GAVLORD 
 
 PniNTEO tN U. 5 ' 
 
i 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
5»".\ 
 
 K 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028826340 
 

 
 
 
 'SYRACUSE AND 
 ONONDAGA COUNTY 
 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 
 
 
 
 PICTORIAL and 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 
 THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. ^ 
 
 19 8 • 
 
 
 
 
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Cfjarleg anbreios; 
 
 IHARLES ANDREWS, former chief judge of the 
 court of appeals, and for twenty-seven years a mem- 
 ber of that court, was born at Whitestown, New 
 York, May 27, 1827. He was educated at Cazenovia 
 Seminary; studied law in the office of Sedgwick & 
 Cutwater, of Syracuse; was admitted to the bar in 
 January, 1849; and a year l^ter began practice by 
 himself at Syracuse, In 1851 he entered into part- 
 nership with Charles B. Sedgwick under the firm 
 name of Sedgwick & Andrews. In 1853 he was elected district attorney of the 
 county for a term of three years. In 1855 George N. Kennedy was admit- 
 ted to partnership with the firm of Sedgwick & Andrews, and the famous 
 law firm of Sedgwick, Andrews & Kennedy was thus completed. No law 
 firm of the county has ever had more ability and prominence nor have more 
 distinguished honors been won by the individuals composing it. This partner- 
 ship continued until Mr. Andrews' election to the court of appeals in 1870. 
 
 Mr. Andrews was mayor of the city of Syracuse in 1861 and in 1862, these 
 two terms covering the stirring events of the early days of the Civil war, dur- 
 ing which Mayor Andrews by his patriotic efforts, his wisdom, energy and 
 firmness, suppressed some dangerous tendencies of the local "Copperheads" 
 and the mob spirit rampant at that time. He also by his efforts aided mate- 
 rially in the raising of recruits for the army. He was again mayor in 1868. 
 With other prominent citizens he was influential in securing the location of 
 Syracuse University in this city, and was made one of its trustees. In 1867 he 
 was elected delegate at large to the constitutional convention of this state. Under 
 the judicial article proposed by the convention and adopted by the people, the 
 court of appeals was reconstructed. At the election held May 17, 1870, in pur- 
 suance of that article, Mr. Andrews was elected associate judge of that court, 
 for a term of fourteen years, from January i, 1 871, but beginning his serv- 
 ice on July I, 1870. In 1881 Judge Andrews was appointed by Governor Cor- 
 nell chief judge in place of Chief Judge Folger, who retired to accept the office 
 of secretary of the United States treasury. In the next year he was nomi- 
 nated by the republican party to the office of chief judge, but was defeated by 
 his next door neighbor, William C. Roger, democrat. This was the year 
 when Folger, nominated for governor, and the entire republican ticket were 
 overwhelmingly defeated and Grover Cleveland was elected governor. Judge 
 
Jlon. aaiiUiam $tel)oi^ #00^1^ 
 
 ON. WILLIAM PREVOST *.' •ODiz.i.utu, o„r ot mr 
 most distinguished members oi iht Ne.v V* . bar 
 wrio:M: eioquence combined with his Ic^c and Iv 
 CO!' [iihensive knowledge of the principles of jar:,- 
 prudtr.'.e has gained him pre-eminence as a n.fc- 
 sentatvvc of the profession, was born in the ; . n of 
 Tally, ' iM^ndaga county, New York, ATav 25, iKj."" 
 a son >t Aaron B. and Eleanor A. (Pre.c-t) Goo<: 
 elle. The father carried on general agricultural pur ■ 
 •tits ,.iul the boyhood and yeu':' cf his son William were passed on the olo 
 ■i. ^Mslead, during which time he attended the district schools. He readily 
 !?;'.. red the branches therein taught and for a year was a student in Homer 
 Aeademy, while later he entered Cazenovia Seminary, being one of only two 
 rake the five years' course in that mstitution, where he remained from 1854 
 uitii i860. In the spring of 1861 he matriculated as a sophomore of Dart- 
 ■ !Outh College and was graduated with the highest honors in the class of 1863. 
 I ic then accepted the proffered position of principal of an academy at Mora- 
 via Xew York, but at the close of the school year, desiring to retire from 
 the field i>f education and prepare for the bar, he took up the study of law in 
 the office and under the direction of H. L. & F. Hiscock, of Syracuse. How- 
 ever, the reputation which he had gained as an educator led to his selection 
 for the principalship of the Onondaga Valley Academy and after urgent 
 solicitation he accepted the position, remaining there for two years, the 
 academy largely profiting by his labors frr reorganization and improvement. 
 In the meantime whatever leisure he could secure from his dutie> as 
 teacher was devoted to the study of law. He again ; ;:::!i) reading in the office 
 of H. L. & F. Hiscock, and after his admission to the iar in rirt. '.^r, ii^f>^'. he 
 continued with them for a year to add to his theoretical. knowU .1 -_ the prac- 
 tical experience of the courts and the law office. Fur three >- u .hereai'ar 
 he engaged in practice alone and on the expiration of that period w.:!S cho<eri 
 district attorney of Onondaga county, having gamed a V'^yoiixiu.-'' as a lawyer 
 which led to positions of honor at the hands of his fellow citizens. For ^^f cc 
 years 'he filled the position and then again took up '':'.'■ practice .vf law, in which 
 he made continuous advancement until he had attained aptt^ition e(\wik<} bv few 
 and surpassed by none of the leading members of the ba- ■<; New Yr.rk A'ur 
 his retirement from the office of district atvnrnr y, -he New York Central Ra^' 
 
?|on. Milliam ^retiosit (Sootrelle 
 
 ON. WILLIAM PREVOST GOODELLE, one of the 
 most distinguished members of the New York bar, 
 whose eloquence combined with his logic and his 
 comprehensive knowledge of the principles of juris- 
 prudence has gained him pre-eminence as a repre- 
 sentative of the profession, was born in the town of 
 Tully, Onondaga county. New York, May 25, 1838, 
 a son of Aaron B. and Eleanor A. (Prevost) Good- 
 elle. The father carried on general agricultural pur- 
 suits and the boyhood and youth of his son William were passed on the old 
 homestead, during which time he attended the district schools. He readily 
 mastered the branches therein taught and for a year was a student in Homer 
 Academy, while later he entered Cazenovia Seminary, being one of only two 
 to take the five years' course in that institution, where he remained from 1854 
 until i860. In the spring of 1861 he matriculated as a sophomore of Dart- 
 mouth College and was graduated with the highest honors in the class of 1863. 
 He then accepted the proffered position of principal of an academy at Mora- 
 via, New York, but at the close of the school year, desiring to retire from 
 the field of education and prepare for the bar, he took up the study of law in 
 the office and under the direction of H. L. & F. Hiscock, of Syracuse. How- 
 ever, the reputation which he had gained as an educator led to his selection 
 for the principalship of the Onondaga Valley Academy and after urgent 
 solicitation he accepted the position, remaining there for two years, the 
 academy largely profiting by his labors for reorganization and improvement. 
 In the meantime whatever leisure he could secure from his duties as 
 teacher was devoted to the study of law. He again began reading in the office 
 of H. L. & F. Hiscock, and after his admission to the bar in October, 1868, he 
 continued with them for a year to add to his theoretical knowledge the prac- 
 tical experience of the courts and the law office. For three years thereafter 
 he engaged in practice alone and on the expiration of that period was chosen 
 district attorney of Onondaga county, having gained a reputation as a lawyer 
 which led to positions of honor at the hands of his fellow citizens. For three 
 years he filled the position and then again took up the practice of law, in which 
 he made continuous advancement until he had attained a position equaled by few 
 and surpassed by none of the leading members of the bar of New York. After 
 his retirement from the office of district attorney, the New York Central Rail- 
 
lo t^on. H^iUiam Pretiosit (^ooIteUe 
 
 road Company, attracted by his illustrious record made in that office, retained 
 him as general criminal counsel and attorney, his field of labor extending from 
 Buffalo to Albany. In that capacity he served until appointed a member of the 
 state board of law examiners in 1894. While well versed in every department 
 of the law and while in civil proceedings he hlas gained an enviable record, he 
 has become especially well known in the practice of criminal law. Hundreds of 
 law breakers have been brought to punishment through his efforts. There is 
 scarcely a county in the state and certainly none along the line of the Central 
 Railroad where he is not well known as a lawyer and where his eloquent voice 
 has not been heard in behalf of peace and safety from crime. So effective were 
 his efforts in this direction that it is a well known and acknowledged fact that 
 crimes against the railroad company within Mr. Goodelle's jurisdiction had 
 almost completely disappeared when he severed his relations with the company. 
 He has won notable forensic successes when opposed to some of the strongest 
 counsel of the state and his name figures prominently on the pages of judicial 
 history of New York. Among the earlier important criminal cases with which 
 he was connected was the prosecution of Owen Lindsay, charged with the mur- 
 der of Francis Colvin in 1874. For the first time in the history of jurisprudence 
 he brought into the case the point of determining the difference between the 
 blood stains of the human and of the animal. His conduct of the case showed 
 untiring research, patient investigation and general legal ability and awakened 
 the highest commendation of the bench and bar throughout New York as well 
 as of the laity. There was much favorable comment in the press, one of the local 
 papers saying "Mr. Goodelle's address to the jury was a most fitting close to his 
 untiring labors as a public officer of Onondaga county. During the delivery not 
 only the jury but the entire audience gave that attention which demonstrated 
 the power of the learned counsel's eloquence and the strength of his argu- 
 ment. Mr. Goodelle often rose to the height of impassioned eloquence. He for- 
 got his associates ; he forgot the audience hanging upon his words ; he forgot all 
 but his case and the jury. His presentation of the people's evidence was perfect. 
 Taken altogether the effort of Mr. Goodelle in its plain statement of the work 
 the people had to perform, in its minute tracing of the testimony, in its final 
 welding of the circumstantial and direct evidence into an unbroken chain and 
 fastening the same about the prisoner, formed one of the most masterly forensic 
 eflforts ever made at the bar of this county." Perhaps no better indication of 
 Mr. Goodelle's ability can be given than by quoting from the press, which is 
 the mirror of public opinion. In defense of Mary J. Holmes, charged with poi- 
 soning her husband, the trial lasting six weeks and resulting in an acquittal, 
 another paper said, "The last tick of the parting day was almost simultaneous 
 with the final words of an argument for the prisoner which had consumed seven 
 hours. The counselor's face bore the plain evidence of the mental and physical 
 strain to which he had put himself. ... A masterly eflfort had been 
 expected from Mr. Goodelle, whose acumen and learning are a source of pride 
 
^m. WiVii&m |^tetio£it <$oobeUe n 
 
 to the bar of this county. Never in the criminal history of Onondaga county 
 was a more comprehensive defense made of a human Hfe. Mr. Goodelle's 
 impassioned style of oratory put into graceful language his logical deductions 
 from an investigation of the case as viewed from the side of the defense. Every 
 point was covered one by one but at no time was there a break in the conti- 
 nuity of the argument. It was probably the longest argument ever offered in the 
 court of justice in Syracuse." 
 
 That Mr. Goodelle has become known as one of the ablest lawyers of the 
 state is indicated by the fact that he has been frequently called to conduct both 
 civil and criminal cases in various counties of New York. Few lawyers have 
 made a more lasting impression upon the bar of the state, both for legal 
 ability of a high order and for the indiv iduality of the personal character which 
 impresses itself upon a community. Of a family conspicuous for strong intel- 
 lects, indomitable courage and energy, he entered upon his career as a lawyer 
 and such is his force of character and natural qualifications that he has over- 
 come all obstacles and written his name upon the keystone of the legal arch. 
 In fact he has been one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of juris- 
 prudence of New York during the past four decades. He has argued many cases 
 and lost but few. No one better knows the necessity for thorough preparation 
 and no one more industriously prepares his cases than he. His handling of his 
 case is always full, comprehensive and accurate; his analysis of the facts is clear 
 and exhaustive ; he sees without effort the relation and dependence of the facts 
 and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the 
 point they tend to prove. 
 
 Mr. Goodelle is a stalwart republican but not a politician. While he is per- 
 haps not without that personal ambition which is an important element in the 
 capable conduct of official duties, he yet regards the pursuits of private life as 
 abundantly worthy of his best efforts and has concentrated his time, energy 
 and talents upon his profession. He has, however, addressed the public on many 
 occasions in discussion of the issues and questions before the people and never 
 fails to impress his auditors by the strength, truth and force of his argument. 
 His public addresses, however, have not been confined to political questions 
 alone. In fact it is a matter of surprise that one of his ability as a lawyer has 
 had time to so thoroughly familiarize himself with the great variety of questions 
 that he has discussed from the public platform. He has been an omnivorous 
 reader, has the ability to co-ordinate the the knowledge gained from various 
 sources, drawing his deductions and forming his conclusions in the same log- 
 ical and discriminating manner that characterizes his professional work. As 
 stated, he has had no desire to divide his time between political office and hia 
 practice, and almost the only position that he has filled aside from the one 
 already mentioned was as a member of the constitutional convention — and that 
 was in the direct path of his profession, in the framing of the organic laws of 
 the state. The convention was held in 1894 and Mr. Goodelle, who was one 
 
12 i^on. WiUiam Prcbogt Ogooticac 
 
 of the five delegates at large from western New York, was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Choate, chairman of the committee on suffrage, numbering among its 
 members men of national repute. His position in this connection was, next to 
 the speakership, perhaps the most conspicuous in the convention and only the 
 highest merit and capability could have led to his selection for the honor. He 
 was also second on the committee on the powers and duties of the legislature 
 and was prominent in most of the important proposed amendments and early 
 became one of the leaders of the convention. It was in this convention that 
 the subject of giving women equal suffrage was discussed. There was no ques- 
 tion before the convention nor has there ever been one in the history of the 
 state in years that has created such widespread interest. Mr. Goodelle gave to 
 the question the utmost attention and his opinions and the course which he fol- 
 lowed were the result of profound thought, wide investigation and thorough 
 understanding on the subject. Possessing a natural chivalry toward women 
 and a never failing courtesy, he has never believed that the right of suffrage 
 could result in good of any kind and least of all, to woman herself. The debate 
 on the subject before the convention was closed by Mr. Goodelle in what has 
 been termed the "greatest and most successful effort of his life, both as an 
 exhibition of eloquent and wonderful oratory and as an argumentative and 
 logical display." The Troy Times largely voiced the general opinion in the 
 following : "The argument of Mr. Goodelle is exhaustive. It covers the whole 
 ground of objection. And it is so grounded in common sense and so grandly 
 sustains the most chivalrous sentiment and conception of woman's true rela- 
 tion to society and the state that it may be pronounced unanswerable. Sophistry 
 may assail it and personal ambition decry it, but as a just and accurate pre- 
 sentation of woman's cause, a summary of her rights achieved through the 
 steady advance of civilization, the high position that has been accorded her 
 because of the recognized and steadily growing importance of her position in 
 the state, it is complete." The address was pronounced by leading members of 
 the convention "the most classical and finished that was made before that 
 body." Mr. Goodelle received many congratulatory letters and telegrams from 
 people prominent throughout New York upon his speech on this occasion. This 
 did not end his active service, however, in the constitutional convention. In fact 
 he was the champion of many progressive measures and needed amendments 
 and took an active and helpful part in framing the organic law of the state. His 
 oratorical ability enabled him to present his thoughts with clearness, per- 
 spicuity and force, proving an influencing factor in molding the policy of the 
 state. 
 
 Prior to 1894 applicants for admission to the bar appeared before an exam- 
 ining committee in each judicial district, and for several years Mr, Goodelle 
 was a member of the committee in his district. At the date designated a state 
 board of law examiners was appointed by the court of appeals with full and 
 absolute authority to accept or reject applicants for admission to the bar from 
 
Jl^on, lO^ittiam prcbogt ggoobeOe 13 
 
 the entire state. Mr. Goodelle was made a member of this board and became 
 its president, a position which he still holds. He was president of the Onon- 
 daga County Bar Association for twelve years, declining to longer serve, and 
 at a recent date was elected referee by the State Bar Association to settle all 
 disputes between members. With all his public duties he is still practicing his 
 profession and is now the senior member of the firm of Goodelle, Andrews & 
 Harding, with offices in the S. A. & K. building, Syracuse. 
 
 In February, 1905, Mr. Goodelle was appointed by the State Bar Associa- 
 tion, as its counsel and representative, to prosecute charges against Warren B. 
 Hooker, justice of supreme court, for his removal from office for malfeasance. 
 The preliminary investigation of the charges before the assembly judiciary 
 committee (required under the constitution) took about four weeks, in which 
 he was engaged as such counsel. The assembly committee sustained the 
 informal charges. Formal charges were then preferred and sent to the senate 
 with recommendation that Mr. Hooker be put upon trial upon the charges. 
 Mr. Goodelle appeared as counsel for the State Bar Association at the trial 
 before the senate and assembly. The trial lasted about three weeks, and 
 resulted in a respectable majority voting for removal, but the required affirm- 
 ative, two-thirds vote for removal, was not obtained. Mr. Goodelle bore the 
 brunt of the contest, and with the same force and ability which attended his 
 discharge of other important public duties. 
 
 In January, 1906, he was appointed by the president of the State Bar 
 Association to represent the fifth judicial district, on a committee of the asso- 
 ciation to lend its efforts in securing the nomination and election of worthy can- 
 didates for justice of the supreme court throughout the state, and to prevent 
 unworthy candidates being selected or elected. 
 
 On the death of Dean Huffcut, at the time private counsel to Governor 
 Hughes, in 1907, Mr. Goodelle was appointed by Mr. Choate, president of the 
 association, as chairman of the state grievance committee, to fill the vacancy 
 caused by Dean Huffcut's death. At the last January meeting of the associa- 
 tion he was re-elected as a member of the grievance committee and again desig- 
 nated its chairman, which position he now holds. 
 
 It may confidently be said that this committee is by far the most important 
 of the committees of the association, and on which large responsibilities are 
 imposed. It acts at all times independently, and mainly from the direction and 
 advice of its chairman. Its efforts and purposes are to elevate and maintain 
 not only the moral standard of the members of the profession throughout the 
 state, but of the judiciary as well, as evidenced in the Hooker case, which was 
 under the charge of the grievance committee. The chairman of the committee 
 now has under his consideration several important cases. 
 
 In January, 1907, the Bar Association directed the appointment of a com- 
 mittee, one from each of the nine judicial districts, to take into consideration 
 the subject of contingent fees, involving directly ambulance chasing, and other 
 
14 i^on. H^iaiam Prebosit <$ooliene 
 
 abuses in the profession, arising from the contingent fee system, and to report 
 to the association at its January, 1908, meeting. Mr, Goodelle was appointed 
 as the member of that committee from this district. Some of his associates 
 on that committee were Judge John M. Davy, of Rochester ; Judge A. T. Clear- 
 water, of Kingston; Frank Irvine, dean of Cornell Law School; Edward B. 
 Shepard, of New York, and others, all eminent in the profession. 
 
 The report and recommendation of that committee having been unani- 
 mously adopted by the association, the same committee was re-appointed in 
 January last, to introduce and force to passage, if possible, by the legisla- 
 ture, the proposed amendments to the code recommended by their report. 
 
 Mr. Goodelle has personal charge of the proposed amendment, and has been 
 repeatedly before and addressing the committees to which the bills were 
 referred, in endeavoring to progress them. They were still pending in the 
 committees at the last reports. 
 
 All the foregoing has direct reference to the moral and ethical standard 
 of the profession, over which the state board of law examiners have no 
 power or control under the statutes. The labors and responsibilities of 
 the state board of law examiners, of which Mr. Goodelle is president, and 
 has been continuously for ten years past, have grown and increased from 
 what they were in 1894, when the board was created, to such an extent 
 that it seems a more extended mention might properly be made than appears 
 earlier in this sketch. The work has grown to such an extent that while 
 formerly there were about five hundred applicants for examinations yearly 
 from the whole state, they now, in this present year, reach approximately 
 sixteen hundred or seventeen hundred, including new applicants and re-ex- 
 aminations of old ones, with proportionate increase of labors and responsi- 
 bilities. The board has become, in fact, a vast bureau devoted to lifting the 
 legal standard of the profession. Its work, and the results receive the uni- 
 versal commendation of the bench and bar of the state. The importance 
 attached to its work by the court of appeals is pretty strongly evidenced by 
 the court's appointment of one of its retired members. Judge Martin, who has 
 been serving as a member of the board for three years past and is still serving. 
 
 Such has been the work and such the aims of Mr. Goodelle in these 
 later years of his professional career. He is trying to lift the standard of 
 the profession, and at the same time to advance the moral and ethical with 
 an equal pace. To these interests and purposes his present and very likely 
 his future life seems to be devoted. 
 
 Mr. Goodelle was married on the 8th of September, 1869, to Miss Marian 
 H. Averhill, of Baldwinsville, New York, who died in April, 1901. Their 
 daughter, Una Mae, was born October 28, 1877. The family is very promi- 
 nent socially and Mr. Goodelle is well known in the Beaver River Club, of 
 which he is and has been president since the first year of its organiza- 
 
i|on« Hgilltam Prcbogt <igoobcnc 
 
 15 
 
 tion. He has the abiUty to put aside from the moment the perplexing prob- 
 lems of jurisprudence and enter cordially into the joys or interests that may 
 present. Such a quality indicates a well balanced mind, and one of remark- 
 able concentration. Endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities 
 to which are added the discipline and embellishments of culture, his is a 
 most attractive personality. Well versed in the learning of his profession 
 and with a deep knowledge of human nature and the springs of human con- 
 duct, with great shrewdness, sagacity and extraordinary tact, he is in the 
 courts an advocate of great power and influence. Both judges and juries 
 always hear him with attention and deep interest. 
 
Ipman Cornelius g>miti) 
 
 YMAN CORNELIUS SMITH, prominently connected 
 with the business life of Syracuse as a leading man- 
 ufacturer, banker and capitalist, is pre-eminently a 
 man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influ- 
 ence. His business capacity has placed him in the 
 foremost rank among the successful men of the day 
 and he is, moreover, one of the world's workers 
 whose labors are attended with results, whether for 
 individual prosperity or for public good. He is 
 descended from English ancestry in the paternal line, although the family have 
 been represented in America for several generations. His grandparents were 
 William and Rebecca (Bissell) Smith, and his parents, Lewis Stevens and Eliza 
 Ann (Hurlbut) Smith. In the maternal line he is descended from ancestors 
 who served in behalf of the cause of independence in the Revolutionary war, 
 both in the ranks and as officers. 
 
 Lyman C. Smith was born in Torrington, Connecticut, March 31, 1850, and 
 following the removal of his parents to the state of New York, the family 
 home being established in Lisle, Broome county, where the father conducted a 
 large business as a lumber manufacturer and tanner, he attended the common 
 schools and also the State Normal School. Well qualified by liberal education 
 for the practical and responsible duties of life he went to New York city at the 
 age of twenty-two years and accepted the management of a live-stock commis- 
 sion house, remaining in the metropolis until 1875, when he came to Syracuse to 
 engage in the lumber business. In 1877 he began the manufacture of breech- 
 loading firearms and continued the business with increasing success until 1890. 
 In the meantime he had extended his efforts to other fields of industrial activity, 
 beginning the manufacture of typewriters in 1886. Four years later he organ- 
 ized the Smith Premier Typewriter Company, of which he became president, 
 and in 1903 he was joined by his brothers in the organization of the L. C. Smith 
 & Brothers Typewriter Company, of which he is the president. In this connec- 
 tion he has become known as a manufacturer throughout the entire country and 
 in all civilized lands, having given to the markets of the world a machine which 
 is unsurpassed in qualities which go to make up the action. The conduct of 
 this business requires a most extensive manufacturing plant, and a large office 
 force make it one of the leading productive industries of the city. In recent 
 years Mr. Smith has also become extensively interested in other large enter- 
 
 17 
 
1 8 JLpman Corneliutt ^tnttl^ 
 
 prises, where his business abiUty, keen foresight and sound judgment consti- 
 tute important elements in successful management. He is president of the 
 United States Transportation Company and of the L. C. Smith Transit Com- 
 pany, which operate large fleets of modern steel freight steamers on the Great 
 Lakes. He is likewise treasurer of the Toledo Shipbuilding Company and has 
 contributed in substantial measure to the development of the rural trolley line 
 systems of the state of New York. He has turned his attention also to the north- 
 west, and with faith in its future he has made extensive investments in Seattle, 
 Washington, which have become extremely valuable. He is president of the 
 Hudson Portland Cement Company, of Hudson, New York, of the Rochester- 
 Syracuse Eastern Railway Company, and chairman of the managing directors of 
 the Halcomb Steel Company, of Syracuse, nor is he unknown in banking circles, 
 being president of the National Bank of Syracuse. He is pre-eminently a man 
 of aflfairs and one who has wielded a wide influence, and the soundness of his 
 business judgment is such that his co-operation is continually sought in the con- 
 trol and management of important commercial, industrial, manufacturing or 
 financial concerns. 
 
 Aside from his extensive business interests Mr. Smith finds time for co-oper- 
 ation in public affairs that are of direct benefit to the city. He is well known 
 in educational and philanthropic circles, for, with a sense of conscientious 
 obligation regarding his duty to his fellowmen and a deep personal interest in 
 the welfare of the race, he puts forth effective and earnest labor along these 
 lines. He is now president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Syra- 
 cuse, and has contributed in large measure to the upbuilding of Syracuse Uni'- 
 versity, being at the present writing vice president of its board of directors. He 
 established the Lyman Cornelius Smith College of Applied Sciences for the 
 practical education of young men in the higher branches of engineering and 
 has erected on the University campus two fine buildings, splendidly equipped 
 for the purposes of the college. He also founded the Syracuse University 
 Navy. 
 
 Politically Mr. Smith has few aspirations, and in fact he considers the pur- 
 suits of private life as abundantly worthy of his best efforts. The only office 
 that he has ever held was that of presidential elector in 1896, when he sup- 
 ported William McKinley. He has always been in sympathy with the principles 
 of the republican party and feels it the duty as well as the privilege of every 
 American man to exercise his right of franchise. For good government, for 
 progressive legislation and in support of the candidates he stands as a high type 
 of American manhood. Mr. Smith is well known in club and social circles, hold- 
 ing membership in the Century and Citizens' Clubs of Syracuse and in the 
 Hardware Club of New York. He is also qualified as a Son of the Revolution 
 and in Masonry has taken the Knights Templar and thirty-second degrees. 
 He is a subscriber to the Egyptian Exploration Fund and a Chevalier of the 
 
JLpmm Conteltufii J^mittt 19 
 
 French Legion of Honor, in recognition of his services in perfecting the type- 
 writer. 
 
 In 1878 was celebrated the marriage of Lyman Cornelius Smith and Flora 
 Elizabeth Burns, daughter of Hon. Peter and Elizabeth (Bates) Burns. Their 
 only son. Burns Lyman, married Miss Virginia Haberle, and their daughter, 
 Florence Bernice Smith, is at home. Their residence, "Uarda," is one of the 
 fine estates in Syracuse. 
 
 Mr. Smith finds needed rest and recreation from strenuous business cares in 
 hunting, fishing and automobiling. He is actively interested in the cultivation 
 of flowers, especially in orchids, and his conservatories contain some of the 
 finest specimens. Not so abnormally developed in any one direction as to 
 become a genius, his interests are varied, and his is a well rounded character. 
 His relations with his fellowmen, the course he has followed in his business life 
 and the work that he has done for the amelioration of hard conditons for the 
 unfortunate and for the adoption of progressive measures along lines of intel- 
 lectual and moral advancement constitute a practical solution of the great 
 sociological, economic and labor problems which are characteristic of the age. 
 
^u^M^ ?f .yC'Ut^ci^^ 
 
»eb» CjeWel Wilson iWunbp, a» iW., litt B. 
 
 ^ZEKIEL WILSON MUNDY, librarian of the Syra- 
 cuse Public Library, was born at Metuchen, New Jer- 
 sey, June 1 6, 1833. His parents were Luther Bloom- 
 field Mundy and Frances Eliza Martin. The Mundys 
 are an old family in Metuchen, the original ancestor, 
 Nicholas Mundy, a native of England, having come 
 there before 1670. Like most of the early immigrants 
 to this country they increased rapidly. His paternal 
 grandfather was Ezekiel Mundy, whose farm lay near 
 the village of Metuchen, and who married Lovicy Mundy, who was one of the 
 nineteen children of Joshua Mundy. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Wil- 
 liam Martin, the physician of the locality and a surgeon in the war of 1812 and 
 the father of fifteen children. 
 
 The early Mundys were farmers, with here and there a clergyman and a 
 merchant. In religion almost all of them were Presbyterians. Ezekiel's 
 paternal grandfather was an Episcopalian and his maternal grandfather was a 
 Quaker. The village church, however, was Presbyterian and the young people 
 of the region were brought up in the Presbyterian worship. The children of 
 this Mundy household are Ezekiel Wilson, of Syracuse ; Edward Livingston, 
 of Rahway, New Jersey; Louisa Matilda Andruss, of Florida, deceased; and 
 Caroline Virginia Wendover, of Newark, New Jersey. The father died at the 
 age of sixty-two years, the mother lived to the age of eighty-three. 
 
 Ezekiel Wilson Mundy grew up on a farm near the village of Metuchen 
 and received his education in the country school of the neighborhood. He had 
 the advantage of a teacher, Bethune Dunkin, a Boston man, who was also the 
 teacher of his father and his mother, and who taught for fifty years in the 
 same country schoolhouse and who lived for many years in the home of Eze- 
 kiel's father. 
 
 At the age of fourteen years the boy went as clerk in a store in the neigh- 
 boring town of Rahway, where he served for two years. He went thence to 
 Newark, New Jersey, where he learned the trade of a jeweler. But then came 
 to him the desire to be a clergyman and at the urgent solicitation of a very 
 warm friend, Harris M. Baldwin, of Newark, New Jersey, a member of the 
 South Baptist church of that city, and with the earnest advice of others, he 
 accepted the offer of Mr. Baldwin to send him to college. He was prepared for 
 college at the seminary in Essex, Connecticut, and in 1856 was entered as a 
 
 21 
 
22 Iteb. <g?efeicl WHion jUgunbp, 31. M-f llttt. j^. 
 
 freshman at the University of Rochester. At college he had the advantage of 
 the instruction of the president, Dr. Martin B. Anderson, and of the professor 
 of Greek, Dr. Asahel H. Kendrick, both very able men. A't this early day the 
 college was small and the subjects studied were few and the professors and 
 students were friends,^ a state of things of advantage to the students. These 
 men were wise, and no student could be with them and escape unblessed. 
 
 Mr. Mundy was graduated A. B. in i860, and in 1863 he received the 
 degree of A. M. from Rochester. In 1863 he was graduated from the Roch- 
 ester Theological Seminary, and came to Syracuse as pastor of the First Bap- 
 tist church. After three years there arose dissatisfaction on account of his 
 religious opinions, and he resigned his pulpit, and at the solicitation of many 
 friends he organized an Independent church. To this church he ministered 
 for thirteen years. He then resigned, and in 1883 took orders in the Episco- 
 pal church under Bishop Huntington. He was sent as a missionary to the 
 village of Geddes, where he gathered and organized St. Mark's church. He 
 served St. Mark's for ten years and then resigned on account of ill health. 
 Meanwhile he had been in charge of the Public Library since 1880 and to that 
 he has ever since given his whole time. In 1904 the Syracuse University con- 
 ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Literature (Litt. D.). 
 
 On January 15, 1873, Dr. Mundy was married to Miss Emily Kendall, of 
 Syracuse, a daughter of Horace Kendall and Emily King, who were Connecti- 
 cut people. To Dr. and Mrs. Mundy a son and two daughters have been born, 
 Edward Kendall, Ethel Frances and Emily King. 
 
 Mr. Mundy is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and of the Phi 
 Beta Kappa society. He is a member of the American Historical Society, of 
 the National Geographical Society, of the New England Historical and Gene- 
 alogical Society, of the New Jersey Historical Society, of the Onondaga 
 County Genealogical Society, of the Onondaga Historical Association. He is 
 also a member of the University Club of Syracuse. 
 
3vih(3it a, Jtttrb i9ortj)tup 
 
 "UDGE A. JUDD NORTHRUP, whose natural talent 
 and acquired ability have gained him distinction at 
 bar, in authorship and as one who has molded public 
 thought and opinion and has thus aided in shaping 
 the history of the commonwealth, is one of the native 
 sons of the Empire state. His birth occurred near 
 Peterboro in Madison county, June 30, 1833, his 
 parents being Rensselaer and Clarissa ( Judd) North- 
 rup. The father removed from Tyringham, Massa- 
 chusetts, to Madison county, New York, in 1805. The mother was a daugh- 
 ter of Ansel Judd, who settled at Watervale in the early part of the nineteenth 
 century. In both the paternal and maternal lines Judge Northrup is of New 
 England ancestry, represented in this country through six generations. 
 
 His boyhood days were unmarked by events of special importance, nor did 
 they foreshadow the prominence to which he was later to attain. When not 
 occupied with the duties of the schoolroom he worked on his father's farm 
 and later engaged in teaching school through the winter months. Ambitious 
 for further educational privileges, he continued his studies in Petersboro Acad- 
 emy and also in Oberlin (Ohio) College, where he completed his preparatory 
 course prior to entering Hamilton College, from which he was graduated in 
 the class of 1858. Having thus laid an excellent foundation upon which to 
 rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he matriculated in Colum- 
 bia Law School, wherein he completed a two years' course in one year. Ham- 
 ilton College had conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts and in 1895 
 the degree of LL. D. 
 
 Following the completion of his college course in law Ansel Judd Northrup 
 located for practice in Syracuse in 1859 and has since been a resident of this 
 city with the exception of a few months spent in Chicago. At the time of his 
 arrival he was a young man of twenty-six years, ambitious, enthusiastic and 
 determined, and owing to the possession of these qualities, combined with a 
 comprehensive knowledge of the law, no dreary novitiate awaited him. He yet 
 remains an active practitioner and for years has been accorded a foremost 
 position among the able lawyers who have graced the courts of this district and 
 of western New York. He has never feared that laborious attention to the 
 work of the office that results in a thorough mastery of the case, while in the 
 courtroom he has presented his cause with clearness and force. It is the theory 
 
 23 
 
24 Slubse 31. 31ubb J0otti)v\i9 
 
 of the law that the counsel who practice are to aid the court in the administra- 
 tion of justice. There has been perhaps no niember of the profession in Syra- 
 cuse more careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional 
 ethics than A. J. Northrup. He has never sought to lead the court astray in a 
 matter of fact or law, nor would he endeavor to hold from it a knowledge of 
 any fact appearing in the record. Calm, dignified, self-controlled, free from 
 passion or prejudice and overflowing with kindness, he has given to his clients 
 the service of great talent, unwearied industry and rare learning and yet has 
 never forgotten that there are certain things due to the court, to his own self- 
 respect and above all to justice and the righteous administration of the law, 
 which neither the zeal of an advocate nor the pleasure of success has permitted 
 him to disregard. In 1882 he was elected on the republican ticket judge of the 
 county court and in the discharge of his duties was so fair and impartial that 
 at the succeeding election he was re-elected without oppositon from the demo- 
 cratic party, his judicial service closing December 31, 1894. 
 
 Judge Northrup has always manifested a citizen's deep interest in the great 
 political problems and issues affecting the weal or woe of state and nation. He 
 early became recognized as a force in republican politics in Syracuse, for the 
 early years of his residence here covered that period when activity in politics 
 became every man's duty — the period preceding the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 During both the Lincoln campaigns he made many speeches and became the 
 first vice president and later the president of the Loyal League, a strong patri- 
 otic organization. His ambition, however, has not been in the line of office 
 holding, yet he has done capable service in the different positions to which he 
 has been called by appointment of by popular suffrage. In 1870 he was 
 appointed United States circuit court commissioner for the northern district of 
 New York, and United States commissioner when the former office was abol- 
 ished in 1897. In 1870 he was also appointed United States examiner in equity, 
 both of which offices he has continued to hold. In February, 1895, he was nom- 
 inated by Governor Morton and confirmed by the state senate as one of the 
 three commissioners to revise the statutes of the state, and soon after was 
 appointed one of the commissioners to revise the code of civil procedure, both of 
 which offices he held until January i, 1901. He had personal charge of many 
 of the most important revision bills which became laws. 
 
 Judge Northrup's interest in municipal affairs has led to active co-operation 
 in many movements having direct bearing upon the welfare and upbuilding of 
 the city, which during the period of his residence here has developed from a 
 small town to an important industrial and commercial center. Since 1877 he 
 has been one of the trustees of the Syracuse Savings Bank. He is also a trustee 
 of the Oakwood Cemetery Association; a director and the president of the 
 Onondaga Historical Association; a director of the Genealogical Society of 
 Central New York; vice president of the Society for the Federation of Churches 
 in Syracuse and Onondaga county; an incorporator and for a long time direc- 
 
3Piibsc a. 31ut»b j^rttrup 25 
 
 tor of the University Club of Syracuse; for some years president of the board 
 of directors of the Syracuse Boys' Club; a member of the Syracuse Citizens' 
 Club and of the Fortnightly Club and of other organizations. The foregoing 
 list will serve to show the breadth of his interests for all those matters which 
 pertain to civic life, to municipal honor, to intellectual advancement, to moral 
 progress; and in fact all those subjects which touch the general interests of 
 society and work for the good of mankind are of interest to him. 
 
 He has long been an elder in the First Presbyterian church and was a lay 
 commissioner from the Syracuse Presbytery to the general assembly held in 
 Saratoga in 1890, celebrated for its great debate on "revision." In 1890 he 
 read a paper before the Elders' Association of the Syracuse Presbytery on 
 "The Powers and Duties of Elders in the Presbyterian Church," which was 
 published in pamphlet form and had a wide circulation. Later it was read at a 
 notable gathering of Presbyterians in the west, and is said to have had a strong 
 influence on the denomination throughout the country. 
 
 Judge Northrup was married in 1863 to Miss Eliza S. Fitch. Unto them 
 were born three sons and two daughters: Edwin Fitch, a graduate of Am- 
 herst College, a fellow of John Hopkins University for two years and a Ph. D. 
 degree alumnus of that institution; Elliott Judd, a graduate of Amherst and 
 of the law department of Cornell University, and for some years his father's 
 partner in practice, and now professor of law in the State University of Illinois ; 
 Theodore Dwight, who died in 1885; Ursula, a graduate of Miss Wheelock's 
 Kindergarten Training School of Boston, who married Dr. Louis Cleveland 
 Jones, chemist at Solvay ; and Edith, a graduate of Syracuse University. 
 
 While Judge Northrup has always regarded the practice of law as his real 
 life work he has found time and opportunity for recreation, for broad study 
 and for authorship in additon to his active participation in political questions 
 and in the municipal life of Syracuse. He believes firmly in the principle that 
 the workers of the world should have their play spells as well, and in his earlier 
 years and yet to a large extent he has greatly enjoyed the sport with rod and 
 gun. He first went to the Adirondacks in 1863, finding there a genuine wil- 
 derness not yet converted into the resort of the summer tourist. For many 
 years he has visited that locality. In 1880 he wrote and published a book 
 entitled "Camps and Tramps in the Adirondacks, and Grayling Fishing in 
 Northern Michigan; a Record of Summer Vacations in the Wilderness." 
 This volume met with a ready sale because of its crisp style of narrative. It 
 was followed the next year by "Sconset Cottage Life; a Summer on Nan- 
 tucket Island." This also met with much favor and a second edition was 
 issued, illustrated by half-tones made from photographs taken by the author. 
 While his trips to the woods were made with a view of indulging in sport 
 with rod and gun, he has ever had that deep love for and appreciation of 
 nature which is ever found in the true woodsman and he is never happier 
 than when dwelling "near to nature's heart." His writings, however, have 
 
26 3at>ge a. 31ubti jgortJirup 
 
 not been confined to descriptions of camp life and summer vacations but have 
 touched many of the more serious subjects which have claimed the attention 
 of the mature and cultured mind. Perhaps the most important is his "Slav- 
 ery in New York; a Historical Sketch," which was published by the University 
 of the state of New York as a state library bulletin in 1900. It is an exhaust- 
 ive treatise on the subject, and its preparation required much careful research 
 in a new field. He was the author of "The Class History of 1858 of Hamil- 
 ton College," and he prepared the "Genealogy of the Northrup Family in 
 America." Association and study making him thoroughly familiar with local 
 history, he prepared and read before the Onondaga Historical Association a 
 paper on "The Formative Period," treating of the controlling influences in 
 the early days of this county, and recognized as one of the strongest articles 
 ever written along that line. His writings have covered indeed a wide range 
 of subjects, to say nothing of the vast amount of work he did as a member 
 of the statutory revision commission. The "religions corporation law" of this 
 state is largely the result of his work while a member of that commission and 
 during the same time he visited all the prisons and penitentiary of the state, 
 and prepared and read a paper on "Our State Prison System," which he was 
 called upon to repeat several times. He also delivered many other addresses, 
 literary and historical. 
 
 A man of great versatility, Judge Northrup is entirely free from osten- 
 tation or display and the humblest can approach him sure of his courteous 
 attention. In manner he is always genial, oft times jovial and has that gen- 
 erous spirit that is quick to recognize the good qualities in another. He has 
 been an able, faithful and conscientious minister in the temple of justice and in 
 his private life is endeared to all who know him by the simple nobility of his 
 character. 
 
St^ (©eorge Jf igfe Comfort 
 
 R. GEORGE FISK COMFORT was born in Berk- 
 shire, Tioga county, New York, September 30, 1833. 
 His paternal ancestors (Comfort, Gilder sleeve) and 
 also his maternal (Smith, Lane) were of English 
 descent, their earliest generation in America comb- 
 ing to the colonies near the beginning of the eight- 
 eenth century. His father. Rev. Silas Comfort, 
 D. D., was born in Lanesboro, Susquehanna county, 
 Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1803, and died in 1868; his 
 mother. Electa (Smith) Comfort, was born in Windsor, Broome county. New 
 York, October 17, 1803, and died 1861. Rev. Dr. Silas Comfort was a 
 prominent minister in the Methodist church. In 1835 he was transferred by 
 Bishop Morris from Potsdam, New York, to the First Methodist Episcopal 
 church in St. Louis, Missouri. By his ruling in introducing the testimony of 
 a negro (slave) church member in the trial (which resulted in the expulsion) 
 of a white member, he originated the famous "Silas Comfort Negro Testi- 
 mony Case," which in the general conference at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1840, 
 nearly disrupted that church on the subject of slavery and largely contributed 
 to the tension which caused the secession of the southern Methodists in 1844. 
 Owing to the violence of the agitation in Missouri caused by this "Negro Testi- 
 mony Case," he returned to New York state in 1842, taking the pastorate of 
 the Methodist church in Cazenovia and afterward the presiding eldership of 
 the Wyoming, Oneida and Cazenovia districts of the Oneida conference. He 
 was a member of the general conference of 1848 and 1852. He was a great 
 student in theology and history, contributed articles to the Methodist Quar- 
 terly Review, and was the author of : The Exposition of the Articles of Faith 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the End of the Argument (on universal 
 salvation) and Man's Moral History. He always stood for reform and prog- 
 ress and it is therefore fitting that the recent prohibition presidential candi- 
 date, Silas Comfort Swallow, should have been named in his honor. 
 
 The early education of his son. Dr. George F. Comfort, was commenced 
 in a select school in St. Louis, Missouri, conducted by two highly accom- 
 plished French Emigrees ladies and was continued in Cazenovia Seminary 
 (1842-3) ; in the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pennsylvania (1843-6), the 
 first meeting for founding which school was held at the residence of Dr. Silas 
 Comfort, he presiding; in Sauquoit Academy, New York (1846-9) ; and in the 
 
 27 
 
28 J^r. (George JFiife Comfort 
 
 Cazenovia Seminary (1849-53) at which he graduated in the three years' 
 course in 1851 and in the five years' course in 1853. Having a great love 
 for drawing, in which he was started in the school taught by the French lad- 
 ies in St. Louis, he availed himself eagerly of all the opportunities in that 
 branch which were oflfered in the schools he subsequently attended. He 
 remained in Cazenovia Seminary two years after he was prepared for enter- 
 ing college, in order to take instruction in art under the accomplished Ger- 
 man painter, F. C. Welch, who had established himself in Cazenovia and 
 was at the head of the art department of the seminary. He was captivated 
 by the works of Ruskin, then fresh from the English press, and was wavering 
 between educating himself for the career of a practicing artist and entering 
 a classical college. During this time he made for the seminary an herbarium 
 of the flora of Madison county, from flowers appearing in the earliest spring 
 to the latest fall. He also gave time to advanced study in the modern lan- 
 guages, and to the works by Max Mueller on the science of language, then 
 fresh from the English press, being the first presentation of this important 
 branch in education to the Anglo-Saxon public. In all his after life he attrib- 
 uted great importance to the broadening foundation he acquired by these two 
 years of side study at the Cazenovia Seminary, after he had completed the 
 regular preparatory studies for entering the classical college. As America 
 was then destitute of good art schools, he decided to enter the Wesley an Uni- 
 versity, Middletown, Connecticut, graduating in 1857, receiving the degree 
 of A. B. in 1857, and A. M. in i860. While in college he found considerable 
 time to devote to painting, and visited freely the art exhibitions in New York 
 and Boston, then yet rivaling New York as the center of art in America. 
 
