grasp  of  details,  talent  for  concen- 
tration, and  e([uipoise  of  judgment,  as  give  a.ssurance 
of  a  successful  and  highly  creditable  term  of  service. 


Louis  \\  .  .Marc  us  is  a  thorough  Buffalonian.  He 
was  born  in  the  Queen  Citv,  and  there  he  has  always 
lived.  This  fact  explains  why  he  has  become  so 
fully  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  place.  He  loves 
Buffalo,  and  his  enthusiasm  for  his  native  city  has 
won  friends  for  Buffalo  and  for  himself.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  the  Buffalo  schools  and  in 
\\'illiams  .\iademy.  After  graduating  from  the  high 
school  he  entered  Cornell  University,  where  he  oh 
tained  the  degree  of  LL.  B. 

He  naturally  turned  his  mind  toward  the  law  ; 
ambitious  youth  commonly  find  this  the  most 
attractive  of  the  professions,  .\fter  exhaustive  study, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  when  twenty-five  years 
old.  His  first  partnership  was  formed  in  1890, 
when  he  made  one  of  the  firm  of  Swift,  Weaver  & 
Marcus.      Two   vears   later   Mr.   Swift  withdrew,  and 


LOUIS    W /I.I JAM   MAKCL'S 


the  firm  continued  as  Weaver  &   Marcus  until   the 
death  of  Mr.  Weaver  in  February,  1894. 

Mr.  Marcus  has  taken  a  strong  interest  in  politics 
ever  since  his  majority,  though  his  part  until  recently 


1  (■)(■, 


MEN  OF  NEW   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


has  been  that  of  the  citizen  rather  than  of  tht  ])oli- 
tician.  When  the  time  came  for  the  election  of  a 
new  surrogate  of  Erie  county,  in  the  fall  of  1895, 
there  was  a  general  feeling  of  revolt  from  machine 
politics,  which  had  once  wrecked  the  Re])ui)li<'an 
Ijarty  in  the  county,  afterward  the  nemocratic,  and 


JOSEPH  B.  MAYEK 

which  was  then  beginning  to  reapjiear  in  the  Rejjub- 
lican  party.  The  feeling  expressed  itself  in  a  desire 
to  ('hoose  Republican  candidates  from  outside  the 
ranks  of  the  older  and  more  familiar  politicians. 
For  the  office  of  surrogate,  as  for  other  offices,  the 
people  demanded  an  infusion  of  new  blood,  a  can- 
didate of  independent  character,  who  should  feel 
that  his  sole  obligations  were  to  the  people  who 
had  elected  him.  It  was  in  response  to  this  demand 
that  the  county  convention  placed  in  nomination 
Louis  W.  Marcus.  .  It  was  not  done  without  a  sharji 
struggle,  but  the  triumph  was  all  the  more  notable 
for  the  opjjosition  that  had  preceded  it.  The  same 
faith   in    Mr.    Marcus's  ability  and  honesty  thai  liad 


led  to  his  nomination  secured  his  election  by  a  large 
majority. 

Judge   Marcus  stands  high  as  a  Mason,  holding 
membership  in  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  No.  441, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  and  .Adytum   Chapter,  Buffalo  Consis- 
tory, ^i2d  degree.      He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Red  Men.      While  in 
college  he  joined  the  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon 
fraternity,  and  has  since  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I).  K.  E.  Club  of  New  York. 
In  the  social  life  of  Buffalo  he  figures  as 
a    prominent    member    of   the    new   and 
growing   Phoenix  Club,  of   which  he    is 
president. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V— 
Louis  William  Marcus  was  born  at  Buffalo 
May  18,  1863  ;  was  educaied  in  the  Buf- 
falo schools  and  Cornell  University ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1888  ;  married  Ray 
R.  Dahlman  of  Buffalo  November  19, 
1889  ;  7oas  elected  surrogate  of  Erie  county 
in  November,  189'). 


30Sepb  as.  /IDaper  is  a  promoter 
of  new  enterprises.  He  is  a  rej^resenta- 
tive  of  a  class  of  men  in  the  modern  world 
who  find  unplowed  fields  for  ca])ital  to 
develop.  Invention  and  enter]jrise  have 
gone  hand  in  hand  under  the  guidance  of 
such  men  as  Mr.  Mayer,  who  blaze  the 
way  for  industry  and  jirogress.  The  [last 
decade  has  witnessetl  a  marvelous  expan- 
sion of  .American  cities.  The  trend  of 
humanity  has  set  in  that  direction,  and 
there  has  been  an  ever  increasing  demand 
for  more  room  in  urban  communities.  To 
supply  this  demand,  vast  tracts  of  waste 
or  farm  land  must  be  reclaimed  from 
nature  and  transformed  into  city  lots. 
Along  this  line  of  commercial  activity 
Mr.  Mayer  has  ex])ended  effort  and  capital  in  recent 
years.  He  has  organized  and  successfiilly  managed 
syndicates,  which  have  purchased  large  sections  of 
land  around  Buffalo,  improveil  it,  and  put  it  upon  the 
market.  The  transportation  problem  has  also  received 
attention  from  him,  for  nothing  is  more  essential  to 
the  tlevelopment  of  suburban  ])roperty  than  easy  and 
cheap  means  of  acce.ss.  Therefore  Mr.  Mayer  is 
interested  in  street  railroads,  and  was  a  promoter 
of  the  Buffalo  Traction  Company,  whose  vigorous 
fight,  in  189o-9(),  to  secure  a  franchise  in  Buffalo, 
is  a  matter  of  local  history. 

Mr.    Mayer  was    born   in    Baden,    (Jermany,    but 
( amo  to  the  L'nited   States  before   he   had   attained 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK—JVESTERN  SECTfON 


IiiT 


his  majority.  He  received  a  thorough  elementary 
education,  and  graduated  in  IcSGG  from  the  Freiburg 
gymnasium,  an  institution  of  the  same  relative  rank 
as  the  American  high  school  or  academy. 

Mr.  Mayer  settled  in  Buffalo  in  1868,  and  for 
many  years  was  engaged  there  in  the  business  of  im- 
porting diamonds.  He  was  associated  with  Louis 
Weill  from  1872  until  1876,  when  the  partnership  was 
dissolved.  Mr.  Mayer  continued  in  the  business  until 
1891,  and  built  up  one  of  the  largest  and  most  impor- 
tant establishments  of  the  kind  in  the  country  outside  of 
New  York  city.  He  made  trips  to  Holland  twice  each 
year,  purchasing  there  unset  stones  in  large  (|uantities. 
The  manifest  destiny,  however,  of  the  (^ueen  City 
impres.sed  itself  upon  Mr.  Mayer,  and  his  attention 
was  gradually  turned  in  the  direction  of  real  estate. 
In  this  field  of  enterprise  his  operations  have  been  on 
a  large  scale,  and  his  sagacity,  persever- 
ance, and  tact  have  enabled  him  to  con- 
duct to  favorable  results  the  many  im- 
portant projects  in  which  he  has  figured. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mayer  is  a  Democrat, 
and  is  always  ardent  in  the  support  of  his 
party  ;  but  he  has  uniformly  declined  to 
accept  nominations  for  elective  offices. 
He  accepted,  however,  in  1895,  an  ap- 
pointment from  the  mayor  of  Buffalo  as  a 
civil-service  commissioner.  He  is  jiresi- 
dent  of  the  Temple  Beth  Zion,  the  lead- 
ing Jewish  congregation  in  Buffalo  ;  and  is 
a  mdnber  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  of 
the  Ellicott  and  Liberal  clubs.  He  is  a 
life  member  of  the  (lerman  Young  Men's 
Association,  a  member  of  the  council  of 
the  Charity  Organization  Society,  and 
actively  interested  in  the  free  kinder- 
gartens and  many  kindred  organizations. 
He  has  been  an  extensive  traveler,  having 
been  all  over  the  United  States,  and 
visited  many  European  countries. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Joseph  B.  Mayer  was  horn  at  Baden, 
Germany,  January  4,  18^9 ;  graduated 
from  the  high  school  of  Freiburg,  Germany, 
in  1866 ;  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1868,  and  began  business  as  a  diamond 
importer  in  Buffalo  ;  married  Belle  Falek 
of  Buffalo  July  15,  18H  :  has  been 
engaged  in  the  real-estate  business  in 
Buffalo  since  1891. 


good.  He  is  a  "down-Easter"  by  birth,  and  his 
early  education  was  acquired  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  town.  He  prejiared  for  college  at  Limerick 
Academy  and  Nichols  Latin  School,  entered  Bow- 
doin  College  at  Brunswick,  Me.,  in  1806,  and 
graduated  therefrom  in  1870  with  the  Bachelor  of 
Arts  degree.  Three  years  later  he  was  honored  with 
the  Master  of  Arts  degree  by  his  alma  mater.  While 
in  college  he  was  a  member  of  the  Psi  Upsilon  fra- 
ternity, and  ujion  graduation  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  fraternity.  Mr.  Meads  has  a 
studious  nature,  and  he  naturally  turned  his  talents 
to  teaching.  He  went  to  Buffalo  soon  after  he  left 
college,  and  for  a  period  of  ten  years  was  principal 
of  one  of  the  public  schools  there.  Mr.  Meads 
studied  law  while  teaching,  and  in  1880  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  resigned  his  position  in  the 


UV/././S   II.   ME.ADS 


"^illlilliS  lb.  ^CadS  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Erie-county  bar  ;  but  he  is  ecpialh'  well  known 
for  his  interest  in  all  matters  jiertaining  to  the  public 


public  schools.  Soon  afterward  he  became  the 
junior  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Kennedy,  Roberts 
&  Meads,  which  was  dissolved  in  1881.  For  about 
four  years  after  this  he  practiced  law  alone,  and  then 


IbS 


M£.\   OF  .VEir    Yi^RK—lVESTERA  SECT/OX 


associated  himself  with  (leorge  T.  (^)uinl)y  under  the 
firm  name  of  Quinhy  &  Meads.  Later  the  firm  wa.s 
changed  to  Quinby,  Meads  &  Rebadow,  and  so  con- 
tinued until  its  dissohition  in  1893. 

Aside  from  his  connection  with  the  legal  profes- 
sion, Mr.   Meads  has  associated  himself  with  many  of 


the  well-known  institutions  of  i5uffalo,  and  is  jirouii- 
nent  in  fraternal  and  club  circles.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  (Jueen  City  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  the 
Adytum  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  He  is  a  ])rominent 
member  of  the  University,  Buffalo,  and  Acacia  clubs, 
and  is  actively  interested  in  the  Buffalo  Historical 
Society  and  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelly 
to  Animals. 

Mr.  Meads  has  only  once  been  a  candidate  for 
politi<al  honors.  He  had  always  been  interested  in 
the  cause  of  education,  and  esjiecially  in  the  advance- 
ment of  the  public  schools,  and  in  1X81  he  received 
the  Re])ublican  nomination  for  superintendent  of 
education  for  the  city  of  Buffalo.  How  well  he  ran 
uuiv  be  seen  in  the  {m  t  tlial  wliile  drover  Clcvelind 


was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  at  this  lime  by  a 
Democratic  majority  of  8,700,  Mr.  Meads  was  de- 
feated by  fewer  than  I'jO  votes. 

The  reputation  for  honesty  and  ability  that  Mr. 
Meads  had  gained  during  his  long  and  successful 
career  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Buffalo  brought  him, 
in  IHII"),  an  important  appointment. 
The  jury  system  of  I'^rie  county  was  then 
in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition,  and  a 
law  had  been  passed  to  correct  the  evil. 
This  law  vested  the  apjjointing  power  in 
the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  residing 
in  the  county,  and  in  the  county  judge  ; 
and  by  them  Mr.  Meads  was  appointed 
commissioner  of  jurors.  The  office  is 
a  very  important  one,  and  Mr.  Meads 
was  selected  from  a  large  number  of  candi- 
dates to  fill  the  position.  Since  his 
appointment  he  has  given  his  whole 
energy  and  ability  to  the  task  before  him, 
and  has  brought  the  once-distrusted  jury 
system  of  Erie  county  to  a  high  standard. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Willis  HoisHird  Meads  7vas  horn  at  South 
Limington,  Me. ,  February  22,  184.6  ; 
attended  Limerick  ( Me. )  Academy  and 
Nichols  Latin  School,  Lewiston,  Me. ,  and 
graduated  from  Boiodoin  College  in  1870  ; 
was  principal  of  Public  School  N^o.  IS, 
Buffalo,  1870-80  ;  married  Martha  Rose 
of  Buffalo  December  2Jf,  1872,  and  Louise 
Collingnon  of  Buffalo  January  6,  1880  ; 
uias  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in 
1880  ;  was  Re/niblican  candidate  for  super- 
intendent of  education  of  Buffalo,  1881  ; 
7£fas  appointed  commissioner  of  jurors  for 
Erie  counts'  in  1895. 

m 

llDCrbCrt    /lIMClUe,    though    stiU    a 

vouiig  ni.m,  has  attained  an  enviable  ])Osition  among 
the  meilical  fraternity  of  Buffalo,  and  has  establisiied 
a  reputation  for  learning  and  skill  that  insures  to  him 
a  distinguished  career  in  the  years  to  come.  He  is  a 
member  of  a  family  well  known  in  literary  and  .scien- 
tific circles  in  Canada,  and  inherits  a  taste  for  poetry 
from  his  ancestor,  William  Julius  Mickle,  who 
nourished  as  a  Scottish  poet,  1735-88,  and  who  is 
best  known  by  his  translation  of  Camoens's  Lusiad. 

Born  at  C;uel])h,  in  the  province  of  Ontario,  Dr. 
Mickle  received  a  thorough  collegiate  and  medical 
education  to  fit  him  for  his  chosen  profession.  He 
graduated  from  Upper  Canada  College,  Toronto,  at 
the  miusually  early  age  of  sixteen,  and  at  once  entereil 
I'rinitv  Mrdi(  al  Si  iiool  in  the  same  city.       In    IXXI 


ME.\   OF  y/-:i-r    VORk-—ll-ESTKRX  SKCT/0.\ 


169 


he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  from 
Trinity  College,  Toronto  ;  and  the  same  year  went 
to  England,  and  entered  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital 
Medical  School,  in  London,  where  he  pursued  addi- 
tional studies  for  two  years.  At  the  entl  of  that  time 
he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Surgeons  and  Physicians  of  London,  and  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  Trinity  College, 
Toronto. 

After  this  long  and  thorough  course  of  preparation, 
combining  the  advantages  of  the  old  world  and  the 
new,  L)r.  Mickle  returned  to  America,  in  If^.S.'],  and 
established  himself  in  Buflalo.  .Mlhough  he  hatl  de- 
voted so  much  time  to  his  medical  studies,  he  had 
scarcely  passed  his  majority  when  he  began  his  pro- 
fessional career  in  Buffalo.  He  was  at  once  ap- 
|)ointed  house  surgeon  to  the  Emergency  Hospital, 
and  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  the 
medical  department  of  Niagara  Univer- 
sity. Two  years  later  he  was  made 
lecturer  on  ])athology  in  the  same  institu- 
tion, then  professor  of  anatomy,  and 
finally  professor  of  surgery  ;  and  this 
position  he  still  fills.  Of  hosiiital  prac- 
tice, so  valuable  to  a  [jhysician.  Dr. 
Mickle  has  always  had  a  large  share.  He 
is  at  present  attending  surgeon  to  the 
Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  St. 
Francis  Hospital,  the  Emergency  Hos- 
pital, and  the  Church  Home,  and  consult- 
ing surgeon  to  the  Buffalo  Women's 
Hospital. 

His  duties  in  connection  with  these 
various  institutions,  together  with  his 
|jrivate  ])ractice  and  his  lectures  at  the 
university,  would  seem  more  than  enough 
to  occupy  the  time  of  one  man  ;  hut  Dr. 
Mickle  has  also  given  some  attention  to 
literature  in  connection  with  his  profes- 
sion, and  he  was  at  one  time  assistant 
editor  of  the  Buffalo  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal. 

Dr.  Mickle  finds  healthful  relaxation 
from  the  wear  and  tear  of  professional 
life  in  his  interest  in  athletic  sports  of 
different  kinds.  He  has  been  an  active 
member  of  the  Buffalo  Yacht  Club,  the 
Buffalo  Cricket  Club,  and  the  Buffalo 
.\thletic  Club.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  Hiram  Lodge,  No.  105,  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons,  and  attends  the  First  Fresbvterian 
Church. 

PERSONA  L  CUR  OXOL  O  G  ]  -— Herbert  Mickle 
was    horn    at    Giielph,     Ontario,     April    HO,     ISC  I  ; 


graduated  from  Upper  Canada  College,  Toronto,  in 
1877,  and  from  Trinity  Medical  School,  Toronto,  in 
1881 :  married  Susette  L.  Ross  of  Brooklyn  July  27, 
1802  ;  lias  practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1888  : 
lias  been  professor  of  surgery  in  the  medical  department 
of  Niagara  University  since  18!>1. 


H?ClbCrt  ^DOOt  ranks  with  the  foremost  of 
Buffalo  lawyers.  .\  studious,  painstaking,  conscien- 
tious man,  he  has  won  his  way  by  his  own  efforts, 
based  upon  untiring  energy  and  a  strong  moral 
purpose.  He  is  a  man  whom  his  fellows  respect, 
because  they  believe  that  he  strives  to  be  right  and 
to  do  right.  Though  he  has  never  sought  public 
office,  he  has  been  prominent  in  [lolitics,  and  has 
been  a  lifelong  Rejiublican.  He  loves  his  country 
lirst,  however,  and   his   jiarty  afterward.      He  deems 


ADEI.IiHKT  MOOT 

it  the  citizen's  duty  to  keep  his  party  clean  if  he 
can,  and  if  he  cannot,  to  punish  it  for  its  sins, 
rather  than  have  his  fellow-citizens  suffer  by  its  mis- 
takes or  its  crimes.     .Vcting  on  these  high  principles. 


ITU 


MEX  OF  XKW    VORK—IVESTERN  SECTIOX 


he  is  naturally  a  reformer.  The  Civil  Service  Reform 
Association  holds  him  among  its  most  active  and 
earnest  members.  When  the  Good  Clovernment 
Club  movement  in  this  state  began,  he  was  among 
the  first  to  identify  himself  with  it.  The  agitation 
for  sound  money  found  in  him  a  ready  and  an  eager 
advocate.  VV'hen  the  election  frauds  of  1892  were 
brought  home  to  the  people,  and  a  citizens'  associa- 
tion was  formed  to  prosecute  the  malefactors,  Mr. 
Moot  was  retained  at  once  as  one  of  the  principal 
lawyers  for  the  association.  He  was  thus  actively 
engaged  at  that  time  in  the  work  of  purification 
of  the  city. 

Mr.  Moot  was  a  country  boy,  born  among  the 
hills  of  famous  Allegany  county.  When  he  had 
exhausted  the  resources  of  the  schools  in  his  neigh- 
borhood, he  followed  the  usual  course  of  country 
boys  by  going  to  the  nearest  village  school,  which 
in  this  case  was  at  Belmont.  .Afterward  he  attended 
the  academy  at  Nunda,  and  then  the  State  Normal 
School  at  deneseo.  Thence  he  went  to  the  .Albany 
Law  School,  where  he  took  his  degree.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  on  his  twenty-second  birthday. 

He  began  practice  a  few  months  later  in  partner- 
ship with  Ceorge  M.  Osgoodby  at  Nunda.  Two 
years  thereafter  the  firm  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  Mr. 
Moot  thus  plunged  into  the  struggle  of  city  practice 
much  earlier  than  do  most  country-bred  lawyers. 
Lacking  the  advantage  of  an  extensive  aci[uaintance, 
he  made  up  for  this  drawback  by  exceptional  ability 
and  a  disposition  to  work  hard.  The  Nunda  firm 
of  Osgoodby  &  Moot  became,  in  Buffalo,  Osgoodby, 
Titus  &  Moot,  by  the  accession  of  Judge  Titus. 
Three  years  later  Mr.  Moot  withdrew  to  enter  the 
firm  of  Lewis,  Moot  &  Lewis,  with  which  he 
remained  twelve  years.  During  this  period  was 
achieved  the  substantial  success  that  won  for  him 
his  high  place  at  the  Buffalo  bar.  In  18!).'i  he 
entered  his  present  firm,  known  as  Sprague,  Moot, 
Sprague  &  Brownell.  He  has  had  charge  of  many 
important  cases  in  the  courts  of  Erie  county,  and 
his  practice,  it  need  hardly  be  added,  has  assumed 
large  proportions.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Bar  Association  and  of  the  New  York  State  Bar 
Association,  and  is  also  connected  wiih  tlic  law 
department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo. 

Mr.  -Moot  has  found  time  for  extensive  reading 
and  study,  outside  his  profession,  in  the  general  field 
of  literature,  science,  and  history.  As  an  aid  to 
these  pursuits,  he  has  joined  the  Thursday  Club,  the 
Liberal  Club,  the  F.uffalo  Historical  Society,  and  the 
Society  of  Natural  Sciences.  His  only  .social  <  lub 
is  the  Saturn.  He  belongs  to  the  Church  of  Our 
Father  (L'nitarian ). 


PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Adelbert  Moot 
7oas  born  at  Allen,  Allegany  county,  N.  ¥.,  Novem- 
ber 23,  1854  >  w->"  ediuated  in  public  schools  and 
the  Albany  Law  School ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Albany  in  1876 ;  practiced  law  at  Nunda,  N.  V., 
1877-79 ;  married  Carrie  A.  Van  Ness  of  Cuba, 
N.  Y. ,  July  23,  1882  ;  has  practiced  hnv  in  Buffalo 
since  1879. 

TKHtlltam  lb.  ©rCUtt  was  a  distinguished  mem- 
ber of  the  Middlesex-county  bar  in  Ma.ssachusetts  be- 
fore he  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  became  a  citizen  of  the 
Empire  State.  In  his  new  home  Mr.  Orcutt  has 
already  won  a  high  place  in  the  ranks  of  his  profes- 
sion, and  among  the  influential  factors  of  the  city's 
intellectual  and  social  life.  Mr.  Orcutt  is  a  Boston- 
ian  by  birth,  and  had  the  benefit  of  a  thorough  train- 
ing in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  city,  and  of 
the  neighboring  city  of  Cambridge.  Educated  un- 
der the  very  eaves  of  America's  greatest  university,  it 
was  quite  natural  that  he  should  enter  Harvard  Col- 
lege. His  course  there  was  most  creditable,  and  he 
took  rank  with  the  best  scholars  in  his  cla.ss,  gradu- 
ating eighth  in  a  class  of  108.  This  high  stand 
made  him  eligible  for  membership  in  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  society,  composed  of  the  brainiest  men  of  all 
the  leading  colleges  of  the  country.  Mr.  Orcutt  was 
])rominent  also  in  athletics,  and  is  a  fine  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  a  man  can  attain  to  high  scholarship, 
and  yet  jiarticipate  in  the  athletic  sports  of  his 
college. 

After  completing  his  classical  course,  Mr.  Orcutt 
entered  the  law  school  of  the  university,  and  at  the 
end  of  two  years  received  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  He 
entered  at  once  upon  a  twenty  months'  clerkship  in 
the  office  of  Brooks  &  Ball  of  Boston.  In  1875  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Massachusetts  bar,  and  in  that 
year  began  to  practice  for  himself  in  Boston.  He 
was  there  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  profession  con- 
tinuously until  1882,  when  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Long  judge  of  the  District  Court  in  the 
county  of  Middlesex.  This  was  a  life  position,  and 
as  the  court  was  located  in  Cambridge,  the  shire  city 
of  that  county,  Mr.  Orcutt's  duties  were  performed 
there,  until  he  resigned  his  office  and  moved  to 
liuflalo. 

Mr.  Orcutt  took  u])  his  residence  in  the  Queen 
City  under  most  favorable  auspices.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  law  firm  of  Roberts,  Alexander, 
Messer  &  Orcutt,  now  changed  to  Roberts,  Becker, 
.\shley,  Messer  &  Orcutt,  one  of  the  largest  legal 
firms  in  western  New  York.  In  the  comparatively 
short  time  that  he  lias  lived  in  Buffalo,  Mr.  Orcutt 
has  impressed  the  bar  and  the  community  as  a  man  of 


AfEX  OF  XEir   YORK—li-ESTERX  SECT/OX 


171 


wide  intelligence,  a  clear  and  deep  thinker,  endowed 
in  an  exceptional  degree  with  hard  sense,  deliberate 
judgment,  and  absolute  integrity.  To  these  sterling 
qualities  he  adds  a  dignified  |)resence  and  courtly 
manners.  In  public  atTairs  Mr.  Orcutt  ha.s  been  less 
conspicuous  in  Buffalo  than  he  was  in  Massachusetts, 
and  has  confined  himself  clo.sely  to  his 
law  practice,  doubtless  from  an  inherent 
modesty  and  dislike  to  obtrude  himself  in 
the  affairs  of  a  somewhat  strange  city  ; 
but  Buffalo  has  need  for  the  very  services 
which  he  is  most  competent  to  render, 
and  which  in  Cambridge  he  did  render. 

While  a  resident  of  Cambridge,  Mr. 
Orcutt  gave  twelve  years  of  efficient  and 
unrewarded  service  to  the  public  schools 
of  that  city.  The  cause  of  education  has 
been  his  special  study  outside  the  law, 
and  he  has  devoted  time,  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  highest  praise,  to  the 
betterment  of  the  system.  It  is  such 
service  that  really  tests  a  man's  loyalty 
to  American  institutions.  His  practical 
sense  has  been  displayed  in  providing 
manual  training  schools,  and  in  shortening 
the  time  and  simplifying  the  courses  of 
study  in  preparatory  schools  so  as  to  give 
to  pupils  who  can  spend  but  a  few 
years  in  school  the  greatest  variety  of 
training  compatible  with  sound  principles 
of  instruction.  Mr.  Orcutt  has  written 
frequently  on  educational  topics,  and  is 
master  of  a  logical,  forceful  style.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  and  Ellicott 
clubs,  and  is  an  attendant  at  the  I  )elaware 
Avenue  Baptist  Church. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
William    Hunter    Orcutt    was    born    at 
Boston,    Mass.,    November    15,     18^7  ; 
7vas   educated  in    the   public    schools    of 
Boston  a  fid  Cambridge,  and  graduated  from  Harvard 
College  in  1860  ;  studied  law  at  Han<ard  Law  School, 
and  7i'as  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Massachusetts  in  1875  ; 
practiced  law  in    Boston,    1875-82 :    7eias    appointed 
judge  of  the  District   Court  in  Middlesex   countv   in 
1882  ;  married  Leafie  Sloan  of  Buffalo  June  4 ,  1880  : 
has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  188.0. 


^DauriCe  JS.  IPatCb  has  made  applied  science 
the  study  of  a  lifetime,  and  has  become  a  recognized 
authority  on  the  subject  of  metallurgy.  He  is  a  son 
of  the  Pine  Tree  State,  and  has  enjoyed  the  double 
advantage  of  a  broad  education  in  the  East  and 
a   large    practical    experience    in    the    West.     After 


completing  a  public-school  training  at  Lowell,  in  a 
state  famous  for  its  educational  system,  he  pursued  a 
course  in  mining  and  engineering  at  the  Ma.ssachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  which  has  sent  out  many  of 
the  scientific  leaders  of  the  day.  He  graduated  thence 
in  1872  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Sciences. 


MILL/ AM  H.    ORCUTT 

Mr.  Patch  chose  as  a  field  for  his  talents  and 
attainments  the  remote  western  regions  containing 
the  mines  for  who.se  exploitation  he  had  equipped 
himself  Accordingly,  the  very  year  of  his  gradua- 
tion found  him  settled  at  Georgetown,  Col.,  carrying 
on  his  profession  as  a  mining  engineer.  For  two 
years  he  remained  there,  surveying  mining  properties 
and  working  in  the  various  departments  of  his  call- 
ing. He  then  accepted  an  offer  from  the  Detroit  & 
Lake  Superior  Copper  Smelting  Co.,  and  became  the 
chemist  of  the  comjiany  at  Houghton,  Mich.  While 
in  this  position  Mr.  Patch  was  able  to  follow  a  line 
of  original  research  which  had  always  l)een  attractive 
to  him,  and  which  he  has  pursued  untiringly,  until 


172 


ME.\   OF  .XEIV   VOKf:— WESTERN  SECTION 


he  is  now  among  the  foremost  co])]ier  metalhirgists 
in  the  country.  During  these  same  years  he  was 
also  establishing  a  wide  reputation  as  a  mine  sur- 
veyor, chemist,  and  practical  operator  in  mining  and 
smelting,  and  in  all  the  branches  of  his  profession. 
Consec|Ufntlv,    when     the    well-known    Calumet     iV- 


M AUK  ICE   li.   I'ATCH 

Hecla  Mining  Co.  was  ])reparing  to  install  a  smelting 
plant  at  Lake  Linden,  Mich.,  they  sought  Mr.  I'akh 
as  designer  and  superintendent  of  the  work.  He 
accepted  the  position,  moved  to  Lake  Linden,  and 
remained  there  for  five  years,  com|)leting  this  con- 
tract and  carrying  on  work  in  his  sjjecial  line.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  he  received  a  flattering  offer 
from  the  same  company  to  undertake  similar  work 
for  them  at  Buffalo.  He  went  to  that  city  in  Janu- 
ary, 1M9L  and  became  su])erintendent  of  the  com- 
pany's works  there  ;  and  he  still  holds  this  position. 
In  connection  with  his  special  branch  of  .science, 
Mr.  Patch  has  done  much  original  work,  and  has 
made    many    discoveries  of   great    pra(  tical    \itility  ; 


but  his  work  has  been  solely  in  the  interest  of  the 
corporations  by  which  he  has  been  employed,  and 
which  naturally  desire  to  keep  secret  the  processes 
that  they  have  perfected.  For  this  reason  Mr.  Patch 
has  never  been  able  to  write  anything  for  ]niblication, 
and  the  general  public  has  not  profited,  except 
indirectly,  by  his  research. 

Mr.  Patch  has  been  a  ])rime  mover  in 
several  successful  financial  undertakings. 
While  residing  in  Michigan  he  hel])ed  to 
organize  two  banks,  the  First  National  at 
Lake  Linden  and  the  Superior  Savings 
Bank  at  Hancock,  and  was  a  director  in 
both  until  he  left  the  state.  He  is  now  a 
director  of  the  Niagara  Bank  of  Buffalo, 
and  is  interested  in  several  mining  com- 
panies. He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  and  of  the 
Engineers'  Society  of  Western  New  York. 
He  is  a  member  and  vestryman  of  St. 
lohn's  Episcopal  Church,  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Maurice  Byron  Patch  was  bor?i  at  Otis- 
Jicld,  Me. ,  June  8,  1852  ;  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Lowell,  Mass., 
and  graduated  from  the  Massachusetts  In- 
stitute of  Technolo}(y  in  1872 ;  was  em- 
ployed as  a  mining  engineer  in  Colorado, 
1872-7Jf  ;  married  Emily  Isabella  J I  liite 
of  Lowell  July  6,  1875  ;  7vas  chemist  of  the 

i  Detroit  ^5^■  Lake  Superior  Copper  Smelting 
Co.,  187/f-8(i,  and  superintendent  of  the 
Calumet  &=  Hecla  Mining  Co. '  .i  works  at 
Lake  Linde?i,  Mich. ,  1880-90  ;  has  been 
superintendent  of  the  Buffalo  Smelting 
Works  of  the  same  company  since  1891. 
•♦- 

50bn  M.  IRObiUSOn,  president  of 
the  Robinson  liro.s.  Lumber  Co.  of  North 
Tonawanda,  N.  Y. ,  is  one  of  the  solid, 
conservative  business  men  whose  life  shows  the 
rewards  that  may  be  obtained  from  prudence,  close 
attention  to  business,  and  strict  integrity.  The 
Tonawandas  constitute  one  of  the  chief  centers  of 
the  lumber  trade  in  the  United  States.  The  fact 
is  due  to  the  efforts  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Robinson, 
who  have  had  the  foresight  and  courage  to  invest 
their  capital  in  the  development  of  this  important 
liusine.ss  at  the  foot  of  the  lakes. 

Mr.  Robinson  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortunes.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  left  to  care 
for  himself.  His  education  was  therefore  necessarily 
limited  to  such  as  could  be  obtained  at  the  common 
schools,  su]iiilcu)cntt'(l  by  attendance  at  night  schools 


MEA'   OF  XEIV    VORK—irKSTKR.X  SKCT/()\ 


173 


and  by  careful  reading.  He  first  went  to  Buffalo 
when  about  seventeen  years  old,  remaining  there  and 
thereabouts  for  a  few  years.  His  father  had  been 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business,  and  it  was  natural 
for  the  son  to  concern  himself  with  the  same  industry. 
Then  he  went  to  Detroit,  and  obtained  employment 
with  one  of  the  large  lumber  manufacturers  there. 
By  his  fidelity,  intelligence,  and  determination  to 
master  the  business,  he  soon  obtained  the  best  posi- 
tion at  the  disposal  of  his  employers. 

But  he  was  not  satisfied  to  remain  working  for 
others.  Having  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  calling  and  a  moderate  capital,  he  became  inter- 
ested with  his  brothers  in  the  wholesale  lumber  busi- 
ness in  Detroit.  The  concern  began  operations  in 
a  small  way,  but  was  at  once  successful  and  grew 
steadily.  Having  concluded  that  their  business  could 
be  carried  on  more  advantageously  at 
North  Tonawanda,  the  company  moved 
thither  in  the  latter  part  of  1«88.  One 
of  Mr.  Robinson's  brothers  retired  from 
the  firm  before  the  removal  of  the  busi- 
ness from  Detroit.  The  other  died  June 
:50,  1889.  Mr.  Robinson  soon  after- 
ward purchased  the  interest  held  by  his 
brother,  and  for  the  last  few  years  has 
been  practically  the  sole  owner  of  the 
business.  In  1891  he  brought  his  family 
to  Buffalo,  and  has  maintained  his  resi- 
dence there  since.  He  is  now  known  as 
an  upright  citizen,  and  a  firm  and  enthu- 
siastic believer  in  a  greater  Buffalo. 

As  soon  as  he  went  to  Tonawanda  Mr. 
Robinson  began  to  take  a  prominent  part 
in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  place, 
and  especially  of  the  trade  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  He  has  frequently  been 
called  upon  to  visit  both  the  national 
and  state  capitals  in  the  interest  of  the 
Twin  Cities.  He  has  been  twice  elected 
president  of  the  Tonawanda  Lumber- 
man's Association,  serving  in  that  capac 
ity  during  the  great  strikes  of  liS92  ami 
1893,  and  conducting  the  affairs  of  the 
association  with  the  sagacity  and  firmness 
which  finally  resulted  in  an  amicable 
adjustment  of  all  disputed  matters.  He 
has  served  as  vice  president  of  the  Lum- 
ber Exchange  Bank,  North  Tonawanda, 
for  several  years,  and  has  also  been  twice 
elected  president  of  the  National  Association  of 
Wholesale  Lumber  Dealers. 

In  private  life  Mr.  Robinson  is  of  quiet,  unassum- 
ing manners,  and  is  approachable  by  both  old  and 


young.  He  is  fond  of  outdoor  sports,  and  is  an 
expert  angler.  He  is  an  official  member  of  the 
Delaware  Avenue  Methodist  Church,  and  takes  great 
interest  in  charitable  and  religious  work.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  and  supporters  of  the  Buffalo 
Ophthalmic  Hospital.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Buf- 
falo, Acacia,  and  Liberal  clubs,  and  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society.  He  is  also  a  Knight  Templar, 
a  32d  degree  Mason,  and  a  Noble  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  takes 
pride  in  attending  the  primaries,  believing  that  this 
duty  is  as  important  as  voting,  and  should  be  dis 
charged  by  every  good  citizen.  He  has  never 
aspired  to  political  office. 

P  ERSO  NA  L    CHR  ONOLOG  Y—John 
\Villouf;hby  Ro/iiiison  7eias  born  in  Simcoe  county,   On 
tarid,    October   l!f,    ISJ/S ;   married  A'/ati/da  Oxenhani 


JOH\    W.   KUIU\SU.\ 

Max  22,  1S72 :  Ji'as  connected  7('it/i  the  lumber  busi- 
ness in  Detroit,  ISIS—SS :  establislied  a  lumber  busi- 
ness at  North  Tonawanda,  N.  Y. ,  in  18HH,  and  has 
li-'ed  in  Buffalo  since. 


174 


ME.y   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


CbarIC5  Jf.  'CabOr  i^  a  HulTalonian  whose 
reputation  is  at  least  slate-wide.  That  he  is  thus 
generally  and  favorably  known  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  the  head  of  the  state  legal  department 
for  four  years,  and  as  attorney  general  had  the  dis- 
posal of  a  larire  number  of   complicated  questions, 


CHARLES  /•■.    TABOR 

and    the   preparation  and    presentation   in   court    of 
several  cases  of  the  greatest  imjjortance. 

Mr.  Tabor  is  a  native  of  the  Wolverene  State,  but 
he  was  brought  to  Erie  county,  New  York,  when 
about  two  years  of  age.  He  received  what  was  then 
deemed  a  good  education,  attending  various  acade- 
mies in  western  New  York  that  had  more  than  a 
local  reputation.  Finishing  his  .school  course  in 
1860,  he  began  at  once  the  study  of  law;  and  in 
November,  IHfi.S,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  While 
studying  law  .Mr.  Tai)or  also  taught  school  for  three 
winters.  In  18(58  he  formed  a  copartnershi])  with 
Thomas  Corlett,  afterward  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  This  connection  continued  for  six  years. 
Then   Mr.  Tabor  practiced  alone  until   188;l,  when 


he  formed  a  |)artnershi]i  with  M'illiara  F.  Sheehan. 
The  firm  was  afterward  enlarged  by  the  admission 
of  K.  K.  Coatsworth  and  John  Cunneen,  and  became 
one  of  the  best-known  firms  in  western  New  York. 
Since  Mr.  Sheehan  moved  to  New  York,  in  the  fall 
of  1894,  .Mr.  Tabor  has  been  associated  with  L.  C. 
Wilkie. 

Like  so  many  lawyers,  Mr.  Tabor  has 
been  for  many  years  intimately  connected 
with  politics.  He  is  a  Democrat  and  a 
strong  party  man.  He  has  held  many 
public  offices,  the  first  of  which  was 
that  of  commissioner  of  excise  for  Erie 
count\\  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
l)oard  of  supervisors  of  Erie  county, 
representing  the  town  of  Lancaster.  He 
spent  two  years  in  the  legislature,  sent 
thither  by  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the 
4th  district  of  Erie  county.  This  was  in 
187()  and  1877.  In  188.5  he  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  attorney  general  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  and  served  as  such 
for  two  years.  His  work  here  brought 
him  prominently  into  view,  and  gave  him 
the  Democratic  nomination  for  the  posi- 
tion of  attorney  general.  He  was  tri- 
umphantly elected  in  1887  and  re-elected 
4  in  1881).      After  the  expiration  of  his  four 

I  years  of  service  at  the  head  of  this  impor- 

tant department,  he  returned  to  Buffalo 
and  resumed  his  large  (irivate  |iractice. 

While  acting  as  attorne)-  general  Mr. 
Tabor  was  called  upon  to  handle  a  num- 
ber of  notable  cases.  One  of  these 
involved  the  constitutionality  of  the  so- 
called  electrocution  law,  which  substi- 
tuted death  by  electricit)-  for  hanging 
as  the  capital  jjunishment  of  the  state. 
This  law  was  fought  with  great  vigor. 
The  large  electrical  companies  united  in  op]iosing  it, 
and  it  was  charged  that,  impelled  by  commercial 
rea.sons,  they  supplied  the  means  for  fighting  the 
law.  They  were  backed,  moreover,  by  a  strong 
public  sentiment,  many  people  believing  that  elec- 
tricity was  not  sufficiently  well  understood  to  be 
used  in  taking  human  life.  The  case  was  not  settled 
until  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  I'nited  States  passed 
uijon  it.  Mr.  Tabor  came  off  triumphant,  .\nother 
important  victory  was  won  by  Mr.  Tabor  in  the  case 
that  established  the  state's  right  to  tax  cor[)orations 
for  doing  business  in  this  state,  although  their  capital 
might  be  invested  in  government  bonds. 

Mr.  Tabor  also  succeeded,  while  attorney  general, 
in   obtaining  the  de<  ision   of  the  Court   of   .Vppeals 


MEX   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTIOX 


175 


of  this  state,  that  the  great  sugar  trust,  formed  by 
the  union  of  different  corporations  for  the  purpose 
of  controlling  the  product  and  price  of  refined  sugar, 
was  in  violation  of  corporate  law,  and  in  securing 
judgments  vacating  the  charters  of  the  different 
corporations  that  had  entered  the  syndicate. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Charles  F. 
Tabor  7Cias  born  at  Uliite  Pigeon,  St.  Joseph  county, 
Mich. ,  June  28,  18^1 ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1863:  married  Phebe  S.  Andre7iis  of  Pembroke, 
N.  Y.,  December  2^,  186S  ;  was  member  of  assem- 
bly, 1870-77,  deputy  attorney  general,  1880-87,  and 
attorney  general,  1888— 91 :  has  practiced  law  in  Buf- 
falo since  186  n  . 


■JEbOmaS  XEin&le  was  a  Yorkshire 
came  to  America  to  seek  his  fortune, 
and  who,  for  the  past  thirty  years,  has 
made  his  home  in  Buffalo. 

His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  place,  and 
ended  with  his  fourteenth  year.  He 
possessed  an  energetic,  ambitious  spirit, 
and  after  a  few  years'  work  in  England 
he  determined  to  seek  the  wider  oppor- 
tunities that  a  newer  country  afforded. 
Accordingly,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he 
came  to  the  L'nited  States.  He  settled 
in  St.  Lawrence  county,  Xew  York,  and 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  there 
for  the  next  ten  years.  But  his  instincts 
were  those  of  the  trader  and  manu- 
facturer, and  in  the  sijring  of  1865  he 
disposed  of  his  farm,  and  liecame  foreman 
for  J.  H.  Crawford  &  Co.,  a  firm  of 
canal  forwarders  at  Oswego,  N.  Y. 

This  proved  to  be  the  turning  point  in 
his  career  —  the  first  step  which  led  him 
ultimately  to  Buffalo,  and  to  the  e.xten 
sive  and  prosperous  business  that  he  now 
carries  on.  He  had  been  with  Crawford 
&  Co.  only  a  year  when  they  moved 
their  headquarters  to  Buffalo,  taking  him 
with  them.  Two  years  later  the  firm 
discontinued  business,  and  Mr.  Tindle 
obtained  employment  with  Toles  & 
Sweet,  canal  forwarders  and  dealers  in 
cooperage  stock.  There  he  remained 
for  the  next  twelve  years,  becoming 
purchasing  agent  and  salesman,  and 
learning    many   details    of  the    cooperage 

In  this  industry  Mr.  Tindle  discerned  a 
opening,  and  in  January,  1880,  he  began 
for  himself  as  a  jobber.     A   few   months 


lad    who 


extended  his  operations,  and  began  the  manufacture 
of  cooperage  stock  at  mills  in  Canada.  .After  five 
years  he  sold  his  interest  in  these  mills,  and  for  the 
next  few  years  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  his 
jobbing  business.  In  1888  his  son-in-law,  Willis  K. 
Jackson,  was  taken  into  ]>artnership,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Thomas  Tindle  &  Co.  Under  Mr.  Tindle's 
shrewd  and  careful  management  the  business  grew 
rapidly,  and  it  soon  became  necessary  to  undertake 
once  more  the  manufacture  of  the  stock  in  which 
the  firm  dealt.  Five  mills,  therefore,  all  located 
within  easy  reach  of  the  Michigan  forests,  were  suc- 
cessively built  or  otherwise  acquired.  They  turn 
out  a  vast  amount  of  cooperage  stock,  all  of  which 
is  handled  by  the  firm  at  its  Buffalo  headtpiarters. 
In  addition,  a  larse  amount  of  stock  is  bought   from 


THO.M.IS    T/XDLE 

business.  other    manufacturers,    including    the    entire    output 

favorable  of   several    stave    mills    in    Canada.     The    firm    of 

business  Tindle  &  Co.  sells  its  products  all  over  the  country, 

later    he  from     Maine    to    California,     though     New    York, 


ITf. 


M/-:.\    OF  XEir    \\)RK— WESTERN  SECTION 


Pennsylvania,   Wisconsin,     anil     Minnesota    consti- 
tute its  ])rincipal  markets. 

Such  a  business  affords  ample  scope  for  the  talents 
and  energies  of  any  man,  and  Mr.  Tindle  has  wisely 
(onfnied  his  attention  to  it  for  the  most  part.  He  is, 
however,  a  director  of  the  Niagara  Bank,  a  meniher 


A.\SLi:V    \\7I(0.\ 

and  trustee  of  Asbury  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  a  member  of  the  .Ancient  Order  of  I'nited 
Workmen. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Thomas 
Tindle  was  horn  at  Broomflect,  Yorksliiie,  Kni:^laiui, 
April  7,  18-iO ;  7cias  ediicattui  in  ccmnion  sclunils  in 
Ent^land ;  came  to  t/ie  United  States  in  1853,  and  en- 
gaged in  farmini^  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  N.  Y.  ;  was 
agent  for  canal  forwarders  in  Buffalo,  1866-80  ;  mar- 
ried Harriet  Braithwaite  of  Ogdenshurg,  N.  Y. ,  April 
5,  18,'>(J  ;  lias  carried  on  a  Jo/d'ing  and  manufacturing 
l/usiness  in  cooperage  stock  at  Buffalo  since  1880. 
••• 

aUSlCV?  lUilCOr    is  still  a  young   man,  having 
barelv  pa.ssed  Iwo  s(  ore  years  ;    but  a  strong  personal 


force,  displayed  in  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow- 
men,  has  given  him  a  place  in  the  esteem  of  the 
community  that  few  men  attain  at  his  age.  Kndowed 
with  an  acute  .sense  of  right  and  wrong  in  ])ubli( 
affairs,  and  with  a  sturdy  determination  to  do  a  lion's 
share  toward  the  correction  of  the  political  and 
social  abuses  of  the  times,  Mr.  Wilcox 
has  closely  identified  himself  with  all  the 
reform  movements  of  recent  years,  and 
has  been  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  cause 
of  good  government.  He  is  a  type  of 
the  best  citizenship  to  be  found  in  Ameri- 
can life. 

Born  near  Augusta,  Ca.,  just  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  young 
Wilcox  spent  his  boyhood  amid  some  of 
the  most  stirring  scenes  of  that  great  and 
lierce  struggle.  In  the  last  year  of  the 
war  his  family  left  the  South,  and  finally 
settled  in  Connecticut",  which  was  his 
father's  native  state.  The  second  ten 
years  of  his  life  were  passed  at  New 
Haven,  first  in  attending  a  preparatory 
school,  and  afterward  as  a  student  at  Yale 
College.  Then  came  a  year  of  rest  and 
travel,  succeeded  by  a  year  of  post- 
graduate study  at  I'niversity  College, 
Oxford,  England. 

Having  moved  to  Hufialo  in  1)^7G,  and 
been  admitted  to  the  bar  two  years  later, 
Mr.  Wilcox  began  a  brilliant  career,  and 
soon  attained  a  foremost  rank  among  the 
lawyers  of  western  New  York.  Eor  ten 
years  the  firm  of  Allen,  Movius  &  Wilcox 
was  one  of  the  strongest  at  the  Buffalo 
bar.  Mr.  Wilcox,  while  a  forcible  and 
brilliant  sjjeaker,  has  devoted  most  of  his 
time  and  attention  professionally  to  office 
law  rather  than  to  the  trial  of  cases  in  the 
I  ourts.      He  enjoys  a  large  and  lucrative  practice. 

Mr.  Wilcox  has  never  had  any  asjjirations  in  the 
direction  of  otitice  holding,  and  many  ])ha.ses  of 
jiolitical  life  are  particularly  distasteful  to  him.  In- 
dependence has  been  his  watchword  from  the  start, 
and  the  independent  mo\ement  in  national  politics 
beginning  in  1X84,  appealed  most  strongly  to  him. 
and  had  his  heartiest  sympathy  and  support.  He 
was  a  leader  of  the  movement  in  his  part  of  the  state. 
Outside  of  politics,  also,  Mr.  Wilcox  has  labored 
energetically  for  the  cause  of  reform.  The  Buffalo 
C'harity  Organization  Society  —  an  as.sociation  which 
has  been  the  forerunner  of  many  similar  societies  in 
the  country,  and  which  is  founded  on  the  ])rinciple 
ihat  tlu-  best  wav  to  aid  the   poor  is  to   help  them   to 


ME.y   OF  XF.ir    rORK^]]-ESTF.R.\  SFC7VO.V 


17; 


hcl|)  themselves  —  counted  him  amonj;  its  first  and 
most  active  members.  The  ini(|ualified  success  of 
this  practical  charity  owes  not  a  little  to  his  energy 
and  devotion  to  its  interests. 

In  the  social  life  of  Buffalo  Mr.  Wilcox  has  been 
conspicuous.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Buffalo  Club,  and  was  its  president  in  lSi).'>  ;  and  he 
has  tai<en  a  more  or  less  active  part  in  man\'  .societies, 
i)oth  social  and  charitable,  of  his  city.  For  ten 
years  he  has  regularly  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
at  the  University  of  Buffalo,  where  he  has  the  pro- 
fessorship of  medical  jurisprudence.  While  in  college 
and  in  the  early  years  after  graduation,  Mr.  Wilcox 
wrote  several  magazine  articles  ;  but  in  recent  times 
he  has  found  little  leisure  for  purely  literar)'  work. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Ansley  Wilcox 
was  horn  at  Summervilk,  Ga. ,  Jam<ary 
27,  1856  ;  prepared  for  college  at  Hopkins 
Grammar  School,  Neve  HaT'en,  Conn. ,  ami 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1S74  • 
studied  at  University  College,  Oxford,  Eng- 
land, 1875-76  ;  7oas  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1878 ;  married  Cornelia  C.  Riimsev  of 
Buffalo  January  17,  1878,  and  her  sister, 
Mary  Grace  Runisey,  November  '20, 
1883  ;  was  in  the  firm  of  Cnnvley,  Movius 
&'  Wilcox,  1882-83,  in  that  of  Allen, 
Movius  &=  Wilcox,  1883-92,  and  in  thai 
of  Movius  &=  Wilcox,  18!)2-i)3 :  has  been 
associated 7vith  ]]\irthingto>i  C.  Miner  since 
early  in  ISOJ^. 


]E5warI)  HppIeV?ar&  is  a  self-made 
man,  whose   life   ilhistrates    the  power  of 
will  and  honest  effort  to  cope  successful! \ 
with  adverse  circumstances.      In  speaking 
of  him  it  is  difficult  to  state  the  facts  of 
his  life  without  seeming  to  intrude  u])on 
his  privacy,  for  he  belongs  to  the  cla.ss  of 
men  who  prefer  that  their  work  shall  be 
the  criterion  of  their  worth.      Mr.  Apple 
yard  was   born  in    Yorkshire,  England, 
within  sight  of  the  home  of  the  famous 
Bronte  family  of  novelists.      He  attended 
the  parish  school  a  short  time  ;    but  at 
the  early  age  of  eight  years   was   ])ut   to 
work   in  a  factory  for  half  a  day,  and 
at  thirteen   was  taken    from   school  alto- 
gether  and   employed   in   a   mill.       The 
boy    had,    bowcvcr,    learned    enough    at    school    to 
want   to    know    more,  and    with    the    aid   of  night 
schools  and    by    home   study    he    filled  out  a  given 
course,    took    a    government    cxnminalion.    and    re 
ceived  a  certificate. 


.About  this  time  he  was  apprenticed  to  Messrs. 
Butterfield  Brothers  of  Bradford,  Kngland,  to  learn 
the  business  of  a  worsted  spinner.  When  twenty- 
five  years  old  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself, 
associating  his  brother  with  him  a  few  years  later. 
In  the  fall  of  1H7'2  arrangements  were  made  with 
William  Broadhcad  for  the  manufacture  of  alpaca 
goods  in  the  I'nited  States.  The  next  year,  from 
plans  drawn  by  Mr.  A|)pleyard,  the  great  plant  of 
the  Jamestown  Worsted  Mills  was  established,  and 
put  in  operation  under  his  management.  In  lS7(i, 
having  severed  his  relations  with  this  comjxany,  he 
returned  to  Kngland,  and  procured  for  William 
Broadhead  &  Sons  an  ei|uipment  for  alpaca  manu- 
focture.  The  plant  thus  established  has  grown  to 
mammoth   proportions,   and   to-day   constitutes  one 


/■  n\\  ih'p  Ai'i'Li:yAia> 

of  the  most  valued  and  important  imlustries  of  (amts- 
town.  Mr.  .'\pple\ard  is  superintendent  of  the  works. 
Not  only  in  mercantile  life,  but  also  in  social,  lit- 
erarv,  and  religious  circles,  has  Mr.  .Vjipleyard  been 
active.       He   was   the    first   president  of  the  Sons  of 


178 


MKN   OF  \/ClV    YORK  — WESTERN  SECTIOX 


St.  (Jeorge,  and  is  a  contributor  to  the  journal  of 
that  body.  He  is  the  author  of  the  "  History  of 
the  Methodist  Church  in  Jamestown,"  and  of  numer- 
ous poems,  among  which  "An  Ode  to  Sympathy" 
is  highly  regarded  by  critics.  He  is  a  memlier  of 
the    Methodist   Kpiscopal  church,  a   local    preacher. 


•iK^ 


I  ll,\NI.I:S   11.    CORBIiTT 

and  a  Sunday -.school  superintendent.  I  le  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  General  Conference  held  in  New  York 
in  18X8.  His  continued  interest  in  education  is  evi- 
denced by  his  position  as  trustee  of  Allegheny  College. 

In  politics  Mr.  Appleyard  is  an  ardent  Re])ubli- 
can.  While  never  a  seeker  for  office,  he  has  served 
for  three  years  as  president  of  the  board  of  health  of 
Jamestown,  regarding  his  incumbency  of  that  |)Osi- 
tion  as  a  duty  to  the  public.  In  all  the  varied  rela- 
tions of  his  full  and  active  life  he  has  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  business  men  and  neighbors,  and  can 
be  truly  cla.ssed  among  the  strong,  conservative 
forces  of  American  citizenshi]). 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Edumnf  Ap- 
pleyard 7i>as  Imn  in  llir  parish  of  Kcit^hley,   Yorkshire, 


Eiis;hjnii,  April  15,  IS  J/)  ;  loas  educated  in  the  parish 
school  and  by  pnvate  study :  was  apprenticed  to  a 
Jinn  of  7ciorsted  spinners  iti  1855,  and  began  httsiness 
for  himself  in  1865  ;  married  Isabella  Stott  of  Hali- 
fax, England,  July  15,  1868  :  has  been  engaged  in 
nvorsted  anil  alpaca  manufacture  at  Jamestown,  N.  Y., 
since  187  S. 


CbarlC5  ti.  COrbett  lias  had  an 
umisually  successful  business  career,  and 
is  deservedly  popular  in  the  political  and 
social  life  of  the  town  of  Sherman,  where 
he  has  lived  for  the  past  thirty  years.  P"or 
a  ipiarter  ot  a  centurv  the  firm  of  Hart 
cS;  Corbett,  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
has  carried  on  a  dry -goods  and  general - 
merchandise  business  in  Sherman.  The 
concern  has  steadily  grown  and  prospered, 
and  this  is  due  in  large  mea.sure  to  Mr. 
Corbett's  energy  and  abilitv.  He  has 
known  how  to  provide  for  the  wants  of 
the  ])ublic,  and  has  spared  no  effort  to 
that  end  ;  and  thus  his  business  success 
may  l)e  regarded  as  fairly  earned. 

Political  honors  are  not  easily  obtain- 
able by  a  Democrat  in  Chautauqua  count}', 
but  Mr.  Corbett  has  shown  that  personal 
po|)ularity  and  special  fitness  for   public 
life  can  overcome  even  so  great  odds  as 
confront  Democrats  in  that  stronghold  of 
Re])ublicanism.       Three    years  after   his 
removal  to  Sherman  he  was  elected  town 
clerk,  and  served  for  three  years,  1874- 
7(;.       In    1882    and    1883    he    acted    as 
supervisor  for  the  town  of  Sherman,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1882  he  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  from  the  1st  assembly  district 
of  Chautauijua  county  by  a  majority  of 
it86    votes.     In    the    legislature    he   was 
made  chairman  of  the   committee  on  charitable  and 
religious    institutions.      His   advice    and    assistance 
are  highly  valued  by  his  fellow-Democrats,  and  he 
has  been  for  four  years  chairman  of  the  Democratic 
county  committee,  and  is  at  present  its  treasurer.     He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Democratic  state  committee. 
Mr.  Corbett  was  a  country  boy,  born  in  Chautau- 
i|ua  county  and  brought  up  on  a  farm.     He  attended 
the  district   schools   and    VVestfield    Academy,   and 
then   took  a   full  commercial  course  at  the  Kastman 
Uusincss   C'ollege,    l*oughkee|)sie,    N.    Y.       He   thus 
acipiired  an  excellent  theoretical   business  training, 
which  he  at  once  ])roceeded  to  put  to  practical  use. 
He  entered  the  dry -goods  house  of  J.  T.  Green  of 
Sherman  as  a  clerk,   and   remained  there  five  years. 


ME.y   OF  XKW    YORK'^irESTERX  SKC7IOX 


At  the  end  of  this  time  he  determined  to  launch  out 
for  himself.  He  accordingly  bought  the  interest  of 
J.  M.  Coveney  in  the  well  -  established  firm  of 
Coveney  &  Hart,  and  began  the  sui-cessful  business 
career  outlined  above. 

Mr.  Corbett  has  taken  an  active  ])art  in  all 
public  affairs  in  Sherman.  lie  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  State  Bank  there,  and  is  its  vice 
president.  He  is  also  treasurer  of  the  school  board 
of  the  town,  and  chief  of  the  fire  department.  In 
the  Masonic  and  other  fraternities  he  is  a  jirominent 
member.  In  1X91  he  was  (Irand  Master  of  the 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  he  has  been  for  five  years  a  member 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  finance  committee,  of  which  he 
is  at  present  chairman.  He  is  a  Mason  of  the  ;52d 
degree,  and  a  member  of  the  following  organiza- 
tions :  Olive  Lodge,  No.  575,  F.  &  A. 
M.  ;  Westfield  Chapter,  No.  239,  R.  A. 
M.  ;  Dunkirk  Council,  No.  25,  R.  &  S. 
M.  ;  Dunkirk  Commandery,  No.  40,  K. 
T.  ;  Ismailia  Temiile,  O.  N.  M.  S.  ;  and 
others. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  H.  Corbett  7vas  born  at  Mina, 
N.  Y. ,  October  5,  1845  ;  rcas  educateil  in 
district  schools  and  Eastman  Business 
College,  Foughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  ;  7L'as  cle/l: 
in  a  dry-goods  store  at  Sherman,  TV.  1". , 
1860-71 ;  married  Narcissa  Diitton  of 
Sherman  May  13,  1809;  was  elected 
member  of  assembly  in  1882  ;  has  conducted 
a  dry-goods  and  general-mercliandise  busi- 
ness at  Sherman  since  1871. 


'CClilliam  5.  Olenn  has  achieved 

prominence  in  life  at  an  unu.sually  earh 
age.      The  Empire  State  has  produced  few 
sons  who  have  displayed  more  activity, 
energy,     and    ambition.       In    his    brief 
career  he  has  occupied  himself  in  various 
]jursuits,  and  has  succeeded  in  so  marked 
a  degree  that  each  occupation  has  become 
the  stepping-stone  to  a  higher  one.      He 
has  been  both  printer  and  editor,  and  is 
an  all-round  newsjjaper  man.      His  edu- 
cation was  not  so  thorough  as  he  desired, 
but  he  made  the  most  of  his  op])ortuni- 
ties    in  the  village  school  at    Dansville, 
and  later   at  Wellsville   Academy,   from 
which  he  graduated  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years. 
After  finishing  his  school  life  he  went  to  work  as 
a  printer  in   the  office   of  the   Wellsville  Reporter, 
which  was  then  edited  bv  the  late  P'.nos  W.  Barnes. 


Having  learned  the  |)rinter's  trade,  and  acquired 
experience  in  the  management  of  a  newspaper,  Mr. 
Glenn  purcha.sed  the  well-known  Cuba  Patriot,  in 
company  with  Walter  |.  Beecher.  In  this  work 
he  soon  made  himself  a  factor  in  the  publi<-  affairs 
of  western  New  York,  and  though  he  had  just  reached 
his  majority,  older  men  admired  his  ability,  dili- 
gence, and  zeal. 

Newspapermen  and  lawyers  are  naturally  attracted 
to  ])articipation  in  political  affiiirs.  Mr.  Glenn  has 
always  been  a  devoted  follower  of  the  Republican 
party.  When  only  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was 
elected  secretary  and  trea.surer  of  the  Allegany- 
county  Republican  committee,  and  held  the  position 
four  years.  Subseipiently  he  was  elected  chairman 
of  the  same  committee,  and  served  in  this  capacity 
two    vears.       After    the    inauguration    of     President 


WII.IJAM  J.   CLEXX 

Harrison  Mr.  Glenn  became  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  postmaster  at  Cuba.  He  was  appointed, 
and  duly  confirmed  by  the  senate,  in  the  spring  of 
1X89,  and   held    the   jiosition    for   nearly  five  vears. 


18(1 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


He  was  calloil  to  party  service  in  18!)()  as  a  member 
of  the  ReiHihlican  state  committee  for  the  :54th 
congressional  district,  to  which  he  was  re-elected 
five  times.  The  election  of  a  Repnblican  house  of 
re|)rest'ntatives  in  l.s!)4  was  followed  by  the  re- 
organization  of    the  executive    offices   of   the    body 


CIIARI.I-.S   IIICKl-y 

at  the  ojjening  of  the  .llth  congress  in  December, 
IHSt").  The  members  of  the  New  York  delegation 
in  the  house  selected  as  their  candidate  for  the  posi- 
tion of  doorkeeper  William  J.  (llenn  of  Cuba,  and 
after  a  spirited  contest  Mr.  (lienn  was  nominated  in 
caucus  for  the  office,  and  was  duly  elected.  The 
position  is  one  of  great  resjionsibility,  and  involves 
the  care  of  much  government  [)roperty,  and  the 
suiiervision  of  a  large  force  of  employees.  Mr. 
(Ilenn  is  jirobably  the  youngest  man  ever  chosen  to 
the  oltice  —  a  fact  that  attests  the  esteem  and  res])ect 
of  his  friends  and  supporters.  His  success  in  secur- 
ing this  responsible  post  has  done  much  to  increase 
his  prominence  in  the  ranks  of  Republican  ]i:irty 
leaders  in  western  .New  \'ork. 


Mr.  CMenn  believes  in  fraternal  .societies,  and  is  a 
member  of  several  such  organizations,  including 
Cuba  Lodge,  No.  306,  F.  &  A.  M.;  Valley  Point 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  Cuba:  St.  John's  Commandery, 
K..  I".,  Olean  :  Star  Tent,  No.  VI,  R.  (),  I'.  M., 
Cul)a.      He  attends  the  Episcopal  church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
William  Johtison  Glenn  was  born  at  Dans- 
%'ille,  N.  Y.,  /lily  2,  1S(12 ;  7oas  nliifafnl 
in  common  schools  an  I  al  Wellsvillc 
{N.  Y.^  Academy ;  learned  the  printer' s 
trade,  and  worked  on  newspapers,  1S79— 
83  ;  married  Jessie  A.  Goodrich  of  Wells- 
villc December  31,  1882  ;  became  one  of 
the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the  Cuba 
' '  Patriot ' '  January  1,  1883  ;  7e'as  post- 
master of  Cuba,  N.  Y,  1889-04;  jcas 
elected  doorkeeper  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  CiJ^th  congiess  in  Decem- 
ber. 1895. 


GbarleS  ■fl.'tiCkCV?,  county  judge  and 
surrogate  of  Niagara  county,  has  ri.sen  by 
his  own  unaided  efforts,  and  in  the  face 
of  many  obstacles,  to  a  high  place  in  the 
regard  of  the  community.  This  becomes 
the  more  noteworth)-  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  Judge  Hickey  is  not  yet  forty 
years  old,  and  that,  owing  to  lack  of 
scholastic  opportunities  in  early  life,  he 
was  in  his  twenty-eighth  year  when  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar. 

judge  Hickey  is  a  native  of  Niagara 
county,  and  his  early  education  was  re- 
ceived in  the  district  schools  of  the  town 
of  Somerset.  His  father  died  when 
Charles  was  a  young  lad,  and  his  mother 
was  left  with  no  means  and  with  a  large 
family  on  her  hands.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances each  one  must  do  his  part,  and  from 
the  time  he  was  ten  years  old  Charles  worked  for 
the  neighboring  farmers  whenever  there  was  work 
to  be  done.  He  had,  however,  a  great  desire  to 
ol)tain  an  education  ;  and  in  the  winter  months, 
when  farm  work  was  not  pressing,  he  made  good  u.se 
of  such  opportunities  as  the  country  schools  afforded. 
When  he  was  seventeen  years  old  he  decided  to  try 
his  fortimes  in  the  West,  and  betook  himself  to 
the  Itunber  regions  of  Michigan,  where  for  two 
years  he  was  engaged  in  rutting  logs  on  the  rivers, 
and  in  general  work  in  the  mills  and  ]iine  woods 
of  that  state.  He  then  returned  to  his  native 
( ounty,  and  spent  two  years  in  the  service  of  the 
Rome,    Waterlown    .V    ( igdeusburg    railroad,    where 


MK.X   OF  \KW    )'ORK'—irF.STER.\  SKCT/OX 


181 


he     was    employed     in    construition    work    and    on 
gravel   trains. 

He  was  now  a  young  man  of  twenty-one,  with 
considerable  experience  in  different  kinds  of  work  : 
but  his  earnings  up  to  this  time  had  been  freely 
given  to  his  widowed  mother,  and  the  fulfillment  of 
his  desires  for  a  better  education  and  a  more 
important  place  in  the  world  seemed  still  far  off. 
P'eeling  that  the  time  had  come  when,  if  ever,  he 
should  devote  himself  to  these  ends,  he  entered 
Lockport  Union  School.  He  was  obliged  to  inter- 
rupt his  course  of  study  from  time  to  time  to  earn 
money  by  teaching,  and  in  this  calling  he  met  with 
such  success  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  chosen 
president  of  the  Niagara  County  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion. But  he  had  determined  to  become  a  lawyer, 
and  while  still  in  school  he  began  reading  law  in 
the  office  of  John  E.  Pound.  Finally, 
in  1884,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
The  following  year  he  commenced  prac 
tice  in  Lockport  as  a  memlier  of  the  firm 
of  Hickey  &  Hopkins  ;  and  i'or  the  jiast 
ten  years  his  practice  has  grown  steadily, 
and  he  has  established  an  enviable  re])u 
tation  for  ability,  fiiirness,  and  integrit\ 
He  practiced  alone  from  1891  till  l.S!»4, 
when  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
.'Xugustus  Morris,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Hickey  &  Morris,  that  lasted  until 
Judge  Hickey's  elevation  to  the  ben(  h 
January  1,  1896. 

Like  many  able  lawyers.  Judge  Hickey 
has  given  considerable  attention  to  poli- 
tics. Soon  after  his  admission  to  the  liar 
he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  for  the 
city  of  Lockport,  but  resigned  after  one 
year's  service.  Later,  in  1892,  he  was 
appointed  city  attorney  of  Lockport,  and 
held  the  position  until  he  became  county 
judge.  The  people  of  Lockport  have 
cause  to  be  grateful  to  him  for  his  skill- 
ful care  of  their  interests  during  these 
four  years,  for  in  all  that  time  not  a 
single  judgment  was  rendered  against  the 
city.  Judge  Hickey  was  elected  to  his 
|iresent  office  by  a  majority  of  2700, 
|)rolial)ly  the  largest  ever  received  by  a 
candidate  in  Niagara  county.  He  is  the 
first  person  to  hold  the  combined  offices  of 
county  judge  and  surrogate  in  his  county  ; 
and  the  i)rediction  may  safely  be  made  that  he  will  fill 
the  responsible  position  with  credit  and  distinction. 
Judge  Hickey  is  a  Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow,  and 
is  president  of  the  Odd  Fellows'  Home  .Association 


of  New   York  state,  which   maintains  an   institution 
at  Lockport. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL OGY—  Charles Hukey 
was  horn  a/  Somerset,  Niagara  county,  N.  Y. ,  April 
18,  1851  ;  was  educated  in  district  schools  and  at 
Lockport  Union  School ;  rcas  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
October,  188 Jf  ;  married  Frances  C.  Lambert  of  Lock- 
port  N'oTcmber  25,  1886  ;  was  city  attorney  of  Lock- 
port,  lS!L'-05  :  practiced  law  in  Lockport,  1885-95  ; 
has  been  county  Judge  and  surrogate  op  Niagara  county 
since  January  1,  180G. 


]lE^war^  Daniel  Xoveri&ge  of  Cuba,  n.y., 

has  already  passed   ihe  "threescore  years  and  ten  " 
allotted  as  an  ordinary  lifetime  ;   but  as  a  practicing 
lawyer  and  president  of  a   bank,  he   gives  ample  evi 
dence  that  his  davs  of  usefulness  are  not  vet  o\er. 


EDWARP    IKIMI-.I.    I.O]/:h'//u;fi 


Mr.  Loveridge  was  born  before  the  clo.se  of  the 
first  quarter  of  the  century,  among  the  Litchfield 
hills  of  Connecticut,  anil  there  he  passed  his  youth. 
Having  completed  his  preparatorv  studies,  he  entered 


182 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERX  SECTION 


Trinity  College,  Hartford,  and  studied  there  for  two 
years.  He  then  left  college,  having  determined  to 
become  a  lawyer,  and  began  his  legal  studies  at  Lex- 
ington, Va.  He  had  thus  the  benefit  of  a  more  varied 
experience  of  men  and  places  than  usually  falls  to 
the  lot  of  the  young  law  student.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  liar  in  March,  1853,  at  Rochester,  and  from 
that  time  his  life  has  been  passed  in  western 
New  York. 

At  first  he  opened  an  office  alone  at  Castile,  Wy- 
oming county,  and  there  obtained  his  first  practical 
knowledge  of  the  life  of  a  lawyer.  About  three  years 
later,  in  May,  IK.K!,  he  moved  to  Cuba,  and  entered 
into  ])artnershij)  with  his  brother,  Noah  P.  Lover- 
idge.  For  ten  years  the  brothers  worked  together 
to  build  up  a  practice,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time 
Noah  moved  to  Michigan,  and  for  a  little  more 
than  a  year  Edward  practiced  alone.  He  then  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  his  practice  Harlan  J.  S«ift,  now 
of  Buffiilo,  and  this  connection  lasted  fifteen  years. 
For  the  jiast  ten  years  he  has  practiced  in  partner- 
ship with  John  C.  Leggett.  Mr.  Loveridge  has 
thus  been  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession for  more  than  forty  years,  and  has  conducted 
a  vast  amount  of  legal  business. 

Aside  from  the  law,  Mr.  Loveridge' s  greatest  in- 
terest has  been  banking.  He  has  been  president  of 
the  Cuba  National  Bank  for  twenty -eight  years,  and 
his  successful  management  of  the  affairs  of  that  in- 
stitution reflects  great  credit  upon  his  business  abil- 
ity. Other  similar  institutions  have  been  glad  to 
avail  themselves  of  his  counsel,  and  he  has  been  for 
many  years  a  director  of  the  Citizens'  National  Bank 
of  Friendship,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Loveridge  ha.s  always  taken  great  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  in  his  younger  days  he  played  a 
l)rominent  jiart  in  the  political  life  of  his  neighbor- 
hood. He  served  as  member  of  assembly  in  the 
legislatures  of  1862  and  1863,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Republican  national  convention  of  1864.  He 
was  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Cuba  for  two  years. 
In  1876  he  wa.s  nominated  for  representative  in  con- 
gress. 

Mr.  Loveridge  has  been  for  years  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
its  affairs.  He  is  a  Knight  Templar,  and  for  three 
years  (1874-76)  was  Commander  of  St.  John's  Com- 
mandery,  No.  24,  Olean ;  and  for  fourteen  years  he 
was  High  Priest  of  Valley  Point  Chapter,  Cuba. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  I'^jiscopal  church. 

PERSONAL  CIIR  ONOL  O  GY—  Edward 
Daniel  Loveridge  was  born  at  New  Milford,  Conn. , 
December  11,  1821f  ;  completed  his  education  at  Trin- 
ity  College,    Hartford,    Conn. :  studied  line,  anil  7/'</.i' 


admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S5S  :  married  Frances  Emily 
Bartlcttof  Granby,  Mass.,  October  19,  1854;  prac- 
ticed laict  at  Castile,  N.  Y. ,  1853-56 ;  was  tnember 
of  assembly,  1862-63 ;  has  practiced  law  at  Cuba, 
N.  Y. ,  since  1856 ;  has  been  president  of  the  Cuba 
National  Bank  since  1808. 


5atUC6  2L0W  has  served  his  country  in  military 
and  in  civil  stations.  To  an  intensely  practical  life 
he  has  added  a  deep  interest  in  public  affairs,  and 
has  long  V)een  a  [irominent  factor  in  his  community. 
Though  not  American-born,  he  has  made  a  record 
of  which  any  American  might  justly  be  proud.  His 
parents,  originally  from  Scotland,  went  to  Niagara 
county  from  'Toronto,  Canada,  when  he  was  only 
two  years  old,  so  that  all  his  early  educational 
training  was  obtained  in  the  United  States.  He 
attended  the  common  schools  of  Lockport  and 
Lewiston,  and  was  for  three  years  a  pupil  in  the 
Collegiate  Institute  at  Wilson,  N.  Y.  'This  excellent 
education  he  turned  to  account  in  the  very  matter- 
of-fact  business  of  farming,  as  well  as  in  teaching 
district  schools  in  the  winter  for  seven  years.  He 
continued  in  these  occujjations  until  appointed 
deputy  collector  and  inspector  of  customs  for  the 
district  of  Niagara  in  1861,  an  office  he  resigned 
a  year  later  to  enter  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Low  had  been  foremost  in  recruiting  com- 
pany B  of  the  129th  New  York  volunteers,  and  when 
it  was  organized  he  was  commissioned  1st  lieutenant, 
and  mustered  into  the  service  .August  22,  1862. 
He  went  at  once  to  the  front,  and  took  ]3art  in  the 
defense  of  Baltimore  and  in  the  West  Virginia 
campaign.  Two  years  later  he  joined  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  was  present  at  the  memorable 
battles  of  Spottsyhania,  'Tolopotomy,  North  .*\iina. 
Cold  Harbor  (where  he  was  wounded),  and  Hatcher's 
Run.  He  was  also  present  at  the  siege  of  Peters- 
burg, and  at  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox. 
During  his  .service  he  was  twice  ])romoted,  first  to 
the  rank  of  captain  and  afterward  to  that  of  major, 
retiring  with  the  latter  rank  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

When  peace  was  restored,  Major  Low  returned 
to  New  York  state,  and  was  soon  appointed  by 
President  Johnson  postmaster  at  Sus])ension  Bridge. 
In  this  position  he  gave  sue  h  satisfaction  that  he  was 
reappointed  by  President  Cirant  in  1870. 

In  state  affairs  Major  Low  has  taken  an  active 
interest,  and  has  three  times  rejjresented  the  2d  dis- 
trict of  Niagara  county  in  the  a.ssembly,  serving  the 
])eoi)le  intelligently  and  faithfully.  He  is  an  ardent 
and  vigorous  Republican,  and  has  been  repeatedly 
honored   when   his   jiarty  has   been    in    power   in  the 


.I/A".\-   OF  XEH'    yOA'k-—lVESTER\  SECTION 


183 


nation,  by  appointments  to  federal  offices.  President 
Arthur  made  him  United  States  consul  at  Clifton, 
Ontario,  and  President  Harrison  appointed  him 
collector  of  customs  for  the  district  of  Niagara.  He 
held  the  latter  office  for  five  years.  Since  the 
expiration  of  his  term  he  has  conducted  the  business 
of  a  coal  merchant,  and  ha.s  carried  on  a 
farm. 

At  home  Major  Low  has  served  for  si.\ 
years  as  president  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation of  Suspension  Bridge,  and  has 
devoted  time  and  attention  to  securing 
a  high  standard  in  the  schools  under  the 
care  of  the  board.  He  attends  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  has  been  for 
many  years  president  of  its  board  of  trus- 
tees. He  is  a  member  of  the  A.O.U.\\  . . 
the  Knights  of  Honor,  the  G.  A.  R  , 
and  the  Loyal  Legion.  His  neighbors 
and  townsmen  look  to  him  for  leadership 
in  every  movement  having  a  worthy  ob- 
ject in  view.  Conserv'ative  in  his  ideas, 
he  is  nevertheless  open  to  conviction  on 
every  question  arising  in  the  course  of 
public  and  political  events  ;  and  he  has 
thus  won  and  retained  the  confidence  of 
all  who  know  him. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
James  Low  was  boni  at  Toro/i/o,  Canada, 
January  2^,  1836 :  was  educateii  in  the 
public  schools  of  Niagara  county,  N.  } '. , 
ami  IVilson  {N.  Y.)  Collegiate  Lnstitulc ; 
married  Amanda  Barnes  of  Cambria, 
N.  Y. ,  March  25,  1858 ;  served  in  the 
Union  army,  1802-6')  ;  7i>as  appointed 
postmaster  at  Suspension  Bridge,  N.  } . , 
///  1865,  and  7t/as  reappointed  in  1870  ; 
was  member  of  assembly,  1870-81,  United 
States  consul  at  Clifton,  Canada,  1882- 
87,  and  collector  of  customs  for  the  district  of  Niagara, 
1890-05  ;  has  carried  on  the  business  of  a  coal  mer- 
chant at  Niagara  Ralls  since  1875. 


(IbarleS  Ibenrg  /IDiller,  member  of  a.ssembly 
in  1896  from  the  1st  district  of  Cattaraugus  county, 
is  a  native  of  that  county,  and  has  s]3ent  his  whole 
life  there. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  the  town  of  Machias,  near 
the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  t:entury.  Like  all 
country  boys  of  that  day,  he  received  his  early  edu- 
cational training  in  the  district  school,  which  he  be- 
gan to  attend  at  the  age  of  four  years.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Miller  was  a  youth  of 
seventeen,  attending  school,  and  looking  forward  to 


a  useful  commercial  career.  He  gave  up  all  his  per- 
sonal plans,  however,  and  enlisted  in  the  lOoth  regi- 
ment Xew  York  volunteers.  In  the  campaign  of 
1862  he  participated  with  his  regiment  in  all  the 
battles  from  Cedar  Mountain  to  Antietam.  His 
regiment  suffered  so  much  in  these  engagements  that 


JAM/iS  /.oir 

it  was  consolidated,  in  March,  186,'?,  with  the  94th 
New  York  volunteers,  then  commanded  by  General 
Adrian  R.  Root  of  Buffalo.  In  this  regiment  Mr. 
Miller  served  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  in 
(irant's  campaign  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond. 
Having  been  honorably  discharged  from  the  army, 
Mr.  Miller  resumed  his  education,  spending  several 
years  in  the  academy  at  Arcade,  N.  Y.,  and  at 
Griffith  Institute,  Springville,  N.  Y.  He  then  took 
up  the  occupation  of  teaching,  and  devoted  him.self 
to  this  profession  during  the  winter  sea.sons  for 
twelve  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  moved  to 
Delevan,  N.  Y.,  and  engaged  in  the  business  of  a 
furniture  dealer  and  an  undertaker,  in  partnership 
with   George   H.  Whiting,  under   the    firm    name   of 


1S4 


MEN   OF  NE}V    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


Miller  &  Whiting.  This  connection  lasted  for 
twelve  years.  During  this  time  Mr.  Miller  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  railway  postal  service.  The  position 
of  mail  clerk  on  a  railroad  is  one  that  recpiires  close 
a])])lication,  and  great  accuracy  and  i|ui(kness.  Mr. 
Miller  was  (-onne<'te<l  with  the  service  for  foin^  vcars. 


CHARLES  //EXk'V  MIl.l.F.R 

traveling  on  various  roads,  including  the  Western 
New  York  &  Pennsylvania,  the  New  York  Central, 
and  the  Erie  ;  and  during  his  tenn  of  .service  was 
jiromoted,  upon  his  record  in  competitive  examina- 
tions, through  all  the  several  grades  from  mail -route 
messenger  to  head  clerk. 

In  1W2  Mr.  Miller  associated  himself  with  1).  L). 
Smith  in  the  drug  and  grocery  business,  at  Yorkshire, 
N.  Y.  The  interests  centering  in  a  country  store 
are  many  and  varied,  and  no  branch  of  knowledge 
comes  ami.ss  there.  Mr.  Miller's  training  as  a  mail 
clerk  wa.s  useful  to  him,  for  he  was  made  deputy  post- 
ma.ster,  and  had  charge  of  the  York.shire  ])ost  office. 

Always  a  strong  Republican,  Mr.  Miller  had  long 
been  |)romincnl  in  roimtv  affairs  before  he  was  called 


to  represent  the  people  in  the  legislature  of  the  state. 
He  was  first  elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  Cattaraugus  county  in  1877,  and  since  that 
time  he  has  served  on  the  board  thirteen  years.  In 
1.S94  he  filled  the  responsible  |)Osition  of  chairman 
of  the  board.  His  well-known  devotion  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  county  received  a  fitting 
recognition  when,  in  1895,  he  was  unan- 
imously chosen  the  Re])ublican  <  andidate 
for  member  of  assembly  from  the  1st 
Cattaraugus  district,  and  was  duly  elected. 
In  the  session  of  the  legislature  that  fol- 
lowed he  was  a  member  of  the  im])ortant 
committee  on  taxation  and  retrenchment, 
and  of  the  committees  on  banks  and  excise. 
Mr  Miller  is  a  trustee  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  of  Yorkshire,  and 
a  member  of  Arcade  Lodge,  No.  41!),  F. 
&  \.  M.,  and  of  Delevan  Lodge,  No. 
(lie,  1.  ().  O.  F. 

PERSONAL  CllR  ONOL  OGY— 
Charles  Henry  Miller  ichjs  bflrii  at  iMaehias, 
N.  v.,  June  2,  ISJfJf  ;  sensed  in  the  Union 
army,  lSG2-6o  ;  raas  edueated  at  Areade 
{N.  K)  Academy  and  Griffith  Institute, 
S/>ring7'ille,  N.  V. ;  engaged  in  husiness  in 
Delevan,  N.  Y.,  1872-8 J,,  and  in  the 
raihvay  mail  service,  1872-76;  estab- 
lished a  drug  and  grocery  Imsiness  at 
Yorkshire,  N.Y.,  in  1882,  and  has  carried 
on  the  same  since;  married  Emma  L. 
IVilliams  of  Arcade,  N.  Y. ,  December  U>, 
1877  ;  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  su/  er- 
visors  of  Cattaraugus  county  in  189 Jf,  and 
member  of  assembly  from  the  1st  Catta- 
raugus-county  district  in  1896. 


HrtbUr  JS.  OttawaV?  proves  by  his 

career  that  a  young  man  can  win  success 

at  home.       The   essential   conditions  of  success  are 

character,  energy,  and  ability  ;  and  these  factors  will 

be  decisive  anywhere. 

Mr.  Ottaway  has  spent  his  whole  life  in  Chau- 
taui|ua  countv.  He  was  born  in  Mina,  among  the 
Chautauqua  hills  not  far  from  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
and  was  brought  u])  on  a  farm.  His  early  education 
was  acquired  in  the  district  school  and  at  Sherman 
Academy.  In  I  ST-'!  he  moved  to  the  village  of 
Westfield,  and  attended  the  academy  there,  graduat- 
ing at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  His  training  had 
included  prei)aration  for  a  college  course  ;  but  this 
was  abandoned,  and  his  subsequent  education  was 
such  as  one  gets  in  the  practical  s(  hool  of  life,  while 
earning  one's  own   li\ing. 


MEN  OF  XEW    VORK—WESTERX  SECTIOX 


18-) 


Like  many  country  boys  who  purpose  entering  the 
professions,  Mr.  Ottaway's  first  resource  on  gradua- 
tion was  teaching  school.  He  followed  this  occujja- 
tion  for  some  time,  meanwhile  preparing  for  the  law. 
Later  he  prosecuted  his  studies  in  the  office  of 
William  Russell  at  Westfield,  and  finally,  in  ISTi), 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Ottaway's  career 
since  then  has  been  that  of  a  successful  lawyer.  At 
first  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Russell,  Dick- 
erman  &  Ottaway,  as  junior  partner.  Subse- 
(juently  this  firm  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Ottaway  for  a 
time  practiced  alone.  He  is  now  the  senior  partner 
in  the  firm  of  Ottaway  &  Munson  of  Westfield. 

The  law  often  proves  a  stepping-stone  to  politics, 
and  so  it  was  in  Mr.  Ottaway's  case.  He  was  always 
an  active  Republican,  ijuick  at  making  friends,  ener- 
getic ;  and  by  a  natural  course  of  events  he  was 
nominated,  in  1883,  for  district  attorney 
of  Chautauqua  county.  He  was  elected, 
and  served  from  1884  to  18^7  with 
credit  to  himself  and  the  county.  After 
his  administration  of  this  office  he  retired 
to  the  care  of  his  large  and  growing  gen- 
eral practice.  Mr.  Ottaway  has  been 
engaged  in  many  important  trials,  and  is 
one  of  the  best-known  members  of  the 
bar  in  Chautauqua  county.  He  has  served 
for  several  years  as  attorney  for  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  the  county- 
One  of  the  leading  characteristics  of 
Mr.  Ottaway's  career  is  the  interest  he 
has  taken  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  Westfield  and  its  institutions. 
He  has  always  been  active  in  village 
affairs.  He  served  for  many  years  as  one 
of  the  vestrymen  of  St.  Peter's  Episcopal 
Church  of  Westfield.      He  is  a  Ma.son. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Arthur  B.  Ottaway  7C'as  horn  at  Miiia, 
Chautauqua  county,  N.  V. ,  May  8,  1854  ; 
7t>as  educated  in  the  district  schools,  and  at 
Sherman  and  Westfield  academies,  i^radii- 
atinjf  from  the  latter  institution  in  187.'>  : 
taught  school,  studied  hno,  and  7tias  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1879 ;  was  district 
attorney  of  Chautauqua  county,  188^—87  ; 
has  practiced  law  in  Westfield,  iV.  )', 
since  1879. 


force  of  industry,  perseverance,  and  character.  There 
is  something  in  the  jjractical  training  and  in  the  sur- 
roundings of  farm  life  that  inculcates  a  sturdy  self- 
reliance  and  stimulates  ambition  ;  and  the  fact  is 
aptly  illustrated  in  the  career  of  Mr.  Stearns. 

He  received  his  elementary  education  in  the  dis- 
trict school  of  his  native  Chautauqua-county  town, 
and  completed  his  studies  in  the  Forestville  Free 
Academy.  For  the  two  years  following  his  gradua- 
tion he  taught  school,  thus  aci|uiring  the  discipline 
in  method  and  accuracy  so  essential  in  the  profession 
of  law,  which  he  soon  decided  to  make  his  vocation. 
Before  he  began  his  legal  studies,  however,  he  spent 
a  year  in  the  Bradford  oil  region  in  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  had  the  supervision  of  a  large  strip  of  oil 
territory.  This  work  tailed  to  prove  congenial,  and 
he  returned   to   Chautauc|ua  countv,  to  enter  upon  a 


ARTHIK   n.    OTIAW  AV 


Xcstcr  jforrcst  Stearns  grew 

to  manhood  on  his  father's  tarm.      His  early  life  was  course  of  legal  study  at  Forestville.      Later  he  moved 

similar  to  that  of  many  boys,  who,  born  and  bred  in  to  Dunkirk,  where  he  finished  his  studies  in  the  office 

the  country,  fit  themselves  for  a  ])rofession,  and  win  of  C.  B.  Bradley,  then  district  attorney.     Admitted 

fame  and  reputation  in  large  fields  of  usefiilness  b\  to   the  bar  in    ISS'i,  Mr.  Stearns  at  once  opened  an 


1S6 


A/EA'   OF  XE]V    YORK—IVESTERN  SECT/OX 


office  for  himself.  In  1.SS4  he  formed  a  i)artncrship 
with  Walter  L.  Kinsley  that  lasted  until  1X89. 
Since  then  he  has  l)een  the  senior  partner  in  the 
legal  firm  of  Stearns  &  Warner.  Mr.  Stearns  has 
taken  pains  from  the  beginning  to  acquire  the  best 
books  bearing  upon  his  profession,  and  he  now  has  a 


LESTER   FORREST  STEARNS 

large  and  valuable  law  library.  Here  he  has  ready 
at  hand  a  vast  amount  of  information  otherwise  attain- 
able only  at  the  cost  of  much  time  and  effort. 

Although  Mr.  Stearns  has  not  yet  jjassed  the  merid- 
ian of  life,  he  has  built  up  a  very  large  and  impor- 
tant practice  in  the  northern  part  of  Chautau(iua 
county,  numbering  among  his  clients  about  all  the 
leading  concerns  of  Dunkirk.  Men  do  not  entrust 
weighty  interests  to  lawyers  as  a  matter  of  friend- 
shij),  but  seek  the  best  talent  anywhere  obtainable  ; 
and  the  large  number  of  important  clients  who  look 
to  Mr.  Stearns  for  legal  advice  demonstrates  the 
wisdom  of  his  choice  of  profession.  His  success, 
however,  while  rapid,  has  not  come  without  corre- 
sponding effort  and  faithfulness  on  his  ])art. 


The  judicial  cast  of  Mr.  Stearns's  mind  has  been 
recognized  in  his  nomination  for  the  office  of  special 
judge  of  the  County  Court  —  a  nomination  he  felt 
constrained  lo  decline.  Subsecpienlly  he  was  nomi- 
nated and  ele<'ted  to  the  office  of  special  surrogate, 
and  served  for  three  years  in  that  responsible  position. 
His  poijularity  has  been  likewise  attested 
by  two  elections  to  the  office  of  district 
attorney,  which  he  has  held  six  years  in 
all.  He  has  been  prominentlv  mentioned 
for  judicial  honors,  and  his  friends  are 
desirous  of  seeing  him  on  the  bench.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  but  he  has 
never  been'guilty  of  carrying  partisanshi]) 
into  the  duties  of  any  public  position 
that  he  has  been  called  upon  to  fill. 

To  his  active  professional  duties  Mr. 
Stearns  has  added  those  of  a  progressive 
citizen.  He  has  taken  a  keen  interest  in 
municipal  affairs,  and  to  his  enterprising 
efforts  in  large  part  the  city  of  Dunkirk  is 
to-day  indebted  for  its  municipal  system  of 
electric  lighting.  He  has  also  interested 
himself  in  the  improvement  of  the  streets 
and  harbor  of  Dunkirk,  and  every  move- 
ment for  the  ])ublic  good  finds  in  him  a 
warm  supporter  and  a  zealous  champion. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Lester  Forrest  Stearns  was  born  at  Villa- 
no7'a,  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y. ,  July  27, 
18.')(j  ;  graduated  from  Forestrille  Free 
Academy  in  187S ;  jcas  admitted  to  the  bar 
at  Dunkirk,  N.  Y. ,  ///  1882 ;  khis  elected 
special  surrogate  in  188^ ;  was  electea 
district  attorney  in  1886,  and  re-elected  in 
1889  ;  married  Mary  M.  I  filler  of  Dun- 
kirk July  IG,  1889 ;  has  practiced  hnc  in 
Dunkirk  since  1882. 


H.  /IDmcr  MCllmaU  lias  had  a  remarkably 
successful  career  thus  far  ;  and  as  he  is  not  yet  thirty 
years  old,  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  the  future 
has  a  much  greater  measure  of  prosperity  in  store  for 
him. 

Mr.  Wellman  was  born  in  the  town  of  friendship, 
Allegany  county,  where  he  still  lives.  His  early 
education  was  received  in  a  private  school,  but  he 
soon  entered  Friendship  Academy,  and  took  a  five 
years'  course  there.  Having  exhausted  the  educa- 
tional resources  of  his  native  town,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  entered  Hopkins  Crammar  School  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  to  prepare  for  college.  Two  years 
later  he  entered  Yale  University,  and  graduated  in 
the  cla.ss  of  IKS.S  with  the  degree  of  A.   H. 


MEN  OF  XEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECT/OX 


187 


Hank    of 


After  this  absence  from  home  of  six  years,  Mr. 
W'eUman  returned  to  Friendship,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-two,  well  prepared,  by  means  of  the  excellent 
education  he  had  received,  to  begin  the  actual  work 
of  life.  In  the  fall  succeeding  his  graduation  he  en- 
tered, as  a  clerk,  the  First  National  Bank  of  Friend- 
ship, of  which  his  father  was  cashier.  He  was 
soon  chosen  a  director  of  the  bank  ;  and  after 
an  experience  of  little  more  than  a  year,  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  succeeded  him  as  cashier. 
This  office  involved  a  heavy  responsibility  for  so 
young  a  man  ;  but  Mr.  Wellman  has  proved  him.self 
an  able  financier,  and  during  the  six  years  of  his 
management  the  bank  has  prospered  in  a  most  satis- 
factory manner.  His  excellent  iiualifications  for  the 
position  of  a  bank  official  have  led  to  his  selection 
as  vice  president  of  the  First  National 
Cuba,  N.  Y.,  and  as  a  director  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Salamanca. 

Like  so  many  other  enterprising  men 
in  Allegany  county,  Mr.  Wellman  is  in- 
terested in  the  production  of  oil,  and  his 
operations  in  the  town  of  Wirt  have  been 
highly  successful.  He  has  also  become 
interested  in  mining  in  Colorado,  and 
is  treasurer  of  the  Columbia-Menona 
Mining  Co.  of  Telluride,  Col.  He  is 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Ontario 
Improvement  &  (Jas  Co.,  Limited,  of 
Honeoye  Falls,  N.  Y.  ;  president  of  the 
Friendship  Water  Co.,  and  of  the 
Phoenix  Gas  Co.  of  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y. ; 
and  a  director  in  the  Williams  &  Werner 
Co.  of  Rochester.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  Mr.  Wellman,  though  he  has  spent 
his  life  in  a  country  town,  is  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  traditional  type  of  vil- 
lager ;  and  is,  in  fact,  an  active,  enter- 
prising business  man  with  extensive  and 
varied  interests. 

In  politics  Mr.  Wellman  is  a  thorough 
Republican.  Though  he  has  never  been 
a  candidate  for  a  political  office,  he  has 
served  his  party  in  many  ways.  He  acted 
as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Allegany - 
county  Reijublican  committee  during  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1892,  and  has 
been  a  delegate  to  county,  senatorial, 
and  state  conventions.  In  1895  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Allegany-county  dele- 
gation to  the  national  convention  of  the  Re|)ublican 
League  at  Cleveland. 

In  social,  fraternal,  and  religious  circles  alike,  Mr. 
Wellman  is  active  and  popular,  thus    rounding  out 


and  completing  his  character  as  a  business  man  and 
a  public-s])irited  citizen.  He  is  a  member  of  Psi 
Upsilon  college  fraternity ;  Master  of  Allegany 
Lodge,  No.  225,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Friendship  ;  and  a 
member  of  Valley  Point  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  of 
Cuba,  N.  Y.,  of  St.  John's  Commandery,  No.  24, 
K.  T.,  Olean,  and  of  Ismailia  Temple,  Nobles 
of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  Buffalo.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Friendship.  As  a 
trustee  of  Cook  Academy,  Havana,  N.  Y.,  he  demon- 
strates in  a  ]jractical  way  his  interest  in  the  cause 
of  education. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Asher  Miner 
Wellman  was  horn  at  Friendship,  N.  V. ,  November 
13,  1860  :  prepared  for  college  at  Hopkins  Grammar 
School,  N^eii'  Haven,  Conn.,  and  graduated  from  Yale 
in  1888 :  hecame  a  clerk  in  the  First  N^ational  Rank 


A.   M1\EH    WELl.MAX 

of  Friendship  in  1888,  a  director  in  1880,  and  has 
been  cashier  of  the  same  hank  since  1890  :  married 
Hattie  Prior  Baldivin  of  Saxtons  River,  J '/. ,  /i/ne  28, 
189S. 


1S8 


MEN   OF  NEW    Vl)KK  -WESTERS  SECTION 


30blt  'mOO^\Va^^,  "I'O  finds  himself,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-six,  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  was  born  at  Charlotte, 
Chautauqua  county.  He  is  a  son  of  Daniel  S.  and 
Cornelia  Lake  Woodward  ;  a  grandson  of  John  Wood- 
ward, who  served  in  the  assenibiv  from  Chautauiuia 


JOIIX    U  (ti)/>ti  .lA'/J 

county  in  lis.'!");  and  a  great-grandson  of  John 
Woodward,  who  fought  before  the  Heights  of  Abra- 
ham in  the  I'Vench-Canadian  war,  and  who  served  in 
one  of  the  Massachusetts  regiments  during  the  revolii- 
tionarv  war.  Early  in  the  century  this  latter  John 
Woodward  moved  to  (lenesee  county.  New  York, 
afterward  taking  up  his  residence  in  Chautau(|ua 
county,  where  his  descendants  have  carved  out  for 
themselves  careers  worthy  of  his  name.  Mr.  Wood- 
waril's  grandmother  on  his  mother's  sitle  was  Sarah 
Mather,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Cotton  Mather. 

In  his  infancy  Mr.  Woodward's  parents  left  Chau- 
tauc|ua  county,  taking  uj)  a  residence  in  Mi<iiigan, 
whence  they  moved  to  Kansas  in  1  X7(), where  his  father 
died.       The  familv  relumed  to  Chaulaui|ua  (()unt\  in 


IrSTl,  the  mother  yielding  up  her  life  at  Fredonia  in 
the  .same  year.  From  that  time  Mr.  Woodward  made 
his  home  with  Henry  C.  Lake,  his  mother's  brother, 
who  has  long  been  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  politics 
of  Chautamiua  county.  Working  his  way  along, 
taking  employment  in  the  village  stores  and  on  the 
neighboring  farms,  Mr.  Woodward  grad- 
uated from  the  Fredonia  Normal  School 
in  lf<7>S,  and  began  reading  law  in  the 
office  of  Morris  &  Lambert  in  that  village 
in  the  same  year,  afterwards  attending 
the  law  school  of  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  graduating  there- 
from in  1K,SL  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Poughkeepsie  in  the  same  year, 
and  began  the  jjractice  of  his  profession 
in  fredonia.  In  August,  1X83,  he  moved 
to  Jamestown  to  practice  law  there  ;.  and 
111  \SH{),  on  the  incorporation  of  the  city 
of  Jamestown,  he  became  its  first  city 
attorney,  filling  the  position  for  two  years. 
He  was  apjjointed  to  a  vacancy  on  the 
board  of  .supervisors  in  1887,  holding 
the  ]jla(  e  l)y  successive  elections  until 
1X!)2,  when  he  was  elected  district  at- 
torney of  Chautauqua  county.  He  held 
this  position  during  the  term,  and  in  Jan- 
uary, 1896,  was  appointed  a  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  by  Clovernor  Morton. 
Judge  Woodward  is  a  member  of  the 
Jamestown  Club,  the  Knights  of  the 
Maccabees,  the  Klks,  the  Citizens'  Club 
of  I'ledonia,  the  Ellicott  Club  of  Buffalo, 
the  Orpheus  Singing  Society  of  the  same 
city,  and  the  Camp  Dent  Fishing  Club  of 
.Allegany  comity.  He  takes  an  active 
interest  in  all  matters  of  a  jiublic  or 
iiuasi -public  character. 

John  Woodward  is  not  a  plodding 
student  ol  the  law  in  the  abstract  ;  not  a  cowartlly 
searcher  after  jirecedents,  in  an  effort  to  make  new 
conditions  conform  to  old  measurements.  He  seeks 
rather  to  energi/e  modern  jurisprudence  by  com- 
])elling  it  to  meet  a  broadening  conceiJtion  of  justice 
anil  ei|uit\.  To  him  the  law  is  the  .servant  of 
society,  to  be  administered  imijartially  as  between  its 
members,  in  the  interests  of  eipial  justice;  and  he 
has  the  courage  to  a.ssert  .so  much  of  a  new  doctrine 
as  may  be  necessary  in  his  judgment  to  this  end,  thus 
aiding  in  that  evolution  of  the  law  which  is  e.s.sential 
to  its  highest  development. 

Personally  Judge  Woodward  is  genial  ami  thor- 
oughly likai)le,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  understand  his 
widespread    popularity. 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


isy 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Wood- 
ward was  born  at  Cluxrlotte,  Chautauqua  con nt\,  N.  Y., 
August  U),  18o!) ;  received  a  common-school  education, 
and  graduated  from  the  Fredonia  Normal  School  in 
1878 ;  graduated  from  the  hno  school  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1881,  and  rcas  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  the  same  year:  practiced  hnv  in  Fre- 
donia, N.  Y,  1881-83;  married  Mary  E.  Barker  of 
Fredonia  May  26,  1886 ;  was  city  attorney  of  James- 
town, N'.  Y. ,  18S6-SS,  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  Chautauqua  county,  lSS7-9:i,  and  district 
attorney  of  Chautauqua  county,  1892-05 ;  7iias  ap- 
pointed a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of 
Ne7v  York  in  January,  1896. 


S.  (larv?  BdamS  illustrates  in  his  life  the 
potency  of  character  and  lofty  ambition.  I'nder 
circumstances  that  would  have  daunted 
most  young  men,  and  with  few  oppor- 
tunities, he  laid  the  foundation  for  success 
ill  a  profession  where  continual  study  and 
expanding  knowledge  are  essential.  His 
education  in  schools  was  meager,  and 
confined  to  elementary  grades.  He  never 
had  the  benefit  of  collegiate  training.  In 
its  place  he  substituted  a  course  of  private 
study,  and  thus  gained  a  knowledge  and 
mental  discipline  that  fitted  him  ulti- 
mately for  the  practice  of  law.  Though 
he  was  not  admitted  to  the  bar  until 
middle  life,  the  preceding  years  were  so 
employed  as  to  prove  valuable  to  him  in 
his  professional  career.  He  wa.s  brought 
into  contact  with  the  ])ractical  affairs  of 
life,  and  acquired  a  wide  business  expe- 
rience. At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade,  and  for  several 
years  followed  this  calling  during  the 
summer  months.  In  the  winter  he  taught 
in  district  schools,  and  devoted  himself 
to  study.  His  interest  in  education  ex- 
tended beyond  teaching,  and  for  six  years 
he  filled  the  ]josition  of  superintendent 
of  schools  for  tlie  town  of  Collins,  N.  Y., 
having  under  his  charge  over  twenty 
schools. 

Mr.  Adams  has  had  a  long  and  varied  ex- 
perience in  nuniicipal  and  county  affairs, 
and  is  an  authority  on  questions  relating 
thereto.      He  was  supervisor  of  the  town 
of  Collins   two  terms,  and   was  sub.sei|uently  elected 
clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors  of  Krie  county  for  two 
years.      During  the  year  1857  he  was  a  member  of 
the  state  assemblv  from  the  4th  Erie-count\  district. 


In  1.S59  Mr.  Adams  was  apjjointed  deputy  count v 
clerk  of  Erie  county,  and  moved  to  I'.uffalo.  In  the 
same  year  he  began  a  course  of  legal  study,  reading 
his  Blackstone  and  Kent  whenever  he  could  find  a 
spare  hour.  In  this  way  he  ac{iuired  the  legal 
knowledge  necessary  to  pass  the  bar  examination, 
and  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  iMIi;].  His 
efficiency  and  popularity  as  deputy  county  clerk  led 
to  his  nomination  for  county  clerk  in  1864  ;  init  he 
was  defeated  l)y  fewer  than  100  plurality,  though  he 
polled  the  largest  vote  on  his  ticket.  As  a  lawver 
Mr.  Adams  has  made  a  specialty  of  commercial  law. 
He  was  led  into  this  branch  of  the  profession  by  his 
relations  with  the  well-known  houses  of  Pratt  &  Co. 
and  Pratt  &  Letchworth,  whose  confidential  agent 
and  legal  adviser  he  was  for  nearly  a  score  of  years. 
He  was  also  a  trustee  and  secretary  of  the  Buffalo 


.v.   CAk'V  .-l/).-l.)/S 


Iron  &  Nail  Co.,  which  was  part  of  Pratt  t*v:  Co.'s 
establishment.  His  charge  of  the  legal  affairs  of 
these  houses  sent  Mr.  Adams  into  most  of  the  north- 
ern states  east  of  the  Missouri,  and  familiarized   him 


190 


MK\   OF  AF.ir    yOA'A-—liy:S7j;A'A  SECTAOA' 


with  the  legal  procedure  of  many  states.  Since  the 
dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Pratt  &  Co.  in  1<S8(),  Mr. 
Adams  has  devoted  himself  to  general  law  practice. 
In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Adams  has  been  an 
ardent  Republican  since  the  formation  of  that  party. 
For  several  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Repulilican 


sc'/ioo/s  ;  /(iiii^/i/  sikoo/  7i.nntt'!s  aiul  loorkej  as  a  car- 
penter summers,  IS^l-oO ;  married  Harriet  White 
of  Collins,  N.  v.,  October  20,  18^2;  was  superin- 
tendent of  schools  of  Collins,  18JtG-52,  supervisor 
1852-5S,  and  clerk  of  the  board,  18')Jf-'>,') ;  was  member 
of  assembly  in  1857,  deputy  county  clerk  of  Erie  county, 
1859-64,  and  deputy  collector  of  customs, 

1865-67 ;  moved  to  Buffalo  in  1859,  and 

7(ias  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1803 ;  7iias 
employed  as  coufidential  agent  and  legal 
adviser  for  the  firm  of  Pratt  e^  Co., 
1867-86,  and  has  conducted  a  general  law 
practice  in  Buffalo  since  1886. 


JAMJiS  A.  ALLKN 

county  committee,  and  served  one  year  as  its  cliair- 
nian.  He  has,  however,  never  sought  office,  and 
has  fretiuently  declined  nominations  when  urged 
by  his  friends  to  accept  them.  Mr.  Adams  is 
])rominently  identified  with  philanthropic  work  in 
Huffalo.  He  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  Children's 
Aid  Society  for  a  number  of  years,  and  has  been  a 
managing  director  of  the  Queen  City  Society  for 
the  I'revention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  sime  its 
organization  in  If^T!'.  He  has  been  connected  with 
the  Wyoming  Benevolent  Institute  as  trustee  and 
secretary  since  1883. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Samuel  Cary 
Adams  was  born  at  Federal  Stores,  town  of  Chatham, 
N.   V. ,  December  22,  1820  :   was  educateil  in  common 


JamCfi  B.  BllCn  was  a  Connecticut 
hoy.  horu  in  the  ilelightftil  town  of  New 
I  .ontlon,  famous  for  its  magnificent  harbor 
and  historic  a.ssociations.  In  his  tenth 
year  he  left  his  native  New  England, 
and  moved  with  his  parents  to  New  York 
state.  His  studies,  begun  under  a 
V'ankee  schoolmaster,  were  continued  at 
Sinclairville,  Chautau(|ua  county,  in  the 
select  school  of  K.  H.  Sears,  who  sub- 
sequently practiced  law  and  became  a 
judge.  From  this  school  Mr.  .Mien 
entered  I'ledoiiia  .Academy,  and  ( om- 
|ileted  his  education.  In  the  meantime 
he  had  taken  up  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Judge  E.  F.  Warren.  Like 
many  ambitious  young  men,  he  was 
obliged  to  work  his  wa}'  in  the  world. 
He  taught  school  in  the  \Vinter,  and  in 
the  summer  a.ssisted  his  father  at  jiome 
while  continuing  his  studies.  He  learned 
thus  to  economize  his  time,  and  employ 
profitably  every  hour  of  the  day.  His 
career  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
any  youth  with  an  earnest  ambition  can 
find  opjiortunities  to  make  himself  the  kind  of  man 
he  wishes  to  be. 

In  the  fall  of  18.52  Mr.  .Vllen  entered  the  law 
office  of  Welch  &  Hibbard  of  Buffalo  as  a  student, 
and  when  twenty -two  years  of  age  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  thus  placing  his  foot  on  the  first  rouiul 
of  the  ladder  that  was  to  lead  him  to  success  and 
jjrominence.  He  opened  an  office  in  Sinclairville, 
and  was  so  fortunate  as  to  succeed  to  the  law  prac- 
tice of  .'Mliert  Richmond,  newly  elected  surrogate 
of  Chautau(|ua  county.  The  professional  fielil,  how- 
ever, was  limited,  and  Mr.  Allen  decided  that  a 
city  offere<l  greater  attractions  in  the  way  of  legal 
business.  Accordingly,  he  settled  in  Buffalo  in  l.S(il, 
uhcrt-   liis   practice   has  grown   bolli   in   the   number 


MEX   OF  XEir    VORK—IVESTERX  SECT/OX 


191 


of  his  clients  and  in  tiie  impoitance  oi'  iiis  causes. 
He  has  appeared  before  the  highest  courts  of  the 
country,  including  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
at  Washington.  For  three  years  of  his  professional 
life  Mr.  Allen  was  associated  in  partnershij)  with 
Asher  P.  Nichols,  once  state  comptroller. 

Mr.  Allen  has  so  earnestly  confnied  himself  to 
his  office  and  his  profession  that  he  has  never 
figured  in  public  life  as  either  an  office  holder  or 
a  candidate  for  office.  His  leisure  outside  his  legal 
studies  has  been  devoted  to  literature.  He  is  fond 
of  the  Latin  classics,  has  studied  French,  and  is 
conversant  with  its  literature.  He  has  also  devoted 
some  time  to  the  study  of  (lerman  literature, 
through  the  translations  of  such  masters  as  Carlyle. 
Though  not  an  author  of  books,  Mr.  Allen  has 
written  many  articles  for  the  jjress,  which  ]ia\e 
appeared  on  the  editorial  jsages  of  lead- 
ing papers. 

Above  all  things,  however,  Mr.  Allen 
is  a  student  of  the  law,  and  is  deejily 
versed  in  its  history  and  literature.  Of 
recent  years  his  thief  work  has  been 
in  connection  with  that  intricate  branch 
of  the  profession  relating  to  patents  and 
copyrights.  Numerous  cases  of  this  class 
have  taken  him  far  and  wide  over  the 
United  States.  He  has  apjieared  before 
United  States  courts  at  Portland,  Boston, 
New  York,  AUiany,  Utica,  Detroit,  Grand 
Rapids,  and  Chicago.  He  argued  the 
first  patent  cause  heard  before  Judge 
Wallace  after  the  latter's  apijointment  as 
a  judge  of  the  United  States  Court,  and 
the  last  patent  ca.se  ever  decided  by  Judge 
Blatchford  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  Mr.  Allen  has  been  connected 
with  some  of  the  most  notable  jjatent 
cases  tried  in  New  York  state.  i'he  cal 
endars  of  the  circuit  courts  attest  his 
prominence  in  the  field  of  federal  practice. 
He  is  dome.stic  in  his  tastes,  delighting 
in  his  family  and  in  a  choice  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  O  G  F— 
James   A  lb  e  ft  Allen  was   bom    at  Neio 
London,  Conn.,  January  19,  183 Jf  ;    7vas 
educated  in    the  common  schools  of  New 
London,   a    select  school  at   Sinclairville, 
N.   v.,  and  at  Fredonia  {N.    Y.)  Acad- 
emy ;    was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S5G  ;  practiced  Una 
in  Sinclairville,   1856-61 ;    married  Jeanie    Pauline 
Alack  of  Buffalo  November  ;>,    1862  :    has  fracliced 
law  in  Buffalo  since  1861. 


IPIMUp  3BCCl5Cr  was  not  born  in  Buffalo,  but 
his  long  residence  therein,  his  prominent  part  in  the 
business  of  the  city,  and  his  civic  honors,  have  made 
him  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the  place. 

He  was  born  at  Oberotterbach,  a  town  in  Bavaria 
on  the  river  Rhine,  in  IX.'id.  His  early  education 
was  obtained  in  local  schools,  in  the  classical  school 
of  his  native  province,  antl  in  two  years'  study  in 
France.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1847, 
going  directly  to  Buffalo  from  New  York,  via  Albany 
and  the  Erie  canal.  He  first  found  employment  in 
Buffalo  as  a  clerk  in  a  grocery,  at  the  very  modest 
salary  of  four  dollars  a  month  and  board.  He 
brought  to  his  employment  the  same  energy  and 
determination  to  succeed  that  have  characterized  all 
his  business  life.  Soon  after  reaching  manhood  he 
opened  a  store  of  liis  own,  onl)-  a  few  doors  from  his 


PHI  1. 1 1'  niUKi-.R 


present  establishment,  and  founded  the  great  business 
that  has  been  so  long  and  favorably  known  to  the 
people  of  Buffalo  under  the  name  of  Philip  Becker 
&  Co. 


MI2 


MEN  or  .\7:ir  y(i/cA—ii-/-:sr/:A\y  sect/on 


'Ihe  remarkable  success  that  has  attended  Mr. 
Becker's  business  career  has  not  come  by  chance, 
but  has  been  the  result  of  hard  and  intelligent  work, 
right  living,  and  honest  frugality.  Mr.  Becker's 
a((|uaintance  in  Buffalo  is  j)robably  as  large  as  any 
man's.  While  building  up  his  own  business  he  has 
had  many  opportunities  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to 
others,  and  the  kindly  way  in  which  he  has  rendered 
such  aid  has  won  for  him  a  host  of  friends. 

Mr.  Becker's  energy,  uprightness  of  character, 
kindliness,  and  success  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
citizens  of  Buffalo,  and  they  have  freciuently  honored 
him  with  jniblic  office.  In  1S76  and  1S77  he  was 
mayor,  and  gave  the  city  a  thoroughly  satisfactory 
and  businesslike  administration.  In  1886  he  was 
again  mayor,  and  served  four  years.  During  this 
]jeriod  he  continued  the  business  methods  that  he 
had  introduced  in  his  previous  term.  His  record  as 
mayor  is  a  creditable  one,  and  his  administration 
was  of  great  value  to  the  city.  No  mayor  has  ever 
been  more  faithful  to  the  people's  interests  than  he. 

.Mr.  Becker  was  a  ])residential  elector  in  1888.  In 
l.Sill  his  name  was  strongly  ])resented  to  the  Repuli- 
Hcan  state  convention  for  the  nomination  as  governor. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Rejniblican  national  con- 
vention in  1876,  and  again  in  1892.  He  was  one 
of  the  commissioners  in  charge  of  the  erection  of  the 
City  and  County  Hall,  a  building  of  which  Huffalo- 
nians  are  i)roud,  not  only  for  its  beauty,  but  also  for 
the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  few  great  public  build- 
ings that  have  been  honestly  constructed.  Since 
Mr.  Becker's  retirement  from  the  mayor's  office 
December  81,  1889,  he  has  declined  to  acce])t  any 
political  jjosition. 

Mr.  Becker  has  been  connected  with  nuui\'  of  the 
pulilic  institutions  of  Buffalo,  notably  with  the  Music 
Mail  enterprise.  The  erection  of  this  building,  in 
fact,  was  due  largely  to  his  generosity,  wide  accpiaint- 
ance,  untiring  energy,  and  personal  influence.  He 
was  president  of  the  great  Saengerfest  which  was  held 
in  Buffalo  in  188.S,  and  caused  the  liuilding  of  the 
first  Music  Hall. 

.Mr.  Becker  was  one  of  the  original  nienibers  of 
the  Buffalo  (German  Insurance  Co.,  and  since  I'ebru- 
ary,  180il(,  he  has  been  its  |)resident.  The  great 
succe.ss  that  attended  this  enterprise,  and  the  growing 
demand  for  more  good  insurance  companies,  led  Mr. 
Becker,  in  1896,  to  organize  a  new  institution  in 
Buffalo,  known  as  the  Buffalo  Comnicrc  iai  Insurance 
Co.  The  lines  on  wlii(  h  he  has  organi/.cd  this  asso- 
ciation, together  with  the  ])ersons  whom  he  has 
interested  therein,  insure  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prise. The  stockholders  have  unanimously  elected 
Mr     l!c(  kcr  llic  first    |]residciil   of  the  ucu   i  onipain'. 


In  1852  Mr.  Becker  was  married  to  Mi.ss  Sarah 
Cioetz,  and  their  beautifvd  home  on  Delaware  avenue 
is  the  gathering  place  of  numerous  friends.  Mr. 
Becker  is  a  member  of  many  of  the  charitable  and 
scientific  societies  of  Buffalo,  and  he  is  always  a  con- 
tributor to  any  enterprise  re(iuiring  public  benev- 
olence. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— PMlip  Becker 
icas  born  at  Oherotterbach,  Biwaria,  in  April,  ISSO  ; 
jcas  educated  in  German  and  French  sciiools ;  came 
to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Buffalo  in  ISJfj  ; 
married  Sarah  Goetz  of  Buffalo  in  1862  ;  was  mayor 
of  Buffalo,  1870-77  and  1880—89  ;  icas  presidential 
elector  in  1888 ;  lias  been  president  of  the  Buffalo 
German  Insurance  Co.  since  180!i :  has  conducted  a 
laholesale  i:;rocery  business  in  Buffalo  since  ISiiJt. 


BlbCrt  IF?.  .tSriClOS  has  spent  his  entire  pro- 
fessional life,  ro\eriiig  a  |)eriod  of  twenty-five  years, 
in  Buffalo,  and  has  achieved  no  small  measure  of 
success  as  a  general  practitioner ;  although,  as  he 
exjjresses  it,  he  has  "never  had  time  to  get  rich." 
Realizing  the  value  of  concentration  of  effort,  Dr. 
Briggs  has  never  been  interested,  either  directi)-  or 
indirectly,  in  any  business  or  occupation  outside  his 
profession  ;  but  has  devoted  all  his  energies  to  his 
private  practice,  and  to  the  duties  of  the  various 
public  offices  that  he  has  been  called  upon  to  fill. 

Dr.  Briggs  was  born  in  what  is  now  Town  Line, 
Erie  county,  and  began  his  education  at  the  district 
school.  Later  he  attended  the  Batavia  Union  School, 
and  the  academy  at  East  .\urora,  and  finally  the 
Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary  at  Lima,  N.  Y.  His 
medical  studies  were  pursued  at  the  University  of 
Buffalo,  from  which  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  1). 
in  1.S71. 

During  his  student  days  in  Buffalo  Dr.  Briggs  had 
come  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  the  city  as  a 
place  of  residence  and  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  his 
medical  skill,  and  he  decided  to  cast  in  his  lot  there 
permanently.  Accordingly  he  opened  an  office  in 
I'luffalo  innnediately  after  his  graduation.  Within  a 
few  months  he  received  an  appointment  to  ihc  newly 
established  office  oi  post-mortem  examiner  for  Erie 
county,  and  held  the  position  for  more  than  three 
years.  Meanwhile  he  was  a])pointed  city  physician 
for  the  second  district.  In  18,S()  and  1881  he  was 
health  ])hysician  for  the  city,  and  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  office  so  well  that  he  was  reappointed 
in  18.S4,  and  served  for  four  years.  During  this 
second  term  the  office  of  registrar  of  vital  statistics 
was  created  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Briggs.  He  was 
ap])ointed  registrar,  and  as  such  organized  thai  u.seful 
dcparliiK-nt  of  the  ril\-  goNcrnmcnt. 


MEN  OF  NEW    MTRK—U'EsyERN  SECT/ON 


193 


Dr.  Briggs  has  been  a  member  of  the  National 
Guard  for  many  years.  In  October,  1879,  he  was 
appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the  65th  regiment, 
with  the  rank  of  1st  lieutenant,  and  in  less  than  two 
years  he  was  promoted  to  be  surgeon  of  the  regiment, 
with  the  rank  of  caijtain.  In  Ajjril,  ■  18.So,  he 
received  the  rank  of  major,  and  this  he 

still   retains.       In   all  these  years   of  his         

connection  with  the  regiment  his  interest 
therein  has  never  failed,  and  he  may  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  men  who  ha\e 
helped  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  National 
(luard,  and  to  win  for  it  the  high  place 
in  the  esteem  of  the  community  that  it 
now  occupies. 

For  sixteen  years  Dr.  Briggs  has  filled 
the  office  of  state  medical  examiner  for 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen, 
and  in  that  time  he  has  examined  nearly 
fifty  thousand  applications  for  life  insur- 
ance, or  an  average  of  about  ten  a  day. 
This  duty,  in  addition  to  his  private  prac- 
tice and  his  service  to  the  city  and  to  the 
National  (iuard,  has  made  Dr.  Briggs  a 
notably  busy  man  even  in  this  busy  age. 
He  holds  membership  in  a  great  number 
of  the  societies  that  are  so  heljiful  in 
keeping  a  physician  abreast  of  the  times, 
and  bringing  him  into  contact  with  other 
bright  men  in  his  profession.  Among  such 
societies  may  be  mentioned  the  American 
Medical  A.ssociation,  the  American  Public 
Health  Association,  and  the  Association 
of  Military  Surgeons  of  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  the  New  York  State  Medical 
Association,  the  Buffalo  Academy  of 
Medicine,  and  the  Krie  County  Medical 
Society.  He  is  also  a  Ma.son,  belonging 
to  Washington  Lodge,  No.  240. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOL  OG  V—  AIIhtI  Henry 
Briggs  rcurs  born  in  the  town  of  Laneaster,  N.  V. , 
September  9,  18Jf.2 ;  was  educated  in  7'arioiis  scJiools 
and  academies,  and  graduated fro?n  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Buffalo  in  1871 ;  married 
Sarah  America  Baker  of  Andovcr,  N.  ¥.,  June  7, 
]S'(l-i :  was  health  physician  of  the  city  of  Buffalo, 
lSSO-81  and  1884-87  :  has  practiced  medicine  in 
Buffalo  since  1871. 


has  earned  the  gratitude  of  his  t'ellow-citi/ens  by 
his  active  interest  in  many  problems  relating  to 
])ublic  health  and  public  welfare.  Such  men  as 
he  illustrate  and  justify  the  ]ihrase,  "a  self-made 
man,"  and  confer  upon  it  the  honorable  meaning 
that  it  has  acquired  in  popular  speech. 


]£5\Var5  ClSrl?  i^'  ;>■  typical  American  citizen, 
in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  of  the  term.  Without 
the  initial  advantage  of  wealth  or  position,  and  with 
only  the  education  of  the  public  schools,  he  has 
achieved  an   honorable   name   in   his  jirofession,  and 


AL/i/:a-T  II.  HRli.r.s 

Dr.  t'lark  was  born  in  Buffalo  forty-odd  years  ago, 
and  has  spent  [iractically  his  whole  life  there.  His 
education  was  begun  in  the  district  schools  of  West 
Seneca  ;  but  he  afterwards  graduated  from  Public 
School  No.  '11  in  Buffalo,  and  attended  the  high 
school  for  two  years.  As  he  was  ambitious  to  be- 
come a  physician,  and  had  not  the  means  to  obtain  a 
medical  education,  he  taught  school  for  several  years, 
and  thus  obtained  sufficient  money  to  enable  him  to 
attend  medical  lectures  at  Cincinnati  in  1875  and 
1)S7().  He  then  returned  to  Buffalo,  and  after  sev- 
eral years  more  of  combined  teaching  and  study, 
received  his  degree  from  the  medical  de])artment 
of  the  L^niversity  of  Buffalo  with  honors.  This 
happened   on   February   25,  18X0. 


I '.14 


MJCX   OF  XKU-    ]0 A' A'— lives 77-: AW  SKCT/O.X 


Since  then  Ur.  Clark  has  followed  his  i)rofession 
in  Buffalo,  and  has  built  uj)  an  extensive  practice. 
He  has  been  attending  surgeon  at  the  Erie  County 
Hospital  e\cr  since  its  organization,  and  was  for  two 
years  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
staff  of  that  institution.      He  served  for  five  years  as 


/i/Jll.lA'D    (LARK 

lecturer  and  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  Niagara 
University,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  was  offered 
the  professorship  of  anatomy,  but  declined  the  honor. 
Dr.  Clark  has  written  many  articles  and  pamphlets 
for  publication,  not  only  on  purely  jjrofe.ssional  sub- 
jects, but  on  sanitary  questions  as  well. 

After  serving  as  physician  at  the  comity  jail,  3.% post- 
mortem examiner,  and  as  sanitary  ins])ector  for  the 
health  deijartment  of  Buffalo,  Dr.  Clark  was  a]Ji)ointed 
health  jjhysician  of  the  city  in  1888,  and  filled  the 
office  for  two  years.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  this  responsii)Ie  ])Osition  he  was  vigilant,  prom]>t, 
and  efficient,  and  won  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
his  fellow-citi/ens  irres])ective  of  party.  One  of  his 
first  official  moves  was  to  make  a  strenuous  effort  to 


secure  better  school  accommodations  on  the  east  side 
of  the  city  ;  and  it  was  largely  owing  to  him  that 
several  new  buildings,  with  improved  methods  of 
ventilation  and  general  sanitation,  were  erected.  He 
also  deserves  the  gratitude  of  the  people  for  his  suc- 
cessfid  handling  of  the  smallpox  that  broke  out  in 
Buffalo  during  the  first  year  of  his  office. 
Such  emergencies  test  severely  a  man's 
strength,  and  the  fact  that  Dr.  Clark 
was  able  to  cojje  with  this  dread  disease 
and  avert  an  epidemic  speaks  well  for  his 
skill  and  executive  ability. 

In  1890  Dr.  Clark  was  nominated  for 
member  of  the  board  of  councilmen,  but 
was  defeated,  though  he  received  over 
4000  more  votes  than  the  Republican 
candidate  for  mayor.  In  the  S]jring  of 
1894  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Bishop 
a  member  of  the  advisory  committee  on 
street  cleaning  and  the  disposal  of  gar- 
l)age,  and  in  this  position  he  dis])layed 
the  same  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  community  that  has  characterized  his 
entire  public  service. 

Dr.  Clark  is  fond  of  music  and  art, 
as  well  as  of  outdoor  sports  and  amuse- 
ments. He  is  a  Mason,  and  Past  Master 
of  Erie  Lodge,  No.  l(jl,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  a  member  of  the  Acacia  Club.  He 
attends  the  Delaware  Avenue  Methodist 
Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Edward  Clark  7tias  born  at  Buffalo  Oc- 
tober 28,  1852  ;  it'as  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools ;  graduated  from  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo 
in  1880 ;  married  Nellie  M.  Daniels  of 
Buffalo  May  1,  188 i. ;  was  health  physi- 
cian of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  1888-90  :  has 
practiced  medicine  there  since  1880. 


/IDvrOn  lb.  Clarl?  was  born  in  Erie  county, 
.\cw  \'()rk,  in  wliat  is  now  the  town  of  Elma,  though 
it  was  at  the  time  of  his  birth  a  part  of  Lan- 
caster. Not  many  years  before,  the  first  house  and 
a  sawmill  had  been  built,  and  the  dozen  Indian 
families  who  occupied  the  clearings  in  the  vicinity 
were  the  only  neighbors  of  the  owners  of  the  mill. 
When  the  boy  reached  school  age,  the  prosperity  of 
the  town  was  assured,  and  the  ])lace  was  taking  on 
an  im])ortant  air,  as  befitted  a  comnnmity  soon  to  boast 
of  a  railway  in  its  immediate  vicinity  —  the  Buffalo  & 
Washington,  now  the  Western  New  York  &  Pennsyl- 
vania.      The  ])resent  town  of  P'.lma  was  organized  in 


MEN   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTERS  SECTION 


195 


1857  from  territory  taken  trom  the  towns  of  Lancaster 
and  Aurora. 

The  district  school  at  Ehiia  was  unusually  well 
taught,  and  prepared  its  pupils  to  enter  the  (lenesee 
Wesleyan  Seminary  at  Lima,  N.  Y.,  on  whose  roll 
Mr.  Clark  was  registered  from  1868  to  1870.  Pre- 
ferring then  to  pursue  a  practical  business  course,  he 
went  to  Buffalo,  and  took  up  the  curriculum  of  Bryant 
&  Stratton's  Business  College.  Here  he  received 
his  diploma,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He 
put  his  training  into  immediate  use  by  engaging  in 
the  lumber  business.  This  occupation,  together  with 
farming,  brought  him  substantial  returns,  but  he  had 
other  aims  in  view  for  his  life-work.  Entering  the 
law  office  of  M.  A.  Whitney  of  Buffalo,  he  studied 
with  characteristic  persistency  until  prepared  for 
admission  to  the  bar.  After  five  years'  ])ractice  alone 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Frederick 
Howard,  and  the  firm  has  since  been 
known  as  Howard  &  Clark. 

Mr.  Clark  has  been  clerk  of  the  board  of 
supervisors  of  Erie  county,  twice  super- 
visor from  the  town  of  Elma,  chairman 
of  the  P^rie-county  board  of  supervisors, 
and  a  member  of  the  state  assembly. 
While  in  the  assembly  he  was  a  member 
of  two  important  committees  —  those  on 
judiciary  and  excise.  He  was  defeated 
by  a  close  vote  for  re-election  to  the 
assembly,  by  reason  of  the  Democratic 
apportionment  of  1892,  when  the  district 
that  he  then  represented  was  changed  b)' 
the  addition  of  two  large  wards  of  the 
city  of  Buffalo,  and  was  thus  made  largel\' 
Democratic.  The  welfare  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  has  always  been  a  matter  of 
great  interest  to  Mr.  Clark,  ami  he  has 
represented  the  town  of  Elma  on  polit- 
ical committees  ever  since  his  majority. 
He  is,  and  has  been  for  several  years,  a 
member  of  the  Republican  general  com- 
mittee of  Erie  county. 

From  the  coming  of  the  early  settlers 
dates    the    beginning    of   Free   Masonr)- 
in  Erie  county.      In  1807  there  were  a 
sufficient  number  of  Masons  in  Buffalo, 
then  called  New  Amsterdam,  to  warrant 
the    establishment    of  a    Masonii:    lodge, 
although  the  first  lodge  was  not  founded 
until    l>sl2.       Blazing  Star   Lodge,    No. 
{)!)4,  of  which  Mr.  Clark  is  a  memlier,  is  located  at 
I^ast  Aurora.      He  is  also  an  Odd  Fellow,  belonging 
to  Aurora  Borealis  Lodge  ;  a  member  of  the  F^llicott 
Club,    Buffalo,   a    new   business    men's   dining   ami 


social  club  in  l''.llicott  Square;  and  a  frequent 
attendant  at  the  Acacia  Club.  This  organization  is 
an  important  Masonic  club,  occupying  the  entire 
third  floor  of  the  Masonic  Temple,  Buffalo.  The 
club  derives  its  membership,  which  is  limited  to 
six  hundred,  from  the  Masonic  fraternity  of  Buflalo 
and  vicinity.  To  be  eligible  one  must  be  a  Master 
Mason  in  good  standing.  Mr.  Clark  is  an  earnest 
member  of  the  order,  belonging  to  a  chapter  of  Royal 
Arch  Masons  in  addition  to  Blazing  Star  Lodge. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Myioii  Henry 
Clark  was  horn  at  what  is  noiv  Elma,  N.  Y.,  June 
20,  ISiiS  ;  7iias  cilucatr,i  at  Genesee  Wesleyan  Semi- 
nary, Lima,  N.  Y.,  am/ Bryant &"  Sfratton' s  Business 
College,  Buffalo ;  married  Mary  Eliza  Bancroft  of 
Elma  May  iH,  1S76 ;  7aas  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
JSSJ :    7C'as  elerh  of  the  hoard  of  supervisors  of  Erie 


MVROS  II    CLARK 


county  in  1S81,  supervisor  of  the  tmvn  of  Elma, 
18SG-S~ ,  chairman  of  the  Erie-county  hoard  of  super- 
visors in  1887 ,  and  memher  of  assemhly  in  1892  :  has 
practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1883. 


19C 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —  WESTERN  SECTION 


Emorv?  IP.  Close,  though  his  success  is  due 
primarily  to  his  own  efforts,  owes  not  a  little  to  his 
environment.  His  training  in  the  public  schools 
of  Buffalo  was  cut  short  by  his  acceptance  of  a 
position  as  assistant  in  the  Buffalo  Young  Men's 
Association  Library,  where  he  made  good  use  of  the 


hMukV  /'.   <  LOSE 

advantages  afforded.  .Always  fond  of  reading,  he 
had  here  rare  opportunity  to  indulge  his  taste  for 
good  books,  and  the  influence  was  both  heljjful  and 
stimulating.  History,  biography,  mental  philosophy, 
and  Knglish  literature,  he  enjoyed  and  studied  ;  and 
his  acijuaintance  with  books  and  authors  enabled  him 
to  select  the  best  works  in  the  different  fields.  Manv 
moments  of  lei.sure  came  during  the  long  hours  in 
which  the  library  was  open,  and  they  were  all 
im])roved.  .\mong  other  books  he  read  "David 
C.'o|)perfield,"  and  a  ])as.sage  therein  greatly  influ- 
enced his  subsequent  career.  This  was  the  account 
of  David'.s  arduous  struggle  with  shorthand  and 
final  mastery  of  the  art  —  a  feat  that  Dickens  deems 
ec|ual  to  acepiiring  six  foreign  languages.      Mr.  ("lose 


determined  to  learn  stenography,  and  finding  in  the 
library  a  copy  of  draham's  Haiullwok,  he  applied 
him.self  to  the  study.  At  that  time,  in  1«75,  there 
were  not  more  than  five  or  si.\  stenographers  in 
Buffalo,  and  these  were  engaged  principally  in  the 
courts.  .Mr.  Close  sought  no  instruction,  but  ap- 
plied himself  diligently  to  his  text-book, 
and  in  a  year  he  had  mastered  the 
science,  and  was  ready  for  the  more  diffi- 
cult task  of  acquiring  a  high  rate  of 
speed.  His  ambition  was  to  fit  himself 
for  the  highest  grade  of  professional 
work.  This  demanded  at  least  a  super- 
ficial knowledge  of  the  many  subjects 
that  are  frequently  involved  in  legal  con- 
troversy. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  Mr.  Close  re- 
signed his  position  at  the  library,  and 
entered  the  office  of  Slocum  &  Thornton, 
official  stenographers  for  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  )Sth  judicial  district.  Be- 
fore he  was  twenty-one  he  established  an 
office  of  his  own,  and  soon  after  formed 
a  partnership  with  one  of  his  former  em- 
ployers, organizing  the  well-known  firm 
of  Thornton,  Briggs  &:  Clo.se.  In  1884 
Mr.  Close  was  elected  official  stenogra- 
|)her  of  the  state  assembly  by  the  Repul)- 
lican  caucus  of  that  year,  and  reported 
i  all  the  debates  in  that  body.       He  was 

J  re-elected  without  opposition  by  the  as- 

I  sembliesof  1885,  1880,  and  1887. 

■  His  official  life  at  .Albany  brought  Mr. 

Close  into  contact  and  acquaintance  with 
senators  and  assemblymen,  stale  officers, 
and  leading  politicians,  and  familiarized 
him  with    legislative   methods   and   pro- 
cedure.      Having    reached    the    topmost 
round   in   the  stenographic   ladder,   and 
established  a  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  rapid  and 
correct  re])orters  in  the  United  States,  he  turned  his 
thoughts  to  a  wider  field.       His  relations  with  the 
courts  and  legislature  led  him  naturally  to  the  legal 
profession,  and  he  determined  to  study  law.     During 
the  last  three  years  of  his  stenographic  work  he  util- 
ized his  spare  moments,  generallv  at  night,  in  legal 
study,  until  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  IcSJSG. 

Not  until  1888  did  Mr.  Close  enter  u|)on  the 
])rartice  of  the  ])rofession  that  was  to  be  his  life- 
work.  He  found  the  law  a  jealous  mistress,  demand- 
ing de\otion  of  head  and  heart.  He  has  given  his 
entire  thought  and  effort  to  his  profession,  and  in 
the  eight  years  of  his  practice  has  already  earned  for 
himself  a   re])utali(>n    for   tireless  energv   and    legal 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTER. X  SECTTOX 


197 


ability.  In  jury  cases  especially  he  must  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  successful  lawyers  at  the  Erie- 
county  bar.  His  regular  practice  began  in  the  firm 
of  Close  &  Fleischmann  ;  and  upon  the  election  of 
Manly  C.  Green  as  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
Mr.  Close  formed  a  partnership  with  Judge  Green's 
former  partner,  William  \,.  Marcy,  imder  the  style 
of  Marcy  &  Close.      This  a,ssociation  still  continues. 

Mr.  Close  has  always  been  deeply  interested  in 
the  success  of  the  Republican  party,  and  has  been  a 
tav'orite  campaign  speaker  throughout  Erie  county. 
For  political  ofifice,  however,  he  has  no  ambition, 
preferring  the  laurels  won  in  his  profession.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  affiliated  with 
.Ancient  Landmark  Lodge.  He  belongs  to  the  Buf- 
falo Club  and  the  .\cacia  Club,  and  is  president 
of  the  Republican  League,  one  of  the  leading  ])art)- 
organizations  of  the  state. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Emory  P.  Close  was  born  at  Buffalo  De- 
cember 13,  1859 ;  was  educated  in  the 
ptihlic  schools ;  luas  assistant  librarian  of 
the  Young  Men' s  Association  Library  of 
Buffalo,  187Ji--~7 ;  was  Supreme  Court 
stenographer  for  the  Sth  judicial  district, 
1880-88,  and  official  stenographer  of  the 
New  York  state  assembly,  1884-87 ;  mar- 
ried Etta  S.  Cobb  of  Buffalo  Jaiiuary  7 , 
1885 ;  was  admilted  to  the  bar  in  1886, 
and  has  practiced  laiv  in  Buffalo  since 
1888. 


]E5warC>   E.  Coatswortb  i^ 

|jrominent  among  the  rising  young  law- 
yers and  well-known  men  of  Buffalo. 
He  was  born  there  less  than  thirty  years 
ago,  and  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools,  attending  Public  School  No.  4, 
and  graduating  from  the  high  .school. 
Having  decided  upon  the  law  as  his  pro- 
fession, he  immediately  entered  upon  a 
course  of  legal  study,  and  was  admitted 
to  practice  by  the  General  Term  of  the 
Supreme  Court  soon  after  completing  his 
twenty-first  year.  This  is  an  unusuall\ 
early  age  at  which  to  gain  admi.ssion  to 
the  bar,  and  is  a  striking  proof  of  the 
maturity  of  his  mind. 

Mr.  Coatsworth  ne.xt  added  to  his  theo- 
retical knowledge  of  the  law  a  thorough 
familiarity  with  court  rules  and  procedure  by  a  period 
of  service  as  managing  clerk  in  the  office  of  Tabor  & 
Sheehan.     With  such  ability  and  success  did  he  con- 
duct the  clerical  affairs  of  the   office,    that  he   was 


admitted  to  a  partnership  in  the  firm  Ma\  1.  1X88. 
Two  years  later  the  firm  was  enlarged  by  the  atlmis- 
sion  of  John  Cunneen.  The  two  senior  partners 
were  much  engaged  in  public  affairs,  and  the  volume 
of  the  work  of  the  firm  fell  upon  Messrs.  Coatsworth 
and  Cunneen.  On  the  removal  of  Mr.  Sheehan  to 
New  York  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  Mr. 
Coatsworth  united  with  Mr.  Cunneen  in  forming  a 
new  partnership  under  the  name  of  Cunneen  &  Coats- 
worth. This  firm  has  been  deservedly  successful,  and 
has  built  up  a  substantial  and  reputable  clientage 
comprising  many  important  Inisiness  concerns  and 
private  corporations. 

Mr.  Coatsworth  has  wisely  held  aloof  from  active 
participation  in  politics,  thus  economizing  his  time 
and  energy  for  the  zealous  pursuit  of  his  profession. 
He  has  avoided  the  mistake  of  so  manv  bright  voung 


Ent\.ih'i>  /■:.  CD.irsiioA'y// 


men,  who  seek  office  and  busy  them.selves  with  party 
|jolitics,  to  the  neglect  of  their  life  occupation.  But 
Mr.  Coatsworth  is  far  from  being  a  bookworm.  No 
man  takes   more  interest  in  healthy  recreation  than 


198 


AfEN   OF  M:\V    VORK—WF.STERX  SF.CTIOX 


he  ;  and  his  connection  with  niinuTOiis  societies  and 
chibs  attests  the  fact  that  he  does  not  neglect  the 
social  side  of  life.  He  is  particularly  fond  of  ai|uatic 
sports,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Yacht  Club 
and  the  Buffalo  Canoe  Club,  seeking  in  this  way  to 
take  the  exercise  so  essential  to  every  man  pursuing  a 


EDWARD   /..    COOK 

sedentary  vocation  and  engaged  in  head  work  largely. 

In  the  Masonic  fraternity  Mr.  Coatsworth  stands 
high,  and  is  a  devoted  member  of  the  brotlierhood. 
He  belongs  to  all  the  Ma.sonic  bodies  of  Buffalo, 
both  York  and  Scottish  rites,  and  has  taken  all  the 
degrees  from  the  first  to  the  thirty-.second  inclusive. 
He  is  also  a  Knight  Templar  and  a  Noble  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine,  and  holds  membership  in  the  Royal 
Arcanum  and  the  Acacia  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Edward 
Emerson  Coats7iwrth  7oas  born  at  Buffalo  Nornnfier  '> , 
186G ;  7oas  educated  in  the  pul>lic  schools,  i^radiiatiiii:; 
from  the  high  school;  rcas  admitted  to  the  bar  January  (j, 
1888;  married  Emma  Marion  Blocking  of  Buffalo  June 
26,  1891 ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1888. 


]I£^^V^V^  X.  Cool?  deserves  honorable  mention 
in  the  list  of  Huffalonians  who  have  been  instru- 
mental in  building  up  the  Queen  City,  and  making 
it  the  healthful  and  beautiful  place  of  residence  that 
it  is  to-day.  He  was  born  in  Buffalo  and  has  lived 
there  all  his  life,  barring  an  ab.sence  of  three  years 
as  a  volunteer  soldier  in  the  Union  army. 

His  early  life  was  that  of  the  city  boy. 

He  attended   the    grammar  school,   and 
later  the  Central  High  -School.      To  this 
instruction  he  added  a  winter's  training 
as  a  teacher,  thus  solidifying  the  know  1 
edge  previously  acquired. 

Abandoning  teaching  for  business,  Mr. 
Cook  became  connected  as  bookkeeper 
with  the  firm  of  Hardiker  &  Toye,  who 
then  carried  on  a  large  plumbing  business 
in  Buffalo.  He  remained  with  them  till 
the  summer  of  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in 
the  100th  New  York  regiment,  donned 
the  blue  uniform,  and  marched  to  the 
front  in  defense  of  the  Union.  He  served 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  and  rose  from  the 
ranks  to  the  grade  of  captain,  receiving  a 
commission  as  major  by  brevet  after  he 
was  mustered  out.  At  one  time  he  was 
detailed  to  duty  on  the  staff  of  General 
Dandy,  the  brigade  commander.  He  was 
still  a  young  man  when  the  war  closed, 
but  the  three  years  spent  in  the  army  are 
numbered  among  the  most  valuable  of  his 
whole  life.  In  this  respect  Mr.  Cook 
is  like  most  soldiers,  who  would  not 
exchange  their  war  experience  for  any 
other. 

On  returning  from  the  field  Mr.  Cook 

entered  the  service  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral &  Hudson  River  railroad,  and  filled 
a  clerkship  with  that  company.  His  old 
business  training,  however,  asserted  itself,  and  after 
a  while  he  became  bookkeeper  for  a  plumbing  hou.se 
conducted  by  T.  W.  Toye,  one  of  his  first  em- 
ployers. His  faithfulness  and  ability  brought  in  the 
course  of  years  their  proper  reward,  and  he  was  made 
a  partner  by  Mr.  Toye  under  the  firm  name  of 
T.  W.  Toye  &  Co.  Finally  Mr.  Cook  branched 
out  in  business  in  his  own  name,  and  for  the  past 
eighteen  years  he  has  been  at  the  head  of  one  of 
the  largest  and  most  complete  plumbing,  heating, 
ventilating,  and  lighting  establishments  in  Buffalo. 
Mr.  Cook  is  connected  with  numerous  social  and 
benevolent  organizations,  and  is  an  active  member 
of  each.  He  has  long  been  prominent  in  the  Crand 
.\rmv   of  the  Republic,  the  l^nion  ^\'tel•an   Legion, 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERS  SECTIOX 


199 


and  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  He  is 
a  member  of  DeMolay  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and 
of  the  Acacia  Club.  All  societies  and  clubs  having 
a  patriotic  or  philanthropic  object  find  in  him  a  warm 
supporter  and  friend.  His  name  is  identified  with 
the  Clood  Government  Club,  the  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  the  Liberal  Club, 
and  the  Charity  Organization  Society.  In  short, 
Mr.  Cook  is  not  only  a  man  of  business,  but  a  man 
of  affairs  generally,  recognizing  his  obligations  to 
society,  and  meeting  them  by  hearty  co-operation 
to  the  full  extent  of  his  time  and  power. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Echmni  L. 
Cook  was  born  at  Buffalo  March  20,  1839 :  ivas 
educated  in  the  public  schools ;  toas  bookkeeper  for  a 
Jinn  of  plumbers,  1S59-62  ;  served  in  the  Union  army, 
1S62-65  ;  married  Mary  E.  Moffett  of  Fortageville, 
N.  v.,  June  16,  1869 ;  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  T.    W.    Toye  lS^"  Co.,         

plumbers,  in  1870,  and  has  conducted  a 
similar  business  under  his  (ncn  name  since 
1878. 


George  M.  Gotbran  has  ri.sen  to 

his  present  eminence  through  indomit- 
able energy  and  inborn  ability.  When 
he  was  four  years  of  age  his  father 
died,  leaving  his  mother  with  a  small  and 
heavily  encumbered  farm  and  a  family  of 
thirteen  children,  of  whom  George  was 
the  youngest.  LTntil  he  was  sixteen  years 
old  the  routine  of  farm  work,  study  at 
the  neighboring  school,  and  lessons  with 
an  elder  brother,  filled  his  time.  Re- 
moving to  Lockport,  he  devoted  the 
succeeding  four  years  to  acquiring  a 
practical  knowledge  of  several  branches 
of  the  mechanical  arts.  In  these  he 
evinced  decided  skill,  and  his  ability  to 
draw  plans  of  wooden,  iron,  and  stone 
structures  has  often  been  of  service  in 
his  law  practice  in  causes  involving  such 
questions. 

The    young  man's  ambition   to  study 
law    saw    promise    of    fulfillment    when 
Phineas   L.    Ely   of  Lockport  took  him 
into  his  office.     After  three  years'  faith- 
fiil  application   Mr.  Cothran  was  admit- 
ted to  practice  in  all  the  courts  of  New 
York   state.      His   examination    was  un- 
usual :    it  was  conducted   by   three  judges   in  o|ien 
court,   and  he  answered  correctly  all  the  questions 
with  a  single  exception.     After  a  year  sjjent   with 
his  preceptor.   Mr.   Cothran  ojiened  a  law  office  in 


Lockport  in  I.S.IS,  and  met  with  most  gratifying 
success  until  he  was  interrupted  by  the  call  to  arms 
in  1861. 

Organizing  battery  M,  1st  New  York  volunteer 
light  artillery,  he  was  commissioned  its  captain,  ant! 
went  at  once  to  the  front.  The  record  of  this  battery 
is  that  it  never  lost  a  gun  in  all  the  great  battles  or 
lesser  engagements  in  which  it  took  part.  An  eight 
hours'  fire  at  Antietam  was  one  of  Captain  Cothran's 
memorable  exjieriences.  Another  was  the  exposure 
to  a  twenty-four  hours'  rain,  which  brought  on 
sciatica,  and  obliged  him  to  resign  his  commission 
and  return  home.  From  the  effects  of  this  he  has 
never  fully  recovered.  After  the  battle  of  Antietam 
Captain  Cothran  was  recommended  to  President 
Lincoln,  by  every  commissioned  officer  in  the  11th 
armv  corjis,  for  |)romotion  lor  meritorious  service  in 


GEORGH    IV.   CO-/7/A'.l.\ 


the  field  ;    l)ut  political  considerations  jirevented  him 
from  receiving  this  richly  deserved  honor. 

On  leaving  the  army  in  1863,  Mr.  Cothran  took 
up  the  practice  of  his  jirofession  in  Buffalo,  and  soon 


•mo 


MKX   OF  XElf    VCiRK—irKSTEhW  SECT/ON 


achieved  an  honored  place  in  the  bar  of  western  New- 
York.  He  has  been  connected  with  many  important 
litigations.  In  1869-72  he  conducted  what  was 
known  as  the  "penalty  litigation"  against  the 
New  York  Central  &  Hud.son  River  Railroad  Co. 
for   exacting  excess  of  fare  :    and   the   result   coni- 


Wll.I.IAM   II.   CUDDEIiACK 

jielled  a  reorganization  of  the  pa.ssenger  tariffs  of 
nearly  all  the  railroads  in  the  country,  and  |)re- 
vented  their  demanding  more  than  legal  rates.  In 
1879  Mr.  Cothran  went  to  Chicago,  to  help  unravel 
a  railroad  complication,  and  made  that  city  his  home 
until  1885,  when  he  returned  to  Buffalo.  He  has 
])racticed  there  ever  since. 

In  1877  Baker  University  of  Kansas  conferred 
on  Mr.  Cothran  the  degree  of  LI..  I),  because  of  his 
scholarly  work  in  editing  and  annotating  the  sixth 
edition  of  the  revised  statutes  of  the  state  of  New 
York,  in  three  volumes  containing  nearly  4()()() 
pages.  In  1879  he  did  a  similar  ])iece  of  work  for 
the  revised  statutes  of  Illinois,  and  this  has  been 
edited  bienniallv  since,  and  is  a  standard  authoritv. 


Mr.  Cothran  is  the  author  of  two  practical  and  help- 
ful l)ooks  entitled  "  Law  of  Supervisors  "  and  "Law 
of  .Assessors  and  Collectors."  He  has  frequently 
contributed  in  lighter  vein  to  the  pages  of  popular 
]jeriodicals. 

.\mong  the  eduiational  institutions  that  have  bene- 
fited from  Mr.  Cothran's  liberality  is  the 
Buffalo  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. He  was  its  first  president,  and 
for  a  considerable  ]jeriod  occupied  the 
(hair  of  medical  jurisprudence. 

Mr.  Cothran's  beautiful  home  in  Buf- 
falo is  a  veritable  picture  gallery  and  art 
emporium.  There  is  probably  no  larger 
collection  of  music  and  musical  literature 
to  be  found  in  America  than  his.  His 
]irivate  library  covers  the  whole  range 
of  literature,  a  unique  feature  being  a 
(  ollection  of  rare  books  on  the  origin, 
formation,  and  progress  of  religious  ideas. 
His  law  library  is  said  to  be  the  mo.st 
thoroughly  annotated  of  any  in  Buffalo. 
PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
George  W.  Cothran  7vas  horn  at  Royal- 
ton,  Niagara  county,  N.  Y. ,  February  25, 
1S34  ;  7oas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1857  ; 
served  in  the  Union  army,  18G1-03  ;  mar- 
ried Jennie  IV.  Mann  of  Buffalo  May  26, 
ISfiS  :  7i'as  county  judge  of  Erie  county  in 
1877  ;  edited,  annotated,  and  wrote  several 
valuable  books,  1875-89 :  has  practiced 
l<i7o  in  Buffalo  since  186S,  7vifh  the  excep- 
tion of  several  rears'  practice  in  Chicago, 
1879-85. 


WilUam  lb.  (Iu&5ebacl?  <omes 

of  old  Dutch  stock,  and  his  ancestors 
settled  in  the  Empire  State  soon  after 
it  pa.ssed  imder  the  control  of  the  Kng- 
lish.  .Manv  of  his  lineage  have  figured  in  the  local 
annals  of  the  state  ;  several  served  in  the  revolu- 
tionary war,  and  took  |)art  in  the  fighting  that  oc- 
curred in  the  Minisink  territory,  when  the  settlers 
were  attacked  by  the  famous  Indian  chieftain, 
Joseph  Brant.  Mr.  Cuddeback's  father  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1.S4(>,  a 
member  of  the  state  a.ssembly,  and  county  clerk  of 
Orange  county.  Public  affairs  have  proved  attrac- 
tive to  his  family,  and  naturally  enough  Mr.  Cudde- 
back  has  devoted  the  time  not  re(|uired  in  his  jjro- 
fession  to  active  participation  in  the  management  of 
his  political  ]iarty  in  Buffalo.  He  is  prominently 
identified  with  the  "regular"  Democracy;  and  for 
two  vears  was  chairman  of  the    Democratic   general 


.\fE\   OF  .\/:ir    ]OKK—irESTER.\  SKCr/OX 


201 


committee,  and  gave  freel}'  of  his  time  ami  effort  to 
promote  the  success  of  his  party.  Ihe  divisions  and 
dissensions  in  the  Democracy  in  the  Queen  City  are 
matter  of  history,  but  Mr.  Cuddeback  ha.s  the  re- 
spect of  all  factions. 

Mr.  Cuddeback  was  liorn  in  the  delightful  county 
of  Orange,  in  New  York  state,  and  received  an 
academic  education  in  the  town  of  Goshen,  to  which 
his  parents  had  moved.  He  entered  Cornell  Uni- 
versity at  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  and  spent  four 
years  there.  He  chose  the  law  as  his  profession,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  at  Poughkeepsie,  N.  V'.,  in 
May,  1877.  At  first  he  practiced  alone  for  a  short 
time  at  Cioshen,  where  he  became  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  Then  for  seven  years  he  was  a.ssociated  with 
Henry  A.  Wadsworth  of  Orange  county.  But  like 
all  ambitious  young  men,  Mr.  Cuddeback  longed  for 
the  marts  of  trade  and  commerce.  He 
realized  the  fact  that  to  obtain  business 
one  must  go  where  business  is.  Accord- 
ingly he  cast  around  for  a  new  location, 
and,  drawn  by  the  obvious  advantages  of 
Buffalo,  moved  thither  in  18H.5.  In  1889 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Daniel  J. 
Kenefick,  at  present  district  attorney  of 
Erie  county,  that  lasted  four  years.  In 
1895  Mr.  Cuddeback  associated  himself 
with  Joseph  V.  Seaver,  county  judge,  and 
is  at  present  connected  with  Eugene  P. 
Ouchie.  Since  establishing  himself  in 
Buffalo  Mr.  Cuddeback's  law  practice 
has  grown  steadily,  and  he  has  to-day  a 
recognized  position  at  the  bar  of  Erie 
county. 

Meanwhile  he  has  become  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state.  His  only  pub- 
lic office  has  been  that  of  manager  of  the 
Craig  Colony  for  epileptics  at  Sonyea. 
He  was  first  appointed  to  this  office  by 
(Governor  Elower,  and,  though  a  strong 
Democrat,  he  has  been  twice  reappointed 
by  Oovernor  Morton  —  a  striking  proof 
of  his  efficient  administration  of  the 
office. 

Mr.  Cuddeback  is  a  Mason,  antl  holds 
membership  in  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge, 
No.  441 ,  Free  and  Accepted  Ma.sons.  He 
is  well  known  in  club  circles,  belonging 
to  the  Saturn  Club,  the  EUicott  Club, 
and  the  Acacia  Cliili. 

PERSONAL  CHRO.XOLOGY—  ]\;iHam 
Ifi'rman  Cuddeback  7i'as  horn  in  Ihe  town  of  Deer 
Park.    N.    Y..    Mo  re  It    3;'),    1,S'.54  .■    ?c',7s   edtiealed   al 


Goshen  Academx  and  Cornell  Unii'crsity :  7oas  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1877  :  praeticed  laic  at  Goshen, 
N.  V. ,  1877-S5  ;  7cias  chairman  of  the  Democratie 
general  committee,  Buffalo,  189'>-96 :  has  practiced 
law  in  Buffalo  since  1885. 


XlbOtUaS  2>arl?  has  led  a  laborious,  useful,  and 
honorable  life.  Born  in  the  pari.sh  of  Bitton,  county 
of  (Gloucester,  near  Bristol,  England,  about  the  time 
|)rinting  machines  were  invented,  and  a  year  be- 
fore the  battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought,  Mr.  Dark's 
career  has  e.xtended  over  the  most  remarkable  period 
in  the  world's  history.  His  place  has  been  among 
the  toilers.  From  his  early  days  he  was  accustomed 
to  heavy  labor,  since  he  went  to  work  for  his  father,  a 
contractor  and  builder,  at  the  age  of  ten,  thus  learn- 
ing the  mason's  trade.      Too  young  to  carrv  on  the 


THOMAS   DARK 

business  of  his  father  on  the  latter's  death,  Mr.  Dark 
left  his  home  and  went  to  Bristol,  where  he  worked 
at  his  trade  mider  master  builders.  While  there 
some  of  his  father's  old  patrons  sent  for  him  to  do  a 


■21)2 


MEX   OF  X/Cir    VORK—lVKSTKhW  SECT/(hY 


job  of  masonry,  and  from  this  beginning  Mr.  Dark 
developed  into  a  building  contractor.  At  first  he 
jnit  up  dwelling  houses,  for  the  most  part,  but  after- 
ward his  specialty  became  municipal  work  —  the  con- 
struction of  bridges,  culverts,  waterworks,  gas  tanks, 
sewers,  and  the  like. 

After  a  score  of  years  spent  at  his  trade  in  V.ng- 
lanH,  Mr.  Dark  made  up  his  mind  to  seek  the  richer 
opportunities  of  a  new  country  by  going  to  America. 
He  arrived  in  Buffalo  with  two  of  his  sons  April  1, 
1X57,  in  the  midst  of  universal  business  depression. 
At  first  the  outlook  was  discouraging,  and  Mr.  Dark 
sought  employment  in  Canada.  He  soon  returned 
to  Buffalo,  and,  in  order  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  customs  of  the  place  and  people,  secured  work 
on  the  new  post  office  then  building  at  the  corner 
of  Washington  and  Seneca  streets.  Mr.  Dark's 
readiness  to  accept  work  under  a  "boss"  when  he 
had  long  been  an  employer  himself,  is  characteristic 
of  the  man.     Idleness  he  has  always  abhorred. 

.About  this  time,  seeing  an  advertisement  inviting 
propo.sals  for  building  a  stone  culvert  across  Louisi- 
ana street,  Mr.  Dark  put  in  a  bid,  and  secured  the 
work.  From  that  day  he  has  been  prominent  among 
the  contractors  of  Buffalo,  where  he  has  performed 
many  large  contracts  for  corporations  and  individu- 
als. The  foundations  of  numerous  public  and  pri- 
vate structures  are  the  work  of  his  brains  and  hands. 
In  all  his  undertakings  he  has  applied  the  same 
])rincii)les  of  dealing  in  the  case  of  the  public  as  in 
that  of  a  private  citizen,  and  has  never  been  classed 
among  contractors  who  grow  rich  on  public  jobs. 

In  1873  Mr.  Dark  planned  and  constructed  the 
Titusville,  Penn.,  waterworks.  For  nearly  thirty 
years  he  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  water  sup- 
ply of  Buffalo.  He  received  the  first  premium, 
S20()(),  offered  by  the  city  of  Buffalo  in  186!)  for 
the  best  plans  and  specifications  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  waterworks.  Mr.  Dark's  ideas,  how- 
ever, were  not  carried  out  by  the  city  and  contrac- 
tors, and  he  has  always  insisted  that  the  work  was  very 
badly  done.  He  contends  that  the  Buffalo  water  sup])ly 
is  entirely  inadecpiate  to  the  needs  of  a  growing  com- 
munity, and  constitutes  in  some  respects  a  distinct 
menace  to  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  He  comijiled 
and  published,  in  1895,  a  fifty-page  jiamphlet  on 
the  Buffalo  waterworks,  entitled  "  History  of  a 
(Ireat  Failure."  His  contention  in  brief  is  that  the 
existing  system  and  jjlant  are  radically  defective  ; 
that  the  [jractice  of  supplying  water  in  its  crude  state 
to  consumers,  by  direct  pumping  service  from  the 
river,  is  a  ridiculous  and  dangerous  novelty  in  hy- 
draulic engineering  ;  that  the  mains  which  deliver 
water  for  domestic  use  should  be  filled  from  rcserxoirs 


su])i)lied  by  filter  beds,  the  latter  receiving  the 
water  in  its  crude  state  from  a  separate  pumping  main  ; 
that  the  present  inlet  pier,  receiving  well  therein, 
and  tunnel  thence  to  the  pumping  station,  were  badly 
constructed,  at  a  cost  monstrously  in  excess  of  the 
]jro])er  cost  of  good  construction  ;  that  the  water 
su])ply  is  now,  under  certain  conditions  easily  ful- 
filled, polluted  by  sewage  and  street  washings  :  that 
the  water  supply  at  certain  seasons  may  be  cut  off, 
to  the  great  danger  of  the  city,  by  slush  ice  —  partly 
cut  off,  as  it  is  every  year,  wholly  cut  off,  as  it  may  be 
under  conditions  foreseeable  and  not  unprecedented  ; 
that  the  inlet  is  located  in  the  wrong  place,  and  should 
have  been  built  far  out  in  the  lake,  where  pure  water 
can  be  obtained  at  all  seasons  without  danger  of  a 
water  famine  from  the  clogging  of  the  inlets  by  slush 
ice.  Without  particularizing  further  Mr.  Dark's  plans, 
it  may  be  sai'd  that  his  pamjjhlet  on  the  sul)ject,  his 
original  estimates,  diagrams,  and  specifications  —  all 
of  which  will  be  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the 
Buffiilo  Historical  Society — will  be  exceedingly  use- 
ful to  future  students  of  the  Buffalo  water  su])ply,  and 
will  constitute  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  history 
of  municipal  government. 

Mr.  Dark  embodies  the  best  traits  of  the  English 
character  —  industry,  independence,  and  devotion  to 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  He  is  a  fine  type  of 
the  self-made  and  self-educated  man.  His  school 
days  were  few  ;  but  he  has  succeeded  by  persever- 
ance and  economy  of  time  in  enlarging  his  mental 
horizon  until  he  has  become  an  intelligently  in- 
formed man  in  a  variety  of  lines.  Close  observa- 
tion and  sound  judgment  have  been  his  guides.  He 
is  fond  of  reading  and  travel.  He  wrote,  in  the 
form  of  a  diary,  an  account  of  a  European  trip 
made  with  several  members  of  his  family  in  18!)."!. 
This  narrative  was  published  at  the  request  of  friends, 
and  the  book  is  thoroughly  enjoyable,  affording  a 
delightful  picture  of  English  home  life. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Thomas  Dark 
7vas  born  at  Kingswood,  near  Bristol,  England,  De- 
cember 21,  ISlJf ;  received  an  elementary  education, 
and  learned  the  mason' s  trade  ;  married  Eliza  Willis 
of  Kingswood  in  183S  ;  came  to  the  United  States,  and 
settled  in  Buffalo  in  1S57 ;  has  been  a  mason  and 
building  contractor  in  England  and  the  United  States 
since  18SS. 


Oliver  %.  EOOCtt  has  led  a  markedly  usefid 
and  succe.ssfiil  life  along  important  and  difficult  lines 
of  commercial  activity.  He  was  born  in  the  Key- 
stone State,  but  was  taken  during  his  infancy  to  Erie 
county.  New  York,  and  has  lived  ever  since  in  or 
near  Buffalo.      He  was  unable  to  carrv  his  education 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


20:; 


beyond  the  common  schools,  and  even  that  advan- 
tage was  cut  off  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  began 
business  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  Buffalo  grocery.  Three 
years  of  this  service  gave  him  considerable  insight 
into  the  elements  and  principles  of  business,  and  thus 
])aved  the  way  for  the  partnership  formed  in  1.S47 
with  his  father,  Christian  P'ggert.  They 
established  a  general  store  in  the  Ivrie- 
county  village  named  from  their  family 
Eggertsville,  and  built  u|)  there  a  flourish- 
ing trade.  Mr.  Eggert  remained  in  the 
business  until  1862,  when  he  sold  iiis 
interest  and  retired. 

In  the  same  year  the  sheriff  of  Erie 
county,  Robert  H.  Best,  offered  the  |io 
sition  of  under  sheriff  to  Mr.  Eggert. 
'I'he  latter  had  been  so  much  absorljed  in 
business  before  this  that  he  had  found 
little  time  for  public  office  ;  though  he 
had  been  elected,  in  1858,  clerk  of  (lie 
Erie-county  board  of  su])ervisors.  He 
acce])ted  the  ]jOsition  of  under  sheriff, 
and  fulfilled  its  duties  so  effectively  that 
he  was  himself  elected  sheriff  two  years 
later  on  the  Democratic  ticket  for  the 
term  liS(i."i-67.  The  responsibilities  of 
this  higher  office  were  unfiinchingl)'  met 
and  adeijuately  discharged,  and  Mr.  Eg- 
gert attained  a  reputation  for  integrity 
and  business  aliility  that  materially  pro- 
moted his  subsequent  success.  Since  his 
retirement  from  the  sheriff's  office  he  has 
not  been  in  public  life,  excejjt  that  in 
1871  he  was  appointed  police  justice  to 
fill  a  vacancy. 

