Production Note Cornell University Library produced this volume to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. It was scanned using Xerox software and equipment at 600 dots per inch resolution and compressed prior to storage using CCITT Group 4 compression. The digital data were used to create Cornell's replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1984. The production of this volume was supported in part by the New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials and the Xerox Corporation. Digital file copyright by Cornell University Library 1994.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY NEW YORK HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL 1909 THE GENEALOGICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK-BUFFALOHATJSAUER-JONES printing company 253-257 ELLICOTT STREET BUFFALO, NEW YORKTABLE OF CONTENTS PA(iK Earliest Jurisdiction of Courts in Erie County, 1789, .... 9 Supreme Court Constitutional Act of 1846, organizing the State of New York into eight Judicial Districts, .... 9 Judges of the Supreme Court from Erie County, 1847-1909, . 9, 10 Superior Court Judges, 1854-1896, 10 County Court, 1683-1909, ..............................10, 12 Municipal Courts of the City of Buffalo, 1880-1909, ... 12 Surrogate Court, 1808-1909, .......... 12-13 Early Practitioners,....................................... I3“1^ Famous Murder Trials,..................................x4> :5> Court Houses, . . . ................................. 16-17 Buffalo Law School,........................................... 18-24 Biographical, . . ............................. 2 5BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX NAME Abbott, Frank A........... Allen, Daniel W......... Augspurger, Owen B........ Babcock, George R......... Babcock, Louis Locke...... Bagot, Francis E.......... Baker, Francis F....... Barber, Cyrus L........... Barker, George P.......... Barnett, Frank L.......... Barrett, Nelson T......... Bartlett, Eugene M........ Becker, August............ Bissell, Herbert P........ Bissell, Frederick O...... Bissell, Wilson Shannon. . . Blanchard, Charles S...... Blair, Odell R............ Boine, Charles F.......... Bommer, Ferdinand J....... Bosley, Edward R.......... Botsford, Samuel B........ Bowen, Dennis............. Bowen, Millard F.......... Branch, Clifford.......... Braunlein, Louis.......... Brennan, William, Jr... .... Brown, Charles H.......... Brownell, Burton H........ Buck, George S............ Burd, George B............ Callan, Frank H........... Chamberlain, Walter W. . . Cleveland, Grover......... Clinton, George, Jr....... Clinton, George........... Clinton, George W......... Coatsworth, Reuben Heber Cole, Irving W............ Cole, Vernon.............. Colburn, Orlin J.......... Colgan, William P......... NAME PAGE Collins, Lawrence J................. 216 Corcoran, John B.................... 145 Corcoran, William H................. 132 Cooke, Walter P..................... 182 Cuddeback, William H................ 217 Cutting, Charles H.................. 260 Dake, B. Frank...................... 114 Daniels, William R................... 83 Daniels, Charles..................... 34 Davis, George A..................... 210 Day, Moses.......................... 110 Dean, Charles L................ . . . 245 Desbecker, Louis E.................. 222 Dirnberger, Michael F............... 100 Doane, Charles E.................... 203 Doane, William T.................... 263 Dolson, Charles A................... 185 Dolson, Edwin L..................... 276 Donnelly, Leo F.. . ................ 259 Driscoll, James T................... 192 Druar, John S....................... 267 Dudley, Wesley C.................... 271 Durand, Edward T.................... 253 Emery, Asher B...................... 206 Emery, Edward K...................... 42 Evans, William J.................... 232 Farrington, Robert W................. 84 Fell, Clifford P.................... 119 Fennelly, Philip V.................. 98 Fillmore, Millard.................... 26 Fisk, Irving L....................... 83 Fleischmann, Simon................... 59 Forrester, Harry.................... 294 Frisbee, Ernest L.................... 96 Fybush, Aaron....................... 151 Ganson, John......................... 29 Georgi, Oscar....................... 116 Geyer, Albert F..................... 260 Gibbons, Frank...................... 287 Gibbs, Leonard W.................... 159 Goodyear, Charles W.................. 69 PAGE 70 94 103 25 64 212 123 91 25 141 142 173 125 232 165 33 250 251 146 284 112 94 29 190 296 237 277 47 254 180 147 75 124 31 163 57 28 172 113 111 156 2556 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX NAME Grass, Julius A....... Gratwick, Frederick C.. Greiner, Fred...... Hager, George L....... Haight, Albert........ Hall, Nathan K........ Hamilton, John Allen. . Hamlin, Chauncey J. . . Hammond, Clark H.. . Harrington, Eugene W Harrington, Charles M. Hart, Louis B......... Harrison, Alfred L.... Hawkins, William M. . Haven, Solomon G...... Hazel, John It....... Hennig, Herman....... Hickman, Arthur W. . Hodson, Devoe P...... Hofheins, Walter F. . . Holt, Elijah W....... Hollister, Evan...... Hooker, Warren B.. . . Horton, Clinton T. . . . Houpt, Wilber E...... Howard, Frederick... . Hoyt, William B...... Hughson, Charles M.. . Hurrell, Alfred...... Hynes, John J........ Jackson, Birdseye D. . James, Frank A....... Jellinek, Edward L. . . Jung, Edward L....... Kellogg, Dorsey W. .. Kenefick, Daniel J.. . . Kerr, Mark P......... Kilhoffer, William G. . Killeen, Henry W.. '... Kingston, George L.. . Kingston, Harry O.. . Kinsella, Joseph M... . Klein, John H........ Kruse, Frederick W.. . NAME PAGE Ladd, Carlton E..................... 71 Lambert, John S..................... 43 Laning, Albert P................... 29 Lansdowne, Percy S................. 175 Laughlin, Frank C................... 41 Lawrence, Thomas E................. 256 Leary, Frank S..............i . . . 229 Lee, Herbert B..................... 273 Lester, Levant D.. ............... 219 Lewis, Loran L..................... 234 Locke, Franklin D................... 62 Lockwood, Daniel Newton.. .......... 35 Loomis, Frank M.................... 157 McConnell, William It.............. 230 McCue, Daniel...................... 205 McIntyre, Ernest W. . .............. 99 McNaughtan, Daniel N............... 285 Madden, John H..................... 105 Magavern, William J................ 170 Magoffin, James A.................. 236 Mansfield, Elmer G.................. 80 Marcus, Louis W..................... 44 Masten, Joseph G.................... 28 Maul, Peter...................... 267 Mills, Edward N................... 288 Mitchell, Frederick G.............. 121 Moore, Guy B....................... 200 Moore, James O.................... 275 Moot, Adelbert...................... 56 Moran, Samuel F................... 224 Morey, Joseph H.................... 149 Morey, Norris....................... 66 Moult hr op, C.B.................... 78 Mueller, John F.................... 211 Murphy, James W.................... 118 Murphy, Thomas..................... 187 Newton, Charles.................... 102 Nichols, Asher P.'.................. 28 Noonan, Thomas H................... 236 Norton, Charles D. ................. 29 Norton, Charles P.................. 198 Nowak, Leon J...................... 164 Nuese, Harry L..................... 239 O’Connor, Charles L................ 290 O’Connor, John W................... 228 O’Gorman, Stephen Y................ 189 PAGE 242 153 245 163 37 25 238 54 55 192 171 53 92 108 25 51 282 268 55 104 133 184 45 77 . 144 . 247 63 . 280 . 209 . 213 . 155 . 169 . 265 . 270 . 204 60 . 257 . 197 . 193 . 152 . 160 . 149 . 295 49BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 7 NAME O’Malley, Edward R....... O’Neil, Daniel J..... Penton, Reginald F....... Plumley, A. W............ Plumley, Edmund J........ Pomeroy, Robert W........ Pooley, Charles A........ Potter, Heman B........... Pound, Cuthbert W........ Powell, Thomas D......... Putnam, James O.......... Rebadow, Adolph.......... Redfield, Nelson......... Rischman, Edward C....... Roberts, J. Craig........ Rogers, Henry W . . ..... Rourke, Hugh E........... . Rumsey, Judson S........ Rupp, Frederic C......... Russell, Fred............ Ryan, John T............. Ryan, John W............. Sanders, Harry D......... Saperston, Willard W. . . . . Saunders, Frank W........ Sayles, John............. Schilling, Albert........ Schultz, George F.. ..... Scovell, Josiah Boardman.. Seaver, Fred H........... Severance, Charles C..... Sheldon, James........... Sheldon, James........... Sheldon, Theodore B...... Sidway, Frank St. John. . . Sill, Seth E............. Smith, Clayton M......... Smith, Preston R......... Smith, James M........... Spaulding, Elbridge Gerry Spaulding, Willis M...... Sprague, Eben Carleton. . . Spratt, Maurice C........ Spring, Alfred........... NAME PAGE Stanley, Ray M..................... 286 Staples,. Charles J............... 274 Stein, Jacob J..........:........ 90 Stephan, Carl D................... 127 Stickney, Charles D................ 215 Stowe, Franklin D. L............... 140 Stone, Joseph A................... 288 Strong, Charles W.................. 107 Sullivan, John J................... 283 Sullivan, Thomas A................. 136 Tanner, Frank J.................... 109 Taylor, Alexander.......:........ 292 Taylor, Harry L..................... 52 Templeton, Richard................. 128 Thomas, Ulysses S.................. 143 Ticknor, Willard H................. 248 Titus, Robert C.................. 195 Tracy, Albert H.................. 24 Tuttle, Duane B.................. 279 Van Allen, John W................... 76 Van Arsdale, John A................ 179 Van Gorder, Greenleaf S............. 86 Verplank, Isaac..................... 28 Vogel, Layton H.................... 280 Wade, Frank E...................... 258 Ward, Hamilton................... 261 Ward, Hamilton..................... 262 Walden, Ebenezer.................... 24 Warner, Eugene..................... 289 Webster, Edwin S................... 184 Webster, IP. Edson.................. 93 Wechter, Joseph A.................. 278 Weimert, Orson J................... 161 Weisenheimer, Henry J.............. 225 Wheeler, Charles B................. 40 White, Charles A.................... 79 White, Edward P..................... 73 White, John K..................... .135 White, Ford........................ 88 White, Percival M.................. 101 White, Truman C..................... 39 Wood, Charles C.................... 252 Woodward, John.................... 203 PAGE 201 251 208 156 167 181 67 24 48 178 32 240 243 174 117 28 206 129 242 131 292 227 166 220 97 87 218 154 138 249 30 25 33 264 72 26 254 134 36 30 235 33 66 46HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY By an act passed April 19, 1786, one or more of the justices of the Supreme Court was required to hold during the vacations and oftener, if necessary, Circuit Courts in each of the counties of the State for the trial of all issues triable in the respective counties. Upon the formation of Ontario County, in 1789, which included the territory of Erie County, this court extended its jurisdiction over that territory. The constitution of 1846 abolished the Supreme Court as it then existed and established a new one, with general jurisdiction in law and equity. The State was divided into eight judicial districts, in each of which four justices were elected, except in the first (New York City), where five were elected. The term of office was made eight years, but the amended judiciary article made the term as at present, fourteen years. In the division of the State into judicial districts, Erie County and Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties constituted the Eighth District, which now constitutes a part of the Fourth Department. The constitution of 1894 continued the Supreme Court as it then existed, with general jusirdiction in law and equity, and also vested in the court the jurisdiction previously exercised by the Superior Court of Buffalo and New York City, the Court of Common Pleas of the City and County of New York, and the City Courts of Brooklyn. These courts were abolished January 1, 1896, the judges thereof becoming justices of the Supreme Court. Justices of the Supreme Court, from Erie County: Seth E. Sill, 1847-51; Benjamin F. Green, 1854-60; James G. Hoyt, 1860-63; Charles Daniels, 1863-91; Albert Haight, 1876- designated by the governor as Judge of the Second Division of the Court of Appeals, January 21, 1889; Loran L. Lewis, 1882- 96; Manly C. Green, 1891; Edward W. Hatch, 1895, resigned;10 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Frank C. Laughlin, elected November, 1895, term expires Decem- ber 31, 1909; Robert C. Titus, January 1, 1896, term expired December3i, 1899; Truman C.White, January 1,1896,still in office; Daniel J. Kenefick, 1899, resigned December 1, 1906; Louis W. Marcus, 1905-; Charles B. Wheeler, December 1, 1906-; Edward K. Emery, 1907-. SUPERIOR COURT. By an Act of the Legislature, passed in 1839, a -Recorder's Court was created for the City of Buffalo and the appointment of the recorder was vested in the governor. The term of office was four years and it was held by Horatio J. Stow, from 1840 to 1844; Henry K. Smith, from 1844 to 1848. By the constitution adopted in 1846, the office was made elective by the people, under which it was held by Joseph G. Masten, from 1848 to 1852; George W. Houghton, from 1852 to 1854. An Act was passed in 1854 by which the court was reorganized and merged into the Superior Court, with three judges, whose term of office was fixed at six years. The judges of the reorganized court have been: George W. Houghton, 1854-56; I. A. Verplanck, 1854-58; George W. Clinton, 1854-60; Joseph G. Masten, 1856— 62; I. A. Verplanck, 1858-64; George W. Clinton, 1860-66; Joseph G. Masten, 1862-68; I. A. Verplanck, 1864-70; George W. Clinton, 1866-72; Joseph G. Masten, 1868-71; James M. Humphrey, 1871-72; James Sheldon, 1872; I. A. Verplanck, 1870-93; James M. Smith, 1873-74; James M. Smith, 1874; George W. Clinton, 1872; Charles Beckwith, 1878; Robert C. Titus, 1885-January 1, 1896; Truman C. White, 1891-January 1, 1896. COUNTY COURT. The Act of 1683 directed that a Court of Sessions be held by three justices of the peace in each of the twelve counties of the province. By the Act of 1691 and Ordinances of 1699 the functions of this court were confined to criminal matters, while civil cases were transferred to the Court of Common Pleas. The latter court was established in New York and Albany by theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY II Charters of 1686 and a Court of Common Pleas was everted for each county by the Act of 1691. Composed at first of one judge and three justices, it was ordered in 1702 that the judge be assisted by two or more justices, all to be appointed by the governor. On March 27, 1718, the office of assistant justice was abolished and the number of judges limited to five, inclusive of the first judge. The constitution of 1821 continued this court with little change. The judges were appointed by the governor and the council of appoint- ment down to 1821, after which they were appointed by the governor and senate, down to 1846, when the office was made elective. The constitution of 1846 abolished the Court of Common Pleas and created the County Court, providing for the election in each county, except in the City of New York, of one county judge, who should hold a court and have jurisdiction in cases arising in justices’ court and in such special cases as the Legislature might order. The tenure of office of the county judge was extended from four to six years. Associated with the county judge were two justices of the peace, to be designated by law to hold Courts of Sessions, with such criminal jurisdiction as the Legislature might prescribe. Upon the erection of Niagara County, March 11, 1808, it included the territory of Erie County. The first judges of the Common Pleas of that county, down to the erection of Erie County in 1821, were as follows: Augustus Porter, appointed March 26, 1808; Samuel Tupper, 1812-18; William Hotchkiss, appointed 1818; Samuel Wilkeson, 1820-22; Ebenezer Walden, 1823-28; Thomas C. Love, 1828- 29; Philander Bennett, 1829-37; James Stryker, 1837-4O; Joseph, Clary, appointed 1841; Nathan K. Hall, 1841-45; Frederick P. Stevens, 1845-47. By the new constitution county judges were substituted for first judges of the Common Pleas and served as follows: Frederick P. Stevens, 1847-51; Jesse Walker, from January 1, 1852, until his death in September, 1852; James Sheldon, 1852-64; Stephen Lockwood, 1865-68; Roswell L. Burrows, 1869-72; Albert Haight, January i, 1873-January 1, 1877; George W. Cothran, January12 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY i, 1877, served until December 31, 1877; William W. Hammond, November, 1877, and re-elected in November, 1883; Joseph V. Seaver, elected November, 1889, served to December, 1895; Edward K. Emery, elected November, 1895-1907; Harry L. Taylor, 1907-. MUNICIPAL COURTS. An Act of the Legislature of May 20, 1880, created the Municipal Court of the City of Buffalo, which is still in existence. Immediately after the passage of the act the mayor appointed two Municipal Court judges, whose term of office began on July 1st, of that year. One of these incumbents was appointed for five years and one for six years, from January 1, 1881. The Municipal Court judges of Buffalo have been as follows: George S. Wardwell (appointed for six years); George A. Lewis, (appointed for five years); Judge Wardwell was re-elected; William W. Brown, elected 1886; Louis Braunlein, elected 1891, re-elected, 1897; Charles W. Hinson, 1892-1904; Otto W. Volger, January 1, 1901, to January 1, 1906; Clark H. Ham- mond, January 1,1904, term expires December 31, 1909; Devoe P. Hodson, January 1, 1906, term expires December 31, 1911. SURROGATE COURTS. Courts for the care and adminis- tration of estates have come down from the first Orphans’ Court. Under the first constitution surrogates were appointed for an un- limited period by the Council of Appointment. Under the second constitution they were appointed by the governor and senate for four years and appeals went up to the chancellor. The constitution of 1846 abolished the office, excepting in counties having forty thousand or more population, and transferred its duties to the county judge. In counties with more than forty thousand population surro- gates are elected for six years. The surrogates of Erie County have been as follows: Archibald S. Clarke, appointed for Niagara County, 1808; Otis R. Hopkins, 1812; Amos Callender, 1813; Ebenezer Johnson, 1815; Roswell Chapin, 1821; Ebenezer Johnson, 1828; Martin Chittenden, 1832; Israel T. Hatch, 1833; Samuel Caldwell, 1836;HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 13 Thomas C. Love, 1841; Peter M. Vosburgh, 1845-51; Charles D. Norton, 1852-53-54-55; Abram Thorn, 1856-59 inclusive; Charles C. Severance, 1860-63; Jonathan Hascall, 1864—67; Horatio Seymour, 1868-71; Zebulon Ferris, 1872-77-78-83; Jacob Stern, 1884-95; Louis W. Marcus, 1896-1905; Lou’s B.Hart, November 3, 1905 (by appointment by Governor Hughes), by election, January 1, 1907; still in office. When Niagara County was erected in 1808 the territory of Erie County constituted by far the larger part of it and contained by far the larger part of the population. The county-seat of Niagara County was the same as that of Erie, until the erection of the latter. At the time Niagara County was erected the governor appointed Augustus Porter as first judge of the new Court of Common Pleas, having jurisdiction over Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. His four associates were: Samuel Tupper and Erastus Granger of Buffalo; James Brooks of Cattaraugus County, and Zattu Cushing, of Chautauqua County. This was substantially the beginning of the Erie County organization and of its judiciary. The first County Court in the county was held at Landon’s Tavern, in June, 1808. There are no existing records of the proceedings, but a session was held in November ol that year, at wlr’ch an indict- ment was presented which has been preserved. It charged five men who were described as “laborers of the town of Erie,” with stealing a cow in 1806. There were at that time only four attorneys in Niagara County, as stated in a letter written by Juba Storrs, who had contemplated beginning practice in Buffalo, but changed his plans. Of these Ebenezer Walden was one and the others were without doubt Bates Cooke, of Lewiston, John Root and Jonas Harrison. A new “Commission of the Peace,” as it was termed, was issued in 1814, under which Daniel Chapin, Charles Townsend and Oliver Forward, of Buffalo, Richard Smith, of Hamburg, and Archibald S. Clarke, of Clarence, were named as judges; and Jonas Williams, James Cronk, John Beach and David Eddy, as assistant judges. The death of Judge Samuel Tupper, first judge14 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY of Niagara County, in 1817, and other changes of that period caused a reorganization of the Court of Common Pleas by which William Hotchkiss, of the present County of Niagara, was named as first judge, with five associates; of these Oliver Forward, Charles Townsend, Samuel Wilkeson and Samuel Russell were from the present County of Erie. One of the justices of the peace appointed in that year was James Sheldon, then a young lawyer who had recently settled in Buffalo as a partner of Charles G. Olmstead, a lawyer of a little longer standing in the village. Mr. Sheldon was father of Judge James Sheldon, of the late Buffalo Superior Court. Almost an entire new set of judicial officers was appointed in Febru- ary, 1821, a few months before the date of the act erecting Erie County. Samuel Wilkeson was made first judge, in the face of considerable opposition based upon the fact that he was not an attorney. But he had numerous influential friends, and after his appointment his native good sense and judgment, diligence and firmness enabled him to fill the position with satisfaction to the community. The first murder trial in Erie County took place in June, 1815, when Charles Thompson and James Peters were convicted of killing James Burba. The two men were executed in August, in public, according to the custom at that time. The prisoners were guarded to the scaffold by several companies of militia, under command of General Warren. By the year 1821, in which Erie County was erected and a new epoch in its history began, the number of attorneys in the county had largely increased; most of them had, of course, settled in Buffalo. Indeed, it is doubtful if a regular practitioner at the bar resided in the county, at that date, outside of Buffalo. It is recorded that a cabinet-maker, named Wales Emmons, who settled in Springville in 1817, supplied the local litigants with his service as attorney; and there were doubtless a few other “pettifoggers” at other places before the formation of the county. A new addition to the bar of 1812 was Joseph Clary. The other leading attorneys of that time were Heman B. Potter, EbenezerHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 15 Walden, Jonas Harrison, James Sheldon, William A. Moseley, Stephen G. Austin,-Frederick B. Merrill, Albert H. Tracy and John Root—“Old Counsellor Root/’ as he was called. The latter was the acknowledged joker of the local bar and innumerable stories of his quips and sallies of wit are preserved in print, or in the memo- ries of the older practitioners. Of the lawyers just mentioned, Albert H. Tracy was doubtless the peer of any in Western New York, but his attention was largely absorbed in politics and he seldom appeared in the legal arena. In the spring of 1821, almost before the new county government was inaugurated, there took place the second capital crime, which was followed by a most remarkable trial, the facts regarding which are given in Stone’s Life of Red Jacket and were supplemented by reminiscences of James Aigin. In the spring of 1821 a Seneca Indian died of some lingering disease, after having been nursed by a squaw named Kauquatau. As the Indian medicine men could not determine the cause of death they attributed it to sorcery on the part of the poor nurse. A council was assembled and, after hearing such evidence as appeared, she was found guilty and sen- tenced to death. The Seneca chief, Soonongise, commonly known among the white people as Tommy Jimmy, was secretly chosen as her executioner, which office he performed. Tommy Jimmy was duly indicted. The trial took place at the June term of the Erie County Oyer and Terminer. The jury found on the question of fact that Kauquatau was executed according to Indian law, but the legal question as to whether that fact exempted the executioner from punishment was left unsettled. No judgment was rendered. The court was unwilling to decide that the Indians had authority to com- mit murder and yet were unable to deny that they had from the first been recognized to a certain extent as independent peoples, with broad rights. The prisoner was discharged by the consent of the ' attorney-general. Laws were subsequently passed subjecting the Indians to the same penalties for crimes as the whites. The trial and execution of the “Three Thayers” has come down as one of the most famous cases in the history of the Erie County16 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY courts. They were tried April 19th and 20th, 1825, for the murder of John Love, a peddler, for his money. They were convicted and on the 7th of June there was witnessed the spectacle of three brothers paying the death penalty by hanging, the execution taking place on the west side of Niagara Square. The period from 1830 to 1850 often has been characterized as one in which the Erie County bar reached its highest eminence. By some older members the period of its greatest brilliancy has been still further abridged to 1840-45. It is certain that there were then settled in Buffalo an array of luminous lights in the legal firma- ment that could scarcely be surpassed in this State. The celebrated firm of Fillmore, Hall & Haven had been dissolved and Mr. Hall had been elevated to the bench, but Mr. Fillmore still stood before juries who listened and were swayed by his candid, persuasive powers, while the wit and tact of the junior member, Solomon G. Haven, often prevailed where other methods might have failed. The old courthouse had resounded with the fiery denunciations of Henry K. Smith and Eli Cook, a younger, yet powerful advocate, who enraptured hearers with his eloquence. Other leading lights were Thomas T. Sherwood, John L. Talcott, George R. Babcock, Henry W. Rogers (long district attorney), Dyre Tillinghast, Benja- min H. Austin and Seth E. Sill. Outside of Buffalo, Albert Sawin and Lafayette Carver, of Aurora, Wells Brooks and C. C. Sever- ance, of Springville, and a few others enjoyed considerable practice and the confidence of their clients. The first court building in which this country was interested was the original courthouse of Niagara County. When that county was erected, in 1808, the county-seat was located at “ Buffalo, or New Amsterdam/’ upon condition that the Holland Land Company should erect a courthouse and jail upon a suitable lot and convey the same to the new county. The company complied with this provision and very soon began the erection of the structure. It was a plain frame building, situated in the center of a half acre of land, laid out in circular form, the center of the circle being in what is now Washington Street, just east of Lafayette Square andHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 17 immediately in front of the site of the old house, corner of Clinton and Ellicott streets. This property was duly conveyed to the county in 1810, the deed bearing date November 21st, of that year. Even at that time, the building was not complete, for it was spoken of in the following year as an “unfinished wooden courthouse.” It served its primitive and judicial purpose for the few years that it stood. When Buffalo was burned by the British, on the 30th of December, 1813, the wooden courthouse went down in the flames. Work was commenced on a new structure in the spring of 1816, and it was so far advanced as to admit of occupation early in the next year. This courthouse was then the finest building in Western New York. In 1826 the building was somewhat increased in size and otherwise improved. In 1850, the old courthouse having out- lived its usefulness and become entirely inadequate for its purposes, a new one was erected on the southeast corner of the same lot and facing Clinton Street. It was built of brick, nearly square, three stories high. Its cost was about $17,000. In later years it was occupied by the Young Men’s Christian Association. It was used for its original purpose twenty-five years in connection with the other building, courts being held in one or the other as was found convenient. Soon after the close of the War of the Rebellion it began to be apparent that larger and better accommodations for the courts must soon be provided. The city was growing rapidly and the old buildings were not only inadequate for their purpose, but were not at all worthy of the county in outward appearance. In the winter of 1870-71 the Common Council and many leading citizens inau- gurated the first measures towards a change. On the 1st of April, 1871, a law was passed, providing for the erection of such a building as the city and county needed, at a cost not to exceed $1,400,000. The erection of the building was prosecuted through the years 1874 and 1875 and early in 1876 (the centennial year) it was ready for occupation. On the 13th of March it was formally taken pos- session of by the judges, the bar and the various city and county officers.THE BUFFALO LAW SCHOOL The Department of Law of the University of Buffalo, or, as it is called in more familiar and, indeed, almost universal parlance, The Buffalo Law School, is a topic which is not only pertinent, but essential to a work treating of “The Bench and Bar of Erie County/’ The reason for this is found in the circumstances under which the Law School had its inception, the conditions amid which it has developed and the policy which has consistently characterized it at every stage of its progress. If one were compelled in a single sen- tence to summarize the history of the Buffalo Law School, he could in no way do it so fittingly as by saying that this institution is the foster-child of the bench and bar of Buffalo and of the county at large. Not in the entire annals of the systematization of the study of jurisprudence in the United States is there another instance where an academic foundation for the pursuit of legal science has borne so intimate a relation to practicing lawyers and to judges engaged in the active duties of their office, as has the Buffalo Law School to Erie County’s judicial representatives and legal fraternity. This central fact has given the school a character altogether distinctive. Of that character the dominant trait is the strong practical aim apparent in the curriculum of the institution and the methods of instruction employed. The object of the Buffalo Law School is not to graduate groups of black-letter antiquarians, or coteries of historians, but classes of lawyers—men fitted for the real work of their profession and able from the moment they have received their degrees to enter upon the substantial duties which the business community demands. Has this plan been a success ? Let the record speak for itself. In a report submitted some years ago by Mr. Franklin M. Danaher, Secretary of the State Board of Law Examiners, it was declared that of the seven law schools in the State, that of Buffalo took the lead in point of standard; that the same institution stood first in percentages of examinations for admissionHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I9 to the bar, and that a larger proportion of its graduates did well in practice than in the case of any other school. This ex-cathedra statement is confirmed and amplified by the subsequent record of the institution. In the two last examinations for admission to the bar (those of 1905 and 1907) every Buffalo Law School graduate, without a single exception, who applied for permission to practice, successfully passed the severe tests imposed by the examiners. As the present work goes to press it may be declared with con- fidence that the Law School is about to enter upon a new and a brilliant era. The Greater University of Buffalo project is far ad- vanced toward consummation. The different departments of which the University has been hitherto composed are soon to be centralized about a great institution of classical, scientific and specialized learn- ing, the tangible embodiment of a comprehensive plan. The Law Department will share in the benefits presupposed by such an ideal, and sure of accomplishment by its realization. As a project, the Buffalo Law School dates back to a relatively early period in the history of the city. It is associated with such names as that of Millard Fillmore, afterward President of the United States, and of the Honorable Nathan K. Hall, who became Postmaster-General and a judge of the United States Court. These eminent statesmen and jurists, and other distinguished members of the Erie County Bar, attempted to put into execution the plan of systematic legal tuition, but they were in advance of their age. The period was not ripe for it. The Law School idea was a novel one, not only in Buffalo, but, generally speaking, throughout the country. It had to reckon with the proverbial caution of the bar, the conserv- atism of educators and the habits and customs of students. But years developed and experience proved the soundness of the pro- posal, In 1887 the demand of local law students and of the Buffalo Bar for a method of teaching law which should preserve the advan- tages and eliminate the disadvantages of the old system, and which should supplement the student’s office work with the incitement of class competition had become so pronounced that it could not be disregarded. On the 1st of October of that year twelve young20 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY men, engaged in preparing for the legal profession, met in a small room on Ellicott Street. That was the first class of the Buffalo Law School. In one sense it was a humble beginning; in another, it was not, for these youths represented an aggregate of earnestness and ability not to be surpassed in any equal number of undergradu- ates of the most highly endowed university in the land. And the man who accepted the role of their tutor was a jurist whose learning and genius have never been excelled in the long and splendid annals of the American bench. No less a legal luminary than the Honor- able Charles Daniels, then at the height of his fame, delivered the opening lecture of the Buffalo Law School. His topic was “How to Study Law/’ It seems a striking coincidence that the title and the substance of this initial address should have answered a question imperatively demanding a reply, and that both should have furnished a keynote which has vibrated to this day in the system of an insti- tution notably practical in its aims. This memorable lecture of Judge Daniels had been preceded in the spring of 1887, by a meeting of about a dozen members of the Buffalo Bar, who came to devise some means of giving local law students who could not afford to go to distant cities to attend law schools the benefits of better instruction than the average law office could supply. The motives of these gentlemen, in their admirable disinterestedness, form a bright chapter in the noble ethical creed relating to the duty of the representatives of a learned profession to those who are struggling to surmount the obstacles which hinder access to it. These lawyers were busy men—men to whom time was money, yet they asked no pay and received none, and they willingly agreed to undertake the laborious researches necessary for the preparation of an adequate series of lectures dealing with the basic principles of law and the salient details of procedure. Judge Daniels had the chair of Constitutional Law, Judge Beckwith that of Equity Jurisprudence, Judge Lewis lectured on The Trial of Actions, Judge Wardwell on the subject of Torts, Judge Tourgee on Legal Ethics, and Judge Bangs on Trusts and Trustees. With these judges many leaders of the local bar were associatedHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 21 in the work of instruction, the first faculty of the school numbering twenty-two members. For two years these representative jurists and lawyers fostered the intellectual development and the future professional welfare of that class of a dozen young men as sedulously as if there had been a thousand students. In 1889 eight of them passed the final examinations. The event marked the completion of the initiatory stage of the long path of progress. The Law School, two years after its foundation, had graduated its first class. The next few years we summarize by results rather than charac- terize in detail. In a decade the annual attendance increased from twelve to more than one hundred. The day of small beginnings was a thing of the past. The School had become a firmly estab- lished and an important institution. Bearing in mind the maxim, that facts derive their vitality from the men who create them, we shall arrive at the essentials of what the Law School accomplished in that early period in no surer way than by a brief description of some of the principal professors and lecturers who were identified with this era of growth and fruition, and of their methods which have left a permanent impress on the general policy and the educa- tional ideals of the institution with which the present sketch is concerned. Judge Daniels* a jurist whose mentality presented that rarest of intellectual combinations—the union of profound specialization with widest versatility—stands forth in the perspective of history as one of the dominant figures of that epoch. His interest in the Law School was so intense that he would adjourn court to keep his lecture engagements with the classes. His addresses, embodying the weightiest discussions in the simplest language, were invariably delivered without notes. In this respect they formed a marked contrast with the Equity Jurisprudence lectures of the Honorable Charles Beckwith, Chief Judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, which were written with as much care and polish as though they had been essays for publication. But in substance there was little to choose between the rich harvests of thought of these two masters of judicial and forensic science. The contributions of the Honorable22 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Loran L. Lewis to the intellectual resources of the School cannot well be overestimated, and a proper key to due appreciation of them is found in the fact that Judge Lewis was universally conceded to be the most successful advocate in what was then the Fifth De- partment. His gift of presenting cases to juries was equaled by few and excelled by none,’ and his lectures embodied a fund of experience and suggestion of the utmost value. Judge Albion W. Tourgee, an author of national reputation, had in pre-eminent degree the faculty of clothing legal topics in the garb of consummate literary form. Equally notable were the lectures of Judge Stern on Wills and Estates, and of Judge Bangs on the Law of Trusts. In the long list of distinguished names at one time or another associated with professorships, official functions or special duties in connection with the Buffalo Law School, we find those of Spencer and George Clinton, James Fraser Gluck, alike celebrated as lawyer and scholiast, Le Roy Parker, formerly Vice-Dean, Tracy C. Becker, Adelbert Moot, John G. Milburn and many others. It is an illustrious honor-roll and one whose prestige has been fully maintained by its successors. The present faculty of the Law Department consists of Carlos C. Alden, Dean, Adelbert Moot, Tracy C. Becker, Honorable Alfred Spring and Honorable Charles B. Wheeler, Justices of the Supreme Court; Honorable William H. Hotchkiss, former Referee in Bankruptcy and now State Superintendent of Insurance; Loran L. Lewis, Jr., Honorable John Lord O’Brian, Fred D. Corey, Alfred Hurrell and George D. Crofts. They are assisted by a strong corps of lecturers, all men of representative prominence in the forensic or the judicial walks of legal distinction. The curriculum embraces courses in Elementary Law, Con- tracts, Torts, Domestic Relations, Personal Property, the Law of Crimes, Criminal Procedure, Agency, Sales, Bailments, Negligence, Negotiable Instruments, Partnership, Practice and Pleading, Statute of Frauds, Real Property, Corporations, Evidence, Wills, In- surance and Suretyship, Constitutional Law, Special Proceedings, Equity Jurisprudence, Liens, Federal Courts and Practice,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 23 Bankruptcy, Surrogates* Courts and Practice and Municipal Court Practice. All graduates receive the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and the degree of Master of Laws is conferred upon compliance with the rules prescribed for pursuit of postgraduate courses of study. The School is strongly equipped in incitements for prize competition, offering the Clinton and Daniels Scholarships, while special prizes are given by three of the leading law-book companies of the State. The institution has flourishing local Chapters of the Phi Delta Phi and Delta Chi Law fraternities and is well repre- sented in other University organizations. It has an excellent work- ing library, and students have access at all times to the State Law Library of the Eighth Judicial District, containing over twenty- five thousand volumes. The lecture rooms are located in the Ellicott Square building, in the heart of the business section of Buffalo, and known throughout the country as one of the largest and most admirably equipped office edifices in the Union. The undergraduate course of study is two years in duration. Moot Courts are among the most instructive specialties of the School, and another conspicuous advantage consists in the assignment of classes to attend the sessions of courts sitting in Buffalo. The bond 1 between the School and the Bar and Bench of Buffalo has been confirmed by the custom of more than a score of years, and the enrollment of students as clerks in the offices of leading local prac- titioners forms an invaluable practical supplement to the class work of the Law School. This narrative in outline of an institution which for intrinsic importance, for extended usefulness, for educational and civic associations and in the personal and public interest attaching to those identified with it, might well be the subject of an elaborate history, may properly be concluded with an emphatic accentuation of a theme to which allusion has already been made—namely, the enlarged prospects of the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, by reason of the vigorous impetus recently given to the Greater University movement. Of that project Chancellor Charles P. Norton, former Professor of the Law of Practice in Civil Actions,24 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY has proven himself a motive force whose aggressiveness is admirably tempered with the solid conservatism which forms the bulwark of all successful educational foundations, and the zeal and earnestness of himself, the council and faculty, with the powerful co-operation of the citizens of a broad-minded and public-spirited community, form the most assuring of vouchers for a nobly amplified field of endeavor and accomplishment for the University, and for the Law School which is one of its chief component parts. BIOGRAPHICAL Ebenezer Walden was the first lawyer to make his appearance in Erie County. This was in September, 1806. He was for a year or two the only lawyer west of Batavia. In 1823 he was appointed first judge of Erie County. In 1838 he was elected Mayor of Buffalo. His death took place November 10, 1857, at the age of eighty years. Heman B. Potter was one of the prominent early lawyers of Erie County. He settled in Buffalo in 1810. He was appointed District Attorney of Niagara County two years before Erie County was formed, and from 1819 to 1829 performed the duties of that office with marked success. In the summer of 1825 he was in charge of the prosecution of the three Thayers for the murder of Love. Albert H. Tracy settled in Buffalo in 1815. He was a man of great natural qualifications, to which was added a thorough legal education, eloquence as a public speaker and a temperament that enabled him to win friends. He was elected to the Eighteenth Congress and twice re-elected, gaining almost a national reputation in that body. In 1826 he was appointed a circuit judge by Governor Clinton, but declined the office, and in 1829 was the candidate of the Anti-Masons for State Senator and was elected. As a member of the Court for the Correction of Errors, then the highest judicial tribunal in the State, Mr. Tracy acquired deserved and enduring fame. He was re-elected in 1833 and at the expiration of his term retired from public life. In his large law practice he was a partner with James Sheldon and with Thomas C. Love. He died in 1859.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 25 James Sheldon was born in New Hartford, Oneida County, N. Y., received a classical education in Fairfield Seminary and studied law at Onondaga Hollow, with Thaddeus Wood. He settled in Buffalo in 1815, where he continued in active and successful practice until 1832. He was at one period a partner with Albert H. Tracy and later with Charles G. Olmstead. He was particu- larly successful in criminal cases. George R. Babcock settled in Buffalo in 1824 and was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1829; he was actively engaged in the profession until his death, in 1876. In 1843 he represented Erie County in the Assembly and was elected to the State Senate in 1850 and re-elected in 1852. In the legislative halls he added to his already high repu- tation. As a lawyer he was well informed and as a citizen won the respect of the community. George P. Barker graduated from Union College in 1827, studied law in the office of Stephen G. Austin in Buffalo, with whom he later formed a partnership. He early became the leader of the local Democratic party. In 1832 he was appointed District Attorney in which office he laid the foundation for his high reputation of later years. In 1842 he was elected Attorney-General of the State. On his retirement he was again appointed District Attorney of this county, which office he held until his death in 1848. Solomon G. Haven settled in Buffalo in 1835 after a course of legal study in the office of Governor John Young in Geneseo. In Buffalo he entered the office of Fillmore & Hall. In the next year he was admitted to the partnership. Judge Hall retired from the firm in 1839 and Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Haven continued together until 1847, when the former was elected Comptroller of the State. Mr. Haven remained at the Bar until his death in December, 1861, and for many years was one of its pre-eminent representatives. In March, 1842, he was elected Mayor of Buffalo, and in June, 1843, was appointed District Attorney. In 1850 he was elected to Con- gress and twice re-elected. Nathan K. Hall was born in Onondaga County in 1810 and26 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY settled in Wales, Erie County, in 1826, and immediately thereafter entered the office of Millard Fillmore, in Aurora, to study law. When Mr. Fillmore removed to Buffalo Mr. Hall went with him, and continued his studies until 1832, when he was admitted to the Bar. During the remainder of his life Judge Hall held, perhaps, more public positions than any other citizen of the county. In 1839 he was appointed Master in Chancery and in 1841 Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1845 he was elected to the Assembly, and in 1847 to Congress. When Mr. Fillmore assumed the Presi- dential chair in 1850 Judge Hall was placed in his cabinet as Post- master-General. In 1852 he received the appointment of Judge of the District Court of Western New York, and held that position until his death, in 1874. Seth E. Sill was admitted to the Bar in 1836. Later he was a partner with George P. Barker until the latter was elected Attorney- General of the State, after which Mr. Sill practiced alone until he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court in 1847. He continued on the bench until his death in 1851. Judge Sill was an accurate and conscientious lawyer, and as a jurist was esteemed for his learn- ing and integrity. Millard Fillmore. Buffalo has given to the United States two Presidents. The first of these illustrious citizens to attain the office was Millard Fillmore. Mr. Fillmore was born in Locke, Cayuga County, N. Y., January 7, 1800, being the second child and eldest son of Nathaniel Fillmore and Phoebe (Millard). His father was born in Bennington, Vt., and his mother was a native of Pittsfield, Mass. His parents were among the pioneer settlers of the so-called Military Tract, and removed from Locke to Sem- pronius, Cayuga County. Nathaniel Fillmore was a farmer who cleared his land and built his own home, and, like not a few other distinguished Americans, Millard Fillmore was reared in a log house. Until he was fifteen years old young Fillmore worked on his father’s farm and attended the district schools. As a lad he was apprenticed to Benjamin Hungerford, a carder and cloth-dresserHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 27 of Sparta, N. Y., and in 1815 was reapprenticed to the same business with Zaccheus Cheney and Alvin Kellogg, of Newhope, N. Y. While in their employ Mr. Fillmore began a system of self education, reading every standard work to which he had access. When eighteen years old he taught school for a term in the town of Scott. In 1818 he visited Western New York and later attended school at Canandaigua. Meantime, he had become ambitious to study law and, returning to Cayuga County, he entered the law office of Judge Walter Wood, at Martville. In 1821 he went to Aurora, Erie County, taught a winter school at East Aurora and obtained some practice in justices’ courts. In the spring of 1822 he came to Buffalo and taught a district school and the same year became a student in the law office of Asa Rice and Joseph Clary. In the spring of 1823 he was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas and, opening an office at East Aurora, he practiced there till 1830. In 1827 he was admitted attorney of the Supreme Court and became counselor in 1829. In May, 1830, he removed to Buffalo, where he formed a law partnership with Joseph Clary. He ac- quired a large and successful practice which continued till 1848, when his duties in public life obliged him to relinquish his "profes- sional pursuits. Mr. Fillmore was elected to the Assembly in 1828 and was twice re-elected. In 1832 he was elected to Congress and was re-elected for three successive terms, declining a fifth nomination. In 1843 the Whig National Convention at Philadelphia nominated Mr. Fillmore for Vice-President. He was elected and by the death of General Taylor, July 9, 1850, succeeded him as President of the United States. He attained the Presidency at a critical period in national affairs and administered its duties with great ability and unswerving conscientiousness. However others might differ from him in matters of party principle or governmental policy, no fair- minded man questioned his purity of motive or his sterling patriotism. In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Presidency by the National American Convention, but the party which chose him for its leader was in the decline of its power and the Democrats carried the country. At the close of the campaign Mr. Fillmore28 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY retired from public life. The rest of his days he passed in Buffalo in the pursuits of the scholar and the activities of the citizen. He died March 8, 1874. Asher P. Nichols was admitted to the Bar in 1837. He con- tinued in active practice until his death in May, 1880. In 1867 he was elected to the State Senate, and in June, 1870, was appointed State Comptroller. In both positions he exhibited excellent legis- lative and administrative qualifications. Henry W. Rogers was a successful lawyer in Bath, Steuben County, several years before he settled in Buffalo in 1836. Here he was prominently identified with the profession until about 1872 and during this long period he was recognized as one of the foremost of the Bar of Western New York. He served as District Attorney and later Collector of the Port of Buffalo. The latter years of his life were passed in foreign travel and the gratification of his culti- vated tastes. He died in Ann Arbor, Mich., March, 1880. Joseph G. Masten settled in Buffalo in 1836, after several years of successful practice at the Bar of Bath, Steuben County. In Buffalo he promptly took high rank and in 1848 was chosen Recorder of the city. In 1856 he was elected Judge of the Superior Court, and held the position until his death, in April, 1871. In 1843 he was elected Mayor of Buffalo and was re-elected. Judge Masten was an influential member of the Constitutional Conven- tion in 1867 and served on the judiciary committee. Isaac Verplanck came to Buffalo in 1847 where he enjoyed a large and successful business until his election to the bench of the Superior Court upon its organization in 1854. At the time of his death in 1873 he was chief judge of that court. He was dis- tinguished as a learned, impartial and upright jurist. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1867 from Erie County. George W. Clinton was a son of Governor De Witt Clinton and was born about 1807. Locating in Buffalo he was elected mayor in 1842, and upon the organization of the Superior Court in 1854 was chosen one of the judges. He continued in the officeHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 29 until a few years before his death. He was found dead in the Rural Cemetery, Albany, September 7, 1885. His retirement from office was on account of the age limit. He was an able and honorable jurist. He lived in Albany most of the time after his retirement from the bench, and served as a Regent of the University. Charles D. Norton graduated from Union College in 1839, studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1843. He practiced in Buffalo until 1851, when he was elected Surrogate of Erie County. In 1865 he was appointed Collector of the Port of Buffalo, and continued in that office until his death in 1867. As an advocate Mr. Norton was very successful. He was always deeply interested in the literary institutions of the city. John Ganson is accredited with having been one of the most gifted and eminent lawyers of this State. He represented Erie County in the State Senate in 1862, and was elected to Congress for the critical period of 1863-64,as a so-called War Democrat. His character was of the highest and his ability, integrity and patriot- ism were unquestioned. He died of apoplexy while trying an im- portant case in Buffalo, September 28, 1874. Albert P. Laning was admitted to the Bar in 1845 and prac- ticed in Allegany County until 1855, when he removed to Buffalo. In that city he gained a large practice which he continued until his death in September, 1880. He entered actively into politics and represented Erie County in the Assembly in 1858 and was elected Senator in 1874. He was long attorney for the New York Central Railroad. Dennis Bowen was born at Aurora, February 4, 1820, and studied law with Fillmore, Hall & Haven, after which he was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1842. In the same year he formed a partner- ship with Nathan K. Hall, and from that time until his death in 1877, he continued in active practice. During one period he enjoyed the largest personal clientage ever commanded by any Buffalo lawyer. He took no prominent part in the courts but was recognized as an able and conscientious counselor. In his life outside of his profession30 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY he was highly respected for his uprightness and public spirit. He was a member of the commission to erect the city building and was one of the park commissioners. Charles C. Severance was born at Burlington, Vermont, October 17, 1807. Mr. Severance as a boy worked in his father’s cooper shop in Burlington. Before reaching his 21st year he was graduated with high honors from the University of Vermont. After leaving College, he registered as a daw student in the village of Chazy, Clinton County, and at the same time taught school there. He continued to be instructor by day, and student by night until admitted to the Bar in 1833. In I^33 he came to Buffalo, from Buffalo to Springville by coach, reaching his future home late at night, a stranger to all, with a few text-books and fewer dollars in his pocket. For many years he was President of the Springville Academy. He was magistrate for over thirty years, Supervisor of his town eight years, twice represented his district in the Legis- lature and took a prominent place as floor member, and served the County one term as Surrogate. He died on the 17th of May, 1888. Elbridge Gerry Spaulding is one of the names which are historic landmarks in the annals of Buffalo. In Mr. Spaulding’s career were united the activities of the lawyer, financier and states- man. He was one of the representative personalities, not only of a time, but of an epoch. His influence was felt in local, State, and National affairs, and as the present generation views him in the retrospect, he stands forth, not in the limited, but in the broader sense, as a figure in history. When twenty years old Mr. Spaulding began the study of law in the office of Timothy Fitch, at Batavia, N. Y. He early became a law partner of George R. Babcock, later he formed a law partner- ship with Heman B. Potter, till 1844. In 1846 he became the partner of John Ganson, under the firm style of Spaulding & Ganson. He was elected mayor of Buffalo in 1848, member of As- sembly in 1847, member of Congress in 1849 an<^ State Treasurer of New York in 1853. He was again elected to Congress in 1858HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 31 and re-elected in i860. He was one of the most prominent formu- lators of the Congressional legislation arising from the Civil War, and drafted the legal tender or greenback act and the national currency bank bill. At the close of his third term in Congress Mr. Spaulding retired from political life, but he always continued to be a power in the Republican party and one of its most trusted ad- visers. One of the notable achievements of Mr. Spaulding’s life was his “History of the Legal Tender Paper Money Issued During the Great Rebellion,” published in 1869, being a masterly work and a standard authority on the subject. Grover Cleveland. This illustrious former citizen of Buf- falo, twice President of the United States, had a career which belongs to history proper and stands broadly differentiated from the limits usually assigned to individual achievements. Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, Essex County, N. J., March 18, 1837. He was educated in the public schools and at the academy in Clinton, N. Y., and later became teacher and assistant in an Institution for the Blind, New York City. In 1855 he re- moved to Buffalo, where he became a student in the law office of Bowen & Rogers, being admitted to the Bar in 1859. F°r the next four years he remained with his preceptors as clerk, and in 1863 was appointed Assistant District Attorney, which office he held till 1866. In 1870 he was elected Sheriff of Erie County, serving till 1874, when he returned to the practice of law, becoming a member of the firm of Bass, Cleveland & Bissell. He rose to high rank in his profession, being a trial advocate of unusual skill and a learned and able office counselor. In 1881 Mr. Cleveland was elected Mayor of Buffalo by the largest majority ever given a candidate for the office up to that time. While mayor his famous vetoes of extravagant appropria- tions made him one of the leading political figures of the State and led to his nomination for Governor, to which office he was elected in 1882, defeating Charles J. Folger by nearly 193,000 majority. While Governor, retrenchment, economy and integrity were his guid- ing principles and reform was the watchword of his administration.32 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY When the Democratic National Convention met in Chicago in July, 1884, Mr. Cleveland developed a strength which gave him 683 votes out of 820, whereupon his nomination for the Presidency was made unanimous, and he was elected over James G. Blaine, Republican, by a majority of 37 electoral votes. In 1888 he was nominated against Benjamin Harrison, but was defeated, whereupon he returned to the practice of law, locating in New York City. In 1892 he was again the national standard bearer of the Democracy and was elected, defeating Mr. Harrison. During President Cleve- land’s terms of office the many matters of grave importance which came before him were dealt with from the standpoint of sound statesmanship and sterling patriotism. In 1896, the Democratic party having declared for the free coinage of silver, Mr. Cleveland withheld his support from the platform and ticket. After his second retirement from the White House he made his home in Princeton, N. J., where he resided up to his death which occurred June 24, 1908. June 2,1886, Mr. Cleveland married Frances Folsom, of Buffalo. Their union was blessed with five children: Ruth, Esther, Marion, Richard F., and Frances G. The four last named still survive. James O. Putnam. A classmate of William M. Evarts, he was graduated from Yale College in 1839. He became an ac- knowledged leader of the Bar of Erie County at that period when such men as Millard Fillmore, Solomon G. Haven, George P. Barker, Nathan K. Hall and Henry W. Rogers, were at their best. He early became conspicuous in public affairs and served as Post- master of Buffalo, State Senator, Presidential elector-at-large, Con- sul at Havre, France, and Minister to Belgium by appointment by President Hayes in 1880; and in recognition of his distinguished public services he was appointed to represent this government at the International Congress at Paris in 1881. After his return from the Diplomatic Service he lived at home in the quiet of schol- arly retirement up to his death. For fifty years he was prominently associated with the intellectual and material development of theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 33 city of which he was referred to as its best-loved citizen; always in private life illustrating its best mental and moral virtues, and by eloquent voice and pen the acknowledged exponent of its finest thought and its loftiest purposes. Wilson Shannon Bissell, LL.D., was born at New London, Oneida County, New York, December 31, 1847. He graduated from Yale College in 1869, studied law in the office of Laning, Cleveland & Folsom and was admitted to the Bar in 1871. He became successively a member of the following firms: Cleveland & Bissell; Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard; Bissell, Sicard & Goodyear; Bissell, Sicard, Brundage & Bissell, and Bissell & Cary. He was appointed Postmaster-General by President Cleveland in 1893 and after two years in that office retired and returned to Buffalo and resumed the practice of law in which he continued up to his death. James Sheldon was born in Buffalo, Sept. 6, 1821, a son of James Sheldon, a lawyer. He served as City Attorney, County Judge, United States Commissioner, and Judge of the Superior Court,—4 years and Chief Judge of that Court in 1878. He was a voluminous writer, an eloquent speaker and his writings and speeches evinced the polished scholar that he was. He was head of the. Niagara University School of Law, one of the founders and president of the Y. M. C. A., and prominently identified with various institu- tions of the city. His death occurred May 1, 1887. Eben Carleton Sprague was born in Bath, N. H., Novem- ber 26, 1822. He was brought by his family to Buffalo, in 1826, where he attended the public schools. He was prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, and graduated from Harvard College in 1843. He read law in the offices of Fillmore, Hall & Haven and in October, 1846, was admitted to the Bar. For almost half a century thereafter Mr. Sprague practiced his profession in Buffalo, attaining a high reputation as a lawyer. He was successively senior member of the leading law partnerships of Sprague, Fillmore, Sprague & Gorham; Sprague, Gorham & Bacon; Sprague, Milburn & Sprague; Sprague, Morey & Sprague; Sprague, Morey, Sprague & 334 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Brownell, and Sprague, Moot, Sprague & Brownell. Mr. Sprague was to a notable extent identified with professional, educational, social and benevolent organizations. Notwithstanding his arduous profes- sional pursuits, he always managed to find time for the cultivation of art, music and literature. He pursued a wide diversity of read- ing. His alertness of mind was remarkable and equally so the living interest he took both in current literature and the revival of old studies. Shortly before his death he took up the iEneid. All that was most noteworthy in belles-lettres, history, philosophy and re- ligious thought he studied. The writers for all time—St. Paul, Plato, Homer, Virgil., Dante, Goethe, Milton, were the friends of his heart and mind. He was a great lover of Shelley and the evening before he died was reading aloud from that poet. The death of Mr. Sprague took place on the 14th of February, 1895. The honors paid to his memory were worthy of his ability and character. The press, his brethren of the bar and the public vied in heartfelt expressions of sorrow and esteem. Charles Daniels. A notable example of eminence and suc- cess attained against adverse circumstances, is. presented in the life of that distinguished lawyer and jurist, Hon. Charles Daniels. Judge Daniels was born March 24, 1826, in New York City, of Welsh parentage, and in early life was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and after learning the trade worked at it for years after coming to Buffalo in 1842. While thus engaged he began the study of law, and managed to secure by industry and frugality the means to obtain an education at Canandaigua, and was admitted to the Bar at the age of about twenty-one years. Until 1850 he was engaged in the practice of his profession in this city as a member of the firm of Cook & Daniels, after which time he was alone in his practice. From the very outset of his career he exhibited marked ability as an advocate, and his studious habits and perseverance soon brought him a thorough knowledge of the principles and practice of the law, and his success made him prominent among his fellow-practitioners. In 1863 he was elected to the Supreme Court bench to fill theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 35 vacancy caused by the death of Hon. James G. Hoyt, and directly after the election was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court by Governor Seymour, and he was re-elected for a full term in 1869, and again without opposition in 1877. He was appointed Asso- ciate Justice of the General Term, First Department, by Governor Dix, in December, 1873, and ably filled the position for five years, and was reappointed by Governor Cornell, and continued in that court over twenty years. In 1886 he was made the nominee of the Republican party for Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, but was defeated by Hon. Rufus W. Peckham at the election follow- ing. His term of office expired in 1891, and he retired from the bench with the approbation of all his fellow citizens of both political parties. He was elected to Congress in 1892, and again in 1894, and represented the Thirty-Third District with the distinguished ability which characterized him on the bench. Judge Daniels was a Republican of liberal views, a firm champion of integrity in political management, and a citizen whom his fellow-men were proud to honor. He died in December, 1897. Daniel Newton Lockwood was a legislator, public official, lawyer, political leader and orator. He nominated Grover Cleve- land for Mayor of Buffalo, for Governor of the State and for Presi- dent of the United States. As a lawyer Mr. Lockwood was of keen acumen and deep learning, and a trial advocate of consummate skill. In oratory, the accomplishments of Mr. Lockwood were such as to give him national renown. He was born in Hamburg, Erie County, N. Y., June 1, 1844. He graduated from Union College in 1865 and studied law in the office of Humphrey & Parsons, and in 1866 was admitted to the Bar. He soon became a member of the firm of Humphrey, Lock- wood & Hoyt, later, Lockwood, Hoyt & Green, a firm of which Mr. Lockwood was the senior member till his death. In 1874 he was elected District-Attorney and later elected Member of the House of Representatives in the 45th Congress, serving in the sessions of 1877, 78 and 1879. At the end of his first term-in30 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Congress, Mr. Lockwood resumed the practice of the law, forming a partnership with Judge Humphrey. In 1886 President Cleveland appointed Mr. Lockwood United States District Attorney for Northern New York. In 1887 he was elected Representative to Congress and re-elected in 1892, serving until 1895. After his retirement from Congress, Mr. Lockwood again re- turned to his profession. In 1894 he received the Democratic nomi- nation for Lieutenant-Governor. In 1901 he was a member of the commission chosen to represent New York State at the Pan-American Exposition. In 1903 he was appointed a member of the State Lunacy Commission, and in 1905 became President of that body, an office which he continued to fill till the time of his death, June 1,1906. James M. Smith. Among names honorably enrolled in the history of Buffalo, a prominent place belongs to that of the late Hon. James M. Smith, eminent alike as a jurist and a citizen, a leader of the Erie County Bar and for many years Judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo. He was born at East Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont, August 23, 1816. In 1837 he was admitted to the Bar. In Feb- ruary, 1838, he removed to Buffalo, where he engaged in the prac- tice of his profession, and in 1848 became the partner of Solomon G. Haven, the former partner of Millard Fillmore, in the firm of Haven & Smith. He later became associated with Hon. John Ganson in the firm of Ganson & Smith, an association which im- mediately took rank as one of the foremost law partnerships in this section of the State. In 1873, on the death of the Hon. Isaac A. Verplanck, one of the judges of the Superior Court of Buffalo, Mr. Smith was appointed to fill the unexpired term. This honor was followed in 1874 by his election to the Superior Court bench for a term of fourteen years. Judge Smith retired from the bench January 1, 1887. He died in Buffalo.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 37 HON. ALBERT HAIGHT, Judge of the Court of Appeals, has exercised judicial functions during practically the whole of his active career and has a record of nearly thirty-six years of continuous service on the bench. That he has attained the honors of the high- est court of the State, that for a periodjexceeding the average life- time of a generation he has been uninterruptedly entrusted by the people with the grave and responsible duties of the bench, is surely a sufficient characterization of this able and enlightened jurist, this faithful conserv- ator of the public interests. Albert Haight was born in Ellicottville, N. Y., Feb- ruary 20, 1842, and was educated in the public schools and at Springville Academy. At an early age he decided to enter the pro- fession of the law, and after pursuing the regular course of study he was admitted to the Bar in 1863. Immedi- ately thereafter he opened a law office in Buffalo. In the fall of 1872 he was elected County Judge of Erie County. In Novem- ber, 1876, before he had served out his term of office, he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court for the Eighth Judicial District, and on December 31st of the same year he resigned the County Judge- ship in order to assume his duties on the Supreme Court bench. In 1884 Governor Cleveland appointed him Associate Justice of the General Term, Fifth Department, and in 1889 he was appointed Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, Second Division, by Gov- ernor Hill. In 1890 Judge Haight received an almost unanimous HON. ALBERT HAIGHT38 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY re-election as Justice of the Supreme Court, and in 1892 he was reappointed to the General Term by Governor Flower. A fact indicative of the confidence reposed in Judge Haight, irrespective of party affiliations, is that though himself a Repub- lican, all his appointive offices have come to him through Demo- cratic Governors, and it should be added that in 1890, on the occa- sion of his second election to the Supreme Court Justiceship, both Democrats and Republicans endorsed his candidacy. In 1894 Judge Haight was elected on the Republican ticket, as Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, which office he holds at the present time. Judge Haight is a man of methodical habits and a hard worker. Throughout his whole period of service in the General Term he found time, when occasion demanded, to hold Circuit and Special Term courts. For many years he has taken part in the decision of from four hundred to five hundred cases yearly, and has written, on the average, seventy-five opinions a year. Judge Haight’s characteristics as a jurist were some years ago tersely summarized by a distinguished member of the BuflFalo Bar, in the following words: “Slow to judgment, seeks the truth, is just, and sure.” Judge Haight is to the last degree modest and unassuming as to his own at- tainments, but these are unquestionably great and rank him with the ablest jurists of our day. His decisions have passed into the vast body of the case law of the State, form a valuable part of that structure, and are recognized as authority, both on subjects inviting the application of familiar rules of law, and on many topics, novel in their character and which prior to their submission to him had not been adjudicated. It may be said of Judge Haight that he has found in law both his life work and his recreation, and his career is a notable instance of steadfast application to a definite object. He is not, however, a jurist to the exclusion of every other aim, but is a man of broad cul- ture and sound information on general topics. In manner and the more familiar traits of personality and taste, he is characterized by dignity without austerity. He is a member of the BuflFalo Club, and of the Fort Orange Club, of Albany, and he is both prominent and popular in social life.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 39 HON. TRUMAN C. WHITE, Justice of the Supreme Court, is an eminent jurist and one of Buffalo’s leading citizens. Before he received judicial honors Judge White won high rank as'a prac- titioner at the Bar. He is a sound lawyer and an able judge, fair- minded and possessing alike the confidence of the Bar and the public. He was born in Perrysburg, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., April 30, 1840. He there attended the public and select schools and Springville Academy. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Tenth New York Cavalry in the Civil War, serving successively as quartermaster-sergeant, or- derly or first sergeant, and first lieutenant, being mus- tered out in July, 1865. While in the army he had spent much of his leisure reading Blackstone and Kent. In January, 1866, he entered the law office of Judge Stephen Lockwood. Shortly afterward he became a student and managing clerk in the office of that brilliant jurist Hon. Edward Stevens. In November, 1867, he was admitted to the Bar, later becoming associated with Mr. Stevens in the firm of Stevens & White. Mr. Stevens died in 1868 and Mr. White was afterward successively associated with George Wadsworth, Nelson K. Hopkins and Seward A. Simons. He carried on a large practice with ability and success; for many years prior to his elevation to the bench being regarded as one of the ablest legal practitioners of the city. In 1885 he was nominated for the Superior Court bench of HON. TRUMAN C. WHITE40 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Buffalo, and received support from both parties. He failed of elec- tion by only fifty-seven votes in a total of 33,000, but was placed in nomination for the same office in 1891 and was elected by over 400 votes. When under the new Constitution the Superior Court was superseded by the Supreme Court, Judge White was transferred to the latter bench, entering upon its duties January 1, 1896, his term of office expiring December 31, 1901. He was then elected to succeed himself, and is now serving his second term. Judge White takes an active interest in the institutions, social life and general welfare of Buffalo. He is a man of plain tastes, kindly manners and a straightforward candor, and he enjoys the regard of a large circle of friends. HON. CHARLES BARKER WHEELER, Justice of the Supreme Court, is one of Buffalo’s ablest jurists, and prior to his elevation to the bench had won high repu- tation as a lawyer of eru- dite attainments and supe- rior capability. He was born at Poplar Ridge, Cay- uga County, N. Y., Decem- ber 27, 1851. He enjoyed superior educational advan- tages, studying at Williams College, from which he grad- uated with the class of ’73. After his graduation, he came to Buffalo and entered the office of Sprague & Gor- ham, with whom he read law for three years. In 1876 HON. CHARLES BARKER WHEELER he ^ admitted tO the Bat; immediately thereafter beginning the practice of his profession inHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 41 Buffalo. The early maturity of Mr. Wheeler’s legal talents and his exceptional thoroughness and industry attracted the notice of elder lawyers and led to his connection with those eminent prac- titioners, Sherman S. Rogers and Franklin D. Locke, by whom he was admitted to partnership in 1882, the association lasting three years. In 1885 he began practice alone, and continued until his elevation to the bench, by appointment to succeed Hon. Daniel Kenefick, who resigned, assuming office December 1, 1906. Mr. Wheeler was appointed a member of the Civil Service Commission, by Mayor Becker, and he served so acceptably that he was re- appointed by Mayor Bishop. During the administration of Mayor Jewett he again served two years, and being reappointed by Mayor Diehl he served another two years, resigning on the expiration of his tenth year in office. Again appointed a member of the Civil Service Commission, by Mayor Knight, he served three years more, making a total of thirteen years; for ten years acting as Chairman of the Board. Judge Wheeler is a Director of the J. N. Matthews Company, and President of the New York and Buffalo Title Insurance Com- pany. He is a life member and director of the Young Men’s Asso- ciation; has been connected with the University of Buffalo ever since its organization, and is Professor of Corporation Law in the Buffalo Law School. He is a member of the University Club, Buffalo Chapter Sons of the Revolution, the Historical Society and the Society of Natural Sciences. Judge Wheeler attends Trinity Church. FRANK C. LALKjHLIN, Justice of the Supreme Court. A very large share of the judicial career of Judge Laughlin belongs to his record as one of the Justices of the Appellate Division in the City of New York, and there can be no more apt characterization of the achievements of this noted Judge than is implied in the uni- versally recognized fact that he is one of the most prominent mem- bers of this tribunal. Judge Laughlin was born in Newstead, Erie County, N. Y., July 20, 1859, and was reared in Wilson, Niagara County, where he attended the public schools, and later the LTnion42 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY School, of Lockport. He read law in the office of John E. Pound, and in 1882 was admitted to the Bar. He then removed to Buffalo, where he became associated with the firm of Sprague, Morey & Sprague. In 1885 he was appointed Assistant City Attorney of Buffalo, and later City Attorney, and he continued till 1891, making a brilliant record as a trial lawyer. He then engaged in general practice. In 1893 he was elected Corporation Counsel, by 8,000 majority. Two years afterward he was nominated by acclamation for Justice of the Supreme Court by a convention composed chiefly of lawyers representing the Bar of the eight western counties of the State. He was elected by an overwhelming majority, and in 1896 began the judicial career in which he has rendered services which rank him with the foremost jurists of the country. HON. EDWARD K. EMERY, Justice of the Supreme Court, has won distinction at the Bar, elevation to the bench and legislative honors. Of intellectual poise and judi- cial caliber, the moral and civic standards of Justice Emery are of the kind which commend themselves to the sterling elements of a com- munity. He was born in East Aurora, Erie County, N. Y., July 29, 1851. The self-culture which is a char- acteristic fact of Judge Emery’s career began while he was still in his boyhood, his education being chiefly due to his own efforts. He taught school winters and did farm work in the sum- to begin a course of HON. EDWARD K. EMERY mer time, thus acquiring enough meansHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 43 legal study. Coming to Buffalo, he read law, his preparatory work being marked by rare diligence and research. In 1877 he was admitted to the Bar, immediately thereafter engaging in the practice of his profession in Buffalo. Judge Emery’s early experi- ence in the active labors of his profession was accompanied by struggles and self-denial. He soon became known as one of the hard-working and reliable young attorneys and steadily grew in the public confidence, building up a valuable practice. As time passed his position became fully confirmed, and in the later years of his active practice he was recognized as one of the ablest of Buffalo lawyers. Always a Republican, in the fall of 1886 he was elected Assemblyman to represent the old Fifth District of Erie County and re-elected in 1887. On retiring from the Legislature, Mr. Emery resumed the active duties of his profession. He was elected County Judge in 1895 and re-elected for a second term of six years in 1901. In 1907 he was elected an. additional Supreme Court Judge from the Eighth Judicial District, in which position he is serving at the present time. An able lawyer and jurist, Judge Emery is also prominent in social life. He is a Mason, a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Royal Arcanum. JOHN S. LAMBERT, Justice of the Supreme Court, has for nearly twenty years ably fulfilled the duties of that office. Judge Lambert stands in the front rank of the jurists of the State. He was born in Johnsonville, Rensselaer County, N. Y., February 4, 1851, and received his lay education in the public schools and at Greenwich Academy, Washington County. Removing to Western New York, he studied law with the firm of Morris & Russell, of Fredonia, and was admitted to the Bar in 1877. After practicing for about a year in Mayville, Chautauqua County, Judge Lambert returned to Fredonia to accept a partnership in the firm of Morris, Russell & Lambert, which, after four years was succeeded by that of Morris & Lambert. Judge Lambert’s rise in his profession was rapid. In 1881 he was elected County Judge and re-elected in 1888. In 1889 he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court and44- history OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY re-elected in 1903. In addition to his regular work in the Eighth Judicial District, he has presided by special appointment at many important trials in other parts of the State. In Judge Lambert the dignity of the jurist is happily united with the amenities of character which find their fitting sphere in the refinements of social life, and his wide popularity has been reared on the substantial foundation of respect for the man, the Judge and the citizen. HON. LOUIS W. MARCUS, Justice of the Supreme Court and former Surrogate of Erie County, has attained distinguished honors as a lawyer and jurist. Born in Buffalo, May 18, 1863, he attended the Buffalo gram- mar and Central High I schools and Williams Acad- emy. He then became a student in the Law Depart- ment of Cornell University, graduating in 1889 with the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to the Bar. Im- mediately afterward he be- gan practice in Buffalo. In 1890 he became a mem- ber of the law firm of Swift, Weaver & Marcus. Two years later Mr. Swift with- drew, and the copartnership continued as Weaver & Marcus until the death of Mr. Weaver in 1894. In 1895 he was elected Surrogate of Erie County. The record of Judge Marcus as Surrogate caused him to be ap- pointed by Governor Higgins Supreme Court Justice to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Henry A. Childs. In the fall of the HON. LOUIS W. MARCUSHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 45 same year he received the regular Republican nomination for Justice of the Supreme Court for the Eighth Judicial District, and was elected by a large majority. He is now serving a fourteen years’ term, and there may confidently be predicted for him a brilliant judicial career. WARREN B. HOOKER, Supreme Court Justice for the Eighth Judicial District, has attained notable distinctions in several departments of public life. Judge Hooker is one of the ablest jurists of the coun- try, a man whose person- ality and attainments have left a distinctive impress upon the substantive law of the State, and whose fearlessness, impartiality and uprightness have won for him the deserved confi- dence of his associates on the bench, of the Bar and of the community at large. Judge Hooker is of New England ancestry, his father having been a native of Ver- mont and his mother of Massachusetts. The sub- ject of this sketch was born in Perrysburg, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., November 24, 1856, and was educated in the public schools and at Forestville Academy, graduating from the latter in 1875. He read law with John G. Record, of Forestville, and in 1879 was admitted to the Bar. After a few years of practice in Chautauqua County he removed to the West, but in 1884 he returned to Fredonia, this State, where he carried on a large and successful general business. In 1878 Judge Hooker was elected Special Surrogate of Chautauqua County, and served for three years. In 1890 he was elected to Congress in the WARREN B. HOOKER46 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Thirty-fourth Congressional District, and re-elected in 1892 and in 1896. In the Fifty-fourth Congress he was Chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee. In 1898 he resigned from Con- gress and was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court and the following year was elected for a term of 14 years, and in 1992 was designated Associate Judge of the Appellate Division, Second De- partment. Since the expiration of that term he has served as a Su- preme Court Judge of the Eighth District. A man of winning person- ality, thoroughly representative of the people, and having the happy gift of reconciling the dignity of the bench with kindly manners and genial qualities, Judge Hooker is not only one of the most respected but one of the most popular of the jurists of the State of New York. ALFRED SPRING, Justice of the Supreme Court, is a jurist I whose long and valuable services on the bench have given his name a high place | on the honorable roll of the | masters of legal science. No I judge possesses in a more | notable degree the confi- | dence of his associates on | the bench, of the bar, and | the community at large. | Alfred Spring was born in I Franklinville, N. Y., Feb- ruary 19, 1851. His father, | Samuel S. Spring, was one | of the prominent lawyers of | his day, and at the time of | his death, in 1875, was serv- ing as County Judge of I Cattaraugus County. The subject of this sketch was reared in Franklinville, where he graduated from Ten Broeck Free Academy in 1870. Subsequently he studied for two years at the ALFRED SPRINGHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 47 University of Michigan, and on his return to Western New York began reading law with his father, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in October, 1875. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Franklinville. His rise at the bar was both steady and rapid. He was elected Supervisor of Franklinville in 1876, and in 1879 was elected Surrogate of Cattaraugus County, and re-elected in 1885; he served in all twelve years. In January, 1895, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court by Governor Morton and in November of the same year he was elected to that office on the Republican ticket for the fourteen years’ term expiring De- cember 31, 1909. In January, 1899, he was transferred to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the Fourth Depart- ment, and in January, 1904, was re-designated to serve as judge in that court until January 9, 1909. As this work goes to press Judge Spring has received the nomination on the Republican ticket and endorsement of the Democratic party to succeed himself for another term of 14 years. Judge Spring is a member of the Buffalo, Uni- versity and -Saturn clubs, of Buffalo, and of the Genesee Valley Club, of Rochester. In 1901 he received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Michigan. One of the most scholarly mem- bers of the American bench, he has contributed to current litera- ture by many essays, remarkable for brilliancy of thought and depth of research. CHARLES H. BROWN, Supreme Court Justice from the Eighth Judicial District, entered upon the important and exalted functions of the bench with the advantage of the equipment which comes from long experience as a practicing lawyer and from the discipline of arduous and profound study of jurisprudence, re- garded both in its scientific aspects and its application to the prac- tical details of procedure and research. The subject of this sketch was born in West Winfield, N. Y., July 20, 1858, being the son of Hiram C. and Alice A. (Stuart) Brown. After receiving his lay education at West Winfield Academy and at the Hungerford Collegi- ate Institute, at Adams, N. Y., he read law in Little Falls, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in 1880. From that time to his48 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY elevation to the bench he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession, his career at the bar being characterized by a union of ability and application which placed him in the front rank of the legal fraternity of Western New York. From 1890 to 1897 he served as District Attorney of Allegany County, and from 1898 to 1906 he was United States District Attorney for the Western Dis- trict of New York. At the close of the latter term of office he was elected Supreme Court Justice from the Eighth District for the fourteen years’ term beginning in 1907 and to expire in 1920. Judge Brown resides in Belmont, N. Y., where for many years he was a member of the law firm of Brown, Reynolds & Ackerman. He is a Mason, and a member of the Buffalo and Ellicott Clubs. His politics are Republican. CUTHBERT W. POUND, who three years ago succeeded the late Henry A. Childs as Supreme Court Justice for the Eighth Judicial Dis- trict, is a jurist whose ster- ling qualifications for the bench were demonstrated in advance of the event by a notable career at the bar and by important services to the State. He is the son of Alexander and Almira (Whipple) Pound, and was born in Lockport, N. Y., June 20, 1864. He was edu- cated in the Lockport pub- lic schools and at Cornell University. On leaving col- lege he began the study of law with his brother, the Hon. John E. Pound, of Lockport, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in June, 1886. CUTHBERT W. POUNDHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 49 For the nine years following, he was actively engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in Lockport, but in 1895 he removed to Ith aca, N. Y., to accept the position of Professor of Law in the Cornell Law School, in which capacity he was a member of the Faculty of the University from 1895 to 1904, when he resigned to resume practice in Lockport as senior member of the firm of Pound & Moore. From 1888 to 1891, Mr. Pound was City Attorney of Lockport, and in 1893 was elected State Senator from what was then the 29th Senatorial District. In June, 1900, he was appointed by Governor Roosevelt to the office of State Civil Service Com- missioner to succeed Hon. Willard A. Cobb. In June, 1903, he was chosen President of the State Civil Service Commission, re- taining that office until January, 1905, when he was appointed Counsel to Governor Higgins, a position which he held until his elevation to the bench. While in the Senate, Mr. Pound, as Chair- man of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, took an im- portant part in the investigation of the election frauds at Gravesend, and was also a member of the Lexow Commission which unearthed the corruptions and abuses of the municipal administration of New York City. He was also a prominent factor in the work of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one of his notable services was the introduction of the Compulsory Education Law which is still a part of the statutory jurisprudence of the State. In 1906 he was appointed Supreme Court Justice to succeed Henry A. Childs, deceased, and in November of that year he was elected to the same office for the full term, which will expire December 31, 1920. Judge Pound is a Republican. He is a member of the State Bar Associa- tion, a Director of the National Exchange Bank, of Lockport, a member of Cornell Chapter, of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, the Town and Qown Club, of Ithaca, and. the Buffalo Club, of Buffalo. FREDERICK W. KRUSE, Justice of the Supreme Court, now serving as one of the Justices of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, is a jurist whose learning, ability and impartiality50 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY have given him an enviable place in the confidence of the Bar, of his associates on the bench, and of the community at large. Judge Kruse was born in Germany, June 25, 1852, and when a year old came with his parents to this country. He was educated in the public schools and at Griffith Institute, Springville, N. Y. As a boy he earned his own living, engaging in various occupations, and later he taught school. Admitted to the Bar in 1877, he practiced law in Arcade and in Olean, N. Y., and steadily rose to an acknowledged position as a legal practitioner of ex- ceptional attainments and resourcefulness. A Repub- lican, he served as a Mem- ber of Assembly from 1884 to 1887, and was also a member of several impor- tant State Commissions, in- cluding one in 1887 ap- pointed to revise the Ses- sion Laws, and the one chosen in 1895 to prepare charters for third-class cities. In 1890 he was ap- pointed Special Commis- sioner to investigate Federal Census frauds, and in that about the re-numeration of the City of Minneapolis. Subsequently he was elected County Judge of Cattaraugus County, serving in that office from 1897 to 1900. On the 1st of January, 1900, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court by Governor Roosevelt, and in 1900 was elected to that office for the term expiring December 31, 1914. In January, 1906, he was assigned to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, theklesignation to expire January 3,1911. This brief review of Judge FREDERICK W. KRUSE capacity was instrumental in bringingHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 51 Kruse’s career makes sufficiently plain the fact that in addition to his legal attainments and judicial services he has had a wide and diversi- fied experience in civic affairs. He is a man of broad outlook, keen insight, and one who unites with the special studies which have occupied so great a share of his life a liberal general culture. JOHN R. HAZEL, United States District Judge for the Western District of New York, is by sterling ability, learned attainment and comprehensive experience admirably equipped for the dignified and responsible functions of the Federal bench. Born in Buffalo, December 18, i860, his lay education was received in public and private schools, supplemented by an assidu- ous and systematic course of general reading. He early began the study of law in the office of James C. Fullerton, and in 1882 was admitted to the bar, there- after forming a partnership with Mr. Fullerton under the firm style of Fullerton & Hazel. Later Tracy C. Becker was as- sociated with the firm, which then became Fullerton, Becker & Hazel, which continued for eight years, when Mr. Hazel withdrew to be- come the senior member of the firm of Hazel & Abbott, which was dissolved by Mr. Hazel’s appointment/ in 1900, to the bench. During these years, Mr. Hazel won a distinguished place as a legal practitioner, and stood in the front rank of his profession. He was a Member of Assembly in 1891 and three years later was appointed JOHN R. HAZEL52 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY by Comptroller Roberts Commissioner of Corporation Taxes. In 1892 he was chosen a member of the Republican State Com- mittee, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896, and again in 1900. June 5, 1900, he was appointed by President McKinley United States District Judge for the Western District of New York, and his judicial record now includes over nine years of vigorous, efficient, conscientious service. An inter- esting circumstance of historic significance is the fact that after the death of President McKinley it fell to Judge Hazel to admin- ister the oath of office to his successor, President Roosevelt. HON. HARRY L. TAYLOR, County Judge of Erie County, is a jurist whose recently attained judicial honors are the logical result of high professional standing. Born in Halsey Valley, Tioga County, April 14, 1866, he was educated in the common schools, Spencer Free Academy, graduated from Ithaca High School in 1884, and from Cornell University in 1888 with the degree of A.B. During his senior year at the University he was elected President of his class, and was chosen a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. He was also one of the speakers in the Stewart L. Woodford prize contest for oratorical honors. After his graduation he taught for some time at Shortledge’s Acad- emy, Media, Pa. In the fall of 1890 he entered the Law School at Cornell, graduating in 1893. At this time Charles L. Hughes, now Governor, was a teacher in the Cornell Law School. He advised Mr. Taylor to begin his law practice in Buffalo, and the counsel was followed. The young attorney soon built up a successful busi- ness and continued up to his elevation to the bench. Upon the election of the Hon. Edward K. Emery to the Su- preme Court bench, Mr. Taylor was appointed by Governor Hig- gins, County Judge, to succeed him. In the fall of 1907 he was duly elected to that office for a term of six years. Judge Taylor has cherished the ties and associations of his University days with the spirit of a true son of Cornell. Four years ago the Cornell alumni elected him a Trustee of his almaHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 53 mater. He is a member of the University Club of Buffalo, is affili- ated with Lodge of the Ancient Landmarks, F. & A. M.; is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Ismailia Temple. HON. LOUIS BRET HART, Surrogate of Erie County, has, during the comparatively brief time which has elapsed since he attained the honors of the bench, demonstrated that he possesses judicial abili- ties of a superior order. Louis B. Hart was born at Medina, N. Y., March 30, 1869, and was educated in the public schools of Lockport. When fifteen years old he began the study of stenography. He later became private secretary for Senator McMillan, and in this capacity he spent a year at Albany. When twenty-one years old he was appointed stenographer to the grand jury of Erie County by District Attor- ney Quinby, and continued to fill that position for the succeeding four years. He was then made managing clerk of the District Attorney’s office, and was later reappointed to the place by District Attorney Kenefick. During this time he was a special at the Buffalo Law School, and in 1892 he was admitted to the bar. On the 1st of January, 1896, he was appointed Clerk of the Surrogate’s Court by Surrogate Louis W. Marcus, and continued to retain that position for the next ten years. When Judge Marcus was elevated to the Supreme Court HON. LOUIS BRET HART54 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY bench in 1905, Mr. Hart’s demonstrated legal ability and his famil- iarity with Surrogate’s practice and the detail work of the office, made him the logical successor of Surrogate Marcus, and his candidacy received the hearty endorsement of the Republican party, the bar and the people at large. Since his election Surrogate Hart has administered the affairs of his court with conspicuous ability and with an impartiality which leaves no scope for adverse criticism. CHAUNCEY J. HAMLIN, Referee in Bankruptcy for Erie County, can hardly be better characterized than by the fact that at a relatively early stage of his professional career he has attained a judicial position of notable importance and responsi- bility. A lawyer whose ster- ling legal attainments have been reared on the basis of a careful scholastic educa- tion, Mr. Hamlin has an exceptionally strong equip- ment of learning, ability and character. The subject of this sketch was born in Buffalo, January 11, 1881. He was prepared for college at the Hill School, at Potts- town, Pa., graduating from that institution in 1899, and subsequently entering Yale Univer- sity, from which he was graduated in 1903 with the degree of A. B. Returning to Buffalo, he pursued the regular course of legal study in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, also serving a law clerkship with the firm of Rogers, Locke & CHAUNCEY J. HAMLINHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 55 Babcock, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1905, the same year also graduating from the Law School with the degree of LL.B. Till January 1, 1909, he continued as managing clerk with Messrs. Rogers, Locke & Babcock; since then he has been engaged in practice by himself. On February 18, 1909, he was appointed Referee in Bankruptcy to succeed William H. Hotchkiss. A Republican, he has taken an active part in civic reforms. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, and several of Buffalo’s leading social clubs. He has for several years been a member of the Executive Committee of the Municipal League, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the Day Camp Associa- tion in which capacity he has had an important share in the estab- lishment of camps for tuberculosis patients. Endowed with rare concentration of purpose, Mr. Hamlin devotes all his time to his official duties and his general practice. His citizenship and pro- fessional ability are of a high order, and he possesses the esteem and confidence of the bar and the community. CLARK HURD HAMMOND was born in the town of Brant, Erie County, February 23, 1875. He attended the public schools of Buffalo and Angola Academy, graduating in 1895. In the fall of 1895 he entered the University of Buffalo Law School, graduating in 1897, during which time he was a clerk in the office of Hammond, Hatch & Ackerson. He later formed a partnership with his father under the firm name of Hammond & Hammond, continuing until he became Judge of the Municipal Court in 1903, for a term of six years. Judge Hammond has done excellent work on the bench, pre- siding with justice and fairness, and bringing to his judicial task a thorough knowledge of the law. He is now the senior Judge of his Court. DEVOE PELL HODSON was born at Ithaca, N. Y., March 23, 1856. He was educated in the public schools of Ithaca, Ithaca Academy and Cornell University. He began reading law in the56 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY office of Samuel D. Halliday and that of Judge Marcus Lyon, both of Ithaca, and in September, 1879, was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of law in Ithaca. In 1887 he bought a half interest in the Ithaca Republican. The partners decided to engage in a publishing enterprise in Southern California, and in San Diego they established a large printing office, and also published the Morning Telegram. After some months Mr. Hodson sold his share in the business, and returning to Ithaca, resumed the prac- tice of law. In February, 1889, he left Ithaca and opened a law office in Buffalo, where he practiced alone four years. In 1893, with George B. Webster, he formed the law partnership of Hodson & Webster. In 1882-83 he was Clerk of the Tomkins County Board of Supervisors. In 1885-86 he was Corporation Counsel of Ithaca. Soon after coming to Buffalo the authorities of Niagara Falls elected him non-resident Corporation Counsel of that municipality, which office he held two terms. May 16, 1900, Mayor Diehl appointed Mr. Hodson a member of the Buffalo Board of School Examiners for the term of three years. He declined a further appointment at the hands of the Republican Mayor Erastus C. Knight. In the fall of 1905 Mr. Hodson received the Democratic nomination for Judge of the Municipal Court, and was elected. ADELBERT MOOT is one of the leading lawyers of the Buffalo bar, and occupies a recognized place among the ablest lawyers of the State. He was born in Allen, Allegany County, N. Y., November 22, 1854. He attended the district schools, the village school at Bel- mont, Nunda Academy and the State Normal School at Genesee. He read law with the Hon. D. P. Richardson of Angelica, Hon. Wilkes Angell, of Belmont and with Isaac Edwards. He received the degree of LL.B., from Albany Law School November 22, 1876, and was duly admitted to the bar. In 1877 Mr. Moot began active practice in Nunda, N. Y., forming a partnership with George M. Osgoodby in the firm style of Osgoodby & Moot. In 1879 Mr. MootHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 57 removed to Buffalo. Soon afterward he entered into partnership with Mr. Osgoodby and Judge Titus under the firm name of Osgoodby, Titus & Moot. In January, 1882, Mr. Moot withdrew to become a member of the firm of Lewis, Moot & Lewis. After twelve years, the firm was dissolved when Hon. Loran L. Lewis, the senior partner, was elected to the Supreme Court bench. On Judge Lewis’s withdrawal the new firm of Moot & Lewis was formed. In 1894 this connection was dissolved, and Mr. Moot became a member of the firm of Sprague, Moot, Sprague & Brown- ell, which in June, 1897, was changed to the present style of Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy. Mr. Moot has been connected with many cases to which great popular interest attached. Among them may be mentioned the Ashtabula Bridge suit, the Hamlin and Fox cases, the Cherry Creek litigation and the celebrated litigation be- tween the Standard Oil Company and the Buffalo Lubricating Company. For a number of years he has been counsel for Rail- road Companies and has tried many important cases for them, his services being attended with a remarkable degree of success. At present, Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy represent the legal interests of the Erie, Grand Trunk, Wabash and Buffalo Creek railroads, the International Bridge Company, the Erie County Sav- ings Bank and the Commonwealth Trust Company. Mr. Moot finds time to do much reading and study outside of professional fields. His pursuits are clearly indicated by certain of his club affiliations. He belongs to the Liberal and Thursday Clubs, the Society of Natural Sciences and the Buffalo Historical Society and the Saturn Club. He is a member of the American and New York State Bar Associations, and is one of the faculty of the Buffalo Law School. He is among the most prominent members of the Civil Service Reform Association. GEORGE CLINTON, one of the eminent lawyers of the State and a leader of the Erie County bar, was born in Buffalo, September 7, 1846, graduated from the Buffalo Central High School in 1865, and from Columbia College Law School in 1868 with theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY degree of LL.B. He practiced for about a year in New York City, afterwards for three years at Hudson, Wis., and in 1874 returned to Buffalo, where he has practiced since. In 1883 he was elected to the Assembly on the Republican ticket, and served with high credit. He was chosen Chairman of the Assembly Canal Committee, and throughout his civic career has been noted for his attention to the subject of canals. As a leading member and second president of the Union for the Improvement of Canals, Mr. Clinton has been instrumental in bringing about the extensive improvements made in recent years on the Erie Canal. In 1898 he was made chairman of the Commission appointed by Gov- ernor Black, pursuant to an Act of the Legislature, to investigate and report on the expenditure of the $9,000,000 appropriated for the improvement of the Erie and other Canals. In 1902 President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Clinton a member of the American section of the International Waterways Commission for the purpose of settling various questions arising relative to the water boundaries between the United States and Canada and to consider and report on the advisability of construct- ing a dam at the eastern end of Lake Erie for the purpose of regu- lating the lake level. On this commission he is still serving. Mr. Clinton enjoys an international reputation as an authority on Ad- miralty law and is retained in cases of the greatest importance. Mr. Clinton shows a practical interest in all matters relating to the welfare of Buffalo. He helped prepare the present City Charter, and worked hard to secure its adoption. He has been Park Commissioner, and was a member of the trunk-sewer commission during the building GEORGE CLINTONHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 59 of the Genesee and Bird Avenue branches of the sewer system. He helped establish the Buffalo Law School, and for several years was its professor of admiralty law. He is an active member of the Cham- ber of Commerce, and was President of the Merchants’ Exchange. SIMON FLEISCHMANN is one of the leaders of the Erie County bar. The specific qualifications which have won Mr. Fleischmann his high rank as a legal practitioner may fittingly be described as a union of the acumen and resourcefulness of an able trial lawyer with attain- ments of a superior order in the principles and prac- tical application of the science of jurisprudence. The subject of this sketch was born in Iowa City, la., September n, 1859, and his early childhood was passed in his native place, in New York City, and in Dunkirk, N. Y. In 1871 he came to Buffalo, where after attending the grammar schools, he pursued a High School course. While a student at Public School No. 13 he won the first Jesse Ketchum medal for the entire city, and when he was graduated from Central High School in 1879 was again awarded a Ketchum medal. The same year he began the study of law with William C. Bryant, later pursuing legal studies with William H. Gurney and with the firm of Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard. In 1882 he was admitted to the bar, and during 1883 was managing clerk for Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard. In 1884 Mr. Fleischmann SIMON FLEISCHMANN60 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY opened a law office for himself. For several years he was in partnership with the late Emory P. Close, and latterly he has had for his associate William R. Pooley. The legal practice of Mr. Fleisch- mann has been confined entirely to high-grade civil litigation in the courts of this and other States, as well as before the Federal tri- bunals, and he has acted to a considerable extent as counsel for other lawyers in the trial of cases and the argument of appeals. Mr. Fleischmann is a Republican. In 1897 he was elected Supervisor from the old 21st Ward on the Good Government ticket, being endorsed by the Democrats. In 1899 he was elected Council- man on the Republican ticket by 5,000 majority. He served for two years as President of the Board of Councilmen, and made an excellent record. He served four years on the board. Mr. Fleischmann possesses great musical talent, and for more than twenty years was organist in a number of Buffalo’s principal churches, retiring from church organ work in 1898. In 1904 he was appointed official organist of Buffalo, and in 1905 inaugurated at Convention Hall a service of free Sunday afternoon organ re- citals. From 1882 to 1889 he was dramatic and musical critic and editor for the Buffalo Courier. Mr. Fleischmann has been a trustee of the Erie County Bar Association, served as its President in 1903, and for some years was Chairman of its Laws and Legislation Committee. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, and is on its most important committee, that of Law Reform. He is also a member of the American Bar Association. In 1904 he was desig- nated by the New York State Bar Association as a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists held in St. Louis. He is a member of the Buffalo Club, of Temple Beth-Zion, and of the Society of Natural Sciences, and a life member of the Buffalo Library. HON. DANIEL JOSEPH KENEFICK, former Justice of the Supreme Court, now of the law firm of Kenefick, Cooke & Mitchell, is eminent in public and professional life and has won forensic and judicial honors early in his career.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 6l Mr. Kenefick was born in Buffalo, on the 15th of October, 1863. He attended Public School No. 4 and graduated from Central High School, in 1881. He studied in the law office of Crowley & Movius, and later with Crowley, Movius & Wilcox. October 16, 1884, he was admitted to the bar. January 1, 1886, he was appointed to a clerkship in the Law Department of the city. He held the position a year, resigning to accept the appointment of Second Assistant District Attorney remaining for five years. January 1, 1893, he was appointed First Assistant District Attorney. When Mr. Quinby resigned the District Attorneyship in the fall of 1894, Gov. Flower chose Mr. Kenefick to fill the unexpired term. The same year he received the Republican nomination for District Attorney and was elected by a large majority, taking office in 1895. In 1897 he was re-elected and served until he was appointed to the Supreme Court bench. While District Attorney Mr. Kenefick gained a high reputation as a capable official and an able trial lawyer. He had served the first year of his second term as District Attorney, when, on the 30th of December, 1898, he was appointed by Governor Black to fill the unexpired term of Supreme Court Justice Hamilton Ward, deceased. Judge Kenefick entered upon the duties of the bench January 1, 1899. In the fall of that year he was nominated by the Republican Judicial Convention for Justice of the Supreme Court, and was elected, serving up to his resignation in 1906. In that year Martin Carey, the senior member of the law firm of Bis- sell, Carey & Cooke, removed to New York City. Judge Kenefick was invited to fill the vacancy. He consented, and on his resigna- tion from the bench he joined the firm which became Kenefick, Cooke & Mitchell, its personnel consisting of Daniel J. Kenefick, Walter P. Cooke, James McCook Mitchell and Lyman M. Bass. This firm continues the succession of one of the most famous law firms of Western New York. Many years ago it was Bass, Cleve- land & Wilson S. Bissell. Afterward the partnership became Bis- sell, Cleveland & Sicard, the late George J. Sicard becoming one of the members. This association was succeeded by Bissell, Carey & Cooke, the predecessor of the present firm which is one of the62 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY leading law partnerships of Buffalo and enjoys a very large general practice, both as counsel for important interests and in the trial of civil cases. Mr. Kenefick is one of Buffalo's representative Catholic lay- men, and is a member of Holy Angels' Parish and of the Knights of Columbus. Among social organizations he belongs to the Buffalo and Saturn Clubs. FRANKLIN D. LOCKE is a leader of the Erie County bar, not only in the full sense which attaches to that phrase in its usually accepted meaning, but in an exceptionally broad significance. Any complete characterization of Mr. Locke would require a care- ful analysis of an intellect of remarkable power, liberalized with rare attainments, both in the sphere of theoretic and applied juris- prudence and along the lines of general culture. Professionally, Mr. Locke has had a comprehensiveness of experience and a com- pleteness of success, not easily to be paralleled in the lives of noted lawyers. Personally, he is a man of strong individuality—the type of man who leaves the impress of mind and character on all with whom he is brought in contact and on the community at large. The subject of this sketch was born in Gowanda, N. Y., October 8, 1843, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1864, being a class- mate of Elihu Root. After finishing his lay education, he came to Buffalo in 1864, where he entered the office of Judge Humphrey. In 1865 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1866 became managing clerk for the firm of Bowen & Rogers (Dennis Bowen and Sherman S. Rogers.) In 1873 he was admitted partner, and after the death of Mr. Bowen he was associated in practice with Mr. Rogers until 1883, when the firm of Rogers, Locke & Milburn was formed; Mr. John G. Milburn becoming junior partner. Representing as it did, a powerful combination of ability and attainments, this firm took a leading rank in Western New York and rapidly acquired a national reputation. A large share of its business was specialized along the lines of corporation law, but it also had an immense general practice. After the death of Mr. Rogers and the removal of Mr.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 63 Milburn to New York City, Mr. Locke became associated with Louis L. Babcock, under the firm style of Rogers, Locke & Bab- cock, the present copartnership. A lawyer whose erudition is ac- companied by a remarkable gift for the application of legal prin- ciples to the practical exigencies of business, Mr. Locke is pre- eminently fitted to act as the counsel and representative of great interests. A distinctive feature of his practice has been the trust reposed in him by large financial institutions, and he has acted as attorney for all the principal banks in Buffalo. His professional qualities, at once versatile and profound, do not call for character- ization in addressing a bar of which he is one of the best known members, but it is proper to say that the success of this noted law- yer has been reared upon the four great essentials of knowledge, industry, character and resourcefulness. WILLIAM B. HOYT is one of the able practitioners of the New York bar. He is a sound lawyer, of all-around capability, eminent both as a counselor and an advocate. In his professional capacity Mr. Hoyt represents many large corporate and industrial interests. As a trial lawyer he enjoys a high reputation for his clear and logical presentation of cases and his success before juries. William Ballard Hoyt was born at East Aurora, N. Y., April 20, 1858. He was educated at Aurora Academy, the Buffalo High School and graduated from Cornell University in 1881. He was one of the prize orators of his class, took an active interest in college journalism, being managing editor of the monthly magazine, also one of the editors of the college weekly and founder of the Cornell Daily Sun. On leaving the University Mr. Hoyt came to Buffalo and entered the office of Humphrey & Lockwood. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1883. Shortly afterward he be- came a member of the firm in whose office he had studied, the style becoming Humphrey, Lockwood & Hoyt, later Humphrey, Lockwood, Hoyt, Greene & Yeomans, later Lockwood, Hoyt & Greene, which existed until the association of Mr. Hoyt and Mau- rice C. Spratt in the firm of Hoyt & Spratt.64 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY From 1885 to 1889 Mr. Hoyt was Assistant United States Dis- trict Attorney for the Northern District of New York. In 1894 he was appointed by Attorney-General Olney counsel to the United States Inter-State Commerce Commission for the States of New York and Ohio, with the official title of Assistant Attorney General. As a member of the different law firms with which he has been con- nected, Mr. Hoyt has for many years been the legal adviser and representative of some of the most important interests in this part of the State. LOUIS LOCKE BABCOCK, of the law firm of Rogers, Locke & Babcock, is one of the leading members of the Buffalo bar. His career is a notable exception to the rule that distinction in the legal profession is an honor of slow growth and late maturity. Maj. Babcock is a son of Dr. Horace Bab- cock, of Gowanda, Catta- raugus County, N. Y., and was born December 14, 1868. He attended Go- wanda Academy, and Prof. Horace Briggs’ Classical School, in Buffalo. When eighteen years old he en- tered the law office of Tor- rance & Blackmon, at Go- wanda. In 1889, he came to Buffalo, where he finished his law clerkship in the office of Rogers, Locke & Milburn, being admitted to the bar in March, 1890. He then became associated with the firm of Rogers, Locke & Milburn as managing clerk. With Mr. John G. Milburn, especially, his LOUIS LOCKE BABCOCKHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 65 business relations assumed a close and confidential character, and up to the time of Mr. Milburn’s removal to New York City Mr. Babcock was his junior counsel, preparing all his cases and assisting in the trials of them. Upon the withdrawal of Mr. Milburn Mr. Babcock became a member of the firm, the name of which was changed to the present style of Rogers, Locke & Babcock. As a lawyer, Maj. Babcock is a man of solid acquirements, both theo- retic and practical. He has enjoyed marked success as an advo- cate and is a safe and conservative office counselor. Though broadly speaking he is a general practitioner rather than a specialist, he has specialized his studies in the department of negligence law. The law firm of which Maj. Babcock is a member is one of the most noted in the State. Next to the duties of his profession, the affairs wherein Maj. Babcock has been most actively concerned are those of the National Guard, of which he is a prominent member. He offered his services on the first call for volunteers in the Spanish- American War, and raised Company K, which was added to the 65th Regiment, New York Volunteers. He was commissioned Captain of Company K, which he commanded through the entire period of its enlistment, from May 17, to November 17, 1898. A strict disciplinarian, yet attentive to the wants of his subordinates, he readily won the confidence of his command, and while at Camp Alger was regarded as one of the most popular officers of the regi- ment. He was rendered supernumerary on October 25, 1899, but on the 20th of June, 1903, was commissioned Major and attached to the staff of Brigadier-General Lauren W. Pettebone, commanding the Fourth Brigade, N. G. N. Y., and has ever since continued to hold that office. Maj. Babcock took an important part in the furtherance of the Pan-American project, served as Marshal during the Exposition, and as such directed all the parades and large public functions held in Buffalo that year. He was appointed by President Roosevelt a member of the Board of Managers of the State Industrial School at Rochester, and served two years. He is a trustee of the Wyo- ming Benevolent Institute, and a member of the Faculty of the Law66 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Department of the University of Buffalo, he belongs to the Saturn and Country Clubs, of Buffalo, and the Genesee Valley Club, of Rochester, and served as Dean of the Saturn Club in 1905. MAURICE C. SPRATT, of the firm of Hoyt & Spratt, is one of the ablest lawyers of the New York Bar. Mr. Spratt has attained special distinction in the field of corporation law, being counsel for several of the most important railroad, telegraph and other corpora- tions of the country. Mr. Spratt was born April 4, 1865, at Rossie, St. Lawrence County, N. Y. He graduated from Ogdensburg Academy in 1884 and from Georgetown University, D. C., in 1888, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then became a student in the law office of his brother, Hon. Thomas Spratt and Hon. Daniel Magone, in Ogdensburg, and in 1890 was admitted to the bar. He remained with that firm till 1893, when he came to Buffalo, and entered the office of McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & Depew, which became suc- cessively McMillan, Pooley, Depew & Spratt; Pooley, Depew & Spratt and afterward, Pooley & Spratt, continuing up to 1907, when Mr. Spratt became associated with W. B. Hoyt, in the present firm of Hoyt & Spratt. Mr. Spratt is, in the best sense, an all- around lawyer. His experience is wide, his capacity for research marked, and his instincts practical. He is an effective and suc- cessful court advocate, a safe and sound counselor, and strong in the presentation of arguments before appellate tribunals. For several years he has been a prominent member of the Civil Service Reform Association. He is a member of the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo, Saturn, University and Country Clubs and the Transportation Club of New York City. NORRIS MOREY, senior member of the law firm of Morey, Bosley & Morey, is an eminent lawyer and citizen of Buffalo, where he has practiced his profession for forty years. He was born in Brant, Erie County, N. Y., July 20, 1838. He receivedHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 67 his education in the public schools and graduated from Oberlin College, O., in 1863. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War in 1861 and 1862, and the Albany Law School, in 1866 was admitted to the bar- and the same year re- moved to Buffalo. In 1870- 71 Mr. Morey was Assist- ant City Attorney of Buf- falo, and from 1872 to 1874 Assistant District Attorney of Erie County. In 1882 the Republican City Con- vention nominated him for Mayor, but for professional reasons he declined the proffered honor, Mr. Morey was in 1885 and 1886 chairman of a committee of nine who framed new rules for the guidance of Republican caucuses and conventions in Erie County. In recent years Mr. Morey’s activities have been mainly devoted to his law practice. CHARLES A. POOLEY is one of the foremost lawyers of the State and has for many years been known as the legal representa- tive of large business interests and as a prominent citizen of Buffalo. He was born in Buffalo, November 17, 1854, and attended Public School No. 1 and Central High School, graduating in the class of 1873. On leaving school Mr. Pooley engaged in the lum- ber business, which he followed three years. He completed his law studies in the office of the late Senator A. P. Laning, and in April, 1879, was admitted to the bar. He began practice with the firm of again in 1864-65. He studied law at NORRIS MOREY68 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Laning, McMillan & Gluck and was successively a member of the following firms: McMillan, Gluck & Pooley; McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & Depew; McMillan, Pooley, Depew & Spratt; Pooley, Depew & Spratt, later Pooley & Spratt, which firm was dissolved in February, 1907, and Mr. Pooley has continued his practice alone. Mr. Pooley has for many years been one of the prominent legal advisers of the New York Central lines, which he now repre- sents in Niagara and Or- leans Counties, as well as in special proceedings before the Public Service Com- mission and in other mat- ters in Western New York. It speaks well for the esteem in which Mr. Pooley is held by his fellow-members of the bar that he has been prominently mentioned for Supreme Court honors. Typically a lawyer, Mr. Pooley has always been closely devoted to his pro- fession. He is a progressive citizen, taking a keen inter- est in the welfare and insti- tutions of Buffalo, and keep- ing himself in line with civic advancement and the general interests of the community. He is a trustee of the Law Library of the Eighth Judicial Dis- trict and served for three years as a Director of the Buffalo Library. He is a Mason of the 326. degree, a member and Past Master of De Molay Lodge No. 498 F. & A. M., and a member of Buffalo Chapter R. A. M. He has also served a term as District Deputy Grand Master of the State of New York for the 25th Masonic District. CHARLES A. POOLEYHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 69 CHARLES W. GOODYEAR. It is seldom that a man wins great and genuine success in two distinct fields. To Charles W. Goodyear belongs the honor of such an achievement. Mr. Good- year is one of the ablest lawyers in Western New York and one of the foremost lumbermen in the country. Born in Cortland, Cortland County, N. Y., October 15, 1846, he attended the academies of Cortland, Wyoming and East Aurora, N. Y. In 1868 he came to Buffalo, entering the offices of Lanning & Miller and later continuing his studies with John C. Strong, was admitted to the bar in 1871. In 1875 he formed a part- nership with . Major John Tyler which continued two years. After practicing alone for five years he formed a copartnership with Henry F. Allen in the firm of Goodyear & Allen. In 1883 Mr. Goodyear became the junior member of the firm of Bissell, Sicard & Goodyear, which became one of the leading law part- nerships in Western New York. From January 1, 1875, to October 1, 1877, he served as Assistant District Attorney of Erie County, and later as District Attorney, by appointment, to serve an unexpired term. Mr. Goodyear was intimately concerned in the election of Grover Cleveland as Mayor of Buffalo, as Governor of New York, and in his nomination to the Presidency in 1884. Mr. Goodyear’s admira- tion for Mr. Cleveland as a statesman was confirmed by intimate acquaintance with the former President, and their friendship CHARLES W. GOODYEARJO HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY existed until Mr. Cleveland’s death. Since his retirement from the law Mr. Goodyear has not taken an active part in politics, though he was prominently mentioned for Democratic candidate for Governor in 1904. In January, 1887, Mr. Goodyear became a member of the firm of F. H. & C. W. Goodyear, which bought vast acreages of timber lands in northern Pennsylvania. Ultimately the partners ex- tended their railway system, now known as the Buffalo & Susque- hanna, south to the Pennsylvania coal fields and northward direct to the City of Buffalo. The railway in question of which Mr. Good- year is President and a principal stockholder, includes more than 350 miles of first class standard gauge track, and when the plans now approved shall have been carried out, the system will con- tain 400 miles of road. Mr. Goodyear is also President of the Great Southern Lumber Company, and other lumber companies in Louisiana and Mississippi, is President of the Buffalo & Susque- hanna Coal & Coke Company, Vice-President of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Iron Company, and identified with the Lackawanna Steel Company, and is a director of the General Railway Signal Company. He is a member of the Buffalo, Saturn, Ellicott, Country, Falconwood, Liberal and Acacia Clubs; and the Lawyers* and Railroad Club of New York City, is a Mason, a life member of the Buffalo Library and a trustee of the State Normal School of this city. He attends the First Presbyterian Church, is prominent in philanthropy, and takes an interest in all municipal projects tending to the betterment of the city’s welfare. FRANK A. ABBOTT, the eminent Buffalo lawyer, former District Attorney of Erie County, has won distinguished success at the bar. As District Attorney Mr. Abbott conducted some of the most important cases in the history of the County, and with results alike creditable to himself and satisfactory to the public. He was born in the town of East Hamburg, Erie County, N. Y., April 14, 1865. He received his education in the public schools* Hamburg Academy, and graduated from Cornell University in 1890, valedictorian of his class, also winning the Stewart L. WoodfordHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 71 prize for oratory, the highest prize offered by the University. He studied law in the office of Fullerton, Becker & Hazel, and in 1892 he was admitted to the bar. In 1893 he formed a law partner- ship with the Hon. John R. Hazel, a relation which continued until Judge Hazel was elevated to the bench. He then formed the present part- nership with his brother, John P. Abbott, under the firm name of Abbott & Abbott. January 1, 1903, he was appointed First Assist- ant District Attorney a posi- tion which he filled effi- ciently for three years. In 1905 he was elected District Attorney and he handled the momentous interests committed to his charge with dignity and vigor, tem- pered by a strict sense of justice. He conducted the office with masterly ability, which notably manifested itself in his prosecution of the Neff, Gibson and Jackson cases, wherein convictions were secured in the face of many difficulties. At the expiration of his term of office, January 1, 1909, he re- sumed private practice. CARLTON E. LADD. Recognized as a lawyer, repre- sentative of the highest ideals of his profession, Carlton E. Ladd is esteemed by his fellow practitioners and has the confidence of a large clientage among the solid business men of the City of Buffalo. He was born at Buffalo, April 6, 1873, graduated from Buffalo Central High School, and from Cornell University in 1893 with72 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY the degree of Ph.B. He was admitted to the bar in 1895. After having read in the offices of Lewis, Moot & Lewis, in 1900 he formed a partnership with the Hon. Robert C. Titus, which lasted about five years, at the ex- piration of which time he joined with Frederick C. Bissell. The latter partner- ship was of short duration, and at its conclusion Mr. Ladd formed his present association with Adolph Rebadow. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and has served as a trustee and Chairman of the grievance committee. At one time he was chosen as the representative of the association in prosecuting several members charged with malpractice and dis- tinguished himself by the vigor, impartiality and ef- fectiveness of his work. At Cornell he became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity and is now a member of the Univer- sity Club of Buffalo. FRANK ST. JOHN SIDWAY, lawyer and business man and Chairman of the Republican County Committee, is a repre- sentative of Buffalo’s best citizenship. Born in Buffalo, December 5, 1869, he was educated at Phillips-Exeter Academy and Harvard University, later graduating from the Buffalo Law School in 1894. The same year he was admitted to the bar from the law offices of Lewis, Moot & Lewis, and began the practice of his profession in Buffalo, where he has built up a large and valuable business. He HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 73 devotes himself chiefly to office practice and to the management of estates. In March, 1894, he became a Second Lieutenant of Company B, 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., First Lieutenant in 1895, and Captain in 1897. When war was declared against Spain he or- ganized Company C, 202nd Regiment, and was chosen its Captain, being one of the first four captains to be mustered in. He went to Cuba, served through the campaign, and his regiment was the first body of United States troops to enter Havana. April 15, 1899, Captain Sidway was mustered out, and on his return to Buffalo was chosen Captain of Company B, 74th Regiment, which rank he held until his resignation, October 1, 1902. In 1909 Mr. Sidway was unani- mously chosen Chairman of the Republican County Committee. Mr. Sidway is a mem- ber of the Buffalo and Sat- urn Clubs, the Buffalo Historical Society, the United Spanish War Veterans and the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-Ameri- can War, and a life member of the Buffalo Library and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. EDWARD PAYSON WHITE, in the past four years has attained distinguished success as a lawyer in Buffalo. Prior to coming to Buffalo in 1905, Mr. White was for many years one of the foremost lawyers of Montgomery County, N. Y. Desire for a74 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY larger field led him to choose Buffalo as a place of residence, and he has been rewarded by the confidence of the community and an important, lucrative and constantly increasing practice. Mr. White was born in Amsterdam, N. Y., March 21, 1858. He received his early schooling at the Amsterdam Academy, after- ward entering Union College, where he was graduated in 1879. Later he became a student at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1884. He served three terms as City Attorney of Amster- dam, and was subsequently retained by the city as counsel in important and critical suits. Meanwhile he was a leading factor in Republican politics in that part of the State, his influ- ence being always exerted for independence and clean methods within the regular organization. For several years he was Chairman of the Republican city Com- mittee. In 1905, when the Amsterdam Bar Association preferred charges before Governor Higgins against the County Clerk and the Sheriff of Montgomery County, an important share in the conduct of the proceedings fell upon Mr. White. The officials were removed, and in the political reform agita- tion which followed, Mr. White was instrumental in bringing about the nomination of a ticket which was elected by heavy majorities. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Mr. White,, who had formerly been identified with the National Guard, EDWARD PAYSON WHITEHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 75 organized Company C, of the 203d Regiment, N. Y. V. I., and served as Captain of that company during the war. In 1905 Mr. White removed from Amsterdam to Buffalo. His departure was the occasion of a notable tribute of esteem from the Amsterdam Bar Association, which presented him a handsome loving cup, with appropriate resolutions. For the past three years, Mr. White has rendered valuable service to the Buffalo Law School as Lecturer on the Statute of Frauds, and during the absence of Dean Alden has succeeded him as Lecturer on Practice. Mr. White is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, the Lawyers’ Club, the Univer- sity and Country Clubs, the Spanish War Veterans, and other organi- zations. A loyal son of Union College, he is a permanent trustee of the College and President of the General Alumni Association, and has always retained an active interest in the welfare of his alma mater. He has also continued his interest as a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, being the president of the Buffalo Club of Alumni. FRANK H. CALLAN. Just appreciation of the functions of the legal profession in its relation to the community at large, and sterling equipment, both of learning and experience, character- ize this prominent Buffalo lawyer. Mr. Callan was born in Lock- port, Niagara County, N. Y., June 15, 1865. His elementary education was gained in the public schools of his native county and at Lockport Union School, and in 1886 he entered Cornell Univer- sity, from which he was graduated in 1890 with the degree of Ph.B. He began his legal studies in 1885-86 before entering Cornell in the office of Daniel E. Brong, of Lockport. After his graduation from Cornell he extended his professional training by a clerkship with the widely-known Buffalo law firm of Humphrey, Lockwood & Hoyt, from whose office he was admitted to the bar, in October, 1891. In 1894 he was associated as partner with Messrs. Hum- phrey, Lockwood & Hoyt, the relation continuing till May, 1896, when he formed a law partnership with B. D. Tuttle. Since the76 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY dissolution of that firm on January 1, 1903, Mr. Callan has prac- ticed alone, conducting a large general business. He is interested extensively in Buffalo real estate, and is Treasurer and half owner of the Marine Realty Com- pany, engaged in the pur- chase, sale and improve- ment of Buffalo landed property. Mr. Callan is a member of the bar Associa- tion, the Lawyers’ Club, the University and Park Clubs, and the Knights of Colum- bus. A strong Republican, he has until recent years done much active cam- paigning for his party. He is a member of the Cornell Alumni Association of Western New York, of whose Scholarship Commit- tee he has long served as Chairman, and in this ca- pacity in 1901-02 he raised an endowment fund of $4,000 with which to perpetuate a scholar- ship to be awarded annually to some self-supporting Erie or Niagara County student. FRANK H. CALLAN. JOHN W. VAN ALLEN, of the scholarly type of lawyer and one of the rising men of the Buffalo bar, has a high reputation as a trial lawyer, and is an able practitioner in fields of corporation and real estate law. Mr. Van Allen was born in LeRay, N. Y., August 12, 1876; he received the advantages of a liberal education, gradu- ating from Hamilton College in 1902, with the degree of Ph.D. While pursuing his college course, he began his preparation for the bar which was continued at the Albany Law School, from which heHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY JJ graduated in 1904, with the degree of LL.B., the same year being also admitted attorney and counselor. He then came to Buffalo where he assumed a responsible position with the firm of Bissell, Carey & Cooke, later being associated with their successors Kene- fick, Cooke & Mitchell, his relations with the latter firm continuing until January 15, 1908, when he entered the firm of Wilcox & Bull. Mr. Van Allen does a large share of the trial work and gen- eral practice of this leading Buffalo firm. Through his professional labors Mr. Van Allen has become identified with various business inter- ests, and he is connected with several corporations. He is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associations; of the Law- yers’and Ellicott Clubs; of Carthage Lodge, No. 158 of Masons, and of the Chi Psi fraternity. Since coming to Buffalo Mr. Van Allen has made many warm friendships and is highly regarded for his many excellent qualities of heart and head by all who know him. CLINTON T. HORTON unites two types of legal ability not often found in the same person, for he is not only a strong trial lawyer but a man of deep scholarly attainments. Unusually convincing with juries, he is equally effective in treating law topics, and has a record of several years of able service as a member of the Faculty of the Buffalo Law School. Mr. Horton was born in Petrolia, Pa., October 31, 1876, and was reared in ChautauquaHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY County, being educated at Cornell University, where he graduated in 1898 with the degree of A.B. He then pursued a law course in the University of Cornell, graduating as LL.B. in 1899; and he also served a clerkship in the office of Morey & Bosley, and later in that of Bartlett & Baker. Upon his admission to the bar in 1899, he became a member of the firm of Bartlett, Baker & Horton. Later he practiced alone for a short time, but in May, 1904? became asso- ciated with Mr. Alfred Hur- rell, now attorney to the In- surance Department, New York State, in the present firm of Horton & Hurrell. Messrs. Horton & Hurrell are recognized as men of sterling character and su- perior legal ability, and they have built up a very suc- cessful practice. Mr. Hor- ton is Instructor on Bills and Notes, at the Buffalo Law School, and for three years he was Lecturer on the Law of Agency. He is a Republican, and in the recent campaign did effec- tive platform speaking in Erie County for Hughes. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, Highland Lodge of Masons, and the Delta Chi and Phi Beta Kappa societies. CLINTON T. HORTON C. B. MOULTHROP, Special Deputy Attorney-General and a prominent Buffalo lawyer, is an able general practitioner and is also known as an expert in the department of patent and copyright law specializing also in Estate and Real Estate Law. He was bornHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 79 in North Carolina, August 27, 1877. Coming in boyhood to Buffalo, he was educated in the public schools and at Central High School graduating from the latter in 1897. Later he pursued a course in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 1901, and he also read law with Hon. Henry F. Allen, from whose office he was in 1901 ad- mitted to the bar. For one year he was a member of the firm of Horton, Hurrell & Moulthrop, but with that exception he has practiced without a partner. He has met with gratifying suc- cess and represents the in- terests of a numerous client- age, including many promi- nent manufacturers and merchants. As special Dep- uty Attorney-General, Mr. Moulthrop was engaged in the prosecution of agricul- tural cases for the State, and he performed his official duties with distinguished credit. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, and the Delta Chi fraternity. CHARLES A. WHITE. This able and experienced lawyer is equally recognized as an attorney of practical resourcefulness and sound research. Mr. White was born in Elmira, N. Y., Au- gust 4,1869, and graduated from the Elmira Free Academy in 1889. Mr. White was early identified with journalism, serving on the editorial staffs of the Elmira Advertiser, the Buffalo Courier, the Lockport Union and the Buffalo News, on the last of which he was C. B. MOULTHROP8o HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY assistant city editor, a position which he resigned in 1895 to accept the place of Secretary to Mayor Jewett, in which capacity he con- tinued for three years. He then took a special course in the Buffalo Law School, also studying in the office of Marcy & Close, and later in that of Louis B. Hart. In 1898 he was admitted to the Bar* and in the course of the next five years built up a sub- stantial practice in Buffalo. July 1, 1901, he became a member of the law firm of Thayer, Jackson & White, an association which was succeeded by. that of Thayer, Tuttle & White, his present firm. Mr. White is the attorney and agent of the American Bonding Company, of Baltimore, Md., and is the trusted representative and adviser of other important interests. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ and Saturn clubs, and of Ancient Landmarks Lodge, F. & A. M. CHARLES A. WHITE ELMER G. MANSFIELD, This leading lawyer of Buffalo is a man of as strong and distinctive a personality as any to be found in the Bar of Western New York. Mr. Mansfield has a law practice second to none in his city in point of lucrativeness and importance. His success is founded on a remarkably wide and varied experience, for his profession has taken him into almost every State and Territory in the Union. An able industrial executive, he is interested, officially or as a stockholder, in manyHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 8l corporations, and he adds to the qualities and reputation of a first-class lawyer those of an excellent all-around business man. Mr. Mansfield was born in Butler County, Pa., March 4,1862. He was educated in the public schools of Hibbard, Ohio, Wooster (Ohio) University and Cornell University, graduating from the latter in 1891. He then read law for two years in Buffalo, being admit- ted to the bar in 1893. Thereafter he was for about a year asso- ciated in partnership with Fred.W. Ely, under the firm style of Mansfield & Ely. Since the dissolution of that firm he has practiced alone, carrying on an extensive business, whose importance may be measured by the fact that his professional in- come averages from $8,000 to $9,000 per year. He has done considerable in pat- ent law, and his knowledge of that kind of litigation has caused his services to be in demand in various parts of the country. He is also widely known as a represent- ative and adviser of large manufacturing interests. ELMER G. MANSFIELD The executive talents of Mr. Mansfield and his accurate knowl- edge of modern business conditions have been the means of identify- ing him with numerous industrial enterprises. He is at present a director of, and a stockholder in, the Buffalo Specialty Company, one of Buffalo’s largest manufacturing concerns; a director of the Liquid Veneer Company, whose headquarters are in London, England, this enterprise being connected with the Buffalo Specialty Company and representing a great consolidation of capital for82 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY manufacturing purposes; an active officer of the Engineers’ Supply Company, a noteworthy enterprise engaged in the manufacture of engineers’ supplies at Buffalo; a stockholder and former director of the Allen Carpet Cleaning Company. He has holdings in the German American Bank and other business enterprises, and was for several years a director and stockholder of the Erie Preserving Company, another important Buffalo concern. Mr. Mansfield is a member of the Erie County Bar Associa- tion, the State Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, the Liberal Club, and of William McKinley Lodge, Knights of Pythias. One of the strongest jury lawyers who ever practiced at the Western New York Bar, Mr. Mansfield has the extraordinary record of having lost hardly one case in fifty of the numerous litigations he has tried. He is gifted with a personality which invariably holds the attention of a jury, a persuasiveness which wins their ear, and a logic which convinces their minds. But notwithstanding the possession of special abilities which to many men would be a per- petual temptation to adopt the most aggressive measures, Mr. Mansfield is so far from seeking battle for battle’s sake that he settles litigation whenever such a course is consonant with fairness and justice, and his tact in bringing conflicting individuals and in- terests together, and effecting amicable adjustments, saves his clients thousands of dollars. A forceful man physically and intellectually endowed with a fine presence and an engaging personality, Mr. Mansfield impresses all who come in contact with him with a sense of resourcefulness and reserve power. With legal attainments he unites liberal cul- ture, and his experience of men and affairs has been supplemented by the broadening influences of extensive travel, including this country and all parts of Europe. Any characterization of him would fall short of the truth if it did not present the portrait of a true man of affairs—a man whose career, in all its diversity, is a uniform and consistent whole, and whose keen judgment of human nature is tempered by instinctive kindliness and the courtesy of the accom- plished gentleman.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 83 WILLIAM R. DANIELS. Logical habits of mind, industry, and high standards of personal and legal ethics, are the ground- work of the rising professional reputation of William R. Daniels. The subject of this sketch was born in Buffalo, and received a public and High School education in that city. His legal studies were pursued in Buffalo University, and the offices of Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy. He graduated from the Buffalo Law School in 1896, with the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to the bar in 1897. Until 1908 he was associated with Charles M. Hughson, in the firm of Hughson & Daniels, but since that partnership was dissolved, he has prac- ticed alone. He has an ex- cellent class of clients, the esteem of the business and professional community, and is recognized as a gen- eral practitioner of marked talent. Mr. Daniels is active in the Republican party, and in 1905 received the honor of the nomination for Municipal Court Judge, and recently the nomina- tion for Chief Judge of the new City Court. He is a well-known Mason, and during the past seven years has been affiliated with all the intermediate bodies of that order, up to Knight Templar. He is a member of the Bar Association. WILLIAM R. DANIELS IRVING L. FISK. Legal attainments of a high order have enabled this attorney to sustain with credit the responsibilities inci- dent to the junior partnership in one of the strongest law firms of Buffalo. Mr. Fisk was born in Hoosic Falls, N. Y., September 3,84 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 1873. After receiving a thorough preparatory training at Phillips Exeter Academy, he entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in the classical course in 1897, with the degree of A.B. Immediately afterward he became a student at Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated with the LL.B. degree in 1899 and was admitted to the bar in that year. Later he came to Buffalo, where he was associated for seven years with the firm of Rogers, Locke & Milburn. Shortly afterward he became asso- ciated with Louis E. Des- becker and James O. Moore in the firm of Desbecker, Fisk & Moore, which was succeeded by that of Des- becker & Fisk, his present firm. In the relatively brief period since he was admit- ted to practice, Mr. Fisk has acquired an excellent posi- tion at the bar. The firm with which he is associated is among the notable ones of Buffalo, and Mr. Fisk is one of the rising men among the lawyers of that city. Mr. Fisk is a mem- ber of the State and Erie County B.ar associations, the Lawyers’ Club, the Harvard Club of Buffalo, the Buffalo Club and the University Club of Buffalo, the Harvard Club of New York, and of De Molay Lodge. In political affiliation he is a Democrat. IRVING L. FISK ROBERT W. FARRINGTON, one of the brightest men among the younger lawyers of Buffalo, is a son of the late Butler Si Farrington, in his day a leading practitioner at the Western NewHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 85 York bar, and a member of the firm of Titus & Farrington. Robert W. Farrington was born in Buffalo, July 12, 1879. He graduated from Central High School in 1898, also taking a postgraduate course, and studied law in the University of Buffalo, and in the office of Frederick G. Bagley. He graduated from the Law School in 1905 and was admitted to the bar in 1907. For some years prior to his admission as attorney and counselor, Mr. Farrington was City Hall reporter for the Buffalo Commercial and later for the Express, mean- while reading law in his spare time. Mr. Farrington is soon to be associated with a firm to be known as “The Farringtons,” and com- posed of Robert W. and Medford B. Farrington and a sister, Florence. At pres-, ent Mr. Farrington practices alone, and has a fine general practice. Mr. Farrington is interested in various busi- ness enterprises aside from his profession. He takes an active part in Republican politics, and in the recent campaign stumped the county for Taft, Hughes and the local ticket. ROBERT W. FARRINGTON He is a member of the Bar Association, and as one of a committee of five has taken an important part in the reorgani- zation of the Buffalo Municipal Court. He is a member of tbe Lawyers’ Club, of Washington Lodge No. 240, F. & A. M.; and served five years in the National Guard, as Battalion Quartermaster in the 65th Regiment.86 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY HON. GREENLEAF S. VAN GORDER. In the career of this noted member of the Western New York bar, distinction in the legal profession has been simply one feature of eminent use- fulness. As lawyer, State Senator and Member of Assembly, bank president, land-owner and industrial executive, Mr. Van Gorder’s versatile abilities have found varied and fitting spheres of effort. He is one of the representative citizens of this section of the State, and is broadly identified with the cause of development and progress. Mr. Van Gorder was born in York, Livingston County, June 2, 1855. After receiving a common school education he entered the Academic Department of Alfred University, and later studied law at Angelica, N. Y., being admitted to the bar in Buffalo, June 15, 1877. He began the prac- tice of his profession at Pike, Wyoming County, where he still has an office, but the main field of his legal business is in Buffalo, where Van Gorder, Holt & Craine, the firm of which he is the head, has a lucrative practice of a general character, though the firm is prominently identified with corporation law. Always a vigorous supporter of Republican principles, Mr. Van Gorder has received high honors from his party. He was twice elected to the Assembly from Wyoming County, serving from 1887 to 1889, and his terms in the Assembly were immediately followed by election to the State Senate, in which for four years GREENLEAF S. VAN GORDERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 87 consecutively he represented Wyoming, Livingston, Genesee and Niagara counties, his district being one of the largest and most important in the State. As a legislator he made an admirable record, securing much valuable legislation for his district, and winning a high reputation for cogency of debate, parliamentary skill and fearless adherence to his convictions. Mr. Van Gorder is President of the State Bank of Pike, a director in the Textile Specialty Company, of that place, and Secre- tary and Treasurer of the East Lake Lumber Company, which has extensive lumber and timber interests in Southeastern North Carolina, including 180,000 acres of pine timber land. Mr. Van Gorder is the owner of a fine dairy farm at Pike, upon which is a model barn capable of accommodating 60 cows. He is a man of high standing in the Masonic fraternity, being Past Master of Triluminar Lodge, No. 543, of Pike, and being also affiliated with Keystone Council, of Buffalo, Batavia Commandery, Wyoming Chapter, at Warsaw, and Cypress Temple, of the Mystic Shrine, at Albany. JOHN SAYLES was born in Somerset, Massachusetts, in 1867. He is a straight descendant of Roger Williams whose daugh- ter Mary married John Sayles in the Providence Plantations in the early part of the 17th century. Mr. Sayles is a graduate of Tufts College of the class of 1892. He received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity and was ordained to the Universalist ministry the same year. As a clergyman Mr. Sayles held pastorates in East Aurora and Utica, N. Y. In the former place, in addition to his parochial duties, he was prominent in civic affairs, acting at times as President of the Board of Education, President of the Good Citizenship Club and leader of the Electric Party. In the latter parish he engaged in lecture work and was a frequept contributor to various periodicals. In 1901 Mr. Sayles graduated from the Buffalo University Law School. In the same year he was admitted to the Bar. Five years later he retired from the ministry and located in Buffalo where88 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY he has since practiced his profession as junior member of the firm of White & Sayles. In a biographical sketch Professor Hopkins wrote of Mr. Sayles that “he is fond of books, art and public life.” That the observation concerning public life was a correct one is convincingly demonstrated by a glance at Democratic newspapers, magazines and campaign speakers’ list. As founder and Presi- dent of The Democratic Society of Western New York Mr. Sayles is a famil- iar figure on local, state and national platforms. Like his Democratic father be- fore him, who held office under Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan and fought under George B. Mc- Clellan at Antietam, he is an uncompromising d is ciple of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew^ Jackson and steadfastly refuses to float a doubtful flag. In' the language of Browning he can justly say of himself “I was ever a fighter so one fight more.” He loves the activity and humanity of politics and glories in his mental attitude. He believes that every citizen should be proud of the national birthright and make full contribu- tion to the social welfare. FORD WHITE, the subject of this sketch, is now thirty-nine years of age and is a native of Erie County having been born in the town of Wales on the 23d day of January, 1870. Like other countryHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 89 boys, Mr, White worked on the farm and attended the district school during his early boyhood. Later he attended the Perry High School at Perry, N. Y.,and from that institution he entered Oberlin College. Later he entered the University of Buffalo hav- ing determined to become a lawyer for which he always possessed a natural inclination. He was graduated from the Law Depart- ment of the University of Buffalo in 1895 and admitted to the bar in 1896. Immediately upon his admission he opened offices in the Brisbane Building, Buffalo, where he is now located. At this time the so-called negligence litigation had grown to oc- cupy much attention of the courts, offering a field for the young lawyer of talents in the trial of causes. Mr. White turned his attention principally to this branch of the law and has met with flattering success. He has encountered in this field the keenest' and ablest lawyers but his skill in the cross examination of adverse wit- nesses and his strong, effec- tive pleas to the juries have enabled him to win an unusually large per cent of his causes. He has had much other litigation and has been very successful with it as well as with his negligence practice. Two years ago Mr. White entered into partnership with Mr. John Sayles, under the firm name of White & Sayles. The firm is now one of the leading young firms of the city enjoying a large clientele and with brilliant prospects for the future.90 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY JACOB J. STEIN, senior member of the firm of Stein & Barber, is one of Buffalo’s most representative legal practitioners. A lawyer of large experience and extensive learning, Mr. Stein is also the sound, conservative type of man whose judgment carries additional weight from the habit of careful investigation and the capacity for drawing correct conclusions. His business relates chiefly—in fact, almost exclusively—to real property, loans, titles, and the handling of estates, and in these lines he is an authority ranking with the best in the country. Mr. Stein was born in Buffalo, October 8, 1861. He was educated in the public schools, and later studied law with Judge Joseph V. Seaver, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in March, 1883. He then began his professional ca- reer in Buffalo, where his abilities have brought him a very large clientage, rep- resentative of the leading • ; elements of business and citizenship in the commu- nity, and of important prop- erty interests. Until 1904, Mr. Stein practiced alone; since then he has been associated with Mr. Cyrus L. Barber, the firm of Stein & Barber having the largest practice in the law of titles and real estate in Buffalo. Messrs. Stein & Barber have never taken any litigated cases, being probably the only firm in the city which has adopted that rule of practice. Mr. Stein is a member of the Bar Association, and in 1905 was elected President of the Law- yers’ Club. JACOB J. STEINHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 91 CYRUS L. BARBER makes a specialty of the law of titles and real estate, and the firm of which he is a member possibly has the largest practice in those lines in Buffalo. On questions of real property, his opinion carries judicial weight, and he probably ex- amines as many titles as any other lawyer in Western New York. Mr. Barber was born at Corry, Pa., November 26, 1872, and as a boy came to Buffalo, where, after attending the grammar schools he graduated from Central High School in 1892 and from the Buffalo Law School in 1894. He served law clerkships in the offices of Marcy and Close and those of Kenefick & Love, and was admitted to the bar from the office of the latter firm in 1895. A man of extraordinary industry, and with exceptional gifts of analysis and research, the branch of practice relating to real estate was peculiarly congenial to him, and early in his professional career he adopted this specialty, which he has followed ever since. The firm of Stein & Barber, of which he has been a member for the past three years, is held in high esteem as one of the solid legal associa- tions of the city. Mr. Barber is a Democrat, and has several times been tendered office, but has always declined. He is a prominent Mason, being affiliated with all the intermediate bodies of that order up to the Scottish Rite, and as Master of Hiram Lodge at the age of 26 years, was probably the youngest Master in the State. He is also a member of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity.92 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY ALFRED L. HARRISON, of the firm of Harrison & Smith, is a lawyer whose success has been reared on the dual foundation of sound legal knowledge and extensive experience. He is a man of superior attainments, both professional and scholarly. Regarding legal ethics, Mr. Harrison is a recognized leader in movements having for their aim the elevation of the bar. Mr. Harrison was born in Cornwall, England, June 24, 1864, and was educated at Cam- bridge University, where he was graduated in 1889, with the classical Tripos honor degree. In 1891 he came to Buffalo, where till 1897 he conducted a college prepara- tory school. Meanwhile he studied law in the office of Cooke & Browne, also for one year in the office of Lewis & Lewis, being ad- mitted to the bar in 1897. He has ever since been, en- gaged in the successful prac- tice of his profession in Buffalo. He is a general practitioner, and in the con- duct of an extensive and varied business has won the deserved reputation of being an eminently capable, all-around lawyer. Prominently identified with Bar Association affairs, to Mr. Harrison, with others, is properly given the credit for the rejuve- nation of the Erie County Bar Association, in 1907. During a long period Mr. Harrison was treasurer of the Bar Association and one of its Board of Trustees during 1908. His course as a member of the grievance committee was characterized by aggressive action, resulting in the successful institution of disbarment proceedings ALFRED L. HARRISONHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY gj against attorneys who had misused the functions of their office^ the redress of grievances and the opening of a new era whose central idea was the restoration of the Bar Association to its place as a representative and efficient body. H. EDSON WEBSTER is a lawyer of firmly established repu- tation. By application and ability Mr. Webster has built up an extensive civil business, and he enjoys the confidence of a large clientage. He is a man of information and cul- ture and a progressive citi- zen. He was born at Oak Orchard, Orleans County, N. Y., November 9, 1872. In the spring of 1882 his family removed to Buffalo, where he attended the pub- lic schools and the State Normal School, graduating in the classical course in 1893. He then studied law in the office of Judge James Murdock Smith for three years, also attending the Law School of the Univer- r T> rr , i • H. EDSON WEBSTER sity 01 rmrralo, graduating with the degree of LL. B., in 1896, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He has devoted himself to civil business exclusively,, especially in the departments of conveyancing, contracts and corpo- ration law and is a sound and widely read lawyer. For the past twelve years he has served as Secretary of the Buffalo General Hospital. Mr. Webster is a 32d degree Mason and is affiliated with Transportation Lodge, the Consistory, and Ismailia Temple of the Shrine. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and94 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY the Lawyers’ Club, belongs to the Ellicott and Park Clubs and is a member of Gamma Sigma and Phi Delta Phi and of Westminster Presbyterian Church. DANIEL W. ALLEN. By the death of this well-known and highly esteemed Buffalo lawyer, June 30,1909, there was lost to the profession one of the most learned men of the Erie County bar. Mr. Allen was born in the town of North Collins, March 9, 1856. He graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo in 1877, and during 1877-78 was Principal of the Hamburg High School. Having meantime entered the Albany Law School, he graduated in 1879, t^e same year beginning practice in Buffalo, where he built up a large general practice, specially in real estate and corporation law. He was identified with many important undertakings. Of these one of the most notable was the inaugu- ration of the Hamburg Railway, commonly known as the “Allen Road,” of which enterprise he was the originator. He was well known as a lawyer and business man. It was he who discovered the flaw in the city’s title to the Hamburg Turnpike and forced the issue which resulted in a compromise between the municipality and the Lake Erie Traction Company. Mr. Allen was well versed in the law, having been called in on many occasions by the leading law firms to pass upon obscure legal questions in which he was a conceded expert. He was a great student and reader. SAMUEL B. BOTSFORD holds a representative place among the rising men of the Buffalo bar. In addition to his general prac- tice Mr. Botsford makes a specialty of Surrogate and Corporation law. He was born at Vergennes, Vt., February 20,1877. He was graduated from theVergennes High School in 1895, and Middlebury College, Vt., in 1900 with the degree of A.B. For a year after leaving college Mr. Botsford taught in the High School, at Bridge- water, Vt. He then came to Buffalo, where he studied law in the offices of George Gorham and E. Corning Townsend, also pursuing the regular two years’ course in the Buffalo Law School, from whichHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 95 he was graduated in 1902, being admitted to the bar the same year. From 1902 to 1906 he was managing clerk in the office of Mr. Eugene Falk; since then he has practiced alone. He is also a director and Secretary of the Queen City Dairy Company. A strong Republican, Mr. Botsford is a party worker of ap- proved loyalty and zeal, and he takes an active interest in civic movements. In 1907 he led the fight for the betterment of the Morning Courts in Buffalo, and in the Republican City Convention he polled some ten thousand votes for the nomination for Morning Justice. In 1908 Mr. Bots- ford attended as a delegate the Republican State Con- vention, which nominated Governor Hughes for a sec- ond term. He is a member of the Municipal League and the Referendum League. Mr. Botsford is prominent in the Erie County Bar Association and in 1908 was Secretary of the Lawyers’ Club, being at the present time a mem- ber of the Executive Com- mittee of that organization. He is affiliated with De Molay Lodge, F. & A. M., a member of the Instruction Committee, Chairman of the Membership Committee of the University Club, President of St. Paul’s Club, President and former Secretary of the Buffalo Society of Vermonters, and a member of the Buffalo Delta Upsilon and the Executive Committee of seven members controlling the International organization of the Delta Upsilon Society. Mr. Botsford’s other social and fraternal affiliations are numerous; among them being SAMUEL B. BOTSFORDHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY included the Ellicott Club, the Buffalo Canoe Club, the Buffalo Orpheus, the Guido Chorus, the Literary Clinic, several German societies and various other organizations. He is one of the trustees of the Buffalo Good Samaritan Free Dispensary. ERNEST L. FRISBEE. Ernest L. Frisbee, of the firm of Frisbee & Redfield, was born at Union City, Pa., September 18, i860; he was educated at Allegany College, Mead- ville, Pa., where he gradu- ated in 1883, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1886 he attended the Law Department of the Cincin- nati University. After about ten years in active business he continued his law studies in the office of Judge Frank Brundage, at Buffalo, and was admitted to the Bar in Rochester, in 1897. Later,, he became the senior part- ner of the firm of Frisbee,, Davidson & Redfield, which, on January 1, 1901, was succeeded by the present firm of Frisbee & Redfield. Messrs. Frisbee & Redfield are engaged in general practice, but the important corporate interests committed to their charge have caused them to specialize largely along the lines of corporation law. A remarkable instance of a great forensic conflict, which, amid manifold difficulties, was carried to the goal of complete success,, was the famous Schandein case, constituting one of the causes celebres of modern will contests, upon which depended the disposal of an estate of from five to six million dollars, the main question at ERNEST L. FRISBEEHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 97 issue being the mental capability of the testatrix, Mrs. Schandein, to make a will in favor of her daughter. The will was drawn by the firm of Frisbee & Redfield, who also represented the daughter in the contest. After a year of litigation, involving a trial which lasted more than six weeks, the will was upheld. Mr. Frisbee is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associations, the Lawyers’, Buffalo, University, Ellicott, Manu- facturers’, and the Lakewood Country Clubs, and the Phi Delta Phi legal and Phi Gamma Delta college fraternities. He is a Mason, being identified with nearly all the bodies of that order, up to and including Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His political affiliations are Republican. FRANK W. SAUNDERS holds an honorable place in the ranks of those well-read, reliable legal practitioners whose ac- curate knowledge and cor- rect appreciation of the needs of the modern busi- ness community constitute one of the strongest safe- guards of the general wel- fare. Mr. Saunders was born in Hamburg, Erie County, N. Y., October 30, 1863, and was educated in the public schools of Ham- burg and Buffalo and grad- uated from Buffalo Law School with the degree of LL.B., in 1892. He read law in the office of Lewis, Moot & Lewis and in that of the late S. Cary Adams. Ever since his admission to the Bar, in 1892, he has practiced his FRANK W. SAUNDERS90 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY profession in Buffalo and with gratifying success. Mr. Saunders is a Mason, being a member of Fraternal Lodge, at Hamburg. PHILIP V. FENNELLY is one of the most eminent trial lawyers now practicing at the Bar of Western New York. He is equally distinguished in civil and criminal jurisprudence and has few rivals, either in power of presenting a case to a jury or in the laborious preparation, the native acumen, which are perhaps even greater factors in legal success than bril- liancy of cross examination or force of eloquence. Mr. Fennelly was born in Sur- rey, England, March 4, 1868. He was educated in the public schools of his na- tive country and when sev- enteen years old came to the United States. Here he completed his education in the University of Michigan, where he pursued both classical and legal courses, graduating in 1893, with the degrees of A. B. and LL. B. Returning to the East, he chose Buffalo as his place of residence and was admitted to the Bar in that city in 1895. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession, and his rise at the Bar was rapid and brilliant. Though ]yir. Fennelly is what is best expressed by that significant phrase, “an able, all-around lawyer/’ he has been so frequently identified with the contests of the forum, that it is natural to think of him as advocate, and it is as a trial lawyer that he is best known. To characterize him fully would be to enter upon a long narrative PHILIP V. FENNELLYHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 99 of difficult litigations and of notable victories, both civil and crimi- nal. In the trial branch of practice, which he has made a specialty, he has probably a more numerous clientage than any other of the lawyers now practicing at the Erie County Bar. Mr. Fennelly, in all matters referring to his own success, has the diffidence which often accompanies ability. Of genial temperament, Mr. Fennelly is socially as well as professionally popular. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, and of many organizations of a social character. ERNEST W. McINTYRE. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to name a law- yer practicing at the Erie Countv Bar who is more J- definitely characterized by the competence which is equal to any legal emer- gency, than is Ernest W. McIntyre. He was born at Wallacetown, Ontario, April 8, 1868. He attended the public schools, the Collegi- ate Institute of St. Thomas, Ont., Osgood Hall, To- ronto, and later graduated from Trinity University, that city, with the degree of B. C. L. In 1890 he was admitted to the Canadian Bar as barrister and solic- itor, and shortly afterward became managing clerk for a Toronto law firm, continuing in that capacity till 1893, when he removed to Buffalo. During the years requisite to obtain citizenship Mr. McIntyre was engaged in jour- nalism, serving on the reportorial staff of several Buffalo papers ERNEST W. MINTYREIOO HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Meanwhile, he entered the law office of Colgan & Colgan and sub- sequently that of W. W. Saperston, being admitted to the New York State Bar in 1898. Though Mr. McIntyre’s practice is of a general character, he has won a particularly notable reputation as a criminal lawyer. One of the most important cases with which he has been identified was that of the notorious bank defrauder, Alonzo J. Whiteman, in whose defense he was associated with Mr. Charles A. Dolson.' Mr. McIntyre has defended fourteen homicide cases, in every one obtaining a verdict of less than first degree murder or manslaughter, and in many securing acquittals or short sentences for his clients. Though most widely known as a trial lawyer, Mr. McIntyre has a large and constantly increasing business in Surro- gate’s practice and matters relative to estates. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, St. Andrew’s Scottish Society, the Eagles, of which order he is a former President, the B. P. O. E., and the Foresters. His political affiliations are Republican. MICHAEL F. DIRNBERGER, JR., possesses in unusual degree the qualities which insure success at the Bar. Endowed with remarkable will, energy, and persistence, he carries his cases . through the courts with a resolution which knows no such word as fail, and few are the lawyers who in an equal period of practice have had such important interests, personal and public, committed to their charge. Mr. Dirnberger was born in Buffalo, and was educated in the public and high schools of that city. Later he entered the Law School of Cornell University, supplementing the legal training he received there by a clerkship in the office of Bissell, Carey & Cooke. He was admitted as an attorney and counselor in 1900, and till 1904 continued to hold a responsible position with Bissell, Carey & Cooke, his association with that firm lasting in all seven years. He then formed a law partnership with Wm. H. Baker, under the business style of Baker & Dirnberger, but since the 1st of January, 1909, he has practiced alone. He makes a specialty of corporation law, in which he has had a wide experience, and heHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY IOI has won a high reputation, both as an office counselor and a trial lawyer. Mr. Dirnberger was attorney of record with Mr. John Lord O’Brianin the investigation of the municipal affairs of West Seneca, and as a result of the sys-i tematic and exhaustive pro- ceedings instituted to probe the irregularities, the attor- ney who had represented the township was dis- barred. Suits for other mal- feasances in office are still pending, and the inquiry is acknowledged to be one of the most notable ever con- ducted in Erie County. Mr. Dirnberger is a Republican and has done much cam- paigning for his party, his services as a platform speaker for Hughes, in the fall of 1908, having won high commendation for the eloquence and logic with which the cause was presented. Mr. Dirnberger is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, and the Buffalo, Ellicott, Country and Park Clubs. MICHAEL F. DIRNBERGER PERCIVAL M. WHITE, senior member of the firm of White & Fennelly, represents a clientage which in numbers and impor- tance ranks second to none in Buffalo, and Mr. White himself is properly characterized by saying that he is one of the most accom- plished general practitioners to be found at the Bar of Western New York. Mr. White was born in Ontario, Canada, and was educated at Albert and Toronto Universities, graduating from the former with the degree of B.A., in 1882, and receiving from the latter the102 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Master of Arts degree in 1886. After leaving Albert University, Mr. White went to Fort Worth, Texas, where for a long period he held a representative place in local and State educational affairs, serving for three years as Superintendent of Public Schools and later accepting the office of President of Fort Worth University, continuing to act in that capacity for seven years. In 1892 he re- moved to Buffalo, where he entered the Buffalo Law School, also pursuing legal studies with the firm of Quinby, Meads & Reba- dow, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar in 1894. For six years there- after he successfully engaged in practice alone, but in 1900 became a member of his present firm, that of White & Fennelly, whose clientele is one of the most numerous, and whose prac- tice is one of the most ex- tensive in the city. Mr. White is a Republican. He is a member of the Bar Association and the Law- yers’ Club, and is affiliated with De Molay Lodge of Masons and McKinley Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and the Ellicott Club. PERCIVAL M. WHITE CHARLES NEWTON. Twelve years of successful general practice have won for Mr. Newton the deserved reputation of a lawyer of ample experience and unusual ability. The subject of this sketch was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., January 8, 1868, and was reared in the town of Yorkshire, where he was educated in the public schools. He studied law with A. J. Knight, of Arcade,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY IO3 N. Y., and later with Herman Hennig, of Buffalo, being admitted to the Bar in 1896. He practiced alone in Buffalo for eleven years, then becoming the partner of Frank H. Gerrodette, in the firm of Newton & Gerrodette. After a year that association was dissolved and Mr. Newton has since practiced by himself. He possesses the confidence of a numerous clientage and carries on a large and sub- stantial business. Mr. New- ton is a member of the Bar Association and the Law- yers’ Club. From 1894 to 1901 he served as a member of Company B. of the 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y. He was prominently connected with the regiment’s rifle team, especially in indoor tests of marksmanship, and a training which began when he was only eight years old has made of him not only a rifle expert, but an authority on all matters pertaining to that gun. His collection of about fifty guns is the finest of its kind in Western New York, and in recent years he has devoted much time to experiments with smokeless powder. He is a Director of the Indoor Rifle League and contributes many articles to magazines and other periodicals treating subjects relating to sportsmanship. OWEN B. AUGSPURGER has a large and profitable corpo- ration practice and justly ranks as one of the foremost corporation lawyers of Buffalo. Mr. Augspurger was born in Hamilton, Ohio, where he received a public and high school education. Deciding104 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY on Buffalo as a city offering superior advantages, both for prepara- tion for the Bar and for the building up of a professional career, he came there in 1890 and entered the Law Department of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 1902, with the degree of LL. B. His law clerkship was served with the firms of Brundage & Dudley and Baker & Dirnberger, and it was from the office of the latter that he was ad- mitted to the Bar the year of his graduation from the Law School. Until the dis- solution of the partnership of Messrs. Baker & Dirn- berger, he remained with them as managing clerk. Since then he has practiced alone, though he and Mr. Dirnberger occupy the same suite of offices. Eminently successful in the different branches of an extensive practice, Mr. Augspurger stands on a high plane of professional responsibility and achievement, and is justly rated as one of the first-class representatives of the legal fraternity. He is socially prominent and is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, and the Park and Ellicott clubs. WALTER F. HOFHEINS, Special Deputy Attorney-General, is one of the representative men among the rising legal practitioners of Buffalo. Mr. Hofheins was born in Buffalo, March 26, 1875, and after graduating from Public School No. 15, entered Central High School, from which he was graduated in 1894. Shortly afterwardsHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY IO5 he became a student in the law office of Laughlin, Ewell & Houpt (Honorable John Laughlin, Joseph E. Ewell and Wilber F. Houpt) and after three years of assiduous preparation was admitted attor- ney and counselor in 1898. For several years he carried on a suc- cessful practice alone, but in 1905 became the partner of Hon. John Laughlin in the firm of Laughlin & Hofheins, an association which was terminated by Mr. Laughlin’s death. Since then Mr. Hofheins has con- tinued to practice in Buf- falo and has won a brilliant reputation as a lawyer of solid attainments and versa- tile ability. He possesses an unusual personal popu- larity and is recognized as a leader of the younger Bar of Buffalo. Mr. Hofheins is a member of the State and Erie County Bar associa- tions, the Lawyers’ Club, the Motor Boat Club, and Washington Lodge No. 240 of the Masonic order. He has a record of seven years’ service in the 74th Regi- ment, Company E., and has is an active Republican and his efficient work for his party was recog- nized in 1908, when he was brought forward as a candidate for County Attorney of Erie County, and later by his appointment as local representative of the Attorney-General. JOHN HENRY MADDEN. The career of that representative Buffalo lawyer, John H. Madden, furnishes a notable illustration of the union of those attainments, qualifications and personal WALTER F. HOFHEEINS attained the rank of First Sergeant. HeI06 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY characteristics which enable a man to become a success in the exacting profession of the law. Mr. Madden was born in Ontario, Canada, March 14, 1864. After receiving his preparatory education in the public schools at Delta and High School at Athens, Canada, he entered Queens University, Kingston, graduating in 1889 with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts. After leaving college he read law in the offices of Hon- j orable Mr. Beatty and Hon- lorable W. B. McMurrick, j the latter of whom was a member of the King’s Council, while both were ex- Mayors of Toronto. He afterwards took a special course at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, graduating in 1892, and on September 13th of the same year he was admitted to the Canada Bar. He then practiced for a year in Toronto, being associated with Mr. S. C. Biggs, in the firm of Biggs, Hale & Mad- den. In 1893 Mr. Madden came to Buffalo, and while awaiting naturalization, continued his legal studies in the office of Norton Bros., mean- while occupying a responsible position in the Guarantee and Search Company. In 1898 he was admitted to the New York State Bar and since then has been engaged in the practice of law at Buffalo. Many important litigations carried to success have placed Mr. Madden’s reputation as a brilliant and efficient lawyer on the solid foundation of an enviable record. In 1909 he was appointed by President Taft supervisor of JOHN HENRY MADDENHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 10/ census for Erie County; a position of responsibility and one well merited by Mr. Madden by fitness, and because of the valuable services he has rendered his party. Mr. Madden is well known in fraternal circles, being a member of De Molay Lodge, F. & A. M., and of Mizpah Lodge, I. O. O. F. CHARLES W. STRONG is an attorney whose abilities, at once vigorous and versatile, and whose extensive and solid legal attainments have won him the confidence of the public, have also given him a well-established standing at the Bar of Erie County. He is an emi- nently trustworthy lawyer, alike characterized by acumen and power in the trial of litigated cases and by depth of research and accuracy of opinion in the not less important sphere of office practice. Mr. Strong was born in the town of Machias, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., June 15, 1870. After gaining the ru- diments of education in the public schools, he attended the Arcade Union School and later completed a course of study in Tenbroek Academy, at Franklinville, N. Y. After spending two years in teaching he began reading law in the office of Wood & Dunham, of Batavia, N. Y., but in December, 1891, he removed to Buffalo, where he became a clerk for the law firm of Wheeler & Norton, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar in June, 1894. The following year he opened an office for the practice of law in Buffalo, CHARLES W. STRONG108 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and in the course of a few years built up a very successful business. Till 1901 he practiced alone, but in January of that year he formed a copartnership with Clarence M. Bushnell and Clarence Mac- Gregor, under the firm style of Bushnell, Strong & MacGregor. Upon the dissolution of that firm in May, 1904, Mr. Strong resumed practice by himself, with offices at Nos. 501-502 D. S. Morgan Building, where he has ever since continued to conduct his extensive business. An able, all-around practitioner and an especially skilful trial lawyer, Mr. Strong ranks as one of the substantial, reliable men of the legal profession in Western New York. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and the Manufacturers’ Club. WILLIAM M. HAWKINS has achieved notable distinction at the Bar by a uniform ad- herence to those sterling standards of research, ethics and conscientious effort which have in all periods been the indicia of the best elements of the legal pro- fession. Mr. Hawkins was born in Medina, Orleans County, N. Y., and was educated in the public schools and at Medina Acad- emy. He read law with S. E. Filkins, a prominent legal practitioner of Orleans County, and was admitted to the Bar at Syracuse, in 1871. Two years later he removed to Buffalo, where he has ever since been engaged in an active and eminently successful general practice. Early in his legal career, Mr. Hawkins was associated in business WILLIAM M. HAWKINSHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY IO9 with George W. Fisher, afterwards with Clinton B. Gibbs; then he was a member of the firm of Swift, Hawkins & Gibbs, and finally was the law partner of Harry D. Williams. All the firms with which he has been identified were recognized as representative in their respective lines of practice, and throughout his professional life Mr. Hawkins has been rewarded by gratifying success. Since the dissolution of his co-partnership with Mr. Williams he has con- ducted his business alone and enjoys an extensive general practice. Mr. Hawkins is a Republican and has always been active in the counsels of his party. In 1884 he served as Member of Assembly from the Third District of Erie County, and from 1894-1906 was Col- lector of Statistics for the City of Buffalo. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club and of various other organizations. FRANK J. TANNER’S success at the Bar is due to uniform adherence to high stand- ard of legal ethics, com- bined with the qualities of mind which intuitively grasp the salient points of propositions of jurispru- dence and apply them with accuracy and decisiveness to the questions at issue. The subject of this sketch was born on a farm at Albion, N. Y., March 21, 1868, a son of William A. and Polly E. Tanner, Mr. Tanner senior having been not only one of the most successful farmers, but one of the most highly respected citizens of Orleans County. Frank J. Tanner after re- ceiving his preliminary training in the Albion High School, began the FRANK J. TANNERIIO HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY study of law in the office of John H. White at that place in October, 1891, continuing for one year. Coming to Buffalo in September, 1892, he entered the office of Tabor, Sheehan, Cunneen & Coatsworth at the suggestion of Mr. Cunneen, who later became Attorney- General of the State of New York. He matriculated in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo in January, 1894, and was admitted to the Bar March 23, 1895. He immediately opened an office in Buffalo and has ever since practiced by himself in that city. His practice is general in its character, and he enjoys a firmly established and profitable business. Mr. Tanner is a Democrat, and has served his party in different responsible capacities. In 1900 he was candidate for Member of Assembly against Edward R. O’Malley, but though he ran ahead of his ticket, it was impossible to overcome the normal majority in the Second District, which is a Republican stronghold. In 1903 Mr. Tanner was the confidential Secretary to Lieutenant-Governor Sheehan during the celebrated Maynard campaign that year. Prominent in Universalist circles, Mr. Tanner is President of the New York State Convention of Universalists and Secretary of the National League of Universalist Laymen. He is a member of De Molay Lodge No. 498, F. & A. M., Buffalo Consistory, and the Acacia and Lawyers’ clubs. MOSES DAY comes of a family in which legal ability is an inherited talent. His father, the late W. Harris Day, was for many years a leading lawyer of Batavia, N. Y.; his grandfather, Honor- able Moses Taggart, was the only Supreme Court Judge Genesee County has ever furnished to the Eighth District; an uncle, Moses Taggart, was Attorney-General of Michigan; and he has two brothers and a sister engaged in the practice of law. The subject of this sketch was born in Batavia, N. Y., May 11, 1872, and was educated in the Batavia public schools arid at Williams College, subsequently entering the New York University Law School, from which he graduated in 1896, with the degree of LL.B. He also studied law in the office of Cephas Brainerd, of New York City, a lawyer of international fame, and in 1896 was admitted to the BarHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY III in Rochester. Shortly after his admission to practice he became associated with H. D. Sanders, in the firm of Day & Sanders, which for five years carried on a successful business in Buffalo. Since the dissolution of that partnership, Mr. Day has practiced alone. He enjoys the confidence of a numer- ous and estimable clientage and has built up a substan- tial business. Mr. Day’s staunch Republicanism was recognized lby his election as Supervisor from the 17th Ward, in 1907, and as a member of the County Board he has rendered valu- able service on the Alms- house Committee, and as Chairman of the Committee on Erroneous Taxes. He is a member of the Erie Coun- ty Bar Association and the Lawyers’ Club, of Highland Lodge of Masons and Trinity Lodge I. O. O. F. ; also of the Otowega Club, the Buffalo Yacht Club, and the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. VERNON COLE. This widely known attorney, associated with the firm of Shire & Jellinek, is characterized by the strong, practical capability which, perhaps more than any other qualifi- cation wins a lawyer the confidence of the public. He was born in Titusville, Pa., September 24, 1871, and after attending the public schools at Bradford, Vt., entered Gowanda Academy, from which he graduated in 1890. His legal studies were pursued at the Cornell Law School, from which he was graduated in 1893,112 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY with the degree of LL.B.; and he also read law with J. A. Elston, of Ithaca, N. Y., later with the firm of Wadsworth, Blackman & Wadsworth, of Buffalo, and finally with Eugene L. Falk, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar in 1893. Soon afterward he became associated with the firm of Clinton & Clark (George Clin- ton and Martin Clark), subsequently forming a law partnership with Benjamin Shire under the firm style of Shire & Cole, and afterwards with J. H. Brown, in the firm of Cole & Brown, and after the dissolution of that partnership Mr. Cole practiced alone up to 1904, when he formed his present connection with the firm of Shire & Jellinek. In the extensive business of this firm Mr. Cole is an important factor, his responsibilities including special attention to the insurance litigations and Appellate and Supreme Court work of the firm. He is a member of the State and Erie County Bar associations and many other societies and organizations. IRVING W. COLE stands in the front rank of Buffalo’s trial lawyers, but the branch of practice in which he has won the most signal distinction is sharply differentiated both from the conduct of jury cases and the labors of the consultation room. Mr. Cole’s notable specialty is the argument of causes before Appellate tribu- nals, and some of the most important decisions which have been handed down by the Court of Appeals in recent years are the out- come of his exhaustive research in the preparation of briefs, and his vigorous, logical presentation of legal principles and precedents. The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Covert, Seneca County, N. Y., September 21, 1859, and was educated in the public schools and at Cook Academy, at Havana, N. Y. In 1880 he began the study of law at Watkins, N. Y., and while serving the office clerkship provided by the court rules, he was for two years and a half Clerk of the Surrogate’s Court of Schuyler County. In 1882 he entered the Albany Law School and graduated in 1883 with the degree of LL.B. The same year he was admitted to the Bar, and a few months afterward began the practice of law with his brother, the Honorable Fremont Cole, at Watkins, N. Y., under the firmHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY II3 style of Cole Brothers. In 1889 E. O. Boylen was admitted part- ner and the firm of Cole, Cole & Boylen continued until 1890, when Fremont Cole withdrew. In 1892 Mr. Cole and Mr. Boylen dis- solved their partnership and Mr. Cole became associated with his younger brother, Elbert Cole, under the firm name of Cole Brothers, this copartnership existing till 1893, when the subject of this sketch IRVING W. COLE formerly Chairman of the Republican County Committee of Schuyler County. EDWARD RICHMOND BOSLEY, of the firm of Morey, Bosley & Morey, is a man of representative standing in his profes- sion, and a leading member of one of the foremost law firms of Western New York. Mr. Bosley was born at Geneseo, Livingston County, N. Y., August 8, 1869. After graduating from the Geneseo State Normal School in 1889, he entered Yale University, where he removed to Buffalo, where he has ever since practiced his profession with dis- tinguished success. Mr. Cole devotes himself chiefly to litigated work and has to his credit a long record of brilliant forensic achieve- ments, many of which have established precedents in the substantive jurisprudence of the State. Among the most notable are the cases of Wallingford vs. Kaiser, Grand vs. Livingston, Wal- dron vs. Fargo, and Shep- hard vs. Fulton, all decided in Mr. Cole’s favor by the Court of Appeals. Mr. Cole is a Republican and was 8114 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY pursued the classical course, being graduated in 1894 with the degree of B. A. In October, 1895, he began the study of law, and on February 1, 1898, was admitted to the Bar. The following year he became a partner with Mr. Norris Morey, under the firm style of Morey & Bosley, which continued until 1904, when Mr. Joseph H. Morey was admitted partner and the present firm was organized. The firm of Morey, Bosley & Morey is one of the most widely known in this section of the State, having a very extensive general practice, besides representing large corporate and individual business interests. In per- sonnel, ability and magni- tude of the trusts committed to its charge the firm exem- plifies the highest grade of professional standing. Mr. Bosley is now serving his edward Richmond bosley third term as a Trustee of the Erie County Bar Association, and is a member of the Univer- sity and Ellicott clubs. B. FRANK DAKE. If one should seek to prove that modern legal practice supplies a field in which the scholarly type of lawyer may win ample success, he could hardly find a more pertinent illus- tration than that furnished by the career of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Dake is an erudite lawyer—a man not only of profound profes- sional research, but of keen and discriminating literary tastes. Legal attainment and liberal culture have supplemented each other in his aims and ambitions, and the result is a record of forensicHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY II5 achievement remarkable not only for its consonance with the highest ethical standards, but eminently efficient and satisfactory in the work accomplished. Mr. Dake was born at Portage, Livingston County, N. Y., and was educated in the public schools and at Nunda Academy. In 1877 he began reading law in the office of George W. Daggett, at Nurida, N. Y., and finished his preliminary reading in the office of Adelbert Moot, at the same place, and in January, 1880, was admitted to the Bar. For some time after- ward he was managing clerk for Fletcher C. Peck, at Nunda, but subsequently he removed to Buffalo, where he became associated with the firm of Baker & Schwartz, the relationship continuing till 1902, since which time Mr. Dake has practiced by himself. An able general practitioner, he has to a considerable degree specialized his work along the lines of trustee- ship, real property law and Surrogate’s Court practice, and he has represented many important estates, among them the estate of the late Andrew J. Holden one of the largest and one of the most complicated settled in Buffalo during recent years. Mr. Dake is a writer of remarkable vigor and originality, and has contributed to the Albany Law Journal some of the most notable articles that have ever appeared in that standard publication. The paper on “The Negro Before the Supreme Court” and that on “The Chinaman Before the Supreme Court” are among the ablest essays with which members of the American Bar have ever B. FRANK DAKE11.6 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY illuminated abstruse topics, and dealing as they do with profound ques- tions of Statutory and Constitutional law, they represent an amount of research which only a jurist can adequately appreciate. Mr. Dake resides in East Aurora and for that reason has not identified himself with the club life and fraternal organizations of Buffalo, but no lawyer in the city has a wider acquaintance or a more general popularity. OSCAR F. GEORGI. The career of this attorney furnishes one of Buffalo’s most strik- ing examples of a rapid rise in the legal profession. As a lawyer and a business man, Mr. Georgi has always been the representative of large industrial interests. Even when he was first ad- mitted to the Bar he was considered by competent judges to have a more ex- tensive knowledge of pro- cedure and practice than any lawyer of his age in Buffalo. He possesses a thorough familiarity with railroad and corporation law, and his extensive prac- tice has been reared on the foundations of strict integ- rity and comprehensive attainment. Mr. Georgi was born in Buffalo, September 25, 1873, and after receiving the advantages of a sound lay education, entered the Buffalo Law School, from which he was graduated in 1895. During his law-school course, and for some years prior to its beginning, he was connected with the office of Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy, and there acquiredHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 117 the unusual knowledge of corporation law and practice which is one of his distinguishing characteristics as a legal practitioner. In 1895 he was admitted to the Bar, and for two years thereafter was the efficient managing clerk of the firm with whom he had pursued his legal studies. In 1897 he was appointed attorney for the Erie Railroad Company, and in that, capacity went to New York City, where for a number of years he was occupied with the management of claims and litigations for that com- pany. In 1905 he returned to Buffalo, where he has ever since been engaged in general practice. To his professional activities, Mr. Georgi adds many important pursuits along industrial and other business lines. He is a director of the Jacob Dol'd Packing Company and holds directorates in several other large Buffalo enterprises. Mr. Georgi is a Republican, but has never sought political office. He is Secretary of the Erie County Bar Association and a member of the Lawyers’ and Transportation clubs, the State Bar Association, and of Manual Lodge No. 636, Free and Accepted Masons. J. CRAIG ROBERTS, who is now filling the responsible and important office of Assistant District Attorney of Erie County, is universally acknowledged to be one of the most able of the rising men of the bar of Western New York. Mr. Roberts was born in Mount Morris, Livingston County, N. Y., March 17, 1876. After attending the High School at Nunda, N. Y., he entered the Albany Law School, from which he graduated with the LL.B. degree in 1904. He also read law in the office of Fletcher C. Peck, of Nunda, and was admitted to the Bar in 1904. He then came to Buffalo, where he accepted a position as managing clerk for C. C. Farnham and Leon Nowak, later acting in the same capacity for Eugene Falk. Subsequently he was appointed assistant to Frank Rumsey, solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which position he held until May, 1908, when he engaged in practice for himself, having offices with the firm of Desbecker & Fisk, with whom he has continued to the present time. A man of vigorous and thoroughly118 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY confirmed Republicanism, Mr. Roberts did some excellent cam- paign speaking for Taft and Hughes in 1908, and his services to his party, as well as his marked profes- sional ability, were acknowl- edged by his selection as Assistant District Attorney, in which capacity he has had charge of the grand jury business of Erie County since he assumed the duties of his office, January 1, 1909. The interests of Mr. | Roberts are not exclusively | professional, as he owns a | fine farm of 165 acres in Livingston County. He has | served for four years in Company G of the 74th Regiment, and is a member of the Lawyers’ Club and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. J. CRAIG ROBERTS JAMES W. MURPHY is a lawyer whose strong and diversified capabilities have not only won him representative prominence at the Buffalo Bar, but have made him an important factor in Republican politics, in industrial enterprise, and in the social life of the community where he resides. The subject of this sketch was born in Lockport, N. Y., November 24, 1878, and after receiving a grammar and high school education in his native city, began reading law with the firm of Ells- worth, Potter & Storrs, leading legal practitioners of Lock- port. After coming to Buffalo he pursued his legal studies with Hon. Louis B. Hart, now Surrogate of Erie County, also entering the Buffalo Law School, from which he graduatedHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 119 in 1903 with the degree of LL. B., the same year being admitted to the Bar. Since then he has conducted a successful general practice and has attained an enviable standing, both as an office practi- tioner and a jury lawyer. In addition to his professional pursuits, Mr. Murphy is extensively identified with business interests. He is President of the Cyclone Grate Bar Company, Vice-President of the Niagara Folding Box Company, Vice-President of the Ridg- way Ice Company, and Sec- retary of the Frontier Iron Works. Always a Repub- lican, Mr. Murphy stands high in the counsels of his party. He is frequently chosen as a delegate to con- ventions and was for four years connected with the Mayor’s office of Buffalo during the term of Mayor Jewett. During the winter of 1895-96 he was private secretary of Senator Tim- othy E. Ellsworth. For four years Mr. Murphy held a responsible position with the BuffaloFire Department and he is a member of many representative organi- zations, including the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’, Saturn, Country, Ellicott and Union clubs, the New York Athletic Club, the Knights of Columbus and the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. CLIFFORD PAUL FELL devotes himself principally to tax law and the law of real estate. In both these branches he is an acknowledged authority. He is the only specialist of his kind in Buffalo, and has a very extensive business. Mr. Fell was born in JAMES W. MURPHY120 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Buffalo, September I, 1876, and was educated in the public schools and under private tutors. In 1901 he graduated from the Buffalo Law School with the degree of LL.B., and he also pursued legal studies in the office of John M. Hull and other practitioners. He was admitted to the Bar November 18,1902, and has been actively en- gaged in practice in Buffalo ever since. Mr. Fell is essentially an expert in tax law and in matters relating to this branch of practice represents the most impor- tant interests in the country. Among his clients is C. H. Wiltsie, of Rochester, him- self a tax and real estate law expert of national repu- tation, and author of “Wiltsie on Mortgage Fore- closure/’ the standard work of its class in this State. Mr. Wiltsie, who does not con- fine his operations to this city alone, commenced in Buffalo in 1899 with an in- vestment of over $300,000.00 and has since continued to be a most important factor at Buffalo’s annual tax sales, his total investments hav- ing long since passed the million-dollar mark. The examination of critical questions pre- sented through the handling and ultimate closing of these invest- ments, together with those of W. G. Wadhams, M. L. Owens and various other leading clients he represents, involves a vast amount of work, and calls for pronounced ability and tact. The benefits result- ing from the efforts put forth by him in the closing of individual invest- . ments have accrued alike to the City of Buffalo, by whom he is fre- quently engaged to perfect titles to lands acquired by the municipalityHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF . ERIE COUNTY 121 at tax sales, and in this joint capacity, as a tax expert, Mr. Fell has rendered invaluable services to the city, and succeeded in clearing up a great number of complicated tax situations and re- stored to a tax-paying basis numerous properties which have here- tofore and for many years past produced no revenue to the city. The enactment of more scientific tax laws recently passed, as well as various prior amendments were largely the result of his suggestion and effort and provide an effective method for the collection of taxes. In all cases, however, he has endeavored to accomplish results without resorting to oppressive statutory proceedings, and his tact and talents for negotiation have been as valuable to Buffalo as his remarkable ability in the specialty to which he has devoted his professional career. Mr. Fell is the owner of various valuable real estate and business interests, including a fine fruit farm in Green River Valley, Utah, and other important investments in the West, notably in irrigation properties. He is also prominently associated with the fraternal and club life of Buffalo; a Mason of the 32d degree, affiliated with Washington Lodge and with Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the B. P. O. E., the Acacia Club, the Lawyers’ Club, and the Erie County Bar Association. FREDERICK G. MITCHELL is an example of the doctrine that the true aim of the legal profession is civic usefulness. To the efforts of Mr. Mitchell Buffalo owes the creation of the new Federal Western District of New York, which has made that city the center of a jurisdiction whose court proceedings were formerly held in Utica, and this notable instance of public spirit is typical, both of Mr. Mitchell’s ideals as a lawyer and his characteristics as a citizen. The subject of this sketch was born in Wayne County, N. Y., May 25,1869. After graduating from Newark Free Academy, at the age of seventeen years, he entered Union College, as a member of the class of 1894. He began reading law with S. K. and B. C. Williams, of Newark, N. Y., and continued his studies with Honorable Jacob Clute, of Schenectady, N.Y., while attending122 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Union College. He enjoyed exceptional advantages in his train- ing for his profession, for his preceptors were all men who united with unusual qualifications a keen interest in the students committed to their instruction. The senior member of the Williams firm was the editor of the Lawyers’ Edition of the United States Supreme Court Decisions, while the junior partner, Mr. B. C. Williams, and Mr. Mitchell’s instructor at Schenectady,' Mr. Clute, gave to the student a guidance and per- sonal tuition which enabled him to make rapid progress. On October io, 1890, while still attending college, Mr. Mitchell was admitted to the Bar, and the following year he removed to Buffalo, where he became managing clerk for Clinton, Clark & Ingram, continuing with that firm till 1894, when he became associated with John W. Ingram, under the partnership style of Ingram & Mitchell. In 1898 Harris S. Williams was admitted partner, the firm being Ingram, Mitchell & Wil- liams, an association which was dissolved in 1900 by the withdrawal of Mr..Ingram to prac- tice in New York City. While a member of this firm, Mr. Mitchell prepared and caused to be introduced in Congress a bill providing for a new Federal District, for the establishment of a court which should hold its sessions in Buffalo. To the accomplishment of this important and far-reaching measure Mr. Mitchell devoted three years, by articles and personal interviews educating the senti- ment of the Bar of the State, and spending several thousand dollars FREDERICK G. MITCHELLHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 123 in expenses of printing and travel. He was successful, but neither obtained nor sought any personal reward beyond the fact that he had conferred an inestimable benefit on Buffalo—an instance of disinterested public spirit, for which it would be hard to find a parallel. From 1901 to 1907 Mr. Mitchell practiced alone, but in July of the latter year he formed his present partnership with William Burnet Wright, Jr. In 1903 Mr. Mitchell established in Buffalo a branch of the Title Insurance Company of New York, his associates being Judge Charles B. Wheeler and Leonard F. Grover. In 1906 the business was incorporated, with Mr. Mitchell as treasurer and attorney. It is one of Buffalo’s substantial and prosperous insti- tutions. Mr. Mitchell is Chairman of the Municipal Affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, a 32d degree Mason, and a member of several of Buffalo’s leading social organizations. FRANCIS F. BAKER, of the well-known firm of Kellogg & Baker, is admittedly one of the strongest trial lawyers among the rising men of the Buffalo Bar and has also won a reputation as an office counselor of thorough attainments and of exceptional breadth and soundness of judgment. Mr. Baker was born at Springfield, N. Y., October 1, 1877. After attending St. Paul’s School, at Garden City, he entered Hamilton College, where he pursued the regular classical courseof study, graduating in 1900 with the degree of A. B. Soon after leaving college he was matriculated as a student in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, his course in that institution being supplemented by legal studies with the firm of Bissell, Carey & Cooke. In 1902 he graduated from the Law School with the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to practice in 1903. For a short period after his admission to the Bar Mr. Baker prac- ticed by himself in Buffalo, later forming a copartnership with Ralph A. Kellogg, under the firm style of Kellogg & Baker, a very successful association which has. existed until the present time. Early in his professional career Mr. Baker developed marked ability as a trial lawyer and he takes principal charge of the court practice of his firm. One of the most notable cases with which he has been124 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY connected was the well-known Campbell Litigation, in which as attorney for the plaintiff he established the important legal prin- ciple, never before decided in this State, that a non-resident next-of- kin to an intestate may not be deprived of the right to letters of administration by the simple exercise of the discretion by a surro- gate. Mr. Baker is a Democrat and has exhibited unusual ability as a campaign speaker. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, the Sat- urn, Country and Ellicott clubs, and the Sigma Phi, Phi Delta Phi fraternities; also a member of the So- ciety of Natural Sciences, of the Chamber of Commerce, on whose Municipal Legis- lation Committee he is now serving; President of the Civic Conference; member of the Board of Managers of the Charity Foundation of the Protestant Espicopal Church of Bulfalo, being on the Finance Committee of that institution; he is also now holding the. office of President of the Men’s Club of Trinity Parish. Recently he was elected a life member of the Buffalo Public Library and associate member of the Real Estate Men’s Association. Mr. Baker has just received the nomination for Councilman. WALTER W. CHAMBERLAIN, lawyer, banker and indus- trial executive, is one of Buffalo’s most noteworthy examples of the modern type of lawyer whose professional attainments lead to broad and useful activities in the world of general business. Profession- ally, the firm of Bartlett & Chamberlain occupy a front rank among FRANCIS F. BAKERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 125 the leading practitioners of the Erie County Bar and have been iden- tified with some of the most important legal business that has been brought before the local courts in recent years. Mr. Chamberlain was born in Buffalo, October 14, 1869. He received his educa- tional training in the public and High Schools of Welland, Ontario, Canada, later attending a private school at that place, and graduated from the Buffalo Law School in 1903, with the degree of LL.B., and was duly admitted to the Bar the same year. His office training he received under the preceptorship of his present partner, Mr. Eugene Bartlett, and since then has been associated with Mr. Bartlett under the firm style of Bartlett & Chamberlain in the general practice of his profession. Aside from the various business interests with which Mr. Chamberlain is identified in direct connec- tion with the practice of law, he is officially and other- wise connected with other enterprises of a corporate character ; being President of the Bank of Angola, President of the Lyth Tile Company, and a director and stockholder in other concerns. Mr. Chamberlain is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and the Lawyers’ and Ellicott clubs. WALTER W. CHAMBERLAIN AUGUST BECKER. This distinguished member of the Erie, County Bar is a representative example of that select body of modern lawyers whose special attainments enable them to become the guides126 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and leading factors of large business operations. Mr. Becker is an expert in the law of commerce and industry. He has in a pre-eminent degree the gifts of the organizer and executive and to his exceptional faculty along these lines is due the fact that he has been the motive force of many important commercial and manufacturing enterprises in Western New York and elsewhere, while as a corporation lawyer he occupies a position of prominence and fixed standing second to no other practitioner at the Erie County Bar of today. August Becker is a native of Buffalo, where he was born, August io, 1868. His early scholastic training was of the most meager character, being confined to that of the elementary English branches, as taught in the public schools of the city at that time. Leaving school, be became an office boy in the office of the historic firm of Greene, McMillan & Gluck, and continued with the successor of that firm, styled McMillan, Gluck & Pooley. Mr. Becker thus enjoyed exceptional advan- tages for legal training and culture in his connection with these distinguished firms. Being naturally of a studious turn of mind, by industry and severe application to study in due course of time and a few months after reaching his majority, in October, 1888, at a term of the Supreme Court held in the City of Rochester, he was duly admitted to the Bar. After spending another year in his former preceptor’s office, mastering the routine of the office, Mr. Becker launched out in independent practice in the city of his birth,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 127 in July, 1891. The following year he became associated with Charles C. Farnham in the firm of Becker & Farnham, a relation which lasted for seven years and up to ten years ago, since which time Mr. Becker has practiced alone. The volume of Mr. Becker’s practice, which is largely of a corporation character, is partially indicated by the fact that seven clerks are employed in handling the clerical work in the office, while in the field of industrial enterprise his name appears upon the directorates of twelve important corporations, as follows: Director of the Barcalo Manufacturing Company, the Buffalo Lounge Company, of which he is also vice-president, the Central Ice Company, the Western Inspection Company, the English Woolen Mills Company, also Vice-President of the American Fire Apparatus Company of New York, Director of the Crandall Horse Company, the Fiss, Doerr & Carroll Horse Company of New York, the Bridgeport Bronze Marine Paint Company of Bridgeport, Conn., the Eastman Machine Company, and President of the Dunn Ink Works of Buffalo. Mr. Becker having always been a deep student of legal litera- ture, early figured as an author, having in conjunction with James Fraser Gluck collaborated an extensive text-book of seven hundred pages, known as “Gluck & Becker on Receivers of Corporations,” that proved such a valuable contribution on the subject that the volume has run through a second edition. Socially and professionally Mr. Becker stands deservedly high, though the groundwork of his achievements has been built upon the solid rock of hard work and devotion to his profession. He is a member of both the Erie County and the State Bar associations and the Lawyers’ Club. CARL D. STEPHAN may well be characterized by the statement that he is an active and valued* member of one of the most representative law partnerships of Western New York. The firm of Dolson, Dolson & Stephan holds a rank second to none at the Erie County Bar. Of that Bar the subject of this sketch is acknowledged to be one of the rising men. Mr. Stephan has been128 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY prominently identified with the business of this firm ever since his connection with it and has, therefore, been identified with some of the most important litigations that have come before the local courts in recent years. Mr. Stephan was born at Dans- ville, N. Y., July 30, 1873. | He was educated in the | High School at that place,. | C o r n e 11 University, and | graduated from the Cornell | Law School with the degree I of LL.B., in 1894, where he | took a postgraduate course | the following year. Upon his admission to the Bar he entered the office of F.W. Noyes, at Dansville, for a short time when he came to Buffalo where after serving a clerkship he established himself in practice, continu- ing alone up to 1907, when he became a member of the present firm of Dolsonr Dolson & Stephan. Mr. Stephan is a member of the Lawyers’ Club and the Ellicott Club. CARL D. STEPHAN RICHARD TEMPLETON, a member of that representative and well-known law firm of Weimert & Templeton, not only enjoys an assured place of prominence and standing among the junior bar of Erie County, but also has a creditable record of ten years’’ service as a National Guardsman with the present rank of Captain of Company E, 74th Regiment. Mr. Templeton was born in Buffalo, September 23, 1877. He received his preliminary educational training in the public schools and Central High School, graduating from the latter in 1895. He subsequently pursued aHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 129 course in Syracuse University graduating therefrom with the degree of A.B. in 1899. He studied law in the'University of Buffalo Law School and in the office of Clinton & Thomas, and was duly admit- ted to the Bar in 1901. He thereupon became associated in prac- tice with Mr. Dewitt Clin- ton, continuing up to Janu- ary, 1907, when he entered his present partnership re- lation with Mr. Orson J. W e i m e r t in the firm of Weimert & Templeton. Though the business of this firm covers a wide range of general practice the special branch of corporation law is fast demanding a large share of their attention. Of scholarly inclinations and a student of legal literature Mr. Templeton’s public spirit has caused him to give eight years’service as an in- structor in the night High Schools of Buffalo, while he is, at the present time a lecturer on the subject of corporations in the Buffalo University Law School. Mr. Templeton is a mem- ber and formerly treasurer of the Buffalo Canoe Club, a member of the University Club and Washington Lodge, F. & A; M. Politi- cally he is a Republican. RICHARD TEMPLETON JUDSON S. RUMSEY. Endowed with a splendid educa- tional equipment and qualities of mind that had been sedulously cultivated by study and application, Judson S. Rumsey began the practice of law in Buffalo in 1908. Mr. Rumsey was born at Cattaraugus, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., September 21, 1876.I3O HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY He was educated at the Cattaraugus High School and in 1900 gradu- ated with honors from Colgate University with the degree of A.B. He then entered the law department of the University of Buffalo, took the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to the Bar in 1902. Returning to Cattaraugus, he became a member of the firm of Nash, Oakes & Rumsey for a year, when he went to Rochester to become a member of the editorial staff of the Lawyers’ Co- Operative Publishing Com- pany. In that capacity he remained for four years, subsequently he became a member of the Bar Associa- tion of Western New York and a lecturer upon the sub- ject of “ Domestic Rela- tions,” in the Buffalo Law School. Having been trained in the preparation of 1 egal text-books and possessing an analytical mind, Mr. Rumsey was engaged by one of the leading law pub- lishers of the State to pre- pare a book on the subject of corporations, to be known TUDSON S. RUMSEY an J as Rumsey on Corpora- tions.” The book has been highly commended by the reviews and is one of the leading works on the subject treated. Although deeply interested in text-book preparation, Mr. Rumsey is a general practitioner of marked ability, and as such has taken his place among the lawyers of Erie County. He is a member of the Law- yers’ and University clubs and the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity; he is also Secretary and Treasurer of the Colgate University Alumni Association of Western New York, and is an active member of theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I3I North Presbyterian Church, being secretary of the Men’s Club and president of the Men’s Bible Class. Mr. Rumsey was married in 1905 to Miss Ada L. Hoag, of Cattaraugus, and lives at 425 West Delavan Avenue. FRED. D. RUSSELL is one of the younger members of the Bar of Western New York whose ability as a practitioner has been shown and whose success is assured. He was born in Wayne County, N. Y:, August 29, 1868, and received his edu- cation in public schools, Marion Collegiate Institute and Eastman’s National Business College, at Pough- keepsie, N. Y. After grad- uating from the Eastman College he commenced the study of law in the office of D. B. Tuttle and Frank P. Marquis. His admission to the Bar was granted in 1896, and, with the fearless inde- pendence which has charac- terized his subsequent ca- reer, he entered no partnership, but began the practice of his profession trusting solely to his own efforts. An engaging personality coupled with the ability to find good law and apply it won him rapid recognition and today he is the legal representative of several large corporate interests, in some of which he is a stockholder and officer. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County, the Orchid Club and the Acacia Club, and is a member of various FRED. D. RUSSELL132 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Masonic bodies, including Ismailia Temple and other fraternal orders. WILLIAM H. CORCORAN. Quiet in demeanor, but, in action, showing a keen insight into his cases and a comprehensive grasp of the law in application to them, William H. Corcoran is one of the young men of Buffalo who has been accorded a high place in the Bar, his repu- tation with regard to recov- ery in negligence cases be- ing exceptionally enviable. Mr. Corcoran was born at Parishville, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., October 24, 1871. He was educated at the public schools of his native town, the Lowville, N. Y., Academy and the State Normal School at Potsdam. In the office of Major H. D. Ellsworth, of Canton, N. Y., he began the study of law and was admit- ted to the Bar in 1898. He at once came to Buffalo and associated with his brother, John B. Corcoran, under Since then his practice and his several other business interests have prospered materially, until he has achieved an eminence truly enviable in one of his age. He is a Democrat in politics and has contributed his eloquence and strongly logical argumentative ability to his party in more than one campaign. For five years he was connected with the 74th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., and still has a host of friends in its ranks. WILLIAM H. CORCORAN the firm name of Corcoran & Corcoran.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I33 ELIJAH W. HOLT. The subject of this sketch was born in Westfield, N. Y., March 31, 1868. His grandfather, General Elijah Holt, located at Buffalo at an early day, about the time of the burning of the then village by the British in 1813, and was conspicuous in military affairs of those times. His father, George W. Holt, was one of the pioneers in the vessel business on the Great Lakes and for many years a prominent ship owner, residing in Buffalo, though later on at Westfield. Elijah W. came to Buffalo in 1891, having commenced the study of law in his native town, and continued his pro- fessional training with Judge Truman C. White, then a member of the law firm of White & Simons. Mr. Holt was admitted to the Bar in 1892 and shortly afterward became associa- ted with Carle ton H. White, son of the judge, in the firm of White & Holt. On the dissolution of that copartnership in 1896, he became a member of the firm of Bartlett,Van Gorder, White & Holt, an association which continued until 1900; since then he has been associated with Greenleaf S. Van Gorder and Clark A. Craine, with offices in the Brisbane Building. In addition to conducting a general practice Mr. Holt makes a specialty of litigated business, the trial of cases and conduct of appeals, and in those specialties he has been markedly successful, so much so that he is frequently retained by other lawyers, to try important causes, and brief and argue important appeals in the upper courts. ELIJAH W. HOLT134 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Both in his own practice and under retainer from other attorneys he has conducted many of the more notable causes before the courts in Buffalo and elsewhere in this part of the State. In politics Mr. Holt is affiliated with the Republican party. PRESTON R. SMITH. Of a grave, studious demeanor, Preston R. Smith is one of the lawyers of Buffalo who has inspired with confidence a large clientage, and who has gained the respect and ad- miration of his fellow mem- bers of the Bar. He is a conservative man, of deep erudition and keen insight, and his marked success in his profession is based upon a thorough knowledge of law, fundamentally and in practice. Mr. Smith was born in Buffalo, June 28, 1870, edu- cated in the city’s public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1891. His education was com- pleted at the University of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 1894. He was admitted to the Bar in 1895. For three years after his admission he was connected with the office of Hawkes, Michael & Quinby, but since 1898 has practiced alone. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the New York State Bar Association. As an active Republican he has done some campaigning, and is a factor in the counsels of his party. He was formerly a member of the 65th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., and served with his company at Camp PRESTON R. SMITHHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I35 Alger and Camp Black during the Spanish-American War, muster- ing out in 1898. He was president of the Alumni Association of Buffalo High schools 1897-98 and was formerly secretary. JOHN K. WHITE is one of the best-read lawyers among the younger members of the Buffalo Bar. The legal profession to Mr. White has proved a stepping stone to political and civic promi- nence. Mr. White was born August 9, 1877, at Tona- wanda, N. Y., where he was graduated from the high schools. He pursued his legal education in the Law Department of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, from which he graduated with the de- gree of LL.B.in 1898, after wards taking a postgrad- uate course at Cornell Law School, he was admitted to the Bar in November of the same year. In 1900 he be- came associated with the firm of Vroman & Fish, at Tonawanda, and afterwards with the firm of Vroman & White, which relation lasted until 1903, and since then he has been a member of the firm of White & Stanley. Mr. White was Chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners of Tonawanda from 1901 to January 1, 1905, when he was ap- pointed City Attorney by a Republican Board of Aldermen, and reappointed at the expiration of his term by a Democratic Board, serving up until 1907, when he was elected for a term of three years which he is now serving. Mr. White re-drafted the Tonawanda136 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY City Charter, provided a law for tax foreclosure proceedings, and was the author of various measures for the benefit of the munici- pality. He has taken a prominent part in the movement for the establishing of canal terminals, and in all canal affairs, including the removal of all fixed bridges over Tonawanda Creek, and has frequently appeared before the State Engineer as the representative of the City of Tonawanda in canal matters. Mr. White is one of the best authorities on Admiralty Law among the junior Bar, hav- ing lectured on that subject in the Buffalo Law School during the years 1902-05. In the specialized field of Admiralty Law, Federal and Equity Work claims a large share of the attention of this firm, and they are recognized as among the leaders of the junior bar in their line. Mr. White is a member of the Erie County and State Bar associations, the B. P. O. E. and the Eagles and Transportation Club, and served three years as lieutenant in the 25th Separate Company at Tonawanda. As a Bibliophile and reflecting his his- toric sentiment Mr. White has made a valuable collection of rare books, pamphlets and de luxe editions. THOMAS A. SULLIVAN, County Attorney of Erie County, senior member of the law firm of Sullivan, Bagley & Wechter, furnishes one of the most conspicuous examples of the truth that a lawyer, in his professional capacity, may perform civic services of the highest importance to the community. As legal representa- tive of the County of Erie, Mr. Sullivan has been the means of saving many thousands of dollars to the taxpayers, and through his skill as a trial lawyer and his unusual faculties of research, precedents have been established which will have far-reaching effect in fixing the rights and responsibilities of counties in matters necessarily incident to their administration. With a profound knowledge of the law relating to counties and munici- palities, Mr. Sullivan unites the attainments and capabilities of a general legal practitioner of the first rank. The subject of this sketch was born in Fisher, Ontario Co., N. Y., July 6, 1869. He received his lay education at Fairport Classical School, from whichHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I37 he was graduated in 1889. Soon afterward he entered the Cornell University Law School from which he graduated in 1901, his legal studies being also pursued with White & Simons, of Buffalo (Hon- orable Truman C. White and Seward A. Simons), from whose office he was admitted to the Bar in 1902. Opening an office in Buffalo, he practiced alone till 1904, then forming a copartnership with Willis M. Spaulding, under the firm style of Spaulding & Sullivan, later becoming a member of the firm of Sulli- van & Bagley, which was succeeded by the present firm of Sullivan, Bagley & Wechter. Representing a strong combination of legal ability, this widely-known firm is one of the leading law partnerships of Buffalo. A staunch Republican, Mr. Sullivan was elected from a Congressional district hav- ing a normal Democratic majority of four thousand, to the Constitutional Con- vention of 1894. He was then twenty-three years old, being the youngest member of that body. In 1908 he was elected County Attorney by the Erie County Board of Supervisors, and was re-elected in 1909. He defended the county against the attempt made to collect from it the cost of the cattle quarantine, the State being compelled to pay the expenses under the decision secured by Mr. Sullivan’s efforts. In the Erie Railroad tax cases he obtained a reversal of two prior adverse decisions, and through his instrumentality a refunding of school and highway taxes by counties which had been established THOMAS A. SULLIVANI38 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY for eight years was overturned by the courts, thus saving to the counties throughout the State $100,000. During his two terms of office he has saved for Erie County over $75,000. Among the important business litigations conducted by Mr. Sullivan's firm a prominent place belongs to the trade list cases of the Witkop Holmes Company vs. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, in which they established the principle that a company or individual cannot use the trade lists of a competitor, the decision being one of the most notable recent adjudications in commercial law. For six years Mr. Sullivan was engaged in closing up the affairs of the Gleason, Bailey & Sciple Manufacturing Company, the out- come being the payment of all creditors. Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers' and Buffalo clubs, the Commit- tee of the Charity Organization Society, and the Catholic Aid Society. He has a record of seven years' service in Company G, of the 65th Regiment, from which he was mustered out with the rank of sergeant. He is also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity and other organizations. JOSIAH BOARDMAN SCOVELL. While the professional activities of the subject of this sketch are illustrative of the tendency toward specialization which is one of the notable charac- teristics of the modern Bar, they nevertheless represent several branches of practice. Mr. Scovell is a recognized and a high authority in the law of admiralty, bankruptcy, corporations and international estates. His practice has been largely concerned with Federal jurisprudence, to whose substance he has added by the establishment of important precedents in the courts. Mr. Scovell derives his descent from an ancestry well known in the early annals of New England, and later in the Revolutionary period. He was born in Lewiston, Niagara Co., N. Y., December 1, 1869, and was educated in the public schools of that place and at Lockport Union School, graduating from the latter as valedic- torian of his class in 1888. On leaving school he entered the Law Department of Cornell University whence he graduated withHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I39 the degree of LL.B. in 1891, receiving honorable mention for a thesis on “The Police Power of the Legislature with special refer- ence to Prohibitory Liquor Legislation.” In 1892 he was admitted to the Bar, and prior to that event he had accepted the position of editor of the “Federal Cases,” comprising in thirty volumes all the United States Circuit and District Court decisions for the first century of American Constitutional History, and issued by the West Publishing Com- pany, of St. Paul. With this task of erudite research, Mr. Scovell was occupied from 1891 to 1894, during which time he resided at Washington, D. C. In the latter year he returned to Buffalo, where he began active practice in which he has ever since continued. Mr. Scovell is counsel for many important estate and corporation interests, Cana- dian and English as well as American, particularly those associated in the de- velopment of Niagara Falls power. His name is as- josiah boardman scovell sociatedwith such causes as the Sabine bankruptcy case, wherein many of the most no- table points of principle and procedure under the United States Bankruptcy Act were adjudicated; the defense against the pro- ceedings of the Canadian Government to obtain the Whirlpool property as part of Niagara Park; and the representation of the County of Antrim, Ireland, in similar proceedings with respect to the Giants’ Causeway. In politics, Mr. Scovell is an independ- ent Democrat. He is a member of the leading Buffalo clubs, ofI40 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY representative clubs in Toronto and New York City, of the Erie County Bar Association and of other organizations. He is a director of various American and Canadian corporations. FRANKLIN D. L. STOWE, of the firm of Cox, Kimball & Stowe, is one of Buffalo’s prominent trial lawyers, and his career affords a signal instance of the power of native ability and industry to attain the honorable dis- tinctions and the legitimate rewards of the legal profes- sion. Mr. Stowe was born in Bay City, Mich., Febru- ary 22, 1879. During his boyhood his family came to Buffalo, where he was educated in the public schools and also pursued a high school course. He studied law with the firms of Bissell & Metcalf and Roland Crangle, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar, and soon afterward he became managing clerk for Norton, Penney & Sears, with which firm he gained a valuable experience in the trial of causes in which he exhibited such marked ability that an important share of the trial work of the firm was intrusted to him. Later he became a member of the firm of Cox, Kimball & Stowe, a most successful law partnership, with which his asso- ciation continues to the present time; Mr. Stowe being the trial lawyer of the firm. While carrying on a very large general practice, Messrs. Cox, Kimball & Stowe have become notably identified with insurance law, and their business in that field is one of FRANKLIN D. L. STOWEHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I4I the most extensive in Western New York. Honorable Robert Lynn Cox, the senior member of the firm, is counsel of the Association of Life Insurance Presidents. Mr. Stowe is a member of the State Bar Association. He takes an active interest in Civil Service Reform, and acceptably fills the office of member of the Execu- tive Committee of the Buffalo Civil Service Reform Association. FRANK L. BARNETT. An apt illustration of the success which is the reward of abil- ity guided by sterling ethical principles and disciplined by uniform conscientious- ness of effort, is furnished by the career of this widely- known and highly-esteemed member of the Erie County Bar. Mr. Barnett is of Scotch and English descent, and was born in Buffalo, December 15, 1859. After graduating from the public schools of his native city, he read law in the office of W. B. Donohue, and finished his studies preparatory to the Bar with W. W. Hodge, being admitted to practice in 1881. During the earlier years Mr. Barnett practiced in Alden, N. Y., but later opened an office in Buffalo, and he now maintains offices in both places, having, in this dual field of effort built up a large and very suc- cessful business. He is singularly painstaking in the prepara- tion of his cases and makes the causes of his clients his own. Mr. Barnett is a Democrat, has held the office of Town Attor- ney for several years and formerly that of village attorney. FRANK L. BARNETT142 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers* Club, of Hugh de Payens Commandery and of Alden Lodge No. 594, F. & A. M., having served for eight years as master of that lodge. Mr. Barnett has been President of the Alden Free Library since its organization. NELSON T. BARRETT, whose fourteen years of success- ful practice have won him an assured position at the Bar of Buffalo, springs from a family which came to Massachusetts in 1633; he was born at Byron, N. Y., December 14, 1867, where his great-grandfather settled in the early part of the last century, and is the son of Elvin A. and Elizabeth (Dibble) Barrett. He studied at Cary and Starkey seminaries and was graduated from the Univer- sity of Rochester in 1892, as Ph.B., where he was for three years president of his class. Coming to Buffalo, he became a student in the offices of Petrie & Timer- man, being admitted to the Bar in 1894, and at once began the active practice of his profession; he has had a busy and successful legal career, making a specialty of the law of real estate. NELSON T. BARRETT On April 3, 1893, Mr. Barrett enlisted in Company I, 65th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., and served continuously through all grades, until in 1909 he was commissioned captain of his company. During the Spanish-American War he served as second lieutenant of hisHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAA OF ERIE COUNTY I43 company, being mustered out with his command. His father served throughout the Civil War, and Captain Barrett is a member of the Sons of Veterans and was unanimously elected as the first Commander of Liscum Camp, Spanish War Veterans. Mr. Barrett is a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and a Republican in politics. In 1896 he married Florence Wheeler and they have four children. ULYSSES S. THOMAS was born in Buffalo, August 11, 1872, and was educated in the public schools and at Central High School, grad- uating from the latter in 1891. The same year he was for some time in the employ of the New York Central Railroad Company, in New York City, and in 1892 he worked for the Bank of Buffalo in the capacities of clerk, bookkeeper and note teller. In September, 1893, he was matriculated as a student of the Buffalo Law School, from which he graduated in May, 1895, the same year entering the office of Mr. George Clin- ton, and later studying with. Marshall, Clinton & Rebadow, from whose office he was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1896. He continued with that firm until May 1, 1899, when Mr. Clinton withdrew, whereupon Mr. Thomas and Mr. DeWitt Clinton formed the firm of Clinton & Thomas, with Spencer Clinton as counsel, an association which continued Until September, 1905, when Mr. Thomas became a member of ULYSSES S. THOMAS144 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY the firm of Marshall, Redabow & Thomas. Shortly after the death of Mr. Marshall in 1908, Messrs. Thomas and Rebadow dissolved partnership, and from that time to the present Mr. Thomas has practiced alone. Mr. Thomas’ practice is of a general character. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, of which he was for a number of years secretary; a life member of Ancient Land- marks Lodge, Canoe Club and the Motor Boat Club of Buffalo. He is also a member of the Lawyers’, Ellicott, Park and Automobile clubs. WILBER E. HOLTPT, the counsel of the Citizens’ Union and the Joint Terminal Committee, is one of those exceptional lawyers to whom may be credited equal proficiency in several distinct profes- sional specialties. Mr. Houpt stands in the front rank of Buffalo trial law- yers, and his ability as a jury advocate has alike been demonstrated in civil and criminal cases. As an office counselor his learning and discernment have been ap- proved by many critical tests. As the representative of large civic interests, he occupies a place distinc- tively his own, and there is no member of the Erie County Bar to whom the phrase “an able all-around lawyer” can be applied with more truth. Mr. Houpt was born in Somerset, N. Y., March .11, 1856. After pursuing a course at the Lockport Union School, from which he graduated in 1878, he entered Yale lUniversity, graduating in 1883, with the WILBER E. HOUPTHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I45 degree of B.A. His legal studies were begun in New York City, where he was for some time a student in the office of Crowley, Sayler, Blake & Corwine. Coming to Buffalo he continued his preparation for the Bar with Honorable Truman C. White and Nelson K. Hopkins, from whose office he was admitted to prac- tice in June, 1886. For ten years thereafter he was a member of the firm of Laughlin, Ewell & Houpt,^ but since the dissolution of that copartnership he has practiced alone. Mr. Houpt is frequently called in as counsel by attorneys of record, and his recognized ability as an advocate is often resorted to by lawyers who enlist his services in the trial of cases. While a partner of the Honorable John Laughlin he took an active part in the celebrated defense of Mrs. Hattie Penseyres, who was charged with murder, first degree, the result being the finding of second degree against the defendant. During the past two years Mr. Houpt has served with signal efficiency as counsel for the. Joint Terminal Committee which has recently addressed itself to the solution of Buffalo’s rail- road terminal problem. The Joint Terminal Committee is a powerful and representative organization, composed of the Chamber of Commerce and all the business men’s associations of Buffalo, the total membership comprising over two thousand citizens. The committee is Buffalo’s leading factor in the fight for better terminals. One of the most noteworthy cases with which Mr. Houpt has lately been identified is the libel suit of Bird S. Coler, president of the Borough of Brooklyn, against the Brooklyn “ Eagle,” Mr. Houpt being associate counsel for the defendant. In the trial just con- cluded, the result was a disagreement of the jury. Mr. Houpt is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and the Buffalo Club, and is one of the original members of the University Club. JOHN B. CORCORAN. With a keen insight into and the talent of applying his knowledge of law to the exigencies of the case involved, John B. Corcoran has made an enviable reputa- tion for himself before the Bar of Erie County, especially in the trial and settlement of cases. 10146 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. Corcoran was born in St Lawrence County. His early education was secured at district schools and at the academy at Lowville, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1889. He took a special two years * course at Cornell University and afterwards spent one year at the Cornell College of Law. His law studies were pursued in the offices of Tabor, Sheehan, Cunneen & Coatsworth and was ad- mitted to the Bar at Buffalo in 1893. His first practice was alone, but five years ago he became associated with his brother, William H. Corcoran, under the pres- ent firm name of Corcoran & Corcoran, and with him founded a constantly in- creasing and desirable prac- tice. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the Lawyers’ Club, and in his fraternal relations is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Independent Order of Foresters and the National Protective Legion. CHARLES F. BOINE. An attorney whose popularity does not yield to that of any of the younger lawyers of Buffalo, is Charles Floyd Boine. He has had twelve years of legal prac- tice and possesses the skill and science of a veteran lawyer. He was born in Buffalo, December 15, 1875. He attended the public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1894. He began his legal studies in the office of Wadsworth, Blackman & Wads- worth, continuing with George B. Burd, from whose office he wasHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I47 admitted to the Bar in 1898. Immediately afterward he opened an office in Buffalo, where he has since continued to follow his profession. A hard worker, a man of marked ability, his success has been a logical outcome of his attainments and character. Attorney Boine is a Democrat and received his party’s nomi- nation for Assemblyman from the Sixth District in 1903, and in that practically impregnable Republican stronghold he cut down the normal Republican major- ity almost ninety per cent. Mr. Boine is a member of the Erie County Bar Asso- ciation and of the Order of Odd Fellows. His law practice, which is of a general character, is both large and representative of important interests. CHARLES F. BOINE GEORGE B. BURD. Among the members of the Bar of Buffalo who have acquired prominence, none occupy a more envi- able position than George B. Burd, due not only to his exceptional and well recognized qualifications as a lawyer, but as well to the high standard of his citizenship generally. Mr. Burd was born in Bethlehem, Stark Co., Ohio, April 21, 1862. He received his primary education in the district schools of Oxford, Warren Co., N. J., read law at Washington, N. J., 1878-79 and at Belvidere, N-. J., 1884-85, and was graduated from the University of Michigan taking the degree of LL.B., in 1887. He was admitted to the Bar of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1887148 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and to the New York State Bar in 1890. Locating in Buffalo he successively became a member of the following firms: Burd & Clossey; Burd, Clossey & Baker, and Feldman, Burd & Kerker. Since the termination of the last named partnership, Mr. Burd has practiced alone. Mr. Burd has been singularly successful in the handling of important cases. He was counsel for the town of Tonawanda in proceedings involving the legality of the method of the town’s fiscal arrangements and suc- ceeded in recovering more than eighteen thousand dol- lars for the town. He has varied and important inter- ests outside his law prac- tice, being Secretary and Treasurer of the Buffalo Concrete Stone and Brick Company, the Peerless Ven- tilating Company and a di- rector of the Acker Remedy Company. Mr. Burd was one of the organizers of the Law- yers’ Club of Buffalo, having issued the call that resulted in the organi- zation of that club. He is a Democrat in politics and has done con- siderable campaigning for his party. He was nominated by his party without his knowledge in 1901 for Councilman and later was nomi- nated without his knowledge or seeking for State Senator, but was ineligible owing to his being a member of the Civil Service Com- mission. He never sought office or public position, but a few years ago was appointed a member of the commission that investigated the Municipal Courts of Buffalo, which resulted in the abolition GEORGE B. BURDHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I49 of the fee system. In 1908-09 he was a member of the commission that investigated the jury system of Erie County. JOSEPH H. MOREY. As the son of Norris Morey, Joseph H. Morey comes of a family well known to the legal profession of Erie County and he is a young man, who, by his ready grasp of affairs and well-directed am- bition, bids fair to hand down an honored name with added credit for future gen- erations to maintain. Mr. Morey was born in Buffalo, March 6,1877, and received his early education in the Buffalo public schools. In 1899 he gradu- ated from Yale University with the degree of A. B., and returned to Buffalo to read law in the office of his father. In 1901 he was ad- mitted to the Bar and be- came a member of the firm of Morey, Bosley & Morey with which he is now con- nected. He is a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity and of the University Club of Buffalo. JOSEPH M. KINSELLA, president and founder of the Frontier Press Company, is a lawyer by profession, but his career is notably illustrative of the discipline of a legal training used as a stepping-stone to success in the field of business enterprise. Mr. Kinsella is one of the most enterprising publishers in the country. He is the creator of a business as remarkable for its steady expansion as for the solidity of the foundations on which it has been reared JOSEPH H. MOREYI50 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and he is also a thoroughly progressive citizen, broad minded, public spirited and actively interested in the movements which tend to the material advancement and social and moral uplifting of the community. The subject of this sketch was born in Medina, N. Y., January 19, 1868. After pursuing a course of study at the Wilson High School, he entered the Buffalo Normal School from which he graduated in 1894. Subsequently he was matriculated as a student in the Law Depart- ment of Cornell University, from which he graduated with the degree of LL.B.in 1900, the same year being admitted to the Bar. Be- fore entering college and throughout his academic career Mr. Kinsella was identified with the publish- ing business, for which he exhibited a natural aptitude that seemed to mark out this branch of enterprise as his life work. His first in- dependent undertaking in the publication field was the issuing of the Standard Dic- tionary of Facts, a work of sterling value which has had a circulation co-extensive with the country, and for which there continues to be an increasing demand. Every year Mr. Kinsella revises the book at great expense, for the purpose of em- bodying recent discoveries and new developments in the mass of information it contains, thus fulfilling the original purpose of mak- ing the work a first-class, up-to-date popular encyclopedia. Soon after embarking in business for himself, Mr, Kinsella established the Frontier Press Company, which has since been incorporated, JOSEPH M. KINSELLAHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 151 and of which he is the president and principal stockholder. In the course of ten years the enterprise has developed into an immense business, employing the services of from one hundred and fifty to one thousand solicitors for the sale of the work, of which forty thousand volumes are issued annually, the average business amount- ing to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum. Prac- tical in its aims and dealing directly with the public need for a supply of authoritative knowledge regarding salient and useful facts, the Standard Dictionary of Facts is a publication of the highest grade of merit, and it is proper to add that its author, Dr. Henry W. Ruoff, is one of the foremost scholars and statisticians of the coun- try. Mr. Kinsella is a member of the Manufacturers9 and Ellicott clubs and of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. AARON FYBUSH. scholastic attainments and natural ability of a high order, an eloquent pleader and careful counselor, Aaron Fybush is recognized as a legal practitioner having those qualifications neces- sary to the realization of the highest ideals of the pro- fession. He was born at Buffalo, N. Y., December 16, 1868, and was educated in the public schools of that city, graduating from Central High School in 1889. He was admitted to the Bar in 1891, after having studied law with Price A. Matteson and later with Ford & Ferguson. After being admitted Energetic and resourceful, possessing AARON FYBUSH he became associated with152 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Walter G. Smith under the firm name of Smith & Fybush, a connec- tion which lasted from 1891 until 1899. Since then Mr. Fybush has practiced alone and has surrounded himself with a general prac- tice large in proportion and desirable in character. He ranks high as the advisor of corporations and has financial interests in several enterprises. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the Lawyers5 Club of Buffalo. In Masonry he is a member of Ancient Landmarks Lodge and of the Acacia Club. His social connections are numerous and number among others, membership in the Buffalo Yacht Club. He is a Republican in politics, and although never a candidate for office has contributed to the success of his party by speaking and active campaigning, and has several times served as a delegate at party conventions. GEORGE L. KINGSTON. This veteran lawyer of the Erie County Bar has for many years enjoyed a fixed place of prominence and an acknowledged standing be- fore the courts, while as an office counselor he enjoys the long standing confi- dence of a numerous cli- entage. George L. Kingston was born in Buffalo, N. Y., and there received his edu- cational training. He read law in the office of LeGrand Marvin and later with Day & Romer, and was admitted to the Bar as attorney and counselor before the general term of the Supreme Court at Syracuse, January, 1876. Since then he has been successfully engaged in the general practiceHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 153 of his profession in Buffalo, where he stands high at the Bar as an able, painstaking and industrious lawyer and advocate. Fraternally Mr. Kingston is one of the most prominent Masons in New York State, being made a member on March i, 1881, of Parish Lodge, No. 292, F. & A. M., which he served as Master in 1884-85-88. He is Past High Priest of Buffalo Chapter No. 71, R. A. M., serving in that capacity in 1893 and 1894, in which years he was also assistant lecturer of the Grand Chapter. He has been Thrice Illustrious Master of Buffalo Council No. 17, R. & S. M., is Past Commander of Lake Erie Commandery No. 20, K. T., Past Thrice Potent Master of Palmoni Lodge of Per- fection, A. A. S. R. and a charter member of Buffalo Chapter, Rose Croix, H. R. D. M., of Buffalo Consistory, S. P. R. S. Rec- ommended by the New York State Grand Council of Deliberation for the thirty-third degree at its twenty-fourth annual assembly held in the City of New York, June 8, 1892. A charter member of Ismailia Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. and of Constantine Conclave of Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine and appendant orders stationed at Buffalo. He received the Royal Order of Scotland, at a session of the Provincial Grand Lodge for the United States held in Chicago, September 18, 1893, and in June, 1896, was ap- pointed a commissioner of appeals of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a member of the Fraternal Union of Anointed High Priests of the State of New York. FREDERICK C. GRATWICK, the second son of the late William H. Gratwick, was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1874. In 1876 his family came to Buffalo, where he was prepared for college, later entering Harvard University from which he was graduated with the Class of 1897. After completing his academic education he began the study of law in the Harvard Law School and was admitted to the Bar in New York City in 1900. After two years spent in travel, Mr. Gratwick returned to Buffalo where he became associated with the firm of Chester & Smith, to which in 1905 he was admitted as a partner; the style of the new firm being Chester, Smith & Gratwick. The association has been successful in the154 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY the confidence of the com- munity. Iii addition to his legal pursuits Mr. Gratwick has interests in lumber and in the lake marine and is a director of the Columbia National Bank. Mr. Grat- wick has been active as sec- retary of the Election Laws Enforcement Association, as a member of the executive committee of the Municipal League. He is vice-presi- dent of the new Homeo- pathic Hospital, and is a man of wide interests and general acquaintance. He is a member of the Buffalo, Saturn and Country clubs and other representative organizations. Mr. Grat- wick is a lecturer in the Buffalo Law School on the Law of Wills. GEORGE F. SCHULTZ. A lawyer of exceptionally fine scholastic attainments and of a keen analytical mind, George F. Schultz has won for himself a splendid recognition before the Bar of Erie County. He was born at Rochester, N. Y., April 7, 1874, but passed his boyhood at Batavia, from the high school of which city he gradu- ated. Later he entered the Albany Law School and graduated in 1895 with the degree of LL.B. He then studied, law in the office of Myron H. Peck, at Batavia, and in 1895 was admitted to the Bar. For three years after Mr. Schultz was admitted he practiced his profession at Batavia, and then seeking a wider field for his acknowledged talents, came to Buffalo. In Buffalo he has established general practice of law and possesses FREDERICK C. GRATWICKHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 155 a most desirable practice among a discriminating clientage. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the Lawyers5 Club of Buffalo. In politics he is a Democrat and has been active in several campaigns, speaking and working for the success of his party. BIRDSEY D. JACKSON. This widely and favorably known legal practitioner has united a successful professional career with a long and creditable record of public service, and is also identified with im- portant business interests of a general character. The subject of this sketch was * born in Buffalo in 1872, and received a grammar and high school education in his na- tive city. He pursued his legal studies in the Buffalo Law School, from which he. was graduated in 1894 with the degree of LL.B., and he also read law with his father, David G. Jackson, from whose office he was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1895. From that time to the present he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in which he enjoys an enviable reputation, and in which he has attained a gratifying and substantial success. Mr. Jackson resides in Lancaster, where he has served four terms as Village Attorney. Though a man of notable public spirit he has never taken a partisan part in politics, and his views are independent. Mr. Jackson is promi- nent in fraternal affairs being Past Master of Depew Lodge, F. & A. M. and a member of Lancaster Chapter, R. A. M. He is a BIRDSEY D. JACKSON156 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY member of the Past Masters’ Association, the Acacia Club, the Lawyers’ Club and the Sons of the American Revolution. A. W. PLUMLEY, junior member of the well-known Buffalo law firm of Plumley & Plumley, has won an enviable reputation both as a well-informed lawyer and a practitioner of ability and resource. Mr. Plumley was born in Buffalo, October 6, 1876, and after attending the Buffalo public schools, enjoyed the advan- tages of a liberal education at Oberlin College. On re- turning to Buffalo he enter- ed the office of his father, Edmund J. Plumley, a prominent lawyer of that city, where he continued one year, later pursuing his legal studies under Norris Morey, and finally with Tuttle & Callan, from whose office he was admitted as attor- ney and counselor in 1901. Since then he has been asso- ciated in partnership with his father, under the firm style of Plumley & Plumley. The firm does an extensive general business, and is held in high esteem by the legal fraternity and the public. Mr. Plumley is a member of the Erie County Bar Association. ORLIN J. COLBURN has united a successful career at the Bar with the acquirement of extensive property interests, and with an important role in public life. He was born in Concord, Erie Co., May 6, 1854, and was educated in the public schools of Concord and at the Union Business College, of Cleveland, Ohio. He began A. W. PLUMLEYHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 157 reading law with the Honorable A. C. Calkins, of Hamburg and Buffalo, and finished in the office of David J. Wilcox, of Spring- ville, N. Y., being admitted to the Bar in 1889. He located in the town of Colden, where he has ever since successfully practiced his profession, and in 1907-1908 he also maintained an office in Buffalo. In 1892 he was elected supervisor, and with one exception has succeeded himself in every subsequent election. For seventeen years he has been a member of the Democratic County Committee, and for the past ten years has done brilliant work as a platform speaker for his party in every cam- paign. Under Martin H. Glynn he was appointed Deputy State Comptroller from Erie County, and also rendered effective service as Transfer Tax attorney. Typically a self-made man, Mr. Colburn owes his pros- perity to his own efforts. He has a substantial com- petency and is the possessor of a fine farm in Colden. Mr. Colburn has been for twenty-five years a member of the Masonic order. November 19, 1879, Mr. Colburn married Miss May E. Morton, who died July 31, 1901, leaving one daughter? Viroqua M., now a teacher in the public schools of New York City. January 2, 1904, he married Anna L. Brown. They have one daughter, Marion. FRANK M. LOOMIS, lawyer and publicist, is a man whose strong individuality and vigorous intellect have left a marked impress on many phases of Buffalo’s professional, social and civic ORLIN J. COLBURNI58 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY life. Though he has persistently refused political honors, Mr. Loomis has the highest conception of a citizen’s duties and has made a life-long study of civic science. He was born in Browns- ville, Jefferson Co., N. Y., February 3, 1851, and was educated at private schools in Ogdensburg, N. Y., where later he studied law, being admitted to the Bar in 1872. Soon afterward he settled in Buffalo, where he practiced alone for two years, then becoming associated with Asher P. Nichols in the firm of Nich- ols & Loomis, which contin- ued till Mr. Nichols* death. Thereafter Mr. Loomis en- gaged in practice by him- self till 1906, when with Leonard W. Gibbs, he es- tablished the present firm of Loomis & Gibbs. Mr. Loomis is attorney and director for several corpora- tions, among them the Buf- falo City Cemetery (Forest Lawn), and a number of land companies. He has conducted various impor- tant investigations of muni- cipal departments and pub- lic institutions, notably those of the County Jail and the Department of Public Works during Mayor Jewett's administration, and of the office of City Treasurer Gerst during the term of Mayor Knight. He is the attorney for St. Paul's Church in the defense of the church against the attempt of the Buffalo General Electric Company to prevent the Prudential Building Company from supplying the edifice with electric lights. Active in Civil Service Reform, Mr. Loomis served for several years as Chairman of the Buffalo Civil Service Commission.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 159 He was the organizer and first president of the Federated Good Government clubs. Until his resignation this year he was Chairman of the Municipal Legislative Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and in that capacity inaugurated a movement to apply to the Public Service Commission to interpose its authority to obtain cheaper rates from the Buffalo General Electric Company in the matter of furnishing lights for the municipality of Buffalo. Mr. Loomis is an independent Democrat, and a leader in reforms which he has initiated along original lines. Mr. Loomis is a mem- ber of the Saturn Club and is a prominent factor in the social as well as the professional and civic life of the community where he resides. LEONARD W. GIBBS, of the law firm of Loomis & Gibbs, is a legal practitioner with trait, and the professional success of Mr. Gibbs is in large share to be attributed to his conscientious care in matters of detail. He was born in Salamanca, N. Y., February 6, 1875. He re- ceived his preparatory edu- cation at Limestone Union Free School and Alfred University from which he graduated in 1898 with the degree of Ph.B. He then read law with Frank M. Loomis and also pursued the regular curriculum of the Buffalo Law School from which he was gradua- ted in 1900 with the degree of LL.B. For several years he has been associated with his present partner, Mr. Loomis. whom thoroughness is a distinctive LEONARD w. GIBBSl6o HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY The firm is one of the best known in the City of Buffalo, and en- joys an extensive general practice. Mr. Gibbs takes an active interest in athletics, which forms his principal recreation and he has a notable record as an all-around athlete. Mr. Gibbs is presi- dent of the Alleghany Society of Buffalo and is also a member of the Bar Association and the University Club. He has a record of six years’ service in the 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., part of the time as sergeant, serving from 1898 to 1904. His political affilia- tions are Republican. HARRY O. KINGSTON. Exceptionally keen analytical exigencies of legal practice, and the conscientious in- dustry which considers no care too painstaking and no effort too laborious in pro- tection of a client’s interests, have gained for the subject of this sketch a high rank at the Bar of Erie County. Mr. Kingston is a lifelong resident of the City of Buf- falo where he was born August 19, 1869. After attending the local grammar schools he pursued a course of study at the Buffalo State Normal School, and then began reading law with his brother, George L. Kings- ton. He was admitted to the Bar at Rochester, April year was graduated from the Law Department of the University of Buffalo with the degree of LL.B. From that time to the present he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Buffalo, and he has built up a powers, adaptability to the numerous HARRY O. KINGSTON 1, 1892, and in May of the sameHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY l6l large and profitable business. In social and fraternal organizations, Mr. Kingston occupies a prominent place. He is a member of Parish Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M., of Buffalo Chapter No. 71, R. A. M., of Lake Erie Commandery No. 20, Knights Templar and of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. HONORABLE ORSON J. WEIMERT, lawyer and Assem- blyman from the First Assembly District of Erie County, is a rising young man of distinctive ability and force of character, who has by these qualities already won a prominent place in the legal profession and in public life. As a lawyer he enjoys a large prac- tice and has an enviable reputation for acumen and probity. As a member of the Legisla- ture he has to his credit a fine record of achievement, the more notable in view of the fact that he has been so short a time in office. Mr. Weimert is a loyal son of Buffalo, and takes an active interest in the prog- ress and institutions of the city. Mr. Weimert was born in Buffalo in 1878 and gained his early education in the public schools. He studied law at Columbia Universi- ty, New York City, and was graduated from that institu- tion in 1900, in which year he was also admitted to the Bar. After spending an additional year at Columbia, pursuing a course of special study, he returned to Buffalo and engaged in the prac- tice of law in which he has met with marked success. Recently he HONORABLE ORSON J. WEIMERT n162 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY became associated in partnership with Richard H. Templeton, under the firm style of Weimert & Templeton, with offices at Nos. 909-910 D. S. Morgan Building. Messrs. Weimert & Templeton are among the best-known members of the younger Bar of Erie County, and the firm has a desirable clientage and an extensive general practice. As a legal practitioner Mr. Weimert is painstaking and accurate, pre- paring his cases with care and sparing no honorable effort in behalf of his clients. Of conservative tendencies his instincts and acquire- ments are those of a sound lawyer and he stands high in the esteem of his professional brethren and the confidence of the community. Politically Mr. Weimert is a strong Republican and ever since attaining his majority he has taken an active part in the work of his party. In the fall of 1906 he was nominated for the Assembly after a spirited contest in the convention, and in Novemebr of the same year he was elected by a large majority and re-elected in 1907 and 1908. His course at Albany has been that of an energetic, aggressive legislator, and has been attended by substantial results, conducive to the benefit of Buffalo. One of his most notable achievements in the Legislature has been his successful effort to have a naval corps established at the port of Buffalo. This project had been agitated for several years, but it remained for Assembly- man Weimert to give the plan definite shape and to push it through to conclusive results. The methods and the outcome furnish a fine example of purposeful and persistent endeavor in the field of legislation, and the success attained greatly increased the Assem- blyman’s prestige with his constituents and the general public. Since taking his seat in the State legislative body, Mr. Weimert has served with credit on several of its important committees. For some time prior to his election to the Assembly he had filled the post of Republican Committeeman for the Third District of the Twenty-first Ward. Mr. Weimert is a man who leaves on all who know him the impression of a clean-cut, vigorous personality. He is popular, and is one for whom may be confidently predicted a future of pro- fessional success and public usefulness.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 163 GEORGE L. HAGER. This well-known and highly es- teemed practitioner at the Erie County Bar, has to a large extent specialized his work along the lines of commercial law; in addition to which he carries on an extensive and successful general practice. Mr. Hager was born in Buffalo, Sep- tember 16, 1868, and was educated in the public and private schools. He served his law clerkship with F. B. Steele and with Edward C. Rischman, and was admitted to the Bar in 1901. In 1905 he graduated from the Buf- falo Law School with the degree of LL.B. He was engaged in independent practice till 1904, when he became associated with Lyman M. Baker, in the firm of Baker & Hager, a copartnership which con- tinued till Mr. Baker's death, since ‘ which event Mr. Hager has practiced alone. He is a member of the State and Erie County Bar associations and the Lawyers' Club. GEORGE CLINTON, JR., of the firm of Clinton & Clinton, comes of a family whose inherited gift of civic and forensic ability has left a historic impress on the commonwealth of New York, and the subject of this sketch can hardly be more fittingly charac- terized than by the simple statement that the talents exemplified in his ancestry are again illustrated both by Mr. Clinton's choice of a profession and the success he has attained at the bar. George Clinton, Jr., was born in Buffalo, January 18, 1877. His educa- tion preparatory to entering college was obtained at Heathcote GEORGE L. HAGER164 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY School and Central High School, from the latter of which he grad- uated in 1893. He then pursued a classical course at Cornell University. He read law with George Clinton, Sr., and with the firm of Dudley, Gray & High- land, with whom he filled the position of managing clerk for two years. In 1899 he was admitted to the bar and subsequently be- came associated with his father under the business style of Clinton & Clinton. The firm is one of the lead- ing law partnerships of Buf- falo, and in addition to carrying on an extensive general practice makes a specialty of Admiralty Law. Mr. Clinton’s political affiliations are Republican. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the * ■ Chamber oi Commerce, the American Society of International Law, the Saturn Club, Buffalo Canoe Club and the Buffalo and Rochester Yacht clubs. LEON J. NOWAK is one of the ablest members of the younger bar of Erie County, having attained notable success in trial prac- tice as well as winning an enviable reputation as a sound, conserva- tive and reliable office counselor. A native of Europe, Mr. Nowak was born June 28, 1880, and came to this country when he was eight years old*. He received a good education in the public schools, and graduated from Masten Park High School in 1900. The same year he went to Washington to assume the position of Clerk of the Census Bureau, and while at the National Capital he began preparing for the Bar at the Columbian University, later enteringHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 165 the Buffalo Law School, from which he was graduated in 1901 with the degree of LL.B. Shortly after his admission to practice he formed a copartnership firm style of Farnham & Nowak. Since the dissolu- tion of the firm he has practiced alone and has built up an important and valuable general business. Mr. Nowak is a Republi- can, and is highly esteemed in his party, for which he has done a large amount of effective campaign work. He is one of the Republican leaders of the Fifth Assem- bly District, and was ten- dered the nomination for Assemblyman from that dis- trict, but declined the prof- fered honor. Energetic, am- bitious and a man of con- sistent adherence to sound standards of professional ethics, Mr. Nowak also possesses the advan- tages of a wide personal acquaintance and a deserved popularity. FREDERICK O. BISSELL. This esteemed and successful member of the Buffalo bar, besides conducting an extensive gen- eral practice has specialized to a considerable degree along the lines of mercantile and bankruptcy law. A man of scholarship and research, Mr. Bissell is characterized by logical habits of thought and sound methods of procedure, and he has a firmly established reputation as a vigorous and resourceful trial lawyer and an office counselor of sterling reliability. He was born in Aurora, 111., September 19, 1868. He attended the public schools of Detroit, and Dayton, Ohio, and the Dayton High School, from which he with Charles C. Farnham under the LEON J. NOWAKl66 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY graduated in 1887 as valedictorian of his class and graduated from Cornell University in 1891 with the degree of A. B. His career as a student was brilliant, and his graduation thesis on “Jeremy Bentham as a Law Reformer” received honorable mention. Com- ing to Buffalo he read law in the offices of McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & Depew, but later returned to Cornell, from whose Law Depart- ment he graduated in 1893 with the degree of LL.B. On this occa- sion also he won distinction for scholarship, his thesis being one of three to which prizes were awarded. Im- mediately after his admis- sion to the Bar he settled in Buffalo, where he has ever since been engaged in active practice. Mr. Bissell has for a number of years rep- resented R. G. Dun & Company as attorney. His political affiliations are Re- publican. He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, the Historical Society and the Society of Natural Sciences, the University Club, Ellicott Club and Guido Chorus, and he has served for thirteen years as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Delaware Avenue Presbyterian Church. FREDERICK O. BISSELL HARRY D. SANDERS is a prominent member of the Buf- falo Bar, whose professional ability has been demonstrated by twelve years of successful practice. Mr. Sanders enjoys a wide popularity and is held in high esteem both as a trial lawyer and an office practitioner. The subject of this sketch was born in Stafford, Genesee Co., N. Y., September 27, 1874, and comes ofHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 167 one of the leading families of that section. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and of Batavia, later pursuing a course at Columbian University, Washington, D. C. Subsequently he entered the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, from which he was graduated in 1896 with the degree of LL.B. He also served a clerkship with August Becker, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar,in 1897. He immediately began his professional career in Buffalo, where he has ever since been engaged in active practice of a general character. He has a large and well-established busi- ness and possesses the con- fidence of an important clientage. Mr. Sanders is a member of the Bar Associa- tion, on whose grievance committee he is now serving, and is also a member of the Lawyers’ Club. He has a record of five years of creditable service in the 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y. His political affiliations are Republican, and he is a valued member of his party, for which he has always been an efficient worker. EDMUND JAMES PLUMLEY. Estimated by the dual test of long experience and acknowledged success, Mr. Plumley is fittingly characterized as one of the veteran practitioners at the Bar of Western New York. A thoroughly able all-around lawyer, Mr. Plumley is equally prominent as an advocate, a jurisconsult and an expert in procedure and practice. Edmund J. Plumley is the son of the Reverend Albert Plumley, a leading Methodist HARRY D. SANDERS168 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY clergyman of his day, and was born at Canoga, Seneca Co., N. Y., October 7, 1845. He was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, N. Y., and at Genesee College, now Syracuse University, and for some years was engaged in teaching. Coming to Buffalo in 1867, he began reading law with Parker & Chamber- lain and continued with Hiram C. Day, from whose office he was admitted to the Bar in June 1871. Soon afterward he was appointed Deputy City Clerk, in which capacity he served three years. In 1875 he engaged in the active practice of his profession, forming a law partnership with Mr. E. C. Robbins, under the firm style of Robbins & Plumley. Two years later this asso- ciation was dissolved, and Mr. Plumley became the partner of William M. Haw- kins; the firm of Hawkins & Plumley soon afterward being succeeded by that of Hawkins, Plumley & Gibbs, through the admission of Clinton B. Gibbs. Later Mr. Plumley was associated EDMUND TAMES PLUMLEY • 1 ^ T -rr- J with Lreorge L. Kingston, in the firm of Plumley & Kingston, and in 1894 formed a co- partnership with Irving W. Cole, the firm of Plumley & Cole continuing in business until 1899. After this latter association was dissolved, Mr. Plumley admitted his son, Albert W. Plumley, into partnership, and the firm was engaged in practice till June, 1909. At the present time Mr. Plumley is practicing alone. The numerous cases wherein Mr. Plumley has appeared as attorney of record or as counsel, during thirty-four years ofHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY. 169 practice, include many of magnitude and difficulty, and he has often been successful against some of the best talent of the Western New York Bar. Among the notable litigations conducted by him may be mentioned several in which the City of Buffalo was defendant; a number of important negligence suits and several actions which were argued before the Court of Appeals. Mr. Plumley is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and a charter member of the First Congregational Church of Buffalo, of which he was a trustee for many years. He has been a devoted student of good literature, his reading partaking largely of a religious and philosophical char- acter and he has frequently, from time to time, been a welcome contributor of poetry to the columns of the local press. FRANK A. JAMES holds an acknowledged position as one of the ablest members of the younger bar of Buffalo, in which city he has built up a substantial general practice representing the interests of a first-class clientage. The subject of this sketch was born in Rush- ford, Allegany Co., N. Y., July 9, 1877, and received a high school education, also pursuing a course in Col- gate Academy. On leaving school he entered the Law Department of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, from which he was graduated in 1905 with the degree of LL.B. He also read law in the office of Eugene B. Har- rington, with whom he has ever since been associated. Mr.170 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY James is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and the Lawyers* Club. His politics are Republican. Fraternally he is a member of Highland lodge F. and A. M. WILLIAM J. MAGAVERN is a Buffalo lawyer whose professional standing has been reared on the sound substructure of unremitting industry, candor in his relations with the courts, fairness toward clients and sincerity in his associations with his fellow members of the legal fraternity. Mr. Magavern was born September 30, 1866, and was educated at Buffalo Central High School, from which he graduated in 1890. After serving the regular law clerkship in the office of Ford & Ferguson, he was admitted to the Bar in 1893, soon afterward be- coming a member of the firm of Bullymore, Crosser & Magavern, which after a year was succeeded by that of Bullymore & Magavern. At the end of two years the copartnership of Ford, Fer- guson & Magavern was formed, which later became Ferguson & Magavern, an association which has continued to the present time. Messrs, Ferguson & Magavern do a very large legal business, and are justly held to be one of the solid law firms of Western New York. He is Secretary and Treasurer of the Erie County Bar Association and a director of the Wettlaufer Silver Mines, president of Buffalo District of the Epworth League and a member of the Lawyers* Club. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and is a member and trustee of Kensington Methodist Episcopal Church. WILLIAM J. MAGAVERNHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 171 CHARLES M. HARRINGTON, of the firm of Romer & Harrington, is a Buffalo lawyer of over twenty years5 practice, of equally high reputation as an office counselor and a trial advocate. Mr. Harrington was born in Middleport, Niagara Co., N. Y., October 20, i860. After acquiring the rudiments of education in the public schools of his native county he entered and graduated from Lockport Union School in 1879 and thereafter entered that celebrated preparatory in- stitution, Phillips Exeter Academy, where he gradu- ated in 1881. He was then matriculated at Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1885 with the degree of A.B. He studied in the office of Williams & Potter and later in that of Day & Romer, being ad- mitted in 1887. The fol- lowing year he engaged in practice in Buffalo and in 1899 formed with Mr. John L. Romer the present firm of Romer & Harrington. The firm has a very large civil business, is adviser of the executors or adminis- trators of some of the most important estates in Western New York and enjoys representative standing as one of the strong, conservative firms of the New York State Bar. Mr. Harrington is especially concerned with the trial branch of the business, much of his time is spent in court and he has won the reputation of a singularly effective jury pleader and of a cogent and convincing reasoner in appeals and other procedure dealing with questions of pure law. A man of deep research and systematic methods, CHARLES M. HARRINGTON172 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY conscientious thoroughness has formed the keynote of his career and is in great degree responsible for his success. As a member of the Erie County Bar Association and Chair- man of its Grievance Committee, Mr. Harrington has been a leader in the reforms inaugurated by the local Bar, and at the present time he has charge of the disbarment proceedings instituted by the association. He is a member of the Civil Service League, the University Club, the Harvard Alumni Association, the Phi Delta Kappa society, of Harvard ; was president of the Delta Upsi- lon Club, of Buffalo, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and is associated with other clubs and organizations. REUBEN HEBER COATSWORTH is a lawyer of Buffalo who is well known both as a professional man and a man of busi- ness. In addition to his legal oractice Mr. Coastworth has 1 entered extensively into real estate interests and has achieved success in both. Mr. Coatsworth enjoyed, in exceptional measure, the advantages of the higher education, and he is a man of sound culture and liberal views. In politics he is in- dependent. As a lawyer, though engaged in general practice, he is distinctively a real estate lawyer. As a citizen Mr. Coatsworth is to be classed with that element who in their adherence to principle and personal relia- bility in business, consti- tute a valuable factor in the community. REUBEN HEBER COATSWORTHHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 173 Mr. Coatsworth was born in Buffalo, November 30, 1864. His father was Caleb Coatsworth, a former business man and real estate owner of that place. Reuben H. Coatsworth’s education was obtained in the public schools of his native city, Bryant & Stratton’s Commercial College, Heath cote School and Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Returning to Buffalo, Mr. Coatsworth engaged in the real estate business, in which he continued until 1893. That year he entered the Buffalo Law School, and two years afterward graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In July, 1895, he was admitted to the Bar. Since that time he has followed the rea estate business and the practice of the law. As an operator in real estate Mr. Coatsworth deals extensively both in improved and unimproved properties in Erie and Niagara counties. Mr. Coatsworth is a member of the Shrine and other Masonic bodies, being president of the Acacia Club, the Masonic Club of Buffalo. He is also a member of the Harvard Club, of Buffalo, and President of the Phi Kappa Psi Club, of Western New York. EUGENE M. BARTLETT, of the well-known law firm of Bartlett & Chamberlain, is one of the leaders of the Western New York Bar. Not a few of the vast number of cases he has handled form a part of the forensic and judicial history of the Empire State and no Buffalo attorney has represented in court large corporate and general interests with more signal success. Mr. Bartlett is a son of Honorable Myron E. Bartlett, a former- judge of Wyoming County, and was born at Warsaw, that county, March 11, 1855. As a boy he learned the printer’s trade in the office of the “Western New Yorker,” at Warsaw, of which William H. Merrill, later the managing editor of the New York World, was then the proprietor. He received his preliminary education at the Warsaw and Geneseo academies, and finished in Cornell University. In 1880 he was duly admitted to the Bar and the following year formed a partnership with his father, under the name of M. E. & E. M. Bartlett which continued until 1896. During174 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY its existence the firm was engaged upon one side or the other in nearly every important case tried in the courts of that county dur- ing that time. Eugene M. Bartlett early took a prominent place at the Wyoming County Bar, and also became an active worker in the ranks of the Republi- can party, and in 1887 was elected District Attorney of that county, but on account of his extensive private practice declined a re-nomi- nation at the expiration of his term in 1889. June 1, 1896, Mr, Bartlett removed to Buffalo. Mr. Bartlett is a mem- ber of the New York State Bar Association, of the Erie County Bar Association, Lawyers’ Club, Buffalo Historical Society, Cornell Alumni Association, Batavia Commandery, Knights Templar; Adytum Chapter, and the Batavia Club, the Buffalo Club, the Park Club of Buffalo, the Westminster* Club, and the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. EDWARD C. RISCHMAN comes from a prominent German family. His father was one of the many noted scholars and jurists who came to America during the period of political unrest and turmoil that made the years 1848 and 1849 so memorable in the history of Europe. After extensive travels in the United States and Canada he came to Bowmansville, Erie Co., N. Y., where he followed the life of a gentleman farmer. Here his son, Edward C. Rischman, was born August 14, i860. In 1861 the family wentHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 175 to the old home at Mayence, Germany, but eventually returned to America, and have lived in Buffalo since 1869. After an educa- tion in the local grammar schools and the Central High School and a Business College course, Mr. Rischman studied law suc- cessively in the offices of George Gorham, Delevan F. Clark and Warren F. Miller, being admitted to the Bar in October, 1882. In 1888 he opened his own office. He has a large gen- eral practice and his opinion is much sought in matters relating to contracts, titles and estates. Mr. Rischman has always been active in politics as an independent Republican. Though often urged he has steadily de- clined to become a candi- date for public office. He has taken a prominent part in German societies and speaks German fluently. Mr. Rischman is well versed in literature and music and writes a strong pen. He is a member of the Bar Association. EDWARD C. RISCHMAN PERCY S. LANSDOWNE. This eminent member of the Erie County Bar has won distinction both as a general practitioner and as a specialist in certain chosen branches of professional work. In the field of municipal law, Mr. Lansdowne has had an excep- tionally wide experience and ranks as one of the foremost authori- ties in this section of the State. The structure of Mr. Lansdowne’s successful legal career was reared on the foundation of scholastic attainments. Intellectually he is an example of what systematic discipline may accomplish for a mind endowed with unusual native176 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY gifts. The professional talents and acquirements of the subject of this sketch have found a fitting sphere of usefulness both in civic and private capacity. He is one of the leading Republicans of Buffalo, is prominent in fraternal organizations and social life, and his career whether considered from the professional, official or personal standpoint bears the impress of strong individuality and sterling character. Percy S. Lansdowne was born in Philadelphia, Pa., December 12,1872. In I boyhood he came to Buffalo where he graduated from Central High School in 1891, later pursuing a course at Hobart College. While at college he began the study of law in the office of Mason & Rose, Geneva, N. Y. He also took the course at the Buffalo Law School from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of LL.B., and in the following March was duly admitted to the Bar. He at once be- came associated with Fred- erick A. Busch in the firm of Busch & Lansdowne which continued for three years when the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent, and for the succeeding four years was associated with Guy B. Moore under the firm style of Lansdowne & Moore. Since the dissolution of that firm in 1901 Mr. Lansdowne has continued an independent practice making a specialty of taxation and assess- ments and Municipal Law, frequently being consulted as an expert on the subject of Municipal Taxes and Bonds, acting in that capacity for the villages of Kenmore and Sloan. Aside PERCY S. LANSDOWNEHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 177 from the practice of law Mr. Lansdowne has several important interests of a purely business character, being a member of the Louis H. Gipp Construction Company and the American Auto Heater Company. Mr. Lansdowne has been active in politics since arriving at his majority, having served for twelve years as a member of the Erie County Republican Committee from the Twenty- fourth Ward. In 1897 Mr. Lansdowne was appointed by Comp- troller James A. Roberts to represent that office in Erie County in the collection of transfer taxes. In the performance of this public trust Mr. Lansdowne’s energy was conspicuous, the amount of taxes collected in Erie County being doubled. He was appointed a member of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission by Governor Roosevelt in 1900, and served in that capacity until this commission was legislated out of office by the institution of a single-head depart- ment. He served as Assistant City Attorney in 1902-05, and when Louis B. Hart was elevated from the position of Clerk of the Surro- gate’s Court to that of Surrogate Mr. Lansdowne was appointed to succeed him in that capacity, serving until January 1, 1907, when he resigned to give his entire attention to his law practice. In 1908 Mr. Lansdowne organized the Taft League in Erie County with one thousand five hundred members under the auspices of which noonday meetings were conducted throughout that campaign at No. 105 Niagara Street. Mr. Lansdowne, in 1907, managed the successful campaign of Honorable Francis G. Ward for his re- election as Commissioner of Public Works of the City of Buffalo. Fraternally Mr. Lansdowne is widely affiliated and prominent. He is a member of Queen City Lodge No. 358, F. & A. M., Key- stone Chapter, R. A. M., Keystone Council, R. & S. M., Buffalo Consistory, A. A. S. R., Zuleika Grotto, M. O. V. P.E. R.,Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Crescent Lodge No. 551? I. O. O. F., International Encampment, I. O. O. F., Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Erie District No. 3 and for several years served on the judiciary committee of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is a member of Christopher Columbus Lodge, K. F. P., of which he is Past Chancellor, a member of Queen178 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY City Camp, Modern Woodmen of America and Chairman of the General Executive Committee having in charge the arrangements for entertaining the head camp which holds a convention in Buffalo in 1911. He is a member of the Lawyers' Club and the Bar Asso- ciation of Erie County. THOMAS D. POWELL. Among the foremost trial lawyers of the younger members of the Buffalo bar is Thomas D. Powell, associated with the firm of Hoyt & Spratt. Mr. Powell was born at North Java, Wyoming County, August 31, 1872. He received his early education at Attica High School and at the Buf- falo State Normal School, graduating in 1896 with the degree of LL.B., from the Law Department of the University of Buffalo. The following year he was as- sociated in practice with Daniel V. Murphy. Later he became associated with the old firm of Humphrey, Lockwood, Hoyt, Green & Yeomans. Upon the with- drawal of Mr. Yeomans, and the death of William C. Green, Mr. Powell, as managing clerk of the firm, succeeded to Mr. Green's department of the practice of the firm which consisted chiefly of railroad busi- ness. Mr. Green having been identified with the legal depart- ment of the Lake Shore Road. In his association with the present firm of Hoyt & Spratt he has general charge of the matters of the Lake Shore and Nickel Plate roads, and he is now known as one of the ablest young lawyers in railroad corporation law in THOMAS D. POWELLHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 179 New York State. The ancestry of Mr. Powell is marked by men who have held leading positions in their professions. His father, Dr. Thomas D. Powell, was a leading physician of Wyoming County, and his grandfather, the Rev. David Powell, was a clergy- man of note. Mr. Powell is a member of the First Congregational Church, the Lawyers' and Acacia Clubs and is popular in each. JOHN A. VAN ARSDALE holds a well-established rank as one of the foremost mem- bers of the Buffalo bar. Mr. Van Arsdale's practice is largely specialized along the lines of corporation law, the care and management of es- tates and the usual practice of a business lawyer. Mr. Van Arsdale was born at Mt. Morris, N. Y., Septem- ber 10, 1866. He received a liberal education, gradu- ating from the University of Michigan in 1891, with the degree of A.B., and his classical studies were fol- lowed by a course in the Law Department of the same institution, from which he received in 1892 the LL.B. degree. In July, of the latter year, Mr. Van Arsdale removed to Buffalo where he became associated with the law firm of Bissell, Sicard, Brundage & Bissell, with whom he con- tinued for two years, then opening an office for the independent practice of his profession. In 1897 he formed a copartnership with George T. Wardwell, under the firm style of Wardwell & Van Arsdale, and after the death of Mr. Wardwell, Mr. Van Arsdale continued to carry on the extensive business acquired by the firm, JOHN A. VAN ARSDALEl8o HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and which has been extended and amplified by many years of successful practice. One of Buffalo’s leading authorities in corpora- tion law, Mr. Van Arsdale is attorney for numerous corporations in this and other states while his general clientage is among the most important and representative in the city. He is prominent in social as well as professional life, and is a member of the Uni- versity Club, one of the trustees and treasurer of the Erie County Bar Association and a trustee of the Children’s Aid Society. GEORGE S. BUCK is a man whom Buffalo may claim with pride, although he was born in Chicago, on February io, 1875. When he was but one year old his parents came to Buf- falo, where his education began in the public schools. In 1892 he was graduated from Central High School. He then entered Yale, taking the Liberal Arts course and graduating in 1896, with the degree of B.A. He next took up the study of law in the offices of Clinton & Clark, and in the Buffalo Law School from which he was graduated in 1898. In the same year he was admitted to practice before the Ap- pellate Division at Roches- ter. In September, 1899, he established offices alone, and afterward formed a partnership with Almeron H. Cole. Mr. Cole removed to New York City in 1905, and since that time Mr. Buck has engaged in the general practice of law, alone. In 1907 he was elected a trustee of the Erie County Bar Associa- tion, for a term of one year, and afterward re-elected for two years. GEORGE S. BUCKHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 181 He is chairman of the Committee on Consolidation of the Inferior Courts of the Erie County Bar Association, and is also a member of the State Bar Association. Mr. Buck was elected one of the lecturers in the Buffalo Law School in 1907, on negligence. Always a Republican in politics, Mr. Buck has been actively interested in the affairs of the party. He was for some time District Committeeman for the Second District of the old Twenty-first Ward. Mr. Buck served as Supervisor of this ward for four years, and has also served as Supervisor of the new Twenty-third Ward for two years. He is chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Almshouse and other committees. In October of 1903, Mr. Buck married Miss Ella Louise Hussey, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Elisha P. Hussey. They have three children. Mr. Buck is a member of the University Club, the Buffalo Canoe Club, the Ellicott Club, the Chamber of Com- merce and the Ancient Landmarks Lodge of Masons. ROBERT W. POMEROY. A striking example of the suc- cessful modern-day lawyer in business is strongly exemplified in the professional career of the subject of this sketch, who in addition to enjoying an assured standing as a lawyer is prominently identified officially in several large corporations. Robert W. Pomeroy, a son of Honorable Thoedore M. Pomeroy, Vice-President of the American Express Company, former Congress- man and banker of Auburn, N. Y., was born February 24, 1868, educated at the public schools of Auburn and graduated from Yale University in 1891, and Harvard Law School in 1895. He soon thereafter came to Buffalo, serving for two years as clerk in the law office of Rogers, Locke & Milburn. He then opened his own office and has since continued an independent practice of business law, devoting much of his time to business enterprises. He is a trustee of the Fidelity Trust Company, a member of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo General Electric Company, the International Traction Company, the Shredded Wheat Company of Niagara Falls, the Niagara Falls Power182 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Company, the Buffalo Abstract and Title Company, the Eastern Oil Company, Western New York Water Company, The People's Bank of Buffalo, Adirondack Fire Insurance Company, the Lumber Insurance Company, President of the New York and Buffalo Audit Company, and Vice-President of the Buffalo Mines, Limited. He has served as President of the Country Club, Vice-Dean of the Saturn Club, Secretary of the Buffalo Club, and is a member of the University andEllicott clubs, as well as of the Yale and University clubs of New York City. He is Vice- President of the Charity Organization Society of Buf- falo, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo General Hospital and of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, which he has served as Sec- retary. He is also President of the Men's Club of the First Presbyterian Church and a trustee of Mount Hermon Boys' School at East Northfield, Mass. In 1907 Mayor Adam appoint- ed Mr. Pomeroy Chairman of the Railroad Terminal Commission of Buffalo. Mr. Pomeroy served as a member of the New York State Commission of the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition by appointment of Governor Higgins. ROBERT W. POMEROY WALTER P. COOKE, of the law firm of Kenefick, Cooke & Mitchell, is a member of the Erie County Bar. Besides carrying on a general law practice he is a Director in a number of banking and other corporations. He is an able legal practitioner of conservative character and sound methods and stands high inHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 183 the esteem of the community. Mr. Cooke was born in Buffalo, April 28, 1869. He attended the public and high school, and graduated from Cornell University in 1891. The following year he was admitted to the bar, and in 1895 began the practice of his profession, later becoming a partner in the firm of Bissell, Carey & Cooke. Its successors the present firm of Kenefick, Cooke & Mitchell form one of the strongest aggregations of legal talent in this part of the State. Mr. Cooke finds in his pro- fession ample scope for his ambitions though some of his pursuits belong rather to the general field of busi- ness than the strictly profes- sional province, being a director of the People's Bank of Buffalo, the Buffalo General Electric Company, the Western New York Water Company, the Buffalo Abstract and Title Com- pany, the Security Safe De- posit Company, the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway Company and the Great Southern Lumber Com- pany. He is also a trustee of the Buffalo Library, and of the Chamber of Commerce, and has served as a member of the Board of Managers of the Buffalo State Hospital, as President of the Cornell Alumni Association of Buffalo (1906-1907) and as trustee of the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital. In 1905 he was President of the Erie County Bar Association. He is a member of the Buffalo, Saturn, Ellicott, Country, Park and Liberal Clubs. A man of courteous, unaffected manners and of genial disposition, Mr. Cooke is popular in social life. He possesses WALTER P. COOKE184 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY in equal degree the confidence of his brethren of the bar and of the general public. EDWIN S. WEBSTER, a representative lawyer and extremely successful business man, is one of Buffalo's leading authorities in the law of real property. But his relations to real estate interests are far broader than the merely legal and professional bear- ings of the subject. He is an extensive land holder in Buffalo. Mr. Webster was born in Orleans County, N. Y., February 25, 1868. His lay education was ob- tained at Brockport Normal School, and his professional studies were pursued at the Buffalo Law School, from which he graduated in May, 1893, the same year being admitted to the bar. He has ever since practiced in Buffalo, his practice being devoted almost exclusively to real estate, and practically the whole of his extensive general realty business has been developed from his own holdings. Aside from the above specialties, Mr. Webster is an important factor in numerous business interests. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Club and Wm. McKinley Lodge, Knights of Pythias. EDWIN S. WEBSTER EVAN HOLLISTER is recognized as one of the ablest trial lawyers of the Buffalo bar, and as a practitioner of sterling ability in the field of corporation law and the lines of general civil practice. The subject of this sketch was born in Buffalo, April 28, 1875,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 185 and was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1897 with the degree of A.B. On leaving college, he entered the Buffalo Law School, also pursuing legal studies with the firm of Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy. He was graduated from the Law School with the degree of LL.B. in 1899, and the same year was admitted to the bar. Soon afterward he became associated with the Law Department of the Erie Railroad, with which he con- tinued till 1904, then becom- ing a member of the firm of Rogers, Locke & Babcock, with which he has ever since been identified. Mr. Hol- lister carries on a large share of the trial work of this widely known firm, and stands in the front rank of Buffalo advocates. He is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associa- tions, the Saturn and Country Clubs, of the former of which he is Vice-Dean. EVAN HOLLISTER CHARLES AUGUSTUS DOLSON. Charles A. Dolson, former Deputy Attorney-General of New York, is one of Buffalo’s leading lawyers. Mr. Dolson is a sound practitioner, an accom- plished advocate, and is recognized as one of the foremost trial lawyers in Western New York. Mr. Dolson was born in Bath, N. Y., educated in the public schools of Bath, Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo and the University of Michigan. On leaving college he went to Albany, N. Y., as clerk to Senator Gabriel Harrower. Meantime he became a186 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY student at the Albany Law School. When twenty-one years old he was admitted to the bar. Immediately he formed a copartner- ship with former Congressman W. P. Richardson, at Angelica, N. Y. In 1879 he removed to Elmira where he practiced for several years, and for a time was associated with Charles D'Autremont, afterward Mayor of Duluth, Minn., and Attorney-General. From Elmira, Mr. Dolson went to Hornellsville, and became associated with George N. Orcutt, now attorney for the Erie Rail- road, where he practiced until he came to Buffalo. On the admission of Edwin L. Dolson to the bar in 1891, the brothers formed the partnership of Dolson & Dolson, which has with the exception of one year existed ever since. To the duties of his profes sion, Mr. Dolson brought a strong equipment of legal learning and native ability. He held a conceded place as one of the foremost lawyers of Steuben County, and was for years engaged in almost every case of large importance in that locality. In the fall of 1906, Mr. Dolson was appointed Deputy Attorney General. Although the designation was to the Court of Claims, the Attorney General availed himself of Mr. Dolson’s experience and ability in the direction and trial of important litigations outside of that department. Mr. Dolson is a member of the State Bar Association, the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers9 Club of Buffalo, the Ellicott Club and the Yacht Club. CHARLES AUGUSTUS DOLSONHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 187 Mr. Dolson married Alice Harman, of Andover, Allegany Co., N. Y. They have two daughters; Grace Neal Dolson, who was educated at Cornell University, later pursuing studies abroad at the universities of Leipsic and Jena. From Cornell University she received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and is now a lecturer on philosophy at Wells College. During a two years’ visit to Europe she completed a text book on philosophical subjects. The other daughter, Elizabeth Harman, is the wife of Harry Smith. They reside at Plainfield, N. J. THOMAS MURPHY, lawyer, former Police Justice of Buffalo, and prominent Republican, is a man whose judicial qualities of mind well qualify him for the important office he oc- cupied and whose progres- siveness and breadth of view identify him with the mod- ern spirit of advancement. Though a lawyer of liberal attainments it has fallen to Judge Murphy to deal par- ticularly with the criminal problems of a large city, and in this field he united the special qualifications of the jurist with those of the soci- ologist and the student of municipal affairs. Hence his judicial record was characterized by an earnest- ness, a firm grasp of practical conditions, which was of incalculable benefit to Buffalo. No Buffalonian is better known to the people of the city, and none enjoys in a more absolute degree the community’s confidence and esteem. Judge Murphy is one of four sons of John and Mary (Downey) THOMAS MURPHY188 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Murphy, both natives of Ireland. His father when a young man came to East Palmyra, N. Y., where he purchased a farm and lived for many years, being actively identified with local public affairs. In 1887 he retired from business and removed to Buffalo. His son, the subject of this sketch, was born in East Palmyra, December 21, 1862, and was reared oil his father’s farm. He attended the public schools and the Palmyra Classical Institute, and when fifteen years old came to Buffalo and finished his educa- tion in the high school. After leaving school he read law in the offices of Henry H. Seymour and Ford & Ferguson, and in 1884 was admitted to the bar. He practiced law in the office of Mr. Seymour until 1886, when he accepted a position with the Del- aware & Hudson Canal Coal Company. Two years afterward he was appointed counsel and assistant manager of the United States Electric Light & Power Company, and continued with that cor- poration until the consolidation of the electric light companies of Buffalo in 1892, when he returned to the practice of his profession. Early in life Judge Murphy was a Democrat, but he be- came convinced of the correctness of Republican principles, and since 1888 he has been a consistent Republican. His first public office was that of Examiner of Corporations, under Comptroller Roberts, in which capacity he served for one year, then resigning the place. In 1895 he was a candidate for Assemblyman in the First Assembly District. In 1897 he was appointed one of the Morning Justices of Buffalo, to fill a vacancy, and served so effi- ciently that in the fall of the same year he received the Republican nomination for the office and was elected for a four years’ term. In November, 1900, he was nominated and elected to the Police Court Justiceship of Buffalo, his success being a notable proof of his popularity, for in that year very few Republicans were elected on the local ticket. In 1904 he was re-elected by a majority of nearly ten thousand, leading all the candidates on the ticket by a considerable margin. In 1905 Judge Murphy was one of the principal candidates mentioned for the Republican nomination for Mayor of Buffalo.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 189 As Police Justice, Judge Murphy made his administration memorable by the impartiality and discernment with which he performed the duties of his office and by the many reforms which he instituted in Police Court procedure, notable among which was the establishment of the Juvenile Court, which has proved a most efficacious factor in the protection of the young and the pre- vention of youthful offenders from becoming hardened criminals. It was Judge Murphy’s belief that no child was a criminal, and that to try children in open court, by the side of older malefactors was in itself a crime. One of Judge Murphy’s cherished plans was consummated by the opening of the Juvenile Home of Detention at No. 13 Park Street, where children are taken instead of to the police station, pending the disposal of their cases. The Juvenile Court is now one of the permanent institutions of Buffalo, and one which has attracted wide attention in other cities, especially com- mending itself to penologists and experts in municipal administra- tion and social science. Judge Murphy finds time to take an active interest in the great questions of the day. He is one of the leading exponents of the movement which has resulted in the promulgation of the universal peace doctrine and the establishment of the Hague Tribunal, and he represented Buffalo as a member of the Peace Conference held in New York, in 1907. Judge Murphy has frequently served as a delegate to various political and judicial conventions, and is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus. He is a gentleman of genial personality and cour- teous manners, and is socially very popular. In 1892, Judge Murphy married Miss Margaret H. Burke, of Swains, Allegany Co., N. Y. STEPHEN V. O’GORMAN was born in Buffalo, December 27, 1875, and educated in the parochial and public schools and Canisius College of that city. He was admitted to the bar Novem- ber 22, 1898, and began the active practice of his profession in 1900. May 1, 1898, Mr. O’Gorman was enrolled in Company H, 65th Regiment, N. Y. I. Volunteers and was mustered into the UnitedI9O HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY States Service, May 17, 1898, for the period of two years or during the war with Spain, and served with his regiment until it was mustered out November 22, 1898. Mr. O’Gorman has been active in politics, being an ardent Democrat, and in the fall of 1905 was nominated for Supervisor in the Fifteenth Ward (old Seventeenth), and although the strongest Republican ward east of Main Street, Mr. O’Gorman was elected and represented that ward in the County Legislature for the period of 1905-1907, being the only Democratic Supervisor from that ward since 1892. In 1906 Mr. O’Gorman was nominated for Senator in the Fiftieth Senatorial District, another Repub- lican stronghold, and al- though he was defeated, he succeeded in greatly reduc- ing the majority of his op- ponent. Mr. O’Gorman’s offices are at No. 613 Mutual Life Building, Buffalo, N. Y. Bar Association, the Law- yers’ Club, the Spanish War Veterans’ Association and other societies. MILLARD F. BOWEN’S father was Isaac Bowen, U. S. A., who graduated at West Point along with Sherman, Grant, Thomas, and others of that caliber, but did not live to serve with them in the Civil War; he died about the same time as his wife at New Orleans, of yellow fever, in October, 1858. Dennis Bowen, with his wife and Mrs. George B. Gates, wrent to New Orleans to get the three orphan children of the dead STEPHEN Y. O’GORMAN He is a member of the Erie CountyHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I9I army officer, his brother, and was a father to them till his death, in 1877. Millard F. Bowen was born at New Orleans, April 19, 1856, and came to Buffalo with Dennis Bowen in 1858, and lived here at 157 Chippewa Street, (where E. H. Hutchinson now lives), until he graduated from the Cen- tral High School in 1873; then he spent five years at Black Rock in P. P. Pratt's rolling mills, getting actual experience among the work- ing people with whom he lived. A year after Dennis Bowen's death, Millard F. went in January, 1879, ^0 live in Minneapolis, Minn., where he practiced law for twenty-two years, returning to live in Buffalo in the Ex- position year, 1901. While in the west he married Gertrude Morgan, and their four boys and two girls wure born in Minneapolis. In the winter of 1901-02 Mr. Bowen organized the Manu- facturers' Club, and acted on the Board of Directors and as Sec- retary until his resignation in May, 1908, when he resumed the practice of law, especially for the organization of new industries in Buffalo,—for which purpose he had organized and fostered the Manufacturers' Club. In August, 1908, with a few influential friends, Mr. Bowen organized the Erie & Ontario Sanitary Canal Company, to pro- vide pure water, sewage disposal, and flood abatement free to the City of Buffalo, and to the whole Niagara Frontier. With the MILLARD F. BOWENI92 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY completion of this truly great enterprise a few years hence, as is hoped, the life of Mr. Bowen will not have been lived in vain; it has always been his strongest desire to accomplish a great and lasting work for the benefit of the people. JAMES T. DRISCOLL, is among the foremost of the younger attorneys of the Erie County Bar. Born in Buffalo, March 3, 1880, he was educated in the public schools, Cornell University and graduated from Cornell Law School with the degree of LL.B. in 1894, and was ad- mitted to the bar before graduation from the Law School in 1901. He is a brother of Honorable Daniel A. Driscoll, representative in Congress, and at the time of his admission to the bar was connected with the law office of John Cunneen, then Attorney-General of the State of New York. Since his admission Mr. Driscoll has been engaged in a stead- ily growing general practice. He is a member of a num- ber of clubs and societies, TAMEST. DRISCOLL . „ > i • i i ♦ i in all of which his modest demeanor and clear common sense make him a popular and valued member. EUGENE W. HARRINGTON is a skilled general practi- tioner of the law, an especially able trial lawyer, and a man whose habits of sedulous and systematic industry have had an equal share with native talent in the building up of an excellent practice at the bar. Coming of sterling New England lineage, Mr. HarringtonHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I93 traces his descent from Thomas Harrington, one of the Minute Men who fought at Lexington. The subject of this sketch was born at Bethany, Genesee County, N. Y., May 30, 1866. He was educated in the common schools, at Genesee and Wyoming Semi- nary and at Attica Union School, and in early manhood spent three years in teaching. In 1890 he came to Buffalo, where for several years he was cashier of the United States Express Com- pany. In 1891 he entered the Buffalo Law School, meantime also pursuing his legal studies with the firm of Swift, Weaver & Marcus. Graduating from Law School in 1893, in 1896 he was admitted to the bar, and soon began the active prac- tice of his profession in Buf- falo, where he has ever since resided, his business being attended with constantly increasing success, which has been accompanied not only by substantial material rewards, but with the con- fidence of an important clientage and the cordial es- r ! tt EUGENE W. HARRINGTON teem of the community. He was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court in 1902. Mr. Harrington is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, of all the Scottish rite bodies of Masons, of Hiram Lodge No. 105, F. & A. M., of Buffalo Chapter, Lake Erie Commandery, and Ismailia Temple and Buffalo Chapter Sons of the American Revolution. HENRY WALTER KILLEEN. Former City Attorney is one of the leading trial lawyers at the Erie County bar. He is also prominent in the councils of the Erie County Democracy. 13194 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Henry Walter Killeen was born January 21, 1872, at Niagara Falls, N. Y. His education was obtained at the public schools, and at St. Joseph’s College, Buffalo. In 1889 he entered the law office of George Wadsworth, Esq., of Buffalo. Here he con- tinued as a student until January 20, 1893, when he was admitted to the bar. Mr. Killeen remained with Mr. Wadsworth until 1895. In that year he formed with John S. Druar, the law partner- ship of Killeen & Druar. This association existed un- til January 1, 1898, when Mr. Killeen was appointed Assistant City Attorney, and later City Attorney, serving until 1902. Upon retiring 1 from his official position, I Mr. Killeen formed the pres- ent copartnership with Wil- liam H. Cuddeback and I Alphonse Karl, under the firm style of Cuddeback, Killeen & Karl. Mr. Killeen has always been a Demo- crat. He takes a keen inter- est in the affairs of his party, and at different times has been active in its manage- . ment. He is a member of the Church of the Annunciation and has served as Vice-Presi- dent and trustee of the North Buffalo Catholic Association and Library. He has served as Secretary of the William O’Brien Branch of the Irish National League, better known as the Land League. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; of the United Irishmen; of the Knights of Columbus; and a charter member of Buffalo Council of that Order. HENRY WALTER KILLEENHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 195 HONORABLE ROBERT C. TITUS, former Justice of the Supreme Court, is one of Buffalo’s eminent lawyers and a man alike distinguished in professional and public life. Judge Titus is a man of keen, analytic mind, who unites the typical qualities of the advocate and jurist. He was born in Eden, Erie Co., N. Y., October 24, 1839. He gained the rudiments of education in the public schools of Erie County, and in the intervals of farm work laid the foundations of a course of liberal study. In 1858 he entered Oberlin College, where he remained two years, teaching school to pay his board and tuition. Returning to Western New York, he began the study of law with Horace Boies, afterward Governor of Iowa, who was then a young law- yer of Hamburg, Erie Coun- ty. The Civil War inter- rupted Mr. Titus’ regular pursuits, and in 1863 he organized a company of volunteers and was mustered ! o ! rv « HONORABLE ROBERT C. TITUS into the 90th Regiment, N. G. N. Y. After receiving his honorable discharge in December, 1864, he resumed his law studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. In 1866 he began practice in Hamburg, where he con- tinued to reside for several years, building up a prosperous busi- ness. Mr. Titus’ active connection with public affairs began in 1865, when he was appointed Special Deputy County Clerk under Dr. Lewis P. Dayton. In 1867 he was the Democratic candidateI96 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY for Assemblyman, running against Joseph Plumb, and in 1871 he received his party’s nomination for Surrogate of Erie County, and though unsuccessful his popularity enabled him to run eight hundred votes ahead of his ticket. For the four years from 1868 to 1871, inclusive, he represented Hamburg in the Board of Super- visors. In 1873 he removed to Buffalo, where he formed a law partnership with Joel L. Walker. In 1877 he was elected District- Attorney of Erie County by two thousand two hundred majority, and served his term of office with distinguished success, conducting many important trials, among them the Cox poisoning case, in which he secured a conviction against the defense interposed by the Honorable Loran L. Lewis, then at the height of his fame as a trial lawyer. In 1880 he was renominated for District-Attorney and was defeated, although he ran twelve hundred votes ahead of his ticket. In 1879 Mr. Titus became law-partner in the firm of Osgoodby, Titus & Moot, an association which existed till 1883, when he became the law-partner of B. S. Farrington, under the style of Titus & Farrington, which firm was dissolved in 1886. In 1881 he received the unanimous nomination of the Democracy for State Senator from the Thirty-first District, and was elected by a majority of five thousand five hundred and twenty-eight votes, running more than seven thousand votes ahead of the ticket. In the fall of 1883 he was re-elected. During his two terms in the Senate Mr. Titus won a high reputation as a parliamentarian and a debater and rendered valuable service as a member of the judi- ciary and other important committees. He was a particularly effec- tive champion of the Erie Canal, then the object of many vehe- ment attacks, and by his steadfast support of the cause of canal improvement gained the gratitude of the progressive citizenship of the State. In 1885 he was elected a Judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, and in 1891 received the distinguished honor of being chosen chief Judge by his associates on the bench. He held that position until the Superior Court was abolished, and then by the provisions of the Constitution adopted in 1895 he became a Justice of the Supreme Court, continuing to fulfill the duties of that highHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY I97 judicial place with eminent learning and impartiality until his term of office expired, December 31, 1899. In the fall of 1896 Judge Titus received the Democratic nomination for Judge of the Court of Appeals. He has for many years enjoyed in signal degree the confidence of his party, was widely discussed as a desirable nominee for Governor prior to the nomination of Grover Cleveland for that office, and again in 1898 his name was prominently brought forward in the gubernational convention. Since he retired from the bench Judge Titus has been actively engaged in the practice of law in Buffalo. Judge Titus is a prominent member of the Masonic Fra- ternity, and at the meeting of the Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General thirty-third and last degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, held in Buffalo in September, 1895, he was made an honorary member and in 1904 was elected active member of that body for the State of New York. He is a Director of the Masonic Life Association of Western New York, has served as President of the Acacia Club of Buffalo, the largest purely social organization of Masons in the country, and has had an important share in the benevolent work of the Masonic order. The love of education and culture which so notably charac- terized Judge Titus in his youth, he has preserved through all the vicissitudes of a busy career, and he finds his chief recreation in literature and the study of current topics of moment. He is a scholar of breadth and discernment, and a progressive citizen, taking an earnest interest in all that concerns the welfare of Buffalo. In 1867 Judge Titus married Miss Arvilla Clark, daughter of Allen Clark, of Gowanda, N. Y. The children of the union are one son, Allen Sterling Titus and a daughter, Amy. WILLIAM G. KILHOFFER. It is difficult to imagine a stronger voucher for a career of professional success than thirty years of continued and successful practice in the same community. That, so far as a simple sentence can do, epitomizes to an extent the legal activities of William G. Kilhoffer. A detailed narrative would furnish interesting incidents drawn from worthy achievementI98 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY based on sound attainment, industry and integrity. Mr. Kilhoffer has an extensive and valuable clientele. A lawyer and citizen of sterling worth, he is a man of credit to the community of his birth. Mr. Kilhoffer was born in the City of Buf- falo in 1856. After finish- ing his studies, having re- ceived the advantages of a good education, he com- menced the study of his profession with O. O. Cottle with whom he continued until his admission to the bar in 1878 when he formed a business arrangement with Major John Tyler,then Col- lector of the Port of Buf- falo, carrying on the latter's practice for about two years. He then took up the active practice of his profession and has since continued. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Masonic and other fraternities and associations. WILLIAM G. KILHOFFER CHARLES P. NORTON has acquired reputation in three fields of professional work. He is a well-established practitioner in the courts, a writer of legal text-books and as a member of the Faculty of the Buffalo Law School. From 1905 to 1909 Mr. Norton was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buffalo; in I9°9 he became Chancellor. Mr. Norton was one of the founders of the Law School and is the recognized leader of the movement for the expansion of the University by establishing a College of Liberal Arts. Mr. Norton was born in Buffalo, May 15, 1858. His early education was obtained at Public School No. 10, Briggs' Classical School and graduated from Harvard University in 1880.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 199 He studied law in the offices of Bowen, Rogers & Locke, and in 1882 was admitted to the bar. He remained with the firm as an assistant until January I, 1885, since when he has been practicing by himself. From the time of his earliest relations with the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, Mr. Norton has been actively interested in all projects tending to the advancement of the University as a whole, and especially in the plan of extending the scope and confirming the educational status of the institution by the establishment of a College of Liberal Arts, with regular courses in languages, science, history and literature, and compe- tent to bestow degrees which should mean as much as those of any college in the land. In 1905 Mr. Norton was elected Vice-Chan- cellor of the University, succeeding George Gorham. As soon as he became Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Norton began an agitation for establishing a College of Liberal Arts in connection with the University, and it is no derogation to the efforts of others to say that he may fairly be considered the head of that movement. Mr. Norton has advocated the plan in numerous public addresses, and on the 15th of August, 1905, he began a systematic campaign by the issuing of letters and circulars, by personal appeals and by speeches. From the inauguration of the enterprise till the present time the project has been kept continually before the people, and between August 15, 1905, and September 1, 1909, fifty-four thousand three hundred dollars had been obtained, mostly by subscription, the sums ranging from five hundred dollars to fifty cents, and September 1, 1909, title was taken to one hundred and six acres lying on Main Street as a site for the University. It is proposed to urge the matter on the attention of the public for five years, and at all events to carry on the work till the object is accomplished. Not- withstanding his many practical activities, Mr. Norton finds oppor- tunity to take a part in social and club life and in pursuits relating to general culture. He is a member of the University, Harvard, Lawyers9 and Saturn Clubs, and in 1905 was Registrar of the last- named organization. He has been connected with the Historical Society, and has for twenty years been a member of the Fine Arts200 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Academy. He is a life member of the Young Men’s Association, has twice served as its trustee, and is a trustee of the First Presby- terian Church. He is an officer of the Charity Organization Society, and is also a member of the State Charities Aid Association. GUY B. MOORE. Assistant District-Attorney, ranks among the very foremost of the brainy men of the Erie County Bar. Of superior intellectuality, and possessing a keen, discriminating mind, by industry, applica- tion and enthusiasm in his profession Mr. Moore has won for himself high recog- nition as a leading trial law- yer of Western New York. Born September 3, 1873, in Washington, D. C., he ob- tained his preliminary train- ing in the Buffalo High School where he captured the Jesse Ketchum Medal, and prepared for college at Phillips Academy at An- dover, Mass., from which he graduated in 1893. He thus entered Harvard University with a fine equipment and foundation. He however before a year had elapsed become so attracted toward the object of his ambition, the study of law, that he relinquished his college course to take up the study of law in the University of Buffalo Law School and after pursuing the prescribed two years’ course he graduated in 1896 with the degree of LL.B., taking the Daniels first prize for the best Thesis. During this time he read law in the office of Petrie, Timmerman & Pardee, and quoting from a sketch of Mr. Moore’s life appearing in the Albany Law Journal and written by Mr. GUY B. MOOREHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 201 Timmerman, one of his preceptors, “He was recognized as unusually bright, studiously inclined, thoroughly reliable, very discriminating, and an excellent hand to hunt good law. Naturally of a legal mind, and always industrious, he earned the high respect and good opinion of the firm/5 Mr. Moore’s brilliant career as a practicing lawyer only amplifies and adds luster to the foregoing characterization. Though engaged in a general law business without any profession to specialization, he has handled a great number of very important criminal cases with almost uniform success. January I, 1909, he was appointed to his present position as First Assistant District Attorney an office highly merited be- cause of peculiar fitness, and one offering ample field for his superior abilities. Mr. Moore is a member of the Erie County Bar Asso- ciation, the Lawyers’ Club, the Acacia Club; Queen City Lodge, F. & A. M., Past Grand Master of Crescent Lodge, 551, I. O. O. F., the B. P. O. E., and the Sons of Veterans. EDWARD RICHARD O’MALLEY. Though still com- paratively a young man, Edward Richard O’Malley Attorney- General of the State of New York has to his credit a legal and political career of exceptional distinction. A platform speaker of great accomplishments, he has in every political campaign waged in Erie County during the last fourteen years been a powerful oratorical champion of the Republican cause. Mr. O’Malley was born in Medina, Orleans Co., N. Y., March 13, 1863. Reared on the farm he attended district school and helped in the farm work at home. He then worked by the month for neighboring farmers, for six years. For the next three years Edward R. O’Malley worked for his father, and for the succeed- ing two years labored at breaking stone in the Medina quarries. When twenty-four years old Mr. O’Malley began to prepare by private study and by a course in the public schools of Medina and Medina Academy for entrance to law school. He also taught school for two years in Niagara County. In 1891 he graduated from the Law School of Cornell University with the degree of LL.B. Coming to Buffalo soon thereafter he became a student202 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY in the law office of Tabor, Cunneen, Sheehan & Coatsworth, and afterwards in the office of Norton Brothers. In June, 1892, he was admitted to the bar, and at once became a member of the firm of O’Malley & Baxter continuing for one year, after which he practiced alone. January 1, 1904, Mr. O’Malley was appointed managing clerk in the Corporation Counsel’s office. January 1, 1906, he was promoted City Attorney, serving for two years, after which he practiced alone. In 1900 he was elected Member of Assembly in the Second District of Erie County, by a plurality of nearly five thousand eight hundred votes, and re-elected in 1901. While in the Assembly the question of the one hundred and one million dollar ap- propriation for the enlarge- ment of the Erie Canal was before the Legislature, and Assemblyman O’Malley led the fight for the barge canal, which was ultimately suc- cessful. The Juvenile Court Law for Buffalo, and the bill substituting a single Com- missioner of Public Works for this city, instead of a board of three were Mr. O’Malley’s measures. EDWARD RICHARD O MALLEY In the fall of 1908 Mr. O’Malley was elected Attorney-General for the State of New York, and is now occupying that office. In his able, vigorous and impartial conduct of the office he has won distinguished honor and the approbation of the people of the Com- monwealth at large. Mr. O’Malley is a member of the Buffalo Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Lawyers’ Club, the Bar Asso- ciation of Erie County and Delta Chi legal fraternity.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 203 CHARLES E. DOANE is one of the rising attorneys of the Erie County Bar, who in addition to possessing a well-grounded foundation in the principles and practice of law has enjoyed the advantages of extensive travel, having made a tour of the world soon after his admission to the bar. He was born at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, and was there educated in the public schools, also in the public schools and at Harvard Collegiate Institute of Toronto. He came to Buffalo in 1893, and in 1896 entered the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, graduating with the degree of LL.B., in 1898, and two years later was duly admitted to the bar. Most of the year 1900 he spent in travel, making a complete circuit of the globe. Returning to Buffalo he immediately took up the active practice of his profession in which he has established a substantial clientage and while his business is of a general character, he has specialized somewhat in the line of bankruptcy law. Mr. Doane is Past Grand Master in Oddfellowship, and is a member of the Lawyers’ Club and the Erie County Bar Association. February 25, 1909, Mr. Doane was appointed attorney for the Medical Society for the County of Erie, succeeding Hon. John Lord O’Brian in this position. CHARLES E. DOANE JOHN WOODWARD, a member of the Supreme Court, was born at Charlotte, Chautauqua County. In his infancy Mr. Woodward’s parents left Chautauqua County, taking up a resi- dence in Michigan, whence they removed to Kansas in 1870. The family returned to Chautauqua County in 1871. Working his way along, taking employment in the village stores and on the neighbor- ing farms, Mr. Woodward graduated from the Fredonia Normal School in 1878, and began reading law in the office of Morris &204 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Lambert in that village in the same year, afterwards attending the Law School of the University of the City of New York, and gradua- ting therefrom in 1881. He was admitted to the bar at Poughkeepsie in the same year, and began the practice of his profession in Fredonia. In August, 1883, he moved to Jamestown, and in 1886 on the incor- poration of that city he became its first city attorney, filling the position for two years. He was appointed to a vacancy on the board of supervisors in 1887, holding the place by successive elections until 1892, when he was elected district attorney of Chautauqua County. In January, 1896, he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court by Governor Morton. He seeks to energize modern jurisprudence by compelling it to meet a broadening conception of justice and equity. To him the law is the servant of society, to be ad- ministered impartially as between its members, in the interests of equal justice; and he has the courage to assert so much of a new doc- trine as may be necessary in his judgment to this end, thus aiding in that evolution of the law which is essential to its highest development. DORSEY W. KELLOGG. Representative of the junior bar in business, few have won a more deserved place of fixed importance within the short time he has been practicing than the subject of this sketch. He was born in the town of Eagle, Wyoming County, New York, August 24, 1881. He graduated from Tenbroeck Academy in 1902, and from the Buffalo Law School in 1907 with the degree of LL.B. In the meantime having become a student in the law office of Charles Van Aernan at Franklinville, and later in the office of E. L. Dominick at Buffalo, he was duly admitted to the bar July 12, 1906. Since 1908 Mr. Kellogg has been associated with Clifford E. Branch in the firm of Kellogg & Branch. Prior to taking up the study of law Mr. Kellogg had for several years been engaged in the Piano business opera- ting a store at Franklinville of which he has since disposed, main- taining ever since however a profitable interest in the Piano busi- ness. Fraternally Mr. Kellogg is a member of Franklinville Lodge, No. 626, F. & A. M.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 205 DANIEL McCUE. Among the representative members of the junior bar of Erie County, none have had a more varied ex- perience and have been altogether more successful in the short period of their practice than Daniel McCue. He was born June 21, 1875, in Buffalo where he was educated at St. Joseph’s College, graduating therefrom in 1890. He afterwards studied law in the University of Buffalo graduating in 1905 with the degree of LL.B. His office experience was obtained with the distin- guished firms of Bissell, Sicard, Brundage & Bissell and Bissell, Carey & Cooke, and he was admitted to the bar the year of his gradua- tion from the law school. Prior to taking his law de- gree he had occupied the responsible position of pay- master for the George N. Pierce Cycle Company, had served a period as reporter on the Buffalo Times, and for three years had been manager of a theatrical busi- ness under Messrs. Sterling and Cornell. One year after admission to the bar he was appointed to his present position as Clerk of the Police Court, in connection with which he carries on a general law business. Politically he is a Democrat, has been active in his party and was a candidate for Assembly for the First District in 1905, and though not elected succeeded in reducing the normal Republican majority by fourteen hundred votes. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, K. of C., C. M. B. A., the Musicians’ Club, and Phi Delta Phi fraternity. DANIEL M CUE206 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY HUGH E. ROURKE, associate member of the firm of Hoyt & Spratt and doing a large part of the trial work of that leading law firm, occupies a front rank among a small group of the very foremost court lawyers of the Erie County Bar. He was bom at Akron, Erie County, and educated at the high schools of Akron, Rush and Avon, N. Y. He began the study of law in the office of Tuttle & Callan at Buffalo, completing his office reading with Cox, Kernan & Kimball and graduated from the Law Department of the University of Buffalo in 1901 with the degree of LL.B., being admitted to the* bar the same year. He thereupon became associated with the firm of Pooley & Spratt, with whom he re- mained until the formation of the present firm of Hoyt & Spratt, since when he has been associated with the latter firm. Mr. Rourke is one of the trial lawyers of the firm and few attorneys appear so often in Court as he. Mr. Rourke is a member of the Lawyers’ Club and is an active Democrat politically. ASHER B. EMERY, of the well-known law firm of Dudley & Emery, is one of Buffalo’s leading lawyers. Mr. Emery has had thirteen years’ experience at the bar, and has practiced eight years in Buffalo. A man of sterling attainments, his extensive clientage has been acquired by that steady process of legitimate growth which affords the only sure foundation of permanent pro- fessional success, and no attorney in Western New York stands higher in the esteem of his legal brethren and of the community. Mr. Emery is prominent in politics, in fraternal organizations and in social life. He is not only an able lawyer but a progressive citizen, actively identified with the best intellectual and civic aims of the city where he resides. Mr. Emery was born in Aurora, Erie Co., N. Y., February 18, 1867. He acquired a sound practical education in the com- mon schools and in the Union School at East Aurora, and while a young man spent one year in teaching in the town of Holland. Deciding to study law, he entered the office of Honorable Edward K. Emery, now Justice of the Supreme Court, who was then prac- ticing law in Buffalo. Later he became a student of the BuffaloHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY ^Oh] Law School, from which he was graduated in 1894, being admitted to the bar, July 15, 1895. Shortly after his admission he formed a law partnership with Frank R. Whaley, under the firm style of Whaley & Emery, and began the practice of his profession in East Aurora, where he continued until 1900. In that year removing to Buffalo he entered into partnership with Wesley C. Dudley, now District-Attorney-elect of Erie County, an association which has continued ever since, the firm having offices at Nos. 574 and 576 Ellicott Square. Messrs. Dudley & Emery have built up a large busi- ness and rank as one of the strong law firms of the city. Their practice is of a gen- eral character, including all branches of court and office work. Mr. Emery has always been a zealous Republican and is actively interested in party affairs. For several years he served as District Committeeman, and during the last three years has been General Committeeman for the town of Aurora. In the fall of 1905 he was nominated by the Republicans for Supervisor and was elected by a large plurality. In the fall of 1907 he was renominated, and was again elected by nearly double the former plurality. At the beginning of his second term of office Mr. Emery was honored by election as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and in such capacity he appointed the committees of the Board. He is a member of the committees of Finance, Charitable Institu- tions and Good Roads, and has rendered uniformly conscientious ASHER B. EMERY208 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY and acceptable service in connection with county affairs. Actively identified with a number of representative professional, fraternal and social bodies, Mr. Emery is a member of Blazing Star Lodge of Masons, East Aurora; of East Aurora Lodge, I. O. O. F., of the Knights of Pythias, the Erie County Bar Association, and the Lawyers’ Club. April 18, 1895, Mr. Emery married Miss Helen B. Darbee, daughter of Jedediah and Mary A. (Bartlett) Darbee. Mr. and Mrs. Emery have one child, Elizabeth C., born July 5, 1897. REGINALD F. PENTON. Among the representative mem- bers of the Erie County Bar who have won a fixed place in their profession by industry and conscientious fidelity to the interests of their clients, is Reginald F. Penton. He was born at Seaforth, On- tario, Canada, January 2, 1869. He was brought by his parents when a child to Buffalo and later removed to the town of Aurora, Erie County, where he graduated from the East Aurora Academy in 1888, and later from the State Normal School at Buffalo in 1891. He subsequently was Prin- cipal of Schools in various places in WesternNew York, following teaching for several years. Deciding upon the legal profession for his life work, he took the prescribed course at the Buffalo Law School, graduating therefrom in 1895, and having in the meantime obtained the necessary office training under the preceptorship of Marcy & Close, he was duly admitted REGINALD F. PENTONHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 209 to the bar the year of his graduation. After remaining one year with that firm, he engaged in practice alone and has since so con- tinued. Though his business is of a general character the special branches of Corporation and Real Estate Law claim a large share of his attention. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club and various fraternal orders, and served five years in Company F, 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y. Politically he is a Republican and always active in the interests of his party. Mr. Penton resides at East Aurora, and has his office in the Ellicott Square Building in Buffalo, N. Y. ALFRED HURRELL. Counsel to the Insurance Depart- ment of the State of New York, is also a member of the law firm of Horton & Hurrell with offices at 906 D. S. Morgan Building. Measured by the standards of legal learning, ability, professional standing, citi- zenship and general popu- larity, Mr. Hurrell ranks among the foremost mem- bers of the Erie County Bar. He was born in Fort Erie, Ontario, February 12, 1874. He has lived in Buffalo for many years and was educated there at the Cen- tral High School. He is a graduate of the Buffalo Law School; being honor man of his class. He studied law with August Becker; Hull & Lawrence and Clark H. Timerman. After his admission to the bar in 1902 he formed a partnership in Altoona, Pa., and lived there for about a year and a half, being admitted meanwhile to the ALFRED HURRELL 14210 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY bar of Pennsylvania. He returned to Buffalo in May, 1904, and became associated in the practice of law with Mr. Clinton T. Horton his present partner. He is a member of the faculty of the Buffalo Law School succeeding the Honorable John Cunneen, ex-Attorney-General in that body upon the latter’s death in 1906. He was for a time second assistant district attorney of Erie County under Wesley C. Dudley and left that office in March, 1909,^0 accept the position he now occupies which was tendered him by Honorable William H. Hotchkiss, Superintendent of Insurance under Governor Hughes. Mr. Hurrell belongs to the various lawyers’ organizations of Buffalo and is a member of the Erie County Republican General Committee. HON. GEORGE ALLEN DAVIS, serving his sixth suc- cessive term as State Senator from the Forty-Ninth District, has won equal distinction in the legal profession and in | public life. Senator Davis was born in Buffalo, August 5, 1858, and was educated, in the public schools of that city. When ten years old he sold newspapers to earn means for his education. As a youth he learned the pic- ture-frame maker’s trade, and saved enough money to provide for his expenses while studying law. In 1877 he became a student in the law office of Day & Romer, and was admitted to the bar in 1880, Mr. Davis immedi- ately thereupon opened a law office in Buffalo, where he has since continued in practice. HON. GEORGE ALLEN DAVISHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 211 The activity of Senator Davis in Republican affairs dates from an early period of his career. In 1885-86 he served as Supervisor from the Buffalo Ninth Ward, and on his removal to Lancaster, Erie County, in 1887 he was elected Supervisor from that town, and held the office for several years, from 1889 to 1895 acting as Chairman of the County Board. In 1890 he was nominated for Congress from the Thirty-third District, but the conditions of that year were unfavorable for the Republicans, and by a narrow margin he failed of election. He was delegate from the same district to the Constitutional Convention of 1894, and performed important work in that body as a member of the Banking, Military and In- surance Committees. In 1895 he was elected State Senator, and was re-elected in 1898, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1906 and 1908, each time being returned by large majorities. In the Senate he has made a notable record as a legislator and debater, and has served on many leading committees, including those of Judiciary, Commerce, Navigation, Penal Institutions and Indian affairs, of the latter of which he was Chairman. He has shown himself, both in legisla- tive and individual capacity, one of the most zealous and efficient champions of canal improvement, and has been instrumental in procuring for Buffalo a large amount of valuable legislation. In 1877 Senator Davis enlisted as a private in the 74th Regi- ment, National Guard, and served' faithfully and ably for more than twenty years, rising through all the intermediate grades of promotion until he became Colonel of the regiment. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Buffalo Consis- tory and Lake Erie Commandery Knights Templar; and he is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and other fraternal and social organizations. JOHN F. MUELLER is a man of strong personality and great force of will, and his career is as distinctive as his character. In the early part of his life Mr. Mueller was for many years engaged in commercial pursuits. He withdrew from these to enter the law, in which he has achieved a success, creditable to himself and bene- ficial to the important clientage he represents. The subject of212 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY this sketch was born in Buffalo, May 8, 1861, and received a public school education. Soon after leaving school, he entered the Hen- gerer Company’s store, where his ability won him rapid advance- ment, and for twelve years he was associated with that firm, as head of the drapery department. Later he formed a partnership in the dry-goods business with his brother, Jacob E. Mueller, and they successfully conducted a store for four years. Meantime, Mr. Mueller’s ambitions be- came turned to the law, and though he was over thirty- five years of age he entered High School, in order to gain the necessary prepara- tion for legal studies and pass the Regents’ Examin- ation required by the court rules. Upon graduating from High School he began the study of his chosen pro- fession in the Law Depart- ment of the University of Buffalo, graduating in 1899 with the degree of LL.B., and also serving a clerkship in the office of Lewis & Lewis. In 1900 he was ad- mitted to the bar, and has ever since been engaged in his successful law practice in Buffalo. Mr. Mueller is a Democrat, and in 1907 was his party’s nominee for Assembly in the Third District. He is a member of the Bar Asso- ciation, the Lawyers’ Club, the Royal Arcanum, the Buffalo Orpheus, the Historical Society and the Academy of Arts and Sciences. JOHN F. MUELLER FRANCIS E. BAGOT. Prominent among the younger men of the Buffalo bar, whose industry and ability have brought them success in the practice of law is Francis E. Bagot.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 213 Born at Buffalo, October 2, 1878, he received his early educa- tion in the public schools, graduating from High School in 1897. After serving for several years in the Buffalo Post Office he entered the law department of the University of Buffalo, and graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 1904, being duly admitted to the Bar the same year. For one year acted as chief clerk in the office of Brendel & Standart, and then became a partner in the firm of Brendel, Stan- dart & Bagot. Few firms in Western New York en- joys so large and desirable a practice and Mr. Bagot by his energy and application has contributed largely to the firm’s success. He is a member of the Bar Associa- tion of Western New York, of the Lawyers’ Club of Buffalo, the Buffalo Yacht Club, Delta Chi Fraternity, Parish Lodge, F. & A. M., and North Buffalo Lodge, I. O. O. F. In politics he is a Republican and is strongly interested in the welfare of his party. FRANCIS E. BAGOT JOHN JOSEPH HYNES is one of Buffalo’s well-known lawyers and one of the first fraternal insurance men in the coun- try. He takes a keen interest in civic matters, has held responsible official places and is notably identified with the cause of education. Mr. Hynes was born in Buffalo, May 25, 1854. His education was obtained at Public School No. 4 and the Buffalo High School. In 1877 he began studying law in the office of O. F. Barton and later with the Honorable Charles F. Tabor. In 1884 he was214 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY admitted to the bar. From 1887 to 1891 he was Deputy City Attorney. His specialties are real estate and insurance law, but he has a large general practice. He is General Attorney for the Grand Lodge of the Switchmen’s Union of North America, and has been for many years Attorney for the Supreme Council of the C. M. B. A., in New York State. Always a Republican, Mr. Hynes was a Supervisor in 1879, and since January, 1904, he has served as a member of the Board of School Ex- aminers and chairman of that body two terms. In January, 1909, he was re- appointed by Mayor Adam for a term of five years. In the public school system of Buffalo Mr. Hynes takes the deepest interest, and never misses a meeting, either special or regular, of the examining Board. Once a year he visits each school of the city. When eighteen years old Mr. Hynes enlisted in the 74th Regiment, N. G. IOHN JOSEPH HYNES AT * 1*11 IN. Y., in which he was com- missioned Captain in 1878. Mr. Hynes is serving his third term as Supreme President of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. He became a member of New York Grand Council in 1881, and has served as Chairman of the Law Committee, Trustee, Supreme Rep- resentative, Grand President and Grand Chancellor. He was twice unanimously elected Grand President. He has been Supreme Pres- ident since 1900, and is thus the head of an organization which has a membership of over sixty thousand, and which carries insuranceHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 215 aggregatmg ninety million dollars. There is no sounder insurance society in the world, and this is largely due to the wisdom, con- servatism and firmness of Mr. Hynes. Mr. Hynes belongs to the Catholic Benevolent Legion, and is a former member of its Supreme Council. He was active in the inception of the Irish Land League of which he was elected National Secretary in 1882, and with his colleagues collected and forwarded seventy-nine thousand dollars to Ireland. He was Secretary of* the Philadelphia Convention in 1883, and was elected Secretary of the new Irish National League, but resigned for reasons of residence. In 1902 Mr. Hynes was appointed by Governor Odell one of the Board of Managers of the Western House of Refuge for Women, at Albion, N. Y., and later served as chairman. In January, 1905, he was reappointed by Governor Higgins, but resigned owing to other duties. For sixteen years he has been a member of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Mr. Hynes has marked ability as a public speaker. In court or on the platform he is convincing and eloquent. CHARLES D. STICKNEY. The fact that the country feeds the city is recognized as proverbially true, not only with regard to grain and meat and food supplies, but with regard to men as well. Country vitality, country brains and country standards of living are constantly pouring into the big centers of population with a reviving and strengthening effect. The towns of Erie County have given to the City of Buffalo many lawyers of ability and probity and among them is Charles D. Stickney, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Stickney comes of Puri- tan stock, whose descendants emigrated from Vermont to Western New York during the large movement which followed the open- ing of the Erie Canal. He was born in Holland, this county, August 9, 1857. The district school furnished his primary education, which was later extended at the Ten Broeck Academy, at Franklin- ville. Deciding upon law as a profession, Mr. Stickney entered the office of Judge Spring, at Franklinville. His studies were continued2l6 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY with Judge Corlett and Judge Hatch, at Buffalo. In 1882 he was admitted to practice in the New York State Supreme Court, before the General Term, at Rochester, and to practice in the United States Supreme Court three years later. Mr. Stickney then opened an office in Buffalo and since that time has been engaged in the general practice of the law, enjoying an honorable and successful career. Mr. Stickney is a Re- publican in politics and has taken a keen interest in party affairs. His first ac- tive participation in party matters was during the first Harrison campaign when he formed over fifty political clubs in Erie County. Mr. Stickney, during the term of office of James A. Roberts as State Comp- t r o 11 e r, represented the Comptroller and the County Treasurer of Erie County in collateral inheritance tax proceedings. It may be added that Mr. Stickney was the first official to make a serious effort to enforce the collateral inheritance tax law in this county. His work has resulted in the collection of many thousands of dollars for the county and State. Mr. Stickney is a member of the Masons and other similar organizations. He was recently elected an Honorary Life Member of Zuleika Grotto. LAWRENCE J. COLLINS, attorney, was born in Buffalo, August 10, 1877. He graduated from St. Bridget’s parochial CHARLES D. STICKNEYHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY school and from Canisius College, receiving the degree of A.B. He graduated from the Buffalo Law School with the degree of LL.B. On June 21, 1903, the degree of M.A. was con- ferred on him by Canisius College. He was connected with the late Honorable John Cunneen in the practice of law from 1900 to 1905, when he entered the private practice of law in the Cun- neen Building, this city, and he is still so engaged. He has a large and lucrative practice and holds an envia- ble position among the younger lawyers of Buffalo. He is Secretary of the Law- yers’ Club, Chancellor of the Knights of Columbus, a member of the fraternal order of Eagles, C. M. B. A., St. Bridget’s Young Men’s Club and other organizations. WILLIAM H. CUDDEBACK, former Corporation Counsel of Buffalo occupies a front rank among the ablest practitioners of the Erie County bar. A man of diverse activities he has also achieved an important place politically, as well as professionally. He was born in Deer Park, N. Y., March 5, 1854. His earlier education was obtained at the Academy in Goshen, later entering Cornell University, where he spent four years. In May, 1877, he was admitted to practice at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., first prac- ticing for a short time at Goshen, where he became a Justice of the Peace. For the succeeding seven years he was a law partner of Henry A. Wadsworth, of Orange County. In 1885 Mr. Cudde- back removed to Buffalo where he became successively associated2l8 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY with Honorable Daniel J. Kenefick, Joseph V. Seaver and Eugene P. Ouchie. Mr. Cuddeback soon rose to a high position at the bar of Erie County. Meantime Mr. Cuddeback became active in Democratic politics and for the last ten years has been an acknowledged leader of the Western New York Democracy. In 1895 he was chosen Chairman of the Demo- cratic Committee which office he held for three years. During this time the party was successful in electing a Democratic Mayor and other city officials. In 1897 Mr. Cuddeback was elected Corporation Counsel which office he held until January 1, 1902. He is conceded to have been one of the best officials that ever served Buffalo in that office. Mr. Cuddeback was chosen manager of the Craig Col- ony for epileptics at Sonyea, N. Y., by Governor Flower, and in spite of his being a strong Democrat was twice reappointed by the Republican Governor Morton. In 1906 he became interested in the Independence League movement, serv- ing as Chairman of the Executive Committee in Erie County. WILLIAM H. CUDDEBACK ALBERT SCHELLING. This able and experienced legal practitioner is by professional training and native ability excep- tionally well qualified to act as the counselor and representative of large business interests. Mr. Schelling was born in Buffalo, March 17, 1861, and was educated in the grammar schools of his nativeHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 2ig city and at Central High School. He began his legal studies with William H. Gurney, known throughout the State as one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and continued with Mr. Gurney until the latter’s death. After that event Mr. Schelling resumed his preparation for his profession in the office of his brother, Robert F. Schelling, being admitted to the bar in 1884, at the General Term which was then composed of Justices James C. Smith, George Barker, Albert Haight and George B. Brad- ley. From his entrance upon the active duties of his pro- fession until the present time, Mr. Schelling has been constantly associated in business with his brother, Robert F. Schelling, whose practice consists almost ex- clusively of civil business, much of it relating to cor- porate affairs. Messrs. Schelling represent a very strong combination of legal talent, and are among the best-known and most highly esteemed practitioners of Western New York. Mr. County Bar Association. ALBERT SCHELLING Schelling is a member of the Erie LEVANT D. LESTER. Among the many sons of the towns of Erie County who have come to Buffalo as affording a wider field for the exercise of ability and for the satisfaction of honorable ambition is Levant D. Lester, the subject of this sketch. After passing the years of his minority in the country he came, to the metropolis of Western New York to practice his chosen profession, of which he is a talented and upright representative.220 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND - BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. Lester was born in the Town of Newstead, Erie Co., N. Y., July 4, 1875. He received his early education in the district schools and, later, attended the Parker Union School, at Clarence Hollow, this county. After his graduation Mr. Lester taught school in 1893 and 1894 and when twenty years old was matriculated in the Law School of Buffalo University. Mr. Lester was graduated from the College of Law with the degree of LL.B. in May, 1897, and was admitted to practice before the Appel- late Division of the Su- preme Court, Fourth De- partment, at the March term in 1898. He has been prac- ticing for himself ever since. His offices are now located at Nos. 1015 to 1017 Mutual Life Building. Mr. Lester has served several terms as attorney for the Village of Blasdell and is now attorney for the Village of Lancaster. Mr. Lester is a member of the State Bar Association and the Erie County Bar Association. He is a Demo- crat in politics and has Mr. Lester’s LEVANT D. LESTER taken an active interest in the affairs of his party, residence is in the Village of Lancaster. WILLARD W. SAPERSTON. The subject of this sketch has passed nearly his whole life in Buffalo, although the accident of birth made him a native of England. He was born in Leeds? in the Island Empire, but his parents removed to Buffalo when he was a young child. Mr. Saperston was born March 18, 1863, and was educatedHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 221 in the public schools of Buffalo, He did not at once adopt law as his life’s pursuit, but came into the profession through a chain of circumstances. He at first learned the telegrapher’s trade and then took up stenography. From law stenographic work to law itself was an easy transition, and one which was impelled by the ambition of the subject of this sketch. At the age of twenty-seven Mr. Saperston entered the office of Quinby, Meads & Reba- dow to take up the study of law, and later his legal pre- ceptor was Judge George Cothran. He entered the Buffalo Law School and was graduated with honors, in June, 1892. The following January he was admitted to the bar. Among Mr. Saperston’s preceptors in the law was George Quinby, one of the most brilliant criminal prac- titioners this county ever produced. It was not un- natural, therefore, that his pupil should strive to emu- late the success of his men- tor. This he did with a WILLARD W. SAPERSTON During the first two years defended no less than eight secured the acquittal of three distinguished degree of success, of his practice Mr. Saperston persons accused of murder. He men accused of homicide and saved the lives of Joseph Zawaczki and Joseph and Anna Ledwon in the famous Ledwon strangling case. These three persons were sentenced to terms in prison, but their conviction was reversed by the Court of Appeals on excep- tions taken by Mr. Saperston.222 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY But these legal victories refer to the early years of Mr. Saper- ston's career. During the last ten years he has practically abandoned criminal law to attend to a large and lucrative practice in corpora- tion and commercial law. Mr. Saperston is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associations and is a member of the membership and enter- tainment committee of the Lawyers' Club. He is a member of the music and membership committees of the Temple Beth-Zion and is President of the Jewish Orphan Asylum. LOUIS EUGENE DESBECKER, whose character and legal ability received so notable a popular tribute by his election to the office of Corporation Counsel, is one of the very ablest of the rising men of the Buffalo bar, and in learning and other profes- sional qualifications ranks with the foremost of his compeers of the legal fraternity. The high stand- ing Mr. Desbecker has at- tained in his profession may be regarded as a logical result of native talent find- ing expression in arduous endeavor. Though still in the early prime of life Mr. Desbecker is a man of ripe experience and a lawyer of unusual acquirements, scho- lastic as well as forensic. Mr. Desbecker is the son of Samuel and Marie (Weil) Des- becker, and was born in Buffalo, April 2, 1871. He received a liberal education in the grammar schools of this city, the Central LOUIS EUGENE DESBECKERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 22J High School, and for a year from a private tutor. In 1889 he entered Harvard University, graduating in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the New York Law School in New York City, where he graduated in 1894 with the degree of LL.B., within a month after graduation being admitted to the bar at New York City. Immediately returning to Buffalo he entered the law office of Marcy & Close where he continued until December of the following year, when he associated himself with Mr. Simon Fleischmann and Mr. William R. Pooley. The association he continued for ten years, building up a large and lucrative practice of a general nature. On the 1st of January, 1906, Mr. Desbecker formed a partner- ship with Messrs. Irving L. Fiske and James O. Moore, under the firm name of Desbecker, Fiske & Moore. Viewed from the professional standpoint Mr. Desbecker is considered a sound, energetic, well-grounded, successful lawyer, who keeps close in touch, not only with the work in his profession, but with those things in the community of a general nature in which a lawyer, as a good citizen, should be interested. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Desbecker has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his party, but was never a candidate for any office until 1903, when ten days before election he accepted the Democratic nomination for Councilman to fill a vacancy on the ticket. Out of thirty-four candidates, J. N. Adam for Council- man was the only Democrat elected, and Mr. Desbecker received the largest vote of any Democratic nominee save Mr. Adam. In the fall of 1905 Mr. Desbecker was unanimously nominated by the Democratic City Convention for Corporation Counsel and was elected by nearly five thousand plurality, again running next to Mr. Adam, who was elected Mayor. On the 1st of January, 1906, Mr. Desbecker began serving his four-year term of office as Corporation Counsel, and has made an excellent record. Mr. Desbecker is ex-officio a trustee of the Buffalo Public Library and of the Historical Society, is a member of Temple Beth Zion, and is one of the original members of the University224 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Club of which he has served as director and secretary. He is also a member of the Buffalo Yacht Club, the Buffalo Club and Park Club of Buffalo, and the Harvard Club of New York City. He is a Mason, being affiliated with the Ancient Landmarks Lodge of this city. SAMUEL F. MORAN. The subject of this sketch, Samuel F. Moran, although at the very outset of his career, has already achieved a reputation, largely through the many important cases which have figured in the law reports in which he has made the argument on one side or the other. Mr. Moran was born in the Town of Rush, Monroe County, N. Y., November 18, 1875, and was brought up on a farm. He received his preliminary education in the public schools and Hon- eoye Falls High School after which he was graduated from the Geneseo State Normal School in the Class of 1899. He began teaching district school when seven- teen years old and closed his career as a teacher as principal of the Sinclairville High School. This was in June, 1902, and he was admitted to the bar March 10, 1903, before the Appellate Division at Rochester. To accom- plish this Mr. Moran studied law privately while teaching, but finished his studies in the College of Law of Michigan University and the Albany Law School. After his admission to practice Mr. Moran came to Buffalo and entered the office of the well-known firm of Moot, Sprague, SAMUEL F. MORANHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERI£ COUNTY 225 Brownell & Marcy. Here he remained until January i, 1906, when he was appointed Assistant City Attorney by Corporation Counsel Desbecker.. Since taking this office he has been very active in the trial of cases and in making arguments on appeal. Mr. Moran is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers' Club and the Delta Chi legal fraternity. He is a Democrat in politics and has spoken in campaigns ever since he attained his majority. HENRY J. WEISENHEIMER. The subject of this sketch is among the best-known members of the Erie County Bar and has won for himself a prac- tice of which many a man his senior in years might justifiably be proud. He was born at Buffalo and re- ceived his early education and training in Public School No 8, then located on Church Street, and later attended the Central High School from which institu- tion he took up the study of the law. As an earnest ac- tive ambitious student he was fortunate in being able to enter the office of the then famous firm of Corlett & Hatch composed of Thomas Corlett and Edward W. Hatch both of whom later became members of New York State Supreme Court bench. It was the exceptional training he secured in this office that pre- pared him as a student for the more important work that was to come to him later. Appreciating the advantages that were his through association with such learned lawyers and their 15226 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY clients he lost no opportunity to equip himself as thoroughly as was possible for the more severe study and examinations that were to come. After his admission to the bar from their office in June, 1880, at Buffalo, he engaged in independent practice in which he has continued to the present time. He soon became known as a practitioner of more than ordinary force and ability and the experience and clientage which have come to him are an evidence that he has won his present position at the bar as a result of his early professional training. For twenty years Mr. Weisenheimer has been counsel and attorney for the Buffalo Times, the Harmonia Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company and various other corporations and business houses. As might be expected of a man who had Judges Corlett and Hatch as tutors Mr. Weisenheimer is noted for careful preparation of his cases, painstaking and conscientious effort in all business en- trusted to him his entire legal career has been characterized by the strictness and reliability. For more than twenty years Mr. Weisenheimer and State Senator Davis have been office associates, having a fine suite at 936 Ellicott Square. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and various organizations of the Masonic fraternity. THOMAS H. NOONAN. In point of ability, attainments and extensiveness of practice, Mr. Noonan stands in the front rank of the younger members of the Erie County bar. He is distinc- tively a man of intellectual and moral poise, and his clean-cut methods, practical acumen and absolute integrity have won him the confi- dence of the courts and the public. The subject of this sketch was born in Ferrisburgh, Vt., December 17, 1865. He was educa- ted at Beeman Academy, New Haven, Vt., and Middlebury Col- lege, graduating from the latter in 1891. On leaving college he began the study of law at St. Regis Falls, N. Y., continuing it at Potsdam, N. Y., in the office of Honorable Theodore H. Swift, now Chief Judge of the Court of Claims, and completing his pro- fessional training under the instruction of Hannibal Smith, of Watertown, N. Y. Admitted to the bar in 1894, Mr. NoonanHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 227 came to Buffalo, where for four years he was associated with the Honorable Henry W. Hill, though no partnership was formed. In 1900 he became the law partner of George K. Staples, three years later Charles J. Staples being admitted to the firm, whose name became Staples, Noonan & Staples. Exceptionally strong in personnel and ability, the firm is justly held to be one of the repre- sentative ones of the Buffalo bar. Mr. Noonan is notably able as a trial lawyer, and devotes much of his time to that branch of the business, in which he has had large experience both in civil and criminal cases. Mr. Noonan is a member and former trustee of the Bar Associa- tion, and in 1906 was elected President of the Lawyers' Club of which he is a charter member. He is a member of the University and Canoe Clubs, the Delta Upsilon fraternity and is affiliated with many Masonic bodies. He is now serving his third term as United States Loan Commissioner. JOHN W. RYAN, City Attorney for the City of Buffalo, is a lawyer whose superior professional abilities have since an early period of his legal career been almost constantly called into requisition for the service of the public. There are few members of the bar who, in an equal space of time have borne such heavy and continual responsibilities as has Mr. Ryan. And there can be no better characterization of him, either as a legal practitioner or as a citizen, than the simple fact that he has been entrusted228 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY with a succession of important functions, which have one and all been discharged with a thoroughness and success which form an intrinsic commendation more convincing than any degree of extraneous eulogy. The subject of this sketch was born in Hornell, N. Y., and received his lay education in the public schools and at Hornell High School. His legal studies were pursued in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, from which he was graduated in 1898, the same year being admitted to the bar. He practiced by him- self until 1900, when he was appointed Attorney for the Board of Harbor Com- missioners, being at the same time designated as Deputy City Attorney under William H. Cuddeback, in which capacity he served two years. He resumed private practice until Janu- ary 1, 1903, when he was appointed Assistant District Attorney of Erie County, under E. E. Coatsworth. At the close of his three years’ term he was appoint- ed City Attorney. Mr. Ryan has charge of a large amount of important litigation for the City of Buffalo, whose interests he has protected with signal ability and with notable success. He is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associations, and of several representative social organizations. JOHN W. O’CONNOR. In legal, civic and judicial rela- tions Mr. O’Connor holds a representative place in Buffalo as well as in West Seneca where he resides, being engaged in the practice JOHN W. RYANHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 229 of law in both places. He was born in Dansville, N. Y., November 4, 1876, and was educated in the public schools of his native village and the Geneseo State Normal School, whence he graduated in 1900. He graduated from the Buffalo Law School in 1903, with the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to the bar on July 7th, of that year. From 1905 to January, 1908, he was head of the law firm of O’Connor & Leary; since then he has practiced alone. In 1908 he was elected for a four years’ term as Justice of the Peace in the town of West Seneca, a jurisdiction including both civil and criminal cases, and in that capacity he has shown judi- cial qualities of a superior order. A zealous Republi- can, Mr. O’Connor has for the past three years been an active worker for his party, notably in the recent campaign, when he rendered brilliant service as a plat- form speaker for Taft and Hughes, devoting especial attention to the guberna- torial contest. Justice O’Connor is serving on the Town Board of West Seneca; is one of the Auditors, and is a member of the Eagles, the A. O. H., and. the C. R. and B. A. FRANK S. LEARY. Assiduous, earnest toil in preparing for his profession and a high sense of its moral obligations, were the points of departure from which Frank S. Leary entered upon his legal career, and in the course of a few years’ practice at the bar he has been rewarded with a gratifying measure of success. Mr. Leary was born in Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. Y., February JOHN W. O’CONNOR23O HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 20, 1879, and was educated at high school and Rochester Univer- sity, also having the advantages of special instruction under private tutors. He began reading law in the office of Congressman John J. Van Voorhis, at Rochester, and continued his legal studies with Judge George A. Lewis and William R. Daniels, at Buffalo, also pursuing the regular curriculum of the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 1903, the same year being ad- mitted to the bar. There- after he became the partner of Judge John W. O’Con- nor, in the firm of O’Con- nor & Leary, an association which was continued until December, 1907, since which time Mr. Leary has prac- ticed by himself. He has a substantial general prac- tice, and in addition is iden- tified with various business interests. He is a Republi- can, and at different times has taken a prominent part in the campaign work of his party, being a notably in- teresting and convincing platform speaker. Mr. Leary is a member of the Bar Association, and of several social organizations. WILLIAM R. McCONNELL is a notable example of that strong, conservative class' of lawyers whose sound practical quali- fications find both appreciation and their proper sphere of effort in the substantial business adjustments of the community, and whose sterling ethical standards assure the respect and confidence of the public. The subject of this sketch was born in Berlin, Holmes Co., Ohio, September 13, 1868, and was educated in the grammar andHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 231 high schools of Frederickton, Ohio, and at the University of Wooster. On leaving college, Mr. McConnell engaged in teaching, and for the following five years continued to occupy himself exclusively with educational affairs. Deciding that the profession of the law was more congenial to his abilities and tastes, he came to Buffalo, where he served a three years* clerkship with the firm of Wilcox & Miner, also entering the Buffalo Law School, from which he was graduated in 1899 with the degree of LL.B. Dur- ing a considerable period of his early residence in Buf- falo, Mr. McConnell was actively identified with com- mercial affairs, being for seven years connected with the wholesale department of the hardware store of Wal- bridge & Company. In 1900 he was admitted to the bar, and has ever since been en- gaged in the practice of his profession in Buffalo, his business being of a general character. Mr. McConnell is a member of the State Bar Association, the I. O. O. F., and the Delta Chi fraternity. WILLIAM R. M CONNELL WILLIAM J. EVANS, who holds the responsible office of Town Attorney for West Seneca, has in the course of a few years’ practice at the bar acquired a substantial business and a promi- nent place among the rising men of the legal fraternity in Erie County. Mr. Evans was born in Rochester, N. Y., April 26, 1879, and was educated at St* Mary’s Academy, in his native city, graduating in 1897. He read law with Thomas H. Larkins, of Dunkirk, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in 1902. Removing232 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY to Buffalo he has ever since been engaged in the active and success- ful practice of his profession, in which he has won a high reputation both as a jury lawyer and for skill and learning as an office prac- titioner. In his political af- filiations, Mr. Evans is a Democrat. While living in Dunkirk, prior to the begin- ning of his legal studies, he held an important position in the postal service there, during Thomas P. Heffer- nan’s term as Postmaster. The esteem in which Mr. Evans is held, both pro- fessionally and personally, is well illustrated by the circumstance, that though a Democrat, he was ap- pointed Attorney for West Seneca by a Republican Town Board. Mr. Evans is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and of several social organizations. HERBERT P. BISSELL is a lawyer of distinguished ability, a leading citizen of Buffalo and a man prominent in political life and public affairs. Considered from the professional standpoint, Mr. Bissell represents the sterling traditions of learning and integ- rity which have given so high a prestige to the Erie County bar. As a public man Mr. Bissell has a notable record as a champion of clean politics and good government. He is of liberal views and wide culture, is actively identified with the cause of education and with movements in furtherance of intellectual and moral progress, and takes a public-spirited interest in local improvement and the welfare of Buffalo as a community.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 233 Herbert P. Bissell was born at New London, Oneida Co., N. Y., August 30, 1856. He attended the public schools of Lock- port, N. Y., graduated from De Veaux College in 1873. Shortly afterward he went to Ger- many, where he studied two years at the Gymnasium Catharinareum, a public school at Braunschweig, where he acquired a thor- ough knowledge of the Ger- man language. On return- ing to the United States, Mr. Bissell entered Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1880 with the degree of A.B. He read law with the firm of Laning, McMillan & Gluck, and in 1883 was admitted to the bar. January 1, 1885, he began practice by himself, and continued till 1886, when he became identified with the firm of Brundage, Weaver & Bissell. Six months after- ward was formed the copartnership of Bissell, Sicard, Brundage & Bissell, a firm of which the late Wilson S. Bissell, a former Post- master-General, was the head and Herbert P. Bissell the junior partner. This association which some time later became Bissell, Sicard, Bissell & Carey, was a firm of no less historic impor- tance in the annals of the Buffalo Bar, its origin being traceable as far back as 1834. Among those at an early period connected with the firm was Nathan K. Hall, Postmaster-General under President Fillmore, and Grover Cleveland who was the senior partner when he was elected Governor in 1883. In 1896, the firm of Bissell, Sicard, Bissell & Carey was dissolved, and in March, HERBERT P. BISSELL234 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 1897, Mr. Bissell became a member of the firm of Bissell & Metcalf. Later he established, with George C. Riley, the present firm of Bissell & Riley. Mr. Bissell is counsel for the Niagara Gorge Railroad Com- pany, of which he is Vice-President, and the New York Power Securities Company of which he is President and general counsel. In 1885, Mr. Bissell was nominated for State Senator for the Erie County District, and though he failed of election he ran ahead of his ticket by fifteen hundred votes. In the fall of 1901, Mr. Bissell was nominated for Mayor of Buffalo. But at that election the whole Republican ticket was elected. When the Pan-American Exposition Company was formed, Mr. Bissell was chosen a Director of that body and Chairman and counsel of the Exposition Law Committee. In 1904 Mr. Bissell removed his home to East Aurora. The following year he was elected a member and President of the Board of Education. In the fall of 1906 he was re-elected. He has been a trustee of De Veaux College and Cary Collegiate Seminary, at Oakfield, N. Y. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association, the Buffalo, Saturn, Ellicott and Transportation Clubs of this city and the University Club of New York. HON. LORAN L. LEWIS, former Justice of the Supreme Court was for many years one of the foremost advocates in the State. He was born at Mentz, Cayuga Co., N. Y., May 9, 1825. When twenty-one years old, and already well embarked on his course of law reading, he maintained himself by selling law books. When able to enter the regular study of the law, he became a clerk in the law office of William H. Seward, and at Auburn, July 4, 1848, he was admitted to the bar. He then came to Buffalo and opened an office. The progress of Judge Lewis in his pro- fession was steady and rapid. In a short time he advanced to the front rank. He formed several successive associations. The firm best known to the latter-day generation was that of Lewis, Moot & Lewis. Judge Lewis had a genius for the trial of cases,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 235 and ranked as an advocate of the highest order. He had a reserve of sarcasm which made him dangerous to attempt to trifle with, and as a forensic orator he was brilliant, eloquent and convincing. He was regarded as almost unequaled in powers of persuasion, and it was currently remarked, and still is said today, that no advocate ever practiced at the Erie County bar who won so great a proportion of jury cases as did Loran L. Lewis. Politically Judge Lewis has always been a strong Republican. He served in the State Senate, from 1870 to 1874. In 1882 he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court. He presided as a Judge at circuit till 1890, when he was designated by the Governor a Justice of the General Term, now called the Appellate Division, serving till January, 1896, when he reached the seventy-year age limit. The judicial career of Judge Lewis was distinguished by learning, dignity and impartiality. He is the owner of a fine farm in Lewiston, Canada, and there he spends much of his time. Now past the age of eighty-two he enjoys firm health and the resources of a mind whose vigor is equal to the best days of his prime. His is a career in which youth may find emula- tion; manhood, courage and hope. WILLIS M. SPAULDING. This distinguished Buffalo law- yer is a man of varied activities, both professionally and in the lines of business enterprise and civic service. Mr. Spaulding was born in Colden, Erie Co., N. Y., February 22, 1866, and was educated at Griffith Institute, in Springville, graduating in 1887. The same year he came to Buffalo and began a course of legal study in the office of White & Simons (Honorable Truman C. White and Seward A. Simons), being admitted to the bar from their office in 1891. Immediately afterward he became a member of the firm of Spaulding & Sullivan, a very successful partnership which continued till May, 1905, since which time Mr. Spaulding has practiced alone. He has a very large general practice. Mr. Spaulding has extensive holdings in Porto Rico, being interested in nine plantations cover- ing three thousand acres on the north side of the island, and de- voted to the growing of grapefruit, pineapples, oranges, mangoes and lemons. He is Secretary of fifteen corporations, including236 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY those owning the above-mentioned plantations, and is a large investor in cobalt silver mines. He is Commissioner of Porto Rico for the State of New York, having been appointed in 1903 by Governor Hunt, and reappointed in 1908 by Governor Post, and he makes a visit to the island every, year. Mr. Spaulding is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and the Lawyers" Club; a Direc- tor of the Stafford Hotel Company, the J. W. Cooper Company, the Buffalo Den- tal ManufacturingCompany and the White Dairy Com- pany of Buffalo; and a mem- ber of the Order of Elks. His political affiliations are Republican. August 25, 1891, Mr. Spaulding was married to Nellie M. Orr of East Otto, N. Y., and they have one son, Gordon O., born September 26, 1892. JAMES A. MAGOFFIN is a sterling example of that class of lawyers who uphold the dignity of their profession by strict adherence to its highest standards of ethics and attainment. An able and reliable legal practitioner, Mr. Magoffin is also a first- class citizen, who by sound civic principles as well as professional talents, has won an enviable position in the community. The subject of this sketch was born in Clarence, Erie Co., N. Y., October 20, 1872, and enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education of exceptional thoroughness. After attending the Parker High School, in Clarence, he entered the North Tonawanda High School, from which he was graduated in 1898. He was then matriculated as aHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 237 student at Cornell University, where he pursued a classical course, graduating in 1902 with the degree of A.B. He studied law at the Cornell Law School, also serving clerkships with James P. Lindsay and with Romer & Harring- ton. In 1903 he was ad- mitted to the bar. He con- tinued to be associated with the firm of Romer & Har- rington until 1907, when he engaged in independent practice. In addition to conducting a large and suc- cessful professional busi- ness, Mr. Magoffin has since 1907 acted as Financial Manager of the Mutual Life Building. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Bar Association and the University Club. A strong Republican, he is an active and valued member of his party, and is prominent in JAMES A* MAGOFFIN the movement for election reforms, clean politics, and the selection of good men for public office. LOUIS BRAUNLEIN. Former Judge Louis Braunlein was born in Buffalo, N. Y., of German parentage, on October 9, i860. He attended the parochial and public schools of his native city until he was about thirteen years of age, when he was obliged to enter the larger school of life. His inclination for the law at once asserted itself, and he obtained a clerkship in the office of the late William C. Bryant, then attorney for the Western Savings Bank. Being, among other things, an exceptionally fine penman, his services were of particular value. After remaining with Mr. Bryant for about two years, he was promoted to the position of managing238 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY clerk for Humphrey and Lockwood, where he continued for about four years, when he accepted a like post with Robert Schelling, until about 1887. From 1887 to 1892 he practiced successfully on his own account, and in the autumn of 1891 was nominated by the Democratic party for the office of Judge of the Municipal Court of Buffalo, a court having two judges and large jurisdiction in the City of Buffalo. He was elected in the city, usually con- sidered Republican, by a majority of over two thousand. The record made during the first six years’ term was so creditable that on its expiration, in 1897, the judge was renominated and re-elected by a majority of nearly seven thousand, and he began his second term on January 1, 1898, serving up to 1904, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession. Among the judge’s characteristic attributes on the bench were an assuring geniality of manner, a sound and solid legal judg- ment, and a fearless sense of justice and equity. JOHN ALAN HAMILTON, a representative of the scholarly type of lawyer, this well-known practitioner not only occupies a front rank among the more learned members of the Erie County Bar, but has already achieved a recognized place of prominence as a student of civic science, particularly in connection with pro- bation Juvenile Courts and the organization and administration of our lower Courts. Born in Toledo, Ohio, January 5, 1871, he was prepared for college at Michigan Military Academy and grad- uated from Cornell University with the degree of Ph.B., in 1892, and Cornell Law School with the degree of LL.M., from the same institution the following year. He was admitted to the bar the year of his graduation from the law school, and settled in Buffalo where after serving a clerkship in the office of Williams & Potter he en- gaged in independent practice. From 1904 to 1909 he was associated in practice with R. E. Heard under the firm name of Heard & Hamilton. Since the beginnning of the present year he has prac- ticed alone, retaining however, an office association with Mr. Heard, which has existed for nearly twelve years. His specialty is Estate and Corporation Law he having in addition invested /HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 239 interests of a business character. In 1908 he was appointed by Governor Hughes a member of the Commission created by law to investigate Inferior Criminal Courts in cities of the first class. This commission which has become known as the “Page Com- mission” consisting of Mr. Bronson Winthrop of New York and Mr. Hamilton appointed by the Governor, with Senator Page (chairman), Senator Grady and Assemblymen Francis, Murphy and Smith, appointed by the Legislature, began its ses- sions in Greater New York in December, 1908, and has not yet submitted its final report. Its inquiry into the whole subject of the ad- ministration of the lower Courts has been the most searching and exhaustive ever undertaken, and will doubtless lead to. many far- reaching reforms. The commission has also held sessions in Buffalo, where the new City Court, which comes into existence in Jan- uary, 1910, will stand as the result of its investigation. Much of Mr. Hamilton’s time during the past year has necessarily been devoted to the work of the commission, he having personally drafted much of the bill for the organization of the Buffalo City Court, and having stood as sponsor for it during its discussion and enactment into law. Mr. Hamilton is a member of the University Club, Alpha Delta Phi Club (New York) Bar Association and Sons of the American Revolution. HARRY L. NUESE is one of the promising members of the junior bar of Erie County, who by industry and conscientious JOHN ALAN HAMILTON24O HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY treatment of his clients’ interests has built up a substantial prac- tice, and enjoys alike the confidence of his clients and the respect of his colleagues in a marked degree. Harry L. Nuese was born at Titusville, Pa., August 26, 1881. He removed with his parents to Buffalo in 1888, and there attended the public schools, gradua- ting from Masten Park High School in 1903. He pursued his legal training at Cornell University where he graduated with the degree of LL.B., in 1906, being duly admitted to the bar the same year. While in college he took an active interest in the debating feature of society work and belonged to Cornell Congress Debat- ing Society. Upon his ad- mission to the bar, he be- came managing clerk for the law firm of Hammond & Hinkley where he re- mained up until 1908, since when he has practiced alone. He is secretary of the West Side Business Men*s and Taxpayers’ Association, is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the K. O. T. M. HARRY L. NUESE ADOLPH REBADOW is one of the leading men of the Erie County bar. In the latter years of his professional career, Mr. Rebadow’s practice has been characterized in considerable degree by a tendency to specialization along the lines of representa- tion of large financial and corporate interests and in the law relating to estates. Yet, an accurate estimation of Mr. Rebadow must classify him as a general practitioner. He is a trial lawyer of the first order, his success before appellate tribunals is as noteworthyHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 24I as his achievements as a jury advocate, and his sound conserva- tism and solid attainments have given him a well-recognized position as an office counselor of learning and ability. Mr. Rebadow was born in Buffalo, June 4, i860. His education was received in the public schools, and was supplemented by a naturally studious habit of mind which caused him to devote much of his leisure to systematic reading. As a young man he was em- ployed for some years at the Grosvenor Library. His legal studies were pursued with the firm of Marshall, Clinton & Wilson, from whose office he was admit- ted to the bar in 1881. For the succeeding four years he practiced alone in Buffalo, but in 1885 he became asso- c i a t e d with George T. Quin by and Willis H. Meads, under the firm style of Quinby, Meads & Reba- dow. In 1893 the copart- nership was dissolved, and Mr. Rebadow became the law partner of Mr. Charles D. Marshall and Spencer Clinton, in the firm of Marshall, Clinton & Reba- dow. This association was succeeded by that of Marshall & Rebadow, and on the death of Mr. Marshall, Mr. Rebadow became the partner of Carlton Ladd, in the present firm of Rebadow & Ladd. A high grade of legal ability as represented by the personnel of each of these firms, congenial and harmonious partner- ship relations, and a class of business of representative importance and carried on with signal success, are the salient facts of the pro- fessional activities thus briefly presented in outline. It may be ADOLPH REBADOW 16242 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY added that Mr. Rebadow’s career is strikingly illustrative of con- centration of effort. Essentially and thoroughly a lawyer, he has found in his profession an ample sphere for the fulfillment of honor- able ambitions, and the accomplishment of a substantial and valuable life work. FREDERIC C. RUPP, the efficient Deputy Assistant City Attorney in the Corporation Counsel’s office is one of the prom- ising members of the legal profession in Erie County. He was born in Buffalo, July 24,1877, graduated from the law department of the Buf- falo University with the de- gree of LL.B., in 1899, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He thereupon became managing clerk in the office of Hickman & Pal- mer, where he remained until 1902 when he opened an office for practice alone, continuing up until 1905 when he was appointed to a position in the Law De- partment from which he has been promoted to his present position. Mr. Rupp has in charge the assessment rolls, the approval of all bonds and con- tracts, the trial of negligence cases in the county courts, personal property tax cases also certain civil trial work. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, Buffalo Canoe Club, Phi Delta Phi, and Gamma Sigma fraternities. JULIUS A. GRASS, of the firm of Donnelly, O’Neill & Grass, is one of the hardest-working members of the Erie County FREDERIC C. RUPPHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 243 bar. Mr. Grass was born in Prague, Austria, June 23, 1874, and came with his parents to America when he was two years old. His boyhood was passed in New York City, where at the age of six- teen he graduated from the public schools. On leaving school he came to Buffalo, where he worked in the Wagner car shops as a hardwood finisher for eight years. But his desire for a more thorough education was insatiable and he spent his evenings in reading law. He, later, entered the law office of Henry W. Fox, and after a four years’ clerkship accompanied by regular attendance at the Buffalo Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1906, and became a partner in the present firm of Donnelly, O’Neill & Grass. Mr. Grass has been able to engage in various important activi- ties, aside from his professional pursuits. He is a strong Republican, a brilliant speaker, and for ten years has rendered his party effi- cient service on the platform. He has served eight years in the Signal Corps attached to the Fourth Brigade, and was First Ser- geant in that organization. He is one of that band of loyal alumni who have done so much to promote the welfare of the Buffalo Law*School, and he was elected President of the Class of 1906. He is a member of the Harugari Frohsinn, Vice-President of the German Alliance, and has borne a prominent part in the success of the Uncle Sams, Buffalo’s popular Republican marching club. He is also a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Law- yers’ Club, the Buffalo Liederkranz, the Order of the Owls and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. NELSON M. REDFIELD, of the firm of Frisbee & Red- field, a Buffalo lawyer, was born in Rochester, N. Y., January 21, 1866, and, after receiving a public school and academic education, entered Union College, graduating in 1887 with the degree of A.B. After leaving college, he assumed charge of the land surveys of a large English syndicate in the State of Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar in Middleboro, that State, in 1894. In 1895, he came to Buffalo, where he took the customary curriculum of study in the Buffalo Law School, and in 1897 was admitted to practice by the244 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Appellate Division, Rochester. Immediately upon his admission to the bar in this State, he became a member of the firm of Frisbee, Davidson & Redfield, which, on January i, 1901, was succeeded by Frisbee & Redfield, the present firm, one of the representative law partnerships of the Western New York bar. The practice of Messrs. Frisbee & Redfield has, to a great degree, become specialized in the branch of corporation law, in which the firm is of recognized ability. A remarkable instance of a great forensic conflict, which, amid manifold diffi- culties, was carried to the goal of complete success, was the famous Schandein case, constituting one of the causes celebres of modern will contests, upon which depended the disposal of an estate of from five to six million dollars, the main question at issue being the mental capability of the tes- tatrix, Mrs. Schandein, to make a will in favor of her daughter, the will having been drawn by the firm of Frisbee & Redfield, who also represented the daughter in the contest. After a year of litigation, in- volving a trial which lasted more than six weeks, the will was upheld. NELSON M. REDFIELD Mr. Redfield is a Republican, but while he takes an earnest interest in the welfare of his party, his exacting professional pur- suits do not permit him to give his time to active politics. He is a member of the State and Local Bar Associations, the Lawyers’, Ellicott, Country and University Clubs, the Delta Upsilon frater- nity, the Manufacturers’ Club and the Chamber of Commerce.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 245 CHARLES L. DEAN was born in Marion, Wayne Co., N. Y., December 13, 1862. He graduated from the Marion Colle- giate Institute in 1878, and from the University of Rochester in 1879, valedictorian of his class. He then took a postgraduate course, receiving from the University the degree of A.M. He was prominent in the social life of his alma mater, being an active member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Delta Upsilon societies. His legal studies were pursued in the offices of Cogswell, Bentley & Cogswell, of Rochester, of Camp & Dunwell, at Lyons, N. Y., and with ex-Governor John T. Hoffman, at Albany, where he also acted as Clerk of the Senate Committee on Railroads. In 1886 he-was admitted to the bar in Rochester, and immediately removed to Kansas City, Mo., where he became a member of the Missouri bar and continued to practice till 1896, his business including litigations in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa. As general attorney for the Union Loan & Trust Company, in five years he foreclosed over five million dollars' worth of mortgages. Since 1896 he has been engaged in active practice in Buffalo. During the national campaign of 1896 he did some notable cam- paign speaking in the Mississippi Valley States. Mr. Dean is a member of the East Side Business Men's Association. A man of brilliant literary attainments, he was formerly a contributor to Harper's and the Century, and in a poetic anthology compiled by Oliver Wendell Holmes, two of Mr. Dean's poems were selected by Dr. Holmes for the book. FRED GREINER, lawyer, Postmaster of the City of Buffalo, and leader of the Republican party in Buffalo and Western New York, is one of the best-known men of the city where he resides, and in personal popularity and reputation for conducting a respon- sible office in an efficient manner, stands second to no public official in the State. Mr. Greiner has been a member of the legal pro- fession for over thirty years, and has a large practice at the bar. He is a man who in every relation of life inspires esteem and trust, and his prominence both in civic and private capacities is the result of the well-grounded confidence of his fellow citizens, which rests246 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY its foundation on long experience of Mr. Greiner’s character and capability. Fred Greiner was born in Buffalo, September 25, 1854, and was educated in the public schools. On leaving school he entered the law office of Wadsworth & White, being admitted to the bar in 1876, ever since which time he has been engaged in general practice. Since attaining his majority, Mr. Greiner has been identified with the Republican party, in which his position early became one of distinguished prominence. He served for ten years as County Committeeman, winning a place as one of the most trusted advisers and managers of his party, though up to the time of his appointment to the Postmastership he had never held any public office. En- dowed with exceptional tact and a natural gift of organization, Mr. Greiner has led the Republicans of Buffalo and Erie County to victory in many a well-contested campaign. He is one of the most successful Republican leaders in the country today, and stands high in the party and as a citizen. Both as member of the Repub- lican General Committee and as former Chairman of the Erie County Committee, his work has been characterized by fairness, ability and resolute adherence to sound methods and sterling principles. In 1901 Mr. Greiner’s zealous and able services were recog- nized in his appointment by President McKinley to the office of Postmaster of Buffalo, which position he has filled ever since. His administration has been characterized by thorough system, by economy and by liberal-minded appreciation of the postal needs of the territory and prompt fulfillment of all requirements. Mr. Greiner was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of General Managers of the New York State Building at the Pan-American Exposition. He is a member of the Buffalo and Ellicott Clubs, and of other social and fraternal organizations. To the professional and executive qualities that have ensured him success at the bar, in political leadership and official functions, Mr. Greiner adds the genial traits of social life. Courteous, readyHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 247 of access, his instincts are those of American equality, and his principles those of the sterling citizenship that in public duties recognizes a trust imposed for the good of all. FREDERICK HOWARD. Occupying a foremost rank among the solid men of the Erie County Bar is Frederick Howard, who in addition to enjoying unusual success in the practice of his profession, has a notable record in the political field. Born at East Aurora, N. Y., Sep- tember 12, 1855, he attend- ed the district schools and Aurora Academy. He sub- sequently taught school one term, and in 1874 came to Buffalo where the following year he entered upon the study of law in the office of Milo A. Whitney, from whose office he was admit- ted to the bar in 1878. In 1880 he became a part- ner with Mr. Whitney this partnership continued until 1883, for the ensuing five years Mr. Howard practiced alone. In 1888 he became associated with Honorable Myron H. Clark, a rela- tion which existed up until 1898 since which time he has prac- ticed alone. A life-long Republican Mr. Howard has taken a conspicuous part in the interests of his party ever since becoming a voter. From 1899 to 1905 inclusive, he served as a member of the Board of Supervisors from the Twenty-fourth Ward and during the last four years of his service Mr. Howard was Floor-leader, Chairman of the Finance Committee also the Committee on Laws and Legislation, serving at the same time as Secretary of the FREDERICK HOWARD248 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Committee on Charitable Institutions. Mr. Howard’s efforts were always directed toward economy and efficiency in the adminis- tration of the affairs of the County and he rendered valuable serv- ices in the cause of reform in public affairs. To Mr. Howard more than to any other member of the Board belongs the credit of uncovering the dishonest transactions in connection with the purchase of the site of the new 65th Regiment Armory. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, Ancient Landmarks Lodge, of Masons, and several other Orders. He is trustee and secretary of the Buffalo Children’s Aid Society, and a member of the Congregational Church of Buffalo. October 25, 1881, Mr. Howard married Harriet E., a daughter of the late Moses T. Mabee, of Buffalo, and who died December 23, 1896. WILLARD H. TICKNOR. This well-known and repre- sentative Buffalo lawyer oc- cupies a fixed standing in his profession as a careful counselor painstaking and zealous in all interests in- trusted to him by his clients whose confidence he enjoys to a marked degree. Mr. Ticknor was born in the town of Concord, this coun- ty, April 21, 1853. He was educated at Griffith Insti- tute and enjoyed excep- tional advantages in his study of law in the office of that famous lawyer the Honorable Charles C. Sev- erance, one of the most dis- tinguished men of his pro- fession in the history of jurisprudence in Erie County, formerly practicing at SpringvilleHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 249 where Mr. Ticknor studied under him. He was admitted to the bar at Buffalo, June 14, 1878, and continued in practice in Spring- ville until he came to Buffalo in August, 1888, a period of ten years. In 1889 he entered into the present copartnership with George E. Pierce, under the firm name of Ticknor & Pierce. Mr. Ticknor has been a potent factor in Republican politics in Erie County for twenty years and while a resident of Springville repre- sented the town of Concord in the Board of Supervisors until he refused to serve longer. FRED H. SEAVER occupied a foremost rank among the younger generation of attorneys at the Erie County Bar. Few had attained a better standing in their profession in so short a time. He was a member of the firm of Seaver & Seaver, and the efficient Deputy Assistant Attorney in the Corporation Counsel's Of- fice at the time of his death. Born September 17, 1884, in Buffalo, he there at- tended the public and Mas- ten Park High Schools. He subsequently attended Genesee-Wesleyan Univer- sity and graduated from the Law Department of the University of Buffalo with the degree of LL.B., in 1904, and having obtained the required office training in the office of his father, the Honorable Joseph V. Seaver, a distinguished Buffalo lawyer and former County Judge, he was duly admitted to the bar upon arriving at the legal age in 1905. He thereupon became associated with his father in the present250 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY firm of Seaver & Seaver. In 1906 he became Deputy Assistant City Attorney in the Corporation Counsel's office where he was in charge of claims and negligence cases in addition to other gen- eral work of the office. Among some of the more important cases he handled for the city his services attracted special attention in his successful prosecution of the smoke nuisance cases, winning every case, also the successful prosecution of the “Big Stick” cases against the railroads for violation of the speed ordinances, all result- ing in verdicts for the city. Mr. Seaver was a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers' Club and Delta Chi frater- nity. Mr. Seaver’s death occurred September 9, 1909. CHARLES S. BLANCHARD. Among the representative members of the junior bar of Erie County who in seeking a wider field have located in Buffalo for the practice of their pro- fession, Mr. Charles S. Blan- chard enjoys a substantial and growing business of a solid and permanent char- acter. Mr. Blanchard was born at Jamestown, N. Y., December 9, 1874. He re- ceived his preparatory edu- cational training at the Jamestown Academy and attended the University of Buffalo Law School. He pursued the customary office training under Judge John Woodward at Jamestown and was duly admitted to the bar in 1897. Locating in practice at that place he there continued up until 1902, when he came to Buffalo, where he has been engaged in a general law business ever since.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 2$ I He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, and politi- cally he is a Democrat. ODELL R. BLAIR. Mr. Blair was born at Johnsonsburg, Wyoming Co., N. Y., but at the age of two years he was taken to Chicago by his parents and at Chicago and St. Louis he lived until he was fifteen years old, when his parents returned East. In 1891 he entered the law department of the Colum- bian University, now George Washington University, at Washington, D. C., from which he graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 1893, at which time he came to Buffalo. He was admitted to the Bar at Rochester, N. Y., in 1895, and has practiced his profession in Buffalo since that time. He is a member of the Bar Association of Erie County and of the Lawyers5 Club. ODELL R. BLAIR DANIEL J. O'NEIL. One of the rising men of the younger bar of Buffalo is Daniel J. O'Neil, who in the relatively short period since he entered upon the practice of his profession has won pronounced success. Mr. O'Neil was born in Attica, Wyoming Co., N. Y., April 21, 1882. He attended the Attica High School, Alfred University, and Buffalo Law School, from which he was graduated in 1905. While attending law school he studied suc- cessively in the offices of Ullman & Ullman, Frederick F. Williams, Wood & Sheldon and Herman Hennig, and was admitted to the252 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY bar in 1905. Mr. O’Neil soon became a member of the firm of Donnelly & O’Neil which in February, 1906, was succeeded by the present firm of Donnelly, O’Neil & Grass. Mr. O’Neil has been remarkably successful and has won gratifying recognition as a lawyer of attainments and resourcefulness. In politics, Mr. O’Neil is a Republican. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Columbus, the C. M. B. A., the L. C. B. A., the American Order of Owls, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Teutonia Liederkranz, and the National Union. CHARLES C. WOOD. This highly esteemed member of the bar of Erie County enjoys a large general practice and has a firmly established reputation. Mr. Wood was born in Jersey City, N. J., July 31, 1853. During his early childhood his parents removed to New York City, and later to New Orleans, where he at- tended the public schools. Subsequently he came to Lockport, N. Y., where he attended the common and high schools. In 1869 h6 entered the Department of Science and Letters in Cor- nell University, graduating in 1874 with the degree of B.S. He was subsequently city editor of the Water- town Times, and afterward of the Ithaca Daily Jour- nal. Removing to New York City, he served successively on the reportorial staffs of the New York Tribune and of the Sun. In 1881 he became editor of the Ithaca Weekly Democrat, CHARLES C. WOODHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 253 meanwhile acting as special correspondent of the New York Times, the New York Herald and other metropolitan papers. During this period he was also engaged in the compilation of histories of Ithaca and Auburn. In 1884 he came to Buffalo as special agent for an insurance corporation. He there began reading law in the office of Honorable Devoe P. Hodson, and afterwards with Honor- able John R. Hazel, in 1896 being admitted to the bar. In Feb- ruary, 1894, he was appointed Examiner of Corporation Taxes, by State Comptroller James A. Roberts, by whom he was subse- quently appointed Deputy Commissioner, and later acting Corpo- ration Tax Commissioner for one year. Resuming the position of Deputy Commissioner he continued under Honorable George A. Lewis until the abolition of the office in 1903. He has since been engaged in practice of law in Buffalo. Mr. Wood has contributed to the literature of his profession as author of “Wood’s Handbook of Corporation Tax Laws.” Always a Republican Mr. Wood served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Young Men’s Republican Club, of Ithaca, and held the same offices in the Buffalo Republican League, from 1889 to 1892. In 1901 he organized the Buffalo Republican Club of which he was Secretary and Treasurer for three years. He is a member and former President of the Cornell Asso- ciation of Buffalo, and of the Y. M. C. A., of that city; and has been actively identified with the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo Genealogical Society, the Young Men’s Association, the University Club and other leading organizations. EDWARD T. DURAND is a general practitioner of excep- tional ability, and his professional labors have covered a wide field. Mr. Durand was born in Rochester, N. Y., and received a liberal education, graduating from Alfred University in 1884. The following year he entered the Albany Law School, whence he graduated June 5, 1885. He also studied in the offices of Bemis & Orcutt, at Hornell, N. Y., and after his admission to the bar came to Buffalo, where he was associated with the office of Honor- able Manly C. Green, later Justice of the Supreme Court. Later, Mr. Durand formed a partnership with Charles S. Hatch, a brother254 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY of Judge Hatch, and this association lasted several years. At the present time Mr. Durand is practicing alone, devoting himself to civil practice* in which he is the representative and adviser of many important interests. In politics Mr. Durand is an independent Demo- crat, and during the campaign of 1900 he did some able speech-mak- ing for Bryan. He is a member of the Masons, the K. of P. and the I.O.O.F., and has been through the chairs of the last two fraternities. BURTON H. BROWNELL was born at Tomhannock, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., September 4, 1871. He prepared for college at Troy Conference Acad- emy at Poultney, Vt., and graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., with the degree of A.B.,in 1897, and from Cor- nell Law College with the degree of LL.B., in 1899. In school and college he was ac- tive and prominent. As a student he was successful, receiving a number of prizes, among which was the Law Thesis prize at Cornell Uni- versity. In 1899, after being admitted to the bar, he entered the law offices of Pooley, Depew & Spratt, be- coming clerk. Since 1902 Mr. Brownell has practiced for himself with offices at No. 932 Ellicott Square, Buffalo. At college Mr. Brownell was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He is also a member of Highland Lodge of Masons and Saturn Lodge of Odd Fellows. CLAYTON M. SMITH. As a legal practitioner his practical abilities have won him unusual success in dealing with the business BURTON H. BROWNELLHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 255 interests confided to his charge. Mr. Smith was born in Buffalo, August 10, 1884, and received a liberal education at Brothers’ College and Holy Angels College, graduating from the latter in 1904. Enter- ing the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, he pursued his studies there simul taneously with a clerk- ship in the office of Messrs. Shire & Jellinek. He was graduated from the Law School in 1906, taking the Master’s degree, and in June of the following year was admitted attorney and counselor. Until May, 1908, he was associated in a re- sponsible capacity with the firm of Shire & Jellinek; since then he has practiced by himself. He is a mem- ber of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club and the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. CLAYTON M. SMITH WILLIAM P. COLGAN. Though latterly identified with an extensive general practice, this noted legal practitioner won his first fame as a criminal lawyer. In that specialty he has had an experience which would be hard to parallel outside of the two or three metropolitan cities of the country, and which cannot be better illustrated than by the fact that during the first five years after his admission to the bar, Mr. Colgan defended seventeen murder cases. Mr. Colgan was born in Dunkirk, N. Y., July 4, 1869, and was educated in the public schools of that place. As a young man he entered the railway mail service, and for four years was employed on the New York Central and Lake Shore railroads as256 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY a postal clerk. But his ambitions inclined him to the legal pro- fession, and he began to read law with Holt & Holt, of Dunkirk, and later with his brother, John H. Colgan, being admitted to the bar in 1894. The same year the brothers formed a law partnership in Buffalo, as Colgan & Col- gan, a firm name associated with many important trials and numerous brilliant suc- cesses. Mr. Colgan, whose offices are located at 510 Brisbane Building, is one of the busiest lawyers in Buf- falo, keeping a large staff of clerks constantly employed in his office. Mr. Colgan is a Democrat, an eloquent campaign speaker, and in 1897 was nominated for District Attorney against Daniel J. Kenefick. He is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers" Club, the Elks, Foresters, Red Men, C. M. B. A. and K. C. fraternities, the Owls and Moose. THOMAS E. LAWRENCE is one of the best known of the .younger members of the Bar. Mr. Lawrence was born July 2, 1869, at Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England, and came to this country at the age of eleven. He grew to manhood on a farm at West Richfield, Ohio, graduated from the High School there and taught school one year. He came to Buffalo in 1892, began the study of law the following year and was admitted to the Bar in 1897. He was a member of the firm of Hull & Lawrence for some years, but has practiced alone since 1904. His twelve years’ practice has been marked with ability and success. He enjoys an enviable WILLIAM P. COLGANHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 257 reputation as a trial lawyer of tact, fairness and ability. Though engaged in general practice in all the courts, his commercial and bankruptcy practice re- quires a large part of his time, and in these special fields he has earned a na- tional reputation. He is a forceful public speaker, and a man of the highest ideals. Mr. Lawrence is a mem- ber of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers ’, Ellicott and Manufacturers’ Clubs and Buffalo Credit Men’s Association. He is a trustee of Park Presby- terian Church and active in Sunday School work. Fra- ternally he is a Past Grand of Niagara Lodge, I. O. O. F., a member of Trinity Lodge, I. O. O. F. and Highland Lodge, F. & A. M. THOMAS E. LAWRENCE MARK P. KERR, lawyer and publicist, unites a high order of professional ability with a wide knowledge of civic science. Both from the legal standpoint, and in the broad field of general culture, Mr. Kerr is Qne of the best-informed men of the Erie County bar. An expert in the law of negligence and real estate titles he has to some extent specialized his business in these directions, but he is also a first-rate general practitioner. Mr. Kerr was born in Titus- ville, Pa., June 8, 1866. He was educated at the Edinboro State Normal School, from which he graduated in 1884. After spending two years in educational work as a school principal, he began the study of law in Buffalo with the firm of Ullman & Ullman and was 17258 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY admitted to the bar in 1898. He has ever since been engaged in the active practice of his profession in Buffalo. Ever since attaining his majority Mr. Kerr has been a vigorous supporter of Democratic principles and policies. He was an especially prominent figure in the Hearst guber- natorial campaign, speaking every evening a Democratic meeting was held in this section. His views are lib- eral, he is essentially a man of the people; and his strong convictions, his fearlessness in championship of causes he considers just, have given him a representative place among those who hold that the permanence of American institutions must depend upon maintenance of the principles of human equality and Jeffersonian democracy. FRANK E. WADE unites high standing at the bar with a representative position as a citizen. Mr. Wade is a lifelong resi- dent of Buffalo, where he was born, December 14, 1865. After attending the local grammar-schools he entered Central High School, from which he was graduated with the Class of 1885. He attended Cornell University and was graduated in the Class of 1889 with the degree of Ph.B. Meantime he read law with the firm of Swift, Weaver & Mangus, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1891. In 1893 he entered upon the practice of his profession in Buffalo, where he has won a deserved reputation as a lawyer of distinguished ability and unimpeachable standards of erudition and ethics. Mr. Wade is a Republican of prominence MARK P. KERRHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 259 in the party counsels, and during the past few years he has accom- plished much for his party in the way of public addresses and other campaign work. He is notably identified with civic movements and the general cause of progress, and is a member of many organizations, among which may be specified the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, the Chamber of Com- merce and the University Club. He has rendered effi- cient service as a member of the State Probation Com- mission, to which he was appointed by Governor Hughes in 1907, his one year’s term being followed by his reappointment for four years. LEO F. DONNELLY, senior member of the firm of Donnelly, O’Neil & Grass, is a successful lawyer who enjoys a high reputa- tion for conscientious devotion to the interests of his clients. Mr. Donnelly was born in Ontario, Canada, February 24, 1883. While a boy he came to Buffalo, where he was educated at Central High School. He then entered the Buffalo Law School, graduating in 1905, and he also served a law clerkship with Frank F. Williams, from whose office he was admitted to the bar the year of his gradua- tion. Mr. Donnelly soon formed a partnership with Daniel J. O’Neil, under the firm style of Donnelly & O’Neil, and in February, 1906, the present firm of Donnelly, O’Neil & Grass was estab- lished, the junior partner being Julius Grass. Mr. Donnelly is a member of the Lawyers’ Club and of the Knights of Columbus. FRANK E. WADE26o HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY CHARLES H. CUTTING has for more than thirty years been engaged in the practice of the law in Buffalo. His father, Thomas S. Cutting, who for many years was a prominent Buffalo attorney, was a native of England and as a young man emigrated to the United States. Arriving in New York City he made the trip to Buffalo by way of the Erie Canal, and settled in the Queen City, where he successfully practiced law from 1863 until his death in 1881. Typically a self- made man, noted for en- ergy and self-reliance, Thomas S. Cutting was one of the notable Buffalonians of his time, and held a dis- tinguished position both as a lawyer and citizen. Charles H. Cutting was born in Buffalo, November 23,1856, and after attending the local grammar-schools and Cen- tral High School, studied law under the tuition of his father, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1878, having at the time barely attained his majority. He has ever since practiced his profession alone in that city, and has built up a large and representative business. Mr. Cutting has a record of five years' service in Company C, of the 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y. His son, George H. Cutting, was a member of the 65th Regiment, Company K, and served during the Spanish-American War, with the rank of Corporal. ALBERT F. GEYER, of the Buffalo law firm of Martin & Geyer, is an attorney who has had twelve years of successful prac- tice, and who is well-known, and deservedly so, as an experienced, CHARLES H. CUTTINGHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY z6l industrious and reliable lawyer. Born in Buffalo, March 30, 1876, Mr. Geyer was educated in the grammar and high schools of that city, subsequently becoming a student of the Buffalo Law School. He graduated from the latter in 1897, being the same year admitted to the bar. For six years thereafter Mr. Geyer earned on his business alone, and since then he has been a member of the firm of Martin & Geyer which was established in May, 1908, and which enjoys an excellent reputation, both as to per- sonnel and capability. Mr. Geyer is a Democrat, repre- sents the Fourteenth Ward in the General Committee, is a member of the Execu- tive Committee, and in 1908 was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Presi- dential elector from the Thi’rty-fifth Congressional District. He is of influence in party counsels, and for several years has done ac- tive campaigning for the Democracy. Mr. Geyer is a Thirty-second degree Ma- son, a Shriner, a member of the Acacia Club, the Buf- falo Saengerbund, the Delta Chi legal fraternity, the Erie County Bar Association and other leading fraternities and organizations. ALBERT F. GEYER HAMILTON WARD was born in Washington, D. C., January 20, 1871, the family at the time residing at the National Capital, where the father was serving as Member of Congress. He received his lay education at the Episcopal Institute, in Bur- lington, Vt., and read law at Belmont, Allegany Co., N. Y., and after his admission to the bar in 1892, came to Buffalo where he262 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR O* ERIE COUNTY became associated with the District Attorney’s office under George Quinby, later being appointed Assistant District Attorney by Daniel J. Kenefick, since then he has conducted with success an independent practice in Buffalo. He is a first-rate all-around lawyer, especially at home before a jury. His business is of general character, though latterly he has made a specialty of trial practice. During the Spanish- American War Mr. Ward was on active duty as Captain of Com- pany L, of the 202d Regiment New York Volunteers, from July 23, 1898, to September 15, 1899, serving with his regiment in the Province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Elected to the Erie County Board of Supervisors in 1901, Mr. Ward served four years with signal efficiency. Mr. Ward is a member of the American, State and Erie County Bar Associations, a Mason, an Elk, and Vice- President of Buffalo Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. He was one of the organizers of the United Spanish War Veterans, and served as Commander-in-Chief of that body in 1906-07. HONORABLE HAMILTON WARD. “The great life of a great man,” is the verdict that must be passed upon the career of the late Hamilton Ward by any unbiased, capable student of the achievements and personality of that eminent lawyer, judge, statesman and citizen. Hamilton Ward was born in Saulsbury, N. Y., July 3, 1829. He attended the public schools at Horseheads, Chemung Co., N. Y. In 1848-49 he had a term of schooling in New York City, and in the latter year he began the study of law with Aaron and W. P. Konkle, of Elmira, N. Y., being admitted to the bar in 1851 and maintained an office at Phillipsville, Allegany Co., N. Y., where he resided. In 1856 he was elected District Attorney of Allegany County, and re-elected. In 1864 he was elected to Con- gress, and was re-elected in 1866-68. As member of Congress Mr. Ward gained a national reputation as an orator and parlia- mentarian. He was one of the Committee of Seven which framed articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson and was a leader in the opposition to the Johnson administration. He was also aHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 263 member of the Committee on reconstruction. At the close of his third term Mr. Ward declined a renomination, and returning to Belmont, resumed the practice of the law. Elected Attorney Gen- eral of the State of New York in 1880, he served one term. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Hill as a member of the Con- stitutional Commission to revise the State Constitution. In 1891 he became Judge of the Supreme Court, and continued on the bench until his death, December 28, 1898, setting during the last four years as a member of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. WILLIAM T. DOANE. Though a recent acquisition to the Erie County Bar, by industry, close application and zealous conservation of his clients’ interests in all matters intrusted to him, William T. Doane has in the short time in which he has practiced here already established a fixed place for himself in his profession. Born in Collingwood, Can- ada, November 26, 1873, he was educated in the pub- lic schools of Orillia and Barrie, and graduated from the Collegiate Institute of Toronto. Subsequently en- gaging in the Pharmaceut- ical business, he traveled extensively throughout the country until in 1903, when he resolved upon his long cherished ambition to study law. After qualifying him- self, by the usual pre- scribed courses of study and office practice in the city of Houston, Texas, he was duly admitted to practice in the courts of that State June 6, 1906. He there continued in active practice up WILLIAM T DOANE264 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY until coming to Buffalo in 1907, where he was admitted to the bar November, 1908, and where he has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession. He is First Lieutenant of Company I, 65th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., member of Holland Lodge, No. 1, Houston, Texas, A. F. & A. M., and other fraternal societies. Political- ly he is a Republican, and in the interests of the success of the party he has taken an active part. Of musical talent and inclinations Mr. Doane is known to the musical world as a composer of ability. THEODORE B M. Sheldon, former SHELDON, chief Justice The son of Honorable James of the Superior Court of Buffalo, and grandson of James Sheldon, one of the pioneers in the practice of law in Buffalo, Theodore B. Sheldon, commenced prac- tice in Buffalo supported not only with a wealth of family tradition and achieve- ment, but with a mind di- rected from youth toward legal channels and juris- prudence and ripened by personal contact with men and business affairs. He was born in Buffalo, December 12,1862, and was educated at the public schools and at Heathcote Preparatory School. Upon his graduation he became the superintendent of a manufactory. At the end of five years he took up the study of law in the offices of Osgoodby, Titus & Moot. Subsequently he studied with Sprague, Milburn & Sprague and with Kisselberg & Sheldon (James). During his period of study he served five years as state land appraiser. THEODORE B. SHELDONHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 265 He was admitted to the Bar in 1896, and at once began the practice of law alone. Since then his clientage has steadily in- creased, aided greatly by his assiduous efforts and his wide acquaint- ance with men. He holds at present the rank of major, and grade of Inspector General in the Fourth Brigade, N. G. N. Y., a rank which he has reached as the result of long and efficient service. He entered Company F of the 65th Regiment September 19, 1882, and served as private, corporal and First Sergeant for five years and up to December 27, 1887. He then joined Company H of the 74th Regiment and in 1893 was made Battalion Adjutant. Later he was appointed aide and Assistant Inspector of Small Arms practice, with the grade of captain, upon the staff of General Doyle. Following that he became brigade quartermaster. He is a member and director of Buffalo Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, Colonial Wars, and is Vice-President of the Mayflower Society of Buffalo. EDWARD L. JELLINEK, of the firm of Shire & Jellinek, is one of the foremost lawyers now practicing at the Erie County bar, and it may be confidently affirmed that there is no attorney in West- ern New York who handles a greater number of important corporate and private interests than Mr. Jellinek, or who represents his clients with more uniform success, both in the office branches of practice or in the sphere of vigorous and ably conducted court work. The subject of this sketch was born in Vienna, Austria, August 10, 1866, and when one year old came with his parents to this country, the family settling in Buffalo, where the son was reared. Mr. Jellinek enjoyed the advantages of a most comprehensive and liberal edu- cation. After attending the public schools he was placed under the tuition of a special tutor, and after being prepared for college at a private school taught by Professor Robert F. Pennell, he was matriculated at Harvard University, where he pursued the classical course, graduating in 1889 with the degree of A. B. Returning to Buffalo, he studied law in the office of Moses Shire and Herman Van Peyma, and displayed such ability that he soon was intrusted with the responsible duties of managing clerk. In October, 1891,266 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY he was admitted to the bar, being immediately thereafter made a partner in the firm of Shire, Van Peyma & Jellinek, a successful association which represented an unusually strong combination of legal talent and continued until 1894, when it was succeeded by the present firm of Shire & Jellinek. Characterization of this firm is almost superfluous, for it is one of the most widely known in the State, holding a position second to none at the bar of Western New York. Messrs. Shire & Jellinek have a very large general practice, which at different times has included almost every species of liti- gation known to the courts. Among their specialties is the conduct of life and fire insurance suits, and they probably handle more busi- ness of this character than all the rest of the corpora- tion lawyers of Buffalo. They also have a heavy bankruptcy business. Many of their cases, in these and other lines, are properly to be as- signed to the rank of causes celebresy and the income of the firm is undoubtedly as large as that of any Buffalo law firm now in prac- tice. Messrs. Shire & Jellinek occupy a handsome and admirably appointed suite of offices in the Prudential Building. Mr. Jellinek is a member of the American, State and Erie County Bar Associa- tions; the University, Buffalo and Ellicott Clubs; the Harvard Club, of New York City, and of Ancient Landmarks Lodge F. & A. M., as well as all the intermediate bodies of the Masonic order up to the Consistory. EDWARD L. JELLINEKHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY. 267 JOHN S. DRUAR. Of forceful personality and keen legal acumen coupled with conscientious effort John S. Druar commands a merited recognition from his fellow-practitioners at the Erie County Bar. Born in Buffalo, November io, 1872, he was educa- ted in the public schools and after graduating there- from took up the study of law with Norton Brothers, and was duly admitted to the bar in 1893. He soon thereafter formed a part- nership with Henry W. Kil- leen under the firm style of Killeen & Druar, a re- lation which existed up to the appointment of Mr. Killeen to the office of City Attorney, when it was dis- solved and Mr. Druar has practiced alone ever since. Mr. Druar has enjoyed substantial success hand- ling many important cases and is frequently seen in J0HN s* DRUAR the courts. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and a Republican in politics. PETER MAUL. This representative member of the legal profession has won for himself an assured place and fixed standing by hard work, close application and conscientious devotion to the interests of his clients, whose confidence he enjoys to a marked degree. Peter Maul was born April 29, 1875, in Buffalo, where he has resided all his life. His parents were natives of Bavaria, Ger- many; his father, John Conrad Maul, having emigrated to this country in 1855, and settled in this City the same year, where he lived continuously up to the time of his death in 1907. Mr. Maul268 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY obtained his education in the German Lutheran Trinity School at the corner of Goodell and Maple Streets, and in the Public and Central High Schools, later pursuing his legal education in the Buffalo Law School, from which he graduated in 1896. He ac- quired his office training in the law offices of Albert C. Spann and Charles M. Harrington. He was admitted to the bar in 1896. Since his admission to the bar he has been engaged in the general practice of law, giving a large share of his attention, however, to Surrogate’s Court work and real estate law. As this book goes to press Mr. Maul is the nom- inee of his party for an asso- ciate judgeship of the new City Court. He is a mem- ber of the German Lutheran Trinity Church, of which he was a trustee for six years; a member of the board of trustees of the Martin Luther Seminary of Buffalo; the treasurer of the Luth- eran Synod of Buffalo, and the treasurer of the Con- stantia Young Men’s Benev- olent Association. He is also a member of the Buffalo Canoe Club, Lawyers’ Club and Erie County Bar Association. Politically, he is a Republican. ARTHUR WASHINGTON HICKMAN, of the law firm of Hickman, Palmer & Houck, is a lawyer of thirty-five years’ stand- ing, a leading member of the Erie County bar and a prominent figure in public and social life. Arthur W. Hickman was born in Marshall, Calhoun County, Mich., June 18, 1850. Prior to his birth Mr. Hickman’s parents resided in Buffalo, but removed PETER MAULHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 269 temporarily to Michigan, where Mr. Hickman was born, and when about a week old was brought by his parents to Buffalo. He was edu- cated in the public schools of this city and graduated from Central High School in 1868. He prepared for Rochester University but was unable to pursue a college course. He studied law in the office of Austin & Austin, at Buffalo and was admitted to the bar in 1871, continuing a year with Austin & Austin, as managing clerk. Benja- min H. Austin, Sr., retired from the firm in 1872, whereupon Mr. Hickman formed a copartnership with the younger Mr. Austin un- der the style of Austin & Hickman. The firm was very successful, and the as- sociation lasted till 1879, when Mr. Austin left Buf- falo and Mr. Hickman practiced alone for several years, after which he was associated with Nathaniel S. Rosenau, for two years. Mr. Hickman then practiced alone till 1894, when Wil- liam Palmer became his partner. In 1908 Mr. George E. Houck entered the firm which became Hickman, Palmer & Houck which is one of the foremost law firms in Buffalo, having a large general practice and representing important interests both in the State and Federal courts. Mr. Hickman has twice been elected to the Legislature. Once as the regular Republican nominee and a second time as an independent. His independent nomination was the basis of the movement which resulted in the election of Grover Cleveland, Mayor of Buffalo, including the bill reducing street car fares in the city of ARTHUR WASHINGTON HICKMAN270 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Buffalo, and an act regulating primary elections, also an act crea- ting a board of school examiners for the city of Buffalo which was passed several years later. While in the Legislature Mr. Hickman was associated with Theodore Roosevelt, Charles W. Dayton,James W. Husted, Thomas G. Alvord, John Raines and George Sharp. In 1903 he was appointed a member of the board of school examiners and is now Chairman of that body. Mr. Hickman has been con- cerned in many movements for the good of Buffalo, including munici- pal reform, the enlargement of the docks and the enforcement of sound administration of city affairs. He brought the suits which prevented the city of Buffalo from giving the sea-wall strip to the Erie Railroad, and the suit against the Street Railroad, involving the Main and Niagara Street franchises. He was one of the Real Estate Commissioners of the German Young Men’s Association and was Secretary of the Building Committee of Buffalo Music Hall. He is a life member of the Buffalo Library Association, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Y. M. C. A., and was Secretary of the Board which built the Central Y. M. C. A. Building. He has always taken a keen interest in the welfare of the University of Buffalo, and has served as a lecturer on Pharma- ceutical Jurisprudence in its College of Pharmacy. He is a member of the Yacht, Park and Island Clubs. EDWARD L. JUNG, son of Rev. Edward Jung, a prominent clergyman of the German Evangelical Church, was born in Erie, Pa., on May 30, 1874, but came with his parents to Buffalo in 1876. He received his preparatory education in the City schools and was graduated from the Central High School in 1893. Immediately entering upon the study of law, Mr. Jung enjoyed the advantage of instruction in the law school of the University of Buffalo while serving a clerkship in the busy offices of Robert F. Schelling. On his graduation from the law school in 1897 with the degree of LL. B., Mr. Jung became Mr. Schelling’s managing clerk and this relation continued until January, 1902, when Charles L. Feldman, Corporation Counsel of Buffalo, appointed Mr. Jung City Attorney, the first position in the official staff of that office, and during theHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 271 next four years he gave his entire time and attention to the duties of this position. The Charter of the City made it the principal work of the City Attorney to have in charge the municipal litigation and during Mr. Jung’s term of office he successfully con- ducted many important ac- tions and proceedings to which the City was a party, and left a splendid record for efficiency, thoroughness and ability. Since January 1, 1906, Mr. Jung has practiced law in his own offices with a large and growing clientage. Mr. Jung touches life on many sides. He has been a Trustee of the Erie County Bar As- sociation; an officer in the National Guard; Commo- dore of the Buffalo Canoe Club; President of the Law- yers’ Club, and is a member of various civic, political and social associations and organizations. EDWARD L. JUNG WESLEY C. DUDLEY. The District Attorney of Erie County, though comparatively a young man, already enjoys a record of exceptional distinction, not only in his profession but also in public life. Born at Colden, Erie County, N. Y., May 31, 1867, he attended the district schools, and graduated from Aurora Academy in 1888; He subsequently was Principal of Sardinia Union School and later of the Union School in Alden, and at this time though little more than twenty-three years of age and of youthful appear- ance was elected School Commissioner of the eight “south towns” of Erie County. After fulfilling the duties of this position with credit for three years he declined a renomination to continue the272 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY study of law. He accordingly became a student in the office of Rogers, Locke & Milburn, from which he was admitted to the bar in 1894, and began the practice of his profession at once in Buffalo. The year of his graduation he was elected Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, serving up until 1897, when he resigned to accept the appointment of Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. In the meantime, September 1, 1896, he had formed a law partner- ship with Milford W. Childs, under the firm name of Dudley & Childs, a relation that existed up until 1900 since when he has been a member of the firm of Dud- ley & Emery. In the office of United States Attorney Mr. Dudley so distinguished himself as a prosecutor that in 1908 he was brought for- ward for the more impor- tant position of District At- torney of Erie County and was duly elected by a large majority. In the adminis- tration of that office Mr. Dudley has displayed the same fine ability, aggressive- ness, and impartiality that has characterized his whole life, and the manner in which he has within the short time he has been in office cleaned up the accumulated and undisposed-of cases, stamps him as one of the most effective officials in the history of the office. He early acquired, as a young man, political prominence in Erie County, the fact being fully attested by his selection as a delegate to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896 that nominated McKinley for President, receiving the election over the WESLEY C. DUDLEYHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 273 opposition of party leaders. He was probably the youngest man who ever sat in a National Convention. HERBERT B. LEE. This able young attorney is admittedly one of the rising men of the Buffalo bar. Mr. Lee has had about seven years of practice, and in this period has laid the foundations of permanent success. Well educated, both along legal and general lines, he brings to his work the advantages of a trained mind, and the prediction of a brilliant career at the bar is in his case well within the limits of conservatism. Mr. Lee is a native of Buffalo, where he was born in May, 1878. After gaining the rudiments of education in the Buffalo Public Schools and later at Elma he entered the Buffalo High School, Class of 1895, where he was prepared for Cornell University, gradua- ting from the latter institu- tion in 1899. At Cornell he won the Woodford prize for oratory and several other Scholarship prizes, was also prominent in college jour- nalism, being one of the editors and later the general manager of the Cornell Daily Sun and the founder of the Cornell Alumni News. Soon after the termination of his university course Mr. Lee entered the Buffalo Law School, where he graduated in 1901 with the degree of LL.B. While at law school he also pursued his legal studies in the office of Lewis & Lewis, and in 1901 he was admitted to the bar attorney and counselor. He immediately opened an office in the Prudential Building in Buffalo, where he practiced 18274 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY by himself up to the time of the formation of the firm of Lee & Blakeslee, in 1908, with which he is now associated and which has an excellent general practice. In 1909 Mr. Lee was appointed second assistant District Attorney of Erie County, which position he now holds. A staunch Republican, Mr. Lee did some good work on the stump for Taft and Hughes during the recent campaign, and he has served several times as a delegate to State conventions. Be- sides his legal practice he is a stockholder and director of a number of business enterprises. He is a member of the Bar Association, Chamber of Commerce; University Club; Kappa Alpha Society, and Phi Delta Phi. Mr. Lee is a member of Westminster Church of Buffalo. CHARLES J. STAPLES, until recently a member of that representative firm of Staples, Noonan & Staples, is fast coming to the front among the rising men of the Erie County Bar. Born at Elba, Genesee Co., N. Y., he was educated at Cary Collegiate Seminary, the State Normal School at Brockport, N. Y., and grad- uated from Amherst College with the degree of A.B., in 1896. He was a member of the faculty of the State Nor- mal School of Oneonta, N. Y., during the years 1897-1898, and the follow- ing year took a special course at the Buffalo Law School. During the years 1900-1901 he was engaged in the lumber business. In 1902 he was admitted to the bar and immediately became a member of the firm of Staples, CHARLES J. STAPLESHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 275 Noonan & Staples. Coming to the profession of law with an exceptional foundation of learning and equipment, Mr. Staples’ success and achievements have been reared upon the solid founda- tions of hard work and superior capability. Since retiring from the above firm he has been engaged in independent practice with offices at 1046 Ellicott Square. Mr. Staples is a member of High- land Lodge, F. & A. M., Oneonta Chapter, R. A. M., Norwich Commandery, Knight Templars, University Club, the Lawyers’ Club and the Erie County Bar Association. JAMES O. MOORE Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of New York is representative of the scholarly type of lawyer, and is fast approaching a foremost rank among the rising members of the Erie County bar. He was born in Livingston County, N. Y., January 9, 1873, His scholastic train- ing was obtained at Gene- seo State Normal School from which he graduated in 1893, and at Yale Uni- versity from which he graduated in 1897 with the degree of B. A. Prior to graduation from the Nor- mal he had taught district school for one year, and he also taught another year, after leaving college, in the New York Military Acad- emy at Cornwall-on-the- Hudson. May 17, 1898, Mr. Moore enlisted in Company H, 14th Regiment, NewYork Volunteers, in the Spanish- American War, being mustered in as Second Lieutenant. He served until September, 1898, being stationed at Camp Geo. H. Thomas, JAMES O. MOORE276 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY Chickamauga, Tennessee, and during this time was promoted to First Lieutenant. Returning from the service he resumed the study of law which he had taken up while engaged in teaching, by register- ing as a law student in the offices of Scott & O’Connor at Geneseo, N. Y., and was duly admitted to the bar in 1899. He thereupon came to Buffalo and entered the law office of Robert F. Schelling, as a clerk, where he remained for six years, when in 1906 he became a member of the firm of Desbecker, Fisk & Moore. He continued with that firm, until May, 1907, when he became a member of his present firm of Strebel, Corey, Wierling & Moore. In December, 1908, Mr. Moore was appointed at the instance of Honorable Lyman M. Bass to his present position as Assistant United States Attorney. Mr. Moore is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’, University, Saturn and Buffalo Canoe Clubs. Politically, he is a Republican. EDWIN L. DOLSON, of the firm of Dolson, Dolson & Stephan, is one of Buffalo’s foremost lawyers, being alike distin- guished for extensive legal attainments, and for the practical ability which finds its proper sphere both in the conduct of litigation and the representation of important business interests, in the capacity of Counsel and Adviser. Mr. Dolson was born April 23, 1867. He was educated at the Union School at Bath from which he was graduated in 1884, and at Cornell University. On leaving College he began the study of Law with the firm of Dolson & Orcutt and in 1891 was admitted to the Bar. He had in the meantime be- come identified with Journalism as City Editor and Business Manager of the Hornell Morning Times. He first engaged in the practice of Law in 1892, when he formed a partnership with his brother, Charles A. Dolson of Hornell, N. Y., under the firm style of Dolson & Dolson. The removal of Mr. Charles A. Dolson to Buffalo caused the dissolution of the firm, and the subject of this sketch then became the partner of Frederick A. Robbins of Hornell, N. Y., a very successful association, which continued until Mr. Dolson removed to Buffalo in 1903. In that City he and his brother again became associated in practice under the firmHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 2JJ name of Dolson & Dolson, which was succeeded by the present firm of Dolson, Dolson & Stephan. Mr. Dolson has been retained in a large number of the important litigations conducted in Buffalo during recent years, and his talents as a Lawyer have frequently caused him to be resorted to as Counsel in cases where other Lawyers were the Attorneys of record. During his residence at Hornell, Mr. Dolson was for many years active in Republican politics. While still a very young man, he was frequently a delegate to local and State conventions, also representing his party in every judicial convention held in Steuben County during his later residence there. Mr. Dolson held for three years the office of City Attorney of Hor- nell; and he is a Member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club and the Ellicott and Motor Boat Clubs of Buffalo. WILLIAM BRENNAN, JR. The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Cheek- towaga, Erie County, N. Y., in the house in which he now resides, on the 12th day of August, 1876. He is a son of William Brennan a well- known business man of that town who has held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years and who served two terms as Justice of Ses- sions in the County Court of Erie County, and Rosanna Ferguson. Mr. Brennan was educated in the public schools of the city of Buf- falo, St. Agnes’ Parochial School, St. Joseph’s Col- lege, and was graduated from Canisius College, with the degree of A.B., in 1898. WILLIAM BRENNAN, JR. He then entered the Law Department278 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY of the University of Buffalo and was graduated therefrom with the degree of LL.B., in 1900. He was admitted to the bar the same year. After his admission to the bar he became asso- ciated with the late Honorable John Cunneen and remained with Mr. Cunneen until the latter’s election to the office of Attorney General of the State of New York, since which time Mr. Brennan has been practicing alone at 85 West Eagle Street, Buffalo. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, Lawyers’ Club, Knights of Columbus, Buffalo Orpheus, Marquette Club, Modern Woodmen of America and other organizations. He is a Democrat and is at present attorney for the town of Cheektowaga. JOSEPH A. WECHTER. Among the strong law firms of Buffalo is that of Sullivan, Bagley & Wechter. Mr. Wechter was born in Buffalo, March 19, 1882, educated in the public schools of the city and Canisius College, in the latter of which he took the degree of A.B., in 1900 and of M.A., in 1902. During 1901 and 1902 he studied in the law department of the University of Buffalo and was admitted to the Bar in 1903, before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court at Rochester. Upon his admission, he entered the offices of the firm of Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy, with whom he remained until May, 1908, when he became a member of the present firm of Sullivan, Bagley & Wechter, having offices in the Chamber of Commerce Building. Mr. Wechter is a memberHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 279 of the Bar Association of Erie County, the Lawyers' Club, Trans- portation Club, Knights of Columbus and of the Catholic Institute. DUANE B. TUTTLE, of the law firm of Thayer, Tuttle & White, is an attorney of high standing at the bar of Erie County and Western New York, and is also a representative figure in several branches of business enterprise distinct from his professional pursuits. Mr. Tuttle was born in Steuben County, N. Y., Feb- ruary 25, 1864, and was educated at Sodus Academy and Cazenovia Seminary, graduating from the latter in 1888. He then entered the Buffalo Law School, where he followed a special course, which was supple- mented by study in the office of Lewis & Moot, then with the firm of Ma- comber & Wende, and later withMr.Wende alone, from whose office Mr. Tuttle was admitted to the bar in 1892* For the next four years he practiced by himself, but in 1896 he became the senior member of the firm of Tuttle & Callan, a partnership which con- tinued till January, 1903, when Mr. Tuttle became associated with his present firm, of Thayer, Tuttle & White. He has an extensive and important practice of a general character, and has been notably successful, both as a court and office practitioner. The legal studies of Mr. Tuttle have led him into that more general field of research included under the category of civic science, and besides being a leader in movements aiming at civil reform and progress, he is one of Buffalo's best-informed men in municipal DUANE B. TUTTLE280 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY affairs, and in political questions considered in their broader aspects. His career also illustrates the modern tendency which enlists the lawyer’s special acquirements in the service of busi- ness enterprise, and besides being a stockholder in several corpora- tions, he is prominently identified with other important industrial and financial undertakings. Mr. Tuttle is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, of Highland Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Lawyers’ and Otowega Clubs of Buffalo. LAYTON H. VOGEL. Among the more promising members of the junior bar is Layton H. Vogel, who was born at Hamburg, N. Y., January 20, 1886, educated in the public and High Schools of Buffalo, Chatham Academy, Savanna, Georgia, and grad- uated from Buffalo Law School in 1906, with the de- gree of LL. B. Mr. Vogel was for several years con- nected with the firm of Staples, Noonan & Staples, and has for some time been associated in practice with Mr. Charles A. Pooley. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, Lawyers’ Club, I. O. O. F., and Delta Chi. LAYTON H. VOGEL CHARLES MARTIN HUGHSON. As a man and lawyer, Mr. Hughson typifies qualities of learning and character which are the essential, and the best elements of the legal profession. Conservative in counsel, careful in methods, he is an attorney whoHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 281 inspires confidence, a fact which has been demonstrated by the important interests committed to his care. Mr. Hughson was born in Buffalo, August 25, 1875, and was educated in the public schools of that city. He laid the groundwork of his professional life by a four years, law clerkship in the offices of Sprague, Morey, Sprague & Brownell, during which he acquired practical familiarity with the corporate and other business handled by that representa- tive firm. He remained with that firm from 1890 till t’he withdrawal of Mr. Morey on September 1, 1894, when he entered the law department of the Uni- versity of Buffalo, where his career was successful. On his graduation in 1896, with the degree of LL.B., he won the Daniels scholarship for writing one of the two best theses in the class. He was also elected the Class Presi- dent. Admitted to the bar in July, 1897, he continued his managing clerkship for Mr. Norris Morey which began in September, 1904, till June of the following year, when he opened a law office in Buffalo. In August, 1893, he became associated with a former classmate, William R. Daniels, the firm of Hughson & Daniels being organized. This partnership existed till August, 1908, when it was mutually dis- solved. Mr. Hughson has since continued the general practice of law in the Mutual Life Building, in conjunction with his position as counsel for the real estate business of Hyde Brothers Company. CHARLES MARTIN HUGHSON282 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY HERMAN HENNIG, a prominent and able practitioner at the bar, former Corporation Counsel for the City of Buffalo, is distinguished not only for his acquirements in the science of juris- prudence, but for the success which has attended him in the various branches of practice and has had as wide and as successful experi- ence in criminal as in civil cases. Mr. Hennig is equally eminent as an office counselor and a trial lawyer. While in the service of the city he made an unusual record as an efficient and fearless official, and not only in legal circles, but in the sphere of general society he enjoys a wide personal popu- larity. Mr. Hennig is a native of Germany, having been born in Saxony, Octo- ber 16, 1852. In 1855 he came with his parents to the United States, the family settling in Buffalo, where the son was educated in the public schools. In 1872 he began reading law in the office of Corlett & Tabor (Thomas Corlett, late Su- preme Court Judge, and Honorable Charles F. Tabor, afterwards Attorney-General) and pursued his studies with such success that he was soon promoted to managing clerk of the firm. He was admitted to the bar in 1876, and has since practiced his pro- fession in Buffalo. Elected attorney for the City of Buffalo in 1883 Mr. Hennig served two years in that capacity. During that time he conducted one hundred and five cases for the city, the total amount involved in these litigations being nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Only fourteen cases were decided against the municipality,HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 283 and these for such insignificant sums that the aggregate of judgments amounted to but $1,625. ^ was a remarkable record, and won Mr. Hennig the well-earned reputation of being an expert in corporation law, and of being an attorney whose efforts counted in the direct saving of money to his clients. In 1894 Mr. Hennig was the Democratic candidate for District Attorney. Politically, Mr. Hennig is a Democrat. He is an effective speaker, and has been prominent as a platform orator in many campaigns. Mr. Hennig is a member of the Bar Association, and has at different times been connected with various clubs and fraternal orders. JOHN J. SULLIVAN, who for the past ten years has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Buffalo, enjoys an envia- ble reputation as a reliable general practitioner and is held in esteem as a trial lawyer whose tact and ability have made him well known in the courts and have won not a few notable forensic victories for his clients. Mr. Sullivan was born in Buffalo, July 6, 1876, and was educated in the public schools, later entering the Buffalo Law School, from which he graduated in 1898. He also studied law in the office of Strebel & Corey, and after being admitted to the bar in January, 1899, for a short time he continued his con- nection with that firm, but on leaving them engaged in independent practice, which he has ever since conducted with notable success. Mr. Sullivan’s ability as a trial lawyer is accompanied by the habit of284 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY unusually strict research, and no practitioner is more careful in the preparation of his cases. Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Law- yers’ Club, the Knights of Columbus, and the B. P. O. E. FERDINAND J. BOMMER. Though an able general prac- titioner, this well-known lawyer is especially noted in connection with the law of real estate. Mr. Bommer is one of the most expert searchers of titles to be found anywhere in the country. In this specialty, and in broader lines, he has a large prac- tice, and no Buffalo Attor- ney more deservedly enjoys the confidence of his clients and the public. Mr. Bom- mer was born in Buffalo, March 28, 1870, and re- ceived a grammar school education. When thirteen years old he entered the office of Alonzo Tanner, and at the age of fifteen was in- trusted with the title-search- ing incident to his employ- er’s practice; his spare time being occupied in mastering the rudiments of law. He was a special student at the Buffalo Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1899. Prior to this time he had had fifteen years’ experience in the examination of titles, and has made a great number of important searches on valuable properties through- out the State. Mr. Bommer has a fine general practice, and has proved himself a sound and resourceful lawyer in the various branches of his profession. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Asso- ciation. He occupies a large suite of offices at Nos. 86 and 86J Erie County Bank Building. FERDINAND J. BOMMERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 285 DANIEL N. McNAUGHTAN. This distinguished practi- tioner at the Erie County bar adds to a wide range of professional activities in the field of general practice a line of specialized pursuits which rank him among Western New York’s highest authorities in jurisprudence considered both as a theoretic science and in regard to its practical applications. Mr. McNaughtan is an expert in case law. His knowledge of decisions and statutes is profound, and the universal recognition of this fact causes him to be fre- quently resorted to by his fellow-members of the bar in critical litigations and in matters requiring excep- tional powers of research. Mr. McNaughtan has pre- pared the briefs in many of the most important cases decided in this State. He is, in a word, an eminent example of the learned type of lawyer. The subject of this sketch was born in Worcester, Mass., August 24, 1869, but was reared in Auburn, N. Y. He re- ceived his education in the public schools and at daniel n. m’naughtan Weedsport Academy. After spending three years in business pur- suits, during which he acquired a thorough and practical knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting, he began the study of the law with Honorable Frank E. Cady, City Judge of Auburn, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1891. He engaged in practice with Judge Cady, and later became associated with the Honorable John D. Teller, formerly Surrogate of Cayuga County. In 1894 he came to Buffalo, where he was successively connected with the286 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY offices of F. M. Inglehart, Seward A. Simons, and Lockwood, Hoyt & Greene, and at intervals he conducted an office of his own. He is at present associated with W. W. Saperston, and in addition carries on an extensive general practice. An experienced and suc- cessful advocate, Mr. McNaughtan has also attained distinctive eminence as a counselor, and is often called in by other attorneys for the preparation of briefs. Notable examples of his work along these lines were the briefs on which former District Attorney Abbott sustained the convictions obtained in the graveyard graft cases, and the brief prepared for the Brooklyn Teachers’ Associa- tion in its suit to recover $100,000 in back salaries. On the able and exhaustive written argument prepared by Mr. McNaughtan, Judge Gaynor of the Supreme Court directed a judgment for the teachers for the entire amount claimed, which was paid. Though he has never held or sought office, Mr. McNaughtan stands high in Democratic politics, and took a notably active part in the last Buffalo Mayoralty campaign, nearly all the presswork being under his direction. During the campaign of 1908, the Buffalo News, though engaged in a political controversy with Mr. McNaughtan growing out of his connection with the graveyard graft cases, said, Mr. McNaughtan is a lawyer of distinction of long and excellent standing at the bar and a specialist in the preparation of legal briefs. He has been employed more than once by the proprietor of the News in the handling of cases of importance and has performed his work always to the satisfaction of its proprietor. In 1895 Mr. McNaughtan married Elizabeth Manro, daughter of the late Thomas J. Manro, of Auburn, N. Y. They have five children. RAY M. STANLEY one of the representative members of the Bar of Erie County who not only holds an assured place among his legal confreres but has already held positions of public trust and in the counsels of the Republican party while as a member of the firm of White & Stanley, he is one of the leading admiralty lawyers of the junior bar. Mr. White was born on the Prairies of Clay County, South Dakota, July 22, 1873. He was educated in the public schools and the University of South Dakota at Vermillion.HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 287 He later graduated from the Department of Pharmacy, of the University of Buffalo, with the degree of P.H.G., in 1893, and followed the profession of Pharmacy up until'1900, when he entered the Law Department of the University of Buffalo from which he graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 1902. His office training he received under the preceptorship of Honorable Lewis T. Payne, at North Tonawanda, with whom he became associated in practice up to January 1, 1905, when he entered into partnership with John K. White in the present firm of White & Stanley, who aside from the general practice of law, do a large admiralty business in the United States and Equity Courts. Mr. Stanley was city attorney of North Tonawanda appointed in 1905, and the firm maintains offices both there and in Buffalo. Mr. Stanley is a member of the State and Erie County Bar Associations, and the Lawyers’, Trans- portation and Acacia Clubs. He is Past Master of Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, F. &. A. M., and a member of Tonawanda Chapter. FRANK GIBBONS, of Gibbons & Pottle, is head of one of the strongest law firms of the Erie County bar. Mr. Gibbons was born in Franklin, N. Y., January 17, 1869, and was educated at Hamilton College, graduating in 1890. He attended the Buffalo Law School one year, also studying with F. M. Inglehart, from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1892, and to United States Supreme Court, 1895. He continued with Mr. Inglehart till June, 1894, when he formed a partnership with Lyndon D. Wood, under the firm style of Wood & Gibbons, an association which was succeeded by that of Wood, Gibbons & Pottle, and later by the present firm of Gibbons & Pottle, which was established in 1897. The lucrative practice of Mr. Gibbons is of a general character, and has been built up on the substantial foundations of learning, integrity and accurate knowledge of what the modern business community needs and has the right to expect from those who are its advisers in the consultation room and its representatives in the courts. Mr. Gibbons is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, the University Club, Queen City Lodge No. 358 of Masons, and the D. K. E. fraternity. From 1893 to 1907 he288 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY was a member of the 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., and rose from the rank of private to that of First Lieutenant. EDWARD N. MILLS is admittedly one of the talented men of the younger bar of Buffalo. Mr. Mills was born in Buffalo, July 26, 1879, anc* was educated at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, from which he graduated in 1899, later pursuing a two years’ special course at Canisius College. On leav- ing college he entered the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, grad- uating in 1901, with the de- gree of LL.B. He supple- mented his Law School studies by a clerkship in the office of Lyndon D. Wood, in 1902 being admitted to the Bar. Since then he has been actively and success- fully engaged in the practice of his profession. Mr. Mills has ever since attaining his majority been prominent in Democratic politics, and in 1907 was Special Deputy Attorney-General, and in 1908 Deputy Attorney-General under Attorney-General W. S. Jackson. He served for four years as General Committeeman from the 24th Ward, has done much campaign speaking, and has frequently served as a delegate to local and State conventions. Mr* Mills is a member of the Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Club, the Knights of Colum- bus and the Delta Chi fraternity. JOSEPH A. STONE, the former Assistant District Attorney, having served successively under two administrations in that capacityHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 289 is one of the rising men of the Erie County bar. Born February 22, 1873, at Oswego, N. Y., he was there educated in the Parochial High School and the State Normal of that place. He subsequently graduated from Niagara University, and studied law in the Univer- sity of Buffalo Law School from which he graduated with the degree of LL. B. He located in the practice of his profession in Buffalo in 1893, where he pursued a general law busi- ness up until his appoint- ment by Edward E. Coats- worth as Assistant District Attorney, serving through- out his administration in that capacity. He was con- tinued but advanced to Sec- ond Assistant by his suc- cessor Frank A. Abbott serving up until January 1, 1909. Politically, he is a Democrat, a member of the C. M. B. A., Knights of Columbus, and other similar organizations, and is also a member of the Lawyers’ Club and the Buffalo Yacht Club. Since retiring from J the District Attorney’s office Mr. Stone has resumed the general prac- tice of law as a member of the firm of Macgregor, Stone & Driscoll. EUGENE WARNER. The professional career of Mr. Warner furnishes a striking illustration of the possibilities which are within the reach of a trained intellect when it chooses the law as a field for a lifework and follows its aims with persistency and zeal. Eugene Warner was born in Buffalo, January 7, 1876, and after attending the local public schools was prepared for college under private tuition. Entering Harvard University, he pursued the regular course 19290 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY of classical study and was graduated in 1898 with the degree of A.B. On his return to Buffalo he began the task of preparation for the Bar as a student in the Law Department of the University of Buffalo, meantime entering his name as a clerk with the firm of Shire & Jellinek. In 1900 he was admitted attorney and counselor, and for a considerable period afterward continued to be associated with Messrs. Shire & Jellinek, his relations with their office lasting in all five and a half years. In 1904 he formed a copart- nership with Charles Bock. The following year this association was dissolved, and since then Mr. Warner has practiced by himself. He has made bankruptcy law a specialty, and he also carries on a large general practice, besides acting as a director in several leading business enterprises. Both as a forensic and platform speaker, Mr. Warner pos- sesses unusual ability, and he has done much cam- paigning for the Republican party, especially in the polit- ical struggle of 1908, when he had charge of the automobile campaign inaugurated in behalf of Governor Hughes. He is a member of the Bar Association, and is a 32d degree Mason, being affiliated with Ancient Landmarks Lodge. CHARLES LEO O'CONNOR is a lawyer of distinguished talent and erudition whose professional attainments have been reared upon the solid foundation of superior training. Charles L. O'Connor estimated by the tests of character, standing and ability, ranks among the foremost lawyers of the Erie County bar. EUGENE WARNERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 2Q1 He was born in Stoneboro, Mercer Co., Pa., graduated from the pub- lic schools of his native village when he was thirteen and went to work in the village drugstore where he remained for about five years. In October, 1899, Mr. O'Connor entered the Buffalo Law School from which he graduated with the class of '91, winning both one-hundred-dollar prizes. He subsequently entered the office of Frank C. Laughlin, now Justice of the Supreme Court, and was admitted to the bar from Mr. Laughlin's office in 1892. At the solicitation of Mr. Laughlin he remained in the latter's office until January 1, 1895, when Mr. Laughlin became corporation counsel, since then Mr. O’Connor has practiced alone and has ac- quired a very large legal business. He was for seven years Supreme Counsel of the Knights of St. John; for eight years he has been the legal adviser of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, and during the last five or six years has been engaged in many very large legal matters. Mr. O'Connor is a member of both the State and Erie County Bar Associations, the Knights of Columbus, and the C. M. B. A. He is a member of the board of governors of D'Youville College, an institution for the higher education of women, chartered by the legislature in 1908. In regard to Mr. O'Connor's characteristics as a lawyer, the following may be quoted from an article in the Albany Law Journal written some years ago by Judge Laughlin: “He is gifted with an excellent CHARLES LEO O’CONNOR2g2 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY memory and a keen, logical mind, and is an orator of no mean ability. He is a hard worker, very conscientious, and with a fine sense of honor. His clients find that he is a lawyer of ability, and one in whom they can have implicit confidence/’ ALEXANDER TAYLOR is a young attorney of considerable promise, who is rapidly winning a reputation as one of the rising lawyers of Buffalo. Mr. Taylor was born in Buffalo, March n, 1886, and has lived in Buf- falo in the neighborhood in which he was born all his life, and was educated at the local grammar schools and at Technical and Lafay- ette High Schools. He grad- uated from the latter school in 1906. After finishing ! this course, he entered the Buffalo Law School and re- ceived his degree from that institution in June, 1908, and was admitted to the bar a few days later. Mr. Taylor began his legal studies in the office of L. H. Jones and later continued with William J. Bullion. He is a mem- ber of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity, being a former president of the local chapter and a well-known member of the Buffalo Yacht Club. ALEXANDER TAYLOR JOHN T. RYAN, born at Brookline, Mass., 1874, is a cousin of the late Right Reverend Stephen Vincent Ryan; he was admitted to the Buffalo bar in 1896. From 1896 to 1898 he was in Wash- ington, D. C., and at the beginning of the war with Spain enlisted as a private in Company A, 202d N. Y. Volunteer Infantry. WasHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 293 Sergeant, Regimental Color Sergeant, and later First Sergeant of Company G, serving four months in Cuba, and was mustered out in 1899 at Savannah, Ga. On the first call for volunteers for service in the Philippines he applied for and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States V. Army and assigned to the 26th Infantry. He organized Company “M,” and there- after was appointed Battalion Quartermaster. Arriving at Iloilo, Panay, P. I., in November, 1899, he participated in the first engagements there- after, of Lapaz and Bal- angtang, November 18 and 19, and was recommended for a Captain’s commission, and mentioned by Major A. A. Barker, commanding the Third Battalion during the latter engagement, as follows: “At the battle of Balangtang under my per- sonal observation, he per- formed his duties with dili- gence and bravery,” which recommendation was for- warded by Colonel Edmund Rice, commanding the 26th Infantry, with the follow- ing endorsement: Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant Gen- eral, Department of the Visayas, approved and recommended; Lieutenant Ryan’s efficiency, zeal and ability are excellent, and he has been indefatigable in his work.” Thereafter he was appointed on the staff of Brigadier General Robert P. Hughes, commanding Department of the Visayas, and placed in charge of land transportation, which department he organized and commanded until his resignation in 1901 in order to return to294 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY the United States with his regiment. He was mustered out May 13, 1901. His service in the Philippines was considered sufficiently meritorious to receive special mention in the history of the 26th Infantry compiled for the files of the War Department. Immediately after the termination of his army service he resumed the active practice of law and is now engaged therein with offices at 613 Mutual Life Building, Buffalo, N. Y. He is a member of the Army and Navy Club of New York City, Erie County Bar Associa- tion, Lawyers’ Club, Manufacturers’ Club and a number of patriotic and fraternal societies. HARRY FORRESTER, who to the business of an active practicing lawyer was for a number of years a Clerk in the Surro- gate’s Court of Erie County, is a man of marked individ- uality and one who has had an interesting career. Mr. Forrester was born in New York City, August 22, 1866, and was educated at the State Normal College in Albany and at Peabody College, Alabama. When fourteen years old he went to sea, which he followed for some years, becoming a thorough sailor and having an experience which includ- ed service in ocean craft and lake vessels. In this way, and by working wherever opportunity offered he paid for his schooling, and after leaving the Normal College spent some time in teaching and as an instructor in Peekskill Military Academy. Finally he chose Buffalo as his permanent home and nine years ago HARRY FORRESTERHISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY 295 was appointed a Clerk in the Surrogate's Court by Judge Mar- cus, this being the first Civil Service appointment in Erie County. He studied law with Judge Marcus and with Honorable Louis B. Hart, being admitted to the bar from the latter's office in 1906. Mr. Forrester is active in Republican politics, and a member of the Uncle Sams Republican Club. He is a member of the Erie County Bar Association, of Erie Lodge F. &. A. M., Mizpah Lodge and International Encampment of the I. O.O. F., Long Tent, K. T. M., a 32d degree Mason, and a member of Buffalo Consistory and Ismailia Temple Knights of the Mystic Shrine. JOHN H. KLEIN is one of the most talented of the younger members of the Buffalo bar. Endowed with intellectual gifts which peculiarly adapt him to the profession of the law, his native abilities have been developed by assidu- ous study, and in addition to a valuable general prac- tice, he is the legal repre- Jj sentative of a number of important corporations and is prominently identified with various business in- terests. Mr. Klein is a native of Buffalo, gradu- ated at Masten Park High School Class 1901 and Cor- nell University 1906 and studied law in the Law Department of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, taking the Master’s course. Meantime J0HN H' KLEIN he supplemented his university studies by a clerkship with the firm of Peckham, Warren & Strong, of New York City, and later with Messrs. Bushnell & Metcalf, of Buffalo, from whose office he was2g6 HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF ERIE COUNTY admitted to the bar in 1906. For the past two years he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Buffalo, and has met with gratifying success. While not confining himself to any specialty to the exclusion of other branches of business, Mr. Klein has devoted much attention to corporation law, in which he has won a reputation for acumen and learning worthy of a much older lawyer. There is no rising member of the Buffalo bar for whom a brilliant future may be more confidently predicted. CLIFFORD E. BRANCH, a representative member of the junior bar, was born in Lawrenceville, Pa., October 17, 1879. He attended the High School of his native village and afterwards at Olean, N. Y., and graduated from Syracuse University in 1903. He then became a student of law in the office of Frederick G. Mitchell, being duly admitted to the bar in 1904. He then served a clerkship in the offices of Bartlett & Chamberlain for one year and afterwards for one year in the offices of Cox, Kimball & Stowe. Since May, 1908, he has been associated with Mr. Dorsey W. Kel- logg in the firm of Kellogg & Branch, who enjoy a substantial and growing business of a general character. Mr. Branch has an honor- able record of five years’ service in Company E, 74th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., serving at the present time as sergeant of that com- pany. Politically, he is a Republican and has taken more or less active part in the local affairs of his party. Of musical taste and accomplishment Mr. Branch has served as Organist for five years in Salem Church of Buffalo.