 After graduation Dr. Comfort for three years taught art and natural 
 science in the Amenia and Fort Plain Seminaries and in the Van Norman 
 Young Ladies School in New York, also giving a portion of his time to paint- 
 ing and to perusing such books upon art and archeology as were then found 
 in the Astor Library. In i860 he entered upon his long-cherished plan of 
 giving some years to travel and study in Europe and the Orient. He took 
 passage, by the then entirely unfrequented route by American travelers, for 
 the Mediterranean, on a large Italian packet and merchant ship, which, with 
 its twenty-six Italian, Austrian and Hungarian passengers, touching at Gibral- 
 tar and Messina, landed at Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic, a most favor- 
 able starting-point for a journey to the Orient. Dr. Comfort always speaks 
 of his long ocean voyage on a first-class sailing vessel as beyond comparison 
 more delightful than a trip on any ocean steamer can possibly be. 
 
 From Trieste, beginning with the highly interesting, but rarely visited 
 eastern litorale of the Adriatic, the border land betwen the Orient and the 
 Occident, including Istria, Dalmatia, Montenegro and the Ionian islands, he 
 devoted six months to this region, Greece and the Mediterranean Orient, stop- 
 ping two months each in Athens and Constantinople, of which city he has 
 
J^. OBeorge ^iik Comfort 29 
 
 written that "In its peculiar combination of beauty of situation, scenic attrac- 
 tions and historical, political, religious, racial, linguistic and commercial 
 relations, Constantinople stands unrivaled in weird interest among all the 
 cities of the world." He next spent sixteen months in Italy; of this time 
 three months were given to Sicily, Naples and vicinity, and other cities and 
 regions of classic interest in southern Italy (ancient Grecia Magna) ; five 
 months to Rome, then having peculiar attractiveness, as being yet under papal 
 rule, with all the stateliness of ecclesiastical and regal ceremonial, and not 
 yet encroached upon by recent extensive unpicturesque modern construction, 
 since it became the capital of Italy; three months in Florence, whose endless 
 treasures of the art and architecture of the renaissance were not disturbed 
 by the brilliant life incident to this city having just been made the capital 
 of united Italy; three months to Venice, Padua and Verona, whose people, 
 remembering the glories of their old art and their lost commerce and military 
 power, were then groaning under the harsh rule of Austria ; and the remain- 
 ing time to other picturesque and artistic Italian cities. As railroads were 
 yet but sparsely built in southern Europe, and bicycles were not yet invented, 
 he made many pedestrian trips, generally alone, thus visiting many cities and 
 regions of great artistic, historic and scenic interest and beauty, out of the 
 usual line of diligence travel, as : From Rome to Florence, by Terni, Orvieto, 
 Assisi, Perugia, Cortona, Sienna, etc.; from Florence over the Apennines 
 to Rimini and Ravenna by way of the three ancient sanctuaries of Vallom- 
 brosa, Camaldoli and LaVerna, and the ancient little mountain republic of 
 San Marino, and crossing the headwaters of the Tiber, the Arno and the 
 Rubicon; from Lake Como over the Alps, by way of the Stelvio pass to 
 Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol, and many minor pedestrian trips, the 
 whole aggregating over five hundred English miles, all through cities and 
 regions of peculiar beauty and interest, perhaps enhanced by not being in 
 the usual regulation line of tourist travel. 
 
 After thus studying for two years the regions where the great ancient 
 civilizations and the medieval renaissance were chiefly developed, and exam- 
 ining the monuments of those periods in situ or as gathered in museums, 
 Dr. Comfort spent three years in the countries north of the Alps, where mod- 
 ern education and culture are most highly represented, with special refer- 
 ence to studying the organization and methods of the institutions by which 
 this modern education and culture have been developed and stimulated. To 
 more efifectively center his work, he spent two years in Berlin, then even 
 more distinctively than now, as the Germans called it, "Die Geistige Welt- 
 stadt" — the intellectual capital of the world. He divided his time between 
 the university, the academy of art, the royal library, the museums, and the 
 schools of every kind and grade in that remarkable center of modern learning. 
 He also traveled extensively in other parts of Germany, as well as in France, 
 
30 J^r. O^corge ^i6k Comfort 
 
 Belgium, Holland and Great Britain, visiting the great museums of their 
 cities and studying the organization and methods of the educational systems 
 of those countries. He expressed himself as "overwhelmingly impressed by 
 the vast gulf, wider and deeper than the Atlantic Ocean, that separated the 
 institutions and conditions of education and culture in continental Europe 
 from those in America," speaking especially of that time, the early '60s. 
 And he felt impelled to dedicate his life, as far as his circumstances should 
 permit, to awaking a more active interest in higher culture, especially in 
 esthetic and artistic lines, in his native country, particularly by establishing 
 institutions, as schools and museums, for promoting and diffusing artistic 
 education and culture in the people at large. He also made extensive trips 
 to Europe in 1879, 1887, and 1891. 
 
 In 1865 Dr. Comfort accepted a call to the professorship of esthetics 
 and modern languages in Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, on 
 the borders of the then new and wonderful oil region, some of the patrons 
 of the college having "struck oil," with prospects of immense wealth. In 
 this college he inaugurated the first course of lectures upon esthetics and the 
 history of the fine arts ever given in an American college. Great embarrass- 
 ment having come upon this institution by the then unexplained bankruptcy 
 of some oil magnates, he resigned his chair in 1868 and went to New York, 
 to take the lectureship on Christian art and archeology in the Drew Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, and to devote himself to preparing a series of text-books for 
 the study of the German language, published by Harper & Brothers, and to 
 other literary work. With approval of a number of prominent linguists and 
 professors of language he called a preliminary meeting in the chapel of the 
 New York University, in September, 1868, to consider the formation of an 
 American Philological Association, similar to a society in Germany, several 
 of whose meetings he had attended. By unanimous vote he was requested 
 to proceed with the organization of such a society, which held its first meet- 
 ing in 1869, he being its secretary till 1874, when his increasing work on 
 art lines necessitated his declining further election to this secretaryship. 
 
 Conferences which he held with artists and connoisseurs in 1869 resulted 
 in a meeting attended by several hundred prominent citizens on November 
 16, 1869, to consider the organization of a museum of art in ' ^ew York city. 
 Dr. Comfort gave the main address, other speakers being William CuUen 
 Bryant, W. M. Hunt, Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson, and Rev. Dr. H. W. Bellows. 
 From this meeting sprung the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of which Dr. 
 Comfort was a member of its board of trustees and of its executive committee 
 till September 20, 1872. As the attack upon the Tweed Ring delayed the 
 development of that museum for several years, he accepted the call to the 
 professorship of esthetics and modern languages in the newly founded Syra- 
 cuse University. Dr. Comfort organized a course of public lectures upon 
 
J^r. O^eorse JFfeb Comfort 31 
 
 the fine arts, mostly by eminent speakers from outside of Syracuse, given 
 in the Wieting Opera House in the winter of 1872-3, this being the first public 
 course of lectures upon art ever given in America. He conducted similar 
 courses of lectures upon art, by himself and other university speakers, during 
 eight succeeding winters. In May, 1873, he laid before the faculty of Syra- 
 cuse University, Dr. Alexander Wincheli being chancellor, a plan for a Col- 
 lege of Fine Arts, which plan, upon recommendation of the faculty was 
 adopted by the trustees of the university, at their annual meeting in July, and 
 the College of Fine Arts was formally inaugurated in September. The entire 
 scheme of this college is to include courses of study, four years in length, 
 with entrance studies covering at least two years, in each of the formative 
 arts (architecture, painting and sculpture) and of the phonetic arts (music, 
 belles lettres literature and oratory). For the graduates he originated the 
 corresponding bachelor's and master's degrees in each of these courses. The 
 courses in architecture and painting were inaugurated at the opening of the 
 college, in 1873; the course in music was added in 1877; and the course in 
 belles lettres in 1894; and the courses in applied art and in normal art in 
 1904. At this writing (1908) the faculty numbers twenty-six professors and 
 instructors and there are over eight hundred students. This College of 
 Fine Arts (which Dr. Comfort conducted as its dean for twenty years), 
 the first of its kind in America, and in some respects the first in the world, 
 a very important innovation in university organization in America, is one 
 of the leading departments of the Syracuse University. This college has 
 been copied, in whole or in part, and the degrees in the fine arts here origi- 
 nated by Dr. Comfort have been adopted by various American universities 
 in the east and the west; it is the most unique and may properly be called 
 the most important contribution of Dr. Comfort to education and culture in 
 America. 
 
 In 1896 Dr. Comfort originated and organized the Syracuse Museum of 
 Fine Arts, on the same plan as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, 
 the two distinctive features of which, are: the co-operation of the city, 
 as a municipality, and of individual contributors in its support; the museum 
 being a separate corporation, with a board of trustees of its own election, 
 and being independent of the exigencies and the animosities of current parti- 
 san politics. Under Dr. Comfort's able superintendence, as its director, 
 the Museum of Fine Arts conducts continuous exhibitions (chiefly by loans) 
 of works of art by eminent artists, American and foreign, living and dead, 
 having an average attendance of over sixty thousand a year. The museum 
 already owns several pictures of world-wide fame. Dr. Comfort has intro- 
 duced an important innovation in museum work by frequently displaying 
 exhibits of regular work in art done by pupils in public and private schools 
 in Syracuse and other cities, from the first efforts in the kindergarten, up 
 through the grammar and high schools; and, further, by students in the 
 
32 J^r. <!3eorge iFfefe Comfort 
 
 College of Fine Arts and the College of Applied Science of the Syracuse 
 University, thus making this museum peculiarly educational and instructive 
 in its function and character. This educational feature is being copied in 
 other museums. He also organized in 1901, the Central New York Society 
 of Artists, which has held exhibitions in this Museum. 
 
 Professor Frank Smalley said of him: "Professor Comfort came to Syra- 
 cuse University the year after it opened its doors to students. He came directly 
 from his long training in Germany and was full of contagious enthusiasm. 
 He came with broad views of the higher education and a just appreciation of 
 educational values. His movements were free from that uncertainty, that 
 tentative quality that characterizes the man whose educational horizon has not 
 been cleared by careful study, not only intensively within the limits of some 
 special field, but broadly and with a discriminating survey of the whole field. 
 It was just the place for a man of his training and he came at the opportune 
 moment. The institution was in its very early stages. It is at such a time that 
 a man of genius becomes creator and stamps himself indelibly on his creations. 
 That is not too much to say of Professor Comfort. He seized the opportunity 
 to organize a College of Fine Arts, an innovation in American Education. Its 
 plan was to present courses of study in the various branches of the Fine Arts 
 similar in breadth and scope to the courses in the College of Liberal Arts in 
 our country. There were no models to follow. All was new. Everyone now 
 sees that the idea was a grand one, an inspiration. But the University could 
 spare but little money at first to develop the new College. This would have 
 discouraged most men, but Dr. Comfort, already dean of the College of Fine 
 Arts, managed to keep his College at the front and to gradually develop it 
 despite this discouraging handicap. He wrote afterwards with no note of 
 complaint, 'At the outset the faculty of instruction was formed from such 
 helpers as were found in the city of Syracuse. As the improved financial con- 
 dition of the University gradually permitted, accessions to the faculty were 
 made from Europe and America.' That tells the story in brief. 
 
 "This college has shared the financial experiences of the University, but has 
 constantly advanced in the grade and quality of instruction and the standard 
 for graduation and has exerted an immense influence in art education in the 
 higher institutions of learning in America. 
 
 "For twenty years Dr. Comfort was dean of this college. That gave him 
 the opportunity of devoting to the enterprise the fostering care it needed at 
 the beginning and during the early years of its growth and of guiding it at the 
 time when a less skillful director and a less earnest and enthusiastic lover of 
 arts would certainly have handled it less wisely, and might have ended in 
 failure. It is an invaluable asset to the institution and will exist in the future, 
 firmly established, essential to the integrity of the institution and a monument 
 
0r. d^toxzt Jpfefe Comfort 33 
 
 to immortalize its founder. More than four hundred students cherish its 
 diploma and more than twice that number are now enjoying its instruction. 
 
 "Dean Comfort is a man of unusual gifts and ability. His intelligent 
 enthusiasm in anything he undertakes invariably interests others and makes 
 an ardent following. No other man that has wrought in this field could have 
 done what he so ably did. No other man could so interest men of the highest 
 standing and influence in his plans. His whole college was centered in him. 
 The faculty was devoted to him and loyally followed his lead. His name and 
 his accomplished work constitute a part of the heritage of the past of which 
 every friend of the University is proud." 
 
 Dr. Comfort has contributed many articles upon art criticism and histor- 
 ical subjects to cyclopedias and the periodical press, and was art editor of 
 the Northern Christian Advocate from 1872 to 1893. The University of the 
 State of New York conferred upon him the degree of L. H. D. in 1888; the 
 Syracuse University, the degree of L.L. D. in 1893. He is corresponding 
 member of the Archeological Institutes of Rome, Berlin and Paris; honorary 
 Fellow for Life of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Syracuse Museum 
 of Fine Arts ; honorary member of the American Anthropological Society and 
 the Texas Historical Society; charter member of the American League of 
 Museums ; one of the directors of the American Free Art League ; member of 
 the National Arts Club, the Municipal Art Society of New York, the Society 
 of American Authors, the Graduates Club of New York, the Syracuse Uni- 
 versity Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Alpha Delta Phi fra- 
 ternity, and other clubs. 
 
 On January 19, 1871, Dr. Comfort married Dr. Anna Manning, of Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut, who graduated in the first class of the New York Medical 
 College for Women in 1865 and was the first woman graduate to practice 
 medicine in the state of Connecticut; author of Woman's Education and 
 Woman's Health, and of fugitive articles in prose and poetry in the periodi- 
 cal press. Of their children Ralph Manning Comfort, born in Norwich, 
 Connecticut, January 6, 1872, is engaged in library architecture in Boston, 
 Massachusetts. He married Ethel Nutt, of New Orleans, June 16, 1902, and 
 they have one son, Lowell Rutherford Comfort, born in New York, May 8, 
 1903. Frederic Price Comfort, born in Syracuse, December 18, 1874, is en- 
 gaged in architecture and building in New York city. 
 
Jftanfelin ^uts^e Epbet 
 
 iRANK P. RYDER, deceased, was a well known capi- 
 talist of Syracuse, whose investments were largely 
 in residence property, in the management and control 
 of which he displayed marked business capacity and 
 energy. He was born in Dewitt, New York, Janu- 
 ary II, 1854, and his life span covered the interven- 
 ing years to the 27th of October, 1905. His parents, 
 N. C. and Phonora Ann (Thompson) Ryder, were 
 also natives of the Empire state. The father was 
 engaged in extensive blasting operations and was also president of the Kemp 
 & Burpee Manufacturing Company of Syracuse, manufacturers of manure 
 spreaders. He likewise became connected with other important industrial and 
 commercial interests of the city and contributed largely to its business devel- 
 opment in an earlier day. His political allegiance was given to the repub- 
 lican party and his fraternal relations were with the Masons. 
 
 Frank P. Ryder acquired his education in the schools of Syracuse and 
 took up the study of law, which he found to be of great value to him in the 
 conduct of his business interests. He was admitted to the bar although he 
 never practiced as an attorney. His business affairs centered in the owner- 
 ship and control of valuable realty in Syracuse and he owned about seventy 
 houses in different parts of the city. He did much for the improvement of 
 Syracuse in this way and at all times his investments were judiciously made, 
 so that a most gratifying annual income resulted. 
 
 In 1894 Mr. Ryder was married in Syracuse to Miss Julia Fauth, a 
 daughter of Joseph and Dorothy (Hudson) Fauth. The father came from 
 Baden-Baden, Germany, to America when about nineteen years of age, and 
 the mother, who was born in the same locality, crossed the Atlantic when a 
 maiden of fourteen years. They were married in Syracuse and Mr. Fauth 
 followed the shoemaker's trade in early life. In Syracuse he became a vol- 
 unteer fireman, also served as health inspector and was otherwise connected 
 with public interests, being at one time salt officer of the city. He died about 
 sixteen years ago at the age of sixty-two years, while his wife passed away 
 about seven years ago at the age of seventy-five. They were devoted mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran church. Their daughter Julia was the seventh in order 
 of birth in a family of twelve children and in the schools of Syracuse acquired 
 her education. She is a consistent member of the First Methodist Episco- 
 
 35 
 
36 
 
 iFranikltn Pursie Kpber 
 
 pal church. By her marriage she became the mother of one son, Frank, who 
 is twelve years of age and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolu- 
 tion, having had seven ancestors in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Mr. Ryder gave his political allegiance to the republican party. He 
 belonged to no lodges, for he found that his time was fully occupied by his 
 business interests. He was, however, a great lover of books and his leisure 
 hours were devoted to reading and study. He thus became a man of brdad 
 general information and culture, qua,lities which rendered him a favorite 
 companion of those whose mental attainments are above the average. 
 
' •^ "( 
 
Eeb* Mtatam ifU. Peaucfiamp 
 
 EV. WILLIAM M. BEAUCHAMP, scientist, author 
 and divine, was born at Coldenham, Orange county, 
 New York, March 25, 1830, a son of William and 
 Mary Beauchamp. The father came to America in 
 1829 and in that year visited Skaneateles but did not 
 take up his abode there until April, 183 1. He was 
 the founder of the Skaneateles Democrat in 1840. 
 His son, William Martin Beauchamp, pursued his 
 education in the academy of the village and pre- 
 pared for the ministry in the De Lancey Divinity School, at Geneva, New 
 York, from which he was graduated, while from Hobart College in 1886 he 
 received the S. T. D. degree. For many years he was examining chaplain of 
 the diocese of central New York. In 1862 he became deacon and in 1863 
 became connected with the priesthood. He served as rector of Calvary church 
 at Northville, New York, from 1863 until 1865 and was rector of Grace 
 church at Baldwinsville, New York, from 1865 until 1900 — a period of thirty- 
 five years — ^becoming recognized as one of the eminent divines of the Episco- 
 palian church in the Empire state. 
 
 Dr. Beauchamp is perhaps even more widely known as an author and 
 scientist. His writings include Iroquois Trial, published in 1892; Indian 
 Names of New York, 1893; Shells of Onondaga County, New York, 1896; His- 
 tory of the New York Iroquois, now Commonly Called the Six Nations, 1905, 
 together with eleven archeological bulletins. He has given much attention 
 to all branches of local natural history, having prepared full lists of fishes, 
 reptiles, quadrupeds and birds of Onondaga, besides publishing a descriptive 
 list of its shells. He is also an active botanist, and corresponding mem- 
 ber of several botanical societies. He is archeologist for the New York state 
 Museum and a member of the American Folk Lore Society. In Indian philol- 
 ogy he has attained a prominent position. In his own denomination he is 
 well known as a writer of historical and other subjects and has been an occa- 
 sional contributor to religious periodicals. 
 
 Dr. Beauchamp was married November 26, 1857, to Miss Sarah Carter, 
 of Ravenna, Ohio, and has four children, Virginia, Ellen, Grace and Howard 
 C. Beauchamp. 
 
 37 
 
Hamilton ^altsiliutp W&Wt 
 
 1 YRACUSE, his native city, owes to Hamilton S. 
 White a great debt which it can never repay, for 
 who can measure the value of a service such as his 
 in connection with the fire fighting interests of the 
 city. He was born December 21, 1853, a son of 
 Hamilton White, who was born in Cortland county, 
 New York, May 6, 1807, his parents being Asa and 
 Clarissa (Keep) White, who in 1798 settled in Cort- 
 land county, where Hamilton White was educated. 
 At the age of sixteen years he began teaching but soon afterward secured 
 a situation in a mercantile establishment at Cortlandville, where he remained 
 about ten years, acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of business methods 
 which proved the foundation upon which he built his success in later years. 
 When twenty-nine years of age he removed to Lockport, New York, where 
 he made wise and profitable investments. The year 1839 witnessed his 
 arrival in Syracuse and he became cashier of the Onondaga County Bank, 
 of which Captain Oliver Teall was president. He and Captain Teall were 
 thus associated by reason of banking interests and also through connection 
 with other institutions. Manufacturing industries, business projects and 
 many other concerns felt their aid and influence and they were closely asso- 
 ciated with the commercial growth and prosperity of the city. In 1849, asso- 
 ciated with three others, they incorporated the Syracuse Water Works 
 Company. Mr. White was also instrumental in forming with his brother 
 and Robert Geer the Geddes Coarse Salt Company and other industries. 
 He was a prominent factor in promoting railway interests centering in Syra- 
 cuse and became a promoter of many railroad companies. Any movement 
 which he deemed would promote the development and growth of Syracuse was 
 sure to receive his endorsement and many times his active cooperation. 
 
 It was not alone the splendid success which he achieved that entitled 
 Hamilton White to distinction but the work which he did for the ameliora- 
 tion of hard conditions of life for others. Few good works done in the name 
 of charity or religion in Syracuse did not receive substantial benefit from 
 him. He was for many years treasurer of the Onondaga County Orphans 
 Asylum, was a generous supporter of t he Old Ladies' Home and with others 
 donated the grounds for the New York State Asylum for Idiots on its 
 removal to Syracuse in 1855. In 1856 he assisted in organizing the Onon- 
 
 39 
 
40 llamtlton ^aligftttrp WWt 
 
 daga County Agricultural Society and in 1859 the Oakwood Cemetery Asso- 
 ciation, serving as treasurer of the latter. His own church and various 
 others received from him generous contributions and he never allowed the 
 accumulation of wealth to in any way warp his kindly nature or bias his con- 
 sideration of others. At the time of the Civil war he was active in raising 
 troops for the Union arms and gave freely of his time and money in support 
 of the administration. He was indeed a public benefactor and those who 
 knew him personally entertained for him the warmest love because the salient 
 traits of his character were such as to win the highest confidence and admir- 
 ation. In 1862 he was elected president of the Syracuse National Bank 
 but was obliged to resign on account of impaired health the following year. 
 He sought recuperation in foreign travel and in 1864 went to the West Indies, 
 where he remained until the following June, returning thence to Syracuse, 
 where he died September 22, 1865. 
 
 He had been married in 1841 to Sarah Randolph Rich, daughter of Gains 
 B. Rich, of Buffalo, New York. She was a woman of earnest Christian 
 spirit, who shared with her husband in his good work in charitable and 
 benevolent lines and for many years was prominently connected with the char- 
 itable institutions of the city. Their children were Mrs. Jane Antoinette 
 Sherman ; Clara Keep, the wife of Robert S. L. Hall ; Hamilton S. ; Howard 
 Ganson ; Barrett Richard ; and Sarah Aphia. 
 
 Hamilton Salisbury White acquired his early education in the private 
 schools of this city and afterward attended the Cascadilla Preparatory School. 
 He then matriculated in Cornell University, from which he was graduated 
 with the class of 1877. From his boyhood days he was always interested 
 in the question and methods of fighting fires. His father was a volunteer 
 fireman and a boy's interest was early awakened in the fire department. He 
 would go to fires in a trap and always has his rig ready to be used at a 
 moment's notice. Upon his return from college he equipped the stable upon 
 his father's place and used it as an engine house. He obtained a two 
 wheeled chemical engine but he was not satisfied with this and desired a 
 larger one. Accordingly he purchased a big chemical engine from the city 
 and hired twelve men to act as his company of firemen, paying them himself. 
 He read everything that he could find upon the subject of fire department 
 equipment and introduced the latest improved and useful devices. He put 
 in alarm boxes, the first in the city, and had twelve miles of wires strung in 
 Syracuse. He had his engine house door opened by electricty and his 
 engine house was considered the best in this locality at that time. People 
 would come from all parts of the state to witness its workings and to see 
 its equipment. Mr. White never missed a fire and wa:s always the first to be 
 at the place of danger. He had no fear for himself when there was a life to 
 be saved, and would take personal risks where he would not allow his men to 
 go- 
 
!|amtlton ^altsitittrp WWt 
 
 41 
 
 On the 1 8th of November, 1880, Mr. White was united in marriage to 
 Miss Adelaide Whitebread, a daughter of Thomas and Jane Whitebread. 
 Unto them were born a daughter and son : Mrs. Wilfred Wright, of Phila- 
 delphia; and Hamilton White, of this city, who is a graduate of Cornell 
 University, 
 
 Finding that his engine house was too expensive to be maintained by 
 himself, Mr. White gave the engine and hose to the city and in return asked 
 only that they give him a position as a common fireman of the company 
 without salary, but they made him third assistant chief and he held that 
 position until his death but would accept no salary for his services. He 
 had the keenest interest in the work and at last gave his life in that way, 
 being killed at the Mowry Hotel fire on the 13th of March, 1898. The peo- 
 ple realize what he did for them, not only in personally fighting fires but in 
 bringing to the city a knowledge of the best that was to be obtained in fire- 
 fighting apparatus and in his own company maintained a high standard of 
 excellence that served as an example for others to follow. The poor peo- 
 ple of the city erected a monument to his memory at Fayette park at a cost 
 of over twelve thousand dollars, this being the first monument ever erected 
 by the public in honor of an individual in Syracuse. 
 
 He had extensive property interests, having built the Hamilton flats at 
 No. 6096 Genesee street and also a home at No. 909 James street. He was 
 president of the Syracuse Gas Company and director of the Commercial Bank 
 and a director of the Onondaga County Savings Bank. In business affairs 
 he displayed keen judgment but was never active in the management of his 
 invested interests, giving his attention to his fire-fighting service. He belonged 
 to the Century Club and was a communicant of the Episcopal church. 
 Death came to him when he was in the midst of duty — and such would have 
 been his choice. He recognized fully the dangers in which he was involved 
 and also the responsibility that rested upon him and the worth of his work 
 cannot be overestimated. The word fear- had no place in his vocabulary 
 and the deeds of heroism which he performed in a quiet, matter-of-fact way 
 are such as would thrill every reader if the story were written in detail. 
 
^^ 
 
4Uylj 
 
aifretr JWerter, JW. ®. 
 
 AN'S WORTH in the world is determined by his use- 
 fulness — ^by what he has accomplished for his fellow- 
 men. He is certainly deserving of the greatest 
 honor and regard, whose efforts have been of the 
 greatest benefit to his fellows. Judged by this stand- 
 ard, Dr. Alfred Mercer may well be accounted one 
 of the most distinguished citizens of Syracuse; for 
 throughout his professional career, covering many 
 decades, his labors have ever been of a most helpful 
 nature. Not alone as a practitioner of medicine and surgery has he become 
 widely known, but also as a teacher, disseminating knowledge concerning his 
 profession that has had an immeasurable effect upon the students to whom it 
 has been imparted. His research and investigation, with their resultant under- 
 standing of medical truths, have rendered more effective the labors of the pro- 
 fession; and his efforts have helped to promote the progress which has revolu- 
 tionized the work of the physician and surgeon until its accomplishments par- 
 take of the nature of the marvelous. The life work of Dr. Mercer has been 
 of greatest practical benefit, and the world is better for his having lived. A 
 resident of Syracuse since 1853, he has been in practice in the city more years 
 than any other physician of past or present time. 
 
 Born in High Halden, Kent, England, November 14, 1820, Dr. Mercer 
 was a son of William and Mary (Dobell) Mercer, both of whom were natives 
 of England. They emigrated to America in 1832. The following spring 
 the parents returned to their native land, but believing there were better oppor- 
 tunities for getting along in the world in America than in England, they left 
 their youngest son, Alfred, in this country in the care of an older brother who 
 had already been a resident of the United States for a number of years. The 
 father died in England in 1851, the mother surviving until 1863. 
 
 Completing his literary education by two years' study in Genesee Wes- 
 leyan Seminary, Alfred Mercer began preparation for the practice of medi- 
 cine as a student in the office and under the direction of Dr. John F. Whit- 
 beck, of Lima, New York. He was graduated from the Geneva Medical Col- 
 lege in 1845. The following year he visited his parents in England, devot- 
 ing a few months to medical study and observation in the hospitals of London 
 and Paris. On his return to this country, in 1847, he located for practice 
 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The following year he was induced to return to 
 
 43 
 
44 aHfrcb Mtvttv, M' J^- 
 
 western New York, where he practiced in Monroe and Livingston counties 
 until he took up his permanent abode in Syracuse, in 1853. Throughout the 
 intervening years he has lived in the same city block in which he now resides. 
 From the beginning of his residence here he has enjoyed a reputation as 
 one of its leading medical and surgical practitioners. Year after year he 
 has given proof of his skill and ability in the excellent results which have 
 attended his labors for the alleviation of human suffering. 
 
 During his residence in Syracuse he has made several trips to Europe, 
 visiting foreign hospitals and medical schools and observing the changes and 
 development occuring in them with the advancement of medical knowl- 
 edge. He has also traveled quite extensively in this country, from the Natural 
 Bridge in Virginia to the Muir Glacier in Alaska, picking flowers growing on 
 tufts of soil deposited on that river of ice. In these trips Mrs. Mercer or some 
 other member of the family has been his traveling companion. 
 
 On the removal of the Geneva Medical College to Syracuse in 1872, to 
 become a department of the Syracuse University, Mr. Mercer was invited 
 to a place in the faculty and accepted the chair of minor and clinical sur- 
 gery which he filled until 1884, when he resigned the surgical chair to estab- 
 lish and fill a chair of state medicine. At the time sanitation was almost 
 unknown as a branch of medical instruction in the medical schools of this 
 country, although it has since become one of great and growing importance. 
 He has been connected with the Hospital of the House of the Good Shep- 
 herd from its inception; for many years as a visiting surgeon, and more 
 recently as a consultant. He was the first physican in central New York, 
 in about i860, to use the microscope habitually for clinical purposes. 
 
 While in Europe in 1846 he wrote professional letters to The Buffalo 
 Medical Journal. In 1859 he contributed a paper to the same journal on 
 "Partial Dislocations ; Consecutive and Muscular Affections of the Shoulder 
 Joint." Therein he recorded original observations which have attracted 
 considerable attention and have been quoted by subsequent writers. Again 
 in the same journal in 1873 there appeared under his name an article on the 
 "Relations of Scientific Medicine to Special and Specific Modes of Medica- 
 tion." An abstract of his address on "Medical Education" was published 
 in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in March, 1879. Other papers 
 have appeared from time to time in various medical journals. Thus he 
 has made valuable contributions to the medical literature of the country. He 
 held the position of health officer in Syracuse for several years. He was 
 also a member of the city board of health for years, and a member of the 
 state board of health under the administrations of Governors Cleveland and 
 Hill, although his political allegiance was at variance with their administra- 
 tions. 
 
 In 1848 Dr. Mercer was married to Miss Delia Lamphier, a daughter of 
 Aaron Lamphier, of Lima, Livingston county. New York. Unto them were 
 
aiKrcti jUacrccr, M- ^^ 45 
 
 born six children. Eliza died in early childhood, Alfred Clifford, the eld- 
 est son, is a practicing physician of Syracuse, having an office with his father. 
 Mary also died in infancy. Charles D. died at the age of twenty-four years. 
 John C. Fremont passed away at the age of twelve years. Ina became 
 the wife of Lepine Hall Rice, of Syracuse, and they have three children, 
 Alfred Mercer, Elizabeth Garland and Clifford M. Rice. Having lost his 
 first wife in 1887, Dr. Mercer married Mrs. Joseph Esty, nee Morehouse, of 
 Ithaca, in 1888. The family residence has been at No. 324 Montgomery 
 street for more than forty years. 
 
 Dr. Mercer is a Unitarian in religious faith. In antebellum days he 
 was a stanch abolitionist; and when the republican party was formed, to 
 prevent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks and has since been 
 one of its supporters. In professional lines he is connected with the County 
 and State Medical Societies, the American Medical Association and the 
 British Medical Association. He is looked upon as the dean of the profes- 
 sion and his advice is still sought by leading physicians, although it is some 
 years since he retired from active practice. He has now passed the eighty- 
 seventh milestone on life's journey, but is, notwithstanding, a most remark- 
 ably well preserved man who in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. 
 The years rest lightly upon him, and with the passing of time he has developed 
 along lines of intellectual and moral progress which make of old age a bene- 
 diction and an inspiration to all. A life of great usefulness has won for 
 Dr. Mercer distinction in the field of his profession, while his interest and 
 devotion to Syracuse have accrued to the improvement of the city. As he nears 
 the end of the journey — ^but may he be spared many years to come— he is sur- 
 rounded by the veneration and respect of those among whom he has long lived 
 and labored, his years fraught with good deeds and with splendid results. 
 
CljarlesJ Cbinarb S>fiinaman 
 
 IHARLES EDWARD SHI NAM AN, attorney at law, 
 with offices in the White Memorial building, was 
 born in Marshville, Montgomery county, New Yofk, 
 June 12, 1867. Henry Shinaman, his father, was a 
 blacksmith, who in 1846 came to the new world from 
 Lauenfoerde, on the Weser river, Hanover, Ger- 
 many, and settled in Marshville, New York. He 
 died in 1874 and was long survived by his wife, Mrs. 
 Caroline (Maertens) Shinaman, also from Lauen- 
 foerde, who died in Febuary, 1907. The ancestors of the family were arti- 
 sans and agriculturists. 
 
 The first step which marked the progress of Charles Edward Shinaman 
 was the mastery of the common branches of learning as taught in the dis- 
 trict school of Marshville. He was afterward graduated from the union 
 free schools at Canajoharie, New York, and matriculated in Cornell Univer- 
 sity,, from which he was graduated with the B. L. degree in 1889. He dis- 
 played marked strength of character and strong purpose by providing for 
 his own support during his college days. He was also very active in all 
 college lines. Pursuing a four years' military course at Cornell, he became 
 captain of his company there and is now eligible to military service with a 
 commission in the United States army. During his college days he was con- 
 nected with the Cornell Daily Sun as editor and during his senior year as 
 business manager, and placed the paper on a paying basis through capable 
 control, executive ability and indefatigable enterprise. 
 
 Coming to Syracuse on the completion of his collegiate course, Mr. Shin- 
 aman entered the law offices of Goodelle & Nottingham as a student and after 
 thorough preliminary reading was admitted to the bar in 189 1. He then 
 began practice in association with the firm of White & King, and when Mr. 
 King died the firm became White & Cheney, Mr. Shinaman remaining as 
 assistant in the law office from 1893 until 1898, when he was admitted to a 
 partnership under the firm style of White, Cheney & Shinaman. There was 
 no further change in the partnership until 1905, when the admission of a 
 fourth partner led to the adoption of the firm name of White, Cheney, Shina- 
 man & O'Neil. Mr. Shinaman specializes in corporation law and has handled 
 various cases of local importance. In the line of his profession he holds 
 membership relations with the Onondaga County Bar Association and the New 
 
 47 
 
48 Cfiarleg (I^ioatiK ^fitnaman 
 
 York State Bar Association. Aside from his practice he is a director of vari- 
 ous corporations, of which he is also the attorney. 
 
 Mr. Shinaman was married in 1905 to Miss Bertha Kocher, of Marsh- 
 ville, New York, and the same year they went abroad, visiting many points 
 of historic, modern and scenic interest in the old world. They reside at 
 207 Highland avenue and have an extensive circle of friends in the city. 
 
 Mr. Shinaman is a member of Central City Lodge, No. 305, F. & A. M., 
 and the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 215. He also belongs to the Citizens' 
 Club and the University Club of Syracuse, and to the Cornell Club of New 
 York city. In political circles in this part of the state he has been very 
 active and prominent, serving on the city and county committees, and from 
 1892 until 1900 being the clerk of the board of supervisors of Onondaga 
 county. During the same period he was secretary of the republican county 
 committee of Onondaga county and has frequently been a delegate to the 
 conventions of the party, his opinions carrying weight in its councils. He 
 is a splendid example of the self-reliant, energetic man, who accomplishes 
 what he undertakes by reason of practical, systematic methods. In this age 
 of bustling activity his forcefulness and his enterprise, and unfeigned cor- 
 diality and his deference for the opinion of others have made him popular. 
 
(iJ'hcovtJd J^ A'T^A^Mit 
 
jFtanfe ftenrj» lousftliti 
 
 RANK H. LOUGHLIN, who has a large clientele as 
 a real-estate dealer and is well known in this connec- 
 tion in business circles, is perhaps equally well 
 known to the citizens of Syracuse by reason of his 
 philanthropy and his broad humanitarian spirit, 
 prompting his active co-operation in many move- 
 ments which have for their object the amelioration 
 of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. That 
 he is known as "the father of the orphans" indicates 
 most clearly his good work in behalf of the homeless children and long after 
 his business successes are forgotten the memory of Mr. Loughlin will be cher- 
 ished by reason of what he has done for the little ones whom death has 
 deprived of father and mother. 
 
 His life record began in the little village of Limerick, town of Brown- 
 ville, Jefferson county, New York, near Watertown, January 9, 1861. His 
 father, James Loughlin, was a native of Ireland and at the age of eighteen 
 years came to America, settling in Watertown, where he followed the occupa- 
 tion of farming. Subsequently he took up his residence at Clayton, Jef- 
 ferson county, where he continued farming but later removed to Pamelia, 
 near Watertown, where he purchased a large farm, and where he lived a 
 retired farmer the remainder of his life. He was considered one of the most 
 progressive, enterprising and successful agriculturists of the county and 
 was identified with farming interests up to the time of his death in April, 
 1904. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen McKinley, traces her 
 ancestory to the same source as President William McKinley. She was 
 born in the county of Armagh, Ireland, and came to America in 1845, settling 
 at Clayton, Jefferson county, where she died in 1893. It was in this country 
 that she became acquainted with James Loughlin, whom she married at Wat- 
 ertown. The children of this marriage are as follows: Mary E., who, in 
 1872, became the wife of John E. Williams, of Clayton, and now a resident of 
 Syracuse; James J., who resides in Watertown; Andrew E. and William J., 
 who also make their home in Watertown; and Frank H. 
 
 The last named left Limerick, New York, at the age of five years and 
 with his parents went to Clayton, pursuing his education in the schools at 
 Spicer Bay and the Clayton high school, from which he was graduated in 
 the class of 1877. The following year he attended Professor T. C. Gove's 
 
 49 
 
50 iFranfe ^tnvp TLougfylin 
 
 Commercial College. He engaged in teaching school from 1877 until 1882 
 and on the 7th of May of the latter year became a resident of Syracuse, 
 where he was first employed as bookkeeper in the Duguid-Wells saddlery 
 and hardware house for a short time. In December, 1882, he was appointed 
 a clerk in the railway mail service, running from Syracuse to New York, 
 where he remained until April, 1894. On account of his efficiency and the 
 high standard of his examinations he was successively promoted through 
 various positions and at the time he resigned was just about to be promoted 
 to chief clerk in charge of the eastern division of the New York & Chicago 
 railway mail service, having been recommended by the late Henry A. Beach, 
 Henry Mowry and Judge O'Brien. He received a letter of commendation 
 from the department at Washington for high efficiency in examinations but 
 resigned to engage in the wholesale and retail grocery business, becoming 
 connected with the trade as a member of the firm of Lighton Brothers & Com- 
 pany, later the Lighton Grocery & Provision Company. Mr. Loughlin was 
 manager. This was not his first connection with trade interests, however, 
 for while in the railway mail service he became connected with various 
 enterprises. He continued in the grocery business with gratifying success 
 until 1899, when he engaged in the real-estate business with offices in the 
 Wieting block. He has a very large clientele and has made some of the larg- 
 est sales in Syracuse. In fact he is regarded as one of the leading real-estate 
 men of the city and he has every confidence in its future, having been a tax- 
 payer here for twenty years, during which time he has thoroughly studied 
 conditions upon which the city's growth and prosperity depend. Aside from 
 his interest in this connection he is president of the Century Cancelling Ma- 
 chine Company of Syracuse, manufacturing and controlling a postoffice 
 device for cancelling letters. He is likewise a director of the American 
 Statesman Company of Syracuse. 
 
 On the i8th of October, 1887, Mr. Loughlin was married to Miss Margaret 
 Theresa Lighton, a daughter of James Lighton, of the firm of Lighton 
 Brothers. They have one child, Helen Marie, born July 20, 1899. Mrs. 
 Loughlin's father, James Lighton, was one of the valued citizens of Syracuse, 
 a man of broad humanitarian spirit, of unfailing kindness and generous 
 charity. His life record covered fifty-nine years and he was born in Syracuse 
 at the old family homestead within half a block of which his death occurred. 
 His father was at that time the leading butcher of the city, but was not blessed 
 with wealth and his sons were early obliged to provide for their own support. 
 James Lighton had not yet attained his majority when he learned the trade of 
 stone-cutting, which he followed for a few years and then turned his attention 
 to the grocery business. He opened his store with a small stock of goods on 
 the banks of the Erie canal at Lodi locks. In i860 L. Cowan became his 
 partner and three years later John Lighton was admitted to a partnership 
 under the firm style of Lighton, Cowan & Lighton. The business grew rapidly 
 
jpranfe #enrp Hougtilm 5^ 
 
 and in a short time Mr. Cowan sold his interest to the two brothers. In 1866 
 Arthur McKeever became a member of the firm which was then known as 
 Lighton Brothers & McKeever and continued for twenty-five years and then 
 Mr. McKeever's interest in the firm was purchased and the two sons, John 
 and James Lighton were admitted to a partnership. 
 
 In early manhood Mr. Lighton wedded Miss Mary Doran, of Syracuse, 
 and they had six children, James P., Thomas J., John E., Mrs. Loughlin, Anna 
 L. and Martha T. Mr. Lighton led a very busy and useful life and continued 
 active up to the day of his death. In his demise the charitable institutions of 
 the city and the poor in general lost a generous and helpful friend. No one 
 ever appealed to him in vain where assistance was needed. The orphans 
 especially made a strong appeal to his sympathy and he did much for those 
 who at a tender age were left without the care of father or mother. Asso- 
 ciated with E. A. DoUard he secured the mission church in the eastern part 
 of the fourth ward. He was long a prominent member of St. John's cathe- 
 dral and at his death there gathered one of the largest congregations seen 
 in that house of worship. His political allegiance was unfalteringly given 
 the democracy and he was many times solicited to accept political honors but 
 always declined. However, he gave freely toward carrying on the work of the 
 party and his influence was an element in its success. He displayed remark- 
 able devotion to his family and was never happier than when he had his wife 
 and children by his side. While those who knew him remain in this life he will 
 be honored and his memory enshrined in the hearts of his many friends. 
 
 Mr. Loughlin takes an active interest in politics as a citizen, desiring the 
 adoption of those principles which he deems will prove of greatest benefit. In 
 1905 he was a democratic nominee for comptroller of the city of Syracuse and 
 in 1906 ran for the office of county clerk. His aspirations are not in the line 
 of office holding, although in the duties of citizenship he is never remiss. He 
 belongs to the Onondaga County Historical Association, to the Chamber of 
 Commerce, to the Mystique Krewe and to the Syracuse Council of the Knights 
 of Columbus. He is also a member of the Real Estate Association of New York. 
 He has always taken great interest in charitable work and has accomplished 
 notable results. He has been particularly helpful to those organizations and 
 societies which have been formed for the benefit of orphans and is continually 
 devising some recreation or scheme for their benefit or pleasure. So active 
 has he been in this direction that he is frequently called the "father of the 
 orphans" and no other work of his life has given him such genuine pleasure 
 as what he has been able to do for the little ones that are left without parental 
 guidance or care. He attends the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception 
 and was married by Monsigneur Lynch, now of Utica. He is a good citizen 
 and a man of kindly nature and of broad loves. Association with him means 
 expansion and elevation. 
 
1 
 
 C^ektel ?B. i|o|>t 
 
 A I A HE LIFE record of Ezekiel B. Hoyt forms an impor- 
 tant chapter in the history of Skaneateles, for he was 
 closely associated with business interests here that 
 promoted the welfare of the community and at the 
 same time he displayed such splendid traits of char- 
 acter as to make his memory a hallowed one in the 
 community. He was born March 23, 1823, in Ridge- 
 field, Connecticut, and when but six months old was 
 taken by his parents to the town of Sennett, Cayuga 
 county. New York. The journey was made by way of the Erie canal to Weeds- 
 port, which was then the terminus of the canal. From that point they pro- 
 ceeded to Sennett, where a farm was purchased and the family took up their 
 abode. It was upon the old homestead there that Ezekiel B. Hoyt was reared 
 to manhood. The household was a lively one, numbering thirteen children, 
 and there was no lack of interest or of occupation for in early youth the sons 
 began to assist in the labors of the farm. 
 
 Ezekiel B. Hoyt started out upon an independent business career with 
 only willing hands, integrity and ambition as his capital but these qualities 
 constitute a safe foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of success. 
 In 1849 he became proprietor of a country store at Mottville, which he con- 
 ducted for about three years. On the expiration of that period he sold his 
 stock and carried on a foundry and machine shop in Mottville for a long 
 period. The new enterprise proved prosperous and he conducted it with suc- 
 cess for many years. Just after the Civil war, in company with the late 
 Thomas Morton, also of Mottville, he erected the stone woolen mills at Skanea- 
 teles Falls and began the manufacture of woolen goods, continuing in the 
 business for a few years, after which he disposed of his interest to his partner. 
 His enterprise, diligence and the careful direction of his business affairs in 
 former years had brought him financial independence and the evening of his 
 life was spent in the enjoyment of well earned rest. 
 