Mr.  Eggert's  earlier  career  thus  related 
has  been  almost  forgotten,  and  people 
nowadays  think  of  him  as  a  financier, 
and  more  particularly  as  a  man  widely 
informed  in  the  great  business  of  insurance.  In 
1867  a  corporation  was  organized  in  Buffalo  entitled 
the  Buffalo  German  Insurance  Co.,  to  carry  on  the 
business  of  fire  underwriting.  Mr.  Eggert  has  been 
identified  with  this  enterprise  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, having  been  one  of  the  incorporators  and  one 
of  the  first  directors  of  the  company.  He  held  no 
active  executive  position,  however,  until  1874,  when 
.-Mexander  Martin  resigned  the  position  of  .secretary, 
and  Mr.  Eggert  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office.  In 
the  twenty  and  more  years  during  which  he  has  con- 
tinued to  hold  this  position,  the  affairs  of  the  Buffalo 
(ierman  Insurance  Co.  have  prospered  exceedingly. 
The  rea.son  for  this  cannot  be  found  exclusively  in 
the    secretary    of   the    company,   because   the   other 


offices  and  the  general  management  of  the  institution 
have  been  vested  in  able  hands.  There  is  no  doubt, 
however,  that  the  important  duties  assigned  to  Mr. 
Eggert  have  been  most  fiiithfully  and  efficiently  per- 
lormed,  and  the  success  of  the  business  must  be 
ascribed  in  large  measure  to  him.      When  he  became 


OLIIER  J.   EC.GEh'T 

secretary  the  a.ssets  of  the  company  were  about 
§447,000  and  the  net  surplus  $141,000.  By  July  1, 
1896,  the  assets  had  risen  to  $1,850,000  and  the  sur- 
plus to  SI  ,250,000.  These  comparative  figures  dem- 
onstrate clearly  the  success  of  the  company  since  Mr. 
Eggert  became  its  secretary.  The  insurance  business 
necessarily  occupies  the  chief  share  of  Mr.  Eggert's 
time  and  thought,  but  he  is  also  a  trustee  and  second 
vice  president  of  the  Erie  County  Savings  Bank.  Mr. 
Eggert's  thorough  knowledge  of  financial  subjects 
and  sound  judgment  in  matters  connected  therewith 
are  of  great  value  in  the  conduct  of  banking  affairs. 
PERSONA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  F—  Oliver 
Jefferson  Eggert  teas  horn  at  Petersburg,  Penn. ,  Oeto- 
l>cr  •?/,    182S :   received  a   coinmon-sclwol  education ; 


■>iU 


AfEN   OF  JVEir    )(>/KA—irESTEJ?A'  SECTION 


conducted  a  general  store  at  Eggertsville,  Erie  county, 
N.  v.,  18Jfl-62  :  married  Susan  Frick  of  Eggerts- 
ville  Noi'ember  15,  184.9  ;  7cias  appointed  under  sheriff 
of  Erie  county  in  1862,  and  was  elected  sheriff  for  the 
years  1865-67  ;  has  been  secretary  of  the  /Buffalo  Ger- 
man Insurance  Co.  since  187 J/. 


JOSE /'If  row  I.ER 

305Cpb  jfOWlCr  h;is  practical  medicine  in 
P>uffalo  nearly  a  (juartcr  of  a  century,  and  has  thus 
built  u|)  an  enviable  reputation,  both  professionally 
as  a  general  practitioner  and  socially  as  a  cultured 
gentleman  and  thoroughly  likable  associate.  He  has 
served  the  public  efficiently  in  positions  of  much 
importance,  and  is  widely  known,  outside  the  circle 
of  his  immediate  ])ractice,  as  a  man  of  character  and 
responsibility. 

Dr.  Kowler  was  born  in  Saratoga  county,  New 
York,  shortly  before  the  middle  of  the  century,  in 
the  townshiji  of  Clifton  Park.  His  ancestors  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  that  part  of  the  state, 
and  both  his  parents  and  grandjiarents  were  like- 
wise born  in  the  same  community.     His   pre])aratory 


education  was  obtained  at  Half  Moon  .\cademy  in 
his  native  town.  He  was  unable  to  enter  upon  jjro- 
fessional  studies  at  the  usual  and  most  convenient 
stage  of  life,  and  followed  the  example  of  so  many 
eminent  men  by  basing  his  higher  education  on  the 
foundation  of  ])reliminary  teaching.  He  undertook 
this  work  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and 
continued  to  teach  for  four  or  five  years. 
.\t  the  end  of  that  time  his  resources 
uere  such  that  he  was  able  to  carry  out 
his  plans  to  fit  himself  for  the  medical 
profession  ;  and  in  18(59  he  left  Saratoga 
county  for  the  other  end  of  the  state, 
matriculating  in  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  Buffalo.  Taking  his 
degree  in  1878,  he  began  practice  in 
Buffalo  at  once,  with  the  happy  results 
stated  in  our  opening  paragraph. 

The  early  career  of  a  young  ]jhysician 
in  a  large  city,  without  special  j)restige, 
family    connections    of   value,    or   other 
favoring  circumstance,    is    likely   to    be 
somewhat  thorny  ;  and  Dr.    Fowler  had 
no  magician's  wand  with  which  to  dissi- 
pate the  natural  and  inevitable  drawbacks 
of   his    early    professional    environment. 
His   progress,  however,    was  rapid,   and 
the  conditions  quickly  changed  for  the 
better.    The  "  personal  equation  "  coimts 
for    much    in    the    physician's    calling, 
and  Dr.  Fowler's  engaging  manners  and 
genial  disposition  doulitless  helped  him 
onward  in  the  struggle  for  success.      As 
early  as  1881   he  was  elected  one  of  the 
coroners  for  F>ie  county,  and  served  a 
term   of    three    years.      He    has   alwajs 
been  a  consistent  Republican  in  political 
affiliations,    and    has    been    prominently 
mentioned  at  various   times   in   connec- 
tion with  important  offices  at  the  certain  or  possible 
dis])osal  of  his   party.      His    name   was    before    the 
convention  on   more  than   one  occasion  as   that   of 
a  suitable  candidate  for  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  education  for  the  city  of  Buffalo,  and  in  1881)  he 
received   the  Republican   nomination  for  the  oflfice. 
He  was  a|)pointed  iiy  Mayor  Becker,  in  18K(i,  surgeon 
to  the  deiiartment  of  |)olice,  and  has  since  discharged 
the  duties  of  that  office  with  abibt\  and  zeal. 

Dr.  Fowler  believes  in  supjiorting  jirofessional 
societies,  and  belongs  to  several,  including  the  New 
York  State  Medical  As.sociation  and  the  Erie  County 
Medical  Society.  For  ten  years  he  was  on  the 
medical  staff  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  Hospital. 
He  believes  thoroughlv,  too,  in  fraternal  associations 


MK.X   OF  XF.li-    YORK—U-ESTER.X  SKCTfOA 


2(l."> 


unprofessional  in  scope,  and  has  fallen  advanced 
standing  in  the  ranks  of  Masons,  ( )ri(l  1-Vlin«s,  and 
similar  societies. 

PERSONAL  CHR  0X0 L  O  G  )  '—Joseph  Fowl,;- 
K'tis  born  in  Clifton  Park  tozons/iip,  Saratoga  county, 
N.  V. ,  Mav  S,  ISJil ;  loas  educated  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  town;  taught  school,  18(H-(i!) :  married  Cor- 
nelia F.  Cozales  of  Buffalo  in  1S67  :  graduated  from 
the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo  in 
1873  ;  7oas  elected  a  coroner  of  Erie  county  in  1881  ; 
was  Republican  candidate  for  superintendent  of  educa- 
tion of  Buffalo  in  1880  .■  7vas  appointed  surgeon  of  the 
department  of  police  in  1886,  and  has  held  the  position 
since  ;  has  practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo  since  187 -J. 


3-OSepb     £.     (Bavin     has     displayed     in     the 
management   of  private    business   and    public   affairs 
the  characteristics  and  qualities  of  a  suc- 
cessful financier.      Born  in  Buffalo,  he  is 

thoroughly  familiar  with  the  history  and 
development  of  the  city,  in  which  indeed 
he  has  been  no  insignificant  factor.  A 
genial  disposition,  intelligent  comprehen- 
sion of  business  details,  executive  ability, 
and  fidelity  to  duty,  have  commended  Mr. 
(lavin  to  the  attention  and  confidence  of 
the  commercial  classes  of  the  city  and 
its  people  generally.  He  is  in  the  very 
prime  of  a  vigorous  manhood,  progres- 
sive, popular,  and  self-reliant.  What  he 
has  already  accomplished  augurs  a  suc- 
cessful and  an  honorable  future. 

Mr.  Gavin  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Buffalo,  and  pursued  his  (ol- 
legiate  studies  at  St.  Joseph's  College  in 
that  city  and  at  St.  Michael's  College, 
Toronto,  from  which  he  graduated  shortly 
after  attaining  his  majority.  After  com- 
pleting his  studies  he  entered  the  coal 
and  wood  business  with  his  father,  on 
whose  death  he  .succeeded  to  the  entire 
business.  In  the  course  of  several  years 
Mr.  Cavin  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
this  enterprise  grow  to  large  ijroportions 
under  careful  and  judicious  management. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  field  of  iiolitics 
and  public  affairs  that  Mr.  (lavin  is  l)esi        "' 
known,  and  has  won  the  greatest  distiuc 
tion.      His  temperament  is  such  that   he 
rejoices  in  the  ups  and  downs  of  political 
contests,    and    is    never   discouraged  by  defeat  nor 
unduly  elated   by  victory.      In   Mr.  Cleveland's   first 
administration  Mr.  Cavin  was  a  customs  inspector  at 
Buffalo,  and  served  the  |)ublic   iiiithftiUy  and  well    in 


that  capacity.  Meanwhile  he  was  making  himself 
felt  as  a  ])ower  in  local  affairs,  and  in  recognition  of 
his  strength  and  ability  the  Democratic  party  in 
1(S91  nominated  him  for  comptroller  ol  the  city  of 
Buffalo.  His  election  followed  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  attesting  the  popularity  of  the  candidate. 

Mr.  (Javin's  record  in  the  office  of  comptroller  is 
one  to  which  he  can  always  look  back  with  justifiable 
|)ride.  In  this  jiosition  he  established  a  permanent 
reputation  as  a  thorough  executive  officer  and  an 
astute  financier.  Men  of  both  parties  applauded  his 
administration  of  the  city's  fiscal  affairs.  He  nego- 
tiated several  municipal  loans  to  the  great  advantage 
of  the  city.  His  skill  in  this  direction  elicited  the 
praise  of  financial  journals  of  repute  throughout  the 
United  States.  He  placed  one  loan  in  New  York 
city  at  the  remarkably  low  rate  of  two  and  one  half 


jo.s/:/'//  /■;.  c.-ir/x 

per  cent.  It  was  Mr.  Cavin  who,  as  comptroller, 
saved  the  cit\  over  SI 00, ()()()  by  his  discovery  that 
the  fines  collected  from  criminals  had  been  jiaid  into 
the   county    treasur\-,    instead   of  to   the  city.       Mr. 


2or. 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


Gavin's  career  in  the  office  of  comptroller  was  so 
successful  that  upon  the  expiration  of  his  term  the 
council,  ]3ursuing  an  unusual  course,  adopted  a  reso- 
lution of  public  approval  ;  and  the  press,  irrespective 
of  party,  complimented  him  on  the  good  service  he 
had  rendered  to  the  city  and  the  people  of  Buffalo. 


I'RA.\K    r.   GILBERT 

Mr.  (lavin  was  again  the  candidate  of  his  jiarty  in 
1H!I4,  this  time  for  congress.  It  was  the  Rcjnihlican 
tidal-wave  year,  and  the  Republican  candidate  won, 
though  by  a  margin  so  narrow  as  to  justify  the  claim 
of  Mr.  Gavin's  friends  that  a  different  result  would 
have  been  reached,  but  for  the  mistake  of  many 
voters  who  cast  the  state  ballot  containing  only  the 
names  of  state  candidates. 

Since  retiring  from  the  comijtroller's  office  Mr. 
(Javin  has  been  engaged  in  the  bond  business,  and 
has  handled  successfully  over  ten  million  dollars' 
worth  of  bonds,  including  several  issues  of  the  city 
of  Buffalo  and  other  municipalities,  part  of  the 
8!t, ()()(), 000  state  canal  bonds,  and  over  $1,000,000 
of  the  last  issue  of  Government  4's. 


Mr.  Gavin  is  a  member  of  numerous  societies  of  a 
social  and  benevolent  character,  and  is  one  of  the 
men  who  can  l)e  comited  on  in  behalf  of  every  patri- 
otic and  worthy  movement. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Joseph  Ed- 
ward Gavin  was  born  at  Buffalo  Nn'cmber  H,  1855  ; 
7uas  educated  in  public  schools,  St.  Joseph '  s 
Collcf^e,  Buffalo,  and  St.  AlichaeV  s  Col- 
lege, Torotito  ;  married  Sarah  E.  Candce 
of  Buffalo  October  31,  1881 ;  7c>as  cusfotns 
inspector  at  Buffalo,  1885-89,  and  comp- 
troller of  the  cit\;  1802-9^ ;  has  been 
engaged  in  the  coal  and  i^'ood  business  in 
Buffalo  since  188-i. 


jfrani?  XT.  Gilbert  was  bom  in 

Brooklyn,  and  began  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  city.  I^ter  he 
attended  the  public  schools  of  Phoenix, 
N.  Y.,  whither  his  parents  had  moved, 
as  well  as  Falley  Seminary,  at  Fulton, 
N.  Y.  ;  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
received  his  diploma  from  .•\mes's  Com- 
mercial College  in  Syracu.se. 

When  about  tw^enty  years  of  age  Mr. 
Gilbert  commenced  his  business  career 
in  a  country  store  in  Phoenix,  in  part- 
nership with  his  father.  After  a  short 
l]ut  successful  business  experience,  he 
entered  the  law  office  of  C.  W .  Avery 
of  Phoenix,  as  a  student,  and  remained 
with  him  about  two  years,  when  he  aban- 
doned the  study  of  the  law  and  returned 
to  commercial  jnirsuits.  He  accejjted  a 
position  as  bookkeeper  with  one  of  the 
large  shipping  houses  of  Buffalo,  having 
moved  to  that  city  in  1X71.  From  then 
until  1880  he  was  in  the  employ  of 
William  Avery  &  Co.,  L.  P.  Smith  iV 
Co.,  and  l.othridge,  Gallagher  &  Co. —  firms  that 
were  doing  a  large  shijjping  l)usiness  at  that  time  on 
the  Buffalo  docks. 

When  William  W.  Lawson  became  sheriff  of  Erie 
county  in  1880,  Mr.  Gilbert  was  appointed  one  of 
his  dejjuties,  and  served  in  that  cajjacity  for  one  year. 
.\t  that  time  John  B.  Weber  resigned  his  position  as 
under  sheriff,  and  Mr.  Gilbert  succeeded  him,  hold- 
ing the  position  during  the  remainder  of  Sheriff 
Lawson's  administration,  as  well  as  during  that  of 
Sheriff  Koch,  who  succeeded  .Mr.  Lawson.  .Mr. 
(Jilbert  has  only  once  been  a  candidate  for  |niblic 
office.  In  ISJS")  he  was  nominated  on  the  Re]>ublican 
ticket  for  sheriff  of  Erie  county,  and  at  the  Novem- 
ber election   he  was  chosen  by  a  |ilinalil\   of  ntarlv 


MEX  OF  NF.W    YORK—WESTF.RN  SECTION 


•207 


3000  votes.  His  long  experience  as  deputy  sheriff 
and  under  sheriff  had  fitted  him  well  for  this  respon- 
sible position,  and  he  displayed  in  the  higher  office 
the  same  ability  that  had  characterized  his  conduct 
in  the  subordinate  positions. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  terra  of  office  Mr.  Gilbert 
again  gave  his  attention  to  business  matters.  He 
became  interested  in  various  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing enterprises,  and  spent  much  of  his  time, 
especially  during  the  winter,  in  Florida,  where  he 
accjuired  a  large  quantity  of  valuable  real  estate,  and 
where  he  now  has  profitable  orange  groves.  When 
Ceorge  H.  Lamy  became  sheriff  of  Erie  county  in 
1895,  he  urged  Mr.  Gilbert  to  become  under  sheriff. 
Mr.  Gilbert  accepted  the  ai)i)ointment,  and  still 
holds  the  position. 

Aside  from  his  business  and  official  connections, 
Mr.  Gilbert  is  one  of  the  best-known 
members  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  in 
western  New  York.  He  is  Past  Master 
of  Washington  Lodge,  No.  240,  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons.  He  is  a  member  of 
Keystone  Chapter,  No.  163,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  of  which  he  is  also  Past  High 
Priest.  He  is  F^minent  Commander  of 
Hugh  de  Payens  Commandery,  No.  •'!(), 
Knights  Templars.  He  is  Illustrious  Po- 
tentate of  Ismailia  Temple,  ancient  .\rabic 
Order  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He 
is  a  member  of  Keystone  Council,  No. 
20,  Royal  and  Select  Masters,  and  a  .S2d 
degree  Mason,  belonging  to  the  Huffalo 
Consistory.  Mr.  Gilbert  is  especially 
proficient  in  all  the  beautiful  ceremonial 
work  of  these  Masonic  lodges. 

Mr.  Gilbert  has  always  been  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
politics  and  in  all  public  matters,  and  he 
has  occasionally  written  for  the  jjress 
upon  public  questions  of  the  day.  He 
is  not  a  member  of  any  religious  denom- 
ination, but  is  a  regular  attendant  at  the 
L'nitarian  Church,  and  is  in  hearty  sym- 
pathy with  its  principle  —  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Frank   T.   Gilbert  was  born  at  Brooklyn 
October   1,    ISlfi  ;    was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,    at   Falley  Seminary,    and 
at  Ames' s  Commercial  College,  Syracuse  ; 
married  Helen  A.  Briggs  of  Phoenix,  N.   K,  October 
10,  1866  ;  engaged  in  business  in  Phoenix,  lS6S-tJ0  : 
studied  laici,  1S09-71;  went  to  Buffalo  in  1S71,  and  en- 
gaged in  mere (7 n file  pursuits  until  ISSO  :  tvas  appointed 


deputy  sheriff  of  Erie  county  in  1880  and  under  sheriff 
in  1881,  and  was  elected  sheriff  in  1885;  has  been 
under  sheriff  of  Erie  county  since  January  1,  1895. 


CbarleS  H.  (BOUlb  is  one  of  the  young  men 
who  bv  their  own  unaided  energy  and  perseverance 
have  worked  their  way  to  wealth,  social  ])osition, 
and  prominence.  He  was  born  in  Batavia,  N.  Y., 
where  he  passed  his  boyhood.  He  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  prepared 
himself  for  college.  He  was  unable,  however,  to 
carry  out  his  plans  in  this  regard,  as  his  father  met 
with  business  reverses.  Thrown  thus  upon  his  own 
resources,  Mr.  (jould  naturally  turned  his  thoughts 
toward  Buffalo,  the  largest  city  in  his  vicinity  ;  and 
thither  he  went  in  180!),  a  young  man  of  twenty, 
to  earn  his  own  livcbhood. 


CHARLES  A.   GOUI^t) 


He  was  first  engaged  with  a  large  merc:antile  firm, 
and  there  gained  the  business  experience  that  was 
to  be  so  beneficial  to  him  in  after  years.  Graduall}' 
he  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  politics.      There 


208 


MEN   OF  XKW    YORk—lVESrERA  SECT/ON 


was  a  stirring  local  campaign  in  Buffalo  in  ISTll, 
and  Mr.  (Mould's  interest  in  political  matters  dates 
from  that  time.  He  .showed  taste  and  decided  abil- 
ity for  public  aflfairs,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he 
had  become  prominent  in  local  Republican  councils. 
In  1«7<S  he  was  ajjpointed  deputy  jjostmaster  of  Buf- 
falo, and  served  in  that  position  for  two  years. 
Then  he  was  appointed  collector  of  customs  for  the 
district  of  Buffalo  Creek,  by  President  Garfield,  and 
served  from  18.S(»  to  1.S84,  when  the  Democrats 
came  into  power  with  the  first  election  of  President 
Cleveland.  During  all  these  years  Mr.  Could  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  his  party  in  Erie  county,  tak- 
ing a  prominent  part  in  many  Republican  campaign 
organizations,  and  acting  for  many  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Reiniblican  county  committee. 

With  Mr.  (lould's  retirement  from  office  there 
began  a  third  period  in  his  life.  He  had  been  an 
accountant  and  a  public  official.  He  now  became  a 
manufacturer,  and  in  this  field  he  has  since  con- 
tinued with  steadily  growing  success  and  prosperity. 
He  bought  an  interest  in  the  Henry  Childs  Steam 
Forge  in  South  Pniffalo,  which  he  ran  for  a  number 
of  years  with  marked  success.  In  1S87  he  purchased 
ground  at  Black  Rock,  and  built  a  large  steam  forge 
of  his  own,  which  he  equipped  with  the  very  best 
modern  appliances  for  the  manufacture  of  shafting, 
locomotive  driving  a.xles,  car  axles,  links  and  pins, 
and  other  railway  appliances.  Success  attended  the 
new  undertaking. 

Soon  after  the  erection  of  this  new  plant  he  took  up 
the  manufacture  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  (iould 
automatic  coupler.  He  was  not  .satisfied  with  plac- 
ing the  Could  equipment  on  American  railways,  but 
in  1895  succeeded  in  introducing  it  abroad,  and 
it  is  now  in  use  on  several  of  the  largest  railways 
of  England.  In  fact,  the  Ciould  system  seems  likely 
to  become  the  standard  for  English  railways,  and  to 
change  entirely  their  old  method  of  vestibuling  cars. 
'I'he  (lould  t'oupler  Co.  was  organized  with  Mr. 
Could  as  its  president.  Later  the  Could  Steel  Co. 
of  .'Vnderson,  Ind.,  was  formed,  with  Mr.  (Jould  as 
]jresident  of  this  latter  concern,  also.  Since  1889  Mr. 
Could's  home  has  been  in  New  York  city,  where 
the  main  offices  of  these  comjjanies  are  situated. 

A  pictures<|ue  episode  of  Mr.  Could's  life  is  the 
establishment  of  the  town  of  Depew.  Need  of  better 
railroad  facilities  led  him  to  look  about  for  a  new 
site,  which  he  found  near  the  village  of  Lancaster, 
N.  Y.  Within  three  years  a  tract  of  farming  land 
ten  miles  from  Buffalo  was  transformed  into  a  thriv- 
ing industrial  <:ommunity  of  several  thousand  people. 
In  this  transformation  Mr.  Could  has  been  one  of 
the  1  hief  factors  ;   and   he  w.is  the  originator  of  the 


general  |)lan.  The  Buffalo  Investment  Co.  was  formed 
with  Mr.  Could  as  president,  and  about  1800  acres 
of  land  were  bought.  The  New  York  Central  road 
took  100  acres  for  new  shops  ;  and  the  Could 
Coupler  Co.  took  50  acres,  on  which  they  erected 
one  of  the  largest  malleable  iron  works  in  the 
country.  The  forge  at  Black  Rock  was  destroyed 
l)y  fire  in  the  summer  of  1895.  It  was  a  disheart- 
ening loss,  but  Mr.  Clould  with  indomitable  push 
immediately  decided  to  rebuild  at  Depew  with  in- 
creased facilities  and  modern  appliances. 

Personally  Mr.  Could  is  of  a  very  social  nature. 
He  is  a  lover  of  yachting,  and  is  commodore  of  the 
Douglaston  Yacht  Club,  as  well  as  a  member  of  the 
New  York,  American,  and  Larchmont  yacht  clubs. 
Other  organizations  of  a  social  nature  w^ith  which 
he  is  connected  are  the  New  York  Athletic,  Repub- 
lican, and  Engineers'  clubs  of  New  York  city  :  the 
Buffalo  and  Ellicott  clubs  of  Buffalo  ;  the  Chicago 
Club  ;  the  Manufacturers'  Club  of  Philadelphia : 
and  the  Flushing  Club  of  Flushing.  He  is  a  gen- 
erous giver  to  church  and  benevolent  objects.  He 
is  senior  warden  of  the  F^piscopal  Church  of  the 
Holy  Nativity  in  New  York  city,  and  is  president  of 
St.  Andrew's  Free  Hospital  for  women  at  Harlem. 

FERS  ONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Charles 
Albert  Gould  loas  born  at  Bataria,  N.  V.,  January 
13,  184!) :  was  educated  in  public  schools :  ivent  to 
Buffalo  in  180!) ,  and  lu[i;an  -,vork  as  an  accountant  : 
married  Adelaide  Stoch'ni;'  of  Bataria  Sef>t ember  1, 
18(10  :  7cias  deputy  postmaster  of  Buffalo,  1878-7!), 
and  collector  of  customs  there,  1880-84  ;  tvent  into 
business  for  himself  as  a  partner  in  a  steam-forge  com- 
pany in  1883,  and  later  established  a  forge  of  his  own  ; 
is  president  of  the  Gould  Coupler  Co.  of  Depew,  N.  V. , 
and  the  Gould  Steel  Co.  of  Anderson,  Ind. 


S.  S.  (3rceU  's  an  eminent  physician  of  Buf- 
falo, whose  life  has  been  somewhat  more  varied  and 
active  than  that  of  most  jirofessional  men.  He  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Samuel  Creen,  who  came  to  this 
country  from  luigland  in  Ki.'iO,  and  settled  in  Boston. 
Dr.  Creen  is  a  native  of  X'ermont,  and  is  one  of  a 
familv  of  fourteen  children.  He  received  his  primary 
etlucation  in  the  common  schools  and  in  local 
academies,  and  then  attended  Nine  Partners'  Friends' 
College  at  Washington,  N.  Y.  He  had  determined 
to  become  a  physician,  but  as  lie  was  without  means 
to  carry  on  his  medical  studies  he  now  taught  school 
for  two  years  to  obtain  the  necessary  finids.  He 
then  entered  the  medical  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  and  after  a  year  there  became  a 
medical  student  in  tin-  Cniversity  of  the  City  of  New- 
York,  from  which  he  graduated  iu   1  S('i4  "itli  honors. 


MEN   OF  NEW    )'(^Kk-~~irES-/EK.\  SECT/ON 


2(l'.i 


The  Civil  War  was  at  its  height  when  Dr.  (ireen 
took  his  degree,  and  his  first  steji  after  graduation 
was  to  offer  his  services  to  the  government  as  assistant 
surgeon  in  the  navy.  Perhaps  he  inherited  a  patriotic 
nature  from  his  ancestors,  one  of  whom  was  General 
Nathanael  (ireene,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
officers  of  the  Revolution,  who  received 
from  congress  a  gold  medal  and  a  \ote  of 
thanks  for  his  brilliant  military  achieve- 
ments. Dr.  (Ireen  was  appointed  acting 
a.ssistant  surgeon  in  the  United  States 
navy,  and  after  a  few  weeks  at  the  Brook- 
lyn Navy  Yard  he  was  ordered  to  New 
Orleans,  where  he  reported  to  Admiral 
Farragut  for  duty.  He  was  assigned  by 
him  to  the  L'nited  States  steamer  "  Ari- 
zona,"  afterwards  Admiral  Thatcher's 
flagship.  Dr.  (ireen  served  on  board  the 
"Arizona"  for  one  year,  and  was  then 
promoted  to  the  post  of  examining  sur- 
geon, and  charged  with  the  e.xamination 
of  men  who  were  transferred  from  the 
army  to  the  navy.  While  performing  the 
duties  of  this  position  he  was  stricken 
with  yellow  fever,  and  for  over  three 
weeks  was  confined  in  the  naval  hospital 
at  New  Orleans.  Seven  men  died  aroimd 
him,  but  his  excellent  constitution  res- 
cued him  from  the  terrible  gras])  of  the 
di.sease.  He  resumed  his  post  of  duty, 
and  served  in  the  navy  until  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Dr.  Green  then  turned  his  attention  to 
general  practice,  and  settled  in  Lagrange- 
ville,  N.  Y.,   where  he  devoted  himself 
for  several  years  to  the  arduous  duties  of 
a  country  physic'ian.     In  1873  he  was  ap- 
pointed surgeon  on  the  vessel  "Charles 
H.  Marshall,"  sailing  between  New  York 
and  Liverpool ;  and  he  subsequently  fdled  a  similar 
post    on   the  "Alaska,"   running   between    Panama 
and  San  Francisco.      Finally,  in  1875,  he  moved  to 
Buffalo,  and  has  ever  since  practiced  there  with  grati- 
fying success.      For   six   years  he   was  one  of  the 
district  physicians  of  the  city,  and  proved  himself  an 
able  and  energetic  [Hiblic  servant.      He  is  a  member 
of  the  Erie  County  Medical  Society,  the  New  York 
State    Medical    Association,   the  American   Medical 
Association,    and    the   International    Medical    Con- 
gress.     It    need    hardly   be  added   that   Dr.    Green 
holds  a  prominent  place  in  his  profession. 

In  1888  Dr.  Green  gratified  his  fondness  for  travel 
by  making  a  trip  around  the  world.  He  crossed 
the    rountrv    \ia   the    Canadian    Pacific    railwav    to 


Vancouver,  B.  C,  and  thence  made  his  way  south 
through  the  Fuget-sound  region  and  along  the  coast 
of  Southern  California  and  Mexico.  Returning  to 
San  Francisco,  he  took  steamer  for  Japan,  and  con- 
tinued his  course  west  through  the  Orient,  tra\eling 
•'idOO  miles  in  India  alone. 


.v,  .S-.   CRRF.X 

Dr.  Green  has  won  considerable  local  fame  as  a 
sportsman,  and  has  made  many  hunting  tri])s  to  the 
Canadian  forests.  On  such  an  excursion  he  shot  one 
of  the  largest  moose  ever  known.  The  head  of  this 
magnificent  animal  adorns  the  rooms  of  the  Acacia 
Club,  Buffalo,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of 
its  class  anywhere  on  exhibition.  Dr.  Green  is  also 
a  lover  of  good  horses,  and  owns  some  of  the  best 
trotters  in  Buffalo. 

Dr.  (keen  is  an  active  member  of  the  G.  A.  R., 
and  an  officer  of  Bidwell-Wilkeson  Post,  No.  il,  of 
Buflalo.  He  is  a  member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W.,  the 
Red  Men,  the  Royal  Templars  of  Temperance,  and 
the  Acacia  Club.  He  is  prominent  in  Masonic 
circles,    having    received    the    32d    degree    in    the 


;io 


.I/AA'   OF  XKir    VORK—IVESTEKA  SECT/OX 


Scottish  Rite,  and  attained  menil)ershii)  in  ilie  tollow 
ing  Masonic  bodies:  Queen  City  Lodge,  No.  .'i'lS, 
F.  &  A.  M.  ;  Keystone  Chapter,  No.  162,  R.  A.  i\I.  ; 
Keystone  Council,  No.  20  ;  Hugh  de  Payens  Coni- 
niandery,  Xo.  30,  K.  T.  ;  and  Ismailia  Temple, 
N'ol)les  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.      He  is  a  member  of 


/>/-:r/i./.(>  n:  /aia'A'/.voto.v 

Calvary  Presbyterian  ('hur(  li.  and  is  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  social  and  philanthropic  life  of  Buffalo. 
PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— Stephen  Squire 
Green  was  born  at  Starksboro,  Vt. ,  January  G,  1839  ; 
studied  medicine  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  and 
reeeii'ed  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  York  March  i,  1804  : 
served  as  a  surgeon  in  the  United  States  naiy,  ISOJf- 
G')  ;  married  Charlotte  S.  Cornell  of  Gaysvil/e,  Vt. , 
January  G,  1806  :  has  practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo 
since  18~'). 


S)eVil[0  M.  "fcarrinOtOU  has  devoted  his 
life  to  tlic  stud)'  and  prarti(  c  of  medicine.  He  was 
born  at  Sherburne,  N.  V'.,  wIktc  his  earlv  education 


wa,s  received.  To  obtain  a  higher  education,  and 
prejjare  himself  for  the  profession  of  medicine,  he 
taught  school  for  several  years,  and  at  one  time  was 
l)rincipal  of  the  Sherburne  .Academy.  He  was  ready 
to  enter  college  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and 
was  thus  called  u[)on  to  choose  between  private 
interests  and  public  duty.  The  choice 
was  not  difficult  for  him,  as  he  came  of 
an  .-Vmerican  lineage  noted  for  patriotism 
and  civic  si)irit.  Instead  of  entering  col- 
lege he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army,  and 
served  for  three  years  as  a  volunteer  sol- 
dier. He  was  for  one  year  in  the  7th 
corps  under  General  Dix,  and  two  years 
in  the  1st  New  York  dragoons.  He  was 
twice  wounded  on  the  field  of  battle. 
.  When  the  war  ended  he  was  honorabl)- 
discharged  from  service,  and  returned  to 
his  native  town. 

Having  devoted  to  the  cause  of  his 
country  the  years  he  had  intended  to  pass 
in  college,  he  now  felt  obliged  to  forego 
a  classical  training.  Taking  up,  there- 
fore, the  study  of  medicine  directly,  he 
entered  the  medical  department  of  the 
I'niversity  of  Buffalo,  from  which  he 
received  the  degree  of  M.  1).  in  1.^71. 

Dr.  Harrington's  career  as  a  physician 
is  part  of  the  medical  history  of  Buffalo 
for  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  H\ 
honorable  and  professional  means  he  has 
acquired  a  large  jjractice  ;  and  has  been 
invited  to  act  as  physician  at  various 
institutions,  and  to  a.ssume  the  duties  of 
a  ];rofe.ssorship  in  the  medical  de])artnieni 
of  his  alma  mater. 

To  a  theoretic  knowledge  of  medicine 
Dr.  Harrington  had  the  opportmiity  to 
add  the  most  practical  knowledge,  by  his 
appointment  in  the  year  of  his  graduation  as  resident 
])hvsician  of  the  Buffalo  General  Hospital.  For  nine 
years  he  was  the  attending  surgeon  of  the  Hos|)ital  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  for  the  past  ten  years  he 
has  been  consulting  surgeon  of  the  Buffiilo  General 
Hospital.  In  1HS(i  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
medical  facult\-  of  the  University  of  Buffalo,  and  a 
professor  in  the  subject  of  genito-urinary  and  venereal 
disea.ses.  He  had  previously  held  the  position  of 
lecturer  on  clinical  surgery  in  the  same  institution, 
and  his  advancement  attests  the  regard  of  his  asso- 
ciates for  him  as  a  teacher  and  a  man  learned  in  his 
subject. 

Dr.  Harrington  is  a  constant  worker,  of  methodical 
liabits,  keenlv  a|i|)reciative  of  the  value  of  time  ;  and 


MEX  OF  NEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECTION 


he  finds  no  leisure  for  political  or  <  lul)  life.  He  is  a 
member,  however,  of  all  the  leading  medical  associa- 
tions. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOL  O  G  V—  Devillo 
U'liite  Harrington  ivas  born  at  Sherburne,  N.  V., 
October  23,  lS4'f  :  attended  district  schools,  and  taught 
for  several  years  ;  senrd  in  the  Union  army,  1862-(j')  : 
graduated  from  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
Tersity  of  Buffalo  in  187 1 ;  married  Annie  Scott  of 
Buffalo  October  10,  ISIH  :  has  practiced  medicine  at 
Buffalo  since  1871. 


XOUiS  JB.  Ibart  has  won  a  prominent  place  in 
public  notice,  at  an  age  when  many  young  men 
are  still  casting  about  to  decide  what  their  life-work 
.shall  be  ;  for  he  is  now  but  twenty-seven  years  old. 
He  has  made  every  year  tell,  and  has  wasted  no  time 
on  things  that  were  not  worth  while. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  had  completed         , 

the  course  of  instruction  offered  by  the 
ptiblic  schools  of  Lockport,  and  had  be- 
gun the  study  of  stenography.  Since 
the  time  when  Tiro,  the  celelirated  slave, 
acted  in  the  capacity  of  secretary  to 
the  great  orator  Cicero,  a  centurv  belore 
Christ,  inventing  a  set  of  characters  for 
recording  his  patron's  eloquence,  the  art 
of  stenography  has  been  made  a  step- 
ping-stone to  higher  things  by  many  an 
ambitious  youth.  I'atience,  a  reliable 
memory,  coolness  of  nerve,  and  power  of 
physical  endurance,  are  requisites  for  .suc- 
cess in  the  hierogly]jhic  art  :  and  these 
qualities  Mr.  Hart  ])ossesses  in  a  marked 
degree.  The  speed  and  accuracy  which 
he  readily  attained  helped  him  at  once 
to  a  position  in  the  office  of  K.  M.  lV 
F.  M.  Ashley,  jirominent  lawyers  of 
Lockport.  In  this  legal  atmosphere  it 
was  natural  enough  that  his  thoughts 
should  turn  towards  the  study  of  law,  but 
he  wisely  decided  to  adhere  to  his  ta.sk 
until  the  requisite  funds  should  be  laid 
b\-.  A  twelvemonth  passed,  and  he  was 
invited  to  become  the  private  secretary 
of  Senator  McMillan   at    Albany.      This        | 

opportunity   to  see   the   inside  workings        ' 

of   the   state    legislature    was   not    to   be 
considered    lightly,     and    he    accepted. 
The  year  was  full  of  interesting  experi- 
ences, but  Mr.  Hart  was  not  to  be  deterred  from  the 
study  of  law,  which  he  had  now  t"idl\-  decided  to  un- 
dertake.      He    therefore    returned    to    Lockport    to 
study    in    the   office   of  Ellsworth    iS:    Potter,   acting 


at  the  .same  time  as  their  stenographer.  All  through 
his  studies  he  did  double  duty  in  this  way. 

Mr.  Hart's  appointment  as  stenographer  to  the 
grand  jury  of  Erie  county  by  District  Attorney 
Quinby  occurred  in  the  month  of  his  twenty-first 
birthday,  and  he  held  that  position  four  years.  He 
was  then  promoted  to  be  managing  clerk,  and  was 
reappointed  to  that  office  the  following  year  by 
District  Attorney  Kenefick.  In  the  meantime  his 
devotion  to  his  law  studies  remained  unchanged. 
He  became  a  special  student  at  the  Buffalo  Law 
School,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1892.  On 
January  1,  189G,  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  Sur- 
rogate's Court  by  Louis  W.  Marcus. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Louis  Bret 
Hart  was  born  at  Medina,  N.  Y. ,  March  30,  1869  ,- 
7C'as  educated  in  the  Lockport  schools  and  the  Buffalo 


k-     v^ 


I. GUIS  A.   HART 


La7a  School :  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1892 :  ivas 
stenographer  and  afterward  clerk  to  the  grand  fury  of 
Erie  county,  1890-95 ;  has  been  clerk  of  the  Surro- 
gate's Court  of  F.rie  county  since  January  1.  189(1. 


MEN  OF  XEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


30bU  IR.  IfjajCl  secured  a  great  advantage  in 
this  rushing  age  by  gaining  admittance  to  the  bar 
at  his  majority  ;  so  that  now,  though  only  in  his 
thirty-sixth  year,  he  has  spent  nearly  half  his  life  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  law.  Perseverance,  industry,  and 
pluck  have   been    the   c:haracteristic   (jualities  of  his 


JOIIX  K.   UA7.F.I. 

career  ;  and  these  always  win  in  a  land  of  oppor- 
tunity, no  matter  what  unfavorable  circumstances 
may  hinder  their  possessor. 

Mr.  Hazel  is  a  Buffalonian  by  birth.  He  was 
obliged  to  leave  school  at  the  early  age  of  twelve  and 
begin  work.  He  first  obtained  employment  in 
White's  Edge  Tool  Works,  and  remained  there  two 
years.  His  next  position  was  in  the  law  ofifice  of 
James  C.  Fullerton,  then  a.ssistant  city  attorney. 
Here  he  found  work  that  was  not  only  congenial,  but 
led  to  something  higher.  By  attending  night  school, 
and  using  every  opportunity  to  cultivate  his  mind, 
he  fitted  himself  for  the  study  of  law;  and  in  time 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  became  the  partner  of 
his  former  emijioyer  and  prece|)tor.       The  law  office 


has  been  the  training  school  and  stepping-stone  of 
some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  America  ha.s  [jroduced  — 
men  who  have  made  up  for  the  lack  of  collegiate 
training  by  zealous  home  and  office  study. 

The  firm  of  Fullerton  &  Hazel  was  soon  increased 
by  the  addition  of  Tracy  C.  Becker,  and  became 
I'ullerton,  Becker  &  Hazel.  This  pro- 
fessional partnership  continued  for  eight 
years.  Mr.  Hazel  then  a.ssociated  with 
himself  Frank  A.  Abbott,  and  he  is  now 
the  .senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Hazel 
tV-  Abbott.  Mr.  Hazel  has  been  a  busy 
lawyer,  and  has  seen  his  ]jractice  grow 
steadily  ever  since  his  admission  to  the 
bar.  He  is  a  hard  worker,  and  conscien- 
tiously serves  the  interests  of  his  clients. 
Mr.  Hazel  is  an  active  Republican, 
and  has  been  repeatedly  honored  by  his 
party.  In  ISHl  he  was  nominated  for 
member  of  the  state  assembly,  and  though 
the  normal  Democratic?  majority  in  his 
district  was  1500,  he  came  within  150 
\()tes  of  election.  In  1.S94  he  was  aji- 
pointed  by  Com])troller  Roberts  com- 
missioner of  corporation  tax.  Mr.  Hazel 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Re]mblican 
state  committee  since  1892,  and  is  active 
in  many  local  Republican  clubs.  He 
served  as  secretary  of  the  Republican 
general  committee  of  Buffalo  for  nearly 
ten  years.  This  parly  service  was  fit- 
tingly rewarded  by  his  election,  in  181H), 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  at  St.  Louis. 

Mr.   Hazel  is  a  member  of  St.   Louis 
Church,  Buffalo,  is  connected  with  many 
social  and  benevolent  organizations,  and 
has  a  wide  circle  of  friends  in  l>olh  jiro- 
fessional  and  social  life. 
PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—John  Raymond 
Hazel  was  horn  at  Buffalo  December  18,  18(10  ;  re- 
ceived a  comjnon-school  education ;   studied  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  April  7,  1882  ;  was  appointed 
commissioner  of  corporation  tax  in  1894  .'  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Republican  national  conivntion  at  St.  Louis 
in  180(1 :  lias  been  a  member  of  the  Republican  state 
committee  since  1802 ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo 
since  1882. 


IbCrbCrt  /ID.  UJill  is  one  of  the  best-known 
theoretical  and  practical  chemists  in  the  country. 
He  fitted  himself  for  his  present  work  by  a  thorough 
course  of  preliminary  education,      .\fter  the  training 

obtainable  in  the  district  schools  of  his  native  ])lace, 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


21?, 


and  in  the  grammar  and  high  schools  of  Watertown, 
N.  Y.,  Dr.  Hill  entered  Hamilton  College,  whence 
he  was  graduated  in  June,  \^~tS),  with  the  degree  of 
A.  B.  For  the  last  two  years  of  his  college  course 
he  was  assistant  in  charge  of  the  chemical  labora- 
tory at  the  college,  and  in  1879-80  he  took  a  jiost- 
gradnate  course  at  Hamilton  in  chemistry  and  miner- 
alogy. 

Dr.  Hill's  first  engagement  in  teaching  was  a 
professorship  of  Cireek  and  Latin  in  the  Cortland 
( N.  Y.J  Normal  School,  to  which  he  was  appointed 
in  1880.  He  went  to  Minnesota  the  same  year  as 
second  in  charge  of  a  party  sent  out  by  eastern 
capitalists  to  prospect  for  iron.  This  trip  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  mines  at  Tower  on  Vermilion 
lake  in  northern  Minnesota.  On  his  return  Dr.  Hill 
was  appointed  professor  of  natural  sciences  and 
mathematics  in  the  high  school  al  Water- 
town,  X.  Y. —  a  position  that  he  filled 
acceptably  for  eight  years.  At  the  end 
of  this  period  he  was  deservedly  honored 
by  an  appointment  as  iirincipal  of  the 
school. 

But  higher  honors  awaited  him.  The 
Buffalo  Medical  College  stood  in  need  of 
a  thoroughly  capable  man  to  be  its  pro- 
fessor of  chemistry  and  toxicology,  and 
after  carefully  scanning  the  field  the  fac- 
ulty offered  the  place  to  Dr.  Hill.  He 
accepted  the  offer,  and  since  1889  has 
been  a  resident  of  Buffalo,  where  his 
many  estimable  qualities  antl  his  intel- 
lectual attainments  have  made  him  an 
honored  citi/en.  Besides  the  position 
already  mentioned.  Dr.  Hill  is  professor 
of  general  and  analytical  chemistry  in  the 
Buffalo  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  profes- 
sor of  general  chemistry  in  the  Buffalo 
Dental  College.  These  three  colleges 
are  departments  of  the  University  of 
Buffalo. 

From  1885  to  1889  Dr.  Hill  was  chem- 
ist to  the  state  dairy  commission,  and  he 
now  ably  fills  the  position  of  city  chemist 
of  Buffalo.      He  has   many  commissions 
in   the  realm  of  applied  chemistry  as  re- 
lated to  the  industries.      He  is  consulting 
chemist  for  the  Iroquois  Chemical  Works, 
the  Victor  Mineral  Spring  Co.,  and  the 
Milsom  Rendering  &  Fertilizer  Co.      He 
has  also  figured  as  an  expert  in  a  number  of  criminal 
cases.     Among  his   field   experiences  may  be  men- 
tioned a  trip  to  the  Ontario  gold  fields  that  he  made 
as  an  expert  in  1895. 


Since  his  graduation  from  Hamilton  College  Dr. 
Hill  has  been  twice  honored  by  his  alma  mater :  in 
1882  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  and 
in  1890  that  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Dr.  Hill  is  a  thorough  student,  and  his  connec- 
tions outside  the  active  practice  of  his  profession  are 
largely  with  organizations  allied  thereto.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  the 
.American  Microscopical  Society,  the  Buffalo  Society 
of  Natural  Sciences,  the  Buffalo  Microscopical  Club, 
and  the  Engineers'  Society  of  Western  New  York. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— Herbert  Mal- 
eolm  Hill  7vas  hor)i  at  BiiiTS  Mills,  Jefferson  county, 
N.  V. ,  jV/av  1!),  1S5G :  graduated  from  Hamilton 
College  in  1819  :  married  Amanda  Elizabeth  Isdell  of 
Watertown,  N.  ¥.,  June  1,  },S80 ;  was  a  professor 
in  the  Watertoion  High  School,  1881-80,  and  principal 


IIERIU-.RT  M.   int. I. 


thereof,  1888-80 ;  was  chemist  to  the  state  dairy 
commission,  188-'>-S0  :  has  lived  in  Buffalo  since  1889, 
holding  professorships  in  different  departments  of  the 
University  of  Buffalo. 


214 


.VfEN   OF  NEW    )ORK—lVESrE/i.\  SEC7/OX 


Hlvill  H.  1l3UbbCU  I'^w  practiced  medicine  in 
l^uffalo  lor  sixteen  years,  and  for  the  last  thirteen 
years  has  devoted  himselT  exchisively  to  diseases  of 
the  eye  and  ear.  In  this  specialty  he  has  attained 
great  distinction.  He  has  kept  in  touch  with  the 
leading  oculists,  not  onlv  of  this  country  but  also  of 


i/.r/x  ./.  1 1  VIS  II  El.  I. 

Europe  ;  and  his  studies  have  twice  taken  him 
across  the  Atlantic,  where  he  has  visited  the  leading 
ophthalmic  hospitals  of  Birmingham,  London,  and 
Paris.  He  has  had  occasion  to  perform  many  diffi- 
cult operations,  the  most  notable  of  which,  perhaps, 
outside  of  his  ophthalmic  surgery,  occurred  only  two 
years  after  his  graduation,  when  he  performed 
laparotomy  for  intussusception  of  the  intestines  — 
the  fourth  operation  for  this  disease  in  the  I'nited 
States.  He  has  added  materially  to  the  appliances 
for  the  practice  of  his  sjjecialty.  He  devised  an  im- 
proved electro-magnet,  in  1)SX4,  for  e.xtracting  steel 
from  the  interior  of  the  eye.  Another  invention  is 
a  new  form  of  ear  scissors,  designed  for  him  by 
Oeorge    'I'ilman    &    Co.    of   Xew     ^'ork.      He    has 


received  high  honors  from  numerous  medical  socie- 
ties, and  from  Niagara  University,  the  medical  de- 
partment of  which  he  was  foremost  in  organizing. 
This  university  conferred  on  him,  in  1886,  the  ad 
eundem  degree  of  M.  D.,  and  in  IS'i;]  the  higher 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Dr.  Hubbell's  grandjjarents  were  pio- 
neer settlers  of  western  New  York,  as 
their  ancestors  were  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. He  traces  his  descent  to  Richard 
Hubbell,  who  emigrated  from  England 
in  1(;45,  and  settled  in  Fairfield,  Conn. 
Dr.  Hubbell  was  the  eldest  of  four  chil- 
dren. His  early  education  was  obtained 
in  the  common  schools,  and  in  Randolph 
.Academy  (now  Chamberlain  Institute)  at 
Randol[)h,  N.  Y.  He  also  taught  school 
several  years  in  the  intervals  of  his  own 
tuition.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began 
reading  medicine,  continuing  the  study 
under  ditferent  physicians  in  Cattaraugus 
county  for  three  years.  Among  his  pre- 
ceptors was  Dr.  Thomas  J-  Wheeler  of 
Rutledge  (now  Conewangoj,  at  that  time 
one  of  the  most  eminent  practitioners  in 
western  New  York.  Dr.  Hubbell  then 
attended  medical  lectures  in  Philadelphia 
for  two  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three  began  general  medical  practice  in 
Leon,  Cattaraugus  county.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  education  already  acquired,  after 
six  years  of  practice  he  entered  the  med- 
ical dei)artment  of  the  L'niversity  of  Buf- 
falo, whence  he  graduated  February  23, 
lx7(i,  winning  one  of  the  Millard  Fill- 
more cash  jtrizes  for  the  best  thesis.  He 
then  returned  to  his  general  practice  at 
Leon  ;  but  his  interest  in  eye  and  ear 
diseases  soon  induced  him  to  move  to 
BufAilo,  where  he  could  specialize  these  subjects. 
With  what  success  he  has  done  scj  has  already  been 
shown. 

Dr.  Hubbell  actively  supports  many  professional 
societies,  including  the  Buffalo  Medical  L^nion,  the 
Buffalo  .\cademy  of  Medicine,  the  Buffalo  Ojjhthal- 
mological  Society,  and  the  I'^rie  County  Medical 
As.sociation.  He  belongs,  also,  to  the  New  York 
State  Medical  Association,  and  to  the  Medical  Asso- 
ciation of  Central  New  York,  of  which  he  has  been 
president.  The  .American  Medical  .Association  like- 
wise has  his  name  on  its  membershiii  roll,  as  well  as 
the  American  Ophthalmological  Society,  the  highest 
a.ssociation  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  Dr.  Hubbell 
was  a   member   of  the   Ninth  International  Medical 


ME.\   OF   XKW    )OKK^U'ES'rKK.\  SKC'J70i\ 


215 


Congress  held  in  Washington  city  in  IXSJ,  of  the  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress  held  in  the  same  place  in 
1893,  and  of  the  International  Ophthalmological 
Congress  held  in  Edinburgh  in  ls;i4.  He  belongs 
to  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences  and  to 
other  scientific  bodies.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  his  paternal 
great-grandfather,  Ezbon  Hubbell,  and  his  maternal 
great-grandfather,  William  Farnsworth,  having  served 
in  the  revolutionary  war. 

.\fter  helping  to  organize  the  medical  department 
of  Niagara  University,  Dr.  Hubbell  was  appointed 
professor  of  ophthalmology  and  otology  therein,  and 
was  elected  secretary  of  the  faculty.  He  has  since 
retained  these  positions,  and  is  an  earnest  advocate 
of  higher  medical  education.  He  is  attending  sur- 
geon to  the  Charity  Eye,  Ear,  and  Throat  Hospital 
of  Erie  county,  and  is  eye  and  ear  sur- 
geon to  the  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  and  most  of  the  other  important 
hospitals  in  Buffalo. 

Dr.  Hubbell  has  been  a  frequent  con- 
tributor to  professional  publications  on 
subjects  relating  to  his  specialty.  He  is 
associate  editor  of  the  Buffalo  Medical 
Journal,  and  has  published  in  that  peri- 
odical many  articles  of  a  technical  nature. 
Several  of  his  papers  have  api:)eared  in 
the  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State 
Medical  Association,  the  Archives  of  Pe- 
diatrics, the  New  York  Medical  Journal, 
the  Archives  of  Ophthalmology,  the  Oph- 
thalmic Record,  and  other  professional 
publications.  An  address  introductory  to 
a  course  of  medical  lectures  was  pub- 
lished by  Peter  Paul  &  Bro.  of  Buffalo 
in  1888. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY— 
Alvin  Allace  Hubbell  7oas  born  at  Cone- 
7iiango,  N.  y..  May  1,  ISlfi ;  was  edu- 
cated in  common  schools  and  Randolph 
Academy :  studied  medicine  at  Philadel- 
phia, 1867-69 ;  began  practice  at  Leon. 
Cattaraugus  county,  in  1S69 :  married 
Evangeline  Eancher  of  Leon  June  26, 
1872  :  graduated  from  t/ie  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Buffalo  in  1876: 
practiced  general  medicine  in  Buffalo  from 
1880  to  188S,  and  has  since  confined  his 
practice  to  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear  : 
has  been  />rofessor  of  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear  in 
the  medical  department  of  JViagara  University,  and 
secretary  of  the  faculty  of  that  department,  since  its 
organization  in  188S. 


50bU  llDlUlbeS  is  a  leading  flictor  iu  what  is 
peculiarly  an  American  enterprise  —  the  live-stock 
commission  business.  Success  in  this  industry  re- 
quires sound  judgment,  s([uare  dealing,  and  an  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  markets.  Mr.  Hughes  came 
to  the  United  States  from  Ireland  when  a  child,  so 
that  his  education  and  training  were  for  the  most 
part  distinctly  American.  He  made  his  home  in 
Buffalo,  where  he  attended  the  public  schools,  and 
subsecpiently  pursued  a  course  at  Bryant  &  Stralton's 
Business  College,  to  fit  him.self  for  mercantile  life. 
His  educational  advantages  were  limited,  for  he  was 
dependent  on  his  own  e.xertions  ;  but  he  made  good 
use  of  such  opportunities  as  came  within  his  reach. 

The  business  career  of  Mr.  Hughes  has  been 
confined  almost  entirely  to  the  buying  and  selling 
of  live  stock,  and  in  this  he  has  met  with  deserved 


/(>//\  IIVCIIF.S 

success.  He  first  entered  the  business  in  1866, 
becoming  associated  with  Edward  Swope  at  East 
Buffalo.  To-day  Mr.  Hughes  is  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Swope,  Hughes,  Waltz   iV    Benstead,    one   of 


216 


MEN   OF  XEIV    VORK~li'ESTE/iN  SECT/O.V 


the  largest  concerns  in  western  New  York  operating 
in  live  stock.  Buffalo  stands  next  to  Chicago  in  the 
extent  and  variety  of  its  live-stock  products,  and 
is  one  of  the  greatest  markets  of  the  world.  This 
fact  is  traceable,  [)artly  to  the  natural  and  geo- 
graphical advantages  of  the  city,  but  largely  to  the 
energy  and  business  .sagacity  of  such  men  as  Mr. 
Hughes. 

While  steadily  devoting  himself  to  the  demands 
of  a  growing  business,  Mr.  Hughes  has  maintained 
a  commendable  interest  in  local  affairs.  In  political 
convictions  he  is  a  zealous  Democrat,  but  always 
tempers  his  politics  with  sterling  sense  and  proper 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  others.  In  short,  he  be- 
lieves in  using  the  same  standard  of  honesty  and 
courtesy  in  politics  as  in  business.  He  has  never 
sought  for  political  office,  having  too  many  business 
cares  to  permit  the  discharge  of  exacting  official 
duties.  He  has,  however,  served  a.s  a  park  com- 
missioner of  Buffalo,  having  been  appointed  by 
Mayor  Bishop.  In  this  position  he  has  given  the 
city  the  benefit  of  those  qualities  that  have  made 
him  so  uniformly  successful  in  business  affairs. 

Mr.  Hughes  is  connected  with  many  of  the 
moneyed  institutions  of  Buffalo,  and  three  corpora- 
tions have  called  him  to  their  boards  of  directors  — 
the  Milsom  Rendering  &  Fertilizer  Co.,  the  Irish- 
American  Savings  and  Loan  Association,  and  the 
People's  Bank.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the  latter 
institution  ever  since  its  organization.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  is  presi- 
dent of  the  East  Buffalo  Live  .Stock  Exchange  Co. 
With  the  tireless  energy  of  the  true  Irishman,  Mr. 
Hughes  renders  efficient  service  in  these  varied  posi- 
tions, notwithstanding  the  engrossing  cares  of  his 
])rivate  business.  He  is  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Mutual  Benefit  Association 
and  of  the  Catholic  Legion. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  O G Y—John  Huo^hes 
■was  born  at  Dunmore,  Kilkenny  county,  Ireland,  about 
18^2  ;  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Buffalo 
in  1852  ;  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  Bry- 
ant &"  Stratton's  Business  College ;  married  Mary 
Duffey  of  Buffalo  July  10,  186^,  and  Elizabeth  Lo-.'ctt 
of  Buffalo  May  8,  1883  ;  has  been  engaged  in  the  live- 
stock commission  business  since  1866. 


Sherman  S.  3C\VCtt  is  a  sterling  tyi)e  of 
.\mcrican  manhood.  Of  magnificent  presence,  fine 
mental  endowment,  and  lofty  character,  he  naturally 
stands  among  the  foremost  men  of  his  community. 
The  son  of  a  farmer,  he  spent  his  earliest  years 
amid  the  labors  and  pastimes  of  rural  life.  In  the 
summer  he   worked   in    the    fields,   where  doubtless 


he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  robust  constitution  ;  in 
winter  he  attended  the  district  .school,  and  there 
acquired  the  essentials  of  a  sound  education,  though 
the  curriculum  was  limited.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
acted  as  clerk  for  his  half-brother,  who  owned  a 
small  country  store  in  .Moravia,  .\.  Y.  Realizing 
the  lack  of  opportunity  in  a  village,  and  encouraged 
by  the  suggestions  of  his  relatives,  he  determined  to 
go  to  Buffalo  and  seek  work  with  his  uncle,  Isaac  W. 
.Skinner,  who  owned  a  foundry  there  and  manufac- 
tured plows  and  mill  machinery.  In  company 
with  a  neighbor  who  was  taking  a  load  of  produce 
to  market,  Mr.  [ewett  walked  to  Jordan,  where  he 
took  passage  on  a  packet,  and  thus  reached  his  des- 
tination via  the  Erie  canal.  This  was  in  1S.S4,  when 
Buffalo  had  only  12,000  inhabitants. 

The  young  man,  on  jiresenting  himself  to  his 
uncle,  was  .set  to  work  painting  plows  and  cleaning 
castings.  For  one  winter  he  attended  Silas  Kings- 
ley's  High  School,  still  remembered  by  old  inhabit- 
ants. Afterwards  he  learned  the  molder's  trade,  and 
then  acted  as  a  clerk  in  his  uncle's  warehou.se  until 
Mr.  Skinner  was  burned  out.  Mr.  Jewett  was  now 
in  his  nineteenth  year,  but  he  had  so  diligently 
improved  his  time  that  he  was  invited  to  form  a 
copartnership  with  Franklin  Day  and  Francis  H. 
Root,  under  the  firm  name  of  Day,  Root  &  Co. 
They  erected  a  small  foundry  on  Mississippi  street, 
Buffalo,  took  off  their  coats,  and  went  to  work.  In 
a  few  years,  by  withdrawals  and  reorganization,  Mr. 
lewett  alone  remained  of  the  original  partners.  He 
continued  the  business  h\  himself  for  several  years, 
when  Mr.  Root  again  became  a  partner,  the  .style  of 
the  new  firm  being  Jewett  &  Root.  This  partner- 
ship continued  for  thirty-five  years,  and  wa.s  alto- 
gether successfiil,  requiring  after  a  time  a  Chicago 
i)ranch,  and  winning  an  enviable  reputation  in  the 
mercantile  world.  Upon  the  dissolution  of  the  firm 
of  Jewett  &  Root  in  1878,  a  new  com])any  was 
formed,  which  has  since  been  known  as  Sherman  S. 
Jewett  &  Co.  Mr.  Jewett  has  always  been  energetic 
in  the  personal  management  of  his  business,  and  his 
hand  is  still  (July,  189G)  at  the  helm.  His  name  is 
a  household  word  everjwhere. 

Mr.  Jcwett's  success  in  his  own  line  of  i)usincss 
has  naturally  brought  him  into  relations  with  the 
financial  world.  He  has  been  one  of  the  organizers 
of  several  of  Buffalo's  strongest  banks.  He  was 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Buffalo  until  l<S!Ci,  and  a 
director  of  the  Manufacturers'  and  Traders'  Bank 
for  over  thirty  years,  and  of  the  Marine  Bank  for 
oxer  twenty  years.  He  has  been  a  director  of 
the  Columbia  National  Bank  since  its  organization 
in    1M)2.      His    reputation    for   financial  abiiitv  and 


ME.\   OF  XEW   YO R K  —IVESTERX  SECTION 


21i 


in   bank- 


strict  integrity  received  a  notable  recognition  at 
the  time  of  the  great  Chicago  tire.  'I'hat  conflagra- 
tion proved  disastrous  to  insurance  companies  all 
over  the  United  States.  In  Buffalo  three  com- 
panies—  the  Western,  the  Buffalo  City,  and  the 
Buffalo  Fire  and  Marine  —  were  placed 
ruptcy,  and  by  the  action  of  the  Chi- 
cago creditors  Mr.  Jewett  was  appointed 
assignee  of  all.  He  applied  himself  to 
his  great  task  with  such  /eal  that  in  three 
years  he  received  his  official  discharge 
from  the  work,  which  he  completed  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  parties  con- 
cerned. 

In  railroad  circles  Mr.  Jewett  has  been 
a  ([uiet  but  influential  factor.  He  wa.s 
one  of  the  earliest  promoters  of  the  Buf- 
falo, New  York  &  Philadelphia  railway, 
a  director  for  fourteen  years,  and  presi- 
dent from  1iS7(i  to  1881.  His  manage- 
ment of  this  property  was  masterly  in  the 
highest  degree,  as  he  rai.sed  the  road 
from  practical  bankruptcy  to  prosperity, 
returning  to  the  city  of  Buffalo  its  entire 
investment  in  the  road  —  8700,000.  He 
has  been  a  director  of  the  New  York 
Central  railroad  since  1884,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Western  Transit  Co.  since 
1885. 

By  virtue  of  the  services  of  Captain 
Joseph  Jewett  in  the  War  for  Independ- 
ence, Mr.  Jewett  is  a  member  of  the 
societv  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

Religious  and  philanthropic  institutions 
have  ever  found  in  Mr.  Jewett  a  generous 
contributor   and   steadfast    friend.       His 
loyal  and  unselfish  support  of  the  Young 
Men's    A.ssociation    made    it   a   success. 
Unostentatious  in  his  giving,  he   is  prudent  in  the 
bestowal    of   assistance,    always   requiring    that   the 
object   be  a   worthy  one,  and  that  the  means  con- 
tributed to  it  be  wisely  expended.      Mr.  Jewett  finds 
rela.vation  from  business  cares  in   the  rod  and  line, 
and  Izaak  Walton  never  had  a  more  devoted  disciple. 

In  politics  Mr.  Jewett  is  an  original  Republican. 
He  was  thrice  elected  to  the  common  council,  and 
acted  as  mayor  pro  tempore  on  several  occasions. 
His  .services  to  the  city  at  that  time  were  exceed- 
ingly valuable,  and  the  council  adopted  his  plan 
of  creating  both  the  Ohio  and  P>rie  basins,  the 
advocates  of  each  of  which  desired  to  destroy  the 
other.  In  1876  he  was  nominated  for  congress 
without  his  knowledge,  but  ill  health  compelled  him 


to  decline.  In  1880  he  was  a  presidential  elector, 
and  helped  cast  the  vote  of  New  York  for  Carfield 
and  Arthur.  The  organization  of  the  Buffalo  park 
system  was  planned  at  his  house,  and  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  board  of  park  commissioners  from 
the  beginning. 


SHE  UMAX  S.  JEWETT 

PERSONAL  CUR  ONOLOGY—  Sherman 
Skinner  Jeit'ett  was  born  at  Moravia,  N.  Y.,  January 
17,  1818 ;  was  educated  in  district  schools  and  at 
A'ings/ey's  High  School  in  Buffalo  ;  went  to  Buffalo  in 
183  Jf,  and  began  work  in  a  foundry  ;  married  Deborah 
Dusenberry  of  Buffalo  August  H,  1839  ;  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  common  council,  18^5,  18Jf6,  and  18J,S  : 
has  been  park  commissioner  since  the  organization  if 
the  board  in  1871,  and  president  of  the  board  since 
1870  ;  has  carried  on  the  foundry  business,  alone  or 
in  partnership,  since  1836. 


Iberman  XT.  Ikoerner  developed  early  in  life 

the  artistic  talent  that  has  brought  him  success  in  his 
chosen  calling  of  lithography.     As  a  vouth,  in  the 


21S 


.i/A".\'  OF  \K\r  \'iik'k-—irKsyj-:R.\  sfcy/ox 


public  schools  of  Brooklyn,  his  native  city,  his  apii- 
tude  for  drawing  and  designing  resulted  in  his  ca])- 
turing  all  the  prizes  for  which  he  competed  :  and  at 
the  close  of  his  school  life,  in  1870,  he  naturally  he- 
came  an  apprentice  to  the  lithographic  business  in 
New  York  city,  where  for  several  years  he  devoted 


llhk.\IA.\     J.    kO/:k.\hk 

himself  to  close  study,  and  acquired  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  various  branches  of  the  art.  'I'he 
enormous  development  of  the  art  of  illustration,  for 
both  literary  and  commercial  uses,  gave  ample  scope 
to  his  talents,  and  he  soon  launched  out  for  himself, 
establishing  an  office  in  New  York  city,  and  execut- 
ing work  for  the  lithographic  trade.  In  1876  he  ac- 
cepted a  situation  in  Buffalo,  and  in  1878  assumed  a 
position  of  importance  in  the  estalilishment  of  which 
he  is  now  the  head,  where  his  talent  and  industry 
rapidly  jnished  him  to  the  front  rank  of  practical 
lithographers.  On  the  death  of  the  junior  member 
of  the  firm,  Mr.  Koerner  was  admitted  to  a  share 
in  the  business,  and  on  the  death  of  the  foimder  of 
the  house,  he  became  senior  member  of  the   firm  of 


Koerner  &  Hayes.  .Since  that  time  this  well- 
known  house  has  grown  to  large  proportions,  rejjre- 
senting  a  capital  of  half  a  million  dollars,  and  em- 
ploying over  five  hundred  operatives. 

A  number  of  important  and  valuable  inventions, 
used  chiefly  in  the  various  processes  of  lithography 
and  printing,  have  been  the  fruit  of  Mr. 
Koerner's  active  and  versatile  mind  ;  and 
his  .services  in  this  direction  have  received 
substantial  recognition  in  both  trade  and 
.scientific  circles. 

While  actively  engaged  in  his  engross- 
ing duties  as  the  chief  artist  of  his  own 
establishment,  Mr.  Koerner's  artistic- 
tastes  have  found  other  outlets  in  great 
variety.  He  had  a  thorough  training  in 
music  in  early  life,  and  is  a  fine  performer 
upon  both  the  piano  and  violin,  as  well 
as  a  singer  of  taste.  His  genius  in  music 
is  creative,  al.so,  and  he  has  been  a  ])ro- 
lific  composer  of  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music.  He  is  well  known  in  the 
musical  circles  of  Buffalo  as  an  enthusi- 
astic amateur  and  musical  director,  and 
as  the  leader  for  seven  years  of  the  Men- 
delssohn Club. 

Among    his    other    occupations     Mr. 
Koerner  has  frequently  furnished  to  the 
illustrated  press  vivid  and  ])ungent  car- 
toons upon  local  and  general  subjects.    In 
this  line  of  work  he  is  [)eculiarly  happy. 
He  has  strong  opinions  upon  public  af- 
fairs, and  his  pencil   treatment  of  them 
is  direct  and   striking.      His  manner  of 
drawing    shows    decided     individuality, 
and    is   instantly   recognizable   by   those 
who  have  once  seen  it.      His  cartooning 
has  been  done  I'lni  aiiioie,  but  should  he 
devote  himself  to  it  entirely,  Mr.  Koer- 
ner would  easily  attain  high  rank  among  satiric  pic- 
ture teachers  of  the  day.      Almost  as  clever  with  his 
pen  as    with    his    pencil,   Mr.   Koerner    contributes 
to   the   pre.ss  pointed  articles  upon   current    topics, 
which  always  show  a  grasp  of  the  subject,   and  treat 
it   in   an  original   and    entertaining    manner.       His 
numerous   brochures  and   treatises  on    lithography, 
discussing  the  subject  in  both  its  practical  and  its  ab- 
stract aspects,   have  been  extensively  copied,  trans- 
lated, and  printed  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

As  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  National  Lithog- 
raphers' Association  for  nearly  a  decade,  he  has  ren- 
dered invaluable  services  in  behalf  of  his  profession. 
P  E  R  S  O  NA  L     CHR  OXOL  O  G  ) '  —  Herman 
Theoiiore   Koiiitcr  7i<as   born  at  Brooklvn  Noirmier 


MEX  OF  .\7-:ir  )ORK—in-:sr/-:Kx  sect/o\ 


•219 


.9,  1835  :  7cia.f  educated  in  the  public  sclwols  of  tluit 
city  .•  moved  to  Buffalo  in  May,  lS7h',  to  lake  a  posi- 
tioti  as  lithographer  in  the  establishment  of  Cosack 
iSr*  Co.;  married  Georgia  M.  IVhite  of  Buffalo  May 
■  SI,  1877  :  lias  been  a  member  of  the  firm  noiv  styled 
Koerner  ^  Hares  since  August,  1881. 
•♦• 

(BCOrgC  lb.  XamV?  !>;  ;i  true  son  of  western 
New  \'ork,  and  though  he  has  wanderetl  at  times, 
there  he  has  found  his  greatest  success  in  life.  His 
(juiet,  unassuming  manners  conceal  executive  ability 
of  a  high  order,  and  only  to  those  who  know  him 
best  is  his  full  worth  revealed.  He  was  born  in  the 
old  Lamy  homestead  at  East  Eden  in  Erie  comity, 
where  his  grandfather,  Cieorge  Lamv,  settled  in  182!l, 
and  where  his  father,  Henry  Lamy,  died  in  1)S9.~). 
Mr.  Lamy  acquired  a  good  common -.school  education 
as  a  foundation  for  his  battle  with  the 
world,  and  was  for  a  time  a  student  at  the 
well-known  Springville  Academy.  His 
first  venture  in  business  life  was  made  in 
1X62,  when  he  went  to  Buffalo  and  be- 
came a  clerk  in  a  grocery.  After  remain- 
ing in  this  [josition  about  a  year,  he  saw 
greater  opportunities  for  advancement  in 
another  direction,  and  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  transportation  industry  on  the 
(ireat  Lakes.  He  remained  in  this  busi- 
ness for  eight  years,  becoming  in  that 
time  the  owner  of  one  vessel  and  part 
owner  of  another. 

His  ambition  still  unslaked,  Mr.  Lamy 
resolved  to  go  to  that  El  Dorado,  where, 
according  to  Horace  (Ireeley,  fortune 
awaited  every  man  who  would  grow  up 
with  the  country.  Mr.  Lamy  spent  nearly 
two  years  in  the  West,  mostly  on  the 
plains,  and  had  many  experiences  of  an 
interesting  character.  He  was  present 
at  the  driving  of  the  golden  spike  that 
marked  the  completion  of  the  LInion  Pa- 
cific railroad.  But  the  West  did  not 
have  sufficient  attractions  to  keep  this 
eastern-bred  young  man,  and  soon  his 
face  was  set  in  the  direction  of  more 
advanced  civilization. 

.After  returning  to  Buffalo  he  received 
an  appointment  as  a  keeper  in  the  Erie- 
county    penitentiary,    managed    at    that 
time    by    Charles    E.    Felton,    who    has 
since  become  known  as  an  expert  [lenologist.      Mr. 
Lamy  at  once  proved  himself  the  possessor  of  those 
qualities  that  are  so  necessary  in  one  who  is  respon- 
sible for  the  care  and  conduct  of  imprisoned  men. 


\\'hcn  .Mr.  Felton  was  called  to  a  larger  field,  found 
in  the  superintendency  of  the  House  of  Correction  at 
Chicago,  he  induced  his  able  assistant  to  accompany 
him.  Mr.  Lamy  was  made  chief  keeper  of  that 
important  institution,  and  for  eight  years  he  fiUeil 
with  entire  success  this  trying  and  responsible 
position. 

A  desire  to  return  to  Buffalo  led  Mr.  Lamy  to 
accept  the  appointment  of  office  deputy  under  Sheriff 
W.  W.  Lawson  after  that  official's  election  in  ISXO. 
When  Mr.  Law.son  was  succeeded  by  Harry  H.  Koch, 
at  the  end  of  three  years,  Mr.  Lamy  was  retained  in 
his  position  ;  and  when  Frank  T.  Gilbert  was  elected 
sheriff  in  188(i,  he  recognized  Mr.  Lamy's  fitness  and 
ability  by  promoting  him  to  be  under  sheriff.  This 
position  he  filled  also  during  the  term  of  Oliver  .'\. 
Jenkins. 


OEORCtC    II.   I.A.MV 


Mr.  Lamy's  long  service  in  the  sheriff's  office  had 
([ualified  him  in  a  marked  degree  for  the  head 
position  there,  and  in  181)2  he  received  the  Re- 
publican nomination.      This  was  a  bad  vear  for  that 


220 


.\/E.\   OF  XEIV    VORk-—U'ESr/:R.\  SECT/OX 


party,  ho\ve\t'r,  ami  he  went  down  uith  the  rest 
of  the  ticket.  Two  years  later  he  was  once 
more  his  party's  candidate,  and  was  elected  by 
a  solid  majority  of  lo,29!)  votes  in  the  count)-  of 
Erie  —  a  certain  indication  of  his  personal  and 
political  ])opularity. 


Ill  1. 1. 1  AM  /■■.   M.ICKEV 

PERSON  A 1.  CUR  ONOL  UGY—  George  If. 
Latny  was  born  at  East  Eden,  Erie  county,  N.  Y. , 
March  19,  181i.H  :  attended  district  schools  and  Spring- 
ville  Academy  ;  went  to  Buffalo  in  18G2,  and  engaged 
in  lake  traffic,  1863-71 ;  was  chief  keeper  at  the  House 
of  Correction,  Chicago,  1871-79;  married  Lana  C. 
Keller  of  North  Boston,  N.  Y.,  April  16,  187  If;  7t>as 
appointed  office  deputy  by  the  sheriff  of  Erie  county  in 
1880,  and  under  sheriff  in  1886  ;  has  been  sheriff  of 
Erie  county  since  January  1,  1895. 
—       **• 

Milliam  Jf.  /IDaChC\:,  like  thousands  of  other 
bright  young  men  brought  up  in  the  smaller  towns, 
was  attracted  by  the  manifold  advantages  of  a  great 
citv,  and    in   early  manhood   settled    in  Ruffalo.      In 


the  twelve  years  that  he  has  spent  there  he  has  inter- 
ested himself  actively  in  public  affairs,  and  has  become 
well  known  both  in  his  profession  and  be\ond  it. 

Mr.  Mackey  is  a  native  of  western  New  York, 
and  was  born  at  Albion,  Orleans  county,  late  in  the 
'.■>0's.  His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the 
jjrivate  and  public  schools  of  his  native 
village.  In  1869  his  jjarents  moved  to 
Middleport,  Niagara  county,  and  he  at- 
tended the  public  schools  there  for  three 
years.  Then  he  took  a  four  years'  course 
at  Lockport  Union  School,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1S76. 

The  legal  profession  ]30ssessed  decided 
attractions  for  the  young  man,  and  he 
began  at  o.ice  to  prepare  himself  for  it, 
entering  the  office  of  the  well-known  firm 
of  Ellsworth,  Potter  &  Brundage  in  Lock- 
port,  as  a  student.  When  Judge  Brun- 
dage withdrew-  from  the  firm  Mr.  Mackey 
continued  his  studies  with  him,  and  after 
admission  to  the  bar,  in  1879,  he  re- 
mained in  the  office  as  managing  clerk. 
He  continued  to  fill  this  responsible  po- 
sition until  1883,  when  Judge  Brundage 
moved  to  Rulfalo.  For  a  short  time  Mr. 
Mackey  practiced  alone  at  Lockport  ;  but 
in  1884  he,  too,  yielded  to  the  magnet- 
like attraction  of  a  large  i  itw  and  moved 
to  Buffalo. 

It  re(|uires  no  small  amount  of  courage 

and  determination  on  the  part  of  a  young 

lawyer  to  make  a  place  for  himself  in  his 

profession    without    forming    an   alliance 

with  some  older  man  who.se  rei>utation  is 

already   established  :    and    the    difificultv 

is   considerably   increased    if   the   _\oung 

aspirant  for  fame  and  fortune  be  a  stranger 

in  the  community.      But  Mr.  .Mackey  was 

e(|ual  to  the  task  before  him,  and  for  several  years 

he    worked    alone,    with    ever    increasing    success. 

i-'inallv,   in   1890,   he  associated    him.self  with  John 

('.  Draper,  Jr.,  under  the  firm  name  of  Mackey  it 

Draper,  and  this  ]jartnership  still  continues. 

Mr.  Mackey's  greatest  interest  outside  his  pro- 
fession is  in  the  domain  of  politics,  so  fascinating  to 
many  lawyers.  He  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
public  affairs  ever  since  he  left  school,  and  his  ])artv 
has  gladly  availed  itself  of  his  services.  Before  he 
left  Lockport  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
district  attorney  of  Niagara  county,  l)ut  was  defeated 
with  the  rest  of  his  ticket.  Soon  after  his  arrival 
in  liulfalo  he  took  an  active  [lart  in  the  formation 
of  the  Cleveland  Democracy.      He  was  its  president 


AfEN   OF  .\F.ir    VOA'k-— II 7:s 77-: AW  SKCT/OX 


l-l\ 


in  18X7,  18,SX,  and  1892,  and  has  been  especially 
interested  in  the  organization  ever  since.  In  1888 
he  was  his  party's  candidate  for  the  coveted  position 
of  representative  in  congress,  but  was  defeated  by 
John  M.  Faniuhar  by  a  majority  of  about  1600. 
In  December,  1890,  Mr.  Mackey's  devotion  to  the 
Democratic  cause  was  rewarded  by  an  a])pointnient 
as  assistant  city  attorney,  and  he  held  the  position 
for  three  years,  until  his  election  as  assistant  United 
States  attornev  in  1893.  This  position  he  still 
holds. 

Mr.  Mackey  is  not  actively  connected  with  the 
many  social  and  fraternal  organizations  of  the  day, 
but  finds  in  jiolitics  all  the  rela.xation  he  needs 
from  the  cares  of  his  profession.  He  is  a  member 
of  Buffalo  Lodge,  Xo.  21,  B.  P.  O.  E. 

PERSONA L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  William 
Fleming  Mackey  was  born  at  Albion, 
N.  y. ,  January  3,  1858  ;  graduated  from 
Lockport  Union  School  in  1876  ;  loas  ad- 
mi  tied  to  the  bar  in  1870  .•  married  Ella 
L.  Robinson  of  Cambria,  N.  K ,  N'ovem- 
ber  10,  1877  ;  practiced  laiv  at  Lockport, 
N.  Y. ,  1879-8 J,. ;  was  assistant  city  attor- 
ney of  Buffalo,  1800-03  ;  has  been  assist- 
ant United  States  attorney  since  1803 :  has 
practiced  la7o  in  Buffalo  since  188 J^ . 


peter  p.  jflDiller  has  long  been 
active  in  the  business  life  of  Buffalo. 
His  entire  career  has  been  devoted  to 
practical  objects,  and  he  has  done  much 
to  increa.se  the  material  prosperity  of  his 
native  city.  With  the  exceijtion  of  a  few 
years'  .schooling,  he  is  a  self-educated 
man.  He  began  early  the  task  of  mak- 
ing his  own  way  in  the  world.  Having 
learned  the  machinist's  trade  in  the  Buf- 
falo Steam  Engine  Works,  he  graduated 
from  the  shop  to  the  steamboat.  He  be- 
came connected  with  the  Western  Trans- 
portation Co.,  and  for  a  time  wasa.ssistant 
engineer  on  one  of  their  screw  jjropel- 
lers.  Sulisequently  he  was  promoted  and 
made  chief  engineer  of  the  steamer  "  Free 
State."  Finally  the  company  made  him 
chief  engineer  of  its  entire  fleet.  As  a 
practical  engineer  Mr.  Miller  rendered 
most  efficient  service  to  the  Transporta- 
tion Co.,  and  at  the  time  of  its  dissolution 
in  1884  he  was  holding  the  responsible  position  of  su- 
perintendent, and  was  also  a  director  in  the  company. 

In  the  following  year  Mr.  Miller  entered  a  new 
field,    in    which    he    was   also    destined    to    achieve 


success.  He  became  secretary  ami  treasurer  ami 
managing  director  of  the  Citizens'  CJas  Co.  of  Buffalo. 
He  had  been  connected  with  this  company  as  a 
director  ever  since  its  organization  in  December, 
1873.  He  has  also  e.Ktended  his  l)usine.ss  relations 
ill  several  quarters.  He  is  a  director  in  the  American 
Exchange  Bank  and  the  Buffalo  ( lenenil  I'",lectric  Co. 
His  practical  mind  was  early  attracted  to  the  elec- 
trical field,  and  in  addition  to  the  directorates  men- 
tioned he  is  president  of  the  !•'.  P.  Little  Electrical 
Construction  &  Supply  Co.  He  also  retains  his 
interest  in  lake  commerce,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Lake  Carriers'  Association,  as  well  as  manager  and 
part  owner  of  the  Red  Star  line  of  steamers  of 
Buffalo.  Mr.  Miller  was  among  the  first  engineers 
to  recognize  the  value  and  feasibility  of  compound 
entrines,  and  he  introduced  the  first  one  of  the  kind  on 


PF.ri-.R   p.   MILLER 


the  lakes  in  the  ca,se  of  the  steamer  "  Sus(|uehanna." 

In  politics   Mr.    Miller's  affiliations  are  with    the 

Republican  party,  and  in  18(59-70  he  rejjresented  the 

4th  ward  in  the  common  council.      In  recent  vears 


.\//:\  OF  .y/-:ir  jv^a'a  — /fA.v/AAW  s/-:cr/i>.v 


increasing  business  cares  have  caused  him  to  take  a 
less  active  interest  in  public  affairs  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  politics  ;  but  his  convictions  on  i|ucstions 
of  the  day  are  strong  and  well  founded.  Mr.  Miller 
is  naturally  of  a  retiring  dis])osition,  content  with 
doing  his  duty  as  it  appears  to  him  from  day  to  day. 


JAMES  MO().\E\ 

He  is  a  man  of  unlliiiching  courage  and  of  cpiick 
resolve,  and  displayed  these  (jualities  to  great  advan- 
tage at  the  memorable  burning  of  the  American  block 
in  January,  ISli").  'i'hree  firemen  had  lost  their 
lives,  and  the  conflagration  threatened  to  spread  and 
become  general.  At  this  jimcture  Mr.  Miller  con- 
cluded that  heroic  niea.sures  were  needed,  and  with  a 
(]uantity  of  giant  ]jowder  he  entered  and  blew  uj)  the 
structure,  thus  preventing  the  fire  from  spreading. 
Mr.  Miller  is  a  prominent  Kree  Mason,  and  is  a 
member  of  a  number  of  lodges  in  Buffalo.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club  and  of  the 
Merchants'  Exchange. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— Peter   Paul 
Miller  was  horn  at  Buffalo  Nm'emher  20,  1SS7  :  rcas 


educated  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  ;  learned  the 
machinist' s  trade,  and  became  engineer  on  lake 
steamers  :  7vas  su/>e/-intendent  of  the  Western  Trans- 
portation Co.,  and  a  director  in  the  companx,  lSGO-84  : 
has  been  secretary,  treasurer,  and  managing  director  of 
the  Citizens'  Gas  Co.  since  ISSiJ. 


3ameS  /IDOOneV?  Has  made  his 
name  synonymous  iii  ISulfalo  with  enter- 
prise, busine.ss  energy,  and  public  spirit. 
He  ])0ssesses  a  rare  combination  of  tact 
and  jiush.  and  when  once  he  has  em- 
barked on  an  undertaking  knows  no  such 
word  as  fail.  He  is  of  Celtic  origin  but 
of  .\merican  training  ;  and  imites  in 
himself  the  suave  but  independent  spirit 
of  his  race  with  the  shrewd  and  progres- 
sive character  of  the  native  .American. 
As  a  young  man  he  was  dependent 
largely  on  his  own  resources  for  success  ; 
but  he  was  ambitious,  and  laid  a  founda- 
tion of  character  and  aliility  sufticientlv 
l)road  and  stable  to  sup])ort  subse(|uent 
eminence  and  fortune. 

Mr.  Mooney  took  up  his  residence  in 
Buffalo  about  forty-six  years  ago,  and 
received    his    education     in    the    public 

1         schools  of  that  city.      His  early  ambition 
was    to    prac^tice    law,  and    he    began    a 
course  of  legal  study  in  the  office  of  the 
late  Charles  1).  Norton.     But  .Mr.  Mooney 
soon  concluded  that   his    talents    lay   in 
another  field,  and  he  ])ut  aside  his  law 
books  to  engage  in  the   real -estate  busi- 
ness.     Few   men    in    Buffalo    have    been 
more   fidly  identified  with   tlie  develo])- 
meiit   of   the   city  than    he.      .\t  a  time 
when  land  improvement  was  hardly  <  (ui 
ceived,  he  showed  his  faith  in  the  destiny 
of  his  adopted  city  by  expending  lime,  money,  and 
energy  in  reclaiming  and  laying  out  vast  tracts   of 
realty  that  are   now  within  the  limits  of   the  city. 
Rare  judgment  and  courage  were  retpiired  in  such 
undertakings,  but  the  reward  has  been  commensunite 
with  the  outlax . 

Mr.  Mooney  has  long  been  an  active  lactor  in 
public  affairs.  \Vhile  not  an  office-seeker,  he  has 
been  called  u])on  frecpiently  to  fill  public  jjositions 
of  trust  and  resiwnsibility,  and  in  every  case  he  has 
fulfilled  the  duties  impo.sed  u])on  him  in  a  business- 
like manner.  He  was  one  of  the  original  park  com- 
missioners of  Buffalo,  and  served  in  that  cajjacity  for 
fifteen  years.  For  five  years  he  was  one  of  the 
commissioners  of   the  State   Reservation  at   Niagara 


MEX  OF  xhir  )()A'A-  ~n-/-:sy/-:A'x  s/-:cr/ox 


223 


Falls,  and  proved  himself  watchful  of  tlie  piiiilic 
interests,  and  conscientious  in  the  discharj^e  of  his 
duties.  In  18!)1  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Bishoj) 
commissioner  of  public  works,  anil  this  position  he 
still  holds. 

In  recent  years  Mr.  Mooney  has  devoted  consider- 
able attention  to  building,  and  in  the  grand  structure 
known  as  the  Mooney-Brisbane  building  he  has 
reared  a  lasting  monument,  creditable  alike  to  him- 
self and  to  the  city  of  Buflalo.  He  has  not  conlined 
his  activities  to  mercantile  lines.  Causes  ajjpeal- 
ing  to  his  patriotism  and  his  sense  of  justice  have 
ever  found  in  him  an  ardent  supporter  and  a  cham- 
pion. He  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  Irish 
Land  League  of  America,  and  was  its  president  from 
l.HSl  to  the  time  of  its  consolidation  with  the  Irish 
National  League.  Loyalty  to  race  and  traditions 
has  ever  been  a  characteristic  of  men  of 
Irish  lineage,  and  this  loyalty  Mr.  Moone\ 
posse.sses  in  a  high  degree.  For  all  that, 
his  stanch  Americanism  is  none  the  less 
marked  and  active,  and  he  is  a  fine 
example  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  ap- 
pellation Irish-American  —  loyal  to  his 
native  land,  but  true  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption. 

PERSONAL  CNR  ONOL  O  G  Y— 
fames  A/ooiiev  7C'as  />(////  in  Queen' s  County, 
Ireland,  and  came  to  Buffalo  in  1850 ;  7vas 
educated  in  tJte  public  schools :  married 
Ellen  L.  McRoden  of  Rochester  in  1S7S  ,■ 
lias  carried  on  a  real-estate  business  at 
Buffalo  since  1860 :  has  been  commis- 
sioner of  public  ivorks  of  the  city  of  Buffalo 
since  1891. 


(lijarlCS  %.  IHortb  is  a  fit  repre- 
sentative of  the  men  who,  from  very 
humble  beginnings  and  without  help, 
work  their  way  up  to  success  and  a  place 
of  honor  in  the  community.  His  early 
years  were  pa.ssed  in  circumstances  that 
gave  little  hint  of  what  the  future  was  to 
be.  He  w'as  born  on  a  farm  far  up  in 
Clinton  countv,  in  which  all  of  his  great- 
grandparents  had  been  pioneers.  Per- 
haps the  best  part  of  his  inheritance  con- 
sisted of  the  qualities  that  he  derived  from 
a  long  line  of  Puritan  and  Quaker  an- 
cestors, one  of  whom,  (ieorge  Soule,  was 
a  signer  of  the  "Compact"  in  the  cabin  of  the 
"  Mayflower." 

In   the  panic  of  1857   Mr.    North's  parents  were 
reduced  to  distress  :    and   insufficient   food,  fuel,  and 


clothing  made  tlic  winter  one  to  be  remembered. 
He  was  at  that  time  thrown  ujjon  his  own  resources. 
His  education  was  limited  to  what  he  had  received 
in  the  district  school,  and  to  attendance  for  two  or 
three  winters  at  a  ])rivate  school,  where  he  built  the 
fires,  shoveled  the  snow,  and  swept  the  schoolrooms, 
in  payment  for  his  tuition.  However,  he  was  an  eager 
reader ;  and  by  sitting  up  nights  after  his  day's 
work  was  done,  and  studying  the  few  .schoolbooks  at 
his  command,  he  made  up  in  ])art  for  the  limitations 
described. 

Thus  meagerly  prepared,  the  boy  set  out  with  a 
stout  heart  to  work  his  way  upward.  He  earned  his 
living  by  laboring  as  a  farm  hantl  until  the  spring  of 
I'STo.  when  he  went  to  Buffalo,  a  total  stranger,  with 
a  kw  hundred  dollars,  saved  by  the  utmost  denial, 
as   his   total   ra])ilal.      I  laving  found  emiiiovmcnl  in 


**fi£*f*: 


CHARLES  J.  XORTII 

an  insurance  office,  he  ([uickly  mastered  the  details 
of  the  business,  and  secured  the  confidence  of  his 
employers  to  such  an  extent  that  within  a  short  time 
he  was  jjromoted  to  the  most  responsilile  ])osition    in 


.'24 


A/E.\   OF  XEir    VORk—lVESr/iRN  SECT/OX 


the  office.  After  that  advancement  was  easy.  In 
1879  he  succeeded  his  former  employer  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  two  years  later  formed  the  insurance  part- 
nership of  North  &  Vedder,  which  still  continues. 
His  history  since  then  has  been  one  of  steadily  in- 
creasing prosperity. 

The  guiding  purpose  of  Mr.  North's  life  has  been, 
not  to  serve  selfish  ends,  but  to  be  of  use  to  the 
world.  He  has  never  held  nor  sought  office,  but 
has  always  endeavored  to  do  his  duty  in  a  (juiet  way 
as  a  citizen,  in  everything  advancing  the  public 
wood.  He  was  an  original  member  of  the  Buffalo 
Republican  League,  was  one  of  six  supporters  to 
l>romise  it  the  necessary  financial  backing  when  a 
permanent  organization  was  planned,  and  served  for 
two  terms  as  vice  president  and  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee.  He  has  been  vice  president 
of  the  Buffalo  Association  of  P'ire  Underwriters,  is  a 
director  of  the  Homestead  Savings  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, and  a  director  of  the  Exchange  Elevator  Co. 
He  is  treasurer  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
Society,  a  director  of  the  Oakfield  Club,  a  coun- 
cilor of  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  various  other  societies  and  institutions  of  a 
semi-public  nature.  He  is  especially  interested  in 
the  study  of  colonial  history  and  genealogy.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and 
of  the  New  England  Historical  Cenealogical  Society. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Charles  Jack- 
son North  was  bom  at  Chazy,  Clinton  county,  N.  Y. , 
Max  13,  18J^7 ;  mas  educated  at  the  district  school, 
7oith  a  few  terms  in  a  private  school ;  worked  as  a 
farm  hand,  1S62-7S ;  loas  a  clerk  in  an  insurance 
office  in  Buffalo,  1873-79 ;  married  Dora  C.  Briggs 
of  Buffalo  June  30,  1881  :  has  carried  on  an  insur- 
ance Imsiness  since  1870,  and  since  188 1  has  In-en  a 
memher  of  the  firm  of  A^orth  &'  Vedder. 


James  ©sborne   Putnam  has  a  lineage 

consistent  with  and  prophetic  of  his  own  splendid 
career.  His  earliest  American  ancestor  was  John 
Putnam,  who  came  from  England  in  1(5.'>4  and  settled 
in  Salem,  Mass.  The  family  prospered  from  the 
beginning,  soon  acquiring  large  landed  property  in 
Salem,  and  taking  an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.  The  branch  of  the  family  with 
which  we  are  immediately  concerned  moved  to  Ver- 
mont in  colonial  times,  and  Mr.  Putnam's  father  was 
born  in  Brattleboro.  He  joined  the  westward  ]jro- 
cession,  and  settled  in  Attica,  N.  Y.,  in  1S17. 
There  James  O.  Putnam  was  born  the  next  year,  on 
Independence  Day. 

After  studying  at  Hamilton  College  in  1834— "?;'), 
Mr.  Putnam  entered,  as  a  junior,  the  Yale  class  of 


183!(,  first  absenting  him.self  a  year  from  college  on 
accoimt  of  ill  health.  He  then  entered  upon  the 
study  of  law  in  his  father's  office.  Harvey  Putnam 
was  himself  a  distinguished  man,  serving  for  many 
years  in  the  state  .senate  and  the  national  house  of 
representatives  ;  and  his  son  could  hardly  have  found, 
especially  in  those  days  of  inefficient  law  schools,  a 
better  guide  along  the  difficult  road  to  legal  learning. 
With  such  advantages  of  tuition,  Mr.  Putnam  easily 
obtained  admission  to  the  bar  in  1842.  He  then 
moved  to  Buffalo  and  began  practice  at  once.  In 
the  early  years  of  his  jirofessional  work  he  devoted  a 
good  deal  of  attention  to  railroad  interests,  which 
were  already  beginning  to  have  an  important  jilace 
in  the  economic  conditions  of  the  country.  In  1844 
he  became  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  in  184(1 
attorney  and  counselor,  of  the  Attica  iS;  Buffalo  and 
Buffalo  &  Rochester  railroad  companies.  These 
positions  he  retained  until  the  consolidation  of  the 
companies  with  the  New  York  Central  railroad. 

Comparatively  early  in  life  Mr.  Putnam  became 
])rominent  in  public  affairs,  and  he  had  not  lived 
long  in  Buffalo  before  his  pre-eminent  fitness  for 
positions  of  trust  was  recognized.  In  1851  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  the  city  1)\  President 
Fillmore,  and  held  the  office  through  the  administra- 
tion. In  18.'3."!  he  was  elected  state  senator,  and 
attained  national  fame  by  his  speeches  in  the  legisla- 
ture. His  most  notable  work  in  that  body  was  the 
authorship  of  a  bill  requiring  the  title  of  church  real 
property  to  be  vested  in  trustees.  A  serious  con- 
troversy had  ari.sen  between  the  bishops  of  the  Roman 
church,  who  contended  that  the  title  to  every  church 
estate  should  be  vested  in  the  bishop  of  the  diocese, 
and  certain  congregations,  particularly  that  of  St. 
Louis  of  Buffalo,  which  insisted  u])on  inde])endence 
in  their  tem])oralities.  The  i.ssue  thus  raised  vitally 
affected  the  princi])les  of  religious  freedom,  and 
intense  interest  was  taken  throughout  the  country  in 
the  result  of  the  controversy.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  Mr.  Putnam's  speech  of  January  .■](),  1855, 
in  the  New  York  state  senate  led  to  the  almost 
imanimous  passage  of  his  bill  by  the  legislature. 
The  speech  was  a  model  of  resistless  logic,  and  was 
delivered  with  burning  eloquence.  It  was  read 
everywhere,  and  the  orator  aci|uired  fame  in  a  night 
from  one  end  of  the  conntr\-  to  the  other. 

Mr.  Putnam  was  in  those  days  a  conservative 
Whig.  He  went  fiirther,  however,  than  that  branch 
of  his  party  in  his  ojjposition  to  slavery  ;  and  some 
of  his  most  powerful  speeches  concerned  the  "  irre- 
])ressible  conflict."  He  was  at  one  time  identified 
with  the  American  party,  and  he  was  its  candidate 
for  the  office  of  secretarv  of  state  in  1857.      In  1  8C0 


.I/A".\'   ('/•"  XEII'    YORK  -    WF.S7ER.X  SECT/OX 


he  was  one  of  the  two  Lincoln  presidential  electors 
at  large  for  New  York  state. 

'rhroughout  the  war  Mr.  Putnam  was  consul  at 
Havre,  France,  having  been  sent  thither  by  President 
Lincoln  in  DSfU.  Paris  was  a  rallying-point  for 
loyal  Americans  on  the  continent,  and  Mr.  Put  nam 
was  frequently  called  to  the  capital  on 
national  anniversaries  and  other  patri- 
otic occasions.  He  wrote  the  address  of 
American  citizens  abroad  to  their  govern- 
ment at  the  time  of  Lincoln's  assa.ssin- 
ation.  He  delivered  a  notable  oration 
in  Paris  on  Washington's  Birthday,  18G(i. 
Mr.  Putnam  was  again  sent  abroad  in 
the  service  of  the  government  in  1880, 
receiving  an  appointment  as  minister  to 
Belgium  from  President  Hayes.  While 
filling  this  mission  he  was  appointed 
by  the  United  States  government  its 
delegate  to  the  International  Industrial 
Property  Congress  held  in  Paris  in  ISM. 

The    foregoing    sketch,    of    nece,ssity 
largely  statistical,  etches  lightly  the  out- 
line of  a  career  that  deserves  and  needs 
for  its  proper  portra\al  a  line  engraving 
by  a  master  hand.      Beginning  life  when 
the  century  was  young,  Mr.  Putnam  has 
passed  through  a  youth  of  ambition  and 
preparation,  a  manhood  of  struggle  and 
achievement,  an  age  of  dignity  and  honor. 
I'hroughout  his  long  career  he  has  been 
an    intellectual   and   a  moral    force  ever 
strongly  exerted  in  behalf  of  right.    Every 
good  cause  has  received  support  from  him, 
and  has  gathered  added  impetus  from  his 
contact  with  it.      By  pen  and  voice  and 
personal  effort,  he  has  helped  forward  the 
good   work   of  the   world.      The  graces 
and  charm  of  his  oratory  linger  in  the 
memory  of  thousands.      For  years  no  jjublic  occasion 
of  importance  in  Buffalo  was  complete  without  his 
presence   and   his    inspiring    interpretation    of    the 
meaning    of    the    day.     A   volume    of    "Orations, 
Speeches,   and    Miscellanies,"    published   in    Buffalo 
in    1880,  shows   the  wide   range   of  his  sympathy, 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment,   the  nobility  of  his 
ideals. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— James  Os- 
Iwnic  Putnam  was  born  at  Attica,  N.  V.,  July  4> 
1818:  studied  at  Hamilton  and  at  Yale  colleges ;  ivas 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  18 Jf^,  and  began  the  practice  oj 
law  in  Buffalo  ;  married  Harriet  Palmer  of  Buffalo 
January  ii,  18^^.2,  and  Kate  /'".  JFright  of  Woodstock, 
Vt. ,   March    15,   1855 ;    ivas  postmaster  of  Buffalo, 


1851-53,  and  state  senator,  185^-55 ;  ruas  United 
States  consul  at  Havre,  France,  1801-66,  and  United 
States  minister  to  Belgium,  1880-81 :  has  been  mem- 
ber of  the  council  of  the  University  of  Buffalo  since  its 
organization  in  18J/>,  was  for  many  years  its  vice 
chancellor,  and  is  no7i>  its  chancellor. 


JAMKS   OSHOh'.XE   PfTXAM 

]Eb\Var5  1R.  IRice  was  born  in  Indiana,  but 
he  is  of  New  Lngland  descent  on  both  sides,  his 
great-grandfather  having  fought  for  the  colonial  cau.se 
in  the  Revolution.  Combining  the  tireless  energy 
of  the  West  and  the  business  sagacity  of  the  East, 
Mr.  Rice  has  built  up  a  commercial  house  with  a 
wide  and  splendid  reputation  for  enterprise,  fair  deal- 
ing, completeness,  and  general  responsibility. 

The  son  of  a  Methodist  minister,  Mr.  Rice  re 
ceived  an  early  home  training  that  insured  useful  citi- 
zenshi]!  and  an  honoralile  business  career.  He  at- 
tended the  common  schools  of  ^\'ars,aw,  N.  Y. ,  and 
was  graduated  from  the  Batavia  High  School  when 
only  fifteen  years  of  age.  Having  determined  to 
pursue  a  mercantile   career,  he  became  a  clerk  in  a 


•226 


X/K\   OF  NEir    )OKK—WKSTKK\   SECT/OA 


retail  boot  and  shoe  store  in  Hatavia,  and  a  year 
later  moved  to  Rochester,  to  accept  a  position  in  a 
wholesale  boot  and  shoe  house  in  that  city.  He  has 
been  identified  with  the  rubber  boot  and  shoe  business 
ever  since  he  first  began  to  work.  He  has  made  a 
.specialty  of  this  business,  and  no  man  is  more  familiar 


than  he  with  every  detail  of  the  trade,  and  with  the 
\arying  phases  of  the  market. 

After  this  experience  in  retail  and  wholesale  houses, 
Mr.  Rice  felt  sufficient  confidence  to  emliark  in  the 
business  for  himself,  and  he  became  the  senior  )iiein- 
lier  of  the  firm  of  Rice  &  Abell,  whole.sale  dealers  in 
rubber  boots  and  shoes  at  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.  This 
firm  conducted  a  satisfactory  busine.ss  for  six  years, 
when  Mr.  Rice  made  up  his  mind  that  Buffalo  of- 
fered facilities  for  shipjjing  and  advantages  for  en- 
larging trade  suiKjrior  to  any  other  city  between  New 
York  and  Chicago.  Accordingly  he  moved  to  But- 
falo  in  the  spring  of  18H7,  and  estalilishcil  himself  on 
I'earl  street,  until  the  re(|uirements  of  an  expanding 
business  demanded  larger  quarters  for  the  storage  and 


display  of  goods.       This  increase  in  business  can  be 
safely  attributed  to  Mr.    Rice's  energy,   farsighted- 
ness, and    organizing   capacity.      He   possesses   that 
quality,  so  valuable  in  a  merchant,  of  impressing  cus- 
tomers with  his  fairne.ss  and  sincerity — an   impres- 
sion  in   this  case  that   does   not    belie   the  reality. 
.Mr.  Rice's  present  business  establishment 
comprises  a  six-story    warehouse   and   a 
block  seven  stories  high,   perfect   in   its 
arrangements  and   adapted   for  the  con- 
\enient    handling    of    rubber   boots  and 
slioes,  to  which  he  confines  his  business 
exclusively.      He  has  a  branch  house  at 
I  )ctroit,    and   another  at    Duluth.       This 
extensive  business  is  carried  on  by  Mr. 
Rice  alone. 

Though  an  exceedingly  busy  man,  Mr. 
Rice  is  mindful  of  the  fact  that  in  a  coun- 
try like  ours  where  political  responsibility 
rests  u|)on  the  people,  every  citizen  should 
make  public  affairs  part  of  his  private 
concern.  He  is  one  of  the  men  of  inde- 
pendent action,  who,  in  the  last  dozen 
\ears,  rising  above  party  considerations, 
have  endeavored  to  rescue  the  ])olitics  of 
our  municipalities  from  the  control  of 
tile  spoilsmen.  .A  reform  has  undoubt- 
ctliy  been  effected  in  American  cities 
within  the  past  decade,  and  this  has  been 

Ldue   to   the  activity  of  business  men   in 
local  affairs.      Mr.  Rice  has  been  promi- 
nent among   this  cla.ss  in   Buffalo.      He 
was  a])pointed  civil-service  commissioner 
iiy  Mayor   Bishop,  and  served  for  nearly 
foiu'  years,  until  ])ressure  of  business  com- 
pelled him  to  resign.      But  he  continues 
his  interest  in  this  reform  as  a  member  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice Reform  Association.      To  him  also 
is  due  in  large  ])art  the  organization   of  the  Clood 
(lovernment    Club  of   Buffalo,    whiih   has  done    so 
much  in  securing  needed  reforms.      .'\t  present  he  is 
a  member  of  the  central  council  of  this  chili,  re])re- 
senting  the  24th  ward  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Rice  devotes  considerable  attention  to  philan- 
thro]jic  movements  and  organizations  that  commend 
themselves  to  his  judgment.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
council  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  Buf- 
falo, a  trustee  of  the  Homeojjathic  Hospital  in  that 
city,  and  president  of  the  Klmwood  School,  one  of 
the  best  private  institutions  in  the  state.  That  his 
mental  horizon  is  not  narrow  is  shown  by  his  mem- 
bership in  the  Liberal,  Thursday,  Saturn,  and  Buffalo 
clubs,  as  well  as  in  the  Buffalo  Society  of  .\rfists  and 


ME\   OF  XF.W    YORK—U'ESTERX  SECTION 


the  Buffalo  Historical  Society.  In  every  relation 
of  life,  commercial,  political,  and  social,  Mr.  Rice 
is  noted  for  earnestness,  thoroughness,  and  up- 
rightness. 

PERSONAL  CNR  ONOL  O  G  Y— Edward  Rus- 
sell Rice  was  born  at  Nashville,  Ind. ,  June  21,  1856  ; 
7oas  educated  in  common  sc/iools,  and  graduated  from 
the  Batavia  High  School :  7mis  a  clerk  in  boot  and 
shoe  houses  in  Batavia  and  Rochester,  187 IS  1  : 
conducted  a  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  house  in  Dun- 
kirk, N.  v.,  1881-87  :  married  Mary  La ngley  Fulla- 
gar  of  Dunkirk  October  18,  1884  ■  ''"?•>"  conducted  a 
wholesale  rubber  boot  and  shoe  house  in  Buffalo  since 
1887. 

Milliam  IRiCbar^SOn  has  lived  a  long  and 
busy  life,  imsullied  by  a  single  (juestionable  trans- 
action. All  through  his  career  he  has 
adhered  steadfastly  to  the  honest  princi- 
ple of  avoiding  debt,  and  never  incur- 
ring obligations  that  he  was  not  sure  of 
being  able  to  meet  at  maturity.  Pes- 
simists are  fond  of  disparaging  the  prac- 
tical utility  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
in  commerce  and  in  politics  ;  but  Mr. 
Richard.son's  life  is  a  refutation  of  this 
demoralizing  doctrine.  He  has  engaged 
in  bu.siness  and  in  public  affairs,  and  has 
never  felt  it  necessary,  in  order  to  achieve 
success,  to  depart  from  the  pathway  of 
integrity  and  honor. 

Mr.  Richardson  comes  of  New  iMig- 
land  stock.  He  was  born  in  the  old 
town  of  Attleboro,  Mass.,  more  than 
seventy-five  years  ago.  Since  the  year  of 
his  birth  the  country  has  passed  through 
nineteen  presidential  campaigns,  and  as 
many  different  Presidents  have  occupied 
the  White  House  at  Wa.shington.  Dur- 
ing the  period  covered  by  his  life  the 
United  States  has  witnessed  its  most  mar- 
velous growth  in  population,  industry, 
and  wealth.  Mr.  Richardson's  parents 
moved  from  Ma.ssachusetts  to  Pennsvl- 
vania  when  he  was  an  infant.  There 
were  no  great  railroads  then,  and  the 
family  traveled  overland  in  a  wagon. 
.\fter  a  short  residence  in  the  Keystone 
State  they  moved  to  De  Witt,  N.  Y., 
where  Mr.  Richardson's  boyhood  was 
pa,ssed  on  a  farm.  The  Erie  canal,  a  mighty  enter- 
pri,se  of  engineering  skill  for  those  days,  was  then 
in  process  of  construction,  and  for  several  years 
Mr.  Richardson  was  employed  by  one  of  the  state 


contractors  charged  with  repairing  the  canal  between 
Syracuse  and  C'hittenango.  Later  he  helped  build 
the  reservoir  covering  about  600  acres  of  land  near 
Cazenovia,  as  a  supply  basin  for  the  canal.  This 
employment  aceinainted  him  with  river  and  harbor 
work,  and  he  next  became  engaged  in  dredging 
operations  at   Detroit. 

Hitherto  Mr.  Richardson  had  been  an  em|jloyee. 
He  now  became  a  contractor,  and  had  charge  of  the 
construction  of  a  large  jiiece  of  embankment  for  the 
(ireat  Western  railroad.  He  also  entered  the  dredg- 
ing business,  and  carried  on  the  first  work  of  this 
kind  ever  done  on  the  St.  Clair  Flats  in  the  Detroit 
river.  He  also  dredged  out  the  channel  at  Green  Bay, 
Wis.  The  volume  of  business  on  the  Erie  canal  had 
grown  to  such  proportions  by  the  year  isr)4  that  an 
enlargement  was  rendered  necessarv  between  Tona- 


lly/,/./. ;.!/  I'HriiAKDsox 


wanda  and  Black  Rock,  and  Mr.  Ri(  hardson  was 
employed  by  the  state  to  do  this  work.  He  had  now 
an  established  reputation  as  a  skillful,  con.scientious 
contractor,  and  he  secured  many   commissions  from 


•J-2S 


.\t/:.\  OF  .XEW  YORK—irF.srKKX  sKcr/o.y 


the  United  States  government  for  the  improvement  of 
harbors  on  the  (Jreat  Lakes.  Steadfast  application 
to  his  chosen  pursuit  brought  him  a  competence,  so 
that  he  was  able  to  retire  from  active  affairs  in  1890. 
Mr.  Richardson  has  not  only  been  an  upright 
business  man,   but  he   has  made  a   fine   record  for 


.tUGCSTCS   /:   ._SY  WA  r 

devotion  to  civic  duties.  He  has  been  an  efficient 
member  of  the  board  of  supervisors  of  Buffalo,  and 
for  three  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  common 
council.  He  is  esteemed  in  financial  circles  for  his 
sound  judgment  and  conservative  views,  and  holds 
directorates  in  the  People's  Bank  and  in  the  Niagara 
Bank. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  William 
Richardson  7vas  born  at  Altleboro,  Mass.,  January  5, 
1820  ;  7vas  edticateil  in  common  schools  at  De  Witt, 
N.  Y.;  married  Ann  O' Day  of  Buffalo  in  Novem- 
ber, 1852 :  engai^ed  in  canal  repairing  and  in  dredg- 
ing, 1850-90 :  7i'as  a  member  of  the  common  council 
of  Buffalo,  188Jf-S7 :  has  lived  in  Buffalo  since 
1850. 


Z-lUclUStUS  JF.  ScbeU  <  omes  of  an  old  and 
respected  Bufialo  family,  founded  more  than  half  a 
century  ago  by  Solomon  Scheu.  The  latter  arrived 
in  Buffalo  in  1844,  having  come  to  this  country  from 
(iermany  five  years  earlier,  and  soon  attained  promi- 
nence in  both  business  and  political  affairs.  He  was 
elected  mayor,  and  held  other  offices  of 
trust  and  importance,  and  made  his  name 
known  not  only  in  municipal  but  also  in 
state  jjolitics.  The  traditions  of  broad- 
mindedness  and  integrity  left  bv  Solo- 
mon Scheu  have  been  maintained  liy  his 
son,  Augustus  F.  Scheu. 

Born  in  Buffalo  a  little  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  Mr.  Scheu's  whole  life  has 
been  associated  with  the  city.  He  is 
one  of  the  young  men  who  have  made 
the  "new  Buffalo"  what  it  is.  The 
.salient  facts  of  his  life  can  be  iiuickly 
related.  He  was  educated  in  the  city 
schools  and  at  the  Buffalo  Normal  School. 
Upon  his  graduation  he  immediately  en- 
tered the  malting  business  establishetl  by 
his  father  in  DHfiO.  Since  the  death  of 
the  latter  in  1888,  Mr.  Scheu  has  con- 
tinued the  management  of  the  business 
for  the  benefit  of  the  estate. 

The  name  of  Scheu  has  stood  high  in 
the  annals   of  the   Democratic   party  in 
liuffalo  for  many  years.     Mr.  Scheu  came 
naturally  by  his  interest  in  jwlitics,  and 
lie  has  been  prominent  in  the  councils  of 
the   local   Democracy.      He    has  been   a 
counselor  rather  than  a  seeker  for  office. 
He  received  the  Democratic  nomination 
for  sheriff  of  Erie  county  in  1885,   Init 
that   is   the   only  time   he   has  apjjeared 
before  the  public  as  a  candidate.      He 
also  served  for  a  time  as  police  commis- 
sioner.     He  has  represented  the  o8d  congressional 
district  on  the  Democratic  state  committee  for  several 
years  —  a  field  in  which  he  has  shown  excellent  capac- 
ity for  organization. 

The  most  striking  characteristics  of  Mr.  Scheu  as 
a  man  are  his  liberality  of  view,  his  integrity,  and 
his  disposition  to  believe  in  the  good  intentions  and 
honesty  of  others.  These  are  the  qualities  by  which 
he  is  known  among  his  fellow-citizens.  He  has  given 
many  ])roofs  of  disinterested  devotion  to  jniblic  enter- 
prises aimed  at  promoting  the  well-being  and  happi- 
ness of  his  native  city.  For  several  years  he  served 
as  one  of  the  park  commissioners.  He  has  also  de- 
voted much  time  and  energy  to  the  Bifffalo  grade- 
crossing  commission,  of  which  he  is  now  a  member. 


MEN   OF  NEW    VOR K —WESTERN  SECTION 


229 


As  might  be  supposed  from  this  sketch  of  his  per- 
sonal characteristics,  Mr.  Scheu  is  a  man  of  wide  ac- 
quaintance and  many  friends.  He  is  of  a  very  social 
nature,  and  is  affiliated  with  many  societies.  He  is 
a  trustee  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  and  of 
the  Exempt  Firemen's  Association  of  Buffalo.  He  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Buffalo  Club,  and  belongs 
to  the  Orpheus  and  Liedertafel  singing  societies.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  Omega  Lodge,  No.  259, 1.  O.  O.  F. 
His  religious  affiliations  are  with  the  Oerman  United 
Evangelical  St.  Paul's  Church  of  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Augusttts  F. 
Scheu  U'as  horn  at  Buffalo  November  7,  1855 ;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  and  at  the  Buffalo  Nor- 
mal School,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1872  :  married 
Anna  Frances  Kraft  of  Buffalo  January  8,  1870:  7oas 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  sheriff  of  Erie  county  in 
1885 ;  entered  the  >nalting  business  with 
his  father  in  1872,  and  has  managed  the 
business  since  1888. 


and  in  18()2  he  decided  that  il  was  time  for  him  to 
make  a  name  for  himself  in  his  chosen  profession. 
A  successful  record  of  over  thirty  years,  broken  only 
by  the  lapse  of  a  twelvemonth,  has  made  him  one  of 
the  best-known  members  of  the  profession  in  the 
state.  He  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the 
State  Dental  Society  in  IfSOS,  and  was  one  of  the 
first  candidates  for  a  diploma  to  appear  before  the 
society's  board  of  censors.  In  1877  Dr.  Southwick 
was  elected  to  that  board,  and  became  soon  after- 
ward its  president.  He  retained  the  presidency  until 
August  1,  is;)."),  when  the  law  was  changed,  creat- 
ing a  board  of  state  commissioners,  and  Dr.  South- 
wick was  made  president  of  this  board.  When  the 
department  of  dentistry  of  the  University  of  Buffalo 
was  organized.  Dr.  Southwick,  by  reason  of  his  long 
experience  and  undoubted  abiiitv ,  was  chosen  to  the 


a.  IP.  SOUtlnViCk  has  never  been 
satisfied  with  the  present.  Looking  into 
the  future,  and  seeing  there  .something 
worth  striving  for,  he  has  pushed  for- 
ward, determined  to  attain  his  end.  It 
is  the  dissatisfied  men,  as  distinguished 
from  the  discontented,  who  make  their 
mark  in  the  world,  and  contribute  some- 
thing to  its  progress. 

Dr.  Southwick  was  born  in  .Xshtabuia, 
( )hio,  and  spent  his  youth  there,  acquir- 
ing a  high-school  education.  Soon  after 
attaining  his  majority,  however,  he  left 
his  native  place  for  the  greater  advan- 
tages apparently  offered  by  Buffalo.  This 
was  in  1849,  in  the  early  days  of  steam- 
Ijoating  on  the  Great  Lakes,  when  there 
were  few  railroads  to  compete  for  business 
to  the  West.  Buffalo  was  then  preemi- 
nently a  commercial  city,  the  terminus 
for  all  lake  traffic,  and  naturally  an  attract- 
ive place  for  an  ambitious  and  pushing 
yotmg  man  who  had  already  learned 
something  of  the  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties of  a  steamboat  engineer.  For  sixteen 
years  Dr.  Southwick  devoted  himself  to 
the  engineer's  vocation,  finally  reaching 
the  imjwrtant  position  of  chief  engineer 
of  the  Western  Transit  Co. 

Even  then  his  ambition  was  not  satisfied 
had  reached  the  top  of  his  calling,  i)ut  he  felt  that 
there  were  better  things  in  other  directions.  After 
some  hesitation   he  took   up  the  studv  of  dentistrv, 


A.   I'.   SOVTHW  ICK 


He 


im[)ortant  position  of  clinical  professor  of  0])erative 
technics.  He  has  written  frequent  paiiers  on  ])ro- 
fessional  subjects,  and  his  views  are  always  received 
with  respect  by  his  brethren. 


■230 


A/E.y   OF  XKir    VORK—U-ESTKRX  .SECT/O.V 


Though  dentistry  ha.s  been  Dr.  Southwick's  pro- 
fession, it  has  by  no  means  been  his  only  occupation. 
He  is  actively  interested  in  all  that  concerns  his 
fellow-men.  He  is  a  deep  thinker,  and  is  positive 
in  his  o])inions.  To  Dr.  Southwick  more  than 
to  any  other  man,    probably,   is  due   the   law   that 


JAMES  B.   SI.M-I-ORD 

substituted  electricity  for  the  rope  in  cases  of  caijital 
punishment  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Becoming 
convinced  that  hanging  is  brutal,  he  promulgated 
his  views  as  widely  as  possible,  and  the  agitation 
traceable  directly  to  him  re.sulted  in  the  creation 
of  a  state  commission  "to  investigate  and  report 
upon  the  most  humane  and  practical  method  of  car- 
rying into  effect  the  sentence  of  death  in  capital 
cases."  The  members  of  this  commission  were 
Elbridge  T.  (Jerry,  .'Alfred  P.  Southwick,  and  Mat- 
thew Hale.  They  reported  in  favor  of  killing  by 
means  of  the  electric  current,  and  in  the  face  of  the 
greatest  opposition  their  recommendations  were 
adopted.  Dr.  Southwick  in  this  way  won  the  sohri- 
i/iief  of  "  Old  Klectricity." 


Like  all  good  citizens.  Dr.  .Southwick  takes  a  deep 
interest  in  public  questions,  but  his  active  i)articipa- 
tion  in  politics  has  been  confined  to  two  occasions 
when  his  party  forced  nominations  upon  him,  once 
for  alderman  and  once  for  councilman.  He  is  of  a 
genial  disposition,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
Club  and  of  other  social  organizations. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Alfred  Porter  Southioick  rcas  born  at  Ash- 
talmla,  O. ,  Afav  IS,  1S20 ;  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  ;  engaged  in  the  steam- 
boat business,  18^1^-62,  becoming  chief 
engineer  of  the  JVestern  Transit  Co.  at 
Buffalo  in  1853  ;  married  Mary  M.  Flinn 
of  Buffalo  May  J6,  185S ;  has  practiced 
dentistry  in  Buffalo  since  1862. 


3ames  B.  Staffers  has  had  a 

career  that  is  full  of  inspiration  to  young 
men  with  a  noble  ambition  to  succeed. 
He  was  compelled  to  leave  school  when 
but  eight  years  of  age,  began  to  earn  his 
living  a  few  vears  later  as  an  errand  boy, 
and  advanced  step  by  step  until  to-day  he 
stands  in  the  front  rank  of  Buffalo's  busi- 
ness men.  Yet  he  is  only  about  forty- 
three  years  of  age. 

Hard   work,    undaunted   jierseverance, 
studious  habits,   quick  adaptability,   and 
uncompromising    integrity,    may    be   set 
down  as  the  mainsprings  of  Mr.  Stafford's 
succ:ess.      As  a  boy   he   won   the    confi- 
dence of  substantial  men  with  whom  he 
came  in  crontact :   and  as  a  man  he  made 
rajjid  headway  when  he  started  in  busi- 
ness   for    himself       When    other    boys 
played  after  work  he  ap])lied  himself  to 
books,  and  in  time  made  up  for  the  lack 
of  early  education.      In  maturer  years  he 
has    been    a   voracious    reader  ;   and  when    he  took 
the  high  ])lace  in  the  community  that  his  industr\- 
and  public  sjiirit  had  earned,  he  was  mentally  fitted 
to   adorn   it.       "Knowledge,"    he   has  been  heard 
to  say,    "is  easily   carried,  and    it  is  a  man's  best 
possession." 

Mr.  Stafford  was  born  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage, 
in  Dublin,  Ireland.  On  the  death  of  his  mother, 
when  he  was  eight  years  of  age,  he  was  brought  to 
the  Ignited  States  by  his  father,  and  soon  afterward 
found  emi)loyment  in  the  store  of  S.  N.  tallcnder, 
a  Buffalo  grocer.  The  boy  rapidly  mastered  busi- 
ness methods,  and  was  well  eciuipjjed  at  his 
majority  for  a  business  career.  To  John  H. 
Jones,    now   president  of  the  Buffalo  Fish  Co.,  Mr. 


MEX   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


231 


Stafford  is  indebted  tor  encouragement  and  assist- 
ance in  taking  his  first  important  step  in  commer- 
cial life.  The  firm  of  Jones,  Stafford  &  Co.  was 
tbrmed,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Jones,  Stafford,  and 
C.  A.  Trevalee,  and  they  originated  the  subsequently 
famous  Fulton  Market.  Some  years  later  Mr.  Staf- 
ford became  sole  proprietor  of  this  fine  establish- 
ment. Afterwards  his  brother,  Richard  H.  Stafford, 
was  taken  into  the  business,  the  firm  becoming 
James  B.  Stafford  &  Bro.  The  brothers  conducted 
the  Fulton  Market  until  1X92,  when  they  sold  out 
to  Faxon,  Williams  &  Faxon.  In  the  meantime 
Mr.  Stafford  had  erected  a  substantial  four-story 
brick  building  at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Church 
streets,  which  was  the  home  of  the  Fulton  Market 
for  many  years. 

Mr.  Stafford  retired  from  the  grocery  business  to 
become  president  of  the  Security  Invest- 
ment Co.   of  Buffalo,  which  was  formed         

by  a  number  of  leading  citizens  for 
the  purpose  of  transacting  real -estate 
business  on  a  large  scale.  Mr.  Staf- 
ford's entire  time  is  devoted  to  the 
management  of  the  company's  extensive 
affairs. 

There  is  another  side  to  Mr.  Stafford's 
life  besides  the  one  most  open  to  public 
gaze.  His  private  life  is  singularly  happy. 
He  is  devoted  to  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  spends  almost  all  his  leisure 
hours  with  them.  He  has  never  been 
induced  to  become  a  clubman.  He  is, 
however,  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity. He  and  his  family  are  deeply 
interested  in  church  affairs,  attending  the 
Methodist  church.  The  many  charitable 
and  religious  movements  of  Buffalo  have 
found  in  Mr.  Stafford  an  ardent  and  a 
generous  supporter.  He  has  never  as- 
pired to  political  office,  but  takes  an 
active  interest  in  municipal  affairs.  He 
has  had  a  leading  part  in  public  move- 
ments for  the  benefit  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lives,  and  well  deserves  his 
reputation  as  an  ideal  citizen. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— 
James  Bluett  Stafford  was  born  at  Duh- 
lin,   Ireland,  September  23,    185S ;    came 
to   the    United  States   in   childhood,    and 
settled  in  Buffalo  in  1863  ;  married  Hen- 
rietta   Ella   Holloway  of  Buffalo  June    IS,    1878 : 
carried  on  a  grocery  business,  with  various  partners, 
187J).-02  :   has  been  president  of  the  Security  fuTest- 
ment  Co.  of  Buffalo  since  1892. 


1RiCbar^  lb.  StaffOrD  has  an  established  rep- 
utation in  mercantile  and  financial  circles  in  the  city 
of  Buffalo.  His  commerc  ial  training  has  been  long 
and  thorough,  and  he  is  familiar  equally  with  the 
practical  and  the  theoretical  sides  of  business  opera- 
tions. Mr.  Stafford  was  born  and  reared  in  Dublin, 
Ireland,  a  city  famed  for  the  high  standing  and 
ability  of  its  mercantile  class.  After  obtaining  a 
sound  elementary  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  city,  he  came  to  the  United  States  the  year 
the  Civil  War  broke  out.  He  took  up  his  residence 
in  Buffalo  the  .same  year,  and  entered  the  employ  of 
S.  X.  Callender,  then  the  leading  grocer  of  the  city. 
He  remained  with  Mr.  Callender  five  years,  when 
he  secured  a  more  attractive  position  with  another 
house  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business.  In  this 
second  position  he  also  remained  five  years. 


RICH.IKD   H.  .sr.lFFORI) 

Mr.  Stafford  was  now  a  young  man  of  twenty - 
three,  and  had  already  won  a  reputation  for  capacity, 
integrity,  and  faithftilness  under  two  successive  em- 
ployers.     Meanwhile  his  brother,   lames  B.  Stafford, 


I 


2?,-2 


MKN  o/-  .vAir  voh'h—u-i:srKR.\  skct/oa 


had  met  with  such  success  that  he  decided  to  embark 
in  business  on  his  own  account,  and  he  invited  his 
brother  Richard  to  take  charge  of  the  financial  ])art 
of  Fulton  Market.  After  working  for  his  brother 
six  years,  Richard  received,  one  Christmas  morning, 
a  substantial  recognition  of  the  value  of  his  services 


for  a  man  so  engrossed  with  business  cares,  and  no 
good  movement  in  Buffalo  fails  to  receive  his  en- 
couragement and  su|)port.  In  Masonic  circles  he 
has  attained  high  honors,  being  a  Knight  Templar 
in  Lake  F^rie  Commandery,  No.  20,  a  82d  degree 
member  of  the  order  of  Ancient  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite  Masons,  and  a  Noble  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine.  Mr.  Stafford  is  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  Richmond  .Ave- 
nue Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  in 
that  position  has  done  notable  service  in 
developing  the  association  from  a  strug- 
gling mission  to  a  ]3rosperous  and  influ- 
ential church. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Richard  H.  Stafford  7vas  born  at  Diihliii. 
Ireland,  August  10,  18Jt.8 ;  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  Dublin  ;  came  to 
the  United  States  and  settled  in  Buffalo 
in  1861 :  was  a  clerk  in  grocery  houses, 
ISO  1-72  ;  7vas  associated  with  his  brother 
in  the  management  of  Fulton  Market, 
1873-92  :  married  Ella  S.  Gatchell  of 
Medina,  N.  Y.,  October  29,  1877;  has 
been  treasurer  of  the  Security  Investment 
Co.  of  Buffalo  since  1892. 


1 1  //.  /.  /  ;  .1/    T/IL  'RS  TOXE 

in  the  form  of  a  present  of  a  third  interest  in  his 
brother's  business.  Under  the  management  of  the 
Stafford  brothers,  Fulton  Market  throve,  and  its 
owners  prospered.  Mr.  Stafford  continued  this 
business  as.sociation  with  his  brother  till  1X92,  when 
they  sold  out  to  the  house  of  Faxon,  Williams  & 
Faxon . 

Mr.  Stafford  now  directed  his  attention  to  a  new 
field,  in  which  success  has  crowned  his  efforts.  In 
company  with  his  brother,  he  helped  lo  organize  the 
Security  Investment  Co.  of  Huffalo,  of  which  he  has 
since  been  treasurer. 

In  his  relations  with  Ijusiness  men,  Mr.  Stafford  is 
noted  for  his  frank  dealing  and  obliging  disposition. 
In  ( hurch  and  Ma.sonic  work,  he  is  unusually  active 


Milliam  Xlfjurstone  "as  twenty- 
eight   years  old    wlicu   he   came   to  this 
country,   a   sturdy,    hearty   Englishman, 
ready  to  grapple  with  whatever  fate  his 
adopted   land    might    have    in   store    for 
him.      He    was    not    the    sort    of   immi- 
grant for  whom  Uncle  Sam  has  only  a 
half-hearted  welcome  —  immigrants  who 
claim  that  the  world  owes  them  a  living, 
but   who  do    nothing   toward   collecting 
the  debt.      He  had  served  a  seven  years' 
apprenticeship  as  printer  to  the  Honor- 
able  Stationers'    Company  of    1-oiulon.   had  been  a 
reporter   for  several    London    newspapers,    and   had 
become  proj^rietor  of  the  Horticultural  Journal. 

With  such  an  equipment  Mr.  Thurstone  did  not 
need  to  wait  long  for  employment.  The  first  money 
he  earned  in  Huffalo  was  by  setting  type  on  the  city 
directory,  and  he  was  soon  after  engaged  as  com- 
positor by  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  and  later 
by  the  Express.  Printers  in  those  days  were  not 
(laid  for  their  intervals  of  waiting  for  "copy," 
and  after  setting  the  single  column  of  local  items 
there  was  often  a  long,  profitless  delay  before  work 
coidd  begin  on  the  telegrajjhic  dispatches.  The 
time  from  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  at  night  until  two 
or    three    in    the   morning    was    frei|uently    spent    in 


.UE\   OF  XEir    VORK—IVESTEKX  SECr/O.V 


23.'. 


watching  for  the  possible  arrival  from  New  York  of 
English  new's,  which  came  bv  steamer,  and  was  then 
transmitted  by  wire.  When  a  notification  was  re- 
ceived that  a  steamer  had  been  sighted,  its  arrival 
and  the  news  it  carried  were  waited  for.  Mr.  Thur- 
stone  was  too  ambitious  to  yield  passivelv  to  such 
enforced  idleness,  and  he  seized  the  oijportnnity  to 
do  the  work  of  a  reporter  in  these  intervals.  He 
was  connected  in  this  twofold  way  with  the  £x/>ress, 
the  Courier,  and  the  Commercial  Advertiser ;  and 
finally  became  commercial  editor  of  the  Courier, 
retaining  this  position  twenty-two  years.  His  pluck 
and  industry  had  now  advanced  him  from  a  position 
where,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  days,  wages 
were  paid  two  thirds  in  store  produce  and  the  rest 
in  current  and  uncurrent  money  (the  latter  some- 
times suffering  two  or  three  per  cent  discount)  to 
one  of  independence. 

W'hen  Mr.  Thurstone  was  appointed 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  thirty- 
three  years  ago,  the  institution  was  too  , 
])Oor  to  pay  more  than  a  dollar  a  day  for 
his  services.  His  fidelity  and  devotion 
have  done  much  to  make  that  body  tlie 
])ower  it  is  to-day,  and  he  is  still  its 
trusted  secretary.  He  has  also  been  sec- 
retary of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  for 
fourteen  years. 

Ihe  United  States  bureau  of  statistics 
is  indebted  to  Mr.  Thurstone  for  mu<  h 
thorough  and  painstaking  work,  includ- 
ing many  reports  on  the  commerce  of  the 
Great  Lakes  and  western  New  York,  and 
one  on  the  railroad  and  canal  systems  of 
the  state  of  New  York  and  the  Dominion 
of  Canada,  published  in  the  United  States 
public  documents.  For  over  thirty  years 
he  has  furnished  statistical  matter  for 
boards  of  trade,  commercial  conventions, 
newspapers,  and  pampjilets,  and  ranks 
as  an  expert  in  this  line.  He  has  also 
contributed  extensively  to  the  editorial 
columns  of  Xew  York  and  Chicago  maga- 
zines. 

Politics  has  claimed  a  large  share  oi 
his  attention,  as  would  be  expected  from 
so  public-spirited  a  citizen.  Twice  nomi- 
nated for  alderman  in  the  old  9th  ward, 
he  failed  of  election  because  the  district 
was  so  strongly  Republican  ;  but  it  is 
noteworthy  that  his  election  as  supervisor  was  the 
only  Democratic  victory  ever  achieved  in  that  ward. 

Loyal  to  the  church  of  his  native  land,  Mr.  'Thur- 
stone has  been  identified  in  Buffalo  with  the  Church 


of  the  Ascension  and  St.  John's,  serving  in  the 
former  as  vestryman  and  treasurer,  and  in  the  latter 
as  vestryman  and  warden. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY— William  Thur- 
stone luas  born  at  London,  England,  February  21, 
1826;  was  educated  in  a  private  school ;  was  appren- 
ticed as  printer,  ISJfi-Jfl :  married  Mary  Anne  Dil- 
lon of  Hereford,  England,  June  1,  IS^S ;  came  to 
the  United  States  in  185 Jf,  ami  settled  in  Buffalo  in 
1855  ;  occupied  various  positions  there  on  the  ' '  Ex- 
press,^^  '■'■Courier,''''  and  "Commercial  Advertiser,''^ 
1855-85 ;  has  been  secretaiy  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
since  1863,  and  of  the  Merchants''  Exchange  since 
1882. 

James  M.  'CillintlbaSt  is  widely  known  in 
the  im]jortant  sphere  of  commercial   telegraphy,  and 


J.I.U/iS   l\:    TII.LI.WiHAST 

he  has  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  jjublic  by  his 
efficient  management  of  one  of  the  largest  telegraph 
offices  in  the  country  —  that  of  the  Western  l^nion 
company  at  Buffalo. 


!34 


ME.\   OF  NEW    iOA'K—lVESTEKX  SECT/(K\ 


Mr.  Tillingha-st  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  knows  the  lav  of  the  land  within  all  its  borders 
as  perfectly  as  others  know  their  immediate  locality. 
His  business  has  made  topography  one  of  his  strong 
points.  Receiving  his  early  education  at  private 
and  public  schools  in  Rome,  N.  Y.,  he  completed 
his  academic  training  at  the  Fort  Edward  Collegiate 
Institute.  He  began  his  commercial  life  at  Toronto, 
a  few  years  before  the  Civil  War,  as  a  clerk  for 
his  father  in  the  office  of  the  Northern  Railway 
of  Canada.  With  characteristic  enterprise  and  in- 
dustry he  took  up  the  study  of  telegraphy  as  an 
outside  diversion,  having  no  idea  at  the  time  that 
this  pursuit  would  become  the  work  of  his  life.  In 
l.S(il,  however,  he  went  to  Pittsburg,  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  as 
an  operator.  While  engaged  in  that  capacity  his 
time  was  largely  taken  up  with  the  handling  of  cipher 
dispatches  jjassing  between  the  western  armies  of  the 
Union  and  the  war  department  at  Washington.  His 
duties  became  so  exacting  and  severe  that  his  health 
failed,  and  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians  he  aban- 
doned active  telegraphic  work  in  1863.  The  next 
year  he  moved  to  Madison,  Ind.,  as  manager  of  the 
telegraph  office  there.  Less  arduous  duties  in  a 
quieter  scene  brought  about  a  gradual  restoration 
of  health,  and  Mr.  Tillinghast  found  himself  strong 
enough  in  the  sjjring  of  18K5  to  become  a.ssistant 
manager  of  the  Western  Union  office  at  Buffalo. 
During  a  part  of  that  year  he  was  located  at  Erie, 
Penn.,  as  manager  of  the  Western  Union  office  there, 
but  he  returned  to  Buffalo  in  the  fail.  Five  years 
later  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  office,  and  has 
occupied  that  position  continuously  since. 

In  1868  the  general  agent  of  the  New  York  Asso- 
ciated Press  formed  a  rival  organization,  and  with 
several  agents  of  the  old  association  left  it  without 
notice.  Mr.  Tillinghast  was  at  once  appointed  agent 
of  the  Associated  Press  at  Buffalo,  invested  with  full 
charge  of  the  service  west  and  south  of  that  point, 
and  clothed  with  supreme  authority.  So  complete 
was  the  rout  of  the  new  as.sociation  that  it  quickly 
abandoned  the  field,  and  Mr.  Tillinghast  resumed 
his  position  with  the  Western  Union.  For  the 
services  then  performed  for  the  Associated  Press  he 
received  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  a  personal  letter  from  every  member 
of  the  committee  praising  his  work  in  the  highest 
terms.  This  period  is  the  only  break  in  his  long 
connection  with  the  Western  Union  since  he  entered 
the  service  in  Pittsburg  in  1861. 

Mr.  Tillinghast  is  much  attachetl  to  Buffalo,  and 
has  more  than  once  declined  offers  of  promotion 
involving  residence  elsewhere.      He  has  the  res])ect 


of  his  business  associates  and  the  confidence  of  the 
community,  both  in  large  measure.  He  is  the  only 
son  of  James  Tillinghast,  for  many  years  a  famous 
official  of  the  Central-Hud.son  railroad. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY  —  Javies  IV. 
T/7////i;/ias^  7i'as  born  at  Brmvnville,  N.  V.,  Novem- 
ber 5,  ISJfJ,  :  7oas  educated  at  Rome  Academy  and 
Fort  Edward  Collegiate  Institute ;  commenced  busi- 
ness as  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Northern  Raihvay 
of  Canada  at  Toronto,  in  1S3S :  entered  the  service 
of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  at  Pittsburg, 
Penn.,  in  1861 ;  married  Sara  A.  Dannals  of  Pitts- 
burg October  0,  186S,  and  Mrs.  Anna  Kelley  of  Lock- 
port,  N.  v.,  February  1,  ISO'S ;  has  been  inanager 
of  the  Western  Union  telegraph  office  at  Buffalo  since 
ISIO. 


c5reenleat"  S.  Uan  Gor&er,  though  not  yet 

beyond  middle  life,  has  made  himself  an  im])ortant 
factor  in  public  affairs.  His  career  is  an  inspiring 
example  to  every  American  youth,  and  illustrates 
anew  the  truth  of  the  time-worn  proverb,  "Where 
there's  a  will  there's  a  way."  He  was  thrown  upon 
his  own  resources  in  early  boyhood,  and  his  surround- 
ings were  such  as  to  develop  the  best  qualities  in  an 
ambitious  young  man.  To  be  born  in  an  intelligent 
communitv,  having  intercourse  through  librarv, 
school,  and  jiress  with  the  current  events  of  the 
world,  is  no  mean  inheritance.  The  small  town  and 
the  village  rival  the  great  cities  in  their  contribution 
to  the  ranks  of  the  professions,  and  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  the  country.  The  boy  born  in  the 
city  is  surfeited  with  opportunities,  and  too  often 
does  not  sufficiently  appreciate  them  ;  but  the  country 
boy  makes  the  best  of  the  few  at  his  command. 

Mr.  Van  Gorder  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  (ieneseo,  and  received  fiirther  training  in 
Angelica  Academy  and  the  academic  department  of 
Alfred  University.  He  supported  himself,  mean- 
while, by  farm  work,  teaching,  and  any  other  resource 
that  ])resented  itself.  He  is  not  a  graduate  of  any 
school  excejit,  as  he  himself  puts  it,  the  "school  of 
experience."  Having  secured  all  the  preliminary 
education  within  his  means,  Mr.  Van  Gorder  began 
the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Sanford  &  Bowen  of 
.\ngelica,  one  of  the  leading  firms  in  .\llegany 
county.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  a  term  of 
the  Supreme  Court  held  in  Buffalo,  and  began  the 
practice  of  his  jirofession  at  Pike,  Wyoming  county. 
By  industry,  energy,  ami  |)erseverance,  he  has 
attained  high  rank  among  the  members  of  the  bar  in 
his  part  of  the  state. 

Political  advancement,  as  well  as  ])rofessional  suc- 
cess, has  marked  Mr.  Van  Gorder's  career.      He  is  a 


MEiX   OF  XEU-    YORK—IVKSTERX  SECT/OX 


235 


Republican  in  politics,  and  has  been  a  delegate  to 
many  conventions   of   his    party.      He   was  elected 
town  clerk  of  Pike,  and  held  the  position  four  years. 
This  was  his  entrance   into   the  arena  of  political 
activity,    in    which    he    was   destined   to   become  a 
prominent  actor.      After  holding  the  office  of  super- 
vi.sor  of  Pike  for  five  years,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  state  assembly  from  the 
county  of  Wyoming  for  1888  and  1889. 
While    in   the  assembly   he  served  as  a 
member  of  the  important  judiciary  com- 
mittee.     Representing  Wyoming  county, 
the  center  of  the  western  New  York  salt 
fields,  he  started  a  movement  that  resulted 
in    the    amendment   of  the    constitution 
of  the   state,    providing   for   the  sale   of 
the  state  "salt  reservation  "  at  Syracuse, 
and  thus  removing  the  state  as  a  com- 
petitor against   the  private    capital    em- 
ployed in  the  salt  industry  in  western  New 
York.      The  strong   fight  made   by    Mr. 
\'an  Ciorder  on  this  question  made  him  a 
prominent   figure   in  what  was  then  the 
30th  senatorial  district,  composed  of  Liv- 
ingston, Niagara,  Clenesee,  and  Wyoming 
counties.      In  the   fall   of  1889   he   was 
elected  state  senator  with  but  little  oppo- 
sition, and  was  re-elected  tw^o  }ears  later. 
In  the  senate,  also,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  judiciary  committee.     In  both  houses 
Mr.  Van  Gorder  proved  himself  a  pains- 
taking servant,  and  performed  his  duties 
with    credit   and    distinction.       He    was 
identified   with   much  important  legisla- 
tion.     He  was  the  author,  for  e.xample, 
of  one  of  the  best  and  most  far-reaching 
laws  ever  placed  upon  the  statute  books 
of  the  state  —  namely,  the  act  to  prevent 
any  peace  officer  or  police  official  from 
engaging  in  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors.      In  the  session  of  1893  he  was  the  author 
and    introducer    of  the    "Bi-partisan    Election    In- 
spectors" bill,  which  subsequently,  in  1895,  became 
a  law  of  the  state. 

Mr.  \'an  Gorder's  activities  have  not  been  con- 
fined to  politics  or  his  profession.  He  has  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  educational  matters,  and  for  many 
years  has  been  one  of  the  trustees  of  Pike  Seminary. 
He  is  also  director  and  president  of  the  State  Bank 
of  Pike,  and  thus  has  come  into  contact  with 
financiers  in  western  New  York.  He  is  a  member  of 
several  fraternal  orders,  and  of  the  Holland  Society 
of  New  York.  June  1,  189(),  Mr.  Van  Gorder  entered 
into  a  co|)artnershii)  for  the  practice  of  law  at  Buffalo, 


and  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hartlett,  \'an 
Gorder,  White  iS:  Holt.  In  all  his  relations  as  a 
lawyer,  a  banker,  and  a  public  man,  he  enjoys  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  those  who  know  him. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  GreentcaJ  Scott 
I  ail   Gorder  luas  born  at    York,  Livingston   count}-, 


GREEXLEir  .V    C.^.V  CORDER 

N.  Y. ,  June  2,  1855  ;  received  a  common-school  and 
an  academic  education  ;  studied  taw,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  June  15,  1877  ;  moved  to  Pike,  N.  Y,  Au- 
gust 7,  1877 ;  married  Eva  E.  Lyon  of  Pike  August 
29,  1878 ;  2vas  supervisor  of  Pike,  1883-88,  metnl>cr 
of  assembly,  1888-89,  and  state  senator,  1890-93; 
practiced  laici  at  Pike,  1877-96  ;  has  been  president  of 
the  State  Bank  of  Pike  since  January,  189^  :  has 
practiced  law  at  Buffalo  since  June  1,  1896. 


1I?arrt50u  1HccM.iam  Ue&C<cr  is  less  than 

forty  years  old,  but  he  has  already,  i)y  dint  of  energy 
and  close  ajjplication  to  business,  won  for  himself 
a  high  place  among  the  substantial  business  men 
of  Buffalo.      The  insurance   firm    with   which  he  is 


236 


MEN  OF  .VEIf    VORK  —  WESTEKX  SECTIOX 


connected  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  its  line. 
But  Mr.  Vedder  is  not  among  those  who  selfishly 
confine  their  energies  to  their  own  personal  interests. 
He  is  a  man  of  public  spirit,  interested  especially 
in  promoting  the  business  welfare  of  the  city.  He 
has   long  been  one  of  the  most  active  members  of 


J/.lk'JaSD.X    .M.l.l.'llAM    ll-.l-iI>l:R 

the  Merchants'  Exchange  ;  he  was  ( hairman  of  ils 
postal  committee  in  1895,  and  is  now  serving  his 
second  term  as  trustee  of  the  institution.  On  the 
social  side  he  is  greatly  interested  in  yachting,  and  is 
jjerhaps  as  well  known  for  his  connection  with  this 
sport  as  for  his  business  enterprises.  He  helped  to 
organize  the  Buffalo  Yacht  Chili,  and  was  its  comino- 
dore  for  three  years,  l(S8.']-85. 

Mr.  Vedder  is  a  genuine  product  of  Buffalo.  He 
was  born  and  educated  there,  served  his  business 
apprenticeshi|j  there,  married  there,  and  has  always 
lived  there.  He  began  attending  .school  at  the  age 
of  six,  and  was  able  to  continue  his  education  until 
he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  Young  as  he  was,  he- 
then  began  to  earn  his  own  living.      He  entered   the 


insurance  office  of  Captain  V..  P.  Dorr,  where  he 
remained  three  years.  Thus  early  did  he  gain  an 
experience  in  the  business  that  has  proved  his  high- 
way to  success. 

After  leaving  Cai)tain  Dorr  young  Vedder  went  to 
work  as  a  clerk  for  the  insurance  firm  of  Smith, 
Davis  &  Clark.  Here  he  continued  five 
years,  thus  devoting  altogether  eight  years 
to  the  insurance  business  as  an  employee 
before  branching  out  for  him.self.  He 
was  now  a  young  man  of  twenty-two, 
and  ambitious  for  more  rapid  progress 
than  seemed  possible  in  the  position  that 
he  was  then  occupying.  He  had  been 
prudent  and  economical,  and  had  saved 
some  money.  He  had,  besides,  formed 
an  extensive  accpiaintance,  which  i.s  of 
considerable  value  to  a  young  man  enter- 
ing almost  any  calling,  and  of  decided 
\alue  to  one  embarking  in  the  insurance 
business. 

Mr.  Vedder  did  not  immediately,  how- 
ever, enter  business  for  him.self  For  a 
brief  time  he  abandoned  insurance  alto- 
gether, becoming  chief  clerk  for  the  West- 
ern Elevating  Co.  But  after  about  a  year 
of  this  business  he  returned  periuanently 
to  insurance,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Charles  J.  North  that  has  since  continued. 
Mr.  Vedder  is  active  in  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  has  attained  distinction 
therein.  He  is  at  present  Senior  Warden 
of  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  No.  441, 
F.  &  .\.  M.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Adytum  Chapter,  No.  23."),  R.  A.  M., 
and  of  Hugh  de  Payens  Commandery, 
No.  .'SO,  K.  T.  He  takes  an  interest  in 
the  study  and  preservation  of  local  his- 
tory, and  is  a  life  member  of  the  Buffalo 
1  listorical  Society. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Harrison 
Needham  Vedder  was  born  at  Buffalo  September  11, 
1858  ;  7C'as  educated  in  the  public  schools :  was  clerk 
in  an  insurance  office,  187;i-80 :  married  Ida  Eliza- 
beth Loreridge  of  Buffalo  September  hi,  1881 ;  has 
been  a  member  of  the  insurance  firm  of  North  ^  Vedder' 
since  1881. 


JfraUCiS  Q>.  'CClar^,  recently  a])i)ointed  super 
intenclenl  of  the  water  bureau  of  the  city  of  Bulfalo, 
is  a  man  of  thorough  experience  in  the  conduct  of 
vast  enterprises.  He  is  a  factor  and  product  of  this 
intensely  [iractical  age,  which  hesitates  at  nothing, 
from    harnessing   Niagara    to    divorcing    continents. 


MKX   OF  XKir    VO A' A'— ll'/iSVK AW  SECT/OX 


Mr.  Ward  belongs  to  the  generation  reared  since  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War.  He  received  his  preliminary 
education  at  the  Rectory  School  in  Hamden,  Conn., 
and  when  still  a  child  was  sent  to  France,  and  placed 
in  the  Imtilutioii  Cousin  and  Lyci-e  Bonaparte,  Paris. 
There  he  remained  four  years,  acquiring  not  only  a 
careful  scientific  education,  but  as  well  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  French  language.  The  rumblings 
of  the  coming  struggle  between  France  and  Germany 
were  already  in  the  air,  and  Americans  residing  in 
Paris  felt  it  wise  to  return  home  before  the  storm 
broke  in  all  its  fury.  So  young  Ward  came  back  to 
the  United  States,  and  prepared  to  enter  the  An- 
napolis Naval  Academy,  to  which  he  wa.s  appointed 
a  cadet  in  187"2.  His  stay  in  his  native  country, 
however,  was  not  long,  for  he  soon  returned  to 
Europe,  declining  the  cadetship.  After  another 
year  spent  abroad  in  study  Mr.  Ward  re- 
turned home,  and  entered  the  employ  of 
the  Laflin  &  Rand  Powder  Co.,  whose 
Buffalo  representative  he  became  in  187o.  ' 
After  two  years  in  this  business  he  re- 
signed to  accept  a  position  with  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  railroad. 
He  began  his  railroad  ap|)renticeshi]j  in 
the  arduous  and  responsible  position  of 
night  yardmaster  and  train  dispatcher  at 
the  (jrand  Central  station  in  New  York 
city.  He  was  with  the  Central  in  various 
important  capacities  for  seven  years,  when 
he  became  assistant  manager  of  the  Har- 
lem line. 

Mr.  Ward's  experience  in  railroading, 
and  his  skill  in  handling  large  bodies  of 
employees,  coupled  with  his  scientifu 
training  and  command  of  the  French  lan- 
guage, commended  him  to  the  favorable 
notice  of  the  Cie  Unh'erselle  Canal  Pana- 
ma, which  was  engaged  in  building  the 
canal  across  the  isthmus  of  Panama  ;  and 
he  was  offered  the  suiierintendency  of 
the  Panama  railroad,  then  owned  by  that 
company.  He  thereupon  resigned  from 
the  Harlem  line,  and  accepted  the  po- 
sition under  the  French  company.  After 
spending  two  years  at  the  isthmus,  he 
was  ordered  to  Paris  and  made  manager 
of  the  railroad  department  of  the  canal 
company,  and  a  member  of  the  construc- 
tion committee  of  the  Turkish-Asiatic 
railroad.  In  connection  with  these  interests  he 
remained  abroad  until  1889,  when  he  obtained  leave 
of  absence,  and  returned  to  Buffalo  to  look  after  per- 
sonal matters.      These  he  found  so  much  disordered 


as  the  result  of  his  long  absence,  that  he  felt  obliged 
to  resign  his  |)Osition  with  the  canal  company,  and 
to  devote  his  whole  attention  to  his  affairs  on  this 
side  of  the  water. 

In  military  circles  Mr.  Ward  is  well  known.  I'or 
twelve  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  7th  New  ^'ork 
regiment,  and  as  a  member  of  the  74th  regiment,  of 
BulTalo,  he  became  captain,  lieutenant  colonel,  and 
inspector  of  the  8th  division.  While  at  Panama  he 
was  for  three  years  acting  colonel  of  the  battalion 
formed  of  employees  of  the  Panama  railroad  located 
at  Aspinwall.  Among  the  many  souvenirs  of  Mr. 
Ward's  residence  at  Aspinwall,  one  he  values  very 
highly.  After  the  destruction  of  that  i:ity  by  fire 
in  188"),  Mr.  Ward  rebuilt  the  entire  [ilant  of  the 
canal  company,  including  wharves,  railroad  tracks, 
and    the    streets    belonging    to    the    l^'rencli    go\ern- 


/■A'.IXiVS   C.     ll'.IA'D 

ment.  In  recognition  of  his  distinguished  service, 
and  upon  the  recommendation  of  M.  Rousseau, 
councilor  of  state,  who  ins])ected  the  work,  Mr. 
Ward    was    made    the    recipient    of  a    Sevres    va.se, 


238 


ME\   OF  .XEir    )ORK—lVESTER\  SECTIOX 


with  a  letter  ot'  thanks  from  the  French  government. 
In  political  and  social  life  Mr.  Ward  is  an  active 
factor  in  BufTalo.  He  is  closely  identified  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  has  been  one  of  its  local 
managers  in  several  campaigns.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Sons  of  the  American   Revolution  ;    and  in 


J/liXh'V    WE  I  LI. 

the  Masonic  order  he  has  been  Master  of  Ancient 
Landmark  Lodge,  Captain  (ieneral  of  Hugh  de  Payens 
Commandery,  and  Lieutenant  Commander  of  Buffalo 
Consistory. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Francis  Grant 
Ward  7vas  born  at  Jordan,  A'.  Y. ,  March  8,  185G  ; 
was  educated  in  the  United  States  and  France  ;  was 
in  the  employ  of  the  Laflin  c^  Rand  Powder  Co. ,  at 
New  York  and  Buffalo,  187S-76,  and  of  the  New 
York  Central  &•'  Hudson  Rii'er  railroad,  1877-85  ; 
was  employed  l>y  the  "  Cie  Universelle  Canal  Pan- 
ama, ' '  at  Aspinwall  and  elsewhere,  1885-89  ;  married 
Christine  Meday  at  Rutherford,  N.  J. ,  November  S, 
1880  ;  7c>as  appointed  superintendent  of  the  bureau  of 
water  of  Buffalo  in  May,  1S9C. 


Ibeury  Tl'QCill  is  an  excellent  representative  of 
the  class  of  citizens  concerned  in  the  oft -repeated 
compliment  that  the  best  blood  of  Europe  has  gone 
to   make   the    present    development    of  the    United 
States.      Born  and  educated  in  a  foreign  country,  he 
brought  to  the  land  of  his  adoption  an  appreciation 
of  the  importance  of  industry  such  as  can 
be  felt  only  by  those  who  have  seen  the 
greater  poverty   of  the   old   world.      To 
this,  perha])S,  more  than  to  any  other  one 
thing,  is  due  the  business  success  he  has 
achieved.      He  has  been  a  tireless  worker, 
shrewd,    methodical,    and    with   a   ready 
talent    for    grasping    opportunities.      He 
has  built  up  a  large  importing  business, 
besides  aiding  materially  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Buffalo  real  estate. 

Mr.    Weill    is   about    forty-nine    years 
old.      His  father  was  a  real-estate  dealer 
in  the  little  town  of  Miittersholtz,  .Alsace, 
and    Henry   was   kept  steadily  at  school 
until  he  \vas  si.xteen  years  of  age.      Dur- 
ing this  time  he  went  through  the  public 
schools,  and  obtained  the  French  degree 
at  the  college  in  Schlestadt.     He  looked 
forward  to  a  mercantile  jnirsuit,  and  after 
leaving    college    became    a    clerk    in    a 
wholesale  dry-goods  house  in  Mulhouse, 
.\lsace.     The  e.xperience  here  gained  was 
valuable,  especially  as  he  was  promoted 
rapidly,  and  was  thus  enabled   to   learn 
different  branches  of  the  business.     When 
about  twenty  years  old  he  determined  to 
seek  the  broader  opportunities  and  better 
rewards  that  could  be  found  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic.      He  tried  New  York  for 
a  time,  but  finding  no  suitable  opening 
went  to  Buffalo  ;    and  there  his  fortune 
has  been  made.      He  engaged  first  in  .sell- 
ing   cloth    to    country   tailors,    and    was   reasonably 
successful,  but  after  a  short  time  became  attracted  by 
the  jewelry  business.      It  was  not  the  line  in  which  he 
had  e.xperience,   but  his  ready  adaptability  enabled 
him  i|uickly  to  master  its  details,  and  by  hard  work 
and  honest  dealing  he  rapidly  built  up  a  jirosjjerous 
trade.      In   1881    he   decided  to   try  manufacturing, 
and   went   to   Chicago  for  this  purpose.      He  estab- 
lished there  a  jewelry  factory,  the  principal  product 
of  which  was  gokl  rings.      After  about  two  years  he 
returned  to  Buffalo,  and  established  the  business  of 
a  diamond  importer,  which  he  followed  up  to  1892. 
Observing  the  rapid  growth  of  Buffalo,  Mr.  Weill 
was  one  of  the  first  to  realize  the  po.ssibilities  that 
lav  in  real-estate  operations.      lie  bought  a  tract  of 


MEX   OF  XEW    YORK—WESTER.\  SECT/OX 


231) 


land  at  North  Buffalo,  developed  it,  and  made  it  one 
of  the  most  desirable  residence  sections  of  the  city. 
About  five  years  ago  he  entered  the  banking  business 
liy  helping  to  organize  the  Metropolitan  Bank,  of 
which  he  has  been  president  since  1893. 

Mr.  Weill  fills  an  important  place  socially,  and  has 
been  of  great  help  in  building  up  several  of  the 
popular  social  organizations  of  the  city.  A  notable 
case  in  point  is  the  Orpheus  Society,  which  he  joined 
when  it  wa.s  founded,  having  previously  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Liedertafel.  He  is  also  a  charter  member 
of  the  Phoenix  Club,  and  is  chairman  of  the  building 
committee,  which  now  has  in  hand  the  work  of  erect- 
ing a  new  clubhouse  on  Franklin  street.  He  belongs 
to  the  Washington  Lodge  of  Masons,  and  to  se\eral 
other  social  organizations.  He  has  been  a  trustee  of 
'rem[)le  Beth  Zion  for  twenty-two  years,  and  its 
president  for  four  years. 

Mr.  Weill  has  never  held  political  of- 
fice. He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
executive  board  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  of 
Western  New  York  at  Rochester. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V— 
Henry  Weill  was  born  at  Miittersholtz, 
Alsace,  France,  December  17,  18^7  : 
graduated  from  the  college  de  Schlestadt, 
Academic  de  Strasbourg,  in  1863 ;  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States  in  1867  ;  mar- 
ried Fannie  Shire  of  Buffalo  October  1(1, 
1870 ;  carried  on  a  7vholesale  jewelry 
business  in  Buffalo,  1868-92  :  has  been 
president  of  the  Metropolitan  Bank  of  Buf- 
falo since  1893. 


Oeorge  M.  Mbecler  e.xempiifies 

in  his  career  the  value  of  devotion  to  an 
idea  :  when  a  mere  boy  he  decided  to  be 
a  lawyer,  and  a  successful  one  ;  and  his 
plan  has  become  an  achievement. 

Mr.  Wheeler's  paternal  grandfather  was 
an  Episcopal  clergyman,  for  many  years 
in  charge  of  the  famous  parish  of  Shrews- 
bury,   N.   J.,   whose  historic  church  has 
stood  for  two  hundred  years,  and  bears 
in  its  walls  many  bullet  holes  made  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution.     The  ancient 
communion  service  of  the  parish  was  the 
gift  of  Queen  Anne.      The  name  of  Mr. 
Wheeler's  maternal  grandfather,  Samuel 
Birdsall,  is  prominently  connected  with 
the  progre.ss  of  Seneca  county.  New  York.      He  held 
various  public  ofiices,   from  supervisor  to  congress- 
man, and  during  De  Witt  Clinton's  administration 
was  judge  advocate  on  the  governor's  staff. 


Mr.  Wheeler's  parents  were  i)eople  of  culture,  and 
his  early  years  were  spent  in  an  atmos]jhere  of  refine- 
ment well  calculated  to  foster  his  naturally  studious 
habits.  His  father,  a  graduate  of  Hobart  College, 
was  for  a  time  his  tutor.  The  thorough  course  of 
instruction  mapped  out  for  the  young  pupil  was 
ended  by  the  father's  untimely  death.  'I'he  mother 
was  unable  to  provide  the  means  for  further  education, 
and  the  boy's  ambition  for  a  professional  life  seemed 
in  danger  of  being  thwarted.  Through  the  influence 
of  friends,  and  because  of  his  grandfather's  .service 
in  the  Episcopal  church,  he  gained  admission  to 
De  Veaux  College,  and  recei\ed  a  four  years'  course 
there  without  expense  to  his  widowed  mother. 

.■\fter  his  graduation  the  jjroblem  of  .self-support 
confronted  Mr.  Wheeler,  and  the  legal  profession 
still    seemed    far    from    his    grasp.       He    secured    a 


GEORGE    ir.    WHEELER 

position  with  the  well-known  firm  of  Sidne\-  Shejjard 
&  Co.,  and  later  with  Pratt  &  Letchworth,  carefully 
saving  as  much  as  possible,  to  hasten  the  time  when 
he  might  begin  his  law  studies.      .After  four  years  he 


240 


MEX   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTER. \  SECT  I  OX 


entered  the  office  of  l.aning  &  Willett  of  Buffalo,  and 
three  rears  later,  on  October  10,  1H7!),  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Rochester  from  the  office  of  Burrows 
&  Viele.  On  New  Year's  Day,  1880,  he  opened 
an  office  in  Buffalo.  Since  then  numerous  important 
cases  have  been  entrusted  to  him,  and  the  successful 


^i^  \ 


CHARLES   /■:.    WILLIAMS 

manner  in  which  he  li;is  conducted  them  has  brought 
him  deserved  eminence  in  his  profession.  In  the  fall 
of  1895  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  nomination  for 
county  judge  on  the  Republican  ticket.  His  many 
friends  felt  that  his  elevation  to  the  bench  would  be 
a  fitting  tribute  to  his  worth  and  ability,  but  he  failed 
to  receive  the  nomination. 

Mr.  Wheeler  is  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Thurs- 
day Club,  which  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  men  and 
things  of  a  literary  character.  The  club  grew  out  of  a 
reception  and  ban(|uet  given  in  1883  to  commemo- 
rate the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Washington  Irving.  The  success  of  the  celebration 
called  forth  a  general  desire  for  the  formation  of  a 
|)ermanent  organization,  and  the  Thursday  Club  was 


the  result.  In  January,  1.SH4,  Matthew  .Arnold 
lectured  under  its  ausjjices  at  Concert  Hall,  and  the 
proceeds  of  the  lecture  were  given  to  the  building 
fund  of  the  Buffalo  Library. 

Mr.  Wheeler  is  a  Past  Master  of  DeMolay  Lodge, 
No.  498,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  Past  Regent  of  Fillmore 
Council,  No.  82:5,  R.  A.      He  is  an  Odd 
Fellow  as  well.      He  also  holds  the  hon- 
ored position  of  trustee  of  De  Veaux  Col- 
lege,  in  which   he  has  taken   an  active 
interest  ever  since  he  was  a  student  there. 
PERSONAL      CHRONOLOGY— 
George  Welles  IVheeler  loas  bom  at  Ni- 
agara Falls,  N.   Y. ,  September  1,  18oC  : 
^•'as  educated  at  De  Veaux  College ;  7i<as 
admitted  to  the  bar    October  10,    1879: 
married  Jennie  F.  Farrar  of  Buffalo  Oc- 
tober  17,    1882;    lias  practiced  la7i<   in 
Buffalo  since  1880. 


(Ibarles  lE.  Milltams  is  a  But- 

falonian  by  birth,  and  has  spent  his  whole 
business  life  in  that  city.  He  has  been 
one  of  the  fundamental,  thorough -going 
« orkers  who  ha\e  done  so  much  to  make 
BulTalo  a  great  modern  city  in  all  re- 
spects. His  father  was  a  i)rominent  con- 
tractor, and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
for  many  years  engaged  with  him  in  the 
building  business. 

Mr.  Williams  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Buffalo,  and  at  that  well- 
known  private  institution,  the  Heathcote 
School.  .Xfter  completing  his  course  at 
the  high  school,  he  entered  his  father's 
office  as  bookkeeper,  retaining  the  pos- 
ition for  three  years. 

Having  resolved  to  obtain  a  technical 
education,  he  went  to  (lermany,  and  pur- 
sued a  two  years'  course  of  study  at  the  celebrated 
Stuttgart  Polytechnic  Institute.  His  work  there  was 
devoted,  for  the  most  part,  to  engineering,  archi- 
tecture, and  kindred  subjects. 

Upon  his  return  to  this  country  in  1870,  he  was 
taken  into  partnership  by  his  father,- under  the  firm 
name  of  Wm.  1.  Williams  &  Son,  general  contractors 
and  builders.  In  1<S<S2,  after  the  dissolution  of  this 
firm,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  I).  W.  Mc- 
Connell,  under  the  style  of  Williams  &  McConnell. 
Among  the  big  contracts  undertaken  and  success- 
fullv  carried  out  by  this  firm  was  tlie  great  reservoir 
at  Charlotte.sville,  Va. 

Mr.  Williams  has  ])aid  much  attention  to  the 
im])ortant    problem    of   street    ]ia\ing,    and    he    has 


AfK.y   OF  XJiW    VORK^U-ESTER.X  SECT/OX 


241 


extended  his  business  interests  in  that  direction.  He 
is  president  of  the  Clerman  Rock  Asphalt  &  Cement 
Co.,  Limited,  which  has  laid  many  miles  of  smooth 
asphalt  pavement  on  the  streets  of  Buffalo.  He  laid 
the  first  Medina-blockstone  pavement  on  a  concrete 
base  ever  put  down  on  a  public  thoroughfare.  He 
was  the  contractor  for  the  construction  of  the 
government-breakwater  extension  at  the  port  of 
Buffalo  in  1884. 

On  the  death  of  his  iiartner,  .Mr.  .McConnell, 
Mr.  Williams  organized  a  new  firm,  of  which  he  is 
the  senior  member  — Williams,  McNaughton  &  Bapst. 
This  firm  is  largely  engaged  in  the  paving  and 
general  contracting  business,  and  is  interested  in  the 
grade-crossing  changes  now  going  on  at  what  is 
known  as  "the  Terrace"  in  the  city  of  Buffalo. 
This  work  is  extremely  important,  as  it  will  permit 
the  trains  of  the  Central-Hudson,  Lake 
Shore,  Michigan  Central,  and  other  rail- 
roads to  enter  the  Union  Station  at 
Buffalo  without  crossing  at  grade  several 
streets  whose  congested  traffic  is  now  .so 
endangered. 