 Mr. Hoyt was a most methodical man of business, careful, conservative 
 and strictly honest. He was regarded as an able financier, accumulating 
 through honorable and straightforward business methods a large estate. With 
 readiness he solved intricate bushiess problems and whatever he undertook he 
 carried forward to successful completion. His advice and counsel were of 
 value to all who sought it, and many there were who asked for his opinions. 
 
 53 
 
54 (g?cfeiet 2g. i|opt 
 
 Always willing and ready to help another if he could do so, many profited by 
 his advice concerning business affairs. Others received more direct assistance 
 in the way of gifts or charity, for he possessed a kindly heart and responded 
 readily to any tale of need or distress. He was a man of fine personal appear- 
 ance, pleasant in manner and entirely unostentatious. He was quick to recog- 
 nize the good in others and was always willing to extend a helping hand. His 
 political allegiance was given to the Whig party in early life and upon its 
 dissolution he became a supporter of republican principles but never actively 
 engaged in politics further than to cast his vote in support of his honest 
 convictions. 
 
 His home life was largely ideal and he found his greatest happiness in 
 providing for the comfort and welfare of his wife and son. He was twice 
 married, his first union being with Mary E. Delano, whom he wedded on the 
 14th of October, 1852, and who passed away January 11, 1867. She left a son, 
 Frank D. Hoyt, who survived her for many years but died April 30, 1902. Mr. 
 Hoyt was married a second time, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July i, 1873, to 
 Miss Mary J. Wheeler, a daughter of Dr. J. W. Wheeler, of Elbridge, this 
 county, who survives him, the death of Mr. Hoyt having occurred on the 
 17th of November, 1895. He was a member of St. James' church of Skaneate- 
 les and was interested in all that pertained to the moral progress of his com- 
 munity. His religion was to him not a thing apart but the rule of conduct 
 which shaped his daily life and guided him in all his relations with his fellow- 
 men. Such were his strong and salient traits of character that his memory is 
 now cherished by all who knew him and in his death Skaneateles mourned the 
 loss of one of its most respected and valued citizens. 
 
 Mrs. Hoyt is also a member of St. James' church and a most earnest 
 Christian woman, devoted to the cause of the church and always found in 
 attendance upon its services. She is always ready to assist in anything for 
 the general good. She is a member of the Onondaga Historical Society and 
 the Onondaga Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a 
 lady of culture and refinement. She was graduated from Maplewood Semi- 
 nary at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and is a descendant of the founder of the 
 Monroe family of Onondaga. Through the long years of her residence here 
 she has ever enjoyed the friendship and highest esteem of all with whom she has 
 come in contact. The congeniality and close companionship which existed 
 between Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt made her loss doubly great and the memory 
 which remains to her is one which she will ever cherish. While all his fellow 
 citizens recognized in Mr. Hoyt those sterling traits of character which ever 
 command respect, the real depth and tenderness of his nature was best dis- 
 played to his own fireside. 
 
T* 
 
(JVVCU. 
 
William %. fierce 
 
 'O NAME has been more closely or honorably associ- 
 ated with the industrial development of Syracuse and 
 its business prosperity than has that of Pierce and the 
 interests which William K. Pierce is now controlling 
 as president and general manager of the Pierce, But- 
 ler & Pierce Manufacturing Company had their 
 beginning in 1839, making this the oldest business in 
 Syracuse, although the specific enterprise of which he 
 is now the leading moving spirit was organized in 
 1876. He is a splendid type of young men of the present generation, whose 
 indomitable thrift, energy, unfaltering enterprise and general information, 
 combined with keen sagacity and sound judgment, have gained them leader- 
 ship in the world of trade, Mr. Pierce having through these qualities placed 
 his company far in the lead of enterprises of a similar nature in America. 
 
 A life-long resident of Syracuse, he is a son of Sylvester P. and Cornelia 
 (Marsh) Pierce, who were of English lineage. His education was gained in 
 the public school and later he attended a private school in preparation for a 
 college course. He matriculated in Cornell as a member of the class of 1873 
 and pursued the scientific course. On the completion of his studies he eagerly 
 accepted his father's offer of a European trip and spent nearly two years 
 abroad, studying both French and German and visiting various peoples and 
 places of the old world, all of which tended to broaden and expand his mind 
 and his views of life and prepare him more thoroughly for a perfect business 
 education. Following his return to his native land he became a student in a 
 law office in Syracuse but after a short time abandoned the idea of becoming 
 a member of the legal profession and turned his attention to business enter- 
 prises, entering the house of S. P. Pierce & Sons, where he remained for two 
 or three years, acquiring a general business knowledge. This enterprise had 
 been established by his father in the year 1839. William K. Pierce became a 
 partner of his father in 1876 and they were also joined by a brother-in-law 
 under the name of Pierce, Butler & Pierce, doing a general wholesale business 
 in gas, water and steam supplies, steam and sanitary engineering. By faithful 
 and unremitting attention to business William K. Pierce, with the assistance of 
 his partners, was able to largely increase the business and in 1886, owing to the 
 retirement of Mr. Butler, he organized the Pierce, Butler & Pierce Manufac- 
 turing Company with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars and a 
 
 55 
 
56 1©iUiam fe. Pierce 
 
 year or two later, having purchased the large foundry and machine shop at 
 Geneva, New York, there organized the Catchpole Manufacturing Company 
 with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. Owing to the great 
 success of these companies, through careful management in their business 
 enterprises and in order to simplify the business he brought about the consoli- 
 dation of the two companies in 1890, under the name of the Pierce, Butler & 
 Pierce Manufacturing Company, with a capital stock of six hundred thousand 
 dollars, the company then doing business of over one million dollars annually, 
 having built up this large and prosperous company since 1876, the first year 
 the firm doing but fifty thousand dollars worth of business. 
 
 In 1882 he was one of the first to organize an electric light company in 
 Syracuse, this firm obtaining a franchise and introducing the first electric 
 lights upon the streets and in the commercial houses. Afterward their fran- 
 chise and electric light business was consolidated with the present Thompson- 
 Houston Electric Light Company of Syracuse, this company having assumed 
 very large proportions from the simple beginning which was introduced here 
 through Mr. Pierce and his associates. "' ^ 
 
 In 1888, enthused with the idea of still further advancing the city's 
 prosperity, he organized the Syracuse Heat & Power Company, with a capital 
 stock of two hundred thousand dollars, this being accomplished almost entirely 
 through his personal efforts. The company furnish heat and power to the 
 residents and business places of this city, he being the president of this organ- 
 ization. They have obtained a valuable franchise from the city to conduct 
 this heat through mains placed in the different streets furnishing both heat 
 and power to the residences and business places, the citizens finding this a 
 great convenience and admitting its increasing popularity. 
 
 Recognizing at once the many advantages to be derived from a consoli- 
 dation of a number of large competitors in the same branch of business 
 whereby a very large expense could be saved, Mr. Pierce, in conjunction with 
 other large competitive manufacturers, formed the American Boiler Company, 
 in 1893, this being the consolidation of five large manufacturers of boilers, 
 this company being organized with a capital of one million five hundred 
 thousand dollars. William K. Pierce, of Syracuse, was president, with main 
 office at Chicago and branches in all the large cities of the United States. At 
 the expiration of three years Mr. Pierce, for the Pierce, Butler & Pierce Manu- 
 facturing Company, bought out the entire stock and interest of the other 
 stockholders of the American Boiler Company and united these mammoth 
 in|;erests with his own company at their large factories in Syracuse. 
 
 Mr. Pierce has always been a conscientious worker and while greatly 
 interested in politics has never found time to devote any of his personal 
 attention to its intricacies, until recently, when he was prevailed upon to 
 accept the honorable office of presidential elector in 1904 for the administra- 
 tion of Roosevelt and Fairbanks. 
 
I©iaiam Ctl. pierce 
 
 57 
 
 Mr. Pierce was married on the i6th of June, 1880, to Miss Eleanor B. 
 Rust, a daughter of Stiles M. Rust, of Syracuse, and they have three children, 
 two sons and a daughter ; William Rust, Harold Spalding and Rosanna. 
 
 Prominent socially, Mr. Pierce is a valued member of the Century Club, 
 the Cornell Club, the Citizens' Club and the Onondaga Golf and Country Club. 
 He is an ardent outdoor sportsman, being particularly fond of fishing and golf. 
 He is also connected with the different Masonic bodies and he is not without 
 military and political experience. In 1880 he was appointed a captain on the 
 staff of Brigadier General Hawley and afterward, in 1882, was promoted to 
 major on the staff of General Bruce. Although the demands of his extensive 
 business interests have left him little time for active participation in politics, 
 he is a stalwart believer in republican principles. He has ever taken the 
 deepest interest in Syracuse and her welfare and has not only been a supporter 
 but often a promoter of the movements which have advanced her growth, 
 prosperity and progress along many lines. He is certainly one of the recog- 
 nized captains of industry of Syracuse and socially, as well as otherwise, his 
 family is extremely prominent. 
 
W&wcvtn ^etjj ^unngton 
 
 ARREN SETH PURINGTON, president and treas- 
 urer of the Central City Bolt Company of Syracuse, 
 was born in Rensselaerville, Albany county, New 
 York, March 21, 1854, his parents being Hiland W. 
 and Abigail (Paddock) Purington, who were like- 
 wise natives of Albany county. The father, who was 
 a farmer by occupation and thus provided for the sup- 
 port of his wife and children, died in 1879. His wife, 
 who survived him until 1 900, was a daughter of Rev. 
 Seth Paddock, a Baptist minister of Preston Hollow, New York. 
 
 Warren S. Purington is now the only survivor of the family of five 
 children. He was provided with liberal educational advantages, for after 
 attending the district school of his native county, he prepared for college in 
 the Delaware Literary Institute, from which he graduated, and then entered 
 Union College at Schenectady, New York, as a member of the class of 1878. 
 When his school days were over he took up the more difficult life lessons 
 which come as one enters the business world. For fourteen years he was 
 a merchant of Preston Hollow, and following his arrival in Syracuse in 1890 
 he began the manufacture of bolts, nuts and door hangers. The Central 
 City Bolt Company, now occupying extensive buildings on North Salina 
 street, was incorporated in 1889, its first president being E. B. Judson, now 
 the president of the First National Bank of this city. The officers at this 
 writing, in the winter of 1907-1908, are: W. S. Purington, president and 
 treasurer; Levi S. Chapman, vice president; and Everett E. Purington, sec- 
 retary. The Syracuse Faucet & Valve Company, of which W. S. Purington 
 is secretary and treasurer, is an allied business which was incorporated in 
 1901, its present officers being: S. B. Groner, president, and Levi S. Chap- 
 man, vice president. These companies employ fifty or more mechanics in 
 the manufacture of bolts, faucets and valves, and their business is national 
 in its scope. Mr. Purington has contributed in substantial measure to the 
 growth and development of this enterprise during the seventeen years of 
 his connection therewith. This outline of his career shows that he has been 
 an active man, one whose diligence and persistency of purpose constitute 
 the basis of his present very desirable success. 
 
 The business history of Mr. Purington is one well known to the public 
 but his energies are by no means entirely devoted to trade — family, friends, 
 church and state claim his attention, and he is widely known as an earnest 
 
 59 
 
6o l©arren ^etij Purinston 
 
 worker for the advancement of all that will promote the interests of city, 
 state and nation. He is a very active worker and consistent member in the 
 Central Baptist Church, and his labors have been a strong element in its 
 growth and development. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Purington was married to Miss Lida Elsbree, of Preston 
 Hollow, Albany county, a daughter of Dr. Willard Elsbree, of that place. 
 They have three children: Everett E., Florence L. and Vivian M., aged 
 respectively twenty-two, fourteen and twelve years. The first named is now 
 pursuing the liberal arts course in Syracuse University and the other two are 
 students in the public schools. The family home is at No. 508 West Onon- 
 daga street. 
 
 In politics Mr. Purington is a democrat, but like many of the promi- 
 nent business men of the day — men who think broadly and are students of 
 the signs of the times — he does not consider himself bound by party ties 
 and holds himself free to give his allegiance where he believes the best inter- 
 ests of city or country can be served. He is in full sympathy with all the 
 great movements of the world about him and watches the progress of events 
 with the keenest interest. He is entitled to membership in the Sons of the 
 American Revolution as his paternal grandfather, Sylvanus Purington, 
 assisted the colonies in achieving their independence as a soldier of the 
 Continental army. 
 
62 Cbtuarti '^iitottott 2^artl«tt 
 
 from Marshall down, by which the constitution has been expounded, he is 
 familiar, as are all thoroughly skilled lawyers. He is at home in all depart- 
 ments of the lawj from the minutiae in practice to the greater topics wherein 
 is involved the consideration of the ethics and the philosophy of jurisprudence 
 and the higher concerns of public policy. 
 
 Since 1870 Judge Bartlett has been a member of the Association of the 
 Bar of the City of New York, and was formerly a member of its committee on 
 administration and its executive committee. He is likewise a member of the 
 Sons of the American Revolution, of the New York Law Institute and the 
 New England Society, while in club relations he is connected with the Union 
 League and the Republican. He stands as one who through the utilization of 
 the innate talents which are his has risen to honor and distinction. 
 
ittajor tCiieobore letDisi ^oole 
 
 S LONG as memory remains to the American people 
 they will hold in grateful remembrance those men 
 who fought for the preservation of the Union and 
 established the country upon a firmer basis than ever 
 before. Major Theodore L. Poole, of Syracuse, 
 however, was entitled to recogition not alone because 
 of his conspicuous military service but also by rea- 
 son of his equally faithful performance of the duties 
 of civil life and his activity and honesty in commer- 
 cial circles. In all Syracuse there was perhaps no man more widely or favor- 
 ably known, and at the time of his death he was serving as United States mar- 
 shal for the northern district of New York under appointment of President 
 McKinley. He left the impress of his individuality upon political, military, 
 commercial and social circles and although several years have come and gone 
 since he was called from this life his memory is yet lovingly cherished by those 
 who knew him. 
 
 Major Poole was a native of Jordan, Onondaga county, born on the lOth 
 of April, 1840, and when he was only about a year or two old his parents 
 removed to Syracuse, where he acquired his education as a student in the 
 public schools. He was one of three children but his brother, Benjamin 
 H., died in Syracuse a number of years ago. His sister, Mrs. Catherine 
 Baldwin, was for a number of years a teacher in the Syracuse public schools. 
 Born in this city, she acquired her education at the old high school on 
 Church street and while attending there the school was removed to the Pike 
 block. At that time there were only three teachers. She is yet a resident of 
 Syracuse and prominent in social and benevolent organizations. She is inter- 
 ested in the Women's Employment Society, is a life member of the Syracuse 
 Historical Society, is a member of the Women's Relief Corps and also belongs 
 to the Unitarian church. She still survives her brother, Major Poole. 
 
 The latter, after acquiring his education, began preparation for a pro- 
 fessional career by taking up the study of dentistry and was so engaged 
 at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. He watched with interest the 
 progress of events in the south, noted the stubbornness with which the Con- 
 federacy resisted the attempts of the Federal troops to bring them into sub- 
 jection and, feeling that his first duty was to his country, he put aside all 
 business and personal consideration and enlisted in the summer of 1862 as a 
 
 63 
 
64 jBiaaior '^ticobore Hetofe Poole 
 
 private of Company I of the One Hundred and Twenty-second New York 
 Volunteer Infantry. When the regiment was mustered into the United 
 States service he was appointed quartermaster sergeant. In the following 
 September the regiment was assigned to the famous Sixth Army Corps and 
 participated in all its battles from Antietam to the final surrender at Appo- 
 mattox. On the 1st of March, ,1863, Mr. Poole was promoted to second 
 lieutenant and on the loth of February of the following year he was made 
 first lieutenant, while at the beginning of the Wilderness campaign he was 
 acting adjutant of his regiment. For "conspicuous bravery" at Spottsyl- 
 vania and other battles of the Wilderness and at Cold Harbor he was com- 
 missioned February 15, 1865, as captain and later was breveted major by the 
 state of New York and by the United States. At the battle of Cold Harbor 
 on the 1st of June, 1864, Lieutenant Poole was severely wounded and after 
 several months of intense suffering in the hospital had to undergo the ampu- 
 tation of his arm to save his life. As soon as able, however, he returned to 
 his regiment, with which he was discharged and mustered out on the 15th 
 of May, 1865, following the surrender of Lee. 
 
 The country has ever manifested a spirit of gratitude toward the men 
 who preserved the Union and for the survivors of the great conflict there 
 have been seldom lacking marks of preferment ready to be bestowed upon 
 those who showed their devotion and their manly mettle upon the field. When 
 equally capable candidates have been contesting for office the preference 
 has usually been given to the soldier. Soon after his return from the army 
 Major Poole was appointed assistant assessor of the United States internal 
 revenue for his district and while still holding that office was elected county 
 clerk of Onondaga county, in which capacity he served for three years. On 
 the expiration of that term he became a factor in commercial life, being 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits first as a member of the firm of Poole & Haw- 
 kins and afterward as a member of the firm of Poole & North. He was also 
 for a time interested in the manufacture of coarse salt and at different occa- 
 sions had various business interests. He was a director of the Bank of Syra- 
 cuse from its organization and at the time of his death was vice president of 
 the Engelberg HuUer Company and a partner of the firm of W. A. Abel & Com- 
 pany, dealers in sporting goods. 
 
 In 1879 Major Poole was appointed United States pension agent for 
 the northwestern district of New York and acted in that capacity for nearly 
 ten years or until 1889. He became the organizer of the Consolidated 
 Street Railway Company of the city, serving also as its secretary and gen- 
 eral manager. In 1894 Major Poole was nominated on the republican 
 ticket as a member of the fifty-fourth congress and in November of that 
 year was elected, receiving twenty-four thousand four hundred and sixty- 
 seven votes against sixteen thousand three hundred and seven cast for his 
 principal opponent. The last office to which he was appointed was that of 
 
Jiajor '^fitotovt Hetaiiss l^oole 65 
 
 United States marshal of the northern district of New York and in June 
 prior to his death he assumed the duties of the position. The efficient and 
 soldierly way in which he discharged all of his official duties proved the 
 soundness of the American theory that war is a capital test of character and 
 that those who have passed through it with distinction need no further exam- 
 ination as to their value for the public service in civil life nor any further 
 demonstration of their worthiness for the confidence of their fellow citi- 
 zens. 
 
 Major Poole was first married in 1869 to Miss Ella, daughter of Dr. C. 
 S. Totman, of Syracuse. She died the following year and in 1874 he wed- 
 ded Miss Hattie Totman, a daughter of Joshua Totman, of Conway, Massa- 
 chusetts. They had one daughter, Harriet. In 1877 Major Poole was again 
 married. Miss Carrie L. Law becoming his wife. She is a daughter of 
 Charles H. and Caroline (Parmelee) Law, of Syracuse. The father was a 
 machinist by trade and both he and his wife are now deceased. Mrs. 
 Poole was born in Chittenango, New York, and acquired her education in 
 the schools of Syracuse. By her marriage she became the mother of five 
 children, of whom two are deceased. The others are: Clara E., at home; 
 Theodore Law, an attorney of this city; and Sidmon. Both Major and 
 Mrs. Poole were members of the Historical Society and belonged to the Uni- 
 tarian church. Mrs. Poole was likewise a member of the Women's Relief 
 Corps and, like her husband, was greatly interested in military affairs. 
 
 From the time of its organization Major Poole was active in the affairs 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic. For ten years he served as a member of 
 the council of administration and in 1892 was chosen commander of the 
 department of New York after having capably controlled its financial inter- 
 ests for a number of years. He was one of the organizers of Dwight Post, 
 the first post organized in Syracuse, and became one of the charter members 
 of Root Post, No. 151, G. A. R. He died December 3, 1900, and was given 
 a military burial with all the honors of war. Said the Post Standard edi- 
 torially at the time of his death, "Some men, receiving the impression of 
 one great event early in their lives, bear it forever, so that it characterizes 
 their thoughts, their manners and even their physical appearance. The 
 great war of 1861 seems to have had this effect upon Theodore L. Poole, whose 
 death is recorded in our columns today. He served with distinction and car- 
 ries the marks of his bravery to the grave, but the bearing and the spirit of 
 the soldier would have distinguished him, even without that empty sleeve. 
 The war which preserved the Union was Major Poole's alma mater. The 
 diploma of faithful service was his and the degree of veteran has seldom 
 characterized a more brave, simple and modest gentleman. Major Poole 
 was a good soldier, a worthy citizen and a Christian gentleman, and the 
 people of these parts may well be glad that they had the opportunity, and 
 used it, of proving to him that they appreciated his character and his ser- 
 
66 JSajor Cfieobore Ettois! Poole 
 
 vices." Resolutions of respect and sympathy were passed by Root Post 
 and also by the board of directors of the National Bank, the latter saying: 
 "In all our relations with him he has proved himself an associate of unchang- 
 ing loyalty to the interests which he has represented, unflagging in zeal, wise 
 in counsel and generous in his judgments of others." Perhaps no better 
 tribute to this soldier, loyal in days of war and in days of peace, can be 
 given than to quote the poem written by Edward Renaud on the occasion 
 of the Grand Army Encampment at Washington, where as commander of 
 the New York Department, G. A. R., Major Poole rode at the head of the 
 troops from the Empire state. 
 
 Down from the green hill yonder, 
 
 Cfowned with its snowy dome 
 The marching host comes, post on post, 
 
 Like the cohorts of old Rome; 
 Heroes of many battles. 
 
 Taught in war's sternest school, 
 They're tramping down through the flag-decked town 
 
 Behind the gallant Poole. 
 
 Never, I ween, twelve thousand 
 
 Of nobler men than these 
 Marched where tattered ensigns 
 
 Waved in the battle's breeze; 
 Look where they come, advancing 
 
 With proudly martial gait! 
 Hail, to her heroes of the war ! 
 
 Hail to the Empire state! 
 
 There's a "Lincoln" and "Kearney," "Sumner;" 
 
 And "Grant" from Brooklyn too. 
 Marching in serried rank on rank. 
 
 Still wearing the dear old blue; 
 Steady and true the column, 
 
 Straight as if lined by rule; 
 While, stout at need, on his sturdy steed 
 
 There, at the head, rides Poole. 
 
 Proud mem'ries of the mighty strife 
 
 Break o'er each martial strain. 
 There Sickles, and Slocum, Howard; 
 
 All march abreast again; 
 There's Reynolds, and Carr, and Siegel, 
 
 McMahon and Curtis grand ; 
 For the Empire state flings wide her gate 
 
 To the noblest of the land. 
 
M^jot '^teotrore TLtiuia Poole 67 
 
 Hark, how the shouts of thousands 
 
 Rise from the mighty mass, 
 Crowning the martial music, 
 
 As thev press to see them pass ; 
 There's "Garfield," and "Hill," and "Hoffman," 
 
 And "Root," and "Hooker" true. 
 All keeping pace, with the honest face 
 
 Of the boys that wear the blue. 
 
 Go! fill me a foaming beaker 
 
 Full, full to the beady brim. 
 To quaff to the grand old Empire state 
 
 As she sings her battle-hymn — 
 Sings it with marching thousands 
 
 Trained in war's sternest school, 
 While, stout at need, on his sturdy steed 
 
 There, at the front, rides Poole. 
 Died Dec. 3, 1900. 
 
u^. 
 
Wmtxt Hetuts; ^mtti) 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 p 
 
 'ILBERT LEWIS SMITH, who ranks with his 
 brother, L. C. Smith, as a pioneer of the typewriter 
 industry in Syracuse, was born February 29, 1852, 
 in Torrington, Connecticut, the son of Lewis Stev- 
 ens Smith and EHza Ann (Hurlbut) Smith. He 
 removed in childhood with his parents to Lisle, 
 Broome county, New York, where he received his 
 education and grew up in his father's manufactur- 
 ing business, but about 1877 came to Syracuse and 
 was employed in gun manufacture with L. C. Smith. With him, he saw 
 early the opportunities in typewriter-making and was active in the produc- 
 tion of the Smith Premier typewriter and the organization of a company for 
 its manufacture, of which he is vice president and factory manager. He 
 soon became a recognized authority on typewriter-making and manufacturing 
 processes and much of the Smith reputation for superior construction is due 
 to his genius and ability. 
 
 When the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriter Company was organized 
 he became its vice president and personally supervised the construction and 
 equipment of the new factory building, as well as the model of the visible 
 writing machine which has since been produced with great success. 
 
 In addition to his manufacturing interests Mr. Smith turned his atten- 
 tion to banking and assisted in organizing the Syracuse Trust Company, of 
 which he is vice president. He is also a director of the National Bank of 
 Syracuse. Some of his other business relations are vice president of the L. 
 C. Smith Transit Company, engaged in the carrying trade on the Great 
 Lakes; and director of the Globe Navigation Company, operating a line of 
 vessels on the Pacific coast. He is one of the owners of the Smith-Lee Com- 
 pany of Oneida, New York, manufacturing sanitary caps for milk and cream 
 bottles. With a few other Syracuse business men W. L. Smith is the owner 
 of considerable real estate in Seattle, Washington, consisting of city blocks. 
 He is greatly interested in the welfare of his home city and is a public- 
 spirited citizen, though he never courts prominence. He is a valued mem- 
 ber of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, of which he has served as direc- 
 tor, and is a member of the board of trustees of St. Joseph's Hospital. He 
 is a member of the Citizens' and Century Clubs of Syracuse, is domestic in 
 his tastes, and enjoys automobiling. 
 
 69 
 
70 
 
 Q^tlfiett %t\ai6 ^mitf) 
 
 Mr. Smith was married in 1886 to Miss Louise L. Hunt and has two 
 sons, Wilbert A., now a student at Trinity College ; and Elwyn L. His charm- 
 ing home is one of the most substantial in the fine residential section of West 
 Onondaga street. 
 
James; Cooper g>aj>re 
 
 "AMES COOPER SAYRE, deceased, was for many 
 years identified with building interests as a con- 
 tractor of Marcellus and was also associated with 
 other business enterprises which brought him into 
 close and intimate relations with many residents of 
 the town. All those associated with him entertained 
 for him warm regard and throughout the community 
 in which he lived he was the object of general 
 affection and esteem. His birth occurred September 
 II, 1815, at Never sink, Sullivan county, New York. He was descended from 
 an old family. The old Sayre home, which was built at Southampton, Long 
 Island, in 1648, by Thomas Sayre, is still standing and is yet occupied. Since 
 the establishment of the family in America its members have been prominent 
 in various localities where they have lived. 
 
 James Cooper Sayre was about two and a half years old when his par- 
 ents removed from Neversink to New York city. At the age of ten years, 
 on the death of his mother, he went to live with an uncle, who was a prac- 
 ticing physician of New Jersey. About a year later, however, this relative 
 died and he had to seek another home. He was twelve years of age when he 
 became a resident of Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, where he lived with 
 an uncle, who was a farmer. For three years he remained upon the farm 
 but finding that his tastes were more in the direction of mechanical rather than 
 agricultural interests, he went to Auburn, New York, where he apprenticed 
 himself to Dean Hagman, whom he was to serve until twenty-one years of 
 age, and by whom he was to be instructed in the trade of a carpenter and 
 joiner. He found this pursuit congenial and made rapid progress therein, 
 acquiring in three years such efficiency in and knowledge of the business that 
 he went to his employer, desiring to purchase his time and be reheved from 
 his engagement to serve until he should become of age. The arrangement 
 being concluded, Mr. Sayre started out in life on his own account and soon 
 became recognized as a master builder. 
 
 On the 20th of August, 1835, occurred the marriage of James C. Sayre 
 and Miss Lydia W. Webb, of Auburn, New York, where they spent the early 
 years of their married life. They also lived for a time near Moravia, while 
 Mr. Sayre engaged in further building operations in Auburn and in neighbor- 
 ing towns. On the ist of September, 1843, he removed to Marcellus, to 
 
72 31amc£( Cooper ^Sapre 
 
 engage in his chosen field of labor and erected many buildings here, including 
 a church, the two mills and other structures. He also built the Second 
 Presbyterian church and the old courthouse at Auburn. He was likewise 
 interested in the woolen mills at Marcellus for some time and became asso- 
 ciated with many other business interests which brought him into close contact 
 with many people. During the last thirty-five years of his life he gave employ- 
 ment to more people in this locality than any other one man. None ever 
 found him a hard task-master. On the contrary he was just and considerate 
 of his employes and was never known to overreach another in a business 
 transaction. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sayre were born six children. Sophia, the eldest, 
 died in 1854. William H. enlisted as adjutant in the Seventy-fifth New York 
 Infantry under Colonel' Dwight, of Auburn, and served for four years. Being 
 captured, he was incarcerated in Libby prison but was exchanged and at the 
 time of his discharge he held the rank of lieutenant. He married Mrs. Sarah 
 Dwight, of Syracuse, and died June 18, i88i. Charlotte became the wife 
 of Harvey W. Burr, who died in February, 1904, while her death occurred 
 February 26, 1907. Sarah B., who was educated in Willard Seminary at 
 Troy, New York, is now a resident of Marcellus. James Cooper died June 
 10, 1867. Lue W. is the widow of Albert E. Oatman, of New York city, who 
 died January 12, 1882. The two surviving daughters now reside in the old 
 Sayre home in Marcellus. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Sayre was a republican but never a politician 
 in the sense of ofiice seeking. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and 
 was a devoted and helpful member of the Presbyterian church. For many 
 years he served as a deacon in the church, was also trustee, a member of the 
 choir and superintendent of the Sunday school. He loved the place of prayer 
 and was found there as often as possible. His death occurred February 4, 
 1882, and the community lost one who was recognized as a leader in business 
 circles, in the church, in the community and in social life. He possessed a 
 kind and affectionate disposition, a sunshiny nature ; never forgot a friend and 
 had no enemies. All men respected him, and his memory is yet enshrined in 
 the hearts of many who knew him and were his associates in life. 
 
MiUiam p, Coggiuell 
 
 F IT HAD not been for William Browne Cogswell's 
 grasping of a suggestion which came to him while 
 listening to the reading of a paper upon the manu- 
 facture of ammonia soda, by the inventor Goesten- 
 horfer, at a meeting of the American Institute 
 of Mining Engineers at Drifton, Pennsylvania, in 
 the winter of 1879, Onondaga would never have 
 had its greatest industry — so great in truth 
 that the combined freight outgoing and incom- 
 ing of all other manufacturers in Syracuse together does not equal it — the 
 Solvay Process Company. Others heard that same paper, the story of the 
 manufacture of ammonia soda was somewhat common scientific knowledge, 
 at least abroad, and the value of the manufactured product well known. But 
 it was the coming together of the idea and the man that was the important 
 thing for Syracuse, the financial opportunity for the man's friends and the 
 prospective opening of thousands of careers of future employes and inventors. 
 How easy it is to trace back through a man's life and point to this 
 experience or that accident as controlling upon future success. Yet, when 
 it comes to the man who materializes an idea, pushes it to success and is 
 credited with a captaincy in industry, there will be found less of accident and 
 more of experience, coupled with the exceptional qualities which in combina- 
 tion made the man for the time and the idea. Accidents may happen in 
 politics and professions, but seldom in industry. Ideas are common, the 
 right men are few. There were but fourteen years between William Cogs- 
 well's birth at Oswego, New York, on September 22, 18^ and the beginning 
 of that practical experience which did so much to make the man, while there 
 were thirty-one years' experience before the man and the idea came together. 
 We see the man in the smooth harbor of success and are too apt to forget 
 the roug'h sailing which made this haven possible. 
 
 The Cogswell family in America dated from 1635, at Ipswich, Massachu- 
 setts, and came from good old English stock, being founded by Sir John 
 Cogswell, born 1592 at Westbury, Leigh, Wiltshire. David Cogswell 
 (1807-1877) a contractor, was the father of William B. Cogswell, and Mary 
 Barnes, daughter of James Barnes of Ashford, Kent, England, the mother. 
 The Cogswells moved to Syracuse in 1838, and David Cogswell became promi- 
 
 73 
 
74 il^iIUam 2?. CoggtoU 
 
 nent in the village and succeeding city of Syracuse. Mrs. Cogswell's death 
 occured in 1862. William Cogswell attended Hamilton Academy, Oneida 
 county, and the private schools of Joseph Allen in Syracuse and Professor 
 Orin Root at Syracuse and Seneca Falls, but Mr. Cogswell's education began 
 before either of these experiences, and it did not end when he bade tutors 
 and college good-bye, for he made all life an education. In 1848, when only 
 fourteen, he took a year's experience in practical engineering in the employ 
 of a party engaged in surveying the route of the Syracuse & Oswego Rail- 
 road, and the relaying of the track of the Syracuse & Utica Railroad with 
 T-rails. This developed rather than curbed his inclination for civil engineer- 
 ing and gave him a first knowledge of the territory which in a geological 
 way meant so much for the great Solvay idea. 
 
 In 1849 William Cpgswell began his three years' student life at the 
 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, a member of the class 
 of 1852, but destined not to receive his degree of "C. E." until 1884, an 
 extension of the course leaving the class of 1852 without the customary exer- 
 cises of graduation. The belated degree became the greater honor. From 
 the institute to the school of experience was the graduation in 1852, Mr. 
 Cogswell serving an apprenticeship for three years in the Lawrence, Massa- 
 chusetts, machine shops under the superintendence of John C. Hoadley, gain- 
 ing more of that practical knowledge of engineering, mechanics and physics 
 which made life no accident with him. When he returned to Syracuse in 
 1856, Mr. Cogswell was selected by George Barnes to accompany him to 
 Ohio, where Mr. Barnes was superintendent of the Marietta & Cincinnati 
 Railroad, and Mr. Cogswell was made manager of the machinery depart- 
 ment of the road located at Chillicothe. Three years more of experience, 
 and in 1859 Mr. Cogswell became superintendent of the Broadway Foundry at 
 St. Louis, Missouri. Returning to Syracuse in i860 Mr. Cogswell in associa- 
 tion with William A. and A. Avery Sweet, founded the firm of Sweet Broth- 
 ers & Company, which later became the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing 
 Company. The mechanic had become the expert. 
 
 With the beginning of the Civil war, Mr. Cogswell received the civilian 
 appointment as mechanical engineer of the United States navy. During 
 1861 he was located at Port Royal, South Carolina, having general superin- 
 tendence of the work of fitting up repair shops at five widely separated sta- 
 tions on the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. It was in this year 
 that he literally launched a machine shop, a unique idea of this period when 
 great minds were evolving unique ideas for offense and defense to save the 
 country. In May, 1861, when Admiral Dupont of the North Atlantic Squad- 
 ron sought to make repairs without docking, this machine shop was gathered 
 by Mr. Cogswell in a boat and shipped to Port Royal. There an old whaler 
 was made over for machine shop purposes, and Mr. Cogswell became a real 
 captain. The incalculable services of the expert mechanic are not to be 
 
H^tUtam 2^. Coggtocl l 75 
 
 gauged by the ordinary standards, for the hazards of the work and the make- 
 shifts are beyond the comprehension of those who have not the advantage 
 of a war experience and the doing of great work under difficulties. One 
 example of the efficiency of this navy machine shop may be glimpsed from 
 the statement that a cylinder head, weighing more than five hundred pounds, 
 was cast and made ready for a monitor — not a minor casting task for a land- 
 built shop even at the present time. In 1862 Mr. Cogswell was transferred 
 to the Brooklyn navy yards in charge of steam repairs, a construction work 
 which occupied his attention until 1866. The two succeeding years were 
 spent in work in New York city. 
 
 Mr. Cogswell's return to central New York was in 1869, his expert 
 abilities being engaged in the supervision of construction and operation of 
 blast furnaces for the Franklin Iron works of Oneida county, New York, at 
 the same time being given charge of the completion of the Clifton suspension 
 bridge at Niagara Falls, a recognition of mechanical engineering and execu- 
 tive genius which probably appealed more to the popular appreciation of me- 
 chanics than many other of Mr. Cogswell's important accomplishments. This 
 work occupied Mr. Cogswell to 1873. 
 
 The records of life are filled with turnings and twistings and man 
 is frequently long upon some pathway before there is a realization that 
 the turn taken was so career-changing. Mr. Cogswell made such a turn in 
 1874 when he listened to the inducement of Rowland Hazard, of Peacedale, 
 Rhode Island, to take charge of the big lead mines at Mine La Motte, Missouri, 
 Five years mining experience brought new tendencies and a bent for things 
 under the earth as well as upon the land and water. Then came the meeting 
 of the man and the one great idea which was to mean so much to thousands 
 of workmen, professional men and financiers. The more Mr. Cogswell 
 thought of Goestenhorfer's paper on the manufacture of ammonia soda, the 
 surer Mr. Cogswell felt that America furnished the field and the opportunity 
 for like endeavor. Ernest Solvay, the chemist, invented the process which 
 bears his name, and Alfred, the brother, gave the business qualifications which 
 assured success. Carrying letters of introduction Mr. Cogswell sailed to 
 investigate at first hand this process which his industrial and mechanical 
 mind followed as if the idea was a lode star. At Brussels, Belgium, he gave 
 his letters to the brothers Solvay, who listened, but refused the application as 
 they had many others. There had been too many and varied experiences in 
 Mr. Cogswell's life for him to take one refusal, and his investigation of the 
 Goestenhorfer plant only convinced him the more that the Solvay process 
 was the greatest commercial prospect. Back to the Solvays he went and the 
 siege was on, successful in the end not only for the man's persistence but 
 because he had capabilities which stood the test of research. Armed with 
 a commission to examine eligible sites for a plant in the United States, Mr. 
 Cogswell returned home. 
 
74 WiUiam 2?. Coggtoll 
 
 nent in the village and succeeding city of Syracuse. Mrs. Cogswell's death 
 occur ed in 1862. William Cogswell attended Hamilton Academy, Oneida 
 county, and the private schools of Joseph Allen in Syracuse and Professor 
 Orin Root at Syracuse and Seneca Falls, but Mr. Cogswell's education began 
 before either of these experiences, and it did not end when he bade tutors 
 and college good-bye, for he made all life an education. In 1848, when only 
 fourteen, he took a year's experience in practical engineering in the employ 
 of a party engaged in surveying the route of the Syracuse & Oswego Rail- 
 road, and the relaying of the track of the Syracuse & Utica Railroad with 
 T-rails. This developed rather than curbed his inclination for civil engineer- 
 ing and gave him a first knowledge of the territory which in a geological 
 way meant so much for the great Solvay idea. 
 
 In 1849 William Cogswell began his three years' student life at the 
 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, a member of the class 
 of 1852, but destined not to receive his degree of "C. E." until 1884, an 
 extension of the course leaving the class of 1852 without the customary exer- 
 cises of graduation. The belated degree became the greater honor. From 
 the institute to the school of experience was the graduation in 1852, Mr. 
 Cogswell serving an apprenticeship for three years in the Lawrence, Massa- 
 chusetts, machine shops under the superintendence of John C. Hoadley, gain- 
 ing more of that practical knowledge of engineering, mechanics and physics 
 which made life no accident with him. When he returned to Syracuse in 
 1856, Mr. Cogswell was selected by George Barnes to accompany him to 
 Ohio, where Mr. Barnes was superintendent of the Marietta & Cincinnati 
 Railroad, and Mr. Cogswell was made manager of the machinery depart- 
 ment of the road located at Chillicothe. Three years more of experience, 
 and in 1859 Mr. Cogswell became superintendent of the Broadway Foundry at 
 St. Louis, Missouri. Returning to Syracuse in i860 Mr. Cogswell in associa- 
 tion with William A. and A. Avery Sweet, founded the firm of Sweet Broth- 
 ers & Company, which later became the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing 
 Company. The mechanic had become the expert. 
 
 With the beginning of the Civil war, Mr. Cogswell received the civilian 
 appointment as mechanical engineer of the United States navy. During 
 1 86 1 he was located at Port Royal, South Carolina, having general superin- 
 tendence of the work of fitting up repair shops at five widely separated sta- 
 tions on the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. It was in this year 
 that he literally launched a machine shop, a unique idea of this period when 
 great minds were evolving unique ideas for offense and defense to save the 
 country. In May, 1861, when Admiral Dupont of the North Atlantic Squad- 
 ron sought to make repairs without docking, this machine shop was gathered 
 by Mr. Cogswell in a boat and shipped to Port Royal. There an old whaler 
 was made over for machine shop purposes, and Mr. Cogswell became a real 
 captain. The incalculable services of the expert mechanic are not to be 
 
Ili^illiam 2^. Coggtocl l 75 
 
 gauged by the ordinary standards, for the hazards of the work and the make- 
 shifts are beyond the comprehension of those who have not the advantage 
 of a war experience and the doing of great work under difficulties. One 
 example of the efficiency of this navy machine shop may be glimpsed from 
 the statement that a cylinder head, weighing more than five hundred pounds, 
 was cast and made ready for a monitor — not a minor casting task for a land- 
 built shop even at the present time. In 1862 Mr. Cogswell was transferred 
 to the Brooklyn navy yards in charge of steam repairs, a construction work 
 which occupied his attention until 1866. The two succeeding years were 
 spent in work in New York city. 
 
 Mr. Cogswell's return to central New York was in 1869, his expert 
 abilities being engaged in the supervision of construction and operation of 
 blast furnaces for the Franklin Iron works of Oneida county, New York, at 
 the same time being given charge of the completion of the Clifton suspension 
 bridge at Niagara Falls, a recognition of mechanical engineering and execu- 
 tive genius which probably appealed more to the popular appreciation of me- 
 chanics than many other of Mr. Cogswell's important accomplishments. This 
 work occupied Mr. Cogswell to 1873. 
 
 The records of life are filled with turnings and twistings and man 
 is frequently long upon some pathway before there is a realization that 
 the turn taken was so career-changing. Mr. Cogswell made such a turn in 
 1874 when he listened to the inducement of Rowland Hazard, of Peacedale, 
 Rhode Island, to take charge of the big lead mines at Mine La Motte, Missouri, 
 Five years mining experience brought new tendencies and a bent for things 
 under the earth as well as upon the land and water. Then came the meeting 
 of the man and the one great idea which was to mean so much to thousands 
 of workmen, professional men and financiers. The more Mr. Cogswell 
 thought of Goestenhorfer's paper on the manufacture of ammonia soda, the 
 surer Mr. Cogswell felt that America furnished the field and the opportunity 
 for like endeavor. Ernest Solvay, the chemist, invented the process which 
 bears his name, and Alfred, the brother, gave the business qualifications which 
 assured success. Carrying letters of introduction Mr. Cogswell sailed to 
 investigate at first hand this process which his industrial and mechanical 
 mind followed as if the idea was a lode star. At Brussels, Belgium, he gave 
 his letters to the brothers Solvay, who listened, but refused the application as 
 they had many others. There had been too many and varied experiences in 
 Mr. Cogswell's life for him to take one refusal, and his investigation of the 
 Goestenhorfer plant only convinced him the more that the Solvay process 
 was the greatest commercial prospect. Back to the Solvays he went and the 
 siege was on, successful in the end not only for the man's persistence but 
 because he had capabilities which stood the test of research. Armed with 
 a commission to examine eligible sites for a plant in the United States, Mr. 
 Cogswell returned home. 
 
76 tigiUtam 2^. CoggfaicH 
 
 As geologist and engineer Mr. Cogswell knew the opportunity of his old 
 home, Syracuse, but there were many things to be considered. Looking at 
 the result today, when all lines of traffic converge at the Solvay works, lime- 
 stone gravitates in buckets to the yards and the heaviest solution of brine 
 runs through the pipes to the works, it is easy to see how admirably adapted 
 is the location for its purposes. But consider figuring this all out when this 
 section was but vacant pasture and unused salt lands. How the prophetic 
 industrial eye must have been developed in these experiences of the man with 
 the idea. Every promise came true, for the Solvays approved the site chosen, 
 just over the nothwestern line of the city, but at that time nearer to the village 
 of Geddes. 
 
 Then came the all-important question of capital. Not only the experience 
 of the man but experiences with the man counted in this juncture. Rowland 
 Hazard believed in the man, and it was Mr. Hazard's money which aided 
 materially in the erection of that first plant, now almost lost in the midst 
 of the great plant of today. With a capital stock of three hundred thousand 
 dollars the Solvay Process Company was organized in 1881, with Rowland 
 Hazard president; Earl B. Alvord, William A. Sweet and George E. Dana 
 directors, and William B. Cogswell treasurer and general manager. Today 
 the capital stock is eight million dollars, with an investment of twenty mil- 
 lion dollars, the largest soda ash plant in the world, employing close upon 
 five thousand people, with a product of six hundred thousand six hundred 
 tons a year. A branch of almost equal proportions was established at Detroit 
 in 1897. Mr. Cogswell retained the office of treasurer and general manager 
 until June, 1887, when F. R. Hazard was made treasurer, Mr. Cogswell man- 
 aging director, and E. N. Trump general manager. 
 