Mr.  Williams  is  treasurer  of  the  Buf- 
falo Dredging  Co.,  vice  president  of  the 
Buffalo  Floating  Elevator  Co.,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  McConnell  Catch  Basin  Co. 

Xot  only  in  business  circles  is  Mr. 
\\'illiams  active  and  prominent,  but 
equally  in  social  and  military  affairs  is 
he  a  factor.  For  five  years  he  was  a 
member  of  old  company  D,  Buffalo  City 
(Guards,  and  for  an  equal  period  was 
quartermaster  of  the  74th  regiment. 
National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  is  a  Scottish  Rite  Mason  of 
the  o2d  degree,  a  life  member  of  the 
Buffalo  Press  Club,  and  a  member  of 
the  Buffalo  Republican  League. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  Edwin  Williams  was  born  at 
Buffalo  February  21,  1S52  ;  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  and  the  Heathcotc 
School  of  Buffalo,  and  the  Polytechnic 
Institute,  Stuttgart,  Germany ;  has  car- 
ried on  the  business  of  a  paving  and 
general  contractor  at  Buffalo  since  1876. 


is  that  substantial  success  has  attended  him  from  first 
to  last.  He  was  born  in  Milwaukee  shortly  before 
the  middle  of  the  century.  His  parents  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  that  prosperous  city,  and  they 
are  both  living  there  still,  at  ages  very  advanced. 

Mr.  Austin's  education  wa.s  good  .so  far  as  it  went, 
but  it  might  ha\e  gone  farther  without  violating  the 
proprieties.  After  attending  the  public  schools  and 
the  Milwaukee  Military  Academy,  he  made  his  choice 
between  college  and  countingroom  by  accepting,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  a  clerkship  in  the  wholesale  dry- 
goods  house  of  Bradford  Bros.  This  was  the  second 
largest  concern  in  the  Northwest,  and  the  salary  was 
8800  a  year.  In  normal  times  young  Austin  might 
have  been  content  to  plod  along  in  the  usual  rut  of 
an  entry  clerk  :  but  the  times  were  altogether  abnor- 
mal, and  the   young  man  was  impatient  to  have  a 


James   1R.  HUStill   came  to  man- 
hood in  the  midst  of  stirring  times,  and 
began  early  in  life  an  active  and  a   varied   career. 
He  has  lived  in  the  West,  the  South,  and  the  East  ; 
has  been  a  soldier,  a  manufacturer,  and  a  business 
man  in  different  lines  :  and  the  best  part   of  it  all 


j.i.\i/-:s  K.  ,u  s/7.\ 

more  active  ])art  in  the  great  drama  of  history  then 
unfolding. 

In  February,  1804,  therefore,  he  enlisted  as  a  pri- 
vate in  company  A  of  the  39th  Wiscon.sin  volunteer 


li-2 


.UEX   OF  NEIV   VOA'A-—ll7:s/FA'X  SECT/ON 


infantry,  and  went  to  the  front.  He  was  captured 
in  August,  18(i4,  in  tiie  course  of  Forrest's  raid  on 
Memphis,  Tenn.  After  hast\'  transfers  from  one 
lirison  pen  to  another,  he  was  finally  landed  in  a 
closely  ])acked,  open  stockade,  ridiculously  styled 
"Castle  Morgan,"  at  Cahaba,  Ala.  Here  he  suf- 
fered all  the  miseries  of  exposure,  starvation,  naked- 
ness, sickness,  and  needle.ss  cruelty  im])lied  in  the 
more  familiar  name  of  Andersonville.  His  life  was 
barely  saved  by  a  fortunate  exchange  in  October  of 
the  .same  year,  and  in  January,  18(jO,  he  was  mus- 
tered out  of  service.  He  then  returned  to  Milwau- 
kee, and  after  regaining  health  resumed  his  jjosition 
in  the  hou.se  of  Bradford  Bros.  They  had  continued 
his  salary  during  his  army  service,  after  the  manner 
of  a  few  other  patriotic  and  generous  concerns. 

Reversing  the  usual  procedure,  Mr.  Austin  went 
due  Kast  in  February,  1866,  to  take  a  position  in  the 
Boston  agency  of  the  New  York  Life  Insurance  Co. 
Sul).se(|uently  succeeding  to  the  management  of  this 
branch  of  the  business,  he  conducted  the  agency 
for  five  years  with  consijicuous  success.  His  oflfice, 
indeed,  is  .said  to  have  received  and  remitted  to  the 
home  office  the  largest  amount  of  ]3remium  payments 
of  any  agency  in  the  country. 

.\fter  engaging  for  some  time  in  mining  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  agricultural  implements,  Mr.  Austin 
decided  to  make  Buffalo  his  home,  and  to  embark  in 
real-estate  ventures  in  that  promising  city.  He  went 
thither,  accordingly,  in  1889,  having  previously 
made  investments  there,  and  having  for  a  long  time 
studied  the  situation,  and  noted  the  favorable  as])ects 
of  the  same.  .A.ssociating  himself  with  .\.  J.  Riegel 
in  the  firm  of  Austin  &  Riegel,  he  built  up  a  large 
business  in  a  magically  rapid  way.  In  less  than  a 
year  the  firm  sold  over  $8,000,000  worth  of  farm 
property.  These  operations  led  to  the  establishment, 
in  1892,  of  the  Security  Investment  Co.  of  Buffalo, 
which  includes  among  its  directors  and  .stockholders 
.some  of  the  most  successful  bankers  and  l)usine.ss 
men  of  the  city.  At  the  beginning  James  B.  Staf- 
ford was  elected  president  and  James  R.  .Austin  vice 
president ;  and  both  these  efficient  officers  have 
since  been  annually  re-elected  to  their  respective 
positions. 

Mr.  Austin  is  a  Sir  Knight  of  the  Masonic  order. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  Hidwell-Wilkeson  Post,  No. 
9,  (;.  A.  R. ;  of  the  Buffido  Merchants'  Exchange; 
and  of  the  ?:ilicott  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— James  Riisscll 
Austin  was  horn  at  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  July  'Mi,  181,7; 
was  educated  in  public  schools  and  Mihoaukee  Military 
Academy  ;  was  clerk  in  a  wholesale  dry-goods  house  in 
Mihoaukee,  ISdS-Gd,  with   the  exception  of  a  year 


spent  in  the  Union  army  :  was  agent  and  manager  of 
a  life-insurance  agency  at  Boston,  1866—78  ;  engaged 
in  mining  and  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural 
implements,  1879-89;  moved  to  Buffalo  in  1889  and 
hegan  real-estate  operations  ;  has  been  vice  president  of 
the  Security  Lnvestment  Co.  of  Buffalo  since  its  organ- 
ization in  1892. 


HUtJUSt  !16CCl»Cr  is  young  in  years,  though  well 
matured  in  the  practice  of  his  jirofession.  .\  man 
who  secures  an  early  start  in  the  ([uickened  and  bu.sy 
life  of  this  nineteenth  century  has  an  incalculable 
advantage  over  those  who  enter  the  race  even  a  few 
years  later  in  life.  Mr.  Becker  not  only  made  an 
early  start  as  a  lawyer,  but  has  forged  ahead  in  his 
profession  at  an  age  when  others  are  just  beginning 
to  actpiire  practice. 

Mr.  Becker  is  a  native  of  Buffalo,  where  he  was 
born  two  years  after  the  great  Civil  War  was  brought 
to  a  close.  He  obtained  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  city,  and  after  a  thorough  prepara- 
tory training  in  the  elementary  English  branches  he 
entered  the  office  of  Greene,  McMillan  &  Gluck, 
one  of  the  strongest  legal  firms  of  western  New 
York.  This  firm  was  subsequently  styled  McMillan, 
Ciluck  &  Pooley,  and  was  noted  throughout  the  stale 
for  its  skill  in  that  modern  and  intricate  branch  of 
the  ])rofession  known  as  corporation  law.  No  better 
training  .sthool  for  legal  culture  could  be  fi)und, 
on  account  of  the  experience  of  the  firm,  its  valu- 
al)le  library,  and  the  prestige  and  traditions  of 
the  office.  Mr.  Becker  served  a  busy  and  faithfid 
apprenticeship  with  this  firm,  accjuiring  a  sound 
|)ractical  knowledge,  as  well  as  a  broad  and  compre- 
hensive theory,  of  the  law,  particularly  as  related  to 
corporations.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Rochester,  at  a  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  held  in 
that  city  in  October,  1.H88,  a  few  months  after  his 
majority. 

After  a  fiirther  period  sjient  in  familiarizing  him- 
self with  the  routine  of  a  law  office,  Mr.  Becker 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  city  of 
his  birth  in  July,  1S91,  and  practiced  alone  for 
one  year.  A  .striking  feature  of  the  legal  profe.ssion 
is  the  tendency  of  lawyers  to  a.ssociate  themselves  in 
legal  firms,  and  si)ecialize  their  work.  In  this  wav 
doubled  experience,  increa.seil  clientage,  and  greater 
prestige  are  obtained;  for  it  is  as  true  in  law  as  in 
any  other  business  that  two  heads  are  better  than 
one.  Mr.  Becker  was  (juick  to  recognize  this  ad- 
vantage, and  he  formed  a  jjartnershi])  with  Charles 
C.  Farnham  of  Buffalo,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Becker  &  Farnham,  that  has  continued  until  the 
present  time. 


MEX   OF  XKir    VORK—n-ESTEKX  SECT/(\X 


L'4:; 


Mr.  Becker  is  distinctly  a  student  of  the  law,  and 
for  a  young  man  is  deeply  versed  in  legal  literature. 
He  has  already  figured  as  an  author,  having  issued 
in  conjunction  with  James  Fraser  CHuck  a  work 
known  as  "  Gkick  &  IJecker  on  Receivers  of  Cor- 
porations ":  and  the  \olume  has  been  so  well  a[)]irc- 
ciated  by  the  legal  profession  that  a 
second  edition  of  the  work  is  now  in 
]jress. 

Mr.  Becker  has  wisely  chosen  to  hold 
himself  aloof  from  the  distractions  of  a 
political  career,  realizing  the  wisdom  of 
the  old  adage  against  having  too  many 
irons  in  the  fire.  Nor  has  he  sought 
through  social  affiliations  to  gain  prac- 
tice, having  relied  for  success  upon  iii- 
du,stry,  and  entire  devotion  to  a  noble 
profession. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
August  Becker  was  born  at  Bujfalo  Au- 
gust 10,  1867  ;  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  city ;  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Greene,  McMillan  &•  Gluck,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1888 :  has 
practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1801. 


/ID.  lb.  Birge  ^vas  bom   more  than 
ninety  years  ago   in   Chittenden   counl\ . 
\'ermont.      His  whole  life,  from   his  re- 
sourceful youth   to  his  vigorous  old  age, 
illustrates  the  Puritan  virtues  in  \ariouN 
ways,  and  it  is    not   surprising    to    find 
that  his  ancestors  were  descended   from 
one  of  the  Plymouth   Pilgrims.      In  the 
early  years    of  the   century    educational 
opportunities    were    few,  and   Mr.  Birge 
obtained  rather  more  training  than  most 
young   men    in    attending    the    district 
schools  and  the  village  academy.     M  the 
age  of  twenty  he  entered  upon  a  l)usiness  career  that 
was  destined   to   last  sixty-si.\  years.      Obtaining  a 
position  as  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  at  Middleburv, 
Vt.,  in  1826,  he  learned  the  business  rapidlv,  and  at 
the  end  of  three  years  felt  able  to  start  in  mi  his  own 
account.      He  did  so,  accordingly,   .Vpril    1,  lS2i), 
carrying  on  a  general   store  successfully    for  about 
five  years. 

Mr.  Birge  had  too  miuh  i'uritan  blcx.id  in  liis 
veins,  and  was  too  good  a  Yankee,  to  remain  satisfied 
with  the  slow-going  life  of  a  Vermont  country  town, 
and  in  1884  he  joined  the  endless  j)roce.ssion  of  west- 
ward emigrants.  His  original  [nirpose  was  to  go  to 
Chicago,  but  he  was  so  much  |)lea.sed  with  Buffalo  that 
he  decided  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the   l."),00()  peo])le 


then  resident  there.  tJn  October  15,  1834,  he 
opened  a  store  on  Main  street  devoted  to  dry  goods, 
paper  hangings,  and  general  merchandise. 

Hardly  had  Mr.  Birge  become  fairly  established  in 
his  new  venture  when  the  financial  crash  of  1837, 
one  of  the  most  serious  in  the  historv  of  the  countrv. 


.ircLsr  nr.cK-i:/i 

descended  upon  liiin.  Failures  abounded  in  every 
branch  of  trade,  and  many  of  his  customers  paid 
him  little  or  nothing.  He  was  unable,  therefore,  to 
meet  his  own  obligations.  He  did  not  on  that  ac- 
count take  advantage  of  the  bankruptcy  law  to  force 
upon  his  creditors  a  fractional  payment  of  their 
claims  ;  Init  paid  them  what  he  could  at  once,  prom- 
ising to  ])ay  all  in  time.  This  jjromise  he  kept 
faithftilly.  By  184fi  he  had  paid  off  the  last  obliga- 
tion dollar  for  dollar,  and  was  even  with  the  world 
and  at  peace  with  his  conscience.  The  struggle  had 
been  long  and  at  times  disheartening  ;  but  virtue  is 
its  own  reward,  and  Mr.  Birge  must  have  been  repaid 
many-fold  for  his  .self-sacrifice  during  the  fifty  years 
since  elapsed. 


L'44 


ME.\   OF  XKIV    YOKK—}VKSTEK.\  SECT/OX 


Before  the  middle  of  the  century  Mr.  Birge's  busi- 
ness had  resolved  itself  into  the  wall-paper  trade 
exclusively,  and  for  many  years  he  carried  on  one  of 
the  largest  stores  in  this  line  in  western  New  York. 
Up  to  1879  he  handled  stock  manufactured  by 
others  ;  but  in  that  year,  in  connection  with  his  sons, 


.1/.  N.   lilRCE 

and  under  the  firm  name  of  M.  H.  Birge  &  Sons,  he 
began  the  manufacture  of  paper  hangings.  His  long 
experience  in  the  business  and  minute  acquaintance 
with  wall-paper  stock  assured  in  advance  the  success  of 
the  new  enterprise.  On  June  1,  1892,  after  having 
built  up  the  l)usine.ss  to  large  proportions,  Mr.  Birge 
disposed  of  his  interest  to  his  sons.  He  has  since 
lived  in  retirement  from  active  affairs,  enjoying  the 
leisure  and  rest  to  which  he  was  years  ago  entitled. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Martin  Hmv- 
laiid  Birge  was  born  at  UnderJiiU,  Vt.,  July  SO,  1806  ; 
7vas  educated  in  district  schools  and  the  village  acad- 
emy ;  was  clerk  in  a  general  store  at  Middlehury,  Vt. , 
1826-20,  and  carried  on  a  similar  store  on  his  own 
account,  1829— 3^ ;   married  Elizabeth  Ann  Kingsley 


of  Sheldon,  Vt.,  October  21,  1836 ;  opened  a  general 
store  in  Buffalo  in  1834- ;  established  the  manufacture 
of  wall  paper  in  1870,  and  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  firm  until  his  retirement  in  1892. 

Spencer  Clinton,  years  ago  a  leader  at  the 
Krie-county  bar,  and  now  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  law)-ers  in  the  Em- 
pire State,  belongs  to  an  historic  family. 
His  grandfather  on  the  maternal  side 
was  John  C.  Spencer,  secretary  of  war 
under  President  Tyler  and  an  eminent 
jurist.  His  grandfather  on  the  other 
side,  De  Witt  Clinton,  was  mayor  of 
New  York  city,  governor  of  New  York 
state,  and  United  States  senator.  But 
for  him  the  Erie  canal  might  never  have 
been  built,  and  certainly  would  not  have 
been  built  until  many  years  after  its 
actual  construction.  Mr.  Clinton's  own 
father,  (leorge  A\'.  Clinton,  was  one  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  of  his  day. 

Spencer  Clinton  was  born  in  Buffalo, 
and  has  always  lived  there.  His  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  public  and  pri- 
vate schools  in  Buffalo,  Brockport,  and 
Alban\'.  Colleges  were  not  so  numerous 
and  accessible  at  the  time  of  his  youth 
as  now,  and  Mr.  Clinton  did  not  have 
the  benefit  of  a  collegiate  course.  Hav- 
ing determined  to  study  law,  he  entered 
the  office  of  Solomon  G.  Haven  for  that 
jjurpo.se,  and  subsequently  carried  on  his 
reading  under  \\'illiam  Dor.sheimer.  He 
made  rapid  progress  in  his  studies,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  October  term 
of  1860,  when  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Measured  by  the  standards  of  to-day, 
when  many  men  destined  for  the  law  are 
not  even  out  of  college  at  that  age,  Mr.  Clinton 
made  a  prompt  beginning  on  his  life-work ;  and 
his  progress  wa.s  still  further  accelerated  early  in 
his  professional  career  by  an  appointment  as  assist- 
ant United  States  district  attorney  under  his  former 
preceptor,  William  Dorsheimer.  In  this  position 
Mr.  C^linton  had  a  chance  to  show  his  legal  ability, 
and  he  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  for 
several  vears  with  brilliant  success.  In  18(;s  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Charles  D.  .Marshall  for 
the  general  practice  of  the  law.  This  association 
has  been  maintained  ever  since,  and  has  been 
altogether  successful.  Others  have  been  admitted  to 
the  firm  at  various  times,  but  the  original  partnership 
has  not  been  severed.      Since  1808  .Vdolph  Rebadow, 


ME\   OF  XEIV    VORK—IVESTKRX  SECT/OA 


245 


who  studied  as  a  young  man  in  the  office  of  Marshall 
&  Clinton,  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm,  and  the 
present  style  is  Marshall,  Clinton  &  Rebadow.  The 
firm  is  one  of  the  strongest  in  western  New  York, 
and  transacts  an  immense  amount  of  legal  business. 
Mr.  Clinton  is  everywhere  regarded  as  a  lawyer  of 
great  sagacity,  wide  learning  in  the  law.  and  sound 
judgment. 

Though  deprived  himself  of  systematic  training 
in  a  law  .school,  Mr.  Clinton  believes  thoroughly  in 
such  institutions.  He  ha.s  taken  an  active  interest  in 
the  Buffalo  Law  School,  having  been  one  of  the  or- 
ganizers of  the  institution,  and  having  lectured 
therein  ever  since  its  foundation.  He  has  been 
attorney  for  the  Buffalo  grade-crossing  commissioners 
since  1887,  and  has  done  all  that  he  could,  aside 
from  his  professional  interest  in  the  matter,  to  ex- 
pedite and  discharge  in  the  best  possible 
manner  the  important  work  of  this  com- 
mission. He  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Buffalo  Savings  Bank  and  a  director  of 
the  Third  National  Bank.  .\s  e.xecutor  of 
two  large  estates,  he  represents  the  C.  J. 
Wells  elevator  and  the  Bennett  elevator 
in  the  Western  Elevating  .Association. 

Mr.  Clinton  has  been  absorbed  in  his 
professional  work,  and  has  studiously 
avoided  public  otfice.  In  1887,  how- 
ever, he  permitted  himself  to  become 
the  Democratic  nominee  for  state  .sena- 
tor ;  and  he  was  much  relieved  by  the 
success  of  the  opposing  candidate.  The 
episode  is  worth  mentioning  because 
readers  will  remember  how  freely  and 
frankly  the  opposing  press  acknowledged 
Mr.  Clinton's  ability  and  high  character. 
The  National  Democratic  state  conven- 
tion, held  at  Brooklyn  September  24, 
1896,  nominated  him  by  acclamation  for 
the  position  of  associate  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals. 

In  social  life  Mr.  Clinton  has  enjoyed 
the  position  to  which  his  professional 
attainments  and  personal  character  would 
naturally  entitle  him.  He  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Buffalo  Club,  and 
was  its  president  in  188").  He  is  a 
member  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY— 
Spencer  Clinton  was  horn  at  Buffalo  June 
29,  1839  ;  was  educa!ed  in  public  and  private  schools  ; 
studied  laiv,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1860 ; 
was  assistant   United  States  district  attorney,  1866- 
68  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1808. 


GCOVQC  H.  ©avis  ran  enjoy  in  full  measure 
the  satisfaction  that  comes  from  the  gratification  of 
an  honorable  ambition.  Nowhere  but  in  America, 
perhaps,  would  a  life  like  his  be  possible  ;  but  even 
in  this  favored  land  it  requires  ability  and  determina- 
tion for  a  young  man  entirely  dependent  on  his  own 
resources  to  become  a  successful  lawyer  and  ]jublic 
man  before  he  has  reached  his  fortieth  year. 

Mr.  Davis  was  born  in  Buffalo,  and  is  a  thorough 
Buffalonian,  though  of  late  years  he  has  been  actively 
identified  with  one  of  the  suburban  towns.  His 
education  was  received  in  the  Buffalo  public  schools  ; 
and  he  doubtless  used  the  opportunities  there  all  the 
more  faithfiilly  because  the  lack  of  money  made  the 
acquisition  of  an  education  .somewhat  difficult.  On 
the  completion  of  his  school  course,  he  learned  the 
trade  of  a  picture-frame  maker,  and  worked  at  that 


6FJii\CJHi   Lt/.\ro.\ 


long  enough  to  get  a  little  money  ahead.  But  he 
had  determined  to  become  a  lawyer,  and  as  soon  as 
circumstances  permitted  he  left  the  workman's  bench 
for  a  law  office.      He  became  a  student  in  the  office 


1-ii; 


MKA   OF  .YE II'    VO/'Hk  —WESTERN  SECT/O.X 


of  Day  &  Romer,  Buffalo,  and  applied  himself  so 
diligently  to  the  task  of  gaining  the  necessary  knowl- 
edge of  the  law  that  in  three  years  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar. 

Mr.  Davis  at  once  opened  an  office  in  Buffalo,  and 
has  practiced  there  continuously  since.      The  same 


i.hlllkCI:    A.    DM  I.S 

energy  and  ability  that  gained  for  him  ailniission  to 
his  ])rofe.ssion  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two,  in  spite 
of  obstacles  that  would  have  disheartened  a  less 
determined  man,  have  brought  him  success  in  his 
chosen  calling  ;  and  he  has  already  established  a 
reputation  as  an  able  attorney. 

Public  affairs  have  interested  Mr.  Davis  greatly 
for  many  years.  Before  he  was  thirty  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Erie-county  board  of  supervisors, 
rejjresenting  the  itth  ward  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  for 
two  years.  On  his  removal  to  Lancaster  in  18S7, 
he  was  elected  supervisor  of  the  town,  and  ]jroved  so 
able  a  guardian  of  the  interests  of  the  community 
that  he  has  held  the  office  ever  since.  In  the  years 
1S,S!),    1S!I4,    and    1  Xi).")    he    was    ( hairman    of    the 


board  of  supervisors,  being  the  mianimous  choice  of 
his  colleagues  of  both  political  jtarties  ;  and  he  made 
an  admirable  jiresiding  officer,  and  displayed  unusual 
executive  ability.  In  1890  he  was  nominated  for 
representative  in  congress  from  the  '?>'?>&  congres- 
sional district.  This  was  a  year  of  defeat  for  the 
Re])ublican  party,  however,  and  Mr. 
Davis  failed  of  election  by  a  small  major- 
it).  In  l.s;i4  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
state  constitutional  convention.  There 
he  was  made  a  member  of  the  committees 
on  banking,  insurance,  and  military,  and 
did  good  work  in  each.  In  l<Si).3  he  was 
elected,  by  a  majority  of  nearly  6000 
votes,  to  re])resent  his  district,  the  49th, 
in  the  upper  hou.sc  of  the  state  legisla- 
ture ;  and  on  the  organization  of  that 
body  he  became  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittees on  judiciary,  commerce,  navi- 
gation, penal  institutions,  and  Indian 
affairs,  at  ting  as  chairman  of  the  latter. 
Such  a  record  for  a  com])aratively 
young  man  indicates  uncommon  talent 
for  ]>ublic  affairs,  and  this  Mr.  Davis  un- 
doubtedly possesses.  It  is  safe  to  predict 
that  further  honors  are  in  store  for  one 
who  has  already  ser\ed  his  fellow-citizens 
so  acceptably. 

Mr.  Davis  is  well  known,  also,  from 
his  long  connection  with  the  National 
Cuard.  Enlisting  as  a  private  in  the 
74th  regiment  in  1S77,  he  ro.sc  through 
all  the  intermediate  grades  until  he  be- 
came commander  of  the  regiment  ;  and 
this  position  he  retained  for  a  niunbcr 
of  years.  He  is  a  .S'2d  degree  Mason, 
belonging  to  the  Buffalo  Consistory,  and 
a  Knight  Temjihir  in  Lake  I'lrie  Com- 
manderv.  Since  his  removal  to  lancaster 
he  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  Trinity  l^piscopal 
Church  there,  and  is  at  |)rcsent  one  of  its  wardens. 

I'KRSOXAI.  CHROXOl.OGY—  George  Allen 
Davis  teas  Iwni  at  Buffalo  August  5,  18oS ;  teas 
edueated  in  the  f^uhlie  sehools  ;  studied  laic,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1880 ;  married  Lillie  N. 
Grimes  of  Lancaster,  N.  Y.,  June  Jf,  1885  ;  icas  a 
memher  of  the  eonstitutional  eomvntion  in  189 Jf,  and 
was  elected  state  senator  in  180.'> :  has  been  a  member 
of  the  F.rie-eounty  board  of  supervisors  since  1885  : 
has  practiced  law  in  Ihitfalo  since  1880. 

JSCnjainm  JfOlSOm,  "cll  l^nowll  in  western 
New  York  as  a  member  of  the  bar,  and  throughout 
the  countrv  as  the  representative  from   the  Ignited 


AfE.X   or   XEJl'    VORh'—lVKSTrhW  SF.CT/OX 


•247 


States  in  an  important  foreign  station,  was  born  in 
Wyoming  county,  New  York,  in  1847.  The  Folsom 
family  has  an  interesting  genealogy,  beginning  in 
this  country  with  the  landing  of  John  Kolsom  in 
1638  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  and  directly  traceable 
from  him  to  the  present  generation.  After  receiving 
his  preliminary  training  in  the  Attica  Union  School 
and  Wyoming  Academy,  Mr.  Fol.som  prepared  for 
college  at  Clenesee  Wesleyan  Seminary  at  Lima, 
N.  Y.,  and  entered  the  University  of  Rochester  in 
the  fall  of  18(i7.  He  took  the  classical  course  there, 
and  graduated  in  1871  with  honors,  obtaining  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  afterward  receiving 
from  the  same  institution  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

Mr.  Folsom  at  first  contemplated  a  journalistii- 
career,  and  he  went  to  lOurope  as  a  newspajjcr  corre- 
spondent in  the  summer  of  his  gradua- 
tion. He  seems,  however,  to  have 
agreed  with  'I'hiers's  doubtful  ])raise  of 
journalism  as  "a  very  good  profession 
if  \ou  get  out  of  it  in  time"  ;  for  he, 
soon  changed  his  plans,  and  after  ser\ing 
on  the  staff  of  the  New  York  U't»ii/  until 
the  fall  of  1872,  began  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Bass  &  Bi.s.sell,  Buffalo. 
He  made  rapid  progress  in  this  work, 
and  was  regularly  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
October,  1875.  For  the  next  two  years 
he  strengthened  his  grasp  of  legal  prin- 
ciples, and  obtained  further  insight  into 
the  actual  conduct  of  litigation,  by  ser- 
vice in  the  city  attorney's  office  as 
managing  clerk.  Opening  an  office  in 
Buffalo  on  his  own  account  in  1S7X,  he 
began  the  active  practice  of  the  law,  anil 
continued  the  same  with  marked  success 
imtil  Novemljer,  18>!ti. 

.\n  appointment  as  L'nited  States  con- 
sul   at    Sheffield,    England,    received    at 
that  time,  caused  a  long  interruption   in 
his  law  practice.      He  remaineil  at  Shef- 
field  about    seven    years,    resigning    the 
consulate    in    189.')    for    the    purpose    of 
returning    to   this    lountry,   and   looking 
after  his  real-estate  interests  in  California 
and    in    Omaha,    Neb.       'i'hc    extraordi- 
narily   rapid    growth    of    ( )niaha    vastly 
increased   the  value  of  the  estate  of  hi.s 
father,  the  late  Benj.  R.  Folsom,  and  the 
care    and    development    of   this    property,    together 
with  its  partition  and   division,   reijuired    Mr.    Fol- 
som's    personal    attention.       Having    adjusted    his 
affairs  in  the  West,  he  returned  to   Buffalo  and   re- 
sumed the  practice  of  law. 


In  [jolitical  matters  Mr.  Folsom  has  allied  himself 
with  the  Democratic  party.  He  has  served  in  the 
ranks,  and  has  never  sought  a  nomination  for  office. 
For  many  years  before  his  residence  in  F^ngland  he 
was  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  City  and  County  Hall,  Buffalo  ;  and  in  that 
capacity  he  arranged  and  systematized  the  accounts 
of  the  institution  in  the  way  that  they  are  now  kept. 

Mr.  Folsom  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
belonging  to  Washington  Lodge,  No.  240,  Buffalo, 
and  to  Talbot  Chapter  of  Rose  Croix,  Scottish  Rite, 
Sheffield,  England.  He  is  a  member,  also,  of  the 
University  Club,  Buffalo,  St.  Cieorge's  Club,  London, 
and  the  Sheffield  Club,  Sheffield.  He  is  much 
interested  in  the  history  of  his  family,  and  is  engaged 
in  a  stuih  of  the  i'olsom  genealogy. 


/i/-:.\/.l.\l/\  Jf>/.st).]/ 


PERS  ON  A  L  C  W/R  OA'OL  O  G  } '—  Benjamin 
Folsom  70(!s  horn  at  P'olsomilalc,  Wyoming  county, 
N.  v.,  December  ■'>,  18^7 ;  graduated  from  tlic 
Uni'oersitx  of  Rochester  in  ISl  1 :  served  as  newspaper 
correspondent,    7.S'~ /-(".?  .•    studied  iaic,   and  'was  ad- 


■2-iS 


MEN   OF  \K\r    }(>A'A~~lVESr£A\X  SJ-SCYVOX 


milted  to  the  bar  in  1873  ;  practiced  law  in  Buffalo, 
1818-86 ;  7oas  United  States  consul  at  Sheffield, 
En^.,  1886-93;  married  Mrs.  Ella  Blanchard 
Ho7vard  of  Rochester  Oct.  11,  189S :  resumed  the 
practice  of  law  in  Buffalo  in  18!).i. 


I'll  I  I.I  I'   G  F.R.ST 

Pbilip  OCrSt  has  attained  high  public  station 
in  Buffalo  at  an  unusually  early  age,  and  is  among 
the  youngest  of  the  prominent  city  officials.  The 
chronology  of  events  in  his  comparatively  short 
career  bespeaks  an  energy,  determination,  and  abil- 
ity that  may  be  expected  to  lead  to  yet  higher 
positions  in  the  public  service  in  coming  years. 
He  has  made  an  excellent  start,  and  bids  fair  to 
maintain  his  present  rate  of  progress. 

Mr.  Oerst  is  a  native  of  Buffalo,  and  still  lives 
in  the  house  in  which  he  was  born  thirty-odd  years 
ago.  Few  men  know  the  beautiful  city  so  intimately 
and  thoroughly  as  he  ;  and  his  accurate  ac(]uaint- 
ance  with  both  the  people  and  the  history  of  Buffalo 
has  doubtless  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  his  political 
campaigns.       His   educational    training   preparatory 


to  entering  upon  a  vocation  was  obtained  in  the 
pulilic  schools  of  Buffalo,  and  in  a  business  college. 
He  graduated  from  Public  School  No.  20,  and  after 
a  period  of  study  at  the  Central  High  School  en- 
tered P>ryant  &  Stratton's  Busine.ss  College,  where 
he  accpiired  a  knowledge  of  commercial 
forms  and  usages. 

After  completing  his  school  course  he 
began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of 
James  A.  Roberts.  Practical  business 
life,  however,  attracted  him  strongly,  and 
he  soon  laid  aside  his  text-books  to  en- 
ter the  railway  service.  He  was  in  the 
employ  of  the  Erie  railroad  for  several 
years,  rising  from  the  position  of  mes- 
senger to  that  of  cashier.  Resigning 
from  the  railroad  company  in  18)S6,  he 
went  into  the  coal  business  with  the  firm 
of  Dakin  &  Sloan  ;  and  afterward  em- 
barked in  the  real-estate  business,  form- 
ing a  partnership  with  Michael  Doll. 
He  is  still  engaged  in  this,  having  lately 
purchased  the  interest  of  his  partner. 

While    earning    the    reputation   of  an 
active   and    enterprising    business    man, 
Mr.  (ierst  at  the  same  time  was  coming 
to    the    front    as     a     forceful     factor     in 
the    politics    of   Erie    countv.      He    has 
been  conspicuous    in    the  reform  move- 
ments that  have  so  much  benefited  the 
city  politics  of  Buffalo.      In  1892  he  was 
nominated    for   his    first    office,    that    of 
asse.ssor.     Though  defeated,  he  ran  ahead 
of  his  ticket  several  hundred  votes  in  his 
own    ward  ;    anil     his    friends    maintain 
that    he    was    deliberately    counted  out. 
His  strength  having  been    thus    demon- 
strated, he  was  elected  in  the  following 
year  to  the  state  assembly.      He  repre.sented  the  (ith 
Erie  district  in  the  legislature  two  years,  and  estab- 
lished a    record    that    entitled  him  to  further  con- 
sideration   at    the    hands    of  his    parly.      In    1890, 
accordingly,   he  was  nominated  for  the  responsible 
position  of  treasurer  of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  and  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority.    On  the  first  of  January, 
18!)(),  he  began  his  four  years'  term  of  office;  and 
he  is  already  fulfilling  the  predictions  and  antici|)a- 
tions  of  his  friends. 

Mr.  Gerst  is  an  enthusiastic  fraternity  man,  be- 
longing to  Occidental  Lodge,  No.  760,  of  the 
Masonic  order,  and  having  membership  in  the 
Valley  of  Buffalo  Ancient  Accepted  Scottish  Rite 
Masons,  32d  degree.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
North  Buffalo  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.   "jiy. 


MEN  OF  iVEir    )ORk-  -irESTF./x.y  SECTIOX 


249 


PERSONAL  CHR  OXOL  O  G  Y—  Philip  Gerst 
was  born  at  Buffalo  September  17,  1863 ;  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  and  Bryant  &"  St/-atton'  s 
Business  College ;  ivas  in  the  employ  of  the  Erie  rail- 
road, 1S70-8G,  and  of  Dakin  &=  Sloan,  coal  dealers, 
1886-88  ;  was  member  of  assembly,  189^-95  ;  was 
elected  treasurer  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  in  1895,  for 
the  term  1896-99  ;  has  carried  on  a  real-estate  and 
insurance  business  since  1888. 


Ebwarb  "Wi.  fl^atCb,  though  still  in  the  prime 
of  life,  long  ago  attained  a  position  of  dignity  and 
importance  in  the  affairs  of  men.      The  judicial  call- 
ing, probably  more  than  any  other,  requires  a  com- 
i)ination  of  qualities  and  a  thoroughness  of  mental 
equipment  that  can  rarely  be  found  outside  the  ranks 
of  men    well    advanced    in    years   and    experience. 
That  Judge  Hatch  was  found  to  possess 
early   in   life  the  requisite  ex])erience  in 
tlie  law.  and  the  penetration  and  general 
maturity    of    mind    appropriate    to    the 
bench,  stamps  him  at  once  as  a  man  of 
exceptional  ability  and  character. 

Heredity  doubtless  had  something  to 
do  with  all  this.  Judge  Hatch's  grand- 
father was  Captain  Jeremiah  Hatch,  who 
obtained  his  title  through  heroic  action 
in  the  ^^'ar  tor  Independence.  His  son 
Jeremiah  inherited,  with  his  father's 
name,  something  at  lea.st  of  his  father's 
spirit,  for  he  raised  a  company  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  and  went  to 
the  front  as  captain  of  the  130th  New 
York  volunteers.  He  died  at  Suffolk, 
Va.,  in  December,  1862. 

Judge  Hatch  was  born  in  l-'riendship, 
Allegany  county,  and  attended  the  acade- 
my there  in  the  fall  and  winter  months 
until  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  Unable 
to  pursue  his  studies  further  in  a  system- 
atic way  at  that  time,  he  turned  his 
hand  to  the  blacksmith's  trade,  and  also  | 

engaged  in  lumbering  in  the  Pennsylva- 
nia  forests   and    in    Wyoming    county,  [ 
New   York.       These    occupations  —  not 
altogether  prophetic  of  his  later  career  — 
occupied  about  four  years,  between  1868 
and  1872.     In  the  latter  year  he  found  an 
opportunit}-  to  take  the  first  step  towards 
satisfying  an  ambition  that  he  had  long 
cherished.       Andrew    J.   Lori.sh,    afterward    county 
judge  of  Wyoming  county,  was  then  postmaster  of 
Attica,  and  was  also  practicing  law  there.      He  gave 
Mr.   Hatch  a  clerkship  in  the  post  office,  with  the 


mif-- 


understanding  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  time 
might  be  devoted  to  the  reading  of  law.  This 
divided  allegiance  to  business  and  to  study  was  a 
poor  substitute  for  a  law  school  :  but  the  voung 
student  made  the  most  of  his  oi^ijortunities,  and  had 
accomplished  a  great  deal  when  the  chance  came,  in 
1874,  to  go  to  Buffalo  and  enter  the  law  ofifice  of 
Corlett  &  Tabor.  Mr.  Corlett  afterward  became  a 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Mr.  Tabor  the 
attorney-general  of  the  state  ;  and  in  their  office  a 
broad  and  thoroughly  practical  training  in  the  law 
could  be  obtained  by  a  diligent  student.  Mr.  Hatch 
remained  with  them  until  the  dissolution  of  the 
firm  in  l.S7.i,  and  continued  with  Mr.  Corlett 
until  admitted  to  the  bar  the  next  year.  He 
then  practiced  law  alone  for  two  years,  when  he 
was    invited    by   Mr.    Corlett   to   form  a  partnership 


EVlfA.VD    tr.  JIATCII 

with  liim.  This  association,  significant  of  Mr. 
Hatch's  fidelity  and  success  as  a  law  student,  con- 
tinued until  Judge  Corlett  went  ujjon  the  bench  in 
188:!.      .\fter    that,   in   January,    l,s84,   Mr.    Hatch, 


•J.">0 


ME\   OF  \Kir    YORK—IVESTERX  SECT/OX 


together  with  I'orter  Norton  and  H.  W.  Box, 
formed  the  law  firm  of  Box,  Hatch  &  Norton,  with 
which  Mr.  Hatch  continued  to  practice  luitil  his 
elevation  to  the  bench  January  1,  1887. 

A  firm  believer  in  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  Mr.  Hatch  early  rose  to  prominence  in  polit- 
ical circles.  In  1880,  and  again  three  years  later, 
he  was  nominated  by  acclamation  for  the  office  ot 
district  attorney  of  Erie  county.  He  was  elected  by 
large  majorities  on  both  occasions,  and  discharged 
with  conspicuous  ability  the  important  duties  of  the 
office.  He  was  next  a  candidate  for  public  honors 
in  the  fall  of  1886,  when  he  was  elected  by  a  large 
majority  for  a  term  of  fourteen  years  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Buffalo.  The  new 
state  constitution,  prejiared  by  the  convention  of 
1894,  abolished  that  court,  and  provided  that  the 
judges  thereof  should  be  transferred  to  the  state  Su- 
preme Court  on  January  1,  1890,  for  their  unexpired 
terms.  This  feature  of  the  constitution  would  have 
affected  Judge  Hatch,  had  he  not  been  nominated 
in  the  fall  of  189.5  as  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
for  the  8th  judicial  district.  He  was  elected,  with 
many  votes  to  spare,  and  thus  entered  upon  a  new- 
term  of  fourteen  years  from  January  1 ,  1  !^9().  Under 
the  new  constitution  the  Supreme  Court  has  four 
appellate  divisions,  to  which  justices  are  assigned  by 
the  governor  ;  and  Judge  Hatch  was  appointed  for 
five  years  one  of  the  a])pellate  judges  for  the  2d  de- 
jiartnient,  comprising  Kings  and  adjoining  coimties. 
He  entered  n|)on  his  new  duties  at  Brooklyn  January 
1,  1896. 

A  justice  of  the  Supreme  C'ourt  of  the  state  of 
New  York  cannot  di.scharge  his  duties  ably  and  con- 
scientiously and  have  much  time  left  for  outside  pur- 
.suits.  Judge  Hatch  is  subject  to  this  limitation,  l)ut 
he  contrives,  nevertheless,  to  maintain  close  relations 
with  many  movements  affecting  the  j)ublic  welfare. 
He  delivers  occasional  lectures  on  literary  and  social 
topics  as  well  as  on  questions  of  the  day.  His  career 
thus  far  has  been  rich  in  results,  and  promises  a 
future  of  honorable  achievement. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Edwani 
Wingale  Hatch  was  born  at  Friendship,  N.  V. ,  JVt>- 
vember  26,  1852  ;  received  a  common-school  education  ; 
began  the  study  of  la7U  at  Attica,  A'.  Y. ,  in  1872,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1876 ;  married  Helen 
Woodruff  of  Conneaut,  O.,  in  1878  ;  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo,  1876-86;  was  district  attorney  of  Erie 
county,  1881-86  ;  7vas  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
Buffalo,  1887-95;  became  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  January  1,  1896,  and  7vas  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor Morton  appellate  Judge  for  the  2d  department  of 
that  court  for  a  term  of  Jive  years. 


XUCiaU  1l3awleV?  has  considerably  exceeded 
the  .scriptural  limitation  of  life,  and  has  never  in  all 
these  years  been  false  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him. 
As  counselor,  public  official,  corporation  officer,  and 
trustee,  the  chief  busine.ss  of  his  life  has  been  to 
guard  and  preserve  the  interests  of  others.  With 
what  vigilance  and  fidelity  he  has  done  this  our 
opening  statement  shows.  The  more  critically  and 
minutely  his  career  is  examined,  the  more  clearly 
will  this  aspect  of  his  life  appear. 

Born  not  long  after  James  Monroe  entered  the 
White  House,  in  Saratoga  county.  New  York,  Mr. 
Hawley  spent  his  boyhood  in  that  part  of  the  state. 
His  education  was  begun  at  ( liens  Falls,  and  was 
finished  at  Buffalo,  whither  he  had  moved  in  A|)ril, 
18.S7.  In  those  days  the  opportunities  for  academic 
and  collegiate  instruction  were  far  less  abundant  than 
now,  and  Mr.  Hawley  was  unable  to  study  for  a 
degree.  He  had  the  best  passible  substitute,  how- 
ever, in  a  long  term  of  service  with  the  legal  firm  of 
Fillmore,  Hall  &  Haven.  Millard  Fillmore,  at'ter- 
ward  President  of  the  United  States,  and  his  asso- 
ciates, were  giants  at  the  Frie-county  bar  :  and  Mr. 
Hawley,  as  managing  clerk  of  the  firm,  could  hardly 
have  been  better  placed  to  acquire  valuable  experience 
in  the  actual  practice  of  the  law.  He  held  this 
position  for  four  years,  and  was  thus  enabled  to 
olitain  admission  to  the  bar  in  November,  1844. 

His  first  ])artnership  was  with  Isaiah  '!'.  Williams,  a 
brother  of  the  late  (iib.son  T.  Williams.  In  184() 
the  firm  was  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  Nelson 
K.  Hopkins,  and  the  style  became  Williams,  Hopkins 
iS:  Hawley.  This  as.sociation  was  dissolved  in  1847, 
when  Mr.  Hawley  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Seth  C.  Hawley.  An  ap])ointment,  in  1849, 
as  deputy  collector  of  customs  for  the  district  of 
Buffalo  Creek,  caused  Mr.  Hawley  to  abandon  the 
law  for  about  four  years.  .\t  the  end  of  that  period 
he  became  successively  managing  clerk  in  the  law 
office  of  John  (lanson,  secretary  of  the  comijany 
publishing  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  tra\eling  col- 
lector for  the  famous  house  of  Pratt  &  Co.,  and 
secretary  of  the  Buffalo  Agricultural  Machine  W'orks. 

This  brings  us  down  to  1865,  when  Mr.  Hawley 
began  his  long  career  in  the  United  States  internal- 
revenue  service.  During  the  eleven  years  thus  em- 
ployed he  was  legislated  out  of  office  three  times  and 
resigned  twice  ;  but  on  each  occasion  he  was  restored 
to  office  with  a  better  position.  This  came  about, 
not  from  solicitation  on  his  part,  but  from  the  desire 
of  the  treasury  officials  to  perfect  the  service,  and  as 
a  reward  of  merit.  The  internal-revenue  officers  of 
the  government  were  subjected  to  subtle  temptations 
in  those  days,  and  wore  not  always  above  suspicion  ; 


MEX  OF  .\7-:ir    1V)A>A"— H7-;.S-7'/:A'.\-  SEC770X 


251 


so  that  an  officer  of  Mr.  Hawley's  fidelity  and  abso- 
lute honesty  was  correspond! n,i;l\-  valuable  to  the 
treasury  department.  After  eight  )ears  of  .service 
in  subordinate  capacities  Mr.  Hawley  was  appointed, 
in  1X73,  .supervisor  of  internal  revenue  by  President 
(irant,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  in  New  York  city, 
with  the  state  of  New  York  as  his  dis- 
trict. 

The  most  important  and  interesting 
part  of  Mr.  Hawlev's  work  as  supervi.sor 
was  his  agency  in  the  downfall  of  the 
"whiskey  ring,"  the  po]jular  name  for 
the  association  of  revenue  officers  and 
distillers  who  so  largely  defrauded  the 
go\ernment  of  the  internal  revenue  on 
distilled  spirits.  The  ring  originated  in 
St.  Louis,  but  extended  its  nefariou.s  oper- 
ations throughout  the  country.  Presi- 
dent Orant  and  Secretary  Bristoe,  how- 
ever, were  equal  to  the  emergency,  and 
on  May  10,  1S75,  a  simultaneous  raid 
was  made  on  the  implicated  distilleries 
of  St.  Louis,  Milwaukee,  and  Chicago. 
As  a  result  the  government  wa.s  able  to 
bring  into  court  about  S3, 500,000  worth 
of  seized  property,  and  indictments 
against  238  persons,  including  distillers, 
rectifiers,  wholesale  liquor  dealers,  and 
many  officers  of  the  internal-revenue 
.service.  Mr.  Hawley  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  raid  at  St.  Louis,  and  car- 
ried out  his  end  of  the  movement  with 
e-\ceptional  vigor  and  success.  In  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  he  was  sent  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  confirmed  the  sus- 
picion that  a  corrupt  ring  there  was 
defrauding  the  government.  The  ring 
was  so  powerfiilly  protected  by  local 
allies  that  Secretary  Bristoe  and  his 
faithful  supervisor  were  unable  to  repeat  here  their 
St.  Louis  success.  In  February,  1876,  Mr.  Hawley 
submitted  his  re.signation,  but  at  the  request  of  the 
commissioner  of  internal  revenue  remained  in  office 
until  May.  He  then  returned  home,  poor  in  jjocket 
and  broken  in  health,  having  given  some  of  the  best 
years  of  his  life  to  the  service. 

Since  then  he  has  engaged  in  the  management  of 
individual  estates,  and  in  executive  and  fiduciary 
work  of  \arious  kinds.  His  legal  training,  broad 
e.xperience,  and  spotless  integrity  make  him  particu- 
larly efficient  and  valuable  in  such  matters. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOG  Y—Lucian 
Hawley  was  born  at  Morcau,  N.  V.,  N^ovember  8, 
ISIS ;    received  a  common-school  education,  and  loas 


admitted  to  the  bar  in  lS.i4  ;  practiced  hno  in  Buffalo, 
18^-^0  ;  7cias  a/pointed  deputy  collector  of  customs  in 
ISJf!) ;  was  engaged  in  the  United  States  revenue 
service,  1865-76  ;  married  Irene  Burt  Leech  of  Buf- 
falo April  19,  1848,  and  Lida  Williams  Jennings  of 
Lockport,  N.   V. ,  December  IS,  1877 :   has  made  his 


/rni\    //AW/.EY 

honie  in  Buffalo  since  1876,  and  has  been  a  resident 
of  the  city  since  1SS7. 


CbarlCS  E.  IbaveS  is  a  member  of  one  of 
the  most  jirominent  lithographic  companies  in  the 
United  States.  For  years  the  work  turned  out  from 
the  establishment  of  Koerner  &  Hayes  has  elicited 
universal  praise  and  admiration,  and  few  houses 
have  done  more  to  educate  popular  taste  in  the  art  of 
illustration.  'I'he  standard  of  the  general  public  in 
such  matters  is  higher  now  than  ever  before,  and 
bespeaks  for  the  future  a  race  more  appreciative  of 
the  nature  and  function  of  jjictorial  representation. 

Mr.  Hayes  wa.s  born  in  Canada  of  American  par- 
ents,   and    he    is   an    .American    by    training.      His 


ME.\   OF  A'Ell'    )'OA'A'—n7-:S77-:A'X  SECT/OX 


parents  were  residents  of  Rochester,  N.  \'.,  hut 
moved  to  Steubenville,  Ohio,  the  year  Charles  was 
born.  Mr.  Hayes  had  the  benefit  of  a  thorough 
public-school  education  in  the  Buckeye  State,  and 
graduated  from  the  Steubenville  High  School  when 
only  seventeen  years  of  age.      He  sup])lemented  this 


CHAKI.E6  E.  HA  \  ES 

scholastic  training  by  a  course  in  the  well-known 
business  college  of  Bryant  &  Stratton  at  Buffalo. 
Having  thus  prepared  himself  for  a  commercial 
career,  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  DruUard  & 
Hayes  of  Buffalo,  and  filled  a  position  with  that  firm 
for  three  years.  His  next  employment  was  as  book- 
keeper for  Cosack  &  Co.,  makers  of  the  famous 
"  Buffalo  Lithographs."  Here  he  showed  such  busi- 
ness judgment  and  .skill  in  managing  the  affairs  of 
the  firm  that  he  was  eventually  placed  in  charge  of 
the  office,  and  of  the  financial  interests  of  the  con- 
cern. The  natural  re.sult  followed,  and  Mr.  Hayes 
became  a  member  of  the  firm.  The  other  members 
were  H.  Cosack  and  H.  T.  Koerner.  On  the  death 
of  Mr.   Cosack   in   1X02,  the  firm  was  reorganized, 


the  surviving  partners  buying  out  Mr.  Cosack's  inter- 
est, and  forming  a  new  partnership  under  the  style 
of  Koerner  &  Hayes.  The  new  firm  has  continued 
to  uphold  the  reputation,  and  enjoy  the  prosperity,  of 
the  old  hou.se.  Their  factories  on  Lakeview  ave- 
nue in  Buffalo  afford  emj)loyment  to  a  large  numl)er 
of  ])eople,  from  skilled  arti.sts  and  engra- 
vers down  to  laborers  and  truckmen. 
The  product  of  their  works  is  found 
everywhere,  and  has  carried  the  name 
of  Koerner  &  Hayes,  not  only  over 
the  United  States,  but  also  to  foreign 
lands. 

While  devoting  himself  a.ssiduously  to 
his  private  business,  Mr.  Hayes  has  been 
a  potent  influence  in  local  political 
affairs.  He  is  a  Republican  in  political 
belief  His  popularity  among  his  fellow- 
townsmen  is  shown  bv  his  strong  can- 
didacy for  the  office  of  councilman  in 
1H!)2,  a  losing  year  for  his  party,  when 
he  ran  ahead  of  his  ticket,  and  was 
defeated  by  only  forty-five  votes. 

In  Masonic  circles  Mr.  Hayes  occu- 
]jies  a  prominent  place.  He  is  a  Knight 
i'emplar  :  Junior  Warden  of  Hugh  de 
I'ayens  Commandery,  No.  80 :  Senior 
Warden  of  Rose  Croix  Chapter  ;  and  for 
two  years  he  was  Worshipful  Master  of 
.Ancient  Landmark  Lodge.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Westminster  Presbyterian 
Church. 

PERSONAL     CIIROXOLOGY— 

VI  Charles  Eugene  Hayes  luas  born  at  Oak- 

ville,    Canada,    March   2Jf,    1858 ;    was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Steuben- 
rille,  O.,  and  Biyant  ^i"  Stratton' s  Busi- 
ness College,  Buffalo;    became  bookkeeper 
for  the  Jirtn  of  Cosack  (5^■    Co. ,  Buffalo, 
in    1878,    and  7uas   admitted  to  the  firm   in   1881 : 
married  Carrie  Fairchild  Spencer  of  Buffalo  October 
11,  1881 ;   has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Koer- 
ner  &=   Hayes,   successors   to    Cosack   6-"    Co.,  since 
1892. 

Jf  VCbcricU  1I)0\Vat&  comes  of  good  old  New 
England  stock.  Both  his  parents  were  born  in  Ver- 
mont, and  were  among  the  early  .settlers  of  Erie 
county.  The  Green  Mountain  State,  like  the  rest  of 
New  England,  has  furnished  many  substantial  and 
reliable  citizens  to  the  Empire  State.  Any  commu- 
nity is  fortunate  whose  early  history  was  determined 
largely  by  New  Englanders.  Their  enterjjrise,  thrift, 
honest    dealing,  sense  of  justice,   and   devotion   to 


MEX   OF  XEU-    YORK  ^WESTERN  SECT/OX 


■Ih-A 


school  and  church,  have  made  them  everywhere  bul- 
warks of  industrious,  lo3'al  citizenship. 

Mr.  Howard  was  born  at  East  Aurora,  Erie 
county.  When  he  was  three  years  old  his  parents 
moved  to  Elma,  and  in  the  district  school  of  this 
little  town  he  received  his  elementary  education. 
He  had  the  usual  struggle  of  boys  of  limited  means 
to  obtain  a  higher  education,  but  he  managed  to 
overcome  various  difficulties,  and  to  take  a  course  at 
the  Aurora  Academy.  A  college  education  was  be- 
yond his  financial  reach,  and  he  went  to  Buffalo  and 
read  law  in  the  office  of  Milo  A.  Whitney.  He 
served  a  faithful  apprenticeship  as  a  law  clerk,  and 
after  gaining  a  theoretic  and  practical  knowledge  of 
legal  science  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Su- 
preme Court,  when  twenty-two  years  of  age.  For 
two  years  after  this  he  practiced  alone.  Impressed 
with  the  ability  and  capacity  of  his 
former  clerk,  Mr.  \\hitncy  then  invited 
Mr.  Howard  to  become  his  associate. 
The  partnership  was  formed,  and  was 
maintained  for  several  years.  Having 
resumed  practice  alone  and  continued 
the  same  five  years,  Mr.  Howard  asso- 
ciated him.self,  in  January,  IHSS,  with 
Myron  H.  Clark  of  Elma,  becoming 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Howard  & 
Clark.      This  partnership  still  continues. 

In  his  chosen  profe.ssion  Mr.  Howard 
has  sought  solidity  of  learning  in  partic- 
ular branches  of  the  law  rather  than  a 
smattering  of  the  whole  field.  He  has 
steadily  gained  clientage,  and  long  ago 
Ijassed  the  uncertain  stage  in  the  life  of 
every  professional  man  who  begins  his 
career  without  influential  backing.  With 
the  spirit  of  a  true  American,  Mr.  How- 
ard has  not  selfishly  confined  himself  to 
his  office,  and  wrapped  himself  up  in  the 
gains  and  rewards  of  his  profession.  He 
has  given  freely  of  his  time  and  thought 
to  philanthropic  and  church  work,  and 
the  advancement  of  political  morality. 
He  is  especially  devoted  to  the  promo- 
tion and  improvement  of  the  Children's 
Aid  Society,  commonly  known  as  the 
Newsboys'  and  Bootblacks'  Home,  of 
which  he  is  a  trustee  and  most  efficient 
member.  For  several  years  he  was  sec- 
retary of  the  Buffalo  Orphan  Asylum, 
and  ungmdgingly  gave  many  hours  of  valuable  time 
to  its  aflairs. 

Coming  of  a  race  nurtured  in  Congregationalism, 
Mr.   Howard  naturally  po.ssessed  a  predilection  for 


ihe  church  of  his  fathers  ;  and  though  originally  a 
member  of  the  Lafayette  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
he  became  identified  with  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Buffalo  at  its  organization.  He  was  one 
of  its  charter  members,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  He  is  deeply  interested  in  church 
music,  l)elie\ing  that  the  spirit  of  worshi])  can  be 
raised  by  means  of  it  to  higher  planes. 

Mr.  Howard's  political  affiliations  have  always 
been  with  the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is  a 
consistent,  loyal,  and  active  member.  He  sincerely 
believes  that  the  welfare  of  his  party  means  the  wel- 
fare of  his  country.  He  is  not,  however,  blind  to 
the  fact  that  all  human  organizations  contain  manv 
imperfections  ;  and  he  is  an  enthusiastic  member  of 
the  Cood  C.overnment  Club,  and  has  identified  him- 
self  with    its   manv    measiu'es   for   the   correction   of 


FRF.ni-.RICK  HO  WARD 


abuses  in  municipal  government,  and  for  the  purifi- 
cation of  local  politics.  As  might  be  inferred  from 
the  foregoing,  he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Bufialo 
Republican  League. 


2.")4 


MEN  OF  A'Kir    YORK—WESrERX  SECT/ON 


PERSONAL  CNR  OA'OL  O  G  Y—  Freder- 
ick Htnoard  7vas  born  at  East  Aurora,  N.  Y. ,  Sep- 
tember 12,  1855 ;  zoas  educated  in  the  district  schools 
of  Elma  and  at  Aurora  Academy ;  moved  to  Buffalo 
in  1874,  and  began  the  study  of  laic  in  1875 :  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1878  ;  married  Harriet  Eliza- 


cEuKi.i:  u.  in'iiiisdx 


beth  Mabie  of  Buffalo   October  25,  1881 :  has  prac- 
ticed law  in  Buffalo  since  1878. 


GCOrtje  lb.  1bUcll55C»n  is  a  genuine  American, 
and  has  the  Yankee  trait  of  adapting  himself  to  cir- 
cumstances. He  has  been  a  worker  all  his  life,  and 
when  not  occupied  at  one  thing  has  found  something 
else  to  keep  him  busy.  He  is  a  native  of  western 
New  York,  and  few  men  have  so  intimate  an  ac- 
(]uaintance  with  that  part  of  the  state  as  he.  His 
early  years  were  spent  in  Cattaraugus  county,  whither 
his  parents  had  moved  when  he  was  an  infant.  His 
boyhood  was  ])a.ssed  on  a  farm,  and  he  hired  out  his 
.services  to  a  farmer  when  most  l)0}s  enjoy  the  advan- 
tages of  school  life  and    frequent  holidays.      From 


the  farm  he  entered  a  gun  factory.  Disliking  thu 
trade  of  a  gunsmith,  he  went  to  work  in  a  woolen 
factory  at  Gowanda,  X.  Y. ,  and  later  at  W'attsburg, 
Penn.  It  was  not  tmtil  he  went  to  Buffalo,  in  IX.^O, 
that  he  was  able  to  attend  the  public  schools  regu- 
larly. l?ut  he  was  soon  obliged  to  earn  his  own 
living  again,   and   this   time  he  entered 

■ 1  the  grocery  business,   in  which  he  con- 

i  tinned    a    number   of  years.        Then    he 

spent  one  year  as  a  clerk  in  a  clothing 

store  at    Rochester.      .\t   this   ])eriod  he 

j         lelt  the  need  of  a  better  education,  and 

I         attended  the  Xormal  School  at   Fredonia 

for  one  term. 

After  his  father's  death  in  18")4,  Mr. 
Hughson  returned  to  Buffalo,  and  spent 
another  year  in  a  clothing  house.  His 
next  employment  was  in  the  office  of 
Howard  &  Co.,  the  well-known  iron 
founders.  He  maintained  his  relations 
with  this  house  till  1872,  when  he 
entered  into  ])artnership  with  Joseph  M. 
Blake  in  the  packing-box  business.  He 
.soon  sold  out  his  interest,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  the  manufacture  of  silk  hats. 
But  Mr.  Hughson's  versatility  was  not 
yet  exhausted,  and  he  next  embarked  in 
the  carriage  and  harness  business,  and 
later  in  the  shoe  business. 

So  far  in  life   Mr.  Hughson   had   taken 
part    in    almost   every    occupation    deal- 
ing with    the    supply    of  man's    bodily 
wants    in    the    way    of  protection.      His 
energies    were  employed  in  a  new   field 
ulien  he  became  connected  with  the  cele- 
brated   Niagara   liakery,   then  under  the 
control  of  Walter  S.  Ovens.      Mr.  Hugh- 
son    next    interested    himself  in  the   na- 
tional game  of  baseball,  and  was  chosen 
secretarx'  and  treasurer  of  the  Buffalo  Baseball   Club. 
^Vhen  he  gave  up  thai  he  entered  the  real-estate  and 
insurance    business,  and  to-ilay  he  is  a  member  of 
the  well-known    fire-insurance    firm    of   Edward   C. 
Roth  iV  Co.      .'Vs  will  readily  be  seen,  Mr.  Hughson 
is  an  all-round  man  :  and  in  every  occupation  and 
calling   that  he  has  jjursued  he    has    made  friends, 
from  his  genial  dis])osition  and  fidelitv  to  those  who 
trusted  in  his  worth. 

PERSONA  L  CUR  ONOL  O  G  \ '—  George  Hiram 
Hughson  7C'as  born  at  Gotcanda,  Erie  count};  uV.  i'., 
Augi/st  1,  18S4  ;  was  educated  itt  the  public  schools, 
and  in  the  Normal  School  at  Fredonia,  N'.  V. :  moped 
to  Buffalo  in  1850,  and  has  been  actively  engaged  in 
■•arious    cpmniercial  pursuits    there :    married   Ifileu 


.I//-;.\'   (IF   XFJ\-    lOA'A"— //7i\7y--A'.\'   SF.r77('\ 


McLcrotli  of  Cliicago  April  8,  ISoS,  ami  Mrs.  Jiiiicl 
Ferguson  of  Bujfaio  Marcli  30,  189^ ;  fias  been  en- 
gaged in  the  fire-insurance  Inisiness  al  Buffalo  since 
188.-,. 

]E^Oar  3B.  3C\Vett,  mayor  of  Uiiffalo,  was  boni 
in  Michigan   somewhat  more  than   fifty  years  ago. 
His  parents,  John  Cotton  Jewettand  Priscilla  Hoard- 
man  Jewett,  moved  to  Buffalo  when  he  was  a  l)o\', 
and  his  father  established  there  the  business  house 
that  afterward  became  known  as  the  John  C.  Jewett 
Manufacturing  Co.      Mr.  Jewett  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo  ;    hut  he 
had  a  strong  aptitude  for  business  life,  and  was  im- 
patient to   enter  upon  a  commercial    career.       He 
closed    his    schoolbooks,   therefore,   at    the    age    of 
sixteen,   and  went   into  his  father's    establishment. 
This  was  in  1860.     He  made  rapid  prog- 
ress   in    acquainting    himself    minutely 
with  every  branch  of  the  business,   and 
he   has   now    for    many    years    been    the 
chief  guiding    hand    in    (ontrolling    the 
de.stinies  of  the  concern.      How  efficient 
his  management  has  lieen  mav  be  seen 
in   the  fact    that    the    output    of  Jewett 
refrigerators  has   enormously    expanded, 
imtil  the  house  has  become  everywhere 
known    as    one    of  the  foremost  of   the 
country  in  its  line. 

When    the  Civil   A\'ar   broke    out    Mr. 
Jewett  was  actively  engaged  in  the  con-  i 

duct  of  his  business  affairs  ;  but  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  personal  interests 
in    serving    the    cause    of   his    country.  ' 

He  joined  as  a  private  com|)any  C,  74th 
regiment,  N.  G.,  S.  N.  Y.  Becoming 
second  sergeant  in  May,  18(>-i,  he  served 
as  such  during  the  campaign  that  fol- 
lowed Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  in  | 
the  summer  of  that  year.  Returning  to 
Buffalo  as  first  sergeant  of  his  company, 
he  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant 
June  29,  1865  :  promoted  to  the  cap- 
taincy April  ;>,  1866  ;  appointed  major 
and  inspector  of  rifle  practice  of  the  Slst 
brigade  April  11,  1-!S77  ;    made  insjaector 

of  the    14th  brigade  October  !),    187!);  ^     

appointed  lieutenant  colonel  and  chief 
of  staff  of  the  14th  brigade  October  '2.3, 
1880;  and  elected  brigadier  general  of 
the  8th  brigade  March  29,  1884. 

To  his  business  record  and  military  life  Mr. 
Jewett  has  made  in  recent  years  a  most  important 
addition  —  a  career  as  a  ])ublic  official.      His  success 


and  prominence  in  commercial  and  social  circles 
naturally  called  attention  to  his  eligibility  for  public 
office  ;  and  his  name  was  often  considered  by  party 
managers  in  connection  with  the  nomination  for 
high  offices.  He  did  not  enter  public  life,  however, 
in  an  important  capacity  until  March  1,  1894,  when 
Mayor  Bishoj)  appointed  him  one  of  the  police 
commissioners  of  liuffalo.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  office  vigorously,  wisely,  and  with  an  eye 
single  to  the  public  good.  When,  therefore,  he 
became  the  Republican  nominee  for  the  office  of 
mayor  of  Buffalo,  in  November,  1894,  he  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  nearly  10,000,  the  largest  ever 
received  by  a  candidate  for  that  office. 

Without  attemjiting  to  consider  in  detail  Mr. 
Jewett's  work  in  the  mayoralt)',  one  may  safely 
assert  that  he  has  fulfilled  the   expectations   of  his 


Enr.AR  IS.  jEwirrr 

supporters,  and  ha,s  justified  the  faith  of  his  electors. 
Bringing  to  the  office  a  mind  thoroughly  disciplined 
by  years  of  military  and  business  service,  a  character 
impervious  to  the  sulitle   temptations  of  power,  and 


2n6 


ME\   OF  .VEJr    VOKK—U'ESTERX  SECT/O.X 


an  experience  finely  fitted  to  prepare  him  in  material 
ways  for  the  work  before  him,  Mayor  Jewett  could 
not  fail  to  achieve  substantial  success.  As  might 
have  been  expected  from  his  past,  he  has  shown 
singular  executive  ability  in  conducting  the  business 
of  his  office,  and  has  required  similar  capacity  in  all 


H 


l-NI-  ni-KK  K    K  l:\lh\l.l. 

the  departments  of  the  city  government.  Without 
resorting  to  the  petty  arts  of  the  demagogue,  he  has 
at  the  same  time  shown  himself  in  various  ways  a 
vigilant  guardian  of  the  public  rights.  He  believes 
in  enlarging  the  sphere  of  munici]5al  government,  or 
at  least  the  sphere  of  municipal  control,  to  a  certain 
extent  ;  but  he  would  do  this  in  a  conservative  way, 
and  with  due  regard  to  vested  interests.  He  has 
been  a  stanch  advocate  of  civil-service  reform,  and 
early  in  the  year  ISOfi  made  a  new  cla.ssification  of 
all  the  city  offices,  the  marked  feature  of  which  was 
the  sweeping  extension  of  the  merit  system.  It  is 
now  applied  to  nearly  every  municipal  position. 

In  social  life  Mayor  Jewett  has  been  conspicuous 
tor  many  years,  and  has  been  widely  jiopular.      He 


has  taken  high  degrees  in  Masonry,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Acacia  Club,  to  which  only  Master  Masons 
are  eligible.  He  belongs,  also,  to  the  Buffalo  Club, 
and  to  other  fraternal  and  social  organizations. 

PERSONA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Editor  Board- 
man  Jfwett  was  born  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  Decem- 
ber H,  ISJfS  ;  was  educated  in  the  Buf- 
falo public  schools ;  married  Elizabeth 
Foster  Danforth  of  Ann  Arbor  October 
■i,  1865 ;  7e>as  appointed  commissioner  of 
police  of  Buffalo  March  1,  189 Jf,  and 
elected  mayor  of  the  city  in  November  of 
the  same  year ;  has  been  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  John  C.  Jewett 
Mfg.  Co.  since  January  1,  188o,  haj'ing 
been  connected  with  the  same  since  ISflO. 

jfreDcrick  1kcu^aU  has  for  futy 

xear.s  watched  ihe  c.it\  of  Buftalo  grow 
and  expand  from  little  more  than  a  vil- 
lage to  its  present  industrial  and  terri- 
torial limits.  During  that  period  he  has 
been  a  part  of  its  business  and  political 
life,  and  has  been  at  all  times  a  faithful 
guardian  of  its  interests. 

Mr.   Kendall    comes    from    a    race    of 
\'ermonters   born    and  bred  for  genera- 
tions among  the  rocks  and  hills  of  that 
grand    old    state.       He    inherited    from 
them  a  love  of  country,  a  belief  in  hon- 
esty and  in  the  brotherhood  of  man,  a 
spirit  of  industry,  a  fairness  of  judgment, 
and  a  proper  toleration  of  the  sentiments 
of  others.      His   father,   Jacob  W.  Ken- 
dall,   moved    into    the    western    part    of 
New   York  state   when  the   ox  cart  was 
almost  the  only  means  of  transportation. 
He  settled  in  the  town  of  Darien,  Gene- 
see  county,    and    there    Frederick    was 
born.      I'he  latter's  boyhood  was  spent  on  his  fath- 
er's farm,  amid  such  incidents  as  befall  the  pioneer 
everywhere.     In  those  primitive  da)s,  when  Indians 
and  wolves  were  more  numerous  than  white  neigh- 
bors, educational    institutions  in  the  country  were 
far    from    what    they    are    now.       But    Darien    was 
not  lagging  behind   her   sister  towns  ;    she  boasted 
of  a  brick  schoolhouse,  where  the  font  of  education 
flowed  for  all   who  came.      It  was  there  that  Mr. 
Kendall  obtained  his  early  book  training. 

Farm  life  in  a  crude  country  possessed  no  attrac- 
tions for  the  young  man.  The  fame  of  Buffalo  was 
heralded  abroad.  The  Erie  canal  had  been  built, 
traffic  on  the  lakes  was  already  of  great  importance, 
and   Buffalo  was  feeling  the  impetus.      Here,  then, 


MEx  n/-'  .\7-:ir  )'i>h'h'  -WESTr.hw  secyvckv 


was  the  place  for  the  young  and  the  ambitious. 
So  Mr.  Kendall  went  to  Buffalo.  After  a  short  time 
word  came  of  Chicago,  at  the  far  end  of  the  Great 
Lakes.  Mr.  Kendall  went  there.  This  was  in  184(). 
.Swamps  and  prairie  wolves  were  the  chief  sights 
of  the  place  in  that  year,  and  after  four  months 
Mr.  Kendall  returned  to  Buffalo.  He  engaged  in 
business  there  until  18411,  when  he  moved  to 
Detroit,  opening  a  large  hardware  and  stoxe  store. 
But  Buffalo's  attractions  were  still  ])Otent,  and  in 
lx.')l  he  returned  thither  again.  Shortly  afterward 
he  opened  one  of  the  first  exclusively  fancy-goods 
stores  on  Main  street,  continuing  there  for  a  number 
of  years,  until   ill  health  compelled  his  retirement. 

Mr.  Kendall  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
politics,  and  for  years  he  was  active  in  Republican - 
jiarty   affairs.      When    the  part  of  Buffiilo  included 
in  the  old  2d  ward  was  of  much  greater 
importance  than   it   is  now,  Mr.   Keiulall 
was  its  representative   on    the    board  ot 
supervisors   for  si.\  years  :    and  later  he 
represented     the     same    distric:t    on    the 
board    of  aldermen    for   two   years.      In 
both    these    bodies    he  was   known  as  a 
worker,  and  the  interests  of  his  constitu- 
ents were  never  permitted  to  suffer. 

While  Mr.  Kendall  was  a  memlier  of 
the  board  of  aldermen  he  became  con- 
nected with  the  movement  for  abolishing 
grade  crossings.  He  was  selected  as  the 
aldermanic  member  of  a  joint  committee 
re|)resenting  various  interests,  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  a  warfore 
against  the  evil  from  which  Buffalo  hafi 
so  greatl)'  suffered.  From  that  joint 
committee  an  executive  committee,  of 
which  Mr.  Kendall  was  a  member,  was 
formed  to  devise  measures  to  accomplish 
the  desired  result.  Finally,  in  188)^, 
the  legislature  created  the  grade-crossing 
commission,  and  Mr.  Kendall  was  named 
as  one  of  the  original  commissioners. 
Through  various  changes  he  has  remained 
in  that  body,  giving  much  time  and 
thought  to  the  solution  of  the  many 
sexed  questions  that  ha\e  arisen,  persist- 
ent in  the  face  of  much  ojjiiosition, 
determined  that  the  great  work  should 
go  on,  and  striving  to  be  absolutely  fair 
to  all  interests  concerned. 

Mr.  Kendall  is  a  member  of  Hiram  Lodge,  No. 
105,  F.  &  A.  M.,  having  become  a  Master  Mason 
in  1863.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  L'niversalist 
Church  of  the  Messiah. 


PERSONA  L  CNR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Frederick 
Kendall  was  horn  at  Darien,  N.  V.,  January  6, 
1825 ;  attended  district  schools ;  went  to  Buffalo  in 
1847 :  engaged  in  Imsiness  in  Detroit,  1849-51  ; 
returned  to  Buffalo  in  1851,  and  engaged  in  various 
mercantile  pursuits ;  married  Elsey  L.  Saunders  at 
Buffalo  March  23,  1854  ;  luas  supen<isor  of  the  old 
2d  ward  of  Buffalo,  1877-78  and  1881-84,  and 
alderman  of  the  same  ward,  1887-88 ;  has  been  a 
memher  of  the  Buffalo  grade-crossing  cofmnission  since 
its  creation  in  188S. 


(IbaClCS  'XaiUV  i^  a  scion  of  the  old  (jerman 
stock  that  has  been  so  prominent  in  the  history  of 
F.rie  couniv.  His  father  came  with  his  parents  as  a 
child  from  Germany  in  1.H2H,  and  settled  \i]X>n  a 
farm   in   F.ast   l-^den.       There    the    lamilv  remained. 


CHAR  I. lis   I.iMV 


and  there  Charles  Lamy  was  born  twenty  years  later. 
One  of  his  brothers,  who  looks  back  to  the  same  old 
home,  is  George  H.  Lamy,  the  present  sheriff  of 
Erie  countv. 


2r).s 


.\/E.\  oi'  .\7cir  )v>A>A'— ;rA"\/vF/,>.\'  secvvo.v 


Charles  Lamy's  early  days  were  those  of  the 
ordinar\-  farmer's  son.  He  worked  on  the  farm,  and 
began  going  to  district  school  when  about  six  years 
old.  At  fifteen  he  left  the  school,  as  his  parents 
were  unable  to  provide  further  instruction.  Then 
he  began  work  for  himself  He  entered  a  grocery 
in  Buffalo,  and  learned  the  business.  He  learnetl  it 
well,  and  in  1874  set  up  for  himself  as  a  grocer. 
He  began  by  paying  heavy  rent  for  quarters  at 
Nos.  ;}01-80.5  Elk  street.  Eight  years  later  he 
bought  the  building,  a  large  four-story  brick  struc- 
ture. He  is  now  sole  owner  of  the  jiroperty,  does  a 
large  grocery,  flour,  and  feed  business  em])loying 
.seven  clerks,  and  is  one  of  the  best-known  mer- 
chants of  South  Buffalo. 

Mr.  Lamy  gave  his  grocery  undivided  attention 
until  188(),  when  he  became  a  heavy  stockholder 
in  the  Magnus  Beck  Brewing  Co.  He  served 
the  comjjany  as  its  president  for  nearly  four  years. 
During  his  administration  a  new  brewer)-  was  erected, 
at  a  cost  of  nearly  a  ([uarter  of  a  million  dollars,  Mr. 
l.amy  acting  as  chairman  of  the  building  committee 
until  the  structure  was  completed.  In  189")  he  .sold 
his  .stock,  and  retired  from  the  business.  He  is 
extensively  interested  in  real  estate  at  the  present 
time,  not  as  a  speculator,  but  as  a  conservative 
investor  who  believes  in  Buffalo's  future. 

Mr.  Eamy's  life  was  merely  that  of  a  quiet,  pros- 
perous business  man  until  189.").  In  that  year  Buf- 
falo rose  in  revolt  against  "boss"  rule,  and  to  Mr. 
Lamy,  who  had  never  been  a  candidate  for  political 
preferment,  there  came  a  summons  to  office.  He 
received  the  Republican  nomination  for  state  senator 
in  the  3l)th  district,  which  comprised  various  wards 
in  the  city  of  Buffalo.  He  accepted  the  nomination 
with  reluctance,  and  only  from  a  feeling  that  such 
was  his  duty  in  the  existing  crisis.  The  year  was 
remarkable  in  local  politics,  and  one  of  its  most 
striking  incidents  was  the  result  of  the  election  in 
the  30th  district.  In  a  constituency  having  a  normal 
Democratic  majority  of  4100,  Mr.  Lamy,  the  reform 
candidate,  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  940.  The 
following  winter  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  pressing 
through  the  legislature  to  final  enactment  measures 
that  restored  to  Buffalo  her  rights  of  home  rule.  He 
was  the  author  of  other  bills  of  benefit  to  Buffalo, 
and  in  189.")  he  was  unanimously  renominated  to  the 
senate,  this  time  in  the  new  47tli  district,  and  w-as 
re-elected  by  a  plurality  of  8889.  In  the  legislature 
of  1896  he  was  the  chairman  of  the  senate  committee 
on  canals,  and  a  member  of  two  other  important  com- 
mittees. Among  the  measures  connected  with  his 
name  was  that  making  an  appropriation  for  beginning 
work  on  the  new  74th -regiment  armorv  in  Buffalo. 


.Mr.  l.amy  is  a  member  of  various  societies  and 
orders.  He  is  a  Ma.son,  and  has  reached  the  o2d 
degree  in  the  order.  He  is  a  member  of  St.  Mark's 
Methodist  Church. 

J'ERSONAL  CIIR ONOL  OGY—  Charles  Lamy 
was  horn  at  East  Eden,  Erie  county,  N.  Y. ,  May  7, 
IS49 ;  K'as  educated  in  the  district  schools ;  went  to 
work  in  a  (grocery  in  buffalo  7vhen  a  hoy,  and  com- 
menced business  for  himself  May  1,  ISTJi-,  as  a 
grocer ;  married  Magdalena  Urhan  June  10,  187 o, 
and  Clara  B.  Demeyer  June  10,  188') ;  was  president 
of  the  Magnus  Beck  Breiving  Co.  for  nearly  four 
years,  retiring  from  the  company  in  189')  ;  was  elected 
to  the  state  senate  as  a  Repuhlican  in  180S.  and  was 
re-elected  in  180.',. 


(BCOCGC  '!•  'lewis  is  one  of  the  younger  law- 
yers of  Buffalo,  but  he  lias  been  for  some  time  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Erie-county  bar.  I'he 
influence  and  prestige  of  a  family  name  justly  hon- 
ored in  legal  circles  and  everywhere  respected, 
account  in  part  for  his  success  ;  but  the  chief  cause 
must  be  sought  in  his  own  ability  and  character  as 
develojjed  and  tested  in  years  of  earnest  professional 
endeavor. 

Born  in  Buffalo  four  years  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Lewis  spent  his  boyhood  and 
youth  in  that  city.  He  prepared  for  college  at  the 
Briggs  School,  Buffalo,  entering  Yale  in  the  fall  of 
1875,  and  graduating  therefrom  with  the  class  of 
'79.  The  superiority  of  a  law  school  over  office 
training  in  the  attainment  of  legal  knowledge  is  now 
commonly  conceded  ;  but  Mr.  Lewis  had  the  best 
of  reasons  for  preferring  the  latter  method  because 
he  had  the  best  of  practical  schools  in  his  father's 
office.  Judge  Lewis  was  then  at  the  height  of  his 
fame  as  a  successful  attorney,  and  his  magnificent 
practice  brought  to  his  office  all  the  material  that  a 
student  of  law  could  desire.  With  such  a  preceptor 
and  such  a  field  of  study,  Mr.  Lewis  could  not  fail 
to  make  rapid  progre.ss,  and  he  was  able  to  obtain 
admittance  to  the  bar  in  1881  after  devoting  to  the 
task  much  less  tinn'  than  is  commonly  consumed  in 
a  law  school. 

Mr.  Lewis  began  practice  January  1,  1882,  with 
his  father  and  .A.delbcrt  Moot,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Lewis,  Moot  &  Lewis.  When  the  senior  member  of 
the  partnership  became  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  state  on  January  1,  188.'!,  and  thus  withdrew 
from  the  firm,  the  remaining  partners  continued 
their  a.ssociation  tinder  the  style  Lewis  &  Moot 
until  January  1,  1890.  On  that  day  Loran  L.  Lew-is, 
Jr.,  was  admitted  to  the  firm,  and  the  old  name  of 
Lewis,  Moot  &  Lewis  was  revived.     Since  Se|)teniber 


MF.x  f>/'  .w-;/;"  )()Rk-—irF.s7Kh'\  s/-:cr/(KX 


25il 


1 ,  1894,  George  L.  Lewis  and  his  brother  Loran  ha\  e 
practiced  together  under  the  style  Lewis  &  Lewis. 

This  firm,  as  might  be  inferred  from  its  origin 
and  history,  has  been  altogether  successful,  and  now 
enjoys  a  large  and  growing  practice  of  a  very  desir- 
able kind.  George  L.  Lewis  rarely  appears  in  court, 
devoting  his  time  to  the  office  part  of 
the  work.  .\ctual  litigation  in  open 
court  usually  forms  a  small  pro]jortion  of 
an  attorney's  lalior,  and  Mr.  Lewis  is  so 
situated  that  he  need  not  take  part  in 
the  contested  work  of  his  firm.  He  has 
been  forced  by  the  nature  and  e.\tent  of 
his  practice  to  acquaint  himself  with  all 
branches  of  the  law  ;  but  he  has  paid 
special  attention  to  the  law  of  real  prop- 
erty, and  to  banking  and  general  cor- 
poration law.  This  specialization  is 
consistent  with  his  tastes,  and  is  also 
desirable  because  of  the  fact  that  a  large 
part  of  Lewis  &  Lewis's  busine.ss  has  to 
do  with  real-estate  titles  and  transfers, 
and  with  corporation  affairs. 

Viewing  the  man  rather  than  the  law- 
yer for  a  moment,  we  may  note  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Lewis  is  a  great  lover  of 
horses,  and  knows  their  points  from  -\ 
to  Z.  For  several  years  he  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Buffalo  Polo  Club. 
He  has  long  been  interested  in  jjhotog- 
raphy,  and  ha.s  attained  much  skill  in  an 
art  that  is  not  so  easy  as  it  seems,  if 
only  the  best  results  are  accepted.  His 
mind  has  a  somewhat  remarkable  me- 
(■hanical  bent,  and  grasps  at  once  the 
essential  points  of  a  complicated  ma- 
chine.  In  political  belief  Mr.  Lewis 
has  always  been  a  Republican,  though 
he  has  not  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
politics.  He  could  hardly  be  called  a  clubman,  as 
his  tastes  are  not  such  as  find  satisfaction  in  the 
routine  life  of  the  average  club  ;  but  he  belongs  to 
the  LTniversity,  Buffalo,  EUicott,  and  Country  clubs, 
and  IS  persona  grata  at  all  of  them. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— George  Lester 
Lewis  was  born  at  Buffalo  May  31,  1857  ;  graduated 
from  Yale  College  hi  1879  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1881  ;  tnarried  Nellie  Augusta  Sweet  of  Buffalo  May 
■U,  1883  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  188.?. 


Hltre5  X^tb  was  but  six  years  of  age  when  he 
moved  to  Buffalo  from  England  with  his  parents. 
The  family  was  in  humble  circumstances,  and  no  one 
who  saw   the   little    lad  at  that   time,   in   homemade 


clothes  of  cheap  material,  could  have  dreamed  that 
before  many  years  he  would  make  his  influence  felt 
in  the  whole  community.  But  he  possessed  a  habit 
of  industry,  and  other  sterling  qualities  that  are  sure 
to  lead  to  success,  .\ttending  school  in  the  winter, 
working  at  whatever  he  could  turn  his  hand  to  during 


cjcorK'ti/-:  /..  i.F.w/s 

the  other  months,  and  siud)ing  evenings  the  whole 
year  round,  he  reached  the  age  of  thirteen.  It  was 
then  that  his  father  began  in  a  small  way  the  manu- 
facture of  sewer  and  drain  tile,  hollow  brick,  and 
architectural  terra  cotta.  He  needed  the  help  of  his 
sons,  and  to  this  new  industry  they  gave  all  their  time. 
The  firm  of  John  Lyth  &:  Sons  was  established  before 
the  boys  were  of  age,  and  they  began  laying  tile  to 
educate  farmers  and  gardeners  to  its  u.se.  This  firm 
was  the  first  in  the  United  States  to  manufacture  hol- 
low-clay, fireproof,  flat  arches  and  partitions,  Francis 
Lyth  of  England  being  the  inventor  of  the  hollow  flat 
arch.  The  struggle  was  a  hard  one  at  first,  for  dur- 
ing two  years  not  more  than  fifty  dollars'  worth  of 
tile  was  sold.     The  business  increased  rapidly,  how- 


260 


MEA   OF  .\j:ir    )ORk—]il-:STEK.\  SECT/(K\ 


ever,  when  fairly  started,  and  their  jjlant  wa^i  tor  a 
long  time  one  of  the  most  nourishing  in  Buffalo. 
Branch  works  were  established  at  Wellsville,  Ohio, 
and  Angola,  N.  Y. ,  Alfred  Lyth  remaining  in  charge 
of  the  firm's  business  in  Buffalo.  Fireproof  construc- 
tion has  been  taken  up  by  the  concern,  and  fire])roof- 


.il.l-Ki-:i>  I.  V I'll 

ing  contracts  of  many  of  Buffiilo's  largest  buildings 
have  been  executed  by  the  firm. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  Alfred  Lyth  was 
under  age,  and  his  parents  would  not  consent  to  his 
enlistment  under  Lincoln's  first  call  for  volunteers. 
A  few  months  later,  however,  he  joined  the  lOOth 
regiment  New  York  volunteers  in  the  field,  and  went 
directly  to  the  front.  .\t  the  battle  of  Drury'.s  Bluff, 
.May  IG,  lX(i4,  he  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner 
in  the  morning.  In  an  hour  he  made  his  escape,  but 
was  captured  in  the  afternoon,  on  the  Weldon  railroad, 
with  two  hundred  other  wounded  soldiers.  'I'hey  were 
surrounded  by  rebel  cavalry,  and  taken  to  jail  at  Pet- 
ersburg, Va.,  afterwards  to  Andersonville,  Oa.,  and 
then  to  Florence,  S.  C,  where  they  were  ijaroledaiid 


released  from  prison  in  December,  1804.  .Mr.  Lyth 
received  an  honorable  discharge  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  afterward  enlisted  and  .served  seven  years 
in  various  positions  in  the  74th  regiment,  N.  G.,  S. 
N.  Y.,  resigning  as  major.  He  is  prominent  in  Grand 
Army  affairs,  having  been  many  times  a  delegate  to 
>tate  and  national  encampments,  and 
having  acted  as  inspector  general  of  the 
organization  for  New  York  state,  and 
general  in  command  of  the  8th  division 
of  the  New  York  State  Veterans'  parade 
at  Washington,  D.  C".,  in  the  National 
Encampment  of  1892. 

As  a  public-spirited  citizen  Mr.  L\th 
is  well  known.  His  services  as  alderman 
were  distinguished  by  an  unswerving 
honesty  of  purpose,  and  his  exertions  in 
relation  to  .school  matters  won  for  him 
heart\   commendation. 

PERSONAL  CHR  OA'OL  OCY  — 
Alfred  Lxth  icax  born  af  York,  England, 
April  ,il,  ISJfJf  ;  moved  to  Buffalo  in 
IS.'iO  ;  jcas  educated  in  the  public  schools  : 
enlisted  in  the  lOOth  regiment  Neu<  York 
volunteers  in  1862,  and  served  until  the 
close  of  the  ivar :  7i>as  a  member  of  the 
T^th  regiment,  X.  G.,  S.  M.  ¥.,  1807- 
7Jf  :  married  Kate  Kappler  of  Buffalo 
December  (i,  1869  ;  7i<as  supenisor  of  the 
old  7th  ward  of  Buffalo,  1872-7.'^,  alder- 
man for  the  same  ward,  1883-86,  and 
civil-service  commissioner,  1889-96;  has 
been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  /ohn  Lxth  e^■ 
Son-i  since  1860;  7C>as  elected  president  of 
the  Piiilders'  Exchange,  Buffalo,  in  1896.  - 


ot  sixteen 
at  twenty 
since    his 


3tObll  a.  ^DCCailU  »as  earning  his 

own   li\ing  at    the  age  of  thirteen  :     he 

\\as  n  bookkeeper  and  cashier  at  the  age 

;   he  was  in  business  on   his  own  account 

;  and  he  has  been  a  succe.ssAil  journalist 

thirtieth    year.      The    opportunities    that 


come  to  one  of  versatile  and  vigorous  activity  have 
been  about  the  only  curriculum  in  which  Mr. 
McCann  has  been  trained  ;  for  his  schooling,  ob- 
tained in  his  nati\e  town  of  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  was 
confined  to  the  "three  R's,"  with  the  exception  of 
a  course  .subseejuently  pursued  in  a  business  college. 
Thus  equipped,  Mr.  McCann  entered  immediately 
upon  the  responsible  duties  of  bookkee|)er  and  cashier 
in  the  firm  with  which  he  had  ])r('viously  spent  three 
years  in  a  subordinate  position.  His  ambition  soon 
leil  him  to  seek  a  larger  field,  and  the  following  year 
founil  him  emplovcd  bv  the  firm  of  Sherman  &  B>arnes. 


MK.\   OF  .\F.ir    \-()RK^li-KS/-Kh\\  SKC/7(i.V 


21;  1 


dry-goods  merchants  in  Buffalo.  P'rom  this  time  he 
held  positions  ranging  from  clerk  to  manager  in  vari- 
ous mercantile  firms  of  that  city  until  1870,  when  he 
moved  to  Savannah,  (Ja.,  to  embark  in  business  there. 

The  means  acquired  l)y  years  of  devotion  to  busi- 
ness finally  enabled  Mr.  McCann  to  enter  a  new  field 
of  activity  whose  power  and  prestige  had  attracted 
him.  With  Norman  E.  Mack  he  became  joint  pro- 
prietor of  the  Chautaiuitdi  Lake  Gazette:  and  the  suc- 
cess of  this  publication  enabled  him  two  years  later 
to  found  the  Jamestown  Sunday  Leader.  While  this 
journalistic  venture  met  with  immediate  favor,  Mr. 
McCann  nevertheless  desired  larger  scope  for  his  abil- 
ity, and  he  therefore  returned  to  Buffalo  as  editor  of 
the  Buffalo  Times,  'i'his  position  he  has  filled  at  in- 
tervals since. 

In  1885  Mr.  McCann  established  the  National 
Coopers'  Journal,  a  trade  publication  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  coo|)erage  work 
in  all  its  branches.  'I'his  venture  was 
strikingly  succe.ssful,  and  the /cw/v/ff/ has 
become  the  recognized  organ  of  the 
coopers'  trade.  Mr.  McCann  has  been 
owner  and  editor  of  this  publication  from 
the  beginning. 

While  actively  engaged  in  ]jublic  af- 
fairs, as  every  journalist  must  be,  Mr. 
McCann  has  not  aspired  to  political 
leadership,  but  is  content  to  be  one  of 
the  powers  liehind  the  throne.  He  is  a 
Democrat  on  national  lines,  but  he  hah 
not  allowed  (juestions  of  general  public 
]J0licy  to  interfere  with  his  |)olitical  con- 
duct in  local  matters.  He  believes  in 
the  al)Solute  divorce  of  national  and  state 
from  local  government. 

In  addition  to  his  journalistic  work, 
other  enterprises  have  engaged  Mr.  .Mc- 
Cann's  time  and  attention.  In  l.s.s"),  in 
connection  with  Robert  McCann,  he 
planned  an  exposition  in  Buffalo,  uhicli 
was  held  in  the  Becker  building,  and 
proved  a  notable  success.  The  plan  in- 
cluded the  practical  exhibition  of  silk 
weaving,  paper  making,  Ja))anese  handi- 
work, etc.  Before  the  formation  of  the 
Niagara  Falls  I'o-aer  Co.  Mr.  McCann 
secured  from  the  Ontario  counril  a  cliar- 
ter  for  the  use  of  the  Canadian  >ide  of 
the  Niagara  river  and  falls  tor  the  pur- 
po.se  of  generating  power,  'i'his  company 
had  not  been  fully  formed  when  the  charter  la])sed, 
and  the  right  was  granted  to  the  present  company. 
Other  enterprises  have  lieen  carried  to  success  imder 


the  guidance  of  Mr.  McCann,  such  as  the  James- 
town Permanent  Loan  and  Building  Association, 
who.se  prosperity  does  credit  to  his  organizing  skill. 
Mr.  McCann  is  a  firm  believer  in  Buffalo  and  its 
future  greatness,  and  has  given  substantial  evidence 
of  this  faith  by  large  and  successful  real-estate  opera- 
tions and  improvements.  His  interest  in  the  busi- 
ness has  not  been  exclusively  commercial,  as  he  has 
acquired  for  himself  a  handsome  residence  in  the 
beautiful  Klmwood  district  of  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Ale.x- 
ander  McCann  was  horn  at  Batavia,  N.  V.,  Septem- 
ber 9,  1850;  7tias  educated  in  public  schools  a  fid  a  busi- 
ness colAxe:  enfa_i;ed  in  mercantile  pursuits,  1866-79  : 
became  part  owner  and  editor  of  the  ' '  Chautauqua  Lake 
Gazette"  in  1879,  and  founded  the  Jamestotvn  "Sun- 
day dreader"  in  1881 :  married  Chloe  .4nna  Doane  of 


however, 


JllllX      L    .\/r(l\X 

Buffalo  September  9,  1886 :  has  been  editor  of  the 
Buffalo  "  Times"  at  intervals  since  1883 ;  founded 
the  "  Natiotial  Coopers'  Journal"  in  188.5,  and  has 
been  orcner  and  editor  of  the  same  since. 


262 


.I/A".\"   ()/••   \/-:ir    YOKK—li'KSTKRX  S/-:C770.\ 


tUUliam  /IDaCOmber  has  lived  in  Buffalo 
during  the  whole  of  his  professional  career,  and 
through  his  connection  with  industrial  enterprise  has 
identified  himself  with  the  progress  of  the  city. 
Born  in  C/enesec  county,  New  York,  less  than 
forty    years   ago,    he    began    his    education    in    the 


1 1  1 1. LI  AM   MACOMllh  U 

district  schools,  which  have  started  so  many  Ameri- 
can youths  on  the  road  to  learning.  Later  he  at- 
tended the  Cary  Collegiate  Seminary  in  his  native 
town  of  Oakfield,  and  then  took  a  college-prepara- 
tory course  at  Colgate  Academy,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 
He  ne.xt  entered  the  University  of  Rochester,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  188.1. 

To  a  yoimg  man  of  Mr.  Macomber's  studiou.-, 
temperament  and  fondness  for  painstaking  inve.stiga- 
tion,  a  professional  life  naturally  seemed  attractive, 
and  among  the  professions  the  law  appealed  to  him 
most  strongly.  He  began  his  legal  studies  in  the 
office  of  the  late  William  S.  Oliver  of  Rochester. 
A  little  later  he  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  completed  his 
course  there  in  the  office  of  Lewis  &  Moot. 


In  January,  1887,  Mr.  Macomber  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  in  the  following  March  he  opened  a  law- 
office  alone,  and  began  the  somewhat  tedious  process 
of  building  up  a  clientage.  Possessed  of  natural 
mechanical  ability,  and  considerably  experienced  in 
machine-shop  practice,  Mr.  Macomber  had  from  the 
beginning  a  special  fondness  for  the  sub- 
ject of  patent  law  ;  and  he  soon  decided 
that  it  would  be  l)oth  agreeable  and 
])rofitable  to  devote  his  attention  to  this 
specialty.  In  1889,  therefore,  he  as.so- 
ciated  with  himself  as  ^^'ashington  coun- 
sel (ieneral  E.  M.  Marble  and  Robert 
Mason,  both  of  whom  were  widely  e.\- 
perienced  in  patent  law.  Since  then 
Mr.  Macomber  has  confined  his  practice 
to  this  branch  of  his  profe.ssion,  and  has 
already  become  a  recognized  authority 
on  the  subject.  Since  1893  his  Wa.sh- 
ington  associate  has  been  John  S.  Barker. 
The  law  of  patents  is  e.xceedingly 
intricate  and  confusing,  but  Mr.  Ma- 
comber's acquaintance  with  the  subject 
is  at  once  minute  and  extensive.  For 
the  past  six  years  he  has  been  collecting 
material  for  a  text -book  upon  patents 
and  the  patent  law.  His  plan  involves 
a  detailed  study  of  every  enactment  re- 
lating to  the  subject  on  the  statute  books 
of  the  land,  and  of  every  case  involving 
such  questions  reported  since  the  organ- 
ization of  the  American  patent  system. 
Such  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject requires  long  and  careful  prepara- 
tion, and  it  will  be  some  time  yet  before 
the  work  is  ready  for  publication. 

Mr.  Macomber  is  lecturer  on  the  sub- 
jects of  patent  law  and  trade-marks  in 
the  Buffalo  Law  School.  He  is  a  careful 
student  of  economics,  and  of  the  complicated  prob- 
lems in\olved  in  the  production  and  exchange  of 
commodities  in  the  L'nited  States.  He  has  pub- 
lished a  number  of  essays  on  such  subjects  in  dif- 
ferent magazines  and  political-science  publications. 
While  he  takes  scant  interest  in  party  politics,  his 
continued  study  of  history  and  economics  gives  him 
a  peculiar  interest  in  the  problems  of  government. 
He  is  a  persistent  advocate  of  honest  money,  of  home 
rule,  and  of  civil-service  refomi. 

Mr.  Macomber  is  a  member  of  .Mpha  Delta 
Phi  college  fraternity,  of  the  .American  Economic 
Association,  and  of  the  American  Institute  of  Civics. 
Among  local  organizations  he  belongs  to  the  Liberal 
Club,  the  CiOod   CiOvernment  Club,  and   the    Pundit 


.l//-;.\'    ()/■■   \/:ll-    )()A'A-— I! -/{sn-: A' X  SKC770.\' 


2ti;; 


Club  ;   and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Delaware  Avenue 
Baptist  Church. 

PERSONA  L  CHR  OXOLOGY—  William 
Macomber  7tias  born  at  Oakfield,  X'.Y.,  N'ln'cmber  J^, 
1857  ;  7iJas  educated  in  various  preparatory  schools,  and 
at  the  University  of  Rochester,  from  johich  he  gradu- 
ated in  1885 ;  7vas  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo 
in  January,  1887:  married  Augusta  S.  ]Voodruff  of 
Hamilton,  N.  Y. ,  May  18,  1887:  has  practiced  laic 
in  Buffalo  since  1887. 


XOUiS  jfranftUn  /IDeSSer,  prominent  at  the 
bar  of  Buffalo,  his  native  city,  s|.)ent  his  boyhood  on 
a  farm,  and  obtained  his  early  education  in  district 
schools.  Subsequently  he  completed  the  public- 
school  course  in  Buffalo,  and  in  187!^  entered  Co- 
lumbia College,  New  York  city.  There  he>  took  the 
complete  course  in  the    .schools    of  arts 

and  of  political  .science,  and  graduated  . 

in  1882  with  the  degree  of  Ph.  B.  He 
was  an  earnest  student,  and  possessed 
much  literary  ability,  as  is  shown  by  the 
tact  that  for  two  successive  years  he  tried 
for  and  captured  the  much  coveted 
I^heilolexian  prize  for  e.ssay  writing. 

While  yet  in  college  Mr.  Messer  de- 
termined to  make  the  legal  profession 
his  life-work ;  and  accordingly  during 
his  senior  year  he  availed  himself  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Columbia  Law  School, 
where  he  attended  the  lectures  of  the 
learned  Theodore  W.  Dwight  and  John 
F.  Dillon.  Immediately  after  his  grad- 
uation he  entered  the  law  office  of  James 
A.  Roberts  of  Buffalo  as  a  student,  and 
in  1884  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Rochester. 

Mr.  Messer's  professional  career  has 
been  singularly  free  from  changes  in  the 
matter  of  business  connections.  His 
preceptor,  Mr.  Roberts,  foreseeing  the 
success  that  awaited  Mr.  Messer  as  a 
lawyer,  took  him  into  partnership  when 
he  was  first  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  the 
connection  has  lasted  ever  since.  The 
clientage  of  the  firm  has  steadily  in- 
creased, and  the  large  amount  of  business 
committed  to  its  charge  has  made  it 
necessary,  from  time  to  time,  to  take 
in  new  partners.  The  present  style  is 
Roberts,  Becker,  Ashley,  Messer  &  Orcutt,  and  the 
firm  is  known  throughout  western  New  York  as  one 
of  the  strongest  and  most  successful  in  that  part  of 
the  state. 


Much  of  the  business  of  the  firm  is  connected  with 
real  estate,  and  from  the  first  Mr.  Messer  has  made  a 
specialty  of  this  branch  of  the  law.  His  experience 
in  the  examination  of  titles  to  real  property  led  him 
to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  a  system  of  abstract- 
ing more  nearly  perfect  and  complete  than  any 
hitherto  existent  ;  and  in  IfSDl  he  organized  the  Erie 
County  (iuaranteed  Search  Co.,  one  of  the  first  title 
companies  in  Buffalo.  Of  this  company  he  was  one 
of  the  original  incorporators,  and  has  been  president 
from  the  beginning.  He  devotes  much  time  to  the 
supervision  of  its  affairs,  while  still  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  work  of  the  legal  firm  with  which  he  is 
connected. 

Seeing  the  atlvantagc  to  any  city  of  a  thriving 
suburban  population,  Mr.  Messer  for  several  years 
has    been    largelv   interested   in   various  projects   for 


/.OltS   /■K.IXKIJ.X   .\t/-:sSEK 


the  improvement  of  the  outlying  districts  of  Buffalo. 
He  is  a  director  and  secretary  of  the  Bellevue  Land 
&  Improvement  Co.,  and  holds  similar  offices  in 
the  Buffalo,  Bellevue  &  Lancaster  Railwav  Co. 


164 


.\/K\  ('/••  .\A/r  )(>A'A— liKsY'/: A'. y  .s/-:c//i>.y 


In  his  private  and  sot  ial  lite  Mr.  Messer  is  a  line 
type  of  the  cultured  gentleman,  .\lthough  his  many 
business  and  professional  duties  leave  him  scant 
leisure  for  purely  literary  or  artistic  pursuits,  he  has 
the  tastes  of  a  scholar  and  a  connoisseur.  His  fond- 
ness for  literature  is  not  confined  to  the  F^nglish 
tongue  nor  to  the  present  day.  The  ancient  Latin 
and  (ireek  classics,  and  the  modern  writings  of 
French,  German,  and  Italian  authors,  all  claim  a 
share  of  his  attention.  His  favorite  subjects  are 
history  and  biograjjhy,  the  lives  of  nations  and  the 
lives  of  individuals  :  lor  he  agrees  with  Pope  that 
"the  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man."  Mr.  Messer 
is  also  a  warm  lover  of  the  line  arts,  and  is  a  Fellow 
of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  .\rtists.  His  club  life  con- 
sists of  membership  in  the  Buffalo  and  University 
clubs.  He  is  a  life  member  of  the  Hulfalo  Re])ub- 
lican  League. 

PERSOXAL  CtlKOXOLOGY— Louis  Franklin 
Messer  K<as  born  at  Buffalo  February  7,  1856  ;  gradu- 
ated from  Columbia  College  in  1882,  and  itrns  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  188.'^  ;  organised  the  Erie  County  Guaran- 
teed Sea  reh  Co.  in  18H1,  and  has  been  president  thereof 
since  :  has  f>racticed  hui>  in  Buffalo  since  ISS.). 


"WHilliain  J.  /IDorgan  has  been  a(  tivc  in  his 
countr\ 's  >cr\  ice  c\  cr  sin<e  he  put  aside  his 
schoolbooks  in  the  hour  of  the  countrv's  need, 
and  became  a  volunteer  soldier  in  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion. 

Horn  in  Canada  somewhat  more  than  lift\'  vearsago, 
.Mr.  Morgan  was  taken  to  Buffalo  in  his  tenth  year, 
and  has  lived  there  ever  sin<e.  He  was  a  senior  in 
the  t'enlral  High  School,  i)reparing  for  college, 
when  the  outbreak  of  the  (."ivil  ^\'ar  caused  a  change 
in  his  plans.  He  enlisted  in  the  IHith  New  York 
volunteer  infantry  as  a  private,  serving  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  receiving  successive  promo- 
tions, for  attention  to  duty  and  meritorious  conduct, 
through  the  subordinate  ranks  to  that  of  cajjtain.  He 
jjarticipated  in  all  the  battles  in  which  his  regiment 
look  part,  including  that  of  Cedar  Creek,  where 
General  Sheridan,  by  his  famous  ride  from  Winches- 
ter and  his  wonderful  influence  over  his  men, 
changed  a  terrible  defeat  into  a  glorious  victory. 
In  the  attack  on  Port  Hudson  May  27,  1863,  Mr. 
Morgan  led  the  fascine  carriers,  who  formed  the 
advance  of  the  a.ssaulting  column,  composed  of 
volunteers  for  the  desperate  undertaking,  and  was 
wounded  four  times. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Captain  Morgan,  \vith 
several  other  retiring  officers,  engaged  in  the  customs 
service,  with  a  view  to  breaking  u]3  a  desperate  gang 
of  smugglers  that  had  overrun  the  northern  frontier 


and  were  defying  the  customs  otificials.  in  this  work 
he  had  several  combats  cjuite  as  dangerous  as  any 
experienced  during  the  war ;  and  in  one  of  them  he 
was  seriously  injured,  coming  to  so  close  quarters 
with  his  adversary  that  his  clothes  were  set  on  lire 
by  the  discharge  of  the  smuggler's  weapon. 

In  1869  Mr.  Morgan  joined  the  forces  of  the 
Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  and  for  twenty  years 
served  on  its  editorial  staff.  During  the  railroad 
riots  of  XXl'i ,  when  the  police  and  militia  of  Buffalo 
failed  to  maintain  order,  the  veterans  of  the  late  war 
volunteered  their  services,  and  Captain  Morgan  was 
elected  their  commander.  The  presence  of  this 
brave  and  experienced  body  of  men  under  arms  did 
much  to  prevent  in  Buffalo  the  destructive  scenes 
enacted  elsewhere  during  the  same  riotous  period. 

In  1880  Mr.  Morgan  was  appointed  canal  appraiser 
by  (Jovernor  Cornell,  and  was  elected  chairman  of 
the  board  by  his  associates.  The  record  of  this 
board  during  their  three  and  a  half  years  of  service 
was  so  free  from  the  scandal  that  had  attached  to 
some  preceding  boards  that  the  governor,  in  his 
last  message  to  the  legislature,  com])limented  them 
for  the  care  with  which  the\  had  kept  their  impor- 
tant tru>t,  and  guarded  the  interests  committed  to 
them.  Mr.  Morgan  was  made  collector  of  customs 
for  the  district  of  Buffalo  Creek  in  1X89,  and  held 
the  position  for  over  four  years,  making  one  of  the 
best  collectors  the  ])ort  ever  had. 

In  January,  1M)4.  Comptroller  James  .\.  Roberts 
appointed  .Mr.  .Morgan  to  the  res|)onsible  position  of 
deputy  state  comptroller,  whicii  he  still  tills.  How 
faithfully  he  has  discharged  its  duties  may  be  judged 
from  the  following  extract  from  the  comptroller's 
re])ort  for  the  \ear  l.sil."):  •'  In  \iew  of  my  recent 
protracted  illness  and  long  absence  from  official 
duty,  I  desire  thus  publicly  to  express  my  apjjrecia- 
tion  and  recognition  of  the  .satisfactory  manner  in 
whiih  my  able  and  efficient  deputy.  Colonel  William 
J.  Morgan,  performed  the  very  responsible  and  labo- 
rious work  of  this  department.'' 

Mr.  Morgan  has  taken  great  interest  in  all  meas- 
ures tor  enhancing  the  prosperit\  of  the  city  of 
Buffalo,  in  whose  future  greatness  he  has  always  been 
a  firm  believer.  He  was  one  of  the  original  jiro- 
moters  of  the  Buffalo  iV  Jamestown  railroad,  now 
the  Buffalo  &  Southwestern.  He  took  an  active  |)art 
for  years  in  the  Commercial  L'nion,  an  organization 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  the  canals  from 
tolls  and  securing  their  improvement,  and  productive 
of  great  good  to  the  canal  commerce  of  Buffalo. 
He  has  been  secretary  of  the  Buffalo  grade-crossing 
commission  from  the  beginning,  and  has  taken  a 
])rominent  part  in  its  important  work. 


MK.\   OF  .\7-:if    yOKK—Ul-:sTKR\  SECT/OX 


265 


Mr.  Morgan  is  a  member  of  Queen  City  Lodge, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Keystone  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  as 
well  as  William  Richardson  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and  the 
Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  He  belongs 
to  the  Buflalo  and  ICUicott  clubs,  Buffalo,  the  .\ll)an\- 
dull,  .\ll)an\,  antl  the  Knickerbocker  Club  of  New 
Vork  city.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Richmond  .\venne  Methodist  Chun  h  of 
Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY  — 
William  James  Morgan  loas  born  near 
Pctcrhoro,  Canada,  October  Hi,  184.0: 
moved  /o  Buffalo  in  1850,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  there :  sen'ed 
in  the  Union  army,  1862-C6 ;  married 
Alary  C.  Reese  of  Buffalo  September  23, 
1869  ;  was  on  the  editorial  staff  of  the 
Buffalo  '  ■  Commercial  Ad'certiser, ' '  18H'l- 
89 :  7oas  appointed  canal  appraiser  in 
1880,  and  collector  of  customs  for  the  dis- 
trict of  Buffalo  Creek  in  1889;  has  been 
deputy  state  comptroller  since  January, 
189.'f. 


EbmuuD  Janes  plumlew,  dur 

ing  thi.'  twenty-odd  years  tjiat  he  has 
jiracticcd  law  in  Buflalo,  has  devoted  the 
energies  of  an  alile  and  a  vigorous  mind 
unremittingly  to  his  ]>rofession,  and  has 
attained  no  slight  degree  of  distinction 
therein. 

Mr.     Plumley    was     born     in     Seneca 
county.    New    York,    rather    more    than 
fifty  years  ago.      .\fter   the  usual  prelim- 
inary training  in  district  .schools,  at  the 
age    of    fifteen    he    entered    Middlebur\ 
Academy,   Wyoming,   X.   V.,   where    he 
studied    for    one  year.      He    then    com- 
pleted his  preparatory  studies  at  Genesee 
Wesleyan    Seminary,    Lima,   N.   Y.,  and   afterward 
spent  two  years  at  Genesee  College,  now  Syracuse 
University.      His  ambition  for  a  full  college  course, 
however,  was  not  to  be  gratified.      More  than  once 
he   had   been  obliged   to   interrupt   his  studies  and 
spend  a  short  time  in  teaching,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  means  for  further  study  ;  and  after  completing  his 
sophomore  year  he  was  compelled  to  leave  college. 

During  the  next  few  years  Mr.  Plumley  taught  in 
different  public  and  private  .schools  ;  and  finally,  in 
the  spring  of  18()8,  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
Hiram  C.  Day  of  Buffalo  as  a  student,  thus  fidfilling 
a  long-cherished  purpose.  He  remained  with  Mr. 
Day  four  years,  during  which  he  was  duly  admitted 
to   the    bar.      In    February,   1872,   he    received    an 


unsolicited  and  wholly  unexpected  appointment  as 
deputy  city  clerk,  and  for  three  years  he  faithfidly 
discharged  the  duties  of  this  position. 

In  March,  187o,  Mr.  Plumley  retired  from  the 
city  clerk's  office,  and  associated  himself  with  E.  C. 
Robbins  in  the  law  firm  of  Robbins  &  Plumlev.  thus 


11//././. /.I/  ./.  .X/ORG.IX 

beginning  the  j^ractice  of  his  profession.  Since  the 
dissolution  of  this  partnership  in  1877,  Mr.  Plumley 
has  been  a.ssociated  with  William  M.  Hawkins  in  the 
firm  of  Hawkins  &  Phuriley,  afterwards  enlarged  by 
the  admission  of  Clinton  B.  Gibbs,  and  known  as 
Hawkins,  Plumley  &  Gibbs;  and  with  George  L. 
Kingston  in  the  firm  of  Plumley  &  Kingston.  On 
May  1,  1894,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Irving 
W.  Cole,  under  the  name  of  Plumley  &  Cole,  which 
still  exists.  During  all  these  years  Mr.  Plumley's 
practice  has  steadily  increased,  and  he  has  established 
a  reputation  for  legal  ability  and  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  his  clients  that  any  man  might  be  proud 
to  possess.  This  success  has  been  fairly  won,  for  he 
has  devoted  himself  wholly  to  his  profession. 


2t)(> 


AfEX   OF  \EIV    VORk—lfESTKhW  SEC/VOX 


With  the  exception  of  his  three  years'  service  as 
deputy  city  clerk,  Mr.  Phimley  has  never  held  a 
political  office.  Yet  he  maintains  an  active  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  is  willing  to  give  both  time 
and  talent  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  community. 
This  fact  was  abundantly  proved  by  the  active  part 


EPMrM)  J AM-S   I'l.lMl.l-.y 

that  he  took,  several  years  ago,  in  the  investigation 
of  the  condition  of  the  school  department  of  Buffalo. 
This  investigation  resulted  at  once  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  present  examining  board,  to  decide  on 
the  (lualifications  of  candidates  for  teachers  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  city,  and  in  the  creation  of  a 
strong  sentiment  favoring  a  municipal  board  of  edu- 
cation. 

Mr.  Plumley  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Buffalo.  This 
church  was  organized  in  1M80,  and  he  has  acted  as 
clerk  of  its  board  of  trustees  for  fifteen  years.  He 
is  also  a  Mason,  holding  membership  in  Queen  City 
Lodge,  No.  358,  of  Buffalo.  Mr.  Plumley  possesses 
the  tastes   of  a  student,   and   has   read   widely  and 


thought  deeply.  Literature  and  general  history  are 
especially  congenial  to  him,  and  he  has  devoted 
some  attention  to  theological  (juestions.  This  latter 
taste  he  inherits,  no  doubt,  from  his  father,  the  Rev. 
Albert  Plumley,  who  was  for  nearly  forty-five  years 
a  well-known  Methodist  clergyman  in  western  New 
V'ork.  Mr.  Plumley  has  written  a  num- 
ber of  poems  that  have  been  jjublished, 
and  that  evince  no  small  amount  of  lit- 
erary ability. 

PERSONAL  CHR  OXOL  OGY— 
Edmund  Janes  Plumley  was  born  at 
Canoga,  Seneca  county,  N.  Y. ,  October  7, 
18Jt'> :  attended  Genesee  IVesleyan  Semi- 
nary, Lima,  N.  Y.,  and  Genesee  College 
(  no7C'  Syracuse  University)  ;  taught  school 
at  intervals,  18G3-f)8 ;  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1871 ;  married  Flora  Ella 
Crandall  of  Buffalo  July  9,  187 Jf  ;  was 
deputy  city  clerk  of  Buffalo,  1872-7o  ; 
has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  187''' . 


Mllliam  Marreu  potter  long 

ago  obtained  a  [jlace  in  the  front  rank  of 
the  medical  profession  ;  and  he  has  since 
strengthened  his  position  by  .skill  and 
judgment  as  a  surgeon,  by  acumen  and 
originality  as  a  student  of  medical  science, 
by  accuracy  and  depth  as  a  writer  on 
medical  subjects.  His  career  was  fore- 
shadowed, as  to  its  success  and  the  line 
of  achievement,  by  his  lineage,  since  his 
father,  his  grandfather,  and  his  great- 
grandfather, not  to  mention  collateral 
issue,  were  all  distinguished  physicians. 

Dr.    Potter  was  l)orn   in   what  is  now 
Wyoming  county,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
year     1888.       His    preparatory    studies 
were    carried   on    in    private  schools,   at 
.\rcade   (  N.  Y.  )   Seminary,  and    at  Genesee    Sem- 
inary  and   College,   at    Lima,   N.  Y.      His  medical 
education  was  obtained  at  Buffalo  University  Medical 
College,    from    which    he    graduated    in    February, 
l^<.^9.      In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  formed  a  part- 
nership for  the  ])racticc  of  medicine  with  his  uncle, 
Dr.  .M.  K.  Potter,  of  Cowle.sville,  N.  Y. 

The  C"ivil  War  broke  out  two  years  after  this,  and 
Dr.  Potter  made  haste  to  offer  his  services  to  the 
government.  He  ])assed  the  examination  of  the 
army  board  at  .\lbany  a  inw  days  after  Fort  Sumter 
was  taken,  and  in  the  summer  of  18()1  was  com- 
missioned by  (iovernor  Morgan  assistant  surgeon  of 
the  49th  regiment  New  York  volunteers,  Colonel 
D.   1).   Bidwcll.  which   he  had  helped  to  organize  in 


MEX   OF  XEir    )ORK~]\'ESTF.^'\  SECV/C.V 


2rt7 


Buffalo.  He  accompanied  this  regiment  throughout 
its  early  eventful  career  with  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  during  the  peninsular  campaign,  under 
McClellan  in  Maryland,  and  under  Burnside  in  the 
Fredericksburg  disaster.  Left  in  charge  of  wounded 
soldiers  while  the  army  was  retreating  to  Harrison's 
Landing,  Dr.  Potter  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemv 
in  June,  1862,  and  had  an  interesting  interview  with 
the  redoubtable  "Stonewall"  Jackson.  He  was 
confined  in  Libby  prison,  but  was  released  among 
the  first  e.xchanges,  and  rejoined  his  regiment  after 
an  absence  of  only  three  weeks.  In  December,  1862, 
after  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  he  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  surgeon,  and  served  with  the  ."iTth 
regiment  New  York  volunteers  during  the  Chancel- 
lorsville  and  (iettysburg  campaigns.  Soon  after  the 
battle  of  Oettysburg  he  was  assigned  to  the  charge 
of  the  1st  division  hospital,  2d  army 
corps,  and  continued  upon  that  duty 
until  mustered  out  of  service  with  his 
regiment  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He 
was  brevetted  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  for  faithful  and  meritori- 
ous service,  lieutenant  colonel  of  United 
Slates  volunteers  ;  and  b\  the  governor 
of  New  York  state,  for  like  reasons, 
lieutenant  colonel  of  New  York  volun- 
teers. 

Returning  to  civil  life,  Dr.  Potter 
followed  his  profession  at  Batavia,  Gen- 
esee county,  for  a  time,  but  .soon  re- 
turned to  Buffalo,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  His  professional  taste,  culti- 
vated largely  by  association  with  his 
father,  who  was  also  his  preceptor,  early 
led  him  into  the  field  of  surgery,  and  he 
has  performed  manv  of  the  more  impor- 
tant operations  in  both  military  and  civil 
practice.  Of  late  years  he  has  given  his 
entire  attention  to  the  treatment  of  the 
diseases  of  women,  and  has  performed 
many  difficult  operations  in  the  depart- 
ments of  gynecic,  pelvic,  and  abdominal 
surgery. 

Dr.  Potter  belongs  to  many  profes- 
sional societies,  in  accordance  with  this 
incomplete  statement:  permanent  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Medical  Association 
in  1878,  and  chairman  of  its  section  of 
obstetrics    and    diseases    of    women    in 

1890  ;  permanent  member  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the    State    of   New  York,  and    its    president    in 

1891  ;     member   of   the    Medical    Society    of   Erie 
County,  and  its  president  in  1893  ;  member  of  the 


Buffalo  Medical  and  Surgical  Association,  and  its 
president  in  1886  ;  president  of  the  Buffalo  Obstet- 
rical Society,  1884-86  ;  secretary  of  the  American 
Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynecologists  since 
1888  ;  i)resident  of  the  section  of  gynecology  and 
abdominal  surgery  of  the  first  Pan-American  Medi- 
cal Congress  in  189.'!.  He  is  e.xaminer  in  obstetrics 
lor  the  New  York  state  e.xamining  and  licensing 
board  ;  [iresident  of  the  national  confederation  of 
state  medical  examining  and  licensing  boards;  con- 
.sulting  gynecologist  at  the  Women's  Hospital, 
Buffalo  ;  and  a  companion  of  the  Military  Order  of 
the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  L'nited  States. 

Dr.  Potter  has  been  a  voluminous  contributor  to 
medical  literature,  and  a  list  of  his  writings  would 
suggest  by  its  length  the  Homeric  catalogue  of  ships. 
Since  July,  18.'<8,  he  has  been  managing  editor  of 


\\/i.i./A.\r  ii.iA'ff/:x  porr/iA' 


the  Buffalo  Medical  Journal.  He  also  edits  the 
annual  volume  of  Transactions  of  the  American 
Association  of  Obstetricians  and  (iynecologists, 
and   is   the   author   of  the   history    of  the   medical 


2()S 


M/:.\  or  .\/:ir  )iiRK'—irEsTKR.\'  sKcr/o.x 


profession  and  its   institutions,    as    related    to    i'lrie 
county,  in  "Our  County  and  Its  People." 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O G  Y—  William 
Warren  Potter  was  horn  at  Strykersville,  N.  K, 
December  ,31,  1838:  7oas  educated  at  Arcade  Semi- 
nary, and  Genesee  Seminary  and  College,  Lima,  N.  V.  : 


l-.n\\.\KI>    C.   K  IX/).UJ. 

graduated  from  the  Buffalo  University  Medical  College 
in  1859  ;  married  Emily  A.  Bostioick  of  Lancaster, 
N.  V. ,  March  23,  18afJ ;  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  at  Cowlesville,  A^.  Y. ,  1859-61 ;  served  as  a 
surgeon  in  the  Union  army,  1861-65 :  has  foUo^ced 
his  profession  in  Buffalo  since  1866. 


JEDwarD  C.  tRaUdall  has  impressed  himscU 
upon  the  community  in  which  he  lives  as  a  man  of 
unusual  force  and  energy.  He  is  a  well-known 
lawyer,  and  since  his  admission  to  the  bar  thirteen 
years  ago  he  has  figured  a.s  counsel  in  many  impor- 
tant legal  controversies.  He  is  still  so  young  that  the 
success  already  achieved  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  the 
forerunner  of  continued  and  higher  achievements. 


.Mr.  Randall  was  horn  thirty -six  years  ago  in  the 
town  of  Ripley,  X.  Y.,  and  had  the  usual  experience 
of  a  country  boy  seeking  a  liberal  education.  He 
received  his  preliminary  training  in  the  district 
school  and  academy  of  his  native  ])lace,  and  was 
prepared  for  college  under  private  tuition.  He 
pursued  his  cla.ssical  studies  at  Allegheny 
College,  Meadville,  Penn.  In  18711  he 
entered  the  office  of  Morris  (S:  Lambert 
at  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  and  commenced  a 
course  of  legal  study.  He  subsequently 
moved  to  Dunkirk,  and  completed  his 
])reparation  for  the  bar  in  the  office  of 
Holt  &  Holt,  -\fter  four  years  spent  in 
mastering  the  theory  and  practice  of  the 
law,  Mr.  Randall  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  April  o,  1883, 
at  Rochester.  He  at  once  opened  an 
office  in  Dunkirk,  and  met  with  unusual 
success  from  the  start.  The  professional 
field  there  was  limited,  however,  and 
he  decided  to  seek  a  larger  sphere  of 
labor.  Turning  over  his  office  and  busi- 
ness to  Eugene  Cary,  a  local  attorney, 
in  the  fall  of  1884  he  moved  to  Buffalo, 
in  whose  future  growth  and  development 
he  had  great  faith,  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Joseph  P.  Carr,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Carr  &  Randall.  .Mr.  Carr 
retired  from  the  profession  two  years 
later,  and  .Mr.  Randall  continued  to 
practice  alone  for  the  next  ten  years. 
He  formed  a  jiartnership  with  Jeremiah 
J.  Hurley  on  January  1,  bsiKi,  becoming 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Randall  & 
Hurle\ . 

.Mr.  Randall  lirsl  became  prominent 
in  Buffalo  for  his  celebrated  defense  of 
Frank  Curcio,  who  was  tried  for  murder 
in  1XX7.  For  five  years  Mr.  Randall  was  counsel 
for  the  receivers  of  the  'i'onawanda  Valley  &  Cuba 
railroad  :  and  he  acted  in  a  similar  capacity  for  the 
supply  creditors  of  the  New  York,  Lake  Erie  & 
Western  railroad,  and  jiarticipated  in  the  reorgan- 
ization of  that  company. 

In  politics  Mr.  Randall  has  been  an  active  Repub- 
lican. A  graceful  and  an  earnest  speaker,  he  has 
taken  the  stump  in  behalf  of  his  party  in  the  various 
campaigns  of  the  last  twelve  years.  He  has  never 
accepted  a  nomination  for  political  office,  preferring 
to  devote  his  entire  attention  to  the  building  up  of  a 
legal  clientage.  Believing  in  the  great  destiny  in 
.store  for  Buffalo,  he  has  invested  largely  and  success- 
fiiUv  in  real  estate  in  that  citv.      He  is  a  loval  citizen. 


MEX   OF  .\Rlf    VOh'K—irESTERX  SECT/OX 


L'lif 


interested  in  many  charities,  and  an  earnest  promoter 
of  every  measure  that  tends  to  the  permanent  welfare 
of  the  Queen  City.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order,  and  is  widely  known  in  social  circles. 

PERSONAL  CHROX OLOGY—Echi'ard Calch 
Randall  was  Iwni  at  Ripley,  Chautaugua  county, 
N.  Y.,  July  19,  1860  ;  7uas  educated  at  Ripley  Acad- 
emy and  Allegheny  College ;  studied  huo  at  Fredonia 
and  Dunkirk,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Roches- 
ter in  188-^  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  188 Jt . 


B&Olpb  IReba^OW  «as  born  in  Buffalo  in  the 
vear  of  Lincoln's  first  election  as  President,  and 
has  always  lived  in  the  Queen  City  of  the  Lakes. 
His  education  was  obtained  chiefly  in  the  common 
schools,  and  even  these  he  left  at  an  early  age. 
He  made  up  for  the  lack  of  academic  training, 
however,  1)\  self-instruction.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  worked  in  the  Grosvenor 
Library,  Buffalo,  and  his  e.xperience  there 
fitted  him  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  law. 

Mr.  Rel)adow  decided  as  early  as  his 
eighteenth  year  what  his  life-work  was 
to  be,  and  he  began  at  that  age  the 
great  task  of  learning  law.  Entering  the 
office  of  Marshall,  Clinton  ^r  Wilson  as 
a  student,  he  pa.ssed  the  bar  examina- 
tions in  three  years.  He  began  practice 
at  once,  opening  an  office  in  the  .Ameri- 
can block,  Buffiilo. 

.\fter  carrving  on  his  |jrofessi()ii  alone 
for  about  four  vears,  he  a.ssociated  him- 
self, in  1?<)S.5,  with  (leorge  1'.  Quinby 
and  Willis  H.  Meads,  under  the  firm 
name  of  (hiinby,  Meads  &  Rebadow. 
This  partnership  was  altogether  success- 
ful, and  the  firm  conducted  a  large 
practice  for  upwards  of  eight  years,  or 
until  the  fall  of  lS9."i.  .\l  that  time  Mr. 
Rebadow  returnerl  to  his  old  preceptors, 
Charles  !>.  .^Iar^hall  and  Spencer  Clin- 
ton, forming  with  them  the  present  firm 
of  Marshall,  Clinton  &  Rebadow.  As 
Messrs.  Marshall  and  Clinton  are  veteran 
members  of  the  Erie-county  bar,  and 
two  of  the  strongest  and  most  influential 
lawyers  of  western  Xew  York,  their 
invitation  to  the  younger  man  to  ally 
himself  with  them  must  be  regarded  as 
highly  complimentary  to  Mr.  Rebadow' s 
legal  capacity.  He  has  fulfilled  their  e.vpectations, 
and  has  done  his  part  in  conducting  successfully  the 
large  and  important  practice  with  which  the  new  firm 
has  been  lavored.      The  numerous  clients  of  the  lirm 


display  the  same  confidence  in  Mr.  Rebadow  that 
Mr.  Marshall  and  Mr.  Clinton  continue  to  exhibit. 
For  so  young  a  man,  Mr.  Rebadow  has  appeared 
in  many  imjjortant  trials  before  juries.  Eew  men 
of  his  years,  in  fact,  have  conducted  so  many 
momentous  cases  in  the  .\ppellate  Division,  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  the  results  have  been  such  a.s  to 
justify  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his  clients 
and  his  partners.  Quick,  alert,  persuasive,  ever  the 
advocate  when  his  clients'  interests  are  involved, 
Mr.  Rebadow  has  attained  before  juries  and  judges 
a  degree  of  success  that  is  easy  to  understand.  Per- 
sonally he  is  very  likable,  and  his  genial,  vivacious 
temperament  endears  him  to  a  host  of  friends. 

PER  S  ONA  1.     CUR  O  N  OLOGY—  Adolph 
Rebado^v   icas  born    at   Buffalo  June  4,  I860 :   7i'as 


I /}<)/./■//  h'E/i. I  now- 


educated  in  file  public  schools  of  the  city ;  studied  law 
in  the  office  of  Marshall,  Clinton  &=  Wilson,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  June.  1881  .•  has  practiced 
law  in  Buffalo  since. 


270 


ME.X   OF  .V/Cir    )()RK-  irKSTKAW  Si:C770.\ 


505epb  IP.  SCbattUCV  i-'  a  genuine  Bufla- 
lonian.  He  was  born  and  educated  in  that  city, 
and  all  his  business  interests  are  connected  with  it. 
In  the  thirt)-odd  years  of  his  career  he  has  seen  the 
place  attain  an  enviable  ])rominence  in  the  great 
sisterhood  of  American  cities,  and  more  than  fulfill 


JOSlil'll   I'.   SCHAirXER 

the  ardent  prophecies  of  ii>  I'ounders.  In  IJS.IH,  the 
year  of  his  birth,  Buffalo  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
hard  times  following  the  panic  of  18y7.  This 
interruption  of  the  prosperity  hitherto  characteristic 
of  the  growing  city  since  the  crash  of  1837,  had 
been  caused  by  speculation  and  general  financial 
recklessness,  with  inflation  and  depreciation  of  the 
currency.  The  acme  was  reached  when  specie  pay- 
ments were  suspended.  The  banks  succumbed,  real 
estate  sank  until  it  was  said  "  the  whole  town  was  not 
worth  a  dollar,"  and  numberless  fiiilures  followed. 
The  financial  stringency  that  prevailed  was  over- 
shadowed by  the  greater  anxiety  of  approaching  war. 
Mr.  Schattner's  parents  were  among  the  many 
sufferers  from   this  depression,  and   were   unable   to 


give  him  more  than  a  tew  years  at  school  belbre 
he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources.  He  attended 
St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  School  until  the  age 
of  twelve,  and  then  entered  the  employ  of  .Abram 
Bartholomew,  a  Buffalo  lawyer,  as  office  bov.  Amid 
the  law  liooks  and  the  legal  atmosphere  of  the  office, 
the  yoimg  lad  soon  became  ambitious  to 
[iractice  law.  This  proved  to  be  no  mere 
air  castle.  In  due  time  he  became  a  stu- 
dent in  the  .same  office  where  he  had 
served  in  the  humbler  capacity,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  He  has  practiced  in  Buffalo 
ever  since,  and  is  counted  among  the 
most  successful  lawyers  of  the  city,  with 
a  clientage  that  few  men  of  his  age  can 
boast. 

I'he  brewing  and  malting  business  is 
one  of  the  oldest  interests  of  Buffalo. 
Since  the  time  when  the  third  (lerraau 
settler  built  a  brewery,  anil  gave  his 
neighbors  the  first  taste  of  their  favorite 
beverage  made  at  home,  the  industr\ 
has  grown  steadily,  and  has  now  reached 
enormous  proportions.  The  situation  of 
the  city,  in  the  center  of  a  large  barley - 
growing  district,  is  fa\orable  to  the  man- 
ufacture. Among  the  largest  establish- 
ments is  the  plant  of  the  Broadway 
Brewing  &  Malting  Co.  Mr.  Schattner 
was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  this 
<oncern,  and  is  its  secretary  and  attor- 
ney. In  the  eight  years  of  its  exist- 
ence the  output  has  increa.sed  from 
10,000  to  ■_'."), 000  barrels  a  year.  The 
capital  stock  is  .S100,000,  while  the 
assets  are  .«!;?( 10, 000.  and  the  liabilities 
8120,000. 

Mr.  Schattner  has  also  been  tor  several 
years  secretary  of  the  lOrie  County  Natural  (ias  \- 
Fuel  Co.,  Limited.  This  company  was  organized 
in  1891  with  a  capital  .stock  of  So00,000.  It  has 
a  franchi.se  of  the  entire  city,  and  has  piped  about 
fort}  miles  of  streets.  The  gas  is  obtained  from 
wells  in  Canada,  and  is  conducted  across  the  ri\er 
l)\-  two  i)ipes. 

-Mr.  Schattner  was  nominated  on  the  Democratic 
ticket  as  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention 
of  1894,  but  he  shared  the  fate  of  his  part)  that 
year.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Democratic  state 
committee  from  the  48th  senatorial  district,  and  is 
prominent  in  the  councils  of  his  party.  He  is  a 
memlier  of  St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
belongs  to  the  Catholic  Benevolent  League. 


.i//-;.\'  ()/-■  .v/ai-  )(U^h'~i\-KSTKh\\  sfccncKX 


271 


PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  \  -—Joseph  Refer 
Schattner  was  born  at  Buffalo  Au\:;ust  ■'>,  1859  ;  was 
educated  at  St.  Mary's  Roman  Cat/io/ic  Se/ioo/ : 
studied  /aio  in  the  office  of  Ahrani  Bartiio/omeic,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  18S1  ;  has  been  secretary 
of  the  Broadway  Brewing  6f  Malting  Co.  since  1886, 
and  of  the  Erie  County  Natural  Gas  a^  Fuel  Co., 
Limited,  since  1893  ;  has  practiced  hnc  in  Buffalo 
since  1881. 


HllCIl  S).  Scott  has  been  a  factor  tor  many 
years  in  the  alTairs  of  western  New  York,  and  es- 
pecially of  F^rie  and  Cattaraugus  counties.  He  was 
born  not  far  from  the  botmdary  between  the  two 
counties,  in  Andrew  Jackson's  first  administration. 
His  education  was  threefold,  consisting  of  .scholastic 
training  in  various  institutions,  of  teaching  in  the 
public  schools  (not  the  least  jiart  of  any 
man's  education),  and  of  legal  study. 
First  attending  the  district  school  in  the 
town  of  Otto,  Cattaraugus  county,  he 
continued  his  studies  at  the  old  Spring- 
ville  Academy,  and  completed  them  at 
Lima,  N.  Y.  After  teaching  the  pub- 
lic .school  at  Ellicottville,  Cattaraugus 
county,  in  1853,  he  read  law  for  several 
years,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1857. 

Mr.  Scott  commenced  practice  at  once 
in  Ellicottville.  His  first  partnership 
was  formed  with  Judge  Nelson  Cobb, 
imder  the  firm  name  of  Cobb  &  Scott. 
After  Judge  Cobb  went  to  Kansas,  Mr. 
Scott  practiced  with  Patrick  H.  Jones 
until  the  latter  went  into  the  army  in 
1861.  Mr.  Scott  then  associated  him- 
self with  Addison  (J.  Rice,  and  con- 
tinued with  him  until  1868,  when  Mr. 
Rice  moved  to  New  York  city.  William 
G.  Laidlaw,  afterward  district  attorne\ 
of  Cattaraugus  county  and  member  of 
congress,  was  Mr.  Scott's  next  partner. 
Scott,  Laidlaw  &  McVey  and  Scott, 
l^aidlaw  &  McNair  were  later  associa 
tions. 

This    brief  summary    of    Mr.    Scott's 
partnership  connections  has  taken  us  past 
some    important    events    in    his    public 
career.     In  1857,  the  year  of  his  admis- 
sion to  the  bar,  he  was  appointed  surro- 
gate of  Cattaraugus  county  by  Governor  E.  D.  Mor- 
gan.    He  was  elected  to  the  same  office  in  the  fall 
of  that  year,   and  was  again  elected   in   the  fall  of 
1X61.      Legislative  as  well  as  juridical   honors  came 


to  him,  sinie  he  was  elected  to  the  state  senate 
in  1869  from  the  o2d  district,  composed  of  Catta- 
raugus and  Chautauipia  counties.  The  next  impor- 
tant service  to  which  he  was  called  by  the  public 
was  that  involved  in  his  election  as  county  judge  of 
Cattaraugus  count)  in  the  tall  of  1875.  He  dis- 
charged so  faithfully  the  duties  of  this  office  that  he 
was  re-elected  in  18,H1,  and  thus  served  another 
term  of  six  years. 

In  May,  1892,  Judge  Scott  brought  to  a  close 
his  long  residence  in  Ellicottville,  and  moved  to 
Buffalo.  His  departure  was  a  decided  lo.ss  to  the 
smaller  place.  Among  the  l)enefits  accruing  to 
the  town  wholly  or  in  part  through  him  may  be 
mentioned  its  railroad  facilities.  Judge  Scott  be- 
came very  much  interested  in  the  construction  of 
the     Rochester    iV    State     Line     railroad,    now    the 


mtiiL.. 


Buffalo,  Rochester  tS:  Pittsburg,  and  he  was  largely 
instrumental  in  causing  the  line  to  go  through 
Ellicottville.  He  was  the  attorney  of  the  road  for 
several  years. 


.i//;.v  (V"  .\/-:ir  i7)A'a'— /r/r.v7"/;A\\"  s/scr/ox 


Judge  Scott  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  lile 
in  the  country,  and  has  naturally  been  interested  in 
farming.  He  ha.s  given  s|)ecial  attention  to  the  pro- 
cess of  preserving  green  fodder  called  ensilage,  and 
has  built  several  silos.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in  the 
])racticability  of  raising  ensilage  for  winter  fodder. 


.s/.i/o.\  sh/HKh-  r 

For  about  two  years  after  going  to  ButTalo  Judge 
Scott  was  connected  with  the  law  firm  of  Sprague, 
.Morey,  Sprague  &  Brownell.  In  1893  he  became 
one  of  the  counsel  for  the  executors  of  the  David 
S.  Ingalls  estate.  This  estate  amounted  to  about 
S700,000,  and  there  was  a  sharp  contest  over  the 
will.  When  the  .Alleghany  &  Kinzua  Railroad  Co. 
got  into  financial  straits,  in  l)Si)2,  Judge  Scott  was 
appointed  receiver,  and  he  is  still  operating  the 
road. 

For  the  last  two  years  Judge  Scott  has  been  a 
lecturer  in  the  Buffalo  Law  School.  He  has  taken 
great  interest  and  pleasure  in  the  discharge  of  this 
duty,  and  has  the  prosperity  of  the  school  very  much 
at  heart. 


PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G 1  —  Alien  Darling 
Scott  7i'trs  horn  at  Springrille,  X.  }'. ,  January  15, 
ISSl ;  7c>as  educated  at  Springi'ille  Academy  and  Gene- 
see Wesley  an  Seminary,  Lima,  \.  Y.  :  7c>as  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1S57,  and  began  practice  at  Ellicotti'ille, 


X.  Y. 


married  Eliujheth  Louisa  Xoyes  of  X^orih 
Collins,  X.  }'.,  in  September,  1854,  and 
I  ida  Cox  of  Otto,  X'.  Y. ,  in  Alay, 
186.2  :  was  elected  surrogate  of  Cattarau- 
gus county  in  J 857  and  again  in  1861  : 
leas  state  senator,  1870—71,  and  county 
Judge,  1876-87 :  lias  operated  the  Alle- 
ghany &>  Kinziia  railroad  as  receiver 
since  1892  :  lias  practiced  la70  in  Buffalo 
since  1892 


SlinOll    SCibCrt    has  attained  un- 
usual political  popularity,   having  repre- 
sented his  fellow-citi/ens  in  both  houses 
of  the  state  legislature,  as  well  as  in  the 
state  and  other  conventions  of  the  Re- 
|)ublican  party.      Indeed,  for  the  last  ten 
vears  or  thereabouts  he  has  been  sent  as 
a  delegate  to  almost   all   the   important 
conventions  of  his  party.      He  was  born 
in   Buffalo,   and  has  always  lived  there. 
.\t  the  age  of  five  he    was  sent   to   the 
public  schools,  where  his  general  educa- 
tion was  received.      Having   completed 
the  course  of  instruction  there,  "he  en- 
tered Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  graduated  in   1878. 
The  knowledge    thus  obtained  was  first 
put   to   practical  use  in  his  father's  coal 
business.     Later  he  carried  on  a  men's 
I'urnishing  store  at  Fast  Buffalo  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  his  prudence  and  sagacity 
brought  their  due  reward  of  success. 
In  188!)  Mr.  Seibert  retired  from  busi- 
ne.ss   to  accept   an   appointment   as    L'nited    States 
gauger  under  President  Harrison.      \\'hen  the  Dem- 
ocrats came  into  power  in  1893  he   found  himself 
free  to  embark  in  business  once  more,  and  became 
connected  with   the   Magnus  Beck  Brewing  Co.  as 
traveling  .salesman,   a   position   that   he  still    holds. 
He  is  also  president  of  the  Buffalo  Clearing  Co. 

Mr.  Seibert  has  for  many  years  interested  hinxself 
actively  in  the  welfare  of  the  Republican  party.  He 
has  been  one  of  its  bulwarks  in  the  section  of  Buffalo 
known  as  the  Fa.st  Side,  and  has  been  president  of 
the  Fast  Side  Republican  League.  No  man  in  that 
[jart  of  the  city  has  been  more  constantly  engaged 
in  the  service  of  the  party,  or  more  continuously 
honored  by  preferment  in  its  councils.     His  devotion 


.\fK\   Of  XEir    ]'i)A'A'—ll7:\V7-:A'.y  SAcT/OX 


to  public  affairs  was  rewarded,  in  l?(li8,  by  a  nom- 
ination for  member  of  assembly  ;  and  though  the 
normal  Democratic  majority  in  his  district  was  600, 
and  the  opposing  candidate  was  one  whose  popu- 
larity had  been  attested  in  several  former  elections, 
Mr.  Seibert  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  1  ■'!.")(; 
votes.  After  a  year's  faithful  service  at  the  state 
capital  he  was  renominated  in  the  fall  of  185)4,  and 
was  elected  by  an  increased  majority.  At  the  end 
of  his  second  term  he  received  the  higher  honor  of 
a  nomination  to  the  upper  house  of  the  state  legisla- 
ture from  the  48th  senatorial  district.  The  conven- 
tion that  established  his  candidacy  was  composed  of 
representative  business  men,  and  he  was  nominated 
by  acclamation.  In  1892  Crover  Cleveland  hail 
carried  this  district  by  a  majority  of  2000  votes  ; 
but  Mr.  Seibert  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  220(^ 
though  he  lost  nearly  1000  votes  under 
the  new  ballot  law.  In  1896  he  was 
elected  an  alternate  delegate  to  the 
Republican  national  convention  at  St. 
I.ouis. 

Mr.  Seibert's  uninterruiiieil  success 
may  well  lead  one  to  look  for  the  secret 
of  his  political  popularity.  He  himself 
attributes  it  chiefly,  not  to  any  remark- 
able genius  on  his  part,  but  to  the 
simple  fact  that  he  has  always  treated 
hi>  constituents  fairly  and  honestly,  and 
has  not'  made  promises  that  he  was  not 
able  to  fulfill.  In  this  way  he  has 
gained  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all, 
and  those  who  have  known  him  longest 
are  his  best  friends  —  a  statement  that 
speaks  volumes  for  the  character  of  an)- 
man  of  whom  it  can  be  made. 

Mr.  Seibert  is  a  member  of  Mystic- 
Star  Lodge,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  of  Millard  Fillmore  Lodge, 
Knights  of  Pythias.  He  belongs,  also, 
to  the  Teutonia  Ma^nnerchor,  one  of  the 
chief  musical  societies  of  Buffalo  ;  and 
he  has  been  president  of  the  Sprudel 
Fishing  Club  and  the  Silver  King  Fish- 
ing Club. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Simon    Seibert  was  born  at  Buffalo  Sfp- 
tember  12,  ISiiT  :  loas  educated  in  ptiblii 
schools  and  Bryant  c^  Stra/ton'  s  Business 
College ;  teas  in  business,  1878-89 ;  was 
United  States  ganger,  1889-93 ;  7vas  elected  member 
of  assembly  in  1893  and  189 Jf,   and  state  senator  in 
1895 ;    has   been    connected  ivith    the  Magnus   Beck 
Brewing  Co.,  Buffalo,  since  1893. 


Hlbert  3.  SiiUnau  was  bom  in  Cattaraugus 
county,  \ew  York,  .somewhat  more  than  forty  years 
ago.  His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town  of  Cattaraugus,  and  he 
also  received  the  benefit  of  a  classical  course  at 
Chamberlain  Institute,  Randolph,  N.  Y.  Beyond 
that  his  scholastic  training  did  not  go.  After  leav- 
ing Chamberlain  Institute,  however,  Mr.  Sigman 
devoted  considerable  time  to  teaching,  and  he  re- 
gards this  experience  as  constituting  not  the  least 
valuable  part  of  his  education.  He  taught  ten  terms 
altogether,  beginning  the  occupation  when  he  was 
only  seventeen  years  of  age.  At  first  his  field  of 
labor  was  in  the  district  schools  of  Cattaraugus  coun- 
ty, but  his  success  was  such  that  he  was  soon  i)laced 
in  charge  of  more  important  work,  and  he  finally 
became  iirin(-i|)al  of  a  large  school  at  Otto. 


MIU-KT  J.   .T/(;.l/.7.\ 


As  Walter  Scott  deemctl  journalism  an  excellent 
cane  but  a  poor  crutch,  so  Mr.  Sigman  looked  upon 
country  teaching  as  good  enough  for  a  makeshift  but 
not  suitable  for  a  permanent  calling.      All  through 


274 


MEN  OF  .\Ht\-    VO/':k-—irES7FR.\  SECT/ihX 


his  career  as  a  teacher  he  was  devoting  his  days  and 
nights,  so  far  as  he  could,  to  the  study  of  law.  He 
was  registered  at  an  office,  and  doubtless  derived 
some  benefit  from  his  experience  there ;  but  his  legal 
education  was  acquired  almost  entirely  by  himself, 
without  the  aid  of  school  or  ])receptor.  Knowledge 
won  in  that  way  is  often  hard  to  get  ;  but  it  sticks 
when  once  acquired.  Mr.  Sigman,  at  all  events, 
found  the  self-instructing  method  of  reading  law 
highly  effective,  and  he  had  no  difficulty  in  pa.ssing 
the  bar  examination  in  Buffalo  in  June,  1877. 

CJpening  an  office  in  that  city  January  1,  1)S7J<, 
Mr.  Sigman  has  since  practiced  his  profession  there. 
He  has  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  in  this 
country,  but  his  main  interests  have  been  in  Buffalo, 
and  his  professional  work  has  been  done  in  western 
\e\v  York.  If  repeated  victories  in  contested  ca-ses 
may  be  made  the  basis  of  judgment,  he  must  be 
regarded  as  a  lawyer  of  marked  ability  and  success. 
He  has  carried  on  his  work  from  the  beginning  with- 
out associates.  He  has  not  specialized  his  field,  but 
conducts  a  general  practice,  and  devotes  himself 
alike  to  court  work  and  to  office  consultation.  His 
profession  brought  him  into  connection  a  few  years 
ago  with  certain  real-estate  operations  of  some  mag- 
nitude, and  he  has  since  devoted  a  good  deal  of 
profitable  time  to  such  interests. 

In  ])olitical  matters  Mr.  Sigman's  symjiathies  were 
formerly  Democratic.  He  was  a  charter  member  of 
the  Cleveland  Democracy,  and  was  one  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  that  organized  the  movement.  He 
is  a  strong  jjrotectionist,  however,  and  when  Mr. 
Cleveland  came  out  in  favor  of  a  liberalized  tariff 
.\Ir.  Sigman  resigned  from  the  Cleveland  Democracv, 
and  joined  the  Buffalo  Republican  League.  He  has 
never  been  a  candidate  for  public  office,  though  his 
name  has  often  been  mentioned  in  connection  with 
|)olitiial  nominations.  He  usually  makes  speeches, 
and  otherwise  takes  an  active  part  in  campaign  work. 

Mr.  Sigman  has  been  much  interested  in  Free 
Masonry.  He  is  a  Past  Master  of  Hiram  Lodge, 
No.  lOo,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
Cha|)ter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons.  He  is  also  Vice 
(Irand  of  Red  Jacket  Lodge,  No.  238,  I.  ().  O.  F. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONO LOG Y—Alhert Jay 
Sif^maii  was  Iwrn  at  Caf/aram^iis,  N.  Y.  ;  was  edu- 
cated in  district  schools  and  Chamberlain  Institute, 
Randolph,  N.  Y.  ;  taught  school,  studied  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in  June,  1877 :  has 
practiced  laio  in  Buffalo  since  January  1,  1878. 

JOnatbail  X.  Slater,  prominent  at  the  bar 
of  Buffalo,  and  widely  known  in  connection  with 
church    affairs,  was   born    somcwhnt    less    than    fortv 


years  ago  on  a  farm  in  Chautaui|ua  county.  He 
started  in  life  with  the  latent  advantage  of  e.xcellent 
descent,  his  ancestors  having  come  to  this  country 
from  England  in  colonial  times,  and  having  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Samuel 
Slater,  who  built  a  cotton  mill  at  Fawtucket,  R.  1., 
in  1790,  and  thus  established  the  cotton  industry  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  was  a  member  of  the  fam- 
ily :  and  Hosea  Ballon,  the  eminent  Ihiiversalist 
clergyman,  belonged  to  another  branch. 

Mr.  Slater's  earliest  instruction  was  obtained  from 
his  maternal  great-grandmother,  who  was  related  to 
John  Quincy  Adams  and  was  a  schoolmate  of  his. 
Further  education  was  acquired  at  irregular  inter- 
vals, as  the  exigencies  of  farm  work  permitted,  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town  and  in  Ellington 
.'Academy.  Upon  leaving  the  farm  his  ambition 
to  obtain  at  least  a  part  of  the  higher  education 
induced  him  to  enter  Chamberlain  Institute,  where 
he  paid  his  way  largely  bv  means  of  tutoring.  He 
graduated  from  the  institute  with  high  standing  in 
1880.  He  then  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office 
of  B.  F.  Congdon,  Randolph,  and  engaged  in  teach- 
ing at  the  same  time.  These  two  occupations  have 
constantly  been  united  by  young  men  ambitious  to 
enter  the  legal  domain,  and  not  infrequently  with 
entire  success.  So  it  was  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Slater, 
since  he  was  able,  in  October,  188:1,  to  ]jass  the  bar 
examinations  at  Rochester. 

Some  eighteen  months  before  this  Mr.  Slater  had 
left  Cattaraugus  county  to  seek  the  wider  opportuni- 
ties and  greater  promise  of  a  large  city.  In  the  office 
of  Morey  d'  Inglehart  of  Buffalo  he  found  favorable 
conditions  for  continuing  the  stud)  of  law  ;  and  he 
remained  there  several  years  after  his  admission  to 
the  bar.  January  1,  18(S7,  he  opened  an  office  on 
his  own  account  in  Buffalo,  and  has  since  carried  on 
a  successful  jjractice  in  thatcit).  Mr.  Slater's  prog- 
ress in  the  law  has  been  made  (|uietly,  but  steadily. 
He  spends  much  more  time  in  his  office  than  in 
the  court  room,  and  believes  in  adjusting  legal 
difficulties,  whenever  ])0ssible,  without  re.sort  to 
trial.  Reason,  common  sense,  and  calm  di.screlion  arc 
weapons  of  legal  warfare  that  seem  to  him  not  only 
less  expensive  than  those  commonly  used,  but  also 
much  more  efficient  and  generally  satisfactory. 
Court  litigation  is  sometimes  inevitable,  of  course, 
but  in  most  ca.ses  Mr.  Slater  fiiuls  that  he  can  serve 
the  cause  of  his  client  best  by  consultation,  study, 
and  other  means  of  settlement  outside  the  court 
room.  His  specialty  is  domestic  corporation  work, 
but  his  range  of  practice  covers  a  wide  fiekl. 

The  other  side  of  Mr.  Slater's  life  is  to  be  found 
in  his  church  «ork  and  |)liilanthr()|)ic  pursuits.      For 


.)//:.\"  ()/•'  .y/-:ir  voja^—WEsTKhw  sKcr/o\ 


27.) 


a  long  time  he  has  concerned  himself  with  such  mat- 
ters—  not  passively,  with  a  languid  interest  limited 
to  the  contribution  box,  but  actively  and  vitally,  and 
in  a  direct,  personal  way.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Delaware  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
has  long  been  prominent  in  the  beneficent  work  of 
that  institution.  He  served  on  the  of- 
ficial board,  and  was  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  school  from  1887  to  18!K). 

This  branch  of  church  work  has  |)ar- 
ticularly  interested  Mr.  Slater,  and  he 
has  devoted  a  good  deal  of  time  and 
thought  to  the  betterment  and  perfec- 
tion of  Sunday-school  service,  lie  was 
a  delegate  from  New  York  state  to  the 
World's  Sunday  School  Convention  held 
in  London,  England,  in  June,  18,Sil. 
He  was  president  of  the  Buffalo  Sun- 
ilay  School  Association  from  December, 
1890,  to  December,  189'2.  During  his 
administration  the  work  prospered  great- 
ly, and  the  number  of  schools  repre- 
sented in  the  a.ssociation  increased  from 
()7  to  103.  A  larger  organization  de- 
voted to  similar  ends,  and  known  as  the 
Erie  County  Sunday  School  A.ssociation, 
has  been  effective  in  promoting  Sundav- 
school  work  not  only  in  Erie  iount\-, 
its  special  field  of  activity,  but  through- 
out the  state  as  well.  Mr.  Slater  was 
elected  president  of  this  a.ssociation  in 
May,  1893,  and  has  carried  on  its  work 
with  vigor  and  wisdom. 

Other  forms  of  church  and  (  haritablc 
organization    have    received  the    benefit 
of  Mr.   Slater's  judgment  and  executive 
ability.      He   has   interested   himself  for 
man\-  years  in   the  work   of  the  Yoimg 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  served 
as  a  director  of  the  Buffalo  branch   from   l.H.s(i   to 
1888.      He  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Prison  Ciate  Mission,  though  perhaps  the 
chief  credit  for  this  work  should  be  assigned  to  Mrs. 
Slater.      There    are    only   two   other   institutions  of 
this   kind   in   the    United    States,    though   they   are 
most  deserving,  and  constitute  splendid  examples  of 
practical  philanthropy.     The  purpose  of  the  mission 
is  to  establish  quarters  near  the  penitentiary,  and  to 
meet  prisoners  at  the  critical  moment  of  their  dis- 
charge ;    to   invite    them    into   the    mission,    where 
food  and  lodging  may  be  obtained,  and  labor  pro- 
vided to  cover  the  expense  thus  incurred  ;  and  after 
ward  to  assist  the  jirisoners  to  begin  life  anew  under 
liivoring  auspices.      Mr.   Slater  is  a  director  of  the 


Buffalo  mission.  He  gives  hearty  and  intelligent 
support  to  every  kind  of  charitable  work  and  Chris- 
tian endeavor. 

PERSO  iVA  L  CHR  OXOL  O  G I  '—Jonathan 
Lambert  Slater  was  born  at  Ellington,  Chautauqua 
eounty,    N.    Y.,    March   26,    1857 ;    attended  public 


JOX.ITH.IX  I..  SLATER 

schools  and  Ellington  Academy,  and  graduated  from 
Chamberlain  Institute,  Randolph,  N.  Y.,  in  1880; 
taught  school  and  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1883  ;  7narried  Susan  A.  Jameson  of  Dublin, 
Ireland,  September  IG,  1885 ;  rcas  president  of  the 
Buffalo  Sunday  School  Association,  1890-92,  and  has 
been  president  of  the  Erie  County  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciation since  189.3  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since 
188.1. 

CbarlCS  S>.  StiCknCV?  comes  of  pure  English 
stock.  I'wo  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  popula- 
tion of  New  England  was  made  up  almost  entirely  of 
Dissenters  from  the  eastern  comities  of  England,  his 
ancestors  emigrated  to  Massachusetts  from  the  town 


27(i 


.I/AW  ()/•■  .\/:ir  )V)A'A"— /r/;.s-7y-;A'.\'  skct/o.x 


ofStickney,  near  Liverpool.  The  first  great  Puritan 
exodus,  which  ceased  half  a  century  before,  had 
brought  to  this  country  a  people  of  unswerving  re- 
ligious standard.  As  Stoughton,  the  governor  of 
Ma-ssachusetts,  said,  "  God  sifted  a  whole  nation  that 
He  might  send  choice  grain   over  into  this  wilder- 


CIIAKI.ES   1).   STJCKX/CV 

ness. "  It  was  among  such  that  the  Stickncy  family 
was  planted.  How  this  "  choice  grain  "  flourished, 
in  spite  of  harsh  climate  and  niggardly  .soil,  one  may 
see  from  the  early  records  of  New  Ivngland.  Thrifty 
towns  and  enduring  commonwealths  sprang  u]),  pub- 
lic education  was  provided  for,  and  the  ]jrinciples  of 
popular  government  were  successfully  put  in  practice. 
In  commerce,  domestic  trade,  and  manufactures  New 
England  soon  surpa.ssed  all  the  other  colonies.  It 
was  gathering  wealth,  numbers,  and  fortitude  for  the 
second  great  sifting  of  the  Revolution.  Meanwhile 
the  fair  pasturage  lands  that  dot  the  rocky  surface  of 
Vermont  attracted  the  descendants  of  the  Stickney 
emigrants,  and  there  they  made  their  home  imtil  the 
early  years  of  this  century. 


When  the  Erie  canal  was  opened  many  new 
settlers  went  to  western  New  York.  Among  them 
was  our  Vermont  family,  and  Erie  county  became 
and  is  still  their  abiding  place.  The  population  of 
the  New  England  colonies  was  then  homogeneous  in 
the  extreme,  but  that  of  New  York  was  noted  for  its 
heterogeneous  character.  The  Dutch 
and  English  element  predominated,  but 
there  were  many  French  Huguenots, 
(iermans,  Swedes,  Finns,  Welsh,  and 
Jews.  The  names  of  many  of  the 
towns  bear  permanent  witness  to  the 
nationality  of  the  people  who  chris- 
tened them.  The  little  village  of  Hol- 
land was  doubtless  so  called  by  some 
homesick  Netherlander,  who  hoped  to 
prove  that  there  was  more  in  a  name 
than  the  popular  ([uotation  admits.  It 
was  in  this  village  that  Charles  Stickney 
was  born,  early  in  the  .second  half  of 
the  century. 

The  district  school  furnishetl  his  rudi- 
mentary   education,    and    he    then  com- 
pleted the  course  offered  at  Ten  Broeck 
Academy.       Deciding   to   make  the  law 
his  profession,  he  imdertook  the  study  in 
the  office  of  Judge  Spring  of  Franklin- 
ville.       Going    to    Buffalo    in    1879,   he 
continued  his  studies  with  Judge  Corlett 
and  Judge  Hatch,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  the  New  York  Supreme  Court 
at   Rochester  in  1882,  and  in  the  I'nited 
States    Court     three    years    later.       He 
opened  a  law  office  in  Buffalo  at  once, 
and    has    been    in    active    practice  there 
ever  since.       During  almost    the    entire 
period    he   has   practiced  alone,    but  re- 
cently   he    formed    a    partnershi])    with 
Major  \i.  O.  Farrar. 
In  adtlition  to  his  office  duties  Mr.  Stickney  has 
given  a  term  of  service  as  clerk  of   the   board    of 
supervisors  of  Erie  county,  and  is  at  present  attor- 
ney for  the  state  of  New  York    in  the  transfer-tax 
de])artment.       His    active    participation    in   politics 
began  with  the  first  Harrison  campaign.      A  member 
of  both  state  and  national    Republican   leagues,  he 
has  s])oken  in  every  town  and  ward  in  Erie  county, 
as  well  as   in   many   other  places  in  the  state.      In 
the  second  Harrison  cam]Mign,  as  the  official  organ- 
izer for  Jirie  county,  he  formed  over  fifty    Repub- 
lican clubs. 

Mr.  Stickney  attends  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  belongs  to  the  Ma.sonic  frater- 
nity and  other  similar  organizations. 


.IfKX   OF  .\KW    )(>A'A:— II 'FS ■/■/■: A' X  SJ-:c/7(KV 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Charles  D. 
Sticknev  ivas  born  at  Holland,  A".  }',  August  '), 
1837 :  teas  educated  at  Ten  Broeck  Academv, 
Franklinville,  N.  K;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Rochester  in  1S82 ;  married  Ida  AL  West  of  West 
Valley,  N.  K,  April  SO,  1882;  was  clerk  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  Erie  countx  in  1888  :  has  been  attor- 
ney/or N'eic  York  state  in  the  transfer-tax  department 

since  189  Jf  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1882. 
—  ««*        — 

3are&  Ib^&C  XEUC>CU  »as  Iwm  in  Franklin, 
Conn.,  somewhat  less  than  seventy  years  ago.  He 
moved  to  the  Empire  State  in  boyhood,  traversing 
Long  Island  sound  in  a  sloop,  and  proceeding  to 
Buffalo  via  the  Hudson  river  and  Erie  canal.  Reach- 
ing Buffalo  in  September,  1837,  he  attended  the 
public  schools  of  the  city,  and  later  a  private  school, 
until  he  was  nineteen  years  old.  After 
working  for  a  short  time  in  the  office  of 
his  father,  Thomas  B.  Tilden,  a  promi- 
nent builder  of  Buffalo,  Jared  decided 
to  study  medicine  and  lead  a  [jrofessional 
life.  With  this  end  in  view  he  went  to 
Cincinnati,  and  attended  the  Eclectii 
Medical  Institute  until  June,  1850.  when 
he  received  the  degree  of  M.  1). 

After  practicing  his  profession  during 
the  summer  of  1850  in  Westfielcl,  X.  V., 
with  Dr.  Alvin  Shatluck,  he  ]jasscd  the 
winter  of  1850-51  at  the  Central  Medi- 
cal College,  Rochester,  as  demonstrator 
of  anatomy.  He  then  spent  several 
months  visiting  the  hospitals  in  New 
York  city,  and  attending  clinics  in  Cin- 
cinnati. In  May,  1851,  at  Pittsburg, 
Penn.,  he  was  elected  vice  president  of 
the  National  Eclectic  Medical  A.ssocia- 
tion.  Taking  up  his  residence  again  in 
Buffalo  in  the  fall  of  1851,  Dr.  Tilden 
renewed  his  connection  with  Alvin  Shat- 
tuck  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  Dr. 
Shattuck  withdrew  from  the  partnership 
after  about  a  year,  and  Dr.  Tilden  prac- 
ticed alone  thereafter.  In  June,  1854, 
he  was  commissioned  surgeon's  mate  of 
the  74th  regiment,  N.  G.,  S.  N.  Y.,  and 
for  the  ne.xt  ten  years  he  was  actively 
interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  National 
Ciuard.  He  was  also  a  prominent  mem- 
ber for  thirty  years  of  company  D,  Buf- 
falo City  Guards. 

People  have  long  ceased  to  think  of  Mr.  Tilden 
as  a  practicing  physician.  He  followed  his  profes- 
sion in  Buffalo,  however,  for  several   years,  or  until 


the  fall  of  185!l,  when  he  formed  a  partnership  in 
the  building  business  with  his  father.  The  two 
conducted  their  operations  with  marked  success 
until  18(39,  when  Thomas  B.  Tilden  died.  Since 
that  time  Jared  H.  Tilden  has  carried  on  the  busi- 
ness alone.  He  has  long  been  one  of  the  foremost 
contractors  of  western  New  York,  and  a  transcript 
from  his  books  would  convey  a  fair  idea  of  Buffalo 
building  operations  during  the  last  forty  years.  Mr. 
Tilden' s  jjay  roll  has  averaged  for  many  years  not  far 
from  $50,000  annually.  He  has  built  many  of  the 
finest  structures  in  Buffalo,  including  the  Palace 
hotel  (destroyed  by  fire  ),  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Delaware  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Star  Theatre  build- 
ing, Union  Central  Life  building,  the  Red  Jacket 
flats,  the  north  wing  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  Hospi- 
tal, and  a  section  of  the  new  Buffalo  General  Hospi- 


jAKEit  iivni-:   rn.DEX 

tal.  He  has  also  built  many  of  the  notable  dwellings 
of  Buffalo.  With  the  exception  of  three  years,  he 
was  secretary  of  the  Builders'  F'.xchange,  1869-89  ; 
and  he  is  still  an  active  member  of  that  organization. 


>7S 


.\fE\  OF  \FJr    lOA'A'— //7;.s/7:7v'.\'  S/CCT/OX 


Having  lived  in  Buffalo  the  greater  part  of  the  last 
sixty  years,  Mr.  Tilden  knows  the  city  thoroughly, 
and  is  identified  with  many  of  its  social  institutions. 
Like  other  prominent  Buffalonians  in  earlier  times, 
when  the  volunteer  fire  companies  took  the  place  of 
latter-day  clubs,  Mr.    Tilden  entered  the  fire  depart- 


/iiu-  Elhabcth  Hedge  of  Buffalo  October  ,1,  1855; 
practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo,  1851-5'J  ;  has  conducted 
a  building  business  in  Buffalo  since  1859. 


I Ki:iU\Kii  K    I    I'Di; /■ 

ment,  "running"  witli  Washington  engine,  \o.  "), 
from  liS4()  to  ].S.")4.  He  is  a  life  member  of  the 
Buffalo  i'ine  Arts  Academy,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
Library.  For  twenty  years  or  more  he  has  belonged 
to  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  members  of  the  Oakfield  Club,  a  family 
association  on  (Jrand  island,  and  has  been  on  the 
iward  of  directors  for  many  years.  He  has  attended 
the  Central  Presbyterian  Church  for  forty  years,  and 
has  been  a  trustee  of  the  same  for  twenty  years. 

FERSONAI.  CIIROXOLOGY—Jared  Hyde 
Tilden  rcujs  born  at  Franklin,  Conn. ,  April  ■}(),  18 JS  : 
moved  to  Buffalo  in  18.17,  and  attended  public  and 
private  schools  there :  studied  medicine  in  Cincinnati, 
and  took  the  degree  of  .1/.  D.  in  IS.'iO  .-  married  Caro- 


jfrC^C^iC{?  S.  DOClt  has  been  a  teacher  for 
nearly  half  his  life,  anil  a  student  from  the  time 
he  became  old  enough  to  study  at  all. 
The  story  of  his  career  has  two  sides, 
one  recording  continuous  study  and  self- 
development,  and  the  other  showing 
continuous  success  in  his  profession  as  a 
teacher.  Though  still  a  young  man,  he 
has  won  his  w'ay  in  the  face  of  serious 
obstacles  to  a  position  in  the  foremost 
rank  of  Buffalo  educators. 

Mr.  Vogt's  life  has  all  been  spent  in 
Buffalo.  He  was  born  there,  of  Alsatian 
l)arentage,  and  began  his  education  in 
the  Buffalo  public  schools  at  the  age  of 
six.  At  twenty-one  he  graduated  from 
the  high  school  with  honors,  receiving 
the  Jesse  Ketchum  gold  medal  for  high 
standing  in  the  studies  of  the  graduation 
year.  He  had  taken  a  classical  course, 
in  the  expectation  of  going  to  college, 
but  his  father  died  during  the  senior 
year,  and  he  had  to  set  about  earning  his 
own  living. 

In  the  .September  following   iiis  grad- 
uation  from   the   high  school,    Mr.   Vogt 
became  principal  of  i'ublic  School    No. 
II,    which    was    then    opened    as   a    new 
s(hool.       Two  years    later   he    was    pro- 
moted to  the  principalshi])  of  s(-hool  No. 
'id.       There  he  remained   for  nine  years. 
Then    he    became    ]irotes.sor  of   English 
history  and  literature  in  the  high  school. 
His  stay  in  this  position   was  short;   for 
a  {<i\\  months  later  Henry  P.  Emerson, 
]jrin(  ipal  t)f  the  high  .school,   was   elected  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  and  as  one  of  his  first  acts  in 
the  new   office  appointed    Mr.  Vogt   to   his   earlier 
|josition.      'J'hus   in    less   than   a   do/en    years    Mr. 
Vogt  advanced  from  the  rank  of  a  graduate  of  the 
high  school  to  the  princi])al.ship  of  the  institution. 

Mr.  \'ogt  has  proved  himself  a  very  successfiil 
tea(  her  and  an  excellent  administrator.  .\  feature 
of  his  work  in  the  liuffalo  High  School  is  the 
variety  of  broadening  infiuences  that  he  has  found 
it  po.ssilile  to  add  to  the  ordinary  school  ro\itinc. 
The  silent  educati\e  influences  that  come  from  daily 
contact  with  fine  specimens  of  art  have  received 
particular  attention.  Casts  from  anticpie  sciili)tures 
are  .scattered   throughout   the  building   in  profiision  : 


MF.x  OI--  xFjr  ](>A'A'— II 7:sr/: AW  sKcvvo.y 


■21 '.t 


and  in  the  chapel  there  is  an  excellent  collection 
of  pictures  by  Buffalo  artists,  lent  to  the  school  at 
the  instance  of  Mr.  Vogt  by  the  artists  themselves. 
The  stimulus  springing  from  lontait  with  superior 
minds  is  also  utilized.  Many  a  tlistinguished  visitor 
to  Buffalo  is  prevailed  upon  to  address  the  scholars, 
and  the  Wednesday -morning  talks  in  chapel  form  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  features  of 
school  life. 

Along  with  his  work  in  the  schools,  Mr.  Vogt 
has  found  time  to  do  outside  a  great  deal  of  what 
is  practically  university-extension  work.  He  be- 
lieves in  disseminating  the  benefits  and  pleasures 
of  knowledge  as  widely  as  jjossilile.  In  particular, 
he  has  delivered  many  lectures  on  the  natural 
sciences,  a  department  of  study  in  which  he  is 
especially  interested  ;  and  certain  free  lourses  of 
lectures  by  him  on  geology  and  botany 

before  the  Field  Club  were  exceedingly         

popular  and  drew  large  audiences.      He        ' 
was,  indeed,  one  of  the  founders  of  this 
branch  of  Field  Club  work. 

All  this  represents  but  one  side  of  Mr. 
Vogt's  life.  There  is  another  side,  as 
was  said  at  the  beginning  —  his  work  as 
a  student.  .All  the  time  thai  he  has 
been  so  busy  as  an  instructor,  he  has 
been  patiently  and  steadily  carrying  on 
his  own  studies,  in  Hebrew,  the  classics, 
natural  science,  and  the  higher  mathe- 
matics, aiming  to  secure  by  self-help  the 
practical  results  of  the  unixersitv  course 
originally  planned. 

Mr.  Vogt  is  a  member  of  a  numl)er  of 
societies,  social,  scientific,  and  litcrar\. 
Among  them  are  the  Liberal  Club,  the 
Field  Club,  the  Saturn  Club,  the  j'.ufraio 
Orpheus,  and  the  Pundit  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Frederick  Augustus  Vogt  tvas  horn  at 
Buffalo  March  2Jf,  1860 ;  was  educated 
in  the  Buffalo  public  schools,  graduating 
from  the  high  school  in  1881 ;  was  ap- 
pointed principal  of  Public  School  No.  !) 
in  September,  1881,  principal  of  school 
No.  20  in  188J,  and  professor  of  English 
history  and  literature  in  the  Ihiffalo  Lfigh 
School  in  March,  1892  ;  has  been  princi- 
pal of  the  high  school  since  January,  18B-'i. 


of  the  surrounding  country  than  a  consideration  of 
the  changes  that  have  taken  place  within  the  experi- 
ence of  a  man  still  in  active  life.  When  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  born,  in  the  town  of  F.den,  Erie  county 
had  been  in  existence  but  two  years,  having  been 
formed  from  Niagara  county  in  1821.  The  new- 
county  contained  only  ten  post  offices  and  thirteen 
towns.  It  was  just  emerging  from  a  pioneer  settle- 
ment into  a  farming  community,  and  comfortable 
frame  houses  had  begun  to  take  the  place  of  the  log 
cabins  of  the  first  settlers. 

Among  these  early  pioneers  had  been  four 
brothers,  sons  of  Hugh  Webster,  who  moved  to 
what  is  now  the  village  of  Eden  Valley,  then  called 
Tubbs'  Hollow,  in  1813,  the  year  after  the  for- 
mation of  the  town  of  Eden.  One  of  these  brothers 
was  Fldward  Webster,   the  father  of  the  subject    of 


1:1. 1. IS  w  lai.sriik 


£lltS  IliHebStet  has  lived  a  long  and  busy  life, 
and  his  home  has  been  in  Buffalo  ever  since  he 
reached  manhood's  estate.  Nothing  more  vividly 
calls  to  mind  the  marvelous  growth  of  that  city  anil 


our  sketch.  lOllis  Webster  attended  the  primitive 
district  .school  of  those  early  days,  and  lived  the 
healthful,  hardy  life  of  a  country  boy.  But  he  was 
ambitious  to  achieve  greater  success  than  the  limited 


•1X0 


MEN   OF  .\7:ir    YOh'A—]\-J-:s7KK.\  SKCT/OX 


opportunities  of  a  rural  community  could  olTer,  aiul 
a  few  months  before  attaining  his  majority  he  went 
to  Buffalo. 

This  was  in  1844,  the  year  of  the  "great  flood" 
in  Buffalo,  and  the  financial  conditions  of  the  city 
were  most  favorable  for  the  young  man's  success. 
For  several  years  previous  to  1840  the  population 
there  had  barely  held  its  own  ;  the  greatest  depres- 
sion prevailed  in  business  circles,  and  house  after 
house  went  down  in  the  general  panic.  The  city 
recovered  slowly  from  the  crash,  but  by  1845  it  had 
regained  a  healthy  financial  condition,  and  from  that 
time  increased  rapidly  in  both  population  and  com- 
mercial prosperity. 

Mr.  Webster  had  been  in  the  city  but  three  years 
when  he  began  business  on  his  own  account  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  D.  R.  Hamlin  &  Co.,  con- 
ducting a  grocery  and  produce  business  on  Seneca 
street.  Mr.  Hamlin  furnished  most  of  the  capital, 
but  shared  the  profits  equally  with  his  young  associ- 
ate. For  over  twenty  years  Mr.  Webster  carried  on 
the  business,  in  a.ssoriation  with  (Icorge  W.  Scott 
for  five  years. 

In  18()8  Mr.  Webster  embarked  in  the  coal  trade, 
and  in  1875  extended  his  business  to  include  the  ice 
industry,  thus  connecting  his  name  with  the  branches 
of  trade  in  which  he  has  ever  since  been  engaged. 
In  1X75  his  son,  E.  H.  Webster,  was  taken  into 
partnership,  and  the  firm  name  became  K.  Webster 
&  Son.  In  1886  William  Oermann  was  admitted  to 
a  share  in  the  business,  and  the  present  style  of  V.. 
Webster,  Son  <.V  Co.  wa.s  adopted.  Mr.  Web.ster  has 
devoted  his  energies  unremittingly  to  the  business, 
and  it  has  grown  and  prospered  steadily  until  it  is 
to-day  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  Buffalo. 

Public  affairs  have  had  no  great  attraction  for  Mr. 
Weiister  ;  but  he  ha.s  always  believed  in  doing  his 
duty  as  a  loyal  citizen,  and  in  1873-74  he  served  as 
alderman  of  the  old  2d  ward  of  Buffalo.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Buffalo 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  For  the  first  five  years 
he  was  a  trustee  and  treasurer,  and  since  then  he  has 
lieen  a  deacon.  For  abouty  twenty  years  he  has 
been  a  life  member  of  the  Buffalo  I.ibrary,  and  he 
has  belonged  to  the  Buffalo  Histori(  al  Society  nearly 
as  long. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Ellis  Webster 
was  born  at  E/ien,  N.  K,  August  27,  1823 ;  was 
educated  in  district  schools ;  engaged  in  the  grocery 
and  produce  business  in  Buffalo,  ISJ^l-fiS :  married 
Charlotte  W.  Whitney  of  Kenosha,  Wis.,  September 
11,  1850  ;  loas  alderman  of  the  old  2d  ward,  Buffalo, 
1873-7 Jfi. ;  has  carried  on  a  coal  and  ice  business  in 
Buffalo  since  1868. 


Hbram  JSartbolomew,  ^ho  has  practiced 

law  in  Buffalo  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
was  horn  in  ("ollins,  Erie  county.  New  York,  some- 
what less  than  sixty  years  ago.  An  affliction  of 
curvature  of  the  si)ine  prevented  him  from  attending 
school  until  he  was  ten  years  old.  He  then  went 
to  the  district  schools  of  Collins  for  four  years, 
afterward  attending  the  union  school  at  Gowanda 
one  term,  and  Springville  Academy  two  terms.  As 
his  father  was  not  able  to  provide  further  education, 
Mr.  Bartholomew  resolved  to  defray  his  own  ex- 
penses of  tuition  and  board  rather  than  forego  the 
benefits  of  learning.  At  the  unusual  age  of  fifteen, 
accordingly,  he  began  to  teach  school  in  the  town 
of  F^den.  After  teaching  for  several  years  at  select 
and  district  .schools  in  various  towns  of  Erie  county, 
he  had  saved  sufficient  funds  to  warrant  attendance 
at  the  .Albany  State  Xormal  School ;  and  he  had  the 
.satisfaction  of  graduating  from  that  institution  with 
the  class  of  1857. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Bartholomew,  having  decided 
to  make  the  legal  profession  his  life-work,  began  to 
read  law  in  the  office  of  the  late  C.  C.  Severance  at 
Springville.  He  also  studied  in  the  oftice  of  VV'.  W. 
Mann,  and  in  that  of  John  I.  Talcott,  late  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  He  was  not  yet  firmly  estab- 
lished ill  a  pecuniary  way,  and  he  paid  his  living 
expenses  while  studying  law  by  further  school 
teaching.  All  difficulties  were  happily  overcome  at 
last,  and  in  Xovember,  18()1,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  at  Buffalo.  He  was  then  twenty-four  years 
old,  and  the  struggle  for  a  professional  education 
had  been  long  and  arduous ;  but  he  has  never 
doubted  that  the  result  was  worth  nil  thai  it  cost  in 
time  and  labor  and  privation. 

I'or  about  two  years  after  his  admission  to  the  bar 
.Mr.  Bartholomew  remained  at  home  taking  care  of 
his  father,  who  was  an  invalid  and  needed  his  assist- 
ance. .\fter  spending  three  years  in  the  Oil-creek 
region,  speculating  in  oil  lands  in  a  vain  (piest  for 
fortune,  Mr.  Bartholomew  wisely  settled  down  to 
the  steady-going  practice  of  law  in  Hamburg,  N.  Y. 
This  was  in  18(!().  He  remained  in  Hamburg  one 
year,  but  the  town  was  well  supplied  with  lawyers  — 
cx-(iovernor  Boies  of  Iowa,  Judge  Robert  C.  Titus 
of  Buffalo,  and  three  others  were  practicing  there 
at  the  .same  time  —  and  he  decided  to  move  to 
Ebenezer  in  the  same  county,  kx.  the  latter  place 
he  practiced  two  years,  and  established  a  good 
country  clientage.  The  outlook,  however,  was  not 
sufficiently  promising  to  satisfy  his  ambition,  and  in 
18()0  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Buffiilo,  where  he 
has  ])racticed  ever  since  with  gratifying  success. 
He  has  considerable  office  work,  but  is  better  known 


.)/KX   OF  XEir    ) V'A'A'  -/;7-;.s/7-.A'.\-  SKC/7(K\ 


■1S\ 


as  a  trial  lawyer,  as  his  practice  has  to  ilo  with  con- 
tested cases  largely,  and  takes  him  into  court  much 
of  the  time.  He  has  conducted  his  law  business 
without  the  aid  of  associates,  though  of  late  years 
his  son  Xiles,  who  is  also  an  attorney,  has  occupied 
offices  with  him. 

Mr.  Bartholomew  has  never  thought  it 
worth  while  to  seek  political  honors  : 
but  he  has  taken  keen  interest  in  public 
affairs,  and  has  ardently  supported  the 
Democratic  party.  He  has  taken  part 
in  political  campaigns  for  many  years, 
having  addressed  numerous  public  meet- 
ings in  Erie  county.  He  is  a  member 
of  Orient  Lodge,  .\ncient  Order  of 
L'nited  Workmen,  and  attends  West- 
minster Presbyterian  Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
A/iram  Bartliolomni'  ivas  horn  at  Collins, 
N.  v.,  February  28,  1837 ;  attemieJ 
Goivanda  Union  School  and  Springrilli- 
Academy ;  taught  school  for  a  time,  and 
graduated  from  the  State  A'ormal  School  at 
Albany  in  lSo7 ;  H'as  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1861;  married  Florence  Cutler  of  Hol- 
land, N.  v.,  December  29,  1864;  en- 
gaged in  oil  operations,  1864-66 ;  prac- 
ticed law  at  Hamburg  and  Ebenezer, 
N.  V. ,  1866-69 :  has  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo  since  1869. 


This  determination  was  not  long  in  maturing  to 
the  point  of  action,  and  the  spring  of  1850  found 
Mr.  Berrick  on  board  the  bark  "Henry,"  outward 
bound  from  London  for  Sandy  Hook  and  the  new 
world.  Winnebago,  Wis.,  was  his  objective  point,  as 
he  had  Lnglish  friends  in  that  place  ;  and  he  started 


(IbarleS  JBerriCh,  a  builder  and 
contractor  of  Buffalo  for  more  than  forty 
years,  is  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and 
possesses  many  of  the  best  traits  of  his 
native  people.  His  ver>-  name  discloses 
his  origin,  since  his  family  in  early  times 
adopted  for  their  cognomen  a  phonetic 
spelling  of  Berwick,  the  famous  town 
between  Scotland  and  England.  Charles  Berrick, 
one  of  thirteen  children,  was  born  at  Coleshill, 
near  Birmingham,  England,  nearly  seventy  years 
ago.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the  common 
schools  of  Warwickshire,  his  native  county.  After 
serving  his  time  as  an  apprentice  to  the  mason's 
trade,  he  worked  as  a  bricklayer  for  various  em- 
ployers, including  Geo.  Stephenson  &  Son,  the 
famous  locomotive  designers,  until  he  was  twenty- 
three  years  old.  That  is  not  the  age  at  which  most 
men  attain  breadth  of  view  and  sagacious  foresight  ; 
but  Mr.  Berrick  was  not  like  other  men,  and  he 
resolved  to  escape  from  the  hard  conditions  of 
industrial  life  in  overcrowded  England,  and  try  his 
fortunes  amid  the  ampler  opportunities  of  .Vmerira. 


.l/iA-.t.U  HARTHOl.OMEW 

thither  soon  after  landing  in  New  York,  by  way  of 
the  Hudson  river  to  .\lbany,  and  railroad  thence  to 
Buffalo.  Fortunately  for  the  latter  city,  and  for  Mr. 
Derrick  as  well,  it  would  seem.  Lake  Erie  was  full  of 
ice,  steamers  could  not  leave  port,  railroads  west 
there  were  none,  and  Wisconsin  was  accessible  only 
by  tedious  stagecoach  tra\eling.  Lender  such  con- 
ditions, Mr.  Berrick  decided  to  stay  in  Buffalo  for  a 
few  months,  and  resume  his  westward  journey  in  the 
fall.  He  obtained  employment  easily,  and  became 
so  well  satisfied  with  the  outlook  by  the  autumn  of 
1S.50  that  he  postijoncd  indefinitely  his  trip  to  Wis- 
consin, and  determined  to  make  Buffalo  his  perma- 
nent residence,  'lime  has  shown  the  wisdom  of 
this  decision. 


282 


^//■:\  or  xew  )\>Rk'—iv/-:sTEh'.\  s/-:c77i>.v 


In  the  middle  of  the  century  Buffalo  had  only 
40,000  people,  and  few  buildings  that  would  now  be 
deemed  noteworthy  in  any  commendable  respect. 
In  the  transition  from  such  a  city  to  the  present 
metropolis,  with  its  magnificent  public  and  private 
structures,  Mr.   Herrick  has  had  an   important  ])art. 


His  training  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  had  been 
long  and  thorough,  and  he  had  worked  here  only  a 
short  time  before  his  em])loyer  saw  his  value  and 
made  him  foreman.  But  Mr.  Berrick  had  not  left 
his  country,  and  traveled  oversea  3000  miles,  to 
become  a  foreman  merely  ;  and  after  working  for 
others  two  years  he  estal)lished  himself  in  business 
on  his  own  account  as  a  master  mason  and  contractor. 
His  commissions  at  first  were  not  large,  but  he  did 
so  well  such  work  as  \va.s  entrusted  to  him,  and 
showed  himself  so  reliable  and  honest  in  all  his 
dealings,  that  he  soon  received  more  imjiortant  con- 
tracts. A  list  of  the  buildings  erected  wholly  or  in 
]jart  by  him  would  give  one  an  accurate  idea  of  the 
architectural  emergence  of  Buffalo  from  mid-century 


conditions  to  the  modern  city.  Among  his  early 
contracts  w^ere  those  made  with  the  Lake  Shore  and 
Krie  railroads  for  the  erection  of  roundhouses  and 
machine  shops  at  Buffalo.  He  laid  the  foundation 
work  and  did  the  ma.sonry  of  several  of  the  elevators 
for  which  Buffalo  is  famous.  The  Tifft  House,  (ier- 
mau  Insurance  building,  Barnes-Hen- 
gerer  block,  St.  Louis  Church,  Coal  and 
Iron  Exchange,  Bank  of  Buffalo,  Hotel 
Irocjuois,  and  Marine  Bank  are  well- 
known  Buffalo  structures  of  Mr.  Ber- 
rick's.  He  also  built  many  of  the 
elegant  dwellings  that  adorn  Delaware 
avenue,  and  other  beautiful  residence 
districts  of  the  Queen  City. 

Until  l.S!)2  Mr.  Berrick  conducted  his 
business    without    partners,    but    in    that 
year  his   .sons,    Alfred    and    John,    were 
admitted   to   the   firm.      The}-  had   lioth 
grown  up  in  the  calling  with  their  father, 
learning  it  thoroughly  under  his  superior 
guidance,    and     the\'    were    thus    finely 
etjuipped   for   the  work   of  carrying    on 
the  large  business  built  up  by  Mr.  Ber- 
rick   in    forty    years  of  faithful  service. 
The  sons  now  constitute  alone  the  firm  of 
Charles  Berrick's  Sons,  the  father  having 
retired  in  1894.     He  continues,  however, 
to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare 
of   the    concern,    and    his   advice    is    of 
great  value  in  the  conduct  of  the  business. 
Mr.    Berrick  has  devoted  most  of  his 
lime  and  energ)'  to  his  work  as  a  builder. 
His  calling,  however,  has  kept  him  more 
or  less  in  touch   with   real-estate  opera- 
tions ;   and   he  has  himself  done  some- 
thing   in    that    line,    as    the    marvelous 
growth   of  Buffalo,   and   consequent   ex- 
pansion of  real-estate  values,  encouraged 
such    ventures.     Mr.   Berrick   has   never   cared   for 
political  office,  but  ha.s  taken  the  interest  of  all  good 
citizens    in    the    public    well-being.       In    state   and 
national  politics  he  has  always  voted  the  Republican 
ticket,  but  in  local  matters  he  has  voted  for  the  best 
men  without  special  or  exclusive  regard  to  the  party 
ticket  on  which  they  ran.      He  has  visited  his  native 
land  only  once  since  he  left  it  nearly  fifty  years  ago. 
In  1889  he  spent  a  most  enjoyable  vacation  abroad, 
traveling  on  the  continent  and   in   Scotland   for  a 
while,    but    naturally    devoting    more    time    to    his 
mother  country,  and   the  scenes   of  his    youth  and 
early  manhood. 

PERS  ON  A  L    CJIK  ONOL  O  G  Y— Charles 
Bernck  was  born  at  Coleshill,  Wanvickshire,  Eui^/and, 


MFX  or  XKir  YORK-    ir/-:s/7-:A'X  sf.ct/o.x 


283 


Deceiiiber  11,  1820 ;  icas  ediaatftl  in  the  cominoii 
schools  of  England,  and  learned  the  mason's  trade : 
engaged  in  the  same  in  England  until  1S.'>0,  when  he 
came  to  this  country :  married  Margaret  Callan  of 
Buffalo  December  3J,,  1852  ;  carried  on  the  business 
of  a  contractor  in  Buffalo,  1852-9 J^ . 


TSU.  3.  COIlUCrS  's  certainly  a  remarkable  man. 
Twenty  years  ago  he  was  a  dock  laborer,  and  fifteen 
years  ago  he  was  running  a  saloon  on  the  East  Side, 
Buffalo:  to-day  he  is  a  powerful  factor  in  the  wel- 
fare of  thousands  of  people,  and  exerts  a  wide  influ- 
ence in  several  important  lines  of  commercial 
activity  —  as  a  brewer,  banker,  real-estate  promoter, 
newspaper  owner ;  and  his  business  in  the  trans- 
shipment of  freight  is  larger  than  that  of  any  other 
individual  or  any  concern  in  the  world.  An  expla 
nation  of  this  marvelous   transformation 

may    be    found    in    certain    qualities    of        i 

mind    and    traits    of  character  —  in    his 
unconquerable    energy,    native    shrewd- 
ness  of  wit,   sound   judgment    on   basic        j 
and    essential     points,     fair-mindedness, 
large-heartedne.-is. 

Mr.  Conners  was  born  in  Buffalo  in 
lx.")7.  He  attended  the  pulilic  schools 
until  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  when 
he  took  to  the  lakes,  running  for  several 
vears  between  Buffalo  and  Duluth  as 
a  porter  on  various  steamers.  Seeing 
clearly  that  neither  fame  nor  fortune  lay 
in  that  direction,  Mr.  Conners  resolved 
to  make  a  fresh  start  on  shore.  He  had 
no  money,  but  he  managed  to  set  up  a 
saloon  in  Buffalo,  flood  results  have 
sometimes  come  from  poor  beginnings, 
and  so  it  was  with  Mr.  Conners.  In  a 
few  years  he  had  accumulated  sufficient 
capital,  and  had  acquired  sufficient  l)usi- 
ness  experience,  to  take  advantage  of  an 
opportunity  that  led  to  fortune.  In  the 
spring  of  18S5  he  made  a  contract  with 
Washington  Bullard  for  handling  all  the 
freight  in  Buffalo  of  the  Union  Steam- 
boat Co.  Mr.  Conners  fulfilled  Ills 
contract  with  such  efficiency,  and  the 
superiority  of  his  system  was  so  obvious, 
that  other  carriers  hastened  to  make 
similar  contracts  with  him  ;  and  he  soon 
acquired  a  virtual  monopoly  of  the  busi- 
ness in  Buffalo  and  some  other  lake  ports.  The 
work  was  done  before  by  many  more  or  less  irre- 
sponsible contractors  employing  disorderly,  un- 
trained laborers,  with  incessant  changes  of  foremen, 


troubles  with  the  men,  and  costly  detention  of 
steamers  in  consequence.  Mr.  Conners  made  him- 
self the  sole  responsible  head  of  the  entire  business, 
gained  the  confidence  of  his  workmen  by  fair  treat- 
ment, systematized  and  organized  the  work  in  a 
multitude  of  ways,  and  ran  the  business  generally 
with  machine-like  smoothness,  precision,  and  effi- 
ciency. He  now  has  contracts  for  the  loading  and 
unloading  at  Buffalo,  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and 
C.ladstone,  Mich.,  of  all  vessels  belonging  to  the 
following  transportation  companies  :  Union  Steam- 
boat, Western  Transit,  I^ackawanna,  Lehigh  Valley, 
Northern  Steamship,  Union  Transit,  and  "  Soo  " 
line.  In  the  season  of  1895  Mr.  Conners  handled 
.'5,. 'JIM), 000  tons  of  bulk  freight.  He  employs  about 
.'iOOO  men,  and  is  far  and  away  the  largest  con- 
tractor   in    the    world    in    this    business.       It    is    a 


II.  /.  rr).\-.\7-;A'.v 

remarkable  and   significant   fact   that   he  has  never 
had  to  face  a  strike  on  the  part  of  his  laborers. 

This  vast   industry  is  by  no  means  the  only  enter- 
prise   in    which     Mr.    Conners    has    engaged.       In 


■_'f<4 


.)//:.\'    (>/•■   .\'A;/'    )(lh'k—WKS7Kh\\  SKC7/(i.\ 


February,  iSiSiJ,  he  \va.s  made  president  of  the  lUil- 
falo  Vulcanite  Asphalt  Paving  Co.,  and  conducted 
the  business  successfully  for  several  years.  In  lXi)() 
he  acquired  a  large  block  of  the  stock  representing 
the  property  of  the  Roos  (now  the  Iroquois) 
brewery,  and  carried  on  the  plant  for  about  a  year. 
In  the  spring  of  189o  he  made  another  venture  in 
this  business,  purchasing  a  large  interest  in  the 
Magnus  Beck  Brewing  Co.  He  has  been  president 
of  this  company  since  the  date  mentioned,  and  has 
increased  the  output  of  the  plant  fully  one  third. 
He  owns  a  quarter  interest  in  the  Union  Transit 
Co.,  operating  a  line  of  steamers  between  Buffalo 
and  Duluth.  He  is  a  director  in  one  bank  and  a 
stockholder  in  several  others.  He  is  a  large  owner 
of  real  estate,  ha\ing  shown  rare  judgment  in  the 
purchase  and  develojiment  of  property  in  South 
Buffalo. 

December  23,  181).j,  Mr.  Conners  bought  a  con- 
trolling interest  in  the  Buffalo  Enquirer,  and  since 
then  he  has  given  a  large  part  of  his  time  to  the 
management  of  the  business.  He  has  thoroughly 
energized  the  institution,  and  has  increased  the  cir- 
culation of  the  paper  threefold.  In  September, 
18i)6,  he  established  a  modern  newsjiaper  plant 
consisting  of  independent  light  and  power  engines, 
a  battery  of  linotype  machines,  equijjment  for 
photo-engraving,  and  a  Hoe  sextuple  press  weigh- 
ing si.xty  tons,  consisting  of  30,000  separate  pieces, 
fed  from  three  continuous  webs  of  paper,  and  able 
to  print,  paste,  fold,  register,  and  count  72,000 
eight-page  papers  an  hour. 

In  the  summer  of  189(5  Mr.  Conners  launched  the 
yacht  "Enquirer,"  which  has  brought  him  addi- 
tional fame  and  pleasure.  She  is  one  of  the  hand- 
somest steam  yachts  in  existence,  and  her  record  of 
over  twenty  miles  an  hour  at  top  speed  is  .said  to 
make  her  the  fastest  boat  on  fresh  water  anywhere 
in  the  world. 

PERSONAL  ClIR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  William  James 
Conners  was  born  at  Buffalo  January  3,  lSo7 ;  at- 
tended public  schools,  but  began  work  as  a  porter  on 
lake  steamers  at  the  age  of  thirteen  ;  has  carried  on  a 
freight-transfer  business  at  Buffalo  and  other  lake 
ports  since  1885  ;  married  Catherine  Mahany  of  Buf- 
falo in  November,  1881,  and  Mary  A.  Jordan  of  West 
Seneca,  N  V. ,  August  3,  18!)S ;  has  been  president 
of  the  Enquirer  Co. ,  and  of  the  Magnus  Beck  Brew- 
ing Co.,  Buffalo,  since  1895. 


IDailtCl  3.  IkCnCRCl?  cannot  be  said  to  exem- 
plify the  maxim  that  old  men  should  be  chosen  for 
coun.sel  and  young  men  for  action  —  hardly  that,  as 
he  %vas  born   in  the  midst   of  the  Civil    War,  and    is 


thus  a  young  man  still  ;  but  his  success  in  the  tr)ing 
office  of  district  attorney  shows  that  the  common 
practice  need  not  in  all  cases  be  followed.  Mr. 
Kenefick,  indeed,  has  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  of 
youth  tempered  and  governed  by  the  wi.sdom  and 
discretion  of  maturity  —  a  particularly  happy  com- 
bination of  (lualities  for  the  (hief  prosecuting  officer 
of  a  populous  county. 

Born  in  Buffalo  thirty-two  years  ago,  Mr.  Kenefick 
has  lived  there  all  his  life.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  city,  pursued  his  professional 
studies  in  a  Buffalo  office,  sought  out  his  life  com- 
panion among  the  charming  daughters  of  Buffalo, 
and  has  otherwise  lieen  thoroughly  loyal  to  the 
|)lace  of  his  nativity.  Public  School  No.  4  was  his 
first  source  of  educational  inspiration,  followed  b\' 
the  high  school,  from  which  he  graduated  with  the 
cla,ss  of  '81.  Foregoing  the  advantages  of  a  system- 
atic training  in  a  law  school,  Mr.  Kenefick  carried 
on  his  legal  studies  in  the  office  of  Crowley  & 
Movius,  and  in  that  of  their  successors,  Crowley, 
Movius  &  Wilcox.  With  some  drawbacks,  there 
are  in  like  manner  certain  advantages  in  that  method 
of  reading  law,  and  Mr.  Kenefick  must  have  mini- 
mized the  obstacles  and  made  the  most  of  the  off- 
setting advantages  ;  for  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  October,  1884,  having  accomplished  that  end 
in  about  the  same  time  that  a  course  in  a  law  school 
would  require. 

He  began  at  once  the  lal)orious  and  .sometimes 
discouraging  task  of  building  up  a  clientage.  His 
progress  was  as  rapid  as  could  l>e  expected,  and  was 
somewhat  facilitated,  perhaps,  by  his  early  profes- 
sional enlistment  in  the  public  service.  After  prac- 
ticing only  slightly  more  than  a  year,  he  was 
appointed  to  a  clerkship  in  the  law  department  of 
the  city.  He  retained  this  position  throughout  the 
calendar  year  1886,  and  then  resigned  to  accept  an 
appointment  as  second  assistant  district  attorney 
under  Ceorge  T.  Quinby,  then  district  attorney. 
Holding  this  position  five  years,  and  ably  discharg- 
ing its  duties,  he  was  appropriately  rewarded,  on 
January  1,  1893,  by  an  appointment  as  first  assistant 
district  attorney.  On  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Quinby, 
in  November,  1894,  Covernor  Flower  appointed  Mr. 
Kenefick  district  attorney  for  the  unexpired  term. 

Mr.  Kenefick  had  now  been  in  the  office  of  the 
district  attorney  nearly  eight  years.  'I'hroughoul 
this  period  he  had  performed  zealously  and  efficiently 
the  work  assigned  to  him  ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  service,  owing  to  the  illness  of  the  district  attor- 
ney, the  chief  responsibility  of  the  office  rested  upon 
him,  and  was  ade(|uately  l)orne  by  him.  {^)uite 
lirojierlv    and    naturallv.    therefore,    the    Republican 


.i/A'.\"  t^i-  M-.w  ](</:K—\ri-:s/7-:h'.\  skct/ox 


liS.'i 


party  in  l'^y4  placed  Mr.  Keiiefick  in  nomination 
lor  the  office  of  district  attorney.  The  choice  of 
the  convention  was  emphatically  ratified  at  the  polls, 
as  Mr.  Kenefick  was  elected  by  the  surprising  vote 
of  almost  two  to  one.  That  the  judgment  of  the 
Reijuhlican  party  and  of  the  \otcrs  was  sounil  has 
been  amply  demonstrated  by  Mr.  Kene- 
fick's  efficient  service.  Always  alert 
and  vigorous  in  protecting  the  legal 
interests  of  Krie  county,  he  is  at  the 
same  time  regardful  of  the  rights  of 
others,  and  scrupulously  careful  not  to 
overstep  the  proper  bounds  of  his  author- 
ity. His  evident  fair-mindedness  and 
ju.st  disposition  of  the  difficult  (juestions 
constantly  arising  in  the  district  attor- 
ney's office,  have  gained  for  him  uni- 
versal r&spect  and  confidence  among  his 
professional  as.sociates. 

Mr.  Kenefick's  first  legal  partnership 
was  formed  with  Joseph  V.  Seaver.  On 
the  latter's  election  as  county  judge, 
Mr.  Kenefick  a.ssociated  himself  with 
Messrs.  Cuddeback  and  Ouchie.  This 
connection  lasted  until  May,  18!).'!,  when 
Mr.  Kenefick  and  William  H.  Love 
combined  forces  in  the  existing  success- 
ful firm  of  Kenefick  &  Love. 

PERSOXAL     CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y  — 
Daniel  Joseph  Kenefick  was  horn  at  Buf- 
falo  October  !■'>,  186S  ;   7vas  etiiicated  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  city,  and  i^radiiatcil 
from  the  high  school  in   1881 ;    jcas    ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1884  ;  married  A/aysic 
Germain  of  Buffalo  June  -iO,   1891 ;   was 
second  assistant  district  attornev  of  Erie 
county,   1887—92,  and  first  assistant  dis- 
trict  attorney,    1893-94 ;    '^^'^-^   appointed 
district  attorney   by    Gorernor  Blmaer  to 
fill  an  unexpired  term  in  November,  1894,  and  7C'a.\ 
elected  to  the  office  the  same  year :  has  practiced  lam 
in  Buffalo  since  1884- 


UmUliam  C.  IkraUSS,  though  he  has  practiced 
his  profession  only  a  few  years,  has  already  become 
recognized  as  an  authority  in  his  specialty  of  nervous 
diseases.  Present-day  life,  with  its  many  undeni- 
able ad\antages,  has  also  some  drawbacks  ;  and  one 
of  the  greatest  of  these  is  the  excess! \e  demand 
that  it  makes  on  human  energy.  Men  of  business, 
women  of  fashion,  even  the  very  .school-children, 
break  down  under  the  strain,  and  become  the  vic- 
tims of  nervous  ailments  of  one  kind  or  another, 
until    one    doubts    whether   anv    healthv  minds    or 


bodies  will  be  found  in  the  years  to  come.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  but  natural  that  many  of 
the  younger  generation  of  physicians  should  devote 
themselves  to  special  investigation  of  such  troubles  ; 
and  few  have  done  this  more  exhaustively^  or  with 
brighter  promise  of  brilliant  success,  than  Dr.  Krauss. 


DAM  1:1.  J.   Kh.M-.IK  K 

Born  in  Wyoming  count)  in  l,Sfi;l,  he  obtained 
his  preparatory  education  in  the  Attica  L'nion 
School,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1880  as  the 
valedictorian  of  his  class.  He  then  entered  Cornell 
University,  receiving  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Science  in  18,S4,  as  well  as  a  two-year  certificate  for 
extra  work  done  in  the  medical  preparatory  course. 
From  the  beginning  his  studies  were  directed  in  the 
line  to  which  he  has  steadily  devoted  himself;  since 
this  preparatory  work  at  Cornell,  under  Dr.  Burt  (",. 
Wilder,  concerned  the  anatomy  and  histology  of  the 
nervous  system.  Dr.  Krauss's  medical  degree  was 
obtained  from  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 
in  liHHd,  when  he  stood  second  in  the  honor  class. 
.\fter  siiending  the  summer  of  that  vear  in  Bellevue 


280 


.I//-;.\'    ('/■•   .Vhlf    )()A'A-—li7-:S77iA'\  S/-A-/7i).y 


Hospital,  he  went  ahioatl  in  the  fall,  and  passed 
three  years  in  the  special  study  of  nervous  and 
mental  diseases.  He  attended  the  famous  universi- 
ties of  Munich,  Berlin,  and  l^aris,  receiving  the 
degree  of  M.  I).,  magna  cum  lainle,  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Berlin  in   l.H,s,s.      In  the  spring  of  1889 


WILLIAM   I  .    A'A'M rs.S 

he   visited   the   London   medical  schools,  returning 
home  in  June  of  that  year. 

Dr.  Krauss  had  some  actpiaintance  with  Buffalo, 
where  his  father  was  well  known  in  commercial 
circles  ;  and  he  had  already  acquired  a  reputation 
among  the  members  of  his  profession  there  as  special 
correspondent  of  the  Buffalo  Medical  Journal  Awrmg 
his  years  of  study  abroad.  He  decided,  therefore, 
to  settle  in  that  city.  So  long  and  thorough  a  prep- 
aration for  any  calling  could  hardly  fail  to  ensure 
success  therein — certainly  not  when  united  with 
such  natural  ability  as  Dr.  Krauss  ])ossesses.  His 
success  has  been  uninterrupted,  and  he  has  already 
built  up  a  large  special  practice.  He  has  also  made 
a  reputation  as  an  expert  on  insanity,  and  has  been 


called  upon  to  testify  before  the  courts  in  nearly 
every  important  case  calling  for  such  testimony  in 
central  and  western  New  York. 

As  a  medical  writer  and  instructor  Dr.  Krauss  has 
been  prominent  ever  since  he  began  practice.  He 
has  been  professor  of  pathology  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Niagara  University  (1890-95), 
and  is  now  professor  of  nervous  di.seases 
there.  In  1890  he  delivered  a  course  of 
lectures  at  Cornell  University.  He  is 
a.ssociate  editor  of  the  Buffalo  Medical 
Journal,  and  of  several  other  medical 
|)ublications  in  both  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. He  has  published  sixty-five  scien- 
tific papers,  treating  of  a  variety  of 
subjects,  and  embodying  the  results  of 
much  original  research  in  his  special 
line.  His  connection  with  professional 
societies  is  unusually  extensive  :  he  is  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Micro.scopical  Soci- 
ety of  London,  and  of  the  American 
Neurological  A.ssociation  ;  he  is  a  mem- 
lier  of  the  American  Microscopical  Soci- 
ety (of  which  he  is  secretary),  the 
Huffiilo  Microscopical  Society  (  of  which 
he  was  jjresident  in  1892-93),  the  New 
York  State  Medical  Society,  the  Medical 
Association  of  Central  New  York  (of 
which  he  was  elected  first  vice  president 
October  20,  189(i),  the  Lake  Krie  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  the  Krie  County  Medi- 
cal Society.  He  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  Buffalo  Academy  of  Medicine 
in  1892,  and  was  its  secretary  for  several 
years.  In  1890-92  he  was  secretary  of 
the  Buffalo  Obstetrical  Society.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Buffalo  Medical  Club,  as 
well  as  to  the  Liberal  and  University 
clubs  of  Buffalo,  and  the  Buffalo  Associa- 
tion of  Cornell  .\lumni.  He  holds  the  position  of 
neurologist  in  a  number  of  the  city  hospitals,  includ- 
ing the  Erie  County  Hos|)ital,  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
Hos])ital,  and  the  .Asylum  and  Hospital  of  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Francis. 

PERSONA  L  CIIR  ONOL  O  G  V—  William 
Christopher  Krauss  was  born  at  Attica,  N.  Y. , 
October  l'>,  1863 ;  graduated  from  Cornell  Chnrer- 
sity  in  1884,  and  from  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College,  New  York  city,  in  1880 ;  studied  in  Euro- 
pean universities,  1886-80 ;  married  Clara  Krieger 
<y/  Salamanca,  N.  K,  September  J/,  1800;  has  prac- 
ticed in  Buffalo  since  1800,  confining  his  work  to  dis- 
eases of  the  mind  and  nervous  system  ;  has  been  pro- 
fessor in  Niagara  University  since  1801. 


.I/AW    Ol-  .\KW    YORK— WESTER X  SECTIOX 


287 


]E5\VarJ)  (I.  SbatCr  is  wcll  ami  ta\orably 
known  in  commercial  circles,  and  in  the  political  life 
of  Buffalo.  Few  men  have  been  so  thoroughly  occu- 
pied with  business,  and  at  the  same  time  so  promi- 
nent in  local  affairs.  But  Mr.  Shafer  possesses 
unusual  capacity  for  grappling  with,  and  quickly 
solving,  the  many  perplexing  problems  that  arise  in 
the  course  of  a  mercantile  career.  'I'he  growing  de- 
mand.s  of  his  business  have  in  recent  years  restricted 
his  activity  in  matters  of  public  concern,  but  he  is 
thoroughly  informed  on  all  public  questions. 

Mr.  Shafer  is  a  native  of  the  Keystone  State,  and 
received  there  a  common-school  and  an  academic 
education.  After  taking  up  his  residence  in  Buffalo 
he  pursued  a  commercial  course  at  Bryant  &  Strat- 
ton's  Business  College  in  that  city.  He  began  life's 
work  with  the  firm  of  Barnes,  Bancroft  &  Co.  of 
Buffalo,  from  whose  employ  he  went  to 
serve  as  bookkeeper  for  O.  S.  Carretson. 
With  this  training  he  embarked  in  the 
hardware  busine.ss  as  a  partner  in  the 
BufUilo  Hardware  Co.,  and  was  con- 
nected with  this  enterpri.se  for  si.x  years. 
He  then  became  manager  of  the  Buffalo 
School  Furniture  Co.  The  growth  of 
their  business  rendered  incorporation  de- 
sirable, and  upon  the  organization  of  the 
concern  as  a  stock  company  Mr.  Shafer 
became  director,  treasurer,  and  general 
manager.  He  has  retained  these  posi- 
tions to  the  present  time.  The  improve- 
ment in  school  furnishings  in  recent 
years  has  been  marvelous,  but  Mr.  Shafer 
has  kept  his  comjMny  in  the  van  of  the 
industr)-. 

In  politics  Mr.  Shafer  is  a  Repulili- 
can,  but  could  not  be  fairl)-  called  a  par- 
tisan. His  popularity  was  shown  when 
he  ran  for  alderman  on  the  Republican 
ticket  in  the  old  od  ward  of  Buffalo, 
time  out  of  mind  a  Democratic  strong- 
hold. Mr.  Shafer  came  within  1.32  votes 
of  an  election.  Two  years  later  he  was 
appointed  police  commissioner  by  Mayor 
Becker,  and  diligently  performed  the 
duties  of  that  office.  In  the  year  l^iiS!) 
he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  city  comjj- 
troller.  He  served  one  term  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  people,  and  would  have 
been  renominated  by  his  party,  had  not 
the  pressure  of  private  business  compelled  him  to 
decline.  In  the  same  year  there  was  a  movement 
afoot  to  elect  Mr.  Shafer  mayor  of  the  city,  hut  the 
same  reasons  that  obliged  him  to  decline  a  renom- 


ination    for    comptroller    made    it    necessary    to   re- 
nounce as  well  all  thought  of  the  mayoralty. 

The  development  and  expansion  of  the  business  of 
the  Buffalo  School  Furniture  Co.  is  due  in  large  part 
to  Mr.  Shafer's  tireless  energy  and  foresight.  His 
duties  with  this  company  absorb  nearly  all  his  time. 
Recently,  however,  he  ha.s  been  elected  president  of 
the  Standard  Paving  Co.  of  Buffalo  ;  and  for  years 
he  has  been  a  director  of  the  Hydraulic  Bank.  He 
is  a  member  of  many  fraternities,  in  all  of  which  he 
takes  a  prominent  part,  and  has  fdled  various  high 
offices.  In  short,  since  taking  ujj  his  residence  in 
Buffalo,  Mr.  Shafer  has  proved  himself  not  only  a 
sound  business  man,  Init  also  one  who  has  the  best 
interests  of  his  community  at  heart.  He  enjoys  ac- 
cordingly in  large  measure  the  respect  and  good  will 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 


EDWAKI)  c.  s/i,t/-i:K 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Edward  C. 
Shafer  7i>as  born  at  Honesdale,  Penn.,  April  17, 
ISoO;  received  a  common-school  arid  an  academic  educa- 
tion  in    Pennsylvania  :     moved  to   Buffalo  in    !S7£ ; 


2SS 


M/-:\  or  \j:ir  ) oa'A'— n-/-:s ?■/■:/,'. v  s/-:cvv(y.y 


married  Elizabeth  Anderson  of  Buffalo  June  25,  18H  ; 
engat^ed  in  the  hardware  business,  1877-83  ;  was  ap- 
pointed police  commissioner  of  Buffalo  May  7,  1887  ; 
was  city  comptroller,  1800-01 :  has  been  connected 
with  the  Buffalo  School  Furniture  Co.  since  188-i. 


]£rUC5t  TlWCUOe.  \vell  known  as  a  successful 
physician  in  a  difficult  specialty,  and  more  widely 
known  for  his  remarkable  efficiency  as  health  com- 
missioner of  Buffalo,  was  born  in  Krie  county  about 
forty  years  ago.  After  graduating  from  the  Buffalo 
High  School  in  1S74,  Dr.  Wende  engageil  in  teach- 
ing two  years,  and  then  took  up  the  study  of  medi- 
cine. His  medical  education  consumed  the  greater 
part  of  the  next  twelve  years,  and  included  attendance 
at  Buffalo  I'niversity,  from  which  he  graduated  with 
honors  in  IHTS;  at  the  (."oUege  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  Columbia  ;  and  at  the  L'niversity  of  Penn- 
sylvania, whence  he  graduated  with  honors  of  the 
first  class  in  \>^M,  and  from  which  he  received  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in  1?<<S.1.  In  1,SM-X() 
he  crowned  with  the  latest  results  of  medical  re- 
search an  education  that  was  already  remarkably 
thorough,  studying  in  Vienna  and  Berlin,  and 
specializing  his  work  on  skin  diseases  and  micros- 
copy in  the  private  laboratories  of  Virchow  and 
Koch.  In  the  c  ourse  of  his  medical  studies  Dr. 
Wende  won  a  West  Point  competitive  examination, 
and  attended  the  Military  Academy  one  year 
( lS7.i-7(i ).  He  practiced  medicine  at  Alden,  Krie 
county,  in  the  intervals  of  his  advanc  ed  professional 
training.  In  1S7!)  he  was  elected  school  commis- 
sioner from  the  first  district  of  Krie  county.  Since 
his  return  from  Berlin  in  the  fall  of  LSXd,  he  has 
practiced  continuously  in  Buffalo,  and  has  made 
himself  famous  for  his  successfid  treatment  of  dis- 
eases of  the  skin. 

VV'e  have  saved  most  of  our  space  for  an  account 
of  Dr.  Wende's  work  as  health  commissioner  of 
Buffalo.  Under  this  head  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  his  services  to  the  city  have  been  invaluable, 
and  will  benefit  Buffalonians  for  many  years  to 
come.  Taking  office  January  1,  1«1)'2,  by  appoint- 
ment from  Mayor  Bishop,  he  entered  upon  his  duties 
admirably  e^iuipijed  for  the  work  before  him.  His 
exhaustive  professional  studies  and  rare  skill  as  a 
physician  were  only  a  part  of  his  qualifications. 
Added  to  these  he  possessed  unusual  executive 
ability,  and  was  thereby  enabled  to  organize  a  de- 
partment of  health  that  has  become  a  model  for 
other  cities.  L'nder  his  administration  the  death 
rate  in  Buffalo  has  steadily  decreased,  having  fallen 
from  23. 4S  per  thousand  of  population  in  1891  to 
11.07  for  the  first  six  months  of  IMSKi.      The  deaths 


recorded  in  1<S!I1  were  UOOl  in  numlicr,  while  in 
189.5,  notwithstanding  an  increase  of  80,000  inhab- 
itants, the  nimiber  of  recorded  deaths  had  fallen  to 
4(j84.  These  and  other  statistics  are  regarded  as 
proof  that  Buffalo  is  the  healthiest  <  itv  of  its  si/e  in 
the  world. 

The  following  are  .some  of  the  ways  in  which  Dr. 
Wende  has  brought  about  this  most  beneficent 
result.  Formerly  records  of  contagious  diseases 
were  made  by  mail  at  the  convenience  of  the  attend- 
ing physician  :  now  all  such  cases  must  be  reported 
immediately  by  telephone.  Thereupon  the  heallli 
office,  open  at  all  hours  day  and  night,  will  dispatch 
a  man  to  ins])ect  the  premises,  attach  jjlacards  to  the 
house,  and  adopt  such  other  .sanitary  precautions  as 
may  be  advisable.  To  guard  against  the  jjollution 
of  the  city  water,  daily  bacteriological  and  chemical 
examinations  are  made.  One  of  the  first  results  of 
this  system  was  to  close  forever  an  emergency  inlet 
which  was  formerly  used  in  times  of  low  water,  and 
which  .sometimes  let  sewage  into  the  public  mains. 
Over  half  the  wells  formerly  used  for  domestic  pur- 
poses were  found  on  examination  to  contain  water 
charged  with  germ  life,  and  were  accordingly  filled 
up.  The  (jeriodical  visitation  of  the  |)ublic  schools 
and  annual  vaccination  of  the  pupils,  minimizes  the 
danger  of  epidemics  in  the  schools.  All  police  sta- 
tions, fire-department  i|uarters,  and  schoolhouses  are 
minutely  inspected  at  stated  intervals,  to  ensure 
hygienic  conditions. 

The  inspection  and  purification  of  the  milk  sup[)l\ 
of  Buffalo  involved  a  difficult  piece  of  organization. 
The  banishment  of  cow  barns  from  thickly  peo- 
pled districts,  and  the  comjjulsory  observance  by 
milk  jiroducers  of  regulations  designed  to  reduce  the 
risks  of  mothers  and  children,  were  at  last  effected  : 
and  now  a  record  is  kept  of  every  milkman,  so  that 
any  diseases  on  his  route  ascribable  to  im])ure  milk 
may  lead  to  investigation  and  appropriate  punish- 
ment. Another  feature  of  the  Wende  administra- 
tion that  aboli.shes  disease  bv  preventing  its  birth, 
may  be  found  in  the  system  of  inspecting  su])i)lies  of 
vegetables,  meats,  and  the  like,  at  markets  and  pro- 
duce houses.  Frozen  oranges,  rotten  bananas,  and 
other  dangerous  food,  have  frecpiently  been  con- 
demned. Tenement  houses,  minor  hotels,  and  lodg- 
ing places  are  often  visited,  lest  infectious  diseases  take 
root  and  spread  undetected.  A  vast  amount  of  sick- 
ness has  doubtless  been  headed  off  by  municipal  super- 
vision of  phmibing  and  drainage.  No  i)lumbing  can 
now  be  done  unless  plans  therefor  are  first  filed, 
and  approved  by  experts  ;  and  no  householder  need 
pay  for  his  plumbing  until  the  completed  work  is 
passed  upon  by   ins])ectors  and  accepted.      Without 


MKX   or  XEIV    VORK—U-KSTERX  SECTfO.X 


2S9 


recounting  further  the  means  employed  by  Dr. 
Wende  to  protect  the  city  from  disease,  suffice  it  to 
say  that  he  has  conducted  the  department  of  health 
on  a  scientific  basis  from  first  to  last. 

Dr.  Wende  is  professor  of  diseases  of  the  skin  in 
the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo, 
and   of  botany   and    microscopy   in    the 

College   of    Pharmacy.      He    is   greatly         . 

interested  in  geology,  botany,  and  the 
natural  sciences  generally,  and  is  pro- 
foundly erudite  in  these  subjects.  He  is 
also  an  archaeologist,  and  has  brought  to  \ 
light  many  interesting  relics  in  his  nu- 
merous country  walks  around  western 
New  York  and  Ontario.  The  Buffalo 
Society  of  Natural  Sciences  is  indebted 
to  him  for  many  valuable  contributions. 

Dr.  Wende  belongs  to  the  Erie  County 
Medical  Society,  the  New  York  State 
Medical  Association,  the  American  Mi- 
croscopical Society,  and  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can Medical  Association.  He  was  re- 
cently elected  vice  president  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association. 
He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  Electro-Thera- 
peutic Association,  and  of  the  Royal 
Microscopical  Society  of  England. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Ernest  Wende  loas  horn  at  Mill  Grove. 
N.  Y. ,  July  23,  lS5-i  ;  gradiiateit  from 
the  Buffalo  High  School  in  187 J^,  from 
the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  Buffalo  in  1878,  and  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  in  188 Jf  :  studied  in 
the  medical  department  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege, 1881-82,  and  in  the  universities  of 
Berlin  and  Vienna,  1885—86;  married 
Frances  Harriet  Cutler  of  Omaha,  Neb. , 
August  2o,  1881 ;  has  practiced  his  pro- 
fession at  Buffalo  since  N'ovemher,  188G ;  has  been 
health  commissioner  of  Buffalo  since  January,   1892. 


army  until  July,  l.S(i2,  when  he  was  woimded  so 
seriously  in  the  fight  at  Malvern  Hill,  the  last  of  the 
"Seven  Days'  Battles,"  that  he  was  compelled  to 
leave  the  service. 

Like  thousands  of  other  bright  young  men,  Mr. 
P)la.sdell   began   his   business  career  as  a  telegraph 


"Ibeman  /ID.  JSlaSbell,  for  years  past  one  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  North  Collins,  lOrie  county, 
was  born  in  Perrysburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1840.  His  edu- 
cation was  varied,  beginning  with  the  district  school, 
and  including  attendance  at  Gowanda  Academy  and 
Oberlin  College.  He  also  taught  school  two  winters 
in  the  town  of  Persia,  Cattaraugus  county,  before 
going  to  Oberlin.  He  left  college  to  continue  his 
education  in  one  of  the  finest  ])ossil)le  schools  of 
discipline  —  the  Union  army  during  the  Rebellion. 
Enlisting  in  the  first  year  of  the  war,  in  company 
H,  44th  New  York  volunteers,  he  remained  in   the 


L 


ERNEST  WENDE 


operator.  He  was  soon  promoted  to  the  position  of 
station  agent,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  nine 
years  at  Smith's  Mills,  Chautauqua  county.  Wisely 
concluding  that  such  work  was  not  likely  to  result  in 
financial  independence  or  an  assured  position  in  life, 
Mr.  Blasdell  formed  a  partnership  with  David  Sher- 
man at  North  Collins,  for  the  conduct  of  a  general 
mercantile  business.  They  commenced  operations 
April  1,  1872,  and  carried  on  a  successful  business 
for  the  next  five  years. 

To  many  people  Mr.  Blasdell  is  known  chiefly 
through  his  connection  with  the  suburb  of  Buffalo 
foundetl  by  him  and  bearing  his  name.  In  l.ss,3  he 
bought  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of 
Hamburg,  Erie  county,  and  laid  out  there  the  town 


200 


MEA   OF  XEir    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


of  Blasdell.  He  caused  a  post  office  to  be  estab- 
lished at  the  place,  and  was  the  first  postmaster ; 
and  he  conducted  a  general  store  there  for  several 
years.  He  still  owns  much  valuable  property  at 
Blasdell,  and  is  naturally  greatly  interested  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  town  ;    but  in  1S,S7  he  returned  to 


///■•.MAX  .lA   /.'A. /.S7> /••/./. 

North  Collins,  and  has  since  resided  there.  In  a 
business  way  he  has  concerned  himself  chiefly  with 
real  estate. 

As  might  be  expected  from  his  prominence  in 
business  affairs,  Mr.  Blasdell  has  likewise  attained 
distinction  in  political  life.  He  was  supervisor  of 
the  town  of  North  Collins  for  the  three  years,  1878- 
80.  In  November,  1895,  he  was  elected  to  the  state 
legislature  from  the  8th  assembly  district  by  the 
largest  majority  ever  given  to  a  candidate  in  his  dis- 
trict, and  in  November,  18i)(i,  he  was  re-elected. 
He  was  appointed  by  Governor  Morton  in  1895  a 
trustee  of  the  Thomas  Asylum,  an  institution  for 
orphan  Indians  on  the  Cattaraugus  Indian  reserva- 
tion.     He  is  now  treasurer  of  the  institution  as  well. 


His  service  in  the  Civil  War  has  given  Mr.  Bla.sdell 
a  place  in  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  he 
is  a  Past  Commander  of  the  S.  C.  Noyes  Post.  He 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  Masonry,  having  member- 
ship in  Fortune  Lodge,  No.  788,  F.  &  A.  M., 
Gowanda  Chapter,  No.  136,  R.  A.  M.,  and  Sala- 
manca Commandery,  No.  62,  K.  T. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Heman  AT.  Blasdell  loas  born  at  Perrys- 
burg,  Catlaraugus  county,  N.  V. ,  Janu- 
ary 28,18  JfO ;  took  part  in  the  Civil  War, 
1861-62  ;  married  Lusannah  Sherman  of 
North  Collins,  N.  Y.,  June  8,  186 Jn 
7vas  telegraph  operator  and  station  agent 
at  Smith's  Mills,  N.  Y,  1863-72  ,■  con- 
ducted a  general  store  at  North  Collins, 
1872-77 ;  was  supervisor  of  North  Col- 
lins, 1878-80  ;  founded  the  town  of  Blas- 
dell, Erie  count}',  N.  Y.,  in  188S,  and 
engaged  in  business  there,  1883-87  ;  was 
elected  member  of  assembly  in  Nove/nber, 
180.'),  from  the  8th  Erie-county  district, 
and  7c>as  re-elected  in  1896  ;  has  lived  in 
North  Collins  since  1887. 


Milliam  Booftstaver,  mayor  of 

Dunkirk,  .\.  Y.,  and  for  many  years 
thoroughly  identified  with  all  that  is 
good  in  the  city,  is  of  Dutch  descent, 
and  was  born  in  Montgomery,  N.  Y.,  in 
the  last  days  of  the  year  1833.  His 
ancestors  are  traceable  in  this  country, 
through  various  paths  of  honor,  from  the 
year  1732,  when  his  great-grandfather, 
Jacol)  Boochstaber  (as  the  name  was 
then  spelled),  came  from  Holland,  and 
settled  in  Orange  county,  New  York. 

Mr.  Bookstaver  graduated  from  Mont- 
gomery Academy  in  1852,  and  afterward 
taught  in  the  same  institution  for  one  year.  His 
ultimate  purpose  was  to  practice  law,  and  in  April, 
1855,  he  went  to  Dunkirk  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
legal  i)rofession.  After  studying  in  the  office  of 
Brown  &  Bookstaver  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1858. 

A  sound  knowledge  of  law  is  an  invaluable  piece 
of  equipment  for  any  business  man,  and  this  fact 
has  not  infrequently  encouraged  lawyers  to  use  their 
talents  chiefly  in  the  conduct  of  business  affairs.  So 
it  has  been  in  great  ])art  with  Mr.  Hookstaver.  He 
has  transacted  a  good  deal  of  office  law  business  ; 
but  he  engaged  in  real-estate  ventures  on  a  large 
scale  soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  and  these 
operations,    together   with   other    inisiness   pursuits. 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


201 


have  absorbed  his  time  and  attention  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  active  legal  practice.  He  showed  his  faith 
in  the  future  of  Dunkirk  by  making  large  real-estate 
investments  in  different  parts  of  the  city  ;  and  he 
has  long  been  one  of  the  heaviest  individual  tax- 
payers of  the  place.  He  is  president  of  the  Dun- 
kirk Savings  and  Loan  Association,  which  has 
helped  many  worthy  men  to  acijuire  homes  and 
property.  He  was  prominent  in  the  organization  of 
the  Dunkirk,  Warren  &  Pittsburg  railroad,  now  the 
Dunkirk,  Allegheny  Valley  &  Pittsburg,  and  was 
one  of  the  original  directors  of  the  company. 

The  story  of  Mr.  Bookstaver's  political  career  is 
long  and  interesting,  and  extremely  significant  of 
the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  fellow-citizens. 
He  has  served  Dunkirk,  as  village  and  city,  in  every 
department  of  municipal  administration.  While 
the  place  remained  a  village  he  was  suc- 
cessively its  clerk,  attorney,  treasurer, 
and  president.  In  1875  he  was  elected 
supervisor  from  the  town  of  Dunkirk, 
and  remained  on  the  board,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  twelvemonth,  for 
sixteen  years.  At  the  end  of  that  period, 
in  1890,  he  declined  a  unanimous  nomi- 
nation for  re-election,  as  he  was  about 
to  make  an  extended  foreign  tour.  In 
1885  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  water 
commissioners,  and  is  still  on  the  board. 
In  1887  he  was  appointed  mayor  of 
Dunkirk  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  resignation  of  M.  L.  Hinman,  and 
the  next  year  he  was  elected  to  the  same 
office.  He  was  re-elected  in  1889  and 
again  in  1890,  and  in  ISOO  he  was  once 
more  summoned  to  the  mayor's  chair. 

While  mayor,  in  188.S,  Mr.  Book- 
staver  devoted  much  time  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  system  of  municipal  electric 
lighting,  believing  that  in  this  way  the 
city  could  secure  the  best  results  at  a 
minimum  cost.  Dunkirk  was  the  i)io- 
neer  in  this  movement  in  the  state,  and 
the  plan  met  with  fierce  opposition. 
The  mayor,  supported  by  the  common 
council,  argued  the  matter  before  the 
governor  and  both  branches  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  carried  it  through  the  courts. 
It  was  a  test  case  of  municipality  versus 
monopoly,  and  Mayor  Bookstaver's  un- 
tiring efforts  were  finally  crowned  with  succe.ss.  So 
high  an  authority  as  Professor  Richard  T.  Ely,  the 
well-known  economist  and  advocate  of  municipal 
ownership,  gives    Mr.   Bookstaver   great    credit    for 


this  achievement ;  and  the  fact  that  lights  are  fur- 
nished in  Dunkirk  at  15  cents  a  night  each  as 
compared  with  50  cents  in  Baltimore  and  65  cents 
in  Boston,  where  the  service  is  obtained  from  private 
cor|)orations,  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  his 
theory. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Bookstaver  has  been  well 
known  in  state  [wlitical  circles  as  an  earnest  Demo- 
crat. In  1876  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic 
national  convention  at  St.  Louis  that  nominated 
Samuel  J-  Tilden  for  the  presidency.  In  1887  he 
was  appointed  by  (lovernor  Hill  a  member  of  the 
committee  on  prison-labor  reform,  and  served  as 
chairman  of  the  same. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  F—  William  Book- 
staver was  born  at  Montgomery,  Orange  county,  N.  Y. , 
Decemhcr  28,  1833 ;    was   educated  in   Montgomery 


\  \  IL  LI  AM  I!  nOKS  TA  I  -Rk 


Academy  :  studied  Ana  in  Dunkirk,  N.  Y. ,  and  teas 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858 ;  married  Mary  A. 
Leonard  of  Augusta,  Me. ,  July  18,  1861 ;  jvas 
supervisor  for  the  town  of  Dunkirk,    1875-90,  ivith 


202 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


the  exception  of  one  year ;  was  a  delegate  to  the  Demo- 
cratic national  convention  in  1876 ;  was  mayor  of 
Dunkirk,  1887-90,  and  was  again  elected  in  1896  ; 
has'  practiced  law  in  Dunkirk  and  engaged  in  real- 
estate  operations  there  since  1858. 


J.AMF.S   CHALM/CRS 

SameS  CbalmcrS  is  one  of  the  sturdy,  ener- 
getic sons  of  Scotland  who  form  so  respectable  an 
element  of  the  population  of  western  New  York. 
He  was  born  near  Edinburgh,  a  poor  boy,  and  owes 
his  success  to  his  pluck,  perseverance,  and  intelli- 
gence. His  schooling  was  brief.  It  began  when  he 
was  seven  years  old,  and  ended  at  thirteen  when  he 
left  (;illes];ie's  Free  School,  in  Edinburgh,  with  the 
medal  awarded  for  the  highest  average  in  all 
branches  of  the  curriculum.  He  then  taught  school 
in  Edinburgh  until  he  was  sixteen,  and  afterward 
became  an  apprentice  to  an  Edinburgh  machinist. 
But  his  work  in  the  .school,  and  later  in  the  machine 
.shop,  was  only  a  jiart  of  what  the  boy  did.  From 
the  age  of  eight,  in  addition  to  his  other  duties,  he 
had  worked  in  a  gelatine  Htctory.      His  father  hail  a 


contract  to  produce  gelatine  at  a  fixed  price,  and 
to  reduce  the  expense  of  manufacture  James  had 
to  labor  in  the  factory  from  early  morning  until  the 
school  bell  rang,  and  again  after  .school  until  bed- 
time, 'i'hus  he  had  no  chahce  for  study  at  home, 
and  his  award  of  honors  at  school  is  the 
more  noteworthy.  When  he  became  a 
machinist's  api)rentice,  his  extra  labor 
continued  ;  and  after  walking  three  miles 
night  and  morning  to  and  from  the 
machine  shop,  he  had  to  spend  a  few 
hours  at  the  gelatine  factory  assisting 
his  father.  This  manner  of  life  lasted 
until  he  was  twenty-one. 

This  was  a  hard  apprenticeship,  but  it 
is  the  kind  that  develops  and  strengthens 
character  if  the  soil  is  fit.  When,  there- 
fore, James  Chalmers  came  to  this  coun- 
tr_\ ,  in  lcS72,  to  seek  his  fortinie,  he  was 
possessed  of  qualities  that  ensured  his 
success.  He  worked  first  at  the  spring- 
hammer  works  in  Williamsville,  Erie 
coimty,  N.  Y.,  and  then  in  the  Erie-rail- 
road re]jair  sho])s  at  Su.squehanna,  Penn. 
While  he  was  thus  working  for  others  he 
formed  the  determination  to  engage  for 
himself  in  the  manulacture  of  gelatine. 
He  had  no  means,  but  he  did  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  methods  of  manufac- 
ture aci|uired  by  many  years'  weary 
labor  ;  and,  what  was  no  less  valuable, 
he  had  confidence  and  perseverance, 
willing  hands,  and  a  robust  constitution. 
He  began  business  as  a  manufacturer  in 
1.S78  at  Williamsville,  where  there  was 
an  abundant  supjily  of  the  ])ure  spring 
water  essential  to  the  production  of  gel- 
atine. Without  money,  progress  at  first 
was  slow-  ;  but  the  result  was  wliat  might  have  been 
expected  — succe.ss. 

Mr.  Chalmers's  brother,  Peter  Chalmers,  was  a 
partner  in  the  business  until  1882,  when  he  moved 
to  Texas.  Since  then  James  Chalmers  has  conducted 
the  business  alone,  with  steadily  increasing  success. 
His  product  is  sold  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  original  factory  has  been  greatly  enlarged,  and 
recent  improvements  include  a  drying  room  one 
hundred  and  fifty  by  fifty  feet  in  area,  containing 
over  five  thousand  feet  of  pipe,  and  ca])alile  of 
eva|)orating  eight  hundred  gallons  of  water  a  day. 

Mr.  Chalmers  has  always  refu.sed  to  accept  nomi- 
nations tor  jjolitical  office,  but  his  townsmen  have 
insisted  upon  his  filling  several  positions  of  trust  and 
honor.      He  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  ediiiation 


MEN   OF  X/iir    ynRk'—J]-ES7'ER\  SECT/OX 


293 


of  the  Williamsville  High  School,  president  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  village,  and  president  of  the 
Williamsville  board  of  water  commissioners.  He 
has  always  taken  an  interest  in  educational  matters, 
and  has  shown  himself  in  many  ways  a  man  of  public 
spirit.  He  was  instrumental  in  having  Williamsville 
connected  with  Buffalo  by  electric  railway,  and  was 
at  one  time  \ice  president  and  manager  of  the  road. 
His  standing  among  food-producers  was  shown  by 
his  election  as  a  director  of  the  National  Pure  Food 
Manufacturers'  Association.  Mr.  Chalmers  is  a 
member  of  all  the  Masonic  bodies  up  to  the  '■\'ld 
degree,  and  of  the  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOL  OG  Y— fames 
Chalmers  was  horn  at  Gorgie  Mills,  near  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  October  15,  ISJ^i  ;  was  educated  at  Gilles- 
pie^ s  Free  School,  Edinbiirgli ;  married  Helen  JVilson 
of  Peebles,  Scotland,  August  2S,  1866  : 
came  to  America  in  1872  ;  established  the 
Chabners  gelatine  factory  at  Williams'i'ille, 
N.  v.,  in  187S,  and  has  conducted  the 
same  since. 


JOSepb  /ID.  (lOUg^On,  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  of  Cattaraugus  county,  and 
otherwise  well  known  in  western  New 
York,  was  born  about  fifty  years  ago. 
His  general  education  was  obtained  in 
the  district  schools  of  his  native  county 
and  in  Randolph  Academy,  while  his 
professional  studies  were  carried  on  in 
the  office  of  Jenkins  &  Goodwill  at  East 
Randolph.  He  rounded  out  his  legal 
knowledge  by  taking  a  course  at  the 
Albany  Law  School.  Completing  his 
work  there  in  the  summer  of  1870,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  liar  in  October  of 
the  same  year.  Mr.  Congdon  had  sjient 
most  of  his  life  in  Randolph  and  vicin- 
ity, and  wisely  decided  to  cast  in  his  lot 
with  those  who  knew  him  liest.  He  be- 
gan the  practice  of  law,  therefore,  at 
East  Randol]jh  on  June  f ,  1S71,  in  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  Benjamin  F. 
Congdon.  The  firm  of  (Congdon  iV 
Congdon  carried  on  a  successful  legal 
business  until  September  1,  1878,  when 
Mr.  Congdon  associated  himself  with  his 
father-in-law,  M.  T.  Jenkins,  for  the 
purpose  of  practicing  law  in  Fredonia, 
Chautauqua  county.  This  partnership  lasted  two 
years,  or  until  Mr.  Congdon  decided  to  leave  Fre- 
donia, and  carry  on  his  profession  in  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  (jowanda. 


This  was  in  September,  187-'),  and  since  then,  with 
the  exception  of  three  years'  residence  in  Buffalo,  in 
1882-84,  Mr.  Congdon  has  made  Cowanda  his 
abiding-place.  That  the  choice  of  location  was  wise 
seems  clear  from  his  subseijuent  success,  though 
equal  prosperity  might  have  rewarded  his  efforts 
elsewhere.  He  rose  to  prominence  cpiickly  in  the 
political  and  social  life  of  (Jowanda,  while  his  pro- 
fessional practice  became  gratifyingly  large  and  im- 
portant. By  the  year  1880  he  was  so  well  estab- 
lished in  the  regard  of  his  fellow-citizens  that  they 
elected  him  to  the  state  legislature  from  the  2d 
assemlily  district  of  Cattaraugus  county  ;  and  in  1881 
he  was  re-elected.  While  in  the  asseml)ly  he  was  a 
member  of  the  judiciary  committee,  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  legislature,  becoming  chairman  of 
the  committee   in   his  second    vear  of   service.      In 


JOSE  I' 1 1  .lA  co.ycnox 

November,  1895,  he  again  received  substantial  evi- 
dence of  his  po]jularity  in  his  election  to  the  office 
of  district  attorney  of  Cattaraugus  county.  He  is 
now  discharging  cffic  icnll\  the  duties  of  this  office, 


294 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK  ^WESTERN  SECTION 


the  term  of  service  running  for  three  years  from  Jan- 
uary 1,  1896.  His  firm  is  now  styled  J.  M:  &  G.  M. 
Congdon,  his  son  Glenn  having  been  taken  into 
partnership. 

One  feature  of  Mr.  Congdon's  work  in  the  legisla- 
ture is  worthy  of  special  mention.      During  his  first 


TIMOTHY   I:.   HLI.SW  OklH 

term  in  the  a-ssenihly  he  became  greatly  interested 
in  the  codification  of  law.  Year  after  year  penal, 
criminal,  and  civil  codes  had  been  introduced,  but 
had  died  in  one  house  or  the  other  ;  and  nothing 
more  than  this  had  been  accomplished  up  to  the  end 
of  Mr.  Congdon's  first  year  in  the  legislature.  In 
his  second  year  there,  as  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  judiciary,  he  was  in  a  position  to  indulge  his 
interest  in  codification,  and  to  accomplish  something 
where  others  had  failed.  During  the  first  week  of 
the  session  he  introduced  all  three  codes,  and  pushed 
them  unremittingly  through  all  the  necessary  stages 
of  legislation  until  they  were  before  the  governor 
for  approval.  The  ijenal  and  criminal  codes  were 
approved    by   Governor    t'ornell,   though    the    civil 


code  was  returned  without  approval  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  legislature.  This  work  placed 
Mr.  Congdon  in  cIo.se  connection  with  David 
Dudley  Field,  and  a  friendship  was  formed  between 
the  two  men  that  lasted  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Field. 
Mr.  Congdon  naturally  regards  with  much  satisfac- 
tion his  part  in  the  work  of  codifying 
criminal  law  and  criminal  procedure. 

Mr.  Congdon  has  membership  in  vari- 
ous fraternal  societies.  He  is  a  Mason, 
belonging  to  Phoenix  Lodge  and  Go- 
wanda  Chapter  ;  he  is  a  charter  member 
of  Lodge  No.  4t),  Ancient  Order  of 
Lhiited  Workmen  ;  and  he  belongs  to 
Gowanda  Lodge,  Knights  of  the  Macca- 
liees. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  3  — 
Joseph  iMiller  Congdon  was  born  at  Na- 
poli,  Cattaraugus  county,  N.  V. ,  January 
12,  184-6 ;  attended  district  schools  and 
Randolph  Academy :  was  admitted  to  the 
liar  in  1870  ;  married  Alice  Af.  Jenkins  of 
East  Randolph,  iV.  K,  Afay  21f,  1871; 
practiced  law  at  East  Randolph  and  at 
Fredonia,  1871-75 ;  was  member  of  as- 
sembly from  Cattaraugus  county,  1880- 
81 ;  loas  elected  district  attorney  of  Catta- 
raugus county  in  November,  1895 ;  lived 
ill  Buffalo,  1882-8^,  but  has  othentnse 
practiced  law  at  Go7i>anda,  N.  ¥.,  since 
September,  1875. 


ZlimOtbV  E.  JEllSWOrtb  is  a  law- 
yer.     He  is  descended   from   New   Kng- 
land  stock.      For   generations    the    Klls- 
worths  were  a  Connecticut    family,  and 
there  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born, 
in    the   ancient   town   of  East   Windsor. 
His  early  training  was  received  in   public 
and    ])rivate    schools,    and    he    took    his    bachelor's 
degree  from  the  University  of  Rochester.      He  then 
studied  law,  and  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  .set- 
tled at  Lockport. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  Mr.  I^llsworth 
raised  a  company  of  volunteers  at  Lockport,  and 
became  its  captain.  This  company  was  attached  to 
the  7th  regiment.  New  York  volunteer  cavalry,  and 
served  till  disbanded  in  ]8(i2.  Mr.  Ellsworth  con- 
tinued in  the  army,  and  was  on  the  staff  of  General 
Wadsworth  in  the  battles  of  Chancellorsville  and  Get- 
ty.sburg.  He  was  honorably  discharged  in  September, 
18G5,  having  attained  the  rank  of  major  by  brevet. 

Resinning  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Lock- 
jiort,    Mr.    Ellsworth   soon   became   known    in    legal 


MEX  OF  NFAV    YORK —WESTERN  SECT/OX 


295 


circles  and  in  public  affairs.  He  was  an  ardent 
Republican,  and  a  wami  supporter  of  deneral 
Grant.  Mr.  Ellsworth  held  the  office  of  collector 
of  customs  at  Suspension  Bridge,  X.  Y.,  during 
Grant's  two  administrations.  In  the  conduct  of 
political  campaigns  Mr.  Ellsworth  has  lieen  active  ; 
and  his  availability,  as  well  a.s  ability,  has  been 
recognized  by  his  party,  which  has  three  times 
elected  him  to  the  state  senate.  He  has  taken  high 
rank  in  that  body,  and  has  served  on  its  important 
committees,  such  as  the  committee  on  judiciary  and 
the  committee  on  rules.  He  is  at  present  senator 
from  the  4oth  district,  and  president  pro  tempore  of 
the  senate.  As  a  legislator  he  is  industrious,  con- 
servative, and  sagacious,  and  strives  to  give  his 
constituents  the  best  service  in  his  power. 

In  Mr.  Ellsworth's  practice  at  the  bar  he  has  two 
partners,  who  with  him  form  the  firm  of 
Ellsworth,  Potter  &  Storrs.  Aside  from 
his  law  business  he  is  connected  with 
a  number  of  banking  and  mercantile 
houses.  He  is  president  of  the  National 
Exchange  Bank,  and  vice  president  of 
the  County  National  Bank;  and  a  direc- 
tor in  the  Holly  Manufacturing  Co.,  the 
Niagara  Paper  Mills,  the  Traders'  Paper 
Co.,  and  the  Hartland  Paper  Co.  To 
the.se  enterprises,  as  well  as  to  his  profes- 
sion and  his  public  duties,  he  devotes 
himself  with  conscientious  effort.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

PERSOiYAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Timothy  Edwards  Ellsworth  ivas  born 
at  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  September  21, 
1S3G  ;  7oas  educated  at  public  and  private 
schools,  and  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Rochester  in  1857  ;  toas  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Rochester  in  1858,  and  began  prac- 
tice at  Lockport,  N".  V.  ;  served  in  the 
Union  army,  1861-65  :  married,  on  Feb- 
ruary 2,  186 Jf,  Orissa  M.  Shoemaker  of 
Lockport,  who  died  October  28,  1865  : 
was  collector  of  customs  at  Suspension 
Bridge,  N.  ¥.,  1870-78,  and  state  sen- 
ator, 1882-85  ;  was  elected  state  senator 
from  the  JfOth  district  in  1895  ;  has  prac- 
ticed law  at  Lockport  since  1865. 


petence,  and  established  himself  firmly  among  the 
leading  men  of  his  community.  All  this  he  has 
done  in  less  than  forty  years  of  life.  Tireless 
energy,  keen  business  judgment,  and  strict  integrity 
have  been  the  main  factors  in  his  .success. 

Mr.  Jackson's  grandfather  was  a  pioneer  in  FLrie 
county,  going  thither  early  in  the  century  from 
Vermont,  and  opening  up  a  farm  in  Holland  on 
some  high  land  that  still  recalls  his  origin  in  the 
name  "Vermont  hill."  There  Mr.  Jackson  was 
born  in  March,  1X58.  His  early  years  were  as 
busy  as  his  whole  life  has  been,  since  he  lost  his 
father  at  the  age  of  eight.  His  mother,  left  with 
limited  means,  worked  with  untiring  zeal  and 
energy,  thereby  heljiing  and  encouraging  her  five 
children  to  helj)  themselves  and  each  other,  .-\fter 
workintr  on  a  farm  most   of  the   time,  and  attending 


MilUam    36.  JaChSOn   is  a  .self- 
made  man.      .Starting  with   nothing   whatever,    in  a 
small  country  town,  without  advantage  from  family 
connection,  and    entirely  dependent    from  the  first 
on  himself  alone,  he  has  acquired  a  substantial  com- 


W  II.I.IAM  II.  JACKSOX 

the  district  and  a  select  .school  some  of  the  time, 
William  secured  a  clerkship  when  sixteen  years  old 
in  the  general  store  of  Morey  &  Stickney,  Holland. 
He    worked   three   months   for  nothing,    merely   to 


■2W 


A//:.y  OF  .\/:if  )ORh-    westkrx  sf.ct/o.\ 


show  what  he  could  do,  and  several  luonths  more  at 
a  trifling  salary  ;  but  he  gave  his  whole  time  to  the 
business  day  and  night,  working  as  hard  and  as  faith- 
fully as  if  the  store  had  been  his  own.  All  this 
was  duly  appreciated  by  his  employers,  and  in  less 
than  two  years  Mr.  Stickney  surprised  his  youthful 
clerk  by  inviting  him  to  become  his  partner.  Mr. 
Jackson  had  only  S204,  which  he  had  saved  from 
his  earnings,  but  his  character  and  reputation 
enabled  him  to  borrow  enough  to  form  the  partner- 
ship. On  March  24,  187G,  accordingly,  when  he 
had  just  turned  his  eighteenth  year,  the  firm  of 
Stickney  &  Jackson  began  its  successful  career. 
Five  years  later,  on  March  3,  1881,  they  purchased 
the  general  store  of  O.  W.  Childs  at  Protection, 
N.  Y. ,  which  was  carried  on  in  connection  with  the 
store  at  Holland.  The  partnership  continued  seven 
years,  during  which  Mr.  Jackson  made  rapid  jjrog- 
ress  in  establishing  himself  as  a  prosperous  business 
man  and  respected  citizen.  In  March,  188o,  Mr. 
Stickney  found  it  convenient  to  retire  from  the 
business  ;  and  Mr.  Jackson  had  so  prudently  con- 
ducted his  j)ersonal  affairs  that  he  was  able  to  buy 
out  his  partner,  and  become  sole  proprietor  of  the 
establishment  that  he  had  entered  as  a  boy  nine 
years  before.  Since  the  date  mentioned  Mr.  Jack- 
son has  carried  on  the  business  alone  with  entire 
.success.  His  place  to-day  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
plete country  stores  in  western  New  York.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  enterprise  Mr.  Jackson  has  various  out- 
side interests  that  recjuire  some  of  his  business 
attention.  He  owns  pine  lands  in  Mississippi,  farm 
lands  in  South  Dakota,  and  suburban  property  in 
Buffalo,  together  with  choice  bits  of  real  estate  in 
Holland. 

The  proprietor  of  a  general  store  in  a  .small  town 
has  an  e.Kcellent  chance,  if  he  have  al.so  the  requisite 
ability,  to  make  himself  a  power  for  good  in  the 
])ublic  affairs  of  the  community.  In  the  case  of 
Mr.  Jackson  ability  was  not  lacking,  and  for  many 
years  he  has  had  something  to  do  —  usually  a  good 
deal  to  do  —  with  everything  of  much  importance 
that  has  gone  on  in  Holland.  Beginning  with  the 
position  of  town  clerk  in  IMXO,  he  has  been  suc- 
cessively overseer  of  highways  for  three  years,  dur- 
ing which  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  bringing 
the  roads  of  Holland  to  a  high  degree  of  excellence  ; 
postmaster  of  Holland  during  Harri.son's  adminis- 
tration. 18X!l-9;!;  and  supervisor  for  the  years 
l895-!l(j.  He  has  also  been  Republican  committee- 
man from  his  district  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
semi-public,  non-|)olitical  affairs  he  has  been  e<iually 
active,  and  many  im|)rovemcnts  in  Holland  are 
a.scribable  in  large  part  to  his  efforts.      In    isill    he 


helped  to  organize  the  Holland  Water  Works  Co., 
and  has  been  president  thereof  from  the  start.  In 
189.1  he  interested  himself  in  the  establishment  of 
a  local  bank,  sub.scribing  for  a  large  block  of  the 
stock,  and  has  been  president  of  the  institution 
from  the  beginning.  He  has  been  local  treasurer 
of  the  Farmers'  Fire  Relief  Association  since  1887, 
and  of  the  Rochester  Savings  and  Loan  Association 
for  several  years.  He  has  also  been  treasurer  of  the 
Holland  fire  department  since  1894,  besides  holding 
other  offices  that  retpiire  much  of  his  time.  Mr. 
Jackson  belongs  to  various  fraternal  societies,  in- 
cluding the  Masons,  Odd  l^ellows,  Knights  of  the 
Maccabees,  and  Order  of  the  Iro(iuois. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y— William 
Byron  /acksoti  was  horn  at  Holland,  Erie  county, 
N.  V. ,  March  20,  IS'uS  :  attended  district  and  select 
schools ;  7iias  clerk  in  a  country  store,  187^-76  : 
married  M.  Zina  Vaiighan  of  Holland  January  12, 
1881 ;  was  town  clerk  in  1880,  overseer  of  highways, 
1887,  1888,  and  1894,  and  postmaster  of  Holland, 
1889-93  :  has  been  a  member  of  the  Erie-county  board 
of  supervisors  since  189'> ;  has  conducted  a  general 
store  at  Holland  since  187 G  ;  has  been  president  of  the 
Bank  of  Holland  since  its  organization  in  1893. 


Milber  jfisF?  persons  is  still  comfortably 

distant  from  the  prime  of  life,  but  has  already 
achieved  business  success  and  attained  political 
distinction  in  a  noteworthy  degree.  He  was  born 
in  Delevan,  Cattaraugus  county,  N.  Y.,  and  has 
lived  there  most  of  his  life.  In  his  youth  he  sjient 
five  years,  however,  on  the  western  frontier,  and 
graduated  from  the  high  school  in  Omaha,  Xeb. 

Mr.  Persons  began  his  business  career  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  as  a  telegraph  operator  on  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad.  After  returning  to  western  New 
York  in  1876,  he  resumed  railroad  work,  becoming 
assistant  division  superintendent  of  the  Buffalo, 
New  York  &  Philadeljihia  railroad  (now  the  West- 
ern New  York  &  Pennsylvania).  Concluding  that 
greater  rewards  awaited  him  in  an  entirely  different 
calling  —  a  conclusion  amply  justified  by  the  result 
—  Mr.  Persons  jjurchaseil  the  Delevan  Press  in 
18^7,  and  thus  embarked  in  the  business  of  news- 
paper publishing.  The  venture  prospered  from  the 
beginning,  insomuch  that  he  wa.s  emboldened  two 
years  later  to  establish  the  Rejueic,  at  Holland,  Erie 
county.  The  next  year,  1890,  brought  into  being 
the  Censor  of  Sardinia,  Erie  county  ;  and  in  1893 
Mr.  Persons  purchased  the  IVyomitig  Count}'  Record. 
Since  the  latter  date  he  has  conducted  with  increasing 
success  the  four  weekly  newsija])ers  mentioned. 
'I'hev  are   jjublished    in   places  convenientiv  situated 


ME\   OF  XFir    ]-ilRk-  -WESTER. y  SECT/OX 


2'.)T 


with  reference  to  each  other  and  to  the  general 
territory  served,  and  Mr.  Persons  is  al)le  to  handle 
with  dispatch  the  numerous  details  of  his  business. 
The  country  covered  by  his  papers  is  filled  with 
intelligent,  conservative,  and  prosperous  ])eople, 
who  appreciate  duly  and  sup])ort  faith- 
fully such  publications  as  Mr.  Persons 
issues. 

Mr.  Persons  has  naturally  become 
prominent  in  the  social  and  political  life 
of  the  communities  with  which  he  has 
connected  himself.  In  1886  he  was 
elected  justice  of  the  peace  on  the  Re- 
publican ticket  over  the  fusionist  repre- 
sentative of  the  normal  majority.  In 
1891  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Repub- 
lican state  convention  at  Rochester,  and 
in  1896  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  conven- 
tion at  New  York  city.  He  is  a  Past 
Master  of  Arcade  Masonic  Lodge,  No. 
419.  He  also  belongs  to  Springville 
Lodge,  R.  A.  M.,  and  to  St.  John's 
Commandery,  K.  T.,  Olean,  N.  Y.  He 
is  a  Past  Grand  of  Delevan  Lodge,  No. 
616,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Mr.  Persons  has  al- 
ways taken  great  interest  in  everything 
relating  to  the  welfare  of  Delevan.  He 
is  president  of  the  Delevan  ]*>lectric 
Light  &  Power  Co.  He  was  secretary 
of  the  building  committee  during  the 
construction  of  the  new  Delevan  Union 
School.  He  is  superintendent  of  the 
Yorkshire  Water  Co. 

In  his  home  life  and  surroundings  Mr. 
Persons  is  particularly  fortunate,  and  his 
commodious  and  elegant  dwelling  in 
Delevan  is  a  social  center  for  many 
friends. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Wilbcr  Fisk 
Persons  ivas  born  at  Delevan,  N.  V.,  No7'ember  24, 
1858 :  lived  in  the  IVest,  1870-76,  graduating  from 
tlie  Omaha  High  School  in  June,  1875 ;  married 
Alice  Catharine  Strong  of  Delevan  June  2,  1880  : 
loas  in  the  service  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad, 
1875-70,  and  of  the  Buffalo,  New  York  &=  Phila- 
delphia railroad,  1876— 8Jf ;  has  conducted  various 
weekly  newspapers  in  western  New  York  since  1887. 


community  is  more  influential  in  molding  public 
opinion  than  the  great  newspaper  of  a  metropolis. 
The  columns  of  the  village  paper  are  more  thoroughly 
read,  and  more  completely,  because  more  leisurely, 
digested.     The  great  dailies  illustrate  the  well-known 


a&am  %.  IRiuewalt  has  long  been  a  factor  in 
the  newspaper  world  of  western  New  York,  and  in 
the  political  and  business  affairs  of  W'illiamsville, 
where  he  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  It 
may  probably  be  safely  asserted  that  in  jirojiortion  to 
the  number  of  its   readers   the  journal   of  a   small 


Wiiju-.R  risK  nuKsoxs 

economic  principle  of  the  division  of  labor,  and  the 
work  upon  them  is  s])ecialized  to  a  degree  that 
would  surprise  the  uninformed.  Each  has  its  political 
editor,  its  financial  editor,  its  news  editor,  its  relig- 
ious editor,  and  its  sporting  editor.  But  the  editor 
of  a  country  newspaper  must,  to  a  certain  extent, 
combine  in  himself  all  the  varied  functions  of  these 
writers.  Therefore  a  successful  editor  of  such  a 
paper  is  naturally  a  man  of  parts,  and  a  controlling 
influence  in  the  lives  and  thoughts  of  his  community. 
Mr.  Rinewalt  was  born  in  Williamsville,  where 
his  parents  were  among  the  early  settlers.  He 
attended  the  district  school  and  academy  of  his 
native  town.  .\t  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  to 
Beloit,  Wis.,  where  he  learned  the  printer's  trade, 
thus  laying  a  practical  foundation  for  the  profession 


298 


MKX   OF  .\/:W    )'OA'/K—irESTEA\y  SECT/LhX 


that  was  to  be  his  life-work.  He  returned  to  New 
York  state  in  his  twenty-first  year,  and  secured  a  po- 
sition with  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  Buffalo,  then 
under  the  control  of  Matthews  &  Warren.  He  re- 
mained with  them  for  nine  vears,  when  he  established 


.\hva\s  an  active  Republican,  Mr.  Rinewalt  has 
freipienlly  been  called  upon  to  fill  various  j)ositions 
connected  with  the  organization  of  his  party.  He 
was  elected  collector  of  Amherst  in  18)^1,  and  de- 
clined a  renomination  for  that  office.  For  nine 
years  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  village  of 
VVilliamsville,  and  during  five  of  those 
years  he  was  president  of  the  village.  In 
188f)  he  was  elected  a  school  trustee. 
He  has  served  continuously  in  that  posi- 
tion since,  and  is  now  president  of  the 
board  of  education.  During  President 
Harrison's  administration  Mr.  Rinewalt 
was  postmaster  of  VVilliamsville.  He 
has  served  on  many  occasions  as  a  mem- 
ber of  campaign  committees.  Mr.  Rine- 
walt is  a  representative  man  among  his 
fellow-citizens,  who  have  time  and  again 
displayed  their  appreciation  of  his  ser- 
vices to  the  community,  and  their  con- 
fidence in  his  ability  and  character.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  and  of 
several  other  fraternal  organizations. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Adam  Loreiizo  Rincwa/t  7oas  born  at 
Williamsville,  N.  Y.,  May  J^,  1849;  was 
educated  in  district  schools  a?id  IVilliams- 
rille  Academy  ;  learned  the  printer' s  trade 
at  Beloit,  1 1 'is.,  lSG.'>—70;  worhed  at 
his  trade  in  Buffalo,  1870-79 ;  married 
Sarah  Filena  Bloker  of  Williamsville  Sep- 
tember 18,  1878  :  was  postmaster  at  Jl'il- 
liamsville,  1889-93;  established  the  "Am- 
herst Bee ' '  at  IVilliamsville  in  1879,  and 
has  conducted  the  same  since. 


ADAM  I..   I'UXEWAI.r 

the  Amherst  Bee  at  W'illiamsville,  which  he  has  suc- 
cessfully conducted  ever  since. 

Mr.  Rinewalt  is  |)romincnt  in  VV'illiamsville  not 
only  as  a  newspaper  man,  but  as  a  jiromoter  of  many 
commercial  enterprises.  He  was  among  the  first  to 
urge  the  building  of  the  Buffalo  &  Williamsville 
electric  railroad,  and  he  is  one  of  the  stockholders 
of  the  comjjany,  holding  also  the  offices  of  director 
and  secretary.  He  has  been  largely  engaged  in  real- 
estate  transactions,  and  is  connected  with  creamery 
and  other  business  enterprises.  No  man  in  the  com- 
munity is  more  devoted  to  its  interests.  He  has 
concerned  himself  es|)ecially  with  the  public  schools 
of  the  town,  the  establishment  of  waterworks,  and 
other  movements  tending  to  the  advancement  of 
W'illiamsville. 


Jfranh  JE.  Sessions  has  an  in- 
teresting and  honorable  lineage.  His 
great-grandfather,  John  Sessions,  was  of  English 
descent,  and  was  probably  born  in  Massachusetts: 
his  early  history  is  obscure,  but  it  is  known  that  he 
lived  for  a  time  at  the  foot  of  the  (Ireen  mountains 
in  Vermont,  and  afterward  moved  with  his  son  to 
the  Em]jire  State.  This  son,  Schuyler  Sessions, 
after  clearing  up  a  farm  in  Chautaui|ua  county  and 
tilling  the  same  for  a  few  years,  joined  again  the 
westward  tide  of  emigration,  and  settled  on  the 
prairies  of  Iowa.  One  of  his  sons  was  Columbus 
Sessions,  the  father  of  our  |)resent  subject.  Mr. 
Sessions's  mother  was  Cordelia  I'rench,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  French,  who  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts, but  who  became  a  resident  of  Chan 
tau([ua  county,  settling  in  the  town  of  l"ren(  h 
Creek. 


ME\   OF  \Kir    )Oh'K~]rESTEK.X  SECTfOK 


299 


Frank  E.  Sessions  was  born  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Chautaiuiua,  shortly  before  the  middle  of  the  cen- 
tury. When  he  was  five  years  old  his  father  moved 
to  Wisconsin ;  and  there,  by  traveling  three  miles 
each  way  every  day,  Frank  was  able  to  obtain  such 
training  as  the  country  schools  afforded.  He  con- 
tinued to  attend  the  district  schools  of  Fond  du  Lac 
county  until  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  his 
attainments  were  such  that  he  was  able  to  obtain  a 
])osition  as  teacher.  He  taught  for  seven  years  in 
the  Badger  State,  reading  and  studying  law  himself 
all  the  time  ;  and  engaged  in  the  same  occupation 
after  his  return  to  Chautavujua  county.  'Lhere  he 
taught  several  terms  in  Shemian,  French  Creek,  and 
the  union-school  district  of  C'lymer  Village. 

Like  a  multitude  of  others,  Mr.  Sessions  aban- 
doned teaching  for  the  law.  His  uncle,  W'alter  L. 
Sessions,  was  a  prominent  attorney  of  Pan- 
ama, Chautauqua  county,  and  in  his  of- 
fice Mr.  Sessions  began  the  study  of  law 
in  1^(G9.  His  progress  was  checked  bv 
a  business  engagement  in  virtue  of  which 
he  became  superintendent  of  the  tanning 
works  at  Clymer;  but  he  persevered  in 
his  legal  studies  so  far  as  opportunity 
permitted,  and  gained  admission  to  the 
bar  in  April,  1874.  In  the  summer  of 
1876  he  opened  an  office  in  Jamestown, 
and  has  since  practiced  his  profession 
in  that  city.  He  was  associated  with 
Henry  O.  Lakin  from  1878  until  Mr. 
Lakin's  death  in  1884,  and  with  E.  E. 
Woodbury  for  one  year  thereafter.  He 
has  otherwise  practiced  alone. 

Men  value  most  highly  and  utilize 
best,  as  a  rule,  the  things  that  come  to 
them  with  difficulty  ;  and  Mr.  Sessions 
has  improved  to  the  utmost  the  general 
and  legal  education  that  he  aci|uired  so 
hardly.  His  thoroughness  and  accuracy 
in  drawing  up  legal  papers,  and  his  gen- 
eral vigilance  in  guarding  the  interests  of 
those  who  entrust  their  litigation  to  him. 
were  soon  observed  and  duly  appre- 
ciated :  and  for  many  years  he  has 
enjoyed  an  extensive  and  a  lucrative 
practice.  His  professional  ability  was 
fittingly  reiognized  in  LSSO,  when  Cov- 
ernor  Cornell  appointed  him  special 
county  judge  of  Chautauqua  county.  His 
work  in  that  capacity  was  so  well  done  that  at  the 
end  of  his  appointive  term  he  was  elected  to  the 
same  office  for  three  years.  In  1895  he  was  elected 
an  alderman   from  the  1st  ward  of  lamestown,  and 


was  made  chairman  of  the  finance  committee.  In 
April,  l.s9(i,  he  was  unanimously  elected  president 
of  the  city  council,  and  still  holds  the  position.  He 
has  always  been  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  has 
given  his  time  freely  to  various  movements  jiromot- 
ing  the  welfare  of  his  city.  He  has  taken  an  active 
]jart  in  the  organization  and  management  of  the 
Jamestown  Permanent  Loan  and  Building  .As.socia- 
tion,  and  has  been  for  several  years  the  attorney 
and  a  director  of  the  institution.  The  a.ssociation 
was  organized  in  November,  1881,  and  by  means  of 
it  hundreds  of  families  in  Jamestown  have  obtained 
comfortable  dwellings  of  their  own. 

Mr.  Sessions  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to  .Mt.  .Moriali 
Lodge,  No.  14.^,  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  |jrominent 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
Jamestown.  ha\ing  served  the  society  for  many  years 


Fh'.IXK  /■:.  SESS/OXS 


as  trea.surer,  superintendent  of  Sunday  school,  and 
otherwise.  In  jjolitical  life  he  has  acted  with  the 
Republican  party.  He  has  always  been  an  enthusi- 
astic "  Chautau(|uan,"  joining  the  first  Normal  cla.ss 


300 


MEN   OF  NFAV    YORK —WESTER.X  SECTIOX 


in  1)>>74,  and  graduating  with  the  first  Chautauqua 
Literary  and  Scientific  Circle  class  in  1882.  Mr. 
Sessions  is  a  devoted  student  of  history,  and  his 
private  library  is  remarkalily  complete  in  its  collec- 
tion of  standard  works  on  this  fascinating  subject. 


Qi.nER  .V.  VR /■:/■: /.AND 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V— Frank  Edgar 
Sessions  was  born  at  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  May  22, 
ISJfl ;  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  Wiscon- 
sin ;  taught  school,  in  Wisconsin  and  in  Chautauqua 
comity,  N.  V. ,  1862-69  ;  studied  laiu  and  engaged  in 
business,  ] 860-7 Jf,  atid  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the 
latter  year ;  married  Julia  R.  Bush  of  Jamesto7vii, 
N.  Y. ,  June  1,  1876 ;  laas  appointed  special  county 
judge  in  1880,  and  elected  to  the  same  office  for  a  term 
of  three  years  in  the  same  year  ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Jamesto7t'n  since  1876 :  has  been  an  alderman  of 
Jamestown  since  180o. 


©liver  S.  IDrCClanb,  who  is  now  serving  his 
second  term  as  (  ounty  judge  of  Cattaraugus  county, 
is  a  native  of  the  neighboring  county  of  .Mlegany, 


and  has  always  lived  in  western  New  York,  with  the 
exception  of  four  years  spent  in  college.  Notwith- 
standing the  constant  movement  of  our  population 
from  the  East  to  the  West  and  from  the  country  to 
the  citv,  there  are  still  many  men  who  have  spent 
their  lives  in  a  single  locality,  and  have 
risen  to  prominence  among  those  who 
have  known  them  from  boyhood.  This 
happy  combination  of  change  and  per- 
manence prevents  alike  stagnation  and 
instability,  and  adds  greatly  to  the 
strength  of  a  community. 

Judge  Vreeland  was  born  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Cuba  somewhat  more  than  fifty 
years  ago.  His  education,  begun  in  the 
district  schools,  was  unusually  thorough, 
including  two  years'  study  at  Olean 
Academy,  a  year  at  Rushford  .\cademy, 
and  two  years  at  Alfred  University.  He 
then  took  a  four  years'  course  at  the 
L'niversity  of'Michigan,  graduating  from 
that  institution  in  18(5!)  with  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  In  187G  his  alma  mater  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  A.  M. 

Having  decided  to  enter  the  legal  pro- 
fession.   Judge    Vreeland    read    law    for 
three  years  in  the  office  of  the  late  E. 
D.  Loveridge  of  Cuba,  and  in  January, 
1872,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.      He 
was   somewhat   older  at   this   time   than 
most  men  beginning  legal  practice  ;  and 
he    had    thus    the    advantage  of  greater 
maturity  of  mind  and  a  more   intimate 
acquaintance  with  men  and  affairs.      His 
knowledge  of  law,   moreover,   had  been 
gained  under  an  excellent  master,  as  Mr. 
j.overidge  was  an  able  attorney,  and  one 
of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
.Mlegany-county   bar.      The   opjjortunities   for   pro- 
fessional advancement  afforded  by  his  native  village 
were  meager,   and  Judge   Vreeland   determined   to 
begin  work  as  a  lawyer  in  the  neighboring  town  of 
Salamanca.     Accordingly,  in  the  April  following  his 
admission   to  the  bar,  he  opened  an  office  there  in 
partnership    with    Hudson  Ansley.      The   new   firm 
was  successful  from  the   first,  and  soon   built  up  an 
extensive  clientage  in  Salamanca  and  the  surround- 
ing country.    In  1879  the  connection  was  dissolved, 
and  from  that  time  Judge  Vreeland  |)racticed  alone. 
Public  affiiirs  were  always   interesting    to    Judge 
Vreeland,  as  they  are  to  every  good  citizen  ;  and 
in  1X71)  he  became  president  of  the  village  of  Sala- 
manca, holding  the  position  for  four  years.     He  was 
then  elected  supervisor  of  the  town,  and  served  on 


MEA'  OF  \EU-    )-ORK—irESTKR.\  SECT/OA 


301 


the  board  five  years.  His  legal  and  executive 
ability  had  thus  been  amjily  demonstrated,  and  he 
was  soon  to  have  an  opportunity  to  display  his 
judicial  ability.  In  1887  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  county  judge,  and  began  a  term  of  six 
years  January  1,  1888.  So  well  did  he  discharge 
the  duties  of  this  position  that  he  was  re-elected  in 
1893.  Judge  Vreeland  has  many  ([ualities  that 
peculiarly  fit  him  for  judicial  duties,  and  his  deci- 
sions are  generally  regarded  as  both  able  and  im- 
partial. 

In  1888  Judge  Vreeland  acted  as  special  counsel 
for  the  committee  appointed  by  the  assembly  to 
investigate  the  Indian  problem  of  the  state,  and 
wrote  the  report  of  the  committee. 

PERSO  NA  L  CNR  O  N  OLOGY—  Oliver 
S.  Vreeland  ivas  born  at  Cuba,  N.  Y. ,  September  28, 
18Jf2  ;  attended  various  schools  and  acad- 
emies, and  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Michigan  in  1869 :  married  Anna  M. 
Guilford  of  Cuba  September  15,  1869  : 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1872,  and 
began  practice  at  Salamanca,  iV.  Y.  ;  was 
president  of  the  village  of  Salamanca, 
1879-82,  and  siipen'isor,  1882-86  ,•  has 
been  county  judge  of  Cattaraugus  county 
since  January  1,  1888. 


Wial^Cn  /ID.  Mart),  a  prominent 
citizen  of  North  Collins,  Erie  county, 
is  somewhat  younger  than  his  well-estab- 
lished place  in  the  medical  profession 
might  indicate,  as  he  was  born  at  Per- 
rysburg,  N.  Y.,  not  long  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Cixil  War.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  the  district 
school  of  his  native  town,  and  this  train- 
ing was  supplemented  by  attendance 
at  Angola  Academy.  He  then  taught 
school  for  several  years.  Having  de- 
cided to  make  the  doctor's  calling  his 
life-work,  he  availed  himself  of  an  op- 
portunity to  read  medicine  with  Dr.  A. 
D.  Lake  of  Perrysburg.  His  profes- 
sional education  was  completed,  so  far 
as  schools  and  colleges  go,  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  Buffalo,  from  which  he  gradu 
ated  in  February,  188.5,  with  an  "  honor- 
able mention." 

Dr.  Ward's  preparation  for  the  work  of 
a  physician  had  been  long  and  unusually  varied,  so 
that  he  felt  able  to  begin  practice  soon  after  gradua- 
tion.     He  decided  upon   North  Collins  as  his  field 
of  action,  correctly  judging   that   the  pleasant  and 


prosperous  country  town,  with  its  accessibility  to 
large  places,  would  prove  a  desirable  location  for 
both  residential  and  professional  purposes.  He 
opened  an  office  there,  accordingly,  in  May,  1885, 
and  has  ever  since  followed  his  profession  in  North 
Collins  and  its  vicinity.  His  practice  has  grown 
from  the  small  beginning  almost  inevitable  with 
young  physicians  until  he  now  has  a  large  and  desir- 
able body  of  patients.  He  keeps  in  touch  with  his 
fellow-practitioners,  and  belongs  to  the  Erie  County 
Medical  Society  and  the  Lake  Erie  Medical  Soci- 
ety. He  has  been  president  of  the  latter  association. 
In  .social  life  Dr.  Ward  has  naturally  been  promi- 
nent, as  his  calling  has  taken  him  into  the  homes  of 
the  people,  and  has  made  him  intimately  acquainted 
with  large  numbers  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  neigh- 
bors.     He    is   a    firm    believer    in    the    benefits    of 


WALD/iX  M.    n.AKD 


Masonry,  and  has  taken  high  rank  in  the  order, 
belonging  to  Fortune  Lodge,  No.  788,  F.  &  A.  M., 
(Jowanda  Chapter,  No.  18fi,  R.  A.  M.,  and  Sala- 
manca Commandery,  No.  02,  K.    T. 


302 


.IMA'   OF  .\7-:if    yORK~U-/-:STF.R.\  SKCT/OX 


Dr.  Ward  ha.'^  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  incli- 
nation to  run  for  office,  but  he  is  an  enthusia.stic 
Republican,  and  takes  an  active  part  in  the  conduct 
of  local  political  affairs. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY ~  Walden 
Miui/ey  War,/  li'as  horn  at  Perryshiirg,  Caltarau^i^iis 


(  II A  RLE  S   II.    WICKS 

county,  N.  V.,  January  11,  1850:  attf/ntrd  dixtrict 
schools  and  Angola  Academy  ;  married  Jennie  IVaters 
of  Versailles,  N.  Y. ,  January  1,  188S ;  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Buffalo  in  February,  1885  ; 
has  practiced  medicine  at  N^orth  Collins,  N.  Y. ,  since 
May,  1885. 

CbarlCS  lb.  MiClSS,  »cll  known  in  James- 
town and  the  surrounding  country,  is  a  native  of 
Chautauqua  county,  and  has  spent  practically  his 
whole  life  there.  At  present  his  name  is  connected 
with  real-estate  operations  chiefly,  but  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  he  has  devoted  his  best  efforts 
to  the  cause  of  education.  Realizing  the  jjaramount 
importance    to    the    country    of    the    ])Mhli(  -school 


system,  he  ha.s  striven  as  teacher,  school  commis- 
sioner, and  member  of  the  school  lioard,  to  improve 
that  system  and  make  it  effective,  bringing  its  bene- 
fits within  the  reach  of  all. 

Mr.  Wicks's  native  town  was  Ellery,  where  he 
was  born  in  President  Taylor's  first  year  in  the 
White  House.  He  received  a  thorough 
common-school  education,  afterwards  tak- 
ing a  four  years'  course  at  the  Jamestown 
I'nion  School  and  Collegiate  Institute. 
He  graduated  thence  in  18()9,  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  and  began  his  work  as  a 
teacher  in  the  following  year.  His  first 
position  was  in  the  Clymer  Union  School, 
and  later  he  taught  at  Panama,  N.  Y., 
and  at  Corry,  Penn. 

After  a  highly  successful  career  as  a 
teacher,  Mr.  Wicks  was  elected,  in  187?<, 
a  commissioner  in  the  first  district  of 
Chautauqua  county,  and  held  the  office 
for  four  consecutive  terms,  or  until  Jan- 
uary 1,  1891.  His  sphere  of  activity 
was  thus  enlarged  from  one  school  to 
many,  and  the  schools  of  his  district 
]jrofited  greatly  by  his  able  and  conscien- 
tious oversight.  Having  been  so  long  a 
teacher  himself,  he  possessed  a  practical 
rather  than  a  mere  theoretical  knowledge 
of  what  was  needed  for  the  perfecting  of 
the  school  system  ;  and  the  e.\cellent 
condition  of  the  schools  to-day  is  largely 
the  result  of  his  twelve  \ears  of  faitht'iil 
and  efficient  service. 

Since  1891  Mr.  Wicks  has  made  his 
home  in  Jamestown's  beautiful  suburb, 
Lakewood,  where  he  has  large  real-estate 
interests.  The  firm  of  \\'icks  Brothers 
had  an  important  part  in  the  establish- 
ment of  this  village,  as  well  as  in  the 
develo])ment  of  real  estate  in  the  city  of  Jamestown 
itself,  and  Mr.  Wicks  has  the  prosjtcrity  of  the  new 
community  greatly  at  heart.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  i)oard  of  trustees  of  the  village  ever  since 
its  organization.  His  well-known  devotion  to  edu- 
cational interests,  and  long  experience  in  the  man- 
agement of  schools,  led  to  his  election  as  a  member 
of  tiie  school  board  of  Lakewood  in  1891  ;  and  he 
has  held  the  office  continuously  since,  having  re- 
cently been  elected  for  another  term  of  three  years. 
He  takes  an  active  interest  in  all  movements  for 
])romoting  the  welfare  of  the  village,  and  is  widely 
known  in  both  busine.ss  and  social  circles.  He 
is  a  member  of  Lakewood  Lodge,  No.  628,  Inde- 
|(cndent    Order    of    ()d(l     l-'cllows.    and    of    James- 


MEN   OF  XF.W    YORK— WESTER. X  SECT/0.\ 


303 


town   Lodge,   Benevolent   and    Protective  Order  of 

Elks. 

FEJiS  OJVA  L     CNR  O  iVC  LOGY—  Charles 

Henry  Wicks  zoas  born  at  Ellery,  N.  V.,  October  Iri, 

184d  ;  graduated  from  Jamestown  Union  School  and 

Collegiate  Institute  in   1869 ;    married  Florence  J?. 

Robhins  of  Spartansburg,  Penn. ,  N^ovember  6,  1873  ; 

taught  school,  1870-78 ;  sen'cd  as  school  commissioner 

in  the  first  district  of  Chautauqua  county,  1879-90  : 

has  been  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  Lakeuwod, 

N.  Y.,  since  1891,  and  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 

village   since    189S ;    has    lived    at  Lakewood  since 

1891,    engaged  in   real-estate   business  there  and  in 

Jamestoion. 

•♦♦ 

(BeOrge  36a Itj  belongs  to  that  class  of  ener- 
getic, self-reliant,  and  progressive  business  men, 
happily  found  in  every  thriving  Ameri- 
can city,  who  are  best  described  as  good 
all-round  men.  He  is  a  type  of  the  pop- 
ular citizen,  who  knows  everybody,  and 
whom  everybody  is  glad  to  know. 

Mr.  Baltz  is  a  native  of  Buffalo,  having 
been  born  in  the  Queen  City  less  than 
forty  years  ago.  He  has  lived  there  all 
his  life,  and  few  men  who  have  grown 
to  manhood  since  the  Civil  War  are  so 
well  acquainted  as  he  with  events  in  the 
recent  history  of  Buffalo.  His  earliest 
remembrance  is  of  the  closing  days  of 
the  war,  when  Buffalo's  bra\e  regiments 
were  returning  from  their  posts  of  duty 
and  of  danger.  He  is  a  genuine  New 
Yorker,  and  has  compressed  into  a  com- 
paratively short  life  all  the  activity  and 
push  characteristic  of  the  closing  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  educational  opportunities  within 
reach  of  Mr.  Baltz's  boyhood  were  such 
as  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo  afforded. 
He  received  a  good  common-.school 
training,  but  lacked  the  means  to  pursue 
a  collegiate  course.  Fortunately,  how- 
ever, with  a  fair  knowledge  of  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic,  a  young  man 
endowed  with  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound 
body  need  have  no  doubt  of  winning 
success  in  this  land  of  promise,  .\fter 
spending  a  number  of  years  in  various 
mercantile  pursuits,  in  order  to  find  his 
bent,  Mr.  Baltz  at  la.st  entered  the  commission  busi- 
ness at  the  Elk-street  market  in  Buffalo.  Beginning 
as  a  clerk  in  the  house  of  Oatman  Brothers,  he  ol)- 
tained  an  accurate  and  a  detailed  knowledge  of  the 


commission  business.  For  thirteen  years  he  labored 
early  and  late,  and  succeeded  in  establishing  him- 
self firmly  among  the  merchants  of  Buffalo  on  the 
produce  e.\change. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Baltz  had  e.xerted  himself  in  the 
political  affairs  of  the  community,  and  had  become 
a  local  factor  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party, 
with  which  he  has  always  acted.  In  1891,  when 
Edward  C.  Shafer  was  elected  comptroller  of  the 
city  of  Buffalo,  he  appointed  his  friend  and  sup- 
porter, Mr.  Baltz,  to  the  responsible  position  of  tax 
collector.  Mr.  Baltz  filled  this  office  so  acceptably 
that  two  years  later  he  was  nominated  by  acclama- 
tion, by  the  Republican  convention  of  Erie  county, 
for  the  important  office  of  county  treasurer.  'I"he 
result  of  the  ensuing  election  evinced  the  wi.sdom 
of  the  convention's  choice,  and  attested   the   jiopu- 


CEORf.E   HALT/. 


larity  of  Mr.  Baltz,  since  he  secured  a  majority  of 
over  11,000  votes.  He  is  still  performing  the 
duties  of  this  position,  and  is  proving  a  safe  and 
conservative  guardian  of  public  funds. 


:'.fi4 


MEN   OF  XEW    YORK  —  WESTERX  SECT/OX 


Mr.  Baltz  is  a  man  of  genial  disposition,  and  is 
connected  with  several  social  and  fraternal  bodies  in 
Buffalo.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Turn 
Verein,  and  of  three  branches  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 


HERBERT  P.   B/SSELL 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  George  Baltz 
was  born  at  Buffalo  September  17,  1857 ;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  ;  engaged  in  the  produce 
commission  business,  1878-01 ;  married  Ida  A. 
Becherer  of  Buffalo  October  1,  1885 ;  tvas  tax  col- 
lector of  the  city  of  Buffalo,  18!)  1-93  ;  was  elected 
county  treasurer  of  Erie  county  in  1893,  for  the  term 
189i-9(!. 


IbCl'bCrt  p.  JBiSSell  's  one  of  the  best  known 
of  the  younger  professional  men  of  Buffalo.  He  has 
been  jirominent  in  both  law  and  politics,  and  has 
shown  that  such  prominence  is  compatible  with  high 
standards  of  citizenship  and  personal  conduct. 

Born  in  a  little  hamlet  of  Oneida  county,  he  ol)- 
tained  the  beginnings  of  his  education  in  the  district 


school  there,  and  in  the  public  schools  of  Lockport, 
whither  his  family  moved  when  he  was  nine  years 
old.  Four  years  later  he  entered  De  Veaux  College 
at  Suspension  Bridge.  Then  came  the  unusual  ex- 
jierienre  of  two  years  at  the  Oymnasium  Catharin- 
areum,  a  public  school  at  Braunschweig, 
Germany.  From  this  he  returned  to  en- 
ter Harvard  College,  whence  he  gradu- 
ated with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  the  class 
of  1 880. 

That  summer  Mr.  Bissell  became  a 
resident  of  Buffalo,  and  began  studying 
for  his  chosen  profession,  the  law-.  In 
due  time  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
For  several  months  he  remained  as  man- 
aging clerk  with  the  firm  in  who.se  office 
he  had  studied.      Finally,  on  January  1, 

1885,  he  began  practice  for  himself  At 
first  he   was  alone.       Then,   on   July   1, 

1886,  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Brundage,  Weaver  &  Bissell.  Six 
months  later  he  entered  the  firm  of  Bis- 
.sell,  Sicard,  Brundage  &  Bissell  as  junior 
partner  ;  and  with  this  firm,  under  the 
style  of  Bissell,  Sicard,  Bissell  &  Carey, 
he  remained  until  its  dissolution  October 
1,  1896.  This  firm,  founded  in  1834 
by  Orsamus  H.  Marshall,  was  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  distinguished  in  Buffalo. 
Nathan  K.  Hall,  who  was  President  Fill- 
more's postmaster-general,  was  one  of  its 
early  members.  President  Cleveland  was 
its  head  when  he  was  elected  governor  in 
1883  ;  and  its  recent  head  was  President 
Cleveland's  late  postmaster-general,  Wil- 
son S.  Bissell.  Thus  a  President  of  the 
United  States  and  two  postmasters-gen- 
eral have  been  members  of  the  firm.      Its 

list  of  clients  was  equally  noteworthy,  including 
corporations  like  the  Lehigh  Valley  and  the  Phila- 
delphia (.^c  Reading  railroad  companies,  the  Lehigh 
\'alley  Coal  Co.,  the  Lehigh  \'alley  Transportation 
Co.,  and  several  Buffalo  banks. 

Among  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen  is  attention 
to  political  affairs.  Mr.  Bissell  is  a  good  citizen, 
and  he  has  been  active  in  politics  ever  since  Crover 
Cleveland  was  a  candidate  for  governor.  In  1885 
Mr.  Bissell  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party 
for  state  senator  for  the  Erie-county  district  ;  and 
though  he  was  defeated  by  1500  plurality,  he  ran 
1500  ahead  of  his  ticket.  That  campaign  is  yet  re- 
membered in  Buffalo  because  of  the  series  of  speeches 
in  C.erman  that  Mr.  Bissell  delivered  in  the  East 
Side.      He  showed  a  conmiand  of  cla.ssical  Cierman 


J//r.\-   OF  XF.ir    VORK—U-ESTERX  SFCYVOX 


•M)r, 


that  won  the  admiration  of  the  (lermans  themselves. 
In  1(S92  he  was  nominated  tor  district  attorney,  and 
this  time,  out  of  a  total  vote  of  (i5,0()(),  he  was 
defeated  by  44.  Mr.  Bissell  was  one  of  the  foimders, 
and  for  a  time  president,  of  the  organization  called 
the  Cleveland  Democracy.  In  his  political  career 
the  governing  qualities  throughout  have  been  devo- 
tion to  principle  and  strict  integrity. 

Mr.  Bissell  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo,  Saturn, 
and  University  clubs  of  Buffalo,  and  of  the  Reform 
Club  of  New  York.  He  has  been  a  trustee  of  De 
Veau.x  College  since  1887  ;  and  has  also  served  as 
a  trustee  of  the  Cary  Collegiate  .Seminary  at  Oak- 
field,  N.  Y.,  and  as  curator  of  the  Buffalo  Library. 

PERSONAL   CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Herbert 
Porter  Bissell  was  born  at  New  London,    N.    Y., 
August  30,    1836 :    7aas  educated  at  public  schools, 
De    Veaux   College,   and  the   Gymnasiuni 
Catharinareum,  Braunschweig,  Germany, 
and  graduated  from  Harvard  College  in 
1880  ;  studied  law  in  Buffalo,   and  rcas 
admitted  to   the   bar   in    188 J ;    married 
Lucy   Agnes    Coffey  of  Brooklyn   October 
30,  1883 ;  received  the  Democratic  nomi- 
nation for  state  senator  in  1885,  and  for 
district  attorney  in    1802  ;    has  practiced 
huo  in  Buffalo  since  1885. 

IRoUiH  "1.  JBanta,  one  of  the  best- 
known  and  most  successful  physicians 
of  Buffalo,  is  descended  from  excellent 
Dutch  stock.  The  family  tree,  taking 
deep  root  in  American  soil  in  1659,  is 
an  imposing  specimen  of  genealogical 
development.  One  member  of  the  fam- 
ily bore  the  name  of  Rip  \'an  Winkle- — ■ 
not  the  same  good-for-naught  Rip,  per- 
haps, that  Jefferson  makes  so  lovable, 
but  possibly  the  mundane  source  of 
Irving's  delightful  fancy.  Dr.  Banta's 
own  father  was  a  famous  steamboat  build- 
er in  his  day.  The  firm  of  Bidw^ell  iV 
Banta  launched  from  their  yards  at  Buf- 
falo some  of  the  largest  and  most  mag- 
nificent steamers  that  had  ever  sailed  the 
lakes,  or  even  the  oceans,  up  to  that  time. 

Born   in  Buffalo  in  November,   ]84(i. 
Dr.   Banta  has  spent  most  of  his  life  in 
that  city.     After  attending  Pulilic  School 
No.  4  he  went  to  St.  Joseph's  .Academy 
three   years,  and  afterward   to   Manhattan  College, 
New   York  city,    for  a   like   period.      Having   thus 
formed    an    excellent    preparatory    groundwork    on 
which  to  rest  a  professional  structure,  he  entered  the 


medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo  in 
18(58,  and  graduated  therefrom  three  years  later 
with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  In  the  spring  of  lf<7o 
he  opened  an  office  in  Erie,  Penn.,  and  continued 
to  practice  his  profession  in  that  city  for  the  next 
five  years.  At  the  end  of  that  period  he  returned 
to  Buffalo,  concluding  that  his  old  home  was  prefer- 
able to  any  other  city  for  both  professional  and 
personal  reasons.  Since  then  he  has  carried  on  his 
profession  in  Buffalo  with  uniform  success,  and  with 
an  increasingly  large  practice. 

Dr.  Banta  has  made  no  effort  to  specialize  his 
work,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  his  general  practice  is 
still  extensive.  He  has  been  so  successful,  how- 
ever, in  the  department  of  obstetrics,  that  he  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  s])ecialist  in  this  subject. 
His  standing  in   the   medical   jirofession  is  shown  bv 


ROl.l./X  I..   n.l.XTA 


his  appointinent  to  many  positions  of  trust  and  im- 
portance. For  four  years,  ending  in  1895,  he  was 
professor  of  thera])euti(s  in  the  medical  department 
of   Niagara    University  :    and    he    is   now  associate 


;',0(i 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


professor  of  obstetrics  in  the  same  institution.  He 
has  membership  in  the  Buffalo  Medical  Society, 
of  which  he  has  been  president ;  in  the  Buffalo 
Academy  of  Medicine  ;  in  the  Erie  County  Medical 
Society,  of  which  he  has  been  ])resident  ;  and  in 
the  American  Association  of  Obstetricians  and 
Gynecologists,  of  which  he  has  been  vice  president. 
He  is  consulting  physician  in  the  Buffalo  Mater- 
nity Hos])ital  and  in  other  institutions.  He  has 
written  many  scientific  papers  on  medical  subjects, 
which  have  appeared  in  various  professional  publica- 
tions. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Rollin  L. 
Banta  was  born  at  Buffalo  Nor'ember  13,  18^6: 
was  educated  in  public  and  private  schools  in  Buffalo, 
and  in  Alanliattan  College,  New  York  city ;  graduated 
from  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buf- 
falo in  1871 ;  tnarried  Sarah  M.  Ayer  of  Buffalo 
October  27,  1875  ;  practiced  medicine  at  Erie,  Penn. , 
1873-78  ;  has  been  a  professor  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Niagara  University  since  1801  ;  has  practiced 
medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1878. 

/IDarCUS  /ID.  S)ral?e  «as  bom  in  Cortland 
county,  New  York,  in  1885.  His  ancestors,  Eng- 
lish on  one  side  and  Clernian  on  the  other,  came  to 
America  in  colonial  times,  settling  in  New  Jersey. 
His  father  moved  to  Chautauqua  county  in  1887, 
and  there  Mr.  Drake  spent  his  boyhood  on  a  Airni. 
His  education  was  acquired  in  the  common  schools 
of  Sheridan,  near  Fredonia,  and  in  the  academy  at 
the  latter  place.  When  sixteen  years  old  he  gave 
up  schools  and  farm  alike,  resolved  to  lead  the  life 
of  a  sailor;  and  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of 
an  honorable  interruption  during  the  Civil  War, 
Captain  Drake,  as  he  came  to  be  called,  has  been 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  transportation 
interests  of  the  (Ireat  Lakes. 

Betaking  himself  to  Buffalo  in  IXfjl,  he  shipped 
before  the  mast,  and  .sailed  the  lakes  as  a  common 
seaman  for  the  next  four  years.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  became  a  mate,  and  served  as  an  officer 
on  various  sailing  vessels  and  steamers  until  l.s()l. 
In  that  year  he  was  ai)pointed  captain  of  one  of  the 
Erie-railway  steamers.  He  had  thus  secured  a  fine 
start  in  his  chosen  calling,  and  might  reasonably 
have  expected  continuous  advancement  and  pros- 
perity. By  the  summer  of  1862,  however,  every- 
one saw  that  the  Civil  War  must  be  fought  out  in  a 
life-and-dcath  struggle,  and  Captain  Drake  did  not 
hesitate  to  exchange  his  $1 200  position  and  excel- 
lent prospects  for  the  S].8-a-month  perils  and  hard- 
ships of  a  private  in  the  regular  army.  In  August, 
1862,  he  enlisted   in   the  72(1   New  York  volunteers, 


and  went  to  the  front  at  once  with  the  .\rmy  of  the 
Potomac. 

Captain  Drake's  career  as  a  soldier  would  make 
an  interesting  narrative  in  itself.  He  took  part  in 
many  important  engagements,  but  was  neither 
wounded  nor  captured.  He  was  in  the  battles 
of  Fredericksburg  and  of  Chancellorsville,  and 
at  Gettysburg  his  company  was  ordered  forward 
on  the  first  day  to  a  most  exposed  position,  not 
unlike  the  "bloody  angle."  The  engagement  at 
\\'appinger  Heights,  though  less  memorable  than 
the  foregoing  battles,  was  sufficiently  serious  to 
many  of  Cajjtain  Drake's  comrades  in  arms.  He 
took  part,  also,  in  the  dangerous  operations  around 
Petersburg,  in  the  battle  of  Five  Forks,  and  in  the 
closing  scenes  of  the  war  at  Appomattox.  He  was 
promoted  at  various  times  for  valorous  conduct  in 
the  field,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  had  reached 
the  rank  of  first  lieutenant.  The  document  record- 
ing his  honorable  discharge  from  service  contains 
this  fine  characterization  of  Captain  Drake  as  a 
soldier  :  "  An  officer  whose  strict  attention  to  duty, 
gentlemanly  de|jortment,  and  cool  courage  has  won 
the  respect  of  all  his  comrades." 

Taking  up  his  life  on  the  lakes  where  he  had  left 
it  three  years  before.  Captain  Drake  remained  in 
the  service  of  the  Erie  railway,  in  command  of 
various  steamers,  from  the  close  of  the  war  until  the 
fall  of  1869.  He  was  then  promoted  from  the 
position  of  master  to  that  of  superintendent  of 
repairs  of  the  Union  Steamboat  Co.,  controlled  by 
the  Erie  lines.  Two  years  later  the  Union  Dry 
Docks  Co.  was  organized  as  a  part  of  the  Erie  sys- 
tem, and  Captain  Drake,  in  addition  to  his  existing 
cares,  was  made  superintendent  of  the  company. 
These  multifarious  duties  occupied  his  time  until 
the  fall  of  1889,  when  he  resigned  his  position,  and 
thus  termin^ed  his  long  service  with  the  I'^rie.  He 
was  soon  made  superintendent  of  the  Lackawanna 
Transportation  Co.,  organized  in  the  same  year,  and 
has  since  held  that  position,  .\fter  his  retirement 
from  marine  service,  where  he  had  made  a  reputa- 
tion as  a  ]jrudent  and  successful  navigator,  Captain 
Drake  built  up  another  and  a  more  im])ortant  rejjuta- 
tion  as  a  liusiness  manager  of  unusual  ability.  He 
is  noted  for  his  uniform  courtesy  and  fair  dealing, 
for  his  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  his  company,  for 
his  prompt  and  vigorous  dispatch  of  business. 

In  political  life  Captain  Drake  has  always  acted 
with  the  Republican  party.  In  1878  he  was 
elected  an  alderman  of  Buffalo  from  the  1 1  th  ward, 
and  was  re-elected  five  times,  thus  serving  twelve 
years  altogether.  In  November,  1.S82,  he  was 
chosen   mavor  of  Buffalo   b\-  the  <  omnion  council, 


MEN  OF  XEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECTION 


307 


to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  (Irover  Cleveland, 
governor-elect  of  New  York  state.  In  December, 
1895,  he  was  appointed  l)y  Mayor  Jewett  a  commis- 
sioner of  public  works  of  Buffalo  for  a  term  of  four 
years  from  January  1,  1896.  Captain  Drake  has 
.shown  in  the  discharge  of  public  duties  the  same 
integrity  and  ability  that  have  brought 
him  success  in  business  life ;  and  his 
fellow-citizens,  without  regard  to  parly, 
congratulate  themselves  that  Buffalo  is  to 
have  the  benefit  of  his  counsel  in  the 
management  of  an  important  department 
for  some  time  to  come. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  Capt;iin 
Drake  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order.  He  belongs,  also,  to  the  Crand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  having  been  the 
first  commander  of  William  Richardson 
Post,  No.  254.  He  helped  to  organize 
the  Niagara  Bank  of  Buffalo,  and  has 
been  vice  president  of  the  institution 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  largely 
instrumental  in  the  erection  at  the  park 
meadows,  Buffalo,  of  the  bowlder  monu- 
ment that  marks  the  burial  trench  of 
three  hundred  unknown  soldiers  of  the 
war  of  1812.  Another  subject  in  which 
Captain  Drake  has  interested  himself  to 
excellent  purpose  in  recent  years  is  the 
deepening  of  the  Erie  canal.  As  chair- 
man for  the  last  three  years  of  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange  committee  on  harbor 
and  canal  improvements,  he  has  labored 
in  season  and  out  of  season  in  behalf 
of  Buftalo's  lake  and  canal  commerce. 
Largely  to  his  efforts  will  be  due  both 
the  extension  of  the  outer  breakwater  in 
Buffalo  harbor  to  Stony  Point,  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal  to  a  uni- 
form depth  of  nine  feet.  Both  these  improvements 
will  strengthen  the  commercial  position  of  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Marcus 
Molier  Drake  was  born  at  Homer,  N.  V. ,  September 
7,  1835 ;  attended  common  schools  and  Fredonia 
(iV.  Y.  )  Academy ;  served  as  sailor,  officer,  and  master 
on  the  Great  Lakes,  1851-62 ;  sensed  in  the  Union 
army  from  August,  1862,  until  the  close  of  the  7aar : 
married  Mary  A.  Ludhnv  of  Buffalo  December  17, 
1867  ;  was  on  the  staff  of  the  Erie  raihoay  as  captain 
and  superintendent,  1865-88 ;  has  been  superintendent 
of  the  Lackawanna  Transportation  Co.  since  August, 
1888 ;  was  alderman  of  Buffalo,  1879-00 :  is  com- 
missioner of  public  ruorks,  Buffalo,  having  been  ap- 
pointed for  the  term  1896-99. 


30bn  1kClC>CrbOUSC  is  descended  on  one 
side,  as  his  name  suggests,  from  Dutch  ancestors, 
while  his  mother's  people  were  from  Connecticut. 
His  life  and  character  have  been  influenced  by  both 
lines  of  descent,  and  his  prosperity  is  the  natural 
outcome  of  a  happy  combination  of   Dutch    indus- 


.l/./Avr.V   .1/,    Dh'.lKE 

try    and     prudence    with     ^'ankee    enterprise    and 
energy. 

Born  in  Albany  county.  New  York,  in  1828,  Mr. 
Kelderhouse  jiassed  his  infancy  and  early  boyhood 
in  that  part  of  the  state.  When  he  was  nine  years 
old  he  went  West  with  his  father,  reaching  Buffalo 
in  the  fall  of  18.S2.  That  was  before  the  days  of 
trunk  lines,  and  they  made  the  journey  by  the  Erie 
canal,  which  had  been  opened  seven  years  before. 
At  that  time  Buffalo  contained  only  nine  or  ten 
thousand  people,  so  that  Mr.  Kelderhouse  has  seen 
the  place  grow  from  a  mere  town  to  a  metropolitan 
community,  excelling  in  several  important  respects 
every  other  city  on  the  continent.  .After  attending 
the  common  schools  of  Buffalo  he  engaged  in  various 


■M)X 


.l//;.V   ()/•"  X£U'    VORK—IVESTEKA  SEC/VOX 


occupations,  as  a  young  man  often  will  in  casting 
about  for  his  proper  niche  in  life.  By  the  year 
1845,  however,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  old, 
Mr.  Kelderhouse  had  established  himself  as  a  w-ood 
dealer,  and  he  remained  such  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  attaining  a  high  degree  of  success  in  the  busi- 


J<>//.\    KE  I.  n  ERIIO  !  S/C 

ness.  As  the  countr\  around  Buffalo  became  more 
thickly  settled,  and  the  forests  gave  way  to  farms 
and  habitations,  and  as  coal  supplanted  wood  more 
and  more  for  domestic  jnirposes  and  as  a  generator 
of  steam  on  the  Great  Lakes,  Mr.  Kelderhouse 
wisely  adapted  his  business  to  the  shifting  condi- 
tions of  the  industry.  Curtailing  his  dealings  in 
wood,  he  branched  out  gradually  as  a  builder  of 
vessels,  thus  preparing  himself  to  jjarticipatc  in  the 
extension  of  lake  commerce.  This  extension,  as 
everyone  knows,  has  been  enormous ;  and  those 
who,  like  Mr.  Kelderhou.se,  were  wise  enough  to 
foresee  the  trend  of  events,  have  naturally  and 
proi^erly  profited  from  their  sagacity.  Mr.  Kelder- 
house   went     into    llie    Imsiness    of    buildiiiLC    ships 


prudently,  but  gradually  enlarged  his  plant,  estab- 
lishing yards  at  Bay  City  and  East  Saginaw,  Mich., 
as  well  as  in  Buffalo.  His  earlier  ventures  were 
carried  on  alone,  but  afterward  his  operations 
a.ssumed  such  proportions  that  he  deemed  it  wise 
and  desirable  on  various  accounts  to  ally  himself 
with  other  capitalists  in  carrying  out  his 
plans.  The  "  Kelderhouse  syndicate," 
accordingly,  was  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  building  and  operating  large  and  mod- 
ern steamers ;  and  such  splendid  exam- 
ples of  modern  naval  architecture  as  the 
"Thomas  Maytham,"  "America,"  and 
"  Brazil  "  came  into  existence  as  a  con- 
sequence of  this  organization. 

It  wa,s  natural  for  Mr.  Kelderhouse  to 
become  interested  in  Buffalo  real  estate, 
since  the  bent  of  his  mind  is  such  that 
he  foresees  clearly  the  natural  order  of 
things,  and  makes  such  plans  as  will  best 
harmonize  with  natural  developments. 
This  long-headed  discernment  of  the 
future  explains  his  evolution  from  a 
wood  merchant  to  a  steamship  owner  ; 
and  the  same  precious  quality  of  intel- 
lect accounts  for  his  success  in  real 
estate.  He  is  now  one  of  the  largest 
owners  of  real  property  in  Buffalo,  and 
his  holdings  are  not  confined  to  the  city 
i  limits.      He    has    extensive    farms  along 

I  the  lake  shore  of  Erie  county,  on  which 

^  he  spends  happily  a  good  deal  of  his  time. 

^1  Mr.   Kelderhouse    has    been   a  Mason 

B|  for   forty    years    or   more,   belonging  to 

|H  I'.rie  Lodge,   No.  Kil,   V.  &  A.  M.      In 

political    matters    he    votes   for  the  best 
man    without  regard   to  i»rty.      He  has 
attended  for  many  years   I'rinity  Episco- 
pal Church. 
PERSONAL  CUR ONOL  O G  \ '—John  Kehh-r- 
lumse  was  born   at  Bethlehem,    N.    V.,   Afairh   18, 
1823 ;  moved  to  Buffalo  in  1832,  ami  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  there  ;  began  business  as  a  wood 
merchant  in  Buffalo  in   184-'^  ■    married  Jane  Eliza- 
beth   Coats7i<ortli  of  Buffalo  June  O,  187^  :   has  been 
engaged  in  lake  commerce,  as  ship  builder  ami  oioner, 

since   18(11. 

•  •• 

JfraUl?  C.  'XaiUlbUn,  ralb-oad  lawyer,  city 
atlorney,  rori)oratioii  counsel,  and  justice  of  the 
Su])reme  Court,  has  risen  rajjidly  in  a  profession 
that  yields  its  honors  grudgingly,  and  as  a  rule  only 
after  years  of  devoted  service.  Not  yet  in  the 
|)rimc    of   life,    and    doubtless    possessed    of   latent 


.1//:.V   or  XFJl-    YORK—U-ESTKKX  SKCTIOX 


309 


powers  greater  even  than  those  foreshadowed  by  his 
past,  he  has  already  attained  a  position  that  will 
sjjlendidly  employ  his  ripening  talents. 

Mr.  Laughlin  was  born  shortly  before  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  in  a  country  town  of  Erie 
county.  When  he  wa.s  six  years  old  hi.s  parents 
moved  to  Wilson,  Niagara  county,  and  his  youth 
was  spent  in  that  place.  He  attended  the  district 
school  in  winter,  worked  on  the  farm  in  summer, 
and  otherwise  followed  the  usual  life  of  young  men 
brought  up  in  the  country.  In  1876  he  moved  to 
Lockport,  and  attended  for  three  years  the  well- 
known  union  school  of  that  place. 

Having  decided  to  become  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Laugh- 
lin entered  the  office  of  John  E.  Pond  as  a  student. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  l.S,S2,  and  shortly 
afterward  went  to  Buffalo  for  the  purpose  of  practic- 
ing law  in  the  office  of  Sprague,  Morey 
&  Sprague.  This  was  a  strong  firm,  to 
which  railroads  and  other  corporations 
had  entrusted  their  legal  interests,  and 
Mr.  Laughlin  had  an  excellent  chance  to 
justify  his  choice  of  a  profession.  He 
was  equal  to  the  opportunity.  He  was 
placed  in  charge  of  important  cases,  and 
handled  with  conspicuous  ability  a  large 
amount  of  the  legal  business  devolving 
upon  his  firm. 

In  the  fall  of  1885  William  F.  Wor- 
thington  was  elected  city  attorney  of 
Buffalo,  and  thus  had  occasion  to  appoint 
an  assistant.  He  did  not  know  Mr. 
Laughlin  personally,  but  he  heard  so 
favorable  reports  of  his  ability  and  char- 
acter that  he  decided  to  offer  him  the 
position.  At  that  time  Mr.  Laughlin 
had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  only  about 
three  years,  and  this  unsolicited  ap])oint- 
ment  was  a  striking  tribute  to  his  abilitx 
in  the  law.  He  accepted  the  offer,  and 
began  his  new  duties  January  1,  lS<S(i. 
Soon  after  this  Mr.  Worthington's  title 
was  changed  from  that  of  city  attorn ev 
to  corporation  coimsel,  and  the  former 
designation  was  given  to  Mr.  Laughlin. 
He  retained  the  office  until  1891,  and 
discharged  its  duties  most  efficiently.  In 
a  single  case  —  that  of  the  Ellicott-strect 
extension  —  the  issue  involved  more  than 
8200,000,  and  Mr.  Laughlin  won  the 
decision  for  the  city.  His  success  was  so  marked, 
indeed,  that  he  became  in  1890  the  logical  candi- 
date of  the  Republican  party  for  the  office  of  cor- 
poration  counsel.      He   ran   more   than   2000  votes 


ahead  of  his  party,  but  on  this  occasion  the  entire 
Democratic  ticket  was  successful. 

For  the  next  few  years  Mr.  Laughlin  practiced 
law  on  his  own  account,  at  first  alone,  but  subse- 
quently in  association  with  Thomas  Penney.  His 
success  was  as  marked  as  it  should  have  been  from 
his  previous  career,  and  he  would  undoubtedly  have 
become  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  F^rie-county  bar,  had 
he  not  been  destined  for  a  higher  branch  of  jurispru- 
dence. Selected  again  in  1893  by  his  party  as  its 
nominee  for  the  office  of  corporation  counsel,  he 
was  elected  oxer  his  former  opponent  by  a  sweeping 
majority  of  nearly  8000.  This  victory  presaged  his 
success  two  years  later  as  a  candidate  for  the  posi- 
tion of  Supreme  Court  justice.  He  was  nominated 
by  acclamation  for  this  high  office  by  a  convention 
composed  mainly  of  attorneys  representing  a  bar  of 


/■■RixK  r.  /.ir<;///./.y 

more  than  1200  lawyers  in  the  eight  western  coun- 
ties of  the  state.  Everyone  acknowledged  his  fit- 
ness for  the  i)Osition,  and  he  was  elected  by  a 
magnificent  majority. 


310 


MEX  OF  NEW    YORK—irESTER.\  SECT/OX 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Frank  C. 
Latighlin  was  born  at  Ah'wstead,  N.  V.,  July  20, 
1859;  7vas  educated  at  the  Lockport  (iV.  K )  Union 
School ;  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1882 ;  began  practice  in  Buffalo  in  1883 ;  was 
assistant  city  attorney  and  city  attorney  of  Buffalo, 
1886-91 ;  was  elected  corporation  counsel  of  Buf- 
falo iti  1893,  and  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  1895 ;  married  Mrs.  Martha  Bartlett  of  New 
York  city,  fonnerly  Martha  Taylor  of  Buffalo,  June 
2,  1896. 

lRo\vlau&     Blennerbassett    /iDabauv, 

though  still  a  young  man,  may  be  characterized 
as  follows  —  student,  teacher,  litterateur,  diplomat, 
and  congressman.  His  life  so  far  recalls  to  mind 
the  biographies  of  the  founders  of  the  Republic, 
whose  precocity  enabled  them  to  enter  public  life 
and  fill  high  offices  before  other  young  men  got 
fairly  launched  on  their  careers. 

Born  in  Buffalo  in  the  last  year  of  the  Civil  War, 
Mr.  Mahany  is  a  representative  of  the  post-bellum 
generation,  into  whose  hands  the  destinies  of  the 
Republic  are  soon  to  pass.  He  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  city, 
graduating  with  highest  honors  from  the  high  school 
in  1881.  Dependent  upon  his  own  exertions,  he 
spent  the  summer  after  his  graduation  working  ujwn 
a  farm  in  Chautauqua  county.  In  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  he  became  an  instructor  in  Latin  and 
Greek  in  the  Buffalo  Classical  School,  and  continued 
in  that  position  for  one  year.  In  1882  he  entered 
Hobart  College,  where  he  studied  two  years,  standing 
at  the  head  of  his  class.  Actuated  by  an  ambition 
to  secure  the  broadest  education  possible,  he  entered 
Harvard  University  in  the  fall  of  1884.  He  won  a 
]jri/,e  the  first  year  there.  He  became  secretary  and 
treasurer,  and  was  three  times  vice  president,  of  the 
Harvard  Union,  the  chief  debating  society  of  the 
university.  He  was  vice  president  and  president 
of  St.  Paul's  Society,  the  Episcopalian  organization 
of  Harvard  College.  In  the  field  of  .scholarship  he 
attained  equal  distinction.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
eight  scholars  in  his  class,  and  in  his  junior  year 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  society, 
which  is  annually  augmented  by  the  election  of 
students  of  the  highest  standing  in  all  the  leading 
colleges  of  the  country.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
chosen  first  marshal  of  the  society,  and  headed  the 
procession  of  its  members  in  one  of  their  historic 
marches  to  Memorial  Hall.  For  two  successive 
years  he  was  a  Boylston-prize  man,  winning  one  of 
the  jjri/.es  awarded  to  the  best  speakers  in  the  junior 
and  .senior  classes.      His  crowning    honor  came   in 


1888,    when  he  graduated    from    Harvard    with   the 
summa  cum  laude  degree. 

On  returning  to  his  home  in  Buffalo  Mr.  Mahany 
became  an  editorial  writer  on  the  Buffalo  Express. 
Newspaper  work,  however,  was  less  congenial  to  him 
than  study  and  literature,  and  he  .soon  abandoned 
journalism  to  become  an  instructor  in  historv  and 
literature  in  the  Buffalo  High  School. 

When  James  G.  Blaine  was  running  for  the  ]jresi- 
dency  in  1884  Mr.  Mahany,  then  a  student  at 
Harvard  College,  was  one  of  his  most  ardent  sup- 
porters in  that  hotbed  of  "  mugwumpery. "  The 
fact  came  to  Mr.  Blaine's  attention,  and  afterward, 
when  secretary  of  state,  he  offered  Mr.  Mahany 
the  position  of  secretary  of  legation  to  Chile.  This 
offer  Mr.  Mahany  thought  it  wi.se  to  decline.  In 
lrS92  Mr.  Blaine  induced  President  Harrison  to 
nominate  Mr.  Mahany  envoy  extraordinary  and 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  South  American 
republic  of  Ecuador.  The  nomination  was  unani- 
mously confirmed  by  the  senate,  and  Mr.  Mahany 
betook  him.self  to  Quito.  Several  ministers  had 
died  at  that  post  of  duty,  and  Mr.  Mahany  soon 
after  his  arrival  there  was  attacked  by  the  dread 
fever  of  the  place.  Obliged  to  return  home  to 
regain  his  health,  he  was  nominated  for  congress  on 
the  Republican  ticket.  He  was  defeated  on  this 
occasion,  but  the  normal  Democratic  majority  was 
reduced  over  lOOO  votes. 

Mr.  Mahany  returned  to  Ecuador  in  1893,  and 
concluded  in  nineteen  days  the  Santos  treaty, 
negotiations  for  which  had  been  pending  for  nearly 
ten  years.  It  was  said  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Mahany's 
ajjpointment  that  he  was  the  youngest  diplomat  in 
the  world  holding  the  responsible  position  of  foreign 
minister,  and  the  youngest  man  in  the  United  States 
ever  a[)pointed  to  such  an  office.  Mr.  Mahany's 
ambition  to  enter  public  life  in  this  country  was 
gratified  in  the  fall  of  1894,  when  the  Republican 
cyclone  struck  the  country.  He  was  elected  in  that 
year  to  the  o4th  congress  over  four  competitors. 
Sjieaker  Reed  fittingly  recognized  Mr.  Mahany's 
ability  by  placing  him  upon  several  important  com- 
mittees. The  best  and  ])ractically  most  effective 
work  in  congress  is  done  in  committee,  and  these 
assignments  enabled  the  young  congressman  to  exert 
his  full  share  of  influence  in  shaping  legislation. 
His  most  important  work  for  Buffalo  consisted  in 
having  the  project  for  the  completion  of  the  break- 
water placed  under  the  "continuous  contract" 
system.  The  finest  harbor  on  the  lakes  will  be  a 
monument  to  Mr.  Mahany's  first  six  months  in 
congress.  Through  his  efforts,  also,  work  was 
resumed    on    the    new    ])Ost    office,    and    its    sjieedy 


MEN   OF  NF.W    YORK—WKSTFJiX  SECTION 


construction  assured.  In  the  memorable  election  of 
November,  1896,  he  was  returned  to  congress  with 
a  plurality  of  nearly  4000  votes.  This  result,  in  a 
district  that  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  strong- 
hold of  Democracy,  testifies  most  eloquently  to  Mr. 
Mahany's  popularity. 

Though  far  from  the  prime  of  life, 
Mr.  Mahany  has  already  attained  honors 
sought  in  vain  by  many  older  men. 
With  a  start  in  life  so  splendid,  an 
experience  so  wide  and  helpful,  an  in- 
tellectual e(iuipment  so  thorough,  his 
star  can  hardly  yet  have  reached  its 
zenith. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Rowland  Bloinerhassett  Mahany  was  born 
at  Buffalo  Septet>iber  28,  I8G4.;  7oas 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo  ; 
studied  in  Hobart  College  two  years,  and 
graduated  from  Hamard  University  in 
1888  ;  engaged  in  Journalism  and  taught 
school,  1888-92  :  7c/as  appointed  minister 
to  Ecuador  in  1892 ;  7C'as  elected  repre- 
sentative to  the  olfth  congress  in  189Jf, 
and  to  the  55 fh  in  1896. 


Mr.  McMillan  attended  the  district  and  village 
school,  and  completed  his  education  at  Le  Roy 
.\cademy  and  Cornell  University.  In  1869  he  went 
to  Buffalo,  and  began  the  study  of  law  with  Laning, 
Cleveland  &  Folsom,  gaining  admission  to  the  bar 
in    1871.       He    is    now    the    head    of   the    firm    of 


S>aniel  1buob  /IDc/IIMllan,  in  the 

various  spheres  of  his  professional,  civic, 
and  political  life,  may  justly  be  said  to 
merit  and  to  enjoy  in  an  excejjtional 
degree  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow-men.  He  was  born  and  reared  in 
the  valley  of  the  Gene.see,  New  York. 
He  is  of  Scotch  origin,  tracing  his  line- 
age from  Alexander  McMillan,  who.se 
monumental  cross,  erected  in  1.348,  still 
stands  with  its  inscriptions  at  the  family 
burial  place  in  Kilmory,  Scotland.  His 
grandfather,  John  McMillan,  was  "John 
the  Upright,"  arbiter  of  the  Hollanders  of  the  Mo- 
hawk valley  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  His  father,  Daniel  McMillan  of  York, 
was  revered  and  honored  by  all  who  knew  him  as  a 
man  of  high  integrity,  kind  and  generous,  of  the 
utmost  purity  of  character :  it  has  been  justly  .said  of 
him,  "  His  hand  gave  bread  and  his  voice  spake 
peace  to  the  needy  and  stricken-hearted."  His 
mother,  a  daughter  of  Malcolm  McNaughton,  was 
a  woman  of  pre-eminent  Christian  culture.  Her 
father's  family  took  much  interest  in  public  affairs, 
three  of  her  brothers  having  occupied  seats  in  the 
Canadian  parliament  ;  while  a  fourth,  active  in  the 
organization  of  Wisconsin  as  a  state,  was  a  member 
of  its  legislative  body. 


Ro ur.ixi)  /i/./c.\:\7-:/i'//.iss/-: tt  m. iii. ixv 

McMillan,  Cluck,  Pooley  &  Depew,  and  local 
counsel  for  the  Vanderbilt  railway  companies  cen- 
tering in  Buffalo. 

In  1885  Mr.  McMillan  was  elected  by  the  Repub- 
lican party  to  represent  the  Buffalo  district  in  the 
state  senate.  His  career  in  that  body  was  most 
satisfactory  to  his  constituents,  and  was  so  thoroughly 
endorsed  by  his  party  and  friends  that  he  was 
renominated  in  the  fall  of  1887.  This  nomination 
he  declined.  While  in  the  senate  he  was  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  canals,  and  a  member  of  the 
committees  on  judiciary,  cities,  claims,  and  Indian 
affairs. 

In  addition  to  the  extensive  legislation  relating  to 
his  own  district,  Senator  McMillan  found  much  time 


31- 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK  — WESTERN  SECTION 


to  devote  to  general  legislation.  As  chairman  of 
the  canal  committee,  he  prepared  and  carried  through 
the  legislatiire,  against  strong  opposition,  the  hill 
providing  for  the  lengthening  of  the  locks  on  the 
Erie  canal,  by  which  the  cost  of  transportation 
between  the  Creat  T-akes  and  tide  water  was  reduced 


PA. MR  I-    men   McMU.I.AX 

upwards  of  forty  \yix  cent.  He  prepared  the  follow- 
ing bills,  and  secured  their  enactment  :  one  provid- 
ing for  a  uniform  policy  of  fire  insurance,  to  be  used 
by  all  companies  doing  business  in  the  state  ;  another 
providing  for  a  commission  to  report  upon  the  most 
humane  method  of  carrying  into  effect  the  death 
]3enalty  in  capital  cases  —  the  l)ill  resulting  in  the 
application  of  electricity  in  such  ca.ses  in  New  York 
state ;  another  authorizing  the  utilization  of  the 
power  of  Niagara  Falls;  another  reforming  prison 
labor  and  discipline  ;  and  another  regulating  the 
employment  of  women  in  manufacturing  establish- 
ments. 

Even   before  his  election  to  the  .senate   Mr.  Mc- 
Millan wa.s  active  in  behalf  of  manv  reforms  relating 


to  the  affairs  of  Buffalo.  It  was  through  his  efforts 
that  the  Munici])al  Court  was  established  :  he  was 
also  chairman  of  the  committee  that  formulated  the 
jilan  embodied  in  the  revised  charter  of  1892,  which 
provided  for  a  board  of  aldermen  and  a  board 
of  councilmen,  one  originating  all  legislation,  and 
the  other  ha\ing  an  absolute  power  of 
-  ■  '-■■  "-J  veto. 

In  Xm?,  Mr.  McMillan  was  elected  by 
I  the  people  of  the  state  one  of  the  fifteen 

delegates  at  large  to  the  convention  to 
revise  and  amend  the  constitution.  In 
this  body  he  took  an  active  and  leading 
position.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  governor  and  other  state 
officers,  a  member  of  the  committees  on 
judiciary  and  on  rules,  and  also  one  of 
the  special  committee  to  [jrepare  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  the  state  setting 
'  forth  the  work  accomplished  bv  the  con- 

vention. 

Mr.     McMillan's     success     has    been 
largely  due  to  a  high  .sen.se  of  personal 
and  professional  honor,  and  to  untiring 
industry,   coupled    with   a  sagacity    that 
enables  him  to  direct  and   utilize  other 
men.      .\s  a  lawyer  he  takes  high  rank, 
as  his  freipient  appearance  in  the  highest 
courts  of  the  state  and   nation    fully  at- 
tests.    No  member  of  the  legal    profes- 
sion possesses  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of   the  bench  and    bar  in  a  greater  de- 
gree.     He    has    a  kind   and  considerate 
nature,  but  it  does  not  blind  him  to  his 
duty,  nor  swerve  him  from  it.     .\s  a  poli- 
tician he  has  had   few  eipials,  for  he  has 
demonstrated  that  a  man  may  enter  poli- 
tics, and  discharge  the  duties  of  political 
life,    with    untarnished    honor.       As    a 
scholar  he  has  fmc  literary  discrimination,  and  the 
cultured  tendencies    of   his    mind    are    mirrored   in 
a    choice    and    well -.selected    library   at    his    home. 
For   some    years    past  he  has  devoted  much  of  his 
leisure   to  the  study  of  Scotti.sh  history  and  litera- 
ture,  and  his  collection    of  works   relating    to  this 
subject  takes  high   rank  among  similar  collections  in 
/\merica. 

Mr.  McMillan  lias  been  jiresidenl  of  the  Buffalo 
Library,  and  was  one  of  the  managers  of  that  asso- 
ciation during  the  erection  of  the  library  building 
and  the  Hotel  Iro(iuois.  He  is  a  manager  of  the 
Buffalo  State  Hospital,  a  trustee  of  the  State  Normal 
School,  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society, 
and  of  the  Societv  of  Natural  Sciences. 


.\rE\   OF  .VKir    )'ORk'—irESTERX  SECT/OX 


?.\?, 


In  1888,  1892,  and  again  in  189(j,  he  was  chosen 
at  the  Republican  state  convention  one  of  the  alter- 
nate delegates  at  large  to  represent  the  state  in  the 
Rej)ublican  national  convention.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Republican  state  committee  ;  belongs 
to  the  American  and  the  state  bar  associations  ;  and 
for  twelve  years  was  one  of  the  examiners  of  appli- 
cants for  admission  to  the  bar.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  the  Buffalo  and  Liberal 
clubs,  the  Chi  Psi  fraternity,  the  Consistory,  and 
the  Temple.      He  has  two  sons,  Morton  and  Ross. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOG Y—  Daniel  Hugh 
McMillan  was  horn  at  York,  N'.  Y.  :  ivas  cdiicafed 
at  Le  Roy  Academy  and  Cornell  University :  studied 
law  in  Buffalo,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1871  ; 
was  state  senator,  1886-87 ;  was  chosen  alternate 
delegate  at  large  to  the  Republican  national  conven- 
tions of  1888,  1892,  and  1896,  and  dele- 
gate at  large  to  the  state  constitutional  con- 
vention of  1891). ;  has  practiced  laiu  in 
Buffalo  since  1871 :  married  Delphia 
Jackson  of  Sandusky,  N.  Y. 


Milliam  %.  /IDarcv,  one  of  the 

most  successful  of  the  younger  lawyers  at 
the  Erie-county  bar,  was  born  in  Madi- 
son county,  Xew  York,  in  1858.  He 
was  taken  to  Lockport  during  infancy, 
and  lived  there  until  he  was  twelve  years 
old.  Moving  to  Buffalo  in  1870,  he 
completed  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  city,  graduating  from  the 
high  school  in  1876.  He  had  decided 
to  follow  the  legal  profession,  and  with 
that  end  in  view  he  entered  an  office 
soon  after  his  graduation  from  the  high 
school,  and  read  law  for  three  years.  In 
1879  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

Mr.  Marcy  was  only  twenty-one  years 
old  at  this  time,  but  he  determined  to 
make  an  early  start  on  his  professional 
career,  and  opened  an  office  at  once  in 
Buffalo  for  the  general  practice  of  law. 
He  had  no  associate  for  the  first  four 
years,  but  by  1883  his  business  had  as- 
sumed such  proportions  that  he  thought 
it  desirable  to  form  a  partnership.  He 
did  so,  accordingly,  with  Joseph  V.  Sea- 
ver,  and  the  firm  of  Seaver  &  Marcy 
carried  on  a  successful  practice  until 
1886.  Mr.  Marcy  then  a.ssociated  himself  with 
Manly  C.  (Ireen.  The  partnershij)  of  (Ireen  & 
Marcv  continued  until  the  senior  partner  was  elected 
to  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  fall  of  1X91,  when  Mr. 


Marcy  formed  a  partnershi])  with  Kmory  P.  Close. 
The  firm  of  Marcy  &  Close  has  existed  ever  since, 
and  has  built  u]),  from  the  substantial  foundation 
afforded  by  the  original  clientage  of  the  associating 
members,  an  imposing  column  of  court  litigation 
and  general  office  practice.  Mr.  Marcy  was  ap- 
])ointed  assistant  district  attorney  of  Erie  county  by 
(ieorge  T.  (Juinby,  serving  two  terms  or  six  years 
altogether,  from  1.SX7  to  1X93.  In  that  responsible 
position  he  confirmed  his  previous  reputation  as  an 
able  and  trustworthy  guardian  of  legal  rights. 

It  is  evident  from  all  this  that  Mr.  Marcy  is  a 
highly  successful  attorney  ;  but  he  is  a  good  deal 
more  than  that.  From  the  beginning  of  his  active 
career  he  has  interested  himself  in  various  matters 
connected  with  the  civic  welfare,  and  has  been  a 
power  for  good  in  the  endless  struggle  with  the  foes 


WILLIAM  I..   MARCV 


of  honest  government.  Believing  that  the  ends 
sought  by  all  good  citizens  may  be  most  effectively 
secured  through  party  co-operation,  and  convinced 
that    the    Republican    party    is    altogether  the  best 


:!14 


MEN   OF  NEW    VORK —WESTERN  SECTIOX 


organization  for  the  jnirpose,  Mr.  Marty  has  been 
one  of  the  leading  advisers  among  the  younger  men 
who  shape  the  policy  of  the  Republican  party.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Republican  League,  and 
has  been  vice  president  of  the  same.  The  cause  of 
civil-service  reform  a])i)ealed  to  him  ])Owerfully,  and 
he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Becker  one  of  the  civil- 
service  commissioners. 

Aside  from  his  profession  and  from  political  and 
public  affairs,  Mr.  Marcy  has  concerned  himself  with 
various  forms  of  social  life.  He  is  a  Mason,  attend- 
ing Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  Xo.  441  ;  and  an 
Odd  Fellow,  attending  Niagara  Lodge,  No.  25.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo,  Liberal,  and  Thursday 
clubs,  and  of  the  Idlewood  Association.  He  be- 
longs, also,  to  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  and  to 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution.  He  has  been 
a  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  Library,  and  is  now  a  trustee 
of  the  Buffalo  School  of  Pedagogy. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— William  Lake 
Marcy  was  born  at  Peterboro,  N.  K,  Attgusl  20, 
1858  ;  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Lockport 
and  Buffalo,  graduating  from  the  Buffalo  High  School 
in  1876 ;  7vas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1879 ;  was  as- 
sistant district  attorney  of  Erie  county,  1887-93  ; 
married  Carrie  Childs  of  Medina,  N.  Y.,  October  7, 
1885  ;  has  practiced  lata  in  Buffalo  since  1879. 


GbarleS  H).  /IDarsball,  the  son  of  a  distin- 
guished lawyer,  has  inherited  his  father's  legal 
talents,  and  has  perpetuated  the  family  fame  in  the 
annals  of  the  Buffalo  bar.  His  ancestors  were 
French-Italian  on  one  side  and  English  on  the 
other.  Mr.  Marshall's  father,  Orsamus  H.  Marshall, 
was  not  only  a  lawyer  of  ability,  but  also  an  histor- 
ical scholar  of  renown.  How  important  his  work  in 
American  history  was  may  be  seen  in  the  circum- 
stance that  Francis  Parkman,  in  the  later  editions  of 
his  historical  writings,  changed  numerous  passages 
in  consequence  of  Mr.  Marshall's  researches.  It  is 
hardly  too  nmch  to  say  that  Orsamus  Marshall,  in 
certain  departments  of  American  history,  was  the 
foremost  scholar  of  his  day. 

With  such  a  family  prestige  to  maintain,  Charles 
Marshall  needed  the  best  of  educations.  This  he 
obtained.  Thorough  training  in  both  public  and 
private  schools,  added  to  the  general  lulture  uncon- 
sciously absorbed  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  cultivated 
home,  enaliled  him  to  make  the  most  of  his  special 
professional  ]jreparation.  The  jniblic  schools  of 
Buffalo,  Sprin'gside  Academy,  near  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
and  the  famous  Hopkins  (Grammar  School  at 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  amply  qualified  him  to  take 
u])  the  studv   of  law  without  the  interposition  of  a 


college  course.  He  went  through  the  Albany  Law 
School,  accordingly,  in  the  years  that  many  young 
men  now  spend  in  college,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1864. 

At  that  time  Orsamus  H.  Marshall  was  carrying 
on  an  extensive  ])ractice  at  the  Erie-county  bar, 
and  he  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  receive  able 
a.ssistance  by  taking  his  son  into  partnership.  The 
firm  of  O.  H.  &  C.  D.  Marshall  served  many  clients 
acceptably  for  about  three  years,  or  until  the  senior 
partner  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  United  States 
District  Court.  After  carrying  on  alone  for  a  year 
both  his  own  and  his  father's  practice  Mr.  Marshall 
wisely  sought  assistance,  and  began  his  long  associa- 
tion with  Spencer  Clinton  by  forming  with  him,  in 
l.S().S,  the  firm  of  Marshall  &  Clinton.  This  was 
the  style  until  1873,  when  Robert  P.  Wilson  was 
admitted  to  the  firm,  and  the  name  became  Mar- 
shall, Clinton  &  Wilson.  This  association  was  dis- 
solved in  1892,  and  for  a  short  lime  thereafter 
Messrs.  Marshall  and  Clinton  practiced  together  as 
before.  In  1893  they  admitted  to  the  firm  Adolph 
Rebadow,  who  had  studied  law  with  them  some 
years  earlier  ;  and  the  present  familiar  style  of  Mar- 
shall, Clinton  &  Rebadow  was  thus  acquired.  The 
three  attorneys  so  a,ssociated  admirably  complement 
each  other,  and  constitute  together  one  of  the 
strongest  firms  in  western  New  York.  Mr.  Mar- 
shall concerns  himself  more  or  less  actively  with  all 
the  business  of  his  firm,  but  he  has  paid  special 
attention  for  many  years  to  the  law  of  real  property, 
and  to  the  management  of  trust  estates.  He  has 
been  the  attorney  of  the  Buffalo  Savings  Bank  since 
1878,  as  his  father  was  for  twenty-eight  years  before 
that  date. 