 From the time the first settlers "boiled salt" in Onondaga it was a 
 debate as to where the salt beds were located which so bountifully fed the 
 springs in the early days. The state in its reservation of the salt tract was 
 satisfied to take the springs and adjoining lands, while many bored wells 
 in the vicinity, some finding salt water but never rock salt. This was where 
 Mr. Cogswell's mining experience and geological research were again of ines- 
 timable value, but he was baffled at first. He worked upon a theory that 
 the springs were somewhere near the edge of a bed or veins of rock salt. 
 Experimental borings made in 1881 and 1883 were failures. Finally, in 1888, 
 twenty-two miles south of Syracuse and near TuUy, the belief of the geologist 
 became truth, and at a depth of twelve hundred feet salt in solid form 
 was struck. This vein was found to be from fifty to one hundred feet 
 in thickness, and beyond a vein of equal thickness was found. To convey 
 this salt in brine to Syracuse, Mr. Cogswell tapped one of the little TuUy 
 lakes and brought the water through a pipe by gravity, discharging the 
 water into the half hundred wells, the solution being then piped to the Solvay 
 Process works by the Tully pipe line. It is an interesting note that in many 
 
la^iUtam 2?. Coggtaell n 
 
 places this brine has displaced the output of the old state wells with salt 
 manufacturers. The Tully Pipe Line Company was incorporated in 1889, with 
 a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Cogswell president and 
 F. R. Hazard treasurer. 
 
 The mechanical engineer showed forth again and again in Mr. Cogs- 
 well's plans. The utilization of the Split Rock quarries by a gravity cable 
 bucket method is but one, although it is such an important feature in the 
 landscape for several miles and so material to the works. For this project 
 the Split Rock Cable Company was incorporated for one hundred thousand 
 dollars with Mr. Cogswell as general manager. 
 
 Another notable work of Mr. Cogswell was his part in the development 
 of the Hannawa Falls Power Company at Hannawa Falls, St. Lawrence county, 
 New York, which owns a power plant of ten thousand horsepower capacity at 
 that point, and another of forty thousand horsepower at Colton. Mr. Cogswell 
 is the principal stockholder in this, one of his numerous enterprises. 
 
 But industrial foresight is not entirely successful which does not com- 
 prehend the enlisting of helpers and the management of men. It was this 
 quality in the working organization of the Solvay plant which has counted 
 much in its success, even after all the other bridges were crossed. Mr. 
 Cogswell's knowledge of men was such that he gathered about him a staff 
 of exceptionally bright young men, most of whom were specialists and scien- 
 tists. Many a bright young man starting in a menial capacity, having shown 
 an aptitude for greater things, has been taken up by Mr. Cogswell, educated 
 and advanced to responsible posts. This kindness to men in every walk of 
 life has given that spirit of loyalty which is one of the great things in the 
 Solvay works. 
 
 Mr. Cogswell's identification with many charitable movements is a mat- 
 ter which he invariably leaves for the public to find out in some other way 
 than the bringing forth of his name in prominent letters. But it is work for 
 that noblest of institutions, the Hospital of the Good Shepherd, which has 
 made the great plant for the care of the sick and unfortunate possible. His 
 gifts to that institution alone amount to two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
 lars — but then that is a matter of historic record and no confidence is betrayed 
 in the statement. 
 
 Mr. Cogswell is a member of many societies and clubs, but is best known 
 in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Min- 
 ing Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society 
 of Chemical Industry of England, and the North American Society for the 
 Advancement of Sciences. He is a fellow of the Geographical Society, a Mas- 
 ter Mason, Royal Arch Chapter, and member of the Sons of the Revolution, 
 the Citizens' Club, the Century Club, Technical Club, University Club, Syra- 
 cuse Country Club and Onondaga Historical Association of Syracuse; the Uni- 
 versity Club, Engineers' Club, National Arts Club, Transportation Club, 
 
78 UOtUiam 2?. CogatpgU 
 
 Chemical Club and Republican Club, Pittsburg Duquesne Club, and the Detroit 
 Club and Fellowcraft Club of Detroit. 
 
 The genealogy of the Cogswell family shows a long line founded by 
 that hardy stock which fearlessly braved the rigors of the New England 
 coast within fifteen years of the landing of the Mayflower. John and Eliza- 
 beth Thompson Cogswell emigrated to America in 1635. Then follows this 
 line of descent: William, baptized March, 1619, died December 15, 1700; 
 William, December 4, 1659, April 14, 1708; Edward, August 13, 1686, April 
 17, 1773; Samuel, March i, 1710 — ; Asa, March 30, 1740, 1832; Daniel, 1770 
 — ; David, March 12, 1807, October 3, 1877; William Browne, September 22, 
 
 1834. 
 
 The first marriage of Mr. Cogswell was to Miss Mary N. Johnson, daugh- 
 ter of Reuben Johnson of Boscowen, formerly Fisherville, January 31, 1856, 
 Mrs. Cogswell dying July 20, 1877, leaving one daughter, Mabel Cogswell. 
 On April 29, 1902, Mr, Cogswell married Miss Cora Browning, of New York 
 city. 
 
 Mr. Cogswell was one of the hundred captains of industry appointed 
 by President Roosevelt to meet Prince Henry of Prussia. In politics Mr. 
 Cogswell has always been a republican but never obtrusively active. He 
 was satisfied with the honors by his industrial foresight, experience and gen- 
 ius, never by those things which came by accident. It was a great thing 
 for Syracuse when this man and the Solvay idea came together. If they had 
 missed, Syracuse would not be as great a place as it is today. 
 
Eobett ®e|> 
 
 OBERT DEY was one of the first men in Syracuse 
 whose business sagacity was strong enough to enable 
 him to understand that the growth and development 
 of the city justified the extension of its business cen- 
 ter; that it was no longer necessary to concentrate 
 commercial interests around four corners; that suc- 
 cessful enterprises could be conducted elsewhere than 
 in this locality. He therefore purchased property in 
 the residence district and began the building of the 
 great Dey Brothers store. This was in 1892, less than ten years after his 
 arrival in Syracuse. In this way the Deys set the pace for native Syracusans 
 and the wisdom of their business judgment has been demonstrated so frequently 
 that the Dey building at the present time is located in what is termed the "down 
 town" district. "Syracuse is the most enterprising and one of the smartest cities 
 in the country" is the belief expressed again and again in speech and action by 
 the head founder of this great dry-goods house and because of this belief Rob- 
 ert Dey has become as loyal to the city as one of its native sons. 
 
 He was born in the parish of Abernathy, Scotland, November 25, 1849. 
 His father was a farmer and miller and his family one of the highest respec- 
 tability. The record shows that its members have been characterized by 
 strength of opinion and honor in accomplishment. The forefathers in the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century espoused the cause of the brave but unfor- 
 tunate Stuarts. It was near the end of the sixteenth century that Queen 
 Elizabeth granted lands in Norfolk, England, to the Dey family for public 
 services and it was shortly after this event that the branch of the family from 
 which the Dey brothers sprang, migrated to Scotland. 
 
 In Aberdeen Robert Dey laid the foundation of that business knowledge 
 which he was to bring to this country and use so advantageously for the city 
 and for his family. He had been educated in the district schools of Kirk- 
 michael and was but seventeen years of age when he went to Aberdeen, where 
 he entered the employ of Pratt & Keith, proprietors of the largest dry-goods 
 house in the north of Scotland. He had remained with that firm for five 
 years, gaining a practical knowledge of the business in both the wholesale 
 and retail departments. He came to this country in 1871 and upon his arrival 
 entered the employ of the well known firm of Sibley, Lindsay & Curr, of Roch- 
 ester, New York. Over five years more were devoted to practical work and 
 
 79 
 
8o lilobert J^ep 
 
 study in various departments, during which time he gained thorough familiar- 
 ity with the requirements and needs of the business in this country. Fully 
 confident, after devoting ten and a half years to hard work and close applica- 
 tion to the dry-goods business in all its branches from the looms to the counter, 
 the firm of Dey Brothers & Company was established in Elmira, New York, 
 in 1877, Robert Dey previous to this date being joined by his brothers, Don- 
 ald, Charles and James. About three years later they were joined by an older 
 brother, John, who subsequently invented and patented the time register. 
 Their business grew until it became one of the most important in Elmira and 
 was the inspiration for the attempt to establish a similar enterprise in a larger 
 city. 
 
 It was in 1883 that Robert Dey came to Syracuse and purchased the dry- 
 goods house of the late Edward F. Rice, this being one of the old established 
 mercantile enterprises of the city, its location being just south of the White 
 Memorial building in South Salina street. The Dey brothers increased their 
 business at once, keeping their old established trade and winning new patrons. 
 They purchased the crockery business of Charles Hamlin, which was located 
 to the south of the Dey store. The Hamlin stock was sold out immediately, 
 for the space occupied by it was much needed by the rapidly growing Dey 
 business and it was this that inspired the purchase of the Hamlin store. The 
 severe criticisms that followed by many of the patrons for thus closing out 
 the best china store in the city, accounts for the provision made in the new 
 store for ample room for a larger and better china department. Up to this 
 time the Deys had not carried china at all, which department has since 
 become an important feature of that store and constitutes one of the finest 
 lines of goods of this character to be found in central New York. The story 
 of the success of the Dey firm is one of constant growth. Robert Dey was a 
 man of ideas. He made the same study of the people's wants that a scien- 
 tist does of the thing he investigates. Like the snow ball which is rolled 
 over soft snow down hill, constantly taking up new material, the business 
 kept growing and in the early '90s came the move south which proved an 
 epoch in the business life of Syracuse and really changed the down town map 
 of the city. On the 2d of May, 1894, the Dey Brothers moved into their great 
 stores at South Salina and Jefferson streets. To the keen business judgment 
 which dictated this move, even against the prophecies of many of the older 
 business heads of the city, was due the whole building up of South Salina 
 street south from Jefferson street. 
 
 Robert Dey is typically the progressive merchant of modern life and 
 concentrates undivided attention upon his business affairs. While his politi- 
 cal influence has been of the highest, he has been careful to use it only for 
 the cleanest politics in the city, state and nation. That he has stood for 
 the best in political life is not a mere assertion but a matter of intimate knowl- 
 edge to his townsmen. Yet he has persistently refrained from taking an 
 
Robert i^gp 8i 
 
 active interest in party politics as a candidate for office. Again and again he 
 has been offered tempting nominations but has steadily refused unless there 
 was need that his name should be used to purify the situation. He belongs 
 to that class of men who wield a power which is all the more potent from the 
 fact that it is moral rather than political and is exercised for the public weal 
 rather than for personal ends. His rare aptitude and ability in achieving 
 results, however, have made him constantly sought but it is only when he 
 feels that the public situation demands it that he has stepped aside from his 
 path as a merchant to take active part in public interests. His business 
 capacity has been called upon many times to help establish other projects and 
 business enterprises. He was one of the incorporators of the Dey Time 
 Register Company and for years was one of its officers. He was likewise one 
 of the incorporators of the Syracuse Trust Company and one of the incorpora- 
 tors of the Syracuse Homeopathic Hospital. He has been interested in and 
 identified with national bank boards and at present is one of the directors of 
 the National Bank of Syracuse. He has also been connected with the Sweet 
 Manufacturing Company, of which he was made receiver and in the reorgan- 
 ization of which he rendered material aid. 
 
 On the 2d of January, 1890, Mr. Dey was married to Miss Mary Sweet, 
 the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Sweet. They now have 
 three children, Amoret Sweet, Victoria Mary Sweet and William Robert. 
 
(^aclmAIi^ // ihJ^i 
 
 eiAje^ 
 
Jfranfelin H* Cljasie 
 
 FRANKLIN H. CHASE, born in Syracuse on Septem- 
 ber 15, 1864, and since 1880 employed almost contin- 
 uously upon The Journal, is descended from Aquila 
 Chase, who came to Hampton, Massachusetts, in 
 1636. Mr. Chase's immediate ancestors were among 
 the earlier settlers of Sunapee, New Hampshire, 
 where the homestead of John Chase, Sr., John 
 Chase, Jr., and the birthplace of Hills Horace Chase, 
 ancestors in line, still stands. M. Van Buren Chase, 
 the father of Franklin H. Chase, was a son of Hills Horace Chase, one of the 
 first homeopathic physicians of Syracuse, settling in this city in 1851. Van 
 Buren Chase had charge of the composing room of The Journal for fifty-one 
 years, and is still connected with the paper. 
 
 Franklin H. Chase was educated in the schools of Syracuse, and after 
 taking up work upon The Journal in 1880 continued his studies. After an 
 apprenticeship in stock and minor reporting, Mr. Chase in 1890 took up the 
 work of reporting of the upper courts for The Journal, and at the same time 
 dramatic criticism, adding later editorial work. Upon September 27, 1887, 
 he married Lucy A. Post, a lineal descendant of John Post, the first settler of 
 Utica, Mrs. Chase died October 18, 1905, leaving two children, Dorothy 
 Sargent, born September 18, 1889; and Donald Frederic, born December 9, 
 1892. 
 
 83 
 
^^^^^^-r^,,/^^^ 
 
$l)tltp &. i&ptvet 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 p 
 
 T IS given to but few men to command world-wide 
 attention or even national prominence but in every 
 community there are men whose force of character, 
 upright principles and rules of conduct gain for them 
 the unqualified interest and respect of their fellow 
 citizens and who by reason of their business ability 
 and consecutive effort gain positions of more than 
 local distinction. Such a one was Philip S. Ryder, 
 for many years the veteran photographer of Syracuse 
 and known professionally as well throughout this part of the state. For nearly 
 forty years he figured in the business circles of Syracuse. 
 
 A native of Ithaca, he was born on the 7th of April, 1837, his parents 
 being John and Lucy M. (Crandall) Ryder. At the usual age he became a 
 public-school student, attending Lancasterian school in Ithaca. After com- 
 pleting his high-school course he entered business life as a clerk in the employ 
 of Andrew Giltner & Company, of Ithaca, where he remained for several 
 years, the length of his service being indicative of his fidelity, trustworthi- 
 ness and energy. He next entered the employ of Daniel R. Young & Company, 
 also grocerymen, but through the influence and urgent desire of his brother, 
 James F. Ryder, a photographer of Cleveland, he determined to acquaint 
 himself with the processes of photography and entered the employ of Jeffer- 
 son Beardsley & Brother, who conducted a studio in Ithaca. Philip S. Ryder 
 remained with that firm for a year and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, to 
 complete the business with his brother, under whose direction he thoroughly 
 acquainted himself with the best methods of photography then known. At 
 length when he felt qualified to engage in business on his own account he 
 established a photograph gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and later conducted 
 a studio at Indianapolis, where he remained for three years. He studied in 
 Cleveland and in Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to perfect himself in the business, 
 and from the latter city he returned to the east, locating in New York city, 
 where he studied his art for several months. 
 
 The year 1865 witnessed Mr, F. Ryder's arrival in Syracuse and he soon 
 became an operator for Hiram Lazier, then the leading photographer of the 
 city. Not long afterward he began business on his own account and from the 
 beginning was successful, continuing in this field of labor up to the time of his 
 death. He photographed the great majority of the notable people of the 
 
 85 
 
86 j^ttlip ^. Ctpbcr 
 
 United States and also some of foreign lands during their sojourns in the 
 country. His fame as a skilled photographer spread abroad and brought him 
 a most liberal patronage. He always kept abreast with the advance made in 
 photography — an advance so great as to seem almost phenomenal. He recog- 
 nized the value of light and shade and of contrast, employed the latest 
 improved processes and in his business gained a measure of success that was 
 most gratifying, being, as it was, a tribute to his merit. 
 
 On the nth of August, 1855, Mr. Ryder was united in marriage to Miss 
 Olive Patterson, of Hartford, Connecticut, who after leaving New England 
 became a resident of Ithaca. They had two sons, of whom Henry W., born 
 October 18, i860, died in November of the same year. The other son, John H. 
 Ryder, born January 12, 1862, died on the 20th of January, 1882. He was a 
 well known writer of Syracuse and wrote articles for the papers when but 
 fourteen years of age. . 
 
 Mr. Ryder was very prominent in social circles and had an extensive 
 circle of friends. He belonged to Central City Lodge, No, 305, A. F. & A. M., 
 and to other branches of Masonry, exemplifying in his life the beneficent 
 spirit of the craft. He likewise belonged to the Knights of Pythias and the 
 Odd Fellows and held membership relations with the Citizens' Club and the 
 Chamber of Commerce. His religious faith was indicated by his membership 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church. He took a great interest in baseball and 
 manly athletic and outdoor sports and was manager of the first baseball team 
 that was organized in Syracuse and became one of its stockholders in 1869. 
 He was the originator and promoter of the famous Star Baseball Club in 1876, 
 which was one of the greatest clubs of the country. He acted as its president, 
 with Hamilton S. White as vice president and Edward N. Westcott, author of 
 David Harum, as treasurer. This club was most successful, winning victories 
 over many of the leading clubs of the country. In community affairs he was 
 ever deeply interested and was a co-worker in many movements for the public 
 good. 
 
 In politics he was a stalwart democrat and was president of the board of 
 police commissioners in 1888, having been appointed a member of that board 
 by Mayor W. B. Kirk. In 1892 he was the democratic candidate for sheriff 
 and carried the city of Syracuse by eleven hundred majority, which no candi- 
 date for that office had ever done before. He was also at one time the demo- 
 cratic candidate for senator and thgugh his party was in the minority he 
 received very flattering support. A man of fine personal appearance, his 
 mental caliber was equally great. He was broad minded and looked at life 
 from no narrow or contracted view. He possessed a most kindly, humani- 
 tarian spirit and the . poor found in him a most helpful, generous friend. At 
 all times his life was actuated by high purposes and in his community he was 
 regarded as a man who did much good in the world by reason of the high 
 standard which he maintained in business, by reason of a kindly spirit, as well 
 
Ptjttip ^. Itpijer 
 
 87 
 
 as through those works which contribute directly to the benefit of the race. 
 When death came to him on the 30th of May, 1907, he had reached the age of 
 seventy years and he was laid to rest with honors, the funeral cortege being 
 escorted to the cemetery by a police detail, who acted as a guard of honor. 
 Syracuse had known him for forty years and always known him as one 
 worthy of their full honor. 
 
0^. 
 
 
3fofjn Sunfee 
 
 IHRISTMASTIDE has become synonymous with joy 
 and happiness, with homecomings, family reunions 
 and all of the pleasures of life. But the Christmas- 
 tide of 1904 brought sadness and sorrow to Syracuse 
 in that it chronicled the death of John Dunfee, one of 
 the foremost citizens not only of Syracuse but of the 
 state — a man to whom the term brotherhood meant 
 all hunmanity, who though buffeted by fortune in his 
 youth, meeting hardships that seldom fall to the lot 
 of even the poorest, yet kept a heart warm for humanity's sorrows and a 
 hand quick to lighten the burdens of others. No tale of fiction presents a 
 more interesting, fanciful or romantic picture than does the life history of 
 John Dunfee. Fifty-three years were allotted him for his earthly pilgrimage 
 and in that time he accomplished a marvelous work. From the most humble 
 surroundings and the environment of direst poverty he rose to rank with the 
 wealthy men of Syracuse, regarded as a power not only in business but also in 
 political circles — the latter not because of his desire for office but because of 
 the influence which he exerted among the many who trusted his judgment and 
 believed in him. 
 
 His father, Edward Dunfee, came from County Kilkenny, Ireland, to the 
 United States. He was early deprived of his mother and at a time when most 
 boys of even the poorest parents are in schools he was fighting life's battles in 
 the struggle for a livelihood. His birth occurred on March 16, 1851, in a most 
 humble home on Canal street. Many of Syracuse's citizens remember him 
 when as a little lad of seven of eight years he sold newspapers at the old 
 Central station in Vanderbilt Square. The associations were such as most 
 parents seek to shield their children from, but the necessities of the case were 
 paramount here and in the school of experience Mr. Dunfee had to learn his 
 lessons and he mastered them right royally. He learned to place a correct 
 value upon opportunity, upon energy and, moreover, upon character, learned 
 the true from the false, to hate pretension and sham and to scorn the spurious. 
 He learned the value of an honest word, a kindly act and a sympathetic utter- 
 ance, and he made these assets in his later life. This knowledge, however, did 
 not come to him all at once but was acquired as the years passed. He supple- 
 mented his earnings as a newsboy in the daytime by selling apples in the 
 gallery of Corinthian Hall, which was then the fashionable amusement house 
 
 89 
 
90 3lof)n l^unfee 
 
 of Syracuse. He was dubbed "the little red-headed Irish boy" and many a 
 joke was uttered at his expense but his good nature and ready wit ever made 
 apt answer. At his death his property included one of the handsomest theatres 
 of the city. 
 
 Like most boys of Syracuse to whom the protection of home and school 
 are denied, he found interest and amusement on the banks of the Erie canal, 
 watching the boats go slowly by. He was fond, too, of displaying his skill in 
 swimming there and frequently took a high dive from the tops of buildings or 
 the lumber piles, calling out, "Just watch Sam Patch !" — for the original Sam 
 Patch was then a sensation in the amusement world. This secured for him the 
 nickname of Sam, which was afterward corrupted into Sim, by which he was 
 known throughout the remainder of his life — a name that became dear to the 
 hearts of many friends.- In the early boyhood days he knew what it was on 
 many occasions to want a meal, while comfortable clothing was almost an 
 undreamed of luxury, but the boy had in him the elements of success and his 
 life is another proof of the fact that it is under the stimulus of opposition and 
 the pressure of adversity that the strongest in men is brought out and devel- 
 oped. It is related that on one occasion the janitor of the Pike Block kicked 
 him down the stairs. The boy picked himself up, shook his fist in the man's 
 face and vowed that he would one day own the building from which he had 
 been ignominiously ejected. He lived to see the fulfillment of this vow, while 
 his real-estate interests included much other valuable Syracuse property. 
 
 From newsboy and apple vender his next step in the business world was 
 made as driver on the Erie Canal. On one occasion the owner of the boat, 
 having no driver and noting the keen interest in the boy's face, asked him how 
 he would like to drive for a salary of three dollars per month. The oflfer was 
 at once accepted and without parental authority he started out in the work to 
 drive along the towpath to Albany. When they reached Albany the horses 
 became sick and the canal driver was obliged to lay up there for three months 
 of winter and the diet of himself and his driver consisted of salt pork and bis- 
 cuit made from the flour and salt pork which they were carrying as cargo. 
 One day the boy was sent upon an errand and returned to find that his 
 employer had abandoned him, taking the boat and the horses and leaving John 
 Dunfee without a penny. That night he was forced to sleep outdoors. The next 
 morning, telling his story to a man, he was given enough money with which 
 to buy a breakfast and a bootblack's outfit. The Albany bootblacks resented his, 
 to them, intrusion and smashed his kit. He procured another, and, seeing that 
 he must fight for his place, he soon gave the other boys to understand that he 
 had a right, as well as they, to earn his living. When he had saved money 
 enough to buy a new suit throughout, a new bootblack's outfit and pay his 
 way back to Syracuse he came again to his native city. 
 
 This habit of saving was one of his strong characteristics. Speaking of his 
 own early life, he said his policy was "to save two quarters for every one I 
 
31of)n J^unfee 91 
 
 spent." It was this that laid the foundation for his later marvelous prosper- 
 ity. Following his return to Syracuse he resumed his interrupted career as a 
 canal driver but watched every opportunity for advancement in the business 
 world. He was promoted to steersman on the canal and finally invested in a 
 boat of his own. The interest which he took in politics led to political inter- 
 vention in his behalf when he was about seventeen years of age in an appoint- 
 ment to the position of lock tender at the Lodi street locks. While thus en- 
 gaged he saw a chance to buy and trade in horses and his carefully saved 
 earnings were thus invested until at one time he had as many as fifty horses 
 and mules at work along the canal. After leaving the position of lock tender 
 he continued in business as a horse dealer on a yet more extensive scale, mak- 
 ing purchases not only in central New York but also going as far as Canada to 
 obtain desirable animals. The scope of his labors increased when he was 
 appointed fire commissioner by Mayor Ryan, while Mayors Burns and Kirk 
 continued him in office. He resigned, however, upon the election of Mayor 
 Cowie in order that he might devote his attention entirely to his business 
 interests and never again did he hold office save that of water commissioner. 
 However, he was one of the recognized leaders of democracy in New York, a 
 stalwart champion of the principles in which he believed, a delegate to various 
 party conventions and the warm friend of many party leaders, including 
 Judge Alton B. Parker. He was never an aggressive partisan, however, and 
 had as many friends among the republicans as among democrats, and no party 
 coercion could force him into any course which his judgment did not sanction. 
 Perhaps Mr. Dunfee was best known to the general public as a contractor. 
 He did not plan to enter that field of business but, as usual, saw and embraced 
 his opportunity, his first step being made when he purchased horses and put 
 them under contract on canal work. His first important contract, was for 
 cleaning the city streets. From that time forward he took contracts of one 
 character or another until he became one of the best known contractors of the 
 east. Only the week prior to his death he was the successful bidder in a con- 
 tract near Boston, Massachusetts, calling for an expenditure of one million 
 dollars. He constructed the Boston tunnel, made the improvements of the 
 Hudson river and took a nine million dollar canal improvement contract. He 
 was awarded many dredging contracts, some of these being at Albany, at New 
 York and in Chesapeake Bay. He was the promoter of the Syracuse Lighting 
 Company, acquiring the stock of the Electric Light & Power Company, which 
 furnished all the electricity used in Syracuse and had the city lighting con- 
 tract. The stock of the Syracuse Gas Company was at that time held by a 
 syndicate and the company was losing money, when Mr. Dunfee proposed to 
 the syndicate that they form one large company, combine the two properties 
 and operate together. As a result the Syracuse Lighting Company came into 
 existence, acquiring the Electric Light & Power Company, the Underground 
 Electric Wire Company and the Onondaga Lighting Company property. In 
 
92 3lofin J^nfce 
 
 his contracting business he was president of the Central City Construction 
 Company, vice president of the Boston Tunnel Construction Company, a mem- 
 ber of the dredging firms of John Dunfee & Company and Kirk, Driscoll & 
 Company, and also of two construction companies under the name of John 
 Dunfee & Company. He was likewise a director of the Haberle-Crystal Spring 
 Brewing Company, the Syracuse Reduction Company and the Empire Contract- 
 ing Company. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Dunfee early in his business career began investing 
 in real-estate. Long before he reached middle age he was rated as a man of 
 means. He owned considerable real estate and purchased and established a 
 successful livery stable, which proved a profitable investment. When the 
 West Shore road was built he bought many houses and realized a gratifying 
 income from their sale. As the years passed his successes enabled him to make 
 real-estate purchases that involved extensive investment and his holdings 
 included an interest in the Vanderbilt House and Manhattan Hotel property, 
 the Pike Block, the Dunfee building and much other notable and valuable 
 realty. , 
 
 To have attained the success which Mr. Dunfee did would alone have 
 entitled him to distinction but the use which he made of it was what won for 
 him the gratitude, the admiration and the love of his fellowmen. It was his 
 cherished dream to provide a beautiful home for his wife. He wedded Anna 
 Shorten, a native of Syracuse and a daughter of Charles and Mary (Gorman) 
 Shorten. Her father was born in Kingston, Canada, and came to Syracuse 
 when a young boy, working in early life at the meat cutter's trade. The 
 mother was a native of Ireland. Mrs, Dunfee acquired her education in 
 Syracuse in a school where the new public library building now stands. In 
 1874 she gave her hand in marriage to John Dunfee, then a young man of twen- 
 ty-three years, just making the initial steps in the business career that led on 
 to fortune. As stated, it was the great desire of his early life to promote the 
 welfare and happiness of his wife and to surround her with the comforts that 
 money can bring and to this end he eagerly availed himself of the opportunity 
 to purchase for her a beautiful residence. They had no children of their own 
 but adopted a niece, who became the wife of John J. Cummins and their only 
 child was named in honor of Mr. Dunfee — John Dunfee Cummins. Mr. Dun- 
 fee had the greatest love for children and many of the happiest hours of his life 
 were spent in the company of this little grandson. No matter what the busi- 
 ness cares demanding his time and attention, he would put them all aside to 
 take this child in his arms and talk to him with an affection as eloquent and 
 sympathetic as that of any mother. 
 
 The orphaned children, too, found in Mr. Dunfee a father. He gave most 
 generously not only to the little ones who needed protection but to the institu- 
 tions established for their care and one of the large bequests of his will was to 
 St. Vincent de Paul's Orphan Asylum. It would be impossible to estimate the 
 
31otin i^unfee 93 
 
 amount that Mr. Dunfee gave away to charity. He gave ready response to 
 every call that was made upon him for aid without regard to race, color or 
 religion. There was probably not a day passed that did not chronicle some 
 good deed, some assistance rendered to those who needed aid, and yet he never 
 spoke boastingly, if at all, of what he did in this direction. Every charitable 
 enterprise promoted in Syracuse sought his assistance. Only the Saturday 
 before he was taken ill a subscription book for Christmas at the House of 
 Providence was handed him and his name went down for fifty dollars. The 
 day before it was the maternity hospital and it, too, received fifty dollars, but 
 he always felt that the orphans were his special care. 
 
 Mr. Dunfee was a man strong in his likes and dislikes. His early expe- 
 riences taught him to value true worth and to scorn all that is hypocritical or 
 pretentious. He evolved much philosophy from his early life and many of his 
 sayings passed into local history. He possessed the keen wit for which the 
 Irish race are noted, combined with a peculiar sensitiveness and a ready 
 recognition of the ridiculous. He managed to evoke fun from many situations 
 which others would have regarded as a hardship and he had a way, well worth 
 emulation, of looking upon the bright side, possessing a hopeful optimism that 
 was at all times, however, guided by a sane, rational judgment. Those who 
 came within the close circle of his friendship entertained for him the highest 
 regard. To them the full depths of his nature were known. Two of his warm- 
 est friends were his pastor, Mgr. John Grimes of the Cathedral of the Immacu- 
 late Conception, and Bishop Ludden. Many of his evening hours were spent 
 in company with the Bishop in his favorite pastime of billiards at his own 
 home. He shared with them in their ambitions for the work of the church and 
 was a most generous contributor in support of their plans. Both he and his 
 wife were communicants of the Cathedral congregation and he could never 
 bear that any one should speak lightly or slightingly of the church. 
 
 To gain a true knowledge of a man one must know his associates and 
 their opinion of him and no better summary of the character of John Dunfee 
 could be given than by quoting from the words of many who were his asso- 
 ciates in the various walks of life where he figured prominently. John J. 
 Cummins, the husband of Mr. Dunfee's adopted daughter, said: "Closely con- 
 nected as I was with him the past five years I grew to know him as few men 
 did. Having his peculiarities, as we all have, he was at heart one of the best 
 friends a man could have. Hundreds in Syracuse and elsewhere have learned 
 from him the test of true friendship, for when in the direst trouble they went 
 to him for assistance and never in vain. His heart always rang true and no 
 matter what dififerences of opinion he might have with men regarding busi- 
 ness or other matters, yet no manifestation of malice ever followed. He was 
 always the first to help a poor fellow out of difficulty and never deserted a friend 
 under any circumstances. I considered him the most remarkable man I had 
 ever met. His judgment of men and the motives that prompted their acts was 
 
94 31ot)n J^unfee 
 
 invariably correct. Lack of early education had sharpened his faculties to 
 such an extent that he seemed to be able to read the very hearts of men and to 
 thoroughly understand every move they made. He was always the same 
 blunt, democratic, everyday man, with as hearty a greeting for the poorest 
 friend he ever knew as for the millionaire who courted his friendship and 
 sought his judgment in business affairs. The generous hospitality which he 
 dispensed with the woman he loved so well, both at his city and summer resi- 
 dences, endeared him. to a wide and rapidly increasing circle of friends. Some 
 men there are who die and are forgotten in a short time, but the memory of 
 John Dunf ee will live for many years in the hearts of his friends. His repeated 
 and munificent gifts to the asylums and hospitals will be sadly missed. He 
 loved the institution wherein he died and it seemed a strange dispensation of 
 fate that the hospital to which he was taken for the operation should have been 
 the institution that gave him kindly shelter and loving care when as a little 
 lad he was found by the wayside badly injured. Sisters of the sacred order 
 who cared for him as a lad surrounded his bedside and offered up their prayers 
 as his soul took its flight to another world." 
 
 W. P. Gannon, speaking of Mr, Dunf ee, said : "Possessed of great natural 
 ability and shrewdness, he was generally able to carry out the many deals and 
 plans which his ever busy brain conceived. He had an early appreciation of 
 the business principles necessary for success." A well known lawyer added: 
 "He was a man of great natural ability, force of character, kind hearted and 
 generous. Syracuse has sustained a distinct and permanent loss by reason of 
 his death." A banker said: "Mr. Dunfee was a genius. To think that he 
 could have started with absolutely nothing, handicapped by lack of even a 
 common-school education, and make himself the factor he did in the com- 
 munity was simply wonderful." Another banker added: "He was a man of 
 strict integrity and his word as as good as gold. His honesty was never 
 questioned." Mr. Dunfee never failed to leave a strong impress upon those 
 with whom he came in contact. They recognized that while perhaps he lacked 
 some of those qualities which come through training and which are called 
 culture, he had the real manhood which sees and does the right and as a friend 
 said, "His heart was in keeping with his brain and his body — it was big enough 
 
 to make him an invaluable friend His likes and dislikes were strong. 
 
 His devotion to those in whom he trusted was wrought in ties stronger than 
 steel. To those who really knew him he was a character to inspire affection 
 and firm regard. . , . Mr. Dunfee was a man of action and large enter- 
 prise. His ability in dealing with matters of magnitude, in making clear 
 sighted and safe business investments, was the marvel of all who knew him. 
 It is a far cry from a barefoot boy selling papers or blacking boots on the street 
 to association with the leading financiers of the country and paramount suc- 
 cess in big undertakings, but Mr. Dunfee, who had only reached the prime of 
 life at the hour of his death, had achieved this ascent on the ladder of life. 
 
3oi)n J^unfee 95 
 
 His strong hands held many enterprises steady. There will be others to take 
 his place but none can fill that held by this strong, original figure, whose energy 
 and strength permeated his pubHc and private life." 
 
 Death came to Mr. Dunfee as the result of an operation in St. Joseph's 
 hospital. It was in that hospital that he once found protection and care when 
 he had been injured in his boyhood. He always felt for it the deepest attach- 
 ment and when his will was read St, Joseph's, together with other Catholic 
 institutions, were found to be very large direct beneficiaries. His name will 
 ever be enrolled among the philanthropists of this city because of his muni- 
 ficent gifts to public charities. There are few men who learn so thoroughly 
 the real lessons of life. He realized fully that "it is more blessed to give than 
 to receive." He gave generously and with open hand and never lost an 
 opportunity to prevent an unfortunate child from passing through some of the 
 hard experiences which came to him in his own youth. Day after day his life 
 was filled with the interests of business, which developed to mammoth pro- 
 portions, and yet he was never too busy to listen to the story of one to whom 
 fate had been unkind and while his large charities to the different institutions 
 which he assisted awakened for him admiration and gratitude, it was the 
 numberless little acts of kindness which he performed day by day that gained 
 him a place in the hearts of many who now cherish his memory. Thus we are 
 brought to the thought that "it is not from the few conspicuous deeds of life 
 that the blessings chiefly come which make the world better, sweeter, happier ; 
 but from the countless lowly ministries of the everydays, the little faithful- 
 nesses that fill long years." 
 
aiexanber ®motl)j> JBrotPit 
 
 N THE field of public life and commercial and indus- 
 trial activity Alexander T. Brown has won distinc- 
 tion and is today numbered mong the leading, influ- 
 ential and honored citizens of Syracuse. He belongs 
 to the little group of distinctively representative busi- 
 ness men who have been the pioneers in inaugurat- 
 ing and building up the chief industries of this sec- 
 tion of the country. He is now connected with 
 many extensive and important business interests and 
 throughout his career his efforts have been so discerningly directed along 
 well defined lines of labor that he seems to have realized at any one point of 
 progress his possibilities for successful accomplishment at that point. 
 
 He was born in Scott, Cortland county, New York, November 21, 1854. 
 He comes of Revolutionary ancestry and the line of descent can be traced 
 back to Thomas Brown of Massachusetts — 161 1 A. D. His paternal grand- 
 father was an early settler of Onondaga county and one of its pioneer 
 teachers. The paternal grandfather, Timothy Brown, settled in Scott, Cort- 
 land county. New York, in 1800, and his wife at one time was the owner 
 of land on the site of the city of Cortland. The father, Stephen S. Brown, 
 was also a native of Cortland county and a farmer by occupation. In early 
 manhood he wedded Nancy N. Alexander, a native of Leyden, Massachusetts. 
 His death occurred ten years ago but the mother survived until the fall of 
 1906. Their family numbered three children, one of whom has passed 
 away, while the living brother of our subject is William H. Brown, of Syra- 
 cuse. 
 
 In the select schools of his native town Alexander T. Brown acquired his 
 early education and afterward attended Homer Academy. Entering busi- 
 ness life, he was for some time agent for a harvester machine company and 
 also sold hardware. The year 1879 witnessed his arrival in Syracuse, where 
 he became connected with the firearms business of the firm of W. H. Baker 
 & Company in the mechanical department. He is the inventor of the famous 
 L. C. Smith shot gun, and continued with the house in the manufacture of 
 this firearm up to the time the business was sold to the Hunter Arms Com- 
 pany. From early youth displaying marked mechanical ^ability and ingenu- 
 ity, Mr. Brown has produced many valuable devices. 
 
 97 
 
 He is the inventor 
 
98 aiexanber Cimotfjp 2?roton 
 
 of the Smith Premier typewriter and also of many clever and practicable 
 devices for the telephone and the automobile. Since his production of the 
 Smith Premier typewriter his attention has been given at least in part to 
 its manufacture. He is now president of the Smith Premier Typewriter Com- 
 pany, employing some two thousand workmen. He is likewise a director 
 of the Third National Bank of Syracuse; president of the Brown-Lipe Gear 
 Company of Syracuse; and one of the founders of the H. H. Franklin Auto- 
 mobile Company, of which he was at one time president and which has the 
 largest payroll in Syracuse. He still owns a considerable amount of stock 
 in this company. Furthermore he is an ofificer in the Globe Malleable Iron 
 Works of Syracuse; is a stockholder and officer in the Syracuse Aluminum & 
 Bronze Company; director of the Pneumelectric Machine Company, large 
 manufacturers of electrical mining machinery at Syracuse, an officer and 
 director of the C. H. Wood Company; and a director of the Clear Clothing 
 Company, manufacturers and wholesale dealers of this city. 
 
 The extent and importance of his business interests places him at once 
 in the rank of the foremost residents of Syracuse. Honored and respected 
 by all, there is no citizen who occupies a more enviable position in commer- 
 cial, industrial and financial circles than Alexander T. Brown, not alone by 
 reason of the brilliant success he has achieved but also owing to the straight- 
 forward business policy that he has ever followed. He has formed his 
 plans readily has been determined in their execution, and added to his nat- 
 ural mechanical ingenuity and inventive ability he possesses an aptitude for 
 successful management and the co-ordination of forces that is often sadly 
 lacking in the inventor. Intricate business problems he comprehends with 
 rare quickness and the solution which he proposes almost invariably proves to 
 be the correct one. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Mary L. Seamens, a daughter 
 of Julian C. Seamens, of Virgil, New York. They have two sons: Charles 
 S., a student in Cornell University; and Julian, also in school. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- 
 neers. He belongs to the Citizens', the Century and the Yacht and Golf 
 Clubs of Syracuse, to the New York Transportation Club and to the Adiron- 
 dack League and the Syracuse Automobile Club. He is also identified with 
 the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all matters pertaining to the 
 municipal welfare or the advancement of those public concerns which are a 
 matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. He is now one of the trustees of 
 the Syracuse University and of the House of the Good Shepherd, and from 
 the time when age conferred upon him the right of franchise to the present 
 he has always been a stalwart republican. Fraternally he is identified with 
 Central City Lodge, No. 305, A. F. & A. M., and with all the Scottish Rite 
 bodies up to and including the thirty-second degree, while at Utica he is a 
 member of the Mystic Shrine. There is in him a weight of character, a native 
 
KUexanber Cimotd? ^to\m 
 
 99 
 
 sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that commands the 
 respect of all. A man of indefatigable enterprise and fertility of resource, 
 he has carved his name deeply on the records of central New York, and Syra- 
 cuse acknowledges its indebtedness for much of its advancement to his efforts. 
 
®li\}tt ®eel JButt 
 
 LIVER TEEL BURT, who was born in 1824, died 
 in 1887. His birth occurred in Fayetteville, New 
 York, his parents being Aaron and Lucy (Burke) 
 Burt. The father owned a large farm at Fayette- 
 ville and in early life devoted his time and energies 
 to general agricultural pursuits but subsequently 
 engaged in contracting, being largely connected 
 with public works. He built the railroad from 
 Syracuse to Utica and was also engaged on the con- 
 struction of the canal. Oliver Teel Burt was accorded liberal educational privi- 
 leges and was a graduate of the Rensselaer school for practical training and 
 also of Union College. He became well known as a business man and at one 
 time was an important factor in the commercial and industrial life of the 
 city. In antebellum days he was engaged in the manufacture of firearms and 
 took a contract for supplying these for the United States. He shared with 
 the great majority in the general opinion that the war would not last over 
 six months but hostilities continued and everything advanced in price, so that 
 in the execution of his contract with the government he lost quite heavily. He 
 was also at one time president of one of the banks of Syracuse and so con- 
 ducted his business interests that he became quite wealthy. When the condi- 
 tion of affairs in war times proved so disastrous he released some of his friends 
 who had become involved with him and endeavored to carry the business 
 through alone and to discharge all of the financial obligations incurred there- 
 by. At one time he was the owner of extensive real-estate interests in Syra- 
 cuse but he sacrificed all to meet the demands of his creditors. He also owned 
 a great deal of salt property and for many years figured prominently in busi- 
 ness life. Although financial disaster overtook him his reputation for business 
 integrity and fidelity remained unshaken. He put forth strenuous efforts to 
 meet every obligation and all acquainted with him knew his honesty of inten- 
 tion and respected him for his strenuous labor. 
 
 In 1848 Mr. Burt was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Johnston of 
 Syracuse, who is a member of the Unitarian church. For twenty years they 
 lived in the old Burt home at 1008 East Genesee street — a beautiful residence. 
 Their children were Lucy Eleanor, Steven Smith, Mrs. Mabel Dunlap, Mrs. 
 Florence Brewster and Howard. After leaving the old home Mr. and Mrs. 
 Burt took up their abode at No. 1206 Bellevue avenue, which place was recently 
 
 101 
 
I02 
 
 O^lftjcr Ceel 2?urt 
 
 sold by Mrs. Burt, who is now living at No. 412 East Willow street. She is 
 most highly esteemed throughout the country and is especially well known in 
 Syracuse, where for almost six decades she has made her home. 
 
<3 /I'^^^^^^^f^-i'-iL^-^Cy ^ 
 
3aeti. €mm iHcCijes^nep 
 
 ^^it^^s 
 
 w 
 
 ITH A VIRILE intellect that made him a power in the 
 ministry and as an educator and with a gentleness 
 of spirit that appreciated and enjoyed the beauty 
 of the tiniest flower, the Rev. Ensign McChesney 
 was a man who, once known, could never be for- 
 gotten. He left the impress of his splendid nature 
 upon all with whom he came in contact and his influ- 
 ence was a vital force in the lives of those who 
 came under his teachings, whether in the pulpit or 
 in the schoolroom. If in spirit he breathed the prayer : 
 
 "Oh, may I join the choir invisible 
 Of those immortal dead who live again ' 
 
 In lives made better by their presence." 
 
 Truly the prayer has been realized, for hundreds there are who knew Dr. 
 McChesney that bear testimony of the influence he exerted over them. 
 
 His life record began at Grafton, Rensselaer county. New York, on the 
 17th of March, 1844. He was reared amid the refining influences of a home 
 of Christian culture, where were nurtured all those tendencies that later 
 became strongly developed traits of manly character. His early education 
 was supplemented by study in the Troy University, which he entered in 1863. 
 In 1865 he matriculated in the Wesleyan University, where he remained until 
 his graduation in 1868, He achieved distinction in his collegiate work, 
 becoming a Phi Beta Kappa man of excellent rank. 
 
 In the year of his graduation he was married to Miss Ellen M. Bidwell, 
 of Norwich, Connecticut, who survives him and whose gracious presence and 
 consecrated fellowship in the ministry of her husband afforded him invaluable 
 aid in the pastorates which he served. Mrs. McChesney was born at Cape 
 Cod, Massachusetts, a daughter of Rev. Ira M. and Nancy (Church) Bid- 
 well. Her father was a Methodist Episcopal minister and was living in Nor- 
 wich at the time of her marriage. She was the youngest daughter of nine 
 children and her earnest Christian spirit, her deep sympathy and ready encour- 
 agement were always elements in the good work of her husband. She shared 
 with him in his every interest for the upbuilding of the church and in his 
 educational work as well and united with him in dispensing the hospitality for 
 which their home became famous. She is now chairman of the visiting com- 
 
 103 
 
I04 ^t\i. OBnsiign Mt€i)t6ntv 
 
 mittee of the Hospital of the Good Shepherd and both Dr. and Mrs. McChes- 
 ney were members of the Fortnightly Club of Syracuse. 
 
 Following his marriage Dr. McChesney took his bride to the field of his 
 labor, for prior to leaving the university he had been admitted to the Provi- 
 dence conference and he entered upon the duties of his first appointment. His 
 pulpit ability commanded immediate attention and his services were widely 
 sought by New England churches. The year 1868 was spent by him as pas- 
 tor of the Methodist church at Thompsonville, Connecticut, and this was fol- 
 lowed by pastorates at the Central church of Norwich, Connecticut, 1869-70; 
 New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1871-73; First Church of Fall River, Massachu- 
 setts, 1874-6; and the First Church of Taunton, Massachusetts, 1877-8. A 
 decade thus passed, during the opening years of which he pursued post-grad- 
 uate work in the Boston University, which institution conferred upon him 
 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, while from Wesleyan University he sub- 
 sequently received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1876 he was made 
 a delegate to the general conference of the Methodist church and in 1879 he 
 was transferred to the Troy conference and appointed to the pastorate of the 
 Hudson Avenue church in Albany. In 1882 he became pastor of the State 
 Street church in Troy, where he remained for three years, when in 1885 he 
 took a supernumerary relation that he might have opportunity to go abroad, 
 enjoying the pleasures of travel and study in the old world. Accompanied by 
 his wife, he spent a year in Europe and did considerable work in special lines 
 in the University of Leipzig. Many of his happiest hours in Europe were spent 
 in the art galleries in studying the works of the old masters and the modern 
 painters and he thus stored up a fund of knowledge which proved to him of 
 greatest benefit in his later work in connection with the Syracuse University. 
 
 While still abroad Dr. McChesney was invited to become pastor of St. 
 Paul's church of New York city and for three years after his return — then 
 the limit of appointment — he remained in that pastorate. In 1889 he was 
 appointed to the Madison Avenue Methodist church of New York, where he 
 remained for five years and from 1894 until 1896 was pastor at White Plains. 
 The following year he accepted the pastorate of Calvary church of New York 
 city and then resigned to become dean of the fine arts department of Syracuse 
 University. 
 
 In this city he lived and labored until his death, endearing himself more 
 and more day by day to the people with whom he came in contact, while the 
 sphere of his usefulness and activity broadened, the university benefiting 
 greatly by his labors. He was always a lover of art and of nature. The 
 Christian Advocate, in commenting on his work in connection with the uni- 
 versity, spoke of him as an art student by nature and temperament and 
 quoted from Anna Katharine Green: "There are two kinds of artists in the 
 world, those that work because the spirit is in them, and they cannot be 
 silent if they would •, and those that speak from a conscientious desire to make 
 
^tt, ggngtgn Mt€bt6ntp 105 
 
 apparent to others the beauty that has awakened their own admiration." 
 The Advocate added: "Ensign McChesney possessed both the spirit and 
 purpose, so that we would be compelled to number him with both classes." 
 G. P. Eckman said of him: "By the very constitution of his mind he was 
 destined to be an instructor of men. His training in the ministry, no less 
 than his travels and persistent study, prepared him for the teaching of 
 youth. And when he was chosen for the exalted position which he occupied 
 at the time of his death he hailed the event as a Providential opportunity 
 for enlarged usefulness in a congenial field. An artist of no inconsiderable 
 merit and always a student in the realm of aesthetics, he was singularly 
 qualified by nature, inclination and training for the high calling of his late 
 years. Under his intelligent guidance and executive masterfulness the depart- 
 ment committed to his care steadily grew in distinction and efficiency. He 
 drew about him a large body of earnest and devoted students, and his removal 
 from their company creates a vacancy difficult to fill." 
 
 As a leader in the religious world Dr. McChesney became recognized as 
 one of the most distinguished divines of the Methodist Episcopal ministry. 
 From his early youth he was a student of religious problems and was ever a 
 fearless and independent thinker. He frequently contributed to the litera- 
 ture of the church in articles that attest the virility of the author's mind and 
 the clearness of his moral judgments. One who knew him well said of him : 
 "In the pulpit Dr. McChesney presented a rare combination of the intellectual 
 and emotional types of preaching. He delighted in the discussion of the 
 great fundamental doctrines of our faith, and when these themes fully engaged 
 him in public discourse he rose to veritable heights of eloquence and power. 
 He possessed also the unique ability to impart to his published utterances 
 the effectiveness of the spoken message. His style was chaste, vigorous 
 and incisive. He trained his congregation like a master and gave to the 
 people a solid and invigorating philosophy of life which developed in them a 
 deeper intelligence and a more robust faith. In the pastorate Ensign McChes- 
 ney disclosed a nature of unusual warmth and kindliness. No just appeal to 
 his humane spirit ever failed of a quick and generous response. To the 
 needy he gave of his substance; to the sinful he proclaimed a gospel of 
 divine forgiveness; and to the troubled he proffered a ministry of consola- 
 tion. Exquisitely sensitive to suflfering, he entered into the sorrows of 
 other men with keen and sympathetic appreciation, which, expressed in words 
 of cheer, often healed the wounds of the stricken by their very gentleness 
 and grace. A man of such a fiber will evince the highest qualities of com- 
 radeship, and those who really knew Ensign McChesney found in him a com- 
 panion of the most genial and engaging character. Herein lay the essential 
 manliness of the man. The soul of honor himself, he could not endure duplic- 
 ity and equivocation. For ignorance, weakness and even waywardness 
 he had compassion and tenderness, but bigotry, narrowness, prejudice and 
 
io6 met). <l^n£(ign Mt€tt6ntp 
 
 insincerity awakened in him an honest loathing. He was genuineness itself, 
 and he could bear with little patience evidences of artifice, intrigue, com- 
 promise. He was true and righteous altogether, a shining pillar in the tem- 
 ple of the Lord, standing erect and stately, a figure of strength, solidity and 
 grace." 
 
 Death came to Dr. McChesney when he was in his sixty-second year. He 
 had up to that time grown in mental power and strength and in his work 
 had continually advanced until he was upon a high plane of activity. When 
 he was called from this life the university with which he was connected, the 
 church of which he was a representative and the city in which he resided 
 suffered an almost irreparable loss, which, however, came with deepest force 
 in his home and in the circle of his intimate friends. Men of learning sought 
 his companionship and found him a peer, yet he had a heart that reached 
 out to the humblest and a ready sympathy quick in response. Those who 
 were associated with him and came to know the full reach of his nature in its 
 intellectual and spiritual development speak of him in words only of the high- 
 est praise. 
 
 Chancellor Day of the Syracuse University, who had been his associate in 
 pastoral work in New York city, as well as in the school, said: "The Uni- 
 versity has sustained a serious loss in the death of Dean McChesney. He 
 was a true man, four-square, transparent and loyal to his friends and to 
 any cause in which he was interested. He was a man of large sympathies, 
 to whom anything that took the form of a sham or was insincere was intol- 
 erable. Socially he was a delightful companion and was welcomed in a large 
 circle of friends. He was an entertaining story-teller and drew his stories 
 from a large fund. He was a rare man to meet and know inside. For that 
 matter, he was all inside. There was only one side to Ensign McChesney. 
 He had exceeding tenderness, kindness, sympathy and love. T know no man 
 who was more of an oflfering to his friends." 
 
 His pastor said: "I have seldom found a man whose heart was more 
 open or one who could strengthen a man more than Dean McChesney. So 
 that I feel certain that every sermon I preached in the First Church was a 
 little better when he was present. He was a man great and able, true and 
 kind, and his life was as white as the sunlight." While there is no doubt 
 the world is struggling upward, there are as yet comparatively few who have 
 reached the heights, both spiritual and intellectual, that Dr. McChesney at- 
 tained. Breathing the pure air and gaining the broader view of such exalted 
 altitudes, at the same time he ever had a hand down-reaching to lift others 
 to the position that he had attained. 
 

Cfjarles; be ?Berarti iWiUsi 
 
 |HARLES DE BERARD MILLS, clergyman, 
 scholar, writer and reformer, was born in New 
 Hartford, New York, January 15, 1821. He was 
 the eldest of the four sons of Abiram and Grace de 
 Berard Mills. His father, after following for some 
 years the calling of a farmer, entered the ministry 
 of the Presbyterian church. The founder of the 
 family in America was Simeon Mills, who came 
 over from England and settled in Salem, Massachu- 
 setts, about 1630. Five years later he removed to Windsor, Connecticut. 
 His grandson, Elkanah Mills, settled in Litchfield, Oneida county, New York. 
 Abiram Mills was his son. 
 
 On the maternal side Mr. Mills was of French descent. His grandfather, 
 Charles Joseph de Berard, for whom he was named, was a member of an 
 ancient and noble family of southern France. He was educated in the same 
 military school with General La Fayette and was his warm friend. Through 
 the influence of this friendship his interest in the American Revolution was 
 intensified and he came to America as a naval officer of subordinate rank in 
 one of the French fleets. At the close of the war, Mr. de Berard settled in 
 Connecticut for a time and there married Polly Johnson of Branford. Thence 
 he removed to New Hartford, New York, where the remainder of his life was 
 spent. He was a man of marked characteristics, a scholar and a gentleman, 
 who was greatly beloved among the people of the county. Suflfering an 
 accident, it became necessary for him to have several fingers amputated. As 
 there were no anesthetics known in those days, some one suggested that a 
 friend hold his hand. Mr. de Berard refused such aid and said laughingly, 
 "There are no cowards in my regiment." With these words he put his hand 
 down on the block and held it there unflinchingly until the operation was over. 
 His wife was a strict Puritan. But he kept to his French dress until his death 
 and lost none of his grace of manner among the surroundings of a more 
 primitive life in a new country. His silk stockings, knee breeches, embroid- 
 ered waistcoat and courtly bearing made him a marked figure among the 
 country folk. A former resident of Syracuse who remembered him used to 
 say that he was specially fond of children, a crowd of whom would often run 
 after him to talk and play, as he walked. He had a fine French library which 
 he did not teach his daughters to read. When they asked why he did not, he 
 
 107 
 
io8 Ctiarlcg be 2^erarb jUSiUg 
 
 replied, smiling, "One tongue is enough for a woman." His letters show that 
 he had mastered English and used it with unusual facility. 
 
 The daughter, Grace, reared her children after her mother's faith and was 
 a strict instructor in all the tenets of the old creed. Each boy had his own 
 little testament as soon as he was able to sit up at the table and was expected 
 to read his verses before every meal, Sunday was a busy day for the house- 
 hold, though no work could be done between sunset Saturday and the same 
 hour Sunday. The day was filled with long sermons and services. Church in 
 the morning, Sunday school at noon and afternoon and an early evening 
 service absorbed the day which seemed very long to small boys of lively 
 temperaments. The district schools afforded few opportunities for education. 
 
 As he grew older, Charles showed a strongly intellectual bent and a 
 quick mind. He found time in the hours of leisure between his tasks on the 
 farm to pursue his studies beyond the school curriculum. He read every book 
 within reach by the light of the back log and was eager for more. His 
 parents decided to make a minister of him. In 1838 he entered Oneida 
 Institute at Whitestown, New York. The president. Rev. Beriah Green, was 
 a man of strong personality and unusual intellectual power who exerted a 
 marked influence upon his students. He had no more devoted follower than 
 Mr. Mills, who used often to say in later life that he owed much to Mr. Green. 
 In two years he had covered the ground of the full college course of four 
 years. Desiring to make a special study of oriental languages, he left Oneida 
 Institute in 1840 to enter Lane Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio. He was at- 
 tracted to Lane by the fame of two most distinguished scholars of the day. 
 Dr. Lyman Beecher and Professor Calvin E. Stowe, Dr. Beecher's son-in-law. 
 Under Professor Stowe, Mr, Mills studied Arabic, Sanskrit and other eastern 
 tongues, gaining an acquaintance with these languages that in later life led 
 him to a deep study of oriental literature. He had prepared himself thus 
 carefully and at great sacrifice, being obliged to practice the utmost economy, 
 in anticipation of a professorship in oriental languages at Knox College, 
 Galesburg, Illinois, The president had known Mr, Mills at Oneida Institute 
 and had offered the place to him because of his enthusiasm and accurate schol- 
 arship. But, when he was a student at Lane Seminary, the young man had 
 taught a colored school evenings and had frequently spoken at anti-slavery 
 gatherings. The trustees of Knox decided that a professor of such pro- 
 nounced abolition principles would not be acceptable to the sons of southern- 
 ers who attended the college and so failed to engage him. Thus came the first 
 sacrifice to higher truth. It was but one of many such sacrifices that Mr. 
 Mills made through his life. 
 
 Absolutely unswerving in his devotion to what seemed to him right, he 
 never counted the cost of such devotion nor considered worldly losses of any 
 moment in comparison with loyalty to conscience. Denied the place he had 
 hoped to have and for which he was so eminently fitted, he went bravely on. He 
 
Ct)arle£( be ^^prarb Mi^i ^°9 
 
 began teaching at the academy in Sherburne, New York. But in those days 
 that tried men's souls the spirit of persecution was rife in many places. At 
 Sherburne, Mr. Mills' college associate and friend. Rev. James Sayles Brown, 
 preached in the Presbyterian church. It was not long before both minister 
 and teacher were deposed by the pro-slavery element which would not brook 
 any difference of opinion. Then and there Mr. Mills resolved that he would 
 never again be subject to a board of trustees who would hamper his work or 
 try to dictate to him as to his personal beliefs. Mr. Brown decided to take 
 the church at North Pitcher, Chenango county, and persuaded his friend to go 
 with him and open a private school. One of the chief patrons was David 
 Smith, a wealthy farmer who had planned to send two of his daughters to the 
 Emma Willard School at Troy. But Mr. Brown had told him that there was 
 not a teacher in Troy to equal Mr. Mills. So the girls staid at home. This 
 step brought momentous consequences for one of them. 
 
 In the following June, the younger, Harriet A. Smith, then nineteen, 
 married Charles de Berard Mills at North Pitcher, New York. Both taught 
 a private school at Smyrna, New York, the next winter. Then they removed 
 to Ohio, living there for six years, first at Brownhelm and later at Elyria. At 
 Brownhelm Mr. Mills preached to an independent branch of the Congrega- 
 tional church which was organized to inquire into truth unhampered by any 
 outside authority. He had first been invited to become pastor of the regular 
 Congregational church of that village. But some of the conservatives scented 
 heresy in the fearless utterances of the young preacher and refused to sup- 
 port him. The majority of the congregation followed him and persuaded him 
 to form this new society. Moving to Elyria he opened a private school in the 
 academy and still continued to preach at Brownhelm for three years. The 
 boys who went to college from the Elyria school were so much better prepared 
 than those from other schools that one of the professors of Western Reserve 
 College inquired about this superior teacher and made overtures toward secur- 
 ing him as one of the teaching stafif of the college. Of this advantageous 
 opening he did not avail himself, saying "It would be of no use. They would 
 not let me express my convictions and I cannot be false to them." His work 
 in Elyria was remarkably successful and he might have remained there but for 
 the ill health of Mrs. Mills. This led him to leave Ohio. He came east and 
 settled in Syracuse in 1852. In that city he lived for the remainder of his life, 
 forty-eight years. He was during that time one of its most public-spirited 
 and best known citizens, taking an active part in its civic, intellectual and 
 philanthropic life. 
 
 His reason for selecting Syracuse as his home was characteristic of Mr. 
 Mills' desire for the real rather than the outside shows of life. He did not 
 consider the financial advantages. He had heard of Samuel J. May, the city's 
 foremost citizen. "Let us go to Syracuse," he said to his wife. "A com- 
 munity where such a man as Mr. May can work must have a circle of people 
 
I lo Ctarlesi Ire 2^erarb ^iUsi 
 
 whom we shall like to know." So to Syracuse the family came, finding Mr. 
 May, uniting with his church and forming with him a close friendship that 
 ended only with his death. When the one hundredth anniversary of Mr. 
 May's birth was celebrated in the May Memorial church, Mr. Mills was intro- 
 duced as his closest living friend and was able to take part in the service, 
 although he was then in failing health. For many years these two citizens la- 
 bored together in reforms. They joined hands with other friends in the anti- 
 slavery struggle. The night that Mr. May was burned in effigy in Hanover 
 Square, Mr. Mills was with him at the hall. There they were mobbed and 
 were forced to escape to the house of Dr. R. W. Pease, where the meeting that 
 the mob had interrupted was continued. Many times he spoke with Mr. May 
 and other leaders of the anti-slavery cause in different towns of the state. For 
 years he presided over- the annual gatherings of the society of Progressive 
 Friends in Waterloo, New York. He was also the leader of the Kennett Square, 
 Pennsylvania, meetings for some years. His home was a station on the under- 
 ground railroad. It was open to all earnest reformers and intellectual leaders. 
 Wendell Phillips, A. Bronson Alcott, Louisa Alcott, Lucy Stone, Gerritt Smith, 
 Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ednah D. 
 Cheney, Parker Pillsbury and many more were welcome guests within those 
 portals. Whoever came with a message to deliver was gladly received. 
 
 Setting aside his scholarly tastes and his special training in literature, for 
 which there seemed no demand on account of his advanced faith in political 
 and religious freedom, Mr. Mills turned his hand to the first work that offered 
 in Syracuse. It happened to be bookkeeping. He accepted a position with 
 the nursery firm of Thorp, Smith & Hanchett. For twenty-two years he re- 
 mained connected with this business, though several changes were made in the 
 membership of the firm. Giving his days to this confining work, he still found 
 time for literary activity. His nights and mornings, his holidays were given 
 to the study and writing which he loved. During this period he was a fre- 
 quent contributor to magazines, writing articles upon Pythagaras (the Radi- 
 cal, September, 1868), the Eleatic School, (the Radical, October, 1869), 
 Zoroaster and his religion, (the Radical, October and November, 1871), 
 Bruno, Fichte, Des Cartes, and other philosophers. 
 
 The two strongest literary influences upon his life were Emerson and 
 oriental thought. He was a personal friend of the Concord seer and knew his 
 writings most intimately. There was a similarity in their minds and in their 
 catholicity of spirit as well as in their philosophy of life. For a number of 
 years Mr. Mills conducted an Emerson class of adults in the May Memorial 
 Unitarian church of the city. He was a guest in Mr. Emerson's house many 
 times and lectured in Concord. 
 
 With oriental thought as with Greek philosophy he was very familiar. 
 Reading both ancient and modern languages with ease, he was able to go to 
 the source of earlier thought and modern criticism. His library was carefully 
 
Ctiarleg be 2^crartr MiVii m 
 
 selected, containing the real gems of such Hterature. He lectured on Emerson, 
 Greek philosophy and other themes in many cities both east and west of 
 Syracuse, in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York, etc. He was an earnest 
 advocate of temperance and woman suffrage, often speaking for these reforms. 
 On the platform he had great elegance of diction combined with an elo- 
 quence and earnestness that carried conviction. His style of writing was 
 terse and clear. In the year 1876 he published the Indian Saint or Buddha 
 and Buddhism, which was pronounced by a great critic "one of the best 
 things ever said of that noble life." It was the first presentation to the 
 American public of this founder of a great religion. An English author wrote 
 at about the same time, neither he nor Mr. Mills knowing of the other's effort 
 until the books appeared. Since then many others have treated this theme. 
 The whole edition of Mr. Mills' book was soon exhausted. Pebbles, Pearls 
 and Gems of the Orient, a collection of precious bits in prose and verse, ap- 
 peared in 1882. In 1883 the Tree of Mythology was published. It was the 
 result of many years of careful arid comparative study of the myths and folk 
 lore of different peoples. A study of Carlyle and Emerson and an estimate of 
 Tyndall were left unfinished at Mr. Mills' death. 
 
 For fourteen years and up to the time of his failure in health, he was 
 general secretary of the Bureau of Labor and Charities and the Society for 
 the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Syracuse. Here he labored most 
 untiringly in rescuing children from unfit surroundings and in redeeming 
 from idleness and dependence older classes in the community. He believed 
 that, as the new science teaches how to prevent disease, so the new charity or 
 philanthropy should teach the prevention of crime and pauperism. Mr. Mills' 
 personal influence among the poor was a strong one and his broad sympathies 
 combined with a keen sense of justice made him a wise counselor to those who 
 sought him in distress. More than once a poor man, led from drink and shift- 
 lessness to be self-supporting, has come back to Mr. Mills to thank him for 
 what he had done for him in his hour of trouble. 
 
 Professor Horatio S. White, formerly of Cornell and now of Harvard 
 University, writing at the time of Mr. Mills' death, said : "His loss will affect 
 deeply others beside his immediate circle. He stood always for a noble inde- 
 pendence in life and character and his own personal ideals were not only high 
 but realized in himself. And so he was able to absorb the best in the writings 
 of the leaders of the race. I have never met any one who seemed so permeated 
 with the highest thoughts of mankind. And yet his personality was so gentle 
 and cordial that he won all hearts. I look back upon him and Mr. May as 
 two of the strongest influences surrounding my boyhood in the church. It 
 was a rich privilege to have known men of such sterling worth." 
 
 Rev. William C. Gannett, pastor of the Unitarian church, Rochester, said : 
 "Those who knew him best will remember him for his successful brotherhood 
 
112 dlfiatlti be^erarb Mi^^ 
 
 to them. That word belongs to him in the highest sense — a successful life as 
 measured by the real life values." 
 
 A simple service on a beautiful May day of 1900 testified to the love 
 and esteem in which Mr. Mills was held by the foremost citizens of Syracuse. 
 The Rev. S. R. Calthrop, pastor of the Unitarian church, conducted the serv- 
 ice. He said: "This friend worked until his body almost dropped down, 
 always in the service of humanity. His life is a benediction. Here is a 
 man who was true, I will not say, to his convictions, but true to the highest 
 principles from the dawn of his morning until the evening of his life. 
 
 "Those who knew him well, as some of us did, knew that he was a priest 
 and a prophet; one who had the right to speak glowing words of hope and 
 truth and progress to mankind." 
 
 Others who spoke words of appreciation were: Miss Susan B. Anthony, 
 Miss Emily Howland, Mr. Salem Hyde, Rev. E. W. Mundy and Mr. E. A. 
 Powell. Mr. Powell said of him: "Those who have known him in his 
 home, with his family and friends in social life, have known him best and 
 we, his neighbors, especially feel that we have lost a true friend, a delight- 
 ful associate, a sympathetic and beloved neighbor. Here was a true man, 
 true to every trust, true to his friends, true to country, true to principle, true 
 to himself, true to every obligation of life." 
 
 Mr. Mundy quoted the following lines as most appropriate to the life of 
 his friend: 
 
 "Those souls that of His own good life partake. 
 
 He loves as His own self. 
 
 Dear as His eye they are to Him. 
 
 He'll never them forsake. 
 
 When they shall die, then God himself shall die. 
 
 They live, they live in blest eternity." 
 
 The Syracuse Browning Club, of which Mr. Mills was a charter member, 
 held a memorial meeting when addresses were made by Mr. C. W. Bardeen 
 and others. Mr. Mills was also a member of the Fortnightly Club at its for- 
 mation and of the Syracuse Political Equality Club. His character was re- 
 markable for its strength of principle, its versatility, its breadth of interest, its 
 gentleness and its unselfishness. Nothing human was foreign to him and he 
 regarded people of all ranks and conditions as his brothers, giving to all the 
 same sympathy and interest. 
 
 The children of Harriet A. and Charles de Berard Mills are William Hough 
 Mills, M. D., and Harriet May Mills, both of whom are residents of Syracuse. 
 
?|on, IS^iEiam ?|» (Sallup 
 
 ON. WILLIAM H. GALLUP was born in Marcellus, 
 New York, May 27, 1858, and was the oldest child 
 of George and Mary (Clements) Gallup. George 
 Gallup came from Somersetshire, England, to Mar- 
 cellus in 1850, where he engaged in the teasel busi- 
 ness until his death in 1882. He was a citizen highly 
 respected, influential and esteemed, and possessed 
 sterling qualities of head and heart, which William 
 H. inherited to a marked degree. Mary (Clements) 
 Gallup was also a native of Somersetshire, England. She survived her hus- 
 band by scarcely two years. William H. Gallup was educated in his native 
 town and later was graduated from the Law College of Union University at 
 Albany. He was admitted to the Onondaga county bar in June, 1879. After 
 practicing his profession for three years in Marcellus, upon his father's death, 
 he succeeded to the teasel business. 
 
 It was at this time that he became most identified with both village 
 and county politics. Always active and energetic in whatever he undertook 
 and with never failing good judgment, the many progressive features in the 
 Marcellus village improvements date back to his administration and stand as 
 a memorial to his liberal views and undaunted courage in executing the 
 same. In politics he was a stanch republican and twice represented the old 
 second district of Onondaga in the legislature. At his second election — in 
 1889 — his plurality was two thousand and fifteen, the largest ever given to 
 any candidate in that district. In ;the assembly he was an acknowledged 
 leader. 
 
 In 1892 Mr. Gallup removed to Syracuse, where he organized the Syra- 
 cuse Improvement Company for the laying of asphalt pavements, he, himself, 
 acting as its secretary, treasurer and general manager, and making it emphat- 
 ically successful. Later, in 1895, the Columbia Construction Company was 
 formed for the importing and refining of asphalt. With him were associated 
 in this enterprise Charles M. Warner, P. R. Quinlan, Hendrick Holden, 
 Edward Joy, George M. Barnes, the late W. Judson Smith and others. It 
 was while the refinery for this company was being built there, that at Jones 
 Point on the Hudson, Mr. Gallup met his death June 29, 1896. 
 
 He was a man of unquestioned integrity and honor. In all his busi- 
 ness connections he was recognized as an important factor, and his execu- 
 
 113 
 
XI4 
 
 i^on. WiUmm ^. <$aau9 
 
 tive ability was an essential element to their success. His great energy and 
 ready resources were qualities of high value. At the age of thirty-eight 
 years he had really accomplished the work of a long life, and his early death 
 closed a career of exceptional prominence. At the time of his death, Mr. 
 Gallup was a member of Central City Lodge, No. 305, F. & A. M. ; of the Citi- 
 zens' Club, and other organizations in Syracuse. 
 
 On the 2d of September, 1880, he married Miss Emma Sweet, of Mar- 
 celluss and two daughters were born to them: Mary Eloise and Bessie 
 Sweet. After Mr. Gallup's death his family returned to their home in Mar- 
 cellus, where on October i, 1905, the second daughter, Bessie Sweet, died 
 at the age of sixteen years. 
 
^^/-^.^^^ 
 
 ^^>^^^ 
 
Carl p. aitjorti 
 
 HE LIFE history of Earl B. Alvord constitutes an 
 important chapter in the annals of Syracuse and 
 Onondaga county. Spending almost his entire life 
 within the borders of the county and a resident of 
 Syracuse from 1849, he instituted many of those 
 business enterprises and fathered many progressive 
 measures which led to the substantial and rapid 
 growth and improvement of the city. He was born 
 in the town of Steuben, Oneida county, New York, 
 October 7, 1822, his parents being Anson and Abigail (Clark) Alvord, rep- 
 resentatives of old New England families. They had three sons and two 
 daughters, of whom Earl B. was the youngest. In March, 1829, they re- 
 moved with their family from Oneida county to Onondaga Valley, Earl 
 being at that time six years of age. He remained at home until 1841 and 
 worked for neighboring farmers or attended the district school as opportunity 
 afforded, thus acquiring his education. In the year mentioned, however, he 
 began the manufacture of lime in connection with his brothers, Clark and 
 Henry G. Alvord, at Onondaga Valley. Soon afterward he purchased his 
 brothers' interest in the business and continued it as one of the numerous 
 business enterprise which claimed his time and energies and made him one of 
 the leading citizens of the county until his demise. 
 
 In 1849 Mr. Alvord became a resident of Syracuse and soon afterward 
 built a lime mill at the corner of Lock and Canal streets, which was after- 
 ward occupied by the Mowry & Barnes Packing Company. His business 
 prospered under his prudent and energetic management and in 1869 he 
 invested largely in limestone quarries at Jamesville, New York, and estab- 
 lished branches for manufacture at that place and at Binghamton, these vari- 
 ous enterprises being conducted under the firm name of E. B. Alvord & 
 Company. In 1878 Mr. Alvord engaged largely in the coal business in 
 Syracuse and in 1880 opened a branch yard at Cleveland, Ohio, continuing 
 as a large operator in coal until his death in 1883. 
 
 A man of resourceful business ability, he extended his efforts to various 
 lines of activity, all of which profited by his keen judgment, his unflagging 
 industry and his aptitude for successful management. He was the pioneer 
 in the manufacture of the macadam pavement in Syracuse, Warren street 
 being the first roadway in the city so paved. His business interests were 
 
 tl5 
 
ii6 earl 2g. aiborb 
 
 largely of a nature that improved the city and promoted its commercial pros- 
 perity, at the same time advancing his individual success. 
 
 Mr. Alvord was a bitter opponent of monopolies and sacrificed many 
 thousands of dollars in reducing the price of coal and other commodities 
 for the people of Syracuse. With that end in view he enlarged his mill 
 property on Lock street and converted it into an abbatoir, which resulted in 
 the reduction of the price of pork products in Syracuse. He was a man 
 of unusually broad business views. His path was never strewn with the 
 wreck of other men's fortunes, nor was he ever known to take advantage of 
 the necessities of another in a business transaction. He believed in a fair 
 profit but not in the advancement of prices which would place products out 
 of the reach of the poor and throughout his entire business career he sus- 
 tained an unassailable reputation. He possessed the capacity for grasping 
 opportunities and promoting large undertakings, pushing them to a profit- 
 able conclusion, and yet no word was ever uttered against the correctness or 
 integrity of his methods. His wisdom was sound concerning business con- 
 ditions and possibilities and his advice was often sought and given freely. 
 
 On June 13, 1849, Mr. Alvord was married to Miss Helen Hickok, of 
 Onondaga Valley, who still survives him, occupying a beautiful residence on 
 South Salina street. They had two sons, Anson E. and Edgar Alvord, both 
 of whom are now deceased. 
 
 Mr. Alvord was always liberal in his political views, never identifying 
 himself closely with any party. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his abil- 
 ity and his loyalty to the general good, frequently tendered him the nomina- 
 tion for mayor and other leading municipal offices but he always declined, pre- 
 fering to aid in the promotion of the interests of Syracuse in other ways. He 
 was a firm believer in the future growth and prosperity of the city and at 
 favorable opportunities he invested largely in real estate, having extensive 
 property holdings at the time of his death. He endorsed many progressive 
 measures for the good of the city, nor did he withhold that substantial aid 
 which must always accompany influence if results are attained. He pos- 
 sessed a most generous nature and often aided others in times of need. To 
 the poor and needy he extended a helping hand and they found in him a 
 warm friend. So upright and honorable was his life in all of its phases, 
 so commendable his principles, so manly and sincere his actions, that his name 
 is enshrined in the hearts of all who knew him in a way that time cannot 
 obliterate. 
 
Colonel Sfoljn Wllesilep gale 
 
 N HONORABLE and successful business career 
 gained for Colonel John Wesley Yale recognition as 
 one of the sterling merchants of the city and deep and 
 wide-spread regret were felt when his life's labors 
 were ended in death. He was born at Scipio, Cayuga 
 county, New York, on the 17th of December, 1832, 
 and was a son of Aaron and Mary Yale. His father 
 was a carriage builder, who left Scipio in the early 
 days of the California gold mining excitement and 
 became one of the original "forty-niners" who sought a fortune upon the 
 Pacific coast, hoping to rapidly acquire wealth through the discovery of rich 
 gold deposits. In his family were five children : Frederick G., who is now liv- 
 ing in New York city; Edward, a resident of Newark, New Jersey; Mrs. Cece- 
 lia Chapin, of Washington, D. C. ; and Mrs. Mary Phelps, of Erie, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 The other member of the family was Colonel John Wesley Yale, who in 
 his childhood days was taken by his parents to Perryville, Madison county, 
 New York. His early education was acquired in the district school of that 
 neighborhood and when a mere lad he started out to make his own way in 
 the world. He had no difficulty in early gaining a knowledge of the value 
 of money, for his financial resources were limited, as he had only that which 
 he earned and it was necessary therefore that he use each dollar to the best 
 advantage. He entered a dry-goods store in Erie, Pennsylvania, and after- 
 ward went to New York city, where he lived for several years, being there 
 engaged in the book business. The year i860 witnessed his arrival in Syra- 
 cuse, where he established a book and wall-paper business, his store being 
 located in the Sherman block until after its destruction by fire. The original 
 building was then replaced by the Larned block. For more than thirty years 
 Colonel Yale conducted a wall-paper establishment and art room in South 
 Salina street and at his death was the oldest merchant in that line in the city. 
 He had by close application, unwearied industry and careful management 
 built up a large and lucrative business, his trade extending throughout central 
 New York. In more recent years his son was associated with him under the 
 firm style of J. W. Yale & Son. Previously he had for thirteen years been a 
 partner of Louis Windholz, of Syracuse. He ever made it his purpose to 
 please his patrons, to furnish goods at reasonable prices and to follow the 
 
 117 
 
ii8 Colonel Jofin Wtilep gale 
 
 most honorable methods in dealing with the general public. His success was 
 therefore well merited and gradually he rose from a comparatively humble 
 position in business circles to one of affluence and prominence. As his finan- 
 cial resources permitted he from time to time made judicious investments in 
 real estate until he became the owner of a large amount of property, both 
 improved and unimproved. 
 
 Colonel Yale was long identified with military interests, becoming a mem- 
 ber of the old Citizens Corps in 1861. He was afterward an officer of the Fifty- 
 first Regiment of the National Guard and iii 1877 was elected colonel of the 
 regiment as successor to Colonel Nicholas Grumbach. For four years he was 
 in command and resigned in 1881, when he was succeeded by Colonel D wight 
 H. Bruce. The old Forty-first Separate Company was for several years known 
 as the Yale Rifles, being so termed in honor of Colonel Yale. At the time of 
 the National Guard encampment at Peekskill he had the contract for furnish- 
 ing meals to the state troops, having this contract for thirteen years in part- 
 nership with Louis Windholz. 
 
 Colonel Yale was equally prominent and influential in democratic circles. 
 He was an actiVe participant in the work for its upbuilding and success and 
 one of its most loyal adherents. For thirteen years he was chairman of the 
 democratic county committee and in 1880 was his party's candidate for mayor. 
 For several terms he was a member of the board of education and was appointed 
 a member of the board of police commissioners by Mayor W. B. Burns in 
 1887. In the succeeding year he was elected president of the board and in 
 that capacity rendered signal service to his city. In 1892 he received the 
 appointment of manager of the Syracuse state institution for feeble minded 
 children and was re-appointed in 1896 and again in 1900 by Governor Theodore 
 Roosevelt. He represented his party at many state and national conventions 
 and was a warm personal friend of David B. Hill and of Governor Roswell P. 
 Flower. He was, moreover, identified for a long period with the Citizens' 
 Club and was one of the board of directors of that leading social organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 In July, 1856, Colonel Yale was united in marriage to Miss Fanny Means, 
 a native of Geneva, New York, and a daughter of Colonel John and Pamelia 
 (Woodworth) Means. Her father was for some time engaged in the hotel 
 business and afterward conducted a livery business but was drowned in the 
 Ohio river at the comparatively early age of forty years. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Yale were born four children: Mary A., the wife of J. H. Walrath; 
 Wesley A. ; George F. ; and Fanny Maud, deceased. 
 
 The death of the husband and father occurred June 26, 1900. He had been 
 seriously ill in the previous winter but his health had greatly improved and 
 he traveled throughout the eastern part of the state, returning to Syracuse 
 greatly benefited. The final summons came quite unexpectedly and his 
 death was deeply deplored by a wide circle of friends. He was a regular 
 
Colonel 3lot)n WtHtf gale 
 
 119 
 
 attendant on the services of St. Paul's Episcopal church and at the time of 
 his death was one of the vestrymen of that church. He had been a great 
 lover of outdoor life and sports, had keen appreciation for nature in its 
 various phases and spent the spring and autumn months in the woods. He 
 was a member of the Swan Lake Hunting Club of Henry, Illinois, an organ- 
 ization composed largely of Chicago men. An ardent sportsman, he delighted 
 in shooting and fishing and was a member of the old Beaver River Club in 
 the days when its representatives camped at Smith's lake in the Adirondacks. 
 He also spent several winters in Florida and other parts of the south, fish- 
 ing for tarpon and greatly enjoyed his trips to the Adirondacks. 
 
 Prominent in Masonry, he held membership in Central City Lodge, also 
 attained the Knights Templar degree and the thirty-second degree of the 
 Scottish Rite, likewise being connected with the Masonic Veterans. His 
 popularity — and he was a man of many friends — arose from his sincere inter- 
 est in his fellowmen, his kindliness, his geniality and deference for the opin- 
 ions of others. He was always ready with a friendly greeting, a cheery smile 
 or a word of encouragement and these qualities endeared him to those with 
 whom he was associated, while the strength of his character, his laudable ambi- 
 tion and his stalwart purpose gained him a place of prominence among the 
 leading business men of the city. 
 
?(J:fh^u^^^-.Ua-^J?.. 
 
I^elcome ppron 3RanbaIl 
 
 INDLY and honorable in all the relations of life, the 
 virtues of Welcome Byron Randall will cause his 
 memory to be long cherished by those who were his 
 associates while he was still an active factor in the 
 world's work. He lived for some years in Syracuse, 
 where he figured as a strong and able member of the 
 Onondaga county bar and also as a prominent factor 
 in fraternal relations. He was born July 24, 1844, at 
 Plainfield, Otsego county. New York, and was the last 
 surviving child of Joshua B. and Emily L. Randall. His early educational 
 privileges were those of the public schools and at the age of eighteen he 
 received an appointment to West Point, where he remained as a student for 
 four years, when he was obliged to leave the school on account of impaired 
 eyesight. Frustrated in his plans of following a military career, he then 
 determined upon a professional career and took up the study of law in the 
 office of his father, who in the meantime had removed to Syracuse. After 
 thorough and comprehensive preliminary reading he was admitted to the bar 
 in January, 1872, and joined his father in a partnership. From that time 
 until his death he continued one of the members of the Onondaga bar and 
 displayed those qualities which win advancement in the difficult and arduous 
 profession of the law. He recognized that the essential factor of success was 
 careful preparation and he never failed to thus qualify for the active work of 
 the courtroom. In argument, too, he was logical and convincing, showing the 
 processes of an analytical mind to which close reasoning became habitual. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Randall was married to Miss Gertrude S. Wood,^ of Central 
 Square, who is now the widow of W. Caldwell. He was always interested in 
 the work of the fraternal organizations with which he became identified. 
 Beside being chancellor commander of Syracuse Lodge, K. P., which he joined 
 in December, 1884, he also became connected with the uniformed rank and was 
 elected their sir knight commander of the division. His knowledge as a mili- 
 tary tactician was of service to him in this position and the division felt the 
 beneficial influence of his discipline. He held various offices in the lodge and 
 was an impersonation of the cardinal principles of Pythianism. To him friend- 
 ship, charity and benevolence were not empty words but living realities to be 
 exemplified in daily life. Mr. Randall was also a member of the Forty-first 
 Separate Company of the New York National Guard, which organization he 
 
 121 
 
122 
 
 Wtltomt 2^pron fKanbaQ 
 
 raised to a high standard of military efficiency. When death claimed him in 
 February, 1888, this company with one hundred Knights of Pythias followed 
 the remains to Oakwood. Each organization passed resolutions of respect and 
 sympathy, as did the Onondaga county bar. Said one who knew him well: 
 "His character always commanded the respect of his acquaintances and the 
 love and esteem of his friends. Those who knew him best loved him best and 
 to know and love him required intimate association. His nature was of the 
 kindest and in his relations with others he was always tolerant of their 
 opinions." It is not financial success, political fame or military honors that 
 cause an individual to be remembered but those traits of character which 
 show forth brotherly kindness and the recognition of man's duty and obliga- 
 tions to his fellowmen. 
 
'CLCi-i:::ui 
 
3sJaac Coonlep ®ti^ 
 
 'SAAC COONLEY OTIS is a retired farmer, occupy- 
 ing a house in the village of Jordan which was built 
 by his father in 1832. He was born October 3, 1832, 
 in this village and is a son of Herod and Sarah E. 
 (Coonley) Otis. His great-grandfather, Joseph Otis, 
 was a soldier in the American army in the Revolution- 
 ary war. He made his home in Berkshire county, 
 Massachusetts, and reared a family of thirteen chil- 
 dren, including Isaac Otis, the grandfather of our 
 subject, who came from Massachusetts when a boy and settled in Galway, 
 New York. He afterward removed to Fabius, where he purchased a tract of 
 land for six cents per acre. Later he took up his abode at Elbridge, where he 
 followed farming for a few years and in 181 6 removed from that place to the 
 village of Jordan, where his remaining days were passed, his death there 
 occurring in 1854. It was his son, Herod Otis, who became the father of our 
 subject and who followed farming at Jordan for many years. 
 
 The days of Isaac C. Otis' boyhood and youth were spent under the 
 parental roof, where he was reared with a family of four sisters, of whom 
 Mary is now deceased, while the others are Ella, Lavinia and Sarah. He 
 acquired his education in the public schools and since putting aside his text- 
 books has learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience and by read- 
 ing and observation becoming a well informed man. Having arrived at years 
 of maturity, he was married to Miss Franc J. Wood, of Jordan, in 1862. Unto 
 them was born a son, Harry N. Otis, an exceptionally bright and precocious 
 child, who when a lad of fifteen years went to Denver, Colorado, where he 
 was employed as messenger boy in the First National Bank of that city. His 
 fidelity and capability won him promotion from time to time until he became 
 cashier and he was filling that position when he died suddenly of apoplexy 
 at the age of twenty-seven years. His death was a great blow to his parents, 
 as he was their only child. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Otis now occupy the house which was built by his father in 
 the year in which the subject of this review was born. In later years he has 
 remodeled and improved it and it is now most modern in its equipments and 
 conveniences. Indeed it is one of the beautiful homes of the locality and is 
 especially attractive for its warm hearted hospitality. While for many years 
 Mr. Otis was actively engaged in farming, he has for the past twenty years 
 
 123 
 
124 Slgaac Coonlep <©ti)S 
 
 spent two or three months of each year traveling in different parts of the 
 country. 
 
 For two years he was president of the village and has been very promi'- 
 nent in municipal affairs. As the chief executive officer he gave an adminis- 
 tration characterized by improvement and progress and also by an entire 
 absence of all needless expenditure. He was trustee for six years, also police 
 justice for six years, deputy sheriff for twelve years and inspector of the 
 penitentiary for six years, while at the present writing he is serving as a 
 member of the board of education. It will be seen that in nearly all of the 
 offices to which he has been called he has been honored with re-election — a 
 fact which is proof of his capability and fidelity. For seventy-six years a 
 resident of the village of Jordan, he is undoubtedly one of its oldest native 
 born citizens and none have been more loyal or progressive in support of its 
 interests. He is a man whom to know is to respect and honor and it is there- 
 fore with pleasure that we present his record to our readers. 
 
-=c 
 
Hebi ^. Cfiapman 
 
 YRACUSE has long been distinguished for the bril- 
 liance of her bench and bar. Among the lawyers who 
 have practiced in the courts here have been many men 
 of wide distinction, of broad legal learning and of 
 marked talent in the conduct of cases. Among those 
 who are now recognized as prominent and represent- 
 atives of the legal profession in Syracuse is num- 
 bered Levi S. Chapman, who is one of Onondaga 
 county's native sons, his birth having occurred in Fay- 
 etteville, October 15, 1865. 
 
 His father, Nathan. R. Chapman, who practiced his profession as a law- 
 yer for about sixty years in that place, was born in Stonington, Connecticut, 
 in 1809, and just after the war of 1812 his father and grandfather, both of 
 whom bore the name of Nathan Chapman, his mother and his maternal 
 grandfather, Peleg Randall, removed from New England to Madison county. 
 New York, being among the first settlers in that part of the state. The 
 great-grandfather, Nathan Chapman, was a hero of the Revolutionary war, as 
 was also Peleg Randall, who after a pastorate of twenty-three years at the 
 Baptist church in Stonington, Connecticut, resigned in order to join the 
 army and was afterward made captain. His company was present at the 
 surrender of Burgoyne. Nathan Chapman, the grandfather of our subject, 
 was a veteran of the war of 1812. Representatives of the Chapman family 
 are still very numerous in Connecticut, and at Stonington is an old cemetery 
 called the Chapman burying ground, where are found the graves of their ances- 
 tors as far back as 1600, for there were laid to rest the early members of the 
 family who came from England. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Martha M. 
 Tibbetts Chapman, born in Syracuse, returned two years ago to make her home 
 in this city. 
 
 Levi S. Chapman spent his boyhood days at Fayetteville and between the 
 ages of ten and eighteen years was carrier for the Syracuse Journal there. He 
 was educated in the Fayetteville union school, being graduated therefrom in 
 1884. He afterward pursued one year's preparatory work in the Whitestown 
 Seminary prior to matriculating in Syracuse University in the fall of 1885. He 
 pursued a four years' course and was graduated in 1889 with the degree of 
 Bachelor of Arts. On this occasion he was one of the speakers of the class at 
 the commencement exercises and at Fayetteville he had been valedictorian. 
 