Mr.  Marshall  is  one  of  the  best-known  clubmen 
in  Buffalo,  resorting  habitually  to  the  Buffalo  Club 
(of  which  he  has  been  a  director),  the  Saturn  ("lub, 
and  others.  He  has  a  summer  residence  on  Beaver 
island  in  the  .Niagara  river,  and  his  friends  deem 
"Beaver  Lodge"  more  attractive  than  any  club. 
This  projjerty  Mr.  Marshall  accpiired  on  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Beaver  Island  Club,  of  which  he  was 
director  and  treasurer  when  Grover  Cleveland  was 
])resident.  Mr.  Marshall  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  has 
been  an  officer  in  the  organization  from  the  first. 
He  was  a  director  of  the  Buffalo  Library  for  several 
years,  and  in  1887  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
real-estate  committee.  He  did  not  favor,  however, 
the  use  of  the  property  of  the  association  for  hotel 
[lurposes,  and  resigned  from  the  board  in  1888.  He 
is  at  present  a  director  of  the  Buffalo  Fine  Arts 
Academv,  the  F.uffalo  Societv  of  ."Krtists,  the  Buffiilo 


MEN  OF  XEIV    YORK —WESTER. \  SECTION 


315 


City  Cemetery,  and  the  Third  National  Bank.  He 
has  also  served  as  trustee,  treasurer,  and  vice  presi- 
dent of  the  Thomas  Asylum  for  orphan  Indian 
children  on  the  Cattaraugus  reservation. 

j\Ir.  Marshall  has  been  for  many  )ears  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  P'irst  Presbyterian  Church  of  Buffalo, 
and  was  prominently  identified  with  the 
movement  that  resulted  in  the  removal 
of  the  church  from  its  former  location, 
where  the  Erie  County  Savings  Bank 
now  stands,  to  its  present  site  on  the 
Circle.  This  step  was  bitterly  opposed 
by  some  of  the  members  of  the  society, 
and  entailed  a  long  legal  contest,  which 
Mr.  Marshall's  law  firm,  acting  in  behalf 
of  the  trustees,  conducted  to  a  successful 
issue. 

Mr.  Marshall  takes  great  interest  in 
early  American  history,  and  has  one  of 
the  richest  private  libraries  in  this  sub- 
ject anywhere  to  be  found.  His  father 
established  the  library  years  ago,  and 
collected  from  a  multitude  of  sources 
early  and  rare  pieces  of  Americana. 
Since  his  father's  death  Mr.  Marshall  has 
continued  the  search  for  choice  editions, 
and  has  enriched  the  library  in  various 
respects. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Charles  DcAngelis  Marshall  was  born 
at  Buffalo  November  H,  18^1 ;  was  edu- 
cated at  publii  and  private  schools  ;  gradu- 
ated from  the  Albany  Laio  School,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  186^ :  has 
practiced  laiv  in  Buffalo  since  186 Jf. 


price  H.  /IDattCSOn  has  lived  in 
Buffalo  over  forty  vears,  has  practiced 
law  there  thirty-five  years,  and  has  made 
himself  well  and  favorably  known  throughout  west- 
ern New  York.  He  was  born  in  Darien,  (lenesee 
county,  in  1840,  and  spent  his  boyhood  in  that 
town.  He  obtained  his  early  education  in  one  of 
the  little  red  schoolhouses  that  dot  the  country 
landscape,  and  attended  for  two  years  Darien  .Acad- 
emy, an  institution  that  was  never  very  robust,  and 
that  pined  away  and  died  long  ago.  His  scho- 
lastic training  was  not  carried  further,  and  was  thus 
inadequate  to  the  needs  of  a  professional  man. 
Fortunately  Mr.  Matteson  ha.s  a  studious  disposition 
and  love  of  learning  for  its  own  .sake,  so  that  the 
scanty  stock  of  knowledge  originally  acquired  in 
the  schools  of  his  youth  has  been  augmented 
throughout    his    life    by   systematic   and    persistent 


reading.  Literature  has  always  been  one  of  his 
delights,  and  he  is  well  acquainted  with  the  standard 
works  of  English  and  American  authors. 

.\t  the  age  of  fifteen,  in  ISo.'),  Mr.  Matteson  left 
the  country  for  the  attractions  of  city  life.  Buffalo 
was  growing  rapidly  at  that  time,  almost  doubling 


CHARLES  D.  .\rARSHALL 

its  population  in  the  decade  before  the  Civil  War  ; 
and  foretokens  of  its  later  prosperity  were  alreadv  at 
hand.  Deciding  that  a  young  man  who  should 
study  law  and  grow  up  with  the  city  might  reason- 
ably expect  to  see  his  professional  practice  expand 
with  the  population,  Mr.  Matteson  entered  the  office 
of  Houghton  &  Clark,  Buffalo,  and  read  law  dili- 
gently for  several  years.  His  preparatory  studies 
had  been  insufficient,  as  we  have  seen,  and  he  was 
unable  to  avail  himself  of  a  law  school  ;  but  he 
pa.ssed  the  bar  examinations  in  due  season,  and  be- 
gan to  jiractice  in  Buffalo  in  1861. 

Mr.  Matteson  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
and  thus  obtained  an  early  start  on  his  ])rofessional 
career.      In   I862-(34  he  was  associated  with    ludse 


316 


.)r/;\  or  xew  )  or k— western  sectiox 


(Jeorge  VV.  Houghton,  with  whom  he  had  studied  law, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Houghton  &  Matteson  ;  but 
otherwise  he  has  practiced  alone.  The  process  of 
building  up  a  legal  clientage  is  not  easy,  but  Mr. 
Matteson  surmounted  one  obstacle  after  another  un- 
til  his  position   at   the   bar  was   well  as.sured.      So 


I'RICE  - 1.  .1/.  /  r/Kso.x 

])rominent,  indeed,  had  he  become  by  the  year  1877 
that  he  was  mentioned  as  a  suitable  candidate  for 
the  position  of  city  attorney  ;  and  he  was  elected  to 
the  office  for  a  term  of  two  years,  l(S7.S-79. 

Mr.  Matteson  has  found  rela.xation  from  jjrofes- 
sional  cares  in  various  fraternal  societies.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Order  of  United  Friends  and  to  the 
.Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  Queen  City  Lodge,  No.  HoU,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  of  Keystone  Chapter,  No.  162,  R.  A.  M.  He 
has  attended  for  many  years  the  Delaware  Avenue 
Methodist  Ivpiscopal  Church  in  Buffalo.  His  social 
life  is  divided  between  Buffalo,  where  most  of  his 
|)ractice  is  carried  on  and  where  he  usually  lives  in 
winter,    and    Darien,   his   native    town    in    (ienesee 


county.  He  is  fond  of  country  life,  especially  as  it 
is  found  in  Darien  ;  and  he  takes  delight  in  spend- 
ing the  summer  months  amid  the  scenes  of  his  boy- 
hood. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  OGY—  Price  A. 
Matteson  was  bom  at  Darien,  N.  V.,  January  12, 
ISJfO ;  was  educated  in  district  sc/ioo/s 
and  Darien  Academy ;  mored  to  Buffalo 
in  1855 ;  studied  law,  and  7oas  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1861 ;  married  Frances  E. 
Brown  of  Buffalo  May  20,  1865  ;  was  a 
member  of  the  Erie-county  /ward  of  su- 
pen'isors  in  1864,  <"'"'  <'/''  attorney  of 
Buffalo,  1878—79  ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo  since  1861. 

Cbarles  6.  Ipaiikow,  a  <  ommis- 

sioner  of  public  works,  and  otherwise 
prominent  in  the  political  and  commer- 
cial life  of  Buffalo,  was  born  near  Feld- 
berg,  in  the  grand  duchy  of  Mecklen- 
l)urg-Strelitz,  Cermany,  in  IM.")!.  When 
lie  was  thirteen  years  of  age  he  came  to 
this  country,  whitlier  two  brothers  had 
preceded  him.  Forced  to  look  for  em- 
ployment at  once,  he  became  an  appren- 
^^  tice    in    the    bakery    and    confectionery 

■"^  business,  and    for  a  long   time  followed 

this    calling    under    various    em[)loyers. 
His    work    prevented  school  attendance 
during    the    day,    but    he    did   what    he 
could  to  remedy    this    privation   by    at- 
tending an  evening  school.     By  the  year 
1880,    when    he   was    twenty-nine   years 
old,  Mr.  Pankow  felt  that  he  had  worked 
for  other  people  long  enough,  and  that 
it  was  time  to  make  a  beginning  for  him- 
self if  he  was  ever  to  get  ahead  in  the 
world.      He  set  up  a  grocery  and  saloon, 
accordingly,   in   the   part  of  Buffalo   where  he  was 
well  known,  and  soon  had  his  business  on  a  secure 
footing.      In  1883  he  moved  his  store  to  its  present 
location  at  the  corner  of  William  and   Pratt  streets, 
where  he  carries  on  a  large  and  growing  l)usiness. 

The  grocery,  however,  is  only  one  of  several 
enterprises  engaging  Mr.  Pankow's  time.  He  has 
been  connected  with  the  Harmonia  Mutual  Fire 
Insurance  Co.  since  its  organization  in  1877,  and 
has  been  president  of  the  company  continuously 
since  January,  188(i.  In  1.S82  he  acquired  an 
interest  in  the  Clinton  Co-operati\e  Brewing  Co., 
and  has  been  president  of  the  concern  since  Janu- 
ary, 1883,  witii  the  exception  of  the  year  1885. 
Since   IMMX   lie   lias  been  president  of  the  Western 


.UEX  OF  x/-:ir  )i)rk—u-kstf.r.\  sEcr/o.y 


■W, 


Bottling  Co.,  Limited,  which  manufactures  all  kinds 
of  "soft"  and  carbonated  drinks.  Since  May, 
1890,  he  has  been  president  of  the  Brewers'  Asso- 
ciation of  Buffalo.  He  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
United  States  Brewers'  Association,  having  been 
elected  to  the  board  at  I'hiladelpliia,  in  lSi(."),  for 
a  term  of  three  \  ears. 

A  man  possessed  of  such  Inisiness  ability  as  the 
foregoing  record  necessarily  ascribes  to  Mr.  Pankoxv, 
cannot  long  keep  out  of  politics  ;  especially  if  sucli 
ability  be  united  to  uprightness  of  character  and 
genial  personal  cpialities.  .Ml  these  conditions 
coexist  in  Mr.  Pankow,  and  his  political  success  is 
only  what  might  have  been  expected.  He  first 
came  prominently  into  jjublic  notice  in  the  fall  of 
1883,  when  he  was  elected  alderman  from  the  old 
•Ith  ward  for  the  term  of  1884-8.5.  After  that  he 
held  no  official  position  for  a  number 
of  years,  though  he  continued  to  be  an 
active  force  in  the  counsels  of  Republi- 
can leaders  in  his  part  of  the  city.  In 
the  fall  of  1S94  he  received  the  nom- 
ination for  the  important  position  of 
commi.ssioner  of  public  works,  and  was 
elected  for  a  term  of  three  years  begin- 
ning January  1,  1895. 

Mr.  Pankow  is  highly  sociable  in  his 
nature  and  habits,  and  belongs  to  various 
organizations  designed  to  satisfy  this 
healthy  instinct  of  mankind.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  Masonic 
order,  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  St.  John's 
Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Charles  George  Pankinu  was  born  near 
Feldberg,  Germany,  January  27 ,  18,')  1  : 
/earned  the  baker's  and  eonfecfioner' s 
trade,  and  worked  at  the  same,  1868-80  : 
married  Mary  Graf  of  Tonawanda,  N.  V. , 
June  30,  1870  ;  has  conducted  a  grocery 
business  in  Buffalo  since  1880 ;  was  al- 
derman from  the  5th  ward,  Buffalo, 
188^-85;  was  elected  commissioner  oj 
public  works,  Buffalo,  in  November,  189 J^, 
for  the  term  1895-97. 


%CC    lb.   Smitb   is  well  known   in 
Buffalo   in  both  professional  and  social  circles.      As 
a   medical    practitioner   and   scientist   he    has   won 
deserved  repute,  while    in    military  circles    he    has 
attained  fame  as  an  expert  marksman,  having  been 


for  six  years  inspector  of  rifle  practice   in  the  74th 
regiment. 

Dr.  Smith  is  an  Ohio  man  by  birth,  but  went  to 
Buffalo  when  a  boy,  and  has  since  resided  in  the 
(^ueen  City.  He  attended  the  public  schools, 
including  the  high  school,  and  afterwards  entered 
the  medical  department  of  the  L'niversity  of  Buffalo. 
He  pursued  the  regular  three-year  course,  and  pa.ssed 
his  examinations  ;  but  was  not  permitted  to  take  his 
degree,  as  he  had  not  then  attained  the  age  of 
lwent\-one.  The  degree  of  M.  I),  was  duly  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  year  following.  Dr.  Smith's 
remarkable  maturity  of  mind,  and  natural  talent 
for  the  science  of  medicine,  are  shown  by  the  early 
age  at  which  lie  graduated,  and  especially  by  his 
high  rank  on  commencement  day.  He  took  the 
first    Stoddard    prize    for    the    best    examination    in 


CHARr.F.S   C.   I'AXKi^W 


materia  tnedica,    and    shared    the    Fillmore  prize  for 
the  best  thesis. 

Wiselv    concluding    that    at    his   age    he    could 
afford  to  spend  a  few  more  years  in  perfecting  his 


318 


AfEA'   or  .\K\r    YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


professional  knowledge,  Dr.  Smith  went  to  Xew 
York,  and  matriculated  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  the  medical  department  of  Columbia 
University.  Having  graduated  thence  in  1881,  he 
returned  to  Buffalo  to  begin  his  professional  work. 
He  has  ever  since  followed  his  calling  in  that  city. 


/  /■  F    II    SMITH 

Dr.  Smith  has  confined  his  practice  to  special 
lines,  chiefly  of  a  surgical  nature.  Early  in  his  pro- 
fessional career  he  was  appointed  surgeon  in  Dr. 
Pierce's  Palace  Hotel.  This  magnificent  hostelry 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1881,  and  in  its  place  was 
erected  the  Invalids'  Hotel,  with  which  Dr.  Smith 
has  been  connected  from  the  first.  He  has  also 
been  for  seven  years  vice  president  of  the  World's 
Dispensary  Medical  Association,  an  auxiliary  of  the 
ho.spital.  His  opportunities  there  for  varied  practice 
have  been  numerous  and  valuable. 

Dr.  Smith  belongs  to  the  eclectic  school  of  medi- 
cine, ado])ting  what  is  best  from  all  schools.  He  is 
president  of  the  board  of  medical  e.xaminers  repre- 
senting  the   Eclectic   Medical   Society  of  the  State 


of  New  York.  He  has  written  much  on  subjects 
connected  with  his  profession.  He  is  a  prominent 
memi)er  of  various  scientific  clubs,  having  been 
president  of  the  Buffalo  Microscopical  Club  one 
year,  and  of  the  state  Eclectic  medical  society  two 
years.  He  ha.s  been  first  vice  president  of  the  Buf- 
falo Society  of  Natural  Sciences  for  the 
past  two  years,  and  devotes  all  his  leisure 
hours  to  this  institution. 

Dr.  Smith  is  an  enthusiastic  rifleman, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  74th  regi- 
ment's rifle  team  that  won  the  trojjhy  of 
the  state  for  four  successive  years.  His 
relations  with  the  military  entitle  him  to 
the  rank  of  captain.  He  is  a  member  of 
St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  of  the  Buf- 
falo Club,  and  of  Ancient  Landmark 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Lee  Herbert  Smith  znas  born  at  Coii- 
neaut,  O.,  August  10,  1850;  moved  to 
Buffalo  in  1868 ;  graduated  from  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Buffalo  in  1877,  and  from  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Nezo  York  city, 
in  1881 ;  married  Corrie  Emma  Lacy  of 
Buffalo  October  5,  1880;  has  been  vice 
president  of  the  World's  Dispensary  Med- 
ical Association  since  1889. 


50bU  StrOOtman,  who  has  been 
identified  with  the  shoe  industry  of  Buf- 
falo as  a  manufacturer  for  over  twenty 
years,  was  l)orn  in  the  Queen  City  of 
the  Lakes.  His  people  are  old  Buflalo- 
nians,  his  grandfather  having  cultivated 
a  farm  in  a  jjart  of  the  city  that  is 
now  covered  with  business  blocks.  Mr. 
Strootman  himself  was  born,  and  lived 
for  over  forty  years,  in  the  same  house  that  shel- 
tered his  mother  from  her  childhood. 

After  attending  Public  School  No.  7,  and  later  a 
private  school,  Mr.  Strootman  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
closed  his  books  to  learn  his  father's  business.  The 
latter  was  for  many  years  a  manufacturer  of  custom 
shoes,  and  had  in  his  service  some  of  the  best  shoe- 
makers of  the  old  world.  In  such  a  school  Mr. 
Strootman  could  not  fail  to  learn  the  business  per- 
fectly in  every  detail  ;  and  the  seven  years  that  he 
spent  in  his  father's  employment  gave  him  the  finest 
possible  training  for  his  career  as  a  manufacturer. 
In  addition  to  this  long  experience  he  spent  about 
eighteen  months  with  John  Dorschel  &  Co.  of  Buf- 
folo,  taking  charge  of  their  ])attern  and  shoe-cutting 


.\fEX   OF  .\7-:il-    VORK—lVKSTF.hW  SF.CT/OX 


;ii'.i 


department.  Soon  after  attaining  his  majority  he 
began  business  for  himself,  having  saved  an  amount 
of  capital  that  most  people  would  deem  wholly  in- 
adeciuate.  He  knew  the  business  so  thoroughly, 
however,  and  exercised  so  much  care  and  judgment 
in  his  ventures,  that  success  attended  his  efforts  from 
the  first.  He  enlarged  his  operations  gradually,  as 
his  trade  relations  e.xtended  and  his  capital  increased, 
until  to-day  his  goods  are  in  demand  not  only  in 
western  New  York,  but  in  the  South,  the  West,  and 
the  Northwest  as  far  as  the  Pacific  coast.  His  four- 
teen experienced  shoe  salesmen  reside  at  convenient 
points  in  various  states,  and  visit  each  important 
town  and  city  at  freiiuent  intervals.  For  this  pur- 
pose samples  of  new  styles  and  shapes  are  made  up 
twice  a  year,  and  displayed  by  the  salesmen  six 
months  ahead  of  the  sea.son.  Mr.  Strootman  usuallv 
sells  his  specialties  to  but  one  store  in  a 
town.  He  manufactures  shoes  for  ladies, 
misses,  and  children  exclusively.  'I"he 
official  records  of  the  factory  inspectors 
show  that  Mr.  Strootman  employs  more 
people  than  any  other  individual  manu- 
facturer in  Buffalo.  His  interest  and 
amusement  from  boyhood  has  been 
shoemaking  and  shoe  machinery,  and 
his  factory  contains  an  unusually  com- 
plete equipment  of  the  finest  modern 
appliances  used  in  progressive  shoemak- 
ing. 

In  recent  years  the  subject  of  gold  and 
silver  mining  has  engaged  Mr.  Stroot- 
man's  attention  to  a  considerable  extent. 
He  has  lieen  much  more  successful  in 
the  shoe  Inisiness  than  the  average  manu- 
facturer ;  but  the  conditions  of  trade  in 
that  industry  have  become  more  and 
more  keenly  competitive,  until  the  mar- 
gin of  profit  has  sunk  to  a  point  not  far 
removed  from  zero.  Mr.  Strootman  has 
filled  his  factory  with  expensive  labor- 
saving  devices  and  costly  machinery  of 
various  kinds  ;  but  competitors  have  done 
the  same,  and  the  net  result  has  been 
that  customers  have  bought  their  shoes 
at  lower  and  lower  prices,  while  the 
manufacturers  have  reaped  little  or  no 
benefit  from  the  decreased  cost  of  pro- 
duction. In  the  case  of  gold  and  silver 
mining  the  conditions  are  so  far  different 
that  improved  processes  of  extracting  ores,  more 
productive  refining  methods,  and  various  economies 
in  getting  the  metal  from  the  mine  to  the  smelter, 
are  all  directly   effective   in  swelling  the  profits  of 


the  business.  Having  convinced  himself  of  the 
.soundness  of  this  view,  Mr.  Strootman  ne.xt  sought 
an  opportunity  to  apply  his  reasoning  practically. 
.\  little  research  among  the  mining  properties  of 
Colorado  discovered  such  opportunities,  and  he  is 
now  largely  interested  in  some  of  the  most  pro- 
ductive mines  of  the  Centennial  State.  He  is  a 
director  of  the  Buffalo  &  Colorado  Development 
Co.,  and  is  president  of  the  Golconda  Consolidated 
Mining,  Milling  ^:  Tunnel  Co.  The  former  cor- 
poration has  its  general  offices  in  Denver,  its  prop- 
erty lying  in  Fremont  county,  Colorado.  The  Gol- 
conda company  operates  mines  and  mills  in  Clear 
Creek  county  in  the  same  state. 

Mr.  Strootman  has  been  much  absorbed  in  his 
business,  and  has  taken  little  part  in  outside  matters. 
He  belongs  to  various  clubs  in  Buffalo  and  the  east- 


JOH\  STROUr.MAX 

em  cities,  but  rarely  visits  them.      He  is  a  director 
of  the  Union  Bank,  Buffalo. 

PERSONA  L    CHR  ONOL  O  G I  '—John  Sf roof- 
man  was  />orn  at  Buffalo  April  2,  1851 ;  was  cducatal 


:i2() 


.I//1.V   OF  XEW    V(U<K—\VESTERX  SECT/OX 


in  public  and  private  schools ;  learned  the  shoemaker' s 
Intsiness,  and  ^oorked  for  his  father  in  the  same,  /<SV/.3- 
72 ;  has  been  a  director  of  the  Union  Bank,  Buffalo, 
since  1892 ;  has  carried  on  a  shoe  manufactory  in 
Buffalo  since  187S. 


DI:   WITT  C.    \\7LCOX 

De  XKIlttt  (5.  llClilCOX,  who  has  made  himsell' 
widely  known  in  Ohio  and  in  western  New  York  as 
a  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  less  than  forty 
years  ago  in  Akron,  Ohio.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  of  that  i  ity,  graduating  from  the  high  school 
in  June,  187G.  In  the  following  September  he  en- 
tered Buchtel  College,  where  he  pursued  elective 
courses  for  two  years.  The  Clexeland  Homeo- 
pathic Hospital  College  wa.s  his  next  educational 
resource,  and  in  1880  he  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  from  that  institution.  He  be- 
gan ])ractice  in  the  .same  year  at  Akron,  in  |)artncr- 
ship  with  Dr.  William  Murdoch. 

Krom  the  beginning  of  his  medical  studies  Dr. 
Wilcox  had  looke<l  forward  to  the  career  of  a 
surgeon  rather  than  that  of  a  general  jjhysician  :   and 


in  order  to  cipiip  himself  still  more  thoroughly  for 
such  work,  he  gave  up  for  a  while  his  practice  in 
.\kron,  and  cros.sed  the  water  to  study  under  the  best 
surgeons  abroad.  He  spent  the  year  1882  in  the 
hospitals  of  London  and  Paris,  thereby  acquiring  an 
invaluable  experience  in  the  theory  and 
practice  of  surgery.  Dr.  Wilcox  is  one 
of  the  few  Americans  who  have  received 
appointments  in  European  hospitals : 
for  six  months  in  1882  he  held  the  posi- 
tion of  resident  house  surgeon  in  the 
London  Temjjerance  Hospital. 

Having  returned  to  this  country  early 
in  188;],  Dr.  Wilcox  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  at  .Akron,  and  continued 
to  follow  his  profession  there  for  the 
next  five  years.  In  1888-89  he  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Dr.  Joseph  T.  Cook 
of  Buffalo,  taking  up  his  residence  in 
that  city  Fel)ruary  1,  1888.  There  was 
then  no  member  of  the  homeopathic- 
school  in  Buffalo  who  was  giving  special 
and  exclusive  attention  to  surgery,  and 
several  prominent  physicians  of  the  city 
requested  Dr.  Wilcox  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency. He  did  so,  as  stated,  and  ob- 
tained a  large  practice  almost  at  once. 
By  May,  1890,  his  surgical  patients  were 
.so  numerous  that  he  found  it  convenient 
to  establish  for  their  use  the  Wilcox 
Private  Hospital.  This  institution  served 
his  purpose  so  well  that  Dr.  Wilcox,  at 
the  recjuest  of  many  fellow-practitioners 
in  Buffalo  and  V.ne  county,  enlarged  the 
hospital,  and  made  it  general  instead  of 
private.  In  1894  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  Lexington  Heights  Hospital.  The 
staff  of  the  institution  includes  twenty  or 
the  best-known  physicians  of  Buffalo  and 
New  York,  and  the  enterprise  must  be 
regarded  from  evcrv  point  of  view  as  highlv  suc- 
cessful. 

Dr.  Wilcox  was  one  of  the  original  staff  members 
of  the  F^rie  County  Hospital,  and  he  is  still  an  at- 
tending surgeon  in  the  institution.  He  is  likewise 
one  of  the  staff  of  the  Buffalo  Homeojjathic  Hospital. 
He  has  memljershij)  in  the  New  York  .State  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  Society,  in  the  .\merican  Institute  of 
Homeopathy,  and  in  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural 
Sciences  ;  and  he  has  been  president  of  the  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  Society  of  U'estern  New  York.  He 
has  frequently  written  on  professional  subjects  in 
various  medical  journals.  In  1891  he  delivered  be- 
lore   the  Societv   of  Natural    Sciences  a    lecture   on 


more  ol 
western 


ME.\   OF  \Eir    YORK'— WESTERN  SECT/OX 


321 


"  Heredity  of  Crime,"  which  was  published  in  the 
Buffalo  Express. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— De  Wilt 
Gilbert  Wilcox  was  born  at  Akron,  O.,  January  15, 
1858  ;  was  educated  in  the  Akron  public  schools  and 
Buchtel  <yO.)  College ;  graduated  from  the  Cleveland 
Homeopathic  Hospital  Medical  College  in  1880: 
married  Jennie  Irene  Green  of  Alfred  Centre,  N.  V., 
September  5,  1888 ;  practiced  medicine  in  Akron, 
1880-88,  with  the  exception  of  a  year  spent  in  surgical 
study  abroad ;  has  practiced  in  Buffalo  since  1888, 
devoting  hi?nself  especially  to  surgical  and  hospital 
work. 


James  H.  Campbell,  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar insurance  men  of  Buffalo,  is  a  native  of  Canada, 
having    been    born    in    Niagara   Falls,  Ont.,    fort\- 
odd  years  ago.      His  parents  moved   to 
Buffalo,  however,  when  James  was  seven 
years  old,  and  the  boy's  education   was 
received  at  Public  School  No.  1  in  that 
city,  and  at  Bryant  iS:  Stratton's  Business 
College. 

Mr.  Campbell  made  an  early  begin- 
ning in  the  busine.ss  of  his  life  thus  far, 
entering  at  the  age  of  si.vteen  the  office 
of  the  old  Buffalo  City  Insurance  Co., 
of  which  William  G.  Fargo,  then  mayor 
of  the  city,  was  president.  Mr.  Cani])- 
bell  found  the  business  congenial  from 
the  first,  and  devoted  himself  assiduously 
to  his  duties.  He  received  rapid  jjromo- 
tions,  and  had  attained  a  position  of 
considerable  importance  when  the  great 
Chicago  fire  of  IJSTl  forced  his  com])an) 
into  bankru]jtcy,  together  with  many 
others  throughout  the  country.  -So  able 
an  assistant  as  Mr.  Campbell  had  |)roved 
himself  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  a 
new  opening,  and  he  soon  entered  the 
general  insurance  office  of  \\orthington 
&  Sill  as  policy  clerk.  The  following 
year  he  wa.s  promoted  to  take  charge  of 
the  fire  business  of  the  firm,  holding  that 
position  for  several  years.  Having  made 
himself  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
working  details  of  the  establishmeni, 
Mr.  Campbell  determined  to  start  in 
business  for  himself  Accordingly,  in 
October,  1876,  he  obtained  the  local 
agency  for  several  prominent  companies,  and  ojjened 
an  office  in  Buffalo.  For  seventeen  years  he  carried 
on  alone  a  prosperous  business.  Writing  all  kinds  of 
insurance — life,  fire,  accident,  plate-glass,  and  steam- 


boiler —  he  has  established  a  reputation  for  courte- 
ous and  l)usiness-like  dealing,  and  prompt  and  satis- 
factory adjustment  of  losses,  that  easily  accounts  for 
his  success.  By  October,  1898,  his  business  had 
grown  to  such  proportions  that  it  became  desirable 
to  obtain  the  help  of  an  associate,  and  he  consoli- 
dated his  agency  with  that  of  John  S.  Kellner.  At 
the  same  time  they  moved  their  offices  to  prominent 
and  spacious  quarters  on  Niagara  street,  where  the 
firm  of  Campbell  &  Kellner  has  continued  to  the 
present  time,  doing  a  large  and  steadily  increasing 
business. 

When  the  Buffalo  Association  of  Fire  Under- 
writers was  organized  in  August,  1879,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  he  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  its 
work.     He  was  president  of  the  association  in  1889. 


JAMFS  .1.   lAMflUU.I. 

Aside  from  his  lifelong  connection  with  the  busi- 
ness of  insurance,  Mr.  Campbell  is  known  through- 
out the  state  for  his  interest  in  co-0]jerative  savings 
and  loan  associations.      As  early  as  1871,  when  .such 


322 


M/:.\   ('/•■   .\/:ii'    )(>A'A'      ll'KSTERX  SKCTJOX 


societies  were  a  good  deal  of  a  novelty,  he  helped 
to  organize  the  Prospect  Hill  Savings  and  Loan 
Association,  and  was  made  its  president.  This  com- 
pany was  conducted  on  the  old  "limited"  plan, 
and  in  1^77  the  stock  matured,  and  the  com])any 
liipiidated  its  obligations  and  passed  out  of  exist- 
ence. In  January,  1X84,  the  Krie  Savings  and 
Loan  Asiiociation  was  organized  in  Buffalo,  and  Mr. 
Campbell  was  made  one  of  the  directors.  This 
position  he  soon  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of 
l)resident  of  the  Irish-. American  Savings  antl  Loan 
A.ssociation,  organized  in  the  following  .\pril.  He 
remained  at  the  head  of  the  management  of  this 
institution  for  a  number  of  years,  finally  resigning 
in  January,  1.S94.  During  this  time  he  was  active 
in  (promoting  a  union  of  similar  associations  through- 
out the  state,  and  when  the  Xew  York  State  League 
of  Co-Operative  Savings  and  Building-Loan  Associa- 
tions was  organized  at  Rochester  in  June,  i;S<S8,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  chosen  second  vice  president.  The 
lullowing  year  he  wa.s  unanimously  elected  president 
of  the  state  association,  and  abl\  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  office. 

Twelve  years'  service  in  the  .National  (luard  nuisi 
also  be  recorded  in  any  account  of  .Mr.  Campbell's 
life  that  aims  at  completeness.  He  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  company  B,  74th  regiment,  in  May,  18(58, 
received  promotions  in  due  course,  and  on  the 
organization  of  comjiany  K  was  made  first  lieutenant 
of  that  company.  In  September,  187(),  he  became 
( ommander  of  the  comjiany,  and  retained  this 
position  until  his  resignation  from  the  Cuard  in 
.May,  1880. 

PERSONAL  CIl RONOLOGY— James  Arthur 
Campbell  iiHis  born  at  Niagara  Falls,  0/it.,  fitly  24, 
IS') 2:  was  educated  in  Buffalo  public  schools  and 
Bryant  i2^  Stratton' s  Business  College;  nuis  a  clerk 
in  insurance  offices,  1868-76 ;  married  Emetine  A. 
Short  of  Buffalo  September  17,  1888 ;  was  president 
of  the  Irish-American  Saj'ings  and  Loan  Association, 
188J^—{)J^  ;  has  conducted  a  general  insurance  agency  in 
Buffalo  since  lS7<i. 

•  •* 

/IDOSeS  Ti'Q.  S)al?e  lias  been  identified,  ever 
^ilu■e  he  went  to  Buffalo  fourteen  years  ago,  with 
the  bakery  business.  His  earlier  career  as  a  hard- 
ware merchant  in  a  country  town  seems  quite  dis- 
tinct from  this,  but  the  experience  thus  acc|uired 
doubtless  made  possible  the  success  that  has  attended 
the  later  undertaking. 

.Mr.  Dake  was  born  in  Livingston  county,  New 
York,  fifty-six  years  ago.  His  father  was  a  farmer 
in  the  beautiful  Cenesee  valley  ;  and  the  boy's  edu- 
cation  consisted   of  a   little   book  learning,  obtained 


at  the  district  school  of  his  native  town  of  Portage, 
and  a  large  amount  of  practical  ex])erience  gained 
on  the  farm.  .Not  altogether  content  with  the 
results  of  this  curriculum,  he  spent  a  short  time  at 
Nunda  Academy  in  his  twentieth  year  ;  but  an  ex- 
tended course  there  seemed  impracticable,  and  he 
soon  returned  home,  and  dexoted  himself  for  several 
years  to  farming. 

in  December,  18()4,  he  began  mercantile  life  as  a 
clerk  in  a  hardware  store  in  .\ll)ion,  X.  Y.,  remain- 
ing there  somewhat  more  than  three  years,  and 
learning  the  business  thoroughly  in  all  its  details. 
Commercial  life  was  more  attractive  to  him  than 
farming  had  been,  and  he  determined  to  engage  in 
business  on  his  own  account.  He  returned  to  Nunda, 
therefore,  and  established  with  his  father  the  firm 
of  J.  M.  Dake  &  Son,  hardware  merchants.  The 
father  furnished  most  of  the  capital,  l)ut  the  son  had 
the  entire  management  of  aflairs,  and  was  jiractically 
the  head  of  the  concern.  .Mr.  Dake  carried  on  this 
business  for  ten  years  or  more,  and  built  u|)  a  good 
country  trade  in  that  part  of  Livingston  county. 
In  March,  1879,  he  sold  his  interest  to  a  younger 
l)rother,  and  the  business  is  still  conducted  \nitler 
the  old  firm  name  of  J.  M.  Dake  iV  Son. 

For  the  next  few  \ears  Mr.  Dake  was  variously 
occupied  in  settling  \\\)  his  affairs  at  Nunda,  and  in 
oi)erations  in  the  oil  countr\'  ;  but  in  [anuary,  188."1, 
he  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  bought  an  interest  in  the 
Niagara  Baking  Co.  there.  In  this  new  line  of 
activity  he  was  successful  from  the  first,  and  the 
ra|)i(l  growth  of  the  business  fiirnishes  abundant 
evidence  of  his  fitness  for  the  management  of 
large  interests.  When  he  became  lonnected  with 
the  establishment  it  employed  about  twenty -five 
men,  and  was  comparatively  a  loial  concern  :  the 
plant  now  employs  VI')  hands,  and  its  product  is 
sold  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio. 

In  1890  the  United  States  Baking  Co.  was  organ- 
ized for  the  purpose  of  absorl)ing  into  a  single  cor- 
poration numerous  baking  plants  in  the  central  and 
eastern  |)art  of  the  country,  thus  unifying  their 
policies,  perfecting  their  methods  of  doing  business, 
and  preventing  disastrous  competition.  The  com- 
pany has  been  highly  successful,  and  has  grown  to 
be  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  its  kind  in  the 
world.  Mr.  Dake  was  a  prime  mover  in  this  con- 
.solidation  of  interests  ;  and  in  October,  1890,  he 
merged  his  business  into  the  L'nited  States  Baking 
Co.  under  the  sjiecial  name  of  the  Niagara  Bakery 
Branch.  He  has  been  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
cor])oration  since  this  time,  and  was  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  company  in  \K\\ .  In  that  year 
he  spent  several  months  in  Boston,  building  a  large 


MK\   or  XEll-    )-ORK—lVESTERN  SECTfOX 


323 


bakery  for  the  United  States  Baking  Co.,  and 
getting  the  plant  into  smooth  running  order.  Re- 
turning to  Buffalo,  he  resumed  the  active  oversight 
of  the  Niagara  Bakery,  and  has  since  been  so  em- 
ployed. In  1893  he  erected  for  his  branch  of  the 
inisiness  a  large  four-story  building  on  Michigan 
street,  com|jlete  in  all  its  a|)pointments, 
and  admirably  adapted  to  the  needs  cit 
the  extensive  business. 

Mr.  Dake  has  always  been  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  for  many  years  during 
his  residence  in  Livingston  county  took 
an  active  [lart  in  public  affairs,  serving 
on  the  county  committee,  and  otherwise 
advancing  the  interests  of  his  party. 
He  attends  the  Delaware  Avenue  Baptist 
Church,  Buffalo. 

PERSOA'A  I.  C  HR  OXOL  O  GY  — 
Moses  William  Dake  was  horn  at  Port- 
(f!,v,  N.  v.,  March  23,  IS^l .-  jcas  edii- 
laled  at  district  schools  and  Nunda  Acad- 
emy ;  was  clerk  in  a  hardware  store  at 
Albion,  N.  Y.,  1864-6fi :  married  Har- 
riet T.  Hallenhake  of  Albion  Decemher 
2Jf,  1867  :  engaged  in  t/ie  /lardioare  busi- 
ness at  Nunda,  1868—70  :  //as  carried  on 
the  Niagara  Baking  C  'o. ,  noic  kno7C'//  as 
the  Niagara  Bakery  Branch  i '.  S.  Bakinx 
Co.,  Buffalo,  since  188-1. 

Xiauiiam   C.  H)ambacb,   uniikc 

many  men  of  the  present  day,  has  con- 
fined himself  wholly  to  one  line  of  activ- 
ity, and  has  won  success  in  the  same- 
calling  in  which  he  first  found  employ- 
ment as  a  boy.  The  stor\  of  such  a  life 
contrasts  markedly  with  that  of  the  man 
who  has  tried  his  hand  at  various  occu- 
pations in  the  way  of  trade  or  manufac- 
ture. Though  the  latter  mav  gain  something  as 
regards  general  experience,  he  unquestionablv  loses 
much  \aluable  time  in  the  battle  of  life. 

Mr.  Dambach  was  born  in  Buffalo  just  two 
months  from  the  day  Fort  Sumter  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Confederates.  He  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  city,  but  left  .school 
at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  began  to  earn  his  own 
living.  Having  obtained  a  situation  with  C.  M. 
Lyman,  a  Buffalo  druggist,  he  was  set  to  work  wash- 
ing bottles,  running  the  soda  fountain,  and  making 
himself  generally  useful  about  the  store.  After 
spending  a  year  in  this  position  he  entered  the  drug 
store  of  Thurstone  &  Co.,  Buffalo,  remaining  in 
their  service   until   he  attained   his   majority.      He 


was  then  taken  into  the  firm,  which  assumed  the  style 
of  George  'I".  Thurstone  &  Co. 

At  the  expiration  of  two  years  Mr.  Dambach  sold 
his  interest  in  the  drug  business,  and  entered  the 
medical  department  of  Niagara  University  as  a 
.student.      He  spent   one   year   there,  and  gained  a 


.Ytn.stc.s   11.  />  lA'/i 

practical  knowledge  of  medicine  that  has  since  been 
of  great  value  to  him  in  his  business.  Having 
decided  that  a  commercial  career  was  likely  to  be 
more  congenial  than  a  profession,  he  abandoned 
his  medical  studies,  and  opened  a  drug  store  on 
Seneca  street,  Buffalo.  This  was  in  188"),  and  he 
continued  to  do  business  there  for  ten  years.  In 
the  meantime,  on  January  1,  LS92,  he  established 
an  uptown  store  on  Main  street  ;  and  since  May 
1,  189.5,  he  has  confined  his  business  to  the  latter 
location. 

In  addition  to  his  ordinary  drug  business  Mr. 
Dambach  devotes  considerable  attention  to  the 
manufacture  of  various  pharmaceutical  preparations. 
He  has  recently  completed  a  laboratory  admirably 


324 


M/:.\   OF  XEir    VORK—lVKSrER.y  SECT/ON 


equipped  for  this  purpose,  where  he  will  be  able  to 
conduct  the  manufacturing  bran<;h  of  his  business 
on  a  larger  scale  than  has  hitherto  been  practicable. 
Mr.  Dambach  concentrates  his  whole  energy  uj)on 
his  business,  and  it  is  already  apparent  that  this 
singleness  of  aim  will  be  rewarded  bv  unusual  success. 


\\ //././.  I M   r.   DAMflACn 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— William  C. 
Dambach  luas  born  at  Buffalo  June  13,  ISO'l :  loas 
educate  J  in  the  public  schools ;  served  as  clerk  in  a 
d>-ug  store,  1875-82  ;  was  a  member  of  the  drug  Jinn 
of  George  I.  Thurstone  iS-  Co.,  1882-8^;  studied 
medicitu  for  one  year ;  has  conducted  a  drug  business 
in  Buffalo  siiue  1885. 

Conra?  2)iCbl,  though  still  in  the  prime  of 
life,  is  cla.ssc(l  in  the  jjopular  mind  with  the  older 
physicians  of  Buffalo.  This  comes  about  from  the 
fact  that  he  has  always  lived  in  the  city,  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  there  early  in  life,  and 
attained  public  office,  and  consequent  prominence, 
while  vet  a  vouni'  man. 


-Vfter  attending  jniblic  and  private  schools  in 
Buffalo,  and  obtaining  thereby  an  excellent  pre- 
I)aratory  education.  Dr.  Diehl  entered  upon  his  pro- 
fessional studies  in  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Buffalo.  During  the  last  two  years 
of  his  course  he  held  the  position  of  resident 
physitM'an  at  the  county  almshouse,  .\fter 
graduating  from  the  University  of  Buf- 
falo with  the  class  of  '66  he  determined 
to  round  out  his  profe.ssional  equipment 
with  a  course  of  study  in  the  old  world, 
and  with  this  end  in  view  he  went  abroad 
in  the  summer  of  that  year.  Having 
studied  under  the  best  instructors  on  the 
continent  for  a  year,  he  returned  to  this 
country,  and  opened  an  office  in  Buffalo 
May  1,  1867,  for  the  general  practice  of 
medicine.  He  has  followed  his  profes- 
sion in  that  city  continuously  since  the 
date  mentioned. 

Dr.  Diehl  was  well  and  favorably 
known  in  the  city  of  his  birth  even  at 
this  early  period  of  life,  and  the  fact 
was  strikingly  evidenced  in  his  nomina- 
tion for  the  |)Osition  of  coroner  in  the 
fall  of  DS(i7.  He  was  elected  by  an  ex- 
tremely large  majority,  and  filled  the 
office  efficiently  for  a  term  of  three 
years.  He  declined  a  renomination, 
deeming  it  best  to  devote  his  whole  time 
to  private  practice  and  hos])ital  work. 
In  February,  1K74,  he  was  appointed 
attending  physician  at  the  (General  Hos- 
pital, holding  that  position  until  the 
death  of  Dr.  Rochester,  when  he  was 
appointed  consulting  physician :  he  is 
still  serving  in  the  latter  capacity.  For 
the  last  twenty-three  years  Dr.  Diehl 
has  been  secretary  to  the  medical  staff 
of  the  General  Ho.spital.  He  ser\'ed  as  surgeon  to 
the  ()-")th  regiment  from  1X70  to  1X78:  and  for  six 
years,  beginning  in  1871,  he  was  attending  surgeon 
at  the  Erie-county  almshouse.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Buffalo  board  of  school  examiners 
since  its  organization,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
board  until  February,  189(),  when  he  declined  a 
re-election,  lie  is  president  of  the  medical  board 
of  the  (lerman  Deaconess  Society.  He  is  a  strong 
supporter  of  the  movement  for  civil-.service  reform, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  first  civil-service  commis- 
sion of  Buffalo.  He  belongs  to  various  jirofessional 
and  other  .societies. 

PERSONAL   CHR  ONOL  OGY—  Conrad  Diehl 
was  born  at  Buffalo  July  17,  ISJi-i :  7i>as  educated  in 


MEN  OF  NEU-    VORK—WESTERX  SECTIOA' 


325 


public  and  private  schools  ;  graduated  from  the  med- 
ical department  of  tlie  University  of  Buffalo  in  1866  : 
7vas  coroner  of  Erie  county,  1868-70 ;  married 
Caroline  Trautman  of  Weissemhourg,  Alsace,  Max  .'>, 
1869,  and  Lois  M.  Masten  of  Somerset,  Mass. ,  May 
28,  1892 :  has  been  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  board 
of  school  examiners  since  its  organization  in  18!>1 :  has 
practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1867 . 


XRHeSlCS  (I.  2)u5leS  is  so  well  known  in  west- 
ern New  York,  and  has  been  in  the  |)ui)lic  eye  so 
long,  that  most  people  will  he  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  Civil  War  antedated  his  birth  by  several 
years.  After  attending  district  schools  and  the 
Aurora  Academy  in  his  native  county,  Mr.  Dudley 
began  his  active  career  at  the  age  of  seventeen  as 
a  teacher.  In  this  way  he  ])rociired  means  to 
complete  his  course  at  Aurora  Academy, 
graduating  therefrom  in  1888.  He  then 
resumed  teaching,  becoming  principal  of 
the  Sardinia  Union  School,  and  after- 
ward of  the  Alden  Union  School.  His 
success  as  an  educator  was  such  that  in 
l.nyo  lie  was  nominated  by  the  Re])ub- 
lican  party  for  the  office  of  school 
commissioner  of  the  eight  Erie-county 
"south  towns."  The  county  itself  on 
this  occasion  went  Democratic  by  a  plu- 
rality of  2000,  but  Mr.  Dudley's  reputa- 
tion and  personal  popularity  carried  him 
to  victory  in  the  face  of  general  defeat. 
He  seems  to  have  made  a  specialty  of 
holding  important  positions  and  doing 
remarkable  things  at  an  age  younger 
than  that  of  other  people  similarly  cir- 
cumstanced ;  and  in  this  case,  for  exam- 
ple, when  he  became  .school  commis- 
sioner at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  was 
the  youngest  man  in  the  state  holding 
that  office. 

But    Mr.    DutUey  had    other    ends    in 
view  than  the  attainment  of  a  high  posi- 
tion   among    educators.      Seeing    clearly 
that    his    talents    would    find    abundant 
room  for  e.xercise  in  the  legal  profession, 
he  declined  a  renomination  to  the  jjosi- 
tion    of  .school    commissioner,    and    en- 
tered   the    office    of    Rogers,    Locke    iV 
Milburn  as  a  student.      The  lawyers  thus 
associated  constitute  one  of  the  strongest 
legal  firms  of  Buffalo,  or  even  of  the  state,  and  in 
their  office  Mr.  Dudley  made  rapid  progress  in  the 
mastery  of  the  law.      He  was  admitted   to  the  bar  at 
Rochester  in  October,  1.S94,  and  began  the  practice 


of  his  profession  at  once  in  Buffalo.  For  about  two 
years  he  practiced  alone,  but  on  September  1,  1890, 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Milford  W.  Uhilds,  son 
of  Justice  Henry  A.  Childs,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Dudley  &  Childs.  The  new  firm  begins  busine.ss 
with  all  antecedent  conditions  highly  favorable,  and 
substantial  success  may  safely  be  predicted. 

In  some  quarters  Mr.  Dudley  is  better  known  as  a 
public  man  than  in  his  [jrofessional  cajjacity.  \Ve 
have  already  noted  his  early  political  prominence  in 
the  southern  part  of  Erie  county.  He  has  retained 
this  personal  following  in  that  locality,  and  has  at 
the  same  time  extended  his  influence  in  other  jiarts 
of  western  New  York.  In  October,  1804,  he  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  Erie-county  board  of  super- 
visors, and  twice  since  then  he  has  been  re-elected. 
In  the  spring  of  lSO(i  he  exerted  himself  actively  in 


coxh'A/)  nil- III. 


sup|)ort  of  McRinley's  nomination  for  the  ])resi- 
dency,  and  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Repub- 
lican national  convention  at  St.  Louis.  He  was  the 
youngest  delegate  in  the  convention. 


?.-2r. 


.l//r.\'   OF  .\7-.7r    )('A'A— /CA.V/'AAW  S7uyV(^.V 


Mr.  Dudley  is  a  member  of  Livingstone  Lodge, 
No.  25o,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Colden,  Erie  county,  and 
of  Aurora  Chapter,  No.  282,  R.  .\.  M.  He  belong.s 
also  to  the  Independent  Order  of  ( )dd  Fellows,  and 
to  the  Roval  .\rcanum. 


/rA.sy.Ai"  r.  iwni.r.v 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY—U'cilcy  Cok- 
man  Dudley  tvas  born  at  Colden,  Erie  county,  N.  Y. , 
May  -U,  1S67 :  attended  district  schools  and  East 
Aurora  (iV.  Y.)  Academy:  taught  school,  lSH.i,-0()  ; 
was  elected  school  commissioner  of  the  southern  part  of 
Erie  county  in  1890 ;  studied  lani  in  Buffalo,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  189Jt :  married  Floy  Belle 
Stickney  of  Buffalo  April  IS,  180',  .■  has  been  clerk  of 
the  Erie-county  board  of  supervisors  since  October, 
18!) Jf  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  189 Jf . 

artbUr  TlU.  1l3iCl?maU,  prDminLiU  at  the  l.ar 
of  I'^rie  county  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  well 
known  otherwise  as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  was 
born  in  Calhoun  county,  Michigan,  in  themid-centur\ 
year.      His  parents.  Isaac    Hiclcnian  and   l-',li/a  Ilalc 


Hickman,  were  from  Devonshire,  Klngland,  and 
came  to  this  country  in  1847.  Mr.  Hickman  was 
taken  to  Buffalo  during  his  infancy,  and  has  lived 
there  ever  since.  He  attended  the  public  schools 
of  the  city,  and  went  through  the  high  school,  grad- 
uating therefrom  with  the  class  of  *68. 
Having  determined  to  make  the  legal 
profession  his  life-work,  Mr.  Hickman 
entered  the  office  of  Austin  &  Austin, 
Buffalo,  .soon  after  his  graduation  from 
the  high  school,  for  the  purjiose  of  learn- 
ing law  by  studying  text-books,  and  b\ 
observing  the  actual  routine  practice  of 
the  profession  in  a  busy  office.  There 
were  few  law  schools  in  those  days,  and 
liiese  were  not  looked  upon  with  favor 
by  the  bench  or  liar,  being  regarded  as 
places  for  the  easy  manufacture  of  law- 
yers. Their  students  were  not  recjuired 
to  pass  qualifying  e.\aminations,  and  so 
were  often  admitted  with  little  knowl- 
edge of  the  law.  .Mr.  Hickman  tbimil 
the  office  method  of  learning  law  en- 
tirely practicable  and  successful.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Rochester  in 
September,  1871,  and  was  thus  able  to 
begin  the  practice  of  his  jirofession  when 
lie  had  been  out  of  the  high  school  but 
three  years. 

.\s  he  was  then  only  twenty-one  years 
old,  he  thought  it  unnecessary  to  open 
an  office  of  his  own  at  once,  and  he  con- 
tinued with  .Austin  &  Austin  for  about  a 
vear  as  their    managing    clerk.      In    the 


lall    of 


Benjamin    H.    .Vustin,   Sr. 


retired  from  the  firm,  and  .Mr.  Hickman 
tbrnied  a  partnership  with  tiie  younger 
.Mr.  Austin.  The  firm  of  Au.stin  &  Hick- 
man carried  on  a  successful  practice  until  187!I. 
when  Mr.  Austin  moved  to  the  Hawaiian  islands  to 
accept  a  judgeship.  For  the  next  tew  years,  during 
which  his  time  was  largely  taken  up  with  political 
matters,  Mr.  Hickman  practiced  alone.  In  1884 
lie  formed  a  partnershij)  with  Nathaniel  S.  Rosenau, 
under  the  style  Hi(kman  iV  Rosenau.  This  a.sso- 
ciation  continued  less  than  two  years,  as  Mr. 
Rosenau  withilrew  in  18S.")  to  take  charge  of  the 
charity-organization  work  in  Bulfalo.  For  eight 
years  after  this  Mr.  Hickman  carried  on  an  im|3or- 
tant  practice  without  partnershij)  assistance  :  but  in 
181);}  he  formed  with  William  Palmer  the  firm  of 
Hickman  iV"  I'ahnei.  This  a.ssociation  still  con- 
tinues, and  the  firm  serves  accei^tably  a  large 
number  of    incli\iclual    and    corporate   clients.      .Mr. 


M/-:.\  OF  XFir  ]'(>a'a'—ii7-:s//-:a\v  s/:c7vo.y 


Hickman  began  practice  so  young  that  his  experience 
rivals  that  of  many  older  men  ;  and  his  judgment  in 
legal  affairs  is  such  as  might  be  expected  to  result 
from  twenty-five  years  of  conscientious  service  at  an 
exceptionally  able  bar.  He  is  a  lecturer  on  jihar- 
maceutical  jurisprudence  in  the  Buffalo  College  of 
Pharmacy. 

Mr.  Hickman  has  enjoyed  a  large  jjractice  during 
almost  all  his  professional  life  ;  but  he  has  not  per 
mitted  his  private  interests  to  absorb  his  energies, 
and  he  has  taken  a  good  deal  of  time  for  public 
duties,  and  for  certain  matters  promoting  the  gen- 
eral welfare.  Municipal  reform,  the  enlargement 
and  betterment  of  the  Buffalo  system  of  docks,  the 
improvement  of  the  public  schools,  and  good  gov- 
ernment in  general,  are  subjects  that  have  engaged 
his  attention  with  resultant  benefit  to  his  fellow- 
citizens.  His  service  in  the  state  legis- 
lature in  the  years  1881-(S2  affords  abun- 
dant evidence  of  his  public  spirit.  He 
shaped  his  conduct  in  the  assembly  witli 
reference  to  the  welfare  of  his  constit- 
uents, unmindful  of  his  own  |)olitical 
l)referment,  and  without  regard  to  the 
wi.shes  of  machine  politicians.  His  hon- 
est independence  and  refusal  to  become 
the  tool  of  a  political  "boss,"  cost  him 
the  party  nomination  for  re-election. 
<  )n  this  occasion,  however,  the  politi- 
cians were  reckoning  without  their  host, 
and  the  people  chose  to  exercise  their 
right  of  self-government.  A  petition 
signed  by  1500  of  the  most  prominent 
men  in  the  district  urged  Mr.  Hickman 
to  become  a  candidate  for  re-election  on 
an  independent  ticket.  He  did  so,  and 
was  elected  by  a  majority  of  1849  votes, 
the  Democrats  making  no  nomination. 

In   social   life   Mr.    Hickman   has   en- 
joyed the  prominence  to  which  his  |jr(i 
fessional  standing  and  his  engaging  per 
sonal  <|ualities  entitle  him.      He  belongs 
to  many   social   organizations,    including 
the  Uakfield,  Yacht,  Island,  and  EUicott 
clubs.      For  fifteen  years  he  has  been  a 
trustee  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.      He 
takes  an  active  interest  in   practiial  ]ihi 
lanthropy,    and    belongs   to  most    of  tlie 
charitable  organizations  of  Buffalo.      He 
is   one   of  the  directors  of  the  (lerman 
Young  Men's  Association,  and  was  secretary  of  the 
building  committee  during  the  construction  of  Music 
Hall.      He  belongs  to  the  Buffalo  Orpheus  and   l.ie- 
dertafel,  and  is  a  life  meml)er  of  the  Buffalo  Librar\-. 


PERSONAL  C  HR  ONO  LOGY—  Arthur 
IVas/iington  Hickman  wax  born  at  Marshall,  Calhoun 
county,  Alich. ,  June  IS,  1850 ;  7cias  educated  in  the 
Buffalo  public  schools :  ivas  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Rochester  in  1811 ;  was  member  of  assembly  from  the 
■id  Erie-county  district,  1881-82 ;  has  practiced  law 
in  Buffalo  since  1872. 


S>CVOC  IP.  1l30&50I\,  "ell  known  in  western 
New  \'ork  as  a  meuibcr  of  the  Krie-county  bar,  was 
born  at  Ithaca,  Tompkins  county,  in  ISoO.  His 
general  education  was  acquired  in  the  public  schools 
of  Ithaia,  in  the  academy  at  the  same  place,  and 
in  Cornell  L'niversity.  His  legal  education  was 
obtained  in  the  office  of  Samuel  D.  Halliday 
and  in  that  of  Judge  Marcus  Lyon.  Both  of 
his  preceptors  were   prominent  attornevs  of  Ithaca, 


AR nil  R    \\ .  ///<  KM  I  \ 

and  his  clerkshi])  in  their  offices  pro\ed  an  ex- 
cellent substitute  tor  a  law  .school.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Saratoga  Springs  in  September, 
1X77. 


328 


MEN  or  XKir    VO R K  —JVESTKAW  SECT/OX 


Beginning  practice  at  once  in  Ithaca,  Mr.  Hodson 
followed  his  calling  in  that  city  for  the  next  ten 
years.  He  wa.s  successful  a.s  regards  both  his  jjrofes- 
sional  practice  and  the  outside  affairs  with  which 
most  lawyers  become  more  or  less  concerned  ;  but 
in   1887   he  made  a  radical  change  in  his  vocation 


since  18!t. 


ni'.vor.  p.  //ODso.v 

and  his  residence.  In  the  \  ear  mentioned  he  i)ur- 
chased  a  half  interest  in  the  newsjjaper  and  printing 
plant  of  the  Ithaca  Repiihlli-an,  a  paper  then  ]jub- 
lished  by  Walter  ("..  Smith.  Messrs.  Siiiith  and 
Hodson  determined  to  move  their  ])lant  bodily  to 
southern  California,  and  accordingly  they  established 
in  San  Diego  a  large  ]irinting  office,  publishing  in 
connection  therewith  the  Morning  Tcle;^iam.  This 
business  proved  unsuited  to  Mr.  Hodson,  and  after 
a  itiw  months  he  sold  his  interest  to  his  jjartner,  re- 
turned to  Ithac  a,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law. 

Concluding  that  Huffalo  offered  greater  attra<:tions 
as  a  place  of  residence  than  the  smaller  city,  and 
greater  promise  of  material  rewards  as  a  field  of 
professional    practice,    Mr.    Hodson    left    Ithaca    in 


February,  1889,  and  opened  an  office  in  the  metrop- 
olis of  western  New  York.  He  practiced  alone 
there  for  four  years,  and  then  associated  himself 
with  Ceorge  B.  Webster  in  the  firm  of  Hodson  & 
Webster.  They  have  continued  to  practice  together 
.  Mr.  Hodson  concentrates  his  efforts  on 
the  contested  work  of  his  firm,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  successful  and  effective  ad- 
vocate before  judge  or  jury. 

During  his  student  days  Mr.  Hodson 
espoused  the  cause  of  Democracy,  and 
has  ever  since  been  prominent  in  the 
councils  of  that  party.  In  1882-83  he 
was  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors  of 
Tompkins  county.  In  1885-8(3  he  was 
corporation  counsel  of  Ithaca.  Shortly 
after  moving  to  Buffalo  he  received  the 
unusual  distinction  of  an  election  by  the 
municipal  authorities  of  Niagara  Falls  as 
non-resident  corporation  counsel  :  this 
office  he  held  two  terms.  In  1892  he 
was  appointed  by  the  state  comptroller  a 
commissioner  to  re])ort  upon  the  accounts 
of  surrogates  throughout  New  York  state 
relative  to  the  collateral-inheritance  law. 
In  1898  he  was  nominated  for  the  office 
of  delegate  to  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion, but  shared  the  general  defeat  of 
the  Democratic  jiarty  in  that  year.  Mr. 
Hodson  is  a  prominent  platform  speaker, 
and  has  taken  a  leading  jiart  in  every 
important  political  campaign  since  he 
has  lived  in  Buffalo.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  be- 
longing to  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge, 
No.  441,  F.  &  .\.  M.;  he  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  other  fraternal  societies. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
De'i'oe  Pell  Hodson  was  born  at  Ithaca, 
N.  V. ,  March  2S,  1856  ;  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Ithaca  and  in  Cornell  University  :  studied 
laiv  in  Ithaca  law  offices,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1S77 ;  married  Mariette  Wood  of  Painted 
Post,  N.  v.,  December  23,  1880  :  U'as  clerk  of  the 
Tompkins-county  board  of  supen'isors,  1882-8S,  and 
corporation  counsel  of  Ithaca,  1885-8(1 :  practiced  laiv 
in  Ithaca,  1877-8!),  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
months  spent  in  southern  California,  and  has  prac- 
ticed in  Buffalo  since  188.0  :  7i'as  non-resident  corpora- 
tion counsel  if  Nia,i;ara  Palls,  N.   v.,  18!>0-r)2. 

30bU  "WIl.  IWCff,  now  auditor  of  I'^rie  count)', 
and  heretofore  well  known  in  western  New  York  as 
a  public   official,  was  born   in    Buffalo   in    18(;2.      He 


.)//r.\'  OF  .\i-:\r  vork—h-esterx  sect/ox 


329 


was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city,  at- 
tending them  from  the  time  he  was  eight  years  old 
until  the  age  of  sixteen.  At  the  latter  stage  of  life 
he  became  a  messenger  boy  for  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Co.,  and  followed  that  interesting  calling 
for  the  next  two  years.  Deciding  then  to  connect 
himself  with  some  business  in  a  permanent  capacity, 
he  obtained  a  suitable  position  with  the  freight- 
carrying  company  known  as  the  Red  Line,  and 
began  his  long  service  in  the  transportation  indus- 
try. He  learned  the  business  rapidly,  and  soon 
became  an  expert  in  the  computation  and  auditing 
of  mileage  records.  He  remained  with  the  Red 
Line  for  eight  years,  or  until  he  was  twenty-six  years 
old.  By  that  time  he  had  decided  to  stop  work- 
ing for  others,  and  to  embark  in  business  on  his  own 
account.  In  1886,  accordingly,  he  opened  an  office 
in  Buffalo  for  the  writing  of  insurance, 
and  has  since  carried  on  that  business 
with  marked  success.  He  makes  a  spe- 
cialty of  steam-boiler,  plate-glass,  and 
accident  insurance. 

At  the  relatively  early  age  of  twenty- 
nine  Mr.  Nefif  entered  upon  the  political 
career  by  which  he  is  best  known  to  the 
|)ublic  at  large.  He  had  taken  a  keen 
and  intelligent  interest  in  public  affairs 
from  his  early  manhood,  affiliating  with 
the  Republican  party  ;  but  he  held  no 
office  until  1891,  when  he  was  elected 
one  of  the  supervisors  of  Erie  county 
from  the  7th  ward,  Buffalo.  His  work 
in  this  office  was  so  satisfactory  to  his 
constituents  that  he  was  re-elected  in 
189o.  He  served  upon  the  purchasing 
and  auditing  committee  of  the  board  of 
supervisors,  one  of  the  most  important 
assignments.  When  that  committee  was 
abolished  in  1895,  and  the  office  of 
county  auditor  was  created  to  take  its 
place,  Mr.  Neff  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated for  the  position  by  the  Republican 
county  convention,  and  was  elected  to 
the  office  by  a  majority  of  15,000  votes. 
He  is  now  discharging  efficiently  the 
duties  of  this  responsible  position,  his 
term  of  office  running  until  December 
81,  1899. 

Mr.    Neff  is   fond   of  social   life,   and 
belongs    to    various    fraternal    .societies. 
He    is    a    member    of  Ancient    Landmark 
No.   441,   F.  &  A.  M.,  and  of  Buffalo  Lodge,   No 
86,   I.  ().  O.  ¥.      He   belongs,  also,   to    the    Royal 
Arcanum,    and    is  a    charter    member   of  the    Odd 


Fellows'    Chih.      He    attends    Calvary    Presbyterian 
Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  William 
Neff7uas  lorn  at  Buffalo  March  23,  1S62  :  attended 
public  schools  ;  worked  for  the  Red  Line  fast-freight 
company,  1SS0-8S  ;  married  Eva  J.  Sloan  of  Buffalo 
May  10,  1881,  and  Elizabeth  A.  Menzies  of  Buffalo 
January  27,  1896 ;  was  elected  a  county  supen'isor 
from  the  7th  ivard  of  Buffalo  in  1891,  and  ivas  re- 
elected in  1893  ;  was  elected  auditor  of  Erie  county  in 
November,  1895,  for  the  term  1896-99 ;  has  con- 
ducted an  insurance  business  in  Buffalo  sitice  1888. 


GeOrcJC  1R.  StCarUS  has  practiced  his  pro- 
fession in  I'juffalo,  his  native  city,  for  nearly  a  score 
of  years.  Indeed,  with  the  exception  of  the  time 
spent  in  college,  his  whole  life  has  been  passed  in 


Lodge, 


joH.\  \\ .  x/: /■■/■■ 

the  Queen  Cit\ .  The  story  of  his  career,  made  up 
of  successful  work  in  high  school,  university,  and 
medical  college,  from  each  of  which  he  graduated 
with  honors,   followed   by  more  successful  work  in 


nil 


.i//;.\"  or  .\/:ir  )(iA'A'^ir/:s77-:A\y  s/-:c/70.v 


his  chosen  profession,  is  not  an  c\ cntful  one  :   hnt  it 
is  none  the  less  interesting. 

Born  in  Huffalo  somewhat  more  than  forty  years 
ago,  Dr.  Stearns  obtained  his  i)reliminary  education 
in  the  city  schools,  beginning  with  Public  School 
No.  11,  and  ending  with  the  Huffalo  High  School. 


CF.ORCl-:   K.  STEARNS 

from  which  he  graduated  in  1!S71.  He  then 
entered  the  University  of  Rochester,  graduating 
with  the  cla-ss  of  '75  and  receiving  the  degree  of 
\.  B.  In  IXTM  the  same  institution  gave  him  the 
degree  of  .\.  M.  in  course.  Dr.  Stearns  went  to 
New  York  city  to  obtain  his  medical  education,  be- 
coming a  student  in  the  New  York  Homeopathic  Med- 
ical College  and  Hospital  and  receiving  his  M.  T). 
degree  in  1878.  He  then  spent  a  year  at  Ward's 
Island  Homeopathic  Hos])ital,  to  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, in  comjjctitive  examination,  an  appointment 
as  senior  member  of  stalf  The  practical  experience 
there  gained  was  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  young 
physician,  and  finely  fitted  him  to  begin  the  practice 
of  his  profession. 


In  1^^7i<,  therefore,  Dr.  Stearns  returned  to 
lUilfalo,  and  opened  an  office  on  Linwood  avenue, 
where  he  has  since  remained.  He  has  resisted 
the  modern  tendency  to  limit  his  field  to  cer- 
tain s]jecialties,  and  has  conducted  a  general  prac- 
tice with  gratifying  .success.  In  addition  to  his 
private  ])ractice  he  holds  the  position  of 
oiistetrician  in  the  Buffalo  Homeopathic 
Hospital,  is  president  of  the  Training 
School  for  Nurses  connected  with  that 
institution,  and  is  medical  director  of 
the  Ingleside  Home  of  Huffalo.  He  has 
served  the  public  as  district  physician 
and  physician  at  the  county  jail. 

Dr.  Stearns  is  a  member  of  the  Erie 
County  Homeopathic  Medical  Society, 
the  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  of 
W'estern  New  York,  and  the  New  York 
State  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  ;  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  Western 
New  York  society  in  IXiKj.  He  has 
written  articles  for  these  and  other  scien- 
tific and  professional  associations,  which 
have  been  published  in  their  journals 
and  transactions.  While  in  college  Dr. 
Stearns  joined  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi 
fraternity,  and  after  graduation  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
society.  He  is  a  charter  member  of 
both  the  Liberal  and  Ihiiversity  clubs  of 
Buffalo,  and  expects  to  become  a  member 
of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  in  virtue 
of  the  active  part  taken  by  his  ancestors 
in  the  early  struggle  for  independence. 

From   his  childhood   Dr.   Stearns  has 

been  connected  with  the  Lafayette  Street 

( now  the  Lafayette  Avenue )  Presbyterian 

Church,  and  since  188()  he  has  been  a 

member  of  the  Session  of  the  society. 

PERSONAL   CHRONOLOGY— George  Ray- 

iwlds  Steams  was  born  at  Buffalo  March  20,  1S'>3  ; 

attended  Buffalo  public  schools,  and  graduated  from 

the  University  of  Rochester  in  1875  :  graduated  from 

the    Ne7v    York    Homeopathic    Aledical    College   and 

Hospital  in   1878,    and  spent  the  follotuing  year   in 

Ward's  /stand  Homeopathic  Hospital,  Neiti  York  city  ; 

married  Jennie  S.   Olver  of  Buffalo  May  2'),  1880; 

has  practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1879. 

30bU  Cl'CttS  has  been  a  foremost  figure  in  the 
iron  iniiustry  of  Huflalo  for  half  a  century.  He 
li\ed  in  Pittsburg  when  a  young  man,  and  learned 
there  the  trade  of  an  iron  molder.  His  long  resi- 
dence in    Buffalo  began   in   the  year  1.H4"),  when  he 


MK.\  or  .\'/-:ir  )()Rk'—ir/-:sn-:R.\  s/-:cr/o.y 


:;:;i 


took  charge  of  the  foundry  department  ot"  the  Buffalo 
Steam  Kngine  \\'orks.  He  remained  with  this  con- 
tern  and  its  successors  nearly  twenty  years,  aci[uir- 
ing  stock  in  the  company,  and  taking  an  important 
part  in  the  business.  The  panic  of  18o7  brought 
disaster  to  the  Buffalo  Steam  Kngine  U'orks,  as  to 
thousands  of  other  concerns  :  and  the  business  was 
reorganized  under  the  style  of  George  \V.  'I'ifft, 
Sons  &  Co.  Mr.  Trefts  remained  with  the  new 
firm  seven  years,  and  contributed  very  materially  to 
the  success  of  the  business  in  that  period.  Chiefly 
through  his  skill  as  an  iron  worker  and  knowledge 
of  iron  ores,  the  Tifft  firm  was  able  to  carry  through 
profitalily  in  ISfiO  a  contract  for  the  manuiacture  of 
the  rails  used  in  laying  the  first  street  railway  in 
Buffalo. 

A  greater  degree  of  historical  interest  attaches  to 
Mr.  Trefts's  connection  with  the  petro- 
leum industry.  Soon  after  Colonel  E. 
I,.  Drake  "struck  oil"  in  .-Vugust,  18.59, 
near  Titusville,  Penn.,  and  thereby  set 
in  motion  one  of  the  greatest  industrial 
forces  of  the  century,  Mr.  Trefts  inter- 
ested himself  actively  in  the  oil  business 
both  as  an  operator  and  as  a  manufacturer 
of  mechanical  appliances  used  in  the 
production  of  oil.  He  made  the  castings 
for  the  engine  used  to  pump  the  Drake 
well.  In  1860  he  associated  himself 
with  P.  S.  Willard,  and  leased  a  part  of 
the  Shaffer  farm,  not  far  from  Colonel 
Drake's  original  discovery.  In  operat- 
ing their  well  here  they  used  the  first 
engine  that  ever  drilled  with  a  rope,  as 
well  as  the  first  set  of  jars  ever  employed 
in  oil  production.  These  jars  were  in- 
vented by  Mr.  Willard,  and  were  ill 
adapted  to  their  purpose,  so  that  the 
well  was  not  a  success,  resulting  in  a 
"plugged  hole."  Relic  hunters  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  may  pleasantly  em- 
ploy themselves  in  excavating  these  jars, 
as  they  are  still  in  their  untimely  grave, 
buried  under  $1800  worth  of  experience. 

Mr.   Trefts's  next  venture  was  on  the 
Ham  McClintock  farm,   near  Oil   City. 
In  attempting  to  drill  this  well  his  work- 
men became  discouraged,  and  were  dis- 
posed   to    abandon    operations,    .so    that 
Mr.  Trefts  took  charge  of  the  work  per- 
sonally.     After  dislodging  three  sets  of  tools   left  in 
the  well  by  former  drillers,  he  vindicated  his  faith 
by  discovering  a  well  that  yielded  20U  barrels  of  oil 
a  dav.      .\  few  weeks  after  this  he  succeeded  in  com- 


l)leting  the  well-known  \'an  Slyke  well  on  the 
Widow  McClintock  farm.  He  had  no  interest  in 
this  well,  which  was  owned  by  John  Van  Slyke  and 
C.  M.  Farrar.  Work  had  been  abandoned  on  the 
well,  but  Mr.  Trefts  felt  .so  confident  that  oil  could 
be  found  there  that  he  undertook  further  explora- 
tions at  his  own  expense.  His  judgment  proved 
e.xcellent,  as  the  well  produced  '2oOO  barrels  of  oil 
a  day. 

'I'hese  ventures  in  the  oil  country  had  not  inter- 
fered with  .Mr.  Trefts's  regular  occupation  at  the  TilTt 
works  in  Buffalo.  On  the  contrary,  his  experience 
as  an  actual  producer  of  oil  helped  him  materially  in 
later  life  as  a  manufacturer  of  the  various  machines 
used  by  oil  operators.  In  other  parts  of  the  busi- 
ness as  well  Mr.  Trefts  was  particularly  successful. 
For  many  years  the  pro])eller  wheels  made  by  him 


J<>//.\     [RI-JTS 

were  deemed  more  durable  than  any  wheels  else 
where  obtainable.       This  superiority  was  the  result 
of  his   knowledge    of  iron,   and   ability   in    mixing 
various  kinds  of  ore  so  as  to  produce  the  maximum 


.\fE.X   OF  .\7Cir    )(>/KA'—IV/-:S'rEA\\'  SECr/ON 


strength  in  the  finished  prodiut.  By  the  year  l.S()4 
he  had  acquired  such  a  mastery  of  his  business,  and 
had  attained  such  a  reputation  among  buyers  of 
foundry  jirochicts,  that  he  felt  able  to  give  up  his 
position  at  the  Tifft  concern,  and  embark  in  l)nsi- 
ness  on  his  own  account.      He  formed  a  ])artncrship, 


HDWAHn    a:   A.lMA'l' 

accordingly,  with  Chillion  M.  I'arrar  and  Theodore 
C.  Knight,  under  the  style  of  Farrar,  'I'refts  & 
Knight,  for  the  pur])ose  of  establishing  a  foundry, 
machine  shop,  and  general  iron  works.  In  18(i;( 
Mr.  Knight  retired  from  the  firm  ;  but  the  other 
partners,  under  the  well-known  style  of  Farrar  0<: 
I'refts,  have  carried  on  the  business  ever  since. 
Their  resources  at  first  were  slight  ;  but  their  ex- 
perience, energy,  and  character  ensured  ultimate 
success.  The  busine.ss  expanded  year  by  year  until 
now  the  firm  is  known  throughout  the  iron  trade  as 
one  of  the  most  successful  concerns  in  its  line  in  the 
country.  Boilers  of  all  kinds,  propeller  wheels, 
steam  engines,  iron  and  bra.ss  castings,  and  a  multi- 
tude of  special  mechanical  appliances  used  in  vari- 


ous industries,  are  some  of  the  famous  "  F.  &  T. " 
products.  The  works  of  the  concern  occupy  three 
acres  of  valuable  land  in  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—John     Trefis 

passed  /lis  youth  in   Pittslmri^ :  was  in  the  emplov  of 

till'  Buffalo  Steam  Engine  Works  and  their  successors, 

ISJfO-OJf;  engaged  in  oil  production,  1859- 

<H  ;  has  conducted  a  foundry  and  general 

iron  works  at  Buffalo  since  186 4^. 


]E&\varC>  Ik.  Etncrv?,  elected  to 

the  bench  of  the  I'>ie  County  Court  in 
\K)'),  has  worked  hard  all  his  life,  and 
has  rea[)ed  a  reward  consistent  with  his 
efforts  and  deserts.  Though  not  far  be- 
yond the  period  of  life  allotted  to 
"young  men,"  he  has  already  solved 
the  problem  of  prosperity,  and  has  made 
his  future  secure.  His  success  is  the 
more  noteworthy  from  the  fact  that  he 
selected  a  field  of  labor  in  which  rewards 
are  long  delayed,  and  never  come  by 
chance,  or  as  the  result  of  anvthing  but 
work  and  worth. 

Born  in  F^ast  Aurora,  T^rie  county,  in 
1851,  Judge  Fernery  spent  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  after  the  manner  of  many 
young  men  in  the  country  dejiendent  on 
themselves  for  a  professional  education. 
By  teaching  school  in  winter  and  farm- 
ing   in    summer    he    a(c|uired    sufficient 
means  to  pursue  the  stud\'  of  law.      Pro- 
ceeding to   Buffalo  for  that  pur])ose,   he 
gave  his  days  and  nights  to  legal  research 
with  characteristic  earnestness,   and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1877.      He  began 
the   practice   of  law  in   Buffalo  at  once, 
and  soon  became  known  as  a  trustworthy 
adviser  in  all  legal  matters.       This  favor- 
able reputation  was  confirmed  in  his   further  prac- 
tice, and  he  was  regarded  during  his  later  years  at 
the  bar  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  younger  attorneys 
in  F^rie  county. 

Like  so  many  other  lawyers,  Judge  F^mery  began 
early  in  his  career  to  take  a  keen  interest  in  polit- 
ical affairs.  His  convictions  on  ])ublic  (piestions 
have  harmonized  with  the  princi|)les  of  the  Republi- 
can |)arty,  and  for  many  years  he  has  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  Republican  leaders  and  shared  their 
counsels.  He  first  came  prominently  before  the 
public  as  a  candidate  for  office  in  the  fall  of  188G, 
when  he  received  the  Republican  nomination  for 
the  a.ssembly  in  the  old  oth  F.rie-county  district. 
He  was  elected  that  year  and  again  the  next,  and 


.\fK.\  Of  XKir  yoKK~u-ESTJ-:R.x  sjccr/ox 


333 


served  on  important  committees  in  the  assembly  in 
the  sessions  of  1887-^''^.  For  the  next  few  years  his 
law  practice  was  so  large  that  he  thought  it  inexpedi- 
ent to  re-enter  political  life,  though  he  continued  to 
follow  public  affairs  closely.  In  the  fall  of  1895, 
however,  when  the  Republican  party  offered  him  ]jro- 
fessional  and  political  honors  at  once  in  the  nomina- 
tion for  the  office  of  county  judge,  he  wisely  decided 
to  accept  the  candidacy.  He  was  elected  by  a  major- 
ity of  more  than  8000  votes  over  his  Democratic 
opponent,  and  on  Januarv  1.  ISIH),  began  his  term 
of  six  years. 

Judge  Emery  has  many  traits  of  mind  and  charac- 
ter that  make  him  prominent  in  social  life,  and  he 
has  a  wide  circle  of  friends.  He  belongs  to  various 
fraternal  organizations,  including  the  Masonic  order, 
the  Odd  Fellows,  and  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Edward  Kellogg  Emery  was  born  at 
East  Aurora,  N.  V.,  July  29,  ISf)!: 
attended  the  district  schools  and  academy 
of  his  native  town :  taught  school  and 
studied  la7C>,  and  loas  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1877 :  married  Clara  B.  Darbee  oj 
East  Aurora  October  7 ,  ISSO  ;  7vas  mem- 
ber of  assembly,  1887-88  ;  practiced  latu 
in  Buffalo,  1877-05  ;  was  elected  judge  of 
the  Erie  County  Court  in  1S9'>  for  the 
term  1896-1901. 


-«»«  


JBsrOn  2).  (BibSOn,  long  a  leading 
merchant  of  Flast  Aurora,  N.  Y.,  and 
latterly  a  prominent  man  in  the  |)ublic 
affairs  of  the  town,  was  born  there  in 
September,  1859.  He  was  educated  in 
the  district  schools  of  his  native  town, 
and  in  the  academy  at  the  same  [jlace. 
His  father,  Chisman  Clikson,  carried  on 
a  clothing  and  boot  and  shoe  business 
at  Fast  Aurora  tor  nearly  forty  years,  and 
Byron  entered  the  store  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  for  the  purpose  of  ac([uainting 
himself  thoroughly  with  mercantile  af- 
fairs. He  remained  with  his  father  until 
the  latter's  death  in  1890,  when  he  pur- 
chased the  business  from  the  estate.  He 
has  since  conducted  the  enterprise  with 
the  success  that  might  have  been  pre- 
dicted from  his  long  experience  and 
excellent  school  of  commercial  training. 
'l"he  store  is  still  located  in  the  same  place  where  the 
elder  Mr.  Clibson  began  business  in  the  middle  of 
the  century  :  the  establishment  has  been  for  manv 
years  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  village. 


F^ast  Aurora  has  come  to  be  a  good  deal  of  a 
town,  and  its  population  extends  over  a  correspond- 
ingly wide  area.  The  original  (libson  establishment 
was  located  in  the  western  part  of  East  Aurora,  in 
the  village  called  Willink.  Deeming  it  desirable  to 
reach  the  important  trade  at  the  other  end  of  the 
town,  Mr.  (libson  Ibrmed  a  partnership,  in  March, 
1891,  with  .\.  Iv  Hammond,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  a  business  in  clothing  and  general 
furnishings  in  the  territory  not  covered  by  the  Wil- 
link store.  I'his  project  was  successfully  carried 
out,  and  Mr.  (libson  now  has  a  nourishing  trade  in 
both  his  individual  cstablishuicnt  and  his  partner- 
ship concern. 

Having  livetl  in  Ivist  .Aurora  all  his  life,  and 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  business  and  social  affairs 
of  the   community,    Mr.   Ciibson  gradually  attained 


nvRox  n.  G/Hsox 


]joliticaI  prominence  as  well.  In  March,  1892,  he 
was  elected  trustee  of  the  village  for  two  years.  \X 
the  expiration  of  this  term  he  received  the  honor  of 
an    election    as    president    of   the    village    of    East 


:!;U 


.i//;.\'  ()/•"  .\7-:if  V(>Rh'—in:sT/:R.\  sect/ox 


Aurora  ;  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  re-elected 
to  this  office.  In  March,  1 «!)."),  he  was  also  elected 
supervisor  from  the  town  of  Aurora  for  two  years. 
On  this  occasion  the  Demoi  rats  paid  him  the  indirei  t 
but  conspicuous  compliment  of  nominating  no  one 
against  him.      On  Noveniher  20,  l.S.s<),  Mr.  Oibson 


AV.t/  Aurora  September  4,  1S82  ;  rciis  postmaster  at 
Willink,  1800-f>S  :  was  trustee  of  the  village  of  East 
Aurora,  1892-94,  atitl  its  president,  189Jf-4m  :  was 
(•leeted  supen'isor  of  the  to7C'U  of  Aurora  in  March, 
1895,  for  ttvo  years  ;  has  conducted  a  clothing  store 
at  East  Aurora  since  1890. 


\ 


WAKhlliX  li.   HOOKHH 

was  appointed  postma.ster  of  Willink.  and  held  the 
office  four  years,  1890-93. 

Mr.  Gibson  is  a  firm  believer  in  fraternal  socie- 
ties, and  sup])orts  several  by  membership  and  regu- 
lar attendance.  He  belongs  to  Bla/.ing  Star  Lodge, 
No.  694,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  to  Kast  Aurora  Chapter,  No. 
'28'2,  R.  A.  M.  ;  and  to  the  Ma.sonic  Life  Association 
of  Western  New  York.  He  is  al.so  an  Odd  Fellow, 
attached  to  Kwxoxa.  Borealis  Lodge,  No.  642,  and  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

PERSONAL  'chronology—  Byron  D. 
Gibson  was  born  at  East  Aurora,  N.  Y. ,  September 
12,  1859  ;  was  educated  in  district  schools  and  Aurora 
Academy;  was  a  clerk  in  his  father' s  store  at  East 
Aurora,    1878-90  ;    married   //attic    A.    Holmes   of 


Marten  36.  1l300l?cr,  ;>  ^on  of 

John  and  Philena  Hooker,  was  born  in 
I'errysburg,  Cattaraugus  county,  New 
York,  in  18.56.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Vermont,  and  his  mother,  Philena 
Waterman,  of  Massachusetts.  They  set- 
tled on  a  farm  in  Cattaraugus  county, 
and  lived  honorable  and  useful  lives  pro- 
longed in  each  case  beyond  the  psalm- 
ist's allotment  of  three  score  \ears  and 
ten. 

Warren  was  reared  upon  his  father's 
farm,  and  became  accu.stomed  early  in 
life  to  such  toil  and  discipline  as  gave 
him  strength  for  future  achievement. 
.■\side  from  the  district  school  he  was 
educated  at  Forestville  Academy,  from 
which  he  graduated  with  honor  in  1875. 
Soon  after  this  he  began  the  study  of  law 
with  the  late  John  G.  Record  of  F'orest- 
ville.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  l.syi),  and  prac- 
ticed law  in  Chautauijua  count}-  until  he 
moved  to  the  West  in  lf<X2. 

In  1884  he  returned  to  western  New 
York,  and  entered  upon  the  active  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Fredonia.      He 
has   remained  there  ever  since,   and  has 
attained   abundant  success  in   both   pro- 
fessional and  political   life.      In  l.s78he 
was  elected  special  surrogate  of  Chautau- 
qua county   for  a   term   of  three  years. 
He  was  elected  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Pomfret 
in   1889  and  again   in  1890,  receiving  at  the  latter 
election  the  unusual  com])liment  of  the  support  of 
both  political  jjarties. 

In  the  fall  of  I.SIM),  at  the  age  of  thirty-three.  Mr. 
Hooker  received  the  nomination  of  the  Republican 
party  for  congress  in  the  34th  congressional  district, 
(  omprising  the  counties  of  Chautauqua,  Cattaraugus, 
and  .Allegany,  and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of 
.")72().  He  was  re-elected  in  1892,  and  again  in 
l.S!)4,  when  he  received  15,300  plurality.  In  189(! 
he  was  nominated  once  more,  and  was  elected  to 
the  55th  congress  by  a  plurality  of  27,421)  votes. 
These  repeated  ])olitical  triuni|)hs  have  been 
achie\ed  in  a  district  distinguished  for  intelligence, 


MK.x  oi-  \i-:w  voKK     wi-:sri-:i<.\  sfa-tukx 


and    for    the    zeal  and  al)ility   with   whirh    imliiical 
honors  are  contested. 

In  the  54th  congress  Mr.  Hooker  held  the  impor- 
tant and  coveted  position  of  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  rivers  and  harljors.  The  bill  that  he  then 
jjresented  to  the  house  in  that  capacity  was  not  only 
passed  in  both  branches  of  congress  by  large  majori- 
ties, but  was  afterward  carried  over  a  presidential 
veto.  The  measure  provided  for  an  ajspropriation 
larger  than  that  of  any  previous  bill  on  the  subject  : 
but  the  e.xpenditures  authorized  were  so  judicious 
and  so  equitably  distributed  that  the  bill  was  not 
attacked  by  the  press,  nor  by  the  op])()sitioii  sjieakers 
in  the  campaign  of  l.SH(i. 

Mr.  Hooker's  success  as  a   pcilitician    is   nol   acci- 
dental, but  is  due  to  his  able  discharge  of  duty,  and 
to  the  benefits  that  he  has  conferred  upon  his  con- 
stituents.      Industrious,    ambitious,    self- 
reliant,  pleasing  in  manner,  commanding        

in  presence,  Mr.  Hooker  may  t  onfidently 
look  forward  to  a  continuance  of  public 
favor  and  of  political  honors. 

In  September,  18X4,  Mr.  Hooker  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Etta  K.  .\bbey, 
a  daughter  of  Chauncey  .\bbey,  lately 
president  of  the  Fredonia  National  Bank, 
and  long  a  prominent  citizen  of  Chau- 
tauqua county.  They  have  two  children, 
Sherman  Abbey  and  Florence  Elizabeth. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY  — 
Warren  Brewster  Hooker  was  horn  at 
Periysburg,  N.  Y. ,  November  24,  18o0  : 
was  edtuated  at  Foresti'i//e  {N.  V. )  Acad- 
emy .■  studied  /au>,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1879  : 
7C'as  elected  special  surrogate  of  Chautau- 
qua cmmty  in  1878 ;  married  Etta  E. 
Abbey  of  Fredonia,  N.  V.,  Siptember  11, 
188 Jf  ;  was  supeit'isor  of  the  town  of  Potn- 
fret,  1890-91 ;  has  been  member  of  con- 
gress since  1891  ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Fredonia  since  188 J/-. 

30bn  /IDClEwen,  well  known  among        | 

the  successful  business  men  of  Allegany        i 
county,   was   born  in  New  York  city   in         j 
184!).       His    father,    Duncan    McEwen, 
came  from  the    Highlands   of  Scotland, 
and    learned  the   machinist's   and    mill- 
wright's trades  in  Glasgow.      He  was  a 
man  of  high  character  and  exceptional  ability,  and 
ultimately  obtained   the  ]josition  of  superintendent 
of  one  of  the  large  government  shipyards  at  Liver- 
pool.     He  was  ambitious,  however,  to  have  a  busi- 


ness of  his  own,  and  wisely  decided  that  America 
promised  the  ipiickest  realization  of  his  ho]jes.  In 
April,  l.S4!l,  accordingly,  he  embarked  with  his 
family  from  Liverpool  in  one  of  the  first  steamships 
constructed  for  ocean  traffic  They  made  the  pas- 
sage in  eighteen  days,  then  regarded  as  marvelouslv 
cjuick  John  was  born  the  day  they  landed  in  New 
York  city. 

After  sojourning  in  various  places,  Duncan  McEwen 
finally  established  himself  in  Wellsville,  Allegan)- 
county,  in  May,  18.")4.  Beginning  O])erations  mod- 
estl\- — a  lathe  and  a  drilling  machine,  indeed, 
comjirised  his  entire  plant  at  first  —  he  enlarged  his 
business  prudently  as  opportunity  offered,  and  laid 
the  foundations  in  his  little  foundry  and  machine 
shop  for  the  magnificent  business  afterward  developed 
therefrom    by   his   sons.       .At  the  time  of  his  death, 


/<>//\   MtKWKX 


however,  in  I'ebruary,  l.S()4,  the  works  were  hardly 
self-sustaining,  and  John  McKwen,  his  eldest  son, 
was  still  a  boy.  The  shop  was  rented  for  a  few 
years,  therefore,  while  John  and  William,  the  next 


336 


.i//i.\'  OF  .\7-:ir  voRK—irKSTEKX  sF.crfo.y 


son,  prepared  themselves  to  take  up  the  business. 
By  l.H()8  they  felt  ready  to  carry  on  the  work,  and 
formed  the  firm  of  McEwen  Brothers. 

This  was  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  both  the 
brothers  were  under  age  and  comparatively  ine.x- 
perienced.  They  had  traits  of  mind  and  character, 
however,  that  more  than  countervailed  the.se  de- 
ficiencies, and  they  achieved  a  rare  degree  of  success. 
Suffering  a  temporary  setback  in  October,  187(5, 
when  their  ])lant  was  burned,  they  at  once  erected  a 
substantial  brick  building,  and  equipped  the  same 
with  the  finest  and  latest  machinery.  The  firm  now 
employs  about  sixty  workmen,  and  manufactures 
aniuiallv  engines,  boilers,  mill  and  general  machiner\' 
valued  at  81 '25,000  or  more.  They  make  a  specialty 
of  fitting  up  tanneries,  and  for  twenty-five  years  past 
they  have  fiirnished  the  machinery  for  all  the  tan- 
neries within  l.")0  miles  of  Wellsville,  including  the 
enormous  plant  at  t'ostello,  Penn.,  the  largest  in  the 
world.  John  .VIcEwen  has  been  the  head  and  front 
of  the  concern  from  the  beginning,  and  its  success 
may  be  ascribed  in  a  superior  measure  to  his  energy 
and  busine.ss  sagacity. 

Aside  from  his  career  as  a  manufacturer  Mr. 
McEwen  deserves  mention  as  a  public-spirited  citi- 
zen. In  political  matters  he  ha.s  long  been  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  Re|jubiican  party  of  Allegany 
county,  though  he  has  felt  unable  to  neglect  his 
business  interests  in  the  way  that  public  office  might 
recpiire.  He  was  a  delegate,  however,  to  the  Re- 
publican national  convention  held  at  Minnea|)olis  in 
1892.  He  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason  of  St.  John's 
Commandery,  Olean.  His  connection  with  the 
Wellsville,  Coudersport  &  Fine  Creek  railroad  illus- 
trates both  his  public  s[)irit  and  his  ability  as  a 
financier.  The  road  was  originally  jjlanned  many 
years  ago,  but  work  was  abandoned  after  eight  miles 
had  been  graded.  In  189U  it  was  rumored  that 
Hornellsville  capitalists  intended  to  build  a  compet- 
ing line  that  would  seriously  retard  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  Wellsville.  Under  the  circumstances 
Wellsville  deemed  it  highly  important  to  put  its  road 
through  at  once.  Mr.  McEwen  personally  circulated 
the  paper  for  subscriptions  ;  and  he  was  elected 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  new  company, 
and  gave  close  attention  to  the  construction,  e(|uip- 
ment,  and  operation  of  the  road.  'I"he  enterprise 
was  highly  successfid,  and  when  the  road  was  sold, 
in  iXi)"),  the  stockholders  realized  a  handsome  jjrofit 
on  their  investment. 

PERSONAL  ChR  ONOL  O  G  Y—John  McEweii 
was  born  at  New  Yofk  city  April  21,  1849  ;  moved  to 
Wellsville,  Alle^^any  county,  N.  Y.,  in  18'>lf  ;  marrieil 
Emma  Alger  October  HO,  187V ;  began  business  as  a 


manufacturer  of  machinery  at  Wellsville  in  1868,  ami 
lias  continued  the  same  since. 


SbcriC»an  /IDcHrt[)ur  IHortou,  though  he 

has  barely  rcai  hcil  the  prime  of  life,  has  already 
attained  success  in  various  lines  of  activity — as  a 
teacher,  lawyer,  jjromoter,  farmer,  banker,  and 
judge.  His  lineage  will  bear  close  scrutiny,  and 
will  lead  the  e.vaminer  back  to  Puritan  stock.  He 
was  born  in  a  country  town  in  .\llegany  county, 
New  York,  shortly  before  the  middle  of  the  century, 
and  spent  his  boyhood  and  youth  under  the  harsh 
but  wholesome  di.scijjline  of  farm  life.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  the  common  si  hools,  in 
I'Viendshi])  Academy,  and  in  the  Belmont  graded 
school,  .^t  the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  to  teach, 
and  continued  in  that  occupation  during  a  great 
part  of  the  time  for  the  next  seven  years.  Before  he 
had  reached  his  majority  he  was  made  i)resident  of 
the  Allegany  County  Teachers'  Association. 

He  was  fond  of  teaching,  and  would  doubtless 
have  been  very  successful  in  the  profession,  had  he 
decided  to  make  that  his  life-work.  The  law  was 
attractive  to  him,  however,  and  in  liSTl,  simultane- 
ously with  his  teaching,  he  began  to  fit  himself  for 
the  bar.  He  studied  first  at  Angelica  with  judge 
James  S.  Creen  and  1).  P.  Richardson,  afterward 
reading  law  at  Belmont  with  Judge  Hamilton  Ward 
and  General  Rufus  Scott.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  January  8,  1874,  and  began  ]jractice  three 
weeks  later  at  Friendship. 

He  built  up  rajjidly  a  valuable  clientage,  and 
ol)tained  a  wide  reputation  for  adjusting  disputes 
without  litigation,  and  for  winning  his  .suit  in  con- 
tested cases.  He  acijuired  distinction,  also,  as  a 
referee,  and  ever  since  his  atlmission  to  the  bar 
he  has  had  an  extensive  business  in  hearing  ref- 
erences. 

Judge  Norton  has  shown  great  aptiuule  for  busi- 
ness, and  has  been  strikingly  successful  as  a  pro- 
moter of  business  enterprises.  He  has  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Citizens'  National  liank  of  Eriendshijj 
since  it  organization  in  1882.  He  was  interested 
in  the  lirst  oil  well  at  Richburg,  .Mlegany  county, 
and  devoted  consitlerable  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  oil  industry.  He  showed  rare  good 
judgment  in  withdrawing  from  his  operations  at  an 
o])portune  time.  He  had  an  ai  ti\e  ])art  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  railroad  from  Friendship  to  Bolivar, 
holding  a  directorate  in  the  com|)any.  As  a  prac- 
tical farmer  conducting  o]jerations  on  a  large  scale. 
Judge  Norton  has  likewise  demonstrated  his  business 
ability.  He  owns  a  farm  in  Friendship  of  over  200 
acres,    which    he    personally    superintends,    and    to 


ME.y  or  .\7-:ir  ivj/oa'— /r/f.v/'/rA-.N'  s/-:c77(>.y 


337 


which  he  turns  for  relief  from  the  exhaustinj;   labors 
of  his  profession. 

Judge  Norton  has  always  taken  great  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  his  town  and  county.  For  three  years,  begin- 
ning in  1871(,  he  was  supervi.sor  of  Friendshi]),  and 
was  chairman  of  the  board  during  the  last  two  years 
of  his  service.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion. He  is  an  effective  and  entertain- 
ing speaker,  and  is  in  great  demand 
on  Fourth  of  July  and  other  patriotic 
occasions. 

In  188il,  and  again  in  18!)"),  he  was 
elected  county  judge,  and  has  faithfully 
discharged  the  duties  of  that  office,  and 
of  the  Surrogate's  Court  of  the  county. 
His  decisions  are  characterized  by  strict 
integrity  and  judicial  fairness.  His  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  the  law  was  tested  in 
the  notable  Miner  will  case.  This  was 
carried  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  which 
sustained  Judge  Norton's  decision.  In 
the  fall  of  1811.")  he  presided  at  (leneseo 
for  Judge  Nash  during  the  fiercely  con- 
tested Father  Flaherty  case,  and  won 
much  ap|)roval  for  his  conduct  of  the 
trial. 

Judge  Norton  takes  a  deei}  interest  in 
Masonrv,  in  which  lie  lias  attainetl  the 
."J'id  degree. 

PERSOXAL     CHROXOL  OGY  — 
Sheridan  McArthur  Norton  was  horn  al 
Belmont,  N.  Y.,  May  7,  7.S'.^c9  .■  7oas  edu- 
cated in  Frieiids/ii/>  Academy  and  the  Bel- 
mont graded  school :  lair^lit  school  at  inter- 
vals,   lfiH'>-7,i ;  7oas  admitted  to  the  bar 
faniiarx  S\    1S7.'/,  and  l>egan  />ractice  at 
Friendshi/^,   \.    )'.  .•  married  May  Lilian 
Robinson  ot  Friendshi/'  Se/t ember  1,  ISSlI  ; 
rcas   supervisor   of  Friendship,    1H']!)-Hi  :    has    been 
president  op  the   Citizens'   National  Bank   of  Friend- 
ship since  1S82 ;   has  been  county  jud;^e  and  surrogate 
of  Allegany  county  since  1800. 


employment  as  a  general-utility  boy  in  one  of  the 
variety  stores  so  common  in  the  country.  His 
aptitude  for  business  was  marked  even  at  this  early 
day,  and  by  the  time  he  had  reached  his  majority 
he  was  able  to  buy  out  his  employers  and  conduct 
the  establishment  on  his  own  account. 


XCNVtS  S.  IPa^tte  has  been  one  of  the  fore- 
most citi/.ens  of  Niagara  county,  New  York,  for 
more  than  half  a  century.  Horn  in  the  town  of 
Riga,  Monroe  county,  in  181!),  he  obtained  such 
instruction  as  the  imperfect  common  schools  ot  the 
time  afforded,  his  parents  feeling  unable  to  provide 
education  at  better  schools  away  from  home. 
Resolving,  at  the  age  of  si.xteen,  to  start  out  for 
himself  in  the  world,  Lewis  proceeded  to  Tona- 
wanda,    where    an    uncle    lived,    and    there    found 


shi-:rii>  i\    i/c/A'/y/rA'   vha'Tov 

Ceneral  stores  in  the  country,  managed  prudently 
by  men  of  character  and  weight  in  their  community, 
have  often  become  the  basis  of  substantial  fortunes  ; 
and  Colonel  Payne's  career  illustrates  the  general 
truth.  Branching  out  into  one  enterprise  and 
another  as  his  means  increa.sed  and  e.xperience 
broadened,  he  became  long  before  the  period  of 
middle  life  one  of  the  most  successful  business  men 
in  the  county,  'j'onawanda  had  not  then  become 
the  second  greatest  lumber  market  in  the  world,  but 
its  subsequent  prominence  in  that  industry  was 
already  foreshadowed  ;  and  Colonel  Payne,  with 
many  others,  found  it  jjrofitable  to  engage  in  the 
business.  In  1X47  he  built  the  first  steam  sawmill 
in    ionawanda.      He  also  engaged  for  several  years 


338 


MEA'  OF  XKir    yORK^U-ESTERX  SF.CTfO.V 


in  the  forwarding,  shipping,  and  commission  busi- 
ness. In  I808  he  turned  his  attention  to  farming, 
and  has  ever  since  maintained  a  large  and  beautiful 
estate  in  the  town  of  Wheatfield. 

When   the   Civil   War  broke   out  C'olonel  Payne 
was  in  the  prime  of  vigorous  manhood,  and  he  threw 


L  i:\vis  s.  p  n\f-: 

himself  into  the  contest  wiih  the  same  persistence 
and  energy  that  had  brought  him  success  in  business 
life.  Raising  a  company  of  volunteers  at  his  own 
expense  in  the  fall  of  1861,  he  ultimately  reached 
McClellan's  army,  and  took  part  in  the  famous 
Fenin.sular  campaign.  Enlisting  as  a  private,  he  was 
promoted  through  the  various  grades  until  he 
reached  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  He  par- 
ticipated in  .some  of  the  hottest  battles  of  the  war, 
and  in  less  than  four  months  lost  more  than  a  third 
of  his  regiment.  Williamsburg,  Seven  Pines,  White 
Oak  Swamp,  and  Malvern  Hill  were  the  scenes  of 
some  of  his  earlier  battles.  In  the  spring  of  lS(j;j 
he  made  many  daring  e.xpeditions  with  his  company, 
particularly  distinguishing  himself  bv  able  and  suc- 


cessful operations  in  Charleston  harbor.  In  .\ugust, 
186.'),  while  attempting  to  intercept  the  communi- 
cations of  the  enemy  between  Charleston  and  Fort 
Sumter,  he  was  attacked  by  a  superior  force,  and 
after  a  desperate  engagement  was  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner.  Confined  for  a  while  in  the  hospital 
at  Charleston,  he  was  afterward  taken 
to  Columbia,  S.  C,  where  he  was  kept 
in  close  confinement  until  February, 
1865. 

With  such  a  record  in  war  and  in  the 
mercantile  world.  Colonel  Payne  has 
naturally  been  prominent  in  public  life. 
Originally  a  VVhig,  he  became,  after  the 
dissolution  of  that  party,  a  Douglas  Dem- 
ocrat. .\s  early  as  1844  he  w-as  elected 
one  of  the  supervisors  of  Wheatfield,  and 
served  on  the  board  for  eleven  terms. 
He  was  the  first  collector  of  canal  tolls 
appointed  at  Tonawanda,  holding  the 
otifice  in  18.")0-r)I.  Fleeted  clerk  of 
Niagara  county  in  the  fall  of  1851,  he 
discharged  the  duties  of  the  otifice  effi- 
ciently and  faithfully  during  the  years 
1S52-54.  Eleven  years  later  he  was 
again  made  county  clerk,  and  held  the 
office  for  the  term  1866-68.  In  the  fall 
of  1869  he  was  elected  to  the  state 
a.ssembly.  He  was  made  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  claims  in  that  body, 
and  was  also  a  member  of  the  committee 
on  canals,  and  of  that  on  military  affairs. 
In  November,  1877,  he  received  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  the  office  of 
senator  from  the  'i!lth  district.  This 
district  ordinarily  went  Republican  by 
about  2000  votes,  biit  on  this  occasion 
Colonel  Payne  was  elected  by  a  narrow 
margin.  He  was  the  first  Democrat  ever 
elected  in  the  29th  senatorial  district.  In  188;?  he 
was  nominated  for  congress,  but  even  his  great 
popularity  was  unequal  to  the  task  of  overcoming 
the  u.sual  Republican  majority. 

In  recent  years  Colonel  Payne  has  withdrawn 
from  active  pursuits,  confining  his  attention  to  the 
oversight  of  his  farm  and  the  maintenance  of  his 
jjroperty.  His  memory  has  become  somewhat 
uncertain  with  advancing  age,  but  in  most  respects 
his  seventy-eight  years  rest  lightly  ui)on  him.  His 
knowledge  of  pioneer  conditions  in  western  New- 
York,  his  stirring  ex])eriences  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
other  eventful  jieriods  of  his  career,  give  imusual 
charm  and  interest  to  his  reminiscent  talks.  He 
is  widcl)'  resjjected   in  Niagara  count)-,  and  holds  a 


AfEX   OF  .\/:ir    I'OA'A'— /CAW/'AAW  SEC77(h\ 


389 


warm  place  in  the  regard  of  those  who  know  him 
best.  Everyone  wishes  him  a  twilight  of  life  as 
long  and  as  lovely  as  the  fading  of  day  in  midsum- 
mer on  the  peaks  of  Ben  Nevis. 

PE  J? SO  NA  L  CHR  O NOL  O  G  Y—  Leioi.s 
Stephen  Payne  laas  horn  at  P/'^i^a,  N.  V. ,  January 
21,  ISIO :  was  educated  in  common  schools:  was 
clerk  in  a  country  store,  ISSo-^O ;  married  Mary 
Tabor  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  November  22,  181^0:  served 
in  the  Union  army  throui(hout  the  war  ;  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Niagara-county  board  of  supervisors  in 
18Jf4,  and  served  eleven  terms  ;  was  clerk  of  Niagara 
county,  18.')2-:'>4  and  WiG-dS ;  was  member  of 
assembly  in  1S70,  state  senator,  1878-70,  and  candi- 
date/or congress  in  1883  ;  has  been  engaged  in  vari- 
ous mercantile  enterprises  at  North  Tonaicanda,  N.  } '. , 
since  1841. 


Milliam  1f3.  lPrOUC»fit  has  l.een 
identified  with  the  city  of  Jamestown  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  may  almost 
be  regarded  as  a  native  of  the  place. 
He  was  born,  however,  in  Milwaukee. 
Wis. ,  and  was  two  years  old  when  he 
was  brought  to  western  New  York.  He 
received  his  education  in  the  Jamestown 
common  schools  and  acadeni)',  but  left 
school  at  tjie  age  of  fifteen  to  begin  busi- 
ness life.  His  first  employment  was  that 
of  clerk  in  a  dry -goods  store,  and  he 
subsequent!}-  served  as  cashier  and  tinall\ 
as  bookkeeper  in  dry-goods  and  clothing 
stores  in  Jamestown.  By  the  year  18(i2 
he  had  made  a  good  start  on  a  successful 
mercantile  career  :  but  he  interruijted  it, 
like  so  many  other  men  in  those  fateful 
years,  at  the  call  of  his  country.  Enlist 
ing  in  company  F,  11 '2th  New  York  vol 
unteers,  in  .August,  ls(i"_',  he  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  honorably 
discharged  June  lo,  l>i(i5. 

Returning  to  Jamestown,  he  established 
the  clothing  house  of  Proudfit  &  Osmer 
in  December,  IrSlili,  Iniving  out  the  firm 
of  Andrews  &  i'reston.  He  has  con- 
ducted this  business  at  the  original  loca- 
tion ever  sini  c,  and  has  become  one  of 
the  foremost  merchants  of  Jamestown. 
Mr.  Osmer  died  in  l.SX(),  and  from  that 
date  Mr.  Proudfit  has  been  sole  owner  of  the  business, 
devoting  his  best  energies  to  the  enterprise,  and 
achieving  most  gratifying  and  well-deserved  success. 

All  pulilic   movements  for  the  general  good  have 
received   Mr.    Proudfit's  active  sup[)ort.       He   is  a 


Republican  in  politics,  and  takes  a  proper  interest 
in  party  affairs  ;  but  he  has  no  aspirations  for  public 
ofifice,  and  has  never  accepted  a  political  nomina- 
tion. He  is  deeply  interested  in  the  growth  and 
pros])erity  of  the  city  that  has  been  his  home  for  so 
many  years,  and  in  its  benevolent  and  charitable 
work.  He  is  an  elder  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  there  ;  and  took  a  prominent  jjart  in  the 
organization  of  the  local  Young  Men's  Christian 
.Association,  serving  on  its  first  board  of  directors. 
When  the  James  Prendergast  Free  Library  was 
established  in  Jamestown,  as  a  memorial  of  the  man 
to  whom  the  city  owes  its  name,  Mr.  Proudfit  was 
appointed  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  institution. 
He  is  also  a  trustee  of  the  Cemetery  .Association,  a 
member    and    trustee    of   the    (irand    .Armv   of   the 


II //././.  I. U  II.  PROl-DI-IT 

Republic,  and  a  director  of  the  Chautamiua  County 
I'rust  Co. 

PERSONA  L  CHR  O NOL  O  G  Y—  William 
Henrx  Proudfit  was  born  at  Milwaukee,  Wis. ,  Decem- 
ber ].'),    IS.ifl ;    7oas  educated  in  the  common  schools 


:U(i 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK  —WESTERN  SECTION 


and  acaJemx  of  Jainestoivn,  N.  Y. :  was  emploved 
as  clerk  and  bookkeeper  in  Jameston<n,  lHi)()-li2  ; 
served  in  the  Union  army,  lS<>2-(>5  ;  married  Elle?i 
E.  Hall  of  Jamesto7on  October  2,  1866 ;  has  con- 
ducted a  clothini:;  house  in  /amestincn  since  1866. 


HAKIEY  S.  SPRXCEK 

IbarVCy  S.  SpCUCCr,  one  of  the  best-known 
and  most  res]3ected  citizens  of  the  village  of  Ham- 
burg, was  born  in  Lewis  county,  New  York,  fifty- 
seven  years  ago.  His  father,  Stephen  Spencer,  was 
a  farmer,  and  Harvey  passed  his  early  years  after  the 
usnal  manner  of  farmers'  sons.  As  a  boy  he  at- 
tended the  district  school  in  'I'urin,  his  native  town. 
He  continued  his  education  at  the  academy  at  l.ow- 
vilie,  the  county  seat,  and  at  the  Fairfield  Academy 
in  the  neighboring  county  of  Herkimer,  finally  com- 
pleting his  .scholastic  training  at  Whitestown  Sem- 
inary, Oneida  county.  Like  so  many  country  boys, 
he  was  compelled  to  make  |)ersistent  efforts  and  many 
sacrifices  in  order  to  obtain  an  academic  education, 
and  he  availed  himself  with  corresjjonding  eagerness 
of  all   the  opportunities  that  came  within   his   reach. 


Having  qualified  himself  for  teaching,  Mr.  Sjjencer 
gave  several  years  to  that  work  in  various  |)laces  in 
Lewis  and  (Jneida  counties.  He  had  no  mind  to 
make  this  his  life-work,  however,  and  in  LSG5  he 
moved  to  western  New  York,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Hamburg,  Krie  county,  where 
he  established  an  insurance  agency.  This 
business  he  carried  on  continuously  for 
over  twenty  years,  writing  both  fire  and 
life  insurance,  and  rejaresenting  many  of 
the  leading  companies  of  the  country. 
In  ISS.'i  he  helped  to  organize  the  Bank 
of  Hamburg,  and  was  made  cashier  of 
the  new  institution.  He  has  filled  this 
position  ever  since,  and  has  proved  him- 
self an  able  and  efficient  official,  serving 
the  jjatrons  of  the  bank  with  uniform 
courtesy,  and  guarding  their  interests 
most  faithfull) . 

-Mr.  Spencer  has  identified  himself 
thoroughly  with  the  pretty  village  where 
he  has  lived  so  long,  and  every  worthy 
enteriirise  designed  to  |)romote  its  growth 
and  add  to  its  business  facilities  has 
received  his  hearty  co-operation  and 
support.  He  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  organization  of  several  local  corpora- 
tions of  this  kind,  notably  the  Hamburg 
fanning  Co. ,  the  Hamburg  Water  & 
IMectric  Light  t'o.,  and  the  Hambmg 
Investment  &  Improvement  Co.,  and  is 
a  stockholder  in  each.  He  is  al.so  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  the  two  last-named 
corporations.  His  fellow-citizens  appre- 
ciate his  |)ublic  spirit,  and  gave  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  the  fact  by  electing 
him  to  the  office  of  supervisor  when  he 
was  nominated  by  the  Republican  party 
in  iScSl.  The  peculiar  significance  of  this  election 
lies  in  the  circumstance  that  Mr.  Spencer  is  the 
only  Re|)ublican  who  has  won  the  office  upon  partv 
issues  in  the  history  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Spencer  takes  the  prominent  part  in  the  social 
life  of  Hamburg  to  which  his  high  standing  in  busi- 
ness circles  naturally  entitles  him.  For  many  years 
he  has  been  a  member  of  I'raternal  Lodge.  No.  IJ2."), 
1'".  &  -V.  M.,  and  served  several  terms  as  Wor.shipfiil 
Ma.ster.  He  belongs,  also,  to  the  Royal  Arcanum 
Council,  the  local  lodge  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  to  the 
.Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  He  is  at 
present  a  director  of  the  Masonic  Life  .Association 
of  Western  New  York. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOCY— Harvey  S. 
Spencer  icas  horn  at   Turin,  X.    )'. ,  /ulv  /.>.   18S!) ,- 


MEX   OF  XKIf    )(ih'h'~-irES'rEK.\  SECT/O.V 


341 


7cias  educated  at  Lowville  ami  Fairfield  academies  and 
]Vhitest(nvn  Seminary ;  taught  school,  /<%V?-6'.5  .- 
estahlished  an  insurance  agency  at  Hamburg,  N.  Y. , 
in  lS6o  ;  married  Julia  A.  Bunting  of  Eden,  N.  Y., 
October  lii,  1870  :  ^cas  a  member  of  the  Erie-county 
board  of  supeii'isors,  1881-82 ;  has  been  cashier  of 
the  Bank  of  Hamburg  since  its  organization  in  188-}. 


)£&WarC>  36.  ^Dreelan^  occupies  a  prominent 
position  ill  the  town  and  county  of  his  residence  —  a 
position  that  he  has  attained  by  force  of  native 
ability  and  elements  of  personal  popularit}-.  He 
was  born  in  Cuba,  Allegany  countv,  \.  V.,  in 
December,  1(S57.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  in  Friendship 
Academy,  from  which  he  graduated  in  I'STI).  He 
then  became  a  resident  of  Salamanca,  N.  Y..  and 
for  a  period  of  five  years  was  principal  of 
the  Salamanca  public  schools.  He  was 
a  successful  educator,  and  made  an  envi- 
able record  as  a  disciplinarian  and  in 
structor. 

While  teaching,  Mr.  \'reeland  was  also 
studying  law,  and  he  was  ultimately  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  the  courts  of  the 
state  ;  but  his  tastes  ran  more  to  busi- 
ness than  to  the  routine  of  legal  practice, 
and  he  never  engaged  actively  in  his 
profession.  In  1882  he  opened  an  insur- 
ance office  in  Salamanca,  and  his  skillful 
management  and  ujiright  dealings  con- 
verted the  enterprise  into  a  large  and 
successful  liusiness.  He  is  still  con- 
nected with  the  agency.  In  1<S!I1  lie 
was  elected  president  of  the  Salamanca 
National  Bank,  and  yet  holds  the  posi- 
tion. 

Ever  since  earl\    manhood   Mr.  Vree 
land    ha.s    taken    an    active    interest    in 
jjolitical    aflairs.      He  is  a  vigorous  and 
entertaining  speaker,  and   his  oratorical 
services  are  sought  not  only  for  campaign 
work,  but  also  on  social  occasions.      Be- 
lieving heartily  in  the  princi[)les  of  the 
Republican  party,  he  has  done  much,  on 
the  stiniip  and  otherwise,  to  explain  antl 
popularize  those  principles.      He  is  thor- 
oughly informed  on  questions  of  the  day. 
He  was  elected  supervisor  of  Salamanca 
in  1893,  and  still  represents  his  town  on 
the  county  board.      He  is  regarded   as  one  of  the 
most  efficient  members  of  that  body.      He  has  been 
])resident  of  the  Salamanca  Board  of  Trade  for  five 
vears,  and  in  that  capacity  has  promoted  the  mate- 


rial interests  of  the  community  in  various  ways.  He 
was  postma.ster  of  Salamanca  during  President  Harri- 
son's administration. 

Mr.  Vreeland  has  devoted  himself  princijially  to 
business,  and  has  been  eminently  successful  in  that 
regard.  He  has  excellent  judgment,  is  conservative 
in  his  methods  of  thought  and  action,  and  has  en- 
joyed in  a  marked  degree  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  his  fellow-citi/ens.  He  is  now  in  the  jirime 
of  vigorous  manhood,  and  it  is  the  confident  beliel 
of  his  many  friends  that  the  future  has  in  store  for 
him  a  degree  of  success  e\en  higher  than  that 
already  attained. 

.Mr.  N'reeland  has  been  interested  in  Masonry  for 
many  years,  and  has  reached  a  high  rank  in  that 
order.  He  was  the  first  JMiiinent  Commander  of 
Salamanca  Cominanderv,   No.  (i'i.  K.  '!'. 


/■:/>n.lA'D    /I.    \-KEEl.AXD 


PERSO.XAL  CHR  OXOL  O G  \ '^Edward  But- 
terfield  Vreeland  7oas  born  at  Cuba,  IV.  Y. ,  December 
7,  18'>7  :  7i>as  educated  in  common  schools  and  Friend- 
ship Academy  :  was  principal  of  the  Salamanca  {  N.  Y.  ) 


342 


ME.y  or  XKW  ](UCA-—ii7-:sr/-:A\y  sect/ox 


public  schools,  1877-82 ;  studied  law,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1881 ;  married  Myra  S.  Price 
of  Friendship,  N.  V. ,  July  27,  1881 ;  established  an 
insurance  agency  in  Salamanca  in  1882  ;  was  postmas- 
ter of  Salamanca,  18S0-9S :    has  been  supen'isor  of 


D.4i7r>  /.  w  /f.rox 

the  totun  of  Salamanca  since  1893  ;  has  been  president 
of  the  Salamanca  National  Bank  since  1891. 


S)avi5  J.TlitllUCOl,  Hkesomany  other  sunessful 
sons  of  the  Empire  State,  is  of  New  England  parent- 
age, his  ancestors  having  been  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Vermont.  His  father,  Kiihu  \Vil<:ox,  left  the 
Oreen  Mountain  State  more  than  half  a  century  ago, 
and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Cattaraugus  county. 
New  York.  Born  at  Leon  in  that  county,  shortly 
before  the  middle  of  the  century,  Mr.  VVilcox  spent 
his  boyhood  on  his  father's  farm,  attending  common 
schools  in  winter  and  working  hard  the  rest  of 
the  year.  He  was  ambitious  to  go  to  college,  but 
had  to  practice  great  self-denial  to  gain  his  end. 
Hv  tea<hini'  school,  however,  and   makinj;  sacrifices 


of  various  kinds,  he  managed  to  work  his  way  along, 
taking  preparatory  courses  at  Chamberlain  Institute 
and  Fredonia  Normal  School,  and  attending  Cornell 
University  three  years  in  the  class  of  '77. 

Having  decided  to  make  the  practice  of  law  his 
life-work,    Mr.    Wilcox   began  his  read- 
ing in  the  ofifice  of  King  &  Montgomery 
at    Ithaca,   N.   Y.,   continued    his    study 
with  Henderson  &  Wentvvorth  at   Ran- 
dolph, N.  Y.,  and  finished  his  legal  edu- 
cation at  the  Albany   Law  School.      He 
graduated  from  this  institution  in  1878, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo 
the  same  year.      The  lawyers  with  whom 
he  studied  were  exce])tionally  able  attor- 
neys, and  in  their  offices  he  enjoyed  an 
unusually  good  opportunity  to  acquire  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  legal  forms  and 
procedure.      When  this  [practical  experi- 
ence had  been  supplemented  by  a  course  of 
svstematic  studv  in  a  law  school,  he  was 
c\(  ellentU    e(|uippe(l   for  the  attainment 
of  honors  in  a  keenlv  competitive  calling. 
Moving   to   SpringviUe,    Erie   county, 
in  November,  1X7^,  Mr.  Wilcox  has  fol- 
lowed his  profession  there   continuously 
since.       The  practice  of  a  country  lawyer 
is  likely  to  be  varied,  and  to  give  one  a 
wide  knowledge  of  law,  and  of  business 
and    life    in    general.      Mr.    Wilcox    has 
now  received  the  benefit  of  such  a  calling 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  he  is  natur- 
ally   a    lawyer    of   learning  and  ability. 
He    has    taken    part    in  man}    important 
cases,  besides  tran.sacting  a  large  amount 
of  routine  legal  busine.ss.      In  the  famous 
controversy  over  the  estate  of  David  S. 
Ingalls,  Mr.  Wilcox  was  one  of  the  coun- 
sel  for  the  contestants,  and  had  an   important  part 
in  securing  the  compromise  that  ended  the  struggle. 
In  political  affairs  Mr.  Wilcox  has  always  es])Oused 
the  princiiiles  represented  by  the  Democratic  party. 
His  first  public  position  was  that  of  clerk  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  Cattaraugus  county,  which  he  held 
in   1H7.').      .\  few  years  after  taking  up  his  residence 
in  S[)ringville  he  was  elected  to  the  state  assembly, 
representing  the  southern  district  of  Erie  county  in 
that  body  in   1883-.H4.      In    is.s.s  he  was  appointed 
by    President    Clevelanil    receiver    of    the     L'nited 
States  land  office  at  Walla  Walla,  Wash.,  and  spent 
the  next  two  years  in  the  Evergreen  State.     He  then 
returned   to    New    York,  and   filled    the   ])osition  of 
financial   clerk   of  the  state  a.ssembly    in   the   years 
iS'.KMtl. 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTER. X  SECTfOX 


343 


Mr.  Wilcox  has  long  been  interested  in  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  belonging  to  Springville  Lodge,  No. 
.•551,  F.  &  A.  M.      He  is  also  an  Odd  Fellow. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  David 
/a?iies  Wilcox  was  horn  at  Leon,  N.  Y.,  October  27 , 
18Jf.7  ;  was  educated  at  preparatory  schools  and  Cor- 
nell Universitx ;  graduated  from  the  Albanx  La7V 
School,  and  7vas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  187S  :  married 
Happie  H.  Stoicell  of  East  Ashford,  N.  Y. .  August 
22,  1878 ;  was  clerk  of  the  Cattaraugus-county  board 
of  supervisors  in  1873,  member  of  assembly,  1883— 8 Jf, 
and  financial  clerk  of  the  assembly,  1890-91 ;  has 
practiced  law  in  Springville,  N'.  Y.,  since  1878,  with 
the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in  Walla  Walla, 
Wash.,  as  receiver  of  the  United  States  land  office. 


jEgburt  E.  Moo^burv),  for  the  jiast  two 

years  surrogate  of  C'hautau(|Lia  county, 
has  had  a  remarkably  successful  career 
for  so  young  a  man.  Though  only  thirty - 
six  years  old,  he  has  had  a  seat  in  the 
state  legislature  for  three  years,  and  has 
also  won  distinction  in  his  chosen  |)ro- 
fession. 

Born  in  the  village  of  Cherry  Creek 
in  ISBl,  Mr.  Woodbur\-  siient  the  first 
eleven  years  of  his  life  there,  attending 
district  schools  when  he  iiecame  old 
enough.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  his 
parents  having  died,  he  moved  to  Ran- 
dolph, Cattaraugus  county,  and  there 
continued  his  education.  He  finished 
his  scholastic  training  with  a  three  years' 
course  at  Chamberlain  Institute,  one  of 
the  best  and  most  popular  schools  in 
western  New  York.  Having  thus  ac- 
quired as  much  education  as  his  circum- 
stances permitted,  Mr.  Woodbury  taught 
school  for  two  winters,  and  worked  as  a 
farm  hand  for  several  years  ;  but  he  had 
no  mind  to  devote  his  life  to  either  of 
these  occupations,  and  in  1880  he  began 
reading  law  with  Rodney  R.  Crowley  of 
Randolph.  His  legal  studies  were  com- 
jileted  in  the  office  of  Lakin  &  Sessions 
at  Jamestown,  and  in  the  spring  of  1884 
he  was  admitted  to  the  liar. 

It    is   always    a    com]jliment    to    the 
ability  and  zeal  of  a  young  lawyer  when 
those  with  whom  he  has  studied  are  glad 
to  retain  his  services,  and  to  admit  him  into  partner- 
ship when  he  begins  practice.      Mr.  Woodbury  re- 
ceived this  mark  of  confidence,  and  on  Julv  1,  1884, 
the  firm  of  Lakin,  Sessions  iv  Woodbury  was  organ- 


ized. This  a.ssociation  was  destined  to  be  of  short 
duration,  as  Judge  Lakin,  the  senior  partner,  died 
before  the  expiration  of  the  month.  Messrs.  Sessions 
and  Woodbury  continued  to  practice  together  until 
July  1,  1885,  when  Mr.  Woodbury  formed,  with 
(leorge  R.  Butts,  the  firm  of  Woodbury  &  Butts. 
This  connection  lasted  until  the  election  of  the 
.senior  member  as  assemblyman  in  the  fall  of  1S90. 
For  several  )ears  thereafter  Mr.  Woodbury  practiced 
alone  ;  but  in  December,  1894,  he  associated  him- 
self with  Eleazer  Green,  at  that  time  mayor  of 
Jamestown,  and  since  elected  district  attorney  of 
Chautau(|ua  county.  The  firm  of  Green  &  Wood- 
bury still  exists,  and  naturally  receives  much  of  the 
legal  business  of  Jamestown  and  vicinity. 

Mr.  Woodbury's  political  career  extends  over  the 
last  ten  years.      ( )n  the  organization  of  Jamestown 


F.GinKr  E.  woon/icKy 


as  a  city,  in  1886,  he  was  elected  one  of  its  first 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  served  for  nearly  four 
years,  declining  re-election  at  the  end  of  that  time, 
l-'or  three  years,  beginning  in  18X1),  he  was  a  memiier 


:{44 


.UFA'  OF  \Eir  ]oa'A—ii7:st/:a\v  S7-:c"/7o.y 


of  the  Republican  county  committee,  acting  as  its 
chairman  in  \M9,  and  as  manager  of  the  cam- 
paign in  1X91.  In  the  fall  of  1X90,  when  less  than 
thirty  years  old,  he  was  elected  member  of  assembly 
from  the  2d  ('haiitau(|ua-county  district  by  a  ])lural- 
itv  of  1721,  and  his  re-election  in  1X91  was  effected 


HF.XKV    if.jwriv 

by  a  |)lurality  of  2(iti9.  In  1X92,  alter  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  two  Chautau(|ua  districts,  he  was 
elected  to  represent  the  entire  comity.  He  was 
prominently  mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  a  fourth 
term  ;  but  refused  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used, 
feeling  that  he  could  no  longer  make  the  sacrifice  of 
business  interests  that  the  office  reciuired. 

Mr.  Woodbury's  latest  public  service,  of  which  he 
is  justly  proud,  is  the  part  he  took  in  securing  the 
nomination  of  Major  McKinley  for  President.  One 
of  the  first  cham|jions  of  this  cause  in  western  New 
York,  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  dele- 
gate to  the  national  convention  at  the  earnest  .solici- 
tation of  the  McKinley  men  of  Chautau(|ua  comity. 
Though    he    was    defeated     by    a    few   votes   in   the 


district  convention,  the  strong  fight  made  b\-  him 
and  other  friends  of  the  great  protectionist  resulted 
in  the  choice  of  a  delegate  from  the  34th  con- 
gre.ssional  district  who  went  to  St.  Louis  under 
positive  instructions  to  su])port  the  candidac\-  of 
Williaiii  .McKinley. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Eglmrt  E.  Woodbury  loas  born  at  Cherry 
Creek,  C/iautauqiia  county,  N.  V. ,  March 
2! I,  1S61  ;  attended  district  schoo/s  and 
Chamberlain  Institute,  Randolph,  N.  Y.  : 
married  Florence  E.  Holbrook  of  Ran- 
dolph December  2o,  ]880  ■  studied  law, 
and  7i>as  admitted  to  the  bar  in  ISS.'t  :  was 
Justice  of  the  peace,  INSdS!),  member  of 
the  Chautauqua-countx  Republican  com- 
mittee, 1889-!>1,  and  member  of  assembly, 
1891-9-1 ;  has  been  surrogate  of  Chautau- 
(jua  count)'  since  January  1,  189.')  .■  has 
practiced  law  in  Jamestorvn  since  188 J^. 


1bCnr\l  aitman  i^^  an  excellent  ex- 
ample of  the  American  iiusine.ss  man, 
who,  in  conducting  large  private  affairs, 
fnids  inclination  and  leisure  to  interest 
himself  also  in  ]jolitics  and  all  worthx 
enterprises.  Althougii  lie  has  not  ot'ten 
held  public  office,  nor  been  officialh 
connected  with  party  management,  he 
has  always  been  regarded  in  Buffalo  as 
one  of  the  stanchest  and  most  influen- 
tial Re|)ublicans  in  the  citv.  \Vhen 
any  public  enterprise  has  to  be  carried 
through,  he  is  one  of  the  first  men  called 
upon  to  help  in  the  mo\enient.  He  has 
the  abilit)'  of  interesting  other  men  in 
whatever  interests  himself. 

Mr.  Aliman  has  been  a  Huffalonian 
\'irtiially  all  his  life,  although  he  was 
born  in  Koi  licster,  and  spent  his  first  two  vears 
there.  He  is  the  youngest  son  of  Jacob  Altmaii, 
who  settled  in  Buffalo  in  1X.")4,  establishing  the 
clothing  house  of  .Mtnian  iN:  Co.,  still  existent. 
Henry  Altinan  wa.s  educated  in  the  Buffalo  public 
schools  and  the  Buffalo  .'Vcademy,  and  graduated 
from  Cornell  University  in  the  class  of  IXT.'i,  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  .Scien<  e.  L' pon  his  return 
home  from  college  he  entered  business  life  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  .•\ltman  iS:  Co.,  and  (|uickly 
developed  into  an  able  and  successful  man  of  affairs. 
Mr.  Aitman  is  a  good  citizen,  as  well  as  a  good 
business  man,  and  has  always  taken  a  deep,  unselfish 
interest  in  ])ublic  affairs.  He  has  been  a  leader  in 
various  movemenls  designed  to  i)roniotc  thi'  welfare 


.l/y-;.\"   ('/■■  XKir    VORK—U-KSTKhW  SECT/OX 


345 


of  Buffalo.  When  an  effort  was  made  there  to  obtain 
one  or  both  of  the  great  national  political  conven- 
tions of  1896,  Mr.  Altman  was  one  of  the  com- 
mittee of  Republicans  appointed  by  the  mayor  to 
work  in  the  interest  of  the  city  :  and  the  Republi- 
cans and  Democrats  together  chose  him  as  chairman 
of  the  committee  of  one  hundred  representative  cit- 
izens that  had  in  charge  the  official  prosecution  of 
the  matter.  Such  offices  as  this  come  naturally  to 
Mr.  Altman  because  it  is  felt  that  they  could  not  be 
in  safer  or  more  able  hands. 

When,  inider  the  new  charter,  a  board  of  school 
examiners  was  created  in  Buffalo,  one  of  the  five 
members  of  the  first  board,  appointed  in  February, 
1892,  was  Mr.  .-Mtman.  The  position  was  an  im- 
portant one.  He  pro\ed  himself  a  conscientious 
and  highh'  capable  officer,  and  was  rea]ii)oiutccl  : 
and  at  the  reorganization  of  the  board 
in  189(i  he  was  chosen  its  chairman. 

Mr.  Altman  has  been  prominent  for 
years  in  the  counsels  of  the  Republican 
])artv  in  Buffalo,  and  has  .serxed  as  ])resi- 
dent  of  the  Huffalo  Republican  League. 
He  has  been  connected  with  many  of 
the  public  and  social  institutions  of  the 
city.  He  has  served  for  twcnty-onc 
terms  as  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  Library. 
He  is  president  of  the  local  Alumni  .\s.so- 
ciation  of  Cornell  Lnixersity,  and  ever 
since  his  graduation  has  been  ))resident 
of  the  Cornell  class  of  187."!.  He  is  a 
82d  degree  Mason,  and  has  held  posi- 
tions of  honor  in  various  lodges,  associa- 
tions, and  clubs. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V  — 
Henry  Altman  was  born  at  Rochester 
August  li,  lH')Ji  :  moved  to  Buffalo  in 
18oU,  and  attended  the  public  schools 
there  :  graduated  from  Cornell  University 
in  1873 :  married  A/rs.  Sadie  Strauss 
Rayner  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  at  London, 
Eng.,  July  Jf,  1887  ;  has  been  engaged  in 
the  clothing  business  in  Buffalo  since  187S. 


flrring  M.  Cole,  who  has  prac 

ticed  law  in  Piuffalo  since  1893,  was  well 
known  in  both  legal  and  political  circles 
in  Schuyler    county    before    he  took  up 
his  residence  in  the  Queen  City  of  the 
Lakes.      He  was  born  in  Seneca  county 
in  1859,  and  received  his  early  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  his  native  town  of  Covert.      When 
he  had  exhausted  their  limited  resources  he  became 
a  student  at  the  Farmer  \'illage  L'nion  School  near 


by,  and  finally  completed  his  general  education  at 
Cook's  Academy,  Havana,  N.  Y.,  shortly  before 
attaining  his  majority. 

Mr.  Cole  had  determined  to  become  a  lawyer, 
and  for  that  purpose  betook  himself  to  Watkins,  the 
county  seat  of  Schuyler  county,  where  his  brother 
was  already  established  in  that  ])rofe.ssion.  This  was 
early  in  the  spring  of  1880.  For  somewhat  more 
tliau  two  years  he  read  law  at  \\'atkins,  and  then 
finished  his  professional  studies  by  a  year  at  the 
.Albany  Law  School,  graduating  in  May,  1883,  with 
the  degree  of  I.L.  B.  He  had  been  admitted  to  the 
bar  earlier  in  the  year.  Returning  to  Watkins  in 
September,  Lsx:!,  he  formeil  a  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Fremont  Cole,  under  the  name  of  Cole 
Brothers.  This  style  lasted  until  Janviary,  1889, 
when  F.  ().   Holven  was  admitted  to  the  firm,  which 


/AT/Av;    II'.  cui.E 


then  became  known  as  Cole,  Cole  \'  Bol\  en.  In  the 
fall  of  1890  Fremont  Cole  withdrew  from  the  firm, 
but  Irving  W.  Cole  and  Mr.  Bolyen  continued  to 
jjractice  together  until  January   1,   1892.      .\t  that 


346 


MEX  OF  XEVV    YORK— WESTER X  SECTIOX 


time  Mr.  Cole  formed  a  partnership  with  a  younger 
brother,  Elbert  Cole,  that  lasted  about  two  years. 

Circumstances  combined  to  give  Mr.  Cole  an  un- 
usual amount  of  professional  experience  during  his 
ten  years'  practice  in  Watkins.  During  the  greater 
part   of  their  professional    association   his  brother. 


WALTER   D.   GKF.F.XE 

Fremont  Cole,  was  in  the  legislature,  and  thus  mu(  h 
of  the  work  of  the  firm  fell  upon  the  younger 
brother.  Later,  his  partner  Mr.  Bolyen  was  elected 
district  attorney,  and  for  the  next  few  years  Mr. 
Cole  took  an  im|)ortant  part  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  principal  criminal  trials  in  Schuyler  county. 
Thus  well  equipped  with  exiierience,  he  determined 
to  seek  a  wider  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1893  he  moved  to  Buffalo.  For  a 
short  time  he  practiced  alone,  but  on  May  1,  1894, 
formed  his  present  jtartnership  with  E.  J.  i'himley, 
under  the  firm  name  of  I'lumley  &  Cole. 

Since  taking  up  his  residence  in  Buffalo  Mr.  Cole 
has  confined  his  attention  exclusively  to  his  profes- 
sion, feeling  that  at  such  a  time  the  most   important 


thing  was  to  win  the  place  at  the  Erie-county  bar  to 
which  his  attainments  elsewhere  entitled  him.  He 
took  an  active  part  for  many  years,  however,  in 
political  affairs  in  Schuyler  county,  and  it  would  not 
be  surprising  if  he  should  soon  find  opportunity  to 
employ  his  talents  in  this  direction  in  his  new  home. 
During  his  law-student  days  in  Watkins 
he  held  the  jiosition  of  clerk  of  the  Sur- 
rogate's Court,  and  for  the  last  two  years 
of  his  residence  there  he  was  the  chair- 
man of  the  Republican  county  commit- 
tee. He  also  did  good  service  for  his 
party  as  the  writer  of  the  political  edi- 
torials for  one  of  the  local  papers  during 
two  years.  Mr.  Cole's  interest  in  party 
affairs  was  stimulated,  no  doubt,  by  his 
brother's  noteworthy  public  career  :  Fre- 
mont Cole  represented  his  district  in  the 
assembly  for  five  consecutive  years,  and 
was  the  speaker  of  that  body  for  two 
vears. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Irving  IV.  Cole  was  horn  at  Covert, 
N.  v.,  September  21,  18.59:  attended 
public  schools  and  Cook' s  Academy,  Ha- 
vana, N.  Y. ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1883  ;  practiced  law  in  Watkins,  A'.  Y. , 
1 88 3-93  ;  was  chairman  of  the  Schuvler- 
county  Republican  committee,  189^-93  : 
married  Afrs.  Nelle  E.  Ingham  of  Elmira. 
N.  Y.,  June  27,  1893;  has  practiced  Ami 
in  Buffalo  since  1893. 
—  —       •♦♦ 

Matter  D.  Greene,  prominent  in 

Buffalo  alike  in  professional,  public,  and 
private    life,   is  a    native   of  the    Green 
Mountain    State.       His    ancestors    came 
from    England   in   early  colonial    times, 
and  settled  in  Boston.      Later  they  jour- 
neyed into  the  wilderness  of  Vermont  ;   and  there, 
in  the  town  of  Stark.sboro,  Walter  was  born  forty- 
odd  years  ago.      His  early  education   was  received 
in  the  district  schools   of  his  native  town,  and  he 
then  took  a  course  of  study  in  the  academy  at  l^nion 
Springs,  N.  Y.,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1871. 

Betaking  himself  to  Buffalo  at  the  close  of  his 
preparatory  studies,  Dr.  Creene  matriculated  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo, 
and  received  his  professional  degree  from  that  insti- 
tution in  187().  He  sijent  the  next  two  years  in 
the  Rochester  City  Hospital,  serving  first  as  junior 
assistant  physician,  and  afterwards  in  the  more 
responsible  post  of  house  physician.  In  the  latter 
])osition  he  had  an  excellent  practical  schtxil   f^r  the 


MEX   OF  .VEir    ]-ORK~U-ESTER.y  SECT/OX 


.•547 


application  of  the  knowledge  previously  acquired  ; 
and  he  was  thus  unusually  well  qualified,  when  he  left 
the  hospital,  to  begin  private  practice,  i'his  he  did, 
in  1878,  at  Mendon,  Monroe  county,  New  York. 

The  opportiniities  for  usefulnes.s  and  for  profes- 
.sional  success  in  a  country  town  are  necessarily 
limited,  and  in  1880  Dr.  Greene  sought  a  more 
extended  field.  Accordingly,  he  moved  to  Buffalo, 
where  he  has  since  conducted  a  general  medi- 
cal and  surgical  practice  ;  and  in  this  he  has  been 
markedly  successful,  attaining  the  high  rank  to 
which  his  talents  and  i)rofessional  skill  entitle  him. 

Buffalo  has  benefited  largely  by  Dr.  ( Ireene's  sound 
learning  and  practical  common  sense,  in  his  long 
connection  with  the  health  department  of  the  city. 
In  1882,  soon  after  his  arrival  there,  he  was  ap- 
pointed district  physician  in  this  department,  and 
served  most  acceptably  for  seven  years. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  appointed 
health  physician  of  the  city,  and  for  two 
years  filled  this  responsible  position  with 
credit  to  himself  and  with  jjrofit  to  his 
fellow-citizens.  In  December,  1896, 
Dr.  Wende,  on  his  reappointment  as 
health  commissioner  of  Buffalo  for  the 
five  years  1897-1901,  at  once  made  Dr. 
(Ireene  his  deputy.  In  this  highly  ile- 
sired  and  most  responsible  post  Dr. 
Oreene  will  doubtle.ss  add  to  his  prestige 
as  a  physician  and  executive  officer. 

Dr.  (ireene  is  a  memljer  of  all  the 
local  and  state  medical  societies,  and 
since  1892  he  has  held  the  professorship 
of  hygiene  in  the  medical  department  of 
Niagara  University.  He  is  prominent  in 
Masonic  circles,  having  taken  the  o2d 
degree  in  the  Ancient  Accepted  Scottish 
Rite.  He  also  has  membership  in  the 
Acacia  Club,  and  is  a  director  in  the 
Masonic  Library  Association  of  Western 
New  York.  He  is  well  known  and  much 
liked  in  social  life.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Buffalo  Club. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Walter  David  Greene  was  born  at  Starks- 
boro,   Vt. ,  April  20,  1853  ;  was  educated 
in    district    sc/woh    and    Union    Springs 
{N.    y.  )    Academy,    and  graduated  from 
the  medical  department  of  the  Umversity  of 
Buffalo  in  1876  ;  served  on  the  staff  of  the 
Rochester    City   Hospital,    1870-78;    married  Mary 
E.  Pursel  of  Buffalo  November  28,  1878 :  practiced 
medicine  in  Mendon,   N.  Y.,    1878-80;    7i>as  district 
physician  in  the  health  department  of  Buffalo,  1882- 


8.0,  atui  health  physician  of  the  city,  1889-91 ;  has 
practiced  medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1880;  has  been 
deputy  health  commissioner  of  Buffalo  since  January 
1,  1897. 

Samuel  /lDcGcral^,  widely  known  in  west- 
ern New  \'ork  for  manv  years  in  the  ministrv  and 
in  journalism,  was  born  in  County  Antrim,  Ireland, 
in  1833.  He  came  to  this  country  early  in  life,  and 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  a  systematic  course  of 
instruction  at  Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Lima, 
N.  Y.  He  devoted  the  next  seven  years  to  a 
thorough  preparation  for  the  ministry,  completing 
his  scholastic  education  in  his  twenty-fourth  year  at 
the  Rochester  Collegiate  Institute. 

In  August,  1856,  Dr.  McClerald  entered  the 
ministrv   of    the    Methodist    Ejiiscopal   church,    and 


s.i.\rrEi.  xrcGF.R.u.n 


was  stationed  at  Cone.sus,  Livingston  county,  N.  Y. 
After  serving  the  usual  term  in  that  place  he  had 
pastorates  successively  at  Bath,  Warsaw,  Medina, 
Albion,    Tonawanda,  and   Bufialo.      it  was  apparent 


.■548 


.)/A".v  OF  XEir  )(1rk—}\7-:st/:r\  s/ccrfox 


soon  after  Dr.  McGerald  entered  the  ministry  that 
he  had  chosen  a  vocation  admirably  suited  to  his 
talents  and  temperament ;  and  his  work  in  all  the 
places  mentioned  was  exceptionally  fruitful  of  good. 
While  he  was  pastor  of  the  Riverside  Church  in 
Buffalo  the  society's  debt  of  SltSjlOO  was  liiiuidated. 


alexamieh:  mlmasti-:r 

He  has  been  twice  elected  a  delegate  to  the  (leneral 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  I']piscopal  church, 
attending  the  conference  held  in  New  York  in  18,S.S 
and  that  in  Omaha  in  1892.  In  1893  his  ability 
and  services  were  fittingly  recognized  by  Nebraska 
University,  which  conferred  upon  him  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

For  the  last  decade  or  more  Dr.  McCerald  has 
given  most  of  his  time  to  certain  publications 
intimately  connected  with  the  religious  world.  By 
no  means  lacking  in  the  i|ualities  always  desired 
and  frequently  found  in  ministers  of  the  gospel,  he 
has  in  addition  to  these  a  practical  bent  of  mind 
that  helped  him  materially  as  a  ]jastor,  and  has  been 
indispensable   in   his  later  career  as  an   editor  an<l 


jmblisher.  Appointed  by  the  Cenesee  Conference 
in  1885  to  edit  the  Buffalo  Christian  Advocate,  Dr. 
McGerald  found  the  work  so  much  to  his  liking  that 
he  purcha.sed  the  paper,  and  has  since  conducted 
the  same  on  his  own  account.  His  son  .Arthur  is 
business  manager  of  the  enterprise.  The  paper  is 
now  called  the  Christian  Uphwk.  Dr. 
McGerald  also  edits  and  publishes  the 
monthly  organ  of  the  Royal  Templars  of 
Temperance.  He  is  profoundly  inter- 
ested in  the  work  of  this  society,  and  has 
conducted  its  journal  with  much  success. 
Dr.  McCierald  was  one  of  the  original 
•' Chautauc|uans "  in  1874,  believing 
heartily  in  the  movement,  and  has  ever 
since  actively  supported  the  cause.  He 
taught  normal  classes  in  the  summer 
school  at  Chautauciua  under  Dr.  John  H. 
Vincent,  and  for  twelve  sea.sons  delivered 
a  course  of  lectures  there  on  Palestine 
and  Jerusalem. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Samuel  McGerald  7vas  born  in  County 
Antrim,  Ireland,  June  20,  1833;  laas 
educated  at  Genesee  IVesleyan  Seminary, 
Lima,   N.    V.,   and  Rochester    Collegiate 

klnsti title ;  married  Eunice  Ada  Durand 
of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. ,  August  19,  1858  ; 
entered  the  ministry  in  185C,  and  held 
various  pastorates  in  New  York  state  until 
1883  ;  was  a  delegate  to  the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
in  1888  and  1892 ;  has  been  editor  and 
oroner  of  the  Buffalo  ^^  Christian  Advo- 
cate, ' '  now  the  ' '  Christian  Uplook, ' '  since 
ISSii. 

HlcianCcr  /iDc/lliaster  has  lived 

long  enough  in  Buffalo  to  be  reckoneil 
among  the  "old  residents,"  but  the  first  twentv 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  Canada.  Born  in  the 
village  of  Fort  Erie,  Ont.,  in  the  early  '40's,  as  a 
child  he  could  look  across  the  broad  Niagara  to  the 
city  that  was  later  to  be  his  home  —  a  thriving  |)lace 
of  nearly  oO,00()  souls  then,  though  very  different 
from  the  modern  metropolis.  Afterward,  while  still 
a  lad,  he  moved  to  Brantford,  Ont.,  and  completed 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  place. 

The  natural  bent  of  his  mind  led  him  to  a  prac- 
tical calling,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  became  an 
apprentice  to  the  machinist's  trade  in  the  Waterous 
ICnginc  Works  at  Brantford.  After  a  long  and 
thorough  pre|)aration  there  Mr.  McMaster  moved  to 
l'ulT:il()    in    IMl'i,  and  (|uirklv  obtained  emplovment 


ME.X   OF  X/Cir    VORK—\n-:sTKKX  SKCnOX 


349 


witli  the  King  Iron  Works  of  that  city.  He  re- 
mained with  this  concern  ten  years,  receiving  pro- 
motions from  time  to  time,  and  fnially  reaching  a 
position  of  considerable  importance.  In  1.S7"-'. 
however,  he  received  an  a|)pointment  as  chief 
engineer  of  the  Commercial  line  of  steamers,  and 
gladly  availed  himself  of  the  increased  opportuni- 
ties that  the  greater  responsibilities  of  the  ))Osition 
brought  to  him.  During  the  next  decade  he  became 
widely  known  in  his  profession,  and  established  a 
reputation  as  a  practical  engineer  of  great  ability. 

In  188."-!  Mr.  McMaster  severed  his  connection 
with  the  Commercial  Line,  and  accei)ted  an  ap- 
pointment as  United  States  local  inspector  of  boilers 
for  the  district  of  Buffalo.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  office  ably  and  efficiently,  and  in  1889  Presi- 
dent Harrison  appointed  him  United  States  sujjer- 
vising  inspector  of  steam  vessels  for  the 
ilth  district.  This  position  he  held 
throughout  Harrison's  administration, 
and  until  1804. 

During  the  thirty-odd  years  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Buffalo  Mr.  McMaster  has  taken 
considerable  interest  in  public  affairs. 
In  1879  he  was  elected  alderman  from 
what  is  now  the  20th  ward,  and  served 
in  that  capacity  for  eight  consecutive 
years.  He  has  also  been  active  in  vari- 
ous financial  enterprises,  and  since  1893 
has  been  vice  president  of  the  Union 
Bank  of  Buffalo.  He  is  a  Mason  and  a 
member  of  the  Acacia  Club,  and  attends 
the  Presbyterian  church. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Alexander  McMaster  was  horn  at  Fort 
Erie,  Ont.,  October  10,  184^2;  was  edu- 
cated in  public  schools;  learned  the  ma- 
chinist's  trade  at  Brantford,  Ont.,  7S.'>S- 
62  ;  married  A/alinda  Cripps  of  Bujfalo 
May  3,  1862 ;  ivas  in  the  employ  of  the 
King  Iron  Works,  Buffalo,  1862-72,  and 
of  the  Commercial  line  of  steamers,  1812- 
83  ;  was  appointed  United  States  local  in- 
spector of  boilers  in  1883,  and  United 
States  supeiTising  inspector  of  steam  j'essels 
in  1889 ;  has  been  vice  president  of  the 
Union  Bank,  Buffalo,  since  1893. 

♦  ♦•- ■ — ■ — 

XCWiS   StOChtOn,    well   known  at 
the  bar  of  Buffalo  and  in  the  social  world 
of  the  Queen  City,  is  descended  from  the  old  New 
lersev  Stockton  family,  famous  in  our  history  from 
colonial  and    revolutionary  times.      His  father  was 
the    late    Rev.   W.    R.   Stockton,    D.  D.       Born    in 


Montgomery  county,  Pennsylvania,  while  the  Civil 
War  was  still  raging,  Mr.  Stoi  kton  obtained  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  higher  instruc- 
tion at  Ursinus  College,  Collegeville,  Penn.  This 
institution  was  ambitiously  named,  but  Mr.  Stockton 
regarded  his  work  there  as  preparatory  only.  Knter- 
ing  Lehigh  I'niversity,  South  Bethlehem,  Penn.,  in 
the  fall  of  1877,  he  received  there,  in  1881,  the 
degree  of  A.  B.,  graduating  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
as  valedictorian  of  his  class.  Mr.  Stockton's  rank 
as  a  scholar  is  sufficiently  evident  in  the  foregoing 
statement.  His  general  standing  with  the  college 
authorities  is  further  attested  by  his  appointment  as 
instructor  in  South  Bethlehem. 

While  teaching  in  the  charming  college  town  for 
the  next  two  years  Mr.  Stockton  was  looking  for- 
ward to  |)ermanent  professional  work  at  the  bar,  and 


/./•;|I7.V  STOCKTOX 


was  preparing  himself  therefor  by  reading  law  under 
the  guidance  of  Ceneral  W.  R.  Doster,  a  prominent 
attorney  of  the  Keystone  State.  At  the  close  of  the 
college  year  in   1H83  he  took   up  his   residence  in 


350 


MEX   OF  XEIV    YORk—WESTERX  SECT/OX 


Buffalo,  and  entered  the  office  of  Bissell,  Sicard  i\; 
(loodycar  for  further  legal  training.  Devoting  all  his 
time  now  to  the  mastery  of  law,  he  made  rapid  prog- 
ress, and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  June,  1885. 
After  rounding  out  his  legal  knowledge  with  fifteen 
months'  additional  ob.servation  of  and  participation 
in  actual  jiractice  with  the  firm  of  Bissell,  Sicard  cV 
Goodyear,  he  set  »\>  an  office  of  his  own  in  .SeiJtem- 
ber,  18815.  In  the  decade  since  elapsed  he  has 
made  a  rejiutation  as  a  painstaking  and  trustworthy 
adviser  in  legal  affairs.  He  has  had  some  important 
contested  ca.ses,  but  he  is  a  discourager  of  litiganc\-, 
and  his  practice  has  resolved  itself  largely  into  office 
consultation  and  research.  He  has  never  felt  it 
necessary  or  advi.sable  to  form  a  partnership  for  the 
practice  of  law. 

Without  holding  ]xiblic  office  or  receiving  polit- 
ical nominations,  Mr.  Stockton  has  still  concerned 
himself  actively  with  public  affairs.  A  firm  believer 
in  the  wisdom  of  a  liberalized  tariff,  and  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  need  of  sound  money,  he  has 
exerted  himself  zealously  in  the  presidential  cam- 
Ijaigns  concerned  with  those  subjects.  He  has  de- 
livered numerous  speeches,  contributed  articles  to 
the  press,  and  otherwise  made  himself  a  factor  in 
the  campaigns  of  recent  years.  In  local  affairs,  like- 
wise, he  has  taken  critical  interest  in  the  principles 
and  practice  of  municipal  government,  allying  him- 
self with  the  (lood  Government  clubs,  Civil  Service 
Reform  Association,  and  Mimicipal  Ownershi]) 
League.  He  was  formerly  vice  president  of  the 
Cleveland  Uemocra(y.  If  all  good  citizens  followed 
public  affairs  as  Mr.  Stockton  does,  the  professional 
politician  would  lose  his  occupation,  and  many  of 
the  faults  deemed  inherent  in  popular  government 
would  be  no  more. 

Having  been  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  University  Club  of  Buffalo,  Mr. 
Stockton  has  taken  great  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  institution  ever  since  its  formation  in  the  spring 
of  1895.  He  is  chairman  of  its  connnittee  on 
literature  and  art,  and  in  that  capacity  devotes  much 
time  and  thought  to  the  extension  and  enrichment 
of  the  club  library.  The  result  is  apparent  to  all 
members  who  frequent  the  delightful  literary  corner 
of  the  clubhouse.  .Mr.  Stockton  is  also  a  member 
of  the  University  Clul)  of  New  York  city. 

Mr.  Stockton  has  taken  a  prominent  part  for 
several  years  in  the  councils  of  the  Episcopal  church 
in  the  diocese  of  Western  New  York  ;  and  he  rej)- 
resented  the  diocese  at  the  Minneapolis  (leneral 
Convention  of  1895.  He  helped  to  organize  the 
Laymen's  League,  and  became  one  of  the  officers 
of   the    institution.       This    bodv    of   active    lavmen 


works  directl)'  under  the  bishop,  and  is  the  channel 
through  which  a  good  deal  of  practical  philanthropy 
becomes  beneficently  effective. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Leivis  Stock- 
ton 7cui.(  born  at  E7<ans:bui\i^,  Penn. ,  March  12,  1802  ; 
graduated  from  Le/iitr/i  University  in  1881,  and  taught 
at  South  Bethlehem,  Penn. ,  1S81-8S  :  7i>as  admitted 
to  the  Buffalo  bar  in  lSS-'>  :  married  Eloise  Gilbert  of 
Glencoe,  Md. ,  April  ■'/,  }8S-'> :  has  practiced  hnv  in 
Buffalo  since  1886. 


(BCOrclC  1l30\VarC>  ^boruton,  known  through- 
out the  Lui|)irc  State  as  an  expert  stenographer, 
was  born  in  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  in  1851.  He  re- 
ceived an  excellent  education  early  in  life,  attend- 
ing the  common  schools,  Jefferson  County  Institute, 
and  the  Watertown  High  School.  Having  thus  ob- 
tained a  thorough  preparation  for  college,  he  en- 
tered Rochester  University  in  1868,  and  graduated 
therefrom  four  years  later.  In  1882  he  received 
the  higher  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  his  alma 
mater.  He  first  became  interested  in  stenography 
when  a  schoolboy,  and  learned  the  Curney  system 
of  shorthand  at  that  time.  Most  experts  in  the 
subject  agree  that  the  Benn  Pitman  system  of  phonog- 
raphy is  one  of  the  very  best,  and  Mr.  Thornton 
thought  it  worth  while  to  forget  his  earlier  method 
and  start  in  anew  with  the  Pitman  Manual.  He  did 
so,  according!) ,  while  in  college,  and  ac(|uired  such 
proficiency  in  the  new  system  that  he  was  able  to 
earn  S2000  by  court  reporting  in  his  senior  year. 
He  kept  u])  his  college  studies  all  the  time,  more- 
over, passing  creditably  the  periodical  examinations. 
If  college  men  of  limited  means  only  knew  il,  there 
is  no  better  pecuniary  resource  for  them  than  short- 
hand ;  and  there  is  the  further  advantage  that  the 
fascinating  art  would  help  them  greatly  in  their 
college  work,  and  would  be  of  perpetual  assistance  in 
after  life. 

In  August,  lf<72,  Mr.  Tliornton  moved  to  Buffalo, 
and  has  ever  since  resided  there.  In  the  same  year 
he  became  assistant  stenographer  of  the  Su])reme 
Court  in  Buffalo,  and  continued  in  that  position 
until  1882,  when  he  was  made  official  stenographer 
of  the  Supreme  Court :  the  latter  office  he  still 
holds.  He  was  elected  official  stenographer  of  the 
New  York  state  a.ssembly  in  1889  ;  of  the  state  sen- 
ate in  1890;  of  the  .state  constitutional  commission 
in  1892  ;  and  one  of  the  stenographers  of  the  state 
constitutional  convention  in  1894.  He  has  reported 
the  proceedings  of  many  important  legislative  com- 
mittees, including  the  I'assett  committee  of  1890, 
whose  rejjort  filled  4()00  printed  pages.  For  several 
years  he  reported  the  t'liautaucpia  Assembly,  under  a 


ME.X   OF   XF.ir    VORK—}i-ESTKK.\  SKCTfO.X 


351 


contract  to  furnish  at  least  twenty-six  newspaper  col- 
umns daily.  His  stenographic  notes  arc  written  so 
perfectly  that  they  can  be  turned  over  to  others 
familiar  with  his  system  to  be  transcribed.  He  has 
reported  many  conventions  concerned  with  profes- 
sional and  scientific  subjects,  and  thus  renuiring  not 
only  highly  expert  shorthand  writing, 
but  also  some  knowledge  of  the  topics 
discussed.  His  collegiate  education 
gives  him  an  advantage  in  this  respect 
over  most  professional  stenographers,  and 
he  has  further  eipiipped  himself  for  effi- 
cient and  intelligent  work  Ijy  a  wide 
course  of  general  reading.  In  addition 
to  this  he  studied  law,  for  its  value  in 
court  reporting,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  ISS'i.  He  is  familiar  with  French 
and  German,  and  has  interpreted  both 
languages  in  court.  His  private  librar\- 
contains  over  two  thousand  volumes, 
including  many  works  of  reference  and  a 
large  number  of  books  in  French. 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  Mr. 
Thornton  stands  in  the  very  front  rank 
of  stenographers.  This  fact  has  received 
official  recognition,  so  to  speak,  at  vari- 
ous times.  In  1882  he  was  elected 
president  of  the  New  York  State  Ste- 
nographers' Association,  and  was  again 
elected  to  that  office  in  189(5.  He  was 
made  president  of  the  International  Ste- 
nographers'As.sociation  in  1884.  In  is.si; 
he  published  a  text-book  on  phonography 
entitled  "The  Modern  Stenographer." 

Mr.  Thornton  has  now  lived  in  Bul"- 
falo  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
has  become  well  and  favorably  known 
in  that  city.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
leading  clubs  there,  including  the  Buf- 
falo, University,  Acacia,  Yacht,  ^Vhist,  and  Chess 
clubs. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— George  How- 
anf  Thornton  was  born  at  Watertown,  Jefferson 
county,  N.  Y.,  April  28,  1851;  attended  Jefferson 
County  Institute,  the  \Vaterto7on  High  Scliool,  and 
Rochester  University,  whence  he  graduated  in  1872  ; 
married  Delia  L.  'Cragin  of  Troy,  N  Y,  May  SO, 
1874  -■  K'(7j-  assistant  stenographer  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  Buffalo,  1872-82  ;  7iias  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1882 ;  was  elected  president  of  the  Neio  York  State 
Stenographers'  Association  in  1882,  and  again  in 
1896,  and  of  the  International  Stenographers'  Asso- 
ciation in  188 Jf  :  has  been  official  stenographer  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Buffalo,  since  1882. 


IKlClSOn  0.  tliffaUV,  widely  known  in  Ma- 
sonic and  insurance  circles  in  western  Xew  York, 
was  born  in  Erie  county  in  1842.  He  is  of  excel- 
lent New  England  stock,  his  ancestors  having  come 
to  this  countrv  over  two  centuries  ago.  His  mother 
dvint;    when    lie    was    fne    vears    old.     Nelson    was 


GEORGE    HOWARD    THORXTOX 

brought  up  by  his  uncle,  William  A.  Whitney,  a 
farmer  and  manufacturer  of  furniture  at  Scotland, 
Ontario.  His  early  life  was  filled  with  hardship 
and  disappointment.  Leaving  his  uncle's  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  knew  no  home  thereafter  until 
he  had  made  one  for  himself  many  years  later. 
After  starting  out  in  the  world  he  obtained  a  jjlace 
on  a  farm,  where  he  worked  hard  from  dawn  till 
dark  for  seven  dollars  a  month.  A  few  months  of 
this  sufficed  to  show  that  prosperity  lay  not  that 
way,  and  the  young  man  sought  to  improve  his  posi- 
tion by  taking  work  as  a  general  laborer  in  a  lunilier 
I  amp.  His  duties  there  were  comprehensive,  ranging 
from  the  driving  of  oxen  in  the  woods  to  account- 
ing, timekeeping,  and  the  measurement  of  timber. 


352 


.\/K.\   OF  XKW    )<1RK~IVESTKK\  SECT/OX 


\n  this  unsatisfactory  \va\  Mr.  Tiffany  |jassecl  his 
youth.  Concluding  that  a  himlier  camp  was  not  the 
best  ])lace  for  a  young  man  ambitious  to  establish 
himself  in  the  world,  he  went  to  Buffalo,  and  entered 
a  business  for  which  his  training  had  particularly 
adapted    him.      Becoming   general    foreman   in    the 


XFJ.SOX  o.   T/FF.i\y 

furniture  manufactory  of  \\".  Chase  &  Son,  he 
remained  with  them  about  three  years,  and  became, 
in  1>S(JX,  general  su]jerintendent  for  the  furniture 
house  of  A.  H.  Andrews  &  Co.,  Chicago.  Not 
liking  the  western  metropolis  as  well  as  Buffalo,  he 
returned  to  the  latter  city  after  about  two  years,  to 
become  superintendent  in  the  factory  of  Chase  & 
Co.  While  with  them  he  was  much  more  than  a 
superintendent,  as  he  invented  and  patented  three 
improvements  in  school  .seats  and  desks,  and  made 
illustrative  models  with  his  own  hands.  In  liSTl 
he  deemed  it  best  to  leave  the  furniture  business, 
and  becoine  a  traveler  for  the  Howe  Sewing  Ma- 
chine Co.;  and  for  the  next  ten  years  he  was  a  man- 
ager and  su|)erintendent  of  agencies  for  that  house. 


Having  resigned  the  ])Osition  of  manager  for  the 
Howe  comjiany,  Mr.  Tiffany  l)ecame  the  general 
agent  for  their  goods  in  Buffiilo,  where  he  conducted 
a  successful  business  for  o\cr  five  years.  During 
this  time  he  figured  in  a  somewhat  famous  ta.\  suit. 
The  owner  of  the  block  in  which  his  store  was  loca- 
ted having  tailed  to  pay  the  taxes  on  the 
premises,  the  city  attorney  directed  the 
tax  collector  to  make  a  levy  on  the  per- 
sonal ])roperty  of  Mr.  'Tiffany  in  his 
store.  Naturall)-  indignant,  Mr.  'Tiffany 
protested  against  what  seemed  to  him  an 
inexcu.sable  outrage.  'The  ca.se  finally 
reached  the  Court  of  Appeals,  where  Mr. 
'Tiffany  won.  'I'he  suit  was  a  great  an- 
noyance to  him  at  first,  but  proved  to  be 
a  blessing  in  disguise,  as  it  advertised  his 
business  most  effectively. 

In  1882  Mr.  'Tiffany  took  the  manage- 
ment of  the  New  York  office  of  the 
Household  Sewing  Machine  Co.,  con- 
trolling the  trade  of  the  company  in 
New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Jersey  City. 
.\fter  conducting  the  office  a  year  he 
resigned  his  position  for  the  purpose  of 
engaging  in  the  business  with  which  he 
is  now  identified  —  that  of  insuring  the 
lives  of  Free  .Masons. 

Mr.    'Tiffany    has    changed   his  calling 
several  times,  but  he  has  always  learned 
thoroughly  any  business  that  he  has  fol- 
lowed.      In    the    case    of   insurance    he 
began    his    preparation    by    attending   a 
course  of  lectures  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment   of   the    University    of   Buffalo    in 
1888-84.      As  soon  as  he  had  com])leted 
this  course  he  was  elected  secretary  and 
general  agent  of  the  Ma.sonic  Life  Asso- 
ciation   of   Western    New    York.       For 
twelve  consecutive  years  he  has  been  re-elected  to 
this  position  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  board  of 
directors.     It  need  hardly  be  added  that  .Mr.  Tiffany 
has    conducted  the  affairs    of   the   association    with 
e(|ual    skill    and    success,  and    that    he   is  regarded 
among  insurance   people    as   an    exceptionally  able 
executive   officer.      During    the    years    18!l.'!-!l.3    he 
was  secretary  of  the  national  convention  of  mutual- 
insurance  underwriters. 

(^n  the  i)ersonal  side  Mr.  Tiffany's  biography 
presents  several  interesting  features.  Pa.ssionately 
fond  of  fiowers  ever  since  childhood,  he  has  culti- 
vated a  garden  with  his  own  hands  for  many  years, 
partly  from  love  of  the  jjastime,  jjartly  for  the  sake 
of  the  exercise.      He  is  likewise  fond  of  sjiorts,  such 


MEN   OF  NEir    \'Oh'K—U'ESTF.RX  SECT/OX 


353 


as  hunting,  fishing,  and  yachting  ;  and  he  is  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Buffalo  Yacht  CUib.  Devoted  to  science 
and  art  and  general  literature,  he  has  accumulated 
a  library  of  over  a  thousand  standard  and  choice 
volumes.  In  religious  opinion  Mr.  Tiffany  was 
always  a  Unitarian  by  instinct,  as  he  says,  long  before 
he  heard  of  such  a  church  or  creed  :  and  for  twenty- 
five  years  he  has  been  a  regular  attendant  of  the 
Church  of  Our  Father,  the  first  Unitarian  society  of 
Buffalo.  As  might  be  surmised  from  his  occupation, 
he  has  been  active  in  Masonry,  having  taken  all  the 
degrees  in  all  the  branches  of  the  order  e.vcept  the 
33d  degree  in  the  Scottish  Rite. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Ne/son  Otis 
Tiffany  was  horn  at  Lancaster,  N.  Y.,  February 
1,  184-2;  ivorked  on  a  farm  and  in  a  lumber  camp, 
1860-61 ;  engaged  in  the  furniture  business  as  man- 
ager and  designer,  18U4-(i7 :  married 
Julia  Charlotte  Chase  of  Buffalo  January 
28,  ISGS  :  traveled  for  the  Hort'c  Seiving 
Machine  Co.  as  manager  and  superintend- 
ent of  agencies,  1867-77  :  conducted  the 
seiving-machine  business  in  Buffalo  on  his 
own  accou)it,  1877—82 ;  7vas  manager  of 
the  New  York  office  of  tlie  Household  Sew- 
ing Machine  Co.  in  1882  ;  has  been  secre- 
tary and  general  agent  in  Buffalo  of  the 
Masonic  Life  Association  of  Western  New 
York  since  1881^. 


Jfranh   36runJ>age,   essentially  a 

young  man,  has  had  a  career  full  of 
achievement.  No  lawyer  at  the  western 
end  of  the  state  is  more  widely  or  more 
highly  ap])reciated  for  professional  or 
personal  merit.  He  commenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  the  little 
town  of  Angelica,  in  Allegany  county. 
He  was  born  and  reared  in  that  county, 
was  married  there,  and  still  keeps  alive 
his  connection  with  his  old  friends, 
neighbors,  and  relatives  in  that  section. 
They  insist  that  Frank  Brundage  is  an 
Allegany  boy,  though  it  is  twenty-five 
years  since  his  professional  career  carried 
him  into  broader  fields. 

His  first  move  was  to  Lockport.      Ten 
successful  and  fortunate  years  were  spent 
there  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  mostly 
in  connection  with   Hiram  (lardner  and 
the  firm  of  Ellsworth,  Potter  (S:  Brundage.      Niagara 
county  was  a  pleasant  and  appreciative  second  home. 
All  that  it  had  to  give  to  a  lawyer  it  gave  to  him. 
When  he  had  been  in  the  county  only  three  years 


he  was  nominated  by  acclamation,  and  elected  dis- 
trict attorney  ;  and  after  he  had  declined  a  unani- 
mous renomination  to  that  office  he  was  elected 
county  judge.  Niagara  county,  too,  made  him  its 
candidate  forjudge  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Hth 
judicial  district,  and  he  came  within  two  votes  of 
being  nominated.  Few  men  ever  had  political 
experiences  pleasanter  or  more  promising  than  those 
that  surrounded  the  la.st  .seven  years  of  Judge 
Brundage's  life  in  I,o(  kport. 

But  for  a  man  with  the  natural  gifts  of  a  trial 
lawyer,  nothing  that  ])olitics  or  office  has  to  offer 
compares  in  attraction  with  the  active  practice  of 
his  profe.ssion  in  a  great  city.  Buffalo  knew  of 
Judge  Brundage's  powers  as  an  advocate,  and  Judge 
Bnmdage  knew  of  the  opportunities  to  exercise  his 
abilities  which  Buffalo  <ould  give  ;  and  the  inevitable 


IRASK  /tkTXDAGK 


hai)pene(l.  \\'hen  he  was  barely  thirty-five  he  had 
received  about  all  that  there  was  to  get  through 
politics  in  his  profe.ssion.  The  prospect  was  bright 
for  |)romotion  in  the  same  lines,  but  another  kind 


354 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


of  success  was  infinitely  more  attractive  to  him. 
He  decided  that,  having  tried  both,  he  preferred 
the  private  to  the  public  station  ;  and  he  enrolled 
himself  in  the  exceedingly  small  class  of  office- 
holders who  have  resigned.  Subsequent  events 
show    that    he  has    not    repented    his   decision,  for 


FREDERICK  HALLER 

though  temptations  have  been  offered  to  him  he  has 
steadfastly  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  anything. 

Frank  Brundage,  lawyer,  of  Buffalo,  has  had 
about  what  he  desired  when  he  left  Lockport.  He 
has  practiced  law  under  the  most  favorable  ausijices, 
and  with  a  goodly  mea.sure  of  success.  Before  he 
moved  to  Buffalo  he  was  engaged  as  counsel  in  the 
Lyon  case,  growing  out  of  the  Bork  treasury  mat- 
ters ;  and  succeeded  in  reversing  the  conviction  in 
the  Court  of  Appeals  after  having  been  defeated  in 
all  the  other  courts.  There  were  not  many  big 
cases  in  Buffalo  during  the  eight  years  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  firm  of  Bissell,  Sicard,  Brundage 
&  Bissell  in  which  he  did  not  make  an  appearance 
at    some  stage    of  the    proceedings.      He    has    had 


leisure  to  travel,  and  to  enjoy  the  society  of  his 
friends  ;  he  has  been  able  to  exercise  his  ardent 
Republicanism  by  making  campaign  speeches  with- 
out recompense  ;  and,  in  short,  he  has  found  life  as 
a  whole  well  worth  living.  The  only  serious  cause 
for  complaint  that  he  has  had  against  fortune  was  a 
prolonged  and  severe  attack  of  ill  health, 
the  result  of  an  accident.  In  1894  this 
necessitated  his  withdrawal  from  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  However,  he 
has  recovered  his  health  completely,  and 
since  18ilo  has  been  in  active  practice  as 
the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Brun- 
dage &  Dudley. 

PERSONAL  GHRONOLOGY— 
Frank  Brundage  was  born  at  Allen, 
Allegany  county,  N.  Y.,  January  4, 
ISJfl ;  completed  his  education  at  Friend- 
ship (iV.  K)  Academy;  was  admitted  to 
the  liar  at  Albany  in  December,  1868  ; 
practiced  law  at  Angelica,  N.  V.,  1869- 
72  ;  f Harried  Ella  S.  Brown  of  Angelica 
February  15,  1871  ;  moved  to  Lockport, 
N.  Y.,  in  October,  1872,  and  resided 
there  until  1883  ;  ivas  district  attorney  of 
Niagara  count)',  1875-77,  and  county 
Judge,  1879-83  ;  mo7)ed  to  Buffalo  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1883,  and  has  practiced  law  there 
since. 


jfre&erfcft  Iballer  was  bom  in 

Augusta,  Ga.,  two  years  before  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil   War.      Becoming  an 
orphan   during  infancy,  he  was  brought 
up   by   relatives.       He  began    to  go  to 
school  at  the  age  of  six,  and  continued 
to    obtain    instruction    in    fundamental 
subjects  until  he  was   twelve  years   old. 
By  that   time  his  people   felt  unable  to 
provide  further  education,  and    he  was  indentured 
for  a  term  of  three  years  as  an  api)renticc  to  a  cigar 
nianuficturcr  at    Savannah,   Ga.      This  was  not  the 
most  ideal  method  of  attaining  distinction    in    the 
law,  but  Mr.  Haller's  career  shows  that  such  an  end 
may  sometimes  follow  this  beginning. 

Serving  out  the  prescribed  time,  and  devoting 
himself  diligently  to  all  parts  of  his  work,  Mr. 
Haller  learned  the  cigar  maker's  trade  from  A  to  Z. 
Pa.ssing  mention  may  be  made  of  his  fortunate  escape 
from  yellow  fever  during  the  epidemic  of  187(>  at 
Savannah.  In  1880  he  left  the  Kmjjire  State  of  the 
South,  determined  to  seek  the  larger  opportunities 
of  metropolitan  life.  Taking  up  his  residence  in 
New    York    city,    accordingly,    about    the    time    he 


AfE\   OF  XEIV    VORK—U'ESTKR.y  SECT/O.X 


355 


became  of  age,  he  worked  at  his  trade  there  for  the 
next  eight  years.  The  cigar  makers  of  New  York 
have  frequently  been  at  odds  with  their  employers, 
and  Mr.  Haller,  who  soon  became  a  leader  among 
his  fellow-workmen,  was  a  strong  force  on  the  side 
of  the  employees.  In  all  controversies  he  was  con- 
servative and  wise  in  his  counsels  and  leadership. 

In  1888  Mr.  Haller  left  New  York  and  betook 
himself  to  Buffalo.  He  carried  with  him  the  tools 
of  his  trade,  and  soon  found  work.  He  had  been 
in  Buffalo  only  a  few  months,  however,  when  he 
made  a  radical  departure  from  his  previous  vocation. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Tracy  C.  Becker,  a  prominent 
attorney  of  Buffalo,  who  had  become  interested  in 
Mr.  Haller,  the  latter  resolved  to  study  law.  This 
decision  was  not  so  strange  as  it  might  appear,  since 
Mr.  Haller  had  been  for  years  a  persistent  reader 
and  student  on  a  small  scale.  While  liv- 
ing in  New  York  he  visited  the  Cooper 
Institute  frequently,  and  attended  the 
lectures  at  that  institution.  Entering 
the  Buffalo  Law  School  in  the  fall  of 
1888,  he  pursued  his  studies  with  great 
energy.  His  rapid  progress,  indeed, 
was  remarkable,  when  the  adverse  con- 
ditions under  which  he  labored  are  taken 
into  account.  Not  only  was  he  some- 
what handicapped  at  the  beginning  by 
reason  of  inadequate  preparation,  but  he 
was  also  obliged,  in  order  to  support 
himself  and  family,  to  work  at  his  trade 
while  attending  the  law  school.  All 
the.se  difficulties  were  happily  overcome 
at  last,  and  he  obtained  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Laws  in  1890. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in  June, 
1891,  Mr.  Haller  began  practice  at  once. 
His  first  partnership  was  formed  in  that 
year  with  James  C.  FuUerton,  with  whom 
he  continued  to  be  associated  until  Jan- 
uary 1,  1894.  After  practicing  alone 
for  sixteen  months,  Mr.  Haller  formed  a 
partnership  with  L.  P.  Hancock,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Haller  &  Hancock. 
This  association  still  exists.  Mr.  Haller 
has  already  established  a  substantial  prac- 
tice, and  attained  an  excellent  position 
at  the  bar  of  Buffalo.  His  capacity  in 
the  law  was  recognized  in  January, 
189fi,  when  he  was  appointed  one  of 
the  assistant  district  attorne)s  of  Erie  county. 

FERS  ONA L  CHR  ONOLOG  Y— Frederick 
Haller  was  born  at  Augusta,  Ga. ,  April  8,  1859 ; 
was  educated  in  common  schools;    learned  the  cisrar 


maker'' s  trade  and  ziwrked  at  the  same,  in  Savannah, 
Ga.,  and  in  New  York  city,  1871-88  ;  married  Anna 
Zeip  of  New  York  city  May  7,  1884- ;  studied  law, 
and  7i'as  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1891  ;  has  been  assist- 
ant district  attorney  of  Eric  county  since  January  1, 
1896' :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1891. 


•♦• 


/IDarh  SiblCV?  IF^Ubbell  is  one  of  the  best- 
known  men  in  Buffalo  and  in  western  New  York, 
although  he  is  barely  forty  years  old.  Newspaper 
men  and  public  officials  are  necessarily  much  in  the 
public  eye,  and  he  has  already  won  distinction  in 
both  lines  of  activity. 

Mr.  Hubbell  was  born  in  Buffalo,  where  his  father, 
John  Hubbell,  was  city  attorney  in  1854-55,  and 
was  otherwise  |)rominent  as  lawyer  and  citizen  for 
manv  vears.      Mark   Hubbell's  education,   l)egun  in 


.1/. /A'A'  SIBLEV  HLliBELl. 


Buffalo  schools,  was  completed  at  military  academies 
in  Montrose  and  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  and  he  then 
entered  the  office  of  Bangs,  Sedgwick  &  North  of 
New  York    city   as  a  law    student,  with  a  view  to 


356 


ME.X   OF  XEir    VORK—lVESTERiX  SECT/OX 


following  his  father's  profession.  After  due  prepa- 
ration he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1878,  and  prac- 
ticed for  about  a  year  in  his  father's  office  in 
Buffalo  ;  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  determined 
to  yield  to  his  strong  predilection  for  journalism  and 
a  literary  career. 

Mr.  Hubbell's  first  work  in  the  newspaper  world 
was  for  the  Buffalo  £x/>ress,  and  it  soon  became 
evident  that  he  had  acted  wisely  in  changing  his 
profession.  Before  long  an  opportunity  offered  to 
go  to  New  York,  and  he  spent  four  years  there  in 
the  ser\ice  of  the  Times  and  the  ]Vor/d.  These 
great  dailies  proved  an  excellent  training  school  for 
the  young  journalist,  and  he  profited  much  by  the 
experience  gained  there.  After  making  a  tri]j 
around  the  world,  via  Australia  and  the  C^rient,  he 
returned  to  Buffalo  in  1883,  and  took  a  position 
with  the  Buffalo  Courier.  Later  he  acted  as  manag- 
ing editor  of  the  Buffalo  Times  for  two  years,  and 
then  served  on  the  staff  of  the  lYe-cos  for  six  years. 
Buffalo  readers  do  not  need  to  be  told  of  his  work 
during  this  time.  His  natural  ability,  cultivated 
and  enriched  by  extensive  travel  and  accurate  obser- 
vation, gave  him  a  foremost  place  among  local  edi- 
torial writers.  His  descriptive  style  was  easy,  yet 
vivid  ;  his  political  articles  were  keen  and  discrimi- 
nating; but  the  work  for  which  he  is  best  known  is 
his  poetry.  Here  his  talent  for  satire  had  full  jilay, 
though  he  could  be  also  pathetic  at  times  ;  and  these 
verses,  treating  in  his  own  inimitable  style  the 
topics  of  the  day,  whether  of  local  or  more  extended 
interest,  did  nnich  to  influence  popular  opinion  on 
many  important  questions. 

The  change  from  journalism  to  the  work  of  a  city 
official  is  a  radical  one  in  some  respects,  but  Mr. 
Hujjbell  has  acquitted  himself  with  equal  credit  in 
the  latter  calling.  I'llected  city  clerk  for  the  year 
1804,  he  has  been  re-elected  each  succeeding  year, 
and  is  now  serving  his  fourth  term  in  that  capacity. 
These  continued  re-elections  sufficiently  attest  the 
fact  that  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office 
to  the  complete  satisfaction  of  the  common  council 
and  of  the  jjuliiic  generally.  He  has  done  muih  to 
.systematize  the  working  of  his  de|)artnient,  and  has 
compiled  an  excellent  "Manual"  of  tlie  lity 
government.  He  has  also  prepared  and  puiiiished  a 
unique  and  most  serviceable  annotated  edition  of 
the  "  Charter  and  Ordinances." 

Mr.  Hubbell's  connections  with  the  .social  life  of 
Buffalo  are  many  and  varied.  He  is  a  Mason,  be- 
longing to  Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  No.  441,  F. 
&  A.  M.  ;  and  a  member  of  the  Orjiheus  .Society, 
the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  the  Buffalo  Repub- 
lican   League,    the    Press    Club,    and    the    Lliicott 


Club.  His  gifts  as  a  writer  and  public  officer,  and 
his  ardent  devotion  to  the  prosperity  of  Buffalo, 
have  given  him  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Mark  Sib- 
ley Hubbell  was  born  at  Buffalo  February  5,  1857 : 
7C'as  edueated  in  Buffalo  schools,  and  in  New  Jersey 
military  academies  ;  ivas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S7S, 
and  practiced  la-w  a  short  time  ;  married  Elizabeth  J . 
Oliver  of  Buffalo  January  3,  1883 ;  was  connected 
with  various  7iewspapers  in  New  York  and  Buffalo, 
lSS2-9^  ;  has  been  cit\'  clerk  of  Buffalo  since  Janu- 
ary 1,  1894. 


(BeOrOe  IB.  /IDattbeWS,  editor  of  the  Buffalo 
Ji.xprcss  and  president  of  the  Matthews-Northru]) 
Co.,  is  following  closely  the  course  mapped  out  for 
him  by  nature.  He  is  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
editor  and  printer,  and  his  career  has  been  the 
natural  result  of  inheritance  and  surroundings. 

Mr.  Matthews  was  born  in  Westfield,  Chautauijua 
county,  at  his  mother's  old  home  ;  but  his  ])arents 
lived  in  Buffalo  at  the  time,  and  he  may  fairly  be 
regarded  as  a  Buffalonian  from  first  to  last.  His 
education  was  obtained  there,  in  private  schools, 
until  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  He  was  ready  to 
enter  college  then,  but  his  parents  thought  him  too 
young  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  a  college  course, 
l-'or  two  years,  therefore,  he  gave  up  school  life, 
and  devoted  himself  partly  to  travel  and  partly  to 
learning  the  rudiments  of  the  ])rinter's  trade  as 
typesetter,  copyholder,  and  proofreader.  His  father, 
).  N.  Matthews,  was  at  that  time  editor  of  the 
Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  and  part  owner  of 
the  large  printing  ]jlant  connected  therewith  ;  and 
in  that  establishment  Mr.  Matthews,  while  waiting 
for  time  to  ('at<h  up  with  him  betbre  entering 
college,  laid  the  foundations  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  printing  and  publishing  business.  By  the  fall 
of  1 87.'5  he  was  rather  more  than  eighteen  years  old, 
and  was  ready  to  go  on  with  his  education.  Enter- 
ing \'ale,  accordingly,  with  the  class  of  '77,  he 
received  in  due  course  the  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree. 

In  January,  1878,  J.  N.  Matthews  became  editor 
aiKl  proprietor  of  the  Buffalo  Express,  and  his  son 
entered  the  service  of  the  ])aper  in  the  business 
department.  .\t  first  only  a  clerk  behind  the 
counter  of  the  jjublic  office,  he  soon  rose  to  more 
responsible  stations,  and  ultimately  held  the  position 
of  business  manager  for  several  years.  He  also 
filled  various  places  on  the  staff  of  writers,  as 
occasional  vacancies  made  opportunity  tor  such 
experience.  He  was  telegraph  editor  for  a  time, 
city  editor  for  several  ])eriods,   and   literary  editor 


MF.X   OF  XEir    yORh-—irESrER.X  SEC77CIX 


357 


for  three  years,  thus  obtaining  adequate  training  for 
his  present  work  of  editor  in  chief.  In  the  printing 
business,  likewise,  Mr.  Matthews  served  a  long  and 
wholesome  ajjprentice.ship.  He  was  correspondence 
clerk  in  the  old  house  of  Matthews  Bros. 
&  Bryant,  had  charge  of  various  depart- 
ments in  the  establishment  of  Matthews, 
Northrup  &  Co.,  and  finally  became 
treasurer  of  the  latter  concern.  He  has 
always  been  interested  in  the  various  arts 
of  typography,  and  has  a  comprehensive 
general  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

The  death  of  J.  N.  Matthews  in  De- 
cember, IcSiSS,  charged  his  son  with  the 
responsibility  of  managing  both  the  Buf- 
falo Express  and  the  printing  business; 
and  since  then  Mr.  Matthews  has  been 
editor  of  the  paper  and  president  of  the 
Matthews-Northrup  Co.  As  an  editor 
he  has  obtained  generous  commendation 
for  independence,  sympathy  with  all 
movements  promoting  good  government, 
and  consistent  and  unyielding  opposition 
to  "machine"  politics.  Whatever  else 
has  been  said  of  the  Buffalo  Express,  no 
one  has  ever  seriously  thought  that  it 
could  be  frightened  off  or  bought  off. 
Its  editor's  birth  synchroni/.ed  with  the 
birth  of  the  Republican  party,  and  Mr. 
Matthews  has  always  been  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  Republican  doctrines.  He  has 
never  been  a  candidate  for  ])ublic  office, 
but  his  duties  as  an  editor  have  made 
him  conversant  with  some  of  the  discom- 
forts, as  well  as  some  of  the  ])leasures, 
connected  with  a  public  position. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Matthews  has  been 
devoted  so  e.Kclusively  to  the  business  of  printing 
and  newspaper  making,  tliat  it  has  been  fortunate 
for  him  that  his  relations  with  those  having  similar 
interests  have  always  had  a  strong  infusion  of  friend- 
ship. He  has  been  for  several  years  president  of 
the  Buffalo  Typothetae,  and  of  the  Buffalo  News- 
pajier  Publishers'  Association.  He  is  a  member, 
though  not  a  very  active  one,  of  almost  all  the 
leading  clubs  and  many  of  the  associations  of 
Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Geon^e 
Edward  Matthews  iluis  Ixvu  at  ]]'est field,  X.  Y., 
March  17,  185-'>  :  prepared  for  etd/ei^e  in  private 
schools  at  Buffalo,  and  i^radiiated  from  Yale  Cf/Zr^'' 
with  the  class  of  1H77 :  held  various  positions  in  the 
business  and  editorial  departments  of  the  Buffalo 
• '  Express, ' '   and  jcith    the  printing  establishment  of 


Matthews,  Northrup  &-■  Co.,  1S7S-8S ;  married  Mary 
Elizabeth  Burrows  of  Buffalo  July  12,  18S7 ;  has 
been  editor  of  the  Buffalo  ' '  Express, ' '  a/id  president 
of  the  Matthews-  A^orthrup  Co.,  since  fanuarx  /,  ISSft. 


CEORCE   E^   MATTHEWS 

©ttomar  IRciiiccke,  i-'iiitor  of  the  Bufiaio 

Freie  Prcsse,  was  born  somewhat  more  than  fifty 
years  ago  in  the  Cerman  principality  of  Schwarzburg- 
Sondershausen,  near  the  romantic  Harz  mountains. 
His  early  education  was  received  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  land  ;  but  in  his  twelfth  year  his  parents 
came  to  the  new  world  and  settled  in  Buffalo,  and 
the  lad's  studies  were  completed  in  the  [uiblic 
schools  of  that  city.  His  father  was  a  printer  by 
trade,  ingenious  and  possessed  of  the  sturdy  de- 
termination that  compels  success.  'I'wo  years  after 
arriving  in  Buffalo  he  started  a  printing  office,  with 
a  cajiital  of  §H0  and  no  credit,  and  with  a  press 
built  by  himself  of  wood  and  iron.  This  machine 
bore  more  resemblance  to  the  early  inventions  of 
Ciutenberg  than  to  the  sextuple  press  of  a  modern 
newspaper  office  ;  l)ut  it  served  the  jnirposes  of  its 


358 


MEN  OF  KEU'   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


maker  so  well  that  when  he  died  a  dozen  years  later 
he  left  his  son  a  substantial  Ijusiness,  which  included 
the  publication  of  a  weekly  (German  newspajjer,  the 
Buffalo  Freie  Presse. 

From   the   time   the  printing   office  was  started, 
Ottomar    Reinecke    had    helped    his   fiither    in    the 


OTTOMAR   REINECKE 

afternoons  while  attending  school  in  the  morning  ; 
and  he  soon  left  school  altogether,  and  devoted  his 
whole  time  to  the  office.  He  was  thus  well  qualified 
to  take  charge  of  the  business  at  his  father's  death 
in  1866.  The  following  year  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Frank  H.  Zesch  that  has  continued  ever 
since.  Five  years  later  Cleorge  Bait/,  was  admitted 
to  the  firm,  and  the  Frcie.  Presse  became  a  daily 
journal.  This  was  in  1872,  and  for  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  the  paper  has  held  its  place  as  the  recog- 
nized organ  of  the  (lerman  Re]jublicans  of  I'.uffalo, 
and  under  Mr.  Reinecke's  able  leadership  has  won 
deserved  success.  Mr.  Baltz  retired  from  the  busi- 
ness after  two  years,  and  since  then  the  firm  of 
Reinecke  &   Zesch  have  been  the  owners  and  pub- 


lishers of  the  paper,  and  have  carried  on  an  extensive 
job-printing  business. 

Mr.  Reinecke  is  connected  with  various  business 
enterprises  outside  of  his  newspaper  interests.     He 
has  been  for  a  number  of  years  a  director  and  stock- 
holder in  the  Erie  Fire  Insurance  Co.,  and  holds  a 
similar  position  in  the  Citizens'  Gas  Co. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Typothe- 
tae,  an  association  of  employing  printers 
for  l)usiness  and  social  jjurposes.     He  is  a 
life  member  of  the  German  Young  Men's 
Association  and  of  the  Buffalo  Turn  Ver- 
ein,  and   belongs  to   the    Saengerbund, 
the  second  oldest  singing  society  in  the 
city.      In  January,   1896,   Mayor  Jewett 
appointed  him  one. of  the  park  commis- 
sioners of  Buffalo. 

Mr.  Reinecke  is  an  enthusiastic  natur- 
alist, and  has  devoted  his  leisure  time 
for  years  to  study  and  research  in  this 
line.  Beetles,  butterflies,  birds,  and 
birds'  nests  and  eggs  have  interested  him 
particularly,  and  his  collection  of  such 
specimens  is  probably  one  of  the  largest 
belonging  to  a  jjrivate  individual  in  the 
United  States.  He  has  published  a  com- 
plete list  of  local  Coleoptera  that  is  ex- 
ceedingly valuable.  He  has  taken  great 
interest  in  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural 
Sciences  ever  since  its  organization  in 
1861,  and  has  done  much  to  enrich  its 
collections  in  the  special  subjects  that 
have  received  his  attention. 

PERSONAL     CJIR  ONOL  OGY — 
Ottomar  Reinecke  was  born  at  Sonders- 
haiisen,    Germany,  November  20,   ISIfi ; 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1852 ;  was 
educated  in  German  schools  and  in  Buffalo 
public  schools  ;  luorkedfor  his  father  at  the 
printer'' s  trade,    1854-66 ;    married  Eva   Engel  of 
Buffalo  September  25,  1860 ;   has  been  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  Reinecke  &•  Zesch,  job  printers  and  pro- 
prietors of  the  Buffalo  ' '  Ereie  Presse, ' '  since  1867  ; 
has  been  one  of  the  park  commissioners  of  Buffalo  since 
1896. 

IPerrg  Cbamplin  IRcBburn  numbers  among 

his  ancestors  so  many  names  famous  in  the  early 
history  of  our  country  that  passing  mention  must  be 
made  of  them  in  any  sketch  of  his  own  life. 
Benedict  .\rnold,  governor  of  Rhode  Island  in  166.'^, 
Thomas  Hazard,  one  of  the  founders  of  Newport  in 
the  same  state,  Christopher  Champlin,  first  Grand 
Master  of   Masons   there,    and   many   revolutionary 


MEX   OF  A'EIV   VORK—IVESTERX  SECT/OX 


359 


heroes  and  heroines  are  included  in  the  list  ;  while 
in  the  present  century  we  find  the  Perry  brothers, 
Oliver  Hazard  and  Matthew  Calbraith,  one  of  whom 
won  a  signal  victory  over  the  English  at  Put-in  bay 
in  the  war  of  1812,  while  the  other  commanded  the 
expedition  to  Japan  in  1858  that  opened  to  American 
commerce  the  harbors  of  that  inhospitable  island 
empire.  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  it  may  be  remem- 
bered, announced  his  victory  to  Oeneral  Harrison 
in  the  words  so  often  quoted,  "  We  have  met  the 
enemy,  and  they  are  ours. ' ' 

The  subject  of  our  present  sketch  has  spent  his 
life  thus  far  —  less  than  forty  years  in  all  —  in 
Buffalo.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  city,  leaving  the  high  school  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen to  begin  the  study  of  law.  The  next  four  years 
were  passed  in  Buffalo  law  offices,  at  first  with 
Joseph  V.  Seaver  and  Brainard  T.  Ball, 
and  later  with  David  F.  Day  and  Frank 
R.  Perkins.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Rochester, 
and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Buffalo.  After  practicing  alone  for 
some  time  he  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Bullymore,  Reyburn  &  Griffin  in 
March,  1890.  When  this  association 
was  dissolved  by  an  act  of  the  legislature 
that  prohibited  Mr.  Griffin,  as  clerk  of 
the  Surrogate's  Court,  from  practicing 
law,  Mr.  Reyburn  continued  his  connec- 
tion with  Mr.  Bullymore  until  the  spring 
of  1896.  Since  then  he  has  practiced 
alone.  Mr.  Reyburn  has  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  the  settlement  of  estates,  real- 
estate  titles,  and  mortgages  ;  and  has  had 
charge  of  a  number  of  important  cases 
and  suits. 

In  religious,  social,  and  fraternal  cir- 
cles Mr.  Reyburn  has  long  been  promi- 
nent and  active.  Left  an  orphan  at  the 
age  of  eight  years,  he  was  brought  up  by 
his  grandfather,  Gordon  Bailey,  a  dea- 
con in  the  Unitarian  church  ;  and  he 
has  attended  that  church  from  childhood, 
working  in  the  Sunday  school  for  many 
years  as  librarian  and  teacher.  He  was 
for  a  long  time  a  member  of  the  Unity 
Club  of  Buffalo,  holding  the  office  of 
secretary  and  treasurer,  and  taking  a 
foremost  part  in  the  amateur  theatrical 
work  of  the  club.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
Buffalo  City  Guard  Cadet  Corps,  organized  in  1873. 
Following  in  the  steps  of  his  early  ancestor,  he  has 
taken  great  interest  in  Masonry,  in  which  he  reached 


the  32d  degree  when  but  twenty-three  years  of  age. 
In  1882  he  joined  Washington  Lodge,  No.  240, 
F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  his  grandfather  had  been 
Master  in  1854,  and  after  ten  years  in  the  various 
chairs  was  made  Worshijjfiil  Master  January  1,  1890. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  Buffalo  Chapter,  No.  71, 
R.  A.  M.;  Hugh  de  Payens  Commandery,  No.  30, 
K.  1'.;  Buffalo  Consistory,  A.  A.  S.  R.;  and  Ismailia 
Tem])le,  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He  served 
five  years  on  the  Masonic  board  of  relief.  He  has 
been  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Repub- 
lican League,  and  belonged  to  the  famous  "  30(i  " 
organization  in  1880.  He  has  membership,  also, 
in  the  Buffalo  Whist  Club  and  in  the  Acacia  Club. 

PERSONA L  ClIR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Perry 
Chatnplin  Reyburn  was  born  at  Buffalo  September  10, 
1859  :  7C'as  educated  in  public  schools  there ;  studied 


PERRY  CHAMPLl.X  REYBLR.X 

latu,  ami  was  admitted  to  the  Imr  at  Rochester  Octo- 
ber 8,  1880 ;  married  Ida  A.  Schneider  of  Buffalo 
January  SO,  1895 :  has  practiced  hnc  in  Buffalo 
since  1880. 


:i()0 


MEN  or  XFAV    VORK—WESTERX  SECTIOX 


Oeorge  B.  TlinCbStCr,  "<-'ll  "uder  forty,  is 
still  classed  among  the  youiii;  lawyers  of  Buffiilo,  hut 
he  has  already  won  success  such  as  many  men  are 
content  to  struggle  a  lifetime  to  secure.  A  law 
student  under  President  Cleveland  when  the  Presi- 
dent  was   still    a    Buffalo    lawver,    Mr.    Webster   has 


(lEOKCE   IS.    W  EHSTEK 

retained  a  warm  personal  interest  in  the  fortunes 
of  his  old  emjjloyer,  antl  this  has  naturally  impelled 
him  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  politics  on  the 
Democratic  side.  His  success  as  a  lawyer,  however, 
is  in  no  way  dejjendent  on  his  activity  as  a  politician. 
He  stands  high  socially,  a.s  the  kind  of  man  that 
other  bright  men  like  to  know. 

.Mr.  Wel)ster's  education  was  all  obtained  in 
Buffalo,  first  in  the  Rev.  J.  1*".  Ernst's  private  school, 
then  in  Public  School  No.  16,  and  afterward  in  the 
Normal  School  and  the  Heathcote  School.  When 
fourteen  years  old  he  closed  his  books,  and  set 
about  earning  his  own  living.  Having  obtained  a 
situation  in  the  treasurer's  office  of  the  Buffalo,  New 
York  iV  Philadelphia  railroad,  he  remained  there  till 


he  was  si.xteen  years  old,  and  was  industrious  and 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  all  duties  assigned  to 
him.  Moreover,  unlike  many  boys  who  go  to  work 
at  an  early  age,  he  did  not  regard  the  pleasure  of 
spending  a  salary  from  week  to  week  as  the  only 
object  in  earning  it.  He  looked  to  the  future,  hus- 
banding his  resources,  and  thus  was  able, 
at  an  earlier  age  than  is  possible  in  the 
case  of  most  self-dependent  young  men, 
to  prepare  for  the  profession  that  he  had 
determined  to  make  his  life-work.  After 
spending  somewhat  more  than  a  year  in 
the  law  office  of  Bowen,  Rogers  &  Locke, 
he  entered  the  office  of  Bass,  Cleveland 
&  Bissell,  a  firm  that  was  destined  to 
give  the  city  a  mayor,  the  state  a  gov- 
ernor, and  the  nation  a  president  and  a 
postmaster-general.  Mr.  Webster  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  about  a  year  and  a 
half  after  entering  the  service  of  the 
firm,  but  he  remained  with  it  for  three 
years  longer. 

.After  Mr.  Cleveland  assumed  the  office 
of  governor,  Mr.  Webster  was  called  to 
Albany  to  take  a  position  in  the  capitol 
commissioner's  office.  He  remained 
there  for  more  than  three  years,  and 
then,  returning  to  Buffalo,  resumed  the 
practice  of  law,  first  by  himself,  and  later 
in  partnership  with  Devoe  P.  Hodson. 

When  the  election  for  delegates  to  the 
constitutional  convention  was  held,  Mr. 
Webster  was  named  as  one  of  the  Demo- 
cratic candidates.      The  nomination  was 
made  in  the  expectation  that  he  would 
be  elected,  and  would  have  a  part  in  the 
work  of  revising  the  constitution,  as  the 
Democratic  party  was  then  in  a|)parently 
impregnable  control  of   the   state.      But 
18!)3  proved  to  be  a  Re]mbli(an  \  ear,  and  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  defeated  with  most  of  the  other  <  andidates 
of  his  party  in  his  part  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Webster  belongs  to  the  Buffalo  Club,  the 
Ancient  Landmark  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  and  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 
He  has  served  terms  of  enlistment  in  both  the  ().")th 
and  the  74th  regiments.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  the  Ascension  (Episcopal). 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  George  Biiell 
Webster  was  horn  at  Buffalo  March  S,  1859 ;  was 
educated  ill  public  and  private  schools  in  Buffalo  ;  7C'as 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1880  ;  married  Agnes  Jeaiiette 
Ovens  of  Buffalo  June  27,  188S  ;  has  practiced  Imo 
in  BufTalo  since  1880. 


.I/A'.\'   OF  .\J-:if    IVIA'A'— /rA.s/y-.A'A"  .s7-;c'7/('.\' 


361 


Ma^SWOrtb  5.  ZittCl,  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Buffalo  Candy  Co.,  was  born  in 
Detroit,  Mich.,  a  little  more  than  forty  years  ago. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  the  province  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  who  came  to  this  country  in  the  early  '30's 
and  settled  in  Buffalo.  Later  they  moved  further 
westward  to  Michigan,  where  Wadsworth  was  born. 
He  graduated  from  the  public  schools  of  Detroit, 
and  afterward  took  a  course  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's 
Business  College  there  ;  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen, 
with  a  sound  fundamental  education  and  plenty  of 
native  pluck  and  energy,  he  started  in  Imsiness  life. 
He  went  first  to  Akron,  Ohio,  where  he  spent  three 
years  in  a  wholesale  drug  and  grocery  house,  and 
gained  considerable  insight  into  jiractical  business 
methods.  He  then  betook  himself  to  liuffalo,  his 
parents'  former  home,  and  entered  the  emjjloy  of 
Philip  Becker  &  Co.,  one  of  the  largest 
wholesale  grocery  firms  in  the  city.  He 
began  with  them  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder,  but  soon  worked  his  way  u]!  to 
more  important  positions,  and  eventually 
became  a  traveling  salesman,  with  terri- 
tory in  western  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  fact  the  greater  part  of  the 
fifteen  }ears  that  he  remained  with  this 
house  was  spent  "on  the  road."  Buf- 
falo's wonderful  development  along  all 
the  lines  of  business  and  commercial 
activity  began  during  this  time,  and  Mr. 
Zittel's  employers  were  not  slow  to  take 
advantage  of  the  favorable  conditions. 
Progressive,  and  at  the  same  time  con- 
servative, their  house  furnished  an  e.xcel- 
lent  practical  school  in  which  to  learn 
sound  business  principles  and  successful 
business  methods.  Mr.  Zittel  was  an 
apt  pupil,  and  his  connection  with  the 
firm  was  profitable  alike  to  them  and  to 
himself. 

But  when  a  favorable  opportunity  of- 
fered to  embark  in  business  on  his  own 
account,  Mr.  Zittel,  like  most  other  men, 
was  willing  to  leave  even  a  good  posi- 
tion as  an  emijloyee  for  the  sake  of  the 
greater  independence  to  be  found  in  an 
establishment  of  his  own.      In  com|)any, 
therefore,   with  Michael   Hausauer,   who 
had  been  one  of  his   employers  in    the 
firm    of    Becker   &    Co.,    and    his    son 
Cicorge  M.  Hausauer,  Mr.  Zittel  in  1X91  establi.shcnl 
the  Buffalo  Candy  Co.,  manufacturers  and  wholesale 
dealers  in  confectionery.      He  has   conducted    this 
business  ever  since,  and  has  met  with  a  gratifying 


measure  of  success.  A  spacious  building  on  EUicott 
street  is  now  occupied  by  this  company. 

Mr.  Zittel  is  a  consistent  Republican,  and  has 
long  taken  an  interest  in  party  politics.  He  has 
never  held  public  office,  but  his  name  has  been 
mentioned  in  connection  with  various  political 
nominations.  He  is  a  Mason,  and  belongs  to  all  the 
bodies  of  the  order  up  to  and  including  the  32d 
degree.  He  is  al.so  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  a  member 
of  Holy  Trinity  Lutheran  Church.  He  belongs  to 
various  social  organizations,  among  them  the  Old 
(German  Society  and  the  Ellicott  Club. 

PERSONA  L  CUR  ONOL  OGY  —  Wadsworth 
J.  Zitlel  was  born  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  Nmember  21^, 
lS'>-'>  :  7aas  educated  in  public  schools  and  Bryant  of 
Stratton's  Business  Co/tej^e  ,■  Teas  clerk  in  a  wholesale 
ilrug  and  i^roccry  house  at  Akron,   O.,  1S70-7S  :  icas 


M  .;/).SHV)A'7'//  ./.   /.ITTEI. 

in  the  employ  of  Philip  Becker  >>■  Co.,  Buffalo, 
lS7-iSS ;  married  Sarah  Goetz  of  Buffalo  May  l-i, 
1SS0 ;  has  been  a  proprietor  of  the  Buffalo  Candy 
Co.  .u'nee  ISOl. 


362 


MEN  OF  NFAV    YORK—WESTERX  SECTION 


Carl  otto  llDUltcirCn,  the  only  Swedish  pastor 
in  the  United  States  who  has  served  a  single  congre- 
gation so  long  as  thirty-two  consecutive  years,  is 
widely  known  in  western  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  as  widely  beloved.  Born  in  one  of  the 
southern  jirovinces  of  Sweden    on   Christmas    day, 


^4^ 

im^\ 

0 

V^i 

^J-/ 

p^^^  , 

'f^VMB.-^St^i^^if^J^^H 

hi^i 

flB^ 

CARL    OrrO   IIULTGREN 

1832,  he  has  lived  a  long  life  consistently  with  the 
happy  omen  of  his  birthday.  He  came  to  America 
with  his  parents  in  September,  1853,  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  old  Swedish  settlement  at  Andover, 
111.  He  had  then  reached  his  majority,  and  had  al- 
ready made  some  progress  in  obtaining  an  education. 
At  Andover  this  progress  was  much  accelerated  by 
the  tuition  of  the  gifted  pastor  of  the  local  church, 
the  Rev.  Jonas  Swensson,  who  was  Mr.  Hultgren's 
predecessor  in  the  i)astorate  at  Jamestown.  Continu- 
ing his  studies  in  Chicago,  Springfield,  and  I'axton, 
111.,  Mr.  Hultgren  was  ordained  Lutheran  pastor 
by  the  Augustana  synod  June  li),  1864. 

Before  this  date  he  had  received  a  call  from  the 
First  Swedish  Lutheran  congregation  at  Jamestown. 


Accepting  this  opportunity  gladly,  ho  threw  himself 
into  his  work  with  the  ardor  of  youth,  the  energy  of 
his  race,  the  devotion  of  his  noble  character.  Suc- 
cess could  not  long  withstand  such  forces,  and  the 
little  church  with  which  he  started  flourished  exceed- 
ingly. In  18{)4,  when  he  took  charge  of  the  James- 
town church,  the  communicant  member- 
ship was  eighty.  This  figure  had  risen 
to  1238  when  he  resigned  in  1895,  while 
the  total  membership  amounted  to  2252. 
The  first  church  was  built  by  him  in 
18(56,  and  was  afterwards  enlarged  ;  and 
the  congregation  now  worship  in  a  su- 
perb Medina-stone  structure  valued  at 
•SlOO.nOO.  In  1895  failing  health  made 
it  prudent  for  Mr.  Hultgren  to  give  up 
active  service,  and  his  appreciative  and 
affectionate  congregation  voted  him  a 
liberal  annual  pension. 

But  Mr.  Hultgren  has  been  more  than 
a  pastor  —  or  rather,  he  has  been  a 
perfect  pastor,  in  the  full  etymological 
meaning  of  the  word  :  he  has  cared  for 
his  flock  most  tenderly  and  most  faith- 
fiilly.  Unnumbered  poor  immigrants 
from  his  native  land  bless  him  for  his 
kindness  to  them  in  their  hour  of  need. 
He  furnished  transportation,  clothing, 
meals,  and  overflowing  cheer.  His  little 
home  was  often  crowded,  but  room  was 
always  made  for  the  helpless.  His  ser- 
vices were  not  confined  to  his  immediate 
congregation.  For  years  he  was  the 
only  Swedish  Lutheran  clergyman  in 
western  New  York,  and  his  countrymen 
both  there  and  in  Pennsylvania  came  to 
rely  upon  him  implicitly  for  services  in 
matters  spiritual. 

Mr.  Hultgren  has  taken  a  broad  view 
of  his  work,  and  has  served  the  cause  of  Christian 
advancement  in  many  ways  not  directly  connected 
with  his  ]jastoral  duties.  He  organized  and  nur- 
tured into  abounding  vitality  a  great  number  of  the 
.Swedish  churches  that  now  exert  their  beneficent 
influence  over  the  western  counties  of  the  Empire 
State  and  adjacent  parts  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
one  of  the  organizers,  in  1870,  and  the  first  presi- 
dent, of  the  New  York  Conference  of  the  Augus- 
tana synod,  a  body  that  now  has  35, ()()()  members, 
and  owns  property  valued  at  over  SI  ,000, 1)01).  In 
1(SS3  he  became  the  chief  founder  and  one  of  the 
incorporators  of  the  (uistavus  Adolphus  Orphans' 
Home,  located  at  Jamestown.  Ever  since  then  he 
has  given  the  institution  untiring  care. 


MEX  OF  .VEir    VORK—WESrKR.X  SECT/OX 


363 


Mr.  Hultgren  is  a  singularly  modest  man,  and  his 
countless  benefactions  would  never  have  been  known 
from  any  act  or  word  of  his.  This  biography,  in- 
deed, would  never  appear  if  he  could  have  his  way  ; 
but  thousands  of  readers  will  welcome  even  an  in- 
adequate sketch  of  his  inspiring  life  and  exalted 
character. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Carl  Otto 
Hultgren  7uas  born  at  Hvena,  Sweden,  December  25, 
1832  ;  came  to  the  United  States  in  1S5-1 ;  tvas  edu- 
cated at  Illinois  State  University,  Springfield,  III. ,  and 
at  Augustana  College  and  Seminary,  Paxton,  III., 
from  which  he  graduated  in  ISGJf. ;  married  Annie 
Truedson  at  Galesbi/rg,  III.,  June  6,  1SG6 ;  was 
pastor  of  the  First  Swedish  Lutheran  Church,  James - 
tow/i.  A'.  Y. ,  lSGJf-95  ;  has  been  president  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Gustaviis  Adolphus  Orphans' 
Home,  Jamestown,  since  its  organization 
in  1883. 


iFranh  S.  ©aftCS,  long  prominent 
in  his  native  county  of  Cattaraugus,  and 
of  late  actively  connected  with  many  en- 
terprises in  Buffalo,  was  born  of  New 
England  parentage  fifty-odd  years  ago  in 
what  is  now  the  village  of  Arcade.  His 
career  as  inventor,  manufacturer,  public 
official,  and  private  citizen,  presents  an 
unusual  variety  of  interesting  details,  and 
displays  throughout  a  conscientiousness 
and  a  desire  to  benefit  his  fellows  that 
are  not  so  common  as  optimists  would 
have  us  believe. 

In  his  boyhood  Mr.  Oakes  attended  the 
district  schools  of  Cattaraugus  county  ; 
and  later  spent  several  terms  at  a  "se- 
lect" school  at  Yorkshire  Center,  which 
he  organized  by  securing  pupils  and 
teacher  himself.  Just  before  his  major- 
ity he  entered  a  hardware  and  tin  store 
at  Otto,  N.  Y.,  of  which  his  brother  was 
one  of  the  proprietors.  He  remained 
there  several  years,  acquiring  a  practical 
knowledge  of  tinsmithing  in  addition  to 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  retail  busi- 
ness of  the  store.  His  boyhood  having 
been  spent  on  a  dairy  farm,  he  was 
familiar  with  the  handling  of  milk  and 
all  dairy  products  ;  and  in  1873  he  made 
practical  application  of  this  early  knowl- 
edge by  inventing  and  patenting  the  "common- 
sense  milk  pans"  for  cream  raising.  The  peculiar- 
ity of  these  pans  consisted  in  the  setting  of  the  milk 
at  the  unusual  depth  of  ten  to  twenty  inches,  and 


their  introduction  was  hindered  by  the  prejudice  of 
even  the  most  intelligent  dairymen  against  such  an 
innovation  ;  but  in  1878  the  invention  was  awarded 
the  first  prize  at  the  New  York  State  Fair,  and 
to-day  Mr.  (^akes's  theory  has  become  generally 
accepted.  Since  1874  he  has  been  successfully 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  his  invention  in  Cat- 
taraugus, and  of  late  years  has  greatly  extended  his 
operations.  A  large  tinning  and  stamping  plant  has 
been  established,  and  a  general  line  of  dairy  and 
cheese-factory  apparatus  is  manufactured.  The  ])res- 
ent  style  of  the  firm  is  Oakes  it  Burger,  and  their 
goods  are  sold  throughout  the  dairy  sections  of  the 
United  States. 

Since  1891  Mr.  Oakes  has  been  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Rich  &  Oakes,  dealers  in  real  estate  in 
Buffalo  and  vicinitv.      .\n  enthusiastic   believer  in 


/■•RA.XK  .v.    OAKES 


the  future  of  the  Queen  City,  and  in  the  tremendous 
impetus  which  the  advent  of  electric  energy  from 
the  Falls  may  be  expected  to  impart  to  the  manu- 
facturing interests  of   the  Niagara   frontier,   he  has 


364 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


identified  liimself  wiih  many  movements  for  pro- 
moting the  prosperity  of  "greater  Buffalo."  He 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  building  of  the  Buffalo, 
Kenmore  &  Tonawanda  electric  railway,  and  was 
vice  president  and  a  director  of  the  company  until 
it  was  sold  to  the  Buffalo  Traction  Co.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Buffalo  Real  Estate  Exchange,  and 
wa-s  a  director  of  the  association  for  one  year.  He 
represented  the  Exchange  in  the  World's  Real 
Estate  Congress  in  Chicago  during  the  exposition  of 
1893.  He  served  as  chairman  of  the  improvement 
committee  of  the  Exchange  ;  and  he  is  now  chair- 
man of  the  forestry  committee,  a  body  that  aims  to 
secure  the  establishment  of  a  municipal  bureau  that 
shall  plant  and  care  for  the  shade  trees  of  the  city. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Exchange  committee  that 
obtained  from  the  municipal  authorities  the  right  of 
entrance  for  Niagara  Falls  electric  power. 

Mr.  Oakes  h;is  taken  a  keen  interest  in  public 
affairs  for  a  long  time.  Twenty  years  ago  he  was 
elected  excise  commissioner  of  the  town  of  New 
Albion,  in  which  the  village  of  Cattaraugus  is  situa- 
ted, and  used  his  office  to  rid  the  town,  through  the 
courts,  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  li(]uors  ;  and  he 
accomplished  the  work  so  thoroughly  that  there  has 
been  no  return  of  the  evil  since.  He  has  served  as 
president  of  the  village  of  Cattaraugus  for  three  suc- 
cessive terms,  during  which  the  present  system  of 
waterworks,  deemed  one  of  the  best  in  the  country, 
was  constructed.  His  latest  re-election,  in  1896, 
without  opposition,  was  a  strong  endorsement  of  his 
able  and  vigorous  administration.  On  cpiestions  of 
general  public  jiolicy  his  sympathies  are  with  the 
Republicans,  though  his  interest  in  the  cause  of 
temperance,  both  from  a  moral  and  economic  stand- 
point, compelled  him  to  vote  with  the  Prohibition 
party  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Prohibition  national  convention  in  1884  and 
again  in  1888.  In  the  crucial  campaign  of  1890, 
however,  he  gave  his  active  support  to  the  Republi- 
can ticket,  making  a  number  of  speeches  in  favor  of 
McKinley  and  .sound  money. 

Consistently  with  his  principles,  Mr.  Oakes  ab- 
stains from  the  use  of  tobacco  and  strong  drinks. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church,  but 
is  lil)eral  in  his  religious  views,  believing  in  ])rac- 
tical  rather  than  theoretical  Christianity.  He  is 
much  interested  in  Sunday-school  work,  and  is  a 
supporter  of  home  and  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prises. He  is  a  member  of  the  Ellicott  Club  of 
Buffalo,  of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen, 
and  of  the  Royal  Templars  of  Temperance. 

PERSONAL    CHRONOLOGY— Franklin 
Stacev    Oakes   icas    horn    at    China    {n<nt>   Arcade^, 


N.  v.,  Dccemher  M,  ISJ^Jf,-  was  cdiicatcj  in  district 
and  '^ select"  schools;  was  employed  in  a  hardware 
store  at  Otto,  N'.  K,  1865-69 ;  married  Jennie 
Calver  of  Marblehead,  Mass. ,  September  1 1,  1872  ; 
has  been  president  of  the  village  of  Cattaraugus,  N.  Y. , 
since  1804  •  ^"^^'  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  dairy 
and  clicesefactorx  apparatus  at  Cattaraugus  since 
1874,  <^'^'i  '•"  real-estate  and  other  enterprises  in 
Buffalo  since  1891. 


Xauren  M.  iPCttCbOne  has  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  recent  development  of  Niagara 
Falls  from  a  town  of  small  commercial  importance 
to  a  thriving  and  growing  manufacturing  city.  The 
story  of  the  "harnessing  of  Niagara"  is  a  familiar 
one,  and  each  successive  step  in  the  great  achieve- 
ment has  been  watched  with  eager  interest.  A 
wonderful  impetus  has  been  given  to  all  kinds  of 
business  activity  in  that  locality,  and  men  like  Mr. 
Pettebone  have  not  been  slow  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunities  thus  presented. 

Born  in  Lockport  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  Mr. 
Pettebone  was  taken  to  Buffalo  in  early  childhood, 
and  was  educated  there  in  private  schools.  In  the 
meantime  his  family  moved  to  Niagara  Falls,  and 
when  he  left  school  in  18G5  he  entered  the  office  of 
the  Niagara  Falls  Paper  Mfg.  Co.  He  remained 
with  this  concern  eighteen  years,  becoming  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  business  in  all  its 
branches,  and  developing  from  an  inexperienced  lad 
into  a  shrewd  and  sagacious  business  man.  Finally, 
in  1883,  he  organized  the  Pettebone  Paper  Co.,  and 
was  made  its  secretary  and  treasurer.  Five  years 
later  he  became  president  of  the  corporation,  and 
held  the  office  until  189'i.  .\t  that  time  the  Pette- 
bone -  Cataract  Paper  Co.  was  organized,  with  Mr. 
Pettebone  as  vice  ]jresident  and  direc:tor  ;  and  these 
positions  he  still  holds. 

Mr.  Pettebone  has  thus  been  connected  with  the 
manufacture  of  paper  for  over  thirty  years,  or  during 
the  whole  of  his  business  life  ;  and  his  best  energies 
have  been  devoted  to  this,  his  chief  enterprise.  His 
business  interests,  however,  are  varied  and  exten- 
sive, and  several  corporations  have  received  the 
benefit  of  his  coun.sel  in  their  boards  of  directors, 
among  them  the  Niagara  County  Savings  Bank,  the 
Niagara  Falls  Power  Co.,  and  the  Niagara  Falls 
Water  Works  Co.  He  was  at  one  time,  also,  vice 
|)resident  of  the  Cataract  Bank. 

Military  affairs  have  interested  Mr.  Pettebone 
greatly  for  a  long  time,  and  for  six  years,  beginning 
in  1885,  he  was  first  lieutenant  of  the  4'2d  Separate 
Company  at  Niagara  Falls.  In  1891  he  was  made 
major   and    inspector   of   rifle    practice    of   the  4tli 


MEN   OF  XEIV    YORK— WESTER. y  SECT/OX 


365 


brigade,  N.  G.,  N.  Y.,  and  since  1894  he  has  been 
inspector  of  the  brigade.  In  political  matters  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  he  was  his  party's  candidate  for 
supervisor  several  years  ago  :  but  he  has  never  had 
the  time  or  the  inclination  to  interest  himself  greatly 
in  politics.  He  took  an  active  part  for  many  years 
in  the  work  of  Rescue  Hook  &  Ladder 
Co.,  of  which  he  was  foreman  from  1871 
to  1881,  and  president  for  several  suc- 
ceeding years.  Since  1888  he  has  been 
junior  warden  of  St.  Peter's  Episcopal 
Church  at  Niagara  Falls.  Of  late  he  has 
found  it  convenient  as  well  as  agreeable 
to  spend  his  winters  in  Buffalo  ;  but  he 
still  maintains  a  summer  home  at  Niag- 
ara Falls,  and  is  bound  to  the  smaller 
city  by  many  social  as  well  as  business 
ties. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
Lauren  IV.  Pe  tie  bone  was  born  at  Lock- 
port,  N.  v.,  June  '29,  ISJfS ;  was  edu- 
cated in  private  schools  in  Buffalo ;  was 
in  the  employ  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Paper 
Mfg.  Co.,  1865-83;  married  Lavinia 
Porter  Townsend  of  Niagara  Palls,  N.  V. , 
September  H,  188 1 ;  7i'as  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Pettebone  Paper  Co., 
1883-88,  and  president,  1888-92 :  has 
been  vice  president  and  director  of  the  Pet- 
tebone- Cataract  Paper  Co.  since  its  organ- 
ization in  1892. 

peter  H.  porter,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  men  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  else- 
where widely    known    and    respected  in 
western  New  York,  is  descended  from  a 
line   of  ancestors   renowned  in  history. 
His  father.  Colonel  Peter  A.  Porter,  was 
killed   at    the    battle    of    Cold    Harbor 
while  gallantly  leading  his  regiment  over  the  breast- 
works   in  a  magniiicent  charge.      Two  nights  later 
five  brave  men  of  his  command  rescued  the  body 
under  the  very  breath  of  the  enemy's  guns.      Gen- 
eral Peter  Buel  Porter,  the  grandfather  of  our  present 
subject,  was  even  more  distinguished,  attaining  high 
honors    in    both    civil   and    military   life.      He  was 
elected  to  congress  three  times,  and  was  the  right 
arm  of  the  American  forces  in  the  battles  of  Fort 
Erie,  Chippewa,   and  Lundy's  Lane.      He  was,   in- 
deed,  the  chief  figure   in  the  great  historic   drama 
enacted  in  western  New  York  in  the  early  decades 
of  the  century. 

With  such  inspiration  in  the  past,  Mr.  Porter  has 
found  it  easy  to  maintain  the  splendor  of  the  family 


name.  Born  in  Niagara  Falls  shortly  after  the  mid- 
dle of  the  century,  he  attended  St.  Paul's  School, 
Concord,  N.  H.,  one  of  the  best  preparatory  schools 
in  the  country.  The  course  of  study  there  was 
appropriately  followed  by  higher  educational  train- 
ing at  Yale  College,  and  by  extended  foreign  travel 


LAUREN    \V.  PETTEIiOXE 

thereafter.  Since  then  he  has  made  his  residence 
continuously  in  Niagara  Falls,  and  has  had  much  to 
do  with  almost  everything  of  importance  that  has 
gone  on  there  in  the  last  twenty  years.  A  good 
deal  of  his  time  has  neces.sarily  been  given  to  the 
care  and  development  of  the  family  estate,  which 
originally  included  much  of  the  land  now  contained 
in  the  beautiful  state  reservation  at  Niagara. 

Mr.  Porter  has  been  a  prime  mover  in  many 
projects  designed  to  promote  the  welfare  of  Niagara 
Falls,  and  his  fellow-citizens  have  frequently  sought 
his  counsel  and  leadership  in  municipal  matters. 
In  1885  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state  legis- 
lature, and  was  re-elected  the  next  year.  While  in 
the  a,ssembly  he  introduced  and  effected  the  passage 


3f>r, 


MEA'  OF  A'Eir    YORK— WESTERN  SEC770X 


of  the  "Niagara  'runnel"  bill  providing  for  the 
Cyclopean  undertakings  of  the  Cataract  Construction 
Co.,  and  making  possible  the  development  of  elec- 
trical energy  in  enormous  volume  from  the  Falls. 
Mr.  Porter  was  deeply  interested  in  this  wonderful 
conquest  of  nature.      He  wrote  the  historical  chajjter 


October  10,  18-')S ;  i:;raJitatcd  from  }  'ale  Colki^c  in 
ISTJ^  :  married  Alice  Adele  Taylor  in  1S77 ;  was 
member  of  the  Neiu  York  state  assembly,  1886-87. 


PETER  A.   PORTER 

in  the  special  number  of  Cassier's  magazine  describ- 
ing the  tunnel  scheme  in  all  its  aspects. 

As  might  be  inferred  from  the  last  statement,  Mr. 
Porter  is  a  brilliant  scholar,  and  is  particularly  well 
versed  in  local  history.  He  has  made  minute  and 
])ainstaking  researches  among  original  documents 
relating  to  the  past  of  the  Niagara  region,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  high  authority  on  questions  relating 
thereto,  his  special  library  on  this  subject  being  the 
most  extensive  in  the  country.  His  interest  in  such 
matters  has  doubtless  been  stimulated  by  the  fact 
that  his  forefathers  had  so  large  a  part  in  the  making 
of  history  along  the  Niagara  frontier. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Peter  Au- 
gustus Porter  was   born   at  Niagara   Palls,  N.    Y. , 


Hrtbur  Scboellhopf,  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Niagara   falls  in    l.siiii,  ijelongs  to  a  family  that  has 
been    prominent    in    business    circles  in 
western  New  York  for  many  years.      His 
father,  Jacob    F.   Schoellkopf,    came    to 
America   more   than  half  a  century  ago 
and  settled  in  Buffalo,  where  Arthur  was 
born    in    1856.      After  some  elementary 
education    in    private   schools  at    home, 
the  boy  was  sent  to  Germany  at  the  age 
of  nine,  and  for  four  years  attended  the 
academy  at  Kirchheim,   his  father's  na- 
tive place,  in  the  province  of  Wiirtteni- 
berg.      Returning  to  Buffalo  in  1869,  he 
received  further  education  at  St.  Joseph's 
College,  and  then  took  a  course  at  Bry- 
ant &  Stratton's  Business   College  as  a 
final  preparation  for  active  business  life. 
In  1873  Mr.   Schoellkopf  left  school, 
and  devoted  the  next  four  years  to  ac- 
quiring a  thorough  practical  knowledge 
of  the  milling  trade  in  the  North  Buffalo 
and  Frontier  mills,  operated  at  first  by 
Thornton  &  Chester  and  later  by  Schoell- 
kopf &  Mathews.      In  1877    his  father, 
with    A.    M.    Chesbroiigh,    bought    the 
])roperty  of  the  Hydraulic  canal  at  Niag- 
ara Falls,  and  Mr.  Schoellkojif  was  sent 
thither  to  take  charge  of  it,  and  to  assist 
in   the  erection  thereon  of  the  Niagara 
i'louring  Mills,  of  which  he  became  local 
manager.     These    mills   are   among   the 
largest  in  western   New  York,   having  a 
capacity  of  2000  barrels  daily.      In  1878 
the   Niagara    Falls    Hydraulic    Power  & 
Mfg.   Co.  was  organized  to  develop  the  Hydraulic 
canal,  and  to  furnish  water  ])ower  for  other  mills  in 
the  vicinity.     Jacob  V.  Schoellkopf  was  jiresident  of 
the   company,  and    Arthur  Schoellkopf  became  its 
secretary  and  treasurer  and  general  manager,  and  has 
held  these  positions  ever  since. 

In  addition  to  the  business  interests  outlined 
above,  Mr.  Schoellkopf  is  actively  connected  with 
other  enterprises  so  many  and  varied  that  it  is 
possible  in  a  brief  sketch  merely  to  give  a  list  of 
them.  He  is  ]jresident  of  the  Park  Theater  Co.; 
vice  president  of  the  Cliff  Pajier  Co.;  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  International  Hotel  Co.  and  of  the 
Niagara  F'alls  Brewing  Co. ;  a  director  of  the  New 
York    Mutual   Savings  and    Loan    .Association,    and 


.\rEX   OF  \KIV    YORK— WESTERN  SECTIOX 


367 


president  of  the  local  branch ;  president  of  the 
Power  City  Bank ;  a  director  of  the  Bank  of 
Niagara ;  and  a  trustee  of  the  Niagara  County  Sav- 
ings Bank.  He  built  the  first  street  railway  in 
Niagara  Falls,  managed  it  for  seven  years,  and 
established  it  on  a  paying  basis.  The  man  who  has 
made  such  a  record  at  forty  years  of  age  must  possess 
unusual  ability  and  a  character  that  inspires  the  con- 
fidence of  others.  Mr.  Schoellkopfs  success  may 
be  ascribed  to  a  happy  combination  of  the  pro- 
gressive spirit  of  the  native  American  with  the 
habits  of  industry  and  application  inherited  from  his 
German  ancestors. 

In  political  belief  Mr.  Schoellkopf  is  a  Repub- 
lican ;  but  the  positions  of  responsibility  to  which 
he  has  been  called  have  come  to  him,  not  as  a  poli- 
tician, but  as  a  public-spirited  citizen  in  whose 
sound  judgment  and  unquestioned  integ- 
rity his  fellow-citizens  could  rely.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  sewer  commissioners 
of  the  village  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  has 
been  a  commissioner  of  public  works 
ever  since  the  organization  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  city.  His  election  to  the 
mayor's  chair  took  place  in  March,  1896, 
and  his  administration  of  the  office  was 
most  business-like  and  thorough. 

A  man  of  Mr.  Schoellkopfs  impor- 
tance in  business  and  public  life  natur- 
ally becomes  interested  in  all  the  com- 
plex developments  of  modern  existence. 
Mr.  Schoellkopf  belongs  to  Niagara 
Frontier  Lodge,  No.  132,  F.  &  A.  M., 
is  a  Knight  Templar  apd  a  Noble  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine,  and  Exalted  Ruler  of 
lodge  No.  346,  B.  P.  O.  E.  He  is  a 
member  and  trustee  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  vice 
president  of  the  city's  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. He  has  membership  in  the  Klli- 
cott  Club,  Buftalo. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Arthur  Schoellkopf  was  born  at  Buffalo 
June  IS,  18-'>G :    was  educated  in  Buffalo 
and  in    Gernianv ;    learned  the  miller's 
trade  in  Buffalo,  1873—77  ;  married  Jessie 
Gluck  of  Niagara  Falls,  N.   V.,    October 
IS,  1800 ;  has  been  local  manager  of  the 
Niagara  Flouring  Mills  since  1877,  and 
secretary  and  treasurer   and  manager  of 
the   Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power   &'   Mfg.    Co. 
since  1878,  and  is  also  an  officer  in  many  other  com- 
mercial and  financial  organizations  in  Niagara  Falls  ; 
was  elected  mayor  of  JViagai'a  Falls  in  1890. 


UllilltS  IF?.  XlCimant  is  descended  from 
Scottish  ancestry,  and  may  have  acquired  thence 
his  sturdy  determination  and  strength  of  character. 
His  grandfather,  a  full-l)looded  Scotchman,  entered 
the  revolutionary  army  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and 
was  present  at  West  Point  at  the  time  of  Benedict 
Arnold's  treason.  Notwithstanding  decided  draw- 
backs in  his  early  surroundings,  Mr.  Tennant,  by 
untiring  energy  and  perseverance,  has  placed  him- 
self in  the  ranks  of  the  prominent  lawyers  and  busi- 
ness men  of  western  New  York. 

His  early  life  was  sjient  on  a  Chautau(|ua-(Ounty 
farm,  and  his  education  began  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
at  the  district  school.  This  continued  for  four  years, 
about  twelve  weeks  each  year,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  his  father  deemed  his  tuition  complete. 
But  the  son  had  a   for  different  ambition  —  that  of 


ARTHUR   .'SCHOELLKOPF 

obtaining  a  fair  education — and,  with  the  same 
determination  that  has  characterized  his  subsecpient 
career,  he  proceeded  to  achieve  his  purpose.  After 
much   coaxing   he  obtained  his   father's  consent  to 


368 


MEA'   OF  JVEiy    VORK—IVESTERA'  SECTION 


enter  the  Mayville  Union  School,  five  miles  away, 
on  condition  that  he  should  do  "chores"  at  home 
night  and  morning,  and  walk  to  and  from  school. 
He  remained  at  school  in  Mayville  somewhat  more 
than  a  year,  and  during  nearly  all  of  that  time  these 
difficult  conditions  were  feithfullv  fulfilled,  until  he 


nil. I. IS   H.    TI-.XXAXT 

had   traveled  on  foot  over  17O0  miles  between  the 
farm  and  the  Mayville  schoolhouse. 

Having  received  a  certificate  to  teach  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  Mr.  Tennant  was  so  occupied  for  one 
winter.  He  then  took  a  course  in  a  business 
college  at  I'ainesville,  Ohio,  and  the  following 
December  began  the  study  of  law.  From  the  time 
he  entered  school  at  Mayville  he  was  entirely 
dependent  upon  his  own  resources ;  but  these 
proved  (|uitc  sufficient.  He  read  law  three  years 
with  a  prominent  attorney  of  Mayville,  and  paid  for 
the  ]3rivilege  by  taking  care  of  the  office,  and  mak- 
ing himself  generally  useful  there  ;  while  he  earned 
his  board  during  the  entire  time  by  working  as 
porter  and  barn  boy  in  a  hotel. 


Mr.  Tennant  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  January, 
1880.  He  began  ])ractice  in  Mayville  the  follow-- 
ing  summer,  and  has  followed  his  calling  there 
continuously  since.  In  November,  1880,  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  United  States  District 
Court,  and  in  March,  1882,  the  same  privilege 
was  obtained  in  the  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court.  Among  the  important  cases 
that  he  has  successfully  conducted  was 
that  of  the  town  of  Ellery  against 
the  board  of  supervisors  of  Chautauqua 
county.  Its  purpose  was  to  review  and 
correct  the  equalized  valuations  of  the 
several  towns  and  cities  of  the  county 
made  by  that  board  :  and  the  result  was 
a  reduction  of  S;^, 000,000  in  the  equal- 
ized valuations  of  the  country  towns,  and 
a  corresponding  increase  in  the  valua- 
tions of  the  cities  of  Jamestown  and 
Dunkirk.  Mr.  Tennant  has  made  a 
specialty  of  corporation,  real-estate,  and 
investment  law,  and  has  an  extensive 
and  profitalile  practice.  For  several 
years  he  has  been  the  general  counsel  for 
the  Equitable  Aid  Union,  a  fraternal 
benefit  society  that  receives  and  dis- 
burses nearly  $1,000,000  annually  :  he 
has  charge  of  all  its  legal  affairs  in  the 
United  States.  In  1892  he  assisted  in 
organizing  the  State  Bank  of  Brocton, 
and  became  its  attorney. 

In  1889  Mr.  Tennant  became  inter- 
ested in  Buffalo  real  estate,  and  his 
investments,  made  with  prudence  and 
sound  business  judgment,  have  been 
uniformly  successful.  Since  1801  he  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Real 
Estate  E.\change.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  building  the  first  electric  railway 
between  Buffalo  and  Tonawanda,  in  1891. 

Mr.  Tennant  is  a  member  of  the  Inde])endent 
Order  of  Odd  F'ellows,  and  of  other  fraternal 
societies.  In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Republican, 
and  has  worked  early  and  late  to  promote  the 
])olitical  fortunes  of  his  friends  and  ])arty.  He 
has  always  taken  an  active  jjart  in  public  affairs,  has 
served  for  several  years  as  a  member  of  the  May- 
ville board  of  education,  and  has  been  president  of 
the  village.  Mayville  owns  and  oi)erates  its  own 
water  and  lighting  systems,  having  a.ssumed  the  con- 
trol thereof  largely  through  Mr.  Tennant' s  advocacy 
and  leadership. 

Mr.  Tennant  has  barely  reached  the  prime  of 
life,   and   the    prophecy    may   safely   be   made   that 


.l/AW   Ol-    SEW    YORK—WESTERX  SECT/OX 


359 


additional  honors  await  him,  and  a  |)osition  even 
higher  than  that  already  attained,  in  social,  busi- 
ness, and  professional  life. 

PERSOXAL  CHROXOLOGV—  Willis  Hale 
Tennaiit  ivas  born  at  Chautauqua,  N.  V. ,  A/>ril  20, 
ISolf  ;  was  educated  in  district  schools  and  the  Afay- 
7'ille  (N.  V.)  Unioti  School ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1S80 :  married  DeRmma  Van  l'alkenbu>\i;h  of 
Mavi'ille  December  JJf,  ISSJ^  ,■  has  practiced  Unj  in 
Mavville  since  1880 ;  was  elected  president  of  the 
villa;^e  of  Mavville  in  Afarch,  JSno.  and  supervisor 
in  February,  1897. 


George  Douglas  Emerson  was  bom  at 

Abbott's  Corners,  Erie  county,  New  York,  in  De- 
cember, 1<S47.  This  little  settlement  is  near  Buf- 
falo, and  Mr.  Emerson  may  fairly  be  deemed  a 
Buffalonian  from  the  first,  since  he  moved 
to  the  city  in  infancy,  and  has  lived 
there  ever  since.  His  family  history  is 
interesting.  His  uncle,  (leneral  Mason 
Brayman,  was  a  distinguished  officer 
in  the  Civil  War,  and  was  afterw-ard 
governor  of  Idaho  for  several  years. 
Nathaniel  Emerson,  the  paternal  grand- 
father of  our  present  subject,  settled  in 
I"2a.st  Aurora,  Erie  comity,  in  11S((4  ;  and 
other  members  of  the  family  also  helped 
to  open  up  western  New  York  to  civiliza- 
tion. Lower  down,  the  family  tree  is 
more  interesting  still,  taking  the  investi- 
gator, by  way  of  Bunker  Hill  and  other 
famous  scenes  in  colonial  history,  liack 
to  the  original  immigrant  in  Connecticut 
two  and  a  half  centuries  ago. 

Mr.  Emerson  began  his  education  by 
entering  public  school  No.  4  in  1853, 
and  passed  through  the  various  grades 
until  he  graduated  from  the  Buffalo  High 
School  in  July,  1803.  .\fter  some  minor 
clerkships  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
Central-Hudson  railroad  at  Buffalo  in 
May,  1874.  He  found  the  railroad  call- 
ing congenial,  and  remained  with  the 
company  in  their  freight  department  at 
Buffalo  and  East  Buffalo  until  October, 
1887.  From  .^pril,  188)S,  until  Decem- 
ber, 1889,  he  was  connected  with  the 
inspection  bureau  of  the  Central  Traffic 
Association,  with  head(|uarters  in  Buf- 
falo. He  had  a  part  in  the  preparation  of  the 
eleventh  United  States  census,  serving  as  special 
agent  of  the  census  bureau  for  eleven  months  in 
189((-91.      He  supervised   the  gathering  of  statistics 


of  the  manufacturing  industries  in  Buffiilo  and  Tona- 
wanda. 

For  the  last  few  years  Mr.  Emerson  has  devoted 
most  of  his  time  to  political  affairs  and  his  duties  a.s 
a  public  official.  He  has  frequently  represented 
Republican  voters  at  city,  assembly,  and  congres- 
sional conventions,  and  has  twice  been  a  delegate  to 
state  conventions.  He  was  assistant  secretary  of 
the  Republican  general  committee  of  Erie  county 
during  the  four  years  1891-94,  and  was  secretary  of 
the  same  committee  in  1895-97.  Since  January  1, 
1894,  he  has  been  deputy  clerk  of  the  state  senate 
at  Albany. 

In  social  and  society  matters  Mr.  Emerson  has 
been  active.  He  has  served  the  High  School 
.■\lumni  Association  as  vice  president,  |)resident,  and 
cla.ss  historian.      He  belongs  to  the  Buflalo  Society 


CF.ORCn   DOUGLAS  EMF.RSOX 

of  Natural  Sciences,  and  to  the  .\merican  Academy 
of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Philadelphia.  He 
is  first  vice  jiresident  of  the  Indeijendent  Club  of 
Buffiilo,  a   |)opul-ir  dining  association.      His  interest 


370 


MEN  OF  SEW   YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


in  the  cause  of  temperance  is  evident  in  the  fact 
that  he  has  served  seven  terms  as  presiding  officer  of 
a  council  of  the  Royal  Templars  of  Temperance, 
and  was  also  on  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Orand  Council  of  the  order  for  seven  years.  He  is 
fond  of  historical  research,  and  is  chairman  of  the 


WILLIAM  a.   CJiATTAX 

Indian-memorials  committee  of  the  Buffalo  Histor- 
ical Society.  He  is  one  of  the  guarantee  subscribers 
for  the  American  Historical  Review  pul)lished  in 
Boston.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Delaware  Avenue 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Buffalo,  and  of  Wash- 
ington Lodge,  No.  240,  F.  &  A.  M. 

PERSONAL  CNR  O  N  OLOG  Y—  George 
Douglas  Emerson  7uas  liorn  at  Abbott's  Corners, 
N.  V. ,  December  4,  1847 ;  was  educated  in  Buffalo 
public  schools,  and  graduated  from  the  high  school  in 
1863  ;  married  Susan  K.  Coru<in  of  Buffalo  Decem- 
ber 11,  1872  ;  was  connected  7C'ith  the  freight  depart- 
ment of  the  Central- Hudson  railroad  at  Buffalo, 
1874—87,  and  with  the  inspection  bureau  of  the  Cen- 
tral Traffic  Association,  1888-80  ;  was  special  agent 


of  the  United  States  census  bureau,  1890-01  ;  has 
been  deputy  clerk  of  the  Ne^c  York  state  senate  since 
1804. 

Milliam  S.  (Brattan  was  bom  in  Monroe 
county.  Pennsylvania,  al)out  fifty  years  ago.  He 
attended  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
town,  and  Blair.stown  (N.  J.j  Seminary  ; 
i)ut  closed  his  books  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, and  became  an  apprentice  in  the 
works  of  the  Lackawanna  Iron  &  Coal 
Co.  at  Scranton,  Penn.  In  December, 
1864,  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Del- 
aware, Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad 
Co.  as  a  clerk  in  their  coal  office.  He 
remained  with  the  Lackawanna  company 
until  March,  1870,  when  he  engaged 
with  David  C.  Henderson  and  went  to 
Westfield,  Ma.ss.,  to  build  the  Holyoke 
.S:  Westfield  railroad.  In  1.S71-72  he 
Iniilt  a  part  of  the  (ireenwood  Lake  rail- 
road in  Xew  Jersey,  and  a  dam  and 
bridge  for  the  Lackawanna  railroad  at 
.Montclair,  X.  |.  In  February,  1873,  he 
began  work  on  the  "  Fourth  avenue  im- 
provement "  in  New  York  city.  In 
January,  1875,  he  opened  a  ijuarry  at 
Randolph,  N.  V.,  and  quarried  the  stone 
needed  for  a  bridge  across  the  Hacken- 
^  .sack    river.        In    Se]jtember,    1877,    he 

m  made  a  contract  to  build  the  stone  foun- 

m  dation  for  the  steel  works  at  Pompton, 

^  N.  J.      In  1878,  the  year  the  New  York 

elevated  railroads  were  first  operated,  he 
worked  for  the  company  as  a  foreman 
mason.  The  next  year  he  acted  as 
assistant  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
Brighton  Beach  railroad  ;  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1879,  he  returned  to  the  elevated 
railroad  company  as  dispatcher. 

The  business  of  a  contractor,  however,  was  more 
to  .\Ir.  (Irattan's  liking  than  railroad  operating  ;  and 
in  July,  1880,  he  made  an  engagement  with  the 
contracting  firm  of  Smith  &  Ripley,  taking  charge 
for  them  of  eighteen  miles  of  work  on  the  New 
Haven  &  Northampton  railroad.  .\.  year  later  he 
was  sent  to  (ienesee  county,  New  York,  to  supervise 
the  construction  of  six  miles  of  road  for  the  I^cka- 
wanna  company.  In  December,  1881,  he  went  to 
Buffalo  to  do  some  masonry  for  the  firm  of  Smith, 
Ripley  cV  .\ndrews  ;  and  after  that  he  continued  his 
accjiiaintance  with  western  New  York  by  overseeing 
the  construction  of  the  West  Shore  road  through  a 
])art  of  Erie  county. 


AfEX   OF  \F.IV    )0/<K—H'ESTF.R.\  SFCT/OX 


371 


Since  then  the  story  of  Mr.  Grattan's  career  is 
little  more  than  a  record  of  repeated  successes  as  a 
general  contractor.  In  April,  1883,  he  made  an 
important  contract  with  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna 
iS:  Western  railroad  providing  for  the  construction  at 
Buffalo  and  East  Buffalo  of  shops,  coaling  stations, 
a  trestle  at  Erie  street,  and  freight  houses  at  the  foot 
of  Main  street.  In  February,  Ls.sT.  Mr.  drattan 
built  the  Lackawanna  trestle  at  Cheektowaga,  near 
Buffalo,  the  largest  coal  trestle  in  existence  at  that 
time.  The  success  of  these  independent  ventures 
and  the  magnitude  of  his  operations  induced  Mr. 
(Irattan  to  seek  partnership  assistance  ;  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1888,  accordingly,  he  formed  with  Alva  iM. 
Jennings  the  firm  of  Grattan  &  Jennings.  The 
partnership  has  been  maintained  ever  since,  and  the 
firm  has  taken  a  high  stand  among  the  general  con- 
tractors of  the  country.  A  complete 
account  of  their  business  during  the  last 
nine  years  would  give  one  a  fair  idea  of 
the  buikling  conditions  of  western  New 
York  in  that  period.  I'he  work  of  the 
firm  covers  a  wide  range,  and  includes 
pile  driving,  dock  building,  excavating 
and  concreting  for  structural  foundations, 
large  buildings  re<|uiring  fine  finish,  and 
general  masonry.  In  addition  to  these 
styles  of  contracting,  they  do  a  good 
deal  of  special  work  for  railroads,  making 
culverts,  bridge  approaches  and  founda- 
tions, concrete  engine  beds,  and  the  like. 
Grattan  &:  Jennings  have  executed  sev- 
eral large  construction  contracts  in  a 
remarkably  short  time.  In  1896,  for 
example,  on  a  contract  with  the  Erie 
railroad,  they  took  down  an  old  coal  tres- 
tle on  the  Blackwell  canal,  and  erected 
in  its  place  in  sixty  days,  with  lumber 
brought  from  Georgia,  a  new  trestle  con- 
taining about  2,. 11)0, 0(^(1  feet  board  meas- 
ure of  lumber  and  2801)  oak  piles. 

Mr.  Grattan  has  always  been  a  consist- 
ent Republican  voter,  but  has  never 
cared  to  hold  public  office.  In  Decem- 
ber, 18i)6,  however.  Mayor  Jewett  ap- 
pointed him  one  of  the  three  fire  com- 
missioners of  Buffalo,  and  he  is  now 
discharging  cajKibly  the  duties  of  that 
office.  The  term  runs  six  years  from 
December  1,  18»t>. 

PEJiSOXAL  CIIROXOLOGY—  William  .V. 
Grattan  was  horn  at  S/uvinaker' s,  Penn..  Jiiiif  S, 
IS^tS  :  was  eiliicatfil  in  ilistrict  schools  and  Blairsttmni 
(  X.  f.  )  Si-niinary :  jcas  in  the  fniplov  of  the  Lacka- 


wanna Iron  &"  Coal  Co. ,  and  the  Delaware,  Lacka- 
wanna &°  Western  Railroad  Co. ,  at  Scranton,  Penn. , 
lSi)2—70 :  married  Amelia  C.  Mickens  of  Hewitt, 
X.  J.,  August  -iO,  1S17  ;  had  charge  of  various  rail- 
road and  other  contracts  in  Alassachu setts,  Xew  Jer- 
sey, and  western  New  York,  1870-83  ;  has  done  a 
general  contracting  business  in  Buffalo  since  188-i. 


/K.  3.  "bealV,  recently  appointed  by  Mayor 
Jewett  of  Buffalo  one  of  the  commissioners  of  public 
works  of  that  city,  was  born  in  Buffalo  in  Novem- 
ber, 18.")!1.  He  attended  public  schools  until  he 
was  fifteen  years  old,  but  closed  his  books  then  in 
order  to  satisfy  his  desire  for  a  business  career. 
Entering  the  .service,  accordingly,  of  Leonard  Hink- 
ley,  who  conducted  a  general  store  at  the  corner  of 
Niagara    street   and    Forest  avenue,   Buffalo,   young 


.1/.  /   HUM-  Y 

Healv  learned  the  rudiments  of  business  in  the 
thorough  wav  possible  in  such  an  establishment. 
He  had  not  been  in  business  more  than  a  year, 
however,    before    he   saw  that    even    a   commercial 


AfEX   OF  XFII'    )ORh—U'ESTERA'  SECT/OX 


career  demanded  considerably  more  education  than 
he  had  yet  obtained.  He  changed  his  plans  abni])tly, 
therefore,  entering  St.  Joseph's  College  and  study- 
ing there  three  years — 1873-75. 

Making  a  fresh  start  in  1.H76  with  an  intellectual 
equii)ment  much  broader  than  before,  Mr.  Healy 
went  to  work  for  Pratt  &  Co.,  Buffalo.  He  remained 
with  this  famous  concern  until  1878,  when  a  favor- 
able chance  came  to  go  into  business  w-ith  his 
brothers,  in  the  firm  of  P.  &  M.  Healy.  They 
conducted  a  flourishing  trade  in  groceries,  meats, 
hardware,  glass,  etc.,  until  February,  1895,  when 
the  business  was  divided,  and  a  new'  firm,  styled  B. 
J.  &  M.  J.  Healy,  was  formed.  This  concern  has 
also  jjrospered  markedly,  and  the  Healy  brothers 
may  be  said  to  control  a  large  part  of  the  trade  in 
their  line  in  the  section  of  Buffalo  known  as  Black 
Rock.  Besides  conducting  a  large  retail  business, 
they  are  the  wholesale  representatives  of  the  Niagara 
Flouring  Mills,  the  Akron  Flouring  Mills,  and  the 
New  York  Rubber  Paint  Co.  The  success  of  the 
business  is  due  largely  to  the  energy,  long  experi- 
ence, and  general  ability  of  M.  J.  Healy. 

For  several  years  Mr.  Healy  has  taken  an  active 
interest  in  political  affairs,  and  has  had  much  influ- 
ence with  the  local  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party. 
He  held  no  public  office,  however,  until  January, 
1897,  when  he  was  appointed  commissioner  of  ])ub- 
lic  works  for  the  four  years  1897-1'JOU.  Mayor 
Jewett's  selection  was  regarded  with  general  satisfac- 
tion, and  it  was  felt  that  Mr.  Healy  would  bring 
to  the  duties  of  his  office  excellent  judgment  and 
unusual  executive  ability. 

Mr.  Healy's  capacity  in  business  affairs  has  been 
recognized  by  various  associations  that  have  sought 
his  guidance.  He  is  a  director,  for  example,  of  the 
Irish-American  Savings  &  Loan  Association  of  Buf- 
falo, a  stockholder  in  the  Niagara  Bank  of  Buffalo, 
and  first  vice  president  of  the  Black  Rock  Business 
Men's  Association.  He  is  president  of  St.  Joseph's 
College  Alumni  Association,  a  director  of  the 
Knights  of  Columbus,  and  an  active  member  of 
various  other  fraternal  and  social  organizations. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—  Michael  John 
Healy  7iias  born  at  Buffalo  Akn^cmber  3,  ISHii ;  rvas 
educated  in  public  schools  and  St.  Joseph's  College, 
Buffalo  ;  was  in  the  employ  of  Pratt  &•  Co.,  1870-78  ; 
married  Elizabeth  JVarner  of  Buffalo  February  9, 
1807  ;  was  appointed  commissioner  of  public  works  of 
Buffalo  for  the  term  1897-1900  :  has  carried  on  a 
grocery  and  meat  business  at  Black  Pock  since  1878. 


IRObCrt  IROlMUaU  UjCftOrO,  widely  known  in 
the   business  and   ])olitical  circles  of  western    New 


York,  was  born  in  Buffalo  in  1845.  He  obtained 
his  education  in  his  native  city,  attending  private 
and  public  schools  and  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business 
College.  Reasonably  well  equipped  in  that  way  for 
a  commercial  career,  he  became  a  clerk  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  in  a  wholesale  salt  and  cement  house. 
After  remaining  with  this  concern  a  short  time,  and 
serving  as  a  clerk  about  a  year  in  the  canal-collec- 
tor's office,  he  formed  a  partnership  in  1865  with 
K.  E.  Hazard  to  conduct  a  coal  business.  Mr. 
Hefford  was  then  only  twenty  years  old,  and  he  has 
been  connected  with  the  coal  industry  ever  since. 
The  firm  of  E.  E.  Hazard  &  Co.  carried  on  a 
flourishing  trade  until  1871,  when  Mr.  Hefford  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business,  and  conducted  operations 
on  his  own  account.  In  recent  years  his  business 
has  resolved  itself  largely  into  the  shipping  and 
forwarding  of  coal  ;  and  he  has  had  an  important 
part  in  making  Buffalo  one  of  the  greatest  coal 
markets  in  the  world. 

Though  Mr.  Hefford  has  been  strikingly  success- 
ful as  a  business  man,  he  has  attained  even  more 
distinction  in  public  life.  He  began  to  interest 
himself  in  political  matters  in  early  manhood,  serv- 
ing as  alderman  from  the  2d  ward  of  Buffalo  nearly 
twenty  years  ago.  He  took  high  rank  at  once  in 
the  municipal  legislature,  and  was  elected  thereto 
for  three  consecutive  terms.  He  acted  as  president 
of  the  common  council  during  the  la.st  two  years, 
and  as  president  of  the  board  of  health  during  a 
part  of  his  service.  He  was  conscientious  and 
aggre.ssive,  and  especially  distinguished  himself  in 
opposing  the  notorious  street  -  cleaning  contract 
which  was  vetoed  by  Mayor  Cleveland,  and  which 
indirectly  started  Cleveland  on  his  way  to  Albany 
and  Washington.  In  January,  188.'>,  Mr.  Hefford 
was  sufficiently  prominent  in  the  Republican  party 
to  receive  the  nomination  for  the  Buffalo  mayoralty 
when  the  vacancy  caused  by  Cleveland's  election  as 
governor  had  to  be  filled  ;  but  John  B.  Manning, 
the  Democratic  candidate,  was  elected. 

Mr.  Hefford  has  always  been  a  strong  supporter 
of  the  Erie  canal,  and  has  done  a  good  deal  to 
maintain  and  improve  that  highway  of  commerce. 
He  is  chairman  of  the  executive  canal  committee 
of  the  state,  which  is  comjjosed  of  representatives 
from  the  important  commercial  organizations  of 
New  York,  and  which  carried  through  the  consti- 
tutional con\cntion  of  18!)4  and  the  legislature  of 
1895  the  S9,()0(),0(t()  canal-improvement  apjjropria- 
tion.  The  canal  committee  also  did  efficient  work 
among  the  people  at  large,  and  was  the  chief  agency 
in  effecting  the  ajjproval  of  the  mea.sure  by  the 
voters  at  the  elections  of  1894  and  1X95. 


ME\  OF  X/CII'    )  (Ux'K  —  WESTER X  SECT/ON 


373 


In  December,  1895,  Mayor  Jewett  of  Buffalo 
appointed  Mr.  Hefford  a  commissioner  of  public 
works,  and  the  press  of  the  city,  without  regard  to 
party,  warmly  commended  the  appointment.  There 
was  general  regret  when  the  fact  transpired  that  Mr. 
Hefford's  private  business  was  sometimes  concerned 
with  municipal  contracts,  and  that  he 
did  not  think  it  proper  under  the  cir- 
cumstances to  accept    the   appointment. 

Mr.  Hefford  has  lately  been  made  a 
member  of  the  New  York  state  commis- 
sion to  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Expo- 
sition. 

The  list  of  offices  in  party  organiza- 
tions held  by  Mr.  Hefford  is  almost  as 
long  as  his  list  of  jniblic  positions.  He 
has  been  one  of  the  recognized  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party  in  western  New 
York  for  many  years.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Republican  general  com- 
mittee several  times,  and  was  chairman 
of  the  county  committee  in  1885-'S(i. 
In  1887  he  was  made  the  first  president 
of  the  Republican  League  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  was  re-elected  in  1888. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  state  league  for  several 
years,  and  was  vice  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Republican  League  during  the 
years  1889-93.  He  is  now  a  member 
of  the  Buffalo  Republican  League  and  of 
the  State  Republican  League. 

Mr.  Hefford  has  naturally  been  promi- 
nent in  the  social  life  of  Buffalo.  He 
is  chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church,  a  life  memlier 
of  the  Buffalo  Library,  and  first  vice 
president  of  the  Buffalo  Club.  He  was 
president  of  the  Buffalo  Merchants'  E.\- 
change  and  of  the  Board  of  Trade  for  the  three 
terms  included  in  the  years  1894-96  :  he  was  unani- 
mouslv  elected  for  the  last  two  terms. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  O G Y—  Robirt  Rod- 
man Hefford  was  born  at  Buffalo  February  25,  181^5; 
was  educated  in  Buffalo  schools ;  was  clerk  in  a 
luholcsale  house  in  Buffalo,  1SG2-G-3,  and  in  the  canal- 
collector  '  .V  office  in  18(i4  :  married  Harriet  Rosalia 
Whittaker  of  Catskill,  N.  V.,  January  i,  1870;  7t'as 
alderman  from  the  2d  ward,  Buffalo,  1870-82,  and 
president  of  the  common  council,  lS8S-8^  ;  7vas  presi- 
dent of  the  Republican  League  of  the  State  of  Ne70 
)  'ork,  1887-88,  and  vice  president  of  the  National 
Republican  League,  1880-03  ;  was  president  of  the 
Buffalo   Merchants'  Exchange  and  of  the  Board  of 


Trade,  18O.'f-0(J  ;  has  been  cjigaged  in  the  coal  trade 
in  Buffalo  since  181)'). 

«♦• 

30bn  C  3e\VCtt,  the  founder  of  the  great 
nianufai  turing  company  in  15uffalo  that  bears  his 
name,    was    born    in    Cavuga    county.     New    ^'ork, 


ROHEKT  RODMAX  HEI-I-ORI) 

February  2,  1820.  Central  New  York  was  not  then 
dotted  with  schools  of  every  grade,  and  Mr.  Jewett 
was  unable  to  obtain  much  education.  Spending 
his  summers  on  the  farm  with  his  father,  he  attended 
district  schools  during  the  winter,  alternating  work 
and  study  in  this  way  until  he  was  seventeen  years 
old.  He  then  made  a  start  in  the  outer  world  by 
changing  his  residence  to  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  where 
his  brother  Samuel  was  engaged  in  business.  Mr. 
Jewett  went  to  work  in  his  brother's  store,  and 
showed  such  ajititude  for  business  that  he  was  soon 
taken  into  the  firm.  By  far  the  most  imjjortant 
thing  that  happened  to  him  in  .Ann  .-\rbor  was  his 
meeting  with  Miss  Priscilla  Boardman  in  December, 
1.S40.       This  accpiaintance    ripened    into   conrtsliip. 


MEN  OF  XEir    VORK—IVKSTERA  SEC770X 


and  the  courtship  culminated  in  marriage  on  Mr. 
Jewett's  birthday  in  184o.  Miss  Roardman  was 
then  in  her  seventeenth  year  only,  but  her  strong 
and  lovely  character  was  already  well  developed. 
She  was  a  remarkable  woman  in  many  ways,  and 
Mr.  Jewett's  great  success  in  life  was  doubtless  due 


JO  NX  r.  JEWETT 

in  a  large  degree  to  the  splentlid    intellectual   and 
moral  qualities  of  his  faithful  wife. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Jewett  left  .\nn 
.Arbor,  and  embarked  in  business  on  his  own  account 
in  Albion,  Mich.  He  remained  there  for  several 
years,  reaping  as  much  success  as  could  reasonably 
be  expected  in  so  small  a  place.  The  inevitable 
limitations  of  the  town  in  a  business  way  ultimately 
caused  Mr.  Jewett  to  seek  the  larger  opportunities  of 
a  growing  city  :  and  in  October,  1849,  accordingly, 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Buffalo.  Setting  uj)  at 
once  a  small  manufacturing  plant,  he  turned  all  his 
energy  and  wonderful  power  of  a|jplication  upon  the 
enterprise.  For  nearly  forty  years  he  gave  himself 
up  to  the  business,  until  he  had  made  it  one  of  the 


great  industries  of  the  country.  Refrigerators, 
water  fdters,  and  a  multitude  of  other  household 
utensils,  have  been  distributed  in  enormous  quanti- 
ties over  every  part  of  the  United  States  and  of 
some  foreign  lands,  from  the  mammoth  works  of  the 
lohn  C  Jewett  Mfg.  (.'o.  Mr.  Jewett,  of  course, 
did  not  build  this  magnificent  commer- 
cial structure  without  substantial  assist- 
ance —  no  man  could  have  done  that  ; 
but  his  was  the  dominating  mind  and 
guiding  hand  for  many  years.  His 
sons,  Edgar  B.  Jewett,  the  present  presi- 
dent of  the  company,  and  Frederick  A., 
the  present  treasurer,  and  his  son-in-law, 
Risley  Tucker,  the  secretary  of  the  com- 
pany, have  all  grown  up  with  the  house, 
and  ha\e  had  an  important  part  in  the 
marvelous  growth  of  the  business. 

In  January,  188(i,  after  having  worked 
hard  for  many  years  —  too  hard  for  his 
own  phvsical  good  —  Mr.  Jewett  retired 
fruni  the  active  cares  of  business  life. 
In  May  of  the  ne.\t  year  he  received  a 
severe  shock  in  the  sudden  death  of  his 
beloved  consort.  This  blow  sap|)ed  his 
declining  strength,  and  for  the  last  few 
years  ill  health  has  forced  him  to  live  in 
Los  Angeles,  southern  C'alifornia.  L'n- 
der  the  sunny  skies  of  that  favored  clime 
he  is  ipiietly  pa.ssing  the  closing  years  of 
a  useful  and  honorable  life. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
John   Cotton  Jezoctf  jcas  born  at  Moravia, 
N.   v.,  I'dirnary  ,>,  1820 ;   attended  dis- 
trict schools  :  manied  Priscilla  Boardman 
of  Ann  Ar/'or,  Mich. ,  February  2,  18^3  : 
engaged  in   business  in  Michigan,   18J7— 
4-9  ,•    established  in  Buffalo  in    18^9   the 
business    aftenvards   styled  the  John    C. 
Jc7('clt  Mfg.    Co.,  and  actively  carried  on  the  same 
until  188:')  ;  has  lived  a  retired  life  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia since  1888. 


JfayCttC  IkClly,  one  of  the  foremost  citizens 
of  Hamburg,  N.  V'.,  and  an  able  member  of  the 
bar,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Boston,  Krie  count)-, 
in  1849.  He  received  a  better  education  than  most 
young  men  brought  up  in  the  country  are  able  to 
ac(|uire.  Attending  first  the  common  schools  of 
Hamburg,  he  there  prepared  himself  for  a  course  at 
Aurora  Academy,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1872. 
This  paved  the  way  for  additional  training  at  Hamil- 
ton College,  from  which  he  received  the  degree  of 
A.  1!.  in    1S7(i,  and   that   of  A.  M.  in    1879.      This 


MEN  OF  NKIV    )VRk'—irKSTEK\  SECTIOX 


.•?-■) 


thorough  education  along  general  lines  was  fol- 
lowed by  professional  study  ;  and  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1881. 

Long  before  this  date  Mr.  Kelly  had  attained 
marked  success  in  a  calling  often  made  the  gateway 
to  a  legal  career.  After  leaving  college  in  1876  he 
obtained  an  appointment  as  instructor  in  Greek  and 
Latin  at  the  Tarrytown  Institute,  and  taught  for  the 
next  five  years  in  the  famous  town  by  the  Hudson. 
He  decided,  however,  not  to  make  teaching  his  life- 
work,  but  to  practice  law  ;  and  with  that  end  in 
view  he  devoted  much  of  his  time  during  his  resi- 
dence in  Tarrytown  to  legal  study.  After  gaining 
admission  to  the  bar  he  thought  it  worth  while  to 
teach  a  little  longer,  and  thus  accjuire  sufficient 
capital  to  tide  over  the  briefle.ss  period  in  almost 
every  lawyer's  early  experience.  He  became  prin- 
cipal of  the  Hamburg  Academy,  accord- 
ingly, holding  the  position  during  the 
school  year  1882-8o.  The  next  year  he 
began  the  practice  of  law  at  Hamburg. 

Mr.  Kelly  doubtless  acted  wisely  in 
changing  his  vocation,  though  he  thereby 
handicapped  himself,  so  to  sjjeak,  by 
several  years'  delay  in  the  race  for  legal 
honors.  He  was  thirty-five  years  old 
when  he  began  to  practice  law,  whereas 
the  average  attorney  probably  gets  to 
work  nearly  a  decade  earlier.  Mr.  Kelly, 
however,  was  admirably  eifuipped  for 
rapid  progress  when  he  finally  opened 
an  office  among  people  who  had  known 
him  all  his  life.  Possessed  of  their  gootl 
will  in  advance,  he  soon  built  up  a  sub- 
stantial clientage  in  Hamburg  and  the 
surrounding  country  ;  and  he  has  long 
enjoyed  rather  more  than  his  share  of  the 
legal  business  in  his  part  of  the  county. 
By  the  year  1890  he  had  his  country 
interests  so  well  in  hand  that  he  resolved 
to  open  an  office  in  Buffalo,  and  carry 
on  a  city  practice  in  addition  to  his  out- 
side clientage.  This  plan  worked  suc- 
cessfully, and  since  then  Mr.  Kelly  has 
transacted  a  large  volume  of  legal  lousi- 
ness through  his  offices  in  Buffalo  and 
Hamburg.  He  continues  to  live  in  the 
latter  town,  but  his  professional  work  is 
becoming  more  important  in  the  larger 
place. 

Mr.  Kelly  is  a  Democrat  in  his  way  of  looking  at 
political  questions,  and  has  long  been  prominent  in 
local  public  affairs.  He  has  represented  the  town 
of   Hamburg   on    the   Erie-county   board   of  super- 


visors for  seven  consecutive  years  ;  and  for  three 
years,  1890-92,  he  was  chairman  of  the  board. 
Taking  special  interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  as 
might  be  expected  from  his  early  career  as  a  teacher, 
he  has  done  what  he  could  to  improve  the  school 
service  of  his  community.  He  belongs  to  the 
Masonic  order,  and  to  similar  fraternal  associations. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  of 
the  Delta  Kapjja  Epsilon  college  society. 

PERS ONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  F—  Fayette  Kelly 
was  born  at  Boston,  N.  Y.,June  3,  18Jt9 ;  gradu- 
ated from  Aurora  Academy  in  1872,  and  from 
Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  N.  V.,  in  1876 ;  taught 
school,  1876-8S  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1881 : 
married  Kathcrine  B.  Keycs  of  Hamburg,  N'.  Y., 
August  J/.,  1886  ;  has  practiced  lara  at  Hamburg  since 
188 J,,  and  at  Buffalo  since  1800. 


lAYETTE    KELLY 


30bU  'XUU&,  conductor  of  the  Buffalo  Sym- 
phony Orchestra,  and  otherwise  widely  known  in 
western  New  York  as  a  musician,  was  born  in 
Hamburg,    Germany,    in    October,    1859.       He    is 


?.76 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERX  SECT/OX 


commonly  regarded  as  an  out-and-out  German,  but  is 
not  really  so.  Though  he  is  a  native  of  a  German 
state,  speaks  German  fluently,  and  has  in  great 
measure  the  ideas  and  instincts  of  the  German 
|)eople,  yet  genealogical  analysis  reduces  the  jnire 
German  element  of  his  blood  to  one  ciiiartcr  only. 


House   in 


joM.y  /.rxD 

His  father  was  a  Norwegian,  while  his  mother  was  of 
combined  Russian  and  tlerman  descent. 

Mr.  Lund's  father,  who  was  a  merchant,  wished 
his  son  to  enter  the  legal  jirofession  ;  but  the  l)oy's 
instinct,  inclining  him  strongly  in  the  direction  of 
music,  had  its  way.  His  mother  was  a  thorough 
musician,  and  encouraged  her  son  to  indulge  his 
love  of  music.  She  became  his  first  teacher,  indeed, 
when  he  began  the  study  of  the  piano  at  the  age  of 
si,\  or  seven.  A  few  years  later  he  became  a  pu]jil 
of  Dinckler,  remaining  with  him  for  seven  years. 
Entering  Leipsic  Conservatory  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, he  there  enjoyed  the  tuition  of  such  men  as 
Reinecke,  Wenzel,  Oscar  Paul,  Jada.ssohn,  and  1'.. 
K.    Richter,  the   famous  comijoser  of  text-books  on 


harmony.  Mr.  Lund  graduated  from  Leipsic  in 
]iS(SO,  having  studied  there  the  piano,  violin,  oboe, 
and  organ,  as  well  as  harmony,  counterpoint,  and 
composition.  Upon  leaving  the  conservatory  Mr. 
Lund  was  appointed  chorus  master  at  the  Opera 
Bremen  ;  and  two  years  later  he  was 
advanced  to  the  post  of  assistant  conduc- 
tor. In  1883  he  went  to  Stettin  as  con- 
ductor at  the  Opera  House  in  that  city. 

Mr.  Lund  came  to  this  country  in 
1884.  Or.  Leopold  Damrosch,  conduc- 
tor at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  in 
New  York,  went  to  Berlin  in  ipiest  of 
an  assistant.  He  wanted  a  young  man 
thoroughly  acijuainted  with  the  musical 
dramas  of  Wagner.  John  Lund  was 
recommended  to  him  as  exactly  the  man 
he  sought.  A  little  investigation  showed 
that  this  was  so,  and  Dr.  Damrosch  en- 
gaged Mr.  Lund  as  assistant  conductor 
of  the  German  opera  in  New  York. 
.Vfter  the  death  of  Dr.  Damrosch  John 
Lund  became  the  leader  of  Mr.  .Am- 
berg's  forces  in  that  manager's  ill-starred 
attempt  to  produce  German  opera  in 
opposition  to  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House.  After  a  year  with  Amberg  and 
a  short  time  in  Germany,  Mr.  Lund 
accepted  an  offer  to  become  director  of 
the  Rochester  Liedertafel.  He  did  not 
stay  long,  however,  in  the  Flower  City. 
The  Buffalo  Orpheus  was  looking  for  a 
director,  and  through  William  Steinway 
heard  of  Mr.  Lund.  A  committee  from 
the  Orpheus  society  attended  one  of  the 
Rochester  concerts,  and  after  the  per- 
formance made  a  contract  with  Mr.  I  ,und. 
That  was  in  the  spring  of  1887.  Dur- 
ing the  following  fall  and  winter  the  Buf- 
falo Symphony  Orchestra  was  organized,  and  Mr. 
Lund  was  invited  to  become  its  conductor.  The 
organization  at  that  time  consisted  of  thirty-three 
men,  of  whom  several  were  amateurs.  It  was  not 
until  the  fourth  year  of  the  orchestra's  existence  that 
an  entire  symphony  was  presented.  Hy  hard  and 
conscientious  work  Mr.  Lund  has  made  the  organiza- 
tion favorably  comparable  with  any  of  similar  size 
in  the  I'nited  Stales.  His  work  with  the  Buffalo 
Orpheus  has  likewise  borne  excellent  fruit.  In  1888 
he  took  the  Maennerchor  to  Baltimore,  where  the 
best  singing  societies  in  the  country  competed  ;  and 
the  Buffalo  society  won  first  prize  in  the  second  class, 
in  New  York,  in  189."),  the  Buffalo  organization 
won  third  prize  in  the  first  class. 


.i/A'.\   ('/•■  XKir  \oh'K    iii-:sr/-:/<.\  s/u^rrox 


Although  Mr.  Lund  was  educated  in  the  strict 
classicism  of  the  Leipsic  school,  Mendelssohn  rep- 
resenting the  extreme  limit  in  modern  music,  he  is 
naturally  liberal  in  his  musical  tastes.  His  favorite 
composers  are  Wagner,  Beethoven,  Tschaikowsky, 
and  Svendsen  ;  but  a  glance  at  the  Symjihony  pro- 
grammes will  show  that  he  makes  free  use  of  the 
works  of  many  other  com|)osers.  Though  Mr.  Lund 
is  a  young  man,  his  compositions  are  already  con- 
siderable in  number.  Some  of  the  more  important 
are  the  "Wanderer's  Song,"  for  male  chorus  and 
orchestra;  "The  Flowers'  Revenge,"  a  cantata  for 
mixed  chorus,  solos,  and  orchestra;  "The  German 
War  Song,"  for  male  chorus,  solos,  and  orchestra; 
"Scene  Amoureuse,"  for  full  orchestra;  "In  the 
Harden,"  for  string  orchestra  and  harp. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  ~  John  Lit  ml 
rcas  born  at  J/iVn/mn:;,  Cicnnanw  October 
20,  1859  ;  stuilied  music  iimhr  Dinckler, 
1S69-7G,  ami  in  the  Leipsic  Conservatory, 
1S7G-S0  ;  was  connected  with  the  produc- 
tion of  grand  opera  in  Germany  and  New 
York,  1880-80  ;  married  Lda  Louise  Zcl- 
ler  of  Buffalo  in  1888 ;  has  been  director 
of  the  Buffalo  Orpheus,  and  of  the  Buffalo 
Symphony  Orchestra,  si?ice  1887. 


IttOrman  l£.  .flDacI;,  editor  and 
|)roprietor  of  the  Buffalo  Times,  and 
widely  known  in  western  New  York  from 
his  prominence  in  ])olitical  life,  was 
born  in  West  Williams,  Ont.,  in  IfSofi. 
His  family  left  Canada  when  he  was  still 
a  child,  and  took  up  their  residence  in 
Pontiac,  Mich.,  in  IXKS.  There  Mr. 
Mack  became  a  clerk  in  a  business  house. 
Both  the  mercantile  knowledge  and  the 
disciplinary  training  thus  obtained  were 
of  great  value  in  his  important  business 
undertakings  later  in  life.  After  remain- 
ing in  Pontiac  four  years,  he  availed 
himself  of  the  greater  opportunities  of  a 
large  city  by  embarking  in  the  advertis- 
ing business  in  Detroit  and  Chicago. 
This  was  his  first  experience  in  news- 
paper work,  and  gave  him  an  insight  into  | 
a  most  important  |)art  of  the  ])ublishing 
business. 

In  1874  Mr.  Mack  established  himself 
in  Buffalo.      He  had  then  been  engaged 
in  the  advertising  business  two  years,  and  was  well 
acquainted  with  many  branches  of  the  difficult  sub- 
ject.     He  continued,  therefore,  for  several  years  to 
conduct  various  advertising    enterprises   in    Buffalo. 


Many  of  these  ventures  had  to  do  with  the  jjress, 
and  gave  him  considerable  experience  in  actual 
newspajjer  making,  and  by  the  year  1878  he  felt 
able  to  enter  the  journalistic  world  as  a  publisher. 
I'lstablishing  the  Chautauqua  Lake  Gazette,  accord- 
ingly, at  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  he  conducted  the 
enterprise  with  fair  success  for  some  months  ;  init  in 
1879  he  received  a  favorable  offer  for  the  jjaper, 
and  disposed  of  the  property. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Mack  began 
his  long  career  in  Buftalo  journalism  by  founding  the 
Sunday  Times.  For  a  while  the  printing  was  done 
outside  the  office,  and  not  until  1881  was  the  first 
jjress  purchased  for  the  new  paper  ;  while  the  first 
niunber  of  the  Daily  Times  was  issued  December 
l:>,  188.'j.  Since  the  latter  date  the  ])aper  has  made 
marked  progress  in  both  circulation  and  advertising 


XOKMAX  E.   MACK 


patronage.  In  1886  additional  space  became  neces- 
sary for  dispatching  the  enlarged  volume  of  business  ; 
and  the  Times  building,  at  Nos.  193-1!).")  Main  street, 
was  secured  and  occupied.      In  June,  11^X7,  a   Hoe 


mS 


MEX   OF  XJCir    lOA'A— /rA".s7AAW  SKcnO.X 


jjerfecting  press  was  placed  in  oijeration  ;  in  1892 
another  Hoe  press,  a  counterpart  of  the  first,  was 
installed  ;  and  in  1.S95  a  Goss  "three-decker"  was 
added  to  the  plant.  In  liS98  ten  Merganthaler  lino- 
type machines  were  set  up  in  the  composing  room, 
superseding  the  old  system  of  setting  ty])e  by  hand. 


D.  X.ITH.IXIEI.    MCXAIJGHTAX 

Until  1884  the  Thnes  was  independent  in  politics, 
but  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  that  year  it  came 
out  strongly  for  Cleveland,  and  has  ever  since 
supported  the  regular  Democratic  nominees.  Mr. 
Mack  has  been  very  active  in  political  affairs  person- 
ally as  well  as  journalistically,  and  has  had  an 
important  part  in  the  counsels  of  the  Democratic 
leaders.  He  has  been,  a  delegate  to  various  local 
and  state  conventions.  He  was  one  of  the  alternates 
to  the  Democratic  national  convention  of  1892, 
and  was  the  New  York  member  of  the  notification 
committee  in  that  year.  He  represented  his  con- 
gressional district  on  the  Democratic  state  committee 
for  two  terms,  declining  a  third  term.  He  was  a 
delegate  to  the  Democratic  national  convention  of 


1896,  and  was  a  member  of  the  state  committee  in 
the  presidential  campaign  of  that  year.  He  sup- 
ported Mr.  Bryan  vigorously,  and  enjoyed  his  con- 
fidence in  a  high  degree.  Mr.  Mack,  indeed,  was 
probably  the  most  j)rominent  advocate  of  the 
"regular"  Democracy  in  western  New  York,  and 
thereby  acquired  great  favor  with  those 
who  believed  in  that  cause. 

Mr.  Mack  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo, 
the  Ellicott,  and  the  Press  clubs,  of  the 
Orpheus  and  Liedertafel  singing  soci- 
eties, and  of  other  social  organizations. 

PERSONAL  CUR  ONOL  OGY  — 
Norman  E.  Mack  %vas  born  at  West  Wil- 
liams, Out.,  July  24,  1856;  ivas  clerk  in 
a  store  at  Fontiac,  Mich.,  1868-72 ;  en- 
gaged in  the  advertising  business  in  Detroit 
and  Chicago,  187 2-7 4,  and  in  Buffalo, 
1874-78 ;  married  Harrette  B.  Taggart 
of  Buffalo  December  22,  1801 ;  estab- 
lished the  ' '  Chautauqua  Lake  Gazette  ' ' 
at  Jamestown,  N.  Y. ,  in  1878,  and  the 
Buffalo  ' '  Sunday  Times  ' '  in  1879  ;  was 
alternate  delegate  to  the  Democratic  na- 
tional convention  in  1802  and  delegate  in 
1806 :  has  been  editor  and  proprietor  of 
the  Buffalo  ' '  Times  ' '  since  its  establish- 
ment in  1883. 


S>.   IRatbanlel   jflDclRauobtan 

was  born    in   Worcester,  .Ma.ss.,  less   than 
thirty    years   ago.       Before    he    was   six 
years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  and   the  greater  part  of  his  life 
thus  far  has  been  spent  in  that  plea.sant 
little    city.       He    attended    the    public 
schools  there,  but  completed  his  educa- 
tion at  the  academy  in  the  neighljoring 
town  of  Weedsport,  whither  his  parents 
moved    in    1882.      After    leaving    school    he    spent 
about  a  year  working  at  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and 
was  then  employed  as  an  accountant  for  two  years, 
first  with  Tom]jkins  &  Horton  and  later  with  F.  B. 
Tompkins.      By  this  time  he  had  become  ambitious 
to  study  law,  and  in  January,  1888,  he  entered  the 
office  of  F.    E.   Cady,  judge  of  the  City  Court  of 
Auburn,  as   a   student.       He  remained  there  three 
years,   working  as   a    bookkeeper    evenings   and    at 
odd  intervals  as  the  e.xigencies  of  his  financial  con- 
dition required. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  in  March,  1891,  Mr.  Mc- 
Naughtan  at  once  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  the  office  of  his  former  preceptor. 
Judge   Cady  ;    and    in   the   following  December  he 


.\//:\  (>/■"  .\j-:ir  )c)j<K—i\-/:sn:R.\  sect/ox 


37(1 


opened  an  office  in  connection  with  John  1).  Teller, 
ex-surrogate  of  Cayuga  county,  with  whom  he 
became  closely  associated.  After  a  few  years,  how- 
ever, he  decided  to  seek  a  more  extended  field  of 
professional  labor  than  Auburn  could  offer,  and  in 
June,  1894,  he  moved  to  Buffalo.  He  spent  the 
first  year  and  a  half  there  as  managing  clerk  for 
F.  M.  Inglehart  ;  but  in  February,  1896,  he  opened 
an  office  on  his  own  account.  His  success  in  the 
practice  of  law  at  Buffalo  has  been  singularly  ra|)id 
and  substantial.  He  w'as  forttmate  in  ha\ing  a 
chance  to  show  his  capacity  while  with  Mr.  Ingle- 
hart, who  entrusted  most  of  his  important  work,  and 
all  of  his  court  and  litigated  work,  to  Mr.  McNaugh- 
tan.  Having  established  his  reputation  in  this  way, 
and  shown  his  ability  to  handle  complicated  ])ieces 
of  litigation,  Mr.  McNaughtan  has  obtained  a  cla.ss 
of  business  that  does  not  commonly  fall 
to  the  lot  of  young  lawyers.  From  the 
outset  of  his  career  as  an  independent 
attorney  he  has  been  able  to  occupy 
himself  with  interesting  and  important 
cases  ;  and  his  contested  work  has  taken 
him  almost  exclusively  into  the  higher 
and  appellate  courts.  He  has  conducted 
these  cases  with  so  much  ability,  and  has 
obtained  a  class  of  clients  so  substantial 
in  character,  that  a  high  position  at  the 
bar  of  Buffalo  seems  a.ssured  tor  him. 

Before  taking  up  his  residence  in  Buf- 
falo Mr.  McNaughtan  interested  himself 
considerably  in  the  local  politics  of 
,\uburn,  where  he  did  good  work  in  the 
organization  of  part)"  forces  and  the  har- 
monizing of  opposing  factions.  He  has 
never  sought  nor  desired  public  office, 
and  has  declined  such  openings  for 
political  ])referment  as  have  been  ten- 
dered to  him.  In  December,  1891, 
Adelbert  P.  Rich,  district  attorney  of 
Cayuga  county,  offered  him  the  position 
of  a.ssistant  district  attorney  ;  and  in 
February,  1894,  he  was  nominated  lor 
justice  of  the  peace  in  Auburn,  but  did 
not  accept  the  nomination.  As  yet  he 
has  taken  no  active  part  in  public  affairs 
in  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
D.   Nathaniel  McNaughtan  was  born  at 
Worcester,  Mass. ,  August  2Jf,  1869  ;  was 
educated    in    Auburn    (N.     K)   public    schools    and 
Weedsport  (N.    Y.)   Academy  ;    worked  at  the  shoe- 
maker'' s  trade  and  as  a  bookkeeper  in  Auburn,  1883— 
87 :   studied  law,   and  was   admitted  to  the  bar   in 


1891 :  practiced  laio  at  Auburn,  18!>1-()J^  :  married 
Elizabeth  Manro  of  Auburn  November  5,  189 J^  ;  Joas 
managing  clerk  in  a  law  office  in  Buffalo,  1894-96  ; 
has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  Eebruary,  1806. 


GbarlCS  lllll.  filler  enjoys  in  large  mea,sure 
the  esteem  and  good  will  of  the  people  of  Buffalo, 
where  his  name  has  been  a  household  word  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  has  been 
both  a  cause  and  a  result  of  the  city's  progress,  and 
his  fame  in  the  special  line  in  which  he  has  won 
distini  tion  has  penetrated  far  beyond  the  state.  In 
the  li\ury  and  baggage  business  Mr.  Miller  has  kept 
pace  with  improvements  in  the  railway  and  steam- 
boat service.  He  has  facilitated  the  movement  of 
baggage  and  passengers,  and  rendered  travel  free 
from   many   of  its  besetting  annoyances.      He   has 


CHARLES    ir.   MII^I.ER 


established  an  industry  employing  himdreds  of  men 
and  o]jerating  a  large  equipment. 

Mr.  Miller  may  be  .said  to  have  been  to  the  man- 
ner born.      His  father,  Jacob  S.  Miller,  established 


380 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK --WESTERN  SECTION 


in  1828  one  of  the  first  livery  stables  in  Buffalo,  sit- 
uated near  the  present  Coal  and  Iron  Exchange. 
Mr.  Miller,  senior,  added  to  this  business,  in  1848, 
a  line  of  omnibuses  running  from  the  foot  of  Main 
street  to  Cold  Spring.  Young  Miller  assisted  his 
father  in  this  business,  and  tells  to-day  how  he 
used  to  sell  omnibus  tickets  for  si.vpence  apiece,  or 
twenty  for  a  dollar.  Mr.  Miller's  reminiscences  of 
those  early  days  would  make  an  interesting  volume. 
He  laughs  as  he  tells  of  his  father's  prediction  of 
ruin  because  the  town  council  had  passed  an  ordi- 
nance forbidding  the  blowing  of  the  stage  horn 
below  Clenesee  street.  On  the  death  of  his  father, 
Charles  W.  succeeded  to  the  business,  though  he 
was  then  only  eighteen  years  of  age.  Five  years 
later  the  Buffalo  Street  Railway  Co.  came  into 
existence,  and  a  new  order  of  things  arose. 

While  possessed  of  more  than  average  determina- 
tion, Mr.  Miller  had  too  much  sense  to  sit  down, 
Indian-like,  on  the  track  of  modern  progress.  He 
accepted  the  inevitable,  and  sold  out  his  omnibus 
line  to  the  railway  com]jany,  which  gladly  made 
him  superintendent.  He  remained  with  the  com- 
pany four  years,  when  his  independent  spirit  asserted 
itself,  and  he  resumed  the  coach  and  livery  business. 
Eight  years  later  he  purchased  the  stables  of  Cheese- 
man  &  Dodge  on  Pearl  street,  and  removed  to  that 
location.  Buffalonians  will  recall  the  well-known 
structure,  built  in  twenty-one  days,  in  order  to  e.scape 
the  operation  of  an  impending  law  extending  the 
fire  limit  against  wooden  Iniildings  in  the  business 
part  of  Buffalo.  Predictions  were  numerous  that 
the  structure  would  some  day  go  up  in  smoke, 
and  its  many  narrow  escapes  caused  it  to  be 
known  for  years  as  "the  only  fireproof  building 
in  Buffalo." 

It  was  the  year  after  this  ]3urchase  that  Mr.  Miller 
began  the  coach  and  baggage-express  business.  He 
obtained  from  Commodore  Vanderbilt  the  privilege 
of  placing  agents  on  the  New  York  Central  trains  en- 
tering Buffalo  ;  and  in  time  secured  the  same  rights 
on  all  roads  entering  the  city.  Later  he  opened  a 
union  ticket  office,  where  a  traveler  can  jjurchase  a 
ticket  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  and  have  his 
baggage  checked  through  to  destination.  Few  cities 
can  boast  a  similar  convenience.  As  Buffalo  con- 
tinued to  grow,  Mr.  Miller  opened  an  uptown  stable 
on  Delaware  avenue,  e(|ui|j|jing  it  with  the  finest 
horses  and  carriages  for  public  use  seen  in  the  city  up 
to  that  time.  This  stable  Mr.  Miller  subsequently 
disposed  of  As  a  citizen  with  proper  pride  in  one 
of  the  noted  residence  avenues  of  the  country,  he 
appreciated  the  fact  that  the  street  should  not  be 
invaded  for  business  purposes.      Moreover,  his  many 


enterprises  made  it  advisable  to  concentrate  all 
departments  under  one  roof  For  this  purpose  he 
built  the  magnificent  stables  on  Huron  street.  This 
establishment  he  justly  maintains  to  be  one  of  the 
best  appointed  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States. 
Here  all  the  repairing  incident  to  his  business  is 
done  by  skillful  emiiloyees ;  and  Mr.  Miller  has 
fiicilities  for  turning  out  finished  carriages  if  he  .saw 
fit  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Miller's  operations  are  not  confined  to  Buf- 
falo. He  is  the  senior  partner  in  the  Miller-Brun- 
dage  Coach  Co.,  which  revolutionized  the  carriage 
service  at  Niagara  Falls.  Despite  fierce  opposition, 
this  field  was  won  from  extortionate  and  irresponsible 
carriers.  Mr.  Miller  furnishes  also  the  transporta- 
tion equipment  for  the  famous  Ponce  de  Leon  hotel 
at  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  and  for  the  Bon  Air  hotel, 
Augusta,  (ia.  An  adequate  idea  of  the  vast  extent 
and  proportions  of  his  business  may  be  obtained  by 
a  summary  of  his  force  and  ex])enses.  All  told,  he 
employs  more  than  two  himdred  vehicles  —  coaches, 
victorias,  coupes,  omnibuses,  and  moving  vans  —  over 
five  hundred  horses,  and  nearly  four  hundred  men. 
His  pay  roll  amounts  to  not  far  from  $4000  a 
month.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Miller's  entire  ]ilant 
could  not  be  dujilicated  for  less  than  half  a  million 
dollars. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Charles  IV. 
Miller  7vas  bor/i  at  Buffalo  January  19,  1837 ;  -was 
superintendent  of  the  Buffalo  Street  Railway  Co., 
lS60-(3^  ;  married  Louise  L.  Noxon  in  1S61 ;  has 
carried  on  a  general  coach  and  livery  business  in  Buf- 
falo since  1864-,  and  has  recently  extended  his  opera- 
tions to  Niagara  Falls,  Georgia,  and  Florida. 


df  ranciS  S.  IROOt  was  bom  in  Cayuga  county, 
New  York,  in  1869.  He  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  attending 
district  schools,  however,  in  winter,  and  llnally 
graduating  from  the  literary  department  of  the  Port 
Byron  Academy  in  1889.  The  next  year  he  went 
to  Cornell.  After  taking  a  scientific  and  literary 
course  for  a  year,  he  entered  the  law  school,  and 
graduated  therefrom  with  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  in 
1893.  From  the  time  he  left  home  to  go  to  college 
Mr.  Root  was  dependent  entirely  on  himself  for 
the  means  of  su])])ort.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  a  state  scholarship,  which  gave  him  free  tui- 
tion ;  and  he  worked  in  various  ways  during  vacation 
time  to  defray  the  rest  of  his  expenses.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact,  worthy  of  permanent  record,  that 
Mr.  Root  was  able  to  sjiend  three  years  at  Cornell 
at  a  total  cost,  including  board,  clothing,  books,  and 
everything  else  but  tuition,  of  854G.     In  connection 


AfFX  or  XEW  \'(ih'k'—ui-:s/j:h'.\  sj:c//i)\ 


3cSl 


with  this  fact  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  attained 
distinction  in  college  in  both  the  ways  open  to 
students  —  in  scholarship  and  in  athletics.  His 
graduating  thesis,  entitled  "A  History  of  the  Evo- 
lution of  the  Modern  Law  of  Real  Property, "  won 
the  first  prize  in  competition  with  a  class  of  sixty- 
three  members,  and  was  afterward  pub- 
lished in  the  New  York  Laia  Review. 
Mr.  Root  was  a  member  of  the  freshman 
crew  that  defeated  Columbia  at  New 
London  in  1891,  and  the  next  year  he 
was  on  the  Cornell  "varsity  "  crew. 

Having  obtained  at  Ithaca  an  excel- 
lent training  in  the  theory  of  law,  Mr. 
Root  rounded  this  out  with  practical 
work  in  the  actual  dispatch  of  legal  busi- 
ness. Entering  first  the  office  of  John 
D.  Teller  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  he  after- 
ward continued  his  study  in  Buffalo  with 
Wilcox  &  Miner  and  with  Harvey  L. 
Brown.  Thus  amply  prepared,  he  passed 
the  bar  examinations  easily  at  New  York 
in  January,  1895.  He  then  opened  an 
office  at  Buffalo,  and  has  since  followed 
his  profession  in  that  city.  He  prac- 
ticed alone  until  April  1,  1896,  then 
a.ssociated  himself  for  several  months 
with  James  Harmon  in  the  firm  of  Har- 
mon &  Root,  and  since  September  1 , 
1896,  has  carried  on  his  work  without 
partnership  assistance. 

Mr.  Root  has  been  greatly  interested 
in  politics  and  in  various  economic  ami 
sociological  questions.      He  is  an  ardent 
advocate  of  civil-service  reform,  an  in- 
come   tax,  state  ownership    of  railroads 
and    natural    monopolies,   direct  legisla- 
tion,  the  single   tax,  and   ateolute    free 
trade.     In  1895  he  was  the  nominee  of 
the  People's  party  for  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  his  nomination  was  endorsed  by  the  Prohibition 
party.      He   was  an  enthusia.stic  supporter  of  Bryan 
and  Sewall  and  the  Chicago  platform  in  the  presi- 
dential campaign  of  1896,  and  made  a  few  speeches 
in    behalf  of  the    Democratic    candidates.      He    is 
liberal  in  religious  belief,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Unitarian  church. 

PERSO  NA  L  CHR  ONOLOGY—  Francis 
Stanton  Root  iocs  born  at  Port  Byron,  N.  V. ,  jVovem- 
ber  4,  1869;  graduated  from  the  literary  department 
of  the  Port  Byron  Academy  in  1SS9,  and  from  t/te 
law  departtnent  of  Cornell  University  in  189-i ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  March,  1895,  and  has  practiced 
law  since  then  in  Buffalo. 


OSCflt  Jf .  IPriCC  is  a  true  son  of  Jamestown, 
having  been  born  there  fifty-odd  years  ago,  and 
having  spent  all  his  life  there  thus  far.  He  may 
also  be  regarded,  not  less  truly,  as  the  father  of 
the  modern  city  of  Jamestown,  since  to  him  more 
than   to    any    other  one  man  must  be  ascribed   the 


FR.XXCIS  S.   KOOT 

evolution    of  the    jilace    from    the    thriving  village 
of  a  dozen  years  ago. 

Mr.  Price  attended  the  Jamestown  s(hools  and 
academies,  and  when  his  general  education  was 
completed  he  took  up  a  course  of  law  study.  This 
legal  knowledge  has  been  of  great  service  to  him, 
both  in  his  extensive  real-estate  dealings,  and  in  his 
public  duties  as  the  chief  executive  officer  of  a  new 
city,  .^fter  completing  his  law  studies  Mr.  Price 
embarked  in  the  real-estate  business,  and  in  this  field 
did  good  service  to  the  community.  Jamestown 
well  de.serves  the  epithet  of  "  City  of  Homes,"  and 
this  is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  Mr.  Price's  efforts. 
He  has  built  hundreds  of  houses,  and  placed  them 
on   the   market  on  terms  so    easy    that    those    who 


382 


MEX  OF  A'Eir    YORK  —IVKSTEK.y  SECT/OX 


wished  to  secure  homes  have  been  enabled  to  do  so  ; 
while  in  many  other  cases  he  has  sold  the  land,  and 
advanced  money  for  those  who  wished  to  build  for 
themselves. 

In  addition   to  this  very  practical   work  for  the 
building  up  of  the  city,  Mr.  Price  has  always  taken 


OSCAK   /•■.   fRICE 

an  active  jiart  in  public  affairs,  for  which  his  charac- 
ter, at  once  progressive  and  conservative,  renders 
him  peculiarly  well  fitted.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
served  as  a  member  of  the  village  board  of  trustees, 
and  in  1882  and  1883  he  was  the  president  of  the 
board.  His  townspeople  were  not  slow  in  recogniz- 
ing his  ability  for  public  affairs  and  his  devotion  to 
their  interests,  and  in  1883  and  1884  the\  sent  him 
to  Albany  as  their  representative  in  the  stale  legis- 
lature. 

About  this  time  Mr.  I'rice  became  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  Jamestown  had  outgrown  the  conditions 
of  a  village,  and  was  prepared  to  take  its  place 
among  the  cities  of  the  state.  He  set  himself  to 
educate  public  opinion  in  this  regard,  and  to   over- 


come the  prejudices  of  those  ultra-conservatives  who 
are  never  ready  for  a  change.      Finally,  in  February, 
1885,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  village  trustees 
urging  them  to  call  a  meeting  of  citizens  to  consider 
the  proposal  for  a  city  charter.     The  meeting  was 
called,  and  a  committee  of  ten  was  appointed  to 
draft  the  new  charter.      Mr.  Price  was  a 
member    of  this  committee,  and  had  a 
large  part  in  preparing  the  charter  and 
in  securing  its  pa.ssage  by  the  legislature  a 
year  later.    When  the  first  election  of  city 
officers  was  held,   April   18,    188(i,   Mr. 
Price  was  elected  mayor ;  and  he  held  that 
trying  and  responsible  position  for  four 
consecutive    terms.       During    that    time 
manv  jjroblems  had  to  be  solved  l)y  the 
new    city.        I'he    ipiestions   of    paving, 
electric  lighting,  street  railroads,  water, 
and  sewers  all  demanded  attention  ;    and 
in  every  case  Mayor  Price  took  his  stand 
on   the  side  of  the  jieople,  and  secured 
for  them  an  economical  and  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  the  matter  under  consider- 
ation.     During  all  the  years  of  his  ad- 
ministration  no  whisper  of  scandal  was 
ever  breathed  against   the  city    govern- 
ment, no  accusation  of  political  trickery 
was  ever  dreamed  of;  and  when,  at  the 
close   of  his    fourth    term   of  office,   he 
refused  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used  as 
a    candidate    for    re-election,    he    left    a 
record  for  unselfish  devotion  to  the  pub- 
lic welfare  that  has  seldom  been  equaled 
in  the    annals  of  city   government.      So 
great  was   his   popularity    that,  after  an 
interval  of  two  years,  he  was  again  called 
to  preside  over    the  affairs    of  the  city, 
and  in  .\pril,    1891),   he  began    his  fifth 
term  as  mayor  of  Jamestown. 
In  private  as  in  public  life   Mr.  Price  possesses  a 
manner    iina.ssuming   and    <  ourteous,    yet    dignified 
withal.      His    fellow-citi/ens    know    him   as  a   man 
whose  sound  and  accurate  judgment  can  be  relied 
ujjon,  and  whose  rare  kindliness  of  heart  makes  him 
the  friend  of  all  who  need  his  aid. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Oscar  J-'. 
Pritf  7c>as  horn  at  Jaiiicslcni'ii.  A^.  F. ,  September  11, 
ISJfO  ;  was  educated  in  Jamestmvn  schools  and  acade- 
mies :  was  a  mem/ier  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  James- 
tinc'ii  /or  several  years,  and  sen'cd  as  president  of  the 
/ward,  1882-83  :  was  member  of  the  state  assemh/y, 
1883-84  ;  was  the  first  mayor  of  Jamestotun,  hold- 
ing the  office,  1886-&4,  and  was  elected  again  in 
1896. 


AfE.x  OF  XKW  yoRK^]}i-:srF.h'\  sF.cr/o.y 


]£5\Var&  H.  Sftinner,  for  twenty  years  past 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Westfield, 
N.  Y.,  and  its  successor,  the  National  Bank  of  West- 
field,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Aurora,  Erie  county, 
in  1841.  His  father,  who  was  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man at  that  time,  had  moved  to  western  New  York 
from  Oneida  county  five  years  earlier,  and  the  family 
another  generation  back  was  to  be  found  in  Berk- 
shire county,  Massachusetts.  When  Mr.  Skinner 
was  thirteen  years  old  his  father  moved  to  Westfield, 
to  fill  the  position  of  a  bank  cashier.  Between  that 
date,  18-54,  and  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  Mr. 
Skinner  spent  most  of  his  time  acquiring  an  educa- 
tion in  the  Westfield  .\cademy. 

In  October,  1861,  the  9th  regiment.  New  York 
volunteer  cavalry,  was  organized  in  Chautauqua  and 
Cattaraugus  counties,  and  was  rendezvoused  at  West- 
field  ;  and  in  November,  1801,  while 
still  under  age,  Mr.  Skinner  entered  the 
service.  In  the  same  month  his  regi- 
ment joined  McClellan's  army  near  Wash- 
ington, and  served  there  and  on  the 
Penin.sula,  unmounted,  until  May,  1862. 
Having  returned  to  Washington  at  that 
time  to  be  mounted  and  equipped,  the 
regiment  was  assigned  to  Siegel's  corps 
under  Pope's  general  command  in  July, 
1862,  and  participated  in  the  unsatisfac- 
tory campaign  of  that  summer.  After 
Pope's  retreat  to  Washington  Mr.  Skin- 
ner's regiment  became  a  part  of  the 
cavalry  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  served  therewith  throughout 
the  campaign  of  '63  in  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, and  Pennsylvania.  Early  in  his 
army  life  Mr.  Skinner  was  detailed  to 
act  as  regimental  quartermaster,  and  was 
soon  commissioned  such  ;  and  during 
much  of  the  time  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  brigade  quartermaster.  He 
left  the  service,  owing  to  ill  health,  in 
March,  18(i4. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  the  First  National 
Bank    of    Westfield  was  organized,   and 
Mr.  Skinner,  becoming  assistant  cashier 
of  the  institution,  began  his  long  career 
as  a  banker.      The  fact  that  he  had  made 
no  mistake  in  choosing  his  vocation  was 
soon  apparent,  and  he  was  promoted  in 
a  few  years  to  the  position  of  cashier. 
In  1870,   however,   consistently   with  the  unrest  of 
youth,  he  decided  to  try  his  fortunes  beyond  the 
Mississippi.     Kansas  was  then  one  of  the  most  prom- 
ising states  of  the  West,  and  in  the  city  of  Ottawa 


Mr.  Skinner  a.ssisted  in  organizing  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank.  He  remained  in  Kansas  several  years, 
and  then,  after  spending  some  months  in  Europe, 
once  more  took  ujj  his  residence  in  Westfield,  in  the 
summer  of  1874,  becoming  vice  president  of  the 
First  National  Bank,  and  taking  an  active  part  in 
its  management.  Two  years  later  his  father  died, 
and  he  succeeded  him  in  the  presidency  of  the 
bank.  Since  then  Mr.  Skinner  has  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  institution,  and  has  attained  a  high 
reputation  as  a  progressive  and  conservative  banker. 
.\side  from  his  banking  interests  Mr.  Skinner's 
chief  business  connection  has  been  with  the  fraternal 
organization  known  as  the  Royal  .\rcanum.  Joining 
this  society  in  1878,  he  participated  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Orand  Council  of  the  State  of  New  York 
in  1S7!I,   and  was  sent  as   its  first  representative  to 


/■:/>\\    \HI>     I.   Sh'JWF.h' 


the  Supreme  Council  of  the  order.  In  188U  he  was 
elected  Supreme  Treasurer,  and  has  held  the  posi- 
tion continuou.sly  since.  The  importance  of  the 
office   mav  be  understood  from  the   statement  that 


384 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


the  Royal  Arcanum  now  has  U)0,()00  members,  dis- 
burses annually  five  million  dollars,  and  has  paid  in 
death  claims  since  its  organization  nearly  forty  mil- 
lion dollars. 

In  the  social  life  of  Wcstfield  Mr.  Skinner  has 
naturally  been  prominent.  He  has  long  been  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  C"hurch  there.  He  be- 
longs to  the  (Irand  .Army  of  the  Republic,  and  to 
the  Loyal  Legion.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party,  but  has  held  no 
political  office  e.xcejd  that  of  supervisor  of  the  town 
of  \\'estfield  for  three  years. 

PER  S  ON  A  L  CHR  O  N  OLOGY—  Eihcard 
Album  Skinner  was  born  at  Griffin' s  Alills,  Erie 
county,  N.  K,  May  10,  184.1 ;  was  educated  at  iVest- 
field  {^N.  y. )  Academy ;  served  in  the  Union  army, 
1861— 6 Jf;  was  assistant  cashier  and  cashier  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Westjicld,  1864.-70  ;  engaged 
in  banking  at  Ottawa,  Kans.,  1870-73;  married 
Frances  M.  Barger  of  IVesf field  October  20,  1804, 
who  died  June  16,  1872 ;  married  Augusta  Wheeler 
of  Portville,  N.  Y.,  August  19,  1874;  became  vice 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Westfield  in 
1874,  c'"^  fi^^  been  president  of  that  bank  and  its 
successor,  the  National  Bank  of  Westfield,  since  1870 : 
has  been  Supreme  Treasurer  of  the  Royal  Arcanum 
since  1880. 

2lrtbUr  C.  TSUflbC  Iws  won  success  in  both 
law  and  commercial  life.  He  ])Ossesses  the  capacity, 
the  activity,  and  the  resolution  so  characteristic  of 
the  modern  man  of  affairs.  His  e.xperience  as  a 
lawyer  and  business  man  has  been  diversified,  and 
of  an  intensely  practical  kind.  He  has  been  a  pro- 
moter of  new  enterprises,  an  encourager  and  a  sup- 
porter of  mechanical  skill  and  ingenuity.  At  the 
same  time  he  has  not  allowed  private  affairs  to 
absorb  all  his  attention,  but  has  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  political  and  public  matters  that  demand 
the  participation  of  all  patriotic  citizens. 

Mr.  Wade  is  a  native  of  Chautauqua  county,  and 
attended  its  excellent  district  schools,  receiving 
higher  education  at  P211ington  Academy  and  Cham- 
berlain Institute.  He  early  became  desirous  of 
making  the  law  his  profession,  and  pursued  a  course 
of  study  at  the  famous  Albany  Law  School,  from 
which  he  graduated  twenty  years  ago.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1877, 
and  opened  an  office  at  Ellington,  N.  Y.,  the  same 
year,  becoming  a  partner  of  Theodore  A.  Case  of 
that  town,  for  many  years  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
citizen  of  western  New  York.  This  connection 
lasted  for  six  years,  and  was  valuable  to  Mr.  Wade 
in  bringing  him  into  contact  with  a  greater  volume 


of  business  than  ordinarily  falls  to  the  lot  of  a 
beginner  in  the  law.  In  18<H.i  the  partnership  was 
dis.solved,  and  he  a.ssociated  himself  with  Orsell 
Cook  and  Jerome  B.  Fisher  of  Jamestown,  X.  Y., 
with  whom  he  continued  to  practice  until  the  death 
of  Judge  Cook  twelve  years  later.  Since  then  his 
partners  have  been  Mr.  Fisher  and  M.  R.  Stevenson. 
Mr.  Wade's  legal  career  has  been  marked  by  care- 
ful study  of  his  cases,  elaborate  preparation  for 
trial,  and  faithfulness  to  the  interests  of  his  clients. 
Since  the  days  of  Madison  Hurnell  the  Chautauqua- 
county  bar  has  not  known  an  abler  cross-examiner 
or  a  more  successful  advocate  than  he.  In  these 
cjualities  he  stands  conspicuous  among  the  foremost 
lawyers  of  western  New  York.  His  well-known 
talent  for  investigation  and  his  practical  knowledge 
of  street-railway  management,  commended  him  to 
the  legislative  committee  that  investigated  the  sur- 
face and  elevated  railways  of  the  state  in  the  sum- 
mer and  fall  of  1895  ;  and  his  skillful  and  thorough 
conduct  of  the  investigations  elicited  the  cordial  com- 
mendation of  the  ablest  lawyers  throughout  the  state. 

Mr.  Wade's  business  enterprises  have  been  mainly 
in  the  line  of  manufacturing  and  transportation. 
He  is  president  of  the  Fenton  Metallic  Mfg.  Co., 
the  Jamestown  Felt  Mills,  the  Ulster  Oil  Co.,  and 
the  United  States  Voting  Machine  Co.  He  is  sec- 
retary of  the  Waverly,  Sayre  &  Athens  Traction 
Co.,  and  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Chautau(|ua 
Steamboat  Co.  The  mere  recital  of  the  names  of 
these  organizations  indicates  the  practical  bent  of 
Mr.  Wade's  energies.  He  is  also  extensively  en- 
gaged in  real-estate  tran.sactions,  and  has  figured  in 
many  land-imjjrovement  enterprises. 

A  man  so  jirominent  at  the  bar  and  in  business 
naturally  ac([uires  .such  influence  and  prestige  in  a 
community  as  will  commend  him  for  political  prefer- 
ment. Mr.  Wade  is  a  strong  Republican  in  his 
political  faith,  but  he  has  too  many  interests  to  find 
much  time  for  the  diversions  of  politics.  For 
.several  years,  however,  his  services  have  been  in 
great  demand  during  cami)aigns  ;  and  he  has  made 
numerous  tours  of  the  state,  and  is  one  of  the  favorite 
campaign  orators.  He  is  an  aggressive,  logical, 
vote-getting  speaker,  and  eloquent  enough  to  con- 
trol even  a  hostile  audience.  His  party  a.ssociates 
have  at  various  times  sought  to  induce  him  to 
become  a  candidate  for  public  office,  and  in  1891 
he  was  nominated  for  state  comptroller.  He  had 
excellent  ciualifications  for  this  office,  anil  would 
doubtless  have  dis(  harged  its  duties  most  acceptably, 
had  he  been  elected.  It  hajjpened,  however,  not  to 
be  a  Republican  year,  and  he  suffered  defeat  with 
the  rest  of  the  ticket. 


.I//i".\"   or  XEi]-    VORK—irF.STERX  SECTIOX 


3S5 


As  may  be  easily  inferred  from  the  foregoing, 
Mr.  Wade  is  a  progressive  force  in  his  communitv. 
and  has  had  a  large  part  in  the  recent  develo|)ment 
of  Jamestown  and  Chautauqua  county.  His  career 
is  an  inspiration  to  the  younger  memliers  of  the  bar, 
and  is  a  striking  example  of  what  brains,  energy, 
and  patience  can  accomi)lish  in  this 
country.  Having  ex|)erienced  some  of 
the  difficulties  with  which  yoimg  men 
have  to  contend,  he  is  ever  ready  to  lend 
them  a  helping  hand.  Man\-  young 
lawyers  owe  their  first  im|)etus  to  success 
to  his  kindly  interest  and  substantial  aid. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Aiilnir  C.  Wade  was  born  at  Chaflotle, 
N.  v.,  December  12,  1852:  was  edu- 
cated at  Elliih^ton  (TV'.  Y.)  Academy,  and 
Chamberlain  Institute,  Randol[<h,  N.  Y.  : 
graduated  from  the  Albany  Law  School 
in  1877,  and  7vas  at  once  admitted  to 
the  bar;  married  Af.  Franc  Briggs  of 
Ellington  August  22,  1877  ;  practiced  laic 
at  Ellington,  1877-82 ;  rcas  Republican 
candidate  for  comptroller  of  the  state  oj 
New  York  in  1891 ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Jamestmuu,  N.   Y,  since  ISSo. 


3erome  JB.  jfisber  is  known  to 

the  liar  and  [leople  of  western  New  York 
as  one  of  the  safest  counselors  and  alilest 
trial   lawvers  in  that  section  of  the  state. 
He  was  born    in   the   village  of  Russell, 
Warren    county,    I'enn.,   aliout    forty-six 
years   ago,   removing    to    Jamestown    in 
lX(i4,  where  he  has  since   resided.      His 
early  education  wa.s  obtained  in  the  com- 
mon  schools  of   Pennsylvania,   and  was 
continued  at  the  Jamestown  Union  School 
and  Collegiate  Institute,    from   which    he 
graduated    in    187"2.       He    also    attended    Cornell 
University    two  years,    taking  an    optional    course. 
After    leaving  Cornell,    he  began  the  study  of  law 
in    the    office    of  Bootey    &    Fowler   at    [amestown, 
and  wa.s   admitted   to   the  bar   in    1S7S. 

He  began  practice  alone,  but  soon  formed  a 
partnership  with  Marvin  Smith,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Smith  &  Fisher.  This  partnershi])  continued  till 
August,  IS.Sl,  when  he  became  the  junior  member 
of  the  firm  of  Cook,  Lockwood  &  I'isher.  In  ISSi! 
Mr.  Lockwood  retired  from  the  firm,  and  in  1SS,'> 
Arthur  C.  Wade  was  admitted  to  membership,  the 
style  being  Cook,  Fi.sher  &  Wade  until  the  dissolu 
tion  of  the  firm  upon  the  death  of  Judge  Cook  in 
July,  1895.     Fisher  &  Wade  continued  the  business. 


and   in  September,   I.SII"),  thev  a.ssociated  with    them 
M.  R.  Stevenson. 

In  political  matters  Judge  Fisher  ha.s  been  a  par- 
tisan of  the  strictest  sort,  but  ha.s  enjoyed  the  con- 
fidence and  esteem  of  men  of  all  parties.  He  has 
virtually    been    in   |)ul)lic    life   since    his   admission 


.th't'/iin  c.    11  I/)/-: 

to  the  l)ar.  Even  while  studying  law  he  was  twice 
elected  clerk  of  the  village  of  Jamestown,  and  after- 
wards represented  ihc  city  on  the  board  of  super- 
visors. In  I  S,S4  he  was  chosen  alternate  tlelegate 
to  the  Re|)ubli(an  national  conxention,  where  he 
favored  the  nomination  of  Blaine  ;  and  he  was  an 
ardent  supjiorler  of  Harrison  in  the  national  con- 
vention (il  Is.s.s.  to  which  he  was  a  delegate. 
.Kfter  the  ele(  tion  of  President  llarri.son  |udge  Fisher 
was  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  office  of  United 
States  district  attorney,  and  received  the  united 
sup])ort  of  the  organization  and  leaders  of  the  parlv 
in  the  state.  Owing  to  an  unforttniate  factional 
fight,  he  was  defeated  in  ISltO  for  the  position  of 
county  judge  of  Chautauqua  county.      In   UsiXl  he 


386 


AfEN  OF  NEW    VORK  —  IVESTERN  SECTfON 


received  the  unanimous  nomination  of  the  Repub- 
lican county  convention  for  the  same  office,  and 
was  elected  by  more  than  7000  majority.  He  has 
been  on  the  bench  only  a  short  time  now,  but 
already  long  enough  to  demonstrate  his  im]jartiality, 
fairness,  and  fidelity. 

Judge  Fisher  has  had  few  eijuals  in  western   New 


JEROME   B.    I-ISHEK 

York  in  recent  years  as  a  trial  lawyer.  Two  notable 
recent  cases  in  which  he  was  conspicuously  success- 
ful were  the  Broadhead-Lister  suit,  involving  several 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  ca.se  of  the  People 
against  James  Rainey,  whom  he  succeeded  in  acquit- 
ting of  the  charge  of  murder. 

Not  only  has  Judge  Fisher  been  conspicuous  in 
the  courts  and  active  in  politics,  but  for  many  years 
he  has  been  prominent  in  lodge  and  social  circles, 
and  identified  with  many  business  enterpri.ses.  He 
is  president  of  the  Jamestown  Shale  Paving  Brick 
Co.,  and  of  the  Lakewood  Ice  Co.,  and  is  a  stock- 
holder in  other  business  enterjirises.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of   Mt.    Moriah    Lodge,    F.   &   .A.    M.,   and    of 


Western  Sun  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.  ;  and  he  was  the 
first  Eminent  Commander  of  Jamestown  Command- 
ery.  No.  (il,  R.  T.  He  is  a  Past  Exalted  Ruler  of 
Jamestown  Lodge,  No.  263,  B.  P.  O.  E.,  and  is 
chairman  of  the  board  of  Grand  Trustees  of  the 
order  in  the  United  States.  He  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Jamestown   Club. 

Judge  Fisher's  services  are  in  almost 
constant  demand  for  public  addresses. 
As  an  aggressive  cami>aigner  he  has 
acquired  a  well-deserved  fame,  while  as 
an  occasional  orator  and  after-dinner 
s])eaker  he  ranks  with  the  foremost  of 
the  Empire  State.  From  an  early  period 
in  his  career  Judge  P^isher  enjoyed  the 
friendship  of  the  late  Governor  Fenton, 
and  was  named  by  him  as  one  of  his 
executors,  and  was  made  a  legatee  under 
his  will. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Jerome  R.  Fisher  luas  horn  at  Russell, 
Warren  county,  Penu.,  February  IS, 
1851 :  iiiffi'ed  to  Jamestotvn,  N'.  V.,  May 
8,  186 J^ ;  was  educated  at  Jamestown 
Union  School  and  Collegiate  Institute,  and 
Cornell  Univeisity ;  rcas  admitted  to  the 
liar  in  1878  ;  married  Julia  F,.  Hatch  of 
/amestojvn  December  1!),  1878  :  7t'as  alter- 
nate delegate  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  in  188^,  and  a  delegate  in 
1888  :  7eias  elected  county  judge  of  Chau- 
tauqua county  in  Norember,  1806 ;  has 
f>racticed  huo  in  Jamestoion  since  1878. 

—        •♦•        

HrtbUr  C.  lljaStinOS,  re.ently 
cle»tecl  mavor  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  pre- 
viously prominent  in  political  and  in 
business  life,  is  still  a  young  man,  having 
been  born  in  Brooklyn  a  few  months 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War. 
His  early  education  wa.s  received  in  the  public 
schools  of  Brooklyn  ;  and  he  afterward  attended 
Smith  College  at  Hatfield,  Ma.ss.  He  commenced 
his  active  business  career  in  1.S77  at  Rochester, 
with  the  Rochester  Paper  Co.,  becoming  secretary 
of  the  company  after  a  short  term  of  service. 
Resigning  this  position  in  l.SSi),  he  associated  him- 
self with  John  F.  Quigiey  in  building  and  operating 
])ulp  and  paper  mills  at  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. 
After  that  he  became  treasurer  and  manager  of 
the  Cliff  Paper  Co.  at  Niagara  Falls,  and  is  still  so 
engaged.  Mr.  Hastings  has  concentrated  his  busi- 
ness activity  on  a  single  industry,  and  has  in  that 
way  acquired  a  wide  knowledge  of  liie  ficlil.      He 


MEN  OF  NEW   YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


387 


knows  thoroughly  both  the  manufacturing  end  of  the 
business,  and  the  difficult  market  in  which  the 
product  must  be  sold.  The  paper  industry  has  ex- 
panded enormously  in  recent  years  because  of  great 
improvements  in  machinery  and  processes  ;  and  men 
who  have  grown  up  with  the  new  order  of  things 
are  correspondingly  valuable  in  the  contluct  of 
paper-making  plants. 

Mr.  Hastings  has  given  his  best  attention  to  busi- 
ness, and  has  not  until  lately  taken  an  active  part  in 
outside  pursuits.  He  has  always  been  interested, 
however,  in  public  matters,  and  only  the  ])ressure  of 
private  business  has  kept  him  from  participation  in 
political  affairs.  In  1896  he  became  president  of 
the  police  board  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  made  so  good 
a  record  in  the  office  that  his  name  began  to  be 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  mayoralty  of  the 
city.  As  the  time  for  deciding  upon  the 
nominees  approached,  his  candidacy  in- 
creased in  favor,  and  he  ultimately  re- 
ceived the  Republican  nomination.  He 
was  elected  in  March,  1897,  overcoming 
the  usual  Democratic  majority.  Although 
Mayor  Hastings  has  served  but  a  part 
of  his  term  as  chief  magistrate  of  Niagara 
Falls,  the  prophecy  may  safely  be  made 
that  his  administration  will  be  efficient, 
business-like,  and  clean. 

In  the  social  life  of  Niagara  Kails 
Mayor  Hastings  has  naturally  been  prom- 
inent. He  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason, 
and  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Nobles 
of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
Arthur  Chapiii  Hastings  was  born  at 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  July  13,  1860;  was 
educated  in  Brooklyn  public  schools  and 
at  Smith  Colle;^e,  Hatfield,  Mass.  :  mar- 
ried Alice  ir.  Broicn  of  Rochester  /anuary 
13,  1887 ;  was  connected  with  the  Roch- 
ester Paper  Co.,  1877-89;  has  been 
treasurer  and  manager  of  the  Cliff  Paper 
Co.,  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  situe  1892. 


Xee  IR.   Sanborn   has  stamped 

himself  indelibly  iqion  the  map  of  Niagara 

county,  and   in   the  hearts  of  its  people. 

His  father  was  a  teacher  at  Bath,  N.  H., 

and  afterward    an    itinerant  preacher  in 

the    Methodist    Episcopal    church  :    and 

his    mother  was    likewise   a  teacher   at  Worcester, 

Mass.,  and  a  person  of  culture  and  character.     Under 

the  wholesome    influence  of  their  prece|jt  and  e.\- 

ample  Mr.  Sanborn  ac(|uired  a  thorough  moral  and  a 


fair  intellectual  education.  He  was  born  near 
Brock])ort,  Monroe  county,  but  moved  a  few  miles 
west,  to  the  place  that  now  bears  his  name.  There 
he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business  and  in  manu- 
facturing, and  soon  became  widely  and  favorably 
known.  In  fact  his  position  in  the  community 
ultimately  became  such  that  the  people  of  the  place 
named  the  village  after  him. 

The  ])rominence  implied  in  this  event  was  also 
evident  in  numerous  public  trusts  to  which  Mr.  San- 
born was  called  early  in  his  career.  At  one  time  or 
another  he  has  held  almost  all  the  town  offices.  In 
1870  and  again  the  next  year,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  state  assembly,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
proceedings  of  that  body.  He  has  often  been  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  state  conventions,  and  in  1884 
was  a  delegate  to  the  national  convention  that  nom- 


ARTIIUR   C.    /I.I.STIXCS 


inated  James  G.  Blaine.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  regarded  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  Niagara  county  ;  and  his  great  influence 
at  home  and  elsewhere  has  contributed  materially  to 


3SS 


AfEX   OF  NEJV   VORK—irEsrr.RX  SECTfOX 


the  strength  of  the  Rc|)iil)li(an  cause  in  his  part  (if 
the  state.  In  188G  he  was  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  New  York  a  member  of  the  board  of  man- 
agement of  the  state  school  for  the  blind  at  Hatavia. 
Mc  was  elected  i)rcsidcnt  of  the  board  of  trustees  in 
the  same  \car,  and   still  holils  thai    position.      He  is 


I. HE   R.    SAXBORX 

noted  for  hisinterest  iiiali  ]ihilanlhropic  enterprises, 
and  for  many  deeds  of  private  benevolence. 

Mr.  Sanborn  has  been  engaged  in  \arious  <'om- 
mercial  undertakings,  and  has  shown  unusual  busi 
ness  ability  in  the  conduct  of  the  same.  He  has 
been  largely  interested  in  the  manuftii  ture  of  lumber 
in  western  New  York  and  Mi<  liigan,  where  he  has 
had  large  timber  interests  for  many  years.  He  has 
also  taken  much  personal  interest  in  his  farm,  whic  h 
is  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  the  counlv. 

Mr.  Sanborn  has  been  since  early  manhood  a  firm 
believer  in  Masonry,  and  has  risen  to  high  rank   in 
the  order.      He  is  a  member  (i(  ( lenesee  Command 
ery.  No.    1(1,   Knights    Templars.    Lockport,   a  Scot- 
ti.sh   Rite  Ma.son,  and  a  member  of  Ismailia   Temple, 


r.uffalo.  He  is  al.so  greatly  interested  in  the  Royal 
'Templars  of  Temperance,  and  other  fraternal  orders. 
In  1.SS7  he  was  elected  rejjresentative  to  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Royal  'Templars,  and  by  that  body  was 
made  a  life  member  of  the  board  of  directors.  In 
liS!)'2  he  was  elected  Su])reme  Councilor,  and  now 
holds  that  position. 

/'F.RSONA  L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y  — 
/.!■(■  Randall  Sanhoni  loas  liorii  at  Siordni. 
Mottroe  county,  A\  Y.,  August  S,  ISSl  : 
iCHTi  educated  in  public  schoolx :  married 
Julia  C '.  Crawford  of  Lewis/on,  N.  Y. , 
Scptemhcr  9,  IS  J,!)  :  was  a  memher  of  the 
Neiv  York  state  asseml>l\\  1S7U-71;  has 
lived  at  Sanliorn,  N.  )'. ,  engaged  in 
lunil'cr  dealing,  farming,  and  various  com- 
mercial enterfrises,  since  1S4^'. 


3o\m  <B.  Mallenmeier,  St.,  is 

of  Cerman  descent,  but  his  life  thus  far 
has  l)een  S|)ent  in  western  New  ^'ork. 
Tiorn  in  the  section  of  Buffalo  known 
as  Black  Rock  during  the  early  part  of 
the  Civil  War.  he  was  taken  to  Tona- 
wanda  in  (  hildhciod,  and  has  made  his 
home  there  ever  since.  He  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
iciun,  and  gained  his  first  knowledge  of 
lommerc  ial  life  there. 

Shortly  before  he  attained  his  majoritv 
judge  Wallenmeier  began  business  on 
his  own  accoinit,  opening  a  grocery  store 
in  Tonawanda  in  May,  1883.  He  con- 
ducted the  undertaking  with  prudence 
and  energy,  and  met  with  a  good  degree 
of  success  11(1111  the  start.  .After  a  few 
years  he  addc'd  a  meal  market  to  his  estali- 
lishment  ;  and  the  (  (imljined  business  was 
continued  until  the  spring  of  18!I4.  when 
lie  sold  his  store  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  other 
duties. 

judge  Wallenmeier  has  always  been  an  active 
Republican,  and  has  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
|)ublic  affairs  in  Tonawanda.  His  de\otion  to  hi- 
party  and  the  cause  of  good  government  in  general 
was  appreciated  by  his  fellow-citi/ens ;  and  was 
appropriately  rec  (ignized  by  his  appointment  by  the 
counc  il  of 'Tonawanda  as  the  first  iiolice  justice  tmder 
the  act  of  1 8!I4  establishing  a  ])olice  force  in  the 
tcuvn.  In  the  s]iring  of  18!).")  he  was  elected  b\ 
the  people  to  the  same  oflfice  for  a  term  of  lour 
years.  The  gro\king  and  changing  jiopulation  of 
the  thriving  manufacturing  town  is  not  alwa\s  of  the 
most  peacefiil  character,  and   bulge  Wallenmeier  has 


AfE.x  or  .w-./r  YORK  -ir/:sri:i<.\  s/:c7vo.v 


3s;i 


had  abundant  opportunity  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  his  office.  He  has  fulfilled  its  duties  with  <-oni- 
mendable  zeal  and  vigor,  and  with  strict  impartiality 
as  well ;  meting  out  due  isunishment  to  all  offenders 
without  regard  for  position,  and  with  a  sturdy  deter- 
mination to  render  justice  that  has  gained  for  him 
the  ajjproval   of  all   right-minded    jiersons. 

Judge  Wallenmeier  has  taken  much  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  savings  and  loan  associations  that  have 
become  so  popular  in  recent  years.  Their  facilities 
for  utilizing  the  small  weekly  savings  of  the  working- 
man  ap])ealed  to  his  German  thrift  and  common 
sense.  In  1890,  accordingly,  he  helped  to  organize 
the  Niagara  Savings  and  Loan  Association,  and  was 
its  president  for  several  years,  retiring  in  ISiKiwhen 
he  found  the  cares  of  the  position  too  arduous  to  be 
continued  longer  in  connection  with  his  publit  duties. 

In   the  general  and  social  life  of  thii 

community   Judge   Wallenmeier    is    nat-         | 

urally  prominent,  and  he  has  a  host  of 
friends.  He  is  the  Worshipful  Master  of 
Tonawanda  Lodge,  No.  247,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  belongs  to  the  German  Evangelical 
church.  Having  served  from  LSTS  to 
188(j  as  a  volunteer  fireman  at  Tona- 
wanda, he  received  his  exemption  papers 
from  the  village  council  in  .April,  1886. 
In  .April,  1897,  he  was  elected  by  the 
active  volunteer  firemen  a  member  of 
the  Tonawanda  Firemen's  Benevolent 
Association  then  organizing,  and  was 
chosen  by  a  unanimous  vote  its  lir<t 
secretary. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
John  George  Wallenmeier,  Jr.,  rvas  lioni 
at  Buffalo  Oetolier  10,  1862  ;  7ms  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  Tonaifanda. 
N.  Y.;  married  Hattic  May  Koch  oj 
Tomnoanda  N'oi'cmber  H,  ISS-i ;  con- 
ducted a  grocery  and  meat  market  at  Ton- 
aivanda,  1883-9^  ;  loas  president  of  the 
Niagara  Sa7'ings  and  Loan  Association, 
1895-96  ;  has  been  police  Justice  of  Toiia- 
vanda  since  ISO 4. 


50bn  G.  MiCftB,  one  of  the  leading 
attorneys  of  the  (1iautaui|ua-coimty  bar. 
has  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
municipal  history  of  the  city  of  James- 
town since  its  organization.      When  that 
community    outgrew    its    village    conditions,    and 
a.ssumed  the  dignity  of  a  city,  Mr.  Wiiks  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  first  common  council  from  the  1st 
ward  of  the   citv.      He  had  been  instrumental,  with 


others,  in  drafting  the  original  charter  b\  which  the 
new  (  ity  was  to  be  governed.  On  the  organization 
of  the  common  council  he  took  an  active  ])art  in  in- 
augurating and  maintaining  the  policv  of  the  munic- 
ipal government. 

Mr.  Wicks  was  ]iarticularlv  jirominent  among 
those  who  demanded  a  mmiicipal  control  of  certain 
natural  monopolies,  such  as  public  waterworks, 
electric  lighting  ])lants,  and  the  like.  It  was  largely 
through  his  efforts  that  a  municipal  electric  lighting 
plant  was  established  at  Jamestown.  As  an  alder- 
man of  the  city  he  worked  for  this  end  in  season  and 
out  of  sea.son  ;  and  the  plant  has  since  been  enlarged 
and  developed  to  such  an  extent  as  to  justify  and 
reward  his  early  acti\  it\-  and  energy  in  its  behalf 

.After  a  service  of  four  years  in  the  common  coun- 
cil   Mr.    W  irks   retired    Irom    piibli(    office;    but  his 


jon\  c.  \\,\ I. /. f-:.v.\r/:tt:A\  /a-. 

work  was  too  important  to  the  commonwealth  to 
|iermit  of  long  inactivitv,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year 
he  was  chosen  attorney  for  the  city  of  Jamestown. 
\cting    in    this   ca]iacitv   for   four   years,   he   drafted 


390 


MEN   OF  \K]r    yOKK—U'KSTKKX  SECT/OX 


many  amendments  to  the  city  charter  :  virtually, 
indeed,  he  redrafted  the  entire  instrument.  During 
his  term  of  office  many  public  improvements  were 
undertaken  ;  and  all  the  bonds  created  thereby  were 
issued  under  his  direction,  and  the  contracts  for 
more  than   half  a  million   dollars'  worth  of  ]jublic 


JOHN  G.  ii/(A:s 

works  were  drawn  by  him.  To  his  credit  as  an 
attorney  it  can  be  said  that  no  llaw  has  been  dis- 
covered in  any  of  this  work. 

Mr.  Wicks  was  born  in  the  town  of  Carroll,  now 
Kiantone,  Chantaucpia  county.  .After  graduating 
from  the  Jamestown  High  School,  and  later  from  the 
Albany  law  School,  he  was  admitted  to  tlie  bar  in 
1H76,  and  soon  took  raiik  with  the  leaders  of  his 
profession  in  his  native  county.  Among  the  at- 
torneys who  have  graduated  from  his  office  are  .\.  V. 
Pickard,  J.  Delevan  Curtiss,  and  1).  1).  Dorn.  For 
several  years  he  was  associated  with  Mr.  Curtiss: 
since  the  di.ssolution  of  this  partnership  he  has  pre- 
ferred to  ])ractice  alone. 