 125 
 
126 HclJi ^. Cijapman 
 
 Immediately after the completion of his university course he began the 
 study of law with his father at Fayetteville but in January, 1891, accepted a 
 position as clerk to the board of United States general appraisers in New 
 York city, this board having just been created under the McKinley tariff bill. 
 Mr. Chapman filled the position for one year and in the meantime continued 
 his law reading with Stanley, Clark & Smith. During that year he was 
 admitted to the bar at Utica, where he went for examination. On the ist 
 of January, 1892, he resigned his position in New York and returned to 
 Syracuse, beginning practice in offices with James A. Newell, with whom he 
 formed a partnership a year later. In June, 1899, Mr. Newell's brother, 
 Harry E. Newell, was admitted to a partnership, forming the present firm 
 of Newell, Chapman & Newell. They have made a specialty of negligence 
 and corporation work and for five years conducted all of the city's legal 
 business, while James E, Newell was corporation counsel. Mr. Chapman has 
 become a prime factor in many large corporations in Syracuse and else- 
 where. He has been instrumental in organizing various companies and is 
 still a director of the Watson Wagon Company, of Canastota, New York, 
 which he organized in 1899, and of which he is secretary and treasurer. He 
 is also officially connected with the Sherwood Metal Working Company, the 
 H. J. Ormsby Engraving Company, the James H. Morse Optical Company, 
 the Simmons Binding & Printing Company, of which he is president, and the 
 Morningside Cemetery Association, of which he is the treasurer, all of Syra- 
 cuse; and the N. F. Sholes Company, of Earlville. 
 
 On the 30th of November, 1892, Mr. Chapman was married to Miss Lucia 
 Louise, daughter of the Rev. Charles W. Pattengill, of Whitesboro, New 
 York, formerly pastor of the Baptist church at Fayetteville. They have 
 three children, Ella Louise, Charles Randall and Lucia M., aged respectively 
 fourteen, ten and two years. , 
 
 Mr. Chapman is a thirty-second' degree Mason and belongs to all the 
 local bodies of the Masonic fraternity in Syracuse, He is also connected 
 with the Delta Upsilon, a college fraternity, and has been president of the 
 Delta Upsilon corporation for ten years. He is also a member of Phi Beta 
 Kappa fraternity and is likewise a member of the University Club. For 
 nine years he was president of the Young Men's Christian Association, resign- 
 ing in the spring of 1896, and during his administration the organization was 
 placed upon a good financial basis, paid off a debt of fifty-five thousand dol- 
 lars on their old building and raised three hundred thousand dollars in sub- 
 scriptions for a new building. He also won for the association the interest 
 and support of a host of wealthy and influential friends, in which it had been 
 greatly lacking before. He has always donated freely of his time and 
 money to any worthy and charitable or benevolent movement and has con- 
 tributed largely to the welfare of the city through his moral and financial 
 support of public movements and industrial enterprises. He and his wife 
 
TLtiii ^. Ci)apman 127 
 
 are members of the Central Baptist church, in which he has served as deacon 
 for fifteen years and at the present writing he is chairman of the finance 
 committee. 
 
 In politics a stalwart republican, he was elected to represent his district 
 in the general assembly in 1894-5, during which time he was chairman of 
 tjie committee that investigated the affairs of the city of Syracuse. In man- 
 ner he is entirely free from ostentation or display, yet there is not about 
 him the least shadow of mock modesty. He readily recognizes his opportuni- 
 ties and his duties, utilizes the former and fully meets the latter. He knows 
 that man's best development comes not through the concentration of one's 
 energies upon selfish ends and a deep and sincere interest in his fellowmen 
 and their welfare has prompted his active co-operation in various movements 
 which have contributed to reform, progress and improvement. 
 
^fjomag Jeffersion leacfj 
 
 1 
 
 r-p^HOMAS JEFFERSON LEACH neither inherited his 
 reputation as a banker nor had it thrust upon him. 
 He earned it, step by step, round by round, until he 
 occupied a foremost place in the banking world, with 
 a reputation for integrity and the confidence that 
 inspired such men as William Kirkpatrick, desiring to 
 leave a fortune for memorials, to name Mr. LeaCh as 
 executor to carry out the wishes of the dead. Mr. 
 Leach is a native of Onondaga county, being born in 
 Cicero, April 8, 1830. His father was a native of New York state, an early set- 
 tler of Cicero and a general merchant and business man. The New York nativity 
 was complete for Mr. Leach's mother was Dorcas Deming, also a native of 
 New York state. To this family were born three children, two sons and a 
 daughter, of whom Thomas J. Leach is the only one now living. In the 
 schools of Cicero Mr. Leach studied until his eighth year, when the family 
 moved to Brewerton, where he again knew the joys which are chiefly reminis- 
 cent of the "little red schoolhouse." Three years divided equally between 
 Joseph Allen's famous old school in Syracuse and a school in Boston, Massa- 
 chusetts, completed the school days of Mr. Leach, but not his education, 
 for business introduced him to the greatest education of all, the stuay of men 
 and events, of which he was ever the student for the benefit of those who 
 trusted him. 
 
 For a short time Mr. Leach assisted his father in business in Brewerton, 
 and in 1846 moved with his parents to Syracuse to reside permanently. This 
 was one year before Syracuse became a city, and in its growth he has played 
 no uncertain nor hesitating part, always building with those other famous men 
 who had real pride in home for the better and more beautiful city. The 
 Leaches first lived in a house in East Willow street rented from Captain Cody. 
 Mr, Leach's father died as the result of an accident in 1847. He was building 
 a house and went to a lumberyard located where the old Green way brewery 
 stands to purchase some lumber. He made his purchase and loaded his lumber, 
 when a plank blew upon him, dislocating his neck. After the death Mr. Leach 
 settled upon the estate and finished the house in North Salina street, where 
 the subject of this sketch has since lived. 
 
 Mr. Leach's first services in this city was as a clerk for Williams & 
 Babcock, who kept a general store at the corner of Park and Salina streets, 
 
 129 
 
I30 ^ftormi Seffergon Heacfi 
 
 where he received one hundred and fifty dollars a year for his services and 
 boarded himself. Salt was the principal industry of the Salina end of the 
 future Syracuse, and it was to salt that Mr. Leach directed his attention, and 
 his first individual business enterprise. He purchased two salt blocks at 
 the foot of Court street, with Edward B. Judson, long president of the First 
 National Bank, and Coddington B. Williams. Mr. Leach ran these salt 
 blocks two years and earned a salary of fifty dollars a year and board, for 
 looking after and attending to the blocks. 
 
 Then began Mr. Leach's career as a banker, and there was no lower place 
 for him to begin than that of clerk, running errands, serving notices and 
 making himself generally useful at a very small salary. This was in 1850, 
 and there were but three people in the historic old Bank of Salina, where 
 he was first employed. Of the thirteen directors of that time and the numer- 
 ous stockholders Mr. Leach is the only one living. The Bank of Salina was 
 the leading financial institution of those days. David Munroe of Camillus 
 was the president and Cornelius L. Alvord, brother of the late Lieutenant 
 Governor Thomas G. Alvord, the cashier. At that time Salina and Syracuse 
 were about even as regards the general value of business transacted. This 
 was the period of Salina's greatest prosperity. Mr. Leach worked up in the 
 bank, first as bookkeeper and then as teller, leaving the bank in 1859, one year 
 before it was closed up. 
 
 When Mr. Leach left the Bank of Salina it was to accept the position of 
 cashier of the Salt Springs Bank of Syracuse, which position he held for 
 thirty-nine consecutive years. As a banker Mr. Leach has been conspicuously 
 shrewd and successful, and to his knowledge of the financial work was due 
 in large measure the conduct of the affairs of that well known bank. No 
 banker stood higher in the confidence and esteem of his business associates 
 and the financial world. Upon January 19, 1898, Mr. Leach was elected 
 president of the Salt Springs Bank, which position he occupied for two years. 
 At this time Mr. Leach was president of the Associated Banks of Syra- 
 cuse, or the Clearing House Association. No other record for banking 
 service made in Syracuse equals that of Mr. Leach, and he could rightfully 
 lay claim to the distinction of being the oldest bank cashier and of having 
 the longest continued service of any bank officer in the city. 
 
 Among the historic enterprises with which Mr. Leach was connected 
 was the Salina & Central Square Plank Road Company, of which he was 
 long secretary and treasurer beside being a trustee. This plank road com- 
 pany was organized in 1844 to build the road from Salina to Central Square, 
 a distance of seventeen and one-half miles. It was the first plank road ever 
 built in the United States and is still in use between Salina and Cicero. Dirt 
 and swamp roads, which were well nigh impassable, existed before the laying 
 of this plank road, which immediately became a great boon to the farmers 
 of the north. As a boy Mr. Leach brought loads of wheat from Brewerton 
 
■^tiomag gtffergon Heact 131 
 
 to the red mill in Syracuse, which stood on the site of the old high school 
 building in West Genesee street. This plank road was one of the few enter- 
 prises of the sort which remunerated the stockholders. 
 
 Besides being connected with many public enterprises, Mr. Leach is a 
 director of the Onondaga Historical Association, a long-time member of the 
 Citizens' Club, a trustee of the Oakwood Cemetery Association, director of 
 Chilled Plow Company, trustee of the Onondaga Coarse Salt Association, 
 president and trustee of the Salina Coarse Salt Company and trustee of the 
 Salt Springs Solar Coarse Salt Company. He is a member of the May 
 Memorial Church (Unitarian) and was long upon its board of trustees, and 
 one time president of the board. 
 
 Mr. Leach retired from active business when he left the Salt Springs 
 Bank, but still manages his own varied interests. Among the large estates 
 of which he has been executor was that of William Kirkpatrick, who left 
 many thousands for monuments in public parks. The burden of this work 
 was cheerfully taken up by Mr. Leach, whose efforts have resulted in most 
 artistic and lasting memorials. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Leach married Miss Mary L.Williams, daughter of Benja- 
 min F. Williams, of Salina. The marriage took place in the house in which 
 Mr. Leach lives at the time of this writing. To Mr. and Mrs. Leach were 
 born four children: Kate D., deceased; Lucia M., now Mrs. Charles M. 
 Crouse, of this city; Belle Louise, who married Walter M. Woodward, of 
 Albany, deceased; and Jennie Stewart, who died in infancy. Mrs. Leach died 
 September 12, 1906. 
 
 Although Mr. Leach's banking career extended into the period of so-called 
 "high finance," those conservative methods of which he had learned the 
 value in more careful days were rigidly adhered to, and the spotless reputa- 
 tion and confidence of the business world were never injured. Mr. Leach 
 was of the "old school" in candor, courtesy and honesty. Such lives cause 
 regret for the passing of the "old school" of gentlemen in business. 
 
^. W. S^mtti) 
 
 URLBUT WILLIAM SMITH, youngest son of Lewis 
 Stevens Smith and Eliza Ann (Hurlbut) Smith, was 
 born at Center Lisle, Broome county, New York, 
 June 24, 1865. He attended school there and in 1884 
 removed to Syracuse and took employment in the gun 
 manufacturing plant conducted by L. C. Smith. As a 
 young man Mr. Smith developed a fine ability for the 
 handling of office detail and accounts and became 
 treasurer of the first typewriter company established 
 by L. C. Smith, continuing capably in that capacity until the organization of 
 the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriter Company, of which he is treasurer. 
 He also is treasurer of the United States Transportation Company, the L. C. 
 Smith Transit Company, and American Transit Company; secretary-treasurer 
 of the Skahen Steel Company; president of the Austen Manufacturing Com- 
 pany of Oswego, New York, manufacturers of perfumes; secretary of the 
 Amphion Company, of Elbridge, New York, makers of automatic piano play- 
 ers ; and one of the proprietors of the Smith-Lee Company of Oneida. He is a 
 director of the National Bank of Syracuse; director of the Syracuse Chamber 
 of Commerce ; trustee of the Hospital of the Good Shepherd ; director of the 
 Syracuse University Athletic Governing Board ; and chairman of the Syracuse 
 University Navy. 
 
 Outdoor sports in which Mr. Smith is particularly interested are auto- 
 mobiling and trap shooting. He is president of the Automobile Club of 
 Syracuse, member of the touring committee of the American Automobile Asso- 
 ciation, and is president of the New York State Sportsman's Association. 
 Among other clubs to which Mr. Smith belongs are the Citizens', Century and 
 Heidelberg Clubs of Syracuse, the Onondaga Golf and Country Club, the 
 Syracuse Yacht Club, the Masonic Temple Club, and the Masonic Temple Club 
 Gun Club. He is a trustee of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Animals. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Grotto, a 
 trustee of Ziyara Shriners Temple at Utica, New York, an Elk, a Knight of 
 Pythias, and a member of the Royal Arcanum Council. 
 
 Mr. Smith in 1889 married Miss Mina R. Glazier, of Syracuse. Their 
 handsome home in West Onondaga street is a popular meeting place for the 
 younger members of Syracuse society. 
 
 133 
 
'"^'-a^nd by aK.Campi 
 
 ,11 I''- 
 
 c^ (^-^Py-^^^ooii-^^^^^ 
 
Mmxitt ai. <§rabes; 
 
 " AURICE A. GRAVES is numbered among those men 
 whose retirement from business represents the success 
 which has attended their efforts in earlier years in 
 active business endeavors, enabling them to rise from 
 a comparatively humble place to one of prominence in 
 the business world. His keen discernment and marked 
 enterprise have long been recognized as salient char- 
 acteristics in his career and yet his life has never been 
 narrowed by concentration of his energies upon one 
 line of labor. On the contrary, he is known as a broad-minded, public-spirited 
 man who has kept in touch with those concerns of vital interest to his city and 
 state, laboring entirely for public progress in many ways and especially for the 
 moral development of the community. 
 
 A native son of the Empire state, Maurice A. Graves was born in West- 
 moreland, April 22, 1846, and is a representative of one of the old colonial 
 families of English ancestry whose members at the ancestral home in Eng- 
 land were connected with the royal army and navy. In colonial days a 
 branch of the family was established in Connecticut about 1636 and Ben- 
 jamin Graves, great-great-grandfather of Maurice A. Graves, imbued with 
 the spirit of liberty which actuated the colonies in 1775, enlisted for service 
 in the American Army with the Connecticut troops. He was one of the 
 defenders of Fort Griswold at Gratton and was wounded at the massacre by 
 the British under the traitor Arnold and soon after died of his wounds. 
 His son, Benjamin Graves, who was then sixteen years of age, at once 
 enlisted and served for six years, a defender of the rights for wliich the 
 colonies were contending and which resulted in the establishment of the 
 republic. His son, Benjamin Graves, wedded Mary Stark, a niece of the 
 famous leader of the Vermont troops who rallied his forces to victory with 
 the cry, "Boys, we win today or Mary Stark will be a widow tonight." Ben- 
 jamin Graves removed from Connecticut to Westmoreland, Oneida county, 
 New York, making the journey on foot. He soon returned to New England 
 and with a yoke of oxen again traversed the district between his old Con- 
 necticut home and Oneida county, where he settled at a very early period 
 in its development. He made frequent trips to Salt Point when the site 
 of Syracuse was largely a swamp. He served in the war of 1812. His 
 death occurred March 23, 1868, when he was eighty-four years of age. His 
 
 135 
 
136 USauricc H. <0rabesi 
 
 eight children included Abial S. Graves, who resided at Westmoreland dur- 
 ing his active business career and afterward retired to Camden. He was 
 a member of the Eighty-first New York Volunteer Infantry from July, 1862, 
 until the close of the war of the Rebellion. His death occurred January 3, 
 1905, when he was eighty-three years old. He wedded Elizabeth Brockett, a 
 daughter of Eli Brockett, who removed from Connecticut to Herkimer county, 
 New York, served with the rank of captain at the battle of Sacketts Harbor 
 in the war of 181 2 and died in August, 1871, at the age of eighty-five years. 
 It will thus be seen that Maurice A. Graves is a representative of two 
 of the oldest pioneer famiHes of the Empire state. While spending his 
 boyhood days in his parents' home he mastered the branches of learning 
 taught in the public schools of his native town and in September, 1865, 
 when a young man of nineteen years, he came to Syracuse to enjoy the 
 better business opportunities offered in city life. His first position was 
 that of bookkeeper in the old Fourth National Bank and when his connec- 
 tion with that institution had covered three years he became bookkeeper 
 for the wholesale tea and coffee house of F. H. Loomis, where he also 
 remained for three years. He afterward occupied different responsible posi- 
 tions and in 1879 became bookkeeper for John Crouse & Company, the largest 
 wholesale grocery establishment in central New York. His ability being 
 recognized, he was made financial manager after six months' connection 
 with the house and given entire charge of the collecting department, filling 
 that position until the firm went out of business in February, 1887. He 
 continued as confidential man to John and D. Edgar Crouse until the death 
 of the former on the 25th of June, 1889, and with the latter until his demise, 
 November 10, 1892. In the meantime he closed up the estate of John J. Crouse, 
 the business of John Crouse & Company and the estate of the late John 
 Crouse, all involving extensive interests in Syracuse and elsewhere. By the 
 terms of the will, he became one of the executors for D. Edgar Crouse and 
 was largely engaged in settling up the estate in connection with Jacob A. 
 Nottingham for several years thereafter. During his residence in Syra- 
 cuse, as opportunity was offered he has become connected with various busi- 
 ness enterprises. In 1892 he was active in organizing the Cosmopolitan Build- 
 ing & Loan Association and from the beginning served as treasurer and 
 director. He was also one of the projectors of the Manufacturers' Lloyds 
 (fire insurance) of New York and in 1895 he purchased from the George 
 F. Comstock estate the Comstock farm of one hundred and five acres, lying 
 just east of the university, much of which he divided into building lots. This 
 tract has since been greatly improved, making it one of the finest resi- 
 dence districts of the city. It is known as University Heights and is one of 
 the largest pieces of city real estate which one man alone ever attempted to 
 develop. Here, in 1895, on the most elevated point of the tract, Mr. Graves 
 erected a handsome residence, its attractive style of architecture making it 
 
one of the most pleasing features in the landscape. A valuable library of 
 about two thousand volumes indicates the literary taste of the owner, whose 
 reading has covered an extensive range and made him the equal in mental 
 culture of many who have had every opportunity for university education. 
 An important chapter in the life history of Mr. Graves covers his mili- 
 tary service as a member of Company I, Eighty-first New York Volunteers, 
 with which he continued from the 8th of September, 1862, until December, 
 
 1864. He was then transferred to Company I of the Tenth Veteran Reserve 
 Corps, which was stationed in Washington during the last year of the Rebel- 
 lion, guarding the White House, war department and other public buildings. 
 Mr. Graves was present at the time of Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration 
 and took an active part in the exciting scenes which followed the presi- 
 dent's assassination. He has in his possession the drum that sounded the 
 call for the first troops on that occasion and he also participated in the 
 funeral obsequies and in other events, including the grand review, when he 
 was stationed with his drum corps opposite the grand stand to salute the 
 regimental colors as they passed. He was honorably discharged July 26, 
 
 1865, and since September of that year has resided in Syracuse. 
 
 On the 17th of January, 1872, Mr. Graves was married to Miss Chris- 
 tina Reed, a daughter of Philetus Reed, of Syracuse, and they became the 
 parents of a son and two daughters: Nathan R., Alice R., and Helen B. 
 Mr. Graves and his family have been deeply and actively interested in church 
 work in Syracuse. His efforts have been effective and far-reaching and 
 have been characterized by the utmost zeal in his efforts for the upbuilding 
 of the church and its kindred interests. For a long period he served as a 
 deacon and trustee of the Dutch Reformed church in James street and for 
 some time was engaged in Sunday school mission work in connection with 
 the Young Men's Christian Association. About 1882 he was elected super- 
 intendent of the Sunday school of Rose Hill Mission and served in that capac- 
 ity for twelve years. Largely through his efforts, this mission, in 1886, 
 was reorganized as the Westminster Presbyterian church and Mr. Graves 
 was elected one of its first trustees, holding the position for some time. He 
 has also long been an elder in the church and has cooperated in its various 
 activities. He was for several years a member of Syracuse Presbytery and 
 in 1894 was elected a delegate to the general assembly held at Saratoga. 
 He is identified with the Citizens' Club; Post Root, G. A. R.; Masonic Club; 
 Anglers Association; Syracuse Lodge, No. 501, F. & A. M. ; Central City 
 Chapter, R. A. M.; Central City Commandery, No. 25; Central City Consis- 
 tory, S. P. R. S., Thirty-second degree; the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; 
 Ziyara Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and Kedar Kahn Grotto, No. 12, 
 Veiled Prophets. All these indicate the nature of his interests aside from 
 those already cited. Although retired from business, he stands today a strong 
 man — strong in his honor and his good name and in what he has accomplished. 
 
138 
 
 llSaurtce H. <$rabesi 
 
 not only in the life of individual gain but for the benefit of his fellowmen, in 
 whom his interest is deep and sincere. His record is one worthy of admira- 
 tion and is considered one of the most valuable assets of contemporaneous 
 history in Syracuse. 
 
xC^J:^ ^^^^^y-. 
 
Baniel iSopesf latjjtop 
 
 , ANIEL NO YES LATHROP, well known in commer- 
 cial circles in Syracuse for many years, was born at 
 South Montrose, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1835. 
 He was but six years of age when his father, Daniel 
 Lathrop, died and soon afterward the widowed 
 mother brought her family to Syracuse, where her 
 death occurred in 1873. Daniel N. Lathrop, entering 
 the public schools, largely acquired his education in 
 the old Putnam school but necessity urged his en- 
 trance into business life when he was yet a young lad and he began providing 
 for his own support as a clerk in the grocery store of O. S. Sumner at the 
 corner of Warren and Fayette streets. On the 9th of September, 1852, he 
 engaged with Ira H. Cobb, a dealer in crockery, at a salary of one hundred 
 dollars per year. The value of his service, however, led to an increase in 
 wages and he continued with Mr. Cobb until the 14th of May, 1856, when 
 he began clerking for S. P. Pierce, with whose house he was long identified, 
 continuing there up to the time of his enlistment for service in the Civil war 
 and resuming his position after his return from the south. 
 
 Mr. Lathrop had some military experience ere he joined the volunteer 
 army, for in 1856 he became a member of the Fifty-first Regiment, Davis 
 Light Guards, under Captain Chandler, and in 1861 was commissioned second 
 lieutenant, in 1862 as first lieutenant and in 1863 as captain. On the 5th 
 of September, 1864, Mr. Lathrop enlisted from Onondaga county, having 
 in connection with Lieutenant Theodore M. Barber raised Company D of 
 the One Hundred and Eighty-fifth New York Volunteers. He was mustered 
 into the United States service at Syracuse on the i8th of September, 1864, 
 as captain of Company D with Colonel Edwin S. Jenney in command of 
 the regiment and when the regiment was mustered out it was under com- 
 mand of Colonel Gustavus Sniper. While at the front Captain Lathrop par- 
 ticipated in the siege and assault on Petersburg and the battles of Poplar 
 Grove Church, Burgess Farm, Hickford Raid and the engagements at Boydton 
 Road, Hatchers Run, Watkins Farm, Quaker Road, Gravelly Run, Five Forks 
 and the fall of Petersburg. He was also present at Appomattox when Gen- 
 eral Lee surrendered and took part in a number of minor engagements and 
 skirmishes. Captain Lathrop shared in all of the marches and military 
 movements of his command until March 29, 1865, when he was severely 
 
 139 
 
I40 J^anicl Moptsi Hat^rop 
 
 wounded in an engagement on Quaker Road near Five Forks below Peters- 
 burg. He was then taken to the hospital at City Point and subsequently, 
 by order of General Grant, had his choice of going home or to the hospital 
 at Washington and, being unfit for duty, after thirty days he was honorably 
 discharged in June, 1865. On the day on which he was wounded their 
 color sergeant was also wounded and the flag finally fell into the hands of 
 William H. Tyler, of Captain Lathrop's company, who was instantly killed 
 at the captain's side. Captain Lathrop then seized the colors and rallied 
 the regiment and when he was wounded relinquished the flag to Colonel Gus- 
 tavus Sniper, who led the troops to victory. For his acts of bravery in the 
 face of the enemy Captain Lathrop was commissioned brevet major. 
 
 When the war was over and he had sufficiently regained his health Cap- 
 tain Lathrop again entered the employ of S. P. Pierce, who was afterward 
 succeeded by S. P. Pierce's Sons and for many years he remained buyer and 
 business manager of the house. In this connection he became widely known 
 in the commercial circles of Syracuse and central New York. 
 
 On the 3d of February, 1862, Captain Lathrop was married to Miss 
 Harriet A. Litchfield, of Syracuse, and unto them were born five children: 
 WilHam A., born December 20, 1862; Jennie R, who was born January 6, 
 1866, and died May 4, 1884; Frank B., born July 21, 1870; Charles C, who 
 was born May 27, 1872, and died January 15, 1895; and Harriet L., who was 
 born September 7, 1878, and died the following day. 
 
 Captain Lathrop was very prominent in Masonic circles. He was for 
 seventeen years secretary of Syracuse Lodge, No. 501, F. & A. M., was identi- 
 fied with all the Central City bodies and became a thirty-second degree 
 Mason. His political allegiance was always given to the republican party, 
 which came into existence about the time that he attained his majority. He 
 cast his first vote for John C. Fremont and in antebellum days was a stanch 
 advocate for abolition principles and an active worker on the underground 
 railroad. Ere Danforth was annexed to the city he served as treasurer of 
 the village for eight years and in 1901 he was elected city assessor of Syra- 
 cuse. The same loyalty which he displayed upon southern battlefields when 
 he followed the old flag to victory was ever manifest in his life in days 
 of peace. It was one of his strongly marked characteristics and was manifest 
 as well in his business life, as was indicated by his long connection with one 
 house. He enjoyed the full confidence of those whom he represented in com- 
 mercial life and his ability in commercial lines contributed in large measure 
 to the success of the company. He died on the 3d of September, 1906. 
 
Babib Wi. £ic()ols(on 
 
 AVID W. NICHOLSON is one of the most prominent 
 contractors of Syracuse and central New York. To 
 him have been awarded large contracts, and in their 
 execution he has demonstrated his right to be classed 
 with the most able and successful representatives of 
 building interests here. He was born December lo, 
 1 87 1, a son of Thomas and E. L. (Patterson) Nich- 
 olson. The father was born in Penerith, Northum- 
 berland county, England, November 8, 1848, while 
 the mother's birth occurred January 12, 1850. They were married Novem- 
 ber 28, 1870, and became the parents of eight children. Of this family David 
 W. Nicholson is the eldest. He was educated in the Salina graded schools 
 and in Syracuse high school, completing the course by graduation in 1891. 
 He entered business life in connection with his father, who was a contractor, 
 immediately after leaving school and has done an extensive business in the 
 construction of the mason work for the electric light plants in almost every 
 village of the state, also receiving a liberal patronage from New Jersey and 
 western Vermont. The business of the firm was indeed very large and 
 David W. Nicholson thus operated in conjunction with his father until 1895, 
 when he started out upon an independent business career, making a specialty 
 of heavy masonry and trestle and bridge work. He was awarded the contract 
 for remodeling the old horse car barns on Wolf street, transforming them into 
 the electric car storage barns. During the succeeding two years he was 
 engaged in erecting the overhead crossings over the New York Central freight 
 tracks and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad tracks for the 
 Syracuse, Lakeside & Baldwinsville Railroad. In the spring of 1898 he built 
 the Open Air Theater at Onondaga Valley and after the fall of the James 
 street bridge he replaced it in five days and had the cars crossing. He also 
 rebuilt the Warren street bridge and repaired the North Salina street hoist 
 bridge. To him was awarded the contract for building all the foundation for 
 the Liverpool extension for the Rapid Transit Company, consisting of two 
 bridges and one culvert, together with many foundations. He also built two 
 bridges for the Utica & Mohawk Valley Railroad Company, one at Frank- 
 fort and the other at Stanwix. Subsequently he built the Cortland avenue 
 barns of the Rapid Transit Company and the coal plant for E. I. Rice on the 
 salt lands, which plant was built at a cost of seventy thousand dollars. He 
 
 141 
 
142 j^abib W. Mt'^oltion 
 
 also erected the Halcomb steel plant near the state fair grounds, consisting 
 of nineteen buildings which he completed in nine months, at a cost of one 
 hundred and thirty thousand dollars. He likewise built the whole of White 
 City at an expense of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, thus com- 
 pleting the work in eleven weeks, the White City Park being opened in eight 
 weeks from the time that he commenced the work. Mr. Nicholson likewise 
 built the first reinforced concrete building in the state to be used as a coal 
 trestle, completing the same on the ist of August, 1907. He is now con- 
 structing the new electrical car shops for the Syracuse Rapid Transit Com- 
 pany, which will be the most complete car shops in the country, the building 
 and its equipment to cost about two hundred thousand dollars. The work on 
 this will be finished in the spring of 1908. The extent and importance of the 
 contracts awarded him indicates in no uncertain manner the prominent posi- 
 tion which Mr. Nicholson occupies in industrial circles. He has rapidly ad- 
 vanced to a foremost place among the contractors of central New York and 
 his patronage is steadily increasing. 
 
 On the 28th of October, 1896, Mr. Nicholson was married to Miss Eda F. 
 Wade, who was born February 22, 1873, and was educated in the Salina 
 graded schools. They have one child, Florence Marian Nicholson, who was 
 born December 24, 1897, and is now a student in the Salina grammar school. 
 The family are well known in Syracuse, where Mr. Nicholson has steadily ad-' 
 vanced to a prominent position as a representative of its industrial life. He 
 is yet a young man but has attained a success that many a business man of 
 twice his years might well envy. There has been no esoteric chapter in his 
 life history but on the contrary his business methods are such as command 
 admiration and respect and will bear the keenest scrutiny. 
 
ilogesi ®, Eubin 
 
 ^ 
 
 M 
 
 ^ 
 
 c^ 
 
 OSES D. RUBIN, banker and broker, has had a notably 
 successful career. True success is not measured by 
 the heights that one has reached but by the distance 
 between his starting point and the altitude he has 
 attained. Therefore the career of Mr. Rubin is one 
 which awakens admiration, for he started out handi- 
 capped in various ways. Moreover, he is widely 
 known in philanthropic and benevolent circles as one 
 who contributes freely and generously to the support 
 of many movements and organizations which benefit mankind and ameliorate 
 the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. His wealth has never been 
 selfishly hoarded but on the contrary has been so worthily used that the most 
 envious cannot grudge him his prosperity. 
 
 Mr. Rubin was born in Russian Poland, May 30, 1864, a son of Marcus 
 and Fannie (Epstein) Rubin and one of a family of eight children. The 
 father died March 21, 1882, and a brother Isaac, died in 1894. Another 
 brother, Robert, is associated with the firm of Hornblower, Miller & Potter of 
 New York city, while Harry Rubin is junior partner of the firm of Rosen- 
 thal & Rubin, of Binghamton, New York. Mrs. S. C. Rosenthal, Anna and 
 Jennie Rubin are the sisters of the family. 
 
 Brought to America in his early childhood, Moses D. Rubin was educated 
 in the public schools of Syracuse and in the business college conducted by 
 
 C. P. Meads in this city. In 1871 he came with his mother to the new world 
 and in Syracuse met the husband and father, who had previously crossed 
 the Atlantic and made arrangements for having a home in the new world. 
 After completing his education Moses D. Rubin entered the employ of S. 
 Kopelowich & Company, wholesale jewelers, with whom he continued until 
 1882. In that year his father died, leaving a meat market, of which Moses 
 
 D, Rubin then took charge, conducting it in order to try and provide for the 
 other members of the family, including mother and eight children. He 
 carried on the market until his health failed, when he sold out in 1891. In 
 that year he located in the Grand Opera House block and established a bank- 
 ing and brokerage office, continuing in these lines to the present time and 
 becoming well known as a factor in financial circles. He has secured an 
 excellent clientage and built up an extensive business. 
 
 143 
 
144 Moiti B. Ctubtn 
 
 In his political views Mr. Rubin is a stalwart republican, recognized as 
 one of the leaders of the party in Syracuse, and his fellow townsmen, appre- 
 ciating his worth and ability, have several times called him to ofifice. In 
 February, 1892, he was elected supervisor and again in 1895, 1897 and 1903. 
 He has held the office altogether for sixteen years and has never been defeated, 
 his long term of service indicating clearly the confidence and regard reposed 
 in him by his fellow townsmen. He was elected inspector for the Onondaga 
 county penitentiary and filled that office for three years. He is now chair- 
 man of the building committee of the board of supervisors and as such has 
 supervision, over the county buildings. He is likewise a member of the com- 
 mittee having in charge the building of the Soldiers' and Sailors' monument 
 in Onondaga county. 
 
 Mr. Rubin is perhaps even better known by reason of his active and 
 commendable service in behalf of various charitable and benevolent organiza- 
 tions. He has been president of the Jewish Orphan Asylum and was presi- 
 dent of the Hebrew Association of Syracuse. He is also a member of the 
 Yiddish Association, the Jewish Aid Society, the Onondaga County Orphans' 
 Asylum, the Syracuse Free Dispensary, the Denver Hospital for Consump- 
 tives and the Hebrew Free School, to which he is the largest contributor. 
 He has been especially helpful in work for the benefit of people of his race 
 and his labors are deserving of the highest commendation. Well may they 
 serve as a source of emulation to others. He is likewise known in organiza- 
 tions for the benefit of the city or for the promotion of its culture and its 
 fraternal interests. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is serving 
 on its membership committee. He is a member of the Musical Festival Asso- 
 ciation and of the Anglers' Association, of the Citizens' Club, the Escort 
 Club and the Fayette Club. He is a member of Syracuse Lodge, No. 31, B. 
 P. O. E., Court Montefiore, No. 356, Foresters of America ; and the Knights 
 of Pythias. Such a life record needs little comment or elaboration. That 
 he is a man of broad public spirit and generous purpose is indicated between 
 the lines of this review. He realizes fully individual responsibility and 
 meets the obligations that rest upon him in his relations to his fellowmen. 
 His life work has contributed in substantial measure to those interests which 
 indicate an advanced civilization in the care of the unfortunate and the needy. 
 Mr. Rubin is indeed a man of humanitarian spirit, who has made splendid use 
 of the prosperity that has rewarded his carefully directed labors. 
 
i^yjr>cla/ua^e'' 'fjyt4/f'^i<ii/' 
 
i&al^aman Cutttsi 
 
 HEN CENTRAL New York was the "far west" and 
 Onondaga county was a frontier district Ralzamon 
 Curtis became a pioneer settler of Skaneateles. He 
 was born in Farmington, Connecticut, about twelve 
 miles from the city of Hartford, December 24, 1799. 
 He was a son of Captain Gad Curtis and a grand- 
 son of Captain Eliphalet Curtis, a soldier of the Rev- 
 olutionary war. The year 1816 witnessed the ar- 
 rival of Ralzamon Curtis in Onondaga county, at 
 which time he removed from Connecticut and settled in Skaneateles township. 
 His father also made the trip and drove with teams across the country, bring- 
 ing the family, while Ralzamon Curtis and another man drove two yoke of 
 cattle through. Both the father and son spent their remaining days here and 
 became prominent residents of their community. After arriving in Onondaga 
 county Ralzamon Cutis followed agricultural pursuits and continued success- 
 fully in farming until a short time prior to his death, when he removed to Jor- 
 dan, where he passed away in 1867. 
 
 In 1825 occurred the marriage of Mr. Curtis and Miss Adaline Earll, 
 who was a representative of an old pioneer family. They became the par- 
 ents of a son and five daughters. Those living are: Mrs. Eugenia C. Conover, 
 of Skaneateles; John Porter Curtis, a farmer residing near Marcellus; and 
 Mrs. John Lyman, of Syracuse. 
 
 Mr. Curtis was a democrat in his political faith and always voted with 
 the party but never took an active part in political work. His religious faith 
 was that of the Episcopal church. Coming to Onondaga county when this 
 was a pioneer district, he aided in the arduous task of planting the seeds 
 of civilization and progress here. He found the district largely covered 
 with the native growth of timber and many of the now thriving villages were 
 not yet established, while Syracuse had little claim to greatness or commer- 
 cial importance. The work of development largely lay in the future and Mr. 
 Curtis, casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers, bore his share in the efforts 
 for the county's advancement as the years passed by. 
 
 MS 
 
(f 
 
 e ^ 
 
' ' ^//ivf// t / f^//rci^i 
 
iWrs(» Cugenia €♦ Conober 
 
 N THE YEAR 1816 Gad and Sharesa (Wilcox) Cur- 
 tis arrived in Onondaga county, where their descend- 
 ants have now lived for almost a century. They had 
 previously made their home near Hartford, Con- 
 necticut, and drove across the country, the father 
 bringing his family in a vehicle drawn by horses, 
 while his son Ralzamon and an uncle made the jour- 
 ney with ox-teams. The family home was established 
 about a mile and a half from Marcellus on the old 
 turnpike extending between that village and Skaneateles. Ralzamon Curtis, 
 son of Gad Curtis, was born near Hartford, Connecticut, December 24, 1799^, 
 and was therefore a young man of about seventeen years when he came to 
 New York. He assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm in the 
 midst of the then western wilderness and shared with the family in all of the 
 hardships and privations incident to the settlement of the frontier. On the 
 6th of January, 1825, he was united in marriage to Miss Adaline Earll, who 
 was born in this county June 26, 1802. It will thus be seen that more than 
 a century has passed since the Earll family was established in this part of 
 the state. Her parents were Jonas and Experience (Sprague) Earll. Her 
 grandfather and his sons at the time of the Revolutionary war were residents 
 of Nova Scotia and he and his sons were cast into prison for piloting an 
 American vessel into port. When released he determined to establish his 
 home in the United States and with his family, numbering seven sons and two 
 daughters, made his way to Washington county. New York. It was during 
 the period of the family's residence there that Jonas Earll was married to 
 Experience Sprague, the daughter of David Sprague. As stated, Jonas Earll 
 arrived in Onondaga county in 1802 and established his home on lot No. 19 
 in the village of Marcellus. He remained a resident of the county for forty- 
 five years and was closely associated with its pioneer development. The city 
 of Syracuse was not established for seven;teen years after he took up his 
 abode here and only a few white settlers had penetrated into the western 
 wilderness to found homes and aid in reclaiming this district for the uses of 
 civilization. Jonas Earll died in October, 1847, at the venerable age of 
 ninety-six years. His family numbered three sons: Solomon, Jonas and 
 David. The first named died many years ago. The second son, Jonas Earll, 
 Jr., largely aided in molding public thought and opinion and in shaping the 
 
 147 
 
148 JfltSrg. OBuBcnia C Conobcr 
 
 political history of Onondaga county during the first half of the nineteenth 
 century. He was honored with various positions of public trust and in 1820 
 was elected to represent his district in the general assembly, serving for two 
 years. He was then chosen state senator, continuing in the office from 1822 
 until 1827 and before the expiration of his term was elected to the twentieth 
 congress. He received public endorsement of his service in a re-election to 
 the twenty-first congress, so that he was identified with the national halls of 
 legislation from 1826 until 1830. For several years he filled the office of 
 sheriff of Onondaga county and in 1837 entered upon a four years' term as 
 postmaster of Syracuse. He died in October, 1846, and thus passed away 
 one of the conspicuous figures in the early history. 
 
 Ralzamon and Adaline (Earll) Curtis had a family of six children, of 
 whom Mrs. Eugenia C. Conover is the eldest. Sarah Ann, born January 5, 
 1830, is deceased: John Porter, born October 4, 1831, now lives upon the old 
 homestead near Marcellus and is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Viola, 
 born July i, 1836, became the wife of John Lyman, who is now deceased, 
 while she makes her home in Syracuse. Gertrude, born October 13, 1838, 
 became the wife of Miles Almy and died leaving a daughter, Mrs. Joseph 
 Adams, now a resident of Chicago, Illinois. Helen, born May 14, 1843, became 
 the wife of Mortimer Smith and died, leaving one son, Frank Curtis Smith, 
 who is an Episcopal clergyman of Booneville, New York. He was graduated 
 from Geneva College and also from the New York City Theological Seminary. 
 The father of this family, Ralzamon Curtis, died at Jordan, New York, in 
 May, 1867, and his wife passed away in Syracuse in January, 1883. 
 
 Mrs. Conover was born February 1 1, 1826, in this county. Her girlhood 
 days were spent upon the old homestead and on the 28th of October, 1852, 
 she gave her hand in marriage to Mortimer Conover. They traveled life's 
 journey together for thirty-one years and were then separated by the death 
 of the husband in 1883. Mrs. Conover was for a long period one of the best 
 horsewomen of central New York, and won many prizes at county and state 
 fairs for her skill as an equestrienne. She has now reached the venerable age 
 of eighty-two years and is a most active, remarkable woman for one of her 
 age. The circle of her friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of her 
 acquaintance and all who know her entertain for her the warmest esteem and 
 regard. 
 
STofjn porter Curtis 
 
 ^ 
 
 J 
 
 te 
 
 W 
 
 "OHN PORTER CURTIS, a farmer living near Mar- 
 cellus, is a representative of one of the oldest fam- 
 ilies of Onondaga county. For almost a century the 
 family has been known here and its members have 
 taken an active part in the work of general improve- 
 ment and upbuilding. Mr. Curtis of this review was 
 born in Skaneateles, October 4, 1831, a son of Ral- 
 zamon and Adaline (Ear 11) Curtis. His paternal 
 grandparents were Gad and Eunice (Porter) Curtis 
 and his great-grandfather was Captain Eliphalet Curtis, who won his title 
 by service in the Revolutionary war. In 18 16 Gad Curtis removed from Con- 
 necticut to the state of New York, settling about a mile and a half from the 
 village of Marcellus on the old turnpike between Marcellus and Skaneateles. 
 He made the journey with his family with a team of horses, while his son Ral- 
 zamon and an uncle of the latter came with an ox-team. 
 
 Ralzamon Curtis was born near Hartford, Connecticut, December 24, 
 1799, and was therefore in his seventeenth year at the time of the removal 
 westward. On the 6th of January, 1825, he married Miss Adaline Earll, 
 who was born in Onondaga county. New York, June 26, 1802, and was a 
 daughter of Jonas and Experience (Sprague) Earll. At the time of the 
 Revolutionary war the father of Jonas Earll, with his sons, who were resi- 
 dents of Nova Scotia, piloted an American vessel into port and were arrested 
 and cast into prison. When released the father came with his family to the 
 United States. He had seven sons and two daughters and they located in 
 Washington county. New York, remaining there for a time, and it was dur- 
 ing the period of their residence there that Jonas Earll married Experience 
 Sprague, a daughter of David Sprague, who was the father of twenty-one 
 children, eight sons and thirteen daughters. By his first wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Amy Sweet, he had eleven children and by his second 
 wife. Peace Chase, had ten children. He lived to see them all married. 
 
 In 1902 Jonas Earll removed from Washington county to Onondaga 
 county and settled on lot No. 19 in Marcellus. He died in October, 1847, 
 at the very advanced age of ninety-six years. He had three sons, of whom 
 Solomon died many years ago, while Jonas, Jr., died in October, 1846. The 
 third son was David S. Earll. Jonas Earll, Jr., was one of the leading 
 political leaders of the county for more than twenty years and held many 
 
 149 
 
I50 Jofjn Porter Curtis; 
 
 important offices of trust. He represented his district in the lower house 
 of the general assembly in 1820 and 1821, was state senator from 1822 until 
 1827 and was a member of the twentieth and twenty-first congresses, his 
 incumbency covering four years from 1826. For several years he was sher- 
 iff of Onondaga county and was postmaster at Syracuse from 1837 until 
 1 841. Through his official service and in many other ways he left the impress 
 of his individuality upon the public life and upbuilding of central New York. 
 
 Ralzamon and Adaline (Earll) Curtis became the parents of six children; 
 Eugenia C, who was born February 11, 1826, and is now the widow of 
 Mortimer Conover and a resident of Skaneateles; Sarah Ann, born January 
 5, 1830; John Porter, of this review; Viola, born July i, 1836, who is the 
 widow of John Lyman and a resident of Syracuse; Gertrude, born October 
 13, 1838, and now deceased; and Helen, who was born May 14, 1843, and 
 has passed away. There are but two grandchildren of Ralzamon and Ada- 
 line Curtis: Mrs. Joseph Adams, of Chicago, Illinois, who is a daughter 
 of Miles Almy and Gertrude (Curtis) Almy; and Frank Curtis Smith, an 
 Episcopal clergyman of Booneville, New York. He is a son of Mortimer 
 and Helen (Curtis) Smith. Frank Curtis Smith is a graduate of Geneva 
 College and of the New York City Theological Seminary. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of John Porter Curtis, whose name 
 introduces this review, we present to our readers the life record of one 
 who is widely and favorably known in Skaneateles, where he has long been 
 a representative of agricultural interests. He pursued his education in the 
 public schools, was trained to farm work and throughout his entire life has 
 engaged in the tilling of the soil. He was married at Syracuse, New York, 
 April 18, 1866, to Miss Jennie Shuler, and they reside on the old homestead 
 near Marcellus, where Mr. Curtis owns and operates one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, carry- 
 ing on general farming in the production of the crops best adapted to soil 
 and climate. 
 