Aside    from    his   conneciiiui  with    the   legal    pro- 


fession, .Mr.  Wicks  has  been  prominently  identified 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  hold- 
ing the  office  of  District  Deputy  Orand  Master  of 
Chautauqua  county  for  three  years  in  the  '8()'s.  He 
has  alvva)'s  been  active  in  the  Republican  ])arty. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Gilbert 
Wicks  was  boni  in  the  t<nvn  of  Carroll, 
Chautauqua  county,  N'.  V.,  January  10, 
1855 ;  was  educated  in  country  schools 
and  the  /aniesto7C'n  L/igh  School ;  grad- 
uated from  the  Albany  Law  School,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1876  ;  married 
Emma  L.  Russell  in  December,  1876  : 
li'as  an  alderman  of  the  city  of  James- 
tinon,  1886-90,  and  citj.'  attorney,  1891- 
95  :  has  practiced  la7V  in  Jamestoivii  since 
1876. 


jf  rc5  S.  Cores  ^^'^  ^o""" '"  J<-'ii"'-"r- 

son   county,  New  York,  during  the  Civil 
War.      He  was   educated    in    the  luibiic 
.schools  of  Watertown,   the  county  seat, 
and    graduated    from    the    high    school 
there  in   1.S84.      He  at  once  turned  his 
attention  to  teaching,  and  followed   this 
occupation  very  successfully  for  the  next 
si.\  years.      For  the  first  half  of  that  time 
he  remained    in  his    native  county,  and 
held    the    position    of  principal    succes- 
sively   in    the   .schools  at   Evans'    Mills, 
I'.rownville,  and    Sackett's    Harbor.      In 
1.SX7,   however,  he  accepted   the  princi- 
palship  of  a  grammar  school  at  Norwalk, 
Conn.,    and    for    the    next    three    years 
labored  there.      H\    this  time  he  was  in 
liis  twenlv-eighth   year  ;  and    it   became 
evident  to  him  that  the  teacher's  calling, 
though  attractive  in  many  ways,  did  not 
afford    the  opportunity  for  advancement 
that     he     desired.       Accordingly,    he    gave   up  his 
position  in  Connecticut,  and  began,  somewhat  late 
in  life,  to  prepare  himself  for  admi.ssion  to  the  bar. 
Returning  to  the  city  of  Watertown,  Mr.    Corey 
entered  the  office  of  Hannibal  Smith  as  a  student, 
and  remained  with  him  a  Utile  more  than  a  year. 
In  the  fall  of  1891  he  became  a  member  of  the  Buf- 
falo  Law  School,  and    graduated   therefrom  in  the 
following    May.      Realizing    that    the    Queen    City 
offered  a  field  of  |)rofessional  activity  unsurjja.ssed, 
perhaps,   by  any  city  in  the  land,  he  decided  to  try 
his  fortunes  there.      For  two  years  he  worked  in  the 
office  of  Robert  I'".  Schelling  as  a  clerk,  and  then, 
July  1,  l.S!t4,  formed  a   ])artnershi|)  with  Fdward  I). 
Strel)cl,    under  the   firm   name  of  Strebel  iS:  Corev, 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECT/ON 


391 


that  still  exists.  In  the  years  since  passed  he  has 
made  good  progress  in  building  ii[)  a  substantial 
clientage,  and  making  a  place  for  himself  at  the  bar 
of  Erie  county.  The  fact  that  he  was  several  years 
older  than  the  average  lawyer  when  he  began  prac- 
tice, has  been  in  his  favor  in  some  respects,  since 
he  has  been  able  to  bring  to  bear  ii])on  legal  ])rob- 
lems  a  more  mature  mind  and  more  ripened  judg- 
ment. 

Mr.  Corey  devotes  himself  wholly  to  his  chosen 
profession.  Thus  far  he  has  resisted  the  allurements 
of  political  life,  which  as  a  rule  appeal  so  strongly 
to  a  lawyer,  and  he  is  not  a  member  of  any  social 
or  fraternal  organizations.  He  belongs  to  the  North 
Presbyterian  Church. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  \ '—  Fred  Daniel 
Corey  was  horn  at  Blaek  River,  Jefferson  eonn/y, 
N.  v.,  May  27,  186S  :  graduated  from  tiie 
IVatertonm  (A'!  K  )  High  School  in  18SI, : 
taught  school,  lSS^-00  ;  married  Ella  L. 
Phelps  of  Sacketf  s  Harhor,  N.  Y.,  August 
17,  1887 ;  was  admitted  to  the  har  in 
1892  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since 
1892. 


lR0lan5  Crangle  is  a  notable  ex- 
ample of  the  oft-cited  fact  that  in 
America  hard  work,  when  combined 
with  native  ability,  is  sure  to  be  amply 
rewarded.  Even  in  America,  though 
many  men  amass  large  fortunes  in  a 
comparatively  short  time,  it  is  not  so 
common  for  a  man  to  rise  from  the 
position  of  a  day  laborer  to  the  ranks  ot 
one  of  the  learned  professions  in  a  do/en 
years.  Such,  however,  is  the  story  of 
Mr.  Crangle's  career  thus  far. 

Born  in  the  north  of  Ireland  little 
more  than  thirty  years  ago,  Mr.  Crangle 
spent  his  boyhood  on  the  farm  in  County 
Down  where  his  parents  still  reside.  At 
an  early  age  he  became  a  pupil  in  one 
of  the  National  Schools  of  the  country, 
and  continued  his  studies  there  until  his 
sixteenth  year,  obtaining  thus  a  good 
general  education.  He  was  anil)itious 
for  a  far  higher  career  than  any  that 
seemed  open  to  him  in  his  native  land, 
and  he  accordingly  determined  to  emi- 
grate to  America.  Arriving  in  New  York, 
he  betook  himself  at  once  to  Buffalo,  which  has 
proved  a  most  hospitable  home.  Without  friends 
or  money,  he  was  obliged  to  begin  at  the  foot 
of   the   ladder,  and   his    first  employment    was  that 


of  a  laborer  on  the  docks.  He  afterward  worked 
as  a  freight  hand  in  the  P2rie-railroad  freight 
house,  and  subsequently  secured  a  position  as  clerk 
in  the  freight  office  of  the  Lake  Shore  road. 

During  the  years  thus  occupied  Mr.  Crangle  de- 
voted his  sjjare  time  to  the  study  of  elocution,  for 
which  he  had  a  great  liking,  and  much  natural 
aptitude  ;  and  in  due  time  he  graduated  from  the 
Buffalo  .School  of  Elocution.  In  the  presidential 
campaign  of  IXcSS  he  used  his  talents  in  the  service 
of  the  Democratic  party,  making  many  speeches  in 
favor  of  its  candidates.  His  political  work  brought 
him  to  the  favorable  notice  of  many  men  prominent 
in  Buffalo  ;  and,  a.s  he  had  now  accumulated  some 
capital  from  his  eight  years  of  hard  work,  he  was 
able  to  gratify  his  ambition,  and  jjrepare  himself  for 
a  position  where  his  abilities  would  have  full  scope. 


FKIiD   n.   COREY 


In  January,  ISSi),  accordingly,  he  entered  the 
law  office  of  Rogers,  Locke  &  Milburn,  Buffalo, 
where  he  remained  five  years,  during  which  he  was 
duly  admitted  to  the  bar.       This  firm  stands  second 


392 


AfEA  OF  NEIV    YOKK —U'ESTEKA'  SECTfON 


to  none  in  western  New  York,  and  Mr.  Crangle's 
long  connection  with  the  office  as  student  and  clerk 
could  not  fail  to  give  him  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  law.  Since 
January,  1H94,  he  has  |)racticed  on  his  own  account, 
and    h.os   attained    a    most    satisfactory    measure    of 


^ar- 


A'0/..IV/i  CKAXCl.F. 

success.  He  is  recogni/ed  liv  lii>  U'llow mcmhers 
of  the  Buffalo  bar  as  a  i)ainstaking  and  careful 
lawyer  of  decided  ability,  and  his  steady  advance- 
ment in  his  chosen  profession  may  be  confidently 
predicted. 

Mr.  C'rangle  cares  little  for  i  lub  or  so<  iely  life. 
preferring  to  devote  himself  to  his  i)rofe.ssion. 

PERSONA  L  ClfR  ONOI.  O  G  Y—  Rohvul 
Crangle  was  horn  al  Ballyijuiniin,  Coiin/v  Doicii. 
/if land,  August  17,  ISG.'t ;  was  n/uca/t-t/  in  the 
National  Schools  of  Ireland:  came  to  the  United 
States  in  ]SSO,  and  worked  as  a  laborer  and  clerk 
at  Buffalo,  ISSOSS  :  studied  law,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  June,  1S02 ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo  since  January,  1891^. 


Jf.  11?.  IDUCl!\Vlt3  "■'■'^  ''"■■"  1*^^^  'h'''"  f^rty 
years  ago  in  the  town  of  Wheatfield,  Niagara  county, 
New  York.  His  parents,  Augustus  and  Louise 
Donath  Duckwitz,  were  natives  of  Stettin,  (iermanv, 
who  came  to  the  United  States  in  IS'jo.  They 
spent  five  years  in  New  York,  and  then  moved  to 
Niagara  county,  where  Augustus   Duck- 

1         witz  liought  a  farm  and  carried  on  a  large 

nursery,  selling  nearly  all  the  fruit  trees 
in  that  section  of  the  slate.  During 
the  war  he  served  as  provost  marshal, 
and  after  his  return  North  bought  a  large 
general  store  in  St.  Johnsburgh,  Niagara 
(  ounty.  I'his  he  lonthuted  for  several 
years,  acting  at  the  same  time  as  auction- 
eer, insurance  agent,  and  justice  of  the 
peace.  F'erdinand  Duckwitz  helped  his 
father  on  the  farm  and  in  the  store, 
attending  district  schools  as  he  had  o])- 
portunity,  until  his  fourteenth  year.  \\ 
that  time  his  father  sold  the  store,  and 
the  new  proprietor  was  glad  to  secure 
the  \oung  man's  services  at  a  .salarv. 
.\lr.  I)u(  kwitz  remained  with  him  two 
years,  and  a(  cumulated  a  sufficient  sum 
lo  enable  him  to  gratifv  his  desire  for  a 
better  education  than  he  had  thus  far 
^^H  obtained.  .\i  the  age  of  sixteen,  accord- 
[^^P  ingly,  he  left  home  and  betook  him- 
I  ^^k  self  to  Buffalo,  where  he  studied  for  n 
'Ah  year    at     Bryant    \'    Stratton's    Business 

H  V         foUege.      He  then  went  West,  and  siient 
■  1         a  year  working  on  farms  and  in  stores  in 
■    '         various  places.       By    this    time    he    had 
1  determined  to  become  a  lawyer,  and  had 

^  also  decidetl   tiie  ipieslion   of  locality   in 

favor  of  the  Ivist.  Returning,  therefore, 
to  his  nati\e  county,  he  entered  the 
office  of  (ieorge  C.  (Ireene  of  I,o(kporl 
as  a  student.  His  preparatory  training  had  not  been 
so  thorough  as  would  have  been  desirable,  but  he 
made  up  for  any  lack  in  this  res])ect  by  close  appli- 
cation and  natural  ability.  During  his  three  years 
in  Mr.  (Ireene's  office  he  published  the  Lock/>orter 
Deutsche  /.eituni;,  a  weekly  (lerman  jiaper,  and  also 
acted  as  insurance  agent  and  organizer  of  lodges, 
managing  in  this  way  not  only  to  sui)|>ort  himself, 
but  to  save  enough  money  to  take  him  to  college. 
He  entered  the  law  (k-parlment  of  I'nion  University 
in  iSTlt,  graduated  May  'lA.  l.SSO,  and  in  the  same 
niiiiilli  H.is  ailniillcd  to  |iraclire  in  all  the  courts  of 
New  \  ork  state. 

Immediately  after  his  admissinn   to   the    bar   Mr. 
DiKkwit/  opened  an  oftii  e  in  Buffalo,  where   he  has 


MEX   OF  A'Eir 


■(  -IRK— WES  TERX  sEcr/o.y 


393 


practiced  ever  since  with  most  gratifying  success. 
!n  the  early  part  of  his  legal  career  he  was  much 
helped  by  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  (lerman 
language,  which  the  large  German  ])opulation  of 
the  city  rendered  particularly  useful.  In  ISJSl  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  John  B.  Perkins,  which 
lasted  until  Mr.  Perkins's  death  in  l.S.s;!.  He 
then  associated  himself  with  Charles  K.  Rohinson, 
and  later  with  William  .\rmstrong.  January  1, 
l.S'.Kl,  Mr.  Duckwitz  established  the  jiresent  firm  of 
Duckwitz,  Thayer  &  Jackson,  in  ])artnershi|)  with 
Wallace  Thayer  and  Frederick  S.  Jackson.  This 
association  was  a  most  fortunate  one,  and  has  be- 
come one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  )ounger  law 
firms  of  Buffalo.  Mr.  Duckwitz  is  an  excellent 
counselor  and  busine.ss  lawyer,  Mr.  Thayer  possesses 
decided  talent  as  a  trial  lawyer,  and  Mr.  Jackson  is 
an  able  co-worker  in  the  general  business 
of  the  firm. 

Mr.  Duckwitz  is  actively  concerned 
in  a  variety  of  matters  outside  his  pro- 
fession. For  a  number  of  years  he  was 
the  treasurer  and  a  trustee  of  the 
Mechanics'  Institute,  and  took  the  great- 
est interest  in  the  a.ssociation.  He 
belongs  to  many  social  and  fraternal 
organizations,  including  the  Royal  ,'\rca- 
num,  the  Improved  Order  of  Heptasophs. 
and  the  United  Friends.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  l-'.m 
pire  Knights  of  Relief,  and  of  the 
Supreme  Ruling  of  the  Fraternal  Mystic 
Circle  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Order  of  the  Iroquois  of  Buffalo,  and  is 
the  Supreme  Councilor  of  the  order, 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  laws,  and 
a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees.  In 
politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  who 
never  hesitates  or  wavers  in  his  party 
allegiance,  and  has  been  for  many  years 
a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Republican 
League.  He  is  one  of  the  wardens  of 
St.  Luke's  Episcopal  Church,  and  was 
for  a  time  its  treasurer. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY^ 
Ferdinand  Herman   Duckti'itz   was    born 
in  the  toum  of  U'hrafjie/d,  N'.   Y.,  Aug- 
ust 11,  1858  :  attended  district  sehools  and 
BrvanI  &"   Stiatton's  Business    College: 
studied  laio  in  a  Loekport  office,  and  graduated  from  the 
laio  department  of  Union  Unii'ersity  in  1880  :  married 
Henrietta  Il'aldron  Springsteed  of  Albany  December 
J2,  1880  ;  lias  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1880. 


505Cpb  %.  jFaircbilC»,  «ho  has  been  prom- 
inent in  public  life  for  many  years,  was  born  in 
Seneca  county.  New  York,  during  Andrew  Jackson's 
first  administration.  After  attending  the  private 
schools  of  his  native  town,  and  graduating  at  Water- 
loo .\cademy,  he  continued  his  studies  under  a  private 
tutor,  and  fitted  himself  for  the  so])homore  class  at 
Hobart  College.  He  change<l  his  mind,  however, 
when  about  to  begin  his  collegiate  course,  deciding 
to  study  law.  His  uncle,  Harlow  S.  Love,  was  then 
one  of  the  leading  attorneys  of  Buffalo  ;  and  in  his 
office,  that  of  Talcott  &  Love,  Mr.  Fairchild  read 
law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1853,  and  be- 
gan his  career  as  a  lawyer  at  once  in  Buffalo. 

For  the  next  fifteen  years  Mr.  Fairchild  gave  him- 
self unreser\edly  to  his  i)rofession,  building  up  a 
j)ractice  that  was  at  once  iucrati\e  and  gratifyingly 


/•■  //.  nucKwrr/. 


significant  of  his  legal  ability.  He  served  accepta- 
bly several  of  the  successors  of  the  Holland  Land 
Co.,  and  other  individual  and  corporate  clients 
whose  legal  interests  were  important.      In  the  fall  of 


a!t4 


.VEX   OF  \Ell-    )OA'A—ir/-:s/7-:A'\  SECTJO.X 


18G7  an  important  jiosition  came  to  him  entirely 
without  solicitation  on  his  i)art,  and  Mr.  Fairchild 
abandoned  his  profession  for  the  office  of  register  in 
l)ankni|)tcy.  In  the  year  mentioned  congress  passed 
the  momentous  ])iece  of  legislation  known  as  the 
national  bankruptcy  act,  which  called  into  being  an 


JOSEPH   L.    lAIRCHILU 

important  set  of  officials  concerned  in  the  adjustment 
of  bankrupt  estates.  Their  functions  were  both 
judicial  and  administrative,  and  only  men  of  high 
character  and  tried  ability  were  selected  for  the 
office.  Mr.  Fairchild  received  his a])|)ointment  from 
Salmon  F.  Cha.se,  chief  justice  of  the  L'nited  States, 
and  was  sworn  into  office  January  8,  1868.  F"or  the 
next  decade  he  devoted  all  his  time  and  strength  to 
his  imjjortant  work,  sparing  himself  in  no  respect, 
and  discharging  most  efficiently  the  trying  duties  of 
his  office.  In  1878  congress  repealed  the  act  under 
which  Mr.  Fairchild  was  appointed,  except  as  to 
cases  existing  at  that  time.  Mr.  Fairchild  still  re- 
tains the  office,  but  its  work  has  been  increasingly 
light  since  the  re|)eal  of  the  law. 


Having  lived  in  Buffalo  since  the  middle  of  the 
century,  Mr.  Fairchild  ha.s  become  one  of  the  best- 
known  men  of  the  city,  and  has  taken  a  leading  part 
in  many  public  movements.  He  was  prominent  in 
the  Young  Men's  .\ssociation  for  many  years  ;  and 
was  a  prime  mover  in  effecting  the  im|)ortant  change 
of  location  made  in  1804,  when  the 
.society  left  its  quarters  in  the  old  .Ameri- 
can block  and  jnirchased  the  St.  James- 
hotel  property  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Hotel  Iroquois.  F'or  two  years  he  was 
on  the  board  of  supervisors  of  F'.rie 
count)-,  representing  the  old  lOth  ward, 
liuffalo.  He  was  a  park  commissioner 
for  eight  years,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  building  committee  that  sujjervised 
the  construction  of  the  Parade  House. 
He  had  much  to  do,  also,  with  the  jilan- 
ning  of  Delaware  park,  taking  great  in- 
terest in  the  creation  of  its  charming  lake 
and  other  beautiful  features. 

-Mr.  Fairchild  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  order  since  early  manhood, 
and  is  a  life  member  of  Ancient  Land- 
mark Lodge,  No.  441,  F.  &  A.  M.  He 
is  also  a  charter  member  of  .\dytuni 
Chapter,   R.  A.  M. 

.■\n  interesting  episode  in  Mr.  Fair- 
ihild's  life  was  his  visit  at  the  White 
House  just  after  Lincoln's  inauguration. 
He  was  related  to  Lincoln  by  marriage, 
and  knew  him  intimately  years  before  the 
presidency  was  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  "Rail-Splitter."  During  this 
visit  Mr.  Fairchild  met  many  of  the 
notable  men  of  the  country,  and  he 
looks  back  upon  the  experience  with  great 
interest.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  he  has 
been  intimate  with  another  President,  as 
he  and  Crover  Clevelantl  are  old-time  chums.  Mr. 
Fairchild  does  not  agree  with  Mr.  Cleveland  on 
political  questions  ;  but  he  has  the  warmest  regard 
for  him  personally,  and  believes  thoroughly  in  his 
honesty  of  charat  ter  and  purjiose. 

PERSOA'AL  CIIROXOLOGY—Joscph  Le^vis 
Fairchild  was  born  at  Waterloo,  N.  V.,  April  S, 
1831 ;  was  educated  in  private  schools  and  Waterloo 
Academy :  studied  lata  in  a  Buffalo  office,  and  teas 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  ISiiS  ;  practiced  law  in  Buffalo, 
lSoo-07 :  married  Anna  E.  Dennison  of  Buffalo 
November  13,  1862  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Erie-county 
board  of  supcn<isors,  1860-(17,  and  a  park  commissioner 
of  Buffalo  for  eixht  years,  be^i^innin:;  in  187  Jf  :  has  held 
the  office  of  register  in  bankruptcy  at  Buffalo  since  1868. 


MEN  OF  XEW    VORK  —  IVESTERX  SECTION 


395 


Cbarlcs   Cvrus   jfarubam   "as  i.orn   in 

Bradford,  Orange  county,  Vermont,  in  l.S(i4.  He 
is  the  oldest  living  son  of  Rosvvell  Farnham,  who 
was  governor  of  Vermont  in  1880-82.  The  Farn- 
hams  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts colony.  The  first  ancestor  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean  wa.s  Ralph  Farnham,  who  .sailed  from 
Southampton,  England,  April  0,  ltj8.5,  in  the  brig 
"James,"  and  landed  in  Boston  after  a  voyage  of 
fifty-eight  days.  Settling  first  in  Andover,  Mass., 
not  far  from  Boston,  the  Farnhams  afterward  moved 
to  Concord,  N.  H.  They  were  among  the  earliest 
inhabitants  of  that  frontier  town,  the  name  of  Eph- 
raim  Farnham  appearing  under  the  date  February  o, 
1725,  in  the  Frojirietors'  Records  of  Pennycook 
(now  Concord).  This  F^phraim  had  a  son  Ben- 
jamin, whose  son  John,  born  in  Concord  January  2, 
17(5(i,  was  the  grandfather  of  (lovernor 
Roswell  Farnham.  Governor  Farnham's 
grandfather  on  the  maternal  side  was 
Captain  David  Bixby  of  Piermont,  N.  H., 
who  served  in  the  armies  of  the  Revo- 
lution from  Lexington  to  Saratoga.  Fin- 
listing  then  on  board  the  privateer 
"  Franklin,"  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a 
British  frigate,  carried  to  FIngland,  and 
confined  for  seventeen  months  in  Mill 
(ijresumably  Dartmoor)  prison.  The 
mother  of  Charles  Cyrus  Farnham  was 
Mary  Elizabeth  Johnson  of  Bradford, 
Vt.,  who  married  Roswell  Farnham  on 
Christnyis  day,  1849. 

Our  present  subject  prepared  for  col- 
lege at  the  academy  in  his  native  town, 
and  entered  the  University  of  Vermont 
at  Burlington  in  the  fall  of  1882.  Grad- 
uating thence  in  due  course  in  June, 
188(;,  he  commenced  at  once  the  study 
of  law  in  his  father's  office.  After  re- 
maining there  a  year  he  went  into  the 
law  department  of  Columbia  College, 
New  York  city,  whence  he  graduated 
with  the  degree  of  LL.B.  in  1889. 
During  the  vacations  of  his  law  course 
Mr.  Farnham  employed  his  time  in 
tutoring  the  grandchildren  of  Salmon  P. 
Chase  and  a  son  of  General  Wager 
Swayne. 

Some  time  before  his  graduation  from 
Columbia  Mr.  Farnham  had  decided  to 
settle  in  Buffalo,  feeling  sure  that  the  charm  of  the 
city  as  a  place   of  residence  was  no  greater   than  its 
promise  as  a  field  of  professional  practice.     Proceed- 
ing   thither,  accordingly,    on    the    day    before    he 


received  his  degree  as  a  Bachelor  of  Law,  he  took 
an  examination  for  admission  to  the  bar,  and  passed 
successfully.  He  was  taken  at  once  into  the  office 
of  McMillan,  (lluck  iV  Pooley,  where  he  had  at  one 
time  read  law,  and  remained  with  them  until  No- 
vember, l.S9(),  when  he  opened  an  office  of  his  own. 
After  practicing  alone  a  few  months,  he  formed  a 
partnership  in  July,  1X91,  with  August  Becker,  who 
had  also  .studied  law  in  the  office  of  McMillan, 
Gluck  &  Pooley.  The  firm  of  Becker  &  Farnham 
has  prospered  from  the  beginning,  and  is  now 
regarded  as  one  of  the  strongest  a.ssociations  among 
the  younger  lawyers  of  the  city.  Mr.  Farnham  has 
proved  himself  an  energetic  and  prudent  business 
man  and  lawyer,  and  has  conducted  many  compli- 
cated cases  to  a  satisfactory  issue.  He  enjoys  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  man\-  clients  and  friends. 


CHARLES   CYRUS  FARXHAM 


Mr.  Farnham  has  thought  it  wise  to  abstain  from 
active  participation  in  political  affairs.  He  belongs 
to  the  University  Club  and  \arious  other  social 
organizations  ;   and   both   he  and   Mrs.  Farnham  are 


396 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


consistent  members  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  HnfTalo.  Mrs.  Farnhani  is  the  daughter  of 
P2dwarcl  Hall,  who  for  many  years  conducted  a  suc- 
cessful private  school  at  l^llington,  Conn. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  —  Charles 
Cxitis   Fariiham  loas  horn  at  BraJ/orJ,    17.,  J/ay  .0. 


GliOKCE   H.   FROST 

186i. ;  graduated  from  the  University  of  I'ermoiit  in 
1886,  and  from  Columbia  College  Laic  School  in 
1889  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Buffalo  in  188!) : 
married  Grace  Hall  of  Ellington,  Conn. ,  October  SO, 
1880  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1889. 


OCOrClC  II?.  JfrC^it,  «li<'  li^^^^  become  well 
known  of  late  years  in  both  |irofessional  anil  btisi 
ness  circles  in  Buffalo,  is  a  native  of  Chautau(|ua 
county,  and  had  attained  prominence  there  as  a 
lawver  and  a  (  iti/en  before  he  moved  to  the  ()ueen 
Cily  in  l.SMI. 

Horn  in  the  town  of  Cherrv  L  reek  in  the  vear  in 
which  President  Fillmore  entereil  the  White  House. 
Mr.  Frost  received  his  earlv  education   in   the  com- 


mon schools  of  the  i>lacc,  and  later  attended  the 
Jamestown  Union  School  and  the  I'.Uiiigton  Union 
School.  His  work  as  an  instru(  tor  during  the  next 
ten  years  furnished  an  excellent  substitute  for  regular 
scholastic  training.  Before  he  was  twenty  he  began 
teaching  in  the  common  schools;  and  for  several 
years  he  carried  on  this  occujiation  during 
the  winter  months,  and  worked  on  his 
lather's  farm  in  summer.  Later  he  gave 
all  his  time  to  teaching,  and  had  charge 
of  schools  at  Versailles,  Cherry  Creek, 
Kennedy,  and  other  places. 

But  school  teaching  as  a  life-work  did 
not  satisfy  Mr.  Frost's  ambition,'  and  he 
determined    to    prepare    himself  for  the 
legal  profe.ssion.      He  read  law,  accord- 
ingly, in  the  office  of  the  late  John  (}. 
Record   of   Forestville,   N.  Y.,  and  was 
admitted    to    the    bar   at    Rochester    in 
October,    1883.       Feeling   that   success 
would  be  iTiost  i[uickly  attained  among 
those  who  knew  him    best,  he  at    once 
opened   an    office    in    his    native    town. 
He  was  considerably  older  at  this    time 
than  the  majority  of  men  beginning  legal 
practice  :    but    this    circumstance     in    a 
lawyer's    career    has    some    advantages 
along  with  some  undeniable  drawbacks, 
and  a  man  of  ability  soon  makes  up  for 
the  years  that  have  been  seemingly  lost. 
Mr.  Frost  was  successful   from  the  start. 
.\fter  several  years,  actuated  by  the  same 
ambition  that  had    led  him  to  abandon 
teaihing    for    the    law,   he   gave   u]j   his 
I  ountry  practice  and  moved  to   Buffalo, 
judging  rightly  that  the  increased  oppor- 
tunities in  a  larger  field  of  action  more 
than   compensated  for  the  keener  com- 
|ietition  of  a  busy  city. 
For  the  fust  tour  years  of  his  resideni  e  in    Buffalo 
Mr.  l-'rost  practiced  alone,  but  on  January  1,  18!t4, 
he  formed,  with  Fred  W.  Plato,  the  firm  of  Frost  & 
Plato,  whi(  h  still  continues.     Soon  after  his  arrival 
in  Buffalo  Mr.  Frost  became  actively  interested  in  the 
project  for  building  an  electric  railway  on    Delaware 
a\  enue  iVom  Buffalo  to  'I'onawanda.      He  was  one  of 
the   organizers  of  the    Buffalo,    Kemnore   iV    Tona- 
wanda  F.le  trie   Railway  Co.,  and  acted  as  attorney 
lor   the   (orporation   during   the  construction  of  the 
road,  and  until  it  was  .sold  to  ihe  Buffalo  Traction  Co. 
Mr.  F'rost  has  always  been  an  earnest  ReiJiiblican. 
During  his  residence  in  Cherry  Creek  he  interested 
himself   actively    in   public  affairs,   and  in  all  move- 
ments  for  advancing   the  pros|)eril)'  of  his  town  and 


.l/AW   OF  .\7-:ir    VORk'—U-FSTF.RX  SKCT/OX 


.SOT 


county.  In  the  fall  of  is.Sli  his  services  were 
fittingly  rewarded  by  a  nomination  for  member  of 
assembly  from  the  second  district  of  C"haiitaui|iia 
county.  He  was  duly  elected,  and  was  re-elected 
in  1887,  serving  his  constituents  with  zeal  and 
ability.  During  both  terms  in  the  legislature  Mr. 
Frost  was  a  member  of  the  <  onimittee  on  general 
laws.  In  March,  l.S.S.S,  the  assembly  ])a.ssed  a  reso- 
lution calling  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
ascertain  the  social,  moral,  and  industrial  condition 
of  the  several  tribes  of  Indians  in  the  state  ;  to  in- 
vestigate the  tribal  organizations  and  the  title  to  the 
lands  in  the  different  reservations  ;  and  to  afford  such 
aid  as  would  enable  the  state  to  deal  wisely  and  in- 
telligently with  the  5000  Indians  dwelling  within 
her  borders.  Mr.  Frost  was  a  member  of  this  com- 
mittee, and  took  an  active  part  in  its  laborious  work 
An  exhaustive  study  of  the  subject,  occu- 
pying several  months,  resulted  in  a  report 
to  the  assembly  dated  January  ;11,  1.SS9. 
This  document  covers  seventy-nine  pages, 
and  with  its  various  appendixes  makes 
up  a  volume  of  more  than  400  pages. 
The  committee  recommended  the  repeal 
of  most  of  the  existing  Indian  laws,  the 
enactment  of  a  compulsory-attendance 
school  law,  and  the  allottment  of  the 
land  of  the  state  reser\ations  in  severalty 
to  the  different  members  of  the  tribes  ; 
believing  that  only  as  the  Indian  becomes 
an  American  citizen,  and  not  a  "  ward'' 
of  the  government,  will  the  Indian  prob- 
lem be  solved.  Mr.  Frost's  work  on 
this  committee  amply  demonstrated  his 
fitness  for  public  service  ;  but  since  his 
removal  to  Buffalo  he  has  taken  a  less 
active  part  in  public  affairs  than  form- 
erly, wisely  preferring  to  devote  his 
entire  energy  for  a  time  to  establishing 
himself  firmly  in  the  ranks  of  the  sue 
cessful  lawyers  of  the  city.  He  belongs 
to  no  fraternity,  church  or  other  asso- 
ciations. 

PEJiSONA  L     CUR  OXOI.  OGY  — 
George    H.     FrosI   loa^    horn    at    Cliryi\ 
Creek,    N.   V.,   Decemlwr   !■',,   1S.',() ;  „/- 
/ended  districl  schools,   oiiJ  union  scliooh 
at  faniesto7i'n  and  Ellington  :  tauglit  seliool 
in  various  towns,  1810-82 :  married  Helen 
M.   Perrin  of  Dayton,  N.   K,  December 
18,    1819 :    studied  law,    and  was    admitted  to  the 
bar  in   188-i  ;  practiced  law  in  Cherry  Creel;  188-1- 
89  ;  was  member   of  assembly,    1887-88  ;  has  />rac- 
ticed  law  in   Buffalo  since  NoTember,  1889. 


Etban  1l3.  1I30^Var^  i^  one  of  the  oldest  resi- 
dents of  liuffalo,  since  he  moved  thither  in  liS"27, 
and  has  made  his  home  there  continuously  for 
seventy  years.  His  parents  were  New  Englanders, 
his  mother  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  his  father  of 
Vermont,  where  his  grandfather  fought  under  Gen- 
eral Stark  in  the  battle  of  Bennington.  They 
settled  on  a  small  farm  in  the  village  of  Boston, 
Erie  county,  in  1.S07,  and  there  our  subject  was 
born  five  years  later.  He  was  still  an  infant  when 
the  burning  of  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock  threw  the 
neighboring  settlers  into  a  panic  of  fear  ;  and  his 
mother  ])re|)are(l  for  flight  to  the  forest  with  her 
children  at  the  approach  of  the  savage  foe.  Mr. 
Howard's  chiklhood,  begun  amid  such  stirring 
scenes,  was  continued  amid  the  privations  and  hard 
ships    of   [jioneer    life.       But    civilization    advanced 


F.TII  l.\  II    now   \Rl> 


ra])idly  in  western  New  York  after  the  news  was 
received  that  jieace  had  been  declared.  Immigra- 
tion received  a  fresh  impetus,  and  a  greater  degree 
of  prosperity  soon  became  ap])arent. 


:^98 


.I/AW   ^)/'   .\/;;/'    )('A'A'      IIKSTERX  SKCT/OX 


Wy  the  liinc  the  hid  had  reached  the  age  of  Tifteen 
the  village  of  Buffalo  had  become  a  thriving  town, 
and  already  gave  unmistakable  evidence  of  its  future 
leadership  in  the  affairs  of  that  part  of  the  state. 
Thither  he  went,  accordingly,  and  obtained  employ- 
ment in  the  |)ost  office,   where  the  entire  lone  of 


Hi:.\K\     C.    HOMAKD 

assistants  consisted  of  himself  and  another  boy. 
Three  years  later  he  entered  the  dry-goods  store  of 
S.  N.  Callender  as  a  clerk,  remaining  there  for  the 
next  five  years  —  four  years  with  Mr.  Callender  and 
one  year  with  J.  P.  Darling.  Mercantile  life  proved 
attractive  to  Mr.  Howard,  and  he  disjjlayed  marked 
ability  for  it ;  anil  in  1K8()  he  started  in  business  for 
himself  as  a  member  of  the  dry-goods  firm  of  Dole 
&  Howard.  The  style  was  subse(|uently  changed 
to  I'itch  \:  Howard,  then  to  Howard  &  Cogswell, 
Howard  &  Whitcomb,  and  Howard,  Whitcomb  iV 
Co.  ;  and  in  1865  the  business  was  sold  to  the 
present  firm  of  I''lint  &  Kent.  Mr.  Howard's 
e.\cellent  judgment,  honorable  and  upright  methods, 
and  carefiil  business  management  brought  him  un 


usual  success  :  and  during  the  thirty  years  of  his 
connection  with  the  firm  it  attained  a  foremost  ])Osi- 
tion  among  the  retail  houses  of  the  city. 

After  severing  his  connection  with  the  dry- 
goods  business  Mr.  Howard  associated  himself  with 
Joseph  Warren,  J.  M.  Johnson,  and  others  in  the 
organization  of  the  Courier  Com])any. 
He  was  the  treasurer  of  the  concern 
during  the  years  1868-09,  selling  out  his 
interest  at  the  end  of  that  time  to  Dr. 
Kenney,  .son-in-law  of  Dean  Richmond. 
Since  1870  Mr.  Howard  has  not  been 
actively  engaged  in  liusiness  life,  though 
he  holds  important  positions  of  trust  in 
various  organizations.  He  was  a  trustee 
and  the  second  vice  jiresident  of  the 
F2rie  County  Savings  Bank,  and  a  director 
of  the  Buffalo  Gas  Light  Co.  In  1882 
he  assisted  in  founding  the  Bank  of 
Niagara  at  Niagara  Falls,  and  became 
a  director  of  the  institution  ;  and  in 
1892  he  took  ])art  in  the  organization  of 
the  Cohunbia  Bank,  Buffalo,  in  which  he 
is  likewise  a  director. 

Mr.  Howard's  peaceful  and  prosperous 
old  age  is  a  fitting  close  to  an  honorable 
and  usefiil    life.      Though  by  nature  sin- 
gularly ([uiet  and  unobtrusive,   his  high 
character  as  a  business  man  and  a  private 
citizen  has  won  for  him  the  respect  of  all 
who  know  him,  and  the  warm  affection 
of  many  friends.      He  ha-s  been  for  years 
a    deacon    in   the    Unitarian  church,    of 
which  he   is  one  of  the  oldest  members. 
PERSONAL     CHROXOLOGY— 
Ethan  Hotv  Hmvard  was  born  at  Boston, 
Erie  county,  N.   Y. ,  Eehniary  13,  IS  12  ; 
was   a  clerk   in    the  Buffalo  post  office, 
1827-28,  and  in  a  dry-goods  store,  1830- 
36  ;  married  Mary   E.   Ritmsey  of  Stafford,   N.   Y. , 
October  2Jf,  1842,  and  Caroline  H.  Cogswell  of  Peter- 
borough, N.    H.,  September  1,  18Jfi :  engaged  in  the 
dry-goods  business  at  Buffalo,   1836-65 ;  was  treas- 
urer  of  the    Courier    Company,   Buffalo,     1868-69 ; 
has  occupied  positions  of  trust  in  7'arious    corporations 
in  Buffalo  and  vicinity  since  1870. 

•♦• 

IfJCUrV  C  1l30\Vai'C)  is  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  (^)ueen  City  of  the  Lakes.  His  family  set- 
tletl  in  Buffalo  in  the  early  days  of  the  city  ;  his 
fiither  ha<l  an  important  jjart  in  the  commercial 
develo|)nient  of  the  place  ;  and  he  himself  was  born 
there,  edu<atetl  there,  married  there,  and  has  ahvavs 
li\ed    there.      He   belie\es   in    I'luffalu   hearlilv,  and 


j/AW  ()/•'  .\/:ii'  \()h'K-   I ii-:s /■/■:/,'. \  s/-:c'/7i>.\ 


399 


has  no  wish  ever  to  shift  his  allegiance.  Mr. 
Howard  left  .school  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  nine- 
teen, and  gave  himself  up  to  business.  He  has 
never  engaged  in  active  commercial  life  of  the 
routine  countingroom  order  except  for  a  few  months 
early  in  his  career.  Ever  since  then  his  connection 
with  business  affairs  has  been  of  that  more  interest- 
ing and  independent  nature  concerned  with  pro|jrie- 
tary  supervision.  He  has  been  president  of  the 
Bank  of  Niagara  at  Niagara  Falls  ever  since  it  was 
organized  in  1882,  and  vice  president  of  the  Bank 
of  Suspension  Bridge  since  its  organization.  He 
was  for  .some  years  vice  president  of  the  Columbia 
National  Bank,  Buffalo,  and  is  a  director  in  the 
Bank  of  Buffalo. 

In  political  matters  Mr.  Howard  su|iports  the 
Republican  party.  He  does  not  care  for  |)articipa- 
tion  in  public  affairs,  however,  and  has 
never  taken  an  active  part  in  politics. 
His  time  is  pleasantlv  occupied,  aside 
from  business  hours,  with  his  family  and 
home.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
Club,  and  of  the  EUicott  Club.  Early 
in  the  summer  he  takes  his  family  to  a 
beautiful  country  seat  on  the  banks  of 
the  Niagara  river  between  Lewiston  and 
Youngstown.  Mr.  Howard  attends  Trin- 
ity Church,  Buffalo,  of  which  he  is  a 
vestryman. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Henry  Cogsiuell  Howard  was  born  al 
Buffalo  September  20,  18^7 ;  was  eJii- 
cated  in  public  and  private  schools : 
married  Jennie  Alatilda  Jewett  of  Buffalo 
January  4,  1869  ;  has  devoted  himself  to 
various  business  enterprises  and  to  the  care 
of  the  family  estate  since  1865  ;  has  been 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Niagara,  A'iaganr 
Palls,  N   Y. ,  since  1882. 


M.  E.  Ikisselburgb,  3r.,  weii 

known  in  both  the  eastern  and  the  western 

ends  of   the  Empire  State,  was  born  at 

Troy,  N.  Y. ,  in  1859.     He  spent  the  lirst 

thirty  years  of  his  life  in  that  city,  and 

received    his    education    there    and     in 

Albany.      At  the  time  of  his  graduation 

from  the  Troy  High  School  in  1875  he 

had  not  fixed  upon  the  practice  of  law 

as  his  vocation,  and  he  began  his  active 

work  in  the  world  in  the  capacity  of  reporter  for  the 

'I'roy  Times.      In  1880  he  obtained  a  position  in  the 

office  of  the  secretary  of  state  under  J.  B.  Carr,  and 

devoted  his  leisure  hours  to  the  stndv  of  law.     Con- 


tinuing this  work  more  thoroughl)'  in  the  celebrated 
law  school  at  .\lban\-,  he  received  the  degree  of 
LI,.  B.  from  that  institution  in  1882.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  the  next  year,  and  commenced 
to  practice   in    Troy  October  1,  1885. 

Mr.  Kisselburgh  was  associated  with  I,.  E.  Crif- 
fith  from  October,  1.SH5,  until  August,  18X9,  when 
he  changed  his  residence  from  Troy  to  Buffalo.  In 
the  latter  city  he  practiced  alone  until  January  I, 
1898,  forming  at  that  time  a  partnership  with  H.  S. 
Lary.  This  connection  lasted  until  January,  1895, 
when  he  associated  himself  with  C.  H.  Bennett  in 
the  firm  of  KLsselburgh  &  Bennett.  Mr.  Kissel- 
burgh has  spent  most  of  his  time  in  Albany  since 
May,  1894,  and  has  therefore  been  unable  to  give 
minute  attention  to  the  affairs  of  his  Buffalo  clients. 
He  has   kept    in   tone  li,  however,   uith   the   business 


II'.   E.  KISSELBURGH,  JK. 

connected  with  his  firms,  and  has  given  close  atten- 
tion to  the  more  important  cases. 

Living  so  near  the  state  capital,  Mr.  Kisselburgh 
began  to  be  interested   in   public  affairs  at  an  early 


400 


AfEX   OF  A'EIV    VORK—U-KSTERX  SECTfOX 


age.  He  has  freijuently  l)een  a  delegate  to  state 
conventions,  and  has  otherwise  been  active  in  politi- 
cal life.  In  liS!)2  he  \va.s  a.ssociated  with  jiulge 
Laiighlin  and  Mr.  Moot  as  special  counsel  for  the 
Citizens'  Committee  of  Buffalo  organized  to  prevent 
election    frauds.       Mr.    Kisselhurgh    was    especially 


altonicy-gciicral  of  N^no    York   state   in   ISO-i  :  /ins 
practiced  lam  in  Buffalo  since  1889. 


CEORCF.    /■:.   I.ATriMI-.K 


well  (|ualified  for  this  work  iVom  his  experience  in 
Troy  four  years  before,  wlicn  he  had  assisted  in  the 
legal  ])roceedings  that  caused  the  removal  from  tlie 
registration  books  of  about  '2000  names  wrongfiill\ 
enrolled.  Since  May  1,  1H!)4,  Mr.  Kisselburgh  has 
been  one  of  the  deputy  attorney -generals  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  having  been  appointed  to  the 
offi<e  by  Attorney-(  leneral   Theodore  K.   Hanco(k. 

PERSONAL  ClIROXOLOGY—  Uilliow 
Eihuard  Kisselhurgh,  Jr. ,  was  horn  ol  Troy,  N.  Y. , 
January  28,  IS-'iO ;  i^radnatcd  from  the  Troy  /fi};li 
.School  in  1875,  and  from  the  Alhany  Law  School  in 
1882 ;  married  Helen  Laura  Kilfoile  of  Troy  May 
12,  1880  :  7oas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S8.{ ;  prac- 
ticed laiv  in   Troy,    1885-89 ;  was  appointed  deputy 


GCOVclC  JE.  Xattimcr,  ^ell  known  among 
the  younger  business  men  of  Buffalo,  wa.s  born  in 
that  city  thirty-three  years  ago.  .\fter  attending 
the  public  schools  of  Buffiilo  until  he 
was  sixteen  years  old,  he  made  an  early 
start  on  his  commercial  career  l)y  en- 
gaging on  his  own  account  in  the  busi- 
ness of  carting  coal,  ice,  and  saml.  He 
supplied  the  sand  for  some  of  the  largest 
buildings  in  Buffalo,  and  built  u])  a 
llourishing  business.  Having  shown  so 
much  ability  while  still  in  his  teens,  Mr. 
l.attimer  developed  even  more  rajiidlv 
with  increased  experience.  He  attracted 
favorable  notice  among  the  business  men 
of  the  city  ;  and  one  of  them,  William  S. 
Crattan,  was  glad  to  form  a  |)artnership 
with  the  young  man.  In  the  spring  of 
IXSfi,  accordingly,  the  firm  of  Crattan 
\'  Lattimer  was  organized  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  on  a  business  in  general 
freight  contracting. 

This  venture    |)rove(l    successful    from 
ilie  beginning.      Little   else    could  have 
been  expc(  ted   in  view  of    Mr.  Grattan's 
broad  business  ex])erience,  Mr.  I.attimer's 
special  training  in  the  carrying  industry, 
and    the    excellent    judgnieni     of    both 
partners.      They  were  the    first    lirm    in 
Buffalo  to  contrac  t  with   the  railroads  to 
handle   their  ])ackage    freight,  and  they 
made    such    contracts    with     the    Lacka- 
wanna,   New  \'ork    Central,  and   Lehigh 
Valley   railroads.      The    firm   em|)lo\s  at 
all    times  a    large  number  ol    men,   and 
in  the  liiis\-  season  as  many  as  a  thousand 
are  on  its  |)av  roll.     .\t  the  time  ol  the  sound-monev 
para<le    in    liulTalo   in   the    presidential    campaign  of 
LSOli,   Mr.    Lattimer  marc  hed  at  the  head  of  r>00  or 
more  emi)loyees  of  his   lirm.      Mr.  (Irattan  has  very 
important  business  interests  outside  of  this  coik  ern. 
and  necessarily  leaves  the  management  of  Crattan  iV 
Lattimer  affairs  to  the  junior  ])artner. 

.As  for  personal  qualities  unconnected  with  busi- 
ness, reference  may  be  made  to  Mr.  Lattimer's  great 
interest  in  horses.  He  has  owned  at  dilTerenl 
times  some  of  the  fastest  trotters  e\er  seen  on  tlie 
magnificent  parkways  of  Buffalo.  Karly  in  LSHT  he 
was  one  of  the  ])rime  movers  in  the  proposed  speed 
way  running  along  Scajaipiada  creek  in  the  rear  of 
the  Buffalo  State  Hospital. 


ME.\   OF  XEU-    YORK—U-ESTEKX  SEC770\ 


401 


Mr.  Lattimer  is  a  devoted  Mason,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  all  the  bodies  of  that  order  up  to  and  includ- 
ing the  o'2d  degree.  He  belongs  to  DeMolay 
Lodge,  No.  498,  F.  &  A.  M.  ;  P.urialo  Chapter,  No. 
71,  R.  A.  M.  ;  Lake  Erie  Commandery,  No.  20, 
K..  T.  ;  Buffalo  Council  ;  and  Ismailia  Temple, 
Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He  belongs  likewi.se 
to  the  Masonic  social  organization  called  the  Acacia 
Club. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  —  Geon^c 
Edward  Lattimer  was  born  at  Buff'alo  June  /.'/, 
186 Jf  ;  7t'as  educated  in  the  Buffalo  public  schools  : 
engaged  in  a  general  carting  business  in  Buffalo, 
1880-86  ;  married  Annie  Jones  of  Buffalo  Decem- 
ber 10,  1890  :  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  G rat- 
tan &"  Lattimer,  general  freight  contractors,  since 
1886. 


503Cpb  /IDi3CbF5a  fought  his  way 
to  an  enviable  position  in  the  musical 
world  of  Buffalo  by  dint  of  energy  and 
perseverance,  coupled  with  natural  gifts 
of  a  high  order.  His  success  is  the 
more  interesting  and  noteworthy  from 
the  fact  that  his  training  as  a  musician 
has  been  obtained  altogether  in  Buf- 
falo. He  was  not  born  in  that  city, 
but  was  brought  thither  at  the  age  of 
six  by  his  jiarents.  The  latter  were  in 
humlile  circumstances,  and  were  unalile 
to  give  their  son  much  education.  Alter 
attending  a  kindergarten  in  his  nati\e 
Bohemia,  and  one  of  the  Buffalo  public 
schools,  he  entered  the  parochial  school 
connected  with  St.  Louis  Church,  Buffalo. 
It  was  evident  early  in  life  that  he 
possessed  unusual  musical  talent,  and  his 
parents  determined  to  foster  this  gift  as 
much  as  possible.  At  the  age  of  seven, 
accordingly,  they  obtained  a  chance  for 
him  to  study  the  violin  ;  and  he  became 
a  member  of  the  orchestra  that  then  took 
the  place  of  an  organ  in  St.  Louis  Church. 
.\  little  later  he  developed  a  fine  voice, 
and  was  made  the  principal  alto  in  the 
choir.  His  gifts  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  Rev.  William  Ueiters,  who  was 
an  ardent  lover  of  music  and  who  be- 
came the  good  genius  of  the  boy.  Father 
Deiters  was  possessed  of  an  ample  for- 
tune, and  he  gave  the  young  musician  many  advan- 
tages that  would  not  otherwise  have  been  his. 

.\t  the  age  of  thirteen  Joseph  Mischka  left  school 
to  become  an  errand  boy  for  Blodgett  &  Bradford, 


music  dealers.  The  connection  became  something 
more  than  a  business  one,  since  Mr.  Blodgett  recog- 
nized the  talent  of  his  employee,  and  helped  him  in 
various  ways  to  acquire  a  musical  education.  Young 
Mischka  made  the  most  of  these  opportunities,  and 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  was  sufficiently  advanced  in  his 
studies  to  become  the  organist  of  the  North  I'resby- 
terian  Church  Sunday  school.  Soon  after  this  he 
obtained  the  position  of  organist  at  Calvary  Presby- 
terian Church.  From  there  he  went  to  Westminster, 
and  thence  successively  to  the  old  Unitarian  Church, 
to  the  Universalist,  and  to  St.  Paul's.  Each  of 
these  changes  constituted  a  step  in  advance  as  re- 
gards both  dignity  of  position  and  compensation. 
It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  in  all  the  numerous 
changes  made  bv  Mr.  Mischka,  he  never  gave  up  a 
place    excejit    by    \<iluntary    resignation    to   accept 


JOSEt'H   MISi  HKA 

another  position  in  the  line  of  ])roniotion.  His 
house  is  filled  with  valuable  gifts  received  at  various 
times  from  the  societies  aTnl  (  hurrhes  with  whii  h  he 
has  been  connected. 


402 


AfEA   OF  XEIV   YORK— WESTERN  SECT/OX 


While  organist  of  the  Westminster  Church,  Mr. 
Mischka  began  his  career  as  conductor  of  singing 
societies  by  taking  charge  of  the  newly  organized 
Arion  Society.  This  was  a  chorus  of  mi.xed  voices, 
and  its  concerts,  conducted  by  Mr.  Mischka,  were 
very  popular.      In  ISttM  he  became  chorus  master  of 


DAS  I  EL    O  GRADY 

the  Caroline  Richings  Ojiera  Co.,  with  which  he 
remained  one  year.  Returning  to  Buffalo  at  the 
end  of  that  period,  he  found  the  Liedertafel  direc- 
torship vacant,  and  was  asked  to  conduct  rehearsals 
until  the  position  should  be  permanently  filled  from 
abroad.  He  was  so  well  liked,  however,  that  the 
idea  of  sending  to  Europe  for  a  leader  was  aban- 
doned ;  and  Mr.  .Mischka  remained  in  the  position 
twenty-four  years,  with  an  interruption  of  two  years 
between  1H77  and  lS7i>.  On  his  retirement  in  the 
fall  of  1894  the  office  of  honorary  director  was 
created  in  order  to  bestow  it  upon  him. 

Mr.  Mischka  was  the  local  musical  director  of  the 
Saengerfest  of  the  North  .Xmerican  Saengerbund 
held    in    Buffalo  in   l.SX;!,   comprising  3000  singers 


and  100  musicians,  and  of  the  great  musical  festivals 
held  in  that  city  in  1884,  1885,  and  1887.  He  was 
director  of  the  Vocal  Society  from  1887  to  1894, 
and  brought  that  organization  to  a  high  pitch  of  ex- 
cellence. For  the  last  twenty -seven  years,  with  the 
exception  of  two  years  between  1880  and  1882,  Mr. 
Mischka  has   been    organist   of  Temple 

'         Beth  Zion  ;   and  since  1887  he  has  been 

organist  at  the  Delaware  .\venue  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church.  Since  1873  he 
has  been  professor  of  music  in  the  Buf- 
falo State  Normal  School.  Having  been 
appointed  in  the  fall  of  1804  supervisor 
of  music  in  the  Buffalo  public  schools, 
he  found  the  responsibility  of  this  position 
so  great  that  he  severed  his  connection 
with  the  Liedertafel  and  with  the  Vocal 
Society.  He  now  ha-s  (50,000  children 
in  his  charge.  It  is  his  amltition  and 
aim,  not  only  to  teach  music  to  the  chil- 
dren for  their  own  sake,  but  also  to  furnish 
capable  singers  to  the  chorus  masters  of 
the  next  generation. 

As  a  promoter  of  music  in  Buffalo  no 
man  has  a  record  superior  to  that  of 
Mr.  Mischka.  He  has  always  been  active 
in  support  of  musical  enterprises,  and 
has  never  been  s|)aring  of  his  time  or 
strength  in  furthering  their  success.  His 
generosity  toward  his  colleagues  iis  well 
^t'  known,    and    many    a    young    musician 

dates  his  career  from  the  time  when  Mr. 
.Mischka  brought  him  to  public  notice. 
I  PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 

Joseph    Mischka    was   iorn    at   Hennan- 
mestec,   Austria,    May  S,    18Jf6 ;  came  to 
the   United  States   in    1852,    and  settled 
iti    Buffalo;     7vas   chorus   master   of  an 
opera  troupe,  18G8-69 ;  engaged  in  busi- 
ness   as    music    dealer    and  publisher,     1809-72; 
married    Catherine    Dietz   of   Buffalo   September   5, 
1871 ;     was    director    of   the    Buffalo    Liedertafel, 
1870-77  and  1879-9^ ;    has  held  various  prominent 
positions  as  teacher  of  music  and  as  church  organist 
in   Buffalo  since  1870. 


IDatliCl  ©'(Bra&?,  one  of  the  deputy  excise 
commissioners  ap])ointed  under  the  famous  Raines 
law  of  189(i,  wa.s  born  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  a  short 
time  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  His 
father  carried  on  a  prosperous  business  in  Rochester 
for  many  years,  and  there  the  young  man  accjuired 
his  education  and  early  business  ex|jerience.  After 
attending  the  jiulilic  schools  of  the   Flower  City  he 


MEN  OF  .XEW    VORK—JVESTER.X  SECT/OX 


403 


took  a  course  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  Col- 
lege, graduating  from  the  institution  in  due  time. 

Mr.  0'Grad)''s  real  start  in  the  world  was  made 
in  1885,  when  he  shifted  his  residence  from  Roch- 
ester to  Buffalo,  and  established  himself  in  business 
in  the  latter  city.  He  selected  for  his  field  of 
operations  a  part  of  Buffalo  that  was  then  very 
sparsely  settled  —  the  extreme  ea.stern  section  of  the 
city.  Much  of  this  neighborhood  is  now  given  up 
to  prosperous  manufactories,  railroad  yards,  slaughter- 
houses, and  cattle  pens;  but  when  Mr.  O'drady 
established  a  grocery  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Bailey  avenue  most  of  the  land  near  him  was  used 
for  farming  purposes.  It  was  evident,  however,  that 
the  industrial  growth  of  Buffalo  was  likely  to  move 
in  that  direction  ;  and  Mr.  O'Cirady  soon  had  plenty 
of  neighbors.  A  large  Polish  i>opulation  ultimately 
occupied  the  territory  tributary  to  his 
business,  and  he  came  to  know  the 
jieople  well,  and  to  have  considerable 
influence  with  them.  Several  railroad 
and  other  strikes,  of  long  duration  and 
corresponding  severity  to  emijloyees  and 
their  tradesmen,  have  occurred  at  Ea.st 
Buffalo  since  Mr.  O' Grady  went  there  ; 
but  he  has  weathered  every  such  indus- 
trial gale,  though  some  other  commercial 
craft    have  foundered. 

Under  the'circumstances  indicated  in 
the  foregoing  statement  of  Mr.  O'Cirady's 
career  in  Kast  Buffalo,  it  was  natural  for 
him  to  take  an  interest  in  public  affairs, 
and  to  acquire  considerable  importance 
in  local  politics.  There  seems,  indeed, 
to  be  a  tendency  of  that  kind  in  the 
family,  since  Mr.  O'Cirady's  brother, 
James  M.  E.  O'Grady  of  Rochester,  has 
long  been  prominent  in  the  politics  of 
Monroe  county,  and  is  now  speaker  of 
the  state  a.ssembly.  Daniel  O'Grady  has 
been  identified  with  the  Republican  or- 
ganization in  Buffalo  for  the  last  ten 
years  as  district  and  general  connnitlee- 
man,  and  has  an  important  iiersonal 
following  in  his  part  of  the  city.  He 
has  not  cared  to  hold  political  office, 
however  ;  and  never  did  so  until  .April, 
189(3,  when  H.  H.  Lyman,  stale  commis- 
sioner of  excise,  apjjointed  him  one  ol 
his  deputies,  with  headquarters  at  Buffalo. 

Mr.  O'Grady  has  given  his  chief  attention  to  busi- 
ness and  politics.  He  belongs  to  various  fraternal 
a.ssociations,  however,  such  as  the  order  of  Elks,  the 
Red    Men,    and    the    ICnights    of    Pythias.      He    is 


naturally  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Reijublican 
League,  and  has  served  on  the  executive  committee 
of  the  organization. 

PERSO NA L  CHR  O.XOL  O  G  Y—  Daniel 
O '  Grui/y  reus  horn  at  Rochester  February  17,  1S61  ; 
7e'as  ediicated  in  eomtnon  schools  and  Bryant  c^  Strat- 
ton '  s  Business  Colleg;e ;  married  Elizabeth  Maloney 
of  Spencerport,  N.  V. ,  January  .30,  1881  ;  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  excise  commissioner  for  Buffalo  in  April, 
18'Jii  :  has  been  in  business  at  East  Buffalo  since 
1885. 

JObn  XrOWn5Cn&  Pitlnn  «as  born  in  Wayne 
county.  New  York,  somewhat  less  than  forty  years 
ago.  The  Pitkin  family  has  had  an  important  part 
in  the  history  of  America  ever  since  William  Pitkin, 
the  third  governor  of   Connecticut,   was  chosen   in 


JOIIX   ■/•(III  \.s/-:.\7>   I'llKIS 

1754  to  prepare  a  plan  of  union  for  the  colonies. 
There  were  five  other  members  of  this  committee 
including  the  chairman,  Benjamin  Franklin.  Among 
the  descendants  of  this   Pitkin  mav   be  found  three 


4114 


ME.X   OF  iXElV    VORK—IVESTEKN  SECT/ON 


judges  of  supreme  courts,  one  United  States  senator, 
two  state  governors,  members  of  congress  and  state 
legislatures,  and  many  men  prominent  in  profes- 
sional and  commercial  life. 

Our  present  subject  went  to  the  union  school  in 
his  native  town  of  Palmyra,  and  after  moving  to 
Buffalo  in  early  youth  attended  the  well-known 
Heathcote  School,  a  private  institution  of  excellent 
standing.  At  the  age  of  si.xteen  he  closed  his  books, 
not  expecting  then  ever  to  resume  systematic  aca- 
demic training.  He  had  always  taken  great  interest 
in  electrical  subjects,  and  his  first  venture  in  the 
outer  world  was  made  as  an  electrician,  line  re]jairer, 
and  operator  for  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  Telegraph  Co. 
This  was  in  1(S74.  The  next  year  he  made  a  com- 
mercial hit  by  running  "electric  light"  excursions 
from  Buffalo  to  Niagara  Falls.  'I'he  arc  light  was 
then  just  coming  into  general  use  ;  and  the  viewing 
of  the  Falls  in  the  new  light,  variously  and  bril- 
liantly colored,  became  a  poiiular  pastime.  In  187(3 
he  entered  the  service  of  the  Central-Hudson  road 
at  Buffalo  as  train  dispatcher,  telegraph  operator, 
and  ticket  agent.  The  next  year  he  was  employed 
by  the  Buffalo  police  department  as  chief  telegraph 
operator  ;  and  in  1879  he  became  an  ojierator  for 
the  Western  I'nion  company  at  Buffalo. 

Deciding  to  follow  a  professional  rather  than  a 
business  career,  and  having  a  strong  inclination 
toward  the  study  of  medicine,  Mr.  Pitkin  entered 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  New 
York  in  1881,  and  afterward  attended  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo.  He 
received  from  the  latter  institution  in  1884  the 
degree  of  M.  1).,  obtaining  at  graduation  the  dis- 
tinction of  an  "honorable  mention."  For  several 
years  after  this  he  tutored  medical  students  at  the 
University  of  Buffalo  with  much  success.  Opening 
an  office  in  Buffalo  soon  after  he  obtained  his  degree. 
Dr.  Pitkin  carried  on  an  increasingly  large  general 
practice  for  over  a  decade.  His  early  interest  in 
electrical  matters  was  maintained  all  the  time, 
naturally  taking  a  direction  harmonious  with  his 
]jrofessional  work. 

The  application  of  electrical  sc  ience  to  surgerv 
and  general  therapeutics  has  become  of  great  impor- 
tance in  recent  years,  and  Dr.  Pitkin  has  devoted  a 
good  deal  of  time  to  the  study  of  the  subject.  This 
investigation  convinced  him  of  the  wide  usefulness 
of  electricity  in  the  art  of  healing,  and  he  decided 
to  specialize  his  work  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
this  line.  He  founded,  accordingly,  in  November, 
18!t(),  the  Buffalo  lOlectrical  Sanitarium,  with  execu- 
tive offices  in  Kllicott  Sc|uare  and  branches  at  2()() 
Connecticut  street  and   (il'.l  Prosiiec  t  avenue.       This 


experiment  has  already  jjroved  successful,  and  Dr. 
Pitkin  has  at  times  more  patients  than  he  can  easily 
care  for.  He  has  taken  great  interest  in  the  "  X- 
ray  "  discovery  as  related  to  surgical  operations,  and 
has  done  a  good  deal  to  popularize  exact  and  useful 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  He  has  contributed 
articles  to  the  Buffalo  Ahdical  Journal  on  stomach 
and  peritoneal  washing  and  on  hemorrhages  from 
the  nostrils. 

( )n  the  ]jersonal  side,  mention  may  be  made  of 
Dr.  Pitkin's  interest  in  military  affairs.  In  1879  he 
organized  company  F  of  the  74th  regiment,  N.  O., 
S.  N.  Y.,  serving  as  captain  of  the  company  for 
some  time  ;  and  he  is  now  a  member  of  the  Buffalo 
City  Ouard  Cadet  Association.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Republican,  and  received  the  nomination  of  his 
]jarty  for  alderman  in  1887.  He  has  observed 
closely  the  territorial  expansion  of  Buffalo,  and  has 
made  some  successful  \entures  in  real-estate  opera- 
tions. He  is  a  meinl)er  of  the  first  Presb\lerian 
Church  of  Buffalo. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— John  Toicm- 
st'/ii/  Pitkin  was  born  at  I^almyra,  N.  Y.,  May  S, 
1S58  ;  attfndi'd  Palmyra  Union  School  and  Heathcote 
School,  Buffalo :  hell  various  positions  as  electrician 
and  telegraph  operator,  lSH-81 :  studied  medicine, 
and  graduated  from  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Buffalo  in  188 Jf  :  married  Lizzie  Simons 
Youngs  of  Buffalo  March  4,  1886 ;  has  practiced 
medicine  in  Buffalo  since  1884 


au^l•C^V  3.  TRobCrtiJOn  was  bom  in  Dela- 
ware county,  New  York,  in  18")!.  After  attending 
district  .schools  and  the  academy  in  his  native  town, 
teaching  at  intervals  and  boarding  around  among 
the  farmers  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  he  sought 
higher  instruction  in  Delaware  Academy  at  Delhi, 
N.  Y.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  entered  Cornell 
University  with  the  class  of  '7"),  hoping  to  take  the 
lull  course.  He  was  obliged  to  meet  his  own  ex- 
|)enses,  and  after  working  his  way  along  through  the 
freshman  year  he  ilecided  that  it  would  not  pay  to 
follow  such  a  life  for  three  years  more.  He  did  not, 
however,  give  up  the  idea  of  studying  law  ;  and  after 
teaching  Cernian  for  a  year  at  Delaware  .Academ)- 
he  began  to  jjreparc  himself  in  an  office  at  Delhi  for 
the  bar  examinations.  He  studied  thus  three  years, 
supporting  himself  by  his  labor,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  the  foil  of  187(>. 

Beginning  practice  at  once  in  Delhi,  Mr.  Robert- 
son concluded  after  a  few  months  that  he  need  not 
hesitate  to  ])it  himself  against  the  legal  lights  of  a 
larger  place;  and  in  .March,  1877,  accordingly,  he 
opened  an  oi'lic  e  in  I'.lniira.      After   pr;icticing  alone 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


40'. 


until  January,  1880,  he  formed  a  partnershi[)  with 
Gabriel  L.  Smith,  ex-county  judge.  The  firm  of 
Smith  &  Robertson  carried  on  a  successful  jiraciice 
until  January  1,  1880.  At  that  time  Mr.  Robert.son 
associated  himself  with  John  Bull,  Jr.,  and  the  next 
year  Dix  W.  Smith  was  admitted  to  the  partnership. 
The  firm  of  Robertson,  Smith  &  Bull 
continued  until  the  senior  partner  mo\  ed 
to  Buffalo   in  April,   1898. 

Mr.  Robertson  had  then  practiced  in 
Elmira  sixteen  years,  and  had,  of  course, 
formed  valuable  business  connections ; 
but  he  felt  sure  that  Buffalo  was  destined 
to  become  a  large  city,  and  he  knew 
that  the  abler  members  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession must  share  in  such  prosperity. 
He  has  been  in  Buffalo  only  four  years 
now,  but  has  already  attained  a  position 
of  prominence  at  the  local  l)ar  ;  and  the 
prediction  may  safely  be  made  that  he 
will  repeat  in  Erie  county  his  earlier 
success  in  the  Southern  Tier. 

Like  many  other  lawyers,  Mr.  Robert- 
son has  been  much  concerned  with  ]jol- 
itics  ;    but  unlike  many  people  so  occu- 
pied,   he    has    not    at  any    time    sought 
public  office.      His  interest  in    the  sul)- 
ject    has  beeiV'  that   of  a  public-spirited 
citizen,  believing  heartily  in  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  and  trying 
to   promote    the    greatest    good    of    the 
greatest     ninnber     in    all     proper    ways. 
During   his    later  years    in    Elmira    Mr. 
Robertson  frequently  acted  as  counsel  for 
Republican  organizations  in  election  con- 
tests ;  and    he  devoted    a  good    deal   of 
time  to  the  work  of  instructing  election 
officers  as  to  their  legal   rights  and  duties 
on  voting  days.       He  is  thoroughly  in- 
formed in  these  matters,  and  the  campaign  managers 
of  Buffalo  have  availed  themselves  of  his  services  in 
every  election  since  he  went  to  that  cit\ .      He  has 
also    been    prominently  connected    with    the    (lood 
{jovernment  Clubs  of  Buffalo,  having  associated  him- 
self with  the  movement  from  the   beginning.      He 
has  acted  as  legal  adviser  for  the  organization,  and 
rendered  special  .service  in  conducting  the  investiga- 
tion into  the  management  of  the  Erie-countv  alms- 
house in  liS!)(i-H7. 

Aside  from  professional  and  political  work,  Mr. 
Robertson  has  concerned  himself  with  several  inter- 
esting subjects.  He  was  one  of  the  early  devotees 
of  cycling,  and  was  a  charter  member  and  the  first 
president  of  the  Kanaweola  Bicycle  Club  of  Elmira. 


He  is  an  elocutionist  of  decided  talent,  and  has 
freijuently  read  in  public  in  a  semi-professional  way. 
He  is  particularly  interested  in  the  study  of  Shakes- 
]3eare,  and  is  president  of  one  of  the  Shakespeare 
clubs  of  Buffalo.  He  has  written  somewhat  for  pub- 
lication at  various  times,   and  was  the  poet  of  his 


AXriRF.W    J.    h'()/iliKTSO.\ 

class  at  Cornell.  He  has  been  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Zcta  I'hi  fraternity  of  Delhi,  and 
was  the  poet  at  its  annual  dinner  in  1874.  He  is 
a  charter  member  of  the  Independent  Club  of 
Buffalo,  and  was  the  jiresident  thereof  for  the  first 
two  years  of  its  existence. 

PERSONAL  CNR  ONOL  O  G  V—  Amirejc 
James  Rohertson  was  horn  at  Andes,  Delaware  conntx, 
N.  }'. ,  March  -10,  IS-')7  :  attended  district  schools  and 
academies  and  Cornell  Unii'crsity ;  loas  admitted  to 
the  har  in  IH'HC,  and  practiced  in  Delhi,  N.  Y., 
1S7G-77  :  married  Martha  Hart  Thompsoji  of  Elmira, 
N.  Y. ,  Deceml'er  19,  1878  ;  practiced  huv  in  Elmira, 
1877 -m  :  has  practiced  hni<  in  Buffalo  since  April, 
18<J-J. 


40fi 


MEN   OF  NFAV    YORK —WKSTERX  SECTION 


5aC0b  if.  ScbOellhOpt,  a  veritable  "captain 
of  industry,"  and  widely  re.si)ected  in  western  New 
York  for  his  character  and  personal  iiualities,  was 
born  in  Kirchheim-unter-Teck,  a  small  town  of 
VViirttemberg,  Germany,  in  1819.  After  attending 
the  schools  of  his  native  town  until  he  was  fourteen 


J.U  (i/l   /■.    SI  HnliLI.Kori- 

years  old,  he  began  his  business  life  by  becoming  an 
apprentice  in  his  father's  tannery.  The  tanner's 
trade  might  almost  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  Mr. 
Schoellkopf's  inheritance,  since  both  his  father  and 
his  grandfather  had  been  conspicuously  succe.ssful  in 
the  business.  Having  served  as  an  ai)]}rentice  the 
full  term  of  five  years,  Jacob  Schocllkopf  broadened 
his  industrial  training  by  following  a  clerkship  in  a 
mercantile  house  for  about  two  years.  ?3uropean 
emigration  to  the  L'nited  States  had  already  begun 
on  a  considerable  scale,  and  Mr.  Schocllkopf  was 
sufficiently  ambitious  and  foresightful  to  wish  a  part 
in  the  movement.  Continued  reflection  only  con- 
firmed his  ]nir|)ose  ;  and  in  December,  1841,  when 
twentv-two  vears  old,  he   landed   in   New  York  citv. 


Utterly  ignorant  of  the  English  language,  Mr. 
Schocllkopf  was  forced  at  first  to  accejjt  the  readiest 
employment  at  hand,  and  he  naturally  reverted  to 
his  old  trade.  After  following  this  for  two  years  in 
New  York  city,  he  moved  to  BufTalo  in  1844,  and 
established  a  small  leather  store  on  Mohawk  street. 
His  ca])ital  was  limited  to  §8((U,  which 
his  father  had  loaned  him.  Seeing  at 
once  that  he  had  made  no  mistake  in 
tommitting  himself  to  business,  Mr. 
Schocllkopf  soon  embarked  in  a  more 
ambitious  venture  by  purchasing  a  small 
tannery  at  White's  Corners  (Hamburg), 
near  Buffalo.  His  early  training  was  in- 
valuable to  him  in  this  enterjjrise,  and 
ensured  his  success.  In  two  years,  or 
in  1846,  he  enlarged  his  operations  by 
starting  a  sheepskin  tannery  in  Buffalo  : 
in  1.S4.S  he  established  a  tannery  in  Mil- 
waukee ;  and  in  ISoO  still  another  tan- 
nery at  Chicago  resulted  from  his  inces- 
sant activity.  Both  the  Milwaukee  and 
the  Chicago  tanneries  are  still  in  success- 
ful operation,  though  Mr.  Schocllkopf 
withdrew  his  interest  from  them  a  few 
years  after  their  establishment.  In  1853 
he  started  another  tannery  at  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.,  and  in  1854  yet  another, 
at  North  Kvans,  N.  Y.,  conducting  the 
latter  plant  with  unusual  success  for 
twenty  years.  In  l.S()4  he  bought  a  site 
for  a  tannery  at  Sheffield,  Penn.,  then  a 
|)art  of  the  wilderness,  and  built  u])  there 
a  remarkably  successful  industry.  He  is 
now  the  senior  proprietor  of  one  of  the 
largest  sheepskin  tanneries  in  the  l'nited 
States,   located  in   Buffalo. 

In  IS.")"  Mr.  Schocllkopf  engaged  in 
the  milling  industry  by  erecting  the 
North  Buffalo  Flouring  .Mills.  His  wonderful  Inisi- 
ness  ability  brought  him  success  in  the  new  de- 
])arture,  and  he  ultimately  became  one  of  the  largest 
millers  in  the  Empire  State.  In  1870  he  bought 
the  Frontier  Mills  in  Buffalo,  and  subse(iuently 
erected  extensive  flouring  mills  at  Niagara  l-'alls. 
He  is  the  senior  |)artner  in  the  famous  milling  firm 
of  Schoellkojjf  i\:   Mathews. 

Mr.  Schoellko])f's  brilliant  success  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  own  vast  enterprises  has  induced  the 
ilirectors  of  various  corporations  to  seek  his  aid  ; 
and  in  some  cases  he  has  been  willing  to  accept  such 
directorates,  or  to  share  otherwise  in  the  manage- 
ment of  important  corporations.  He  was  vice- 
president  of  the   Buffalo,  New  York  cV"  Philadelphia 


MEN   OF  XEir    YOKK—U'ESTERX  SECT/OX 


407 


railroad  before  its  sale  to  the  present  Western  New- 
York  &  Pennsylvania  com]jany.  For  a  long  time  he 
was  vice  president  of  the  Third  National  Bank, 
Huffiilo  ;  and  he  is  still  a  director  in  several  hanks  in 
Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls.  He  is  also  a  director 
and  the  president  of  the  Citizens'  Gas  Co.,  Buffalo. 
He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  General  Hos- 
]jital  since  it  was  founded.  His  varied  industrial 
enterprises  at  Niagara  Falls  gave  him  special  interest 
in  the  water  power  there,  and  in  1877  he  bought  the 
Hydraulic  canal  at  the  Falls.  Seeing  clearly  the 
economic  possibilities  of  the  undeveloped  Niagara 
power,  he  began  at  once  to  imjjrove  the  property  ; 
and  many  large  mills,  manufacturing  paper,  flour, 
aluminium,  and  other  important  products,  are  now 
using  the  canal.  About  20,000  horse  power  is  now 
|)roduced,  but  this  quantity  will  be  greath'  increased 
when  proposed  enlargements  and  im- 
provements of  the  canal  and  power 
station  are  com|)leted.  For  the  purpose 
of  tlevelo])ing  the  property  Mr.  Schoell- 
kopf,  soon  after  he  bought  the  canal, 
organized  the  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic 
Power  &  Manufacturing  Co.,  of  which 
he  is  still  president. 

Mr.  .Schoellkojff  went  back  to  luirope 
tor  the  first  tim^  in  l.H.').'!,  and  since 
then  he  has  revisited  his  natixe  land 
on  many  occasions.  Though  he  is  now 
in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  he  still  enjoys 
excellent  health,  and  enters  artiveh'  into 
business  and  social  life. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Jacob  Frederick  Schocllkopf  7i<as  born  at 
Kirchheim-iinter-  Teck,  Germany,  No- 
vember I'l,  1819;  Teas  educaled  in  Ger- 
man schools,  and  learned  the  tanner's 
trade  in  his  native  land;  came  to  the 
United  States  in  IS^l,  and  settled  in 
Biijfalo  in  fanuarx,  1S44  ■'  married 
Christiana  Sophie  Ducrr  of  Kirchlieim- 
unter-Teck  March  12,  18^8 ;  has  been 
ens^aji^vd  in  the  tanning  business  since 
1844,  in  niillini^  since  1SR7,  and  in  the 
management  of  luirioi/s  corporations  for 
manv  rears. 


obtained  there.  This  excellent  educational  ground- 
work facilitated  further  training  in  Buffalo  by 
private  teachers,  at  St.  Jose])h's  College,  and  at 
Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College. 

The  mention  of  the  last-named  institution  .shows 
the  character  of  the  career  on  which  Mr.  Schoell- 
kojjf  had  decided.  It  was  natural  and  easy  for  him 
to  choose  a  mercantile  life,  since  his  father,  Jacob 
F.  Schoellkopf,  had  vast  business  interests,  and 
wished  to  have  his  son  ver.sed  in  commercial  affairs. 
.\t  the  age  of  eighteen,  therefore,  Mr.  Schoellkopf 
went  to  work  in  his  father's  tannery,  learning  the 
tanner's  trade  there  thoroughly  in  the  course  of  the 
next  four  years.  If  heredity  counts  for  anything  in 
.such  matters,  the  young  man  had  every  reason  to 
take  kindly  to  this  occupation  ;  since  his  grandfather 
and  his  great-grandfather  had   been   tanners  in   (jer- 


XOUiS   ScbOellftOpf  was  bom   in 

Bulfalo  somewhat  more   than   forty   years 

ago,     of     German     parents.       He     was 

favored   with  unusually  careful  tuition.      .Attending 

private    schools    until     the    age    of    ten,    he    then 

studied  for  four  years  in  Germany,  his   father  having 

a    high    opinion    of    the    thorough    training    to    be 


/.OU/S  SI  //(■;/;■/. AA7)/'/' 


many,  and  his  father,  after  learning  the  trade  in  his 
native  land,  had  established  himself  in  the  same 
business  in  Buffalo  thirty  years  before.  Having 
acquired    a    firm    grasp     of    the    business,     Louis 


408 


MKX  OF  .\7:ir  )(>A'A'—ii7-:sr/:A\v  s/icvvox 


Schoellkopf  thought  it  advisable  to  set  up  a  plant  of 
his  own  ;  and  in  1877,  accordingly,  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  brother  Henry,  under  the  style  of 
J.  F.  Schoellko])f  s  Sons.  This  firm  conducted  a 
successful  tanning  business  until  Henry  S(  hoellkojif 
died  ill  1880,  when  a  new  firm  was  organized,  lon- 
sisting  of  Louis  and  Alfred  P.  Schoellkopf  and  Juliii 
Russ.  This  organization  was  well  ]jlanned,  and  the 
concern  has  transacteil  a  large  volume  of  business. 
The  original  firm  name  is  still  used. 

Mr.  Schoellkopf  has  been  concerned  with  various 
business  undertakings,  both  in  Buffalo  and  elsewhere, 
aside  from  that  just  described.  In  connection  with 
his  lather  and  brother,  he  has  devoted  much  time  of 
late  years  to  a  number  of  enterprises  in  Niagara 
Falls,  incluiling  the  Power  City  Bank,  International 
hotel,  t'liff  Paper  Co.,  and  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic 
Power  iS:  Manufacturing  Co. 

In  the  social  life  of  Buffalo  Mr.  Schoellkopf  is 
highly  regarded  ;  and  as  a  lifelong  resident  of  the 
Queen  City,  and  a  trusted  and  trustworthy  citizen, 
he  has  an  extensive  circle  of  friends.  In  jjolitical 
matters  his  sympathies  are  with  the  Republican 
party,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Buffalo  Republican 
League  ;  but  he  has  taken  no  active  part  in  politics, 
and  has  never  sought  nor  held  public  office.  He 
attends  the  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Westminster  Club.  He  belongs, 
also,  to  the  Fllicott  Club,  the  Merchants'  Exchange, 
the  Orpheus  Singing  Society,  and  the  Charity 
( )rganization. 

>  /;  /^SO  NA  L  CHR  ONOLOGY—  /.on  is 
Schoellkopf  was  Iwni  at  Buffalo  March  25,  1855  ; 
studied  in  Buffalo  schools  and  colleges  and  in  Ger- 
many;  learned  the  tanner' s  trade  in  Buffalo,  187S- 
77 ;  married  Myra  Lee  IJorlon  of  Slieffield,  Penn. , 
May  18,  1881  ;  has  been  engaged  in  the  tannery 
business  in  Buffalo  since  1877  as  a  member  of  the 
firm   of  /.  F.  Schoellkopf  s  Sons. 


1Ro&ue\}  /IDacnmlcv?  Uavlor  i^  a  type  of 

many  ilislinguished  Americans,  who  ha\e  by  their 
own  efforts  risen  from  poverty  to  affluence.  Colonel 
Taylor  himself  is  fond  of  saying  that  "the  good 
LortI  is  sure  to  help  them  that  try  to  help  them- 
selves in  this  glorious  country  of  ours  —  the  very 
best  that  the  world  has  ever  known." 

In  the  spring  of  1847  Mr.  Taylor  was  a  clerk  in  a 
commission  and  shijiping  house  on  Broad  street.  New 
York  city.  \\'hen  returning  from  the  bank  one  day 
he  met  face  to  face  an  officer  in  uniform,  who  proved 
to  be  his  brother.  Captain  Taylor,  just  arrived  from 
Mexico.  After  the  capture  of  Vera  Cruz,  (leneral 
Scott  had  ordered  Captain   Tavlor  to  go  to  Ciminiiati 


on  some  army  business,  and  his  brother  Rodney 
decided  to  accompany  him  thither.  The  two  went 
West  together,  accordingly,  by  way  of  Buffalo. 
Colonel  Taylor  remembers  clearly  how  he  and  his 
brother  registered  at  the  Mansion  House  June  7, 
1847  — the  twenty-second  anniversary,  as  they  were 
told,  of  the  hanging  of  the  three  Thayer  brothers  in 
Niagara  s<[uare.  Captain  Taylor  took  a  steamer  from 
Buffalo  to  Cleveland  en  route  to  Cincinnati  ;  but  the 
younger  brother,  having  received  an  offer  of  a  clerk- 
ship in  a  dry -goods  store  on  Main  street,  resolved  to 
accept  the  opportunity,  and  make  Buffalo  his  perma- 
nent abiding-place. 

Mr.  Taylor  had  not  been  in  Buffalo  long  before 
the  dry-goods  business  became  dull,  and  at  his  own 
request  he  was  released  from  service.  He  had 
dei)ositeil  in  a  bank  on  his  arrival  in  Buffalo  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  which  he  now  drew  out,  and  devoted 
to  the  purchase  of  a  carload  of  cheese.  He  sold  this 
in  ( entral  New  York  in  six  days,  returning  to  Buf- 
falo with  a  clear  profit  of  Sl()7.  This  successful 
transaction  led  to  further  ventures  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  in  the  spring  of  1848  Mr.  Taylor  felt 
comi)etent  to  manage  a  grocery  and  ])rovision  busi- 
ness of  his  own.  He  established  such  a  store, 
accordingly,  on  Main  street  near  where  the  Tifft 
House  now  stands.  The  sequel  showed  that  he  had 
not  overrated  his  powers,  and  in  18451  he  opened 
another  store  near  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and 
Swan  streets.  He  enjoyed  a  jjrosperous  trade  until 
Decenilier,  18,54,  when  he  closed  out  his  business  in 
order  to  go  to  Morida  for  the  health  of  his  wife. 

After  returning  from  the  West  Indies,  whither  he 
had  gone  from  I''lorida,  Mr.  Taylor  devoted  himself 
for  a  few  years  to  his  real-estate  interests  in  Buflalo 
and  Krie  count} .  In  the  sjiring  of  18.")8  he  cleared 
away  the  trees  and  stum|)s  on  some  of  his  land  in  the 
.southern  |)art  of  the  city,  and  erected  the  house  in 
which  he  has  since  dwelt.  Soon  after  this  he  began 
to  take  a  j^rominent  part  in  public  affairs.  In  the 
fall  of  18()()  he  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  super- 
visor, and  in  the  following  year  he  was  elected  alder- 
man from  the  l.'ith  ward,  Buffalo. 

In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  Colonel  Taylor  hml 
an  active  and  highly  patriotic  jjart.  In  1X02  he 
became  one  of  the  government  enrolling  officers, 
and  in  November  of  that  year  he  was  made  one  of  a 
committee  of  three  from  the  18th  ward  to  raise 
funds,  and  otherwise  recruit  the  northern  armies.  .\s 
soon  as  the  draft  of  his  ward  was  completed,  he  went 
to  New  York,  purchased  there  a  uniform  for  himself 
and  clothing  and  other  equipments  for  soldiers,  and 
ol)tained  authoritv  from  the  governor  of  the  state  at 
.\lban\    1(1    raise    recruits    tor    the    I'Jih     Ncu    N'ork 


ME\   or  \K\r    )ORk-—lVKST/-:R\  SKCr/OX 


409 


volunteer  cavalry.  Returning  to  Buffalo  then,  he 
unfurled  the  United  States  flag  from  his  office 
on  Main  street,  over  handbills  headed  "  Recruits 
Wanted."  After  only  two  weeks  of  hard  work  and 
considerable  expense  —  there  was  no  bounty  i)aid  for 
recruits  at  that  time  —  Colonel  Taylor  was  able  to 
send  out  of  Buffalo  on  December  X,  18(52,  10"2  men. 
Having  received  a  captain's  commission  December 
I.'?,  he  recruited  four  more  companies  of  a  hundred 
men  each.  On  January  ."),  18(;4,  he  was  commis- 
sioned major.  After  having  been  honorably  mus 
tered  out  July  IS),  ISfio,  he  was  made  a  first  lieutenant 
in  the  regular  army  July  28,  18()().  This  appoint- 
ment was  the  more  gratifying  as  it  came  entirely 
without  solicitation  on  Colonel  Taylor's  part,  at  a 
time  when  many  officers  who  had  served  in  the  Civil 
War  were  making  strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  com- 
mi.ssions  in  the  regular  army.  Colonel 
Taylor  was  [lersonally  recommended  for 
the  honor  by  President  Crant  and  Secre- 
tary Stanton  :  and  as  he  felt  unwilling, 
for  family  reasons,  to  serve  in  the  cav- 
alry, to  which  he  was  first  ap])ointed,  he 
was  transferred  to  the  12th  infantry,  and 
later  to  the  2()th  infantry.  He  «as 
made  ca|)tain  October  22,  1^71).  He 
was  also  brevetted, -for  faithftil  and  meri- 
torious service,  lieutenant  colonel  and 
colonel.  .After  serving  at  many  ]iosts 
in  the  regular  army  for  nearly  l\\ent\ 
years,  he  was  honorably  retired  liy  ait 
of  congress,  for  age,  September  19,  1M84. 

Since  then  Colonel  Taylor  has  devoteil 
himself  for  the  most  part  to  the  develo])- 
ment  of  his  propertv  in  South  Buffalo. 
He  has  effected  many  impro\ements  in 
that  part  of  the  city,  and  ha.s  radically 
changed  the  general  aspect  of  the  locality 
as  a  place  of  residence.  He  has  paiil 
over  S40,000  in  local  ta.ves  within  a 
decade ;  and  his  annual  ta.\  to  city, 
county,  and  state  has  increa.sed  from 
S200  to  more  than  ten  times  that  amount. 

PERSONAL  CHROXOLOGY^ 
Rihincy  Macam/ey  Taylor  reus  horn  al 
Dryden,  Tompkins  county,  N.  1",  Sep- 
tember 10,  1820  ;  was  educated  in  common 
scliools ;  7vas  a  clerk  in  stores  in  New 
York  city  and  Buffalo,  IS 4  7-^8  ;  carried 
on  a  grocery  /msiness  in  Buffalo,  18^8- 
i).'f  :  married  Elizabeth  Beers  of  ferusalem 


September   Jf,    181flf,    her    sister 


J/(7/;r    Beers  June 


the  volunteer  army  of  the  United  States,  1862-65, 
and  in  the  regular  army,  1866-84 ;  has  been  en- 
gaged since  1884  '"  ll'f  <"<"■''  ""'''  development  of  his 
extensij'e  property. 

•«• 

llfllilliam  ^avi^  Maimer,  recently  elected 
bishop  of  the  Protestant  ICpi.scopal  diocese  of  We.st- 
ern  New  York,  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State,  and 
had  a  long  career  there  as  a  parish  priest  :  though  in 
recent  years  he  has  been  so  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  missionary  work  of  the  Northwest  that  many 
|ieo|jle  think  of  him  as  a  westerner  only. 

Bishop  \\'alker  was  born  in  New  York  city  in  I8.'l!l, 
and  made  his  home  in  the  metropolis  for  more  than 
forty  years.  Attending  first  the  public  schools, 
he  afterward  prepared  for  college  at  Trinity  School, 
a    classical     institution     of    high     standing     in    his 


V, 


^^-"^ 


21,    1851,   and  Sarah  J.    Dash   of  Angola,   N.    Y.,. 
February  5,    1857 :    Joas   a    commissioned    officer  in 


A'(Ui\EV  MK  i.\rri:v  'rivi.ok 

native  city.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  Co- 
lumbia College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1859, 
receiving  the  McVickar  i)rize.  He  had  already  de- 
termined   to    devote    himself   to    the    church,   and 


410 


MK\  OF  .YEW   )(>A-A—irESr/;AW  sj-xvvo.y 


accordingly  became  a  student  at  the  (leneral  I'heo- 
logical  Seminary  in  the  same  year.  He  completed 
the  course  there  in  l.S(;2,  and  received  deacon's 
orders  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Horatio  Potter  in  the 
Church  of  the  Transfiguration  on  his  twent\  third 
liirthdav. 

He  was  at  once  elected  vicar  of  Calvary  Chapel, 
New  York,  and  entered  upon  his  work  in  the  follow- 
ing October,  serving  also  as  special  assistant  in  Cal- 
vary Church.  On  his  next  birthday,  June  2i),  ISO."], 
he  wa.s  ordained  priest  in  Calvary  Churth.  By 
the  year  1S70  the  building  previously  occujjied  by 
the  chapel  had  become  too  small  for  the  congregation, 
and  the  large  <hnn'h  known  as  Calvary  Free  Chapel 
was  built  at  an  expense  of  SloO,OI(0.  Here  Bishop 
Walker  laboretl  until  l.SX.'!,  when  he  was  chosen  l)y 
the  house  of  bishops  first  bishop  of  the  missionary 
district  of  North  Dakota.  His  consecration  took 
|jlace  in  Calvary  Church  December  2(1,  l.s.s;!,  Bishop 
Clark  of  Rhode  Island  acting  as  consecrator,  and 
bishops  I'otler  and  Clarkson  as  presenters.  Many 
other  bi.shoi)s  assisted  at  the  ceremony,  including 
the  two  bishops  I'adclock,  bishojis  I.ittlejohn.  Scar- 
borough, and  Starkey.  I'he  ])reacher  on  this  occa- 
sion was  Bishojj  Coxe,  who  had  presented  the  new- 
bishop  for  ordination  to  the  ])riesthood  in  the  same 
church  twenty  years  before. 

No  greater  contrast  could  well  be  imagined  than 
that  between  the  conditioiis  of  work  in  a  large  and 
)<rosperoiis  city  i)arish  and  tliosc  in  a  district  com- 
prising ISO, 000  souls  scattered  over  70, ()()((  S(|uare 
miles  of  territory.  But  Bishop  Walker  jjossessetl  the 
faith  and  devotion,  the  zeal  and  energy  needed  for 
his  new  work  ;  and  the  history  of  his  years  of  labor 
in  the  Northwest  is  a  history  of  continued  achieve- 
ment in  the  cause  of  Christianity  and  of  general 
civilization.  .Many  of  those  (onnnitted  to  his  pas- 
toral care  were  Indians,  and  much  of  his  time  and 
effort  was  given  in  behalf  of  this  unfortunate  race. 
In  1X87  he  was  appointed  by  President  Cleveland 
one  of  the  board  of  United  States  Indian  commis- 
sioners, a  body  often  men  having  general  oversight 
of  the  interests  of  the  Indians  throughout  the  country  ; 
and  he  was  ever  the  friend  of  the  red  man,  and  ac- 
complished much  for  his  elevation. 

Bishop  \\'alker's  strong  common  sense  and  prac- 
tical methods  of  work  were  peculiarly  well  fitted  for 
the  administration  of  a  missionary  diocese.  His 
"cathedral  car"  was  one  of  the  most  effective  ex- 
pedients for  ministering  to  a  .scattered  population 
that  could  possibly  have  been  devised.  The  name 
is  self-explanatory  :  a  railway  car  was  fitted  up  as  a 
church,  with  altar,  font,  lecturn,  and  organ,  and 
seats  for  about  seventy-five  jjeople  :  and  by  its  means 


thousands  who  couki  not  otherwise  have  been  reached 
were  brought  into  touch  with  the  ministrations  of 
the  church.  Its  adajjtability  to  modern  conditions 
was  so  strikingly  evident  that  the  idea  has  since  been 
utilized  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  Creek  (  hurch 
of  Russia  now  emijloys  five  such  itinerant  churches 
on  the  great  new  railroad  in  Siberia;  and  similar 
work  is  carried  on  at  Titiis  in  the  Caucasus,  at  old 
Carthage  in  the  north  of  Africa,  in  the  diocese  of 
Crahamstown  in  south  .Africa,  and  in  other  places. 
Five  su(  h  churc  hes  are  now  in  use  by  the  Baptist 
church  in  this  country,  and  two  others  b\  the  llpis- 
co|jal  church. 

.\t  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  Bishop  Walker 
was  a.ssociated  with  IJisho])  Coxe  at  Cabary  Church, 
New  York  ;  and  the  friendship  then  begun  strength- 
ened with  years,  and  la.sted  until  the  death  of  the 
elder  man.  During  the  later  years  of  his  life 
Bishop  Coxe  fretpiently  made  use  of  his  friend's  hel|), 
sending  him  on  episcopal  iluty  to  many  parishes  in 
the  diocese  of  Western  New  York,  .\fter  the  death 
of  Bi.shop  Coxe  a  strong  sentiment  developed  in 
favor  of  Bishop  Walker  for  his  successor.  Many  in 
the  dioce.se  knew  him  personally,  and  it  was  believeii 
that  the  choice  would  be  in  accord  with  the  wishes 
of  their  late  beloved  bishop.  The  special  council 
met  in  Trinity  Church,  Buffalo,  October  (i,  iJSJKi, 
and  the  next  day  Bishop  Walker  was  electeil  third 
bisho|)  of  the  diocese.  He  entered  upon  his  new 
duties  December  20,  bSlKi,  after  an  imjiressive  ser- 
vice of  enlhronization  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  \\  liilc 
liishop  Walker's  work  in  his  eastern  diocese  is  1  ul 
just  begun,  it  is  safe  to  prophesy  that  he  will  not 
be  less  successful  there  than  in  the  West.  lie  has 
received  a  hearty  welcome  from  the  general  public, 
as  well  as  from  the  priests  and  people  of  his  church, 
and  all  are  ready  to  bid  him  (lodspeed  in  his  new 
field  of  labor. 

In  addition  to  many  pastoral  letters,  convocation 
addresses,  and  sermons.  Bishop  Walker  has  published 
several  writings  that  possess  jieculiar  interest  from 
the  imi)ortance  either  of  the  subjects  treateci  or  of 
the  occasion  of  their  delivery.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  his  report  to  the  President  anti  con- 
gress on  the  Sioux  and  Chippewa  tribes  of  Indians 
in  North  Dakota  (lfS><());  a  sermon  on  the  "Rela- 
tions of  Wealth  to  I^bor,"  preached  in  Westminster 
.-\bbey  in  DSSH,  and  one  on  "God's  Providence  in 
I.ife,"  delivered  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  London,  on 
the  death  of  the  Fmperor  of  (lermany  ;  an  essay  on 
"  Domestic  Missions,"  read  at  St.  James  Hall,  Lon- 
don, at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  venerable  Society 
for  the  Proi)agation  of  the  Cospel  in  Foreign  Parts 
(  ISXX  );   and  an  address  on  "  Missions  in  the  rnitecl 


.l//-;.\-    or  .\7-.7/-    \i>UA'~ll7-:s-/7:AW  ShCV/O.V 


411 


States,"  delivered  in  the  same  place  in  1.H1I4. 
The  bishop  has  received  honorary  degrees  from 
many  colleges  and  universities  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  In  1884  Racine  Universil\  made  him  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  ten  years  later  ( )\ford  Ini- 
versity,  England,  conferred  a  similar  honor  upon 
him.  In  1884,  also,  he  received  from 
his  (j/z/Kr  inater  the  degree  of  S.  T.  D. 
(iriswold  College  gave  him  the  1,1,.  1). 
degree  in  18S8.  and  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  in  1894.  He  is  also  a  Doctor 
of  Canon  Laws  of  the  ITniver.sity  of 
King's  College,  Windsor,  Nova  Scotia. 
PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
William  David  Walker  7vas  horn  at  Nno 
)  'ork  city  June  29,  ISSO  ;  i^railitafed  from 
Columbia  College  in  1859,  an  J  from  thr 
(jeneral  Theological  Seminary  in  ISIIJ  : 
7i'a\  T'ica/-  of  Calvary  Chapel,  New  York 
city,  1Hl>.i—S-i :  7i:ias  bishop  of  the  mission- 
ary ilislrict  of  North  Dakota,  ISH-'.-UC,  ,- 
loas  electctl  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  West- 
ern .\>7i'  York  October  7,  1896. 


Gcoroe  jf.  3Bro\vnell  has  had  a 

remarkabh  .successlul  <'areer  and  has  at- 
tained, at  the  age  of  thirtv-si\,  a  position 
of  trust  and  responsibility  thai  uould 
test   the  jiowers   of   a   much  older   man. 

Though  he  was  born  in  Des  Moines,  lo., 
his  parents  were  originally  from  eastern 
New  York  ;  and  after  the  war  the\-  mo\  ed 
back    to    the  TMn|iire   State,   and  settled 
in    Medina.        There    Mr.     Browned    re- 
ceived  his    early    education,    graduating 
from  the  Medina  High  School,  and  after 
ward     attending     the    Lockport     Lnion 
Sihool.       doing  West  again    after  this, 
he  entered   the  academic  department  of 
the   University    of    Michigan,   from   which    he    was 
transferred  ^ter  to  the   law  dejiartment.      His  pro- 
fessional training  was   unusually  thorough,  since  he 
received  his  degree  as  a  Bachelor  of  Laws  from  the 
.\lbany    Law  School    in    18.S2,   and   from    the    Cni- 
\ersity   of  Michigan   Law    School   the    next    year. 

( )n  his  admission  to  the  bar  Mr.  Brownell  spent  a 
(t:\\  months  in  the  office  of  'Thomas  M.  Cooley, 
judge  of  the  Michigan  Supreme  Court  and  dean 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  Law  School,  and 
subsequently  chairman  of  the  interstate-commerce 
commission.  He  then  moved  to  Fiuffaio,  and 
entered  the  office  of  Sprague,  Morey  i.V  Sprague 
as     assistant     to     the    late     V..     Carletoii    Sprague. 

Tlic  imic|ue  prestige  of  this   hrni  throughout  western 


New  York  offered  the  young  man  a  brilliant 
field  of  |jrofe.ssional  achievement.  In  liS?<.S  he 
was  admitted  to  partnership,  the  stvle  becoming 
Sprague,  Morey,  S])rague  i.V  Brownell  ;  subse- 
(juenth  this  was  changed  to  Sprague,  Moot, 
Sprague    \-     Brownell  :     and    since    June    ^,     L'SilT, 


WILLIAM   l>.tril>    ir./AAV-.A' 

the     firm     ha>     been     known    as     .Moot,     Sprague, 
Brownell    <.V'    Marcy. 

Mr.  BrownelTs  professional  work  has  been  con- 
cerned chiefiy  with  the  railroad  and  other  corpora- 
tion interests  of  the  firm,  which  are  nianv  and 
important  ;  and  since  the  death  of  V,.  Carleton 
Sprague  early  in  1 8i)."),  he  has  had  charge  of  these 
interests.  This  work  has  not  taken  him  so  much 
into  the  courts,  nor  brought  him  so  conspicuously 
before  the  ]nil)lic  eye  as  some  of  his  fellows  :  but 
the  responsibilities  intrusted  to  him  ha\e  been  very 
great,  and  have  been  ably  administered.  The  Tjie 
railroad,  the  Crand  Trunk  railway,  and  the  BulTalo 
Creek  railroad  have  been  among  the  corporate  client.-^ 
of  the   firm  :   and   the   legal    interests  of  the   former 


412 


MEN  OF  .\7-:ir  )(>A'k'—jr£s//:A\y  s/-:cr/o.y 


corporation  in  western  New  Vorlc  and  of  tlie  (Jraiid 
'rnink  throughout  the  state  have  been  committed  to 
Mr.  Hrownell.  One  of  the  important  labors  of  his 
firm  in  this  connection  has  been  the  adjustment  of 
the  relations  between  the  Krie  road,  the  other  roads 
entering  Buffalo,  and  the  city  itself,  in  the  matter  of 


CliORCI-:   /■:    HKDWMiLl. 

abolishing  grade  crossings;  and  Mr.  I'.iouncll  lias 
handled  this  delicate  and  complicated  question  with 
rare  skill.  Of  late  years  his  service  to  the  Krie  rail- 
road has  included  growing  duties  as  counsel  in  other 
parts  of  the  state,  and  his  successful  discharge  of 
these  duties  led  to  his  api)ointment  in  May,  IXilT, 
as  general  solicitor  for  the  com|3any.  This  ap|)oint- 
ment  may  be  regarded  as  a  signal  proof  of  M  r.  Pirouii  - 
ell's  ijrofe.ssional  standing,  since  he  owes  it,  not  to 
moneyed  influence  or  backing,  l)ut  purely  to  merit 
and  ability.  He  will  retain  his  membership  in  the 
Buffalo  firm  with  which  he  has  been  so  prominent!) 
identified,  but  will  make  his  home  in  New  York  city. 
Outside  of  his  profession  Mr.  Brownell  has  been 
acti\cl\-   idcnlificd   with  manv   |ihascs  of  social    life. 


taking  si)ecial  interest  in  present-day  problems  such 
as  are  represented  by  the  work  of  the  Liberal  and 
Thursday  clubs  of  Buffalo.  He  belongs,  also,  to  the 
Buffalo,  Saturn,  Country,  and  Kllicott  clubs  of  Buf- 
talo,  the  Cicnesee  Valley  Club  of  Rochester,  and  the 
Chi  Fsi  college  fraternity.  He  has  been  actively 
connected  with  the  Masonic  order  ;  and 
is  a  Past  Master  of  Ancient  Landmark 
Lodge,  No.  441,  !•'.  &  A.  M.,  a  member 
of  Hugh  de  Payens  Commandery,  and  of 
the  Buffalo  Consistory.  He  belongs  to 
the  Buffalo  Society  of  Artists,  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society,  and  the  Buffiilo  Li- 
brary Association,  and  is  a  memlier  of 
the  Episcopal  church.  His  political 
sympathies  are  with  the  Republican 
party,  and  he  was  the  first  secretary  of 
the    Buffalo    Re])ublican    League. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V  — 
George  Francii  Bnmmell  was  born  at  Des 
Moines,  lo.,  June  5,  186 1 ;  was  educated 
in  Ne7i<  York  state  pul'lic  schools,  and  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor ; 
graduated  from  the  Albany  Law  School  in 
1882,  and  from  the  University  of  Michigan 
Law  School  in  ISS-i :  rvas  appointed  gen- 
eral solicitor  of  the  Erie  railroad  in  May, 
18f)7 ;  married  Anne  Kniseley  Abbott  of 
Buffalo  June  "i ,  1897;  has  been  connected 
7vith  the  firm  of  Sprague,  Morey  &=  Sprague 
of  Buffalo  and  their  successors  since  188:i. 


(5eOr(ie  dlintOn  belongs  to  a  fam- 
ily  that    has  done  much  to  further  the 
best  interests  of  Buff;ilo  and  of  New  York 
state,  and  his  own   share    in    that  work 
has     been     considerable.       Ever     since 
Charles  Clinton,  the  first  ancestor  of  the 
family  on  this  side  of  the  water,  settled 
in   Ulster  county   in   IT^H,  the  Clintons  have  been 
prominent  in  the  Empire  State,  both  in  war  and  in 
peace.    Born  in  Buffalo  about  fifty  years  ago,  (leorge 
Clinton    received    his    early    education     in    private 
schools,  afterward  attending  the  |)ubli(    schools,  and 
graduating    from    the  olil  Central   High  School    in 
IHtif),  shortly  after  its  organization. 

Mr.  Clinton's  father,  Ceorge  W.  Clinton,  was  a 
prominent  lawyer,  and  the  son  determined  to  follow 
the  same  ]jrofession.  He  went  lo  New  York,  there- 
fore, in  l.S(i(),  and  entered  the  law  department  of 
Coluiiiliia  College,  from  which  he  graduated  two 
years  later  with  the  degree  of  1,1..  B.  l''or  about  a 
year  he  practiced  in  New  York  i  it\-,  and  then  de- 
cided to  tr\  his  forlnncs  in  the  Wfst.     I  le  established 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


413 


himself,  accordingly,  at  Hudson,  Wis.,  where  he  re- 
mained for  the  next  five  years.  Returning  to 
Buffalo  in  1874,  he  associated  himself  with  Martin 
Clark  in  1882,  becoming  senior  jjartner  in  the  firm 
of  Clinton  &  Clark.  This  firm  still  exists,  and 
maintains  a  high  standing  at  the  Erie-county  bar. 

In  public  affairs  Mr.  Clinton  has  long  been  an 
active  force.  Elected  to  the  state  a.ssembly  on  the 
Republican  ticket  in  1883,  he  served  with  distinction 
in  the  ensuing  session,  working  for  the  best  interests 
of  his  constituents  and  of  the  state  at  large  in  an  in- 
dependent spirit  that  refiised  to  lie  bound  by  ])nrty 
dictation.  He  vias  made  chairman  of  the  canal 
committee  in  the  assembly  — a  most  fitting  appoint- 
ment, since  he  shares  the  interest  of  his  illustrious 
grandfather,  L)e  Witt  Clinton,  in  the  canals  of  the 
state,  and  believes  them  to  be  a  most  im|)ortant 
factor  in  its  commercial  jjrosperity.  His 
work  in  this  connection  has  not  been 
confined  to  that  performed  in  the  legis- 
lature, for  he  has  taken  a  leading  ]jart  in 
the  Union  for  the  Improvement  of  the 
Canals,  an  organization  that  has  had 
much  to  do  with  bringing  about  the 
extensive  improvements  in  the  Erie  canal 
now  in  progress.  Mr.  Clinton  served  as 
the  second  president  of  this  association. 

Many  other  movements  affecting  the 
welfare  of  Buffalo  have  received  Mr. 
Clinton's  su]jport  :  indeed  it  may  be  said 
that  he  has  taken  a  more  or  less  active 
interest  in  all  [lublic  questions  for  many 
years.  He  has  served  as  one  of  the  park 
commissioners  of  the  city,  and  \va.s  also 
a  member  of  the  trunk-sewer  commission 
during  the  building  of  the  Cenesee- 
street  and  Bird-avenue  branches.  He 
worked  faithfully  to  secure  the  adoption 
of  the  present  city  charter,  which  he 
had  likewise  helped  to  prepare.  He  has 
always  been  the  friend  of  the  public 
schools,  and  has  taken  part  in  the  move- 
ment for  raising  their  standard,  and  re- 
moving them  as  far  as  possible  from 
political  influences.  He  was  instrumental 
in  establishing  the  Buffalo  Law  School, 
and  was  its  professor  of  admiralty  law  for 
several  years,  until  compelled  to  resign 
on  account  of  the  demands  of  his  private 
practice.  He  has  long  been  an  active 
member  of  the  Buffalo  Merchants'  Exchange,  and 
was  its  president  in  lSfl?i.  Mr.  Clinton  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences, 
the    Buffalo   Club,  and  many  similar  organizations. 


He  belongs   to  the  Ma.sonic  order,  and  to  the  Epis- 
copal  church. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  O G  Y—  George  Clin- 
ton was  horn  at  Buffalo  September  7,  ISJffi  :  grailualed 
from  the  Buffalo  Central  High  School  in  1865,  a  nil 
from  Columbia  College  Law  School  in  1868  ;  practiced 
law  in  Ne7i>  York  city,  1868-69,  and  in  Hudson, 
Wis.,  186!)-~if;  married  Alice  Thornton  of  Buffalo 
January  17,  1872 ;  laas  a  member  of  the  Ne7ti  York 
state  legislature  in  188 If  :  has  practiced lau'  in  Buffalo 
since  187  i- 


lEliaS  S.  ll^nwlCS  «as  born  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson  river  in  Saratoga  county,  New  York, 
on  a  farm  jiurchased  in  17f)4  by  his  grandfather, 
Amos  Hawley.  After  attending  school  up  to  the 
age    of    eleven    in     Morcnu.    CIcns   Falls,  and   Fort 


(:/■:(>/■!<:/■:  c/./yrox 


Edward,  he  went  West  with  his  family  to  Black 
Rock,  near  Huffalo,  where  his  micles,  Nathaniel 
Sill  anil  |ose|)h  Sill,  lived.  I'his  was  in  the  sum- 
mer   of    \S2'A,  and    the   journey,  made    by  wagon, 


414 


.i//;.\'  (U-  .\/:ir  )OA'A—ir/:.s/7:A\y  skct/ox 


consumed  exactly  one  week.  I'hey  left  what  is 
now  Main  street,  Buffalo,  near  (Jranger's  Mills,  and 
after  crossing  Scajaijuada  creek,  took  the  road 
through  the  woods  that  is  now  called  Lafayette 
avenue.  This  was  the  only  road  then  o|jen  between 
Main  street  and  the  Niagara  river,  except  the 
thoroughfare  now  called  North  street. 


/ 


HI. /AS    S.     //in  l.l:V 

Mr.  Flawley's  early  recollections  of  Black  Rock 
and  Buffalo  are  most  interesting.  .A  short  time 
after  he  reached  the  village,  the  third  and  foiuth 
steamboats  on  Lake  I'lrie,  named  the  "Pioneer" 
and  the  "  Menry  Clay"  res])ecti\  cly,  were  built  in 
the  shipyard  at  Black  Rock.  The  principal  busi- 
ness of  the  village  was  done  by  what  was  called 
the  Harbor  Company,  consisting  of  Captain  Sheldon 
Thompson  and  associates.  Some  of  the  prim  i  pa  I 
families  of  the  jjlace  were  those  of  James  L.  Barton, 
Colonel  Bird,  Captain  Bidwell,  an<l  Ceneral  I'eter 
H.  Porter,  who  built  the  house,  then  deemed  a  fine 
residence,  occupied  in  n(  ent  vears  bv  I  cuis  I- . 
Allen.      Near  ihcm  li\ed  Mr.   IScsl,  l-ithcr  of  ihr  kile 


Robert  Hamilton  ISest.  who  kept  a  public  house  which 
is  still  standing  on  Niagara  street,  and  which  has 
been  occupied  of  late  years  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robie. 
The  old  Indian  Conjacpiada,  after  whom  Scaja(|uada 
creek  was  named,  lived  in  those  days  at  the  mouth 
of  the  creek.  Black  Rock  was  then  larger  than 
liiilfalc),  and  was  the  |)ort  of  entrv,  Mr.  llawlev's 
uncle,  Jose]jh  Sill,  being  the  custom- 
house officer.  .Mr.  llawley  can  recall 
only  two  dwellings  between  Black  Rock 
and  -Niagara  .s(|uare,  and  only  one  cleared 
field  on  the  west  side  of  Niagara  street 
.south  of  the  present  Porter  avenue. 
What  is  now  Pros|)ect  park  was  dense 
woods.  In  the  spring  and  fall  Niagara 
street  was  impassable,  and  vehicles  went 
on  the  beach  I'rom  Black  Rock  to  Buf- 
falo. Mr.  Hawley  and  his  brother  Seth, 
when  driving  cows  to  pasture,  used  at 
limes  to  see  wild  deer  in  what  i.-.  nou 
the   heart    of  buffalo. 

Having  been  offereil  b\'  his  uncle  an 
option  between  an  education  and  the 
gift  of  a  thousand  dollars  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  .Mr.  Hawley  accepted  the 
former — "unfortunately,"  as  he  says. 
.\ttending  Cambridge  .\cadem\-  in  Wash- 
ington <  ount\'  for  two  vears,  he  was 
f  there   prepared   for   Middlcbury  College, 

where  he  staved  until  the  end  of  his 
sophomore  year.  He  then  taught  a 
year  at  Mount  Plea.sant,  Westchester 
<  ounty,  and  after  that  entered  the  senior 
class  of  Cnion  College,  Schenectady, 
from  uliii  h  he  graduated  in  luly,  1iS;i.'>. 
Returning  to  Buffalo,  he  taught  a  private 
school  in  the  part  of  the  town  at  that  time 
lalled  "  I  l\(lrauli(  s. "  Public  School 
No.  <S  was  completed  in  LS;1<S,  and  Mr. 
Hawley  served  as  its  principal  for  a  year. 
He  afterwards  studied  law  in  Barker  &  Hawley's  law 
office,  receiving  a  diploma  in  due  course,  .\bout 
1x40  the  firm  of  Hawley  iV  Co.,  consisting  of  Seth 
C.  and  Llias  S.  Hawley,  established  a  monex  and 
package  express  between  Buffalo  and  Detroit.  In 
1M44  .Mr.  Hawley  was  a|)i)ointed  by  the  c  ommon 
council  sii])erintendent  of  schools,  at  a  salar\  of 
li^.■!0()  a  year.  He  was  appointed  again  in  I.s4(i 
and  in  1.S47.  He  was  connected  with  the  volunteer 
lire  department  about  this  time,  belonging  first  to 
engine  No.  .S,  and  afterward  to  "  I'lagle  2,"  located 
near  the  present  site  of  the  Buffalo  Librar\. 

.\bout    the    middle   of    the   century    Mr.    llawley 
began    his    long   ser\ii c    with    I'rall  \'  ('o.      lie    re- 


.UKX   or  .W;//'    )-ORk-— waster X  SKCTfOX 


41.- 


mained  with  the  house  twenty-three  years  altogether, 
as  collecting  attorney  at  first,  and  then  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Buffalo  Iron  &  Nail  Works.  He 
left  the  concern  only  when  it  went  out  of  the 
iron  business.  Since  then  he  has  devoted  himself 
partly  to  the  management  of  his  own  private  busi- 
ness, and  partly  to  the  care  of  the  Austin  estate. 
He  was  ap|)ointed  attorney  for  this  projierty 
many  years  ago,  and  has  gtiarded  it  \igilaiitly  at 
all    times. 

Mr.  Hawley  has  al«a\s  been  prominent  in  the 
affairs  of  Buflalo,  and  he  has  .sometimes  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  |)olitical  life  of  the  city,  in 
1M()iS  he  was  elected  alderman  from  the  old  lltli 
ward,  and  in  1883  he  served  asmenil)er  of  assemlil\ 
from  the  .'id  Erie-county  district.  In  the  same 
year  he  was  appointeil  secretary  and 
treasiwer  of  the  Buffalo  Insane  .\s)linn, 
now  the  Bul'falo  Hospital,  and  has 
e\er  since  dischargeil  the  duties  of 
the  office.  He  was  larL;el\  instru 
mental  in  the  formation  of  the  Buf- 
falo Historical  Society,  and  has  Ijeen 
connected  therewith  as  member  or  offi<  er 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  on  the 
board  of  trustees  for  3  number  of  years, 
serving  part  of  the  time  as  its  prcsi 
dent.  He  was  connected  with  the  l■■ir^t 
I'resbs  teriau  ('hnr(  h  from  about  l.s.'is 
until  the  formation  of  the  North  I'res 
b\terian  Church,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  trustees.  Mr.  Hawley  has  been  \er\ 
mu(  h  interested  in  the  genealogy  of  his 
family,  and  has  accumulated  at  great  ex- 
pense and  infinite  trouble  a  large  mass 
of  intbrmation  regarding  the  various 
braiK  hes  of  the  family  in  this  country. 
He  has  published  what  is  probably  as 
com]jlete  a  work  of  this  kind  as  has 
ever  been  printed. 

PERSONAL     CHR  ONOL  OGY  — 
Rlias  Sill  Haivley  was  boru  at  More  an, 
N.   Y. ,   October  28,  IS  12  ;  moved  to  BiiJ^ 
falo  ill  1S2S  ;   g;raduate(l  from  l^ition  Col- 
le:^e    ill    IS.l.i  ;  lauiiht   school,    USS)i-l!i  : 
loas  siiperiiiteiuleiit   of  scliools   in    Jhiff'a/o 
In   ISJ^Jf,    IHJ/i,   and  ISJfl  :  married  l.a- 
vinla   Hiird  Seidell  of  Buffalo    A/ay  SO, 
IH.if'i  ;  was  in  the  employ  of  Pratt  ^'  Co. 
for  tweiit\ -three   vears  ;  was  alderinaii  from  the  1  llh 
-loard,  Buffalo,  in  18(19,  and  member  of  assembly    In 
188.i  :  has  been  engaged  of  late  years  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  own  property  and  of  trust  estates  In  /hiffalo, 
anil  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Buflalo  llosf^ltal. 


]ED\Var&  C.  M.  ©'BrieU,  of  4;!!t  Delaware 
avenue,  Buffalo,  is  one  of  the  best-known  physicians  of 
that  city.  Born  in  the  city  of  (,)uebec,  Canada,  fifty- 
four  years  ago,  he  obtained  his  early  education  from 
the  teaching  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  and  at  private 
schools.  Thrown  upon  his  own  resources  at  an  early 
age,  he  acciuired  by  his  contact  with  the  world  away 
Irom  home,  a  large  fund  of  practical  experience  that 
must  have  aided  in  developing  the  strength  of 
character  and  self-re.soun'cfulne.ss  for  which  he  has 
long  been  noted.  1  )r.  ( )'Brien's  residence  in  Buffalo 
began  almost  forty  years  ago.  Having  decided,  a 
few  years  after  he  settled  there,  to  become  a 
physi(  ian,  he  took  the  full  course  at  the  University 
of  Buffalo,  and  graduated  from  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  that  institution  in  I"'ebruar\',  ISfiT.      He  has 


/:7'll  .  /AV    r,    /I  ,    ((  jih'//:\ 

followed  his  calling  in  Buffalo  ever  since,  and  has 
attained  high  rank  in  the  medical  fraternity  of  Erie 
(  oimty.  During  his  thirty  years  of  active  practice 
he  has  had  nmiierous  cases  of  e.vceptional  difficulty, 
but     jirobably     none     more     noteworthy    thau    two 


416 


MKN   OF  XKW    VOA'K—li'ESTERX  SECT/OX 


instances  in  which  he  successfully  reduced  dislocation 
of  the  neck.  Both  cases  were  those  of  adults, 
requiring  exact  anatomical  knowledge,  nice  <  alcula- 
tion,  and  rare  self-possession. 

Dr.  O'Brien's  prominence  in  Bufflilo  came  about 
in  part  a.s  a  result  of  his  notable  record  as  health 
physician  of  the  city  for  several  years.  He  obtained 
this  office  early  in  his  professional  career,  by  ap- 
pointment of  the  board  of  health,  and  was  reap- 
pointed five  times.  His  term  began  in  the  winter 
of  lS72-7o,  and  lasted  until  1.S77,  when  the  Demo- 
cratic party  gained  po.sse.ssion  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, and  a|)pointed  a  Democrat  to  the  office.  Dr. 
O'Brien's  administration  will  be  long  remembered 
on  account  of  the  great  smallpox  epidemic  then 
raging.  This  scourge  infested  the  entire  world  at 
that  time,  and  many  large  cities  were  frightfully 
ravaged  by  the  disease.  Buffiilo  alone  had  about 
lllOO  cases,  though  Buffalo  was  rid  of  the  jjestilence 
several  months  before  any  other  large  .American 
city.  Dr.  O'Brien  was  physician  to  the  smallpox 
hospital  maintained  in  Buffalo  during  the  epidemic  ; 
and  in  addition  to  his  regular  duties  as  health 
physician,  he  was  obliged  twice  a  day  to  visit  this 
hospital,  located  on  the  outskirts  of  the  cit\ .  He 
often  made  his  .second  visit  as  late  as  midnight.  He 
naturally  came  into  close  relations  with  the  physicians 
of  Buffalo  at  that  time,  and  it  is  worth)'  of  note  that 
they  cordiallv  commended  his  administratio.i  of  the 
health  department  during  thai  ordi-al.  The  press  of 
the  city,  also,  without  regard  to  party,  recogui/ed 
his  efficiency  as  health  physician.  Mention  should 
be  made  of  the  interesting  fad  that  Dr.  O'Brien  in 
troduced  the  use  of  bovine  vaccine  virus  in  Buffalo. 
There  were  then  only  a  (cw  vaccine  farm:,  in 
.•\merica,  and  the  introduction  of  the  virus  met  with 
ojiposition  from  a  considerable  part  of  the  general 
public,  and  even  from  some  ])hysicians  who  did  not 
fully  understand  the  suliject,  though  these  soon  used 
it  freely. 

Dr.  O'Brien's  record  in  the  health  office  of  Buffalo 
attracted  favorable  notice,  not  onl\  in  the  city  itself, 
but  also  in  .some  degree  throughout  the  state.  This 
fact  was  evidenced  in  his  nomination  as  a  com- 
promise candidate  to  the  ])osition  of  health  officer  of 
the  |)ort  of  New  York — a  jjosition  then  com|)arable 
in  ]joint  of  compen.sation  to  the  jjresidency  of  the 
United  States,  though  the  enormous  fees  of  the  office 
have  since  been  commuted  into  a  fixed  salary, 
(lovernor  Cleveland  nominated  for  the  jMsition  the 
distinguished  ])hysician,  Austin  I'lint  ;  but  the 
nomination  had  not  been  confirmed  when  Mr. 
Cleveland  left  Albany  to  enter  the  White  Hou.se. 
( lovernor  Hill   then    nf)minatcd    i)i-     i'hclps  of   New 


York,  whose  name  was  likewise  rejected  by  the  state 
senate.  Finally  Oovernor  Hill  .sent  in  the  name  of 
Dr.  O'Brien,  whose  political  ]jrinci])les  were  har- 
monious with  those  of  the  dominant  ]iarty  in  the 
senate.  Owing  to  a  factional  ([uarrel  among  the 
Repul)licans  of  that  body.  Dr.  O'Brien  failed  by  a 
few  votes  of  confirmation.  The  general  and  hearty 
endorsement  of  his  nomination,  however,  was  very 
gratifying  to  his  friends.  One  of  the  Buffalo  papers 
devoted  a  page  to  a  re])ort  of  interviews  with  leading 
jjhysicians,  other  professional  men,  and  prominent 
citizens  generally,  who  commended  Dr.  ()'Brien's 
nomination  on  the  ground  both  of  professional  fitness 
and  of  personal  character.  A  large  and  representative 
delegation  of  Bufifalonians,  including  members  of 
i)oth  the  medical  colleges,  went  to  .Albany  to  urge 
confirmation  upon  the  senate  committee  to  which  the 
nomination  was  referred.  The  Buffalo  Commi-rcial, 
in  an  editorial  article,  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  Tt)  the  senalMiv  upon  wlunn  the  responsihility  ttf  the  con - 
firniatitnj  of  I  )r.  1'"..  C.  W.  <  )'  jirien  rests,  the  Coi/it/ierrio/  can  say 
tliis  nuich  :  tliat  the  nominee  i.s  a  man  of  irreproachable  habits 
—  temperate,  industrious,  and  a  worthy  citizen  of  any  com- 
munity. As  a  Kepul)licaii  he  has  ever  l)een  staunch,  loyal,  and 
unswerving.  As  a  jjhysician  he  lias  been  thorougiily  tested, 
and  that  in  the  very  line  of  duty  in  which,  as  health  ollicer  of 
New  York,  he  «(mld  be  called  upon  to  serve.  Dr.  t)'Bricn 
was  health  physician  of  IJufialo  during  one  of  the  most  trying 
and  perilous  visitations  that  this  city  has  ever  experienced.  It 
was  during  the  smalljiox  epidemic  of  l<S7-i-7  I,  the  most  alarm 
ing  epidemic  that  ever  alllicled  liuffalo.  Hy  applying  to  the 
emergency  the  most  stringent  precautions,  the  best  agencies  that 
science  and  experience  could  suggest,  by  insisting  upon  im 
mediate,  positive,  and  ample  measures  on  the  part  of  llu- 
municipality.  Dr.  ()' Brien  stamped  out  smallpox  in  lUiiVato.  lie 
met  the  disease  with  promptness,  intelligence,  and  courage,  and 
<lrove  it  beyond  the  lines  of  the  city  — a  service  that  the  people 
of  llulValo  can  never  forget.  I'lU  into  the  responsible  position 
for  which  the  governor  has  nominated  him,  he  will  bring  to  the 
ollice  skill,  experience,  and  a  devotion  to  duty  that  is  sure  to 
find  results  in  a  system  of  <|uarantine  service  as  intelligent, 
honest,  and  rigid  as  the  great  port  of  Xew  \'ork  needs  and  de 
mands.  We  hope  that  the  Republican  senators  will  confirm 
this  excellent  nomination." 

Notwithstanding  his  activity  in  professional  life, 
Dr.  O'Brien  has  abvavs  taken  great  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  has  been  glad  to  lend  himself  to  any 
movement  likely  to  promote  the  welfare  of  Buffalo. 
Many  positions  of  trust  connecte  1  with  his  profession 
have  been  held  by  him  ;  and  all  of  them,  as  he  is 
glad  to  remember,  came  to  him  without  .solicitation. 
For  nearly  ten  years  he  was  stirgeon  of  the  74th 
regiment,  Buffalo.  l''or  several  years  he  was  chief 
medical  examiner  ol  the  Catholic  .Mutual  Benefit 
.\.ssociation  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  held  the 
post,  for  a  long  time,  of  physician  to  St.  Vincent's 
Orphan  .As)liim  at  Buffalo.  He  has  been  for  many 
vears  consulting  physician  to  the  Providence  .\s\  luni 


.UE.y   OF  XKir    )7)AV\'— //•/T.V/yfAW  \A'(-77().\" 


4ilT 


for  the  Insane.  He  is  now  surgeon  to  the  Buffalo 
fire  department,  and  consulting  surgeon  to  the 
Riverside  Hospital,  Buffalo.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
.\merican  Medical  Association  ;  of  the  Erie  County 
Medical  Society,  of  which  he  has  been  president  ; 
and  of  the  Buffalo  Academy  of  Medicine.  He  has 
been  president  of  the  Alumni  Association 
of  the  University  of  Buffalo,  and  is  one 
of  the  curators  of  that  institution.  He 
has  had  wide  e.xperience  in  examinations 
of  the  insane,  and  for  many  years  has 
frequently  been  appointed  by  the  courts 
of  Buffalo  as  an  expert  on  the  question  of 
insanity,  and  has  been  called  to  other 
cities  in  that  capacity. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— 
Edward  Charles  White  O^ Brien  was  born 
at  Quehec,  Canada,  February  4,  IS4S  ; 
nun-ed  to  Buffalo  in  1859 :  ;^raduated 
from  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Buffalo  in  1867 ;  was  health 
/•hysieian  of  Buffalo,  1872-77 :  married 
Monterey  Allis  of  New  York  city  Octo- 
ber 8,  1879 ;  has  practiced  medicine  in 
Buffalo  since  1867 . 


Bilwortb  ^.  Silver  was  horn  in 

Peru\ille,    Tompkins  1  ounty.  New  York, 
somewhat    more    than    forty    years   ago. 
His  boyhood  and  youth  were  pa.ssed  in 
this  little  village,  where  he  received  such 
training  as  the  district  schools  afforded, 
as  well  as  the  wider  and  more  compre- 
hensive education  that  comes  from  con- 
tact  with  other  boys  and  with   the  world 
in  general.      At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
moved  to  the  western  end  of  the  state, 
and  spent  the  next  four  years  in  James- 
town.     Here  he  obtained  the  benefit  of 
a  short  attendance  at  the  Jamestown  .\cademy,  but 
was  obliged  to  devote  himself   largely  to   the   task 
of  earning  a  livelihood.      He  was  ambitious,   how- 
ever, to  become  a  lawyer,  and  set  about  attaining 
that  end,  acquiring  by  private  reading  and  study  the 
general  culture  that  his  incomplete  scholastic  prepa- 
ration had  failed  to  furnish. 

Mr.  Silver  judged  wisely  that  the  larger  the  place 
the  greater  the  opportunity  for  advancement,  profes- 
sional and  other.  Proceeding  to  Buffalo,  accord- 
ingly, in  187o,  he  spent  several  months  in  business, 
and  then  entered  the  law  office  of  William  C.  Fitch 
as  a  student.  In  due  time  he  acquired  the  necessary 
legal  knowledge,  and  in  January,  1880,  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar  at  Syracuse.      The  following  month 


he  opened  an  office  in  Buffalo,  where  he  has  prac- 
ticed continuously  ever  since.  He  was  considerably 
older  when  he  began  his  professional  career  than  the 
average  lawyer  so  circumstanced  ;  and  this  fact 
undoubtedly  gave  him  greater  maturity  of  mind  and 
a   firmer  grasjj  of    legal    principles  than    the  young 


lUl.WOKTII  .1/    SHARK 

l)ractitioner  is  likely  to  possess.  He  was  fortunate, 
also,  in  establishing  himself  in  Buffalo  when  he  did. 
The  growth  of  the  metropolis  of  western  New  York 
in  the  decade  then  beginning  was  remarkable ;  and 
the  many  new  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises, 
and  con.sequent  develo])ment  of  real-estate  opera- 
tions, necessitated  a  vast  amount  of  legal  business  of 
one  kind  or  another.  Mr.  Silver  profited,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  from  all  these  favoring  circum- 
stances. It  may  also  be  noted  that  he  has  devoted 
himself  wholly  to  his  [)rofession,  and  the  measure  of 
success  that  he  has  attained  may  be  regarded  as  the 
reward  of  hard  and  conscientious  work  in  his  chosen 
field.  With  the  exception  of  about  eighteen  months, 
he    has   always    practiced   alone,    deeming  it  more 


418 


.UEX  OF  .y/:ir  vork—h-est/crx  skct/ox 


advantageous,   on  the  whole,   to  carry  on  his  work 
without  partnershij)  assistance. 

Mr.  Silver  is  an  earnest  Republican,  and  has  made 
political  speeches  throughout  Erie  county  in  every 
important  campaign  for  several  years  past.  Of  late 
he  ha.s  given  considerable  time  to  the  studv  of  his 


mies ;  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  liar  in 
1S80 :  niarried  Elizabeth  Englehart  of  Batavia,  N.  K, 
in  January,  18S8  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since 
February,  1880. 


WII.I.IAM  /■•.  STRASMF.R 

family  genealogy  —  a  subject  that  seldom  fails  to 
|)rove  deeply  interesting  to  one  who  turns  his  atten- 
tion in  that  direi  tion.  On  his  mother's  side  he  has 
found  little  difficulty  in  tracing  the  family  back  to 
the  original  settler,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
l(i90  and  established  himself  in  New  Jersey  ;  and 
Mr.  Silver  may  be  pardoned  for  feeling  some  natural 
pride  in  the  fait  that  Wve.  President  Hobart  is  also 
a  descendant  of  this  common  ancestor.  Mr.  Silver 
is  an  (Md  Fellow,  belonging  to  Idlewood  Lodge, 
No.  (552.  He  attends  the  Delaware  Avenue  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Diht'orth  J/. 
Silver  was  born  at  Peniville,  N.  Y'.,  March  10, 
1853 ;  was  educated  in  common   schools  and  acade- 


lUUliam  Jf.  Strasmer  is  jirominent  among 
those  members  of  the  Krie-county  Ijar 
who  have  combined  success  in  the  legal 
profession  with  active  particij^tion  in 
the  various  investment  enterprises  that 
have  <haracteri/,ed  the  growth  of  Buffalo 
in  the  last  decade.  He  is  a  nati\e  of 
Buffalo,  where  he  has  always  lived.  To 
the  energy  and  perseverance  that  marked 
his  early  efforts  to  gain  an  education,  his 
later  succe.ss  is  partly  attributable.  When 
a  boy  at  Public  School  No.  82,  he  won 
the  Je.sse  Ketchum  gold  medal  in  a  com- 
petitive examination  open  only  to  gradu- 
ates of  the  highest  standing  in  all  the 
grammar  schools  of  the  city.  He  subse- 
quently attended  the  high  school,  was 
graduated  in  1876,  and  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  became  a  student  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Rochester,  from  which  he 
received  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  18X1. 
While  pursuing  his  studies  at  college,  he 
tutored  and  in  his  senior  year  did  some 
literary  work  for  the  Rochester  ])apers. 
.\lthough  thus  devoting  considerable 
time  to  matters  not  ])ertaining  to  his 
course  of  study,  he  maintained  a  high 
standing  ;  and  some  years  later,  when  a 
( hapter  of  the  I'hi  Beta  Kap|)a  was 
formed  at  the  uni\crsity,  the  faculty 
elected  him  a  member  because  of  his 
scholarly  attainments. 

On  leaving  college,  Mr.  Strasmer  ac- 
cepted an  a])pointment  as  ])rincipal  of 
the  academy  at  Whitney's  Point,  N.  Y.,  and  taught 
there  for  two  years,  reading  law  at  the  same  time  in 
the  office  of  an  attorney  in  that  village.  He  re- 
turned to  Buffiilo  in  188;>,  and  entered  the  law 
office  of  Benjamin  H.  Williams,  then  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  Wilbams  i<:  Potter.  In  1885  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  He  remained  with  Williams 
iV  Potter  for  .some  time  after  this,  in  order  to  famil- 
iarize himself  with  practice  in  the  L'nited  States 
courts,  and  particularly  in  admiralty  law,  of  which 
that  firm  made  a  specialty.  In  June,  1887,  he 
tbrmed  a  ])artnership  with  Wilber  V..  Houitt,  which 
lasted  until  October,  18f(;).  .Since  then  he  has  car- 
ried on  his  practice  alone,  deeming  such  a  course 
more  desirable  in  many  respects. 


MEN   OF  .\/-:\r    VORK—irF.STERN  SKCTIOX 


419 


Mr.  Strasmer  began  his  professional  life  in  Buffalo 
at  a  time  when  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city  favored 
the  promotion  of  many  enterprises  in  the  line  of 
real-estate  investment  and  improvement.  Litigation 
connected  with  .shipping  interests,  which  had 
especially  interested  him  in  the  early  part  of  his 
legal  career,  had  been  almost  wholly  driven  from 
Buffalo  by  altered  conditions  of  lake  traffic  ;  and  lie 
drifted,  more  from  pressure  of  business  than  from 
choice,  into  real-estate  and  corporation  law.  .\ 
number  of  organizations  for  investment  in  realty 
were  formed  under  his  advice  and  counsel.  'I'hcsc 
corporations,  notwithstanding  the  depression  that 
began  in  ISil^,  are  among  the  most  substantial  of 
their  kind  in  Buffalo,  and  demonstrate  Mr.  Strasmer's 
ability  and  conservative  judgment.  He  has  served 
as  an  oflicer  and  director  in  some  of  these  organiza- 
tions; and  the  duties  thus  assumed  have 
been  inconsistent  with  active  court  liti- 
gation, and  have  made  him  chiefly  an 
office  lawyer  and  counselor.  This  has 
been  true  likewise  of  some  other  i^romi- 
nent  members  of  the  Buffalo  bar  having 
similar  interests. 

Mr.  Strasmer  devotes  much  of  his  time 
to  the  study  of  publjc  questions.  In 
national  politics  he  is  an  independent 
Republican.  He  supports  movements 
that  tend  to  furnish  the  best  public  ser- 
vice, and  to  secure  the  application  of 
common-sense  and  businesslike  methods. 
He  has  been  for  some  years  a  member  of 
the  Civil  Service  Reform  .\.ssociation  : 
and  in  .\pril,  l<Si((i,  he  was  appointed 
by  Mayor  Jewett  a  civil-service  commis- 
sioner of  the  city  of  Buffalo.  The  ap- 
pointment met  with  general  a]jproval. 
This  is  the  only  public  office  he  has  filled. 

Mr.  Strasmer  is  a  member  of  Erie 
Lodge,  No.  161,  F.  &  A.  M.;  and  of 
Niagara  Lodge,  No.  25,  L  O.  O.  F.,  of 
which  he  is  a  past  grand  officer.  He 
belongs,  also,  to  several  other  social 
organizations,  including  the  Acacia,  Sat- 
urn, and  University  clul)s. 

PERSONA  L     CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
William  F.   Strasmer  7C'a.\-  Invn  at  Buf- 
falo ;  attt'iiileil  the  public  schools  of  Buffalo 
and  Rochester  UiUTersity,  7vhence  he  grad- 
uated in  ISfil ;  taui;ht  at  Whitney's  Point 
(  N.  Y. )  Academy,  ISSISS  ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  IHSo  :  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo  and  engaged  in 
various  business  enterprises  since    1887 ;  has  been  a 
civil-sen'ice  commissioner  of  Buffalo  since  April,  18f)(>. 


Milliam  Jf .  Meu5t,  president  of  the  Buffalo 
Forge  Co.,  was  born  in  Buffalo  less  than  forty  years 
ago.  He  received  his  education  in  Public  School 
No.  32  and  in  the  old  Central  High  School.  His 
early  business  training  was  obtained  as  a  bookkeeper 
in  the  office  of  R.  \V.  Bell  cS:  Co.  of  Buffalo. 

Before  he  was  twenty  years  old  Mr.  Wendt  began 
his  connection  with  the  Buffalo  Forge  Co.  'I'he 
business  had  been  established  only  a  few  months, 
and  had  met  with  little  success  ;  and  Mr.  Wendt  was 
able  to  purchase  a  half  interest  in  the  concern  for  a 
small  sum.  His  keen  business  foresight  was  soon 
evident  in  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  enterprise. 
At  first  he  took  charge  of  the  financial  part  of  the 
business,  but  he  soon  became  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity of  a  knowledge  of  the  practical  work  of  manu- 
facture.     .\ccordiin;lv,  while  la\  insj   the   foundation 


nil. [JAM   /■;    W  FXDT 


of  his  [present  extensive  business,  he  acquainted  him 
self  thoroughly  with  all   the  processes  and  detail  of 
manufacture,    and    with    the    general    management 
of  the    concern  ;    so  that,   when  he  jmrcha.sed    the 


4:JU 


.UE\  or  XKir  )()A'^-~irESTKA\y  sKcrrox 


interest  of  his  partner,  Charles  1  lanmiclmann,  in 
188;i,  he  was  well  fitted  to  assume  the  control  of  all 
departments  of  the  business. 

In  IXXH  Mr.  VVendt  admitted  to  partnership  a 
younger  brother,  Henry  W.  Wendt :  and  the  two 
have  worked  together  ever  since,      'i'he  growth  of 


the  business  has  been  continuous  and  rapid,  and  to- 
day few  concerns  are  more  widely  known  in  its 
s|jecial  line  than  the  IJuffalo  i*'orge  fo.  At  first  but 
two  sizes  of  forges  were  made  ;  but  new  sizes,  styles, 
and  improvements  have  been  constantly  added  to  the 
product  of  the  works,  and  their  business  in  portable 
forges  is  now  estimated  to  be  the  largest  in  the  United 
States.  The  manufiicture  of  heating  and  \entilating 
apparatus  was  begun  in  1X84,  and  to-day  the  firm 
has  few  rivals  in  that  line.  In  1893  they  took  up 
the  manufacture  of  high-speed  automatic  engines, 
which  now  constitute  a  large  part  of  the  out]3ut  of 
the  factory.  The  e.xtensive  works  of  the  firm  are 
located  on  Hroadway,  and  among  them  stands  the 
original  frame  factory,  an   eloi|uenl  reminder  of  tlu- 


small  beginnings  from  which  the  business  has  grown. 
Selling  agencies  for  the  products  of  the  house  are 
maintained  in  the  jirincipal  cities  of  the  I'nited 
States,  and  in  London,  Paris,  and  St.  Petersburg. 
The  building  up  of  such  a  l)\isiness  in  less  than  twenty 
years  is  sufficient  proof  of  the  ability,  enterprise,  and 
energy  of  the  man  who  has  guided  the 

fortunes  of  the  house  during  all  that  time. 

Although  one  of  the  most  modest  and 
unassuming  of  men,  and  chiefly  occupied 
with  the  management  of  his  business 
aflairs,  Mr.  Wendt  takes  deep  interest  in 
political  matters  and  in  the  questions  of 
the  day.  He  has  long  been  active  in 
local  public  affairs,  and  is  an  old  member 
of  the  Buffalo  Republican  League.  He 
I  was  one  of  the  ten  men  who  built  the 
first  electric  railroad  to  Tonawanda  in 
i  1888  ;  and  he  is  a  director  of  the  Citi- 
zens' Bank,  and  a  member  of  the  real- 
estate  commission  of  the  (iernian  Voting 
Men's  Association.  He  belongs  to  the 
Lutheran  church. 

PEJiSOXA  L  CUR  ONOL  OGY — 
William  Franz  Wendt  was  born  at  Biif- 
\  fait)  July  2,  18iiS ;  7cias  educated  in  the 
public  schools :  married  Mary  Gies  of 
Buffalo  Noi'ember  S,  1SS2 ;  bout^ht  an 
interest  in  the  Buffalo  For;^e  Co.  in  1878, 
and  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  business 
since  188-i. 


I  (IrCtiCn  Mevanb,  as  he  was  really 

!  named    in    his    fatherland,    or    Christian 

I         Weyand,   as  he  is  commonly  known   in 
this    country,    was    born     in     Lorraine, 
P'rance,    about  seventy    years  ago.      He 
attended    the    common    schools    of    his 
native    province,    but    was    not    able    to 
carry   his    eduiation    \ery    far.      In  his  twenty-first 
year  he  left  Lorraine  for  the  wider  opportunities  of 
the  new  world,  landing  in   New  York   in  the  spring 
of   1847.      Without    delaying    long  in  the  metrop- 
olis,  he    betook  himself  to  Buffalo,   and  there    ob- 
tained  em])loyment  as  a  cobbler.       lie    worked    at 
this  trade  for  several  years  as  an  employee,  much  of 
the    time  with    Forbush  &   Brown,    and    ultimately 
established  a  sho])  of  his  own. 

All  this  ha])])ened  so  long  ago  that  most  .people 
do  not  recall  the  facts  at  all,  and  always  think  of 
Mr.  Weyand  as  a  jjrosperous  and  wealthy  brewer. 
He  has  been  that  for  many  years  ;  but  such  a 
l>ositioii  in  life  is  not  attained  at  a  single  boimd, 
ami   in    Mr.    \\'evand's    case    the    e\olution   tVom  a 


MEX   OF  .\"A7r    \'<)A'A-—ll7!:.sV7-;A\y  S/CCT/OX 


4l'I 


hard-working  shoemaker  to  a  retired  brewer  was  a  long 
process.  He  first  engaged  in  the  brewing  business  in 
1866.  He  had  a  partner  until  IST'.i,  but  their  com- 
bined capital  wa.s  little  enough,  and  their  plant  was 
necessarily  small  and  ill  equipped.  The  purest  and 
best  of  barley  malt  was  used  from  the  beginning, 
and  improved  machinery  was  introduced  as  fast  as 
the  necessary  capital  could  be  saved  or  secured. 
Few  people  realize  the  complexity  and  nicety  of 
modern  brewing  methods,  or  the  scientific  care  and 
skill  re(|uisite  at  every  stage  of  the  oijcration.  From 
the  moment  when  the  barley  is  placed  in  the  malt  vat 
until  the  matured  licjuid  is  taken  from  the  ice  cellar 
nine  months  later,  c  easeless  supervision  must  prevail. 

Taking  the  busine.ss  alone  in  187-"^,  Mr.  Weyand 
devoted  him.self  with  renewed  energy  to  the  task 
of  building  up  a  magnificent  plant.  His  efforts 
were  completely  successful,  and  in  a 
few  years  his  establishment  was  one 
of  the  first  in  its  line  in  Buffalo.  As 
advancing  age  made  it  desirable  to  give 
up  active  commercial  life,  he  converted 
his  business  into  a  corporation  in  ISHd, 
keeping  the  office  of  president  for  him- 
self, and  making  his  son,  John  A.  Wey- 
and, vice  president  and  manager,  and 
his  son,  Charles  M.  Weyand,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Both  John  W  eyand  and 
his  brother  Charles  had  grown  up  in  the 
business  and  knew  it  thoroughly,  so  that 
the  affairs  of  the  new  corporation  were 
safe  in  their  charge.  Since  this  change 
was  made  the  business  of  the  Weyand 
brewery  has  increased  markedly,  and  in 
1896-97  it  became  necessary  to  make 
extensive  additions  to  the  plant.  'I'hc 
establishment  is  now  one  of  the  best- 
equipped  breweries  in  the  country,  and 
its  product  finds  increasing  favor  in  a 
wide  market. 

F£/^S  ONA  L  L  HR  ONOL  OGV  — 
Cretien  Weyand  rcas  honi  in  Lorraine, 
France,  May  11,  lS2<i ;  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1^4~,  a'l'i  settled  in 
Buffalo  :  ivorkcd  at  the  shoemaker '  s  trade, 
18Jf7-<JG :  married  Magdalena  Mayer  of 
Buffalo  May  9,  1852 ;  has  carried  on  a 
lirewery  in  Buffalo  since  1866. 


Myron  E.  and  Cordelia  K.  Bartlett,  and  belongs  to  a 
family  that  has  been  honored  for  generations  in  both 
England  and  .-\merica.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
a  brother  of  Josiah  Bartlett,  an  early  governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  who  conferred  lasting  distinction  on  the 
name  by  signing  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
next  after  John  Hancock.  Mr.  Bartlett's  grand- 
father moved  to  Wyoming  county  from  Vermont  in 
1M24,  and  liis  father  was  born  there  seven  years 
later. 

Mr.  liartlctt  was  born  in  Warsuw  about  fortv  years 
ago,  and  was  educated  at  the  academy  in  his  native 
town,  at  (leneseo  Academy,  and  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. Before  entering  Cornell  he  was  emjjloyed 
for  a  time  as  a  ])rinter  in  the  office  of  the  Western 
Ne'iO  Yorker,  under  William  H.  .Merrill,  now 
managing    editor    of   the    .\'ew    \'ork     World.      Mr. 


EUtlCnC    /ID.    JBartlCtt    has    long 
been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  Wyoming  comity, 
and  like  distinction  may  safely  be  predicted  for  him 
in  Erie  county,  to  which  he  has  recently  transferred 
a  part  of  his  professional  practice.      He  is  a  .son  of 


I-.rcii.XE   .1/.   n.U^'TI.ETT 


Bartlett  has  always  had  a  fondness  for  journalism, 
and  has  fre(itiently  contriliuted  article.s  to  newspapers 
and  magazines  ;  but  the  legal  profession  in  the  end 
proved   most   attractive   to   him.      He   took   up   the 


4l'-J 


AfE.X  OF  XEW    VORK—WESTERX  SECT/OX 


study  of  law,   therefore,   in  the  office  of  Bartlett  & 
Bartlett  at  Warsaw. 

In  January,  1S80,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
at  once  assumed  all  the  responsibility  that  his  pre- 
ceptors and  the  clients  of  the  office  would  intrust  to 
him.  His  father  had  long  been  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  members  of  the  Wyoming-county  bar, 
and  the  young  lawyer  soon  formed  a  partnership  with 
him,  under  the  style  of  M.  E.  &  K.  M.  Bartlett. 
From  the  beginning  Mr.  Bartlett  took  special  interest 
in  the  court  work  of  the  firm  ;  and  probably  few  men 
of  his  age  in  western  New  York  have  argued  a 
greater  number  of  cases,  embracing  a  more  wide  and 
varied  range  of  subjects,  than  he.  The  discovery  of 
.salt  in  Wyoming  county  opened  new  fields  for  the 
exercise  of  legal  ability  ;  and  Mr.  Bartlett  has  been 
active  in  the  organization  of  corporations  to  utilize 
this  discovery,  and  in  the  protection  of  their  in- 
terests. During  the  fifteen  years  that  he  has  prac- 
ticed in  Wvoming  county  his  firm  has  enjoyed  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  practice,  taking  part  on  one 
side  or  the  other  in  nearly  every  important  case  in 
the  county,  and  becoming  widely  known  in  pro- 
fessional circles.  January  1,  liSMtJ,  Hayden  H.  Tozier 
was  admitted  to  partnership,  and  the  firm  of  Bartlett, 
Bartlett  &  Tozier  has  succeeded  to  the  prosjierity  of 
the  former  a.ssociation. 

The  county  seat  of  Wyoming  county  is  a  delight- 
ful town  to  live  in,  with  a  social  life  and  a  degree  of 
general  culture  not  always  attained  in  places  of  much 
larger  growth  ;  but  the  professional  opportunities  of 
so  small  a  community  are  necessarily  limited,  and 
Mr.  Bartlett  decided  in  the  spring  of  lX9(i  to  extend 
his  field  of  practice.  He  formed  a  partnership, 
accordingly,  with  Oreenleaf  S.  Van  (lorder  of  Pike, 
Wvoming  county,  and  Carleton  H.  White  and  Elijah 
W.  Holt  of  Buffalo,  for  the  general  practice  of  law  in 
the  Queen  City  of  the  Lakes.  The  firm  of  Bartlett, 
Van  Gorder,  White  &  Holt  was  organized  June  1, 
l.HDG,  and  has  commodious  offices  in  the  Mooney- 
Brisbane  building,  Buffalo. 

.■\lthough  Mr.  Bartlett's  ambition  for  distinction 
in  his  chosen  calling  has  left  him  little  time  or  in- 
clination for  the  life  of  a  professional  politician,  he 
has  always  been  an  uncompromising  Republican  ; 
and  in  IXHO  his  party  elected  him  district  attorney 
of  Wyoming  county.  He  protected  zealously  the 
legal  interests  of  the  district  throughout  his  term, 
but  declined  to  become  a  candidate  for  a  second 
term,  as  his  i)rivate  |>ractice  re(iuired  his  whole  time. 
In  1X9'2  Wyoming  county  instructed  its  delegates 
to  the  judiciary  convention  to  vote  for  Mr.  Bartlett 
as  the  nominee  for  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 


In  social  affairs  Mr.  Bartlett  has  taken  a  position 
consistent  with  his  |)rominence  in  law  and  in  other 
relations  of  life.  He  believes  in  fraternal  societies, 
and  belongs  to  Crystal  Salt  Lodge,  I.  O.  ().  I-'.; 
Warsaw  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.;  Wyoming  Chapter, 
R.  A.  M.;  and  Batavia  Commandery,  K.  T.  He  is 
a  member,  also,  of  the  Cataract  Hose  Company, 
Warsaw,  of  the  (lenesee  \'alley  Club,  Rochester,  and 
of  the  Buffalo  Club.  He  holds  directorates  in  the 
Warsaw  Cas  and  F'lectric  Co.,  and  in  the  Warsaw 
Water  Works  Co.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  New 
York  State  Bar  Association.  In  18)^!(  he  built  the 
finest  business  block  in  Warsaw. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Eu^^ene  M. 
Bartlett  jcas  born  at  Warsaw,  N'.  Y.,  Alarch  10, 
18'')o ;  attended  Warsaw  and  Geneseo  academies 
and  Cornell  University ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
January,  1880;  was  district  attorney  of  Wyoming 
county,  1887-89 :  married  Grace  M.  Sheldon  of 
HornellsTille,  N.  Y.,  January  2S,  1895  :  has  prac- 
ticed law  in  Warsaw  since  1880,  and  in  Buffalo  since 
June  1,  189G. 


©SSiail  3Bc5cll,  w'ho.se  name  instantly  suggests 
Cirand  Island  to  a  multitude  of  minds,  was  born  in 
Franklin  county,  Vermont,  in  18;W.  He  did  not 
stay  long  in  the  Green  Mountain  State,  as  his  parents 
moved  to  Tonawanda,  N.  Y. ,  when  he  was  six  years 
old.  There  the  lad  attended  the  common  schools 
of  the  town,  and  at  the  age  of  eleven  commenced 
driving  a  team  for  his  father  on  the  Erie  canal. 
He  followed  the  canal  most  of  the  time  for  the  next 
twenty  years  :  though  he  obtained  some  fiirther  edu- 
cation meantime  at  the  Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary. 

Mr.  Bedell  lived  in  Tonawanda  imtil  184fi,  when 
he  moved  to  Grand  Island.  This  has  been  his  home 
during  the  half  century  since  then  ;  and  few  men  are 
more  thoroughl}'  identified  with  any  locality  than  is 
Mr.  Bedell  with  the  interesting  island  above  the 
Niagara  rapids.  By  the  time  he  was  twenty-one 
years  old  he  had  a  farm  of  his  own  on  the  island,  to 
which  he  resorted  between  the  canal  seasons,  and 
which  he  made  the  nucleus  of  large  land  holdings. 
The  progress  of  the  little  colony  on  (Jrand  Island  was 
slow  until  1874,  when  Mr.  Bedell  and  others  organ- 
ized a  stock  company  to  e(|ui])  and  operate  a  ferr\ 
from  the  head  of  the  island  to  Buffalo.  This  service 
has  been  maintained  ever  since,  and  has  been  of 
great  a.ssistance  in  developing  the  island.  Many 
|)eople  think  of  Grand  Island  as  a  summer  and  excur- 
sion resort  merely  ;  but  this  conce])tion  is  altogether 
incomijlete.  'There  are  now  about  i;{fl(l  ])ei)ple  there. 
three  churches,  eleven  schools,  and  other  institu 
tions    appropriate    to    an    independent    coniuiuiiity. 


.I/A".\"   OF  XEir    VORK—ll-KSTIiRX  SKCT/OX 


42.-; 


In  187()  Mr.  Bedell  built  the  hotel  that  has  since 
been  known  as  the  Bedell  House.  This  structure 
is  three  stories  high,  with  a  five-story  tower,  and 
broad  verandas  on  all  sides.  Numerous  attractions 
make  the  resort  one  of  the  most  popular  in  western 
New  York. 

Mr.  Bedell  has  been  active  in  ])olit- 
ical  aflairs  for  many  years.  During  Lin- 
coln's administration  he  was  appointed 
inspector  of  customs  for  the  district  of 
Buffalo  Creek.  In  18(j2-6o  he  was  the 
su|)ervisor  of  Erie  county  from  (Irand 
island.  He  was  appointed  on  .March  14, 
1881,  assistant  superintendent  of  public- 
works  for  the  western  division  of  tlie 
Krie  canal,  holding  office  until  April  1, 
1XX4.  During  President  Harrison's  term 
in  the  White  House  Mr.  Bedell  was 
appointed  United  States  consul  at  Fort 
Krie,  Ont.,  taking  office  July  24,  1890, 
and  holding  the  place  until  the  change 
of  administration  in  the  spring  of  189."{. 
In  July,  D^HT,  he  was  again  appointed 
to  the  office  by  President  McKinley. 
Mr.  Bedell  has  long  been  regarded  by 
the  leaders  of  his  party  in  Erie  county 
as  a  stanch  supjjorter  of  the  Republican 
cause.  He  has  often  been  an  active 
factor  in  political  conventions,  and  has 
otherwise  exerted  a  strong  influence  in 
behalf  of  the  Republican  party  in  the 
western  end  of  the  state. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Ossia/i  Beilell  was  horn  at  Georgia,   1 7. . 
June  0,    lS-i2 :  uuis  educated  in  common 
schools  anil  Genesee    Wesleyan  Seminary, 
L.ima,  A'.   }'.  ,■  married  Permelia  Zimmer- 
man of  Tonawanda,  N.   V.,   March  2S, 
IH'yJf  :  worked  on  the  Erie  canal,  IS^S- 
li-i  ;  icas  inspector  of  customs  at  Grand  Lsland,  N.  Y. , 
under  President  Lincoln,  and  county  supen'isor  from 
the  town  of  Grand  Island,  1S62-6S ;   was  assistant 
superintendent  of  puhlic  rt'orks  for  the  7iie stern  division 
of  the  Erie  canal,  lSSl-84  :  was  United  States  consul 
to  Fort  Erie,   Out. ,  1890-9-^,  and  7iias  reappointed  in 
fuly,  1897. 


Toward  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  century 
Mr.  Brunn's  parents  came  to  this  country  from  Ger- 
many, and  settled  in  Buffalo.  There  Charles  was 
born  in  1858,  and  there  he  has  spent  his  life,  bar- 
ring an  interval  of  three  years.  He  attended  the 
piii)lic   schools,  and   evinced   there   the  same  ability 


CbarleS  B.  J6rUUU  bas  l)een  prominent  in 
railroad  t  ire  les  in  Buffalo  and  its  vicinity  so  long  that 
it  will  be  a  surprise  to  many  readers  to  learn  that  he 
is  not  yet  forty  years  old.  The  explanation  lies  in 
the  fact  that  he  began  his  business  career  as  a  tele- 
graph operator  when  onlv  twelve  years  old,  and  has 
risen  steadilv  ever  since. 


OSSIAX  liHDIiLL 

that  has  brought  him  success  in  later  years,  since  at 
the  age  of  twelve  he  had  prepared  him.self  to  enter 
the  high  school.  Circumstances  prevented  further 
school  attendance  :  but  the  active  business  life  in 
which  he  ha.s  since  been  engaged  has  supplied 
abundant  opportunities  for  ac(|uiring  the  most 
practical  kind  of  knowledge,  and  he  has  made  good 
use  of  these. 

.As  stated  above,  Mr.  Brunn's  first  employment 
was  that  of  a  telegrajih  operator  for  the  Western 
Union  company  at  Buffalo.  .\fter  spending  two 
vears  with  them  he  became  operator  for  the  Buffalo 
iS:  Jamestown  railroad,  serving  in  this  capacity  and 
as  train  dis])at<'her  tmtil  1X77.  In  that  year  he  was 
made  a.ssistant  superintendent  of  the  road,  known  by 


4-J4 


MK.X  or  XEir    )ORK—H-ESTER.\  SKCT/O.X 


that  time  as  the  Buffalo  &  Southwestern,  and  held 
the  position  until  the  line  was  leased  to  the  New 
York,  Lake  Krie  &  Western  road  in  1«?<0  under  the 
designation  of  the  Buffalo  &  Southwestern  division. 
This  position  he  has  held  ever  since,  though  his 
duties  have  been  largely  extended  from  time  to  timu 


^^^^ 


CHARIJIS  A.   ItRC.W 

in  various  directions.  July  1,  lSX(i,  he  was  sent  to 
Meadville,  Penn.,  as  superintendent  of  the  eastern 
division  of  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio 
railroad,  of  which  the  New  York,  Lake  Erie  iV 
Western  was  the  lessee.  He  operated  this  division, 
extending  from  Salamanca,  N.  Y.,  to  Kent,  Ohio, 
and  from  Meadville  to  Oil  City  in  Pennsylvania, 
for  three  years,  when  his  headi|uarters  were  again 
moved  to  Buffalo. 

Since  his  return  to  Buffalo  in  IMH!)  Mr.  Brunn  has 
occupied  a  position  of  great  imjiortance  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Krie  road.  In  addition  to  the  superin- 
tendency  of  the  Buffalo  &  Southwestern  division, 
running  to  Jamestown,  he  is  stiperintendent  of  the 
Buffalo  division,  extending  to  Horncllsville  on  the 


main  line,  and  including  the  Lockport,  Niagara  Falls, 
and  International  Bridge  branches.  Notwithstanding 
his  comjjarative  youth,  Mr.  Brunn  is  the  ranking 
superintendent  as  to  years  of  service  on  the  Erie  sys- 
tem between  New  York  and  Chicago.  Some  idea  of 
his  varied  duties  may  be  gained  from  the  statement 
that   he   has   charge    of   the    locomotive 

1        and  rejjair  shops  of  the  Erie  in   Buffalo, 

its  elevators  and  lake  warehouses,  and 
the  enormous  coal  trestles  and  coal-shij)- 
ping  plant  at  East  Buffalo.  These  last 
two  works  have  been  erected  at  an  ex- 
pense of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion dollars  since  the  reorganization  of 
the  F>ie,  and  their  construction  and 
management  have  added  greatly  to  .Mr. 
I         Brunn's  already  heavy  cares. 

Mr.  Brunn  has  been  interested  in 
.Ma.sonry  ever  since  he  reached  his  major- 
ity. He  belongs  to  DeMolay  Lodge, 
No.  40.S,  F.  lV-  a.  M.  ;  Buffalo  Chapter, 
No.  71.  R.  .A.  M.  ;  Lake  Erie  Com- 
mandery.  No.  20,  K.  T.  ;  and  Ismailia 
Temple,  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  .\cacia  Club,  and 
of  St.  James  Episcopal  Church. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V  — 
Charles  Augustus  Brunn  was  born  al 
Buffalo  January  28,  18o8 :  loas  edu- 
cated in  public  schools :  7vas  telegraph 
operator  for  the  Western  Union  co?npany 
at  Buffalo,  1870-72,  and  for  the  Buffalo 
iS~-'  /aniesfo7cn  railroad,  1872—77 :  7i'as 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  Buffalo  ^2^" 
Soutlnoestern  railroad,  1877-80  ;  has  been 
in  the  employ  of  the  Erie  railroad  as  divi- 
sion superintendent  since  1880,  loith  head- 
quarters at  Buffalo  during  most  of  that  tinte. 


—  *♦♦ 


30bll  X.  GrOStbwaite  was  Iwm  in  Buffalo, 
and  during  the  greater  part  of  his  business  life  he 
has  been  actively  conne(  ted  with  the  transportation 
trade  on  tlic  (Ireat  Lakes.  His  education  was 
received  in  public  and  private  .schools  in  his  native 
city,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  left  school  and 
began  business  life.  Cioing  to  Bay  City,  Mich.,  he 
engaged  with  his  father  in  the  building  and  running 
of  boats.  He  continued  in  this  occupation  for  the 
next  five  years  ;  but  in  November,  1H7(),  he  lost  his 
ve.s.sel  in  a  gale  on  Lake  Erie,  .\fter  this  disaster 
he  temporarih'  abandoned  his  connection  with  lake 
commerce. 

Becoming  interested  in  politics,  he  devoted  some 
time  to  that   fas(  inating  |)ursuit  ;  and  in  the  spring 


MEX  or  .\7Cir    VDh'K^U-ESrrRX  SF.CT/OX 


425 


of  1878  accepted  a  position  under  John  Tyler  as 
deputy  collector  in  the  customhouse,  remaining  in 
the  government  service  for  three  years.  During  this 
time  he  took  up  the  occupation  of  newspaper  writing. 
He  was  correspondent  for  the  Western  .Associated 
Press,  the  Chicago  Inter- Ocean,  and  the  New  York 
Truth ;  and  he  did  the  first  marine  rejiorting  for  the 
Buffalo  Express  after  its  reorgaiii/^ation  in  1.S78. 
He  acted  as  financial  secretary  of  the  Buffalo  Pre.ss 
Club  in  1879  during  the  presidency  of  the  late 
Thomas  Keene. 

In  188],  after  a  lapse  of  five  years,  Mr.  Crosth- 
waite  returned  to  his  earlier  calling,  and  established 
a  vesselTjroker's  office  on  the  old  Central  wharf. 
This  business  he  has  conducted  ever  since,  owning 
and  operating  several  vessels  on  the  lakes,  and 
dealing  in  marine  insurance  as  well.  Of  late  vears 
he  has  branched  out  into  other  activities. 
He  was  one  of  the  original  subscribers 
for  the  stock  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Paper 
Co.,  and  still  retains  his  interest  in  the 
corporation,  having  full  charge  of  their 
water  transportation.  In  June,  189o, 
with  George  R.  Howard,  he  organized 
the  Niagara  Radiator  Co.  of  Buffalo. 
He  is  now  associated  with  D.  O.  Mills 
of  New  York  city,  and  Lewis  A.  Hall, 
president  of  the  Export  Lumber  Co.  of 
New  York,  in  the  construction  of  a  steel 
ship  for  lake  navigation  that  will  be 
one  of  the  largest  ever  used  on  inland 
waters. 

Mr.  Crosthwaite's  business  cares  have 
of  late  years  monopolized  his  attention 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other  interests. 
He  has,  however,  reached  the  82d  de- 
gree in  Masonry,  belonging  to  Buffalo 
Consistory,  and  to  Queen  City  Lodge, 
No.  8o8,  F.  &  .\.  M.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Country  Club  and  the  Kllicott 
Club. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
John  L.  Crosthwaite  7uas  born  at  Buffalo 
in  185  If  ;  was  educated  in  Buffalo  sclwols  ,■ 
engaged  in  lake  traffic,  1871-76  ;  married 
Elizabeth  Sherman  Morgan  of  Buffalo 
April  12,  1876 ;  was  deputy  collector  of 
customs,  1878-81  ;  has  opened  and  oper- 
ated lake  vessels  since  1881. 


engaged  elsewhere  at  times,  he  has  regarded  the 
Queen  City  of  the  Lakes  as  his  home  for  more  than 
a  .score  of  years. 

Mr.  Douglass  was  born  in  a  log  house  in  the  town 
of  Busti,  Chautauqua  county.  His  parents  were 
pioneers  of  western  New  York,  having  emigrated 
thither  from  Jewett  City,  Conn.,  early  in  the  '.'iO's. 
His  education  was  begun  in  the  district  schoolhouse 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  farm  where  he  was 
born.  Later  he  spent  one  term  in  the  Westfield 
(  -V.  Y.  )  .\cademy,  and  then  took  a  three  years' 
course  in  the  I'nion  School  and  Collegiate  Institute 
at  Jamestown,  N.  Y.  By  this  time  he  had  centered 
his  ambition  on  the  study  of  law,  and  to  fit  himself 
for  that  ]jrofession  he  attended  for  two  years  the 
law  deiiartment  of  Columbian  College  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.      From  this  institution  he  graduated  in 


Silas  3.  Douglass  is  one  of  the  many  law- 
yers and  real-estate  men  who  have  found  in  Buffalo 
a  profitable  as  well  as  a  plea.sant  field  for  the  exer- 
cise of  their  talents.      While  he  has  been  actively 


JOH.X  /..   CROSTHWAITE 

1872.  The  next  year  he  formed  a  law  partnership 
with  William  H.  Cutler  in  Buffalo,  where  he  has  jirac- 
ticed  much  of  the  time  since,  though  devoting  some 
lime  to  government  work  and  to  business. 


420 


MEA'  OF  NEIV    VOh' K  —ll-ESTEKX  SECT/OX 


Mr.  Douglass  is  known  as  an  ex|)ert  collector  of 
census  statistics,  and  his  ability  in  this  direction 
has  received  official  recognition  on  several  occa- 
sions. In  fact,  he  has  been  connected,  in  one  way 
or  another,  with  the  last  three  censuses  of  the 
national    government  —  those  of    1X70,    IXXO,    and 


.S//../.V  y.  i)i)L'(;i..!ss 

l.HilO.  It  was  while  studying  law  at  Columbian 
College,  Washington,  that  .Mr.  Douglass  received 
his  first  insight  into  the  difficulties  attending  these 
great  statistical  undertakings.  At  that  time  he 
served,  during  1X71  and  1X72,  as  a  clerk  in  the 
Washington  census  office.  When  the  time  came 
for  taking  the  tenth  census,  Mr.  Douglass  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Hayes  a  supervisor  of  census, 
having  in  charge  the  11th  census  district  of  the  state 
of  New  York.  This  district  inc  hided  the  counties 
of  Chautauqua,  Cattaraugus,  .Niagara,  and  Krie.  On 
the  completion  of  his  duties  in  connection  with  this 
position  he  was  offered  a  clerkship  in  the  office  of 
the  superintendent  of  census  at  Washington,  where 
he  remained  two  years.     Before  his  return  to  Buffalo 


he  sjjent  a  year  as  assistant  e.xaminer  of  patents  in 
the  patent  office.  During  his  connection  with  the 
census  office  Mr.  Dougla.ss  had  displayed  so  much 
zeal,  energy,  and  ability  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties,  that  President  Harrison  apjjointed  him 
siqjervisor  of  census  in  I.S'IO,  and  he  was  again 
assigned  to  the  11th  census  district. 
He  displayed  such  fitness  for  the  work, 
and  so  much  energy  in  pushing  it  to  a 
speedy  completion,  that  the  census  offi- 
cials at  Washington  commended  him 
highly. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 

Si /a  s  /u  (/son  Doug/ass  was  horn  at  Lhisti, 

N.    v.,   Decemher  9,    18^.1 ;    was   edu- 

liilt-il  in   M'l-stjicld  {N.   Y.)  Academy  and 

Jamestown  ( N.    Y. )    Union    School  and 

Collegiate  Institute:    graduated  from  the 

huL'    department    of    Columbian     College, 

Washington,  D.   C,  in  ISJ'J,   and  legan 

practice    in    Buffalo    in    October,    1S7S  ; 

•  married  Leonora  God^tmi  of  Buffalo  May 

.V,  1S7H  ;  ivas  supeii'isor  of  census  for  the 

1 1th  census  district  of  Ne7ci  York  state  in 

I  SSI  I  and  in  1N!)(). 

IRiCbarCt  1l3ammOU&  has  done  his 
full  share  in  building  up  the  manufactur- 
ing industries  of  Buffalo,  and  in  giving 
employment  to  many  men.     The  present 
i?-  often  called  the  age  of  iron  and  steel, 
and  the  workers  in  this  line  perform  the 
heavy  labor  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
material    prosperity.       In    the    din    and 
(lust    of  shops    that    the    dainty  seldom 
visit,  are  wrought  out    the    mighty   ma- 
chines and  ponderous  engines  that  make 
modern  life  po.ssible.     Brawn  and  muscle 
and  brain  are  all  re(|uired  in    the  ])ursuit 
of  these  laborious  occupations.      Just  as  there  is  no 
royal    road    to    learning,   so    there    is    none    to  the 
trades.      Personal   contact  with  the  work  and  long 
experience  are  necessary  to  master  the  details. 

Mr.  Hammond's  career  illustrates  anew  the  ])ower 
of  one  man  with  a  strong  will  bent  on  the  establish- 
ment of  a  business  of  his  own.  He  had  no  ad- 
vantages of  birth  or  early  training  beyond  w'hat 
came  from  healthy,  honest  jiarents,  and  an  element- 
ary education.  Horn  in  a  foreign  land,  he  was 
twelve  years  old  before  he  came  to  this  country,  and 
had  the  opportunity  given  to  every  American  citi- 
zen to  achieve  whatever  his  ambition  and  talents 
can  secure.  None  realize  better  than  those  born 
abroad    how    dirfcrent    are    the   (omlitions   and   the 


ME\   OF  XEIV   YORK—IVF.STERX  SECTION 


4-J7 


social  customs  of  this  country  from  those  of  the  old 
world.  Here  the  race,  while  not  necessarily  to  the 
strongest,  is  to  the  man  who  will  run  and  keep  at 
it.  A  successful  start  does  not  necessarily  imply 
a  successful  finish,  and  all  that  our  institutions 
furnish  is  a  start,  the  rest  depending  on  the  man 
himself. 

The  basis  of  every  trade  or  profession  is  an 
apprenticeship,  and  the  more  thorough  this  is  the 
better  the  workman.  Thirty  years  ago  one  could 
not  jum])  into  a  trade  at  a  bound  ;  and  to-day  as  a 
result  we  have  better  journeymen,  better  master 
mechanics,  and  better  employers.  Mr.  Hammond 
served  his  apjjrenticeship  as  a  machinist  and  boiler- 
maker  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived  from  the 
time  he  came  to  America  until  1<S71.  He  then 
went  to  Whitehall,  X.  Y.,  and  engaged  in  b\isiness 
for  himself,  afterward  moving  to  Frank- 
lin, Penn.,  where  he  remained  until 
1.S.S2. 

In  the  latter  year  the  advantages  of  a 
larger  field,  and  the  gradual  but  sure 
development  of  Buffalo  into  one  of  the 
great  manufacturing  centers  of  the  coun- 
try, led  Mr.  Hammond  to  move  thither. 
With  John  Coon  as  i>&rtner  he  started 
the  Lake  Erie  Boiler  Works ;  and  to  this 
enterprise  he  added  in  ISilO  the  Lake 
l-]rie  Engineering  Works,  the  two  con- 
cerns employing  five  himdred  men  and 
requiring  eight  large  buildings  for  their 
operations.  Together  they  constitute 
one  of  the  big  shops  of  the  city,  and  by 
providing  work  and  wages  for  so  many 
they  become  real  factors  in  the  industrial 
life  of  Buffalo.  The  Lake  Erie  Engi- 
neering Works  is  a  joint-stock  corpora- 
tion, of  which  .Mr.  Hammond  is  presi- 
dent. 

The  active  management  of  two  such 
plants  has  kept  Mr.  Hammond  closeh 
confined  to  the  office  and  shop  ;  and, 
though  an  ardent  Republican,  he  has 
uniformly  declined  to  accept  office,  re- 
fiising  at  one  time  a  nomination  for 
councilman.  But  he  has  none  the  less 
been  a  force  with  his  influence  and 
means  in  the  counsels  of  his  |)arty  asso- 
ciates. 

While   living   in    Trox    Mr.   Hammond 
was   a    member,   of    the    24th    regiment,    N.    (L, 
S.  N.  Y.,  and  he  has  always  regretted  that  he  was 
not  old  enough  to  go  to  the  front  in  the  Civil  War. 
He    is    a    member  of   the   Catholic   Mutual    Benefit 


Association  and  the  Catholic  Knights  of  America, 
and  is  a  parishioner  of  St.  Joseph's  Cathedral.  In 
his  relations  to  society  and  the  community  he  is 
noted  for  his  cordiality,  generosity,  and  strict  integ- 
rity—  a  plain  man,  without  ostentation,  enjoying 
the  respect  and  good  will  of  his  neighbors  and 
townsmen,  and  of  all  with  whom  he  is  connected  in 
business  relations. 

PERSONAL  CURONOL  OG  Y—Richanl 
Hammond  laas  born  in  Ireland  January  27 ,  lSi!>  : 
came  to  the  United  States  in  boyhood,  and  learned  the 
machinist' s  trade  at  Troy,  N'.  Y.  ;  married  Johanna 
Maliar  of  Troy  April  25,  1870  ;  engaged  in  business 
in  Neio  York  and  Pennsylvania,  1871-82  ;  has  con- 
ducted the  Lake  Erie  Boiler  llorhs  at  Buffalo  since 
1882,  and  the  Lake  Erie  Engineering  Works  since 
1890. 


A't(  HARD    IIAMMOXn 


IbCrman  Ibennig,  «ell  known  at  the  bar  of 
Buffalo  and  Erie  county,  was  born  in  Saxony  about 
forty-five  years  ago.  He  was  brought  to  America 
during  infancy  by  his  ])arents,  who  had  relatives  in 


iL'S 


^//■:x  OF  XEiv  vo/^k'—u-Esr/cKx  s/-:crjo.\ 


BufTalo,  and  who  went  thither  at  once  on  reaching 
the  country.  There  Mr.  Hennig's  father,  also 
named  Herman,  lived  until  hi.s  death  in  1871  ;  and 
his  mother  is  still  a  resident  of  that  city.  After 
attending  the  public  schools,  Mr.  Hennig  received 
liirthcr  instriution  from  private  tutors.      His  special 


/iKh-M.ix  ///■.■.\".\7<; 

training  in  the  law  was  obtained  in  the  office  of 
Corlett  &  Tabor,  famous  attorneys  of  Buffalo,  with 
whom  he  remained  several  years. 

Having  secured  in  this  way  a  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  law  a.s  regards  both  theoretical  textbook 
discussion  and  actual  office  experience,  Mr.  Hennig 
had  no  trouble  in  passing  the  bar  examinations  at 
Rochester  in  October,  1K76.  He  began  to  practi(  e 
at  once  in  Buffalo,  and  has  ever  since  followed  his 
]jrofession  in  that  city  and  adjacent  territory.  He 
ha.s  never  thought  it  desirable  to  specialize  his  work, 
])referring  to  utilize  his  broad  training  in  the  law  by 
carrying  on  a  general  practice.  This  [jlan  has  been 
consistently  followed,  and  he  now  conducts  a  large 
amount  of  legal    business  (  overing  a    wide  range  of 


subjects.      He    does    his    work    without    partnership 
assistance. 

Like  so  many  other  members  of  his  profession, 
Mr.  Hennig  has  devoted  a  good  deal  of  attention  to 
public  affairs.  Always  until  the  fall  of  l«!)(i  he  was 
a  stanch  Democrat,  prominent  in  the  counsels  of  the 
party,  and  active  in  the  dissemination 
and  advocacy  of  Democratic  principles. 
In  18M.'{  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
city  attorney  of  Buffalo,  or,  as  it  is  now 
called,  corporation  counsel  ;  and  filled 
the  position  with  conspicuous  ability 
during  the  years  1884-8.5.  At  the  ex- 
]iiration  of  his  term  of  office  his  adminis- 
tration was  heartily  commended,  not 
only  by  the  press  and  politicians  of  his 
party,  but  al.so  by  the  Rejjublican  pajjers 
and  some  ])rominent  Rejjublican  attor- 
neys. In  1894  he  was  nominated  by 
the  Democrats  for  the  imjjortant  jjosi- 
tion  of  district  attorney  of  Erie  county. 
In  ever)  campaign  since  1872  Mr.  Hen- 
nig has  taken  the  stumj).  Most  of  his 
political  speeches  have  naturally  been 
made  in  Buffalo  and  Krie  county  ;  but 
he  has  also  at  times  made  cam])aign  tours 
in  other  counties,  and  occasionally  out- 
side the  Empire  State.  Up  to  the  year 
of  the  McKinley-Bryan  campaign  he 
spoke  in  behalf  of  Democratic  candi- 
dates :  at  that  time,  however,  he  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Republicans  on 
account  of  the  money  issue,  and  ren- 
dered potent  aid  lo  the  cause  of  sound 
finance. 

Mr.    Hennig  has  a  social  nature,  and 
belongs  to  various  organizations  designed 
to  satisfy  this   healthy  tendency  of  hu- 
mankind.     For  some  time  he  was  c:hair- 
man  of  the  committee  on  laws  of  the  (Irand   Lodge 
of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  ;  and  for 
three  terms,  beginning  June  1,  18!n,  he  was  CIrand 
Commander  of  the   Select    Knights.      He   belongs, 
also,    to   the     Improved    Order   of    Red    Men,    to 
the  Knights    of   the    Maccabees,   and    to    the    Odd 
Fellows. 

PERSONA  I.  CHRONOL  O  G  Y—  Herman 
llcniiii^  was  Iwni  in  Sa.w/iy  Odoher  16,  1852 :  7iias 
iiliicated  in  Buffalo  at  public  schools  and  hy  pnvate 
tutors  ;  studied  law,  and  7t'as  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
lS"i(>  ;  was  city  attorney  of  Buffalo,  ISSJ^-S.') :  has 
been  tivice  married,  the  second  time  to  Sadie  G. 
Bowman  of  Buffalo  May  2-i,  lS9-i ;  has  practiced 
law  in  Buffalo  since  IS7(J. 


AfE.X   OF  XA'ir    )(>A'A'~n7-:s/7:A'X  SA-fT/lW 


4-i;t 


Milliam  J6.  IfJO^t,  one  of  the  liest-known 
and  most  successful  practitioners  at  the  lOrie-county 
bar,  has  hardly  yet  emerged  from  the  ranks  of  young 
men,  as  he  is  less  than  forty  years  old.  He  was  horn 
at  East  Aurora,  Erie  county,  and  has  lived  in  that 
county  all  his  life  with  the  exception  of  the  time 
spent  in  college.  He  obtained  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  academy  at  East  .Aurora,  and  com- 
pleted his  preparatory  studies  at  the  IJtiffalo  High 
School. 

Choosing  Cornell  as  his  ci/wu  wc/Av,  Mr.  Hoyt 
began  his  studies  at  that  institution  in  the  fall  of 
1877,  graduating  with  the  class  of  18X1.  In 
college  Mr.  Hoyt  followed  a  general  course  of  in- 
struction, but  gave  especial  attention  to  historx  and 
political  science.  He  applied  to  his  college  work 
the  same  zeal  and  earnestness  that  have  characterized 
his  entire  career,  and  acquired  during 
his  four  years  at  Ithaca  an  exceedingly 
valuable  foundation  for  his  later  ]jrofes- 
sional  studies.  While  in  college  he  in- 
terested himself  a  good  deal  in  the  Cor- 
nell journalism  of  his  day.  He  was  man- 
aging editor  of  the  monthly  magazine, 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  college  weekly, 
and  the  founder  of  the  Cornell  £>ai7v  Sun 
—  a  prosperous  organ  of  campus  pul)li( 
opinion  that  has  continued  to  shine  for 
all  ever  since.  Mr.  Hoyt  has  always 
been  a  loyal  son  of  Cornell,  and  has 
taken  great  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
institution.  The  fact  received  proper 
and  gratifying  recognition  in  June,  189.1, 
when  the  alumni  elected  him  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  universitv  for  a  term  of 
five  years. 

Mr.  Hoyt  was  one  of  the  fortunate 
mortals  who  have  a  decided  bent  for  a 
partiodar  calling,  and  are  thus  spared 
the  trouble  of  weighing  the  comparative 
advantages  of  various  possible  pursuits. 
He  decided  in  his  college  days  to  make 
the  law  his  life-work,  and  with  that  end 
in  view  he  became  a  student  with  Hum- 
phrey &  Lockwood,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  from  their  office  in  March, 
1893.  The  firm  mentioned  was  one  of  the 
oldest  and  busiest  in  Buffalo,  and  afforded 
a  student  all  that  could  be  desired  in  the 
way  of  practical  experience  in  the  dis- 
patch of  legal  business.  Partly  on  that  account, 
but  more  especially  because  of  his  previous  mental 
discipline,  close  application  to  his  work,  and  rare 
ability  in  grasping  (piickly  the  essential  jjoints  of  a 


suliject,  Mr.  Hoyt  made  rapid  progress  in  his  pro- 
fession. 

.\fter  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Hoyt  was 
asked  to  become  a  member  of  the  firm,  which  then 
assumed  the  Aimiliar  style  of  Humphrey,  Lockwood 
&  Hoyt.  Additions  have  been  made  to  the  firm, 
but  the  original  associates  have  continued  to  prac- 
tice together  up  to  the  present  time,  and  have  estab- 
lished a  wide  reputation  for  responsibility  and  suc- 
cess. Mr.  Hoyt  does  a  large  share  of  the  court 
work  of  the  firm,  besides  transacting  a  due  amount 
of  the  office  business. 

In  188()  Mr.  Hoyt  was  appointed  a.ssistant  liiiled 
States  district  attorney  for  the  northern  district  of 
Xew  York,  holding  the  position  until  1889.  In 
1894  he  was  appointed  by  Attorney-Ceneral  Olney 
counsel   to    the    Cnited    Slates   interstate-commerce 


WII.I.IAM  /I.   HOYT 

commission  for  the  states  of  New  York  and  Ohio, 
with  the  official  title  of  a.ssistant  attorney -general. 
Aside  from  the  two  places  mentioned  Mr.  Hoyt  has 
not  held  public  office.      He  is  an  earnest  advocate 


430 


MKX   OF  XKir    VORK—IVKSTERX  SKC770\ 


ot"  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  has 
for  many  years  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  i)arty 
leaders  in  Buffalo  and  western  New  York. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOG  V—  iVi/liam 
Ballard  Hoyt  luas  horn  al  East  Aurora,  N.  Y., 
April  20,  ISoS ;  prepared  for  college  at  East  Aurora 


J()//.\    1).  /../A'AV.N 

Academy  and  the  Buffalo  7/igli  School,  and  graduate/ 
from  Cornell  University  in  1S81 :  studied  law,  and 
7vas  admitted  to  the  bar  in  188-i ;  married  Esther 
Lapham  Hill  of  Buffalo  December  20,  1887 ;  was 
assistant  United  States  district  attorney,  1880-80,  and 
7c>as  appointed  assistant  attorney-general  in  180J,  ,•  lias 
practiced  law  in  Buffalo  since  1883. 

50bU  D.  XarlUU,  one  of  Buffalo's  successful 
business  nien  and  respected  citizens,  was  born  in  that 
city  little  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  His  i)arents 
were  English  people  :  and  his  father,  Levi  H.  Lar- 
kin,  was  the  foimder  of  the  Clinton  Iron  Works, 
now  carried  on  I)y  Bingham  tS;  Taylor.  One  of  iMr. 
Larkin's  first  recollections  is  of  the  burning  of  the  old 


Eagle  tavern  November  14,  1849,  when  he  was  but 
(our  years  old.  This  hostelry  stood  on  Main  street, 
on  the  ground  afterward  occupied  by  the  American 
hotel,  where  occurred  the  disastrous  fire  of  1  )>>(>.").  M 
the  time  of  the  earlier  fire  the  work  of  fighting  the 
destroying  element  was  intrusted  to  the  volunteer  fire 
department,  of  which  Mr.  Larkin's  father 
was  a  member  ;  and  the  ai)])aratus  at  their 
dis])osal  was  extremely  limited.  When 
it  was  discovered,  therefore,  that  brands 
from  the  burning  tavern  had  lodged  in 
tlic  liclfry  of  the  old  court  house  on 
Wa.shington  street,  the  building  seemed 
doomed  to  destruction,  as  no  water 
could  reach  the  spot.  -But  .Mr.  Larkin's 
father  .succeeded  in  climbing  the  slippery 
shingles  and  smothering  the  fire  with 
his  coat,  thus  saving  the  building, 
which  was  then  deemed  a  most  im- 
jjortant  one. 

.\fter  attending  the  public  schools  of 
Buffalo  in  childhood,  Mr.  Larkin  began 
business  life  at  the  age  of  twelve  bv 
entering  the  employ  of  William  H. 
Woodward,  a  dealer  in  wholesale  and 
retail  millinery.  He  remained  with  him 
fiiur  years;  and  then,  in  l.H(;2,  began 
work  in  the  soap  manufactory  of  Justus 
Weller.  For  the  next  eight  years  he 
worked  for  Mr.  Weller  in  Buffalo,  learn- 
ing thoroughly  the  business  in  which  he 
has  ever  since  engaged,  and  becoming 
increasingly  valuable  to  his  employer. 
When  Mr.  Weller  moved  to  Chicago  in 
1.S70  Mr.  Larkin  went  with  him,  and 
the  next  year  was  admitted  to  partner- 
.ship  in  the  firm  of  J.  Weller  &  Co. 
This  connection  lasted  until  April,  187;"), 
when  Mr.  Larkin  sold  out  his  interest 
in  the  business  to  Mr.  Weller,  and  returned  to 
Buffalo. 

Mr.  Larkin  was  now  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  details  of  soap  manufacture,  and  had  no  desire 
to  lose  the  results  of  twelve  years'  experience  b}' 
taking  up  a  different  occupation.  Accordingly  he 
established  a  small  factory  on  his  own  account,  and 
set  to  work  to  build  up  a  substantial  business.  In 
187H  Elbert  C.  Hubbard  was  admitted  to  a  share  in 
the  enterprise,  and  the  firm  of  L  D.  Larkin  &  Co. 
was  organized.  This  style  continued  until  February, 
1892,  when  the  business  was  incorporated  as  a  stock 
company,  called  the  Larkin  Soap  Manufacturing 
Co.,  with  Mr.  Larkin  as  president  and  treasurer. 
Mr.    Hubbard    withdrew    from  the  concern  in    18!).'!. 


MEX   OF  .\F.\l-    )i^KK—Ul-:STKR.\  SECT/OX 


431 


Mr.  Larkin  ha.s  given  his  best  energies  to  the  under- 
taking during  all  these  years,  and  has  succeeded  1)\- 
persistent  and  well  directed  effort  in  building  up  one 
of  the  large  and  successful  manufactories  of  the 
Queen  City. 

Mr.  I.arkin  is  a  man  of  ([uiet  tastes,  and  has  never 
taken  an  active  ])art  in  public  affairs.  While  inter- 
ested in  |)olitics,  he  has  no  desire  to  hold  office,  nor 
has  he  any  of  the  ijualities  that  make  the  practical 
jjolitician.  He  belongs  to  no  lodges  or  clubs,  but 
is  a  member  of  the  Prospect  .\venue  Baptist  Church, 
Buffalo.  He  is  particularly  interested  in  young 
men,  and  is  fond  of  helping  them  when  they  show  a 
willingness  to  helj)  themselves,  preferring  thus  to 
make  his  charity  jirivate  and  personal,  rather  than 
to  work  through  institutions,  whose  aid  is  not  always 
discriminating. 

/"JS/i  S  diVA  L  CJIRONOLOGY  —  John 
Durrani  Larkin  was  born  at  Buffalo  September  29, 
lS-i-'>  :  7i'as  educated  in  Buffalo  public  schools  and 
Bryant  c^■  Stratton'  s  Business  Colle^i;e  ;  7i'as  employed 
in  a  whole  sale  millinery  store  in  Buffalo,  1857-<!1  : 
loas  en^i^aged  in  soap  manufacture,  as  employee  and 
partner,  in  Buffalo  and  Chicago,  lS62—7!>  :  married 
Frances  H.  Hubbard  of  Hudson,  III. ,  May  10,  lS7i  ; 
has  been  the  head  of  tlie  business  mnv  kmnon  as  the 
Larkin  Soap  Manufacturing  Co.,  Buffalo,  since  its 
establishment  in  1873. 


lEUcKUe  /ID.  HSbleV?  is  known  throughout 
Niagara  county,  and  indeed  throughout  western  New- 
York,  as  one  of  the  brainiest,  shrewdest,  boldest, 
and  soundest  lawyers  within  that  territory.  He  is 
more  than  that.  He  is  a  business  man  of  large 
experience  and  much  foresight,  accustomed  to  the 
successful  handling  of  immense  interests.  Further, 
he  is  directly  and  positively  interested  in  all  public 
([uestions,  a  hearty  jiarti.san  in  politics,  and  an  active 
force  in  many  social  and  other  organizations  in  the 
city  of  Lockport. 

Mr.  Ashley  had  a  variety  of  experiences  before  he 
adopted  the  profession  in  which  he  has  won  such 
signal  success.  He  is  a  Clenesee-county  boy  by  birth, 
and  attended  the  common  schools  of  his  neighbor- 
hood ;  afterward  taking  a  course  at  the  Tenbroeck 
Academy  at  Franklinville,  N.  Y.,  and  completing 
his  education  under  private  tutors.  Then  he  taught 
school  for  seven  years  in  Genesee  county.  But  his 
nature  was  too  restless  and  ambitious  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  confines  of  the  schoolroom.  He  was  already 
taking  an  active  part  in  politics  ;  and  in  187o  he 
was  a]jpointed  United  States  revenue  agent,  and  on 
September  1  was  assigned  to  duty  in  Lockport.  He 
held   this  position   for  about  a  year.      I'or  the   next 


three  years  he  studied  law,  and  had  the  advantage  of 
|)ursuing  his  studies  in  the  offices  of  such  men  as 
I..  F.  &  G.  W.  Bowen  and  Judge  David  Millar. 

In  January,  1880,  Mr.  Ashley  was  declareil  fully 
ipialified  to  act  as  an  attorney  and  coimselor  at  law. 
He  immediately  launched  out  alone,  but  in  18X2  he 
formed  a  ])artnership  with  L).  E.  Brong.  Later 
Frank  M.  Ashley  became  a  member  of  the  firm.  In 
1886  Mr.  Brong  retired,  and  the  firm  of  ¥..  M.  & 
F.  M.  .\shley  continued  until  1894,  when  the  firm 
of  Roberts,  Becker,  Ashley,  Messer  &  Orcutt,  with 
offices  at  Buffalo  and  Lockport,  came  into  existence. 

With  all  Mr.  .Ashley's  interest  in  politics,  he  has 
not  often  held  jjublic  office.  He  was  the  very  able 
district  attorney  of  Niagara  county  for  six  years, 
being  first  elected  to  the  office  in  l.SSO  and  again  in 
1883.  He  was  also  the  imsuccessful  Republican 
nominee  for  member  of  assembly  in  185)2  in  a  Demo- 
cratic district.  This  has  been  about  the  extent  of 
his  political  life,  though  he  is  a  cam|)aign  speaker  of 
much  elo(|uence.  He  has  preferred  to  devote  his 
energies  to  the  building  up  of  a  lucrative  law  jjrac- 
tice,  and  the  development  of  the  many  commercial 
enterprises  in  which  he  is  engaged.  No  litigation 
of  great  importan<e  has  occurred  in  .Niagara  county 
in  the  ])ast  ten  years  in  which  he  has  not  appeared 
on  one  side  or  the  other.  This  may  seem  a  broatl 
statement,  but  it  is  fiilly  warranted  by  the  facts. 
Mr.  A.shley  has  been  counsel  for  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  Niagara  county,  and  for  the  board  of  edu- 
cation of  Lockport  ;  and  he  successfully  carried 
through  the  erection  of  new  school  buildings  after 
two  years  of  strenuous  opjiosition. 

A  few  instances  of  Mr.  .Ashley's  connection  with 
large  business  enterprises  may  be  cited  here  as  an 
indication  of  his  natural  shrewdness  and  willingness 
to  do  all  that  lies  in  his  power  for  the  material 
advancement  of  his  city.  With  the  late  John  Hodge 
of  Lockport,  he  organized  and  owned  the  Lock|)ort 
street  railroad  in  188()  and  1887.  This  road  was 
for  a  time  operated  under  great  difficulties  and  many 
embarra-ssments,  but  the  energy  and  ability  of  its 
owners  finally  removed  all  these.  In  1892  the 
motive  power  was  changed  to  electricity,  and  the 
road  was  started  and  operated  as  an  electric  line  in 
August,  1895,  just. twenty  days  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Hodge,  whose  interest  in  the  enterjjrise  had  been 
most  imtiring.  ,  In  company  with  James  .V.  Roberts 
of  Buffalo,  Timothy  Iv  LUsworth  of  Lockport,  and 
William  M.  Ivius  of  New  York,  Mr.  .Ashley  organ- 
ized the  Traders'  Pajjer  Co.  of  Lockport,  one  of  the 
largest  mills  in  the  state.  The  organization  was 
comjileted  in  XXS)'),  and  the  i)lant  was  ])ut  in  opera- 
tion in  1890.      -Mr.  .\shlcy  was  also  the  projector  of 


4S2 


ME.X   OF  NEIV   yOKK—U'ESTERA'  SECT/OX 


an  electric  railroad  from  Lockport  to  Olcott  on  I^ike 
Ontario.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Lockport 
Electric  and  Water  Supply  Co.,  which  has  a  franchise 
to  build  a  power  canal  from  Niagara  river  to  Lake 
Ontario. 


GEORGE    If.   HRIGGS 

Mr.  .Ashley  is  prominent  in  the  dub  and  social 
life  of  Lock|)ort,  where  his  many  charming  qualities 
make  him  highly  esteemed. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY— Eugene  M. 
Ashley  7t.>as  born  at  Bethany,  Genesee  county,  N.  V. , 
June  1,  IfloO  ;  received  his  education  in  common  schools 
and  Tenhroeck  Academy,  and  from  prir'ate  tutors  : 
moved  to  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  September  J,  1875,  as 
United  States  revenue  agent ;  loas  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  January,  1880 :  married  Eliza  IV.  Adriance  of 
Lockport  December  29,  1880 ;  rvas  elected  district 
attorney  of  Niagara  county  in  1880,  and  again  in 
1883  ;  has  practiced  law  in  Lockport  since  1880. 

OcorGC  I'd.  JSriiiGS  ^^'^'^  ''"''■"  '"  ''^^  'o""  o' 

Collins,  Erie  county,  .New  York,  less  than  fifty  years 


ago.  He  attended  the  common  .schools  of  the 
neighborhood  in  boyhood,  and  afterward  spent  some 
time  at  a  select  school,  acquiring  a  good  general 
education,  and  fitting  himself  for  the  work  of  a 
teacher.  He  followed  this  ])rofession,  indeed,  for 
twelve  years,  though  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  making  it  his  life-work. 

In  the  spring  of  1X81  Mr.  Briggs  moved 
to  Orchard  Park,  Erie  county,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  Two  years  later  he 
began  his  present  business  as  a  dealer  in 
farmers'  sup])lies  of  all  kinds.  At  firet 
he  sold  goods  on  commi.ssion  only,  in  a 
small  way  :  but  he  soon  became  firmly 
established  on  a  more  satisfactory  basis, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  now  he  has 
done  a  thriving  business  in  his  part  of 
the  county.  During  the  greater  part  of 
this  time  he  has  conducted  the  under- 
taking alone  ;  but  for  several  months  in 
ISilo  he  was  in  jjartnership  with  C.  N. 
Smith,  in  the  firm  of  Briggs  &  Smith. 

Mr.  Briggs  has  long  been  interested 
in  public  affairs,  and  has  served  his  fel- 
low-citizens in  one  capacity  or  another 
for  many  years.  He  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  for  two  terms,  or 
six  years ;  and  has  represented  the  town 
of  East  Hamburg  on  the  Erie-county 
board  of  supervisors  ever  since  1889. 
He  has  taken  a  prominent  and  active 
part  in  the  work  of  the  board  from  the 
first.  In  1S!I.">  ho  was  a  member  of  the 
purchasing  and  auditing  committee,  and 
in  181l(i-!)7  he  was  the  chairman  of  the 
board. 

Mr.  Briggs  is  a  Mason,  and  belongs 
to  several  other  fraternal  societies,  includ- 
ing the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  Select  Knights, 
and  Independent  Order  of  Odd  I'cllows.  He  has 
membershij)  in  the  following  Masonic  bodies:  Zion 
Lodge,  Xo.  .")14,  F.  &  .\.  M.,  Orchard  Park  ;  Buffalo 
Chapter,  No.  71,  R.  A.  .M.:  Lake  Erie  Commandery, 
No.  20,  K.  '1'.,  Buffalo  :  Ismailia  Temple,  Nobles  of 
the  Mystic  Shrine,  Buffalo  ;  and  the  Acacia  Club, 
Buffalo.      He  attends  the  Presbyterian  church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  George  If. 
Briggs  was  born  at  Collins,  N.  Y. ,  October  10,  1850  ; 
7i'as  educated  in  common  and  select  schools ;  married 
Orcelia  A.  Pike  of  West  Concord,  N.  Y.,  December 
29,  1875 ;  taught  school,  1868-80  ;  was  Justice  of 
the  peace,  1883-89  ;  has  been  a  member  of  the  Erie- 
county  board  of  supervisors  since  1889;  has  conducted 
a  general  store  at  Orchard  Park,  N'.   ) '. ,  since  1883. 


MEN  OF  XEVV    YORK —IVESTERX  SECT/OX 


433 


Eugene  Carg,  prominent  in  the  legal  and 
political  circles  of  Niagara  Falls,  was  born  in  Dun- 
kirk, N.  Y.,  somewhat  less  than  forty  years  ago. 
After  attending  the  public  schools  of  his  native  place, 
he  obtained  higher  instruction  at  Cornell  University, 
graduating  thence  in  1878  with  the  degree  of  B.  S. 
He  then  devoted  a  year  to  business  in  his  father's 
hardware  store  at  Dunkirk,  and  the  winter  of  ISTil- 
80  he  passed  as  principal  of  a  school  at  Sinclairvillc. 
Chautauqua  county. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Cary  had  decided  to  make  the 
practice  of  law  his  life-work.  Entering  the  office 
of  Judge  Thomas  P.  Gro.svenor,  therefore,  at  Dun- 
kirk, he  applied  himself  with  characteristic  zeal  to 
the  task  of  mastering  legal  science.  He  continued 
his  reading  until  August,  1881,  when  the  jwsition  of 
superintendent  of  schools  at  Bedford,  lo. ,  was  offered 
to  him.  He  accepted  this  opportunity, 
and  managed  the  public  schools  of  Bed- 
ford with  marked  efficiency  for  the  next 
three  years.  He  found  a  little  time  for 
his  law  studies  during  the.se  years  in  the 
West,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  passing 
the  bar  examinations  at  Buffalo  in  June, 
1884. 

From  November,  J 884,  until  October 
of  the  next  year,  Mr.  Cary  practiced  law 
at  Forestville,  near  Dunkirk,  in  part- 
nership with  Daniel  Sherman.  Niagara 
Falls  was  already  beginning  to  give 
promise  of  its  later  industrial  supremacy, 
and  Mr.  Cary  resolved  to  settle  there. 
Associating  himself,  accordingly,  with 
Henry  C.  Tucker,  he  practiced  .at  the 
Falls  in  the  firm  of  Tucker  &  Cary  from 
October,  1885,  until  May,  1887.  For 
the  next  six  years  he  carried  on  a  large 
practice  without  partnership  assistance. 
Since  May  1,  IrSil.'i,  he  has  been  associ- 
ated with  William  C.  Wallace  in  the 
well-known  firm  of  Cary  &  Wallace. 
He  has  become  a  familiar  figure  in  the 
courts  of  Niagara  county,  and  is  widely 
known  as  an  able  and  trustworthv  attor- 
ney. 

Outside  of  professional  work  Mr.  Carv 
has  been  especially  interested  in  politics. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Chautaiuiiia-county  Repub- 
lican committee  in  1884.      In  the  fall  of 
that  year  he  edited  the  political  columns  of  a  Dunkirk 
newspaper.       Since   going  to  Niagara    Falls  he  has 
been    on    the    Republican    city    committee    several 
times,  and  in  the  important  campaign  of  18!l()  he 


was  chairman  of  that  committee.  He  was  one  of 
the  alternate  delegates  to  the  Republican  national 
convention  at  St.  Louis  in  the  same  year.  He  has 
been  a  delegate  to  every  Republican  judiciary  con- 
vention in  his  district  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  was 
chairman  of  the  convention  in  1895.  Notwith- 
standing his  activity  and  importance  in  the  counsels 
of  the  Republican  party,  he  has  never  cared  to  hold 
public  office.  He  has,  however,  been  a  member  of 
the  Niagara  Falls  board  of  education  since  .March, 
1896. 

Mr.  Cary  has  been  somewhat  active  in  the  busi- 
ness life  of  Niagara  Falls  as  well  as  in  law  and  poli- 
tics. He  holds  directorates  in  the  Power  City  Bank 
and  in  the  Bank  of  Niagara  :  and  acts  as  attorney 
for  these  institutions,  and  for  the  Bank  of  Suspension 
Bridge.      He    is  a  trustee    of   the    Niagara    Countv 


/UGF.XF.    CARY 

Savings  Bank,  and  president  of  the    Niagara  Palls 
Memorial  Hospital. 

PERSOXAL  CHRONOLOGY— Eugene  Cary 
7CH1S  horn  at  Dunkirk,   A'.    ]',    XoTemher  21,    1fi-'>7 : 


434 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK —WES'IERN  SECTION 


graduated  from  Cornell  University  in  1S78 ;  was 
engaged  in  teaehing  and  as  superintendent  of  schools, 
and  in  reading  laic,  IfiJOS^  ;  7vas  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  June,  188 Jf  ;  married  Mary  M.  Waud  of  Buf- 
falo July  5,  1882  ;  practiced  law  at  Forestville,  N.  Y. , 
18Si-S.'>  ;  voas  an  alternate  delegate  to  the  Repul>lica7i 


I'Rl'.DF.RIi  k      t.   /r/, /./;/,',    /A'. 

national  convention  of   I8H(1  .■  has  practiced   laic  al 
Niagara  Falls  since  1885. 


jfrcC>cricU  B.  jfuUer,  3r.,  one  of  jamcs- 

lown's  most  |nilili<:-spiiitcd  citizens,  was  horn  in 
Rutland,  Vt.,  fifty-odd  years  ago.  He  was  only  two 
years  old,  however,  when  his  parents  moved  to 
western  New  York  and  settled  in  Jamestown,  where 
his  father  established  a  jewelry  business.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  graduated  from  the  Jamestown 
Academy,  and  at  once  became  an  employee  in  his 
father's  store.  'I'hcre  he  remained  for  the  next  nine 
years  ;  and  then  went  to  New  V'ork  city,  where  he 
engaged  for  several  years  in  im|jorting  fine  watches 
and  precious  stones.      In   |S7."i.  however,  he  ixinrncc 


to  Jamestown  to  assist  his  father  once  more,  and 
three  years  later  succeeded  him  in  the  charge  of  the 
business.  This  was  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  and  he 
has  conducted  the  establishment  ever  since. 

In  the  case  of  many  men,  a  busine.ss  life  monopo- 
lizes the  largest  share,  if  not  the  whole,  of  their 
attention  ;  and  some  such  statement  as 
that  briefly  given  above  comjirises  about 
all  there  is  of  interest  in  their  careers. 
I'.ut  it  is  not  so  with  Mr.  Fuller.  While 
devoting  himself  actively  to  his  private 
affairs,  ho  has  given  much  of  his  best 
thought  and  most  earnest  work  for  many 
\ears  to  ])id)lic  matters,  both  political 
and  echicalional.  His  fellow-citizens 
have  special  cause  to  be  grateful  to  him 
for  his  interest  in  the  schools  of  the 
city.  He  was  first  chosen  a  member 
of  the  board  of  education  in  1S84,  anil 
has  served  continuously  since,  having 
been  annually  elected  president  of  the 
board  for  the  i)a.st  seven  years.  Much 
cif  the  credit  for  the  jiresent  admirable 
public-school  .system  of  the  city  of 
Jamestown  belongs  to  him,  since  he  has 
done  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  man 
to  create  and  maintain  it. 

Mr.  Fuller  has  long  been  active,  also, 
in  Democratic  politics  in  western  New 
\'ork,  and  has  been  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Democratic  state  committee.  In 
the  first  (Heveland  campaign  he  was  a 
|iresidential  elector;  and  though  tlu- 
\  oungest  of  the  New  \'ork  memlicrs  iil 
I  he  electoral  college,  he  was  chosen  wiih 
Frastus  Corning  of  Albany,  to  deliver 
the  sealed  electoral  vote  of  the  stale  of 
Neu  \'(Mk  for  President  and  X'ice  Presi- 
dent, 
llcr  is  well  known  in  social  and  business 
life  in  Jamestown  and  beyond.  He  has  been  for 
many  years  a  director  of  the  City  National  Bank  of 
Jamestown,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Jamestown  Club. 
He  takes  an  active  part  in  the  work  of  the  I'irst 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  one  of  its  deacons.  He 
belongs  to  the  Reform  and  Democratic  clubs  of  New 
^■ork  city,  and  to  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. He  has  given  considerable  attention  to  the 
subject  of  his  family  genealogy,  and  takes  a  ])ardon- 
able  pride  in  the  fact  that  he  is  a  lineal  descendant 
in  the  eighth  generation  of  Dr.  Samuel  I'uller,  who 
came  over  in  the  "Maynowcr."  P.y  virtue  of  this 
descent    Mr.   l-'uUcr   has  uicnibcrship  in   llic    Pilgrim 


Mr. 


1      Society  of  Plvmoulh,  Mas 


MEN  OF  NF.W    YORK —WESTF.RN  SECT/OX 


43.') 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Frederick  A. 
Fuller,  Jr.,  loas  horn  at  Rutland,  Vt.,  April  10, 
1839  :  7i'as  educated  in  the  Jatncstmon  t^N.  Y.) 
Academy  ;  was  a  clerk  in  his  father' s  store  in  James- 
town, 1857 -(U; ;  married  Cornelia  Ludlow  Benedict 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y,  May  24,  1866;  engaged  in  the 
jewelry  business  as  an  importer  in  New  York  city, 
180(1-75  :  was  a  presidential  elector  in  1884  •'  ''"'■>' 
l/een  a  member  of  the  Jamestown  board  of  education 
since  1884,  end  its  president  since  1890 ;  has  con- 
ducted a  jewelry  busiticss  in  Jamestown  since  1878. 


30\)W.  S.  'Xambert,  though  he  has  been  known 
as  Judge  Lambert  for  a  long  time,  attained  that  title 
so  early  in  life  that  he  has  hardly  yet  reached  the 
prime  of  his  jjowers.  He  was  born  in  the  eastern 
])art  of  the  Empire  State,  in  Rensselaer  county, 
shortly  after  the  middle  of  the  century  ; 
and  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  in  Clreenwich  Acad- 
emy, Washington  county.  He  then 
moved  to  the  western  end  of  the  state,  be- 
coming a  law  student  in  the  office  of  Mor- 
ris &  Russell  of  Fredonia,  from  whic  h  hi- 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S77. 

Beginning  ])ractice  at  first  in  Mayville 
on  his  own  account,  Judge  Lambert,  in 
LS78,  accepted  an  invitation  from  his 
former  preceptors,  who  showed  their 
a|)preciation  of  his  ability  by  taking  him 
into  partnership.  He  continued  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Morris,  Russell  & 
Lambert  for  four  years,  when  Mr.  Rus- 
sell withdrew,  and  the  firm  of  Morris  & 
Lambert  was  formed,  which  lasted  until 
Judge  Lambert's  elevation  to  the  bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  proved  him- 
self during  this  time  to  possess  unusual 
talent  as  a  legal  ])ractitioner,  and  he 
would  undoubtedly  have  taken  rank  with 
the  leaders  of  his  profession  in  western 
New  York  had  he  remained  at  the  bar. 

Judge  Lambert  liegan  to  take  an   in- 
terest in  public  affairs  early  in  his  pro- 
fessional career,  and  served  on  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  Chautauipia  county  in 
ISSO  and  IHSl   as  the  member  from  the 
town  of  Pomfret.      In  the  fall  of   ISSl 
he  was  elected   by  the   Republican   party 
as  county  judge  of  Chautauqua  coimty  ; 
and  his  work  in  this  position  was  so  well  regarded  that 
his  first  term  was  followed  liy  a  second,  beginning  in 
January,   l.SS.S.      He  was  not  permitted   to  serve  out 
this  term,  as  he  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 


Court  of  New  York  state  in  the  fall  of  1889.  The 
judicial  convention  met  in  Buffalo  October  .'5,  188!)  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  ten  days  had  ela[)sed,  and  151 
ballots  had  been  taken,  that  a  nomination  was  made. 
The  election,  however,  brought  out  the  strength  of 
the  candidate,  and  showed  the  wisdom  of  the  choice  ; 
since  Judge  Lambert  received  a  large  majority 
throughout  his  district.  His  field  of  work  is  the 
Sth  judicial  district,  which  includes  the  counties  of 
Erie,  Chautau(|ua,  Cattaraugus,  Orleans,  Niagara, 
Cenesee,  Allegany,  and  Wyoming. 

Judge  Lambert's  career  on  the  higher  bench  has 
justified  his  advancement  to  such  a  station  of  trust 
and  responsibility.  He  was  less  than  forty  years  old 
when  his  term  as  Supreme  Court  justice  began  ;  but 
he  had  a  natural  a])titude  for  the  judicial  calling, 
and  his  trainiiu:  and  exiierience  in  life  were  likewise 


/(>ii\  s.  i.ami:i:rt 

factors  in  his  success  on  the  bench.  He  enjoys  a 
high  reputation  with  the  legal  profession  of  western 
New  ^'ork.  In  social  life  he  is  noted  for  his  afl'abil- 
\\\  and  extreme  courtesv. 


436 


MEX   OF  XKlf    )ORK—U'ESTEKA'  SKCT/ON 


PERSONAL  CHR  ONOLO  G  Y—John  S. 
Lambert  7vas  born  at  Johnsonvillf,  N.  Y.,  February 
4,  1851;  was  educated  at  Greemvich  (iV.  K)  Aca- 
demy; studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1877 ;  practiced  law  at  Mayville,  N.  Y,  1877-78, 
and  at  Fredonia,   N'.    Y. ,  1878-89  ;  married  Winni- 


J.    i:.    MOKi':A\ 

f red  Phillips  of  Cassadaga,  N.  Y.,  August  19,  1891 ; 
was  a  member  of  the  Chaulaut]ua-county  board  of  super- 
visors,  1880-81,  and  county  Judge  of  Chautauqua 
county,  1882-89  ;  has  been  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  York  state  since  January  1,  1890. 


3.  G.  /IDOrgaU,  though  little  more  than  forty 
years  oUl,  has  been  connected  for  nearly  twenty 
years  with  the  business  of  paper  manufacture.  Horn 
in  Krie  county,  Pennsylvania,  he  passed  the  years 
preceding  his  majority  in  the  manner  usual  to  coun- 
try boys;  attending  the  district  school  regularly 
until  the  age  of  eleven,  and  after  that  working  the 
greater  part  of  the  time,  and  going  to  school  for  two 
or  three  months  each  winter  when  there  was  no  work 


to  be  done.  \\'hen  he  was  sixteen  years  old  he  left 
school,  and  went  to  work  permanently.  Several 
years  later  he  took  a  short  course  at  a  commercial 
college ;  but  his  successful  busine-ss  career,  and 
present  important  position  in  the  industrial  world, 
must  be  a.scribed  to  natural  ability  and  close  applica- 
tion rather  than  to  any  very  thorough 
prejjaratory  training. 

In  the  si)ring  of  1878  Mr.  Morgan 
began  business  on  his  own  accoinit, 
forming  a  jjartnership  with  H.  F.  Watson 
of  Erie,  Penn.,  for  the  manufacture  of 
roofing  and  building  paper.  At  first  they 
had  a  small  mill  at  Fairview,  Mr.  Mor- 
gan's native  place;  but  in  1880  they 
built  a  mill  in  the  city  of  Erie.  Iwo 
years  later  Mr.  Morgan  sold  out  his  in- 
terest there,  and  moved  to  Battle  Creek, 
Mich.,  where  he  built  another  mill,  and 
continued  the  manufacture  of  building 
paper.  For  several  years  he  carried  this 
on  successfully  :  but  in  1890  he  dis- 
posed of  the  business  to  the  American 
Strawboard  Co.,  becoming  assistant  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  concern,  and  having 
charge  of  their  twenty-six  mills  in  the 
manufacturing  department,  with  head- 
ipiarters  at  Anderson,  Ind. 

Having  obtained  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  paper-making  business,  Mr. 
-Morgan  had  been  anxious  for  some  time 
to  engage  in  the  industry  on  a  larger 
scale  than  had  at  first  been  practicable. 
While  carrying  on  his  mill  at  Battle 
Creek  he  had  formed  a  company  in  Chi- 
cago, under  the  stvle  of  the  Soo  Pajier 
Co.,  to  build  an  extensi\e  mill  at  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  Mich.  ;  but  this  project  had 
been  subseijuently  abandoned  on  account 
of  difficulties  in  obtaining  a  proi)er  title,  and  in 
securing  the  necessary  water  power.  Finally,  in 
1891,  he  resigned  his  position  with  the  American 
Strawboard  Co.,  and  organized  the  Niagara  Falls 
Pa])er  Co.,  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  its  kind 
in  the  country,  of  which  he  has  been  from  the  first 
secretary  and  general  manager.  The  erection  of 
the  plant  at  Niagara  Falls  was  begun  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  and  the  company  has  carried  on  an  enor- 
mous business  ever  since.  The  mill  has  a  capacity 
of  120  tons  of  finished  pa]jer  per  day:  and  the 
product  turned  out  includes  nianilla,  newspajier, 
and  book-fini.shed  paper. 

PERSONAL    CHRONOLOGY— John    Crook 
Morgan  7c<as  born  at  Eairi'ie7i>,  Eric  county,   Penn., 


ME.X   OF  .\7;ir    )Oh'k-~U'ESTKR.\  SECT/ON 


August  8,  1855  ;  attended  district  schools  and  a  coiii- 
tnercial  college  ;  married  Hattie  E.  Dewey  of  Shelln, 
Mic/i.,  December  22,  1880;  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  paper  at  Erie,  Penn.,  and  Battle  Creek,  Mich., 
1878-90;  was  assistant  general  manager  of  the 
American  Strawboard  Co. ,  1890-91 ;  organized  the 
Niagara  Falls  Paper  Co.  in  1891,  and  has  been  secre- 
tary and  general  manager  of  the  same  since. 


JfrC&CUiCl?  1R.  Peterson,  well  known  in  the 
legal  and  jjolitical  circles  of  Chautaiuiua  county,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Kllicott,  New  York.  His  boy- 
hood and  youth  were  spent  in  the  familiar  way  that 
has  so  often  in  American  life  led  to  eminence  — 
attending  district  schools,  teaching  school  at  times, 
and  working  on  the  home  farm  more  than  anything 
else.  This  was  his  life  up  to  his  twenty-first  year. 
In  1877  he  entered  upon  a  systematic 
course  of  instruction  in  Jamestown 
Union  School  and  Collegiate  Institute. 
taking  a  classical  course,  and  graduating 
from  the  institution  in  1880.  Having 
decided  to  follow  the  legal  profession, 
he  entered  the  office  of  Sheldon,  Green, 
Stevens  &  Benedict,  a  prominent  law- 
firm  of  Jamestown,  A.  V.  After  study- 
ing there  zealously  for  several  years,  and 
acquiring  valuable  experience  in  the 
actual  dispatch  of  legal  business,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Rochester  in 
October,  1884. 

Opening  an  office  at  once  in  James- 
town, Mr.  Peterson  has  ever  since  fol- 
lowed his  profession  there.  He  practiced 
alone  for  the  first  few  years,  but  in  lS8i^ 
formed  a  partnership  with  Clark  R. 
Lockwood  under  the  style  of  Lockwood 
&  Peterson.  This  association  continued 
until  1892,  when  the  firm  was  dissolved. 
In  the  same  year  Mr.  Peterson  formed 
a  partnership  with  Frank  W.  Stevens  un- 
der the  firm  name  of  Stevens  &  Peter- 
son. This  connection  has  been  main- 
tained ever  since,  and  has  been  distinctly 
successful.  Mr.  Peterson  has  shown 
himself  a  ])rudent  and  sagacious  adviser 
on  legal  (piestions,  and  a  trustworthy 
agent  in  the  conduct  of  litigation.  He 
stands  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  bar  of 
Chautauqua  county. 

Mr.  Peterson  has  taken  an  active  part  in  political 
affairs,  and  his  public  life  antedates  by  a  year  his 
professional  career.  Becoming  clerk  of  |amcstowii 
in   1.S,S.3,  he   continued    to  discharge  efficiently  the 


duties  of  the  office  until  l.S.ss.  He  was  one  of  the 
supervisors  of  Chautauqua  county  from  Jamestown 
in  1.S!I2  and  again  in  18!t;l.  In  the  fall  of  iSiKi  he 
received  the  Republican  nomination  for  the  office 
of  assemblyman  from  the  1st  Chautauqua-county 
district,  and  was  elected  by  the  extraordinary  plurality 
of  ")800.  In  the  legislature  he  served  on  the  commit- 
tees on  judiciary,  revision,  and  the  Soldiers'  Home. 
Mr.  Peterson  is  fond  of  social  life,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  various  social  and  fraternal  organizations. 
He  is  especially  interested  in  Free  Ma.sonry,  and 
has  attained  high  rank  in  the  order.  He  belongs 
to  Mt.  Moriah  Lodge,  No.  145,  F.  &  A.  M.  ; 
Western  Sun  Chapter,  No.  67,  R.  .A.  M.  :  and 
Jamestown  Commandery,  No.  61,  K.  T.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  the  order  of 
Elks,  and  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  as  well  as 


/■■A>/t /)/•;/,' /rA-  K.   I'F.TF. R.SOX 


I'"irst 


the   Jamestown    Club,    .Aliiany    Club,  and    the 
Methodist  Church  of  Jamestown. 

PERSONAL   C/IR  ONOL  OGV—  Frederick  R. 
Peterson  icas  horn  in  the  toicn  of  Ellicott,  Chautaui/ua 


438 


MEK   OF  NFAV    YORK  — WESTERN  SECTION 


county,  N.  ) '. ,  January  21,  18~)7  ;  graduated  from 
the  Jamestown  ( N.  V. )  Union  School  and  Co/ki^ia/e 
Institute  in  ISSO  ;  was  admitted  to  the  l>ar  in  October, 
1SS4  .•  Married  Edith  S.  Osgood  of  Jamesto7vn  April  8, 
1SS5 ;  was  clerk  of  Jamestorcm,  1S83SS,  and  a 
tnemher  of  the  hoard  of  supen'isors,    18f)2—0S :   icas 


(  ll.\kl.l:S    I    Sill   lis 


elected  to  the   slate  assemldx  in 
law  in  Janiestoivn  since  1884. 


1800  :   has  practiceil      cx] 


Charles  3.  SbUlti?,  one  of  the  youngest 
ncw.s|)a|icr  i)Ml)lishcrs  in  western  New  York,  was  l>orn 
in  C'attaraii,L;us  (oiinty  thirty  years  ago.  He  was 
educated  in  the  union  school  at  Kllicottvillc,  his 
native  town,  and  learned  the  printer's  trade  with  R. 
H.  ShankJand  in  the  office  of  the  Cattaraugus  Union, 
])iil>lishcd  at  I'lllicottviUe.  Mr.  Shankland  was  a 
friend  of  llorac  e  (Ireeley,  and  a  co-worker  with  the 
founder  of  the  Tribune,  and  inider  him  Mr.  Shults 
obtained  an  excellent  knowledge  of  the  printer's 
craft.  .\t  lliat  time,  however,  he  had  not  decided 
dcfmilclv  to  engage   in   tlic   printing  and    piililishiiig 


business  :  and  he  tlierefore  sjient  several  months  as  a 
student  in  a  law  office,  and  also  studied  medicine  for 
a  short  time. 

Deciding  at  last  that  a  bnsiness  career  offered 
greater  advantages  on  the  whole  than  jjrofessional 
work,  Mr.  Shults  gave  up  both  the  law  and  medi- 
cine, and  embarked  in  the  business  with 
which  he  has  since  been  identified  — 
that  of  news])aper  publishing.  His  first 
venture  was  the  j)urchase  of  the  Pine 
J 'alley  iVeras  of  South  Dayton,  N.  Y., 
which  he  conducted  successfully  for  three 
years.  In  1885  he  bought  the  Cherry 
Creek  Monitor,  and  consolidated  the  two 
papers,  issuing  a  new  sheet  called  the 
Cherry  Creek  Ne^os.  He  is  still  pub- 
li.shing  this  paper,  and  is  making  it  more 
and  more  valuable  to  its  readers.  In 
l.SUO  he  bought  the  Cowanda  Herald, 
and  has  conducted  that  publication  with 
\igor  and  success  ever  since.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  undertakings  he  acted  for 
a  time  as  state  editor  of  the  Buffalo 
linijuirer. 

Mr.  Shults  is  well  known  to  tlie  news- 
|)a])er  fraternity  of  the  state,  having 
served  for  two  terms  as  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  New  York 
State  I'ress  .Association.  At  the  annual 
meeting  of  that  organization  in  1890  he 
read  a  paper  entitled  ".A  Year's  Experi- 
ence as  an  Advertising  Agent,"  that 
allractcd  considerable  attention  for  its 
able  and  intelligent  treatment  of  the 
(|iiestion  of  advertising,  so  important  to 
all  iicwspa])er  |)ublishers.  His  state- 
ments carried  additional  weight  as  being 
the  result  of  jiractical  experience  rather 
than  of  theoretical  s])eculation.  This 
had  been  gained  not  onl\  in  liis  work 
her,  but  largely  in  connection  with  the 
I'ress  :  which  he  organized 
till   conducts,  in 


experience 

as  a   publis 

Consolidated   Country 

in   Buffalo  in  18!)2,  and   whirli   he 


com])any  with  lOdward  Rutherford,  under  the  name 
of  Chas.  |.  .Shults  iS:  Co.  This  association  controls 
the  advertising  of  about  a  hundred  jiapers  |)tiblishe(l 
in  the  territory  tributary  to  Buffalo,  and  carries  on 
a  general  advertising  agency  as  well.  Mr.  Shults 
is  now  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Chautau- 
ipia  County  I'ress  .Association.  He  is  a  firm  Re])ub- 
lican  in  political  belief,  and  conducts  his  papers  in 
the  interest  of  that  part\.  lie  has  never  thought 
it  worth  while  to  seek  public  oIVk  c,  but  served  as 
town  I  Irrk  of  Cherrv  Creek  in  1  S.S7  and  ISSS. 


MEX   OF  XF.lf    VOR K  —IVF.SrERN  SECT/OX 


439 


Mr.  Shults  has  been  greatl\'  interested  in  Masonry 
ever  since  he  joined  the  order  soon  after  attaining 
his  majority.  He  wa.s  Master  of  the  lodge  in  C"herr\- 
Creek  for  two  years  ;  and  in  September,  lcS94,  he 
was  aiipointed  by  John  Hodge,  Grand  Master  of 
Masons  of  New  York  State,  as  District  Deputy  (irand 
Master  of  the  'ifith  Ma.sonic  district.  This  appoint- 
ment was  unsought  by  Mr.  Shults,  and  was  highly 
acceptable  to  the  fraternity  throtighout  the  district, 
where  he  was  widely  known  and  respected.  In  June, 
lcS9(i,  he  was  again  appointed  to  the  position  by 
(Irand  Master  John  Stewart,  and  served  a  second  term 
with  credit  and  distinction.  He  is  the  youngest 
Mason  ever  holding  a  position  of  this  character. 

PERSO NA L   CHR ONOLOGY—  Oiar/rs 
Julius  Sliulfs  was  born  at  Ellicottville,  N.   V.,  Febru- 
ary as,  1867  ;  was  educated  in  common  schools  :  mar- 
ried Eva  M.   Morian    of  Cherry   Creek, 
N.  Y. ,  May  4,  1887 ;  /earned  the  print- 
er's trade  at  Ellicottville  :  rcas  appointed 
District  Dcputv  Grand  Master  of  Masons 
in  1894,  *'"^  again  in   18!J(1 :   has  been  a 
newspaper  07vner  and  publisher  in  western 
Nnv  York  since  1882. 


aibert  1R.  SmiM3  was  bom   in  the 

village  of  North  'I'onawanda  little  more 
than  twenty-five  years  ago.  He  sjient 
his  childhood  on  a  farm  on  the  banks 
of  the  Niagara  river  :  and  attended  the 
|)ublic  s(  hools  up  to  the  age  of  ele\cn, 
when  he  became  a  clerk  in  a  grocery 
store.  His  active  career,  begun  at  this 
early  age,  has  thus  been  considerably 
longer  than  that  of  most  men  of  his 
years  ;  and  has  also  been  unusually  var- 
ied, embracing  as  it  does  both  business 
and  professional  life. 

When  he  was  fifteen  years  okl  Mr. 
Smith  became  connected  with  the  lum- 
ber trade,  the  great  industry  that  has 
made  the  present  city  of  North  'I'ona- 
wanda one  of  the  most  important  com- 
mercial centers  in  western  New  \'ork. 
I'or  a  time  he  acted  as  tally  boy  and 
ship])er.  He  then  spent  a  winter  at 
Urjant  &  Stratton's  Business  College, 
I'luffalo,  where  he  took  a  general  busi- 
ness course,  learning  stenography  and 
typewriting  as  well.  In  the  spring  of 
I.SiSi)  he  entered  the  office  of  Smith,  Fassett  & 
Co.,  lumber  dealers  in  North  'ronawandn,  as  stenog- 
rapher anil  confidential  clerk,  :\nd  rem-iincd  uitli 
them  for  the  ne.\t  four  \cars. 


By  this  time  Mr.  Smith  was  twenty-two  years  old, 
and  had  made  a  good  start  in  business  life.  He  was 
anxious,  however,  for  a  different  kind  of  succe.ss 
from  any  to  be  obtained  as  a  lumber  dealer  ;  and  as 
he  had  now  accumulated  some  money  he  was  able  to 
gratify  this  ambition,  and  ])rei)are  himself  for  the 
legal  |)rofession.  Kntering  the  office  of  Lewis  T. 
Payne  in  the  spring  of  l.S!)8,  he  applied  himself  for 
the  next  three  years  to  the  task  of  ac(|uiring  the 
neccs.sary  knowledge  ;  reading  Kent  and  Blackstone, 
and  familiarizing  himself  with  the  practical  work  of 
a  lawyer's  office  at  the  same  time.  He  took  the  bar 
examinations  at  Rochester  June  17,  18!)(),  and  was 
admitted  to  (practice  July  2!l.  I'or  several  months 
thereafter  he  remained  in  Mr.  Payne's  office,  but  on 
January  1,  l.SilT,  he  opened  an  office  on  his  own 
account. 


AI.IU-.RT  R.   SMITH 


It  does  not  happen  to  many  men  to  assiuiie  iudi- 
<-ial  duties  within  a  year  of  their  admission  lo  die 
bar,  but  this  was  Mr.  Smith's  experience.  The  act 
of  the  legislature  passed  .April  24,  lSi)7,  created  the 


4411 


MEN   or  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


city  of  North  'lonawanda  ;  and  on  A])ril  27  Mayor 
McKeen  appointed  Mr.  Smith  the  first  city  judge  of 
the  new  municipality.  This  ajipointment  was  the 
more  noteworthy  inasmuch  as  the  mayor  is  a  Repub- 
lican and  there  were  three  Rejiuhlican  apjjlicants  for 


K.  II.  niiKi-oKn 


been 


the    jjosition,    while    Mr.    -Smith    has    always 
identified  with  the  Democratic  party. 

Military  and  fraternal  organizations  have  always 
been  attractive  to  Mr.  Smith,  and  have  received  his 
active  support.  He  is  first  sergeant  of  the  25th 
Separate  company,  X.  (;.,  S.  X.  Y.,  of  Tonawanda; 
and  a  memlier  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  .\sso- 
ciation  and  of  Alert  Hose  Company  of  the  same 
place.  He  belongs  to  Xiagara  C'ouncil,  No.  71!^, 
Royal  Arcanum  ;  is  Junior  Warden  of  lonawanda 
Lodge,  No.  247,  F.  iV  \.  M.  :  and  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Klc(tric  City  Lodge,  No.  (id."!.  I.  ().  ().  K., 
and  of  Court  Warwick,  Independent  ( )r(ler  of 
l'V)resters. 

I'KRSONAL  CHRONOLOG Y—  Albert  Rock- 
well Smith  was  horn  at  North    Tonawanda,  N.   )'. , 


August  IS,  1811 :  was  educated  in  public  sclwols  and 
a  business  college ;  was  clerk  for  a  lumber  firm  in 
North  Tonawanda,  1S80-93 ;  studied  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1896 ;  has  been  city  judge  of 
North  Tonaioanda  since  May  1,  1897. 


IR.  lb.  36tCl5fOr&  has  been  promi- 
nently connecteil  with  the  leather  indus- 
try in  Buffalo  ever  since  he  first  went 
thither  thirty  years  ago.  He  was  born 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  New  Hamp- 
shire in  1830,  and  at  an  early  age  began 
attending  the  district  schools.  After  he 
became  old  enough  he  spent  his  simi- 
mers  at  work  on  a  farm  ;  but  he  con- 
tinued his  attendance  at  school  during 
the  winter  until  he  attained  his  major- 
ity, and  in  this  way  secured  an  excellent 
general  education.  When  he  was  eigh- 
teen years  old  he  gave  up  farming,  and 
spent  a  short  time  as  a  brick  maker,  and 
then  went  to  work  at  his  jjresent  trade  of 
belt  and  hose  making. 

In  l.s4!t  Mr.  Hickford  left  home,  and 
went  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  he  worked 
at  the  latter  trade  for  eighteen  years  for 
Josiah  Gates.  For  the  first  four  years 
he  was  em])loyed  as  a  journeyman  ;  but 
after  that  he  became  superintendent  of 
the  factory,  and  continued  in  that  posi- 
tion while  he  remained  in  the  establish- 
ment. By  this  time  he  had  acquired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  business,  and 
was  desirous  of  starting  out  on  his 
own  a(  lount.  .Accordingly,  in  January, 
1^(17,  he  went  to  Buffalo:  and  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  manufacturer  of 
leather  belting  and  fire  hose,  forming 
with  Fred  B.  Curtiss  the  firm  of  Bickford  &  Curtiss. 
I  wo  years  later  Fred  Deming  was  admitted  to  |)art- 
nershi]),  and  the  style  became  Bickford,  Curtiss  iV 
Deming.  In  1875  Mr.  Deming  retired,  and  the 
original  firm  name  was  resumed  until  1883,  when 
William  C.  ?"rancis  bought  out  Mr.  Curtiss's  inter- 
est, and  the  firm  became  Bic  kford  &  Francis.  Mr. 
Francis  died  in  .Xijrii,  188!)  ;  and  the  business  was 
reorganized  as  tlie  Bickford  i.\:  Francis  Belting  Co., 
Walter  T.  Wilson  purchasing  the  interest  of  Mr. 
Francis  in  the  working  capital,  and  Mr.  Bickford's 
son,  R.  K.  Bickford,  being  admitted  to  a  share  in 
the  concern. 

.Mr.  Bickford  established  his  busine.ss  in  the 
beginning  at  .");5  and  55  Kxchange  street,  and  he 
has    remained    there   ever   since.       liul    tliough    tlic 


MF..\   OF  XEir    ]\ >A'A-^ II -FSV/-: A'. V  SFC'/VCV 


■141 


location  has  l)een  unchanged,  the  liiisiness  has  en- 
tirely outgrown  the  limited  proportions  ot"  thirty 
years  ago.  More  space  has  been  required  from  time 
to  time  for  the  conduct  of  the  business,  and  the 
staff  of  employees  has  been  greatly  increased  ;  and 
to-day  the  concern  carries  on  the  manufacture  of 
leather  belting  and  fire  hose  on  an  extensive  scale, 
and  enjoys  a  high  reputation  in  the  commercial 
world. 

Mr.  Bickford  is  an  earnest  Republican,  and  a 
firm  believer  in  the  distinctive  Republican  doctrine 
of  protection  for  .American  industries  ;  but  he  has 
never  taken  an  active  interest  in  party  affairs,  nor 
cared  to  hold  jKiblic  office.  He  is  a  32d  degree 
Mason,  and  Past  Master  of  DeMolay  Lodge,  No. 
49cS,  and  attends  the  Baptist  church.  His  greatest 
intere.st  outside  of  his  business  has  been  the  subjeit 
of  music.  For  over  forty  years,  begin- 
ning as  a  young  man  in  Lowell,  he  sang 
in  different  churches,  acting  much  of  the 
time  as  choir  conductor  ;  and  he  has  also 
composed  considerable  church  music. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY  — 
Richmond  H.  Bickford  rccts  born  at  Roch- 
ester, N.  H.,  Fehniary  8,  1830;  7vas 
educated  in  cotnmoif  schools :  married 
Emma  J.  Tracy  of  Mercer,  Maine,  July 
18,  ISii-l ;  /earned  tlie  trade  of  a  belt  and 
hose  maker,  and  worked  at  the  same  in 
Loivell,  1849-67 ;  has  carried  on  the 
manufacture  of  leather  belting  and  fire 
hose  in  Buffalo  since  1867. 


(3eorge  BiuQbam  was  bom  in 

Lancaster,  N.  Y.,  and  has  always  made 
his  home  there,  though  his  work  as  a 
business  man  and  as  a  public  official  has 
been  done  in  Buffalo.  He  is  a  son  of 
Henry  L.  Bingham,  a  native  of  Wind- 
ham, Conn.,  who  settled  in  western  New 
York  when  a  young  man. 

After  a  general    education    in    public 
and  private  schools,   Mr.  Bingham  took 
up  the  profession    of  a    civil    engineer, 
and    at    the    age    of  eighteen  became  a 
rodman  in  the  employ  of  the  old  Buffalo 
&   Washington    railroad    under    \\'illiani 
Wallace,   chief  of  the   engineering   de- 
partment.   He  soon  rose  to  more  import- 
ant positions,  and  finally  had  charge  of  a 
division  of  the  road  as  assistant  engineer.      He  took 
part,  also,  in  the  planning  and  construction  of  other 
railroads    in    the  western    states   and    Canada,    and 
worked  for  a  year  in  the  city  engineer's  dejiartment 


of  Buffalo,  nmning  the  levels  for  the  topograjihical 
map  of  the  city.  In  1JS75,  however,  Mr.  Bingham 
abandoned  the  calling  of  an  engineer,  and  embarked 
in  the  hide  and  leather  business,  forming  a  partner- 
shi])  with  S.  W.  Nash,  Jr.,  on  May  1,  LSTO.  This 
connection  was  dissolved  six  months  later,  and  Mr. 
Bingham  then  conducted  the  business  alone  >mtil 
May  I,  l<S.S(i.  In  I.SSS  be  became  su[)erintendent 
of  the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Light  &  Power 
Co.  in  liuffalo,  ami  hclil  the  position  for  the  next 
three  years. 

In  ISSO  Mr.  liingham  was  elected  to  the  state 
assembly  from  the  4th  Erie-county  district,  and  in 
the  memorable  contest  in  the  legislature  of  1881 
over  the  ITnited  States  senatorship,  he  distinguished 
himself  by  his  vigorous  support  of  the  candidacy  of 
Roscoc    t'onkling.       in     I  Sill     I'rcsidcnl    Harrison 


CJiOKCK   niXr.HAM 


appointed  Mr.  Piingham  LInited  States  ap|)raiser  for 
the  port  of  Buffalo  ;  and  since  that  time  he  has  been 
occupied  with  ])ublic  service,  and  has  filled  import- 
ant ])Ositions  in  Erie  county.      He  held  the  jiost  of 


442 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


appraiser  for  three  years,  or  until  he  was  elected 
county  clerk  in  liHi)4.  His  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  this  office  has  been  marked  l)y  painstaking  care 
and  attention  to  details,  and  he  has  made  an 
enviable  record  as  an  honest  and  capable  public 
official.      In  1895-!16  he  was  the  chairman  of  the 


CL.lKEXtE    W    IIAMMOXn 

Erie-county  Republican  conimiltee,  and  in  ISil") 
he  was  elected  |)resident  of  the  village  of  Lancaster. 
He  is  also  one  of  the  justices  of  the  ])eace  for  the 
same  town. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  George  Bin;^- 
ham  was  born  at  Laiieaiter,  N.  Y.,  December  21, 
IS^S  ;  was  educated  in  public  and  private  schools  : 
worked  as  a  civil  engineer,  ISGd  -75  ;  married  Carrie 
Lee  of  Lancaster  September  J^,  187 Jf  ;  engaged  in  the 
hide  and  leather  business,  1S70-SG,  and  in  electrical 
business,  1SS8-01 :  was  member  of  assembly  in  USSl, 
United  States  appraiser,  I8OI-O4.,  president  of  the 
village  of  Lancaster  in  1895,  and  chairman  of  the 
Erie-county  Republican  committee,  1805-06  ;  has  been 
county  clerh  of  Erie  county  since  fa iiuiiry  1,  1805. 


Clarence  Xlll.  l^aiUmonCt  is  widely  known 
and  highly  regarded  in  business  circles  in  Buffalo, 
where  he  ha.s  lived  for  nearly  twenty  years.  Though 
he  is  now  so  closely  identified  with  the  interests  of 
the  Queen  City,  he  had  a  business  career  of  con- 
siderable length  and  importance  before  coming  to 
New  York  state. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  l)orn  in  the  little 
village  of  East  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  less  than 
fifty  years  ago.  He  was  taken  West  in 
childhood,  however,  and  received  his 
education  and  early  business  training  in 
Michigan.  After  attending  the  public 
schools  of  Saginaw  for  a  time,  he  fin- 
ished his  studies  at  Ypsilanti.  .\t  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  became  a  banker's 
clerk,  gaining  thus  his  first  insight  into 
the  world  of  finance,  which  wa.s 'afterward 
to  be  his  successful  field  of  labor. 

.\ftcr  a  short  experience  there  .Mr. 
Hammond  engaged  in  a  general  mercan- 
tile business,  becoming  manager  of  a 
concern  manufacturing  lumber,  .salt,  etc. 
He  conducted  this  enterprise  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  met  with  much  success. 
Ill  1<S70,  in  company  with  Wellington 
R.  Burt  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  he  estab- 
lished in  Buffalo  a  wholesale  lumber  busi- 
■J^  ness  and  planing  mill.      The  importance 

^^L    I         of  Buffalo  as  a  distributing  center,  where 
^^B  the  product  of  the  western  forests  could 

^^K  ,         be  advantageou.sly  prepared  for  the  mar- 
^^Hfe         ket,  and  shipjjcd  by  rail  or  canal  to  all 
^^^1         points  in    the  i'^ast,   was   coming    to    be 
^^^H         realized  more  and  more  ;   and  the  ven- 
^^^^         ture  of  the  two  Michigan  men  proved  a 
Ibrtunate  one.      Mr.  Hammond  took  an 
active    i)art    in    the    work    of    the    Buf- 
falo Lumber  ICxchange,  an  organization 
formed  to  secure  uniform  freight  rates,  and  in  other 
ways  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  hmiber  dealers  ; 
and  largely  instnnnental  in  effecting  the  passjige  of 
the  bill  to  abolish  grade  cro.ssings  within  the  city 
limits.      His    popularity    with    this   as,sociation    was 
shown   in  the    fact  that   ulicu  he    retired    from  the 
lumber  business  he  was  elected  an  honorary  mem- 
ber of  the  exchange,  a  distinction  never  before  con- 
ferred upon  a  member. 

In  IrSHl)  Mr.  Hammond  disposed  of  his  lumber 
interests  and  made  an  entirely  new  departure,  organ- 
izing the  People's  Hank  of  F.uffalo.  His  long  experi- 
ence in  the  jjractical  conduct  of  business  afl'airs  had 
been  an  excellent  jireparation  for  this  venture  in  one 
res])ect    at    least  —  he   knew   w  hat   the   ])atrons  of  a 


AfF.X   OF  X/Cir    ]'(>/CA'~ll7;srE/^X  SECT/OX 


44n 


bank  expect  from  such  an  institution.  The  result 
has  proved  that  he  also  possessed  the  other  (lualities 
necessary  to  ensure  success ;  for  he  has  been  the 
moving  and  guiding  spirit  in  the  organization  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  high  stand  it  has  taken  among 
the  banks  of  Buffalo  is  due  chiefly  to  his  able  and 
efficient  management.  He  has  been  cashier  of  the 
bank  ever  since  its  organization,  and  has  given  his 
undivided  attention  to  it.  In  January,  189",  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  second  vice  president  as  well. 

Though  political  nominations  have  several  times 
been  offered  to  him,  Mr.  Hammond  has  uniformly 
declined  them,  deeming  any  active  participation  in 
public  affairs  incompatible  with  a  proper  attention 
to  his  other  duties.  .  He  is  much  interested  in 
Masonry,  in  which  he  has  taken  all  the  degrees 
except  the  ood  ;  and  he  belongs,  also,  to  many  other 
similar  organizations.  He  attends  the 
I'nitarian  church.  He  takes  an  active 
interest  in  all  things  connected  with  his 
ado])ted  city,  and  has  done  much  by  his 
business  foresight  and  acumen  to  main- 
tain and  increase  its  prosperity. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY — 
Clarence  IF.  Hammond  was  born  at  East 
Jaffrey,  N.  H. ,  June  h,  IS^S  :  laas  edu- 
calcd  in  Michigan  schools  :  began  business 
life  in  ISOIf  as  a  bank  clerk,  and  aflcr- 
ivard  engaged  in  lumber  manufacture  in 
Michigan ;  conducted  a  tcholesale  lumber 
business  in  Buffalo,  1S70-S!) :  married 
Adele  E.  Sirret  of  Buffalo  June  ^,  ISSl  ; 
has  been  cashier  of  the  People's  Bank, 
Buffalo,  since  itj  organisation  in  ISS.'/, 
and  second  x'ice  president  since  January  1. 
1897. 


%0\m  /ID.  "n-IUll,  who  for  the  last 
dozen  years  has  practiced  law  at  the 
Erie-county  bar.  was  born  in  lUiffalo 
thirty-eight  years  ago.  .Vfter  attending 
Public  School  No.  T)  and  the  Buffalo 
Central  High  School,  he  prepared  for 
college  at  Cook  Academy,  a  well-known 
institution  under  the  control  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  located  at  Havana,  or  what  is 
now  the  village  of  Montour  Falls.  He 
then  took  a  full  classical  course  at  the 
L-niversity  of  Rochester,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1.SS2  with  the  degree  of  ,\.  B. 

Leaving  college  then,  with  the  world  before  him 
in  which  to  choose  his  line  of  work,  Mr.  Hull  deter- 
mined to  fit  himself  for  the  legal  profession.  His 
studies    were     completed     in    due     course,    and     in 


October,  1884,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In 
Deceml)er  of  the  same  year  he  ojjened  an  office  in 
Buffalo,  and  has  practiced  there  continuously  since. 
He  has  been  content  to  stand  or  fall  in  his  profes- 
sional career  entirely  on  his  own  merits,  forming  no 
partnership  associations ;  and  his  present  a.ssured 
[josition  and  growing  clientage  prove  the  wisdom  of 
his  course. 

Mr.  Hull  has  never  taken  a  very  conspicuous  j)art 
in  ])olitical  affairs,  though  he  has  long  been  known 
as  an  earnest  Republican  who  could  be  counted  on 
to  work  for  his  party.  His  only  public  office  thus  far 
has  been  directly  in  the  line  of  his  professional  duties. 
In  October,  l.Si)4,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Erie-county 
board  of  supervisors  as  their  attorney  ;  and  has  held 
the  position  ever  since,  having  been  rcap]]ointed  in 
October,  189."),  and  again  January  1,  18il7. 


Ji)/I.\   .1/.  /n  / 1 

In  private  as  in  ]iublic  life,  Mr.  Hull  is  (|uiet 
and  unassuming  :  but  he  has  many  friends  in  his 
native  city  who  know  and  admire  his  genial  nature 
and    many   agreeable    qualities.      He    is   a    Ma.son, 


444 


ME.y  OF  NKir  yoRK—in-:srEh\\  secy/ox 


belonging  to  Washington  Lodge,  No.  240,  P".  & 
A.  M.;  Keystone  Chapter,  No.  Ui2,  R.  A.  M.; 
Hugh  de  Payens  Conunandery,  No.  30,  K.  T. ; 
and  Ismailia  Temple,  Nobles  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 
He  attends  the  Delaware  Avenue  Baptist  Church. 

PERSONAL  CfTROXOLOGY—John M.  Hull 
7oas  (torn  at  Buffalo  December  10,  18'>8 ;  attended 
Buffalo  public  schools  and  Cook  Academy,  Havana, 
A^.  Y.,  and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Roches- 
ter in  1882  ;  7i>as  admitted  to  the  bar  in  188 J^ ;  has 
been  attorney  for  the  Erie-county  board  of  supervisors 
since  October,  180Jf ;  has  practiced  law  in  Buffalo 
since  1884- 

JCWCtt  /ID.  lRiCbmOU&  is  known  to  all  liuffa- 
lonians  a.s  a  business  man  of  unusual  sagacity  and 
spotless  integrity,  and  a  citizen  whose  time  and 
means  for  many  years  have  been  freely  bestowed  in 
behalf  of  every  deserving  public  movement.  The 
Richmond  family  came  to  America  in  early  colonial 
days,  and  settled  in  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Richmond's 
grandfather,  Josiah  Richmond  of  Taunton,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution  ;  and  afterward  removed 
to  Barnard,  Vt.,  with  his  son  Anson.  .Anson  Rich- 
mond took  part  in  the  war  of  1812  ;  and  at  its  close 
emigrated  to  central  New  York,  and  settled  in  the 
village  of  Salina,  afterward  part  of  the  city  of  Syra- 
cuse, where  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  salt 
until  his  death  in  ls;54. 

Jewett  Richmond  was  born  at  Syracuse  in  Ls.'Jd, 
anil  received  a  common-.school  education  there.  .\t 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  became  a  clerk  in  a  country 
store  in  the  neighboring  village  of  Liverpool,  where 
he  remained  four  years.  He  then  went  back  to  .Syra- 
cuse as  clerk  in  the  grocery  store  of  William  (Jere. 
In  1853  Mr.  Richmond  and  two  older  brothers,  with 
William  Gere  and  William  Barnes,  began  the  manu- 
facture of  salt  and  flour  on  an  e.xtensive  scale. 
Branch  stores  were  opened  in  several  large  cities,  in 
each  of  which  Mr.  Richmond  had  an  interest ;  and 
in  the  spring  of  18.")4  he  went  to  15uffalo  as  manager 
of  the  branch  in  that  city. 

In  18(50  Mr.  Richmond  disposed  of  his  interest  in 
this  concern,  and  established  a  grain  commission 
business  in  partnership  with  Henry  .'\.  Richmond. 
The  venture  was  successful  from  the  first,  and  in 
18(i.3-(J4  the  Richmond  elevator  was  built  by  the 
firm,  which  was  known  as  J.  M.  Richmond  &  Co. 
Mr.  Richmond  had  now  been  actively  engaged  in 
business  for  nearly  twenty  years.  He  had  worked 
with  tireless  energy,  and  had  met  with  unusual  suc- 
cess;  and  he  felt  entitled  to  a  long  vacation.  Ik- 
gave  up  his  business,  accordingly,  in  18(54,  and  went 
ai)road,  where  he  spent  the  greater  ])art  of  a  year  in 


travel.  Returning  to  Buffalo  in  18(55,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  two  brothers,  Alonzo  and  Moses 
M.,  and  resumed  the  commission  business,  which  he 
conducted  for  the  ne.xt  fifteen  years  with  much  suc- 
cess. In  1881  he  retired  from  active  business,  and 
has  since  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  his  exten- 
sive real-estate  and  other  interests. 

Karly  in  his  business  career  Mr.  Richmond  estab- 
lished a  re]jutation  for  conducting  to  a  successfiil 
issue  any  enterprise  that  he  undertook  ;  and  his  fel- 
low-citizens have  frecpiently  been  glad  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  ability.  The  case  of  the  Buffalo  iS: 
Jamestown  railroad,  well  known  to  the  older  genera- 
tion of  Buffalonians,  is  perhaps  the  most  consiiicuous 
instance  of  his  ]5ublic-spirited  zeal.  On  the  organi- 
zation of  the  road  in  1872,  Mr.  Richmond  was 
elected  the  first  president.  He  accepted  the  posi- 
tion with  reluctance  ;  but  ha\  ing  once  accepted  it, 
he  threw  himself  heartily  into  the  work  of  raising 
funds,  and  building  and  equipping  the  road.  The 
financial  depression  of  1873  proved  a  serious  obsta- 
cle to  the  progress  of  the  undertaking,  and  only  the 
most  ])rompt  and  energetic  measures  saved  it  from 
failure.  Mr.  Richmond  gave  himself  imreservedly 
to  the  care  of  the  enterprise  ;  and,  though  his  pri- 
vate interests  suffered  materially,  he  succeeded  in 
completing  the  road,  and  jnitting  it  in  successftd 
operation  in  1875.  He  then  resigned  the  presi- 
dency, and  turned  his  attention  once  more  to  ])ri\atc 
affairs. 

Mr.  Richmond  has  been  ])resident  of  the  ISulTalo 
Mutual  Caslight  Co.  for  twenty-five  years,  resigning 
in  the  s|)ring  of  1897.  In  1867  he  was  elected 
president  of  the  Marine  Bank  of  Buffalo,  and  held 
the  office  two  years,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of 
pressure  of  other  business.  He  afterward  served  as 
vice  president  of  the  institution,  and  from  1892  to 
1894  was  again  its  president  ;  and  he  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  its  board  of  directors.  He  is  vice  president 
of  the  Buffalo  Savings  Bank,  and  has  been  ])resident 
of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

When  the  new  charter  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  went 
into  operation  January  1,  1892,  an  up])er  house  was 
provided  in  the  city  legislature,  known  as  the  board 
of  cotmcilmen,  and  consisting  of  nine  members 
elected  on  a  general  ticket  for  a  term  of  three  years. 
Mr.  Richmond,  who  had  often  before  declined  to 
let  his  name  be  used  for  political  office,  yielded  to 
the  wishes  of  his  friends,  and  accepted  the  Demo- 
cratic nomination  for  this  new  office.  He  was 
elected  for  the  years  1.S92-94,  and  diu-ing  the  last 
two  years  he  was  president  of  the  board  of  council- 
men.  Throughout  his  term  he  was  acknowledged 
by  both  ])arties  to  be  a  most  valuable  luiblic  servant  ; 


J//-W  ()/■■  .\7:'ir  ]oa'a-—ii7-:s/v-:a'X  s/icy/o.v 


44r) 


and  it  was  a  matter  of  general   regret  that   he  could 
not  be  induced  to  accept  a  second  term. 

'I'hough  he  has  been  so  active  in  business  lil'e,  and 
HO  successful  in  the  management  of  business  enter- 
prises, Mr.  Richmond  has  never  been  wholly  alisorbed 
in  such  matters;  but  has  maintained  a  hearty  inter- 
est in  all  that  concerns  the  intellectual 
development  of  the  community.  He 
is  a  life  member  of  the  liuffalo  Fine 
Arts  Academy,  the  Society  of  Natmal 
Sciences,  and  the  Buffalo  Library  :  and 
was  president  of  the  latter  association  lor 
three  years,  and  a  member  of  the  build- 
ing committee  at  the  time  of  the  erection 
of  the  society's  handsome  building,  on 
Lafayette  square.  He  belongs  to  the 
Buffalo  and  Falconwood  clubs. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Jewett  Melvin  Richmond  was  horn  at 
Syracuse  Deceiiiher  9,  1830 ;  atleiulfd 
common  schools;  was  a  clerk  in  country 
stores,  18^7— 53 ;  engageii  in  the  manu- 
facture anil  sale  of  salt,  185^-00  ;  mar 
rietl  Geraliline  H.  RuJileroic  of  jXcto 
York  city  November  10,  1870  ,•  conducted 
a  grain  commission-^ hiisiness  in  Buffalo, 
1860-81  ;  was  president  of  the  Buffalo  &- 
Jainestoran  railroad,  1872-75  ;  since  1881 
has  been  occupied  with  the  care  of  his 
estate,  and  7mth  his  duties  as  an  officer  in 
various  corporations. 


R.  Crumb;  and  in  ISi')  began  husiiie.ss  for  himself 
at  the  corner  of  Niagara  and  Jersey  streets.  He 
still  carries  on  this  store,  which  has  become,  with 
the  lapse  of  years,  one  of  the  most  extensive  in  the 
city.  .Vbout  ten  years  ago  he  opened  a  second  store 
at  the  corner  of  Klmwood  avenue  and  Bryant  street. 


IRobert  1l\.  Smitber  is  well  known 

in  liutfalo  not  onl_\-  as  an  enterprising 
and  successful  business  man,  but  also  for 
his  intelligent  and  active  interest  in 
public  affairs.  .\ny  city  is  fortunate  that 
can  command  the  services  of  practical, 
clear-headed  men  in  carrying  on  its  gov- 
ernment ;  and  few  men  have  been  more  efficient  in 
this  regard  than  Mr.  Smither. 

Mr.  Smither  was  born  in  England,  in  the  historic 
city  of  Winchester,  in  1851,  and  is  therefore  well 
under  fifty  years  of  age.  He  was  brought  to  America 
by  his  parents  in  childhood,  and  has  made  his  home 
in  Buffalo  since  186S,  when  he  .secured  a  situation 
as  a  clerk  in  the  drug  store  of  W.  H.  Peabody. 
F^oni  that  time  on — almost  thirty  years  now  —  Mr. 
Smither  has  been  connected  with  the  drug  business 
in  Buffalo  ;  and  he  long  ago  became  one  of  its  lead- 
ing (pharmacists.  After  occu])ying  a  responsible 
position  with  Mr.  Peabody,  and  becoming  widely 
and  favorably  known  in  his  profession,  he  acted  for 
a  time  as  manager  of  a  similar  establishment  for  ^\'. 


JFAVETT  M.   RK  IIMOSII 

in  the  midst  of  a  new  and  rapidly  growing  section 
of  the  city  ;  and  since  that  time  he  has  conducted 
the  two  stores  with  continued  .success. 

Mr.  Smither  is  devoted  to  his  profession,  and 
has  done  much  to  raise  the  stantlard  of  its  member- 
ship in  Erie  county  and  throughout  the  state.  He 
was  active  in  su|)port  of  the  bill-  to  restrict  the  prac- 
tice of  pharmacy  to  jjersons  properly  qualified  and 
licensed  therefor,  and  had  an  important  part  in 
securing  its  passage  in  the  legislature.  He  has  been 
president  of  the  Erie  C'ounty  Board  of  Pharmacy 
since  its  organization  in  1<S84;  and  is  e.K-ijresident 
of  the  Erie  County  Pharmaceutical  .Association,  and 
chairman  of  the  Hoard  of  Curators  of  the  Buffalo 
College  of  Phaniiacv.      In  iSlKi  he  was  unanimously 


Ui< 


MEN  OF  XKW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


elected  president  of  the  New   York  State    I'liarma- 
ceiitical  Association,  and  was  re-elected  in  ISDT. 

Mention  has  been  made  above  of  Mr.  Smither's 
public  service.  This  began  in  1879,  when  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  sii])ervisors  from 
the  old  !)th  ward,  Buffalo,  on  the  Republican  ticket. 


KoitKRT  a:  smithek 

He  was  re-elected  three  times,  thus  representing 
the  ward  on  the  county  board  for  eight  years,  or 
until  his  removal  to  another  i)art  of  the  city. 
Although  but  twenty-eight  years  old  when  first 
elected,  his  natural  aptitude  for  public  affairs  soon 
a.s.serted  itself;  and  he  became  known  as  one  of  the 
most  efficient  members  of  the  board,  and  served  as 
its  chairman  for  three  terms.  In  the  first  election 
under  the  new  city  charter,  in  IMil.  he  was  the 
Republican  candidate  for  alderman  in  the  24th  ward, 
and  was  elected  by  a  substantial  majority.  Two 
years  later  he  was  re-elected  by  a  largely  increa.sed 
majority  ;  and  in  1S!(.")  he  was  nominated  by  accla- 
mation lor  a  third  term,  and  elected  by  the  largest 
majority    ever   gi\en    for   a  ward  officer  luider  the 


revised  charter.  In  1894  he  was  the  president  of 
the  common  council,  and  in  189.5  he  was  unani- 
mously elected  president  of  the  board  of  aldermen. 
Mr.  Smither's  work  in  behalf  of  a  clean,  business- 
like administration  of  city  affairs,  and  his  successful 
efforts  in  securing  various  necessary  reforms,  are 
known  to  all  Buffalonians  ;  and  it  may 
be  confidently  expected  that  they  will 
make  further  use  of  his  administrative 
talents  in  the  future. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  OGY— 
Robert  Knight  Sinither  toas  honi  at  Win- 
chester. Eng. ,  October  10,  185 1 ;  came 
to  America  in  18 08 ;  became  a  clerk  in 
<i  Buffalo  drug  store  in  1808 ;  married 
Lucretia  C.  Newkirk  of  Buffalo  August 
2S,  1874  •'  W'ajT  a  member  of  the  Erie- 
county  board  of  su/ien'isors,  1880-87 ;  has 
been  alderman  from  the  2J,fh  loard,  Buf- 
falo, since  1892,  acting  as  president  of  the 
common  council  in  18!>.'f  and  president  of 
the  board  of  aldermen  in  1805  ;  has  con- 
ducted a  drug  business  in  Buffalo  since 
1875. 


a.  IP.  XlbOmpSOn  Iws  been   inti- 

matel)'  connei  ted  for  half  a  century  with 
the  manufacturing  and  other  interests  of 
Buffalo.  His  father,  Sheldon  Thomp- 
.son,  hatl  an  ini|)ortant  part  in  the  early 
development  of  western  New  \'ork,  and 
his  more  remote  ancestors  were  promi- 
nent in  the  Connecticut  colony  in  ante- 
revolutionary  days.  Anthony,  the  first 
of  the  family  to  emigrate,  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1().''>7,  and  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  New  Haven.  Major  Jabe/  i"iiom|)son, 
the  great-grandfather  of  .-X.  1'.  Thomjjson, 
served  in  the  Colonial  wars  ;  had  com- 
mand of  the  first  troops  sent  from  Derby,  Conn., 
immediately  after  the  fighting  at  Lexington  ;  and  as 
colonel  of  his  regiment  was  killed  in  the  retreat  from 
New  York,  Se])teniber  1."),  177(1.  His  son,  also 
named  Jabez,  born  in  \~ii)\),  spent  his  life  as  a 
sailor,  and  was  lost  with  his  vessel  when  only  thirty- 
five  years  old.  His  son  Sheldon,  a  boy  of  ten  at  the 
time,  was  thus  obliged  to  care  for  himself,  and 
shipped  as  a  cabin  boy  on  a  ves.sel  of  which  his 
brotiier  William  was  the  master.  He  followed  the 
sea  fi)r  the  next  fifteen  years,  and  eventually  ()btaine<l 
command  of  a  fine  ship  in  the  West  India  trade. 
At  this  time,  however,  the  hostilities  between  the 
great  luiropean  nations  rendered  commerce  on  the 
ocean   exceedinglv  dangerous  and   diflirull  ;   and   in 


AfEX   OF  .\/:ir    )-(-iRK  —  \l7-:STKR\  SECT/ON 


447 


llSlO  Sheldon  Thompson  was  induced  to  join  some 
other  adventurous  spirits  and  emigrate  to  the  wilder- 
ness of  western  New  York  with  a  view  to  building 
up  a  trade  on  the  lakes.  The  firm  of  Townsend, 
Bronson  &  Co.  was  organized,  accordingly ;  and 
during  the  first  year  one  schooner  of  a  hundred 
tons  was  built  and  launched  on  Lake  Ontario,  and 
another  on  Lake  Erie.  About  the  year  1<S1(>  Mr. 
Thompson  moved  from  Lewiston  to  Black  Rock, 
and  at  once  became  one  of  the  most  influential 
citizens  of  Erie  county.  In  aiUlition  to  his  ]]art  in 
extending  and  firmly  establishing  the  commerce  on 
the  lakes  and  on  the  I''.rie  canal,  he  has  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  first  mayor  of  Buffalo  elected  by 
the  people,  and  one  of  the  founders  and  first  vestry- 
men of  St.  Paul's  Church,  the  first  Ii^ijiscopal  church 
in  Buffiilo. 

.\ugustus  Porter  Thompson  was  born 
at  Black  Rock  in  LSS'),  when  that  settle- 
ment was  still  a  rival  of  its  neighbor, 
lUiffalo.  I'he  (piestion  of  the  future 
supremacy  of  the  two  places  had  been 
practically  settled,  however,  several 
years  before  in  favor  of  Buffalo,  when 
that  village  was  chosen  as  the  lerminus 
of  the  Erie  canal  ;  jind  in  18.>0  Mr. 
Thompson's  father  took  up  his  residence 
there.  Porter  Thom|)son  received  an 
excellent  education  for  those  early  days, 
attending  academies  at  Lewiston  and 
Canandaigua,  and  private  schools  in 
Buffalo.  After  that  he  spent  several 
years  in  his  father's  establishment  as  a 
clerk,  acquiring  a  general  knowledge  of 
business  principles  and  methods. 

On  attaining  his  majority  Mr.  'Thomp- 
son received  an   interest   in  the  firm  of 
Thompson  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  white 
lead  ;  and  he  has  always  been  connected 
with  this  industr\   with   the   exception  ot 
a  short  interval    in  the  '(iO's.      in  1.S(i(). 
having  disposed    of   his  interest    in    Ihe 
lead  works,   he  associated    himself  with 
Edward  S.  Warren  and  DeCarnio  Jones, 
and  liuilt  a  large  anthracite  blast  fiirnace 
—  the   second    of   the  kind   in    Buffalo. 
I,ater  these  two  furnaces  were  united  un- 
der the  name  of  the  i'.uffalo  Union  Iron 
Works,   and   a   third    furnace   was    buill, 
and    one    of  the  largest   rolling  mills  ever  erected 
up  to  that  time.      In   ISfit!   Mr.  'Tho"m]3son  sevcre<l 
his  connection    with    the    iron    works,   and    bought 
an    interest    in    the    lead   factory   of  S.   (1.   Cornell 
&  Son,  afterward  the  Cornell   Lead  Compan) .      He 


became  vice  i)resident  of  this  concern,  and  after- 
ward i)resident  :  and  held  the  latter  office  until  the 
business  was  transferred  to  the  National  Lead  Com- 
pany in  LS87.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  a 
director  of  that  company  and  the  manager  of  its 
Buffalo  branch. 

Mr.  'Thom])son  has  naturally  been  interestetl  in 
various  enterprises  outside  of  his  work  as  a  manu- 
facturer. He  was  for  some  years  cashier  of  the 
Buffalo  City  Bank,  and  a  member  of  its  board  of 
directors.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  first  board 
of  directors  of  the  old  railway  company  that  built 
the  road  on  Niagara  street  in  IStiO.  Tie  has  taken 
an  active  and  ])iiblic-spiritcd  ]iart  in  many  move- 
ments for  promoting  the  intellectual  well-being  of 
P)uffalo.      He  is  a  member  of  the   I'uffalo  Historical 


./.  /'.   /JioMrsox 

Society,  and  a  life  memlH-r  of  the  Iluffalo  Library 
and  the  Buffalo  Tine  .Arts  Academw  He  is  one  of 
the  wardens  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  a  trustee  of 
St.  Margaret's  School,  iSuffalo,  and  occupies  other 
positions  of  trust  and  responsibilit)'. 


Us 


MEX   OF  .XEW    i'OA'A'^ir/CST/CA'X  SEC/VOX 


PERSONA L  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Augusli,.< 
Porter  Thompson  jvas  born  at  Black  Rock,  N.  Y., 
February  H,  1825  ;  was  educated  in  private  schools 
and  academies:  married  Matilda  Cass  Jones  of 
Detroit,  Mich. ,  June  9,  18') -i  ;  was  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Thompson  &-'  Co..   Buffalo,  manufacturers  of 


/iii.xk'v  n.  M  hxnr 

white  lead,  1846-60  ;  engaged  in  iron  manufacture  in 
Buffalo,  1860-66  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Cornell  Lead 
Co.  from  1867  until  it  became  the  Buffalo  branch  of 
the  A^ational  Lead  Co.,  and  has  been  its  manager 
since. 


IbCnrV  Wi.  1ll1enC»t,  though  still  less  than 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  has  tilled  an  important  place 
in  the  manufacturing  world  for  more  than  fifteen 
years.  Born  in  BiitTalo  in  the  early  '(iO's,  he  has 
always  made  his  home  there.  Even  during  his 
schoolboy  days,  he  evinced  a  natural  bent  for 
mechanics,  which  he  lost  no  ojjportunity  to  gratify. 
After  receiving  a  good  practical  education  in  the 
public  schools  of   his    native  city,    he    entered    the 


employ  of  the  lUiffalo  Forge  Co.,  beginning  at  the 
bottom,  and  working  at  the  bench  and  lathe,  and 
thus  gaining  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  machinist's 
trade.  In  the  same  manner  he  mounted  step  by  step 
through  all  the  different  departments  until  in  Janu- 
ary, 1S.S(),  he  was  admitted  to  i)artnershi]j  in  the 
concern  ;  his  brother,  William  V.  \\'cndt, 
having  a  few  years  jjreviously  acipiired 
entire  ownershi])  and  control  of  the 
business. 

The  association  was  a  most  fortunate 
one,  as  has  been  proved  by  the  con- 
tinued prosperity  and  the  steady  enlarge- 
ment of  the  concern.  The  important 
place  that  it  occupies  to-day  in  the  man- 
ufacturing world  is  due  in  no  small 
part  to  Mr.  Wendt's  thorough  jiractical 
knowledge  of  the  mechanical  and  en- 
gineering parts  of  the  business,  and  to 
the  faculty  for  going  to  the  bottom  of 
things,  which  was  so  marked  a  charac- 
teristic when  he  was  a  mere  lad.  His 
wide  experience  in  designing,  and  in  the 
|)ractical  installation  of  some  of  the 
largest  heating  and  ventilating  plants  in 
the  country,  su]5]ilemented  by  his  natural 
mechanical  abilit\-,  has  gained  for  him  a 
standing  in  the  foremost  rank  of  heating 
and  ventilating  engineers  ;  and  there  is, 
])erhaps,  no  one  to-day  whose  advice  on 
weighty  matters  in  this  line  is  more  fre- 
([uently  in  requisition,  or  whose  stand- 
ing as  an  authoritv  is  more  widelv 
recognized. 

Of  a   sanguine    temperament    and    a 
naturally  genial  disposition,   Mr.  \\"endt 
has  the  power,  so  common  to  self-made 
men,    of   inspiring    in    his    subordinates 
some  portion  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  and 
comprehensive  grasp  of  mechanical  problems  ;    the 
result  is,  that  he  is  surrounded  by  a  corps  of  engi- 
neers whose  loyalty  to,  and  unquestioned  faith  in, 
their  emjjloyers  has  contributed  very  materially  to 
the  success  of  the  firm.      Their  vininterrupted  pros- 
jjerity,  which  has  suffered  no  check  in  good  or  bad 
times,  and    their  reputation    for  being  always  fully 
abreast  with  the  latest  developments  in  engineering 
science  and  improved  processes    of  manufacturing, 
are  due  in  no  small  ilegree  to  his  personal  influence. 
As  consulting  engineer   in  the   larger  and   more 
iin])ortant  work  engaged  in  by  his  firm,  Mr.  Wendt 
travels  considerably  and  enjoys  an  enviable  acquaint- 
ance among  scientists  and  engineers  at  home   and 
abroad.      In    the    field     of  invention    he    has     made 


MEN  OF  NEJr    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


449 


a  considerable  mark,  several  patents  having  been 
granted  him  for  improvements  in  various  lines  of 
engineering. 

Although  enjoying  a  wide  acquaintance  among 
public  men,  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  almost 
daily  in  his  own  city  and  elsewhere,  he  has  never 
allowed  his  name  to  be  used  in  connection  with  a 
public  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees of  the  Buffalo  Builders'  Exchange,  and  ])romi- 
nent  in  Masonic  circles. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Henry  IF. 
Wendt  was  born  at  Buffalo  June  19,  1863 ;  was 
educated  in  Buffalo  public  schools ;  learned  the  ma- 
chinist^ s  trade  with  the  Buffalo  Forge  Co.,  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  corporation  since  1886. 


C  "ILZZ  HbCll,  well  known  among  the  younger 
business  men  of  Buffalo,  was  born  in  that 
city  about  forty  years  ago.  For  several 
generations  his  family  has  been  promi- 
nent in  western  New  York,  his  grand- 
father, Thomas  G.  Abell,  having  moved 
from  Vermont  to  Fredonia  in  1814.  He 
was  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the 
place,  as  was  his  brother  Mosely  ;  and 
had  an  important  psrrt  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Chautauqua  county.  In  com- 
pany with  two  others,  Thomas  Abell 
established  in  1829  a  line  of  stagecoaches 
between  Buffalo  and  Erie  ;  and  he  is  said 
to  have  made  the  first  stagecoach  in  the 
country.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  Fredonia  Academy.  He  moved  to 
Buffalo  in  1852,  and  died  there  five 
years  later.  His  son,  William  H.  Abell, 
the  father  of  our  present  subject,  wa.s 
also  a  prominent  man.  Born  in  Ver- 
mont in  1814,  he  was  taken  West  during 
infancy  ;  graduated  from  Fredonia  Acad- 
emy ;  lived  in  Austin,  Texas,  during  the 
years  1839-42,  holding  several  important 
public  offices  there  ;  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  life  in  Buffalo  in  various  success- 
ful commercial  pursuits.  He  died  there 
in  1887. 

Mr.  Abell's  maternal  grandfather,  Oli- 
ver   Lee,  was  a  native    of  Connecticut, 
but  moved  to  western  New  York  in  early 
life.      He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
operations  on  the  Niagara  frontier  during 
the  war  of  1812,  and  afterward  engaged  extensively 
in  lake  commerce  and  in  other  mercantile  pursuits. 
He  was  a  man  of  strict  integrity  and  unusual  business 
ability  ;    and    throughout    his    career    enjoyed    the 


confidence  and  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  friends. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  in  liS4()  he  was  president 
of  the  Attica  &  Buffalo  railroad,  and  of  Oliver  Lee 
&  Co.'s  Bank,  Buffalo.  This  latter  institution  was 
founded  by  him,  and  conducted  successfully  for  a 
number  of  years. 

C.  Lee  Abell  began  his  active  business  career  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  in  the  office  of  a  wholesale  coal 
dealer  in  Buffalo,  with  whom  he  remained  for  about 
four  years.  The  next  few  years  were  devoted  to 
various  clerkships  in  Buffalo,  and  two  years'  ser\ice 
in  Bradford,  Penn.,  with  the  United  Pipe  Lines. 
.•\fter  the  burning  of  the  Marine  elevator  in  1879, 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  father  and  Daniel 
O'Day  for  the  purpose  of  building  and  ojierating 
the  new  Marine  elevator.  This  |)urpose  was  effected 
in  1881,  and  the  business  was  successfullv  conducted 


C  LEE   ABELL 

as  a  i)artnership  until  1894.  At  that  time  the 
elevator  was  enlarged,  and  the  business  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  stock  company  of  which  Mr.  Abell  was 
made  president  and  manager.       The  Marine  elevator 


■iM) 


MEN  OF  NFAV    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


handles  easily  20,000  bushels  of  grain  an  hour,  and 
stores  at  one  time  700,000  bushels.  This  business 
is  Mr.  Abell's  chief  commercial  interest;  but  the 
care  of  his  father's  estate  devolves  largely  upon 
him.  and  retjuires  a  part  of  his  time  and  attention. 


h'OHEh'T  /■:  .//AV.V.S' 

As  for  personal  matters,  mention  should  be  made 
of  Mr.  Abell's  long  and  distingui.shed  career  in  the 
National  (iuard.  Beginning  as  a  private  and  a 
charter  member  of  the  Buffalo  City  (Inard  Cadets, 
he  served  successfully  as  sergeant,  second  lieutenant, 
and  first  lieutenant.  He  was  elected  captain  of 
company  C,  74th  regiment,  October  3,  1881  ;  and 
became  major  in  July,  1801,  and  lieutenant  colonel 
the  ne.xt  year.  He  resigned  from  the  National 
(luard  in  April,  18!)4.  He  is  a  32d  degree  Mason, 
belonging  to  Buffalo  Consistory,  A.  A.  S.  R.,  and 
to  Hugh  de  Payens  Commandery,  No.  30,  K.  '1'. 
He  has  membership,  also,  in  various  other  fraternal 
organizations.  He  has  been  an  active  force  in  the 
Democratic  party  for  many  years,  attaining  special  dis- 
tinction in  conncciion  with  the  Cleveland  Dcmocrncv. 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Charles  Lee 
Abell  was  born  at  Buffalo  October  4,  1S5()  ;  held 
various  clerkships  in  Buffalo  and  Bradford,  Penn., 
1872-80 ;  married  Emma  L.  Earthing  of  Buffalo 
March  ?.T,  1880 ;  was  a  member  of  the  National 
Guard  in  Buffalo,  1881-9 Jf ;  has  been 
manager  and  part  o7vner  of  the  Marine 
elevator,  Buffalo,  since  1881. 


IRObcrt    jF.  atftins    was   bom    in 

London,  England,  sixty  years  ago,  but 
has  made  his  home  in  Buffalo  ever  since 
his  fifteenth  year.  He  was  educated  at 
Knox's  College,  Toronto,  and  afterward 
attended  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business 
College  in  Buffalo.  He  then  obtained  a 
situation  in  an  undertaker's  establishment 
in  Buffalo,  and  this  vocation  he  followed 
until  18{)1. 

When  the  war  broke  out  it  found  (Gen- 
eral Atkins  with  a  wife  and  two  small 
children,  and  a  newly  established  busi- 
ness that  needed  his  attention.  He  gave 
up  all  his  personal  interests,  however, 
and  at  once  prepared  to  go  to  the  de- 
fense of  his  country.  He  probably 
shared  the  general  belief  at  that  time 
that  the  struggle  would  be  a  short  one ; 
but  having  once  .set  out,  he  never  fal- 
tered, but  remained  in  active  service 
until  the  last  rebel  company  had  laid 
down  their  arms.  In  April,  1801,  he 
helped  to  organize  a  company  from  the 
ranks  of  the  volunteer  fire  de]3artnienl  of 
Buffalo,  and  was  elected  its  first  lieuten- 
ant. They  presented  themselves  for  duty 
in  New  York  two  months  later,  and  were 
temporarily  stationed  at  Castle  Carden. 
When  I'olonel  Cochran's  regiment,  the  1st  United 
States  chasseurs,  was  organized,  General  Atkins 
received  an  ajjijointment  as  third  sergeant  of  com- 
])any  B.  The  regiment  was  assigned  to  Ceneral 
Craham's  brigade.  Couch's  division,  4th  corps; 
and  was  in  active  service  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Wil- 
liamsburgh,  Yorktown,  fair  Oaks,  and  Seven  Pines. 
In  the  latter  engagement  Sergeant  Atkins  was 
wounded,  and  sent  home  on  furlough  ;■  and  while 
there  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieu- 
tenant, and  assigned  to  com])any  C,  the  color  com- 
pany of  the  lltith  New  York  volunteers,  of  which 
Colonel  Chapin  was  the  heroic  commander.  The 
regiment  served  with  Ceneral  Banks  in  Louisiana,  and 
Lieutenant  Atkins  acted  as  brigade  (luartermaster  and 
commissarv  on  the  staff  of  Briijadier  Cencral  Chaiiin 


MEN   OF  XEir    VORR' —WESTERN  SECT/ON 


4ol 


throughout  the  campaign,  and  in  the  engagements 
of  Baton  Rouge,  Plains  Stone,  Coxe's  Plantation, 
and  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson.  During  this  cam- 
paign he  was  advanced  to  the  captaincy  of  his  com- 
pany ;  and  in  August,  1863,  he  was  made  lieutenant 
colonel  in  the  ISth  United  States  infantry,  and 
appointed  to  the  board  of  examiners  of  officers  for 
United  States  troops,  with  headquarters  at  Port  Hud- 
son. In  the  examination  for  this  position  Colonel 
Atkins  stood  first  among  a  large  number  of  ofificers, 
and  was  assigned  as  commanding  officer  of  the  ^th 
United  States  engineers  at  Fort  Brashear.  He  was 
mustered  out  at  New  Orleans  in  September,  ISfif), 
and  in  1868  received  a  brevet  commission  as  colonel, 
for  meritorious  service. 

Returning  to  Buffalo  in  1865  after  an  absence  of 
nearly  four  and  a  half  years,  Cleneral  Atkins  became 
local  editor  of  the  Evening  Post,  and  in 
1870  paymaster  of  the  Anchor  line  of 
steamboats.  In  1877  he  took  up  again 
his  former  business,  and  he  has  long 
been  known  as  one  of  the  leading  under- 
takers of  Buffalo.  He  was  president  of 
the  New  York  State  Undertakers'  Asso- 
ciation in  1881  and  1882  ;  and  took  an 
active  part  in  the  formation  at  Rochester, 
fourteen  years  ago,  of  the  National  Un- 
dertakers' Association,  and  was  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  first  convention  of  the 
association. 

General  .\tkins  has  been  activel)  in- 
terested in  the  drand  Army  of  the 
Republic  from  the  time  of  its  organiza- 
tion, and  has  five  times  been  elected 
commander  of  Chapin  Post,  No.  2,  of 
Buffalo.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Union  Veteran  Legion,  as  well  as  a 
number  of  other  societies  —  military, 
patriotic,  and  fraternal.  He  takes  spe- 
cial interest  in  the  Indejjendent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  has  been  an  active 
worker  in  that  organization  for  many 
years.  He  was  the  first  department 
commander  of  the  Patriarchs  Militant  of 
the  Empire  State,  and  derived  his  title 
of  brigadier  general  from  that  position. 
He  increased  the  number  of  Cantons  in 
the  state  from  seventeen  to  twenty-six, 
and  Canton  Persch,  No.  26,  of  Buffalo, 
was  mustered  in  by  him.  He  belongs 
to  Canton  Buffalo,  No.  .">,  and  was  its  first  cap- 
tain. He  wa.s  for  two  years  president  of  the  Odd 
I'ellows'  Club  of  Buffalo.  He  is  n  mcmlx-r  of 
the   English    Lutheran    Trinity   Church,   anil   is   the 


only  American  member  of  the  order  of  the  Haru- 
gari  in  this  country. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Robert  For- 
syth Atkins  was  born  at  London,  Eng.,  Febmary  24., 
1S37  ;  was  educated  at  Knox' s  College,  Toronto,  and 
Biyant  &"  Stratton' s  Business  College,  Buffalo;  mar- 
ried Susan  E.  Wheeler  of  Buffalo  June  2Jf,  ISHT  ; 
served  in  the  Union  army,  1801-65 ;  luas  local  edi- 
tor of  the  ' '  Evening  Post, ' '  1806-69,  and  paymaster 
of  the  Anchor  line  of  steamers,  1870-70  ;  was  Com- 
mander of  the  Patriarchs  Militant  of  the  Empire  State 
in  1880  ;  has  conducted  an  undertaking  establishment 
in  Buffalo  since  1877. 

«♦• 

Milliam  lb.  3BraMsb  was  bom  in  Wayne 
county,  New  ^'ork,  about  forty  years  ago  ;  but  his 
parents  moved  to    Batavia    when    he  was  only  two 


WILLIAM  IL   URADISII 


years  old,  and  there  he  obtained  his  education  and 
his  early  business  experience.  Having  graduated 
from  the  Batavia  High  School,  he  served  for  a  time 
as    recorder    in    the    office   of   the   count v    clerk    of 


452 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


Genesee  county,  and  was  afterward  employed  by  his 
father,  who  owned  a  large  wood  and  iron  working 
establishment  in  Batavia.  In  1877  he  went  into  the 
newspaper  business,  establishing  with  Malcolm  D. 
Mix  the  Batavia  Daily  News.  When  this  enterprise 
was  well  under  way  he  sold  out  his  interest  therein, 


HKU.XSOX  r.  AT.IAS/;) 

and  sought  a  wider  field  of  activity  in  the  neighbor- 
ing city  of  Buffalo. 

Notwithstanding  his  varied  experience,  Mr. 
Bradish  was  but  twenty-three  years  old  when  he 
began  his  residence  in  the  Queen  City.  His  first 
employment  was  that  of  stenographer  for  Sjjrague, 
Milburn  &  Sprague,  one  of  the  leading  law  firms  of 
the  city,  with  whom  he  remaineil  for  four  years.  He 
then  acted  as  superintendent  of  the  (lilbert  starch 
works  at  Black  Rock  for  a  time.  Sul)se<|iiently  he 
was  connected  with  the  firm  of  licit,  Lewis  & 
Yates,  coal  dealers,  and  with  Richard  Humphrey, 
a  flour  and  feed  merchant  at  Black  Rock.  For 
several  years  |)ast  Mr.  Bradish  has  carried  on  an 
insurnnrc    office  and    n    iirokerage    business   in   real 


estate  and  mining  stocks,  and  in  this  he  has  been 
wholly  successful. 

Mr.  Bradish  is  an  earnest  Republican  in  political 

belief,  and  has  interested  himself  actively  in  public 

affairs  for  many  years.      In  18()2  he  was  his  jjarty's 

candidate  for  alderman  in  the  25th  ward,  and  his 

jiopularity    was   so    great    that    he    was 

elected    although   the    district  is  usually 

strongly    Democratic.      Two   years   later 

he  was  re-elected  by  a  largely  increased 

majorit)-,   and  in  l.S!)G  he  occu]jied  the 

important    position    of   president  of  the 

board  of  aldermen. 

For  eleven  years  Mr.  Bradish  was 
]}rominently  connected  with  the  National 
(luard,  serving  most  of  the  time  in  the 
74th  regiment.  He  was  for  a  time 
first  lieutenant  of  company  B,  Sjiaulding 
(luards;  and  afterward  first  lieutenant 
and  captain  of  company  A.  He  was  also 
elected  president  of  company  D,  Buffalo 
City  Guard,  comprising  the  old  compan\- 
1),  the  Gordon  Highlanders,  and  the 
mounted  Buffalo  City  Troopers.  \\'hen 
he  retired  from  the  National  Guard  he 
held  the  rank  of  major  on  the  staff  of 
General  William  F.  Rogers. 

Ever  since  his  early  newspaper  experi- 
ence in  Batavia  Mr.  Bradish  has  been 
I  more  or  less  interested  in  the  pulilishing 
business,  and  in  general  newspa]>er  work. 
He  acted  for  a  time  ;is  manager  of  the 
I  Slack  Rock  Publishing  Co.,  and  he  has 
done  occasional  work  for  different  papers 
as  a  correspondent.  He  attends  the  Pres- 
l)yterian  church,  and  belongs  to  a  jiumber 
of  clubs  and  other  organizations.  I  le  is  a 
member  of  Occidental  Lodge,  No.  76(5, 
F.  &  A.  M.  ;  North  Buffalo  Lodge,  No. 
().().  F.  ;  and  Black  Rock  Court,  I.  O.  F.  His 
clui)s  are  the  .-Xcacia  (Masonic),  the  l-'raternity  (Odd 
Fellows),  and  the  Audubon,  an  as.sociation  devoted  to 
hunting,  fishing,  and  shooting,  and  maintaining  a  well 
e(|tiip])ed  shooting  ])ark.  He  is  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Black  Rock  Husiness  Men's  A.ssociation. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  V—  William 
Hamillon  Bradish  was  horn  at  Lyons,  N.  Y.,  April  7, 
1S56  ;  was  educated  in  Batavia  public  schools  ;  engaged 
in  various  Imsiness  enterprises  in  Batavia,  1870—79 ;  ■ 
married  Louise  IL  Reichert  of  Buffalo  April  2(j, 
1887  ;  was  an  alderman  from  the  25th  ward,  Buffalo, 
189S-97,  and  president  of  the  board  of  aldermen  in 
189(1 :  has  lived  in  Buffalo  since  1879,  and  has  con- 
ducted n  hroherage  and  insurance  business  since  1892. 


517, 


MEN  OF  NFAV    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


453 


lE&WarJ)  JBcnilCtt,  president  of  the  Buffalo 
Savings  Bank,  was  born  in  the  Queen  City  seventy 
years  ago,  and  has  spent  ahnost  all  his  life  there. 
He  was  just  twenty-one  when  the  California  gold 
fever  of  1848  broke  out  ;  and,  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  youth,  he  at  once  set  out  for  the  new  El  Dorado. 

Returning  to  Buffalo  after  a  year's  absence,  Mr. 
Bennett  soon  established  a  reputation  as  one  of  that 
city's  most  trustworthy  men  of  affairs.  In  1877  he  was 
elected  a  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  Savings  Bank.  In 
August,  1890,  he  was  elected  its  first  vice  president ; 
and  in  October,  1893,  on  the  death  of  Warren 
Bryant,  the  president,  Mr.  Bennett  succeeded  to 
that  office.  The  Buffalo  Savings  Bank  was  estab- 
lished in  184G,  and  is  therefore  the  oldest  institu- 
tion of  its  kind  in  Buffalo. 

When  the  revised  charter  of  the  city  was  adopted 
in  1853,  enlarging  its  boundaries  to  in- 
clude the  village  of  Black  Rock,  and 
increasing  the  number  of  wards  to  thir- 
teen, Mr.  Bennett  was  elected  one  of  two 
aldermen  from  the  5th  ward,  and  re- 
tained his  seat  in  the  common  council 
by  re-election  for  four  years.  In  1872 
Mayor  Brush  appointed  him  a  member 
of  the  board  of  park  commissioners, 
and  he  held  the  office  for  sixteen  years 
by  successive  reappointments  from  dif- 
erent  mayors.  In  1877  he  vyas  nomi- 
nated by  the  Workingmen's  ])arty  for 
mayor  of  Buflalo,  and  the  nomination 
was  endorsed  b}'  the  Ta.x  Payers'  Asso- 
ciation. 

Mr.  Bennett  is  a  member  of  the  liuf- 
falo  Club  and  of  the  ( )rpheus  Singing 
Society.  He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the 
Charity  Organization  Society  of  Buffalo 
ever  since  its  early  days,  and  has  taken 
an  active  interest  in  its  work  of  sujicr- 
vising  and  regulating  the  charities  of 
the  city. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
Edward  BcDHctf   rcuTS    horn    at    Buffalo 
February  21,  1827;  received  an  academic 
education ;    7oas    a    clerk  in    a    dry-goods 
store,   ISlfl-JfS ;    engaged  in  mining  and 
other  enterprises  in   California,  ISl^S-J^O, 
and  in  the  real-estate  business  in  Buffalo, 
1850-97  :  married  Mary  Josephine  Osier- 
Auchinleck    October    19,   1885;    7vas   an 
alderman  from   the    5th    7iiard,    Buffalo,    185^-57, 
and     a    park     commissioner,    1872-88 ;     has    been 
president  of  the  Buffalo  Sarings  Banh  since  October, 
1893. 


■fcarlan  M.  3BrUSb,  editor  of  the  North  Fona- 
wanda  Daily  Ne7i<s,  is  a  nati\e  of  Ohio,  and  made 
his  home  there  until  his  removal  to  western  New 
York  in  1894.  Born  in  Nelson,  Portage  county,  in 
18G5,  he  began  his  education  in  the  public  schools 
at  an  early  age ;  and  entered  Mt.  Union  College 
when  only  thirteen  years  old.  He  took  a  classical 
course  there  that  lasted  two  years  ;  but  left  college 
in  his  sophomore  year,  and  began  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Brush  has  been  connected  from  llic  first  with 
the  printing  and  publishing  business,  and  though 
little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  his  experience 
therein  extends  over  a  period  of  fifteen  years  or  more. 
He  learned  the  jjrinter's  trade  in  the  office  of  John 
Ci.  Garrison,  publisher  of  the  Alliance  (Ohio)  Weekly 
Standard ;  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  jjurchased  a 


EDW.tKt)   H i:\SIiTT 


job-])rinting  office  in  .-Mliance,  and  began  to  work 
for  himself.  In  18.S7  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
his  former  employer,  Mr.  Carrison  of  the  Standard ; 
and   the  next    vear  he  organized  a  stock    <om])any 


454 


.Ur.X  OF  XEIV   YORK— WESTERN  SECT/ON 


with  a  capital  of  S16,000,  for  the  purpose  of  purchas- 
ing the  two  Republican  jjapcrs  of  the  place,  the 
Jif'i'icw  and  the  Standard.  He  became  manager  of 
the  company,  and  conducted  it  for  about  six  years 
with  much  success.  The  same  year  the  comi)any 
was  organized  he  began  the  publication  of  a  daily 


1. 


Politically  Mr.  Brush's  sympathies  have  always 
been  with  the  Republicans,  and  he  has  long  been  an 
active  and  efficient  party  worker.  During  his  resi- 
dence in  Alliance  he  served  for  a  time  as  secretary 
of  the  Republican  committee  there.  Since  moving 
to  Tonawanda  he  has  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
public  affairs;  and  in  the  fall  of  1897 
he  received  an  ajipointmcnt  a.s  United 
States  consul  at  Clifton,  Ont.,  a  posi- 
tion that  he  will  doubtless  fill  with  entire 
credit. 

Aside  from  his  newspaper  business  Mr. 
Brush  has  been  actively  interested  in 
several  manufacturing  enterprises,  and 
has  become  thoroughly  identified  with 
the  general  life  of  the  community.  He 
attends  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Alpha  Tau  Omega 
college  fraternity. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  — 
Harlan  \V.  Brush  was  born  at  Nelson, 
O. ,  May  37,  1865  ;  was  educated  at  com- 
mon sclwols  and  Mt.  Union  (O.)  College  ; 
learned  the  printed  s  trade  at  Alliance,  O. , 
1880-85 :  married  Annetta  Hamilton  of 
Emlenton,  Penn. ,  May  16,  1888 ;  con- 
ducted a  job-printing  office  in  Alliance, 
1885-87,  and  published  a  nnuspaper 
there,  1887-9Ji. ;  was  appointed  United 
States  consul  at  Clifton,  Ont.,  in  1807 ; 
has  been  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  North 
Tonawanda  ' '  Daily  A^ews  ' '  since  De- 
cember, 18H. 


IIARLA.X    W.   HRUSH 

paper  called  the  Daily  Revicrc,  which  became,  under 
his  vigorous  management,  a  |)ros])erous  and  well 
conducted  publication. 

In  December,  1894,  Mr.  Brush  sold  out  his  inter- 
ests in  Ohio,  and  moved  to  North  Tonawanda,  where 
he  jiurcha-sed  the  Daily  Ncios,  which  he  has  edited 
and  published  ever  since.  During  this  time  the 
|)lace  has  develo[)ed  from  a  village  into  a  city  which 
is  growing  rajiidly,  and  which  ])rescnts  uinisual  evi- 
dences of  material  ])rosi)erity.  So  thriving  a  com- 
munity offers  an  excellent  field  for  a  newsijaijcr 
man  of  energy  and  ability  such  as  Mr.  Brush  ha;; 
proved  himself  to  be,  and  he  may  be  counted  on 
to  make  the  Tonawanda  News  a  ])Ower  in  the 
Lumber  ("itv. 


(laii    Uburstou    Gbcstcr    has 

practiced  at  the  Buffalo  bar  for  fifteen 
years,  and  is  well  known  in  the  ])rofes- 
sional  and  general  life  of  the  Queen 
City.  Born  in  Connecticut  forty-odd 
years  ago,  he  spent  his  childhood  and  youth  there, 
moving  to  Buffalo  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  had 
already  received  an  excellent  fiuidamental  eiluca- 
tion  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  state, 
ending  with  several  years'  attendance  at  the  Norwich 
Free  Academy;  and  he  finished  his  preparation  for 
college  in  the  Buffalo  Classical  School  under  Profes- 
sor Horace  Briggs.  He  returned  to  Connecticut  to 
complete  his  education,  entering  Yale  College  in 
IHTl,  and  graduating  therefrom  four  years  later 
with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  took  a  high  stand 
in  scholarship  from  the  first,  and  won  distinction 
throughout  his  course.  He  received  the  Jtuiior 
Exhibition  prize  and  the  De  l''orest  medal,  the  two 
highest   prizes  in   literature  and   oratory  in   the  gift 


MEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


455 


of    the   university  ;     and    he  was  chairman    of   the 
board  of  editors  of  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine. 

Mr.  Chester  determined  to  follow  the  law  as  a 
profession,  and  he  spent  two  years  in  New  York 
at  the  Columbia  Law  School  immediately  after 
leaving  college,  graduating  in  1877  with  the  degree 
of  LL.  B.  He  then  became  managing  clerk  in  the 
office  of  Bowen,  Rogers  &  Locke,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  law  firms  in  Buffalo.  He  remained  there 
for  several  years,  receiving  thus  an  excellent  train- 
ing in  the  practical  work  of  a  busy  office,  and  gain- 
ing e.xperience  that  has  been  invaluable  to  him 
since.  After  an  interval  of  about  a  year  spent  in 
European  travel,  Mr.  Chester  in  1882  opened  an 
office  in  Buffalo  on  his  own  account.  His  success 
was  marked  from  the  beginning,  and  proves  the 
value  of  thorough  preparation  for  such  a  career. 
Large  and  important  as  is  the  clientage 

he  has    built  up,   it  is  the  result  of  his         , 

individual  effort;  for  he  has  steadily  re- 
fused all  offers  of  partnership  associa- 
tions, preferring  to  control  the  entire 
business  of  his  office  with  the  aid  of  an  j 

able  staff  of  assistants.  Though  he  has 
devoted  himself  to  general  practice,  not 
making  a  specialty  of  any  particular 
branch  of  the  law,  he  has  become  widely 
known  as  the  counsel  for  large  estates, 
corporations,  and  business  houses. 

Mr.  Chester's  sound  and  accurate 
learning  in  the  law  was  recognized  in 
the  early  years  of  his  jjrofessional  life  by 
his  appointment  as  a  member  of  the 
facult}'  of  the  Buffalo  Law  School  soon 
after  its  organization  in  1887.  He  has 
retained  his  connection  with  this  institu- 
tion ever  since ;  and  is  at  present  pro- 
fessor of  the  law  of  insurance,  wills, 
special  actions,  etc.  Since  1882  he  has 
l)een  the  secretary  and  attorney  of  the 
Buffalo  Orphan  Asylum  ;  and  for  upwards 
of  ten  years  he  has  acted  as  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
the  City  and  County  Hall. 

In  the  social  life  of  Buffalo  Mr.  Ches- 
ter is  well  known,  and  he  is  especially 
popular  in  club  circles.  He  belongs  to 
the  Buffalo,  Saturn,  and  LTniversity  clubs, 
and  to  the  Yale  Alumni  and  D.  K.  E. 
associations  of  western  New  York.  He 
served  for  two  terms  as  ])resident  of  the  Saturn  Club, 
and  Is  a  member  of  the  council  of  the  University  Club. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  OGY—  Carl ' Tliiirs- 
toii  Chi-sfer  7i>as  born  at  A^orwich,  Conn.,  August  1, 


1853 ;  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1875,  and 
front  Columbia  College  Law  School  in  1877 ;  was 
managing  clerk  in  the  office  of  Boioen,  Rogers  &= 
Locke  of  Buffalo,  1877-81 ;  has  practiced  law  in 
Buffalo  since  1882. 


(SibSOn  X.  BOlUllaSS,  vice  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Western  Transit  Co.,  is  a 
lineal  descendant  on  his  father's  side  of  William 
Dougla.ss,  who  settled  in  (Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  lfi40, 
and  Major  Brian  Pendleton,  who  came  to  America 
in  l(}3(t  and  settled  in  Watertown,  Conn.  On  his 
mother's  side  he  comes  of  a  race  of  sturdy,  honorable 
ship  carpenters  and  seafaring  men,  who  emigrated 
from  Ciermany  in  l(i30,  and  settled  in  New  York.  His 
grandfather  in  this  line  was  Captain  John  Winans, 
whose  career  deserves  more  than  a  pa.ssing  mention. 


C.-ltf/-    THi'RSTO.V  CI/K.STF.K 

John  Winans  was  born  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  \., 
June  1."),  17(i(>.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  ship 
carpenter  under  his  father,  James  Winans,  whose 
shiijyard    was    at    that    timi-    :i    noted    |)lai  c   for  the 


456 


MEN   OF  NEW    YORK —]VESTERN  SECTION 


building  of  ocean  vessels  as  well  as  river  craft ;  and 
he  ultimately  succeeded  his  father  in  the  ownershi]) 
of  the  business.  When  Robert  Fulton  started  the 
first  steamboat  ever  built  —  the  "  Clermont ' '  —  from 
New  York  for  Albany  September  2,  1807,  John 
Winans  was  on  board.      He  had    been   brought   in 


(i/IISO\  /..   DOUGLASS 

contact  with  the  great  inventor  through  Robert  R. 
Livingstone,  Fulton's  friend  and  ]jartner  and  the 
legal  counselor  of  Cajjtain  Winans.  Chancellor 
Livingstone  apjjreciated  the  ability  of  the  latter, 
and  brought  the  two  men  together  for  the  jjurpose 
of  aiding  Fulton  to  perfect  his  invention.  Captain 
Winans  had  watched  the  construction  of  the  "  Cler- 
mont "  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  had  given 
Fulton  many  valuable  suggestions.  When  the  suc- 
cess of  the  new  invention  was  secured  he  immedi- 
ately contracted  with  l'"uiton  and  Livingstone  for 
the  right  to  build  and  navigate  steamboats  on  Lake 
Ceorge  and  the  waters  of  Lake  Chamjilain  lying 
within  the  borders  of  New  York  state.  He  at 
once  set  about  the  construction  of  a  vessel  for  this 


purpose;  and  in  the  sjjring  of  1808  he  launched 
from  the  foot  of  King  street,  Burlington,  Vermont, 
the  steamboat  '•  Vermont."  This  steamer  was  120 
feet  long,  twenty  feet  wide,  and  eight  feet  deep  ; 
and  had  a  speed  of  four  miles  an  hour.  She  was 
the  second  steamboat  ever  constructed  in  America  ; 
and  Captain  Winans,  as  her  builder, 
owner,  and  navigator,  may  justly  claim  a 
high  place  among  the  industrial  pioneers 
of  the  land.  The  "Vermont"  com- 
menced regular  trips  between  Whitehall, 
X.  Y.,  and  St.  Johns,  Canada,  in  the 
spring  of  1809  ;  and  from  that  time  until 
she  sunk  at  Isle  Au  Noix  in  October, 
1815,  had  an  eventful  career.  During 
the  war  of  1812  she  was  used  by  Commo- 
dore McDonough  and  General  Macomb 
for  the  transportation  of  troops  and  sup- 
plies on  Lake  Champlain  ;  and  she  took 
an  active  part  in  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burgh September  11,  1814.  During 
these  years  Captain  Winans  organized 
the  Champlain  Transportation  Co.  and 
the  Lake  George  Steamboat  Co.,  both  of 
which  are  still  in  existence  as  part  of  the 
Delaware  &  Hudson  Canal  Co.  system. 
The  state  of  Vermont  granted  to  Captain 
Winans  and  his  associates,  November  10, 
1.H15,  the  .sole  right  to  navigate  with 
steam  vessels  the  waters  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain within  the  boundaries  of  that  state  ; 
and  this  grant,  together  with  his  con- 
tract with  I'ulton  and  Livingstone  for 
New  York  waters,  gave  him  control  of 
ihe  steamboating  on  lakes  Champlain 
:ind  (leorge.  In  181.")  he  su])erintended 
the  building  of  the  steamer  "  Phoenix  " 
at  Vergennes,  Vt.,  for  the  Champlain 
company,  and  the  next  year  he  built  for 
himself  the  steamer  "Champlain."  Both  of  these 
vessels  were  burned  within  a  fe\v  years.  The 
steamer  "Caldwell,"  which  was  built  about  this 
time,  and  of  which  Captain  Winans  was  half  owner, 
was  the  first  steamboat  ever  used  on  Lake  George. 
This  vessel  furnished  the  connecting  link  in  the 
water  transportation  between  New  York  city  and 
Montreal,  since  the  great  thoroughfare  between  the 
north  and  the  .south  at  that  time  was  by  way  of  these 
two  northern  lakes.  Having  successfully  established 
steam  navigation  on  these  waters,  Cai)tain  Winans 
sold  his  interest  in  the  two  transportation  com- 
panies and  returned  to  his  native  city  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  where  he  died  June  5,  1827.  He  was 
married   September  2,  17il-'i,  to  Catherine  Stewart  of 


MEN  OF  NFAV    YORK —WESTERN  SECTION 


457 


Poiighkeepsie.  Many  original  documents  of  unusual 
interest  connected  with  the  early  history  of  steam- 
boating  on  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake 
George  were  left  by  Captain  Winans,  and  are  now 
in  the  possession  of  his  grandson,  Mr.  Douglass. 

Whether  it  be  owing  to  a  special  interest  in  the 
stil)ject  of  transportation  inherited  from  his  grand- 
father, or  to  some  other  cause,  the  fact  remains  that 
Mr.  Douglass's  entire  business  life  has  been  devoted 
to  this  kind  of  work  ;  and  that  few  men  in  the 
country  have  had  a  greater  amount  of  practical 
experience  in  that  line  than  he.  The  altered 
conditions  of  the  present  day  have  produced  many 
changes  in  the  transportation  industry ;  but  Mr. 
Douglass  has  exercised  the  same  foresight,  en- 
ergy, and  sagacity  that  were  conspicuous  in  Cap- 
tain Winans's  career,  and  has  met  with  e(|nal  success. 

Entering  the  employ  of  the  Western 
Transportation  Co.  as  a  clerk  in  their 
office  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, Mr.  Douglass  has  ever  since  been 
connected  with  that  company  and  its 
successor,  the  Western  Transit  Co.  In 
liS(i.")  he  succeeded  to  the  management 
of  the  Troy  agency  of  the  company,  and 
held  that  position  for  upwards  of  fifteen 
years.  In  1881  he  was  appointed  gen- 
eral freight  agent  of  the  company,  with 
headquarters  in  New  York  city  ;  and 
when  the  New  York  Central  railroad  pur- 
chased the  organization  in  1884,  and  it 
became  known  as  the  Western  Transit  Co. , 
he  continued  to  occupy  the  same  position. 

During  these  years  Mr.  Douglass  has 
been  connected  with  various  other  freight 
organizations;  and  his  experience  in 
all  branches  of  inland  transportation  — 
canal,  rail,  and  lake  —  has  been  remark- 
ably extensive  and  thorough.  During  a 
part  of  his  years  in  Troy  he  represented 
the  New  York  Central  road  as  agent  for 
the  Blue  Line  and  subsequently  for  the 
Merchants'  Despatch  i'ransportation  Co., 
both  all-rail  fast  freight  lines.  From 
1872  to  1877,  also,  he  was  the  Troy 
agent  for  the  Northern  Transportation 
Line,  a  canal  and  lake  line  doing  busi- 
ness between  New  York  city,  northern 
New  York,  and  Canada  via  the  Cham- 
plain  canal  and  Lake  Champlain.  He 
was  a  director  in  this  company,  and  at  one  time  its 
general  superintendent.  In  New  York  city  his  du- 
ties were  still  more  varied  and  important.  In  1890 
he  was  appointed  manager  of  the  floating  property 


of  the  New  York  Central  railroad  used  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York,  and  operated  under  the  name  of  the 
New  York  Central  Lighterage  Co.  At  the  same 
time  he  managed  the  grain  elevators  of  the  New 
York  Central  and  West  Shore  railroads,  and  the 
Rast-river  piers  of  these  companies.  In  January, 
1807,  he  was  elected  vice  president  and  general 
manager  of  the  Western  'i'ransit  Co.,  and  has  since 
made  his  home  in  Buffalo. 

Mr.  Dougla.ss  is  a  Democrat  in  political  belief, 
but  has  never  had  time  to  interest  himself  actively 
in  public  affairs.  He  is  a  Ma.son  ;  and  belongs  to 
the  KUicott  Club  of  Buffalo,  and  the  Transportation 
Club  of  New  York  city.  He  attends  in  Buffalo  the 
Delaware  -Avenue  Methodist  I';i)isco|)al  Church. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY—  Gibson  L. 
Douglass  was  born  at  Chazy,  Clinton  county,  N.  V. , 


jOHX  n/\.ixs 

January  22,  1839 ;  married  Anna  M.  Ojcrs  of  Chi- 
cago March  30,  186 Jf  ;  became  a  clerk  in  the  office  of 
the  Western  Transportation  Co.  in  Troy,  N.  V.,  in 
1858,  and  has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  handling  and 


458 


ME.X   OF  NEW    YOKK— WESTER \  SECTION 


tratuportation  of  freight  ever  since  ;  /las  been  vice  presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the  Western  Transit  Co., 
with  headquarters  at  Buffalo,  since  January  20,  1897. 


James    36.  IbUff  is  one  of  the  most    jiopular 
(.iti/cns  ot    I'onawanda,  both  i)olilically  and  socially  ; 


JAMEU  H.   HUI-1-- 

and  this  fact  is  perhaps  best  accounted  for  by  his 
character,  which  is  modest  and  unpretentious,  and 
generous  to  a  fault.  He  was  l)orn  in  Tonawanda 
barely  forty  years  ago,  and  has  always  lived  there. 
He  received  a  thorough  education  in  the  public 
.schools  of  the  town,  which  he  attended  from  early 
childhood  until  he  wa.s  twenty  years  old. 

Public  affairs  have  interested  Mr.  Huff  intensely 
ever  since  he  was  old  enough  to  vote,  and  he  began 
to  hold  office  soon  after  he  attained  his  majority. 
Nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  in  187!)  for  the 
position  of  village  clerk,  he  wa.s  elected  by  a  major- 
ity of  200.  The  next  year  he  defeated  a  different 
candidate  liy  about  the  same  majority.  His  ]io|)u- 
larity  wa.s  so  generally  recognized  that  in  the  ihrce 


succeeding  years  no  one  could  be  found  to  accept 
the  Republican  nomination  against  him,  and  he  was 
re-elected  each  time  without  opposition.  But  Mr. 
Huff  does  not  believe  in  monopolies,  even  though 
they  be  political  ones  :  and  at  the  end  of  five  years 
he  refused  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used  as  a  candi- 
date, thus  leaving  the  field  free  to  other 
competitors.  His  next  public  office  was 
that  of  village  treasurer,  to  which  he 
received  a  unanimous  election.  He  has 
also  served  as  trustee  of  the  village,  and 
ha.s  attended  county  and  other  conven- 
tions of  his  party. 

Mr.  Huff's  allegiance  to  the  Demo- 
cratic ])arty  was  put  to  the  test  in  18t)6, 
when  the  free-silver  declaration  was  in- 
serted in  the  Chicago  platform  ;  and  it 
was  a  (piestion  whether  he  should  stand 
by  his  party  or  his  principles.  The  lat- 
ter triumphed,  however,  and  he  ca.st  his 
vote  for  a  candidate  who  would  maintain 
tlie  currency  of  the  country  on  a  gold 
basis.  In  the  spring  of  l.S!)7  Mr.  Huff 
was  chosen  to  bear  the  standard  of  the 
disaffected  faction  of  the  Republican 
party  in  Tonawanda  as  their  candidate 
for  president  of  the  village.  That  fac- 
tion had  suffered  defeat  the  previous 
\  car,  and  it  was  felt  that  he  was  the  only 
man  who  had  a  chance  of  succeeding 
against  the  regular  Republican  nominee, 
i'he  result  of  the  election  was  most  llat- 
tering,  since  he  received  a  large  majority 
of  the  votes  cast.  Indeed,  Mr.  Huff  has 
never  been  defeated  in  a  contest  for  any 
public  oftice,  and  it  is  ea.sy  to  predict  for 
him  further  political  trium])hs  in  the 
future. 

Of  late  years  Mr.  Huff  has  been 
prominently  identified  with  the  great  lumber  in- 
dustry at  Tonawanda,  having  established  himself  as 
a  wholesale  lumber  dealer  in  l<Hi('2.  He  is  well 
known  in  Masonic  circles,  belonging  to  Tona- 
wanda Lodge,  F.  iS:  A.  M.,  and  Tonawanda  Chap- 
ter, R.  A.  M.,  as  well  as  to  Zuleika  Grotto, 
No.  10. 

PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  —  James  B. 
J  luff  was  l>orn  at  Tonawanda,  N.  Y.,  August  H, 
1S.'>7 ;  was  educated  in  the  puldic  schools ;  married 
Etta  L.  Long  of  Tonawanda  December  21,  1881 : 
has  served  as  clerk  of  the  village  of  Tonawanda,  I'illage 
treasurer,  and  village  trustee ;  vaas  elected  president  of 
the  village  in  March,  18H7 ;  has  carried  on  a  whole- 
sale lumber  business  at  Tonawanda  since  1802. 


MEN   or  NEW    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


\:^'i 


]EJ)\VarC»  C.  IROtb,  one  of  the  best-known 
insurance  men  of  Buffalo,  was  horn  in  that  city 
shortly  before  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  His 
scholastic  education  was  not  carried  far  antl  his 
present  fund  of  general  information  was  aciiuired  by 
judicious  reading  and  observation  after  he  had  left 
school,  and  entered  the  larger  world  of  business. 
He  prepared  himself  to  take  the  course  of  study  at 
the  high  school  in  Buffalo,  but  finally  decided  not 
to  do  so.  Instead  of  that  he  began  business  life  in 
his  early  teens  l)y  entering  the  old  hardware  estab- 
lishment of  De  Witt  C.  Weed  &  Co.  Pur])osing  to 
learn  the  business  thoroughly,  he  remained  with  the 
house  in  various  grades  of  service  about  five  years, 
and  thereby  acquired  not  only  a  minute  knowledge 
of  the  hardware  business  in  jjarticular,  but  also  an 
excellent  all-round  training  in  general  business 
principles  and  usages. 

The  death  of  the  senior  Mr.  Weed  in 
1878  produced  some  unsettlement  in  the 
Weed  concern,  and  indirectly  resulted 
in  Mr.  Roth's  retirement  from  the  ser 
vice  of  the  house.  He  then  engaged  in 
the  business  with  which  he  has  ever  since 
been  identified  —  insurance.  Entering 
the  office  of  \\'illiam  D.  Lewis,  he  re- 
mained with  him  about  four  years,  and 
learned  thoroughly  every  branch  of  the 
insurance  business.  By  that  time  he  had 
become  so  well  known  among  insurance 
people  that  James  P'erguson,  a  prominent 
underwriter  of  New  York  city,  sought 
his  alliance  in  a  partnership  in  the  fire 
and  marine  insurance  business.  Mr. 
Roth  accepted  the  offer,  and  the  firm  of 
Ferguson  &  Roth  wrote  a  large  volume 
of  insurance  up  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Fer- 
guson's death  in  1885.  Mr.  Roth  then 
continued  the  business  under  the  present 
well-known  style  of  Edward  C.  Roth  & 
Co.  In  1888  George  H.  Hughson  was 
admitted  to  the  firm,  and  in  l<Si)l  Frank 
W.  Fiske,  Jr.,  became  one  of  the  part- 
ners: these  two,  with  Mr.  Roth,  con- 
stitute the  existing  firm. 

Since  Mr.  Roth  has  concerned  himself 
with  insurance  the  business  has  changed 
in    many   respects,   and    has  enormously 
expanded   as   regards   both  volume  and 
kinds  of  risk  assumed.      Fire  and  marine 
risks  constituted  at  first  the  greater  part  of  his  busi- 
ness, and  still  make    up  a   large   proiiortion   of  his 
transactions;  but  he  has  added  from  time  to  time 
various  branches  of  insurance  —  boiler,   ])late-gla.ss, 


burglary,  cm])loyers'  liability,  etc. — as  new  condi- 
tions produced  new  hazards  and  the  need  of  cor- 
responding safeguards.  He  is  now  the  Buffalo 
representative  of  some  of  the  strongest  companies 
in  the  world,  providing  insurance  against  a  multi- 
tude of  ca.sualties. 

PERSONAL  CHR ONOL  OG  V—  Ed7i<ard  C. 
Roth  was  born  at  Buffalo  October  22,  1S59 ;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  ;  was  employed 
in  a  hardware  store,  1873-78  ;  7L'as  clerk  in  an  insur- 
ance office,  1878-81;  married  Hattie  U'eller  of  Buf- 
falo September  20,  1891 ;  has  conducted  a  general 
insurance  business  in  Buffalo  since  1881. 


SOljU  X.  ScbWart.i,  vice  president  of  the 
iSuffalo  I'.rewcrs'  .Association,  is  a  native  of  the  Queen 
City,  and  is  well  known   in  its  business,  social,  and 


EDWARD    C.   ROT// 

political  life.  Born  in  18.")0  in  the  old  4th  ward,  at 
the  corner  of  Wa.shington  and  Chijipewa  streets,  he 
received  his  early  education  in  St.  Michael's  paro- 
chial   school  ;    and  when  St.    Canisius  College  was 


460 


MEN   OF  NF.W    YORK  —WESTERN  SECTION 


opened  in  ISJO  he  became  one  of  its  first  students. 
After  a  course  of  four  years  there  he  left  school  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  and  began  business  life. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Schwartz's  father  and  brother 
carried  on  a  planing  mill  in  Buffalo,  and  the  young 
man  went  into  business  with  them  for  several  years. 


jonx  L.  s(j/n:iA'Tz. 

I-'our  years  later  the  father  died,  and  the  business 
was  dissolved  ;  and  Mr.  Schwartz  became  a  clerk  in 
the  oflSce  of  Jo.seph  Berlin,  who  conducted  a  general 
insurance  and  coal  business.  After  about  a  year  in 
this  capacity  he  established  a  coal  and  wood  business 
on  his  own  account.  He  was  just  twenty-one  years 
old  at  this  time  ;  but  he  had  had  considerable  busi- 
ness ex])erience,  and  was  well  (jualified  by  natural 
ability  and  training  to  carry  on  such  an  undertaking. 
He  conducted  the  enterprise  with  entire  success  for 
twelve  years,  when  he  sold  out  to  his  brothers, 
Edward  J.  and  Joseph  A.  Schwartz. 

Having  disposed  of  his  coal  business.  Colonel 
Schwartz  took  up  an  entirely  different  line  of  work. 
In    company    with    John    S.     Kellner,    Kdward    .'\. 


Diebold,  and  Joseph  Phillips,  he  bought  the  plant 
of  the  Queen  City  Brewing  Co.,  at  the  corner  of 
Spring  and  Cherry  streets,  and  established  the  Star 
Brewery  for  the  conduct  of  a  general  brewing  and 
bottling  business.  He  has  devoted  himself  to  the 
management  of  this  enterprise  ever  since,  and  has 
become  widely  known  in  one  of  Buffalo's 
most  important  industries. 

Though  he  has  never  held  public  of- 
fice. Colonel  Schwartz  has  long  been 
prominent  in  the  counsels  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  is  actively  interested 
in  several  fraternal  societies,  and  has 
membership  in  many  such.  He  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Buffalo  Catholic  Institute,  and  is 
still  a  memljer  of  the  organization.  Since 
18!)2  he  has  been  Grand  Treasurer  of  the 
Catholic  Mutual  Benefit  Association, 
having  been  elected  for  the  third  time 
at  Syracuse  in  1897.  He  owes  his  mili- 
tary title  to  his  connection  with  the 
laiiformed  Catholic  Knights,  having 
been  colonel  of  the  2d  regiment  of  that 
organization  in  the  state  of  New  York 
for  the  past  eight  years.  He  belongs, 
also,  to  the  Buffalo  Orpheus,  the  Catholic 
Benevolent  Legion,  and  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum ;  and  is  a  trustee  of  St.  Michael's 
Church.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Buffalo  Volks- 
freund  Printing  Co.  since  1887,  and 
president  of  the  Alumni  of  St.  Canisius 
College  since  18!)4. 

PERSONAL     CHRONOLOGY  — 
John  Leo  Sclnvartz  7oas  born  at  Buffalo 
April   IS,    1859;    was   educated  at   St. 
Canisius  College,  Buffalo ;  worked  in  his 
father's  planing  mill,  1SH.-78,  and  in  a 
eoal  office,   1878-79 ;    carried  on   a    coal  and  wood 
business  in  Buffalo,  1880-92 ;  married  Elizabeth  J. 
Zcgewitz  of  Rochester  October  12,   1887;   has  been 
manager  and  part  owner  of  the  Star  Brewery,  Buf- 
falo, since  1892. 


tTbomas  Eugene  Mavuer,  well  known  for 

many  years  in  the  journalism  of  Niagara  county,  was 
born  in  Orleans,  Ontario  county,  fifty-odd  years  ago. 
lie  received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
town,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  to  earn  his 
own  living.  He  was  fortunate  in  choosing  at  first  a 
trade  that  proved  congenial,  and  that  led  naturall)- 
to  the  position  of  newspajjer  publisher  which  he  has 
filled  now  for  upwards  of  fifteen  years. 


AfEN  OF  NEW    YORK— WESTER X   SECTION 


4C.1 


Becoming  a  printer's  apprentice  in  an  office  at 
Phelps,  N.  Y.,  in  1860,  he  worked  at  his  trade  for 
the  next  seventeen  years.  His  apprenticeship  was 
completed  in  the  office  of  the  Geneva  Gazette,  under 
Stephen  H.  Parker,  one  of  the  best-known  represen- 
tatives of  the  Democratic  press  in  the  state  ;  and  his 
practical  experience  of  the  printer's  craft  was  gained 
in  a  number  of  newspaper  offices  in  some  of  the 
largest  cities  in  the  United  States,  where  he  became 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  different  departments 
of  the  business.  In  1.S77  he  took  up  an  entirely  new 
line  of  activity,  accepting  an  appointment  as  warden 
of  the  Jersey  City  Charity  Hospital,  where  he  re- 
mained for  the  next  two  or  three  years. 

In  September,  18S(),  Mr.  Warner  moved  to  Tona- 
wanda,  and  became  associated  with  Thomas  M. 
Chapman  in  the  publication  of  the  Tonawanda 
Herald.  He  had  already  had  consider- 
able experience  in  newspaper  work,  serv- 
ing at  first  as  a  reporter  on  the  Detroit 
Free  Press,  and  later  as  state  editor  of 
that  well-known  journal,  at  the  same 
time  furnishing  reportorial  correspond- 
ence from  the  several  cities  of  Michigan. 
He  was  therefore  wejl  (jualified  by  train- 
ing a.s  well  as  by  natural  ability  for  the 
new  work  which  he  undertook  in  Tona- 
wanda, and  which  he  carried  on  for  sev- 
enteen years  with  much  success.  In  the 
fall  of  1897  he  sold  his  interest  in  the 
Herald  to  Mr.  Chapman,  the  senior  part- 
ner ;  and  established  the  daily,  semi- 
weekly,  and  weekly  Argus  in  the  "Twin 
Cities"  of  the  Tonawandas.  For  the 
conduct  of  this  enterprise  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  Frank  P.  Hulette,  for 
many  years  the  successful  editor  of  the 
Wyoming  County  Leader  o{ Xrczde,  N.  Y., 
and  widely  known  as  the  secretary  of  the 
New  York  State  Democratic  Editorial 
Association.  The  new  paper  is  the  only 
one  in  its  territory  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Democratic  party ;  and  as 
Messrs.  Warner  and  Hulette  are  both 
ardent  supporters  of  that  party,  and 
newspaper  men  of  trained  ability,  the 
success  of  the  venture  need  not  be  re- 
garded as  doubtful. 

During    his   residence    in  Tonawanda 
Mr.  Warner  has  become  well  and  favor- 
ably known  in   both    public   and    private    life.      In 
188G  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  village  of  North 
Tonawanda,  and  held  the  office  continuously  until 
the  adoption  of  the   city    charter    in    April,   1807, 


when  he  wa.s  unanimously  chosen  the  first  city 
clerk.  He  is  a  Ma.son,  and  holds  the  office  of  Past 
Master  in  Tonawanda  Lodge,  No.  247,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  that  of  High  Priest  in  Tonawanda  Chapter,  No. 
278,  R.  A.  M.  He  is  a  member  of  St.  Mark's 
Epi.scopal  Church. 

PERSONA  L  CHR  ONOLOG  Y— Thomas 
Eugene  Warner  was  born  at  Orleans,  N.  Y. ,  March 
23,  lS.i4  >'  K"^-f  educated  in  common  schools ;  learned 
the  printer''  s  trade  and  7Vorked  at  the  same  in  various 
cities,  1800-77 ;  married  Florence  Elizabeth  Hana- 
ford  of  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  September  IS,  1876;  Teas 
warden  of  the  Jersey  City  Charity  Hospital,  1877-80  ; 
7C'as  one  of  the  publishers  o/ the  Tonaiuaiula  (^N.  K) 
''Herald;'  18S0-!)7  :  has  been  clerk  of  the  village 
and  city  of  North  Tonaicanda  since  1880 ;  established 
the  Tonawanda  ' '  Argus  ' '  ///  October,  1897. 


THOMAS  EUGENE    WARNER 


1Ir\>infl  Emmet  Maters,  ca.shierof  the  Citi- 
zens' Hank  of  IJuffalo,  has  had  an  important  part  of 
late  years  in  the  commercial  activities  of  the  Queen 
City  :  and,  though  com])aratively  a  newcomer  there, 


402 


MEN   OF  AEIV    YORK— WESTERN  SECTION 


has  clone  much  to  further  its  ])rosperity.  His  ])ul)lic- 
spirited  zeal  has  been  unflagging,  and  he  is  widely 
known  in  business  circles  as  a  man  of  unusual  energy 
and  sagacity. 

Mr.  Waters  is  a  native  of  Herkimer  county,  New 
York,  and  a  large  part  of  his  life  thus  far  has  l)een 


/AT/,\<,    K.\fMET    WATERS 

spent  there.  Born  in  Little  Falls  aliout  fifty  years 
ago,  he  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools 
and  academy  of  that  place,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen began  to  earn  his  own  living.  His  first  posi- 
tion was  with  the  American  Kx]iress  Co.,  where  he 
remained  four  years.  He  then  secured  a  situation 
as  clerk  in  the  Herkimer  County  National  Bank, 
where  he  gained  his  first  insight  into  the  manage- 
ment of  a  financial  institution.  After  several  years 
in  this  position  he  went  to  Buffalo  in  July,  1X7."'!,  as 
teller  in  the  Bank  of  Commerce,  which  had  just  been 
organized. 

]?anking  was  to  i)e  Mr.  Waters's  life-work,  and 
Huffalrt  the  scene  of  his  success  as  a  banker  ;  but  he 
did  not  stay  long  in   the  city  at   thai  time,  returning 


to  Little  Falls  in  May,  1S7(>,  and  engaging  in  busi- 
ness there  for  the  next  four  years.  This  was  quite 
long  enough  to  convince  him  that  his  talents  were 
better  suited  to  a  financial  than  a  mercantile  career ; 
and  accordingly,  in  1880,  he  again  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Herkimer  County  National  Bank,  this 
time  as  general  bookkeeper.  He  re- 
mained in  this  position  for  ten  years, 
becoming  thoroughly  familiar  as  time 
went  on  with  the  science  of  banking, 
and  gaining  experience  that  has  been 
invaluable  to  him  since. 

In  1890  the  Citizens'  Bank  of  Buffalo 
was  organized  ;  and  Mr.  Waters's  friends 
in  that  city,  who  had  recognized  his 
ability  during  his  short  connection  with 
the  Bank  of  Commerce  fifteen  years  be- 
fore, suggested  to  the  Ijoard  of  directors 
that  the  ])ost  of  cashier  of  the  new  insti- 
tution be  tendered  to  him.  The  ofl'er 
was  made  and  accepted,  and  from  the 
time  the  bank  first  opened  its  doors  Mr. 
Waters  has  filled  that  responsible  posi- 
tion. L'nder  his  energetic  and  efficient 
management  the  new  institution  pros- 
pered from  the  beginning,  and  soon  be- 
came recognized  as  one  of  the  solid 
financial  concerns  of  the  city.  In  the 
conduct  of  its  affairs  Mr.  Waters  for  the 
first  time  had  an  opi)ortunity  to  exercise 
his  talents  as  a  financier,  and  the  high 
standing  that  it  has  attained  .shows  how 
well  he  has  availed  himself  of  that  oppor- 
tunity. The  Citizens'  Bank  has  been 
in  existence  only  seven  years,  and  dur- 
ing much  of  that  time  the  financial  con- 
dition of  the  country  has  lieen  far  from 
prosperous  ;  furthermore,  it  is  one  of  the 
smaller  institutions  of  the  city,  having  a 
capital  of  only  §100,000.  In  spite  of  these  fads  it 
occupies  a  foremost  ])osition  in  the  financial  world, 
and  is  deemed  one  of  the  strongest  institutions  of 
its  size  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Waters  has  had  the  best  interests  of  Buffalo 
closely  at  heart  ever  since  he  took  up  his  residence 
there,  and. has  had  a  part  in  many  enterprises  that 
have  been  productive  of  good  to  the  city.  He  has 
been  very  successful  in  attracting  outside  capital 
thither,  and  thus  ])romoting  biisiness  activity.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Lenox  Corporation, 
that  completed  in  1897  the  Lenox  apartment  house,  a 
large  and  elegant  structure  on  North  street  near  Dela- 
ware avenue,  that  compares  favorably  with  the  finest 
buildings  of  its  class  in  any  citv  in  the  United  States. 


MEN   OF  XEW    YORK— WESTER. \  SECTION 


40:i 


All  his  best  energies  Mr.  Waters  devotes  to  busi- 
ness, spending  little  time  in  politics  or  society  mat- 
ters. He  is  a  member,  however,  of  the  Buffalo 
Orpheus. 

PERSONAL  CHR  ONOL  O  G  Y—Innng  Emmd 
Waters  was  born  at  Little  Falls,  N.  ¥.,  August  IS, 
ISJfi ;  7t'as  educated  at  Little  Falls  Academy ;  was 
employed  in  various  capacities  in  Little  Falls,  1S63-7S  ; 
married  Eliza  I.  IVaterman  of  Little  Falls  February 
Jf,  187, ') ;  7vas  teller  of  the  Bank  of  Commerce,  Buf- 
falo, 1S73-76 ;  engaged  in  business  in  Little  Falls, 
1876-80 ;  laas  bookkeeper  of  the  Herkimer  County 
National  Bank  of  Little  Falls,  1880-00 ;  has  been 
cashier  of  the  Citizens'  Bank,  Buffalo,  since  1890. 


Hlbert  %.  Mrigbt  is  well  known  in  both 
business  and  social  circles  in  Buffalo,  where  he  lias 
lived  since  childhood.  He  is  descended 
from  good  old  English  stock  that  settled 
in  the  American  colonies  in  early  days, 
the  most  illustrious  member  of  the  fam- 
ily being  Silas  Wright  of  Canton,  N.  Y. — 
governor,  congressman,  United  States 
senator,  and  an  able  statesman  in  the 
days  of  Clinton,  Clay,  and  Webster. 

Mr.  Wright  was  born  in  Oswego, 
N.  Y.,  where  his  father,  Alfred  P. 
Wright,  also  a  native  of  the  place,  car- 
ried on  a  large  business  in  canal  trans- 
portation. W'hen  he  was  eight  years  old 
his  father  moved  to  Buffalo,  and  the  boy 
began  his  education  there.  After  spend- 
ing about  two  years  in  Public  School 
No.  14  he  prepared  for  college  in  the 
Buffalo  Classical  School  under  Professor 
Horace  Briggs,  and  then  took  a  scientific 
course  at  Wesleyan  University,  Middle- 
town,  Conn. 

Returning  to  Buffalo  in  lcS7<S  in  his 
twentieth  year,  Mr.  Wright  was  fortu- 
nate enough  to  find  an  excellent  opening 
ready  for  him.  The  firm  of  Preston  & 
Wright,  established  by  his  father  a 
dozen  years  before  for  the  handling  and 
transfer  of  grain,  had  met  with  marked 
and  continuous  success  ;  and  the  young 
man  at  once  entered  their  office,  and  set 
himself  to  master  the  intricacies  of  the 
business.  Two  years  later  Mr.  Preston 
was  compelled  by  ill  health  to  give  up 
active  busine.ss,  and  the  firm  of  A.  P.Wright  &  Son  was 
organized,  with  Albert  J.  Wright  as  the  junior  partner. 

The  new  firm  soon  became  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  in   the  countrv  ;   and   the  long  exiierienie  of 


the  father  and  the  entcrjirising  and  energetic  spirit 
of  the  son  were  alike  factors  in  its  remarkable  suc- 
cess. In  the  first  year  the  enormous  amount  of 
33,000,000  bushels  of  grain  was  handled  by  them 
during  the  season  of  navigation.  After  ten  years  of 
vminterrujjted  success  the  firm  was  dissolved  in  l.HDO, 
and  since  that  time  Mr.  Wright  has  carried  on  alone 
a  business  as  banker  and  broker  in  grain  and  stocks. 
His  earlier  experience  as  a  grain  merchant  has  been 
of  value  to  him  in  this  new  enterprise,  and  he  has 
met  with  the  success  to  which  his  unquestioned  abil- 
ity entitles  him. 

In  1884,  when  only  twenty-six  years  old,  Mr. 
Wright  was  elected  president  of  the  Buffalo  Mer- 
chants' Kxchange.  He  was  the  youngest  man  e\er 
( hosen  for  that  resjionsible  position,  and  the  fact 
is    evidence    of    the    high    opinion    of    his    powers 


entertained  by  the  Inisiness  men  of  Buffalo.  After  his 
retirement  from  the  presidency  of  the  a.ssociation  he 
served  for  several  years  as  a  trustee.  He  also  served 
in  1884  as  president  of  the  Buffalo  Board  of  Trade. 


464 


MEA'   OF  AEIV    YORK  —WESTERN  SECTION 


He  was  for  a  time  trustee  of  the  Buffalo  Library,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  board  at  the  time  the  money  was 
raised  for  the  erection  of  the  present  library  building. 
Mr.  Wright  is  a  prominent  member  of  several 
exclusive  clubs  in  Buffalo  and  elsewhere.  He  was 
one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Country  Club  of 
Buffalo  in  1889,  and  is  still  a  governor  of  the  insti- 
tution. He  is  also  a  governor  of  the  Buffalo  Club, 
and  belongs  to  the  Ellicott  and  Yacht  clubs  of  Buf- 
falo and  the  Chicago  Club  of  Chicago. 


PERSONAL  CHRONOLOGY  —  Albert  J. 
Wright  was  horn  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  August  2J^, 
1858 ;  ivas  educated  in  Buffalo  schools  and  IVesleyan 
University,  Middlctoivn,  Conn.;  married  Gertrude 
Bent  of  Middleto7vn  September  25,  1878 :  engaged 
in  the  grain  commission  business  in  Buffalo,  1878-90  ; 
was  president  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  the 
Board  of  Trade  of  Buffalo  in  188 Jf  :  has  earned  on 
a  banking  and  brokerage  business  in  Buffalo  since 
1890. 


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