 Mr. Curtis gives his political allegiance to the democracy. His religious 
 faith is indicated by his membership in the Episcopal church, while his wife 
 belongs to the Methodist church. His entire life has been spent in this 
 county and for almost seventy-eight years he has been a witness of its devel- 
 opment and progress as all of the evidences of a modern civilization have 
 been introduced and Onondaga county has kept pace with the trend of 
 general improvement and progress. He enjoys the full respect and confi- 
 dence of all who know him and has many warm friends in his locality. 
 
•y/clcjt ' /irif'//i 
 
T^ 
 
 l5(er^^:jHtg/c ^ 4//^fi 1/ 
 
O!^^ 
 
Jojin ipman 
 
 MONG THOSE who in former years were closely 
 associated with the business development and up- 
 building of Syracuse, was numbered John Lyman, a 
 successful dealer in drugs and patent medicines, a 
 trustee of the Trust & Deposit Company and a 
 trustee of the Syracuse University. He was born 
 in Westhampton, Massachusetts, near the old fam- 
 ily home which is over two hundred years old, one 
 of the historic landmarks of New England. His birth 
 occurred April 2, 1821, and covered the span of years to the 12th of January, 
 1904. His parents were Thomas and Betsy (Clapp) Lyman, both natives of 
 Massachusetts. They came to this county in February, 1822, and settled in 
 the town of Otisco. The father died in Onondaga, October 24, 1850, and the 
 mother passed away at Navarino, July 12, 1876. 
 
 In 1859 John Lyman went to Newcastle, Canada, where he and Henry S. 
 Northrup bought out a patent medicine and drug business, which was located 
 there, the new firm being known as Northrup & Lyman Company. In 1874 
 they removed to Toronto, Canada, where they still continue to carry on the 
 business, which was incorporated in 1883. 
 
 In April, 1886, Mr. Lyman removed from Canada to Syracuse and lived 
 a retired life at No. 308 Hawley avenue, where his widow still makes her 
 home. For many years he was most active and energetic in business life and 
 through his intense and well directed labors gained the measure of prosperity 
 that enabled him to spend his later years in the enjoyment of well earned rest, 
 surrounded by many of the comforts and luxuries that go to make life worth 
 the living. He still retained his interest in the patent medicine and drug 
 business until his death. 
 
 Mr, Lyman was twice married, his first wife being Ruth Ann Abbott, by 
 whom he had one son, Willis J., who was born December 5, 1856, and died 
 March 9, 1857. After the death of his first wife he wedded Viola Curtis, a 
 native of Skaneateles, where her girlhood days were passed, and a daughter 
 of Ralzamon and Adaline (Ear 11) Curtis. Her father, a native of Connecticut, 
 was born in 1800 and died in 1867, while her mother, whose birth occurred in 
 Onondaga county in 1802, departed this life in 1883 at the advanced age of 
 eighty-one years. In their family were six children, five daughters and one 
 son, namely: Mrs. Eugenia C. Conover, a resident of Skaneateles; Sarah A. 
 
 151 
 
152 31oi)n JLpmm 
 
 Curtis, who died in Syracuse; John P. Curtis, who resides at the old home in 
 Skaneateles; Mrs. Viola Lyman; Mrs. Gertrude Almy, who died in Chicago; 
 and Mrs. Helen Smith, who died in Easthampton, Massachusetts. By his 
 second marriage Mr. Lyman had two children: Mary, who died in Canada 
 and Jessie, who died in Syracuse. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Lyman was a republican and kept well informed 
 concerning the issues and questions of the day but had no desire for office. 
 His life was pre-eminently that of an active business man, one who recognized 
 and utilized his opportunities and worked his way upward by reason of close 
 application, unwearied industry and probity in business matters and thus 
 gained the unassailable reputation which has made his an untarnished name. 
 To his family and friends he was devoted and the many sterling traits of his 
 character won him the high regard and confidence of all with whom he came 
 in contact. While his life may have been less spectacular than that of many 
 it was none the less of value by reason of successful accomplishment in busi- 
 ness and by progressiveness in citizenship. Mrs. Lyman still makes her home 
 in Syracuse at No. 308 Hawley avenue. 
 
SJO rju (lyvvAA^O^^ 
 
(©eorge ®enis(an Mjjebon, JW. S- 
 
 R. GEORGE DENISON WHEDON, who for many 
 years was an active practitioner of medicine and sur- 
 gery in Syracuse but is now living retired, was born 
 in Camillus, Onondaga county, on the nth of May, 
 1832, his parents being Denison and Sarah (Blodget) 
 Whedon, of Deerfield, Massachusetts. His great- 
 great-grandfather, Denison Whedon, served in the 
 Revolutionary war and Dr. Whedon has today in 
 his possession a seven dollar bill that was paid to his 
 ancestor for service in the war. This bill is numbered 16,735 ^^^ was issued at 
 Philadelphia, July 22, 1776. He also has a note issued for forty shillings, No. 
 3,376. It was also printed at Philadelphia, November 3, 1775. The patriot 
 soldier was likewise given a farm at Camillus as compensation for the aid 
 which he rendered the colonists in their struggle for independence and this 
 tract of land has been the homestead of three generations of the family. 
 
 Dr. Whedon, having completed his literary education, qualified for the 
 profession which he determined to make his life work by study in the Berk- 
 shire Medical College of Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the Albany Medi- 
 cal College, completing his course on the 30th day of May, 1853. He then 
 located for practice in Plainville, New York, where he remained for a year after 
 which he was a member of the medical fraternity of Wayne county until the 
 fall of 1861, when he became army surgeon for the Tenth New York Cavalry, 
 acting in that capacity for more than a year. He was the sole medical officer 
 of the regiment for eight months and afterward was the organizer of the field 
 hospital near Stafford, Virginia, of which he was given charge. He was com- 
 missioned by Governor Hoffman as surgeon of the staff of the Twenty-fourth 
 Brigade of the National Guard of New York and continued as such until the 
 death of General Green, commander of the brigade. During the progress of the 
 war Dr. Whedon rendered most valuable aid to his country through his profes- 
 sional services and afterward came to Syracuse, where he located for practice. 
 He soon demonstrated his ability to successfully cope with the intricate prob- 
 lems which continually confront the physician and his practice grew and 
 claimed his time and attention until the ist of January, 1901, when ill health 
 forced him to retire. His health has much improved since then, yet he has 
 never resumed active professional duties but is enjoying a well earned rest at 
 his pleasant home. 
 
 1S3 
 
154 <$eorg» i^eniseon W^than, M- ^• 
 
 On the i8th of January, 1871, Dr. Whedon was married to Ella Marie 
 Kellogg, who for nearly her whole life has been a resident of Syracuse. Mrs. 
 Whedon has been very closely identified with all its charities, and its clubs, and 
 particularly with all efiforts to retrieve the conditions of working women. They 
 have two daughters, Ethel and Florence Kellogg Whedon. For a long time Dr. 
 Whedon was the loved family physician in many a household in Syracuse and 
 his patrons were loath to give up his services, for he was accorded wide recog- 
 nition as one of the able and successful physicians of the city and his labors, 
 his high professional attainments and his sterling characteristics have justified 
 the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the 
 local public. 
 
 Dr. Whedon has always been a great lover of the sport of fishing and was 
 one of the first to recognize the possibilities of the St. Lawrence river along the 
 lines of its recuperative powers and as a pleasure resort. Over thirty years 
 ago he purchased five acres at the head of Round island now known as the 
 "Frontenac" and with his family helped build up the cottage life now so 
 magnificent in its proportions. The place was named "Ethelridge" in honor 
 of his elder daughter. Dr. Whedon wielded a strong and forceful as well as 
 graceful pen and his numerous articles on subjects pertaining to his pro- 
 fession have always been original and comprehensive in treatment and have 
 met with marked approval. He also possessed pronounced ability as a busi- 
 ness man, his judgment in valuing real estate being widely sought for through- 
 out the community. The development of his home city and its environments 
 was of paramount interest to the Doctor. He loved its parks, its trees and its 
 public buildings, and its philanthropies ; he was a student of the woods, know- 
 ing every tree and every wild flower by name. So did he round out the life of 
 a physician, adding to other requisites those subtle qualities which blossom into 
 richest optimism in the chamber of illness and of despair, and which ennoble 
 the profession he served and loved through a long and notable career. 
 
a^^m^ 
 
James; gl, Proton 
 
 m 
 
 J 
 
 
 "AMES A. BROWN, who for many years was identified 
 with mercantile interests at Kirkville and spent his 
 last days in the enjoyment of well earned rest in a 
 beautiful home in Syracuse, was born near Evans 
 Mills, New York, February 14, 1835, and was a son 
 of George Brown, whose birth occurred in Dolge- 
 ville, Herkimer county, New York, in 181 1. The 
 father was a tanner, currier and shoemaker in early 
 life and later followed farming and merchandising. 
 In 1837 he removed to Manlius, where he established a shoe shop and store 
 on the old canal. He lived at Pool's Brook for about ten years and then 
 located at Kirkville, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying at a 
 ripe old age. He served as deputy sheriff of his district. In early manhood 
 he married Maria Grouse, and to them were born eight children. 
 
 James A. Brown, the second son, acquired his education in the common 
 schools but developed a character and secured his success by his own energy 
 and good judgment, supplemented by Ghristian principles which made his 
 life record an example well worthy of emulation. When in his teens he 
 went to sea and followed that life for about two years, when he and five of 
 his shipmates, having taken a strong dislike to their captain on account of 
 his cruelty and unprincipled actions, determined to leave him and the ship. 
 Accordingly they perfected their plans and in a small open boat at the dead 
 of night they rowed away for some place — they knew not where. His five 
 companions were all drowned in the attempt, Mr. Brown being the only sur- 
 vivor. He clung to the boat and was rescued on the shores of Valparaiso, 
 South America. The Spaniards watched him closely and tried hard to keep 
 him a prisoner but after a few days he stole away from them on an American 
 ship and sailed for home. This closed the sea-faring chapter of his life history. 
 At the age of eighteen years, Mr. Brown became associated with his 
 father in business as a member of the firm of George Brown & Son, proprie- 
 tors of a general store and dealers in lumber, coal and various supplies needed 
 by the farmers and others living in the surrounding country. The store was 
 located at Kirkville, Onondaga county, and the business relation between 
 father and son was continued for fifteen years, at the end of which time 
 George Brown retired from business. James Brown then became sole pro- 
 prietor and conducted the business in its various departments with constantly 
 
 155 
 
156 31ante£S a. 2?rota)n 
 
 growing success until the year 1898, when he withdrew from commercial life 
 to spend his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned ease. At that 
 time he purchased a beautiful residence in Syracuse, where he continued to 
 reside until called to his final rest, his death occurring February 13, 1901. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Mariam Hoag, who 
 was born in Onondaga county in 1837 and is a daughter of Joseph Hoag, who 
 was engaged in the shoe business in Kirkville. One child blessed this union : 
 Elizabeth Mariam, who is now the wife of M. Burton Coe and lives with her 
 mother in Syracuse. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Brown was a stalwart republican, prominent in 
 the ranks of the party, but in early life supported the democratic party. For 
 fourteen years he served as justice of the peace, was justice of sessions, post- 
 master and deputy postmaster at Kirkville for three terms, and notary public 
 for a number of years. He was always active in public work and did all in 
 his power to promote the success of his party. Fraternally he was connected 
 with Fayetteville Lodge, No. 578, A. F. & A. M., and Kirkville Lodge, I. O. O. 
 F., and was a charter member of Chittenango Lodge, A. O. U. W. His religi- 
 ous faith was that of the Universalist church, and he was a man of charit- 
 able disposition and broad views, whose honorable life commended him to the 
 confidence and esteem of his fellowmen, gaining him warm admiration and 
 many friends. 
 
MtUtam 1. 1. ^mttf) 
 
 ' I ^HE LIFE span of William H. H. Smith covered the 
 period of Syracuse's pioneer development and much 
 of its later progress, and his history was closely inter- 
 woven with its development and upbuilding in many 
 substantial ways. He was among those who shaped 
 its policy during its formative period and in later years 
 he stood for all that wrought for improvement in a 
 material way and for the social, educational and 
 moral progress of the community as well. Thus his 
 name is engraven on the roll of prominent men as one of the honored citizens. 
 He was born at Litchfield, Herkimer county, New York, June 5, 18 14, and 
 his death took place at Syracuse, New York, August 8, 1901. He was 
 descended in the paternal line from English ancestry, tracing the line back to 
 Richard Smith, of Smithtown, Long Island, of whom histories of an early 
 period made prominent and honorable mention. His father was the Rev. 
 William Smith, who in 1793 removed from West Farms, Long Island, to 
 Herkimer county, New York. In the maternal line William H. H. Smith was 
 descended from the Brush family, who were Huguenots and lived in Hunting- 
 ton, Suffolk county, Long Island. They and the Smith family warmly espoused 
 the cause of the colonies at the time of the Revolutionary war and suffered 
 many hardships during the British occupation of Long Island. 
 
 William H. H. Smith remained a member of his father's household until 
 he attained his majority and during that period was connected with general 
 agricultural pursuits. After he had reached adult age he took charge of and 
 conducted for two years a wholesale grocery house at Utica, New York. In 
 the spring of 1839 the first locomotive was placed on the Auburn & Syracuse 
 Railroad and in September of that year Mr. Smith accepted the position of 
 collector on that road, which was extended to Rochester and now constitutes 
 a part of the New York Central system. Mr. Smith continued as collector for 
 thirteen years and for eight years made his home at Syracuse House. His 
 brother, Albert G. Smith, was chief of the Utica ticket office and opened the 
 Syracuse Railroad office, with Dudley P. Phelps as ticket master. He also 
 established the Auburn ticket office, ultimately becoming its chief. W. H. H. 
 Smith and Dudley P. Phelps furnished rooms in the depot (Black Nathan in 
 charge) in East Fayette street. John Wilkinson was president of the Utica & 
 Syracuse Railroad and was the moving spirit locally of the new railroads. His 
 
 157 
 
158 WiUiam ^. ^. ^mttf) 
 
 office was in the depot and there his protege, George Barnes, was installed. 
 Following upon the opening of the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad patronage 
 was slow in developing and Mr. Smith suggested to General Chedell, of 
 Auburn, and Mr. Wilkinson, that free excursions, picnics, etc., might have a 
 good effect. The suggestion approved, a favorite resort became the district near 
 Camillus and Marcellus with its picturesque scenery, and Miss Bradbury and 
 her scholars, with others under Mr. Smith's superintendency, appreciated the 
 novel entertainment. 
 
 Syracuse in 1839 was a village of six thousand inhabitants and its hotels 
 were the Syracuse House, with P. N. Rust as landlord; the Exchange, with 
 William Winton in charge; while in 1847 the Globe Hotel opened under Mr. 
 Stevens. 
 
 During the early years of his residence in Syracuse, Mr. Smith won the 
 friendship of the Rev. Henry Gregory, Rev. Dr. Adams, Dr. Storer, Rev. John 
 A. Cornell and Rev. E. D. Maltbie. Intimate comradeship was formed with R. 
 W. Washburn, who became the trusted agent, in California, of the Wells Fargo 
 Express Company, having the sole power to sign for the company — and there 
 were Martin Burt, Dr. Durand, Silas F, Smith, Thomas A. Smith, E. J. Foster, 
 Dr. Martin M. White, Jasper Smith, George Raynor and the Sherman brothers. 
 Religious, educational, philanthropic and social movements were active. The 
 Franklin Institute library and lectures, agricultural societies and fairs were 
 features in the early life of Syracuse, and the Onondaga Historical Associa- 
 tion and Pioneer Society were organized. The Hutchinsons and Ole Bull 
 gave serenades for Mr. Smith "under Bounibell's window" and favorite 
 forms of amusement were horseback parties and sleighrides. 
 
 When gold was discovered in California Mr. Smith and Mr. Washburn 
 fitted out and sent a "forty-niner" in quest of fortune. A never to be forgotten 
 event in the history of early Syracuse was the gunpowder explosion which 
 plunged the whole village into mourning and Mr. Smith, with the ready action 
 which always characterized him in an emergency, made a quick trip to Auburn 
 for doctors to aid in caring for its victims. He figured again in an event of 
 general interest when in the spring of 1846 he was one of the party that, by 
 invitation of Governor Seward, accompanied the chief executive to North Bend 
 and other points. 
 
 It was later in the same year, on the 23d of September, 1846, that Mr. 
 Smith and Miss Margaret Tredwell Redfield were united in marriage. In 
 1851, purchasing a tract of land on the southeastern highlands of the city, 
 he built his residence, known as 755 Irving avenue, and occupied it from 
 1854 until his death. The tract was then farm land, enclosed with rail 
 fences, and the possessor must needs pay the early city taxes without city 
 privileges in case of fire, etc. The quiet of the country, the song of wood 
 birds and the glorious panorama of the hills and the valley and the lake of 
 Onondaga, unrolled, were ample compensation for the lack of city advan- 
 
WiSiimn <|. ^. ^mttf) 159 
 
 tages. Liberal views and practical ideas marked the course followed in the 
 development which was undertaken in the improvement of this section of the 
 city. 
 
 In September, 1865, the Genesee & Water Street Railroad Company was 
 organized, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars, by George F. Comstock, 
 W. H. H. Smith, C T. Longstreet, O. T. Burt and James P. Haskins. The 
 road was built in 1866 and ultimately comprised the Fourth Ward Railroad 
 and the Chestnut Street (now Crouse avenue) branch, extending to the north 
 boundary line of the campus of Syracuse University. 
 
 Subscriptions were made to the University Avenue Methodist church, 
 which was built, conditioned by Mr. Remington, to be forever free sittings. 
 Mr. Smith entered with hearty interest into the work inaugurated by Bishop 
 Huntington — which was substantially aided by Judge Comstock — in building 
 the Hospital of the Good Shepherd and Grace church. He always mani- 
 fested a warm sympathy for the Onondaga County Orphan Asylum wards — 
 most substantially when the location in Syracuse was decided upon, by the 
 university powers, to be on these highlands, Mr. Smith making a donation of 
 twenty-one hundred dollars and Judge Comstock a donation of twenty thousand 
 dollars, which was paid in land. Thus the story is only in part told of the 
 development of one of the most beautiful parts of Syracuse. 
 
 A republican patriot, Mr. Smith stood with his party from 1861 until 
 1865, and ever afterward supported that ticket. He was interested in Amer- 
 ican history, in good literature and in various sources of amusement and 
 entertainment, including the theatre and whist. He greatly enjoyed, too, the 
 sport with the rod, and this and his love for nature led him often into the 
 wilderness. He seldom missed a year during half a century in which he 
 did not each spring visit the streams of northern New York and the famous 
 lake region. His was indeed a well rounded character and to him was allotted 
 a fullness of years that made his an honored old age. He passed away in 
 Syracuse, August 8, 1901, leaving a name deeply engraved on the roll of the 
 prominent citizens of Syracuse and the promoters of her development and 
 her greatness. 
 
Cljarles; OTiUiam parbeen 
 
 IHARLES WILLIAM BARDEEN, known through- 
 out the land as an educator, and as author and pub- 
 lisher of books on education, has been since 1874 
 editor and publisher of The School Bulletin and New 
 York State Educational Journal at Syracuse. He 
 was born in Groton, Massachusetts, August 28, 1847, 
 the oldest child of William Thomas and Mary Ann 
 (Farnsworth) Bardeen. At an early age he moved 
 with his parents to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and 
 was educated at the Fitchburg high school and at the Orange County Gram- 
 mar School, Randolph, Vermont. While a boy of fourteen he enlisted as a 
 drummer, July 21, 1862, in the First Massachusetts Volunteers, and served 
 till the regiment was discharged, May 25, 1864, being present at the battles 
 of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spott- 
 sylvania. On his return he entered Lawrence Academy, Groton, of which 
 his mother was a graduate, and upon graduation in 1865 entered Yale, from 
 which he was graduated in 1869. He was one of the contributors to "My 
 Schools and Schoolmasters" series in The Educational Review, and a racy 
 account of his schooldays is given in the number for October, 1901 (xxii. 
 228-39). 
 
 While a junior in college he served for a term as principal of the high 
 school at Meriden, Connecticut, and before graduation he became principal 
 of the academic department of the boarding school at Weston, Connecticut. 
 In 1870 he was vice principal of the Connecticut State Normal School, and in 
 1872 became superintendent of schools at Whitehall, New York. In 1874 
 he established The School Bulletin at Syracuse and has been ever since its 
 editor and publisher, making it one of the leading educational papers of the 
 country. This publication, together with his writings published elsewhere, 
 have brought him national reputation. In 1893 he was put in charge of the 
 department of educational publications of the International Congress, Chi- 
 cago, and in 1907 he wrote the chapter in Educational Journalism for the 
 Jubilee volume of the National Educational Association. From 1891 until 
 1895 he served as a director of the National Educational Association and 
 since 1900 has been president of the Educational Press Association of Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 161 
 
1 62 Ctiarleg l@iUtam 2^arbeen 
 
 His book publications began with the reprint from The School Bulletin 
 of papers he had written on school law, and have grown till he is by far the 
 most extensive publisher in the world of books on teaching. His list has 
 numbered more than fifteen hundred titles, and his books are ordered from 
 every country. His publications have received awards at every interna- 
 tional exposition since that at Paris in 1878, including a gold medal at the 
 Paris exposition of 1889, two gold medals at the Paris exposition of 1900 and 
 medal and diploma at the Chicago exposition of 1893. He has recently become 
 also an extensive publisher of maps for schools, his Peerless series being exclu- 
 sively adopted for use in the rural schools of New York. He has his own 
 printing and binding establishment and gives employment to a large force of 
 workmen. 
 
 Mr. Bardeen's success in business is due partly to his habit of retaining 
 employes who prove valuable. The foreman of his bindery has been with 
 him twenty-four years. The foreman of his printing office came to him 
 twenty-seven years ago, and though at the time of the printers' strike he felt 
 obliged to go out with the union after two years in other offices he withdrew 
 from the union in Qrder to come back. This keeping men is due not only to 
 good wages and good treatment but also to the fact that when need arises 
 Mr. Bardeen is always ready to take a hand himself in any department of 
 the business. In the old Clinton street store he happened to come out of 
 the office just as a new errand boy was refusing to take a wheelbarrow of 
 paper around the corner to Garrett's. "I am a high school graduate," the 
 boy was saying, "and I didn't hire out to do menial work." "Quite right," 
 assented Mr. Bardeen cheerfully, "these distinctions should be preserved. 
 Always maintain your dignity, my boy. Now I am going by Garrett's, and 
 as the paper must be got there I will wheel it; you come along with me." 
 At this the boy offered and begged and almost cried to wheel it, but Mr. 
 Bardeen was already between the handles. He lifted them and wheeled the 
 barrow along, chatting pleasantly with the boy, but paying no heed to his 
 protestations. When they reached the store he said, "Now this paper must 
 be carried in; will you do it or shall I?" "O, you needn't rub it in, Mr. 
 Bardeen," the boy said, "I've learned my lesson." And thereafter he proved 
 efficient help. 
 
 Mr. Bardeen is himself the author of some of the most successful publi- 
 cations, including a Manual of School Law, 1875 ; Roderick Hume, 1875 '> The 
 Song Budget, 1878; Some Facts About our Public School System, 1878; 
 Educational Journalism, 1881; A System of Rhetoric, 1884; Verbal Pitfalls, 
 Outlines of Sentence Making, 1884; The Teacher's Commercial Value, 1885; 
 A Shorter Course in Rhetoric, 1885; Dime Question Book of Temperance, 
 Physiology, Bookkeeping, Letter Writing, 1884, 1888; Organization and Sys- 
 tem vs. Originality, 1890; Effect of the College Preparatory High School 
 upon Attendance and Scholarship in the Lower Grades, 1890; The Tax Payer 
 
Ctjatlcg t^tttiam ^garbgew 163 
 
 and the Township System, 1891; The Teacher As He Should Be, 1891; The 
 Song Century, 1888; The Song Patriot, 1892; The Little Old Man, or The 
 School for Illiberal Mothers, 1893; History of Educational JournaHsm in 
 New York, 1893; The Song Budget Series Combined, 1894; Geography of the 
 Empire State, 1895; Fitting Teachers to Places, 1897; Teaching as a Business, 
 1897; Author's Birthday Exercises, 1897-99; Some Problems of City School 
 Management, 1899; Educational Journalism, An Inventory, 1899; Continuous 
 Contracts for Teachers, 1900; Dictionary of Educational Biography, 1901 ; 
 A Manual of Civics, 1902; Fifty-five Years Old and Other Stories, 1904; 
 The Woman Trustee, 1905; The False Entry, 1906; The Cloak Room Thief, 
 1907; John Brody's Astral Body, 1908. In addition to all this Mr. Bardeen 
 has been a frequent contributor to magazines on education and literary sub- 
 jects. He has visited Europe eleven times and Africa three times and his 
 illustrated magazine articles may some time be gathered into book form. 
 
 He was the first president of the Syracuse Browning Club, and one of the 
 founders of the University Club, of the Players Club (afterward the Syracuse 
 Club, now merged in the Century Club), of the Syracuse Tennis Club, and of 
 the Onondaga Golf and Country Club. He is now president of the Syracuse 
 Yale Club, and of the Syracuse Typothetae. He is also a fellow of the 
 American Geographical Society and a member of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Social Science Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1868 he married Ellen Palmer, daughter of Charles and Eliza Jane 
 Dickerman, of New Haven, Connecticut. The family home has been since 1879 
 at No. 1 109 East Genesee street. To Mr. and Mrs. Bardeen have been 
 born two sons and three daughters. The eldest, Charles Russell Bardeen, 
 was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, February 8, 1871. After graduation 
 from the Syracuse High School he spent a year at the Teischmann School at 
 Leipsic, Germany, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1893. In 
 college he was successively secretary, treasurer, and president of the Harvard 
 Athletic Association, and the chapter on The Jerry Rescue in Stray's History 
 of Syracuse was written by him as a regular theme in college. He was grad- 
 uated from the Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1897 and became assist- 
 ant professor there. Since 1904 he has been in the University of Wisconsin, 
 where he is now dean of the medical school. He is also a member of many 
 scientific societies, and an authority upon anatomy in Europe as well as in 
 America. He is just publishing in connection with a professor in Giessen, 
 Germany, a work on embryology that appears simultaneously in America and 
 in Germany, in both English and German. He is already recognized, like 
 his father, as one of the successful men of the country by the annual publica- 
 tion of his name in "Who's Who in America." The younger son, Norman, 
 is secretary of the Lee Paper Company, conducting an extensive business at 
 Vicksburg, Michigan. Of the daughters, Beatrice is the wife of Dr. David 
 
1 64 Cfiatled D^iUiam 2^arbeen 
 
 Hastings Atwater, of Rochester, New York, and Bertha and Ethel are at 
 home. 
 
 It is unnecessary to add that Mr. Bardeen is a man of broad intellectual 
 and scholarly attainments, for these have been shadowed forth between the 
 lines of this review. He has studied closely the great sociological and 
 political problems, but his attention has been chiefly concentrated upon educa- 
 tional subjects. His presentation of ideas has been so forcible and enter- 
 taining that he has always commanded a wide audience, and he has left his 
 mark on the school system not only of the state but of the nation. He has 
 especially sought to introduce higher ideals for the teacher, and his books and 
 addresses on this topic are quoted wherever the subject is discussed. 
 
$eter Ctfeel 
 
 ETER ECKEL, president of the Eckel-Nye Steel Com- 
 pany, manufacturers of low grade steel, was born in 
 Syracuse, February 27, 1865. His parents, Jacob B. 
 and Barbara (Morningstar) Eckel, were both of Ger- 
 man birth. Coming to the United States, the father 
 settled in Syracuse at an early period in the growth 
 and development of the city and was one of the pio- 
 neer salt manufacturers here. He died in 1903 and is 
 still survived by his wife, who is living in Syracuse 
 at the advanced age of eighty-four years. In their family were nine children, 
 of whom six sons still survive. 
 
 Peter Eckel, as a pupil in the public schools, acquired the knowledge 
 that prepared him for life's practical and responsible duties. A review of 
 the business situation and possibilities in Syracuse and an understanding of 
 his own ability led him to enter the field of business in which he is still 
 engaged. He began the manufacture of low grade steel for mercantile pur- 
 poses, such as is used in folding beds, etc. From the beginning the enter- 
 prise has prospered and the development of the business has made it one of 
 the leading productive industries of the city. It has been incorporated under 
 the name of the Eckel-Nye Steel Company and one hundred and forty men 
 are employed in the extensive mill and plant at the corner of Chemung and 
 Emerson avenues. The plant is thoroughly equipped for the conduct of the 
 business, having the latest improved machinery required in this line and grad- 
 ually Mr. Eckel has worked his way upward until he now occupies a foremost 
 position in industrial circles. The officers of the company are: Peter Eckel, 
 president; Philip Eckel, vice president; and Francis H. Nye, secretary and 
 treasurer. 
 
 About thirty years ago Mr, Eckel was married to Miss Sarah Carlin of 
 Syracuse, and since the death of his wife seven years ago he makes his home 
 with his daughter in a beautiful residence which he erected for her at the cor- 
 ner of Merriman, Grace and Oswego streets. This daughter, Mabel, is now 
 the wife of Dr, Charles N. Bloom, a prominent physician of Syracuse, and 
 they have one child, Carlin Eckel Bloom. 
 
 Mr. Eckel is a member of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, an associa- 
 tion which indicates his interest in the business development of the city. 
 His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he holds mem- 
 
 165 
 
1 66 
 
 Peter Ccfeel 
 
 bership in the German Lutheran church. He is a very busy man and yet not 
 so burdened with the demands of his industrial interests as to refuse his 
 co-operation in measures for the pubHc good or to extend to friends the 
 courtesy of an interview. He is wholly worthy the respect which is everywhere 
 tendered him, for his name is synonymous with honorable dealing and with 
 all that is elevating and beneficial to the city and to the individual. 
 
Uj. Oi . a/H>l . 
 
William aion^o ^M 
 
 ILLIAM ALONZOABEL, son of Alonzo Abel and 
 Harriett N. Warner Abel, was born in Gibson, Sus- 
 quehanna county, Pennsylvania, February lo, 1846. 
 His paternal ancestor in this country is Robert Abell, 
 who came from the county of Kent, England, with 
 Winthrop in 1630. On Battle Abbey Roll are the 
 names of Abell and Abel. The name is also found in 
 Doomsday Book. Thomas Abel was chaplain to Henry 
 VIII. His defense of Queen Catherine entitled "In- 
 victa Vertas" cost him his head. He was condemned for treason and executed 
 in 1540, a victim to his unsparing defense of his queen and friend. There were 
 members of the family in the Naragansett fight, also in the expedition of Sir 
 William Phipps against Quebec in 1690. 
 
 William Abel, son of Caleb, a Revolutionary soldier, came to what is 
 now Gibson, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1810, when that county 
 was an unbroken wilderness, except of a small settlement at Great Bend 
 on the Susquehanna river. With six others he bought a large tract of land, 
 bringing their families into the wilderness in 181 1. His fourth son was 
 Alonzo, who married Harriett N. Warner, of Athens, Pennsylvania, in 1844. 
 
 Their first child was William Alonzo Abel. In 1854 Alonzo Abel, who 
 was a carpenter, contractor and farmer, moved his family to Harford, Penn- 
 sylvania, where William attended private schools until 1863, when he went 
 to Owego, New York, and entered the hardware store of Storrs & Chatfield, 
 while with this firm he attended school two years. In 1866 he left this firm 
 spending the fall and winter hunting and trapping in the Adirondacks. In 
 the spring of 1867 he came to Syracuse and entered the employ of Everson, 
 Frisselle & Company, hardware dealers, remaining with them until the spring 
 of 1 87 1, when he went to Colorado, spending part of two years as a hunter, 
 buffalo and antelope then being very plentiful. Returning to Syracuse he 
 re-entered the employ of Everson, Frisselle & Company, becoming a partner 
 in 1887, when the firm name was changed to Everson & Company. Retiring 
 from this firm in 1893, ^^ formed a partnership with Major Theodore L, Poole, 
 his brother-in-law, opening a store in the Bastable block for the sale of 
 sportsmen's goods under the firm name of W. A. Abel & Company, On the 
 death of Hon. Theodore L. Poole in 1900, Charles E. Crouse bought Mr. Poole's 
 interest in the business and the place of business was changed to its present 
 
 167 
 
i68 WiUmm aUin?o aiiel 
 
 location at No. 1 18 South Clinton street. In 1904, Frederick B. Henderson 
 bought Mr. Grouse's interest in the business, the firm name remaining 
 unchanged. 
 
 In 1877, Mr. Abel married Nettie S. Law, daughter of Charles Law, and 
 has two children living, A. Evelyn Abel, born in 1887, and Margerie L. Abel, 
 born in 1890. Mr. Law was a helper in the "J^^ry Rescue" in 1851. 
 
 Mr. Abel has the diary of his maternal great-grandfather, who was a 
 soldier in the Revolution. This contains his account of the taking of Mon- 
 treal, the battles of Trenton and Princeton, in all of which he took part. Mr. 
 Abel has a pistol used at Bunker Hill, also a powder horn with owner's name, 
 camp and date cut on it which was used in the same war. This was left him 
 by will. 
 
/ 
 
 {XA'^U/l- /Ct^^C^t^tyi ^3tW 
 
Cfjarlej; lisitman 
 
 rif#^^ 
 
 c 
 
 m^^M 
 
 IHARLES LISTMAN, manager of the People's Ice 
 Company and also active in the public service in Syra- 
 cuse, his native city, was born June 19, 1850. His 
 father, Adam Listman, was a native of Germany and 
 came to Syracuse in 1840. The Listmans were famed 
 as wine growers near Gundersbloom and at that place 
 there is still a wine cellar in existence, marked 1475 
 and another 1776. Their wines are famed through- 
 out the empire. Adam Listman, following his emi- 
 gration to the new world, engaged in the salt business at Syracuse, also con- 
 ducted a grocery store and tavern during the early days. At one time he was 
 the host of the famous old Center House on Salina street and was a very promi- 
 nent and influential factor of the city. He served as collector before Syracuse 
 was incorporated. He was also one of the first aldermen of the city and 
 whether in office or out of it was a loyal advocate of interests that have proven 
 a valuable element in the material development and progress of Syracuse. A 
 veteran of the Civil war, he served as captain in the One Hundred and First 
 New York Volunteer Infantry and died from the efifects of hardships in the 
 service in 1863. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret S. Koochen, 
 was a native of Germany and in 1840 came to Syracuse, where she was mar- 
 ried. She survived her husband several years, passing away in 1871. 
 
 Charles Listman acquired his education in the public schools of Syra- 
 cuse, continuing his studies to the age of fourteen, when he entered business 
 life and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources. The 
 success he has achieved and the straightforward methods he has followed com- 
 mand for him the admiration and trust of his fellowmen. During the period 
 of the Civil war he went with his father to the front, although but twelve 
 years of age, and remained with the army for three months. He was after- 
 ward employed at home in his father's store and tavern until the age of eight- 
 een years and he started upon an independent business career by taking 
 contracts for making excavations. Many large contracts were awarded him 
 and thus he obtained his start in life. He excavated the cellars of a number 
 of the substantial buildings now standing in Syracuse. Throughout his busi- 
 ness life he has made it his aim to do thoroughly whatever he has undertaken 
 and he long since demonstrated his trustworthiness as well as his enterprise. 
 It was about the time of his marriage in 1870 that Mr. Listman made 
 
 169 
 
I70 Cijarlcss Hisstman 
 
 his start in the ice business, becoming a member of the firm of Listman & 
 YaHng. They began operations on a small scale, putting up their own ice 
 and personally disposing of it to their customers. The partnership continued 
 until 1874, when Mr. Listman bought out Mr. Yaling's interest and conducted 
 the business alone until 1881, when he admitted his brother Phil to a partner- 
 ship under the firm style of C. & P. Listman. In 1885 Charles Listman again 
 became sole . proprietor and so continued until 1899. In the meantime the 
 business increased with astonishing but gratifying rapidity and at that time 
 the company were utilizing twenty-five wagons in the delivery of ice and 
 employing one hundred and fifty men. Because of the extent and growth 
 of the business Mr. Listman, in 1899, organized the People's Ice Company, 
 of which he is president, and of which he owns three-fourths of the stock. 
 The original plants are still in operation. In the present capacity the com- 
 pany can put up eighty thousand tons of ice per year. Mr. Listman remained 
 as president until 1902, when he retired. He has conducted his business 
 along systematic lines and has always been able to supply the trade and never 
 once has failed to supply his customers, owing to his careful calculation. 
 
 In politics Mr. Listman is a pronounced republican, recognized as one 
 of the leaders of the party in central New York. He was a member of the 
 first board of fire commissioners, holding the office for five years, from 1879 
 until 1884. He was then elected alderman from the second ward and was 
 re-elected four times, continuing in that position from 1884 until 1888 inclu- 
 sive. In this capacity he exercised his ofiicial prerogatives in support of 
 many progressive measures and practical economy and reform in the man- 
 agement of municipal interests. On the 24th of March, 1891, he was appointed 
 police commissioner by Mayor Cowie and later served under Jacob Amos 
 for a period of five years or until 1896. He was appointed commissioner 
 of public safety, filling the office under Mayor Kline's administration from 
 the I St of January, 1902, until the ist of January, 1904. His public serv- 
 ice has been characterized by unfaltering fidelity to duty and over his record 
 there falls no shadow of wrong. 
 
 On the 30th of January, 1870, Mr. Listman was married to Miss Kate 
 Warner, of Liverpool, and they have three daughters: Florence W., at 
 home; Jane M., the wife of John Bartels, of Rochester, president of the Mon- 
 roe Brewing Company, of which Mr. Listman is a stockholder; and Ethel 
 E., at home. 
 
 Mr. Listman is prominent in social and fraternal circles. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Harugari, the Century Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Turn 
 Verein, the Liederkranz, the Masonic Club, Syracuse Lodge, No. 31, B. P. O. 
 E., the Knights of Pythias and all of the Masonic bodies including the Shrine, 
 while in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty-second degree. He is 
 also vice president of the Empire State Ice Harvesters' Association. His 
 business career has been characterized by hard work and persistency of 
 
(CffWcUi ILisittnan 
 
 171 
 
 purpose. He has ever made it his rule to give value received and in his 
 business record has maintained a reputation for unswerving integrity. Start- 
 ing out in business life at an early age owing to his father's death, he learned 
 to watch for opportunities and to utilize them. He realized, too, the value 
 of industry and perseverance and throughout his business career, successful 
 as it has been, there has been not a single esoteric chapter in the record. 
 
^ 
 
 ^^. ^:^:,^^^L...^-^-^i!^ 
 
€mil M. aaetoelt 
 
 iMIL M. ALLEWELT, of the firm of E. M. Allewelt 
 & Brother, decorators, furnishers and architectural 
 woodworkers in Syracuse, his native city, was born 
 June 19, i860. His father, Henry C. Allewelt, was 
 born at Bielefeld, Westphalen, Prussia, on the 12th 
 of Mardi, 1834. He there resided to the 20th of 
 July, 1853, when he left his native city and on the 
 8th of August sailed from Bremen in a two mast 
 schooner, reaching New York on the 30th of Sep- 
 tember. In January, 1855, he arrived at Syracuse, being called to this city 
 to decorate Longstreet's castle. Here he met Miss Elizabeth Boehm, whom 
 he wedded on the 20th of November, 1855. They traveled life's journey hap- 
 pily together for almost thirty years and were then separated by the death 
 of the wife on the 6th of November, 1885, her husband, two sons and a daugh- 
 ter surviving her. 
 
 H. C. Allewelt started in business on his own account as a decorator 
 in September, 1855, and for forty years was a prominent factor in the com- 
 mercial circles of the city, retiring in 1895 but leaving to his memory a splen- 
 did monument in a business which is now foremost in the trade circles of the 
 city. In 1855 he established the first German theatre of Syracuse and 
 throughout the period of his residence here was closely associated with pub- 
 lic and private interests. In 1862 he entered the militia as a member of the 
 Hawley Guards, Company H, and in 1863 was transferred to Company E, 
 Monroe Cadets, of which he was elected captain the same year. He remained 
 a member of the National Guard for a long period, was elected major of the 
 Fifty-first Regiment September 12, 1870, elected lieutenant colonel December 
 16, 1 87 1, and on the nth of December, 1872, became colonel by the unanimous 
 vote of the officers. He was also well known in fraternal circles, becoming 
 an Odd Fellow in 1855 and a Mason in 1863. In the latter order he attained 
 the thirty-second degree. His interest in the welfare and progress of his 
 adopted city never abated and he continued one of it.s honored and respected 
 residents up to the time of his death in April, 1897. 
 
 Emil M. Allewelt attended the public schools and subsequently pursued 
 an academic course in New York city, where he studied figure painting, por- 
 traiture, etc., in the Art Students' League. After finishing his course he 
 returned to Syracuse to enter upon his business career with his father in the 
 
 173 
 
174 Cmil M- Hfletoclt 
 
 decorating business and added to it the complete furnishing of interiors. 
 Five years ago he further extended the scope of his business by adding an 
 architectural woodwork department, the factory of which is now located in 
 Fayetteville, New York. This enables the firm to do everything in interior 
 woodwork in any style or period desired. Mr. Allewelt insists that in the 
 artistic decoration of a house perfect harmony in the period of decorative 
 designs and in color tones is essential, and that the effect is greatly enhanced 
 when there is the fullest accord in the correct treatment of every detail from 
 carpets and furniture to draperies and wall decoration, which is now classed 
 as one of the fine arts. The business has grown to such proportion that 
 they execute contracts all over the country from coast to coast. 
 
 Mr. Allewelt was married in Syracuse, February 7, 1888, to Miss Clara 
 V. Arnold, of Memphis, Tennessee, whom he had met while they were both 
 studying at the Art Students' League in New York. They now have four 
 children: Norma, Althea, Virginia and Emil M. Mr. Allewelt belongs 
 to the American Fine Arts Society, New York city; the Citizens' Club; the 
 Syracuse Camera Club; and the Frontenac Yacht Club. He owns a beauti- 
 ful summer home at Frontenac on the St. Lawrence, and his chief diversion is 
 fishing in the St. Lawrence and in other Canadian waters. He stands today 
 prominent among the leaders in his line of business, his natural and acquired 
 ability gaining him pre-eminence as proprietor of a business which, established 
 in 1855, has since been accorded a place in the foremost rank of the decorators 
 of this country. 
 
^ 
 
 £>«---? 
 
 ^c 
 
 c::C-Je^ 
 
Jfrancis! Sail 
 
 HE LESSONS of life which have real value are 
 gleaned from biography, wherein are set forth the 
 plans and methods which lead the individual into 
 large and successful undertakings. Carlyle has said 
 "biography is the most interesting as well as the 
 most profitable reading" and the record of such a 
 man as Francis Hall contains lessons that may be 
 profitably followed, showing the value and force of 
 enterprise, diligence and careful management in the 
 active affairs of life. He is now the secretary of the Syracuse Chilled Plow 
 Company, with which he became connected in a humble capacity at the age of 
 seventeen years, since which time he has steadily worked his way upward to 
 his present position of trust and responsibility. 
 
 Mr. Hall was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, May i, 1874, and traces his 
 ancestry back to an early period in colonial history. Among the forty-six 
 original proprietors of the first territorial purchase from the Indian Sachem, 
 Massasoit, was George Hall, who with his wife came from Devonshire, Eng- 
 land, in 1636, In 1639 he was one of the founders of Taunton, Massachu- 
 setts. These lands of the territorial purchase or portions of them have 
 remained in the family for over two hundred and seventy years. The early 
 colonial members of the Hall family were iron masters and it is only a few 
 years since a "bloomery" established by them in Taunton, Massachusetts, 
 has been torn down. The Halls have been iron masters for eight genera- 
 tions, Francis Hall being a representative of the eighth generation in direct 
 line from George Hall. His grandfather, John Hall, the sixth of that name, 
 was a graduate of Yale College of the class of 1802 and for three years follow- 
 ing was a tutor in Yale. He was a prominent educator of Connecticut and 
 for many years he conducted the famous John Hall Preparatory School at 
 Ellington. The Rev. Nathaniel H. Eggleston, who was pastor of the church 
 in Ellington during the later years of John Hall's life, said of him years 
 afterward: "He was truly and emphatically a Christian man and was 
 greatly interested in the church and in the work of many of our religious 
 and benevolent societies, in several of which he at times held office. Unob- 
 trusive, but of high character and unusual mental ability, a student of the best 
 things through life — he was our sage. As he walked our streets he seemed 
 like one of the peripatetic philosophers of old, dispensing his wisdom as he 
 
 175 
 
176 jFranctfli <|att 
 
 walked. He sought to lead others in the pursuit and love of that knowledge 
 which he had found to be most promotive of the highest achievement and 
 highest happiness." Aside from his work in connection with the school 
 and of all his varied activities in the various departments of church and men- 
 tal work he also served as judge of his county. He married Harriet Reed, a 
 direct descendant of William Bradford who came to America on the May- 
 flower and was governor of the Plymouth colony for thirty years. There is 
 in Ellington, Connecticut, a beautiful memorial library erected by the late 
 Francis Hall, of Elmira, New York, an uncle of our subject, in memory of 
 Judge John Hall, his father, and of Edward Hall, his brother, to commemorate 
 the fifty years of educational work represented by the Hall Preparatory 
 School in Ellington. 
 
 This Francis Hall,, son of Judge Hall, was known as "the traveler," hav- 
 ing spent thirty years of his life in residence and travel abroad, and next 
 to Bayard Taylor in his time was the greatest American traveler. He made 
 a fortune in Japan, being one of the first to enter that country after the Perry 
 treaty had opened its ports to foreign trade. He founded the house of 
 Walsh, Hall & Company, at the treaty port of Kanagawa and was the first 
 president of the Board of Trade there, continuing as such until he left the 
 country. He was also financially interested in various important business 
 affairs in America and was for a period of twenty years vice president of 
 the Syracuse Chilled Plow Company. On the occasion of the dedication of 
 the Hall Memorial Library in Ellington, the Rev. David E. Jones said of 
 Francis Hall: "He was a man of choice intellectual attainments, beautiful 
 character, and a deep spiritual life, of charming personality, utter unselfish- 
 ness and of marked enthusiasm in every good work for the physical, intellec- 
 tual and moral welfare of his fellows." At his death he left not only a 
 bequest for the beautiful Ellington Library but also gifts to various benevo- 
 lent and other institutions of Elimra. 
 
 Robert A. Hall, father of Francis Hall of this review, was born in Elling- 
 ton, Connecticut, and is now living retired at Elmira, New York, where for 
 many years he engaged in commercial pursuits, being a member of the widely 
 known business firm of Hall Brothers, dealing in books and stationery on 
 an extensive scale. His wife, Augusta (Pratt) Hall, was born in Danville, 
 Pennsylvania, a daughter of Benjamin Willis and Johanna (Lucas) Pratt. 
 She is a direct descendant of Francis Cook, who came over in the Mayflower. 
 
 From the foregoing record it will be seen that on both his paternal and 
 maternal sides, Francis Hall of Syracuse, is directly descended from the origi- 
 nal colonists who came to America in 1620 in the Mayflower, landing at Ply- 
 mouth. With one exception Francis Hall of this review is the only such 
 descendant on two sides in Syracuse. His father's family numbers four sons 
 and two daughters and in the parental home at Elmira, New York, he spent 
 the days of his boyhood and youth, pursuing his education in its public schools 
 
Stmtii J^att 177 
 
 and academy. On January 2, 1892, at the age of seventeen years, he became 
 connected with the Syracuse Chilled Plow Company, of which his uncle Fran- 
 cis Hall was vice president for twenty years. This business was organized 
 and built up in its infancy by Levi Wells Hall, its first secretary and treasurer, 
 and later, until his death, its president. Young Francis Hall applied him- 
 self closely to the mastery of the tasks assigned him and gradually worked 
 his way upward through the various departments of the business to his pres- 
 ent connection of trust and responsibility as secretary and advertising mana- 
 ger of the company. His promotion came in recognition of his ability, his 
 close application and his ready solution of intricate business problems. 
 
 On the 5th of September, 1905, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hall and 
 Miss Ruth Pauline Hoyt, a daughter of Mrs. Mathilde Antionette Hoyt, They 
 now have one daughter, Pauline Migy Hall. They own a pleasant home at 
 No. 205 Garfield avenue, which is the center of a cultured society circle, being 
 a favorite resort with their many friends in Syracuse. Their summer home 
 is "Vine Hill" at Glenora-on-Seneca. 
 
 Mr. Hall votes with the republican party. He belongs to the Congrega- 
 tional church and while in Elmira held membership in Thomas K. Beecher's 
 church. He is one of the old members of the Citizens' Club, is also identified 
 with the Chamber of Commerce of Syracuse, the Mystic Krewe of Ka-Noo-No 
 and the Syracuse Yacht Club, and is interested in all that pertains to the prog- 
 ress and upbuilding of his city. Yet a young man, he had nevertheless made 
 for himself an enviable name and a creditable position in industrial circles, 
 being now connected with one of the most important business enterprises of 
 his adopted city. 
 
(:Zc<y^.^u.y^ 
 
Cbttiarb fe. BalusJon 
 
 'DWARD S. DAWSON was one to whom the world 
 instinctively pays deference not only because of the 
 success he achieved but by reason of the straight- 
 forward business poHcy which he ever followed and 
 the methods which he employed to attain the bril- 
 liant success that came to him. He began business 
 life as the great majority of the world's workers do 
 — without special assistance or advantages save 
 those afforded by the district schools and it was 
 through the force of his character, his strong purpose and laudable ambition 
 that he gained the heights in commercial life. His name became inseparably 
 entwined with the history of Onondaga County Savings Bank and that insti- 
 tution is the best monument to his memory. 
 
 Mr. Dawson was born in the town of Nelson, Madison county, New York, 
 July 22, 1822, and received only such opportunities in youth as are common 
 to the great majority of boys. His education was that afforded by the 
 district schools but through life he remained a student — a student of all the 
 great questions which affect the world's workers or which depend upon the 
 welfare of his adopted city. It was indeed in the school of experience 
 that he learned the most valuable lessons. He was a youth of fourteen when 
 he secured employment in the general store of Horace Wheaton, at Pompey 
 Hill, and to the training in business methods and in habits of exactness and 
 punctuality which he then received Mr. Dawson afterward attributed no 
 small measure of the success which attended his undertakings in later life. 
 He had to perform the duties of errand boy, clerk and bookkeeper but he 
 displayed aptitude as well as diligence and eagerly availed himself of the 
 opportunities that offered in the mastering the methods of business life 
 and of storing away knowledge for his future use. That he was a most 
 trusted employe is indicated by the fact that he remained with Mr. Wheaton 
 for seven years and then sought a broader field of usefulness. Coming to 
 Syracuse, he entered commercial circles in this city as bookkeeper for the 
 firm of Wheaton & Robinson, dealers in general hardware, on the site of the 
 present Wieting block. Three years later he engaged with Charles Pope & 
 Company, dealers in and manufacturers of saddlery hardware and with his 
 usual custom of learning everything he could about any business with which 
 he was connected, he familiarized himself with the saddlery business and in 
 
 179 
 
i8o (gbtoarb ^. j^atogon 
 
 1858 took his initial independent step in business life in that line of trade 
 as senior member of the firm of E. S. Dawson & Company. For several 
 years he conducted business at the corner of Salina and West Fayette streets 
 and enjoyed constantly growing sales, his success being attributable to his 
 own unwearied industry, his reasonable prices and his earnest desire to 
 please his patrons. He also became well known as the inventor and patentee 
 of many useful and valuable improvements in the line of goods which he 
 handled. 
 
 But it was in the field of banking that Mr. Dawson was destined to become 
 best known, and for fifty-one years he was a factor in the conduct and man- 
 agement of the Onondaga County Savings Bank, which came into existence 
 in 1855 through a special charter granted by the state legislature. The pur- 
 pose of its organization was to found an institution in whic'h small or large 
 savings might be deposited and which would bring to the depositor a fair 
 rate of interest. The value of this institution to Syracuse and Onondaga 
 county cannot be over estimated. It has stimulated saving among the wage 
 earners, permitting many in time to gain a most desirable bank account, 
 where otherwise much of the sum would not unprobably have been expended 
 without securing adequate returns. The Onondaga County Savings Bank 
 began business in an office partitioned off from the rear of the law office of 
 James L. Bagg. No other commentary on its success is needed than a view 
 of the fine bank building which was erected by the trustees in 1896, at the 
 southeast corner of South Salina and East Water street. It is a magnificent 
 structure, ten stories in height and on the ground floor is one of the most 
 finely equipped bank buildings of the state outside of New York city. 
 
 From the beginning Mr. Dawson was connected with this institution. 
 In April, 1855, he became one of the incorporators and first trustees of the 
 bank and remained as a member of the board until the nth of January, 
 1869, when he resigned, to be elected on the ist of February following to the 
 office of treasurer of the bank. On the loth of November, 1884, the state 
 law then permitted him to hold both positions, he was again elected a trustee 
 and thereafter until his death continued his membership in the board. On 
 the nth of May, 1891, he was elected to the presidency to succeed Daniel 
 P. Wood and continued as the chief executive officer until his death, which 
 occurred December 18, 1906. He was the last of the original bank trustees 
 and incorporators. In their resolutions of respect the board of trustees at 
 his death said: "Mr. Dawson has had a longer and closer association with 
 the practical work of the bank than any other person. His outside interests 
 were few; his business life was practically merged in that of the institution 
 with which his name at length came to be in the minds of the public so nearly 
 a synonym. For thirty-six years he was a useful member of the board of 
 trustees, regular in attendance, prompt and efficient in the performance of his 
 voluntary and requited service — a service that began with the opening of the 
 
d^luarb ^. i^ainsion i8i 
 
 bank for business with its first deposit of one hundred dollars — a service that 
 terminated only with his life. Seldom does it occur that so nearly the entire 
 business life and record of an individual living to such advanced years should 
 be so nearly coincident with and measured by the life of so important an insti- 
 tution. Twenty-two years as treasurer, he was the custodian of the funds and 
 keeper of the records and accounts of the institution. The service was char- 
 acterized by integrity, accuracy, promptness and courteous treatment of cus- 
 tomers. So complete a system of records, accounts, vouchers, checks and 
 balances was developed, as combined with his personal vigilance aided by an 
 unusually strong and reliable memory, that during the period the bank suf- 
 fered no loss from defalcation, irregularity, or from errors so liable to appear 
 in a business combining at once such magnitude and such detail. Since May 
 II, 1 89 1, a period of more than fifteen and a half years, Mr. Dawson has 
 been the president of the bank and has with unvarying regularity sat at the 
 head of the table, around which the members of this board have gathered in 
 their meetings for the consideration of the business of the institution. So 
 rapidly and imperceptibly does the past merge into the present that some of 
 us may be surprised to learn that more than two- thirds of the members of our 
 present board were elected trustees during this period of Mr. Dawson's presi- 
 dency. During this time those younger and older in the service alike have 
 found him modest, affable, efficient, and always faithful to his trust." 
 
 In the midst of a busy life Mr. Dawson always found time for courtesy 
 and opportunity to give audience to his friends who sought him upon other 
 than business questions. He held friendship inviolable and was devoted to 
 the welfare of his family. In 1849 he was married to Miss Clarissa Marsh, 
 a daughter of Moses Seymour Marsh. Hei» grandparents were Rev. Truman 
 and Clarissa (Seymour) Marsh, the former for many years rector of the 
 Episcopal church of Litchfield, Connecticut, entering upon his pastoral 
 duties there in 1809, or eariier. He died in Litchfield, in April, 1851, when 
 about eighty years of age. His wife, Clarissa (Seymour) Marsh, was a 
 sister of Henry Seymour, father of Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour, of New 
 York. Her death occurred at Litchfield, September 2, 1865, when she had 
 reached the remarkable age of ninety-three years and one month. The 
 maternal grandfather of Mrs. Dawson was Augustus Wheaton, a farmer and 
 one of the early settlers of the town of Pompey, to which he removed from 
 Dutchess county, New York, about 1810 or 181 2. Her father was born at 
 New Milford, Connecticut, December 28, 1792, and became one of the early 
 residents of Syracuse, where he died October 12, 1843. At Pompey, New 
 York, on the 19th of August, 1820, he married Flora Wheaton, who was 
 born at New Milford, Connecticut, July 23, 1799, and died at Syracuse, Sep- 
 tember 17, 1847. While at Pompey Mr. Marsh engaged in merchandising 
 and afterward became cashier of the Onondaga County Bank, in which capac- 
 ity he served for many years and likewise held the office of president. It 
 
i82 ggbtoarb ^. i^atogon 
 
 was Miss Clarissa Marsh, daughter of Moses S. and Flora (Wheaton) Marsh, 
 who became the wife of Edward S. Dawson. Unto them were born a daugh- 
 ter and three sons: Flora M., who is living at the old home at No. 125 Bur- 
 net avenue; Edward S., who is a partner in the drug firm of Brown & Daw- 
 son at No. 125 South Salina street; Homer, deceased; and John B., who is 
 residing with his sister Flora at the old homestead. There are also five 
 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Dawson was a stalwart republican, giving unfal- 
 tering allegiance to the party from its organization until his demise. He 
 found rest and recreation from the arduous cares of a business life in trout 
 fishing, which he greatly enjoyed and his vacation periods were usually 
 spent in that way. His friends found him an entertaining companion, an 
 especially good story teller, relating any incident with zest and interest. His 
 reliabiHty under all circumstances was one of his most strongly marked 
 traits of character. He regarded any promise, verbal or otherwise, as 
 sacred. No more fitting tribute to his memory could be paid than the pub- 
 lic expression of his worth in one of the Syracuse papers, which said: "The 
 man who has been associated as director, treasurer and president with such 
 an institution as the Onondaga County Savings Bank for fifty-one years, giv- 
 ing the advice, influence and management which has enabled this guardian 
 of the people's savings to ride steadily through every financial storm needs 
 no long panegyrics to commemorate his name among his fellow townsmen. 
 When nature exacted from Edward S. Dawson the quittance of his long 
 endeavor, he had erected the best monument by which man can be commem- 
 orated on earth — a life of achievement." 
 
^ 
 
JWonrae €. S>mit|i 
 
 ^ 
 
 M 
 
 ta 
 
 w 
 
 "ONROE CLAYTON SMITH, prominently identified 
 with the typewriter industry of Syracuse, was born 
 April 28, 1 86 1, at Center Lisle, Broome county, 
 New York, His parents were Lewis Stevens and 
 Eliza Ann (Hurlbut) Smith. His boyhood was 
 spent at Center Lisle, where he attended school and 
 was employed during vacations in the manufactur- 
 ing business carried on by his father. As a young 
 lad much of his time was spent with gun and dog 
 in the wooded country about Listle, and a strong love for outdoor life and 
 sportsmanship became early a part of his nature. Consequently, when 
 he grew up he hailed the opportunity in 1880 to engage in the gun business 
 in Syracuse, which in the meantime had been established by his brother L. 
 C. Smith, He worked in various departments of the factory and eventually 
 became a very successful road salesman for the L. C, Smith gun and was 
 prominent in trap shooting tournaments, becoming in 1889 one of the foremost 
 amateur trap shooters of the country. 
 
 Meanwhile the local typewriter industry had been established and the 
 young gun salesman was called to an important executive position, which 
 he occupied with credit and ability. When, in 1903, the Smith brothers 
 severed their existing typewriter relations and established their independent 
 organization, he was elected secretary of the new L. C. Smith & Brothers 
 Typewriter Company, a position which he now holds, and he worked very 
 effectively in building up the selling organization of that company, having 
 traveled all over the United States and Canada in the typewriter interests 
 and gained a very extensive acquaintance with the typewriter trade. 
 
 In addition to his interests in the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriter 
 Company, Mr. Smith is president of the Skahen Steel Company of Syracuse 
 and one of the proprietors of the Smith-Lee Company of Oneida, New York, 
 manufacturers of sanitary caps for milk and cream bottles. 
 
 Mr. Smith is a member of the Citizens', Century and Heidelberg Clubs 
 of Syracuse, is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, member of the 
 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Knights of Pythias. 
 He is also a member of the Masonic Temple Club and the Masonic Temple Club 
 Gun Club. His interest in shooting is still maintained and he continues to find 
 his recreation in outdoor life, being accounted one of the best of field shots. 
 
 183 
 
1 84 
 
 MovLvot C ^mitit 
 
 Mr. Smith was married in 1886 to Miss Emma J. Jones, of Syracuse. 
 They have two children: a son, Harvey Monroe Smith, is now a student 
 at Syracuse University, and a daughter. Miss Elizabeth Smith at Howard 
 Seminary, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. They reside on West Onon- 
 daga street. 
 
-^I ^.^-^-^^ 
 
Jf rebericfe Malcfj 
 
 iREDERICK WALCH was a representative of that 
 class of men whose laudable ambition prompts them 
 to seek homes in a foreign land where opportunity 
 promises better results than can be obtained in the 
 land of their nativity. Coming to America, he was 
 for many years a prominent merchant of Syracuse 
 and a successful investor in real estate, and owed 
 his prosperity to his recognition and utilization of 
 opportunity. He was born at Wilberdingen, Ger- 
 many, on the 14th of March, 1836. His parents were Philip Walch, origina- 
 tor of the Post Express of Germany and Eva Gruener, daughter of the cele- 
 brated advocate of that name. The son, Frederick, pursued his education in 
 the public schools of his native land but early in life began to assist his father 
 and from his youth was a hard worker — his entire life being characterized 
 by unremitting industry and perseverance. He came to this country in 1854, 
 when a young man of eighteen years, expecting that the freer opportunities 
 of the new world would enable him to more rapidly acquire competence than 
 was possible in the fatherland. Here, after some trying vicissitudes, he finally 
 began an apprenticeship in the upholstery and furniture business, and, con- 
 tinuing in that line, became a progressive, enterprising and successful busi- 
 ness man. He was a keen judge of realty value and from time to time began 
 to make judicious investments in property. In his business career he was 
 known for his reliability and conservatively progressive ideas, and for his in- 
 defatigable industry. He gained a substantial success, at the same time always 
 commanding the unqualified confidence of those with whom he was associated 
 and winning the deserved respect of his colleagues and admiration of his con- 
 temporaries. Aside from his other interests, he was interested in steel and 
 iron manufacturing industries and in other industrial enterprises. 
 
 He became an American citizen as soon as he was able to take out naturali- 
 zation papers and from that time on strictly did his duty as a good citizen — 
 never missing a vote and never avoiding the tax-gatherer. He also believed 
 in patronizing home industry and would never purchase abroad what had 
 sterling worth and could be obtained in the city which had given him his 
 opportunity. 
 
 After business hours, his time was practically all devoted to his family, 
 He was a man of domestic tastes, his interests centering in the growth of his 
 
 185 
 
i86 JFreberfctt Walt^ 
 
 adopted city and in his own home. He was married in 1856 to Miss Caroline 
 Arheidt, who was born in Pforzheim, Germany, but came to this country as an 
 infant. Her broad sympathies and many quiet charities were known only 
 to those whom they benefitted, and any good that she could do was always 
 quietly sanctioned by her silent abettor. They became the parents of twelve 
 children, of whom ten are yet living. 
 
 Mr. Walch was a devoted member of the First Reformed church,^ and 
 he tried to carry out its principles. He was fond of art and was a man of 
 refined taste. With him association meant expansion and elevation. He 
 died June 29, 1897. His sense of honor, his upright life, his good citizenship 
 made his death a distinct loss to the city with whose best growth he was so 
 long identified. 
 
'yy- 
 
 ■.£r^:Z; I>n-iZSevns tS^-^r-a /V>-^ 
 
Joel ®fiaper 
 
 "T IS SELDOM that one achieves the measure o,f suc- 
 cess which crowned the efforts of Joel Thayer and at 
 the same time retains in such unlimited measure the 
 unqualified respect of his fellowmen. In his busi- 
 ness career he displayed such discriminating judg- 
 ment that he seemed to accomplish at any one given 
 point the possibility of success at that point. He 
 placed a correct valuation upon his own capacities 
 and the people and circumstances that made up his 
 life contacts and experiences, and while he won prosperity, he regarded, too, 
 the obligations of life in one's relations to his fellowmen and fully met the 
 responsibilities of wealth. 
 
 A native of New York, Mr. Thayer was born in Ontario, July i8, 1812. 
 He became a resident of Skaneateles in 1835, when a young man of twenty- 
 three years, and remained in Onondaga county until his demise. His educa- 
 tion was acquired in the public schools and later he was for a short time 
 in business in Palmyra but with the exception of that brief period his identi- 
 fication with Skaneateles was an uninterrupted one. His business interests, 
 however, extended to other localities and for a long period he was largely 
 financially interested in manufacturing industries of Syracuse. Early in 
 his business career he was engaged in partnership with John Legg in the 
 manufacture of wagons and carriages at Skaneateles. His capital at the 
 outset of his business career was limited but he possessed strong determina- 
 tion, good business ability and laudable ambition and upon those qualities as 
 a foundation reared the superstructure of his success. He early became 
 interested in banking in Skaneateles and organized the Bank of Skaneateles, 
 of which he served as president for twelve years, carrying that institution 
 through the experimental period on to a substantial, prosperous basis. 
 
 Extending his efforts to other financial undertakings, he became the vice 
 president of the old Mechanics' Bank of Syracuse. His keen discernment 
 enabled him to correctly value a business situation and opportunities which 
 others passed by heedlessly he improved to the benefit of his own financial 
 interests and to the welfare of the community at large. He became proprietor 
 of a large flouring mill at Skaneateles and was the prime mover and promoter 
 of the Skaneateles Railroad, serving for several years as its president. About 
 that time he also became one of the heavy stockholders in the Sweet & Barnes 
 
 187 
 
i88 aoel Cliapcr 
 
 Company, the predecessor of the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, of Syracuse, retaining a position on its directorate up to the time of 
 his death. He was also president of the State Bank when death claimed 
 him, and his investments were extensive and proved excellent dividend pay- 
 ing property. 
 
 In 1835 Mr. Thayer was united in marriage to Miss Juliette, a daughter 
 of John and Emma (Calvin) Legg and a member of one of the oldest and 
 most respected families of Onondaga county. It was probably this fact 
 which induced him to become a resident of Skaneateles and led to his copart- 
 nership with Mr. Legg in his initial business enterprise in the village. Unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thayer were born three daughters. Mary, whose birth occurred 
 February 19, 1836, became the wife of H. T. Webb, a native of Mexico, 
 Oswego county, New -York, in 1855. Mr. Webb is a man of wealth and 
 has through his business life been actively engaged in business enterprises 
 of Skaneateles, Syracuse and New York city. Two children grace this 
 union: Mary Thayer and Eva Thayer. Mr. and Mrs. Webb maintain 
 residences both in Skaneateles and New York city, spending the summer 
 months at the former and the winter seasons in the metropolis. Their sum- 
 mer residence is the old homestead of John Legg and of Mr. Thayer and is 
 now in possession of the fourth generation. Narcissa Augusta and Emma 
 Augusta, the other daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Thayer, both died in early 
 childhood. The death of Mrs. Thayer occurred December 4, 1880, and was 
 the occasion of sincere and wide-spread regret in Skaneateles, where she occu- 
 pied in public regard the position of a noble woman, a devoted wife and 
 mother and kind and generous friend. Her acts of charity and benevolence 
 were many and her active cooperation was always given to movements for 
 the public good. Her influence was indeed a beneficial factor in the com- 
 munity, where her memory is yet sacredly cherished. 
 
 Mr. Thayer survived until May 19, 1881, when he, too, passed away after 
 a residence in Onondaga county of forty-six years. He had lived to wit- 
 ness many changes here and moreover had been a participant in the sub- 
 stantial progress which had been manifest in the business development of 
 Skaneateles and of Syracuse. While he achieved notable success, his path 
 was never strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes. He was widely 
 recognized as a man of undoubted business integrity, while many other good 
 qualities rendered him personally popular in social circles. 
 
Sfatnesi (fSeorge g>tuatt ©ep 
 
 "AMES GEORGE STUART DEY of Syracuse is the 
 youngest member of the firm of Dey Brothers & 
 Company. His birth occurred in Banffshire, Scot- 
 land, a picturesque and romantic region, which deeply 
 influenced his impressionable temperament. He at- 
 tended school at Strathavon, an institution noted for 
 the number of boys, who later, have distinguished 
 themselves at all parts of the world, in military, pro- 
 fessional and commercial life. Frequently he and 
 a few other lads, while passing old Kirk-Michael church, would dream of 
 future glories while lingering about the mausoleum of General Gordon and 
 other departed worthies who lie there. At the age of twelve he went to the 
 university city of Aberdeen and began a course of study at King Street Acad- 
 emy preparatory to entering the university as did several members of his fam- 
 ily before him. 
 
 At fifteen, while wavering between an artistic and commercial career, 
 Mr. Dey came to America and took some additional studies in law, and what 
 is termed a commercial course. The latter he found so useful in after 
 life, that he is deeply impressed with the importance of technical education as 
 extended to all forms of industry. It is his belief that the nation fostering 
 technical education to its greatest possibilities will be the winner in the great 
 commercial contest of the future. According to his view this form of educa- 
 tion is as applicable to agriculture, mechanics and commerce as dissection is 
 to the profession of surgery. 
 
 The rudiments of his commercial career were acquired in the very excel- 
 lent experience gained during his three years service with the house of Sib- 
 ley, Lindsay & Curr, Rochester, New York. Here he enjoyed the privilege 
 of earning the munificent income of seven dollars per week, and the added 
 advantage of subsisting on this generous sum, yet he does not recall a day 
 during this period in which he did not possess some coin of the realm. In 
 1878 Mr. Dey joined his brothers Robert and Donald in their first commercial 
 venture at Elmira, New York, commanding the united capital of five thous- 
 and dollars. The pace was swift, for at the end of the fourth year the firm 
 acquired by purchase the business owned by the dignified and courtly Wil- 
 liam E. Hart. The following year found the firm in Hornellsville, New York, 
 having secured by purchase the business of Martin Adsit, a fine old gentle- 
 
 189 
 
igo SBatneg <tBtoxst ^tuart J^ep 
 
 man, who was also a prominent banker at that place. The pace was now 
 becoming warm at home, for the field was invaded by W. W. Fish, who in 
 a burst of chivalry announced his intention of occupying the field alone. 
 
 In 1883 the firm extended to Syracuse, acquiring by purchase the business 
 of a notable merchant — Edward F. Rice, from whom it enjoyed the advantage 
 of a fine business, possessing a spotless reputation. During the year 1886 
 Mr. Dey received a communication from Mr. Fish, announcing his desire to 
 dispose of his entire business. The purchase was quickly consummated, and 
 put the firm in possession of a splendid business, which was later greatly 
 extended. In 1894 after eleven years of uninterrupted prosperity the broth- 
 ers erected the magnificent structure at the corner of Jefferson and Salina 
 streets, which for area, architectural beauty and modern equipment, stands 
 without a peer in central New York. James Dey is an artist of no mean 
 order, and to a great extent his ideas were carried out in the construction 
 and equipment of the firm's palatial place of business. 
 
 In the destruction of the Leland Hotel by fire Mr. Dey had a narrow 
 escape, sustaining the loss of all his sketches and etchings made during his 
 boyhood in Scotland. He is methodical and punctual to a degree, and 
 these characteristics have contributed not ,a little to the success of the estab- 
 lishment with which he is connected. He is a great reader, especially of 
 historical and art works, possesses a quick and ready judgment, and is alto- 
 gether a progressive and enterprising citizen. 
 
 His father was James Dey, a man of great worth and talent, whose mem- 
 ory and precepts he greatly reveres. His grandfather, Robert Dey, was a 
 man of consideraible property, but becoming involved in an unprofitable enter- 
 prise was practically ruined and died comparatively young. 
 
 The first street Mr. Dey approached on landing in New York was Dey 
 street. This led to the discovery that a branch of his family were very 
 early settlers in New York. At one time were numerous about Paterson, 
 New Jersey, and several members of this family actively participated in aid 
 of the American revolution. There stands at present time at Preakness, New 
 Jersey, the old family mansion of this branch of the family, which on several 
 occasions housed Washington and other leaders of the time. 
 
 The name Dey is of English origin, of that there is proof, yet docu- 
 ments exist showing the family residence in Scotland as early as the six- 
 teenth century. All things considered Mr. Dey's family motto: "J^vat 
 Deus Impigros" is quite apropos. 
 

Jacob HmosJ 
 
 HILE THE business interests of Jacob Amos are 
 large and varied, unlike many men, he does not allow 
 his business concerns to monopolize his entire time 
 and attention but has found opportunity for public 
 service that makes Syracuse largely his debtor. His 
 administration as mayor of the city resulted in more 
 public improvements of real utility and value than 
 are accredited to any other administration in the 
 city's history. Mr. Amos was born here on the i8th 
 of December, 1853. His father, Jacob Amos, St., was a native of Wurtem- 
 berg, Germany, born April 23, 1818, and was the youngest of the three sons 
 of Charles and Barbara (Chaffla) Amos, who were likewise born in Wur- 
 temberg. In early youth Jacob Amos learned the butcher's trade, which he 
 followed until his emigration to America at the age of twenty-one years. He 
 removed from New York city to Rochester and arrived in Syracuse in 1840, 
 when it was yet a village. All of his earthly possessions at that time were his 
 clothing and seventy-five cents in money. Here he was employed as a wood 
 chopper and salt packer until he acquired capital sufficient to enable him to 
 engage in the butchering business, which pursuit he followed for six years. 
 In 1847 Jacob Amos, Sr., wedded Mary Ann Kipplen, a native of Alsace, 
 Germany, who was born in 1824 and was a daughter of Sebastian Kipplen. 
 The year following his marriage he began the operation of a mill at James- 
 ville, continuing there until 1852, after which he conducted a mill at Dewitt, 
 manufacturing flour, split peas and farina. He was thus engaged until the 
 period of the Civil war, during which time the mill was burned. Again 
 taking up his abode in Syracuse, he purchased three stores in the Raynor 
 block and once more engaged in the milling business, which proved profitable, 
 so that he enlarged his plant to double the original size. He carried on mill- 
 ing operations until 1877 and during that period purchased property and 
 erected a mill at Baldwinsville, New York, where he also conducted an exten- 
 sive business. The Amos mill in Syracuse and the one in Baldwinsville were 
 the largest in the county and Mr. Amos was numbered among the most suc- 
 cessful men of the city. Although he started out in life empty handed, strict 
 integrity, unfaltering persistency of purpose and unwearied industry gained 
 him notable prosperity and won for him a host of friends. He remained one 
 
 191 
 
192 3lacoii 3tmoi 
 
 of the prominent and honored residents of Syracuse up to the time of his 
 death, which occurred April 26, 1883. 
 
 Jacob Amos, whose name introduces this record, was the third in a fam- 
 ily of seven children and acquired a public-school education in Syracuse 
 but put aside his text-books at an early age to assume the management of 
 his father's flour mill at Baldwinsville. It was his intention to leave school 
 only temporarily but he became so interested in and imbued with the spirit 
 of business that he set about to master every detail of the milling industry 
 and under his guidance the business developed and prospered. He later 
 became owner of the famous Amos mill in Syracuse in connection with his 
 brother C. L. Amos upon the death of their father in 1883 and continued 
 as the most prominent representative of milling interests in this part of the 
 state for a number of years. Eventually, however, Mr. Amos sold his mills 
 to the Standard Milling Company of New York. His business interests are 
 large and varied and he is financially connected with many enterprises and 
 is one of the best and most favorably known of captains of industry in 
 Syracuse. He is vice president of the Third National Bank, a director in 
 the Commercial National Bank and a trustee in the Syracuse Savings Bank, 
 so that he figures prominently in financial circles. He is likewise president 
 of the Paragon Plaster Company, a gigantic concern; vice president and 
 treasurer of the Louisiana Improvement Company of New Orleans ; president 
 of the St. Lawrence Trolley & Electric Light Company; vice president and 
 director of the New York Brick & Paving Company, of Syracuse; director 
 of the Syracuse Independent Telephone Company; president and director of 
 the Buffalo Auto Station Company; and vice president of the C. L. Amos Coal 
 Company of Syracuse. 
 
 While his success alone would entitle him to distinction as one of the 
 representative men of his native city, he is perhaps equally well known 
 because of his excellent service as the city's chief executive. He was elected 
 in 1892, defeating George Penn, and in 1894 was victorious over two candi- 
 dates. Jay B. Kline and Duncan Peck, in a memorable contest. His second 
 election was the expression of popular approval of his former administration. 
 During his tenure of office he was instrumental in securing more public 
 improvements than any previous or subsequent mayor. Nominated against 
 his wishes by those who recognized his splendid business capacity and execu- 
 tive force, when elected he bent his energies to the performance of his official 
 duties with the same thoroughness that characterized his business career. 
 He immediately set to work to secure needed reforms and improvements and 
 more substantial improvements were made duing his term of office than in 
 any other like period. He caused the New York Central to pave the entire 
 length of Washington street, was instrumental in securing the over crossing 
 at West Genesee street of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad 
 and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and in securing the new 
 
3lacoi) 3Imo£( 193 
 
 depot. He established the Gray system of sewerage and during his first 
 administration completed the city hall. He secured the new central rail- 
 road station and turned on the Skaneateles water that now supplies the city. 
 He believed in giving the people full value for the taxes which they paid and 
 his administration won the endorsement of all fair minded citizens of progres- 
 sive public spirit. He is and always has been a stalwart republican but par- 
 tisanship never warped his official service and he commanded the respect of 
 his political opponents as well as those of his own party. Mr. Amos likewise 
 served as commissioner in 1898 from the state of New York to the Trans- 
 Mississippi Exposition at Omaha and was commissioner to the Pan American 
 Exposition at Buffalo from New York state in 1901. 
 
 Mr. Amos was married to Miss Florence E. Wells, of Baldwinsville, 
 New York, who died January 28, 1906, leaving a daughter, Christine, who 
 was born in 1883. 
 
 Mr. Amos belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and in Masonry has 
 attained the Knight Templar degree. He also affiliates with the Mystic 
 Krewe and is a member of the Century, the Citizens' and the Onondaga Golf 
 and Country Clubs. The marvelous development of Syracuse is due to such 
 men as Mr. Amos, whose indomitable energy and progressive spirit have 
 overcome all obstacles and reached the goal of success. He is one of the 
 strong because one of the best balanced, the most even and self -masterful of 
 men, and has acted so well in his part in both public and private life that 
 Syracuse has been enriched by his example, his character and his labor. 
 
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JWitjjael i&pan 
 
 ICHAEL RYAN, who was one of the best known and 
 most popular citizens of Syracuse, departed this life 
 on the 20th of December, 1895, at the age of fifty- 
 six years. He was born on the old Rust farm or 
 "Rust garden," in what is now known as West Onon- 
 daga street, in March, 1839, and was a young lad 
 when his parents removed to Onondaga Hill, then 
 the county seat, where he spent his youth. His early 
 educational privileges were supplemented by study in 
 Onondaga Academy and when about twenty years of age he came to Syracuse 
 to make his home here and entered the employ of Marsh, Dillaye & Rogers, 
 druggists. His elder brother, John Ryan, had by that time firmly established 
 himself as a very successful undertaker in Syracuse, and Michael Ryan, after 
 working for some time in the drug business and not finding it to his liking, 
 decided to learn the undertaking business. He accordingly entered into that 
 business with his brother and for many years the firm of Ryan Brothers, 
 undertakers, was known all over the state. Both brothers were remarkably 
 successful in business, conducting undertaking parlors on Salina street. In 
 1873 John Ryan died, after which Michael Ryan formed a partnership with 
 A. K. Hoyt, under the firm style of Ryan & Hoyt. After a partnership of 
 about three years the firm was dissolved and Mr. Ryan continued alone in 
 business on East Jeflferson street, near Salina, whence he afterward removed 
 to No. 434 South Salina street, while the business is now located at 514 
 South Salina street, being now conducted by Charles Ryan, the only son, who 
 was admitted to a partnership by his father, under the firm style of M. Ryan 
 & Son. 
 
 Mr. Ryan was not only successful in business as the result of his enter- 
 prise and capable management but was also prominent in pubKc life of the 
 city and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, elected him 
 supervisor of the sixth ward in 1893. He capably served until his death 
 and was deeply mourned by the board. This office was the only public 
 position he ever filled, yet he was always a stalwart champion of every 
 movement for the public good and gave his cooperation to many measures 
 that have proved of benefit in promoting the city's welfare. His political 
 preference was for the republican party. 
 
 195 
 
196 Mitftatl lltiian 
 
 Mr. Ryan was married to Miss Laura Ward Griffin, who died January 
 14, 1907, and the children of the family are Irma and Charles Phelps, the 
 latter the father's successor to the business. In his fraternal relations Mr. 
 Ryan was a past master workman and an ex-trustee of Central City Lodge, A. 
 O. U. W. He likewise belonged to the Odd Fellows society and was a member 
 of the Onondaga Historical Society. He held membership in the Presby- 
 terian church, of which Mrs. Ryan was also a memfber, and he had a very 
 wide acquaintance in this county, where his entire life was passed. While 
 he did not seek to figure prominently in public life or to win public atten- 
 tion in any way, he nevertheless gained that warm personal regard which 
 arises from true nobility of character, geniality and deference for the opin- 
 ions of others. As the circle of his friends was almost co-extensive with the 
 circle of his acquaintance his death was the occasion of deep and sincere 
 regret throughout Syracuse. 
 
iWrsi. i^ate i«. CuUen 
 
 RS. KATE M. CULLEN, principal of the Townsend 
 school of Syracuse, came with her parents to this 
 this city at the age of six years and has since made 
 her home here. Her education was acquired in the 
 public schools and she was graduated from the high 
 school as the youngest pupil of the class of 1862. 
 Immediately following her graduation she was ap- 
 pointed a teacher in the old No. 12, now the Town- 
 send school, and with the exception of three years 
 has taught continuously since in the same school, of which she has been 
 principal for twenty-three years. She has succeeded in gaining the lasting 
 love and gratitude of the thousands of pupils who have come under her care 
 and instruction to a remarkable degree. She is constantly alert in study- 
 ing out new and advanced methods, and in the work has made continuous 
 progress. 
 
 Mrs. CuUen's vacations have been spent in travel in this country and 
 abroad and her letters have been read with deep interest whenever published. 
 She is particularly interested in all that pertains to the advancement of 
 women, especially the public-school teachers and those who are numbered 
 among the world's workers. Her proudest achievement is the assistance 
 which she has given in accomplishing the passage of the teachers' pension 
 law, a law giving the public-school teachers one-third of their salaries 
 on their retirement after a certain period of connection with the schools. 
 She is a broad reader, her library containing hundreds of volumes, many 
 of which are upon history and travel. She is also interested in current 
 events and is a reader of the newspapers and magazines of standard repu- 
 tation for veracity in noting the great questions of the day. Mrs. CuUen 
 belongs to the Professional Woman's League, to the Political Equality Club 
 and to the Women Principals' Association. She is extremely frank and sin- 
 cere, loyal to her friends and regardful of the feelings of all those with whom 
 she comes in contact. 
 
 Mrs. CuUen's success is for the most part due to her indomitable energy 
 and perseverance. In anything that she undertakes no effort on her part 
 is too great to carry it to a successful completion. When the Syracuse 
 pension for teachers was under consideration, she worked among the teach- 
 ers to create sentiment in its favor. By writing and personal interviews 
 
 197 
 
198 Harg. Biate M- Cullen" ^ 
 
 she influenced those upon whom its success depended, until it was finally 
 passed at Albany, Mrs. Cullen has had charge of some of the most success- 
 ful entertainments for the benefit of the pension. Her work in its behalf is 
 disinterested, as she is a woman who by her own efforts and ability will have 
 ample to take care of her when she retires. The teachers and principals, 
 when working for an increase in salary, always sought her counsel. No per- 
 son has eyer done more individual and successful work for increase of sal- 
 aries. Mrs. Cullen is optimistic in all her views and a willingness to help in any 
 cause for the advancement of all makes her a force for good among the 
 teachers of Syracuse. 
 
Captain JBbJisJjt JF. ifWots^ss 
 
 lAPTAIN DWIGHT F. MORSS, who, during an 
 active life was regarded as one of the most influ- 
 ential business men of Syracuse, was born in Wind- 
 ham, Greene county, New York, October 7, 1818. 
 His father, Foster Morss, was the first tanner that 
 settled on the west side of the Catskill mountains. 
 He came to this state from Massachusetts in 1802 
 and passed away in 1835, being survived by eleven 
 of his fourteen children. Of this number only one 
 is now living, Mrs. William H. Richmond, of Scranton. Captain Morss 
 was reared in his parents' home and is indebted to the district-school system 
 of the state for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He was captain of a 
 militia company in 1840. In early life he acquainted himself with the tanning 
 trade and in 1850 went to Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where he built a 
 tannery in connection with his half-brother and also founded the town of Leg- 
 edale. After two years, in 1852, he was married to Miss Marion B. Steele, 
 a daughter of Colonel Stephen Steele, a farmer of Windham, New York. 
 
 Captain Morss remained in Pennsylvania for several years and in i860 
 took up his abode in Williamstown, Oswego county, New York, where he was 
 engaged in the tannery business and in mercantile pursuits, lumbering, milling 
 and farming. He thus became an active factor in the business development of 
 that locality, where he continued to reside until 1873, when he came to Syracuse 
 and soon afterward engaged in the oil business, becoming the senior partner of 
 the firm of Morss, TuUer & Potter, this firm being the predecessor of the pres- 
 ent Syracuse Oil Company. In later years he was engaged in lumbering in 
 Delaware and Sullivan counties and in farming in Oswego county. He was 
 a man of marked enterprise and unwearied industry and could not content him- 
 self without some active occupation or business pursuit. When his own private 
 interests did not claim his attention he willingly gave his time to aiding his 
 friends, of whom there were many, and at his death he was executor of the 
 William Ballister estate of Oswego county. In his own business life, through 
 his careful management, keen foresight and judicious investment, he was 
 successful. His business judgment was seldom at fault and his counsel was 
 valued by his many friends. For many years he was considered a valuable 
 authority on stocks and other investments. 
 
 199 
 
2(X) Captain l^iai^t iF. Motsii 
 
 Captain Morss was married in 1852 to Miss Marion B. Steele, a native of 
 Windham, Greene county, New York,, where she was born February 15, 1828, 
 dying at her home in Syracuse January 31, 1906. She was an active member of 
 the First Presbyterian church from the time that they became residents of 
 Syracuse in 1873, and was an earnest, energetic woman of great strength of 
 character, interested in many charities, but devoted to the best good of her 
 family and a helpmeet to her husband. This noble Christian woman was 
 highly respected and much loved by those who knew her. Her seventy-eight 
 years rested lightly upon her, not robbing her of her characteristic cheerful- 
 ness, activity and enthusiasm, neither bringing silver to the dark locks nor dim- 
 ness to the bright eyes. She never grew old and enjoyed extensive travel 
 until overtaken by illness. Captain and Mrs. Morss are survived by a son 
 and three daughters : . Arthur B., of Syracuse ; Lucy B., Marion S. and Nellie 
 L., the three sisters residing at the old family homestead at No. 607 West 
 Genesee street. 
 
 Something of Captain Morss' personal popularity is indicated by the fact 
 that while in Williamstown he was twice elected supervisor by the unanimous 
 vote of both parties. He was never an office seeker, however, yet he stood as 
 a stanch defender of all those interests and measures which tend to promote 
 general welfare or advance the interests at large of the community. His life 
 was one of activity crowned with success. His years were fraught with honor- 
 able purposes and kindly motives and wherever he was known he gained the 
 esteem and friendship of the great majority of those with whom he came in 
 contact. His salient personal qualities were such as gained for him favorable 
 regard and cause his memory to be cherished, although he has passed from this 
 life. His death occurred March 2, 1886, after an illness of two days. 
 
Jnbex 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abel, W. A 167 
 
 AUewelt, E. M 173 
 
 Alvord, E. B. 115 
 
 Amos, Jacob 191 
 
 Andrews, Charles 7 
 
 Bardeen, C. W 161 
 
 Bartlett, E. T 61 
 
 Beauchamp, W. M 37 
 
 Brown, A. T 97 
 
 Brown, J. A 155 
 
 Burt, 0. T 101 
 
 Chapman, L. S 125 
 
 Chase, F. H 83 
 
 Cogswell, W. B 73 
 
 Comfort, G. F 27 
 
 Conover, Eugenia C 147 
 
 CuUen, Kate M 197 
 
 Curtis, J. P 149 
 
 Curtis, Ralzamon 145 
 
 Dawson, E. S 179 
 
 Dey, J. G. S 189 
 
 Dey, Robert 79 
 
 Dunfee, John 89 
 
 Eckel, Peter 165 
 
 Gallup, W. H 113 
 
 Goodelle, W. P 9 
 
 Graves, M. A 135 
 
 Hall, Francis 175 
 
 Hoyt, E. B 53 
 
 Lathrop, D. N 139 
 
 Leach, T. J 129 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Listman, Charles 169 
 
 Loughlin, F. H 49 
 
 Lyman, John 151 
 
 McChesney, Ensign 103 
 
 Mercer, Alfred 43 
 
 Mills, C.deB 107 
 
 Morss, D. F 199 
 
 Mundy, E. W 21 
 
 Nicholson, D. W 141 
 
 Northrup, A. J 23 
 
 Otis, L C 123 
 
 Pierce, W. K 55 
 
 Poole, T. L 63 
 
 Purington, W. S 59 
 
 Randall, W. B 121 
 
 Rubin, M. D 143 
 
 Ryan, Michael 195 
 
 Ryder, F. P 35 
 
 Ryder, P. S 85 
 
 Sayre, J. C 71 
 
 Shinaman, C. E 47 
 
 Smith, H. W 133 
 
 Smith, L. C 17 
 
 Smith, M. C 183 
 
 Smith, W. H. H 157 
 
 Smith, W. L 69 
 
 Thayer, Joel 187 
 
 Walch, Frederick 185 
 
 Whedon, G. D 153 
 
 White, H. S 39 
 
 Yale, J. W 117